Hong Kong: HK promoted in Tokyo Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Algernon Yau today met Japanese business leaders and government officials to promote Hong Kongs unique advantages and potential. He also highlighted the immense opportunities brought about by the Greater Bay Area development. Mr Yau first had a breakfast meeting with key business partners from various sectors and met Japan External Trade Organization Chairman Norihiko Ishiguro. He updated them on the latest trade and economic developments in Hong Kong as well as the new measures for attracting enterprises and investment. The commerce chief then visited NEC Corporation, a renowned multinational information technology and electronics company, where he exchanged views on enhancing business co-operation with the companys executive advisor Nobuhiro Endo. Mr Endo is also the Vice Chair of Keidanren (Japan Business Federation). In the afternoon, Mr Yau met State Minister of Economy, Trade & Industry Fusae Ota and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shunsuke Takei, to update them on Hong Kongs latest developments. They also exchanged views on promoting closer bilateral relations and deepening regional co-operation. During todays meetings, Mr Yau stressed that with the one country, two systems principle, underpinned by an open and free market and a fine tradition of the rule of law, Hong Kong continues to be recognised as the worlds freest economy with the best investment environment, a global financial centre and one of the most competitive economies around the globe. He welcomed the Japanese political and business leaders to visit Hong Kong to learn about its latest developments and favourable business environment as well as experience the citys vibrancy. Mr Yau also attended a media luncheon of a ticket giveaway launch organised by the Airport Authority Hong Kong in support of the Hello Hong Kong campaign. This story has been published on: 2023-06-20. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Saudi FM's Iran visit major step in bilateral ties, regional cooperation, say experts Xinhua) 08:11, June 20, 2023 TEHRAN, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi Arabian foreign minister's visit to Iran marks a major step towards normalization of ties and signals greater regional cooperation, said analysts. Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud arrived in Tehran on Saturday, the first trip by a Saudi official to Tehran in more than seven years. At a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Saudi minister described their normalization of ties as "important" as the two states are "significant" players in the region. The Saudi minister also extended the Saudi king's invitation -- a visit to the Saudi capital Riyadh -- to the Iranian president. Lebanese international relations expert Wissam Ismail told Iran's Al-Alam News Network on Sunday that the Saudi minister's Iran visit marks the beginning of a "totally different stage" in bilateral diplomatic relations. He noted that the trip, which comes a few days after the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the Saudi capital, indicates a change in Saudi Arabia's strategy, which is to continue promoting regional cooperation to boost regional stability and thwart Washington's plots. Ismail said that the United States has always described Iran as a threat to regional security and stability and pressured regional states to confront Tehran. Iranian international affairs expert Mehdi Azizi told Al-Alam on Sunday that the Tehran-Riyadh detente and the Saudi minister's visit will have positive impacts on the resolution of regional issues, such as the maritime security in the regional waters and the Palestinian issue, as talked about by the two countries' top diplomats during the meeting. Mojtaba Ferdowsipour, an expert with the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Institute for Political and International Studies, described the Saudi minister's visit as a "step forward" in bilateral relations. He said in a Sunday interview with Iran's state Radio Goftogoo that the two countries should gradually strengthen bilateral cooperation in the economic, political, security, social and cultural fields. Ferdowsipour said the visit is an indication of Riyadh's willingness to strengthen all-out ties with Tehran and expand bilateral cooperation with regard to regional issues. Regional affairs expert Sabah Zanganeh told the Iranian Students' News Agency on Sunday that the visit is a "positive and important" step toward the resumption of the bilateral ties and can help ensure the implementation of the two countries' agreement in this regard. He added the trip proves Saudi Arabia's political determination to interact with Iran and its commitment to the Beijing-brokered agreement. In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran reached a groundbreaking agreement in Beijing to resume diplomatic relations and re-open their embassies and missions. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) For the first time in five years, a U.S. secretary of state set foot on Chinese soil for an official visit. Antony Blinken, Americas top diplomat, spent the weekend in multiple meetings with senior Chinese officials in the hope that a little jaw-jaw will begin the process of defusing the mountain of grievances the U.S. and China have with one another. Despite grumblings from China hawks on Capitol Hill that Blinkens visit to China was a wimpy display of appeasement to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the reality is that the trip was long overdue. Blinken was originally scheduled to visit China in February, almost three months after Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali and pledged to improve a bilateral relationship that, at that point, was circling the drain. Advertisement But then came the discovery of the Chinese spy balloon hovering over the United States, which created a news media frenzy and heaped political pressure on Biden to retaliate. He did so not only by shooting the balloon down over the South Carolina coast but also by canceling Blinkens trip days before he was supposed to leave. Bilateral ties between the worlds two largest economic and military powers havent been the same since. If anything, theyve become more acrimonious. China continues to view the U.S. as an established superpower that is actively trying to undermine Chinese economic progress through its technology export controls and blacklisting of Chinese firms. The U.S. sees China as an increasingly aggressive nation seeking dominance in Asia and hoping to expand its influence in the Western Hemisphere. Advertisement The Taiwan issue remains the biggest sore spot for Washington and Beijing, with each side assuming the absolute worst of the other. China has made it abundantly clear that it wont tolerate what it refers to as Taiwanese separatism or independence, which if realized would likely spur Chinese military action to forcefully reincorporate the island with the mainland. In U.S. policymaking circles, the general assumption is no longer whether, but rather when, China will invade Taiwan. [ Daniel DePetris: Do we face nuclear confrontation? The erosion of agreements has heightened the risk. ] Its when tensions are high when diplomacy can be most effective. So Blinkens foray into China was a common sense move, and anybody who opposed it has a responsibility to explain why their alternative course of action namely, banking on a Cold War-style containment policy would meet U.S. policy goals at an acceptable cost. The fact that the case has never been clearly articulated, outside of talking points that lazily equate diplomacy with weakness, is a big indictment on the argument itself. Keeping the diplomatic option, of course, doesnt mean diplomacy is bound to succeed quickly. With respect to China, it most certainly wont. Indeed, Blinken came away from his trip without major deliverables. His 7 -hour meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang; session with Wang Yi, the CCPs top foreign policy official; and his short interaction with Xi didnt produce the traditional agreements one might have dreamed about. Blinken himself acknowledged that reestablishing military-to-military communications between Washington and Beijing, a top U.S. objective, is still a work in progress. China has not agreed to move forward with that, he told reporters at the tail end of his trip. Its an issue we have to keep working on. Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > But none of this should have been a surprise. The U.S. and China have deeply rooted systemic disputes on everything from Taiwan and the South China Sea to semiconductors and global supply chains. To think any of this could have been resolved in two days of meetings, however long and constructive, would be setting the bar far too high. We are unfortunately at a point in the U.S.-China relationship where easy solutions are no longer possible. From the U.S. standpoint, the objective of the trip was more realistic: Stop the downward spiral and grease the wheels for more meetings between senior U.S. and Chinese officials. On that front at least, it appears that Blinkens trip was fruitful. The State Department announced that Qin will travel to Washington at some point in the future. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will likely schedule trips of their own to China. The probability of Biden and Xi coming together in person for a second time in two years, during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in San Francisco this November, just went up as well. If such a meeting did occur, it would be pivotal, because managing U.S.-China relations responsibly will ultimately need to be driven from the very top. This is especially the case with respect to China, where Xi has consolidated his power over the CCP to an extent we havent seen since Mao Zedong more than 70 years earlier. Washington and Beijing also agreed to establish working groups on issues like stemming the flow of fentanyl precursors, resuming direct flights between the U.S. and China and finding a mutually acceptable arrangement that would increase the flow of journalists, students and ordinary citizens to one anothers countries. While this sounds like small potatoes in the realm of great power politics, the worlds two biggest states have to start somewhere and it doesnt take a geopolitical genius to recognize that talking about territorial claims in the South China Sea would shut down the conversation before it even began. Advertisement This isnt the first time U.S. and Chinese officials have talked about stabilizing relations. Biden and Xi committed themselves to a similar task nearly a year ago, but events (such as Balloon Gate) overtook it. The U.S. and China appear to have recommitted to the same goal. Words, however, will need to be followed by actions. Otherwise, its all talk. Daniel DePetris is a fellow at Defense Priorities and a foreign affairs columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com. Armenian-French cooperation will continue to strengthen. Nikol Pashinyan received French Ambassador The process of the program of formation of Digital Society and Economy discussed at Government State minister: We may have situation when we cant wait for the 7 days noted by Karabakh President The Prime Minister hosts Aram Arzumanyan, disabled as a result of the 44-day war Nikol Pashinyan, Mikhail Mishustin hold phone talk Nersisyan. The more Armenia lowers bar on Karabakh issue, the harder it will be for people of Artsakh to raise it Karabakh official: Armenia has only one thing to do in discussions with Azerbaijan Artsakh state minister: Many illogical things are happening on European platform; is it serious conversation? Karabakh minister of state: We managed to make our voice heard by all to which nationwide movement was directed Lachin corridor has no alternative: Several Armenia NGOs issue joint statement on Charles Michel statement Karabakh state minister: We are in disaster but we will never surrender Karabakh ex-official Vitaly Balasanyan is charged on 4 counts Analyst: Armenia has not recognized Azerbaijan territorial integrity with Karabakhs inclusion Armenia PM is briefed on plan to establish EHL Hospitality Business School branch in Gyumri Our link should be with Armenia only: Karabakh residents comment on their blocking of Askeran-Aghdam road Missing servicemens parents reopen Yerevan major intersection, but on condition Armenia army General Staff chief meets with US Air Force chief of staff (PHOTOS) Parents of missing soldiers close off major avenue in Yerevan Edmon Marukyan: Azerbaijan has no plan to integrate Christian Armenians Azerbaijan MFA responds to Armenia FM with series of absurd accusations Livestock sector is in much worse situation in besieged Karabakh, agriculture minister says Agriculture minister: Scheduled power outages, lack of diesel fuel also cause problems in Karabakh irrigation system Karabakh MoD: Defense Army did not carry out fortification work in Askeran Region Newspaper: What 'tougher actions' Karabakh will take? MoD: Armenia army did not fire at Azerbaijan positions Worlds most expensive iPhone is sold in US US returns 105 antiquities illegally exported from India to latter David Babayan: Karabakh grandpa who fought at Stalingrad, took Berlin never imagined he could die of hunger Russia, Iran FMs interested in consultations with participation of Armenia, Azerbaijan Austria FM: Lachin corridor blockade must be stopped immediately Deputy PM Grigoryan's office: Armenia, Azerbaijan have not made decision on any map Armenia FM briefs OSCE Secretary General on situation in Karabakh Armenian Foreign Minister expresses Yerevan's readiness to hold talks with Turkey in Vienna Armenia is not going to become a space where sanctions could be bypassed: Ararat Mirzoyan Dollar, euro increase in Armenia Armenia FM: Regrettable that instead of engaging in dialogue, Azerbaijan pursues policy of ethnic cleansing in Karabakh FMs sign protocol on implementation of Armenia-EU readmission agreement between Armenia, Austria (PHOTOS) Karabakh residents block Askeran-Aghdam motorway, with concrete barriers (PHOTOS) Armenias Pashinyan receives ex-MP Francois Rochebloine of France Yerevan municipal election events schedule announced Karabakh NGOs: Support being provided to Artsakh people cannot be at cost of trampling on their dignity American University of Armenia has new president Hyundai releases first photos of new generation Santa Fe crossover Public Television to present dire situation in Karabakh every day live from capital Stepanakert's Renaissance Square Teen found dead in Armenia river European Parliament committee calls on Turkey to recognize Armenian Genocide Armenia FM visit to Vienna kicks of with private talk with Austria colleague Karabakh operational headquarters chief: Presidents sit-in could be beneficial European Parliament accuses Azerbaijan of bribing PACE lawmakers, some other offenses Karabakh presidential advisor warns of taking extreme measures Iraqi Kurdistan leader visits Azerbaijan In support of Karabakh demonstration participants march to US Embassy in Yerevan US embassy: Passengers are denied entry to Armenia for possession of drugs Azerbaijan continues to settle occupied Berdzor-Lachin town of Karabakh Armenia army chief attends US National Guard State Partnership Program 30th Anniversary conference (PHOTOS) Public transport to not operate in Karabakh capital Stepanakert as of today Karabakh interior ministry: No vehicle passed through Askeran police checkpoint to Akna-Aghdam Azerbaijan FM repeats proposal to use Aghdam road to Karabakh Protests in support of Karabakh continue in Yerevan Grigory Karasin responds to accusations against Russia from Azerbaijan Armenia PM: It will be very good if we do European track and field tournament in Artashat Newspaper: More Armenia military commanders to be arrested soon Karabakh minister of state: Today nationwide movement will continue awareness actions started in Yerevan Karabakh parliament speaker joins Presidents sit-in Armenia MoD: Azerbaijan again disseminated disinformation MFA spox: Armenia demands lifting of illegal blockade of Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan Karabakh President: People of Artsakh are facing real threat of physical destruction Russia MFA confirms readiness to hold Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs meeting in Moscow Karabakh presidential adviser on Azerbaijan proposal to transport humanitarian goods to Artsakh: This is greatest danger Armen Grigoryan presents humanitarian crisis in Karabakh to Matthias Luttenberg Karabakh capital Stepanakert public transport to operate in very limited capacity Armenia ex-ruling party official Armen Ashotyan to remain in custody Armenias Matenadaran museum and institute of ancient manuscripts has new director Armenia PM follows road construction work in Ararat Province MFA spox: Armenia calls on other international players to follow ICJ, ECtHR Son dies on the spot, father hospitalized after car overturns in Armenias Gegharkunik Province Armenia parliament vice-speaker briefs Germany MFA official on South Caucasus security situation Zangi company launches 'ArtsakhX' project in Karabakh, which will operate even when internet is cut off Armenia ambassador-at-large: Azerbaijans non-compliance is violation of conventional obligations Armenia PM pays tribute to heroes who sacrificed their lives for Motherland Karabakh minister of state on Armenia protests in support of Artsakh: Put aside all differences, try to unite Protester in support of Karabakh to Russia's Putin: Keep your word, we believed in you MFA spox: Armenia did not receive trilateral meeting proposal from Russia Protesters in support of Karabakh march from UN office to Russia embassy in Armenia UAE new envoy to Armenia conveys Dubai Aviation Exhibition invitation to defense minister (PHOTOS) Karabakh President to deliver address Karabakh children sing Artsakh national anthem in front of UN office in Armenia Russia antiterrorism committee: Crimea bridge was attacked by 2 Ukraine UAVs at night Karabakh applicants unable to take Armenia universities entrance exams First ombudsperson to PM: What do you have to do with territories on which Armenia sovereignty doesnt extend? Azerbaijan must reopen Lachin corridor: ECtHR reaffirms necessity of implementing its previous decision Pickets in support of Karabakh being staged outside UN office and Russia embassy in Armenia Motion to arrest Karabakh ex-official Vitaly Balasanyan submitted to court Karabakh state minister: Nationwide movement that started in Artsakh will also take place in Armenia as of today Armenia opposition MP: International players try to exonerate themselves in advance from Karabakh tragedy Emergency situation on Crimea bridge, there are casualties and injured Karabakh state ministers father-in-law dies suddenly, no necessary medical aid provided Armenia MoD: Azerbaijan fired at Armenian positions Humans pumped so much groundwater from Earth that it caused planet's axis shift, new study finds Armenia ex-PM: Perfectly legal robbery In the last seven years, progress has been made in Armenia in inclusive education, integration of migrants, and anti-discrimination law, notes the report on the country published Tuesday by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) of the Council of Europe. The aforesaid commission's report, however, noted that some issues still cause concern. For example, the lack of a full mandate on equality issues for the Human Rights Defender Institute, insufficient measures against hate speech, discrimination and bullying in schools, as well as the delay in the adoption of the equality law and the fact that it does not cover all signs of discrimination. As a positive moment, ECRI noted the emergency measures in inclusive education aimed at continuing education for 80 percent of underprivileged schoolchildren in rural areas, which were affected by the closure of primary and secondary schools due to the covid pandemic. Reforms are underway in the education sector, including renovating schools and improving teacher training. Trainings on the language of hate/crimes based on hate or discrimination have been organized for various professionals, including police officers, investigators, prosecutors, and judges. The new criminal law contains provisions to combat discrimination and hate crimes, with an open list of protected characteristics, including "race," skin color, belonging to an ethnic minority, religion, and other circumstances of a personal and social nature. A free mobile app (MigApp) for migrants was created, special measures were taken to integrate migrant children into the school system, and the launch of a new electronic platform for registering work permit announcements in January 2022 significantly facilitated access to work for migrants. However, as noted by ECRI, the Institute of Human Rights Defender received almost no complaints about discrimination due to the lack of comprehensive anti-discrimination law. In its report, ECRI recommends that the ombudsperson of Armenia be legislatively empowered to ensure full equality. There is no special system for combating discrimination and bullying in Armenia, especially regarding students who are representatives of the LGBT community. There is insufficient awareness of equality issues among students and school staff. The authorities have not shown any initiative or support to counter hate speech through counter-speech and alternative speech, ECRI noted. It was recommended to create effective school policies and mechanisms for preventing, monitoring and responding to bullying, especially homophobic attacks. The authorities should also take measures to prevent hate speech on the internet. The Armenian authorities should ensure that the draft law on equality is adopted within a reasonable time and provides for effective, moderate, and deterrent sanctions for cases of discrimination. The law should also clearly cover all grounds of discrimination related to ECRI, including sexual orientation, gender identity and sexual characteristics, which is necessary for more effective protection of the LGBT community, ECRI said. Also, ECRI advises the Armenian authorities to give priority attention to the equality of the LGBT community, the report stated. Homosexuality should not be considered and registered as a mental disorder, LGBT-aphobic discourse should not remain uncontested in the political sphere, it said. In its report, ECRI then recommends that the Armenian authorities adopt an integration strategy as a matter of priority, accompanied by financial resources and capacity-building measures that will ensure the effective implementation of specific actions for refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, as well as any other persons or groups of personsincluding language courses, and civic orientation courses. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., after the Senate voted 63-36 late on June 1, 2023, to suspend the nations debt limit and put caps on federal spending for two years. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times) I was one of 165 Democrats to vote yes for the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which ultimately passed the House earlier this month in an overwhelmingly bipartisan 314-117 vote. Raising the debt ceiling saved the U.S. economy from potential catastrophe. Democrats faced a Hobsons choice or the illusion that multiple choices exist when, in reality, there was only one. The alternatives that opponents of the bill claimed existed were false choices. Advertisement The idea that Democrats who are now in a slim minority in the House could raise the debt ceiling with no strings attached flew in the face of the reality House Republicans have created. My Democratic colleagues and I were in full support of a so-called clean bill. Every Democrat signed a petition to try to force a vote on this bill, but not a single Republican joined the effort. Over and over, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the GOP made clear they would never entertain a clean bill. Instead, they would rather manufacture a crisis to hold our economy hostage to extract concessions for their extremist agenda. Advertisement Thanks to President Joe Bidens calm leadership and deft negotiating team, the White House successfully beat back the most radical proposals from right-wing members of Congress and protected the administrations signature accomplishments. And despite McCarthy publicly claiming, Theres not one thing in the bill for Democrats, the facts tell a different story. Dont take my word for it more Democrats than Republicans ultimately voted in favor of the bill McCarthy negotiated and brought to the floor. And factions of Republicans are still stewing in the aftermath. Earlier this month, conservative Republicans ground the House floor to an unexpected halt in retaliation for what they have determined was a bad deal cut by their speaker. A deal they had hoped would do more to cut food assistance for the most vulnerable, hatefully target the LGBTQ+ community, eliminate services for thousands of veterans, force duplicative work requirements on Medicaid recipients and cancel Bidens student debt relief plan. [ Jesus Chuy Garcia: The debt ceiling deal disinvests from our communities and hurts working people ] None of these aims were achieved, and yet some Democrats want to argue this deal wasnt worth cutting. Make no mistake this was not perfect. Yet, it was undeniably far better than the alternative of a default and ultimately was the only real and plausible choice to save our economy from the brink. The suggestion that Biden could invoke the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling without congressional approval implied an easy exit ramp existed but it didnt. Invoking an untested legal theory would have taken weeks or months to sort through, potentially culminating with a decision from an unpredictable, conservative Supreme Court a last desperate choice rife with immense uncertainty that would provide no guarantees. That was not a risk Biden was willing to take. The worst possible scenario of all would have been to allow the U.S. to default for the first time in history. Consider the consequences: 8 million jobs lost, devastated retirement savings and 401(k)s, increased car payments and credit card bills and mortgages soaring to record highs. The full faith and credit of the United States downgraded. As President Ronald Reagan said, The full consequence of a default or even the serious prospect of default by the United States are impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate. Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > Disappointingly, not a single Illinois Republican heeded Reagans warnings. They voted against the bill and in favor of a default. Advertisement There are lessons for the American people from this recent spectacle: Elections have consequences. With the majority, House Democrats would have passed a clean debt ceiling bill months ago. I know this because weve done so dozens of times before, including three times under President Donald Trump and 18 times under Reagan. Any true solution for our nations debt and deficit issues must be bold, balanced and bipartisan. America is the only country that continually votes to raise its debt ceiling. This exercise is unnecessary at best and, as we just experienced, dangerous at worst. As we look forward, there is clear agreement across the ideological spectrum: Congress must vote to do away with our nations debt limit. When Democrats take back the House in November 2024, we must. And we will. U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley represents Illinois 5th Congressional District. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com. 15:21 COVID-19 is on the verge of becoming endemic but Indian scientists are keeping a close watch on each new variant and the government would continue to maintain a high alert, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said, underlining that the virus has managed to survive and is going to stay. In an exclusive video interview with PTI, the minister said the situation is stable now after more than three years of one of the worst pandemics to hit the world but all necessary measures would remain in place to guard against any variant that can prove to be deadly. The deadly virus was first detected in China in late 2019 while the first case in India was reported in late January 2020. Since then, close to 4.5 crore positive cases have been reported in India and more than five lakh have died during multiple waves. However, the caseload has declined significantly in recent months and the number of active cases now stands at just about 1,800 with close to 99 per cent overall recovery rate and about 1 per cent fatality rate. Only 36 new cases were reported on Tuesday, the lowest since March 2020 and miniscule in comparison to a record of over four lakh new cases reported in a day at the peak of the pandemic in May 2021 and again more than three lakh in January 2022. Also, more than 220 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administered in India with about 90 per cent of India's eligible population fully vaccinated. "Covid is on the verge of entering the endemic stage (endemic ki kagaar pe hai) but our team of scientists at ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) is keeping a close watch on each variant of Covid. Till now, more than 224 variants of Covid have been noticed in the country, continuous genome sequencing is being done for each variant," he said. The minister said whenever a new variant is found, it is isolated and then tested for effectiveness of the vaccine and it is also measured how deadly it is. "All of this is a continuous process and we keep closely tracking it so that we can guard against and be prepared against any variant in the future that can cause any destruction. The situation is stable as of now across the world and, keeping the future in mind, we are alert. But I would say that it is a virus and this virus is never going to go away as it has managed to survive. "Just like (the) influenza virus has survived somehow and whenever a new variant comes, people experience cough, fever, etc, but does not harm the people much, something similar will happen with Covid and largely that has happened now," the minister said. According to experts, a disease is called endemic when its presence becomes constant, based on established patterns, in a population within a particular geographical area, as is the case with seasonal influenza. Globally, more than 76 crore confirmed COVID-19 cases and nearly 69 lakh deaths have been reported so far while 1,340 crore vaccine doses have been administered. The cases saw their biggest spike in December 2022, nearly a year after the earlier peak of January 2022. However, in terms of deaths, the worst period was January 2021 and the situation remained worrisome for almost a year. The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced last month that Covid was now 'an established and ongoing health issue which no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)' but stopped short of declaring it an endemic. Recounting the fight against the pandemic, Mandaviya, who took charge of the health ministry in the middle of the coronavirus crisis in July 2021, said Covid management was a big challenge for a vast and diverse country like India, but its success story has now become an example for the entire world. He also holds the charge of the pharmaceutical department as Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers, which he has held for much longer. He also dismissed suggestions that approvals for vaccines were rushed without taking into account long-term side effects and that the recent spate of heart attacks was linked to it, saying the entire process from vaccine research to its administration followed all established international standards. He said vaccine development and approvals used to take much longer earlier due to various physical and manual processes but the authorities and scientists made full use of the latest technology, including artificial intelligence, this time and, therefore, the entire process could be fast-tracked. -- PTI US-based business process transformation firm Sutherland Global Services is in talks to acquire cloud-based platform and enterprise IT automation solutions provider Sunera Technologies (Suneratech), people familiar with the development said, as the buyout company seeks to widen its portfolio. A deal is expected to value Hyderabad and the US-headquartered Suneratech at $200 million, the sources said. Earlier, Asia-focused PE fund BPEA EQT had tried to acquire Suneratech. Suneratech helps enterprises enable digital transformation with a team of experts who specialize in cloud, analytics, the Internet of things, automation, data science, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and business intelligence, according to the company website. Being the technology partner for AWS, Microsoft, SAP, Automation Anywhere, Azure, and Oracle, Suneratech serves more than 300 customers across the US, Europe and Asia. Adidas, Facebook, Godrej, Reebok, HUL, Oracle, P&G, Schneider, USHA, Xerox, and WNS are among its big clients. Suneratech, set up in 2005 by Sudheer Mareddi and Ravi Reddy, has 2,200 employees across its offices in Hyderabad, Ontario, Singapore, the UAE and the US. Last year, Sutherland acquired an AI-based customer experience platform company, Augment CXM to extend its AI solutions portfolio. In India,Sutherland had acquired Apollo Health Street, a healthcare-focused BPO set up by the founders of Apollo Hospitals, for Rs 1,000 crore in 2012. SIUs Paul Simon Institute hosts discussion on changing media landscape CARBONDALE, Ill. Journalist Ben Smith, co-founder of Semafor, a global digital news organization, will join Southern Illinois University Carbondales Paul Simon Public Policy Institute to discuss his views on the dramatically changing media landscape in a virtual conversation on June 28. Smith and John Shaw, institute director, will discuss the digital news revolution and his book Traffic: Genius, Rivalry and Delusion in the Billion Dollar Race to Go Viral at 1:15 p.m. The online program via Zoom is free and open to the public,but registration is required. The conversation is part of the institutes Understanding Our New World series. A graduate of Yale University, Smith has been a reporter for the Indianapolis Star, Wall Street Journal Europe, New York Sun, New York Observer and New York Daily News. He was a media columnist for The New York Times and served for nearly a decade as the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News. Ben Smith has been at the front edge of the digital news revolution a story he describes vividly in his provocative new book, Traffic, Shaw said. We are eager to understand Smiths views on the medias evolution and his efforts to rebuild trust in journalism through his new venture, Semafor. Attendees are encouraged to submit questions for Smith on the registration form or email questions to paulsimoninstitute@siu.edu. More information, a list of the institutes upcoming events and past speakers and events are available. Manoj Rathi, the sole distributor of the movie in Nepal, said the screening has been stalled across the country. The latest development comes after Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah on June 15 instructed cinema halls in the Nepal capital not to screeb the film until the makers correct the mistake of Sita's birthplace. Citing Articles 5 and 56 (6) of the Constitution of Nepal, Shah said that the federal, provincial and local governments have the responsibility to protect the national interest and that allowing the screening of the film without any changes could do irreparable damage to Nepal's nationality, cultural unity and national identity. A day after the Mayor's warning, cinema halls across Kathmandu stopped showcasing 'Adipurush' due to security reasons. The Mayor renewed his opposition against the film on Sunday and urged cinema halls not to screen the movie until the filmmakers did not correct the alleged mistake. Nepal's Censor Board has also decided to hold back permission to film. "We have decided to stop screening of the movie due to security reasons," Bhaskar Dhungana, Vice Chairman of the Nepal Film Union, said. As per the Ramayana, Sita was born in Janakpur, which falls in Nepalese territory, and Lord Ram came and married her. --IANS ag/ksk/ ( 254 Words) 2023-06-19-13:46:03 (IANS) A total of 40,000 health workers have been deployed to over 100,000 permanent and makeshift centres across the country to make the campaign a success, reports Xinhua news agency. Parents were seen to take their kids to the centres in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country since Sunday morning to get the vitamin A capsules. Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque had earlier said the government's target is to distribute capsules to around 22 million children across the country. He said such campaigns contributed immensely to the government's efforts in reducing night blindness and the risk of child deaths from diseases such as measles and diarrhoea. Bangladesh conducts vitamin A-plus campaign twice a year and places great emphasis on it. --IANS ksk/ ( 162 Words) 2023-06-19-15:26:04 (IANS) More than 300 Pakistani nationals have been killed in the capsized of a packed trawler off the coast of Greece, the latest tragedy to expose the refugee crisis confronting the European Union (EU) as tens of thousands seek sanctuary from war, persecution and poverty. The chairman of Pakistan's Senate, Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, disclosed the numbers in a statement, CNN reported. Greek authorities have yet to confirm Pakistan's death toll. Pakistan is in the midst of its worst economic crisis in decades. The number of Pakistanis traversing dangerous routes to Europe in search of a better future has reverberated through the nation, prompting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to declare Monday a national day of mourning for those who died in the boat's sinking, CNN reported. In a tweet, he ordered a "high-level inquiry" into the incident. "I assure the nation that those found negligent towards their duty will be held to account. Responsibility will be fixed after the inquiry and heads will roll," Sharif wrote. About 750 men, women and children were on the boat when it capsized last week, the UN Migration Agency (IOM) said, killing hundreds and making the tragedy one of the worst in the Mediterranean Sea, according to the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson The tragedy has shone a spotlight on the EU's refugee crisis in which every year, tens of thousands of migrants fleeing war, persecution, climate change and poverty risk treacherous routes to Europe. Johansson condemned the role of "smugglers" who put people on the boats, CNN reported. "They are not sending them to Europe, they are sending them to death. This is what they're doing and it's absolutely necessary to prevent it," she said. --IANS san/ksk/ ( 297 Words) 2023-06-19-11:18:02 (IANS) To commemorate the 9th International Day of Yoga under the theme of 'Global Ocean Ring', the Indian Navy submarine 'Vagir' arrived in Colombo on Monday. 'Vagir' is the latest indigenous Kalvari-class submarine of the Indian Navy. Undertaking an operational visit from Monday to Thursday, he submarine will be open for visitors, including school children. The High Commission of India in coordination with Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre in Colombo has organised a grand event at Colombo Port to celebrate the International Day of Yoga on Wednesday with participation of senior defence hierarchy and personnel from navies of the two neighbouring nations. "The Indian Navy is participating in the 9th edition of International Day of Yoga with the unique initiative of performing Yoga on selected ports across the world forming a 'Global Ocean Ring'. Connecting people the world over in a common pursuit of wellness, IDY 2023 resonates with the theme of India's ongoing presidency of the G20, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or 'One Earth, One Family, One Future'," the High Commission said in a statement. Indian naval ships -- Delhi, Sukanya, Kiltan and Savitri -- visited Colombo and Trincomalee earlier this year, during which yoga sessions were organised with the Sri Lankan Navy. Also in June, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces participated in the three-day yoga workshop across five cities which was organized by Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre. "Visits by Indian Navy ships and submarines in Sri Lanka aim to foster brotherhood and togetherness between the two neighbouring navies in keeping with the India's vision of 'Neighbourhood First' policy and 'Security and Growth for all in the Region (SAGAR)'," the High Commission added. Meanwhile Pakistan Naval Ship (PNS), 'Tippu Sultan', a Tariq-class destroyer which is on a visit to Sri Lanka will leave on Tuesday. The 134.1 m long warship which is manned by a crew of 168 arrived at the Port of Colombo on a formal visit on Sunday and it is now engaged in a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with the Sri Lankan Navy ship off Colombo. The Sri Lankan Navy said that during the ship's stay, the crew would take part in several programmes with a view to promoting cooperation and goodwill between two navies. They are also expected to visit some of the tourist attractions in the country as well. --IANS sfl/ksk/ ( 391 Words) 2023-06-19-11:28:02 (IANS) Venezuelan migrants leave Daley College and walk along 76th Street to another location in hopes of getting identification cards on June 13, 2023, in Chicago. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune) Should immigrants lacking permanent legal status arriving in Chicago in big numbers get free health care paid for by the state? It makes sense to provide at least basic medical services to refugees and others in need. Immigrants lacking permanent legal status often are refugees with children who have undergone arduous journeys and have few resources at their disposal. Paying attention to preventive care in the present often prevents expensive emergency room visits and other costly interventions down the road. And refugees deserve a humane welcome to the state. Advertisement Nobody in an advanced society wants to deny a sick child medicine. Nor should they ever do so. But U.S. health care mostly relies on a system of private insurance, something that immigrants lacking permanent legal status typically do not have. And health care in this nation is wildly expensive. That explains why Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday some limitations on what had been closer to a carte blanche. . Advertisement The Illinois Department of Healthcare & Family Services announced Friday that it was, in essence, in danger of exceeding its budget for its programs for immigrants lacking permanent legal status, which was careening out of control. Back in February, Pritzker had pegged the cost of the program, popular with open-border progressives, at $220 million, but that proved unrealistic to say the least. Three months later, cost estimates for health care for immigrants lacking permanent legal status had risen to a stunning $1.1 billion, threatening other parts of the budget, especially sums earmarked for early childhood education. This came, of course, alongside the end of federal COVID bailouts and other revenue reductions. In 2020, the states ruling Democrats had said immigrants over 65 who were lacking permanent legal status now would get Medicaid-style coverage, even though they did not qualify for the federally funded program. That program was twice expanded (first from the age of 55) and currently covers persons 42 and older, although many on the left of the party want it extended to everyone, whatever their age and whatever the cost to taxpayers. If that were to happen, even the $1.1 billion would not be near enough. But in the Springfield budget deal announced last month, state health care spending on immigrants lacking permanent legal status was reduced to $550 million, not the potential $1.1 billion that had been discussed. Both figures represent a huge amount of taxpayers money; the majority of that saved $550 million was earmarked for spending on education. The Friday news was, in essence, a road map on how the state plans to get to that reduced figure. Its one thing to declare an intention to spend less money. Its another to reveal where the pain points will be. The state now says it will walk back its expansionist ideas and close new enrollment in Illinois Healthcare Benefits for Immigrant Adults program for those under 65, effective July 1, unless enrollment in the program exceeds more than 16,500 before then, in which case it will close earlier. That will leave just the Healthcare Benefits for Immigrant Seniors program up and running. Additionally, there now will be reimbursement limits and new copays for emergency room visits and inpatient services for those immigrants lacking permanent legal status for whom the federal government is not paying the bills. Pritzker, generally a favorite of progressives, took it on the chin. The actions were variously called immoral and inhumane, and the City Councils Latino Caucus said it was outraged by the decision. Advertisement That rhetoric was absurd. Insurance copays are a fact of life for citizens, even those with low-income levels, and it makes no sense to privilege immigrants lacking permanent legal status over those with low incomes who have followed the rules. Obviously, the states financial angst over these programs plays right into the hands of the Republican governors who have sent migrants to Chicago and argued that the citys open-arms welcome was only possible because it was not seeing the numbers of migrants seen in border states. Its one thing to offer full health care benefits to immigrants lacking permanent legal status, they said, but another when any such commitment potentially could bankrupt the state. Clearly, they have a point. We dont approve of those unethical bus rides and chartered aircraft using migrants looking for a better life as political pawns. It is a poor substitute for a coherent national immigrant policy. And we also think someone who arrives in Illinois in an ill condition should always find medical help, regardless of their age or financial status. (The federal government partially covers healthcare costs for formal asylum seekers). Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > But that doesnt mean that its all right to pretend that the U.S. has a single payer, government-run health care system akin to Britains National Health Service, offering free care to all. That is not the system our democratically elected government has put in place, and the states cannot fully take its place. Behold the absurdity of our intractable immigration crisis: a federal government and a state government operating as polar opposites, one welcoming and motivating immigrants lacking permanent legal status with free health care and the other officially discouraging them and thus deeming them ineligible for benefits. To say that this sends mixed signals to potential migrants abroad is an understatement. It cannot continue. Pritzker probably erred in some of his preaching about immigrants lacking permanent legal status and their right to free health care, statements made when he thought the bill to the state was going to be lower. Advertisement Nonetheless, he was right to put in some controls when the fiscal situation left him no choice: The state cannot fund free health care to massive numbers of immigrants lacking permanent legal status, especially when it makes no comparable offer to impoverished citizens. Charitable and mission-based organizations, with help and cooperation from the state, must be part of this effort to attend to the urgent needs of migrants. The state cannot just write huge checks to medical offices, for-profit hospitals and Big Pharma. There are other needs. 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. BusinessWire India Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 20: Product of the Year, the world's largest consumer voted award for product innovation, unveiled the "Product of the Year 2023" Winners of its 15th Anniversary Edition in India. Innovative products across various categories including Air Purifier, Ceiling Fan, Tower Air Cooler, Water Heater, Water Purifier and Life Insurance Plans have been voted and recognized as "Product of the Year 2023" by consumers across India. Below is the list of Product of the Year 2023 Winners: - Air Purifier - Havells Studio Meditate - Ceiling Fan - Havells Amaya - Italian Elegance - Life Insurance - Guaranteed Savings Plan - Max Life Smart Wealth Advantage Guarantee Plan - Life Insurance - Retirement Plan - Bharti AXA Swabhimaan Retirement Plan - Life Insurance - Whole Life Plan - PNB MetLife Century Plan - Tower Air Cooler - Havells Zurii - Water Heater - Havells Otto - Water Purifier - Havells Albus Established over 30 years ago in France and celebrating its 15th year in India, POY currently operates in over 40 countries with an effort to guide consumers to the best products in their market and reward manufacturers for quality and innovation. The awards are backed by the votes of a large consumer base. Using the route of much stronger associations, Product of the Year has significantly strengthened its proposition, making it more compelling and appealing to product teams across the board. The platform now offers brands the opportunity to use the logo on digital, offline and integrated campaigns, following the global models being used successfully in the US, Europe and other markets. This sought after recognition is based on consumer voting conducted by NielsenIQ who executed a pan-India survey to determine the winners. Mike Nolan, CEO, Product of the Year Management said, "Product of the Year remains the power of the people. Now more than ever shoppers want great new products that deliver value and with thousands of products are launched each year, Product of the Year uniquely helps people find those innovations. Product of the Year has a direct impact on not only the credibility of brands that are voted winners but has demonstrable impact on increased sales. It's been a different landscape across global markets and we've seen scores of brands innovate in unique ways - but Product of the Year remains a trusted source of information for shoppers." Commenting on the winner announcement, Raj Arora, CEO, Product of the Year India, said, "Product of the Year continues to remain useful to product launches across the board. We are in our 15th year in India and add relevance and sting to the marketing strategies of product teams. Innovation is at the heart of our process and the consumer is a vital cog in the identification of winners in each category. This year, we've seen some fabulous innovations again." Product of the Year India has NielsenIQ as their Research Affiliate since its inception in India, 15 years ago. (Disclaimer: The above press release has been provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) PNN Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], June 20: Real Vision Homes Pvt Limited, a leading name in the real estate industry, proudly announces its remarkable achievement as the recipient of the prestigious Times Business Awards 2023 for the Fastest Growing Real Estate Company. The illustrious event, held in Surat at the magnificent Avadh Utopia, witnessed the presence of the renowned Indian actress Sonal Chauhan, who graciously presented the award to the Chairman of Real Vision Homes Pvt Ltd, Dr Dharavath Srinivas Naik. The distinguished Director, Sunitha Roshama, was also in attendance, further enhancing the celebration. This prestigious recognition reinforces Real Vision Homes' unwavering commitment to excellence, innovation, and unmatched growth within the real estate sector. Under the visionary leadership of Chairman Dr Dharavath Srinivas Naik and Director Sunitha Roshama, the company has firmly established itself as a trusted and reliable player in the market, setting new benchmarks for success. Dr Dharavath Srinivas Naik, a native of Suryapet, Telangana, brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his role as Chairman. With over two decades in the real estate industry, he embarked on a career in marketing and transformed his passion and dedication into unparalleled success. Driven by a desire to make homeownership a reality for every individual, he introduced innovative ideas and an ambitious approach, resulting in the development of luxurious and elegant ventures at affordable prices. Director Sunitha Roshama has played a pivotal role in Real Vision Homes' outstanding achievements. Her extensive knowledge and invaluable contributions have been instrumental in the company's rapid growth and recognition as the fastest-growing real estate company. Established in 2019, Real Vision Homes Pvt Limited has swiftly emerged as a dynamic and trustworthy real estate firm with an impeccable reputation for integrity and expertise. Specializing in various projects, the company approaches each endeavour with utmost confidence and proficiency, ensuring timely and successful completion. Real Vision Homes is committed to delivering unparalleled support and exceptional results for its valued clients and customers. With a steadfast vision to become a leading real estate company, Real Vision Homes strives to help individuals realize their dreams of owning a home while upholding the highest standards of quality and ethical development practices. The company has set forth plans to acquire over 1000 acres of land in the next five years, envisioning the creation of exceptional communities tailored to meet the needs of the middle class, upper-middle-class, and higher-class individuals. Real Vision Homes remains unwavering in its dedication to maintaining a strong focus on quality at every stage of the development process. From meticulous land acquisition to meticulous construction, every detail is carefully considered to provide clients with the confidence that their investment is secure and sound. The company's commitment to excellence knows no bounds, as it continuously strives to build sustainable and livable communities that cater to the diverse needs of its esteemed clients. Leveraging its extensive experience, expertise, and unwavering commitment to quality, Real Vision Homes adheres to 100 per cent legal development practices, ensuring utmost transparency and trust. At Real Vision Homes, the belief is that everyone deserves a place they can truly call home. The company remains resolute in its mission to fulfill this vision, making homeownership a reality for as many people as possible while simultaneously contributing to the betterment of clients, employees, and communities. With a mission to provide top-quality housing solutions, Real Vision Homes is dedicated to delivering projects on time and with the highest level of professionalism. In the year 2023, the company aims to surpass expectations by completing more than 10 projects, all of which will consist of HMDA and YTDA-approved plots and villas, ensuring that every client's investment is secure and lucrative. Real Vision Homes is committed to exceeding its clients' expectations by offering exceptional service and unwavering attention to detail. With a team of experienced professionals working tirelessly, the company ensures that each project is completed to the highest standards of quality, delivering unmatched value and satisfaction. Driven by a relentless pursuit of excellence, Real Vision Homes aims to earn the appreciation of over 10,000 satisfied customers this year. By understanding the unique needs of each client and providing personalized solutions, the company is poised to achieve this ambitious goal and set new benchmarks in customer satisfaction. In conclusion, Real Vision Homes Pvt Limited's achievement of receiving the Times Business Awards 2023 for the Fastest Growing Real Estate Company serves as a testament to their unwavering dedication, remarkable accomplishments, and commitment to providing exceptional housing solutions to their valued clients. With visionary leadership, a focus on quality, and a drive for innovation, Real Vision Homes is poised to continue its upward trajectory and shape the future of the real estate industry. (Disclaimer: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) PRNewswire Philadelphia [US]/ Chandigarh [India], June 20: As the day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historic state visit to the United States of America (USA) 21st June 2023 is approaching, the excitement level and spirits of the Indian Diaspora are lifted. In this regard, a multi-faith delegation of the Indian Minorities Foundation (IMF) comprising religious and community leaders, and philanthropists belonging to different minority communities participated in prayers at USA's oldest Mazar of the Sufi saint Shaikh MR Bawa Muhaiyaddeen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The multifaith delegation was led by Ahamed Muhaiyadeen Jonathan Granoff, President Global Security Council, Special Representative to the United Nations for the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates and Ambassador for Peace and Security of the Parliament of the World's Religions along with IMF Convener and Chancellor Chandigarh University Satnam Singh Sandhu. Ahead of the much-anticipated state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US, the minority communities in the Indian diaspora living in the USA are thrilled about it. They have expressed eagerness to see PM Modi holding talks in the USA and addressing the US Congress. Ahamed Muhaiyadeen Jonathan Granoff, President Global Security Council, said, "India has given the message of 'world as a family' and I believe this stands out when we talk about PM Modi. The American community along with the Indian diaspora here is awaiting his arrival." Ahamed Muhaiyadeen Jonathan Granoff, who is also an ambassador for Peace and Security of the Parliament of the World's Religions, said, "I understand that over the parliament of India is the verse of Maha Upanishad - the world is a family and that is a message that we need in America and the world because this is the truth. We welcome PM Modi here with that heart as a family." IMF Convener and Chancellor Chandigarh University Satnam Singh Sandhu said, "Minority communities in India were a mere source of vote bank and to appease them the governments during the 65 years since independence made promises which were never kept." He further said, "PM Narendra Modi walked the path to fulfill the aspirations of minority communities and resolved their long pending issues". During his address at the Ziyarat, Satnam Singh Sandhu said that during PM Modi's nine years, the minority communities in India flourished, and a new wave of peace and communal harmony spread throughout the country. He further added that "Unlike previous governments, PM Modi left no promise and delivery gap during the last nine years in India which led to all-inclusive development in the country and has elevated the minority communities in the country." Sacred Chadar from Ajmer Sharif Dargah India offered at Mazar Shaikh M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen as a message of peace and humanity on-behalf of 1.4 billion Indians The multifaith delegation comprising Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Jains, and Buddhists took part in the mass prayers held for the propagation of the message of world peace, stability, and success of PM Modi's US visit for strengthening the relationship between the two nations. During the prayers by the IMF delegation, Sacred Chadar brought by IMF Convener Satnam Singh Sandhu and IMF Founder Prof Himani Sood from Ajmer Sharif Dargah Khawaja Garib Nawaj India was offered at the Mazar of Shaikh M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen which is the sacred resting place of Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, the Sufi saint, and founder of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship. While offering the Sacred Chadar at Mazar, IMF Convener and Chancellor Chandigarh University said, "We have brought the message of humanity, peace, and brotherhood from India to the United States. This is the message of 1.4 billion Indians which our beloved Prime Minister Narendra Modi is bringing to the United States during his state visit which begins this week". This is the first of its kind of mass prayer attended by a delegation comprising of multifaith communities at the Mazar of Philadelphia. Philadelphia chosen for multifaith delegation keeping its historic importance in mind says Satnam Singh Sandhu "We had intentionally chosen Philadelphia for the multifaith delegation to offer prayers for world peace and humanity keeping in mind the historic importance of the city. This is the city where a strong foundation of inclusive & equal society of United States of America was laid in 1787," said Satnam Singh Sandhu. The US Constitution which guarantees freedom of right to practice his or her own religion was written and signed in Philadelphia in the Assembly Room of the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall. During his address, Satnam Singh Sandhu said that, "During PM Modi's nine years, the minority communities in India flourished, and a new wave of peace and communal harmony spread throughout the country. Pending issues of Minority Communities such as the Opening of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor after 7 Decades, ensuring Justice for 1984 Anti-Sikh Riot Victims after 3 Decades for the Sikh Community, abolition of Triple Talaq, FCRA Registration for Harimandir Sahib, and the creation of Ladakh as separate UT were all resolved during the 9 years of PM Modi's tenure." Pakistani Muslims living in the USA praise PM Modi for inclusive policies "Working for improving the living standards of every citizen irrespective of their caste, religion or community has been the mark of PM Modi's 9 years in tenure. Through various initiatives Prime Minister Narendra Modi has infused the spirit of inclusivity, equality, and belongingness amongst every Indian, especially amongst the people belonging to different minorities' communities," said Mehmood, a Pakistani Muslim living in the United States and originally hailing from Lahore. He further added, "No matter what religion one belongs to, we are all one, and shall live together in peace and harmony. India is a perfect example of unity in diversity with different religions flourishing alongside each other. Further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a secular leader who respects all religions. Through his works over the years, he has ensured equality and unity among all in the country, and worked for establishing peace and harmony between the communities." IMF launches its USA chapter; aimed at connecting the Indian diaspora with their motherland The Indian Minorities Foundation (IMF) which has been established by NID Foundation launched its third international chapter in the United States (US), on June 18, at The Green Barn Gallery in Pennsylvania, USA, during the IMF delegation's visit to the Mazar of the Sufi saint Shaikh MR Bawa Muhaiyaddeen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The launch of this chapter is aimed to provide a common platform for Indian minority communities living in the country to address their issues and act as a bridge between them and the Indian government. Earlier IMF launched its international chapters in Australia and New Zealand. It was launched by Ahamed Muhaiyadeen Jonathan Granoff, President Global Security Council who also serves as a Special Representative to the United Nations for the Permanent Secretariat of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates along with IMF convenor and Chancellor Chandigarh University, Satnam Singh Sandhu; Prof Himani Sood; Michael Green, an American Sufi artist based in Pennsylvania among other religious leaders and preachers were present on the occasion. Meanwhile, IMF convenor, Satnam Singh Sandhu, during the launch ceremony in Pennsylvania, said that IMF's prime objective is to prepare a roadmap for the role and contribution of minority communities in India's vision of making India a developed nation by 2047 that is Amrit Kaal. Pakistani women appreciate welfare measures taken by PM Modi to strengthen the rights of Muslim Women in India; Hope for other Muslim nations to follow in their footsteps. "Muslim women have raised their voice all over the world for equal rights for many decades but Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 took the bold and decisive step to establish a strong law to abolish Triple Talaq," said Saba Malik, a Pakistani Muslim woman. Muslim women from all over the world are grateful to PM Modi who has walked the path of giving Muslim women the equal rights they deserve. Saba Malik hoped that other nations especially Muslim countries will follow in the footsteps shown by Prime Minister Modi in the future. Another young Muslim girl from Pakistan Hazel said, "Abolition of Triple Talaq has infused new confidence in every Muslim Woman who can now stand up to raise their other issues." Another group of Muslim women comprising of Hiba, Wajiha, and Aayesha who hail from Pakistan said, "PM Modi enjoys a global following and hence we are confident that taking a cue from his actions to protect the rights of Muslim Women, other nations across the world will understand the importance of the women rights." About India Minorities Foundation India Minorities Foundation, a non- government organization, founded by Satnam Singh Sandhu, Chancellor Chandigarh University, is committed to promote patriotism and national pride among minority groups and support to empower individuals and communities. IMF is working to promote a sense of belonging and inclusion. The main objective of IMF is to foster a sense of national pride with a sense of national pride among minority groups by highlighting their shared history, culture, and contributions to the nation, and by encouraging active participation in civic life. Website: http://minorities.foundation/ Chandigarh University is a NAAC A+ Grade University and an autonomous educational institution approved by UGC and is located near Chandigarh in the state of Punjab. It is the youngest university in India and the only private university in Punjab to be honoured with A+ Grade by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council). CU offers more than 109 UG and PG programs in the field of engineering, management, pharmacy, law, architecture, journalism, animation, hotel management, commerce, and others. It has been awarded as The University with Best Placements by WCRC. Website: https://www.cuchd.in/ (Disclaimer: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) BusinessWire India Toronto [Canada]/ Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], June 20: Global Marketing Leader and now Debutant author Mohammed Nawaz, celebrated for his expertise in marketing and corporate storytelling, ventures into creative writing with his captivating debut novel, "That Girl." This poignant tale delves into the complexities of relationships, the pursuit of self-discovery, and the resilience of the human spirit. Nawaz's exquisite attention to detail and eloquent prose bring "That Girl" to life, immersing readers in a world of romance and drama. With unexpected plot twists and unforgettable characters, the novel explores the intricate dynamics of relationships while showcasing the indomitable power of the human heart. In discussing his transition from the marketing world to writing, Nawaz expresses his excitement and passion for this new creative venture, stating, "Writing 'That Girl' allowed me to tap into my imagination and explore the depths of human emotions. It has been a transformative experience, and I am thrilled to share this story with readers." Aruna Naidu, Founder of Author's Channel and a seasoned publisher, said, "The novel has already garnered significant attention since its release in June. We are honoured to be publishing 'That Girl' by Mohammed Nawaz. His ability to craft a captivating narrative filled with memorable characters is truly impressive. This debut novel promises to be a remarkable addition to the literary world." Details of the Book:Title: That GirlGenre: Fiction (Romantic Drama)ISBN: 978-93-92546-21-1Pages: 244 PaperbackRights: Worldwide "That Girl" was released on June 15, 2023, by Author's Channel, and is available in major bookstores, airports and online retailers. About Author Mohammed Nawaz is a marketing leader-turned-author, known for his debut novel, "That Girl." With a background in strategic marketing and a passion for storytelling, Nawaz weaves a tale of love, loss and self-discovery in the captivating narrative of 'That Girl'. His contribution to marketing has been widely acknowledged, with The Economic Times awarding him the 'Most Promising Tech Marketer Award' and being named the Winner of 'Marketing Mavericks', organised by the world marketing congress. In addition, Nawaz was featured in the elite list of '50 Marketing Marvels' from a list of 500 as India's Best Marketing & Communications Professional for his outstanding achievements. Nawaz has a Master's in Communications from Manipal Academy of Higher Education and a BA in Journalism from St Aloysius College and a certificate of specialisation in Strategy from Harvard Business School. Nawaz combines his academic prowess with his gift for crafting compelling narratives. Currently residing in Canada, Nawaz welcomes you to connect with him on LinkedIn and Instagram To learn more about Author's Channel and other latest releases, visit www.authorschannel.in (Disclaimer: The above press release has been provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) ThePRTree New Delhi [India], June 20: Super Angels Summit 2023 is ready to take place on 14th & 15th September at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) in Abu Dhabi. The Summit is designed to celebrate the spirit of angel investment and to bring thousands of active and aspiring angel investors from across the world. The summit is held under the support of the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Convention and Exhibition Bureau, The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Matkoum, Emirates Angels (A non-profit organization registered in the UAE to support the angel investing ecosystem). The summit would feature a carefully curated selection of global Govt. agencies & representatives, Venture Capital Funds, Family Offices, HNIs & UHNIs, Financial Institutions, Industry Leaders, World's most sought after speakers & Celebrities, as well as high-potential startups from various sectors. In addition to the main conference, both active and aspiring angel investors would have an opportunity to join various masterclasses and workshops to enhance their skills as an angel investor. Super Angels Summit will also showcase a vibrant exhibition floor, where attendees can explore cutting-edge products and services from ground breaking startups and established industry players. The exhibition will serve as a hub for collaboration, fostering new partnerships that can drive innovation forward. "Having participated in over 2000+ startup events worldwide and being an active part of the startup ecosystem, I was forced to confront the glaring and astounding gap in global angel investment education as Asia has only 40,000+ angel investor in comparison to 1.7 MN in the USA and That's when I realized it was time to act," said Ravi K Ranjan, the founder of Super Angels Summit, spoke on the opportunity that rest of the world has to strengthen the angel investor community. "Angel investors are essential to the development of a thriving and diverse startup ecosystem. While there are many events celebrating startups and their impact, the contribution made by angel investors who provide critical support and resources to early-stage companies, deserve greater recognition and appreciation in the discourse surrounding the startup ecosystem. With a growing number of curious investors globally, there is a clear need for a global conference that brings together the best minds in angel investing" said Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, the co-founder and president of Venture Catalysts++ Khalifa Al Qubaisi, Chief Commercial Officer at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), Part of ADNEC Group said, "Hosting this ground-breaking event for the first time at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre is a valuable addition to the agenda of prominent global annual events which are set to take place at the Centre. As the largest exhibition and conference Centre in the MENA region, ADNEC is committed to hosting world-class events and ensuring their success by deploying its advanced infrastructure, modern facilities, and integrated solutions that meet the requirements of event organisers. In doing so, we continue to drive Abu Dhabi's leading position as the capital of business tourism in the region." "The Super Angels Summit is a pivotal event in the UAE that bolsters the angel investing ecosystem. It provides a platform for networking, sharing insights, and fostering collaborations, which, in turn, promotes growth and sophistication within the region's angel investing sector. A significant stride in this field has been the partnership forged between Emirates Angels and Super Angels. Emirates Angels, a leading non-profit association in the UAE, brings a wealth of local experience and knowledge to the partnership. This collaborative effort has not only magnified the influence of both entities but also fueled innovation and entrepreneurship across the UAE," said Masaood Al Masaood, Chairman of the Board, Emirates Angels. Abu Dhabi, with its strategic location and supportive business environment, serves as an ideal host for the SuperAngels Investors Summit. Recognized as a global hub for investment and innovation, the city provides an exceptional platform for startups and investors to connect, grow, and thrive. The event is being organized by CRRE8IVE, a new age Event IP and Media company, an initiative by Venture Catalysts++. With a team of visionaries, storytellers, designers and artists, CRRE8IVE believes in the power to inspire, connect and transform communities with their mission to curate and produce extraordinary event experiences that would leave a lasting impression on the attendees while also redefining the industry standards. Attendees at Super Angels Summit can expect an impressive lineup of keynote speakers, panel discussions, and interactive workshops, all led by prominent figures in the startup and investment community. Attendees would also have an opportunity to explore and invest in high growth startups at the summit. These thought leaders will delve into a wide range of topics including angel investing strategies, emerging trends, disruptive technologies, and the future of the startup ecosystem. The insights shared at the summit are expected to shape the future of startup investing and provide attendees with a competitive edge in the market. For more information, Visit - https://www.superangels.live/ (Disclaimer: The above press release has been provided by ThePRTree. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) BusinessWire India Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], June 20: At a recent event on why prioritising Men's Mental Health is the need of the hour, Niharika, a mental health counsellor and founder of Therapy with N from Chennai, spoke about the stigma around men's mental health and how as a community, we must actively work towards creating safe spaces for men. It is 2023 and though we are progressing in a lot of areas globally, there is still a lot of stigma around seeking help for mental health, especially w.r.t. men's mental well-being. In recent times we are seeing many deaths of men who are just in their early 40's, in good physical health collapsing due to cardiac arrests, mostly caused due to stress. And also if we take statistics into account the suicide rates are higher in men than in women. What do you think the primary reason for this is? From the very beginning, the role of a man is usually to be a provider in our society and our society has long perpetuated harmful stereotypes that men should be stoic, self-reliant, and unaffected by emotional struggles. However, this mentality often discourages men from seeking the help they need, leading to a higher likelihood of undiagnosed mental health issues. "I have dealt with male clients who say they haven't cried in years and some don't know what they are feeling or how to even express those emotions. Due to gender stereotypes, from childhood men are exposed to statements like 'Boys don't cry' or 'Don't be a crybaby', as they grow up they feel being vulnerable is a sign of weakness," said Niharika. "One of the main barriers to men's mental health is the persistent stigma attached to seeking help. As a community, we must actively work towards creating safe spaces for men to be vulnerable and express their emotions and also normalise help-seeking behaviour. This can be achieved by encouraging men to view therapy as a sign of strength and self-care, rather than weakness, which can help dismantle the stigma and create a more supportive environment for men's mental health," she added. At Therapy with N, Niharika, a certified mental health professional works with clients both India and abroad both online and offline and offers therapy sessions to help individuals improve their mental health. She also works with a number of corporates prioritising the mental well being of their employees. She can be reached via her website: therapywithn.com or through Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therapy.with.n/ "Let's Break the stigma, one conversation at a time". (Disclaimer: The above press release has been provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) Burgundy Private, Axis Bank's Private Banking Business and Hurun India have released the '2022 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500'. This is the second edition of the list, which ranks the 500 most valuable companies in India. These companies are ranked according to their value, defined as market capitalization for listed companies and valuations for non-listed companies. The cut-off date to arrive at this list was October 30, 2022. To make it to the 2022 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500 list, companies require a minimum value of INR 6,000 crore, equivalent to US$725 million. According to the list, Reliance Industries Limited is the most valuable company with a value of Rs 1,725,058 crore, up 3.6 per cent. TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, and Bharti Airtel, HDFC, ITC, Adani Total Gas, and Adani Enterprises followed Reliance Industries in the list of most valuable companies. The most valuable unlisted company was the Covid-19 vaccine producer Serum Institute of India followed by BYJU'S and the National Stock Exchange of India. The list mentions Vedant Fashions as the fastest value creator. The total value of the companies in the 2022 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500 list remains unchanged on a yearly basis. According to the list, 310 companies grew in value, while 192 companies declined. In terms of geographical distribution, 2022 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500 list came from 15 states, led by Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu followed by Delhi, and Haryana. By city, Mumbai led with 159, followed by Bengaluru with 63 and New Delhi with 42. (ANI) Confirming the news, a staff member from Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad informed ANI that the duo was blessed with a baby girl in the wee hours of June 20. A medical bulletin released by Apollo Hospital also went viral, confirming the child's arrival. "Ms Upasana Kamineni Konidela and Mr Ram Charan Konidela had a baby girl on the 20th June 2023 at Apolllo Hospital Jubilee hills Hyderabad. Both the baby and mother are doing well," read the bulletin. The update has left fans and members of the film industry elated. Taking to Instagram, actor Rakul Preet reacted to the news. "Wohooooo congratulationssss @alwaysramcharan @upasanakaminenikonidela ! May she be blessed with all the love n joy." she wrote. Ram and Upasana tied the knot on June 14, 2012, and since then they have been sticking with each other through thick and thin. The two announced their pregnancy in December 2022. "With the blessings of Shri Hanuman Ji, we are delighted to share that Upasana & Ram Charan are expecting their first child. With love & gratitude Surekha & Chiranjeevi Konideli, Shobana & Anil Kamineni (sic)," the couple announced. Meanwhile, on the work front, Ram Charan will be seen in director Shankar's upcoming action film 'Game Changer' opposite actor Kiara Advani. 'Game Changer' will release in three languages - Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. The film also stars SJ Suryah, Jayaram, Anjali, and Srikanth. The official release date of the film is still awaited. (ANI) Seems like actor Kriti Sanon has decided not to pay heed to the backlash surrounding her latest release 'Adipurush'. On Monday, Kriti, who essayed the role of Sita in the mythological drama, took to Instagram and shared videos of the audience cheering for the movie. In one of the clips, moviegoers can be heard singing 'Ram Siya Ram'. https://www.instagram.com/p/CtrQ3G1xiUx/?hl=en "Focusing on the cheers and claps! Jai Siya Ram," she captioned the post. As soon as Kriti dropped the cryptic post, fans chimed in the comment section to extend support to the actor. "Kriti, you did an amazing job. Please don't believe the reviews," a social media user commented. Kriti's sister Nupur Sanon commented, "Proud of you." However, there's a section of social media users who called out Kriti for not "accepting that movie was terrible." "Kriti plz accept that the movie was a terrible mistake and move on. One of the worst adaptations of Ramayan I've seen. The director and writer should be banned for life for making such a 3rd class movie," an Instagram user commented. Directed by Om Raut, 'Adipurush', which is which is a dramatic retelling of Ramayana, has been constantly under the scanner ever since the makers released the film. From critics to reviewers, several people from across the country have expressed disappointment over the film's certain dialogues. Some of which include 'marega bete', 'bua ka bagicha hain kya' and 'jalegi tere baap ki'. In the wake of such flak, the makers of 'Adipurush' have decided to revamp the dialogues. On Sunday evening, Nepali capital Kathmandu's Mayor Balendra Shah enforced a ban on Indian movies following the 'Adipurush' dialogue controversy. In less than an hour of the KMC Mayor's decision, the Pokhara Mayor Dhanraj Acharya also sent letters to three movie theatres to halt the screening of all Indian movies starting Monday morning. With orders from the mayors of both Metropolitan cities, the halls in both places have taken off the screening of Indian movies from their schedule and replaced them with Hollywood and Nepali movies. (ANI) Former President Donald Trump walks away after delivering remarks at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Bedminster, New Jersey, on June 13, 2023. (Ed Jones/AFP) I am in complete agreement with op-ed writer Victor Shis contention that Donald Trumps federal trial should be televised (Our country needs cameras in the courtroom during Trumps trial, June 14). We Americans are addicted to the themes of crime and punishment in literature and media. As Shi points out, the sensation generated by the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial was remarkable. I recall the same fascination with the O.J. Simpson trial. No matter the type of trial, we are interested in the details and the workings of the justice system. Advertisement More so than with the two above-mentioned trials, we Americans should be interested in the facts, evidence and motive in the United States v. Donald J. Trump trial. There is much to be learned about the role and scope of the presidency and the workings of the justice and judicial systems and even more to be learned about the man himself. The results of this trial will have far-reaching repercussions and not just in the next election year. Faith in our system of democracy hangs in the balance. Advertisement Like it or not, we need to see for ourselves that justice is delivered. Pam Skinner, Palatine Witnessing history unfolding I was glad to see Victor Shis op-ed. There is so much information being bandied around about Donald Trump and his actions. The problem is that anyone can get on radio and TV and make statements about it. Some of them are true. Many of them are not. Americans need to watch the trial. In the trial, statements for and against Trump will have to be documented. This is a major event in our countrys history, and in many ways, it threatens our democracy. Americans must have the truth before they vote in the next election. I remember 50 years ago, when I was a young high school teacher, I would race home from teaching summer school in order to watch the Watergate hearings. The next day, I was able to discuss them with my classes. Over the years, I came to realize how important it was to watch history unfolding and seeing the democratic process in progress. Jerome C. Yanoff, Chicago Compromise in recording trials Regarding About cameras in federal courts (June 18): In an excerpt in the Tribune from a previously published editorial, the South Florida Sun Sentinel Editorial Board deplores the rule forbidding video-recording of federal trials and sees this as a sad loss to the historical record. Advertisement This rule aims to discourage trial participants from playing to the gallery showing off and trying to influence the television audience instead of concentrating solely on their duties in the trial. As a reasonable compromise, I suggest making a full video of the entire trial but not releasing it to the public until after the verdict is reached and a sentence is pronounced. (The recording might also be helpful to appeals courts.) George W. Price, Chicago Why pardon is off the table For those in favor of giving a pardon to our 45th president, my question is: Howd that work out for you when Jussie Smollett was let go initially? A pardon should always be off the table unless there is contrition or proof that someone is innocent. A pardon without a promise that Donald Trump is sorry and will leave public life would be inexcusable. Advertisement Phillip Seeberg, Naperville Why Putin invaded Ukraine Letter writer Jim Halas would have us believe that Russia attacked Ukraine because President Joe Biden said mean things about Russian President Vladimir Putin (Does Biden have what it takes? June 13). Russia backed separatist movements in Georgia and Moldova in the 1990s. Putin invaded and illegally annexed Georgian territory in 2008 and the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Ukraine was no threat to Russia whatsoever. Putin is trying to re-create the old Russian Empire, with himself as a modern-day czar. Biden is standing up to Putins aggression, working with our allies to support Ukraine in a fight for its very existence. Donald Trump has been a Putin sycophant for years. Trump sought a real estate deal in Russia during the 2016 election and lied about it. Trump sided with Putin, against our own intelligence community, during his infamous Helsinki summit in 2018. If Trump were still in office, hed probably trade Ukraine for a Moscow hotel. Advertisement Mike Mosser, Chicago Justices and weapons of war Another mass shooting occurs, and there is a call for control of the weapons of war in the hands of ordinary citizens. And why are there so many of these weapons of war? Look to the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices live with a security detail to protect them and their families, so they can easily dissociate from their decisions that affect ordinary citizens. One result of this is the horrors of assault-style rifles used to kill ordinary citizens or children in schools. Is the Second Amendment, as broadly interpreted by the current Supreme Court, more important than the lives of our people or our children? Charles Edwin Myers, Bethesda, Maryland Advertisement A sign that weve become numb Its a sad reality that weve become so accustomed to mass shootings that when one person is killed and 22 wounded, as happened in Willowbrook this past weekend, its not even the top story. Lyn Cole, Rockford Johnson good at doublespeak Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > I cant wait to hear Mayor Brandon Johnsons response to yet another bloody weekend in Chicago. How is his strategy, or lack thereof, working out for him? He has proved thus far to being quite proficient in the art of political doublespeak. Mike Rice, Chicago Pentagon Papers whistleblower Au revoir, dear patriot. To Daniel Ellsberg (April 7, 1931-June 16, 2023), thank you for your service. Advertisement Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coaliton, Glen Ellyn Join the conversation in our Letters to the Editor Facebook group. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com. The 'Nickelodeon' star was detained by police over the weekend and taken into custody for a mental health evaluation, which she appears to have failed. According to police officers who detained her over the weekend, Amanda Bynes is a danger to herself and others, which means she's back on a 5150 psychiatric hold, TMZ reported. According to law enforcement sources, Amanda called the 'LAPD' Saturday morning to report a woman in distress. Amanda was apprehended by LAPD officers and taken to a police station for a medical evaluation to determine if she required additional treatment. According to TMZ, as it turned out, Amanda needed to be placed on a mandatory psychiatric hold, which can last up to 72 hours under the law. It's the latest setback in the former Nickelodeon star's downward spiral and the second time she's been placed on a psych hold this year. The first incident occurred in March when she was discovered naked on the streets of downtown Los Angeles. Amanda had only recently been released from a mental health facility, but we had heard from people close to her that she was isolated and not doing well. She now has the opportunity to receive treatment. (ANI) Elinor Ellie Williams took to Instagram Story on Sunday to share two photos of the late actor, Richard Treat Williams. With a throwback photo of a young Treat playing with Ellie when she was a kid, she wrote, "I love you, Dad. I miss you." In the second picture, a more recent image of the beloved Hollywood star smiling while riding a tractor was shown. Ellie captioned, "I took this picture of my pops when I was in college. He's so handsome ." The 'Everwood' star died in a motorbike accident in Vermont last Monday. He was 71, Page Six reported. "He was making a left or a right, and a car cut him off," Treat's representative, Barry McPherson, said shortly after. "I'm completely devastated. He was the sweetest person. He was extremely gifted." McPherson went on to say that Treat, who he called 'the heart of Hollywood since the late 1970s,' was an actor's actor who filmmakers adored. Entertainers from all walks of life, including Kim Cattrall, Hilaria Baldwin, Matt Bomer, and Melissa Gilbert, took to social media to pay their respects. Ellie spoke out about her father's death two days later. She wrote alongside an old photo of the 'Hair' actress, "This is a pain I have never felt. I am absolutely shattered." Despite her terrible heartbreak, she thanked everyone who has sent messages and kept her family in their hearts, as per Page Six. Since June 1988, Treat had been married to Ellie's mother, actor and producer Pam Van Sant. Gill Williams, the couple's 30-year-old son, was born in December 1992, and Ellie arrived in September 1998. (ANI) American actress Tori Spelling has maintained silence on a recent social media post by husband Dean McDermott announcing their break up, which he has subsequently deleted, Page Six reported. In fact, the actor has remained silent since McDermott announced on Instagram that he and Spelling who have been married for over 17 years had "decided to go separate ways." The former 'Chopped Canada host announced with great sadness and a very heavy heart, explaining that the two would embark on new and separate journeys, as per Page Six. "We will continue to work together as loving parents and guide and love our children through this difficult time," he added, adding, "We ask that you all respect our privacy as we take this time to surround our family with love and work our way through this." Thank you all for your kindness and support." Spelling neither responded to nor made her own announcement. She also spent Father's Day with Lance Bass, his husband, Michael Turchin, and their twin children last year. Spelling and McDermott, who married in May 2006, have three children: Liam, 16, Finn, 10, and Beau, 6, as well as Stella, 15, and Hattie, 11. Despite mounting evidence that a divorce was imminent, the 'Beverly Hills, 90210' alum and the actor have repeatedly dismissed rumblings of marital woes over the years. According to Page Six, the couple has had a rocky relationship since they met in 2005 when they were both married to other people. Less than a month after Spelling's divorce from Charlie Shanian was finalised, she and McDermott said: "I do." He admitted to cheating on her in late 2013 and then checked himself into a sex addiction treatment centre in early 2014. (ANI) Proud grandfather Chiranjeevi got teary-eyed while expressing his excitement on the arrival of Ram Charan and Upasana's daughter. Mega star arrived at Apollo Hospital to meet his little princess and spoke to media in Telugu. He said, "Ram Charan and Upasana gave birth to a girl child. We are very happy. Girl child birth is very precious. We pray to Anjaneya Swamy as she is born on Tuesday and we believe that she is a very precious gift." Chiranjeevi also took to Twitter and expressed his happiness on arrival of little princess. He wrote, "Welcome Little Mega Princess !! You have spread cheer among the Mega Family of millions on your arrival as much as you have made the blessed parents @AlwaysRamCharan& @upasanakonidelaand us grandparents, Happy and Proud!!" The power couple Ram Charan and Upasana Kamineni welcomed their first child on Tuesday. Confirming the news, a staff member from Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad informed ANI that the duo was blessed with a baby girl in the wee hours of June 20. A medical bulletin released by Apollo Hospital also went viral, confirming the child's arrival."Ms Upasana Kamineni Konidela and Mr Ram Charan Konidela had a baby girl on the 20th June 2023 at Apollo Hospital Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. Both the baby and mother are doing well," read the bulletin. Ram and Upasana tied the knot on June 14, 2012, and since then they have been sticking with each other through thick and thin. After being married for 11 years, two announced their pregnancy in December 2022. "With the blessings of Shri Hanuman Ji, we are delighted to share that Upasana & Ram Charan are expecting their first child. With love & gratitude Surekha & Chiranjeevi Konideli, Shobana & Anil Kamineni (sic)," the couple announced. Meanwhile, on the work front, Chiranjeevi was last seen in the Telugu film 'Waltair Veerayya', directed by Bobby Kolli. In the coming months, he will be seen 'Bholaa Shankar'. Directed by Meher Ramesh, the film will also feature Tamannaah Bhatia in the lead role. Ram Charan, on the other hand, will be seen in director Shankar's upcoming action film 'Game Changer' opposite actor Kiara Advani. 'Game Changer' will release in three languages - Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. The film also stars SJ Suryah, Jayaram, Anjali, and Srikanth. The official release date of the film is still awaited. (ANI) A recent research that examined data from the landmark ASPREE trial discovered that taking aspirin on a daily basis for an extended period of time raises the risk of anaemia by 20% in adults aged 70 and older. The results have prompted researchers to suggest that regular monitoring for anaemia be considered for older adults who take low-dose aspirin, and if older adults have concerns about their health or medications they should discuss them with their GP. The results have prompted researchers to suggest that regular monitoring for anaemia be considered for older adults who take low-dose aspirin and to discuss any concerns about their health or medications with their GP. The Monash University-led study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, followed 18,153 initially healthy older adults in Australia and the USA and recorded incidents of anaemia over an average 4.7 years. The risk of developing anaemia was found to be 20 per cent higher in the aspirin group compared to those in the placebo group. It was the largest study to investigate anaemia in older people as part of a randomised controlled trial, ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) - with half the participants taking a placebo and the other half a daily low dose (100mg) of aspirin. Anaemia is commonly experienced by older adults, potentially affecting overall function and increasing fatigue, disabilities, depressive symptoms and cognitive problems. In addition to a higher risk of anaemia, blood tests revealed a faster decline of haemoglobin and reduced ferritin (a protein that carries iron) levels in the aspirin group compared to the placebo group. Lead author, Associate Professor Zoe McQuilten from Monash University's School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, said while bleeding was a known side-effect of aspirin, few previous studies had looked at the effect of prolonged aspirin use on the progressive development of anaemia in older adults. "This study gives a clearer picture of the additional risk of becoming anaemic with aspirin use and the impact is likely to be greater in older adults with underlying diseases, such as kidney disease," Associate Professor McQuilten said. Associate Professor McQuilten said the new data gave doctors insight into the risk of anaemia from prolonged aspirin use by their older patients. "Older adults are more likely to become anaemic generally and now doctors can potentially identify patients at higher risk of developing anaemia," she said. Associate Professor McQuilten urged patients to follow the advice of their doctor about their daily use of aspirin. She cautioned that for some older adults, aspirin was recommended as a valuable therapy to prevent recurring heart attacks or stroke. "Patients should not change their aspirin regimen without speaking to their GP," she said. (ANI) Identified as Panchsheela Ashok Jamdar, a 30-year-old resident of Sangharsh Nagar Chandiwali, she was brutally attacked when a fight broke out between her and the accused during their auto journey. The accused has been identified as Deepak Borse. According to Mumbai police, the situation escalated rapidly as the accused allegedly slit the girl's throat sharp-edged weapon inside the rickshaw and fled from the spot. However, his attempted escape was short-lived as the swift response of the Sakinaka police led to his apprehension. Despite sustaining minor injuries in a failed suicide attempt, the accused was taken into custody by the police. The Sakinaka Police has registered a case against Deepak Borse under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which pertains to murder. Further investigation is underway. (ANI) This momentous event is set to invigorate the spirit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and engage millions of enthusiastic party workers. "The Mera Booth, Sabse Mazboot program organized in Bhopal on June 27 is going to give a new resolve and a new power to our positive politics. The day will witness a dialogue with lakhs of energetic BJP workers dedicated to the cause of the world's largest democracy," tweeted the Prime Minister in Hindi. Under the banner of "Mera Booth, Sabse Mazboot," the program aims to empower BJP workers by providing them with renewed resolve and strength in their political endeavours. PM Modi is scheduled to visit Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal on June 27 as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gears up for the upcoming assembly elections in five states. (ANI) According to IMD, moderate thunderstorms and lightning with moderate rain are likely to occur at isolated places over Thiravallur, Claennai, Kancheepurani, and Chengalpattu districts during the three hours. https://twitter.com/ChennaiRmc/status/1670880069794021376?s=20 "Convective cells over Chennai, Chengalpattu. Kanchipuram and Thituvallur districts during the past two hours have caused intense thunderstorms with moderate rain in any areas of these districts," the IMD said. The rainfall in various parts of Tamil Nadu may lead to water logging in low-lying areas, and traffic blockage among others. "Water logging in low-lying areas. Traffic affected the Blockage of roads. Increase in water levels in rivers.; lakes and reservoirs. Minor damages to structures Falling of tree branches," the IMD said. Earlier on Monday, schools in various districts of Tamil Nadu will remain closed on Monday due to heavy rain, said the respective district administrations. So far, a holiday has been declared for schools in six districts - Ranipet, Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Chengalpet and Vellore. https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1670677287472361472?s=20 Widespread heavy rainfall was recorded across Chennai on Sunday night. (ANI) During winter 2021, South Side labor organizer Anthony Driver was excited to be a part of Black Bench Chicagos first cohort. As the Service Employees International Union Healthcares political and legislative coordinator and a former aldermanic candidate for the 20th Ward, he was selected to be part of the program in which a Black leadership pipeline can be developed and knowledge from longtime Black leaders can be passed to the next generation of community leaders. In two years, the free program has already made leadership inroads in the city. Advertisement Having gone through the program, Driver, 30, now serves as president of the Community Commission of Public Safety and Accountability, an interim commission tasked with finding the citys next police superintendent. Black Bench Chicago graduate Ashley Munson, a former senior manager of advocacy for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, is now at the Obama Foundation, serving as a manager of community engagement and government affairs. And community organizer Ronnie Mosley, 31, became the 21st Ward alderman and the youngest person on the Chicago City Council. Resident Lawrence Hill, right, talks to Ald. Ronnie Mosley, 21st Ward, on June 16, 2023, in Chicago. (Shanna Madison/Chicago Tribune) Im immensely thankful for it because it has changed the political scene, Mosley said. Whats so rewarding for me in every space that I go, I can find someone from Black Bench, like Anthony Driver. Were continuing to grow that connection, communication, camaraderie so as we work to deliver for the Black community in Chicago, we know ambassadors, leaders, influencers of our community and have a real connection. Advertisement Applications for the next Black Bench Chicago cohort opened Tuesday. Black community leaders ages 25 to 45 serving in the fields of civic engagement, civil service, elected office and strategic leadership from Chicagos South, East and West sides are eligible to apply. Participants have to commit to the schedule and can miss only one session. What were looking for in an applicant is someone who is an expert in their field their field can be anything from being a lawyer, a focus on public health, an organizer or activist, said Black Bench Chicago co-founder Alexandra Sims, who is also president and founder of APS & Associates. We just want folks who care about Black progress and social impact to feel comfortable in applying. Black Bench Chicago's first cohort of graduates poses for a group photo on Nov. 14, 2021, at the Tree House in River North. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) Sims, who is familiar with the Leadership Academy for the Chicago Latino Caucus Foundation, a program that grows Latino leadership in Chicago, said shed often hear Black people talk about needing one of our own such programs. So Sims, Mosley and Hyde Park Summer Fest organizer Jonathan Swain founded Black Bench Chicago in 2021 to educate millennial and Generation Z Black Chicagoans over the course of six months on legislative processes, special interests, the history of Black organizing in Chicago, and campaigns and budgets, among other topics. Experts lead discussions with participants in a collaborative, in-person format one day a month. Funded by Black donors, the new session of Black Bench Chicago will start Aug. 26. The first cohort had 30 participants from 200 applicants. Interest in the program was so great that the advisory board doubled the number of members in the first cohort to 30 fellows. This year, Sims and Mosley are expecting over 250 applicants for just 30 spots. Jonathan Swain, Black Bench Chicago's advisory board chair, left, and program founder Alexandra Sims speak as the first cohort of graduates gathers on Nov. 14, 2021, at an event at the Tree House in River North. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) I want to encourage more women to apply, Sims said. We want to make sure our class is very diverse with where political opinions are set, where they live in the city, gender and sexual identity, all of those things are things we think about in making sure its the best experience for everybody. Its a cool opportunity for young folks to get in front of a lot of Chicagos movers and shakers. With feedback from alumni, Sims said the program will be tweaked to make sure it is as strong as it can be. Former Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White and activist Jacquelyne Grimshaw will continue to be involved with Black Bench, along with civic leader Andy Zopp; lawyer and political organizer Michael Strautmanis; Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union and executive vice president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers; and Anton Seals Jr., executive director of Grow Greater Englewood. Black Bench has given us an ability to understand each other, Mosley said. Theres a diaspora of Black people throughout Chicago that come from all different walks of life and experiences. By being together and understanding those individuals, we can better understand the issues. Im the youngest council member now, but surely there is someone who is 18 that could run for office, work in a government office or a nonprofit, or the civics art space, and we want to make sure that they are prepared for that. Advertisement The deadline for Black Bench Chicago applications is July 16. drockett@chicagotribune.com According to the Customs official, the liquor bottles of different brands pertain to lost property or detained goods. "The Customs Officers of IGI Airport, Delhi destroyed a total of 51.68 Kgs Drugs (41.97 Kgs of Heroin and 9.71 Kgs of Cocaine)," said customs officials. "Delhi Airport Customs disposed of 1289 units of liquor bottles of different brands pertaining to Lost Property/Detained goods at Terminal-3, IGI Airport, New Delhi over the period April 2020 to December 2022, by destruction on 19.06.2023," they said. Earlier in May, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) discovered a sizable amount of medicines estimated to be worth approximately Rs 57.30 lakh from Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) in New Delhi, the officials said. According to PRO CISF, "The suspected passenger was identified as an Indian national, Vakeel Ahmed bound for Bahrain by Gulf Air flight." "At about 0240 hrs, on the basis of behaviour detection, CISF surveillance and intelligence staff noticed suspicious activities of a passenger at the check-in area, Terminal-3 of IGI Airport," the officials said in a statement. It further stated, "Due to suspicion, the passenger was diverted to the random checking point for thorough checking of his baggage." The officials informed that while examination of the checked-in baggage through the X-BIS machine, CISF personnel noticed suspicious images. (ANI) Idols of lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra were installed on the chariot to start the Lord Jagannath Yatra. Devotees thronged the temple premises ahead of the Rath Yatra. Security was also stepped up to ensure smooth functioning. Earlier today, Union Home Minsiter Amit Shah who is on a day-long visit to Gujarat, took part in the 'Mangla Aarti' (part of worship) at Jagannath temple in the Jamalpur area. The 'Ratha Yatra' Festival celebrated in Ahmedabad, Gujarat is considered to be the second biggest Rath Yatra in the country after the Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra. Rath Yatra is celebrated on the second day of the two-week-long Ashadha month of the Hindu calendar and this year, it takes place on June 20. Rath Yatra is one of the famous Hindu festivals celebrated across the world. The Yatra is associated with Lord Jagannath at Shri Kshetra Puri Dham in the state of Odisha, India. Its history is also depicted in Hindu scriptures like Brahma Purana, Padma Purana, Skanda Purana and Kapila Samhita. (ANI) According to police, a PCR call was received on Monday by the Vikaspuri police station regarding the rape of a 10-year-old girl. "Upon receiving the information, the local police reached the spot and took the girl to the hospital", the police added. The officials informed that the girl is safe now and with the use of CCTV footage and other means, the accused was identified and apprehended. Further, a case has also been registered under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. "Teams were formed to identify and apprehend the perpetrator, who was later arrested using CCTV footage and other means. A case has been registered under sections of the IPC and POCSO Act. The girl is now safe," Vichitra Veer, DCP West, Delhi said. Further investigation into the matter is underway. (ANI) The prohibited drug was seized from a gym in Cyberabad and from a businessman on Monday. The gym owners were supplying it to their customers to boost endurance while exercising, according to Rajendra Nagar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Jagdishwar Reddy. But this can result in death due to high blood pressure and there are also chances of the collapse of the central nervous system, the police further informed. The Police said that Mephentermine Sulphate is a prohibited drug and should be given only with a doctor's prescription. The police arrested the accused gym trainer Nitish Jaisingh (32) while the other accused named Rahul is on the run. The one accused arrested was produced before the court on Monday. The Police also appealed to the public to not use the drug. On June 18, Sunday, the police received a piece of credible information based on which Mailardevpally Police arrested one accused Nitish Jaisingh from Durganagar Chourastha. Mephentermine Sulphate Injunctions Vials (Green), Sterile Water Ample, Syringes 1ml/40 units-100 units were seized from him. The accused was selling drugs illegally without any license. The accused named Rahul also sold the drug but he managed to escape. In another case, Police arrested an accused named Sohel Nahedi near the Vattepally Railway gate with a bag that contained pink and green coloured Mephentermine Sulphate Injection Vials. He was selling the prohibited drug illegally. His aide, Ahmed Qureshi managed to escape. The Police seized a total of 188 injections of the prohibited drug. (ANI) One person was killed and another five were injured after a fire broke out in a steel factory at Kerala's Kanjikode industrial area in Palakkad after an explosion in a furnace. Rescue operations were underway, and now the fire is under control, according to Walayar Police Further updates are awaited. (ANI) The Delhi High Court has dismissed the bail application of a school teacher booked for sexually exploiting his student for a period of time. The court said that it cannot ignore the fact that since the petitioner (teacher) and the prosecutrix (Student) were interacting as teacher and student, the alleged offence, if it comes to be proved during the trial, takes an egregious and aggravated form, particularly in view of the specific statutory mandate under section 376(2)(f) of the IPC and section 5(f) of the POCSO Act. The bench of Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani noted, "In the circumstances obtaining in the case, in particular, the relative social standing of the petitioner vis-a-vis the prosecutrix and the societal milieu, this court is not sure that the petitioner would not influence witnesses or flee from justice or otherwise attempt to prejudice the trial of the case if he is enlarged on bail". "In the above view of the matter, this court is not inclined to admit the petitioner to regular bail at this stage. Accordingly, the bail petition is dismissed", said the court. The prosecution has also collected CCTV footage which shows the petitioner and the prosecutrix together at a certain hotel, entering a room. Again, at least at this stage, there is no explanation that would believe what is seen in the CCTV footage. Again, it remains to be explained as to why, if the footage is genuine, did the petitioner and the prosecutrix go together to a hotel room and at whose instance, noted the Court. Appearing for the prosecutrix, Senior Advocate Sunil Dalal opposed the bail plea and submitted that the petitioner was more than double the age of the prosecutrix in April 2021, and had a daughter who was junior to the prosecutrix. Being her teacher, the petitioner was in a position of trust vis-a-vis the prosecutrix, and the offence, therefore, falls within the ambit of section 376(2)(f) IPC and section 5(f) of the POCSO Act. Advocate Dalal also submitted that the offence alleged is very serious and the offence under POCSO attracts a minimum imprisonment of 20 years and that granting bail to such accused before charges are framed would defeat the purpose of the POCSO Act. Advocate Amit Sahni, Additional Public Prosecutor appeared for Delhi Police also submitted that in the chargesheet, FSL Report showed that the DNA of the petitioner matches the DNA found on the vulval swabs and underwear of the victim. Advocate Sahni further submitted, that there is also CCTV footage which shows that after making payment for the hotel room, the petitioner produced his ID and the ID of one Mannu Rana, only to conceal the identity and thereby the age of the prosecutrix, since it would not have been possible for the petitioner to take along a minor to the hotel. According to the case, the petitioner and the prosecutrix are acquainted since the petitioner was her school teacher and also used to give out-of-school tuition to her. According to the prosecutrix, Petitioner's teacher on the pretext of providing her with some notes for an exam taken to his residence and offered her some water and snacks, after consuming which she fainted and the petitioner committed forcible sexual intercourse upon her. When the prosecutrix regained consciousness, the petitioner showed her an objectionable video recording of the incident and threatened the prosecutrix against telling anyone about the incident, or else he would make the video "viral". (ANI) "We demand the government to initiate a case against CPI (M) State Secretary and Deshabhimani daily. Anyway, our Pradesh Congress Committee president and our PCC will take legal action in this matter," Satheesan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. Citing a report in Deshabhimani, Govindan had on Sunday said that the minor girl had given a statement to the investigation agency claiming that Sudhakaran was present at the house of Monson Mavunkal when she was raped by the fake antique dealer. "Sudhakaran was present at the time of the crime at Monson's house. In her (survivor) statement before the Crime Branch, the minor girl revealed that Sudhakaran was present when Monson sexually assaulted her. Crime Branch would question Sudhakaran in the POCSO case. I'm talking on the basis of news reports," Govindan said on Sunday. "The crime branch, the investigation agency, categorically stated that there is no such statement on the part of the survivor. She has not stated anything about our PCC President(K Sudhakaran ). So the allegation made by CPI(M) State Secretary M V Govindan, and its mouthpiece was false," Satheesan said. Meanwhile, activist Payichira Navas filed a complaint against Govindan for his remarks connecting KPCC president K Sudhakaran to the Monson Mavunkal POCSO Case. On June 17 (Saturday), fake antique dealer Monson Mavunkal was sentenced to life imprisonment after a special POCSO court in Ernakulam found him guilty of sexually assaulting a minor girl. (ANI) The Shiv Sena (UBT) will petition the global body United Nations Organisation to declare June 20 as the 'World Traitors Day' to commemorate the treachery on the original Shiv Sena by Eknath Shinde (now, Chief Minister) and 40 MLA perpetrated last year. Sena (UBT) MP and Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that the party will collect signatures of lakhs of people from Maharashtra and send them to the UN with a demand to make the declaration for June 20 as 'World Traitors Day' soon. He said that there are many instances of treason in the world and the people of Maharashtra have also witnessed one in June 2022 which led to the collapse of the Sena(UT)- Nationalist Congress Party-Congress Maha Vikas Aghadi government headed by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The Sena (UBT) MP contended that this will focus attention on the traitors worldwide, with the beginning made in Maharashtra -- in a potentially controversial statement. "When our party comes to power we shall make a beginning - June 19 shall be celebrated as 'World Loyalists Day' and June 20 as the 'traitors' day... We shall make a bonfire of all these 'gaddars' (traitors) as it is done for the demon King Ravana," Raut declared. Speaking to media persons, Raut also referred to the latest 'leak' -- his party MLC Dr. Manisha Kayande hopping over to Shinde' Shiv Sena on Sunday evening -- on the eve of Shiv Sena (UBT)'s 57th anniversary celebrations here this day (June 19). "I don't know where she has come from or where she has gone... But the 'garbage' is going out of the party... When the wind blows, all the 'kachra' (rubbish) gets carried out," said an unfazed Raut. He also accused the rival Shiv Sena of claiming to be the original party founded by the late Balasaheb Thackeray when "they don't even remember the date and year of founding of the party". --IANS qn/dpb ( 333 Words) 2023-06-19-12:50:04 (IANS) The government in an order said, "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Ravi Sinha, IPS (CG:88), PSO, Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat (SR) as Secretary, Research & Analysis Wing vice Shri Samant Kumar Goel, IPS (PB:84) on completion of his tenure on 30.06.2023 for a tenure of 2 years from the date of assumption of the charge of the post, or until further orders, whichever is earlier." Sinha, a 1988 batch officer, has been known for his operational and spy skills. --IANS aks/dpb ( 120 Words) 2023-06-19-13:50:03 (IANS) The 19-year-old victim died during treatment at a hospital here on Sunday. The two accused in the case have already been taken into custody and further legal proceedings are underway. An FIR under IPC section 302 (murder) has been lodged in this connection. Deepak Kumar Pandey, inspector of Gomti Nagar police station, said that the deceased was identified as Akash Kashyap, whose father Jagdish Kashyap runs a roadside eatery near Bhoothnath market of Indira Nagar colony. He said that the two accused have been identified as Abhay Pratap Singh and Devansh Kumar. The incident happened at the room of their mutual friend Avanish Tiwari where a group of four friends were partying. Akash reportedly had a verbal duel with Abhay over the phone in connection with the monetary issue. As per Abhay, Akash was not paying him back Rs 1,000 which he had borrowed. The police official said that Akash and Abhay, along with another friend Devansh, got together at Tiwari's place where the verbal duel turned into confrontation while the group was having drinks. The cop said that the confrontation erupted again due to a conversation over the same issue. This time, Abhay turned violent. Akash was first beaten up with a baton and then stabbed multiple times with a kitchen knife, causing him fatal injuries. Later, Abhay and Devansh escaped from the room when the neighbour's turned up at Avanish's room. Akash was rushed to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries on Sunday. --IANS amita/ksk/ ( 283 Words) 2023-06-19-08:18:04 (IANS) Mayte Vera Lopez dances with her friend Fernanda Sabogal, 14, during Lopezs quinceanera in Chicago on June 17, 2023. Maytes mother, Rebeca Lopez, was unable to afford the cost of the celebration and her co-workers at a Pilsen restaurant came together to help pay for the cost of the dress. Food was donated for the party, and the restaurant owners donated event space. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) Even on the most difficult days, when Rebeca Lopez feels like she cant keep going anymore, the smiles of her three children cheer her up. They give me strength, she said. On Saturday night, every moment of pain and resilience that she has lived with as a single mother was encapsulated when she danced a waltz with her daughter Mayte Vera during her quinceanera celebration. Advertisement The coming-of-age party was something that both mother and daughter did not think would happen because the family couldnt afford it at least not one with the big, beautiful and embellished dress, an elaborate cake and the waltz in a hall filled with friends and family. But thanks to Lopezs co-workers at 5 Rabanitos, a Mexican restaurant in the Pilsen neighborhood where shes been a server for less than two years, the mother and daughter were able to host the celebration because of their fundraising efforts. And with tears in their eyes, the mother and daughter danced that waltz holding each other tight as the crowd applauded. Advertisement I was happy, so grateful, for my children, for my co-workers and for life despite all the hard times, Lopez said. When she first told a co-worker, Alfredo Dominguez, three weeks ago that she couldnt afford a grandiose quinceanera celebration for her youngest daughter and instead invited him to a carne asada, he immediately offered to help to plan a party, she said. Not only that, he galvanized the rest of their co-workers, servers, cooks and dishwashers, to come together to help Lopez organize and pay for the party. The owner and chef of the high-profile restaurant, Alfonso Sotelo, also pitched in. He offered a space to host the event at a discounted price and, of course, was flexible with Lopez and the rest of the workers to make sure they could take the time from work to enjoy the celebration together. All my workers are important to me, they are like family, he said. Dominguez and another server at the restaurant, Cory Guzman, paid for the dress that cost around $1,000. Alfredo also helped get the food prepared, secured a bartender for the night and stood by Lopezs side to help with anything she needed. Guzman also made his specialty dish of spiced shrimp to share with the invitees. Norma Ruiz offered to pay for the alcoholic drinks and other co-workers also donated soda and other necessities for the party. This is what everyone should do for one another, be there in the good times and bad times, Dominguez said. Mayte Vera Lopez dances with her mother, Rebeca Lopez, during Maytes quinceanera in Chicago on June 17, 2023. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) Reyna Godos, who no longer works at 5 Rabanitos but who is good friends with Lopez and the rest of the workers, got Mayte the cake and her last doll an important tradition for the mother and daughter because it signifies that the young girl transitioned from a girl to a woman. For Lopez and her daughter the quinceanera is special because its a tradition deeply rooted in culture for her family, who emigrated to Chicago from Michoacan, Mexico. It celebrates a girls entrance into womanhood when turning 15. Lopez was able to host it for her first daughter and she wanted to make sure her youngest daughter felt just as special. Advertisement And she did. Mayte laughed, cried and danced, her mother, sister and little brother by her side. Together we can accomplish anything, were a team, Lopez said. I tell them all the time. After a long day of work Saturday night, Sotelo and some of the workers joined Lopez and her family at a small venue in the South Side. A crown of lilac balloons adorned the table where Mayte sat with some of her high school friends. Earlier that day, Lopez had decorated the space. The tables all had white tablecloths with purple runners and artificial flower and balloon center pieces. She also added a small dessert table with sweets that some of the attendees helped to make. Mayte Vera Lopez is introduced to the crowd during her quinceanera in Chicago on June 17, 2023. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) Mayte Vera Lopez, left, relaxes in her car with friend Fernanda Sabogal, 14, before Lopezs quinceanera. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) The trays of food, which Dominguez brought to the hall along with one of Lopezs brothers, were lined up on the bar. There was rice, chicken and mole, a traditional Mexican dish that one of Dominguezs friend helped make. Advertisement After dinner, the group surrounded Lopez and her daughter in the middle of the dance floor, dancing to cumbia and banda, cheering for the moment. I hope it shows people that good people do exist in this world, Lopez said. And that it encourages others to do the same because this single day, Im sure, Ill remember forever, (my daughter) she will remember this forever. Her co-workers and friends, Lopez said, are selfless. She is still in disbelief that they so willingly offered to support her and her children every time things turn dark on her. But more so, she is grateful that they were there to celebrate together. Ever since she became a single mother after the end of her relationship little more than a year ago, life for her and her children has not been easy. She carries the full responsibility to financially support her children, Alan, 10, Mayte, now 15, and her older daughter Diana, 19. She said all three are considerate and thoughtful. They never ask for anything I cant give them, Lopez said. Advertisement Though I wish I could give them the world, said the mother as her voiced cracked and she took a deep breath. So when she took her youngest daughter by the hand in the middle of the dance floor during the quinceanera and saw her smile, she realized that though she may not be able to do it all alone, she has a village that will help when she needs it the most. And that includes family and friends. A shy Mayte took the mic during her party and thanked everyone. Gracias a todos por hacer esta fiesta realidad, she said, or Thank you to everyone for making this party a reality. Her mother followed. Sin la ayuda de mis companeros esto no hubiera sido possible, meaning that without the help and encouragement from her co-workers, she wouldnt have been able to host such an important celebration for her daughter. larodriguez@chicagotribune.com The Punjab Cabinet on Monday approved an amendment in the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925 to make transmission of Gurbani from the Golden Temple "free for all". The Bill would be tabled in the special session of the Assembly for discussion and passing on Tuesday. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the apex religious body for Sikhs, reacted sharply to the move, asking the government not to interfere in religious matters. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the resolution to make transmission of Gurbani is a historic decision aimed at ensuring the free-to-air telecast of sacred Gurbani from Sri Harmandar Sahib in Amritsar. He said as per the Sikh Gurdwara Amendment Act 2023, the telecast of Gurbani would be free-to-air in India and abroad. He said the broadcasters will have to ensure that no commercial is aired half an hour before and after the video or audio telecast of the Gurbani. On SGPC's allegation that the state government has no right to amend the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925, Mann said the Supreme Court in its 2014 decision has made it clear that it's not an inter-state Act but a state Act. He said the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925 has no word on broadcast or live telecast of Gurbani. He said it was misused in 2012 for giving exclusive rights to air the Gurbani for 11 years to one TV channel owned by the Badal family. "As a result, Sikhs have to subscribe to this channel which is expensive as itas clubbed with three to four other channels. It should be free of cost," he added. Mann said now the SGPC is making the case for floating a tender for airing Gurbani but the Badal family may again get the exclusive rights through the tender. Responding to the Cabinet decision, SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami said: "This (Gurdwara Act) can only be amended by the Centre as the Punjab government has got not right to do so." --IANS vg/ksk/ ( 346 Words) 2023-06-19-14:48:06 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah launched a fresh attack on the state and central BJP leadership after the Centre discontinued the sale of wheat and rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) warehouses to state governments, saying that they were trying to "scuttle" the Anna Bhagya Scheme and playing politics on foodgrains for the poor. The Siddaramaiah government plans to roll out its second guarantee, the Anna Bhagya scheme providing 10 kg foodgrains per person per month to all BPL families in the state from July 1. "We are honestly trying to implement the Anna Bhagya Scheme by July 1 despite politics and roadblocks," the Chief Minister said on Monday. "Do the BJP leaders have any respect, honour? They are not providing rice even as we are paying money. They are anti-poor. They are ready to sell rice for private players. They refuse to sell it to us. What does it indicate?" the CM said. Speaking to the reporters at his home office, Krishna, in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah maintained that the central government was doing politics in providing rice to the poor. "Will the central government grow rice? Do they own paddy fields? The rice is purchased from the states. Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks about cooperative federalism. We are in a federal structure. We should be in terms of cooperation. From where does the Centre get taxes? It gets it from the states, then they should cooperate," he underlined. "Andhra Pradesh, Telangana have said that there is no stock of rice. Chhattisgarh has 1.5 lakh tonnes of rice and it will provide for only one month. The requirement is 2.28 lakh metric tonnes for the state. The rice is not available in Punjab as well. The FCI had stated on June 7th that it will provide rice. On 12th they agreed to provide 7 lakh tonnes of rice. I personally called the deputy general manager of FCI and he agreed. But, on 14th June we got a letter denying the supply. It should be called politics right?" CM Siddaramaiah questioned. "To provide rice for money, BJP is playing politics... The BJP is hatching a conspiracy," he maintained. "Rs 840 crore is required for a month and for a year Rs 10,092 crore is needed to implement the scheme. We are ready to bear the expense. The BJP leaders who are demanding transfer of money to accounts, should instead ask the central BJP government to provide rice. The jowar and ragi are not available in the market and there is no stock," CM Siddaramaiah stated. "We are taking quotations from the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Limited (NCCF), Kendriya Bhandar and see how much they can provide. --IANS mka/dpb ( 462 Words) 2023-06-19-15:16:05 (IANS) Officials in Aizawl said that the Assam Rifles, Mizoram Excise and Narcotics Department, Customs, state police seized huge quantities of heroin, cannabis, methamphetamine (also called Yaba tablets) and pseudoephedrine tablets during this year. Last year, the law enforcement agencies had seized 49.3 kg of heroin and 29.8 kg of pseudoephedrine tablets. A meeting of the 'Core Committee on Ruihol Do' (War against drugs) chaired by Mizoram Social Welfare and Excise Minister Lalrinawma held here, expressed concern over the increasing of drug smuggling from Myanmar through the state and their abuse by a section of youths. An official of the Mizoram Excise and Narcotics Department said that the menace of drug abuse in rural areas is much higher than in urban areas. The 'Core Committee on Ruihol Do' decided to launch a massive awareness programme across the state to curb the drug menace. The Mizoram government has provided Rs 3 crore to the committee to undertake all sorts of programmes to curb the drug menace. Besides senior officials, leaders of Young Mizo Association (YMA) and Mizo Students' Union (MSU) took part in the meeting. According to the Excise and Narcotics Department officials, the heroin and other drugs were smuggled from neighboring Myanmar. Mizoram's 510 km unfenced international border with Myanmar, especially in the bordering Champhai district, is a major hotspot of smuggling. Besides various illicit drugs, foreign cigarettes, a variety of other contrabands like gold, as well as arms and ammunition, exotic animals, and areca nuts are often smuggled from Myanmar into northeastern states, especially Mizoram and Manipur. --IANS sc/ksk/ ( 307 Words) 2023-06-19-15:24:03 (IANS) A toll plaza employee was beaten by bouncers in Bihar's Bhojpur district, an official said here on Monday, adding that the victim later died in his native place Gonda in Uttar Pradesh. "We have learnt about the death of a toll plaza employee, named Balwant Singh (35) in his native of Mankapur village in Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh. He was deployed at the Kulharia toll plaza. "A video went viral on social media showing some bouncers thrashing the employee after accusing him of stealing money from the toll kiosk. After the physical assault, Singh returned to Gonda where he died," the SHO of Koilwar police station said. "An FIR has been registered in Gonda and the post-mortem was also conducted there. We are waiting for the post-mortem report and FIR. Once we get it, we will analyze the actual cause of his death. If the post-mortem report and FIR puts fingers towards alleged bouncers, we will take action against them," he said. Balwant Singh was accused of stealing money from the toll kiosk on Saturday. The bouncers beat him and threw him on the railway track near the Kulharia railway station. The Kulharia toll plaza is located on the Koilwar-Buxar four lane road. The tolling operation started this year and it was the first incident of violence on this toll booth. Further details awaited. --IANS ajk/dpb ( 242 Words) 2023-06-19-15:30:08 (IANS) In view of International Yoga Day on June 21, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India is placing advertisements in Lucknow, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, and Chennai, encouraging people to adopt a yoga buddy - that is, a playful dog or cat - from a local animal shelter. The billboard in Lucknow is located at Rajajipuram. "Anyone who has gone into downward dog only to see their pup run onto the mat under them, knows that animals brighten our lives with their antics and personalities," said PETA India Campaigns Coordinator Atharva Deshmukh. "Why not give an animal in need a home while ensuring that the 'namaste' with which you start your yoga session will always be followed by a woof or a purr?" she stated. PETA India notes that every time someone buys a 'pure bred' dog from a breeder, from a pet store, or online, a dog in need roaming the streets or waiting in an animal shelter loses a chance at finding a home. Stray animals often starve or are injured, abused, or hit by vehicles. Countless other animals are left to languish in animal shelters because there are not enough good homes for them. PETA India advocates for adoption and urges guardians to have their animal companions sterilised so that those who have already been born have the best chance at a good home and a good life. --IANS amita/uk/ ( 248 Words) 2023-06-19-15:56:05 (IANS) Shah will reach Ahmedabad late Monday evening. The following day, he has a lineup of five public engagements -- the 'Mangla Aarti' at the Jagannath Temple, located in the Jamalpur area of Ahmedabad, starting at approximately 3.45 a.m; around 9.15 a.m. he will inaugurate a park in New Ranip, Ahmedabad, which has been developed by the Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC). He will also dedicate a newly constructed Jagatpur railway flyover in the Chandlodia area. This project is the result of a collaborative effort between the AMC and Railways, aiming to improve transportation infrastructure in the region. Continuing with his engagements, Shah will also inaugurate a public park developed by CREDAI Ahmedabad, offering a much-needed recreational space for the general public. The Home Minister will participate in the 'Bhoomi Pujan' ceremony of Trimurti Hospital, situated in the Bavla area of Ahmedabad. --IANS janvi/dpb ( 190 Words) 2023-06-19-16:04:04 (IANS) Hours after the student wing of the CPI(M), the Students Federation of India (SFI), gave a clean chit to its leader Nikhil Thomas in the certificates case, the Vice Chancellor of the Kerala University said that it was strange that a student can study for degree at two universities at the same time. In Thomas's case, the two Universities are Kerala University and Kalinga University of Chhattisgarh. Trouble began for Thomas after a female SFI student at the MSM College Kayamkulam in Alappuzha district gave a complaint to the CPI(M) that Thomas, presently doing his final year M.Com at the college, has not passed B.Com from Kerala University. Soon a trial of accusations began and on Monday morning SFI state secretary P.A.Arsho told the media that all the certificates of Thomas were correct and his admission for M.Com was according to the rules and procedures. The SFI office-bearers gave a clean chit to Thomas after seeing his certificates, which includes his B.Com degree certificate from Kalinga University. But the top official of Kalinga University, Registrar Sandeep Gandhi said, "There was no student named Nikhil Thomas and after knowing about his certificate, we will take legal steps against this student." But Kerala University Vice Chancellor Dr Mohan Kunnummal said that Thomas was a student at the MSM College Kayamkulam from 2017 to 2020 for B.Com. "Records with us show that he had 75 per cent attendance because only then he could write the examination. He failed for B.Com here. But now I am in possession of his B.Com degree certificate which has been given from Kalinga University, Chhattisgarh. This cannot happen because he from our records was our student and did not pass the exam. From preliminary observation of his certificate from Kalinga University we have to assume that it's a fake one. We will now write to Kalinga University and then act accordingly," said Kunnummal. What has raised eyebrows now is Arsho, who himself is in trouble over his PG marks list, on Monday was trying to blame the media for coming out with false news against SFI. Kunnummal has said the College will have to give an explanation. "We will now send notices to both the Principal and Thomas to come and explain," said Kunnummal. Top Congress leader V.T.Balaram, a former two-time legislator said if the media does an investigation into the education sector, lots of similar cases will be come out. --IANS sg/dpb ( 416 Words) 2023-06-19-16:28:03 (IANS) In a breakthrough in the city's liquor vend firing incident, the Manesar crime branch unit of the Gurugram Police has nabbed one of the shooters who was involved in the shootout, in which one person was killed and two others sustained gunshot injuries. The arrested accused has been identified as Rohit Gadaria (21), a resident of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, who was arrested from village Daboda located on Farukhnagar-Helimandi road on Sunday, police said. The incident took place at a liquor shop in the Pachgaon area at around 8.30 p.m. on Friday when two armed assailants opened fire. A video of the incident went viral on social media, in which the attackers could be seen opening firing. The police had also announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for any information about the killers. During questioning, the accused disclosed before the police that, he and his two associates Saurabh and Deepak Nagar works for gangster Lipin Nehra and at his behest, the trio had carried out this incident. According to the police, Lipin Nehra had asked the complainant, Kuldeep Singh, to transfer the ownership of his Discovery Wine Shop located near Panchgaon Chowk to his father Dayaram Nehra, but the complainant did not transfer the same. "Lipin Nehra, to pressurise the complainant and establish his supremacy, asked his gang members to execute the crime following which the trio accused committed the incident. The culprits had to carry out similar incidents in Faridabad, Rewari and Pataudi," Vijay Pratap Singh, DCP (crime) said. The accused also revealed that on the incident day, they had come on a motorcycle, he (Rohit) was driving the motorcycle. He parked the motorcycle nearby the liquor shop and his two accomplices Saurabh and Deepak Nagar went to the wine shop and fired about 19 rounds and fled on the motorcycle. "Thereafter, they went to their room in IMT Manesar and from there they went to Kosli in (Rewari). Rohit was trying to run away from here. To avoid arrest, he boarded the bus and went to Uttar Pradesh but he was nabbed by the police on the way," the DCP said. Earlier, a complaint was filed by shop owner Kuldeep Singh, in which he claimed that he and his brother Praveen had received a threatening international call a week ago, stating that they would face consequences if they did not transfer the ownership of the shop to their names. The incident took place on Friday at around 8:30 p.m. when two armed assailants reached the shop to buy liquor and opened fire at the crowd. Three customers -- Sandeep, a resident of Saharanpur in UP, and Devraj Sharma and Rajendra Prasad, both residents of Alwar in Rajasthan -- were critically injured while some others received minor injuries. The three were rushed to a nearby hospital where the doctors declared Sandeep brought dead. An FIR has been registered against the unidentified caller and two shooters under the relevant sections of the IPC at the Manesar police station. --IANS str/uk/ ( 509 Words) 2023-06-19-17:18:02 (IANS) The court has also sentenced fourteen others involved in the case to three years of rigorous imprisonment. The court, while imposing the jail term on N. Gunaseelan, the then Manager (Scale-II) of Syndicate Bank, also ordered him to pay a fine of Rs 75,000. The CBI registered the case on October 4, 2010, based on a complaint from Syndicate Bank's Regional Office in Coimbatore. "It was alleged that private individuals conspired with public servants to defraud Syndicate Bank. The public servant had approved and disbursed housing loans amounting to Rs 155.79 lakh to ineligible borrowers. The loan accounts subsequently became non-performing assets (NPA) worth Rs 162.72 lakh," said the CBI. After conducting an investigation, the CBI filed a charge sheet on May 3, 2012, against the accused. The trial court found the accused guilty and convicted them. --IANS atk/dan/bg ( 182 Words) 2023-06-19-17:30:06 (IANS) Delhi Education Minister Atishi visited University College London (UCL) in the United Kingdom to discuss potential partnerships with UCL's leadership, focusing on capacity-building training for teachers and school administrators from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) primary schools. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party said that the Delhi government, under the visionary leadership of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, is fully committed to reinventing the education system in MCD schools, aiming to transform them into world-class institutions. Speaking about her visit, Atishi stated, "Education has always been the priority of Kejriwal-led government. After Delhi government schools, now our focus is on MCD schools and revolutionising the education system in them is our priority. In order to make MCD schools world-class education institutions, it is important for us to let MCD teachers explore the education trends across the world. Partnership with institutions like UCL will help us do so." Atishi emphasised the value of international exposure for Delhi government school teachers, citing its significant contribution to strengthening the Delhi education model. She expressed her intention to provide the same exposure to MCD school teachers, which led to her meeting with UCL's leadership. The UCL's Faculty of Education and Society, known as the Institute of Education (IOE), is the world's leading centre for education and social science research, teaching, and engagement. "Having our teachers trained here will be very useful for the students of MCD schools. Teachers will be able to bring the best pedagogical practices to the classrooms and contribute to the holistic development of students in their formative years," Atishi said. The AAP said in a press note that the Delhi government had a history of prioritising international exposure for its teachers. Over 1100 teachers and principals were sent to educational institutions worldwide, including the United Kingdom, Finland, Singapore, and other nations. Additionally, premier institutions such as IIM Ahmedabad and Lucknow have provided training to these principals and teachers of Delhi government schools. During the visit to UCL, Atishi was accompanied by the Delhi Education Secretary and Director of Education of MCD, along with a senior faculty member from the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Delhi. --IANS atk/bg ( 372 Words) 2023-06-19-20:12:02 (IANS) The Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG), in a special probe last year had found out Rs 12,024-crore alleged misappropriation in the civic body's expenses related to various projects during that period. "Based on the CAG Audit, the Maharashtra government has set up a SIT under the guidance of Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar, Joint Commissioner of Police, the officers of the Economic Offences Wing and senior officers of the city police," said Shinde. Following demands from various quarters, the approval was given today to form the SIT that will investigate the financial irregularities and embezzlement of public funds as red-flagged by the CAG, he added. It may be recalled that last year, the ruling ally Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Amit Satam had demanded that the CM set up a special probe panel into the alleged frauds and book those found responsible. Following the CM's green signal to the demands, the CAG teams had visited the BMC last year and probed various projects, tenders, purchases and expenses incurred during the Covid-19 pandemic period, and submitted its special report in March 2023. --IANS qn/uk/ ( 243 Words) 2023-06-19-20:42:03 (IANS) Taking to Twitter, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "Today three years ago the Prime Minister gave this clean chit to China. Just listen to him. It has hurt and will continue to hurt India very badly. His continued silence thereafter both in Parliament and outside has contributed to a weakening of India's negotiating position." He also attached a video of the Prime Minister's remarks on China on June 19, days after the Galwan Valley clash. The Congress has been questioning the Prime Minister's silence on the border row with China and censuring the Centre for not discussing the issue in Parliament. --IANS aks/shb/ ( 155 Words) 2023-06-19-12:40:01 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has proposed a Cabinet meeting with Lieutenant Governor, VK Saxena, on the law and order situation in the national capital. CM Kejriwal in a letter to LG Saxena on Monday, expressed concern over the increase in serious crimes within the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. Highlighting the gravity of the situation, the CM emphasized that four murders have occurred in the past 24 hours alone, causing distress and raising significant apprehensions among the residents. "I am writing this letter to draw the urgent attention of your good self towards an alarming spurt in serious crimes in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. Seriousness of the situation can be gauged from a heart-rending fact that four murders have taken place during the last 24 hours in different parts of Delhi," reads his letter. In his letter, the CM urged the Lieutenant Governor to take immediate and effective measures to restore the faith of the citizens in the security and safety of their lives. "Such serious crimes have shaken Delhi. It is high time that those entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of lives of residents of Delhi should not be seen as failing time and again in their mandatory duty," the letter reads. The Chief Minister has also expressed his willingness to extend full cooperation in ensuring the rule of law and safeguarding the interests of the people in the NCT of Delhi, through the letter. Drawing attention to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, CM Kejriwal emphasized that it should have served as a wake-up call for the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Lieutenant Governor, both of whom bear direct responsibility for maintaining law and order in Delhi. Regrettably, no substantial action has been taken based on this report, which reveals that Delhi alone accounted for 32.20 per cent of total crimes against women among 19 metropolitan cities in India. "Given such alarming figures, urgent preventive steps on crimes against women were required, but unfortunately for the reasons best known to the MHA and your good self, nothing changed on the ground," the letter read. The CM has also expressed his disappointment at the lack of urgency displayed by the LG and the MHA, who are responsible for maintaining law and order. He has pointed out that there has been a rise in the number of private security guards hired by residents due to the shortage of Delhi Police personnel. "I am constrained to state that the kind of urgency required for prevention of crimes in Delhi is completely missing on the part of decision-makers responsible for the maintenance of law and order here," the letter further read. The Chief Minister further emphasized the need for immediate measures, such as enhanced police patrolling during night hours, and called for open dialogue with the residents of Delhi to seek their input on improving the law and order situation. CM Arvind Kejriwal has proposed a meeting between his cabinet colleagues and the Lieutenant Governor to address this critical issue for a constructive discussion and exchange of ideas. He further suggested that police officers engage in joint meetings with elected MLAs, councilors, and Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) to explore practical strategies for crime reduction in the national capital. The CM has also called for the revival of Thana-level committees, which previously served as platforms for regular and active engagement between the police, the public, and elected representatives until 2013. (ANI) Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge has accused the BJP of spewing venom and spreading communal disharmony in the country and lodged a complaint against BJP National President J P Nadda and others for malicious posts against Rahul Gandhi. The Karnataka minister for Information Technology and Biotechnology on Monday lodged a police complaint against Nadda, the BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya and the party's Chandigarh president Arun Sood for releasing a "malicious" animated video of Rahul Gandhi. "For a long time, BJP's IT handles have been spewing venom, spreading communal disharmony and spreading false news. So it's high time that these people need to be reigned in, including their IT head," Kharge said. In his complaint to the High Grounds Police Station in Bengaluru, Kharge alleged that the video circulated on June 17 on Malviya's Twitter handle had been posted with the malicious intent of not only tarnishing the reputation of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress but also to instigate communal discord and misrepresent the party and its leaders' persona. "Whatever they put up on June 17 is highly malicious and we are going to take action against that. So we have complained today. I have registered a complaint today and we will take it to the logical end," Kharge said In his complaint, it is said that the video claimed that Congress and Rahul Gandhi are indulging in the balkanization of the country and indulging in anti-national activities. (ANI) A temple in Bhopal has imposed a ban on the entry of devotees who do not wear appropriate attire and has appealed to people to visit temples dressed in "decent clothes." Sanskriti Bachao Manch Madhya Pradesh has pasted posters in the temples in Bhopal banning entry inside temple premises in western dresses. Speaking to ANI, President of Sanskriti Bachao Manch and priest Chandra Shekhar Tiwari said, "Temple is a place of culture and rituals. It has been our tradition to visit the temple wearing decent clothes. Today, girls go to the temple wearing half pants and wear such clothes, which are indecent. The clothes should be cultural and traditional, according to the dignity of the temple." Posters pasted inside the temple premises read, "It is a religious place, not a tourist place. Please enter the temple premises wearing only decent clothes. Entry will be prohibited if wearing short clothes, half pants, mini skirts and night suits. Cooperation is expected from all Sanatan Dharmis." Tiwari also said that women are not seen wearing sarees in pubs or discos. When there is a dress code for such a place, then there should be entry in religious places only in decent clothes. "Sanskriti Bachao Manch has started this initiative for the entire state and we request the administrators and founders of all the religious places and pilgrimage places across the country to allow entry in temple premises in decent clothes," he said. Posters have been pasted in many temples in Bhopal and an appeal has been made to enter the temple premises only by wearing cultured clothes, Tiwari added. (ANI) Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday while chairing a high-level meeting to review public health preparedness to deal with heatwave conditions prevailing in parts of the country, said that a team of officers will be sent to states experiencing heatwaves to assist the state governments. "A team of experts from the Union Health Ministry, ICMR, IMD and NDMA will visit the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to support them in public health response measures to address heat-related illnesses," the minister said. Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting in the national capital to review the preparedness of public health services for heatwaves across the country. Underscoring the importance of sturdy and timely preparedness through awareness and early actions, Mandaviya has also directed ICMR to conduct research on how to minimise the effect of heat waves on health, with specific short, medium and long-term action plans. "The Centre has taken timely measures ahead of the summer season to address the heat wave-related illnesses. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting to review preparedness ahead of the summer season in March while the Union Health Ministry issued a heat wave advisory in February where States were advised to review health facility preparedness in terms of essential medicines, intravenous fluids, packs, ORS, drinking water as well as dissemination of necessary IEC materials," he added. As per the Ministry of Health, during the meeting, Mandaviya was briefed on the status of heat waves in various states and about the preparedness of Central agencies in terms of the availability of required supplies and hospital infrastructure to provide timely and effective healthcare services. It was also apprised that daily surveillance on heat-related illness under National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health (NPCCHH) has been ensured in all states and districts on the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) and all the health facilities have been asked to participate using P-form level login, the ministry said. "Sensitization of masses is important, but sensitization and capacity building of medical officers, health staff, and grass-root level workers on heat-related illness, its early recognition and management is also important," the Union Health Minister said. He further urged states and central agencies to enhance awareness among people regarding preventive measures through multi-media IEC campaigns. Union Health Minister asked IMD to issue daily weather forecasts in a manner which can be easily interpreted and disseminated. Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), Dr Rajiv Bahl, NITI Aayog, Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), along with India Meteorological Department (IMD) experts were also present at the meeting. Many people are suffering from the scorching heat across the country. On Monday, two persons amid soaring temperatures in the Gaya district of Bihar died at Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College, the hospital informed. A total of 58 patients were admitted at Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College on Monday.The Patna District Magistrate has suspended all academic activities up to Class 12 in Patna due to the ongoing heat wave. The order will remain effective till June 24. (ANI) On March 24, Chetan Gala stabbed five people living in the neighborhood out of anger, three people died in the Hospital during treatment, and one woman was stabbed by the accused 30 times. Neighbors Jayendra Mistry and Elabai Mistry along with 18-year-old girl Jenil Brahmabhat were killed in the attack by the accused. The incident took place on March 24 in the year 2023. Some passer has recorded the video on their phone, which has also been submitted as evidence in this chargesheet. CCTV footage near the building has also been included in the charge sheet. (ANI) In a major crackdown on the menace of drugs in the national capital, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police has arrested 776 narco-offenders under Operation Kawach in 615 cases of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) and recovered about 36 kgs of heroin this year to the date, a statement by the police said on Tuesday. "To tackle the menace on all fronts, last month, a joint and sweeping operation (OPERATION KAWACH) was launched all over Delhi to focus on identifying and apprehending individuals involved in the trafficking and distribution of narcotics. During the current year (till June 19), Delhi Police has arrested 776 narco-offenders in 615 NDPS cases and recovered about 36 kgs of heroin/smack, 15 kgs of cocaine, 1800 kgs of ganja, 233 kgs of opium, 10.5 kgs of charas and 71 kgs. of poppy head etc., besides some quantities of amphetamine, etc," the official statement said. During this operation, the official decided to target the street-level traffickers and to have both top to bottom and bottom-to-top approaches to effectively counter drug trafficking, the statement added. "Action for coordinated raids on narco-offenders was planned with all the senior officers as well as field officers. 150 police teams consisting of the anti-narcotics task force (ANTF), Crime Branch, and all police stations of all the districts under the leadership of Commissioner of Police, Delhi were constituted to carry out the operations and chose more than," the official further said. It further said that during these raids conducted during the intervening night of May 12-13, 31 drug offenders were arrested in 30 NDPS cases, in addition to this, 12 were arrested in 6 Excise Act cases with the recovery of illicit liquor. "During the operation, 957.5 gms. of heroin, 57.884 kg. of ganja and 782 quarters of illicit liquor were recovered," it added. (ANI) Earlier today, Tamil Nadu Police produced a BJP State secretary before the judiciary magistrate in Madurai. He was arrested on Friday for his recent tweet on Madurai MP Su Venkatesan. In a scathing letter aimed at Communist Party of India (CPI) Councilor Viswanathan, the BJP State Secretary Suryah had earlier referred to an incident in which a sanitation worker from Madurai died on the job. He claimed that he was forced to work in faecal water and hence he developed an allergic reaction in his body. In the letter attached to his tweet, Suryah lashed out at Viswanathan for his double standards, for forcing the deceased sanitation worker to resort to manual scavenging despite being aware that it is prohibited by law. In the same tweet, Suryah attacked Madurai MP Venkatesan for his silence. "Your fake politics of separatism stinks worse than that cesspool, find a way to live as a human being, mate!" a rough translation of his tweet in Tamil read. (ANI) The 4th Education Working Group meeting (EdWG) commenced on Tuesday in Pune to final outcome documents to be presented at the Education Ministers meeting on June 22, 2023. The meeting was chaired by G-20 India Chair and Secretary, Department of Higher Education K Sanjay Murthy, with the Secretary of, the Department of School Education and Literacy, Sanjay Kumar, and Secretary, of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Atul Kumar Tiwari as Alternate Chairs. Deliberations with the G20 delegates on the draft ministerial declaration took place on day one of the 4th EdWG meetings. "The International Organisations (IOs) UNICEF, OECD, and UNESCO presented the education working group report. G20 members and invited countries appreciated the sustained efforts of the Indian Presidency and IOs for having put together the education policies and programs by setting a common agenda for the group in a comprehensive manner through the EdWG Report and Compendium," the Ministry of Education said. Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Chief Coordinator, of India's G20 Presidency emphasized that India, as the world's largest democracy, is being considered a source of solutions for global and local challenges. He highlighted the valuable exchange of best practices in the previous three EdWG meetings held in Chennai, Amritsar, and Bhubaneswar, focusing on tech-enabled learning, research and collaboration, and the future of work. The Fourth and final meeting will address the theme of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN). He further added that India is focused on driving towards an inclusive international order that works together despite ideological differences for sustainable global good. K Sanjay Murthy extended a warm welcome to all the delegates attending the 4th EdWG meeting. He shared that the exchange of experiences and best practices witnessed during the EdWG meetings will pave the way for targeted actions aimed at ensuring fundamental literacy for every child. He also highlighted the importance of the previous three meetings and expressed appreciation towards the G20 delegates for the enthusiastic participation witnessed in all past EdWG events. On the side-lines of the 4th EdWG, a meeting and seminar were held on the theme 'Ensuring Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, especially in the context of Blended Learning.' Additionally, a multimedia exhibition is being held at Savitribai Phule Pune University from June 17 to 23. "With over 12,000 attendees and 80+ exhibitors, the exhibition provides an opportunity to showcase FLN-related initiatives. Notable participants in the exhibition include NCERT, IKS (Indian Knowledge System), Microsoft, Nipun Bharat initiative, Indonesia, UNICEF, UNESCO, and many others," the release stated. G20 Delegates also participated in a Heritage Walk of Pune City which included visits to Shaniwar Wada, Lal Mahal, and Nana Wada to experience the rich cultural heritage of Maharashtra. In addition, International Day of Yoga celebrations will be arranged to give G20 delegates, an opportunity to do Yoga for a healthy mind and soul. (ANI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that "duplicity of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin's character is unacceptable" as the latter is now opposing the arrest of his fellow minister Senthil Balaji while the DMK president was the one who called him "corrupt" in the past. "CM Stalin is opposing the arrest of Minister Senthil Balaji in the 'corruption case'. But when Balaji was in AIADMK, Stalin called him corrupt and demanded his immediate arrest. Now when his demand has been met, he is terming it a political vendetta. This duplicity of character is unacceptable," Rajnath Singh said while addressing a gathering here, organised to mark nine years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre. The Enforcement Directorate arrested the minister for Electricity and Prohibition and Excise, Balaji on June 14 in connection with an Enforcement Case Information Register (ECIR) filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in 2021. He joined the DMK in December 2018 and assumed office as the Electricity Minister after the party came to power in May 2021. Rajnath Singh also slammed Stalin after the arrest of Bharatiya Janata Party State Secretary SG Surya over his social media post, critical to CPI Councillor and Madurai MP. "The way CM Stalin ordered to arrest of BJP leader SG Surya over a tweet, is completely anti-Constitutional and anti-democratic. He is putting democracy in danger by doing this," he said. During his address, the Defence Minister especially highlighted the Defence Corridor, being built in the southern State. "I would like to inform you that an investment of about Rs 14,945 crore is planned in the Tamil Nadu Defence Corridor. And so far Rs 4,015 crore has been invested in the project," he said. Mentioning the importance of Sengol, the sacred sceptre established in the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, Singh said, "When Tamil Nadu is discussed in the whole country, the word Sengol comes to our mind first. Two months ago, hardly anyone outside the State was familiar with the word Sengol." He said that by establishing Sengol in India's temple of democracy, our Prime Minister has acknowledged Tamil culture's honour and its contribution to the country's cultural nationalism. "Today India has entered the golden age of independence with new resolutions. India has made a lot of progress in the 75 years after independence, but with the speed and scale at which India needed to be developed, most of the governments did not work after independence," he said. He said that the Centre's aim is to fully develop Tamil Nadu. "Despite this, there is a continuous attack on the Prime Minister by the opposition parties of the country," he added. Striking the ties of BJP-AIADMK, Singh said, " BJP has an alliance with AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. This alliance has been formed in the last several years. We value our alliance partners because NDA is not our compulsion but a commitment." He said that BJP cannot forget when former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government was formed for the first time, it was Tamil Nadu's daughter, 'Puratchi Thalvi', Jaya Amma who supported him. "Like Atalji, Modiji also has a personal relationship with Tamil Nadu. Its reflection is visible in his work. He has continuously tried the empowerment of Tamil Refugees in Sri Lanka," he said. "When Modiji visited Sri Lanka after becoming the Prime Minister in 2015, he also visited the Jaffna area and became the first Prime Minister of India to do so. Gave houses to around 27000 Tamil Brothers & Sisters who were rendered homeless due to the civil war there," he added. Singh went on to add that the Central government under the leadership of PM Modi is committed to ensuring that Tamil Refugees in Sri Lanka live with peace, equality and dignity. "Lakhs of fishermen live in Tamil Nadu. Don't know how many fishermen were arrested by Sri Lanka during the Congress governments. For the first time, such a government has come, which is giving relief to the fishermen community for good diplomatic relations with Sri Lanka," he said. (ANI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday attended the celebrations of Bishnu Rabha Divas at Dhubri. In the same program, Chief Minister Dr. Sarma presented Sri Madhavdev Award 2022 to eminent author Arup Dutta, Bir Chilari Award 2022 to martyr Bhaskar Kalita, Kalicharan Brahma Award 2023 to Dr. Tiyathi Zameer. Moreover, the Chief Minister also presented Bishnu Rabha Award 2023 to eminent painter Ajit Sheel and dancer Gopal Krishna Goswami, Sonit Konwar Gajen Baruah Award 2023 to eminent folk artiste Nakul Das, Sati Sadhini Award 2023 to eminent scientist Dr. Jayanti Chutia and Swargadeo Sarbananda Singha Award 2023 to prominent social worker Boloram Phangsho. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Dr. Sarma said that the great personalities who contributed immensely to enriching the socio-cultural life of Assam, Bishnu Prasad Rabha was one of the most prominent among them. With his highly valued creation, he became a glittering name in the socio-cultural life not only in Assam but in other places also. Besides being a true and spirited freedom fighter, Bishu Prasad Rabha etched his name as an artiste, musician, dancer, lyricist, orator, and above all a litterateur of high eminence, the Chief Minister added. Sarma also said that Bishu Prasad Rabha vowed to make a harmonious Assam that embraces people belonging to all castes, creeds, ethnicity, and community and who contribute to the development march of the state. He took a crucial role in promoting Assam's name at the global stage. He also said that Bishnu Prasad Rabha created songs that are socially emotive and through which he wanted to bring about socio-cultural reforms in the society. Through his songs, he created a bond among the people. Referring to Bishnu Prasad Rabha who tried to enhance people's mental horizons through his music, Chief Minister Dr. Sarma said that his songs are primarily responsible for the people of the state to aim high to take the state altogether to a higher pedestal. The Chief Minister also said that in Assam's cultural and political life, Bishnu Prasad Rabha is always glittering as a living legend. The younger generation of Assam should come out to follow the path shown by Bishnu Prasad Rabha to make Assam everybody's dream. Cultural Affairs Minister Bimal Bora, Guardian Minister of Dhubri Jayantamalla Baruah, MP and Chief Minister's Political Secretary Pabitra Margherita, Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare Avinash Joshi, and a host of other dignitaries were present in the program which was organized by Cultural Affairs Department in association with Dhubri District Administration. (ANI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath while congratulating the people of the state of Uttar Pradesh has appealed to them to adopt yoga on the eve of International Yoga Day which is celebrated all over the world on June 21. The CM gave this message while releasing a video message on his official Twitter handle. In the video message, he said that the practice of yoga never goes in vain and removes all sorrows. "Hearty congratulations and best wishes to all of you on the 9th 'International Yoga Day'.Yoga keeps both body and mind healthy. It is the medium of health, happiness, peace, harmony. Yoga has been an integral part of our eternal tradition since the beginning. Yoga is an invaluable gift of Indian saints, which has been presented to the world at large by Prime Minister Modi for the well-being of people", he wrote. On the initiative of the Prime Minister, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously approved the resolution to celebrate International Yoga Day on 21 June every year, recognizing India's traditional heritage of yoga. The first International Yoga Day was celebrated on June 21, 2015. "Accepting the importance of Yoga, most of the countries of the world expressed their gratitude towards the sage tradition of India. This year its theme has been kept Har Aangan Yoga by the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India. Its aim is to achieve wellness and health benefits by connecting every family with yoga. Yoga Day is being organized widely in the state. That's why you must adopt yoga. Be healthy, be happy", the CM added furrther. On Wednesday, on the occasion of International Yoga Day, CM Yogi will do yoga with people at Gorakhnath temple complex in Gorakhpur. On the other hand, Governor Anandi Ben Patel will do yoga on the Raj Bhavan premises in Lucknow. Finance Minister Suresh Khanna at Residency Lucknow and Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore will practice yoga with people at Kakori Shaheed Smarak in Lucknow. (ANI) The Students' Federation of India (SFI) has expelled Nikhil Thomas from the primary membership of the organisation for allegedly being involved in a fake degree certificate, the party official said on Tuesday. A statement issued by the party has said that when allegations surfaced related to SFI former Kayamkulam area secretary Nikhil Thomas's degree certificate, he was kept away from all units of SFI. "We have sought an explanation from him and he gave an explanation misleading the organisation. Among the certificates that he gave SFI could only check the eligibility certificate of him provided by Kerala University. While checking the eligibility certificate, we found that the Kerala University eligibility certificate was original," the party said in a statement. In a statement, SFI State Secretary PM Arsho and State President K Anusree said that the party had concerns as to how Nikhil Thomas could complete his studies at Kalinga University as a regular student and raised this concern with the media also. "Nikhil Thomas has become one among the many youths who produce fake certificates with assistance from mafia groups that indulge in such nefarious activities. He has been removed from the primary membership of SFI. This will be a lesson for all SFI workers," they said. (ANI) The Punjab Vidhan Sabha under the leadership of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday unanimously passed Punjab University Laws (Amendment) Bill 2023 thereby vesting the powers of Chancellors of state Universities with CM. Summarizing the debate on the floor of the house, the Chief Minister said that the state has its own rich culture, traditions and heritage which need to be perpetuated amongst the younger generations. He said that for this Educational institutions especially Universities can play a pivotal role. Bhagwant Mann recalled how the universities of the state have produced great intellectuals, artists and other eminent people in various fields. The Chief Minister said that to carry forward this legacy, men of high integrity, prudence and repute need to be appointed in the universities of the state as Vice Chancellors. However, he bemoaned that the Governor, who is not from the state and is not aware of its history and culture, creates unnecessary hurdles in it. Bhagwant Mann said that it is surprising that the Governor knows nothing about the state but is empowered to appoint the VCs which is totally unfair. The Chief Minister said that contrary to securing the state's interests, the Punjab Governor is often seen on the other side. Citing the issue of Panjab University, he said that instead of safeguarding the interests of Punjab and Punjabis, the Governor had been taking the stance in favour of Haryana to allow its entry into the senate of the university. Bhagwant Mann said that this is a very strange situation as the Governor just to appease his political masters sitting in Delhi is doing all these gimmicks. The Chief Minister said that it is brazen disrespect of the verdict of the people that have elected the state government to work for their well-being. He said that on lines of the bill already passed by West Bengal, the Punjab government has formulated this bill which will entrust the powers of chancellor of the Universities to the Chief Minister. Bhagwant Mann said that with the formation of this Act the Chief Minister, and not the Governor, will be the chancellor of the universities of the state. The Chief Minister said that no interference from the Governor is required in the day-to-day functioning of the affairs of the state. He said that the state government is committed to securing the interests of Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiat adding that no stone will be left unturned for this noble cause. Bhagwant Mann said that the state government will take every step to restore the pristine glory of the state. (ANI) A country's ability and potential for growth is determined by the size and strength of its youth population, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday. The Union Minister's remarks came during his inaugural address at the 'Health of Youth - Wealth of Nation', a G20 co-branded event organized by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in collaboration with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, Child Health (PMNCH), here today. This global gathering aims to highlight the health and well-being needs of 1.8 billion adolescents and youth worldwide and foster increased attention and investment by G20 nations in the health of adolescents and youth. Addressing the gathering, Mandaviya said, "India's G20 presidency will be a leap forward to ensuring that the needs and rights of the world's 1.8 billion young people are addressed, that their voices are heard, and they have access to the resources and opportunities necessary for their optimal development." He also said that "Our Prime Minister's vision that India's G20 presidency will be 'inclusive, ambitious, decisive and action-oriented throws up hope as well as opportunities for India and the world. A prominent role in realizing his vision can be played by the youth of the country." Highlighting the Indian Government's commitment towards youth empowerment, he stated that "this co-branded event focusing on the health and well-being of adolescents and young people with the theme 'Health of Youth Wealth of Nation' underlines the Government of India's leadership in promoting investment in the human capital of adolescents and young people and we want to inspire other G20 nations to advance the development of the next generation to build stronger, greener economies and vibrant societies." He also noted that being home to about one-fourth of the world's youth demographic which is capable of leading the country to its aspiration of becoming the world's third-largest economy, "it is necessary for India to reap this demographic dividend and invest in education, skill development and health of youth". Mandaviya stated that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, India has continuously crafted and reinforced policies and programmes to suit the youth and address their health and development needs. He highlighted that "Tele-Manas, a dedicated national tele-mental health program is ensuring that the mental health concerns of the young people of our country are being heard, accepted and managed by a team of experts and professionals at zero cost". He also informed that "a comprehensive School Health and Wellness Programme has been launched by the PM which is envisaging to develop school students as health and wellness messengers, advocates and role models within their schools and communities at large". The Union Health Minister encouraged the dignitaries to deliberate on key areas of adolescent-friendly health care including mental health support and assistance, nutrition programmes and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care. He said, "We must value and create spaces for meaningful participation, which involves young people in decision-making processes that affect their lives." "To address the transnational difficulties that adolescents face, we must promote international cooperation and collaboration by sharing effective models, aligning policies, and mobilizing resources to support countries with limited capacity in fulfilling the health and well-being needs of their adolescents", he further stated. Highlighting that India is home to one of the world's largest youth populations, with a staggering 378 million adolescents and youth and 65 per cent of the nation's population under the age of 35, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar stated that "our government firmly believes in the transformative power and boundless potential of our youth. Their energy, ideas, and determination hold the key to shaping the future trajectory of our great nation". She further stated that "investing in the well-being of youth is not just a moral obligation but also a strategic decision that will determine the success and prosperity of our nation." Ms. Helen Clark, PMNCH Board Chair noted that young people today are facing a lot of challenges that are not of their making. She stated that many young girls aged 15 to 19 years are dying during childbirth while many people across the world are facing mental health challenges. Urging countries to address the challenges faced by the youth today, she said, "the call for action is urgent and the time to act is now". Deputy Health Minister of South Africa, Mr. Sibongiseni Dhlomo congratulated the Govt of India for its G20 Presidency and stated that G20 priorities are shaping up well under India's Presidency. He also shared his insights on the challenges faced by the youth and the efforts being made by his government to these challenges and improve their health and well-being. He stated that the majority of the population in Africa are young people and it is therefore important to ensure that they get the proper tools, information, education, and opportunity to become responsible stakeholders in the future. Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary said that policies and programmes that have enabled nations to advance the health and well-being of adolescents and youth in their respective countries, would go a long way in improving their socio-demographic picture so that they could become a positive force now and in the future. Mr Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator (India) emphasized that the power of youth, multilateralism, G20 and India as the leader of the Global South can help unleash tremendous opportunities and possibilities for the youth. He credited India for bringing numerous policies for adolescent health but highlighted that more needs to be done by countries across the world to make the global SDG goals a reality. "India can make sustainable goals a global reality. Saath hai to sambhav hai", he stated. Dr Julitta Onabanjo, Director of Technical Division, UNFPA Headquarters said that "it is our responsibility to recognize and capitalize on the potential of youth, allowing young people to be agents of positive change and facilitating their smooth passage into adulthood." She also congratulated the Indian Government on its outstanding G20 presence and appreciated the powerful theme of 'One Earth, One Family, One Future' of G20 under India's presidency. Ms Tuqa AlBakri, Youth Representative from Iraq highlighted that young people are the changemakers of the world as they are the generation of science and technology people, of activism, creativity and energy. She thanked the Indian Government for hosting this youth event and urged policymakers to support the enthusiasm of youth and enable them to become responsible changemakers of society. Union Health Minister along with other dignitaries released a compilation of British Medical Journal (BMJ) papers on adolescent well being -a series of analytical articles, along with the thematic paper on 'health of youth- a wealth of nation' by Union Health Ministry focusing on the centre of the theme staging Adolescent Health and Multi-Sectoral Partnership. Ashok Babu, Joint Secretary and other senior officials from the Health Ministry, officials from partner agencies like Gates Foundation, UNFPA, USAID, WHO, UNICEF and youth icons from G-20 nations were also present on the occasion. (ANI) Union Minister of Tourism, G Kishan Reddy, had an interactive session with the members of Dempo Explorers Yuva Tourism Club on the sidelines of the 4th G20 Tourism Working Group Meeting in Goa on Tuesday, said a press release by Ministry of Tourism on Tuesday. The session focused on the objectives of the Yuva Tourism clubs and the Union Minister sought valuable inputs from the participants on the role of the government and stakeholders in promoting tourism, added the press release. The Minister congratulated all the club members for their dedication and commitment to promoting tourism in India. During the session, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy emphasized the need for regular workshops with tourism clubs, highlighting the significance of engaging with the youth in shaping the future of tourism. He mentioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to promote domestic tourism under the Dekho Apna Desh scheme, urging people to explore the rich and diverse destinations within the country. He emphasized that while many individuals tend to choose international destinations, it is equally important to discover the beauty and heritage of their own homeland. The Minister urged the members of the Yuva Tourism Club to work hard and promote responsible tourism as well as try to highlight unique heritage of the country at every step. Union Minister G Kishan Reddy acknowledged the increased footfall in major tourist destinations under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including Jammu and Kashmir, Haridwar, Kashi, and Kedarnath. He mentioned the efforts made under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat scheme to promote student exchange programs, encouraging students to learn about India's rich heritage. G Kishan Reddy urged students to become ambassadors of tourism and emphasized the importance of responsible tourism. He stated that India has the potential to become a top tourist destination of the world. In his address, the Minister of Tourism, Government of Goa, Rohan Khaunte, expressed gratitude to Union Minister Reddy and highlighted the significant role of the Dempo Explorers Yuva Tourism Club in the state. He described the Government's vision of transforming youth into tourism ambassadors and making them partners with the government in the tourism sector. Khaunte stressed the need for students and club members to become problem solvers and innovators in the tourism industry, with the Government acting as a facilitator. The session also witnessed the exchange of paintings made by students of the Dempo Explorers Yuva Tourism Club, which were presented to Union Minister G Kishan Reddy. The session concluded with the Union Minister Reddy appreciating the enthusiastic participation of the students and encouraging them to continue their efforts in promoting tourism in India. (ANI) Sanchez in dark sunglasses can be seen lounging on the deck taking selfies, as she stripped off the sarong to reveal her sensational curves in the steamy two-piece aboard the world's tallest sailing yacht, reports Daily Mail. "Her skin appeared sun-kissed as the raven haired beauty relaxed on the deck - her husband-to-be nowhere to be seen," the report mentioned. The newly-engaged couple has been travelling on the super yacht for the past month amid their lavish Mediterranean vacation, and is currently in the South of France. Earlier, Sanchez and Bezos arrived in Saint-Tropez following a stop in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, a small resort town on the French Riviera, over the last weekend. The couple smiled and held hands as they strolled through Saint-Tropez, with Sanchez flashing her new engagement ring. Their arrival in Saint-Tropez follows a stop in Beaulieu-sur-Mer. Report surfaced recently that Jeff Bezos, who had to shell out a whopping $38 billion to MacKenzie Scott following a divorce due to lack of a prenuptial agreement, is preparing to protect his $138 billion fortune after his engagement with Sanchez. Bezos, 59, and Sanchez, 53 reveled in their engagement at La Petite Maison in Cannes, France, in May, accompanied by Bezos's sister, Christina Bezos Poore, and her husband, Steve Poore. Bezos holds a broad real estate portfolio valued at over $500 million, with properties in Beverly Hills, Manhattan, and Washington DC. Sanchez owns Black Ops Aviation, an aerial video company with high-profile clientele, and a grand $6.2 million home in Washington, according to the report. Earlier in May, Bezos was spotted shirtless, sunbathing with Sanchez on his luxurious yacht in Spain. --IANS na/uk/ ( 316 Words) 2023-06-19-18:24:04 (IANS) Taking to Twitter, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "A key initiative of India as the plenary chair of Wassenaar Arrangement! India hosts over 20 Outreach Partner countries and Participating States at its Enhanced Technical Briefing (ETB) today in Vienna. Being undertaken after 5 years, the WA ETB shared national implementation experiences and recent developments in Export Controls." India assumed the chairmanship of the plenary of the Wassenaar Arrangement on January 1 for one year. At the 26th annual Plenary of the WA held in Vienna on November 30 to December 1, Ireland handed over the chairmanship to Jaideep Mazumdar, India's Ambassador & Permanent Representative to UN & International Organizations in Vienna. India also became a member of Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies, showcasing the country's forward strides in geopolitics. India joined the Wassenaar Arrangement on December 08, 2017, as its 42nd participating state. Wassenaar Arrangement is a multilateral export control regime, which, through regular information exchange among members on transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies, seeks to promote transparency and greater responsibility in such transfers and prevent destabilizing accumulations. The Wassenaar Arrangement Plenary is the decision-making body of the Arrangement which operates based on consensus. (ANI) Research Fellow & Director at Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia Aparna Pande, said that Beijing and Moscow will be keenly watching Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States (US). While talking about the global powers who will be watching the visit, she said, "This state visit will be watched by Beijing because China has always been concerned that the closer India gets to the United States, the more it moves away from non-alignment. It not only gets economic investment and technology but it is going to get defence equipment like the predator drones which for example India is using... and can use in the maritime area." The second capital that will be watching it is Moscow, she added, "because traditionally India's largest supplier of defence equipment has been Russia but American equipment is high-end and high-technology and so Russia will be concerned that the more India purchases American equipment, the less likely it will in the future purchase Russian equipment." "Third, I would say the capitals in the region will be watching whether it's Islamabad, Dhaka, Kathmandu, or Columbo because from their point of view, the closer India gets to the US, it has the impact on their relationship with the US," she further said. Aparna said, "Symbolically, it is important for President Biden because the Biden administration has placed a strategic bet on India that India's rise is good for American national interest." It's important for PM Modi to show that he has received an official state visit and that he will be meeting President Biden about three times this year; Hiroshima, DC, and Delhi for G20 meet, she said. "For an Indian leader to show that the president of only power, as of now, the only superpower in the world values the relationship with India matters a lot," Aparna said. Aparna talked emphasized the India-US relationship and said, "It is important because the India-US economic relationship has grown to about USD 190 billion and they will like to take it to USD 500 billion. The defence partnership has grown with a defence industrial roadmap and India's purchase of the predator drone as well as the GE jet engine and the third is the very strong people-to-people relationship." Indian diaspora which is in New York City is going to be there on Wednesday to welcome everybody on the south lawn on Friday. It shows the strength of people to people dimension which has normally been the strongest element of this partnership..., she said. India and US are working on the Indo-Pacific strategy, its economic forum, Quad, and middle eastern Quad. (ANI) Excitement to hear Prime Minister Narendra Modi's addressing a joint session of the US Congress is brewing not only among the Indians but can also be seen among US Congressmen as welcome messages for PM Modi's historic State visit continue to pour in. Indian Embassy in the US has shared the videos of the two Congressmen- Scott Perry and Nick LaLota on its official Twitter handle. Congressman Scott Perry, who is the US representative for Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district, said that he is looking forward to hearing PM Modi's address to the US Congress. https://twitter.com/IndianEmbassyUS/status/1670973928875999235?s=20 "I look forward to hearing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the US Congress and working to continually strengthen the relationship between our two countries. Jai Hind, May God Bless America," Perry said in the short video message. Congressman Nick LaLota, who represents New York's 1st congressional district, said that he was excited to see PM Modi and wished for a never-ending India-US friendship. https://twitter.com/IndianEmbassyUS/status/1670963004190466049 LaLota said, "Prime Minister @narendramodi, I can't wait to see you and I am excited to see you. And I wish you and all the people of India our continued and everlasting friendship." Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday emplaned for his historic State visit to the United States and he is set to address a joint session of the US Congress on Thursday. In his departure statement, the Prime Minister said, this visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of India-US partnership. He said that the India-US ties are multifaceted, with deepening engagements across sectors and the USA is India's largest trade partner in goods and services. Prior to his departure, PM Modi tweeted, "Leaving for USA, where I will attend programmes in New York City and Washington DC. These programmes include Yoga Day celebrations at the @UNHQ, talks with @POTUS @JoeBiden, address to the Joint Session of the US Congress and more." "In USA, I will also get the opportunity to meet business leaders, interact with the Indian community and meet thought leaders from different walks of life. We seek to deepen India-USA ties in key sectors like trade, commerce, innovation, technology and other such areas," PM Modi's tweet added. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Arindam Bagchi tweeted, "PM @narendramodi sets off on a visit to USA and Egypt. In the first leg, commencing in New York and then on to Washington, a historic first Official State visit to USA with a packed program awaits. The visit will set the stage for further accelerating India-US partnership." PM Modi was invited by the US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. After his US visit, PM Modi will then travel to Cairo to pay a State visit to Egypt from June 24-25. (ANI) The trio will embark on a journey across Europe, participating in conferences, networking events, and spreading awareness. "Honourable Prime Minister of GOBE, @NaelaQuadri Baloch, along with Waja Siddik Azad and Luma Durrain Baloch, received a warm welcome from the Baloch community in Cologne, Germany. They are embarking on a journey across Europe, participating in conferences, networking events, and spreading awareness. A significant step toward raising Balochistan's voice on the global stage," Baloch People's Congress tweeted on Monday. President of Baloch Voice Association NGO based in Paris, France, Munir Mengal on Monday tweeted: "Honoured to receive Respected Prof. Naela Quadri Prime Miniter Exile Govt. of Balochistan, Waja Siddique AZAD Baloch, and Sister Dorrain Baloch Human Rights Defender at Cologne Airport Germany." Meanwhile, The Balochistan Post recently reported that Pakistani government buildings and forces were attacked in the Balochistan districts of Panjgur and Kech. According to reports, a bomb attack on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route at a Panjgur grade station targeted a vehicle of the Pakistani military. According to local sources cited by The Balochistan Post, the blast caused injuries to Pakistani forces and damage to one of their vehicles. Government representatives have not yet offered any response on this, though. The Balochistan Post publishes news and articles on developments that have a particular impact on Balochistan and its political and social aspects. Soon after the strike, several additional Pakistani military vehicles arrived at the scene and immediately surrounded the area. Later, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), an armed pro-independence organisation, claimed responsibility for the assault. According to BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch, the attack resulted in the deaths of two Pakistani army personnel and three injuries. (ANI) Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's much-awaited visit to the United States, the Indian diaspora New Jersey are preparing a colourful welcome for him. At the Ved Mandir, the area's oldest Hindu temple, a group of Modi followers have gathered to handcraft a 20 feet long floral garland. Choosing the Tricolor as the theme for the garland, the group is looking forward to welcoming Prime Minister Modi at the United Nations. Chairman of the Federation of Indian Association, a diaspora organization, Ankur Vaidya, said: "As you heard from the ladies and the gentlemen that you see beside me working hard to put the mala together, they had gone to extended lengths to procure these organic flowers. The typical Indian mala flowers are not easy to get. So, we placed an effort and it's a very humbling realization that the community is turning out in numbers, most of them US citizens who have been here for a couple of decades, showing their affection and love towards our motherland, towards the leader of our motherland by presenting this unique gesture of creating a handmade garland that will take hours to compile and put together through different volunteers." He said volunteers involved in preparing the garland include children and adults of all age groups. "So it's a very impressive, very divine, very auspicious environment in which the mala is being made as you can hear the mantras going in the background. It enables us and encourages us to do more of such things and it's in a small way giving a big impact to prayers and blessings for the PM's well-being, safety and may he continue to serve the motherland and continue to prosper the motherland," Vaidya said. Freshly picked flowers from nearby farms were sourced by the community. Each flower was then handpicked, trimmed and set in the garland. Community member Smita Mikki Patel said: "We are trying to make this beautiful garland with the Tricolor theme to welcome our Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We wanted to make this garland so big and so unique that we collected so many different kinds of flowers. We tried different places to get the flowers and finally, we found them in one of the organic. We got these flowers from the organic farm." Patel added: "We also have a Mission of Life theme in our organization. So, we just felt that we should go for the more organic product here to help the farmers as well." The priests of the temple even chanted mantras and prayed for the PM for a successful trip. Ved Mandir Priest said the organisation's efforts will only be successful if PM Modi accepts the mala. Kenny Desai, President of the Federation of Indian Association, said this is a very auspicious moment in the US. "Our beloved Prime Minister, in our opinion, he's a hero, he's a rock star, he's famous in the world, he's a number one Prime Minister in the world. Today, we are gathering here to create a mala for the Prime Minister with all the mantras," Desai said. He said the community is excited about PM Modi's visit to the US wherein he will perform yoga in the United Nations with 144 countries. The PM "wants everybody to gather, to prosper in the world. And that is a message that India gives to the entire world, that we don't look at ourselves but we bring everybody together to have peace, love, harmony and prosperity. And that's the message we're giving with this mala that we are preparing here.," he said. Desai further said the association wishes the mala goes to PM Modi. Ahead of PM Modi's arrival in the US, children were seen making the Indian flag to welcome him and women of the Indian diaspora danced and rehearsed in Richmond to prepare for their performance during the PM's visit. Meanwhile, the Indian diaspora in the US expressed pride in the fact that today, yoga is being recognised on the world stage. PM Modi is visiting the United States at the invitation of President Joe Biden from June 20-24. PM Modi will lead a 9th edition of International Yoga Day on June 21 at the United Nations headquarters in New York during his official state visit to the United States. Ashish Bhatia, an Indian-origin man, who has resided in the US for the last 15 years said that it is very good that PM Modi is coming to the US. "We have been living in the US for 15 years. It is very good. PM Modi, during his tenure, has put India on the world map and has also made 'yoga' famous," Ashish Bhatia told ANI at Times Square. Anu Bhatia, another Indian-origin lady said that the world has started to know about 'yoga' ever since PM Modi promoted it to the world stage. "We follow yoga very deeply. Especially, after Modi ji became the Prime Minister of India, people in the US also started knowing about yoga. We wish that 'Modi Sarkar' comes every time," she said. (ANI) An United Nations expert on Monday said the Taliban's treatment of Afghanistan's women and girls may amount to gender apartheid, given how severely the de facto authorities of the country continue to violate their rights, Khaama Press reported. The Khaama Press News Agency is an online news service for Afghanistan. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, expressed similar concerns on the opening day of the Council's summer session, adding that the de facto authorities had "dismantled the most fundamental principles of human rights, particularly for women and girls". UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, told the Human Rights Council in Geneva: "Grave, systematic and institutionalized discrimination against women and girls is at the heart of Taliban ideology and rule, which also gives rise to concerns that they may be responsible for gender apartheid." The UN defines gender apartheid as "economic and social sexual discrimination against individuals because of their gender or sex." "We have pointed to the need for more exploration of gender apartheid, which is not currently an international crime but could become so," Bennett told reporters on the sidelines of the Council, as per Khaama Press. "It appears if one applies the definition of apartheid, which at the moment is for race, to the situation in Afghanistan and use sex instead of race, then there seem to be strong indications pointing towards that," he said. Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, the group banned women from going to schools, and later in December last year, they banned women from going to universities and working with aid agencies. (ANI) The agreements, including cooperation in transportation, pharmaceutical production, insurance, trade, technology, and agriculture, were signed by the two countries' high-ranking officials in the presence of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his visiting Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Xinhua news agency reported. Heading a high-ranking political and economic delegation, the Uzbek President arrived in Tehran earlier on Sunday. The trip marks the first visit by an Uzbek President to Iran since more than 20 years ago. Raisi visited the Uzbek city of Samarkand in September 2022 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. Iran and Uzbekistan signed 17 memorandums of understanding and cooperation documents during that visit. --IANS int/sha ( 141 Words) 2023-06-19-01:12:01 (IANS) Speaking to media in Colombo, Semasinghe stressed the government's commitment to ensuring the stability of the banking and financial sector, Xinhua news agency reported. He urged responsible and diligent discussions on the matter, as premature speculations could potentially undermine market confidence. Semasinghe highlighted the progress made in engaging with bilateral creditors for debt restructuring efforts. The state minister expressed optimism that these engagements would lead to favourable agreements that contribute to overall stability. Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe also reassured the public about the safeguarding of public bank deposits and the stability of the banking system in any reorganisation of domestic debt. Addressing a public forum, Weerasinghe emphasised that financial sector stability was a key objective of the central bank, and measures would be taken to ensure the protection of public deposits and the overall stability of the banking system. --IANS int/sha ( 180 Words) 2023-06-19-02:44:04 (IANS) Congressman Frank Pallone, who founded the Congressional Caucus on India in 1993, has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US is another opportunity to appreciate Indian-Americans and their contributions to the community. "I am really looking forward to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington... Many years ago, I founded the India Caucus and we have seen a steady increase in activities between the US and India... shared values between the two countries like democracy, market economy," Pallone said in a video message shared by the Indian Embassy in the US. Pallone represents the 6th district in New Jersey, which boasts of over a million Asians with Indian-Americans making up the largest ethnic group. Upendra Chivikula was the first Indian-American elected to the New Jersey legislature in 2001 and since then, South Asians -- forming 5 per cent of the population -- have had electoral success throughout the state. "The Indian-American diaspora have continued to contribute to the improved relations between the US and India. All the things they do to help our community here in New Jersey and Middlesex... So this is another opportunity for us all to appreciate the India-US relationship, appreciate Indian-Americans and how they contribute to the US," Pallone said. He hoped that Modi's visit will continue the "upward trend where Indian and the US work together on defence, security, economy and culture". The Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, also known as the House India Caucus, was founded in 1993 by Pallone and Florida Congressman Bill McCollum in the House of Representatives. From 1993-1998, Pallone served as the co-chair of the Caucus, which is committed to strengthening the relationship between the two largest democratic countries of the world. Earlier this year, Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna and his Republican House colleague Mike Waltz were chosen as co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans in the 118th Congress. Khanna became the second Indian-American to be elected as co-chair of the Caucus after Congressman Ami Bera served as its co-chair during the 115th Congress in 2015-2016. In the Senate, the Caucus was founded by Senator John Cornyn and Senator Hillary Clinton in 2004. The bipartisan coalition is the largest country-specific caucus at the Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. that brings national attention to domestic and international issues that affect our economies and security. Senator Mark R. Warner and Senator Cornyn serve as the current co-chairs of the Senate India Caucus. (Meenakshi Iyer can be reached at meenakshi.i@ians.in) --IANS mi/ksk/ ( 432 Words) 2023-06-19-12:48:03 (IANS) Thirty-five personnel from the command have joined the Khaan Quest exercise that kicked off Monday and continues through July 2. A total of 1,100 personnel from 35 countries, including the US, India and Qatar, will attend it, the Army was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency. Participants are to focus on honing their skills for peacekeeping missions, such as responding to improvised explosive devices, treating casualties and escorting convoys, as well as carrying out operations for humanitarian support. "Troops plan to strengthen their combined operational capabilities and capabilities to conduct peacekeeping missions while training with multinational forces under scenarios that could occur during overseas peacekeeping operations," the Army said in a press release. The US and Mongolian militaries launched the combined exercise in 2003. The South Korean military first joined it in 2006, when it was expanded into a multinational peacekeeping program. Since 2019, South Korea has sent the Special Warfare Command in odd-numbered years and the Marine Corps in even-numbered years to the exercise. --IANS int/sha ( 209 Words) 2023-06-19-08:04:04 (IANS) The resolution by Israel's nationalist-religious coalition government revised the approval process that has remained unchanged for the past 25 years, Xinhua news agency quoted the state-run Kan TV channel as saying. Previously, new construction in the settlements required a series of separate approvals from the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and the Supreme Planning Council of the Civil Administration, a process that could take years. Under the new resolution, Bezalel Smotrich, who serves as Finance Minister and a minister in the Defence Ministry who oversees settlers' affairs, will be responsible for granting the initial approval for new construction. Most of the other steps will be waived, except for getting approval from the planning council, according to the new procedure. Also on Sunday, Smotrich announced that the government was set to approve the construction of 4,560 housing units throughout the West Bank. "We will continue to develop the settlement and strengthen the Israeli hold on the territory," Smotrich wrote on Twitter. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry denounced the move, describing it as "another step" towards an Israeli annexation of the West Bank. Jordan also condemned the decision as unilateral. "The expansion of the settlements and the expulsion of residents from their homes constitute a major violation of international law and UN resolutions," its Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The settlements are located in the West Bank, a territory seized by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Most of the international community considers them a violation of international law and a hurdle to peace with the Palestinians. --IANS ksk/ ( 288 Words) 2023-06-19-13:52:02 (IANS) Sudan's capital Khartoum is witnessing a cautious calm as a new humanitarian truce between the warring Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has come into effect. Both SAF and RSG announced on Sunday their agreement to the new 72-hour truce mediated by Saudi Arabia and the US, reports Xinhua news agency. Witnesses in southern Khartoum said armed clashes had stopped and warplanes activity significantly declined since the truce went into effect at 6 a.m. on Sunday. "There is great stability. We do not hear sounds of gunfire, artillery or airstrikes," an eyewitness in Omdurman, a major city west of Khartoum, told Xinhua. The situation in Bahri (Khartoum North) city was also calm on Sunday after intensive clashes that took place in the city the day before. In their statement, the warring parties agreed that during the ceasefire they would refrain from prohibited movements, attacks, use of military aircraft or drones, artillery strikes, reinforcement of positions and resupply of forces or seeking military advantage. They also agreed to allow the unimpeded movement and delivery of humanitarian assistance throughout the country. According to the statement, should the parties fail to observe the 72-hour truce, the facilitators would be compelled to consider adjourning the Jeddah talks. Since May 6, Saudi Arabia and the US have been patronizing negotiations between the Sudanese warring parties in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. Several truces have been reached since then with the two sides accusing each other of violating them. Sudan has been witnessing deadly armed clashes in Khartoum and other areas since April 15, which has left over 3,000 people dead and more than 6,000 injured. More than 1.9 million people have been displaced since the conflict began, fleeing to safer areas both inside and outside Sudan, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest update. As of June 6, 1.4 million people had been internally displaced in Sudan and some 460,000 people, including refugees, asylum seekers and returnees, had crossed into neighbouring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said. --IANS ksk/ ( 359 Words) 2023-06-19-14:16:02 (IANS) As part of efforts to improve strained relations between the two largest economies, visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in Beijing on Monday. The meeting is currently underway at the capital city's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse -- a lavish estate typically used to host visiting dignitaries, reports the BBC. Blinken is the first Secretary of State to travel to China in five years, as well as the most senior official making the visit since President Joe Biden took office in early 2021. It is however unclear if Blinken will meet President Xi Jinping. According to a State Department official, Blinken's primary goal in China is to re-establish channels of communication, especially direct military-to-military communication between Washington and Beijing, reports CNN. Upon his arrival in Beijing on Sunday, the Secretary of State met Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who took up the post six months ago after ending a stint as Beijing's Ambassador to Washington. Blinken and Qin shook hands in front of reporters at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on Sunday afternoon, their first in-person meeting in their current positions, CNN reported. During the meeting, which lasted for more than five hours, Blinken invited Qin to visit Washington and the invitation was accepted, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said in a readout of the meeting. "The Secretary invited Foreign Minister Qin to Washington to continue discussions, and they agreed to schedule a reciprocal visit at a mutually suitable time," Miller said, adding that Blinken had emphasised the "importance of diplomacy and maintaining channels of communication across the full range of issues to reduce the risk of misperception or miscalculation". Blinken also expressed US concerns on a number of fronts and opportunities to work together with China where interests align, Miller said. US officials who took part in the meeting included Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns. On the Chinese side, Qin was accompanied by other Foreign Ministry officials, including Assistant Foreign Minister Hua Chunying. Besides his meeting with Wang on Monday, Blinken is also scheduled to hold roundtable talks with American exchange students and business leaders. The Biden administration's relationship with Beijing is one of its most complicated and consequential, and one that has seen months of strain, including two military-related incidents in recent weeks. Biden and Xi met in person for the first time as presidents on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Indonesia last November. Blinken's trip, which had been announced by Biden and Xi after their meeting, was originally scheduled to happen in February and had been seen as a key follow-on engagement. However, it was postponed after the discovery of a suspected Chinese spy balloon transiting the US, which Blinken said at the time "created the conditions that undermine the purpose of the trip". --IANS ksk/ ( 492 Words) 2023-06-19-08:30:04 (IANS) Majed Fadayel, spokesman for the Yemeni government delegation, told Xinhua news agency that the talks focused on securing the release of thousands of prisoners and detainees held by both sides and concluded successfully. Fadayel revealed that the Houthis have agreed to release Mohamed Qahtan, a politican who has been held since 2015, in the upcoming prisoner exchange. Other proposals were offered by both sides during the talks and will be submitted to their leaderships for approval before another round of talks expected in early July, according to Fadayel. Meanwhile, the UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg welcomed the "positive conclusion" of the talks in Jordan's capital Amman. "The two parties agreed to continue consultations on the proposals and ideas discussed and to consult with their leadership, in order to agree on a detailed proposal that includes priorities identified by the parties for this round and a mechanism for implementation," he said. Qahtan, a prominent Yemeni politician of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islah party, was abducted by the Houthis eight years ago in the capital Sanaa. The Iran-backed militia group have remained unresponsive to repeated appeals from the UN, local and international human rights groups, as well as the politician's family for access to Qahtan, according to the government. UN-sponsored negotiations between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels in March successfully led to the release of nearly 900 prisoners in April, marking the second largest prisoner exchange between the warring sides since a civil war broke out more than eight years ago. --IANS ksk/ ( 288 Words) 2023-06-19-14:58:02 (IANS) There is a renewed push by the Afghan Taliban to restart talks between Pakistani officials and the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as a delegation of tribal elders reportedly met the TTP chief. Though there was no official confirmation from either side, sources claim that the tribal delegation recently met TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud. The meeting was part of efforts to explore possibility of resumption talks that were called off in November last year, Express Tribune reported. A senior Pakistani official, however, said there was no change in the government policy. "We are no longer seeking talks with the TTP," the official added, while requesting anonymity. However, the official said Pakistan had laid down a clear condition: TTP will have to surrender first for any dialogue. Another official who deals with Afghanistan expresses complete ignorance to the reported meeting between Pakistan and the TTP, Express Tribune reported. Despite Pakistan's refusal to peace talks, the Afghan Taliban continue to push for the rapprochement. Afghan Interim Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi during his visit to Islamabad in May advocated the dialogue with the TTP despite being told that Islamabad was not interested in talks. Officials here said that given the previous rounds of talks, Pakistan would not speak directly to the TTP. If there were any talks in the future, those would be conducted through the Afghan Taliban, Express Tribune reported. The TTP issue has emerged a major stumbling block between Pakistan and the interim Afghan government. Pakistan was disappointed with the Afghan Taliban for not taking care of its security interests by sheltering the TTP. There is a feeling in Islamabad that the Afghan Taliban would never use force against the TTP as they are "ideological cousins." --IANS san/kvd ( 298 Words) 2023-06-19-18:18:02 (IANS) Jewish activists have called for the ouster of Sudha Setty, the Indian-American dean of City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law, for allowing and congratulating a graduate student for her anti-Israel 'hate speech'. A group of 50 protesters rallied outside CUNY's Manhattan headquarters last week over Fatima Mohammed's May 12 remarks bashing Israel and calling the NYPD "fascist" in her controversial speech, the New York Post reported. In her fiery speech, she also accused Israel of encouraging "lynch mobs" and lauded resistance to "Zionism around the world". According to The Post, Setty was seen congratulating and applauding Mohammed's remarks - which were condemned by the CUNY board of trustees as "hate speech", and "hurtful to the entire CUNY community". "As heinous as the student's remarks to her Jewish classmates and their families were, it is even more reprehensible that the Dean of CUNY Law, Sudha Setty, would echo that hate speech with applause," Ronald S Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress, tweeted. "To that end, I am calling on the Board of Trustees to immediately fire Dean Setty without equivocation to send a message that Jew Hate will not be tolerated in New York's public universities," Lauder added. The protesters declared a "state of emergency" at the state's public university system and made several other demands of CUNY, which included "booting any professor who endorsed or approved of Mohammed's Jew-targeting commencement speech". It also called CUNY to implement mandatory anti-semitism training; apply and enforce the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism; punish students who engage in antisemitism, and ban the practice of allowing students to select a commencement speaker. Also, a coalition of Jewish legal groups separately urged the American Bar Association (ABA) to consider stripping the law school of its accreditation, which would prevent its graduates from sitting for the bar exam in any state. Setty joined the CUNY School of Law on July 1, 2022, becoming the first woman of South Asian descent to serve as dean of an ABA-accredited law school. Previously, she served as dean of Western New England University School of Law, where she focused on enhancing social justice lawyering and increasing institutional commitments to racial justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion Setty is the recipient of the National Conference for Community and Justice 2021 Human Relations Award. She earned her J.D. with honours from Columbia Law School and her A.B. in history with honours from Stanford University. --IANS mi/arm ( 423 Words) 2023-06-19-18:30:05 (IANS) South Korea imported 2,129 tonnes of fishery products from the neighbouring country in May, down 30.6 per cent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. In terms of value, imports inched down 1.8 per cent on-year to $14.06 million, reports Yonhap News Agency. In April, seafood imports dropped 26 per cent on-year in terms of volume and marked a 9.7 per cent fall in terms of value, according to the data. The recent fall came as Japan has been preparing to discharge radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was crippled by a massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami, into the sea as early as this month. South Korea banned all seafood imports from eight Japanese prefectures near Fukushima in 2013 on concerns over their radiation levels in the wake of the incident. South Korea made it clear that it will not lift the ban unless seafood from the area is proved to be safe, saying that the Fukushima water release should be considered separately from the import ban. --IANS ksk/ ( 228 Words) 2023-06-19-10:46:03 (IANS) Prominent American senators and Congressmen have said they are "excited" and "eager" to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US, and look forward to him addressing a Joint Meeting of Congress on Thursday. In a series of video messages posted on Twitter, the lawmakers said that the official state visit by the Indian leader heralds a significant moment in bilateral ties. "I would like to join the vibrant and important Indian community in my home state in saying welcome to Washington D.C., Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister's state visit is a significant moment in the India-US relationship," New Jersey Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez said. "I am excited to welcome Prime Minister Modi... The US-India relationship is one of the most important in the world. We are looking forward to hearing Prime Minister Modi address the joint session of Congress," Buddy Carter, serving in Georgia's 1st Congressional District, said in his video message. Prime Minister Modi's four-day visit to the US includes a state dinner hosted by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, and his address to the Joint Session of Congress on Thursday. He will also address an invitation-only gathering of diaspora leaders from across the country at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington on Friday. "I am excited that (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) is coming to America to extend goodwill between our two nations in one of the most strategically important relationships we have in the world," Representative Richard McCormick said. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit is an opportunity to deepen our collaboration in areas such as Trade, Defence, Technology, Healthcare which will shape the future trajectory of our relations," Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith said. Congressmen Greg Landsman and Don Bacon said that the visit is an opportunity to strengthen democratic values in India, the US and across the world. "The largest and oldest democracies will have (a) great opportunity to strengthen our bonds. We share common threats and believe in common values," Congressman Don Bacon said. Congressman Gregory Meeks, who serves the Fifth Congressional district of New York, said that India-US relationship will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century. Meeks said he wants to see the two nations work in unison to advance peace and prosperity. "I look forward to hearing from the Prime Minister during our joint meeting of Congress on his vision for India, for India's relationship with the US, and I see us work together to advance peace, prosperity, democratic values and stability in the Indo-Pacific," Meeks said concluding his message with 'Jai Hind'. Responding to the video messages, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar thanked all the lawmakers and senators, and expressed confidence that the bilateral ties "will keep growing from strength to strength" with their support. Modi's visit will commence in New York where he will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the UN headquarters on Wednesday. He will be the third Indian leader to make a state visit to the US with the previous two visits by former president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in June 1963 and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November 2009. --IANS mi/ksk/ ( 550 Words) 2023-06-19-11:36:02 (IANS) The devastation caused by the storms and floods that began on June 16, have affected more than 40 towns in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, which borders neighbouring Uruguay and Argentina, reports Xinhua news agency. The search operation for those missing is still going on, the civil defence agency confirmed. More than half a million people were left without electricity over the weekend and 4,913 people were displaced, it added. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has pledged federal aid to the affected area. --IANS ksk/ ( 130 Words) 2023-06-19-12:12:05 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his visit to the United States said that for "normal bilateral ties" with China "peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential," the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. "We have a core belief in respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, observing the rule of law and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. At the same time, India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity," PM Modi said in his interview to the US publication. The WSJ noted that India and the US share relationships with China that have grown increasingly fraught in recent years, marked by deepening military and economic rivalries. It said that for India the challenge was at its doorstep with rising tensions centering around its decades long dispute with Beijing over the 2,000-mile border separating the two countries, known as the Line of Actual Control. During his US visit the country's bid to boost surveillance over the Indian Ocean its border with China, PM Modi is likely to sign off on a multibillion-dollar agreement. The Prime Minister is expected to complete deals to manufacture jet-fighter engines in India to power advanced light combat aircraft, and to purchase high-altitude armed Predator drones, according to the WSJ report. The Wall Street Journal is an American business and economic-focused international daily newspaper based in New York City. India has blamed China for violating border agreements, and the two countries have held 18 rounds of military talks since 2020, that were aimed to prevent the dispute from spiralling into wider conflict. China's Defence Ministry didn't respond to WSJ's request for comment sent via the State Council Information Office. India has repeatedly clarified its stance on resolving border disputes with China. Earlier this June, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar noted that India does not get swayed by coercion, inducements and false narratives, however, he added that India and China must find a way to step back from potential confrontation in the western Himalayas. While explaining the clashes in Galwan in 2020, Jaishankar said, "India does not get swayed by coercion, inducements and false narratives. The two of us have to find a way of disengaging because I don't believe this present impasse serves China's interest either,". Following the clash with the Chinese troops in June 2020, Indian Army formations deployed near the Galwan Valley, along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, have undertaken a range of activities such as surveying border areas to stop a "possible" Chinese aggression, an officer of the Indian Army said earlier. Jaishankar also maintained that India wishes to improve relations with China but it will happen only when there is peace and tranquillity on the border. On the Galwan clashes, Jaishankar said that the India-China position is "very complicated." He also said that normally, the army is not deployed at LOC but after 2020, it was changed and both sides have done "forward deployment." (ANI) People in London on Tuesday performed yoga at Trafalgar Square in Central London to celebrate the International Day of Yoga. The event was organised by the Indian High Commission in the UK and the Mayor of London. High Commissioner of India to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami also performed yoga along with people at Trafalgar Square in Central London. International Day of Yoga is set to be celebrated on June 21. Author Amish Tripathi also took part in the Yoga event in Central London. Speaking to ANI, Vikram Doraiswami said, "I think my colleagues and I did more yoga than even the yoga school people did because each of them did about 35-40 minutes each. We ended up doing it for all 2 hours, but it was great because I think even the weather was super. It rained a bit in the morning and we've had cloud cover, so it wasn't a really hot sunny day. Otherwise, this could have been a bit of a warm day for yoga. I think this was just perfect." He noted that yoga schools did a terrific job of synchronising the yoga session. He further said, "People came out in good numbers and from all communities to take part in the Yoga Day event held at Trafalgar Square in Central London today." Sharing glimpses of the International Day of Yoga celebrations, the High Commission of India in London in the tweet stated, "Yoga lovers from around London have gathered at the historic @trafalgar square to celebrate the International Day of Yoga,spreading positivity and tranquility." In another tweet, the High Commission of India in London stated, "Some more glimpses of 9th #IDY2023 at the iconic Trafalgar Square, London." "Trafalgar Square London. Common Yoga Protocol in progress ! The theme of this year "One Earth,One Family,One Future," the High Commission of India in London further said. Speaking to ANI, Amish Tripathi said, "It was fantastic, this is an iconic location in London, as you can see, we have the Nelson's Column out here, the museum out here, Trafalgar Square. Everyone passes through here and most of London and we did yoga in the morning right out here. It's kind of like a build-up to Yoga day. This is the 20 June, so we did it as a build-up to the International Day of Yoga." He further said, "What was wonderful was that it was raining very heavily in the morning and we were very concerned. But, we prayed very hard and the rain Gods, Lord Indra listened to us. The rain stopped just in time and because ofthe rains it was nice and cool as well. So it was a wonderful day of yoga." This year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the International Day of Yoga celebration at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. PM Modi on Tuesday emplaned for the United States for his first historic State visit. Prior to leaving for the US, PM Modi tweeted, "Leaving for USA, where I will attend programmes in New York City and Washington DC. These programmes include Yoga Day celebrations at the @UNHQ, talks with @POTUS @JoeBiden, address to the Joint Session of the US Congress and more." PM Modi is visiting the US at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The visit will commence in New York where the Prime Minister will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21. (ANI) Move to boost yuan globalization 08:38, June 20, 2023 By OSWALD CHAN in Hong Kong ( China Daily The launch ceremony for the Hong Kong dollar-renminbi Dual Counter Model in Hong Kong on Monday. CALVIN NG/CHINA DAILY Two dozen major firms offer shares to be traded in both HKD, RMB The Hong Kong dollar-renminbi Dual Counter Model was launched at a time when the strategic importance of Chinese yuan currency in terms of fund flow, liquidity and popularity is on the ascent. With the launch of the model on Monday, 24 Hong Kong-listed companies, such as Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and AIA Group, will offer their shares to be traded in both the Hong Kong dollar and renminbi. These are highly sought-after stocks by mainland investors with strong liquidity, accounting for around 40 percent of the average turnover of the Hong Kong bourse. Shares traded under the model will belong to the same class as before, with the same rights and entitlements, and be fully tradable across counters. There will be nine dual counter market makers under the program to provide liquidity. Total trading volume of the 24 firms reached HK$25 billion and HK$177 million at Hong Kong dollar and renminbi counters, respectively, on Monday, according to HKex. Mainland telecom giant China Mobile Communications Group registered a trading volume of 55.2 million yuan ($7.71 million) on the first trading day, followed by technology giant Tencent's 36.6 million yuan. At the opening bell ceremony in Hong Kong, the city's Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the model was launched at a time when the strategic importance of the renminbi is increasing. Chan said that the total amount of cross-border use of the renminbi reached over 36 trillion yuan in 2021 an increase of nearly 30 percent over the year before. As at the first quarter this year, the proportion of renminbi in cross-border payments and receipts on the mainland has risen to 48 percent, surpassing the US dollar for the first time. But he added that there is still ample room for global use of renminbi to grow. "While our country is the world's second-largest economy, accounting for more than 18 percent of the world's gross domestic product, and is the largest trading economy contributing to about 13.5 percent of global trade, the use of the renminbi in cross-border trade settlement, and as a worldwide reserve currency, constitutes less than 3 percent." Chan said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will expand the channels for cross-boundary renminbi flows, provide more investment and risk management products, and upgrade related infrastructure to build an even more vibrant offshore renminbi ecosystem. As investors can trade these 24 shares across both Hong Kong dollar and renminbi counters, Xiaomi Corp one of the 24 Hong Kong-listed shares that offers trading in renminbi as well as Bank of China (Hong Kong), say the model helps to reduce exchange costs and risks, as well as increase liquidity of the renminbi counter and narrow the spread between the two counters. Zhongtai International said that in the medium term, the introduction of the dual counter model will increase the number of offshore investable targets denominated in renminbi, which can enrich utilization of the Chinese currency. Over the long run, the dual counter model may induce Belt and Road markets and ASEAN nations to be more willing to hold the currency, thereby promoting yuan internationalization. Edward Au, southern region managing partner at Deloitte China, expects market liquidity to be further improved after the dual counter model is included in the Southbound Stock Connect, and he thinks the first new stocks in Hong Kong adopting the dual counter model will be listed before the end of the year, depending on the exchange rate trend of renminbi. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Chief Executive Officer Nicolas Aguzin said the bourse will continue to negotiate with Hong Kong and mainland regulators to incorporate the dual counter model into the southbound trading of Hong Kong Stock Connect, thus improving capital flows of southbound connect, and attracting international issuers to trade using the arrangement. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) Recently, the National Assembly of Bhutan adopted the National Digital Identity Bill of 2023, marking an important milestone in the country's digital transformation journey, Bhutan-based The Bhutan Live reported. As many as 42 members of the assembly have offered support to the bill, showcasing a shared vision for the advancement of digital identity management. The National Digital Identity Bill of 2023 aims to establish a robust framework for managing digital identities in Bhutan, The Bhutan Live reported. By leveraging digital technologies, the Bhutan government intends to bolster efficiency, security, and convenience for people in their interactions with public services, businesses, and other stakeholders. The adoption of the bill demonstrates a significant step in the creation of a secure and reliable digital ecosystem that can facilitate various online transactions and services. During the adoption of the bill, the National Assembly stressed on the principle of equality by supporting the imposition of equal penalties for all users, including members of the governing body and administrative body of the National Digital Identity System, The Bhutan Live reported. This decision demonstrates the importance of accountability and ensuring that all the people engaged in managing the digital identity system are subject to the same consequences in cases of offences or lapses. Despite receiving support for the bill, some members of the National Assembly expressed concerns over the perceived disparity in penalties for the governing Body and the administrative body in comparison to common users, as per the news report. The concerns regarding the bill were raised on Friday, reflecting that the penalties imposed on these governing bodies were comparatively lighter, potentially resulting in a lower level of accountability, The Bhutan Live reported. The National Digital Identity Bill of 2023 will now be moved to the National Council for further deliberation. The next step in the legislative process will give an opportunity for the bill's provisions to be scrutinized, debated and potentially amended. The National Council, which includes representatives from various sectors and interest groups, will play a significant role in refining the bill to ensure it aligns with the aspirations and requirements of Bhutan's digital ecosystem. The concerns raised by certain members of the National Assembly over the penalties for the Governing Body and the Administrative Body demonstrate the importance of fair and equal treatment under the law, The Bhutan Live reported. As the bill moves to the National Council, it offers an opportunity to address these concerns and ensure that the penalties for governing bodies are appropriately aligned with those imposed on common users. This measure will help enhance transparency, trust and accountability within Bhutan's digital identity system. The adoption of the National Digital Identity Bill of 2023 by the National Assembly demonstrates Bhutan's commitment to harnessing the potential of digital technologies to benefit people, the report said. By creating a comprehensive framework for digital identity management, Bhutan aims to create a secure and efficient digital ecosystem. The forthcoming deliberations regarding the bill in the National Council provide an opportunity to address the concerns raised by the lawmakers and ensure the equitable implementation of the bill, the report said. As Bhutan moves further into the digital era, the legislation will play a key role in shaping the digital identity landscape of the country and boosting inclusive digital transformation. (ANI) Beijing is using infrastructure and connectivity as its tools to somehow enmesh Tibet and Xinjiang - the two autonomous regions -- into its fabric and link them with the rest of China. One of the most visible elements of China's infrastructure investments in Tibet and Xinjiang has been the construction and upgradation of airports and heliports. It offers PLA additional platforms to launch airborne surveillance and reconnaissance missions, as well as strikes and counterstrikes in case of conflicts, a platform named China Power reported. Citing satellite imagery and other open-source material, China Power has identified 37 airports and heliports within Tibet and Xinjiang that have been newly constructed or upgraded since 2017. At least 22 of these are identifiable as military or dual-use facilities or are expected to be once they are completed. Since 2017, China has initiated upgrades (such as new terminals, hangars, aprons, and runways) at all five of Tibet's existing airports. All five of these airports are military and civilian dual-use facilities. Similar developments are taking place in Xinjiang as well. At least 15 airports have been upgraded in Xinjiang since 2017, with seven of these being military or dual-use facilities. However, China still faces certain difficulties owing to the fact that much of China's side of the border is situated on the highest portions of the Tibetan Plateau According to China Power, the PLA faces major operational challenges associated with operating at such high altitudes. The thinner atmosphere makes it more difficult for aircraft to take off. China is coupling its expansion of air infrastructure in Tibet and Xinjiang with new roads, rail, and other ground transportation infrastructure. "Beijing hopes that by enhancing connectivity within the regions--and better linking them with the rest of China--it can enmesh the two autonomous regions more securely into China's social and economic fabric," the report stated. Tibet and Xinjiang have historically lagged in most other parts of China in terms of overall economic development, but especially infrastructure. According to official figures, Tibet's highway system grew 51 per cent between 2015 and 2020--from 7,840 km to 11,820 km--faster than the growth rate of any other province, region, or municipality. Xinjiang's network of highways has expanded at a fast clip as well, growing from 17,830 km in 2015 to 20,920 km in 2020, China Power reported. However, many of the new roads and highways being built are connecting major regional hubs to remote areas on China's borders. In western Xinjiang, for example, China is constructing at least eight roads stretching from the major G219 national highway toward the China-India LAC. China's national economic blueprint for 2021-2025, the 14th Five Year Plan, also laid out a goal of strengthening the construction of 'strategic backbone corridors' out of Xinjiang and into Tibet. Shigatse Peace Airport, situated in a valley approximately 155 km north of the China-India border is an important PLAAF base at the dual-use Shigatse Peace Airport. At the existing portion of the airport, to the east, there is a large military presence, and several new upgrades have also been made. At the main military terminal and tarmac, 10 probable J-11 multirole fighter jets are present. Nyingchi Mainling Airport, which is situated approximately 490 km east of Shigatse Peace Airport lies another major hub of Chinese military power. This site, centred on Nyingchi Mainling Airport, is located just 15 km from China's border with the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Immediately adjacent to the new garrison facility, the PLA has constructed a large new motor vehicle maintenance and storage facility, as well as a new complex for training troops. The training facility includes bunkers, trenches, bridges, and various obstacles for practising manoeuvres on foot and in vehicles. In addition to these upgrades, a large SAM base had been constructed on a nearby ledge sitting approximately 50 meters above the surrounding facilities. These examples show how behind the rapid infrastructural focus, lies the Chinese intentions of bring the autonomous regions into its expansionist fold. (ANI) An anti-corruption court in Lahore on Tuesday approved the post-arrest bail of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Parvez Elahi in a case related to illegal recruitments in Pakistan's Punjab Assembly, Pakistan-based Dawn reported. Earlier this month, the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) in Gujranwala arrested Parvez Elahi on allegations of taking Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 15 million in bribes as the speaker of the provincial assembly for making out-of-merit appointments on grade-17 posts in the provincial assembly. Subsequently, Elahi was sent to jail on judicial remand for 14 days. On Monday, the court reserved its verdict on the PTI president's petition for post-arrest bail after the state prosecutor and Elahi's lawyer Rana Intizar made their arguments, according to Dawn report. While announcing the verdict on Tuesday, Special Judge Ali Raza Awan granted post-arrest bail to the former Punjab Chief Minister against surety bonds worth Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 1 million, Dawn reported. During the hearing, Special Prosecutor Abdul Samad said that Elahi was directly guilty in the case and opposed his bail while Intizar insisted that his client had no role in the allegations levelled against him. Elahi is still at the district jail in Lahore and is yet to be released, as per the news report. Elahi's bail comes a day after his cousin and PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain visited the former in prison. Hussain visited the district jail along with his son Salik Hussain. PML-Q chief said that the former chief minister was unwell and his feet were swollen. On June 1, Elahi was first arrested by ACE officials from outside his house in a corruption case. However, the court called the charges against Elahi not "well-founded" and discharged him, Dawn reported. Soon after his discharge, Elahi was taken into custody again by anti-corruption officials in two cases, accusing him of causing a loss of PKR 100 million to the national exchequer and receiving kickbacks during his time as Punjab chief executive, as per the Dawn report. Last week, Elahi was produced before Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Afzal's court in Gujranwala. After listening to ACE and Elahi's lawyer's arguments, the court discharged Elahi in both cases and ordered his immediate release if he was not required in any other case. (ANI) The people from different communities performed yoga at Trafalgar Square in Central London to celebrate the International Day of Yoga and recounted its benefits on multiple fronts. The event was organised by the Indian High Commission in the UK and supported by the Mayor of London. The Deputy High Commissioner of India to the UK, Sujit Ghosh called the experience 'delightful' and appreciated new people starting yoga. Sujit Ghosh told ANI, "It was a delightful experience this morning. Yoga is all about harmony, harmony with the inner self and harmony with the outer world. It was a great experience people were very happy and we got many new people to commit to yoga and making it part of their normal routine". A foreign national lady named Murailah from Finchley, north London, who is a yoga enthusiast, also came forward to teach yoga to other people. "It was a nice experience to do yoga in such beautiful surroundings. In the last 10 years, I discovered yoga and my love for yoga. I also wanted to share it with people. I came here myself to teach yoga. Yoga connects with my spirit, with my mind, with my heart," she said. An Indian national, Komal Mehta who is a yoga trainer talked about the health benefits of yoga. "We went through the Yoga protocol, issued by the AYUSH ministry. We wanted to show its benefits, there are so many health benefits. The experience was fantastic. I can't believe, so many people turned out in the rain. Everyone from children, and older people participated and did the yoga," she said. Joyce, another foreign national and yoga enthusiast, who is also connected with Sadhguru's ISHA Foundation, told how yoga guided her in choosing the right path in life. "It was a great privilege to learn about ancient tools of transformation. Yoga has helped us at various levels, at the physical, mental, emotional level and also at the spiritual level. I was looking for directions, and yoga has helped me choose the right path," she said. Inderpal Ohri Chandel, an Indian national and yoga enthusiast said that by doing yoga, people are also spiritually connected. "It was an immensely proud moment to be here, and representing yoga and our culture. While doing yoga in a group, you are not just physically connected, but also spiritually connected to roots. We are feeling refreshed," she said. Notably, this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the International Day of Yoga celebration at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. India in London in the tweet stated, "Yoga lovers from around London have gathered at the historic @trafalgar square to celebrate the International Day of Yoga, spreading positivity and tranquillity." In another tweet, the High Commission of India in London stated, "Some more glimpses of 9th #IDY2023 at the iconic Trafalgar Square, London." "Trafalgar Square London. Common Yoga Protocol in progress! The theme of this year "One Earth, One Family, One Future," the High Commission of India in London further said. The International Day of Yoga has been celebrated worldwide annually on June 21 since 2015, following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014. Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual practice that originated in ancient India. In his 2014 UN address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested the date of June 21, as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and shares a special significance in many parts of the world. After the yoga day celebration in New York, PM Modi will then travel to Washington D.C., where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22, and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. (ANI) PM Modi on Tuesday emplaned for the United States for his first historic State visit. Prior to leaving for the US, PM Modi tweeted, "Leaving for USA, where I will attend programmes in New York City and Washington DC. These programmes include Yoga Day celebrations at the @UNHQ, talks with @POTUS @JoeBiden, address to the Joint Session of the US Congress and more." PM Modi is visiting the US at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The visit will commence in New York where the Prime Minister will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21. (ANI) China has blocked a proposal by India and the United States at the United Nations to designate Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Sajid Mir, wanted for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, as a global terrorist. Notably, Sajid Mir, one of India's most wanted terrorists, is wanted for his involvement in the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. Mir served as the chief planner of the attacks, directing preparations and reconnaissance, and was one of the Pakistan-based controllers during the attacks. "Beginning on November 26, 2008, and continuing through November 29, 2008, ten attackers trained by the Pakistan-based foreign terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) carried out a series of coordinated attacks against multiple targets in Mumbai, including hotels, cafes, and a train station, killing approximately 170 people. Six Americans were killed during the three-day attacks," the FBI website reads. Earlier in 2022, India at the UN counter-terror meet in Mumbai revealed in detail Pakistan's role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack by playing Pakistan-based terrorist Sajid Mir's audiotape. In the audio clip, he is heard directing the attack on Chabad House during Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks. Playing the audio clip, India presented undeniable evidence against Pakistan. The clip was played by a senior Intelligence Bureau officer, Pankaj Thakur at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) meeting at Taj Mahal Palace. It exposed Sajid Mir directing terrorists from Muzaffarabad, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir where he is giving instructions to terrorists who were at Chabad House during Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks. Thakur made this revelation in the presence of several foreign ministers and diplomats from over 15 countries. Meanwhile, China, in recent months, has blocked several bids to designate several terrorists based in Pakistan. In October last year, Beijing put on hold a proposal to list Talha Saeed, son of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed. This bid was moved by India and co-supported by the US, under the 1267 sanction regime. It was the fifth time that China has blocked an India-US proposal in recent months, Lashkar-e-Taiba member Shahid Mahmood in October, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Sajid Mir in September, LeT and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) leader Abdul Rehman Makki in June, as well as Abdul Rauf Azhar in August, the brother of Jaish-e Mohammed (JEM) chief Masood Azhar, were protected by Beijing. (ANI) Amnesty International said today on World Refugee Day that the government of Pakistan must urgently stop arbitrarily arresting and harassing Afghan refugees and asylum seekers, many of whom are fleeing persecution by the Taliban, Khaama Press reported. Many Afghans have fled to Pakistan for fear of persecution after the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021. These migrants have been arbitrarily arrested, put in detention, and have suffered threats of deportation. Causing the delays in the registration procedure, Most Afghan refugees still need to possess Proof of Registration (PoR) cards which is the identity proof document allowing them to reside in Pakistan routinely. Many of them who had ordinary visas while entering Pakistan have also expired, as per Khaama Press. Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnesty's Deputy Regional Director for South Asia, said, "It is deeply concerning that the situation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan is not receiving due international attention." According to Amnesty International, many refugees in Pakistan do not want to go back to Afghanistan. Also, the organization called on the U.N. agency for refugees to "expedite registration and reviews of applications from Afghans seeking refugee status in Pakistan." They also emphasize the refugee's request that nations sponsoring relocation programmes should speed up the visa application process, according to Khaama Press. According to Amnesty, over 3.7 million Afghans who fled Afghanistan for political and economic reasons now reside in Pakistan. Moreover, only 1.4 million people have official registration. Meanwhile, The Afghanistan Embassy in Islamabad also requested Pakistan to cease detaining Afghans earlier this month after 250 people were held for lack of travel documents by counterterrorism officials and other agencies, as per Khaama Press. (ANI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US will strengthen the shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific and the resolve to elevate strategic technology partnership including in defence, White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said on Tuesday. Addressing a press conference, Kirby said it is a big week at the White House as the President and First Lady welcome the Prime Minister of India for an official state visit and dinner. Kirby said India and the US are "increasingly partners of first resort" in the Indo-Pacific. He said that PM Modi and US President Joe Biden will discuss ways to further enhance educational exchanges and people-to-people ties as well as work together to tackle common challenges. "This is a big week here at the White House as the President and First Lady welcome the Prime Minister of India for an official state visit and dinner. It's only the third such state dinner and visit of this administration. This visit will affirm the deep and close partnership between the US and India and the warm bonds of family and friendship that link Americans and Indians together," Kirby said. "The visit will strengthen our two countries shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific and our shared resolve to elevate our strategic technology partnership, including in defence, clean energy and space. The leaders will discuss ways to further expand our educational exchanges and people-to-people ties as well as our work together to confront common challenges, from climate change to workforce development and health security. As the world's oldest and largest democracies and as key net security partners in the Indo-Pacific, the US and India are increasingly partners of first resort as a combined force for global good," he added. Terming India a "critical strategic partner" for the US in the coming decades, he said that India's growing commitment to playing a more engaged international role in the Indo-Pacific, Quad demonstrates a new and growing readiness to join the US to protect and advance a shared vision of free, open and rules-based order. "As a combined force for global good, India will be a critical strategic partner for the US in the coming decades. India's growing commitment to playing a more engaged international role, including in the Indo-Pacific Quad, demonstrates a new and growing willingness to join the US to protect and advance a shared vision of a free, open and rules-based order," Kirby said. PM Modi's visit to US will begin in New York where he will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21. PM Modi will thereafter travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22, and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening. PM Modi will also address a joint sitting of the US Congress on June 22. (ANI) Safran which offers a wide range of defence systems and equipment, deployed by armies, navies and air forces from around the world to protect nations highlighted India's growth and said that it will be quadrupling its employees in the country. In an exclusive interview with ANI, Alexandre Ziegler, Executive Vice President of Defense Division Safran Electronics and Defense said, "India is already one of the most important economies in the world. It going to grow in the coming years and we are going to increase our employee strength quadruple in the coming years. I've been knowing India and visiting India for years I lived in India. I could experience the energy of this country." Ziegler who was also French Ambassador to India said that currently Safran has 1000 employees in India and this number is going to quadruple in the next few years and will be increased to 4000 progressively, and 5000 to 6000 in the coming years. "We've made a strategic shift to a strategic bet on India. We are building one of our largest manufacturing hubs including. Our largest MRO centre for aircraft engines in the world, which will be progressively built in India late next year. So that's for the industrial part," said Ziegler. He said that Safran is putting more and more emphasis on engineering in India so that it can develop and co-develop new products. "Safran wanted to be part of the development of strategic autonomy of India by providing India with new systems, especially in the defence, but also by co-developing with India," said Ziegler. Ziegler mentioned two projects that it wants to co-develop with India. "One is on fighter jet engines which only four to five countries in the world can manufacture currently. The next one we would love to partner with India so we can develop together an Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) which will put India in a select group of countries with super-cruise and stealth aircraft capabilities." "We are probably the only company in the world to be able to propose this partnership with India. It speaks volumes about how high is India on our strategic priorities," he added. Ziegler also talked about the inertial navigation system (INS), a self-contained navigation technique in which measurements provided by accelerometers and gyroscopes are used to track the position and orientation of an object relative to a known starting point, orientation and velocity. "We are also working with India on inertial navigation. We've been battling for years in inertial navigation. India's inertial navigation is one of the key assets that helps you to navigate in GNSS-denied environments so when GPS is jammed, for instance, these are very state-of-the-art and very specific kinds of devices. I could name two or three more examples of equipment on which we want not only to manufacture in India, not only to export from India but really to develop and co-develop with India's indigenous system." French defence major Safran Group has big plans for India as it is setting up a production facility in Hyderabad to produce parts and components for advanced aircraft engines with an investment of Euro 36 million. It is also into a big-ticket joint venture with state-run aerospace major HAL in Bengaluru to produce engines for helicopters. The French giant is also setting up an MRO facility for Indian and foreign commercial aircraft. The MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facility to be established in Hyderabad through the foreign direct investment of USD 150 million will be for the LEAP-1A and LEAP-1B engines being used in aircraft by both Indian and foreign commercial airlines. (ANI) White House National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said on Tuesday said that it is up to India to decide to buy Russian oil and hoped that India will continue to buy Russian oil in keeping within the price cap. Speaking on the price cap on Russian oil, Kirby said, "The price cap is working and proven effective. It's working and we are gratified to see that. It is up to India to decide and we hope that India will continue to buy oil in keeping within the price cap." In December last year, the United States and its allies went after Russia's all-important oil revenues after a European ban and price cap on Russian oil. Europe, along with the United States and other major economies, like the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, and Australia, agreed to a maximum of USD 60 per barrel on Russian seaborne oil, which means anyone who still wants to buy Russian oil has to pay that price or less if it wants to ship cargo through operators or insurers based in the EU or other countries who signed on to this price cap. John Kirby said that India is a "key and important partner" for the United States not just in the Indo-Pacific but globally. He stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden will have discussions on a number of issues. He noted that India and US bilateral ties in the future will be "one of the most defining and important." "India is a key and important partner, not just in the Indo-Pacific, but globally for the United States. In fact, it's one of the most defining bilateral relationships in the world now and if you just look ahead, look at where things are going, not just in that region, but elsewhere, I think it's safe to say that it's going to be one of the most defining and important bilateral relationships well into the future," said Kirby. "And so in the context of that, you can expect that over the next few days, President Biden and Prime Minister Modi will have wide-ranging discussions about a lot of issues. Some issues are always easier to discuss than others, but that's what partners do, you have those kinds of conversations. I'm not going to get ahead of them. And I'm certainly not going to speak for either leader until they have a chance to speak for themselves at the end of their visits and meetings. But, I think you will see that the agenda they end up discussing is very robust and covers many issues," he added. John Kirby noted that US President Joe Biden never shies away from holding discussions with foreign issues about issues on which they don't see eye-to-eye. He called the India-US bilateral partnership "hugely important" for Washington. It is pertinent to note here that India continues to buy Russian oil even after the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. When asked about Russia evading sanctions, Kirby said, "I mean, this is why we have constant dialogue with allies and partners and friends in the region and around the world. We don't want to see anybody try to skirt these sanctions. We want to see Mr Putin held to account and the Kremlin held to account. Now, obviously, every nation has to make these decisions for themselves, but our view has been very clear. We want to see all the international sanctions ascribed to and enforced appropriately so that Mr Putin can't benefit and we have no compunction about having conversations privately with allies, partners, and friends throughout the world, certainly on the European continent, about our concerns in that regard. But, obviously, we wouldn't get into detail about what the diplomatic conversations are." "As I've said earlier, President Biden never shies away, nor would you expect him to from having conversations with foreign leaders about issues on which we don't always see eye to eye. That's important. That's why you have visits, that's why you have meetings. That's why you have these discussions so that you can work through all of those things. But, this is not only a very important visit for us, but this is a hugely important bilateral relationship that the President and his entire team Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo have all put a lot of energy into." Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in New York on the first leg of his historic state visit to the United States. During his visit to New York, PM Modi will meet CEOs, Nobel laureates, economists, artists, scientists, scholars, entrepreneurs, academicians, and health sector experts today. He will attend Yoga Day celebrations at the UN headquarters on June 21. PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC and receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22.US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening. The Prime Minister will also address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress on the same day. On June 23, the Prime Minister will be jointly hosted at a luncheon by US Vice President Kamala Harris and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In addition to official engagements, the Prime Minister is scheduled to have several interactions with leading CEOs, professionals, and other stakeholders. (ANI) Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US is "historic." He called it an "honour" to escort PM Modi to his address at the joint session of the US Congress. In an exclusive interview with ANI, Shri Thanedar said, "This is an important visit and this is a historic visit. Not only this is important for the world's oldest democracy, which is the United States, and the largest democracy, which is India, but it's not just important for these two countries, it is also important for the world because peace in the India-Pacific region, Indian Ocean region, is very, very important. And this historic relationship will ensure that we have peace in that region." "It is a great honour for me to be able to come and be able to escort Mr Modi to his historic address, to the joint session of the US. Congress," Shri Thanedar said. He recalled his life in Karnataka, where he was born and lived in India for 24 years of life before migrating to the US. Shri Thanedar called the ties between India and US "good" and stressed that the two nations need to be more stronger allies. He further said that India needs to rethink on its re-alignment policy and work together to have a joint collaboration in space, defence, education and commerce. At the invitation of US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a state visit to the US. The visit will commence in New York where the PM will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21. PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22 and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue, according to Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) press release. He will also address the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. In response to the question regarding the ties between India and the US, Shri Thanedar said, "The relationship is good. But, it can be better, we need to be more stronger allies than we have been as you know. Historically, India has taken a non-alignment position and India had similar relationship with Russia and the United States. But, now the United States is the only superpower. The United States is the oldest democracy, as opposed to Russia, who has encroached on a sovereign country like Ukraine. It is run by Putin." He added, "So, I think India needs to rethink its non-alignment policy. And it would be better for the people of India, people of America and the people of the world if India and United States work together, have a joint collaboration in space and in defence, in education, in commerce. Many Indian Americans have done, contributed significantly to the growth of American economy. And this relationship is very, very important. And it is time for India to put its full trust into the United States and develop a very, very strong relationship." Indian-American Congressman noted that there will be a number of agreements signed between the two nations during PM Modi's visit to the US. He further said that there will be a substantial amount of agreement for the purchase of defence equipment between India and the US. Shri Thanedar acknowledged the existing good relationship between India and the US but stressed the potential for further improvement and a closer alliance. Shri Thanedar said, "We expect in this visit a number of agreements both in commerce will be work done between US companies investing in India, Indian companies bringing business to the United States. There will also be a substantial amount of agreement for purchase of defence equipment. And that way India can get the most latest, the best equipment from United States. And a military partnership, a defence partnership is just as important as a space or technology or education is important." He called for the two largest and oldest democracies, the United States and India, to unite and counter China's aggression. "China is perhaps the single most important reason why the United States and India need to join hands and become closest allies. China has, as we know, been aggressive militarily on the northern border of India. China has been aggressive towards the United States in its unfair trade practices, its unfair labour practices, and incorrect environmental policies. So it is important that we stop this China's aggression. China also has now close relationship with Russia. So, it is aligning itself with the dictatorial Russia and it is important for the United States and India, the two largest and oldest democracies to come together, join hands and stop this aggression by China," he added. (ANI) Relief for commuter traffic congestion in southern Hillsborough County may come from the air, not from the ground. And it still could be decades away. The idea is to extend the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway for 10 miles from its current eastern end in Brandon to Big Bend Road in Riverview. The elevated highway would be built above the median of U.S. 301. The ambitious plan carries a preliminary cost estimate of $1.8 billion, based on similar construction projects in 2022. The expense would be covered by borrowed money paid off by toll-paying motorists. The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority, which owns and operates the 15-mile Lee Roy Selmon Expressway between South Tampa and Brandon, cautioned that more accurate cost estimates and alternatives would be determined in a project development and environmental study. The elevated concept mirrors the 2-year-old Selmon West Extension, a 1.9-mile toll bridge built above Gandy Boulevard, connecting the south end of the Gandy Bridge to Brandon. That elevated highway cost $230 million. A preliminary analysis of the latest proposal is to be presented Thursday to the Hillsborough County Commission. Commissioner Michael Owen, noting growth in unincorporated Hillsborough is just out of hand, asked for the study in April. Its an undeniable fact that our highway system is the backbone of our economy and job creation. We lose sight of that basic fact and I guarantee that you will lose the economic edge in the Tampa Bay region, Owen said then. We have got to create some type of relief for (Interstate) 75 and east and south county as well as cross-town connections. The folks in my county (district), were just choked. A preliminary study from the Florida Department of Transportation, Hillsborough County and the expressway authority, projects the 10-mile Selmon Expressway extension, plus added lanes to Interstate 75, would reduce afternoon travel time from downtown Tampa to Gibsonton Drive by 30 minutes. It broke the project into three phases and costs: The current expressway to Bloomingdale Avenue, $566 million; Bloomingdale Avenue to Gibsonton Drive, $545 million; and Gibsonton Drive to Big Bend Road, $695 million. The extended Selmon Expressway also could produce a safer driving environment. The preliminary study did not include a safety component, but it noted the number of accidents on Gandy Boulevard dropped 22% between 2018 and 2022 coinciding with the opening of the Selmon Extension West. East-west traffic problems, however, wont be eliminated by a new highway. Even with an elevated expressway extended to Riverview, a wider I-75 and completion of the widening of Lithia Pinecrest Road, both East Lumsden Road and Bloomingdale Avenue will be over capacity, the study projected. The next steps could be commission requests to the expressway authority to conduct a project development and environmental study that could take up to 24 months or a detailed economic study that would take a year. Commissioners also could ask the Transportation Planning Organization to add the project to its 2050 long-term transportation plan that is under development and scheduled to be approved in 2024. We would love to help solve the problems down there in south Hillsborough, Greg Slater, CEO of the expressway authority, said through a spokesperson. Separately, the authority is working on a $250 million expansion of the Selmon Expressway between Himes and Florida avenues. It will widen the highway from four to six lanes, and construction is expected to be finished in 2029. In south county, the I-75 interchange at Big Bend Road already is undergoing an $81.7 million rebuild funded by the county, state and federal governments. The states long-range plan also calls for a $2.6 billion expansion of I-75 through Hillsborough County, adding two express lanes in each direction between Manatee County and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in New Tampa. 10 Home and Away spoilers for next week Channel 5 Home and Away spoilers follow for UK viewers. Coming up on Home and Away, Marilyn and Kirby fight back when Stunning Organics issue a lawsuit against them. Elsewhere, Justin makes a disturbing discovery about Andrew's past, and Mali rejects Rose's attempt at a romantic reconciliation. Here's a full collection of 10 big moments. 1. Kahu rejects Mac Channel 5 As a concerned Tane searches the Bay for Kahu, his cousin is busy enjoying an afternoon of passion with Mackenzie. Afterwards, Mac asks Kahu to keep quiet about their encounter, insisting it was a one-off. As rumour spreads, Felicity and Mali are keen to know all the juicy details, but they end up on the receiving end of Mac's annoyance. Later, flirty Mac suggests to Kahu they hook up again, but he rebuffs her advances, revealing that he has been ordered not to mess with her as she's in a vulnerable state. 2. Mac is on the warpath Channel 5 Unaware that it was Tane who warned Kahu off her, Mac publicly accuses Mali of interfering in her life. She soon realises her error and apologises, restoring the peace between the housemates. Tane and Felicity come clean to Mac and admit they told Kahu to back off, purely out of concern for her own wellbeing. Felicity urges Mac to take some time off work so she can process Gabe's loss properly. 3. Kahu has a business proposal for Cash Channel 5 Later in the week, Kahu hosts a barbecue under the pretence of thanking Tane and Felicity for their hospitality, but it soon becomes clear that he has an ulterior motive. Cornering Cash, Kahu reveals he knows about his inheritance and asks if he'd consider using the money to invest in his trawler. Unfortunately, the cop doesn't take kindly to Kahu's brazen request. When Tane finds out, he calls Kahu out for embarrassing them both. 4. Rose makes a move on Mali Channel 5 Amused by Rose's awkwardness around Mali, Xander urges her to be honest about her feelings. However, Rose is adamant that she can't do it through fear of Mali rejecting her. A bit of encouragement from Bree soon gives Rose the confidence to ask Mali for a surf lesson. After having fun together out on the water, Rose moves in for a kiss but Mali pulls away. Embarrassed by her ex's rejection, Rose proceeds to drown her sorrows at Salt and has to be taken home by Bree. Waking up the following morning, a hungover Rose concludes it's time she moved on from Mali. 5. Marilyn and Kirby come under threat Channel 5 Marilyn is in a state of terror over Stunning Organics' legal threats, even though Kirby reckons they've got the corrupt company spooked. As the threats keep coming, Marilyn is forced to show Kirby the stockpile of product she has been hiding at Irene's and admits she's in huge debt to the cosmetic giant. Later, the ladies are stunned when they are served with legal papers from Stunning Organics. Kirby isn't going to be beaten, though, and comes up with an idea to recruit others to join their fight. 6. Alf discovers Marilyn's deception Channel 5 With an impending lawsuit hanging over their heads, Kirby and Marilyn create an online forum to find other victims of Stunning Organics. It's not long before one brave person comes forward. Meanwhile, Marilyn is unable to conceal the truth from Alf any longer when he discovers her secret stash of Stunning Organics products. The Bay stalwart is horrified to realise how much Marilyn has been keeping from him, but vows to support his friend. 7. Justin loses patience with Andrew Channel 5 Andrew is still having a hard time adapting to his new life in the Bay so Bree decides to organise him an appointment with the social worker. Whilst out on the beach with Theo and Justin, Andrew shows signs of progress when he enjoys a splash in the water. But when it's time to see the social worker, the anxious lad panics and refuses to leave the house. In frustration, Justin snaps at Andrew, leaving Leah afraid that they can't cope caring for him. 8. Justin receives worrying news Channel 5 There's a breakthrough in solving the mystery of Andrew when Cash reveals a neighbour has come forward. The lady insists she's never seen Andrew before but reveals there was an older man living at the property. Cash is able to identity the inhabitant as Archie Lawrence, but discovers he died three weeks ago. Justin is then left to break the news to Andrew that his only connection to the outside world has gone. 9. Andrew's dark past is revealed Channel 5 Leah is desperate to do more to help Andrew and turns to Roo for support. With no knowledge of Andrew's surname, they're unable to find his school records. Roo offers to help with his reading and writing, which Leah gratefully accepts. Elsewhere, Justin and Cash confront Andrew with the photograph of Archie Lawrence and he confirms that Archie is his father. There's another twist to the tale when Cash and Justin find out Andrew was reported missing at four years old when he was abducted by his dad, and nobody has seen or heard from Andrew since. 10. Lyrik have a cashflow crisis Channel 5 Remi and Eden are busy plotting ways to raise the $12,000 they need for Lyrik to record a studio album. Tensions rise when Eden suggests Remi ask his wealthy parents for the money and he refuses to go there, insisting she knows why. Inspired by Kahu's shameless pitch, Cash offers the band a lifeline by investing part of his inheritance in the band's album. But while Remi is all for it, Eden insists she won't accept her boyfriend's charity. Home and Away airs weekdays at 1.45pm on Channel 5 and 6pm on 5STAR. First-look screenings air at 6.30pm on 5STAR and the show also streams on My5. Selected classic episodes are available via Prime Video in the UK. Read more Home and Away spoilers on our dedicated homepage You Might Also Like Why would a self-described tech nerd with no personal connection to the armed forces give away $100 million to organizations focused on veterans and military families? Because I owe them, said Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist turned philanthropist and veterans advocate. Ive realized that some people are going to risk themselves, maybe taking a bullet overseas to protect me There are a lot of issues in the military community that I barely understand. But on a gut level, I know we owe vets and their families a lot. Newmark, who stepped down as CEO of his namesake web site more than 20 years ago, has spent most of the last eight years focused on charity work, launching the Craig Newmark Philanthropies to distribute some of his personal wealth. The latest $100 million pledge is actually a continuation of recent efforts focused on military groups. About $42 million of the money has already been given away, including $10 million each to Blue Star Families and the Bob Woodruff Foundation. The rest of the money will be awarded over the next three years. Military families crave stability and more time together, survey finds In announcing a big number, as Newmark deemed it during a sit-down with Military Times, he hopes to spur not only new research and outreach among established military supporters but also to draw public attention to those efforts, some of which have fallen out of the public eye since the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its hard to ask someone to do their best to serve their country if theyre worried about their family back home or if theyre worried that they may be abandoned as a vet, he said. So people in industry, and also one-percenters everywhere, probably could pony up some cash to help out. Newmarks foundation said the money will be directed towards contributing to solutions for the most pressing challenges facing veterans and military families, a list that includes mental health problems, food insecurity, employment challenges and loneliness. The beneficiaries of the donations say the money provides unexpected opportunities for growth and outreach. Blue Star Families, for example, will see their operating budget almost double thanks to the new money. Officials hope to use it to further research on the struggles of military families and open more chapters to connect spouses with each other. This is really transformational for us, said Kathy Roth-Douquet, CEO of Blue Star Families. When youre a non-profit, you dont get investors and you dont grow like a for-profit. You have to grow incrementally. But with a big infusion like this, you can leap to the next level, and that is exciting. Newmark has an emeritus seat on Blue Star Families board of directors, but describes his role as mostly listening and getting out of the way while advocates work towards solutions. He believes most Americans support helping military members and their families, but dont know what that means or how to do it. We need to learn what we already know: that we owe vets and their families, he said. Theyve done the job we asked, theyve made great sacrifices. It feels right to do something about it. Information on how groups can apply for the new grants are available through Newmarks foundation website. A total of 109 people are considered missing as a result of the Russian forces destroying the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP); 202 people who were considered missing have been found. Source: Ministry for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine; Ihor Klymenko, Ukraines Minister of Internal Affairs, on Telegram Quote from the Reintegration Ministry: "As of today, the whereabouts of 202 residents of Kherson Oblast [who were previously considered missing] have been confirmed. [...] Another 109 people are still considered missing as a result of the blowing up of the [Kakhovka] dam. Their cases have been handed over to the National Police to conduct search and investigative operations." Details: The hotline of the Commissioner for Persons Missing under Special Circumstances received 311 appeals about missing persons with whom communication has been lost following the explosion at the Kakhovka HPP. The Ministry for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories said that around 90% of the appeals concern persons missing from the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson Oblast. On 17 June, Ihor Klymenko, Ukraines Minister of Internal Affairs, said that 31 persons were missing on territories controlled by Ukraine. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Animal welfare workers found 146 dead dogs at the home of an Ohio canine rescue groups president, according to a news release. On June 16, the Portage Animal Protective League arrived at the Mantua home with a search warrant, which it obtained after receiving a tip that an animal cruelty charge was pending against the homeowner, the organization said in a June 19 release. The homeowner is known to be a founding operator of Canine Lifeline, Inc., a nonprofit animal rescue, the release said. Inside the home, workers found 146 dogs in varying stages of decay, many of them in crates and cages, the organization said. There were no dogs alive on the property. The organization will carry out necropsies on the dogs to determine their causes of death, according to the release. McClatchy News has reached out to the Portage County Sheriffs Office for more information and did not immediately receive a response. Canine Lifeline was quick to speak out about the accusations. Like the general public, volunteers of the non-profit animal rescue organization Canine Lifeline have been shocked, horrified and confused to learn of the devastating revelations regarding its president and co-founder, the group said in a statement. We share your grief and despair. The co-founder suffered a medical incident in early June, collapsing in her home, the group said. First responders showed up to the residence and an investigation was launched, revealing evidence of animal neglect at the Mantua home, and another home in Parma, according to the group. Canine Lifeline added that, since the group was first established, it has homed more than 6,000 dogs. [She] was a very private person who appeared, to us, to be devoted to these rescue animals, the group said. Volunteers and adoptive families that gave their time and energy to the cause of animal welfare are now navigating feelings of bewilderment, betrayal, and grief in light of what has been learned about [her] secret treatment of animals. Mantua is roughly 40 miles southeast of downtown Cleveland. Driver needs rescue after strange creature she saved loses temper, TX officials say Snake bites 50 times as expert tries to make video on trail. Hes actually very nice Man accidentally hits bird nest, then drives hundreds of miles with last egg in hand Pet monkey killed after biting girl, leaving its owner charged, Kentucky officials say A 2-year-old boy died after he was strapped to a chair as punishment, Florida officials say. Now, his mother is charged with murder. Hillsborough County deputies said they responded to reports of a toddler in distress on May 19 and found the 2-year-old with various injuries. The child was pronounced dead at the scene. The boys 24-year-old mother, Rebecca Louise Gussage-Johnston, told deputies she had punished the toddler for acting out the day before by strapping him to a booster seat, an arrest report said, according to Law & Crime. Gussage-Johnston put her son in the seat the evening of May 18 and left him there until about 11 a.m. the next day. Gussage-Johnston found the toddler flipped over in the chair suffer[ing] from seizures and shaking uncontrollably, the morning of May 19, according to the arrest report, WKRG reported. Deputies said Gussage-Johnston failed to call for help despite having a working cell phone, according to a June 15 news release from the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office. Instead, a concerned family member called 911 to report the toddlers injuries. Gussage-Johnston was initially arrested May 19 and charged with aggravated child abuse resulting in great bodily harm and child neglect, the sheriffs office said. After a medical examiners report revealed the toddlers manner of death was homicide due to severe neglect, she was charged with first-degree murder while engaged in aggravated child abuse. Deputies said Gussage-Johnston remains in custody. Hillsborough County is about 10 miles east of Tampa. Teen with autism dies after hes given medicine to shut him up, SC coroner says Man convicted of killing of girlfriends 3-year-old dies in custody, Oregon officials say Missing 4-year-old likely found dead in Tennessee, cops say. Mom and boyfriend charged A Kennewick man is accused of taking extraordinary steps to stalk two women more than 200 miles away. And investigators believe there may be many more victims. Investigators say that Justin William Hughes spent more than 1 1/2 years harassing two women, who were friends, in Vancouver, Wash. He impersonated family members and hijacked social media accounts all in an attempt to get a hold of them. He allegedly carried out this campaign from the Pasco home he was living in at the time, according to court documents. When police investigated his Google account, they found 50 folders allegedly showing they werent the only ones suffering from his pattern of harassment. Franklin County prosecutors have charged the 29-year-old man with stalking, two counts of first-degree computer trespassing and two counts of first-degree criminal impersonation. He is currently being held in the Franklin County jail in lieu of $150,000 bail, and if hes released hes not allowed to use a computer. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and a trial was scheduled for Aug. 9. While police say that he carried out a pattern of stalking and harassment on several women, he has not been charged for those cases. Its unclear how Hughes became fixated on the women. But this is not the first time he has been in trouble for stalking. He was sentenced to stalking and three counts of harassment in Cowlitz County in 2017. He was sentenced to a year in prison. Harassment and stalking The investigation into the pattern of harassment started in November 2022 when a then 26-year-old woman went to Vancouver police to complain. She brought a thumb drive that had 148 screenshots showing how Hughes allegedly contacted her, her friend and her family. His first messages came about two years before when he pretended to be a friend asking to borrow her shoes. He then sent a photo of the woman and one of her friends in swimwear. He then sent her a cropped photo of her feet wearing the shoes she wore on prom night. She told investigators that she didnt know if she knew the person sending the messages. But she had received several text, Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram messages. He called her at least twice a week and at inconvenient hours, such as midnight, 2 a.m. or 5 a.m. And sent a text message weekly or every other week. Two days before going to police, Hughes allegedly reached out to the womans father and pretended to be her mother. He claimed he was locked out of her email account, and said a code had just been texted to his cellphone. When her father provided the code to Hughes, he allegedly used it to hijack his Yahoo email account, and social media accounts. He allegedly used that account to try and contact the woman. A new email was discovered connected to the Yahoo account and Facebook account. The ongoing harassment has made her frustrated and definitely afraid, according to the court documents. Since she is unsure whether she knows the suspect or not in real life, it has made her somewhat paranoid. She no longer meets with clients by herself and started carrying a self-defense spike on her keychain. His second victim He allegedly started harassing his second victim about six months after the first. The two women were friends, and they both noticed the same pattern of messages asking about her shoes and her feet. He would often call from strange numbers and at inconvenient hours, including getting five calls in a role at 4 a.m. Since the ongoing harassment, she has felt paranoid. Her anxiety escalated when she started getting messages from the suspect via her familys accounts, according to the affidavit of probable case. (She) is concerned the suspect has a great deal of her information. She became more careful about walking to her car, started carrying mace and felt the need to let friends and family know where she is when out. Hughes allegedly used a familiar method to get a hold of the second victims mother. He pretended to be the womans son to get a hold of her email and then her Instagram page. He allegedly connected the same email addresses to the account that he used for the other victims fathers account. Police were able to link those email addresses to an IP address that was at Hughes home. Also one of the email addresses was linked to a Gmail address justinhughes343123. Investigators also found 50 folders that were organized and labeled in the Google Drive allegedly showing he was stalking and harassing a large number of women, according to court documents. Detectives had tracked him to a Powder Drive home in Pasco. He was living there until sometime in April when he moved to Kennewick. Police arrested him on June 8. A 20-year-old was arrested on Friday after shooting his girlfriend multiple times and killing her, claiming she was having a relationship with another man, according to court documents. On June 15, at about 8:13 p.m., Tempe police responded to the 2600 block of West Broadway Road after witnesses reported seeing a man, later identified as Adrian Aguilar, exit his car in the middle of the roadway following the shooting of his 18-year-old girlfriend in the passenger seat. The victim was confirmed dead by responding officers, and authorities have yet to identify her. As officers pulled up to the scene, Aguilar took note of the marked vehicles headed for him and turned the gun on himself, firing into his chest and collapsing to the ground, court documents stated. Crews transported Aguilar to a hospital for treatment. Due to "extraordinary circumstances," Aguilar had not been booked into jail, but according to Tempe police, he has since been medically cleared and booked. Court documents detail how the shooting unfolded According to court documents, Aguilar told police in their initial contact that "some gang members" had gone up to the car and fired into it while the couple was driving. Witness accounts poked holes in this claim, and were also unsupported by physical evidence from the scene. When Aguilar learned this in a post-Miranda interview, he then told investigators that he had shot his girlfriend. Court documents state that Aguilar said he and the victim had been together for about three months, adding that "he cared a great deal and even loved" her. On the day of the incident, the pair had gotten off of work at about 1 p.m. and headed to a pool party in Tempe, staying until 5:30 p.m., according to court documents. Aguilar told investigators that while at the party, he had taken about four shots and snorted a gram of cocaine prior to leaving, court documents stated. When the couple left, Aguilar planned to take his girlfriend home, and as he drove, he noticed she was receiving text messages from another guy asking her to hang out, which made him upset. Aguilar began to interrogate the victim, believing she had been in a relationship with the other man, which she denied. According to court documents, this too upset Aguilar, saying he felt she had wasted his time. As Aguilar continued his questioning, he eventually told her that if she did not admit it, he would shoot her. Still not believing the victim, Aguilar shot her once in the leg near Rural and Broadway roads, and continued driving. Aguilar told investigators that when they arrived in the area of Roosevelt and Broadway roads, he shot her again in the leg. Court documents state that Aguilar said she began to cry and asked him to stop, but Aguilar kept on driving, shooting her in different locations around the Phoenix area, including once near her home. Aguilar said he then turned the car around and headed back toward Tempe, when the victim tried to grab the gun from him. As the two fought for control of the weapon, the car went into a curb, "disabling" it, according to court documents. This is when Aguilar exited the vehicle and shot the victim "multiple times," before turning the gun on himself as police arrived. Aguilar said she had stopped moving after, and he believed she was dead. Following Aguilar's transport to the hospital, he was placed under arrest on June 16 at about 12:30 a.m. on one count of premeditated first-degree murder, but was unable to be seen for his initial appearance due to "extraordinary circumstances." Tempe police told The Arizona Republic on Tuesday that Aguilar has since been medically cleared and booked into jail. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Court documents: Man arrested after killing girlfriend in Tempe Up to 20 people remain in the liberated village of Piatykhatky, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, while fighting continues in the village itself. Source: Yurii Malashko, Head of Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration, on air with Radio Liberty Quote: "Together with the military, we are doing everything possible to get these people out. Together with the military, we are providing humanitarian aid to help them stay there as long as possible and make all the arrangements to get them out. Not only from Piatykhatky." Details: Malashko has said that the authorities are still unable to access the liberated villages, including Novodarivka, Levadne and Lobkove, as the contact line is located there. Local residents who had previously left the settlements are also unable to come back. Quote: "It is the line of defence and counteroffensive, among other things. Both military operations and stabilisation measures are currently underway to identify the people who remain, where they are and their condition. Together with the military and services, we provide humanitarian aid to support people." Background: On Monday 19 June, the Ministry of Defence reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had liberated Piatykhatky in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, posted a video filmed by soldiers of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade, which liberated the town of Piatykhatky in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Republicans running in the 2024 presidential primary seized on news that President Bidens son Hunter Biden reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors Tuesday, using the development to attack the president. According to court papers filed Tuesday, Hunter Biden is set to plead guilty to tax crimes and reached a diversion agreement relating to unlawful possession of a weapon. Hunter Biden to plead guilty in deal with feds Former President Trump compared the deal to a traffic ticket in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket. Our system is BROKEN! Trump wrote in the post. Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc., called the agreement a sweetheart deal that was made in order to make their bogus case to Get Trump appear fair. Meanwhile, Bidens DOJ continues to turn a blind eye to the Biden familys extensive corruption and bribery scheme, Leavitt said. The American people need President Trump back in office to appoint a truly independent special prosecutor that will finally bring justice. Trumps top Republican rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shared a tweet with a video of the governor speaking to a crowd saying If Hunter were a Republican he would have been in jail years ago. Looks like Hunter received a sweetheart deal and is not facing any charges on the massive corruption allegations, DeSantis said in the tweet. If Hunter was not connected to the elite DC class he would have been put in jail a long time ago. Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley released her own statement, saying the plea deal raises questions of a double standard. This plea deal only raises further questions about Hunter Bidens crimes and the double standard of justice in our federal government, Haley said. There is clearly a lot more the Biden family has to answer for. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (R) said the plea deal is another reason Americans have lost faith in Bidens Justice Department and praised congressional Republicans investigations into Hunter Biden. While the Biden family gets a slap on the wrist with kid gloves, DOJ throws the kitchen sink at political opponents, raids the homes of pro-life advocates, and targets parents as domestic terrorists, Scott said. I cant emphasize enough the importance of the [Sen. Chuck ] Grassley [R-Iowa] and [Rep. James] Comer [R-Ky.] investigations, the need for restoring credibility to our justice system, and defeating Joe Biden in 2024. Vivek Ramaswamy blasted the plea deal as a joke in a tweet. Its a feigned retreat & reveals theyre even more scared than ever of scrutiny for the real crimes, Ramaswamy said. The real target is the audio tapes of the alleged bribe for Hunter & Joe Biden from the Ukrainian executive of oligarch-owned Burisma. And the hundreds of billions of U.S. taxpayer funds kicked back to Ukraine to make good on the favor. Dont buy the deflection, its just a smokescreen. Various Republicans have repeatedly suggested Hunter Biden was corrupt going back to the 2020 presidential race. House Republicans have been investigating Hunter Bidens business dealings, along with other family members, the president and their associates. However, Republicans have not provided any evidence that connects the president to any of his sons business dealings. The president has denied having any knowledge of the issue. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. FILE - Zheng Congying leaves federal court, May 31, 2023, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Zheng was one of three men accused of participating in an escalating series of scare tactics aimed at repatriating a former Chinese official who was living quietly in New Jersey. Zheng was convicted of stalking and stalking conspiracy but acquitted of the other charges. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File) NEW YORK (AP) Three men were convicted of various charges Tuesday in a trial showcasing U.S. claims that China has engineered pressure campaigns on American soil to bully expatriates into returning home, as part of an effort called Operation Fox Hunt. American private investigator Michael McMahon and two Chinese citizens living in the U.S. Zheng Congying and Zhu Yong all were accused of taking part in scare tactics aimed at a former Chinese official. He was living quietly in New Jersey, and Beijing wanted him back. Zhu was convicted of acting as an illegal foreign agent, stalking, and conspiracy to commit stalking and to act as an illegal foreign agent. Zheng was convicted of stalking and stalking conspiracy but acquitted of the other charges. McMahon was convicted of all except conspiracy to act as a foreign agent. No sentencing date has been set for the three, who face potential maximum sentences ranging from 10 years for Zheng to 25 for Zhu. The Brooklyn federal court trial was the first to result from a spate of U.S. prosecutions scrutinizing Chinas Operation Fox Hunt, a nearly decade-old initiative that Beijing characterizes as a pursuit of fugitives, including corrupt officials. U.S. authorities view it, at least sometimes, as an exercise in transnational repression, or deploying government operatives to harass, threaten and silence critics living abroad. We will remain steadfast in exposing and undermining efforts by the Chinese government to reach across our border and perpetrate transnational repression schemes, Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement after the verdict. China has denied trying to force repatriations through intimidation and says the U.S. is maligning an effort to fight crime. Prosecutors say pressure from Beijing was brought to bear in suburban New Jersey, where former Wuhan city official Xu Jin and his family moved in 2010. China has accused him and wife Liu Fang of taking bribes; they deny it and say they were targeted because he got crosswise with Chinas Communist power structure. According to prosecutors, Zhu, Zheng and McMahon took part in a yearslong, multipronged effort to goad Xu into going back to China. The country couldnt officially compel him to do so, as it has has no extradition treaty with the U.S. The defense acknowledged that Zhu, Zheng and McMahon took various actions but said the three had no idea that Beijing was allegedly behind it all. If I had known for one second that they were a foreign country, a foreign government, hiring me, I would never have worked the case, McMahon said after being devastated by the verdict. His lawyer, Lawrence Lustberg, said he would challenge the conviction and was confident that this injustice will not survive the scrutiny that the legal system will give it. Zhu's lawyer, Kevin Tung, said he believed the defendants were unknowingly used. The U.S. should have educated them on how to be alert, rather than prosecuting them, he said in an email. The message sent to the public is very troubling, Tung wrote, predicting that any American with a foreign friend who requests a favor will have to try to figure out whether the friend is a government agent. A message seeking comment was sent to Zheng's attorney. McMahon, 55, a former New York City police sergeant, conducted surveillance and data searches to smoke out Xus carefully guarded address and information about his loved ones. Zhu, 66, a retiree who also goes by Jason Zhu and Yong Zhu, helped hire McMahon and equip him with details to get started. Zheng, 27, later went to Xus home and left an ominous note: If you are willing to go back to the mainland and spend 10 years in prison, your wife and children will be all right. Thats the end of this matter! Before I saw this, I felt that the threats from the Chinese Communist Party was only a mental threat to me. However, when I saw that note, I realized that it had become a physical threat, Xu testified, through a court interpreter. The defense said McMahon, Zheng and Zhu were told they were helping to collect a debt or achieve some other end for a company or individuals not for China. The trial unfolded at a fraught time in U.S.-China relations. The two powers have been at odds in recent years over a growing list of issues: trade, industrial espionage, human rights, Taiwan, the South China Sea, Russias war against Ukraine, U.S. allegations of Chinese spying, and Washingtons claims that Beijing is tracking and harassing dissidents overseas. The two nations said they made some progress toward improving relations in recent days, when U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and top diplomats. But it remains unclear whether the countries will be able to bridge their biggest divides. U.S. prosecutors have brought several criminal cases involving alleged Operation Fox Hunt endeavors. In one, a pregnant U.S. citizen was held in China for eight months and pressured to persuade her mother to return to the country, prosecutors said. Zheng, McMahon and Zhu were charged alongside eight other people also accused of harassing Xu, the former Wuhan official. Three have pleaded guilty; five are believed to be in China. Prosecutors said the arm-twisting included derogatory Facebook messages to friends of Xus adult daughter and an onslaught of letters to a relative in New Jersey. At one point, a Chinese prosecutor even flew Xus unwilling, octogenarian father to New Jersey to lean on his son to return to their homeland, according to prosecutors and trial testimony. ___ Associated Press writer Deepti Hajela contributed. 3 scenarios covered what could have happened to the Titanic submersible, experts say. Only one carried much chance of survival. The Titanic wreck in 1996. Xavier Desmier/Gamma-Rapho/Getty On Thursday, OceanGate Expeditions said that the five passengers aboard the Titan sub are dead. The announcement was made after rescue officials found debris linked to the vessel. Experts told Insider about three scenarios that may have played out as the vessel was lost, and in its final moments. Debris from a tourist submersible headed to the Titanic shipwreck was discovered on Thursday, and the vessel's five passengers likely faced a grim final moment. The 23,000-pound Titan vessel, owned by OceanGate Expeditions, went off the radar about one hour and 45 minutes into its descent off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, the US Coast Guard said. On Thursday, after rescue officials linked debris to the missing vessel, OceanGate announced that the passengers aboard the ship are believed to be dead. The crew included the CEO of OceanGate expeditions, a British billionaire adventurer, a French diver and explorer, and a father and son from Pakistan. Here were the three scenarios experts believed could have happened when the vessel lost contact. 1. Titan has suffered a 'catastrophic implosion' OpenGate expeditions' submarines. OceanGate There has likely been some type of "catastrophic failure" to the Titan sub, Stefan Williams, a professor of marine robotics at the University of Sydney whose lab works with uncrewed submersibles, told Insider. That could be due to a leak or a power failure. There's also a chance a small fire from an electrical short circuit may have compromised the vehicle's electronic systems, which are used for navigation and control of the vessel, Williams said in a blog post about the submersible. The worst-case scenario is that the pressure hull was breached, leading to a "catastrophic implosion," Williams said. "It would happen quite quickly, and there would be little chance of surviving," he added. A submarine pilot hired to assess the Titanic submersible warned in 2018 that its hull monitoring system would only detect failure "often milliseconds before an implosion." Coast Guard officials said Thursday they're still investigating what happened before the implosion. 2. It has become tangled in the wreckage of the Titanic The Titan, which was powered by electric thrusters, could carry five people to a depth of 13,123 feet, according to the OceanGate website. One scenario was that the Titan could have still been intact and its passengers alive, but the vessel may have become stuck near the bottom of the ocean. It could, for instance, have gotten tangled in the wreckage of the Titanic, which lies at about 12,500 feet underwater. Frank Owen, a retired Royal Australian Navy official and a project director for submarine escape and rescue, told The Guardian that the wreckage on the ocean floor "is surrounded by debris from the disaster more than a century ago." "There are parts of it all over the place. It's dangerous," he said. This prospect was unlikely, but not impossible, Williams told Insider. 3. Titan may be bobbing around on the surface This would have been the "best-case scenario," Williams told Insider Tuesday. He said there was a possibility the Titan had resurfaced and was waiting to be found. "That's seeming increasingly unlikely as time goes past," he added. The retired Navy Rear Adm. Chris Parry told Sky News Tuesday that if the vessel had come to the surface, it "would have been found by now." And by Thursday, officials said that the debris from the vessel was found some 1,600 feet away from the Titanic shipwreck site ruling out that possibility. Underwater banging provided hope the passengers are still alive but experts were divided The US Coast Guard confirmed on Wednesday they picked up suspicious underwater sounds using sonobuoys, sensitive microphones strapped to buoys dropped from planes flying over the search area. Rolling Stone previously reported that searchers on a Canadian aircraft detected "banging" at 30-minute intervals coming from the area where the submersible went missing. Experts analyzed the noise to determine whether it can be traced back to its source, said Williams. "It sort of opens the possibility that they're still alive and gives you some hope, but of course, we're closing in on the end of their window of the available air," Williams said Wednesday morning. "So even if they are alive and they can locate the submarine, they still have a fairly difficult task of trying to get it back up to the surface," said Williams. A submarine search and rescue expert said the sounds could suggest the vessel is closer to the surface than initially feared. Frank Owen, a submarine search-and-rescue expert told the BBC his "confidence went up by an order of magnitude" when he heard the reports. On Thursday, the Coast Guard said there "doesn't appear to be any connection between the noises and the location on the sea floor." Conditions in the sub would be very dire Had the teams been able to locate the craft, they would still have needed to come up with a strategy to pull it up from such depths, which has never been done before. "There are very few vessels that can get that deep, and certainly not divers," Alistair Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London, told The Guardian. Experts had previously estimated the crew's oxygen reserves would be running out around Thursday morning. Still, the US Coast Guard told Insider Thursday the search will continue at least through the end of the day. "We have to remain optimistic and hopeful," Capt. Jamie Frederick, the response coordinator for the First Coast Guard District said during a news conference Wednesday, per CNN. Matthew Schanck, search and rescue expert and founder of MarSAR International, told Insider members of the crew included a seasoned diver PH Nargeolet who might have known how to best conserve oxygen until the very last moment, so the estimate that oxygen could run out by midday might not be accurate, Schanck said. "We'll always continue searching until we are absolutely certain that there is going to be no chance of survival," he said. Read the original article on Insider People walk along the Grand Canyon Skywalk on the Hualapai Indian Reservation in northwestern Arizona. People walk along the Grand Canyon Skywalk on the Hualapai Indian Reservation in northwestern Arizona. A man plummeted thousands of feet to his death while visiting a popular tourist destination at the Grand Canyon earlier this month. The Mohave County Sheriffs Office in Arizona said that a man went over the edge at the Grand Canyon West Skywalk about 9 a.m. on June 5, according to a statement on Facebook. The skywalk is a horseshoe-shaped glass bridge that extends 70 feet out over the rim of the natural phenomenon, giving visitors a clear view 4,000 feet to the canyon floor below. The man remains unidentified by authorities, but his age has been made public. He was 33 years old. On June 5, a rope rescue team responded after a report that someone went over the skywalk railing, according to the sheriffs office. Two rope specialists arrived along with a helicopter to the scene and determined the man was deceased, the post said. The body was taken to a hospital. The sheriffs office said it is investigating the incident. It is unclear why he fell, but the sheriffs offices Facebook post does include information for a suicide prevention hotline. The skywalk is managed by the Hualapai Tribe, according to the National Park Service. More than 10 million people have visited the skywalk since 2007, according to the Grand Canyon West website. Its also pretty sturdy, boasting it could hold 70 fully loaded 747 passenger jets. If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for mental health support. Additionally, you can find local mental health and crisis resources at dontcallthepolice.com. Outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention. [Source] At least four people were killed and two others were critically injured following a multiple-alarm fire that ripped through an e-bike repair service store in New York Citys Chinatown on Tuesday morning. What happened: A fire erupted at around 12:15 a.m. inside HQ E-Bike Repair, which is located on the first floor of a six-story building on 80 Madison Street. Thick smoke quickly filled the air as the blaze crawled up to the apartments above. The fire reportedly reached three alarms, prompting 33 units, including 138 fire and EMS personnel, to respond to the scene. The blaze was placed under control around 2:30 a.m. Deaths and injuries: At least nine people, including a firefighter and an EMT, were injured. They were rushed to local hospitals, including Bellevue Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian facilities. Two men and two women later succumbed to their injuries, while two others remain in critical condition. More from NextShark: Groom Surprises Bride With a K-Pop Wedding Dance and It's Dope AF The Red Cross is reportedly providing emergency housing to eight households, including 23 adults and 2 children. Investigation: The cause of the fire is currently under investigation. However, some are already pointing to lithium-ion batteries that power e-bikes and e-scooters as the cause. According to the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, the incident is the 108th fire related to lithium-ion batteries this year, resulting in a total of 13 deaths. More from NextShark: Asian Woman Allegedly Robbed and Beaten in Broad Daylight at ATM in NYC FDNY summon: At a press conference, officials said that the location had been summoned by the FDNY last year for charging e-batteries and for the number of e-batteries on site, causing the shop owner to be issued a $1,600 fine. "We have been aware of this location," FDNY Chief Fire Marshall Dan Flynn said. We did inspect this property in August, and we did issue FDNY summons. They were found guilty in court. Those were all related to the charging of the batteries and the number of batteries. More from NextShark: All-women engineering team from Philippines win UNESCO hackathon with their clean water solution Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark! Doctor of weed? Thailand now offering cannabis science degrees after marijuana legalization NEW YORK Four Chinatown residents died early Tuesday after a raging e-bike fire tore through a repair shop previously flagged for unsafe conditions, with scores of terrified survivors fleeing into the darkness outside their homes. Two senior citizen victims were clinging to life in critical condition after the blaze erupted around 12:15 a.m. inside the HQ E-Bike Repair, a shop on the ground floor of the six-story residence on Madison St. near Catherine St., the FDNY said. It was the second fire blamed on a battery at the location in about nine months, officials and a witness said. The inferno was sparked by a lithium ion battery, FDNY fire marshals quickly determined, with the same shop cited twice before for violations. Fire and smoke soon spread to the apartments above, with a pile of charred e-bikes left on the blackened sidewalk outside the business in the latest in dozens of deadly citywide incidents involving the batteries. This exact scenario, where there is an e-bike on the first floor and residents above, is extremely deadly, FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said at a news conference outside the gutted shop. The sheer volume of fire is extremely dangerous. It can make it nearly impossible to get out in time. Fires caused by e-bike batteries have become a crisis in the city, with 13 deaths from 108 incidents this year, according to Kavanagh. The Chinatown bike shop was hit two times since 2021 for violations including its wiring and the number of batteries on the premises. The scofflaw owner was fined $1,600 after receiving a summons last year as the city continues its crackdown on the dangerous two-wheelers, officials said. We arrived in just about four minutes, said FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief John Sarrocco. We found heavy fire in an e-bike store. ... Units made an interior attack and put that fire out. Two women and two men were killed, with an 80-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday, authorities said. A seventh victim suffered minor injuries. A 71-year-old man and a 62-year-old woman perished in the blaze, while the two other victims remained unidentified, according to officials. The victims were taken to three local hospitals, police said. While authorities did not provide names for the dead, the pastor of a local Chinese church said the elderly male victims son was an overseas Christian missionary now on his way home. The dead mans wife escaped the fire with her life but was in critical condition, said the pastor of the Chinese Conservative Baptist Church. Very sad, said the pastor. (The shop owner) didnt care about the people living there. ... They probably think they can foresee what is going to happen. They are taking a chance on peoples lives, causing a lot of harm. In September, firefighters responded to a call about a blaze at the same location. They were able to put out a smoking battery by putting it in water, the FDNY said. No injuries were reported. The shop owner crammed bikes in a large sidewalk shed and his own store, according to an employee at a deli next door. The first fire was in the daytime and the owner was there. He made it out like it was normal, like it was nothing big, like it was okay, said Theo Alsaiti, who works at Catherine Deli & Bagels. I thought he knew that it would be a problem, to have that many bikes piled up, Alsaiti added. He should be held accountable. Victims from the latest fire were largely elderly residents, with some of the survivors receiving housing from the Red Cross in the fires aftermath, Councilman Christopher Marte told the Daily News. Matthew Nicholas, 40, who lives across the street, was sleeping when the fire started and described an often-chaotic scene at the nearby business. I wake up and smell smoke, said Nicholas. There would be a lot of bikes and stuff out on the streets. It was like a service station as they waited for a guy to switch out parts and batteries. Neighbor Emiliano Valazquez, 68, said the e-bike business was always busy and filled with the dangerous bikes. Packed wall to wall, he said. All over the place. It wasnt one of those places where you would want to take your bike and get it fixed, let me say it that way. One firefighter suffered minor injuries. Scores of residents above the repair shop escaped or were rescued in the chaotic scene after the blaze erupted, with a pile of smoldering e-bikes left in the street behind police tape. Last month, a 94-year-old woman and her son died from injuries suffered in a fast-moving e-bike fire inside the familys Washington Heights apartment. The prison brawl has left a preliminary death toll of 41 (Orlando SIERRA) At least 41 people were killed Tuesday at a women's prison in Honduras, where violent clashes between rival gangs sparked a fire that tore through part of the facility, police said. The deadly unrest rocked the prison some 25 kilometers (about 15 miles) north of the capital Tegucigalpa, according to police spokesman Edgardo Barahona, who put the "preliminary" death toll at 41 women, though it was unclear if they were all inmates. Five other women were injured and taken to hospital, Barahona added. Hundreds of relatives of incarcerated women gathered outside the detention facility awaiting information about their loved ones. "We don't know who the victims are," said one visibly distraught man. Heavily armed soldiers and police were seen entering and guarding the prison, while firefighter teams were also on the scene. According to Delma Ordonez, who represents inmate relatives, members of a gang had entered the cell of a rival group and set it on fire. That part of the prison was "completely destroyed" in the blaze, she told media. The CEFAS correctional facility in Tamara held some 900 inmates, said Ordonez. Most of the victims died in the fire, while some bodies were riddled with bullets, a spokesperson for the prosecutor's office, Yuri Mora, told AFP. An investigation was under way to determine which gang launched the initial attack, he added. Honduran President Xiomara Castro said on Twitter she was "shocked" by the "monstrous murder of women in CEFAS by gangs in full view and tolerance of security authorities," and expressed solidarity with grieving family members. A state of emergency was announced, and Castro said she would hold security leaders to account for what happened. "I will take drastic measures," she said. - 'Narco-state' - Honduras is a country wracked by corruption and gangs that have infiltrated even the top levels of government. Along with neighbors El Salvador and Guatemala, Honduras forms Central America's so-called "triangle of death" plagued by the murderous gangs called "maras" that control drug trafficking and organized crime. Drug trafficking groups and gang members are largely responsible for the soaring rate of homicides in Honduras, which at 40 murders per 100,000 inhabitants last year was four times higher than the world average. Many young people have given up hope of a better future and think only of migrating to the United States. Honduras is a major transit country for Colombian cocaine and other narcotics headed mainly to the United States. Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez was extradited to the United States on drug charges in April 2022 -- just over a year after his brother Tony was sentenced in New York to life in prison. US prosecutors say Hernandez turned Honduras into a "narco-state" involving the military, police and civilians in drug trafficking. In May last year, former national police chief Juan Carlos Bonilla was also sent to the United States to stand trial for allegedly supervising drug trafficking operations on behalf of his boss, Hernandez. Castro, the country's new leftist president, has vowed to tackle criminal gangs, last year temporarily lifting certain constitutional guarantees to allow police to make arrests without warrants. One objective of the crackdown, Castro said, was to rein in rampant exortion by gangs, which she described as "one of the main reasons for migration and the shuttering of small and medium enterprises" in Honduras. nl/dga/mlr/mlm/jh Several weeks ago, Oliver Mabson was outside the new Alcove At Russell apartments when a woman pulled up. The eight-building affordable housing complex in the Winburn neighborhood complete with clubhouse and playground was just opening. Why would they build something like this here? the woman asked. Why wouldnt they? replied Mabson, the 202-unit apartment manager. Dont you think this area deserves to have a fair shot just like everyone else? We want this to be a flagship, he said during a Tuesday ribbon-cutting for the Alcove, one of the largest new affordable housing complexes to open in Lexington in years. The Alcove has one, two and three-bedroom apartments for people who make 60% or less of the area median income. For a family of four, thats up to $53,380 a year. The Alcove also accepts U.S. Housing and Urban Development housing vouchers called Housing Choice, formerly referred to as Section 8 vouchers. The $46 million apartment complex was developed by LDG Development of Louisville. LDG Development is one of the leading providers of affordable housing in the United States. The Alcove at Russell is one of the largest new affordable housing complexes built in Lexington in recent years. Everyone deserves a safe, affordable home, said Chris Dischinger, co-founder of LDG. LDG has created 4,000 affordable housing units in Kentucky. It also developed Gleneagles in the Hamburg area. Safe, affordable housing leads to better health outcomes, he said. Studies show kids who move a lot or dont have stable housing often fall behind in school compared to those who have stable homes. Financing for the project came from a combination of sources including the Kentucky Housing Corporation, R4 Capital and the Lexington Affordable Housing Fund, which gave $1.2 million in financing for the project. Expert Construction served as the general contractor. Since 2014, the city has allocated $34 million to affordable housing, Mayor Linda Gorton said, which has brought in more than $395 million in other funding to build or preserve 3,200 affordable housing units. Affordable housing is a pressing need in our city and we are glad to see this new development fully open, Gorton said. The Alcove at Russell is one of the largest new affordable housing complexes built in Lexington in recent years. Hundreds of new affordable housing units coming soon Commissioner of Housing Advocacy and Community Development Charlie Lanter said the Alcove is just the first new affordable housing project to open in Lexington this summer. Two other developments, one off of Georgetown Road and a second off of Newtown Pike, are scheduled to open by late summer or early fall. Those two developments together will have 454 new units. With the Alcove, that means 656 new affordable rental units will be available for rent likely by fall. Thats the most new units the city has helped finance in some time, Lanter said. But more units will open, too, in coming years. Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, second from left, and Oliver Mabson, the complexs property manager, left, help cut the ribbon to officially open the Alcove at Russell during a ceremony on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Since 2021, the city has allocated $15.1 million most of it through American Rescue Plan Act funding to affordable housing. The next few years we will see a lot more units come online, Lanter said. Those units are needed. Nearly every day, Lanters office fields calls from Fayette County residents desperate to find a safe, affordable place to live, he said. The Lexington council recently voted to add up to 5,000 acres to the citys growth boundary for the first time since 1996. The cost of housing was a key argument for those pushing to expand the boundary. However, Gorton and others pointed out there was no guarantee affordable housing would be built in the new expansion area. The council later amended language to expand the boundary to encourage the Urban County Planning Commission to emphasize affordable housing when it develops a new master plan for the expansion area. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilman James Brown, who represented the Winburn area, said LDG also took an underutilized piece of land and turned it into much-needed housing in an area of the city that has traditionally not seen a lot of new development. The property was undeveloped for a variety of reasons. It was Rick McQuady, the citys long-time affordable housing director, who was able to steer LDG to the property off of Winburn Drive, Brown said. Mabson said the first four buildings are now open. We still have availability, Mabson said. The second four buildings will open in late summer or early fall. A one-bedroom unit starts at $929. The units have all hard-wood floors, large kitchens and walk-in showers. To apply call 859-309-3462. A Milton family at the center of a viral video at Fenway Park spoke to Boston 25 News about the eight-year-olds public meltdown after losing a foul ball to his little brother. Jack Mulligan had waited his whole life for the foul ball hit to left field while he sat in the stands with his family on Fathers Day. But after a friendly fan handed the ball to his five-year-old brother, Charlie didnt pass the ball over to Jack he threw it back onto the field. Tears shed after young Red Sox fan launches ultimate Fathers Day gift back onto field Heartbroken, Jack is seen on live television stomping his feet, his rage quickly turning to despair as he sobs on his father Pats shoulder. Meanwhile, Charlie hides under his seat, afraid to face his big brother. I thought the player said, pass it, and I threw it, Charlie recalled Monday. And my brother screamed and hurt my ears. I was like, thats the most typical Charlie thing Ive ever seen, Jack added. While Pat comforted his elder son, he was unaware of the audience he was entertaining. I didnt realize it was on TV, but once you start to, Uh oh, I think people know about this, Pat said. Then youre kind of like, maybe we should leave. But lucky for the Mulligan boys, the Red Sox had a backup plan that was even sweeter than a foul ball. Team personnel brought an autographed jersey from Kenley Jansen and a signed ball from the pitcher with the message, I saw you on TV when Im getting ready. In the dramatic turn of events, Jack has forgiven his little brother. A bunch of people came up and gave me all this stuff, and I was pretty grateful that you threw the ball, Jack said, pointing to Charlie. Yeah, hes the best. Mom Jaime, who had been in the refreshment line while the chaos unfolded returned to the heartwarming scene. Never did she imagine the drama would go viral. I think it resonates with people, but I think for me it was a nice opportunity for Pat to be seen in action for what he does every day, Jaime said. I think hes a great dad. 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 Nine Egyptians suspected of being people smugglers connected to the overloaded boat that sank off Greece in June 2023, killing at least 82 people, have been arrested, a Greek legal source said (-) Nine Egyptians suspected of being people smugglers connected with the deadly sinking of an overloaded migrant boat off Greece have been charged with human trafficking and remanded, a Greek legal source said on Tuesday. The men were arrested last week in the port of Kalamata after surviving the disaster, which killed at least 82 people with fears for hundreds more missing in one of the eastern Mediterranean's worst tragedies in recent years. The suspects are between 20 and 40 years old and face charges of manslaughter and forming a criminal organisation. They face a sentence of up to life imprisonment if found guilty. The men denied the charges during a hearing before a magistrate in Kalamata that lasted more than 10 hours on Tuesday, the legal source added. Officials say the migrants aboard the boat which capsized in the Ionian Sea last week had departed from Libya towards Italy. The authorities still have no clear idea how many people were aboard the boat when it sank -- estimates range from 400 to over 700. A Greek navy frigate, a patrol boat and four other vessels on Tuesday searched the waters off the Peloponnese peninsula where the migrants disappeared. But the hopes of finding any survivors are scant a week on from the disaster. A total of 78 bodies were recovered the day after the shipwreck. Three more were discovered on Monday and another on Tuesday, bringing the official death toll to 82. There are fears hundreds more people were onboard and have not yet been found. 104 people have been rescued and taken to Kalamata. The survivors are mainly from Syria, Egypt and Pakistan. bur-hec/imm/nas/gw A group of men wait at the turnstiles and speak with survivors, mostly from Pakistan, of a deadly migrant boat sinking at a migrant camp in Malakasa north of Athens, on Monday, June 19, 2023. Hundreds of migrants are believed to be missing after a fishing trawler sank off southern Greece last week. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) ATHENS, Greece (AP) Nine men suspected of crewing a migrant smuggling ship that sank off Greece leaving more than 500 missing were ordered held in pretrial custody Tuesday, as new accounts emerged on the sinking and the appalling conditions on the trip from Libya towards Italy. The Egyptian suspects face charges that include participation in a criminal organization, manslaughter and causing a shipwreck. A court in Greece's southern city of Kalamata ordered their detention after questioning them for hours. Only 104 men and youths Egyptians, Pakistanis, Syrians and Palestinians survived one of the worst migrant shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea early on June 14; 82 bodies have been recovered, the last late Tuesday as a large search continued for a seventh day. Survivors said women and children were trapped in the hold as the ship capsized and sank within minutes to one of the deepest spots in the Mediterranean. Survivor accounts emerged Tuesday confirming that about 750 people paid thousands of dollars each for a berth on the battered blue fishing trawler, seeking a better life in Europe. In sworn testimonies over the weekend, and seen by The Associated Press, survivors described shocking conditions on the five-day journey. Most of the passengers were denied food and water, and those who couldn't bribe the crew to get out of the hold were beaten if they tried to reach deck level. The testimonies also echoed previous accounts that the steel-hulled trawler sank in calm seas during a botched attempt to tow it. This clashes with the Greek coast guard's insistence that neither its patrol boat that escorted the trawler in its last hours nor any other vessel attached a tow rope. The Greek ship cast a rope and it was tied to our bows, survivor Abdul Rahman Alhaz said in his sworn testimony. We shouted stop, stop! because our boat was listing. (It) was in bad shape and overloaded, and shouldnt have been towed. Alhaz, a 24-year-old Palestinian from Syria, said he paid $4,000 to board the ship at Tobruk in eastern Libya. He said the people in charge on the trawler were all Egyptians, and recognized seven suspects from pictures Greek authorities showed him. Lawyer Athanassios Iliopoulos, representing a 22-year-old Egyptian alleged smuggler, told The AP that all 9 suspects denied the charges in court and claimed to be migrants themselves. Iliopoulos said his client said he sold his truck and borrowed from his parents to raise 4,500 euros for his fare. The lawyer said judges rejected a defense argument that Greek courts lack jurisdiction because the wreck occurred in international waters. Alhaz, the Palestinian survivor, said most of the Pakistani passengers had been in the hold and drowned. "One of the crew had told me there were more than 400 Pakistanis on the boat, and only 11 were saved, he said. These 11 didn't include the wife and two children of Rana Husnain Neseer, 23, who were in the hold. Neseer himself, who said he paid 7,000 euros for the trip, traveled on deck. About 750 people were on board, he said. (The crew) didnt give us food or water, and hit us with a belt to keep us from standing up. Neseer said other passengers told him a tow line was attached by a big ship just before the sinking. He didn't see that as I was bent low and praying. But he felt the vessel sharply list. We all went to the other side to balance it, which made our boat tilt in the other direction and sink, added Neseer. Fellow Pakistani Azmat Khan Muhammad Salihu, 36, identified three suspects, including one who hit him when he tried to leave the hold, and one who struck passengers with a belt. Being in the hold, he had no first-hand account of why the ship sank. I was saved because I found an opening and got out," his testimony said. "I called to the others to follow me but ... nobody managed to escape Greece has been widely criticized for not trying to save the migrants before the sinking in international waters. Officials in Athens say the passengers refused any help and insisted on proceeding to Italy, adding that it would have been too dangerous to try and evacuate hundreds of unwilling people off an overcrowded ship. Asked about the incident as World Refugee Day was marked across the globe Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: It is horrible ... and the more urgent is that we act. Von der Leyen, the head of the European Union's executive arm, said the EU should help African countries like Tunisia, where many migrants leave for Europe, to stabilize their economies, as well as finalize a long-awaited reform of the 27-nation bloc's asylum rules. She did not mention Libya, from where the doomed trawler and many similarly overloaded Europe-bound boats depart across the particularly dangerous Mediterranean migration route. Five other human smuggling suspects were arrested in Pakistan this week, officials in Islamabad said Tuesday. Relatives of at least 124 people in Pakistan have contacted authorities to find out about missing loved ones, the officials said. The full details of the sinking remain unclear. Photos and videos from before the sinking show people crammed on all available open spaces of the trawler. One survivor, Ali Sheikhi from the northeast Syrian town of Kobani, told Kurdish TV news channel Rudaw that the smugglers didnt allow life jackets and threw whatever food the passengers had into the sea. Speaking late Sunday by phone from a closed reception center near Athens where survivors were taken, Sheikhi said he was directed to the hold but paid the smugglers to get out onto deck. By the time the ship sank, they had been at sea for five days. Water ran out after a day and a half, and he said some passengers drank seawater. Sheikhi said the trawler's engine failed and another vessel tried to tow it. In the pulling, (the trawler) sank, he said. ___ Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros in Athens, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan, and Lorne Cook in Brussels, Belgium contributed to this story. ___ Follow AP's coverage of global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration Texas has become the latest in a growing number of states to pass legislation that LGBTQ rights groups say targets drag shows, banning sexually oriented performances that take place in the presence of minors. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) quietly signed the states Senate Bill 12 into law June 18. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The measure, slated to take effect September 1, prohibits businesses from hosting sexually oriented performances in which someone is nude or appeals to the prurient interest in sex in the presence of minors. Those who break the law are likely to face hefty fines up to $10,000 per violation. Performers face much harsher penalties, and those caught violating the laws new restrictions on drag shows could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine. An earlier version of the bill, introduced in March by state Sen. Bryan Hughes (R), sought to explicitly ban certain drag performances, but House and Senate lawmakers in March agreed to remove the direct references to drag, opting instead to expand what the state considers an illegal public performance of sexual conduct. Drag performers and LGBTQ civil rights groups have argued that the amended legislation is still likely to be used to restrict drag shows and could even target transgender people in Texas. Even after state lawmakers removed direct references to drag, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) said the new law would push back against the radical lefts disgusting drag performances in a statement celebrating the bills passage last month. Children, who cannot make decisions on their own, must be protected from this scourge facing our state, Patrick said. Texas joins three other states Tennessee, Montana and Florida in adopting legislation restricting drag performances. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The battle over abortion rights is framing some of the marquee legislative battles going down this year in Virginia. The results of Tuesdays Virginia primary elections will set the stage for the most high-stakes legislative races of 2023. All 140 seats are up for election, and many members are either resigning or running for a new office due to redistricting. Democrats hold a slim majority in the state Senate, while the GOP has a narrow control of the state House. Both chambers have been marked as top targets by national Democratic and Republican groups, and the GOP is being bolstered by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is raising millions of dollars in support of holding the House and flipping the Senate. With a split legislature, the Republican governor has faced roadblocks in passing some of his top priorities including a proposed 15-week abortion ban. Democrats in the state Senate stymied that effort earlier this year, something they will likely lean on heavily in November. The DLCC gave Republicans a reality check by running on protecting abortion access and creating a winning blueprint for state Democrats, a memo from the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee says. Abortion is still a driving theme in many of Tuesdays contests, most notably in the Democratic primary for the states 13th Senate District between state Sen. Joe Morrissey a longstanding and polarizing figure in Virginia politics and his challenger, former Del. Lashrecse Aird. Hes a self-described pro-life Democrat something that Aird has made sure to emphasize during her campaign. Morrissey has pushed back, saying that Aird has misstated his position on abortion and he supports restricting the procedure at the point when a fetus can feel pain. Prominent Democrats have abandoned Morrissey. Aird has raked in endorsements from all of the female Democratic state senators, as well as most of the Democrats in Virginias congressional delegation. Abortion rights groups have also waded into the contest in support of Aird, including EMILYs List and NARAL Pro-Choice America. The district leans blue, and the victor of the primary has a smooth path to victory come November. Elsewhere in the state, Democrats are hoping abortion will drive out voters once again, as it has in previous elections. A special election earlier this year drew in national dollars to boost now-state Sen. Aaron Rouse, a Democrat who campaigned on a pro-abortion rights platform. Democratic opponents are squabbling with each other over abortion in the primaries, showing the salience of the issue even though members of the party largely hold the same stance. Even Republicans are speaking about abortion a rarity for the members of the party, many of whom either stay mum on the topic or who struggle with it in a general election. Republican State Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant isnt facing a primary challenger, but has a difficult reelection bid ahead of her after redistricting has her running in the 16th District, a seat that leans Democratic. In an ad, she outlines her position on abortion, saying it should remain legal up to 15 weeks and there should be reasonable exceptions for rape, incest, life of the mother and severe fetal anomalies. Right now, abortion is legal in Virginia until the third trimester, and there is an exception in the third trimester if there is a danger to the mothers life. What I cannot accept is the current Virginia law that allows for abortion up to the moment of birth, says Dunnavant, an OB-GYN, in the ad. As a physician, I know this is not reasonable. It is unnecessary, extreme and heartbreaking. Polls close at 7 p.m. EST. A version of this initially appeared in the June 20 edition of Weekly Score. The ACLU of Texas sent a warning letter to the Keller school district Tuesday afternoon as board members are preparing to consider policies that would limit pronoun use and restrict restroom use to a students biological sex at birth. The board is considering the policies at its meeting Tuesday night. The ACLU stated that the proposed policies would harm transgender students and violate state and federal laws including privacy rights, Title IX and the Equal Rights Protection clause. Enacting these policies would harm Keller ISD students, invade their medical privacy, and defy best practices recommended by nonpartisan education associations, including the Texas Association of School Boards, the letter stated. The school district did not respond to an email seeking comments about the ACLU letter. The two policies that the board will consider involve preventing students from using restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity and require them to use facilities that correspond to their biological sex unless they request an accommodation. The letter stated that the policy doesnt define biological sex and it fails to consider various scientific definitions and court rulings on using restrooms and other facilities. Another policy would discourage using identifying pronouns that correspond to a students gender identity. However, it is a moral and legal imperative that students not be harassed or bullied at school, including by being deliberately called pronouns that do not align with who they are, the ACLU stated. The Grapevine-Colleyville school district adopted similar policies in August. Retired U.S. Army Sgt. William Davis III accepts the keys to a new car at Ellison Park in Layton on June 17, 2023. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News A retired U.S. Army sergeant described receiving a payment-free car, given to him and his family as part of an effort to support wounded military veterans, as life-changing. Sgt. William Davis III, of Syracuse, was presented with a 2023 Kia Sportage on Saturday by a group of nonprofits and local businesses. The emotions right now are just out of control, Davis said. For me and my family, it means a lot. Retired U.S. Army Sgt. William Davis III stands with his wife Ashley Davis, and children, Everly, 6, and Troy, 13, at Ellison Park in Layton on Saturday. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News He said having a dependable vehicle will help give him and his family financial freedom. Davis lives in Syracuse with his wife and three children. Its been a struggle, Davis said. It sounds cliche to say, but it is life-changing for us. The car was presented by the Military Warriors Support Foundations Transportation4Heroes program, in collaboration with Young Caring for Our Young, Wells Fargo and Young KIA. The Transportation4Heroes program provides cars for veterans wounded in combat, as well as the surviving spouses of people killed in action. The gift of the car also includes a year of family and financial mentoring. Ken Eakes, executive director of the Military Warriors Support Foundation, said he thinks this is the most crucial part because it allows the foundation to help veterans and their families overcome challenges and accomplish their goals. Walking alongside the veterans is what's super important to us because it allows us to get to know them, Eakes said. A lot of us that are around the men and women in the military think we know what they need, but each situation is different, so by the time we get to know them we can better develop a plan with them. Program beneficiaries pay off an average of $29,000 in debt by the end of the program, Eakes said. Having limited transportation decreases veterans' employment opportunities, so giving them a car is one way to help. Were going to take this family and put our arms around them, Eakes said. That, to us, is really what its all about. Retired U.S. Army Sgt. William Davis III laughs after receiving his new car at Ellison Park in Layton on June 17, 2023. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News Davis was born and raised in Alaska. He joined the U.S. Army in 2006, serving at Camp Casey in South Korea for a year and then being stationed at Fort Rucker, Alabama. He was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011, where he was injured in combat in 2012. He medically retired due to his injuries in November 2013. Davis has received several awards, including the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two campaign stars, and an Army Commendation Medal. Im just so proud of him, Eakes said. The Military Warriors Support Foundation has donated around $200 million across all 50 states to veterans' support programs, cars and housing. The foundation has gifted more than 900 mortgage-free homes and more than 130 payment-free vehicles. Tami Olsen, director of Young Caring for Our Young, said this is the first time her organization has had the chance to partner with Transportation4Heroes. Its an act of love and inclusion when we get to celebrate a veteran that has given so much to the country, Olsen said. Eakes encourages anyone who knows a veteran who could benefit from the Transportation4Heroes program to recommend them on the foundation's website. Jonathan Majors is seen in court during a hearing in his domestic violence case, Tuesday, June 20, 2023 in New York. Majors domestic violence case will go to trial Aug. 3, the judge said Tuesday, casting him in a real-life courtroom drama as his idled Hollywood career hangs in the balance. (AP Photo/Steven Hirsch, Pool) NEW YORK (AP) Actor Jonathan Majors domestic violence case will go to trial Aug. 3, a Manhattan judge said Tuesday, casting him in a real-life courtroom drama as his idled Hollywood career hangs in the balance. Majors accuser alleges he pulled her finger, twisted her arm behind her back, struck and cut her ear and pushed her into a vehicle, causing her to fall backwards, during a March confrontation in New York City. The woman was treated at a hospital for minor head and neck injuries, police said. Majors' attorney, Priya Chaudhry, said Tuesday that she provided prosecutors with video evidence showing the female accuser attacked her client, not the other way around. The woman has not been named in court records. Majors had been a fast-rising Hollywood star with major roles in recent hits like Creed III and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. But in the wake of his arrest, the U.S. Army pulled TV commercials starring Majors, saying it was deeply concerned by the allegations. Disney last month postponed Majors upcoming Marvel film Avengers: Kang Dynasty from May 2025 to May 2026. He is also slated to appear in Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027. Judge Rachel Pauley wished the actor best of luck as she scheduled his trial. Yes, maam," Majors said, standing with his lawyers in front of Pauley's bench in Manhattans domestic violence court. Majors, 33, is charged with misdemeanors, including assault, and could be sentenced to up to a year in jail if convicted. Tuesdays hearing was his first time in court since just after his March 25 arrest in Manhattans Chelsea neighborhood. He appeared by video at a hearing last month where prosecutors said they were revising the assault charge to reflect the accuser's perspective. A police officers account was used in the original version. Before his case was called Tuesday, Majors watched from the courtroom gallery with his lawyers and his girlfriend Meagan Good, who stars in the Shazam! movies, as two men in unrelated cases had their domestic violence charges thrown out. Chaudhry urged the Manhattan district attorneys office to do the same for Majors and to instead charge his 30-year-old accuser, holding her accountable for her crimes. In lieu of a decision, Chaudhry requested that Majors' case go to trial as soon as possible. Chaudhry said shes provided prosecutors with compelling evidence of Majors innocence, including video showing the woman assaulting the actor and Majors running away from her. We also provided photographs illustrating the injuries she inflicted on Mr. Majors and photos of his clothing torn as a direct consequence of (the womans) violent actions, Chaudhry said. She has also accused police and prosecutors of racial bias against Majors, who is Black. She said a white police officer got in Majors face and taunted him when he tried showing the officer injuries that he said the woman caused. Before scheduling Majors' trial, the judge issued a sealed decision that prompted Chaudhry to withdraw court papers she'd filed challenging the case. Pauley handed copies of her ruling to Majors' lawyers and prosecutors, but did not discuss any details in open court. Majors, who plays villain Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel films, carried his personal Bible and a poetry journal into court. He smiled at times, but said little other than his brief exchange with the judge, which lasted all of three minutes. Majors must continue to abide by a protection order barring him from contact with his accuser. A warrant could be issued for his arrest if he does not show up for his trial date, the judge said. ___ Follow Michael Sisak on Twitter at twitter.com/mikesisak and send confidential tips by visiting https://www.ap.org/tips/. Stock photo of Adobe and Figma logos on phone screen Adobe and Figma are in the midst of a pending, controversial $20 billion merger. Adobes pending purchase of Figma, the popular online graphics editing and interface design application, is facing yet another challenge. The European Union Commission plans to begin an in-depth investigation into the acquisition, according to a report from The Financial Times, attributed to four sources familiar with the matter. Back in February, the EU Commission noted that it had received numerous requests to review the business deal. The international watchdog announced that it would need to clear the proposed merger, under the justification that it threatens to significantly affect competition in the market for interactive product design and whiteboarding software. Read more Now, the Brussels-based Commission will open a phase II investigation, per the FT. Generally, anti-competition probes are handled at the phase I level, which accounts for 90% of all cases, according to EU internal data. In comparison, a phase II analysis takes more time and goes deeper. By the Commissions description, a phase II investigation typically involves more extensive information gathering, including companies internal documents, extensive economic data, more detailed questionnaires to market participants, and/or site visits. From the start of such a probe, the regulatory body has 90 days to make a decision. The EU Commission would not directly confirm its plans to investigate the Adobe/Figma merger. In an email, spokesperson Marta Perez-Cejuela told Gizmodo, this transaction has not been formally notified to the Commission. Such notification is a requirement before any investigation can move forward. Commission officials requested that Adobe submit an official notification in February. Despite the Commissions lack of formal announcement, an EU probe into the acquisition is expected. Already the U.S. Department of Justice and the United Kingdoms Competition and Markets Authority are looking into the digital design tool deal. The DOJ is reportedly preparing to file an antitrust suit blocking the merger, while the UK CMA is actively investigating the acquisition, with a first decision due by the end of June. Adobethe design giant behind Photoshop, Illustrator, and XDfirst announced it would be purchasing Figma in September 2022. The Creative Suite makers massive $20 billion offer drew some raised eyebrows, as the figure is twice what Figma was valued at during its most recent 2021 funding round. Figma emerged on the scene at the tail end of 2015, billing itself as an independent antidote to Adobes dominance. Our goal is to be Figma, not Adobe, CEO and co-founder Dylan Field once tweeted. The online application, which includes a free tier, has been much more affordable to use than Adobes offerings from the start. Many user interface developers came to prefer Figma in recent years. Yet now the company is vying to literally be part of Adobe. The acquisition is an incredible opportunity and honor to help Adobe build the next generation of creative tools, Field wrote in his blog post announcing the business deal. When reached by email for comment, an Adobe spokesperson told Gizmodo: We are confident that the combination of Adobe and Figma will deliver significant value to customers by making product design more accessible and efficient, reimagining creative capabilities on the web and creating new categories of creativity and productivity. We have been delighted to hear overwhelmingly positive feedback from customers worldwide. We are still in preliminary phases of the regulatory process and are having constructive discussions with the CMA, EC and DOJ about the businesses, markets and positive economic impacts this deal will bring to support their reviews. We remain confident in the merits of the case and look forward to successfully completing the transaction. As demonstrated in our recent strong Q2 earnings, Adobe continues to execute against a massive $200B-plus market opportunity and deliver groundbreaking innovations and industry-leading AI capabilities across our products. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. (Bloomberg) -- The Supreme Court, in the midst of a run of decisions that have stress-tested the core principles of US democracy, has rarely been so aggressive in using its powers or been viewed with more skepticism by Americans. Most Read from Bloomberg With its 6-3 conservative majority, the court has issued a series of recent decisions enhancing its own role, in many cases by overriding regulatory agencies, the White House, Congress and state and local governments. Rulings have curtailed environmental protections, restricted efforts to regulate firearms and limited public-health initiatives. The court is set to decide on university affirmative action, student-loan relief and the rules for federal elections before the scheduled end of its term next week. At the same time, ethics controversies have underscored how little control the public has over nine justices who dont have a code of conduct but do have life tenure under the Constitution. ProPublica reported late Tuesday that Justice Samuel Alito accepted travel to Alaska on a private jet in 2008 from hedge fund chief Paul Singer, who years later had business before the court. That followed revelations that Justice Clarence Thomas took luxury vacations and gifts funded by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow. The central place of the US in the global economy, and the importance of its laws to transnational commerce, means the Supreme Courts decisions can reverberate far outside the nations borders. With the world already concerned about the breakdown of American democracy following the 2021 Capitol attack and the indictment of former President Donald Trump, any further degradation of institutions may raise fresh questions about the stability of the US as an ally. Concerns about partisanship and ethics have taken a toll on the courts public standing, which opinion polls show is at or near record lows. Some of the courts signature decisions are in tension with the views of a majority of Americans. A year after the court struck down constitutional abortion rights, 62% of respondents in a Pew Research poll say the procedure should be legal in all or most cases. And after the court last year limited the federal governments ability to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions, a majority of Americans say they see climate change as a threat to the country and want the government to do more. The perception of the court as political and unaccountable is creating an unfamiliar dynamic at a powerful but cloistered institution that prides itself on being a source of stability in the American system. Even as it clings to cherished traditions like the quill pens given to arguing lawyers, the seniority system that dictates which justices speak first, and the centuries-old opinions that are still cited with reverence the court is presiding over a historic and divisive realignment of the national levers of power. Its a power grab by this branch of government, often at the expense of Congress and the president and all of those states, said Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law and author of a new book, Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America. Read more: Supreme Courts Chevron Review Caps Years-Long Conservative Push The court is positioning itself to further erode the powers of the other branches of the US government. The justices this fall will consider overturning a 39-year-old precedent thats become a cornerstone of US administrative law, with citations in more than 15,000 court cases including fights over securities regulation, drug approval and Internet oversight. The unanimous 1984 ruling, Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, requires judges to defer to regulatory agencies on the meaning of unclear statutes. What came to be known as Chevron deference is now an irritant to business, and overturning it an ardent desire of conservatives. Toppling the precedent would give opponents of big government one of their grandest prizes yet and potentially raise questions about reams of federal rules and regulations governing nearly every business in America. Congress has been writing statutes in reliance on Chevron, said James Goodwin, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Progressive Reform. Youve basically just pulled the rug out from under Congress for the last 40 years. No regulator has been more directly affected by the Supreme Courts recent assertiveness than the Environmental Protection Agency, which is led by White House appointees approved by Congress and like other federal overseers is considered part of the executive branch. Last year, the court curbed the EPAs power to address climate change through regulations on greenhouse-gas emissions from the electricity sector. This spring, the court slashed the agencys ability to protect wetlands, ruling that potentially tens of millions of acres arent covered by the Clean Water Act. When the justices revealed that they would take up the Chevron precedent, it had an immediate impact on the agency, which swiftly tapped the brakes on a plan to award renewable-fuel subsidies to Tesla Inc. and other electric-vehicle makers. EPA sought to tie the subsidies to biofuel quotas, but regulators were concerned that questions about its authority to fold in EVs could drag down the whole program. The EPAs decision to sideline the plan underlines how even the decision by the court to hear a case can have ramifications for businesses. Confusion over who has authority to write the details of regulations could make it more complicated and potentially more costly for businesses including multinationals to do deals, hire workers and sell products in the US. The courts impact on American society, politics and business may only grow as it closes its nine-month term in the coming days. The justices are considering invalidating President Joe Bidens student-loan relief plan, abolishing the use of race in college admissions, and carving out a free-speech exemption to antidiscrimination laws for certain companies. The justices could also endorse a Republican-backed legal theory that would oust state judges and other officials from longstanding roles in shaping the rules for federal elections. Conservative Ascent The courts outsized role is a product of an unprecedented Republican drive to transform the judiciary. Justice Amy Coney Barretts confirmation in 2020 capped that push to create the conservative supermajority. Since Barrett joined the court, it has blocked state and local governments from restricting firearms, ordered officials to be more welcoming to religious expression, limited what governments could do to slow the spread of Covid-19 and thwarted a series of Biden administration policies. Many of the courts most significant recent decisions have come through the so-called shadow docket, with justices issuing orders or making major rulings such as blocking capacity limits on houses of worship during the pandemic, and allowing Texass six-week abortion ban to take effect without full briefing or argument. The acts of the court in the last several years cant be explained by a particular judicial philosophy, said Mark Lemley, a Stanford Law School professor who wrote a law review article titled The Imperial Supreme Court last year. The only constant is that the court achieves the results it wants in cases before it regardless of prior precedent, regardless of the rules of interpretation and regardless of what institution wins. Scholars have begun trying to measure the courts assertiveness. A study by University of Southern California law professors Rebecca Brown and Lee Epstein analyzed cases dating back to 1937 and concluded the court under Chief Justice John Roberts is establishing a position of judicial supremacy over the president and Congress. Not everyone buys the notion that the court is seizing power. Jonathan Adler, a Case Western Reserve School of Law professor, says the Roberts court is overruling precedents and toppling federal and state statutes less frequently than previous courts. Read More: US Supreme Court Curbs Clean Water Act in Blow to EPA Power Thomass Billionaire Friend Had Business Before Supreme Court Supreme Court to Mull Voiding Chevron Ruling on Agency Power Inside the Supreme Court Ethics Debate: QuickTake Supreme Court Voices Doubt on Biden Student-Loan Relief Plan Whats different is that the court is more uniformly conservative and is therefore being more uniformly or more consistently at odds with legal elites, and so it gets subjected to criticism, Adler said. When one looks at quantitative measures of what the courts doing, its hard to argue that a court that decides fewer cases, that overturns or invalidates fewer statutes is somehow disempowering the other political branches. The courts defenders say its biggest recent decision the 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion it established in 1973 was an exercise in relinquishing power. The authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives, Alito wrote in his majority opinion. But the court has made itself the final arbiter in other spheres, including the national debate over firearms. Last year, it said defenders of gun restrictions must be able to point to a historical analogue for the curbs to pass muster. The gun and abortion rulings were inspired by originalism, a school of constitutional interpretation that focuses on the words of the Constitution and what they meant when they were written. The approach, which uses American history and tradition to help decipher the document, has opened conservative justices to charges that they cherry-pick evidence to support their conclusions. It turns out that, used aggressively like this, originalism doesnt constrain justices, said NYUs Waldman. It gives them the opportunity to erase 200 years of history for their own desired outcome. Major Questions The climate-change decision, which centered on an Obama-era plan to shift power generation away from coal plants toward renewable resources, could have implications well beyond the EPA. The ruling enshrined what had been a loosely defined legal concept known as the major questions doctrine, forbidding agencies from deciding matters of vast political or economic significance without clear congressional authorization. The decision has put a cloud over bureaucratic rule-writing across the government. At the Securities and Exchange Commission, Chairman Gary Gensler said the ruling is playing a role as the commission crafts a long-awaited plan to force companies to disclose greenhouse-gas emissions. The US Chamber of Commerce has vowed to invoke the doctrine in challenging the Federal Trade Commissions proposal banning noncompete agreements that bar workers from seeking a job in the same business as their previous employer. The ruling has whipped everyone into a major-questions frenzy, said Jody Freeman, a onetime energy counselor to former President Barack Obama and founding director of Harvard's Environmental Law and Policy Program. Everything now appears to the challengers as a major question that requires the court to immediately find that the agency has gone too far and Congress hasnt spoken. Defenders of the climate ruling say the court affirmed Congresss powers even as it stripped some from the EPA. Agencies over and over again are stretching the bounds of Congresss laws, said Adam White, a scholar who focuses on the Supreme Court and constitutional law at the American Enterprise Institute. The justices are defending the expectations and efforts of Congresses that wrote much narrower legislation than the agencies would like us to think now. Still, with a polarized Congress struggling to pass legislation, the immediate consequences could be policy paralysis. Regulations are the means by which the government makes the promises that Congress makes to the people a reality, said Sharon Block, the former acting leader of President Joe Bidens White House regulations office. Congress writes laws by nature. Theyre not experts. They write big ideas. Sometimes theyre a little more specific than others, but its the regulations that actually tell the American people how is the law really going to affect their lives. Further complicating the situation, the court is pushing this power back toward Congress at a time when Congress does not have sufficient regulatory and policy expertise to write these rules, said Michael Thorning, director of structural democracy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. A Different Era Amid all the courts big legal swings, the recent ethics scandals around Thomas, and the still-unresolved mystery over a leak of the draft abortion opinion, have shone new light on the obstacles to holding the justices accountable. Beyond his relationship with Crow, Thomas has faced questions about his refusal to recuse from cases over the 2020 election even though his wife, conservative activist Virginia Ginni Thomas, was pushing the Trump administration to do more to overturn the results. The Supreme Court and federal judiciary are largely unanswerable to the public and the other branches by design. The courts ability to interpret the Constitution and federal and state law free of political pressure and outside interference is the guiding principle behind lifetime tenure. While the high court isnt bound by the code of conduct that applies to lower court judges, the justices say that they follow the code anyway. Thomas has said he heeded gift-disclosure rules. And in a Wall Street Journal rebuttal to the ProPublica report hours before it was published, Alito denied any ethical lapses and said he saw no reason to recuse himself because he wasnt aware that Singer had an interest in any of the cases. He also said that at the time he did not have to report the flight on his financial disclosure. In 2014, the Supreme Court handed victories to Singer and other creditors in cases that involved Argentina's efforts to restructure billions of dollars of repudiated bonds. In one of the cases, the court ruled 7-1, with Alito siding with the majority, that two banks had to turn over information about Argentina's assets worldwide. That case concerned efforts by Singers NML Capital to collect more than $1.5 billion in judgments it has won in US court cases against Argentina. But some legal historians say the current justices understanding of what it takes to maintain public trust has failed to keep pace with the times. They dont acknowledge we live in a different era where the idea that they can do things behind closed doors, without anyone wondering what theyre up to that that era has passed, said Amanda Frost, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law. Politicians have recognized that, and I dont think the court has realized it has to be more transparent and accountable than it has been in the past. The increased scrutiny has dovetailed with a growing perception of the justices as partisan actors. Judges and justices almost uniformly reject efforts to attach their work to a political party, but thats been a harder line to hold in recent years. By almost any measure, the courts Republican appointees are now its six most conservative justices and its Democratic appointees are the three most liberal. Both parties helped drive the trend, with help from powerful interest groups including the conservative Federalist Society. Supreme Court vacancies have become fully partisan affairs; whereas justices used to be confirmed by the Senate with near unanimity, they now break along party lines. The dynamic fed a series of events Senate Republicans blocking a Democratic presidents nominee in 2016, the election of Trump as president that year, and Trumps appointment of three justices (including one only weeks before he lost the 2020 election) that created the courts current ideological imbalance. During the 2016 campaign, Trump took the unusual step of touting a list of prospective justices who he said would uphold conservative priorities. A year later, one of Trumps top legal advisers pointed to deregulation as a critical part of that agenda. The greatest threat to the rule of law in our modern society is the ever-expanding regulatory state, then-White House Counsel Don McGahn said at the the Federalist Societys national convention in November 2017, shortly after the confirmation of Trumps first pick, Justice Neil Gorsuch. And the most effective bulwark against that threat is a strong judiciary. There may come a point when the courts accumulated power sparks a backlash. Congress can give federal agencies clearer authority to regulate, conduct investigations and hold public hearings, strip the court of jurisdiction over particular types of cases, add seats to the court and even impeach justices. But in an era of divided government and legislative rules that sometimes require a supermajority for certain votes, many of those tools are off the table. For now, the Supreme Court rules. (Updates to include additional context from a ProPublica report involving Justice Alito and Paul Singer, as well as a 2014 case involving NML Capital.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. AI-powered teddy bears could read personalized bedtime stories to kids within 5 years, the boss of a major toy producer said A major toymaker has said smart toys that teach children values could become possible by 2028. Westend61/Getty Images A major toymaker said that AI teddy bears could read personalized bedtime stories to kids by 2028. Allan Wong told the Financial Times that smart toys could know a child's name, school, and friends. AI experts have recently been sounding the alarm about the dangers around AI including privacy. AI teddy bears that read bedtime stories to your children and teach them values could become a norm by 2028, according to a major toymaker. Allan Wong, CEO of VTech Holdings which makes toys and electronic learning aids for kids told the Financial Times that the technology powering ChatGPT could be incorporated into toys by 2028, especially as the cost of AI will fall. Wong pointed out that smart toys including teddy bears could use "AI to generate stories customized for the kid rather than reading from a book," because they will have access to personal information about the child. "You can incorporate not only the kid's name but the kid's daily activities. [It] knows you go to which school . . . who your friends are. It can actually be telling a story and talking almost like a good friend," he said. "The kids . . . can actually talk to the toy, and the toy can actually give [them] a response," he added. "So [there are] many, many possibilities." Wong acknowledged that some of the possibilities including AI being privy to details about a child are "a little scary," and emphasized that "we should be aware of the dangers, on privacy, security, what kinds of things to teach and what not to teach." The toymaker also noted that generative AI is "not mature" enough to be applied to toys just yet, but VTech will be looking out for the opportunity in the near future. VTech did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about Wong's remarks. Wong has a long way to go before AI technology is approved to be used in children's toys, especially as experts are sounding the alarm on current applications of generative AI. Billionaire owner of Twitter Elon Musk is particularly concerned about the dangers saying people should be "cautious with AI" because it has the "potential of civilization destruction," in a Fox News interview. Amid AI's rapid rise, governments around the world are beginning to consider proactive regulation of the technology. CEOs of major tech companies including Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft headed to the White House in May to discuss safety concerns around AI with Vice President Kamala Harris, who said they have a "legal responsibility," to ensure products are safe. Read the original article on Business Insider Ukrainian air defence forces destroyed nearly 20 Russian targets in the airspace around Kyiv during a Russian attack on the night of 19-20 June. Source: Serhii Popko, Head of Kyiv City Military Administration, on Telegram Quote: "Another large-scale air attack on the capital. This time, the enemy used UAVs, and, according to preliminary information, Shahed loitering munitions. This is only the second attack with Iranian-made drones on Kyiv since the beginning of the month and the first in the last 18 days. Following the usual tactics for massive UAV attacks, the drones were entering the capital in waves, flying from different directions. The air-raid warning was in force for over three hours. Almost 20 enemy targets were detected and destroyed in the airspace around Kyiv by our air defence assets and munitions." Details: Serhii Popko has noted that there has been no information on casualties or damage yet and that the operational update is being clarified. Background: At night, Kyiv was attacked with Shahed drones, and air defence was operating in the capital and the region. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Members of the People's Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) hold the picture of a deceased person, as they protest on June 20, 2023, after Albanian police raided a camp, home to members of an Iranian opposition movement. Albanian police on June 20, 2023 raided a camp home to members of an Iranian opposition movement, with local media reporting that the group is suspected of orchestrating cyberattacks against foreign institutions. The Ashraf 3 camp northwest of Tirana has been home for a decade to thousands of members of the People's Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), exiled opponents of the government in Tehran. (Adnan Beci) Albanian police on Tuesday raided a camp home to members of an Iranian opposition movement, with local media reporting that the group is suspected of orchestrating cyberattacks against foreign institutions. The Ashraf 3 camp northwest of Tirana has been home for a decade to thousands of members of the People's Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), exiled opponents of the government in Tehran. The PMOI said one person died and that a dozen of its members were injured during clashes with police. But Albania's interior minister and the police, who released footage of their operation, denied responsibility. Media reports said that when police arrived at the camp hundreds of PMOI members tried to repel the officers. The group accused the police of using pepper spray. Police did all they could to avoid causing "incidents" and no PMOI members were hurt by officers, Interior Minister Blendi Cuci told a press conference. "In no case (was) the death of a person on Tuesday in the Mujahedin camp... caused by police forces", he said, adding that officers were awaiting a forensics report into the death of a man in his seventies. "The Mujahedin violence towards the police is intolerable", he said. Police said earlier they had launched a probe into the PMOI's allegations. Local media reported that the police operation was part of an investigation into cybercrime and that officers seized computers. Police said in a statement they had acted on the orders of the Albanian judiciary due to the "violation of agreements and commitments" made by the group "when they settled in Albania solely for humanitarian purposes". Under a UN and US-backed deal in 2013 that saw them leave Iraq, the PMOI settled in other countries including their unlikely home in Albania, a poor Balkan state in southeast Europe. Their numbers have grown to around 2,800 people at Ashraf 3, the largest PMOI camp in the world. The arrival of the group had raised fears of attacks in Albania. In 2022, Tirana cut off diplomatic ties with Tehran, accusing it of carrying out massive cyberattacks against Albania. Tehran considers the People's Mujahedin a "terrorist group" and has banned it since 1981. bme-ev-ljv/lcm Alibaba CEO and Chairman Zhang to step down to focus on cloud business Alibaba CEO and Chairman Zhang to step down to focus on cloud business World Internet Conference in Wuzhen By Brenda Goh and Casey Hall SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Alibaba Group on Tuesday said its CEO and chairman Daniel Zhang will step down from the roles to focus on its cloud division as the Chinese e-commerce giant moves ahead with a plan to split into six business units. Zhang has been concurrently serving in three roles since December when he took over as head of the cloud unit after it suffered an outage that it described as its "longest major-scale failure" for over a decade. The CEO role will be handed over to Eddie Yongming Wu, chairman of Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall Group, while Executive Vice Chairman Joseph Tsai will take over Zhang as chairman. Both appointments will take effect on Sept. 10, Alibaba said. "The appointment of Daniel to focus on running cloud is really a show of confidence and trust in him to take the most precious business and run with it to develop it in the right way given this age of generative artificial intelligence (AI)," said Brian Wong, a former Alibaba employee and author of the book, "The Tao of Alibaba". "The idea or expectation that one person could manage the business' crown jewel Cloud and at the same time manage the entire Alibaba Group is an unreasonable expectation." The surprise reshuffle comes after a tumultuous two years that saw Alibaba heavily targeted by increased regulatory scrutiny and after the group announced in March that it would restructure into six units, each with their own boards and CEOs. Its China-facing e-commerce division, which includes the Taobao and Tmall marketplaces, will stay wholly owned by Alibaba, but the other five units will be spun off, with Alibaba saying in May it aimed to complete the public listing of its cloud unit within the next 12 months. Zhang, in a memo to staff seen by Reuters, said the cloud spin-off was approaching a crucial stage and that it was the right time for him to dedicate his attention to the business. "From a corporate governance perspective, we also need clear separation between the board and management team as the Cloud Intelligence Group proceeds down the path to becoming an independent public company," he said. "It would be inappropriate for me to continue serving as chairman and CEO of both companies at the same time during the spin-off process." Analysts have estimated the cloud unit to be worth $41 billion to $60 billion but have said the reams of data it oversees could put it in the cross-hairs of regulators at home and abroad. SINGLES DAY Zhang, a former accountant, joined Alibaba in 2007 and is known for being the architect behind the company's annual flagship "Singles Day" shopping festival. He has served as CEO since 2015 and took on the chairmanship in 2019, succeeding both roles from Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma. Alibaba thanked Zhang for his "extraordinary leadership in navigating unprecedented uncertainties affecting the company's business over the past few years." Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares fell 1.5% after the announcement, in line with a 1.6% decline in the benchmark index, as analysts viewed the reshuffle as being in line with the overall restructuring previously announced. "Under the new structure, the group will play a smaller role in setting strategies for the six business groups, so instilling Alibaba founders Joe and Eddie as chairman and CEO likely serves the purpose of ensuring smooth leadership transition and maintaining culture," Shanghai based Independent analyst Eric Chen, who publishes on Smartkarma, told Reuters. Wu, who co-founded Alibaba alongside Ma and Tsai over two decades ago, will continue to concurrently serve as chairman of Taobao and Tmall Group, Alibaba said. His previous roles include chief technology officer of Alipay and chairman of Alibaba Health. Wu's elevation to CEO "is a natural transition and signals the unswerving importance of e-commerce in the company's roadmap," said Jacob Cooke, co-founder and CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, a Beijing-based e-commerce consultancy. Cooke said he did not see the leadership changes as signalling a major strategic shift within Alibaba, given that the individuals are co-founders and close associates of Ma. "If anything, it emphasises the increasing importance of AI in the company's focus, while also underscoring that e-commerce is the core business unit." COMPETITION Ma, China's best-known entrepreneur, has stayed out of the public eye since late 2020 after a speech in which he criticised Chinese regulation, and which is widely seen as triggering an ensuing crackdown. Ma left mainland China in late 2021 - appearing in photographs in Japan, Spain, Australia and Thailand - and returned in March, a day before Alibaba announced its restructuring. He has not made any public comments during that period. Last week, Alibaba president J. Michael Evans said Ma remained Alibaba's biggest shareholder and cared very much about the company. He said Ma was teaching at a university in Tokyo and was also spending more time in China. Chinese tech news outlet LatePost on Monday reported that Ma convened a meeting with leaders from Taobao and Tmall Group where he highlighted severe competition and discussed the need to return focus to users, the internet and Taobao - whose merchants are mostly individuals or small businesses - to stay relevant. Alibaba did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the LatePost report, which cited company sources. (Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Additional reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney and Anne Marie Roantree and Josh Ye in Hong Kong; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Christopher Cushing) When Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Allen Robinson II signed with the Los Angeles Rams as a free agent in 2022, it was a huge deal both literally and figuratively. Robinson signed a three-year, $46.5 million deal in L.A. and became the latest haul for a team that never wanted to wait for its own draft picks. After drafting all-world defensive tackle Aaron Donald, these Rams rose to prominence with a bunch of high-profile trades and free agent signings, and Robinson was supposed to help keep the franchise on top after its 2021 Super Bowl win. But 2022 was a year to forget for both Robinson and the Rams. Robinson dealt with an injury that cut short his season, and even when he was on the field, he struggled to fit into the offense the way it was envisioned. Click here to read more from SteelersNOW.com. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Tourist sub goes missing near Titanic wreck Body recovered from Allegheny River near Washingtons Landing PHOTOS: Taylor Swift brings record-breaking numbers to Acrisure Stadium during second concert in Pittsburgh VIDEO: Mother accused of driving under the influence in Plum with her 4-year-old in car DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts Police in Germany said Monday that a 22-year-old American injured in an attack Thursday near a castle in Germany that led to the death of her 21-year-old American friend has been released from a hospital. Police spokesperson Holger Stabik said the was able to leave the hospital on Friday, according to The Associated Press. The woman was hurt when she and her friend were assaulted, allegedly by another American tourist. Police in the southeast German state of Bavaria confirmed to CBS News that a U.S. national was arrested in connection with the incident, and Stefan Rinke, the mayor of Schwangau, in Bavaria, told local media that all three people involved were American. Their names haven't been released due to German privacy laws. The women were hiking near Neuschwanstein Castle, which inspired the castle in Disney's movie "Cinderella" and attracts more than a million tourists a year, when they met a 30-year-old man who told them to follow him down a trail leading to a secret viewpoint. A view of the Neuschwanstein Castle, with the Marienbrucke bridge, June 15, 2023, near where a man attacked two women, leaving one with fatal injuries. / Credit: Frank Rumpenhorst/picture alliance via Getty When the two women followed him, the suspect attacked the 21-year-old victim, Stabik said. Her friend tried to intervene and the man choked her and pushed her down a steep slope. He then attempted to sexually assault the 21-year-old, Stabik said, before pushing her down the slope as well. Both women fell approximately 165 feet. Rescue workers found the two women and the 21-year-old was flown by helicopter to a hospital, where she died of her injuries. Stabik told CBS News on Friday that the 22-year-old woman suffered minor injuries. "The perpetrator at first moved away from the scene of the crime after the assault," Stabik told journalists on Thursday. "Whether this was a classic escape or not is not entirely known. In any case, he was then arrested a short time later by police officers on the basis of a witness tip in the immediate vicinity of the crime." Stabik said police have received about two dozen photos and videos on a specially created website, adding that investigators are asking anyone who has more video or images of the suspect and victims to provide them to police. Eric Abneri was visiting Neuschwanstein Castle from New York and captured video on his phone of the suspect being led away by police. "His face was covered in deep red scratch marks and his neck as well," Abneri told CBS News on Thursday. "There was clearly a struggle there, and he just had a frown on his face. He didn't say anything. He had a sort of disturbed look." A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Berlin told CBS News on Thursday that it was "aware of an incident involving multiple individuals" but declined to provide further information citing "privacy considerations." The official said the embassy was communicating with German authorities on the matter. A spokesperson for prosecutors told the AP it might take as long as four months for them to decide whether to indict the suspect. CBS News' Anna Noryskiewicz in Berlin and Emmet Lyons in London contributed to this report. Examining Hunter Biden's plea deal in tax investigation What might have happened to the Titanic exploration sub? Record-breaking waves entice surfers | 60 Minutes Archive USA Today is one of Gannetts largest and most recognizable properties. The largest newspaper publisher in the U.S. is taking on one of the worlds largest tech corporations in court. USA Todays parent company Gannett filed a lawsuit against Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc. on Tuesday over alleged anti-competition tactics in digital advertising. Gannett, which owns some of the nations biggest and longest-running newspapers, alleges in the filing that Google is rigging the system thats used for ad sales on publisher websites. Part of Gannetts advertising relies on real-time ad sales that are conducted in the milliseconds it takes for one of the newspaper companys web pages to load. Those real-time sales occur through a publisher ad server and an ad exchange, and according to the lawsuit, Google owns 90% of the publisher ad server market and 60% of the ad exchange market. With that large footprint in the digital advertising marketplace, Gannett alleges that Google is able to manipulate the real-time process of selling ads. Read more With its control over publisher ad serving, Google controls how publishers solicit and evaluate real-time bids for their inventory. Meanwhile, by operating the dominant exchange and dominant buy-side software, Google is the most powerful buyer of that inventory, the lawsuit reads The mechanics of Googles conduct have evolved over time, but the result has remained the same: Google manipulates the process of real-time bidding to exclude rival exchanges, underpay for publisher inventory, and ultimately reduce the quality and quantity of online news. The lawsuit claims that Google procured this alleged monopoly over several years. In 2007, Google acquired DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, which became the tech giants ad server and exchange, as well as AdMeld, an advertising platform, in 2011 for $400 million to bolster its own advertising infrastructure for publishers. As reported by The New York Times, former Google executive Timothy Armstrong called the DoubleClick acquisition a total game changer which helped the massive tech corporation become the advertising monolith it is today. These claims are simply wrong. Publishers have many options to choose from when it comes to using advertising technology to monetize in fact, Gannett uses dozens of competing ad services, including Google Ad Manager, Google Ads vice president Dan Taylor told Gizmodo in an email. And when publishers choose to use Google tools, they keep the vast majority of revenue. Well show the court how our advertising products benefit publishers and help them fund their content online. Gannetts lawsuit is not the only time Google has been in the antitrust crosshairs with regard to its advertising practices. Last week, Google was hit with a lawsuit from the European Union, which may require the company to sell off some of its ad-tech services. Google is also the focus of two similar lawsuits from the Department of Justice and a coalition of Attorneys Generals from 10 states. The Justice Department alleges in its lawsuit, filed in January, that it corrupted legitimate competition in the ad tech industry by engaging in a systematic campaign to seize control of the wide swath of high-tech tools used by publishers, advertisers and brokers, to facilitate digital advertising. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Amid the continued battle against abortion restrictions across states, several states nationwide are allocating increased financial resources toward protecting access to reproductive health services. Speaking to NPR, the National Institute for Reproductive Health President, Andrea Miller, detailed that the increased funding is an attempt to address the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022. Weve seen unrivaled action across states and localities at the municipal level to bolster access to reproductive healthcare, and especially around abortion, as a really immediate and direct response, NIRH President Andrea Miller said in an interview with NPR. In total, at least six state governments and 15 municipal governments have allotted almost $208 million over the last year to pay for contraception, abortion, and support services for people people seeking abortions. Were hearing from abortion funds and practical support networks that the requests theyre getting are astronomical, and they are so far beyond what theyve ever been before, Miller said. However, despite this increase in funding from local municipalities and states, executive director of the National Network of Abortion Funds, Oriaku Njoku, recently shared that donations to many abortion organizations by individuals and institutional philanthropies have decreased over the last year. This decrease in donations comes as calls to abortion hotlines have increased. Its this mismatch where the need is increasing, but the amount of support thats coming in has not balanced out. Njoku said in an interview with The Chronicle of Philanthropy. She adds that the amount of growth was more than many funds ever had in their histories. But that money goes very quickly, Njoku said. As the energy around Dobbs and the donating started to dwindle, the need and the amount of work that goes into supporting people who are going to get abortions actually went up. My worry is this sense of complacency and people thinking, Oh, abortion funds got it. Njoku says many impacted organizations have just one staff member and are heavily supported by volunteer workers. Some have an average budget of less than $100,000, Njoku continued. Were hearing this need for funding not just in the states that are restricted or have low or no access but even in the states that are taking on the brunt of this doubling or tripling of the amount of patients they were previously supporting. Now we have people from nearly half of this country traveling to other states to get care. The post Amid Abortion Fight, Several States Increase Reproductive Health Funding appeared first on 21Ninety. Analysis-New rules set to shake up China's shrinking infant formula market Baby formula are pictured at a supermarket in Shanghai By Farah Master HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's introduction of the world's strictest nutrient standards for infant formula are likely to see scores of brands give up on a market that is shrinking along with the country's falling birth rates, industry executives and analysts say. New rules imposed in February force infant formula makers to invest heavily to re-make, test, certify and re-register their products for China, before potentially conducting new marketing campaigns. This will further shake up an industry already at the forefront of China's demographic decline, with bigger domestic and international brands likely to increase their market share as smaller ones exit, analysts said. The new standard requires higher product quality as well as stronger manufacturing techniques which are expected to eliminate many small-to-medium-size players, said Quinn Mai, analyst at Euromonitor International, which estimates Chinas infant formula market will fall 12.5% to $21 billion by 2025 due to shrinking demand. China's new requirements revise the minimum and maximum values of nutrients such as selenium, manganese and choline, mandate lactose content and ban fructose and sucrose. Many experts describe the regulations as the world's toughest, aiming to get as close as possible to breast milk. In 2008, at least six infants died and more than 300,000 fell ill from Chinese formulas tainted with melamine, a toxic chemical used to boost milk protein scores in tests. More than 20 Chinese firms were implicated, one of a series of food safety scandals in the early 2000s which industry executives say still weigh on consumer trust. China's National Health Commission (NHC) cited infant safety when announcing the latest rules. NHC and the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) did not immediately respond to comment requests. The government needs to show Chinese people that we care about babies, we care about food safety so much that we come up with the strictest formula regulations, said Auckland-based Jane Li, who has been involved in the China infant formula market for more than a decade and acts as principal consultant for Li, Page & Co. Beijing is very clear in their goal. They want to see fewer and fewer players in the market. Chinese regulators have approved submissions by 200 brands, according to analysts and industry executives who expect only a few dozen more to be authorised in coming months. Under the previous standards, more than 400 brands battled for share in a market where only around 28% of mothers opt to breastfeed versus more than 50% in India and 75% in the U.S., according to Unicef data. Celia Ning, director at the nutrition research institute of formula maker Junlebao, said the registration process could "easily" take a year. Companies cannot sell new stock until they are approved and if they fail to register their new products early they are out of the market. The process requires many "resources from designing a new formulation, to trial, analysis and registration as well as good documentation and factory inspection." She said smaller brands may be put off by extra costs, especially when the whole industry was in a "critical situation" due to an ageing population. China's birth rate last year was just 6.77 births per 1,000 people, its lowest on record, and U.N. experts forecast China's population to shrink by 109 million by 2050. "Maybe we can increase our market share, but everyone will see total sales reduced," said Ning, whose company is targeting other milk products such as yoghurt for future growth. MARKET RESHUFFLE U.S.-based Abbott Laboratories is the biggest global brand known to have pulled out so far, telling Reuters the decision reflected "a changed market for paediatric nutrition products and that the market is well served by multiple other companies." "We have decided to focus on our growing adult nutrition business," it said in an email. Australia's infant nutrition council told Reuters only three companies out of nine previously approved to sell in Chinese retail shops are seeking regulatory greenlight under the new standards. New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries told Reuters up to 15 companies have applied or intend to apply for China's new product registration. SAMR has so far registered the products of three of those companies, the ministry said. One of them, A2 Milk Company said this month it had received approval. Another, Fonterra, said it was progressing through the re-registration process but that infant formula made up a relatively small part of its China business, with declining birth rates and regulation driving industry consolidation. Global players Nestle and Danone said they welcomed the new standards. Nestle said several products had already been approved under the new requirements. Hong Kong-listed Health and Happiness (H&H) said four of its formulas had been approved as of May and would be valid for the next five years. H&H's new formula cost around 9% more to produce than the old recipe but the company said the rigorous approval process would help its image. Companies such as H&H group that are able to gain approval will not only be viewed by consumers as more qualitative than other brands, but also more trustworthy, H&H told Reuters in an email. (Additional reporting by the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Marius Zaharia and Lincoln Feast.) Andrew Tate and his brother charged with human trafficking, rape in Romania Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan, were charged with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to exploit women, Romanian officials said Tuesday. Prosecutors filed the charges against the brothers and two Romanian women in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, Romanias anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, said. In a statement, the agency said the four defendants formed a criminal group in 2021 in order to commit the crime of human trafficking in Romania, the United States and Britain, the Associated Press reported. The agency said seven female victims were misled and transported to Romania, where they were sexually exploited and subjected to physical violence, according to the statement. The agency said the victims were forced to take part in pornography and allegedly controlled by intimidation, constant surveillance and claims that they were in debt, prosecutors said. The statement said one defendant raped one of the women twice in March 2022, the AP reported. Police escort Andrew Tate, third from right handcuffed to his brother, Tristan, and two unidentified Romanian women into a courthouse in Bucharest on Jan. 10, 2023. Tate was detained last month on charges of rape, human trafficking and running an organized crime ring. Tates spokesperson responds to charges The Tate brothers, who are both British-U.S. dual citizens, and the two other suspects were detained in Romania in December 2022. After winning an appeal on March 31, the brothers were moved from police custody to house arrest, the AP reported. Tate claimed Romanian prosecutors have no evidence and alleged their case is a political conspiracy designed to silence him, the AP reported. Tates spokesperson Mateea Petrescu said the brothers are expected to attend a hearing in Bucharest on Wednesday. Tates legal team are prepared to cooperate fully with the appropriate authorities, presenting all necessary evidence to exonerate the brothers and expose any misinterpretations or false accusations, Petrescu said Tuesday. A judge has up to 60 days to assess the files in the case before the defendants are sent to trial, according to Romanian law. Who is Andrew Tate? Tate, 36, is a former professional kickboxer and social media personality who was previously banned from various platforms for his misogynistic views. He has more than 6 million Twitter followers, many of those being young men and schoolchildren. Tate has resided in Romania since 2017. Contributing: The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Andrew Tate, brother charged with rape, human trafficking in Romania The News Andrew Tate the British-American influencer known for his misogynistic, violent commentary has been formally charged with rape, human trafficking, and forming a criminal group to sexually exploit women, weeks after he was first detained in Romania. His brother, Tristan Tate, and two other Romanian nationals were also charged in the case. All four suspects have denied allegations against them. The rape allegations against Tate is specific to one of the survivors, according to Romania's organized crime investigation unit. The charges follow reports that Romanian investigators had expanded their probe to include the more serious crime of human trafficking in continued form, with an additional victim coming forward with accusations against the Tate brothers. The trial will not begin immediately and a judge has to ensure the legality of the charges, per Romanian law. It will likely take years for a trial to conclude, CNN reported. Step Back Tate has been under investigation for human trafficking since at least April 2022 when Romanian authorities raided his home and detained him for a few hours before releasing him. DIICOT, the Romanian agency investigating the case, alleges Tate and the other defendants used a loverboy method to lure women to the county with the promise of a relationship, only to then exploit the women into making pornographic material. The group was subsequently detained for 30 days in December, though not formally charged. The presiding judge extended their detention three times while prosecutors continued their investigation, with the suspects losing their appeal each time. However, a Bucharest court in March ruled in favor of their appeal to be transferred from jail to house arrest. Romanian law stipulates that suspects in a crime can be detained for a period of no more than 180 days before charges must be filed. The 36-year-old former kickboxer had been previously banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok for his misogynistic, anti-gay, and violent comments, including telling his followers how to hit women, blaming sexual assault survivors for their abuse, and saying that women "belong at home." He became a prominent figure among American right-wing circles after his appearances on Infowars and links to far-right figures. Before his arrest, Tate was in Romania running a seminar-like camp for men which he promoted as a way to boost masculinity and personal wealth. Angela Paxton, a Texas state senator and wife of impeached state Attorney General Ken Paxton, said late Monday that she will attend her husband's upcoming impeachment trial, vowing to "carry out my duties." "As a member of the Senate, I hold these obligations sacred and I will carry out my duties, not because it is easy, but because the Constitution demands it and my constituents deserve it," Angela Paxton said in a statement. The Texas House of Representatives voted in May to impeach the attorney general, who has been accused of bribery, obstruction of justice and abuse of the public trust. Paxton has denied the allegations against him. Under the Texas Constitution, "each member of the senate shall be in attendance when the senate is meeting as a court of impeachment." Similar to federal impeachment proceedings, the Texas senate is responsible for holding a trial to decide whether the accused official should be removed from office. Texas Rep. Andrew Murr, who headed up the House investigation and is one of the impeachment managers, declined to comment last month about Angela Paxton's participation in the Senate trial. "We will manage this process with the weight and reverence it deserves and requires," Murr said. Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton, wife of impeached state Attorney General Ken Paxton, sits in the Senate Chamber at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Monday, May 29, 2023. / Credit: Eric Gay / AP Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who will preside over the Senate trial, told WFAA in Dallas last month that "all 31 senators will have a vote." When Patrick threw his support behind Angela Paxton in the 2018 primary, he called her a "friend for years." Much of the impeachment proceedings revolve around Ken Paxton's relationship with real estate developer Nate Paul, who has since been charged with eight felony counts of financial crimes. Among other accusations, the articles of impeachment allege that Paul, a campaign donor, paid to renovate Paxton's house, and Paxton requested Paul hire a woman with whom Paxton was allegedly in a relationship. Over the weekend, Angela Paxton, who represents the Dallas suburbs, posted photos on Twitter of their family and wished her husband a happy Father's Day. The Paxtons have four adult children and three grandchildren. "May God bless you today with a day of fun and relaxation, and I hope you can have a few minutes to reflect and enjoy some deep satisfaction in being a great dad (and an excellent Pop-Pop!)," she wrote. In a separate case, Ken Paxton was charged in 2015 on two counts of securities fraud, but he has successfully delayed a trial. Earlier this month, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that the trial will be held in Houston, not his home base of Collin County, near Dallas. The decision allows the case to move forward after a three-year delay. The state Senate has agreed to hold a trial on whether to remove Paxton no later than Aug. 28. He has been suspended pending the outcome of the trial. The Senate Rules Committee is expected to announce details of the impeachment trial on Tuesday, including when it will start. Paxton, a Republican, is a close ally of former President Donald Trump. The GOP holds a 19-12 advantage in the state Senate, although 60 House Republicans voted to impeach Paxton. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed former state Secretary of State John Scott to be interim attorney general while Paxton is suspended. Over the weekend, Paxton started fundraising off the impeachment, tweeting that "RINOS and far-left radicals have established a kangaroo court in the TX Lege. to eliminate America's most conservative Attorney General." Only two elected officials have been impeached in Texas before: Former Gov. James E. Ferguson in 1917 and former Judge O.P. Carrillo in 1975. The Senate voted to remove both and they were disqualified from holding public office. Republicans criticize Justice Department over Hunter Biden plea deal Here's what to know about student debt as Supreme Court gets ready to rule Republicans vow to continue investigating Hunter Biden Xi Jinping and Joe Biden last met in Bali on the sidelines of the G20 summit in late 2022 If China's neighbours, near and far, could have sent Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden a text in the last 48 hours, it would probably have been some version of: "Can you two please sort things out?" Of course, the entire world was watching US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Beijing over the weekend - but perhaps none more so than the countries that would be on the frontlines of any conflict between the US and China. For 35 minutes on Monday, when Mr Blinken became the top-ranking US diplomat to meet Mr Xi since 2018, a collective sigh of relief was likely heaved through that tactical stretch of US allies in the Pacific - from Japan and South Korea in the north, through the Philippines, all the way to Australia in the south. Southeast Asian economies sitting on crucial global supply routes, and tiny Pacific island nations, pulled between Chinese and American overtures, would have been just as reassured. "Everyone is learning to live with China-US rivalry, but no-one wants to choose between them," says John Delury, Professor of Chinese Studies at Seoul's Yonsei University. "There will be some relief to see these two countries acting like grown-ups." That certainly seemed to be the message both sides sought to send. Over two days, Mr Blinken met China's top diplomats Wang Yi and Qin Gang - the latter for several hours, including a "working dinner" - before finally sitting down with Mr Xi in the Great Hall of The People. By the end of it Mr Xi hailed "progress" in the talks and spoke of "agreements on specific issues", without saying what those were. Back in Washington DC, Mr Biden praised Mr Blinken for doing "a hell of a job". But the 61-year-old secretary of state, ever the pragmatic diplomat, told reporters that he was "clear-eyed" about China. He welcomed the reopening of high-level communication, and said the Chinese agreed with the Americans that ties must stabilise, but he also admitted that there were "many issues on which we profoundly - even vehemently - disagree". And yet the lacklustre readouts, with no breakthroughs and plenty of qualifiers, have been greeted with hope, rather than disappointment. That's how low expectations were. Mr Blinken said he was "clear-eyed" about China Relations between Washington and Beijing have been so fraught that the Americans came hoping to avert a conflict, a growing risk that has alarmed the region. A recent survey by the Eurasia Group Foundation suggests that more than 90% of the respondents in South Korea, the Philippines and Singapore are "worried" about a confrontation between the two superpowers. Almost half of those asked chose regional tensions as the most pressing challenge facing their country. "The world does not want to see this relationship spiral out of control," said Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the German Marshall Fund's Indo-Pacific Program. "There has been anxiety in the region and beyond that the US and China were not talking - countries want to know that if there were to be an accident, the two sides could avoid escalation." This is no longer playground politics. It has even gone well beyond concerns about global trade and semiconductor supplies. It has become a battle for influence that is forcing countries in the region to make tough choices about their own security. South Korea and Japan have been American allies for decades, but historical grievances have kept them apart. Now Beijing's growing assertiveness, coupled with North Korea's record missile launches, has produced a necessary thaw as they face the same escalating threats. Driven by a similar urgency, the Philippines has allowed the US access to more military bases. Tokyo is also reportedly preparing military aid for Manila - a move that could bring the Japanese back to Philippine shores for the first time since World War Two. The ripples go as far as the Pacific Islands, where the US and China are trying to gain a strategic foothold. Washington signed a new security pact with Papua New Guinea in May after Beijing did the same with the Solomon Islands. What many of these countries would most like to see is the resumption of a military hotline between Beijing and the Pentagon. Mr Blinken pushed for this in his meetings, but the Chinese, it seems, did not agree. The region is particularly on edge that the two could clash militarily over the self-governed island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own. Taiwan, a major bone of US-China contention, sits in the "first island chain" of US-friendly territories With increased military presence in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, the risk of a miscalculation is higher than ever, especially as the US and China skirt close enough in the sky, and in the waters below. "We need reliable communication channels. We need to reduce the risk of a military accident," Ms Glaser said. For countries in the Asia-Pacific, the meeting is only a start, and a tentative one at that. But, for now, they will take any amount of progress that is possible. Even if all that means is being able to take breath. "This visit doesn't guarantee anything, but it at least shows the US and China trying to defuse tensions and maintain dialogue, which is a good look in this part of the world," Mr Delury said. But the biggest challenge still lies ahead. Beijing has made it clear that Taiwan lies at the "core" of their interests. So the question is what happens next between the world's two largest economies - and nuclear powers? The problem for Washington is the clock is ticking as another election looms. President Biden's Republican rivals have accused him of being soft on China. He may be tempted to show he can stand up to Mr Xi rather than alongside him. "If the relationship is to be stabilised," Ms Glaser says, "It has be now." Read more of our coverage on US-China tensions US tech giant Apple is seeking the image rights for apples (iStock/ Getty Images) Apple is seeking the exclusive image rights of apples in Switzerland, according to a Swiss fruit growers association. Fruit Union Suisse, an 111-year-old organisation that promotes the interests of fruit farmers in the country, may be forced to change its logo if the US tech giant succeeds in its legal bid. The associations logo features a red apple with a white cross on it, having been slightly revised in 2011 in order to celebrate the organisations centenary. We have a hard time understanding this, because its not like theyre trying to protect their bitten apple. Fruit Union Suisse director Jimmy Mariethoz told Wired. Their objective here is really to own the rights to an actual apple, which, for us, is something that is really almost universal... that should be free for everyone to use. It is one of several attempts by Apple to gain intellectual property rights over the eponymous fruit, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation. Countries that have acquiesced to Apples demands include Armenia, Israel, Japan and Turkey. Separate records from the Tech Transparency Project show that Apple filed more trademark applications than Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft combined between 2019 and 2021. Apples logo next to the logo for Fruit Union Suisse (Apple/ Fruit Union Suisse) Apple first applied to the Swiss Institute of Intellectual Property for the trademark of a depiction of a Granny Smith apple in 2017, covering electronic, digital and audiovisual consumer goods. The request was only partially granted, leading Apple to submit an appeal earlier this year. Were concerned that any visual representation of an apple so anything thats audiovisual or linked to new technologies or to media could be potentially impacted, said Mariethoz. Theoretically, we could be entering slippery territory every time we advertise with an apple. The Independent has reached out to Apple for a response, though the company typically does not comment on ongoing legal matters. Arab American community calls for justice after man fatally hit by car in Oak Lawn, but driver not charged The family of a 28-year-old Palestinian American who died outside his Oak Lawn home earlier this month after being hit by a car called for justice Tuesday and for the driver to be charged. Murod Kurdi was standing June 5 near his parked car outside his familys home when he was hit by a car, according to his family. The driver drove a block away before stopping, they said. The driver, who police told the family drank before hitting Kurdi, was not charged with homicide, said Muhammad Sankari, the lead organizer with the Arab American Action Network. Were all here today because the Oak Lawn Police Department has again made a choice. A choice to treat our community as less than, Sankari said. Oak Lawn police Chief Daniel Vittorio declined to comment citing a pending investigation. Vittorio expressed condolences to the family. The Cook County medical examiners office reported Kurdi was pronounced dead at 8:08 p.m. June 6 at Advocate Christ Medical Center. The cause of death was still listed as pending Wednesday. Fadia Muhamad, Kurdis mother, said her son was a beloved brother and nephew who never had an encounter with the law. He provided and took care of me, especially after the death of his father seven months ago, Muhamad said. Dozens of people gathered Tuesday outside the Oak Lawn Village Hall and Police Department, chanting Kurdis name and calling for justice. Sankari pointed out the 14 officers monitoring the crowd, including two on the roof of the municipal building, was a larger police presence than the response and investigation into Kurdis death. Murods life mattered and justice for Murod matters, Sankari said. A few days after the accident, the family and their attorney, David Petrich, met with the Oak Lawn police, and they were informed the driver told police she had two drinks at a local bar before the accident, Petrich said. They were told that alcohol was not a contributing factor in the accident, he said. During the meeting, Petrich said, police stated an officer smelled alcohol on the drivers breath but that she refused to take a Breathalyzer or field sobriety test. Simply put, she refused to cooperate with the investigation further, Petrich said. Petrich said the Oak Lawn Police Department should have demanded to have a blood alcohol test done. Mark Hollingsworth, one of the officers who assisted in the violent arrest of a then 17-year-old last July, attended the meeting and told the family the driver would receive a traffic citation. The investigation was fatally flawed, Petrich said, and he called on police to finally do the right thing. We all continue to pray for justice, Petrich said. Muhamad Suleiman, Kurdis cousin, said he was at the scene of the accident and was the one who called for an ambulance after police arrived. Suleiman said the officers showed no urgency. They were just moving at a slow pace, Suleiman said. Nader Kurdi, who attended the rally, said he was out of the country when he received a phone call that his younger cousin died. He booked a flight back home the same day. Its heartbreaking, Kurdi said. The driver for sure got to go to jail. Asian businesses in Georgia county call for action as they are targeted by burglaries [Source] Asian business owners in Gwinnett County, Georgia, are calling for collective action against an apparent trend of burglaries targeting the community in the area. Brazen attacks: Several Asian business owners claim to have fallen victim to a string of recent burglaries which are reportedly carried out by a group of masked thieves armed with flashlights and crowbars. In the latest attack, surveillance footage captured the culprits arriving in a black car before forcing their way into the tax preparation business Saigon Services on Pleasant Hill Road, Duluth, last Wednesday at around 5 a.m. Targeting Asian owners: Expressing his frustration over the burglary to WSB-TV, Saigon Services owner John Dang lamented how the operation appeared to be done by individuals who are very professional. More from NextShark: Daniel Wu, Sung Kang Join Stop Asian Hate Car Rally in LA Dang, who had been in contact with several other Vietnamese victims of similar attacks, believes that Asian-owned businesses are being targeted because the perpetrators assume they mostly deal primarily in cash transactions. To mitigate the risk, Dang has limited the amount of cash kept on the premises. He also emphasized the need for business owners to speak up and work collaboratively with the police to address the issue. "If you don't speak up... you're not doing anything, you know? So they keep doing it," he was quoted saying. More from NextShark: Taiwan-Born Lawyer Receives Hate Mail for Defending Man Accused of Attacking 75-Year-Old Woman in SF Business owners' task force: Another Asian business owner is spearheading the formation of a task force composed of other local Asian entrepreneurs in the community. The group aims to hold regular meetings with law enforcement authorities to address the security concerns of the Asian business community. As Gwinnett County police continue to pursue leads based on owners statements and recovered footage, they urge anyone with information related to these crimes to come forward and assist in the ongoing investigation. More from NextShark: Boxing icon Manny Pacquiao's brand new wax figure at Madame Tussauds is scarily accurate Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark! Queens girl, 14, may be paralyzed after being hit by stray bullet from gang-related gunfire I attended Disney's first US Pride event for $140. The 4-hour party was a good deal and great way to spend my first Pride. Disneyland got all decked out for Disney's first US Pride events. Keith Langston Disney recently hosted its first Pride celebration in the US Disneyland After Dark: Pride Nite. This was my first Pride, and my ticket got me access to rides, fireworks, special food, and parades. I had a blast and I'm glad Disney's stepping up after a complicated past with the LGBTQ community. Despite being openly gay, I'd never been to a Pride celebration until recently. Growing up was rough and I was an outcast in my hometown for being gay. Being surrounded by the LGBTQ community hasn't yet given me a sense of family and belonging, either, but with threats against the LGBTQ community on the rise I felt it was time to show up. After all, visibility is important to me. Fortunately, Disneyland recently celebrated its first Pride, too. This month, the California park hosted two Disneyland After Dark: Pride Nites filled with fireworks, parties, parades, special food, and exclusive character visits. I was glad to see Disney beginning to step up after its long, complicated past with the LGBTQ community. I also love Disneyland and feel very comfortable there, so it felt like a great place to celebrate Pride for the first time. Here's what my experience was like. The Pride Nite celebrations are the first time Disney has officially honored Pride in the US with an event. Pride Nite is part of a selection of ticketed after-hours parties that take place throughout the year. Keith Langston These Disney After Dark events are the first time Disney has officially celebrated Pride in its US parks. In the past, Pride celebrations at Disney were usually limited to fan-led, unofficial events like Gay Days. Tickets for Pride Nite started at $139, about the same price as a one-day Disneyland park ticket for non-residents. It seems frustrating to spend the same amount on a four-hour party as you would for a full day at the park, but After Dark celebrations have a capped admission, so wait times for rides are significantly cut down. This makes the ticket a much better deal, in my opinion. Rides that normally have a 90-minute wait drop down to 25 to 35 minutes. You can get on high-capacity rides that move a lot of people, like the Haunted Mansion, in around 10 to 15 minutes. Plus you get special fireworks shows, dance parties, parades, and exclusive food items. I started my trip by flying into LAX and checking into the Westin Anaheim. The Westin had some of the best prices I saw when booking my stay. Keith Langston I could've flown directly into Orange County, which is closer to the Anaheim park, but I found that those flights tend to be more expensive and often involve a layover unless you're in a major hub city for airlines. Instead, I flew into LAX and took an Uber to Anaheim. It would've been nice to stay in a resort on the Disney property, like the epic Grand Californian, but prices for a stay at such a popular time ranged from $500 to $1,000 per night when I looked. In my experience, on-property resorts have such a high demand that unless you book really early you're normally paying a premium. Luckily, Disneyland is surrounded by hotels, from old-school motels and Best Westerns to full-service hotels like the Westin Anaheim. I chose the Westin because its prices seemed more affordable rooms started at just $350 per night when I booked and the hotel was loaded with resort-style amenities like a pool and rooftop lounge. My hotel was incredibly close to Disneyland and had great views. I could see Disneyland from my hotel's rooftop. Keith Langston Best of all, the Westin is located directly across the street from the California Adventure Park. I was able to walk to Disneyland and Downtown Disney without ever having to spend money on transportation. Plus, my room had a balcony that looked out over Pixar Pier and the Incredicoaster, which I'd say is a much better view than many guests at on-property hotels get. The Westin's rooftop lounge has even better views, overlooking Disneyland and providing amazing panoramic views of the Incredicoaster, Matterhorn, Grizzly Peak, and Sleeping Beauty Castle. Once it got dark, Pride Nite began with a huge fireworks show. The fireworks show included music. Keith Langston Pride Nite began at 9 p.m. and ended at 1 a.m. but ticket holders were allowed to enter the park starting at 6 p.m. When it was finally time to enter the park for Pride Nite, I didn't know what to expect but I knew that, if nothing else, there were at least tons of rides I could go on with hardly any wait times. The party officially began at 9:30 p.m. with a fireworks show. As the fireworks blasted color into the night sky, Disney played songs that have been associated with queer undertones, like "Reflection" from "Mulan" and various songs from the "Frozen" movies. I usually skip fireworks at the parks, but this show felt special. I had a great time. Keith Langston Normally, I don't care about fireworks. When most people are occupied with the fireworks shows, I'm running toward the roller coasters because the wait times drop by as much as 30 minutes. But this show felt special, like a real gesture from Disney showing it wants to reach out and be an ally to the community. The highlight of the night was the parade, the Pride Nite Cavalcade. Even Mickey Mouse was at the parade. Keith Langston The next exclusive event was the parade, but there was some time in-between, so I rode the Matterhorn coaster twice (don't judge). Then, I watched the Pride Nite Cavalcade. It ran twice during the evening and both times it was surprisingly fun, cheeky, and campy. Dancers made their way down the street with Clarabelle Cow, followed by Donald, Chip and Dale, and Goofy. The finale float carried Mickey, Minnie, and Daisy. Chip and Dale stole the show and I loved it. Chip and Dale were on a car at the parade. Keith Langston The absolute highlight of the parade was Chip and Dale, who didn't act like they were in a parade and instead seemed like rock stars being chauffeured around. They were chillin' in the back of their carriage, waving their arms and pumping up the crowd. I don't normally laugh out loud at costumed Disney characters, but these guys were hilarious and made the parade tons of fun. Eventually, we all became part of the parade. We all got to be in the parade at Pride Nite. Keith Langston As the parade came to a close, something really cool happened. The last members of the cavalcade were carrying a giant rainbow arch, and as they passed by, the crowd moved in and began following them. Suddenly, we were all part of the parade, which would never happen during a normal day at Disney. Saying "I felt a sense of community" feels so cliche that it pains me to even write those words, but the reality is that I did. It was a really cool and special moment that felt like the true embodiment of what Pride is supposed to be about. Throughout the night, a giant party took place at Rivers of America. There was dancing and music at Rivers of America. Keith Langston Another moment I absolutely loved was later in the evening when a giant dance party erupted at the Rivers of America. I was walking across the park and heard Lips Inc.'s "Funky Town" blasting at full volume. Rainbow streamers hung along the river blew in the night air, multicolored lights changed with the music, and the crowd jumped and danced. The DJ stole the show and made me laugh, too. The DJ had a float on the river. Keith Langston The best part of the party was the DJ playing music from a rainbow-clad raft drifting around the river. Again, I found myself smiling and laughing. It was ridiculous in the best kind of way and I couldn't help but appreciate and enjoy stuff like a floating DJ. The event had special opportunities to meet and interact with characters, too. I'm not big on character interactions but it was cool. Keith Langston Personally, I'm not big into taking photos with the characters, so I didn't take part in any meet and greets. Plus they also had long lines. Still, there were plenty of options ranging from Disney villains to classic characters. When I was leaving the park, I passed by Cruella de Vil on Main Street. She was teaching a group how to be grouchy and pessimistic and it was hilarious. I was also excited for Pride Nite's exclusive food options. Pride Nite had a special menu. Keith Langston As someone who loves to eat, I definitely indulged in many of the exclusive Pride Nite treats. There were a total of 29 special food and beverage offerings throughout the evening, from a rainbow trifle to Monte Cristo fritters and tinga-chicken quesadillas. The special churros and beignets were great. Disneyland has good churros. Keith Langston As a fan of Disneyland's churros, the first treat I tried was the special chocolate-and-almond-covered churros in New Orleans Square. Chocolate and churros are the perfect combo, and the addition of the crunchy almonds made them even better. Disneyland is also known for its Mickey beignets, and there was a special one during Pride Nite. Their standard powdered-sugar coating was replaced with a dusting of pink cinnamon sugar. Mixing cinnamon and sugar is culinary perfection. Plus I was running around Disneyland until 1 a.m. and needed that sugar high to keep me going. Of course, Disney also had some of its classic offerings. You can't visit a Disney park without getting Dole Whip. Keith Langston I also had Dole Whip. There was nothing special about the Dole Whip during Pride Nite, but it's so amazing that it doesn't need any special touches. I've never had a Dole Whip as light and fluffy as Disney's. Disneyland's Pride Nite was totally worth it, and I'm really glad I went. Pride Nite felt safe and I had fun. Keith Langston I'm really glad I attended Disney's first-ever Pride night. It was my kind of Pride event filled with roller coasters and great food. I was also impressed that Pride Nite was an incredibly wholesome evening and super family-friendly. Even a drag queen I saw there was dressed modestly, rocking an "I Love Lucy"-style polka-dot dress. Plus, the park provided a safe space to interact with a community that I often feel so different and detached from. Amid the rise of anti-LGBTQ crimes and threats against the community, I also appreciated Disneyland felt like an actual safe space thanks to its security and bag checks. The LGBTQ community needs allies now more than ever, so it was awesome to see Disney hold its first-ever official Pride night in the US. I hope Disneyland holds another Pride celebration next year and makes it a tradition. Read the original article on Insider Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / Getty / Reuters Cue the outrage from former President Donald Trump and his allies over the just announced Hunter Biden plea deal. Of course, no one really expected Trump and his supporters to ever be satisfied with any outcome of the long-running Hunter Biden investigation that did not result in a conviction of his father, President Joe Biden. But the truth of the matter is that Attorney General Merrick Garland did Hunter Biden no favors in this case by leaving the original Trump-appointed prosecutor on the case, and approving a plea deal on charges that for anyone else would likely have resulted in no criminal charges being brought. Donald Trump Is About to Have His Wile E. Coyote Moment DOJ opened the investigation into Hunter Biden some five years agowhich is a remarkably long time to investigate and prosecute a tax evasion case involving about $1.2 million and a false statement about being a drug user. The investigation was opened by Trumps Justice Department in 2018 and overseen by the original Trump-appointed United States Attorney for Delaware, David Weiss, whom Attorney General Garland left in place despite the fact that new attorney generals typically ask for the resignations of U.S. Attorneys appointed in the previous administration. The AGs decision to keep Weiss in place likely was Garlands effort to show the public that no politics would affect the investigation. The immediate reaction by such political leaders, such as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, makes plain that Garland miscalculated his ability to blunt Republican attacks on the DOJ. Under the terms of the plea deal, Hunter Biden must plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes in 2017 and 2018for which he apparently underpaid by $100,000 each year. (In 2021, he paid the shortfall.) That makes the tax case a bit of an outlier, since prosecutors usually have little appetite for bringing criminal tax cases when the taxpayer has already paid the amount owing. Bidens legal team was no doubt well aware of that and probably hoped the payment madeplus the fact that the liability was not that greatwould cause the DOJ to decline to bring any criminal charges at all. In exchange for Biden pleading guilty the prosecutors will seek only probation and no jail time. With regard to the firearms charge, Biden will receive what is referred to as diversion from prosecution. That means if he completes the conditions of his probation in the tax convictions, then Biden will not be convicted for having stated in paperwork to buy the gun that he did not use drugs and did not have a drug problemwhen, in truth, he was addicted to crack cocaine at the time. His self-admitted drug addiction likely played a role in prosecutors allowing him to seek pre-trial diversion, as diversion is frequently used as a means of holding drug addicts to accountability while not making them take a felony on the records in light of their addiction. In fact, it is rare for prosecutors to pursue criminal charges for this kind of false information on a gun ownership application form unless the gun was also used to commit some other crime, such as a robbery, to cite one example. Jack Smith Should Have Waited a Week to Indict Donald Trump Here, however, there is no evidence Biden used the gun in any crime. He apparently only had the gun for two weeks before his then-girlfriend threw it away in a trash dumpster. Notably absent from the plea deal are any charges arising from Bidens infamous laptopa potential piece of evidence that might hold the record for worst chain of custody in history. Despite various analyses that indicate some evidence actually came from the laptop, it is hard to imagine any prosecutor wanting to rely on evidence that was already handled by scores of others, including Rudy Giuliani. Oh, and theres the problem of whether any of the data on the laptop actually indicates criminal conduct. To the extent the laptop and the rest of the GOPs complaints are really about family members of presidents profiting off their family namethey have a point, but not a criminal case. From FDRs son, Richard Nixons brother, Jimmy Carters brother, to Donald Trumps childrenthe sketchy nature of profiting from the presidents family name remains an issue, but so far not one that can be solved by criminal charges. So the result of this five-year long investigation is that a recovering drug addict who paid his taxes late and lied about using drugs to purchase a firearm will be convicted of tax evasion, and be given pre-trial diversion for lying on his gun ownership application. It is likely that any other drug addict who was not the son of a sitting president would not have been prosecuted for these charges. But AG Merrick Garlandever sensitive to accusations of DOJ looking politicalkept the original prosecutor on the case to insulate DOJ from accusations of political partisanship, and refused to exercise what could easily be considered reasonable prosecutorial discretion in refusing to bring criminal charges for such minor offenses. AG Merrick Garland Needs to Get Out of the Business of Defending Trump As usual, Garlands efforts to avoid political backlash are doomed to failure. Frankly, DOJ would have taken just as much criticism if Garland had removed the original Trump-appointed prosecutor and declined to bring any criminal charges. Now the DOJ will simply wait for the inevitable calls for hearings into the plea deal and the likely summoning of the prosecutor to Capitol Hill to face questions. However, the prosecutor David Weiss has issued a statement saying that his investigation of Hunter Biden is ongoing. Its possible this could stave off any congressional inquiries, since the case is still active. But the prospect of Weiss continuing to investigate is a disturbing one that raises the specter of Special Counsel John Durhamss dead-man-walking investigation of the Russia probe that took four years and produced nearly nothing. Attorney General Garland would be doing the country and tax payers a big favor if he simply pulled the plug on any further investigation into Hunter Biden, and simply took the heat for doing so. 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. Photo: sirtravelalot (Shutterstock) In a shocking high court ruling Thursday, a Black Muslim man who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges had his conviction vacated. According to AP News, the mans attorney had a nasty record of posting racist and anti-Muslim content on social media. So much for adequate counsel. Anthony Dew was handed a 19-charge indictment in 2015. Of those counts were five of trafficking a person for sexual servitude and one count of rape, the report says. When he met the late attorney Richard Doyle, he knew he was being represented by a whole bigot. Dew was scolded for wearing a kufi (prayer cap) and from that day on, Doyle refused to interact with his client if he continued to wear it. Read more Doyle, like most court appointed attorneys who could care less about their client, urged Dew to sign a plea deal and sold himself away to prison for 10 years. However, from the span of time before the two met and after Dew was sentenced, Doyle was getting a bit careless on social media. Read more from AP News: Attorney Richard Doyle had a conflict of interest that deprived the defendant of his right to effective assistance of counsel, a right upon which our entire system of criminal justice depends, the Supreme Judicial Court wrote in its unanimous decision released Thursday. These posts ... included a variety of anti-Muslim slurs and statements calling for violence against and celebrating the death of persons of the Muslim faith, posts mocking Black individuals, and comments, some apparently made at a state court house, seemingly referring to Doyles clients as thugs and suggesting that Doyles nonwhite clients were criminals, the courts decision said. Dew did not become aware of his attorneys bigoted posts until 2021, the same year Doyle died. Dew filed a motion for a new trial and asked to withdraw his guilty pleas. A lower court judge denied his motion and it went to the high court. Dew was released from prison on parole but his case leaves questions about how to move forward. When was the last time a Black man was let out prison because his representation were racists? Actually, when was the last time the court cared that the lawyers were racist? The report says the Suffolk district attorneys office has a few options. They can either take it to trial, dismiss the charges or negotiate another plea. Dew was two years away from making it to time served. If he gets to stay home, the move will be big for any other Black defendant facing the same adversity from the people ordered to help them. 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. (Bloomberg) -- Aussies know a road warrior when they see one, Ukraines Defense Department said earlier this month in a video posted to social media urging Australia to send over more tanks. Most Read from Bloomberg Featuring rock music blaring over footage from Mad Max movies portraying battles in a dystopian Australia, the video highlighted a new push to urge Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses government to ramp up support as Kyiv confronts Russias vast military. Unspoken is an important statistic: Among developed Group of 20 nations, Australia is among the smallest contributors to Ukraine despite being a major indirect economic beneficiary of the war. In the 15 months since Moscow launched its invasion, the spike in energy and other commodity prices has given Australia around a A$150 billion ($102 billion) export bonanza, according to calculations made by Bloomberg Economics James McIntyre, a former government economist. Yet the country has provided the equivalent of 0.5% of that windfall in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, less than what the likes of Poland, the Czech Republic and Denmark have given. That has prompted Australias conservative opposition and academics to demand the government give more support. In the video, Ukraines Defense Department asked Australia to provide some of the 59 M1A1 Abrams tanks it received from the US more than 15 years ago, now that Canberra is set to acquire newer versions. The request came ahead of a NATO summit in Lithuania in July that Albanese plans to attend. There is a risk of Australia being seen as strategic bystanders that we talk a good talk but were not actually doing much in practical terms, said Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra. It really is up to the Australian government to step up. Defense Minister Richard Marles earlier this month rejected the assertion that Australia hasnt done enough, telling Bloomberg Television that the nation is the largest contributor in the Indo-Pacific outside the US. Its understood across Europe and understood by Ukraine itself that Australia is punching above its weight in its support of Ukraine, Marles, who is also deputy prime minister, said on June 3. Ukraine is looking to acquire more lethal aid and supplemental firepower from major military powers with the likes Australia, Canada, Norway and Sweden. While military aid from Australia in itself may do little to alter the battlefield, it helps keep a flow of weaponry moving to Kyiv and may encourage others like South Korea, which is weighing whether to start providing weaponry to President Volodymyr Zelenskiys government. While Australia is at the other end of the world, its been impacted by Moscows military campaign against its neighbor from the outset, with 38 of its citizens killed in 2014 when Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Australia started helping Ukraine soon after the February 2022 invasion, providing 90 protected mobility vehicles, artillery, de-mining equipment, unmanned aerial vehicles and anti-armor weapons, among others. The reason we are doing that, notwithstanding Ukraine is a long way from Australia, is that what we see at issue there is the very sanctity of the global rules-based order, Marles said of Australias assistance. The economic dividend to Australia from the conflict can be seen in fiscal data, said McIntyre from Bloomberg Economics. In the May 2021 budget, Australian company tax receipts for fiscal 2022 were forecast at A$82.3 billion and were seen easing to A$70.4 billion the following year. Instead, last months budget showed those receipts at A$123.3 billion in fiscal 2022 or A$41 billion higher than projected and forecast to swell to A$138.4 billion in fiscal 2023, or A$68 billion more than earlier seen, according to McIntyre. The spike in export revenues dwarfs even the 2000s mining boom, said McIntyre, who covers Australia and New Zealand. There was a fiscal boost as well, with the surge in mining profits delivering a company tax windfall that tipped the governments budget into a surprise surplus. Last months budget didnt offer any additional funding to support Ukraine. Australias commitments have failed to keep pace with our partners, the opposition Liberal National Coalition said in a letter to Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong, urging them to step up support. Other non-NATO contributors now increasingly overshadow Australias support. Local media reports have said that Australia will provide more assistance, including armored vehicles, retired fighter jets, tanks and other equipment. But theres been no official announcement. Ukraines appeal with the Mad Max video was very clever, brilliant, said ASPIs Davis. Theyve taken a piece of Australian folklore and used it to drive home a point that theyre at a critical stage of a fight for their survival and they really need help. --With assistance from Ben Westcott and Swati Pandey. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Senator Jacqui Lambie, left, and lawyer Glenn Kolomeitz speak to the media at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Lambie invited the International Criminal Court to investigate what Australian military commanders knew about war crime allegations in Afghanistan in a bid pressure Australia into launching its own investigation. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) CANBERRA, Australia (AP) A senator invited the International Criminal Court to investigate what Australian military commanders knew about war crime allegations in Afghanistan in a bid to pressure Australia into launching its own review. Sen. Jacqui Lambie, an influential independent legislator, sent an Article 15 Communication to the Hague-based court Tuesday because she argues military commanders have not been held accountable for their soldiers alleged war crimes. The government is, no doubt, hoping this will all just go away. Theyre hoping that Australians will forget that when alleged war crimes in Afghanistan were investigated, our senior commanders got a free pass, while our Diggers were thrown under the bus, Lambie told Senate. Digger is a colloquialism for Australian soldier. There is a culture of cover-up at the highest levels of the Australian Defense Force. It is the ultimate boys club, added Lambie, a former army corporal. The ICC has an obligation to prosecute war crimes committed by Rome Statute signatories, including Australia, when such a state is unwilling or unable to prosecute, according to the Australian government. Australia has avoided ICC involvement so far by launching its own war crime investigation under Maj. Gen. Paul Brereton, a judge and army reservist. Breretons report, released in 2020 after a four-year investigation, found evidence that Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and civilians. The report recommended 19 current and former elite soldiers face criminal investigation. The first criminal charge for an alleged illegal killing in Afghanistan was laid in March. Former Special Air Service Regiment trooper Oliver Schulz, 41, was charged with the war crime of murder in the death of an Afghan who was shot in 2012 in a wheat field in Uruzgan province. Ben Roberts-Smith, Australias most highly decorated member of the armed services when he left the SAS in 2013, is also under police investigation. The 44-year-old former corporal, who was awarded the Victoria Cross and the Medal for Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan, lost a defamation case June 1 when the Federal Court found war crime allegations against him published in newspapers, including four unlawful killings, were true. Lambies lawyer, Glenn Kolomeitz, said there was a place for an ICC investigation because Brereton had not investigated the role of commanding officers in the alleged war crimes. The ICC could find that commanding officers knew or should have known of illegal conduct, Kolomeitz said. Kolomeitz hoped the ICC involvement would prompt Australia to extend its own war crime investigation to commanders. The onus will then be on the Australian government to give some serious consideration as to why Australia has not investigated command responsibility aspects of the Afghanistan allegations and what were going to do about it, Kolomeitz told reporters. He said Australian officers being tried in The Hague was an unlikely outcome, unless the government prolonged its inaction and the ICC found it necessary. Our intent is to get us, Australia, to properly investigate allegations of criminality, he added. Defense Minister Richard Marles said whether the ICC launched its own investigation was a question for the ICC. Ultimately thats a matter for the ICC. What I can tell you is what the Australian government is doing. We regard this very seriously. We will seek to implement the Brereton report to the fullest possible extent, Marles told reporters Brereton made several recommendations about command accountability in his report. Defense Force Chief Angus Campbell also made recommendations about officer accountability, which reached Marles desk. Marles said he was seeking advice before implementing those recommendations. Allegations that are at the heart of this are very serious and very grave, but through the recommendations of the Brereton report our government will ensure that we make this right, Marles said. More than 39,000 Australian military personnel served in Afghanistan during the 20 years until the 2021 withdrawal, and 41 were killed there. The Automobilia Moonlight Charity CarShow, which has been a staple in downtown Wichita every summer for almost three decades, is in jeopardy of not happening this year. So far, the city has denied the popular car show a permit to close Douglas from Emporia to Washington. The city is not saying we dont like Automobilia and we dont want it, said City Council member Brandon Johnson. The issue is a number of business owners in the area who say the event negatively affects their sales due to street and parking lot closures and other issues related to the show, such as a refreshment stand that was set up in front of the Spice Merchant along Douglas last year. My customers literally cannot get to my store, said Spice Merchant owner Bob Boewe. Thats not fair at all. In 2017, Joshua Blick purchased the show from the late founder, Gary Carpenter, who started it in 1995. Im doing everything I can to make this work out, and I keep getting roadblocks or denials, said Blick, who is now president of Kansas Car Shows. What is sounds like to me is Mr. Blick isnt willing to compromise on his end, Johnson said. Council member Maggie Ballard agreed. Ballard said several compromises have been suggested, and Blick just shut them down. There wasnt even a conversation about it, she said. It was just a, No. Theres now a meeting set for 2 p.m. Wednesday with Blick and city staff, but Johnson said theres still a chance the show wont happen. Yeah, if Mr. Blick doesnt compromise, then its a strong possibility it wont. Blick said he was trying to work with the Old Town Association and the city about changing some of the boundaries for the event, and then he received a denial letter. He said he further was told to not approach the association again without going through the city. We keep getting thrown through hoops, he said. My hands are tied. Blick said hes made concessions in previous years, such as keeping Washington open until 1 p.m. on the Saturday of the show so the Old Town Farm & Market wouldnt be affected. Weve always made extra concessions to help out area businesses, he said. I want to be a good neighbor. He said several businesses also say the show benefits their sales. All kinds of alternatives Ballard, who said shes attended the show for two decades and loves having it downtown, said there are all kinds of alternatives to consider. That includes moving the event to Sunday instead of Saturday, moving it to the area around Century II or possibly even moving it out of downtown to somewhere, such as Towne West Square, where there is plenty of parking. Blick said hes open to other possibilities, though he noted that car owners are coming from as far away as Washington and Florida and have already made plans and reservations around the July 8 date. He also noted that his request for street closures this year, which includes Rock Island from Douglas to Waterman for a staging area, is the same footprint the show has had the past two years. Johnson said part of the issue is that downtown is changing. Theres so much going on there now. Its not like it used to be. Ballard said she started hearing from businesses after last years show. A lot of the businesses on both sides of Douglas reached out to me, she said. Its important to listen to . . . the brick and mortars. For instance, she said the Brickyard is a seasonal business and has only so many weekends in a summer for concerts. In 2022, Ballard said there were particular hurdles because first there were closures for Riverfest, then the Fourth of July and then Automobilia. It was like three weekends pretty close in a row. She also said that barriers were put up . . . before they were supposed to for the show. There were just a lot of frustrations with the way things were going. Johnson said he was told by city staff that theres a nearly $100,000 hit to businesses in the area that day, which he called a negative impact if youre talking about that much money leaving the pockets of small businesses. Blick said the flip side is how much the event brings in as the largest car show in the state. Theres a form letter on shows website that fans of the event can click on to send e-mails to Council members, whose addresses and phone numbers also are listed along with city staff. Ballard said shes been receiving those letters, which she said shes open to, but has not heard from Blick. Its just disappointing that thats how he chose to go about it, she said. Boewe said he hasnt had any role in fighting the shows permitting, but because hes been open about how his business is hurt by it, hes now experiencing a bit of backlash online. It should be where it doesnt impact other businesses, he said. Blick said he very much wants to work with the city. He said he was worried after getting the denial but now is more hopeful with the Wednesday meeting. If he cant work out anything, Blick said he can file an appeal by June 26, and the issue will go before the Council. Then our next step is to district court. Blick said he hopes to avoid that. Were willing to look at everything, he said. Im always positive. I always believe theres a way. F-16 A coalition set up by Ukraines partners to support the supply of combat aircraft is already starting to work, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on June 19. The basic training of Ukrainian pilots has been launched, and practical training on planes and simulators will soon begin, he said. "There is still training of technicians, preparation of infrastructure, and all this is being prepared," Kuleba said. "Every day there are discussions about which countries will provide the planes. I won't name anyone yet, but the issue is moving forward. We are focused on the F-16 fighter jets for several reasons, but we don't rule out receiving other aircraft models." Read also: Ukrainian pilots could be trained to fly F-16 fighters in four months, Reznikov believes Ukraine expects to receive F-16 fighter jets from its Western partners by the end of 2023, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on June 19. Eight European countries have expressed their willingness to participate in the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine: The United Kingdom The Netherlands Poland Denmark Sweden Belgium Portugal France The United States, which must provide final permission for F-16s to be supplied, has stated that in the coming months agreements will be made on how many aircraft will be transferred, when, and by whom. However, the fighter jets will only be supplied on the condition that Ukraine will not use them for strikes on internationally recognized Russian territory. Read also: Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine USAF B-52 Stratofortress Two U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers arrived in Indonesia yesterday, marking what appears to be the first deployment of that aircraft to the country. While specific details on the deployment remain limited at this time, the B-52s' arrival in Indonesia comes as the U.S. continues to engage partners in the Indo-Pacific amid concerns over a possible future conflict in the region involving China. The War Zone has reached out to Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) and Pacific Air Forces (PAF) for further information on the deployment. A number of open source intelligence (OSINT) accounts signaled yesterday that a B-52 had landed at Kualanamu International Airport, North Sumatra. According to the Twitter account @Jatosint, it was subsequently confirmed by the Indonesian Air Force that two B-52s had in fact landed at the airport after departing Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and were welcomed by three Indonesian F-16s based out of Roesmin Nurjadin Air Force Base, Pekanbaru. https://twitter.com/Jatosint/status/1670801451235328000?s=20 First introduced in the mid 1950s, the B-52 remains at the heart of the Air Forces bomber fleet. B-52H bombers are expected to serve through 2050 after receiving a whole host of upgrades in the coming years. This includes being re-engined with F130 turbofans supplied by Rolls Royce. Eventually, the Air Forces bomber force is expected to consist of the B-52 and the B-21 Raider stealth bomber, the latter of which is set to ultimately replace all of the services existing B-2 Spirit stealth bombers. Photos and video taken from Kualanamu International Airport yesterday have been circulating online, a selection of which can be seen below. The two B-52s currently in Indonesia are home based at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. https://twitter.com/GerryS/status/1670707462733975552?s=20 https://twitter.com/gara_nam/status/1670690514902056960?s=20 There's also been suggestion that the B-52s may be set to take part in Exercise Cope West 2023 a bilateral training exercise currently ongoing at Roesmin Nurjadin AFB involving the U.S. Air Force and Indonesian Air Force. Cope West 2023 began on June 12, and is scheduled to last through June 23. Approximately 100 U.S. service members as well as six U.S. Air Force F-16s are involved in the exercise, alongside seven Indonesian Air Force aircraft. The Minot B-52s currently deployed to Guam are fulfilling a Bomber Task Force (BTF) rotation in the Indo-Pacific. On June 12 and 14, four B-52s and more than 200 airmen assigned to the 23rd Bomb Squadron, Minot AFB, landed at Guam as part of a Bomber Task Force (BTF) deployment. BTF rotations see Air Force bombers deployed all over the globe, including to Guam, and typically last a month or more. They are designed to demonstrate the service's high state of readiness and validate its strike capability, in line with the Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concepts of operation. Above all else, they provide a heavy hitting forward presence that often sees missions that skirt the borders of potentially adversary countries in the region. https://twitter.com/AFGlobalStrike/status/1670503444312932354?s=20 Being here in the Indo-Pacific with the Bomber Task Force allows our forces to showcase our ability to deploy anytime, anywhere in support of the combatant commanders objectives, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Ryan Loucks, BTF commander, said of the recent BTF deployment. Training and operating in the priority theater allows us to demonstrate our continued readiness, willingness and commitment to our allies and partners. While the recent deployment of B-52s to Indonesia marks an important moment for both that country and the U.S. Air Force, it should be noted that B-52s have trained with Indonesian Air Force aircraft in the past. In September 2021, the very first BTF mission involving the Indonesian Air Force took place. During the mission, four Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) F-16s based at Iswahyudi Air Force Base, East Java, teamed up with two B-52s from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, over the Sulawesi Sea. The mission also constituted the first time a B-52 integrated with the Indonesian Air Force in flight, according to Pacific Air Forces. An Indonesian Air Force F-16 flies next to a U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress assigned to the 2nd Bomb Wing, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, in the Indo-Pacific region, September 1, 2021. Indonesian Air Force More broadly, Air Force B-52s have had a notable presence in the Indo-Pacific as of late with four B-52s assigned to the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, arriving at Guam on March 30 and leaving in late April for a BTF rotation. During that time, the B-52s completed 29 sorties and integrated with four allied partners, according to Air and Space Forces Magazine. A B-52 Stratofortress assigned to the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., undergoes maintenance at Andersen AFB, Guam, in support of a Bomber Task Force mission, April 11, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class William Pugh With that said, the specific deployment of B-52s to Indonesia comes as the U.S. looks to bolster interoperability with its allies in the Indo-Pacific amid heightened tensions in the region, particularly with regard to China. Located at the southern end of the South China Sea, Indonesia has invested heavily in its defense capabilities in recent years owing to threats posed by China. Indeed, the country has had its share of maritime incidents with Chinese vessels over the past years and is currently working to establish a code of conduct (COC) with China for the South China Sea. The South China Sea in particular represents an area where Beijing has aggressively asserted its claims to various disputed shoals. In fact, China claims nearly the entirety of this highly strategic body of water as its own. As we have noted in the past, by artificially expanding some existing islands and building new ones, and establishing a permanent military presence, Beijing has sought to solidify its claims in the South China Sea in conflict with those of other countries, including Indonesia. Indeed, Indonesia's exclusive economic zone which surrounds the Natuna Islands partially overlaps with an area in the South China Sea claimed by Beijing. Natuna Islands in relation to the South China Sea and Indonesia. Google Maps Yet Indonesia represents something of a strategic imperative to both the U.S. and China. China has sought to woo Indonesia with high levels of investment as of late, with the country pouring $5 billion into Indonesia in the first nine months of 2022 compared to the U.S.'s $2 billion during the same period. For the U.S., having Indonesia as an engaged partner in the Indo-Pacific is perceived as vital should a conflict with China erupt. However, Indonesian officials have stressed that the country would remain neutral during a possible conflict involving the U.S. and China. This was underscored by the Indonesian Navy's recent multilateral naval exercise involving both the U.S. and Chinese navies, which took place in early June. Despite this, the B-52s' deployment to Indonesia marks a significant moment for both that country and the U.S. Air Force, signaling increasing levels of military cooperation between Indonesia and the United States. Update, 06/21/2023: Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs has confirmed that the B-52s currently in Indonesia will take part in Exercise Cope West, and will remain in the country until June 23. Contact the author: oliver@thewarzone.com Banksy's first solo exhibit in years is in Glasgow because he's a fan of the Scottish city's iconic cone statue us Glaswegians love it, too The Duke of Wellington statue's iconic cone in Glasgow, Scotland. Mikhaila Friel/Insider Banksy said his new exhibition is in Glasgow because of its iconic Duke of Wellington statue. Glaswegians have been placing cones on the statue's head for the past 40 years. I've always loved the statue, and I hope it will inspire more people to visit Glasgow. The artist Banksy recently announced his first solo exhibition in 14 years is being held in my home city of Glasgow, Scotland. The exhibition, titled "Cut and Run," opened on Sunday and will take place until August 28 at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA). The reason Banksy chose Glasgow is pretty simple: He adores the iconic Duke of Wellington statue that stands outside GoMA just as much as us locals do. The statue of Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and former prime minister of the UK, was erected in 1844, according to The Scotsman. But the reason the statue is so famous isn't about Wellesley at all; it's all thanks to the rebellious sense of humor of Glaswegians, who have been placing a cone on top of the statue's head for the past 40 years. The Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow, Scotland. Mikhaila Friel/Insider In a sign welcoming guests to his new exhibit, Banksy said the statue is his "favorite work of art in the UK" because of the cone, BBC News reports. "Despite the best efforts of the council and the police, every time one is removed another takes its place," he said, the publication added. I can confirm that the statue is iconic and beloved by Glaswegians As someone who was born and raised in Glasgow, the Duke of Wellington statue which I've always simply referred to as "the cone statue" has been a constant in my life. I can't remember a time when the statue didn't have its cone, and throughout the years, Glaswegians have found new and hilarious ways to reinvent our favorite landmark. At Christmastime, it's not uncommon for men dressed as Santa Claus to climb on the statue for a photo-op, as The Herald reported in 2021. The statue is seen as a symbol of the city, and you are unlikely to enter a tourist or art shop without seeing a postcard, coaster, fridge magnet, or painting without the statue on it. There is even a mural in the city with a caricatured version of the statue alongside the phrase "Are you Dancin?" in reference to Scotland's famous ceilidh dancing. A mural by Glasgow artist Conzo Throb. Mikhaila Friel/Insider And the landmark can hold a lot of meaning to those who no longer live in the city. Ashton Burger, an American who spent an exchange semester in Glasgow in the spring of 2018, told me she got a tattoo of the cone when she returned to Scotland for a vacation earlier this year. Burger said she studied abroad at the University of Strathclyde after a difficult period in her life her father had passed away in June 2017. She said her semester in Glasgow "could not have come at a better time," and she met some of her best friends in the city. Ashton got a tattoo of a cone on her arm for Glasgow. Ashton Burger "I knew I wanted to get a tattoo representing Glasgow while actually in the city. The traffic cone was the perfect idea," she said. "It's so specifically Glasgow and it's absolutely one of my favorite things about the city. I look at my tattoo and am immediately reminded of how much Glasgow means to me and how much my experience there helped me when I most needed it," she added. Burger's story reminded me that the cone is more than just a fun punch line. For some, it's a symbol of how special Glasgow is to them. And it reminds me how proud I am to be from this city. I can only hope the Banksy exhibition will inspire more people to visit and learn about Glasgow. Read the original article on Insider Bed, Bath & Beyond under fire after police called on Black couple who had too many high ticket items in cart Video shows police confronting a Black couple at Bed, Bath & Beyond in Ohio (Lamar Richards via Twitter) Bed, Bath & Beyond has come under fire after staff at an Ohio store allegedly called the police on Black shoppers who were deemed to have too many high ticket items in their cart. In a four-minute video posted on Twitter on Monday 19 June, a Black couple claim they were racially profiled at the Toledo outlet and accused of shoplifting when employees noticed they had selected expensive products. Id like to understand why [police] were called. Thats very simple, why were the police called with the three Black people, thinking that we were shoplifting, the man filming the video asks a staff member. I paid $600 for my things, so obviously I didnt shoplift. I want to understand why you thought I was shoplifting, he continues. In response, the employee suggests says theres usually a question when shoppers have too many big purchase items, suggesting they were acting in accordance with store policy. Okay, usually a question, I can understand that, but police being called I cant understand that, the man replies. He then alleges the police were called when we first got here before the attendant calls for a time-out. Im not being hostile, Im not being violent. I just want to know why the store called the police because they thought we were shoplifting, the man says. We just purchased a new home. We came in because youre closing, this is a closing sale. I didnt realize there was a maximum number of items you could buy. Bed, Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy in April this year. At the time, the company said it will implement an orderly wind down of its business, closing down all 475 stores in the US by the end of June. A Black couple says an employee at a Bed, Bath, and Beyond in Toledo, Ohio, called the police on them for allegedly having too many high ticket items in their shopping cart. They deserve answers for this humiliating experience! : @lamarrichards_ pic.twitter.com/KV0bbUzZM4 Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) June 19, 2023 Youre not going to be able to resolve this. I dont know what you want us to say. I dont care if theyre Black, white, or green, if somebodys walking around with big, high ticket items..., the woman working for Bed, Bath & Beyond reiterates their alleged reason for becoming suspicious of the couple. The police officer at the scene suggests the shoppers escalate their complaint to the brands corporate office, adding were done here. He explains staff had identified the couple as two Black males but officers responding to the call decided not to approach them when they realised nothing was concealed and the shoppers could be paying for this. The video was shared by prominent civil rights advocate Ben Crump, who wrote the couple deserves answers for this humiliating experience. Twitter users have criticised the company for how the incident was handled, with one person calling it the perfect example of (implicit bias). Welp this seals the deal on my shopping the closing sales & I would demand a refund, they can keep their high ticket items for their preferred customers, another user wrote. I would have returned that c*** and got my money back to be petty, a third person commented. The Independent has reached out to representatives for Bed, Bath and Beyond for comment. NEW YORK There are enough vacant apartments in the citys public and supportive housing systems to accommodate 15,000 people, according to data shared with the New York Daily News by Brooklyn Councilman Lincoln Restler, whos questioning why Mayor Eric Adams administration isnt doing more to fill those units amid the continuing migrant crisis. The agency-level data which Restler also highlighted in a Monday letter to Adams and Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Maria Torres-Springer shows the New York City Housing Authority had 3,932 empty units across its system as of the end of last month. On the same date, the data shows more than 2,600 units sat vacant in the citys supportive housing network, which is meant for homeless New Yorkers with a documented need for social services. The empty units across the two systems combined could house roughly 15,000 New Yorkers currently living in homeless shelters, according to Restler. Restler, a Democrat who co-chairs the Councils Progressive Caucus and frequently criticizes Adams, said it doesnt make sense that the mayors administration continues to open costly migrant shelters in unconventional settings like airport warehouses and school gyms at a time that the public and supportive housing systems are seeing such vacancies. Restler argued the administration should instead focus on moving homeless New Yorkers out of shelters and into the empty apartments, thereby creating capacity for migrants in the shelter system. The 3,900 vacant NYCHA units and over 2,600 empty supportive housing apartments could house 15,000 New Yorkers currently stuck in the DHS shelter system, allowing 15,000 asylum seekers access to safe, suitable housing in DHS shelters, Restler wrote to Adams and Torres-Springer, using an acronym for the Department of Homeless Services. This solution doesnt require any action from Albany or Washington, D.C. it is fully within the control of the city. An Adams spokeswoman suggested Restler is wrong because the mayors administration has added thousands of new supportive housing units in the past year and completed extensive environmental work in NYCHA apartments across the city in accordance with a federal agreement. The spokeswoman also said there were already 275,000 families on a wait list for NYCHA apartments as of this past January. Weve done this all while providing food, shelter, and clothing to tens of thousands of asylum seekers over the past year, the spokeswoman, Kate Smart, said. Instead of writing letters to those leading the response to this crisis, wed encourage the councilmember to do more to join our calls for federal support on what is a federal issue. New York City is doing our part and more, now we need others to step up and be the leaders New Yorkers expect them to be. According to data from the Department of Homeless Services, there are more than 80,000 people in the citys traditional shelter system, about half of whom are asylum seekers, mostly from Latin America. There are believed to be another nearly 20,000 migrants living in an emergency shelter system set up by Adams administration, and hundreds more arrive every week, data from the mayors office shows. In his letter, Restler pointed to a slowdown under Adams in the time it takes the city to fill vacant NYCHA apartments. Citing agency data, Restler wrote it now takes NYCHA an average of 258 days to fill a vacant public housing apartment nearly double the 131 days it used to take at the outset of Adams administration in January 2022. That has resulted in a staggering 700% increase in the number of vacant NYCHA apartments from 486 at the beginning of Adams term to the current 3,932, according to the data. On the supportive housing front, Restler highlighted a backlog of applications as a source of concern. According to the data he shared with The News, the number of vacancies across the supportive housing system has not dipped below 2,000 since Adams took office. At the same time, there have consistently been more than 7,000 individuals seeking placement in supportive housing units throughout Adams term, per the data. The News first reported last month that there were 2,646 empty supportive housing units in the city as of March 31. The data provided by Restler indicates that number has stayed effectively flat. The Brooklyn politician blamed the slow move-in pace on a lack of funding for NYCHAs vacant unit readiness program and the Human Resources Administration, which oversees the supportive housing program. He urged the mayor to earmark at least $160 million for the NYCHA readiness program in next fiscal years budget, which is due July 1. This is an issue of management and political will, he said. If prioritized, we can guarantee dignified shelter to asylum seekers and get New Yorkers into permanently affordable housing. Crews began paving a new road in West Roseville last week, named for fallen Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee. Gee, a 23-year-old Roseville native and graduate of Oakmont High School, was killed in a suicide-bomber attack during the evacuation of Afghanistan in August 2021. Gee and 12 other American service members were killed in the attack, outside Kabuls Hamid Karzai International Airport. The Roseville City Council adopted a resolution on Dec. 15, 2021, to rename Sierra Glen Drive, which connects Upland Drive and Westbrook Boulevard, to Nicole Gee Drive. Marines with Recruiting Station Sacramento visit the construction site June 15 for a road paving in remembrance of Sgt. Nicole Gee in Roseville. Gee and 12 other American service members were killed in an August 2021, attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. The new road is being built in West Roseville and will be lined with new homes over the next few years. The name change was initiated by the Westpark Communities and Mourier Land Investment Corporation, which are developing the area. The developers said they would like to honor her service and life by renaming this shared roadway through their respective neighborhoods, in the resolution adopted by the City Council. There is strong support for the family in our community, said Deputy City Manager Megan Scheid in an email. Gee was deployed as part of a humanitarian mission to help evacuate Americans and Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban as the 20-year Afghan war drew to a close. Gees name and face became well-known following her death after a photo of her cradling an Afghan baby in her arms circulated across the internet. She captioned the photo, I love my job. Construction of a stronghold has begun in the Brest region of Belarus A new set of fortifications, referred to as the "Khrenin Line," is set to be constructed in Belarus's Brest Oblast, according to a June 20 post by local monitoring group Belarusian Hajun on Telegram. The group said the fortifications are being erected near the village of Zhabinka, situated 28 kilometers from the Polish border and 47 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Current construction involves making trenches and dugouts. Read also: Belarus fortifies its border with Ukraine "Given the scale of the construction, we've decided that it is the construction of at least a stronghold, maybe as part of a wider fortified area," the message said. Read also: Lukashenko to be tried in The Hague for same crimes as Putin, says Ukrainian ex-envoy to Belarus Heavy construction equipment has been brought in and concrete pyramids known as "dragon teeth," car tires, wooden planks, and logs are also being used in the construction. Both military and civilian builders are participating in the project. Read also: Polish border guards shot at from Belarusian territory, vehicle hit Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko dismissed the Ukrainian counteroffensive as a "fake," but nonetheless ordered fortifications to be built near the M8 highway leading to the border with Ukraine. In a video posted online, "dragon's teeth" were spotted in Belarus's Homel Oblast, just 20 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine PARIS The trinational program meant to build a new fighter jet for Europe, along with an array of next-generation systems and weapons, has gained a new partner to a degree. Belgium has officially joined the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program as an observer, the French Ministry of Defense announced June 20. Bringing Brussels onto the team in this capacity will not change the current contracts signed between France, Germany, and Spain, officials said, but rather will allow stakeholders to imagine how Belgian industry might eventually contribute to the FCAS program sometime in the future. It will also accelerate the operational partnership between the four nations air forces, the French Armed Forces said in a Tuesday release. We are convinced that this collaboration will be fruitful, and will serve the interests of European defense in the context of profound shifts in technology and international security, the ministry said. Defense News reported June 16 that Brussels was mulling joining the trinational program, which would result in a slew of next-generation aerospace technologies delivered to the participating nations around 2040, centered around a sixth-generation fighter jet that would eventually replace the participants fleets of Eurofighter Typhoons and Dassault Rafales. Another benefit of bringing Brussels into the fold would be to develop closer cooperation between the Belgian defense industrial base and the current FCAS suppliers, per the French ministry. Dassault Aviation, Airbus Defense and Space, and Indra Sistemas are the three prime contractors on the program, representing France, Germany, and Spain, respectively. The role of observer status is one thats common during the research-and-development phases of programs, Jean-Brice Dumont, Airbus executive vice president for military air systems, told reporters on Tuesday. The distinction of observer means the nation and its industry are not part of the decision-making team for the program, but that you can know enough of [the program] to prepare a further collaboration with the current partners, he said at a briefing during the biennial Paris Air Show, held outside of the city. What does Belgiums entry mean for the stakeholders at this point in time? I would say, a bit early to say, Dumont noted. I think were going to write the history as we move. He emphasized that the contracts for the recently launched Phase 1B of the FCAS program, as well as the future Phase 2, have already been signed with the three current partner nations. So, we are going to execute this contract with three nations. Any potential increased role for Belgium in the FCAS program will first need to be defined politically between Paris, Madrid, and Berlin, before an industry contract could be signed, he added. First established in 2017 between France and Germany, the FCAS program seeks to develop a suite of leading-edge air capabilities by 2040. Spain joined the program in 2020. It includes seven technology pillars, to include the next-generation fighter which will replace the participants fleets of Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft a new engine for the fighter jet, a next-generation weapon system, new drones, advanced sensors and stealth technology, and an air combat cloud network. After nearly two years of delays due to industry workshare disputes, the FCAS prime contractors signed an agreement in December 2022 to move ahead with Phase 1B, during which industry partners will spend the next two years finalizing the programs architecture. Phase 1B formally launched this past April, and is scheduled to run until 2025, French Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Stephane Mille said in a June 8 interview with Defense News. Then, Phase 2 will focus on developing the fighter jet prototype, he said, with a demonstrator flight expected in 2029 two years later than originally planned. Sanders has used his position on the Senate labor committee to target companies like Amazon and Starbucks. Bernie Sanders has announced a US Senate investigation into working conditions at Amazon warehouses in an open letter to Andy Jassy, the e-commerce giants CEO. The independent Vermont senator, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, accuses Amazon of failing to meet federal and state safety recommendations and putting business performance before workers. Read more The companys quest for profits at all costs has led to unsafe physical environments, intense pressure to work at unsustainable rates, and inadequate medical attention for tens of thousands of Amazon workers every year, Sanders writes. His letter demands that Amazon share information about injury and turnover rates at its warehouses, the pace of work it demands of warehouse employees, and the medical care it provides them. A representative for Amazon wasnt immediately available for comment. The investigation comes as the newly formed Amazon Labor Union has made improved worker safety one of its top demands. Amazon, which has been the target of several investigations by the US Labor Departments Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), received fines for unsafe conditions at nine warehouses last winter. Also, a recent report by the Strategic Organizing Center, a coalition of labor unions that has analyzed publicly available OSHA data, found that Amazon warehouse staff suffered serious injuries at twice the rate of their peers at rival companies. In fact, last year they recorded more of them than all other US warehouse workers, despite the fact that the company only employs about a third of the countrys warehouse labor force. Quotable: Bernie targets Bezos Amazon is one of the most valuable companies in the world worth $1.3 trillion and its founder, Jeff Bezos, is one of the richest men in the world worth nearly $150 billion. Amazon should be one of the safest places in America to work, not one of the most dangerous. If Amazon can afford to spend $6 billion on stock buybacks last year, it can afford to make sure that its warehouses are safe places to work. from Bernie Sanders letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy Just how many people work for Amazon? By the digits 1 million: US workers on the payroll at Amazon, making it the second-largest domestic employer. Walmart is first, with nearly 2.2 million employees. 1.52 million: Workers employed by Amazon worldwide, meaning roughly two thirds of its staff are in the US. 162,000: Amazon employees in California, the companys largest state for workers. Related stories: Federal inspectors fine Amazon $60,269 for putting workers at risk The ongoing big tech antitrust cases to watch in 2023 Jeff Bezos plan to give away his fortune wont help the 10,000 workers Amazon is planning to lay off More from Quartz Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. The News Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Tuesday that he is launching an investigation into Amazon's "disastrous safety record." In tweets, Sanders called Amazon "one of the most dangerous" places to work in the United States. "If Amazon can afford to pay its CEO $289 million over the past 2 years, it can afford to treat all of its workers with dignity and respect, not contempt," he said. Sanders urged current and former Amazon employees and those who worked in its warehouses to come forward with their experiences to aid his investigation. Know More In a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Sanders demanded the company provide information about "systematically underreported" injury rates, turnover, productivity targets, and adherence to federal and state safety recommendations. He cited a Washington Post investigation that found that Amazon employees suffer injuries nearly two times more frequently than the national average. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), Sanders has also probed major corporations like Starbucks and Moderna. A top donor for Gov. Andy Beshear and the Kentucky Democratic Party (KDP) was flagged this week for donations on his credit card exceeding $200,000. Contributions from family and business connections to London Mayor Randall Weddle were first reported by the Kentucky Lantern, which broke the news of the refunds to Weddle on Tuesday morning. According to a release from the Beshear campaign, which flagged Weddles credit card as the source of $202,000, the contributions exceeded the limits set by state statute. Individuals are limited by law to $15,000 per year in contributions to political parties and $2,100 to political campaigns. The donors themselves raised the issue, and expressed the desire to properly remedy the situation. In and of itself, excess contributions are not unusual. Both the campaign and the Kentucky Democratic Party have processes in place to identify excessive contributions and issue refunds, Beshear campaign manager Eric Hyers said in a release. Hyers also stated in the release that the campaign would refund those donations made in excess of the limits. The money, though its listed as being returned to the name of the donor who initially gave, is being returned to Weddles credit card, Hyers said. The refunds listed on Beshears latest finance report include members of Weddles family and business associates of Weddle, who owns freight hauling company WB Transport. Weddle himself did not give to Beshear or to KDP, but family members and business associates of his gave more than $300,000 to both organizations, according to reporting earlier this year from the Kentucky Lantern. Weddle, a Republican who was elected mayor of the Southeastern Kentucky city in 2022, was appointed by Beshear to the Kentucky Transportation Center Advisory Board last June. This May, London was one of five communities to receive a major transportation grant, totaling $1.4 million, from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Like GOP gubernatorial nominee Daniel Cameron and the Republican Party of Kentucky (RPK), Beshear and KDP are running a coordinated campaign. Alex Floyd, a spokesperson for Beshears campaign, was quick to point out that the $1.4 million is part of more than $21 million handed out grant funds in the program the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) across the state. Sean Southard, spokesman for the Republican Party of Kentucky and Camerons campaign, criticized the refunds in a statement Tuesday: Andy Beshear and the Democrats only returned this money after getting caught in a pay-to-play scandal. This is the latest example in a long pattern of Andy and his family getting caught with corrupt campaign contributions or selling off government to the highest bidder. Wouldnt it be nice to have a governor who doesnt have to constantly play catch up with ethics and state law? The Republican Governors Association (RGA), which has already gotten involved in the race on behalf of Cameron, also chimed in. Andy Beshear and the Kentucky Democratic Party illegally took over $200,000 in campaign contributions from one, single donor on a credit card and then immediately turned around and handed out $1.4 million in taxpayer money to the same donor. Not only does this reek of campaign finance corruption, but it isnt the first time Beshear has accepted illegal contributions. Andy Beshear owes Kentuckians an answer, and taxpayers deserve to know if their money was used as a political thank you gift, RGA National Press Secretary Courtney Alexander said. Floyd responded by calling Southard and Alexanders claims irresponsible and categorically false. The Beshear Administration has a strong record of providing funding for transportation and infrastructure across Kentucky, including over $21 million in Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grants to 33 cities in 29 different counties all of which are chosen by staff in the Transportation Cabinet. As usual, GOP political staff are making false, irresponsible accusations. These attacks are categorically false, Floyd said. Beshear still gaining, Cameron fundraising slows Though Beshears campaign found itself in controversy this week, its most recent fundraising report from just before the primary showed strength. While Cameron spent the final 15 days before this years May primary fending off attacks from his right, Beshear was able to net more than $465,000 in campaign contributions. $5 million from Beshears primary election account was recently transferred, ostensibly to his general election bid. The final finance report from the primary showed Cameron receiving about $62,000. The Democratic incumbent faced no well-funded primary competition and got 91% of the vote in May, while Cameron surprised many with a landslide victory over well-funded and well-connected GOP competition with 48% of the Republican vote. Third-place GOP gubernatorial primary finisher Kelly Craft loaned herself nearly $1.4 million in those final days, pushing her self-loaned total to over $10.6 million. Her husband Joe Craft also gave a political action committee (PAC) supporting her $1.5 million, pushing the familys total contribution to help Kelly Craft get elected to more than $12 million. Defending Bluegrass Values, a PAC backed by the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) which has started airing ads critical of Camerons response to controversial pardons issued by former GOP governor Matt Bevin reported raising nearly $2.5 million as of Monday. A Republican Governors Association-backed PAC called Kentucky Values has been formed to support Cameron in the general election, but its not yet reported its finances because the first general election reporting deadline is later this Summer. A PAC active for Cameron in the primary election, Bluegrass Freedom Action, ended the primary cycle having raised just over $3 million total. $1.75 million of that total came from The Concord Fund, a conservative dark money group that has attempted to reshape Americas courts. Beshear donors Beshears campaign received 893 contributions alone in the 15 days leading up to the primary election, 871 of which came from Kentucky donors. Included on the long list of individuals who contributed either $2,000 or $2,100 the newly established maximum individual contribution is Chuck Schnatter, a co-owner of popular Louisville coffee chain Heine Brothers, and the brother of pizza entrepreneur Papa John Schnatter. John Schnatter has become something of a conservative figure since stepping down as Papa Johns CEO, giving a speech at a popular Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) event and even being rumored as considering a run at governor as a Republican. John Schnatter recently posted a picture of himself playing pickleball with Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Another notable name contributing to Beshear was Jerry Bruckheimer, one of Hollywoods most prominent producers in film and television. Bruckheimer gave Beshears campaign $2,100. State Senate Minority Floor Leader Reggie Thomas, D-Lexington, gave Beshear $1,500. Cameron & pro-Cameron PAC donors Camerons campaign has seen some change since the attorney general claimed the GOP nomination. Most notably, a top staffer for U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, joined the campaign in a senior management role. Though Cameron did not get as large a haul as Beshear, his latest report contains the names of major players in national Republican circles. The biggest name in the report, indicating potentially greater involvement through PACs, is Richard Uihlien. Uihlien, who founded a shipping company in the Midwest, is worth around $3.5 billion and gave Cameron the max $2,100 in mid-May. During the 2022 midterms, Uihlein was the highest-dollar GOP donor in the country, giving $80.7 million to various candidates and groups supporting Republicans. Scott Jennings, the founder of RunSwitch PR in Louisville who has close ties to McConnell, gave Cameron the maximum amount. Jennings, who is a national pundit also involved in state GOP politics, remained neutral during the primary. Camerons report initially listed contributions from the leaders of Edgewater Recovery Center in Morehead totaling to $12,600. Camerons report included a maximum contribution from Ashley Adkins, who was the General Counsel for Democrat Amy McGraths 2020 U.S. Senate campaign and is currently listed as the Rowan County Democratic Party Chair, but Adkins told the Herald-Leader that she was later given a full refund for that contribution. Later on Tuesday, an updated version of Camerons report listed refunds to many people associated with Edgewater. President Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) are making dueling trips to California this week, underscoring the importance of the state politically and financially as they prepare for 2024. DeSantis, who will be in the Golden State through Tuesday, attended a private fundraiser in Sacramento, while Biden is in San Francisco through Wednesday for fundraisers and events on climate change and artificial intelligence (AI). The split-screen of Biden and one of the top GOP presidential contenders also comes as California is set to play a key role in the battle for the House next year. The longtime call among Republicans is that if you let Democrats keep winning at the national level, then the rest of the nation is going to look like California, said Ford OConnell, a Florida-based Republican strategist. The Democrats want to turn the nation into California, and the Republicans want to turn the nation into Florida. More Election 2024 coverage from The Hill And DeSantis has been making a point to contrast the two states. On Monday, the Florida governors campaign rolled out a video titled California deteriorates while Florida thrives. DeSantis has also been engaged in a war of words with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) since Florida confirmed it flew three dozen migrants from the Texas border to Sacramento earlier this month. Newsom said last week he would debate DeSantis, and DeSantis fired back saying to Newsom to stop pussyfooting around on whether he is going to run for president in 2024. California Republicans support Ron DeSantis because while their state has been crushed by Gavin Newsoms liberal policies, Florida has become a beacon of freedom, said Jess Szymanski, deputy communications at the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down. Florida Democrats, on the other hand, have referred to DeSantiss trip as hypocritical. The Hill Elections 2024 coverage He clearly has a beef with California but doesnt seem to have a problem traveling to California to suck campaign dollars out of the state as he tries to set it up as the anti-Florida, said Fernand Amandi, a Florida-based Democratic strategist. Fresh off the DeSantis-Newsom feud over migrants, the California governor joined Biden on his visit to Palo Alto on Monday to tout progress on climate and announce new funding to boost climate resilience. The president and governor showed solidarity, walking along the San Francisco Bay with an environmental student to learn about nature preservation efforts. DeSantiss visit to California could set his campaign up with a prime opportunity to contrast him with Biden while theyre in the same state. I think that DeSantis presents better with voters when hes able to contrast himself against Biden and Democrat policies, OConnell said. He wants to be the person who faces Biden in the general election. Biden, after speaking at the event in Palo Alto, smiled and chuckled when asked about DeSantis being in Sacramento, which the reporter pointed out is the same place he sent migrants. Its hard to comment on things like that, he said, with Newsom looking on. The Florida governors visit to California, meanwhile, did not include any public appearances, and he is not expected to make any public appearances Tuesday either. Biden on Tuesday in San Francisco convened experts and researchers in the AI space to talk about threats from the emerging technology. Sign up for the latest from The Hill here The presidents trip also included a cash grab ahead of his first 2024 campaign finance report, which drops in July. The report will be the first time Biden will showcase just where hes garnering support for his reelection bid to the White House. Biden showed off Democrats connections with Big Tech donors at a reception hosted by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Microsofts Kevin Scott in Scotts Los Gatos home, and he schmoozed with guests at the Atherton home of venture capitalist Steve Westly. While the president was in some of the United Statess most expensive zip codes, DeSantis made fundraising stops on Monday in Sacramento and the Bay Area. On Tuesday, the governor is slated to attend fundraisers in San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles, according to the Associated Press. While Democrats may rule the roost in California, California has largely been a big source of Republican fundraising money, OConnell said. According to a University of California-Berkeley Institute of Government Studies (IGS) poll released last month, Trump leads DeSantis 44 percent to 26 percent among likely California Republican primary voters. However, a recent straw poll from the Orange County Republicans showed DeSantis leading Trump 46 percent to 31 percent. Theres political rhetoric and political reality and political reality means you have to go and campaign in all 50 states, Amandi said. There is some benefit to going everywhere because all states bring benefits to the table including hated California from certainly DeSantiss perspective. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. President Biden and Vice President Harris will participate in a campaign event Friday to mark the first anniversary of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. The political event with reproductive rights groups will take place in Washington the day before the actual anniversary, the White House announced Tuesday. First lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will also participate. The Supreme Courts conservative majority ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade and its roughly 50-year precedent in a 6-3 decision June 24, 2022. Harris will be in North Carolina to rally abortion advocates Saturday as the state prepares to enact its own ban on abortions. She will also sit down for a televised roundtable discussion about the impact of the decision, hosted by MSNBCs Joy Reid. Harris has been the White Houses leading voice on the issue and has traversed the country to meet with advocates about it. The event Friday aligns with the president stepping up his campaign events. He is in San Francisco for a three-day trip that includes fundraisers until Wednesday, and within the last week he also traveled to Connecticut and Philadelphia to boost his reelection bid. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. In San Francisco, Biden says AI has 'enormous promise' but comes with risks President Biden joins California Gov. Gavin Newsom in San Francisco on Tuesday for a discussion on managing the risks of artificial intelligence. (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Biden said Tuesday that artificial intelligence has enormous promise but that it also comes with risks such as fueling disinformation and job losses dangers his administration wants to tackle. Biden, meeting in San Francisco with AI experts, researchers and advocates, said the technology is already driving change in every part of American life, often in ways we dont notice. AI helps people search the internet, find directions and has the potential to disrupt how people teach and learn. In seizing this moment, we need to manage the risks to our society, to our economy and our national security, Biden said to reporters before the closed-door meeting with AI experts at the Fairmont Hotel. Pointing to the rise of social media, Biden said people have already seen the harm powerful technology can do without the proper guardrails. Still, he acknowledged he has a lot to learn about AI. The meeting came as Biden is ramping up efforts to raise money for his 2024 reelection bid, including from tech billionaires. While visiting Silicon Valley on Monday, he attended two fundraisers, including one co-hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman, who has numerous ties to AI businesses. The venture capitalist was an early investor in Open AI, which built the popular ChatGPT app, and sits on the board of tech companies including Microsoft that are investing heavily in AI. The experts Biden met with Tuesday included some of Big Techs loudest critics. The list includes childrens advocate Jim Steyer, who founded and leads Common Sense Media; Tristan Harris, executive director and co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology; Joy Buolamwini, founder of the Algorithmic Justice League; and Fei-Fei Li, co-director of Stanfords Human-Centered AI Institute. California Gov. Gavin Newsom also joined Biden at the AI event. Steyer said that the president was really engaged during the conversation and that he talked about the potential impact of AI on democracy. A couple of people refer to it as sort of a moonshot moment, Steyer said. You cannot let a small handful of large companies who may or may not be well-meaning drive the future of AI. He said he told the president the big winners or losers of AI could be young people, noting that it could amplify mental health problems. Some of the experts have experience working inside major tech companies. Before coming to Stanford, Li led AI and machine learning efforts at Google Cloud and also sat on Twitters board of directors. Li said an important question for Biden to consider is who is developing AI. Our message to the president is to invest into the public sector because this will ensure a healthy ecosystem, she said, pointing to technology's positive impacts on health, education and the environment. Bidens meetings with AI researchers and tech executives underscore how the president is engaging both sides as his campaign tries to attract wealthy donors while his administration examines the risks of the fast-growing technology. While Biden has been critical of tech giants, executives and workers from companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Google and Facebooks parent company Meta contributed millions of dollars to his 2020 presidential campaign. The Biden administration has focused on AIs potential risks. Last year, the administration released a Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, outlining five principles developers should keep in mind before they release new AI-powered tools. The administration also met with tech executives, announced steps the federal government had taken to address AI risks, and advanced other efforts to promote responsible American innovation. Read more: Regulators take aim at AI to protect consumers and workers Tech giants use AI in various products to recommend videos, power virtual assistants and transcribe audio. While artificial intelligence has been around for decades, the popularity of an AI chatbot known as ChatGPT intensified a race between big tech players like Microsoft, Google and Meta. Launched in 2022 by OpenAI, ChatGPT can answer questions, generate text and complete a variety of tasks. The rush to advance AI technology has made tech workers, researchers, lawmakers and regulators uneasy about whether new products might be released before theyre safe. In March, Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter Chief Executive Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and other technology leaders called for AI labs to pause the training of advanced AI systems, and urged developers to work with policymakers. AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, 75, quit his job at Google so he could speak about AIs risks more openly. As technology rapidly advances, lawmakers and regulators have struggled to keep up. In California, Newsom has signaled he wants to tread carefully with state-level AI regulation. He said at a Los Angeles conference in May that the biggest mistake politicians can make is asserting themselves without first seeking to understand. California lawmakers have floated several ideas, including legislation that would combat algorithmic discrimination, establish an office of artificial intelligence and create a working group to provide a report on AI to the Legislature. Writers and artists are worried that companies could use AI to replace workers. The use of AI to generate text and art comes with ethical questions, including concerns about plagiarism and copyright infringement. The Writers Guild of America, which remains on strike, proposed rules in March for how Hollywood studios can use AI. Any text generated by AI chatbots, for example, cannot be considered in determining writing credits under the proposed rules. Read more: Column: Your boss wants AI to replace you. The writers' strike shows how to fight back The potential abuse of AI to spread political propaganda and conspiracy theories, a problem that has plagued social media, is another top concern among disinformation researchers. They fear AI tools that can spit out text and images will make it easier and cheaper for bad actors to spread misleading information. AI is already being deployed in some mainstream political ads. The Republican National Committee posted an AI-generated video ad depicting a dystopian future that would supposedly become reality if Biden wins reelection. AI tools have also been used to create fake audio clips of politicians and celebrities making remarks they didnt actually say. The campaign of GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shared a video of what appeared to be AI-generated images of former President Trump hugging Dr. Anthony Fauci a target of believers of COVID-19 conspiracy theories. Tech companies are not opposed to putting guardrails around AI. They say they welcome regulation but also want to help to shape it. In May, Microsoft released a 42-page report about governing AI, noting that no company is above the law. The report includes a blueprint for the public governance of AI that outlines five points, including the creation of safety breaks for AI systems that control the electric grid, water systems and other crucial infrastructure. That same month, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testified before Congress and called for AI regulation. My worst fear is that we, the technology industry, cause significant harm to the world, he told lawmakers. If this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong. Altman, who has met with world leaders in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and beyond, also joined scientists and other leaders in signing a one-sentence letter in May that warned AI poses a risk of extinction for humanity. Times staff writer Seema Mehta in Los Angeles contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California, your daily guide to news, views and life in the Golden State. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. The News Washington and New Delhi will unveil a string of new arms deals and security arrangements when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the U.S. this week, part of the Biden administrations efforts to counter Beijings influence in Asia. Chief among these is expected to be a major technology-transfer agreement that will allow General Electric to jointly build jet engines with India defense companies for New Delhis next generation light combat aircraft. Such a sharing of advanced U.S. defense technology is rare, according to defense industry executives and analysts briefed on the trip, and signals Washingtons desire to transform India into a major strategic partner in Asia. U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visited New Delhi last week to finalize the details concerning Modis visit. And he stressed to the Indian media that the deliverables from the meeting are fundamentally designed to remove those obstacles in defense trading, in high tech trade, in investment in each of our countries." Modis visit comes against a backdrop of tense relations between Washington and Beijing, even as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a much-delayed trip to China over the weekend. Both countries have jockeyed for influence and strategic advantage on each others doorsteps. Know More The Biden administration is seeking to put in place concrete systems to permanently reorient New Delhi away from its historic dependence on Russian arms. Other military transactions that could be finalized this week include the U.S. sales of unarmed and armed drones to India that will help the country better police its borders and waters against increasing Chinese incursions. Reuters reported in New Delhi that Biden and Modi will also discuss jointly producing munitions and armored personnel carriers for the Indian armed forces. Jay's view Senior Biden administration officials have described India as the U.S.s most consequential bilateral relationship for the coming century. They cite the countrys geographic positioning to balance China, New Delhis status as the worlds largest democracy, and Indias vibrant technology sector. But its not clear if Modi or any other Indian leader truly wants to embrace this role as Beijings foil. Since taking office, the Biden administration has worked to better integrate India into the U.S.s defense alliances and partnerships that are designed to counter Beijing and maintain the free flow of commerce and trade through the Indo-Pacific. The White House has held regular strategic discussions with the Quad nations, which include Japan, Australia, and India. And the Pentagon has stepped up war games and military exercises with India, often with Quad members and other Asian countries participating. The White House is also seeking to broaden the recently unveiled defense alliance, called AUKUS, which initially is focused on building nuclear powered submarines with the U.K. and Australia. But U.S. officials have told Semafor theyre seeking to expand this partnership into a second pillar that will include the development of hypersonic weapons, quantum computing, and underwater vehicles. India is one of the countries likely to cooperate with AUKUS on these military technologies, either directly or informally. The fact is I dont know of a bilateral relationship that has deepened and strengthened more rapidly than the United States and India over the past 20 years, Bidens chief Asia strategist, Kurt Campbell, said recently. Room for Disagreement There is growing skepticism among a number of former U.S. officials that India will truly emerge as a critical American defense and political partner in the coming decades. For one, they accuse Modi of seriously chipping away at New Delhis democratic and judicial institutions, and marginalizing and suppressing Indias 200 million Muslim minority. Modis ruling BJP party recently stripped leading opposition figure Rahul Gandhi of his parliamentary status for allegedly defaming the prime minister in a 2019 speech. There are also questions about whether India would truly support the U.S. and its formal Asian allies such as Japan, South Korea, Australia, and the Philippines if they ever engage in direct conflict with China. These former officials believe New Delhi is happy to accept greater U.S. military and technology cooperation to deal with Indias border and maritime disputes with Beijing. But the cooperation might end there. The United States should certainly help India to the degree compatible with American interests. But it should harbor no illusions that its support, no matter how generous, will entice India to join it in any military coalition against China, Ashley Tellis, a former State Department adviser and Carnegie Endowment senior fellow, wrote in Foreign Affairs last month. The relationship with India is fundamentally unlike those that the United States enjoys with its allies. Notable The White House chief of staffs office is meeting multiple times a week to develop ways for the federal government to ensure the safe use of artificial intelligence, the Biden administration said on Tuesday. As quickly emerging AI tools and chatbots capture attention across the country, the meetings, which the White House said take place two to three times a week, are the latest piece of the administrations push to understand and eventually regulate the wide-ranging impacts the technology has on the country. It is also seeking commitments from tech companies on combating potential challenges, according to a White House news release. Well see more technological change in the next 10 years than weve seen in the last 50 years, and maybe beyond that. And AI is already driving that change in every part of American life, President Joe Biden said on Tuesday afternoon from San Francisco, where he met with academics and experts to discuss both positive and negative consequences of AI. We need to manage the risks to our society, to our economy and our national security. Professor Fei-Fei Li, one of the experts who participated in the meeting, described the conversation as extremely engaged, with the president not just listening but asking questions. It was very, very balanced and thoughtful, Li said about the tone of the conversation with Biden. There was recognition of how the technology, if not used responsibly, could have very negative implications and how it could have very constructive and positive implications, Li told POLITICO, adding that she had urged Biden to take a moonshot mentality in terms of investing in the public sector to ensure responsible stewardship of the technology into society. The Biden administrations newest steps will build on the existing Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, a set of principles released in October that seek to guide the administrations approach to ensuring privacy and equity alongside the use of the technology. These guidelines warn against algorithmic discrimination, urge data protection and underscore human alternatives to AI abilities. Biden has also signed an executive order that directs federal agencies to rid new technologies of bias. The pressure for the federal government to regulate AI has ramped up particularly in the past year, most notably after OpenAIs release of ChatGPT in November. The chatbot, which reached more than 100 million active monthly users two months after launch, can perform a wide array of tasks, from passing accreditation and standardized exams to writing emails and computer code. OpenAIs founder, Sam Altman, called on Congress to regulate AI in a Senate hearing last month. Alongside ChatGPT, other generative AI platforms with the capability to create photos, audio recordings and video clips have also seen increased use in the past few months. Experts have said the AI platforms that have seen a rapid rise could aid worker productivity, but at the same time kill jobs with their competencies. The White Houses move toward setting guardrails on AI contrasts with a lack of action on Capitol Hill to regulate the fast-moving technology. Despite the topic receiving wide attention, members of Congress across the political spectrum, from Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), have questioned the ability of lawmakers to enact appropriate legislation, citing a general lack of expertise on the topic and potential outcomes of laws. Lieu and Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) are introducing a bill to form a commission that will strategize around regulating AI, according to The Washington Post. The U.S. is also playing catch-up internationally on the topic, as China and the EU have either passed legislation or set rules putting guardrails on the use of AI. Individual states have already pushed to regulate AI, including Colorado, which passed a law in July 2021 that requires insurance companies to test algorithms for bias. In the political realm, the prospect of fake content has created concerns among campaign strategists who fear the dissemination of misinformation. One Twitch livestream of an AI-generated debate between Donald Trump and Biden in which users can interact has garnered the attention of publications like Yahoo in the past few days. Mohar Chatterjee and Brendan Bordelon contributed to this report. Sub passengers included CEO of expedition company, experienced explorers and Pakistani father and son from prominent family A billionaire father and son duo, a wealthy explorer, a diver with decades of experience and the founder of the company leading a submersible voyage to explore the Titanic are presumed dead after search teams discovered debris from the sub on the sea floor. The debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber, Rear Adm. John Mauger, the US Coast Guard First District commander, told reporters Thursday. The small vessel roughly the size of a minivan had been missing since Sunday when it lost contact with its mothership on the surface about 1 hour and 45 minutes into its descent to explore the Titanic wreckage. The suspected implosion left two debris fields, but authorities didnt say whether the bodies of the submariners were spotted or might be recovered. These were the five people who were on board: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush Stockton Rush cultivated a reputation as a nature lover, adventurer and visionary. He graduated from Princeton in 1984 and went to work for the McDonnell Douglas Corp. as a flight test engineer on the F-15 program. He obtained an MBA from University of California, Berkeley, in 1989, according to his company bio. Rush founded OceanGate in 2009, with a stated mission of increasing access to the deep ocean through innovation. In his eagerness to explore, Rush, 61, often appeared skeptical, if not dismissive, of regulations that might slow innovation. The commercial sub industry is obscenely safe, he told Smithsonian Magazine in 2019, because they have all these regulations. But it also hasnt innovated or grown because they have all these regulations. Rush said he believes deeply that the sea, rather than the sky, offers humanity the best shot at survival when the Earths surface becomes uninhabitable. The future of mankind is underwater. Its not on Mars, he told Mexican YouTuber Alan Estrada. We will have a base underwater. If we trash this planet, the best lifeboat for mankind is underwater. In his interview with Smithsonian in 2019, he relayed his almost-spiritual attraction to the deep sea. He called it the deep disease. I went to 75 feet. I saw cool stuff. I went 100 feet and saw more cool stuff. And I was like, Wow, whats it gonna be like at the end of this thing? From left, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood, Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Stockton Rush - Obtained by CNN British businessman Hamish Harding Harding, who had an impressive list of extreme expeditions under his belt, was based in the United Arab Emirates and was a trained jet pilot. He was the chairman of Action Aviation, an aircraft brokerage. To his team in Action Aviation, he was a guide, an inspiration, a support, and a Living Legend, officials at the business said in a statement on behalf of his family. He was one of a kind and we adored him. He was a passionate explorer whatever the terrain who lived his life for his family, his business and for the next adventure. Harding made headlines in 2019 for being part of a flight crew that broke the world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe via both poles. In 2020, Harding became one of the first people to dive to Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean, widely believed to be the deepest point in the worlds oceans. Last year, he paid an undisclosed sum of money for one of the seats on Blue Origins space flight. He also was part of two record-breaking trips to the South Pole: In 2016, he accompanied the astronaut Buzz Aldrin when he became the oldest person to reach the South Pole. In 2020, he went there with his son Giles, who, at 12 years old, became the youngest person to get to the spot. Hamish is larger than life. He lives exploration, explorer and filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen told CNN on Tuesday. He is an explorer to the core of his soul. Harding was a founding member of the board of trustees of The Explorers Club, a New York-based group that has been involved in many of the worlds most prestigious discoveries. The day before the vessel went missing, Harding wrote on social media that he was proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic. French diver Paul-Henri PH Nargeolet French diver Paul-Henri PH Nargeolet had decades of experience exploring the Titanic. He served as the director of underwater research at RMS Titanic Inc., the company that has exclusive rights to salvage artifacts from the ship. According to his biography on the companys website, Nargeolet completed 35 dives to the Titanic wreck and supervised the recovery of 5,000 artifacts. He spent 22 years in the French Navy, where he rose to the rank of a commander, the website says. His family released a statement calling him one of the greatest deep-sea explorers in history. But what we will remember him most for is his big heart, his incredible sense of humor and how much he loved his family, his wife and children said. We will miss him today and every day for the rest of our lives. Richard Garriott de Cayeux, president of The Explorers Club, paid tribute to Nargeolet and Harding in a message to members. They were both drawn to explore, like so many of us, and did so in the name of meaningful science for the betterment of mankind, he wrote. They pushed themselves in their entrepreneurial pursuits as they did in exploration. Mathieu Johann, a friend of Nargeolet, told CNN that the submariner was a hero. Johann, who spoke to CNN before the crews fate was announced, is a director at Harper Collins France and worked with Nargeolet on his book about the Titanic. Johann described Nargeolet as someone who risked his life all his life, adding, He knows that the slightest expedition represents a danger, but like all those people who are passionate about water and the sea, for them, its their daily life. Hes a great professional. And he knows exactly what hes doing. And he was always very reassuring about his expedition. When asked why Nargeolet worked on the Titanic, Johann said the submariner became attached to its history. There were still mysteries to be unraveled. I know that his big thing is trying to find out whats in the Titanics safe. I hope with all my heart that one day hell manage to penetrate that vault, which remains full of mystery 4,000 meters under the sea. It was still very enigmatic for him, and when I talk to Paul-Henri, I can still see his childlike eyes shining, because this legendary liner has also become his story. Fellow explorer Bill Blaesing met Nargeolet in 2010 when they traveled in a ship together over the Titanic. The Frenchman was absolutely passionate about expeditions, Blaesing told Spectrum News Milwaukee on Wednesday. Blaesing said Nargeolet wasnt arrogant like some other explorers. Hes a true gentleman explorer, he said. Pakistani businessman and son, Shahzada and Suleman Dawood Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman Dawood, were from a prominent Pakistani business family. Dawood Hercules Corp., their business, is among the largest corporations in the country, with a portfolio spanning energy, petrochemicals, fertilizers, information technology, and food and agriculture. The business is headed by the family patriarch, Hussain Dawood. His sons, Shahzada and Abdul Samad, led various divisions, with Hussains daughter, Sabrina Dawood, in charge of the charitable arm of the business, according to the corporations website. In a statement posted to the Twitter account of The Dawood Foundation, Hussain Dawood and his wife, Kulsum Dawood, said: Please continue to keep the departed souls and our family in your prayers during this difficult period of mourning. We are truly grateful to all those involved in the rescue operations. Their untiring efforts were a source of strength for us during this time, the statement reads. Bill Diamond, a friend of Shahzada Dawood, said he didnt consider him a sports adventurist. He doesnt go on, you know, death-defying missions or, you know, riding motorcycles over cliffs or any of these sorts of things parachuting, scuba diving to the best of my knowledge, Diamond told CNN on Wednesday. So Ive never thought of him as a daredevil in any sense. Diamond described his friend as intelligent and perpetually curious, but he thinks Dawood was aware of the risks he was taking. Shahzada Dawood also was trustee of the SETI Institute in California, a research organization, and a number of other foundations. Shahzada was passionately curious and an enthusiastic supporter of the SETI Institute and our mission, being directly involved in philanthropic programs in education, research and public outreach, officials said. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him, especially his fellow Trustees and the leadership of the SETI Institute. CNNs Allison Morrow, Brian Todd, Ross Levitt, Francesca Hoffman, Hira Humayun, Sophia Saifi , Mostafa Salem and Sofia Cox contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com With billions on the table for water infrastructure, small communities risk being left out to dry Seth Petersen was at his grandmothers funeral, and his phone wouldnt stop ringing. Three hours away in the village of Luck, Wisconsin, where he served as director of public works, there was an emergency. Petersen was getting calls repeatedly, asking for his expertise. Petersen and two other employees were responsible for drinking water, wastewater, street maintenance, park and cemetery maintenance and picking up stray dogs, he said. The job never stopped. Seth, what the (expletive) are you doing? his brother-in-law said to him as he came back to the family gathering from another call. Why are you living like this? Petersen left that job at the end of last year. Now, he helps train water operators in small communities for the Wisconsin Rural Water Association. Luck is not an outlier. In small and rural communities across the U.S., water system operators are stretched thin, covering around-the-clock responsibilities to keep water running safely and reliably despite aging and underfunded infrastructure. The consequences of a water system falling behind have received the national spotlight, infamously in Flint, Michigan, and most recently in Jackson, Mississippi, where majority-Black communities bore the brunt of mismanagement and aging infrastructure. Thousands of under-resourced systems risk a similar fate, and small water systems defined by the EPA as serving fewer than 10,000 people, and making up more than 90% of the nations community water systems are in a particularly precarious position. Their staffing is often sparse and underpaid. Infrastructure, in many places, is crumbling and underfunded, and though there is a fresh infusion of federal money on the table, its a challenge to access. The American Rescue Plan Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and other programs represent a historic investment in the countrys water infrastructure, totaling billions of dollars. But the total available funding, even after its all been doled out, still wont be enough. One report from 2020 estimated that the U.S. would need to invest nearly $3.3 trillion in water and wastewater infrastructure projects between 2019 and 2039 to keep systems updated. Many communities will also face increases in their water bills to keep up with infrastructure and staffing needs. Yet raising the price of water may prove unworkable in rural and historically underinvested communities like Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta, some of the most impoverished in the country. No one in the U.S. should have to worry about having safe drinking water, said Chris Groh, executive director of the Wisconsin Rural Water Association. But a town doesnt take care of itself. Small community water systems falling behind Over the last two decades, water systems in the 10 states bordering the Mississippi River violated U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations for drinking water more than 438,000 times. That figure includes thousands of instances of heightened levels of harmful chemicals in water each year. Nitrates, trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids, which have all been linked to various cancers and other health hazards, were top contaminants in the EPAs violation data in 2022. Nitrates are an indicator of agricultural runoff, common in rural areas. And trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids appear as byproducts of the water treatment process, when chlorine reacts with organic contents. Addressing these issues can require expensive treatment technology. But in the last two decades, small and large utilities alike have reined in the number of violations. However, an Ag and Water Desk analysis of EPA Safe Drinking Water Act violation data nationwide found small water systems have been slower to reduce their violations than larger systems. And these violations only represented those reported; there could be many more incidences of unreported issues. In the 10 states along the Mississippi River, both small and large water systems saw increases in violations newly reported during 2022. For small water systems, that increase was more significant. That disparity is, at least in part, an indicator of the disadvantages facing small and rural water systems, according to Jennifer Sloan Ziegler, a Mississippi-based engineer serving as vice president of the American Society of Civil Engineers Environmental and Water Resources Institute. And recent injections of federal infrastructure funding wont be enough, she said. Theyre not sustained funding, she added, and the sad thing about it is: It still doesnt catch us up. I dont have a day off The working conditions that drove Petersen to leave his position in Luck are a trend reflected in small communities across the country. I dont have a day off, said Nathan Taylor, lead operator of a small water plant in Wax, Kentucky. The days hes not on duty, his phone is constantly ringing as issues come up at the plant, he said. Ziegler pointed out a water operator she knows nearby in the Mississippi Delta, whose responsibilities span four different water districts a huge, huge area, she said. Water system operators serve as a first line of defense for a communitys public health, and must have working knowledge of chemistry for licensing tests. Yet operator pay in many small communities is about neck-and-neck with wages at the local McDonalds. Other trades, like construction, often pay far more. You can go swing a hammer for 25 bucks an hour, said Petersen, in Wisconsin, ...and you can ice fish all winter. A workforce survey last year in Kentucky found water utilities in the state pay as low as $10 per hour for an entry level position, with an average closer to $18. But 72% of managers reported losing staff to better pay in another job opportunity or other, often larger utilities. The water workforce nationally is also aging overwhelmingly. Seventeen million workers are expected to leave the industry in the next decade, Ziegler said, and bringing young people into the profession has proven challenging. Were losing people, she said, and were not getting them back. Federal money on the table, if you can get it Widespread water workforce shortages make accessing infrastructure funding an even bigger task for small water systems overworked staff, despite desperate needs. And the application process for federal funds often looks very similar in a village of 1,000 or a city of half a million, according to Ziegler. It is extremely extensive, she said. Not just the application, but the amount of background documentation that you have to provide them. It takes I would say, months, to get it together. Smaller systems are at an inherent disadvantage. Larger utilities, with more ratepayers and bigger budgets, often have experts on staff to go after competitive funding pots. Their applications are shiny, Petersen said. And theyre written by someone with a masters degree. During his tenure as director of public works, Petersen worked through the application process to access federal infrastructure funding for Lucks streets. Even with help from a consultant and phone calls with the state, he described it as overwhelming. You dont even know where to begin, he said. Things are this far behind. Luck didnt get that money. And in cash-strapped communities, paying large sums for the help of consultants in applying for funding that isnt guaranteed is a big gamble. Let's just be honest. If they can't afford to upgrade and maintain and operate their systems with the money they have, Ziegler said, do you think they have money left over to hire somebody, to pay somebody to put together this application? They don't. Poorer communities facing higher water bills Without sustained infrastructure funding, communities in turn face a rising water rate. In many rural areas, its a bill they cant afford. In Martin County, Kentucky, where communities are built along snaking creeks and between the rolling mountains of Appalachia, residents still dont trust the tap. Decades of water district mismanagement, including chronic reports of discolored water and burdensome service shutoffs, eventually culminated in a state takeover. In 2020, authorities shifted control to Alliance Water Resources, a private firm, hoping to get the countys water provisions on the right track. At the peak of the crisis, the systems aging water lines were leaking up to 90% of the water they were carrying, according to the estimates of Craig Miller, who now oversees the countys water operations as division manager for the firm. For Martin County, that meant tens of millions of gallons of water going to waste every month. In the years since the change in management, Martin Countys water system has made progress. In a recent stakeholder workgroup meeting, Miller reported improvements in water loss, as well as new hires and licensing for staff. Theres a good story here, Miller said in the meeting. But it is not over. Improvements came with a 24% rate increase, effective last year, piling onto already steep prices. More than a fifth of Martin County lives below the poverty line, according to recent census data. That's a huge burden on our poorest people, said Nina McCoy, an advocate with Martin County Concerned Citizens, in the workgroup meeting. She pointed out that local water rates are far higher than in wealthier Louisville, where median income is 50% higher than that of Martin County. The regions mountainous terrain piles onto water infrastructure challenges, said Lindell Ormsbee, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Kentucky whos paid close attention to the states water system struggles. And as in many rural areas, there are miles of water lines for relatively few homes, compared to cities like Louisville. In eastern Kentucky, many counties have historically relied on taxing the coal industry to fund water and other infrastructure needs. As the coal industry has declined, that funding has dried up, Ormsbee said, turning the burden over to ratepayers. Even if systems are able to access one-time federal infrastructure funding, once its spent, theyll return back to current levels of funding. In small communities, Ziegler said, that just wont be enough. They're serving less affluent areas. They're serving older populations on fixed incomes, Ziegler said, citing high rates of poverty in the rural and disadvantaged communities of her state of Mississippi. Their customers cannot afford to pay more. Connor Giffin is an environmental reporter for the Louisville Courier Journal and a corps member with Report for America. Kae Petrin contributed data reporting. This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an editorially independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in partnership with Report For America and funded by the Walton Family Foundation. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Water infrastructure stretched thin in small communities A bipartisan House bill introduced Tuesday would create a commission to review, recommend and establish regulations for artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The 20-member commission would be made up of 10 members appointed by each party and tasked with reviewing the governments current approach to AI oversight, recommending new structures to put in place, and establishing a risk-based approach to regulating the industry. Introduced by Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Ken Buck (R-Colo.), the bill comes as Congress ramps up its focus on how to regulate the booming AI industry, especially since the launch of OpenAIs popular ChatGPT generative AI chatbot in November. Lieu said the proposal aims to let Congress allow experts to guide lawmakers on how to proceed on AI regulation. Our bill forges a path toward responsible AI regulation that promotes technological progress while keeping Americans safe. Transparency is critical when legislating on something as complicated as AI, and this bipartisan, blue ribbon commission will provide policymakers and the American public with the basis and reasoning for the recommendations and what information was relied upon, Lieu said in a statement. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) will introduce a companion version of the bill in the Senate. The bill says members of the commission should have technical expertise or backgrounds in civil society or government and create three reports to Congress and the president in the first two years. In the first sixth months, the commission will submit a report including any proposals for urgent regulatory or enforcement action. A final report will be submitted at the end of one year, including final recommendations for a comprehensive, binding regulatory framework. A year later, the commission will submit a follow-up report including any new findings and revised recommendations. In addition to the bill introduced Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has put forward a framework for AI regulation. Schumers framework was announced in April, but at the time details of the plan were not revealed. On Wednesday, Schumer is giving a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) to reveal his SAFE Innovation in the AI Age framework and outline his vision for how the Senate should regulate the industry. The congressional efforts also come as the administration considers AI risks. President Biden on Tuesday is meeting with AI experts and researchers in San Francisco about managing the risks of AI. Biden and Vice President Harris met with heads of Google, Microsoft and two other AI companies in May at the White House. Updated at 2:03 p.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Bishop William J. Barber, II, Pastor, Greenleaf Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, Goldsboro, NC, sings along with the choir, before giving the sermon at Howard Universitys Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel service, held in Cramton Auditiorium, on Sunday, August 27, 2017. Renowned civil rights leader Bishop William J. Barber II delivered his last sermon as pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church on Sunday. Barber has preached at the Goldsboro, North Carolina church for the last 30 years. As he left his decades-long position, Barber handed over the reins of the church to the next generation. I give you now the torch, the passing of the torch, the flame of the spirit that has kept me and all others before me all the way from Peter on forward, he said to the woman succeeding him, Rev. G. Shyrl Hinnant-Uzzell, and that same pastoral spirit and fire because you gotta have fire to be a pastor. Read more Barber also spoke openly about the impact of his arthritis during the sermon, praising God for allowing him to keep pushing forward. But just because Barber is passing the pastoral church doesnt mean hes stepping away from leadership. Barber, who is well-known for his leadership of the Poor Peoples Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival and his Moral Monday protests, spoke to the Root about his next chapter late last year. Barber announced that he was heading up the Yale Divinity Schools new Center for Theology and Public Policy. Im excited to move from pastoring that is thirty-five years of pastoral ministry with the congregation, Barber told The Root in December, to, in a sense, pastoring the movement with this center. The goal of the center is to train the next generation of movement leaders in the practice of moral leadership. Were gonna share what Ive learned to lead research on the deep connection between theology, deepest moral values, constitutional values, and just policies in the present, said Barber. The divinity school launched in April, and Barber wasnt the only prominent civil rights and theological leader attached to the school. As we discussed with Barber in December, Valerie Eguavoen, Roz Pelles, and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove also joined the center. As Barber stepped into his new role at Yale and away from the church, he was celebrated by the political allies hes made along the way, including President Joe Biden. Thank you for showing all of us how to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly. Ill never forget your homily at my inaugural prayer service when you called on us to be repairers of the breach and heal the soul of the nation, said the President in a video message to Barber, according to a press release obtained from CNN News. Speaking with the Root last year, Barber expressed his enthusiasm for his new position shaping the next generation of movement leaders. This work is hard, but its worth it, he told The Root. I would not want to leave this life and not try in some way to see what weve learned, what we know, what we are yet to know into the veins of this society and into the hearts and minds of generations of leaders that are already here, but also will be here long after many of us. 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. Ross Township police are warning residents that a black bear cub was spotted in a residents yard on Monday evening. The department shared a video of the cub having a snack from a bird feeder in the area of Highland Pines Drive. They also shared links to the state Game Commission and BearWise sites, which advise residents to remove bird feeders when black bears are active and to check the yard for bears before letting dogs out. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Tourist sub goes missing near Titanic wreck Trespassing charges filed against men accused of recording video inside Century III Mall Pittsburgh Police arrest man they say was involved in 2021 homicide in Lincoln-Lemington VIDEO: Trespassing charges filed against men accused of recording video inside Century III Mall DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts Flooded as a result of Russians undermining Kakhovka HPP Kherson About 150 dolphin carcasses were found on Black Sea coasts in Turkey and Bulgaria following the Russian destruction of the Kakhovka Dam and the species may be threatened with extinction, presidential chief-of-staff Andriy Yermak said on June 20. The bodies of other animals, including roe deer, foxes, and hares, may also be carried by the Black Sea current. Over 20,000 species resided in the southern areas of Ukraine, where more than 50,000 hectares of forests have been flooded. At least half of these forests will not survive. Read also: Animal genocide animals have no chance of survival as 55,000 hectares of forest flooded in Kherson Oblast Additionally, Yermak stated that approximately 150 tons of grease or oil stains are flowing down the Dnipro River and could potentially reach the Mediterranean Sea. The surface of the Nova Kakhovka Reservoir itself is covered with dead fish, amounting to approximately 95,000 tons of biomatter. Read also: Border guard video shows Odesa Oblast sea transformed into dumpsite and graveyard for animals On the night of Tuesday, June 6, Russian troops detonated the Kakhovka Dam, which had been under occupation for over a year. Cities and villages downstream of the dam on the Dnipro River were completely or partially flooded. Ukrainian hydropower operator Ukrhydroenergo reported that the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant was completely destroyed and is beyond repair. Ukraine's Southern Command clarified that although the entire dam was not destroyed, significant damage occurred. The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office has initiated an investigation into the incident, charging it as ecocide. Read also: Zelenskyy criticizes international community for timidity after Kakhovka Dam explosion Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described Russia's attack on the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant as the largest man-made environmental disaster in Europe in decades. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Nikki Haley Two of the most common talking points from Republican presidential candidates in recent years have been to deny the persistence of racism in the United States and to criticize President Barack Obama. Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and former ambassador to the United Nations, attempted to do both with a tweet sent out last week and Black Twitter was having none of it. Haley started a Twitter firestorm on Friday when she tweeted a message critical of Obama, who she claimed set minorities back by singling them out as victims instead of empowering them. After arguing that in America, hard work & personal responsibility matter, Haley then brought in her own parents to make her point. My parents didnt raise me to think that I would forever be a victim, she claimed, stating that they instead raised me to know that I was responsible for my success. .@BarackObama set minorities back by singling them out as victims instead of empowering them. In America, hard work & personal responsibility matter. My parents didnt raise me to think that I would forever be a victim. They raised me to know that I was responsible for my Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) June 16, 2023 If Haley thought her shot at Obama and her latest attempt to downplay American racism would go unchallenged, she was soon proven wrong. Then why are you passing as a white woman. You literally survived off the kindness of Black people, retorted journalist Kathia Woods. Then why are you passing as a white woman. You literally survived off the kindness of Black people Kathia Woods (@kathia_woods) June 18, 2023 Nimrata please read another reply, using Haleys first name Haley has been accused of going by her middle name Nikki as a way of downplaying her Indian heritage. Nimrata please SheLovesThee (@SheLoves_THEE) June 16, 2023 Sherrilyn Ifill, a senior fellow with the Ford Foundation and the former president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, went in as well: I usually ignore her, Ifill said of Haley. But shes starting to really get on my nerves. I usually ignore her. But shes starting to really get on my nerves. pic.twitter.com/rwhHTrAmN8 Sherrilyn Ifill (@SIfill_) June 16, 2023 Several famous people replied to Ifills post. Actor Jeffrey Wright pointed out the irony of Haleys stance given that her father came to America on the back of progressive immigration policy reform and then taught, throughout his career, at an HBCU. Her father came to America on the back of progressive immigration policy reform and then taught, throughout his career, at an HBCU. His daughter grew up to ape rednecks. Jeffrey Wright (@jfreewright) June 16, 2023 Actor and Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton replied to Wright in uncharacteristically blunt fashion, saying of Haley, She passin and aint studyin no dark skinned people. She passin and aint studyin no dark skinned people. LeVar Burton (@levarburton) June 17, 2023 Actress Holly Robinson Peete, meanwhile, simply responded to Haley with a GIF of Zendaya giving a disgusted eyeroll. Writer Michael Harriot posted a long thread on the TRUE story of Nikki Haley. Yall wanna hear the TRUE story of Nikki Haley? A thread pic.twitter.com/MZHER5uaYI Michael Harriot (@michaelharriot) June 17, 2023 In a series of tweets, Harriot detailed the racist history of South Carolina, the changes in racist immigration laws that allowed Haleys family to immigrate to the U.S., the history of Indian Americans attempting to be classified as white in the U.S., and Haleys own reluctance to remove the Confederate flag during her time as governor until after the Emmanuel AME church shooting. Harriot also noted Haleys tactic of using her middle name, Nikki, instead of her first name and contrasted it with the way in which Republicans used Obamas middle name Hussein as a racist dog whistle. Given that the Republican primary season is shaping up to be a crowded and strange competition, it is likely that Haley and other candidates will continue to hit their anti-Obama and racism-denying talking points. But given the reaction that Nikki Haley has seen over the past several days, perhaps they will think twice before questioning peoples experiences with racism in America or letting Obamas name come out of their mouths. Blinken declares US 'does not support Taiwan independence' during China trip [Source] Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared the United States does not support Taiwanese independence during a press conference held in Beijing on Monday. Status quo on Taiwan: While Blinken mentioned Chinas escalating aggression towards Taiwan, he assured the Chinese government that the US opposes any change in the countrys current stance, emphasizing the various agreements and acts that support the One-China policy. I raised U.S. concerns, shared by a growing number of countries, about the PRCs [Peoples Republic of China] provocative actions in the Taiwan Strait as well as in the East and South China Seas. On Taiwan, I reiterated the longstanding U.S. One China policy. That policy has not changed. Its guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint Communiques, the Six Assurances. We do not support Taiwan independence, we remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side. We continue to expect the peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences. We remain committed to meeting our responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act, including making sure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself. More from NextShark: NYC man pleads guilty to killing senior can collector because hes Asian Mirroring his Chinese counterparts: Prior to Blinken's press conference, he participated in a series of diplomatic meetings that aimed to establish a more cooperative relationship with China, including discussions with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping and Chinese foreign policy czar Wang Yi. Blinken's remarks coincide with those made by Yi, who had previously expressed a similar sentiment on Taiwanese independence during his meeting with Blinken. According to a readout of the discussion from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Yi emphasized China's firm stance on the issue, stating that there is no room for compromise or concession and that the U.S. must adhere to the One-China policy and oppose Taiwanese independence. More from NextShark: 24-year-old man arrested for throwing pipe bomb at Japan PM Kishida Contradicting Biden's statements: Blinkens position appears to contradict President Joe Biden's previous statements that the U.S. would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion. Advocates of the One China policy have long emphasized its success in preventing open hostilities between China and Taiwan. However, opponents argue that the policy lacks coherence, given the U.S.' interest in defending Taiwan and its tacit recognition of Taiwan's right to self-determination. Critics reactions: Some conservative critics of the Biden administration expressed frustration with Blinken's statement. More from NextShark: California man arrested for dismembering his mothers body and disposing of her in dumpster Rep. Jim Banks, (R, IN-3), who serves on the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party, viewed the stance as a form of "weakness." Meanwhile, senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council Michael Sobolik said Blinken had contradicted his previous commitment to engaging with China on the subject. On May 26, 2022, @SecBlinken promised the US would never engage with Beijing in exchange for walking away from our principles. Today, in Beijing, Blinkens comments contradict that commitment. Raising vague issues of concern is not standing for our values. pic.twitter.com/r9BBfuTgr1 Michael Sobolik (@michaelsobolik) June 19, 2023 Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R, TN-23) criticized the Biden administration for not standing up to "bullies." US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday reiterated decades of US policy towards Taiwan when he said the US does not support a declaration of independence by the government on that island, which the Peoples Republic of China considers a rogue province. Mr Blinkens statement came during a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at which the top US diplomat and the Chinese strongman attempted to smooth over months of tension between Washington and Beijing. A previously scheduled trip to China by the US secretary of state had been cancelled in the wake of the February shootdown of a spy balloon that US intelligence has said belonged to the PRC. We do not support Taiwan independence, Mr Blink said in public comments. We remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side. While the US diplomat stressed that the US does not support independence for Taiwan, Washington remains a major supplier of arms to the Taiwanese military, and President Joe Biden on several occasions has said the US would defend Taiwan if China was to mount an invasion. Officially, his statement does not represent a policy change for the US because the US has long maintained strategic ambiguity towards the island, supplying Taipei with weapons while simultaneously avoiding any official diplomatic contact. Mr Blinken met on Monday with Chinese President Xi and said they agreed to "stabilise" badly deteriorated US-China ties, but America's top diplomat left Beijing with his biggest ask rebuffed: better communications between their militaries. After meeting Mr Xi, Mr Blinken said China is not ready to resume military-to-military contacts, something the US considers crucial to avoid miscalculation and conflict, particularly over Taiwan. Still, China's main diplomat for the Western Hemisphere, Yang Tao, said he thought Blinken's visit to China "marks a new beginning." "The US side is surely aware of why there is difficulty in military-to-military exchanges," he said, blaming the issue squarely on US sanctions, which Mr Blinken said revolved entirely around threats to American security. Yet Mr Blinken and Mr Xi pronounced themselves satisfied with progress made during the two days of talks, without pointing to specific areas of agreement beyond a mutual decision to return to a broad agenda for cooperation and competition endorsed last year by Mr Xi and President Joe Biden at a summit in Bali. And, it remained unclear if those understandings can resolve their most important disagreements, many of which have international implications. Still, both men said they were pleased with the outcome of the highest-level US visit to China in five years. The two sides expressed a willingness to hold more talks, but there was little indication that either is prepared to bend from positions on issues including trade, Taiwan, human rights conditions in China and Hong Kong, Chinese military assertiveness in the South China Sea, and Russia's war in Ukraine. Mr Blinken said later that the US set limited objectives for the trip and achieved them. He told reporters before leaving for a Ukraine reconstruction conference in London that he had raised the issue of military to military communications "repeatedly." "It is absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications," he said. "This is something we're going to keep working on." The US has said that, since 2021, China has declined or failed to respond to over a dozen requests from the Department of Defense for top-level dialogues. According to a transcript of the meeting with Mr Blinken, Mr Xi said he was pleased with the outcome of Mr Blinken's earlier meetings with top Chinese diplomats and said restarting the Bali agenda were of great importance. "The Chinese side has made our position clear, and the two sides have agreed to follow through the common understandings President Biden and I had reached in Bali," Mr Xi said. That agenda had been thrown into jeopardy in recent months, notably after the US shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon over its airspace in February, and amid escalated military activity in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. Combined with other disputes over human rights, trade and opiate production, the list of problem areas is daunting. But Mr Xi suggested the worst could be over. "The two sides have also made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues," Mr Xi said without elaborating, according to a transcript of the remarks released by the State Department. "This is very good." In his remarks to Mr Xi during the 35-minute session at the Great Hall of the People, a meeting that was expected but not announced until an hour before it started, Mr Blinken said "the United States and China have an obligation and responsibility to manage our relationship." "The United States is committed to doing that," Mr Blinken said. "It's in the interest of the United States, in the interests of China, and in the interest of the world." Mr Blinken described his earlier discussions with senior Chinese officials as "candid and constructive." Despite the symbolism of his presence in China, Mr Blinken and other US officials had played down the prospects for any significant breakthroughs on the most vexing issues facing the planet's two largest economies. Instead, these officials have emphasised the importance of the two countries establishing and maintaining better lines of communication. Thus, China's refusal to resume the military-to-military contacts was a hitch. "Progress is hard," Mr Blinken told reporters. "It takes time, it takes more than one visit." Mr Blinken's trip is expected to herald a new round of visits by senior US and Chinese officials to each other's countries, possibly including a meeting between Mr Xi and Mr Biden in India or the US in the coming months. Before meeting with Mr Xi, Mr Blinken met earlier Monday with China's top diplomat Wang Yi for about three hours, an encounter that produced a harsh assessment of the talks. China's foreign ministry said "it is necessary to make a choice between dialogue or confrontation, cooperation or conflict." It blamed the "U.S. side's erroneous perception of China, leading to incorrect policies towards China" for the current "low point" in relations. And, it said the US bore responsibility for halting "the spiraling decline of China-US relations to push it back to a healthy and stable track." It added that Wang had "demanded that the U.S. stop hyping up the 'China threat theory,' lift illegal unilateral sanctions against China, abandon suppression of China's technological development, and refrain from arbitrary interference in China's internal affairs." In its readout of the meeting, the State Department said Mr Blinken "underscored the importance of responsibly managing the competition between the United States and the PRC through open channels of communication to ensure competition does not veer into conflict," using the acronym for the People's Republic of China. In the first round of talks on Sunday, Mr Blinken met for nearly six hours with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, after which both countries said they had agreed to continue high-level discussions. Both the US and China said Qin had accepted an invitation from Mr Blinken to visit Washington but Beijing made clear that "the China-U.S. relationship is at the lowest point since its establishment." That sentiment is widely shared by U.S. officials. In his meetings, Mr Blinken also pressed the Chinese to release detained American citizens and to take steps to curb the production and export of fentanyl precursors that are fueling the opioid crisis in the United States. Since the cancellation of Mr Blinken's trip in February, there have been some high-level engagements. CIA chief William Burns traveled to China in May, while China's commerce minister traveled to the US And Mr Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Wang Yi in Vienna in May. But those have been punctuated by bursts of angry rhetoric from both countries over the Taiwan Strait, their broader intentions in the Indo-Pacific, China's refusal to condemn Russia for its war against Ukraine, and US allegations from Washington that Beijing is attempting to boost its worldwide surveillance capabilities, including in Cuba. And, earlier this month, China's defense minister rebuffed a request from US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for a meeting on the sidelines of a security symposium in Singapore, a sign of continuing discontent. A Chinese naval ship near Dongju Island, Taiwan, April 10, 2023. (Lam Yik Fei/The New York Times) An austere greeting on the airport tarmac in Beijing sans a red carpet. A stone-faced handshake from Chinas top foreign policy official. A seat looking up at the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, perched at the head of a long table. To international audiences, the optics of Secretary of State Antony Blinkens two-day visit to Beijing barely raised any eyebrows. Foreign ministers are rarely, if ever, met with much fanfare at the airport. And an audience with a head of state alone is a sign of great importance and respect. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times But to nationalist-leaning audiences in China, especially on social media, the scenes tell a different story. To them, Blinken arrived only after months of pleading for an invitation. And during his visit, he was schooled on respecting Chinas interests and played supplicant to Xi. Chinese social media users gleefully noted that Blinken arrived on Fathers Day, the implication being using the parlance of the internet that Xi was Americas daddy. The nationalistic commentary in China around Blinkens visit underscored a point that Xi made in his meeting with the top U.S. diplomat Monday: Major-country competition does not represent the trend of the times. The translation: Surrounding China with security partners and cutting off its access to advanced technology is not healthy competition, but an invitation for conflict. Xis rejection of the framing of U.S.-China relations by the two most recent U.S. presidents raises doubts about whether the worlds two superpowers can reach a strategic accommodation with each other in the coming years. They apparently dont buy into this framework at all, said Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. That begs the question: Is it then possible to stabilize relations? It is unclear to what extent the state played a role in promoting the triumphant narrative online, though Chinese censors generally have broad controls to sway public opinion. Even in Chinas more staid state-controlled news outlets, which mostly carried the governments summaries of the meetings, coverage of the visit emphasized Beijings view that Blinken was visiting to reassure the Chinese government and listen to its concerns. Casting China as a strong and responsible power willing to lower tensions with a belligerent United States may help mask the less politically palatable reasons Beijing wants to reengage with Washington, analysts say. Chief among them is the need to stabilize the Chinese economy, which has been struggling to maintain a recovery after coming out of three years of punishing pandemic restrictions. The optics of Xi Jinping lecturing to a subordinate American secretary of state from the head of a boardroom table plays well to a domestic audience that China is a global power that not only demands, but receives, respect from other great powers, said Drew Thompson, a visiting senior research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. He noted that Blinkens two immediate predecessors Mike Pompeo and Rex Tillerson were seated next to Xi in armchairs when they met. (Xi sat with Pompeo in Beijing in June 2018, but did not meet the U.S. secretary when he returned that October.) Others pointed out that Bill Gates was invited to sit down next to a smiling Xi in an ornate wooden chair last week. U.S. officials say Blinkens trip was necessary because maintaining regular high-level diplomacy between the worlds two superpower rivals and its two largest economies and militaries is critical to avoiding open conflict. Not only do the two governments seek stability in the relationship, but so do their allies and other nations. And diplomacy allows the two sides to make their views clear in private and public talks. If you want to stand up for American values on human rights and if you want to free detained Americans here or enlist Chinas help on the fentanyl crisis, you cant do it from the sidelines, R. Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador in Beijing, said in an interview Tuesday. You need to talk to them and press them as Secretary Blinken did on his visit here. You dont give anything away by talking. The Chinese received the secretary with a great deal of dignity, added Burns, who was in all of Blinkens meetings. President Xi Jinping was very courteous in the meeting. Chinese officials, keen to turn the focus to commerce as an anchor in U.S.-China relations, had pushed for Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to visit first, but U.S. officials insisted that Blinken had to precede them. Now those other two U.S. Cabinet officials are expected to travel to Beijing this summer, as is John Kerry, the climate envoy. Analysts say China hopes the talks can help bolster business confidence when many of the traditional levers of Chinese economic growth, such as real estate, are facing dramatic challenges. Moreover, China wants to underscore to the Biden administration its opposition to trade restrictions that choke Chinese access to important technologies, such as advanced semiconductor chips. Xis main motivation in entertaining the Americans is because the Chinese economy is in a really bad state, said Willy Lam, an analyst of Chinese politics who is a senior fellow at Jamestown Foundation, a research institute in Washington. Exports are down noticeably, and more U.S. and Western firms are moving production bases away from China. In hosting Blinken, China also sought to lay the groundwork for Xi to visit the United States in November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit a trip that could lead to a one-on-one meeting with President Joe Biden, the kind of visit that would help burnish Xis image as a global statesman. Beijing may also be moved by a sense of urgency to press the Biden administration for more assurances that it wont inflame pro-independence sentiment in Taiwan, especially before presidential elections in both the United States and Taiwan next year. In both places, politicians have ramped up rhetoric critical of the Chinese Communist Party during campaign years because they think that helps win votes. China has been furious over the Biden administrations growing support for the democratic, self-governed island including a new trade agreement, more weapons sales and increased exchanges between officials. The Blinken visit gave China an opportunity to signal that it has warned the United States not to provoke Beijing over what its leaders have called the core of Chinas core interests. While Blinkens visit may have helped end the freeze in top-level bilateral diplomacy, it also highlighted the fact that important dialogue between the two nations remains imperiled by Chinas attitude over Taiwan and the widening military and economic rivalry. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August, Beijing froze formal interactions with Washington on military issues, climate change and narcotics. China has only agreed to restore talks on climate change. U.S. officials went into the meetings in Beijing hoping to get China to reopen direct channels of military-to-military communications, including ones between the U.S. defense secretary, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the head of the Indo-Pacific Command and their Chinese counterparts. Chinese officials meeting with Blinken rejected the request. c.2023 The New York Times Company The European Union plans to propose a financial aid package of around 50 billion euros ($55 billion) for Ukraine ahead of the upcoming donor conference in London, Bloomberg wrote on June 20. According to the outlet, the European Commission wants to help finance Kyiv's current expenditures and urgent reconstruction through grants, concessional loans, and guarantees. Reportedly, it should be financed through contributions of the member states and cover the period from 2024-2027. Bloomberg noted that the package would contribute less annually than this year's 18 billion euros ($20 billion) of financial aid for Ukraine. The EU's condition for distributing the package is that Ukraine fulfills reforms on the rule of law and addresses corruption, Bloomberg added. Anders Aslund: Preparing for Ukraines reconstruction As Ukraines counteroffensive gets underway, Western countries must help liberate all Ukrainians living under Russian occupation. But Western assistance must not end once Russia is defeated. Ukraines supporters must also help its postwar recovery. The Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lon The Kyiv IndependentAnders Aslund The news outlet said that the proposal should be made public on June 20, ahead of the June 22 conference in London, where donors will discuss how to aid Ukraine's reconstruction. According to the World Bank's assessment, Ukraine will need at least $411 billion for recovery and reconstruction. This figure is equivalent to 2.6 times Ukraine's projected gross domestic product in 2022. The World Bank's assessment also found that Russia's full-scale invasion had pushed 7.1 million people into poverty and rolled back 15 years of development progress. According to the Kyiv School of Economics, the total damages in Ukraine caused by Russia's war have reached almost $143.8 billion as of February 2023. Since the start of the invasion, the EU and its member states have pledged 49 billion euros ($54 billion) to Ukraine. Visitors at Three Sisters Falls on April 16, 2023, in Cleveland National Forest outside of Julian. (Sandy Huffaker / For the San Diego Union-Tribune) The San Diego County Sheriff's Department called off the search for a missing man Monday after a rescue team discovered a body at Three Sisters Falls. The Sheriff's Department did not release the name of the missing man and said in a news release that authorities were working to make a positive identification of the body. Less than two weeks ago, a woman died at the same waterfalls. In the latest incident, a 27-year-old man disappeared Friday while swimming with a companion at the middle pool of Three Sisters Falls. The collection of waterfalls near the town of Julian require a challenging hike to reach. The Sheriff's Department said the current was too dangerous for divers to search underwater until Monday. Read more: California's historic snowpack is turning to snowmelt. What you need to know Authorities across California have been urging swimmers to be extra cautious at rivers and lakes this spring and summer. As snow melts from the heavy winter storms, there's heightened risk of high water levels and strong currents. "This fast-moving water can be dangerous to swim in, even for the most experienced swimmers," the Governor's Office of Emergency Services said in a news release this month. According to a tally from the Bay Area News Group, at least 18 people have drowned or gone missing at rivers and tributaries across the state since mid-April. That includes the 27-year-old man who went missing last week at Three Sisters, as well as an Orange County woman who died there a week earlier. On June 8, Sarah Louise Crocker of Ladera Ranch and a teen girl who was a family friend were in the middle pool of the falls when the teen lost her footing. Crocker reached out to assist, and both fell over the edge of the waterfall to the bottom pool, officials said. Crocker died, and the 15-year-old girl was seriously injured. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. FISHERSVILLE On Tuesday afternoon on Interstate 64 in Fishersville, members of the Augusta County Sheriffs Office, Augusta County Fire-Rescue, Area 17 Virginia State Police, and other local first responders gathered at an overpass at mile marker 91 to honor a Wintergreen police officer who was slain in the line of duty last week. We are heartbroken about this tragedy and senseless loss, and we join together with the Wintergreen Police Department in honoring the memory and legacy of Officer Christopher Wagner," Augusta County Sheriff Donald Smith said in a press release. Local Authorities in Augusta County on Monday honored slain Officer M. Christopher Wagner II as the body of the slain police officer from the Wintergreen Police Department was escorted on Interstate 64 from the Chief Medical Examiners Office in Richmond to Coffman Funeral Home and Crematory in Staunton. Wagner, 31, of Stuarts Draft, was shot to death Friday night in Nelson County. Police arrested a suspect, a Maryland man, who is facing a charge of capital murder. On Tuesday, local authorities gathered atop an I-64 overpass in Fishersville to honor Wagner as his body was being escorted by members of the Wintergreen Police Department, Wintergreen Fire Rescue, the Nelson County Sheriffs Office, and Virginia State Police. His body was being taken from the Chief Medical Examiners Office in Richmond to Coffman Funeral Home and Crematory in Staunton, the release said. Wagner's funeral is scheduled for next week in Augusta County. Family frustrated no charges filed in Augusta County crash that killed 2, including baby THE DIGEST: White Star Mills building renovation, backyard woods and backcountry camping Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on Twitter. This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Body of slain Wintergreen police officer escorted to Staunton WASHINGTON Boeing and its subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences on Tuesday at the Paris Air Show unveiled plans to develop new and advanced defensive capabilities for the KC-46 Pegasus and other future aerial refueling and mobility aircraft. Boeing and Auroras move to strengthen the Pegasuss defensive measures comes as the military is preparing for the possibility of a war against an advanced adversary such as China. The Air Force worries such a conflict would involve fighting in heavily contested airspace. Top Air Force officials have said such an air war would likely involve an enemy targeting aerial tankers that would be needed to refuel fighters, bombers or other aircraft flying near the battlefield, and said its future tankers need to be able to survive such a conflict. The Air Forces shifting focus earlier this year prompted the service to accelerate its plans for developing a next-generation refueling tanker, and to cut in half the number of tankers it would buy as an interim step between the current purchase of 179 KC-46s and the so-called next-generation aerial refueling system, or NGAS. The Air Force is also considering forgoing a competition for the services next wave of refueling tankers. Instead, the service may go straight to Boeing and buy another series of modified KC-46s to tide it over until NGAS arrives in the late 2030s. The Air Force originally planned to buy 150 interim tankers, but is now more likely to buy about 75. Boeing said having new defensive measures would make the Pegasus better able to survive in a high-end conflict, and the Air Force could choose to use these capabilities on multiple platforms. Boeing also said the unspecified defensive measures could be used on next-generation refueling and mobility aircraft, suggesting they could be incorporated into Boeings expected pitch for NGAS. The KC-46A already features defensive systems that are unprecedented in a tanker, said Justin Hatcher, Boeings advanced technology director for the KC-46 program. We continue to evolve the KC-46 and other next-generation refueling and mobility platforms to further enhance mission versatility and survivability. A Boeing spokesperson declined to share details about the research the company is funding into tanker defensive capabilities, or how much the company will spend, citing proprietary concerns. Boeing said that as the defensive systems mature, the company will work with customers such as the Air Force to see whether to include these new capabilities on the KC-46 or other platforms, and when they would be added. Boeing pointed to the KC-46s existing defensive systems and countermeasures, such as protection against electromagnetic pulses, chemical or biological weapons, infrared countermeasures, radio frequency warnings, and armor on its flight deck. Aurora, which is based in Manassas, Virginia, and has a manufacturing facility in Columbus, Mississippi, specializes in developing advanced innovative designs for aircraft. Boeing acquired Aurora in 2017. Earlier this month, Lockheed Martin announced it had selected a General Electric Aerospace engine for its proposed LMXT strategic tanker, which it hopes to sell to the Air Force as an interim tanker. Boom Supersonic has announced new partners to help build its ultra-speedy jet that will connect New York and Paris in less than 4 hours see Overture Boom Supersonic Boom Supersonic has announced new partners from Spain and Italy to help build its highly anticipated Overture aircraft. CEO Blake Scholl contrasted its international partners with the competition between Concorde and others in the 1950s. Last year, Boom showed its new design which included new fuselage and gull wing configurations. Boom Supersonic announced new partners who'll help build its highly anticipated ultra-fast Overture jet, at the Paris Air Show on Tuesday. Pete Syme/Insider Spanish company Aerrnova will help produce the Overture's wing, described by CEO Blake Scholl as an "advanced, all-composite gull wing." Pete Syme/ Insider Leonardo, the Italian company also known for its defense work, will work on the Overture's fuselage. Pete Syme/Insider And the tail partner is Aciturri, another Spanish company. Pete Syme/Insider "The last time the world attempted supersonic, it was a fierce competition between countries," Scholl added. "But the team coming together with a vision of making the planet more accessible and making the earth a smaller place I find very pointedly to be a global team." Pete Syme/Insider Boom Supersonic previously unveiled updates to the Overture's design at last year's Farnborough Air Show in England... Boom Supersonic bringing the startup one step closer to producing the "world's fastest airliner." Boom Supersonic takeoff. Boom Supersonic Source: Boom Supersonic The Overture was already designed to fly incredibly fast. But to create a more efficient and quiet aircraft, Boom decreased the Overture's passenger capacity, increased its number of engines, and reconfigured the fuselage and gull wings. Boom Supersonic The high-speed aircraft will now have four smaller wing-mounted engines, which will decrease the operational costs and allow it to fly quieter, according to the startup. Boom Supersonic These engines will enable the Overture to soar at Mach 1.7 or about 1,300 miles per hour over water, faster than the speed of sound. Boom Supersonic Source: Insider But because of loud sonic booms, supersonic aircraft legally can't fly at ultra high speeds over land. Boom Supersonic Source: FAA As a result, the Overture will only fly at Mach 0.97 as it crosses land. Boom Supersonic Like the engine count, the design for the fuselage and gull wings has changed from previous iterations. Boom Supersonic The fuselage will now be wider towards the front of the plane, minimizing drag and improving fuel efficiency Boom Supersonic Source: Boom Supersonic while the new gull wings will decrease engine strain and increase safety as the aircraft flies at lower speeds, according to the startup. Boom Supersonic And because most of the Overture will be built using carbon fiber composites, the aircraft will be lighter and therefore more fuel efficient. Boom Supersonic Source: Boom Supersonic The company has been testing a small Overture prototype the Baby Boom out of Colorado. Boom Supersonic engine testing. Boom Supersonic So far, the net-zero carbon aircraft has undergone five wind tunnel tests performed in multiple locations. These tests have helped Boom improve the Overtures' performance, control, and fuel efficiency, a spokesperson told Insider. Boom Supersonic on bridge. Boom Supersonic As of now, the startup only has three customers: United, American, and Japan Airlines. Scholl said on Tuesday that Boom had received 130 orders and pre-orders. Boom Supersonic Source: Insider Production of a full-scale prototype will begin in 2024 in preparation for the aircraft's rollout in 2025. Boom Supersonic Overture factory. Boom Supersonic Boom Supersonic has also partnered with Northrop Grumman to build Overture iterations for government and military use. Boom Supersonic. Boom Supersonic In 2026, Boom will begin flight tests in Mojave, California, a spokesperson said. By 2029, the 65 to 80-passenger Overture could begin passenger service. Boom Supersonic When in service, the ultra-fast aircraft could be able to bring passengers from Newark Liberty International Airport to London in 3.5 hours or to Frankfurt, Germany in four hours. Boom Supersonic Source: Insider Read the original article on Business Insider FILE - In this Jan. 18, 1977, file photo, Billy Carter, younger brother of President-elect Jimmy Carter, talks on the phone on Jan. 18, 1977, in Plains,. Ga. (AP Photo/File) WASHINGTON (AP) Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden whose plea deal on federal tax and gun charges was made public Tuesday, is by no means the first presidential relative whose personal troubles have brought unwelcome headlines and headaches for a White House. The younger Biden will plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses in an agreement that also allows him to avoid full prosecution on a felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user, as long as he abides by certain conditions. The deal closes a long-running Justice Department probe into Hunter Biden, long known to struggle with substance abuse. Children of U.S. presidents, like Hunter Biden, have long been subjects of fascination and curiosity, with their every move under public scrutiny. Former President Donald Trump's son Donald Jr., for one, was in the news for meeting with Russian operatives offering damaging information on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign. Sometimes the behavior is pure mischief, such as little Quentin Roosevelt (son of Teddy) running his toy wagon through a painting of a first lady. Or Alice Roosevelt, Quentin's sister, who swore, showed up at parties with her pet snake and was so determined to smoke at the White House that she once called a news conference on its roof and lit a cigarette there. I can either run the country or I can attend to Alice, but I cannot possibly do both," the president famously lamented. Other misbehavior by presidential children has been more serious, and run afoul of the law. Jenna and Barbara, the twin daughters of President George W. Bush, were each busted for underage drinking during a five-week span in 2001. Jenna Bush Hager, who now works as a television host for NBC, described during a conversation on Today with Hoda & Jenna how her father responded with regrets of his own as she tried to apologize. When I called my dad to say, Im really sorry ... he said, No, Im sorry, Bush Hager said. He said, Im sorry, I told you you can be normal, and you cant. You cant order margaritas. She added of her parents: We embarrassed them, although they never said it, on the world stage. Both John Adams, the second U.S. president, and his son John Quincy Adams, the sixth, had children who suffered from alcoholism. George W. Bush, himself a future presidential child, was arrested for drunken driving in 1976 at the age of 30, and decided to give up alcohol a decade later. For several presidents, the financial dealings of relatives have caused unpleasant publicity. One notable example was Billy Carter, the beer-loving younger brother of President Jimmy Carter who was already known for making racist and anti-Semitic remarks when he registered as a paid agent of the Libyan government and accepted $220,000 from Tripoli that covered his bills and various expenses. Calling the Libyans the best friends I've got in the world right now, Billy Carter's actions came under scrutiny of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which unanimously voted to establish a panel to look into the first brother's business dealings abroad. The committee at the time included a young Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del. Richard Nixon once asked the CIA to put a full cover on his brother Donald, whose business connections the president blamed hurting him in elections, according to books written by former Nixon aides. Although the CIA declined, the Secret Service agreed to keep watch on Donald, who had ties to the billionaire Howard Hughes and once received a $205,000 loan from him. Neil Bush, one of President George H.W. Bush's six children, was an outside director at a failed savings and loan association that came under scrutiny of federal regulators in the 1990s. He did not face criminal charges but did agree to help settle a civil case brought by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as one of a dozen defendants in a negligence suit. Neil Bush had faced accusations of conflict of interest through his position at Silverado Banking, Savings and Loan Association in Denver, which he repeatedly denied. He asserted that he was unfairly targeted because he was a son of a president. The brothers of former first lady Hillary Clinton Tony and Hugh Rodham were publicly rebuked by their brother-in-law's administration for a planned business venture that would entail exporting hazelnuts from the republic of Georgia with assistance from a political rival of Eduard Shevardnadze, who was the country's president at the time. Though the Clinton White House distanced itself from those dealings, it didn't hesitate to offer presidential help to other family members. Shortly before leaving office in 2001, President Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother, Roger, for a 1985 drug offense in which he conspired to distribute cocaine. The president credited the conviction for helping to turn Roger Clinton's life around and told then-U.S. attorney Asa Hutchinson, the prosecutor in the case, that the episode probably saved his brother's life. "The prosecution was very tough on the family and then-Governor Clinton responded to it as a loving brother would," Hutchinson, who is now running for the Republican presidential nomination, told the Associated Press at the time. I havent followed Roger that closely, but I know hes made an effort to change directions. Boston Firefighter asking for publics help in locating missing 14-year-old granddaughter Boston Firefighters Local 718 Vice President is turning to the public for help in finding his missing 14-year-old granddaughter. Vice President Leroy Heyward announced Monday evening that his granddaughter Shariyah Heyward went missing last Thursday. It is with a humble heart that I ask my beloved Boston community members for help in the search for her. Our family is worried for her safety and is desperately hoping to be safely reunited, said Heyward. Boston Police say Shariyah was last seen in the area of One Westinghouse Plaza in Hyde Park, which is the Academy of the Pacific Rim Public Charter School location. According to police, Shariyah has run away before and is known to frequent the Adams Street area and could possibly be with a man named Tru. She was last seen wearing a black crop top shirt, blue jeans with multicolored patches, and yellow Crocs. Anyone with information regarding her whereabouts is advised to contact 911 or D-4 Detectives at 617-343-5619. As we go through this difficult time, we ask everyone to look out for her and keep her and our family in their prayers, said Heyward 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 A bride and groom say they are 'processing this tragedy' after 10 of their wedding guests were killed in a bus crash Multiple people were killed and injured in the bus crash, as the BBC reported. AP Photo/Mark Baker A wedding bus crashed after leaving an Australian wedding, killing 10 guests who attended the event. The couple whose wedding the bus departed from said they were "processing this tragedy" on Monday. The driver was charged with multiple counts of dangerous driving and negligence, reports said. A newlywed couple have spoken out after a bus crash killed 10 of their wedding guests in Australia. On June 11, a bus transporting guests from Mitchell Gaffney and Madeleine Edsell's wedding in the Hunter Valley, a wine region a two-hour drive from Sydney, overturned, according to the BBC. Ten people died and at least 15 others were injured in the incident, which occurred near the town of Greta, the BBC reported. As of Monday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that nine of the guests injured in the crash were in stable condition. The New South Wales premier's office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, which was sent outside of normal business hours. Gaffney and Edsell publicly commented on the incident on Monday, when they released a statement saying they were "processing this tragedy." Floral tributes sit at the scene of a bus crash in Hunter Valley, Australia. Roni Bintang/Getty Images "While we appreciate the outpouring of love and support from the community, we ask that the media respect our privacy while we grieve," Gaffney and Edsell said in a statement shared through the New South Wales premier's office on Monday, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. "Our primary focus at this time is processing this tragedy, and supporting our family and friends," the statement went on to say. Gaffney and Edsell did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, and The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the newlyweds said they would not participate in media interviews. Gaffney's father, John Gaffney, posted a statement about the crash on LinkedIn on Sunday, urging people to push through legislation regarding seatbelts on buses. "Last Sunday my wife and I attended our son's wedding in the Hunter Valley NSW. It was a glorious occasion until news of the bus crash with ten people losing their lives came within a few hours that has shattered many lives," he said in his post. "Hopefully something positive can come out of this tragedy. 50 years ago the fitting and wearing of seat belts became compulsory in Australia for all occupants of motor cars saving countless lives since." "Whilst my wife and I can't do this on our own we believe ultimately everyone who rides a bus should have access to a seatbelt and be compelled by laws to wear them," he went on to say. "If you can assist by lobbying your federal, state and members that would be appreciated. If a federal government petition could be set up that would be most appreciated." The bus driver, Brett Button, 58, was charged with 10 counts of dangerous driving which resulted in death, as well as one count of negligent driving, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Brett Button leaves Cessnock Police Station on June 13, 2023. Roni Bintang/Getty Images During Button's initial court proceedings at Cessnock Local Court on June 13, a police prosecutor cited witnesses who said Button was unsafely driving for a "prolonged" time period and that he told passengers "fasten your seatbelts" just before the crash, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Button was released on bail and will be tried at a later date, the outlet went on to report. Correction: June 20, 2023 An earlier version of this story misstated the number of guests injured in the bus crash who were in stable condition; as of Monday, nine people were in stable condition, not 13. Read the original article on Insider Brighten Up Your Summer With These Sweet White Wines Black woman in green turtle neck drinking wine on a vinyard while eating grapes and cheese Theres nothing like popping a bottle of chilled sweet white wine on a warm summer day. The crisp flavor of a sweet wine compliments the brighter notes of summertime foods. Lemon and herb fish, a crunchy salad, and a platter of fruit all go well with the sweet adult beverage. But, what is sweet white wine and how is it different from the run-of-the-mill white wine? How is white wine made? White wine and sweet white wine differ in how the wine is made. Both wines are made from grapes of all colors including red and green grapes. The skin is removed during the process of making both types of wine. Skins are bitter and are generally not used during the ferment, doctor of education, sommelier, certified winemaker, master wine taster, and certified specialist of wine John McTavish told 21Ninety. To make non-sweet white wine, the juice is squeezed from the grapes and ferments for a longer period of time than the sweet variety. If the ferment is longer, all the sugar in the juice turns into ethanol alcohol which is what we drink, McTavish said. Making Sweet White Wine The all-around wine expert said that there are two main ways to make the beverage. The most common process involves shortening the fermentation process to leave more sugar and less alcohol in the mix. Halting the ferment early leaves a greater amount of residual sugar in the wine, making it sweeter, the master wine taster mentioned. Drying or freezing the grapes ahead of fermentation is another method. These two processes concentrate the sugars within the fruit. How to find a good sweet white wine A good sweet wine should have a balance of sweetness from the fruit as well as some natural acidity from the juice, Dr. McTavish explained. When there is no acid present, the wine specialist noted that the wine can have an almost gummy texture. On the flip side, if there is too much acid present, then the wine will more often than not have a sour taste. Balance is the key in the winemaking process, McTavish added. When shopping for sweet white wines, Dr. McTavish suggests paying attention to the region listed on the label. Canadas Icewine, Frances Sauternes, Italys Recioto, Portugals Porto, and Spains Cream Sherry are the varieties the winemaker mentioned. Osborne White Porto Osborne White Porto $25 Buy Now Photo Courtesy of Total Wine Dr. McTavish recommended trying a Portuguese Porto, so Osbornes White Porto had to be on the list. It boasts a blend of floral and honey notes. With an ABV of 19.5 percent its on the stronger side, so one glass goes a long way. This Portuguese Porto has 750ml of medium-bodied deliciousness B Lovely Riesling B Lovely Riesling $14 Buy Now Photo Courtesy of tot Hailing from Washington state is B Lovelys Riesling. The light-bodied sweet white wine has an ABV of 12.5 percent. Notes of peach, apricots, and citrus burst from the 750ml bottle. Chateau Miselle Sauternes Chateau Miselle Sauternes $18 Buy Now Photo Courtesy of Total Wine Another variety of Dr. McTavish recommended was the French Sauternes. Chateau Miselle Sauternes is a French wine from the Bordeaux region of France. The medium-bodied sweet white wine exudes notes of peaches and honey. A great option to pair with dessert. One 375ml bottle has an ABV of 13 percent. Mueller Piesporter Michelsburg Auslese Mueller Piesporter Michelsburg Auslese $19 Buy Now Photo Courtesy of Total Wine Mueller Piesporter Michelsburg Auslese is a sweet white wine from Germany. The medium-bodied sweet white wine tastes of peach and citrus. One 750ml bottle has an ABV of 14 percent. Inniskillin Icewine Spark Vidal Inniskillin Icewine Spark Vidal $90 Buy Now Photo Courtesy of Total Wine Inniskillin Icewine Spark Vidal is a Canadian Icewine with a lower ABV of 10 percent. As an ice wine its technically on the sweeter side than most sweet white wines, according to the experts guidelines. This particular light-bodied wine has spiced fruity notes of peach and nectarine in each 375ml bottle. Our editors love finding you the best products and offers! If you purchase something by clicking on one of the affiliate links on our website, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The post Brighten Up Your Summer With These Sweet White Wines appeared first on 21Ninety. A British billionaire and adventurer is one of the 5 people in the missing Titan tourist submersible Billionaire Hamish Harding is aboard the missing submersible that was bringing tourists to the Titanic shipwreck. Drew Angerer/Getty Images; Victoria Sirakova/Getty Images Businessman Hamish Harding was aboard the Titanic tourist submersible that went missing on Sunday. Harding wrote on Instagram that there was bad weather but a "window" had opened up for a dive. Harding has been on several adventures, including a trip on Blue Origin's spaceflight in June 2022. British billionaire Hamish Harding was aboard the Titanic tourist submersible when it went missing on Sunday. Harding's stepson, Brian Szasz, confirmed his disappearance via posts on his Facebook and Twitter accounts. "Hamish my stepdad is lost in a submarine thoughts and prayers that the rescue mission will be successful," Szasz said in his Facebook post on Monday. Harding, the founder and chairman of an aircraft brokerage company Action Aviation, is a prominent adventurer and thrill seeker. The businessman made an Instagram post on Saturday, the day before the five-person crew made their fateful dive. "Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow," Harding wrote on Instagram. Harding holds three Guinness World Records, including one for spending the "longest time traversing the deepest part of the ocean on a single dive." The 58-year-old was one of the passengers on Jeff Bezos' rocket company Blue Origin's fifth human spaceflight in June 2022. "We are thankful for the continued efforts of the authorities and companies that have stepped in to aid in the rescue efforts," Mark Butler, Action Aviation's managing director, told Insider in a statement. "The team at Action Aviation are extremely proud of Hamish and we look forward to welcoming him home," he added. Five passengers, including Harding, are aboard the submersible. Search efforts by the US Coast Guard are currently ongoing. But time is running short, and the crew in the submersible could run out of oxygen by Thursday afternoon that is, if the vessel is still intact. Author's note: June 21, 2023 This story has been updated with responses from Mark Butler, Action Aviation's managing director. Read the original article on Insider British billionaire missing on Titanic submarine gave eerie warning in Instagram post before dive A British billionaire who is feared to be on board the missing Titanic tourist submarine wrote a last post warning about temperamental weather conditions ahead of the mission. Billionaire Hamish Harding, who has previously travelled on the Challenger Deep to the bottom of the ocean and on Jeff Bezos Blue Origin into space, posted on Instagram on Sunday to announce he was joining OceanGate Expeditions for their Titanic mission. That was the last time he posted before news broke that the submersible is missing somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Hamish Harding is feared missing on board the Titanic tourist submarine (Facebook/Hamish Harding) In his eerie last post before the mission, Mr Harding said it would be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. The British aviator said this was because of the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years but the opening of a weather window led to the mission attempting a dive on Monday. He signed off by saying: More expedition updates to follow IF the weather holds! The father-of-two has not been heard from since. His stepson, Brian Szasz, confirmed his stepfather was on board the vessel when it went missing. Hamish Harding, my step father, has gone missing on submarine. Thoughts and prayers, he wrote on Facebook, sharing family photos and articles. Thoughts and prayers for my Mom and Hamish Harding, he added. British billionaire Hamish Harding posted on social media of his excitement at visiting the Titanic wreckage (Action Aviation Chairman) In a follow-up post, he added: Thoughts and prayers for my stepfather Hamish Harding as his submarine has gone missing exploring Titanic. Search and rescue mission is underway. In a statement, a spokesperson for the UKs Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: We are in contact with the family of a British man following reports of a missing submarine off the coast of North America. OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush and renowned French underwater explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet are also feared to be among those onboard, according to Sky News. OceanGate Expeditions submersible vessel Titan, which has gone missing during a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck - American Photo Archive/Alamy A remotely operated vehicle capable of winching the stricken submersible Titan out of the Atlantic has been blocked from joining the rescue mission by the US government, The Telegraph understands. A team from deepwater specialists Magellan Limited has been waiting to leave an airport in the Channel Islands since 7pm on Monday, but approval for take-off has yet to be received. The Guernsey-based firm produced the first full-sized digital scan of the Titanic last summer, the largest underwater project of its kind as two submarines put together 700,000 images of the wreck. Bretton Hunchak, former president of RMS Titanic, Inc, which collaborated with Magellan, says the company has essential equipment and expertise to help locate OceanGates Titan submersible that went missing on a dive to the wreck of the luxury passenger liner, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in April 1912. But despite receiving apparent clearance from the Ministry of Defence to leave UK airspace, the American government has allegedly yet to authorise the teams request to join rescuers 435 miles south of St Johns, Newfoundland. Mr Hunchak said US officials have indicated they would prefer to use a New York-based vessel capable of exploring 3,000m below water, whereas Magellans can plunge depths of up to 5,000m. He added Magellans remotely operated vehicle was unique in that it was likely the only asset available to have a winch capable of dragging submersibles from the depths of the ocean. It can also detect signals and send them above the surface. A rescue operation is underway in search of the technologically advanced submersible vessel Titan - OceanGate Expeditions Mr Hunchak said the desperate situation was painful to him as he described Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a Frenchman reported to be among those on the submersible, as a personal mentor. He told The Telegraph: We have British, French and US citizens on board and every minute here counts. This is not a rational decision, this is the only asset we have with a winch and the guys are experts in this area. Why not run both vessels? The more help we can get the better and denying us means you are giving up on every option you have to save lives. These are irreplaceable human beings. Mr Hunchak said he was hopeful the seven-strong team would be able to fly out to join the mission later on Tuesday. His pleas have been echoed by David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate. Mr Concannon told NewsNation: They are the same group, the experts, that did the advanced survey of the Titanic last year. They are mobilised. Theyre sitting on the tarmac, ready to go. We have a ship off Newfoundland that is ready to take them to the site. We have people whose lives are at stake. You have to move. We have assets that are ready to go and theyre sitting and waiting. Meanwhile, Brandon Williams, the Republican congressman and former Navy officer, has called for the US to deploy a nuclear submarine to search for the missing watercraft. He tweeted: .@FoxNews: Rep. Williams, I have 500 days at sea on a submarine, so my heart really goes out to the missing crewmen and their families. The United States Navy needs to step up and do everything possible to help locate that submarine. https://t.co/k4iIlp7o3B Rep. Brandon Williams (@RepWilliams) June 20, 2023 On Tuesday, the Ministry of Defence said it was on hand to help the mission, but it emerged Natos submarine rescue system (NSRS) will not be able to reach the stricken vessel. An NSRS submersible can operate at depths of up to 610m, while the Titanic wreck is much deeper at 3,800m. A spokesman said: As the host nation for Natos multi-national submarine rescue capability, we continue to monitor the incident in the North Atlantic and will guide and assist in any response activity as appropriate. A rescue mission involving the US Coast Guard and an aircraft that can detect underwater vessels took place on Monday as rescuers raced to reach the group before their oxygen supplies were exhausted. The submersible has 96 hours of oxygen, and rescuers warned that it could take up to two days to reach the ocean floor if the craft had sunk there. The OceanGate Expeditions tour group, which takes explorers to the depths of the Atlantic for $250,000 (195,000) per person, is believed to have lost contact when the vessel was directly above the Titanic wreck. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer. Hazy air in and around Salt Lake City on Friday, May 19, 2023. Much of Utah is experiencing a cold front that moved into northern Utah Monday night and dropped temperatures. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News A cold front that moved into northern Utah on Monday night dropped temperatures and it feels like the region time-traveled back to mid-May normals, with a smattering of rain, a light dust of snow high in the mountains and gusty winds. At 11 a.m. Tuesday, compared to 24 hours earlier, temperatures had plunged 22 degrees a dramatic cooling off. We'll see much cooler temperatures today behind a cold front, particularly over N UT where it will feel more like mid May than late June! A few showers and storms will impact NE UT & SW WY into the afternoon & breezy conditions will linger over southern Utah. #utwx #wywx pic.twitter.com/wrmdUIfZcc NWS Salt Lake City (@NWSSaltLakeCity) June 20, 2023 Residents shouldnt worry about this June behaving strangely because, as Alex DeSmet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City, explained, this is the way it is supposed to be. A lot of people believe it has been a cooler than normal month, but we are actually 1.3 degrees above normal (temperatures) for June so far, he said. A lot of people are mentioning how cool it has been, but I think it can be attributed to the fact that the last two Junes were so hot. So last year at this time, we had already had four 103 degree days. And two years ago by this time, we had already had five 100 degree days. DeSmet said those temperatures should help people put it in perspective. It was much hotter than normal. What we are experiencing so far this June is much closer to normal than what we have experienced over the last couple of years. So I think it is a testament of just hard it was, particularly these last two Junes compared to whats normal. Another example, DeSmet said, was that on June 15, 2021, it hit 107 degrees tying the all-time record high for that date. Wildfires, June and watering DeSmet said a benefit of the near normal weather experienced across the state is fewer wildfires. While there have been a few that have popped up Willard Canyon and near Hurricane he said it hasnt been nearly as bad as it had been the past couple of years. Related Were also delaying the start of the fire season. Some of the valley grasses are turning brown, but if you get above the valley the fuels are still green, he said. That is another advantage of it being cooler and wetter is that we dont have those large wildfires. Karl Hunt, spokesman for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, said Utah has had 137 wildfires so far this year, while in as of June 19 last year, there were 238 wildfires logged. The 10 year average as of June 19 is 271.4 total wildfires, he said. The cooler weather and afternoon rain showers have also alleviated the pressure on outdoor irrigators. Many northern Utah landscapes remain lush and dont require as much watering, especially in contrast to the last two years. The Utah Division of Water Resources, through its Slow the Flow program, offers a weekly watering guide for Utah residents. As the front moves on, DeSmet said it will begin to grow warmer, with temperatures climbing into the 80s for the week. Through the end of the month, he said it looks to be dry while July because it is still too far out to accurately predict is on the fence with equal chances of what it will deliver. Bulgarian president speaks out against transferring ammunition to Ukraine President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev Bulgarian President Rumen Radev considers his country's possible participation in EUs project to provide Ukraine with artillery shells a "mistake, he said during a conversation with journalists on June 20, Bulgarian outlet BNR reported. Read also: Bulgaria closes ports for ships with Russian registration due to EU sanctions "Representing Bulgaria in the EU Council, I defended this position that Bulgaria is not part of the Million Rounds for Ukraine initiative," said Radev. If the government makes such a decision, I think it will be a mistake. He argues Russia's war against Ukraine is escalating, carries huge risks, and drains economies and societies. Radev also added that both at home and in Brussels he argued that the country should not interfere in the war by supplying weapons to Ukraine. Read also: Reznikov meets with Pentagon chief in Brussels ahead of Ramstein format meeting The issue of sending ammunition to Ukraine is causing a dispute between President Radev and Bulgarian PM Nikolay Denkov, who believes that Sofia should honor its commitments. At the same time, on June 16, Bulgaria's newly elected Defense Minister Todor Tagarev said that Bulgaria wants to join the European Union's initiative to provide Ukraine with one million artillery rounds within a year. Read also: Bulgaria to temporarily ban food imports from Ukraine, except for those in transit On May 3, the EU member states finalized an agreement to supply Ukraine with 1 million 155mm artillery rounds by March 2024. Bulgaria is one of two EU countries, besides neutral Ireland, that did not take part in the joint purchase of ammunition for Ukraine. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine World needs stable Sino-US ties, Xi says 08:42, June 20, 2023 By ZHANG YUNBI ( Chinadaily.com.cn President Xi Jinping meets with visiting United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday. LI XUEREN / XINHUA Relations: Countries urged to act with sense of responsibility President Xi Jinping has urged the United States to respect China, reject major-country competition and honor the positive statements and consensus made at his meeting with US President Joe Biden last year. Xi made the remarks when meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a two-day visit, his first to China in his current capacity. Xi pointed out that "the world needs a generally stable China-US relationship", and "whether the two countries can find the right way to get along bears on the future and destiny of humanity". "Planet Earth is big enough to accommodate the respective development and common prosperity of China and the US," he said. Speaking on major-country competition as sought by Washington recently, Xi emphasized that such competition "does not represent the trend of the times, still less can it solve the US' own problems or the challenges facing the world". "China respects US interests and does not seek to challenge or displace the US. In the same vein, the US needs to respect China and must not hurt China's legitimate rights and interests," he said. "Neither side should try to shape the other side by its own will, still less deprive the other side of its legitimate right to development," he added. When elaborating on the bilateral ties, Xi said China always hopes to see a sound and steady China-US relationship and believes that the two major countries can overcome various difficulties and find the right way to get along based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. He called on the US to adopt a rational and pragmatic attitude, and work toward the same goal with China. Xi said the two sides need to remain committed to the common understandings that he and President Biden reached in Bali, Indonesia, last year, and "translate the positive statements into actions so as to stabilize and improve China-US relations". Blinken conveyed Biden's greetings to Xi. He said Biden believes that the US and China have an obligation to responsibly manage their relations, adding that this is in the interests of the US, China and the world. He also said the US is committed to the agenda set by the two presidents in Bali. The US stands by the commitments made by President Biden, namely that the US does not seek a new Cold War and does not seek to change China's system, that US alliances are not directed at China, and that it does not support "Taiwan independence" and does not seek conflict with China, Blinken said. The US side looks forward to having high-level engagement with the Chinese side, keeping open lines of communication, responsibly managing differences and pursuing dialogue, exchanges and cooperation, he added. Observers said that Xi made his remarks to Blinken at a time when Washington has persisted in suppressing and bullying China while hollowing out the one-China principle, pushing the relations to a new low. "That's why many people from outside the two countries have expected that, through the two-way meetings during Blinken's China visit, the two sides could return to the consensus reached by the two heads of state in Bali," said Ling Shengli, secretary-general of the International Security Research Center at China Foreign Affairs University. "Despite various challenges, there is room for the two sides to embark on collaboration, and they could first work on specific issues and affairs and push for the relations' improvement bit by bit, step by step," he said. When highlighting the two-way ties' significance in bilateral and global contexts, Xi told Blinken that the Chinese, like the Americans, are dignified, confident and self-reliant people, and both peoples "have the right to pursue a better life". "The common interests of the two countries should be valued, and their respective success is an opportunity instead of a threat to each other," Xi said. The international community is generally concerned about the current state of China-US ties, and it does not want to see conflict or confrontation between China and the US or to take sides, Xi said. "The two countries should act with a sense of responsibility for history, for the people and for the world, and handle China-US relations properly," he said. Wu Xinbo, dean of Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, noted that currently "the overall China-US ties are still vulnerable and unstable". With regard to the ties' ups and downs in the past few months, Wu said key lessons worth noting include that Washington should keep a cool head in case of an accident, and "the US side should be very prudent in tackling matters related to the Taiwan question, which involves China's core interests". On Sunday, Beijing and Washington agreed to advance collaboration and exchange of visits during the talks between State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Blinken. Earlier on Monday, Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, also met with Blinken. Wang asked the US to "stop hyping up the 'China threat', lift illegal unilateral sanctions against China, stop its suppression of China's scientific and technological development, and refrain from interfering in China's internal affairs". Wang urged the US not to apply to China the belief that "a strong nation surely will seek hegemony", or to use the past trajectories of traditional Western powers to misjudge China. "This is the key to whether the US policy toward China can truly return to an objective and rational approach," he said. Su Xiaohui, deputy director of the Department of American Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said that China has consistently honored and supported peace, and "many countries disagree with the US narrative that China seeks hegemony or to bully others when it is getting stronger". As the US will host this year's APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, Wang said it is an important opportunity for the US to rethink and recalibrate its Asia-Pacific policy. China is ready to work with the US to explore a way for constructive interaction in the Asia-Pacific region, and it hopes that the US, as the APEC host, will work with China to bring Asia-Pacific cooperation back to the right direction, Wang said. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) The Burisma board, a laptop scandal and struggles with addiction: What to know about Hunter Biden's legal troubles There are two layers at a minimum to Hunter Bidens troubled life: Theres what he has done, and theres what his fathers political opponents said and did about it. On Tuesday, one chapter neared a close, as federal prosecutors revealed a plea deal that will resolve a yearslong criminal investigation into Hunter Bidens tax issues and his purchase of a gun. But Republicans scrutiny over the presidents son stretches beyond that criminal probe, and it is sure to persist once the plea deal is finalized. Here is a guide to the prominent struggles and scandals Hunter Biden has faced. Early life Hunter Biden was born Feb. 4, 1970, the second child of Joe Biden and his first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden. Hunters old brother, Beau, was born in 1969, and his sister, Naomi, was born in 1971. In 1972, Neilia and Naomi Biden died in a car crash on the way to buy a Christmas tree. Beau and Hunter were in the car as well. Hunters skull was fractured in the accident, but he and Beau both survived. Biden got his bachelors degree from Georgetown University and his J.D., in 1996, from Yale Law School. For much of his life, he has struggled with substance abuse. In 2013, he joined the U.S. Navy Reserves in a White House ceremony attended by his father, who was then the vice president. But he was discharged after testing positive for cocaine on his first day at the naval base. Hunter has said he believes he accidentally consumed the cocaine when smoking a cigarette laced with the substance. Two years later, his brother, Beau, died of brain cancer. Throughout his career, Hunter Biden has had a wide variety of business dealings. His work with Chinese and Ukrainian companies has drawn the most attention. Ties to Chinese businesses Hunter Biden has drawn media scrutiny over the years for connections to a scandal-plagued, now-bankrupt Chinese energy giant, CEFC China Energy. According to a Washington Post report, the company and its executives paid $4.8 million to entities controlled by Hunter Biden and James Biden (the presidents brother) in the years between Joe Bidens time as vice president and president. The company was founded by Ye Jianming, a Chinese national who was deputy secretary for several years in a Chinese military organization that has been called a front for a unit of the Peoples Liberation Army responsible for intelligence-gathering and propaganda, according to The New York Times. Ye also reportedly sent a gift to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, the paper reported, and his company hired many former military officers and received billions of dollars in loans from government banks. A CNN report said the firm aligned itself so closely with the Chinese government that it was often hard to distinguish between the two, and that Ye appeared to be Chinas unofficial energy envoy. Hunter Biden met Ye in May 2017, according to the Times, and offered to help him identify investment opportunities in the U.S. energy sector. Biden told The New Yorker that Ye gave him a 2.8-carat diamond worth about $10,000 after the meeting. Biden said he knew it wasnt a good idea to take it, and he gave it to his associates. He kept working with Ye, though, and told the magazine he did not consider Ye to be a shady character at all. He started negotiating a deal for the Chinese energy conglomerate to invest in a Louisiana liquefied natural gas project. Ye recruited Hunter Biden to provide legal advice to another CEFC official, Patrick Ho. Biden signed an engagement letter on Sept. 18, 2017, agreeing to a $1 million retainer, according to the Post. In November 2017, Ye and Biden agreed on the Louisiana deal, according to The New Yorker. The same month, FBI agents arrested Ho, who immediately called James Biden. James Biden thought Ho was trying to reach Hunter, he later told The New York Times. Ho was convicted of seeking to boost CEFCs prospects in Africa by bribing officials in Chad and Uganda. He received a three-year prison sentence for the offense March 25, 2019. The Louisiana investment deal fell through. Hunter Biden told The New Yorker it was bad luck. The Wall Street Journal reported that a review of related corporate records showed no role for now-President Joe Biden in connection to his sons relationship with CEFC. And Ye vanished. On Oct. 12, 2018, Reuters reported that Chinese prosecutors accused him of bribing a top Communist Party official. That official pleaded guilty. The Chinese government aggressively censored references to Ye on Chinese social media network WeChat, and researchers at the University of Hong Kong concluded Ye was one of the most censored topics of 2018. Hunter Bidens work with Ye and Ho wasnt his only China-linked business work. He also helped start a private equity fund, known as BHR, with a number of partners, including Chinese businessman Jonathan Li. Biden and two other American board members controlled 30 percent of the firm, according to The New York Times, and Chinese investors including the state-owned Bank of China controlled the rest. The New Yorker reported that Hunter did not take an equity stake in BHR Partners until after his father left the White House. Hunter traveled with his father, then the vice president, to China in December 2013. On the trip, he helped arrange for Li and the vice president to shake hands, as The New Yorker detailed. The fund helped a subsidiary of a Chinese defense conglomerate buy a Michigan auto parts maker, the Times reported, and it helped a Chinese company buy one of the worlds richest cobalt mines in 2016. Cobalt is an essential ingredient in batteries for electric cars. The Times noted that Joe Bidens administration has warned that China might use its growing dominance of cobalt to disrupt Americas retooling of its auto industry to make electric vehicles. A Ukrainian energy company and a Trump impeachment In 2014, Hunter Biden joined the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company helmed by Mykola Zlochevsky who previously served in the government of Ukraines Russia-friendly former president, Viktor Yanukovych. At the time, Joe Biden was helping lead the Obama administrations Ukraine policy. Some U.S. officials raised concerns internally about the business relationship. And The New York Times wrote in a 2015 editorial that Hunter undermined his fathers Ukraine work by sitting on Burismas board. While Hunter was on Burismas board, his father along with a host of European allies pushed the Ukrainian government to oust prosecutor Viktor Shokin. Shokins office had been investigating Burisma, and Joe Biden indicated that Ukraine wouldnt receive a financial aid package until Shokin was out. So the Ukrainian government which has long relied heavily on Western aid fired him. Biden wasnt alone in pushing for Shokins ouster; a host of European allies and international institutions also called for his removal. No evidence has emerged that Hunter Biden ever pushed his father to seek Shokins firing. But Trumps allies charged that the vice president pushed for Shokins firing to protect the company linked to his son. In 2019, as the next U.S. presidential election neared, then-President Donald Trump and his allies homed in on Hunter Bidens Ukraine dealings. Specifically, Trump wanted Ukrainian authorities to investigate the Biden family and the firing of Shokin and he wanted the world to know about it. On a July 25 phone call, Trump pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to look into the Bidens. The call came as the Trump administration had paused the delivery of military aid to Ukraine. Gordon Sondland, Trumps ambassador to the European Union, testified to Congress that he believed Trump sought a quid pro quo: If Zelensky wanted U.S. military aid and a White House meeting with Trump, he would need to announce a Biden investigation. The Democratic-controlled House impeached Trump over the effort, but the Republican-controlled Senate acquitted him. The saga drew global attention but was quickly eclipsed by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. DOJ opens an investigation A secret irony hung over the impeachment saga: Unbeknownst to Trump and just about everyone else, the Justice Department was already quietly investigating Bidens son. News broke of the probes existence about a month after Trump lost his reelection bid to Biden. In the years since, the probe simmered away, with investigators focusing on tax violations and Hunters purchase of a gun in 2018 a year when he has said he regularly used crack cocaine. The plea deal revealed Tuesday concludes the investigation and will likely allow Hunter Biden to avoid prison if he complies with the terms of the agreement. The laptop saga In the final weeks of the 2020 presidential campaign, Trumps allies obtained information from a laptop they said Hunter Biden had abandoned at a Delaware computer repair shop. Rudy Giuliani shared the material with the New York Post, which reported on the laptops contents. Some of those contents related to Hunter Bidens dealings with CEFC China and Burisma. Other materials included sexually explicit photos of him, as well as pictures that appeared to document his use of illegal drugs. The Posts reporting garnered aggressive pushback, including from dozens of former intelligence officials who signed a letter saying the laptop had all the classic earmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign. Twitter then blocked tweets about the story and suspended the New York Posts account for over two weeks before reversing itself. Facebook also temporarily blocked users from sharing the reporting. But years passed, and no evidence emerged that the reporting on the laptop sprung from a Russian disinformation operation, as Vox has noted. POLITICO, The New York Times and The Washington Post all reported on its contents. Twitters former head of safety and integrity told Congress this year that the social network shouldnt have blocked the story. And Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebooks parent company, also expressed regret about the move. His father becomes president, and Republicans keep up scrutiny Since the 2020 election, Hunter Biden has been a prime focus of House Republicans. In recent weeks, members of Congress have reviewed an FBI document from 2020 memorializing investigators conversations with a trusted anonymous source. That source told the FBI they spoke years ago with Burisma chief Mykola Zlochevsky about Hunter Bidens work with the company. The source said that Zlochevsky claimed to have paid a $5 million bribe to then-Vice President Joe Biden and that he had audio recordings related to it. No evidence has emerged that the bribe was paid, and any such recordings have yet to see the light of day. But Trump has pointed to the FBI document as proof that Biden took a bribe, which it isnt. David Brock, a Democratic operative and the head of Facts First USA, issued a statement calling GOP scrutiny of the presidents son a shameless inquisition. Homelessness taught us humility. How this Idaho family was able to buy a house On a Wednesday morning, April and Christopher Kuper and their three children helped volunteers construct the walls of a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Caldwell, nailing plywood to the walls and cutting in holes for the windows. The newly constructed building will be their new home in October. Just a few years ago, their lives had been filled with hardship. The family received a notice of nonrenewal of their lease, which ultimately led the family to homelessness in 2020, Christopher said the same year his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. April started looking for places, but during COVID, the housing market surged (and) rents went sky high, Christopher said. They continued to struggle, Christopher said. That was until First Story and Hayden Homes worked together to donate a new home to the family. Darren Henry, of Hayden Homes, uses a nail gun to secure the plywood to the frame of the house on June 14, 2023. Daniel Ramirez First Story, a nonprofit organization located in Bend, Oregon, offers to grant homes to eligible families in the Pacific Northwest region. To qualify, families are required to complete homeowner education and be below 80% of the median income of the area where the home will be constructed. According to U.S. census data, the median household income in Caldwell is $59,795. The nonprofit receives gifts of either material, labor or financial donations, and works with Hayden Homes on deciding whether a grant home is possible, Executive Director Claire Duncan told the Statesman. First Story provides qualified candidates a loan to buy the home with no down payment, no interest and a 30-year mortgage. NeighborWorks Boise and First Story together select a family to whom to donate a home once it becomes available in the area. The Kuper family was selected and called into the office to discuss a home being built by Hayden Homes. Christopher said they got the call after April finished her 21st round of chemotherapy treatment. It was kind of a long shot, a shot in the dark, Christopher said. Lets face it. You know, somebody always gets chosen over you. When the couple arrived at the NeighborWorks office, they were surprised by the news that theyll be receiving a new home. It just blew us away. It really did, Christopher said. I actually stumbled because I lost my balance a little bit. Kuper familys road to homeownership Christopher said that in 2020, it was sometimes hard not to give up. As they waited for Aprils diagnosis, the family stayed at the Candlewood Suites hotel and sent their children to their grandmothers house to stay in school. A lot of people would have just rolled over and descended into tears, Christopher said. The family ran out of money and stayed with friends, then later stayed at Interfaith Sanctuary, a Boise homeless shelter. The gratefulness comes out in the fact that her cancer brought us all closer together, Christopher said. (It) made us stronger, and being homeless, it taught us humility. First Story requires applicants to attend a homeowner education program to qualify for a home. The Kuper family went through NeighborWorks Boise division, which offers classes that provide information on homeownership, pre-purchasing, budgeting and foreclosure prevention. Currently, the Kuper family is renting a property through the CATCH program, a nonprofit in Boise, that provides stable living situations to families through financial assistance and education. The program aids families in rental assistance through vouchers but also helps with fees like application costs, security deposits and rent. The nonprofit ensures that families in the program have support networks to become financially stable to afford their rental. Housing prices continue to rise in the Treasure Valley, while wages havent kept pace, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. A report by the coalition released this year showed that to be able to afford a two-bedroom rental in Ada and Canyon counties, the household must make at least a $25.19 hourly wage for a 40-hour work week, or $52,395 a year. The median hourly wage needed to rent a one-bedroom unit in both counties is $17.22 an hour, or $35,818 a year, while renting a two-bedroom would need an hourly wage of $21.53, or $44,782 a year. While the Kuper family received financial assistance through local housing programs, they still worked and saved when they could. Weve never had the greatest life, said Christopher, 44. Weve always been really good at just barely getting by. April is self-employed, while Christopher works for Sevita, an organization that assists individuals with developmental disabilities. During COVID I went for nearly a year with no days off, Christopher said. The last two years now, Ive been working 60 hours a week. Caldwell home gives family a happy beginning April and Christopher Kuper and their three children, 8-year-old Jesse, 13-year-old Corey and 15-year-old Shawn, look out of the window frame of their new home on June 14, 2023. Daniel Ramirez Last week, over 50 volunteers came out to help with raising three walls of the Kupers future home. First Story has given 109 homes since it was created by Hayden Homes founder Hayden Watson in 1998. This was the 11th home it has built for a family in the Treasure Valley, and the fourth one in Caldwell. I think its a big realization for (the kids), being able to see it and to know that were finally going to be going home someday within a matter of months, April said, as she watched her children 8-year-old Jesse, 13-year-old Corey and 15-year-old Shawn helping with some of the construction of the walls. Understanding that the walls would someday turn into a home and that her cancer is in remission, April said she is excited to close that chapter of their familys life soon. There are no happy endings, there are no good endings, there are no bad endings because all endings are sad, Christopher said. This is a good beginning. It is a happy beginning. California Gov. Gavin Newsom again shuts down talk of a 2024 presidential primary challenge to Biden: 'Not on God's green earth' President Joe Biden sits with California Gov. Gavin Newsom as they listen to speakers during a visit to the Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center and Preserve in Palo Alto, Calif., on June 19, 2023. AP Photo/Susan Walsh Gov. Gavin Newsom told the AP he was firmly behind President Joe Biden's 2024 reelection bid. Newsom told the outlet that "not on God's green earth" would he challenge Biden in a party primary. Newsom has made waves with his high-profile political tussle with Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, who for over a year has publicly jostled with Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida over everything from gun rights and immigration to abortion and the treatment of LGBTQ+ citizens, reaffirmed to The Associated Press that he would not against President Joe Biden in the 2024 Democratic primary. Newsom a former San Francisco mayor and lieutenant governor who is now in his second term after easily winning both a 2021 recall election and a general election race last year, has long faced rumors that he would challenge Biden, who in April announced a reelection bid. Last year, Newsom told Politico that he informed the White House that he wouldn't challenge Biden last summer, remarking that he was "all in" for the president's reelection campaign. But amid Newsom's continued back-and-forth with DeSantis, with the newly-minted GOP presidential candidate last week needling him over his decision to not to enter the 2024 race, the California governor once again made it clear that he would continue to back Biden. "Not on God's green earth, as the phrase goes," Newsom told The Associated Press, with the governor highlighting a fundraiser that he would host for Biden on Tuesday during the president's swing through the Golden State. "I have been pretty consistently including recently on Fox News making the case for his candidacy." And during the interview, Newsom again took a heavy swing at DeSantis, whose governorship and now White House candidacy has earned his derision. "He's taking his eye off the ball," Newsom said of DeSantis' political attacks on him. "And that's not inconsistent with my own assessment of him, which is he is a weak candidate, and he is undisciplined and will be crushed by Donald Trump, and will soon be in third or fourth in national polls." Even with DeSantis currently trailing Trump in most national GOP presidential primary polls, the Florida governor remains the former president's top rival for the nomination. But Democrats also have their own issues to navigate. Despite Biden's incumbency, many Democrats have indicated that they would like to see another candidate serve as their party's nominee, with some citing the 80-year-old president's age. If reelected next year, Biden would be 82 at the beginning of his second term in January 2025 and 86 upon exiting the White House in January 2029. And even if Biden wins in 2024, major questions remain about the future leadership of the party, as Newsom, fellow Californian and Vice President Kamala Harris, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are all mentioned as potential Democratic standard-bearers in 2028 and beyond. Read the original article on Business Insider KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images Carlos Ghosn has sued Nissan in a Lebanese court, seeking $588 million in lost compensation and $500 million in punitive damages for reputational damage, according to Bloomberg News. Bloomberg obtained a copy of the Arabic-language lawsuit translated to English, which the outlet says was filed to Lebanon's public prosecutor on May 18. The lawsuit claims that Nissan did irreparable damage to Ghosn's reputation by enacting a plot to oust him. While Japanese authorities have indicted him for underreporting his income by roughly $43 million, they were notified of this under-reporting by Nissan after an internal inquiry. He was later also charged with transferring personal investment losses to Nissan. Ghosn claims in the suit that other Nissan executives conspired to set him up for legal troubles. Per Bloomberg: Ghosn [told Bloomberg that] the efforts within Nissan to find ways to compensate and keep him were criminalized because that was the only means found by the conspirators to get rid of him as the chairman of the board of directors. It should be noted that Ghosn's large compensation package was out of the norm in Japan, where executives usually have relatively smaller salaries. It had also drawn ire in France, where he led Renault, forcing him to take pay cuts in both markets at different times. According to the former executive, other executives pushed him out because he was pursuing an alliance with Fiat Chrysler, and Nissan execswho had already consented to one power-diluting alliance with Renaultdidn't want to see the deal move forward. Leaked emails back up some of those claims. It remains unclear just how much of Ghosn's alleged criminal activity was done knowingly or whether other Nissan executives attempted to organize his downfall, in part because he snuck out of Japan in an instrument case after a series of detentions by Japanese authorities that the United Nations human rights working group described as a "violation of his rights."That means there hasn't been a full trial, but it's worth noting that after investigation French authorities also issued a warrant for Ghosn's arrest. French prosecutors accused him of channeling roughly $16 million of Renault funds through an Omani distributor for his own personal usage, including the purchase of a 120-foot yacht. Since that discrepancy was with Renault, not Nissan, it's hard to blame the same band of conspirators. But Ghosn will make his case in Lebanon, where he is a citizen and resident. The country does not extradite its citizens to foreign countries, meaning he is safe from Japanese and French prosecution there, but the same borders may make it hard to pursue his lawsuit against Japanese Nissan officials. Nissan does sell cars in Lebanon, however, so the company itself has some exposure there. For its part, however, Nissan told Bloomberg that it is not aware of any lawsuit and therefore cannot comment on it. We'd recommend reading the full story from them here. You Might Also Like Cate Blanchett had a hilariously dramatic response to winning an award titled the Cate Blanchett Award for Good Acting. Over the weekend, the Australian actor made a surprise appearance by video at the Las Culturistas Culture Awards, which were held at the Lincoln Center in New York. The show, a send-up of award ceremony culture from the comedy podcastLas Culturistas, was hosted by comedians and Fire Island stars Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. Among the winners at the live show, which was attended for free by 2,600 fans of the podcast, was Blanchett, who took home the Cate Blanchett Award for Good Acting for her role in Tar. Blanchett herself shared a surprise video message to accept her award, with a clip filmed at home showing the actor, 54, falling to her knees and wailing as confetti rained down on her. Blanchett was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in the musical drama earlier this year, but lost out to Michelle Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All At Once. Other nominees for the Cate Blanchett Award for Good Acting prize were Sarah Snook for Succession; Meghann Fahy for The White Lotus; James Marsden, Edy Modica and Rashida Sheedz Olayiwola, all individually nominated for Jury Duty; and Stephanie Hsu for Everything Everywhere All At Once. Among the other awards delivered on the night, of which there were more than 100, included Most Amazing Impact in Film (M3GAN), Best Gay Guy Famous (Andy Cohen), Best Skill to Have (A sense of play), and the Water Award for Necessary Thing (Sunscreen). cate blanchetts acceptance video for winning the cate blanchett award for good acting at the las culturitas culture awards! nolan boggess pic.twitter.com/8V3nFBBtJc Rina (@bbblanchett) June 18, 2023 The band Muna were in attendance at the show on Saturday (17 June), while the cast of Celine Dion Broadway musical Titanique performed. Other award winners to accept their prizes by video included Ariana Grande and Alan Cumming, while comics DArcy Carden, Patti Harrison, Sarah Sherman and Ego Nwodim helped dish out the prizes. Saturday Night Live cast member Yang and I Love That For You star Rogers have hosted Las Culturistas, a weekly podcast in which they discuss pop culture, since 2016. In an interview with The Independent in 2022, Rogers admitted that keeping the show going had become a little touch and go with he and Yangs busy schedules, but promised that any end to the podcast would be a truly obnoxious event. You know when certain celebrities say theyre pregnant, and then it feels like theyve been pregnant for a million years? he said. Itll be like that when we end the podcast. OceanGate/YouTube The search for the submersible that disappeared en route to the Titanic wreckage site appeared more dire by the minute on Tuesday, with the U.S. Coast Guard conceding its uncertain when salvage equipment will arrive at the remote Atlantic Ocean locationif theyre able to locate the missing sub at all. Capt. Jamie Frederick said at an afternoon press conference that those on the submersible, named the Titan, have about 40 hours of breathable oxygen left if the sub remains intact. Attempts to locate the Titan were beefed up Tuesday, with private companies and foreign governments sending deep-water vessels to assist in the search, but officials said nothing of substance had been spotted on the surface or by sonar. And Frederick was unable to say whether rescue equipment capable of reaching the depths of the Titanic would arrive by thenor if such equipment even exists. Obviously getting salvage equipment on scene is a top priority, he said. There are ongoing operations right now via the U.S. Navy and TransCom [United States Transportation Command] to get equipment staged in St. Johns and to get it on scene. I cant give you an exact timeline for when thats going to happen. What I can tell you is there is a full court press effort to get equipment on scene as quickly as we can. Rich and Adventurous: Everyone Missing on the Titanic Sub Asked if the Coast Guard had equipment that could save the group if the Titan was found, Frederick responded, I don't know the answer to that question. What I will tell you is we will do everything in our power to to effect a rescue, he said. The small sub brought a group of well-heeled tourists on Sunday morning to the final resting place of the Titanic, roughly 435 miles south of St. Johns, Newfoundland. It left port with a 96-hour supply of oxygen, according to owner and operator OceanGate Expeditions. The craft is believed to be 13,000 feet, or nearly 2.4 miles, beneath the surface, which, if successful, would make it the deepest recovery in history. However, the Navys underwater rescue vehicle has a maximum depth rating of just 2,000 feet. Its CURV-21 salvage vehicle, which can go as deep as 20,000 feet, has a lift capacity of 4,000 pounds. But the Titan weighs more than 20,000 pounds. Although one retired U.S. Navy submarine captain said he believes the groups chances of survival are about one percent, deep-water rescue expert Walt Butch Hendrick, former safety coordinator for the U.S. Armys Green Beret Diver Trainer Program, told The Daily Beast, We have to be positive. The oxygen supply can still keep the occupants of the sub alive for nearly two more days, Hendrick noted, with the caveat: If the unit hasnt flooded. Still, it is unlikely 40 hours of oxygen will actually last that long, he said. As anxiety levels among the passengers increase, breathing levels go up, and when that happens, oxygen gets depleted more rapidly. This, Hendrick noted, is a concern. Missing Titanic Sub Was Plagued by a Long History of Disastrous Safety Issues However, Hendrick told The Daily Beast that the Titan does not have a beacon, such as those on airplanes, to help searchers more easily home in on its location. It does have the ability to surface on its own, but if its electrical system short-circuited because of salt water getting into it, that system doesnt work anymore, he added. This unit never met international safety standards because it was both innovative and experimental, Hendrick said, pointing out that past expeditions turned back within an hour or two because of mechanical problems. Others with experience in such rescues worry that the sheer depth of the water makes it difficult to imagine a successful rescue. While the submersible might still be intact, if it is beyond the continental shelf there are very few vessels that can get that deep, and certainly not divers, Alistair Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London, said. If it has gone down to the seabed and cant get back up under its own power, options are very limited. Hendrick said there are ways to reach the submersible using unmanned underwater vehicles. The robotic arms would need to be fitted with state-of-the-art cutting tools, which can cut through four inches of steel, he said. However, the unmanned vehicles in use are not capable of bringing the Titan back up to the surface if its a solid dead weight, and we dont have a 13,000-foot cable to pull it back up, said Hendrick. The only way to recover the sub would be to get close enough to attach lift cables measuring 100 feet or so, with heavy-duty airbags at the top, he went on. The difficulty, however, would then be filling the bags with air at such depths. Its not going to be done at the surface, he told The Daily Beast. Just getting enough air to it, what are the chances that I could have a remote fill thats using a, 12000 foot-long hose? By Tuesday morning, the Coast Guard said search crews had combed some 10,000 square miles of ocean, an area about the size of Connecticut. Canadian research icebreaker and Titan support vessel Polar Prince was going over the search area assisted by a Canadian P-8 Poseidon sub hunter aircraft, three U.S. C-130 Hercules aircraft, and additional surface searches by the U.S. Air Force 106th Rescue Wing out of Westhampton Beach, New York. The New York Air National Guards 106th Rescue Wing is also on the scene, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul. Multiple sonar buoys were dropped into the sea by Canadian forces in an attempt to pick up any audible signs of life from the Titan. Norwegian pipe-laying ship Deep Energy arrived in the area Tuesday morning to aid in the search, a spokeswoman for TechnipFMC, the vessels owner, told The Daily Beast in an email. The Coast Guard said Deep Energy is being controlled remotely. David Concannon, who has taken submersibles to the Titanic for decades, was slated to be on this weekends dive but called off the trip at the last second to attend to an urgent matter, he wrote on Facebook. In writing about past expeditions, Concannon spoke candidly about the risks of voyaging 2.5 miles into some of the deepest depths of the Atlantic Ocean. If anything goes wrong, we have little chance of survival, Concannon wrote after a dive in 2000the first of the 21st century. He recalled the checklist of everything that could go fatally wrong, writing that fire, suffocation, implosion, drowning, or freezing to death were all plausible possibilities. Concannon wrote to Facebook that he began aiding with rescue efforts as soon as he heard the Titan had gone missing. He did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. A student who survived the deadly massacre at a school in Uganda described how he covered himself in blood to hide during an Islamist rebel groups attack. "I smeared the blood of my dead colleagues in my mouth, ears and on my head so that the attackers would think I was dead," Julius Isingoma told the BBC. "I lay next to the bloodied bodies of my friends and thought very fast. Then I smeared a lot of blood into my ears, mouth and on my head and when the militants came, they checked my hand for a pulse and left," he added. Five members of the Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamist extremist group with ties to ISIS, allegedly carried out the attack over the weekend. The Ugandan military said the group abducted at least six other people and took them over the border into Congo. NIGERIAN PRESIDENT REPLACES ALL SECURITY CHIEFS IN MAJOR SHAKEUP The mayor of Mpondwe said that authorities recovered the bodies of 41 people, including 38 students of the Lhubiriha Secondary School. The three adults include one guard and two members of the local community who were killed outside the school. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP The attackers had burned, shot or hacked the students to death. Isingoma did not identify the attackers but described them as gun-wielding men. He was in the boys dormitory during the attack. UN SPECIAL ENVOY FOR LIBYA TO DOUBLE DOWN ON NEGOTIATIONS AMID CONTINUED ELECTION DELAYS Students locked the door once they realized the attack had started and their lives were in danger. "When they couldn't open the door they hurled a bomb inside the dormitory and then used hammers and axes to break down the door," he said, adding that he was "overwhelmed by the smoke." The attackers then started shooting, killing many students who ended up shielding Isingoma from the bullets. He climbed to the top of a bunk bed and then into the ceiling where he remained for the rest of the attack. AFRICAN LEADERS ARRIVE IN RUSSIA TO DISCUSS PEACE PLAN WITH PUTIN AFTER UKRAINE VISIT When he came down, he fell to the ground and made a noise, which alerted the militants to the fact someone was still in the room. It was that point Isingoma started to cover himself with blood. Another boy, Godwin Mumbere, was in the same dorm as Isingoma and managed to survive by hiding under a bed. When his friends were killed and fell on top of him, the attackers thought he, also, had died. "It was at this point that they shot me in the hand and set the dorm ablaze," Mumbere said. Isingoma and Mumbere were two of the eight survivors, including a girl who remains in critical condition and intensive care after suffering a head wound from a hammer. The eight survivors went to hospital for treatment. The FBI thwarted a mans plan to carry out a mass shooting at a synagogue in Michigan, court documents revealed. Federal authorities seized at least six firearms and several tactical gear items from the home of 19-year-old Seann Patrick Pietila, of Pickford, on Friday. Investigators said they tracked down neo-nazi social media linked to Mr Pietila, which he allegedly used to discuss and plot the massacre at Shaaey Zedel Congregation in East Lansing. Mr Pietila has allegedly admitted to the damning messages he exchanged with a 16-year-old in New Zealand. He told authorities he didnt plan to follow through with the plans, but FBI investigators noted in an affidavit that Mr Pietila had planned to carry out the attack on 15 March 2024, the fifth anniversary of two Islamophobic mass shootings in New Zealand that left 51 people dead. Authorities seized Nazi paraphernalia from Mr Pietilas home and reviewed several messages in which he wrote, Heil Hitler!, and expressed relief that Michigan thankfully doesnt have that many ki***. Mr Pietila allegedly stated his plans were prompted by a recent romantic breakup. Me and Limey. Equipment: hand-made pipe bombs, molotovs, Two Stag15-s 12 gauge shotgun and two back up Glock 18s AND a Akm full auto conversion, a note found in Mr Pietilas iPhone, which also mentioned the date and target of the attack, read. Good morning sweetheart, I hope you slept well. Do you still hate me? Mr Pietila has been charged with transmitting a communication containing a threat to injure another, according to the Associated Press. Seann Pietila allegedly planned to carry out a mass shooting at a MIcihigan synagogue on 15 March 2024, the fifth anniversary of two Islamophobic mass shootings in New Zealand that left 51 people dead (FBI) He reportedly told investigators that he planned to kill himself with one of the firearms seized on Friday. In addition to the cache of weapons, the FBI also seized magazines, knives, gas masks, tactical vests and a red and white Nazi flag from his home. Brittnay Stob, Mr Pietilas mother, told investigators the weapons belonged to her and her husband, who live at a different residence. She said in an interview with ABC News that Mr Pietila had started consuming antisemitic content during the COVID-19 pandemic and didnt have access to mental health. I wont be taken alive, one of the messages included in the affidavit and allegedly sent by Mr Pietila read. Ill make sure of that. Remember Heil Hitler! Another text read: Starting to think plan B is the only option I got left ... Because f*** this generation for dating to marry. Mr Pietila has been charged with transmitting a communication containing a threat to injure another (FBI) While discussing a breakup, Mr Pietila allegedly wrote: ... Shes been ignoring me constantly and just been being a dry texter. But yeah Im just done at this point. Fuck this world and everything in it. Im gonna start making plans soon, just gotta buy a few more things. The Rabbi at Shaarey Zedek said in an interview with The Detroit News that he had informed his congregations of the arrest. We wanted our congregation to know that federal, state and local authorities are aware of the situation that didnt happen because our law enforcement was on top of things, which we are thankful for, Mr Bigman said. Mr Pietilas arrest on Friday came on the same day that a man was convicted in Pennsylvania for the deadliest attack against the Jewish community in the US. He is currently being held without bond pending a court hearing on 22 June. (Bloomberg) -- China and Cuba are discussing building a joint military training facility, according to the Wall Street Journal, a report that comes after the White House earlier said Beijing has a spy base on the island about 145 km (90 miles) from the US. Most Read from Bloomberg The two countries were holding advanced talks about opening the facility in northern Cuba, the newspaper on Tuesday cited US officials as saying, adding that it could pave the way for Beijing to station troops there permanently and expand espionage activities. The US was in contact with Cuban officials about preventing the plans from going forward, the Journal reported, citing US officials. China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Tuesday at a regular press briefing in Beijing that she wasnt aware of the matter. The US and Cuban embassies in Beijing didnt reply to requests for comment. Read More: Chinas Spying in Cuba Picks Up Where the Soviet Union Left Off Earlier this month, a senior US official said in a statement issued on the condition of anonymity because of the matters sensitivity that intelligence indicated China has long maintained espionage facilities in Cuba and that they were expanded in 2019. The White House had pushed back days earlier on a report in the Wall Street Journal that China and Cuba had reached a secret agreement to establish a spy facility on the island. The administrations position is theres been no new deal, and the facilities have been in place for years. The bases would allow Chinese intelligence services to eavesdrop on electronic communications throughout the southeastern US, where many military bases are located, and monitor ship traffic, according to the report. (Updates with comments from Chinas Foreign Ministry.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. The Chinese government was emboldened by Secretary of State Antony Blinken's recent trip to China which was an ill-advised plan where the United States did not project strength and handed China a diplomatic win, according to two foreign policy experts who spoke with Fox News Digital. "Antony Blinken, effectively, threw Taiwan under the bus," former U.S. Defense Intelligence Officer Rebekah Koffler told Fox News Digital in response to Blinkens Monday comment in China that the United States "does not support Taiwan independence." "His statement about the U.S. not supporting Taiwan is an invitation to Beijing to execute its long-held ambition of establishing control over the self-governing island," Kofffler said. "Xi Jinping will almost certainly be emboldened by Blinkens announcement to invade Taiwan. Although it was Xis plan regardless, now Beijing will feel more confident that Washington will not even put up a major fight and assist Taipei." Koffler explained her belief that Blinkens blunt comment "singlehandedly removed the strategic ambiguity component, on which U.S. policy has relied for decades, to keep China uncertain and guessing what the U.S. would do in response to a potential attack on Taiwan by Beijing." CHINA IN HIGH-LEVEL TALKS FOR MILITARY TRAINING FACILITY IN CUBA TO STATION TROOPS OFF US SHORES: REPORT "President Biden and his team are simply not up to the task when it comes to international affairs, especially when dealing with someone like Xi, Putin, and other astute and calculating strategic opponents," Koffler, author of "Putin's Playbook: Russia's Secret Plan to Defeat America," said. "This careless statement sends a terrible message to both US adversaries and allies." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Retired Army Colonel Heino Klinck, who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia during the Trump Administration, told Fox News Digital it is a "positive" Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jingping, but he would not have made the trip "unless there was a deliverable." AMERICANS IN TAIWAN MOSTLY UNFAZED BY US EVACUATION PLAN REPORT "I am not sure there was, at least not for the U.S.," Klinck said. "The optics of State being lectured in Beijing is not good. In fact, the seating arrangement in the Great Hall of the People with Xi at the head of the table was demeaning." Klinck acknowledged "a lot remains to be seen" and it's possible some good comes from the meeting but said it was telling that Blinken's reiteration of longstanding U.S. policy did not come with any public concession from China. DANGEROUS: CHINA EXPERT WARNS XI JINPING HAS SET 'TIME FRAME' TO ANNEX TAIWAN "The secretary's proforma recital of well known U.S. policy should have been accompanied by a Chinese statement renouncing the unilateral change of status quo in the Taiwan Strait," Klinck said. "Unfortunately and not unexpectedly, this reciprocal act did not occur because the Chinese don't really believe in reciprocity. They tend to favor concessions and compromises made to or for them. That underscores the irony of the Chinese mantra of win-win in bilateral affairs as, in reality, that means that the Chinese win twice." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. Blinken faced online backlash over this comment on Monday after a trip to China that critics say showed weakness as the two countries continue to navigate increased tensions in the Taiwan Strait. Last week, Taiwan's air force scrambled fighter jets after a group of 10 Chinese aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait for the second time in a matter of days. This month, the U.S. military released video of a close encounter between a Chinese navy ship and an American destroyer in the Taiwan Strait, and there have been several close calls between Chinese and U.S. military aircraft recently, including an air intercept by a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea in late May. China considers self-ruling Taiwan its own territory and has raised the prospect of annexing it by force. The U.S. maintains informal relations and defense ties with Taiwan even as it recognizes Beijing as the government of China. During a summit in Moscow, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed their 'no limits' partnership (Pavel Byrkin) Chinese imports of Russian oil last month hit their highest level since Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, customs data showed Tuesday, as Beijing offers an economic lifeline to an increasingly isolated Kremlin. China is Russia's largest economic partner, with trade between them reaching a record $190 billion last year. In May, China imported 9.71 million tonnes of oil from Russia, Beijing said, more than double the amount from February 2022. The figures reflect a broader deepening of economic ties between the countries, with overall trade in May soaring to levels not seen since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. They also occur in the context of China's rebounding economy, following the end of strict zero-Covid measures late last year that had bitten into energy demand. During a summit in March, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to boost trade to $200 billion in 2023 as they hailed their "no limits" partnership. Russian energy deliveries to China this year are set to grow by 40 percent, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said last month. Russia's gas exports plummeted in 2022 after a flurry of Western punishments over Moscow's offensive in Ukraine. Speaking about Russia's economy this month, Putin said the second quarter of last year had been "the most difficult" after unprecedented sanctions. As Europe looked for other energy suppliers, Moscow turned to alternative buyers including China, with which it is already linked by the Power of Siberia pipeline. After his talks with Xi, Putin said that "all agreements have been reached" on the massive new Power of Siberia 2 project. That pipeline could facilitate the transport of 50 billion cubic metres of natural gas to China annually, roughly on par with the total capacity of the abandoned Nord Stream 2 project from Russia to Germany. Moscow is confident that the new pipeline will go ahead, but Beijing has so far avoided an explicit commitment. - 'A new era' - China and Russia have in recent years ramped up economic cooperation and diplomatic contacts, with their strategic partnership growing closer since the invasion of Ukraine. Beijing says it is a neutral party in the war, but has been criticised by Western countries for refusing to condemn Moscow and for its ties with Russia. Analysts say China holds the upper hand in the relationship with Russia, and that its sway is growing as Moscow's international isolation deepens. In February, Beijing released a paper calling for a "political settlement" to the conflict, which Western countries said could enable Russia to hold on to much of the territory it has seized. During their March summit in Moscow, Xi invited Putin to visit Beijing and the two leaders declared that ties were "entering a new era". And last month, the Chinese leader offered his "firm support" on Moscow's "core interests" at a meeting with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, during the highest-level visit by a Russian official to China since the Ukraine invasion. bur-sbr-oho/lb By Christina Amann, Alexander Hubner and Patricia Weiss BERLIN/MUNICH/FRANKFURT (Reuters) -China's Premier Li Qiang told Germany's top CEOs that a lack of cooperation was the biggest risk during a visit to lobby for stronger ties even as Europe seeks to reduce its dependence on Asia's rising superpower. Li met with the heads of corporate titans like Mercedes-Benz, SAP and Siemens Energy on Monday in Berlin ahead of Chinese-German government consultations on Tuesday at the start of his first official trip overseas. German blue-chips Covestro, BASF and Merck also confirmed that their CEOs had been present at the meeting, but declined to provide details on what was discussed. Covestro said it was in favour of keeping ties with China stable, adding it saw the continuation of economic and technological relations as being in the interest of Germany and the EU despite growing geopolitical tensions. "This requires a balanced approach to opportunities and risks as well as close cooperation on global challenges such as climate change. This can only be achieved through constant dialogue," the company said in e-mailed comments. The premier will also head to Paris for an official visit and to attend a financial conference on June 22 to 23. "We should not artificially exaggerate 'dependence', or even simply equate interdependence with insecurity," he told Germany's top corporate brass according to the official Xinhua news agency. "Lack of cooperation is the biggest risk, and lack of development is the biggest insecurity." The fact his first trip overseas started in Germany underscores the weight of the ties between Asia and Europe's largest economies. China is Germany's largest trade partner and is a key market for German companies to export goods and procure materials. The trip comes, however, as the European Union seeks to reduce its dependence on China, particularly for critical minerals and products required for its green transition, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine has made it more wary about letting rivals have access to technologies with military applications. The European Commission will present a document later on Tuesday that will call for measures to address security risks posed by outbound investments as well as to reinforce export controls on goods that have both civilian and military use. Germany itself is mulling a new China strategy expected to toughen its stance on its top trade partner. It is also reviewing the use of equipment by Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei in its digital infrastructure. China hawks said Li would likely push German companies to lobby the government to restrain regulation on business with China at national and EU level. Companies, not governments, should take the lead on managing risk, Li told the German CEOs. "Enterprises have the most direct and acute sense of risk, and know how to avoid and deal with it, so we should return the leadership of risk prevention to enterprises," he said. After government consultations on Tuesday morning, Li is set to attend the German-China business forum this afternoon, before heading in the evening to Munich. A spokesperson for Siemens confirmed that the Chinese delegation would meet with Siemens CEO Roland Busch for a brief visit in Munich on Wednesday. The Munich tour will also include luxury carmaker BMW and its CEO Oliver Zipse, two people will knowledge of the plans said. BMW owns a majority in BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA), its Chinese joint venture with Brilliance Auto Group. (Reporting by Sarah Marsh, Andreas Rinke and Christina Amann in Berlin; Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt; Alexander Huebner in Munich; Ethan Wang and John Geddie in Beiing; Editing by Christina Fincher) 2024 candidate Chris Christie criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for his feud with Walt Disney World in Florida. David Becker for the Washington Post, Afelix Horhager/picture alliance via Getty Images, and Scott Eisen/Getty Images Christie cited DeSantis' battle with Disney as the GOP aiming "small," in the "Ruthless" podcast. Such battles wouldn't bring about "permanent" change and could easily be undone, he said. Christie also questioned the Florida governor's conservative creds. Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie dunked on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week over his bitter crusade against Walt Disney World as an example of the party wasting its time on "small" political issues. Republicans, he said, should instead be "arguing about and being daring" on policies involving China, economic security, reducing the import of petroleum, and expanding charter schools. "What we are wasting our time on is talking about, 'Is it OK for Disney to oppose a bill in Florida and should they be penalized for it? And does that prove you're really a tough guy or does it just prove that you're not conservative in terms of the way you think government should operate?" the former New Jersey governor told the "Ruthless" podcast in an interview that aired Monday, without using DeSantis' name. When one of the podcasts hosts pushed back, saying the Disney issue was animating the right, Christie responded with: "I just don't think it's big. I think that it's important, but it's not going to change the course of the country." Many of the policies Republicans are focusing on can be "reversed when someone comes in with a different political philosophy." They should instead focus on "permanent, sustainable, systemic change," he said. "We should pay attention to it, we should be talking about it, but it's not what we should stake a presidency on," he said. Christie isn't the first 2024 candidate to criticize DeSantis' fight with Walt Disney World, which started in 2021 when executives pledged to lobby for the repeal of a law that severely limits when and how LGBTQ+ topics can be taught in Florida public schools. The DeSantis campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment to Christie's criticisms. DeSantis is a distant second to Trump but is still the only Republican candidate polling in the double digits in the primary so far. He has pledged not to back down from the fight with the family-friendly resort and theme park and talks about it at nearly every campaign stop. DeSantis accused the company of "trying to shove an agenda" down families' throats by opposing the schools law. "We run the state of Florida," he said last month. "They do not run the state of Florida. It is wrong to sexualize children, it's wrong to put it in your programming, and it's wrong to try to force that in our schools." As retribution for its opposition to the schools law, the governor acted with the legislature to try to take away special privileges Disney had in Florida for decades, ones that other theme parks don't enjoy and that save the resort and theme park time and money when it comes to building new rides and other operations. With the help of board members he appointed, DeSantis floated numerous changes to Disney's area, from building a state prison on bordering land, to imposing new taxes, tolls, and ride regulations. Disney retaliated in several ways, including by trying to create a loophole to retain power and finally suing in federal court. DeSantis also passed policies into law that coincide with the policies Christie cited, such as making school vouchers universally available in Florida. Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley urged Walt Disney World to consider relocating from Florida to South Carolina. Oficina del primer ministro de Corea, John Raoux, File, and Patrick Semansky/AP Photo The Disney pile on has been a lead topic of the 2024 primary Though Christie said he views the Disney fight as a distraction from bigger issues, it continues to play prominently in the Republican primary. 2024 frontrunner former President Donald Trump released a video on Truth Social last month bashing the DeSantis-Disney battle as "very unfortunate" for Florida's economy after the company scrapped plans for a new campus in the Sunshine State. "Look at Disney and what a mess it is," Trump said. "He could have worked out an easy settlement but he wanted to show the fake news how tough a guy he is. He's not." Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who is also running for the GOP nomination, implored Disney World to relocate to South Carolina, saying the state where she previously served as governor would welcome the theme park's business. Disney is Florida's biggest tourist attraction and employs 80,000 people. But Disney is unpopular with GOP primary voters, shows polling and leaked audio from the DeSantis campaign. An April Reuters/Ipsos poll found 64% of Republicans said DeSantis was right to roll back Disney's special privileges. Another recent poll, from Harvard CAPS/Harris, found 73% of Republicans and 54% of Independents support the governor limiting Disney's autonomy in Florida. DeSantis previously said he thought it was appropriate to use state power "to give space to the individual citizen to be able to participate in society to be able to speak his or her mind," but during his "Ruthless" interview, Christie called for a return to leaving decisions over how to handle corporations to consumers. Christie cited falling sales of Bud Light after the company partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and the conservative backlash Target faced when it sold Pride-themed merchandise. "Do we really want governments picking and choosing those things? Because let me tell you, when we open that seal and the Democrats then feel like it's open to doing anything, we're not going to like what the results are," he said. Later in the podcast, when asked to provide a one-word thought about DeSantis, Christie chose "interesting." Read the original article on Business Insider Chris Christie unleashed an epic Twitter takedown of Donald Trumps White House hiring practices after the former president bragged about bringing on the best staff. Its plain and simple: Either Donald Trump doesnt know how to pick personnel, or hes the worst manager in the history of the American presidency, Mr Christie, who is vying for the Republican presidential nomination against Trump, tweeted on Monday. The former New Jersey governor followed that tweet with nine more, comparing what Mr Trump said about White House appointees before he hired them and after his eventual falling out with them. In the tweets, Mr Christie noted that Mr Trump called Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley a great patriot and a great soldier before calling him a f***ing idiot and that he called former Secretary of Defense James Mattis the closest thing to General George Patton that we have before he called him the worlds most overrated general. .@JoeNBC let me help out and save your staff the trouble. Its plain and simple: Either Donald Trump doesnt know how to pick personnel, or hes the worst manager in the history of the American presidency. Heres Trumps before and after for, as he said, the best staff hires: pic.twitter.com/WnADv77b98 Chris Christie (@GovChristie) June 19, 2023 There are plenty more examples. Former Attorney General Bill Barr was Mr Trumps first choice from day one before he was gutless and a coward. Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had a deep understanding of geopolitics before Mr Trump called him dumb as a rock. Former Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney was doing an outstanding job before Mr Trump called him a born loser. Trump on SOS Rex Tillerson: Before: "His tenacity, broad experience and deep understanding of geopolitics make him an excellent choice for Secretary of State. After: Dumb as a rock. Totally ill prepared and ill equipped to be Secretary of State. Chris Christie (@GovChristie) June 19, 2023 Its a record that undercuts Mr Trumps frequent boast that he hires the best people. A number of the people he hired for his administration are not supporting his second run for president, in some cases criticising his judgment in personal terms. Two members of his administration, former vice president Mike Pence and former secretary to the United Nations Nikki Haley, are running against Mr Trump. Republicans should listen to what he says, Mr Christie said in an interview with CNNs Jake Tapper on Monday. Hes a petulant child when someone disagrees with him. Mr Christie, who is polling in the low single digits and has not held elected office since leaving the governors mansion in New Jersey more than five years ago, has distinguished himself apart in the crowded Republican primary as the only candidate willing to repeatedly and harshly criticise Mr Trump. The irony, of course, is that Mr Christie cozied up to Mr Trump after Mr Trumps triumph in the 2016 presidential nominating contest. Mr Christie served as an adviser to Mr Trump throughout the 2016 general election campaign and led his presidential transition team. He remained a close ally of Mr Trumps throughout his presidency, turning on him only after the Capitol riot of January 6. Mr Christie announced his second bid for the presidency earlier this month. He last won an election in 2013, four years before he left office in New Jersey with one of the lowest approval ratings ever recorded for a governor. Ryan and Dave Struyk A Christian Reformed Church pastor who has a gay son has spoken out against the denominations decision to uphold its teaching against same-sex relationships and marriages. Dave Struyk, pastor of Community Church in Wyoming, Mich., was a delegate to the Christian Reformed synod a meeting of denominational leaders last week in Grand Rapids, Mich. At the synod, delegates voted to stand by a decision made in 2022, upgrading the denominal position opposing same-sex relationships from pastoral advice to confessional status, meaning it is considered part of the core beliefs of the [Christian Reformed Church] and that anyone holding office in the church is expected to uphold it, according to a Christian Reformed website. Struyk said his gay son, CNN producer Ryan Struyk, has helped him become a supporter of LGBTQ+ equality. Last Thursday, Dave Struyk walked out of the synod. On behalf of the pain that was caused to many in the LGBTQ community, including my son, and the message that was sent for so many people that theyre not welcome in the CRC, I will be leaving the synod in protest, the minister said in video that was broadcast Sunday on CNNs State of the Union by host Jake Tapper in observance of Fathers Day. Dave Struyk is a father who did something really, really hard to stand up for his son, Tapper said. Ryan Struyk, who had been a faithful member of the church for years, posted on Facebook that he cried the whole Uber ride home after delegates voted to uphold the teaching. I hope the delegates who go home tonight to their spouses pause for a moment about their decision that precludes me by no choice of my own from going home to mine, he continued. To the white straight men crying at Synod about how hard it is to kick me out: You know NOTHING about the pain you have caused. How can you turn the attention back on yourselves when you have inflicted so much unnecessary pain on others?! Have you ever considered what it means to be gay?! I condemn your decisions now, and history will condemn them in the future. And I hope you are much, much kinder to your own LGBTQ children in your own families than you were to me. I may no longer be in your denomination, but when they come out, I will still be willing to talk with you about how to navigate those conversations. Dave Struyk told The Banner, a Christian Reformed publication, that his sons Facebook post inspired him to speak up and walk out. Im not doing this for attention, he added. Whats hard is the sense that a group at synod wasnt really open to deliberation and, unfortunately, they had the majority. I wanted to be a voice for the voiceless. Nobody from the LGBTQ community has had the opportunity to express their reaction to what Synod decided. After the State of the Union segment ran, Ryan Struyk posted how much he appreciated his father. This Fathers Day, I'm so thankful for a dad who loves me and coworkers who love me too, he wrote. Thanks Jake Tapper and the whole CNN State of the Union team for making me feel so supported after a difficult week. Happy Father's Day, David. I love you. The City of Gardner was recently awarded $500,000 from the Commonwealths MassTrails Grant program to fund a portion of the extension of the North Central Pathway Bike Trail to eventually connect the towns of Hubbardston and Winchendon through Gardner via bicycle and walking infrastructure. This portion of the funding will cover the third phase of this initiative, by extending the trail from the Greenwood Memorial Pool, through Crystal Lake Cemetery, to Park Street. The $500,000 awarded to Gardner was the highest award possible, and was only awarded to five communities. This is the third year in a row that the City has received this funding from the Commonwealth and we are already starting to see the benefits of this project come together, said Gardner Mayor Michael Nicholson. Extending these trails, paths, and travel lanes increase the recreational opportunities Gardner can offer and give our residents and visitors a new way to travel around the City and our region. Mayor Michael Nicholson and Lt. Gov Kimberly Driscoll I am excited to see how our residents and visitors take advantage of this new extension and the project as a whole, said Mayor Nicholson. Gardner is growing and we have had an unprecedented amount of interest in our City over the last three years. Projects like these help connect that growth and progress across our City and our region, while giving people more ways to enjoy what we have to offer. Id like to thank State Representative Jon Zlotnik, Governor Healey, Lt. Governor Driscoll, and all of our state partners for their continued support of the Chair City. Trail network offers many possibilities for residents Outdoor recreation is directly tied to the economic prosperity of our state, said Governor Maura Healey. By investing in our trails system, we can give our residents opportunities to get outside, commute for free, and showcase all the natural assets Massachusetts has to offer. This is how we grow our economy, cut emissions, and improve health outcomes all at the same time. Our states trail network creates connections between cities and towns all across Massachusetts, from the Berkshires to Cape Cod, said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. Working with our public and private partners, the MassTrails Grant Program stitches communities together and we provide easier access for residents and visitors to experience our beautiful natural, cultural, and recreational resources. The Gardner Bike Path will be getting an extension along Crystal Lake thanks to a $500,000 state grant The MassTrails Grant Program provides matching grants, technical assistance, and resources to individuals, municipalities, non-profits, and other public entities. These funds go toward the design, construction, and maintenance of diverse, high-quality trails, including hiking trails, bikeways, and shared-use paths. The program supports projects that build public-private partnerships. This years projects will directly impact over 100 communities, helping to develop new multi-use trails, expand accessibility, create connections between towns and existing trails, support the construction of boardwalks and bridges, design and install new signage, and acquire new land for trails. Im happy the state continues to fund the expansion of this trail, said State Representative Jon Zlotnik. Outdoor recreation opportunities are a hallmark of this region, and this serves to embrace that. Previous grants awarded to Gardner In 2021, the city received funding from both the MassTrails Grant and Complete Streets Grant programs from the Commonwealth to create new bicycle travel lanes through the downtown area on Central Street, the Rear Main Street/Derby Drive Corridor, and along Route 68/Timpany Boulevard to the Citys border with the Town of Hubbardston. Additional funding was awarded from the MassTrails Grant program in 2022 to extend the bike trail from behind the Gardner Veterans Skating Arena, along Park Street by Monument Park, to the new Park Street Park, and around the Greenwood Pool on the shores of Crystal Lake. This bike trail will be utilized by many families and bikers from far and near," Councilor Dana Heath, who represents Ward 2 of the City where this work is to take place, said. "This is definitely a safe route for bikers to be able to get around the City while having a beautiful view The continued progress of this project is wonderful, especially since the City Council voted to support it with the required matching City funds in 2021 and 2022, totaling $195,000, echoed City Council President Elizabeth Kazinskas. Rep. Zlotnik and our State partners have once again shown their strong advocacy for development in Gardner. We have here yet another example of how city and state government work best when we partner together. Work on Phase 3 of this initiative is expected to begin in the Spring of 2024, but residents can expect to see continued progress being made to each phase of the project currently under construction throughout the city. The city is also working with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to construct a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over Route 140 in 2025 and 2026 funded through the Massachusetts Traffic Improvement Program (Mass TIP). This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Gardner North Central Pathway MassTrails Grant $500,000 Former President Donald Trumps support appears to have softened following his indictment and arrest on federal charges, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. Most Americans approve of Trumps indictment stemming from his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office, even as 71% say politics played a role in that charging decision. Though Trump continues to lead the GOP field by a wide margin in the race for the Republican Partys nomination for president, the poll suggests that his support has declined, as have positive views of him among Republican and Republican-leaning voters. Nearly a quarter now say they would not consider backing his candidacy under any circumstances. The survey also finds that those GOP-aligned voters not currently backing his 2024 bid have different views on his indictment and behavior than those in his corner. Still, theres little sign that Republican-aligned voters who arent backing Trump are consolidating behind any one of his rivals. Nor are they unified around wanting Trump out of the race entirely, or in feeling that his primary opponents ought to call him out for his alleged actions in this case. Overall, 47% of Republicans and Republican-leaning registered voters say Trump is their first choice for the partys nomination for president, down from 53% in a May CNN poll. Support for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held steady at 26% in the latest poll, with former Vice President Mike Pence at 9%, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley at 5%, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott at 4%, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 3% and the remaining candidates at 1% or less. In addition to the decline in support for Trumps candidacy, his favorability rating among Republican-aligned voters has dipped, from 77% in May to 67% now, while the share who say they would not support him for the nomination under any circumstances has climbed, from 16% in May to 23% now. At the same time, there has been a similar increase in the share saying they would not back DeSantis under any circumstances (up 6 points to 21%), while the shares ruling out other top candidates have held roughly steady. The poll was completed entirely after Trumps arraignment in federal court last week, and Republican and Republican-leaning voters participating in the poll were asked questions about the 2024 presidential race before any mention of the charges facing Trump. Few in the GOP want to see Trump drummed out of the race or repudiated by his party in response to the indictment. A 54% majority of Republican and Republican-leaning voters say that Trumps conduct doesnt matter much to them as they consider his candidacy, because a presidents effectiveness matters more. Just 12% say that in responding to the indictment, other Republican candidates for the nomination should focus on publicly condemning Trumps alleged actions in this case, with 42% saying candidates should do more to publicly condemn the governments prosecution of Trump, and 45% that they shouldnt take a stand either way. Even those who do not currently back Trump for the nomination mostly want to see other candidates remain quiet on the indictment (54% say so), with 21% calling for Trumps rivals to condemn his actions and 25% saying they should condemn the prosecution. And only 26% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters say that Trump should end his campaign in light of the federal charges he now faces, with an additional 16% saying he should end his campaign if he is convicted of federal crimes. Most Americans view charges as disqualifying Outside of the Republican Party, though, these charges are broadly viewed as disqualifying. Among all Americans, 59% say that Trump ought to end his campaign now that hes facing federal charges, with another 11% saying he should do so if convicted on these charges. Among all registered voters who are not aligned with the Republican Party, theres broad agreement: 85% say Trump should end his campaign now, and another 7% that he should end it if hes convicted. Most US adults, 55%, say that Trump acted illegally in the situation involving these classified documents, with 30% saying that he acted unethically but not illegally, and just 15% that he did nothing wrong. The partisan divide in views of Trumps actions has widened since earlier this year. Compared with a January survey, more Democrats (up 10 points to 89%) and independents (up 7 points to 59%) now say they believe Trump acted illegally, but the share of Republicans who feel that way has dropped (down 7 points to 18%). Overall, even as 61% of Americans approve of the decision to indict the former president, majorities across party lines believe politics played a role in the decision to charge him, including 53% of Democrats, 67% of independents and 92% of Republicans. Public approval of the federal indictment is roughly equal to approval of the charges brought against Trump in Manhattan related to hush money payments made to an adult film star. As in that case, approval on the federal charges is sharply split by party, with 94% of Democrats and 67% of independents approving, while just 25% of Republicans feel the same way. Slightly fewer overall say this indictment was motivated by politics than said the same of the New York charges (76%). Most Americans, 57%, say that Trumps handling of the documents involved in the case put national security at risk, including 88% of Democrats and 67% of independents, though only 18% of Republicans feel that way. A 55% majority of the public, including most Democrats (90%) and independents (55%), views Trumps handling of the documents involved as different than what other presidents have done, with 45%, including 76% of Republicans, saying its similar to the actions of previous presidents. Still, Republican views on Trumps actions are far from uniform. The roughly half of GOP-aligned voters who currently back Trump in the 2024 primary staunchly proclaim his innocence, while those backing other candidates are often more tepid in their defense of his actions. A sizable 40% minority of non-Trump GOP voters approve of his indictment on these federal charges. And those who do disapprove tend to feel less strongly about it (28% strongly disapprove among non-Trump Republicans) than do those currently backing Trump (76% strongly disapprove). Most Republican and Republican-leaning voters who support Trump for the nomination say he did nothing wrong in this case (58%) and just 3% that he acted illegally. Those Republican and Republican-leaning voters who support other candidates, though, broadly say Trump acted unethically (52%) or illegally (31%), with only 16% saying he did nothing wrong. A near-universal 97% of the former presidents current supporters say he did not put national security at risk, compared with a smaller 67% majority of those who do not support him for the nomination. Views of Trumps electability have changed little since March, with Republican and Republican-leaning voters remaining roughly evenly divided over whether the GOPs chances of winning the presidency are better with or without Trump (51% say they have a better chance to win with him, 49% without him). About half (52%) say its very or extremely likely that Trump will win the Republican nomination, nearly unchanged since May. Trumps supporters within the GOP remain mostly locked in, with 79% of those who indicate he is their first choice saying they definitely will support him for the nomination, compared with 51% of DeSantis backers who say the same about the Florida governor and just 30% among those backing other candidates. More broadly, among all registered voters, the indictment appears to have had little effect on their motivation to participate in next years presidential election. Six in 10 say they are extremely motivated to vote, about the same as in May, with roughly equal shares of Republican-tilting (65%) and Democratic-aligned (62%) voters feeling driven to vote. The CNN Poll was conducted by SSRS from June 13-17 among a random national sample of 1,350 adults drawn from a probability-based panel, including 561 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who are registered to vote. Surveys were either conducted online or by telephone with a live interviewer. Results among the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.4 points; among Republican and Republican-leaning voters, the margin of sampling error is 5.2 points. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a missing Canadian research submersible that disappeared Sunday after it went to explore the wreck of the Titanic. The 21-foot submersible and its five-person crew, from the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince, started a dive Sunday morning, the Coast Guard said. But the Polar Prince lost contact with the vessel after an hour and 45 minutes. The missing submersible which is named Titan, according to The Associated Press is part of an OceanGate Expeditions tour exploring the Titanic wreckage, 900 nautical miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The private company charters trips to explore the wreckage with its research teams. Rear Adm. John Mauger, the commander of the Coast Guard district leading the search, said authorities received a call for help from OceanGate on Sunday afternoon after the crew lost contact and the submersible missed its return time. He said the Coast Guard immediately launched a surface and aerial search to find or recover the submersible and any survivors. "We really brought all assets that we have available to us to bear on finding the submersible and the people in it," Mauger said. "We understand from the operator of the submersible that there is a 96-hour reserve capacity on there, and so that gives us some time to effect a search. But when something happens on the high seas, it gets complicated quickly." A U.S. Coast Guard vessel sits in port in Boston Harbor on June 19, 2022. (Joseph Prezioso / AFP - Getty Images) One of the missing crew members is Hamish Harding, the billionaire owner and chairman of Action Aviation. A post Sunday on Harding's Instagram account said he was joining OceanGates expedition "as a mission specialist" typically a one-time crew member who pays a fee to join the effort. The fees from those crew members underwrite the mission, the participation of the science team, and their own mission, OceanGates website says. The company said it was working with numerous government agencies to aid in the rescue. Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families, we are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible, OceanGate said in a statement. Mauger said the Coast Guard has brought in technical experts, dropped sonar buoys to listen for underwater noise and reached out to other government agencies and private contractors for aid and "to really better understand what an undersea search and rescue effort would look like." Wreck of the Titanic. (Nauticus via AP, file) Coast Guard officials said at a news conference Monday afternoon that they have deployed two C-130 aircraft for an aerial search and that the sonar buoys can listen to a depth of 13,000 feet. The New York National Guard is providing a third C-130, and the Canadian Coast Guard provided a C-130, as well as a P8 Poseidon aircraft that has underwater detection capabilities. The Coast Guard said it is also relying on commercial boat operators that were already in the nearby waters, as well as OceanGates mother ship, Polar Prince, for help. Mauger added at the news conference that the Coast Guard is working to expand its capabilities to include an underwater search, as well. OceanGates submersibles have shorter power cycles than submarines, and they are tied to mother ships (the Polar Prince in this instance) when they are operating far from land. Submarines, by contrast, can typically travel long distances independently and use ports as home bases. OceanGates expeditions include a 10-day trip with 18 dives off a larger boat to a maximum depth of 12,800 feet, according to the company. People may pay as much as $250,000 to join the exploration, The New York Times reported last year. OceanGate's website says that during visits to the Titanic site, its teams collect images, videos and laser and sonar data for scientific study, document the condition of the wreck and gather information about the flora and fauna using the sunken ship as their maritime home. Considered the worlds most famous shipwreck, the Titanic was an opulent 883-foot ocean liner. Thought to be unsinkable, it shocked the world in 1912 when it struck ice in the Atlantic Ocean and sank. More than 1,500 people died. The wreckage was discovered in 1985, about 350 miles off Newfoundland. Surrounded by debris, the ships two main pieces are around 2,000 feet apart, according to a full-size scan that was released this year. Continued fascination with the Titanic has sparked a tourism industry around it and its sinking, particularly after the release of the eponymous 1997 film by the director James Cameron. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com College students are concerned over a strict new bill that could limit higher education: You can say gravity isnt true In recent months, the U.S. has seen a wave of conservative legislation targeting colleges and universities. A new bill in the Ohio General Assembly follows this trend by aiming to restrict what educators can teach about our changing climate. Whats happening? Ohio Senate Bill 83 is a proposed bill that limits discussion surrounding controversial beliefs or policies on college campuses. According to the bill, one controversial policy involves the changing climate. The bill demands that educators encourage students to reach their own conclusions about all controversial beliefs or policies and shall not seek to inculcate any social, political, or religious point of view. Among the bills controversial beliefs or policies are those surrounding climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion. The bill passed the Ohio Senate and has moved to the Ohio House. Why is this bill concerning? If passed, educators would have to tread carefully when discussing the planets changing climate despite the fact that scientific evidence has proven that human-driven environmental changes are happening. Educators and students alike worry that if the bill becomes law, they wont be able to teach and learn accurate climate science. Keely Fisher, a Ph.D. candidate at Ohio State Universitys School of Environment and Natural Resources, worries that the bill would discourage students from studying climate change. We shouldnt be pushing environmentalists and people who care about climate change away from the state, she told Inside Climate News. You can say gravity isnt true, but if you step off the cliff, youre going down, atmospheric scientist and educator Katharine Hayhoe told Inside Climate News. And if you teach other people that gravity is not true, you are morally responsible for anything that happens to them if they make decisions based on the information you provided. Whats being done about this bill? Students, educators, Ohio citizens, and even Ohio universities have spoken out against the bill. Demonstrators have protested by attending hearings for the bill wearing tape over their mouths to critique what they see as the bills infringements on free speech. Ohio State Universitys Board of Trustees released a statement criticizing the bill, writing, Academic rigor is at the foundation of a quality education; SB 83 threatens to impair it by proposing limitations on faculty speech not favoring or disfavoring controversial views. Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet. Alla Mohammed received the Presidents Leadership Society medallion for completing all requirements of the leadership training program prior to graduation. Throughout the program, students attend a leadership retreat, enjoy exposure to the arts, participate in workshops and campus life, develop civic understanding and give back to the community through service. (Pictured, left to right): Dr. Janet F. Smith, Columbia State president and Alla Mohammed Columbia State Community College will host virtual Tennessee Reconnect information sessions during the month of June. Tennessee Reconnect is a last-dollar scholarship that provides free tuition for adults to attend a community college. The initiative is designed to help adults enter college to gain new skills, advance in the workplace and fulfill lifelong dreams of completing a degree or credential. We are thankful to be able to provide the local community with easy access to information about Tennessee Reconnect by hosting virtual information sessions, said Joni Allison, Columbia State coordinator of Adult Student Services. Tennessee Reconnect provides a wonderful opportunity for eligible adults to retool their skills and attend Columbia State tuition-free. Virtual sessions are scheduled as follows: June 22 2 3 p.m. June 24 10 11 a.m. June 26 6 7 p.m. June 29 2 3 p.m. To view the full list of steps to apply, or to sign up for an information session, please visit www.ColumbiaState.edu/Reconnect. To be eligible for Tennessee Reconnect, students must meet the following requirements: Havent earned an associate or bachelors degree. Have been a Tennessee resident for at least one year. Complete the Free Application For Federal Student Aid and be determined as an independent student. Be admitted to Columbia State and enroll in a degree or certificate program. Must attend at least part-time (6 credit hours). This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Columbia State to host TN Reconnect information sessions DNA brought home the remains of a soldier who went Missing in Action, nearly 73 years ago, during the Korean War. A formal procession was held at the Jacksonville National Cemetery, Tuesday, to bring home Army Corporal George Tommy Grimes. Her whole life she wanted her brother to be found, Karen Lavalle said. Unfortunately, she never lived to see that. Lavalle is Corporal Grimess niece. She grew up only knowing her uncle through her mothers stories. As a member of A-company, 1st Battalion infantry regiment, 24th Infantry division, he was presumed dead in the Korean War. The purple heart recipient was deemed Missing in Action on July 20 1950 at the age of 19. His unit was forced to retreat from the vicinity of Taejon, South Korea, and because of this, his body could not be recovered. Every time there was a newsreel, back when we were kids, she [my mother] would always have us look for him. Look for your uncle Tommy, Vern Lewis was instructed by his mother. Grimes was accounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency on August 2, 2022, after his remains were identified using circumstantial evidence. I gave my DNA, Lavalle said. The army notified me about six weeks after I gave my DNA that my uncle had been identified, and I was thrilled. After that, they told me they were going to fly me out to Florida for his funeral. Four generations of his family laid the solider to rest, Thursday. Its come full circle, Connie Mitchell said. Our mothers are happy up in heaven. [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. Six people were shot shortly after the Juneteenth festival ended Monday along North King Drive near West Locust Street. A day after gunfire opened on a still-busy street minutes after the Juneteenth festival ended, residents, business owners and politicians lamented that the joyful event had been replaced by the city's fourth mass shooting of the year. Police on Tuesday said they arrested two suspected shooters, a 17-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man, who were both struck by gunfire. Four girls, ages 14 to 18, were also struck. All are expected to survive, police said. Police are recommending charges to prosecutors; the two suspects could be charged in the coming days. The annual festival along North King Drive is one of the country's longest-running celebrations of Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. and became a federal holiday in 2021. Tens of thousands of people, including many families with young children, turned out to watch the parade, buy food and wares from vendors and enjoy the sunny weather. Those who attended said the crowds were the biggest in years thanks to increased awareness since it became a federal holiday and more relaxed attitudes about gathering after the pandemic. But just 20 minutes after the festival officially ended, a fight between teenage girls was followed by the shooting on King Drive near Locust Street, according to police. Some leaders such as Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Police Chief Jeffrey Norman decried the violence in strong terms, urging more involvement from parents and community organizations to keep young people out of trouble. And Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has already publicly urged Congress to "pass common-sense gun laws that keep weapons out of the hands of irresponsible owners and others who are either a threat to themselves or their surrounding community," his spokesman Brandon Weathersby said. Several local elected officials acknowledged the unfortunate nature of the incident, but wished to draw a distinction between the holiday celebration and the violence that followed shortly afterward. That wasnt a Juneteenth incident, that was something that happened afterward, but the fact of the matter is, it happened, said Ald. Lamont Westmoreland. It was beautiful to see Black and brown people come together. Its great to see white people down there, Asian, Mexican its great to see different types of people from different cultures come down there. But stuff like this disappoints me because I think more (people) would want to come. Festival organizers, reached Tuesday by the Journal Sentinel, wouldn't answer questions and said they didn't have any comment. Elected officials focus on success of the event Several elected officials said they hoped that the actions of a few wouldnt ruin the long-running festival for others. "Ive been going to Juneteenth since Ive been born, said Rep. Supreme Moore Omokunde, D-Milwaukee. I was incredibly honored to be there, and Im always incredibly honored to go there and to know that we have people that come from out of town. Ald. Milele Coggs called it wonderful event that, this year, had spaces and activities specifically for children and seniors. She said she wouldnt be surprised if attendance neared 100,000 people. Ald. Khalif Rainey said he suspected the younger people involved in the incident had a lack of understanding behind the holiday, which many are still learning about. I love Juneteenth. Its probably my favorite holiday of the year, he said. I think what the younger people got to understand is this dont belong to y'all. It belongs to so many other people." Meanwhile, Norman and Johnson called on parents to make sure teens stay away from guns, and urged people not to resolve arguments with violence. "Milwaukee, what's going on with our children?" Norman said in a news conference Monday evening. "This is a serious situation that we all need to take hold of." Johnson characterized the shooters' actions as "stupidity." "You don't have the right to endanger babies in this community ... because you want to go out there and act stupid with a gun," he said. "Arguments should not lead to guns being fired off, period." Keeping youth involved in activities is key, leader says Shanel Vrontez, the founder of a youth leadership organization called YLead LLC, attended the festival Monday, a yearly tradition. "It was such a beautiful day of love, fellowship and embracing each other," she said. "It's unfortunate that a situation got so out of control that it took the light out of all of the good that was going on." Now a high school principal, Vrontez previously worked with the violence interruption team 414LIFE. Despite all the police officers stationed at the festival, violence still broke out, Vrontez noted. In the future, more community organizations and faith groups should be present to engage with youth during the festival, not only police, she said. Vrontez recalled her own childhood in the '70s and '80s in Milwaukee, when kids had more opportunities to get involved in summer camps, classes and activities. "It's going to take everybody," Vrontez said. "Our violence teams can't mediate and mitigate all of this on their own." Trauma of shooting touches community members Trudy Kralj, who owns Bruno's Floral Shop on King Drive, was at work Monday when she heard the shots across the street. Safety in general is a big concern for this neighborhood, she said. Kralj's friends and children worry for her safety and want her to leave the area, she said. Sybil McChristion, who stopped into the flower shop Tuesday, said she now makes a point to leave Juneteenth before the festival ends, wary of what could happen. I get my corn and turkey leg and leave, she said. McChristion has been going to the festival for years. Its sad, she said. It took so long for it become a holiday and people dont know how to act." Lia Knox, a mental health counselor who specializes in therapy for people of color, was at the festival for hours Monday. She was heartened by the positive atmosphere young people painting murals, dancing in the parade and helping their families sell wares at booths. Since the shooting, family and friends have reached out to her upset that violence followed such an uplifting moment for the community. Some have told her they won't return to Juneteenth, that the shooting reinforces anxiety about being in crowds. The communal trauma of such an event is only reiterated when people see a barrage of news articles and social media posts about it, Knox said. Knox understands people's fears about returning to Juneteenth. But without "those who have a heart for Milwaukee" in attendance, there's a void, she said. "If you don't show up, how will we continue to make this wonderful event as wonderful as it has been?" she's been telling people. "We have to show up, both us and our allies." Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman called for an end to gun violence to settle petty disputes after a shooting that injured six people following the Juneteenth festival Monday. State officials speak out The Juneteenth festival and parade drew many of the state's most prominent politicians. They spoke out following the shootings. Our hearts break tonight for the victims of gun violence at the Juneteenth festival, Gov. Tony Evers wrote on Twitter. We must do more to stop gun violence and keep our kids and communities safe." U.S. Rep. Gwen Moores office told the Journal Sentinel that she was concerned that the suspected shooters were teenagers saying that no teenager should have such easy access to guns or believe those weapons should be used to solve conflict. It is heartbreaking after such a wonderful, vibrant celebration, there was a shooting in Milwaukee a dreaded reminder of the countrys ongoing gun violence crisis, Moores office said in a statement. The frequency and unpredictability of gun violence can make people feel on edge and live in fear. Any joyous moment, like attending a parade or festival, could turn to grief and heartache. Mass shootings on the rise locally and nationally There are differing definitions of mass shootings, but Mondays incident was already the fourth time this year in which four or more people, not including the shooter, were injured or killed in the same shooting. The previous three incidents two in March and one in May killed a 15-year-old and injured 14 people between the ages of 16 and 44. Mass shootings have increased locally and nationally since 2020. Mondays incident marks Milwaukees 26th mass shooting since 2020, when the city saw just five of them in the three years before 2020, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Nationally, there were nearly 740 people shot in 139 mass shootings in the first three months of 2023, according to crime analyst Jeff Asher. Thats a 24% increase in victimization compared to the first three months of 2022 and a 90% increase compared to the first three months of 2020. Easy access to guns a persistent problem Local police, elected officials and others have consistently pointed toward the easy access to guns and the ease at which a handgun can be converted into an automatic firearm with an extended clip, increasing the chances of innocent bystanders caught in crossfire. Firearms are our number one issue in our city, Norman, the police chief, said at a May gun violence summit hosted by Forward Latino in Milwaukee. Dont trust me. Look at the data. Gun sales in Wisconsin reached a historic high in 2020. That year, according to federal data, there was an 83% increase in guns recovered by police in Wisconsin within one year of purchase. In 2021, the number jumped another 31%. About half of gun recoveries in Wisconsin happen in Milwaukee. Police officials have said straw purchases and thefts of guns from cars and homes have contributed to their overall easy access. Reports of stolen firearms in the city nearly doubled from 2019 to 2022, according to police. Data from the Medical College of Wisconsin shows the average number of bullet casings found at the scene of shootings has risen from around from 6.4 to 7.2 in the years prior to 2020 to 8.5 to 9.5 in the years since then. Children are more often shooting victims The increase in mass shootings is also coupled with the fact that more children are being victimized by gun violence. From 2016 to 2019, no more than 10 children 17 and younger died by homicide in Milwaukee, but 20 or more have been killed in each of the three years since then, according to the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission. This year, 11 children have died by homicide, according to police, and 50 have been injured in shootings as of June 12, according to the Homicide Review Commission. According to researchers, many factors come into play with regard to youth violence. That includes access to guns, family influences, poverty, chronic and traumatic stress and academic achievement, among others. Vanessa Swales of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Juneteenth festival shooting suspects arrested "White Men Can't Jump," but they can avoid prison time for tax evasion. At least that's the view of Republicans and other conservatives on social media who decided to drag out actor Wesley Snipes' tax troubles to express their outrage over the plea deal offered to Hunter Biden, the president's son, for similar charges. Hunter Biden accepted an agreement from federal officials to avoid jail time, including for two misdemeanor counts of tax evasion in federal court. Snipes, famously, did not avoid jail time for evading taxes. "When does evading millions in federal income taxes get a slap on the wrist," Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said in a tweet Tuesday. "(Ask Wesley Snipes)." Like I said, when Democrats are investigated everything is slow walked and it ends with a slap on the wrist. Dont believe me? Just look at Hunter Biden. Three questions: 1. When does evading millions in federal income taxes get a slap on the wrist? (Ask Wesley Snipes) 2. Did Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) June 20, 2023 Other right-leaning Twitter users also rushed to make the same comparison, including talk radio host James Golden who said: "Somebody needs to find Wesley Snipes and ask him how he feels about Hunter Biden getting a pass on this!" Wesley Snipes went to jail for tax evasion Wesley Snipes, Rosie Perez, and Woody Harrelson pose in the press room. The trio were together to commemorate the 30th anniversary of "White Men Can't Jump." The famed actor, think 1990s classics like "Mo' Better Blues" "Passenger 57," and "Blade," was convicted of three misdemeanor counts in 2008 for failing to file tax returns from 1999 to 2001. He owed the government about $7 million in unpaid taxes after accepting the arguments of his two co-defendants, an accountant and an anti-tax ideologue. At the time, Snipes argued the IRS was an illegitimate government agency and cited an obscure section of the tax code that establishes that foreign sources of income for U.S. citizens are taxable. He also claimed he was a non-resident alien. Snipes was born in the U.S. in 1962, however. Snipes eventually lost an appeal for a retrial in 2010, which resulted in him serving nearly three years at a McKean Federal Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania. What is Hunter Biden accused of doing? U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who was first appointed by former President Donald Trump, filed a letter in federal court Tuesday citing the charges and the plea agreement. In one case, Biden will plead guilty to the tax charges, which allege willful failure to pay federal income tax. Biden allegedly received more than $1.5 million in taxable income during 2017, when he lived in Washington, D.C., and owed the federal government more than $100,000, court records show. He was required to pay the tax by April 2018, but didn't, according to federal prosecutors. He again received more than $1.5 million in 2018 and failed to pay his taxes by April 2019, according to the document. In a separate plea, the president's son agreed to enter a pretrial diversion agreement for a gun offense, in which he acknowledged unlawful possession of a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver, despite being addicted to drugs. The Justice Department is recommending probation on the tax charges, according to the Associated Press, based on an unnamed source. The diversion program could eventually lead to dismissal of the gun charge. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Wesley Snipes is being compared to Hunter Biden for tax evasion ALBANY, N.Y. The state Assembly is returning to the Capitol to finish up its session Tuesday. Whether it will approve legislation to extend government-subsidized health insurance to undocumented immigrants hangs in the balance. Health care and immigration advocates are pressing the Democratic-led Assembly to pass the Coverage for All bill before it recesses for the year, but Gov. Kathy Hochuls concerns about the cost could stop the bill from getting a vote despite it passing the Senate last week. I have to look at everything holistically and the impact on our state finances before I make a decision, Hochul told reporters Tuesday. A Hochul spokesperson said it is extremely difficult to estimate the total cost of the program, given the challenges of conducting outreach among the undocumented population, but cited estimates of $2 billion to $3 billion annually a projection that the bills supporters have contested as exaggerated. However, Hochuls concerns have fueled questions about whether Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie will advance the bill if the governor doesn't support it. The Assembly is scheduled for two days of session next week. Bill sponsor Assemblymember Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas (D-Queens) said she remains hopeful that it will be approved, even though it wasnt on the legislative calendar before the chamber recessed last Saturday. She and other supporters have argued the state would receive sufficient federal funding to expand the program to as many as 240,000 undocumented immigrants under the Essential Plan, which provides low-cost insurance to economically disadvantaged New Yorkers ineligible for Medicaid. I've been having good faith conversations with our speaker, educating folks on the bill, Gonzalez-Rojas said in an interview with POLITICO. It's just complicated when your governor's throwing out numbers that came out of the thin air. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently signaled that New York could get a waiver to devote federal dollars to covering undocumented immigrants, who are otherwise ineligible for government-subsidized insurance. But Hochul said the surplus could be quickly exhausted and the state would be stuck with the tab. Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president at the Community Service Society of New York, a nonprofit that focuses on helping low-income residents, said Hochuls projections seem to assume that all the states undocumented immigrants would immediately sign up for coverage. A memo the nonprofit submitted Wednesday in support of the bill estimated the annual cost to the federal government would be a net $1.2 billion a year if 240,000 people enrolled. That accounts for $429 million in expected Medicaid savings, since the program currently uses state dollars to cover emergency medical care for undocumented New Yorkers who are otherwise uninsured. Gonzalez-Rojas said the amended bill that passed the Senate last week would also give the state health commissioner the ability to phase in the program, which would provide continuity of care to undocumented children who now lose state coverage at age 18. The amended legislation allows for the commissioner to create lots of guardrails and has a lot of flexibility on how to roll out the program, she said. CLARIFICATION: The article has been updated to reflect some of the new fiscal projections outlined by advocates and the governor's office. Environmental agents carry sacks with pine cones of Spanish firs after picking up them on the top of them to collect their seeds for reforestations at the Sierra de las Nieves natural park and biosphere reserve in Ronda By Kate Abnett LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - European Union countries' environment ministers struck a deal on Tuesday over a landmark bill to restore deteriorating natural habitats after watering down parts of the proposal and agreeing to find more EU funding to restore damaged environments. The EU proposal to turn around the ailing health of Europe's natural habitats - 81% of which are classed as in poor condition - has sparked a fierce political debate, with EU lawmakers and some governments opposing the bill and questioning whether the EU is piling too much environmental regulation onto industry. EU countries backed the bill but only after the European Commission, the bloc's executive, agreed to propose EU financial support for measures to revive nature, if it were found to be needed. Hungary, Italy and Romania were among the countries seeking increased support, while Germany had opposed the creation of a new EU fund. Countries weakened parts of the Commission's original proposal. One change would scrap an obligation to ensure that the health of mudflats, grasslands, forests and other habitats does not worsen, replacing it with an aim to "endeavour to put in place necessary measures" to prevent this. Another would weaken targets to revive drained peatlands at the request of countries including Ireland, where dried bogs are farmed upon and peat used as fuel. Irish climate minister Eamon Ryan welcomed the compromise, saying it gave hope that "the destruction of nature is not an inevitable certainty", while avoiding restrictions that would prevent countries from developing their economies. Still, the densely-populated Netherlands opposed the deal, having raised concerns it would slow the expansion of wind farms and other economic activities. Finland, Italy, Poland and Sweden also opposed it. "We can't do everything at the same time and in the same limited space," Dutch Nature Minister Christianne van der Wal said. POLITICAL PUSHBACK EU climate chief Frans Timmermans told reporters he was not worried by countries' tweaks to make the law more flexible. But he criticised lawmakers in the European Parliament who are trying to block the law and are refusing to negotiate. EU countries and the European Parliament must both approve the final bill. "It makes me really sad that some are trying to draw climate policy to the culture wars. Because then you create sort of a tribal opposition. And once you get into a tribal opposition, facts don't matter," Timmermans said. The EU Parliament's biggest lawmaker group is leading a campaign to reject the law, arguing that making more space for biodiversity-boosting features on agricultural land would threaten food production. More than 3,000 scientists have rejected those claims, but the law's future still looks shaky. A motion by EU lawmakers to reject the entire proposal last week failed by a razor-thin margin, ahead of a full EU Parliament vote in July. (Reporting by Kate Abnett; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Gareth Jones and Susan Fenton) Representative image of an iceberg in Newfoundland (Getty Images) Photographs of a couple camping on top of an iceberg in Twillingate, Newfoundland have left a rural town in Canada mystified. The pictures were taken by local resident and nurse Sarah Rice, who was tipped off about reportedly strange objects on a nearby iceberg. A co-worker came into work saying she thinks she sees something on the iceberg and I said Ill get my camera and go see what I can see, Rice wrote on Facebook. From the vantage point of a causeway between Twillingate and New World Island, Rice zoomed in on the chunk of ice, and photographed what appeared to be two people with kayaks and a camping tent on it. She told CBC News: It looked like someone had staged a camping scene. Rice also expressed her disbelief that someone had been able to scale the iceberg, which would be several feet over your head if your boat was in the water. Im all for thrill-seekers, she added, [but] after seeing icebergs that have foundered and flipped within seconds, [its] very unsafe for sure. The campers have not been located or identified yet. According to the local coast guard, they have not returned to the dangerous campsite since Rice photographed them on 15 June. Mystery couple spotted camping on top of an iceberg in Newfoundland's Iceberg Alley prompts concern from locals - "After seeing icebergs that have foundered and flipped within seconds, it's very unsafe for sure." https://t.co/2MP4Qbb82r The Weather Network (@weathernetwork) June 16, 2023 Commenting on Ms Rices original Facebook post, one user wrote: Ummm these people have to be tourists.. theres no way someone who grew up with these massive beautiful ice sculptures would ever do something that stupid lol. Another comment read: Maybe they had no idea of the dangers of an iceberg. Someone must have warned them about the dangers and how reckless they were being. As the interest in Ms Rices sighting increased, she updated her post with an appeal. While it was cool to see and no doubt a thrill for these people, please dont climb up on icebergs. Stay safe and remember to spread love & kindness, she wrote. The coastline of Twillingate, which is home to 2,200 people, is interspersed with icebergs during the summer months, according to National Post. The town is therefore nicknamed the Iceberg Capital of the World. Spain had its hottest year on record in 2022 (Josep Lago) Spain's Supreme Court on Tuesday began examining a case filed by Greenpeace and other environmental groups accusing the central government of insufficient action to tackle climate change, the court and NGOs said. A spokeswoman confirmed the court had begun assessing the claim which was filed in September 2020 by Greenpeace, Spain's Ecologists in Action and Oxfam against "the government's failure" to act on its international commitments vis-a-vis climate change. It is unclear when the court will deliver a ruling. The claim was one of several legal initiatives filed by environmentalists in various European nations such as France, Germany and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, the courts forced the government in 2018 to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, and three years later, the French courts denounced the French government for its failings in the fight against global warming. The case is "the first climate case against the State in Spain's history", Greenpeace said in a statement. It seeks to push the court to take a stand on the "climate emergency" and to follow the stance of "other Supreme Courts in Europe by obliging the State and its administrations to comply with its international commitments," it said. Concretely, the NGOs want the court to compel the Spanish government to step up its climate action to be aligned with the objectives of the 2015 Paris Agreement by not exceeding the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold for global warming. "An affirmative ruling... will not only be a success in the legal battle against climate change but will also be a huge milestone in Spanish law regarding the public authorities' obligation to safeguard natural heritage and environmental standards," the NGOs' lawyer Jaime Doreste said in the statement. The left-wing government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez declared a climate emergency in 2020 and a year later, passed a law to speed up the ecological transition and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, in what claims is compliance with EU objectives. But Greenpeace and other environmental NGOs say the law does not go far enough to comply with the Paris Agreement. du/hmw/giv Court remands in custody former Motor Sich suspected of collaboration with Russia The Kyiv Court of Appeal has remanded in custody Vyacheslav Boguslaev, the president of Motor Sich JSC, who is suspected of aiding the aggressor state. Source: Kyiv Court of Appeal Details: On Monday, 19 June, the panel of judges of the Judicial Chamber for Criminal Cases of the Kyiv Court of Appeal considered the appeal, filed by Boguslaevs defence, against the decision of the investigating judge of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv dated 19 May 2023. This ruling extended the term of the preventive measure in the form of detention until 17 July 2023, including this day, without bail. The ruling of the investigating judge of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv from 19 May was upheld, and the appeal of Boguslaevs defence was dismissed. Background: On 23 October, 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine confirmed the detention of the president of Motor Sich JSC and the head of the Department of Foreign Economic Activities of this enterprise: they were suspected of collaboration and complicity with Russia. According to the investigation, these officials acted in collusion with representatives of the Russian corporation Rostec, which is one of the main producers of weapons for the Russian armed forces associated with the Kremlin. Under Boguslaev, Motor Sich, which produces aircraft engines, sold its engines to sanctioned companies from Iran. On 24 October, the Shevchenkivskyi Court of Kyiv took the suspects into custody for two months (until 20 December 2022). In November, the court seized all of Boguslaev's property, worth nearly 1 billion hryvnias (approximately US$ 27 million). Skhemy (a Radio Liberty investigative project) journalists found evidence that Boguslaev had a Russian passport. His lawyer confirmed this. In early November, Ukraine transferred Motor Sich to the management of the Defence Ministry. On 1 April 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced sanctions against Boguslaev. On 10 May 2023, Boguslaev asked to be included in the list for exchange with Russia. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! George Osborne has suggested that Western governments copied lockdowns from China and would not have considered such extreme measures if Beijing had not set the precedent. Giving evidence to the Covid Inquiry, the former chancellor questioned whether countries across the world would have locked down if the authoritarian regime in China had not done so first. Mr Osborne, who served as chancellor in David Camerons government between 2010 and 2016, said that during his time in office there was no planning for lockdown and launched a robust defence of austerity. Asked about the approach to planning for a pandemic by Kate Blackwell KC, counsel for the Inquiry, he said: Would we all have gone into lockdown if China had not locked down in January and February? I think the Chinese lockdown is what gives the rest of the world the idea, he told the inquiry in his evidence. And its the overwhelming of the hospital system in northern Italy that then leads all Western governments to reach basically the same conclusion, which is weve got to do what the Chinese have done in order to try and preserve our capacity and our emergency wards. He said he wondered whether, if the government had done a tabletop exercise in 2011 or 2012 on the matter, the same conclusion to lockdown would have been reached. Ms Blackwell added: Well never know because it was never done. Civil service churn a disaster Meanwhile, the inquiry heard from Sir Oliver Letwin that the churn of civil servants tasked with preparing for emergencies is a disaster for this country. Sir Oliver, who was the minister in charge of resilience in government from 2011 to 2016, said: Im pretty certain that the entire structure of the civil service means that you cant really make progress in a career without going through endless different jobs one after another, which I regard as a disaster for the country, particularly disastrous in the case of things that have very long lead times and where learning from experience is critical. Mr Osborne also rejected claims his austerity programme while he was chancellor depleted the NHS, as he suggested his cuts better prepared Britain to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. The former Conservative MP completely disputed the allegations at the official UK Covid-19 Inquiry from medics and unions that his cuts left health and social care in a parlous state. Mr Osborne argued on Tuesday that the UK may not have had the financial scope to spend vast amounts to support the public through the crisis without austerity. However, he conceded that his Treasury should have planned economic measures such as the furlough scheme needed in the pandemic. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has told the inquiry that the political choice of austerity under prime minister David Cameron left the UK hugely exposed to the pandemic. The British Medical Association has argued the cuts put the nation severely on the back foot, as the first phase of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry examines whether proper preparations were made. Osborne completely rejects claims on austerity Mr Osborne argued that it was key to ensure that the economy after the massive economic shock of the 2008 financial crisis was able to flex in a crisis. Kate Blackwell KC asked: Do you agree, by the time Covid-19 hit, the consequences of austerity were a depleted health and social care capacity and rising inequality in the UK? Mr Osborne replied: Most certainly not, I completely reject that. I would say if we had not done that Britain would have been more exposed, not just to future things like the coronavirus pandemic, but indeed to the fiscal crisis which very rapidly followed in countries across Europe ... Mr Osborne said he needed to repair the seriously impaired public finances. If we had not had a clear plan to put the public finances on a sustainable path then Britain might have experienced a fiscal crisis, we would not have had the fiscal space to deal with the coronavirus pandemic when it hit, he said. In his written evidence, Mr Osborne argues that his action had a material and positive effect on the UKs ability to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. Treasury had no plan for extended lockdown Mr Cameron, who gave evidence on Monday, has already argued the cuts were absolutely essential to get the British economy and British public finances back to health so you can cope with a future crisis. Mr Osborne conceded that the Treasury did not plan for an extended lockdown, but questioned whether such a plan would have led to a better furlough scheme anyway. There was no assumption that you would mandate that the population to stay at home for months and months on end so there was no planning for a lockdown, he said. Asked whose fault it was, he said that I dont think its particularly fair to apportion blame when scientists were not elevating threat of such a virus spreading rapidly. But he accepted that with hindsight the Treasury should have developed a blueprint for such a health emergency. 03:05 PM BST That's all for today Thank you for following our live coverage of todays Covid Inquiry hearing. Here are some of the main highlights: - George Osborne questioned whether countries across the world would have locked down if the authoritarian regime in China had not done so first. - The former chancellor argued that his austerity programme while chancellor made Britain better prepared to weather the coronavirus pandemic. - He said that with hindsight the Treasury should have planned for a coronavirus pandemic, but questioned whether anyone would have thought a lockdown was plausible at the time. - Sir Oliver Letwin gave a revealing insight into civil service bureaucracy, and said the churn of ministers tasked with preparing for emergencies is a disaster for this country. Stay updated to the Telegraph website for the latest news on the Covid Inquiry. 01:51 PM BST Osborne now finished giving evidence George Osborne has now finished giving evidence for today, and the inquiry is currently pausing for lunch. The inquiry will hear from Dame Sally Davies, Englands former chief medical officer from 2010 to 2019, this afternoon. 01:02 PM BST Austerity made Britiain better prepared, says Osborne George Osborne has argued that his austerity programme while chancellor made Britain better prepared to weather the coronavirus pandemic. Inquiry barrister Kate Blackwell KC asked: Do you agree by the time Covid-19 hit the consequences of austerity were a depleted health and social care capacity and rising inequality in the UK? Mr Osborne said: Most certainly not, I completely reject that. I would say if we had not done that Britain would have been more exposed, not just to future things like the coronavirus pandemic, but indeed to the fiscal crisis which very rapidly followed in countries across Europe... He said he needed to repair the seriously impaired public finances following the massive economic shock of 2008. If we had not had a clear plan to put the public finances on a sustainable path then Britain might have experienced a fiscal crisis, we would not have had the fiscal space to deal with the coronavirus pandemic when it hit... 12:43 PM BST Osborne explains struggles of balancing competing Treasury demands Mr Osborne appeared rattled as he explained the role of Chancellor and trying to fund demands from various Government departments. He said the Treasury had to fund the health service, the criminal justice system, the education system, the social care system while meeting other demands such as some generals who want a few more tanks. That is public spending, he said. So you cant just say well, wed like public spending to be higher without then explaining where youre going to get the money from. Ive pointed out the risks of borrowing the money. I would note the present Prime Minister just last year proposed a National Insurance rise to pay for the NHS and it was rejected by his own party and by the opposition. Youve got to balance all of these competing demands for different different services wanting more money, plus, you know, constraints on a country of borrowing the money in international markets, plus the constraints on the general population just willy nilly paying more tax. The taxpayer is also a core participant in that sense to this inquiry. 12:37 PM BST Idea of lockdown would not have seemed 'plausible' a decade ago Mr Osborne said that with hindsight the Treasury should have planned for a coronavirus pandemic, but questioned whether anyone would have thought a lockdown was plausible at the time. Asked whether his department should have had a blueprint for such a health emergency, the former chancellor told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry: Well with hindsight, yes, but as Ive said, I question whether in 2011, 2012, 2013 if someone had come to us and said, right theres going to be a coronavirus pandemic and were going to ask the whole population to stay indoors for three months, I wonder in 2011, 12, 13 whether anyone would have thought that was a plausible plan. I mean, it turned out to be one but after other parts of the world had started doing it. He added that there are definitely things that we could have done if this threat of a coronavirus pandemic had been identified in advance, including stockpiling PPE and respirators in hospitals. 12:22 PM BST 'You can't build an entire system around future supply of Oliver Letwins' George Osborne tells the inquiry that not all ministers are like Oliver Letwin with the self-starting capacity to check and chase everything. You cant build an entire system around a future supply of Oliver Letwins, he says. Sir Oliver gave evidence to the inquiry earlier this morning. 12:12 PM BST 'Idea for lockdown came from China' Mr Osborne says he believed lockdowns in China were the inspiration for similar measures across the world. I think the Chinese lockdown is what gives the rest of the world the idea of a lockdown, he said. And its the overwhelming of the hospital system in northern Italy. That then leads all Western governments to reach basically the same conclusion which is weve got to do what the Chinese have done in order to try and preserve our capacity and our emergency wards. 12:06 PM BST Hard decisions could not have been decided in advance He said it was unfair to say that the hard decisions, such as weighing up the choice between closing schools and affecting childrens education and the risk to the elderly, could have been decided in advance. However, he added: What I think is certainly the case is that if the if the expert community and governments had anticipated that there could be a pandemic that was not an influenza but was a another form of respiratory disease, and had characteristics like asymptomatic patients and so on then clearly we could have done certain things. He said that he had no doubt as Chancellor and all those before him would have approved a budget to stockpile 30 million of PPE which would be very small sums in the overall scheme of the government budget. 12:04 PM BST 'Not fair to apportion blame' Mr Osborne said he is not clear that planning for a furlough scheme in advance would have resulted in a better scheme than the one introduced by Rishi Sunak during the pandemic. It was not a group thing unique to this country. There was no assumption that you would ask the population to stay at home for months and months on end and and so there was no planning for the lockdown, he said. He said it wasnt fair to apportion blame because scientists were not elevating the possibility of a coronavirus with such a huge number of asymptomatic infections. 11:59 AM BST Sir Oliver leaves Covid Inquiry after giving evidence Sir Oliver Letwin was seen leaving the hearing centre in Dorland House, Paddington, after he finished giving evidence - James Manning 11:57 AM BST Osborne confirms no planning was done by Treasury for asking people to stay at home Mr Osborne said the Treasury had done work on what the impact of an Influenza pandemic would be and had the structures to deal with that. Youre absolutely right, that there was no planning done by the UK Treasury or indeed, as far as Im aware any western Treasury for asking the entire population to stay at home for months and months on end, essentially depriving large sectors of the economy like hospitality of all their customers for months and months. 11:54 AM BST Treasury helped health officials with emergency responses Mr Osborne said that the Treasury would lead the response to financial crises but would be a contributor to responses managed by the Department of Health such as a pandemic. He said that most country wide crises would lead to a second, economic emergency as happened during Covid. Its quite hard to think of crises on the scale of COVID that would not also have the potential to tip into a fiscal crisis, and or a financial crisis. 11:48 AM BST George Osborne sworn in to give evidence Mr Osborne has been sworn in to give evidence and has expressed his condolences to families affected by Covid. 11:34 AM BST Inquiry to hear from George Osborne soon The Inquiry will shortly hear from George Osborne, the former chancellor. In an extract from his witness statement published online, Mr Osborne defends austerity and says a responsible approach to repairing the UKs public finances following the financial crisis was essential. I have no doubt that taking those steps to repair the UKs public finances in the years following the financial crisis of 2008/09 had a material and positive effect on the UKs ability to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. The most urgent task facing the UK economy, as stated in Budget 2010 , was therefore to implement an accelerated plan to reduce the deficit. Indeed, there was cross party consensus on the need to reduce the deficit following the financial crisis. 11:32 AM BST Oliver Letwin concludes evidence Baroness Hallett asked Sir Oliver if a head of resilience would be an independent person or somebody ministerial. He said its very important that the person heading the work have direct access to the prime minister. He has now finished giving evidence. 11:30 AM BST 'No friciton' with devolved administrations Sir Oliver praised the devolved nations, namely Scotland and Northern Ireland, for the good working relationship he had with them when dealing with emergency planning. He said that outside of Cobra meetings he had pretty continuous conversations with John Swinney, Scotlands deputy first minister, adding that there was no friction when it came to dealing with emergency planning. He also mentioned his working relationship with Martin McGuinness, former deputy first minister of Northern Ireland. My experience was, you could do business with the devolved administration perfectly well, on the basis of establishing some degree of personal trust and limiting the scope of the discussion specifically to something that we both had an equal interest and they as much as I wanted to protect their populations, Sir Oliver said. 11:04 AM BST Revelations of 'catastrophic' civil service bureaucracy Sir Oliver gave a revealing insight into civil service bureaucracy as he explained how he split documents about resilience into green, yellow and red tags to keep track how many of these documents were ludicrously overweight and incomprehensible. He said about a third were short and clear, a third were not good and a third were totally catastrophic. And on the catastrophic ones, I sent them back and I asked for them to be produced at much lesser length. In most cases, I got back something less than a quarter of what I started with...Theres a huge overproduction of large documents. 10:59 AM BST Government should introduce 'red teams' to challenge groupthink, Sir Oliver says Sir Oliver was asked about groupthink around pandemic planning, saying the focus should have been on impact rather than cause and that it could have been observed any virus would require contact tracing and PPE. He said that the government should introduce red teams to challenge groupthink amongst scientists and experts. 10:45 AM BST 'By the time you learn the job, you're off' Hugo Keith KC asked Letwin about the revolving door of ministers and whether it undermined the ability of Government to perform tasks. Sir Oliver replied: If youre a minister responsible for anything for six months, you could have training for the first two months, but by the time you finish your training youve practically finished your job. He said that by the time some officials assigned to 18-month projects had completed training by the time you know, youre off. undermines experiences. Letwin replies: I strongly believe it does. 10:43 AM BST 'Great regret' Mr Letwin was asked how written material on how to respond to a crisis would get to ministers during his time in office. Typically, it did arrive for blessing at the end of a very long, bureaucratic process, he told the inquiry. He said he did not focus on pandemic flu as he was advised the situation was being well looked after, adding this was a great regret. 10:20 AM BST 'I was a Mr Fix It' Asked about his positions in government, Sir Oliver described his role as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster as like the Holy Roman Empire and was just an honorific. He said a minuscule proportion of my time, perhaps an hour a month was spent on duchy of Lancaster business. He said his real role was as a minister for government policy and a jack of all trades and a Mr Fix It to help hold the Coalition Government together. He later slipped into resilience and decided someone needed to be focusing their time on this area. 10:12 AM BST Who is Oliver Letwin? Oliver Letwin was appointed by David Cameron as the minister of state for government policy in 2010. He was the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster between 2014 and 2016 , and was appointed to work on Brexit in 2016. Mr Letwins role in Camerons government involved pandemic planning and preparedness, which he is expected to be asked about today. Oliver Letwin is giving evidence on Tuesday to the Covid Inquiry - HANNAH MCKAY 10:06 AM BST Today's hearing gets underway The first of todays evidence hearings has now gotten underway. Sir Oliver Letwin is being questioned by Hugo Keith KC, the lead counsel for the inquiry. 09:52 AM BST David Cameron: It was a 'mistake' to focus on flu pandemic David Cameron yesterday told the Covid Inquiry that his government made a mistake by focusing on an influenza pandemic and not looking at other types of viruses. Giving evidence under oath on Monday morning, Mr Cameron became the first former prime minister to be questioned by the inquiry. He dismissed claims austerity contributed to pandemic failings and said that the focus on a flu pandemic meant questions werent asked about measures such as school closures and that there was a danger of groupthink in relation to influenza. 09:37 AM BST Who is giving evidence today? The first witness today is expected to be Oliver Letwin, the former minister for government policy between 2010 and 2016 and former Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster between 2014 and 2016. George Osborne, the former chancellor, is due to be sworn in to give evidence later this morning. He will likely be asked about austerity measures during his time in government, following on from David Camerons appearance at the inquiry on Tuesday. Finally, we will be hearing from Dame Sally Davies, who was chief medical officer from 2010 to 2019. 09:37 AM BST Good morning Welcome to our live updates on Tuesdays Covid Inquiry hearings. Follow our live blog for the latest updates throughout the day. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer. Two cruise ships lined up in port. Andrey Rudakov / Bloomberg via Getty Images The cruise industry is back and booming. By the end of 2023, an estimated 31.5 million passengers will travel on a cruise ship, according to Statista, and that figure exceeds even pre-pandemic numbers. The sector is expected to keep growing exponentially, with Statista estimating nearly 40 million annual cruisers by 2027. With this uptick, though, comes renewed questions about the cruise industry's negative effect on the environment. Cruise ships are "an environmental disaster," Popular Science reported, with the behemoth ships "having a massive effect on the climate." One study from the University of Exeter showed that the average cruise ship produces the same amount of carbon emissions as 12,000 cars. While other transportation sectors, like air travel, are working to become more eco-friendly, cruise ships have long been the bane of environmentalists. Groups like Friends of the Earth claim that "everything that cruise ships come in contact with are likely to be harmed along their journey." However, the industry has begun working on alternatives to their fuel-guzzling vessels, and is exploring ways to make voyages by ship both enjoyable and green. How bad are cruise ships for the environment? Traditional diesel-powered cruise ships pump out massive quantities of toxic emissions, experts say. While the entire shipping industry emits "2.9% of global carbon dioxide emissions," cruise ships "produce more carbon dioxide annually on average than any other kind of ship due to their air conditioning, heated pools and other hotel amenities," The Associated Press reported, citing a study from the European Federation for Transport and Environment. Then there are the passengers themselves. A person's carbon footprint "triples in size when taking a cruise," Forbes said, and "the emissions produced can contribute to serious health issues." The scale of cruise ships causes a tremendous amount of garbage to accumulate onboard, and "cruise ships have been caught discarding trash, fuel, and sewage directly into the ocean," Forbes added. Many resort towns that welcome cruise ships have been directly affected by pollution from the vessels, and there has been a purported rise in medical problems in some of these areas. In the French city of Marseille, for instance, shipping pollution "is estimated to account for up to 10% of the city's air pollution problem," The Guardian reported. One man who lives above the ship-docking area in Marseille has "noticed that the cancer cases here began emerging in the years after the cruise ship boom, as the ships got bigger and more arrived," he told The Guardian. How are cruise lines reacting? Many companies within the industry are attempting to pivot to sustainability, and a variety of greener options have been proposed. Nearly every cruise line "is investing in green initiatives, from looking at carbon footprint to refining emissions," Colleen McDaniel, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic, told CNN. One of the key aspects of the shift is an attempted move toward alternative fuel sources. Industry trade group Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Two main alternates are battery and hydrogen-powered ships. Despite the well-publicized danger of hydrogen vehicles, "more than 15% of cruise ships debuting in the next five years" will be equipped with hydrogen fuel cells or battery incorporations, CLIA said, with Stanford University professor Marc Jacobsen telling CNN they are "far cleaner solutions" for ships. Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten has said it will no longer build fossil fuel-based ships, and is attempting to craft the world's first zero-emission liner. The ship will operate on batteries that "would allow it to run for well over 300 miles before recharging," Time reported. To maximize the ship's range before charging, Hurtigruten "is exploring using underwater maneuvering jets that can retract into the hull to cut drag," and will potentially be "adding sails and solar panels to harness extra power." The company told Time will have a final design for the ship by 2025, with plans to have it water-ready by 2030. Other initiatives include onboard changes, and "most lines have reduced or eliminated single-use plastics aboard," Travel + Leisure noted. "Waste heat recovery systems are allowing ships like those in the Disney Cruise Line fleet to reduce water usage," the outlet added, and "many cruise lines are also making investments in big-picture sustainability efforts." You may also like Russia reportedly tried to assassinate a high-value CIA asset in Miami 5 theories for why Trump kept boxes of secret documents Trump shrugs off large number of his former Cabinet officials who don't want him reelected The first "Midsummer Literature Night" activity, sponsored by China National Publications Import & Export (Group), was held in Beijing last Saturday. Guests included officials of China National Publications and the China Writers Association, diplomats from Pakistan, Turkiye and Canada, Chinese writers and over 30 overseas sinologists and publishers. Lin Liying, general manager of China National Publications, said in her speech the Beijing International Book Fair is a platform for writers, translators and publishers from all over the world to communicate and share insights, and literature is a bridge to connect different cultures. "The Midsummer Literary Night is intended to pay tribute to the writers and translators who pass on culture from generation to generation through books and stories, so we can better understand each other and continue to innovate", she said. Nasreen Fatima, cultural counselor at the Pakistani embassy in China, said literature helps strengthen communication and ties between different ethnic groups. In recent years, she added, China and Pakistan have enjoyed increasingly close cooperation in the fields of art, literature and publishing. At this year's Beijing International Book Fair the launch of the Chinese version of four Pakistani literary works was held at the National Convention Center. In the spirit of sincere cooperation, Fatima said, the two countries will continue to strengthen literary exchanges and promote mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples in the future. Chinese poet Xichuan, British sinologist Shen Rufeng, Turkish sinologist Ji Lai and Polish sinologist Ni Kexian gave poetry recitations in their respective languages. With literature as a link, the activity brought guests from different countries closer in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. The rapid growth of cryptocurrency theft over the past few years has become a major concern for U.S. authorities, who are ramping up efforts to crack down on hackers and illicit crypto schemes. Just last year, crypto hackers managed to steal about $3.7 billion in digital assets, with North Korean state-sponsored cyber actors taking the lead as the main culprit in many of those heists, according to TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence company. Although this year has seen a decline in crypto hacks compared to 2022, about $400 million of virtual currency was stolen in the first quarter of 2023, TRM Labs reported. Over the last few years, North Korean state-sponsored cyber actors have aggressively targeted the crypto sector, often taking advantage of an industry that is not well understood by many and not well regulated. North Korean flags are carried during a celebration of the nations 73rd founding anniversary in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Sept. 9, 2021. (Associated Press). U.S. officials and the United Nations have reported that stolen crypto funds have become an important source of revenue for North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile program. The problem has gotten very big and very serious with North Korea cybercriminals accounting for about $1 billion in stolen crypto last year, said Ari Redbord, global head of policy and government affairs at TRM Labs. With North Korea, it is not about personal financial gain. Stolen crypto is used to fund weapons proliferation and other destabilizing activity, Redbord said, adding that it has become a serious national security threat. A top cyber official in the Biden administration also raised similar concerns regarding North Koreas role in crypto hacks. Anne Neuberger, the administrations deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, said last year she was concerned about North Koreas cyber capabilities, adding that the country uses up to a third of [stolen crypto] funds to fund their missile program. Neuberger added that North Koreas expansion of its missile testing has been a top priority for the administration, which has taken several enforcement actions to counter the countrys cyber threats, including imposing sanctions against criminal groups and seizing stolen digital assets. Last year, the FBI confirmed North Korean-sponsored hackers known as the Lazarus Group, which had been sanctioned by the Treasury Department for targeting critical infrastructure, were responsible for stealing about $620 million in cryptocurrency from the virtual game Axie Infinity. Immediate, severe impacts Crypto hacks have become a major concern for many parties, especially those that invest in cryptocurrency because they could see their savings or investment wiped clean, experts said. In the age of the internet, a hack means the loss of usernames and passwords, Redbord said. In the age of crypto hacks, it could mean the loss of life savings or the ability of North Korea or other nation-state actors to fund malign activity. Redbord also said it is now more important than ever for law enforcement and regulators to keep up the pace in digital space as they crack down on cyber crime. Josephine Wolff, an associate professor of cybersecurity policy at the Tufts University Fletcher School, said law enforcement should be worried about all types of cyber crimes because whether they are crypto hacks, cyberattacks, cyber espionage, cyber warfare or disinformation campaigns, they are all connected in some way. You dont want to say, Oh, we only care about disruptive cyberattacks, when the way that many criminals fund those disruptive cyberattacks may be at least partly through some cryptocurrency crime, Wolff said. Like Redbord, Wolff agreed that another reason to be worried about crypto hacks is that people are losing a lot of money as they feel the impact of this pretty immediately and pretty severely. Russia eyes crypto for sanctions evasion Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with members of the Business Russia organization at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 26. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Although North Korea leads the world in crypto hacking, Russia has also engaged in such activity to evade economic sanctions and fund projects it deems as important to its national security interests, experts said. I think that for countries like North Korea and now Russia that face a lot of sanctions, you would imagine that that money would be used for just about anything that a government wants to do but has trouble funding, Wolff said. Just last week, the Department of Justice unsealed charges against two Russian nationals accused of participating in a 2011 hack of cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox. The agency said the two Russian defendants were charged with conspiring to launder about 647,000 bitcoins from the Mt. Gox hack. Redbord said Russia, which has been trying to evade U.S. economic sanctions, has participated in various crypto schemes. Russia colluded with Iran to conduct cross-border trade in cryptocurrencies and has used paramilitary groups to raise funds in crypto to support Russias war in Ukraine. While none of these efforts have moved the needle dramatically, over time they can have an impact, Redbord said. How has the US responded? The Treasury Building is viewed in Washington in 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) Over the past few years, U.S. authorities have increased their efforts to fight crypto hacks, including imposing sanctions on entities and crypto mixers, indicting individuals, and seizing domains. In March, the DOJ said it dismantled a darknet cryptocurrency mixer, known as ChipMixer, which allowed cybercriminals to launder more than $3 million of digital assets. The agency said it seized two domains that directed users to the mixing service, which was involved in other illegal activities including ransomware, fraud, cryptocurrency heists and other hacking schemes. And last year, the Treasury Department sanctioned Tornado Cash, another cryptocurrency mixer, for helping hackers launder more than $7 billion worth of virtual currency. Tornado Cash allowed cyber groups, including North Korean-backed hackers, to use its platform to launder the proceeds of cyber crimes, Treasury said. Wolff said although it can be hard to deter cyber criminals from engaging in these activities, law enforcement can block off some of their infrastructure, like cracking down on illicit crypto mixers. Last year, blockchain data firm Chainalysis released a report that found the use of crypto mixers reached an all-time high in 2022, with state-sponsored actors and cyber criminals making up a large portion of users. In 2022, illicit addresses accounted for 23 percent of funds sent to mixers, up from 12 percent in 2021, the report found. While we are seeing cybercriminals become more and more sophisticated, law enforcement and the tools they use to track and trace funds are also becoming better, Redbord said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. DA pushes back against Trump's effort to get judge to step down from criminal case Former President Donald Trump "has a prolific history of baselessly accusing state and federal judges around the country of bias" and there's no reason the judge overseeing his criminal prosecution in New York should recuse himself from the case, the Manhattan district attorney's office said Tuesday in response to a court filing by Trump's attorneys. Trump earlier this month filed a motion seeking the recusal of New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the case in which Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection to a hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges. MORE: Trump asks judge in criminal case to step aside due to his daughter's Democratic ties Trump is arguing that the judge is biased because his daughter works for a company aligned with Democrats. The Manhattan district attorney's office portrays the recusal as unnecessary. "Recusal would facilitate an apparent effort by defendant to select his own judge and would encourage other litigants to adopt the same approach," prosecutors said in their court filing Tuesday. "The motion to recuse should be denied." PHOTO: Former President Donald Trump speaks at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., June 13, 2023. (Andrew Harnik/AP) The defense has argued that the judge's daughter would have a financial stake in the outcome of the case and the rulings her father makes -- but prosecutors said that's insufficient to warrant his stepping aside. "Recusal is required only where there exists a direct, personal, substantial or pecuniary interest in reaching a particular conclusion," prosecutors said. "There must be concrete proof of such a direct interest; speculative claims of potential bias are insufficient to warrant recusal." MORE: Prosecutors detail Trump's alleged hush money 'scheme' to influence 2016 election Trump also argued that the judge "pushed" former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg to plead guilty in his criminal case last summer. Prosecutors said it was Weisselberg who initiated plea talks, and any involvement by Judge Merchan has no bearing on a wholly different case. "The Court's participation in plea discussions involving Mr. Weisselberg was completely proper and displayed no favoritism or antagonism toward any party," prosecutors said. Trump is also trying to steer his prosecution away from Merchan by simultaneously working to move the case to federal court. A hearing on that is scheduled for next week. DA pushes back against Trump's effort to get judge to step down from criminal case originally appeared on abcnews.go.com An Alabama man died on Fathers Day while rescuing his daughter from swift currents off a popular Florida beach, according to relatives. Christopher Pierce, 47, was staying with his family at the Tidewater Beach Resort in Panama City Beach when his daughter was overtaken by a rip current on Sunday, June 18, WVTM reported. He was successfully able to get her out of the water, Panama City Beach Police Chief J.R. Talamantez told WMBB. But in his attempt, he got caught in a rip current. ... There are no words to describe what the family is probably going through when they lose their father, a husband, on Fathers Day while theyre on vacation. Pierce was taken to Ascension Sacred Heart Bay Emergency Department in Panama City Beach where he was pronounced dead, WBRC reported. His daughters condition was not released. Conditions in the Gulf of Mexico were hazardous in the area on Fathers Day. City officials placed beaches under double red flags late in the day, due to dangerous rip currents, according to a Twitter post. Anyone getting in the water faced a $500 fine, the city said. A Facebook page for Pierce reports the family of three lived in Helena, south of Birmingham, and he was a general sales manager for a Ford dealership. Spearfisherman vanished 2.5 miles off Florida coast, cops say. Body has been found Spring break tourist found dead outside Florida condo fell from a balcony, cops say Cries for help lead game warden to Florida woman stuck in flooded car, Maine cops say Danielle Brooks on The Color Purple, reprising Sofia: I hope that everyone can see themselves in this movie TheGrio caught up with Brooks over the weekend at American Black Film Festival, where audience members caught a 10-minute first look at the upcoming film. Danielle Brooks is ready for you to see the new The Color Purple. The Tony-nominated actress caught up with theGrio at American Black Film Festival, where festivalgoers got a 10-minute sneak peek at the highly anticipated adaptation of the classic Alice Walker novel and Broadway musical. This weekend marked Brooks first time at ABFF. She felt the excitement in the air while at the festival in Miami, she told us, not only from festivalgoers waiting for the first look at the film, but also from reuniting with her friends in the industry like Teyonah Parris, who was also in attendance. (Parris starred in the opening night film, Netflixs They Cloned Tyrone.) To be surrounded by artists that look like me but also get to support people I know is really great, she explained to theGrios Jared Alexander. Speaking of The Color Purple sneak peek, she continued, To have a classic like this here is everything you would want it to be. You feel the love, you feel the excitement, especially for a film that doesnt come out until Christmas! Danielle Brooks speaks on the panel at The Color Purple screening during the American Black Film Festival at New World Center on June 17, 2023, in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Ivan Apfel/Getty Images) For Brooks, her connection to The Color Purple is storied and multi-layered. The original Broadway production of the musical was the first Broadway show Brooks ever saw when she was 15 years old. I remember sitting there crying my eyeballs out, she recalled. I had come to the realization this is what I have to do, this is my purpose. Ten years later, after a lot of nos, Brooks starred in her first Broadway show, the critically acclaimed revival of The Color Purple as Sofia. I auditioned for a lot of Broadway shows, and God said, No, and now I understand that was him saying, Your first Broadway show needs to be The Color Purple. Brooks starred in the show for a year, earning a Tony nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. Now, roughly seven years later, Brooks once again returns to Sofia, now as an older artist and different person she told us. Meeting this role now as an older artist, having stepped into it the first time, I am truly a different person. Im married now, I have a daughter thats 3 years old, Ive been through some pain and some trauma and had to learn how to pick myself back up, she said, before quipping, and how to do it a little differently than Sofia. I had to learn how to do it with grace and love when I wanted to handle it how she did, she added. There is a part of it that is a lot of fun to play. I get to say, Hell no, and I get to learn how to not accept things that I normally might as Danielle and I get to learn how to not accept things that I normally might as Danielle. She added, I hope that everyone can see themselves in this movie and figure out how to move through whatever theyre going through. The Color Purple hits theaters Christmas Day. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post Danielle Brooks on The Color Purple, reprising Sofia: I hope that everyone can see themselves in this movie appeared first on TheGrio. Many on the right have, in the wake of Donald Trumps federal indictment, finally jumped ship. His supporters who remain, however, have raised a common refrain in his defense: But Hillary did it, too! Before I go any further yes, the Clintons were painfully and visibly corrupt, unrepentantly so, for decades. However, when Trumps sycophants raise Hillary as a defense, they make an ironic admission. Trumps advocates seem to say: Yes, our guy screwed up, but their guy screwed up, too, so our guy shouldnt be punished. In this "justification" is an admission of guilt. Whataboutism and lamentations of hypocrisy even when warranted are only ever heard from the losing side. If the only defense you can muster for your candidate is that someone else did something similarly bad someone who has been irrelevant for almost seven years you are losing. Former President Donald Trump gestures before boarding his personal plane at Miami International Airport, Tuesday, June 13, 2023, in Miami. Trump appeared in federal court Tuesday on dozens of felony charges accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents and thwarting the Justice Department's efforts to get the records back. The Hillary Clinton argument This irony is lost on the Trump acolytes. So many Republicans made Hillarys corruption central to their argument against her in 2016. Now, those same voices that derided Clinton as too corrupt to serve are tacitly admitting that Trump is just as bad. The email scandal and Trumps current ordeal are an alluring comparison, as both contend with misuse of classified information. Hillarys private email server, for those who dont remember last decades political intrigue, might have contained classified documents. The difference Clinton email specifics aside is that Trump seems to have refused repeated requests to return the documents. This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of records stored in a bathroom and shower in the Lake Room at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. Trump is facing 37 felony charges related to the mishandling of classified documents according to an indictment unsealed Friday, June 9, 2023. But, they say, former President Trump had the authority to declassify documents and bring them home, whereas former Secretary of State Clinton who never served as president did not. Putting aside the inconvenient fact that Trump allegedly admitted that he did not declassify the documents, this distinction is lost on anyone who does not spend their life on Twitter. The Clintons, for all their petty and grand corruption, never made it easy for the authorities to hold them accountable. Even if there was appetite to prosecute prominent liberals, the Clintons were never as brazen as Trump. The difference between Trump and the Clintons Case in point, the June 8 indictment accuses Trump of cartoonishly showing off classified information while commenting that he shouldnt be showing it off. If Clinton ever admitted guilt for the email server debacle, it was never as blatant as Trumps showmanship. Donald Trump and Hillary Rodham Clinton in a 2016 debate. More to the point, Trump could have avoided this nightmare by turning over the documents when asked by the DOJ. Republican whataboutism becomes ever more tiresome as Trump repeatedly makes fools of his defenders and prophets of his detractors. The left in this country so rarely embarrasses itself while Trump is more than happy to burn anyone on the right even his former surrogates to save himself. Before the indictment was released, many voices from the right preordained the DOJ probe as baseless hackery. So intent to decry a double standard, some Republicans leaped to Trumps defense before seeing any hard evidence discrediting themselves when the indictment proved, in the words of former Attorney General Bill Barr, damning. When will Trump go on trial? Why prosecutors will push for a speedy trial before 2024 Even after the indictment was released, some Trump defenders still attempted to do the impossible and pass the indefensible as routine, even if it meant contradicting themselves from seven years ago. Some conservatives seem intent to twist themselves into rhetorical pretzels explaining why Hillarys scandals were different or worse to an increasingly weary audience. Hillary was actually investigated Conservative proclamations of what if the roles were reversed are hardly unique to politics. Whenever a celebrity makes questionable comments about Christians or white people, the same response always abounds. To my fellow conservatives: Yes, there is a double standard. Impotently complaining about hypocrisy does nothing. Trump indictment, arrest begs question: Will his Republican primary foes promise to pardon him? The DOJ will not decide to charge your political enemies just because you call the prosecutors hypocrites. Serious change requires winning elections, which necessitates a compelling message to voters. Hillary did it, too is not a viable campaign slogan. Not incidentally, Hillary was investigated numerous times by the DOJ, FBI and the Republican-controlled Congress. Hillary was never indicted and arrested, as Trump is now, but the scandal might have ended her presidential campaign. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. There might be substantive defenses for Trumps actions, but protesting that Hillary Clinton is worse or complaining about Hunter Biden is an unconvincing tactic. Even if these grievances are deserved, conservatives should aspire to be better than the corruption of the other side rather than using their vices as a defense. Rodge Reschini, a summer intern with USA TODAY Opinion, is a rising senior at Cornell University. He's the editor-in-chief of the Cornell Review. Follow him on Twitter:@r_reschini You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fellow conservatives: Please stop complaining about Hillary Clinton The fatalities resulting from the Kakhovka HPP destruction have now reached 21, including five individuals who lost their lives due to targeted shots fired by the occupiers. Source: Ihor Klymenko, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, on Telegram Quote: "595 houses in Kherson Oblast remain flooded. Unfortunately, due to the actions of the enemy, the number of dead and wounded is increasing: 21 people have died so far, in particular, 5 - as a result of targeted shots by the Russians, another 28 were injured, 16 of them were our liquidators [of consequences of the HPP destruction]." Details: He emphasised that the epidemiological situation remains stable and under control, with no reported outbreaks of infectious diseases. Klymenko also reiterated the prohibition on fishing and consuming fish in the affected regions. Direct speech: "Special patrols are working to monitor the situation. We systematically take samples of both technical and drinking water. Our primary concern is to determine if the water can be safely provided to the people. For now, we continue to bring drinking and technical water to local residents". Previously: On June 19, Klymenko reported 18 deaths as a result of the HPP explosion; four of these people died from gunshot wounds. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! A group of Democrats is pushing the Biden administration to overhaul the process for deported people to appeal their cases, calling the current mechanisms ineffective and insufficient. The Democrats on Tuesday, led by Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) and Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (Mo.) Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.) and David Trone (Md.), called on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to create a centralized office to process deportation appeals. U.S. laws allow the deported to make their case to return to the country, but the processes to get an appeal heard can be convoluted. As you know, these processes can include a deported person filing a petition for review, a motion to reopen their case, or even applying for lawful status while abroad after they have been deported, the lawmakers wrote in a letter signed by 64 congressional Democrats, including 10 senators, and provided exclusively to The Hill. In practice, each of these mechanisms are ineffective and insufficient due to the current decentralized review process and the associated lengthy wait times. Of the three mechanisms, two involve getting buy-in from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the institution that carries out deportations. Thats left people who want to appeal their deportation with little recourse and without a clear government interlocutor to make their case. I mean, you feel lost, said Vanessa Vaquiz Mendoza, who was deported to El Salvador in 2020 after living in the United States since 1998. Its scary. I go back and think about it. Thats what it was. It was scary, because nobody explained nothing to me. Vaquiz Mendoza was among the women who in 2020 were subjected to alleged medical abuse and neglect at the Irwin County (Ga.) Detention Center, where female detainees appear to have been subjected to excessive, invasive, and often unnecessary gynecological procedures, according to a 2022 Senate report. Vaquiz Mendoza, who had surgery while detained, signed papers to expedite her deportation while at Irwin, a facility where there was no way to feel safe there. They dont want me to go back and fight my case. I know that, she said. But it would be only fair. I think, when I did sign deportation, I was in very bad terms. I was not OK with everything that I was going through. The Democrats are not calling for deported people such Vaquiz Mendoza to be allowed to return immediately, but rather to create a centralized clearinghouse at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to process such cases. What were asking is for a centralized unit, were not asking for people to massively be allowed [back], Espaillat told The Hill. Theyll be able to review each case, and its a matter of fairness. I think the average person understands that, and its not as charged as the overall immigration debate. The proposed DHS unit would mirror a similar organization launched last year under Mayorkas called ImmVets, which provides noncitizen U.S. military veterans with immigration assistance, including a centralized hub to process appeals to return after deportation. The proposal was conceived in a white paper published by the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), a group dedicated to ensuring access to justice for immigrants. According to the lawmakers, creating such a clearinghouse would not require congressional action, and could be funded with the departments existing budget. Establishing a centralized unit to review requests to return to the U.S. from people who have been wrongfully or unjustly deported is wholly within DHSs broad legal authority and would bring fairness and credibility to the U.S. immigration system, they wrote. Bringing home unjustly deported fathers, mothers, community leaders, and workers is also a critical step toward shifting the current U.S. immigration system towards a system that supports family and community unity. The need to revise deportations is especially critical for people who lived in the country for long periods of time and who in many cases were forced to permanently separate from their families over relatively minor infractions. When someone is wrongfully deported, it doesnt just impact a lone individual. Oftentimes, as Ive seen firsthand in my congressional district, that person leaves behind a family that needs them and a community that values their contributions, Cleaver said. Leonel Pinilla was a legal permanent resident in New York who was deported following a 2009 traffic stop where a small amount of marijuana was found in his car. Pinilla was detained from 2009 until 2012, when his green card was up for renewal, and then deported to Panama. Though New York decriminalized marijuana possession in 2016 and Pinillas conviction was vacated by a state court in 2022, he has found little recourse to make his case. I tried all the legal avenues, and they found ways to block me, said Pinilla, who left his family behind and has not met his two grandchildren. Pinilla, 57, is also concerned that hes been unable to pay into Social Security since his detention and worries that his retirement will suffer for it. But many advocates say theres a broader societal concern beyond individual cases the groups targeted for aggressive immigration enforcement are often the same ones disproportionately targeted by the criminal justice system. Theres no question that Black and brown immigrants with decades of life in the U.S. who have contact with the criminal legal system are at much higher risk of deportation, detention and separation from their entire livelihoods, said Nayna Gupta, associate director of policy at NIJC and the author of the paper outlining the legislators proposal. Just like in so many of the systems that Black and brown immigrants are up against, the immigration system itself is harsher and more punitive for low-income, underserved Black and brown immigrant communities. And that means that those communities are at higher risk of harsh immigration laws being enforced, said Gupta. That connection has attracted broad swaths of the Democratic Party to support the proposal, including many members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Immigration is a civil rights issue. And what Im hoping for and I think its beginning to happen what Im hoping for is this alliance between Black and brown people becoming inflexible and permanently connected, because we are getting stronger, Cleaver said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. DeSantis campaigns in California as spat with Golden State Governor continues to fester The governors of the Sunshine State and the Golden State are continuing to duke it out on the national stage, but that didnt stop Governor Ron DeSantis from making stops in California Monday and Tuesday. Needles and feces outside, read a newscaster in a new ad posted on the DeSantis War Room Twitter account Monday. The debate is already settled. Californias liberal governance is a disaster. @RonDeSantis conservative policies have Florida thriving, and would do so for the nation. pic.twitter.com/c4a8P5g5UQ DeSantis War Room (@DeSantisWarRoom) June 19, 2023 >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< The clip was one among a string of newsreels highlighting crime, drug use, and population loss in California included in the new ad, which was released ahead of Governor Ron DeSantis trip to the Golden State. Its the latest in a nearly year-long feud between Florida and Californias top elected officials. The spat between DeSantis and California Governor Gavin Newsom first grabbed national headlines last July, when Newsom ran an ad in the Sunshine State around the 4th of July. Freedom is under attack in your state, narrated Newsom in the ad, which criticized new Florida laws on abortion, school curriculum and voting. Fast-forward to the start of this month and the fight hit a new flashpoint when DeSantis sent a planeload of migrants to Californias State Capitol Sacramento. It spurred Newsom to call DeSantis a small pathetic man and suggest kidnapping charges could be in order. A few days later during an interview on Hannity, Newsom even agreed to debate DeSantis. Id look forward to that. We could talk about his zest for demonization. We could talk about his assault on free enterprise, said Newsom. That prompted DeSantis to challenge Newsom to join the race for the Presidency. Stop pussyfooting around. Are you gonna throw your hat in the ring and challenge Joe? said DeSantis during a press conference last week. UNF Political science professor Dr. Michael Binder argued the two apparent enemies have a reason to keep their feud going. It keeps them both in the news, said Binder. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] And while some political observers have speculated the dispute could be a preview of a DeSantis-Newsom Presidential showdown, Binder said he doubts Newsom will jump in to the 2024 race. He also argued 2028 could be too late for DeSantis. You need to have all your chips in for 24. Once you run, theres no guarantee that youre gonna get a second chance and, you know, take the opportunities when they come, said Binder. Polls currently show DeSantis down 30 points to former President Donald Trump in the Republican Presidential Primary. But Binder noted theres still a long way to go before the nominee will be decided. [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. Despite Blinkens visit, China and the US still have dangerous gulf between them A visit of Americas top diplomat to China this week ended with both Washington and Beijing expressing hope that this was a key first step to getting their broken relationship back on track. But beneath those positive signals, the two-day visit to Beijing from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken highlighted another reality: a wide and dangerous gulf between the two powers. On fundamental and pressing issues, such as whether the two countries are competing with one another, if there is mutual respect in the relationship, and how to mitigate a chance of conflict between them, the US and China still remain miles apart. Finding common ground between the two sides one, an authoritarian country keen to expand its global sway, and the other, a democratic superpower with sweeping international influence was never going to be easy. The fact that Blinkens visit went ahead after a months-long delay due to a dispute over a Chinese surveillance balloon and then culminated in a meeting Monday with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, was widely seen as a positive step to stabilizing ties. The timing of the visit, which followed two close encounters between Chinese and American armed forces in Asia in recent weeks, underscored the urgency of talking. But the roughly 11 hours that the American envoy spent with senior Chinese officials also revealed some of the key fault lines that make navigating the relationship increasingly difficult even with the dialogue that both sides pledged to support. Talking past each other Xi highlighted one of the starkest areas where the US and China cannot at least in their official positions see eye-to-eye. Positioned at the head of a table where the rest of the two delegations, including Blinken, sat facing each other on either side, Xi laid out his view that major-country competition does not represent the trend of the times. China respects US interests and does not seek to challenge or displace the United States. In the same vein, the United States needs to respect China and must not hurt Chinas legitimate rights and interests, he said. That stance, that the US and China are not in competition with each other, sharply diverges from the American view, and indeed, implications for Chinas own foreign policy. Washington has been clear that it has entered into a phase of competition with China with Blinken laying out the Bidens administrations view that Beijing is the most serious long-term challenge to the international order in a sweeping policy address last year. As such, the US is taking steps to counter what it sees as the Chinese governments efforts to expand its influence and dismantle a world order with universal values of human rights and democracy. In recent months, US has slapped sanctions on Chinese companies, pushed allies to restrict semiconductor exports to China, rallied other advanced economies to counter Beijings economic coercion and de-risk supply chains, and signed a new trade deal with Taiwan, a self-ruling democracy Chinas Communist Party claims but has never controlled. Beijing, for its part, has called for a world where theres not one major power but many, who agree not interfere in each others internal affairs, be they human rights violations, political repression or economic development. It sees the US as suppressing Chinas growth and interfering its in affairs out of self-interest. Acknowledgment that the relationship is strategically competitive could require a reevaluation of Chinese domestic priorities and resources, according to Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the German Marshall Fund of the United States Indo-Pacific Program. And that has significant implications. The Chinese are not supportive of the US proposal to put in place guardrails to prevent competition veering into conflict, she said, adding that, for example, Beijing doesnt want to make it safer for the US to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance close to China deliberately increasing risk in the air and sea. Military communication The two sides have seen multiple dangerous military interactions in recent months, including a near collision of warships in the Taiwan Strait and a close Chinese interception of an American reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea. China cut off talks with US military commanders following then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosis visit last year to Taiwan, and the break in high-level communication has ratcheted fears a mishap could spiral into conflict. Blinken was unable to win Chinas agreement to restore high level military communication this week another deep-rooted stumbling block. Washington was fully aware why, Yang Tao, director-general of the ministrys North American and Oceanian affairs department told reporters Monday evening, pointing to unilateral sanctions from America. The US needs to remove the obstacle first, Yang said. Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu has been under US sanction since 2018 over Chinas purchase of Russian weapons. For China, this comes down to respect, according to Shen Dingli, an expert on Chinas foreign policy in Shanghai. China cannot accept the US talking to us in a condescending way while the Chinese Minister of Defense is under US sanctions. We dont want to look up to the United States, at the very least we should look at each other at eye level, he said. Baby steps In the lead-up to and during Blinkens visit, China made clear who it thinks is responsible for the problems in the relationship. The root cause is US misperceptions toward China, Beijings top diplomat Wang Yi told the visiting American during a meeting Monday morning. Progress does not appear to have been made over issues at the core of this contention from US relations with Taiwan to the implications of an American view of a competitive relationship. Both sides did signal that they would work together on global challenges like climate change and drug trade, and agreed to continue open lines of communication, according to Washington. Areas for cooperation cited by Beijing after the meetings this week appear scaled back as compared with those following an amicable and wide-ranging conversation between US President Joe Biden and Xi on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Bali last November. It was clear coming in that the relationship was at a point of instability, Blinken said at a news conference in the Chinese capital Monday. And both sides recognized the need to work to stabilize it. This and a potential visit from Xi to the United States in November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit may be enough to ease tensions in the short-term in the coming months. But how far this will advance to stabilize the ties over time remains to be seen. Talking is the first step and key to avoid ugly mishaps flaring into outright conflict, Dexter Tiff Roberts, a nonresident senior fellow with the Washington-based think tank Atlantic Council. Senior discussions between the two sides, of course, doesnt equal resolving the many deep disagreements nor does it erase the deep suspicion each countrys leadership feels towards the other, he said. CNNs Steven Jiang, Kylie Atwood, Jennifer Hansler and Mengchen Zhang contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Dorine Watson Lynn was in her fathers den when the warning came across the TV: A tornado warning is in effect for your area. Take cover now. Lynn, 60, jumped up and gathered everyone inside the home on East Bayou Avenue. It got so dark, so I told everybody, Hit the floor, because that tornado is coming, Lynn told the Sun Herald on Monday afternoon. Lynn was right. Just before 3 p.m., the tornado ripped through, taking Ernest Watsons roof and busting all of his windows. Inside the home, his daughter and others screamed. Everything just went flying every which way, Lynn said. We were scared, we was hollering because we thought we was fixing to go. Lynns family was one of many who had to take cover in Moss Point as the twister tore down Main Street, taking roofs and power lines with it, uprooting vehicles and pushing water over the roads. For many in Moss Point, the damage left behind was worse for their neighborhoods than when Hurricane Katrina ravaged South Mississippi in 2005. The roof of a home in the vicinity of East Bayou Avenue and Short Railroad Street in Moss Point was destroyed by a tornado Monday. The First Missonary Baptist Church in Moss Point sustained heavy damage from a tornado on Monday. This is just catastrophic, weve never seen anything like this in this area, said Charles Davison, an electrical engineer who has lived in Moss Point his whole life. This is devastating. While Davisons home remained in tact Monday, neighbors lost their roofs and had trees go through their homes, the 60-year-old told the Sun Herald. Down at Burnhams drugs, Adelia Ludlow saw the tornado spin down Main Street. I was standing right in that (front) door and you can hear the tornado, she said. We all kind of took cover. The beloved drug store was mostly spared, but the Sonic Drive-In down the street wasnt as lucky. LaKenya Sullivan, general manager of the Moss Point restaurant, said workers were taking a break in their car when the wind started to pick up. We looked (outside) again, and everything was flying, Sullivan said. Sonic in Moss Point sustains heavy damage in a tornado on June 19, 2023. Sullivan and other managers quickly helped workers get inside and one employees sister was picked up by the wind and slammed into a pole. They were also able to get her inside safely, and she was not badly hurt. We had the doors locked because they were blowing, blowing, blowing everywhere, Sullivan said. The tornado took most of Sonics roof, and the car wash nearby also received heavy damage. Back on East Bayou Street, Lynn learned her home was OK, and she planned to take her 95-year-old father to stay with her after the tornado destroyed his home. Ernest Watson does not have insurance, she said. Significant damage in the township of Moss Point, Mississippi. No injuries reported at this time, however only a small number of first responders on scene. S&R Needed on numerous properties, full scale damage remains unclear. High voltage lines are down and should be treated as pic.twitter.com/xxTDqeDkNw Daniel Shaw (@DanielShawAU) June 19, 2023 Moss Point Mayor Bill Knight and other officials in Jackson County are out surveying the damage. The mayor said hell likely declare a state of emergency on Tuesday. A power transformer was blown and mangled power lines sit on roadways. Thousands were without power in Jackson County on Monday. Davison could only be positive as he thought about whats next for his city as many will begin to pick up the pieces and rebuild. Our community is resilient, well do what we have to do build back, he said. Were still blessed that were all here, regardless of what we may have lost. A mobile home is turned on its side off Main Street in Moss Point after a tornado struck the town Monday. A neighborhood off East Bayou Road in Moss Point was heavily damaged by a tornado Monday. A blown power transformer is seen in the street after a tornado tore through Moss Point on June 19, 2023. Japanese film "Yoko" was the biggest winner at the prestigious Golden Goblet Awards held during the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) on Saturday night, taking home three awards including best film. Cast and crew of "Yoko" receive the best feature film award on stage at the Golden Goblet Awards ceremony of the 25th SIFF held in Shanghai, June 18, 2023. [Photo courtesy of SIFF Organizing Committee] Directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, "Yoko" won three awards in the Main Competition category at SIFF: best feature film, best actress and best screenplay. The film follows Yoko, a socially isolated woman who must hitchhike to make it to her estranged father's funeral. Rinko Kikuchi won best actress for her portrayal of Yoko, and Kosuke Muroi was awarded best screenplay for the heartwarming story. "I feel so honored and excited to receive this award," said Kikuchi. "I grew up watching many Chinese films, and I hope to collaborate with Chinese filmmakers in the future." Actress Rinko Kikuchi accepts the best actress award on stage at the Golden Goblet Awards ceremony of the 25th SIFF held in Shanghai, June 18, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] Chinese filmmaker Liu Jiayin was named best director for "All Ears," while the film's lead Hu Ge won the best actor award. The film follows an ordinary screenwriter who discovers his calling as a eulogy writer while providing comfort to people from all walks of life. The film immediately announced a release date in China for Sept. 9 after its win. Actor Hu Ge shared the best actor award with his old friend, director and actor Da Peng (also known as Dong Chengpeng), delivering unforgettable performances in the Chinese films "All Ears" and "Dust to Dust," respectively. This shared win for an award was a rare occurrence in the festival's history. In his acceptance speech, Da Peng said he felt like he was still in a movie, as if in a "long, arduous and happy dream." "This honor is very important to me. I'm not a particularly confident person, and I always put in my all for every film," he said. "I believe that no matter how unknown, ordinary or underestimated you may seem today, one day you will shine." Actors Da Peng and Hu Ge share the best actor award on stage at the Golden Goblet Awards ceremony of the 25th SIFF held in Shanghai, June 18, 2023. [Photo courtesy of SIFF Organizing Committee] Though awarded as an actor, Da Peng will soon demonstrate his directing skills with his highly anticipated youth comedy drama "One and Only," featuring Huang Bo and Wang Yibo. The film premiered at the festival's closing ceremony, showcasing a young man's courageous pursuit of his street dance dream despite facing obstacles. It is set for release in Chinese cinemas on July 28. China celebrated yet another win as young filmmaker Chen Shizhong's directorial debut, "Good Autumn, Mommy," starring beloved actress Shu Qi, received the outstanding artistic achievement award. The film follows a woman's journey of self-awakening as she searches for her lost daughter in a rural village. Spanish film "Muyeres" was awarded the jury grand prix, while its cinematographer Toni Vidal won the best photography award at the festival. The best documentary film award was given to Zakaria Jaber's directorial debut "Anxious in Beirut," a co-production between Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and Spain that sheds light on the economy and society of Lebanon. Hungarian film "Four Souls of Coyote" by Aron Gauder won the best animated feature award. In the Short Film category, Russian production "The House We Had" directed by Andrey Krechetov took home the best live-action short film award, while Una Lorenzen's "Chasing Birds," a co-production between Iceland and Canada, was named the best animated short. Lebanese filmmaker Zakaria Jaber celebrates his best documentary film award win for "Anxious in Beirut" on stage at the Golden Goblet Awards ceremony of the 25th SIFF held in Shanghai, June 18, 2023. [Photo courtesy of SIFF Organizing Committee] Polish filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski headed the SIFF jury for the Main Competition category of the Golden Goblet Awards. Other members of the jury included Indian director and actress Nandita Das, Indonesian filmmaker Garin Nugroho, German cinematographer Lutz Reitemeier, Chinese actress Song Jia, and Chinese filmmakers Vivian Qu and Zhang Lyu. The film festival's Golden Goblet Awards consist of five sections: Main Competition, Asian New Talent, Documentary, Animation, and Short Film. At a separate award ceremony for the Asian New Talent section on June 15, seven works won six major awards. The Uzbek film "Sunday," directed by Shokir Kholikov, won the best film award. Meanwhile, Kazakh director Aisultan Seitov of "Qash" and Chinese director Luo Dong of "May" were jointly named best director. Cast members and dancers of upcoming street dance movie "One and Only" perform on stage at the Golden Goblet Awards ceremony of the 25th SIFF held in Shanghai, June 18, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] The 25th SIFF attracted nearly 8,800 entries for the Golden Goblet Awards from 128 countries and regions, featuring new films by renowned directors and many global or international premieres. The main creators behind all 53 shortlisted works, representing 26 countries and regions, gathered in Shanghai to participate in exchanges with Chinese filmmakers and audiences. The festival also hosted 12 industry forums, an international film panorama screening 450 rare, new and classic films including recent Oscar winner "Everything Everywhere All at Once," and the Belt and Road Film Week showcasing 20 local films from countries along the Belt and Road route. The talent development aspect was also strengthened, with 679 project applications and a shortlist of 33 projects for the Project Pitches, as well as over 100 exhibitors from 29 countries and regions participating in the in-person SIFF Market. The Golden Goblet Awards ceremony of the 25th SIFF held in Shanghai, June 18, 2023. [Photo courtesy of SIFF Organizing Committee] The film festival concluded on Sunday and will be followed by the Shanghai TV Festival, another important cultural event in the city. A permit application to operate and expand a 5-acre mine in Conway to nearly five times the size, which has been a point of contention among many since the submission, was granted Tuesday. South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control OKd the plan to mine sand and clay on the 33-acre rural plot, 22.6 of those acres would be used for mining, according to the approved plans. Sand, dirt and clay can be used for construction projects to make concrete, lift homes and roads out of flood zones. Phase 1 will reach a mining depth of 30 feet, while Phase 2 will dig down 50 feet. DHECs review of the Edge Road Mine permit determined that the mine can comply with the South Carolina Mining Act and Regulations. The proposal by Soilutions, a team of brothers, boasts a 50-foot buffer around Edge Road Mine that they say would protect the preserve and its diverse ecology and nearby wetlands. A minimum of a 100-foot buffer will be around parts of Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve, excluding the southeastern area, the plan said. Once the mine is reclaimed, the proposal states a pond bordered by grassland would fill the site. During a June 2022 public comment session held at the Bryan Floyd Community Center, Jessica King, who works with Soilutions and represented the business, said the plan is one the Epps brothers had taken into great consideration including that of the habitat and community. King said that Soilutions had been the first to note the importance of preserving the red-cockaded woodpecker an endangered bird from the mine expansion. Soilutions is trying to do the right thing and address concerns so there are no negative impacts, King said in June 2022. Map of plans for OKd Edge Road Mine Expansion. Small business venture vs. environmental impact Because Edge Road Mine is adjacent to the northern edge of the Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve, environmentalists have concerns that expanding the mine would disturb the preserves wildlife habitat, from the naturally growing Venus fly traps to black bears roaming the 10,000-acre preserve. The General Coastal Zone Consistency review is very clear on protecting our natural spaces, said Coastal Conservation Leagues Becky Ryon on Tuesday. This is a very sensitive habitat and it is not suitable for sand mining. In June 2022, Coastal Conservation Leagues Trapper Fowler said that wetlands and Carolina bays work as defenses during extreme weather events. Potentially draining wetlands could hurt current wildlife habitat and affect the ability to effectively perform controlled burns a method to mitigate wildfires. Other worries revolved around water quality. During the June 2022 meeting, Cara Schildtknecht, Waccamaw Riverkeeper, said she was concerned that water runoff would drain into the Boggy Swamp, which would eventually make its way to the Waccamaw. Many residents who live nearby the rural Edge Road Mine shared during a public comment session that the plot has already created dust and noise issues, as rumbling industrial trucks kick up swirling sediments coating fruit trees and crops. There was so much dust, some said, that their children couldnt safely play outside. Residents were also concerned groundwater quality and supply, which could impede the retrieval of safe well water, would be affected by a larger mine. The brothers who own Soilutions have said theyre intimately familiar with the area and that expanding the mine is a business venture. In South Carolina, mining is a major industry and, like Horry County, its growing. The county has the highest concentration of mines in the state, according to previous reporting by The Sun News. From Soilutions perspective, theyve previously said the expansion is relatively small compared to other mines operating in South Carolina. King added during the June meeting that its not a big business coming in and putting in a mine. A long history Before there was a permit to operate on an expanded mine, the Conway plot encountered roadblocks. This is just a long history for this particular site, Ryon said. Its just been so frustrating with the permitting, with excavation, and it should never have happened in the first place because it is on the border of our heritage preserve thats meant to be protected. In October 2021, one month after DHEC approved the initial general mining permit, the agency realized its General Coastal Zone Consistency certification had expired December 2018, according to previous reporting by The Sun News. The certification is a general permit DHEC has to renew with the federal government every few years. DHEC told Soilutions it had to stop digging. While it did, it continued to remove material that had already been dug, previous reporting by The Sun News said. According to them, the staff person told them that they could move the dirt they already started excavating, Ryon said Tuesday. But they should not have started excavating, because we did request for board review within the first 15 days notice and the permit is not really valid until that time passes. King said in a Tuesday email that Soilutions was pleased to have received the individual mining permit after its general permit was revoked in October 2021 due to a DHEC administrative error. The surrounding circumstances have caused an over year-and-a-half delay and drained the company of significant resources, King wrote. Addressing environmental, health and wildlife concerns Alongside its approval of the Edge Road Mine operating permit and expansion plan, DHEC published a separate document addressing concerns stemming from submitted comments. The summary document included responses to expressed worries, addressing those around groundwater, surface water, wetlands, buffers, noise, air quality, endangered species and wildfires. During the permitting process, Soilutions retained a wildlife biologist to conduct a site assessment for endangered or threatened species. It also had a groundwater specialist study the effects on the preserve and neighboring groundwater. Upon completing assessments of the mines impact, King said Soilutions representatives feel confident there will be no negative effects on any species or surrounding groundwater, surface water or wetlands. There are a lot of positive things about this project that will benefit the community and the surrounding nature preserve, King wrote Tuesday. She pointed to the buffer around the preserve and the reclamation plan once the mine closes that includes grassland and a 15 to 20-acre pond. King added that wetlands on the property will be preserved and there will many acres of unmined land remaining. While the Coastal Conservation League said it appreciates the 50-foot buffer and the 100-foot a section of Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve, its still not sufficient. Groundwater monitoring is also a good step, but Ryon said itd be beneficial for DHEC to work with the states Department of Natural Resources to ensure theres not dewatering of the wetlands. There are additional mitigation measures that they could take, Ryon said. But ideally we would not have this mine there, both for the natural resources and for the community concerns as well. Among the following outlined in DHECs summary response to public comments, it included: The operator provided a Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Assessment for the site and did not identify any federally endangered or threatened species, neither did SCDNR, SCDHEC or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. SCDNR did make recommendations regarding two state threatened species: the Southern hognose snake and the spotted turtle. No significant groundwater or surface water impacts are anticipated at the site. DHEC will conduct routine site inspections and compliance inspections as needed. No elevated exposure health risk is anticipated from the mine beyond the property line. The combination of undisturbed vegetated buffers, maintenance of equipment and distance from the operation will reduce the potential for sound heard off-site. There could be instances when the sound of equipment is heard, but the decibel levels should not be excessive. This plan includes installing three wetland piezometers both upstream and downstream of mine operations that automatically monitor and collect data. If an operator gets a complaint concerning adverse impacts to neighboring wells, the operator is to notify DHECs Manager of Mining and Reclamation within 24 hours. According to DHEC, the agencys decision is solidified 15 calendar days after notice of the decision has been mailed to the applicant, permittee, licensee and affected people who have requested in writing to be notified. Affected parties can request a final review of this permit decision. The request must be in written form to the Clerk of the DHEC Board. The process of requesting a review can be found at www.scdhec.gov/BoardReview. Did Hunter Biden get the same deal that would be given to someone who was not the son of the president of the United States? Douglas Berman, a professor of law at Ohio State University and a sentencing expert, read the court papers unsealed Tuesday morning and said that it was difficult to assess from the filings whether Biden received a sweetheart deal. The crimes to which Biden is pleading guilty, Berman said, are ones that the average person is rarely prosecuted for because they are usually only brought along with more serious offenses. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times In Bidens case, they include a charge stemming from lying about drug use on the government form used for his purchase of a handgun. Current and former officials say tens of thousands of Americans, out of the 25 million who buy guns each year, lie on their forms and are not prosecuted. Prosecutors had pored over Bidens finances, including examining two years of unpaid taxes. But in 2021, Biden paid the IRS the full amount that his accountants estimated he owed and paid off his liens. By making the payments, former officials said, Biden complicated the ability of prosecutors to charge him with tax evasion because juries often question why the government has indicted someone who has paid his taxes. That left prosecutors with the options to charge Biden with filing his 2017 and 2018 taxes late something that Bidens lawyers argued to prosecutors are often handled without criminal charges and that in this case were handled as misdemeanors. If these are the only offenses, most prosecutors are going to say its not worth a federal case; they would say, Lets not make a federal case of it for the average person because its not worth it to bring a case unless theres reason to be concerned that theres a public safety issue or the trust that everyone is treated equally under the law is at stake, Berman said. Berman said that in this case, federal prosecutors are in a unique situation because there was a very high-profile defendant who was the subject of investigations for a range of activities. The failure to bring some charges when there is no factual dispute, he said, could create the impression of a two-tiered system of justice. Everyone is paying attention, and the facts are not in dispute, so a failure to bring charges would create the perception that there was some sort of special treatment or leniency being given to the presidents son, Berman said. c.2023 The New York Times Company This image shows Henrico County deputies and Central State Hospital personnel restraining Irvo Otieno in the hospital's admissions area Monday, March 6, 2023. Otieno later died of apparent suffocation as a result of being restrained. All seven deputies who brought him to the hospital, and three CSH employees have been charged with second-degree murder in his death, but on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, the county dropped all charges against two of the hospital employees. DINWIDDIE Murder charges have been dropped against two of the 10 suspects in the March 6 death of a Henrico County man while in custody at Central State Hospital. Dinwiddie County Commonwealths Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill said in an email Tuesday to The Progress-Index that she decided to withdraw second-degree murder charges against Darian M. Blackwell, 23, of Petersburg, and Sadarius Williams, 27, of Dinwiddie. These two men were employed as security personnel at CSH when 28-year-old Irvo Otieno died. Baskervill said similar charges against the eight other suspects a third CSH employee and seven deputies with the Henrico County Sheriffs Department remain in place. Otieno, who suffered from mental-health issues, died at Central State as the deputies were bringing him there for observation. A video of the processing unit where they were showed the deputies and others pinning an apparently incoherent Otieno to the floor and lying across him after they claimed he became belligerent and tried to escape. An image included in the video tribute played at Irvo N. Otieno's Celebration of Life service at First Baptist Church in Chesterfield on March 29, 2023. Baskervill made headlines when she used the video to directly file second-degree murder charges against all parties involved deputies Jermaine Lavar Branch, 45; Bradley Thomas Disse, 43; Randy Joseph Boyer, 57; Dwayne Alan Bramble, 37; Tabitha Rene Levere, 50; Brandon Edward Rodgers, 48; and Kaiyell Dajour Sanders, 30; and hospital employee Wavie L. Jones, 34, of Chesterfield. In dropping the charges against the two CSH employees, Baskervill said she did so because Blackwell and Williams were not as involved in Otienos death as the others I certainly do find that Mr. Williams and Mr. Blackwell do not have the level of culpability that would be appropriate for moving forward with trial, Baskervill said in the email. Much of this is visible on the videos and considering the back story. Baskervill, who is stepping down as Dinwiddie prosecutor this month to study in Europe, said she thinks dropping those charges will strengthen the commonwealths case in the future. An interim prosecutor for the county has not yet been selected. The decision to withdraw the charges was heavy but it was not difficult, she said in the email. I believe this places the prosecution of Irvo Otienos homicide in the strongest possible position upon my departure. There is no doubt in my mind that the Commonwealth is now in a position to win when this ultimately goes to trial, and that truth, transparency, and justice will prevail. Baskervill said she does not expect her successor to withdraw any more charges in the case. I would be very disappointed and shocked if that were to happen, she added. Mark Krudys, one of the attorneys for the Otieno family, declined to comment on Baskervill's decision. The family is also being represented by civil-rights attorney Benjamin Crump. Otienos family has requested that the U.S. Justice Department step in and help with the case. Baskervill said she asked the feds for assistance but has not yet heard their response. I think at this point we have to assume it will stay in Dinwiddie courts, she said. Baskervill, who was not planning to run for re-election this November, is leaving Dinwiddie to pursue a graduate degree in governance and diplomacy in Europe. She said she accepted the offer from LInstitut des Etudes Politiques in Paris on March 4, two days before Otienos death. Her departure, she said, has nothing to do with the Otieno case. Her last day on the Dinwiddie job is Wednesday, June 21. 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: Dinwiddie drops charges against two of 10 suspects in Otieno death Photo: pasSsy (Shutterstock) When Tia Silas became the chief human resources officer for Shopify a year ago, she planned to take all of their HR programs down to their studs and rebuild for a new chapter at the companyone that rewarded what mattered and supported the employees and managers leading the way. They soon became obsessed with hiring high performers and building the tools they would need to execute at Shopify. Since then, theyve made some bold bets. At the start of 2023, the company canceled all recurring meetings with two or more people. And the impact is positive. Were seeing more one-on-one collaboration versus these large group meetings where theres no way were getting value from all the people in it, said Silas. Read more We asked Silas more about freeing up time for critical tasks and how theyre creating career paths for people who choose not to be managers. Heres the interview transcript, lightly edited for length and clarity. QZ: Shopify has recently rethought the way they compensate their employees. What motivated the change? Silas: With compensation, as much as we think weve innovated, we havent changed it much over the decades. The instruments we used to compensate people and the decision-making flow are fairly consistent across many of my experiences and broadly across industries. Shopifys flex compensation program was birthed out of the idea that the company wanted something where agency was key. We actually dont want to make decisions for employees. As their life changes, we want them to have the agency to choose. How does the new compensation program work? Most companies try to do this idea of pay for performance. As our employees master skills for growth, we reward them increased wallet size. Traditional compensation systems make it very hard for people to understand that their equity is in this one placeit might be held by a third party, then I get my pay stub, I get benefits, and I may kind of understand what my pay is. This idea of productizing compensation was how we built this one-stop shop for people to understand all the components of their rewards in a really easy way. To create agency, quarterly, our employees have options around selecting equity and cash with a slider that they can adjust for themselves. We want our employees to have the ability to center their life around great work and a great mission. Youve taken this opportunity to reinforce compensations tie to your company mission. How does that work? This is another bundle of money we give you towards perks and benefits you can turn into things. One aspect were excited about launched last quarter and enables employees to turn their reward dollars into shop cash. We take $1 and give a premium on the money to use towards purchases from our Shopify merchants. We obsess around our merchants, and this fulfills our goal to align our programs with our mission. Employees can take their dollars and push them into the ecosystem we care about most. You can also use these dollars for wellness and well-being. But the key is us not choosing for you. Youve got a lifestyle thats important to you, and you determine how you turn those dollars into something thats meaningful to you. In the future, well be innovating around building in education and enablement within the wallet, so people interested in financial planning can use that as a one-stop shop. How have employees and leaders responded to the new compensation plan? 92% of the company has elected to participate in the flex comp options. But more than that, theres all these headlines about companies not delivering bonuses this year and equity being impacted. At Shopify, were going to give you the value of your job, and were pretty exclusive about only wanting high performers. So the assumption is that your value doesnt vary over time. You will get that value, and its not contingent upon solely company performance. We look at the value of a skill and its impact in the marketplace. You also rethought the way you were structuring rewards for management roles. Whats changed? We have crafters who are individual contributors and managers who lead people. Typical career progression systems say at some point that crafting isnt sufficient and youd have to become a manager. At Shopify, we want to create a career system where they can continue to progress to senior ranks in the organization without having to lead people. As an example, no one thinks that Steve Jobs was a great leader because he loved people. He was an incredible innovator and probably could have never had one direct report and been as brilliant. It would have been a shame for someone to tell him at some point that he had to put his building tools down. Our high performers come in many shapes and sizes, and we wanted to create a career system where they could progress. And that needed to not only be in theoryI had to then create a compensation system that proved that was true. Are you going to pay me the same amount youre paying the VP with a sizable team? The answer is yes; we will if you can demonstrate value and growth. We call it our jungle gym career journey. Leaders play an important role in compensation. How did Shopify invest in preparing leaders for this shift? We spent a lot of time preparing them to have the right conversations. We want to eliminate any information deserts across the company and rely on our people managers to prevent that. We let them preview information and collected their feedback because these things are not one-and-done. We want to understand whats landing and whats not. We did ask each leader to confirm that they had a conversation with each employee and asked a few questions. Did they understand the program? Do they like it? Then, in real-time, we built enablement. Perhaps we release another set of FAQs, or we decide to do a deep dive with all of our managers around these components to further equip them. How is success measured and rewarded for those who dont lead people? We assess the crafters (those who dont lead people) on the impact of what they built and shipped connected to our mission. We have an in-house industrial organizational psychologist who helps us develop questions that lead to the real output were measuring. If you ask a series of questions about your impact on the team, a scoring mechanism gives you a suggested relative ranking of how that person should fall. So we spend a lot of time developing the right question set based on the behaviors we expect from people who spend their time crafting and building versus leading. We have a new process for our performance reviews. We built a one-stop shop tool where people go in and do their self-reflection, and they answer a series of questions built out by our behavioral scientist team. And then, we have 360 reviews that are automated through the tool and populated based on who you spent the most time with within a six-month period. More from Quartz Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Diver on tragic Titanic expedition says remaining crew are positive theyll find friends on missing sub A diver on the surface ship of a missing submarine sent to observe the Titanic shipwreck has said he is positive theyll find those in the underwater tourist vehicle. The craft had submerged on Sunday morning and its support vessel, the Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later, authorities said. Irish diver Rory Golden posted an update with an assurance on his Facebook page. Im OK. We are all focussed on board here for our friends, he said. We have a situation that is now part of a major search and rescue effort, being undertaken by major agencies. That is where our focus is right now. The reaction and offers of help globally is truly astonishing, and only goes [on] to show the real goodness in people at a time like this. Thank you all, and think positive. We are, he said. The submersible used to explore the Titanic shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean had gone missing off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, it was reported on Monday morning. Rear admiral John Mauger, commander of the First US Coast Guard District, confirmed there was a search and rescue operation underway in the North Atlantic Ocean. We are doing everything that we can do to make sure that we can locate and rescue those on board, Mr Mauger said. The vessel, owned by OceanGate Expeditions, takes paying tourists to tour the Titanic shipwreck, among other deep-sea expeditions. Five people are aboard, a coastguard official confirmed. The official identified them as an operator and four mission specialists a term the company reportedly uses for its passengers. A British billionaire explorer and a renowned French diver are among those inside the missing submarine. The sub reportedly has just a four-day emergency supply of oxygen. Demonstrators outside the Supreme Court last June argued on both sides of the abortion debate on the day the court overturned Roe v. Wade. (NYT) In the year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, one of the countrys most emotionally charged issues has come to be defined by two seemingly contradictory political realities. In competitive general elections, abortion rights emerged as among the greatest electoral strengths for Democrats and, often, a clear liability for Republicans: Americans say at record levels that they support at least some access to the procedure, and the issue has fueled Democratic victories across the nation. At the same time, Republican-dominated state legislatures have moved rapidly to sharply limit or ban access to abortion. Activists are demanding that GOP presidential candidates make firm commitments about federal restrictions, and are urging ever-further-reaching legislation in the states. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times This headlong rush into risky territory for the national Republican Party and the extraordinary backlash against some of those measures represents the enduring political fallout of the Supreme Court decision, which transformed a partisan standoff 50 years in the making. Anti-abortion activists and some Republican strategists applaud the approach of many state legislatures, arguing that voters expect their lawmakers to deliver on upholding one of the core tenets of the conservative movement. If you can, you must, said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the major anti-abortion rights group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. To fail to do that would, politically, would be a disaster for pro-life voters who put them in office. But with the anniversary of the Dobbs decision overturning Roe on Saturday, interviews with more than a dozen Republican lawmakers, strategists and anti-abortion activists paint a portrait of a party still struggling to find a consensus on abortion policy, and grappling with how to energize core base voters on the issue without alienating swing voters. Many observers see the wave of new restrictions, which vary in gestational limit and exceptions and have sometimes been held up in court, as a function of several factors: years of promises and pent-up energy on the right; deeply held convictions about when life begins; and gerrymandering that has often left Republican lawmakers more worried about far-right primary challenges than about turning off moderate voters in general elections. But for a critical slice of Republicans those who represent competitive districts in state legislatures or in Congress, which support some degree of abortion rights, or, in some cases, presidential candidates the issue presents a particularly difficult balancing act. Their decisions and calculations are at the heart of the tensions over the abortion debate within the Republican Party in the post-Roe era. I was hearing from both sides strongly, said state Rep. Mike Caruso of Florida, a Republican who opposed a measure ultimately signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that forbids abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, with a few exceptions. It was pretty much a ban on abortion. Ive got seven children, been through nine pregnancies, he added. I dont think I ever knew, we ever knew, that we were pregnant prior to six weeks. But, demonstrating the vastly different views on the issue within the party, state Rep. Mike Beltran of Florida said that while he voted for the measure, frankly, I dont think it goes far enough. All these bills were huge compromises, said Beltran, who said he personally opposed abortion rights without exception, suggesting that if a mothers life was in danger, barring ectopic pregnancies, the answer could often be to deliver the fetus, even months prematurely. We should suffer electoral consequences if we dont do what we said we would do. Anti-abortion activists and lawmakers have vigorously made a version of that argument to Republican candidates, sometimes citing polling to show lawmakers what they believe voters in a particular state will accept. (Some of these surveys are commissioned by opponents of abortion, and their findings can be at odds with public polling.) Its a fundamental issue to Republicans to protect life, said Tami Fitzgerald, the executive director of the North Carolina Values Coalition. She supported the states new ban on most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, although she wants restrictions that go much further, calling a six-week ban step two. A candidate needs the pro-life voters in order to win, she added. In an interview this month, Dannenfelser urged candidates to be very clear on what it means to be ambitious for life while seeking to draw contrasts with Democrats on the issue, warning of the risks of being defined by the other side. This is not a theoretical messaging moment, she said. This is real life. In the presidential contest, though, some of the candidates have tried to skirt questions about what national restrictions they would support. Contenders including former President Donald Trump who helped muscle through Supreme Court justices who made overturning Roe possible have indicated that they think the issue should be resolved by the states, although Trump has also been vague on the issue. Their hesitancy to communicate has been frustrating, Dannenfelser said, referring broadly to the field. But the debate stage, she said, is going to be where the rubber meets the road, and our bright-red line saying that you must have a 15-week or better limit or we cant support you. Yet when Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina last year proposed a federal ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy with some exceptions, he ignited immediate resistance from numerous fellow Republicans, evidence that some in the party see political peril in a national ban. And polling has shown that most Americans support at least some abortion rights, especially early in pregnancy. A Gallup survey released last week found that a record-high 69% of Americans, including 47% of Republicans, believed that abortion should generally be legal in the first three months of pregnancy. That just makes me wonder if maybe there is some room for nuance there within the party, said Lydia Saad, the director of U.S. social research at Gallup. But nuance isnt generally very successful in politics. In some states, Republican lawmakers have cast bans with some exceptions that begin after 12 weeks, toward the end of the first trimester, as something of a middle ground. And from Nebraska to South Carolina, there have indeed been lawmakers who said they could not back a six-week ban but indicated that they were more comfortable with 12 weeks, even as such proposals have drawn condemnation from some in local business and medical communities. In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, vetoed the 12-week ban. He and other abortion rights supporters warned that the measure would interfere with critical medical decisions and create dangerous barriers for women seeking abortions. But Republicans, who recently gained narrow veto-proof majorities in North Carolina, quickly sought to override Coopers move. The effort forced some of their members into contortions. State Rep. Ted Davis Jr., a Republican, indicated during his campaign last year that he backed the states law allowing abortions up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. When the state legislature took up the 12-week measure, he skipped the vote. But citing factors including loyalty to his caucus, frustration with the other side and constituents who, he said, seemed split on the veto override, he ultimately joined fellow Republicans to override the veto, helping to ensure that the more restrictive measure prevailed. Still, he tried to draw a distinction between the two votes. What concerns me is whats going to happen in the future as far as access to abortion, he said. Are Republicans now going to try to restrict it even further? Other lawmakers have sought to punish women who seek abortions, or those who help them. Some Republican lawmakers in South Carolina moved unsuccessfully to treat abortion at any stage of pregnancy as homicide, which can carry the death penalty. That measure would have given more rights to a rapist than a woman whos been raped, said Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who flipped a seat from a Democrat in 2020. Thats where the conversation has gone. They listen to some of the extreme voices, and they operate and vote and legislate out of fear, she said. Theyre not hearing from the rest of the electorate, the 95% of the folks who vote in elections. Theyre hearing from the 5% who say, Youre not Republican if you dont want to ban abortions with no exceptions. Even in her conservative state, there were pockets of Republican resistance to efforts to pass a near-total abortion ban. A six-week ban passed the legislature but is now tied up in court. I probably will draw a primary challenger, conceded state Sen. Katrina Shealy, who opposed that measure, with its many requirements for women seeking abortions. She has already been censured by a local Republican county party. Some on the far right, she suggested, dont want people to wear masks. They dont want people to get vaccines. They believe, she said, that they should have full rights but dont let women make this decision. And thats not right. c.2023 The New York Times Company A newly unsealed document sheds light on the police investigation into the alleged death of 5-year-old Harmony Montgomery, the New Hampshire girl whose disappearance in 2019 made national headlines. The 48-page probable cause statement, which was unsealed Tuesday by a judge after a motion by WMUR-TV in Manchester, New Hampshire, outlines for the first time the disturbing events that Manchester police investigators say led up the girls beating death by her father, Adam Montgomery, on Dec. 7, 2019, as well as how he allegedly hid her body. Montgomery was found guilty in June of a gun charge, receiving stolen property and theft in an unrelated case. He has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, falsifying evidence, abuse of a corpse and witness tampering in connection with his daughters death and has yet to go on trial on those charges. The girls body has never been found. Montgomerys attorney did not respond to HuffPosts request for a comment on Tuesday. According to the court documents, Montgomery took Harmony in July 2018 after her mother, Crystal Sorey, lost custody because of a substance abuse issue. In the following year, the Manchester Police Department would receive at least 29 calls from neighbors who were concerned about the welfare of Harmony and her siblings, WMUR reported. A poster of Harmony Montgomery, who has been missing since late 2019 and is presumed dead, rests against a tree during a candlelight vigil on Feb. 12, 2022, at Bass Island Park in Manchester, New Hampshire. A poster of Harmony Montgomery, who has been missing since late 2019 and is presumed dead, rests against a tree during a candlelight vigil on Feb. 12, 2022, at Bass Island Park in Manchester, New Hampshire. According to the affidavit, Kayla Montgomery, Adams wife at the time, told investigators that the family, including Harmony, were evicted from their home in November 2019 and forced to lived in their car. Kayla told investigators that Adam was extremely upset that Harmony would not tell her father when she needed to go to the bathroom and was having frequent accidents in the car, after which he would hit her in the head with a closed fist, the affidavit said. On Dec. 7, 2019, Adam Montgomery was driving the family to Burger King with Harmony in the backseat when she had an accident. While driving, Adam turned his body and struck the girl three to four times over the course of a few minutes, the affidavit said. After the final strike, Kayla told investigators, Adam said, I think I really hurt her this time. I think I did something, the affidavit said. Kayla allegedly told officers that Harmony moaned for roughly five minutes, then stopped, but they didnt realize she was not breathing until their car later broke down. Adam Montgomery then placed his daughters body into a duffle bag, which would stay inside the trunk for days and was sometimes brought out in the snow to slow its decomposition, the affidavit said. Two years later, on Nov. 18, 2021, Harmony was reported missing by her mother. Sorey had told investigators that since she had regained sobriety in 2021, she made several attempts to locate her daughter through local school systems and by driving by addresses associated with Montgomery, according to the affidavit. On Dec. 28, 2021, when investigators first interviewed her stepmother, Kayla, she told officers that she had last seen Harmony in November or December 2019 and that she believed Harmony had returned to her mother, the affidavit said. Kayla added that she had not seen Adam in two months and that he had moved to Maine with a girlfriend. When investigators spoke to Adam several days later, they said he showed no reaction to the report that his daughter hadnt been seen in over two years and refused to provide additional information, allegedly saying, Either arrest me or Im leaving. Police arrested him on Jan. 4, 2022. Kayla Montgomery was arrested six months later and charged with perjury, accused of lying to police about her whereabouts when Harmony was last seen. As part of a plea deal, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in Adams case. Kayla told investigators that in the months after Harmonys death, her body was moved to various locations. At one point, Harmonys body was stuffed into a red cooler and taken to Kaylas mothers apartment, the affidavit said. Kaylas mother told a grand jury she was unaware what was in the cooler. Evidence in the case includes a red cooler that allegedly was used to hide Harmony Montgomery's remains. Evidence in the case includes a red cooler that allegedly was used to hide Harmony Montgomery's remains. When the family moved into a shelter on Dec. 30, 2019, the girls body was placed in a trash bag and hidden in the ceiling, Kayla Montgomery told officers. According to the affidavit, detectives later searched the shelters ceiling area and found a stain and noted a smell of decomposition. Adam then moved the body into a plastic bin in an apartment they rented, then a tote bag, then a refrigerator at the Portland Pie Co., where he temporarily worked as a dishwasher and cook, according to the affidavit. According to the affidavit, Adam Montgomery at one point hid a cooler containing Harmony's body in the ceiling of a shelter. According to the affidavit, Adam Montgomery at one point hid a cooler containing Harmony's body in the ceiling of a shelter. According to the affidavit, in March 2020, Montgomery had a friend rent a U-Haul so that he could once again move his daughters body in the middle of the night. When he returned, he seemed very tired, and he said words to the effect of its done, the affidavit said, quoting the friend. Adam Montgomery is scheduled to go on trial in November. Subscribe to our true crime newsletter, Suspicious Circumstances, to get the biggest unsolved mysteries, white-collar scandals, and captivating cases delivered straight to your inbox every week. Sign up here. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article said the trial was scheduled to begin in August. It has been scheduled for November. Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Related... 'Does anybody in America believe this?' Christie slams Trump claims in Fox News interview Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie slammed Donald Trump on Tuesday over the former president's claim that he was "very busy" and did not have time to sort through boxes at Mar-a-Lago that contained classified documents and personal items. Trump said in an interview with Fox News on Monday that he did not return classified materials because he "wanted to go through the boxes and get all of my personal things out." "Does anybody in America believe this?" Christie asked during an interview with CBS News. "When you think about how many days of golf he's played since he left office, maybe he could have skipped a couple of rounds of golf and gone through the boxes to respond to a subpoena from a grand jury," Christie said. A photograph of former President Donald Trump hangs on the wall as Republican presidential candidate, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie listens to a question during a gathering, Tuesday, June 6, 2023, in Manchester, N.H. Christie filed paperwork Tuesday formally launching his bid for the Republican nomination for president after casting himself as the only candidate willing to directly take on Trump. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) ORG XMIT: PNA211 Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury earlier this month on charges related to the recovery of classified documents by federal investigators more than a year after Trump left the White House. He pleaded not guilty to 37 counts in Miami federal court on June 13. The trial in the case is expected to begin as soon as Aug. 14. "The problem for Donald Trump in all of this is his own conduct," Christie said. "He's his own worst enemy. None of this would have happened to him or to the country, if he had just returned the documents." Christie, who is running for the 2024 Republican nomination, has made attacking Trump a main campaign strategy during the first weeks of his White House bid. Christie also took aim at Trump's claims that some of the classified documents he allegedly showed guests at Mar-a-Lago were newspaper articles and not, in fact, government secrets. "I've never heard about a newspaper article being declassified," Christie said. "I think he knows he's in trouble." As a former federal prosecutor, Christie said he believes Trump admitted to obstruction of justice during his interview on Fox News. "His lawyers this morning are jumping out of whatever window they're near," Christie added. What you missed: Five takeaways from Donald Trump's Fox News interview on classified docs, China, Ukraine and more This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chris Christie slams Donald Trump for claims in Fox News interview Trump, who said he hired only the best people, was thoroughly asked why so many key players of his administration didn't want him to be president again Former President Donald Trump attending a Manhattan court on April 4. Seth Wenig/Associated Press Donald Trump appeared on Fox News with the anchor Bret Baier on Monday. Baier recalled Trump saying in 2016 that he would hire the "best" people for his administration. He then asked why many of those who served in his former administration didn't support his 2024 bid. On Monday, Donald Trump appeared on Fox News to talk to the anchor Bret Baier about the case brought against him in connection to classified documents taken from the White House. They also discussed Trump's time as president. Baier recalled the former president saying when he ran for office in 2016 that he was "going to surround myself with only the best and most serious people." "Well, I did do that," Trump said. "That's tremendous. Look, we had the best economy we've ever had, the world has ever seen." But Baier then questioned Trump why many of those "best and most serious people" no longer supported him: "This time, your Vice President Mike Pence is running against you. Your ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, she's running against you. Your former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said he's not supporting you. "You mentioned National Security Advisor John Bolton. He's not supporting you, either. You mentioned Attorney General Bill Barr. Says you shouldn't be president again. Calls you 'the consummate narcissist' and 'troubled man.' You recently called Barr a 'gutless pig.' "Your second defense secretary is not supporting you. Called you irresponsible. This week, you called your White House chief of staff John Kelly 'weak and ineffective' and 'born with a very small brain.' You called your acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney a 'born loser.' You called your first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, 'dumb as a rock,' and your first defense secretary, James Mattis, 'the world's most overrated general.' You called your White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany 'milquetoast.' "And multiple times, you've referred to your Transportation secretary, Elaine Chao, as 'Mitch McConnell's China-loving wife.'" "So, why did you hire all of them in the first place?" Baier asked. Mike Pence and Trump in 2017. Getty Images/Pool Trump responded by pointing to the unnamed people in his administration who he said were "phenomenal" for the economy. "Because I hired 10 to one that were fantastic," Trump said. "We had a great economy. We had phenomenal people in charge of the economy. We had phenomenal people in the military. I'm not a fan of Milley, and I'm not a fan of certain of the television people. But I knocked out ISIS, I defeated ISIS. They said, Mattis, it will take three years, and I don't think we can do it. I did it in a period of like four weeks." "There's a lot of people who praise you for your policies," Baier replied. "I just said that." "That's true. Well, I mean, you just went through a list. But don't forget, for every one you say, I had 10 that love us," Trump said. Read the original article on Business Insider Hunter Biden, right, stands next to his daughter Finnegan and his father Joe Biden. (AFP via Getty Images) Republicans were unimpressed and fumed at the Department of Justice on Tuesday after the agency announced that President Joe Bidens son Hunter would be charged with firearm and tax offences. The reactions spilled in on social media through comments to reporters throughout the mid-morning just minutes after the indictment was announced, with none other than former President Donald Trump leading the charge. The twice-indicted ex-president, himself facing more than 60 criminal charges across two prosecutions, raged that the Department of Justice was supposedly giving Mr Biden a traffic ticket though the DoJs statement indicated that Mr Biden would be forced to report to a probation officer for up to two years. "Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere 'traffic ticket.' Our system is BROKEN!" wrote Mr Trump on his Truth Social platform. He would go on to add: People are going wild over the Hunter Biden Scam with the DOJ! James Comer, the GOP chair of the House Oversight Committee, reacted similarly. Mr Comers committee is heading up the Republican House majoritys efforts to investigate the Biden family on longstanding allegations that have circulated on the right about the president and his familys supposed influence peddling in China and Ukraine. Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery, wrote the congressman. Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery. Read my full statement. pic.twitter.com/9swtTaUUQu Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) June 20, 2023 More follows... Passengers wait to board trains at Nanning East Railway Station in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, April 29, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] Flight and rail bookings have surged ahead of the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival holiday, according to online travel agencies. The traditional Chinese holiday, known for its dragon boat races and the eating of glutinous rice dumplings known as zongzi, will run from Thursday to Saturday. Short-haul trips with travel times of around one to two hours by rail have proved best sellers, according to travel agencies. Train tickets for some popular travel routes sold out just minutes after going on sale on June 8, including tickets from Beijing to Tianjin, and Wuhan, Hubei province to Xi'an, Shaanxi province. Travel portal Fliggy said bookings for rail tickets for June 21 and 22 the day before the holiday starts and first day of the holiday both saw a 30-fold year-on-year rise. Bookings of flights on the platform had increased sevenfold from the same period of last year as of June 8. "It was like a 'battle without bullets' that required faster broadband speed to win the tickets. My friends and I will go Chongqing during the holiday, where it will be a 'paradise of delicious cuisine' for us," said Zhang Linan, a 27-year-old from Wuhan. He said that his cousin and sister will join him after recently completing the gaokao the national college entrance examination. Xiang Min, director of Fliggy's flight bookings department, said that surcharges imposed on some domestic flight tickets have come down since June 5, lowering traveling costs and driving an increase of long-distance travel during the holiday. According to Fliggy, cities including Shanghai, Beijing and Hangzhou in Zhejiang province are projected to become the most popular destinations during the holiday. Travel portal Tuniu said that many of the inquiries on its platform have been looking for domestic destinations with milder weather, as recent heat waves across many parts of the country have travelers needing a break from the sun. China's southwestern province of Yunnan and the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have both proved popular, the platform said. Some travelers may also lengthen their holiday to four days by taking in the weekend to visit overseas destinations. Tuniu said coastal destinations such as the Maldives and Thailand are popular on the platform. Fliggy said that bookings to overseas destinations for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday have increased by 15-fold year-on-year, while the average price for overseas tour packages has reduced by roughly half from the same period last year. It said Japan is currently in the top spot for overseas bookings on the platform. Donald Trump's federal trial for the classified documents seized at Mar-a-Lago will be held in Fort Pierce. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, whom Trump appointed in 2020, scheduled the trial to begin Aug. 14 in her courtroom at the Alto Lee Adams Sr. United States Courthouse at U.S. 1 and Orange Avenue. How long will the trial take? While it is unknown how many days the trial will take, Cannon has blocked off two weeks. It could be shorter or longer, and it could even be continued to a later date. What is Donald Trump going to trial for? Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was indicted earlier this month on 37 criminal counts and pleaded not guilty to charges related to taking hundreds of classified records when he left the White House in January 2021. Why was Judge Aileen Cannon appointed to the case? Cannon is one of five eligible judges at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. She was assigned to preside over the case through the court's computerized system. Why is the trial taking place in Fort Pierce? Cannon, who lives in Vero Beach, assigned the trial to take place in her Fort Pierce courtroom instead of Miami, where he was indicted earlier this month. Melissa Holsman from TCPalm and Bart Jansen from USAToday contributed to this report. Gianna Montesano is TCPalms trending reporter. You can contact her at gianna.montesano@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1429, or follow her on Twitter @gonthescene. This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Donald Trump's federal trial to take place in Fort Pierce courthouse FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden holds videoconference with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the White House in Washington By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Dozens of U.S. President Joe Biden's fellow Democrats urged him on Tuesday to raise human rights issues with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Washington this week, according to a letter sent to Biden. Modi left for Washington on Tuesday for a visit projected as a milestone in ties between the two countries. The U.S. lawmakers said they were concerned about religious intolerance, press freedoms, internet access and the targeting of civil society groups. "We do not endorse any particular Indian leader or political party that is the decision of the people of India but we do stand in support of the important principles that should be a core part of American foreign policy," said the letter, led by Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representative Pramila Jayapal. A total of 75 Democratic senators and members of the House of Representatives signed the letter, sent to the White House on Tuesday and first reported by Reuters. "And we ask that, during your meeting with Prime Minister Modi, you discuss the full range of issues important to a successful, strong, and long-term relationship between our two great countries," the letter said. Modi has been to the United States five times since becoming prime minister in 2014, but the trip will be his first with the full diplomatic status of a state visit, despite concerns over what is seen as a deteriorating human rights situation under his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Washington hopes for closer ties with the world's largest democracy, which it sees as a counterweight to China, but rights advocates worry that geopolitics will overshadow human rights issues. Several U.S. rights groups plan protests during Modi's visit. The State Department's annual report on human rights practices released in March listed "significant human rights issues" and abuses in India. 'FRIENDS CAN AND SHOULD DISCUSS THEIR DIFFERENCES' Modi will address a joint meeting of the House and Senate on Thursday, one of the highest honors Washington affords to foreign dignitaries. "A series of independent, credible reports reflect troubling signs in India toward the shrinking of political space, the rise of religious intolerance, the targeting of civil society organizations and journalists, and growing restrictions on press freedoms and internet access," the lawmakers said in the letter. They said they joined Biden in welcoming Modi to the United States, and want a "close and warm relationship" between the people of the two countries, saying that friendship should be based on shared values and "friends can and should discuss their differences in an honest and forthright way." "That is why we respectfully request that in addition to the many areas of shared interests between India and the U.S. you also raise directly with Prime Minister Modi areas of concern," the letter said. Speaking to reporters before Modi arrived in Washington, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby declined comment on whether Biden would raise the issue, but that it is "commonplace" for Biden to raise concerns about human rights. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Don Durfee and Jonathan Oatis) A DeKalb County driver can expect her car insurance rates to go up after crashing into a building on Tuesday afternoon. Police say a car crashed into a business on Wesley Chapel Road at 1:30 p.m. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Channel 2 Action News crews arrived to the scene and found that the business was a Progressive car insurance office. Luckily, no one was hurt in the crash and only minimal damage was caused to the building, from what crews could tell. TRENDING STORIES: The cars bumper appeared to have come off, but it did not sustain major damage either. Police say the crash remains under investigation. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Duke University is giving free tuition to students whose families make less than $150,000. Full tuition grants will be given to undergraduate students admitted to the university who live in North and South Carolina, and whose household incomes are less than $150,000. For students whose families make less than $65,000 or less, Duke will give financial assistance for housing, meals, and certain course supplies in addition to the full tuition grant, without the students having to take out loans. Duke University President Vincent Price, says the grants show loyalty to the schools students in the Carolinas and is hopeful the funds will create a strong community on campus. ALSO READ: Gov. Cooper says GOP teacher pay, voucher plans a public education disaster This additional financial support for undergraduates reflects Dukes commitment to our students from the Carolinas, Price said. By providing even more equitable access to a Duke education, and ensuring students have the resources they need to truly thrive while here at Duke, we will also make our campus community stronger. Current undergraduates from the Carolinas will be able to access additional assistance immediately. Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors from North or South Carolina will get financial aid statements by July 1. Students in military families, with legal residency in the Carolinas, are also eligible for the grants. The university expects more than 300 students to benefit over the 2023-2024 academic year. According to the universitys paper, The Duke Chronicle, the Board of Trustees approved a 4.9% increase for the upcoming school year. Increasing the total cost of attendance to more than $83,000. (WATCH BELOW: UNCC Board of Trustees approves tuition hike) dark energy depicted as wispy clouds of energy and material Dark energy, the mysterious entity that dominates the energy of the cosmos and appears to be accelerating the expansion of the universe, presents a cosmic conundrum for scientists. In short, cosmologists have no idea what dark energy really is. So they are concocting all sorts of possible models, and exploring the observational consequences of those models, in hopes of finding some clue as to what dark energy is and how it works. Now, new research suggests that we may have already found evidence of an evolving, dynamic kind of dark energy, in the form of the radiation emitted when the first stars appeared in the universe. Billions of years ago, the universe was much darker than it is today. It took time for the first stars and galaxies to coalesce and appear, and when they did, they completely transformed the cosmos. Related: The history of the universe from Big Bang to now in 10 steps Prior to the formation of the first stars, the universe was dominated by a thin fog of neutral hydrogen and helium gas. That gas had formed during the momentous epoch known as recombination, a stage that occurred when our universe was 380,000 years old and had cooled to the point where the hot plasma could become neutral when electrons could finally bind to nuclei to form the first atoms. When the first stars ignited, however, their intense radiation ripped through the neutral gas, turning it back into a plasma state. And so cosmologists named the appearance of the first stars the "Cosmic Dawn" and the subsequent dramatic phase change of the universe the "Epoch of Reionization." These events occurred around a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. We do not yet have any direct measurements or maps of the cosmological epoch when the first stars and galaxies formed, or of the Epoch of Reionization. The main challenge is that these events occurred an extremely long time ago, so the light from those first stars is incredibly weak. An open window But there is another window into the Epoch of Reionization. Neutral hydrogen emits radiation at an extremely specific wavelength: 21 centimeters (8.3 inches). This is not a strong signal at all, but there was a whole lot of neutral hydrogen back in the day. But that radiation was emitted billions of years ago, and in the intervening ages, the universe has expanded to be about 10 times its previous size. That expansion has stretched the wavelength of that 21-cm radiation, and today, it's now detectable in radio wavelengths. In 2018, a team of astronomers claimed to have detected the 21-cm signal emitted when the universe was only 230 million years old. But the signal from that radiation was more than twice as strong as theoretical calculations had suggested. Assuming that the observation is valid (which is still a matter of debate, as the result has yet to be replicated by another team), it suggests that something in our understanding of early cosmic history is off. Most recently, Lu Yin, an astrophysicist at the Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics in South Korea, has suggested a new possibility to explain the strange result. Dynamics in the dark Related Stories How the 'Cosmic Dawn' broke and the first stars formed Black holes may be the source of mysterious dark energy Astronomers capture radio signal from ancient galaxy at record-breaking distance Yin's work, published to the preprint database arXiv, explored a model called interacting Chevallier-Polarski-Linder dark energy, or ICPL. In this model, dark energy is not a fixed constant of the cosmos but a dynamical entity that can change and evolve in time, resulting in changes in the acceleration rate of expansion. But that ability to evolve immediately opens up a question: What controls the way dark energy can change? In response, this model allows for dark energy to interact with dark matter; their behavior is linked, keeping both of them in check as the universe expands. There are more cosmological observations than the 21-cm signal. So, to start, Yin tuned the ICPL model to fit other observations, especially ones focusing on the recent expansion history of the universe. With a tuned model in hand, Yin then simulated the evolution of the early universe. Yin found that this ICPL model caused stars and galaxies to appear earlier than in standard cosmological models, which made the ICPL model better at accounting for the strange observed 21-cm signal compared with traditional cosmological models. This is an intriguing result, but not a slam dunk. The 21-cm observations are still in dispute, and there are other possible explanations for the strange signal. Still, this shows how scientists can approach observations like this and continue to push into the frontiers of understanding dark energy and dark matter. When E.L. James said her marriage vows, she probably couldnt predict that one day, she and her husband, Niall Leonard, would be choreographing a sex scene in broad daylight in the front of a parked Mini Cooper. But thats exactly where life took them. We were fully clothed. I said, All right, Ill sit on your lap. This was on a Saturday afternoon. People were walking by to the football ground at the end of the road. They were thinking, What are these two doing? James, whose real name is Erika Mitchell, tells TODAY.com over a Zoom call. Turns out, what they were doing was bringing James now famous Fifty Shades of Grey characters, billionaire businessman Christian Grey and his love Anastasia Steele, to life (though those two had their tryst in the back of an Audi R8). Pictured: E.L. James (Nino Munoz / CPi Syndication) The incident is one of the many unexpected detours James life has taken. Most notably? Becoming one of the worlds most successful writers in her middle age and being thrust into the worlds spotlight a position she still finds uncomfortable over a decade later. During her interview with TODAY.com this June, 12 years after the publication of her first Fifty Shades novel, James remembers her wedding, where she was inherently the center of attention. While she was happy to get married, James says the pressure made her bad tempered. The last thing I said to my dad as we walked down the aisle, and what people heard, was Get off my f---ing dress, she says, with a laugh. On the cusp of her new books publication, James says she feels the same way. Im terrified and ecstatic and very, very anxious. I dont want to let anyone down. I want to provide people with something to escape to, she says. A new story After writing three Fifty Shades of Grey Novels and a follow-up trilogy told from Christians perspective, James launched a new romance series, starting with The Mister, in 2019. Its sequel The Missus is out June 20. I always think of Ana and Christian as Beauty and the Beast. The Mister is more like Cinderella, she explains. In the book, Maxim Trevelyan unexpectedly inherits his familys hereditary earl title after his brother dies suddenly. He also falls for Alessia Demachi, the woman hired to clean his London apartment. Whereas the central conflict in Fifty Shades is arguably how Christian Greys psychology and childhood trauma manifests, Alessia and Maxim have external obstacles to deal with like the Albanian mafia. The Missus book cover (EL James / www.eljamesauthor.com) The story had been stuck in her head for a long, long time, she says. It began on an airplane, when she opened a British magazine to a story about life in an aristocratic household. She says she started writing the series because she wanted a break from Christian and Ana. This time around, the leading man is far more princely than he is beastly. James says she thinks the lost but kind-hearted scion is a better romantic prospect than the terse businessman Christian Grey. I would marry Maxim. Hes a reasonable human. I think youd have to have the patience of a saint to marry someone like Christian, she says. I just find Christian mentally exhausting. physically exhausting. Utterly exhausting. Maxim is much more reasonable. Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey, and Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele in But so what if Christian, with his penchant for bondage and punishment, isnt necessarily everyones ideal romantic match? James doesnt see her books as manuals for living, but for escapism, and that should be obvious, she says. Its fantasy, she says. What are you saying about the people reading these books? Are you saying women arent intelligent enough to realize that this is for escape? Youre effectively infantilizing women and not letting them have a good time. Feminists have fantasies too. Its about disappearing into a world and getting swallowed up in it, she adds. That is one of the best things you can do: If you find a book and it doesnt let you go. If youre consumed by it. The awakening of E.L. James James knows the feeling of being consumed by a book better than most. She describes reading Stephanie Meyers Twilight books, the inspiration for Fifty Shades of Grey, as an awakening. The vampire YA novels unlocked her inspiration, dormant after 25 years in television production. I read those books over Christmas. It was like a vacation. I sat down and started writing after that, she says. Fifty Shades of Grey book cover (EL James / www.eljamesauthor.com) From there, she discovered fan fiction and tried out a few usernames (a pen name in the world of fan fiction), before settling on SnowQueens IceDragon and self-publishing the steamy, S&M-filled story that became Fifty Shades of Grey. That was such a high. Ive been very lucky that Ive been chasing that high since, she says. Her friends were stunned to see her writing project became this, and so was she. I completely surprised myself, she says. While shes since broken publishing records and sold millions of copies, James says her day-to-day life isnt all that different than it was before fame. I just have more than one house, she laughs. We dip into that kind of life and its lovely, but were still the same people. Success came late. Its very unexpected. And my kids have kept me grounded. An ordinary life The mom-of-two describes her life as mundane. Most of the time, shes writing. I come in, sit down. I read what Ive written the day before. Make changes. Edit that, and it springboards you into the next part. I just go and see where we end up. I absolutely love it. I hate it as well, because its very hard, she says. However, her desk is littered with proof of her where her writing has taken her. She has a Fifty Shades of Grey branded sex toy (A funny story for you: My son once asked to get the sex toys off the table because his chemistry teacher was coming over). Theres also a custom phone case her husband made with a quote that inspired The Mister: What happens when the glass slipper fits? Her husband is neither Christian nor Maxim, but he is arguably better: He is her first reader and is a man who will listen, she says. He writes far better than I do. Hell read a chapter once Ive finished it and is very helpful in putting it all right, she says. Hes someone I can bounce ideas off of. I dont always take his ideas, though. Next up, James is considering giving The Mister and The Missus the big-screen treatment, even after her experience with Fifty Shades of Grey. Dakota Johnson, star of the movies, called making the movie a battle with James in an interview with Vanity Fair. Trouble, Johnson said, was around editorial control of the movies script, especially the first. James husband wrote the subsequent two movies. (Johnson also called James a very nice woman and very kind in the same interview.) Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey, and Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele in When asked to give her side of the story on the creation of the movies, James considers how to answer. One day, she says. I do have a platform and I could use it, she adds. Sometimes, its best not to say anything. If youve got nothing nice to say, its best not to say anything. And keep it that way. For now, shell focus on her own work. Ive got too many stories to tell. Ill concentrate on that," she says. "I'd love to have a serial killer, or something like that. But he will be in love." This article was originally published on TODAY.com The fringe legal theory that former President Donald Trump deployed to subvert the 2020 election faced withering scrutiny Tuesday from California legal authorities who want to disbar its key architect: attorney John Eastman. Eastmans bar trial, on charges that he committed professional misconduct by fomenting efforts to obstruct the election of President Joe Biden, comes as both he and Trump await word on whether theyll be criminally charged for the scheme. But on Tuesday, California bar authorities made sure that Eastmans legal theory itself would face its own thorough reckoning for the first time since Jan. 6, 2021. In fact, Duncan Carling, trial counsel for the California State Bar, emphasized that Eastmans plan all along had been to avoid ever having a court pass judgment on the legitimacy of his effort to keep Trump in power. Eastmans plan "was baseless, completely unsupported by historic precedent or law and contrary to our values as a nation, Carling said, promising that the two-week trial would expose Eastmans conduct as fundamentally dishonest and intended to disrupt the lawful certification of the winner of the 2020 election. Special counsel Jack Smith is probing whether Trump, Eastman or other allies broke laws in their bid to subvert the election, and hes hauled in an astonishing string of high-level Trump aides and allies, including former Vice President Mike Pence, to testify before a grand jury. And a federal judge has already declared that Eastman and Trump likely joined a criminal conspiracy to subvert the 2020 election. But bar proceedings have helped shine a public light on the shadowy orbit of lawyers who sought to aid his effort to cling to power. Rudy Giulianis law license was temporarily suspended in Washington, D.C. after bar proceedings found him culpable for misconduct in his efforts to overturn Pennsylvanias votes. Jenna Ellis admitted to making numerous false statements about election fraud during her own negotiations with Colorado bar authorities. And similar proceedings are pending against former Justice Department attorney Jeff Clark, who has been fighting to get federal courts to intervene in the process. But Eastmans proceedings will focus more on the central element of Trumps bid to remain in power the plot to pressure Pence to single-handedly overturn the election on Jan. 6, 2021. Pences refusal inflamed a violent mob that gathered outside the Capitol and surged past police lines and into the building. Presiding over the trial is State Bar Court Judge Yvette Roland, who will ultimately determine whether Eastman should face the ultimate professional sanction. Bar authorities say Eastmans scheme began after basic legal challenges to the election results failed to influence the outcome despite Trumps repeated efforts to sow false claims of election fraud. Eastman spent much of December 2020 urging state legislatures in at least five states won by Biden to appoint alternate presidential electors. Those dueling slates, Eastman contended, would trigger a chance for Pence to either declare Trump the victor or simply delay the count altogether by citing the controversy. Then, Eastman theorized, GOP-controlled states would have more time to consider whether to declare Trump the winner and invalidate Bidens victory. But no legislatures adopted Eastmans strategy, so the attorney shifted to an even riskier course. Eastman encouraged Pence to consider slates of electors filed by pro-Trump activists in seven states Trump falsely claimed to have won. Eastman said that even without the backing of a state government, those slates could be used to trigger the same controversy for Pence he had already been envisioning. Pence aides, including his counsel Greg Jacob, resisted this plan sharply, claiming Pence lacked legal authority to carry it out and warning that no courts would ever uphold the plan. Carling, in fact, noted that Eastmans plan, by design, was never supposed to end up in court precisely to avoid an adverse ruling. Rather, Eastman wanted key actors in the scheme to simply assert their power to take his preferred actions and hope the courts would stay out of it, resorting to their typical hesitance to wade into conflicts between the other branches of government. According to Eastman, however, his advice no matter how unorthodox was tenable legal advice, not something that should be punished, even if it turned out to be wrong or misguided. He contends there were legitimate, contested interpretations of the 12th Amendment and the Electoral Count Act of 1887 which govern the counting of electoral votes and that a good-faith dispute should not result in professional consequences. What youll hear from Dr. Eastman in that role is that he was not there to steal the election the focus was on ensuring the election was properly and legally certified and votes were properly counted, said his attorney, Randall Miller. Eastman spent Tuesday defending his claims of voter fraud in Georgia, which he made during a public hearing of Republican state legislators, as well as in litigation aimed at overturning the results of the election in court. Bar attorneys pressed Eastman on his basis for estimating that more than 60,000 underage people were improperly registered to vote when the real number was far smaller. Eastman also said he couldnt recall the details of a phone call he had with Trump and RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel in December 2020, advising the party to help with Trumps efforts to assemble contingent presidential electors. Notably, Eastman expressed no regret or misgiving about the course of action he pressed among state lawmakers, Pence, Trump and others, despite the chaos it helped unleash. Eastman also refused to back away from his suggestion last year to Wisconsin state lawmakers that it may be possible to decertify the 2020 election and remove Joe Biden. Pressed on this theory, Eastman agreed it would be uncharted territory but that he thought it was a legitimate potential outcome. Editorial: Redistricting must wait until 2032: Dems need better candidates, not rigged lines, to win back the House A lawyer for the Democrats argued with a straight face before five Albany appellate justices the other week that New Yorks 26 current congressional districts were only an emergency solution to a (Democratic) violation of the state Constitution last year and that the lines should now be redrawn for the next four rounds of elections before the normal redistricting due in 2032. Justices Molly Reynolds Fitzgerald, John Egan, Elizabeth Garry, Stan Pritzker and Eddie McShan should reject the nonsense and ratify the September ruling of Albany state Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch, who dismissed the ridiculous case, exclaiming: I think not! Congressional districts are in place for 10 years. Its been that way since the first census in 1790 and the state Constitution explicitly says that districts shall be in force until the effective date of a plan based upon the subsequent federal decennial census. The next big count is in 2030, with new maps in 2032. But the Dems want to short-circuit the system. Based on the performance of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his fractured Republican conference so far, we hope that Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn wins at least five more seats next year and becomes the Democratic speaker. The six legitimate GOP freshmen from New York, along with Con(gress)man George Santos, make for seven ripe targets. But Jeffries and the Democrats should seek to win by fielding strong candidates, with good messages and running excellent campaigns, not by trying to redraw the eminently fair New York congressional district maps to give them a partisan advantage. These current maps were created not by Albany pols, but by an unbiased expert, a special master working for the courts, just as the maps for the prior decade were also created by a special master under judicial authority. New York had the fairest, most competitive districts in the country from 2012 to 2020, with House seats swinging back and forth between the two parties, allowing the voters to choose. We expect that to be the same situation for the next four rounds of elections up unto 2030. ___ Election Day in Kansas City: Whos on the city council ballot, where to vote & more If you havent voted early or by mail, Tuesday is Election Day in Kansas City. Heres a review of everything you need to know to cast your ballot for mayor and city council candidates. Kansas Citians will cast ballots in their new council districts, formed after the latest round of redistricting, to decide who will be calling the shots at City Hall for the next four years. Voters will vote for all at-large district candidates, as well as an in-district candidate for the district where they live. Seven of the current 13 Kansas City Council members, including Mayor Quinton Lucas, want another four years in office, but only one of them is a shoo-in. Councilwoman Ryana Parks-Shaw is running unopposed in the 5th District. Six council seats are wide open because the current members terms are up at the end of July, and only one of those spots is uncontested. Former Democratic state Rep. Wes Rogers has no opponent in the 2nd District. As Lucas seeks another four-year term, his opponent is perennial candidate Clay Chastain, who has never won elected office. What time do polls open? Polls will be open from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. How do I find my polling place around Kansas City? Missouri voters should check with the states voter outreach search tool. You can also check directly with your local election board. Keep in mind: Some polling locations may have changed, so its important to make sure you double check your polling location before heading out to vote on Election Day. What should I bring to the polls? Registered Missouri voters will need a government-issued photo ID in order to vote. If you dont have a qualified photo ID, you will be asked to fill out a provisional ballot. Accepted forms of photo ID for Missouri include: A non-expired Missouri drivers license or a state ID A non-expired military ID, including a veteran ID card A U.S. passport or another form of photo ID issued by the U.S. government or the state of Missouri that is not expired Has my voting district changed? Maybe. The most dramatic shift is in the Northland. Districts 1 and 2 will switch from an east-west split along N. Oak Trafficway and N. Woodland Avenue to more of a north-south split along NW Barry Road and Interstate 152 with District 1 to the north, and District 2 to the south. Districts 3 and 4 will remain relatively similar to how they were before. District 4 will extend north to the Gladstone border at NE Englewood Road and east to N. Antioch Road in the Northland. In the Northeast, District 4 will extend slightly farther south of Independence Avenue, down past Truman Road in one part. District 3 will extend south of Blue Parkway to 56th Street in one part. District 5 is growing in size and now extends south to include the entire section of the city south of Interstate 470 down to E. 155th Street, bordered by Grandview and Lees Summit. District 6 will gain the area surrounding the Country Club Plaza and the West Plaza neighborhood. For comparison, heres a look at the old map. Existing council district map Click on each numbered annotation for more information. Open And heres a look at the new map for the June 20 election. It says effective August 1, because that is when the new council members will be sworn into office. New district map effective Aug. 1, 2023 Click on each numbered annotation for more information. Open How do I contact my election office? There are multiple election offices serving residents in Kansas City. If you have specific questions about your polling place, operating hours or what else you might need to know ahead of voting, make sure you get in touch with your local election office. Kansas City Election Board The Kansas City Election Board oversees elections for Kansas City residents who live south of the river. 816-842-4820 30 West Pershing Road, Suite 2800, Kansas City Cass County Election Authority Those who live south of Jackson County, in cities like Raymore or Belton, should check in with the Cass County Election Authority. 816-380-8102 102 E. Wall St., Harrisonville Clay County Election Board Folks north of the Missouri River and east of North Platte Purchase Drive should go to Clay County for more information. 816-415-8683 100 W. Mississippi St., Liberty Platte County Board of Elections People who live north of the MIssouri River and west of North Platte Purchase Drive should check in with Platte County. 816-858-4400 2600 NW Prairie View Road, Platte City How do I learn more about what will be on my ballot? The Star surveyed all of the Kansas City Council candidates about their policy priorities. You can read their responses in their own words at kansascity.com/voter-guide. Mayor Lucas had only one opponent on the ballot, so the outcome of the contest between him and challenger Chastain was purely academic. All the same, voters preferred Lucas, who received more than 35,000 votes to Chastains 8,000. Theyll meet again in the general election. 1st District at large Incumbent Kevin ONeill is facing off with fellow northlander Ronda Smith in this citywide race. Crime is a key focus for Smith, who was treasurer of the Take KC Back campaign in 2021 to recall eight council members and the mayor after a judge ruled that they violated Missouri law by withholding $42 million from the police budget. However, ONeill was not one of them. Before serving on city council, ONeil spent 30 years as the publisher of the Labor Beacon. He garnered three times more votes than Smith in the April primary. 2nd District at large Neither Lindsay French nor Jenay Manley has run for office before, but both have been politically active. Manley is one of the organizers of KC Tenants, the citywide tenant union that has been influential at City Hall on affordable housing issues. She was active in the protests to stop evictions during the pandemic, and housing is at the forefront of her campaign. French is a graphic designer who has been active in political campaigns and has amassed a slew of endorsements, including from former Northland city councilmen John Fairfield, Ed Ford and Scott Wagner, who is her campaign treasurer. 3rd District at large Incumbent Brandon Ellington, a former Missouri state representative, is facing a challenging opponent in Melissa Patterson Hazley. Patterson Hazley garnered more votes than Ellington in the April primary and outspent him. She has collected endorsements from interest groups ranging from big corporate donors to powerful trades and construction unions, the Fraternal Order of Police and the Black political club Freedom Inc. Behind the scenes, Patterson Hazley has run numerous campaigns for candidates and successful ballot issues, most notably the one to pass the Central City Economic Development sales tax. She then went on to chair the board for that tax, recommending how money should be spent on East Side development. She has a doctorate in educational psychology. Ellingtons financial support and endorsements are almost entirely grass-roots and fewer, with the exception of the political action committees representing fire fighters union Local 42 and the engineering firm Burns & McDonnell. He takes pride in his independence and describes himself as a full-time revolutionary fighting for his community. One reason so many powerful interests may be lined up against Ellington is his reputation as someone who often casts the lone no vote on issues before the council especially for things that dont have some benefit for the predominantly Black neighborhoods on Kansas Citys East Side, where both he and Patterson Hazley grew up. Ellington is especially proud of his leadership on creating an Office of Citizen Engagement that helps people get connected with city services. 4th District at large Crispin Rea and Justin Short are running to replace Katheryn Shields, who could not seek re-election due to term limits. Rea won a seat on the Kansas City school board when he was 24, pulled out of a city council race in 2014 and now is a special victims unit prosecutor with the Jackson County Prosecutors Office. Short is a member of the citys LGBTQ Commission and is originally from the Northland, where his dad, Michael Short, was formerly a Platte County commissioner. He was formerly a cruise director for a cruise ship line and now manages the building he lives in downtown. 5th District at large Darrell Curls and Michael Kelley are running to replace Lee Barnes after coming in neck and neck in the April primary. Curls is a former Hickman Mills school board president who is on the board of directors of the Black political club Freedom Inc. Kelley is the policy director at BikeWalkKC. He worked to pass the ordinance that forces planners to consider more than cars in street design, advocated for more public restrooms to help the homeless and is on the Kansas City Environmental Management Commission. 6th District at large Incumbent Andrea Bough is running against Jill Sasse to keep her seat on the council. Bough, a development lawyer, has a bushel full of endorsements and has spent the last four years getting accolades for her progressive stances on affordable housing policy and other issues. Former public school teacher Jill Sasse has made public safety and policing a focus of her campaign along with the need for more affordable housing and her desire to reduce government spending. 1st District Teacher Nathan Willett and former Clay County Democratic Party chairman Chris Gahagan are running to replace Heather Hall, who could not seek re-election due to term limits. 2nd District Former state Rep. Wes Rogers ran unopposed to replace incumbent Dan Fowler, who is term limited. 3rd District Incumbent Melissa Robinson is running against Sheri Hall to keep her seat on the council. Robinson has focused her campaign on issues she has advocated for while on the council, like the need affordable housing and improving public services like trash collection and blight removal. Her background is in the social service sector, and she used to be the board chair for Kansas City Public Schools. Hall is a poet, artist and mental health advocate who works with nonprofits to improve the lives of people in the 3rd District where she grew up. 4th District Incumbent Eric Bunch is running against Henry Rizzo to keep his seat on the council. Bunch is transit advocate and co-founder of the group BikeWalk KC who has supported things like zero fare buses and advocated for affordable housing while on the council. Rizzo formerly served on the state and Jackson County legislatures and is the head of the Old Northeast Democratic Club. 5th District Incumbent Ryana Parks-Shaw is running unopposed for another four-year term. 6th District Dan Tarwater and Jonathan Duncan are running to fill the 6th District seat. Tarwater is a right-leaning Democrat and former Jackson County legislator. He has support from labor, the police and fire unions, Freedom Inc. and other groups. Duncan is an administrator at the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a leader in the KC Tenants organization. He describes himself as progressive, and his campaign focuses on improving housing conditions and affordability in Kansas City. The Stars Mike Hendricks, Kynala Phillips and Allison Dikanovic contributed reporting. If you have any trouble voting, you can also reach out to The Star at kcq@kcstar.com. File - A 2023 R1T pickup truck is charged in a bay at a Rivian delivery and service center Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023, in Denver. Electric vehicle maker Rivian says it will follow General Motors and Ford and join Tesla's charging network next year. The startup truck, SUV and delivery van maker says Tuesday, June 20, that like GM and Ford, it will include ports with Teslas connector on future Rivian vehicles starting in 2025. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) DETROIT (AP) Electric vehicle maker Rivian says it will follow General Motors and Ford and join Tesla's charging network next year. The startup truck, SUV and delivery van maker says Tuesday that like GM and Ford, it also will adopt Tesla's charging connector, another step toward making it the industry standard. Existing Rivian vehicles will need an adapter to link to a Tesla charger. But Rivian says vehicles manufactured in 2025 and beyond will come standard with a Tesla charging port. It is another domino to fall as the auto industry considers switching to Tesla's connector, which it calls the North American Charging Standard. At present, nearly all automakers other than Tesla use what is called a CCS connector developed with the Society of Automotive Engineers. Tesla's Superchargers are coveted by other automakers because it has more direct current fast-charging plugs in the U.S. than any other network, and its stations are in prime locations along freeway travel corridors. Other automakers also are looking into the switch. On Monday, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said his company's U.S. teams are studying the change and will make a decision in a few weeks. We right now are evaluating that possibility, Tavares said in a brief interview with The Associated Press. It can have good things and bad things. He said the good things are being evaluated, and the bad things include dependence on Tesla. Currently Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, has no fully electric vehicles on sale in the U.S., but it does sell three plug-in gas-electric hybrids that can go short distances on battery power. The company plans to sell an electric commercial van this year, followed by an electric Ram pickup and other vehicles. Rivian is a relatively small player in the U.S. automotive market, selling just under 30,000 vehicles from 2021 through the first quarter of this year. But the Irvine, California, company is viewed as a key Tesla competitor. Like GM and Ford, Rivian owners will get access to more than 12,000 Tesla Supercharger plugs. In the U.S., Tesla has 1,797 Supercharger stations and more than 19,000 plugs, according to the Department of Energy. Since the stations are direct current fast-chargers, they can charge EVs relatively quickly as people travel. ChargePoint has the biggest charging network in the U.S. with more than 32,000 stations and 55,000 plugs, but most of them are Level 2 chargers that can take up to eight hours to get a battery up to a full charge. The Energy Department says there are about 54,000 public charging stations nationwide with more than 136,000 plugs. While most are slower Level 2 chargers, the network of DC fast chargers is growing. Still, industry analysts say there is growing momentum to switch to Tesla's connector to become the standard in the U.S., although vehicles likely will need to be able to use both connectors for a while. GM and Ford say they're not paying Tesla anything for access to the network, but owners will pay Tesla to charge just like any other charging system. Rivian said in a statement that in addition to joining Tesla's network, it will continue to expand its own charging system, where it will incorporate Tesla's connector. Shares of Tesla closed Tuesday up 5.3%. They're up about 40% since Ford first announced it would join the charging network on May 25. ____ AP journalist John Leicester contributed to this story from Le Bourget, France. This story has been corrected to show that Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares was interviewed Monday, not last week. People visit the 32nd Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, June 15, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] As the 32nd Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair concluded on Monday in Harbin, the capital city of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, new vitality has been injected into the international economic exchange in Northeast Asia. Gathering around the booth of Hokkaido, Japan, the visitors were attracted by the various products on display, including snacks and condiments. "We have brought 52 types of products here this year, all crafted with top-tier material and craftsmanship, featuring the taste of Hokkaido," said Yuki Osanai, senior staff of the Office of International Business, Bureau of Economic Planning, Hokkaido Government. Known for its rich history and abundant natural resources, Hokkaido has been attending the Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair since 2016, said Osanai. "I expect more Chinese visitors to travel to Hokkaido and taste our special delicacies after this exhibition." Starting on June 15, this year's trade fair has attracted nearly 1,400 companies from 38 countries and regions, including the Republic of Korea (ROK), Japan, and Australia, bringing new partners and opportunities to foreign corporations. Choi Seung Myung from Gangwon Province of ROK is among the new "partners" introduced to the event. As the chief representative of the Beijing Representative Office for Gangwon Province, Choi has been following the development of the fair for years. "Although this is the first time for us to come as exhibitors, many of our enterprises are already familiar with this event concerning the central position of Harbin connecting countries in Northeast Asia," Choi said. This year, according to Choi, over 120 product types from Gangwon Province were showcased at the trade fair, ranging from organic food to cosmetic products. "Cosmetics and biomedicine are the main industries of Gangwon Province," said Choi. "After we arrived in Heilongjiang, we discovered a strong demand for Korean merchandise here." "We hope to take this exhibition as an opportunity to open up the vast Northern China market for our enterprises," Choi added. Like Choi, many foreign entrepreneurs and representatives are amazed by the growth and possibilities of the Chinese market through this event. Standing before the booth of Niigata Prefecture, Japan, Yoshito Nariyama was busy introducing Niigata-produced rice and ironware to the visitors. "As this year marks the 40th anniversary of the twin relationship between Heilongjiang Province and Niigata Prefecture, many companies in Niigata are interested in coming here for business," said Nariyama, an official of the office for international affairs of Niigata Prefectural Government. First held in 1990, the trade fair had seen nearly 3 trillion yuan (about 420 billion U.S. dollars) worth of deals inked over the decades. According to the fair's organizer, the province has inked over 224 cooperation projects with domestic and overseas enterprises during this year's event. It is estimated that the total amount of contracts will exceed 200 billion yuan. Amber Guyton has crafted an accomplished career out of planning. As an interior designer and founder of the Blessed Little Bungalow blog and agency, the Atlanta creative must consider the most ancillary details of a space as she executes design concepts for her growing roster of clients. But during a visit to her gynecologist in 2022, Guyton uncovered one planning concept shed unknowingly overlooked. I was 35 going on 36 at the time. And [my doctor] was like, How do you feel about family planning? Guyton told 21Nintey in an exclusive interview. I was like, well, Im not really dating anyone right now. I just got out of a relationship. I would love to have a family, but I just havent really thought about it. The unexpected inquiry from her doctor came just as Guyton was settling into her first year back in Atlanta after relocating to the city in 2021. Her transition into Atlanta life included finding a Black gynecologist. It was during her annual physical with that Black woman physician that Guyton was presented with a full picture of her fertility and the limits she may face as a prospective mother in her mid to late 30s. [My doctors] very blunt response was, if youre serious about having a family, you need to freeze your eggs before 37, Guyton said. Her response very much do it now or youll regret it. Guyton admittedly hadnt known that women are born with all the eggs that they will have in a lifetime. Learning that fact became a key catalyst for her to do some extensive research on egg freezing. After taking a little time to process the pressing warning from her doctor, Guyton kicked into planning mode. When you hear that, its kind of daunting. So to have my black female doctor tell me, if you want [a family], I really encourage you to [freeze your eggs], it resonated with me. It made me feel like I need to definitely [freeze my eggs], Guyton said. Exploring The Egg Freezing Process The average egg freezing process can range from around $15,000 up to about $30,000. That price range includes treatment, storage of the eggs, and any medications needed during the process. The cost is coupled with the price of in vitro fertilization of the frozen eggs, which averages out to around $6400. Many employers will cover tens of thousands of dollars in fertility service-related costs for employees. This was a health benefit Guyton herself once had at the corporate job she left in 2021. As she researched the cost of egg freezing as an entrepreneur paying her own health insurance out of pocket, Guyton quickly realized that the procedure would require a serious financial sacrifice. I was was just like, you know what, Ill just pull it out of my savings. Because to me, it was like insurance. It was an investment in my future, Guyton said. I may be able to conceive naturally. But [freezing my eggs] is just in case I cant. Along with the soaring financial costs, Guyton also had to consider her health status and possible side effects brought on by the process. During her initial consultation, Guyton went through an ultrasound and had bloodwork done to get a clear view of vital levels. Even though Im healthy, I decided to see what the doctor said. And sure enough, because of my age, certain levels were low. And I was a good candidate to proceed with the egg freezing, Guyton said. Her questions about the procedure also included her concerns over how the hormonal shift from the daily shots may affect her depression and anxiety. Since 2018 Ive been seeing a therapist regularly and Ive also been on medication to help with my anxiety and depression. So I had to inform [my doctors] I was on medication for it, Guyton said. [The doctors] give you so much paperwork to inform you of the possibilities of what you will actually experience. They want to make sure that youre aware. Retrieval and Recovery Guyton kicked off her complex egg retrieval process in May 2023 shortly after taking a week-long vacation to Morocco. For the first four days, she took oral medications. Then on the fifth day, she started her injections. You start with like two injections a night. Then after three or four days of that, it was three injections in my stomach a night, Guyton detailed. She did injections in her stomach for around 13 days. Along with her injections, shed go to the hospital daily or every other day for a vaginal ultrasound and bloodwork to monitor the progress of her retrieval process. By June, she had transitioned into the final stage of the process the egg retrieval. In total, Guyton retrieved just under 10 eggs, which is around the average of 10 to 20 most fertility centers encourage women to preserve. Knowing the emotional effects she could possibly endure, Guyton made a point to monitor herself closely as she proceeded through the process. It was an experience she admits was at times isolating. Different people react differently to the medications. Some people, with all the hormones, can be very emotional, Guyton said. There were times where I felt super lonely or super sad. It just kind of varied. In those sadder moments, Guyton said she had to be intentional in order to keep my spirits lifted. Surrounding yourself with a support system is advice I received. I was like, Ill be fine. I feel fine. But it is more of a mental and emotional toll than it is physical. Or at least it was for me. So dont underestimate that piece, Guyton explained. Living By Her Own Rules Fertility journeys are a deeply personal experience that many women choose to take on privately. But Guyton made the decision to document her egg freezing process, editing footage of her daily injections into a now viral Instagram post. She posted the video the day before her egg retrieval procedure. The post was Guytons attempt to share information about the process shed known so little about just a year earlier . Before and after the process Guytons family was extremely supportive. Still, the designer found that she didnt always find alignment with those closest to her when it came to her motivations to freeze her eggs as a single Black woman. I feel like half of my friends are married with kids. Then the friends that I have that are still single, a lot of them dont wanna have kids, Guyton said. [Freezing my eggs] is not something that I felt I could really talk to them about because they dont have the same desire. Which it is a beautiful thing if you dont want to have children. Thats your choice. But I had very few friends in the same boat as me. It was through the swift and sweeping response to her Instagram post detailing her egg freezing procedure that Guyton found community among women navigating their own fertility journeys. Many of those paths require navigating cultural stigmas still surrounding the choice of egg freezing. Guytons post is pushing forward a conversation around Black fertility and pregnancy that remains grossly under-explored both in popular culture and among medical studies. Having the outpouring of support on my Instagram post had me in tears. It was people that said they waited too late. I wish I had done it. Or people that were saying they did four rounds of IVF and that failed. But then had a child that was conceived naturally, she said. There were just so many stories of encouragement. And there were people that were saying they were on the fence or were scared to do it but had thought about it. And my post gave them the push to get the consultation. Surveying her next steps following her egg retrieval, the interior design entrepreneur has no regrets about her decision to take full control of her fertility options and share her story openly. Im not married and I want to freeze my eggs because I may or may not want to have children. I want to have that choice, Guyton said. It gives me confidence in dating and in my future. I dont have to feel like Im on this timer. It just gives you options and it makes you feel good about being in control of your future. The post How Entrepreneur Amber Guyton Found Power In Her Egg Freezing Journey appeared first on 21Ninety. Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / Getty Sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein advised JPMorgan executive Jes Staley on his career and relations with financial power players in Britain, China, and the Middle East, even as Epstein was jailed for soliciting minors in Florida, new emails reveal. The documentscontained in legal filings on Tuesday as part of the U.S. Virgin Islands lawsuit against JPMorganindicate Epstein connected Staley to a host of high-profile pals including Britains Prince Andrew and Dubai businessman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem. He also invited him to meetings at Davos with Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates and Columbia University president Lee Bollinger, who was on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Jeffrey Epstein Dined With Tim Zagat at New Yorks Fanciest Restaurants Epstein may have facilitated a get-together with JPMorgan bosses and Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, too. In March 2011, one JPMorgan employee wrote to Staley and another high-level executive, Against all odds, we have been granted a meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Staley forwarded the message to Epstein and wrote, Thanks, to which the convicted sex offender replied, surprisee suprise. The exchanges were part of JPMorgans 2019 internal review of Epsteins communications with Staley and other bank employees. In its report, the financial institution noted that Staley appears to have a close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, regularly communicating with him and seeking advice from him including while Epstein is incarcerated. Other employees also communicate with Epstein intermittently on a variety of matters. The documents also peeled back more layers of Staleys creepy bromance with Epstein. JPMorgans own compliance officials noted in a 2019 email that Epstein sent payments to women in his circle around the same time Staley emailed him about his travels. When Staley wrote to Epstein in August 2009 that hed be in London, Epstein asked if hed need anything while he was there. Staley replied, Yep. The same day, JPMorgan internal emails show, one of Epsteins JPMorgan accounts wired $3,000 to a woman who appears to be associated with a ballet company in Lithuania called Baltic Ballet. The same woman received $2,000 from Epstein in January 2009, around the time Staley said he'd visit the trafficker in Palm Beach, the documents reveal. In January 2010while Epstein was on house arrest in FloridaStaley wrote, Fun tonight. What do we do next????? Epstein replied soon after, saying his driver whom he described as former dea [sic] and armed, would pick him up in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Epstein continued, helicopter also available for a tour around , remember I own the two big marinas.. yacht haven grand, in st thomas and the marina at red hook you can use my atvs jet ski ,gym etc. Later that month, Staley wrote to Epstein, Arrived at your harbor. Someday, we have to do this together. According to the JPMorgan memo, Epstein appeared to help Staley with graduate school admissions at Columbia University for his daughter. While the name of the student was redacted in the document, The Wall Street Journal identified her as Staleys child. (Emails obtained by The Daily Beast also reveal that in 2015, Staley emailed Epstein that his then twenty-something daughter wants to sit with you to talk about here [sic] future. A follow-up email listed an appointment with the woman.) In November 2010, the memo states, Staley sent the young womans resume to Epstein, who replied, she can sit with Richard Axel when I get back, he won the Nobel prize.. he has guaranteed me. Axel is a Columbia professor and molecular biologist. Staley, in a February 2011 message, told Epstein that he spent an hour w the President. The memorandum notes that its unclear if the reference is to the President of Columbia, POTUS, or other. But the financial executive sang Epsteins praises a month later, referring to his wifes appreciation and Epsteins punishment for his sex crimes. Deby and I were talking tonight about what you have meant to me and to [redacted], Staley wrote. You have paid a price for what has been accused. But we know what u have done for us. And we count you as one of our deepest friends. And most honest of people. Thanks, Jes. Family, Epstein replied. The documents reveal that Epstein apparently tried to use his growing bond with the Staleys to get the boyfriend of one woman in his orbit a job at JPMorgan. I would very much appeciate [sic] it if we can get him in a training program for private banking,, he is responsible 27, and very personable, Epstein wrote in April 2010, he could be a great asset eventually to your florida office. JPMorgans document pointed out that the man was one of the most frequent visitors of Epstein while he was incarcerated in Florida. Epstein frequently name-dropped wealthy friends in his chats with Staley, and the duo traded intel and advice via email on courting them. After Staley gushed about a visit to Epsteins island in January 2011, the sex offender replied, do you want to join a gates dinner in davos on wed.? Epstein asked Staley about the tech mogul again shortly after: I will have gates alone for two days.. any input? As a start, I still like a lot your connection of Gates, nuclear energy, and the middle east, Staley replied. Staley and Epstein also forwarded each other emails on Hyatt Hotels billionaire Tom Pritzker, who was apparently preparing a project with JPMorgan. A picture tells a thousand words, Pritzker wrote to Epstein in January 2011. Here is your happy birthday photo. What do all the people in this picture (save one) have in common? Tjp. Epstein forwarded the message to Staley. In spring of 2010, Staley forwarded emails to Epstein about what appears to be a family office restructuring related to Pritzker, the memorandum states. Epstein additionally emailed Staley over the years about meetings with David Gergen, a former adviser to American presidents including Bill Clinton, as well as Virgin Group magnate Richard Branson. In a January 2011 message to British politician Peter Mandelson and Staley, Epstein wrote, had breakfast with Richard branson,, he is also a big fan of africa. Epstein told Staley in October 2009 that hed met with someone tied to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sorry, didnt get back to you last night.. had sultan and one of putins people here, Epstein wrote. Among the other boldfaced names was Prince Andrew. Ask Andrew about tje [sic] island, tell him about your boat plans, Epstein wrote to Staley in June 2009, apparently in reference to the beleaguered royal. The following year, the emails show, Epstein tried setting up multiple meetings with the banking honcho and the prince. In June 2010, Epstein wrote to Staley: Andrew just sat next to me at dinner. We will try to connect this week. Any word on M? This is fun. (Who or what M is remains unclear.) Epstein also played matchmaker between the Duke of York and multimillionaire Ripplewood Holdings financier Tim Collins. The trafficker wrote to Staley that August, andrew will call tim , [sic] if you give me the numbers. Jes Staley's office called saying last night Jes met up with Prince Andrew and Tim Collins, wrote Epsteins executive assistant around this time. Tim Collins office calles [sic] Jes office asking for Prince Andrew's contact number. Jes' office does not have Prince Andrew's number and have called us requesting it. Please advise. In September 2010, Epstein informed Staley that prince Andrew would like much more to represent casanov in china than tim Collins. JPMorgans internal report notes that, This may relate to JPMC Cazenove business in London. Three months later, Epstein forwarded Staley an email from the British royal with an inquiry the Prince received from Aria Petroleum looking for a $200 million working capital line, the report states, adding, Since the company is based in the US Prince Andrew appeared to suggest Epstein connect them with a US bank. Wishing you a very happy Christmas and New Year, Prince Andrew wrote to Staley days before the holiday in 2010. Sorry to have missed you this week. I had to go to Afghanistan so couldnt be here and couldnt tell you why or where I was. Hope to catch up sometime after the New Year. I will be at Davos as usual. Be safe there, Staley replied. I bet it helps people that youre there. I will get u the schedule of the JP Morgan stuff. He continued, I must say, getting a Christmas note from The Duke of York is sort of cool. Sorry we missed in London. I was there to announce or deal in Canary Warf [sic]. We got pretty good press. Maybe in London the next time Im there, I could show u the building we bought. (The old Lehman building). The mayor of London was funny as always. In February 2011, Epstein told Staley, andrew asked for your london schedule. The Daily Beast has reached out to JPMorgan for comment. JPMorgan CEO Points at Other Execs in Epstein Disaster A spokesperson for the U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General told The Daily Beast in a statement, Jeffrey Epstein connected JPMorgan Chases executives with some of the worlds most high profile and wealthy individuals.The USVIs complaint alleges that, in return for bringing valuable new clients into the bank, JPMorgan Chase, through its senior executives, including Mary Erdoes, ignored the evidence of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes and traded victims public safety for its own profits. 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. When retired U.S. Marine Trey Gonzales hears the sound of helicopters, it still causes him pain. It reminds Gonzales of one of the worst experiences he had while in the military: the death of one of his fellow recruits at the United States Marine Corps School of Infantry during a training exercise. The sound of the arriving airlift helicopter is still associated in his mind with the incident, and causes him to go black, a form of hyper-focused tunnel vision. To help him as he works through the trauma he experienced, Gonzales is taking part in a new Nipomo equine therapy program created by nonprofit Elite Vocations, which specializes in caring for veterans and first responders suffering from mental and physical wounds. Gonzales still goes black when he hears the sound of a helicopter which can happen in Elite Vocations rural setting not far from Legacy Village Wellness Center when nearby farmers use helicopters to distribute fertilizer but now, hes not going through it alone. I went black in the arena with the horse, but Simon, the instructor, was able to talk me out of it the only thing he said was, Breathe, Gonzales said. Instantly, I was able to come out of it, and me and the horse worked through it together. The horse was just as scared as I was. Elite Vocations rehabilitation and training center gives participating veterans the opportunity to transfer the horsemanship skills they learn into careers on ranches as horse grooms, founder Yvette dUnienville told The Tribune. Its so great working with our veterans and first responders, dUnienville said. Compared to the general population, theyre so quick to learn. Jeff Baker, U.S. Marine veteran in white shirt, learns two line lead technique in a round pen with Took a former race horse that recovered from a broken pelvis. new equine therapy program for veterans at Legacy Village treatment center. Elite Vocations Program Director Simon dUnienville gives instructions. David Middlecamp/dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com South African couple relocate to Central Coast, found equine therapy program DUnienville and her husband, Simon, are both from South Africa and only came to horse training in recent years when Simon had a not-quite midlife crisis, after which the couple moved to Solvang to study under Monty Roberts, a world-renowned horse trainer, dUnienville said. While completing an internship with Roberts, the dUnienvilles volunteered at equine therapy programs, where Yvette dUnienville said they saw the difference horses could make in peoples lives. DUnienville said while volunteering, she and Simon realized there were few ways for veteran clients who were interested in the horse grooming profession to move into a career, which prompted them to launch Elite Vocations in early June 2023. At the program, veteran clients attend three days a week, eight hours a day, for a total of ten weeks walking out the other side as a certified horse groom. Its 100% free to (the veterans), because we know thats often the biggest obstacle to changing your career, dUnienville said. For a lot of these guys, its already a stretch for them to take time out of working to come here. DUnienville said the program sources its horses from racetracks, where injured or retired horses often live out unhappy, unfulfilled lives. Many racehorses only grew up with race training and are not used to recreational training, making them a blank slate for the veterans training, dUnienville said. Yvette dUnienville is Elite Vocations development manager of a new equine therapy program for veterans. David Middlecamp/dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com I love the idea of this program, veteran says Navy veteran Lucas Winter, one of the programs starting batch of six students, said equine therapy is a great fit with both his background as a professional rodeo rider and future aspirations. Winter said he grew up in Colorado, where he learned to ride and groom horses prior to his military career. However, after the death of his father around seven years ago, he gave up on riding and spiraled into drug use, culminating in a July 2022 arrest in Santa Maria. He said his reunion with the animals through the program brought emotions to the surface that he hadnt felt in years. When I felt the horses breath on the back of my neck, I lost it I broke down into tears, because I knew what I had been lacking in my life, Winter said. Now, as Winter approaches a year of sobriety, he said he wants to focus on getting back in the saddle and passing on his knowledge of horse care to other veterans as an instructor with Elite Vocations. I love the idea of this program, Winter said. The percentage of veteran homelessness is astronomical, but through this program, (the veterans) are going to have an opportunity to find a great job, because most ranches offer that as well. Lucas Winter is a student in the program a new equine Elite Vocations therapy program for veterans at Legacy Village treatment center. David Middlecamp/dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com Santa Maria veteran support group partners with equine therapy program Winter said he wouldnt have known about Elite Vocations without his involvement in ECHO Group Band of Brothers, a Santa Maria-based veteran support group founded by Marine veteran Steve Baird. When he was in jail, Winter said Baird got him out of jail, starting him on the path to sobriety. Baird said his organization first tried equine therapy in 2022, after the death of one of ECHO Groups members. The experience of burying one of their brothers left the veterans depleted, Baird said. Dr. Cherylynn Lee, manager of the Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Offices Behavioral Sciences Unit recommended Baird and the ECHO Group veterans try equine therapy in Santa Ynez, and to their surprise, it was an absolutely wonderful experience, Baird said. For us, its a no-brainer its another opportunity to merge veterans with not only a good, healthy environment, but possibly the workforce and other members of the community that maybe didnt serve, but absolutely support and love their vets, Baird said. ECHO Group doesnt have set meetings, instead opting to integrate veterans into the community through shared experiences such as bowling, softball or even skydiving, Baird said. Jeff Baker, U.S. Marine veteran in white shirt, learns two line lead technique in a round pen with Took a former race horse that recovered from a broken pelvis. A new equine therapy program for veterans is at Legacy Village treatment center in Nipomo. Elite Vocations Program Director Simon dUnienville gives instructions. David Middlecamp/dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com Baird said veterans already know how to be stoic adults, so reintroducing them to simple, fun activities can help bring them out of their shells. Having seen the positive effect of equine therapy on ECHO Groups members, Baird said he hopes to direct more veterans to Elite Vocations in the future. Its just kind of natural for us, I think, to put therapy in anything we do, Baird said. Elite Vocations offers its services to veterans for free, with the hope of eventually proving the programs effectiveness to the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System to attain referrals and funding to continue providing equine therapy to veterans, dUnienville said. The ultimate goal is to have veterans teaching veterans, dUnienville said. You need the professional oversight, but thats our idea as we move forward, well have these guys teaching a lot of the stuff. Estonia has become the first central European nation, and first ex-Soviet country, to legalize same-sex marriage, approving amendments to its Family Law Act on Tuesday. The new legislation passed by the Estonian parliament establishes that as of Jan. 1, 2024, marriages can take place between any two people, regardless of their sex. The passage of new amendments to the Family Law Act also opens doors for same-sex couples who want to adopt children, as unmarried couples in the country cannot adopt. "This is a decision that does not take anything away from anyone but gives something important to many," Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said in a press release. "It also shows that our society is caring and respectful towards each other. I am proud of Estonia." It's official: #Estonia has legalised marriage equality. We join other Nordic nations with this historic decision. I'm proud of my country. We're building a society where everyones rights are respected and people can love freely. The decision will enter into force from 2024. pic.twitter.com/tQJdO70eEo Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) June 20, 2023 According to an April survey by the Estonian Human Rights Centre, more than half of Estonians, 53%, support marriage equality. Estonia has joined 30 other countries in legalizing gay marriage, according to the Pew Research Center. Andorra, the small European country between France and Spain, also legalized same-sex marriage in February. "Everyone should have the right to marry the person they love and want to commit to," Kallas said. "With this decision we are finally stepping among other Nordic countries as well as all the rest of the democratic countries in the world where marriage equality has been granted." Prior to this new legislation, Estonia recognized same-sex relationships with the Registered Partnership Act, which gives people a say in decisions related to their partner, their health and their assets. In the event of death, for example, a registered partner can claim the other person's assets, even if there is no will. With Tuesday's amendment, people in registered partnerships will be able to convert their status to marriage with a simple process, according to the news release. Estonians can continue to enter registered partnerships, even after 2024, when same-sex marriage is officially allowed. "Although these changes are in many ways purely technical, there is no ignoring their significance," said Signe Riisalo, Estonia's Minister of Social Protection, in a statement. "Guaranteeing equal rights for all is such an elementary thing that this issue was essentially covered in the discussions that took place in the years immediately after we regained our independence." U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was among many worldwide who celebrated Estonia's new progressive legislation. "Congratulations to the people and government of Estonia on the passage of marriage equality legislation and the recognition of same-sex families," Blinken tweeted. "In this historic moment, the United States is proud to stand with you in support of LGBTQI+ communities everywhere." Children's doctor uses cast art to bring smiles to patients Federal judge strikes down Arkansas ban on gender-affirming care for minors How Mississippi's abortion ban has impacted families EU Toolkit Has China in Its Sights. Now Comes the Hard Bit EU Toolkit Has China in Its Sights. Now Comes the Hard Bit (Bloomberg) -- The European Union and its member states are taking bolder steps to boost national security tools and shore up supplies, edging closer to the US strategy of avoiding over-dependence on China and curtailing the advance of its military capabilities. Most Read from Bloomberg But the moves come amid questions on how quickly action can be taken. In some areas, the EUs discussions are still at an early stage compared to the US and the bloc will need time to think through the issues and identify risks, according to several officials who asked not to be named on a confidential issue. The EU released a plan Tuesday that sketches out proposals to identify security risks, and possibly control key technology exports and curb sensitive investments in future. The EU is also looking to overhaul key supplies where its vulnerable such as in raw materials, semiconductors and car batteries and ramp up investments in emerging technologies deemed of strategic importance. EU officials are trying to strike a delicate balancing act. They want to be able to intervene in a targeted way where there are military implications but also maintain broader trade ties to the critical Chinese market. And they want to do all of that in coordination with the US, even though Washington often seeks to move further and faster than Brussels. Chinese Premier Li Qiang has used a visit to Berlin to appeal to German companies to take the lead on so-called de-risking (reducing dependence). Meanwhile, the EU proposed a financial aid package of around 50 billion ($55 billion) to support Ukraine over the next few years. In economic security, were looking at a limited, small set of cutting-edge tech, Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, told reporters Tuesday when asked about China. And here we want to make sure they dont enhance the military capabilities of some countries of concern. Activating measures to curb outbound investments by the end of the year would be seen as an especially optimistic time line, the officials said. Member states would also need to embrace a broader approach to security that looks, as a whole, at exports of crucial goods, investments, and the transfer of technologies and know-how that often accompanies those investments. Our first task is to build a shared understanding of risks at EU level, Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said. Once we achieve this shared understanding, we can build agreement on how to best address identified risks. Security is mostly the responsibility of national governments and while the proposed strategy doesnt suggest changing that, it warns that an uncoordinated accumulation of national controls by member states would create loopholes and undermine the effectiveness of export controls and the integrity of the single market. Vulnerabilities The concern is that if one country bans an export but others dont, investments will be diverted to that nation and the controls would be ineffective. Similarly, an uncoordinated approach to money flowing into the EU, especially toward critical infrastructure and R&D, opens up vulnerabilities for all. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Monday hes in favor of export controls on some high-tech goods to help boost economic security. Speaking at a business conference ahead of Tuesdays Germany-China government consultations in Berlin, Scholz also indicated that his administration would take a closer look when its about defense and weapons. We dont want certain military equipment to be delivered from China to Russia, actually from any country, and were making this position clear, Scholz said. And its about technology used in surveillance, one has to be careful in this area. EU leaders are set to discuss the economic security draft and hold a discussion on China when they meet in Brussels next week. Draft conclusions seen by Bloomberg currently state the leader will stress the need to enhance the unions economic security and resilience and reduce strategic dependencies. Security Challenges They will also call for proportionate, precise and targeted answers to security challenges while ensuring a balance between an open economy and the defense of the Unions interests, according to the draft, which may change. Another challenge is that the issue of who should develop advanced weapons is intertwined with where electric vehicles and phones are manufactured. Implementing a strategy is particularly complex with China where civil and military developments are blurred, especially for so-called enabling technologies with increasing military implications like quantum computing, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, 6G and biotech. At the same time, many European firms want to continue to sell into Chinas massive market despite the often intrusive strings attached and the bloc as a whole depends on Beijing for key supplies. Finding a balance between all these factors in a way that is suitably narrow and centered on Europes own interests wont be easy, one of the officials said. Some member states may feel inclined to take a protectionist route while others simply follow what the US proposes, the official added. --With assistance from Michael Nienaber, Samuel Stolton, Kevin Whitelaw and Katharina Rosskopf. (Updates with von der Leyen in sixth paragraph, Dombrovskis in ninth) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Europe, US urged to investigate the type of AI that powers systems like ChatGPT FILE - Lawmakers vote on the Artificial Intelligence act Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France. European Union consumer protection groups urged regulators on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, to investigate the type of artificial intelligence underpinning systems like ChatGPT, citing risks that leave people vulnerable and the delay before the blocs groundbreaking AI regulations take effect. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File) LONDON (AP) European Union consumer protection groups urged regulators on Tuesday to investigate the type of artificial intelligence underpinning systems like ChatGPT, citing risks that leave people vulnerable and the delay before the blocs groundbreaking AI regulations take effect. In a coordinated effort, 13 watchdog groups wrote to their national consumer, data protection, competition and product safety authorities warning them about a range of concerns around generative artificial intelligence. A transatlantic coalition of consumer groups also wrote to U.S. President Joe Biden asking him to take action to protect consumers from possible harms caused by generative AI. Europe has led the world in efforts to regulate artificial intelligence, which gained urgency with the rise of a new breed of artificial intelligence that gives AI chatbots like ChatGPT the power to generate text, images, video and audio that resemble human work. The EU is putting the finishing touches on the worlds first set of comprehensive rules for the technology, but they are not expected to take effect for two years. The groups called for European and U.S. leaders to use both existing laws and bring in new legislation to address the harms that generative AI can cause. They cited a report by the Norwegian Consumer Council outlining dangers that AI chatbots pose, including providing incorrect medical information, manipulating people, making up news articles and illegally using vast amounts of personal data scraped off the internet. The consumer groups, in countries including Italy, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Greece and Denmark, warn that while the EU's AI Act addresses some of the concerns, they won't start applying for several years, leaving consumers unprotected from a technology which is insufficiently regulated in the meantime, and developing at great pace. Some authorities have already acted. Italy's privacy watchdog ordered ChatGPT maker OpenAI to temporarily stop processing user's personal information while it investigated a possible data breach. France, Spain and Canada also have been looking into OpenAI and ChatGPT. The submarine used to bring tourists to view the Titanic is still missing A frantic search is underway for a submersible that disappeared while on a $250,000-per-person dive carrying five tourists to view the historic Titanic shipwreck on Sunday. The 21-foot submarine, named the Titan, which was operated with a video game controller, carried the CEO of the company in charge and four passengers when it lost contact off the coast of Cape Cod. Would-be rescuers say they have not located the vessel. Passengers are subsisting on a 96-hour supply of oxygen that has depleted to just 40 hours since the harrowing journey began. Read more To date, the search efforts have not yielded any results, Capt. Jamie Frederick of the U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday, adding that the efforts had encompassed more than 700 square miles. A reporter asked Frederick, How many hours of oxygen are left on the submersible? to which the captain answered, There are approximately 40 hours of breathable air. A search-and-rescue effort began after the Titans operator, OceanGate Expeditions, that it had somehow lost communications with the vessel, just one hour and 45 minutes into the underwater voyage, according to U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Maugers remarks at a press conference Monday. Mauger, who is leading the search and rescue operations, told reporters the Titan was in a water depth of roughly 13,000 feet, located about 900 miles east of Cape Cod. Asked if it would be possible to retrieve the heavy vessel from such incredible depths, Frederick said, All our efforts are focused on the search. The rear admiral told reporters that both U.S. and Canadian ships and planes were launched in the area where the submersible was reported to have disappeared. He said the U.S. Coast Guard conducted a surface and aerial search and deployed sonar buoys in the water to listen for any sounds that could be associated with the vessel. OceanGate first attempted the dive to the Titanic in 2017 but didnt start carrying tourists to the wreckage site until 2021. It is a remote area, and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area, Mauger said on Monday, adding, We are deploying all available assets to make sure that we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board. Going into this evening we will continue to fly aircraft and move additional vessels. The Coast Guard says it remains unclear if Titan had resurfaced but couldnt communicate, or if it was still underwater. Time is very short and the next few days will be critical, University of Southampton oceanography lecturer Dr. Simon Boxall told BBC News. The five passengers, who each paid $250,000 for the voyage. Its going to be hot, its going to be cramped, Boxall said. There is no escape pod. If you came out the water at those depths youd be crushed, so theyre totally reliant on the submersible being found. The Titan only has enough oxygen to last for 96 hours underwater, making the search efforts critical to the survival of those onboard. Its an enormous challenge, one weve never had to tackle before, Boxall told the outlet. There have been tragic cases of military submarines sitting on the seafloor where they have a lot more resources and a lot more oxygen available, but in this case, time is very short and the next few days will be critical. A CBS documentary about the voyage published last year shows the submersibles captain demonstrating how the submersible was constructed using off-the-shelf components, including a video game controller used to pilot the Titan and an internal light from a camping goods store. The host of the documentary, David Pogue, said that another vessel lost contact for about five hours around the time he and his crew had been filming. In response, OceanGate cut internet access on its ship at the surface to prevent those aboard from tweeting about the incident, Pogue said. He added that the submersibles door is bolted shut, so even if it were to rise to the surface, the passengers would not be able to escape without the aid of a crew. The device, which was a 2010 Logitech F710 wireless PC game controller that could be purchased for roughly $40, reportedly did not meet regulations due to its non-standard design. Its use has raised questions about whether the subpar controller was at fault. However, it has become increasingly common to use game-like devices to drive vessels, with the Xbox controller being implemented by the U.S. Army to maneuver bomb disposal robots in addition to its use on submarine ships. Yall please watch this. Its a CBS story that aired a while back about that submarine that is now missing. The creators of that missing submarine are DEEPLY unserious. pic.twitter.com/B6JriITyZj Marie, MSN, APRN, FNP-C (@FnpMarieOH) June 19, 2023 As the debacle continues, OceanGates previous associations are under scrutiny. The company has praised Elon Musks internet provider Starlink, posting tweets thanking Starlink just last week. Despite being in the middle of the North Atlantic, we have the internet connection we need to make our #Titanic dive operations a success, OceanGate tweeted, adding, Thank you Starlink! Starlink itself tweeted that its services were assisting the companys dives. The five passengers aboard the Titan include OceanGates CEO Stockton Rush and former French Navy officer, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, who had made several trips to the Titanics wreckage and is considered an expert on the ship and its history. Shahzada Dawood, who is on the board of directors for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), was also on board alongside his son, and Hamish Harding, who flew to space on a Blue Origin rocket owned by Jeff Bezos on June 4, 2022. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Fan Yifei, vice governor of the PBOC, attends a news conference during ongoing session of the NPC in Beijing BEIJING (Reuters) -A former deputy governor of China's central bank, Fan Yifei, has been arrested for suspected bribery, Chinas top prosecutor said on Tuesday. Fan, 59, is the highest-ranking official at the People's Bank of China to be arrested under President Xi Jinping's anti-graft drive in the past decade, in a campaign aimed at weeding out corrupt officials in the financial sector. The Supreme People's Procuratorate said in its statement it would prosecute Fan and the case was under further investigation. Reuters was not able to contact Fan for comment. Fan was expelled from the Communist Party and removed from his post this month for serious violations of discipline and the law, state media reported. The top anti-corruption watchdog said he had taken advantage of his position to make profits for others in loan financing and illegally accepting property, state media said. (Reporting by Kevin Yao and Ellen Zhang; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Robert Birsel) EXETER Two men wanted in connection with last years armed robbery at the EZ Mart Shell station have been arrested while a third who is suspected of depositing one of the stolen checks is also in custody. Kenny L. Lorenzo Rondon, 18, and Sandy M. Sepulveda Saint Claire, 18, both of Lawrence, Massachusetts, are being held in Massachusetts on fugitive from justice charges while they await their return to New Hampshire to face felony charges related to the hold-up. The Exeter Police Department is in search of five suspects believed to be connected with an armed robbery at the EZ Mart Shell station at 72 Main St. earlier this morning. The robbery occurred on Aug. 16, 2022, when five suspects entered the Main Street store just before 3:30 a.m. and moments later held the clerk at gunpoint. A handgun and a rifle were believed to have been used. The clerk was not hurt. An undisclosed amount of money and other items were stolen before the suspects fled the scene. East Kingston: Off-duty firefighters save woman in burning car after crash Following their arrests in a warrant sweep on June 14 in conjunction with the Lawrence Police Departments Gang Unit, the Exeter Police Department will charge Lorenzo with robbery, a Class A felony, alleging that he purposely used physical force on the store clerk by grabbing his right arm and moving him away from the cash register during the robbery. Sepulveda will be charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, also a Class A felony, for allegedly conspiring to commit the robbery with another suspect, Kendry Rosa Ortega, who allegedly pointed a firearm at the clerk. Rosa Ortega, 21, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was the first to be charged for his alleged role and was indicted by a Rockingham County grand jury on a robbery charge last year. Raffy Santos, 18, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was also arrested in last weeks warrant sweep. He will be charged with theft by unauthorized taking, a Class A misdemeanor, for allegedly obtaining a check from the EZ Mart in excess of $500 and depositing it into a mobile bank account. More: Maine man charged, three hurt in four-car crash on Interstate 95 south in North Hampton A fifth man, Daury Rodriguez Contreras, 20, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was arrested in January on a felony charge of theft by unauthorized taking alleging that he also deposited a stolen check from the EZ Mart robbery into his own bank account. Neither Santos nor Contreras have been charged directly in connection with carrying out the robbery. Lorenzo, Sepulveda, and Santos are currently being held at the Middleton, Massachusetts, House of Correction and are scheduled to be arraigned on fugitive from justice charges on July 7 in Massachusetts. Following the arraignment, the three men will be brought to New Hampshire for prosecution on Exeters charges. All firearms believed to have been involved in the robbery have been recovered. It was not immediately known if the suspects had attorneys. These most recent arrests were the culmination of an extensive 10-month investigation by the Exeter Police Departments Criminal Investigative Division involving multiple jurisdictions," Exeter Deputy Police Chief Josh McCain said. "The interoperability with the Lawrence Police Departments Gang Unit has been unparalleled. Our detectives have been committed to bringing resolution to this case and were grateful for the assistance weve received from other agencies. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exeter police make more arrests in EZ Mart Shell station gunpoint robbery Brian Snyder/Reuters Messing with Texas is never a good ideaand Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has allegedly messed with the state of Texas big-time. Joining The New Abnormal podcast this week to discuss the twisted tale is the Texas Observers special investigative correspondent, Steven Monacelli, who sums up a number of allegations surrounding Paxtons impeachment scandal as salacious. To sum it all up, our top cop in Texas has been impeached and is under multiple investigations for various forms of corruption and fraud, Monacelli explains. In what was a historic vote in May, an overwhelming majority of Texas House members voted to impeach Paxton, accused of breaking a litany of laws in office along with accusations of covering up a potential sex scandal. Its highly unusual to see Texas Republicans overwhelmingly support an impeachment vote for the attorney general, Monacelli says. Now were at the stage where after having been impeached, the state Senate of Texas will have to conduct a trial and some really powerful big-name lawyers are involved both on the prosecution and defense side. Paxton is the states first statewide official to be impeached since 1917 after most Republican and Democratic members of the House voted for his impeachment. Paxton, for his part, called the proceedings in a statement last month unjust and a partisan sham. Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. The trial, Monacelli says, has to happen no later than August 28. Adding a twist to the case, Paxtons wife, Sen. Angela Paxton, said in a statement released Monday that she will not recuse herself from the impeachment proceedings against her husband. These sorts of conflicts of interest are almost impossible to avoid in a highly political body, so I wouldn't have been able to predict any of what we have just been talking about happening, Monacelli says. Certainly, Im not going to be able to predict what happens with the Senate, but it will be certainly something to watch. The seven-member committeeconsisting of five Republicans and two Democratsis expected to announce the rules of Paxtons impeachment trial on Tuesday. Why SCOTUS Shock Voting Rights Call May Be Window Dressing Plus! Molly Wood, a climate tech investor and host of the podcast Everybody in the Pool, joins the show to talk about the smoke from the Canada wildfires that gripped the city of New York, as well as millions more people, in its path with its toxins. America is probably not going to lead on climate policy, Wood says, Were kind of a long-time petrochemical state. We have made good steps recently, but as you can see from the political fight, its far from settled. Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon 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. This aerial photo taken on April 27, 2023 shows the night view of north China's Tianjin. [Photo/Xinhua] Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos Forum, in Tianjin on June 27, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning announced on Tuesday. Premier Li will attend the opening ceremony, deliver a keynote speech, and meet with Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum and other foreign dignitaries, as well as World Economic Forum global business leaders. Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Mongolia Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene, Prime Minister of New Zealand Chris Hipkins, Prime Minister of Vietnam Pham Minh Chinh and Director-General of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will attend the annual meeting, Mao said. At the invitation of Li, prime ministers of Barbados, Mongolia, New Zealand and Vietnam will pay an official visit to China on the margins of the annual meeting, Mao added. The theme of this year's annual meeting is "Entrepreneurship: The Driving Force of the Global Economy." Addressing a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, Chen Liming, chair of Greater China, World Economic Forum, said entrepreneurs are the creators of social wealth and the drivers of innovation. "The primary focus of the meeting will be to spur new momentum for innovation and entrepreneurship worldwide to not only revive growth but also to ultimately put us on a firm trajectory towards a more equitable, sustainable and resilient global economy," Chen said. Approximately 1,500 leaders from both public and private sectors from more than 90 countries will come together for the three-day event. The program covers six key pillars: rewiring growth; China in the global context; energy transition and materials; post-pandemic consumers; safeguarding nature and climate; and deploying innovation. "The meeting will help participants gain a deeper understanding of China's economic performance, high-standard opening up and strengthen confidence in long-term investment in China," Gao Jian, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission, told the press conference. Yang Bing, vice mayor of Tianjin municipal government, said the city aims to build the Annual Meeting of the New Champions into an important platform, foster both domestic and international dialogues and cooperation, and showcase Tianjin to the world. "We will make the meeting a green, innovative, open and dynamic international event," he added. Carlos Dominguez appears in Yolo Superior Court in Woodland, Calif. on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, with court-appointed public defender Dan Hutchinson. Dominguez, a 21-year-old former college student at the University of California, Davis, is charged with murder in connection with a series of stabbings that rocked the Northern California university town. Dominguez said he was guilty and apologized to a judge during a court hearing on Tuesday. (Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee via AP, Pool) WOODLAND, Calif. (AP) A California jury will determine the mental competency of a former university student charged in the stabbing deaths of two people and attempted murder of a third, all violent attacks that rocked the usually placid college town of Davis. A medical expert ordered by the court to review the mental state of Carlos Dominguez, 21, found that he is not competent to stand trial, a Yolo County Superior Court judge said Tuesday. A jury will decide July 24, he said. Dominguez interrupted the hearing to say that he wanted to apologize. I want to say I'm guilty, he said, sitting besides his court-appointed deputy public defender, Dan Hutchinson. At a previous hearing in May, Dominguez said he did not want a lawyer. The stabbings shook the University of California, Davis campus and broader community. Businesses closed early and students feared to step outside their homes, even for daytime classes. Dominguez had been a third-year student majoring in biological sciences until April 25, when the university let him go for academic reasons. He was arrested near the location of his second alleged attack, wearing the clothes from the alleged third attack, making it easy for bystanders to identify him. Police did not disclose a motive for the stabbings and it was unclear if Dominguez knew the victims. Those killed were a 50-year-old homeless man well loved in the community and a 20-year-old UC Davis student. A homeless woman attacked in her tent Monday night is alive. Explosions rang out in Lviv and Lviv Oblast on the night of 19-20 June. Source: Andrii Sadovyi, Mayor of Lviv, on Telegram; Maksym Kozytskyi, Head of Lviv Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram Quote from Sadovyi: "You yourself hear everything very well. There are explosions in Lviv and the oblast. Stay in a shelter or at least in the corridor. It is important!" Details: The head of Lviv Oblast Military Administration reported that there is an air threat in Lviv Oblast. The official called on the residents of the oblast to maintain informational silence. As of 05:30, an air-raid alert continues to be in effect in Lviv Oblast. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! U.S. President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden disembark from Air Force One in Syracuse, New York By Jacqueline Thomsen (Reuters) - Hunter Biden, the son of U.S. President Joe Biden, has agreed to plead guilty to two tax charges and enter an agreement that may allow him to avoid a conviction on a firearm offense, according to court filings on Tuesday. Here is a look at each of the charges. WILLFUL FAILURE TO PAY FEDERAL INCOME TAX Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax, according to court papers. He is charged with twice failing to pay over $100,000 in income tax. The amounts stem from over $1.5 million in taxable income Biden received in 2017 and again in 2018, according to the court papers. Those charges are misdemeanor counts. The maximum penalty is a fine of $25,000 as well as up to one year in federal prison. Imprisonment is not mandatory under the charge. FIREARM POSSESSION Hunter Biden was also charged with possessing a revolver for about 11 days in October 2018 while being an addicted and unlawful user of a controlled substance. That charge is a felony. In a 2021 memoir, he described dealing with substance abuse issues in his life, including crack cocaine use and alcoholism. Biden was discharged from the U.S. Navy Reserve in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine, sources told Reuters at the time. Biden is entering a pretrial diversion agreement on the firearm charge, prosecutors said in a letter to the court on Tuesday. Pretrial diversion is an alternative to prosecution that is sometimes used to allow defendants to avoid prison time or a criminal conviction. Such programs can include requiring individuals to undergo treatment for substance abuse. If Biden successfully completes the terms of his diversion program, the charge could be lowered or dismissed, or prosecutors could seek a lighter sentence for him. (Reporting by Jacqueline Thomsen in Washington; Editing by David Bario and Jonathan Oatis) (Reuters) - The five people aboard a submersible that went missing during a tourist expedition to the Titanic's wreckage died in an implosion after the loss of the pressure chamber, U.S. Coast Guard officials said on Thursday. The following is what we know so far: WHO WAS ON BOARD? * HAMISH HARDING. The British billionaire and chairman of aviation company Action Aviation was among those on the vessel. Dubai-based Harding had posted on social media that he was proud to be heading to the Titanic as a "mission specialist", adding: "Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023." Harding was also on board the 2019 "One More Orbit" flight mission that set a record for the fastest circumnavigation of earth by aircraft over both geographic poles. "He doesn't stand still. If he's not working hard, he's exploring hard," said Jannicke Mikkelsen, an explorer and friend of Hamish. * SHAHZADA DAWOOD and his son SULEMAN. Shahzada was vice chairman of one of Pakistan's largest conglomerates, Engro Corporation, with investments in fertilisers, vehicle manufacturing, energy and digital technologies. According to the website of SETI, a California-based research institute of which he was a trustee, he lived in Britain with his wife and two children. Shahzada's interests included wildlife photography, gardening and exploring natural habitats, while Suleman was a fan of science fiction literature, according to a statement from the Dawood Group. * PAUL-HENRI NARGEOLET. The 77-year-old French explorer was director of underwater research at a company that owns the rights to the Titanic wreck. A former commander in the French Navy, he was both a deep diver and a mine sweeper. After retiring from the navy, he led the first recovery expedition to the Titanic in 1987 and is a leading authority on the wreck site. In a 2020 interview with France Bleu radio, he spoke of the dangers of deep diving, saying: "I am not afraid to die, I think it will happen one day." * STOCKTON RUSH. The founder and CEO of the vessel's U.S.-based operating company OceanGate was also on the submersible. "It is an amazingly beautiful wreck," Rush told Britain's Sky News of the Titanic earlier this year. "Rush became the youngest jet transport rated pilot in the world when he obtained his DC-8 Type/Captains rating at the United Airlines Jet Training Institute in 1981 at the age of 19," according to his biography on OceanGate's website. WHAT IS THE FIRM BEHIND THIS? * Based in Everett, Washington, OceanGate says it uses next-generation crewed submersibles and launch platforms to increase deep ocean access as far as 4,000 metres. * "OceanGate has successfully completed over 14 expeditions and over 200 dives in the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico," its website says. "Following every mission, the team evaluates and updates the procedures as part as a continued commitment to evolve and ensure operational safety." WHAT WAS THE VESSEL? * Although popularly called a submarine, in marine terminology the "Titan" vessel was a submersible. While a submarine can launch itself from a port independently, a submersible goes down off a support ship. THE SEARCH * An unmanned deep-sea robot deployed from a Canadian ship discovered the wreckage of the submersible on Thursday morning about 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the bow of the century-old wreck of the Titanic passenger ship, 2-1/2 miles (4 km) below the surface, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said. * Officials said they would continue to investigate the site of the debris field. (This story has been refiled to change the date to June 22 from June 21) (Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi, Kate Holton in London, Dominique Vidalon in Paris; Editing by Nick Zieminski, Colleen Jenkins and Grant McCool) Families of four people are fighting for justice nearly three years after a mass shooting in west Charlotte. READ MORE: 2 years after west Charlotte mass shooting, CMPD increases reward for information Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said on June 22, 2020, Kelly Miller, Christopher Gleaton, Jamaa Cassell, and Dairyon Stevenson were killed after a shooting broke out at a block party along Beatties Ford Road. Officers said of the nine people shot that day, three of them died and a fourth died after being hit by a car. MORE PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Three years later, no one has been arrested. They told me it would take a while, and I kind of thought maybe a year at the most, you know, but three years? said Charles Billings, Cassells father. Billings said he is frustrated at the lack of updates not only from police but about the continuing gun violence in the community. I will make it simple. A light bulb blows. What do you do? Change it. Dont you? Dont you think that its time to make a change? Billings said. Theres a $47,000 reward for information. Anyone with a helpful tip should call Crime Stoppers. The Million Youth March of Charlotte and Salisbury will hold an event this weekend to remember and honor The Beatties Ford 4. Its the third annual Official Remembering the Beatties Ford 4 Day. Its happening at noon on Saturday where the shooting took place, along Beatties Ford Road at Catherine Simmons Road. The investigation Police have shared surveillance video of multiple shooters firing more than 180 rounds into the crowd of about 400 people. In October 2021, police arrested a convicted felon at a club, allegedly carrying a stolen gun. They later connected that gun to the shooing, but he was never tied to the shooting itself. Channel 9 learned that the charges against him were dropped. The district attorneys office said it was because the gun was recovered inside a car that was occupied by several people and that they were unable to do a DNA comparison. They didnt believe there was enough evidence for success at trial. Thats the most recent update Channel 9 has reported. Families of the victims said they rarely hear from investigators. Im gonna keep talking to my son, praying, hoping that before I leave this earth, I hope God (gives) me that answer, Billings said last year. VIDEO: 2 years after west Charlotte mass shooting, CMPD increases reward for information The family of Keenan Anderson, who died after being tased by LAPD officers, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit The family of a 31-year-old father who died after being tased by Los Angeles police officers is suing the city and members of the department over his death, their attorneys announced on Monday. The wrongful death lawsuit claims officers reacted inappropriately when they repeatedly tased Keenan Anderson, cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, in early January, according to civil right attorney Ben Crump. Anderson, an English teacher who was visiting Los Angeles from Washington DC, lost consciousness shortly after he was tased at the site of a traffic collision in Los Angeles Venice neighborhood. He was taken to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, according to the county medical examiners office. Andersons manner of death remains undetermined, but the coroner found that he died of an enlarged heart and cocaine use. An autopsy conducted at the behest of the family lawyers reached the same conclusion, attorney Carl Douglas said. Had he not been tased, said Crump, Keenan Anderson would be here today. What killed him was an overdose of excessive force, its that simple, Crump said, explaining that while Anderson was having a mental health crisis, he was not a threat to anyone. The family is seeking $100 million over Andersons death, Crump said in a news conference announcing the lawsuit. Edited footage from body worn cameras provided by the LAPD shows parts of the interaction between Anderson and the responding officers. One officer can be heard warning Anderson to stop resisting and turn over, and threatening to tase him. Lawyer Carl Douglas, far left, holds a news conference to announce filing a claim against the city of Los Angeles over the death of Keenan Anderson, seen pictured on posters, in Los Angeles on January 20, 2023. - Damian Dovarganes/AP Los Angeles police said at the time that they responded to a traffic collision and saw Anderson running in the middle of the street and exhibiting erratic behavior. On one officers body-worn camera, released and edited by police, a woman at the traffic collision site tells police, I think that guy up there needs help though, because the guys trying to run away. The footage shows Anderson initially stopped and spoke to an officer before the video cuts to a text screen that says Anderson attempted to run away. As police struggled to arrest Anderson, they tased him repeatedly, the body-worn camera footage shows. Theyre trying to George Floyd me, Anderson said as officers attempt to roll him onto his stomach. The lawsuit claims police misinterpret Mr. Andersons efforts to struggle for air and squirming in response to the unlawful application of taser force, as evidence of his active resistance. Speaking on behalf of the LAPD, Officer Matthew Cruz told CNN the department does not comment on ongoing litigation. Anderson taught tenth-grade English at Digital Pioneers Academy in Washington, DC, and was the father to a 6-year-old boy, according to a statement from the schools founder released after his death. CNNs Stella Chan and Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Family members console each other at a vigil for Keenan Anderson on Jan. 14, 2023, in Venice. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) The family of Keenan Anderson has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles, alleging that police officers used excessive force when they piled on top of the 31-year-old teacher at a busy Venice intersection and Tasered him after a minor traffic collision this year. Anderson's relatives on Monday also reiterated their demand that the department identify the officers involved in the Jan. 3 incident, which drew widespread condemnations and reignited a debate over the role of police in traffic enforcement. Carl Douglas, the attorney who filed the suit Friday on behalf of Anderson's family, said an autopsy finding of cocaine in the 31-year-old's bloodstream shouldn't have necessitated the use of "excessive and unreasonable force" by officers. Anderson was in clear distress, and what he needed in that moment was medical care, not police intervention, he said. "I care not what the coroner's office says about him having cocaine in his system at the time of his death. We did an autopsy ourselves, and the results were the same," Douglas told reporters at a news conference Monday morning. "But it matters not whether there was cocaine in his system, as the actions of the officers were wrong. It matters not why he was in distress, because it was clear from the body-worn footage that he was never a threat." Douglas said he chose to announce the lawsuit on Juneteenth because of the frequency with which young Black men are subjected to police abuse across the country. He said the family's attorneys have yet to see the full, unedited body-camera videos of the encounter. The LAPD previously released two abridged videos showing officers the moments when Anderson was Tasered while struggling with a group of police officers. He died at a hospital a few hours later. "Seeing that videotape says everything I need to know to tell me that his death was wrongful," said Douglas, who is representing Anderson's 5-year-old son along with another prominent civil rights attorney, Benjamin Crump. "We are filing a $100-million lawsuit against the law enforcement officials who caused this wrongful death." An LAPD spokesperson said the department had no further comment on the case and generally doesn't speak about pending litigation. Capt. Kelly Muniz, the department spokesperson, said the LAPD no longer names officers in in-custody deaths only those involved in on-duty shootings a policy that was revised in the last few years. LAPD Chief Michel Moore and Mayor Karen Bass previously both pledged a thorough investigation into Andersons death. Speaking before the department's oversight board June 6, Moore said that he expected the department's probe of the incident to be finished in mid-July and that he would make a ruling on the case by the following month. He previously said the incident had caused the department to review its policy on Taser use. It has also been in talks with the stun gun's manufacturer about possibly acquiring a newer version of the device that's still in prototype form, Moore told the Police Commission. The encounter that ended with Anderson's death began sometime before 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 3, when a motorcycle officer responded to what the LAPD characterized as a felony hit-and-run car crash at Venice and Lincoln boulevards. The still-unnamed officer encountered Anderson darting on foot through traffic in apparent distress. In videos released by the LAPD, Anderson became distraught and cried out for help as multiple officers held him down using their body weight and arm holds. The footage also captured Anderson screaming out in pain as one officer shocked him at least six times in 42 seconds, according to details released by authorities. Eventually, he was handcuffed and hobbled at his ankles before paramedics took him away. Several policing experts who reviewed video of the incident for The Times previously said that the amount of force used by the police seemed excessive given Andersons actions and that the officers' tactics appeared haphazard. Anderson, a father of one, had been in town from the East Coast visiting relatives when the incident occurred. His death drew international attention in part because Anderson is a cousin of Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network and longtime advocate against police violence. A few weeks after the incident, the family filed a $50-million wrongful-death claim against the city, a necessary precursor to its lawsuit. The case returned to the headlines this month after the L.A. County coroner released its autopsy report identifying an enlarged heart and cocaine use as the causes of death. But the coroner's office made no ruling on whether it considered Anderson's death a homicide, saying his manner of death was undetermined. Several people have died under similar circumstances in recent years. Anderson's relatives pushed back on the autopsy findings. In a follow-up interview with The Times, Douglas said he was baffled by the inconclusiveness of the coroner's report. "For the L.A. coroner to have a press conference basically to besmirch a dead man's reputation is regrettable and rare and it tells me they're already circling the wagons, and that's regrettable. Two, that doesn't matter, what matters is the way they treated him and why," Douglas said. "This is what they do, they attack the reputation of the person who has died. When the guy has a gun, they freeze-frame the handgun in the video." He reiterated that the officers' response was overboard, considering that Anderson posed no threat to anyone other than himself. "This guy was submissive. He was calling people, 'Sir,' as they were killing him." Activists and some City Council members say Andersons death lent even greater urgency to efforts to remove armed police officers from certain traffic duties, arguing that communities of color have historically borne the brunt of such enforcement. The argument is a central tenet of a nationwide movement to radically transform the criminal justice system that took hold after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody three years ago. A long-delayed study from an outside firm, set to be released this year, is expected to call for civilian workers to respond to minor traffic calls, in tandem with major infrastructure upgrades that improve safety along city streets that are among the nations deadliest. The debate over the role of law enforcement in traffic incidents stretches back decades but intensified in the wake of Floyds murder and the ensuing nationwide reckoning in which critics challenged some long-held assumptions around policing. In late 2019, the LAPD drastically scaled back on pretextual stops pulling over random vehicles for a minor traffic violation to look for more serious crimes after a Times investigation found that the department stopped and searched Black and Latino drivers at higher rates than whites. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Family Of Mykaella Sharlman, Woman Found Dead In A Dumpster, Outraged After Prosecutors Drop Charges Against The Suspects Eight months after Mykaella Sharlman was thrown in a dumpster and set on fire, prosecutors in Northern California have dismissed the charges against the two men accused of torching her body. According to The Contra Costa County District Attorneys Office, prosecutors dropped the charges against Ashton Montalvo and Deangelo Laraye Boone because the investigation was led by the Antioch Police Department, which is also under investigation after many of its officers allegedly exchanged racist messages in a group text in 2020 and 2021. After thoroughly reviewing the officers role in this case, applying relevant legal principles, and considering ethical responsibilities, the Contra Costa District Attorneys Office no longer has confidence in the integrity of this prosecution, the DAs office said in a statement, according to NBC News. Sharlmans sister, Nicole Eason, said the departments scandal shouldnt have an impact on the case of her sibling. This scandal came out after my sisters death, she told NBC News. It shouldnt have had any bearing on the evidence. At least 45 officers are accused of being involved in the texting scandal, California City News reported. The officers allegedly used the N-word in their texts while speaking about Black people. Theyre also accused of exchanging homophobic slurs and other disturbing messages. The District Attorneys 14-page report also states that one of the officers allegedly said he field goal kicked a man in the head and tried to knock him unconscious. Additionally, the officers allegedly exchanged messages about shooting Antiochs mayor, who is Black. Eason said its unacceptable for prosecutors to drop the charges against the two men despite insurmountable evidence, which includes security video and eyewitness testimony. Were getting ready to lawyer up, she said. Were getting ready to fight. Sharlmans family alleged surveillance video shows Boone and Montalvo taking the womans body to a dumpster on Oct. 17, 2022, and setting her on fire. Justice is not being served, Sharlmans mother, Sandra Sharlman, told CBS News. They have way too much evidence. This happened before all [the texting scandal] came out and they come out all of a sudden like that. Its a cop-out. The system is failing us. Its failing us. Medical examiners also revealed additional details in the case, saying Mykaella died from a fentanyl overdose earlier in the day on Oct. 17. The family acknowledged that Sharlman had a drug addiction but that it doesnt mean the two men should be able to walk free. Mykaella was so wonderful. Even though she had a bad thing when she got in those drugs, she was a good person, Sandra said. Loving and kind and trusting too much all the time. The district attorneys office said its possible to refile the charges against the two men if new evidence is found. What happened to the 6-3 Supreme Court? The next 2 weeks will tell us. The Supreme Court is entering the home stretch of a term that at least so far has confounded the narrative of a court fully captured by the right: Ideologically polarized 6-3 votes have temporarily disappeared, and the liberal justices are getting their way more often than the courts staunchest conservatives. In the 39 decisions in argued cases that the court has handed down to date, the three justices most often dissatisfied with the results have been the three most conservative justices. Justice Samuel Alito has dissented in 10 cases this term, Clarence Thomas has dissented in nine and Neil Gorsuch has dissented in seven, according to a POLITICO analysis of Supreme Court votes. All the other justices have three or fewer dissents. And the justice who has been in the majority most often is a shocker: Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the courts most liberal member who in prior terms has consistently been the courts most frequent dissenter. All of this could change, however, over the next two weeks as the court churns out decisions in some of the terms biggest and most politically divisive cases. I would hesitate to make any conclusions about the Supreme Courts term before it finishes issuing its opinions, especially considering which cases havent been decided yet, said Nikolas Bowie, a law professor at Harvard. Before departing for its customary summer recess, the court is expected to announce whether colleges can continue to use affirmative action, whether President Joe Biden has the authority to cancel student debt and whether certain businesses have a right to refuse services for same-sex weddings. Also pending are important cases about Bidens immigration policy and the ability of state legislatures to run elections with little judicial oversight. Some or all of those cases may soon become the newest milestones for the courts vaunted 6-3 conservative supermajority. Bowie noted that, just two years ago, some pundits described the court as a minimalist body fractured 3-3-3 a view that did not age well when, last June, the conservative majority jolted the law to the right on abortion, guns, religion and climate change. Liberals have spent months bracing for this June to be the sequel. In the meantime, though, the courts three-member liberal bloc has notched surprising victories in a number of small cases and a few big ones, too much to the chagrin of the courts conservative flank. This term so far reinforces the point that not all cases not even all important cases split the justices along right-left lines, said Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University. In addition, the six-justice conservative majority has internal disagreements on some key issues, as cases like Milligan and Haaland demonstrate. Somin was referring to decisions earlier this month in Allen v. Milligan, a stunning 5-4 decision in which Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the three liberals in favor of Black voters suing Alabama under the Voting Rights Act, and Haaland v. Brackeen, a 7-2 decision in which the court upheld a federal law that gives preference to Native American families in the adoption of Native children. Both decisions drew sharp dissents from Thomas and Alito. On the other side, there is Sotomayor, the senior member of the liberal bloc that also includes Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. At this point last term, Sotomayor had already dissented 16 times. But this term, she has formally dissented in only one case, an arcane dispute about regulations of foreign bank accounts. (In a second, more significant case, involving protections for wetlands, she and the other liberals concurred in the courts bottom-line result, but their concurrence is more naturally read as a functional dissent because they disagreed sharply with the legal rule that the majority adopted.) Much of the liberals incremental success has come in the dustier corners of the courts docket. The three liberals have managed to align with varying conservative justices to build ideologically scrambled majorities in technical cases involving overtime pay, nursing home abuses, the federal prosecution of a Turkish bank and a dispute over a roadway easement. Perhaps most surprising, the alliance-shifting means that the court has yet to hand down any decisions this term along completely polarized lines that is, with the six Republican-appointed justices all in the majority and the three Democratic-appointed justices all in dissent. Last term, there were 14 such polarized cases. This terms numbers are sure to change as the court dashes out its final opinions over the rest of the month starting on Thursday, the courts next scheduled opinion day. Eighteen cases remain pending and, as ever, the court has left most of its big blockbusters for late June. Based on the justices comments during oral arguments, the cases on affirmative action and the ability of businesses to rebuff same-sex weddings appear likely to come down along the standard 6-3 ideological split. If that happens, both will be landmark conservative victories and devastating blows to progressives. The student-loan cases might break that way, too but a critical procedural issue could prompt the justices to avoid resolving the legality of Bidens debt-relief plan at all. Similar procedural snags also might cause the court to punt on the immigration case (in which Texas and Louisiana argue that the federal government is not detaining and deporting enough unauthorized immigrants) and the election case (in which North Carolina Republicans want the court to adopt the so-called independent state legislature theory). Jonathan Adler, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University, cautioned against drawing firm conclusions based on variations in the Supreme Courts apparent polarization from term to term. Some issues like abortion and affirmative action have divided the right and the left for decades, so the outcomes of such cases are rather predictable, he said. Other cases like a pair of lawsuits against social media companies over pro-terrorist content on their platforms raise novel questions that may not adhere to conventional legal ideologies. (The court unanimously rejected both lawsuits last month.) Obviously, this is a conservative court, and we know what that means on some questions, Adler said. But what it means on others, we dont yet know. Flash . In an interview with China.org.cn, Tu Xinquan, dean and professor of the China Institute for WTO Studies at University of International Business and Economics, stressed that trade and economic cooperation between China and the United States benefits both sides. Getty, Reuters A British billionaire, a famed deep-sea diver, and two members of one of the richest families in Pakistan are among those aboard a submersible mission to the wreckage of the Titanic that went missing Sunday. A major search effort is underway in a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean to locate the submersible and its five passengers. The underwater vehicle named Titan was reported overdue on Sunday night after it lost contact with Polar Prince, the surface ship supporting the submersible around 900 miles off the Massachusetts coast. David Concannon, an adviser to mission organizer OceanGate Expeditions, said Titan had a 96-hour supply of oxygen when it entered the water at around 6 a.m. on Sunday. Officials have not confirmed the identities of those onboard, but family members and business associates have identified all five. Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman, belong to one of the richest families in Pakistan. The elder Dawood, 48, is vice chairman of Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited, an investment holding company and family business that is more than a century old. The company invests in a wide range of industries including agriculture and healthcare, but Dawood specializes in technology, including companies focused on transforming industries through the internet of things, according to an online bio. Dawood also serves as a trustee of The Dawood Foundation, which supports education initiatives in Pakistan, and the SETI Institute, a California research organization that searches for intelligent beings in other star systems. He is also a board member of the Engro Foundation, the social investment arm of fertilizer behemoth the Engro Corporation. Shahzada Dawood Reuters A source connected to the British royal family told The Daily Beast that Dawood is a longtime supporter of The Princes Trust International and The British Asian Trust, two charities founded by King Charles. As a result, Charles had asked to be kept fully up to date on the situation, the source said. Dawood was born in Pakistan but moved to the United Kingdom for school. He still resides in the U.K. with his wife, Christine, and their two children. His biography on the SETI website describes him as an ardent animal lover. "We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time, the family said in a statement to the Associated Press. The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members., Hamish Harding British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, is the founder and chairman of Action Aviation, an aircraft sales and acquisitions company that specializes in finding hard-to-source aircraft, according to its website. The Dubai-based company was founded in 2004 and also offers aircraft financing. Outside of work, Harding is known as an intrepid adventurer who has set three Guinness World Records, including the longest time spent at full ocean depth for a more than four-hour trip to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. He has traveled to Antarctica with astronaut Buzz Aldrin and to space on a flight with Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos private space travel company. He is the chair of the Middle East chapter of the Explorers Club, a professional society dedicated to scientific exploration and field study. Hamish Harding Getty Harding posted on Instagram about the Titanic trip before his departure, writing that the venture was likely to be the first and only manned mission to the wreck this year because of poor weather conditions. More expedition updates to follow IF the weather holds! he wrote. In a statement on the Action Aviation website, managing director Mark Butler said he and the Harding family were very grateful for all of the kind messages of concern and support from our friends and colleagues. He added that the team was extremely proud of Hamish and we look forward to welcoming him home. His stepson, Brian Szasz, posted on Facebook Monday sending thoughts and prayers for my stepfather Hamish Harding as his submarine has gone missing exploring Titanic, but later deleted the post, according to the New York Post. Paul-Henri Nargeolet Paul-Henri Nargeolet is a French diver affectionately referred to as Mr. Titanic on account of his reputation as the explorer who has spent the most time at 12,500 feet beneath the waves at the wreck of the doomed liner. According to his company website, he has completed 37 dives to the ship and supervised the recovery of 5,000 artifacts, including a 20-ton section of the ships hull. He also served as the expedition leader on the most technologically advanced dive to Titanic, and spearheaded the first comprehensive survey map of the vessel, according to the site. His knowledge of the wreck site is unparalleled, RMS Titanic Inc., which owns rights to the wreck, said in a statement. We trust and have faith his experience will help navigate this critical situation. 169763416 Paul-Henri Nargeolet Joel Saget/AFP via Getty Nargeolet was born in France and raised in Africa, and previously served 22 years in the French Navy, according to his company bio. After retiring from the Navy in 1986, he joined the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of Sea, where he led the first recovery mission to the Titanic. He now serves as director of underwater research for the Experiential Media Group, which creates touring museum exhibitions, including the controversial Bodies exhibit that premiered in 2005. Nargeolet previously told The Irish Examiner about the risks associated with his passion. When youre in very deep water, youre dead before you [realize] that something is happening, so its just not a problem, he said. A family spokesperson confirmed Nargeolet was on board the submersible to the BBC on Tuesday. Stockton Rush Stockton Rush is the CEO and founder of OceanGate Inc, the company running the expedition. Rushwhom Smithsonian magazine once called a "daredevil inventorhas a BSE in Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University and an MBA from the U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business, and became the youngest jet transport-rated pilot in the world in 1981, at age 19. Rush served as a flight test engineer for the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, briefly working at Edwards Air Force Base on the anti-satellite missile program, before pivoting to smaller businesses, according to a bio on the OceanGate website. He served on the board of directors for a sonar-system manufacturing company and as chairman of a wireless remote-control device manufacturer. TITANIC-SUBMERSIBLE/ Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Rush founded OceanGate in 2009, which claims to have completed over 14 expeditions and over 200 dives in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico. The company started offering its $250,000 trips to the Titanic wreckage in 2021. In the Smithsonian piece, Rush bemoaned the safety regulations around the submarine industry, saying, "It's obscenely safe because they have all these regulations. But it also hasn't innovated or grownbecause they have all these regulations." The near-miss David Concannon, the OceanGate adviser, said he was also supposed to be on the dive but was unable to go. There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission, there is equipment on board for survival in this event, said Mark Butler, the managing director of Hardings Action Aviation business. Were all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound. We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely, OceanGate said in a statement Monday. Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families. We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible. We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers. The extreme depth and attendant pressure at the fabled 1912 wreck have left some skeptical that a rescue mission may even be possible. Titanic diver G. Michael Harris, who said he has unconfirmed reports that he knows three people on board Titan, expressed doubt that even the U.S. Navy could help. When youre talking 6,000 pounds per square inch, it is a dangerous environment, he said on Fox News. More people have been to outer space than to this depth of the ocean. On Tuesday, the British Ministry of Defense told The Independent that the U.K. has not been asked to assist with the rescue, but said initial reports suggest the depths of water potentially involved significantly exceed those at which the NATO Submarine Rescue System can safely operate. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. A federal judge sentenced a North Carolina politician Tuesday to a year of probation and a $7,500 fine after prosecutors said in court records last week that she thwarted the voting publics ability to make informed decisions at the ballot box. But federal District Judge Christopher Cooper, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed that this was a one-time indiscretion by Lynda Bennett, 65, of Maggie Valley, and she didnt deserve more than probation for her crimes that could have carried up to a 12-month prison sentence. Im very sorry for the distress and concern I caused my family and friends, Bennett said from the front of the courtroom, thanking them for their prayers. They stood by me when doing so wasnt the easiest choice. Bennett, a close family friend of former President Donald Trumps chief of staff Mark Meadows, ran in 2020 to represent North Carolinas far southwestern counties. She lost the Republican primary to former Rep. Madison Cawthorn. Both ran to replace Meadows after he stepped down as a congressman to serve as Trumps top aide. Bennett pleaded guilty in March to accepting a contribution in the name of another. Prosecutors told the judge that Bennett had asked a relative for a $25,000 loan for her campaign, but since federal election laws cap primary-election donations from an individual at $2,800, she wrote the donation in her own name. No more politics Bennett and her husband, Pat Bennett, arrived at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington for her hearing at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. As she walked toward the front of the courtroom, her husband said, I love you. God is with you, and appeared to pray until the judge entered the courtroom. At one point the couple looked at one another and mouthed, I love you to one another again. Cooper told his audience in the courtroom that he had read the attorneys recommendations that included asking for no form of confinement. In court documents filed last week, the prosecutors wrote, With respect to Bennetts history and individual characteristics, the evidence makes clear that the illegal conduct that brings Bennett before the Court was an aberration in what was otherwise a consistent history of being a law-abiding citizen. The Government believes that there is little chance of future illegal conduct. Cooper looked at Bennett and asked, No more politics? No, she agreed. He then asked her what she learned as an ordinary person trying to break into politics. Politics is not what you think it will be, Bennett said. Its different, its harder. Ill never do it again. Part of a larger FBI investigation Ryan Crosswell, an attorney for the Department of Justice, told Cooper that that campaign finance laws are in place to prevent nefarious activities in politics and that both the U.S. attorneys office and the FBI take them very seriously. But he said Bennetts case was unique. He said she borrowed $25,000 from a family member and then filed it as a loan to her campaign in her own name to pad her reports in order to deter other candidates from running. She never spent any of the money and repaid her relative within eight weeks. Campaign finance documents reported the repayment to Bennett instead of the family members. Cooper asked prosecutors how they came to learn about this campaign finance violation and they said it was part of a larger FBI investigation. They did not go into details about what the FBI was investigating that led them to Bennett, and prosecutors refused to answer questions following the hearing. They added that Bennett repaid the money before she ever learned that the FBI was investigating her. Prosecutors also argued against a fine for Bennett, saying she suffered a net loss due to the investigation, but Cooper said she had a net worth that would support a fine. Your offense is not a minor campaign finance violation, but it is not as serious as most, Cooper said. He agreed that home confinement wasnt necessary. I sense a lack of need in Maggie Valley to keep someone in their house for a whole lot of time, Cooper said with a laugh. He asked Bennett what this case taught her about a normal person trying to run for politics, and she said shes thought about that a lot. Its unfortunate because normal people should be encouraged to run, and I hope this doesnt discourage anyone from running, but you have to obey the laws, Bennett said. Her own attorney, Kearns Davis, told the judge shes a rare client in that shes made it to 65 without even having a speeding ticket. He offered up nine letters of support from family and friends of Bennett, including her husband, stepdaughters, pastor and colleagues that Cooper read prior to the hearing Tuesday. Her husband wrote about the amazing woman he found in Bennett and how she stepped in to help raise his two daughters after his first wife left them. Many people would avoid a relationship that involves two young children but Lynda stepped in as if she was their mother, Pat Bennett wrote. The girls have said to me more than once they dont know life any other way. He also told the judge that the conviction puts her at risk of losing things shes passionate for, including her Realtors license, which he said she often uses compassionately to help widows trying to sell their homes and make major life decisions, often while in cognitive decline. He added that neither he nor his wife wanted to be in the limelight and loved their quiet life in the mountains. He said the idea for Bennett to run for Congress came from outside influences and once she lost the couple had no plans to pursue politics further. Letters containing a suspicious white powder sent to dozens of Kansas legislators and officials dont pose a risk to public safety, the FBI said Tuesday as law enforcement agencies continue to search for the source and motive behind the threatening messages. Authorities have identified more than 100 letters since they began arriving in mailboxes on Friday and Saturday. The recipients identified publicly so far have been Republican state lawmakers and Republican Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. While lab tests have shown no risk to public safety at the current time, more tests will be needed to fully characterize the material in the letters, the FBI said in a statement. Law enforcement officials are working to determine how many letters were sent, the individual or individuals responsible for the letters, and the motive behind the letters. At least some of the letters were in envelopes with the names of transgender individuals who were killed or are prominent on the return address field, according to interviews with legislators and images posted online. The return addresses on the envelopes were in some instances churches in the area of the recipient, which some legislators suggested made them more likely to open the mail. Time and effort was put into this, said state Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Louisburg Republican who received a letter at her home. Baumgardner said the ordeal has taken a toll on the spouses and children of lawmakers. For at least some recipients, the letters triggered hazmat responses, upending their lives for several hours. I think it does give individuals pause simply because whatever individual or group decided to pursue this, the intention was to be threatening, Baumgardner said. The intention was to create a threat. Lawmakers have been reluctant to speculate about possible motives, citing the ongoing investigation. The FBI didnt suggest a motive on Tuesday, and previous statements by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation have also not mentioned any potential motivation. The Republican-controlled Legislature this spring approved a ban on trans athletes competing in girls and womens sports, and also passed Senate Bill 180, the Womens Bill of Rights, which requires trans individuals to use restrooms and other public accommodations based on their sex at birth but includes no enforcement mechanism. GOP lawmakers in numerous states have passed restrictions on trans athletes, but SB 180 was the first of its kind passed in the U.S. On Friday, the Kansas Democratic Partys LGBTQ+ and Progressive caucuses, as well as Kansas Young Democrats, issued a joint statement condemning the letters, saying this behavior is unacceptable and is horrific. ABC News, citing federal law enforcement sources, reported Monday that the list of intended recipients has expanded beyond Kansas. Similar letters were addressed to former President Donald Trump, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and other high-profile individuals, ABC reported, but were intercepted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service before arrival. Kansas House and Senate Republican leaders in a joint statement Monday praised the response of law enforcement and public safety officials. The GOP leaders, who include House Speaker Dan Hawkins and Senate President Ty Masterson among others, struck a resolute tone. While we dont yet know who is behind this threat, our members will not be intimidated by extremists who look to undermine the will of the people we were elected to serve. We appreciate all of the prayers and support weve received from our Kansas communities and will continue to stand strong together to move forward, the statement said. Several envelopes bear a Kansas City postmark. State Rep. Ken Rahjes, an Agra Republican who got a letter, said typically his mail has a Wichita postmark. Rahjes said hes always been transparent and accessible, noting his cell phone number is easy to find. The legislative session had ended several weeks earlier, and he opened the letter. Were like the people we represent, Rahjes said. We have families, we have lives outside the session. The Stars Matti Gellman contributed reporting A federal judge on Tuesday struck down an Arkansas law that sought to ban gender-affirming health care for transgender minors, siding with four transgender children, their families and two doctors who challenged the states first-in-the-nation ban in a 2021 lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Jay Moody on Tuesday issued a permanent injunction against the Arkansas law, which would have prohibited health care providers in the state from administering puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy and surgeries to transgender youths under 18. In his order, Moody wrote that the law, which he temporarily blocked in 2021, violated the constitutional rights of transgender young people and their families and would cause immediate and irreparable harm if it were to go into effect. It also violated the First Amendment rights of doctors by prohibiting them from referring minor patients to other providers, he said. The Act also discriminates against transgender people, Moody wrote Tuesday. The law prohibits medical care that only transgender people choose to undergo, i.e, medical or surgical procedures related to gender transition. More health care coverage from The Hill Arkansas in 2021 passed the nations first law restricting gender-affirming health care for transgender youths. It was vetoed by then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R), who in April announced his bid for the White House, but it became law after the states GOP-controlled legislature voted to override Hutchinsons veto. Moody blocked the law from taking effect in July 2021, pending litigation in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others. Im so grateful the judge heard my experience of how this health care has changed my life for the better and saw the dangerous impact this law could have on my life and that of countless other transgender people, said Dylan Brandt, a 17-year-old transgender boy from Arkansas and one of the plaintiffs in the case, in a Tuesday statement. My mom and I wanted to fight this law not just to protect my health care, but also to ensure that transgender people like me can safely and fully live our truths, he said. Transgender kids across the country are having their own futures threatened by laws like this one, and its up to all of us to speak out, fight back, and give them hope. 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 Including Arkansas, 20 states have passed laws that heavily restrict or ban gender-affirming health care for transgender people. Laws in Alabama, Florida and Indiana are blocked by preliminary injunctions from federal courts. In a statement on Tuesday, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin (R) said he plans to appeal Moodys decision. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Federal judge leaves Boilermakers president in power for now, but battle far from over The case of the dueling Boilermakers presidents landed in a federal courtroom Tuesday, but when the dust settled, the question of who controls the Kansas City, Kansas-based union remained unresolved. At the conclusion of an intense hearing, Chief Judge Eric F. Melgren, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, issued a preliminary injunction that keeps International President Newton Jones in power for at least another month. But the judge also placed restrictions on the longtime union president that are designed to keep his spending in check. The unions infighting became public earlier this month when its top executives voted to remove Jones over allegations of misusing union funds for personal gain. Since then, theres been an ongoing battle over who is in control. On Tuesday, Melgren ordered a stay of the actions by the unions executive council to oust Jones as president and the councils decision last week to elect retired international vice president Warren Fairley to replace Jones. But Melgren also ordered that any efforts to remove the executive council members from office for expelling Jones be stopped. And he said that Jones recent action to remove them from other appointments, such as committees and trust funds, would be stayed, saying it was clearly done in retaliation for the officers ousting him. Melgren called for another hearing in about 30 days to determine whether Jones should remain in power. This is a matter that still needs to be addressed promptly, he said. Im freezing the matter, but this has got to be a short-term freeze. He said that until the next court hearing, he was returning things to the way they were prior to this dustup having occurred. Warren Fairley, a retired Boilermakers international vice president, spoke with union members Tuesday outside the Robert J. Dole Federal Courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas. The judge was irritated that Jones didnt show up for Tuesdays hearing. The court frankly finds it a personal affront that Mr. Jones didnt even bother to attend the hearing, he said, calling it disrespectful. He noted that these charges against Mr. Jones are quite serious. And they dont appear to be just vague allegations. Executive councils actions The allegations against Jones went public after three members of the unions executive council Tom Baca, of California; Arnie Stadnick, of Canada; and Timothy Simmons, of Alabama signed a decision June 1 to remove Jones from office. The council ruled that Jones had violated a section in Article 17 of the Boilermakers constitution that deals with the misappropriation of funds. Another executive council member, John Fultz, of New York, was not eligible to participate in the decision because he filed the internal disciplinary charges against Jones that led to his removal. The councils fifth executive council member, Lawrence McManamon Sr., of Ohio, did not attend the hearing at which the decision was made, nor did he vote to remove Jones. The executive council is composed of the unions five international vice presidents and Jones. John Fultz, an International Brotherhood of Boilermakers International vice president, spoke with union members outside the federal courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas. All five of the vice presidents attended Tuesdays hearing. The unions executive council found that Jones ordered the union to give his wife, Kateryna, more than $100,000 plus benefits in back pay for apparently no union purpose while she was living in the Ukraine and spent more than $20,000 in union funds for flights to Ukraine to visit his wife and to go to the home which he owns in the Ukraine. Jones and his wife also turned in about $40,000 in receipts for meals for them and other family members when at their home in North Carolina some quite lavish and expensive with no justification for the expenses, the executive council found. Jones, 69, has denied misusing union funds and said the executive council had no authority under the unions constitution to dismiss him. Since then, he has refused to step down. The union represents about 46,000 workers in the United States and Canada who assemble, install and repair boilers, fit pipes and build power plants and ships. As part of his injunction Tuesday, Melgren ordered that Jones turn in his union credit cards, be restricted from traveling outside the United States and Canada and be prohibited from using union funds to purchase meals for staff. During the hearing, Melgren wanted to know what Jones wife did for the union. The unions attorney, Michael Amash, said she was a special assistant to Jones. Whats her salary level? the judge asked. He appeared surprised when the executive councils attorneys said it was $165,000. Judge asks where Jones is The hearing got off to a rocky start for Amash, an attorney with Blake & Uhlig, the unions longtime law firm. Melgren asked whom he was representing in the case. When Amash said he represented the union, the judge asked how the unions law firm could be involved in suing its own executive council. Melgren wondered if Amash had a conflict of interest because he was representing the union and not Jones. Then he chastised the attorneys representing Baca, Stadnick and Simmons for not raising the issue. The judge also wanted to know where Jones was. Im quite astonished that Mr. Jones isnt present, he said. Why is that? Amash said he hadnt consulted with Jones and didnt know. It leaves me puzzled as to who represents Mr. Jones, who didnt even bother to show up, Melgren said. The case ended up in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas, after the union filed a civil suit against Baca, Stadnick and Simmons, requesting a temporary restraining order and then an injunction to prohibit Jones removal. Though the lawsuit was filed by the union, many members say it doesnt represent their feelings and they want no part of it. On Thursday, the union executives fought back, filing a counterclaim against Jones, his wife and International Secretary-Treasurer William Creeden. They asked the court for a temporary restraining order followed by an injunction enforcing their decision to remove Jones. The public good is not served by allowing corrupt Union leaders to consolidate power and stay in office indefinitely particularly in light of efforts of the democratically elected leadership to remove him, the counterclaim said. The document alleged that Jones misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars from the union and its members. But instead of putting a stop to the practice, it said, Creeden authorized the transactions. And because Baca, Stadnick, Simmons and Fultz participated in the internal disciplinary process that led to Jones ouster, the suit said, Jones has engaged in a campaign of retaliation against them. William Creeden, international secretary-treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, left a hearing Tuesday at the Robert J. Dole Federal Courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas. In addition to filing the lawsuit, the court document said, Jones was threatening to expel the four from the union at an upcoming sham disciplinary hearing merely because they enforced the IBB Constitution and tried to hold Mr. Jones accountable. Jones limited their travel, the document said, and removed them from long-held appointed leadership positions. And he filed internal disciplinary charges against Baca, Stadnick, Simmons and Fultz, accusing them of violating the unions constitution. The men were recently sent a notice of an upcoming hearing on the issue, saying it was to be held Wednesday at a hotel on the Country Club Plaza. But that hearing is now on hold because of the judges injunction. The union executives also filed documents last week that they say back their findings of Jones shocking misuse of Union funds, including a 282-page affidavit by Simmons that contains copies of credit card receipts and statements from airlines, hotels and restaurants along with emails sent among union officials. Simmons affidavit described a conference in February on Marco Island, Florida, during which it said union executives learned of a Justice Department investigation into Jones and Creeden. According to the affidavit, members of the unions executive council, along with Creeden, Jones wife, various other staff members and three union attorneys attended a meeting called by Jones before the conference began. We were informed at that time that there was an investigation by the Department of Justice alleging financial misconduct on the part of Mr. Jones and Mr. Creeden, it said. During that meeting, Mr. Jones admitted that he had used union funds for the purpose of traveling to Ukraine with his wife to visit the Ukraine. I was shocked and surprised by these revelations, Simmons affidavit said. To my knowledge, the Boilermakers do not have any membership in Europe and travel to the Ukraine serves no union purpose. Consequently, I was shocked that significant sums of money were spent by the Boilermakers for Mr. Jones personal travel. At Tuesdays hearing, Amash disputed the claim that Jones and Creeden were targets of a federal grand jury investigation into financial misconduct. After returning home, Simmons said in the affidavit, he further investigated the claims of financial misconduct, and further information about Jones financial misdeeds came to light. A review of credit card statements of Jones and his wife revealed excessive amounts of Boilermakers funds being used for purposes that did not appear to benefit the Union whatsoever, such as miscellaneous iTunes charges, meals, etc., Simmons said. ...Also, I was able to review payments made to assist his wife in gaining a visa for a trip to Australia for $613.98 on Sept. 8, 2016, and a Grand Canyon Sunset Helicopter Tour with Dinner for his wife, himself and others on July 22, 2016, at a cost of $5,999.88. Simmons also noted a substantial pay increase for Kateryna Jones in February, from $104,000 to $165,000. Union members rally at courthouse Prior to Tuesdays hearing, about three dozen rank-and-file boilermakers some traveling from across the country rallied in support of the executive councils action to remove Jones. Many carried posters of Jones that said, Not My President. Ive been fighting this corrupt system for 20 years, said Jim Martin, of Paton, Iowa, a member of the Kansas City-based Boilermakers Local 83. But they know they cant be touched. Im hoping the FBI comes in and does a complete investigation and starts cleaning house. Bill Fargher, of Local 60 in Illinois, rode his motorcycle from Chicago to attend the hearing. Im backing Newton Jones removal, he said. Ive got a year-and-a-half to go, and Im tired of it. He thinks hes untouchable and doesnt have to account for anything. Jessie Manroe, center, a Boilermaker member from Grand Junction, Colo., spoke with other union members outside the federal courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas. Darrell and Jessie Manroe, of Grand Junction, Colorado both members of Local 83 drove 15 hours on Monday to attend the hearing. Were fed up with whats been going on, Darrell Manroe said. For the 20 years Jones has been in office, hes been using our union funds for his play money. Were over it. And were ready for a change. A federal judge on Tuesday struck down Arkansas ban on gender-affirming treatment for transgender youth, dealing the strongest blow yet to a state prohibition on such care. In an 80-page ruling, Judge James M. Moody Jr. said that the states Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act violated the US Constitution and that the 2021 law cannot be enforced by state officials. Rather than protecting children or safeguarding medical ethics, the evidence showed that the prohibited medical care improves the mental health and well-being of patients and that, by prohibiting it, the State undermined the interests it claims to be advancing, the judge wrote. Further, the various claims underlying the States arguments that the Act protects children and safeguards medical ethics do not explain why only gender-affirming medical care and all gender-affirming medical care is singled out for prohibition, he continued. The testimony of well-credentialed experts, doctors who provide gender-affirming medical care in Arkansas, and families that rely on that care directly refutes any claim by the State that the Act advances an interest in protecting children. Under the now-blocked law, young people would have not been able to access puberty-blockers, a treatment option for transgender youth that is used to prevent the onset of puberty. The measure also banned so-called cross-hormone therapy, a gender-affirming treatment that allows for trans people to change their physical appearances to be more consistent with their gender identities. The legislation made what it calls an exception for some intersex people with unspecified chromosomal makeup and hormone production, and those with difficulties resulting from previous gender-affirming treatments. Gender-affirming care spans a range of evidence-based treatments and approaches that benefit transgender and nonbinary people. The types of care vary by the age and goals of the recipient, and are considered the standard of care by many mainstream medical associations. Though the ruling only applies to Arkansas ban, it represents a significant victory for LGBTQ advocates, who have been bringing legal challenges over the last few years to similar laws that have been enacted in GOP-led states. The case marked the first time a federal judge has had the chance to receive extensive evidence and briefing in a challenge to a ban on gender-affirming care. Moody had temporarily blocked the law from going into effect in July 2021, and an eight-day trial took place last year in the case. Similar suits have been brought in Alabama and Tennessee. This victory shows that these laws, when tested by evidence, are indefensible under any standard of constitutional review. We hope that this sends a message to other states about the vulnerability of these laws and the many harms that come from passing them, said Chase Strangio, an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union who helped represent the plaintiffs in the case, in a statement. Arkansas plans to appeal the ruling to the US Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. Last August, a three-judge panel on the appeals court allowed Moodys preliminary injunction to stand. I am disappointed in the decision that prevents our state from protecting our children against dangerous medical experimentation under the moniker of gender transition, said Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin in a statement. The lawsuit had been brought two years ago by four transgender adolescents in Arkansas and their families, as well as two doctors who provide gender-affirming care to trans youth in the state. When Arkansas enacted the law in 2021, it became the first state in the nation to prohibit gender-affirming care for trans youth. The states then-Republican governor had initially vetoed the measure, but state lawmakers later overrode his veto. In his ruling, Moody acknowledged that there were some potential risks associated with gender-affirming treatments, an argument that had been advanced by proponents of the law. But, he wrote, For many adolescents the benefits of treatment greatly outweigh the risks. There is nothing unique about the risks of gender-affirming medical care for adolescents that warrants taking this medical decision out of the hands of adolescent patients, their parents, and their doctors, the judge wrote. LGBTQ and medical advocates had strongly opposed the ban, which they feared could have significant negative impacts on trans youth, who have a much greater risk of attempting suicide, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Moodys ruling seemed to recognize those fears. Conclusions cannot be drawn from any single study (in any area of medical research), but the body of medical research as a whole shows that gender-affirming medical treatments are effective at improving mental health outcomes for adolescents with gender dysphoria, he wrote. This story has been updated with additional details Tuesday. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com (Bloomberg) -- Petteri Orpo was sworn in as prime minister of Finlands new ruling coalition that has set out to fix the Nordic countrys deteriorating public finances and boost growth. Most Read from Bloomberg President Sauli Niinisto appointed Orpos government on Tuesday after the former finance chief and the head of the conservative National Coalition Party was approved by the Finnish parliament as the head of the new ruling coalition. Orpos pro-business party mirrored last years success of its Swedish counterpart by winning the general election in April to oust Social Democratic premier Sanna Marin. Having capitalized on voters anxiety over the deepening public debt of the northernmost euro area member, the 53-year-old forged a four-party coalition that also includes the far-right Finns Party, pledging austerity and growth measures, job creation as well as tighter immigration. Read Also: Finland New Ruling Bloc Unveils Program Focused on Austerity Finns Party leader Riikka Purra became the Nordic countrys next finance minister, while other key appointments include National Coalitions deputy leader Elina Valtonen as foreign minister and former justice minister Antti Hakkanen as defense minister of the newest member of the NATO military alliance. Following the announcement of the government program on Friday, the coalition immediately faced criticism over some of its wording related to central banks autonomy. In a letter co-signed by central bank Governor Olli Rehn, the ruling bloc was told the program violates national and European legislation by threatening central bank independence. We have to act according to the law and regulations in everything, Orpo told reporters in Helsinki on Tuesday. Lets figure it out calmly and if theres a mistake, well fix it. Read More: Finnish Central Bank Says New Coalition Program Breaches Laws (Updates with president appointment of new government in the first and second paragraphs.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Four-party cabinet press conference to release details of the governing agenda, in Helsinki HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland's newly elected parliament on Tuesday voted in favour of National Coalition Party leader Petteri Orpo to become prime minister, as widely expected, ushering in a right-wing government and ending Social Democrat Sanna Marin's rule. Orpo will lead a coalition of the conservative NCP, the nationalist Finns, the minority-language Swedish People's Party and the Christian Democrats, which together won a majority of parliamentary seats in the April 2 election. The new finance minister will be Riikka Purra, head of the eurosceptic Finns Party, while the NCP's deputy leader Elina Valtonen will become foreign minister when the government takes office later on Tuesday. "I warmly thank you for the confidence you've shown me," Orpo told parliament shortly after the vote. A self-styled fiscal conservative, Orpo campaigned on a promise to reduce the government's budget deficit by cutting spending while also reducing taxes and seeking to boost private sector job creation. The new coalition also shifts immigration policy to the right, aiming to cut refugee quotas, raise the bar for work-based visas and make it more difficult for foreigners to obtain citizenship, key priorities for the Finns Party. (This story has been refiled to correct the spelling of the finance minister's name in paragraph 3) (Reporting by Essi Lehto, editing by Terje Solsvik) The five people on board missing sub near Titanic French submarine operator Paul-Henri Nargeolet was one of the vessel's crew (Joel SAGET) Rescue teams are scrambling to find five people on a tourist submersible that went missing near the wreck of the Titanic in the North Atlantic on Sunday. Among the missing is the tour operator's boss, a French submarine operator known as "Mr Titanic", a British aviation tycoon and a wealthy Pakistani businessman and his son. - Stockton Rush - Stockton Rush is the chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions, a company based in Washington state which operates the tourist dives and was founded in 2009. According to his company website, Rush began his career in 1981 as the youngest jet transport rated pilot in the world, aged 19. In 1984, Rush became a flight test engineer on the F-15 fighter jet program for the McDonnell Douglas company. But over the last two decades, he threw himself into several ocean-related tech ventures including Seattle's BlueView Technologies, which makes small, high-frequency sonar systems. After a long period when trips were postponed after Rush failed to get the proper permits for the project's support vessel, OceanGate Expeditions started taking paying customers to the Titanic's wreck in 2021. - Paul-Henri Nargeolet - Nicknamed "Mr Titanic", French submarine operator Paul-Henri Nargeolet was one of the vessel's crew. The 77-year-old, who served in the French navy for 25 years, has dived all over the world and spoken openly about the risks of his exploits in the most inaccessible waters of the world's oceans. Connecticut-based Nargeolet had already undertaken more than 30 dives to explore the Titanic and had supervised the recovery of around 5,500 objects, including a fragment weighing 20 tonnes that is displayed in Los Angeles. His research produced a 2022 book where he questioned the findings of British and American enquiries into the 1912 disaster, arguing that five smaller holes were to blame rather than a 100-metre gash that followed Titanic's collision with an iceberg. - Hamish Harding - Harding, 58, is a British aviation tycoon who holds three Guinness world records and has a history of thrill-seeking adventures. A year ago, he became a space tourist through Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin company. He founded Action Aviation, a company that buys and sells aircraft with offices in Dubai and London's Stansted airport, with UK media reporting that the UAE-based businessman is a billionaire. He was based in the Indian city of Bengaluru for five years, as managing director of a logistics company, before establishing Action Aviation in 2004. His Guinness records are for longest duration and distance traversed at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel, and the fastest circumnavigation via both Poles by plane. - Shahzada and Suleman Dawood - Prominent Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, is the vice-chairman of Karachi-headquartered conglomerate Engro. His son Suleman, 19, is a university student, and both hold British citizenship. A statement by the family-run holding group Dawood Hercules described Shahzada as a "loving father" to two children with a keen interest in "photography, especially wildlife photography, and exploring different natural habitats". Engro has an array of investments in energy, agriculture, petrochemicals and telecommunications. At the end of 2022, the firm announced revenue of 350 billion rupees ($1.2 billion). Shahzada's father Hussain Dawood is regularly listed among Pakistan's richest men by the domestic press. Shahzada's profile on Engro's website said he also serves as a trustee on the board of The Dawood Foundation -- a high-profile family education charity founded in 1960. He was educated in the United States and Britain, the profile said. burs-imm/lcm Leaders of the Communist Party of China and the state, including Xi Jinping, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi, attend the opening of the 19th national congress of the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) to extend their congratulations in Beijing, capital of China, June 19, 2023. The CYLC convened its 19th national congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday. (Xinhua/Ju Peng) The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) convened its 19th national congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday. Leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the state, including Xi Jinping, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi, attended the opening to extend their congratulations. Cai Qi delivered an address on behalf of the CPC Central Committee. President Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, as well as other leaders were greeted by enthusiastic applause when they arrived ahead of the opening. On behalf of more than 73 million CYLC members, nearly 1,500 delegates from across the country attended the congress. In his address, Cai said under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee, the CYLC has taken Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as its guide since the 18th CYLC national congress. The CYLC has strengthened its political consciousness, advanced nature and ability to represent the people, and enhanced its leadership, organization, and services. Realizing China's Second Centenary Goal of building it into a great modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization are the central task of the CPC and also the theme of the Chinese youth movement and the youth work in the new era, Cai said. Cai urged the youth in China to strive to be the new era's great young generation with ideals, a sense of responsibility, grit, and dedication. Continued efforts should be made to deliver new results that are worthy of the times and history, and true to the expectations of the people, Cai added. Cai called on the CYLC to further unite the country's young people and lead them in forging ahead on the new journey and making still greater contributions in the new era. Xu Liuping, secretary of the leading Party members group of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), extended congratulations to the congress on behalf of the ACFTU, the All-China Women's Federation, the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and other people's organizations. Xu called on people's organizations to continue carrying forward the fine tradition and fully leverage their strengths to jointly write a new chapter in the Party's work on people's organizations in the new era. On behalf of the 18th Central Committee of the CYLC, A Dong, a member of the standing committee of the presidium of the congress, made a report on the work concerning young people, covering strengthening theoretical and political guidance for the youth, and mobilizing young people to serve as a fresh driving force of Chinese modernization. Members of the CPC Central Committee Secretariat and leading officials of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the State Council, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and the Central Military Commission, attended the congress. Five people shot to death in NYC during bloody 11-hour span Five people were shot to death during a bloody 11-hour span across the city, the NYPD said Tuesday. The deadly mayhem began just past noon Monday when 48-year-old Howard Ferguson, a retired plumber, was shot in the back in a bodega on White Plains Road near E. 228th St. in Williamsbridge, the Bronx. His daughter Doniesha Ferguson, 29, said she believes her fathers killer had been harassing him for more than a week and caught up to him in his regular spot in the bodega. She said that the suspect sucker-punched her dad, who fought back and got the best of the assailant. He snuffed my father, my father defended himself, she said. Humiliated, she said, the man came back and gunned down her father. You know how when you fk someone up, you leave. Only this man shot him in the back, she said. Police could not confirm the daughters narrative, but hours after the shooting on Monday night, detectives arrested Oriean Dorsett and charged him with murder, manslaughter and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon. Medics rushed Ferguson to Jacobi Medical Center, where he later died. Twin sister Taniesha Ferguson, 29, said that she just spoke to her dad, a Jamaican immigrant, on Sunday for Fathers Day. He was loved, kids were crying, they took a father, she said. A little more than two hours later, Alexander House, 27, of Claremont Village, the Bronx, was shot as he sat outside his apartment building on Longfellow Ave. near Freeman St. The shooter walked up and fired two shots at point-blank range about 2:15 p.m., police said. House was hit in the head and, according to a witness, in the neck. The gash was wide open, said the witness, who declined to give his name. Paramedics rushed the victim to St. Barnabas Hospital, where officials pronounced him dead but another witness, Charlotte White, said he perished gasping for air in her arms on Longfellow Ave. Poor baby, he was gone, she said. The shooter, who was spotted wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, dark pants and dark sneakers, fled the scene on foot heading south toward Freeman St., according to police. About three hours later, at 5:47 p.m. in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, a 16-year-old boy was fatally shot in the head. Two gunmen wearing blue face masks approached the victim on Marcus Garvey Blvd. near Willoughby Ave. and fired three shots at point-blank range, police said. About 9: 55 p.m., a 38-year-old man was shot in the head on the sidewalk in front of an apartment building on W. 140th St. near Frederick Douglass Blvd. in Harlem, cops said. Back in the Bronx, retired Correction Officer Kevin Roberts, 56, was shot multiple times in the upper body on Simpson St. near E. 163rd St. in Longwood just past 11 p.m. in what appears to be a targeted shooting, cops said. He had a laser beam on the gun, the victims brother Frankie Roberts, 55, said. It was a hit. According to the sibling, Kevin Roberts was hanging out in front of the Simpson St. building where he grew up when the shooter, who was wearing all black, with a hood and black mask, made his move. He waited until the victim was alone and then fired from a gun with a laser pointer from across the street, the brother said. The hit man fled north on Simpson St. Frankie Roberts said he believes the shooting was retribution for an altercation his sibling had with a female security guard on Longwood St. near his home last Wednesday. Kevin Roberts and his daughter got into a fight with the woman for reasons that are not yet clear. He was arrested and charged with assault, second-degree menacing and other charges. Hit hit her with a baton, but she stabbed him first, Frankie Roberts said. I know they were waiting for this moment, cause theyre salty and shes a lady. Medics rushed Roberts to Lincoln Hospital, but he could not be saved. Roberts, who lived half a mile away from where he was shot, had 11 prior arrests, including for drugs, assault and grand larceny, according to cops. Friends and relatives spoke highly of Roberts, calling him a good man whose domineering stature was often mistaken for malice. Hes a big, intimidating guy, but hes lovable, said a friend who identified himself as Tru Black. He was a good brother to me. Roberts nephew, who asked not to be named, called the victim a beautiful person, kind-hearted and loving. But others called him a bully known for yelling at his buildings super and acting so aggressively that some kids were afraid of him. He was always causing chaos, one woman said. He wasnt much of a friendly neighbor. His brother said that he regularly smoked angel dust and was known to be argumentative. He was paranoid, he smoked dust, hed get high, Frankie Roberts said. Hes like, Im retired, I get high, I do what I want. An additional 10 people were shot citywide Monday but survived. About 12:45 a.m., three men were shot and wounded at a barbecue in Rockaway Beach, Queens, police said. The victims, a 56-year-old hit in the arm, a 37-year-old struck in the upper body and a 21-year-old shot in the buttocks, were all in stable condition at St. Johns Episcopal Hospital and are expected to recover. Police said it wasnt clear if the shooter was aiming at the victims or someone else. At 9 p.m., a gunman opened fire at Riverside Park in Manhattan, wounding three bystanders, all women struck in their legs. A federal judge in Florida has ordered that a jury trial in the prosecution of former President Donald Trump over alleged mishandling of classified material should begin as early as August 14. Judge Aileen Cannon, a federal judge in South Florida appointed by Trump, set the ambitious timetable, ordering pre-trial motions to be filed by July 24. Those motions could delay the beginning of the trial well beyond August. But the speed of Cannons proposed trial schedule may complicate efforts by Trumps legal team to delay the proceedings with extensive pre-trial litigation. Cannon has come under scrutiny over her past decisions involving the federal investigation into the presidents handling of documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort, raising questions among legal experts whether she had expressed favoritism toward Trump from the bench. The trial would take place at the Fort Pierce federal courthouse, about 70 miles north of West Palm Beach, where Cannon regularly sits for cases. Fort Pierce is in St. Lucie County, where a majority of voters supported Trump over Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race. Trump faces 37 felony counts of mishandling and illegally retaining classified material, including some of the most sensitive secrets in the U.S. government such as details on the U.S. nuclear arsenal, attack plans against American adversaries and vulnerabilities to the national security of the United States. The public first learned of the federal inquiry into Trumps handling of classified documents in August of last year, when the FBI conducted a search of his Florida property. A federal judge had signed off on the search warrant. But in an unusual decision, Cannon granted a request by Trumps attorneys to establish a special master that would have independently reviewed all of the retrieved material, slowing down federal investigators access to the documents and their work on the case. Cannons decision was overturned by an appellate court with a conservative majority, which rebuked Cannon for abusing her authority. Former attorneys on Trumps legal team who worked on the case have said publicly that they expect the former president to try to delay the proceedings as much as possible. Trump is running for president again in 2024, and could make the case that he is immune from prosecution if he is reelected to the White House without the case resolved. After Trump was arraigned in a federal courthouse in Miami last week, legal experts said they did not expect the case to go to trial for years. But Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the case, has said he would seek a speedy trial of the former president. Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States and they must be enforced. Violations of those laws put our country at risk, Smith said on June 9 in announcing the indictment. We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) A school superintendent who was criticized by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for infusing politically charged statements and personal views into his administration has reached an agreement with the state's Department of Education. Rocky Hanna, superintendent of Leon County Schools, will receive a reprimand as part of the settlement with the education practices commission. The agreement ends an investigation tied to Hanna requiring masks for the districts 30,000 students and thousands of employees in 2021, after DeSantis banned the mandates. I have done nothing wrong. I absolutely have no history of defying the law nor have I ever suggested to anyone to violate the law or not teach the Florida Standards as established by the Board of Education, Hanna said in a statement. Hanna said he has "chosen to ignore my personal pride and remain focused on the bigger picture helping every student in our district prepare for their next step in life. In April, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. notified Hanna there was probable cause to justify sanctions, which included the possibility of a reprimand, suspension or permanent revocation of his teaching license. Diaz noted that Hanna violated a 2021 DeSantis directive barring districts from mandating that students wear COVID-19 masks. Hanna required students to wear masks after a Leon third grader died of the disease early that school year. The fight went on for several months until Leon and several other districts had their legal challenge rejected by the courts. Hanna is not required to have a teaching certificate as an elected superintendent. But the settlement agreement includes stipulations two years' probation, a $1,000 fine to be paid during the probationary period and a requirement that Hanna take college level classes in leadership and education ethics if he becomes employed in a position that requires such certification, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. Hanna acknowledges that even with the settlement, DeSantis, who has launched a campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, could still try to oust him from office. He has removed other elected officials in Florida, including a prosecutor in the Tampa Bay area who disagreed with the governor's positions limiting abortion and medical care for transgender teens and indicated he might not enforce new laws in those areas. Hanna criticized the governor multiple times on social media and in school board meetings since DeSantis banned mask mandates during the pandemic. He said that has made him a target for political retaliation. Its a sad day for democracy in Florida, and the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, when a state agency with unlimited power and resources, can target a local elected official in such a biased fashion, Hanna said in an April statement. In 2020, Hanna, a Democrat running as an independent, was elected to a second four-year term with 60% of the vote. He plans to run for reelection next year. The settlement was reached after Hanna sent Diaz a letter asking what he proposed to conclude the investigation, the newspaper reported. Hanna said Diaz proposed the reprimand and probationary measures, and the superintendent agreed. After Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature this spring eliminated a requirement for unanimous jury recommendations before death sentences can be imposed, the Florida Supreme Court said Tuesday it will decide whether the new law should apply to resentencing proceedings for two men convicted of committing murders in 1997. The Supreme Court issued stays in the Wakulla County cases of Jason Looney and Guerry Hertz after their attorneys appealed a decision by Circuit Judge J. Layne Smith that would allow the new law to apply. The law allows death sentences to be imposed based on the recommendations of eight of 12 jurors an easier standard than requiring unanimity. Looney and Hertz were initially sentenced to death for murdering two people in 1997, but the death sentences were vacated in 2017 and new sentencing proceedings ordered, according to court documents. Their attorneys contend that a 2017 law requiring unanimous jury recommendations should govern their cases and that the new law should not apply retroactively. To permit the (resentencing) trial to go forward with the trial courts (Smiths) ruling intact would deprive petitioner (Looney) of the relief he was granted in 2017 and constitute a fundamental denial of due process, Looneys attorney, Baya Harrison, wrote in a petition filed Sunday at the Supreme Court. Attorney General Ashley Moodys office said in responses filed Sunday that it did not object to the Supreme Court placing stays on the resentencing proceedings in Wakulla County. It said that due to the importance of the issue and its statewide impact, it would be wise to resolve the issue of the constitutionality of the death penalty statute as soon as possible and in this (Supreme) Court. DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature scrapped the unanimous-recommendation requirement after Nikolas Cruz last fall received a life sentence in the murders of 17 students and faculty members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The life sentence came after a Broward County jury did not unanimously agree he should receive the death penalty. The State Attorneys Office in the 2nd Judicial Circuit, which includes Wakulla County, filed a motion in April to use the new law in the resentencing of Looney and Hertz. Jury selection was scheduled to start this week in the resentencing proceedings, which are similar to a trial. In the motion, prosecutors wrote that the new law is procedural in nature and must be the law utilized by this (circuit) court in the defendants resentencing trial. Procedural law is one in which the law provides or regulates the steps by which a defendant who violated a law is punished. Smith in a May 22 order agreed that the shift away from a unanimous-recommendation requirement was procedural and, as a result, the new law should apply. Distinguishing substantive (changes) from procedural is tricky at best, Smith wrote. The answer turns on whether the amendments rob the defendants of vested substantive rights or merely change modes of procedure. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] But the petition filed by Looneys attorney at the Supreme Court described the new law as a knee-jerk reaction to state (prosecutors) failing to obtain a death sentence for Nicholas (sic) Cruz in the Parkland school shooting case and in response to political pressure from the executive. The purpose of the amendment (to the law) wasnt just to change the manner in which capital proceedings are conducted, but to make it easier for the state to impose a death sentence and harder for the accused to defend against it, the petition said. That is a substantive change that will directly increase the likelihood of a death sentence. Looney and Hertz were convicted of murdering Melanie King and Robin Keith Spears and burning the victims homes during a robbery. The men were later arrested after a chase and shootout with police in Daytona Beach Shores. Florida long allowed judges to impose death sentences based on majority jury recommendations. But that changed after decisions in 2016 by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court. In January 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court in a case known as Hurst v. Florida, ruled that the states death-penalty system was unconstitutional. In October 2016, in the similarly named case of Hurst v. State, the Florida Supreme Court interpreted and applied the U.S. Supreme Court ruling and said unanimous jury recommendations were required. The Legislature responded in 2017 by putting such a unanimous requirement in law. After DeSantis took office in January 2019, he made appointments that created a conservative majority on the Florida Supreme Court. In 2020, the court reversed course and said unanimous jury recommendations were not needed. That helped clear the way during this years legislative session for lawmakers to eliminate the unanimity requirement. [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. As wildfires rage in California and Canada, and hurricane season is about to kick into gear, the veteran-led Team Rubicon humanitarian organization is always monitoring the possibility of natural disasters with the intensity of The Weather Channel. Since Team Rubicon was founded by veterans after a massive Haiti earthquake in 2010, the organization has launched 1,100 disaster recovery operations and grown to more than 160,000 volunteers. This kind of volunteer movement doesnt happen with the help of philanthropic commitments, such as the one Ford Motor Company committed to Team Rubicon on Tuesday. Ford has been a believer in Team Rubicons mission since 2016. It extends its relationship through Team Rubicon Powered by Ford, a five-year, $5.8 million commitment that includes vehicles, philanthropic investment and employee volunteerism, as Ford employees can receive paid time off to join Team Rubicons veterans on the front lines of disaster recovery. Its a demonstration of trust, said Team Rubicon CEO Art delaCruz, a retired U.S. Navy officer. You can imagine, for an organization that relies on people donating and investing in our vision, a five-year partnership is substantial. The philanthropic investment allows us to get people in the field to help people on their worst day. And then this additional enabler, which is a real special combination of vehicles that allows us to drive forward in a manner to innovate in a disaster space. The donation of 17 vehicles for Team Rubicons relief efforts includes 10 Ford F-150 PowerBoost hybrid trucks, three F-150 Lightning trucks, two F-Series Super Duty trucks and two Ford Bronco SUVs. The vehicles will help Team Rubicons recovery efforts in areas where power is out or limited, giving crews the ability to power vital equipment like generators, chainsaws or safety lights and also equip trucks with refrigerators to keep food and beverages cold for team members and help any storm victims who need assistance keeping their own food from spoiling. Whats unique about these new trucks is the power that they can bring, delaCruz said. These hybrid trucks essentially have the ability to drive a generator via the vehicle. And you have energy storage via batteries so you can tap into the battery and also tap into energy from the generators when needed. Before this most recent commitment, the Ford Fund had donated $1.5 million to Team Rubicon. The monetary portion of Tuesdays announcement allows Team Rubicon to allocate funds to areas such as training, transportation to disaster zones, or purchasing additional relief equipment. This is a very sizable partnership, the type of thing that makes major disaster responses possible, delaCruz said. And probably more importantly, it allows the little recoveries to happen. The contributions come at a perfect time for Team Rubicon, which has already responded to 70 operations this year. Eight of those events are considered billion-dollar disasters, which have increased at a rate of 400 percent since 1980, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. In 1980, billion-dollar events occurred every 82 days according to NOAA. Now theyre happening every 18 days. The reality is weather-related disasters in the U.S. are becoming more frequent and more severe, said Bill Ford, Ford Motor Companys executive chair. That is why we are significantly expanding our relationship with Team Rubicon, donating a fleet of vehicles and deploying volunteers where they are needed most. Former Augusta commissioner Sammie Lee Sias was sentenced to three years in Federal prison on Tuesday after being found guilty last year of destroying records related to a federal investigation and lying about it to law enforcement. In addition to the 36-month prison sentence, Sias was also ordered to pay $5,000 and serve three years of supervised release, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. Sias was recently denied a new trial following his conviction in July 2022. Sias deleted 7,000 files, according to an FBI agent at his trial, minutes after receiving a grand jury subpoena for bank records. The subpoena came as part of an investigation into the spending of tax dollars at the Jamestown Community Center. More: Judge rules Sammie Sias, ex-commissioner, will not get a new trial Previously: My work, it spoke for itself: Commissioner found guilty of obstruction, lying to agent Sias served as the president of the Sandridge Community Association, which operates the publicly-owned center. The SCA received $150,000 in sales tax dollars to perform upgrades at the center without Sias ever having to submit a receipt, and it appeared he transferred much of the money to a personal account. The community trusted Sammie Sias to be an upstanding public official, and saw him as someone their community could count on for leadership, U.S. Attorney Jill Steinberg was quoted as saying in the news release. "Its important for the citizens of Richmond County and the Southern District of Georgia to know that their trusted public officials will be held accountable when they engage in illegal conduct." This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Former Augusta commissioner sentenced to three years in federal prison Former Bristol zoo car park sold to build 62 new homes The Hill Group will build 62 homes at the site, 20% of which will be affordable A former Bristol Zoo car park has been sold to fund the first phase of construction of a new conservation zoo. Money from the sale of the car park, once used for zoo visitors and staff, will fund the first phase of construction of a new conservation zoo at Wild Place Project. The brownfield site, that has been out of use since September, has been acquired by the Hill Group. The group says it plans to build 62 homes at the site. At the Wild Place Project, to be called Bristol Zoo Project from summer 2023, the Bristol Zoological Society is creating new visitor facilities and play areas. Homes for new species, a conservation campus for students and scientists and facilities for the breeding of highly-threatened animals are also part of the plans. The Bristol Zoo site is to become housing, although much of the green space will be retained Justin Morris, chief executive of Bristol Zoological Society, said: "The sale follows Bristol City Council's decision to grant planning permission for West Car Park at the end of last year. "As Clifton residents since 1836, we want to leave behind a legacy that we can all be proud of. "It is great to see the progress being made on the redevelopment of this historically-important location." An application for a judicial review on the decision was refused, which means planning permission for the site is now beyond challenge. Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: bristol@bbc.co.uk Former CMS teacher accused of sex with student on campus A teacher with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is facing two charges in connection with alleged sexual contact with an underage student last year, according to police records. Jail records show that Tyvaun James, 25, was arrested on Oct. 5 in Mecklenburg County. Hes charged with indecent liberties with a student and indecent liberties with a child. ALSO READ: York County teens at center of assault investigation at SC lake A police report says that James was a teacher at Harding University High School at the time of the alleged crime, and the victim was a student at the same school. The police said the victim was less than four years younger than James. Channel 9 obtained a letter from CMS to James informing him that he was fired from the district on Nov. 1, 2022. CMS dismissal letter says that James was accused of sending a female student inappropriate messages, including nude photos. CMS says James also allegedly had sex with the student on school property. According to jail records, James was released from jail on a $50,000 bond. This is a developing story, check back for updates. (WATCH: Lincolnton teacher accused of sex crimes involving elementary school students) The parties who sued the state of Kentucky last year over a near-total abortion ban have asked a judge to dismiss their lawsuit. Tuesdays motion to dismiss, which a judge has to grant, is the latest in a year-long legal battle between the states only two remaining outpatient abortion providers, Planned Parenthood and EMW Womens Surgical Center, and Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who has long fought to defend laws restricting abortion in the commonwealth. We moved to dismiss this case because earlier this year, the Kentucky Supreme Court issued an extraordinary ruling that took away health care providers ability to defend the rights of their patients, upending decades of precedent, both providers said in a statement. Bringing cases on behalf of patients has been standard practice in Kentucky and across the country for good reason numerous obstacles stand in the way of patients coming forward to participate in litigation. Planned Parenthood and EMW challenged the constitutionality of Kentuckys laws banning abortion last June. The trigger law criminalizes abortion except to save the life of a pregnant person, and the six-week ban outlaws abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. The pair of laws became immediately enforceable after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, ending half a century of federal abortion protections. EMW and Planned Parenthood argued both laws infringe on a pregnant womans right to privacy and bodily autonomy, both of which are protected by the state constitution, and they petitioned a judge to temporarily block both from being enforced. Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry granted that request last July by way of a temporary injunction, and Cameron promptly challenged his decision. After an initial denial from the Kentucky Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court, the appeals court granted Camerons second request on August 1. EMW and Planned Parenthood appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court, which held oral arguments for the case in November. The question before justices was whether there existed reason to reinstate a lower courts injunction and block both laws restricting abortion from being enforced. In their majority opinion, most justices decided that no, there wasnt adequate reason to block both laws from being enforced, because neither provider had appropriate constitutional standing to challenge the six-week ban, specifically, on behalf of impacted patients. Both plaintiffs did have first-party standing to challenge the trigger law, because their clinics were directly impacted by having to cease providing abortions. As for the six-week ban, to claim it violated their patients constitutional rights to privacy and self-determination is too broad, the court found. The larger question does the Kentucky Constitution protect an individuals right to abortion? still hasnt been answered. The high court highlighted this in their decision: To be clear, this opinion does not in any way determine whether the Kentucky Constitution protects or does not protect the right to receive an abortion, they wrote. Nothing in this opinion shall be construed to prevent an appropriate party from filing a suit at a later date. That opinion kicked the case back down to Judge Perrys court, where it has been for the last four months. Abortion has been illegal and criminalized in Kentucky for a year. Women have been forced to drive to other states not only for elective abortions, but for terminations and early inductions for non-viable pregnancies treatment considered the standard of care for obstetrical and gynecological medicine. While Planned Parenthood has continued providing a continuum of reproductive health care, EMW was forced to close its doors after that February decision. In late May, EMW listed its building for sale. On May 31, Cameron filed a motion asking for the dismissal of the lawsuit. Not only did the high court decide that the constitutional threshold for standing wasnt reached, Cameron wrote in his filing, but the first-party standing the plaintiffs did have to challenge the trigger law no longer applied to EMW, since its no longer open and operating. Even if the trigger law were suspended, it will have no practical legal effect, on EMW, Cameron wrote. Any continued legal claims about harm caused by the laws, he said, are moot. Because their claims are moot, they lack the requisite redressability factor necessary for constitutional standing. And absent constitutional standing, the claims of EMW . . . must be dismissed, Cameron argued. The deadline to produce a plaintiff who is currently pregnant and in need of a pregnancy termination made inaccessible as a result of one or both laws was Tuesday, June 20, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood said. Lacking that plaintiff, EMW and Planned Parenthood filed their motion to dismiss on Tuesday. I am fully optimistic we will find somebody and we will file a (new) case in court, said Tamarra Wieder, state director of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, but unfortunately, we have to file this dismissal because of this deadline. Kentucky Right to Life Executive Director Addia Wuchner celebrated the motion to dismiss on Tuesday, saying, Almost one year to the day after we celebrated the historic Dobbs decision that solved one of our nations most grievous wrongs, Kentucky Right to Life is rejoicing that even pro-abortion activists recognize the validity of our pro-life laws. This lawsuit was one of two challenging the constitutionality of Kentuckys abortion laws. The second, filed by three Jewish mothers in Louisville, argues the laws give preference to Christian beliefs and diminishes the religious freedoms and rights of Jews, who generally dont believe life begins at conception. Palestine condemns Israel's killings of Palestinians in West Bank Xinhua) 08:58, June 20, 2023 Smoke is seen during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Jenin, June 19, 2023. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) RAMALLAH, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Palestine on Monday condemned the Israeli army's killing of five Palestinians and wounding dozens of others during a raid on the northern West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp. Spokesman of the Palestinian presidency Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement that the Israelis' ongoing killings of Palestinians are "attempts to blow up the region and drag it into the square of violence." On Monday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a press statement that Israeli soldiers had killed five Palestinians in Jenin and injured 66 others, including 14 who were in critical condition. Smoke is seen during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Jenin, June 19, 2023. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed in a statement that two IDF soldiers and five Israel border police officers were injured during the clashes, and all of them have been evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment. Palestinian and Israeli sources said that Israeli army stormed the Jenin area with the assistance of bulldozers, drones, and helicopters in order to arrest Palestinians wanted by Israeli security forces for their alleged involvement in attacks against Israelis. An injured man is transferred for treatment at a hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin, June 19, 2023. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) "During the activity, a massive exchange of fire took place between the forces and armed gunmen in the area. Large numbers of explosive devices were hurled at the forces. The forces responded with live fire," the Israeli army and the Border Police said in a joint statement. Abu Rudeineh added that the current situation cannot continue, and the international community and the U.S. administration in particular, "must intervene immediately" to stop the Israelis. The spokesman held the Israeli government fully responsible "for thwarting all Arab and international efforts that have been made recently to prevent escalation and tension." "The aggressive Israeli actions against our people will not discourage them from continuing their legitimate struggle until they realize their aspirations for liberation and the establishment of their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital," he said. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Photo taken on March 18, 2022 shows a wireless charging pile at a charging station in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province. [Photo/Xinhua] China will further boost the building of a high-quality charging infrastructure network to meet the rapid development of the country's new energy vehicles (NEVs), according to a guideline. By 2030, a high-quality charging infrastructure network with extensive coverage, moderate scale, sound structure, and full function will basically be in place, capable of supporting the development of NEVs and people's charging needs, said the guideline released by the General Office of the State Council. The document stressed the need for efforts to build a well-structured charging network in urban areas, focusing on the coverage of charging piles in residential and business areas, as well as commercial, industrial, and leisure centers. In rural areas, a charging network with effective coverage will also be built, the guideline said, urging the need to create demonstration counties and towns for charging infrastructure construction and application. Efforts will be made to improve the service operation and encourage diversified investment in the sector, according to the guideline. The country will also promote the application of intelligent charging infrastructure, as well as the intelligent transformation of power distribution networks, it added. Six Palestinians were killed and eight Israeli security personnel wounded in the raid on Jenin (Jaafar ASHTIYEH) Four people were shot dead Tuesday near a settlement in the occupied West Bank, Israeli officials said, a day after an army raid left six Palestinians dead. Israel's Magen David Adom emergency services announced "four confirmed deceased" by its medics, while four others were wounded. An MDA spokesperson was not immediately able to confirm the nationalities of those killed when contacted by AFP, while the identity of the assailants was not immediately known. The Israeli military said "a civilian in the area neutralised one of the terrorists" -- without giving further details on their condition -- and troops had launched a manhunt for other suspects. The office of Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said security officials will meet at 6:00 pm (1500 GMT). The shooting comes a day after Israeli forces launched a raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, in which six Palestinians were killed. A spokesman for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Hazem Qassem, described Tuesday's shooting at a petrol station as a "response to the crimes of the (Israeli) occupation" in Jenin and elsewhere. The sixth Jenin fatality, Amjad Aref Jaas, died Tuesday "from critical wounds to the abdomen sustained from live occupation (Israeli) fire", a Palestinian health ministry statement said. More than 90 Palestinians were wounded in the hours-long raid, according to health officials, while the Israeli military said eight security personnel were wounded. Jaas's body was shrouded in a Palestinian flag in a Jenin mosque, before dozens of mourners including masked gunmen gathered for his funeral. - Israeli forces kill Palestinian - After the firefight between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants ended on Monday, the Palestinian health ministry announced Israeli troops killed a 20-year-old near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Zakaria Mohammed al-Zaoul was "martyred by live occupation (Israeli) bullets to the head, in the town of Husan", the ministry said. The Israeli military said troops were "on routine activity" in the town when "a suspect hurled Molotov cocktails" at them. "The soldiers responded with live fire. A hit was identified," it added. In a statement, the militant group Islamic Jihad claimed Zaoul as a member. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported the military used live fire, tear gas and stun grenades during the clashes with young Palestinians. The deaths are the latest in a surge of violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which before Tuesday's shooting had killed at least 166 Palestinians, 21 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian this year. The tally compiled from official sources includes combatants as well as civilians and, on the Israeli side, three members of the Arab minority. bur-rsc/it Elysee Palace The French government discussed the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO during recent a Defense Council meeting at the Elysee Palace, French newspaper Le Monde reported on June 20. Paris apparently believes that offering Ukraine the prospect of NATO membership could deter Russia from further engaging in the conflict and encourage Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to participate in negotiations. Read also: NATO chief Stoltenberg reacts to African leaders' peace plan Polish President Andrzej Duda recently called for Ukraine's acceptance into NATO, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed support for separate security guarantees. The upcoming NATO Summit, scheduled for July 11-12 in Vilnius, Lithuania, carries significant importance for Ukraine, as it hopes to receive a clear and resolute signal affirming the alliance's readiness to welcome it as a member. Read also: Duda calls for Ukraine to join NATO, Germany and France favor security guarantees However, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed on June 19 that NATO leaders will not extend a formal invitation for Ukraine to join the alliance at the Vilnius summit. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine UN experts have urged France to review policing tactics after the clashes at Sainte-Soline (THIBAUD MORITZ) The French government said Tuesday that it would soon shut down an activist climate group over a series of recent demonstrations including one that led to fierce clashes with police over a controversial irrigation project. Government spokesman Olivier Veran accused the Uprisings of the Earth (SLT) coalition of encouraging violence at protests in March near Sainte-Soline in western France over irrigation. "You don't dissolve an association because of its ideas. You dissolve it because there is violence or a risk for public safety," Veran told CNews television. SLT has vowed to fight the shutdown order, saying on its website: "You cannot dissolve a movement. You cannot dissolve a revolt." Veran said SLT "whipped up violence at Sainte Soline by inviting rioters, who came from across Europe with metal bars and petanque balls to try and kill police officers". "The climate question does not justify throwing rocks at police in a field," he said. SLT is a coalition of several activist associations, which was also behind a recent protest against a sand quarry in western France where protesters tore up fields and equipment at a farm. The group was also one of several organisers of a banned demonstration at the weekend against a new rail link between the eastern city of Lyon and Turin in Italy. It is part of a new wave of more radical climate activist groups including Extinction Rebellion which use direct action to underline their warnings about the dangers to the planet. On Tuesday, prosecutors also said they had detained 14 people for questioning over vandalism at a protest supported by SLT, against a Lafarge cement plant near the southern city of Marseille. Protesters called the company "one of the most destructive in the world". - Policing in spotlight - The dissolution of SLT was officially launched by the interior ministry just after the Sainte-Soline clashes in March, using powers that have been previously used to outlaw far-right and Islamist groups. The decree is likely to be discussed at the government's weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday, a source close to the issue said. France has faced a wave of protests in recent months, mainly over a hotly contested decision to push back the retirement age, which have at times turned violent. Some of the demonstrators have vandalised buildings and street furniture or thrown rocks at riot police. Critics accuse authorities of fomenting tensions with heavy-handed policing tactics and aggressive confrontations with demonstrators. Many in France were shocked by the scenes at Sainte-Soline, where around 5,000 protesters battled with more than 3,000 police officers. Two protesters were left in a coma afterwards, while around 30 officers were injured. The demonstrators were protesting against a giant reservoir for storing water pumped up from the underground water table. Critics say it will penalise smaller farmers and the ecosystem, while benefitting mainly industrial agriculture groups. France's Human Rights League (FDH) said afterward that "as soon as the demonstrators arrived at the reservoir site, police fired at them with weapons of war: tear gas grenades, stun grenades, explosive sting-ball grenades and rubber bullets". "The deployment put everyone present at risk of serious harm," it said. Earlier this month, United Nations experts urged France to review its policing practices, expressing concern at the "reported excessive use of force" against protesters, in particular at Sainte-Soline. lum/arz/js/adp/rox Fresno Unified budget set to top $2 billion this year. Heres how the money will be spent Fresno Unified trustees are weighing a 2023-2024 budget that tops $2 billion. The districts total proposed budget is estimated at $2,316,615,845 an increase of just under $300 million from the 2022-23 school year. Trustees will vote Wednesday on whether to adopt the budget thats almost half a billion dollars larger than the entire city of Fresnos plan for the 23-24 fiscal year. Education Lab Newsletter Get stories that matter on education issues critical to the advancement of San Joaquin Valley residents, with a focus on Fresno. Sign up, and join the conversation. SIGN UP The budget is how the superintendent and the board demonstrate their educational priorities for the next year, said the districts interim chief financial officer Patrick Jensen in an interview with The Bees Education Lab. Some of the top priorities include the social-emotional and physical health of students, campus safety, and facilities improvements, he said. With this budget, the district is also expecting to spend the last of the roughly $770 million it received in additional one-time pandemic recovery funding from both the state and federal government. About a third of the districts remaining $245 million in that funding will go toward HVAC upgrades, Jensen said. The rest is largely allocated toward social emotional support spaces, completing the new Farber campus for alternative education, and increased instructional support. Most of the budget covers employee salaries and benefits The lions share of the Fresno Unified budget or roughly 80% of its costs, according to Jensen is set aside for employee salary and benefits. Thats typical of public school budgets across the United States. Specifically, over $555 million will cover salaries for certificated staff like teachers, counselors, school psychologists, and registered nurses a roughly 4% increase from the 2022-23 school year. Another $211 million goes toward the salaries of classified staff in an almost 13% boost from the previous year. Classified staff include a range of positions, from bus drivers and custodians to paraprofessionals and office assistants. More than $480 million in the budget draft are earmarked for these and other employees benefits, representing an over 17% jump. This budget will also cover the hiring of dozens of additional staff across departments. Special education is getting the equivalent of 19 additional full-time staff in a mix of full-time and part-time roles. That includes more guidance learning advisors and behavior support advisors. It also allocates $13 millions worth of added teaching staff to help reduce class sizes at elementary schools and in ninth grade English classrooms. Reduced class sizes is one of many investments the Fresno Teachers Association has pushed for over the past year in its contract talks with the district, which will continue over the summer. The district is planning to add school nurses, campus safety assistants, a Hmong translator, and dozens of other positions that staff, students, and parents have advocated for in recent months. Fresno Unified investing in HVAC improvements, school safety Another large portion of the budget will go toward building improvements an almost $232 million chunk, in fact. Thats more than four times the roughly $54 million Fresno Unified spent on building improvements this past school year or an almost 329% increase. The bulk of that will help replace aging HVAC units at schools, Jensen said, to improve air quality in the wake of the pandemic. The districts delayed spending on air filtration units and the quality of this equipment were called into question in a February 2022 Fresno Bee investigation. The remaining dollars allocated for building improvements will go toward a facility for the districts eLearn Academy which saw its enrollment swell from dozens of students to thousands during the pandemic and configuring more spaces for students to meet with the growing ranks of social-emotional support staff, Jensen said. When a lot of schools were built in the 1950s or 60s, you didnt typically have that level of social-emotional supports on a school campus, he said. So a lot of our older buildings and older campuses just dont have this confidential space for a school psychologist to sit and meet with a kid. Other social-emotional investments include funding for additional counselors, child welfare and attendance specialists, social workers, and other personnel, totaling about $4 million. In the area of safety, the budget also includes $1.3 million that will fund the purchase of additional radios, cameras, and vaping sensors, as well as evaluations of safe routes to schools and other investments. Another area of increased spending is with regard to student literacy. The district has convened a literacy task force in response to the districts poor performance in statewide assessments last year which demonstrated only about a third of its students read at or above the state standard. The district has committed $100 million to that program over five years, Jensen said. More specific allocations of the first year of funding will be determined as the task force finalizes its recommendations, pending feedback from principals and teachers in the coming weeks. The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bees Education Lab at its website. Funeral service for fallen Wintergreen police officer to be held in Augusta County FISHERSVILLE A funeral for the Wintergreen police officer killed over the weekend will be held next week at the Augusta Expo Event Center in Fishersville. Officer M. Christopher Wagner II, 31, of Stuarts Draft, was killed Friday night in Wintergreen, located in Nelson County. A suspect, Daniel M. Barmak, 23, of Towson, Maryland, is charged with capital murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and two felony counts of malicious wounding. He is being held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, according to Virginia State Police. The incident began shortly after 10 p.m. on Friday when the Wintergreen Police Department fielded an emergency call about Barmak allegedly assaulting two other men at a residence they were all staying at on Arrowood Lane. After calling police, the two injured men, both 23, fled the residence on foot. They were taken to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville for treatment of injuries that were not considered life-threatening, according to state police. Wagner was the first to arrive at the residence. He reportedly encountered Barmak in the woods and a struggle ensued. During the course of the struggle over Wagner's department-issued handgun, Barmak allegedly shot and killed Wagner. Barmak was also shot during the encounter, police said. Wintergreen police and the Nelson County Sheriff's Office arrested Barmak without further incident. He was also taken to the Charlottesville hospital, police said. Inside the residence, authorities reportedly found illegal narcotics. Wagner's department-issued handgun was recovered at the shooting scene in the woods. The Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation's Appomattox Field Office is investigating. The Wintergreen Police Department said Wagner's funeral will be held next week on Monday, June 26, at the Augusta Expo Event Center in Fishersville. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until noon, and will be followed by a funeral service. Afterward, the burial will take place at Augusta Memorial Park on Goose Creek Road. The visitation, funeral and burial are open to the public. Media coverage will only be allowed at the funeral, the release said. Family frustrated no charges filed in Augusta County crash that killed 2, including baby THE DIGEST: White Star Mills building renovation, backyard woods and backcountry camping Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on Twitter. This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Funeral for fallen Wintergreen police officer announced Ga. cowboy captures horse who ran away from deputies during Juneteenth parade The state of Georgia may not be located in the Wild Wild West but Bibb County deputies had to call on a cowboy to find a runaway horse. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] According to WGXA, Cowboy Greg Collins was asked to assist in locating a horse who ran away during a Juneteenth parade on Monday. Collins told WGXA that one of the kids helping out with the animals opened the door on the trailer and the horse ran out. TRENDING STORIES: Luckily, the cowboy swung quickly into action and was able to rope the horse and bring him back to the trailer. No one was hurt and the horse is safe. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: This morning, Gannett, the largest news publisher in the United States including USA TODAY and hundreds of local newspapers, filed a lawsuit in federal court against Google for monopolization of advertising technology markets and deceptive commercial practices. Our lawsuit seeks to restore fair competition in a digital advertising marketplace that Google has demolished. Since our oldest publication, the Poughkeepsie Journal, entered circulation in 1785, news coverage has depended on advertising. Today, 86% of Americans read the news online. As a result, news publishers depend on digital ad revenue to provide timely, cutting-edge reporting and content that communities across the country depend on. The move online should have created enormous opportunities for publishers. Digital advertising is now a $200 billion business nearly an eightfold increase since 2009. Google's business practices hurt local news Yet, news publishers advertising revenue has significantly declined. Googles practices have real world implications that depress not only revenue, but also force the reduction and footprint of local news at a time when its needed most. Gannett sues Google: Gannett sues Google, accusing company of violating antitrust laws in digital ad practices The data reveals a fundamental mismatch in the online marketplace. Content providers, including hundreds of our local news outlets, create enormous value but see none of the financial upside because Google, as middleman, has monopolized the markets for important software and technology products that publishers and advertisers use to buy and sell ad space. Google controls 90% of the market for publisher ad servers, which publishers use to offer ad space for sale. Google also controls more than 60% of the market for ad exchanges, which run auctions among advertisers bidding for ad space on publishers websites. Finally, Google controls the largest source of advertisers bidding on exchanges. For Gannett, 60% of all buyers come through Google. The obviously painful result is that Google unfairly controls and manipulates all sides of each online advertising transaction. Google trades on that conflict of interest to its advantage and at the expense of publishers, readers and everyone else. Our lawsuit details more than a dozen significantly anticompetitive and deceptive acts by Google, starting as early as 2009 and persisting to present day. Gannett, the largest news publisher in the United States including USA TODAY and hundreds of local newspapers, has filed a lawsuit in federal court against Google for monopolization of advertising technology markets and deceptive commercial practices. The core of the case and our position is that Google abuses its control over the ad server monopoly to make it increasingly difficult for rival exchanges to run competitive auctions. Further, Googles exchange rigs its own auctions so Googles advertisers can buy ad space at bargain prices. That means less investment in online content and fewer ad slots for publishers to sell and advertisers to buy. Google always wins because it takes a growing share of that shrinking pie. But who loses? U.S. news outlets and their readers. In particular, local news organizations are struggling because of Googles unlawful bid-rigging practices. Across the industry, since 2008, newsroom employment has dropped by more than half and 20% of all newspapers have been forced to close. There is less news where its needed most while Google thrives from this scheme. In 2022, Google made upward of $30 billion in revenue from the sale of ad space on publishers websites. That was six times the digital advertising revenue of all U.S. news publications, combined. In a functioning market, no one would expect the middleman to make more than the content creator. Recent lawsuits against Google show what's at stake Google has flipped the script only because it is a serial violator of U.S. antitrust and consumer-protection laws. Government enforcers throughout the country and across the world agree. In December 2020, a bipartisan group of 17 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against Google raising similar allegations of ad-tech monopolization. The U.S. Department of Justice, joined by a bipartisan coalition of 17 additional states, filed its own ad-tech lawsuit against Google earlier this year. Both lawsuits have withstood Googles best efforts to get the cases dismissed. And, last week, the European Unions competition authority filed a related ad-tech case based on the same underlying conduct. The DOJ and EU are rightly seeking a breakup of Googles ad-tech business, in addition to monetary damages and fines. Antitrust enforcers understand what is at stake. Digital advertising is the lifeblood of the online economy. Without free and fair competition for digital ad space, publishers cannot invest in their newsrooms and content, and readers cannot get trusted news at low cost or for free. Our democracy and communities suffer when citizens are uninformed and disconnected, and when high-quality journalism is unavailable to hold those in power to account. For more than a hundred years, Gannett has been a tireless advocate for freedom of the press empowering communities to thrive. This lawsuit seeks to ensure a free and fair marketplace so that we can continue our mission for hundreds of years more. Mike Reed is CEO and chairman of Gannett Co., Inc. You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gannett CEO: Why we're suing Google over its business practices There was little daylight between Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden during his visit to Northern California this week. Newsom was by the presidents side from the moment he stepped off Air Force One on Monday. He joined Biden for a climate announcement on Monday in Palo Alto, took part in the presidents artificial intelligence roundtable on Tuesday in San Francisco and then co-hosted a fundraiser for the president in Marin County. There is no better partner in the fight against climate change than President Biden, Newsom said Monday at the climate event. Over the past year, as Californias Democratic governor has aggressively sparred with high-profile Republicans, he has repeatedly denied interest in a 2024 White House bid. His past couple of days hosting Biden serves to further douse speculation that he will be anything more than an outspoken advocate for the presidents re-election. Gavin Newsom raises funds, talks AI with Joe Biden Biden on Tuesday held a roundtable conversation with Newsom and tech sector leaders on the risks and possibilities with AI. As Ive said before, were going to see more technological change in the next 10 years than weve seen in the last 50 years, Biden said in brief comments at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. And AI is already driving that change in every part of our lives. President Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom are taking part in a roundtable conversation about artificial intelligence Tuesday in San Francisco. Biden is visiting Northern California for a handful of fundraising events this week. pic.twitter.com/vtfF3EmFax Maggie Angst (@MaggieAngst) June 20, 2023 The artificial intelligence event followed a holiday weekend that saw the pace of 2024 presidential politics quicken in the Golden State. Biden and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis both landed in Northern California to bulk up on campaign cash before the July 15 deadline for quarterly fundraising reports. After the AI event, Biden was heading to Marin County for one of four fundraising events arranged during his California trip. Newsoms campaign advisor Nathan Click confirmed the governor was co-hosting the event but declined to provide any further details. On Monday night, venture capitalist and former state controller Steve Westly and his wife, Anita Yu held one in the wealthy Silicon Valley town of Atherton. Meanwhile, DeSantis, who is expected to give Donald Trump the most competition for the Republican nominee, was just miles away at his own fundraising event in Woodside. That event followed an expensive private breakfast in Sacramento. Joe Biden promotes climate investments during California visit Biden kicked off his Bay Area visit Monday at a nature preserve in Palo Alto where he touted his administrations investments in climate and energy. He also unveiled a new $600 million program to help coastal communities fight climate change. The presidents visit comes as Newsom is wrapping up negotiations with Democratic lawmakers over the state budget, which includes a proposal he announced last month to fast-track the construction of large infrastructure projects to address climate change and transportation needs. Newsom aides have said the governors proposal would eliminate some bureaucratic red tape and could reduce certain project timelines by more than three years. Lawmakers have been hesitant to embrace the plan. They are irked by its introduction so late in the budget cycle and fear that it will be used to push through certain controversial projects like the proposed water tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Floridas Ron DeSantis makes discreet visit to Northern California DeSantis, on the other hand, pulled off a much more discreet visit. Rather than hold any public events, the GOP presidential contender marked his arrival in California by releasing a new campaign ad arguing that Californias liberal governance is failing its residents. The ad claims that Californians are fleeing for states like Florida because of the rising crime, needles and feces in the streets and the escalating homeless crisis a narrative that Newsom adamantly refuted in a Fox interview last week. This is a result of better governance in states like Florida. It is a result of poor governance in these left-wing states, DeSantis says in the ad. The debate is already settled. Californias liberal governance is a disaster. @RonDeSantis conservative policies have Florida thriving, and would do so for the nation. pic.twitter.com/c4a8P5g5UQ DeSantis War Room (@DeSantisWarRoom) June 19, 2023 The Florida governor started his day on Monday with a private breakfast round table at Sacramentos Del Paso Country Club. The Sacramento fundraiser was hosted by real estate developer Steve Eggert and his wife, Pam, according to an invitation. Guests were asked to purchase a ticket to attend for $3,300 the federal maximum for an individual campaign donation. It came just two weeks after DeSantis escalated tensions with Newsom, by sending two planes of Latin American asylum seekers to the California capitol in an effort to highlight what he sees as Democrats failed immigration policies. DeSantis reportedly dodged reporters outside the front gate of the country club site of the breakfast. His motorcade of black SUVs with tinted windows slipped out the clubs service entrance, according to KCRA. DeSantis then traveled to a second fundraising event in Woodside, though he stayed under the radar there as well. The DeSantis campaign did not return requests for an interview. A Georgia rapper has been named in a 49-count indictment against several people on gang and drug charges. Tyquian Terrel Bowman, known as Quando Rondo, was one of 19 people indicted in Chatham County on Wednesday. Bowman has been charged with violating the street gang terrorism and prevention act, two counts of conspiracy to violate the Georgia controlled substance act, and illegal use of a communication facility. According to the indictment, Bowan is part of the Rollin 60s gang and is accused of making members of the gang provide him with guns and setting up a marijuana sale in Macon before going there to buy it. TRENDING STORIES: He is also accused of buying hydrocodone pills on a separate occasion in Savannah. According to the indictment, other gang members trafficked more than four grams of cocaine, about 20 grams of M30 pills, hydrocodone pills, and 28 grams of fentanyl. Some used jail phones to schedule drug sales. Others sold drugs out of a house located at 1301 E. 39th Street. Bowmans attorney, Jonah Pine, declined to make an immediate comment when reached by phone Tuesday. As Quando Rondo, the rappers singles I Remember and ABG led to a deal with Atlantic Records, which released his debut album, QPac, in 2020. His follow-up album, Recovery, came out in March. According to court records, Bowman is scheduled for a bond hearing on Friday in Chatham County. In 2020, two people were killed and three others injured in a shooting outside an Atlanta lounge. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation told Channel 2 Action News that one of the victims is a popular rapper King Von. The GBI said Dayvon Bennett, aka King Von, and a group of men left a nightclub and headed to the Monaco Hookah Lounge on Trinity Avenue. Two men approached the group in the parking lot and the groups started to argue. The argument escalated into gunfire. One of Bowmans crew members, 22-year-old Timothy Leeks, was charged with felony murder. The Associated Press contributed to this article. IN OTHER NEWS: The Georgia State Election Board dismissed the years-long investigation into alleged misconduct by Fulton County election workers during the 2020 election, saying it had found no evidence of conspiracy. Over the course of the investigation, it was confirmed that numerous allegations made against the Fulton County Department of Registration and Elections, and specifically, two election workers, were false and unsubstantiated, according to a press release from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffenspergers office. Former President Donald Trump and his campaign had targeted Fulton County election workers at State Farm Arena in Atlanta by baselessly claiming they were counting fake mail-in ballots during the 2020 election. The investigation conducted by Georgia Secretary of State investigators, along with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Federal Bureau of Investigation special agents concluded that there was no evidence of any type of fraud as alleged. The attorney representingformer election workers Wandrea Shaye Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman said his clients had been collateral damage in an effort to subvert the presidential election. This serves as further evidence that Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss while doing their patriotic duty and serving their community were simply collateral damage in a coordinated effort to undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election. Lies about Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss have been proven false over and over again, and those who perpetuate them should be held accountable, attorney Von DuBose said. A team representing Trump presented heavily edited video before Georgia lawmakers in a December 2020 state Senate hearing that purportedly showed election workers producing suitcases of illegal ballots, according to court filings. That allegation was investigated by state election officials and quickly proven to be false. Tuesdays announcement echoes that there was no wrongdoing committed by election officials in Fulton County. According to the Georgia Secretary of States office, three law enforcement agencies reviewed the entire unedited video footage of the events in question surrounding [the two election workers] at State Farm Arena, and that all allegations made against [the two election workers] were unsubstantiated and found to have no merit. We remain diligent and dedicated to looking into real claims of voter fraud, Raffensperger said. We are glad the State Election Board finally put this issue to rest. False claims and knowingly false allegations made against these election workers have done tremendous harm. Election workers deserve our praise for being on the front lines. Citing significant improvements in Fulton County elections, the State Election Board on Tuesday also unanimously voted to end an attempted state takeover of the countys election board, a review that was implemented after lawmakers requested it under Georgias 2021 voting law. This story has been updated with additional details. CNNs Jackson Grigsby contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Aerial photo taken on June 20, 2021 shows the scenery along Duku Highway in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. [Photo/Xinhua] Duku Highway in northwest China, one of the country's most popular drives due to its unique beauty, has reopened to tourists after its seasonal closure ended on Sunday. The 561-km highway, connecting Dushanzi in the northern area of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Kuqa City in the south, runs through various types of landscapes including canyons, glaciers, lakes and grasslands. Due to natural factors such as snowy weather and road icing, the highway is only open from June to October every year, attracting self-driving tourists and bikers. "I believe that the scenery of the highway I see with my own eyes will be more striking than any photos I saw on WeChat Moments (a platform that allows users to share images and texts)," said Xiao Guixiang, a tourist from central China's Hunan Province. According to the Xinjiang regional culture and tourism department, relevant authorities along the highway will work together to make sure that tourists enjoy pleasant and safe journeys. Xinjiang saw a tourism rebound this year. During the May Day holiday, which lasted from April 29 to May 3, the region received more than 8 million tourist trips, up 140.81 percent year on year. Fyodor Dostoevsky The Russian war against Ukraine has highlighted the brutality of Russian culture Read also: Brazilian president finally condemns Russian invasion of Ukraine In the first weeks of the full-scale invasion, the behavior of Russian intellectuals and cultural figures came as a great surprise: their silence, their self-justification, their demand for sympathy for themselves. This behavior was so fanciful to the Ukrainian point of view that it called for key texts of Russian literature to be analyzed from this perspective. What can classical Russian literature teach us? What are the models of behavior it contains? What are the images and metaphors? How does all this determine the words and actions of modern Russian intellectuals? Let's look at three outstanding texts of Russian literature which, in my view, carry a strong connection. We are talking about Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, and Mumu by Ivan Turgenev. All three works are written either on behalf of, or with great sympathy for, a main character who commits a deadly crime - murder. Perhaps the most striking modern manifestation is the novel by Nabokov. If we disregard literary sophistication, the essence of his book is this: an adult man is captivated by a young girl, feeling both aesthetic and sexual attraction to her. Thus, he deceives and kills the girl's mother, obtains custody rights, thus assuming control of the child and moving on to sexual violence against her. Nabokov describes these events with great sympathy for his main character, Humbert Humbert. We see aesthetically sensitive, subtle intellectuals, engrossed in noble sensual ecstasy. The author also suggests that Humbert is a white immigrant, perhaps one of many exiles, who lost his home, heritage, and former dignified life. This arouses sympathy. On the other hand, Lolita herself, like her mother, is described as rather rude and mercantile. The contrast between the depth and aesthetic complexity of Humbert Humbert's feelings and the vulgarity of his victims also inclines the reader to sympathize with the hero, who is difficult to perceive as a rapist and murderer. As we read, we inevitably sympathize with the main character, who is deeply unhappy but simultaneously sensitive to the beautiful and able to resonate with invisible streams of sensuality (not everyone can recognize a nymphette!). Read also: Responding to criticism from US horror writer King, Musk says hes already donated $100 million to Ukraine Nabokov, as is known, was a fierce critic of Dostoevsky's work. For him, there is a rhetorical question of how can one be such a great writer and write so poorly? However, Nabokov continues the moral optics of Dostoevsky himself. In the novel Crime and Punishment, all the sympathies of the author, and therefore the reader, are on the side of the murderer, and the fate of the victims is so immaterial that the book mostly talks about the murdered "pawnbroker," completely forgetting that Raskolnikov also kills her pregnant sister, who is an accidental witness to the first murder. The focus here is on complex moral doubts, creating a whimsical combination of deep kindness and cruelty. For example, Raskolnikov, himself essentially a beggar, gives all his money to the unhappy widow of another character, the drunkard minor official Marmeladov, while at the same time behaving like a cold abuser (although the author does not neglect to make us understand that this is from the highest moral considerations) toward his daughter Sonya. Finally, Marmeladov himself is like a weak emanation of Raskolnikov, demonstrating the same moral ambiguity: extreme kindness combined with extreme baseness. Read also: EU Parliament condemns Russia for torture and criminal prosecution of Ukrainian minors What impression does this leave? In both cases - both Nabokov and Dostoevsky - the judgment of the protagonist is not a consequence of his actions. Actions are something external and secondary a result of a catastrophic collision of exposed nerves with material reality. The essence of a human being is determined by its inner world. Raskolnikov and Humbert Humbert are people of high complexity whose personalities combine extreme opposites, with their moral or aesthetic vulnerability vibrating somewhere in the heavenly heights inaccessible to the ordinary vulgar person. It is this extraordinary elevation that determines their essence they are the exposed nerve. The specific earthly actions of this essence do not define it, so it is inappropriate and impossible to judge these characters by their actions. This is an irrational view where concrete material reality is insignificant while the spiritual predominates over the real. This view of the criminal creates an infinite reserve of forgiveness for him. Not merely forgiveness, but just an apology, for who are we to judge and forgive? The disposition in Ivan Turgenev's story Mumu is different: the gatekeeper Gerasim is an honest, simple, and straightforward soul. This is not a story of complexity and intricate combination of extremes. We see a good person in difficult circumstances. Disability and loneliness already make Gerasim's life joyless, but this is not his burden. A cruel and arbitrary power crushes this good man the landowner who owns Gerasim as property orders him to get rid of the only being with whom he has a warm emotional connection, his dog. He tries to fulfill the landowner's request without harming the dear creature, but the innocent creature's attachment, the dog, brings her back to the unhappy man, as she runs away from her new owner and again attaches herself to Gerasim. All attempts to save the dog are in vain, as her love for Gerasim dooms both her and him to a terrible fate: submitting to the landowner's terrible and merciless power. Like an ancient fate, Gerasim kills the most valuable being himself. He does not rebel or save himself by running away, but instead kills the dog and morally dies with her. It is both a murder and a suicide. This double tragedy cannot leave any reader indifferent, and it points to the culprit of the crime, which is not Gerasim. He may be the one who does the killing, but the guilty party is the merciless and depersonalized power of the landowner, whose character remains somewhere beyond the story's framework, and is thus only an abstraction for us. It seems that this is how Russian cultural and intellectual figures see their situation. They are people of great complexity like Humbert and Raskolnikov and therefore worthy of sympathy and sincere interest. They are impressed that their Ukrainian counterparts refuse to sympathize with Gerasim and thus show wonders of cruelty. Ukrainians perceive their Russian counterparts not as Raskolnikov or Gerasim, but as Faust. That is, as someone who, for the sake of a full and fulfilling life and the realization of dreams, makes a contract with the devil. They summon evil and willingly make a deal with it. Therefore, they are subjects with their own agency and must find a way out of the circumstances they have created. The legend of Faust is about the impossibility of breaking the contract with the devil, so any such attempt would be a remarkable impudence. Such impudence is not visible on the Ukrainian stage. Read also: Why did the Russians turn out to be so cruel? - opinion The rift between the two characters, Gerasim and Faust, determines any conflict between Ukrainian and Russian intellectuals. Ukrainians expect action, especially intellectual action, and are confident that such action will be liberation for both Russians themselves and those who suffer from their inaction. In Ukraine, especially in literary and academic communities, there is great respect for the legacy of the Polish rethinking of their country, which was carried out by the circle of Jedrzej Giertych in the 1950s-1970s, and they are expecting something similar here. However, it seems that Russian intellectuals either do not know about this example or perceive even this action as a terrible prospect, because it is always the act of Gerasim. Read also: Russian Cultural Center in Cyprus set ablaze by Molotov cocktails video So, what to do? I think Ukrainian influencers from the cultural and intellectual scene have nothing else left but to constantly remind and insist that Russian counterparts are not just innocent victims. That they have the power to act in the field of ideas. This is an unpleasant role for Ukrainians who, against their will, have to turn into some Erinyes, the goddesses of revenge, to perpetually pursue those who could have acted properly, but did not. But to refuse this role means to know and voluntarily transform into a Gerasim. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Germany prods China on Ukraine war as leaders pledge to work together on climate German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, and Chinese Premier Li Qiang, brief the media following government consultations of the both countries at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 20, 2023.(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) BERLIN (AP) Germany's chancellor pressed China to lean harder on Russia over its war in Ukraine on Tuesday, while leaders from both countries pledged to work together to combat climate change as two of the world's biggest carbon dioxide emitters. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and about half of his Cabinet hosted a delegation led by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, making his first foreign trip since becoming China's No. 2 official in March, as the two nations held high-level government consultations for the seventh time. The meeting in Berlin comes a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, indicating an effort by Beijing to reach out to the West and improve frosty relations. Germany is keen to maintain good ties with China, its biggest trading partner, despite wariness over Beijing's growing assertiveness and refusal to criticize the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Germanys recently published national security strategy describes China as a partner, competitor and systemic rival. Scholz prodded the Chinese delegation to do more to persuade Russia to end the war in Ukraine. I appealed again to the Chinese government to exert its influence even more strongly on Russia in this war, he said, standing alongside Li. As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China carries a very special duty here. It is important that China continues not to deliver weapons to the aggressor, Russia, Scholz said, adding that he is thankful that China continues to make clear there must be no threat to use nuclear weapons. Li didn't respond directly or mention Ukraine in his statement. The two leaders took no questions. Germany and China agreed at Tuesday's meeting to set up a climate and transformation dialogue. Scholz pointed to extreme weather events such as droughts in China and floods in Germany to illustrate the importance of action. In their agreement, the two sides pledged to work on achieving practical results in the field of green and low-carbon development that include combating emissions in the industry, energy and transport sectors. They also committed to helping each other improve energy efficiency, recycling and the development of emissions trading systems in both countries. As major emitters of CO2, Germany and China bear particular responsibility in the fight against climate change, Scholz told reporters. We will face this responsibility together. Li said that dealing with climate change should become an important field of cooperation for both sides. The Chinese premier emphasized trade and economic issues in his comments. Deglobalization is flaring up again and the global economy is lacking growth dynamics, he said, according to an interpreter. He added that China places great value on the development of relations with Germany and Europe. After visiting the European Unions biggest economy, Li travels to France the second-biggest where he will attend the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, which is being held at French President Emmanuel Macrons initiative. Scholz has said he wants to avoid over-reliance on Chinese trade and diversify Germanys supply of key goods an approach he calls derisking. He said he reassured Li that we have no interest in an economic decoupling from China. The position was echoed last month by the Group of Seven leading industrial powers. He noted that access to the Chinese market and fair competition conditions for German and other foreign companies in China remain a challenge, on which we are pushing for concrete improvements. During a later joint appearance at a German-Chinese economic forum, Scholz suggested that those improvements would also help in fighting climate change. For every country in the world, it will be easier to reach its climate targets if we allow fair competition, open market access and a level playing field, he said. After all, competition fosters innovation. As Scholz and Li met, German security officials warned of the continued danger posed by Chinese espionage. A report by the BfV domestic intelligence agency, published Tuesday, notes that Chinas Ministry of State Security is actively trying to obtain information on areas of political, economic and scientific interest to Beijing, as well as on Chinese dissidents in Germany. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the country is also examining the potential risks from the use of telecommunications equipment made by Chinese company Huawei in Germanys 5G networks. This inquiry will be completed in the summer and then we will provide an assessment, she said, adding that this could result in Huawei equipment having to be removed. ___ Associated Press writer Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report. Part of a Florida county was placed under quarantine this week, as officials respond to a recent giant African snail sighting in the area. The quarantine order took effect Tuesday and applies to a section of Broward County, where Fort Lauderdale is located, covering around 3.5 square miles. Inside its boundaries, the order means it is illegal to move a giant African land snail or any "regulated article," including, but not limited to plants, plant parts, plants in soil, soil, yard waste, debris, compost or building materials, either within or outside of the quarantine area without first obtaining a compliance agreement, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. People and organizations looking to acquire a compliance agreement for certain commercial purposes, like selling plants, landscaping or trash pickup, can request one by contacting the agency. A Giant African Snail, native to east Africa, eats vegetation on the Kealea hiking trail May 18, 2004 in Waialua, Hawaii. / Credit: Photo by Phil Mislinski/Getty Images The agriculture department's Division of Plant Industry enacted the quarantine after confirming earlier this month that a giant African land snail was spotted in the Miramar area of Broward County. The order will remain active while officials from the plant division treat properties with a metaldehyde-based molluscicide snail bait that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has labeled for residential use in hopes of eradicating the pest, the department said. Florida's agriculture officials have contended with the giant African land snail before, and in the past referred to it as "one of the most damaging" mollusk subtypes in the world. The snail is unusually large, growing to be as long as 8 inches as an adult, and can procreate in enormous quantities as it lays thousands of eggs at a time. It poses significant threats to vegetation, consuming at least 500 different types of plants as well as paint and stucco. In addition to causing property damage, the snails also pose serious health risks for humans, as they carry a parasite called rat lungworm that can cause meningitis. Officials set a quarantine order for Pasco County, about half an hour north of the city of Tampa, last summer, after confirming at least one sighting of the invasive snail species. More than 1,000 giant African land snails were captured there over the course of several weeks, said agriculture commissioner Nikki Fried at the time, and most were found alive. The giant snails, which, authorities believe, likely arrived in Florida when someone brought it home to the U.S. as a pet, are notoriously difficult to eradicate and getting rid of them entirely can take years. Florida's agriculture department has recorded only two instances where the snail was fully eradicated, since infestations were first reported in the state in the 1960s. What to know about the 5 passengers on the missing Titanic sub Coast Guard: Missing sub has estimated 41 hours of oxygen left Examining Hunter Biden's plea deal in tax investigation A gift to be free: Veteran gets help for PTSD from Charlotte nonprofit A veteran in Charlotte is getting help for a serious mental health condition thanks to a local nonprofit. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental health condition that can develop after experiencing or seeing a traumatic event. It can cause the individual to experience different symptoms such as reliving the event, avoiding things that remind them of that time, having negative thoughts about the event, and constantly feeling on edge. At least seven out of every 100 veterans will be impacted by PTSD at some point in their lives, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. For veterans like Cameron Maxwell in Charlotte, living each day with PTSD is like fighting an invisible enemy. Its silent. You wouldnt know someone struggling with it in most cases. Maxwell said. ALSO READ: Veteran dedicates decades to help other veterans in Charlotte area Maxwell joined the U.S. Army in 2008 and did two tours in Afghanistan. He was medically discharged in 2015 after PTSD began impacting both his physical and mental health. So, with sleeplessness, I would have nightmaresmultiple nightmares at night, Maxwell said. You become extremely irritable and, unfortunately, usually lash out at people you love. In 2022, the V.A. suggested Maxwell check out Hopeway, a mental health facility in south Charlotte. Over the past year, he has worked closely with Dr. Justin Johnson, the director of veteran services at the clinic. Every veteran gets individualized one-on-one therapy, sometimes multiple times a week. Johnson said, Veterans usually stay here and do intensive treatment during the program. Maxwell spent more than 40 days in Hopeways inpatient program. After that, he was moved to partial hospitalization to continue his silent battle. This is something that controls you that you have no control over and that you need professional help with, Maxwell explained. Maxwell now uses the tools given to him by Hopeway professionals to manage his symptoms. Ive been living with nightmares and PTSD symptoms since 2013, Maxwell said, And I didnt bring myself with them until 2022. So its a gift to be free of these things. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, click here for a list of resources. (WATCH BELOW: New partnership involving Ron Rivera will train shelter dogs to aid veterans) Pro- and anti-LGBTQ+ activists gathered outside as Glendale Unified School District Board of Education met for the first time since a melee erupted outside its June 6 session, during which the board adopted a resolution recognizing June as Pride Month. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) The Glendale Unified School District office was again the scene of violence as dueling groups protested over the teaching of gender and sexuality and whether it has a place in the classroom. Tuesday night's clash was the second this month between pro- and anti-LGBTQ+ activists outside a GUSD board meeting. Around 7:15 p.m., a physical confrontation took place in the parking lot of a church near the district office on North Jackson Street where the meeting was held, drawing dozens of the protesters. Glendale police intervened. Earlier, board President Nayiri Nahabedian addressed meeting attendees. "I have pleaded for mutual respect as we undertake these difficult conversations and have said, even in our disagreements, let us see the humanity in one another," Nahabedian said prior to the public comment portion of the meeting. "Unfortunately, what we witnessed at the last board meeting outside in the parking lot outside of the building was the predictable result of what happens when people do really the opposite. Read more: 3 arrested outside Glendale school board in violent clashes over LGBTQ+ rights "These things, folks, will create long-lasting divisions in our Glendale community," she said, "that may never be repaired." Tuesday's meeting came two weeks after demonstrations at the district office broke out in violence, resulting in the arrests of three people, as the board met to vote on recognizing June as Pride Month. The recognition was unanimously approved. Among those protesting against LGBTQ+ issues at the June 6 meeting were reportedly members of the white nationalist Proud Boys group and other right-wing activists. Law enforcement declared an unlawful assembly as the board meeting was being held, temporarily halting the proceedings. Although Tuesday's board meeting had no Pride-related issues on the agenda, dozens of anti-LGBTQ+ activists gathered in the parking lot and lined up to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting. Glendale Police stretch out razor wire to separate a growing group of protesters surrounding a small gathering of pro-LGBTQ activists outside the Glendale Unified School District Board of Education meeting. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) At least 30 Glendale police officers stood across the building's parking lot prior to the meeting, monitoring the gathering groups. Wooden striped barriers and rolls of fluorescent crowd-control wire were stacked in the center of the parking lot. A Glendale man named Art, who refused to give his last name, said he had two elementary-school-age children in Glendale schools and had lived in the area for more than 20 years. He said he had nothing against LGBTQ+ people but did not like having the subject discussed in classrooms. The Glendale Police Department issued a statement Tuesday that "unlawful conduct ... including violence, will not be tolerated." Unlike at the June 6 meeting, which was dominated by pro-LGBTQ+ speakers, Tuesday's speakers were more evenly split. Some railed against school board members and equated inclusion of LGBTQ+-related teaching materials to pedophilia; others thanked the board for its support of LGBTQ+ students. Artineh Asadoorian, who said she was a GUSD parent, said she felt the school board's inclusion of LGBTQ+ subjects was distracting from other issues facing students. "The struggles you talk about do not represent the majority of your demographic," Asadoorian said. A speaker who identified herself as Amy thanked the board for its efforts at inclusivity. "Despite the ridiculous rhetoric and misinformation and bigoted hate speech," she said, "those of us who have not yet turned gay despite learning about the existence of gay and trans people, we still love and support the LBGTQ community and support what you're doing to be inclusive because all our kids are normal." Prior to Tuesday's meeting, an anti-LGBTQ+ group that says it represent parents of district students, GUSD Parents' Voices, urged its followers to attend, as it had for the June 6 meeting. In a post on Twitter, they were urged to speak during public comments "to protest for parents' rights." A pro-LGBTQ+ group, GUSD Parents for Public Schools, voiced concerns prior to the protests. "We are committed to ongoing, active participation and engagement in matters concerning our children's education and the protection of our LGBTQ+ neighbors," the group said in a statement. "However, it is equally important to prioritize safety for our families and the Glendale community as a whole when meetings are being used to generate dangerous street conflicts and social media disinformation." Tuesday's protest came amid a flurry of demonstrations regarding LGBTQ+ issues and groups in the Los Angeles area. On Friday, the main entrance to Dodger Stadium was briefly shut down as demonstrators protested the inclusion of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in pregame festivities. That event was attended by right-wing figures including Jack Posobiec, who previously peddled the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, according to footage on social media. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. GOP rips Hunter's 'sweetheart' plea deal on tax and gun crimes, zero in on Joe Biden GOP rips Hunter's 'sweetheart' plea deal on tax and gun crimes, zero in on Joe Biden Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two tax violations and one gun felony in what Republicans are blasting as a "sweetheart" plea deal following a five-year investigation. Fox News has confirmed that the president's son will plead guilty to two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. "Its no coincidence that less than a week after President Trump is arraigned by the DOJ, Hunter Biden is pleading guilty to a sweetheart deal with no jail time," Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital in a statement. "The DOJ is going for the low-hanging fruit by charging Hunter Biden with a gun felony and two tax misdemeanors, after years of slow walking their investigation." "For AG Garland to maintain his mantra that there is one standard of justice is pathetic," Blackburn continued. "If the DOJ thinks this dismisses the $5 million alleged bribery scheme or the years of reported Biden family corruption, they are mistaken. We will not allow full accountability to fall by the wayside." Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Hunter Biden, and Rep. Clay Higgins HUNTER BIDEN AGREES TO PLEAD GUILTY IN FEDERAL TAX, GUN CASE The first son has been under federal investigation since 2018, which began amid the discovery of suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding funds from "China and other foreign nations." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP The firearms charge stemmed from allegations that Hunter Biden lied during a gun purchase in 2018. US President Joe Biden's sister Valerie Biden (R), and son Hunter Biden (L), board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on April 11, 2023. Republicans have accused Hunter of selling President Bidens influence overseas during his vice presidency. "America has 2 million people incarcerated right now," Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., told Fox News Digital. "We have six thousand jails. We could have found a place for Hunter. But the truth is, nobody really cares about Hunter Biden. Hunter was a rookie influence peddler and a troubled young man selling access to his Dad. Hes a part of the Biden Crime Family, but hes not the Big Guy, he wasnt the VP, and hes not the inaugurated President." "House Oversight Committee Republicans know what our job is. Were focused on The Big Guy, Joe Biden," he added. U.S. President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden (L) attend the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 10, 2023 in Washington, DC. BIDEN'S CLAIM TO HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF HUNTER'S BUSINESS DEALINGS IS BECOMING HARDER TO MAINTAIN "This is deflection, deflection, deflection," Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., told Fox News Digital. "Hunter Biden has been involved in more serious crimes and this plea deal creates an illusion that justice has been servedit hasnt." The news of the charges against Hunter Biden came one week after Former President Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential front-runner, was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to 37 federal felony charges in a classified records case. "We have a very clear picture right now of what it looks like when the Biden DOJ goes after someone it wants to take down," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., told Fox News Digital. "This is clearly not that." "Lets be clear: the Department of Justices charges against President Bidens son Hunter reveal a two-tiered system of justice," House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement. "Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery," Comer said. "These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committees investigation. We will not rest until the full extent of President Bidens involvement in the familys schemes are revealed." HUNTER BIDEN, BURISMA-LINKED ASSOCIATES ATTENDED DAD'S HOLIDAY BASH DAYS AFTER INFAMOUS 2015 UKRAINE TRIP Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., called Attorney General Merrick Garland a "disgrace." "Let's be clear: if anyone without the Biden last name engaged in even a fraction of Hunter's misconduct, they'd face real consequences," Cotton tweeted. "Biden's son got a sweetheart deal for laundering money, accepting millions in bribes, committing gun crimes, and evading taxes & child support," the senator added. "Yet DOJ targeted a pro-life pastor w/ a 25-person SWAT team and serious charges. AG Garland is a disgrace." Trump compared the charges to a traffic ticket on his TruthSocial site. "Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket. Our system is BROKEN!" Trump wrote. John Yoo, a former deputy assistant attorney general under the Bush administration, told Fox News Digital: "We will still need to see all the facts, but if this plea bargain ends the Justice Departments investigation into any influence peddling by the Biden family, it will only reinforce the perception that the administration is treating Trump and Biden differently. It will fall to Congress to continue investigating the allegations of improper foreign payments to Hunter Biden and others." The Republican National Committee tweeted: "It is clear that Joe Biden's Department of Justice is offering Hunter Biden a sweetheart deal. Does anyone think the DOJ would ever offer this to an American who wasn't related to Joe Biden?" "This is the epitome of the politicization and Weaponization of Joe Bidens Department of Justice as they give a slap on the wrist to President Bidens son a tax fraud and corrupt pay-to-play criminal," Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital. "Its never been more clear that we have a two tiered system of justice when you have the son of the sitting President of the United States selling our country out to the highest bidder, laundering money, committing tax fraud, accepting bribes, illegally obtaining a firearm, and shamefully avoiding child support," she continued. "House Republicans will not rest until the full illegal corruption of the Biden Crime Family is exposed. Joe Biden must and will be held accountable." The White House reacted to the charges Tuesday morning. "The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life," White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement. "We will have no further comment." US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden joined by Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden attend their granddaughter Maisy Biden's graduation from the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field on May 15, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fox News Brooke Singman and David Spunt contributed to this report. Tagging, once considered vandalism, has gained cachet and economic value in the art world. Ashim DSilva for Unsplash.com, CC BY-SA Graffiti has become so mainstream in recent years that auction houses, museums and entire art shows cater to street art connoisseurs and collectors around the world. Images in the news of young vandals responsible for marking walls have been replaced by sleek websites belonging to global phenoms such as Banksy and Shepard Fairey. In cities around the world, graffiti is now associated with street artists rather than violent street gangs. Today, many cities, from Pittsburgh to Pretoria, invite street artists to help brand neighborhoods that are being revitalized and gentrified as legitimately hip destinations for business owners, home buyers and influencers. Some up-and-coming neighborhoods in cities like Dakar, Senegal; Mexico City; Brisbane, Australia; and Seoul, South Korea offer street art tours and host graffiti festivals. The vibrantly colored walls in such places attract travelers to parts of town once deemed sketchy. These same neighborhoods are home to bookstores that carry graffiti coffee table books and universities that offer courses on graffiti art. I have taught such courses myself. But it hasnt always been this way. 5Pointz was a curated mural space for graffiti artists in Queens, New York. When the walls were unexpectedly painted over, the artists sued, resulting in a $6.7M judgment. Julie Ricard for Unsplash.com, CC BY The history of tagging Before becoming an academic who teaches and writes about graffiti, I was a graffiti writer. I started tagging, or illegally writing my name Cisco CBS on surfaces across Los Angeles in the early 1990s. At the time, local governments were cracking down on wall writers with anti-gang legislation, such as Californias 1988 Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act, and a variety of broken windows theory policing initiatives. Law enforcement didnt seem to understand what the writing on walls meant or who was behind those cryptic images and personal monikers. Many residents couldnt read or understand it either. Graffiti was interpreted as gang-related and, therefore, territorial and violent. Vandals were targeted with well-funded anti-graffiti task forces and police crackdowns on taggers like me. It was not enough, it seemed, to rightfully charge graffiti writers with vandalism. Rather, police and district attorneys, backed by a morally panicked public, were making an example of graffiti writers, charging them with felonies, giving them six-figure fines and sending them to prison for illicitly marking walls. By the end of the 1990s, as the violent crime rate in cities across the U.S. declined and gentrification increased, new residents felt they could safely move into lower cost, up-and-coming neighborhoods. Our Lady of Guadalupe symbolizes protection for those who lack power in society. Grant Whitty for Unsplash.com, CC BY Local governments turned to gang injunctions, a restraining order targeting alleged gang members, to help rid neighborhoods of the remaining taggers and wall writers who were labeled gang members and were painting political wall murals. The Guadalupe, or La Virgen, was used to signal the Chicano communitys faith in Gods protection, delivering them from the violence of the streets at the hands of gangs and police alike. But such murals, often done by local graffiti artists who were themselves deeply rooted in the Chicano community, were forced to make room for street art in the context of neighborhood change and urban redevelopment. As real estate prices went up, the Guadalupe murals came down, symbolizing local displacement by gentrification. While physical displacement was being experienced firsthand by long-standing residents, the transformation of the walls in these communities symbolized a broader cultural change. By the early 2000s, politically neutral street art images replaced depictions of social struggle, Chicano/a history, and community life. Graffiti made legit By 2011, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles hosted the first-ever museum survey of street art and graffiti. At this time, I was finishing my dissertation on the Changing Face of Wall Space, which explored graffiti in the nearby neighborhoods of Echo Park and Silver Lake. In it, I analyzed how graffiti writers such as Eyeone, Mear and Cache were navigating the legal, social, economic and cultural shift taking place in Los Angeles. In the midst of this struggle over wall space and aesthetics, many of my friends were invited inside to tag the walls of the Art in the Streets exhibition. As graffiti goes mainstream, it appears to legitimize spaces where it is found museums, galleries and up-and-coming neighborhoods. Casio 1179 for Unsplash.com, CC BY Just outside the museum gallery, the newly branded Arts District soon welcomed muralists and graffiti writers from around the world. These were the same streets where many of us had been chased, beaten and arrested by police for doing what was now fashionable and profitable. Los Angeles, like many cities in the U.S., had the lowest homicide rate in more than a generation. In this new context, it became more difficult to connect graffiti to the gangs: Gang violence just wasnt there. Graffiti had made a comeback, arriving inside the Trojan Horse of legitimate street art. Urban blight or community history Self-described critical Chicana muralists, such as Judith Baca, and pachuco graffiti writers such as Chaz Bojorquez, had been painting on walls around Los Angeles as early as the 1970s. These wall artists styles were often maligned by city leaders, business owners and wealthy Anglos. But something changed when these inner city aesthetics became the mainstream backdrop for arts communities. No longer does the writing on the walls signal blight and disorder. Rather, graffiti increasingly tells the story of urban change. It took seeing it as safe in the form of street art for people to start paying attention to its visual power. This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. If you found it interesting, you could subscribe to our weekly newsletter. It was written by: Stefano Bloch, University of Arizona. Read more: Stefano Bloch 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. Image: Kevork Djansezian (Getty Images) AI proved just how talented it can be at ripping off major artists after a computer-generated song based on The Weeknd and Drake went viral in April. Now, the Recording Academythe body that votes on and manages the annual Grammy Awardsis setting new rules for AIs role in the coveted accolade. Speaking to Grammy.com, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason, Jr. laid out some confusing new standards for acceptable use of AI. Mason Jr. said that AI-assisted music can be submitted, but only the humans, who must have contributed heavily, will actually be awarded. For example, in a songwriting category like Song of the Year, a majority of a the nominated song would have to be written by a human creator, not a text-based generative AI like ChatGPT. Similarly, in performance categories like Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, only the human performer can be considered for the award. Sorry, Hatsune Miku. Read more Its important because AI is going to absolutely, unequivocally have a hand in shaping the future of our industry. The idea of being caught off guard by it and not addressing it is unacceptable, Mason Jr. said. So, we have to start planning around that and thinking about what that means for us. How can we adapt to accommodate? How can we set guardrails and standards? There are a lot of things that need to be addressed around AI as it relates to our industry. AI has made its presence known in the music industry in recent months, with one of the largest music labels, Universal Music Group, asking streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music to limit AIs access to music on different platforms in a bid to stop the tech from scraping data from and training itself on copyrighted content. At the same time, an anonymous con artist has allegedly made thousands of dollars hawking AI-generated Frank Ocean tracks over Discord. The Recording Academy is not the only arts organization that is trying to control the role of artificial intelligence in its constituents work. The Writers Guild of America went on strike last month, with AIs presence in Hollywood being one of the main tenets of the unions platform. More specifically, the WGA wants to limit the scope of AI chatbots like ChatGPT in writers rooms, ensuring that they are a tool to be used and not a tool to churn out completed scripts. Want to know more about AI, chatbots, and the future of machine learning? Check out our full coverage of artificial intelligence, or browse our guides to The Best Free AI Art Generators, The Best ChatGPT Alternatives, and Everything We Know About OpenAIs ChatGPT. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. The bridge was inscribed on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage 10 years ago (Christian SIERRA) Dangling over a vertiginous gorge, the Apurimac River flowing around 10 stories below, Indigenous Peruvians show no fear as they repair a centuries-old Inca rope suspension bridge -- the world's last. Every June, members of the Quechua Indigenous group come together to braid thick ropes made from a type of Andean straw, then brave the chasm without harnesses to replace worn parts of the Q'eswachaka bridge. It is a ritual that connects communities to one another but also to their ancestors, according to Quechua belief. "It is a matter of pride for us to (renovate) this bridge," Braulio Huilca, a 34-year-old student told AFP of his role in the annual rite. Inscribed on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage 10 years ago, the bridge has become a key tourist attraction and source of income in the Peruvian region of Cusco -- also home to the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu. "If we abandon this, the tradition would be lost, and there would... be no income," said Felipe Hanampa Huamani, 40. - Jealous mermaids - The bridge, made of fibers obtained from q'oya, a straw-like plant, was first built about 600 years ago. Nearly 30 meters (100 feet) long and 1.2 meters wide, it hangs over a gorge around 28 meters deep. For several weeks every year, residents of four towns in the province of Canas gather and prepare straw for rope-making. With sickles, women in multi-colored skirts cut the q'oya and gather it in bundles that are soaked in a well and then crushed with stone. They then braid the ropes, sitting in groups on the side of a dusty road. Within hours, they have made thick ropes that men carry on their shoulders along winding paths and steep steps up to the bridge. "If we don't renew it, (god) punishes us. We could have an accident or something could happen to us," said 54-year-old Emperatriz Arizapana Huayhua, a small-scale farmer in the region involved in rope production. Crucial in the initial phases of the operation, women are not allowed to take part in the final steps: according to local beliefs, the mermaids of the river are jealous. - Animal sacrifice - To guarantee that "no accident happens during the reconstruction," a shaman sacrifices a lamb to the gods as part of the ritual. As men in "chullos" -- colorful woollen caps with earmuffs -- tear down the old structure, worn and blackened braids plummet into the Apurimac river. The hanging bridge has several thick ropes that serve as a platform, with two more for holding on on either side. The replacement of the old ropes takes three days. Some of the workers chew coca leaves for energy. There is a narrow metal bridge next to the rope structure that communities also use for trade and transport. The work is finished when the two groups working from either side of the gorge meet in the middle. Cries of "Haylly Q'eswachaka!" are heard in Quechua, signalling that the time has come for the celebratory festival. Next year, they will do it all over again. str-vel/cm/ll/mlr/des/dhw Can You Guess the Actor Who's Been in the Most Wes Anderson Movies? Mondadori Portfolio - Getty Images Asteroid City, director Wes Anderson s upcoming science-fiction romantic comedy, features a massive ensemble cast, even by Andersons standards. The star power includes some actors who have never worked with Anderson before, including Tom Hanks, Steve Carrell , and Margot Robbie. But many other Asteroid City cast members are are frequent collaborators with Anderson, a famously colorful and idiosyncratic director who regularly works with the same actors. Regular Anderson alums returning for Asteroid City include Jason Schwartzman, Bryan Cranston , Tilda Swinton, Jeff Goldblum , and more. Set in a 1955 desert town disrupted by otherworldly events, Asteroid City will be released on June 16. It is the 11th feature film by Anderson, who began his career with Bottle Rocket (1996), and went on to make such acclaimed films as Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), and The French Dispatch (2021). With many familiar faces returning for Asteroid City, here are the actors who have appeared in the most Anderson films. Pascal Le Segretain - Getty Images Bill Murray 9 Movies: Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, The French Dispatch With the exception of Andersons debut film Bottle Rocket, Bill Murray has appeared in every film Anderson has made to date. Though he starred as the titular oceanographer in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, most of his performances have been memorable supporting turns, from a lonely industrialist in Rushmore to a newspaper editor in The French Dispatch. However, the streak will end with Asteroid City. Murray was originally supposed to play a motel manager in the new film, but he came down with COVID-19 just four days before filming, so Steve Carell stepped into the role at the last minute. Taylor Hill - Getty Images Jason Schwartzman 8 Movies: Rushmore, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, The French Dispatch, Asteroid City Anderson had trouble finding the right actor for the eccentric and snobbish Max Fischer in Rushmore. He considered about 1,800 teens for the role, and even child actor Macaulay Culkin was in the running . An aspiring musician, Schwartzman didnt plan to become an actor, but his cousin Sofia Coppolaa film director and daughter of filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola recommended him for the part . Schwartzman joined the cast just one month before filming began, kicking off a long-standing collaboration between Anderson and the actor. Mark Davis - Getty Images Owen Wilson 7 Movies: Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch Anderson and Wilson met in college, both attending the same sophomore play-writing class at the University of Texas in Austin. They became fast friends and roommates, living in an apartment so shabby that they staged a break-in just to try to trick the landlord into making improvements. Wilson became Andersons arguably most important collaborator, not only starring in seven of his films, by co-writing the directors first three films with him: Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, and The Royal Tenenbaums. After Bottle Rocket received poor audience test screenings, Wilson considered joining the U.S. Marines , but ultimately stuck with filmmaking instead. James Devaney - Getty Images Anjelica Huston 5 Films: The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Isle of Dogs, The French Dispatch Like Schwartzman, Huston comes from a famous movie family as the daughter of legendary director Jack Huston. Anderson was a long-time fan of the actress particularly her performances in films like Prizzis Honor (1985), The Dead (1987), and The Grifters (1990) which led him to write the part of the Etheline Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenenbaums specifically for her. Jim Spellman - Getty Images Willem Dafoe 5 Films: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, The French Dispatch, Asteroid City Dafoe made his first Anderson film appearance as the German first mate Klaus Daimler in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and was drawn to Andersons deeply personal and weirdly artisanal style of filmmaking. He said of working with the director: It would go back and forth. He would take my role. I would take his role. We'd go back and forth. We'd copy each other. I'd throw him a curve ball. It's playful. CHRISTOPHE SIMON - Getty Images Adrien Brody 5 Films: The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch, Asteroid City Brodys first Anderson performance was a starring role in The Darjeeling Limited with long-time Anderson alums Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman. It felt very much like being let into a family, and it was such an intimate experience, with all of us in such an exotic place working in such a confined space, Brody said of shooting the film in India. In Asteroid City, he will portray a film director that some believed is based on Anderson himself, though Brody denies it . Samir Hussein - Getty Images Tilda Swinton 5 Films: Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, The French Dispatch, Asteroid City Anderson and Swinton first met at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival , but she didnt join his stable of regular actors until Moonrise Kingdom was released 18 years later. Anderson said during filming that Swinton isnt only playing her part, but shes a collaborator in the whole project Thats sort of a rare thing. Shes not just thinking about what shes got to do. Shes also there to enjoy the whole experience. Pacific Press - Getty Images Edward Norton 5 Films: Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, The French Dispatch, Asteroid City Norton made his Anderson debut in Moonrise Kingdom, in which he played a dedicated Scout Master who leads a summer camp for young children. Though it was their first film together, Anderson said he had corresponded with Norton regularly over the years, and he wanted him for the part because he was somebody who I thought of as a scoutmaster. He looks like he has been painted by Norman Rockwell. Other Frequent Anderson Actors Four films: Jeff Goldblum, Kumar Pallana, Fisher Stevens, Bob Balaban Three films: Frances McDormand, Luke Wilson, Harvey Keitel, Liev Schreiber, Tony Revolori Two films: Scarlet Johansson, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, Rupert Friend You Might Also Like Details of the first Republican presidential primary debate are here. The highly anticipated debate is set to take place Aug. 23 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, where the Republican National Convention will be held in 2024. Fox News, which will host the event, outlined the specifics on Tuesday. Heres what to know. Who is moderating the first Republican presidential primary debate? Fox anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will moderate the event. Baier, the networks chief political anchor and host of its 6 p.m. show, Special Report with Bret Baier," joined Fox in 1998, working for the channels Atlanta bureau. Baier is no stranger to debate coverage the anchor has moderated multiple debates between senators, including a policy-focused face-off between Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and a battle betweenSen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Baier recently went head to head with former President Donald Trump, pressing the GOP presidential front-runner over his recent indictment. MacCallum, who joined Fox in 2004, is the host of the daytime show The Story with Martha MacCallum. She co-anchored Foxs 2022 midterm election coverage and moderated a debate between Ohio Senate candidates J.D. Vance and Tim Ryan alongside Baier. We are extremely proud to have Bret and Martha moderating the first debate of the 2024 presidential election season as Americans learn more about the candidates ahead of exercising their constitutional right to vote, Fox News Media President and Executive Editor Jay Wallace said in a statement. Where can I watch the debate? The debate will be broadcast exclusively on Fox News Channel. Fox Business Network will also simulcast the entire debate, and viewers will be able to livestream the debate at FoxNews.com. Fox Nation will offer a livestream of the debate for platform subscribers, according to the network. What time is the debate? The debate will take place from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Aug. 23. Which candidates will be on the debate stage? TBD. All GOP candidates have to meet the Republican National Committees strict requirements to earn a seat on the stage come August. Anyone who wants to debate will have to garner donations from at least 40,000 national contributors and poll consistently above 1 percent in three national polls or two national polls and a state poll. Candidates will also have to secure donations with at least 200 unique donors per state or territory in 20+ states and/or territories. Those requirements may be tricky for some of the long-shot candidates. But even those who have already notched those achievements will have to comply with the RNCs most controversial requirement: a pledge to support the Republican presidential nominee, whoever that may be. Two candidates former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson have implored the RNC to waive that requirement, in light of Trumps recent federal indictment, which the pair have said make him unfit to be the partys nominee. And whether Trump himself will commit to the pledge remains to be seen. Earlier this year, he refused to say whether he would back the nominee if it wasnt him. The candidates will have until Aug. 21 48 hours before the debate to meet the criteria. Polls conducted prior to July 1 wont count toward qualification, which means candidates have just days to hit that requirement. Will there be a second debate? Its possible. With a crowded GOP field and still a possibility that it could grow the RNC said earlier this month that there could be two debates, with a second to come on Aug. 24. But Fox didnt say anything about plans for a possible day two in the announcement Tuesday. Gun violence rocks nation over holiday weekend, with multi-victim shootings in at least 7 states Pier 39 in San Francisco, popular among tourists, was the scene of a shootout Sunday. (Jeff Chiu / Asociated Press) First, it was shootings in Southern California that sent revelers scrambling, fearing for their lives over the holiday weekend. One person was killed Saturday in San Diego during a Juneteenth celebration, and at least eight were injured in gunfire at a house party in Carson. Hours later, in Madera County, a father and son were killed in two linked shootings. California's weekend of violence also included a shootout Sunday from cars traveling for a mile along San Francisco's wharf, with six injured. But the spate of violence was not confined to the Golden State, as shootings some deadly grabbed headlines in at least seven states on what was supposed to be a celebratory weekend of fathers and freedom. At least 12 people died in shootings from Friday to Sunday, from Pennsylvania to Idaho, and dozens were wounded, some critically. Read more: Mass shootings and violence leave several dead and injured across the U.S. over weekend It was a "particularly violent weekend" across the U.S., said Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist at the University of Missouri St. Louis. California is not alone." But the incidents though senseless and heartbreaking were not necessarily a sign of any specific spike in crime, he said, noting that homicides are down from last year and even more from the steep spike nationwide in 2020. While its not clear whether the nonfatal shootings are following the same pattern, it is fortunate that homicides are coming down," Rosenfeld said. However, he did note that mass shootings continue to rise. I wouldnt be too quick to suggest that what were seeing over the past weekend is a substantial spike in shootings or mass shootings generally," he said. "They have been distressingly common over the last few years." Read more: Our psychological armor helps us cope with mass shootings, but numbs us to the destruction On Sunday evening, six people were injured during a vehicular shootout that began along San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. Police Chief William Scott described it as a "car-to-car" shooting that went on for at least a mile. Two cars zoomed past tourists and sightseeing spots, firing back and forth, Scott said. Witnesses reported hearing dozens of shots, according to KGO-TV in San Francisco. The cars basically drove very recklessly and chased each other while engaged in exchange of gunfire," Scott said during a news conference near Howard Street and the Embarcadero, from where one of the cars was eventually towed. The shootout began near Stockton and Beach streets, near the famous Pier 39, about a mile north of where it ended, Scott said. Two people were shot, one of whom suffered life-threatening injuries, Scott said. It wasn't immediately clear whether either of those shot were involved in the shootout. Three others were injured in what Scott described as errant gunfire," as glass shards flew through the air. Additionally, two girls who were walking their bikes across the street were struck by the speeding cars, Scott said. The 10-year-old was taken to the hospital with injuries that were deemed not life-threatening; the 16-year-old was not hurt. "Very dangerous behavior, very dangerous driving," Scott said. "Those injuries could have been much worse. Scott said officials are working to find a second car that was involved in the shootout. He called the situation a "targeted incident." The San Francisco Chronicle reported that two people are in custody. San Francisco police did not respond to questions from The Times on Monday. Read more: Eight injured in Carson shooting; authorities searching for gunman Shootings elsewhere in the U.S. turned deadly. One, in Idaho, met the U.S. Department of Justice's definition of a mass shooting: four deaths, not including the perpetrator. "Im not certain this year is not all that different than in the recent past," Rosenfeld said. "These kinds of shootings very often occur where large crowds gather, and it's typically over the weekend." That was the case in Carson, where eight people, ranging in age from 16 to 24, were injured early Saturday in a shooting at a house party. At least two were listed in critical condition. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Lizette Falcon had no update Monday on their condition. At San Diego's Liberty Station, amid a Juneteenth event Saturday night that drew hundreds, gunfire killed one person and wounded another, according to officials. Police called it an "isolated incident" that appeared to stem from a dispute, but the gunshots sparked chaos at what was supposed to be a family-friendly event, witnesses said. Also that night, two people were killed and three were injured when a shooter fired randomly into the crowd at a Washington state campground near a venue where a music festival was taking place, police said. The shooter was among the three who were hurt. Early Sunday, near Willowbrook, Ill., outside Chicago, where hundreds had gathered at a parking lot for a Juneteenth celebration, at least 23 people were shot, one fatally. Officials said "multiple rounds from multiple weapons" were fired. About the same time in St. Louis, 11 youths ranging in age from 15 to 19 were shot at what officials described as a party, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A 17-year-old died, officials said. Read more: Mass shootings and violence leave several dead and injured across the U.S. over weekend Also early Sunday, a father and son were killed and a third person injured in Madera County in central California, in what officials described as two related shootings. A suspect who is considered armed and dangerous has been identified, authorities said, but has not been arrested. Late Sunday, in the deadliest of the shootings, law enforcement in the town of Kellogg, Idaho, responded to a multi-unit residence and found four dead. Elsewhere, six were injured Friday night in a Baltimore shooting; a man attacked a state police compound Saturday in central Pennsylvania, fatally shooting one trooper and wounding another; and five were wounded in a shooting Saturday night in Philadelphia, including a 4-year-old. The weekend seems to reinforce the findings from a recent survey that a majority of Americans have experienced gun violence. Its not just people living in urban areas. Its not just one type of person. It was really large shares of people in all kinds of different demographic groups, said Liz Hamel, vice president and director of public opinion and survey research with the Kaiser Family Foundation, which conducted the poll. She said the weekend's shootings reinforce the need to treat gun violence in America as a public health issue. It is hard to ignore that it is a health issue when you look at things like guns being the leading cause of death for children in this country," Hamel said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California, your daily guide to news, views and life in the Golden State. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. handcuffs stock Haines City Police officials announced they have arrested the suspected gunman in a fatal shooting that happened in the 1000th block of Avenue N. Sunday afternoon. Through a collaborative effort with Polk County Sheriffs Office, Haines City Police arrested 22-year-old Kristavion Jacoi Harris, the man involved in a fatal shooting on Sunday, a news release from the Haines City police department stated. Harris was taken into custody at the Polk County Sheriffs Central District Office in Winter Haven. Also: Lakeland resident wants city to recognize golf's role in the city's development Restaurant inspections: 13 Polk restaurants log perfect inspections. 19 are warned, only 2 for insect activity Police say Harris, of Haines City, was captured Monday night after responding to a disturbance that occurred Sunday around 3:30 p.m. According to eyewitness reports, there was a social gathering at a residence in the area. While a group of men were playing chess, Harris, whose alias is Pooh Bear, walked up to the residence and began arguing with 24-year-old Naquan Elijah Swift, according to the release. During the argument, Harris pulled out a firearm and began shooting. Swift was shot multiple times and a 46-year-old bystander was also injured. Both victims were treated at a local hospital, according to the release. However, despite life-saving efforts on scene as well as at the hospital, the Swift died from his injuries. The second victim, who police has not named, is reportedly listed in stable condition at an area hospital. While police are still investigating the circumstances that led to the shooting, Harris is charged with the following: One count of second degree murder with a weapon One county of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon One count of use or display of a firearm during a felony offense We couldnt have arrested Harris so quickly without the communitys support, said Haines City Police Chief Greg Goreck said. This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Haines City homicide suspect in custody Hamish Harding, the billionaire on board the Titanic submersible, is a serial explorer who also went to space on a Blue Origin flight Hamish Harding shown here being presented with a Blue Origin pin as he emerges from his flight to space. Blue Origin A British billionaire on board the missing Titanic submersible is a noted explorer. Hamish Harding previously flew to space on a Blue Origin flight and has broken several records. The submersible that took tourists to visit the Titanic shipwreck went missing on Sunday. June 26, 2023: This story was originally published June 20. Since then, the search-and-rescue team seeking the Titan has concluded the passengers on board, including Hamish Harding, most likely died after a catastrophic implosion of the submersible. A British billionaire on board a missing submersible that was headed to the Titanic wreckage was a noted explorer who flew to space last year on a Blue Origin flight. Hamish Harding is one of five passengers on the Titan submersible that was visiting the Titanic wreckage when it lost communication with its mother ship on Sunday. On Thursday, OceanGate the company behind the Titanic submersible confirmed that Harding and the four other passengers were believed to be dead. Debris of the submersible was found near the Titanic wreck, and the Coast Guard said it was "consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber." A search mission was underway to recover the lost ship. During the rescue operation, it was believed that the crew in the submersible could run out of oxygen by Thursday afternoon if the vessel is still intact. Harding, 58, is no stranger to tourism of the extreme. He's part of a select group of space tourists who have paid privately to join missions in orbit. Last year, he flew 66.5 miles above Earth on Blue Origin's New Shepherd rocket during a 10-minute suborbital flight. You can see Harding's journey to space here: Harding also holds three Guinness World Records for achievements including the longest time spent navigating the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean, and the fastest flight going all the way around the globe, crossing both poles. He was also part of two record-breaking missions to the South Pole, the first joining astronaut Buzz Aldrin who became the oldest person to reach the pole in 2016, and one where his 12-year-old son, Giles Harding, became the youngest to reach the pole, per Forbes. He is also a skydiver and is a trustee of the Explorers Club, per The Guardian. "Can't believe it's been that long already but absolutely can't wait for our next mission/journey/adventure! #OneMoreRecord," said Harding in a tweet five months after his deep dive in the Mariana Trench in August 2021. Hamish Harding, second from the right, and his NS-21 crewmates, posing ahead of their Blue Origin suborbital flight. Blue Origin Harding, a plane pilot who made his money in aircraft sales, announced on Instagram Sunday he would be joining the OceanGate expedition onboard the Titan submersible as their mission specialist. He added that due to "the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years," this mission would likely be the only one to the Titanic in 2023. Harding has been widely reported to be a billionaire, though his exact net worth is unknown, per Forbes. Harding's stepson, Brian Szasz, confirmed his disappearance via posts on his Facebook and Twitter accounts. "Hamish my stepdad is lost in a submarine thoughts and prayers that the rescue mission will be successful," Szasz said in his Facebook post on Monday. Correction: June 26, 2023 An earlier version of this story misstated the number of Guinness World Records held by Hamish Harding. Harding held three Guinness World Records, not "at least four." Read the original article on Insider New Hampshire state senator accused of slapping, spitting on employee of restaurant he owns A New Hampshire state senator is facing charges after police say he slapped and spit on an employee of a restaurant that he owns earlier this year. Keith Murphy, 47, is charged with two counts of simple assault and one count of criminal threatening in connection with an altercation at Murphys Taproom on Elm Street in Manchester, according to the Manchester Police Department. Murphy, a Republican representing New Hampshires District 16, surrendered to police on Monday after he was identified as a suspect in the alleged assault. Officers responding to a report of an argument involving a worker at the Elm Street eatery on April 30 learned Murphy had slapped and spit on one of his employees, according to police. He also allegedly picked up a chair and acted in an aggressive manner. In a statement, Murphy said, I am innocent of these charges and I look forward to my day in court. When the facts are known it will be clear that the police have charged the victim in this case. I will be defending my name, reputation, and business through the legal process. In addition to the Manchester location, Murphy owns a second taproom in Bedford, New Hampshire. Murphy has since been released on personal recognizance. He is due to appear in court on July 24. An investigation remains ongoing. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Hardly anyone has been rescued from a submarine or submersible. None of them were remotely as deep as the Titanic. A crew member aboard a P-3C Orion anti-submarine and maritime surveillance plane of the German Navy scans over the Baltic Sea on May 16, 2023. Sean Gallup/Getty Images A rescue effort is underway after a submersible exploring the Titanic wreck went missing on Sunday. The Titan submersible is carrying five people and could run out of oxygen by Thursday afternoon. History shows that hardly anyone has been rescued from a submarine or submersible. Rescuers are racing against time to locate the Titan submersible, which went missing while on a dive mission to the Titanic shipwreck on Sunday morning. The vessel carrying five people lost contact with its support ship, the Polar Prince, one hour and 45 minutes into its descent off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The crew's chances of survival are low, experts have predicted. The deteriorating two-piece wreckage of the infamous Titanic liner is located off the southeast coast of Newfoundland, at a depth of around 12,500 feet. Historically, there have not been many successful rescues from sunken submarines or submersibles, according to a NewsNation report. And rescue missions that have been successful were not remotely as deep. The Russian AS-28 One of the latest submarine disasters that was averted was in August 2005, when a Russian AS-28 submarine became tangled in a fishing net during a military exercise off the far eastern Kamchatka peninsula. The seven Russian submariners were trapped 625 feet down on the Pacific Ocean floor, with a rapidly diminishing air supply. But rescue teams from the US and UK were later able to free the vessel, with four to six hours of air remaining. Royal Navy HMS K13 The Royal Navy HMS K13 submarine was on a training mission in Gareloch, Scotland in 1917 when one of the boiler rooms flooded. That meant the submarine was unable to level out at 20 feet, and it was dragged underwater. Some members of the crew, who were able to lock themselves in a room of the vessel, were trapped for around 57 hours before rescuers were able to attach an airline to the ballasts and inflate them to bring the submarine back to the surface. Of the 80 people on board, only 48 made it. USS Squalus SS Falcon crewmen suiting up two Navy divers during the rescue operation following the sinking of the USS Squalus, May 24, 1939. I Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images A submarine called USS Squalus sank off the coast of New Hampshire during multiple test dives in 1939. An air valve in the engine room failed, which flooded the compartment and made the vessel sink under 240 feet of water. The rescue team responded quickly and was able to get out the surviving 32 crew members and one civilian from the forward sections of the vessel on the following day. The Pisces III The deepest sub rescue in history was that of former Navy pilots Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman in September 1973, according to the BBC. The men used a small submersible, called Pisces III, to lay transatlantic telephone cables on the seabed of the Celtic Seat. But when a hatch broke off the aft compartment, the vessel plunged to a depth of 1,575 feet. Over two days, rescue teams worked to bring the vessel to the surface. The men had only 12 minutes of oxygen left when they were finally rescued. Roger Mallinson (second from left) and Roger Chapman (third from left) watch as a bottle of champagne is opened after their rescue from the Atlantic seabed, where they had been trapped for over 70 hours in the damaged miniature submarine, Pisces III. PA Images via Getty Images But the Titanic where Titan was traveling to on Sunday morning lies much deeper than the Pisces III ever went at 12,500 feet. The Titan crew only has between 70 and 96 hours of emergency oxygen left, the US Coast Guard estimated on Monday afternoon. Those estimates mean the oxygen in the submersible will likely last until Thursday afternoon on Eastern Standard Time at the latest. The dive of the Titan submersible, owned by OceanGate Expeditions, usually takes about eight hours, which includes the descent and ascent, according to its website. It weighs around 23,000 lbs and can go down to a depth of around 13,100 feet, the website added. It is unclear what happened to the submersible and how close to the Titanic it was when it went missing. Titan is also a submersible, not a submarine, which means that it is launched from a support ship similar to how a boat deposits a scuba diver into an area of the ocean to explore. A submarine, on the other hand, can launch itself into the ocean independently, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Read the original article on Insider Like a majority of the characters he portrays on the big screen, superstar Harrison Ford has a normally gruff exterior and moments of raw and pure emotion are few and far between. But during an interview with BBC Radio 1 to promote his latest film in the Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Han Solo himself seemed to be on the verge of tears as he spoke about one of his most beloved characters. After host Ali Plumb asked why Ford believes the films have been so successful, the actor broke it down for him. So I think I made Harrison Ford cry (a bit) He certainly made me cry, I'll be honest with you pic.twitter.com/DCRIqWLv83 Ali Plumb (@AliPlumb) June 19, 2023 In addition to giving props to the screenwriters and directors, Ford spoke emotionally about the actors who surrounded him, including the late Sean Connery, and his voice started cracking with raw emotion. The films are peopled with some of the most amazing actors and characters and the stories are so compelling, and they mix adventure and humor and heart, Ford noted. But I think the thing that I most admire about them is the depth and subtlety of the emotion, and the importance of emotion in these films. As this last one concerns age and frailty and changing nature of life, it was especially compelling to me because I am of that age and I wanted it to feel real for the audience. I wanted them to see the complexity of that experience with someone theyve spent 40 years with. Directed by James Mangold, the movie is the fifth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise and serves as a sequel to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, Karen Allen, and Mads Mikkelsen and premieres on June 30. Watch 12-year-old belt out Lady Gaga song, flooring Americas Got Talent judges A new Beatles song featuring John Lennon vocals? AI tune about to drop, McCartney hints In this photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, is an eruption taking place on the summit of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii, on Friday, June 16, 2023. The eruption that began nearly two weeks ago has come to a pause, scientists said. Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, began erupting on June 7 after a three-month pause, displaying fountains of glowing red lava without threatening any communities or structures. (U.S. Geological Survey via AP) HONOLULU (AP) The nearly two-week eruption of a Hawaii volcano, one of the most active in the world, has come to a pause, scientists said. After a three-month hiatus, Kilauea began erupting again June 7 displaying fountains of glowing red lava without threatening any communities or structures. Crowds of people flocked to the Big Island's Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which offered safe views of the lava. Scientists declared the eruption paused again Monday when it rapidly declined in the afternoon, the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said. Still, some lava continues to flow on the crater floor, which may continue for days as the lava cools, the observatory said, adding that scientists will continue to monitor the volcano. On Tuesday afternoon, only small, faint pockets of red could be seen on the USGS livestream that showed bright bursts of lava on the eruption's first day. The previous night, park rangers could still see lava through cracks on the hardened surface of the lava lake, which provided still pretty good viewing, said Jessica Ferracane, park spokesperson. Park visitation still robust, she said in an email, adding that the parking lot was full Tuesday at the Kilauea Visitor Center. Kilauea, Hawaiis second largest volcano, erupted from September 2021 until last December. For about two weeks in December, Hawaiis biggest volcano, Mauna Loa, was also erupting on Hawaiis Big Island. After a short pause, Kilauea began erupting again in January. That eruption lasted for 61 days, ending in March. A 2018 Kilauea eruption destroyed more than 700 homes. Healey to make first international trip as Mass. governor to Ireland next week Gov. Maura Healey will make her first international trip as governor to Ireland next week to address the Irish Senate on the 30th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in that country. Healey was invited by U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin, Cathaoirleach Jerry Buttimer and the JFK Library Foundation, the governor said in a statement Tuesday. Her visit also coincides with the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedys state visit to Ireland, which launched a new era of economic and cultural partnership between the United States and Ireland, particularly around trade and investment, the statement said. Governor will also host series of business roundtables with Irish leaders of key industries such as technology and clean energy. As the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of Irish immigrants and the first openly LGBTQ+ Governor of Massachusetts, Im honored to have been invited to address Seanad Eireann about the importance of developing our economic ties, standing up for our values and protecting the rights of everyone in our communities, said Healey. Im excited to meet with Irelands renowned business, technology, clean energy and education leaders to share with them all that Massachusetts has to offer from our world-class education and research institutions to our cutting-edge biotechnology and clean energy sectors to our commitment to protecting civil rights and freedom and why they should expand their activities here. Cronin, a former Massachusetts legislator and Brockton native, said in a statement that she is delighted to welcome the governor to Ireland. She will mark an historic occasion in Irelands civil rights journey, celebrate 60 years since the visit of President John F Kennedy, and build upon the strong and growing trade relationship between the U.S. and Ireland, Cronin said. Healey will leave for her trip on the evening of June 25 and arrive in The governor will depart Massachusetts on Sunday evening, June 25, and arrive in Dublin on Monday morning, June 26. She will then depart Dublin on the morning of Friday, June 30. Lt. Gov. Kimberley Driscoll will serve as acting governor from June 25 to June 30. 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 WASHINGTON President Joe Biden and congressional leaders will roll out the red carpet for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, as the right-wing Hindu nationalist leader arrives for an official state visit to the United States. Modi will address a joint session of Congress and will be feted at a White House state dinner a diplomatic honor usually reserved for close allies. On Sunday, many Indian Americans took to the streets in major cities across the country for an "India Unity Day" march to welcome Modi to the U.S. The marches, organized by the American overseas arm of Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, were a show of support for the controversial Indian leader who has faced criticism for presiding over human rights violations, an erosion of the country's democracy, and a crackdown in Indian-controlled Kashmir. That Democrats and Republicans alike are honoring Modi this week demonstrates the White House and Congress are willing to overlook his right-wing populist agenda in the pursuit of a strategically important relationship that will allow the U.S. to counter China's influence. President Joe Biden greets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks on prior to a group photo on the second day of the G-7 summit at Schloss Elmau on June 27, 2022 near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Why the U.S. relationship with India is 'strategically important' Meanwhile, Modi's political allies in Washington stepped up their lobbying efforts with members of Congress and the Biden administration ahead of his official state visit this week. Sanjay Puri, the chairman and founder of the bipartisan U.S.-India Political Action Committee (USINPAC), said that in their lobbying efforts, the group has sought to underscore that India is "the only democracy in that region" and emphasize that the rise of China resulted in the U.S.-India partnership becoming a "strategically important relationship." "That's been our push," Puri said of the group's discussions with lawmakers ahead of Modi's visit. "It has resulted in, obviously, the [congressional] leadership asking him to come in and speak and also President Biden inviting him for a state dinner as well as several other activities around that." In addition to combatting American criticism of the Indian government's human rights record, the welcome marches likely also sought to enhance Modi's political image at home ahead of a general election next year, according to Gautam Nair, a professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. "This visit actually should buttress his domestic political standing," Nair, who was born and raised in India, said. "And these rallies sort of suggest, or help foster an image, that he is an international leader of stature as well." Mukesh Aghi, president of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum, said the "the Indian diaspora is quite excited about what Modi is doing, excited about the direction of the country, and feel proud of their heritage." Countering China Modi's visit also comes just days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with senior Chinese officials in Beijing over the weekend, a bid to improve relations between the two superpowers after months of heightened tensions. Washington has increasingly looked to forge closer ties with New Delhi to counter China's rising political and economic influence. Nair said he believes the rationale for giving Modi the star treatment during his visit to the United States is "quite clear." "This extra effort is because traditionally India has been wary of forging formal alliances with great powers," Nair said. "This is reflected in the fact that on the one hand, defense ties, diplomatic ties, economic ties are deepening with the United States, and at the same time China is a huge trading partner for India." Aghi said he expects Modi's visit to yield a deal that will allow General Electric to manufacture jet engines in India for the country's military aircrafts, in addition to fostering discussions on healthcare and artificial intelligence between the two countries. "I think what we're seeing is a much more deeper collaboration on technology, investments, and defense," Aghi said. How this U.S.-India partnership could be one of the most significant in a century Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who serves as a co-chair of the U.S.-India congressional caucus, told USA TODAY he believes the "U.S.-India partnership will be one of the most significant of this century." "We will be working to strengthen the technology and defense relationship and to promote scientific research and cooperation on climate change initiatives," Khanna said. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate and the daughter of Indian immigrants, said she also welcomed the decision to invite Modi for an official state visit. "India is a critically important country in the Indo-Pacific region and a natural ally of America with so many shared values and interests," Haley told USA TODAY. "It is entirely appropriate that Prime Minister Modi should address Congress and be celebrated at the White House." Biden and American political leaders, however, have faced criticism for giving Modi the official state visit treatment without putting a stronger focus on the rollback of press freedoms in India and his government's treatment of minority Muslims and Christians. "The relationship must be grounded on a respect for pluralism, an open internet, human rights and liberal democracy," Khanna said. Why it matters: Secretary Blinken visits Beijing as tensions grow between U.S. and China This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why India PM Modi's state visit to US is 'strategically important' Noon Friday, June 23, is the deadline to appear in next weeks Around Town listing. We must receive your event in writing with a contact phone number for questions. Submissions will be edited and appear in the week before the event date. Email: lifestyle@bnd.com. Mail to: Highland Around Town, Belleville News-Democrat, P.O. Box 427, Belleville, IL 62222-0427. Questions, call Jennifer Green at 618-239-2643. Wednesday, June 21 National Alliance on Mental Illness: NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group 6:30-8 p.m. Online via Zoom. Free peer-to-peer support group for adults with a mental health condition working towards recovery. Every Wednesday. Open the Zoom app and enter 3914844542. For information: kelly.nami.swi@gmail.com or 618-798-9788. Thursday, June 22 Highland Garden Club Meeting 6:30 p.m. Glik Park, Highland. Molly Clayton from Mollys Succulents and Ceramics will present the program. Star viewing on the parking lot after the meeting. Bring a lawn chair. Visitors are always welcome. National Alliance on Mental Illness: Family Support Group 7-8:30 p.m. Online via Zoom. The Family Support Meetings are for family members, significant others, and/or friends of persons with a mental health condition. Fourth Thursday of every month. Facilitators: Pat Rudloff and Beverly Churchill. For information: kelly.nami.swi@gmail.com or 618-798-9788. Thursday, June 22 thru Sunday, June 25 St. Louis Pen Show 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, June 22 (trader day), 11 a.m .to 7 p.m. Friday, June 23, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 24, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, June 25. Sheraton Westport Lakeside Chalet Versailles Ballroom, 191 W. Port Plaza Drive, St. Louis. Modern and vintage pens, notebooks, paper, ink, accessories, door prizes, classes, auction and much more. stlpenshow.com Hard Road Theatre Productions presents Disneys Finding Nemo Jr. 7 p.m. Thursday, June 22-Saturday, June 24, and 2 p.m. Sunday, June 25. Highland Upper Elementary School, 1600 Lindenthal Ave., Highland. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday. For tickets and info: hardroad.org. Friday, June 23 Aviston Legion Fish Fry 4:30-7 p.m. American Legion Post 1239, 601 S. Clinton, Aviston. Cod (baked or fried), catfish, shrimp, hush puppies, chicken strips, fries, baked potato, slaw, applesauce. Dine-in and carryout. 618-228-7311 or avistonlegion.com. Friday, June 23 & Saturday, June 24 St. Andrews Summer Book Fair 3-8 p.m. (by appointment only) Friday, June 23 and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 24. St. Andrews Episcopal Church, 406 Hillsboro Ave., Edwardsville. Reservations are required on Friday and limited to 35 per half hour. Visit the St. Andrews Episcopal Church website or the St. Andrews Book Fair Facebook page for more information. Those without computer access can call 618-692-8104 to make a Friday reservation. No reservations are required for Saturday. Cash or check only. Dealers are welcome; no early sales allowed. standrews-edwardsville.com 2023 Garden Tour 4-8 p.m. Friday, June 23, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 24. Maryville and Glen Carbon areas. Tour eight beautiful gardens in the Maryville-Glen Carbon area. Tickets are $13 and can be purchased at Joes Market Basket in Edwardsville and Troy Creekside Nursery in Collinsville. Children 10 and under are free. Rain or shine. Sponsored by Madison County Extension Education Foundation. 618-344-4230 or event.gives/madcogardentour23. Tuesday, June 27 Highland Farmers Market 4-8 p.m. Highland Square, 914 Main St., Highland. Local farmers, cottage food makers, and crafters will be present to sell a variety of produce, meats, desserts and more. Each Tuesday morning a map will be posted on the Highland Parks and Recreation Facebook page showing what vendors will be present. Parents of Addicted Loved Ones 7-8:30 p.m. Online via Zoom. The PAL group provides education, support and hope to family members and loved ones of someone who has an addiction of substance use disorder. Free and open to all. For info or to join the Zoom meeting, contact Craig at 618-567-6095. palgroup.org * * * Pictured left to right: Highland High School graduates Raeghan Henrichs and Addison Crask were recently named the recipients of a $2,000 scholarship each from HSHS St. Josephs Hospital Highland Auxiliary. HSHS St. Josephs Hospital Highland Auxiliary awards $4,000 in scholarships to area students HSHS St. Josephs Hospital Highland Auxiliary scholarship committee recently awarded two $2,000 scholarships to area students through the annual HSHS St. Josephs Auxiliary Scholarship program. Both recipients are Highland High School graduates and Highland residents who have been accepted into their colleges medical program. The recipients are: Addison Crask: She plans to attend Miami University in Oxford, Ohio to earn a Bachelor of Science in pediatric nursing. Raeghan Henrichs: She will be attending McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois with plans to become an occupational therapist. Chosen from a field of outstanding applicants, each has been awarded a $2,000 college scholarship. The funds are sent directly to the school the winner is attending to be used toward tuition, fees and books. The scholarship award is made based on several guidelines including academic merit, community involvement, volunteerism, personal statement, and letter of acceptance into a medical program at an accredited institution. The St. Josephs Auxiliary scholarship committee is proud to offer these scholarships to support the educational goals of local students and to continue to grow the health care professionals of the future for this region. The committee expresses their gratitude to the Auxiliary members who have helped with various fundraisers which allows the organization to continue to fund the scholarship awards. For more information regarding Auxiliary activities and opportunities, contact Rebecca Niemerg, coordinator of mission integration and spiritual care, at rebecca.niemerg@hshs.org. You can also download an Auxiliary application or learn more about the Auxiliary volunteers by visiting hshs.org/st-josephs-highland/community/volunteer. The United States military wrapped up its largest annual joint exercise in Africa on Friday, one marked by a few firsts for the continent-wide drill, according to U.S. Army Southern European Task Force. African Lion 2023 was hosted by four African countries and included more than 8,000 personnel. Seventeen countries and numerous NATO partners participated in the month-long exercise, which was carried out between May 13 and June 16 in Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia and Ghana. Our collective ability to bring like-minded nations together for an exercise like this is truly impressive, Maj. Gen. Joel Tyler, U.S. Africa Command chief of staff, said in a statement. African Lion is the centerpiece of the AFRICOM exercise strategy, and one of the greatest U.S. exercises across the globe. Among a number of firsts during the annual drill, the Marine Corps fired High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, for the first time on African soil. HIMARS munitions have gained notoriety in the wake of Russias February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Since January, the U.S. has sent at least 20 such systems to Ukraine. The weapons shipments have come amid continued concerns over operations by Russias mercenary Wagner Group, which is currently operating across Africa, specifically in the Central African Republic, Libya and Sudan. This years exercise concluded as the U.S. is also working to counter Chinas growing influence in the region. While the Chinese military already operates in Djibouti, there is concern that another base on the continent could soon be in development. During a House Armed Service Committee hearing last year, then-AFRICOM commander Army Gen. Stephen Townsend expressed concern that the Chinese government might make a play to build a base in western Africa. Beijing had already made significant progress in Equatorial Guinea, Townsend said during the hearing. In another first, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox visited the African Lion exercise for the first time, according to U.S. Army Southern European Task Force. Morocco and the Utah National Guard celebrated 20 years participating in the State Departments State Partnership Program, which is meant to strengthen military relationships between the U.S. and other countries. Over the years, what Ive seen is that relationship [with Morocco] has continued to grow, Maj. Jared Sorensen of the Utah National Guard told Military Times. So, when we fire artillery out here, it takes a lot of trust, and so that friendship grows really quickly. ... And just in the last two weeks that weve been out here, Ive seen guys make really good friendships and strong connections with our Moroccan counterparts. African Lion was also joined by its first multi-domain task-force element, personnel spread across cyberspace, intelligence, electronic warfare and space domains. The 2nd Multi-Domain Task Force provides those services to U.S. Army Europe and Africa, according to the 2nd MDTFs website. Beyond the Utah Guards relationship with Morocco and the shipment of HIMARS munitions, the U.S. has continued efforts to strengthen ties with militaries on the continent. Numerous African countries have hosted the U.S. 2nd Security Force Assistance Brigade a smaller unit meant to train foreign militaries to train alongside partner forces. The 2nd SFAB has trained militaries in Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Somalia, Djibouti, Botswana and Zambia. In Ghana, U.S. forces assisted with establishing a school that prepared soldiers for U.N. peacekeeping missions. U.S. forces continue to have some 700 boots on the ground in advisory and training roles in Somalia, where the federal government is continuing its fight against the extremist group al-Shabab. Te sun rises behind a ridge of trees September near Missoula, Montana (CHIP SOMODEVILLA) A landmark US climate trial involving 16 young people who accuse Montana of violating their rights to a "clean and healthful environment" is expected to conclude on Tuesday, an organization representing the plaintiffs said. The case, Held v. Montana, is being closely watched as it could bolster similar proceedings across the country, with most previous suits dismissed before being heard. It is the first involving a constitutional claim against a state, and represents a rare instance in which climate experts have been questioned on the witness stand. Our Children's Trust, one of three organizations representing the youths, said "the state is expected to rest their case in the morning, followed by closing arguments." The trial began on June 12 and was set to run until June 23, but Montana declined to call to the stand its single climate science witness, Judith Curry, its only mental health witness, and others. Curry is known in the scientific community as a climate contrarian, who has called into question the accuracy of climate forecast models. The 16 youths, ranging in age up to 22, have said they have been harmed by the "dangerous impacts of fossil fuels and the climate crisis," with children "uniquely vulnerable" to its worsening impacts. At the heart of the case is a provision within the fossil fuel friendly state's constitution that says: "The state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations." The plaintiffs are not seeking financial compensation, but rather a declaration that their rights are being violated. Specifically, they are challenging the constitutionality of a provision in the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), which prohibits government agencies from considering climate impacts when reviewing permitting applications from fossil fuel interests. The trial saw emotive testimony from the plaintiffs about how they had been directly impacted by climate change. Lead plaintiff Rikki Held, whose family run a ranch in Montana, told the court in at times emotional testimony that their livelihoods and wellbeing had been increasingly impacted by wildfires, extreme temperatures and drought. The state is also experiencing loss of biodiversity and the rapid melting of its iconic glaciers in Glacier National Park. Michael Gerrard, founder of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, told AFP: "I thought that the testimony was very effective. The young people did a terrific job as did their lawyers." "If it's successful, it may inspire more cases, but of course, it's most likely to be in states that have environmental rights in their constitutions, and there are only about half a dozen of those." The defense's response has focused on questioning both climate science, as well as Montana's specific contribution to a global problem. Montana releases around 166 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually -- equivalent to the countries of Argentina, the Netherlands, or Pakistan. ia/dw FILE - Vanderbilt University Medical Center stands in Nashville, Tenn., July 16, 2013. The medical center has turned over medical records for transgender patients to the Tennessee attorney general's team in what his office confirmed is an investigation into potential medical billing fraud. A Vanderbilt University Medical Center spokesperson confirmed to The Tennessean on Tuesday, June 30, 2023, that the hospital provided the records to Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti's office. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Vanderbilt University Medical Center has turned over medical records for transgender patients to the Tennessee attorney general's team in what his office confirmed is an investigation into potential medical billing fraud. A Vanderbilt University Medical Center spokesperson confirmed to The Tennessean on Tuesday that the hospital provided the records to Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti's office. In a state that has moved to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth, the revelation that their records were handed over to the state spurred fear for some families despite assurances from the attorney generals office that the records would remain confidential and that patients arent the target of the investigation. The state ban doesn't take effect until July 1, and it is being challenged in federal court by the U.S. Department of Justice and others. Vanderbilt University Medical Center spokesperson John Howser said the attorney general's office requested information about transgender care at VUMC. "The Tennessee Attorney General has legal authority in an investigation to require that VUMC provide complete copies of patient medical records that are relevant to its investigation. VUMC was obligated to comply and did so, Howser said in a statement. Brandon Smith, the attorney general's chief of staff, told The Tennessean that the office maintains patient records in the strictest confidence, as required by law and that the investigation is focused solely on VUMC and certain related providers, not patients. He said the office has been investigating potential medical billing fraud by the hospital and related providers since September 2022. The hospital began providing patient records to the office in December 2022, Smith said. The attorney general can request patient health records under federal and state law if the office is investigating a possible issue at the hospital, Paul Hales, a St. Louis-based attorney who specializes in health information privacy, told the newspaper. Chris Sanders, executive director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group named the Tennessee Equality Project, told The Tennessean three different parents of transgender children contacted him Monday after Vanderbilt informed them about the release of the records to the attorney general. Theyre terrified, he told the newspaper. They dont know whats next, they dont know how this will be used or whether they will be targeted in some way. They feel like their privacy has been violated. On Tuesday, Smith, the attorney generals chief of staff, said Vanderbilt had deliberately chosen to frighten its patients about providing the records. Smith said the office does not publicize fraud investigations to preserve the integrity of the investigative process. Tennessee in particular has been caught in the center of the conflict over transgender youth medical care ever since video surfaced on social media last year of a Nashville doctor touting that gender-affirming procedures are huge money makers for hospitals. Vanderbilt paused all gender-affirming surgeries for minors afterward. The video prompted calls by Tennessees Republican leaders for an investigation into Vanderbilt. At the time, none of the politicians could point to a specific law that the hospital had violated. The private nonprofit hospital said it had provided only a handful of gender-affirming surgeries to minors over the years, but has put a temporary pause on the procedures to review its policies. On average, Vanderbilt has said it provided five gender-affirming surgeries to minors every year since its transgender clinic opened in 2018. All were over the age of 16 and had parental consent, and none received genital procedures. Meanwhile, Tennessee's new ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth will take effect in less than two weeks, barring action by a judge. The law prohibits doctors from providing gender-affirming care to anyone under the age of 18, including prescribing puberty blockers and hormones. It allows doctors to perform these medical services if the patients care had begun prior to July 1. However, that care must end by March 31, 2024. At least 19 other states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors, and federal judges have temporarily blocked similar bans in Alabama and Indiana, while permanently blocking a ban in Arkansas. Three states have banned or restricted the care through regulations or administrative orders. Burc Akyol at work in his home / workshop (Geoffroy Van der Hasselt) While the fashion world braced for the celeb juggernaut of Pharrell Williams's first show in Paris on Tuesday, a young designer was making his own modest splash with a debut below his own home. Burc Akyol might not yet have the means to shut down the oldest bridge in Paris like Williams was doing for his Louis Vuitton show, but for fashionistas in the know, he is just as exciting a proposition. The 34-year-old's first show as part of the official Paris Fashion Week roster continued his unique blend of Eastern and Western styles that has already seduced the likes of Cate Blanchett and Cardi B -- both of whom have worn his daring dress featuring two silver hands cupping their breasts. "We're not Vuitton, but it doesn't matter, maybe we will be one day," Akyol told AFP as he put the final touches to the show. For now, his Paris apartment doubles as his workshop, with a bedroom cluttered with designs. His show took place, as did his previous ones, in the courtyard of his building in the 8th district of Paris. "I find it important to bring my guests to my house, it's very homespun," he said. "We manage to make magic out of very little," he added. - 'Sovereignty over bodies' - One of his flagship dresses is an "all black, very simple lace," he said as an example. "We just inserted gold threads into it to be able to make it something special and give it a second life." Transparent with an integrated thong, it is worn by a model with curves that remain rare on the catwalk, especially for this kind of chic and sexy silhouette. He also returned to the "burqa" look that he has introduced in the past seasons. A play on his name, it is also a statement about women's rights, and features a transparent veil that covers the body from head to toe with tights as the only piece underneath. Last season, he made a skirt out of hair as a way of referencing the women-led protests in Iran against enforced headscarves. "I have sisters, I want them to have a fulfilled sex life, to be feminine, I want them to have sovereignty over their bodies," Akyol told AFP. A fan of revealing slits and transparencies in his clothes, Akyol hates designs that are "in denial of the body". Like many of his generation, he sees gender divisions in clothing as pointless and his collection is for both sexes. He chose to present during menswear week because it is currently getting more attention, and is better timed for sales. Very thin, he often wore women's trousers himself as a teenager and he now tries all the prototypes himself, including the bras. "Clothing has no gender," he said. - 'Desire for beauty' - Austere and sexy, Akyol's outfits reflect his mixed identity. "I was born in France to Turkish parents. When I was outside my parents' apartment, I became French... and when I was home, I ate and lived like a Turk." The son of a tailor, he grew up in public housing in Dreux, an hour outside Paris, with "many immigrants". "We had a desire for beauty," he said. He learned to sew at home where the whole family "patched clothes on Saturday nights while watching TV." Though he grew his passion watching fashion shows on TV, he is happy things have moved online, which is more favourable to emerging talents. "We're no longer forced to depend on the big media," he said. neo/er/bp House Republicans want to stop the Pentagon from releasing the service record summaries of members of the U.S. military to the public. Using the House Appropriations Committees annual defense spending bill, lawmakers have included a provision that would prohibit any funds from being used to release personal information about current and former service members without their consent. The passage, if adopted, would greatly hamper media outlets and some employers from verifying an individuals military service. The issue has come up in past election cycles when candidates have been found to have misrepresented their military credentials. NBC News was the first to report on the provision. Currently, the Defense Department (DOD) typically releases the full name of an individual and where theyre from, as well as rank, past and present duty assignments, any awards and decorations they may have earned, whether they attended a professional military school, current duty status, whether they separated from service and when, and an official photo. DOD regulation stipulates such information normally may be disclosed without a clearly unwarranted invasion of their personal privacy. But House lawmakers want to shut down that disclosure to all but federal agencies or employees, state or local law enforcement agencies. Under the proposed bill, it would be illegal for the military to release information to a member of the public, journalist or some employers regarding a current or former service member without their consent or, if the member or former member is deceased, the consent of their next of kin. If those barred individuals do want to know someones military history, they would have to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the service branch in which the person currently or previously served. But that process is well known to be backlogged, with months or even years before a request is fulfilled. The provision may not make it into the final spending bill to be worked out between the House and Senate before heading to President Biden for his signature. Should the language become law, however, it would likely severely hamper the publics ability to verify whether someone has earned medals and awards, where they served, their job within the service, what rank they rose to or whether they were even in the military at any point. The issue came up last year, when J.R. Majewski, an Air Force veteran and pro-Trump Republican, lost out on an Ohio congressional seat after reports suggested he lied about serving in Afghanistan as no military records reflected such a deployment. Also last year Democrat Clyde Shavers, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and Washington state legislative candidate, was accused by his own father of exaggerating his military service record after he claimed to have been a nuclear submarine officer, despite only having been commissioned to a submarine. Shavers ended up winning his race. But Republican lawmakers may instead be focused on the recent cases in which the Pentagon made an error in releasing the private information of two GOP politicians who are veterans. During the 2022 midterm election campaigns, the Air Force mistakenly released the personal records of Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a retired brigadier general, and Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa), a former officer, without their consent. A person with ties to the Democratic Party had requested Bacons and Nunns records, NBC reported. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. House Republicans are lambasting the plea deal between the Justice Department and Hunter Biden as proof of a federal law enforcement double standard and warning it wont derail their months-long investigation into the president and his family. As part of an agreement filed in federal court in Delaware on Tuesday, Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges. Hes also being charged with possessing a firearm while being a user of illegal drugs, a felony, but will have the charge dismissed if he completes a two-year probationary period. The charges, which are the culmination of a years-long federal investigation into the presidents son, immediately sparked accusations of a double standard by House Republicans, who are conducting a far-reaching investigation into the business deals of Hunter Biden and other family members as they hunt for an elusive link to Joe Biden. No evidence has emerged that the then-vice presidents actions were influenced by his familys business agreements. Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) on Tuesday quickly vowed to push forward with his months-long investigation, accusing the Justice Department of cutting a sweetheart deal that would have no impact on his investigation. He said he and Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) would meet Tuesday night to discuss their options moving forward. Our investigation is ongoing. Ive said from day one: This is an investigation of Joe Biden. So what happened today really doesnt matter, Comer said. Speaker Kevin McCarthy, speaking to reporters Tuesday, called the deal an example of the two-tier system of justice, but one that does nothing to existing GOP investigations. It actually should enhance our investigations because the DOJ should not be able to withhold any information now. ... They should be able to provide Chairman Comer with any information that he requires, McCarthy said. Comers team has already collected suspicious activity reports from the Treasury Department which do not automatically indicate wrongdoing tied to Hunter Biden and his business associates, as well as quietly subpoenaed a swath of bank documents. Committee staff is working to set up a closed-door deposition with Devon Archer, a former Hunter Biden business associate that Republicans hope will shed light on his business deals. In addition to Comers probe, Jordan has been investigating GOP claims of political bias against conservatives within the federal government, with a particular focus on the FBI and Justice Department. Spokespeople for the Ohio Republican didnt immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he would expand his investigation to dive into the Justice Departments decisions in the Hunter Biden case. Jordan, in a tweet, called the plea deal a double standard of justice. And the GOPs Judiciary Committee Twitter account, which is run by Jordans staff, said Hunter Biden should be looking at a minimum of five years in prison. But since hes a Biden, he gets a slap on the wrist. And there was some confusion Tuesday over whether the plea deal represented the conclusion of a federal probe into Hunter Biden or, if not, what is still under investigation. Hunter Bidens legal team said the plea agreement is intended to conclude his potential legal liability in all matters investigated by federal authorities, including those related to GOP allegations about his business deals. Chris Clark, criminal counsel for Hunter Biden, said that it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved. But the office of U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, a Trump appointee who was permitted to stay in his post after Joe Biden took office in order to lead and complete the investigation of the presidents son, said in a release about the agreement that the investigation is ongoing. Weiss office provided no details about what remains open, or if that involves Hunter Biden versus potential business associates, family members or other individuals. What is ongoing? Normally theres a press conference and more clarity, Comer told reporters. Is there really an ongoing an investigation, or is this just something theyre putting in there to prevent the Oversight Committee from getting new evidence? Comer said he was trying to get clarity, adding that House Republicans would likely invite Weiss to testify, either in his or Jordans committee. GOP lawmakers are likely particularly curious about whether Weiss office had closed the case on an FBI document that is now at the center of Comers investigation. Former Attorney General Bill Barr has said that record was given to federal authorities, but none of Tuesdays charges are related to that record or Hunter Bidens business deals. That document details a conversation a confidential source for the bureau had about allegations that an executive at Ukrainian gas company Burisma offered a bribe to then-Vice President Joe Biden and Hunter. Republicans have treated the document like a verified bombshell and repeatedly touted that its being passed on to federal investigators in Delaware as a sign of its validity. The FBI has stressed that including information in a so-called FD-1023 does not mean that it is verified. Its not just Comer and Jordan who are eager to keep digging into the Biden family. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), the No. 4 House Republican and a member of the sub-panel investigating the GOP claims of a politicized government, called the plea deal the epitome of the politicization and weaponization of Joe Bidens Department of Justice. House Republicans will not rest until the full illegal corruption of the Biden Crime Family is exposed. Joe Biden must and will be held accountable, Stefanik said in a statement. A number of other Republicans were quick to embrace a familiar rallying cry on Tuesday: That Hunter Biden is benefiting from a two-tier system of justice within the country. The conference offered the same criticism after former President Donald Trumps recent indictment in a federal classified documents investigation and one that the former president echoed Tuesday in reaction to the plea deal. Hunter Biden pleading guilty to a gun charge and misdemeanor tax charges with no jail time is a stunt to make him look like he is just cooperating with the DOJ, tweeted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a member of the Oversight Committee, calling the Justice Department pathetic and weaponized. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), a former chair of the Oversight Committee, called the plea deal only the first crack in the Biden corruption cover-up This isnt case closed. Anyone can see Bidens DOJ went easy on Hunter Biden, he added. Democrats, meanwhile, have dismissed sharing the document with federal investigators in Delaware as standard operating procedure within the Justice Department. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has requested that the FBI give the full committee details of a briefing he and Comer previously received about the origins of the document. Raskin, in a statement Tuesday, praised the Justice Department, saying that the plea deal reflects its continued institutional independence in following the evidence of actual crimes and enforcing the rule of law even in the face of constant criticism and heckling by my GOP colleagues who think that the system of justice should only follow their partisan wishes. And he accused Republicans of wailing about Weiss work while refusing to investigate Jared Kushner and Trumps receipt of billions of dollars from autocratic regimes after handing them a string of outrageous policy favors and concessions. Josh Gerstein, Betsy Woodruff Swan and Kyle Cheney contributed to this report. HQ E-Bike Repair Shop was cited for violating lithium-ion battery rules before Chinatown blaze killed 4, say FDNY fire marshals New York City fire inspectors dogged the HQ E-Bike Repair shop since at least 2021 over unsafe handling of lithium-ion batteries before the deadly blaze Tuesday that killed four people in Manhattans Chinatown, Fire Department officials said. Nine months ago, fire marshals found e-bike batteries at HQ E-Bike Repair being charged while stacked next to each other and plugged into extension cords violations that could undoubtedly spark and spread a blaze, FDNY officials said. The marshals entered the repair shop on Madison St. near Catherine St. in Manhattan on Aug. 30 after getting a 311 tip about charging e-bikes plugged into extension cords, which is a violation of the fire code. The marshals saw some e-bikes plugged directly into a wall socket, which is allowed, but many were being charged with extension cords. The e-bike and scooter battery packs were also lined up next to each other not separated three feet apart, as required by FDNY rules. The shop itself did not have a designated charging area, an FDNY official said. The battery packs were also being charged for more than an hour, which is also a violation. Marshals gave the owner of the Chinatown store three FDNY summonses for using extension cords and failure to maintain a charging area in accordance with the fire code. They were also given a summons for not having service tags on their fire extinguishers. At an Environmental Control Board hearing, the business was found guilty of the violations and ordered to pay a $1,600 fine, FDNY Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn said. These (violations) were all related to the charging of the batteries and the number of batteries they had at this location, Flynn said at a press conference outside the bike repair shop Tuesday. Similar violations were filed against the store in 2021, he said. Fire marshals visited the store again in May. They were not charging (the batteries) at the time, but they had many, many batteries inside the store, which is a violation of the fire code, Flynn said. Rogue stores flagrantly violating the fire code like HQ E-Bike are not uncommon, FDNY officials said. In February, fire marshals and city sheriff officers searched a bicycle shop on Broome St. in Chinatown, where inspectors found hundreds of lithium-ion batteries being charged in racks along one wall next to dozens of e-bikes and scooters. Everyones worst fear occurred shortly after 12 a.m. Tuesday when a fatal fire broke out in the store and quickly spread throughout the Madison Ave. building near Catherine St. Firefighters pulled seven people out of the fire. As of Tuesday afternoon four people were dead, including a 71-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman. Two women were also fighting for their lives. Two of the deceased had not been identified Tuesday. The batteries were being charged in a room where children slept at night, FDNY officials said. So far this year, the FDNY has responded to about three lithium-ion battery fires a week, officials said. Factory-installed scooter batteries seem safe and adhere to industry standards, safety experts say. The batteries that tend to combust are aftermarket products e-bike users buy online or in scooter stores as replacements for the scooters original batteries, say FDNY officials. As of Tuesday, 13 people have been killed in e-bike fires this year, Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said. This time last year, only two deaths were attributed to lithium-ion battery fires. Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto denied his government's involvement in the transfer of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war from Russia to Hungary, the Index news website reported on June 20. "I think it is good news that they are free and that there were consultations between church and religious organizations, where the Hungarian state was absolutely not involved," Szijjarto said at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. "These people (Ukrainians) were released, and now they are free, they can move freely in Hungary and do whatever they want. If they want to contact Ukrainian authorities, they can do so freely, I guarantee this," he added. However, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that based on the information of the prisoners' relatives, they had not been released. On June 19, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry demanded consular access to the POWs, saying they are kept in isolation, have no access to open sources of information, and can communicate with their relatives only in the presence of "third parties." The Russian Orthodox Church announced a plan to transfer a group of captured Ukrainian soldiers of "Zakarpattia origin" to Hungary on June 8 without involving Ukraine's authorities. Ukraine's westernmost Zakarpattia Oblast is home to roughly 150,000 ethnic Hungarians, of which more than 400 serve in the Ukrainian military. Media: Hungarys government was not aware of Ukrainian POWs transfer High-ranking members of the Hungarian government were not aware of the plan to send 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war from Russia to Hungary, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty wrote on June 15, citing its sources. The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen confirmed the plan on June 9, claiming the Ukrainian soldiers are already in Hungary as "free people." According to RFE/RL, the transfer was conducted between the Kremlin-backed church and Semjen without the knowledge of higher-ranking Hungarian officials, including Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Szijjarto. Ukraine's authorities said they were not notified of the plan nor the prisoners' whereabouts. The military intelligence spokesperson Andrii Yusov however revealed that Kyiv has obtained an unconfirmed list of the POWs. According to international law, the transfer should have to be mediated by the International Committee of the Red Cross, Yusov added. HUR reportedly knew about the plan before it was officially announced. Kyiv requested Hungary for information on the transfer, but Budapest denied it. In spite of Hungary's claims, the Ukrainian military intelligence said it had proof that Budapest was aware of the plans. "There was a request from Hungary, specifically regarding POWs. We can confirm this with documented evidence," Yusov said. Russian authorities have not commented on the transfer. According to Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko, Hungary's acts can qualify as violations of the European Convention on Human Rights. The European Commission has also turned to Hungary with a request for an explanation. "Russia must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law and ensure that prisoners of war are treated humanely in all circumstances in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and not put their lives in danger," European Commission foreign policy spokesperson Peter Stano said. Flag of Hungary Budapest was "not involved" in the transfer of Ukrainian prisoners of war from Russia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijarto said at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on June 19. The transfer of Ukrainians to Budapest took place after "discussions between the [Russian Orthodox] Church and religious organizations, in which the state of Hungary did not take any part," Szijarto said. "These people are free to move in Hungary, they are free to do what they want to do, he claimed. If they want to get in touch with the Ukrainian authorities, they are free to do so. I can guarantee you that." Read also: U.S. senator blocks arms sale to Hungary for stalling Swedens NATO bid Washington Post However, Oleg Nikolenko, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said on June 19 that the POWs were still being held in the country incommunicado. They have no access to open sources of information, their communication with relatives is monitored by third parties, and they are denied contact with the Ukrainian embassy, said Nikolenko. On June 8 the Russian Orthodox Church announced that it had handed over a group of Ukrainian POWs to Hungary without specifying their exact number. Hungarian news outlets reported that the POWs were ethnic Hungarians from Ukraine's Zakarpattya region. The transfer took place without the knowledge or permission of the Ukrainain authorities. Read also: Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Kris Connor - Getty Images Hunter Biden is the latest child of a U.S. President to find himself in the spotlight for the wrong reasonsbut hes certainly not the first. Biden, the son of Joe Biden and a frequent lightning rod of criticism from the Presidents political foes, has agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges for failing to pay his 2017 and 2018 taxes on time. The agreement with the U.S. Justice Departmentwhich is still pending approval from a federal judgecomes with probation rather than prison time, and Biden will avoid charges in connection with his purchase of a handgun in 2018. Following the controversies involving Presidential children is an American pastime almost as old as the Presidency itself. Here are a few examples of Presidential sons and daughters who provided at least some embarrassment to their famous fathers in the White House. John Payne Todd Stepson of James Madison Sepia Times - Getty Images Founding Father James Madison married the widow Dolley Payne in 1794, seven years before he was elected the fourth President of the United States. He became a stepfather to Dollys two-year-old son John Payne Todd, who grew up to become something of an embarrassment during Madisons presidency. An alcoholic and gambling addict, Todd was repeatedly jailed for assaults and disturbing the peace, and failed at each job his parents tried to secure for him. He spent so recklessly that his mother sold the familys Montpelier plantation to cover some of his debts, and the Madison family struggled with financial difficulties in their retirement years. John Adams II Son of John Quincy Adams Heritage Images - Getty Images The Adams family had its share of black sheep; Charles Adams, one of the sons of second President John Adams , had been disowned by his father for his alcoholism and questionable financial decisions. Years later, John Adams II, the eldest son of John Quincy Adams , provided several public embarrassments for his father. After getting expelled from Harvard for his involvement in protests, Adams II worked as his fathers private secretary, during which time he received negative press attention for alleged cowardice during a fist fight in the Capitol rotunda. He also controversially married a cousin who had been romantically sought after by two of his brothers, neither of whom attended the wedding. John Van Buren Son of Martin Van Buren Heritage Images - Getty Images The son of the eighth President, John Van Buren went on to become a prominent politician in his own right, serving as Attorney General of New York from 1845 to 1847. But before that, he had a party animal reputation that occasionally brought him negative media coverage. Van Buren earned the nickname Prince John after dancing with Queen Victoria during her 1838 coronation. A notorious alcoholic, Van Buren passed out drunk and had to be carried away from horse races on several occasions, and was such a heavy gambler that he was said to have lost a mistress during a card game . Alice Roosevelt Daughter of Theodore Roosevelt Fotosearch - Getty Images Although her actions might seem harmless by todays standards, Alice Roosevelt was such an unconventional woman during her day that she repeatedly made headlines and caused headaches for his father Theodore , who once famously said , I can either run the country or I can attend to Alice, but I cannot possibly do both. Alice smoked and swore in public, which was practically unheard of among female socialites at the time. She also attended and placed bets at horse races, and took her pet snake to parties . Before William Howard Taft became President, Alice buried a voodoo doll of Tafts wife Nellie in the White House front yard, earning herself a ban from the nations capital. Jimmy Roosevelt Son of Theodore Roosevelt University of Southern California - Getty Images Though he never faced criminal charges, the eldest son of Franklin D. Roosevelt was accused of more serious transgressions than most problematic presidential children before him. After his father became President, allegations arose in the press that Jimmy inappropriately used his family connections to make millions in the insurance business. The bad press proved so stressful that it exacerbated Jimmys stomach ulcers and forced an early departure from a White House counselor position. Much later, in the 1980s, he drew controversy once again when a non-profit organization he formed was investigated for questionable money-raising practices and mail fraud. Neil Bush Son of George H.W. Bush Jamie McCarthy - Getty Images George W. Bush had a well-documented party animal period before becoming President, which included crazy parties, possible drug use, and allegations of skipping out on his National Guard service. But Georges brother, Neil Bushthe fourth son of President George H.W. Bushhad an even more serious scandal. He was accused of violating conflict of interest regulations by serving on the board of directors for the Denver-based Silverado Banking Savings and Loan Association, which engaged in questionable lending practices and went bankrupt in 1988, leaving U.S. taxpayers responsible for $1.3 billion in debts. A civil action was brought against Bush and other Silverado directors, which was settled out of court for $49.5 million. Patti Davis Daughter of Ronald Reagan Bob Riha Jr - Getty Images The outspoken and left-wing Patti Davis had clashed with her familys conservative politics long before her father occupied the White House. She was disowned by her mother , Nancy Reagan , in the 1970s for living with her boyfriendEagles guitarist Bernie Leadonbefore marriage. After Ronald Reagan became President in 1981, Davis spoke out regularly against her fathers politics, participated in several high-profile protests, and published a tell-all autobiography filled with secrets about the Reagan family. She also generated headlines for posing nude in Playboy magazine in 1994, at age 58. Donald Trump Jr. Son of Donald Trump Alex Wong - Getty Images The eldest child of Donald Trump , Trump Jr. has generated more than his fair share of controversies. Perhaps most notably, he was accused of cooperating with Russia in their attempts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, meeting with a Russian lawyer who offered to provide damaging information about Trumps political opponent, Hillary Clinton . After Trumps loss in 2020, Trump Jr. helped advance unfounded conspiracy theories about a stolen election, calling for total war over the election results. He also courted controversy even before Trumps presidency, participating in an African hunting trip that led to sponsors dropping out of his fathers reality show, The Celebrity Apprentice. You Might Also Like President Bidens son Hunter Biden reached a plea agreement with the Justice Department on charges of failing to pay federal income tax and illegally possessing a weapon, according to a letter filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Delaware. The letter states that Biden will plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses. Under the agreement negotiated with the U.S. attorneys office in Delaware, Biden will acknowledge his failure to pay taxes on income he received in 2017 and 2018. In exchange, prosecutors will recommend probation, and he is likely to avoid prison time. He will also enter a diversion program to avoid pleading guilty to a felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user. Biden has said he did not pay the taxes while he was in the depths of drug addiction after the 2015 death of his brother, Beau. He has already paid the outstanding taxes. The agreement means President Biden will not have to contend with the diversion of a trial for his son as the presidential race ramps up and his campaign tries to avoid negative publicity. Hunter Biden's counsel Chris Clark said in a statement that it is his understanding that the five-year investigation into his client has ended. "I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward," Clark said. David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware, said in a separate statement that the investigation is continuing. The Trump administration opened the probe in 2018, and Republicans have since made it a core part of their political messaging. After President Bidens inauguration, Republicans accused the new administration of failing to aggressively pursue the case. When he took office in 2021, Biden kept on Weiss, a Trump appointee, who conducted the Hunter Biden investigation. As Biden campaigned Tuesday in California, aides at the White House maintained their distance from the Justice Department investigation, offering a terse "no comment." The West Wing corridors, typically buzzing with staff and senior officials, were quiet despite the political implications of Hunter Biden's deal for the 2024 presidential election. "The president and first lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life," White House spokesman Ian Sams said in a brief statement. "We will have no further comment." Biden, who was in San Francisco on Tuesday to meet with experts and researchers to discuss artificial intelligence, later told reporters, Im very proud of my son." White House officials have emphasized that the president has sought to preserve the Justice Department's independence and has not spoken to Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland about any investigations into any member of his family. Read more: United States of America v. Robert Hunter Biden agreement Republicans criticized the agreement Tuesday as weak and unfair to other defendants. It comes days after a 37-count federal indictment was unsealed against former President Trump accusing him of mishandling classified documents and refusing to return them when ordered to under subpoena. That trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 14, though the date is expected to shift. "Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist," House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement. He said the agreement will not affect the committee's investigation into Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings. Republican House members attempted to paint the agreement as lenient, with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) telling reporters that it illustrates a "two-tier" justice system in America. "If you are the president's leading political opponent, the DOJ tries to literally put you in jail," McCarthy said. "If you are the president's son, you get a sweetheart deal." Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) said in a statement to The Times that lawmakers should find out where Hunter Biden "got the money to pay off his tax bills and various debts from his addictions." "There needs to be a thorough investigation of the Bidens' financial dealings overseas and scrutiny of the Justice Departments handling of the investigation," LaMalfa said. Franklin Zimring, a criminologist at UC Berkeley, said Republicans should be cautious about making assessments of the agreement in Hunter Biden's case without more detailed information. That kind of characterization depends upon much more detailed knowledge of how they handle otherwise similar cases than I think they have, Zimring said. Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said the fact that a sitting president's son was charged with federal crimes without the president trying to intervene is a sign of the justice system working. "This development reflects the Justice Departments continued institutional independence in following the evidence of actual crimes and enforcing the rule of law even in the face of constant criticism and heckling by my GOP colleagues who think that the system of justice should only follow their partisan wishes," he said in a statement. Read more: Atty. Gen. Garland vows he won't interfere with Hunter Biden tax investigation It is unclear whether the Justice Department is investigating any of the other allegations Republicans have levied against Hunter Biden. In March, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee published a memo accusing Hunter Biden, other family members and their companies of having collectively received $1.3 million in payments from accounts related to Rob Walker, a Biden family associate" between 2015 and 2017. In March 2017, the memo alleged, Chinese company State Energy HK wired $3 million to Walkers company. The agreement released Tuesday also states that Hunter Biden possessed a Colt Cobra .38 special handgun in 2018 while he was a drug user. Federal law bars "unlawful users" of illegal drugs from owning firearms. The charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, but the Justice Department agreement with Hunter Biden states that he will avoid that charge by attending a diversion program. Adam Winkler, a UCLA law professor who studies gun policy, said the diversion program is a very common alternative to a prison sentence. Especially for first-time offenders who have not committed any violence, this kind of diversion program has been favored by the justice community as a way of rehabilitating people without forcing them into prisons, which we know are dangerous and hostile and sometimes violent places, Winkler said. Hunter Biden is not the first close relative of a president whose conduct has brought unwanted scrutiny. Former President Trump's children Ivanka and Donald Jr. narrowly escaped a fraud indictment in 2012, according to a ProPublica investigation. They, along with Eric Trump and their father, are currently facing a civil lawsuit from New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James alleging financial fraud. Donald Nixon received a loan from a wealthy businessman as his brother Richard Nixon was running for California governor, a development that Nixon's political opponents cited as an example of undue influence. Later, as president, Nixon ordered the wiretapping of his brother to keep tabs on his business deals. After leaving office, former President Clinton issued a statement in 2001 saying he and his wife, then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, were "deeply disturbed" upon learning that Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham, had received $400,000 to secure presidential pardons for two men convicted of federal crimes. Rodham agreed to return the money. In 1980, the U.S. Senate opened an investigation into Billy Carter, brother of then-President Carter, following trips he made to Libya and his registration as a foreign agent after receiving more than $200,000 from the Libyan government. The president tried to distance himself from his brothers business amid his unsuccessful reelection bid against Ronald Reagan. Times staff writer Queenie Wong contributed to this report. Get the best of the Los Angeles Times politics coverage with the Essential Politics newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty in the federal case stemming from years-long investigation into his tax affairs, Fox News has confirmed. Fox News has confirmed that the president's son will plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax. Hunter Biden also agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a separate charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David C. Weiss said, according to the tax Information, Hunter Biden "received taxable income in excess of $1,500,000 annually in calendar years 2017 and 2018." "Despite owing in excess of $100,000 in federal income taxes each year, he did not pay the income tax due for either year," Weiss' office said Tuesday. "According to the firearm Information, from on or about October 12, 2018 through October 23, 2018, Hunter Biden possessed a firearm despite knowing he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance." Weiss' office said if convicted, Hunter Biden faces a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison on each of the tax charges a total of two years. There is a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the firearm charge for which he agreed to a pretrial diversion program. Such programs according to the DOJ website, "divert certain offenders from traditional criminal justice processing into alternative systems of supervision and service" such as mental health or substance abuse treatment. Those who successfully complete diversion programs, the DOJ says, can see "declination of charges, dismissal or reduction of charges, or a more favorable recommendation at sentencing." "A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors," Weiss' office said. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "The investigation is ongoing," the office said in a statement Tuesday. Fox News has confirmed that the president's son will plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax. Hunter's criminal counsel, Chris Clark of Clark Smith Villazor, said that "with the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved." "Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement," Clark said. "A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government." Clark added: "I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward." Biden has been under federal investigation since 2018. That investigation into his "tax affairs" began amid the discovery of suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding funds from "China and other foreign nations." Fox News first reported in 2020 that the FBI had subpoenaed a laptop and hard drive purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden in connection with a money-laundering investigation in late 2019. 2011 EMAILS REVEAL HUNTER BIDEN HELPED BUSINESS ASSOCIATES GET ACESS TO VP BIDEN , TOP AIDE In December 2020, weeks after the 2020 presidential election, Biden publicly acknowledged he was under investigation related to his taxes. At the time, Biden said he took the matter "very seriously" and was "confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors." IT'S TIME TO END THE PROTECTION OF HUNTER BIDEN: JACK KALAVRITINOS The firearms charge stemmed from allegations that Hunter Biden lied during a gun purchase in 2018. Fox News first reported in 2021 that police had responded to an incident in 2018, when a gun owned by Hunter Biden was thrown into a trash can outside a market in Delaware. A source with knowledge of the Oct. 23, 2018, police report told Fox News that it indicated that Hallie Biden, the widow of President Biden's late son, Beau, and who was in a relationship with Hunter at the time, threw a gun owned by Hunter in a dumpster behind a market near a school. A firearm transaction report reviewed by Fox News indicated that Hunter Biden purchased a gun earlier that month. On the firearm transaction report, Hunter Biden answered in the negative when asked if he was "an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?" Hunter Biden was discharged from the Navy in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine. The White House reacted to the charges Tuesday morning. "The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life," White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement. "We will have no further comment." Questions surrounding Hunter Bidens foreign business dealings entered the political conversation in 2019. Former President Donald Trump suggested Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy launch an investigation into the Biden familys business dealings specifically why then-Vice President Joe Biden pressed Zelensky's predecessor to fire a top prosecutor investigating Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings, where Hunter Biden held a lucrative role on the board. That phone call prompted the first Trump impeachment. Republicans, in their defense of the former president, zeroed in on Hunter Biden and his overseas business dealings, even suggesting Biden testify as part of the impeachment proceedings. The House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump in December 2019, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Republicans in the Senate, like Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., also began investigating Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings in 2019. Grassley and Johnson released a report out of their joint investigation in September 2020. In that report, Grassley and Johnson said they obtained records from the U.S. Treasury Department that showed "potential criminal activity relating to transactions among and between Hunter Biden, his family, and his associates with Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh and Chinese nationals." The report also stated that Senate investigators found millions of dollars in "questionable financial transactions" between Hunter Biden and his associates and foreign individuals, including the wife of the former mayor of Moscow as well as individuals with ties to the Chinese Communist Party. ANDY MCCARTHY: WE'RE DEALING WITH VERY SOPHISTICATED ACTORS IN HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP INTEL LETTER In the fall of 2022, Grassley and Johnson flagged to the FBI that they were in possession of whistleblower allegations suggesting the bureau had "significant, impactful and voluminous evidence with respect to potential criminal conduct by Hunter Biden and James Biden" and related to Hunter's work with Burisma Holdings. And when Republicans took the House majority following the 2022 midterm elections, the House Oversight Committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., ramped up its investigative work, focusing in on the Biden family and whether their foreign business transactions put U.S. national security at risk. NBC News authenticated the contents of Hunter Biden's laptop on May 19. The White House has maintained that the president never spoke to his son about his business dealings and that the president was never involved in them. Officials also say the president has never discussed investigations into members of his family with the Justice Department. The charges against the first son come after an IRS criminal supervisory agent seeking whistleblower protections said the federal investigation into Hunter Biden was being mishandled by the Biden administration. The whistleblower claimed "clear" conflicts of interest, including giving the presidents son "preferential treatment." The whistleblower also claimed politics are "improperly infecting decisions and protocols that would normally be followed by career law enforcement professionals in similar circumstances if the subject were not politically connected." The White House has fired back against those allegations, saying that Biden has upheld his commitment to ensure the investigation is "free from any political interference." Meanwhile, a separate whistleblower has alleged that the FBI and the Justice Department are in possession of a document that describes a criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions. A sketch shows Independence County Circuit Judge Holly Meyer presiding over the child support hearing with (from left) Hunter Biden and his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, on Monday, May 1, 2023. Comer and Grassley said the whistleblower claims the document "includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose." The document, which Comer subpoenaed, an FBI-generated FD-1023 form, allegedly details an arrangement involving an exchange of money for policy decisions. The White House on Wednesday slammed what it said were "unfounded, unproven, politically-motivated attacks against the president and his family" made "without offering evidence for their claims or evidence of decisions influenced by anything other than U.S. interests." "When it comes to President Bidens personal finances, anybody can take a look: he has offered an unprecedented level of transparency, releasing a total of 25 years of tax returns to the American public," White House spokesman Ian Sams told Fox News Digital. Hunter Biden will plead guilty in a deal that likely averts time behind bars in a tax and gun case FILE - Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, speaks to guests during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, April 18, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Bidens son Hunter will plead guilty to federal tax offenses but avoid full prosecution on a separate gun charge in a deal with the Justice Department that likely spares him time behind bars. Hunter Biden, 53, will plead guilty to the misdemeanor tax offenses as part of an agreement made public Tuesday. The agreement will also avert prosecution on a felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user, as long as he adheres to conditions agreed to in court. The deal ends a long-running Justice Department investigation into the taxes and foreign business dealings of President Bidens second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden. It also averts a trial that would have generated days or weeks of distracting headlines for a White House that has strenuously sought to keep its distance from the Justice Department. The president, asked about the development at a meeting on another subject in California, said simply, Im very proud of my son. The White House counsels office said in a statement that the president and first lady Jill Biden love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. While the agreement requires the younger Biden to admit guilt, the deal is narrowly focused on tax and weapons violations rather than anything broader or tied to the Democratic president. Nonetheless, former President Donald Trump and other Republicans continued to try to use the case to shine an unflattering spotlight on Joe Biden and to raise questions about the independence of the Biden Justice Department. Trump, challenging President Biden in the 2024 presidential race, likened the agreement to a mere traffic ticket, adding, Our system is BROKEN! House Speaker Kevin McCarthy compared the outcome to the Trump documents case now heading toward federal court and said, If you are the presidents son, you get a sweetheart deal. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another presidential challenger, used the same term. Two people familiar with the investigation said the Justice Department would recommend 24 months of probation for the tax charges, meaning Hunter Biden will not face time in prison. But the decision to go along with any deal is up to the judge. The people were not authorized to speak publicly by name and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. He is to plead guilty to failing to pay more than $100,000 in taxes on over $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018, charges that carry a maximum possible penalty of a year in prison. The back taxes have since been paid, according to a person familiar with the investigation. The gun charge states that Hunter Biden possessed a handgun, a Colt Cobra .38 Special, for 11 days in October 2018 despite knowing he was a drug user. The rarely filed count carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, but the Justice Department said Hunter Biden had reached a pretrial agreement. This likely means as long as he adheres to the conditions, the case will be wiped from his record. Christopher Clark, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, said in a statement that it was his understanding that the five-year investigation had now been resolved. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life, Clark said. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. The agreement comes as the Justice Department pursues perhaps the most consequential case in its history against Trump, the first former president to face federal criminal charges. The resolution of Hunter Biden's case comes just days after a 37-count indictment against Trump in relation to accusations of mishandling classified documents on his Florida estate. It was filed by a special counsel, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to avoid any potential conflict of interest in the Justice Department. That indictment has nevertheless brought an onslaught of Republican criticism of politicization of the Justice Department. Meanwhile, congressional Republicans continue to pursue their own investigations into nearly every facet of Hunter Bidens business dealings, including foreign payments. Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said the younger Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist, despite investigations in Congress that GOP lawmakers say show but have not yet provided evidence of a pattern of corruption involving the familys financial ties. Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, on the other hand, said the case was thoroughly investigated over five years by U.S. Attorney David Weiss, a Delaware prosecutor appointed by Trump. Resolution of the case, Coons said, brings to a close a five-year investigation, despite the elaborate conspiracy theories spun by many who believed there would be much more to this. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was scheduled to campaign with the president Tuesday evening, reaffirmed his support for Biden's reelection. Hunter changes nothing, Newsom told the AP on Tuesday. Misdemeanor tax cases aren't common, and most that are filed end with a sentence that doesn't include time behind bars, said Caroline Ciraolo, an attorney who served as head of the Justice Departments tax division from 2015 to 2017. An expected federal conviction is not a slap on the wrist, she said. Gun possession charges that aren't associated with another firearm crime are also uncommon, said Keith Rosen, a past head of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware. For people without a significant criminal history, the total number of multiple types of illegal possession cases filed every year in Delaware amounts to a handful, he said. The Justice Department investigation into the president's son burst into public view in December 2020, one month after the 2020 election, when Hunter Biden revealed that he had received a subpoena as part of the departments scrutiny of his taxes. The subpoena sought information on the younger Bidens business dealings with a number of entities, including Burisma, a Ukraine gas company on whose board he sat. A federal grand jury in Delaware heard testimony related to his taxes and foreign business transactions. In February 2021, the department sought the resignation of most Trump-era U.S. attorneys, as is customary in a new presidential administration, but made a point of noting that it was leaving Weiss in place as a way to ensure continuity in the probe. Weiss said in a June 7 letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan that he had ultimate authority over the investigation. At a congressional hearing last August, FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed that the investigation remained active out of the bureaus Baltimore field office and said it was a matter that I expect our folks to pursue aggressively. Garland pledged not to interfere in the probe at another hearing in March. An unnamed IRS special agent, though, later alleged mishandling of the investigation in a letter to Congress in which he sought whistleblower protection. The younger Biden joined the board of Burisma in 2014, around the time his father, then Barack Obama's vice president, was helping conduct the Obama administrations foreign policy with Ukraine. Trump and his allies have long argued, without evidence, that Hunter Bidens work in Ukraine influenced the Obama administrations policies. Years before the case was brought, Hunter Biden surfaced as a central character in the first impeachment case against Trump, who in an apparent bid to boost his own reelection bid had asked Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a telephone call to announce an investigation into the younger Biden. Republicans later sought to make Hunter Bidens business dealings in Ukraine a prominent issue during the 2020 presidential election. In October of that year, the New York Post reported that it had received from Trumps personal attorney Rudy Giuliani a copy of a hard drive of a laptop that Hunter Biden had dropped off 18 months earlier at a Delaware computer repair shop and never retrieved. The story was greeted with skepticism due to questions about the laptops origins, including Giulianis involvement, and because top officials in the Trump administration had already warned that Russia was working to denigrate Joe Biden ahead of the November election. No evidence has emerged of any Russian connection to the laptop or to emails found on the device. ___ Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Colleen Long, Farnoush Amiri, Lisa Mascaro, Seung Min Kim and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington and Steve Peoples and Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report. The News Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's 53-year-old son, has been charged with two tax misdemeanors of failing to pay federal taxes and one firearm felony of unlawful possession a gun while addicted to a substance, according to U.S. District Court filing. He has reached an agreement with the Department of Justice to plead guilty to the two tax charges and avoid being prosecuted for the firearm charge, per the filing. The combined tax liability from his failure to pay taxes in 2017 and 2018 totals around $1.2 million, the Washington Post reported. The firearm charge will be dropped so long as Biden proves he can remain sober for 24 months and agrees to never purchase a firearm again, according to his probation agreement reported by The New York Times. White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement, "The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment." Know More The agreement and Biden's contingent pleas are subject to a federal judge's approval. U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who was nominated by President Donald Trump in 2018, led Biden's prosecution. President Biden kept Weiss on the case to avoid having his appointed prosecutor oversee his son's case. Chris Clark, Biden's attorney, told Semafor that the deal signals his client is taking responsibility for the crimes. "I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life," Clark said. "He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward." Step Back The Hunter Biden charges marks the end of a five-year saga framed by Republicans as one of the biggest tarnishes to President Biden's reputation. Hunter Biden was thrown into the spotlight during the 2019 impeachment of Donald Trump, during which Republicans led a separate investigation into Ukrainian business dealings. Biden was previously a board member of the corruption-riddled gas production company Barisma, a gig which earned him millions. Republicans have suggested that President Biden financially benefited from his son's business dealings, but the president has denied having any connection in the matter. Biden's behavior was further scrutinized after a laptop believed to be owned by him was discovered during the 2020 presidential election. The contents of the laptop, parts of which have been verified by multiple news outlets, revealed financial documents that detailed his multi-million dollar finances. The laptop also turned up images allegedly showing Biden engaging in drug use and in possession of a firearm. Prosecutors later determined that Biden bought a gun at a time when he was smoking crack cocaine, as detailed in his own memoir, and that he lied on the form requiring gun owners to disclose the illegal use of drugs. The charges against Biden come less than a week after former President Donald Trump was charged with 37 federal counts in relation to the classified documents probe. Some Republicans have already slammed Biden's tentative agreement with federal prosecutors. "Lets be clear: the Department of Justices charges against President Bidens son Hunter reveal a two-tiered system of justice," Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement. "Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery," the statement said. As part of the agreement, President Bidens son has agreed to plead guilty to 2 misdemeanor tax offenses while reaching a pretrial agreement on a felony charge. Hunter Biden speaks to guests during the White House Easter Egg Roll on April 18. (Andrew Harnik/AP) Hunter Biden has struck a deal with federal prosecutors, agreeing to plead guilty for failing to pay his income taxes and reaching a pretrial agreement on a felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user. The plea deal likely puts an end to the Justice Departments multiyear investigation into President Bidens 52-year-old second son, who as part of the agreement will receive probation and avoid jail time. With the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the United States Attorneys Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved," Chris Clark, attorney for Hunter Biden, said in a statement. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. How did the investigation into Hunter Biden begin? The U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) In December 2020, the U.S. attorneys office in Delaware announced it was investigating Hunter Biden for possible income tax violations. The investigation was led by Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who was appointed by then-President Donald Trump in 2018. Hunter Biden was the target of regular attacks by Trump during the 2020 campaign. The former president and his Republican allies criticized Hunter Biden's position on the board of a Ukrainian energy company while Joe Biden was vice president, suggesting it had corruptly influenced U.S. foreign policy. Hunter Biden has acknowledged that he had poor judgment in taking the role but denied any wrongdoing. What is Hunter Biden being charged with, exactly? Hunter Biden exits Air Force One in Syracuse, N.Y., in February. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters) According to court filings made public on Tuesday, Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to two federal tax offenses, both misdemeanors, for willfully failing to pay his federal income taxes in 2017 and 2018. He has also entered into a pretrial agreement to the felony charge that he possessed a handgun in October 2018 despite knowing that he was a drug user. Hunter Biden has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother, Beau Biden. He has also since fully repaid back taxes and fines, including $2 million he reportedly paid to the federal government last year. Read more on Yahoo News: AP: Hunter Biden will plead guilty in a deal that likely avoids time behind bars in a tax and gun case ABC News: What to know about the Hunter Biden federal investigations Daily News: Hunter Biden to plead guilty to minor tax charges, ending sprawling probe by Trump-appointed prosecutor Rolling Stone: Republicans rage at Hunter Bidens plea deal: Slap on the wrist How did President Biden react? President Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden attend Maisy Biden's graduation from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on May 15. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) The White House issued a brief statement on Tuesday morning following the report of the deal. The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life, the statement read. We will have no further comment. The president has largely avoided weighing in publicly on his sons case. I love him, Biden said last month following a report that the Department of Justice was on the verge of charging Hunter Biden. Hes on the straight and narrow, and he has been for a couple years now. And Im just so proud of him. How about Trump? Former President Donald Trump speaks during an event at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., hours after being arraigned on federal charges in Miami on June 13. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg) Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket, Trump wrote in a message posted to Truth Social. Our system is BROKEN! Trump has been indicted twice this year by prosecutors in New York City for hush money payments they allege violate campaign finance laws and by the Justice Department for his personal retention of classified government documents and alleged obstruction of justice and is still under investigation by the DOJ and authorities in New York state and Georgia. Whats next? House Speaker Kevin McCarthy talks to reporters outside his office at the U.S. Capitol Building on Tuesday. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) While the legal case against Hunter Biden may soon be resolved, the political attacks will undoubtedly continue, as Trump and other Republican hopefuls try to use the episode to shine an unflattering spotlight on the president, his family and the Justice Department. Congressional Republicans slammed the plea deal and vowed to forge ahead with investigations into the Bidens in the GOP-led House. It's a two-tiered system in America, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday morning. If you are the president's leading political opponent, the DOJ literally tries to put you in jail and give you prison time. If you are the president's son, you get a sweetheart deal. Hunter Biden will plead guilty. Critics say he got off easy. What probes will continue? Hunter Bidens plea agreement with the Justice Department will close the books on five years worth of federal investigations into his activities, a lawyer for the Presidents son said Tuesday. The lead prosecutor in the case, Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, denied that, saying in a statement that the investigation is ongoing. Meanwhile, congressional Republicans, GOP presidential candidates and other critics plan to continue their own investigations into Hunter Biden. In fact, key Republican lawmakers said, the plea agreement will spur them to dig even deeper into claims of his allegedly corrupt business dealings in Ukraine, China and Romania and efforts to illegally profit off of the politically influential Biden name. Biden, 53, and his family members have repeatedly denied wrongdoing in their overseas business ventures. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said the Department of Justices charges reveal a two-tiered system of justice. In all, the President's son is charged with two violations of failure to pay income tax and one violation of unlawful possession of a firearm by a person prohibited. Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery, Comer said in a statement. These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committees investigation. We will not rest until the full extent of President Bidens involvement in the familys schemes are revealed. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), said Republican senators have uncovered extensive government and bank records indicative of money laundering as well as foreign business schemes that, in any other circumstance, would raise serious criminal and counterintelligence concerns since the FBI began its investigation into Hunter Biden nearly five years ago. Todays plea deal cannot be the final word given the significant body of evidence that the FBI and Justice Department have at their disposal, said Grassley, who is on numerous Senate oversight committees. "It certainly wont be for me." Here's a summary of some of those investigations into the oldest surviving child of the president that are likely to continue, at least in Congress, well into the future. Alleged millions in payments and Burisma Holdings in Ukraine Hunter Biden, a lawyer and former lobbyist, joined the board of Burisma Holdings, the largest gas company in Ukraine, in 2014. That was around the time his father, then the vice president, was helping conduct the Obama administrations foreign policy in the region. For years, Republicans have insisted that the younger Biden was exploiting his fathers name for financial gain, and have raised unsubstantiated charges of related corruption involving other members of Biden family. The Justice Department investigation became public in December 2020, one month after the presidential election, when Hunter Biden confirmed that the Justice Department was looking into his tax affairs. The Associated Press subsequently reported that the subpoena focused on DOJ's scrutiny of Hunter Biden's taxes, and that it sought information about his business dealings with numerous entities, including Burisma. The younger Biden denied any wrongdoing, saying in a statement that he was confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors. More: Hunter Biden's taxes under investigation by US attorney's office in Delaware Senate Republicans also investigated and found no wrongdoing by the Bidens, but claims to the contrary continued to circulate on social media for years. So did unfounded allegations that then-Vice President Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion from Ukraine "to save his son's job," promoted by Secure America Now, which calls itself a politically conservative nonprofit group that focuses on United States foreign policy issues. President Joe Biden attends his granddaughter Maisy Biden's commencement ceremony with first lady Jill Biden and children Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Monday, May 15, 2023. As vice president, Joe Biden did leverage $1 billion in aid to Ukraine, according to a USA TODAY fact check story on the issue. But he didn't do it to help Hunter Biden by persuading Ukraine to oust its top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, in March 2016 because he was investigating Burisma, as some Republicans had claimed. He did it because Shokin wasn't pursuing corruption among the country's politicians. In a 2016 email, George Kent, the former acting deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, described the presence of Hunter Biden on the Burisma board as very awkward for all U.S. officials pushing an anticorruption agenda in Ukraine. But such anti-corruption efforts were "a big part of our diplomacy" with Ukraine, since "it was that corruption that allowed Russia to manipulate the country politically and economically," according to Charles Kupchan, who was a special assistant to President Barack Obama and a senior director for European Affairs on the National Security Council, said Ironically, the investigation into Burisma led to the first impeachment of then-President Donald Trump in 2019. The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives voted for impeachment after learning that Trump had pressured Ukraines president to announce it was investigating the Bidens. Trump was acquitted by the Senate. In June, Comers committee accused President Biden himself of being involved in a $5 million bribery scheme. The claim came after Republican members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee reviewed an FBI investigative document that they say contains information from a confidential source about the alleged scheme. The top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, said the allegations were debunked during a 2020 review by the Justice Department during the Trump administration. And Biden himself called the claim a bunch of malarkey. House Republicans said they would continue investigating possible influence peddling based on payments from foreigners in Romania and China to nine of Biden's relatives and their business associates, but without evidence of direct payments to Biden or changes in national policy. More: Daily Briefing: The story behind the story about Hunter Biden's laptop A 2.8-carat diamond and CEFC China Energy The Justice Department reportedly also looked into Hunter Bidens business dealings in China, including efforts to win U.S. energy contracts from the Chinese firm CEFC China Energy after his father left the vice presidency in 2017, according to documents released by Republicans on two Senate committees. At least one of the matters that federal criminal investigators examined was a gift of a 2.8-carat diamond that Hunter Biden received from CEFCs founder and former chairman Ye Jianming in 2017 after a Miami business meeting, according to a CNN report in December 2020 that cited "one person briefed on the matter." The massive oil and gas conglomerate has close ties to the Chinese government. Hunter Biden, right, meets and speaks with his father President Joe Biden, and proceeds to walk back inside of the White House after the President and First lady Jill Biden welcomed and greeted people at the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday, April 10, 2023. The Washington Post published the results of its own investigation in March 2022, saying it confirmed many of the key details of the Senate report and found additional documents showing Biden family interactions with Chinese executives. In a 2019 New Yorker profile, Hunter Biden acknowledged receiving the diamond from Ye and said it made him so uncomfortable that he gave it to other associates. I knew it wasnt a good idea to take it," he told the New Yorker. "I just felt like it was weird. The deal was never consummated, the younger Biden told the magazine, but Chinese authorities later detained Ye amid Chinese news reports of corruption allegations against him. Hunter Biden also acted as a lawyer briefly for Patrick Ho, the head of an organization backed by CEFC, who was convicted in 2018 of paying millions of dollars in bribes to officials in two African nations to benefit CEFC energy projects in those countries, CNN reported. Sources told CNN in 2020 that federal investigators were looking into whether Hunter Biden failed to report some of his overseas income for tax purposes. "Investigators have been examining multiple financial issues, including whether Hunter Biden and his associates violated tax and money laundering laws in business dealings in foreign countries, principally China," CNN reported, citing two people briefed on the probe. Some of those transactions "involved people who the FBI believe sparked counterintelligence concerns," a common issue when dealing with Chinese business, CNN reported, citing another source. Indications of that federal probe emerged after Rudy Giuliani, then President Donald Trumps personal attorney, helped plant news stories in conservative media that focused on a laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden that was said to include business documents and personal material. The FBI took possession of the laptop in late 2019, according to a computer repairman in Delaware who showed reporters a copy of a subpoena. The subpoena is real, people briefed on the matter have said, but the FBI and Delaware prosecutors refused to confirm the existence of an investigation. This past March, House Republicans announced that President Bidens relatives received a combined $1.3 million from a business associate with links to China. Hunter Biden, the presidents son; James Biden, the presidents brother; Hallie Biden, the presidents daughter-in-law; and a fourth unnamed Biden received the payments from business associate Rob Walker, according to Comers House Oversight and Accountability Committee. The money was paid out after Walker received a $3 million wire transfer from a Chinese company, according to the panel. It is unclear what services were provided to obtain this exorbitant amount of money, Comer said at the time. The White House, as it has in the past, denied wrongdoing and called Comers inquiries a hyper-partisan fishing expedition. House-led GOP investigations into Hunter Biden Republican lawmakers who control the House also have continued to scrutinize Hunter Bidens financial dealings and overseas deals, as well as any potential involvement by other members of the Biden family in them. And the GOP is looking into the Justice Departments investigation into the younger Biden, to see whether it's probe was aggressive enough. The House Republicans, for instance, claim that a whistleblower who formerly worked for the FBI told them that the Justice Department wouldnt allow agents to be more aggressive in their investigation of Hunter Biden. The Republicans threatened to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress for not letting them review one document in which an alleged whistleblower purportedly claims that Joe Biden accepted millions of dollars in payments to his family in exchange for favorable policy actions. Earlier this month, the FBI brought the document with "limited redactions" to Capitol Hill for review by the chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and the top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland. But Comer said anything short of providing the document to the committee was unacceptable. "Given the severity and complexity of the allegations contained within this record, Congress must investigate further," Comer said. In response, Democrats have accused Republicans of trying to gin up politically motivated claims to hurt President Biden in the run-up to the 2024 election. The whistleblower claims cited by Republican lawmakers reportedly have not been corroborated by investigators, CNN has reported. The White House has dismissed the dispute as "a fact-free stunt" and the FBI called a contempt vote "unwarranted." Contributing: Bart Jansen This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Here are the Hunter Biden investigations the GOP wants to continue Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Hunter Biden has reached a tentative deal to plead guilty to two tax crimes and admit to the facts of a gun case, the Justice Department said Tuesday in a court filing. President Joe Bidens son, 53, agreed with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges of willful failure to pay in 2017 and 2018, and admit to the illegal possession of a gun purchased in 2018. The deal remains subject to the approval of a federal judge, and its not yet clear when Hunter Biden will appear in court. Three-Ring Circus as Hunter Biden Paternity Case Swamps Small Arkansas Town Sources familiar with the agreement told NBC News that the deal stipulates that the U.S. attorney has agreed to recommend probation for the tax charges. The court filings also state that Biden has agreed to enter a Pretrial Diversion Agreement in relation to the felony gun charge. Such diversion agreements typically involved a charge being dismissed as long as a defendant complies with certain legal conditions, though the filings in Bidens case do not state what those conditions could be. The agreement comes after five years of investigation by federal investigators into Bidens activities. Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weisswho was nominated by Donald Trump in 2018negotiated the deal. With the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the [United] States Attorneys Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved, Bidens attorney Chris Clark told NBC News in a statement. Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement. A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government. Clark added that he knows Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life and that he looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. According to sources cited by The Washington Post, Bidens combined tax liability was around $1.2 million in 2017 and 2018. He has since fully repaid his back taxes. The firearm charge stems from a 2018 handgun purchase during a time when, by his own admission, Biden was using crack cocaine. Court filings say he bought the Colt Cobra revolver knowing that he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance. The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life, White House spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement following news of the agreement. We will have no further comment. The deal indicates that prosecutors did not find reason to bring charges on other allegations of wrongdoing, which have involved foreign lobbying, money laundering, and other possible crimes. Republican lawmakers have accused Biden of being involved in much more serious criminality involving international businesses, including in Ukraine, and dealings with people with links to the government of China. They have also been critical of the justice system for allegedly attempting to avoid bringing charges against members of the Biden family for political reasons. Some conservatives have been particularly aggrieved about the perceived gentle treatment of Biden in contrast with the more serious accusations and potential punishments currently being faced by the GOPs 2024 frontrunner, Donald Trump. The former president himself pushed that narrative again himself on Tuesday following news of the deal. Wow! Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket. Our system is BROKEN! 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. Hunter Biden, the son of Joe Biden, the US president - Andrew Harnik/AP Republicans lambasted the US department of justice for giving Hunter Biden a sweetheart deal as the presidents son avoided jail on tax and gun charges. Following a five-year criminal investigation into his financial affairs Mr Biden, 53, agreed to plead guilty to two minor tax offences, and will not be prosecuted for buying a weapon while abusing drugs. Prosecutors will recommend probation and he will avoid both a trial and possible prison sentence. Republicans said the slap on the wrist for the presidents child was evidence of a two-tier justice system as Donald Trump faced a trial and possible lengthy prison term over his alleged mishandling of classified documents. Mr Trump said: Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket. Our system is BROKEN! Ron DeSantis, Mr Trumps chief rival for the Republican nomination, said: Looks like Hunter received a sweetheart deal and is not facing any charges on the massive corruption allegations. If Hunter was not connected to the elite DC class he would have been put in jail a long time ago. Hunter Biden earned taxable income of at least $1.5 million (1.18m) in each of the calendar years 2017 and 2018, according to the court documents. Hunter Biden with Joe Biden, his father - Teresa Kroeger In the documents prosecutors said: Despite owing in excess of $100,000 in federal income taxes each year, he did not pay the income tax due for either year. They also said that, between Oct 12 2018 and Oct 23 2018, Mr Biden possessed a firearm despite knowing he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance. When buying the gun Mr Biden had avowed that he was not an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance. But in his 2021 memoir he admitted to using drugs, including crack cocaine. If convicted at trial he would have faced a jail sentence of up to 12 months on each tax charge, and up to 10 years for the firearms charge. Instead, he agreed to take part in a diversion programme. According to the department of justice that diverts certain offenders from traditional criminal justice processing into alternative systems of supervision, including treatment for mental health and substance abuse. Under the scheme, Mr Biden will agree not to use drugs for two years, and also agree never to own a gun in the future. It came as Republicans in Congress pursued their own investigations into his business dealings, and those of the Biden family. James Comer, the Republican chairman of the house oversight committee, said: These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the oversight committees investigation. We will not rest until the full extent of President Bidens involvement in the familys schemes are revealed. He added: Lets be clear: the Department of Justices charges against President Bidens son Hunter reveal a two-tiered system of justice. Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist. Delaware investigation The charges arose from an investigation by David Weiss, the US attorney in the Bidens home state of Delaware. Mr Weiss was appointed by Mr Trumps administration. Hunter Biden has worked as a lobbyist, lawyer, and investment banker. For years, Mr Trump and Republicans have accused him of wrongdoing relating to business dealings in Ukraine and China. Mr Biden is expected to appear in court in Delaware within days for an arraignment. The deal with prosecutors was then expected to be approved by a judge. Christopher Clark, Hunter Bidens lawyer, said: It is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. In a statement the White House said: The president and first lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer. Hunter and Joe Biden Kris Connor/WireImage Hunter Biden, son of President Biden, has agreed to plead guilty to federal tax evasion charges, and will likely avoid prosecution for having illegally purchased a gun while addicted to a controlled substance, the Justice Department disclosed on Tuesday. Biden's agreement, while still subject to approval from a federal judge, is a sign "that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved," his attorney Christopher Clark said in a statement. Biden's addiction to crack cocaine, as well as his various financial ventures, have been the focus of a longstanding inquiry on the part of both federal prosecutors, as well as Republican lawmakers eager to capitalize on any insinuation of criminality on the part of the first family. On his Truth Social platform, former President Donald Trump raged against the reported deal, alleging that "the corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere 'traffic ticket.'" House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) on Twitter claimed Tuesday's announcement would have no impact on his committee's questionable investigation into the Biden's alleged criminality, vowing he will "not rest until the full extent of President Biden's involvement in the family's schemes are revealed." GOP Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee similarly insinuated without evidence that Tuesday's announcement was the result of nefarious meddling by the president: The White House has offered a brief statement in support of Biden, affirming that "the President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life." According to Biden's attorney, the agreement made between Hunter and U.S. Attorney David Weiss, a Trump appointee, means that Biden will "take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments" alongside a separate forthcoming arrangement over his having illegally purchased a gun while addicted to crack cocaine. "Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life," Clark added. "He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward." You may also like 5 theories for why Trump kept boxes of secret documents Alito did not disclose Alaska private jet trip from GOP billionaire with business before Supreme Court Humans pushed the Earth into a new geological epoch in the 1950s, Canadian lake samples suggest Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, boards Air Force One with the president, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, N.Y. Hunter Biden has entered guilty pleas to two tax charges. | Patrick Semansky, Associated Press President Joe Bidens son, Hunter Biden, reached a deal with federal prosecutors and will plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges. He was also charged with a felony related to possession of a firearm, but entered a pretrial diversion agreement to avoid prosecution. The letter, filed by U.S. Attorney David Weiss, says Biden has been charged with two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax. A press release from his office says Biden received income over $1.5 million in 2017 and 2018, and that he did not pay the required $100,000 in annual taxes required in either year. Biden also agreed to enter a pretrial diversion agreement related to his possession of a firearm while under the influence of drugs, according to the letter. Per The Hill, Biden will not go to jail under this plea deal, which also allows him to avoid a trial. For each tax charge, he faced a maximum of a year in prison, and for the firearms charge the maximum penalty is 10 years in prison, Weiss said. But, he added, actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. His lawyer, Christopher Clark, said in a statement that this deal will settle the Justice Departments five-year-long probe into the presidents son. Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement, Clark said, per CNBC. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. Meanwhile, Ian Sams, a White House spokesman, said that President Biden and his wife, first lady Jill Biden, love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life, per The New York Times. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the chairman of the Oversight and Accountability Committee, said that the charges against Hunter Biden reveal a two-tiered system of justice. Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling and possibly bribery, he said. Comer said the charges and the sweetheart plea deal will not affect the committees investigation. We will not rest until the full extent of President Bidens involvement in the familys schemes are revealed, he said. Oversight and Accountability Committees investigation Last week, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R- Iowa, took to the Senate floor and alleged that the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been hiding information about what he called a bribery scheme between President Biden, Hunter Biden and a foreign national. During his remarks, Grassley said the FBI has not been cooperative in providing an unredacted version of the FD-1023 document, which details multiple conversations that alleged that an executive from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma offered then-Vice President Biden and his son a bribe of $5 million, according to CNN. The FBI made Congress review a redacted unclassified document in a classified facility. That goes to show you the disrespect the FBI has for Congress, he said in his remarks. Two standards of justice in this country will turn our constitutional republic upside down. Thanks to the political infection within the Biden Justice Department and FBI, were well along the road for that to happen. Grassley said that the document states the foreign national had 15 audio recordings of phone calls between him and Hunter Biden and two between him and President Biden. Getting a full and complete 1023 is critical for the American people to know and understand the true nature of the document and to hold the Justice Department and FBI accountable, he said. The only two lawmakers who have read the unredacted version of the document are Grassley and Comer, who earlier last week confirmed that the recordings were noted in the document but didnt verify if they were legitimate. The same day as Grassleys remarks, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability issued a subpoena requiring Devon Archer to testify. He is a former business partner of Hunter Biden. According to the subpoena letter, Archers testimony is critical since he is associated with corporate entities that the committee has identified and the Biden familys role in each of them. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., addressed the demands of his GOP colleagues in an appearance on Fox News. He began by praising Grassley for his great deal of credibility in the Senate before diving into the allegations of bribery that the Iowa senator has raised. Now, I dont know if all of that is true or not, but were entitled to see that document. First, the FBI said, well, we cant even tell you that it exists. And then they said, you can see it, but it has to be redacted. They wont tell us whether theyve even investigated the allegations, he said. The only people who can fix this are the head of the FBI and the attorney general, he said And you cant find either one of them with a search party, and they just wont answer. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who has been briefed by the FBI, asked the agency in a letter to make public its analysis of the allegation made by the foreign national. He said that the public statements made by his colleagues are plainly inconsistent with statements made by the FBI in the June 5, 2023, briefing. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is characterizing these claims as conspiratorial. Congressional Republicans are openly admitting theyre peddling debunked conspiracy theories in an embarrassing attempt to improve their political prospects heading into 2024, said a Democratic National Committee spokesperson, per The Hill. Hunter Biden has reached a deal with federal prosecutors to resolve a five-year federal investigation into his failure to pay about $1 million in federal taxes and his purchase of a handgun in 2018. Under an agreement detailed Tuesday in a filing in federal court in Delaware, President Joe Bidens son will plead guilty to a pair of misdemeanor tax charges. Prosecutors have also charged him with possessing a firearm while being a user of illegal drugs a felony but have agreed to dismiss that charge if he completes a two-year period of probation. Hunter Biden, 53, is unlikely to serve time in prison if he complies with release conditions. The deal, subject to approval by a federal judge, calls for both sides to recommend that he be put on probation. The probe was overseen by U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump and was permitted to stay in his post after Joe Biden took office in order to complete the investigation of the presidents son. The White House and the Justice Department have said they did not interfere with Weiss investigation. It is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved, Hunter Bidens attorney Christopher Clark said in a statement. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. The plea agreement is intended to be a comprehensive resolution of Hunter Bidens potential legal liability in all matters investigated by federal authorities, a person familiar with the negotiations said. Those matters include allegations Republicans have leveled in recent years that his business dealings and his well-compensated post on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma amounted to corruption or violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act. This is the end of it, the person involved said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the private legal discussions. Weisss office confirmed some details of the agreement in a press release that added, without elaborating: The investigation is ongoing. It was not immediately clear what parts of the inquiry are continuing, but prosecutors could look at potential crimes or civil liability on the part of others who have come under scrutiny in the probe. The criminal charges against Hunter Biden are sure to be unwelcome for the president, as they would likely be for any parent, although how much political damage they will do to his re-election bid remains unclear. Hunter Bidens friends and allies have often chalked up any unwise behavior on his part to his long, publicly-acknowledged battle with drug addiction. That issue appears to have been a factor in the structuring of the deal allowing the presidents son to take advantage of a so-called diversion program to avoid a felony record. During the investigation, Hunter Biden reportedly paid off his tax debts by tapping more than $2 million he was loaned by a Hollywood attorney and producer, Kevin Morris. Morris is also said to be funding a movie about Hunter Biden based in part on his 2021 memoir, Beautiful Things. Hunter Biden said in an interview that year connected to the books release that he was confident the probe would not lead to charges. I am cooperating completely and am absolutely certain 100 percent certain that at the end of the investigation that I will be cleared of any wrongdoing, he told CBS. A POLITICO article in 2021 detailed the bizarre episode that led to the gun aspect of the probe. In 2018, the wife of Hunter Bidens late brother Beau allegedly found Hunters .38-caliber Colt revolver in his truck, disposed of it in a trash receptacle behind a Delaware grocery store and later returned to retrieve it, only to find it missing, according to a police report. Hunter Biden was in a romantic relationship with her at the time. The Delaware State Police investigated out of concern that the missing gun could be used in a crime, but a man who regularly rummaged in the trash returned the weapon to authorities a few days later. Secret Service agents visited the gun store where Hunter Biden bought the weapon and asked for the purchase records, but the owner declined to provide them, saying the matter was under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to two people who spoke to POLITICO for the 2021 article. The Secret Service has said it has no records of any involvement in the incident. The owner later cooperated with ATF agents. Some of Hunter Bidens legal woes stemmed from evidence that emerged as the investigation into the gun incident progressed: He responded no to a question on the background-check questionnaire that asks, Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance? Five years earlier, he had been discharged from the Navy Reserve after testing positive for cocaine. In his book, Hunter Biden candidly acknowledged his history of drug use and his familys repeated efforts to get him into treatment. Lying on the gun-purchase form can be a felony, though prosecutions for it are rare. Its unclear how many of those cases involve lying about being a drug user, but prosecutors and defense attorneys say theyre infrequent and are almost always brought in connection with some other set of alleged crimes. Under the agreement outlined in court filings Tuesday, Hunter Biden will not face a charge of lying on the form and was instead charged with possession of a firearm while an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance, which carries a potential prison term of up to 10 years. Under the plea agreement, he will plead guilty to the two misdemeanors covering his failure to pay his federal taxes from 2017 and 2018, but will not be required to plead guilty to the gun charge. Instead, the charge will remain pending while he proceeds through the diversion program. If he complies with the terms of that program, prosecutors will drop the charge. While the gun episode and the tax issues have drawn the most attention from prosecutors, Republicans have been focused for years on other aspects of Hunter Bidens activities, including his business dealings in Ukraine and evidence on a laptop he allegedly abandoned at a Delaware repair shop. Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly called the computer in question the laptop from hell and argued that the FBI was failing to investigate Hunter Bidens activities. Efforts by Trump, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others to try to gin up a Ukrainian investigation into Hunter Bidens work for Ukrainian gas conglomerate Burisma led to the Houses first impeachment of Trump in 2019. Trump was acquitted by the Senate the following year. Since Joe Bidens election in 2020, Republicans have been calling for a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, arguing that anyone appointed by his father would have a conflict of interest. Attorney General Merrick Garland has shown a willingness to appoint such semi-independent prosecutors in high-profile controversies, naming separate special counsels to investigate Joe Biden, Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence in connection with the presence of classified documents at their homes. However, Garland ignored the requests for a special counsel for Hunter Biden. Instead, Garland opted to allow Weiss, the top federal prosecutor in Delaware, to remain in office to see through the investigation even as nearly all U.S. attorneys appointed by Trump were asked to resign. Earlier this year, Garland said hed given Weiss a broad go-ahead to bring any charges he considered appropriate even if that required action outside Delaware. The U.S. attorney has been advised that he has full authority to make those referrals youre talking about or to bring cases in other districts if he needs to do that, Garland said at a Senate hearing in March. He has been advised that he should get anything he needs. I have not heard anything from that office that suggests they are not able to do anything that the U.S. attorney wants them to do. As the Hunter Biden deal became public Tuesday, Garland was traveling in Sweden for meetings with European Union justice officials. Aside from some publicity in connection with the release of his book, Hunter Biden remained largely mum as the federal investigation progressed. However, last December, he added a prominent, Washington-based attorney to his legal team, Abbe Lowell. Lowell who successfully defended high-profile public figures like former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) joined New York-based former federal prosecutor Christopher Clark, who had represented Hunter Biden on criminal matters for years. In the wake of the addition, Hunter Bidens team began taking a more aggressive public posture against his critics, while not taking any direct shots at the prosecutors or investigators. In February, Lowell asked the Justice Department and Delawares attorney general to investigate several people involved in disseminating the alleged contents of the laptop. The following month, Lowell filed a countersuit on behalf of Hunter Biden against John Paul Mac Isaac, the owner of the defunct Delaware computer store where Biden left his laptop for repair. The countersuit alleged invasion of privacy in response to an ongoing defamation suit that Isaac filed in 2022 against Hunter Biden and various other people and entities, including POLITICO, CNN, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and the Biden presidential campaign committee. Some targets of Lowells complaints and letters said that, after cultivating ambiguity about the issue for years, Hunter Biden was now implicitly acknowledging the authenticity of the laptop and the data extracted from it, but Lowell insisted the presidents son was not doing so. While Weiss has stayed on overseeing both the Hunter Biden probes and other federal cases in Delaware, the court filings Tuesday show he brought in a pair of hard-charging federal prosecutors from out of state to deal with the potential prosecution of the presidents son: Leo Wise and Derek Hines. Wise and Hines are best known for prosecuting flagrant corruption in a Baltimore Police Department Gun Trace Task Force. Eight police officers went to prison in connection with the probe, which charged cops with racketeering for robbing residents of money and drugs. Wise, whose book on the investigation was published in April, also led the prosecution of Gen. James Hoss Cartwright for lying to investigators probing leaks about top-secret U.S. efforts to disrupt Irans nuclear program. Cartwright pleaded guilty to a false statements charge , but President Barack Obama pardoned the retired 4-star Marine Corps general , who had served as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Ben Schreckinger contributed to this report. Hunter Biden: in the shadow of his father and brother Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, and his wife Melissa Cohen, make their way to board Marine One at the White House in Washington, DC on December 16, 2022 (Mandel NGAN) Shady business deals, drugs and women: Hunter Biden has lived a turbulent life under two shadows: that of his father, President Joe Biden, and his older brother Beau, who died of cancer in 2015. His troubles make him a vulnerable target for Joe Biden's opponents, and the attacks are unlikely to end with the plea deal he reached with the Justice Department to avoid prison on tax and gun charges. With the president now running for a second term in office, Republicans -- particularly Donald Trump -- are accusing father and son with reaping millions of dollars through Hunter's business deals in China and Ukraine. If some see Hunter, 53, as the family black sheep, his father has stuck by him. "My son has done nothing wrong. I trust him. I have faith in him," Joe Biden said last month as Republicans in Congress launched a new probe. - Alcohol and crack - A graduate of the elite Yale law school, Hunter drifted between jobs in government, banking and lobbying before landing in a family-controlled hedge fund and his own international business consultancy in the late 2000s. But his life was marred by alcoholism and addiction to crack cocaine and stints in rehabilitation. Hunter ties his addictions to the car crash that killed his mother and sister when he was three and hospitalized him with a fractured skull. But he also lived in the shadow of Beau, who had a sterling military career and went into politics, with his father predicting he could become president one day, before being felled by brain cancer in 2015. After that, at nearly every opportunity Joe spoke of his loss of his son, empathizing with others who had lost children. Meanwhile Hunter rarely got a mention. Hunter wrote in his memoir that after Beau's death the drugs only got worse, hitting bottom around the time Joe's vice presidency ended in 2017. His marriage fell apart and he lost custody of their three daughters. He had an affair with Beau's widow, had a child with another woman in Arkansas who sued him, and then saw his files, emails and lurid photos from his laptop computer made public by his father's enemies. And he came under investigation by the Justice Department over millions of dollars he earned from his overseas investments. But if Joe seemed to favor Beau, he defended Hunter when challenged over him, like during the 2020 presidential race when Trump raised Hunter's drug use and business deals during a debate. "My son, like a lot people ... had a drug problem, Joe Biden said on national television. "He's overtaken it, he's fixed it, he's worked on it. And I'm proud of him. I'm proud of my son," he said. - 'He never judged me' - In his 2020 memoir "Beautiful Things," Hunter Biden recounts his days chugging vodka from the bottle, wandering around seedy neighborhoods at night searching for crack, and multiple failed attempts to get clean. He said that in 2019 he was able to pick himself up after an intervention by his father and his second wife Melissa. The one thing that helped him, he wrote, was his father's unconditional love. "He never abandoned me, never shunned me, never judged me, no matter how bad things got," Hunter wrote. "There were times when his persistence infuriated me -- I'd attempt to fade to black through alcoholism or drug addiction, and then there he was, barging in again with his lantern, shining a light, disrupting my plans to disappear," he said. Today Hunter says he is clean. He had a son with Melissa, whom he named Beau. He took up painting, though that brought fresh controversy when unnamed collectors bought his works for prices in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even with the federal case now behind him, questions about his business dealings are not going away as his father is expected to face Trump again in the 2024 presidential election. Last month Republicans in Congress accused the Biden family of taking in more than $10 million from Hunter's business deals -- though they offered little evidence. "Hunter Biden and his associates courted business in countries that correlated directly with Joe Biden's work as vice president," said House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer. Both Bidens deny the charges. pmh/bgs Hunter Biden's apparent no-jail plea deal is 'far from standard operating procedure,' former prosecutor says Hunter Biden. Carolyn Kaster/AP Hunter Biden's plea deal with federal prosecutors is "far from standard operating procedure," a legal expert said. The president's son has agreed to plead guilty to two criminal misdemeanors of failing to pay income tax. A firearm possession charge against Biden will likely also be dismissed under the agreement. Hunter Biden's plea deal with federal prosecutors that would likely allow the son of President Joe Biden to dodge time behind bars is "far from standard operating procedure," according to a legal expert. It was revealed in court papers filed on Tuesday that Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to two criminal misdemeanors of failing to pay income tax in 2017 and 2018. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of up to 12 months each. He is also facing a separate felony gun charge for illegal possession of a firearm by a person prohibited, but could avoid prosecution on that charge and potentially have it dismissed as part of the agreement with the Justice Department. Prosecutors plan to recommend a probation sentence for the tax crimes, according to multiple news outlets, including the Associated Press and The Washington Post meaning Hunter Biden wouldn't serve time in prison on the charges. The nature of Hunter Biden's agreement with prosecutors which still has to be approved by a federal judge is "not totally unheard of," but is also "not standard operating procedure," defense attorney and former Brooklyn prosecutor Arthur Aidala told Insider. Typically in tax-related criminal cases, Aidala said, prosecutors recommend "some sort of incarceration for what's called general deterrence, even if they're assured that this individual is not going to commit these crimes again." Prosecutors "want to send word out there that you better not cheat on your taxes, you better not fail to pay your taxes, because if you do, you're going to go to jail," Aidala said. "So that's why they're typically heavy-handed when it comes to any form of taxes." Aidala who has been the defense lawyer for high-profile clients including Ghislaine Maxwell and Harvey Weinstein called it "rare" to have a plea deal on the table in a federal criminal case even before an arrest or indictment. In the dozens of federal cases he's been involved in, Aidala said he's only seen this happen once or twice. "It's just not the way it's normally done," he said, adding, "This whole thing is not being handled the way a case would typically be handled." The federal charges against Hunter Biden stem from a years-long investigation by Delaware US attorney David Weiss, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump. Hunter Biden reportedly failed to pay around $1.2 million in taxes, but his attorneys say he has already paid back what he owed to the IRS. "A million dollars is not a small tax debt," noted Mark Bederow, a defense attorney and former Manhattan prosecutor. "The decision was made to try it criminally, so you do have to wonder if it was Joe Schmo off the street, who evaded up to a million dollars in taxes or whatever the amount was, if he would get the same deal," Bederow told Insider. Bederow, who called Hunter Biden's reported full payment back to the IRS a "significant factor," added that it's "fair" to question whether Hunter Biden received special treatment in the case. Still, Bederow said, "Nobody's getting substantial [prison] time" for what Hunter Biden will ultimately plead guilty to. Trump and other Republican lawmakers were quick to slam the plea agreement as a "mere 'traffic ticket'" and a "slap on the wrist." Weiss' office said in a statement on Tuesday that Hunter Biden "received taxable income in excess of $1,500,000 annually in calendar years 2017 and 2018. Despite owing in excess of $100,000 in federal income taxes each year, he did not pay the income tax due for either year." In relation to the gun charge, Weiss' office said "from on or about October 12, 2018, through October 23, 2018, Hunter Biden possessed a firearm despite knowing he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance." Hunter Biden has been open about his years-long struggles with alcohol and drug addiction. The gun charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. However, Hunter Biden agreed to enter a pretrial diversion program for that charge, meaning the charge will be dropped as long as he follows the conditions of the agreement. "At the end of the day, at least for now, Hunter Biden will be a convicted tax cheat," said Bederow. "So in that sense, it's not good for him." Read the original article on Business Insider Satellite data illustrates the heat signature of Hurricane Maria above warm surface water in 2017. NASA When a hurricane hits land, the destruction can be visible for years or even decades. Less obvious, but also powerful, is the effect hurricanes have on the oceans. In a new study, we show through real-time measurements that hurricanes dont just churn water at the surface. They can also push heat deep into the ocean in ways that can lock it up for years and ultimately affect regions far from the storm. Heat is the key component of this story. It has long been known that hurricanes gain their energy from warm sea surface temperatures. This heat helps moist air near the ocean surface rise like a hot air balloon and form clouds taller than Mount Everest. This is why hurricanes generally form in tropical regions. What we discovered is that hurricanes ultimately help warm the ocean, too, by enhancing its ability to absorb and store heat. And that can have far-reaching consequences. How hurricanes draw energy from the oceans heat. Kelvin Ma via Wikimedia, CC BY When hurricanes mix heat into the ocean, that heat doesnt just resurface in the same place. We showed how underwater waves produced by the storm can push the heat roughly four times deeper than mixing alone, sending it to a depth where the heat is trapped far from the surface. From there, deep sea currents can transport it thousands of miles. A hurricane that travels across the western Pacific Ocean and hits the Philippines could end up supplying warm water that heats up the coast of Ecuador years later. At sea, looking for typhoons For two months in the fall of 2018, we lived aboard the research vessel Thomas G. Thompson to record how the Philippine Sea responded to changing weather patterns. As ocean scientists, we study turbulent mixing in the ocean and hurricanes and other tropical storms that generate this turbulence. Skies were clear and winds were calm during the first half of our experiment. But in the second half, three major typhoons as hurricanes are known in this part of the world stirred up the ocean. Microstructure profilers are used to measure ocean turbulence. This one is designed and built by the Ocean Mixing Group at Oregon State University. Sally Warner That shift allowed us to directly compare the oceans motions with and without the influence of the storms. In particular, we were interested in learning how turbulence below the ocean surface was helping transfer heat down into the deep ocean. We measure ocean turbulence with an instrument called a microstructure profiler, which free-falls nearly 1,000 feet (300 meters) and uses a probe similar to a phonograph needle to measure turbulent motions of the water. What happens when a hurricane comes through Imagine the tropical ocean before a hurricane passes over it. At the surface is a layer of warm water, warmer than 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius), that is heated by the sun and extends roughly 160 feet (50 meters) below the surface. Below it are layers of colder water. The temperature difference between the layers keeps the waters separated and virtually unable to affect each other. You can think of it like the division between the oil and vinegar in an unshaken bottle of salad dressing. As a hurricane passes over the tropical ocean, its strong winds help stir the boundaries between the water layers, much like someone shaking the bottle of salad dressing. In the process, cold deep water is mixed up from below and warm surface water is mixed downward. This causes surface temperatures to cool, allowing the ocean to absorb heat more efficiently than usual in the days after a hurricane. For over two decades, scientists have debated whether the warm waters that are mixed downward by hurricanes could heat ocean currents and thereby shape global climate patterns. At the heart of this question was whether hurricanes could pump heat deep enough so that it stays in the ocean for years. These illustrations show what happens to ocean heat before, during, after and many months after a hurricane passes over the ocean. Sally Warner, CC BY-ND By analyzing subsurface ocean measurements taken before and after three hurricanes, we found that underwater waves transport heat roughly four times deeper into the ocean than direct mixing during the hurricane. These waves, which are generated by the hurricane itself, transport the heat deep enough that it cannot be easily released back into the atmosphere. Implications of heat in the deep ocean Once this heat is picked up by large-scale ocean currents, it can be transported to distant parts of the ocean. The heat injected by the typhoons we studied in the Philippine Sea may have flowed to the coasts of Ecuador or California, following current patterns that carry water from west to east across the equatorial Pacific. At this point, the heat may be mixed back up to the surface by a combination of shoaling currents, upwelling and turbulent mixing. Once the heat is close to the surface again, it can warm the local climate and affect ecosystems. For instance, coral reefs are particularly sensitive to extended periods of heat stress. El Nino events are the typical culprit behind coral bleaching in Ecuador, but the excess heat from the hurricanes that we observed may contribute to stressed reefs and bleached coral far from where the storms appeared. Coral reefs are essential habitat for fish and other sea life, but they are threatened by rising ocean temperatures. James Watt via NOAA It is also possible that the excess heat from hurricanes stays within the ocean for decades or more without returning to the surface. This would actually have a mitigating impact on climate change. As hurricanes redistribute heat from the ocean surface to greater depths, they can help to slow down warming of the Earths atmosphere by keeping the heat sequestered in the ocean. Scientists have long thought of hurricanes as extreme events fueled by ocean heat and shaped by the Earths climate. Our findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, add a new dimension to this problem by showing that the interactions go both ways hurricanes themselves have the ability to heat up the ocean and shape the Earths climate. This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. The Conversation has a variety of fascinating free newsletters. It was written by: Noel Gutierrez Brizuela, University of California, San Diego and Sally Warner, Brandeis University. Read more: Noel Gutierrez Brizuela receives funding from the Mexican Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT). Sally Warner has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal Ukraine will receive a second International Monetary Fund (IMF) tranche worth $900 million later this month, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on June 19. "We are also taking a crucial step towards maintaining macro-financial stability in the country by approving the updated Letter of Intent and Memoranda of Economic and Financial Policies for the IMF," Shmyhal said. Read also: Where will the money come from? IMF questions military bonus reinstatement bill These documents outline Ukraine's commitments on improving the countrys business climate, strengthening the rule of law, and combating corruption. The loan was preliminarily approved at the end of May through a staff-level agreement on the review of the fund's four-year program. Under the program, Ukraine has the potential to receive a total of $15.6 billion, with $2.7 billion having already been disbursed in the first tranche. Read also: Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine BJP Party Celebrate Modi Government's 9th Anniversary A supporter of the rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wears a mask of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he listens to speeches of the party leaders during a public rally in Srinagar. Thousands of BJP supporters attended the rally to mark the 9th anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. Credit - Firdous Nazir-Future Publishing Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in the United States on 21 June, which is World Yoga Day. Asserting Indias soft power, he will participate in a yoga demonstration at the United Nations headquarters in New York, while the Biden administration will be laying out the red carpet in Washington. On the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Japan last month, Indian media claimed President Joe Biden reportedly quipped to Modi that that his staff was struggling to cope with the demand surge for invitations to the State dinner he will host. Modi will also address a joint session of the Congress. World leaders visit Washington all the time, but the hyper-nationalist Indian media sees American eagerness in welcoming Modi as a sign of Indias arrival on the international stage. The drum roll began in April, when commerce secretary Gina Raimondo gushed over Modi, anointing him as the worlds most popular leader, calling him unbelievable and visionary. The White House called India a vibrant democracy. Indias pliant media is projecting the visit as unprecedented. Dont rule out stories that count the number of times Congress members will applaud Modi, whether they stand up when they clap, measure the duration of the applause, and compare it with responses to similar addresses by former Indian leaders, hoping that Modi will set a record. For Modi likes adulation and believes in superlatives, and the bulk of the Indian media today aims to please him. More from TIME To be sure, India has arrived. The U.S. wants closer, stronger, and more meaningful relationship with India as a destination of investments, as a strategic ally, and as a bulwark against the rise of China. India is now the worlds most populous country. As it regularly holds elections, India is called the worlds largest democracy, although most indices that measure human rights or democracy show the precipitous decline in Indias record on both counts in the nine years Modi has been in power. Depending on how you measure economies, India is now the worlds fifth-largestaccording to the World Economic Forum, it overtook its former ruler, the U.K., last year. While some international economists are skeptical over Indias public statistics, its chief economic adviser claimed in March that Indias economy grew 7.2% last year. It remains among the top ten destinations for foreign direct investment in the world. No doubt India is a military power, and it is part of the Quad, a diplomatic alliance including Australia, Japan, and the United States, ostensibly intended to spread stability and prosperity in Asia-Pacific, but really a thinly-veiled alliance to rival China. Surely India is an ally of western democracies? Not so fast. India unequivocally defended anti-colonial struggles until the end of the Cold War (it was one of the earliest countries to impose sanctions on apartheid South Africa, and supported Palestine and many African liberation movements). But it has dragged its feet in supporting democracies since. The generals who annulled elections in Myanmar consider India a steadfast friend. It has issued only tepid, pious platitudes for peace in response to Russias illegal war in Ukraine. Its trade with Russia has not stopped, and it is accused of selling Russian oil in international markets undermining sanctions. It is wary of China, but only with regard to its disputed border; it has abstained U.N. resolutions on the treatment of Uyghurs and is unlikely to say anything meaningful if China invades Taiwan. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, and Joe Biden show the peace sign with their hands at the G20 summit after the second working session. The group of G20, the strongest industrialized nations and emerging economies, meets for two days on the Indonesian island of Bali. Kay Nietfeld/dpa Indias interpretation of its own interests are therefore not aligned with western interests, and if its positions align with certain western positions, those have less to do with any perception of shared values, and more with defending its own perspective. Even if Indias non-alignment was never consistent, and John Foster Dulles in fact called it immoral, India saw it as a practical response in a polarized world. And the Modi administrations differences with earlier Indian governments are only a matter of degree, and not of kind. Western wooing of India is real. There is the roadmap of defense collaboration with the U.S., the proposed submarine deal being negotiated with Germany, and France has invited Modi as a guest of honor on Bastille Day this July. These measures suggest a qualitatively different relationship, for India wants to diversify its defense procurement, which is still overwhelmingly reliant on Russian weapon systems. But the ties with Russia are historic, and China is a formidable neighbor which occupies vast stretches of territory India considers its own, and Chinese incursions have only increased in recent years. And yet, other than cosmetic steps like banning Tik Tok, India has not retaliated. Bilateral trade has grown to $136 billion (an 8% increase over the previous year) and its trade deficit with China has widened to $100 billion. While India would love to attract investors who look for alternate destinations other than China as part of their de-risking strategies, other countries in Asia are also looking to attract the same investments. Realpolitik apart, the U.S. does speak of building ties based on values, such as democracy and human rights. First, India has always been a flawed democracy, but its human rights record has worsened significantly during Modis tenure. Researchers Suchitra Vijayan and Francesca Recchia have identified about 250 non-violent political prisoners who were put in jail without being formally charged or tried between May 2014, when Modi came to power, until July 2022, in their forthcoming book, How Long Can The Moon Be Caged?. The detained prisoners include lawyers, writers, human rights activists, and other socially-conscious dissidents. According to watchdog Access Now, India leads the world in network shutdowns, and as western tech companies have learned, India browbeats telecom and social media companies to take down content and threatens them with police action if they dont comply. The treatment of Muslims, who form 14% of Indias population, has worsened. A 2019 report by Human Rights Watch documented 44 murders (36 of them being Muslim) by lynch mobs who killed people they suspected of possessing beef, consuming it, or trading cows. Muslims find it hard to buy or rent property, are denied permission to build mosques in some cases, and prevented from praying in public. Vigilantes prevent Muslims from praying at home. Female Muslim students in one state were banned from wearing head-scarves. A senior politician from Modis Bharatiya Janata Party had welcomed convicted cow protectors with garlands. BJP-ruled states have passed laws to make it harder for inter-faith marriages from taking place. Right wing Hindus celebrated the early release of 11 men who were convicted of having raped a Muslim woman and murdered some of her family members during the massacres of 2002. Those incidents occurred when Modi was Gujarats chief minister and had failed to stop Hindu violence against Muslims. Modi was then barred from entry into the U.S. or the E.U. until Indias Supreme Court said Modi did not have a case to answer. A recent BBC film which blamed Modi for complicity, is banned in India. Organizations that measure democracies have concluded that Indias democratic record has worsened. Freedom House has down-graded India to partly-free status. India has fallen from 27 in 2014 to 46 in 2022, as per the Economist Intelligence Units democracy index. The V-Dem project of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden has relegated India to electoral autocracy. The Civicus Monitor calls Indias civil society environment to be repressed. The Pew Research Center survey shows Indias social hostility score has worsened. And the World Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders places India at 161, a historic low, down from 150, of the 180 countries it surveys. In the global impunity index of the Committee to Protect Journalists, India ranks 11th, with 20 unsolved murders of journalists. More broadly, Indias rank in the U.N.s Human Development Index has fallen slightly, from 130 the year Modi took office to 132, the International Food Policy Research Institutes world hunger index shows India ranked at 107 out of 121 surveyed countries. the World Economic Forums gender gap index shows India ranked 135th of the 146 surveyed countries. Thomson Reuters Foundation calls India the worlds most dangerous country for women. Unsurprisingly, Cato Institute, which measures human freedom, downgraded India between 2015 and 2022 from 75 to 112. These organizations are drawn from different countries, use different methodologies, and are not ideologically aligned. Yet, they present a consistent image of a country where freedoms are under peril. No doubt, such rankings can be arbitrary and subjective, and there may indeed be some methodological problems. For its part, India disputes many such findings. This is hardly a report card any government should be proud of. But while such report cards annoy Modi, and his feisty foreign minister Dr S Jaishankar dismisses them pithily, Modi realizes two things: these organizations do not matter in India, and western governments note these concerns and privately might even agree, but publicly they are not about to challenge India. And so he goes on, his party members whip up religious passions to divert attention and he organizes picture-perfect spectacles. By raising the toast for Modi this week, the U.S. is helping him write the script of his re-election campaign and providing him excellent visual footage, which Modi will use to silence critics back home as his party prepares the script for the elections in 2024. Indian Prime Minister Modi's Visit to Washington Is His Most Important So Far. Here's What to Know President Biden Holds Bilateral Meeting With Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi participate in a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on Sept. 24, 2021 in Washington, DC. Credit - Sarahbeth Maney-Pool/Getty Images On Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden will meet Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi on an official state visit in Washington D.C, which includes a South Lawn welcome, a state dinner, and an address to a joint session of Congressan honor rarely granted to a visiting foreign leader. Modi will become just the third world leader, after Frances Emmanuel Macron and South Koreas Yoon Suk Yeol, to receive this kind of diplomatic reception from President Biden. While Modi has visited the U.S. many timesmost recently for a three-day visit in September 2021, where he held a bilateral meeting with Bidenthis will be the first time the Prime Ministers trip will be categorized as the highest ranked visit according to diplomatic protocol. (The last state visit to the U.S. by an Indian leader was by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November 2009.) As India takes center stage as the worlds most populous country, one of the fastest growing economies, and a powerhouse for tech and innovation, the Biden Administration hopes it can court the country as a crucial ally to counter Chinas growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Read More: How Indias Record-Breaking Population Will Shape the World More from TIME The visit will strengthen our two countries shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific and our shared resolve to elevate our strategic technology partnership, including in defense, clean energy, and space, the White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. Below, what to know about the upcoming visit. What are the top priorities for Modis state visit? The state visit will include conversations aimed at further cementing an already-growing defense and manufacturing relationship between the U.S. and India. More recently, Washington and New Delhi have been engaged in discussions about jointly producing jet engines, long-range artillery, and military vehicles. In May, India joined Bidens 14-member Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which primarily aims to reduce Chinas economic dominance through manufacturing, but without drawing up a formal trade agreement. Now, American company General Electric is hoping to co-produce military jets in the country, while the U.S. has increased investment in a semiconductor and chip manufacturing ecosystem set in India as a way to decrease dependence on Chinese manufacturing. The United States has really oriented a lot of its domestic and foreign policy around this question of, how do we counter the Chinese challenge? says Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia Program at Carnegie. So if you think about semiconductors and chip manufacturing, India is a big player right now. In the weeks leading up to Modis visit, both the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan have also made trips to New Delhi in an attempt to cut through the red tape to secure deals. Read More: What Modis Visit to Washington Tells Us About Indian American Voters This week, Reuters reported that India was inching closer to buying more than two dozen U.S.-made armed drones worth $2 to $3 billion to help enhance border surveillance and improve counterterrorism intelligence operations. The development comes after Sullivan, along with Indias National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, unveiled an ambitious roadmap for Indo-U.S. collaboration in specific high-technology areas, including semiconductors, next-generation telecommunication, artificial intelligence and defense. For India, striking deals with the U.S. will in turn strengthen the countrys hard power capabilities and make it a hotbed for innovation. They are hoping to get more U.S. dollars, more U.S. companies, and more U.S. entrepreneurs to make India a central part of their growth and expansion plans, says Vaishnav. Why do the U.S. and India want to counter China? Experts say both countries see their strategic interests converge in countering Chinas threat as it becomes more expansionist and ambitious on the global stage. For the U.S., China has increasingly become its biggest competitor in the spheres of influence, while India has been embroiled in territorial disputes in the Himalayas ever since it fought a brief war with China in 1962. In 2020, tensions between India and China flared when Beijing became more assertive over land claims along the shared Himalayan border and an altercation between Indian and Chinese military forces in the northern Indian region of Ladakh reportedly left 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead. Chinas close ties to Pakistan has also resulted in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as part of the Belt and Road Initiative and controversially passes through a section of Kashmir controlled by Islamabad, adding to Indias concerns. By helping India build up its economic and defense capabilities, Washington hopes to coordinate with New Delhi to tackle global challenges as part of its long-term interests, says Vaishnav. Washington is really looking to create a framework of deterrence to essentially deter Chinese expansionism, and they view India as a linchpin in this strategy, he says. How has the relationship between India and the U.S. changed? President Joe Biden gestures with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua, on the Indonesian island of Bali, on Nov. 15, 2022. Doug MillsPool/AFP/Getty Images Relations between India and the U.S. have changed in notable ways over the years. After independence from British rule in 1947, India was more closely aligned with Russia during the Cold War era due to U.S. distrust and estrangement over Indias nuclear program, while the U.S. had a stronger partnership with Indias rival, Pakistan. The two countries remained estranged democracies, according to the former U.S. Ambassador, Dennis Kux, until the early 1990s. However, since the early 2000s, U.S. administrations from Bill Clinton to Donald Trump have worked to build a strong relationship with India, recognizing its potential to be a strategic partner in ensuring the security of the Indo-Pacific region. In 2005, India and the U.S. signed a major nuclear deal under which India was recognized de facto as a nuclear weapons power. More recently, Indias participation in the Quad, a security alliance between the U.S. and its allies, Australia, Japan and India, has led to the country becoming a critical element of American defense strategy. Last year, the two countries conducted joint military exercises not far from the disputed Indo-China border, and in May, joined Bidens 14-member Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which officials and business executives hope will reduce American reliance on Chinese manufacturing for mutual benefit, including increased iPhone shipments from Indian-based factories. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Rep. George Santos heads to the House floor for vote on his possible expulsion in Washington By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - The two people who guaranteed George Santos' bail will have their names publicly revealed, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday as she rejected the indicted U.S. representative's claim that disclosure could threaten the guarantors' safety. U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert in Central Islip, New York, said the names will be made public on Thursday at noon EDT (1600 GMT). The judge said Santos may in the meantime try to modify the terms of his release if his guarantors, who he has suggested were family members, withdraw their $500,000 bail guarantee. Santos, 34, has expressed a willingness to go to jail rather than release the names. The first-term congressman has pleaded not guilty to a 13-count indictment accusing him of fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds. Joseph Murray, a lawyer for Santos, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Santos had been appealing a June 6 ruling by a federal magistrate judge to identify the guarantors. At least 11 media organizations had sought the names, citing the public interest. According to a court filing, the House of Representatives' Ethics Committee also wanted the names, to determine whether Santos violated that chamber's rules on gifts. Murray has said Santos and his staff had been subjected to a "media frenzy and hateful attacks" since Santos' indictment became public on May 9, and it was "reasonable" to believe his bail guarantors might face the same treatment. Following his election, Santos drew much criticism, including bipartisan calls that he resign, after reports that he had lied about much of his personal and professional background. He has since admitted to fabricating large parts of his resume. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis) [Photo/VCG] U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited Beijing, China, from June 18 to 19, in the first official trip by a senior U.S. official since 2019. The visit occurred against the backdrop of strained relations between the two countries. Throughout his visit, Blinken advocated for "guardrails" and "open lines of communication" to guide the relationship between the two powers. His counterpart, Qin Gang, called for stability in U.S.-China relations, highlighting the mutual benefits of a productive and constructive relationship, as well as it being the expectation of the international community. While the visit is unlikely to significantly improve U.S.-China ties, the U.S. must understand that calls for "communication" and a "constructive" relationship will remain hollow unless there are fundamental shifts in American behavior towards China. This includes acknowledging that "communication" or "co-existence" are not compatible with treating China like an enemy or seeking to suppress its fundamental interests in a quest for geopolitical hegemony. The U.S.-China relationship must be founded on pragmatism and compromise rather than ideological fanaticism or a "Cold War mindset." The U.S. bears true culpability for the deterioration of bilateral relations with China. Since 2017, the U.S. has deemed China's rise unacceptable, initiating a policy of containment, confrontation, and competition. The U.S. has attempted to crush China's high-tech industries via an expanding blacklist, coerced other countries to adopt these measures, instigated paranoia against Chinese companies under the guise of national security, and sought to aggressively militarize China's periphery through an increasing number of military bases, new alliances and provocative exercises. It has also sought to undermine China's core sovereign interests with respect to Taiwan and other regions. Simultaneously, amid a domestic political climate of mass hysteria, fearmongering and instability, it is disingenuous for the U.S. to call for "communication" and "guardrails" while demonstrating little goodwill towards China in its goals, aspirations and rhetoric. In other words, the U.S. wants to have its cake and eat it too, choosing areas of cooperation that benefit itself, while pursuing hostility across a myriad of other fronts. However, this approach does not serve national or global interests. The U.S. pursuit of decoupling, its dismantling of global supply chains, and its propagation of geopolitical conflict are disruptive and detrimental factors to global stability, prosperity, and well-being. The U.S. has received pushback from allies over its aggressive approach, and is now attempting to engage China, ostensibly to reassure Beijing that its intentions are not as destructive as they may seem. However, for these discussions to be truly productive, actions must follow words. The U.S. must relent in its hostility towards China and focus on fostering a bilateral relationship characterized by more cooperation and less confrontation. The current trajectory of U.S. foreign policy risks tearing up global economic integration, governance and peace, potentially leading to a scenario of ideological and even military conflict unseen since the end of World War II. The U.S. must learn to maturely accept and work with a rising China rather than attempting to viciously suppress it and undo decades of progress in the Asia-Pacific region. World affairs today are much more intricate than a simple contest of ideology or a game of hegemony. Still, the U.S. seems fundamentally unable to see it any other way, leading to a loss for all. China harbors hopes for an improved relationship, but will the U.S. try to understand China more objectively? And will it pursue a more inclusive and multilateral approach to its own interests? Only time will tell, but one can only hope such a meeting can ensure a small but significant course correction. Tom Fowdy is a British political and international relations analyst and a graduate of Durham and Oxford universities. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/TomFowdy.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Romanian police arrested Andrew Tate (3rd L) is brother (R) and the two women late last year (Daniel MIHAILESCU) Influencer Andrew Tate, a self-described misogynist with a large online presence, was indicted in Romania on human trafficking and rape charges, officials said Tuesday. Tate's brother Tristan and two Romanian women were also charged in the case, which has drawn intense international attention. The defendants have been referred for trial but the timing of the next steps in the case was not immediately clear. Romania's anti-organised crime prosecution unit (DIICOT) alleged that the defendants set up a criminal organisation and sexually exploited several victims. The brothers deny all the accusations, but if found guilty they would face years in prison. - 'Vindicate their reputation' - Police detained the suspects late last year and they were placed under house arrest at the end of March. "While this news is undoubtedly predictable, we embrace the opportunity it presents to demonstrate their innocence and vindicate their reputation," 36-year-old Tate's media team said in response to the indictment. They added the case "allows us to present a comprehensive body of evidence, diligently collected and prepared over time, which will undoubtedly substantiate the brothers' claims of innocence". Romanian authorities have asked for the defendants to stay under house arrest. The four are accused of forming an organised criminal group in early 2021 "with a view to committing the crime of trafficking in persons on the territory of Romania, but also in other countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom," DIICOT prosecutors. They said the organised criminal group sexually exploited seven victims "through acts of physical violence and psychological coercion". The victims were forced "to engage in pornographic acts with a view to producing and disseminating such material via social media platforms," DIICOT prosecutors said. They added that one of the defendants -- through physical violence and psychological pressure -- coerced one victim in March 2022 to "repeatedly engage in sexual relations". A source close to the investigation told AFP that the defendant was Andrew Tate. A spokeswoman for Tate when asked to confirm declined to comment, saying they would "give more details" later. - 'Loverboy method' - The seven victims, who were allegedly brought to and kept in the outskirts of Bucharest, were recruited through the "loverboy method" with the brothers misleading them with fake feelings of love and plans for lasting partnerships, prosecutors said. As part of the probe, Romanian police raided several properties connected to the Tate brothers and seized assets, including a collection of luxury cars. A dual citizen of the United States and Britain, former kickboxer Andrew Tate moved to Romania years ago, after first starting a webcam business in the UK. In 2016, Tate appeared on the "Big Brother" reality television show in Britain but was removed after a video emerged showing him attacking a woman. He then turned to social media platforms to promote his divisive views. He currently has 6.9 million followers on Twitter. Giving tips on how to be successful, along with misogynistic and sometimes violent maxims, his videos have made him one of the world's best-known influencers. "I am absolutely sexist, and I'm absolutely a misogynist," Tate said in a 2021 interview. Last week, a British law firm served Andrew Tate with legal papers with four women threatening him with a lawsuit in the English courts over allegations of sexual assault. A statement from the law firm described the women's allegations "including violent rapes, serious physical assault, and controlling and coercive behaviour." ii-jza/jmm A host of the conspiracy network Infowars is expected to plead guilty to at least one charge related to his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Owen Shroyer is expected to plead guilty Friday in Washington, D.C., according to a Tuesday order scheduling the change-of-plea hearing. Shroyer, a longtime host of Infowars and right-hand man to the outlets owner, Alex Jones, was charged with four misdemeanor counts in August 2021 for entering the Capitol on Jan. 6. The latest order doesnt indicate which charges including a charge of disorderly conduct Shroyer plans to plead guilty to. Shroyer was captured on video that was later posted to Infowars showing him in restricted areas of the Capitol grounds, according to charging documents. Shroyer also called into an Infowars live broadcast while on the Capitol grounds and said probably about 100,000 people had surrounded the Capitol. We literally own these streets right now, Shroyer said on the broadcast. Owen Shroyer, an InfoWars host and sometimes reporter who is a frequent guest on Owen Shroyer, an InfoWars host and sometimes reporter who is a frequent guest on "The Alex Jones Show," testifies in court Friday, July 29, 2022, at the Travis County Courthouse in Texas. After Shroyer was eventually charged, he took to Infowars to declare his innocence. Theres a lot of questions some I have answers to, some I dont, Shroyer told viewers at the time. I plan on declaring innocence of these charges because I am. Shroyer has played an integral role in Infowars over the years, including his participation in Jones sick lie that the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut never happened. Jones has been ordered to pay more than $1 billion for those lies. Along with Shroyer, Infowars video editor Sam Montoya was also charged with and later pleaded guilty to breaching the Capitol. A February bankruptcy filing for Jones revealed he was holding guns for Shroyer and Montoya while they faced the charges. Both their lawyers respectively asked us if they could store those guns here while the cases were going on, Jones told HuffPost at the time. Due to the request of their lawyers we have ... stored the guns here. Shroyer is being represented by Norm Pattis, a Connecticut lawyer who has previously represented Jones and members of Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist gang. Last year, Pattis was captured on video saying the N-word during a comedy routine. Pattis did not return a request for comment. Inside the Titanic sub: Video shows conditions explorers are facing as search continues A video shows the cramped conditions inside the Titan submersible that went missing during a dive to the Titanic shipwreck. Rescue teams are in a race against time to find the vessel, which had only 96 hours of oxygen on board when started its dive in the early hours of Sunday morning local time. The five passengers trapped on board are also contending with cramped conditions on a vessel that has no seats and is operated with what looks like a PlayStation controller. Read more: Live updates after Titanic tourist submarine goes missing Among those on board are British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, and British-based Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son, Suleman, 19. French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who works for OceanGate, is also thought to be on board, as is OceanGate founder and chief executive Stockton Rush. Inside the Titan submersible OceanGate Expeditions charges individuals $250,000 (195,000) for an eight-day trip, which includes a dive to the wreck of the Titanic. According to the OceanGate website, the submersible is made from carbon fibre and titanium, weighs more than 10,000kg and can reach depths of 13,100ft. A video posted on YouTube by OceanGate gives a sense of just how cramped it is inside the submersible. The Titan submersible is equipped with its own toilet. (CBC) OceanGate founder Stockton Rush, who is on board the missing Titan submersible, showing its features. (CBC) There are no seats inside the Titan submersible. (PA) There is room for five people one pilot and four crew but there are no seats, and those on board must sit close together. Read more: Missing tourist sub locked with bolts from outside The Titan is 22ft (670cm) long, 9.2ft (280cm) wide and 8.3ft (250cm) high, and can reach a speed of 3 knots. There is enough emergency oxygen available on board to last 96 hours. Watch: Inside the missing submersible that went missing during Titanic voyage Titan is the only deep diving submersible with a toilet. Similar to a camping toilet, this is accessed in the forward dome and comes with a privacy screen. There are three screens inside the submersible, one for controls, one for sonar and one for imagery. The inside of the submersible has just one on-off button on the interior wall, while the craft is run by a device that bears a similarity to a Sony PlayStation controller. OceanGate founder Stockton Rush, who is on board the missing submersible, explained in an episode of the BBC's The Travel Show last year how it works. The features of the missing Titan submersible. (PA) The conditions inside the Titan submersible are cramped. (OceanGate) "I like to tell people this is not your grandfathers submarine," he said. The Logitech controller used to pilot the Titan submersible. (CBC) "Its got one button and thats it. We run the sub with this game controller. Its made by Logitech, but its basically a Sony PlayStation style controller. "If you want to go forward you press forward. If you want to go back you press back. You want to turn to the left its like that, you want to turn to the right you turn to the right. Missing Titanic tourist submersible piloted with a video game controller (Insider, 3 mins) How does it work? According to OceanGate, the sub is "a combination of groundbreaking engineering and off-the-shelf technology". Dr Robert Blasiak, an ocean researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This submersible is designed to go down to certain depths. And this Titan sub, according to its specifications, is able to go down to depths of 4,000m. "The Titanic is resting on the sea bed at a depth of about 3,800m, so its within the specifications. The Titan submersible, pictured launching from its docking platform. (OceanGate, Alamy) The Titan submersible vessel, pictured on the surface in this file photo. (PA) "But we have to understand that the forces at that part of the ocean are tough to even wrap your head around. Its about 380 atmospheres of pressure, so 380 times the pressure you feel on the surface walking around. Thats about 200 times the pressure thats in a car tyre, so imagine that all around you. Thats why you need a submersible with really thick walls." On the Frequently Asked Questions section of its website on 30 May, OceanGate said the Titan communicates with the crew on the surface via text messages sent via a USBL (ultra-short baseline) acoustic system. The view for passengers on board the Titan submersible. (OceanGate) The OceanGate submersible Titan went missing on Sunday evening. (Alamy, OceanGate) It said the submersible is required to communicate with those on the surface every 15 minutes or more frequently if needed. The same system is used to track the position of the submersible. Anyone who pays the $250,000 fee to go on board the Titan becomes a "mission specialist", and is tasked with gathering data during the expedition. The website states: "You do not need any previous maritime experience or a specific skill set in order to join. It is helpful to have a sturdy pair of sea legs!" - Everything we know so far about the missing Titan submersible (Evening Standard, 4 mins) Watch: Search for submersible tourist vessel near Titanic wreck Michelle Budge, Deseret News The heavy wooden doors parted in front of me and I walked into a United States Senate hearing room as if on autopilot. I was running on maybe 41 2 hours of sleep and with each step felt like I was walking through mud, forcing myself forward. If you had sat Jeff Horwitz, Wall Street Journal technology reporter, and me down on my last day at Facebook and proposed so much as the idea, the possibility, that 41 2 months later I would be walking into a Senate hearing to testify about what was really going on at the company, that I would be coming out publicly as the whistleblower, we would have been horrified. Absolutely not, I would have said. But now I was sitting at a table, the senators arrayed in front of me, without him. Jeff had become my most consistent friend for the previous nine months. Others had provided support off and on, as I had moved between different COVID19 housing permutations, but Jeff had been a constant. He was my rock. He had believed me when I felt alone at Facebook. He had given me the support to follow my conscience and been the best collaborator I could have had throughout it all. The committee was called to session and went by in a blur. The chairs read opening statements, and then I read mine. After the obligatory opening statements, I launched into the heart of the matter: My name is Frances Haugen. I used to work at Facebook and joined because I think Facebook has the potential to bring out the best in us. But I am here today because I believe that Facebooks products harm children, stoke division, weaken our democracy, and much more. Just six weeks earlier, at the start of August, the Commerce Committee had drawn attention in a public letter to a few comments Mark Zuckerberg had made when he had been hauled in front of Congress in March of 2021 to explain Facebooks response to the events of January 6. He had stated he believed Facebook was conducting research on the effect of its products on childrens mental health and wellbeing. The committees public request was clear: Has Facebooks research ever found that its platforms and products can have a negative effect on childrens and teens mental health or wellbeing, such as increased suicidal thoughts, heightened anxiety, unhealthy usage patterns, negative selfimage, or other indications of lower wellbeing? The senators demanded to see any research Facebook had concerning childrens mental health. Before the release of the Facebook Files, my lawyers reached out to the Senate Commerce Committees Consumer Protection Committee to brief them on the upcoming news. This committee had been investigating social media for months, and they jumped at the idea of my testifying after I came out. Former Facebook data scientist Frances Haugen speaks during a hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021, in Washington. A quote from Haugens testimony made a list of noteworthy quotes assembled by Fred Shapiro, an associate director at the Yale Law library. He said he picks quotes that are important or revealing of the spirit of the times, not because they are necessarily eloquent or admirable. | Jabin Botsford, The Washington Post via Associated Press Two weeks later, when Facebooks response was due for release to the Senate, Jeff had gotten his hands on a copy of the companys statement in response and called me to get my thoughts. My eyes widened as we read through it together, amazed at Facebooks hubris. Facebook had a pile of research interviews with children who said they compulsively used Instagram even though it made them unhappy, interviews their own researchers summarized as being addicts narratives: It makes me unhappy; I cant stop using it; if I leave, Ill be ostracized. And yet Facebooks response to Congress was little more than a shrug: We are not aware of a consensus among studies or experts about how much screen time is too much, they responded, gracefully sidestepping the actual question asked, before producing 800 words detailing various media literacy programs they had funded and user experience controls they had built. Facebook was technically correct that there was no consensus in academia or the public about what amount of social media was too much. That was in no small part because Facebook kept all of its data hidden and wouldnt let academics have access to it for studies. But Congress hadnt asked how much social media was a bad amount of social media; they had asked whether Facebooks research ever indicated that kids might be harmed by Facebooks products ... and now I was sitting in front of congressional staffers who were thumbing through printouts of that very research. They were not pleased. Instagram is probably a positive force in many kids lives, but like all harms on social media, the negative impacts of the platform are not evenly distributed. Instagram is probably a positive force in many kids lives, but like all harms on social media, the negative impacts of the platform are not evenly distributed. For any given type of harm caused by the platform, whether were talking about kids or adults, you should expect around 10% of users to bear an outsized amount of the burden, because that small fraction comprises by far the heaviest users. When it comes to consuming content on Facebook, we see that the top 1% of adult users might consume two thousand to three thousand posts per day, while the average user only consumes 20 or 30. In the case of problematic use Facebooks phrase for Facebook addiction Facebook researchers found that kids problematic use rates rose from 5% when they were 14 years old to 8% when they were 16. That might not sound too bad, but in 2018, when the study was done, Facebook had long since ceased being the most popular social media platform for teenagers. Instagram and Snapchat held that distinction. If 8% of 16-year-olds could admit that they had problematic use on Facebook, imagine how many more might have admitted problems with Instagram, let alone the ones who would have denied it despite struggling. And that was just compulsive use. Other harm types were concentrated as well. Thirty-two percent of teenage girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse. Other internal documents talked about self-harm communities that encouraged kids and adults to hurt themselves. How many of the platforms current 14yearolds had been on the platform already, for two, three, four or more years? Suddenly there would be a yardstick to compare how much each platform was actually doing to protect children. It would take Facebook less than a day, and only once, to produce a pipeline that would provide that ongoing report. They dont share it with the public because they dont want the public to know the true extent of underage children on the platform. The Senate hearing room inside the Russell Building was a long rectangle, and we entered through a side door. Running the length of the chamber was a long Ushaped dais where the senators sat. The senators seemed to loom above me, but Ive since looked at pictures of that day, and the floor is level. I guess it says something about the intimidation I felt when they eventually took their seats. Only you can make yourself feel small. I walked over to the witness table and sat down. Out of nowhere press photographers appeared and swarmed around me for about two minutes. Once the hearing began, they wouldnt be allowed to get between the senators and me, and they were making the most of their remaining minutes of access. I spoke for just a few minutes. Each committee member took their five minutes to ask questions, sometimes (thankfully) veering off into a monologue for minutes at a time, which gave me a chance to regroup. The questions were largely good and relevant. If the staffers had seemed upset that Facebook had lied by omission about the impacts of their products on children, the senators gave the impression that they were even angrier. Related Woven through my answers was my attempt to lay out the argument as cleanly as possible: Facebook was full of kind, smart, conscientious people, who were limited in how they could act by a system of governance that showed no signs of changing on its own. Facebook had built a corporate culture that valued objective measures like computable metrics over human judgment. This empowered their youngest employees, who fueled the social media innovation that the company required. But the philosophy consistently missed preventable problems until too late. Its hard to measure the impact of stopping a fire before it rages, and corporate cultures too wed to navigating by objective numbers instead of human judgment are at risk of creating arsonist firefighters. Facebooks problems had grown so severe because they knew they controlled all the cards. Its closed software ran on data centers no one could inspect, as a result it could deny, deflect, or minimize any concern brought to its leaders about their products. Facebook will not change as long as the incentives do not change as long as the only metrics they have to report externally are about the economics of the business, they will keep paying for those profits with our safety. Facebook will not change as long as the incentives do not change as long as the only metrics they have to report externally are about the economics of the business, they will keep paying for those profits with our safety. These problems are not isolated to Facebook. I had worked at other algorithmic companies, and understood why sensible people at Facebook had made the choices theyd made. The same challenges exist in any place where the public lacks transparency to ensure conflicts of interest between safety and profits are resolved in the publics best interest. Hope and change are possible. We can demand transparency and the social pressure that comes with it to incentivize changing algorithm design and the design of social platforms themselves. Facebook claims we must choose between the status quo and extreme censorship. This is not true, Facebook knows how to solve its problems without picking good or bad ideas, it just feels it cant be the first mover to use those interventions or the stock price would plummet. A year later, my message was the same as the one I had delivered in my opening address to the Senate: These problems are solvable. A safer, more enjoyable social media experience is possible. Corporations are facing a fundamental decision over the next few decades. We are entering an era in which employees understand theyre disposable, while also understanding that the systems they work on, the systems that fuel our economy, are more opaque to those outside the corporate walls than they were in the past. The next generation of employees understands in a very different way than preceding generations that if they dont act to share information with the public about black box systems that run on chips and data centers, the public wont get the information it needs to provide oversight to tech companies, with potentially deadly consequences. The future is likely to bring many more Frances Haugens. Companies will have to decide whether they want to be transparent with the public, and therefore not have to fear their employees, or whether they want to police their employees and accept that theyll lose the best talent. People dont like to have to keep secrets. People dont like to lie. Neither activity is free. And the benefits of lying are in fact longterm liabilities. Facebook didnt want to see their lies as liabilities. When the truth broke, they lost users and advertisers, and had to dramatically increase their safety spending. Twice in the last five years, first in 2018 and then again in 2021, Facebook/Meta set the record for the largest oneday value drop in stock market history, both times when their narratives met reality head on. We should expect to see this over and over again with opaque companies in the future. Lies are liabilities. Truth is the foundation of longterm success. This article is a modified excerpt from Frances Haugens The Power of One: How I Found the Strength to Tell the Truth and Why I Blew the Whistle on Facebook, published by the Hatchet Book Group. Haugen is an American data engineer and scientist who worked at Google, Yelp and Pinterest before joining Facebook in 2019 and working in its civic integrity department. In the spring of 2021, she gave tens of thousands of internal Facebook documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission and The Wall Street Journal. A rescue operation is underway in the North Atlantic after a submarine touring the wreck of HMS Titanic went missing with five people on board. OceanGate Expeditions offers missions to tour the debris of the luxury liner which sank in 1912 and was only rediscovered in 1985 at a cost of $250,000 (195k) per person. The company confirmed on Monday that its sub was lost at sea and a search for the vessel is underway involving the Canadian and Boston coastguards. Follow live coverage of the missing Titanic sub in our live blog here The Titan making its descent (PA) The resting place of the Titanic lies about 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at a depth of around 12,500ft below the surface, with trips to visit it typically involving a two-hour descent. The missing OceanGate vessel is The Titan, a cramped metal cylinder accommodating four passengers and a pilot. Measuring 22ft long by 9.2ft across and 8.3ft high, the sub consists of an aerospace-grade carbon fibre hull with titanium hemispheres at each end, as well as a fiberglass hull insert to shield the passengers and electronics from condensation. A real-time monitoring system provides a running analysis of the impact changing pressure is having on the hull as the craft descends deeper and deeper into the ocean in the interests of safety. The vessel weighs 10,432kg in total and can travel at a maximum speed of three knots, made possible by Four Innerspace 1002 electric thrusters. The tourists and scientists who typically ride in it are able to look out via a large viewport window, their perspective enhanced by Sub C Imaging 4k Rayfin exterior cameras that capture the surrounding marine environment in a live feed that is displayed on a large digital display. The Titan vessel has gone missing with five people on board (PA) There is little by way of comfort inside but there is a toilet, although privacy is limited because it is situated right next to the viewing window. Most astonishingly, the craft is controlled by a generic video games controller specifically a Logitech F710 Wireless PC Gamepad from 2011, according to gaming expert Matthew Ruddle and, rather than using a GPS for navigation, it communicates with a tracking team on terra firma via text messages. A clip of a CBS Sunday Morning featurette about the sub from November 2022 that has gone viral in light of this weeks disaster shows OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush cheerily pointing out handles affixed to the ceiling of the craft that he says he bought from Camper World but denying that the vessel has been MacGyvered or jerry-rigged. Theres no switches and things to bump into, we have one button to turn it on, Mr Rush explained to reporter David Pogue. An interior view of the submersible used to tour the wreck of HMS Titanic (PA) Everything else is done with touch screens and computers, and so you really become part of the vehicle and everybody gets to know everyone pretty well. The Titan was reportedly built with the help of a team of engineering consultants from Nasas Marshall Space Flight Center, who offered guidance during the development stage. Speaking to GB News on Tuesday morning, David Scott-Beddard, chair of the British Titanic Society, outlined how unique the proposition offered by the company is, explaining: The OceanGate Titan, this particular submersible, is the only one currently capable in commercial use that can take passengers down to the wreck... Its one of only five submersibles that can reach this depth. Titan prepares to launch from its submersion platform on a test run (OceanGate/YouTube) Similarly, G Michael Harris, a specialist Titanic expedition leader who said he has previously worked with the pilot of the stricken Titan, told Jesse Waters on Fox News: More people have been to outer space than to this depth of the ocean and when youre diving in these situations you have to cross your Ts, dot your Is, you have to have everything absolutely perfect and by the book... Throw in a bunch of tourists and a new sub that was created over the last several years its not looking good. As to the experience of being a passenger on the Titan, New Yorker Mike Reiss, who said he had made three dives in it, told BBC Breakfast that the sub is a beautifully designed craft, I cant disparage it, but its meant to go down further than any other vessels can go... If its down at the bottom, I dont know how anyones going to be able to access it, much less bring it back up. He continued: The phrase we keep hearing is theyve lost communication and Ive gotta say I did three separate dives, I did one dive to the Titanic and two more off the coast of New York and every time they lost communication. The Titan on dry land (PA) And, again, this is not to say this is a shoddy ship or anything. Its just, this is all new technology and theyre learning it as they go along. You have to remember the early days of the space programme or the early days of aviation where you just make a lot of mistakes on the way to figuring out what youre doing. During winter 2021, South Side labor organizer Anthony Driver was excited to be a part of Black Bench Chicagos first cohort. As the Service Employees International Union Healthcares political and legislative coordinator and a former aldermanic candidate for the 20th Ward, he was selected to be part of the program in which a Black leadership pipeline can be developed and knowledge from longtime Black leaders can be passed to the next generation of community leaders. In two years, the free program has already made leadership inroads in the city. Having gone through the program, Driver, 30, now serves as president of the Community Commission of Public Safety and Accountability, an interim commission tasked with finding the citys next police superintendent. Black Bench Chicago graduate Ashley Munson, a former senior manager of advocacy for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, is now at the Obama Foundation, serving as a manager of community engagement and government affairs. And community organizer Ronnie Mosley, 31, became the 21st Ward alderman and the youngest person on the Chicago City Council. Im immensely thankful for it because it has changed the political scene, Mosley said. Whats so rewarding for me in every space that I go, I can find someone from Black Bench, like Anthony Driver. Were continuing to grow that connection, communication, camaraderie so as we work to deliver for the Black community in Chicago, we know ambassadors, leaders, influencers of our community and have a real connection. Applications for the next Black Bench Chicago cohort opened Tuesday. Black community leaders ages 25 to 45 serving in the fields of civic engagement, civil service, elected office and strategic leadership from Chicagos South, East and West sides are eligible to apply. Participants have to commit to the schedule and can miss only one session. What were looking for in an applicant is someone who is an expert in their field their field can be anything from being a lawyer, a focus on public health, an organizer or activist, said Black Bench Chicago co-founder Alexandra Sims, who is also president and founder of APS & Associates. We just want folks who care about Black progress and social impact to feel comfortable in applying. Sims, who is familiar with the Leadership Academy for the Chicago Latino Caucus Foundation, a program that grows Latino leadership in Chicago, said shed often hear Black people talk about needing one of our own such programs. So Sims, Mosley and Hyde Park Summer Fest organizer Jonathan Swain founded Black Bench Chicago in 2021 to educate millennial and Generation Z Black Chicagoans over the course of six months on legislative processes, special interests, the history of Black organizing in Chicago, and campaigns and budgets, among other topics. Experts lead discussions with participants in a collaborative, in-person format one day a month. Funded by Black donors, the new session of Black Bench Chicago will start Aug. 26. The first cohort had 30 participants from 200 applicants. Interest in the program was so great that the advisory board doubled the number of members in the first cohort to 30 fellows. This year, Sims and Mosley are expecting over 250 applicants for just 30 spots. I want to encourage more women to apply, Sims said. We want to make sure our class is very diverse with where political opinions are set, where they live in the city, gender and sexual identity, all of those things are things we think about in making sure its the best experience for everybody. Its a cool opportunity for young folks to get in front of a lot of Chicagos movers and shakers. With feedback from alumni, Sims said the program will be tweaked to make sure it is as strong as it can be. Former Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White and activist Jacquelyne Grimshaw will continue to be involved with Black Bench, along with civic leader Andy Zopp; lawyer and political organizer Michael Strautmanis; Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union and executive vice president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers; and Anton Seals Jr., executive director of Grow Greater Englewood. Black Bench has given us an ability to understand each other, Mosley said. Theres a diaspora of Black people throughout Chicago that come from all different walks of life and experiences. By being together and understanding those individuals, we can better understand the issues. Im the youngest council member now, but surely there is someone who is 18 that could run for office, work in a government office or a nonprofit, or the civics art space, and we want to make sure that they are prepared for that. The deadline for Black Bench Chicago applications is July 16. drockett@chicagotribune.com NATO There are no reasons for disappointment. Read also: Ukraine wants swift NATO membership to thwart Russian aggression and protect Baltic allies On June 12, a meeting of the leaders of France, Germany, and Poland took place. As often happens with us on the eve of such summits, expectations arose that the prospects for Ukraine's membership in NATO and some other important issues would be decided at this meeting. The trilateral format of this meeting also intrigued many Ukrainian observers. But there is nothing unusual about the format of this meeting. This is the so-called "Weimar Triangle," which was founded back in 1991 to develop cooperation between Poland, Germany, and France. The group exists mainly in the form of top-level meetings between the leaders and foreign ministers of these three countries. The meetings primarily discuss European policy issues, but also matters of international security. Read also: Polish parliament passes resolution backing Ukraine's NATO membership The main topic of this meeting was the question of Ukraine's prospects for NATO membership and security guarantees for Ukraine until our country becomes a member of NATO. NATO members are already seeking and preparing a coordinated decision on this issue, and this trilateral meeting was part of the preparatory work on this matter. The next platform is the meeting of NATO defense ministers, which will take place on Thursday, June 15. The discussion on this issue will continue until the NATO summit itself, and perhaps final decisions will be coordinated for adoption in Vilnius. the issue of Ukraine's membership in NATO will be resolved after the end of the current war Therefore, there was no need to expect any sensational results from the Weimar Triangle meeting. The leaders of France, Germany, and Poland once again expressed their support for Ukraine but avoided specifics regarding prospects for Ukraine's NATO membership and security guarantees. This may have caused a measure of disappointment for some, but there is no cause for this. At any rate, the process of coordinating decisions remains ongoing. Moreover, it should be understood that the key role in preparing this decision will be played by the United States. This process will very likely continue even after the NATO summit in Vilnius, and . The post-war format of security guarantees for Ukraine will finally be coordinated at that point, as well. In the meantime, there will probably be only intermediate and framework decisions. Read also: NATO summit in Vilnius to approve long-term aid package for Ukraine, bringing membership closer Stoltenberg A decision will most likely be made at the NATO summit this July to provide Ukraine with security guarantees before joining the North Atlantic Alliance. The scope and form of these guarantees are currently being agreed upon. It will essentially be an extension of the forms of support that Ukraine receives now on into the post-war period. NATO may also announce that it will assist Ukraine in restoring its own military-industrial complex and producing modern weapons, including long-range ones, using Western licenses. In regards to Ukraine's accession to NATO, Ukraine has the right to the same accession procedure to NATO as Finland and Sweden, but the decision will be made after the war ends. Ukraine may be offered some special (exclusive) agreement on cooperation with NATO, but as an intermediate stage rather than as an alternative to membership. The text published with authors permission. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Multiple investigations are being conducted after police fired a gun at a Boyd County suspect, according to court records and Kentucky State Police. The shooting occurred Sunday at 8:27 p.m, the Kentucky State Police said. KSP arrived on scene at the request of the Boyd County Sheriffs Office and the Catlettsburg Police Department. The suspect in the incident was arrested, according to Kentucky State Trooper Shane Goodall. Authorities didnt release any information on the suspect. No police officers or members of the public were injured, KSP said. KSP is investigating the shooting and the local sheriffs office is handling the investigation into criminal charges on the suspect, said Goodall. KSP declined to release further details and officials at the Boyd County Sheriffs Office werent immediately available for comment. But an arrest citation for an incident that occurred on the same day and time in Boyd County identified the suspect as Justin Hartsook, 36. Law enforcement arrived to investigate Hartsook because he was believed to be suspicious and was standing near vehicles in a Cannonsburg junkyard, according to an arrest citation. Hartsook allegedly fled in his vehicle after officers turned on their emergency lights. The pursuit began around the junkyard and followed to Meade Springer Road, where Hartsook nearly hit a deputy, according to the arrest citation. The pursuit continued to US-60 where Hartsook was traveling 90 mph, later colliding with a deputys vehicle on Booth Quillen Road. The pursuit resumed towards Cannonsburg Road, where a Catlettsburg police officer set up spike strips, according to the arrest citation. Hartsooks vehicle hit the strips, and he then attempted to run over Cantrell. The Catlettsburg officer fired his gun at Hartsook due to the dangerous circumstances and fear for his life, according to the arrest citation Hartsook allegedly continued towards US-23, where he collided with a deputys vehicle on the I-64 and US-23 overpass. The deputies and officers exited their patrol units and held Hartsook at gunpoint, but he refused to exit his vehicle, according to an arrest citation. The citation says necessary and appropriate forced was used to remove him from the vehicle. Hartsook was taken into custody and transported to the Boyd County Detention Center. He faces nine charges as a result of the incident. Goodall said the investigations were still ongoing Tuesday. This is a developing story and may be updated. The state has hired a national consulting firm to study the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services as officials undertake the effort to align what were formerly two departments human services and public health into a single entity. State officials said Health Management Associates, a Chicago-based consulting firm, will "study the delivery of health and human service programs in our state." The assessment will take place throughout the summer and early fall. The consulting firm is expected to present recommendations to the state by October, according to the state's website on the project. The firm will study specific structures under the agency's umbrella, including local public health departments, mental health regions and area agencies on aging, among more than a dozen other systems, looking at their current operational capacities and how services are delivered. In doing so, state officials said, they hope to identify gaps as well as duplication of services within those programs. Kelly Garcia, director of the Department of Health and Human Services, said in a news release that the ongoing realignment of state government is an opportunity to take lessons learned from the pandemic and address inconsistencies within the agency that create burdens for Iowans and local governments administering state services. Study aims to provide solutions to 'significant inefficiencies' in 'providing services to Iowans' Health and human services differs in each of the 99 counties, which created inconsistencies in the system during the response to COVID-19. Garcia said it was a challenge to navigate the multiple decisionmakers at the state, regional, county and city level. These challenges result in significant inefficiencies that can delay getting necessary funding, resources, and other supports to people on the front-line providing services to Iowans," she said in a statement. "This assessment aims to understand these systems and provide solutions to improve them. State officials said the study also aims to help them better understand the links between existing systems and Iowa's Medicaid program. By understanding who those beneficiaries are, officials said, they hope they can better connect those services to Iowans who need them. The state unveiled the new Iowa Department of Health and Human Services last year. Combined, the agency employs nearly 5,500 staff and oversees critical services for Iowans, including Medicaid, food assistance and local public health. The merger paved the way for Gov. Kim Reynolds' larger government reorganization effort that won legislative approval this year. Under a new law signed by the Republican governor, Iowa has shrunk its cabinet-level government agencies to 16 from 37. Michaela Ramm covers health care for the Des Moines Register. She can be reached at mramm@registermedia.com, at (319) 339-7354 or on Twitter at @Michaela_Ramm This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa hires vendor to conduct assessment of new HHS system The MEK regards itself as the most significant Iranian opposition group outside the country (JOE KLAMAR) A major exiled Iranian opposition group on Tuesday expressed fury after Paris police refused to grant permission for a major rally next month, on the grounds it risked creating tensions and being the target of an attack. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a coalition that includes the People's Mujahedin (MEK) group outlawed by Tehran, alleged that the de facto ban on the rally was the result "pressure" on France by the Iranian government. The NCRI, which calls for the overthrow of Iran's clerical leadership, had asked permission for the rally in Paris on July 1, with tens of thousands of supporters expected from France and across Europe. Paris police did not grant approval for the rally as it is "likely to generate disturbances to public order because of the geopolitical context", a Paris police source, asking not to be named, told AFP. "In addition, the terrorist risk should not be overlooked and the holding of such an event would make ensuring its security, but also the security of the sensitive guests, extremely complex," the source said. Authorities in 2018 foiled an attack against a major NCRI rally outside Paris. An Iranian diplomat was convicted of terror offences by a Belgian court over the thwarted attack, but was last month swapped for a Belgian aid worker held by Tehran. The NCRI claimed that Paris was giving into pressure from Tehran as France was concerned over the fate of four French nationals held by Iran in what activists call a deliberate strategy of hostage-taking. "The banning of the Iranian rally represents a disgraceful act against democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and succumbing to extortion and hostage-taking by the religious dictatorship ruling Iran," the NCRI said. It added that it would "employ all legal and political avenues to challenge and file a complaint against this unjustifiable prohibition", denouncing the "regime's pressure on France". The group had been hoping in the rally to use the momentum created by protests against the clerical leadership inside Iran that erupted in September after the death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress rules for women. The protests inside Iran have abated but still continue sporadically. The MEK regards itself as the most significant Iranian opposition group outside the country. A controversial organisation regarded as a cult by detractors, it is far from having universal support among the Iranian diaspora. But it does enjoy the support of several high-profile former US and European officials such as the former US vice president Mike Pence. tll-sjw/js/yad Flash A police officer raises his gun during a protest against the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the United States, May 31, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua] After multiyear investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released a report on Friday to underscore the policing incidents connected to the Police Department in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where African-American man George Floyd was murdered by a police officer during an arrest on May 25, 2020, The Washington Post reported on Sunday. The report exposed "disturbing but hardly surprising details regarding an institution that the DOJ describes as having systemically used excessive force as well as discriminated against racial minorities," said the report. "These issues predated the murder (of Floyd) in summer 2020 that set off protests across the country." "The burden of this misconduct hasn't been evenly borne among demographics," it noted. "Black and Native American residents have been stopped disproportionately; their neighborhoods have been patrolled disproportionately; they've been the subjects of a disproportionate amount of force." The Minneapolis police have been on notice about these disparities, but despite some recent reforms, no one has done anything to sufficiently address them, the report said. "To the contrary, after Floyd's murder brought national attention to the city, many officers have simply stopped documenting race in the course of their duties," it added. The Istanbul Modern adds a futuristic touch to the ancient city's iconic Bosphorus shoreline (Yasin AKGUL) Istanbul's museum of modern art moved Tuesday into a futuristic building overlooking the Bosphorus Strait designed by the Italian-born architect of London's Shard skyscraper and the Pompidou Centre in Paris. The museum's return to its old but reinvented location marks the latest attempt by Turkey's cultural capital to infuse its iconic waterfront -- lined with graceful imperial palaces and mosques -- with a more futuristic feel. Established in 2004, the Istanbul Modern in 2018 moved out of a rustic building that once served as a customs warehouse. The city then launched a massive regeneration project that rebuilt a long stretch of the European side of the Bosphorus shoreline, making it more accessible to both Istanbulites and cruise ships that again clutter the busy strait. The museum's new three-storey reflective steel building, featuring a transparent ground floor made of reinforced glass, is connected to the new Galata Port -- a sleek amalgam of restaurants, bars and retail stores overlooking a waterfront boardwalk. Its design was inspired by the glittering waters and light reflections of the Bosphorus, architect Renzo Piano told reporters. "This museum building is like a creature of the sea that has jumped out from the waters of the Bosphorus," said Piano, whose other works include the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. "Every time you have water, it is great to make a building because water makes things beautiful," he said. "Istanbul is a place of water. We have water everywhere." Turkey's art scene, funded mostly by wealthy businessmen and philanthropists, flourished during an economic boom that accompanied the early years of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule. But Erdogan, who extended his two decades in power until 2028 in a general election last month, has come under fire for curtailing the freedom of expression, developing a troubled relationship with artists. - 'It's forever'- Spanning 10,500 square metres (115,000 square feet), the museum offers a space for exhibitions, film screenings and a permanent collection of more than 280 works by Turkey's most important modern and contemporary artists. It is currently featuring works by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, a photographer, screenwriter and actor whose "Winter Sleep" won the Palme d'Or in Cannes in 2014. The exhibition consists of 22 large portraits taken by Ceylan in his travels to places such as India, Georgia, China and Russia. Piano approached his latest creation knowing the pressures of erecting a building that could reshape both the city and its artistic direction for future generations. "People must understand that it is a public art, making architecture, so it is different from many other sorts of art," Piano said. "It's forever," he added. "Especially when you make a building like a museum." The building stands on a grid of steel-braced concrete columns that are meant to be resistant to major earthquakes. The city of 16 million people straddles an active fault line, suffering a catastrophic quake in 1999 that claimed more than 17,000 lives. Piano said architecture was about making lasting structures. "Look at the building, it's solidly built, and the solidity is part of the semantic expression of the building: solid and flying." fo/zak/giv Ukraine's forces are reportedly advancing near Bakhmut and in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and attacking in western Donetsk Oblast, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote in its latest assessment on June 19. Kyiv's forces are conducting offensive action in the northwest, northeast, and southwest of Bakhmut, successfully advancing near Krasnopolivka (12 kilometers northeast of Bakhmut), the ISW said, citing Russian military bloggers. Russian sources claim that Ukraine also attacked south of Velyka Novosilka in western Donetsk Oblast. Referencing Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, the ISW noted Ukrainian advances in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The troops reportedly pushed 7 kilometers in Tavriisk direction and liberated 113 square kilometers over the past week. The experts commented that geolocated footage confirmed the liberation of Piatykhatky (25 kilometers southwest of Orikhiv), announced by Kyiv on June 19. According to the ISW, fighting was reported south and southwest of Orikhiv over the day of June 19. Ukraine is conducting intensive military actions in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts amid the ongoing counteroffensive, which started around June 5. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reported that Ukrainian forces have so far liberated Novodarivka, Levadne, Storozheve, Makarivka, Blahodatne, Lobkove, Neskuchne, and Piatykhatky. Ukraine war latest: Defense Ministry reports new gains in the south, difficult situation in the east Key developments on June 19: * Defense Ministry confirms liberation of Piatykhatky in southern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, but reports difficult situation in the east * UKs sanctions to last until Russia pays for Ukraines reconstruction * Russia launches drones, missiles at Ukraine overnight * Rus The Kyiv IndependentDaria Shulzhenko On June 19, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported that Russia had begun relocating its forces from the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast to strengthen the Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut sectors. Later in the same day, Maliar said that Russia had deployed more troops to Ukraine's eastern front line, trying to advance toward Lyman and Kupiansk and "seize the initiative." Ukrainian forces "do not allow the enemy to advance" amid the difficult situation in the region, intensified Russian shelling and heavy fighting, she added. By Crispian Balmer and Francesca Piscioneri ROME (Reuters) - A state prosecutor in northern Italy has demanded the cancellation of 33 birth certificates of children born to lesbian couples dating back to 2017, saying the name of the non-biological mother should be removed. The move by the prosecutor of Padua, which came to light late on Monday, highlighted the legal morass facing gay families in Italy. It came months after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government ordered city councils to stop registering same-sex parents' children. Italy legalised same-sex civil unions in 2016 under a centre-left government, but stopped short of giving couples full adoption rights, fearing that it would encourage surrogate pregnancies, which remain illegal. In the absence of clear legislation on the issue some courts have ruled in favour of allowing such couples to adopt each others' children, and mayors of some cities, including Padua, have registered births to both partners from same-sex unions. However, the prosecutor of Padua, Valeria Sanzari, opened a legal case this month, saying that 33 birth certificates signed by the city mayor since 2017 should be changed, with the name of the non-biological mother removed. A court will rule on her requests later this year. The prosecutor's initiative outraged Italy's LGBTQ+ community. "These children are being orphaned by decree," said centre-left parliamentarian Alessandro Zan, who has pushed for gay rights in Italy. "This is a cruel, inhumane decision," he added. Removing the name of a parent from a birth certificate creates both bureaucratic hurdles and emotional strains. The mother whose name is eliminated will no longer be able to fulfil a series of tasks, including picking up her child from school without the written permission of her partner. If the legally recognised parent dies, the children could be taken from the family home and become a ward of the state. To regain her parenting rights, the non-biological mother has to go through a lengthy and expensive special adoption procedure. The government defended the prosecutor's decision. "In Italy, marriage is only between a man and a woman, and therefore only the biological parent is the parent whose surname can be registered," Luca Ciriani, the minister for parliamentary relations, told RTL radio on Tuesday. Italy's lower house is currently debating a law that would make it a crime, punishable by up to two years in jail, for couples who go abroad to have a surrogate baby, even in places where it is legal, such as the United States or Canada. Meloni, a self-declared enemy of what she calls "gender ideology" and "the LGBT lobby", faces increasing scrutiny from abroad over her highly conservative agenda for families. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Meloni publicly at a summit of Group of Seven leaders in Japan last month that Canada was "concerned" about some of the positions that Italy was taking in terms of LGBTQ+ rights. (Additional reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by Frank Jack Daniel) FILE PHOTO: Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the press in the Treaty Room of the State Department in Washington ROME (Reuters) - Italy's participation in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has produced few benefits, Rome's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday, as his country faces a decision on whether to pull out of the deal. Italy in 2019 became the first and so far only G7 nation to have joined the hugely ambitious BRI scheme, which envisions rebuilding the old Silk Road to connect China with Asia, Europe and beyond with large infrastructure spending. "We have not had many benefits from the (new) Silk Road, this is technically proven", Tajani told RAI public television, adding his government was "reflecting" on whether staying in the scheme was in the national interest. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing administration has until the end of the year to make a call. In an interview last month, she said good relations with Beijing were possible even if her country exits. Tajani, speaking days after the Rome government intervened to limit Chinese influence on tyremaker Pirelli, reiterated that Rome has "no hostility" towards China and wants to have "good relations". Ex-premier Giuseppe Conte, who took Italy in the BRI in 2019, hoped it would lift Rome's underperforming economy, but it has not had a significant impact. Exports to China totalled 16.4 billion euros ($18.1 billion) last year from 13 billion euros in 2019. By contrast, Chinese exports to Italy rose to 57.5 billion from 31.7 billion over the same period, according to Italian data. (Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by Cynthia Osterman) Jack Ma reportedly proposed a restructure at Alibaba, and it has echoes of what's been happening at Meta Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma suggested a flattening the organisation structure at e-commerce platforms Taobao and Tmall. Yuya Shino/Reuters Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma held a small group meeting with top company execs in May, per LatePost. Ma suggested flattening out Taobao and Tmall's org charts by cutting managers. The move echoes what's happening in Silicon Valley giants like Meta. Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma retired from the company in 2019, but he was back advising the company in late May, per LatePost, a Chinese media outlet. Ma held a small group meeting with executives from the company's e-commerce platforms Taobao and Tmall, LatePost reported on Monday, citing unnamed Alibaba employees. In that meeting, Ma said the competition facing Taobao and Tmall is "very severe," according to an Insider translation of LatePost's story. Ma suggested the two Alibaba e-commerce platforms cut out management layers, per the LatePost report. Insider was not able to independently confirm LatePost's reporting. Alibaba currently employs more than 230,000 people. The company's offices are spread across China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the US. Such a move would echo changes seen in Silicon Valley, with tech giants like Meta, Salesforce, and Amazon all eliminating middle managers' jobs. In particular, many supervisors at Meta have been demoted to individual contributors amid CEO Mark Zuckerberg's "year of efficiency." Alibaba is facing stiff competition from Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and PDD, the parent company of Temu. The total value of merchandise sold on TikTok and Pinduoduo, a PDD e-commerce platform, exceeded half of Alibaba's e-commerce business in China in 2022, according to LatePost calculations. Ma is still retired, but more visible than he's been in recent years Ma has been lying low for more than two years, after angering Chinese authorities in an October 2020 speech in which he criticized China's financial regulatory system and claimed Chinese banks were operating with a "pawnshop" mentality. His words prompted intense regulatory scrutiny of his businesses and a wider crackdown on tech firms in China. But Ma appears to be more publicly visible, and more actively engaged with the company this year. In January, he was seen in Bangkok, where he visited a Michelin-starred street-food restaurant and watched a Muay Thai fight. He also popped up in Hong Kong in the same month. In March, Ma returned to a school he founded in his hometown of Hangzhou in eastern China. In April, he was appointed an honorary professor at the University of Hong Kong. In May, Ma took up a teaching position in Japan, one of the first public roles he has assumed since disappearing from the spotlight in 2020. And on Saturday, Ma attended the finals of the Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition in Hangzhou, where Alibaba is based. Alibaba president Michael Evans told CNBC on Thursday that Ma was enjoying his change in lifestyle. "Well, first of all, Jack is alive. He's well, he's happy. He's creative. He's thinking. He's teaching at a university in Tokyo, spending more time in China," he said, per CNBC. Alibaba did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider. Read the original article on Business Insider Japans Parliament on Monday published an extensive report on the nations Eugenic Protection Law, which for decades gave the government free rein to sterilize anyone with cognitive disabilities, mental illness or hereditary disorders to supposedly prevent inferior offspring, according to The Japan Times. The report revealed that under the law, which was in place for 48 years following World War II, 24,993 victims were sterilized, and around 16,000 of them did not consent to the procedure including two 9-year-old children. Lawmakers unanimously adopted the legislation, a successor to Japans National Eugenic Law of 1940, at the time. According to The Japan Times, it aimed to combat a rising population amid post-war food shortages. A high school textbook from 1975 listed in the report said lawmakers sought to improve the genetic predisposition of the entire public. The 9-year-old children mentioned in the report, a boy and a girl, were respectively sterilized in the early 1960s and 1970s. The law was repealed in 1996, and new legislation in 2019 gave each victim $22,648 (3.2 million) in compensation, per the BBC. Thousands have since sued the government for more, however, pushing Parliament to launch a new probe in June 2020. The 1,400-page report published Monday was damning. It not only confirmed consent from adults wasnt legally required and that a board at the prefectural government was allowed to examine and approve each case, but that numerous people were sterilized without that board ever being notified. It also found the welfare ministry gave local authorities across Japan approval to lie to those with hereditary diseases, which included at least one victim who was told they were getting operated for appendicitis only to be sterilized unwittingly instead. Lawyers and supporters of sterilized victims in Japan, seen protesting for compensation in 2018. Lawyers and supporters of sterilized victims in Japan, seen protesting for compensation in 2018. I would like the state not to shroud the issue in darkness but take our sufferings seriously soon, an 80-year-old victim who was forcibly sterilized at 14 and who chose to remain anonymous said at a news conference, per The Japan Times. Yasutaka Ichinokawa, a professor of medical sociology at the University of Tokyo, has been calling for an investigation since 1997. He told The Japan Times that the $22,000 compensation should be raised. The legislature should take responsibility in re-examining the compensation law and other means through which (the government) should extend relief to victims so that such a tragedy will never be repeated, he told the outlet. Japan isnt the only government to sanction forced sterilizations. An estimated 60,000 Americans were sterilized in the 20th century because of eugenics laws. Koji Niisato, one of the lawyers representing the Japanese victims, told The Japan Times that the report didnt clarify why the law was created, why it took 48 years to amend it or why the victims were not compensated. This weeks disclosure is reportedly only the first of many to come. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said during a news conference Monday that the government sincerely reflects on and deeply apologizes for the pain it caused, per the Times. He also claimed Parliament will do its best to determine additional compensation for victims. Related... Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty For more than a decade, Jeffrey Epsteins status as a Level 3 sex offender didnt preclude him from wining and dining an array of billionaires, heads of state, princes and princesses, entrepreneurs, and celebrities at his glitzy Manhattan townhouse and mansions around the world. After his prison stint in Florida, Epstein also courted another kind of royalty: Tim and Nina Zagat, the powerhouse New York couple behind the eponymous restaurant-ratings guidebook. The creators of the iconic burgundy paperback attended at least one 2014 dinner planned by the well-connected sex-traffickeran event that apparently included around a dozen elite guests, according to emails obtained through a public records request. Escorts, Investments and Life Lessons: What Epstein Talked About in Prison Among them were Epsteins girlfriend Karyna Shuliak, director Woody Allen and wife Soon-Yi Previn, former Hyatt hotels CEO Nick Pritzker and his buddy Miami developer Craig Robins, magician David Blaine, comedian Bobby Slayton, JPMorgan executive Jes Staley, Harvard professor Martin Nowak, and Bard College President Leon Botstein. But it wasnt the only time Tim Zagat rubbed elbows with Epstein, who in 2008 pleaded guilty to soliciting an underage girl in Palm Beach, Florida, and who had confronted a slew of headline-grabbing lawsuits from his victims ever since. He died by suicide in his Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting charges on child sex trafficking. Aside from hitching a ride to the 2002 TED conference on Epsteins private jet, Zagat also associated with the perverted financier between at least 2012 and 2014. Would you like to try to schedule in Tim Zagat for this week or weekend? Epsteins longtime assistant Lesley Groff wrote to her boss in February 2012. Perhaps Friday lunch out with him? Epstein replied in the affirmative. Three months later, emails reveal, Epstein and Zagat were planning to treat the Sultan to a meal in New York. That visitor was likely Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, a Dubai businessman who is mentioned multiple times in Epsteins packed calendar and whose name Epstein reportedly used to purchase a private island. (Sulayem didnt return messages left by The Daily Beast.) Im told Dubai has made contact ?? True?? Epstein wrote to Zagat on May 16, 2012. The documents, which The Daily Beast obtained from the U.S. Virgin Islands attorney general, show Zagat then emailed an employee to ask, Where does this stand? Epstein followed up with Zagat 10 days later, writing, Sultan will be back next week I suggest we take him for food. An assistant to Zagat also messaged Epsteins then-scheduler and alleged co-conspirator Sarah Kellen, Hi! Can we set up a time for Tim and Jeffrey to take the Sultan to eat? Thanks! Later that month, Groff noted in an email listing Epsteins schedule that Tim Zagat will try to come to a dinner for Shuliaks birthday at the now-shuttered Del Posto. Reached by a Daily Beast reporter last week, Zagat declined to comment on his meetings with Epstein. Hes radioactive, Zagat said. So, good luck to you and your story. Pressed again, Zagat answered, No, I dont want to hear any of your questions, before adding, No comment at all. He did say, however, that Epstein was never an investor in his company. Zagat and his wife rose to fame in the 1980s after a survey among friends grew into an empire of annual field guides of the citys restaurant scene. In 2000, one critical food scribe, Steven Shaw, wrote that the power couples alleged habit of appearing unannounced at the most exclusive establishments and demanding to be seated ahead of ordinary, reservation-holding citizens or charging into the kitchen without permission in order to talk to the chef earned them a formidable reputation. Epstein Emailed About Dinners With Woody Allen, David Blaine, and Richard Branson Former Zagat Survey employees told The Daily Beast they hadnt heard of Epsteins ties to their old boss, but added that he was known to pal around with famous faces including former President Donald Trump, whose friendship with Epstein reportedly soured. (A 2019 Financial Times story refers to Trump as Tim and Ninas former acquaintance.) Its unclear when and how Zagat and Epstein became acquainted, but in 2000, Zagat Survey sold a $31 million equity stake to a group of investors that included two men who were friends of the sex trafficker. Former Microsoft executive and cooking author Nathan Myhrvold and Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technologys Media Lab, invested in Zagat to fund the publications online expansion. A source with knowledge told The Daily Beast that Myhrvold did not introduce Epstein to the Zagats. Negroponte didnt return messages. In 2002, flight records show, the Zagats flew on Epsteins plane with cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker and TV executives Geraldine and Kit Laybourne. The group was headed to a TED conference in Monterey and photographed at the Edge foundation billionaires dinner. Participants at the dinner that year included Myhrvold, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos (photographed next to former model and Epstein employee Kelly Bovino), Rupert Murdoch, and the journalist Michael Wolff. Geraldine Laybourne told The Daily Beast that she and her husband and the Zagats were only getting a free ride from Epstein, which had been organized by someone at TED. The head of the TED conference called and asked if wed like a ride on a private jet directly from NY to Monterey for the TED conference, she said in an email. We said yes. We did not know whose plane it was or who Jeffrey Epstein was. Negroponte, a friend of Tim Zagat, also flocked to TED that year. After Epsteins death, MIT released a report examining his $850,000 in donations to the school and quoted Negropontes 2013 emails encouraging then Media Lab director Joi Ito to accept Epsteins funding. I know him quite well, Negroponte wrote. The person who is his closest friend is Marvin Minsky, who even visited him in jail. I would take [former Italian Prime Minister Silvio] Berlusconis money, so why not Jeff. When Minsky died in 2016, Negroponte urged Ito to invite Epstein to a memorial event despite accusations in the press that Epstein forced a teen girl to have sex with Britains Prince Andrew. Of course he can come and would be welcome, Negroponte wrote, adding, I would make absolutely no fuss over his coming and welcome home [sic] 100%. Long after the free lift to TED, Tim Zagat was still socializing with Epstein. The records obtained by The Daily Beast show that in November 2012, Groff wrote that Epstein had tentative plans to see a screening of one of Allens movies and that she had Invited Tim Zagat to go with JE and was awaiting [his] response. Almost a year later, Groff logged two separate calendar entries related to Zagat, writing, Reminder: Tim Zagat with his phone number and Tim Zagat (maybe Tim, you and Joel Klein could have some food). The Klein mentioned in Groffs message is the former NYC schools chancellor who in the 1990s served as deputy White House counsel to President Bill Clinton, another friend of Epstein who flew on his plane. Flights With Trump, Pregnancy Pics, and Latex Costumes: The Biggest Bombshells From Ghislaines Trial In January of 2014, Groff wrote, DINNER OUT(?) w/ Tim Zagat (he needs you to confirm you want to go out and if so, how many for dinner?) The group dinner with Zagat and Allen was at Ristorante Morini, a now-shuttered upscale Italian restaurant on Madison Avenue. Slayton, the stand-up comic who attended the event, told The Daily Beast that he remembers Epstein telling him that he was friends with Zagat but that, ironically, the creepy money-manager was not a fan of going out to dinner. Once he said, You and Tim always talk about food. What is it with you guys and food? He said that about a few people. He didnt understand why people like to eat good food, Slayton said, adding, I could never get him to go out. He had me over to his house a few times for dinner with a bunch of comedians. (Lewis Black confirmed he was among those guests.) When I asked him about restaurants one time, he goes, Call Zagat, he knows about food. What do I know? said Slayton, who met Epstein in the 2000s after Epsteins then-girlfriend and now-convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell asked him to perform for Epsteins birthdayalbeit unpaid. At the time, Slayton didnt know who Epstein was, but Maxwell said hed fly the comedian in and put him up somewhere. The event, however, was called off. Slayton recalled that during later visits with Epstein, the financier ate like a sixth-grader, eating burgers or peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches while lavishing guests with magnificent meals. He wouldnt even really eat much of the food, the comedian said. Every time I would go to his house, all he would talk to me about was comedy, Slayton added. He would never talk about girls, I never saw any of the girls. On one occasion, Epstein showed him photos of his private island and suggested he visit. Maybe Ill come down with my wife for a weekend, Slayton told Epstein, who responded, No wives. Slayton declined the invitation. Slayton said Epstein would allow him and his wife to stay in one of his Upper East Side apartments whenever they visited New York, so he felt he had to pay respect for the free lodging by dropping in to Epsteins home for coffee or a quick lunch. And he just asked me the same questions about comedy. It was kind of weird. Its kind of a little Rain Man-ish, you know? He had a wide range of friends, Slayton said, so probably talked to them about what they did. 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. Jennifer Lawrence is proving she's the new queen of chic fashion, one neutral outfit at a time Jennifer Lawrence attends the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2023. Lionel Hahn/Getty Images Jennifer Lawrence has developed a chic, European-inspired fashion sense in recent years. In 2023 so far, she's worn a surplus of neutral gowns and black blazer looks. She's also made the case for a controversial shoe style: kitten heels. Jennifer Lawrence might be the new queen of chic. In a world full of vibrant, see-through fashion, "The Hunger Games" star has lately been making the case for more classic, office-ready looks with the help of her stylist Jamie Mizrahi. Think European fashion staples like neutral colors, tiny kitten heels, and lots of blazers all of which Lawrence has been wearing nonstop since 2021. The style evolution of Jennifer Lawrence The 32-year-old actor first stepped onto the Hollywood scene in the late 2000s wearing simple sundresses and statement accessories. But as quickly as she rose to fame, her style also changed. Around 2011, the actor began experimenting with sparkling gowns, plunging necklines, and bolder colors, quickly becoming a red-carpet bombshell. Jennifer Lawrence in 2008 (left), 2017 (middle), and 2021 (right). Mark Sullivan/Mike Marsland/Thierry Chesnot/Stringer/Getty Images She remains a style star today, and her fashion has continued to evolve most noticeably between 2021 and now. Kitten heels, black blazers, and chic gowns: Lawrence's fashion staples For one of her first major public appearances in 2023, Lawrence attended the Cannes Film Festival in May wearing an off-white, netted gown designed by Dior. The haute-couture look had short, draped sleeves, a floor-length skirt, and a plunging back that revealed thin straps across her shoulders. Jennifer Lawrence attends the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2023. Lionel Hahn/Getty Images Lawrence stuck to a neutral color palette the following month at the "No Hard Feelings" premiere, but this time with an edgier design. Wearing Dior again, the actor donned a sleeveless, black gown with a sheer top and matching bralette underneath. She accessorized the dress, embellished with flower-shaped beading, with a thin belt and leather gloves. Jennifer Lawrence attends the "No Hard Feelings" premiere on June 12, 2023. Samir Hussein/Getty Images And then, there are the shoes. You can't talk about Lawrence's recent fashion without mentioning her footwear of choice: kitten heels. The controversial style is often mocked for its impracticality, so much so that the shoes were thrown to the wayside for years as sky-high platforms took over. But Lawrence seems to love them. She recently wore a pair with the above outfit, and also during a promotional event in Madrid, Spain, where she paired the shoes with a white Alaia dress. The linen garment had rolled-up sleeves, a pleated skirt, and a thick black belt around the waist that matched her round sunglasses. Jennifer Lawrence attends a "No Hard Feelings" event on June 14, 2023. Paolo Blocco/Getty Images These outfits are just a few examples of Lawrence's sophisticated, all-neutral wardrobe. This month alone, she's also worn a flowing gray ensemble, a tan optical-illusion dress, and back-to-back blazer looks. Jennifer Lawrence wears Givenchy on June 15 (left), and Armani Prive on June 19 (right). Gerald Matzka/Stringer/MEGA/Getty Images Of course, Lawrence's style will likely continue to evolve but for now, it's clear her chic, back-to-basics fashion is having a moment. Read the original article on Insider Jill Biden: Consequences of overturning Roe v. Wade 'go far beyond the right to choose' First lady Jill Biden speaks at a political rally for President Joe Biden at the Philadelphia Convention Center in Philadelphia, Saturday, June 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) WASHINGTON (AP) Jill Biden said Tuesday that the consequences for women of losing the constitutional right to an abortion "go far beyond the right to choose as she hosted a conversation with four women, including a Texas doctor, who shared emotional stories of being denied necessary reproductive care. The first lady invited the women from Texas, Florida and Louisiana to the White House to help highlight the anniversary Saturday of the Supreme Court decision overturning its 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to an abortion. The ruling last June left it up to individual states to set their own abortion policies, and 18 of them including the home states of Biden's guests have put abortion bans in place. The consequences of these bans go far beyond the right to choose, the first lady told the women, as she detailed examples of women being denied access to medication or are being forced to go to other states for care. And some doctors, she added, are withholding treatment because they don't know which procedures are legal. And like those who are with us today, far, far too many women are experiencing devastating consequences to their health, their fertility and their lives, said Biden, who came of age when abortion was illegal before it was became the law of the land in 1973. One of the women in conversation, Anya Cook of Florida, told the group that a 15-week abortion ban that was in effect in her state last year very, nearly killed me. She had suffered multiple miscarriages, but was on her 18th pregnancy when her water broke early, at 16 weeks. Doctors said her baby wouldn't survive without amniotic fluid and would die within days. Because she was beyond 15 weeks and there was still a heartbeat, they couldn't touch me or treat me or admit me, Cook said. They sent us home to deal with it ourselves. She said she became convinced that she wouldn't survive and went to a really dark place. Within days, her daughter was stillborn in the bathroom of a beauty salon. She had lost half the blood in her body, was weak and underwent multiple follow-up surgeries that left her fertility in doubt. We don't know if I can get pregnant now or carry to birth, but the target of our wrath is very well-known: It's the people who have taken our human rights to health and liberty and personal autonomy," Cook said. "Someone needs to fight back against these insidious laws in states across the country. Dr. Austin Dennard, an OB-GYN in Dallas, decided to have an abortion after an ultrasound showed that her fetus' brain and skull had not developed. She had to end an earlier pregnancy by an abortion she obtained in Texas, but "this time I would have to flee my own state, she said. Dennard worried that the trip for an out-of-state abortion could jeopardize her medical license or invite harassment against herself and her husband, also an obstetrician-gynecologist. She recently joined a lawsuit filed by other Texas women who were denied abortions, despite pregnancies that they say endangered their health or lives. The women are asking the court to put an emergency hold on some abortion restrictions. The state of Texas should not be making these decisions for me, let alone anybody else, Dennard said at the White House. Jill Biden said her husband, President Joe Biden, is doing everything he can to fight back" but that he needs Congress to send him legislation that will make the protections of Roe v. Wade the law of the land once again. Meanwhile, Democrats and the White House see the rollback of abortion rights as an issue that will play in their favor in the 2024 elections. I know that it isn't easy to relive what youve already gone through, but stories like yours are how we shed light on the cruel and devastating consequences of those bans, she told the women. The first lady's event is among several events the administration is planning this week to mark one year after the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The president, Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the administration's point-person on the issue, the first lady and Harris' husband Doug Emhoff, are slated to appear at event on Friday in Washington with several women's and pro-choice groups. Harris is also scheduled to deliver what the White House says will be a major speech on Saturday in North Carolina on the Biden administration's efforts to safeguard reproductive freedom. The Republican-controlled General Assembly in North Carolina recently overturned Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of legislation banning abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. The law is set to go into effect on July 1, and is being challenged in federal court by abortion providers in the state. Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to tax charges and admitted illegally possessing a gun (MANDEL NGAN) US President Joe Biden's son Hunter has reached a plea deal on minor tax and gun charges, concluding a five-year probe that involved persistent Republican allegations that major crimes were being covered up. Hunter Biden, 53, has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of failure to pay federal income tax and admitted to illegally possessing a gun despite being a drug user, prosecutors said Tuesday. The plea agreement between Hunter Biden and the US Attorney's Office in his home state of Delaware will need to be approved by a federal judge. The president's son is unlikely to face any prison time. According to The Washington Post, prosecutors will seek probation on the tax and gun charges. When asked on Tuesday about the plea deal, President Biden, 80, told reporters at an event in California that he was "very proud of my son." US Attorney David Weiss, an appointee of former president Donald Trump, said Hunter Biden had agreed to plead guilty to "two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax." According to the charges, Hunter Biden, a Yale-trained lawyer and lobbyist, failed to file his tax returns on time on earnings of more than $1.5 million for 2017 and 2018. In both years he owed more than $100,000 in taxes on those earnings. Each count brings up to 12 months in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 or double what he stood to gain by breaking the law. Weiss said Hunter Biden was also facing one count of "possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance." - Addiction - Hunter Biden detailed his struggles with crack cocaine and other drugs in a 2021 memoir, released months after his father took office. He will not be prosecuted on the gun charge but will enter what is known as "pretrial diversion," which often involves counseling or rehabilitation. In a statement, Christopher Clark, Hunter Biden's lawyer, said "it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved. "Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due," Clark said. "I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life," he added. "He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward." Trump, who is facing felony charges in Florida of mishandling government secrets and charges in New York for paying hush money to a porn star, sought to contrast his own legal woes with those of the president's son. Trump slammed the plea agreement as a mere "traffic ticket" for Hunter Biden and a "full scale election interference 'scam.'" "Our system is BROKEN!" Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. Trump is currently the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and may well face Biden next year in a rematch of the 2020 White House race. - 'Slap on the wrist'? - Representative James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, described the plea agreement as a "slap on the wrist" and pledged to continue his investigation into the Biden family's business dealings. "These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committee's investigation," Comer said. Hunter Biden became a regular focus of Trump's attacks ahead of the November 2020 election for his work in Ukraine and China. In his memoir, "Beautiful Things," Hunter Biden insisted he has never done anything unethical and dismissed allegations that he displayed a lack of judgment by accepting a lucrative position on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma while his father was Barack Obama's vice president. Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives in December 2019 for seeking political dirt on the Bidens ahead of the 2020 election from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He was acquitted by the Senate. Hunter Biden, who was discharged from the Navy Reserve in 2014 after a positive test for cocaine, describes how he started drinking heavily in his 20s, went to rehab and relapsed after his elder brother Beau died of brain cancer in 2015 at age 46. "I've bought crack cocaine on the streets of Washington DC, and cooked up my own inside a hotel bungalow in Los Angeles," Biden said in his memoir. Hunter and Beau survived a car crash that killed their mother and sister in December 1972, just weeks after their father was first elected a US senator from Delaware. cl/bgs/des/jh Flash A total of six suspects in telecom fraud cases were returned to China from Myanmar on Monday, according to a statement released by the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar. Myanmar police handed over the suspects to the Chinese police at the Yangon International Airport before they were transported back to China, the embassy's statement said. The suspects were arrested on the Myanmar-Thailand border during an operation jointly conducted by China, Myanmar and Thailand to crack down on telecom fraud crimes, the statement said. The move demonstrates the firm determination and will of China, Myanmar and Thailand to jointly combat transnational crimes, especially crimes involving fraud and gambling. China will continue to strengthen law enforcement cooperation with Myanmar and Thailand, crack down on such crimes, and earnestly safeguard the property and safety of the people, it said. John Amos says hes OK but is a victim of daughters elder abuse A week before Amos recent announcement, Shannon Amos publicly referred to her father as the victim of elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation. John Amos has confirmed his daughters claims that hes been hospitalized and is a victim of elder abuse, but the veteran TV actor said she is the primary suspect. The Good Times star shared his viewpoint of the current scenario in a video posted to Instagram by his son, K.C. Amos, according to Entertainment Weekly. Im not in the hospital as a result of anything that happened recently, other than the fact that about a month ago, I was hospitalized because I was suffering from water retention and a couple of other issues all of which have been corrected, or at least addressed, Amos said, EW reported. Im very confident in the doctors that I have here and the medical staff that my son has assembled all around me. So I feel very good about that. John Amos is seen in 2007 at the TV Land Awards at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California. The Good Times star has confirmed his daughter Shannon Amos claims that he is a victim of elder abuse, but said she is the primary suspect. (Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) A week before Amos announcement, his daughter, Shannon Amos, publicly referred to her father as the victim of elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation. She did not say who was responsible, only that she believed the alleged perpetrator was a trusted caretaker. However, the actor continued by saying his daughter has taken advantage of him, which he believes was one of his primary problems before entering the hospital. She would be the primary suspect, if you would, Amos added. She is the one that I would attribute my elderly abuse to. The actor, 83, did not give specifics to support his claims of abuse, and it was unclear whether he had lately had physical contact with his daughter. In a statement, Shannon Amos publicist, Anne Torres, said her client is disheartened at the continuation of false and defamatory statements being made against her by, or on behalf of, or in connection with news reports based on social media posts by Mr. Kelly K.C. Amos. Torres added that her client demands anyone making, encouraging, persuading, and aiding and abetting others to make false comments cease and desist immediately to stop and avoid additional damage to her reputation. Shannon Amos holds all legal options possible, Torres says, because the evidence does not support the allegations. Prior to its deactivation, a GoFundMe page Shannon Amos launched on her fathers behalf included a description of her experience returning from a trip and discovering him in the intensive care unit fighting for his life. She aimed to raise $500,000 so her father could catch and prosecute the alleged perpetrators of the abuse. She also stated she had a close relationship with the Custer County Sheriffs Office and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Regarding the fund, she stated, Our top priorities continue to be taking care of my fathers medical needs and giving him a safe place to live, adding that someone had stolen everything of value from his home during a break-in. At first, John Amos publicly denied reports he was fighting for his life. Following his hospitalization for cardiac issues in Memphis last month, the actors spokeswoman, Belinda Foster, said for someone to suggest hes fighting for his life, thats ridiculous. Foster said that John Amos didnt know about the fundraiser his daughter started. He doesnt need a GoFundMe, she added. Hes doing well, and he doesnt understand why she put this thing together. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post John Amos says hes OK but is a victim of daughters elder abuse appeared first on TheGrio. Washington Special counsel John Durham, who scrutinized the origins of the FBI's investigation into possible links between Russia and former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, testified before a House committee on Wednesday, detailing the "sobering" findings of his controversial report one week after its release. Durham's appearance before the House Judiciary Committee was the second time he appeared before lawmakers this week. He testified behind closed doors to the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. "As we said in the report, our findings were sobering," Durham told the committee. "I can tell you, having spent 40 years plus as a prosecutor, they were particularly sobering to me." Durham's 316-page report was critical of the FBI, saying agents showed "confirmation bias" and finding that the basis for opening an investigation into whether Trump's campaign was coordinating with Russia in 2016 was "seriously flawed." "Neither U.S. law enforcement nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion in their holdings at the commencement of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation," the report said, referring to the codename for the FBI's Trump probe. A career federal prosecutor and Justice Department official, Durham was serving as the Connecticut U.S. attorney in 2019 when then-Attorney General William Barr tasked him with examining the FBI's decision to open an investigation into the Trump campaign in 2016. He was elevated to special counsel the following year and allowed to continue his probe under the Biden administration. Special counsel John Durham testifies about his report on the FBI's inquiry into potential contacts between Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, before a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 21, 2023. / Credit: JONATHAN ERNST / REUTERS Throughout the course of the four-year investigation, Trump and his allies were convinced Durham's investigation would show the FBI unfairly targeted him when it opened an investigation into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. On Wednesday, Durham underscored that the production of the so-called Steele dossier, an opposition memo that included unproven accusations compiled by a former British intelligence officer, was funded by the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign, and was a deeply flawed record that was used by the FBI to secure surveillance warrants. Under questioning from Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, Durham agreed that he had the authority to pursue charges against Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or former FBI Director James Comey in his role as special counsel if he had the evidence. Durham also agreed Attorney General Merrick Garland did not interfere with his investigation. "Attorney General Garland never asked me not to indict somebody," Durham said. Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse asked Durham if he sides with some conservatives who believe the Department of Justice and the FBI should be defunded. "I don't believe the Department of Justice or the FBI should be defunded," Durham said. "I think there maybe ought to be some changes and the like, but defunded, no." Trump is now fighting federal charges alleging he mishandled classified documents and obstructed the government's efforts to retrieve them, prompting the former president and his supporters to once again claim the Justice Department has been "weaponized" against him. Much of Durham's findings echoed details revealed in the Justice Department inspector general's 2019 investigation into the FBI's probe, which identified several procedural errors but concluded there was no "political bias" at the bureau. Just three prosecutions resulted from Durham's investigation. Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith pleaded guilty, admitting that he doctored an email that was submitted to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court as part of an application used to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Prominent Democratic lawyer Michael Sussmann was acquitted on charges of lying to investigators about his ties to Clinton's presidential campaign when he brought allegations to the FBI related to the Trump investigation. The case against Russian analyst Igor Danchenko also ended with an acquittal. Danchenko was accused of lying to investigators about the sources of information he provided to Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer behind the controversial dossier about Trump and Russia. In an apparent reference to the lack of significant criminal convictions stemming from the probe, the report said that "not every injustice or transgression amounts to a criminal offense." "[T]he law does not always make a person's bad judgment, even horribly bad judgment, standing alone, a crime," it said. Moving forward, Durham recommended in his report a career official be assigned to challenge the FBI's politically sensitive surveillance applications. Catherine Herridge contributed to this report. "The Price is Right" leaves iconic Television City studio for new home USDA gives approval to lab-grown chicken DNA evidence links suspect in Idaho student stabbings to crime scene, officials say NEW YORK Actor Jonathan Majors appeared in Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday in person for the first time as he faces charges that he assaulted a woman in March. Majors entered the domestic violence portion of the New York City Criminal Court, wearing a brown suit and carrying two books in his hand, one appearing to be a Bible. Alongside him were his attorneys and new girlfriend, actress Meagan Good. Inside the small, dimly lit courtroom Majors awaited his turn to approach the judge, sitting next to Good with a blank stare and in an almost prayer-like trance. During Majors status conference, Judge Rachel S. Pauley informed Majors and his lawyer Priya Chaudhry, that the actor must stay away from the individual who filed assault allegations as part of the order for protection, requested by the Manhattan district attorneys office. Majors was arrested after a domestic dispute with a 30-year-old woman in New York City on March 25. The New York City Police Department stated that the woman told officers he had assaulted her and was taken to the hospital with minor injuries to her head and neck. Majors, who recently made his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has denied the assault allegations but has faced career fallout since his arrest. According to the NYPD, Majors was taken into custody without incident and was later charged with assault, attempted assault, harassment and aggravated harassment. At the time of the arrest, Chaudhry, said her client was completely innocent and that video evidence and witness testimony would prove it, adding that the woman he allegedly assaulted had taken back her accusation. Chaudhry said the woman was having an emotional crisis. Jonathan Majors stands in court during a Tuesday hearing in his domestic violence case in New York. Majors case is set to go to trial Aug. 3, the judge said Tuesday. Jonathan Majors stands in court during a Tuesday hearing in his domestic violence case in New York. Majors case is set to go to trial Aug. 3, the judge said Tuesday. In a separate statement on March 30, Chaudhry sent news outlets a screenshot of text messages she said were from the woman, stating that she was the one who had used physical force against Majors. Please let me know youre okay when you get this. They assured me that you wont be charged, read the messages provided by Chaudhry. They said they had to arrest you as a protocol when they saw the injuries on me and they knew we had a fight. Following Majors arrest in March, several more people have shared abuse allegations against the actor with the Manhattan district attorneys office, Variety reported. In the meantime, some organizations have distanced themselves from Majors, including his management, public relations team and the U.S. Army, which pulled an ad campaign featuring him. Majors was poised to make recurring appearances in Marvel shows and movies, building up to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which was set to be released in 2025 but has been pushed back to 2026. Marvel did not respond to HuffPosts request for comment. In a May statement almost two months after Majors arrest, Chaudhry called the case a witch hunt and said there was a glaring double standard in how Majors and the woman were treated by police. When Mr. Majors showed a white police officer the injuries the woman caused him, the white officer got in Mr. Majors face and taunted him, saying that if the officer were to slap Mr. Majors, the officer wouldnt break his finger, Chaudhry said. None of the white officers present investigated the assault of Mr. Majors. Worse, the District Attorney has not indicated any intention to pursue charges against the woman, or even investigate the truth. In a statement to HuffPost immediately following his Tuesday status conference, Chaudhry said her team delivered additional compelling evidence to the district attorney last week that alleged the individual was the one who assaulted Majors. This evidence includes videos of [the accusers] frenzied attack on Mr. Majors and his running away from her, Chaudry said. We also provided photographs illustrating the injuries she inflicted on Mr. Majors and photos of his clothing torn as a direct consequence of [the accusers] violent actions. Chaudhry said she requested that the district attorney dismiss all charges against Majors and initiate proceedings against the individual, who she says assaulted the actor. Majors is set to return to court on Aug. 3. Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Subscribe to our true crime newsletter, Suspicious Circumstances, to get the biggest unsolved mysteries, white-collar scandals and captivating cases delivered straight to your inbox every week. Sign up here. Related... Josh Hawley knows better about slavery and Juneteenth. But he just wants to fight | Opinion Weve long since become accustomed to Sen. Josh Hawleys online provocations. The Missouri Republican (or perhaps his staff) is a prolific poster, one who uses Twitter not to enlighten or inform his constituents but to start fights and stir up politically useful culture wars. For the most part, we prefer to ignore his endless trolling. Once in a while, however, Hawley posts something so mean-spirited and wildly at odds with known facts that we are compelled to respond. It happened again this week. Hawley on Monday acknowledged the national Juneteenth holiday which celebrates the end of slavery in the United States with yet another bit of incitement. Today is a good day to remember: Christianity is the faith and America is the place slavery came to die, Hawley wrote on Twitter. Wrong. We love our country. But it is incorrect that slavery came to America to die. Spain, Great Britain and France all abolished slavery ahead of the United States and those countries accomplished that task without a bloody Civil War fought by millions who killed and died in the cause of keeping Black people in bondage. Instead, slavery flourished here for more than two centuries. Enslaved labor formed the backbone of the Southern economy and did the same for Americas startling economic growth during its early years. Cotton picked by enslaved workers was the countrys No. 1 export, and was shipped for Europe from ports in New York. Textile mills, banks and insurance companies across the country grew fat on the business generated by the cotton industry, and plowed the proceeds into dozens of other ventures. As a result, says Cornell Universitys Edward E. Baptist, the period between American independence and the Civil War is when you see the U.S. go from being a colonial, primarily agricultural economy to being the second biggest industrial power in the world and well on its way to becoming the largest industrial power in the world. It is no exaggeration to say that Americas economic might was built on a foundation of enslaved labor. Slavery did eventually die in the United States, though. That was no thanks to Southern secessionists who fought to preserve their dominance over Black people. More than 620,000 lives from both sides were lost as a result. The institution didnt die because of American goodness. It was killed, belatedly, and with horrific violence. Hawley, it must be noted, in 2020 opposed efforts to rename American military bases named after Confederate leaders. Similarly, Hawley offers a too-simple tale of the role of faith in the end of slavery. Yes, the abolitionist movement was powered by Quakers and other Christians who saw the rape, murder, family separation and enforced labor of slavery as incompatible with their faith. I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ, Frederick Douglass wrote. I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. But enslavers also justified Black bondage using their religious faith. Both the North and South read the same Bible and pray to the same God and each invokes His aid against the other, President Abraham Lincoln observed in his second inaugural address. Hawley, who was an honors history major at Stanford University, surely knows all of this. The senator wasnt just factually wrong, though. He was offensive. Juneteenth marks a day of redemption from all that terrible history. It celebrates a moment when America started (haltingly, slowly and still incompletely) to make good on the promise of liberty for all of its people, not just a privileged few. Its a day that deserves to be observed with joy, but also a dose of humility. The senator could have celebrated that accomplishment with millions of other Americans, including many of his own constituents. Instead, he had to make it about his thing a chance to own the libs. What a sad and ugly display of leadership. Josh Hawley knows better. Missourians deserve better. And Juneteenth deserves to be celebrated in its own right, not as provocation from a too-online politician. Jacksonville Sheriffs Office is investigating an overnight shooting on Baymeadows Road that put one man in the hospital. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< According to detectives, at around 11:30 p.m. Monday, officers responded to a shopping center to reports of gunfire. They located one man with a gunshot wound, who was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Early investigation revealed that two men were leaving the shopping center in a car when multiple rounds were fired at them. Detectives believe that the shooting was a personal retaliation from a disagreement earlier, and the victim wasnt the intended target. Crime scene detectives are at the scene interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call JSO at 904-630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS. Action News Jax will continue to follow the story and update you as events unfold. Read: JSO: 2 dead after overnight crash in front of Lakeside Nest Apartments [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. Judge Aileen Cannon wants Trump's trial over his classified documents scandal to be wrapped up by September Former President Donald Trump speaks at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, Tuesday, June 13, 2023, after pleading not guilty in a Miami courtroom earlier in the day to dozens of felony counts that he hoarded classified documents and refused government demands to give them back. Andrew Harnik, File/AP Photo A district judge in Florida wants Trump's classified documents trial to start August 14. It would last two weeks, but the dates are likely to change. Pre-trial motions are due at the end of July, and the trial will occur in Fort Pierce, Florida. US District Judge Aileen Cannon on Tuesday released a proposed timeline for former President Donald Trump's trial over his keeping of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago setting an aggressive schedule of wrapping up the proceedings before September. Cannon, the Trump-appointed judge presiding over the trial, released an order saying she expects the trial to start August 14 "or as soon thereafter as the case may be called" and to last two weeks. The particular district where the case is being heard is known for its quick deliberations, though experts are skeptical about such a quick timeline given that both parties are likely to ask for delays so they can have enough time to prepare for the trial. Cannon on Tuesday asked the defense and prosecutors to file any pre-trial motions before July 24. The trial is set to be held at the courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida the same courthouse where Cannon, 42, typically works. Should the trial begin on August 14 or soon after, it could coincide with the first Republican debate, set for August 23. Trump, who is running for the 2024 nomination and is the clear frontrunner, hasn't pledged to participate. He has vowed not to drop out of the race regardless of any legal deliberations. The more than dozen GOP opponents in the race have faced numerous questions about the documents case, and their answers have ranged from calling for Trump to pull out of the race to pledges to pardon Trump if elected president. Federal prosecutors are charging Trump, 77, with 37 criminal counts related to his keeping of classified documents after his presidency at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Florida, according to the unsealed indictment. Among the charges are obstruction of justice and false statements, which could carry decades of prison time. The precise content of the 31 documents that are the subject of the indictment aren't clear. The records contain information about US nuclear programs and "potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack," among other secrets, according to the indictment. As the judge assigned the case, Cannon will have the power to shape how the case moves forward, will decide whether to dismiss some or all of the counts before the case goes to trial, choose which jurors to seat, and decide the scope of the evidence and legal arguments the lawyers can bring before a jury. She'll also be responsible for determining what Trump's sentence would be if a jury finds him guilty. In a widely criticized ruling last year, Cannon determined that an independent arbiter known as a special master should review the documents that the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago. The decision was reversed in a scathing opinion by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Trump pleaded not guilty during his arraignment in Miami on June 13. US Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman ordered prosecutors to come up with a list of witnesses with whom Trump could not discuss his case unless it's through his lawyers. Trump told Fox News in an interview that aired Monday that he didn't return the boxes of documents because he had been "very busy" and wanted to go through them to separate out his personal belongings. This is the second pending criminal case against Trump. In April, the Manhattan district attorney's office brought a 34-count indictment against him, accusing him of illegally falsifying business records with payments to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, ahead of the 2016 election. Trump pleaded not guilty in that case and has denied having an affair. Read the original article on Business Insider Amr Alfiky/Reuters In a baffling turn of events, the Donald Trump-appointed federal judge overseeing his Mar-a-Lago classified documents debacle appears to have placed the case on warp speedsetting a trial just two months away. On Monday morning, federal court records showed that U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon created what's referred to as a rocket docket to speed his trial through the system. Cannon issued an order stating that the most historic criminal trial in American history will commence Aug. 14. Thats just 55 days away, while most federal trials take up to a year or more as both sides prepare for an epic showdown in court. Peter Carr, a spokesman for Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith, could not confirm that this decision was correct, and not simply a typo. Trumps defense lawyers did not immediately respond to questions. Legal scholars have noted that this judge is something of a loose cannon, consistently making puzzling decisions that lean heavily in favor of the president who appointed her in his final months in office. When she previously oversaw another case, Trumps legal challenge to the initial search of his south Florida oceanside estate of Mar-a-Lago, she inserted herself on dubious authority to halt the FBI investigation with red tape. The New York Times, having reviewed her extremely short history on the bench so far, recently determined that she has spent only 14 days overseeing four criminal trialsa jaw-dropping level of inexperience for someone who is about to judge such a consequential trial involving long-lasting precedent on the nations democracy. The Second-Most Important Person at Trumps Trial Wasnt at His Arraignment According to her order filed Monday morning, federal prosecutors and Trumps defense lawyers must file motions in July and show up at her satellite courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Aug. 8. The U.S. Constitution guarantees a persons right to a speedy trial, a measure meant to protect against jailing someone indefinitely through Kafkaesque bureaucracy. In practice, defense lawyers like to spend several months reviewing documents to poke holes in a case and search for exculpatory evidence that would either disprove a prosecutors theory of the crimeor create reasonable doubt that it ever happened. Meanwhile, prosecutors use that time to further investigate and find additional witnesses. But in setting a trial just two months away, Judge Cannon appears to be doing Trump a favor: making the decisive legal battle early enough that it would not disrupt Trumps 2024 run for president, which is expected to heat up later this year. 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. Lying Rep. George Santos has until noon Thursday to decide whether hell go to jail to shield the names of the people who helped him post his $500,000 bond. Santos and his lawyer have been fighting to keep secret the names of the people who secured his bond in his federal fraud case, but on Tuesday a Long Island U.S. District Court Judge sided with several media outlets and ordered that their names must come out. Santos lawyer Joseph Murray said in a previous court filing that the first-term congressman would rather go to jail and let the suretors back out than be forced to reveal their names. On Tuesday, Judge Joanna Seybert ordered that all previously sealed documents, including the bond, are to be unsealed to the extent that the names of defendants suretors are to be disclosed. She added, It is further ordered that the aforementioned documents shall be kept under seal until Thursday, 22 June at 12 p.m., during which time defendant may move to modify the conditions of his release, should the suretors seek to withdraw from serving as suretors. Murray did not immediately return a message seeking comment Tuesday. The Long Island Republican was released on bail on May 10 after pleading not guilty to wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress, but his suretors never appeared in open court to sign his bond. Suretors in federal cases dont have to pay upfront to secure a defendants release, but theyre on the hook to fork over the bond amount if the defendant skips court, and will often put up homes or other assets as collateral. They typically have to appear in person or via a remote feed during a public proceeding in criminal cases, and the media outlets argued that Santos shouldnt be given special treatment, citing First Amendment concerns. The secrecy led to speculation over whether Santos bond was being funded by people who may have some sway over him as a lawmaker. Murray said in later court filings that the suretors were family members who were entitled to anonymity because of the intense public scrutiny surrounding the case and the potential for threats against them. The legal showdown over identifying the suretors began after Federal Court Magistrate Anne Shields, who presided over Santos arraignment, sided with media outlets and called for the public identification of the people who put up the money for his release. Murray appealed to Seybert shortly after. The allegations against Santos include a 2020 scheme to collect COVID-related unemployment funds while working as an investment firm director; a campaign finance fraud operation in which he used donor money to buy designer clothes and pay his personal debts; and a string of lies to Congress about his assets and income. Judge sets Aug. 14 date for start of Trump documents trial. Case to be heard in Fort Pierce. A federal court judge on Tuesday morning set Aug. 14 as the start date for former President Donald Trump's trial. The proceedings will take place at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce. But don't expect that date to hold, legal watchers quickly cautioned. "There are just a lot of issues here that have to be dealt with, that need to be dealt with, which will no doubt cause the case to slide," said Richard Serafini, a former Department of Justice criminal division senior trial attorney. "Whether it slides a few months or many months really remains to be seen how it plays out." Trump was indicted this month on charges related to his possession, mishandling and attempts to conceal government records, including classified documents containing some of the nation's most sensitive secrets. He entered a plea of not guilty during a federal court appearance in Miami on June 13. Trump at Versailles: Former president receives prayers at iconic Miami restaurant Tuesday's order also set a July 24 deadline for Justice Department prosecutors and Trump's lawyers to turn in pre-trial motions. The proceedings, when they do begin, will be held at the Alto Lee Adams Sr. United States Courthouse. Legal experts said a number of issues, from security clearances for attorneys to negotiating over the redaction of secret files, will more than likely cause delays. Serafini said setting a trial date just under two months away complied with the Speedy Trial Act, which calls for a court date to be set within 70 days of the indictment. "In this district, it is routine that within a week or two of the indictment, the court sets a trial date. The trial date will be within the Speedy Trial Act period. That's exactly what the court did in this case," he said. "But there's a 100% chance we will not see a trial start on that date." Former President Donald Trump, seen here at the Versailles restaurant in Miami on June 13, has insisted he is innocent. Another issue Serfini pointed to is the March date set in New York for the trial on the 34 felonies that Trump was indicted on this spring. Those charges relate to a purported cover-up of hush-money payments to an adult film actress in the weeks before the 2016 presidential election. "Trump has to be able to attend both trials, and he has to be able to discuss the defense in both trials," Serafini said adding that the timing of the federal documents trial, though unrelated to the New York state charges, may have to keep an eye on the court calendar in Manhattan. Trump indictment: Potential Trump trial raises jury pool challenges for Palm Beach County's 1 million voters The schedule set out by U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon at the outset does place the first federal criminal trial of a former president ahead of the New York case, however. Still, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said Tuesday he would be "surprised" if the case went to trial before the 2024 elections. In addition to the speedy trial requirement, Aronberg said Cannon may be seeking to blunt criticism hanging over her after an appellate court last year overturned some her rulings in the litigation between Trump and Justice officials after the search and seizure of records at Mar-a-Lago. "The trial date she set shows judge trying to show fairness after being roundly criticized last year for perceived bias toward Donald Trump," Aronberg said. As of early Tuesday afternoon, the former president had not commented on the trial date set by Cannon, who Trump named to the federal bench. But Trump did issue an immediate comment on a different legal matter, news that President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, has agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanors charges related to taxes while also coming to an agreement with federal prosecutors on a felony gun charge. In a post on his Truth Social site, Trump wrote that "our system is BROKEN," noting the U.S. Department of Justice "just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere 'traffic ticket.' " Anthony Doris of the Palm Beach Post contributed to this report. Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Judge sets Trump documents trial date at Fort Pierce federal courthouse Donald Trumps criminal trial for hoarding military secrets at Mar-a-Lago has a starting date Aug. 14 but dont expect it to hold. U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon bookmarked the last two weeks in August for the historic trial, part of an omnibus order setting some early ground rules and deadlines for the case. That would represent a startlingly rapid pace for a case that is expected to be complicated and require lengthy pretrial wrangling over extraordinarily sensitive classified secrets. But a review of Cannons criminal cases since she took the bench in late 2020 suggests this is standard practice for the Florida-based judge. She typically sets trial dates six to eight weeks from the start of a case, only to allow weeks- or months-long delays as issues arise and the parties demand more time to prepare. While her order on Tuesday starts the clock on a slew of important pretrial matters in the Trump case, its not likely to resemble anything close to the timeframe that will ultimately govern the case. Cannons order comes after a weekend in which Trump continued to raise eyebrows and certainly catch the ear of his prosecutors with a Fox News interview in which he acknowledged intentionally withholding documents from the federal government, claiming he wanted to sift through them for personal items. It was the latest twist in a shifting and meandering narrative Trump continues to tell about his handling of the files, which will surely become part of the pattern prosecutors intend to highlight at trial. Trump is also under indictment in Manhattan for allegedly falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to a porn star. The trial in that case is scheduled for March 25, 2024. Flash Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the presidential palace in Berlin, Germany, June 19, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the presidential palace in Berlin on Monday. Li conveyed warm greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping to President Steinmeier. As last year marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-Germany diplomatic relations, Li said, Xi and Steinmeier exchanged congratulations and held a telephone conversation, providing strategic guidance for the healthy and steady development of bilateral relations. China always attaches great importance to China-Germany relations, Li said, adding that his visit to Germany and co-chairing the seventh China-Germany inter-governmental consultation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz aim to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, continuously increase trust and clear doubts, explore new opportunities for bilateral cooperation, enrich the connotation of China-Germany all-round strategic partnership, and contribute to the development of both countries and global economic recovery. Noting that there is no fundamental conflict of interests between China and Germany, and the two countries have a solid foundation for cooperation and a strong momentum for development, Li said China is full of confidence in the prospect of bilateral cooperation. China always supports openness and cooperation and believes that the biggest risk is non-cooperation and the biggest hidden security danger is non-development, Li noted, adding that China is ready to work with Germany to uphold peace, development and cooperation, play a constructive role in contributing to global stability and prosperity, and provide more certainty to a changing and turbulent world. China's development is a positive contribution to the world and an important opportunity for all countries, he said. For his part, Steinmeier asked Li to convey his sincere regards to President Xi, saying that Germany is willing to be a trusted partner of China to jointly safeguard trade liberalization and meet challenges such as climate change. He said that Germany opposes decoupling and any form of camp confrontation, and is willing to strengthen communication with China to make joint efforts to promote world peace and development. The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern, such as the Ukraine crisis. Wu Zhenglong, among others, was present at the meeting. What Juneteenth and freedom mean to an 109-year-old survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre Juneteenth has become a day to celebrate freedom in the United States, but the survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre are still fighting to be free from a terror that happened over a century ago. We just heard people running and screaming and could smell smoke, seeing houses burning and people getting shot, falling dead, 109-year-old Viola Fletcher told CNN. In every direction you look, really, there was something going on and we always wondered why, but nobody had time to tell. Fletcher was 7 years old when a violent White mob targeted Black residents and destroyed the Greenwood District, a thriving Black economic hub. Some 300 people were killed in the June 1 massacre, while thousands more were left homeless, according to the Tulsa Historical Society and Museum. Someone ran through the neighborhoods and said for all the Black people to get out of town before we were killed, the White people was killing all of the Black people. So my family gathered us up, she recalled, and they fled with what we had on our backs. That day set her life on a path she never planned. Fletcher said she wanted to be a nurse, but the homely Tulsa neighborhood of Greenwood with schools and playgrounds was now gone. She felt her future went with it. I didnt get to go to schools, she said; she worked outside instead. When youre working with the sharecroppers, youre probably picking cotton the days you should be in school. When asked what celebrating freedom means to her, Fletcher said: Its just wonderful, you know? But I still feel like I dont have as much as I should have. I feel free but what surrounds us is not free enough for me. I think it could be a lot better, she added. 102-year-old Hughes 'Uncle Red' Van Ellis told CNN he's still fighting for freedom. - Omar Jimenez/CNN Fletchers younger brother is 102 years old. He was just a few months old when he says their family fled not just their homes, but their opportunities. That was taken from me. My life was taken from me, said Hughes Van Ellis. Celebrating freedom means celebrating an opportunity of life, Van Ellis told CNN, but because of an ongoing court battle to try and recoup what he and other survivors lost, he feels hes still fighting for freedom. I lost 102 years. I dont want nobody else to lose that, he said. Even though the siblings have lived over a century, some of those earliest years continue to haunt them. Its been a long time ago, but it is something you cant forget, Fletcher said. You think about it every day and every night. Dont let them bury my story Fletcher, Van Ellis, and Lessie Benningfield Randle, another Tulsa Race Massacre survivor, have been locked in a yearslong court battle against the city and other groups and officials just to get to a trial over the opportunities taken from them when Greenwood burned to the ground. They are the last known survivors. They first filed a petition in February 2021, which the defendants filed a motion to dismiss a month later. In August 2022, a Tulsa judge allowed the lawsuit to move forward. Theyve argued the damage inflicted during the massacre was a public nuisance from the start and are seeking relief from that nuisance as well as to recover for unjust enrichment others have gained from the exploitation of the massacre. The survivors seek to abate this public nuisance that has continued to plague Tulsas Black community for over 100 years, part of their petition read, referencing not just the massacre but the response to it, thwarting the communitys efforts to rebuild. Generally, a public nuisance is when a person or entity unreasonably interferes with a right that the general public shares in common, according to the Legal Information Institute. However, on May 10, Fletchers 109 birthday, she was back in court with the other survivors, in a similar position to a year ago, fighting a new motion to dismiss the case based partly on the grounds that public nuisance claims are not meant to address policy problems. Without the claims of ongoing actions or injury, the Plaintiffs allegations do not form the basis of a public, ongoing nuisance in order to extend the two-year statute of limitations, the defendants said in the filing. The case remains in limbo, in anticipation of a decision from the judge over whether this can move forward or whether it will be dismissed. The defendants include the City of Tulsa, the Oklahoma Military Department, the board of county commissioners and others. All the while, the survivors wait. I feel stronger every day. Ive got 28 more years, Ill be around. Im not going nowhere, said the 102-year-old Van Ellis. McKenzie Haynes, a lawyer for the survivors, told CNN, These folks are well over 100, truly on what you call borrowed time. A lot of that fight comes from they are waiting to have their moment in court, she added. Its part of why Fletcher and her grandson Ike Howard cowrote Fletchers memoir, Dont Let Them Bury My Story. At 109, Fletcher may be the oldest author in the world. Its like theyre waiting for them to die, said Howard of what has been a long, complex court battle. She shouldnt have to spend her 109th birthday in court fighting for something that she deserves. Howard said the country buried the massacre and stories like his grandmothers for years. They swept it underneath the carpet. They didnt teach it in the schools, said Howard. We dont want any of these stories to go untold. And youre never too old to tell your story. Growing up, Fletcher recalled the massacre was something most everybody didnt talk about. As I grew up, I had to work with White people, but we didnt dare mention that, she said. I didnt know why it happened, or why they would be so cruel to do a thing like that to the Black people. White community needs to do more In May 2022, Ed Mitzen, the co-founder of the New York-based nonprofit Business for Good, presented a $1 million donation to Fletcher, Randle and Van Ellis as a way to start addressing the wrongs theyve had to endure. The White community, especially the affluent business community, needs to do more to help folks that have been left behind or have been wronged over our history, said Mitzen, who is White. Mitzen said he was frustrated with the slow progress of the judicial system for these survivors cases, and so he took matters into his own hands a move he feels others in his position should be doing more in a range of circumstances. Entrepreneurs and business people can go into a lot of these forgotten communities and help teach entrepreneurship, business ownership, provide mentorship and capital to help get them up the income curve and address the wealth inequality in this country, he said. Mitzen has written a book on that exact matter: Wealthy and White: Why Guys Like Me Have to Show Up, Step Up, and Give Others a Hand Up. Many folks fear that if other people rise up, that theyre going to somehow get pushed out. And its not a zero-sum game. If we can get everybody up the curve, were a much better country for it, he said. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Kansas man accused of threatening to make bombs, do mass shooting at Nashville Pride event A 25-year-old Kansas man is facing federal charges for allegedly threatening to commit a violent attack on a Tennessee pride event. Joshua Hensley of Hoisington faces two counts of transmitting an interstate threat related to Facebook comments he made on a post for the upcoming Nashville Pride event, according to a U.S. Department of Justice release. In an April 26 comment, Hensley allegedly threatened to make shrapnel pressure cooker bombs for this event, according to the indictment. It also claims that in another comment posted on the same day, he threatened to commit a mass shooting. We will not tolerate hate-based, threats of violence designed to intimidate Tennesseans, U.S. Attorney Henry Leventis said in the release. We will continue to work with our partners at the FBI to ensure that the civil rights of all persons are protected. If convicted, Hensley, who also goes by the name Josh Echo, according to the release, faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. The Nashville Pride event is scheduled for June 24-25. A Kansas man has been charged for allegedly threatening to commit acts of violence at an upcoming pride event in Nashville, Tennessee, according to federal prosecutors. Joshua Hensley, 25, of Hoisington in Barton County, allegedly posted comments on Facebook in April threatening to make shrapnel pressure cooker bombs for the Nashville Pride event set for this weekend. In another comment, he threatened to commit a mass shooting at the event, which will celebrate LGBTQ pride at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, prosecutors contend. Hensley, also known as Josh Echo, was arrested by FBI agents last week at his Kansas residence, prosecutors said. He is set to appear for a detention hearing Friday in the District of Kansas. We will not tolerate hate-based, threats of violence designed to intimidate Tennesseans, Henry Leventis, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, said in a statement. Hensley was was charged with two counts of transmitting an interstate threat, prosecutors said. He faces five years in federal prison and $250,000 fine on each count if he is convicted. Kelly Osbourne has hit out at the Duke of Sussex in an expletive-laden rant while appearing as a guest on a podcast. The Osbournes star, 38, called Prince Harry a f***ing t**t, adding that he was whining, whinging, [and] complaining about his life. Speaking on the Ive Had It podcast with hosts Jennifer Welch and Angie Pumps Sullivan, Osbourne was asked to play a game called Had It or Hit It, in which she is given a range of topics and must decide if she has had it, or if she would hit it (enjoy it). Asked about King Charles III and Queen Camilla, the reality star, who recently welcomed her first child, said she would hit it. Its new, its different, let them try it out and see what they can make of it, Osbourne said. Definitely King Charles, I dont know much about Camilla, I always thought she would remain Queen Consort, its weird that shes Queen. Welch gave her own view on Charles and said: My problem with Charles is, you have a son, I have a son. I dont care what my f***ing son did, if I was getting crowned, he would sit in the very front row. The podcast host was referring to Harrys seating position at the coronation of King Charles on 6 May. The duke was seated in the third row with his cousin, Princess Eugenie, while other senior members of the royal family sat in the front row. However, Osbourne disagreed and launched into a rant about Prince Harry. The former Fashion Police host said: I dont agree with that I think Harry is a f***ing t**t. I do. I think hes a whining, whinging, complaining, Woe is me, Im the only one whos ever had mental problems, like, my life was so hard. Everybodys life is f***ing hard. You were the prince of a goddamn country who dressed as a f***ing Nazi and now youre trying to come back as the Pope? Suck it. No. No. Osbourne referenced a moment that Harry described as probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life. In 2005, he attended a friends fancy dress-themed birthday party wearing a Nazi uniform, including a swastika armband. He later apologised, and has since discussed the scandal in his Netflix docuseries Harry and Meghan. The Independent has contacted a representative of the Sussexes for comment. Osbournes criticism comes amid reports that Harry and Meghan Markle could be on the cusp of signing a mega-bucks deal with fashion label Dior, after the royal couples partnership with Spotify came to an end. However, a spokesperson for the Sussexes and a source at the French fashion label have denied the rumours. Harry and Meghans three-year deal with Spotify, which was signed in 2020, has ended after the duchess produced one series of the podcast Archetypes. The series consisted of 12 episodes and included interviews with Paris Hilton, Serena Williams, Mariah Carey, Mindy Kaling, and others. Osbournes strong feelings about the royal family possibly stem from her mother, Sharon Osbourne, who is a self-declared royalist. Sharon, 70, camped out among other royal fans on the Mall the night before the coronation. She was spotted in a tent before filming a segment for TalkTV. Fans said she later went around offering sandwiches and cakes to the other campers. In September, Sharon also joined the queue to view the late Queen Elizabeth IIs lying in state in Westminster Hall. The former X-Factor judge told ITV News: I love the Queen and I came over for this because Im a royalist and I love the royal family. Kentucky doctor to give up license after inquiry into alleged improper prescribing A Kentucky doctor investigated for allegedly issuing prescriptions when he was out of the country has agreed to give up his medical license. Dr. Pablo A. Merced denied wrongdoing, but agreed there were sufficient facts for the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure to conclude he took part in improper conduct. The agreement says the board wont consider any request for reinstatement of Merceds license. Merced said he wanted to retire, according to the agreement. In addition to surrendering his license, the agreement calls for Merced to pay the board $6,125 to cover the cost of handling his case. Merced practiced in Jackson, in Breathitt County. His specialty was family medicine. State authorities reviewed Merceds prescribing patterns during two periods in the summer of 2019 when there was an allegation he was out of the country, according to the board of medical licensure. On the 11 days reviewed, 284 people got prescriptions in Merceds name, according to a complaint by the board. The complaint said Merced would had to have been in the office at least 13 hours on six of the days reviewed in order to handle the number of patients be billed Medicaid for seeing. Merced told the Herald-Leader at the time that he was at a conference on the dates cited in the complaint, not out of the country, and saw patients by telemedicine. A consultant who reviewed a sample of files on Merceds patients said he fell short of acceptable standards on a number of fronts, including prescribing a drug called buprenorphine to patients without sufficient monitoring or counseling; taking no action in response to tests that showed patients might not be using the drug properly; and not trying to help wean patients off the drug. Buprenorphine, commonly called Suboxone, is a drug used in treating opioid addiction because it curbs withdrawal symptoms, but can also be abused. A panel of the licensure board said there was reason to believe Merceds practice posed a danger to patients or the public and issued an emergency order suspending his license in January. Merced agreed to give up his Kentucky medical license to resolve the complaint. The board released the order June 15. When it comes in the door, it goes on the menu. Those pea shoots garnishing the mushroom toast were picked from a garden bed across the street a few hours ago. That golden yolk atop the croque madame mightve come a hen less than a mile away. Beef coming from a farm down the road and mushrooms from Berea. Last summer, some locals would simply drop off produce. I just try and stay on my toes, said Jon Baugh, the chef at Solidago a Garrard County farm-to-table restaurant that transforms hyperlocal ingredients into elevated plates. Whatever I can get I just try and get it on the menu as quick as possible. The menu is written in chalk above the bar because it can change daily, depending on whats in season and what ingredients are available, Baugh said. In the spring, customers could expect asparagus, mushrooms, strawberries and various garlics and onions to be available. Salads tend to change quite a bit seasonally, obviously, because lettuces and all those ingredients change very seasonally, said Baugh, who noted that its often easier to get fresh, local meat than produce. Mushroom toast from Chef Jon Baugh at Solidago restaurant in Paint Lick. Solidago has a seasonal menu that changes as ingredients are available. A Brussels sprout Caesar salad and lemonade at Solidago, a farm-to-table restaurant in Garrard County. Chef Jon Baugh checks on Solidagos small garden behind the restaurant in Paint Lick. Whatever I can get I just try and get it on the menu as quick as possible. Speaking to Solidagos local mission, the restaurants name is the scientific name for goldenrod, Kentuckys state flower. The restaurant is located in Paint Lick, a historic village along a picturesque creek nestled among green, rolling hills about 45 minutes south of Lexington on I-75. The restaurant posts a picture of the days menu on its Facebook and Instagram pages for those looking to find out whats available before the drive. And starting June 19, the restaurant will be changing hours to include regular dinner service. Despite the changing options, the menu does have some continuity. The entrees tend to stay under $20. Soup beans ($12) and a cheeseburger ($13) will always be available. Aside from that, Baugh said trout tends to stay on the menu and anytime he does some form of grits like paired with catfish or pork it gets quickly eaten. Solidago chef Jon Baugh often uses grits on entrees, like this catfish and grits. Lamb Ragu at Solidago restaurant whose menu changes depending on what local ingredients are available. Croque Madame from Solidago restaurant. From Michelin-star kitchens to Paint Lick A multi-state culinary career has taken Baugh, a Lexington native, from Michelin-star kitchens to more recently helping run Ouita Michels Holly Hill Inn until an intriguing possibility came along. The opportunity at Solidago came after he met Mark Gumbert, the business and building owner who had planned to open a farm-to-table restaurant in the space. Gumbert also owns a neighboring environmental consulting company, the nearby Denny House Bed and Breakfast where some of the restaurants ingredients are grown. Chef Jon Baugh worked in Michelin-star kitchens before coming home to Kentucky to open Solidago. A lemon chess bar from Chef Jon Baugh at Solidago restaurant in Paint Lick, Ky. After hearing Gumberts vision, Baugh said he was sold and the restaurant opened a year ago. After working in the industry for so many years, I think Id really decided that I just really wanted to cook food for normal people and just cook really good honest food, Baugh said. And thats what Im trying to do. Alcohol sales allowed: Garrard County is now moist For much of the restaurants existence, the one thing you couldnt get at Solidago was an alcoholic drink but that may soon change. Paint Lick was dry, but in May the local community voted to allow alcohol sales in the historic village. Garrard County is considered moist as aside from the area around Paint Lick alcohol can only purchased in Lancaster, the county seat. Its really hard to make it profitable here without alcohol, Baugh said before the May election. So were really hoping the community will show out. Patrons sit at the bar in Solidago restaurant in Paint Lick, Ky., Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Solidago has been open in Paint Lick for a year and is now serving dinner in addition to lunch. Solidago Where: 467 Main St, Paint Lick Hours: Lunch, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; Dinner, 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m Friday-Saturday Contact: (859) 925-2000 Online: solidagoky.com Kids struck and killed as they run to get luggage that flew off SUV, CA cops say Two children died after running into traffic to retrieve luggage that had flown off their vehicle, California police told news outlets. At 6:10 p.m. June 18, the kids mom, Sandra Ortiz, 33, was driving a GMC Yukon SUV in Vista when she stopped on the freeways shoulder so the siblings 10-year-old Alan Gerardo Aguilar and 16-year-old Amy Monserrat Beltran could hop out, California Highway Patrol told KNSD. The kids were struck by a Nissan Sentra on State Route 78, troopers told The Vista Press. They died at the scene. The pairs family released a statement to KGTV about the children saying in part, Amy, a sweet and kind soul, had an unwavering passion for baking and dreamed of becoming a chef. ... Alans selflessness and desire to care for his family were truly admirable, a testament to his kind and compassionate nature. The family was on its way to sell bracelets at a nearby park to save up money to buy their dad a Fathers Day present, according to KNSD. The 41-year-old driver of the Nissan Sentra remained at the scene, according to the outlet. Ortiz was arrested and faces three counts of DUI resulting in bodily injury and two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter, according to jail records. She was booked into Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility in Santee, and her bail was set at $500,000, according to jail records. Vista is about 40 miles north of San Diego. 17-year-old motorcyclist with big fun-loving heart dies in head-on wreck, NC cops say High school sweethearts killed in crash weeks after graduation, Illinois families say Kids on way to kindergarten graduation are thrown from car during crash, Florida cops say 3-year-old thrown from car running red light and pinned in deadly crash, TX cops say What We Know About the 5 Passengers in the Missing Titanic Submersible Getty Images An excursion to the wreckage of the Titanic has turned into a perilous rescue mission to locate and save five passengers trapped underwater in a missing submersible. According to The Associated Press, authorities reported a submersible vehiclenamed Titan and operated by OceanGate Expeditionsoverdue Sunday evening about 435 miles south of St. Johns, Newfoundland, in the Atlantic Ocean. The vessel went to sea around 6 a.m. Sunday and reportedly lost contact with its support ship within an hour and 45 minutes. The Titan is believed to be carrying only 96 hours worth of oxygen, leaving the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards in a race against time to find the vehicle. Among the five passengers aboard the missing submersible are a record-breaking British adventurer, two members of a prominent Pakistani business family, a famed Titanic researcher, as well as a pilot and engineer. Here is what we know about their identities so far. Hamish Harding Harding, 58, is a British businessman, pilot, and explorer. He is the founder and chairman of Action Aviation, a company based in the United Arab Emirates that buys and sells aircraft. Harding posted about the Titanic voyage on Instagram over the weekend, saying the crew would attempt the dive during a small break in the treacherous Newfoundland weather. According to The Washington Post, Harding is also the chairman of the Middle East chapter of the Explorers Club, which brands itself a multidisciplinary, professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research, scientific exploration, and resource conservation. Richard Garriott de Cayeux, the club president, confirmed in a statement Monday that Harding was part of the Titanic voyage. His excitement about this expedition was palpable, de Cayeux said. Harding holds three exploration-related Guinness World Records, including longest time spent traversing the deepest part of the ocean on a single dive for a 2021 journey to the Mariana Trench that lasted 4 hours and 15 minutes. He was a passenger on the fifth human spaceflight for Jeff Bezos-founded Blue Origin in 2022, and he traveled to Antarctica in 2016 with famed Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Paul-Henri Nargeolet Getty Images Nargeolet, 77, is a French maritime expert who has been on at least three dozen dives to the Titanic siteeven becoming known as Mr. Titanic. Nargeolets literary representative, Mathieu Johann, confirmed to the The New York Times on Tuesday that he is one of the missing crewmembers. Nargeolet is the director of underwater research for RMS Titanic, Inc., the American company that owns the salvage rights to the famous shipwreck. RMS Titanic conducted eight research and recovery missions between 1987 and 2010, and has displayed thousands of artifacts from the ship in exhibitions around the world. A former mine-clearing diver and submarine pilot for the French Navy, Nargeolet was part of previous dives to the Titanic on Titan, the missing OceanGate submersible. Stockton Rush A spokesperson for OceanGate confirmed to Fox News on Tuesday afternoon that Rush, the companys CEO, is among the five passengers. Rush, believed to be around 61 years old, discussed the Titanics deterioration and OceanGates diving process in a 2022 interview with Today in Australia shown above. According to his company biography, Rush founded OceanGate in 2009 and oversees its financial and engineering strategies. In 1981, at age 19, he became the youngest jet transport rated pilot in the world. He obtained a BSE in aerospace engineering from Princeton University in 1984, and an MBA from Cal-Berkeleys Haas School of Business in 1989. Rush also served as a flight test engineer for the U.S. Air Forces F-15 program in the mid-1980s. In a 2022 interview with CBS News reporter David Pogue, Rush seemingly downplayed the dangers involved in each Titanic excursion. You know at some point, safety is just pure waste, he said. I mean, if you just want to be safe, dont get out of bed. Dont get in your car. Dont do anything... If you look at submersible activity over the last three decades, there hasnt even been a major injury, let alone a fatality. What I worry about most are things that will stop me from being able to get to the surface, Rush continued. Overhangs, fish nets, entanglement hazards. And, thats just a technique, a piloting technique. Its pretty clearif its an overhang, dont go under it. Shahzada and Suleman Dawood British businessman Shahzada Dawood, who lives in Surbiton, was travelling with his son on the sub. https://t.co/EjDWtKzPv6 BBC London (@BBCLondonNews) June 20, 2023 BBC News London and ABC News have both confirmed that British businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman, were part of the expedition. As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available, the Dawood family said in a statement, according to ABC News. The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members. Shahzada Dawood serves as vice chairman of Engro Corporation Limited, which is based in Karachi, Pakistan. He has built a notable financial portfolio in the fields of energy, agri-nutrients, consumer foods, and petrochemicals. He is also a trustee of the Seti Institute, a nonprofit research organization in the Silicon Valley whose mission is to lead humanitys quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the universe. According to his staff biography, Dawood lives in the United Kingdom with his wife, Christine, and two children. You Might Also Like What we know about the missing Titanic submersible A submersible carrying five people to see the remains of the Titanic at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean is still missing despite a massive search operation but banging sounds were reportedly heard in the area. Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises on Tuesday, but the US Coast Guard was unable to identify the source of the sound, the agency said. Meanwhile, an internal government memo Tuesday said search teams had heard banging sounds in 30-minute intervals, and a later update said acoustic feedback had indicated continued hope of survivors. CNN has reached out to OceanGate, the US Coast Guard in Boston and Canadian authorities for comment. Rolling Stone was first to report the news Tuesday night. The Titan submersible had been on its way to the famous wreckage, off the coast of St Johns, Newfoundland, in Canada, when it lost contact with its support ship, leaving the people on board with only enough oxygen for a few days. Heres what we know so far. How did they go missing? The submersible was part of an eight-day journey conducted by OceanGate Expeditions, priced at $250,000 a person. The trip is based out of Newfoundland, with participants first traveling 400 nautical miles to the wreck site, which is about 900 miles (1,450 kilometers) off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The submersible began its two-hour descent to the wreck on Sunday morning, June 18. It lost contact with the Polar Prince, the support ship that transported the vessel to the site, 1 hour and 45 minutes into its descent, officials said. Search operations began later that day. Its still not clear what happened to the submersible, why it lost contact, and how close to the Titanic it was when it went missing. Whos on board? While authorities have not released the names of the five missing people, British businessman Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman Dawood have all been confirmed to be on board. The fifth person is OceanGate CEO and founder Stockton Rush, according to a source with knowledge of the mission plan. OceanGate did not respond to CNNs request for comment. Harding is based in the United Arab Emirates, and is the chairman of aircraft brokerage Action Aviation. The company said on social media that Harding was on board the submersible; Harding himself had posted online on Saturday, saying he was proud to announce his participation in the dive to the Titanic. Harding is an avid adventurer, having traveled to space on board the Blue Origin flight last year, and to the Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean, believed to be the deepest point in the world. He had posted on Saturday that Nargeolet was scheduled to be on the submersible with him. Nargeolets family confirmed to CNN affiliate BFMTV that he was aboard the vessel. The diver has decades of experience exploring the Titanic. He serves as the director of underwater research at RMS Titanic Inc., the company that has exclusive rights to salvage artifacts from the ship. According to his biography on the companys website, Nargeolet completed 35 dives to the Titanic wreck and supervised the recovery of 5,000 artifacts. The Pakistani father and son were also confirmed to be on board in a statement by their family. The Dawoods are a prominent Pakistani business family that runs some of the largest corporations in the country, with a portfolio spanning energy, petrochemicals, fertilizers, IT and food and agriculture. Hamish Harding posted an image of the submersible to his social media accounts on June 17. - From Hamish Harding/Facebook How much time do they have? The submersible is designed to carry 96 hours of oxygen for five people on board. By 1 p.m. ET Tuesday, the US Coast Guard said it likely had about 40 hours left. That gives authorities until around early Thursday to locate and retrieve the vessel. But there are a number of challenges, including the remote location, local weather conditions, the state of the submersible and the extraordinary depth of the ocean in the area they went missing. The deepest ever underwater rescue was that of Roger Chapman and Roger Mallinson, who were rescued from the Pisces III submersible at depths of 1,575 feet in 1973. They were trapped for 76 hours before finally being hauled to the surface. The Titanic wreckage is much deeper, sitting nearly 13,000 feet below sea level. Its not clear how deep the submersible is. Some experts have pointed out it might be near the surface, since submersibles typically are able to shed weight for additional buoyancy. But even if they reach the surface, the door is bolted from the outside meaning they still risk running out of oxygen unless they are located and freed by rescuers. What is a submersible? Whats it like inside? A submersible is different from a submarine in a few key ways. It has limited power reserves, so it needs a support ship on the surface to launch and recover it. It cant stay underwater for as long; the Titan typically spends 10 to 11 hours during each dive to the Titanic wreck, compared to submarines that can stay underwater for months. The Titan is made of carbon fiber and titanium, weighing 23,000 pounds, with safety features to monitor the structure integrity of the vessel, according to OceanGate. Its also small and sparse on the inside, with about as much space as a minivan, according to CBS correspondent David Pogue, who took a trip on the Titan down to the Titanic wreck last year. There is only one toilet, and no seats; passengers sit cross legged on the floor. There are no windows except the porthole through which passengers view the Titanic. A file photo shows the Titanic shipwreck through the porthole of an OceanGate submersible. - From OceanGate Expeditions/FILE With no GPS underwater, the submersible is only guided by text messages from the surface ship. On Pogues trip, communications broke down during a dive and the submersible was lost for over two hours, he said. The pilot steers the sub using a video game controller but if that fails, a hard-wired system can control the propellers, according to Aaron Newman, who took the dive on the Titan in 2021 and is now an OceanGate investor. Thrusters are powered by an external electrical system, while an internal system powers communications and a heater, he said. What search operations are underway? How might it be rescued? Multiple agencies from both the US and Canada are involved in the search, looking both on the surface and underwater. More than 10,000 square miles have been searched as of Tuesday. Boats, aircraft and radar equipment are scanning above water in case the submersible had surfaced. Sonar buoys and sonar equipment on ships are also being used to detect sounds below water. The US Coast Guard, US Navy, US Air Force, Canadian Coast Guard, and Canadian military are all coordinating the search and potential rescue operations. France has also sent a research ship, equipped with an underwater robot, to join the search. Hamish Harding posted a social media image of the Polar Prince, the vessel used to transport the submersible to the site of the Titanic wreckage. - From Hamish Harding/Facebook Deep sea-mapping company Magellan, most famously known for its one-of-a-kind deep sea imagery of the Titanic, is also working to get its equipment to the site. But finding the submersible is just the first step; rescuing it could be a whole other challenge. Depending where and at what depth the submersible is found, there could be limited options for rescue vessels. For instance, the US Navys nuclear-powered submarines usually operate at 800 feet or less meaning they cant dive down to the ocean floor, where water pressure on the submarine hull could make it implode. During the 1973 rescue, authorities used other submersibles and a remotely operated, Navy-developed recovery vessel to attach lines to the Pisces III which were then used to pull it back to the surface. Its not clear whether these methods could work for the Titan, given the uncertainty around its location. Have there been safety concerns before? The incident has prompted discussion around the safety of deep-sea tourism, with some pointing out that OceanGate has come under criticism before. Two former OceanGate employees separately brought up similar safety concerns about the thickness of the Titans hull when they were employed by the company years ago. A statement from a research lab also appears to show conflicting information about the engineering and testing that went into the development of the vessel. OceanGates legal representative boasted the Titans unparalleled safety features in a 2021 court filing, saying it had been built with the University of Washingtons Applied Physics Laboratory but the university said the lab had never dealt with the design, engineering or testing of the Titan. Industry leaders also expressed concerns five years ago about the companys experimental approach to the Titan submersible and its trip to the Titanic, the New York Times reported Tuesday. The Manned Underwater Vehicles committee of the Marine Technology Society said it penned a letter to Rush, the missing CEO, in 2018. The group warned of potential negative outcomes (from minor to catastrophic) that would have serious consequences for everyone in the industry, said the letter obtained by the Times. OceanGate has not responded to a request for comment on the letter, or on the two former employees claims. CNNs Brad Lendon, Eric Levenson and Raja Razek contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com What we know about the missing Titanic sub US and Canadian coast guards are looking for the missing submersible (Joseph Prezioso) Searchers are scouring the North Atlantic for a missing submersible that had been due to take passengers to visit the wreckage of the Titanic. Fears are growing for the five people onboard as the vessel only has oxygen for up to 96 hours. Here is what we know so far: - What happened? - The 6.5-meter (21-foot) craft began its descent on Sunday but lost contact with the surface less than two hours later, according to authorities. Its operator, a company called OceanGate Expeditions, told AFP in a statement late Monday that "for some time, we have been unable to establish communications with one of our submersible exploration vehicles which is currently visiting the wreck site of the Titanic." The company uses a submersible named Titan for its dives to the wreck, with seats priced at $250,000 apiece, according to its website. - Who is on board? - One of the passengers has been identified as British businessman Hamish Harding, whose aviation firm had posted on social media about his expedition. Harding, a 58-year-old aviator, space tourist, and chairman of Action Aviation, had posted Sunday on his Instagram account that he was proud to join OceanGate's Titanic mission. Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood are also on the craft. "As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available," their family said in a statement. Shahzada Dawood is the vice-chairman of Karachi-headquartered conglomerate Engro, which has investments in energy, agriculture, petrochemicals and telecommunications Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a veteran diver and expert on the Titanic wreck, was also part of the Titan crew, Harding said in his post. OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush was also on board, media reported. - Where did the vessel disappear? - Searchers have been scanning a remote area of the North Atlantic where the Titanic rests 650 kilometres (400 miles) off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, and some 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) underwater. - What's the latest on the rescue? - The US Coast Guard says it launched two planes and its Canadian counterparts have also sent a plane and a ship. Time is a critical factor, for the vessel has a maximum of 96 hours' air for five people. US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters in Boston on Monday that he believed it still had 70 or more hours remaining. But with no reported sightings of the vessel or communication signals, his team halted its flights for the day. It said search operations through the night would be led by the US National Guard and the mission's operator. - Why visit the Titanic? - The 46,000-tonne liner hit an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage from England to New York in April 1912 with 2,224 passengers and crew on board. More than 1,500 people died, including some tycoons and aristocrats. The disaster became popularised as an example of hubris, for the ship had been touted as a miracle of the industrial age and unsinkable. Some also saw in it discrimination, as the vast majority of passengers who died were in second or third class. The wreck was located in 1985 by a US-French expedition, deepening the fascination in the catastrophe, fuelling a blockbuster 1997 movie and spawning lucrative but high-stakes underwater tourism. bur-jmm/ri/bp/rox China issues social interaction norms for military officials Global Times) 09:01, June 20, 2023 Soldier assigned to a coastal missile regiment with the navy under the PLA Northern Theater Command rush to their positions during a land-to-sea training exercise on October 11, 2022. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Liu Zihao) China's Central Military Commission (CMC) has issued a code of conduct for the social interactions of military officials, including behaviors on social media platforms. Chinese experts believe the code of conduct highlights improving discipline of military personnel and strengthening their sense of confidentiality so as to better protect national security in the big data era. With the approval of the CMC, the Political Work Department and the Discipline Inspection Commission of the CMC recently issued the code of conduct for the social exchanges of military officials, 81.cn, the PLA's website, reported on Sunday. In order to implement the requirements of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party and the military, and focus on strengthening the education and management supervision of military officials, the code puts forward clear requirements and specific regulations for social behavior of the military officials in multiple aspects, according to the code of conduct. The aspects include social exchanges with local Party and government organs and their personnel; with enterprises or public institutions and their relevant personnel; with social organizations; with media; with theoretical research and academic exchange institutions and their personnel; with ethnic minorities; with religious organizations and religious believers; with overseas organizations and their personnel; with military officials' friends and relatives; and social interactions on social media platforms. The code emphasizes that Party committees of the military at all levels should strengthen the management of social exchanges among military officials and fulfill their main responsibilities. Political work departments and discipline inspection and supervision organs are required to perform their supervision responsibilities, and promptly discover and correct violations of discipline and law. According to the code, Party committees at all levels should seriously hold Party organizations and leaders accountable for dereliction of duty, strengthen their self-restraint, constantly purify social circles and consciously realize that exchanges have principles, boundaries, and rules. Strict confidentiality and high-level management contribute to combat effectiveness, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Monday. He pointed out that these norms focus on improving the sense of organization and discipline of military personnel, and strengthening their sense of confidentiality - not talking about secret matters with unrelated personnel, establishing the awareness of national security and not doing anything that endangers national security. The code makes clear requirements for social interaction over virtual communication on the internet, which is a new requirement made in the era of big data, Song said. The norms highlight further strengthening self-restraint from top to bottom, with higher level military officials playing an exemplary role for other military personnel, Song said. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) What we know about the people onboard the missing Titanic tourist sub They set off hoping for a rare glimpse of a storied wreck, but now find themselves at the center of their own dramatic tale at sea. A British billionaire and a prominent Pakistani businessman and his son are among the five people facing a race to be rescued onboard a submersible with a rapidly dwindling air supply in the North Atlantic. The other two people onboard have yet to be identified. The vessel went missing on Sunday during a dive to explore the wreck of the Titanic, part of a tour offering explorers the opportunity to see the site up close for a significant sum. The submersible, called Titan, was on only its third trip since OceanGate Expeditions began offering them in 2021. Follow NBC News' live coverage for updates on the missing submersible. British adventurer Hamish Harding British billionaire and adventurer Hamish Harding was among the five people onboard the vessel. In a photo captured before Sunday's dive, Harding could be seen looking out from a vessel in a uniform with a badge that says "Titanic expedition crew." Harding's company Action Aviation says on its website that it was established in 2004, operating as a global sales company in business aviation. The US Coast Guard said late Monday, June 19, that its search for a missing submersible vessel near the Titanic wreck had been completed for the day, but that a national guard unit and the company operating the five-passenger underwater mission would continue scouring the surface overnight. (Dirty Dozen Productions / AFP - Getty Images) A post Sunday on the billionaire's Instagram account said he was joining OceanGates expedition as a mission specialist typically a one-time crew member who pays a fee to join the effort. Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023, Harding said in his post. He said that a weather window had just opened up and that the team was going to attempt a dive the following day. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do, he said. Harding, who lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. In March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origins New Shepard rocket, according to The Associated Press. Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman Prominent Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, were also identified as being onboard the vessel by family and by one of Dawood's businesses. "We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time. The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members," the family said. "We, at Engro, remain in prayer for their swift and safe return, and will share any updates we may have as and when they come," Engro, the company where Dawood serves as vice chairman of the firms board, said. The father and son, who are both British citizens, belong to one of Pakistan's most prominent families, according to the Associated Press. Their firm invests in agriculture, industries and the health sector, while Shahzada Dawood is also on the board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute that searches for extraterrestrial intelligence, according to the news agency. Titanic capsule missing crew members (Courtesy of the Dawood family) Others The other two people onboard the vessel have not yet been publicly identified. In his Instagram post, Harding wrote that the team on the sub had "a couple of legendary explorers," including "PH Nargeolet." NBC News was not immediately able to confirm whether French diver Paul Henry Nargeolet was onboard the vessel. John Nathaniel Paschall, a stepson of Nargeolet, declined to confirm whether his stepfather was onboard the sub. Nargeolet, who is known by some as "Mr. Titanic," is the Director of Underwater Research at the Experiential Media Group, which creates "museum-quality exhibitions" around the world, according to the company's website. He is considered a leading authority on the wreckage of the Titanic, according to a biography of the diver on the site. Nargeolet has led several expeditions to the Titanic wreckage site, completing at least 35 dives in a submersible and supervising the recovery of at least 5,000 artifacts, including the recovery of the big piece a 20-ton section of the Titanics hull, according to the biography. What we know about the 5 people onboard the missing Titanic tour submersible (Joel Saget / AFP via Getty Images file) Also known by his first initials, "P.H.," Nargeolet had a career spanning 22 years with the French Navy before retiring in 1986 and joining the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of Sea. While at IFREMER, he led the first recovery expedition to the Titanic in 1987, according to the bio. Years later, in 2010, he "served as the expedition leader on the most technologically advanced dive to Titanic spearheading the first comprehensive survey map of the Ship," according to the bio. In a 2019 interview with the Irish Examiner, Nargeolet was asked whether he ever got scared of diving to reach the wreck. If you are 11m or 11km down, if something bad happens, the result is the same, the former French naval captain said. When youre in very deep water, youre dead before you realize that something is happening, so its just not a problem," he said. U.S. Coast Guard officials said they have brought all assets that we have available to the search to find the missing sub and its crew. In a statement, OceanGate Expeditions said its "entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families." "We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible, the company said. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Joe Armstrong, owner of radio station WJBE in Knoxville / Credit: Institute for Justice Joseph Armstrong has a criminal record, but he can vote. A former longtime Tennessee state legislator, he can receive his public pension. What he may not be able to do, a federal agency is saying, is run the radio station he's owned for more than a decade. A cornerstone of the local Black community, WJBE, 1040AM, is Knoxville's only Black-owned radio station. The station's call sign pays homage to the original station, also bearing the same name, that was once owned by "The Godfather of Soul," James Brown. The station's rich history is actually entwined with Armstrong's own. He worked there as a salesman in the 1970s to pay his way through college at the University of Tennessee. After Brown sold WJBE in 1979, it went through multiple owners and call letters and eventually went off air in the late 1980s, leaving Knoxville without a Black-owned and -focused station. That is, until Armstrong came in. In 2012, Armstrong, who is Black, took "virtually all" his life savings to buy a local radio station and resurrect the WJBE name. "I saw that there was a need," Armstrong said to CBS News. The latest census figures show the city is home to slightly less than 200,000 people, roughly 16% of whom are Black. "It was almost embarrassing when people asked, 'Where's your Black station?'" The Federal Communications Commission, however, has said that his felony conviction raises questions under the Commission's Character Policy. That's because of Armstrong's criminal record and some late paperwork. In 2007, while still serving in the Tennessee House, Armstrong and a partner legally purchased cigarette tax stamps and sold them at a profit of approximately $330,000 following the legislature's increase in the state's cigarette tax. But he did not include the profit on his federal 2008 individual income tax return, which led to a conviction for filing a false statement on a tax return. In 2017, he was sentenced to three years' probation, which included six months of house arrest, ordered to pay nearly $100,000 in restitution to the federal government and a $40,000 fine, and required to perform 300 hours of community service. At his sentencing, the presiding judge said Armstrong "led an exemplary life until this occurrence," calling his profiting off legislation "unethical and immoral, but not illegal." Tony Anderson, the retired U.S. chief probations officer who oversaw Anderson's probation, noted in a letter of support that Armstrong "complied with each and every condition as ordered by the Court" and "continues to be a very responsible, reliable, forthright, and well-respected individual in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the surrounding area." But the FCC says it is concerned about whether Armstrong, as the licensee, "is likely to be forthright" in his dealings with the commission. In 2022, five years after his sentencing, Armstrong received notice that the FCC would commence proceedings to determine whether to revoke the broadcast license under which the station operates. The commission claims this is due to his criminal past and some filing deadlines he missed, citing its character qualification policy from 1990, which says a licensee must have "the requisite propensity to obey the law." One of those deadlines had to do with the station's "Issues and Programs" list, a required report that WJBE admittedly failed to properly upload to the FCC's public file between 2018 and 2020. "In no way did I ever attempt or intend to hide anything from the Commission," Armstrong wrote in an official declaration before the court, "instead, I missed these filing deadlines because of WJBE's small staff, administrative oversight, and my poor health at the time." But missing this deadline appears to be relatively commonplace in Tennessee. According to FCC data provided by Armstrong's counsel, roughly a third of the AM stations in the Volunteer State had their licenses renewed despite failures to properly file their "Issues and Programs" list. Lawyers at the Institute for Justice have taken on Armstrong's case. His attorney, Andrew Ward, argues his client's criminal history is irrelevant to his ability to own and operate WJBE in a responsible manner. "Joe's single conviction is about conduct that occurred 14 years ago and had nothing to do with WJBE," Ward told CBS News, "His actual record at the station has shown him to be a responsible licensee and boon to an underserved community for more than a decade." The FCC may disagree with Ward's defense. Citing that same character qualification policy, they believe "a propensity to comply with the law generally is relevant to the Commission's public interest analysis and that an applicant's or licensee's willingness to violate other laws, and, in particular, to commit felonies, also bears on our confidence that an applicant or licensee will conform to FCC rules and policies." CBS News spoke with the FCC, which declined to comment specifically on Armstrong's pending case or whether it planned to revisit the 33-year-old policy. "The Commission has a duty to ensure that everyone holding a license to use the public airwaves does so in the public interest," said Paloma Perez, the FCC press secretary, in an email. "It is longstanding practice that any licensee with a felony conviction be placed into hearing in order to examine whether the licensee has the requisite character qualifications to remain a trustee of the public airwaves." Perez said, "In order to evaluate these factors, and to provide due process to the licensee, any licensee with a felony conviction is placed into hearing, usually at the time of the licensee's renewal application." Armstrong's ongoing litigation with the FCC mirrors a recent case out of Alabama. Michael G. Hubbard, a White man and the former speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives, was convicted in 2016 by a jury of violating 12 counts of the Alabama Ethics Code and was sentenced to 28 months in prison. Hubbard is also the president and CEO of Auburn Network Inc., which owns and operates multiple radio stations across Alabama. The FCC also questioned whether Hubbard "possesses the requisite qualifications to remain a Commission licensee in light of his felony convictions." After months of litigation, the FCC ultimately ruled that no "persuasive evidence" had been introduced to suggest that Hubbard is likely to behave dishonestly with the Commission. "His activities do not represent the kind of moral turpitude that would make them of the 'shock the conscience' variety," the FCC said in its ruling, "Nor do they involve fraud, bribery, perjury, or bodily injury." For Armstrong, he believes he has paid his debt to society and provides an important service to the community and is demonstrating that someone with a felony can still reach out, do the right thing in the community and give young people an example of pursuing opportunities in communications. "The FCC, if they look at Joe Armstrong and say, well, is this station truly doing what they're supposed to do when it comes to public good," he said. "And they can't argue with that, that I'm, that I am doing it. And I'm doing it in such a way that that's bringing pride to this community." What to know about the 5 passengers on the missing Titanic sub Coast Guard: Missing sub has estimated 41 hours of oxygen left Examining Hunter Biden's plea deal in tax investigation Do Kwon was jailed for four months in Montenegro, but faces 40 years in South Korea Photo: Stevo Vasiljevic (Reuters) Terraform Labs founder Kwon Do-hyeong, also known as Do Kwon, will spend four months behind bars in a Balkan prison, for forging travel documents. The crypto fugitive was arrested in March in Montenegros capital Podgorica, alongside Terraform Labs former finance officer, Han Chang-joon, after spending months hiding in Serbia. The arrest ended a cat-and-mouse chase from South Korean authorities, which enlisted Interpols help to issue a red notice for the duos arrest across 195 countries. Read more Falsified travel documents including two Costa Rican passports, two Belgian passports and two identity cards from the former crypto executives, as well as laptops and other gadgets were found with the two fugitives. Montenegro must decide about Do Kwons extradition Both the US and South Korea have been vying to extradite the alleged crypto scammer from Montenegro for orchestrating the $40 billion downfall of the TerraUSD and Luna tokens. South Korean prosecutor Dan Sunghan, who has been leading the investigation into the crypto entrepreneur, told Bloomberg earlier this month Kwon could be trialed in both countries, and potentially spend his sentence first in one, and then the other. Kwons charges in South Korea include breaching capital markets law, and he faces a 40-year prison sentence. Kwon faces fraud charges in the US, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suing him for financial crimes and attempts to manipulate capital markets. The regulators said Kwon caused US retail and institutional investors devastating losses. SEC chair Gary Gensler said in February: Terraform and Do Kwon failed to provide the public with full, fair, and truthful disclosure as required for a host of crypto asset securities. Montenegro lacks extradition treaties with both the US and South Korea, which complicates the duos deportation to either of the two nations. However, Washington is banking on an old extradition agreement with Montenegro which has been used previously to extradite American citizens. In this case, Kwon is a South Korean national, which gives Seoul more hope of convincing Montenegro to hand over the fugitives. More from Quartz Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. The latest round of Operation Consequences included felony arrests, and the seizing of illegal firearms and over 16 pounds of narcotics in places like Barstow and Victorville. The latest round of Operation Consequences included felony arrests, and the seizing of illegal firearms and over 16 pounds of illegal drugs in places like Barstow and Victorville. The week of targeted crime suppression ended on Friday and focused on the following locations: 14800 Block of La Paz Drive, Victorville 14600 Block of Seventh Street, Victorville 13600 Block of Bear Valley Road, Victorville 15200 Block of Seventh Street, Victorville 100 Block of E. Desert View Drive, Barstow 17900 Block of Hackberry Street, Hesperia 1400 Block of W. Florida Avenue, Hemet 1700 Block of N. Fairfax Drive, San Bernardino 1700 Block of Mallory Street, San Bernardino 1600 Block of W. Tenth Street, San Bernardino The latest round of Operation Consequences included felony arrests, and the seizing of illegal firearms and over 16 pounds of narcotics in places like Barstow and Victorville. Deputies served 17 search warrants, sheriff's officials said. Investigators made 13 felony arrests and seized 25 firearms, two of which were ghost guns, and more than 16 pounds of drugs. The latest round of Operation Consequences included felony arrests, and the seizing of illegal firearms and over 16 pounds of narcotics in places like Barstow and Victorville. The nearly year-long operation includes personnel from the sheriffs Gangs/Narcotics, Specialized Enforcement divisions, and patrol stations, as well as California Highway Patrol, county probation, and Department of Homeland Security Investigations. There are currently 6,568 parolees at large in California and 534 parolees at large in San Bernardino County, authorities reported. Operation Consequences will continue to take place throughout the years to curb violent crime, disrupt and dismantle targeted criminal street gangs, and locate and arrest criminals who are illegally possessing, manufacturing, and trafficking firearms, sheriffs officials said. This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Latest Operation Consequences nets drugs, firearms in the High Desert Dozens shot, at least 10 dead, in shootings across the U.S. on the last weekend of spring Shootings erupted across the country, in both rural and urban locations, during a holiday weekend commemorating the end of slavery after the Civil War. In Milwaukee, gunfire after a Juneteenth celebration left six people injured, including the suspected gunman, authorities said Monday. The wounded were between the ages of 14 and 19 and included four females and two males, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said during a news conference. He described their injuries as non-life threatening. The shooter is believed to be a 17-year-old male, Norman said. Neither the victims nor the suspected gunman were identified and a possible motive remained unclear. It also wasn't clear how the 17-year-old was injured. During the news conference, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson described the holiday event as "glorious" but pleaded for people with guns to stay away. "There were families out here," he said. "There were kids out here. There were babies out here." "You don't have the right to steal the joy this community felt today," he said. More than 1,600 miles away, in the small northern Idaho town of Kellogg, four people were found dead Sunday night after their neighbor allegedly gunned them down, Idaho State Police said. The suspected shooter was identified only as a 31-year-old man, the agency said in a statement Monday. He was booked into Shoshone County Jail on suspicion of murder, the agency said, adding that it would not provide details about a possible motive or the suspected gunman's relationship to the victims until after a first court appearance. In Chicago, five people were injured in a shooting on the city's far South Side, police said. The precise time of the attack was not clear, but police started tweeting about it at 7:24 p.m. The conditions of the injured were not available. Police in Washington, D.C., reported that four people were struck in two shootings Sunday night. The first happened about 8:45 p.m., police said, and the victims, 15 and 18, died at the hospital. A little more than an hour later, two more people were struck by gunfire, Washington police said, with one of the victims, a 6-year-old boy, hospitalized in critical but stable condition. The other victim, an adult, is stable, police said. In San Francisco, two people were injured Sunday evening in a shooting near Fisherman's Wharf and the Embarcadero, two of the city's most popular attractions for visitors, police said. The victims' conditions were unavailable. The attack may have involved two vehicles, police said in a statement. Officers responding to a 6:48 p.m. report of a shooting near the wharf found both victims and rendered aid, police said in the statement. The injured were rushed to medical facilities, police said. "At the scene officers learned that there were possibly two vehicles involved in the shooting," the police department said. No other suspect information was available. Sunday's violence followed a night of mass shootings Saturday, when at least four people were killed and more than two dozen others were injured in Illinois, Washington state, North Carolina and St. Louis. In the St. Louis shooting, gunfire struck 11 people ages 15 to 19 at a party around 1 a.m. Sunday. One of the victims died, police said. A 12th person was hurt while getting trampled by people trying to flee the scene. A 17-year-old suspect has been arrested, police said. In the Illinois shooting, one person died and 22 others were hurt when gunfire erupted after midnight Sunday at a Juneteenth celebration in Willowbrook, a suburb of Chicago, authorities said. Meanwhile, a Juneteenth celebration in Asheville, North Carolina, ended with a shooting late Saturday that injured two juveniles, police said. A suspect, 16, was charged, police said. As of midday Monday, the Gun Violence Archive had documented 112 deaths and 73 injuries since Saturday. With several hours to go in the long weekend and data from shootings still to be reported, it was not yet clear how the scope of gun violence over the three days will compare with past year's. Over the three-day Juneteenth holiday weekend last year, 181 people were shot to death and 438 were injured by gunfire, according to the archive. During the three-day Memorial Day weekend, 180 people were shot to death and 464 were injured. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com At least four Israelis killed in West Bank shootings, authorities say Four people were killed and four more were wounded in shootings near the settlement of Eli in the West Bank, Israeli authorities and emergency services said Tuesday. It was the deadliest attack on Israelis since January, CNN records show. One of the suspected gunman was killed at the scene by a civilian, and the second was killed by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel Security Agency forces after they tracked down the car he was traveling in, the agencies said in a joint statement. The four wounded were taken to hospitals in Jerusalem or Petach Tikva, the Magen David Adom rescue service said. Hamas, the Palestinian militant movement, claimed the two gunmen as members, calling the attack a natural response to the Israeli raid on Jenin a day earlier that left six Palestinians dead. The shooting attack began in a restaurant near a gas station, where two gunmen shot dead three civilians, said Moti Bukchin, a spokesman for the Zaka rescue service. The gunmen then came out of the restaurant and fatally shot a civilian refueling his car at the gas stations, Bukchin said. Another civilian shot and neutralized one of the gunmen while the second fled, the Zaka spokesman said. Zaka is handling the bodies of the four dead, he said. Maj. Nir Dinar, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, said the terrorist who had been neutralized at the scene was dead. Security personnel work at the scene of the shooting in Eli on June 20. - Ammar Awad/Reuters The four Israelis killed were named by their communities as Elisha Antman, 18, and Ofer Fierman, 63, both from Eli; Harel Masoud, 21, from Yad Binyamin; and Nahman Shmuel Morduf, 17, from Ahiya. Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir went to the scene of the shooting and called for settlers to arm themselves. Im calling on the residence of Judea and Samaria to carry weapons, he said, using the Biblical names that Israel officially uses to describe the West Bank. They save lives. We are sitting here like ducks in a barrel. Ben Gvir called for Israel to be more aggressive in the West Bank: Return to the targeted killings, pull down buildings, put up roadblocks, deport terrorists, and put into law the death penalty for terrorists. Second suspect tracked down Israeli Security Agency, known as Shin Bet, and IDF forces later shot and neutralized the second suspect, according to a joint statement from the two organizations. Shin Bet tracked a Toyota vehicle in which the suspect fled, the statement said. During the arrest attempt, the suspect tried to escape from the vehicle, was shot and neutralized by the forces. No injuries to our forces, the statement said. The statement said a weapon used in the attack was found in the car. Israeli troops had set up roadblocks in the area, the IDF said. Residents of Eli were told to stay in their homes while the search for the second gunman was ongoing. The chief IDF spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said in a statement that the IDF did not have intelligence information warning of the attack before it happened. Hamas later claimed the gunmen as members, and said they were acting in response to a huge firefight in Jenin on Monday. We mourn the martyr Muhammad Shehadeh, and we affirm that the operation south of Nablus is a clear message to the criminal occupation government, Hamas said in a statement referring to Israel. Hamas said Shehadeh was 26 and from the village of Urif, southwest of Nablus. The other gunman was named as Khaled Sabbah, 24, from Tubas in the West Bank. Videos from his home village showed a funeral procession and burial for him shortly after he was tracked down and killed by the IDF and Shin Bet. Photographs on social media suggested that the two were friends. The shooting came as a natural response to the Jenin massacre yesterday, the militant group said. Tuesdays shooting is the deadliest attack on Israelis since January 27, CNN records show. Seven Israelis were killed in the January attack near a synagogue in the Neve Yaakov area of Jerusalem. Neve Yaakov is built on land which Israel captured in 1967, which makes it a settlement under international law. Israel unilaterally annexed it along with other parts of east Jerusalem in 1980, and considers it a neighborhood of Jerusalem. Call for international intervention There are now fears of attacks by settlers against Palestinians in revenge for Tuesdays shooting. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Tuesday called for urgent and genuine international intervention, particularly from the United States, to prevent escalating attacks. It warned of a planned explosion by extremist elements, referring to Israeli settlers. The latest violence comes a day after an Israeli military raid in the city of Jenin killed six Palestinians, including three militants, and injured 90 others. Eight Israeli military personnel were injured in the incursion to arrest two wanted Palestinian suspects. While the Palestinian ministry released its statement, the US Ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, condemned the killing of the four Israelis Tuesday. I condemn in the strongest terms the senseless murder of four innocent Israelis today my heart is with their grieving family members, Nides said on his official Twitter account. Deeply concerned about the civilian deaths and injuries that have occurred in the West Bank these past 48 hours, including that of minors. Praying for the families as they mourn the loss of loved ones, or tend to those injured. Nides is married to CNN executive vice president of news Virginia Moseley. Late Monday, after the Jenin raid and before the shooting near Eli, a State Department spokesperson said the US urges de-escalation between Israel and the Palestinians. Violence over the last day has left many Palestinians killed and resulted in injuries among Palestinians and the IDF, including in Jenin, the spokesperson told CNN. We call on both sides to refrain from actions that escalate tensions. CNNs Richard Allen Greene, Mike Schwartz and Hadas Gold contributed to this report For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Can you leave a child home alone in California now that school is out? What the law says Finding day care for you child during the summer months can be expensive and difficult, and so you may be wondering if your kid can stay home alone in California the answer depends on a few factors. The laws in the Golden State are relaxed compared to a few other states when it comes to leaving your kid alone, but parental experts suggest assessing a childs comfort level and maturity. Heres what to know: At the end of this story, there is a form where you can share your thoughts on minimum age requirements and recommendations. At what age can you leave a child home alone in California? In California there is no legal minimum age a child can be left alone, according to the San Bernardino County District Attorneys office. However, the maturity and emotional level of a child are all factors that should be taken into account. Other U.S. states have varying laws and recommendations and they can get fairly convoluted. For example, in Kansas, the state recommends a child is at least 6 before they can be left home alone depending on their maturity level. On the other side, Illinois has a legal minimum requirement of 14 years old if you leave your child for an unreasonable amount of time. Heres how other states approach this question, according to data aggregated by World Population Review: In a survey conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics, 458 members of the National Association of Social Workers were asked what they thought was an appropriate age for child to be left home alone. The survey was conducted from October to December 2015. The survey results revealed that most social workers agreed a child should be at least 12 years old before being left home alone. They also noted that the child shouldnt be left for longer than four hours and if the child is hurt while alone, they are more likely to consider a home alone scenario as neglect. When are kids ready to be left home alone? There is no sure sign to let a parent know their child is ready to be home alone, stated the California Department of Education website. A parent can go through a checklist to evaluate, the best they can, if the child is ready. Below is a checklist to ask yourself before deciding to leave your child home alone, from the California Department of Education: Checklist: Leaving your child home alone by McClatchy Preparing your child If youre confident your child can be left home alone, the second step is to prepare you child. Establishing rules and setting a trial period can help you better assess your childs ability to be on their own. Assure your child they can go back to day-care if they dont feel safe at home, and set a clear trial-period, according to the California Department of Education. Below are some rules to consider establishing for your child, from the California Department of Education: Checklist: Preparing your child to be home alone by McClatchy What do you think? Let us know in the survey below. FILE - Pride flags, a symbol celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, decorate the fence at the Stonewall National Monument with U.S. Park police present, Tuesday, June 13, 2023, in New York. Dozens of LGBTQ+ Pride flags were damaged and ripped down at the monument over the weekend, the third such bout of vandalism during Pride Month at the LGBTQ+ landmark, police said. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) NEW YORK (AP) Dozens of LGBTQ+ pride flags were damaged and ripped down at the Stonewall National Monument over the weekend, the third such bout of vandalism at the LGBTQ+ landmark during this Pride month, police said. The latest occurrence happened Sunday, after others on June 9 and last Thursday. No arrests have been made in any of the incidents, and it's unclear whether they were connected. The New York Police Department's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating. On Sunday, officers were called around 8 a.m. and found about 33 pride flags broken and tossed to the ground, police said. Park volunteer Steven Menendez told New York's Fox 5 News that, in all, 68 flags nearly a quarter of those displayed were damaged in some way. We have so much hatred and anger in the air right now, Menendez told the station. We really need to reverse that and replace it with love compassion and acceptance. The Stonewall National Monument, the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ history, was dedicated in 2016. It encompasses a park across the street from the Stonewall Inn, a bar where patrons fought back against a police raid on June 28, 1969, and helped spark the contemporary LGBTQ+ rights movement. The Stonewall rebellion is commemorated every year with pride marches in cities across the U.S. and the world. Hunter Biden, center, with President Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and his sister, Ashley Biden, at the University of Pennsylvania last month. (Patrick Semansky / Associated Press) Hunter Bidens tentative federal plea agreement is bound to displease partisans on both sides, which is one sign that its a fair and suitable disposition of the long-standing investigation of the presidents son. The deal revealed in court papers Tuesday requires the younger Biden to plead guilty to two misdemeanors stemming from a failure to pay taxes owed for 2017 and 2018. The government also levels a felony charge that Biden lied about his drug use when he acquired a gun in 2018. Rather than require him to plead guilty to that crime, the government agrees to drop the charge if Biden keeps his nose clean for two years under a practice known as pretrial diversion. Biden haters will assail the arrangement as a sweetheart deal proving that the Justice Department is in the tank for President Biden. Hater in chief Donald Trump has already accused the corrupt Biden DOJ of giving Hunter Biden a traffic ticket. The charge is of course spurious: Not only President Biden but also Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland kept their hands off the case. Delaware U.S. Atty. David Weiss, a Trump holdover, was allowed to remain in office precisely so that he could finish the case, even though new administrations typically appoint their own top prosecutors. Read more: Litman: Here's Trump's outlandish and dangerous plan to beat the classified documents case That arrangement kept the case at arms length from the administration but could warrant an objection from Bidens defenders. As the late Justice Antonin Scalia once observed of special prosecutors, Weiss presence exerted a nearly irresistible pull toward bringing some charge against Hunter Biden. A dismissal of the case might have been plausible given an unremarkable defendant and a prosecutor appointed through the standard process, but it was basically off the table from the time Weiss was allowed to stay in office to oversee this case. Biden family supporters could also note that while the charges in the proposed plea agreement are bona fide, theyre not exactly the crimes of the century. Hunter Biden has reportedly paid the more than $100,000 in taxes he allegedly failed to pay on time. That doesnt excuse the crime, but it does distinguish him from the typical tax defendant. As for the felony count, Biden apparently had the gun in question for less than two weeks before his then-girlfriend threw it away. More important, as UCLA law professor Adam Winkler has pointed out, the Justice Department rarely charges anyone for lying on gun applications, especially not for false statements about drug use. When it does, the case nearly always involves a defendant who, unlike Biden, is suspected of using the weapon to commit a crime. The charge may be even more questionable under the federal courts recent 2nd Amendment jurisprudence. Last year, the Supreme Court struck down a New York law that required a special reason for carrying a gun. And this month, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Delaware, held that a Pennsylvania law prohibiting felons from possessing guns was unconstitutional if applied to people convicted of nonviolent crimes. The bottom line is that both sides had plenty to gain or lose from the Hunter Biden case, and that may well have helped produce a sensible bargain. The proposed deal, which is subject to approval by a judge, would allow Biden to avoid going to jail and turn the page on an extremely dark chapter of his life. And it would enable Weiss and his department to obtain a conviction and avoid trying a case with dubious prospects before a jury. A prosecution of a defendant who committed tax crimes during a period of drug addiction, and then turned his life around and paid the taxes, would be very losable. None of this will prevent Trump and his congressional minions from screaming about Justice Department corruption. We can only hope that it will be apparent to many observers on both sides of the aisle that literally nothing the administration could do would fail to trigger the same response. If the department were guided by such wild-eyed detractors, it truly would be corrupt much as Trump himself has promised it will be if he regains the reins of power. Harry Litman is the host of the Talking Feds podcast. @harrylitman If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. What Los Angeles Latino Parents Really Think About the Citys Public Schools Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto Carvalhos arrival more than a year ago raised hopes for parents across the district, particularly Latino parents, hoping for more of a role in school decision making. Latino students make up nearly three-quarters of the LAUSD student population. But Carvalhos 100-day plan, which promised to narrow academic achievement gaps and increase community engagement, has fallen short for some Latino parents. Five members of Parent Warriors, an advocacy group that is part of Families In Schools, spoke about unprecedented challenges, their eagerness for parent engagement, and Carvalhos future which they hope prioritizes a seat at the table for them. Parent Warriors members: Lissette Duarte, parent of a graduate and current LAUSD student. Raquel Toscano, parent of a graduate and current student at an LAUSD school. Sonia Gonzalez, parent of two students attending a charter school in Los Angeles Mireya Pacheco, parent of a college student and two students attending a charter school in Los Angeles. Monica Martinez, parent of five graduate and current LAUSD students. Her grandchildren also attend LAUSD schools. Sandy Mendoza, Director of Community Engagement and Advocacy for United Way of Greater Los Angeles This interview has been edited for length and clarity. As a parent, do you feel superintendent Carvalho is promoting parent engagement across the district? Duarte: I had really high hopes for him because he was a teacher and then an assistant principal and then a superintendent that was able to turn around Miami-Dade schools during a recession. And so I was like, wow, this is going to be a really great superintendent for us. But I dont see that weve addressed the widening gaps in proficiency. Toscano: He started with the 100-day plan, but I feel that its too much on his plate. I feel that the communication is still not as clear as I would want it to beAs he said, I feel we can come together and work together. But I still think that theres a gap between all of us. I still feel that even being part of these committeestheres still no connection. Gonzalez: So being a charter school parent, I have yet to see any outreach to charter school parentswhat I know about the superintendent has been what comes through newsand things Ive seen on the internet. Martinez: I think its a lack of communication because they talk about projects and bring them to the Board of Education but were not seeing it in the schools. Pacheco: When Mr. Carvalho came to the community, honestly, I didnt see an invitation to speak to him closelyit was disappointingI can tell you that I was expecting more. Theres a lack of communication. Theres a lot to be done. What has been the most challenging issue you have faced with your childs education this past year or this school year? Pacheco: There have been threats using Instagram threats for certain schools. The threat said were going to attack and then the school said, no, it was so-and-so. It was a child from the school making a jokeIts very concerning for them to not feel safe in the schools. Toscano: I feel that were failing them. Theres lots we can do but if Carvalho would take a minute to listen to all of us, we all have a story and its just frustratingThere are lots of voices, but we havent been heard. Duarte: We have a critical issue with the achievement gap and loss of learning. There are around 1100 schools in LAUSD. Were the second-largest school district in the country. We have nearly 9000 homeless students and about 84% of the students are living below the poverty level. How did the three-day strike by school workers affect your family? How do you feel about these strikes, like the teachers one a couple of years ago happening during the school year, and what preparations should be implemented? Gonzalez: many parentsare just really tired of having the strike used because ultimately nobodys there to protect the children. Nobodys there to take care of the missed days. Martinez: In one way or another, theyre already behind academically And I dont want to say anything wrong about teachers. Im so glad they received their increase. But our childrenwhere is that balance? Toscano: My question was, do we really need it? Obviously, Im for it. They need to get paid. They have families to support There has to be a different way of negotiating. I think we parents need to be at this negotiation table. In terms of college and career readiness, how would you rate LAUSD on its ability to prepare students for college and its ability to help students navigate through the college/career process? Duarte: Theyre not properly preparing students and there isnt enough support because especially with very large campuses, theres probably only one college counselor. Theres no way to meet the need of getting the FAFSA done or linking them to those services and supports in a timely manner. Martinez: They dont have enough staff. The parents do not all have the opportunity to learn to be able to guide their childrenAnd when they graduate, basically go to college blind. Gonzalez: There are a lot of good organizations out there that can be brought into the LAUSD school district to help them. The reality is the budgets cant afford it. Id like to give you this time to speak about the overall rate you give to superintendent Carvalhos work in his first year in office and also to speak about the issue you care about the most. Duarte: For me, Id like to see him focus on a kid first agenda like Students First and allow for collaboration. Pacheco: What Id like to add isMr. Carvalho, please dont forget that our children come first Do not forget that theyre our priority. We will get old and they will continue living in this world. This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Macron to Meet With Italys Meloni in Paris on Tuesday (Bloomberg) -- French President Emmanuel Macron will host Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday when theyll discuss pressing issues such as migration and Europes relationship with China. Most Read from Bloomberg The two will discuss bilateral relations, including the implementation of the Quirinal Treaty, according to the French presidency. The pact, which came into effect this year, allows the countries to work on migration, trade and relations with Libya. Macron and Meloni will also speak about European issues, ahead of the European Council, to be held later this month in Brussels, as well as the NATO summit in Lithuania in July. Get the Paris Edition newsletter: Whats happening in Frances finance industry, delivered weekly France and Italy have openly clashed over migration recently, with French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin saying Rome wasnt doing enough to block migrants. French diplomats have been working on an official Meloni visit to Paris for months. Read More: Italy and France, Old Frenemies, Are Squabbling Ahead of G-7 Last month, at the Group of Seven nations summit in Japan, Meloni and Macron met to improve relations. The French president also met informally with his Italian counterpart on her first day in office, back in October. Macron is set to speak about Europes air defense on Monday evening. Earlier in the day, he said he would make announcements regarding the SAMP/T system, also known as MAMBA, developed jointly with Italy and that is being deployed in Ukraine. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Macron and Meloni Make Up in Paris to Seek End to Tensions (Bloomberg) -- Giorgia Meloni and Emmanuel Macron sought to move past months of tensions at a meeting in Paris and show that they can work together. Most Read from Bloomberg The Italian prime ministers first steps inside the Elysee Palace on Tuesday at the invitation of Frances president were the culmination of months of diplomatic efforts to settle the rocky relations between Italy and France since she took office at the end of last year. Italy and France are close, key players and they have a central role in the EU, Meloni said alongside her French counterpart. Smiling and relaxed, both hinted at convergence on themes including migration, the European Union and support for Ukraine. Macron put his arm around Melonis back as they headed for private talks. The meeting with Macron, which lasted almost two hours and was months in the making, helped bring the leaders closer, according to a French official who was briefed on their conversation. France and Italy, the second- and third-biggest economies in the euro area, have plenty of issues in common, but their governments have often been at odds since Meloni came to power. There has been no shortage of examples. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin recently said Meloni is incapable of fixing Italys migration problems, while Meloni criticized Macron in February over a dinner he hosted with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, saying it was inappropriate that she wasnt invited. A general lack of personal chemistry between Meloni and Macron on previous encounters, including on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit in Japan, added to the tone. The Paris meeting had been delayed for months. French officials said the difficulty in setting a date reflected Melonis hesitation. Macron has been open to having a good relationship since the start but this wasnt reciprocated, they said. The situation contrasted sharply with the French presidents connection with previous Italian leader Mario Draghi, for whom he had personal admiration and with whom he signed a friendship treaty known as the Quirinal. Expectations for Tuesdays meeting were high, with topics also including economic cooperation. Telecom Deal Italy and France jointly developed the SAMP/T air defense system, known as MAMBA, that is being deployed in Ukraine. Meloni and Macron said on Tuesday its now operational. The future of former monopoly Telecom Italia SpA, in which the government has been taking an active role due to the companys financial strains, is one of the most closely watched issues for investors. Frances Vivendi SE is its biggest shareholder and has been questioning a deal to sell its landline network in order to reduce debt, asking for a higher price. This has been a source of tension between Rome and the French company. Speaking after the meeting, Meloni said the issue was not discussed. We mostly focused on geopolitics, but we might approach the issue in the future, she said. (Updates with details of meeting starting in fourth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. In Chicagos Grant Park, 106 haunting headless statues created by the sculptor stand tall (AP) Late Polish sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz has been honoured with a Google Doodle on what would have been her 93rd birthday. The artist belonged to a generation whose childhood ended with the outbreak of World War II. In a blog post on Tuesday (20 June), Google explained the cognition behind Abakanowiczs Doodle, writing: Is it a tapestry or a sculpture? Magdalena Abakanowiczs figures of woven fibre broke the mold when she pioneered a new category of art known as Abakans. Todays Doodle celebrates the Polish sculptor and multi-element artist. Abakanowicz graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1954. Her career as a sculptor kicked off when she created a series of soft sculptures called Abakans. They reportedly earned her the top prize at the 1965 Sao Paulo International Art Biennale. Abakanowicz also went on to win many more awards during her career. She won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sculpture Center in New Jersey, an award for Distinction in Sculpture from the Sculpture Center in New York, and the Commander Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta in Poland. After a point, Abakanowiczs art became inspired by the human condition. (Google Doodle) According to Googles blog post, the artist was inspired by The Crowd sociological phenomenon the idea that crowds act as a whole and individuals lose their individuality within it. Taking this idea, Abakanowicz began to create more than a thousand figures, or rather, human trunks, over the years. To this date, one of her collections called Agora, which is a group of 106 iron cast figures, is permanently installed at Chicagos Grant Park. Many museums and exhibitions across Europe, the Americas, Japan, and Australia have featured Abakanowiczs work. According to Google, her rich body of artwork is now under the care of the Marta Magdalena Abakanowicz Kosmowska and Jan Kosmowski Foundation, based in Warsaw. Read Abakanowiczs obituary here. NEW YORK (AP) Three men were convicted of various charges Tuesday in a trial showcasing U.S. claims that China has engineered pressure campaigns on American soil to bully expatriates into returning home, as part of an effort called "Operation Fox Hunt." American private investigator Michael McMahon, of Mahwah, and two Chinese citizens living in the U.S. Zheng Congying and Zhu Yong all were accused of taking part in scare tactics aimed at a former Chinese official. He was living quietly in New Jersey's Somerset County, and Beijing wanted him back. Zhu was convicted of acting as an illegal foreign agent, stalking, and conspiracy to commit stalking and to act as an illegal foreign agent. Zheng was convicted of stalking and stalking conspiracy but acquitted of the other charges. McMahon was convicted of all except conspiracy to act as a foreign agent. No sentencing date has been set for the three, who face potential maximum sentences ranging from 10 years for Zheng to 25 for Zhu. The Brooklyn federal court trial was the first to result from a spate of U.S. prosecutions scrutinizing China's "Operation Fox Hunt," a nearly decade-old initiative that Beijing characterizes as a pursuit of fugitives, including corrupt officials. U.S. authorities view it, at least sometimes, as an exercise in "transnational repression," or deploying government operatives to harass, threaten and silence critics living abroad. Michael McMahon, right, gives photographers a thumbs up as he leaves federal court, May 31, 2023, in the Brooklyn. "We will remain steadfast in exposing and undermining efforts by the Chinese government to reach across our border and perpetrate transnational repression schemes," Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement after the verdict. China has denied trying to force repatriations through intimidation and says the U.S. is maligning an effort to fight crime. McMahon, a retired New York police sergeant, speaking outside the courthouse said he was innocent and vowed to appeal, according to reporting by the New York Times. Prosecutors say pressure from Beijing was brought to bear in Warren, New Jersey, where former Wuhan city official Xu Jin and his family moved in 2010. China has accused him and wife Liu Fang of taking bribes; they deny it and say they were targeted because he got crosswise with China's Communist power structure. According to prosecutors, Zhu, Zheng and McMahon took part in a yearslong, multipronged effort to goad Xu into going back to China. The country couldn't officially compel him to do so, as it has has no extradition treaty with the U.S. Zheng Congying leaves federal court, May 31, 2023, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Zheng was one of three men accused of participating in an escalating series of scare tactics aimed at repatriating a former Chinese official who was living quietly in New Jersey. The defense acknowledged that Zhu, Zheng and McMahon took various actions but said the three had no idea that Beijing was allegedly behind it all. "If I had known for one second that they were a foreign country, a foreign government, hiring me, I would never have worked the case," McMahon said after being "devastated by the verdict." His lawyer, Lawrence Lustberg, said he would challenge the conviction and was confident that "this injustice will not survive the scrutiny that the legal system will give it." Zhu's lawyer, Kevin Tung, said in an email that he believed the defendants were unknowingly used and should have been educated on how to be alert, rather than prosecuted. "The risk will be placed on every American who has a foreign friends to figure out if the foreign friend is an agent for the foreign government," Tung added. A message seeking comment was sent to Zheng's attorney. China: Bergen filmmaker's new documentary charts his three decades traveling to China McMahon, 55, a former New York City police sergeant, conducted surveillance and data searches to smoke out Xu's carefully guarded address and information about his loved ones. Zhu, 66, a retiree who also goes by Jason Zhu and Yong Zhu, helped hire McMahon and equip him with details to get started. Zheng, 27, later went to Xu's home and left an ominous note: "If you are willing to go back to the mainland and spend 10 years in prison, your wife and children will be all right. That's the end of this matter!" "Before I saw this, I felt that the threats from the Chinese Communist Party was only a mental threat to me. However, when I saw that note, I realized that it had become a physical threat," Xu testified, through a court interpreter. Zhu Yong, right, tries to shield himself from photographers as he leaves federal court, May 31, 2023, in the Brooklyn. The defense said McMahon, Zheng and Zhu were told they were helping to collect a debt or achieve some other end for a company or individuals not for China. The trial unfolded at a fraught time in U.S.-China relations. The two powers have been at odds in recent years over a growing list of issues: trade, industrial espionage, human rights, Taiwan, the South China Sea, Russia's war against Ukraine, U.S. allegations of Chinese spying, and Washington's claims that Beijing is tracking and harassing dissidents overseas. The two nations said they made some progress toward improving relations in recent days, when U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and top diplomats. But it remains unclear whether the countries will be able to bridge their biggest divides. U.S. prosecutors have brought several criminal cases involving alleged Operation Fox Hunt endeavors. In one, a pregnant U.S. citizen was held in China for eight months and pressured to persuade her mother to return to the country, prosecutors said. Zheng, McMahon and Zhu were charged alongside eight other people also accused of harassing Xu, the former Wuhan official. Three have pleaded guilty; five are believed to be in China. Prosecutors said the arm-twisting included derogatory Facebook messages to friends of Xu's adult daughter and an onslaught of letters to a relative in New Jersey. The harassment included threats to and a visit to a relative living in Short Hills, according to the The New York Times. At one point, a Chinese prosecutor even flew Xu's unwilling, octogenarian father to New Jersey to lean on his son to return to their homeland, according to prosecutors and trial testimony. Associated Press writer Deepti Hajela contributed. This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Mahwah man convicted of stalking China government official in NJ The maker of the lost Titan submersible previously complained about strict passenger-vessel regulations, saying the industry was 'obscenely safe' Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, on April 12, 2017. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters In a 2019 interview, the Titan's maker lamented "obscenely safe" diving security regulations. CEO Stockton Rush said he understood the regulations but regretted their effect on innovation. Rush is understood to be on board the submersible that lost contact with the surface Sunday. The founder of the company behind the Titan submersible previously described his industry as "obscenely safe" and complained that passenger-vessel regulations held back innovation. OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush is understood to be aboard the Titan, the submersible that lost contact with the surface Sunday, prompting fears for his safety. The vessel, which set out with four other passengers to view the wreck of the Titanic, was believed as of early Tuesday to have between 70 and 96 hours of oxygen left, the US Coast Guard said. Rush's efforts to advance the commercial submersible industry distinct from the world of submarines have been well documented in the media. Describing the industry in a 2019 interview, Rush said that there had been no injuries in the field for decades, adding: "It's obscenely safe because they have all these regulations. But it also hasn't innovated or grown because they have all these regulations." OceanGate did not immediately respond to a request for comment, sent outside working hours. Its website describes a commitment to "high-level operational safety" and the Titan's "unparalleled" hull-monitoring safety system. The profile of Rush, which appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, describes his efforts to expand human exploration of the deep, calling him a "daredevil inventor." It chronicles Rush's passion for exploring and his efforts to energize the market in private submersibles, which had long been dampened by the number of industrial accidents in offshore submarine work. A 1993 regulation put strict controls on safety standards and who could pilot a submersible. Rush called these developments "understandable but illogical," saying he felt the law was well meaning but lamenting the stifling effect it put on commercial innovation. His remarks on safety came as part of a wider set of regrets about how little the US government prioritized ocean research. A 2019 blog post on OceanGate's website cites speed of innovation as one of the reasons the Titan isn't classed according to standard regulatory processes. It said that while the company met standards "where they apply," the slow processes of vessel classification were "anathema to innovation." Rush's company began to advertise in 2019 commercial trips in the Titan to see the famed Titanic wreck, touting an experimental design whose carbon-fiber hull was considerably lighter than other vehicles. Trips were postponed, according to the magazine, after the company failed to get the proper permits for its contracted research-support vessel. As of Tuesday, efforts to locate and contact the Titan were still underway. Read the original article on Insider Man accused of stealing electrical wiring from homes under construction Deputies in Butts County arrested a man suspected of stealing electrical wiring from homes under construction. On Sunday, June 18, The Butts County Sheriffs Office says a person entered a home under construction and destroyed and removed all of the electrical wiring from inside the home. On Monday, June 19, deputies were patrolling and observed a man inside another home under construction. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] They say he was removing the electrical wiring from inside that home. Deputies arrested the thief and identified him as Bruce John Bennett of Jackson, Georgia. He was booked into the Butts County Jail. I want to publicly commend my deputies on being observant, persistent, and continuing to protect the life and property of our citizens, while ensuring the safety of the good people of Butts County. Job well done, once again, Sheriff Gary Long said. TRENDING STORIES: [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Police in South Carolina have arrested a man they say shot and wounded three people after he was kicked out of a nightclub in Greenville. The man began firing a little after midnight Monday after he was forced to leave Club Reign, Greenville police said in a news release. All three victims were taken to the hospital. At least one was in critical condition, police said. ALSO READ: Reckless, dangerous: CMPD asks for public help to find car from east Charlotte shooting The suspect fled, but officers soon found him with his gun, police said. The man was charged with three counts of attempted murder and remains in custody. Police did not immediately release his name. WSPA-TV reports that police officers were doing an off-duty assignment at the club when they were told that some people had an argument inside the club and had been kicked out. Jonathan Bragg, a spokesman for the Greenville Police Department, said this isnt the first shooting at the nightclub. In November 2021, one man was killed in a shooting there. The owners have hired the off-duty officers to work out there to kind of be a deterrent for stuff like this happening but ... we have had incidents such as this in the past, Bragg said. (WATCH BELOW: Families of Beatties Ford 4 fight for justice 3 years after mass shooting) A New Hampshire man has been arrested on multiple felony charges for allegedly throwing a water bottle at police and stealing a helmet as a war trophy during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. The U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia said in a Tuesday release that 22-year-old Richard Zachary Ackerman, of Salem, was part of the mob of rioters that illegally formed on the Capitol grounds during the attack, including at the Capitols lower west terrace, near an archway and a tunnel that leads into the building. Court documents claim Ackerman found a U.S. Capitol Police officers helmet and wore it during the riot. He referred to it as his war trophy and took it back to New Hampshire with him. During the attack, Ackerman allegedly threw a water bottle at a line of officers who were positioned at the entrance of the tunnel to the Capitol building. The FBI eventually reclaimed the helmet from Ackermans home in June 2022, according to the release. A statement of facts laying out the case against Ackerman states a sticker with a black flag and the words New England 131 was placed on the helmet. The officer who wrote the statement said he knows based on his training and experience that the label refers to National Socialist Club 131, a neo-Nazi group with small regional chapters in the U.S. and around the world, and the White Defense Force. He was charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers, civil disorder, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds and theft of government property. The FBIs Boston and Washington, D.C., field offices are conducting the investigation into Ackerman and received assistance from Capitol Police, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and the Manchester and Salem police departments in New Hampshire. The release states more than 1,000 people have been arrested in almost all 50 states on charges in relation to the attack in the 29 months since it occurred. That includes almost 350 people who have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. [Source] The man who violently attacked a 75-year-old man in his garage in southwest Las Vegas is now facing hate crime charges. Hate crime: On Friday, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson announced that the misdemeanor battery charge against Christian Lentz, 44, has been upgraded with a hate crime enhancement. "We will not tolerate such horrible acts of hatred and violence in our community," Wolfson said in a news release. "These actions are unacceptable and will have consequences." What happened: On May 30, Amadeo Quindara was in his garage when his neighbor, Lentz, approached and threatened him. Although Lentz initially left, he was captured on home security footage returning about a half hour later. More from NextShark: S. Korean prosecutors confirm team traveled to Serbia in hunt for crypto fugitive Do Kwon Lentz allegedly punched and slammed Quindara to the ground before leaving the scene. In the video, Lentz can be heard yelling racial slurs at Quindara, telling the 75-year-old man that he would be on a ventilator and die. Injuries: Quindara suffered bruises to his face, a black eye and deep cuts on his head. However, his injuries do not equate to substantial bodily harm and the attack was not caught on camera, which makes Lentz not likely to be charged with a felony due to insufficient evidence. The victim believes that Lentzs attack was rooted in racism and that he intended to kill him. More from NextShark: South African woman's life sentence in Thailand for crime she says she didn't commit is reduced Arrest and charges: Although Lentz was arrested for residential burglary, he was released from jail less than a week later. Wolfson filed a misdemeanor battery charge against Lentz on June 12. Lentz now faces charges of residential burglary and elder abuse, perpetrated as hate crimes. However, Wolfson said that the court can treat elder abuse with a hate crime enhancement as a gross misdemeanor, which would only carry a maximum jail sentence of about a year. More from NextShark: Man arrested after dismembered body of single mother found in his home in Japan Lentz is expected back in court on July 3. Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark! California OKs death penalty for notorious '80s serial killer Charles Ng A 76-year-old former Hanford employee caught in a 2017 Net Nanny sting is going free after a years-long legal battle. The Washington State Supreme Court sided with Douglas Arbogast, saying in a split decision that he should have been allowed to argue he was entrapped by detectives. Arbogast was one of 26 men arrested in a five-day operation led by the Washington State Patrols Missing and Exploited Children Task Force. It targeted online predators who used various websites in an effort to have sex with children. Arbogast told the detective posing as the mother of two teens that he would teach her children about sex, according to court records. While Arbogast admitted to investigators that he made mistakes, he also said he was playing along with the woman in hopes of having sex with her and didnt plan on having sex with the children. Benton County Superior Court Judge Cameron Mitchell didnt allow him to use the defense that he had been entrapped by police. The Washington state Court of Appeals and then the state Supreme Court disagreed with that ruling, and granted Arbogast a chance at a new trial. Instead of another trial, Arbogast recently pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree child molestation. As part of the agreement, prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of three years, which hes already served. That is below the nearly four-year minimum he could have faced for the crime. The state believes that this resolution shall hold the defendant accountable, protect the community and best serve the interests of judicial economy, Deputy Prosecutor Laurel Holland wrote in a statement about the sentence. Arbogast was originally sentenced to 7 1/2 years after being convicted of attempted first-degree child rape and attempted second-degree child rape. It was one of the longest sentences for the 22 men convicted since the Net Nanny arrests. Arbogast continued to take responsibility for trying to meet up with an 11-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy in Richland. I know that my actions were wrong, he said during his recent sentencing. I appreciate the prosecutors understanding that more prison time is not necessary. Arbogast suffers from several serious medical issues, including multiple sclerosis, his attorney Patricia Fulton said. Net Nanny sting The Tri-Cities community was shaken in the summer of 2017 by the arrest of 26 men in the five-day sting operation. The multi-agency effort was led by the Washington State Patrols Missing and Exploited Children Task Force, and included 45 local, state and federal law enforcement officers and prosecutors. Detectives posted ads in the now-defunct Casual Encounters section on Craigslist. The section was intended to allow adults to meet up for no-strings attached sex, according to court documents. The ads featured either fictional children or parents arranging for men to have sex with children. When the men showed up for sex, they were arrested. In all, 18 men pleaded guilty to some combination of attempting to rape a child, child molestation or communication with a minor for immoral purposes. The majority received about five years in prison. Arbogasts trial was one of four and resulted in the second longest sentence. Four men are still awaiting trial or some sort of resolution to their cases. Aaron D. Hagerty, Gregory B. Taber and Gabriel Saenz have trial dates scheduled. Ali Almafoodh is wanted after not showing up for a December 2020 hearing. Conversation with the detective Arbogasts appeals and Supreme Court cases revolved around the conversations he had with the undercover detective when he responded to what was described as a cryptic ad with connotations of a woman wanting to watch children having sex. The two began texting each other with Brandi suggesting she wanted a teacher to help them with sex. She also told him that she wasnt interested in sex with men, according to court documents. Arbogast initially responded that hed never done that and that he just wanted to be with mom. When she said she wasnt interested in that, Arbogast replied, I can be good with them. Just never thought about it that way. They continued to text for the next hour and 40 minutes about what Brandi wanted for her children and whether he was willing to provide it. At the trial, prosecutors noted that Brandi suggested several sexual acts that he could do with the children and he didnt rule any of them out. The state pointed to several times when Brandi told Mr. Arbogast that she would not be involved this was for her children, according to court documents. Mr. Arbogast claimed that he still believed that sex with Brandi was a possibility. He believed that because the detective sent him a picture of an adult woman wearing lingerie, said court documents. He was arrested when he went to the apartment to meet with the mom. A search of his phone didnt turn up any evidence of looking to have sex with children, according to court records. He agreed to questioning using a polygraph that showed he didnt have any previous sexual contact with children, and no evidence of child pornography was found on his phone. At his trial, Arbogasts attorney wanted admit the results of the polygraph, his lack of criminal history, and tried to argue that Arbogast was entrapped by police. When he testified at his trial, he said he wanted to have sex with Brandi and despite her putting him off, he believed he could convince her. He was found guilty and sentenced, but the state Court of Appeals overturned the conviction saying the jury should have been allowed to hear the entrapment defense. Prosecutors appealed but the Supreme Court agreed. While parental consent is not a justification for rape, it should have been up to a jury to decide if police went too far, the state Supreme Court ruled. Man disappears in canal in southwest Fresno. Its very cold and dangerous A Fresno Fire Department water rescue team was searching for a man who disappeared in a canal full of fast-moving, cold water Monday afternoon in southwest Fresno. The adult male, described as a man with dreadlocks who frequented the canal near High-Speed Rail construction, was last seen when he disappeared under a bridge at Nielsen and Thorne avenues just after 2 p.m., said Battalion Chief William Veiga. He went under the bridge, and was not seen coming out the other side, Veiga added. The rescue team arrived quickly and put a firefighter in the water for an underwater search, but were not able to find the victim after about an hour search. A California Highway Patrol helicopter also joined the search, along with police officers and American Ambulance personnel. Veiga said construction crews reported that the man was frequently seen in the area. Veiga noted that the canal is very cold, and very fast-moving, and very dangerous. Man gets 32 years in prison in death of Milwaukee mother killed on her way to Christmas Eve party Nicole Mojica and Sildian Torres-Betancourt go back a long way to day care and all through grade school. They shared secrets and had long phone chats, sometimes until dawn. A gunmans bullet on Christmas Eve ended Torres-Betancourts life, and changed Mojicas forever. She was my best friend. And when I say best, I mean best friend, Mojica, 28, said with emphasis, while choking back tears. I miss her every single day. Mojica sat just feet from Omarion Danielson in a Milwaukee County courtroom Tuesday, just as she had for previous hearings over the last six months. He pleaded guilty in May to reckless homicide in the young mothers shooting death. Danielson, who turns 19 Friday, held his head low as Judge Jeffrey A. Wagner recounted Danielson's criminal history and handed down his sentence 32 years in prison, and eight years supervision afterwards. "I don't think (the sentence is) enough," Mojica told the Journal Sentinel outside the courtroom. "He can still talk to his family. We have to go to the cemetery." Torres-Betancourt was on her way to the party with her partner and 7-year-old son when gunfire erupted on the 1300 block of South 29th Street and a bullet went through her car door and struck her upper body. Mojica was among the friends and family who converged on courtroom 502. Many of them wore T-shirts and hoodies with Torres-Betancourt's photo encircled by angel wings. Rosemary Perez wore hers. More: Teen sentenced to 26 years in prison in killing of Ee Lee in Washington Park She has known Torres-Betancourt as long as Mojica. Her thoughts dwelt on Torres-Betancourts fiance and her 7-year-old son, a witness to his own mothers slaying. Theres not enough (prison time) that can fix this, said Perez, 28. The pain this man caused us all is irreversible. Although it may have initially seemed like Torres-Betancourt was the victim of a stray bullet, Danielson told police he intentionally shot at her vehicle, according to the criminal complaint, but for reasons that aren't clear. In court, Danielson said he was remorseful over Torres-Betancourt's death. He said he opened fire after encountering a man in a corner store who he thought looked like a man who robbed him earlier. Defense attorney Connor Romenesko pleaded for a sentence of a 15-year prison term, noting Danielsons rough childhood as a mitigating factor in his criminal history; Danielson was neglected by his mother and lived in several homes as a child. More: Second man convicted in 2020 fatal shooting of Myles Laster in Milwaukee More than six of his friends were shot, and a member of his family was murdered. At nearly every turn of Omarions life, the people and systems that were supposed to support and guide him failed, the Public Defenders Office wrote in a June 19 sentencing memorandum. In return, he failed the people and systems, which led to his creating his own people and systems: ones that showed him the street life; guns, drugs and the kind of freedom that led to juvenile and, now, adult criminal cases. Wagner acknowledged Danielson showed contrition, but said Danielson hasnt been able to be rehabilitated, despite having gone through myriad programs. You took her life because of your carelessness, the judge said. "She has a child, she has siblings, she has friends. They're never going to see her again because of what you did. "You've left a legacy of sadness behind." This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee man sentenced in death of mother shot on Christmas Eve Man killed and another injured in double shooting in Kansas City, police say A double shooting Monday afternoon in Kansas City left one man dead and another injured, according to police. Police were called to the scene about 2:45 p.m. after two men were shot in front of a house in the 1900 block of Mersington Court, a cul-de-sac of split-level homes in the East Community Team North neighborhood. Police found the two men suffering from gunshot wounds and both were taken to a hospital, said Sgt. Jake Becchina, a Kansas City Police Department spokesman. The man with the most severe injuries died a short time later. Detectives and crime scene investigators worked the scene and canvassed for witnesses. Police did not immediately identify the victims or name any suspects. Preliminary investigation indicates that both victims were in front of the residence there when they had an interaction with one or more suspects that led to shots being fired and the victims were struck, Becchina said in an email. The killing marked the 90th homicide in Kansas City this year. Before Mondays shooting, the citys most recent homicide occurred Saturday night when a man was killed near 67th Street and Richmond Avenue. According to data tracked by The Star that includes fatal police shootings, the city had experienced 71 homicides at this point in 2022. Amid continuing violence, including seven deaths on Memorial Day weekend alone, the police department last month said it has launched a crime reduction initiative encouraging robust collaboration between police and social groups. While some community activists are optimistic about the plan, others have doubts, noting that many of the ideas it draws on are not new and pointing to tense relationships between residents and police. Police asked anyone around the area at the time of Mondays shooting who saw or heard anything to contact detectives directly at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline anonymously at 816-474-TIPS. A reward of up to $25,000 is possible. Man killed when his brother fires gun through bedroom door, Georgia police say A man fired a gun through a bedroom door, killing his older brother, Georgia police say. Officers were called around 2:45 p.m. on Sunday, June 18, about someone shot at a home in Lawrenceville, according to the Gwinnett County Police Department. Investigators said Justin Lacy, 21, opened fire at a door inside the home. His brother, Bryson Moten, 31, was on the other side and was struck. Relatives tried to render aid but Moten died, police said. No one else was hurt. Authorities didnt say what led to the shooting but said its under investigation. Lacy was arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct and possession of a firearm during the commission of certain felonies, according to police. He remained in jail on a $22,400 bond as of June 20, online records show. Lawrenceville is about 30 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. Instagram post set off a deadly fight between cousins, feds say. Man now found guilty Boy shoots 3-year-old sister when search for candy leads to gun, Mississippi cops say Ex-deputy shoots father of her unborn child during deadly dispute, Georgia police say Man killed in shootout with law enforcement that left a deputy hospitalized, SC cops say A man was killed and a sheriffs deputy was injured in the line of duty in a Sunday shootout, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said. Marquis Griffin, 27, was shot and died at the scene during the incident with Lee County sheriffs deputies, SLED said in a news release. Deputies were responding to a domestic assault involving an armed man, and gunfire erupted when they arrived at the scene, according to the release. One deputy was shot in the leg and was taken to an area hospital for treatment, SLED said. Further information on the deputys condition was not available. No other injuries were reported from the shooting. There was no word on injuries that might have been caused during the domestic assault, and further information about that incident was not available. Lee County Sheriff Daniel Simon said two patrol cars and a mobile home also were hit by bullets during the shooting on Piedmont Road in Bishopville, WIS reported. Information about the shooting, who fired first and how many shots were fired was not available. SLED was requested to lead an investigation into the shooting, and said that process is ongoing. There have been 18 shootings involving law enforcement officers in South Carolina this year, and this is the first involving the Lee County Sheriffs Office, according to SLED. In the past week, there were two other shootings that involved law enforcement officers firing their weapons, SLED said. Also on Sunday, a man suspected of armed robbery was killed in a shootout with a McCormick County deputy, who was also shot in the line of duty, but is expected to make a full recovery, the sheriffs office said. On June 14 in Greenwood County, a 17-year-old male was arrested after a chase where there was an exchange of gunfire with police officers, according to SLED. No injuries were reported in that shooting, SLED said. Greenwood police were responding to a call about a person brandishing a handgun in the Parker Avenue and Jordan Street area, which led to the chase and shooting, according to SLED. The armed teenager briefly escaped law enforcement, but was eventually found hiding inside a U-Haul trailer by Greenwood County Sheriffs Office deputies, SLED said. The teen was charged with possession of a handgun by unlawful person under 18 and discharging a firearm in the city, according to SLED. In 2022, there were 32 shootings in South Carolina that involved law enforcement officers, SLED said. A man bled from an attack during an attempted robbery in Springfield Tuesday overnight. >> TRENDING: Man shot in Springfield, hospitalized by medical helicopter Springfield Police were dispatched to the 1800 block of West Main Street at around 1 a.m. on reports of an attempted robbery, a Springfield Police lieutenant said. The man suffered a large laceration to the head, specifically the forehead, the lieutenant said. It was speculated that an object was used as the weapon. The victim reported bleeding following the attack. However, the victim chose to not be administered into a hospital. No one was placed in custody at the time to questioning. The suspect was thought to have fled after the attempted robbery when officers first arrived, according to initial reports from crews at the scene over emergency scanners. A further investigation into the event found that the attack did not stem from an attempted robbery, but rather was an argument between two people that ended physically. The Springfield Police led the investigation into to the assault. Man shares revenge tactic for plane passenger who pushed her smelly feet under his seat In the splash zone: Perhaps not the most sensible way of dealing with a problem passenger (danielgreen2426/TikTok) There can be little worse on a flight than having someones shoeless feet invading your personal space, but one man found a novel solution to make any sock-wearing stretcher think twice. A TikTok video shared by @danielgreen2426, which has been viewed more than 300,000 times, shows the smelly foot of a passenger reaching under the seat in front of her a clear violation of acceptable travel etiquette. In an attempt to stop the repeated irritation, the 38-second clip shows a can of drink being held above the passengers left foot before a large drop splashes down onto her big toe. This tactic didnt work at first, with Daniel needing to pour more liquid from the can before the passenger behind finally pulled her foot back. The caption on the video reads: Woman on the plane behind me kept putting her smelly feet under me... she then stopped. Its not the first time the issue of feet and especially whether or not its appropriate to take your shoes off on planes has reared its head. Two plane passengers were shamed on Instagram in 2019 after they were caught playing footsie on the first-class headrests with bare feet. Another passenger uploaded a series of shots of the pair draping their legs over the seatbacks onto social media. Passengers were not impressed by this footsie display (Instagram/Laura Lake) Last year, a traveller shared how she discovered that a child was drawing on her white socks during her flight, with many criticising the passenger for having her feet next to the childs seat. One person replied to the post on Instagram: Only yourself to blame. If your feet are somewhere they can be drawn on then they are in the wrong place. Other people went on to slam the woman for opting to take her shoes off while on the plane in the first place. Keep your socks inside of your shoes, one user wrote. This is public transportation, not your personal spa day. A man was supposed to be on the Titan submersible but couldn't make it. Now he's helping the rescue efforts. This undated photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File A submersible with five people on route to the Titanic wreckage lost contact on Sunday. One man was supposed to be onboard but had to pull out. He's now assisting in the rescue efforts. The vessel has limited oxygen, David Concannon told the Associated Press, meaning time is critical. A man who said he was supposed to be onboard the submersible that went missing while traveling to the Titanic wreckage on Sunday is now helping rescue efforts. David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate Expeditions, the vessel's operator, told the Associated Press that he was set to be on the submersible, but had to pull out due to a work commitment. He wrote on a Facebook page called Titanic Book Club on Monday that: "As I posted last week I was supposed to be on this expedition and, indeed, on this dive, but I had to cancel to attend to another urgent client matter." He added: "Last night, I was called and asked to provide whatever assistance I could to ensure the safe return of everyone in the sub. Of course, I immediately agreed." The Titan submersible had five people onboard when it lost contact with its mothership, the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince, one hour and 45 minutes into its dive in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday, the US Coast Guard said. It is unclear where the vessel is. Experts told the BBC that the submersible could be floating at the top of the sea, or could be on the seabed, which would make any rescue attempt extremely difficult. With oxygen in short supply, one former submarine officer also told the BBC that passengers would have to avoid panicking to try to stop using up oxygen quickly. Concannon, who has been giving updates about the vessel including telling the AP on Monday that it had a 96-hour oxygen supply asked people not to contact him as anyone who does is "interfering with more important communications that need to be made to resolve this situation as quickly and as safely as possible." Read the original article on Insider Marco Island man, 49, arrested after threatening residents, barricading himself, MIPD says A Marco Island man faces charges after authorities say he barricaded himself Monday evening and threatened to shoot others in a North Collier Boulevard home. Chad Nelson, 49, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Shortly before 6 p.m. Monday, Marco Island Police responded to the house where reports indicated a man had a handgun and threatened to shoot himself. Police said they learned Nelson had threatened other residents with the weapon. Police said the other residents fled the home as Nelson refused to cooperate. Nelson locked himself in the residence and refused to exit. Collier Boulevard remained closed for several hours in both directions during the investigation, allowing the Collier County Sheriffs Office SWAT and hostage negotiators to arrive on scene, police said. Around 10 p.m., Nelson exited the home and was taken into custody. Nelson is next due in court July 17 for his arraignment. Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Twitter @TomasFRoBeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran and Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews. This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Marco Island man arrested accused of threat to kill self, residents Masked Rider Capital Masked Rider Capital Holdings, LLC welcomes Dr. Brooke Hobgood as President and Chief Operating Officer, Michael Mills as Chief Financial Officer, Terry Wright as General Counsel, Kendra Burris as Chief Strategy Officer, and Austin Adkins as Director of Oil & Gas Assets. President and Chief Operating Officer Dr. Brooke Hobgood joins MRC with over a decade of experience in leadership focused on delivering efficient, client-centered services in the healthcare industry. Dr. Hobgoods familiarity with the creation and evaluation of processes to streamline the delivery of services to clients will be instrumental to the firms success. She is responsible for managing the day to day operations of MRC. She earned her Medical Degree from Baylor College of Medicine and completed a residency in Anesthesiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Her leadership experience includes serving as Medical Director for an ambulatory surgery center and participating in a variety of roles within both corporate and non-profit boards. Dr. Brooke Hobgood Chief Financial Officer - Michael Mills brings a wide range of financial acumen to the MRC team. He has over 25 years of experience in acquisitions and profitability management for various document management and tech companies. More recently, Michael spent five years as CFO of Visual Edge Technology, where he shepherded the company from a print to a managed services company. A highly credentialed corporate finance and operations executive, Michael brings a comprehensive management style, deep subject-matter knowledge, and intuitive business savvy to MRC. Michael Mills General Counsel - Terry Wright joins MRC with 25 years of legal practice experience. He is a certified public accountant and a licensed attorney, board certified in Tax Law and Estate Planning and Probate Law. Terry earned a J.D. from the Texas Tech University School of Law and a B.B.A. (Accounting) and M.S.A. (Taxation) from the Texas Tech University College of Business Administration. He is responsible for legal strategy and guidance for all aspects of the firm. Terry will play a key role in driving business forward at MRC with his proficiency, strong work ethic and commitment to excellence. Terry Wright Chief Strategy Officer Kendra Burris joins MRC to lead investor relations initiatives and spearhead planning and implementation processes. Kendra brings extensive expertise to the position. Her experience includes serving as Chief Operating Officer, Deputy Chancellor, and Executive Chief of Staff at Texas Tech University System. Kendra's leadership resulted in strategic growth, organizational and personnel restructuring, and large-scale improvements in operational effectiveness and efficiency at Texas Tech University. With her exceptional business acumen and seasoned management skills, Kendras addition to the team makes an immediate impact on MRC. Kendra Burris Director of Oil & Gas Assets - Austin Adkins joins MRC after a decade of experience in the oil and gas industry. Austin is a Certified Professional Landman (CPL), a member of the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL), and a member of the Permian Basin Landmens Association (PBLA). Prior to joining MRC, Austin served as land manager for Diamondback Energy. In other previous positions, Austin gained experience working in land interests in over 35 counties including the Eagle Ford Shale, the Anadarko Basin, and the Permian Basin. A dual-degree holder and current alumni mentor for students at Texas Tech Universitys Rawls College of Business, Austin is an impressive addition to the team. Austin Adkins About Masked Rider Capital: In a little over 10 years, MRC has grown from an initial investor of a single commercial property to an innovative, dynamic firm. Intentional in its investment strategies, MRC is dedicated to partnering with companies, entrepreneurs, developers, and innovators positioned and ready to achieve rapid growth. MRC provides capital opportunities through both private equity investments and specialty debt structures by focusing on a variety of opportunities in diverse sectors that offer the potential to network with local business leaders and organizations. The continual success of the company is made possible by its outstanding veteran and new leadership; MRC is elated to have found such remarkable additions in Brooke, Michael, Terry, Kendra, and Austin. If you have any questions or are interested in learning more about the services Masked Rider Capital offers, email info@maskedrider.com, call (806) 577-4494, or visit our website at maskedrider.com. This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Masked Rider Capital announces promotions, leadership The Massachusetts Attorney General Offices has recovered more than $1.2 million for Vantage consumers who said they were burned by the company, an AG spokesperson said. Boston-based Vantage Deluxe World Travel has been under fire for months after hundreds of consumers complained about a lack of refunds for canceled or postponed trips. Earlier this month, the company quietly told its employees all trips through Aug. 28 are postponed, according to an internal memo obtained by Consumer Rescue. The AGs Office has received 818 consumer complaints against Vantage since Jan. 1, 2020, including 181 complaints filed in 2023, the spokesperson said. We are currently providing consumer assistance to [Massachusetts] residents and advising non-residents to file [complaints] in their respective states, an AG spokesperson said in an email. Vantage has said its actively looking to sell the company. We are currently engaged in sensitive negotiations for a sale of the company. Our primary goal is to obtain the best outcome for our customers. Confidentiality agreements governing our negotiations prevent us from commenting further at this time, Vantage General Counsel Rossella Mercuri said in an email to Boston 25 on June 9. According to a Boston 25 tipster, Vantage employees recently lost their healthcare coverage and are having trouble getting paid. That person sent several internal memos detailing timecard issues and the loss of benefits-provider Insperity. No deductions will be made for Medical/Dental/Vision/Transit/FSA/HSA, a June 8 employee memo said. We are working on securing alternate benefits and will update once confirmed. Consumer Rescue founder Michelle Couch-Friedman said shes been in contact with Vantage employees who are concerned about their jobs and the way Vantage is conducting business. She said an employee told her workers did not receive their anticipated paychecks Friday. They are as distraught as the customers, Couch-Friedman said. What Im hearing are stressed-out employees who are bearing the brunt of whatevers happening at Vantage. Mercuri said on June 9 the company is paying its employees but didnt respond to any follow-up emails seeking clarification. Vantage has timely paid and will timely pay all amounts due to employees, she said in a statement on June 9. Vantage Travel says its up for sale, employees say theyre not getting paid Boston attorney files class action suit against beleaguered cruise company Vantage Travel 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 A Mass. city was named best place to live for families in 2023, according to Fortune A Massachusetts city is ranked the top place to live for families out of Americas best zip codes all of which can help fight isolation and build social ties, according to Fortune. The publication recently released its annual list of 50 best places to live for families, and Cambridge ranked number one. Home to world-renowned educational institutions Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge embraces its dual position as a college town and bustling metro, just across the Charles River from Boston, Fortune wrote. Cambridge, with a population of 117,200, is known for its universities, museums, craft breweries, outdoor spaces, the Head of the Charles Regatta, and its bustling squares. Its most well-known, Harvard Square, is full of charming historic buildings, cafes, boutiques, theaters, and performance spaces, the publication wrote. The median sale price for a single-family residence in Cambridge in 2022 was $913,759, and the median household income was $116,709, according to Fortune. Locals also enjoy living in Cambridge because of a few other perks which include low crime rates, and quality public schools, 41% of which were rated above average by the national nonprofit GreatSchools, according to the publication. Fortune analyzed nearly 1,900 cities, towns, villages, suburbs, exurbs, and townships across all 50 states, using more than 200,000 unique data points to find the best place in every state. The best places to Live scored high in the areas of health care, education, and resources for seniors, which the publication said all help fight isolation and build social ties. Another New England city made the top 10: Portsmouth, N.H., ranked 2 on the list. After that, New England entries were placed in the following order: Portland, Maine, ranked 15, South Burlington, Vermont, ranked 21, Norwalk, Conn., ranked 29, and Cranston, R.I., ranked 38. 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 Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes joined a coalition of attorney generals last week in support of reproductive protections that would make it illegal to share someone's reproductive health information if that person is being investigated in connection to an abortion, according to a statement released Monday. Mayes signed a comment letter that comes about a year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, ruling that Americans no longer have a constitutional right to abortion and allowing states to put their own policy on abortion access. The letter, directed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was signed by a coalition of attorneys in 24 states including California, Colorado, New York and Washington D.C., among others. The letter states support to adding Biden-administration proposed amendments to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the federal law that dictates protections of private health information. If the amendments are approved, they would strengthen protections for reproductive health information. For subscribers: Arizonans who need abortions have alternatives to mifepristone, providers say "In a post-Roe world, strong protections for patients' health information are critical to ensuring private medical data is not misused or weaponized by anti-abortion extremists," Attorney General Mayes said in the statement. "I strongly support the proposed amendments to strengthen HIPAA privacy protections and urge the Biden administration to implement them quickly." Mayes said in the Monday news release the proposed protections would be important in preventing criminal or civil penalties for abortions as the Supreme Court ruling has allowed conservative states to enforce more restrictions. According to the statement, 15 states currently have laws in effect prohibiting abortion under all or most circumstances, Arizona included. The amendments would protect people who access reproductive procedures as well as health care providers. The proposed changes would forbid the disclosure of protected health information for an investigation, civil liability, and criminal prosecution against a person who sought, obtained, provided, or assisted a reproductive procedure if the person is in a state where it is legal or if the person is seeking reproductive health care that is protected under federal law, like the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, regardless of the state where they are, according to the letter. "These provisions are essential to begin creating a more unified privacy landscape for access to reproductive care," the statement said. The coalition also asked for the creation of an online platform available nationwide that provides information on reproductive care and privacy rights, followed by a public awareness campaign to promote the website. In the letter, the coalition also urged the Biden Administration to create the online site and implement the new amendments as soon as possible. "The signatory states strongly support the increased privacy protections offered by the Proposed Rule, which will provide much-needed updates for the digital age, offer essential guidance to covered entities, and help shore up protections for critical reproductive health care," the letter reads. "The Departments swift action in implementing these necessary protections is a vital step in defending sensitive reproductive health information against disclosure to the maximum extent possible in todays rapidly-shifting and increasingly hostile climate." This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mayes signs letter seeking more abortion information protections Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey is praising city administration after a successful holiday weekend of Juneteenth celebrations, Taylor Swift concerts and a Pirates game. Juneteenth events were held each day over the holiday weekend, and attendance history was broken at Acrisure Stadium at Saturday nights Taylor Swift concert. PHOTOS: Taylor Swift brings record-breaking numbers to Acrisure Stadium during second concert in Pittsburgh In a social media post, Gainey said all of the events went smoothly, without any major public safety incidents. Thank you to our @PghPolice, @PghEMS, Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire, Pittsburgh Oemhs, and Office of Special Events personnel for the meticulous planning and long hours put into making the past four days of events in the city safe and enjoyable for all! https://t.co/DnRFAagYba Pittsburgh Public Safety (@PghPublicSafety) June 20, 2023 My administration has been working diligently to make Pittsburgh the safest city in America and I am proud of the work that every public safety official did to make sure that everyone was able to celebrate peacefully this weekend, Gainey said. This is what a city coming together looks like and I know that when we continue working together we will be an example to the nation about what it means for everyone to feel safe, and welcome, and have opportunities to thrive. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Man charged with fatally shooting girlfriend in Bessemer, state police say Tourist sub goes missing near Titanic wreck; search will continue overnight Hunter Biden to plead guilty to federal charges VIDEO: Trespassing charges filed against men accused of recording video inside Century III Mall DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts PARIS European missile maker MBDA is leading a consortium of companies to conceptualize a prototype hypersonic interceptor for Europe over the next three years. The missile systems and technology company has signed letters of intent with four European nations France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands to launch a concept stage for the Hypersonic Defense Interceptor Study, or HYDIS2, which would introduce several designs before choosing one, officials said June 19 during the Paris Air Show here. The consortium includes 19 companies and 30 suppliers from 14 European countries, Bruno Verzotti, MBDAs director of future systems, told a small group of reporters. Besides the four nations that have signed letters of intent to support HYDIS2, industry partners hail from Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Denmark, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Spain and Belgium. HYDIS2 aims to define Europes interceptor, Verzotti said during the briefing. After the three-year concept study is over, the plan is for the four nations underwriting HYDIS2 to choose one counter-hypersonic interceptor concept to push forward. The company has been at work on counter-hypersonic technology for roughly the past four years, he said. Internally to MBDA, the capability under development has been dubbed Aquila, the Latin word for eagle. The intent is for Aquilas development to be linked to the EU-funded Timely Warning and Interception with Space-based TheatER Surveillance (TWISTER) program, supported by the EUs Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) scheme. Nearly one year ago, the EU announced its initial roster of 61 programs to be supported by the European Defence Fund (EDF). One of those, the EU HYDEF effort, would cover the concept phase to build a similar endo-atmospheric interceptor, led by a consortium including Spains Sener Aerospacial Sociedad Anonima and Germanys Diehl Defence . The EU HYDEF program is expected to cost about 110 million ($100.74 million) and cover a 36-month period, the EU previously shared. It is also linked to the PESCO TWISTER program. MBDA also submitted a bid to receive EDF funds to build an interceptor in 2022 under the moniker HYDIS. While their proposal was not selected then, officials are optimistic that a second effort with the very same industry team might prove more effective. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said a plea deal on tax charges for Hunter Biden, President Bidens son, will not slow down House Republicans investigation into the Biden familys business dealings. It continues to show the two-tier system in America, McCarthy said of Hunter Bidens plea deal. If you are the presidents leading political opponent, the DOJ tries to literally put you in jail and give you prison time. But if you are the presidents son, you get a sweetheart deal. Now, this does nothing to our investigation, McCarthy told reporters Tuesday morning. It actually should enhance our investigation, because the DOJ should not be able to withhold any information now saying that theres a pending investigation. They should be able to provide [House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer] with any information that he requires. Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to tax crimes and reached a diversion agreement related to unlawful possession of a weapon. More Hunter Biden coverage from The Hill His attorney, Christopher Clark, said in a statement that his understanding was that the matter was resolved, but U.S. Attorney David C. Weisss office said in its own statement Tuesday that the investigation is still ongoing. Later Tuesday, McCarthy suggested that the Department of Justices (DOJ) claims that the investigation is ongoing is merely an effort to withhold information from the House. How can Hunter Biden plead guilty, no jail time, and the DOJ say theres still an investigation, try to withhold information to the House? Thats unacceptable and will not stand, he told reporters. Pressed on if he thinks that is the DOJs intention, McCarthy responded, It has to be. Because you cannot plead guilty, say youre not gonna do jail time, and then say you cant give papers to the U.S. House of Representatives thats not gonna stand. Thats not gonna work, he said. 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 12:30 Report newsletter Asked what the American people can expect from Republicans going forward on investigations, McCarthy said GOP lawmakers will continue to follow whatever information leads us to. Republicans have long probed the foreign business dealings of President Bidens family and its associates but have so far not produced evidence that the president directly benefited from those dealings or knew any details. The president has denied knowledge of Hunter Bidens business activities. In the past several weeks, the GOP has seized on an FBI tip that President Biden was involved in a bribery scheme with a foreign national. The tip came from what lawmakers in both parties describe as a credible source with secondhand knowledge of the allegation but has not been verified. We found out, lo and behold, even though the FBI tried to hold from us, that in a 1023 form, that people have said that they had to pay the presidents family money for favors, McCarthy said, in reference to the unverified claim. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) talks to reporters following a meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., to discuss the debit ceiling with President Biden on Monday, May 22, 2023. McCarthy also referenced financial records obtained by Republicans that they say showed millions of dollars moving through shell companies and benefiting members of the presidents family. The records did not show money flowing to President Biden himself. Comer who said the sweetheart plea deal was a slap on the wrist also said his committee will plow ahead with its investigation into Hunter Biden despite the recent development. Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery, Comer said in a statement Tuesday morning. These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committees investigation, he continued. We will not rest until the full extent of President Bidens involvement in the familys schemes are revealed. McCarthy on Tuesday sought to draw a comparison to the federal indictment of former President Trump earlier this month, part of the Justice Departments investigation into the mishandling of classified documents. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 charges. President Biden is also under investigation by the DOJ for the potential mishandling of classified documents, though the two cases bear significant differences: Trump is accused of obstructing attempts by authorities to regain the documents, including asking his attorneys to lie about their existence or destroy them, while Bidens attorneys alerted authorities when records were discovered and handed them over. Sign up for the latest from The Hill here McCarthy, nonetheless, juxtaposed the two Tuesday as part of his argument that the justice system is two-tiered. You have a sitting president today that now has a son that gets a sweetheart deal, that now the president today has [his] top political opponent indicted and has potential jail time. And you have the same problem yourself, but theres no movement on that, McCarthy said. So I think that to all Americans seems as though its a two-system, and thats what wrong. Updated at 12:46 p.m. EDT. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Alibaba has a new CEO. LUDOVIC MARIN / Contributor / Getty Images Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce and tech giant, is switching up its leadership. Cofounder Eddie Wu will replace Daniel Zhang as CEO, the company announced Tuesday. The move comes three months after Alibaba announced it would split into six groups. Alibaba has a new CEO. Eddie Wu, currently the chairman of Taobao and Tmall Group, will take over as CEO from Daniel Zhang, Alibaba Group announced Tuesday. The change in roles will take effect on September 10. Zhang is also stepping down from his role as chairman of the board, per the company's announcement on Tuesday. He will be replaced by Joseph C. Tsai, who's currently the executive vice chairman of the group. Alibaba is worth $238 billion, making it the third-most valuable company in China behind gaming giant Tencent and beverage company Kweichow Moutai. In March, the company announced it would be splitting into six separate groups. Taobao and Tmall Group, which Wu is currently the head of, is one of those six groups. After Zhang steps down from his role, he will lead Alibaba's Cloud Intelligence Group as chairman and CEO, the company announced. Who is Eddie Wu, the new CEO of Alibaba? Wu has thus far maintained a low media profile, but here's what we know about him. Education: Wu graduated from Zhejiang University of Technology with a bachelor's degree in computer science in 1996. History at Alibaba: He's one of the cofounders of Alibaba, and he currently serves as a senior vice president overseeing three business units, per Crunchbase. Those include mobile, instant messaging, and music. He was Alibaba's first programmer, according to the Drum, an outlet focused on the marketing and media industries. Alibaba did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider. This is a developing story. We'll update it as we learn more. Read the original article on Business Insider The Memo: Democrats divided on whether to attack or ignore RFK Jr. The surprising early strength of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s presidential campaign is sparking unease among Democrats and leaving them divided about what to do about it. Kennedy has drawn support between approximately 15 percent to 20 percent in recent polls of Democratic voters. Its a level that is not high enough to indicate he is seriously endangering President Bidens march to his partys nomination. But, for a candidate often derided as an anti-vaccine crank who is running against an incumbent president, it is enough to make some Democrats sweat. Party strategists cleave into two camps on the question of how Biden and his campaign should respond. One faction argues that Biden should ignore Kennedy. Engaging him would only legitimize and elevate his candidacy, they say. The other school of thought holds that Kennedy is too dangerous a figure to let campaign unimpeded. This second camp notes that, even if Kennedy never looks like a fully serious contender for the nomination, he could hurt Biden if he continues edging up in the polls. In a hypothetical scenario where Kennedy rose to 25 percent or 30 percent in the polls, questions about Bidens age and political vulnerability would grow much sharper. Bill Carrick, a veteran Democratic strategist, urged the Biden campaign to take the high road and treat Kennedy as if he barely exists. I think they should ignore him. I just dont think theres any point in [engaging] in it. Hes not the least bit of a threat to President Biden, Carrick said. For card-carrying Democrats, their biggest concern is beating Trump, and the only way to do it is Biden, Carrick added. But others warn that there are dangers in that approach. You cant let cancers metastasize, said Bakari Sellers, a CNN commentator and former Democratic state representative in South Carolina. Sellers was scathing of Kennedy, whom he called a caricature. Referring to his storied family history as the nephew of former President Kennedy and the son of the former attorney general whose name he bears, Sellers added: He is probably the best example of an apple falling from the tree and rolling into a whole other orchard parroting Putin talking points and so on. He is not John, he is not Robert, and he is more associated with the likes of [podcaster] Joe Rogan and Elon Musk than he is with James Clyburn or Hakeem Jeffries. But Kennedys willingness to engage with figures like Rogan has its own political advantages. Social media lit up in the wake of Kennedys recent appearance on Rogans podcast. Rogan offered scientist Peter Hotez a charity donation of $100,000 if he would debate Kennedy on the vaccine question. Hotez has so far declined. The back-and-forth has raised bigger questions about the merits of such public debates, especially between a respected scientist and someone who has frequently been criticized for trafficking in misinformation. Either way, the furor delivers even more oxygen to Kennedys campaign. This, in turn, is why some Democrats think ignoring him is not a workable strategy. You have to get in behind the scenes and take him apart, said New York-based Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf. Sheinkopf argued that a frontal attack on Kennedy from the Biden campaign would backfire since it would fuel him and fuel his followers who are drawn to his populist streak. Attacks from groups that are not directly affiliated with Biden might be more effective, Sheinkopf contended. There is an abundance of ammunition that could be used against Kennedy, his critics note. In an early 2022 rally against vaccinations, Kennedy suggested the situation in the United States at the time was worse than when the Nazis were on the march in Europe remarks that even his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, called reprehensible and insensitive. Kennedy later apologized for referencing Anne Frank in the remarks. In another interview, Kennedy claimed that chemicals in drinking water were feminizing boys and causing sexual dysphoria. A photo was widely disseminated on Twitter on Monday of Kennedy with Roger Stone and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, two of the most controversial of all the allies of former President Trump. The implication, plainly, was that Kennedy was being used by the right, willingly or otherwise, to hurt Biden. Stone, in a Monday afternoon tweet, denied that was the case. The photo, he wrote, proves nothing whatsoever. I have met [Kennedy] once in my life at a conference. I did not urge him to run, nor am I advising his campaign. This is a crazy left-wing conspiracy theory. Despite that, some Democrats cited the photo as the kind of ingredient that would prove useful in pushing back against a Kennedy candidacy. All youve got to do is let people know: These are his friends, Democratic strategist Jerry Austin told this column. The concern about Kennedys candidacy and its political impact stretches beyond Democrats to others who are worried about the possibility of Trump returning to office. He can soften, weaken and damage Biden for a general election, said former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), who has become a fierce Trump critic. But Walsh argued that, although there was an appetite on the left as well as the right for what he termed cranks and conspiracy theories, such a figure was less likely to come close to winning the Democratic nomination. Despite the danger Kennedys poses, Walsh argued, Team Biden is better advised to just ignore him completely. The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The agreement announced Tuesday that will see Hunter Biden plead guilty to two tax charges has scrambled the picture for the 2024 election a contest that, right now, looks odds-on to be fought between President Biden and former President Trump. Republicans argue the presidents son got a soft deal. Democrats contend that misdemeanor offenses committed by a private citizen one who was struggling with addiction at the time should not have their importance exaggerated. Outside of those predictable responses, the announcement of the deal first and foremost puts Hunter Bidens name back in the headlines a scenario that is never good for his fathers political fortunes. The president has kept his comments to a minimum. Asked by a reporter Tuesday while in California whether he had spoken to his son earlier in the day, Biden replied, Im very proud of my son. He did not answer a shouted question about whether he encouraged Hunter Biden to take the guilty plea. Earlier, a White House statement emphasized the president and first lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life but would have no further comment. In addition to pleading guilty to the tax charges, Hunter Biden will enter into a pretrial diversion agreement over the allegation that he lied on paperwork by denying he was a drug user to obtain a gun in 2018. The agreement still has to be approved by a judge but, assuming that happens, Biden is unlikely to serve any jail time, and the gun matter will probably be stricken from his record. The matter will inevitably be intertwined in the political narrative with Trumps recent indictment even though Trumps matter is far more serious, and Hunter Biden is not a candidate for any office. Trump was charged with 37 criminal counts over sensitive documents discovered at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort including related charges of obstruction and concealment. Trump could face significant prison time if convicted. The former president was also indicted in New York in April in a separate case revolving around a hush-money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Trump wasted no time in using the Hunter Biden case to advance his argument that he is being unfairly treated by the justice system. Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket. Our system is BROKEN!, Trump wrote on Truth Social soon after details of the deal emerged. A few hours later, Trump contended that the Hunter/Joe Biden settlement is a massive COVERUP & FULL SCALE ELECTION INTERFERENCE SCAM THE LIKES OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN IN OUR COUNTRY BEFORE. One problem with this line of argument is that it is not at all clear that either Trump or Hunter Biden are being treated in ways incongruous with what would happen if other, non-famous Americans engaged in similar conduct. Referring to the indictment of Trump on the Mar-a-Lago matter, former federal prosecutor Mary McCord told the Washington Post on Monday: Theres no question in my mind that anyone else if found guilty of the offenses charged in this indictment, even if not found guilty of all of them, even just a handful of them would serve time in prison. In Hunter Bidens case, experts say the kind of gun offense he apparently committed rarely results in severe sanctions, unless it is linked to a more serious crime. Lying on the documentation required to obtain a firearm is more often prosecuted aggressively if it is, for example, part of an effort to make a straw purchase on behalf of a violent felon. Still, the tax offenses pertaining to an initial failure to pay about $100,000 in taxes on more than $1 million in income will sit uneasily with taxpaying voters who wonder how they would fare if they engaged in the same conduct. Politically speaking, the Biden matter appears to have further solidified Trumps hold on the GOP. It has so far at least had the effect of further coalescing the party around claims about the weaponization of the Justice Department claims that aid Trump far more than anyone else. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) referred to the agreement as a sweetheart deal and contended it continues to show the two-tier system in America. Several of Trumps rivals for the 2024 GOP nomination sounded similar notes. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis used the same phrase sweetheart deal and argued that if Hunter were a Republican, he would have been in jail years ago. Former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley contended that the agreement only raise further questions about Hunter Bidens crimes and the double standard of justice in our federal government. Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) contended the deal was another reason Americans have lost faith in Bidens Justice Department. But perhaps the most important voice in the medium term came from Capitol Hill. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) has asserted that his panels probing of Bidens business dealings will go on. That means the presidents son is going to continue to be a political issue for months to come even as election season heats up. The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. BepiColombo captured a farewell image of Mercury as it drifted farther away from the planet. A probe is familiarizing itself with the closest planet to the Sun, gearing up to explore Mercurys heavily cratered surface. The BepiColombo mission recently captured stunning new images of Mercury during a close flyby, which resulted in the naming of an impact crater after a pioneering Jamaican artist. BepiColombo, a joint mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), made its closest approach to Mercury on Monday June 19 at 3:34 p.m. ET. The spacecraft was at a distance of around 146 miles (236 kilometers) above the surface of Mercury at its closest, allowing it to capture intimate images of the solar systems tiny-but-mighty planet. Read more ESA released a trio of images from BepiColombos recent flyby. The spacecrafts monitoring camera 3 snapped tens of images of Mercury, which were transmitted to Earth overnight. On Tuesday, ESA released three images that capture BepiColombo approaching the rocky planet before departing its side for the third time. Indeed, this marked BepiColombos third of six gravity assists, whereby the spacecraft uses Mercurys gravity to slow down as it positions itself to enter the planets orbit. The spacecraft is actually a pair of orbiters stacked on top of one another, each equipped with their own science instruments to help uncover Mercurys mysteries. Out of the shadows. In this first image, BepiColombo approaches Mercurys nightside, in which the Suns rays begin to illuminate the tiny planet. The photo was captured some 12 minutes after the spacecrafts closest approach, according to ESA. The rugged surface topology is clearly visible, including Mercurys many impact craters. Crater spotted! Image: ESA As more of Mercurys features made their way out from the shadows, a large 135 mile-wide (218 kilometers) peak-ring impact crater appeared to the right of the spacecrafts antenna. An annotated image (above) shows the location of the newly named crater, along with several others. During our image planning for the flyby we realised this large crater would be in view, but it didnt yet have a name, David Rothery, a member of the BepiColombo imaging team, said in ESAs statement. As a result, the crater was assigned the name Manley by the International Astronomical Union in honor of one of the most profound Jamaican artists, Edna Manley. The craters basin floor has been flooded with smooth lava, indicative of Mercurys volcanic history. BepiColombo is set to further explore Manley Crater during its mission. Farewell, Mercury. BepiColombos brief rendezvous with Mercury had to, unfortunately, come to an end, and the pair will not meet again until the spacecrafts fourth gravity assist on September 5, 2024. In the meantime, the spacecraft has a tough challenge ahead as it gears up for its upcoming thrust arcs sequence in August. During a six-week period, BepiColombo will gradually fire up its electric propulsion system to brake against the powerful gravitational pull of the Sun. We are already working intensively on preparing for this long thruster arc, increasing communications and commanding opportunities between the spacecraft and ground stations, to ensure a fast turnaround between thruster outages during each sequence, Santa Martinez Sanmartin, ESAs BepiColombo mission manager, said in the statement. The Suns gravity is what makes Mercury so hard to reach, with BepiColombo being only the third spacecraft to travel to the solar systems most inner planet. The mission, which launched in 2018, is scheduled to finally settle in Mercurys orbit in 2025. When it does so, BepiColombo will divide into two orbiters: ESAs Mercury Planetary Orbiter, which will scan the planets surface and interior, and JAXAs Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, which will study the planets magnetic field. For more spaceflight in your life, follow us on Twitter and bookmark Gizmodos dedicated Spaceflight page. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Science in Poland via the Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments in Lublin Science in Poland via the Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments in Lublin ukasz Jabonski was scouring a field in Poland with his metal detector when he made an unusual discovery. About eight inches underground, Jabonski found a trove of 13 bronze artifacts, according to a June 16 news release from Science in Poland, a subset of the national news agency. Experts identified the artifacts as dating back about 2,500 years to the Lusatian culture, specifically toward the end of the period between 550 B.C. and 400 B.C. Previously, archaeologists had only found a few individual artifacts from the time period, so Jabonskis find marks the first time a whole set of items has been discovered. Among the finds, archaeologists identified two pins that are approximately six inches long, a decorative shield to attach to clothing, two circular pieces of leg armor and six bracelets, according to Science in Poland. Jabonski told Science in Poland the discoveries are of great cognitive, scientific and conservation importance for archaeologists, in the context of analyzing the settlement of this culture in this region, as well as in the entire Lublin region. Experts said they kept the discovery a secret until now to ensure they could protect the field which is in Czerniaczyn Poduchowny from illegal excavations. The bronze artifacts are at the Museum of the Bigoraj Land for further preservation and analysis. Czerniaczyn Poduchowny is about 145 miles southeast of Warsaw. Google Translate was used to translate the news release from Science in Poland. Roman coin was buried for 2,000 years in Poland until metal detector found it Ancient Roman bricks and coins lead to bigger discovery in Switzerland. See the photos Ancient Polish Stonehenges remain a mystery 25 years after discovery. What we know St. Louis Downtown Airport in St. Clair County is getting 200 new, full-time jobs for the airports largest tenant, business jet company Gulfstream Aerospace. Gulfstream is adding positions for aircraft technicians, installers and supervisors as part of a tax credit agreement with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the company and state officials announced Tuesday. St. Louis Downtown Airport is located partially in Cahokia Heights and the village of Sauget. It is owned and operated by Bi-State Development, an economic development agency for the St. Louis region. Bi-State Development also operates MetroLink and MetroBus and the Gateway Arch tram system, riverboats and helicopter tours. St. Louis Downtown Airport serves customers on private flights, as well as flight school students. Aircraft and helicopter maintenance also takes place at the airport. As part of Gulfstreams tax credit agreement with the state, the company also invested $28.5 million to expand its operations at St. Louis Downtown Airport and agreed to retain 498 existing employees. The credit it receives from the state will amount to the lower of these two options: The sum of (a) 75% of the incremental income tax, the amount withheld during the tax year from the compensation of new employees, and (b) 10% of the training costs for new employees. 100% of the incremental income tax for new employees. Gulfstream is eligible for the tax credit for 10 consecutive years, the agreement states. State officials praised the agreement on Tuesday, including Gov. J.B. Pritzker; State Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea; State Sen. Chris Belt, D-Swansea; and State Rep. Kevin Schmidt, R-Millstadt. They could have gone anywhere in the country, but they are here because Illinois has the workforce and infrastructure, Schmidt stated in a news release from the governors office. In its announcement Tuesday, Gulfstream said it is also partnering with local schools to help build a talent pipeline in the region. Among the schools are Cahokia High School, East St. Louis Senior High School and the Center for Academic and Vocational Excellence in Belleville. How a Mexican spiritual leader preserves the sacred knowledge of the volcano known as El Popo Moises Vega gives an interview at the Volcano Museum in Amecameca, Mexico, near the Popocatepetl volcano, Sunday, June 11, 2023. The 64-year-old Mexican says he can speak the sacred language of volcanoes to ask for good weather and a good crop. (AP Photo/Aurea Del Rosario) AMECAMECA, Mexico (AP) Moises Vega has a distinctive job: The 64-year-old Mexican says he can speak the sacred language of volcanoes to ask for good weather and a good crop. Mexico lowered the alert level on the Popocatepetl volcano by early June after its eruptions of gas and ash had drawn international attention. For Vega, though, the 17,797-foot (5,425-meter) mountain, known as El Popo, is a living being that never fades from his sight. The Popocatepetl is our father and the Iztaccihuatl is our mother," he said, referring to a neighboring volcano. "They are providers of water and we are not afraid of them. On the contrary, their exhalations are blessings because they give us life. There is no English translation for his profession, but among the inhabitants of the towns of central Mexico, men like him are called graniceros." Their work is based on the pre-Hispanic notion of conciliation with nature, said archaeologist Arturo Montero, from the University of Tepeyac. They are regulators of the weather who believe that the mountains are spirits of nature. It's unknown how many graniceros are in Mexico. Vega says that in Amecameca, the city where he lives 44 miles southeast of Mexico City, there are only four (himself included). He estimates that there could be a similar number in nearby towns. Many locals believe that only men who are struck by lightning and survive Vega among them are the ones who can claim the job. I knew I would become a granicero since I was a boy, Vega said. He was ordained to fill that role in a ritual in 1998. His main task is to perform rituals three times per year to ask the volcanoes for good weather; just the right amount of rain needed for the crops. He mostly leads these ceremonies in stone shrines built by the locals in El Popo or El Izta," He also works as a traditional healer and makes additional income explaining El Popo's story to tourists visiting a volcano museum in Amecameca. Montero said it's not easy for contemporary graniceros to remain well-versed in ancient knowledge, given that many have to take a variety of jobs to get by. But they want to preserve their ancestral legacy and responding to inquiries from anthropologists, journalists and tourists helps them do that, he said. On a recent Sunday, Vega pointed to a replica of a shrine built to show visitors what real temples devoted to volcanoes look like. He said the rituals he performs are a fusion of pre-Hispanic and Christian elements. In addition to flowers and fruits, shrines have crosses, but not crucifixes. They are painted in blue, to represent the sky, or white, to emulate clouds. I respect the (Catholic) religion because we grew up in this place, but the mountain speaks to us in the words of our grandparents, not in the words of the conquerors, he said in reference to the evangelization led by the Spaniards after 1521. The roar of El Popo tells him that something is wrong. Someone may have climbed its slopes to perform an animal sacrifice, which is against the communitys beliefs. A thief may have stolen the crosses from their sacred spots. A group of drunken men may have profaned its soil. Alcohol is forbidden in the volcanoes, Vega said, because spirits can get drunk and interfere with the weather. This could lead to a catastrophe, he said, as bad weather can destroy the crops and leave people hungry. The sacred understanding of El Popo varies from town to town, but many agree that the volcano does not threaten their lives. Leticia Munoz, who sells avocados in the town of Ozumba, said she trusts graniceros more than the government and she would never evacuate her home. One sees that (the volcano) is harmless," she said. "If he wanted to, he would explode. The last big eruption of El Popo was in 1994; many in Mexico City could see the smoke. Many people who were evacuated said they lost their animals and vowed they would never leave again. The connection between local communities and volcanoes has evolved through the centuries because each mountain responds to the needs of its inhabitants, said Laura Elena Romero, an anthropologist from the University of the Americas Puebla. According to Romero, the sacred mountains of Mesoamerica are associated with the essential resources of life and that is why graniceros like Vega make offerings to ask for rain while others request prosperity for their businesses. During rituals, she said, theres a dialogue between men and volcanoes and they are seen as members of each community. The volcano wouldnt harm the people to whom it belongs, she said. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. (Bloomberg) -- Mexicos former Interior Minister Adan Augusto Lopez declined to use the five million pesos ($292,000) offered by the Morena ruling party to those vying for the presidential nomination as they launch their campaigns this week. Most Read from Bloomberg Lopez, a close ally of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said in a video on Twitter that Morena has never required public monies to reach Mexicans. We have never needed public resources or travel expenses to build from below, together with our people, he wrote in the tweet. Morenas national party head Mario Delgado said last week that those competing for the nomination were expected to finance their own campaigns, only to say later that the party would distribute five million pesos to each for logistics and travel. Lopez, no relation to the president, is competing for Morenas nomination along with former Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard and former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, among others. Read More: AMLOs Party Kicks Off Succession Fight in Run-Up to 2024 Vote Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Mexico asks Israel for second time to extradite ex-official accused of torture FILE PHOTO: A relative of one of the 43 missing students of Ayotzinapa College Raul Isidro Burgos takes part in a protest, in Mexico City By Brendan O'Boyle MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's president said on Tuesday that he had asked Israel for a second time to extradite a former official accused of torture in the Latin American country. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requesting help extraditing Tomas Zeron, head of Mexico's criminal investigation agency between 2014-2016 under the previous administration. Zeron led the heavily criticized investigation into the disappearance of 43 student teachers in southwestern Mexico in 2014 under a government to which Lopez Obrador was opposed. The current Mexican government accuses Zeron of torturing witnesses and tampering with evidence and says he went to Israel to evade a probe into his handling of the investigation. "It can't be that Israel protects a torturer under any circumstance," Lopez Obrador said in a regular press conference. Zeron has previously denied allegations of wrongdoing. Lopez Obrador, who made a similar extradition request in September 2021, said he expected Mexico's Jewish community to support the effort to extradite Zeron. Mexico's top human rights official last year said the government's involvement in the 2014 disappearances across federal, state and local levels was a "state crime." Israel's embassy in Mexico declined to comment on Lopez Obrador's remarks. (Reporting by Brendan O'Boyle in Mexico City; Editing by Matthew Lewis) Fisherman Oussama Dabbebi on his boat holding a net in Sfax, Tunisia As the number of migrants trying to reach Europe grows so does the number of deaths in the Mediterranean. While European Union officials struggle to contain the exodus, the plight of those fleeing poverty and persecution is leaving its tragic mark on the shores of Tunisia. As the sun creeps above the horizon off the shores of its eastern coast, fisherman Oussama Dabbebi begins hauling in his nets. His face fixes anxiously on its contents, because sometimes fish are not all he finds. "Instead of getting fish, I sometimes get dead bodies. The first time I was afraid, then step by step I got used to it. After a while getting a dead body out of my net is like getting a fish." The 30-year-old fisherman, clad in a dark, hooded sweatshirt and shorts, says he recently found the bodies of 15 migrants in his nets over a three-day period. "Once I found a baby's body. How is a baby responsible for anything? I was crying. For adults it's different because they have lived. But you know, for the baby, it didn't see anything." Mr Dabbebi has fished these waters near Tunisia's second city of Sfax since he was 10 years old. In those days he was one of many casting their nets, but now he says most fishermen have sold their boats for vast sums to people smugglers. "Many times smugglers have offered me unbelievable amounts to sell my boat. I have always refused because if they used my boat and someone drowned, I would never forgive myself." Many African migrants are determined to reach Europe in the hope of a better life A short distance away a group of migrants from South Sudan - which has been hit by conflict, climate shocks and food insecurity since its independence in 2011 - are walking slowly away from the port. All ultimately hope to reach the UK. One explains that they have reluctantly abandoned a second attempt to cross to Italy because of an overcrowded boat and worsening weather. "There were so many people and the boat was very small. We were still going to go, but when we pushed away from the shore it was really windy. There was too much wind." According to Tunisia's National Guard, 13,000 migrants were forced from their often overcrowded boats near Sfax and returned to shore in the first three months of this year. Between January and April this year some 24,000 people left the Tunisian coast in makeshift boats and made it to Italy, according to the UN refugee agency. The country has now become the biggest departure point for migrants trying to reach Europe. Libya previously held this dubious accolade, but violence against migrants and abductions by criminal gangs have led to many travelling to Tunisia instead, before heading on to Europe. Though the boat involved in last week's disaster off the Greek coast, which has left at least 78 people dead and an estimated 500 missing, had sailed from Libya. Most fisherman in Sfax have sold their boats for vast sums to people smugglers Many of their rusting and rotting vessels lie either half-submerged in water or stacked in huge piles next to Sfax's port. Forlorn reminders of the dangers of the world's deadliest known migration route. Another stark reminder can be found at the cemetery on the outskirts of the city. Rows of freshly dug graves lie empty in an extended part of the graveyard, waiting for the next loss sea disaster. But they will not be enough. A new cemetery entirely dedicated to migrants is now being planned. In just one two-week period earlier this year, the bodies of more than 200 migrants were retrieved from the sea here. Across the whole Mediterranean, more than 27,000 people are known to have died trying to reach Europe since 2014. This accelerating tragedy is causing great difficulties for the city. The director of the regional health authority, Dr Hatem Cherif, says there simply are not the facilities to deal with so many deaths. "The capacity of the hospital mortuary is a maximum of 35 to 40. This is usually sufficient, but with all this influx of bodies, which is getting worse, it's way past the numbers we can take." As many as 250 bodies were brought to the mortuary recently. Most had to be placed in a chilled adjoining room, grimly named the "catastrophe chamber", one on top of each other. Though Dr Cherif was keen to point out that all will be buried in separate, numbered graves. Many of those who die are unidentified, so DNA tests are being organised and the results carefully stored. The idea is to enable relatives searching for loved ones to see if they are buried here, by checking for matches with their own DNA. African migrants in Tunisia say they have become targets of racist attacks Three hours' drive north-west of Sfax, several hundred members of Tunisia's black minority, many of them women and children, are camped in small tents outside the offices of the International Organization for Migration in central Tunis. All were evicted from their homes and sacked from their jobs in the city after an incendiary, racist speech in February by the country's President Kais Saied. He claimed "hordes" of illegal migrants were entering the country as part of a "criminal" plan to change its demography. These comments were widely viewed as an attempt to find scapegoats for the country's economic crisis, which has led many desperate Tunisians to become migrants themselves. Pointing to a recent stab wound on his arm, a young man originally from Sierra Leone - which still recovering from a brutal civil war that ended in 2002 - says that since the president's speech, knife-wielding local youths have assaulted many people here. "Some Arab boys came here to attacks us. The police said they would keep us secure if we stay here. But if we go outside of this area, we are not safe." This worrying situation and the continued jailing of opponents and erosion of civil rights by the country's president appear to be less of a priority for EU officials than curbing the flow of migrants. So far this year more than 47,000 migrants have arrived in Italy, a three-fold increase on the same period of last year and demands have grown for something to be done. During a brief visit here earlier this month a visiting delegation led by the head of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen promised a possible financial support package of nearly 1bn euros ($1bn; 850m). If approved, around a tenth of this sum would be spent on measures to tackle human trafficking. Last week's tragedy off the Greek coast has heightened demands for something to be done. Yet with many migrants so desperate and people smuggling so profitable for traffickers, stopping the flow of small boats will not be easy. Crowds of migrants from all over Africa and parts of the Middle East gather in groups in shaded spots of the streets of Sfax. Some have funds to pay for a place on a trafficker's boat, others live in limbo, unable to even pay for their food and shelter. Many have either lost their passports or had them stolen, while some never had one having left their countries illegally. All have heard of the deaths of so many who tried to reach Europe, but it seems desperation continues to trump danger, as a young man from Guinea made clear. "We cannot go back to our country because we don't have money or passports. I'm not afraid. I'm starving, there is so much poverty [at home] and my parents have nothing. I don't want my children to live like that. I need to go." The tragedy is that this basic human aspiration for a better life so often comes at such a very high price. You can watch Mike Thomson's report from Tunisia for Newsnight on the BBC iPlayer here (only available in the UK) A shooting Monday after a Juneteenth celebration in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, left six teenage victims wounded, according to police. Milwaukee police said thousands of people had gathered for a block party on North Martin Luther King Drive when an argument between multiple girls is believed to have escalated into a shooting that left four females and two males ages between 14 and 19 with gunshot injuries. The victims were subsequently transported to a hospital for treatment. A video shared online shows the events leading up to the shooting, which included several girls pushing each other down the street and dozens of people swarming the group when a teen pulls out a handgun and fired off several rounds. "There's no reason that a young person should have their hand on a gun of any kind. No reason whatsoever. It is completely and totally unacceptable," Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said during a press conference after the shooting. WISCONSIN MAN SHOT, KILLED AFTER DRAGGING DEPUTY WHILE FLEEING TRAFFIC STOP Milwaukee Police responded to a shooting at about 4:21 pm. on North Martin Luther King Drive. Johnson, a Democrat, also described the shooting as a distraction to the unity observed by community members just moments earlier. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "We had thousands and thousands of people here celebrating and bringing themselves together and having a sense of community. Thats a powerful thing. Thats the true story about what this day is," he said. The mayor suggested the shooting could have been much worse as families were gathered for the block party. "There were families out here," Johnson said. "There were kids out here. There were babies out here." He added: "If you are an adult or a young person, youve got your hands on a gun, and you are ill-tempered, right? Dont come to stuff like this. Dont come. Get the help that you need." "You dont have the right to steal the joy that this community felt," the mayor passionately continued. "You dont have the right to endanger babies in this community. You dont have the right to put the men and women of this department and our partners in the Office of Violence Prevention in harms way because you want to go out there and act stupid with a gun, and thats what it is, its stupidity." "Arguments should not lead to guns being fired off, period," Johnson said. "There used to be a time where if folks had an argument that you just walk away or you could conclude the argument and leave it at that, or maybe worse you get into a fist fight," he said. "You don't pull out a gun and end someone's life over something as simple and as meaningless as a petty disagreement, as an argument." Johnson added: "We've seen enough of that, too much of that, and it needs to stop." Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said the shooting happened at approximately 4:21 p.m., "after the Juneteenth celebration where thousands in our community gathered peacefully." "Milwaukee, whats going on with our children?" Chief Norman said in a plea to the city, during the presser. "Parents, guardians, elders, we need to engage and ensure that this violence that our children are bringing to these streets ceases. No handgun, no weapon of destruction should be in the hands of our young ones," he also said. The teens suffered non-fatal injuries, police said. A preliminary investigation indicates that a 17-year-old male shot during the incident was also a shooter, police said, adding that they are still looking for additional suspects. WRECKED SUV TOWED, SAT IN LOT FOR 4 DAYS WITH MILWAUKEE TEEN'S BODY STILL INSIDE "MPD asks that we all do better at resolving conflict without resorting to gun violence," Norman added. This incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Milwaukee police. Its Miss South Carolina week 2023. Heres when and how to watch the competition The 2023 Miss South Carolina and Miss South Carolina Teen Competition begins with the first preliminary round Tuesday night. The event begins at 7 p.m. at Township Auditorium in Columbia. There are 47 women vying for Miss South Carolina, which the Miss South Carolina Scholarship Organization is hosting for the 86th year. Miss Teen has 34 contestants. The competition will continue with preliminary rounds Wednesday and Thursday. Miss Teen will be crowned Friday and Miss South Carolina on Saturday. Miss South Carolina will be broadcast beginning at 8 p.m. on WACH Fox TV. Miss South Carolina 2023 will receive a $60,000 scholarship and will compete for the title of Miss America. Miss South Carolinas Teen 2023 will receive a $10,000 scholarship and will compete for the title of Miss Americas Outstanding Teen. Tickets cost $52.50 for preliminaries, $64.50 for the teen final and $79.50 for Miss South Carolina final. The full series package is $244.95. Saturday night ends the reign of Miss South Carolina 2022 Jill Dudley, who used her year to advocate for rape survivors. A Socastee native and rape survivor, Dudleys focus has been on examining the myths of rape culture, share stories of survival and encourage bystanders to get in the fight. Her platform is called Shatter the Cycle. Missing Titan timeline: The key events in the disappearance of Titanic submersible The OceanGate submersible Titan that has gone missing with five people on board. (Getty) Rescuers are still desperately trying to locate a submersible which disappeared while on a dive to the Titanic shipwreck. The Titan submersible, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, was reported missing on Sunday evening in the mid-Atlantic about 435 miles south of St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada. Read more: Live updates after Titanic tourist submersible goes missing The five people on board the submersible may have less than 20 hours worth of emergency oxygen left as of 6pm on Wednesday, officials said. Here are the key events over the past three days: Saturday 17 June 10.30pm British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, chairman of private plane firm Action Aviation, posts on Twitter and Instagram that he is joining the OceanGate Expedition dive on the Titan submersible to the shipwreck of the Titanic. Billionaire British businessman Hamish Harding is believed to be on the missing Titan submersible. (Alamy) He wrote on Instagram: "A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow." OceanGate charges $250,000 (195,000) for an eight-day trip that includes a dive to the wreck of the Titanic. Sunday 18 June 4am (Eastern Standard Time) A file photo of the OceanGate submersible Titan launching from its docking platform. (Alamy) The Titan submersible begins its dive to the wreck of the Titanic, launching from its support ship, the Polar Prince, about 435 miles south of St John's, Newfoundland, Canada. According to the OceanGate website, the submersible is made from carbon fibre and titanium, weighs more than 10,000kg and can reach depths of 13,100ft. 5.45am A file photo of the inside of the Titan submersible. (Alamy) About one hour and 45 minutes into the dive, contact is lost with the Titan submersible. OceanGate said the Titan communicates with the crew on the surface via text messages sent via a USBL (ultra-short baseline) acoustic system. Read more: Inside cramped Titan submersible missing during voyage to Titanic shipwreck It said the submersible is required to communicate with those on the surface every 15 minutes or more frequently if needed. Watch: Search continues for Titanic tourist submersible missing in Atlantic The same system is used to track the position of the submersible. 9.13pm Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Coast Guard, said the Titan vessel was reported missing on Sunday evening. A file photo of the Titan submersible which has gone missing off the coast of Canada. (Alamy) Monday 19 June OceanGate statement On Monday afternoon, OceanGate confirmed their submersible is missing. The search continues for the OceanGate submersible Titan. (Alamy) In a statement, it said: We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible. We are working toward the safe return of the crew members. Coast guard response In a press conference on Monday, Rear Admiral John W Mauger, of the US Coast Guard, said they were conducting a search 900 miles east of Cape Cod in collaboration with the Canadian armed forces and commercial vessels in the area. US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger updates the media on the search for the Titan submersible. (AP Photo) It is a remote area and a challenge, but we are deploying all available assets to make sure we can locate the craft and rescue the people onboard, he said. He said the submersible had between 70 and 96 hours worth of emergency oxygen left. British billionaire on board On Monday evening, it is confirmed that Harding is on board the submersible. Billionaire British businessman Hamish Harding before joining the crew of the Titan submersible. (Alamy) The British billionaire is also a renowned explorer. He has taken a flight into space and holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel when, in March 2021, he dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origins New Shepard rocket. Tuesday 20 June UK-based businessman and son on board Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son, Suleman, 19, are confirmed to have been on board the submersible by their family. French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who has made multiple dives to the Titanic, is also thought to be on board, as is OceanGate founder and chief executive Stockton Rush. OceanGate founder Stockton Rush, right, is believed to be on board the missing Titan submersible. (OceanGate) Dawood is the vice chairman of Engro Corporation, which provides fertilisers, food and energy. He lives in Surbiton, Surrey, with his wife, Christine, and his children, son Suleman and daughter Alina. Distress signal On Tuesday, it was revealed that a distress signal from the vessel has been sent out, according to oceanologist Dr Simon Boxall of the University of Southampton. This is second-hand knowledge but my understanding is that they have received a signal from the submarine," he said. The Oceangate submersible Titan went missing on Sunday. (Alamy) You cant use radios underwater. You rely totally on pings. What they have is really limited communication. Apparently they have had, and I dont know when they have had an emergency ping saying the vessel is in distress. I dont know if that is automatically generated or generated by people on board. He said he did not know when the message was transmitted. 2.15pm The US Coast Guard said a Canadian aircraft has joined the search for the missing submersible Titan by using sonar. A US Coast Guard vessel in Boston Harbour after the Titan submersible went missing in the Atlantic. (Alamy) In a tweet, the coast guard said: A Canadian Aircraft P3 Aurora has arrived on scene to conduct sonar searches. The R/V Polar Prince and R/V Deep Energy are continuing their surface searches. Total search area completed as of this morning (Tuesday) is 10,000 SQ miles. 6pm Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard said a unified command of multiple agencies was formed on Monday to tackle the very complex problem of finding the missing sub, which has so far not yielded any results. Speaking at a press conference in Boston on Tuesday, Frederick was non-committal when asked if there is any way to retrieve the submersible and save the five on board if it can be located. He said: So, right now all of our efforts are focused on finding the sub. What I will tell you is we have a group of our nations best experts in the unified command and if we get to that point, those experts will be looking at what the next course of action is. US Coast Guard captain Jamie Frederick speaks during a press conference about the search efforts for the submersible. (Getty/AFP) King Charles being kept informed The King is being kept informed on the search for the sub after it emerged that one of the five people aboard the vessel Shahzada Dawood is a longtime supporter of The Princes Trust International and The British Asian Trust, both of which are charities founded by Charles. It is understood that Charles has asked to be kept fully up to date on the situation and that his thoughts and prayers are with the Dawood family and all those involved in the incident. Wednesday 21 June Underwater noises detected from search area The US Coast Guard revealed this morning that noises have been detected from the search area of the missing deep-sea vessel. They said: Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises in the search area. As a result, ROV (remote operating vehicles) operations were relocated in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises. Those ROV searches have yielded negative results but continue. They added: Additionally, the data from the P-3 aircraft has been shared with our US Navy experts for further analysis which will be considered in future search plans. Meanwhile, US media outlet The Rolling Stone reported an internal US government memo said banging was detected by Canadian search aircraft in 30-minute intervals. Captain Jamie Frederick said the cause of the noises was still unconfirmed but insisted the efforts to find the five missing people aboard the Titan was still a rescue mission. He added: The good news is we are searching in the area where the noises were detected. On oxygen levels on board, he said: Oxygen is just one piece of data. There are lots of pieces of data that we need to study. But (oxygen) is not the only thing thats important. The United States Coast Guard is continuing its search for the Titan sub from the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince. (Oceangate/PA) Cause for hope The Explorers Club, of which Titan passenger Harding is a founding member, shared an upbeat message on Wednesday morning following the reports of sounds detected. President Richard Garriot de Cayeux said in a statement: There is cause for hope, that based on data from the field, we understand that likely signs of life have been detected at the site. They precisely understand the experienced personnel and tech we can help deploy We believe they are doing everything possible with all the resources they have. Garriot de Cayeux said they are ready to provide the UK-based Magellans remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that is certified to travel as deep as 6,000 metres. Plans if Titan is found Rear Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard told BBC News there is a number of plans should they find Titan, with a range of equipment ready. He said: While our unified command is fully focused on the search we have experts that are working those different scenarios and we have mobilised gear on site, we have lift capabilities on the vessels that are on site now we have additional lift capability coming in. The (US) Navy has mobilised a submerged object recovery system that they have and the Canadian armed forces have mobilised a recompression chamber with medical support. Were preparing for contingencies while remaining laser-focused on the search for the submersible and those people. A Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora maritime surveillance aircraft of 14 Wing flies a search pattern for the missing OceanGate submersible. (Canadian Forces/Reuters) Thursday 22 June All-out search for Titan With oxygen on Titan expected to run out in a matter of hours, the rush to find it has intensified. The area of the search has been expanded, with the surface search now about 10,000 square miles, and the sub-surface search about 2.5 miles deep. The coast guard had five surface vessels searching for Titan on Wednesday and they expected there to be 10 by today, captain Jamie Frederick said. Noises may not be from Titan Former US Navy submarine commander, David Marquet, has suggested that the noises detected may not be coming from the submersible. He told the BBC: I dont think the noise is them, it could just be natural sounds. Were hearing noises and more ships are coming into the area, and then were hearing more noises, and I dont think thats a coincidence. A map area showing the presumed location of Titan. (PA) However, deep-sea explorer Dr David Gallo still believes the noises could be coming from Titan. Speaking to Good Morning Britain, he said: In this case, the noises are repetitive, every half hour I believe. Three different aircraft heard them in their sensors at the same time and it went on for two days-plus. Its still going on apparently. Theres not a lot in the natural world we can think of that would do that every 30-minute cycle. We have to, at this point, assume that thats the sub and move quickly to that spot, locate it and get robots down there to verify that is where the sub is. A deep sea submarine with five crew members on board went missing around 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod Sunday morning, one hour and 45 minutes into its descent to visit the wreckage of the Titanic. The ensuing international rescue mission hasn't had much luck so far. Rescuers are dealing with some extremely deep waters at roughly 13,000 feet, which is complicating matters tremendously. The submarine belongs to OceanGate Expeditions, a tourist company that offers tickets to the Titanic wreckage for a whopping $250,000, according to the New York Times. And the clock is ticking. As of late Monday afternoon, the occupants theoretically had anywhere between 70 and 96 hours of air left. That means rescuers have until roughly Thursday afternoon in case the crew is still alive. All we're left with are plenty of questions, especially regarding the submarine itself, which was seemingly put together by off-the-shelf parts. Was it simply a matter of cut communications, or did something else go seriously wrong? Last year, when CBS reporter David Pogue had a closer look at OceanGate's craft, he "couldn't help noticing how many pieces of this sub seemed improvised, with off-the-shelf components." Pogue even recalled this week that an OceanGate submarine "got lost for a few hours LAST summer, too, when I was aboard." The submarine called the Titan seemingly had a "MacGyver jerry-riggedness," Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, admitted in the CBS report last year, but added that the pressure vessel itself "is not MacGyvered at all, because that's where we work with Boeing and NASA and the University of Washington." "We run the whole thing with this game controller," said Rush at the time, showing a modified Logitech controller, which costs $29.99 on Amazon. It's unclear how today's Titan differs from the one detailed in the CBS report, but the prognosis isn't great either way. Typically, submarines can drop weights to have them return to the surface quickly in case of emergency. "If there was a power failure and/or communication failure, this might have happened, and the submersible would then be bobbing about on the surface waiting to be found," Alistair Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London, told the Associated Press. If there's a leak in the hull, "options are very limited," Greig added. "There are very few vessels that can get that deep, and certainly not divers." Worse yet, Greig has his doubts over whether any such vessel could even grab onto the outside of OceanGate's submarine. Nonetheless, the rescue is on. According to the NYT, both the US and Canada have deployed rescue aircraft, as well as sonar buoys to search underwater. For now, let's hope the OceanGate submarine fares better than the Indonesian Navy's KRI Nanggala, which went missing with 53 crew members on board back in 2021. The wreckage was discovered in three pieces days later. More on submarines: Lost Submarine Found, Torn Apart Into Three Sections Who is on the missing Titanic submersible? What to know about submarine's passengers. A submersible carrying a pilot and four commercial passengers including a British billionaire, a French explorer and two members of one of Pakistans most prominent families, went missing on Sunday while traveling to the site of the Titanic wreck. Canadian and U.S. rescue teams are searching for the vehicle that has less than four days of air supply. The mission was led by OceansGate, a privately-owned company that runs commercial projects, scientific research and exploration in deep water. While authorities have yet to disclose who was on board, here's what to know about the five submersible passengers that have been identified. Missing Titanic sub live updates: Has oxygen run out? Urgent search continues Where is the Titanic wreck located? What to know after submarine goes missing in Atlantic Hamish Harding British explorer and private jet dealer Hamish Harding, 58, is the chairman of Action Aviation, a global sales company in business aviation. Hes been to space and holds three Guinness World Records, including longest time spent traversing the deepest part of the ocean on a single dive and fastest circumnavigation of Earth via both geographic poles by airplane. Last year, Harding spent 10 minutes in space on the New Shepherd rocket with Blue Origin, a space exploration company founded by Jeff Bezos. Hamish Harding, company chairman of Action Aviation I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic, Harding said in a Facebook post. Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood Shahzada Dawood, 48, is a member of one of Pakistans most prominent families. He serves as the vice chairman on the board of Engro Corporation since 2003, and is on the board of trustees for the Dawood Foundation, an education nonprofit, according to the World Economic Forum. He is also on the board of the SETI Institute, a non-profit research organization. He earned his Masters of Science degree in Global Textile Marketing in the United States at Philadelphia University, now known as Jefferson University. He also has a bachelor's of law from Buckingham University in the United Kingdom. He is traveling with his son, Suleman Dawood, according to the Associated Press. We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time, a statement from family members said. The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members. Paul-Henry Nargeolet French maritime explorer, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 73, is the Director of Underwater Research Program at Premier Exhibitions, RMS Titanic, Inc, the only company with exclusive rights to recover the artifacts from the Titanic wreck. Nargeolet's friend David Gallo, a senior adviser for strategic initiatives and special projects at RMS Titanic, identified Nargeolet as one of the passengers on Tuesday during an interview with CNN. He has completed 37 dives to the Titanic and retrieved over 5,000 artifacts and is widely considered the leading authority on the wreck site," according to his profile on E/M Groups website. Nargeolet is described by some outlets as "Mr. Titanic." Paul-Henry Nargeolet has made over 35 trips to the wreckage Stockton Rush OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush was confirmed as the fifth passenger of the submersible, serving as a member of the crew, the Associated Press reported. Rush co-founded the company in 2009. He oversees OceanGates financial and engineering strategies, according to the company's website. In an interview last year with CBS News Unsung Science, he talked about his dreams of being an explorer "I wanted to be sort of the Captain Kirk" and fears about going underwater. "What I worry about most are things that will stop me from being able to get to the surface," he said. Still, he insisted on the safety of submersibles and the value of taking risks. "I mean, if you just want to be safe, don't get out of bed," he said. How much is OceansGate's Titanic trip OceanGates website reports that the starting cost for the voyage is $250,000. For context, this is more than three times the median annual household income in the United States in 2021. The trip spans eight days, with days three through seven spent in the Titanic, the submersible designed to explore the Titanic. The website advertises that those who partake in the exploration will be one of less than 300 people who have visited the wreckage. Despite the cost of the voyage, the vessel only 22ft x 9.2ft x 8.3ft high including one main stateroom and a single toilet for the entire crew. Contributing: Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Missing submarine passengers: What to know about people on board Five people remain missing after a submersible bound for the site of the wreckage of the Titanic failed to return as scheduled Sunday evening. Details have continued to emerge about the craft, which was attempting to reach the sunken ship, nearly 13,000 feet beneath the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean. About the Titan According to specs on the OceanGate website, the Titan is 22 feet long (equivalent to the length of a conversion van), 9 feet wide and 8 feet high. It has space for four passengers plus the pilot, and the expeditions cost up to $250,000 per person. The company states that the craft has 96 hours of air and boasts a real-time system monitoring the health of the hull. It features a large domed porthole for observation, as well as external lights and 4K cameras. The interior walls are heated to counter the frigid water temperatures, and the craft has a toilet area that can be curtained off. Titan, the submersible that vanished on an expedition to the wreck of the Titanic. (Credit Image: Abaca via ZUMA Press) While the vehicle has been called a submarine, its technically a submersible, because it does not have the ability to launch itself and requires support ships. OceanGate's CEO, Stockton Rush, who is among those missing, said last year that his Everett, Wash.-based tourism and research company had reached the site of the Titanic a dozen times between 2021 and 2022. Because GPS cannot be accessed underwater, the Titan is guided via text messages from the surface ship. According to the Coast Guard, the submersible lost contact with its support vessel, the Canadian research ship Polar Prince, an hour and 45 minutes after it launched. OceanGate said the sub was sealed at 6 a.m. Sunday morning, giving those onboard up to approximately Thursday before running out of oxygen. At a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick would not commit to searchers being able to perform a rescue, even if they were able to find the sub, which he said had "about 40 hours of breathable air" left. Details on the expeditions People aboard the Titan. (OceanGate.com) A 10-minute segment from CBS News Sunday Morning in November provided an in-depth look at the process and at some of the potential issues. The journalist David Pogue relays some of the paperwork in an almost humorous tone, reading, "This experimental vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death, before adding, Where do I sign? Another former passenger on the Titan told the BBC on Tuesday of having to sign a death waiver that lists one way after another that you could die on the trip, including [mentioning] death three times on page one, and so it's never far from your mind. In the 2022 piece, Pogue noted that while he was on the expedition, traveling on the command ship, the submersible never made it to the wreck site because of communications errors. He quoted one passenger as saying, "We were lost for two-and-a-half hours." In a tweet Monday, Pogue said the craft was in fact lost for five hours and that adding an emergency locator beacon was discussed. Pogue added, They could still send short texts to the sub, but did not know where it was. It was quiet and very tense, and they shut off the ships internet to prevent us from tweeting. The company cited the need to keep all channels open as a reason for cutting off internet access, he said. Another undated view of the porthole of Titan. (Credit Image: Abaca via ZUMA Press) That wasnt the only issue reported in the story. Pogue said that while poor weather stopped him from making a dive to the sunken luxury liner, the team offered him a trip to a Continental Shelf that served as shark breeding grounds. Pogue only made it 37 feet down before floats came off the launching platform, however, and the mission had to be canceled. He also reported that the Titan was sealed from the outside by 17 bolts. The CBS News piece also showed that the submersible is piloted by a computer gaming controller, which is not uncommon. OceanGate CEO Rush noted that he got one piece of equipment used on the craft from Camper [sic] World, but disagreed with the assessment that his creation has some elements of MacGyver jerry-riggedness, referring to the 1980s television action star who would craft complicated tools out of ordinary household objects. Rush did note that the vessel had just one button, saying "It should be like an elevator, you know? It shouldn't take a lot of skill." Along with Rush, those missing include a British billionaire and explorer, Hamish Harding, a Pakistani businessman, Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman and a 77-year-old French explorer, Paul-Henri Nargeolet. Authorities from the United States and Canada are continuing to conduct a rescue operation, and France has pledged to send a deep-sea robot to help with the effort. Missing Titanic tourist sub: Everything we know so far, from who's on board to when it disappeared The OceanGate Expeditions Titan submersible. OceanGate The Titan submersible went missing during an expedition to the RMS Titanic shipwreck Sunday. Five passengers were on board the vessel when it went missing in the Atlantic Ocean. The Coast Guard announced Thursday that the vessel likely imploded after a ROV found a debris field. A submersible carrying tourists to the wreck of the RMS Titanic went missing shortly after it began its journey to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday. On Thursday, the Coast Guard announced that the vessel likely imploded and that an underwater robot found pieces of debris consistent with the sub on the ocean floor. The submersible was part of an eight-day expedition operated by OceanGate Expeditions, which organizes trips to the remains of the Titanic two main pieces that sit about 2 miles down into the ocean and about 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Insider previously reported. Tourists pay $250,000 for the trip. Customers who board the small submersible experience the "massive scale of the wreck," OceanGate's website says. According to OceanGate, there were successful missions to the wreck in 2021 and 2022, before the sub lost communication with its mothership Sunday. When did the Titan sub go missing? OceanGate's Titan submersible left for its mission to the Titanic wreck on Sunday morning. The vessel was carrying five passengers one pilot and four tourists. But it lost communications with its mothership, the Canadian research ship the Polar Prince, less than two hours into the journey, the US Coast Guard said Monday afternoon. The Coast Guard said it began searching for the 21-foot sub Monday afternoon. Coast Guard officials said the oxygen on board the submersible was expected to run out between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. on Thursday, if the submersible hadn't imploded before that. Fresh hope was raised for finding the crew alive when the US Coast Guard said early Wednesday that a Canadian P-3 aircraft helping the search had detected "underwater noises," with remotely operated vehicles sent to investigate. It came after Rolling Stone reported that a Canadian aircraft detected "banging" in 30-minute intervals from the area where the submersible went missing. Officials said they heard more banging on Wednesday, though officials and experts said it isn't clear what the noises were, and the source of the noises was never verified. The US Coast Guard, which worked with the US Navy, the Canadian Coast Guard, and the Canadian military to search for the vessel, announced on Thursday afternoon that a debris field found by a remote-operated vehicle was from the missing Titan sub and that it was "consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber." The agency indicated that the vessel likely imploded at some point before the search and rescue efforts began. OceanGate released a further statement saying it believes five passengers onboard the Titan are presumed dead. Later on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal first reported that the US Navy heard what it believed was an implosion days before, just hours after the Titan began its mission. A top-secret military acoustic detection system that the Navy employs to spot enemy submarines picked up the sound of the implosion shortly after the sub lost communications with its mother ship, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Navy had started listening for the missing sub almost as soon as it went missing. When was the missing Titanic sub found? Debris from the submersible was found on Thursday, 1,600 feet away from the famous Titanic shipwreck its five passengers hoped to explore, the Coast Guard said. Officials said they notified passengers' families after an ROV found the tail comb of the Titan approximately 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic. Additional debris that is consistent with a loss of cabin pressure that would have triggered the vessel to implode was also discovered by the ROV. US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said investigators discovered five major pieces of debris confirmed to be the remains of the Titan, including a nose comb outside of the pressure hull, the front of the pressure hull, and the totality of the pressure vessel. The Coast Guard added that ROVs will stay on the scene to continue to investigate what happened and to gather more information about the tragic event. Who was on the missing Titanic sub? The Titan could fit five people and was at capacity when it set out on its mission. The BBC and Reuters identified the five passengers on board as Hamish Harding, Paul Henry Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood, and Stockton Rush, the founder and CEO of OceanGate. According to OceanGate, Rush performed a 4,000-meter validation dive on the Titan in December 2018. Harding, a 58-year-old British billionaire, had a taste for adventure and once went on a Blue Origin flight to space. He's a known explorer who holds at least four Guinness World Records honors for achievements including the longest time spent navigating the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean, and the fastest flight going all the way around the globe, crossing both poles, Insider previously reported. He's also been to the South Pole twice. Harding announced his trip on the Titan in a Sunday Instagram post before the sub started its expedition. Nargeolet, a 77-year-old former French navy captain and veteran deep-sea diver known as "Mr. Titanic," was no stranger to the wreck of the RMS Titanic. Before Sunday's trip, Nargeolet had been there at least 35 times. He was also one of the passengers on the first human expedition to the wreckage in 1987, just two years after it was discovered, The Telegraph reported. Mathieu Johann, Nargeolet's spokesperson, told the BBC that he hoped the people on board the missing submersible were reassured by Nargeolet's poise and military background as search-and-rescue teams worked to locate the vessel, Insider previously reported. Shahzada Dawood, a 48-year-old British-Pakistani businessman, was also aboard the Titan with his son, Suleman Dawood, 19. In a statement shared with the BBC, their family said Shahzada Dawood was interested in "exploring different natural habitats." He served as the vice chair of Pakistan's Engro Corp. and lived in London with his son, wife, and other child, Alina. Suleman Dawood was "a big fan of science fiction literature and learning new things" and was a university student, his family said. Where did the Titanic sink? According to OceanGate, the wreck of the Titanic is approximately 380 nautical miles south of Newfoundland, or about 437 miles. The wreck is in two main pieces 3,800 meters, or 12,800 feet, deep in the Atlantic Ocean. The Titan is the only sub in OceanGate's fleet that can go as deep as the Titanic wreck. It is unclear how deep the sub was or how close it was to the Titanic wreck when it went missing Sunday. The deepest sub rescue in history was of a small submersible called the Pisces III, which was carrying the former Navy pilots Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman in September 1973, according to the BBC. A hatch broke off a rear compartment, plunging the sub to a depth of 1,575 feet. It took two days for the vessel to be brought to the surface, leaving the men with only 12 minutes of oxygen left at the time of their rescue. The Titanic wreck is much deeper than the deepest point the Pisces III reached. Read the original article on Insider The missing Titanic tourist submersible was piloted with a video-game controller, had a water bottle for a toilet, and previously got lost for 2 hours on a CBS TV segment A 3D scan of the Titanic's bow from above. Atlantic/Magellan The missing Titanic tourist submersible was piloted with a Logitech gamepad controller. A CBS News segment from November showed details of the vessel, which contains "off-the-shelf" parts. Several dives were canceled due to weather and one group got lost for several hours, per the report. The tourist submersible that went missing while carrying five people to the sunken Titanic on Sunday was designed to be piloted with a video-game controller and fitted with "off-the-shelf" components. Details of the vessel, called the Titan, were reported in a November CBS TV segment that featured the submersible, its mother ship, and its crew. The Titan's main compartment has as much space as a minivan, according to the CBS correspondent David Pogue. Footage of the vessel showed that its interior could accommodate around five people sitting cross-legged, as well as several screen displays and some camera equipment. "We only have one button, that's it. It should be like an elevator, it shouldn't take a lot of skill," Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, which conducts deep-sea tours in the Titan submersible, told Pogue. Some of the parts inside the submersible were "off-the-shelf components" and one of its interior lights was bought from the recreational-vehicle company CamperWorld, Rush said. "We run the whole thing with this game controller," Rush continued, showing Pogue a modified Logitech gamepad controller. CBS also shot footage of a small space inside the Titan where one can relieve themselves in a bottle. But Rush disagreed when Pogue said the Titan, which is supposed to carry passengers to depths of 13,000 feet, seemed to have a "MacGyver jerry-riggedness." Rush said his team worked with Boeing, NASA, and the University of Washington to create a vessel capable of withstanding deep-sea pressure. "Everything else can fail," Rush said. "Your thrusters can go, your lights can go, you're still going to be safe." OceanGate's website said the Titan combined "ground-breaking engineering and off-the-shelf technology" and that the latter "helped to streamline the construction" and made the submersible easier to operate. The Titan, being a submersible and not a submarine, does not have enough power to leave port and return on its own, and instead relies on a mother ship to carry and retrieve it. While the Titan is diving, it receives navigational instructions via text messages from a ship, which has crew members monitoring the submersible's location, Pogue reported. Pogue sailed with OceanGate's crew for several days while waiting for a successful dive to the Titanic wreck. Several dives were canceled due to poor weather, and at least one was aborted because several floats became detached from the Titan, per CBS. On the same tour, a group diving in the Titan also got lost for two and a half hours and couldn't find the shipwreck, according to one of its passengers. The submersible went missing on Sunday after losing contact with its mother ship less than two hours after submerging, per the US Coast Guard. US and Canadian authorities have launched a search-and-rescue operation, deploying at least two aircraft, a submarine, and sonic buoys to scan the area. But officials say the search area is vast and remote, posing challenges to the rescue effort. On Monday, the Coast Guard said the Titan likely had between 70 to 96 hours of oxygen left, given that the vessel usually made dives with around four days of emergency life support. OceanGate typically operates eight-day tours to see the Titanic, and charges clients around $250,000 each. Multiple dives are conducted throughout the voyage. OceanGate did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours. Read the original article on Insider The red carpet premiere for Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One took place in Rome on Monday and the first reactions are very positive for Tom Cruise. The seventh film in the Mission: Impossible franchise sees Cruise join forces with Hayley Atwell who plays a mysterious and destructive new character named Grace to track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens humanity. It was the first major Hollywood film to resume production during the pandemic in 2020. Variety reports that the gala screening at the Auditorium della Conciliazione was delayed by more than 90 minutes as Cruise was apparently holding an impromptu meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Eventually, Cruise arrived onstage joined by director Christopher McQuarrie and his costars including Hayley Atwell; Rebecca Ferguson; Simon Pegg; Vanessa Kirby; Pom Klementieff, Esai Morales, Shea Whigham and Greg Tarzan Davis. Back in April, Cruise treated Cinemacon attendees to an epic 20-minute motorcycle chase sequence from the movie, which saw the 60-year-old action star bombing around the Italian capital. Now, members of the press have seen the film in its entirety for the first time and have shared their reactions on Twitter following the Rome gala. Colliders Perri Nemiroff tweeted: Dead Reckoning Part One is another winner for the franchise. Yet again, the production value is THROUGH THE ROOF with some of the most well-defined and exhilarating set pieces photographed in ways that truly make you feel like youre in the middle of the action. #MissionImpossible Dead Reckoning Part One is another winner for the franchise. Yet again, the production value is THROUGH THE ROOF with some of the most well-defined and exhilarating set pieces photographed in ways that truly make you feel like youre in the middle of the pic.twitter.com/yAX0eJ1t1t Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) June 19, 2023 Fandangos Erik Davis called Dead Reckoning an impeccably made action film that does not stop entertaining. The story is big & sprawling, but I like how it both felt complete & left you dying for what comes next, he added. I had the absolute best time watching #MissionImpossible - an impeccably made action film that does not stop entertaining. Each action sequence is long, crazy & intense. The story is big & sprawling, but I like how it both felt complete & left you dying for what comes next pic.twitter.com/iNaKlDMH8l Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) June 19, 2023 Screenrants Joseph Deckelmeier picked out Atwells performance in particular, writing: Hayley Atwell STEALS ever scene shes in. This is now my favourite #missionimpossible film. He also let a plot detail slip, adding: With the AI being the villain, this feels like a cautionary tale. The action had my heart rate elevated. That train scene is mind-blowing! #MissionImpossibleDeadReckoning this phenomenal! Hayley Atwell STEALS ever scene shes in. This is now my favorite #missionimpossible film. With the AI being the villain, this feels like a cautionary tale. The action had my heart rate elevated. That train scene is mind blowing! pic.twitter.com/raHLqTwqEO Joseph Deckelmeier (@joedeckelmeier) June 19, 2023 TheWraps Scott Mendelson had the most negative take, saying the film was a big letdown. Wonky dialogue, oddly broad acting, and narrative contrivances/shortcuts that (being generous) seemed like COVID-related issues. Felt off in a way akin to Saw 3-D after Saw VI. For the sake of the industry, I hope Im in the minority. #MissionImpossible7 was a big letdown. Wonky dialogue, oddly broad acting, and narrative contrivances/shortcuts that (being generous) seemed like COVID-related issues. Felt "off" in a way akin to 'Saw 3-D' after 'Saw VI'. For the sake of the industry, I hope I'm in the minority. pic.twitter.com/xpRTIj8qh7 Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) June 19, 2023 In December 2020, Cruise went viral after an audio recording obtained by The Sun captured the films lead berating crew members for standing too close to one another in front of a computer screen in violation of the sets Covid safety protocols. In the recording, Cruise can be heard losing his temper, telling the crew: If I see you do it again, youre f***ing gone. The clip quickly went viral, with many fans divided over whether to criticise Cruise for his rant or to commend the actor for his commitment to safety on set. In a recent interview, director McQuarrie reflected on the stars controversial moment, saying: That all took place during a very complicated and a very uncertain time. Obviously, were grateful that people took it the way that it was intended. We were fighting to keep the industry alive, we were fighting to keep people employed, we were fighting for the studio, we were fighting for cinemas, and we still are. Were still there doing that. Im just glad people understood the intention behind it. In May 2021, Cruise addressed the rant himself, stating: I said what I said. Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning is scheduled for release on 12 July. Find more reactions to the Rome premiere here: FINALLY HERE & WORTH THE WAIT! MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE DEAD RECKONING is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC & the BEST MISSION YET! Great story, awesome cast, incredible action that will keep you on the edge of your seat @TomCruise has topped himself w/ the BEST ACTION MOVIE OF THE SUMMER! pic.twitter.com/e2otIYcvQ4 Scott Mantz (@MovieMantz) June 19, 2023 #MissionImpossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 is fantastic. Dynamite, timely story. Excellent new characters. Huge variety of action and a final set piece that ranks top 2-3 all-time for the franchise. It gets a little dense at times but its pace & intensity more than cover that. pic.twitter.com/prm2wa6ZD6 Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) June 19, 2023 MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE DEAD RECKONING PART ONE works as Christopher McQuarries ambitious examination of/meditation on AI and the dangerous path we might be on. (He doesnt like it) With the inherent nature of being part one (said that a lot lately), not as satisfying as FALLOUT Mike Ryan (@mikeryan) June 19, 2023 Modesto man gets probation for groping two women on JetBlue flight A passenger from Modesto has been sentenced on two counts of assault for groping women on an airline flight, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. The incidents occurred on May 31, 2022. A woman had leaned over to care for her baby aboard a red-eye JetBlue flight from Los Angeles to Boston when she was groped by the passenger seated next to her, federal prosecutors said. After Jairaj Singh Dhillon touched her thigh and groin area, she yelled out to her husband across the aisle, This man just groped me, about 30 minutes after the flight departed from L.A., court documents show. Dhillon, of Modesto, then groped a second woman who stood up from her aisle seat across from him to let the first womans husband out, an affidavit says. The 43-year-old was sentenced to one year of probation on June 15 after pleading guilty to two counts of assault while in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the U.S., the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Massachusetts announced in a June 16 news release. He will serve the first six months of probation confined to his home, prosecutors said. McClatchy News contacted a federal public defender representing Dhillon for comment on June 20 and didnt receive an immediate response. Dhillon seemed off, according to the affidavit When Dhillon groped the first woman sitting next to him, she smacked his hand away before pressing the flight attendant call-button before calling for her husband, who stood up to stare at Dhillon, according to the affidavit. Dhillon, who seemed off, went on and reached out with both hands and simultaneously grabbed Victim 2s groin and buttocks, as she stepped into the aisle, the affidavit says. She also smacked his hand away, and later told investigators he appeared not all there, according to the affidavit. JetBlue crew members moved Dhillon to a seat away from the women until the flight arrived in Boston, investigators said. In an interview with law enforcement at Massachusetts State Police airport barracks, Dhillon said he didnt remember groping either woman, according to the affidavit. He told authorities he took Ambien, a medication used to treat insomnia, about 15 to 20 minutes after the flight took off so he could sleep, the affidavit says. Ahead of sentencing, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo that regardless of any drugs (he) may have taken, there is no diminishing what happened to the female victims who were subjected to Dhillons physical assault. They acknowledged the assaults were undoubtedly concerning. However, prosecutors wrote he accepted responsibility in the case and given his lack of a criminal history besides a DUI in 2008, they argued a sentence of probation involving home confinement was appropriate, the sentencing memo shows. Dhillons attorney wrote he is profoundly remorseful over what happened on the flight in a sentencing memo submitted on his behalf. McClatchy News contacted JetBlue for comment on June 20 and was awaiting a response. Woman refusing to get off phone on plane spits on passenger, slides down exit, feds say Woman wakes to find strangers hand on her thigh on flight to California, feds say Sleeping woman wakes up to man touching her on United flight, feds say. Get away Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there is an unprecedented trust between the leaders of India and the U.S. ahead of his first state visit to the country. Modi, who rarely gives media interviews, spoke to The Wall Street Journal and hailed the defense partnership between the two countries as an important pillar of the U.S.-India relationship. For President Biden and Modi, the visit will focus on shared bilateral ties, a defense agreement and curbing Chinas influence in the Asia-Pacific region. In an official statement before departing New Delhi, Modi said relations between the two countries are multifaceted and called the U.S. Indias largest trade partner in goods and services. Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, he added. Modi said his visit will reinforce our ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges. However, human rights groups have criticized the White House for rolling out the red carpet for Modi over weakening press freedoms and silencing of dissenters in India. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International will host a BBC documentary that has been banned in India called India: The Modi Question in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. The Coalition for Reclaiming Democracy in India told The Hill it has also organized a press conference to shed light on Modis Hindu nationalist ideology, his anti-minority policies, the consequences of his assault on democracy for both India and the U.S., as well as why President Bidens decision to platform Modi is dangerous. There are also plans for protests against the White House State Dinner for Modi on Wednesday. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Modi US visit: Why Washington is rolling out the red carpet for Indian PM Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US visit has been billed as a turning point for bilateral relations Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US has assumed huge significance amid global economic and geopolitical headwinds. The White House is pulling out all the stops to welcome Mr Modi - it's a state visit, the highest level of diplomatic protocol the US accords to visiting leaders. Mr Modi will be given a ceremonial welcome at the White House on Thursday before he holds direct talks with President Joe Biden. Then there is the state dinner, a meeting with CEOs, an address to a joint session of Congress and speeches to Indian-Americans, which have been highlights of Mr Modi's past US visits. All this for a leader once denied a visa to travel to the US because of concerns over human rights - now the US sees Mr Modi as a crucial partner. Behind the carefully crafted ceremonies lie discussions that have the potential to not only infuse new energy into India-US relations but also have an impact on the global order. The Indo-Pacific is where the US possibly needs India's influence more than anywhere else right now. The US has long viewed India as a counterbalance to China's growing influence in the region, but Delhi has never been fully comfortable with owning the tag. It may still be reluctant to do so but China continues to be one of the main catalysts driving India-US relations. But India has not shied away from taking decisions that irk China. It held a military drill with US forces last year in Uttarakhand state, which shares a Himalayan border with China. Delhi has also continued to actively participate in the Quad - which also includes the US, Australia and Japan - despite angry reactions from Beijing. Indian diplomacy has been getting more assertive about saying that this is the country's moment on the global stage. It has good reason - India is one of the few economic bright spots in the world right now.Geopolitics is also in its favour - most countries want a manufacturing alternative to China, and India also has a huge market with a burgeoning middle class. This makes it a good option for countries and global firms pursuing a China plus one policy. Tanvi Madan, director of The India Project at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, says that what matters to the US is what India does and not what it publicly says about China. "At the end of the day, whether or not India has publicly embraced the tag, it is very clear that Indian governments have seen the US relationship as helpful as they deal with China," she said. Mr Modi will hold talks with President Biden during the visit Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center think-tank in Washington, added that the two countries had now started "seeing eye to eye on the broader Indo-Pacific theatre". "We are starting to see the US recognise the importance of western components of the Indian Ocean region. For many years, India's main concern, for good reason, was the Indian Ocean region. Whereas for the US, it was the Pacific and the South China Sea. They will look at maritime security for the region now," he said. The joint statement may not mention China directly but it will be high on the agenda as the two leaders discuss ways to consolidate their presence in the Indo-Pacific. But while they agree on China, the two countries have had differing approaches to the Ukraine war. Delhi has not directly criticised Russia, which analysts say is largely due to its huge dependency on Russian defence imports and its "time-tested ties" with Moscow. India relies on Moscow for nearly 50% of its defence needs, but that's not the only reason. India has always taken pride in following its policy of non-alignment - or strategic autonomy, as it has been called in recent years. It doesn't want to be confined to a specific power centre in the global order, which irked Washington diplomats in the early months of the invasion. But the US has softened its stance in recent months - it has even overlooked India's continuous purchase of crude oil from Russia. India too has gone a step forward by publicly calling for an end to the war. Ms Madan added that the different responses to the invasion weren't a deal-breaker in India-US relations. "When there is strategic convergence, the two countries are incentivised to manage their differences. Maybe not eliminate them, but manage their differences. And I think that has happened with their differing stands on Russia," she said. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's growing influence in Asia are expected to come up during talks Meanwhile, other key areas of discussion include technology, defence and global supply chain management. The two countries have signed what they call the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology. The deal will allow US and Indian firms and universities in different sectors, including IT, space, defence, artificial intelligence, education and healthcare, to work together. The leaders may also announce more co-operation in technology, especially in semi-conductor manufacturing where China is the biggest player. Defence is another area that has emerged as a key point of convergence. India is the world's biggest arms importer and Russia still accounts for a major chunk of it at 45%, data analysed between 2017 and 2022 suggests. But the headline here is that Moscow's share used to be 65% until 2016 - that's where the US sees an opportunity. Washington's share has grown but it's still just 11%, behind France's 29%. So some big-ticket defence deals are inevitable - they are likely to announce India's purchase of the battle-tested MQ-9A "Reaper" drones and a deal between GE and Indian state-run firms to manufacture fighter jet engines in India. Mr Kugelman says defence co-operation between the two nations "has come a long way". "If you look at the recent track record, one could argue that the treatment the US gives India is not dissimilar from what it gives to many of its allies," he said. The two leaders met last autumn - there has been a lot of fanfare around Mr Modi's US trip While defence and technology will most likely see some big announcements, the same can't be expected in trade. The US is now India's top trading partner at $130bn, but analysts say there is still huge untapped potential. The two countries have had major differences over tariffs and export controls.India has signed a free trade agreement with Australia and Dubai and is discussing similar deals with others including Canada, the UK and the EU.No such deal is on the cards this visit but the leaders may discuss or at least lay the ground for solving trade-related issues in the future. Mr Kugelman said the differences were not discarded but set aside in the interests of more mutually beneficial areas of co-operation. But he added that trade between Indian and US firms has flourished in recent years despite inter-government differences. It may not be the top priority but trade will certainly feature when the two leaders discuss global supply chain issues owing to the pandemic and China's monopoly. "Trade used to be a sore subject but I think the two sides are approaching trade policy differently today. But you can't look at global supply chain issues without eventually discussing trade," Ms Madan said. The timing of the visit is also interesting as both countries will hold elections next year and the two leaders will be looking at sellable headlines for their domestic audiences. So some big headline-making deals are inevitable. But then, US-India relations have always been complex - with decades of mistrust followed by rebuilding of trust and then occasional flare-ups. But Mr Biden seems determined to make India-US relations shine even though some in his country have questioned India's record on human rights under Mr Modi. On the eve of the visit, 75 Democratic members of Congress urged President Biden to raise human rights issues. They said they were concerned about rising religious intolerance and press restrictions, the shrinking of political space and the targeting of civil society groups in India. Human rights groups plan protests during Mr Modi's trip. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's recent statement spoke volumes about the current status of the relationship: "We know that India and the United States are big, complicated countries. We certainly have work to do to advance transparency, to promote market access, to strengthen our democracies, to unleash the full potential of our people. But the trajectory of this partnership is unmistakable and it is filled with promise." BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features. Read more India stories from the BBC: Mom hid 4-year-olds body in trash bags weeks before reporting her missing, cops say A mom who reported her 4-year-old daughter missing actually kept her dead body in garbage bags for weeks, Tennessee police said. Sequoia Samuels, 4, was reported missing from her Memphis home on June 15 by her mother, Brittney Jackson, 24, McClatchy News previously reported. Local and state authorities conducted a day long search for Sequoia, who had a feeding tube inserted in her side for an unspecified medical condition, before announcing that a body had been found near Jacksons apartment, according to a June 16 news release from the Memphis Police Department. Jackson and her boyfriend, Jaylon Hobson, 21, were taken into custody, according to court records. In arrest affidavits later released, Jackson told police she had given a false statement when she told officers she had found Sequoias room empty and the front door of the apartment ajar. She told police her boyfriend, who lived at the home with Jackson and her children, had physically attacked Sequoia multiple times weeks before Jackson reported her missing, according to the affidavit. Jackson told police Sequoia became unresponsive after the last attack, and Hobson tried to revive her, but the 4-year-old died, according to the affidavit. Police said Hobson put Sequoias body in trash bags that the couple then stored in their apartment. Jackson maintained the corpse for several weeks, police said, before the bags were dumped in (a) garbage container and moved to the East side of the apartment with other garbage cans, where her body was found by officers. The medical examiner collected the childs remains and Jackson was able to positively identify the clothes Sequoia was wearing at the time she was hidden in the trash bags, according to the affidavit. Jackson was charged with false offense report, aggravated child abuse and abuse of a corpse on June 16, according to court records. Hobson was charged with false offense report on June 16 after telling police he had seen Sequoia on June 11, which police said was impossible given the degree of composition of the childs body. Jackson appeared in court on June 20 where her bond was set at $500,000, according to a live stream posted on Facebook by WMC. Missing 4-year-old likely found dead in Tennessee, cops say. Mom and boyfriend charged Dad killed 4-year-old, then reported him missing 7 months later, Virginia officials say 5-year-old Summer Wells vanished 2 years ago. New photos released as search continues 6-year-old dies after lightning strikes dad while the two held hands, Texas family says An investigation uncovered abuse towards monkeys that was filmed and spread on Facebook and the Telegram app Three women in Britain have been arrested for their involvement in a sadistic monkey torture ring that sold videos of macaques being killed across the world. They are among 20 people under investigation globally for their role trading videos of baby long-tailed macaques being tortured, decapitated and having limbs amputated in Indonesia including bespoke footage of monkeys being killed using blenders and power tools. The torture ring, which has been compared to a child sexual abuse gang, began on YouTube and has also spread to Facebook. But the most extreme footage was traded in private groups on the encrypted Telegram messaging app, according to a BBC investigation uncovering the abuse. Among those arrested was a woman known as The Immolator, who was uncovered as a 35-year-old woman who loved birds and lived with her parents in the English Midlands. She was allegedly one of the cruellest contributors to one of the Telegram groups, called Apes Cage. Video shows a man boasting how he hurts the animals The channel which had around 400 members was headed by Mr Ape, said to be a university graduate in his mid-20s who lived in Florida. Alongside a 46-year-old grandmother from rural Alabama known online as Sadistic but named as Stacey Michelle Storey Mr Ape came up with some of the most unfathomable torture ideas. They reportedly found video operators to put their plans into action on camera, predominantly in Indonesia. This included putting one baby monkey in a blender and torturing others through forced feeding, power tools and jars of acid. According to the BBC, the video operator charged around 150 per video. Torture rings like child sexual abuse gangs While watching animal abuse online is not necessarily illegal, law enforcement agencies have been targeting those directly involved in the torture, as well as anyone who has bought or sold videos online. Special Agent Paul Wolpert, who is leading the investigation for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said that anyone involved should expect a knock on the door at some point. I dont know if anybody would ever be ready for a crime like this, he added. The same with the attorneys and the juries, and anybody who reads that this is going on. It is going to be a shocker I think. In America, Mr Ape and Storey as well as a former motorbike gang member, Mike McCartney, who compared earnings from the footage to drug money are among five people who have been targeted by DHS. While they have not been charged, they may face up to seven years in prison if prosecuted. Mr Ape and McCartney claimed they had been involved only to uncover the groups, and Storey said she had been hacked. Asep Yadi Nurul Hikmah will spend three years in jail in Indonesia - BBC Thousands of miles away in Indonesia, two people have already been convicted. M Ajis Rasjana has been sentenced to eight months in prison the maximum available sentence for animal torture in the south-east Asian country while Asep Yadi Nurul Hikmah will spend three years in jail, having also been charged with the sale of a protected species. But the abuse has not stopped. While many of the videos have been taken down, others can still be found easily on Facebook and Telegram. Weve seen an escalation in this extreme, graphic content, which used to be hidden but is now circulating openly on platforms like Facebook, Sarah Kite, co-founder of animal charity Action for Primates, told the BBC. In response to the outlets investigation, YouTube and Facebook said animal abuse has no place on their platforms, and they are working to remove content. Telegram said it is committed to protecting user privacy and human rights such as freedom of speech, and that its moderators cannot proactively patrol private groups. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer. 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 The Montgomery County Sheriffs Office is asking the public for help identifying suspects involved in a felonious assault that happened over the weekend. The incident took place in the area of North Main Street and Greenhill Road in Harrison Township around 10:15 a.m., according to the sheriffs office. According to the sheriffs office, the victim left a barber shop on Salem Avenue and was driving southbound on N. Main St. in the right lane when a silver Honda SUV passed him in the left lane. As the Honda passed the victims vehicle the passenger fired three shots at the victim with one round hitting him in the shoulder. >> $1 million bond set for Piqua man accused sexually assaulting toddler The suspect vehicle left the scene and the victim drove himself to a local hospital. The sheriffs office says surveillance video from the area was captured before the incident that showed a silver Honda SUV approaching the victims vehicle. Surveillance video from the barber shop also shows the suspect vehicle in the parking lot outside of the business. It can be seen in the video that the license plate had been removed from the suspect vehicle. Anyone with information that can help the sheriffs office is asked to contact Detective Gary Ridgeway at (937) 225-6296 or provide anonymous tips to Miami Valley Crime Stoppers at (937) 222-7867(STOP). The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Harrison Township Substation is seeking the assistance from the public in... Posted by Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Dayton Ohio on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 Moped rider dies after crashing into deer on South Carolina road, coroner says A moped rider died after hitting a deer and falling onto a South Carolina road, officials said. The 58-year-old man was rushed to a hospital and went on life support after the June 8 crash. He suffered a traumatic brain injury due to blunt force trauma and died two days later from crash-related injuries, according to the Anderson County coroners office. The man was identified in a June 19 news release as Kenny Ray Reece of Belton. He was a father and grandfather, according to an obituary on the Sosebee Mortuary and Crematory website. The crash was reported just before midnight in the Honea Path area. Reece was driving a moped on a road when a deer tried to make it across, the S.C. Highway Patrol said in a news release. After Reece hit the deer, he was thrown onto the road and sustained a critical injury. He was flown to a hospital in Greenville about 30 miles north of the crash site and later died, according to officials. An investigation into the deadly crash continues, troopers said. Highway Patrol didnt say whether the deer survived the crash that killed Reece. South Carolina drivers are urged to be cautious, as the animals are found throughout the state. Driver hits deer, loses control and slams into building, South Carolina officials say Woman suffers traumatic injuries after 15-foot fall from deer stand, SC officials say Officials are investigating after more than 40 guns were stolen early Friday from Blue Steel Guns & Ammo in Raytown, when a U-Haul truck slammed into the gun store. (Steve Brackeen) Officials are investigating after more than 40 firearms were stolen early Friday from a Raytown gun store. Raytown officers responded around 3:25 a.m. to Blue Steel Guns & Ammo at 6326 Raytown Rd. after the business alarm went off, police said. When they arrived, officers said the suspects were already gone and display cases in the building had been damaged. Steve Brackeen, the stores owner, said 43 handguns had been stolen. In the last 14 years, Stanson said people have made several attempts to break in without success. But on Friday, he said the alleged thieves rammed a U-Haul truck through the front of the building, crushing furniture and computers in the buildings bookkeeping room and hitting the wheelchair ramp and deck, as well. By 3:30 p.m. Friday, he said store employees had fixed the front of the building so that customers could shop. At least two people visited the store and offered to help pay for repairs, and even more called to offer assistance, Brackeen said. ATF officials said the alleged thieves stole a U-Haul truck in Leavenworth that they used to break into the gun store. Officials later recovered the vehicle in Kansas City, Kansas. A reward of up to $5,000 is available from ATF for information leading to the identification of suspects, arrests or recovery of the stolen firearms. Officials urge anyone with information to call 1-888-ATF-TIPS or visit www.ATF.gov. ATF is working with Raytown, Leavenworth and Kansas City, Kansas, police departments on the investigation. Morgan Wallens 2-year-old son is recovering after being attacked by his ex-girlfriends dog. Indigo Indie Wilder Wallen, who will turn 3 in July, was rushed to an emergency room on Sunday following the incident that occurred while under the care of his mother, KT Smith. The boy sustained injuries and received stitches to his face after the unexpected attack from the Great Pyrenees named Legend she adopted last year. The Nashville, Tennessee-based social media influencer, who was once engaged to Wallen, revealed the news on Instagram Monday in an emotional video message. Yesterday, [Legend] bit Indigo in the face and [he] had to have stitches and we spent yesterday morning at the emergency room, Smith shared. Thankfully, Smith confirmed the tyke is OK and that his scar will be minimal. Since then, we have been looking for options [regarding Legend], she continued. I just couldnt bring myself to what everyone else says and what youre supposed to do, apparently What the world tells you to do is to put the dog down because they are aggressive and Ive gone back and forth with that and I dont want him to go to a kill shelter or nothing like that and shelters are full. Later in the day, she announced she was able to rehome the dog with a family in east Tennessee. We just dropped Legend off with the sweetest family where he will be living out his full potential and best life on a farm, Smith shared, adding that she will visit any time we need to. Smith and Wallen dated for a few years before announcing they were engaged in 2019. Two years later, Wallen told People the couple had broken off their relationship before their baby was conceived, but obviously they still saw each other some. The Billboard-topping country star recently canceled six weeks of shows due to a vocal cord injury. On June 7, he announced that doctors had cleared him to talk and sing. Many of those canceled shows have since been rescheduled. Map of Morocco The Kingdom of Morocco is the most westerly of the North African countries known as the Maghreb - "the West". It has Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines, a rugged mountain interior and a history of independence not shared by its neighbours. Its culture is a blend of Arab, Berber, European and African influences. Morocco was a French protectorate between 1912 and 1956. Since independence, Morocco has remained relatively stable and wields significant influence in both Africa and the Arab world. In 1975, Morocco annexed the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara. Since then it has been the subject of a long-running territorial dispute between Morocco and its indigenous Sahrawi people, led by the Polisario Front. KINGDOM OF MOROCCO: FACTS Capital: Rabat Area: 446,300 sq km Population: 37.9 million Languages: Arabic, Amazigh, plus Berber, French Life expectancy: 72 years (men) 76 years (women) LEADERS King: Mohammed VI King Mohammed VI of Morocco Mohammed VI became king in 1999. He initiated political and economic changes and an investigation into human rights abuses during his father's rule. A key reform was the Mudawana, a law which grants more rights to women. The king has said it is in line with Koranic principles, but religious conservatives have opposed it. Following pressure for reform inspired by the "Arab Spring" of 2010 onwards, a new constitution was introduced, expanding the powers of parliament and the prime minister, but leaving the king with broad authority over all branches of government. Prime minister: Aziz Akhannouch Morocco's PM Aziz Akhannouch The liberal National Rally of Independents party led by oil and gas billionaire Aziz Akhannouch narrowly won the September 2021 election, ousting the conservative Islamist PDJ party that had led governments for a decade. Moroccan political analysts said a flagging economy undermined support for the PDJ. Mr Akhannouch held office in PDJ-led coalitions as agriculture minister from 2007 until he took over as prime minister. MEDIA A newsstand in Morocco The broadcast media are either dominated by the state or reflect the official line. Paris-based Reporters Without Borders notes that "religion, the king and the monarchy in general, the country and territorial integrity cannot be questioned." The government owns, or has a stake in, RTM and 2M, Morocco's main TV networks. Satellite dishes are widely used, giving access to French and pan-Arab stations. Read full media profile TIMELINE A market in Marrakech Some key dates in Morocco's history: 7th-8th Centuries - Arab invasion; Idris founds the first major Muslim dynasty. 11th-12th Centuries - Under first the Almoravid and then Almohad dynasties, Morocco dominates the Maghreb and much of Spain. 1549-1649 - Saadi dynasty rule Morocco and parts of west Africa. 1666 onwards - Alawi dynasty rule as Sultans of Morocco 1884 - Spain creates a protectorate in coastal areas of Morocco. 1904 - France and Spain carve out zones of influence. 1912 - Morocco becomes a French protectorate under the Treaty of Fez. 1921-6 - Tribal rebellion in Rif mountains is suppressed by French and Spanish troops. 1956 - End of French protectorate after unrest and strong nationalist sentiment. Spain keeps its two coastal enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. 1961 - Death of King Mohammed; King Hassan II comes to power. 1971 - Failed attempt to depose king and establish republic. 1973 - Polisario movement formed, aims to establish an independent state in Spanish Sahara, a territory south of Morocco controlled by Spain. 1975 - The Green March: King Hassan orders 350,000 civilian volunteers to cross into Spanish Sahara. Spain agrees to leave the area and to transfer it to joint Moroccan-Mauritanian control. Algeria objects and threatens military intervention. Moroccan forces enter and occupy the territory. 1976 - Moroccan and Algerian troops clash in Western Sahara. Algeria announces the formation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) with a government-in-exile. Morocco and Mauritania divide-up Western Sahara. - Fighting starts between Moroccan military and Polisario forces. 1991 - UN-monitored ceasefire begins in Western Sahara, but the region's status remains undecided. 2011 - Thousands of people rally in Rabat and other cities calling for political reform and a new constitution curbing the powers of the king. 2020 - President Donald Trump announces US officially recognizes Morocco's claims over Western Sahara as part of the Israel-Morocco normalization agreement. Laws prevent the press from touching some topics Media control is concentrated in the hands of the political and business elite. The royal family is an influential stakeholder in an array of media companies, as are a handful of powerful business figures. TV remains Moroccans' preferred source of information, although this looks set to be overtaken by social media in the near future. The struggling press sector continues to see dwindling sales, and was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many of the most influential business-focused publications are in French, but the vast majority of Moroccan news and media is in Arabic, with an increasing prevalence of Darija, the Moroccan Arabic dialect. The state provides some broadcast media in Tamazight, as do several radio stations. The state is re-establishing control of the broadcast sector, buying out the most popular domestic channel 2M in 2021. The large number of media outlets does not equate to a free media environment. Most outlets adhere to the political viewpoints of the government and its close allies. Some criticism of government policies and the economic situation is permitted, but the monarchy and Morocco's policies in Western Sahara are editorial red lines. A handful of independent, critical outlets remain active, despite intense pressure from the authorities. Their journalists are harassed and in some cases targeted with spyware and imprisoned on spurious charges. Social media use has rapidly increased in the past decade. Facebook and YouTube are the most popular platforms by a considerable margin. Disinformation is prevalent in traditional and online media. Pro-government media outlets are accused of spreading false stories to smear opponents. Networks of pro-government social media accounts have been known to mobilise against government critics. There were 25.5 million internet users by December 2021, comprising 68% of the population (Internetworldstats.com). Press Le Matin - semi-official daily Al-Massae - private, daily Assabah - private, daily Liberation - private, daily L'Economiste - business daily Telquel - private, news weekly Television Radio News agency Editors Note: This article was published as part of a content-sharing agreement between Army Times and The Fayetteville Observer. The mother of a paratrooper whose decomposing body was found in his barracks room three years ago was on Capitol Hill last week hoping legislators would hear her concerns about the deaths of service members on American soil. Pvt. 2nd Class Caleb Smither, 19, was found dead in his room Jan. 22, 2020, seven weeks after being assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and five days after he was given an order to rest after striking his head in the motor pool earlier in the month. No one checked on him in those five days. By the time they did, it was too late. Smithers mother, Heather Baker, is not satisfied with the Armys handling of her sons death case and is concerned that her medical malpractice claim will be denied while the same providers who misdiagnosed her son could still be treating other service members and military families. At the end of the day, Caleb is in the ground, but what about everybody else, Baker said during a phone interview from her home. I can not sit here in Lubbock, Texas, and see all these things happening to our men and women in uniform and veterans and not say anything. Baker went to Washington D.C. last week, after requesting meetings with dozens of senators and state representatives. Baker said she hopes that members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees will back her in urging the Army to review some of its policies about checking on soldiers and holding medical care providers accountable. Baker believes her sons chain of command neglected to check on him after his injury, contributing to his death. She also faults doctors at Womack Army Medical Center for failing to properly diagnose him. She is asking that Congress consider requiring independent reviews of any military noncombat deaths; that military families be able to sue for medical malpractice; and that military medical providers are audited when patients or their family has concerns about their care. She wants to have a meeting with Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth about her sons death case, too. Smither, affectionately known as Smitty, was a paratrooper with E Company, 37th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. According to the autopsy results, the cause of his death was bacterial meningitis a diagnosis doctors missed when he went to the hospital after striking his head. Following his death, a doctor said some symptoms of meningitis mimic those of a head injury. Smither died alone in his room during a four-day holiday weekend, despite other paratroopers witnessing signs he was unwell including complaining of light sensitivity. In her sons case, Baker said, it took months before anyone could tell her what happened. After an Army Criminal Investigation report was completed in Spring 2021, Baker said officials told her the death case was closed. Imagine a year and half without any idea of whats going on, then all of a sudden you get a call from your attorney telling you that the Army has denied your medical malpractice claim, she said. Medical malpractice? According to a March 15 letter to Bakers attorney, Daniel Maharaj, from the Army Claims Service, Smither was treated Jan. 14, 2020, by a physicians assistant in Womack Army Medical Centers emergency room. The letter states that in the initial determination of the medical malpractice case, a board-certified emergency room physician found Smithers care was within the standards of care. An Army CID report, states Smither hit his head in early January 2020 while working in the motor pool on a military vehicle. Smithers captain and first sergeant wrote in their statements that he was originally turned away from the hospital before soldiers in his unit took him to the emergency room. A sergeant told investigators after a CT scan, doctors said everything looked fine, but Smither was told to stay in his room for the next 24 hours. According to the Army Claims Service letter, Smither had light sensitivity from the recent head trauma, but medical officials determined the light sensitivity and headaches can be symptoms of acute bacterial meningitis, but that in the full context of his Jan. 14 visit, a meningitis diagnosis would be very low. According to the letter, Smither had an essentially normal neurological exam, with no signs of a skull fracture or fluid leaking and that a CT scan would have been considered had Smither lost consciousness. According to the CID report, a doctor who diagnosed the meningitis after Smithers death said that the strain of bacteria the young soldier had, typically enters the brain via head trauma. The doctor said that Smithers headache and vomiting were likely symptoms of meningitis, not head trauma, as Smither was told. According to the CID report, the emergency room originally labeled Smithers condition as post-concussion syndrome. Sick paratrooper who died of infection was failed by leadership, investigation says The letter states the emergency room physician who saw Smither on Jan. 15 was a civilian contractor. That was the first time Smithers mother had heard her son was treated by a contractor. Caleb died in 2020, Bakers attorney, Maharaj, said. It almost appears as if the Army notified us after about the contractor after the fact despite having ample opportunity to tell us. In a phone interview Monday, Maharaj said that while the letter states that the Armys initial review of the medical malpractice case only looked into Smithers care on the day he was turned away. It did not review his care when he returned and received the head trauma diagnosis from a contract doctor. Maharaj said contractors are not covered under the Department of Defenses current regulations governing the review of healthcare claims, meaning the military is not responsible for the contractors care. It almost looks as if they found a way to sidestep any responsibility, Maharaj said. Maharaj said if Baker wanted to seek recourse under North Carolina law against the contractor, the states three-year statute of limitation to file a claim has passed. Baker said that regardless of whether it was a DOD or civilian doctor who provided the care for her son, she is concerned that individuals who saw her son could still be misdiagnosing servicemembers and their families. A Womack Army Medical Center spokesperson could not be reached for comment by deadline. Hospital officials previously declined to comment on Smithers case citing patient confidentiality. Petition Pvt. 2nd Class Caleb 'Smitty' Smither seen with his mother, Heather Baker, during a visit back home to Texas before he was assigned to Fort Liberty, North Carolina. (Courtesy of Heather Baker/Fayetteville Observer) In May, Baker started a petition that seeks to have the Army reopen her sons death case with congressional oversight. She said it is easy to get caught up in the details about his death. I could spend my days in bed crying, or I can put on my boots and hit the ground running and give a care, which was one of Calebs mottos, she said. She said shes been in touch with her local members of Congress, Rep. Jodey Arrington and Sen. Ted Cruz, both Texas Republicans. At the end of the day, if people dont understand whats going on, they cant help, Baker said. I have to make sure that people see the research and evidence and see the problem and see that its not just Caleb affected by this. Citing a Government Office of Accountability report, Baker said statistics show that 75% of service members who die, die in noncombat-related events, and 93% of those deaths are on American soil. Another GOA report, Baker said, found that of 100 providers in the four Defense Health Agency facilities reviewed, about one-sixth of the providers did not have their medical licenses verified. She intends to dispute the Armys initial determination in Smithers case and at the same time wants Congress to know that the Department of Defense is finding loopholes, to deny claims. If we cant take care of our service members on their own territory, then what are we doing, Baker asked. Theyre swearing to defend our nation, and theyre not even able to have the same rights as everybody else. Baker said shes spoken to other families whose service members have died from noncombat-related deaths and understands why others dont come forward. This is hell, she said. This is like youre a zombie waking the Earth trying to fight a cause that nobody even knows about. So when we have our nation and our community informed about whats going on, that just makes the walk less heavy. Checking on fellow soldiers Baker said she also wants to see a change in policy based on the missteps shes noticed in the CID report about her sons case. Aside from the medical care, the CID report details that soldiers in Smithers unit failed to check on him during a four-day Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend after noticing something was wrong. Smithers acting squad leader told investigators he lied during an initial report about the last time he checked on Smither. A corporal claimed he checked on Smither after noticing Smithers behavior at formation, but was unable to provide a call log showing the contact. Baker said one of the things she noticed in her sons death report is that everyone seemed to be pointing fingers, at everyone else. The informal investigation concluded that despite no medical directive to keep an eye on Smither, two people in his chain of command who should have checked on him seemed apathetically disengaged in their responsibility for the welfare of PV2 Smither. The leadership failed for at least four days to check on the health and welfare of a junior paratrooper who injured his head, vomited, went to the emergency room twice, had a concussion, and seemingly was no better as the week progressed, the investigating officer wrote in the CID report. Baker said, commanders told her that the acting squad leader who failed to check on her son was punished for dereliction of duty and making a false official statement. The CID report recommended the unit examine procedures or set new ones for health and welfare checks after a soldier suffers a head injury. Baker said she would like to see the military implement the Smitty check, which would require face-to-face interaction instead of a call or text message. I think on a human level, we need to get together and have that camaraderie, she said I think the power of the internet and texting has made people lazy. Grief and carrying on Smithers memory Baker said shes at a stage of grief where shes acknowledging that her son cant be brought back. Theres got to be a change a shift where I can let go and breathe properly, but I cant do that right now, she said. Theres not been any closure, and it seems like I keep getting pushback, but I think thats telling me theres something more and to push a little harder. Her son, Baker said, had a tattoo with the Latin creed, amat victoria curam, which means victory loves preparation. Baker said her son had goals to be the best mechanic and eventually go to Ranger and Sapper schools. Even in his final days after hitting his head and likely being in pain, Smither was a dedicated soldier who continued to show up for formations, she said. He was proud to be airborne, Baker said. He showed me pictures of his maroon beret, and he never even got a professional photo with it. It makes me sad to think about the little things. What a sad waste of a beautiful life what was willing to sacrifice humbly for everyone. Since his death, Baker said, shes always wanted to honor and represent her sons memory well, he was her best friend, her protector, her only son. I feel so blessed that I am his mom, she said. Baker said she is comforted by hearing stories from soldiers who went through basic and airborne training with her son. During his funeral, she said, a fellow soldier told her about the time in basic training when another team stole their guidon flag. He said Smither snuck out in the middle of the night to get their flag back along with the opposing teams flag He told me he saw Caleb running through the trees with both flags holding them up high, and I see him in my mind that way, Baker said. I know hes wanting me to come out on the other side the same way. I dont believe were there quite yet. Another soldier, who Smither trained with at Fort Benning, Georgia, became one of his leaders at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The soldier told Baker that she owed her airborne wings to Smither because, during a last run at Fort Benning, she started to lag behind the formation. She said Caleb ran back and pulled her back into the formation and used his knuckles so that every time she lost momentum, shed feel that push and nudge, Baker said. She told me she wanted me to know what kind of young man he was and that he was a true brother. I think back about that story, and I feel that. I can also feel that nudge. Motorcycle crashes into 18-wheeler then another vehicle, and rider dies, SC coroner says A Midlands man died a week after being involved in a crash where a motorcycle collided with an 18-wheel tractor trailer before hitting another vehicle, the Sumter County Coroners Office said Monday night. Billy Prosser, a 55-year-old Sumter resident, died Sunday at Prisma Health Richland hospital, Coroner Robbie Baker said in a news release. On June 10, Prosser was involved in a three-vehicle collision at the intersection of U.S. 521/Camden Highway and South Pike West, according to the release. Thats between U.S. 76 and Broad Street, near the Sumter Mall. At about 3 p.m., Prosser was driving a motorcycle on Camden Highway when he collided with an 18-wheel truck that was turning on to South Pike West, Baker said. Prosser then hit a second vehicle that was stopped at a stop sign at the intersection, according to the release. Prosser was not wearing a helmet, Baker said. No other injuries were reported in the crash that continues to be investigated by the coroners office and Sumter Police Department. An autopsy is scheduled Tuesday at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, according to the release. Through Sunday, 458 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2023, and 50 involved motorcycles, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, 1,091 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported. At least 15 people have died in Sumter County crashes in 2023, according to DPS data. Last year, 30 deaths were reported in the county, DPS reported. A motorcyclist documented himself burning tire marks into the Pride Progress Flag painting on a busy intersection in Boynton Beach on the second day of pride month, police say, the latest in a series of incidents targeting LGBTQ street murals. About 1 a.m. on June 2, a witness heard loud screeching noises and watched as a man in dark clothing and a helmet spun his tires multiple times over the rainbow streetscape on the intersection of East Ocean Avenue and Southeast First Street in Boynton Beach, according to a police incident report. The motorcycle left four long black marks on the painting, causing $500 in damage. The city dedicated the $12,000 pride flag project in June 2021, a few days before Delray Beach dedicated its own pride flag streetscape. Over the past 30 years, the LGBTQ community in Boynton Beach and Delray Beach has gone from being nearly invisible to being tolerated, to being acknowledged, to being granted equal rights and benefits, to having our families recognized, and now, to having the diversity of the LGBTQ community publicly celebrated, Palm Beach County Human Rights Council President and founder Rand Hoch said in a statement after the two cities announced the dedications of the projects. That is quite an achievement. A man burned tire marks into the Delray Beach mural one day after it was unveiled. Related Articles After making the burnouts on the Boynton Beach streetscape, the man got off of his motorcycle and appeared to take pictures of the marks, according to the police report. His helmet appeared to have a camera mounted on it, according to surveillance footage from the Boynton Beach Police Departments Real Time Crime Center. The report describes him as white, with a medium build, wearing a black hoodie with white lettering, his helmet covering his face. The man left the scene after taking the pictures, heading westbound on Ocean Avenue. Investigators sent around a be on the lookout alert within the police department, but with no results, the report says. They also searched social media in case the man had posted pictures or video of the burnouts, but didnt find anything. Four days ago, police shelved the case without a suspect. It is now inactive pending any further investigative leads, a detective wrote in the last update to the report on Friday. The June incident joins a series of similar crimes targeting pride street murals in Florida. In February, a man burned tire marks onto the LGBTQ pride flag painted on Sebastian Street between State Road A1A and Seabreeze Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, causing over $1,000 in damage. His passenger recorded him doing it, according to the police report. The investigation into that incident is still active and ongoing, said Det. Ali Adamson, a spokesperson for Fort Lauderdale Police. Police still have not announced a suspect. The incident is not believed to be connected to the one in Boynton Beach, Adamson said. Related Articles Meanwhile, the 20-year-old Lake Worth man who burned tire marks into the pride flag street mural in Delray Beach was sentenced to two years of probation, 100 hours of community service and a mandatory mental health screening. He was also ordered to write a 25-page essay on the victims of the massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and hate against the LGBTQ community. MOVEit hack: Gang claims not to have BBC, BA and Boots data Clop has posted dozens of names and profiles of its victims so far but not the BBC, BA or Boots Cyber- criminals have told the BBC they do not have data belonging to large UK organisations thought to be victims of a mass hack. Firms including the BBC, British Airways and Boots have told staff that sensitive payroll data was stolen in last month's breach. But now the hackers Clop, speaking over email, claim "we don't have that data". It raises the possibility that another unknown hacking gang has the stolen data or that Clop is lying. Zellis, the UK payroll provider that hackers breached to gain access to the BBC, Boots and BA's data, said it could not comment as a police investigation was ongoing. Since 14 June, Clop has been posting company profiles of victims of its hack to pressure them into paying a ransom. But none of the UK's largest and most well-known victims' names has been posted so far. In small batches Clop has added the names, websites and company addresses of nearly 50 victims to its darknet website. The organisations include banks, universities, travel firms and software companies from more than a dozen different countries including the US, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Canada and Belgium. Some of the companies listed by Clop on their so-called "leak site" have separately confirmed that they have had data stolen. Clop is threatening to publish the stolen data unless victims pay a ransom which is likely to be hundreds of thousands of dollars or more in Bitcoin. 'We don't have that data' It is thought hundreds of organisations who used the file transfer tool MOVEit have had their data stolen. That included eight big UK organisations - among them the BBC, BA and Boots - who were customers of Zellis which was itself breached through MOVEit. But in an email exchange with the BBC the cyber-criminals repeatedly claimed not to have stolen the Zellis data. "We don't have that data and we told Zellis about it. We just don't have it. We are an old group and have never deceived anyone, if we say that we do not have information, then we do not have it," the hackers claimed. Zellis would only refer us to its previous statement, which said: "We can confirm that a small number of our customers have been impacted by this global issue and we are actively working to support them." The company says that as soon as it became aware of the hack it took immediate action and disconnected the computer server on which the MOVEit software was installed. The firm says it has brought in an expert external security team to help it respond to the attack and has notified the relevant UK data authorities. Multiple possibilities Cyber-security experts are puzzled by Clop's claims which further muddy an already complex situation. Threat researcher Brett Callow, from Emsisoft, said Clop could be covering up the fact it stole the data as part of a sale deal with another hacking group. But Clop claimed "we didn't sell anything to other hackers". Other experts say there are many possibilities. "Clop has no real reason to say they don't have the data," said SOS Intelligence boss Amir Hadzipasic . "If they are telling the truth then it makes me think that some other hackers may have got in and stolen the data before Clop and if Clop don't have the data then this situation is less predictable. The files are going to end up somewhere on the darkweb via another hacking group," he added. The hack was first announced on 31 May by Progress Software, the makers of MOVEit. The criminals found a way to break into MOVEit and were then able to use that access to get into the databases of potentially hundreds of other companies. Since the initial MOVEit disclosure, however, researchers have found many security issues within the software which means it is possible that the data was stolen in a different way by a different group. On Friday, the US announced a $10m reward for "information linking the Clop gang or any other malicious cyber -ctors targeting US critical infrastructure to a foreign government". Six teens including four minors shot near where Milwaukee's Juneteenth celebration had just wrapped up Monday Six people were shot shortly after the Juneteenth festival ended Monday, according to Milwaukee police. The shooting occurred along North Martin Luther King Jr. Drive near Locust Street. Six teenagers including four minors were shot and wounded Monday afternoon near where Milwaukee's Juneteenth celebration had just wrapped up, according to the Milwaukee Police Department. The shooting happened around 4:20 p.m. directly outside Greater Philadelphia Church of God in Christ, 2947 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, according to witnesses and a Facebook Live video taken by a bystander in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Police said the victims were four girls who are ages 14, 16, 17 and 18, and two boys who are 17 and 19. They were taken to a hospital for treatment of non-fatal injuries. Milwaukee Police said their preliminary investigation revealed the shooting may have stemmed from a fight between multiple girls on MLK Drive when suspects fired several shots. It appears that the 17-year-old boy, who was injured, was a shooter in the incident, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said at a news conference outside of MPD District 5 Monday night. The boy is in custody, Norman said. Milwaukee Police are seeking additional unknown suspects. Norman said it will take a village to fix the violence problem. "Milwaukee, what's going on with our children?" Norman said. "Parents, guardians, elders, we need to engage and ensure that this violence that our children are bringing to these streets cease. No handgun, no weapon of destruction should be in the hands of our young ones. It's important that all of us do something." "This is not a Milwaukee Police Department thing. Not the mayor's thing. Not just only community organizers," Norman said. "It's a 'us' thing. ... We need you, all of you to be part of this effort to make our city safer." Mayor Cavalier Johnson said at a news conference that guns shouldn't be used as part of fights. "Arguments should not lead to guns being fired off, period," Johnson said. "It used to be a time where if folks had an argument, you'd just walk away. Or you conclude the argument and leave it at that. Or maybe worse, you get into a fistfight. You don't pull out a gun and try to end somebody's life over something as simple and as meaningless as a petty disagreement, as an argument. We see enough of that, too much of that, and it needs to stop." Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman calls for an end to gun violence to settle petty disputes after a shooting that injured six people following the Juneteenth festival Monday. They spoke to news reporters outside the District 5 station, which is adjacent to the location of the shooting. Authorities say shooting occurred after Juneteenth festivities had finished Thousands of people packed King Drive for the festival, which ran 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Vendors selling food and wares lined the street along with community organizations offering resources, snacks and free giveaways. Music thumped from booths and food trucks offering refreshing treats in the heat drew long lines. Many families with children and older adults were in attendance, and police officers were stationed in several places along the route. Youth dance groups, marching bands and drill teams entertained crowds in a parade along King Drive earlier in the day. "Today was a glorious day," Johnson said. "We celebrated Juneteenth. And I think it's important to point out the fact that this incident did not happen during Juneteenth. ... This happened after Juneteenth had concluded. But still, it is totally, it is totally, totally unacceptable for the incident that happened right in this neighborhood, right in this community." The holiday, which takes place on June 19 each year, commemorates the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. It was two years after President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth is the nations oldest commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States, and the Milwaukee celebration is one of the oldest in the country. It began in 1971. "We had thousands and thousands and thousands of people here celebrating and bringing themselves together, and having a sense of community," Johnson said. "That's a powerful thing. That's the true story about what this day is." Witnesses' accounts from the scene A man who identified himself as T. Jenkins said a fight between two females preceded the shooting. A young man pulled out a gun and everyone scattered, Jenkins said. The man did some of the shooting, he said. Jenkins provided aid to a young woman with a neck wound. Blood was coming out of the left side of her neck, he said. I applied pressure to her neck, he said. I tried to keep everyone calm around me. Toni Hector, a vendor, said the shooting happened in front of her. She also said it started as a fight between two females. I do this event every year and bring my clothes down. It has never been this bad, Hector said. A Facebook Live video taken in the immediate aftermath of the shooting shows at least two young people with gunshot wounds being treated by paramedics on the pavement. The person who filmed the Facebook Live said in the video that a teenage girl or young woman had suffered a gunshot wound to the neck. The Facebook user tried to comfort the teen's sobbing friend, who was trying to contact her mother. Only about 20 minutes after the festival had officially ended, hundreds of people were still walking along the street. Milwaukee activist Vaun Mayes was at Rose Park when shots rang out. He said his team, ComForce MKE, which engages in violence interruption, specifically targeted the area surrounding the park because of a shooting and fights last year following the Juneteenth celebration. Last year, Mayes witnessed a woman being shot shortly after festivities. He recorded the incident on Facebook Live. The video shows large crowds and reckless driving. Mayes said he is incensed that there would be violence on the Juneteenth holiday after last years incidents. Prior to the shots ringing out on Monday, we had been breaking up fights for maybe an hour, an hour and a half, Mayes said. People started running toward a formation of police officers and that is when Mayes noticed multiple people had been hit. I thought maybe it was one person and then just another person after another person, he said. Keith Caldwell, another vendor near the scene, described the scene this way: I just heard commotion, gunshots, people screaming. On security at the event, Caldwell said: It definitely needs a change, we just need a better situation. He talked of the need for gun control. Right now, its like an uncontrollable situation, Caldwell said. If you have information on the incident, here's how to contact MPD The investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact MPD at 414-935-7360, or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-TIPS. Where to find help Milwaukee's Office of Violence Prevention recommends these resources for free support: 414Life outreach and conflict mediation support: 414-439-5398. Milwaukee County's 24-Hour Mental Health Crisis Line: 414-257-7222. Milwaukee's Child Mobile Crisis and Trauma Response Team: 414-257-7621. National crisis text line: Text HOPELINE to 741741 to text with a trained crisis counselor. National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-273-8255.The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233. 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: Six teenagers shot near Milwaukee Juneteenth 2023 celebration location Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hand with Tesla CEO Elon Musk during their meeting in New York By Hyunjoo Jin and Shivangi Acharya SAN FRANCISCO/NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi was pushing the car maker to make a "significant investment" in the country, adding that such an announcement was expected soon. His comments came after a meeting with Modi on Tuesday during the Indian leader's state visit to the United States. A source previously told Reuters that Musk would brief Modi on plans to set up a manufacturing base in India. India has strong potential for a sustainable energy future including solar power, stationary battery packs and electric vehicles, Musk said, adding that he hopes to bring SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service to India as well. "He (Modi) really cares about India because he's pushing us to make significant investments in India, which is something we intend to do," Musk told reporters after the meeting. "I am confident that Tesla will be in India and will do so as soon as humanly possible." Later, India's foreign ministry spokesperson tweeted saying Modi had invited Musk to "explore opportunities in India for investments in electric mobility and rapidly expanding commercial space sector." The South Asian country is now looking to allow some U.S. companies to initially collaborate with Indian firms for investments in its space sector, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. India opened the way for private launches in 2020 and wants its private space companies to increase their share of the global launch market by five-fold within the next decade. Executives of Tesla visited India and held talks with Indian bureaucrats and ministers last month on establishing a manufacturing base for cars and batteries in India. Musk said last month Tesla would probably pick a location for a new factory by the end of this year, adding India was an interesting place for a new plant. U.S. companies need to reduce reliance on China as a manufacturing base in the face of tensions between Washington and Beijing. Tesla last year shelved its India entry plans due to high import tax structures. Modi's meeting with Musk, who owns Twitter, came days after Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey accused India of threatening to shut down the platform for not complying with content takedown orders during a 2020-2021 protest. India called the allegation an "outright lie". "Twitter does not have a choice but to obey local governments. If we don't obey local government laws, we will get shut down...," Musk told reporters on Tuesday. (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Shivangi Acharya; Additional reporting by Aftab Ahmed, Aditya Kalra, Aditi Shah, Tanvi Mehta and Sarita Chaganti Singh; Editing by Conor Humphries, Angus MacSwan, Mark Heinrich, Cynthia Osterman and Kim Coghill) Tesla CEO Elon Musk is expected to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, according to multiple reports. CNBC reports the pair will meet in New York to talk about possible Tesla operations in India. Reuters reported Musk will brief Modi on his plans for a manufacturing base in the country. Modi arrived in New York on Monday and is in the U.S. for his first official state visit at the invitation of President Biden. Biden and first lady Jill Biden will host the prime minister including a state dinner on June 22. According to his office, the Indian prime minister will celebrate International Day of Yoga at the United Nations headquarters in New York before heading to Washington to meet with Biden. A meeting with Musk wasnt on the schedule released on Modis site, but the prime minister said he will, during his U.S. visit, meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating our trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains. Bloomberg reports the Modi-Musk meeting is expected to be in the early evening Tuesday, and there could be 20 or more other high-profile people in attendance. The Hill has reached out to Tesla to confirm. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. (Bloomberg) -- Tesla Inc. is likely to make a significant investment in India, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said after meeting with Narendra Modi during the Indian Prime Ministers US visit to promote development in the worlds most populous country. Most Read from Bloomberg Im confident that Tesla will be in India and well do so as soon as humanly possible, Musk told reporters after the meeting. We dont want to jump the gun on an announcement, but I think its quite likely that there will be a significant investment, a relationship with India. Tesla and India revived discussions in May following a year-long stand-off. While Tesla executives talked about the domestic sourcing of parts and incentives with government officials during a recent India visit, it didnt culminate in a proposal to set up a plant. Musk, who has been the frequent target of pitches from Indian officials to make electric cars locally, said he plans to visit the South Asian country in 2024. Leaders in Asias third-largest economy want to capitalize on the growing chill between Beijing and Washington by positioning it as an alternative destination for companies seeking to limit their exposure to China. Modis New York visit included gatherings with potentially more than 20 high-profile individuals, according to a person familiar with the plans who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. Critical Collaboration Collaboration on critical and emerging technologies between US and Indian companies, and reducing regulatory barriers standing in the way of trade in strategic areas, are key for Modi and US President Joe Bidens meeting scheduled for Thursday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said at an industry event in New Delhi last week. Musks ventures with India could extend beyond Tesla. In addition to electric vehicles, he told reporters he sees potential in the country for sustainable power generation through solar and wind, and energy storage in stationary batteries. He intends to revive efforts to launch SpaceXs Starlink internet for remote Indian villages that dont have access to broadband. Musk last year said SpaceX was waiting for government approval to roll out services after setting up a wholly-owned unit in India in 2021. Tesla didnt respond to an email sent to the press address on its website. Representatives for Indias ministries of external affairs and road transport and highways didnt respond to requests for comment. Tesla Factory Musk has been scouting for the location of Teslas next factory. Earlier this month, he met Emmanuel Macron, who said France would tout its attractiveness for hosting a possible plant, but its for the carmaker to review prospects for projects in Europe. Italy is another suitor. Musk has engaged with other Asian nations about opening a plant. In November, he said he considers South Korea a top candidate, according to the office of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Musk said he would make a decision after a comprehensive review of investment conditions, including manpower and technology. In January, Bloomberg News reported Tesla is close to a preliminary deal to set up a factory in Indonesia that would produce as many as 1 million cars a year. --With assistance from Linda Lew. (Updates with Musks comments on potential investment in the seventh paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. A series of threatening letters containing a mysterious white powder is raising concerns that Republican lawmakers in Kansas and across the nation who received them are being targeted by someone cryptically calling themselves "your secret despirer," according to authorities and recipients of the letters. Since Friday, about 100 letters have been received by Kansas GOP lawmakers and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who is also a Republican, officials said. The list of intended recipients of white powder letters is growing and expanding beyond Kansas, federal law enforcement sources told ABC News. "There is some message. The message is somewhat unclear, but it was intended to be threatening," Republican state Sen. Molly Baumgardner, the recipient of one of the letters, told ABC Kansas City, Missouri, affiliate KMBC. Similar letters containing a cryptic note and a suspicious powdery substance were addressed to former President Donald Trump, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and other high-profile individuals, though the U.S. Postal Inspection Service intercepted them before they were delivered, the sources said. PHOTO: In this image posted to her Facebook account, Kansas state Rep. Tory Marie Blew shows a suspicious letter that was sent to her. (Rep. Tory Marie Blew/Facebook) Postal inspectors have possession of the letters and have deemed them harmless, the sources said. On Tuesday, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation announced that the FBI is taking the leading in the investigation. "The KBI will continue to work with all law enforcement partners to bring these incidents to appropriate resolution," the agency said in a statement. Investigators have not determined who is sending them or the motive behind the dispatches. "Kansas legislators that are Republican are being targeted," Baumgardner said. Baumgardner said the letter mailed to her contained a white powder and a typed note reading in part, "It is important not to choke on your ambition." The sender described the letter as a "gift" and referred to themselves as "your secret despirer," a word that stems from despise. "Everybody has to be concerned," Baumgardner told KMBC. "Everyone has to take this and any subsequent threats like this very seriously." Investigators have collected the letters and a small sample of the white powder contained in them has been sent to a lab for testing. "Preliminary tests have returned from this lab indicating the substance is presumptively negative for common biological agents of concern," the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in a statement over the weekend. The substances tested have not been deemed explosive, a source familiar with the matter told ABC News. "Currently, no injuries have been reported, but we ask everyone to remain vigilant in handling mail," the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in its statement. Kansas state Rep. Steve Owens, a Republican, told ABC News that he received a letter similar to the one sent to Baumgardner. He said that once he opened the letter, mailed in a standard white envelope, he noticed the white powder inside a folded piece of paper. MORE: More than 90 letters with 'suspicious' white powder sent to state officials, Kansas authorities say Owens described the experience of receiving the letter as "terrifying." He said the sender appears to be thorough and calculating, using the return address of a local church to seemingly try to coax the receiver into opening it. "This is not okay," Kansas state Rep. Tory Blew, a Republican, wrote in a social media post after she also received a letter with white powder inside. "I'm very thankful for our first responders -- words can't describe my gratitude after this event." The letters came after Manhattan, New York, District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, was sent at least two letters containing white powder in April after a grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump on 34-counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made in the final days of the 2016 presidential race to bury negative publicity about alleged extramarital affairs. The New York Police Department determined that the powder in the envelopes sent to Bragg was nonhazardous. Investigators have found no evidence linking the Kansas letters to the Trump case in New York. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges. Mystery powder letters sent to Kansas Republicans, Trump, Supreme Court Justice Thomas originally appeared on abcnews.go.com A still from a video shared by OceanGate previewing the submersible vehicle. The Titan submersible vessel, which has gone missing with five people on board, was partially constructed at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Search and rescue teams are racing to locate Titan after contact with the vessel was lost on Sunday about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive, which was meant to explore the wreck of the Titanic. The vessel was developed as part of an agreement between OceanGate, Titans operator, and NASA, according to a press release by the company that announced the partnership in 2020. Read more The partnership was forged under the Space Act of 1958, which allows NASA to help stimulate commercial manufacturing that could in turn benefit the space agency in future missions. Under the agreement, Titan was partially constructed at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center. NASA is committed to cutting-edge composites research and development that will not only further our deep space exploration goals, but will also improve materials and manufacturing for American industry, John Vickers, principal technologist for advanced manufacturing technology at NASA, said in the 2020 press release. This Space Act Agreement with OceanGate is a great example of how NASA partners with companies to bring space technology back down to Earth. The manufacturing of the carbon fiber and titanium submersible, in turn, helped NASA engineers gather more data on the development of vehicles that can survive under high pressure. Titan was created using aerospace grade carbon fiber, reducing its weight to about a fraction of what other deep diving crewed submersibles weigh, according to OceanGate. The 22 foot-long (6.7 meters) craft weighs 23,000 pounds (10,432 kilograms) and is capable of going as deep as 19,800 feet (6,000 meters) below water. RMS Titanic, which famously sunk during its maiden voyage in April 1912, lies roughly 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) below the Atlantic surface. Titan, or at least some part of the overall system, relies on Elon Musks Starlink for communication, the company revealed in a tweet last week. As to the exact way in which Starlink is used, however, that remains unclear. Its also not clear what caused the submersibles communication system to fail. We reached out to OceanGate for more information about how it uses Starlink, but the company responded by providing a generic statement with no reference to Starlink. The five-person crew on board Titan includes billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, who previously traveled to the edge of space on board Blue Origins New Shepard rocket in June 2022. The debris field belonging to Titan was discovered by an ROV on June 22, confirming that all five crew members were killed in a catastrophic implosion. Five major pieces of the water craft came to rest some 1,600 feet from the wreck of the Titanic. For more spaceflight in your life, follow us on Twitter and bookmark Gizmodos dedicated Spaceflight page. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Navy assets to join submersible search and rescue operation. The U.S. Navy is sending its Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System to help in the effort to find a submersible that recently went missing in the Atlantic Ocean and hopefully help rescue the five individuals inside. This is one of a number of specialized Navy deep-sea search, rescue, and salvage capabilities, that also include its own submersible platforms and remotely-operated vehicles, or ROVs. There are questions about why it has taken so long to employ any of these capabilities, but the depths and other factors in this case still present major challenges for any rescue attempt. The missing submersible, known as Titan, which belongs to OceanGate Expeditions and was being used to take tourists down to see the famous sunken wreck of the ocean liner RMS Titanic, has not yet even been located. Titanic lies at a depth of around 12,500 feet and Titan was supposed to have surfaced on Sunday. As of yesterday, U.S. authorities said they believed the individuals inside, which includes OceanGate's CEO Stockton Rush, had between 70 and 96 hours' worth of oxygen left. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KdsGPsF2go The Navy is sending subject matter experts and a Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS), motion compensated lift system designed to provide reliable deep ocean lifting capacity for the recovery of large, bulky, and heavy undersea objects such as aircraft or small vessels, from Navy Supervisor of Salvage," a Navy Spokesperson told The War Zone. This "expertise and equipment will support USCG [U.S. Coast Guard] and the unified command. Personnel and equipment are scheduled to arrive at St. Johns [in Canada] tonight." FADOSS is a modular system that can be employed from any suitable ship to recover objects weight up to 60,000 pounds. Titan weighs some 23,000 pounds, according to OceanGate. "It is possible to mix and match the components based on the size and capabilities of the platform which will be mobilized, the depth of the object to be retrieved, the weight of the object, and configuration for running the lift line from the ship to the sea, where fairlead block are used," according to the Navy. A picture showing components of the FADOSS system installed on a ship. USN The Navy's official fact sheet does not provide a maximum depth rating for FADOSS. However, the system has been employed in the past to pull up the wreck of an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter that was sitting on the seabed some 19,075 feet below the surface. Regardless, recoveries of large objects from extreme depths are extremely complicated due to various factors, including the pressures and current involved and the simple time it takes to lower recovery assets down and pull everything back up. OceanGate's Titan submersible needs between six and eight hours to get down to the wreck of the Titanic. The wreck of an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter the Navy pulled up from a depth of around 19,075 feet in 2021. The Navy is working to coordinate assets with the USCG [U.S. Coast Guard] and the unified command," a Navy spokesperson had told The War Zone in a statement today. They said they could not immediately provide any additional details about this forthcoming deployment. During a separate press conference today, the U.S. Coast Guard announced the creation of the unified command to coordinate further search and rescue operations. The Coast Guard did say that its Juniper class buoy tender USCGC Sycamore is already en route to the area where OceanGate's Titan went missing. Sycamore has a crane, which could be used to deploy deep-diving assets like ROVs and recover heavy objects. USCGC Sycamore, anchored alongside a barge, while participating in the U.S. military exercise Arctic Edge 2012. USCG The Canadian Coast Guard's Sir John Franklin class cutter John Cabot is also now heading to the area. The Canadian research ship Polar Prince and the commercial pipe-laying vessel Deep Energy are already taking part in the search efforts. Polar Prince has a deep-sea sonar search capability and Deep Energy's crew has been employing at least one ROV. https://twitter.com/CavasShips/status/1671211533894811669?s=20 https://twitter.com/CavasShips/status/1671207016579182602?s=20 At least one Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol plane (misidentified initially as a P-8 Poseidon) has dropped sonobuoys to try to help find the submersible, too. U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft have been used to search for any signs of Titan or its occupants on the surface. The area that has already been the subject of these searches spans some 10,000 square miles. https://twitter.com/USCGNortheast/status/1671144862022868994?s=20 https://twitter.com/thenewarea51/status/1670897323600142341 There is always the possibility that additional Navy assets could be employed, as well, if requested. The service does have deep-sea rescue and salvage capabilities beyond FADOSS that it could contribute in this case. This includes the Submarine Rescue Diving Recompression System (SRDRS) and the Cable-controlled Undersea Recovery Vehicle 21 (CURV-21) ROV. SRDRS is part of a larger underwater rescue ecosystem within the U.S. Navy, led by Undersea Rescue Command (URC), which is focused primarily on being prepared to extract sailors from stricken American and foreign submarines. URC is postured to be able to get systems like SRDRS loaded up and ready to go anywhere in the world within 24 hours. CURV-21 and other ROVs generally belong to the service's office of the Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), which is on call to help bring various things back up from the seabed, including, sensitive objects belonging to the U.S. military and foreign armed forces. There are reports that U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft at Buffalo Niagara International Airport in Buffalo, New York are preparing to bring in another civilian ROV and other related assets, though it's not clear if this is directly related to the Navy's present efforts. This additional submersible is reportedly Pelagic Research Services' Odysseus 6K, which has operated under contract with the U.S. government, among other organizations, in the past. https://twitter.com/patryanreports/status/1671192360200335362?s=20 Unfortunately, the Navy's SRDRS is unlikely to be relevant in this particular instance, given that it is only rated to perform rescues a depths of up to 2,000 feet (610 meters). Though it remains unknown exactly where Titan might be located, it was heading to the Titanic, which is situated at a depth greater than 10 times what SRDRS is rated for. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEuLS1tEXfc Even if a submersible was available that could get down to the proper depth, the occupants of the Titan submersible are sealed inside before it is launched from its mothership on the surface. There is therefore no way to safely extract the individuals inside at extreme depths, regardless. This also means that if Titan was able to get to the surface on its own, its occupants still would not be able to escape without outside assistance. ROVs like the Navy's CURV-21 could also be useful for recovering Titan and the people inside. In addition to sonars and cameras, CURV-21, which can operate at depths of up to 20,000 feet, can be fitted with various mission packages. This includes ones designed to help raise sunken objects up from the seabed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvi6Go8jg4c\u0026t=90s As mentioned earlier, CURV-21 helped with the retrieval of an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter that went down off the coast of the Japanese island of Okinawa in 2020. The U.S. Navy may also be able to help just in locating Titan or helping to at least narrow the search area. The service has various surface vessels and submarines with powerful sonar capabilities. This part of the Atlantic is known to often see significant U.S. and foreign submarine activity. Though this has been changing somewhat recently, the Navy has historically been very tight-lipped about deployed submarines, and it's possible that it has one or more in the area already. The Navy also operates a network of so-called Fixed Surveillance Systems (FSS), part of the broader Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS), underwater in the Atlantic primarily to monitor potentially hostile submarine movements. The FSS component of IUSS contains systems akin to the famed the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS). The initial version of which was put into service in 1959 and saw its heyday during the Cold War. Portions of SOSUS remain active today, but its military utility has waned and it has become increasingly used for scientific research. The exact capabilities of the FSS networks today are highly classified, but are understood to be extremely sensitive. If Titan had suffered some kind of major fault, such as a catastrophic decompression, these systems might have detected it. They could potentially pick up things like people banging on the inside of the Titan, though this could be more difficult depending on the depth of the submersible. For anyone trapped in a stricken submarine, this kind of noisemaking has long been and continues to be an important way to signal that they were still alive and give hints as to their location. Other similar sensor networks might also be able to help, if they aren't being employed already. For instance, seismic data collected by listening posts established to help monitor for violations of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty helped in determining the location and fate of the Argentinian submarine ARA San Juan after it went missing in November 2017. There were sadly no survivors from that incident. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls1_OmQ1VvI Just finding where Titan might be appears to be a huge issue at present. Criticisms about the U.S. government's efforts, in particular, are mounting. In response, American officials have stressed the need to actually locate the missing submersible before committing any rescue assets. "The Navy and Coast Guard are trying to figure out what makes the most sense, but the Coast Guard is really the lead for this mission," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in response to a question about the timing of the response efforts at a press conference today. "So we are in direct support for them, and we will continue to be for as long as they request assistance." In addition, there are reports that OceanGate may have waited some eight hours to alert authorities of the incident in the first place for unclear reasons. Other questions about OceanGate's operations have also emerged. David Pogue, a correspondent for CBS News, posted on Twitter about his first-hand experiences observing the operation of Titan from its mothership for a story last year. He said that the submersible does not have any kind of remote locator beacon and that tour he observed was "lost" underwater for around five hours. He added that OceanGate cut off the internet connection from the mothership to prevent him and others from posting online about it at the time. https://twitter.com/Pogue/status/1670826522138091521?s=20 https://twitter.com/Pogue/status/1670835763536183297?s=20 You can watch Pogue's full report for CBS News below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29co_Hksk6o In 2018, OceanGate also settled a lawsuit with a former employee, who the company had alleged had breached his contract by releasing certain details about Titan. The individual in question, David Lochridge, filed a counterclaim alleging the firm had fired him in retaliation for raising concerns about the safety of the submersible, including whether its depth rating was accurate and about the use of flammable materials used inside its hull. Fires onboard submarines can be especially deadly for a number of reasons as The War Zone has explored in the past. Lochridge's specific claims have not been independently substantiated. However, in 2020, OceanGate CEO's Rush admitted that Titan's composite material hull had shown signs of cyclic fatigue" and that its depth rating had been reduced to a point where it was not enough to get to the Titanic." Repairs and/or changes were reportedly made and the submersible dove down to the Titanic for the first time in 2021. Whatever the case, the Navy is now moving to be more actively involved in the search and rescue efforts. Hopefully, the assets the service contributes will be able to help in finding the Titan submersible and its passengers. This story continues to develop and we will update it as more information becomes available. UPDATE 5:45 P.M. EST: The Pentagon has now confirmed that the C-17s seen earlier at Buffalo Niagara International Airport were helping to move assets related to the search and rescue operation, but that are not directly tied to the Navy's current efforts. "U. S. Transportation Command is supporting the search effort with (3) C-17 aircraft that are transporting commercial, rescue-related cargo and equipment from Buffalo, NY to St Johns, Newfoundland," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary said in a statement The War Zone obtained. "As of 4:30 pm eastern time today, all three aircraft have departed Buffalo, and the last aircraft is scheduled to land at St. John shortly." Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com NC corporations need top foreign talent. To get it, the US must fix this visa program | Opinion The time has come to reform the U.S. legal immigration system for highly educated foreign professionals. Legal immigration has been overshadowed by the political and public obsession with illegal immigration. Unfortunately, this diversion is weakening the ability of the U.S. to compete globally for top STEM talent. The visa program for specialized occupation foreign workers is called H-1B. It is highly regulated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The program is designed to augment the U.S. workforce in industries where it is hard to find qualified professionals, such as high tech, engineering and energy. Typically, qualified H-1B visa holders have at least a bachelors degree from a U.S. university or an equivalent degree from a foreign university. Murali Bashyam Currently, there is a limit of 85,000 H-1B cap-subject visas per year. (Generally, cap-subject visas are those issued to for-profit companies.) Of the 85,000 available, 65,000 visas are for foreign workers who meet the education and skill requirements, and 20,000 are for those whove earned a U.S. masters degree or higher. This limit has not changed since 2004. Of the current 132 million full-time U.S. workers, 85,000 is an insignificant number but an important source of top talent. There has been a steady and substantial increase in registrations for H-1B cap-subject visas since 2020 almost a 400% increase. This year, there were approximately 781,000 registrations, which was reduced to approximately 759,000 once duplicate, non-payment and deleted registrations were removed. That number was then reduced to the 85,000 limit through a lottery selection process. Obviously, the majority of the eligible applicants are not selected. There are several reasons for the registration increase. Its partly driven by the design of the registration program. All that is required is to register is to answer a few questions about the company and foreign worker and pay a $10 registration fee. This small fee and simple process incentivizes companies to enter many registrations with minimal time and money spent. In fact, it also incentives fraud by allowing unscrupulous companies to enter multiple registrations for the same employee through related or sister companies with common ownership or collusion. This clearly undermines the system and penalizes companies and foreign employees who comply with the law. USCIS understands this and is looking into ways to make the H-1B registration and selection process more fair. As an attorney who specializes in immigration law, here are some fixes I think USCIS should make: Increase the registration fee. Increasing the fee would reduce the number of prospective and duplicate registrants. It would also provide USCIS with additional non-taxpayer revenue, which could be invested in its infrastructure. The $10 registration fee provided approximately $7.5 million in revenue this year. If the fee was $250 and there were 100,000 registrants, USCIS would collect $25 million in revenue. Restrict duplicate registrations. By using personal identifying data, the system could better determine a duplicate entry and not allow it. Retain foreign individuals who earned a U.S. masters or higher degree and work with a U.S. company through a training program. Also allow those with masters and higher STEM degrees whove been unsuccessful in the lottery for three years to be automatically added to the pool of H-1B recipients and increase the 20,000 cap limit on those with a U.S. masters degree. Require the sponsoring company to pay the registration fee to ensure the financial burden is on the company, not the individual. This is consistent with the legal requirement of companies paying for all H-1B related costs. Sanction companies who violate registration regulations with non-financial penalties. It is crucial USCIS fixes the H-1B program quickly so the US can continue to attract and retain top foreign talent. Murali Bashyam is the managing partner of Bashyam Global Immigration Law Group in Raleigh. He is a past member of our Community Advisory Board. On the outskirts of Gastonia, half an hour outside of uptown Charlotte, builders and bulldozers have been breaking ground on yet another housing development for retirees. But 1776 Gastonia wont be your typical 55-plus community. According to the developer, its where freedom and patriotism live. 1776 Gastonia is a project launched by Great American Homes, an offshoot of local developer NewStyle Communities. Its website says it is intended to blend American patriotism, the American dream of home ownership and the founding ideals of this great nation: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Even the streets bear patriotic names future residents could live on Betsy Ross Drive, Paul Revere Drive or Constitution Lane. One of the floorplans appropriately begins at 1,776 square feet. 1776 Gastonias all-American grand opening event was held Saturday. While the development brands itself as an America First community for freedom-loving Patriots, its not clear what exactly that means. I asked Casey Kupper, a spokesperson for the company, to elaborate. Kupper told me that 1776 Gastonia is governed by a set of community standards that specifically compel [homeowners] to promote, affirm, and pledge their support for The United States of America, the Constitution, and to the nations motto of E Pluribus Unum. Homeowners are also required to fly the American flag on their front porch throughout the year but dont worry, a flag is included in the purchase of every home. Those community standards will be defined in the rules set by the homeowners association, Kupper told me. She stopped responding when I asked for a copy of the standards and did not respond to my request for an interview with the founder. 1776 Gastonia prides itself on being a one-of-a-kind community, but Great American Homes says it hopes to soon expand the 1776 brand to other states. A similar development in Greenville, S.C, is expected to open in 2024. Perhaps the most important question, though, is why a development like this is necessary in the first place? 1776 Gastonia is marketed toward a certain kind of audience not just retirees, but retirees who value a certain vision of the United States so much they would move to a neighborhood that claims to embody it. It presents them with the option to live alongside people who share patriotic values, lest they move to another community filled with America haters who refuse to even celebrate the Fourth of July. What happened to making fun of snowflakes for wanting safe spaces? And while theres nothing wrong with seeking out cultural ties, 1776 Gastonia seems to exemplify the silos we create for ourselves these days - and the growing fear of the other. Rather than embracing differences, this community seems designed to encourage homogeneity. For many, the words America First are intertwined with former President Donald Trump, who uses that phrase to describe his nationalist, anti-immigrant agenda. Though 1776 Gastonias website makes no reference to politics, its founder, Brock Fankhauser, made multiple donations to Trumps 2020 campaign, according to federal filings. It should also be noted that the American dream of home ownership has eluded many and the dream promised by 1776 Gastonia certainly doesnt come cheap. The 43 homes in the development begin at $450,000 just above the median listing price in the Charlotte metro area. Real estate developers, like any other business, are free to market their product to eager audiences, of course. But in an area famously struggling with housing affordability, is this really what we need?Thats not just true of Great American Homes which does say that each 1776 community will donate a home to a disabled veteran but of every developer seeking to build oxymoronic affordable luxury communities in areas where many people can hardly even afford rentals or starter homes. 1776 Gastonia markets its patriots paradise as an exclusive concept, and exclusive might be the best word to describe it. A community like this isnt for everyone and thats probably the point. Nearly 100 letters containing white powder sent to Trump and senior Republicans Nearly 100 letters containing a mysterious white powder were addressed to Donald Trump and several Republican lawmakers in Kansas, according to officials. At least two Republican politicians from the state said they received a letter from someone who referred to themselves as your secret despirer. The term is likely a play on the word despise. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said the letters containing suspicious white powder have been received across the state of Kansas and sent for testing to determine the components of the substance. It said approximately 100 letters have been received as of Sunday and law enforcement and hazmat teams were working to safely collect the letters and investigate the incidents. Currently, no injuries have been reported, but we ask everyone to remain vigilant in handling mail, it said. Similar letters containing a note and a powdery substance were sent to prominent figures such as former president Donald Trump and Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas. However, before reaching their intended recipients, these letters were intercepted by the US Postal Inspection Service, sources told ABC news. The letters were found to be harmless by postal inspectors, sources said. One of the recipients of the compromised letter told ABC Kansas City affiliate KMBC that the note with the letter was intended to threaten. "There is some message. The message is somewhat unclear, but it was intended to be threatening," Republican state senator Molly Baumgardner said. She said the letter mailed to her had a suspicious white powder and a note which read in part that: It is important not to choke on your ambition. It was described as a gift by the sender who referred to themselves as "your secret despirer. "Everybody has to be concerned," Ms Baumgardner told the network. "Everyone has to take this and any subsequent threats like this very seriously." Republican state representative Stephen Owens said he also received a letter with content similar to the one that Ms Baumgardner got, according to a copy he shared with CNN. KBI said they are working with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to determine the motive behind the letter. "Preliminary tests have returned from this lab indicating the substance is presumptively negative for common biological agents of concern," the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in an update, adding that it has been sent for further testing. Kansas state Republican representative Steve Owens told ABC News that it was terrifying to receive the letter that came in a standard white envelope. In April, Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, received two letters containing white power just days after indicting Mr Trump. New York police were called to the mailroom at the office located in Lower Manhattan as a precaution and determined the white powder was nonhazardous. The first letter to Mr Bragg read: ALVIN: I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! Mr Bragg said he has received several serious threats of harm recently which has led to an increase in security protection. Argentina, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Spain and the United States were among the signatories (HENRY NICHOLLS) Nearly 40 countries at the United Nations backed LGBTQ families on Tuesday, at a time when some Muslim and African nations are contesting sexual orientation and gender identity language in UN forums. "Families play a fundamental role in society. Supporting families is an important element in promoting and protecting human rights," 37 countries said in a statement at the UN Human Rights Council. "This support must be inclusive of all family compositions, including multigenerational and extended families, single parent households, LGBTIQ+ families and Indigenous kinship groups," Australia's representative said on behalf of several countries. They were mainly from Europe and the Americas, plus Israel, New Zealand and East Timor. They called on countries and UN bodies "to continue to apply an inclusive lens to families, and to ensure that equality, non-discrimination, and the universality of human rights remain at the centre of engagement in supporting families". Argentina, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Spain and the United States were among the signatories. The statement comes as several other countries, notably from the Middle East, are mounting a defence of the traditional family in UN forums. Sexual orientation and gender identity issues will be at the heart of the 53rd Human Rights Council session, which started on Monday and runs until mid-July. Such issues have become a contentious in several branches of the UN. Countries in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and many African nations, plus Russia and China, are trying to roll back concepts and language which have been embedded in UN documents for at least a decade. Earlier this month, OIC and African countries were blocking the adoption of the UN labour agency's budget, before agreeing to a last-minute compromise over references to discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. "Promoting a framework around discrimination that does not have international consensus and reflects priorities of the few risks undermining the spirit of cooperation," said Pakistan's Khalil Hashmi, on behalf of the OIC group, before the vote was finally passed. The World Health Organization has since last year seen attempts to remove such references from its strategy on infection prevention, while the Human Rights Council faces growing opposition to long-standing efforts to monitor for discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. vog/rjm/gw LANSING Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has charged eight current and former prison employees, including a former acting warden, in the 2019 death of a prisoner at Alger Correctional Facility in Munising, she announced Tuesday. Jonathan Lancaster The felony charges include involuntary manslaughter in the death of Jonathan Lancaster, who was 38 when he died while in solitary confinement at the prison in the Upper Peninsula. "This death was a preventable tragedy that played out over days and under the defendants supervision, Nessel said in a news release. These are serious, and numerous, charges that reflect the broad culpability the defendants shoulder in the death of Johnathan Lancaster. The eight defendants had a responsibility for the care and well-being of those in their custody, and my office will continue to rigorously pursue accountability when that is not met. The State alleges that Lancaster stopped eating and drinking and was placed in solitary confinement in an observation cell and in restraints. He remained that way until he died three days later, despite having lost more than 50 pounds in fifteen days and widespread knowledge of his deteriorating state of health, the release said. Lancaster received no emergency medical attention until after his death, the release said. Charged are: Former Acting Warden Scott Sprader with one count of involuntary manslaughter, a 15-year felony. Former Assistant Deputy Warden Benny Mercier with one count of involuntary manslaughter. Registered nurses Paul Zelenak, Nathan Moser, Barbara Bedient and John Crane, all formerly of MDOC, with one count each of involuntary manslaughter. Former MDOC Sgt. Jason Denman with one count of misconduct in office, a five-year felony. MDOC Officer Shawn Brinkman with one count of misconduct in office. The investigation was conducted by the Michigan State Police. Those charged could not immediately be reached. Five of the eight defendants were arraigned Tuesday in 93rd District Court in Munising. "This is a big deal," said Lancaster's sister, Danielle Dunn, of Washtenaw County, who had fought to bring accountability in the case and said she believes this is the first time Michigan prison employees have faced manslaughter charges in the death of a prisoner. Nessel's office could not immediately confirm that. More: Report calls on Michigan prison system to sharply reduce its use of solitary confinement More: Women prisoners describe their struggles with addiction: 'Worse than being on the streets' "I feel like this is the beginning of justice for Jonathan," she said Tuesday. Dunn told the Free Press in 2021 that she believes there is no doubt that the department's segregation policies and practices contributed to his death. Lancaster was physically healthy when he arrived at Alger, but had mental health and addiction issues. Dunn said his condition deteriorated rapidly after he was placed in segregation, apparently in response to an altercation with another prisoner. Lancaster was severely dehydrated, and was found lying in his own feces and urine, according to a statement of claim. In 2021, a federal judge in Grand Rapids gave approval to a $2.6 million settlement under which defendants from the MDOC and its then-medical contractor, Corizon Health, paid Dunn and other Lancaster relatives. Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Nessel charges 8 Michigan prison employees in 2019 inmate death JERUSALEM Palestinian terrorists killed four Israelis in the city of Eli in the Binyamin region on the West Bank, also known by Israelis as Judea and Samaria. A statement given to Fox News Digital by the IDF spokesman confirmed four Israelis were killed in the attack. "Earlier today, a car arrived from the village Urif, and 2 Hamas affiliated terrorists opened fire in a restaurant near Eli, murdering 3 civilians." The statement continued, "Later the terrorists opened fire in the gas station near the restaurant and murdered another civilian there, one terrorist was neutralized by an Israeli civilian, and another fled the scene in a stolen car. "The IDF chief of the general staff, LTG Hertzi Halevi, held a situational assessment at the scene and ordered an increase of activity and apprehensions in the area, as well as reinforcement and strengthening of the defense in the region." ISRAELI FORCES CALL IN COBRA GUNSHIPS AGAINST PALESTINIAN MILITANTS DURING 'MASSIVE' RESCUE OPERATION IN JENIN Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack in a statement Tuesday, "Today, next to the community of Eli, a shocking and abhorrent terrorist attack was perpetrated. From the depths of my heart, I send condolences to the families of those who were murdered, may G-d avenge them, and on behalf of the entire people, I send my best wishes for a swift recovery to the wounded." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Netanyahu gave a warning to the terror groups operating against Israel. "Our forces are now working on the ground in order to settle accounts with the murderers. In recent months, we have already proven that we do settle accounts with all of the murderers, without exception. Those who have attacked us are either in the grave or in prison, and so it will be here. I would like to remind all those who seek to harm us: All options are open. We will continue to fight terrorism with full force and we will defeat it." Following the attack Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedic Liz Goral, stated, "One of the victims who was seriously injured by gunshots at the gas station was brought to us by the communitys entrance. He was fully conscious and in pain. We moved him quickly to the MICU and evacuated him to Beilinson Hospital while providing life-saving treatment, including a tourniquet and drug therapy to stabilize his condition." A second MDA paramedic, David Dalfan, added, "We saw one of the victims with gunshot wounds near the gas station. He was fully conscious and communicating with us. We performed a medical assessment and provided life-saving treatment, including bandaging and stemming the bleeding, and evacuated him in an MDA MICU to Shaare Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem, in moderate and stable condition." AMERICAN CITIZEN CONFIRMED DEAD IN WEST BANK TERROR ATTACK The second suspect was caught and killed, according to a statement from Israeli security forces. "Forces of the Shin Bet and the Israeli Defense Forces conducted a chase for the suspect who fled the scene. During the intelligence and operational operations of the Shin Bet, the Toyota vehicle with which he fled the scene was located and inside it was a weapon that he allegedly used in the attack. During the arrest attempt, the suspect tried to escape from the vehicle, was shot and neutralized by the forces. No injuries to our forces." The U.S. and E.U.-designated terrorist organization Hamas, which rules over the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip, praised the Tuesday terrorist attack. A Hamas spokesman said the Palestinian response to "Jenin and Al-Asqa was not late in coming. " Tuesday's attack follows an attack on IDF forces in the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday. Armed Palestinians detonated a 40kg bomb underneath a road in Jenin, in an effort to blow up IDF vehicles, prompting Israels military to use combat helicopters to launch strikes the first use of military helicopters since 2002. Israeli news agency TPS reported that since the beginning of 2023, the IDF stated that 25 Israelis have been murdered in terrorist attacks. TPS also reported that photos on social media, Tuesday showed Palestinians in Jenin passing out sweets to honor the murder of Israelis. Paging Stephen Spielberg It was a close call for a Netflix camera crew when a swarm of tiger sharks attacked their boat, puncturing the vessel and forcing them to make an emergency landing on a beach in Hawaii, according to an account published by Radio Times. The crew was filming footage for the David Attenborough docuseries "Our Planet II." They were manning an inflatable boat around the waters of Laysan, an isolated island in Northwestern Hawaii, so they could film tiger sharks preying on young albatross fledglings. "This 'v' of water came streaming towards us and this tiger shark leapt at the boat and bit huge holes in it. The whole boat exploded," Toby Nowlan, director and producer, told Radio Times. "We were trying to get it away and it wasnt having any of it. It was horrific. That was the second shark that day to attack us." Hangry Sharks Luckily, the boat was only roughly 330 feet from the nearest beach and had enough air to get the crew safely to land, Radio Times reports. Nowlan called the shark attack "extremely unusual," but said they may have been "incredibly hungry, so there might not have been enough natural food and they were just trying anything they came across in the water." Huw Cordey, a producer, spilled more details in a Forbes interview, saying that the crew was supposed to do an underwater shoot when the attack happened. "It was like something out of 'Jaws,'" said Cordey. Team Shark Locals have been spotting an increasing number of tiger sharks in the waters around Hawaii as of late, Newsweek reports. There have been four reported shark attacks in Hawaiian waters this year so far. A shark, believed to be a tiger shark, bit a man's right foot in April, which later required amputation of the appendage, according to Newsweek. Tiger sharks are known to be aggressive and have a rapacious appetite for just about anything. Their stomachs have been found to have tires and license plates, according to the Ocean Conservancy. But sharks, including tiger sharks rarely attack humans, despite whatever anti-shark propaganda you may have seen in "Jaws." More on sharks: Drone Footage Shows Swimmers Often Have No Idea There Are Giant Sharks Right Nearby Gannett, a news publisher accused of monopolistic behavior, is suing Google for monopolistic behavior. Its the latest in a string of lawsuits against the search giant, and it repeats many of the arguments made by the Department of Justice in its second lawsuit against Google, filed earlier this year. Gannett is the US largest news publisher. Google has monopolized market trading to their advantage and at the expense of publishers, readers and everyone else, Gannett CEO Mike Reed said to CNBC. Digital advertising is the lifeblood of the online economy. Without free and fair competition for digital ad space, publishers cannot invest in their newsrooms. Gannett, which owns USA Today and various local papers, says Google has overly broad control over the online ad business, leading to diminished ad spending despite growing online readership. The crux of the complaint is that Google owns the largest ad exchange and ad server both acquired rather than built organically and that arrangement has led to diminished industry revenue. Content providers, including hundreds of our local news outlets, create enormous value but see none of the financial upside because Google, as middleman, has monopolized the markets for important software and technology products that publishers and advertisers use to buy and sell ad space, Gannett CEO Mike Reed wrote today. Google trades on that conflict of interest to its advantage and at the expense of publishers, readers and everyone else. Our lawsuit details more than a dozen significantly anticompetitive and deceptive acts by Google, starting as early as 2009 and persisting to present day. In a statement to Engadget, Google insisted that its services are popular because theyre the best not due to a lack of competition. These claims are simply wrong. Publishers have many options to choose from when it comes to using advertising technology to monetize in fact, Gannett uses dozens of competing ad services, including Google Ad Manager, VP of Google Ads Dan Taylor said. And when publishers choose to use Google tools, they keep the vast majority of revenue. Well show the court how our advertising products benefit publishers and help them fund their content online. Google says the average large publisher will use six different platforms to sell ads on its websites, while advertisers and media agencies will use over three platforms to buy ads. The search giant describes its ad tech fees as transparent and consistent with industry rates. FILE - In this July 14, 2010 file photo, the sign for Gannett headquarters is displayed in McLean, Va. Gannett has filed a civil lawsuit against Google and its parent company Alphabet, Tuesday, June 20, 2023, claiming that they unlawfully hold monopolies in the advertising technology tools that publishers and advertisers use to buy and sell online ad space.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, file) However, Gannetts complaints are similar to those of the DOJ, which filed a suit in January (alongside eight states) to break up Googles advertising business. Googles anticompetitive behavior has raised barriers to entry to artificially high levels, forced key competitors to abandon the market for ad tech tools, dissuaded potential competitors from joining the market, and left Googles few remaining competitors marginalized and unfairly disadvantaged, the Justice Department alleged at the time. It was the DOJs second lawsuit against Google, following one filed in 2020 under former Attorney General Bill Barr, accusing the company of having a monopoly over search and search-related advertising. Gannetts and the DOJs most recent lawsuits claim Google has stifled competition in the space through acquisitions. Whenever Googles customers and competitors responded with innovation that threatened Googles stranglehold over any one of these ad tech tools, Googles anticompetitive response has been swift and effective, the DOJ said. Gannett is no stranger to monopolistic accusations. Although the company is over 116 years old, it was acquired by New Media Investment Group and merged with GateHouse Media (taking on the Gannett brand) in 2019. Since the merger, Gannett has laid off over half its workforce and shut down numerous local news outlets. In the period immediately following the acquisition, Gannett owned 261 daily and 302 weekly newspapers, according to Nieman Lab. By the end of 2022, those totals were 217 daily and 175 weekly newspapers, although some were due to selling papers to local buyers. In addition, the company went from about 25,000 employees at the time of the acquisition to 11,200 in its most recent filing report. Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast When was the last time you saw the stars? Think about it. Try to really recall the last time you saw a constellation like the Big Dipper, or spotted the North Star on the horizon. If you live in a rural part of the country, theres a good chance youve seen them as recently as last night. However, if youre one of the nearly 40 percent of Americans who live in a city, you might not have seen them last night or the night before. If you live in a large city like New York or Los Angeles, theres a good chance you dont even remember the last time you saw the stars. While it might not seem like much, our ability to see the stars at night is actually a pretty good indicator of not only the overall health of a city, but also its surrounding ecosystem. And the visibility of the night sky lets researchers know about other pernicious and potentially devastating issues within communities that are largely unseen but can result in the deteriorating health and increasing disparity for society at large. Light Pollution Is Blotting Out the Starry Night Faster Than Ever We should be more cognizant of it, Eva S. Schernhammer, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, told The Daily Beast. Throughout her research, Schernhammer has uncovered a number of troubling links between overexposure to light and health issues. She led a 2001 study that found a strong link between nurses who work at night and an increased risk of breast cancer. More recently, Schernhammer co-authored a paper published June 15 in the journal Science about how reducing artificial light at night (ALAN) could improve human health and society. The paper is one of several published in a series dedicated to ALAN and its deleterious effects on everything from health, to the ecosystem, to the field of astronomy as we know it. Some of the findings are enough to make you want to flip the switch off for good. For example, a staggering 83 percent of the worlds population lives under light polluted skies. This represents roughly one-fourth of the Earths overall landmass. This number is also growing at a breakneck pace of 11 percent each year, and is exacerbated by the growing number of satellites being shot into orbit by private space companies such as SpaceXresulting in a kind of perfect storm of disappearing darkness. Is Light Pollution the Easiest Environmental Problem to Fix? The looming effects mean more than just the loss of the night sky, according to the papers authors. They also represent an existential risk to the public health and the stability of natural environments. It is not alarmist to suggest light pollution is going to result in increased rates of hospitalizations, and even the emergence of new diseases. What worries me most about thatapart from the fact that we still need to better be able to measure it so we understand its direct impact on humansis its impact on our ecosystems, Schernhammer said. It impacts the habitat of animals. When they get under stress, they may be triggered to express more of the viruses that live in them. That, in turn, can come back to us. Thats right: The next pandemic might occur because its too bright out. The Sound of Silence The flipside to light pollutions coin is also something were ignoring at our own peril. Mississippi artist Erica Walker has a story that will probably sound familiarperhaps too literally. A few years ago she had been experiencing something many of us have gone through at one time or another: noisy upstairs neighbors. The situation got so bad, she began looking into ways that she could get her neighbors to quiet down via the legal system. As she gathered her data and information to make her case, though, she discovered that she wasnt alone with her issue with noise. I realized that it was just a much bigger problem than myself, Walker told The Daily Beast. There was a big problem. Today, Walker is an assistant professor of epidemiology at Brown University School of Public Health where she also helps run the Community Noise Lab, which explores the relationship between community noise and public health. Her research has unveiled a stark link between noise pollution and the overall well-being of communities. A recent analysis by The New York Times underscored the pervasiveness of this issue well. In one study published in 2019 in the European Heart Journal, scientists researched the brain scans of hundreds of patients and found that those who lived in areas with loud transportation noises like airports and railways were more likely to have major cardiac events and heart ailments. Another study published 2021 in the European Heart Journal found that hearing airplane noise within two hours of sleep increases your likelihood of experiencing a sudden heart attack. Noise pollution isnt just limited to airplanes and trains either. It can occur if you live near a busy road with a lot of traffic, or if youre in a neighborhood with a vibrant nightlife, or even if you live with noisy neighbors like Walker did before. This acoustical trash as Walker refers to it, disrupts our sleep, increases production of stress chemicals like cortisol, and triggers our fight-or-flight response that stresses our physical and mental well-being. In her research, though, Walker has also discovered that theres a link between noise and light pollutionthese arent simply discrete sources of disturbance and havoc. Often, when she finds a source of noise pollution in a community like an Amazon distribution center or a railway, shes likely to find the other. Things like light pollution, noise pollution, soil pollution don't happen in a vacuum, Walker explained. When you find one, you find them all. If there's light pollution somewhere, there's noise pollution. If there's noise pollution somewhere, there's probably water pollution. They're like these sort of canaries in the coal mine for other things. Theyre all connected. Uneven Noise Like most forms of pollution, theres a disparity in who exactly experiences noise and light pollution too, according to Walker. The communities that bear the brunt of noise and light pollution tend to be made up of people of color in low income neighborhoodsdamaging artifacts of old racist and biased city planning systems that hurt poor, urban areas the most. Its not only poor planning, but also intentionally harmful planning that has created this system, Walker said. We have to reevaluate that planning and actually do something different. Walker acknowledged that it will require a massive fundamental and systemic change in order to bring about the change necessarybut its imperative if we want to see these communities thrive. After all, theyre currently caught in a vicious and life-threatening cycle when it comes to noise and light pollution. Were Seeing the Devastation of Environmental RacismFrom Mississippi to Pakistan People who live in places with a lot of ALAN and surrounded by constant, disruptive noise suffer from poorer mental and physical health when compared to affluent communities who can avoid such issues. This, in turn, can result in a decreased chance of finding and securing a well-paying job. Likewise, children who live in these communities struggle more in school, which results in decreased rates of education. This isnt just hearsay either. Numerous studies have found that noise pollution disproportionately impacts low-income, minority neighborhoods when compared to their affluent, white counterparts. The same goes for light pollution too. All of it is caused largely by the same mechanisms that drive anthropogenic climate change: out-of-control industrialization and a wanton disregard for the communities and ecosystem that make for a healthy planet. This often results in poor and historically disenfranchised populations bearing the brunt of our destructive habits. New U.N. Report Is Most Radical Call Yet for Climate Justice The situation isnt hopeless. Both Walker and Schernhammer stress the need for sound policy regulating the amount of noise and light certain places can produce in a community. Walker pointed out that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) used to have an Office of Noise Abatement, that was created in response to what they discovered to be a third of the U.S. population was exposed to sound levels deemed harmful to their health. However, the office was shuttered during the Reagan administration and not opened again. Nevertheless, the same policies that can help keep climate change at baylike rules about what industries can be built and work in certain municipalities and ecosystem protection lawscan also do the work of guarding these communities from noise and light pollution. Remember: Its all pretty connected. Of course, the real irony is that all of us have brought the noise and light pollution into our very own homes in a way. Youre likely reading this article on such a device right now. Walker admits that even she falls prey to this when she plays Candy Crush on her phone with her headphones on well into the night. But that just brings the truth that we need to have a fundamental shift in our relationship with a rapidly advancing world to light. Its an attitude shift, Walker said. It's so easy to just put your acoustical or light trash in someone else's yard and theyre not going to fight back. Our country runs on that. It runs on these inequalities. That means that we have to disrupt the very elite system of society. 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. NYC e-bike shop was cited for violating lithium-ion battery rules before blaze that killed 4 Fire consumes Chinatown e-bike shop, killing four people. New York City fire inspectors dogged the HQ E-Bike Repair shop since at least 2021 over unsafe handling of lithium-ion batteries before the deadly blaze Tuesday that killed four people in Manhattans Chinatown, Fire Department officials said. One inspection last August resulted in a $1,600 fine, said the officials. But an undercover inspection in May did not result in any violations, as the inspector did not see any batteries being charged, a Fire Department official told the Daily News. FDNY Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn told reporters that during the visit last month, the undercover inspector observed many, many batteries inside the store, which is a violation of the fire code. But the Fire Department official who spoke to The News said whether a violation was issued in May would have depended on whether the batteries were charging. Having batteries isnt a violation. Having them charge too close together is the violation. We didnt see any charging, the official said. During the August 2022 inspection, fire marshals found HQ E-bike Repair was charging batteries stacked next to each other and plugged into extension cords violations that could undoubtedly spark and spread a blaze, FDNY officials said. The marshals entered the repair shop on Madison St. near Catherine St. in Manhattan on Aug. 30 after getting a 311 tip about charging e-bikes plugged into extension cords, which is a violation of the fire code. The marshals saw some e-bikes plugged directly into a wall socket, which is allowed, but many were being charged with extension cords. The e-bike and scooter battery packs were also lined up next to each other not separated three feet apart, as required by FDNY rules. The shop itself did not have a designated charging area, an FDNY official said. The battery packs were also being charged for more than an hour, which is also a violation. Marshals gave the owner of the Chinatown store three FDNY summonses for using extension cords and failing to maintain a charging area in accordance with the fire code. They were also given a summons for not having service tags on their fire extinguishers. At an Environmental Control Board hearing, the business was found guilty of the violations and ordered to pay a $1,600 fine, Flynn said. These (violations) were all related to the charging of the batteries and the number of batteries they had at this location, Flynn said at a press conference outside the bike repair shop Tuesday. Similar violations were filed against the store in 2021, he said. The 2021 inspection came about because a Fire Department company was in the area and observed lots of clutter and fire hazards and then conducted an inspection, a Fire Department official told The News. The store was cited in that inspection, the official said, but exact details of the sanctions were not immediately available. Its common for stores like HQ E-Bike to flagrantly violate the fire code, FDNY officials said. In February, fire marshals and city sheriff officers searched a bicycle shop on Broome St. in Chinatown, where inspectors found hundreds of lithium-ion batteries being charged in racks along one wall next to dozens of e-bikes and scooters. Everyones worst fear occurred Tuesday shortly after midnight when a fatal fire broke out in HQ E-Bike Repair and quickly spread through the building on Madison St. Firefighters pulled seven people out of the fire. As of Tuesday afternoon four people were dead, including a 71-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman. Two women were fighting for their lives later Tuesday. Two of the deceased had not been identified Tuesday. The batteries were being charged in a room where children slept at night, FDNY officials said. So far this year, the FDNY has responded to about three lithium-ion battery fires a week, officials said. Factory-installed scooter batteries seem safe and adhere to industry standards, safety experts say. The batteries that tend to combust are aftermarket products e-bike users buy online or in scooter stores as replacements for the scooters original batteries, say FDNY officials. As of Tuesday, 13 people have been killed in e-bike fires this year, Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said. This time last year, only two deaths were attributed to lithium-ion battery fires. The sun sets behind a ridge charred by last year's Oak fire near Mariposa, Calif. Officials said the suspect accused of starting the fire was once a firefighter. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) Prosecutors charged a onetime firefighter Tuesday with aggravated arson and other felonies that carry a potential life sentence for allegedly igniting the devastating Oak fire that destroyed 127 homes near Yosemite National Park. Edward F. Wackerman, 71, was arrested Friday on suspicion of igniting the massive fire that also burned 66 outbuildings, forced a massive evacuation and consumed 19,244 acres of vegetation. Mariposa County Dist. Atty. Walter Wall said in the days leading up to the Oak fire that three separate fires were intentionally set in the Carstens Road area. The Oak fire was ignited in dry forest brush in the same area by an arsonist, who was eventually identified as Wackerman, Wall said. Wall would not address Wackerman's motive but Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese acknowledged that Wackerman was once a firefighter; he said he does not know for which agency he worked. Wackerman owns a 44-acre property in the Carstens Road area not far from the source of the blaze, according to county property records. "The arrest of the arson suspect Edward Wackerman is a step towards justice but it cannot undo the damage already done," Briese told reporters outside the Mariposa County courthouse. He noted that the blaze the worst fire in the county's history did $8 million in property damage and cost $100 million to eventually knock down. Wall filed one felony count of aggravated arson and three other counts of arson against Wackerman, charges that carry a potential life sentence upon conviction. Edward F. Wackerman was arrested Friday on suspicion of arson in the Oak fire, which raged in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Yosemite National Park last summer. (Mariposa County Sheriff's Office) "July 22, 2022, changed the lives of many residents as the Oak fire went through our community," Sheriff Briese said. "As promised, we would use every available resource to bring you answers and today is that day." He said "hours of investigation turned into weeks, into months, but the persistence of a thorough investigation pinpointed this fire was deliberately set." Wackerman was taken into custody Friday without incident by sheriff's deputies and investigators with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. He is slated to be arraigned Tuesday. The 2022 Oak fire consumed 19,244 acres of vegetation. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) No one was killed by the devastating blaze but Cal Fire officials reported at least three firefighters were injured and thousands of people were evacuated. The Oak fire began in the shadow of Yosemite National Park at about 2:10 p.m. July 22 in the area of Midpines. A combination of heat, low humidity and parched vegetation bedeviled firefighters battling the inferno that spread through the Sierra Nevada foothills, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency for Mariposa County. The blaze burned until early August before being fully contained with more than 2,000 firefighters battling the flames at its height. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Officers get a boost in efforts to protect people who go to the rapids in Great Falls Duke Energy gave the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources a more than $18,000 grant Monday that will buy wet and dry suits, flotation devices, rafts, helmets and other equipment for officers who serve at the new rapids in Great Falls. Officers from the SCDNR Law Enforcement Division formally receive an $18,500 grant from Duke Energy during a presentation in Great Falls on June 19. Tyson Blanton, of Duke Energy (center, behind check), and state Sen. Mike Fanning were on hand. A new swift water rescue unit formed when Catawba River water was routed back to Great Falls after more than a century. The water had been diverted to power mills in the area. A new whitewater area opened in March for rapids enthusiasts. After 117 years, Great Falls gets its water back. New whitewater rapids to boost SC town The restoration of Great Falls came as part of Duke Energys federal hydroelectric relicensing. The company needs federal approval to manage the Catawba River and its reservoir as it generates power. The most recent relicensing project involved a host of public recreation improvements across Lake Wylie and other reservoirs, including the Great Falls addition. According to SCDNR, the rapids in Great Falls, which is expected to be a regional draw, creates different safety needs compared to nearby Fishing Creek or Lake Wateree. Tips for navigating the long bypass whitewater rapids in Great Falls, SC Its really to help us have a uniform, safe approach to anything that requires swift water rescue equipment or personnel to be able to have a successful operation and outcome, said Lt. Brady Branham, head of the new SCDNR rescue unit. Officers in that unit spent four days near Lake Wylie dam training on nighttime operations, rescue swimming, rescue boat operations and rope techniques in preparation of what they may face in Great Falls, according to Duke. Kayakers headed to whitewater rapids in this South Carolina town will need some skill Mondays grant was part of a $500,000 award to various groups as part of Dukes programs on emergency and storm preparations. These grants will help provide fellow first responders with the tools and training to handle whatever Mother Nature throws our way, said Mike Callahan, Dukes South Carolina state president. State Sen. Mike Fanning said he expects the Great Falls whitewater to be a game changing amenity for the region. It cant work if we dont have ways of keeping people safe, Fanning said. Allowing SCDNR to do their jobs with the resources they need is going to be critical to helping this go long term. A woman was arrested and accused of trying to lure a 4-year-old boy from his home. >> TRENDING: Man shot in Springfield, hospitalized by medical helicopter Lisa Nacrelli, 44, was arrested and charged with child enticement after a Norwood family accused her of attempting to take the child home with her, WCPO reported. The accusations were supported by surveillance footage that the family set up near and around the home. Mommy, mommy, theres some lady here that wants to talk to you, the son told her mom, Jaimie Spradlin recalled. When Spradlin, the mother, went back to surveillance footage, she captured Nacrelli telling her, My name is Lisa, Im from CPS, (also known as Child Protective Services). She shows me a badge that says her name, Spradlin said. She proceeds to rattle off my childrens names. Nacrelli reportedly asked Spradlin if she could come into the house for an inspection and that she was there because someone filed a complaint against them. During their interaction, however, Nacrelli failed to leave any contact information, which left Spradlin and her husband suspicious of the encounter. The family looked at the surveillance video and found that Nacrelli was touching their son for minutes, putting her arm around him, as well as stroking his hair. It creeps us out a little bit, its gut-wrenching, Tim Spradlin, the boys father, said. Im absolutely sick to my stomach, Jaimie Spradlin said. After having a visceral reaction to Nacrellis behavior, the parents checked with Child Protective Services to find out that the woman was not employed by the department. Everything was a lie, and now were sitting here on top of being enraged that this even happened, terrified because I dont know what her plan was, Jaimie Spradlin said. I know that she told my son that she has a black vehicle and that theres a really pretty car seat in it for him. The woman asked their son to come home with her on three different occasions, the family said. It was later confirmed that Nacrelli lived blocks away from the Spradlin family. It is currently unknown if the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services would file a complaint against the woman for allegedly impersonating a CPS employee. Olx Group, the online marketplace and classifieds business arm of Prosus, has cut around 800 jobs globally. Today's move comes as the company started to close operations of its automotive business unit Olx Autos in some markets after long exploring potential buyers and investors, TechCrunch learned and as confirmed by the company. The Amsterdam-headquartered company, which is operating in over 30 countries around the world, recently started informing the affected employees about the layoffs. They are not limited to a particular market or division, people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. An Olx spokesperson confirmed the job cuts to TechCrunch and said it resulted from the decision to exit Olx Autos that was announced in March. "Earlier this year, we made the strategic decision to exit the Olx Autos business and potential buyers or investors have been explored since then," the company said in a statement emailed to TechCrunch. "As a result of this process, it became clear that pursuing individual country sales was the best option, given the significant value that exists within local markets. This includes Chile, the financing business in Latin America, and both the Olx classifieds platforms and the Autos transaction businesses in India, Indonesia and Turkey." But Olx Group couldn't find potential buyers or investors in other markets, meaning that the company has shut down its operations in Argentina, Mexico and Colombia. Although Olx Autos will continue to sell vehicles in these markets, the company will not be accepting any new transactions, as stated on the Olx Argentina website. As for other markets, it's unclear what's going to happen next. "We are committed to supporting all impacted people throughout this transition," the company said. Olx did not confirm whether the move impacted any C-level officers. It also did not immediately respond to a query about its headcount following the latest round of layoffs. In its annual report for the year ending on March 31, 2022, Prosus said its classifieds business predominantly Olx had 11,375 employees globally. The new job cuts notably come just months after Olx confirmed plans to decrease its global workforce by 15% (1,500 jobs) in January. In November, Prosus reported that Olx Autos saw 84% growth in revenue, reaching a significant milestone of $1 billion during the first half of its 2022 financial year. However, the automotive business has not yet achieved profitability. One country may singlehandedly plunge rare fish population into extinction: Every fish is going to be fished A stubborn Russian fishing industry targeting the beaked redfish threatens to eliminate the unique creature from the waters near Greenland and Iceland, where it thrives. What happened? According to a report by the Guardian, Russia ranks second on a 2021 illegal fishing index that includes 152 countries. Scientists have been monitoring redfish populations in the Irminger Sea and, in 2020, found that populations of the fish, which can live up to 60 years, may only have years to exist due to illegal fishing. The fish, which can grow to about 1.5 feet long, is known for its large eyes and orange color. Russia has, for a number of years, simply not been willing to accept the best available scientific advice [on redfish], Stefan Asmundsson, the Iceland foreign minister representative to the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, told the Guardian. In response, Russian officials said they have done their own research about redfish populations and will continue to harvest the fish. Russia remains the lone country to continue fishing the species in international waters. Why is illegal fishing dangerous? Scientists dont know a lot about how the species arrives in the Irminger Sea. They show up in April and leave in June. The redfish also matures slowly, needing up to 15 years to reach reproductive age. Their slow development cycle makes excess fishing an extreme hazard, according to Kristjan Kristinsson, a biologist at the Icelandic Marine and Freshwater Research Institute who was interviewed by the Guardian. Every fish is going to be fished eventually, he said about the redfish. Simulations show that populations will not recover in the next decade, despite other countries halting harvests. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, about three billion people worldwide rely on fish as a main source of protein. Without sustainable fishing practices worldwide, fisheries could collapse. Whats being done about overfishing? Part of the solution includes international support for the species, experts say. The European Union has already condemned the fishing. Officials are considering banning vessels with redfish on them from ports, the Guardian reports. Unfortunately, Russias redfish exploitation isnt the only problem in the seas. Overfishing worldwide is hitting many species hard, including pollack and red king crab. An organized effort from countries that support the industry is likely needed to report on the impact of overfishing in the seas. Leaders will need to confront countries, including Russia, that continue to exploit at-risk species. Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet. One man in critical condition after weekend assault at a Wilmington gas station The New Hanover County Sheriff's Office is investigating an assault over the weekend that left one man in critical condition. An man was in critical condition Monday after being seriously injured this past weekend at a gas station in New Hanover County. Deputies with the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office responded to The Pit Stop, located at 4902 Carolina Beach Road just north of Monkey Junction, on Sunday morning after receiving reports of an alleged assault, according to a press release from the sheriff's office. After arriving, deputies found the victim, who was immediately transported to the hospital. During their investigation, deputies identified Daniel James Mendoza as a suspect, according to the press release. Deputies located Mendoza at his mother's house shortly thereafter and took him into custody. Mendoza has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious bodily injury. He is currently being held in the New Hanover County Detention Facility on a $1.005 million secured bond, and the sheriff's office's investigation is still ongoing, according to the press release. STAY CONNECTED: Keep up with the areas latest news by signing up for the Daily Briefing email newsletter. This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: New Hanover County deputies investigating weekend assault at gas station Days after Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni announced that he had tested positive for Covid-19 on June 7, 2023, online posts circulated claiming his health had quickly deteriorated and that he was admitted to hospital where he died from coronavirus complications. But the 78-year-old, who was in self-isolation for more than a week, had not died; this soon became evident when he addressed the Ugandan parliament on June 15, 2023. A TikTok video shared a screenshot of a tweet purportedly from State House Uganda claiming that East Africas longest-serving president had died. With deep sorrow and regret we announce the sudden demise of the number one citizen of the republic of Uganda H.E. Gen Yoweri Museveni (sic), reads the screenshot. The TikTok video was published on June 14, 2023 and has been viewed more than 120,000 times. A screenshot of the false TikTok video, taken on June 15, 2023 The same TikTok account re-shared the screenshot in a different video that also included a tweet by Tanzania Abroad TV purporting that Museveni had been rushed to intensive care. The tweet was shared widely on WhatsApp groups in Kenya. A screenshot of the tweet circulating on WhatsApp groups in Kenya, taken on June 15, 2023 While some social media posts were pronouncing Museveni dead, others were questioning whether the rumours were true (see here). A look at State House Ugandas account, however, revealed no tweet about Museveni dying, suggesting that the screenshot was likely fabricated. Rumours of Musevenis death turned out to be false. Still alive The speculation was spurred by news of Museveni testing positive for Covid-19 on June 7, 2023. In Kenya, his name was on top of the trending topics on Twitter for several days. Amid rumours of declining health and even death, Museveni updated the world on his health and dismissed claims that he had been in intensive care. I also noticed some few individuals from, I think, Kenya, saying that I was in ICU etc. If I was in ICU, the government would inform the country. What is there to hide? he wrote in a tweet dated June 13, 2023 (archived here). He tested positive for Covid-19 again, according to another tweet a day later, and cancelled a trip to join other African leaders on a mission to mediate peace between Ukraine and Russia. On June 15, 2023, he addressed the Ugandan parliament virtually during the presentation of the countrys budget (archived here). He subsequently tweeted news that he had received a negative test for Covid-19 (archived here). Fellow Ugandans, especially the Bazukulu. Sorry about losing our People such as Justice Arach (it is now really arach) Amoko, Jack Muchunguzi (one of the 27 with whom I attacked Kabaamba), Nuwe-agaba who was working in our CBRN Department of State House and others. Condolences pic.twitter.com/S7vK8ZZlhS Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) June 18, 2023 This is not the first time Museveni is rumoured to have died. In 2021, local media reported that he directed security forces to locate very quickly and arrest people who had spread rumours of his purported death (archived here). Conspiracy theory Some posts claimed Americans were behind Musevenis recent health woes in retribution for Ugandas anti-gay law. This conspiracy was shared in the form of a tweet fabricated to look like it was coming from Musevenis account accusing Americans of poisoning him. I will stand with my country no matter what, we cant allow homosexuality in Uganda if you kill me my people will continue the struggle, reads the fabricated tweet. A screenshot of the manipulated tweet, taken on June 16, 2023 However, the tweet does not belong to the Ugandan leader. It does not have the grey check mark that is visible on Musevenis real account (archived here). Secondly, the purported tweet dated June 11, 2023, does not appear on Musevenis timeline. Lastly, the font does not match the one used by Twitter. In May, US President Joe Biden called for the immediate repeal of Ugandas anti-gay legislation. He slammed the measures as a tragic violation of universal human rights and threatened to cut aid to, and investment in, the country (archived here). Since the adoption of the draconian law, the US updated its travel warning for Uganda, a move Kampala branded blackmail. Opinion: I Could Get a Spanish Tutor for My Daughter. Why Im Letting Her Fail Instead My 16-year-old daughter finished 10th grade with As in all of her subjects. Except for Spanish 2. That wasnt a surprise. For ninth-grade Spanish 1, she had six teachers over the course of the year. (One teacher came back, so it was seven transitions.) She entered the course knowing no Spanish. She exited the course knowing no Spanish. Nevertheless, she was promoted to Spanish 2. There, she had three teachers over the course of the year, and each one assumed the students had mastered Spanish 1. They taught accordingly. So my daughter and her classmates fell further behind. In New York City, students take a state exam in order to earn a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation. My daughter is on track to earn that diploma in all her other subjects. But she is nowhere near ready to take, much less pass, the Spanish Regents. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Its no big deal, well-meaning fellow parents assure me. Just hire a tutor. I could do that. Im fortunate enough to have the resources to do that. But I refuse, and heres why: because that would let her school and the entire public education system off the hook. Related Surprising Numbers Behind Which NYC Schools Actually Educate Kids New York state has spelled out, in the form of the Regents exam, what it believes to be an appropriate level of Spanish mastery necessary to graduate from high school. Is it not, then, the responsibility of the public education system to make sure every student reaches that level? Whats the point of graduation requirements otherwise? I have written in the past about high-performing schools that rely on well-off parents to prep their children outside the classroom, then happily take credit for their successful test scores. Ive written about my engineer husband tutoring our daughter in math when her teacher failed to get the job done. I have also written about how the Specialized High School Admissions Test, which keeps Black and Hispanic students out of New York Citys top schools, is not the problem but is, instead, evidence of what a terrible job the city is doing educating those students. I cant keep being part of the problem. If I were to hire a Spanish tutor for my daughter, if I were to prepare her outside of class to take and pass the Spanish Regents, I would be perpetuating the lie that her public school education was adequate. And thats damaging to the students who come after us, who dont have the resources for tutoring, who are exclusively counting on their schools to get the job done. Related All Struggling Students Deserve Tutoring Like My Daughter Gets from Her Dad Arent you biting off your nose to spite your face, my well-meaning fellow parents continue to ask. How will sabotaging your daughters college admissions chances benefit anybody? Ive talked to her about this. She says she understands my decision. That this issue is bigger than her. Its bigger than our family. Its bigger than just the students in her class whove been subjected to a Spanish teacher merry-go-round. Students were promised they would know the material. But they werent taught it. How is this acceptable? I understand and even sympathize with families who see that their children are not learning in the classroom and hire tutors to fill the gaps. But when we do that, we are letting the schools and the entire system slide on providing the education they owe our children. Weve all had a rough three years. Teachers are struggling to support students performing at wildly different academic levels. Im not saying its easy. But I am saying that it needs to be done. And by the schools, not the families. Perhaps small-group tutoring is the answer. In his 2022 State of the Union address, President Joe Biden urged schools to use federal COVID relief aid for such programs and called on parents to make sure your school does just that. Related 3,500 Local School Districts Ambitious Post-COVID Tutoring Plans Perhaps its paying teachers better, so students arent faced with the kind of constant turnover my daughter and her classmates endured. Perhaps its putting students into classes based on their performance level, rather than their age, so all kids can get the precise instruction they need. Meanwhile, its up to parents to hold their schools responsible for imparting the education they promised. One way to do that is by exposing every single time they fall short. Even if it means letting your own child fail. If enough families do that, schools will no longer be able to sweep their negligence under the rug. Theyll be forced to admit theres a problem. And finally be pressured or, if necessary, shamed into fixing it. For everyone. For the past several years, our state has been entrenched in a fight against fentanyl. According to the Associated Press, fentanyl kills roughly 110 Californians each week. This poison is a synthetic opioid often used to manufacture counterfeit prescription pills with deadly results. Unfortunately, powerful legislators in the Democratic Party are blocking the Assembly and Senate from advancing bipartisan solutions attempting to address the fentanyl crisis from public health and public safety perspectives. The majority of these bills, which include common-sense measures to hold traffickers accountable, have broad support from victims families and the public. While hyper-partisan politics grinds solutions to a halt, poison in the form of fentanyl has spread across our state with astonishing speed. According to a 2022 report by the California Department of Education, 80% of drug-related deaths in California were due to fentanyl, and there were 6,000 opioid-related deaths in California in 2021, according to the California Department of Public Health. By comparison, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were roughly 3,500 gun deaths in California in 2020. Opinion Yes, fentanyl and other opioids kill more people in California than guns do. Fentanyl is unlike other drugs due to its potency its more than 50 times stronger than heroin. It is increasingly killing people who are not chronic users or addicts, like Zach Didier, a young man from my neighborhood in Rocklin who was poisoned by fentanyl two days after Christmas in 2020. After a drug dealer sought out young adults via social media, Zach purchased what he thought was Percocet. It turned out to be a counterfeit pill laced with a fatal dose of fentanyl. Zach was only 17. To stop this wave of tragedies, we need a multi-pronged approach that educates people about the dangers of fentanyl, provides treatment to those who are addicted and imposes real consequences for people looking to make a quick buck selling this poison. Republicans have backed a laundry list of bills to do exactly that. I authored bipartisan plans to educate children about the dangers of fentanyl and to ensure public schools have the overdose medication Narcan on campus in the event that a student, staff member or campus visitor is exposed to this deadly poison. I also authored legislation that would compel individuals convicted of fentanyl-related crimes to complete a probation course focused on the dangers of fentanyl. While education and treatment are important in addressing this crisis, that is where the conversation stops for liberal Democrats. They refuse to hold traffickers accountable, even those who repeatedly sell counterfeit pills that kill unsuspecting Californians. They claim that imposing meaningful consequences for dealers would be a return to the war on drugs and that Republicans want to criminalize addiction. Nothing could be further from the truth. The war on drugs was a failure that we are not interested in repeating. People with substance use and addiction disorders need help and treatment. But if we dont deter business-minded criminals from profiting off the deaths of innocent Californians, we will be fighting this epidemic at an extreme disadvantage. Existing law is so weak that just last year, two men who were arrested in Tulare County with 150,000 fentanyl pills were deemed low risk, released with no bail and then skipped town. Law enforcement did their job by arresting these men, but our Legislature created the circumstances that shielded them from accountability. These drug traffickers did not need treatment for addiction; they needed to be sent to prison. A bill to increase penalties on individuals caught with an ounce or more of fentanyl failed on a party-line vote. For reference, one kilogram of fentanyl (2.2 pounds) can kill 500,000 people, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. We have also backed Alexandras Law, which would deliver a written notice to convicted fentanyl dealers that continuing to sell drugs is dangerous and could be tried as murder. The notice would empower prosecutors to file homicide charges if the dealer continues to sell fentanyl and causes a death. This is similar to an existing law for DUI cases. Legislation like this does not continue the war on drugs. It targets drug traffickers who are killing people. Republicans, joined by some Democrats, have offered a multi-faceted approach to this crisis. But without consequences for drug traffickers, we cannot honestly say we are doing everything possible to fight this epidemic. Most Californians, from either side of the aisle, would agree. By misrepresenting Republicans, some Democrats are giving cover to the traffickers who are devastating our communities. Experimenting with drugs is a bad decision, but it shouldnt come with a death sentence. The people responsible for these deaths need to be held accountable. Our fight is not with those who need treatment. It is with the individuals who continue to knowingly peddle this poison and profit while unsuspecting teens and young adults die. Holding traffickers accountable will send a message that if you want to exchange lives for profit, there will be consequences. I stand ready to work with any legislator, Republican or Democrat, to save our kids and young adults. We must act decisively and expeditiously to stop this problem from growing further. Assemblyman Joe Patterson represents Californias 5th Assembly District. He formerly served as the mayor of Rocklin. 'Oppressive' and 'unbearable' heat wave scorches Texas, with no end in sight Though the summer solstice occurred only this morning, blistering, dangerous summer-like heat has already been the main weather story across the south-central U.S. over the past few days. And there is little relief in sight for sun-scorched states such as Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana, forecasters said. Its going to be really bad, Bob Fogarty, a National Weather Service meteorologist in the Austin/San Antonio office, said this week. Its going to be oppressive. The temperature in San Angelo, Texas, soared to an all-time high of 114 degrees on Tuesday, according to the weather service. Del Rio, Texas, topped out at 113 degrees Tuesday, also an all-time record high. Meanwhile, Texas power grid operator asked residents Tuesday to voluntarily cut back on electricity due to anticipated record demand on the system. While the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said it was "not experiencing emergency conditions," the agency noted the state hit an unofficial June record for energy demand on Monday. AccuWeather meteorologists expect that the heat dome that has caused temperatures to skyrocket throughout June will continue to jeopardize heat records for at least the next several days. Everything you need to know about heat: From the heat index to a heat dome to an excessive heat warning Excessive heat warnings in effect High temperatures were forecast to soar into the 100s and 110s across southern Texas over the next several days, the weather service said. And there will be little respite in the evenings as lows only drop into the 70s and 80s. "No clear end in sight to this oppressive heat," the weather service said on Twitter. "Continue to do what you can to keep cool!" Excessive heat warnings and heat advisories are in effect for much of Texas and Louisiana as a result, according to the weather service. An excessive heat warning means that "dangerously hot conditions with heat index values of 110 - 120 degrees are expected, the weather service said. Dymond Black sits with a towel over his head in the shade on June 19, 2023 in Austin, Texas. Extreme temperatures across the state have prompted the National Weather Service to issue excessive heat warnings and heat advisories that affect more than 40 million people. The southwestern region of the state has suffered record-breaking 120-degree heat indexes in recent days, with forecasters expecting more of the same. Austin, Texas, sees uptick in heat-related illness calls According to the Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services, first responders have received dozens of heat-related calls since temperatures began to increase last week. The agency said there has been 67 heat-related illness calls from June 11 through Tuesday morning. Cpt. Christa Stedman, an agency public information officer, said there has "unquestionably" been more heat-related illness calls than what data shows. "Extreme heat and humidity will significantly increase the potential for heat-related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities," the weather service warned. 'Unbearable,' 'horrible' heat Tens of thousands of people across the south-central U.S. remained without power Wednesday as a result of big storms late last week and over the weekend, adding to the heat misery. Its been unbearable, Leigh Johnson, a resident of Mount Vernon, Texas, told Dallas television station KXAS Monday. She had not had power for about three days. Its been horrible because its like, the heat index has been so bad that literally, were having to sit in the cold baths to cool ourselves down. Our animals as well, were having to stick them in the bathtub just to keep them from having a heat stroke, its been that bad, she said. Why is it so hot? A strong high-pressure system and unusual humidity are to blame for the uncomfortable weather, Fogarty said. The high-pressure, stagnant air tends to make the area above it hotter. It just lets us get hotter and hotter, he said. The sun just kind of bakes it each day. How to stay safe in extreme heat People should approach the heat with care, Fogarty said. Try to avoid the hottest hours of the day, if you can, he said. If you have to be outside, the recommendations are wear loose-fitting, light-colored clothing. Try to take breaks in the shade. Try to stay hydrated. AccuWeather recommends that people: Drink plenty of fluids Stay in an air-conditioned room, out of the sun Check up on relatives and neighbors Do not leave young children or pets unattended in vehicles in any circumstance When possible, reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening if you work or spend time outside Contributing: The Austin-American Statesman; The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas and Louisiana heat: No relief in sight for sun-scorched states Frankie Dettori had a disappointing opening day at what is his final Royal Ascot with Aidan O'Brien's Paddington beating the Italian on favourite Chaldean in the St James's Palace Stakes (JUSTIN TALLIS) Aidan O'Brien said he was looking forward to "his marmalade and toast" after Paddington's victory in the feature St James's Palace Stakes made him the all-time record winning trainer at Royal Ascot on Tuesday. Irish 2000 Guineas winner Paddington strode clear of Frankie Dettori on English 2000 Guineas champion Chaldean to give O'Brien his 83rd victory at the meeting, moving one clear of Michael Stoute. Stoute had set the record in front of Queen Elizabeth II but with her death last year it was King Charles III and Queen Camilla -- who have some runners this week -- who led the Royal Procession down the course prior to racing. O'Brien's ninth win in the St James's Palace came after River Tiber had given him his 10th victory in the Coventry Stakes -- both ridden by Ryan Moore. Moore's double moved him to 75 wins, two shy of 52-year-old Dettori, who had a miserable opening day in his final Royal Ascot. "I am looking forward to my marmalade and toast," said a grinning O'Brien after welcoming back Paddington, named after the famous bear whose favoured food was a marmalade sandwich. O'Brien was in awe of the improvement the winner had shown since starting his career as a handicapper -- on Tuesday he became the 13th horse to achieve the Irish 2000 Guineas, St James's Palace double. "He is an incredible horse, coming from being a handicapper to this level," purred the 53-year-old Irishman. "He is a smart horse and very exciting to watch race." Moore eulogised about his performance. "He is a very good colt, he is improving and improving," said Moore. "He has a big engine and a lot of class." The disappointing tone for Dettori's day had been set in the opening Group One Queen Anne Stakes when he had to make do with second on hotly-fancied Inspiral. - 'Deja vu' - The riding honours went to Neil Callan, springing a huge surprise in guiding home 33/1 outsider Triple Time for the jockey's sixth Royal Ascot success. Callan, who acquired the nickname 'Iron Man' during a 10 year riding stint in Hong Kong, is usually not short of a word or two but this took his breath away. "I am speechless for once," he said. "I am a bit emotional as well. "It is some feeling when I came back from Hong Kong I did not expect anything, nothing is guaranteed in this game but Kevin Ryan (winning trainer) gave me the support." Ryan said he had not been surprised by his performance -- even though he was the joint biggest price winner with Accidental Agent, who won it five years ago. "We had a plan in our head and it panned out perfectly." he said. Dettori suffered more disappointment in the next the Coventry Stakes on Givemethebeatboys -- his despair not as deep as new owners Con and hs son Neil Sands who outlaid 1.1 million euros ($1.2 million) for the horse on Monday. Dettori set the pace but he faded to finish fourth -- favourite River Tiber took the honours giving O'Brien his 10th success in the race. Appositely O'Brien's first ever Royal Ascot winner came in the Coventry with Harbour Master in 1997. Dettori's mount in the other Group One King's Stand Stakes was withdrawn -- victory went to Hollie Doyle on Bradsell, himself a former Coventry Stakes winner. It was Doyle's fourth Royal Ascot winner, though, she and trainer Archie Watson had a nervous wait as they had to endure a steward's enquiry. Watson had been on the wrong end of a stewards enquiry in the Commonwealth Stakes in 2021 but he took victory with as much grace as he did that bitter blow back then. "It was a sense of deja vu when Dragon Symbol got thrown out of the Commonwealth that was a terrible day for us," said Watson. "I am so proud of the horse, Hollie has given him a fantastic ride. "We always believed in him and I am so glad he has justified our faith." pi/nr Who paid the $500,000 to bail George Santos out of jail? We'll probably find out on Thursday. Republican Rep. George Santos of New York leaves the Capitol on May 25, 2023. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images A group of three people are on the hook for $500,000 to keep Rep. George Santos out of jail. The scandal-plagued congressman has fought hard to keep their identities secret. But his latest appeal was denied, and their identities will be publicly released on Thursday. America is about to find out who bailed Republican Rep. George Santos of New York out of jail after he was indicted on federal charges last month. On Thursday at noon Eastern Time, documents revealing the identities of the three people who paid the scandal-plagued congressman's $500,000 bond will be unsealed after US District Judge Joanna Seybert denied Santos' most recent appeal. The order, entered late on Tuesday, allows the congressman two days to find new suretors for his bail if the original individuals wish to have their names remain secret. Santos has fought hard to keep the identities of those individuals secret, with his lawyer arguing in a recent court filing that "the political temperature in this Country and acts of political violence that occur" necessitates it. According to federal prosecutors, Santos personally stole donations to his Long Island campaign operation, illegally took pandemic employment funds, and lied to Congress on financial disclosure documents. The judge allowed Santos to walk free instead of going to jail ahead of trial on the condition that he stays in Washington, DC and New York, and agrees to a $500,000 bond. Three people signed up to be guarantors for the bond. But in a highly unusual decision, the magistrate judge who imposed the bond allowed the identities of those bail sponsors to remain secret. In court filings, Santos's lawyer Joseph Murray has indicated that at least one bail sponsor was a family member, but feared they would back out of the bond if their identities were disclosed. One of the three people who originally agreed to sponsor the bond already dropped out, Murray said. Some have raised questions as to whether the bond was paid including partially or indirectly by Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire facing federal fraud charges that Santos began to vocally defend shortly before his indictment. In recent weeks, Santos has continued to align himself with Guo's cause, including attending an event held at a mansion associated with the billionaire and even introducing a bill that he dubbed the "GUO Act." Read the original article on Business Insider China's aid, investment greatly contribute to Cambodia's development: official Xinhua) 09:28, June 20, 2023 PHNOM PENH, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak said here on Monday that China's official development assistance and investment have greatly contributed to the socioeconomic development in the Southeast Asian country. "Cambodia's development in all areas is inseparable from China's support and contribution," he said during the inauguration of a showroom of the Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor in Phnom Penh. The minister said that thanks to the close cooperation between the two countries under the Belt and Road Initiative, a number of Chinese-invested mega projects such as hydropower plants, the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, and Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport, among others, have been carried out in Cambodia. He said the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement, which both entered into force on Jan. 1, 2022, have boosted trade and investment volumes between the two countries. Sorasak added that the "diamond hexagon" cooperation framework, which was established by both countries in February, will also inject a fresh impetus into the building of the Cambodia-China community with a shared future. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Downtown Brattleboro, Vt., June 15, 2023. (Richard Beaven/The New York Times) BRATTLEBORO, Vt. As his few remaining hours with a place to live ticked by last Thursday, Scott Alexander panhandled near a McDonalds in Brattleboro, in southern Vermont, while running through a mental checklist of the supplies he would need for a move back into the woods nearby. He had a tent and sleeping bags for himself and his wife, a propane stove and a heater. But he needed tarps and propane, and in two hours of holding his battered cardboard sign Any Act of Kind Greatly Appreciate he had made only $3. It feels like a countdown, Alexander, 41, said as he eyed the storm clouds gathering overhead. Ill be up all night, trying to get ready. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times In the progressive bastion of Vermont, it was a point of pride that the state moved most of its homeless residents into hotel rooms during the coronavirus pandemic, giving vulnerable people a better chance of avoiding the virus. But this month, the state began emptying hotels of about 2,800 people living there most of them with nowhere else to go. Driven by the recent end of pandemic-era federal funding for emergency housing, the expulsions have spawned a state budget standoff and, in some quarters, painful soul-searching about Vermonts liberal values, and the limits of its good intentions. The situation has also highlighted the growing importance of hotels in the housing crisis nationwide, for people whose other options are tents or sidewalks, and for local governments stymied by a paralyzing lack of affordable housing. Between March 2020 and March 2023, Vermont spent $118 million in funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and $190 million in federal money altogether, to house people in hotels, according to the state, broadly expanding a program that had long provided shelter in motels in snowy or frigid weather. It was always clear that the emergency funding would end, but some saw a potentially transformative opportunity in the temporary program: a chance to draw people into stabler settings where they could be counted, connected with services and, ultimately, helped into longer-term housing. The effort quickly revealed the extent of the states housing problem. In the first year of the expanded hotel program, the number of Vermonters counted as homeless more than doubled, to 2,590 in 2021 from 1,110 in 2020. In the most recent tally, completed in January, the total jumped again, to 3,295, in part because the hotel program made people easier to count but also because of the continuing housing crisis, with higher rents and fewer vacant apartments. The rural state, with a population smaller than any but Wyoming, had risen to the top of two national rankings by last year: It had the second highest rate of homelessness per capita in the nation, after California but also the lowest rate of homeless people living outdoors. To some, it felt like a launching point. With our smaller population, our culture and our passion, I think we felt a lot of hope that we could make real progress toward ending homelessness, said Jess Graff, director of Franklin Grand Isle Community Action, a nonprofit agency in St. Albans, near the Canadian border. But planning for long-term solutions faltered, hindered by a lack of housing stock, labor shortages and glacial timelines for construction. As it became clear that most hotel residents would return to homelessness, tensions rose between Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, the Democrat-dominated Legislature and advocates who were calling on the state to keep people in hotels. The end date was postponed in March, at a cost to the state of $7 million to $10 million per month. On June 1, the expulsions began. An estimated 800 people statewide were turned out of hotel rooms that day as the Scott administration stressed the need to invest in long-term housing solutions instead. We will make every effort to ensure vulnerable Vermonters are sheltered, Miranda Gray, a deputy commissioner of the states Department for Children and Families, said in a statement. With waiting lists for shelter beds and transitional housing, the only option available to most of those forced from hotels this month was a free tent. Across the state, social service workers handed out camping equipment, a gesture that pained providers like Graff, who saw 28 households displaced from hotels in her area of northern Vermont on June 1. Even purchasing the tents is awful, because youre in the store with a cart full of camping equipment, and people are saying, Looks like a fun weekend! she said. A few hotels, including the Quality Inn in Brattleboro where Alexander and his wife had lived for about a year, granted homeless guests a two-week extension, until June 16. As that deadline approached last week, residents expressed frustration and fear. Kathleen McHenry, 55, had begun packing some belongings in her car and throwing others away. She said she was weary of the assumptions people made about her and terrified she would be raped while sleeping outdoors. Im not here because of drugs, she said. Im here because I could not find a place to live. As a steady rain fell that night, McHenry kept dry under the hotels beige stucco portico, fussing over another residents baby before heading back inside to her two cats and her chunky Lab mix, Kirby. She said the bonds among residents, almost like siblings, had made the hotel feel more like a home. Outcry over the expulsions has increased since June 1, ratcheting up pressure on legislators to act. On Tuesday, the final day of their session, they voted to extend the stays of the remaining 2,000 hotel residents who had been scheduled to leave on July 1 a group that includes hundreds of children, and some adults who are bedridden, dependent on oxygen or take medications that require refrigeration, according to advocates. The move averted a possible mutiny by a group of progressive lawmakers who had opposed the motel expulsions and whose votes were needed to override the governors veto of the budget passed by the legislature. If unopposed by the governor, the latest extension would allow the most vulnerable Vermonters to stay in motels until April, or until they find housing, as long as they contribute 30% of their income to help pay for their stays. Brattleboro, a riverfront town tucked into the states southeastern corner, has deeply liberal and empathetic instincts. But it is also wrestling with rising crime downtown, and concern that it will hurt businesses and tourism. Days after the first wave of hotel checkouts, the towns selectboard voted to hire a private security firm to patrol some areas where drug use had increased. The town was badly shaken by the murder in April of Leah Rosin-Pritchard, 36, at the Morningside House shelter, where she was the coordinator. A resident of the shelter was arrested and found mentally unfit to stand trial. The 30-bed shelter has remained closed since. The town, like many in Vermont, does not allow camping on public land and has made no exceptions for the people leaving hotels. John Potter, the town manager, said the impact of the hotel program on Brattleboro, where people had come from around the state to stay in seven hotels, could be long lasting. We hope it helped them, he said, but what it leaves us with now is potentially more people looking for a roof over their heads than we had before. The town has asked the state for help setting up a temporary 100-bed shelter in a vacant office complex. Other states have avoided large-scale expulsions of homeless residents from hotels. In Oregon, state leaders decided early in the pandemic to buy hotels rather than rent rooms in them for months or years. The state spent $65 million in 2020 to acquire 19 properties and convert them to permanent shelters. A few such purchases have taken place in Vermont, but by individual nonprofit groups. In Brattleboro, Groundworks Collaborative, a nonprofit agency, worked with a local land trust to buy an old chalet-style hotel in 2020, tapping federal relief funds to convert it to 35 units of supportive housing for people leaving the motels. A similar project in northern Vermont turned a former nursing home into 23 affordable apartments, Graff said. The state made investments too, offering incentives to developers to build affordable housing and grants for renovations of abandoned properties. But as the need kept surging, the supply was nowhere near enough. At the Quality Inn in Brattleboro, a woman who said she had lost her housing after divorcing her abusive husband worried about keeping her full-time supermarket job while living in a tent in a state park. She said she copes with homelessness by finding tiny escapes a waterfront picnic or a trip to a Chinese restaurant buffet to pretend, for an hour, that this is not our life. c.2023 The New York Times Company What is Pangalay? These Filipino TikTok creators are proudly partaking in the countrys traditional fingernail dance A traditional Filipino style of dance is gaining popularity among Gen Z on social media. TikTok users of Filipino descent have taken to the social media platform to show their cultural pride by doing the traditional fingernail dance known as Pangalay, which is believed to have originated from the Philippine islands of Sulu by the Tausug people. Pangalay means temple of dance in Sanskrit. Performed with South East Asian instruments like the kulintang, gandang, agung and gabbang, Pangalay predates Christianity and Islam in the Philippines and is recognized as a living link to other traditional dance cultures of Asia, including Burmese, Cambodian and Thai styles. On June 13, 24-year-old Florida-based creator Kirshie (@kirshie) posted a get ready with me video which she dubbed Pangalay edition in honor of Philippine Independence Day on June 12. Kirshie puts on a purple-hued pair of loose trousers, a silk blouse and an opulent headdress. She saves the most notable part of the attire for last, which are the mesmerizing metallic nail extensions, or Dyanggay, that give the Tausug dance its name. The dance relies heavily on fluid finger movements as a means of articulating symbolic and emotionally resonant metaphors pertaining to the ocean, flowers, sea waves, the wind and more. Pangalay is such a beautiful dance this is sooo gorgeous, @solicole replied. precolonial traditional filipino clothes are so pretty, @scen3ry.luvr commented. Pangalay is basically pure dancing, Filipino academic and dancer Ligaya Fernando-Amilbangsa, who is recognized for her knowledge of the Pangalay dance, writes for PangalayDance.com. A sense of anti-linear time pervades the slow, refined, meditative, elegant and almost hypnotic movements. The continuously flowing or seamless unfolding movement from a central core is consistent with the pre-modern mode and Eastern sense of multi-level or anti-linear time that has no definite beginning or ending. This is opposed to the Western concept of time or the metempsychosic scale. Kirshie isnt the only Filipino American creator embracing the fingernail dance. On April 24, Gabriella Buba (@gabriella.buba.books) revealed that she attended a Pangalay workshop in Houston, Texas. On April 16, Nahia (@nahiadiwata), a Filipino creator and self-described pre-colonial fashion revivalist, shared a video of herself also dancing Pangalay with what appears to be a wind machine, no less. Following a camera transition, Nahia is dressed in stunning, traditional clothing worn while doing the dance. Feeling is conveyed chiefly through the arms and hands, Fernando-Amilbangsa continues. Fingers are customarily held stiffly together and curled back towards the dancers wrists with controlled energy, thumbs apart and thrust forward. Fingers may flick, flip or flutter. The janggay or metal claws amplify eloquent hand movements. Whether its in an effort to preserve and connect with their culture, reduce stress or improve their fitness levels, theres been an increasing number of Filipinos whove grown curious about learning how to perform the indigenous, emotional style of dance that hails from their homeland. In The Know by Yahoo is now available on Apple News follow us here! The post What is Pangalay? These Filipino TikTok creators are proudly partaking in the countrys traditional fingernail dance appeared first on In The Know. More from In The Know: TikTok mortician believes she may have saved a womans life after recently sharing tips about safe driving TikToker shares shocking realization about her teeth following years of vaping 7 plus-size vacation dresses under $50 at Nordstrom Rack you need for your next trip 10 must-read books by Caribbean authors to add to your bookshelf Abby Lutz was found dead in a hotel room in Mexico with her partner John Heathco (Family handout) Paramedics in Baja California Sur who responded to the report of an American couple deceased in their hotel room said they felt symptoms consistent with carbon monoxide poisoning when they entered the room. Fernando Valencia and his partner were called to the Hotel Rancho Pescadero in El Pescadero around 9pm on Tuesday (13 June) after receiving reports that two Americans were unconscious. Upon arriving, Mr Valencia said he and his partner felt dizzy when they entered the room where they found 28-year-old Abby Lutz and 41-year-old John Heathco dead. We went out of the room as soon as possible I was afraid for my partner because my first thought in my mind was are we going to die? Mr Valencia told Good Morning America. Lutz and Heathco were on a vacation in Mexico when they began to experience what Lutzs family said are symptoms consistent with food poisoning. The two went to the hospital to seek treatment and by Monday (12 June) were feeling better. Between the time that Lutz texted her father on Monday and Tuesday evening, the couple died of intoxication by an unknown substance, according to the Baja California Sur attorney generals office. Lutzs family said they were told the couples deaths were due to improper venting of the resort with the possibility that it could be carbon monoxide poisoning. Mr Valencia called walking into the room one of the worst experiences of his life. He was especially worried for his and his partners health because he was working with his sister. John Heathco was found dead in a Mexico hotel room with Abby Lutz (LinkedIn) The Baja California Sur attorney generals office said in a statement that Lutz and Heathco had been dead between 10 and 11 hours by the time paramedics arrived. There were no signs of physical violence. In a statement provided to The Independent, Henar Gil, the general manager of Rancho Pescadero a Hyatt property said: We are truly heartbroken by this terrible tragedy. Our hearts are with the impacted families and loved ones during this unimaginable loss. Abby Lutz was found dead in a hotel room in Mexico with her partner John Heathco (Family handout) Local authorities are still actively investigating the situation, and the safety and security of our guests and colleagues remains a top priority, as always. We can confirm there was no evidence of violence related to this situation, and we are not aware of any threat to guests safety or wellbeing, Ms Gil said. She added We are working to care for those who have been impacted and we are working closely with authorities as they conduct their investigation to understand the cause of death. Further inquiries should be directed to local authorities. US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said they are closely monitoring the investigation into Lutz and Heathcos deaths in a news conference on Thursday (15 June). We stand ready to provide any consular any appropriate consular assistance, Mr Miller added. (Getty Images) A portion of a Florida county is under quarantine following confirmed sightings of giant African snails in the area. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services issued quarantine orders on Tuesday after the detection of the snails in the Miramar area of Broward County earlier this month. The agency is using metaldehyde-based molluscicide or, snail bait, to eradicate the pest. Giant African snails are extremely detrimental to agriculture, as they consume at least 500 types of plants and can cause structural damage to plaster and stucco structures. According to the USDA, it can also carry a parasite that, in some cases, can lead to meningitis in humans. Under quarantine restrictions, it is illegal to move a snail or other regulated items including to plant parts, plants in soil, soil, yard waste, debris, compost or building materials without a compliance agreement. Giant African snails were first spotted in the Sunshine State in the 1960s, and it took nearly a decade and $1m to eradicate them. A second infestation was documented in 2011 in Broward and Miami Dade and eradication efforts were completed in 2021. The USDA describes the giant African snail as one of the most damaging in the world, noting that the species reproduces quickly. Pest authorities have advised people living in the vicinities where the quarantine took effect to be cautious around the snails. They may carry organisms that can cause diseases in humans, an advisory read. These organisms can be transferred by ingesting improperly cooked snail meat or by handling live snails and allowing their mucus to contact human mucous membranes such as those in the eyes, nose and mouth. The snails are almost eight inches long and five inches wide roughly the size of an average adult fist, making them one of the biggest snails in the world. A woman had leaned over to care for her baby aboard a red-eye JetBlue flight to Boston when she was groped by the passenger seated next to her, federal prosecutors said. After Jairaj Singh Dhillon touched her thigh and groin area, she yelled out to her husband across the aisle saying this man just groped me about 30 minutes after the flight departed from Los Angeles on May 31, 2022, court documents show. Dhillon, of Modesto, California, then groped a second woman who stood up from her aisle seat across from him to let the first womans husband out, an affidavit says. Dhillon, 43, was sentenced to one year of probation on June 15 after pleading guilty to two counts of assault while in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the U.S., the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Massachusetts announced in a June 16 news release. He will serve the first six months of probation confined to his home, prosecutors said. McClatchy News contacted a federal public defender representing Dhillon for comment on June 20 and didnt receive an immediate response. The flight When Dhillon groped the first woman sitting next to him, she smacked his hand away before pressing the flight attendant call-button before calling for her husband, who stood up to stare at Dhillon, according to the affidavit. Dhillon, who seemed off, went on and reached out with both hands and simultaneously grabbed Victim 2s groin and buttocks, as she stepped into the aisle, the affidavit says. She also smacked his hand away, and later told investigators he appeared not all there, according to the affidavit. JetBlue crew members moved Dhillon to sit away from the women until the flight arrived in Boston, investigators said. In an interview with law enforcement at Massachusetts State Police airport barracks, Dhillon said he didnt remember groping either women, according to the affidavit. He told authorities he took Ambien, a medication used to treat insomnia, about 15 to 20 minutes after the flight took off so he could sleep, the affidavit says. Ahead of sentencing, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo that regardless of any drugs (he) may have taken, there is no diminishing what happened to the female victims who were subjected to Dhillons physical assault. They acknowledged the assaults were undoubtedly concerning. However, prosecutors wrote he accepted responsibility in the case and given his lack of a criminal history besides a DUI in 2008, they argued a sentence of probation involving home confinement was appropriate, the sentencing memo shows. Dhillons attorney wrote he is profoundly remorseful over what happened on the flight in a sentencing memo submitted on his behalf. McClatchy News contacted JetBlue for comment on June 20 and was awaiting a response. Woman refusing to get off phone on plane spits on passenger, slides down exit, feds say Woman wakes to find strangers hand on her thigh on flight to California, feds say Sleeping woman wakes up to man touching her on United flight, feds say. Get away Passengers whose flights are canceled or delayed may soon get better treatment in the US -- where airlines have long set their own rules In Europe, customers are entitled to cash compensation for flight delays and cancellations. Murat Deniz/E+ Collection/Getty Images U.S. airline passengers in early 2023 faced the highest rate of flight delays since 2014. That heightened level of delays came shortly after December 2022, when Southwest Airlines experienced an epic meltdown, canceling 71% of its flights. In response, on May 8, 2023, the Biden administration proposed new rules that would require airlines to compensate passengers whose flights are canceled or significantly delayed because of causes unlike bad weather that are under the control of the airlines. Under the new rules, the airlines would need to offer meal vouchers, overnight accommodations and ground transportation to and from a hotel when customers are stranded. If enacted, those new rules would provide U.S. passengers with rights and protections more in line with those currently afforded passengers in the European Union and Canada. As a professor of history who researches American aviation, Im aware that consumer advocates have pushed for greater passenger rights for airline travelers in the U.S. since at least the early 1970s when Ralph Nader sued an airline for bumping him from an overbooked flight. For the most part, especially since the Airline Deregulation Act in 1978, such efforts have failed, and airlines have been able to set and enforce their own policies. Limits of Rule 240 Ralph Naders suit, which unsuccessfully sought to end the practice of overbooking flights, highlighted that there were regulations already in place concerning passengers bumped from flights because of overbooking. Those regulations, however, did not cover passengers whose flights were delayed or canceled. There was, however, something known as Rule 240. As part of the Civil Aeronautics Boards oversight of U.S. airlines, airlines had to submit information on all aspects of their operations, including their flight delay and cancellation policies. In these required documents, that information was often listed under Rule 240. However, each airline determined its own flight delay and cancellation policies under Rule 240. The airlines were not required to compensate passengers in any particular way, only to state what their policy was. As U.S. airlines became deregulated in the late 1970s and early 1980s, many, though not all, included the provisions they had previously submitted to the Civil Aeronautics Board in their contracts of carriage the fine print associated with airline tickets. Many contracts of carriage stated that in the case of a delay or cancellation, the airline would book a passenger on its next available flight or place them on a flight on another airline that would get them to their destination sooner. Rule 240 or its equivalent under the contract of carriage varies by airline and primarily focuses on rebooking passengers. Some airlines do offer meal vouchers and hotel accommodations, but only when the problem is caused by the airline and not something like weather or a labor strike. Consumer advocates encourage passengers to invoke Rule 240, but airlines will likely provide only what is stated in their contract of carriage. Southwest Airlines canceled over 2,500 flights a day in late December 2022, leaving many customers stranded over the holidays. Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images Push for a passenger bill of rights In recent decades, consumer advocates and even some lawmakers have sought to enshrine more substantial air passenger protections into federal law. In December 2006, American Airlines held passengers on a plane on the tarmac in Austin, Texas, for eight hours with little food or water. Kate Hanni, a passenger on that flight, lobbied Congress to pass an extensive passenger bill of rights. In response, the Department of Transportation did announce new rules in 2009 that said airlines could not hold domestic flights on the tarmac for more than three hours and must provide access to water and lavatories during such delays. Those rules were expanded in 2011 to reimburse baggage fees to customers whose bags are lost, increase compensation for passengers bumped from oversold flights, and extend the rule concerning tarmac delays to international flights, with a four-hour limit. More recently, in November 2021, Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut introduced Senate Bill 3222 to establish an airline passengers bill of rights. However, it never made it past the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. EU paves the way U.S. passengers flying within the European Union can experience what it is like when passenger rights are guaranteed under law rather than left to the discretion of airlines. EU legislation mandates that airlines provide passengers with certain levels of care including flight rebooking, meals, hotel vouchers and, in some instances, cash compensation which varies depending on the length of the delay and the distance of the flight. All travelers who are flying within the EU, or whose flight arrives to the EU on an EU carrier, or departs from the EU on any carrier, are covered under that legislation. The Biden administration proposal would bring U.S. airline passenger protections more in line with the EU where such protections are mandated and not at the discretion of the airline. Such an effort, while likely welcomed by passengers, is also likely to meet opposition from the airlines which have enjoyed a long history of setting their own rules. This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. If you found it interesting, you could subscribe to our weekly newsletter. It was written by: Janet Bednarek, University of Dayton. Read more: Janet Bednarek 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. Asylum Seeking Migrants Wait In Line For Immigration Customs Enforcement Appointments Hundreds of asylum seekers line up outside of the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building on June 6, 2023 in New York City. New York City has provided sanctuary to over 46,000 asylum seekers since 2013, when the city passed a law prohibiting city agencies from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement agencies unless there is a warrant for the person's arrest. Credit - David Dee Delgado-Getty Images A new report shows the global refugee crisis has rapidly increased in recent years, reaching a new record high of approximately 110 million displaced people. This is one of the defining challenges of our time. Fortunately, in the United States, we are seeing a growing movement of individuals, families and communities going above and beyond to provide support and make newcomers feel welcome. Through policy innovations led by the U.S. government, an intrepid effort by frontline resettlement agencies, and a unique approach by Welcome.USa national initiative to mobilize Americans from across the country to welcome and support people seeking refuge in the U.S.people in every state and over 10,000 zip codes have helped resettle more than 200,000 Afghan and Ukrainian newcomers. This is a major change from what we have seen before. What was once a responsibility that fell heavily on specialist resettlement agencies is now being shared by individual families, communities, and businesses in an unprecedented public-private effort. This is something to celebrate and to build on. Throughout Americas history, our communities, businesses and culture have benefited deeply from the contributions of refugees who have settled in the U.S.. We felt it was vital to help continue that American tradition. Thats why we both agreed to chair the Welcome.US CEO Council, a group of more than 35 major American companies. By bringing together the scale of the private sector and our workforces in a coordinated way, we can help expand the work of Welcome.US and tap into an even greater capacity across the country to welcome newcomers and help set them up for success in their new homes. Weve made considerable progress over the last year, with companies from across industries bringing forth their unique capabilities to bolster the work of governments and nonprofits. For example, Airbnb.org has helped connect refugees and asylum seekers to free, temporary housing, HP and Google provided computers and Pixel phones to help refugees stay connected, and T-Mobile is supporting refugees with free service plans. Comcast NBCUniversal has donated airtime on its networks to spread awareness about this important cause while other Welcome.US CEO Council members, including Amazon, Blackstone, Delta, Gap Inc., Marriott, ManpowerGroup, Walmart, and Accenture, have led the way in hiring more refugees. The response within our member companies has also been inspiring. At Google and Accenture alone, employees have volunteered more than 5,000 hours in support of refugeesincluding asylum clinics to help newcomers navigate the paperwork involved with setting up a new life. Member companies like AIG and Chubb have joined us in hosting such clinics, which are led by the legal expertise of Gibson Dunn. Last fall, we attended an asylum clinic in New York, where we heard stories from people like Faqir, a student and dental assistant who was airlifted out of Afghanistan in 2021 after receiving threats from the Taliban. Seeing firsthand the passion of our employees showed how effectively the private sector can bring together the resources to make a real difference. Looking ahead, we want to make it easier for more individuals and businesses to assist in this effort. One immediate need is sponsorship of refugee families. The Welcome.US CEO Council is supporting two new programs to make it easier for Americans to become sponsors by addressing some of the biggest hurdles. Sponsors matched with a newcomer through the Welcome Connect portalbuilt by ServiceNow and Goldman Sachswill be able to access up to $3,000 in matching funds to complement funds raised from their communities. And in partnership with American Express Global Business Travel and Miles4Migrants, Welcome.US will support sponsors with free flights for newcomers who arrive in the US under humanitarian sponsorship programs. How the world supports refugees is a deeply complex issue with no easy answers. Yet, when it comes to supporting refugees here at home, we are learning what works: When everyday American families and businesses contribute their resources and know-how to change lives for the better. Both the need and the opportunity to helphave never been greater and we look forward to you joining us in this effort, on this World Refugee Day and beyond. (Bloomberg) -- A top Chinese central bank official called for persistent efforts to tackle corruption and better training for younger staff after a former deputy governor was arrested on suspicion of bribery. Most Read from Bloomberg Guo Shuqing, Communist Party chief of the Peoples Bank of China, said theres still room to improve anti-corruption work in the financial sector, according to a statement published Tuesday. He made the comments at a recent meeting with senior staff at the PBOC and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. Guo urged employees to draw lessons from cases including Fan Yifei, the ex-PBOC deputy governor who was expelled from the party recently for a list of wrongdoings, including allegedly taking massive amounts of bribes. Fan, who oversaw payments regulation and the development of the digital yuan at the central bank, was arrested and his case was being processed, state-run CCTV reported Tuesday. Fan was investigated by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Communist Partys top graft buster, late last year one of the highest-ranking central bank officials to be swept up in Chinas intensifying corruption crackdown in the financial sector in recent years. During the meeting with Guo, CCDI official Qu Jishan reported cases of law and discipline violations within the central bank, and urged officials to rein in managers in key positions, according to the PBOCs statement. Qu also called for cracking down on hedonism among employees and stepping up top-down supervision within the party organization. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) announced Tuesday that Interstate 95 will reopen in Philadelphia this weekend, about two weeks after a portion of the highway collapsed. Based on the tremendous progress these crews made over the weekend and the time it takes to complete the remaining steps, I can now say that we will have I-95 back open this weekend, Shapiro said in a statement. We have worked around the clock to get this done, and weve completed each phase safely and ahead of schedule, he added. Thats all due to the incredible coordination with our local, state, and federal partners and thanks to the hard-working men and women of the Philadelphia Building Trades who are making this happen. Earlier this month, the driver of a tractor-trailer carrying gasoline lost control of the vehicle, prompting it to flip and catch fire underneath an I-95 overpass in Philadelphia. The northbound lanes of the roadway collapsed, and the southbound lanes were left so severely compromised that they also had to be demolished. The collapse of the highway and its subsequent closure created traffic headaches for commuters in the area, who were redirected to detours. Shapiro said last week that crews would work around the clock to ensure I-95 would reopen as quickly as possible. His Tuesday press release stated that the reopening this weekend will be well ahead of the projected two-week timeline. Demolition work on the impacted stretch of the highway took only four days last week, the governor noted in the release. Construction crews also began bridging the gap in the interstate last week, opting to fill in the area under the overpass with light-weight foamed glass aggregate instead of directly rebuilding the structure. The release says crews will begin paving three new lanes in both directions of the highway this week ahead of the expected reopening this weekend. President Biden visited the site of the collapsed portion of the highway last week, calling fixing it the most important project to the country right now. The Biden administration also pledged federal support to aid in the rebuilding of the highway. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Zoe Petersen, Deseret News In the last season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, when the Weissmans housekeeper gets married and makes clear her plans to leave, it suddenly dawns on Miriam and the rest of the family that they will need to find someone else to take care of the children. As in the rest of the show, the fact that the children are an afterthought for the divorced couple is played for laughs. How else would it be possible for a stand-up comic who works days as a television writer, and her ex-husband who helps with his parents clothing business and runs a nightclub, to manage child care in the late 1950s? Today, of course, there would be an official custody arrangement approved by a judge and managed by a family mediator, with a number of lawyers needed to sign off on every parenting decision. Hiring a new nanny could require its own hearing in family court. These formalized features of a modern divorce agreement are also absent in the show Ted Lasso. Though Ted seems to think more about his son than the Maisels think about their children, the boys presence on the other side of the ocean, where he lives with Teds ex-wife, is still largely a distraction. Like the Maisels, the couples arrangement also seems amicable and ungoverned by outside authorities. As anyone who has spent time in family court can tell you, this situation is for the best. Family court judges are overwhelmed often the same courts managing custody disputes are also managing child abuse and foster care cases. The delays are endless. It is hard for court officers to know what is really going on in a family. And even when judges issue rulings, parents often defy them only to have their ex-partner bring them back to court. The use of mediators, which has become more common in recent years, has relieved some of the pressure. But their services are expensive and almost everyone involved is getting an hourly wage, which means that the party with the most disposable income will probably win. Divorce should be avoided whenever possible, especially when children are involved. There is ample evidence that children do better, both in real time and later in life, when they grow up in a home with both biological parents. And research has found that most married people get happier over time if they stay together. But when couples make the painful decision to separate, the legal process can make a bad situation even worse. Related The difficulty of having strangers adjudicate decisions about your family may have been part of the tragic story of Catherine Kassenoff, who was cut off from contact with her three children, ages 9, 12 and 13, by a court in New York. Kassenoff committed suicide in Switzerland, where she seems to have gone for help with killing herself (she also had terminal cancer). In her parting note, Kassenoff wrote: I cannot survive this torment and the grief that comes from such a prolonged separation from my children. The court system did this to me. She went on to describe family court as a predatory system that functions in darkness through gag orders like the one in my case, through a publicly inaccessible docket, through a closed courtroom, and through ex parte temporary orders that are in place for years. Though it is hard to know what is going on in any marriage (or divorce), it does seem as if Kassenoff had a point. There appear to have been numerous irregularities in her case (for example, Its been reported that the judge was apparently friends with the custody evaluator even presiding at his wedding) and the case had dragged on for four years. Now, tragically, three children have been cut off from their mother permanently. It is not clear what the policy solution is for any of this. Family court lawyers and judges are often the lowest paid members of the legal profession and they are grappling with staggering backlog. Nor is it clear that throwing more money at the problem would help. As folks in family law have told me, there is a lot of burnout, too. Dealing with all of this heartache day after day is not easy. It might be helpful if we had some minimum requirement for what constitutes a reason to go back to court. Not every disagreement needs to be re-litigated at the drop of a hat, especially when resources may be unequal. But issuing a blanket rule on returning to court will disadvantage the partner who is following the agreement and allow the one who is skirting the law to get away with it longer. Government has a poor track record for fixing what ails families. But while these agreements are necessary, it might also be useful to think about what other supports families can have. Is it possible for friends or families or religious leaders to step in to help divorced couples navigate some of their disagreements and prevent the children from becoming pawns in these fights? Divorce can be heartbreaking for all those involved, including extended family. For couples whose relationship is already acrimonious, it may be hard to imagine finding a third party whom both members trust. But just as members of the community are supposed to support a marriage, they may also be a key to supporting, when necessary, a more amicable divorce. Naomi Schaefer Riley is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Deseret News contributor and the author of No Way to Treat a Child: How the Foster Care System, Family Courts, and Racial Activists Are Wrecking Young Lives, among other books. TEHRAN, June 20 (Xinhua) -- A total of 15 people have died of "counterfeit" alcohol poisoning in the northern Iranian province of Alborz over the past six days, the official news agency IRNA reported on Tuesday. Some 182 people suffering from poisoning symptoms have been referred to the province's hospitals in this period, of whom 40 are still hospitalized, with five in intensive care units, IRNA quoted Shahram Sayyadi, president of Alborz University of Medical Sciences, as saying. On Saturday, Alborz Province's Chief Justice Hossein Fazeli Herikandi said over links to the incident, three distributors of alcoholic drinks were identified and arrested, through whom a number of the major distributors of industrial-grade alcohol in the province were captured. He said it was found that the industrial alcohol had been "illegally" sold by the owner of a hairspray production factory in Eshtehard County in Alborz. FILE PHOTO: Then Peru Prime Minister Betssy Chavez addresses the media during a news conference, in Lima LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian police arrested an ex-prime minister on Tuesday for allegedly conspiring against the state and joining an attempted "coup" by ousted former President Pedro Castillo, in the latest criminal case targeting a politician in the country. Former Prime Minister Betssy Chavez was detained at her home in the southern city of Tacna following a court order, according to local television, more than six months after the leftist Castillo was arrested and jailed on rebellion charges. Chavez, a former legislator, and other former ministers of Castillo's 17-month-old government are also being investigated as co-conspirators for the crime of fomenting rebellion. The charges stem from Castillo's announcement last December that he would dissolve Congress and rule by decree just ahead of an effort by lawmakers to vote him out of office. Peru's opposition-led Congress rapidly ousted Castillo and police subsequently arrested him. Castillo's removal sparked months of angry and sometimes violent protests that left over 60 people dead, largely from indigenous groups. The current government led by President Dina Boluarte, Castillo's former vice president, has denied it committed abuses during the protests while pledging cooperation with the investigations. A criminal chamber of Peru's Supreme Court issued the arrest warrant for Chavez, the court said on Twitter, while prosecutors filed a request for 18 months of preventative imprisonment. A lawyer and fierce defender of Castillo, Chavez has repeatedly denied participating in or having knowledge of the alleged coup attempt, as have other former ministers who are also under investigation. (Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Sandra Maler) Dashawn Walker suffered 10 gunshot wounds after he left Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School of Philadelphia on Feb. 21, nine of which broke his legs bones. A Philadelphia student was denied access to his senior prom and high school graduation after police said he was the target of a shooting in his neighborhood. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Dashawn Walker, then 17, suffered 10 gunshot wounds after he left Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School of Philadelphia on Feb. 21. One bullet tore through his intestines and the other nine broke the bones in his legs. A stray bullet struck a 13-year-old girl in the arm. After a days-long coma and a month recovering post-ICU at Temple University Hospital, the 12th grader spent a month at the Shriners Hospital for Children rehab facility. He had to relearn how to walk there because metal rods were now holding his lower limbs together. He had over a dozen surgical procedures and used a colostomy bag for three months. Dashawn Walker, who was a student at Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School of Philadelphia, was banned from his senior prom and high school graduation after police said an attack on him was a targeted shooting. (Photo: Screenshot/YouTube.com/Danny Knoll) Walker initially worried about how he would get through his senior year of high school. However, his professors and counselors at MCSCS worked with him throughout his rehabilitation to enable him to finish his coursework remotely and graduate in May. But the schools founder and top administrator, Veronica Joyner, and her board members immediately decided that Walker could not return to in-person schooling or occasions, such as his prom and graduation ceremonies. She claimed she was concerned about his shooters potential return and believed Walkers presence posed a threat. If youre a target, do I bring that target around other people and get them caught up in a shooting? Joyner questioned, The Inquirer reported. We would be placing others at risk by having him around. Walker said he felt the school blamed him for what happened rather than support him. I was the victim, he said, and I felt like I was the problem. Walker claimed that after being shot, several friends informed him that Joyner questioned how he could afford a luxury backpack, shoes and expensive prom attire. Walker said he believes she was implying that he was dealing drugs or engaging in some other criminal activity to pay for those things. Mildred Brockington, Walkers mother, said she works hard to assist her son in purchases so he can blend in with the fashions at school. Parents frequently spend thousands of dollars on prom because it is significant to their teens. Joyner denied commenting on Walkers attire, but she reportedly raised concerns about the price of his prom suit. Walker said that Micah Roane, 20, his alleged shooter, resides in his neighborhood but has never spoken to him. He added that he has no idea why Roane went after him. Court records show that police discovered a 9mm handgun while searching his home, The Inquirer reported. He allegedly affiliates with other individuals who have participated in shootings nearby. According to Capt. James Kearney of the Philadelphia Police Departments nonfatal shooting unit, Walker has never encountered trouble with law enforcement. Prosecutors also said they had no indication Walker was involved in any acts of violence or had ongoing disputes in the neighborhood. Its an unacceptable, outrageous act of violence, and its a tragedy, the District Attorneys Office spokesperson Jane Roh said. And theres no reason any institution should be treating him like he is also a defendant. Roanes charges include attempted murder and illegal gun possession. He remains in the city jail. According to court documents, a grand jury has been tasked with hearing the case because prosecutors want to safeguard potential witnesses. Michael Diamondstein, Roanes attorney, said his client denies the allegations. Walker claimed he tried to explain his innocence to Joyner during a phone call, but she was adamant in her position. Instead, the schools founder said Walker should be grateful the school helped ensure he received the resources needed to graduate. On June 8, Walker watched inconsolably as his fellow seniors from MCSCS received their diplomas as they crossed the stage. Although his name was listed in the graduation pamphlet, administrators didnt read it aloud. He said his absence from graduation seemed like a replay of prom night, when his pals FaceTimed him from the ballroom while he was in bed. Walker was accepted at Pennsylvanias Shippensburg University, where he plans to pursue business or healthcare in the fall. He also intends to launch Redemption, an emotional support group for victims of gun violence. Walker, who continues to experience nightmares, anxiety and depression, maintains that the incident with his school has made his recovery more agonizing overall. He knows he cannot go back in time and influence Joyners decision, but he still wants her to understand the hurt her actions caused him. Joyner asserted that she runs a successful institution. Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School of Philadelphias mock trial squad was named international champs recently, it consistently boasts a 100 percent graduation rate, and all of its grads were accepted into colleges this year. My heart goes out to Dashawn, but I didnt create the situation, Joyner said, The Inquirer reported. My actions didnt involve me in something that got me shot. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post Philadelphia student barred from prom, graduation after being targeted by gunman appeared first on TheGrio. Photos show dramatic difference in water levels at Lake Oroville from 2021 to today, now at 100% capacity Photos show dramatic difference in water levels at Lake Oroville from 2021 to today, now at 100% capacity California's Lake Oroville, one of the many important reservoirs in the West that reached critically low levels during the height of the megadrought, is now filled to the brim. Before and after images of Enterprise Bridge offer a sharp comparison for Lake Oroville between July 22, 2021, and June 15, 2023, after the reservoir, the second-largest in the state, reached full pool for the first time since 2012 -- and only the second time in the past 15 years, according to the California Department of Water Resources. PHOTO: In this before-and-after composite image, a comparison of water levels at Lake Oroville between July 22, 2021, and June 15, 2023. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) In September 2021, water levels in Oroville dipped to their lowest ever at 628.47 feet, at just 24% capacity. As of Monday, water levels neared 900 feet -- more than 100 feet higher than this time last year. Not only are water levels at the lake currently measuring at 100% capacity, they are at 127% of where they should be around this time of year, according to the DWR. Storage at Lake Oroville has risen more than 240 feet and gained more than 2.5 million acre-feet of water since Dec. 1, according to the DWR. MORE: Snowpack in the West is melting rapidly. Where will all that extra water go? The improving drought conditions in California are "a stark difference" from the last three years, California Department of Water Resources director Karla Nemeth said in an emailed statement to ABC News. Oroville can hold 3.5 million acre-feet of water, with the peak flow from the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains occurring in April as temperatures began to rise quickly in the region. Some spots in the Sierra Nevada mountains received up to 200% more snowpack than normal due to repeated rounds of atmospheric rivers that slammed the West Coast during the winter season. PHOTO: A picnic table sits partially submerged in the waters of Lake Oroville, June 15, 2023 in Oroville, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Melting snowpack continues to contribute to nearly full reservoirs in the state. Lake Shasta, California's largest reservoir located about 120 miles north of Lake Oroville, is also close to full pool, nearing 97% capacity as of last week, according to the California Department of Water Resources. The San Luis Reservoir in Merced County, the fourth-largest in the state, is currently 99% full. "Its refreshing to see Lake Oroville and other State Water Project (SWP) reservoirs like San Luis near or at capacity," Nemeth said. MORE: This year's 100% water allocation in California does not mean the water crisis is over, experts say In April, when Lake Oroville was measuring at 91% capacity, the DWR announced the State Water Project would be delivering 100% allocation for the first time since 2006. The department is continuing to optimize operations for water storage and environmental protection for the water delivery needs to 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland, Nemeth said. These operations will also allow for carryover storage into next year, she added. PHOTO: FILE - A section of Lake Oroville is seen nearly dry, Aug. 19, 2014 in Oroville, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, FILE) Officials began ordering the strategic release of water as soon as the melting began, fearing the devastating flooding that would occur from the rapid warm-up in temperatures. Those releases could temporarily increase to keep up with increasing water flows and maintain safe water levels. Earlier this month, total releases to the Feather River amounted to 8,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). An additional 4,000 cfs was released from the Thermalito Afterbay River Outlet, located 5 miles downstream from Oroville, according to the DWS. The department is "closely" monitoring the inflow of water runoff into the lake -- as well as evaluating the lake levels and downstream needs -- to determine how much water to release at any given time, Nemeth said. MORE: Are rising water prices amid the Western megadrought inevitable? Yes, but it's complicated, experts say Oroville Lake sits behind the tallest dam in the country, the Oroville Dam at 770.5 feet, and provides hydroelectric power to the Edward Hyatt Power Plant, the fourth-largest in the country. PHOTO: In an aerial view, houseboats sit anchored at Bidwell Canyon Marina on Lake Oroville, June 15, 2023 in Oroville, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) The plant was forced to close in 2021 when the record-low water levels were too low to flow downstream. In 2017, nearly 200,000 residents living near Lake Oroville, located about 75 miles north of Sacramento, were forced to evacuate after heavy rainfall damaged the dam's spillways, which could have allowed for uncontrolled floodwaters to release downstream. Those spillways were rebuilt "to the highest engineering design and safety standards, and continue to operate as intended and designed," Nemeth said. Photos show dramatic difference in water levels at Lake Oroville from 2021 to today, now at 100% capacity originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The Pinellas County teachers union and two school board members affiliated with the Moms for Liberty group appear headed for a showdown. Their differences are coming to a head over the way the board members have talked about one of the unions most outspoken members. As candidates, Dawn Peters and Stephanie Meyer made no secret of their disdain for teachers who in their view advanced a liberal agenda in the classroom. They often focused on Dunedin Highs Brandt Robinson, who has gained a high profile by making daily TikTok videos on his views. He also protested outside the Moms for Liberty national conference in Tampa last summer. Peters stated on Facebook under Robinsons photo in 2022 that we have GOT to get these teachers out of our schools!! After their election to the board in November, Peters and Meyer continued to criticize Robinson on social media particularly on the private Moms for Liberty Pinellas chapter page. There, they have liked comments calling him a creeper and a predator, and participated in chats about making unannounced visits to his classroom to see what he is teaching. Robinson offers courses in Black history and has been accused of providing Marxist lessons by a Moms for Liberty local leader. The district took no action against him. In one Facebook conversation, Meyer questioned whether Robinson allows all viewpoints in his classroom. He repeatedly has rejected the notion that he indoctrinates students, saying he teaches them how to think, not what to think. The Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association wants the treatment of Robinson to stop before it spreads to other faculty members. In a grievance filed in early June, the teachers union accused Meyer and Peters of violating several sections of the districts teacher contract, board-adopted policy, Department of Education rules and state law in their treatment of Robinson. The allegations range from harassing a teacher to violating Floridas Sunshine Law by having discussions about an employee in a forum that is not publicly accessible. The union pointed to the section of district policy that states the board will not tolerate harassment or abuse of teachers by parents, other citizens and/or other board employees. It also referred to a section stating that any complaint against a teacher by a school board member, or which comes to the attention of a board member ... shall be referred to the superintendent for appropriate action. Robinson and the union have asked both board members for a public apology, along with their disavowal of any harassment by Moms for Liberty. Beyond that, they asked the district to conduct an investigation into the members actions, and for sanctions as appropriate and authorized. Ive often been the target of Moms for Liberty, Robinson said. It really was a decision the union made to defend the integrity of public teachers. I agreed it was a good idea to file it to make sure the statement was made. Moms for Liberty is a national organization with Florida roots that has advocated for the removal of what its members consider to be the liberal indoctrination of students. The group has been a strong backer of Gov. Ron DeSantis push to limit COVID safety measures, restrict discussions of race and gender in schools and make it easier to challenge books. Its critics say the groups efforts prey on fear and create false narratives of what goes on in classrooms. Neither Peters nor Meyer responded to calls and text messages seeking comment. School board attorney David Koperski wrote a letter to union executive director Lindsey Blankenbaker stating that the complaint was not valid. Koperski wrote that individual board members are not party to the districts collective bargaining agreement with teachers and, as such, cannot violate it. Individually, they do not have the authority or the responsibility to act on behalf of the school board, do not implement the provisions of the (agreement) and are not employees or administrators subject to the (agreement), he wrote. Blankenbaker said she anticipated a conservative, legalistic response. She noted that individual teachers technically are not parties to the contract either, but added that they are bound by its terms. She suggested that since the board as a body ratifies the agreement, the individual members also would be responsible to follow it. Beyond that, she added, board members must follow district policies, department rules and state laws. Were not good at dropping things, Blankenbaker said. Theres a number of remedies that are available. The union is considering options that include requesting arbitration and filing a complaint to the state ethics commission. It also might turn to the full school board for intervention. It is not unheard of for a board to sanction individual members over their actions. The Lee County board, for instance, censured member Chris Patricca in May 2022 after an employee filed a whistleblower complaint against her. The Osceola County board reprimanded and censured member Jon Arguello in February 2022 over his conduct toward a district vendor, also asking the governors office to investigate Arguellos activities. Robinson said its important to keep the discussion moving, particularly as the 2024 election season approaches. He noted that DeSantis, in concert with Moms for Liberty, has targeted Pinellas board members Laura Hine and Eileen Long for removal. I look at this grievance in the bigger picture, he said. In the meantime, Robinson stressed that he has nothing to hide, and he remained ready to talk with the board members about what he does. Peters recently had scheduled a classroom visit, but canceled. My classroom is always open, Robinson said. 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. Pittsburgh Police arrest man they say was involved in 2021 homicide in Lincoln-Lemington Pittsburgh Police have arrested a man they say was involved in a fatal shooting that happened in Lincoln-Lemington in 2021. Riyad Christian, 34, was arrested on the 2600 block of Brownsville Road at around 1:20 p.m. on Monday. According to police, Christian was involved in the death of Don Angelo Castapheny. Castapheny was killed on the 1300 block of Montezuma Street in April 2021. RELATED COVERAGE >>> Gifted sophomore killed in shooting in Pittsburgh The warrant for Christian was issued in Nov. 2022. Christians brother, Hanif Green, was arrested for charges of the same homicide. Green was arrested in Nov. 2022. Christian is facing charges of criminal homicide, criminal conspiracy, robbery, corruption of a minor and a firearms violation. He is currently being held at the Allegheny County Jail. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Tourist sub goes missing near Titanic wreck Body recovered from Allegheny River near Washingtons Landing PHOTOS: Taylor Swift brings record-breaking numbers to Acrisure Stadium during second concert in Pittsburgh VIDEO: Mother accused of driving under the influence in Plum with her 4-year-old in car DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts The state has designated about $2 million to help Pittsburgh Public Schools set young people on a better path. It started as a pilot program called Safe Passages at Perry Traditional Academy, where attendance roughly doubled since the start of the program. There was also a reduction in fights, Channel 11s news partner the Trib reports. City officials say it brings adult community leaders into schools to mentor students look for problematic behaviors and mediate potential conflicts. It also offers stipends to student ambassadors who take on leadership roles in the program. City council will vote at its meeting Wednesday. If approved, the goal is to launch the program at the start of the next school year. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Tourist sub goes missing near Titanic wreck Trespassing charges filed against men accused of recording video inside Century III Mall Pittsburgh Police arrest man they say was involved in 2021 homicide in Lincoln-Lemington VIDEO: Trespassing charges filed against men accused of recording video inside Century III Mall DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts Police arrest man who allegedly stabbed another man, leaving him seriously injured in Magnolia Seattle police arrested a 58-year-old man who allegedly stabbed another man on Monday, leaving him seriously injured. Around 9:30 a.m., the Seattle Police Department said officers responded to reports of a stabbing in the 2600 block of West Galer Street. When officers got there, they found a 62-year-old man with a stab wound to the torso. Seattle Fire Department personnel arrived and took the man to the hospital in stable condition. The SPD said officers were able to find the 58-year-old man based on statements and descriptions from witnesses. Officers took the man into custody and he was booked into King County Jail for assault. Police identify suspect in deadly shooting at Gwinnett home that led to SWAT responding After the Gwinnett County police SWAT team was activated during a homicide investigation in Grayson, officers have now identified the suspect. According to police, Christian Houston, 19, of Grayson, met the homicide victim on Roseberry Lane outside of his home, shot him in the driveway, and went inside. The victim died from his injuries. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] With a possibility of a barricaded gunman in the house, GCPD activated the SWAT team. Several hours later, they learned the suspect was no longer inside. Police later identified the murder victim as Rodrell Dobson, a 38-year-old from Woodstock. TRENDING STORIES: Police say Houston faces charges of felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of certain crimes. Separately, he was wanted on an outstanding simple battery arrest warrant from May. Houston has not yet been taken into custody and his current location is unknown. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] As the situation in Grayson unfolded, police said it originally started as a domestic incident. Anyone with information that can help police find Houston is asked to call GCPD detectives at 770-513-5300. Anonymous tips can be called in at 404-577-TIPS. RELATED NEWS: A 32-year-old woman who used to work for the state of Massachusetts fraudulently enrolled as a student in multiple high schools in Boston using false identification and paperwork during this academic year, officials said Tuesday. The woman, who has not been identified, has been discharged and is being ordered to stay away from Boston Public Schools, BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper said in a letter to the school community. At various times during the 2022-2023 school year, the woman attended Jeremiah E. Burke High School, Brighton High School, and English High School while using the student transfer process and enrolling under multiple pseudonyms, according to Skipper. Last week, a Boston Public Schools staff member noticed irregularities in the paperwork on file and reported it to school leaders, who immediately contacted Boston Police, Skipper said. Boston 25 was also able to confirm that the woman in question formerly worked for the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families from December 2021 through February 2023. While the investigation is in its early stages and remains ongoing, school officials have not identified any incidents of harm to students or staff, Skipper said. At this time families of students who may have interacted with this individual are being contacted directly by school staff and investigators. In a separate statement on the matter, Skipper called the incident a breach of trust. I am deeply troubled that an adult would breach the trust of our school communities by posing as a student, Skipper said. This appears to be a case of extremely sophisticated fraud. As soon as BPS personnel identified irregularities with the students enrollment, the case was referred to the Boston Police who are now undertaking a criminal investigation. I am grateful to the BPS staff who caught this and quickly acted and to the Boston Police for launching an immediate investigation. An investigation into the womans alleged actions and how she was able to enroll remains ongoing. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Police powers not yet restored for Chicago sergeant after acquittal on charges he pinned teen in Park Ridge Chicago Police Sergeant Michael Vitellaro has not yet had his police powers restored as of Tuesday following his acquittal of three felony charges Friday stemming from his actions toward a Park Ridge teenager last summer, the Chicago Police Department said. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Paul Pavlus found Vitellaro not guilty of one charge of aggravated battery and two charges of official misconduct June 16, almost a year after Vitellaro pinned the teen, then 14, to an Uptown sidewalk and accused him of stealing his sons bike. Although the criminal case has concluded, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) investigation into the incident continues, a department spokesperson said in an email to Pioneer Press. The department has previously said that Vitellaro was on administrative leave. A spokesperson told Pioneer Press Tuesday the leave is unpaid. The Cook County States Attorneys office first approved charges against Vitellaro Aug. 18. The Chicago Police Department had relieved Vitellaro of his police powers the day before. The boys family and their attorneys said they planned to take civil action against Vitellaro. BEIJING, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos Forum, in Tianjin on June 27, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning announced on Tuesday. Premier Li will attend the opening ceremony, deliver a keynote speech, meet with Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum and other foreign dignitaries, as well as World Economic Forum global business leaders. The theme of this year's annual meeting is "Entrepreneurship: The Driving Force of the Global Economy." Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Mongolia Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene, Prime Minister of New Zealand Chris Hipkins, Prime Minister of Vietnam Pham Minh Chinh and Director-General of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will attend the annual meeting, Mao said. At the invitation of Li, prime ministers of Barbados, Mongolia, New Zealand and Vietnam will pay an official visit to China on the margins of the annual meeting, Mao added. Phoenix police section off the area where a man shot at and injured a DPS trooper 21st Avenue and Thomas Road in Phoenix, on June 19, 2023. Police identified a man who died after he shot a trooper with the Arizona Department of Public Safety on Monday in central Phoenix, according to police. The man was identified on Tuesday as 29-year-old Luis Mateo Jacobo Borja. Police said Jacobo Borja also shot at two police officers who tried to stop him from fleeing the scene. The DPS trooper and one of the officers were taken to the hospital but were released by Monday night, police said. The other officer was not injured. Police said at about 11:30 a.m. the DPS trooper was doing a routine traffic stop near 21st Avenue and Thomas Road when Jacobo Borja started shooting as the trooper walked toward the vehicle. The trooper was struck by gunfire, and Jacobo Borja drove off. The trooper was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said. As Jacobo Borja drove away, Phoenix police responded to assist DPS in looking for him. An officer spotted the car briefly stopping at a home near 27th Avenue and Garfield Street and then taking off again. Jacobo Borja continued driving and stopped near 35th Drive and Holly Street. The officer told Jacobo Borja to get out of the car, but he began shooting at the officer, police said. The officer shot back at Jacobo Borja with a rifle, and he then drove off. As Jacobo Borja drove north on 36th Avenue, he saw another police car stopped on Encanto Boulevard and began shooting at the vehicle, which had an officer inside, police said. The officers car was struck by gunfire on the front quarter panel and the front windshield. The officer had minor injuries and was also taken to a hospital by the Phoenix Fire Department. Jacobo Borja continued driving north on 36th Avenue until he reached a dead end near Lewis Avenue and crashed into a wall. Police found Jacobo Borja dead inside the car with a gunshot wound. Police did not disclose whether the wound was self-inflicted or caused by the officer who shot at him with a rifle. Police initially identified Jacobo Borja as his brother, 24-year-old David Jacobo Borja, as he had an identification card on his person with David's information. Police later learned that Jacobo Borja illegally assumed his brother's identity multiple times, and confirmed his actual identity through fingerprints, tattoos and help from Jacobo Borja's surviving family members. Reach breaking news reporter Laura Daniella Sepulveda at laura.sepulveda@gannett.com or on Twitter @lauradaniella_s. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix police release details on fatal shootout that hurt DPS trooper FORT LEE, N.J. Veteran political organizer and professional advocate Jay Jordan knows hes part of a system. He can hear its gears grinding in the voices of the ex-convicts who leave messages on his answering machine every morning asking for help getting their records expunged; in the questions of the employees he trains to develop community ties and recruit allies on the ground; in the marching orders of rich donors who set the agenda for the social causes he helps to champion and turn into law. But with decades of experience and a laundry list of legislative wins to his name, Jordan has now reached a vantage point where he can see the contours of the system hes working in and begin to think beyond it. Look: What drives organizations? What drives movements? Its money thats given by some benevolent donor, Jordan says, huddled over his laptop in his office beside the George Washington Bridge, which arcs over the Hudson River from Manhattan. In the lefts case, its the quintessential [George] Soros or any of these major philanthropic institutions that are largely liberal money being stashed in endowments they get tax write-offs for. Then, they hire somebody that directs where the money goes, and the board [signs off]. And thats all fine but its still the top 1 percent dictating the way, he says. Jordans nonprofit, the Alliance for Safety and Justice, boasts dozens of legislative victories, mainly on criminal justice reform issues, across a range of blue and red states, but his next ambition is for greater autonomy and decision-making power to pursue the sorts of community investments and social agendas that big philanthropy isnt interested in. One such investment would be in recreational centers, which Jordan says have fallen by the wayside as a national funding priority. If I want to start a campaign to get governments to start funding community centers again there are no grants for that. Theres no pot of money for that. The pot of money at the moment is energy, environment, criminal justice, social justice youre always looking to where the funding is, he says. All these philanthropic entities have funding priorities that are passed down by billionaires that are the investors in these endowments. U.S. income inequality has skyrocketed in recent decades, with only the top 0.1 percent realizing wealth increases over the past 40 years, according to research from Stanford University. Philanthropic giving has seen a concomitant increase over the same period, rising to the level of an economic juggernaut. Data released this week by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy show that while charitable handouts in the U.S. declined slightly in 2022 due to market uncertainties relating to the pandemic, the total for last year came in just shy of $500 billion, or more than 2 percent of U.S gross domestic product. Thats more money than 188 different countries and global territories see in a year, according to the CIAs World Factbook. Rather than unilaterally being given lump sums by philanthropies every few years for specific projects and proposals, Jordan envisions an operating model in which effective advocacy and social organizations could be allowed to reinvest the money by themselves, using the capital they create to support community development funds with their own independent goals. Such a model would run counter to how much of philanthropy currently works but would be legally and financially feasible, he says. While Jordan is acutely aware of the financial structures and targeted agendas that enable his activism and organizing, he is no less committed to the individual causes he advances and the people for whom his work makes a difference. One such person called Jordan in early June. Hed served 10 years in prison in Ohio for aggravated arson, believed his sentence was unfairly severe and asked for help getting his record expunged. He complained that his life had been permanently marked over what amounted to simply a burnt bush. God burned a bush, too, and I dont think he got 10 years for that, Jordan quipped over the phone in response. Degree-one felonies are rarely expungeable in Ohio, but let me connect you with some resources on the ground. While his ability to connect with people quickly and meaningfully is a big part of his job, as it is for any professional advocate, whats often most in demand is his knowledge of the criminal records system, and how that information interacts with state and national laws to limit a persons economic potential and quality of life. Jordan breaks that system up into four main databases and communications networks: the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, the FBIs National Crime Information Center, the databases of state-level justice departments and state and local court records. Occupational licensing, like being able to drive a certain kind of truck or get certified for a particular kind of work, is really all about what the state DOJs have. Court databases are the big money maker, because thats what the consumer reporting agencies and the media use, Jordan says. Im really trying to get all of this knowledge out of my head, and out to other people so they can use it, he continues, with a twinge of frustration in his voice. With so much intricate expertise on the tip of his tongue, much of what Jordan and his deputies are focused on day-to-day is communication transferring what they know to the people who need to know it, using everything from pithy slogans to large-scale campaigns. One campaign involved a sold-out hip-hop concert in 2018 held at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles marketed to formerly incarcerated people to drum up support for record expungement legislation. Everyone was super nervous. The Greek said we could do it, but they wanted extra insurance and security. We didnt want to have armed security, so the Greek said they were going to have the sheriffs come just in case something pops off, Jordan reminisced of the event earlier this month. It was a crazy idea but we did the concert. Jordans big-picture understanding of the world of advocacy and its relationship to law and economics of the system writ large is informed by his own criminal conviction, a first-degree robbery for which he spent 90 months in prison. Helping people to understand the often lifelong consequences not only of criminality itself but of the plea bargain agreements toward which much of the U.S. criminal legal system is overwhelming skewed is the furnace powering so much of Jordans personal zeal. Do they tell you that you will be facing these things 20 years later? No, Jordan says. The depth to which you have to go [to be effective] means operating in multiple levels of society at once all the longitudes and latitudes. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Social media posts are sharing an image of a purported Wells Fargo notice that says it is limiting cash withdrawals to $1,000 due to "emergency conditions." This is false; the US banking giant said no such limitations are in place and customers have full access to their deposits. "Wells Fargo limiting customers cash withdrawls (sic) to $1,000 due to 'emergency conditions,'" says a June 8, 2023 tweet with thousands of interactions. "The banks are running out of money." The same image has circulated across Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and Truth Social. Some posts suggest the supposed notice is a sign of instability in the banking system after the high-profile failure of Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023, adding comments such as "We really can't trust the banks anymore" and "BUY BITCOIN BEFORE IT WILL BE TOO LATE." Screenshot of a tweet taken June 14, 2023 The photo appears to stem from a Reddit account using the name Caitlin Long -- the chief executive of Custodia Bank, a digital asset institution that has failed to join the Federal Reserve System. But a Custodia spokesperson told AFP on June 16 that the CEO did not publish the image and has no presence on Reddit. The claims about Wells Fargo are also false -- the bank told AFP it has no such policy on cash limits. "We are aware of the social media posts, and these posts are not true," a company spokesperson said in a June 15 email. "As always, we invite customers to contact us if they have questions." Gideon Blocq, CEO of the artificial intelligence firm VineSight, said the company's algorithm flagged the posts as potential misinformation or "toxic" content affecting brands. Blocq told AFP the posts appeared to be designed to spur a "bank run," encouraging depositors to withdraw money in what could precipitate a cash crunch or even a bank failure. "A lot of people have been talking about how dangerous bank runs can be," Blocq said June 16. "But here's an actual example of what that can do ... it was such a clear example of that very thing that everyone is afraid of." Wells Fargo, the fourth largest bank in the United States by assets, and its competitors may impose daily limits on ATM withdrawals or debit card use. Federally insured banks are unlikely to run out of cash but may need notice for large withdrawals to ensure they have enough money at the branch, according to the American Bankers Association. "The safest place for your money is in a federally-insured and highly regulated bank where your accounts are secure and deposits are protected," said Sarah Grano, a spokesperson for the industry group. "If you need to withdraw a large amount of cash, it's best to notify the bank in advance so they can be sure to have that cash on hand. It's also important to be wary of misinformation on social media, especially as it relates to your bank account, and to contact your bank if you have questions." AFP has previously fact-checked other false claims about banks and the banking system. Nigeria's 1993 election is widely regarded as the countrys freest and fairest poll since its independence. Online claims now allege that the chairman of the electoral commission at the time declared opposition candidate Moshood Abiola as the winner. This is misleading: the electoral body was only able to declare partial results before a court order blocked any further announcements and the election was annulled. The commissions chairman, Humphrey Nwosu, was thus unable to officially declare any winner. Years later, however, he said in an interview that Abiola was the winner. Prof Humphrey Nwosu, the Unsung Hero who declared MKO Abiola winner of the 1993 presidential election despite threats to his life, reads a tweet published on June 13, 2023. A screenshot of the misleading tweet, taken on June 14, 2023 The tweet has been shared more than 1,400 times, with some commenters claiming that Nwosu, who was chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) during the 1993 election, has not been celebrated because of tribal differences. Abiola, a Muslim businessman from the Yoruba-dominated southwest, contested that years election against Bashir Tofa, a Muslim politician from the Hausa-dominated northwest. Ibrahim Babangida, the countrys military leader at the time, annulled the election, claiming that there were widespread irregularities. Nwosu later told a local broadcaster that he cancelled the election to prevent a bloody coup (archived here). But contrary to the claims circulating online, the NEC chairman did not officially declare Abiola the winner in 1993. Court order As reported by AFP at the time, the NEC, with Nwosu at its helm, had only declared partial results when the election was annulled. Human Rights Watch analysed the election and the crisis that followed its annulment. In its report, the rights group said that the NEC had announced results from only 15 states as of June 14, 1994, with Abiola in the lead (archived here). The following day, a court order blocked the remaining votes from being tallied. Nwosu did not officially declare any winner. The votes cancellation sparked public outcry and violent protests, forcing Babangida to step down from office. He installed an interim government headed by Ernest Shonekan, who was later ousted by General Sani Abacha (archived here.) Abiola protested the annulment and declared himself the winner of the election. He was later arrested by Abacha for vowing to set up a parallel government. Abiola was the winner Years later, in a 2014 interview with Sahara TV, Nwosu said his commission challenged the 1993 court order and insisted that the election was free and fair. According to Nwosu, the court hearing the appeal was to deliver its judgement on June 25, 1993. But days before, the military government disbanded the NEC and annulled the election (archived here). He explained that in 1993, he had declared the election inconclusive because the military leaders would not allow the NEC to announce who won. However, he said in the interview that Abiola was the winner (archived here). Although Nwosu told his interviewer that he was not threatened or harmed by anyone at the time, he said he was always monitored close to the anniversaries of the election during Abachas regime. Democracy Day Abiola died in military detention on July 7, 1998 (archived here). In 2018, then-president Muhammadu Buhari acknowledged that the 1993 elections annulment was wrong and awarded Abiola the highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), which is exclusively conferred on presidents (archived here). Buhari also designated June 12 as a national holiday named Democracy Day. June 12th, 1993 was the day when Nigerians in millions expressed their democratic will in what was undisputedly the freest, fairest and most peaceful elections since our Independence, Buhari said in a statement (archived here). Pratt & Whitney set to invest more than $200 million in Columbus, says Georgia Gov. Kemp Pratt & Whitney, a business specializing in aircraft and helicopter engines, is investing $206 million in Muscogee County and bringing almost 400 jobs as it expands operations. Governor Brian Kemp announced the new while in France attending the Paris Air Show. Georgia is one of the top five exporters of aerospace products in the nation, Kemp said in a news release, with the industry bringing in $9.2 billion in 2022. From the flights that go through the worlds most utilized airport to the engines in the very airplanes, the Peach State is crucial to the movement of goods and products, he said. Pratt & Whitneys decision to expand will only further that reputation. The Pratt & Whitney Columbus facility opened in 1984 and includes the Columbus Engine Center and Columbus Forge. The Columbus Engine Center maintains engines for the Embraer E-Jets E2, Airbus A220 and the Airbus A320neo aircraft families, according to the release. It also maintains the F117 and F100 military engines. The Columbus Forge produces compressor airfoils and other components for the companys commercial and military engines. Pratt & Whitney has been doing business in Georgia for nearly 40 years, and in that time, our Columbus business has grown from a small manufacturing facility to a large, state-of-the-art manufacturing and overhaul center, where we employ approximately 2,000 employees, Shane Eddy, president of Pratt & Whitney, said in the release. The companys expansion is expected to be completed by 2028 and it will be hiring engineers, mechanics and operators. A business friendly environment Columbus is striving to be a top location for businesses to locate and expand, Heath Schondelmayer, chair of the Board for the Development Authority of Columbus, said in the release. State partnerships and a focus on workforce development make this possible, Schondelmayer said. The success of one of Columbus, Georgias largest employers is a major win in our efforts to grow quality jobs and attract new private investment. The Pratt & Whitney expansion news comes a month after the California-based company Sierra Pacific Windows announced plans to expand its own operations in Phenix City a move that will also bring hundreds of jobs to the Chattahoochee Valley area. Improving the economy for residents and businesses in Columbus is among his top priorities, Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson said in the release. This announcement of new jobs and new investment is an example of the economic growth that Columbus is poised to capture, he said. And we appreciate Pratt & Whitney, the Georgia Department of Economic Development, and the Development Authority of Columbus for their efforts to make this a reality. UK Defence Intelligence has reported that the owner of the Russian Wagner private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is trying to undermine the authority of the Russian Ministry of Defence, while the ministry considers his actions inappropriate against the background of Ukrainian counteroffensive operations. Source: UK Defence Intelligence report on Twitter on 20 June, as reported by European Pravda UK Defence Intelligence reports that on 19 June, Prigozhin said he was expecting a reply from the Russian Defence Ministry regarding his own draft of a contract which he had submitted to the ministry three days before. As UK intelligence recalls, this was a response to the decision of the Russian Defence Ministry that all "volunteer formations" should sign contracts with them by 1 July. Quote: "Although the content of Prigozhins document has not been made public, the act of him delivering it raises the stakes, and is highly likely another deliberate effort to undermine the authority of the official military authorities. Prigozhins tone towards the MoD has become unambiguously confrontational," the message reads. UK Defence Intelligence adds that the Russian Defence Ministry sees this as deeply "unfortunate" at a time when the Russian Federation is trying to counteract the Ukrainian counteroffensive. Background: The UK Defence Intelligence report for 15 June stated that Prigozhin had defied the Russian military leadership and the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, by refusing to allow the Wagner Private Military Company to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! The voters started rolling up and into Hampton Roads polling stations at 6 a.m. Tuesday, exercising their right to vote in the 2023 Virginia Primary Election. This years primaries and general elections will be the first for state lawmakers under new district boundaries that were redrawn in 2021. In Hampton Roads, Senate candidates are vying for their partys nomination in four districts Senate District 17, 18, 19 and 21. House of Delegates candidates have primaries in five districts House District 84, 92, 94, 95 and 96. In Portsmouth, a group of Democratic Party canvassers stood outside the Lakeview Elementary School polling station greeting voters as they approached through the parking lot. Good morning. How yall doing? Welcome this morning, they said. Located in District 18, many of the voters entered the polling station having to make a choice between two longtime Virginia legislators in the democratic primary: Sens. Louise Lucas and Lionell Spruill. Louise Lucas is my choice, said Kathie Moore, after casting her ballot. We want to keep her in office to make sure things continue to run as they do. But not everyone had Moores unflinching certainty in who to vote for. Mark Brown walked toward the elementary school side-by-side with his wife. Ill make my final decision once I get in there, he said, adding, Everything is so crazy in this country right, its hard to know who to choose. But although the Browns, who moved to Portsmouth less than a year ago, didnt name any of their favorite candidates, Donna Brown said that there was one issue that took priority in her and her husbands eyes. Hearing gunshots took some getting used to, Donna Brown said. Gun violence was at the forefront of the Browns minds Tuesday morning. If there was one issue that I wish Republicans, Democrats, Independents and everyone could get on the same page with, itd be that one, Donna Brown said, adding, I hope politicians dont forget their promises and dont forget about the people. Elsewhere, the morning started off slow with about a dozen people at Churchland High School by 7:20 a.m. At Cavalier Manor Recreation Center, 12 voters had come in as of 8:45 a.m. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., and people can vote as long as they are in line by 7 p.m. Though some voters have opted to vote early, voters who are 65 or older or those with a disability can have a ballot brought to their vehicle. Voters with a disability can also use an accessible voting machine when voting in person. Election officials can assist with reading or completing forms. A new advertisement from Never Back Down, a super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' 2024 presidential bid, is centered around his fight with Disney and taps into general conservative resentment toward what he often characterizes as "woke ideology." The 30-second television ad which mimics the style of a fairy tale, is a seven-figure-buy that will begin airing Wednesday morning in Iowa and South Carolina, according to details first shared with CBS News. Watch the ad here: The ad suggests DeSantis and allies are betting that Republican primary voters will be receptive to the "culture wars" DeSantis has been waging in Florida, including his ban on gender identity lessons for K-8 students, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill by critics, as well as the feuds with corporations that partner with and recognize the LGBTQ+ community. "Once upon a time, Disney films were for kids, not secret sexual content," the ad's narrator says, as it shows a video of a Disneyland worker with facial hair who is wearing a dress. The ad then slams Bud Light and Target and showcases DeSantis' legislative actions against Disney over its special district status in Florida. After Bud Light collaborated with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in April, Republicans and DeSantis decried the partnership. During a trip to a Nevada bar last weekend, he joked that he wouldn't be serving Bud Light to patrons. Meanwhile, Target pulled LGBTQ+ themed merchandise on display for Pride Month after disclosing that workers had received threats. On the campaign trail and in the governor's office, DeSantis often categorizes topics like transgender student athletes, youth gender transition surgeries, and school lessons on sexuality and "Critical Race Theory" as part of "woke ideology." Never Back Down has spent almost $15 million on television ads in the 2024 primary cycle. Three of the PAC's other four ads on the air mention the word "woke," or feature DeSantis speeches with his slogan, "Florida is where 'woke' goes to die." The merchandise store for the DeSantis campaign sells quarter-zip sweatshirts with the same phrase. The topic of "woke" culture has been a rallying call in recent years for the conservative base. In a CBS News poll conducted in late April, 85% of likely Republican primary voters said they'd prefer a candidate who "challenges woke ideas." But it was former President Donald Trump who captured a majority of those voters in the poll, with 59%, compared to DeSantis' 24%. DeSantis and Trump have also gone back and forth over the issue of "woke" culture. During a June trip to Iowa, Trump said he doesn't like the term "woke." "I hear the term 'woke woke woke' it's just a term they use, half the people can't define it, they don't know what it is," Trump said during an event in Urbandale, Iowa. In reaction to Trump's comment, DeSantis told a reporter in Iowa that "woke is an existential threat to our society" and defined woke as an "attack on truth" and "form of cultural marxism." "To say it's not a big deal, that just shows you don't understand what a lot of these issues are right now," DeSantis added. Justin Sayfie, a veteran GOP strategist and fundraiser for the DeSantis campaign, said the path to the GOP nomination for DeSantis will require him to "marry" the "socially conservative constituencies in the party with the populist conservative constituencies in the party." "Fighting against 'wokeism' allows a candidate to do both. You're fighting for conservative values, and you're also fighting against the perceived powerful elites that Republicans have long been contemptuous of," Sayfie said. While speaking to veterans in Nevada, DeSantis argued that "woke ideology" in the military is negatively impacting recruitment. He specifically referenced comments made by Space Force Lieutenant General DeAnna Burt that criticized "anti-LGBTQ+" laws in Florida. "People aren't joining because they've seen the military the culture of the military has lost its way. They are indulging in things like woke ideology, social engineering, using the military for something that it was not intended to do," DeSantis said last Friday at a Veteran of Foreign Wars event in Reno, Nevada. In an interview with Fox News that aired Monday, Trump, too, said he wants to get the "woke" out of the military. During his remarks last Saturday at the annual "Basque Fry" in Las Vegas, put on by DeSantis' former Naval training roommate and Nevada GOP Senate candidate Adam Laxalt, DeSantis uttered the word "woke" seven times. He applied it to corporations, schools and the military and repeatedly received applause to the lines from the conservative crowd. Republican voter Jerry Olsen cited "woke" ideology as a reason he attended. "I came out here to support the Republican party and get rid of those woke leftists, and bring in some nice red Republicans like DeSantis," he said. Musadiq Bidar contributed reporting. Melting Himalayan glaciers pose serious dangers to humans, report finds Titanic expedition leader discusses missing sub search U.S. and China work to "stabilize" fraught relationship As New York City struggles to assimilate a deluge of migrants, key education and child care programs that help make recent arrivals less reliant on city services are at risk of being pulled out from under them. A half-dozen high school programs that offer intensive English classes are not expected to have the resources they need to help teenage immigrants learn the new language, according to a new analysis released Tuesday by Advocates for Children of New York. And hundreds of undocumented immigrants could lose access to subsidized child care by the end of the month with the expiration of a program open to all parents regardless of immigration status that freed them up to work, find housing and apply for asylum. It is befuddling that they are threatening to cut the resource that allows our newest New Yorkers, especially those who are women, to go to work, said Councilwoman Shahana Hanif (D-Brooklyn) at a hearing last week on the initiative, called Promise NYC. This program is an economic driver that will make asylum seekers more self-sufficient and less reliant on costly city-funded shelter beds, said Hanif, who chairs the Councils immigration committee as well as its progressive caucus. Many of the families whove recently arrived in New York have struggled to access the city services and legal help such as applying for asylum and work permits that could help get them out of city care. Close to 18,000 new students in temporary housing arrangements have enrolled in local public schools this school year estimated to be mostly Latin American migrants. As more young people who did not speak English immigrated to NYC, the city rolled out new programs last fall at six existing alternative high schools in the outer boroughs, where many migrants live. But each principal was allocated only $50,000 for the initiative less than the cost of hiring just one Spanish-speaking staffer, the advocates found. They are looking for an additional $3 million to strengthen these programs. Its just such a small amount of money that its hard to imagine that it can go far at all, said Rita Rodriguez-Engberg, director of the Immigrant Students Rights Project at Advocates for Children. You cant hire a single teacher or social worker with that amount because it cant cover a full salary. Bronx mom Gabina Morales sent for her daughter Jaydy in Mexico about a year ago. A few months later, she enrolled in the local high school, but it was not a good fit. She didnt feel like she was learning, Morales said in Spanish. She was anxious moving to the country and never been in a school that large before. Morales transferred her daughter to a specialized program for non-English speakers, English Language Learners and International Support Preparatory Academy, where she can learn the language after school and on Saturdays, and receive counseling in Spanish. My daughter is receiving a lot of help and shes learning how to speak English well, Morales said. The need for such programming has only grown, the report suggests. The number of young people between ages 14 and 17 living in shelters run by the Department of Homeless Services grew by almost 77% from last spring to this year. According to the Department of Education, any student who needs services to help them learn English will receive them, and that all high schools are equipped to instruct them. In another potential blow to economic self-sufficiency, hundreds of undocumented migrants are also at risk of losing subsidized child care within weeks, advocates and local lawmakers warn. Rolled out earlier this year, Promise NYC now enrolls 664 young children up from 172 kids in March, according to new figures provided at the Council hearing. The city provides $700 per week to cover the cost of child care. The city has allocated $10 million for the program since January that, if not renewed, would dry up by the end of June. Some councilmembers said those dollars should not only be included again in next years budget but doubled to last the full year. Im very confused on what a ramp-down would look like, said Councilwoman Tiffany Caban (D-Queens) at the hearing. A ramp needs a runway. And there is no runway not to mention the fact that outside of that, it is a central service that needs to not just exist, but expand. The Adams administration would not commit to renewing the program for another year. We... hope that our collaborative advocacy can bring change at the federal level so that we do not need to rely alone on city funds for childcare assistance for this population, said Elizabeth Wolkomir, deputy commissioner of child and family well-being at the Administration for Childrens Services, and could more adequately support the families that need it. Also on the chopping block is funding that helps schools reach out to immigrant families not only by email and websites, but also through text messages, ethnic media, and print campaigns from nail salons to bodegas. The last two years was a first step figuring out what ways were most effective, said Rodriguez-Engberg. Wed hate to see that not renewed because we know it could have a huge impact, especially on new families who dont have a cellphone or live in shelters, who can only get information by being out in the community. Education officials said every school has a designated language access coordinator, and they ramped up interpretation services at shelters and emergency centers to help with enrollment. Regardless of their immigration status or language spoken at home, every student deserves access to high-quality schools that meet their unique needs, education spokeswoman Nicole Brownstein said in a statement. We will continue to work with students, families, and partners to ensure that newcomer students have what they need in our public schools. A number of progressive tech policy advocates are furious with FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoyas hesitant stance on the agencys move to reopen its case against Meta for privacy violations stemming from the Cambridge Analytica scandal. In early May, the Federal Trade Commission accused Meta of violating the terms of a 2020 settlement that included changes to its business practices and a record $5 billion fine. The FTCs three commissioners, Bedoya, Chair Lina Khan and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, voted to reopen the matter in the agencys in-house administrative court, seeking among other things, a blanket ban on the companys ability to profit off the data of users under age 18. Bedoya sided with his fellow Democratic commissioners there are currently no Republicans in a separate statement, but he said he has procedural concerns about the intention to limit Metas use of kids data. That prompted vitriol from progressive backers of Khan, according to correspondence Bedoya posted to the FTCs website on Friday. Alvaro Your statement today is insanely at odds with the representations you made to me about backing Lina on Facebook matters prior to your confirmation. Very very disappointing, Dan Geldon, a former chief of staff to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and consultant working on progressive antitrust reform wrote in a text message to Bedoya on the day of the FTCs announcement. When Bedoya didn't respond, Geldon followed with: Very telling that you dont even respond to text messages now that you dont need help getting confirmed. That pretty much says it all. In Friday's filing, which hasn't been previously reported, Bedoya said, "I have never made representations regarding how I would vote or act in any Commission matter." The angry nature of the messages highlights the hyper-partisan environment in which Khan is leading the FTC. The chair is under multiple congressional investigations by House Republicans including Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). On Friday, Bloomberg reported that Khan ignored the advice of ethics officials in refusing to recuse herself from a different case against Meta, further fueling partisan concerns. Geldon sent the same messages to Bedoya staffer Max Miller, who responded that as an adjudicator in the case Bedoya is prohibited from discussing it. That ban that extends to FTC staff prosecuting the case. In response, Geldon wrote: Ok. Please feel free to convey to whoever youd like that this was inexcusable and unforgivable. After consulting with the FTCs general counsel, Bedoya posted the unsolicited ex parte communications directed at me and my staff on the FTCs case docket. Spokespeople from the FTC and Facebook, as well as Bedoya and Geldon all declined to comment. A Meta spokesperson did not immediately respond for comment. Underlying the FTCs new allegations are issues with Facebooks Messenger Kids app that led to faulty parental controls on who their kids could communicate with and undisclosed access to kids data. Those were fixed prior to the 2020 settlement, according to Facebooks owner Meta. Meta is also challenging the FTC's move, saying any revisions to the 2020 settlement must be approved by a federal court and cannot take place in the agency's internal administrative court. There are limits to the commissions order modification authority, Bedoya said in his statement about his concerns in reopening the case, referring to its ability to unilaterally modify the terms of a settlement. Here, the relevant question is not what I would support as a matter of policy. Rather, when the commission determines how to modify an order, it must identify a nexus between the original order, the intervening violations and the modified order. Based on the record before me today, I have concerns about whether such a nexus exists for proposed Provision I, he said, referring to potential limits on the use of kids data. The companys supporters immediately seized on Bedoyas break with his fellow commissioners, with Adam Kovacevich, head of the tech-funded Chamber of Progress, tweeting about the split that same day. In other exchanges with David Segal, the head of Demand Progress, and Katharina Kopp, a deputy director with the Center for Digital Democracy, Bedoya and his staff said he's prohibited from discussing the case. Adam Green, a co-founder of the Progressive Change Institute, wrote to Bedoyas chief of staff to "register our disappointment". Green said his group currently working with the White House and other national groups on a summer strategy of amplifying some of the FTCs bold moves for consumers on a hyper-local level and it's important that those bold optics not be undermined. Kopp said she had hoped to discuss issues around Meta and privacy that her group later articulated in a letter to the FTC. Segal and Green didn't respond for comment. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report misstated the names of the people in Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya's office who communicated with Dan Geldon and Katharina Kopp. Julius Atlhopheng (L), Chief Executive Officer of Botswana's National Agricultural Research and Development Institute, shakes hands with African Agriculture PTY LTD (AA) Managing Director Miles Nan after signing a Memorandum of Understanding in Gaborone, Botswana, on June 19, 2023. Botswana's National Agricultural Research and Development Institute (NARDI) and African Agriculture PTY LTD (AA), an agricultural trading company based in Gaborone, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Monday to introduce new drought-tolerant rice varieties to increase yields. (Photo by Tshekiso Tebalo/Xinhua) GABORONE, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Botswana's National Agricultural Research and Development Institute (NARDI) and African Agriculture PTY LTD (AA), an agricultural trading company based in the capital Gaborone, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Monday to introduce new drought-tolerant rice varieties to increase yields. The collaboration is expected to promote rice cultivation in Botswana. "Rice is the third most imported cereal and contributes substantially to the country's escalating food import bill," said Tiny Diswai, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security, at the signing ceremony in Gaborone. AA Managing Director Miles Nan stated that the collaboration was motivated by a common vision of tackling Botswana's agricultural technology limitations and developing a cooperative framework for the country's agricultural development. A slight delay in the federal sentencing hearing of the El Paso Walmart shooter is being sought by both federal prosecutors and defense lawyers, court records show. The Patrick Crusius sentencing hearing is currently set for June 30. However, a joint motion filed Saturday by U.S. Attorney's Office prosecutors and defense lawyers seeks to push it back to July 5, court records show. "The Parties have consulted and request that commencement of sentencing be continued until July 5, 2023, at 9:00 a.m.," the joint motion states. "This request is not for the purpose of delay, but rather to lessen the logistical burden on those wishing to participate and to allow for the greatest number of participants to attend the entirety of the proceedings." Court records do not indicate when Judge David C. Guaderrama, who is presiding over the case, will rule on the joint motion. A large number of victims, victim's families and community members are expected to testify and attend the hearing. The Feb. 8 plea hearing was attended by more than 40 victims, family members and community members. During the February plea hearing, the admitted white supremacist pleaded guilty to 90 federal charges in connection with the Aug. 3, 2019, mass shooting one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history which resulted in the deaths of 23 people. Dozens more were injured. More: After El Paso Walmart shooting, debate over domestic terrorism law rages on. Here's why. The charges included 23 counts of hate crimes resulting in death, 23 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence, 22 counts of hate crimes involving an attempt to kill, and 22 counts of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. The gunman is expected to be sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences. The U.S. Attorney's Office is not seeking the death penalty. The joint motion lays out the new proposed schedule for the sentencing hearing, which alters the sentencing hearing by a few days. The proposed schedule is: 9 a.m. July 5: Discuss the presentence report and hear and resolve objections to the report, defense counsels and Crusius allocution 1 p.m. July 5: Victim impact statements proceeding until finished. The court expects this portion of the hearing to take approximately two days. 10 a.m. the day immediately following the last victim impact statement. The governments allocution and the courts pronouncement of defendants sentence. The original sentencing schedule has the opening of the hearing June 30, with victim impact statements starting July 5. The hearing would be interrupted for two days July 3 and July 4 due to the Fourth of July holiday. The original sentencing schedule, which was filed May 24, stated victim impact statements were expected to "take multiple days." More: El Paso juries rarely choose the death penalty in capital murder cases. What about the Walmart shooter? The sentencing hearing will be held on the eighth floor in the largest Downtown El Paso federal courthouse courtroom. Similar to the plea hearing, there will be heightened security in and around the Albert Armendariz Sr. Federal Courthouse. Once the courtroom is full, an overflow room at the courthouse with internal video and an audio feed of the proceedings will be made available to people wishing to view the hearing, a notice filed by Guaderrama states. Walmart shooting victim family members walk out of the Albert Armendariz Sr. Federal Courthouse in El Paso on Feb. 8 after Patrick Crusius pleaded guilty to 90 federal charges in connection with the Aug. 3, 2019, shooting at Cielo Vista-area Walmart. Crime motivated by hatred of Hispanics During the February plea hearing, federal prosecutor Ian Martinez Hanna said the gunman was targeting Hispanics at the El Paso Walmart. The gunman committed the mass shooting in an effort to dissuade Mexicans and other Hispanics from coming to the United States, Hanna said. The shooter confessed to law enforcement that "they (Mexicans and other Hispanics) were to blame" and "he was trying to defend his country," Hanna said. The El Paso Walmart was selected because the shooter believed people of Mexican or Hispanic-country origins would be at the store, Hanna said. As Hanna described the motive and actions of the gunman the day of the shooting, Crusius nodded his head affirmatively. The shooter drove to the El Paso Walmart from Allen, Texas, where he lived with his parents. He parked in the Walmart parking lot, got out of his vehicle and began shooting people in the parking lot, Hanna said. He then continued into Walmart, where he fatally shot nine people in a bank inside the store. He then continued shooting another nine in the aisles of the store. Charges remain pending in state court While the federal sentencing will close one chapter of the deadliest shooting in El Paso history, the saga will continue in state court, where the gunman faces one count of capital murder of multiple persons and 22 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. More: 'She was very lucky': DA's sister was survivor in mass shooting, no conflict of interest The El Paso County District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty. A trial date has not been set in state court. Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT. This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Federal prosecutors, defense seek delay in Walmart shooting sentencing Protective moose stomps on Colorado man walking his dogs. Doing her job as a mom A Colorado man says he was lucky to survive a chance encounter with a protective mother moose while walking his dogs. Rob Standerwick, 58, of Coal Creek, told KDVR he and his dogs, Phantom and Magic, inadvertently surprised the moose and its baby after coming around a bend in the trail. I heard a couple of branches break and looked up and saw this cow, female moose, and she was already at full speed running right at me, he told the station. I didnt have a chance to even turn to run or get behind a bigger tree. The moose knocked Standerwick down and trampled him on the morning of Monday, June 19, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said in a news release. Standerwick pulled out a pistol and fired twice into the ground, scaring off the moose without harming it, the agency said. The noise alerted his neighbors, who came to help. He had a hoof print on his chest, neighbor Collin Howe told KDVR. Standerwick suffered torn muscles and broken fingers, but he doesnt blame the moose. She was doing her job as a mom. he told the station, noting hed seen the moose in the past and managed to avoid it. Parks officials searched the canyon but did not find the moose or its baby, the agency said. Coal Creek is a community in Boulder County about 20 miles northwest of Denver. What to know about moose Moose are protective animals and will defend their territory and their young. If someone encounters a moose, they should give it space to leave, wildlife officials said. People shouldnt try to haze a moose to move out of the way. Wildlife officials said people should do the following if a moose charges: Run away quickly Put a tree, rock or other large object between them and the moose Get up quickly if knocked down Report the incident to wildlife officials as soon as possible Disoriented osprey caught in twine dangles from nest until Idaho rescuers free it Adventurous young moose swims to one of most remote islands in Finland, photos show Man hunting rabbits shoots and kills attacking bear, Alaska troopers say Bosaso harbour in Puntland Although Puntland's charter provides for freedom of the press, the authorities have resorted to detaining journalists and closing media outlets. Radio Puntland and Puntland TV are run by the local authorities. Private broadcasters are permitted to operate. No print newspapers are currently published. Television Puntland TV - run by government Somali Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) - private, Bosasso Eastern TV Network (ETN) - private Radio Online Quavo, Offset celebrate what would have been Takeoffs 29th birthday here in Atlanta Migos members Quavo and Offset took to Instagram over the weekend to share how friends and family honored what would have been the late Takeoffs 29th birthday. Takeoff, whose real name was Kirshnik Khari Ball, was shot and killed during a private party at a bowling alley in Houston on Nov. 1. The 28-year-old Lawrenceville native was one-third of the Migos trio. According to a report from the Houston County Coroners office, Takeoff was shot in the head and torso during a fight before he died outside the business. RELATED STORIES: On Sunday, friends and family gathered at the mural of Takeoff that has been painted along the Atlanta BeltLine near the Old Forth Ward Skate Park. In an Instagram post by Offset, he said: Happy birthday rocket man. the greatest to touch a mic!! best spirit ever!! Purest man I know your heart was golden bring me peace bra we celebrate your life because you still right here I love you gang. Quavo wrote on social media, Happy Birthday @yrntakeoff cant wait for days like this again!!! BEST believe we goin up all week the Rocket way GEEKD. Police said that there was no evidence that Takeoff had anything to do with the fight that led to the shooting and that he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Houston police arrested Patrick Xavier Clark, 33, and charged him with murder. Cameron Joshua, 22, was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon while he attended the same event. RELATED NEWS: Rainier man whose passenger died in crash suspected of DUI after THC found by blood test An 18-year-old Rainier man was arrested last week in a March crash that killed his passenger. On Mar. 4, at about 5:45 p.m., Thurston County deputies were dispatched to a two-car crash in the 13800 block of Rainier Road Southeast. One car was driven by an 18-year-old man. A 17-year-old girl who was his passenger died. Though there was probable cause to arrest the driver, he was not taken into custody, according to the sheriffs office. The Thurston County Sheriffs Office said it is responsible for the medical costs of those taken into custody, and the jail is not set up to provide substantial medical care, so for those reasons, no arrest was made at that time. Since then, deputies with the TCSO and Washington State Patrol followed up on the case, including processing evidence, reconstructing the crash scene, and reviewing blood analysis from the Washington State Patrols Crime Lab. The analysis showed the Rainier man had 4.7ng/mL (nanograms per milliliter) of THC in his blood. In Washington, if you are under 21, it is illegal to drive with any amount of THC in your blood. Though alcohol was suspected to be a factor in the crash, according to witness statements taken at the scene, none was found in his blood. On Jun. 15, deputies arrested the man for investigation of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, and driving under the influence. In Washington state, if you are 21 or older, it is illegal to drive with 5 ng/mL of THC or more in your blood, according to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. Fun, friendly parties might seem to have little in common with serious diseases like AIDS or HIV. But celebrations have often gone hand in hand with the compassionate support and essential resources of AID Upstate. AID Upstate is celebrating Pride Month with an informal Red Party - Block Party on June 22 at Modal bed-and-breakfast. Jose Giocamea says wearing red is mandatory! (Hint, the traditional Red Party is returning in October. Details will be announced at the Block Party.) The organization was founded in 1987 when AIDS was still deadly, misunderstood and decimating the gay community. Two dozen times since then, AID Upstate has promoted fundraising, awareness and fun with the meticulously crafted and sensationally themed Red Party. This month, AID Upstate will spotlight those same goals and celebrate Pride Month with its Summer Block Party. The elaborate version of the Red Party has been dormant since a Kentucky Derby-themed affair in 2019. It was Jose Giocameas first and last Red Party, after becoming the organizations Director of Community Relations a few months before. The party was easy lifting for Giocamea. It had been arranged by the organizations Chief Party Planners COO Greg Campbell, a 26-year veteran of AID Upstate, and CEO Andy Hall, a part of AID Upstate since 1994. Greg and Andy organized the party before I was hired. I just followed their plan, Giocamea says. By the next year, COVID-19 had made large, indoor gatherings unsafe. AID Upstate never closed its doors during the pandemic, and the need for its services continued. So Giocamea pivoted to a toned-down, outdoor Red Party Summer Block Party in 2020 at Modal bed-and-breakfast. A lot of people did show up. I think people wanted to get out and see other folks. Thats all I wanted, he says. The summer party has become its own tradition. It will be held this year on Thursday, June 22, under a tent in the large yard behind Modal at 813 Augusta Street. It's informal, Giocamea says. I ask people to wear red. If they want to wear something outlandish or extraordinary, that's fine. But be comfortable. It's going to be hot. Heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served. A DJ will entertain. And drag performer Patti OFurniture will host the event. Patti, aka Pat Patterson, has performed across the country since 1999 as an emcee, comedian and activist. Patterson lives in South Carolina and has been featured in an HBO series and an LGBTQ history book, Committed to Home, according to the Patti OFurniture website. The money Patti collects onstage $1.5 million over her career goes to charities, one dirty dollar bill at a time, the website says. Modal, which describes itself as a queer-owned modern hostel, micro coffee bar and art gallery, attracts a younger crowd for its events, Giocamea says. We want to make sure that no one forgets what happened during the AIDS crisis, he says. Its great to go out and have fun, but we want people to keep themselves healthy. We want to educate folks about AID Upstate and tell them we are here if they need us. And we want to get the next generation involved as advocates or leaders. AID Upstate is Giocameas first experience with a nonprofit organization. He worked in logistics, sales and marketing for a trucking company in Atlanta, then moved to Greenville to take the job as AID Upstates first Director of Community Relations and also to live in the same city as his new husband. It's been a huge learning curve for me, he says. I thought I knew about HIV and AIDS and what AID Upstate does, but apparently, I knew nothing. Its more complex. There are more services offered to the community. I've needed to study and ask a lot of questions. AID Upstates mission has changed as medical advances have enabled people to live well with an HIV or AIDS diagnosis. The priority today is HIV prevention in Greenville, Anderson, Pickens and Oconee counties. A lot of people think that we only provide services for folks who have been diagnosed. But we have programs for prevention and medical treatment, Giocamea says. HIV infection is most prevalent among young gay men between the ages of 35 and 39. They're the first generation that doesn't have a connection to the AIDS epidemic, so they don't understand the history, he says. AID Upstate provides no-cost testing for HIV and sexually transmitted infections, along with counseling based on the test results. For those who test negative, drugs are available to help reduce the risk of contracting HIV. For those who test positive, several medications are available. Genetic testing is done before medication is prescribed to minimize the risk of side effects. Most STI's can be treated but can have long-term health consequences if they are not treated. AID Upstate partners with an organization that can prescribe HIV prevention medications through telehealth and another that provides resources to IV drug users. Other programs assist clients with food, shelter, transportation, finances, mental health and addiction issues, and problems with insurance. The organization even has medical practices in Greenville and Anderson, each staffed with primary care physicians. Theres even a Red Ribbon Resale Shop at 803 Pendleton Street. And the traditional Red Party will return this October, Giocamea promises. Details will be announced at the Block Party. Dining with Friends will again be part of the Red Party. People may choose to host dinners in their own homes to raise awareness and solicit donations for AID Upstate. Someday, a fundraiser may feature a flamenco performance. Giocamea, originally from Phoenix, is a pro; he learned while stationed in Spain with the U.S. military and still has a passion for studying flamenco music and dance. Admission to the Summer Block Party is $15. Last years event sold out, so Giocamea urges people to buy tickets in advance through the AID Upstate website. If the admission price isnt in someone's budget, they can just email me, he says. AID Upstate has always been here. People find us when they need us. We're trying to be more visible. Hopefully, people will find us because they want to come here, not because they need us. *** To contact the AID Upstate medical office in Greenville, call (864) 250-0607. To contact the Anderson medical office, call (864) 226-9144. For testing, call (864) 232-2310; appointments are required. For any service, call (864) 250-0607. This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Greenville's Summer Block Party benefits AID Upstate's mission Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck set to have surgery to insert a plate for a facial fracture Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Tanner Houck holds a towel to his face as is helped off the field by a trainer after being struck by a line drive on the cheek during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, June 16, 2023, at Fenway Park in Boston. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Boston Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck is scheduled to have surgery next week to insert a plate to help a facial fracture heal after he was hit by a batted ball. Houck was hit below the right eye by a line drive from the New York Yankees Kyle Higashioka on Friday night. The 26-year-old right-hander saw a doctor Tuesday and it was determined a plate was needed. Boston manager Alex Cora said Tuesday that the outcome was a best-case scenario for Houck because he was hit below the eye and temple. Cora said he envisions Houck returning to pitch this season. Sounds bad, right? Fracture, Cora said. "But the fact that he knows hes going to be part of this, its good. Its the best news we can get. Cora said there's currently no timetable for Houck's return. Houck received stitches after the incident and was checked at a hospital after he walked off the mound on his own with a towel covering his bleeding face. He's 3-6 with 5.05 ERA this season, making 13 starts. ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports The News Hunter Biden on Tuesday was charged with two counts of failing to pay federal taxes and one count of possessing a gun while addicted to drugs. He has reached a tentative agreement with the Department of Justice to plead guilty to the two tax crimes and avoid being prosecuted for the firearm charge. The charges against Biden come just days after federal prosecutors charged former president Donald Trump with 37 counts related to the classified documents probe. Here's how lawmakers are reacting to Biden's charges and the plea deal. Know More Donald Trump Jr. The former president's son slammed Attorney General Merrick Garland and said the plea deal with Hunter Biden "reeks of favoritism." Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) She tweeted that Hunter Biden's plea deal "is a stunt to make him look like he is just cooperating with the DOJ" and that Trump was wrongfully accused of keeping classified documents with him. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) Comer, Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement that Biden has gotten away with "a slap on the wrist" and vowed to determine if President Joe Biden was involved in "the family's schemes." The statement said: "Lets be clear: the Department of Justices charges against President Bidens son Hunter reveal a two-tiered system of justice. Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery...We will not rest until the full extent of President Bidens involvement in the familys schemes are revealed. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) Raskin, the ranking Democrat member on the House oversight committee, slammed Republicans for promoting "debunked conspiracy theories" about the president. Sen. Chris Coons (D-De.) A Biden ally from the president's home state, Sen. Chris Coons said he is "encouraged" that Hunter Biden is accepting responsibility. "From press accounts, I am encouraged that Hunter is taking responsibility for his actions, paying the taxes that he owes, and preparing to move on with his life. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) The chair of House Republicans was unhappy about Biden's tentative plea agreement and accused Democrats of weaponizing the justice system. "Its never been more clear that we have a two-tiered system of justice when you have the son of the sitting President of the United States selling our country out to the highest bidder, laundering money, committing tax fraud, accepting bribes, illegally obtaining a firearm, and shamefully avoiding child support," she said. Gov. Nikki Haley (R-S.C.) "This plea deal only raises further questions about Hunter Bidens crimes and the double standard of justice in our federal government. There is clearly a lot more the Biden family has to answer for," the former South Carolina governor and 2024 GOP candidate said in a statement to Semafor. Speaker Kevin McCarty (R-Ca.) McCarthy called Biden's plea agreement a "sweetheart deal." "It continues to show the two-tier system in America," McCarthy said of the plea deal. "f you are the presidents leading political opponent, the DOJ tries to literally put you in jail and give you prison time. But if you are the presidents son, you get a sweetheart deal." Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) The Florida governor and 2024 GOP candidate also described the agreement as a "sweetheart deal." Vivek Ramaswamy The entrepreneur and 2024 GOP candidate said the plea deal was a "joke." "Its a feigned retreat & reveals theyre even more scared than ever of scrutiny for the real crimes," he tweeted. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) Donalds described the agreement as a "slap on the wrist." Well-settled refugee communities in the United States punch above their weight economically, outpacing the national average on household income and entrepreneurship, according to a new report by the American Immigration Council. Household income for refugees rises dramatically the more time they spend in the United States, according to the report. On average, refugee households who have been in the United States five years or less earn around $30,500 per year, but after 20 years in the country that figure jumps to $71,400, $4,300 above the national median income. The study analyzed data from the Census Bureaus American Community Survey (ACS) for 2015 to 2019, focusing on 2.4 million people likely to be refugees due to their country of origin and date of arrival in the United States; the Census Bureau does not collect data on past or present immigration status. The report was released Tuesday to mark World Refugee Day. Using the 2.4 million respondents as a sample for the about 3.5 million refugees in the United States, the researchers found that the sample group earned about $93.6 billion in household income in 2019. The group also paid $25 billion in taxes and had nearly $70 billion left over as disposable income. The findings are clear: refugees pay billions of dollars in taxes annually and demonstrate a remarkable entrepreneurial spirit, with high rates of business ownership, citizenship attainment, and homeownership, said Nan Wu, research director of the American Immigration Council. According to the report, 13 percent of refugees are also entrepreneurs, compared to 9 percent of the U.S.-born population, and 11.7 percent of non-refugee immigrants. In comparison to other immigrants, refugees are also more likely to participate politically and lay down roots in the United States after 20 years of residency in the country, 89.9 percent of refugees have opted for U.S. citizenship, compared to 67.5 percent of other immigrants. The sample group in the survey showed a 59.2 percent homeownership rate, higher than other immigrant groups at 51.7 percent, but lower than the 65.7 homeownership rate for the U.S.-born. According to the United Nations, more than 100 million people were displaced from their homes globally in 2022, and State Department figures show that 20 million people were displaced in the Western Hemisphere. Comparatively, the Biden administration has set a goal of accepting 125,000 refugees in 2023, a figure most experts say will be difficult to reach. Still, the American Immigration Council report took into account the nearly 180,000 Afghans and Ukrainians who have been allowed into the United States through humanitarian parole. We hope this report will encourage informed conversations about the importance of refugee resettlement and highlight the invaluable contributions refugees make to our communities, Wu said. By recognizing refugees as drivers of economic growth and social progress, we can foster a more inclusive and prosperous future for all. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Photo: Courtesy of the Cooper family Even during Juneteenth weekend Black families cant enjoy their holiday in peace. Over the weekend, as Black people across the country were preparing for their Fathers Day and Juneteenth festivities, one San Diego family was busy searching for the remains of a family member they thought was buried more than 20 years ago. Read more Greenwood Memorial Park and Mortuary in San Diego told the family of Sidney Cooper that his casket and body were not in the correct spot, according to the Associated Press, Get this, they only discovered that his body was missing while they were getting ready to bury the remains of Coopers wife, Thelma, who died three months ago. To make matters even worse, Cooper was a staunch advocate of Juneteenth years before he died in 2001 at the age of 71 and decades before it became a federal holiday in the United States in June 2021. Cooper was the owner of a barbershop and produce store in the San Diego area. He organized small gatherings in front of his businesses and at local parks to celebrate Juneteenth. As a result, Coopers children are filing a lawsuit against the cemetery to force them to find their fathers remains and pay them for damages, according to the Associated Press. Coopers children filed the lawsuit the same weekend that they planned to have the Cooper Family Foundation Juneteenth Freedom Festival in San Diego. The festival is meant to carry on the tradition that their father set years ago. More from the Associated Press: Cemetery officials have said they might have an idea where his casket was buried, according to the familys attorneys, Eric Dubin and Annee Della Donna. An underground probe detected the presence of a casket in a different plot thats supposed to be empty, the attorneys said. The family wants that body exhumed and the DNA tested. Its one thing to lose the remains of a beloved family member, which would be frustrating for anyone. But for it to happen during Fathers Day and Juneteenth weekend is damn near unforgivable. Imagine if the children of Martin Luther King Jr. sued an Atlanta cemetery just days before MLK day?! In a statement, the Greenwood Memorial Park and Mortuary said, While the placement of this familys loved one occurred over 20 years ago under previous ownership and management, we recently discovered an issue with placement and are diligently working to confirm the placement of the loved one. Our hope is to reunite the loved ones as intended as soon as possible. They better, because if they dont, Coopers children are going to get paid. 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. CAIRO, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian Foreign Ministry reaffirmed the importance of coordinating international efforts to find sustainable solutions to refugee issues. "Solutions should consider integration between human and developmental aspects via finding a comprehensive perspective," the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday, World Refugee Day. Egypt called for mobilizing necessary resources to meet the refugees' humanitarian needs and support refugee-hosting countries based on the principle of equitable sharing of burdens and responsibilities. "This occasion is an important opportunity to shed light on the sufferings of refugees and to affirm solidarity with them and the hosting countries," it added. Amid regional crises and natural disasters, Egypt continues to open its doors to provide a haven for those forced to flee their countries, the statement said. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) statistics released in March, Egypt hosts 291,578 UN-registered refugees and asylum seekers. The UNHCR added that more than 210,000 Sudanese have fled to Egypt since the outbreak of the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on April 15. Indiana can take tremendous pride in being one of the top states for a welcoming tax and business climate, and for maintaining fiscal responsibility while also funding essential services like education. The new state budget, passed during the recent legislative session, supports these priorities while also providing additional relief to taxpayers. State Rep. Chris May Years of responsible budget management allowed state lawmakers to pass legislation in 2022 to drop the individual income tax rate from 3.23% to 2.9% by 2029. The new state budget accelerates this timeline so that Hoosier taxpayers will have one of the lowest income tax rates in the country by 2027. This tax cut and other tax relief measures passed this year, Hoosiers can expect to save nearly $430 million over the next two years. Property tax dollars are collected and spent locally, and help pay for schools, police and fire protection, and other local government services. To help counter the rise in local property tax bills, I supported legislation to provide about $100 million in property tax relief for homeowners beginning next year. Hoosiers can expect a temporary increase to the supplemental homestead tax deduction and additional limits on property tax levy growth. This session, I also co-authored a law exempting active-duty military pay from the state income tax starting next year, regardless of deployment status. These service members provide a major boost to Indiana, especially in our area through the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division. Any incentive we can give them to make their home and start a career here remains a priority. K-12 education continues to be the largest part of Indiana's budget, comprising nearly half of the state's spending. We continued to prioritize our students with strong investments and student funding will increase by 10% over the next two years. Additionally, lawmakers eliminated textbook and curricular fees paid by parents. To help students who are not planning to attend college but who still want to be prepared for the workforce, I supported efforts to create more work-based learning opportunities in Hoosier high schools. Students will be able to use Career Scholarship Accounts to pay for training and associated expenses like transportation and uniforms. The State Board of Education is reviewing current high school diploma requirements so these types of experiences can count toward graduation. This is another way to ensure students are equipped to succeed after finishing school, no matter which path they choose. If you have questions about this year's legislative session or need help navigating state government, please contact me anytime at h65@iga.in.gov or 317-232-9676. I also encourage constituents to subscribe to my e-newsletters at in.gov/h65 to learn more about the work I'm doing at the Statehouse and what's happening in our district. State Rep. Chris May (R-Bedford) represents House District 65,which includes all of Lawrence County, and portions of Jackson, Orange and Washington counties. This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: Rep. May gives overview of tax, education legislation in 2023 session A CBS reporter who last year rode the Titan submersible that vanished off the coast of Canada this week with five people inside told USA TODAY parts of the vessel seemed "less sophisticated" and described the safety features meant to avoid a crisis like the one it's currently facing. "I was anticipating a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I got it," CBS correspondent David Pogue told USA TODAY's "5 Things" podcast. Pogue boarded submersible for a CBS report that aired in November alongside OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who is among the five missing passengers on the voyage to tour the wreckage of the Titanic. Pogue's account has drawn attention not just because it's a rare first-hand look at the experience of being in a submersible, but because of the snags it hit along the way. Pogue told USA TODAY on Tuesday afternoon that the Titan got "lost" for a few hours and couldn't find the wreckage of the Titanic during one of the dives on that trip, but unlike the current situation, it never lost all communication with crews on the surface. His report also highlighted some of the "jerry-rigged" parts helping the vessel operate. "There were parts of it that seemed to me to be less sophisticated than I was guessing. You drive it with a PlayStation video controller... some of the ballasts are old, rusty construction pipes," Pogue told USA TODAY. "There were certain things that looked like cut corners." In a tweet of the report, Pogue linked to video of himself describing the submarine as having as much room as a minivan. Pogue said the vessel was the only five-person sub that could reach Titanic depths. Rush, CEO of the company that owns the submersible, argued against the description of the Titan as being "MacGyvery" in the CBS report. Rush told Pogue that important components of the submersible such as the pressure vessel were solidly engineered alongside NASA, Boeing and the University of Washington. "Everything else can fail. Your thrusters can go, your lights can go, you're still going to be safe," Rush said. The submersible has "about 40 hours of breathable air left," U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Jason Frederick said Tuesday afternoon. Frederick said rescue teams have searched 7,600 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean since Sunday without any results. The Titan had a 96-hour oxygen supply when it went to sea at about 6 a.m. Sunday, according to OceanGate Expeditions adviser David Concannon. CBS correspondent David Pogue: 'This is adventure travel' Pogue told USA TODAY that the people who pay to go down in the submersible are adventure-lovers. They also have to have the means to pay the $250,000 fee to take the trip. "This is adventure travel. This is for adrenaline-seekers, people who live on the edge," he said. Rush told Pogue during their ride last year that the trip on the Titan shouldnt require a lot of skill on the passengers' part. We only have one button and thats it, Rush said in the CBS report. It should be like an elevator. Passengers assist with a variety of tasks on the submersible, according to OceanGate Expeditions' website, accessed through the Internet Archive by USA TODAY, including sonar operation, taking photos or videos and assisting the pilot with communications between the sub and the surface. Pogue says OceanGate CEO told him parts of the sub were 'very high-end' Pogue publicly addressed concerns with the Titan's construction in his CBS report and with USA TODAY. Despite the appearance of "cut corners," he told USA TODAY that OceanGate CEO Stockton reassured him "that the part that we care about, where the people are, the pressure capsule, is very high-end." He replied to a Twitter user Tuesday saying there were many red flags that urged him to challenge Rush on the submersibles construction and the safety of future passengers. Pogue had already been concerned about the vehicle prior to his experiences on it. Yes, I was pretty terrified. I didnt sleep the night before at all, Pogue wrote on Twitter. He described in the CBS report a breakdown in communication that caused the submersible to get lost in an attempt to find the Titanic last summer. That trip down below was aborted before it could reach the wreckage, which he told USA TODAY was "par for the course" for every excursion. This submersible does not have any kind of beacon like that. On my expedition last summer, they did indeed get lost for about 5 hours, and adding such a beacon was discussed, Pogue tweeted. They could still send short texts to the sub, but did not know where it was. It was quiet and very tense, and they shut off the ships internet to prevent us from tweeting. What you need to know about sub: Maps, graphics show last location, depth and design Titan passengers signed safety waivers in case of bad outcome Pogue described the safety waiver he had to sign to ride the Titan submarine, which included many clauses specifying ways passengers might be injured or killed. An experimental submersible vessel that has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body ... could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death, Pogue read off a form in his CBS report before saying, where do I sign? He said Tuesday that because the submersible operates in international waters, it's not regulated or inspected by any governmental body. There are dangers involved every step of the way, he said. "The waiver, basically it's eight paragraphs of ways that you could get permanently disabled or killed," he told USA TODAY. Submersible had safety features in place Pogue told USA TODAY members of the trip went through mandatory daily briefings and were even taught how to put on smoke masks and use fire extinguishers in case of a scenario where there was smoke on the craft. He said the expedition has a "safety-conscious culture." There were fail safes for emergencies, Pogue said, including one method that would allow the submersible to rise up to the surface on its own after several hours even if all the people on board somehow lost consciousness. "Nobody ever said, 'here's what you do if we lose communication and are trapped under the sea,' because it just seems impossibly remote," he said. Pogue said to his knowledge, over three years of doing these expeditions, a situation with a total communication failure like we're seeing now has never happened before. Watch the full interview with David Pogue below: This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Submarine's 'jerry-rigged' design: David Pogue called out Titanic sub A man was shot and killed Monday afternoon after he attempted to carjack an undercover police officer, according to Kentucky State Police and reports from multiple Louisville media outlets. The shooting happened shortly after 1:30 p.m. in the citys Portland neighborhood, according to WDRB. Two undercover officers with the Louisville Metro Police Departments Fugitive Unit were attempting to arrest a separate suspect when the man attempted to carjack one of the officers. An officer shot the man in response, according to WDRB. The man was sent to University of Louisville Hospital, where he later died, according to WAVE 3. The officer who fired his gun is a 10-year veteran with LMPD, according to WAVE 3. No officers were injured. Kentucky State Police confirmed the shooting happened and that a man was shot and killed. No other details about the incident were released by KSP. KSP is leading the investigation into the fatal shooting, and its unknown when more details about the incident will be released. KSP typically investigates shootings across the state that involve police officers. The agency confirmed Monday it was investigating the incident. Mark Jaggers, who told multiple media outlets he was the father of the victim, spoke to WDRB and WAVE 3 expressing concerns about polices initial findings in the investigation. He told WDRB his son, who he identified as Mark Jaggers Jr., wasnt attempting to carjack anyone and he thought the car had been stolen and then dumped there. Officers were in the area to arrest Rex Wright Jr., according to WLKY. He turned himself in and was charged with assault and multiple counts of wanton endangerment in connection to a shooting that happened in late May. Republicans on Capitol Hill criticize DOJ charges against Hunter Biden and vow to continue investigating the presidents son House and Senate Republicans have been quick to criticize the plea deal between the Department of Justice and Hunter Biden, arguing Tuesday that the charges brought against President Joe Bidens son exemplify what they describe as the weaponization of the DOJ. The reaction underscores how the charges brought by the DOJ as the result of a five-year investigation led by a Donald Trump appointee will not deter Republicans on Capitol Hill, particularly GOP lawmakers who control the House and by extension the committees, from pursuing their own probes into the Biden family. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy dismissed the fact that the US attorney was a Trump holdover when asked by CNNs Manu Raju. You think its equal and fair that a political opponent is going to be given jail time, but a presidential son and if you compare this to other individuals in America that have the same accusations against them, same crimes that they had been guilty of, that they were proposed to have 10 years and other time periods I think thats a difference of justice, McCarthy said. The argument that the Justice Department has been politicized against conservatives has been central to how House Republicans approach their congressional investigations, how they frame their defense of Trump and how they rationalize the cuts in funding they want to make to the DOJ and specifically the FBI across the board through the House appropriations process. House Oversight Chairman James Comer criticized the Justice Department for only giving Hunter Biden a slap on the wrist, saying he received a sweetheart plea deal. Comer, a Kentucky Republican who has made Hunter Biden a fixture of his committee, said the charges will have no impact on his investigation, which has focused on the Biden familys foreign business dealings. While House Republicans have used their subpoena power to try and uncover a money trail, they have still not established a direct link to President Biden. We will not rest until the full extent of President Bidens involvement in the familys schemes are revealed, Comer said in a statement Tuesday. McCarthy similarly said Tuesdays news should aid their investigation. It actually should enhance our investigation because the DOJ should not be able to withhold any information now, saying that because a pending investigation, they should be able to provide Chairman Comer with any information that he requires, the California Republican said. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, who has made alleged politicization of DOJ central to his work as committee chairman, tweeted that the news exemplified a double standard of justice in light of the charges brought against Hunter Biden. House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, who sits on the so-called weaponization subcommittee led by Jordan, was the first member of House GOP leadership to weigh in. This is the epitome of the politicization and Weaponization of Joe Bidens Department of Justice as they give a slap on the wrist to President Bidens son a tax fraud and corrupt pay-to-play criminal, Stefanik, a Republican from New York, said in a statement provided to CNN. House Republicans will not rest until the full illegal corruption of the Biden Crime Family is exposed. Republican senators, including Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, echoed that the charges against Hunter Biden by the DOJ reflect a sweetheart deal. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio said Hunter Bidens deal is exhibit 1,042 for why Im holding Bidens DOJ nominees. Last week, Vance vowed to hold on all judicial nominees indefinitely, until Attorney General Merrick Garland commits to a new policy on prosecutions and politically motivated law. The argument that the DOJ is politicized resurfaced Tuesday among the right wing of the House GOP, with a number of them saying that US Attorney David Weiss, the Trump appointee who brought the charges, ignored evidence despite not knowing any details of how Weiss conducted his five-year investigation. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called the DOJ pathetic and weaponized. Rep. Bob Good of Virginia called Garland compromised and politicized, and claimed the Justice Department had no interest in investigating the Biden familys business dealings. Rep. Darrell Issa of California said the plea deal as only the first crack in the Biden corruption cover-up. And Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona claimed the announcement of the charges against Hunter Biden were to distract from special counsel John Durhams testimony in front of the House Intelligence Committee later Tuesday about his report on the FBI. Biggs vowed House Republicans would continue to investigate the Biden family. Make no mistake, Hunter Bidens plea deal today will not impede @JudiciaryGOP and @GOPoversights investigations into him and the rest of the Biden Family, he tweeted. They are not above the law. CNNs Melanie Zanona, Nicky Roberston, Haley Talbot and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com White GOP elephants with one non-white elephant Illustrated / The Week The list of Republican presidential aspirants now features five candidates of color, The Associated Press reported, making the primary ballot "the party's most racially diverse ever." Miami Mayor Francis Suarez joined a group of candidates that includes Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and California activist Larry Elder. That "diverse leadership" may mean the party has an opportunity to "further weaken the Democrats' grip" on Black and Latino voters. Indeed, former President Donald Trump who famously started his 2016 campaign with attacks on Mexico and Mexicans has responded to his recent federal indictment by appealing straight to Latino voters, The New York Times reported. Following his arraignment in Miami, Trump made an appearance at a Cuban restaurant and blasted his prosecution as something "you see in dictatorships like Cuba and Venezuela." That's a "not-so-subtle play for the sympathies of Latino voters," the Times reported. It's not just Latinos. The GOP is also making a play for Muslim voters in 2024, Semafor reported. That also marks a pivot, and perhaps a complete reversal: Trump appealed to LGBTQ+ voters in 2016 by promising to protect them from the so-called "hateful foreign ideology" of fundamentalist Muslims. Now Republicans are wooing Muslims "by promising to protect them from LGBTQ rights advocates whose demands conflict with their faith." Will it work? What are commentators saying? There are skeptics and critics of these shifts. "Nothing drives conservatives to reach out to groups they once feared as much as another group that they fear even more," columnist Michelle Goldberg wrote at the New York Times. For most of the two decades since 9/11 "abhorrence of Islam was an organizing principle" on the right. But now Republican conservatives many of whom are Christian believe they can make war on "wokeism" with conservative Muslims. "Were it not inspired by an anti-LGBTQ backlash, such interfaith dialogue would be touching." The time may be ripe for Republicans, Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux wrote at FiveThirtyEight. Recent polls show that support for President Biden has dropped significantly among Black voters but the biggest decline has been among Hispanic Americans. "Democratic activists have long complained that mainstream candidates like Biden take voters of color for granted." It's clear that Biden needs to better engage those voters "if the president wants to maintain the Democratic Party's diverse coalition." But Latino activists say both parties are "missing the mark," Edwin Rios wrote for The Guardian. Democrats and Republicans "continue to treat Latino voters like a monolithic group" instead of reaching out to find what various communities actually care about. But they may have no choice: The number of Latinos in America has doubled over the last 20 years. "If you want to win campaigns in the future, the Latino electorate has got to be a significant portion of who you are targeting and communicating with," Colin Rogero, a Democratic strategist, told Rios. What's next? There is a paradox, Politico reported in March: Results from the 2022 midterm elections show that Republicans are winning more Latino voters but that the greater number of Latino voters overall means that Democrats also benefited. "Even amid broader Republican gains, Democratic performance increased in areas with high proportions of Latino voters." Clarissa Martinez De Castro, vice president of the Latino Vote Initiative at UnidosUS, told Politico: "The reality is that the numbers are growing all over." The Washington Examiner reported that a recent analysis found problems for both parties with Latino voters, however. Those voters believe Democrats "don't always deliver on their promises, but they still trusted Democrats to look out for them and thought Republicans were extreme," said Carlos Odio, co-founder of Equis Research. That means Latino voters are in play for both sides. "What jumps out across & above other traits is that swing Latinos aren't deeply partisan," he added in a tweet. For now, at least, the Republican electorate is "overwhelmingly white," the Associated Press reported. And any shift of minority voters from Democrats to Republicans may not actually involve that many voters. In a closely divided nation, though, that could still have big effects: "Any shift is significant given how close some elections may be in 2024" You may also like Russia reportedly tried to assassinate a high-value CIA asset in Miami 5 theories for why Trump kept boxes of secret documents Trump shrugs off large number of his former Cabinet officials who don't want him reelected The Boise River boasts three mountain reservoirs Anderson Ranch, Arrowrock and Lucky Peak whose primary, and critical, roles are twofold. Starting in early April and running through June, when there is fast runoff from the melting snowpack, these reservoirs collect water to minimize flood impacts to the city and its residents. Second, much of what they collect provides water for agriculture throughout the Treasure Valley via a maze of irrigation channels a necessity once Idaho hits the dry summer months. So whats the outlook this year, which has already seen some flooding in Boise? According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Boise Basin is at 97% capacity, as snowmelt and a rainy spring have nearly filled the system. That means several things, including a chance of continued high river levels and the likelihood that it will be a good water year overall for Treasure Valley cities, as well as for farmers and ranchers in the various irrigation districts. It also has already meant a delayed start to the popular summertime float season on the river. Citing the excellent snowpack and cool weather, Bob Carter, with the Boise Project Board of Control, said in a phone interview that its shaping up to be a great water season that likely will extend until mid- or late October, breaking the pattern of drought conditions the past two years. The Board of Control oversees five major irrigation districts in the Treasure Valley, and Idahos drought was bad enough in 2021 that water was shut off more than a month early to users. Last year saw shutoffs that were only a week or two early in most cases. The Boise River flows out of its banks and covers some concrete steps along the Greenbelt just east of the Parkcenter Bridge. Full reservoirs from a dense snowpack and spring rain have led to a high and dangerous river the past eight weeks. Who are the Boise River water level puppeteers? The decision of how much water to keep in reservoirs and how much to let flow into the Boise River is a careful balancing act. The level is controlled in part by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Jon Roberts, the water management lead for the Corps Walla Walla District, said in a phone interview that its an enormously collaborative effort between a wealth of agencies. In the Boise Basin, six to 10 engineers and scientists are responsible for managing the flows at any given time. The agencies these experts represent include the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Weather Service, NOAAs Northwest River Forecast Center and the Department of Agricultures Natural Resources Conservation Service. The flow rates are revised daily, based on recent weather and historic snowfall records, according to Roberts. Those in charge analyze snow telemetry (SNOTEL) data from a network of over 900 automated collection sites located in remote, high-elevation watersheds across the West. Each site hosts a snow pillow that weighs the snow on top of it and estimates snow moisture content. Combined with satellite imagery, data are used by the team to update estimates of snowpack and snowmelt. Were constantly coming up with better ways to forecast snowpack, Roberts said. The Bethine Church River Trail, a 1.6-mile unpaved stretch of the Boise River Greenbelt, has experienced flooding throughout the spring. How much water is too much water? In the Snowmageddon winter of 2016-17, Boise saw 39.1 inches of snowfall, with 21 inches in January 2017 alone. The following spring brought unprecedented flooding to the city. Roberts said there was so much snow in the region, the water release was spread out over 100 days as opposed to the usual 60. Even then, Roberts said the city saw catastrophic consequences. River flows are typically measured in cubic feet per second (cfs), which notes the volume of water flowing past a stationary point each second. A single cubic foot of water is roughly 7.5 gallons. Flood stage begins at 7,000 cfs, and if the flow gets to be 10,000 cfs, very significant damage will occur. The maximum Boise River flow rate in 2017 was 9,590 cfs, and the impact could be seen across the city, in flooded houses, parking lots and playgrounds. Eroded and saturated root systems led to many problems with fallen trees and debris in and along the river. The Boise region received 83% of normal snowfall last winter, and the max flow rate this spring has been about 6,000 cfs, Roberts said. But he noted that rate is still impactful because all it takes is 4,000 cfs to affect lower-lying areas. This year, significant swaths of the Greenbelt have been closed because of flooding, and officials posted a dangerous river notice in April, warning people not to try to recreate. The Boise River claimed the life of a kayaker not long after that. Got an interesting science-related story? Julie Jung is an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow working with the Idaho Statesman this summer. She has degrees from Williams College (B.A.) in Massachusetts and Boston University (M.A. and Ph.D.), and is doing postdoctoral work at the University of Utah. Reach her at jjung@idahostatesman.com with comments and story ideas. Retail theft keeps climbing. California Atty. Gen. Bonta tries a new tactic to fight it Batteries are locked up behind a olastic barrier at a Ralphs supermarket in Calabasas. Retail chains are adding more security measures to combat retail theft. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta on Tuesday announced a new partnership between the Justice Department and more than a dozen retailers and online marketplaces to crack down on organized retail crime in the state. To support prosecution, partners including Target, Albertsons and Amazon have signed a pledge that "increases information sharing" between law enforcement, retailers that experience theft and online marketplaces where stolen merchandise can be resold. Organized retail crime will not be tolerated, Bonta said at a news conference. Not by business, not by law enforcement, not by me. Today, we're making that abundantly clear. The agreement also establishes specific commitments for the brick-and-mortar merchants signing the pact, which include maintaining thorough records of incidents, filing police reports and training personnel to gather appropriate evidence. "There was a long period of discussion between law enforcement and marketplaces and retailers where there wasn't always agreement," Bonta said. "We have agreement. And we have commitments for action going forward." Read more: With high food prices, grocery shopping has become a strategy game. Angelenos share how they get by The Justice Department has also created a new online portal where members of the public can submit complaints and tips about such crimes they may witness. The initiative targets organized retail crime not shoplifting, employee theft or fraud, which make up a substantial chunk of all retail losses. "It's not about the occasional smash-and-grab at the local big-box store," Bonta said. "This is about a multibillion-dollar criminal enterprise criminal schemes that are complex, orchestrated and incredibly organized." Organized retail theft has become the subject of national attention in recent years, with stores and government officials alike sounding the alarm. Footage of smash-and-grab burglaries groups of people breaking store windows and collecting cartfuls of merchandise have circulated widely, stoking fears that organized crime rings are running rampant and operating complex reselling enterprises. In response, many retailers have upped their security measures, often to the point of angering their paying customers. It has become the new normal for basic household items such as toothpaste and allergy medicine to be held behind plastic barriers or security devices and getting them out requires waiting for an available employee. More products have also been moved behind the cash register. Some critics have posited that the issue has been overblown, and that complex gangs are not responsible for large numbers of retail losses. Read more: Retailers say thefts are at crisis level. The numbers say otherwise Others argue that retailers have used consumer fears to justify discriminatory policies and increased policing at stores. A Times survey in November of Los Angeles area drugstores suggested that stores in higher-income neighborhoods were locking up fewer commonly stolen items, even if the property crime rate was higher in those areas. Estimates vary widely on how much money stores lose from instances of organized retail theft. A report released last year by the National Retail Federation estimated that at least $35 billion worth of merchandise was stolen in 2021, but the report did not differentiate between shoplifting and organized crimes. The report added that Los Angeles was the metro area most affected by organized retail theft in the country, just ahead of San Francisco and Oakland. On a call about quarterly earnings in May, Target executives said rising theft was to blame for losses of between $700 million and 800 million in 2022. The retail giant predicted that related losses could be up to $500 million more in 2023, to the tune of $1.2 billion. Some California stores have closed their doors permanently, making subtle references to theft. Read more: L.A.'s LGBTQ+ consumers on Pride merch: enough with the 'rainbow-washing' Nordstrom announced last month that it is closing its two stores in San Francisco's Union Square, a high-profile exodus that follows dozens of others in the previously bustling shopping district. Although not explicitly referencing crime, Jamie Nordstrom, the chief stores officer, blamed changing dynamics in San Francisco's downtown as a reason for the closure. This month, the owners of the Westfield San Francisco Centre mall announced that they would give up the property to their lenders after losing Nordstrom as a tenant. A spokesperson for Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield cited "challenging operating conditions in downtown San Francisco, which have led to declines in sales, occupancy and foot traffic" in an announcement of the company's departure. Bonta said that addressing organized retail crime is one of my top priorities as attorney general. For other retailers or online marketplaces that want to join the agreement, he said, "the door is open." This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Scott Wayne McMikle, an 30-year-plus veteran of the Boise Police Department, was one of dozens barred from working in Idahos law enforcement agencies last year. Documents and statements obtained by the Idaho Statesman showed McMikle admitted to repeatedly raping his wife while she was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer. It was one of the most severe cases among 38 Idaho officers decertified in 2022, and with a felony conviction involved, the circumstances behind McMikles decertification remained public. Reasons the Idaho Peace Officers Standards and Training may decertify an officer range from misdemeanors and misconduct to serious felony counts. Every year, about 1% of the states 6,000 officers are investigated for potential decertifications, said Dan Smith, POSTs Office of Professional Responsibility manager. In the past 20 years, more than 550 officers have been decertified, according to a Statesman database, which recorded any Idaho officers who were stripped of their certifications since 2002. But the reasons behind many of those decertifications remained hidden from the public without criminal charges, an officer may opt to voluntarily get decertified without answering to an investigation. That included former Ada County Sheriff Stephen Bartlett, who served as sheriff from 2015 to 2021 until his unexpected retirement. The details for Bartletts discipline have remained secret since he surrendered his certification. When officers are under investigation, they are given the opportunity to participate in the training agencys investigation. But if they dont want to talk to investigators, their certifications could be voluntarily handed over, Idaho POST spokesperson Kelsey Woodward told the Statesman by phone. In an effort to save face, some officers will surrender their certifications, Woodward said, because they may not want accusations to be made public. Nearly half of the officers decertified last year relinquished their certifications. The Statesman requested investigative documents from over a dozen officers who were decertified in 2022 including Matthew Lane, a Boise police officer who resigned from the department in May 2022. An undisclosed number of records were denied because they contained personnel information. The only document obtained from POST regarding Lanes discipline, a Final Order of Decertification, excluded any information about his dismissal. This was also the case for several other officers, including Aaron Teall, a former Ada County sheriffs deputy, and three Idaho Department of Correction employees who were all decertified in mid-June. One of the other officers who lost certifications last year was Lori Williams, who worked for the states correction department. She was decertified after she was convicted of driving under the influence for a second time and failed to report another alcohol-related conviction in 2009, according to paperwork filed by POST, which the Statesman obtained through a public records request. Dustin Moe, who worked for the Meridian Police Department, was decertified after POST determined that he violated the departments policies by inappropriately accessing confidential records, according to a report on the decertification decision. Details of Moes dismissal likely would have been kept hidden had he chosen to be voluntarily decertified. After a decertification in Idaho, the officers name gets placed on the National Decertification Index. An officer may try to apply to a law enforcement agency in another state before the decertification is finalized, which can be a lengthy process, Woodward told the Statesman. Woodward said its important for hiring agencies to reach out to the officers previous employers and do their due diligence. Any officer decertified in Idaho is allowed to reapply after 10 years, but Smith, who oversees all of the decertification investigations in the state, said its happened only once, because the law enforcement agency that would rehire the decertified officer must petition POST for the officers recertification. Smith added that POST cant certify anyone who has been decertified in another state. Were here to protect the officers and Im here to get rid of the cancer. Theres no cancer that I want in my profession, Smith said, describing his role investigating officers. Law enforcement is an honorable, ethical should be an honorable and ethical profession. Domestic violence crimes will lead to decertification The worst thing an officer can do is lie and try to cover up a mistake, Smith said, which is a sure way to get decertified, versus owning up to the blunder. Its possible to recover from those mistakes, like, Whoa sir, this is what I did, I really made a mistake and I shouldnt have and this is what Im doing to fix that, Smith said. No, they hide it and they cover it up and not tell the truth about it, and thats where people get really jammed up. Aside from a felony conviction, several other factors will automatically decertify an officer, such as falsifying or omitting information to get certified or any misdemeanor conviction that involves domestic violence. Smith said its logistically impossible for an officer who has been convicted of domestic violence to continue working in law enforcement because of an amendment to the Federal Gun Control Act of 1968, often called the Lautenberg Amendment, which prohibits anybody convicted of a misdemeanor involving domestic violence from possessing a firearm. If you cant carry a weapon, how can you be in law enforcement? Smith said. In October, former Idaho State Police Specialist Derek James Emmert was convicted of battering his wife and placed on four years of supervised probation after pleading guilty to two misdemeanors: domestic battery in the presence of a child and disturbing the peace. He was decertified in February. We dont want law enforcement officers who are abusers, Smith said. McMikle could spend up to 10 years in prison McMikle, who retired in 2015, was charged with nine felony counts of rape and a single count of forcible penetration by use of a foreign object in 2021. He pleaded guilty in October 2021, according to online court records, to just one felony count of domestic battery with traumatic injury while all other charges against him were dropped. The Meridian Police Department opened an investigation into McMikle in December 2020 after he contacted the department and reported the sexual assaults, according to an investigation report obtained by the Statesman. In January 2022, 4th District Judge Cynthia Yee-Wallace sentenced McMikle to up to 10 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after five. To do the unspeakable things that I have done to the person that I love the most is unforgivable, McMikle said during his sentencing hearing. To think I was the one that inflicted that kind of pain crushes me. Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Katelyn Farley said McMikle, who had moved to Louisiana, submitted a letter confessing to raping his wife in 2008. Farley added that according to the police reports, McMikle said he was guilty of about 350 counts of rape. The facts of the case are extremely disturbing, Farley said. In McMikles case, he was an automatic decertification, according to the investigative report, because he was convicted of a felony. McMikle is at the Idaho State Correctional Center in Kuna, south of Boise. He could be eligible for parole in January 2027. Retired NYPD Sergeant, Two Others Convicted of Acting as Agents of China (Bloomberg) -- A retired New York City police sergeant and two other men were convicted of charges including acting as illegal agents of the Chinese government for pressuring dissidents to return to China. Most Read from Bloomberg A federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, on Tuesday found that between 2016 and 2019 the three engaged in an illicit law enforcement operation. Among other acts, they conducted surveillance on a New Jersey resident and his family, and one target of their campaign was told to choose between returning to China and committing suicide, the US alleged. The Chinese government variously called the effort Operation Fox Hunt and Operation Sky Net. The case the first to go to trial in the US Justice Departments prosecution of Fox Hunt came amid a rise in US-China tensions that persists today on issues including access to semiconductors and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. Read the Justice Departments statement on the convictions here The three convicted defendants are Michael McMahon, 55, the retired sergeant; Zheng Congying, 27; and Zhu Yong, 66, also known as Jason Zhu. The charges also included conspiracy to commit interstate stalking. McMahon faces as many as 20 years in prison, Zheng as many as 10 and Zhu up to 25, according to Breon Peace, the US attorney in Brooklyn. The jurys verdict confirms that defendants McMahon and Zhu knowingly acted at the direction of a hostile foreign state to harass, intimidate and attempt to cause the involuntary return of a resident of the New York metropolitan area to the Peoples Republic of China, and that defendant Zheng harassed and intimidated that same person and his family, Peace said in a statement. Lawyers for all three said they would appeal the convictions. Read More: DOJ Charges Eight Chinese for Efforts to Round Up Dissidents When the charges against McMahon and the others were announced in October 2020, Chinas Foreign Ministry said the nation had been carrying out law enforcement cooperation with other countries in accordance with international law and bilateral agreements. Evidence presented at a three-week trial showed that China caused the international police group Interpol to issue red notices for the New Jersey resident and his wife, claiming they were wanted by Chinese authorities on corruption charges. Zhu then hired McMahon to obtain detailed information about them from a law enforcement database, according to prosecutors. It is particularly troubling that defendant Michael McMahon, a former sergeant in the New York City Police Department, engaged in surveillance, harassment and stalking on behalf of a foreign power for money, Peace said. The jury deliberated for about two days before returning its verdict. The defendants were among a group of eight originally charged. The case is US v. Hu Ji, 21-cr-265, US District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn). Read More: Years of Chinese Spying Led to Consulate Closing, U.S. Says --With assistance from Chris Strohm. (Adds details, quotes and context throughout, starting in third paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Rocket launch at night shows a bright lights and billowing plume below as the rocket lifts off from the launch pad. Rocket Lab's new suborbital launch vehicle Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) successfully completed a test flight on Saturday, June. 17. The Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) lifted off at 21:24 EDT (01:24 GMT) from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 2 at Virginia's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, according to a press release from the company. The company tweeted about the successful launch, writing: "Mission success for the launch of our new suborbital launch vehicle! HASTE took to the skies from Rocket Lab LC-2 in Virginia for a suborbital mission at 21:24pm Eastern. Congratulations to our mission partners, and welcome to a new era of hypersonic test launch capability!" Mission success for the launch of our new suborbital launch vehicle! HASTE took to the skies from Rocket Lab LC-2 in Virginia for a suborbital mission at 21:24pm Eastern. Congratulations to our mission partners, and welcome to a new era of hypersonic test launch capability! pic.twitter.com/nz3V4hCNoTJune 18, 2023 See more The company also shared a stunning image taken by rocket photographer Kyle Henry which shows the HASTE rocket as it performed a dogleg maneuver on its way to deploying its payload. Our first HASTE rocket takes flight from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 in Virginia with a dogleg maneuver on the way to payload deployment.: @kyle_LTS pic.twitter.com/qV6BowE1deJune 18, 2023 See more Related: SpaceX launches SATRIA-1 communications satellite for Indonesia, lands rocket at sea (video) HASTE, which was launched for a confidential customer, is a suborbital launch vehicle that is derived from Rocket Lab's Electron rocket. The Electron is already the world's most frequently launched commercial small launch vehicle, according to Rocket Lab. The company added that HASTE would leverage this heritage to offer "rue commercial testing capability at a fraction of the cost of current full-scale tests." Comprised of the same innovative carbon composite structure and with the same 3D printed Rutherford engines as the Electron rocket, HASTE has a modified third stage for enables it to perform hypersonic suborbital payload deployment. The third stage of HASTE can be controlled to give it flight trajectories and payload release conditions that can be adjusted in accordance with the individual needs of client missions. In addition to this, HASTE has an increased payload capacity with the launch system capable of hauling 1540 pounds (700 kilograms) to orbit. Rocket Lab said it also has the ability to be tailored to lift even larger payloads to space. HASTE, which will operate under Rocket Lab National Security (RLNS) , a Rocket Lab subsidiary created to serve the U.S. defense and intelligence community, also be capable of carrying air-breathing, ballistic re-entry, boost-glide, and space-based applications payloads. "The success of this mission demonstrates collaboration across government and industry partners to change the paradigm in hypersonic testing," Global Launch Services Senior Director Brian Rogers said in a statement. "HASTE enables the frequent, affordable flight testing needed to advance the nation's hypersonic technology development, and we're proud to be delivering this vital capability. "We thank our mission partners for entrusting us with this inaugural mission and look forward to continuing our partnership into the future." Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 20) Due to an overwhelming demand from its fans, the British rock band Coldplay added another night to its concert in the Philippines next year. Concert producer Live Nation Philippines confirmed in a Facebook post on Tuesday that the band will now be performing on Jan. 19 and 20, at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan. It added that the Jan. 19 show was sold out, a day after pre-selling of tickets started. Organizers, meanwhile, announced that tickets for the Jan. 20 show will go on sale on June 22 at 12 p.m. local time. READ: Coldplay to perform for PH fans in 2024 Ticket prices for the award-winning band's performance range from 2,500 to 10,000 for upper box seats and 11,000 to 22,000 for lower box seats. A maximum of six tickets can be purchased per transaction. Fans can also buy limited packages such as the Ultimate Spheres Experience (46,000) which includes one lower box premium ticket, backstage tour, stage access for a photo opportunity by a professional photographer, dedicated entrance to the venue, customized merchandise, and a sustainable gift item from the band. The Supersolis Experience (30,000), meanwhile, contains one lower box premium ticket, dedicated entrance to the venue, and a sustainable gift item from Coldplay. Coldplay has made a commitment in 2022 to make their Music of the Spheres concert tour as sustainable and low-carbon as possible. Since then, stage production of the band has been powered by kinetic dance floors that will generate energy to power the show through audience movement. Fans can also use electricity-generating stationary bicycles that will be installed at each show to help charge the show batteries. The band held its first concert in the country in 2017 at the Mall of Asia Concert Grounds in Pasay City. They are well-known for their songs Yellow, Fix You, Viva La Vida, and A Sky Full of Stars. By Luiza Ilie BUCHAREST (Reuters) -Romanian prosecutors on Tuesday charged U.S.-British social media influencer Andrew Tate, who has gained millions of fans by promoting an ultra-masculine lifestyle, with human trafficking, rape and forming a gang to sexually exploit women. Tate was indicted with his brother Tristan and two Romanian female suspects. They are under house arrest pending an investigation into abuses against seven women whom prosecutors say were lured through false claims of relationships. The suspects have denied the accusations. The Tate brothers, both former kickboxers, are the highest profile suspects facing trial for human trafficking in Romania. Andrew Tate, a self-described misogynist, has grown his following of mainly young men by building a lavish, hyper-macho image of driving fast cars and dating beautiful women. The four suspects were held in police custody from Dec. 29 until March 31 before a Bucharest court put them under house arrest, which prosecutors on Tuesday sought to extend. A judge will decide on Wednesday whether to prolong the detention for 30 days or replace it with a lighter measure. Andrew Tate, 36, has also been charged with raping one of the victims, while Tristan, 34, has been charged with instigating others to violence, according to prosecutors. "We embrace the opportunity (a trial) presents to demonstrate their innocence and vindicate their reputation," a spokesperson for the Tates' legal team said. The trial will not start immediately. Under Romanian law, the case gets sent to the Bucharest court's preliminary chamber, where a judge has 60 days to inspect the case files to ensure legality. Trafficking of adults carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years, as does rape. Prosecutors also said they were investigating the four suspects in a separate ongoing case on allegations of money laundering, witness tampering, and child and adult trafficking. 'STEALING MY WEALTH' The indictment also sought the confiscation of property, luxury watches, cash and cryptocurrency seized by prosecutors during the investigation. "I'm sure this case has absolutely nothing to do with stealing my wealth," Andrew Tate tweeted sarcastically. In 2022, he was the world's eighth-most Googled person, trailing only figures such as Johnny Depp, Will Smith and Vladimir Putin. In the past Tate has compared women to dogs and said they bear some responsibility for their rape. He has said he moved to Romania after being investigated in the United Kingdom on charges of sexual assault, which were ultimately dropped. On the Fresh&Fit podcast last year, he said he started making money by convincing multiple girlfriends to videochat and share the profits back when he lived in London. Romanian prosecutors have said the Tate brothers recruited their victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship or marriage. The victims were then taken to properties outside the capital Bucharest, and through physical violence and mental intimidation were sexually exploited by being forced to produce pornographic content for social media sites that generated large financial gain, prosecutors said. The case will be a test for Romania's anti-organized crime prosecuting unit DIICOT, which last year investigated 458 new trafficking cases and convicted 138 sex and labour traffickers, according to an annual trafficking report from the U.S. State Department. The report noted a slowdown in the pace of prosecution and persistent, low-level official complicity in trafficking crimes. (Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Jason Hovet, Alexandra Hudson, Angus MacSwan and Andrew Cawthorne) Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, talks to reporters during votes, at the Capitol in Washington, on Feb. 15, 2022. Romney and a group of other Republican senators are pushing the U.S. State Department to do something about a growing backlog of passport applications, citing emergency calls from constituents who say their travel plans are being ruined by the long waits. Saying their offices have been flooded by emergency requests from constituents, a group of Republican U.S. senators, including Utah's Mitt Romney, is calling for emergency action to address a months-long backlog in passport applications. The backlogs have reached critical levels, the senators argue, with all 14 of them reporting complaints from constituents who say their travel plans are being ruined by the long waits. "Since January 2023, our offices have observed a massive increase in passport related inquiries from our constituents," the senators wrote in a joint letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. "We understand that the Department of State is experiencing an unprecedented number of passport applications and renewals, but the strategies put in place to address this unprecedented demand appear to need additional attention." The passport backlog has grown larger in recent months, piling on top of a buildup that was initially attributed to American travelers' pent-up wanderlust in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the State Department is still trying to restaff positions that were lost or reassigned during the pandemic, Blinken told a Congressional committee earlier this year. Calling the pent-up demand "unprecedented," Blinken said in March that weekly applications jumped by 30% to 40% year-over-year and that some weeks saw more than 500,000 applications come in. The cover of a U.S. Passport is displayed in Tigard, Ore., Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021. The letter comes just weeks after Romney and other members of Utah's congressional delegation put in a call asking Blinken to consider opening a separate passport office inside the Beehive state. Signed by Romney, Lee, and Reps. Chris Stewart, John Curtis, Burgess Owens and Black Moore, all Republicans, the letter also cites problems with constituent complaints and calls for "every step possible to address it, including by opening a passport agency in Salt Lake City." "Over the past several weeks, residents of Utah have seen passport processing grind to a near halt, greatly disrupting travel plans and other aspects of daily life in our state," the letter stated. Utah residents must typically travel out of state for passport services, with the nearest offices in Los Angeles and Aurora, Colorado. The letter suggests points to passage of this year's National Defense Authorization Act as requiring the State Department to review the geographic diversity of passport agencies and identify areas with high demand but no in-person access to services. "Salt Lake County meets the criteria in the legislation, and we implore you to prioritize resources and investment to meet the consular needs of citizens within and near this region," the letter states. This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: Romney joins Republicans in call for Utah passport office In 2015, Justin Sky, Justin Bailie and Alexander Luksidadi -- all veterans of the trucking and logistics industry -- came to the realization that, in order to reach a stage of real-time collaboration, the entire trucking industry needed to come online. Shippers, carriers and brokers -- the intermediaries between carriers and shippers -- had to adopt a common system of record, the trio believed. They said they couldn't find such a system, so they created their own. Rose Rocket, a software-as-a-service transportation management system (TMS), is aimed at helping trucking and logistics companies manage their business. "The key issues facing the industry are capacity, visibility, supply chain disruptions and labor shortages -- and the antiquated systems and applications that enable these problems to only get worse," Sky, Rose Rocket's CEO, told TechCrunch in an email interview. "Like the way customer relationship management became table stakes technology in the past decades, the TMS is a system of truth for transportation companies, and the industry is rapidly adopting our software to modernize their business operations." Indeed, Rose Rocket appears to have gained some measure of traction, with a customer base ranging between 1,000 and 1,500 clients. Sky believes the company's annual recurring revenue will reach $100 million within the next three years, should the trajectory hold. "While many industries slowed down during the pandemic, Rose Rocket saw significant growth -- and has every year to date," Sky said. "Since 2021, Rose Rockets network has grown 47x." So how's Rose Rocket standing out in the crowded TMS space? It comes down to the feature set, Sky asserts. For example, Rose Rocket's platform lets truckers, brokers, carriers, shippers and drivers communicate and collaborate on one platform -- unlike some TMS products on the market. It also supports a range of workflows for different segments, from small broker segments to segments for enterprise carriers (think fleets of thousands of trucks). And Rose Rocket can integrate apps that customers need to run their business, minimizing duplicate data entry and allowing for real-time updates. "Rose Rocket built a product-led growth methodology to ensure that every user can self onboard onto the tool, allowing for companies to minimize business continuity risks when the industry continues to face a shift in talent and management," Sky said. It appears to be a winning strategy. Today, Canada-based Rose Rocket announced that it closed a $38 million Series B funding round led by Scale Venture Partners with participation from Addition Capital, Shine Capital, Scale-Up Ventures, FundersClub and Y Combinator. It brings the company's total raised to $69 million and will be used to bolster the companys expansion into larger fleets as well as support investments in product development and network collaboration efforts, Sky says. "Trucking is an economically strong and stable sector," he added. "Rose Rocket has always been capital efficient, so we were in a very strong position prior to this round of funding. The Series B is further validation." Certainly, Rose Rocket is in a enviable -- and profitable -- software segment. As far back as 2018, TMS was gaining steam as the benefits of digitization came into sharper focus for the $800 billion-per-year-in-revenue transportation industry. A survey conducted by InMotion Global five years ago found that 91% of trucking companies operating 20 trucks or more were using TMS. The pandemic, if anything, increased demand. According to Straits Research, the TMS market will grow to reach $19.1 billion in 2030, up from $6.92 billion in 2021. Clare Page, a mother-of-two, believes parents have lost power over what their children are taught - Geoff Pugh After losing a legal appeal to get a school to disclose sex education materials used in her daughters lesson, Clare Page considered giving up. The mother-of-two found out this month that once again the commercial interests of a third-party sex education provider were judged to be more important than the public interest of showing parents what is taught in schools. I did consider giving up from the point of view that its draining on my family time and my personal resources in a way thats a big commitment, she says. But having so much support from parents groups that are speaking with one voice on this issue, it seems obvious that there is enough support for me to carry on. Page, 47, has become a leading figure among a growing group of parents who say they are worried about what is being taught in relationships and sex education (RSE) without parental consent or consultation. She has crowdfunded around 11,000 for legal fees from parents around the country, including in Scotland, where parents have protested against pornographic sex education lessons in schools. In Lewisham, where she lives, support has come from gender-critical feminists and a host of parents groups, including UsForThem, Bayswater, and the Family Education Trust. Moreover, working with Miriam Cates, the Conservative MP for Pennistone and Stocksbridge, Pages research into third-party sex education providers has helped put pressure on Rishi Sunak to address the problem. Mr Sunak has now ordered an urgent review of sex education, which is due to report in the autumn. Page worked with Conservative MP Miriam Cates - Paul Cooper for The Telegraph Her fight began almost two years ago after her daughter came home from school and said she was told to be sex positive and taught that heteronormativity was a bad thing. Page reacted by asking to see the lesson plan and teaching materials used at her daughters school, Haberdashers Hatcham College, a state secondary in New Cross. As far as parents had been told, the School of Sexuality Education (SSE), which describes itself as a sex education charity providing in-school workshops and training, was going into the school to teach 15-year-olds about consent. But after the school and SSE said they were unable to give Page copies of the lesson plan and materials because of a confidentiality agreement, Page tried to use freedom of information laws to obtain copies. She was unsuccessful. The Information Commissioners Office and last week a Judge in a first-tier tribunal ruled that SSEs commercial interests trump her right to obtain copies of the materials. Now, she has instructed her lawyers to appeal the latest ruling. Page is an unlikely candidate to be taking on the UKs sex education industry. The artist, who works in product design, is preoccupied with a new cat and housework when we meet at her family home above a shop in an industrial area of south-east London. Wearing hoop earrings and no make-up, she points towards a studio where she works with her husband, who she met at art school in Liverpool. She says she has worked less as a product designer since becoming a mother and, in more recent years, as her campaign work has taken over. When I became a mother I really loved motherhood, so I suppose I then became much more aware and caring about education, she explains. Page at home in Deptford - Geoff Pugh However, until she learnt what her children were being taught in the past five years, she says she had never been involved in campaigning. Theres something that happens when you feel there is dishonesty surrounding your child, she says. If the people around her are not being straight, it causes a quite visceral reaction in a parent, I think. Having good faith, being in earnest, is just the most essential thing for having trust, for your child to be with other people. When thats gone, as a mother, you just feel quite impassioned to pursue it. She first became concerned in around 2018, when her younger daughter, aged nine, came back from a primary school in Lewisham and said she had been taught there are many more than two genders. Her daughter was also told that when referring to historical figures, she should use they, because we dont know for sure what their preferred pronouns are. Page decided to tell the school she didnt think this was right, assuming that one teacher had a wacky idea. Instead, she was surprised to hear that the school believed it was following regulations, as an early adopter of the Department for Educations new relationships and sex education guidance, which was drawn up in consultation with Stonewall, the LGBT charity. The 2019 guidance, made available to all schools in England, said children should learn about LGBT and gender identity, without providing any age limits. It opened the door to more third-party providers, typically registered charities, to work in schools and access Government funding to train staff in schools. Two Stonewall-endorsed external organisations were working with her daughters school which she didnt believe were politically neutral - a legal requirement for teaching in schools. Materials used by one of the providers included a Cinderella-type character who undergoes a kind of magical sex change overnight which Page says was wildly controversial and potentially very misleading for kids. There wasnt a lot of support for her complaint from other parents at the school gate in Lewisham. I was probably thought of as being the real awkward squad, she says. I think the tone was, Were liberal, I would hate to upset somebody or injure any minorities concerns. Her complaint had no impact on lessons and her daughter left the school a year later. By this time, her elder daughter was in her second year at Hatcham College, a secondary state school. Soon afterwards, in late 2021, Page became concerned after hearing what her daughter had been taught by SSE. When Page looked on the charitys website and at its team of facilitators, she found links to material about fetishes, sex toys and introductory guides to quick, rough, anonymous sex. Page asked the school if she could see the lesson plan and materials, but was told that SSE wasnt willing to share them. When she called SSE directly, they disagreed about sharing the lesson and whether their teaching was impartial, but on civil terms, Page says. She was then shocked to be told by the schools head teacher that she had been accused of harassing the education provider, and there was nothing more the school could do for her. Page escalated her complaint to the chief executive of the academy trust, who was able to show her the lesson slides on her laptop. Page says she saw the word sex positivity which she believed was enough for a formal complaint. She says she expected to receive a copy of the materials to proceed with her complaint. However, she was told repeatedly that it was secret copyright material which cant be shown to the parents. Showing me the slides means I cant complain about it, I cant tell anyone, cant prove Ive seen it, she says. It sort of means nothing. Page then attempted to use freedom of information laws to obtain the lesson materials and lesson plan, but the school argued it would be a breach of a confidentiality agreement. Her first attempt to have the decision overturned was rejected by the Information Commissioners Office. This month, it emerged that her appeal was rejected by a judge in a first-tier tribunal. In both cases, it was ruled that the commercial interests of the sex education provider outweighed the public interest in widely releasing the materials. Parents have lost power over what their children are taught, Page says. Schools and educational authorities want to shape society for the best in their view. I think they have taken too much power away from parents. It is no coincidence that widespread teaching of contested gender ideology in schools in recent years has coincided with a rise in the number of children questioning their gender, she believes. I think youd be hard-pressed to find someone who didnt know of a family who has that [a child questioning their gender identity] going on. Page adds: Im sure there is a huge online social media effect. However, she says her extensive research has found evidence that there is a huge amount of concerted effort on the part of third-party providers to present contested gender theory to children. I think therell be very few children who havent been introduced to it in secondary school in some way. The decision by Judge Sophie Buckley this month to back SSEs decision not to publish materials used in Hatcham College is a blow to all parents, Page says. The ruling was made despite the judge acknowledging that Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, had written to schools in March telling them to share sex education materials with parents. The Department for Education has acknowledged that if an external organisation owns the copyright on the resources, parents may only be able to see them on school premises. A spokesman for Hatcham College said that Pages first complaint about the content of PHSE lessons and assemblies was made over three years ago and the school listened carefully to her concerns and instigated a full investigation which followed a formal complaints procedure. They said: During this process Ms Pages concerns were thoroughly investigated. The process followed was also reviewed by the Education and Skills Funding Agency, who determined that it had been followed correctly. The complaint of indoctrination was not upheld. Ms Pages most recent complaint was regarding a lesson on consent delivered by the School of Sexuality Education nearly two years ago. Ms Page asked to view the content and was shown everything used in the lesson. However, the school was prevented from providing a hard copy due to copyright law. The school did all it could within the bounds of the law to comply with Ms Pages requests, as endorsed during recent rulings in the Information Commissioners Office hearings. The school has a policy of only using organisations which are prepared to allow the materials to be shown to parents and no no longer uses the School of Sexuality Education. Hatcham College takes no stance on the many sensitive issues covered in PHSE and teaching adheres to the Secretary of States statutory guidance and recommended best practice. Pages daughters now go to a different school. When her elder daughter, who is now 16, became aware of her battle with the school, it was a bit upsetting, Page says. But having said that, I think she now appreciates what Ive done. I hope [she does]. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer. Britains King Charles III is set to feature prominently at this years Royal Ascot, as the race week bids to forge a new identity since the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The horse racing spectacle became synonymous with the late monarch, with her deep passion for the sport a hook on which the festival hung its hat on. Thousands would flock to watch her and the royal entourage make their way in horse-drawn carriages up the Straight Mile in front of packed grandstands each day before racing got underway. Her presence was not purely ceremonial, though. She loved racing and saw 24 horses she owned win at the festival. This week, King Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla, will be the focus of much pomp and circumstance as Royal Ascot looks to usher in a new era the couple will lead the royal procession on Tuesday. Organizers are also determined to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and have permanently renamed one of the races in her honor. There will also be a photo exhibition in dedication to her influence on the sport. The Late Queens close association with Ascot Racecourse was well known throughout the world, but no race at the Royal Meeting previously carried the name of Queen Elizabeth II, Francis Brooke, the Kings Representative at Ascot, said in a statement. His Majesty The King has approved the renaming of the Platinum Jubilee Stakes to The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. Queen Elizabeth II loved horse racing and attending Royal Ascot. - Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images A total of 35 races will be run from Tuesday to Saturday and participants will be competing for a share of the record prize pot worth over $12 million. Thursdays Gold Cup is arguably the most high-profile race in the schedule. Extra attention will be on the royal horses, with the famous purple and gold silks now running for King Charles and Queen Camilla both of whom will be desperate for a win in their first festival of the new reign. Saga is the first royal runner of the meeting and is among the favourites to win the Ascot Wolferton Stakes on Tuesday. Circle Of Fire and Reach For The Moon are two royal runners who also stand a decent chance on Wednesday. Away from the track, Royal Ascot a highlight of the British social scene will once again be a platform for people to show off their finest threads. The festival has a strict dress-code. Guests entry depends on whether or not they adhere to the policy, with certain areas even requiring a smart hat to be worn. Spectators can also sample a touch of luxury with boutique food, drink and clothing outlets offering a sense of the high life. Possible protests? Royal Ascot organizers are prepared for protesters bidding to disrupt the schedule this week. It follows delays to the Epsom Derby and Grand National earlier this year which were both targeted by animal rights activists who broke onto the track. Event organizers said they have worked closely with local police and will have additional security around the site as well as enhanced CCTV provision and there will be increased police presence throughout the week. In a statement, Thames Valley Police said that while it has a legal obligation to facilitate peaceful protest, it will be balancing the rights of any protestors with the needs of the local community and spectators. Animal Rising, the group responsible for a number of disruptions to this years racing calendar, said it would not seek to disrupt the festival this year, opting instead to protest greyhound racing elsewhere. Whether its with greyhounds, horses, or those on farms across the country, it is clear we need to imagine a new connection with other animals and nature, a spokesperson for the group said in a statement. Doing so is at the heart of tackling our climate and nature crises. While Animal Rising may well be focusing their attention elsewhere, a number of other groups such as Just Stop Oil have staged protests at high-profile events this year and the festival is on high alert. Frankie Dettori farewell While the festival will need to redefine itself following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, it will have to do so without one of its most famous participants, Frankie Dettori. The Italian jockey, arguably the most well-known face in the sport, announced this would be his last time competing at the festival before his retirement later in the year. Frankie Dettori said he expects to cry during the last Royal Ascot of his career. - John Sibley/Reuters The 52-year-old cemented his legacy with a number of brilliant performances on the famous track throughout his career, most notably winning all seven races in one day in 1996. The charismatic rider will be looking to add to his haul of 77 race wins at Ascot this week but says it will be an emotional affair no matter what happens. For sure I will cry. Im not even going to pretend that Im not going to, Dettori told Ascot Racecourse in a farewell video. My heart doesnt want to stop but my brain tells me Im 52 and if I like to finish on top, I think this is the right time. Ive loved it. Every second of it. Dettori is set to ride royal runner Reach For The Moon in the Ascot Royal Hunt Cup on Wednesday, in what is one of the most highly anticipated partnerships of the meeting. Sign up for CNNs Royal News, a weekly dispatch bringing you the inside track on the royal family, what they are up to in public and whats happening behind palace walls. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Russell Simmons has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen women, but over Father's Day weekend his woes seemed to worsen when his ex-wife and daughter took to social media to accuse him of verbal abuse and air the family's strife. Kimora Lee Simmons recently shared a series of Instagram stories detailing his alleged abuse. "No one should live like this. No one's child. This is abuse," she wrote on her Instagram story, paired with a screenshot of text messages their daughter Aoki sent her father: "You were putting so much anger and rage on me every phone call. Cursing screaming and God knows what else," one of the texts read. She added on another slide: "This is how you (maneuver) with the world and women all around you. Your threats and lies and intimidation (maneuvers) and tactics are sad. Stop it please." The exes have been embroiled in lawsuits as well. (USA TODAY has reached out to Russell Simmons for comment; he wrote he was "DEEPLY sorry for being frustrated and yelling" in a subsequent Instagram post.) The Simmons family's battle is unusually public, but they aren't alone. Following the rise of the #MeToo movement and a societal shift regarding the importance placed on consent, many people have dealt with someone they know, socialize with or even love being accused of inappropriate behavior. Experts say abuse allegations can tear a family apart, but the key is to avoid engaging with someone who acts this way once their world is upended regardless of the reason. "Family and friends of those accused are also impacted by allegations, charges and convictions for sexual violence," says Elizabeth L. Jeglic, a psychology professor at John Jay College, City University of New York. "Someone they loved and cared for has been accused of a very serious crime." Russell Simmons (right) has been accused of (and denied) sexual misconduct by more than a dozen women and his ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons (left) and daughter are speaking out again about abuse and intimidation he's hurled at them. A recap of Russell Simmons abuse allegations The allegations against Simmons were the subject of a 2020 HBO documentary "On the Record." "On the Record" follows one of Simmons' accusers, ex-Def Jam executive Drew Dixon in late 2017 as she makes the difficult choice to come forward with sexual misconduct allegations in The New York Times. In the Times story, she alleges that Simmons, her then-boss at Def Jam Recordings, raped her in his Manhattan apartment in 1995 when she was 24. Simmons stepped down from his businesses in 2017, following this and more allegations, and relocated to Bali, Indonesia, which has no extradition treaty with the U.S. (The allegations also fall outside the seven-year statute of limitations for sexual assault in New York state, meaning prosecutors cannot pursue criminal charges.) "While few allegations of sexual abuse result in criminal conviction of the perpetrator, for those who are in the public eye, these allegations impact the way that they are viewed by the public and their families," says Jeglic. He's 'a monster': 'On the Record' gives first-hand accounts of Russell Simmons rape claims What Kimora Lee Simmons, children can do from here In the aftermath of such accusations and when families turn on those accused relationships fall apart. "What we know about those who perpetrate sexual violence is that they can be viewed as upstanding members of the community, good parents and spouses and also perpetrate abuse," Jeglic adds. Once the family dynamics change, it's important to avoid engaging with someone who displays anger. This could lead to an escalation of abuse, "but if there is no engagement it will decrease over time," Jeglic adds. "However, it is hurtful when a loved one and someone you care about behaves in such a way. Especially for a child it is hard to understand that a parent can behave in such a way toward them." Adult children should set clear, careful boundaries with their parents. "Setting boundaries for an adult child would be important, so that they can protect their emotional wellbeing because if not, then it's going to continue to potentially cause anxiety and can cause more challenges," says Janie Lacy, psychotherapist. They should also watch out for guilt trips or parents trying to play the victim themselves. Simmons and her children face risks as well for speaking out. "Those who speak out about abuse publicly often face public scrutiny, victim-blaming, disbelief and other silencing and minimizing behaviors," says Laura Palumbo, communications director at the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. "How we talk about issues of abuse matters." Contributing: Patrick Ryan If you are a victim of domestic violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline allows you to speak confidentially with trained advocates online or by the phone, which they recommend for those who think their online activity is being monitored by their abuser (800-799-7233). They can help survivors develop a plan to achieve safety for themselves and their children. If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE & online.rainn.org). Important: A woman said she was 'raped' in the metaverse. When will it matter? This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Russell Simmons, Kimora Lee, daughter and the impact of abuse claims Your slice of the headlines in Ukraine. Daily. Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Russian forces block UN access to areas damaged by Kakhovka dam explosion Russias occupation administration in Kherson Oblast has refused to give UN representatives access to the areas of the east bank of Kherson Oblast affected by the flooding from the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, a UN official has said. Who and what may suffer most from Kakhovka dam destruction expert interview Sudden floods, the drying of the local climate, a lack of drinking and technical water, and the impoverishment of the soil will radically change the lives of the residents of Kherson Oblast in the coming years, Kherson State University professor Ihor Pylypenko said in an interview with NV on June 19. Ukraine launches war-related sexual abuse awareness campaign Jointly with the United Nations Population Fund in Ukraine (UNFPA), the Ukrainian government launched a war-related sexual abuse awareness campaign on June 19 the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict China vows not to supply weapons to Russia Blinken The Chinese government has not supplied and will not supply Russia with weapons for use in the war against Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on June 19, following talks with Chinas President Xi Jinping. Ukrainian saboteurs strike successfully in occupied territory The Ukrainian military is trying to weaken the Russian army via sabotage far behind the front line, German newspaper Bild reported on June 18, citing a report by the German Defense Ministry. Over 500 civilians may have died in Oleshky after dam breach, Ukraine says More than 500 residents of Russia-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast may have died after Russian troops blew up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam, Ukraines National Resistance Center reported on June 19. African delegation saw who really wants peace, says Zelenskyy Delegates from the African peace mission had an opportunity to see with their own eyes who really wants peace and who is waging war on Ukraine, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address on June 18. Over 70% of Ukrainians want Zelenskyy to remain president 77% of Ukrainians want President Volodymyr Zelensky to remain in his post after the end of the full-scale Russian invasion, according to a survey released on June 19 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. Ukrainian counteroffensive seeing notable success on southern front, says military The Ukrainian army has achieved notable success in its counteroffensive in the south, the commander of the Ukrainian militarys Tavria Operational and Strategic Group of Troops Oleksandr Tarnavskiy reported on June 19. Russia may intensify drone attacks in the coming days, says Ukrainian military Invading Russian forces may once again increase the number of drone attacks on Ukraine in the coming days as they are expecting new supplies, the Ukrainian militarys Operational Command South spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk said on national television on June 19. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine KYIV (Reuters) -Russia on Tuesday struck military and infrastructure targets in Ukraine's capital Kyiv and across other parts of the country, including western areas far from the front lines, Ukrainian officials said. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised Ukraine's air defences for downing more than 30 drones and defiantly said that Ukraine's forces were destroying Russian forces in the two main theatres of the conflict, the east and south. His commander of land forces and the deputy defence minister reported successes with a counteroffensive in both areas. Russia's Defence Ministry said that Russian forces hit and destroyed eight ammunition warehouses across Ukraine in the prior 24 hours and repelled Ukrainian attacks in three areas. It said Ukrainian forces had tried to attack the Russian-held eastern city of Donetsk and the southern Zaporizhzhia region, but had been repelled. Zelenskiy's office said drones attacked the Kyiv region in several waves over more than four hours. Also on Tuesday, Ukrainian forces struck the Russian-controlled town of Nova Kakhovka in the southern Kherson region with drones, killing a women and wounding four civilians, local Russian-appointed authorities said. FOCUS ON COUNTER-OFFENSIVE The Russian attacks took place as attention has been focused on Ukrainian actions against Russia's defensive positions in the south and east - the initial stages of a counteroffensive seeking to push President Vladimir Putin's troops back from territory seized since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Kyiv says it has recaptured 113 square km (44 square miles) of land and eight settlements from Russian forces. But the latest strikes showed that Russia was capable of waging war beyond the front lines. In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces "in the south and east are actively destroying the enemy, physically cleansing Ukraine. "A defence against terror means destroying terrorists. And it is a guarantee that the state of evil will never have the opportunity to bring evil to Ukraine." General Oleksander Syrskyi, Ukraine's commander of land forces, said on Telegram that his troops were making progress on the flanks of the shattered eastern city of Bakhmut, which fell to Russian mercenaries last month after months of fighting. Ukrainian troops, he said, were repelling increasingly intense Russian attacks near Kupiansk in the northeast. Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces in the south were "gradually, in small steps, but very confidently, making advances. We could even use the allegory that we are carving up every metre of land from the enemy." Maliar said Russian forces had mined vast areas, including towns. Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, accused Russia of "mining" the pond used to cool reactors at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Zelenskiy's office said several commercial and administrative buildings and some private houses were damaged in the Russian drone attacks on the Kyiv area. There was no mention of any casualties in the overnight air strikes. A "critically important facility" was struck in Lviv, far from the front lines and around 70 km (43 miles) from the border with Poland, regional governor Maksym Kozytskiy said, without giving details. The air force said Ukrainian air defences had been in action, mostly in the Kyiv region, where more than two dozen Iranian-made Shahed drones were destroyed. The Energy Ministry said debris from falling drones damaged power lines in the Kyiv region and also in the Mykolaiv region in the south, cutting electricity for hundreds of residents. The air force said Russia had also targeted infrastructure in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia with Iskander and S-300 missiles. Ukraine's military said Russia had fired seven missiles at Zaporizhzhia. Reuters could not independently verify the reports. RUSSIAN MINISTER: UKRAINE WANTS TO HIT CRIMEA Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow had information that Ukraine was planning to strike Russian-controlled Crimea with longer-range U.S. and British missiles and warned Russia would retaliate if that happened. Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula on the Black Sea from Ukraine in 2014, but considers it to be outside the scope of its "special military operation" in eastern and southern Ukraine. "The use of these missiles outside the zone of our special military operation would mean that the United States and Britain would be fully dragged into the conflict and would entail immediate strikes on decision-making centres in Ukraine," Shoigu told a meeting of military officials. Shoigu also said Ukrainian armed forces had carried out 263 attacks on Russian forces' positions since June 4, referring to what Moscow regards as the start of Ukraine's counteroffensive. But it had "not accomplished its goals", he said. Ukraine says it has recaptured eight villages. (Reporting by Olena Harmash in Kyiv and Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Angus MacSwan, Mark Heinrich, Ron Popeski and Cynthia Osterman) Russia has no plans to resume publication of customs statistics, reveals official Russia is afraid to publish its customs statistics Russia's Federal Customs Service has confirmed that it has no intention of resuming the publication of exports and imports statistics in the near future, said the agency's acting head, Ruslan Davydovon, on June 20. The suspension of publication has been in effect since the spring of 2022. Davydov explained the decision by claiming that "a real economic war is being waged against us, so we see no point in playing along and revealing our cards in the near future. Read also: Russia enters sovereign default after missing FX bond payments Bloomberg He said that share of Russia's trade turnover with EU countries has declined to 18% since the beginning of 2023. However, he claimed that exports from Russia in physical terms have only experienced a minimal decrease of 2%. Davydov attributed the decline in export value to the fact that oil and gas prices were significantly higher last year compared to the present. Read also: Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Russia has not given a single nuclear warhead to Belarus Ukraine's Defence Intelligence Chief Preparations of nuclear warheads storage facilities continue in Belarus, but Russia has not yet transferred any nuclear weapons to Belarus. Source: Kyrylo Budanov during Ukraines national 24/7 newscast Quote from Budanov: "Preparations for the possible transfer [of nuclear warheads to Belarus ed.] do indeed continue. Storage facilities are being prepared. But as of now, not a single warhead has been transferred." Background: On Friday 16 June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the first Russian tactical nuclear warheads were already in Belarus, and the final transfer will be completed by the end of the year. Belaruski Hajun, an independent Belarusian military monitoring media outlet, reported that as of 16 June, there was no evidence to suggest that the actual transfer of tactical nuclear weapons from the Russian Federation to Belarus has begun. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 20) The provincial government of Albay asserted that official data regarding Mayon operations would only come from the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (APSEMO). Dapat kami ang nasusunod, yung datos dapat ng APSEMO ang dapat nilang sundin, hindi nila dapat pinangungunahan yung mga nasa ground, Albay Governor Edcel Greco Lagman told a press briefing on Monday. [Translation: We should be the one to be followed, data from the APSEMO should be followed. They should not preempt the people on the ground.] The governors statement came after conflicting reports from several government agencies as to the number of families and individuals affected by Mayon Volcanos eruption. Lagman, who also chairs the Albay Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC), said he will coordinate with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) regarding the data being made available to the public. He added that he will also make sure that the concern will reach newly appointed Department of National Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro. APSEMO officer-in-charge Eugene Escobar, meanwhile, said the evacuation report theyre releasing are consolidated reports from the different local government units in Albay. RELATED: Albay gov hits 2 mayors for evacuation outside Mayons 6-km danger zone As of June 19, the APSEMO logged a total of 19,956 evacuees from the seven municipalities of Albay: Daraga, Camalig, Guinobatan, Tabaco City, Malilipot, Santo Domingo, and Ligao City. But as of Tuesday, the NDRRMC showed that 20,209 people had been displaced across eight municipalities in the province. Denys Muryha Denys Muryha, the deputy commander of Ukraines Aidar battalion, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison by Russia's Southern District Military Court, according to reports in the Russian media on June 20. In a show trial, the courts judges found him "guilty" of organizing an illegal armed formation and undergoing training for terrorist activities. The case against Muryha was taken up by the Leninsky District Court in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on May 19. Russian prosecutors sought his arrest for participating in an illegal armed formation. He had been placed on Russias list of "extremists and terrorists in May 2022. Read also: Russia plotted assassination of defector on US soil report According to reports in the Russian media, Muryha was apprehended in April 2022 while attempting to enter Rostov Oblast under the pretense of being a refugee. Separately, more than 20 Ukrainian soldiers have been forced to stand trial in Russia since June 14. They are accused of involvement in a terrorist organization and participating in actions aimed at overthrowing the Russian occupation authorities in Donetsk Oblast. If convicted, they could face sentences ranging from 15 years to life in prison. Read also: Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Russian occupants killed a rescuer in Kherson Russian forces shelled emergency workers attempting to clear silt in Kherson Oblast after flooding from the destroyed Kakhovka Reservoir, according to a June 20 report by Andriy Yermak, chief-of-staff to the Ukrainian president. The attack resulted in the death of one employee of the State Emergency Service on site, while seven others were injured, six of them severely. Following the incident, the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office initiated criminal proceedings, saying that eight rescue workers were injured in Kherson City. Read also: SBU rescues residents from flooded Russian-occupied bank of Dnipro video Four of the rescuers remain in serious condition, Anastasia Vesilovska, spokeswoman for the regional prosecutor's office, told Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne. Russian forces attacked Kherson the previous day as well, resulting in the death of a 27-year-old man when an ambulance team was targeted. Read also: Kryvyi Rih death toll grows to 11 after Russian missile strike, one dead in Kherson Oblast shelling Shelling of Kherson has persisted since Russian troops withdrew from the area in November. Despite the human-made disaster they caused, their attacks on fleeing civilians have not ceased, including those escaping the flooding caused by the breach of the Kakhovka dam. Read also: Russian forces blocked rescue efforts after Kakhovka HPP attack Amnesty International Eight people were wounded during an evacuation on June 8 in another Russian attack on Dnipro's right bank. On June 11, Russian troops assaulted a boat filled with civilians attempting to leave the Russia-occupied left bank of the Dnipro River. The attack left three people dead and 20 injured. Another shelling of Kherson on June 16 resulted in 23 people being injured. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Russian collaborators claim Ukraine launched 2nd drone attack on Crimea in as many days Occupied Crimea Occupied Crimea was reportedly attacked by drones in the early hours of June 20, according to the head of the Russian occupation authority of the peninsula, Sergei Aksyonov. Aksyonov claimed that electronic warfare equipment was used to suppress and shoot down a UAV in northern Crimea. Read also: Crimea will not receive water from the mainland for at least a year, reports official This followed a drone attack on June 19, where Russian forces have constructed numerous defense lines from the administrative border with Ukraine, fearing a counteroffensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Radio Liberty project Krym.Realii reported that Russian troops in occupied Crimea are quartered in small hotels in coastal areas, where the fortifications are being built. Read also: Collaborator from Zaporizhzhya Oblast reportedly injured in car blast in occupied Crimea Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine At a military collegium, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu began to threaten strikes on "decision-making centres" in Ukraine, in the event that the Armed Forces strike occupied Crimea. Source: The press release of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation Shoigu's direct quote: "According to our data, the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine plans to strike the territory of the Russian Federation, including Crimea, with HIMARS and Storm Shadow missiles." Details: Shoigu is convinced that the occupied Ukrainian peninsula is outside the war zone, so the Russian military leadership will consider possible strikes on Crimea as drawing the US and the UK into the war and will strike back at the "decision-making centres" in Ukraine. Shoigu also complained that since 4 June, the Armed Forces of Ukraine had carried out 263 attacks on the positions of the Russian occupiers. Background: In April, President Volodymyr Zenlenskyy declared that Ukraines de-occupation of Crimea from under Russian control was inevitable. The head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, expressed the opinion that Russia will not launch a nuclear strike when Ukrainian defenders enter occupied Crimea. In May, Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, suggested that Ukraine could use unexpected methods to liberate Crimea from Russian occupation. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Kyrylo Budanov Russian forces have placed more mines around the territory of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said on June 20. "The ZNPP remains under the temporary control of the occupying forces," Budanov said. Read also: Russia cuts off radiation sensor access at ZNPP to Ukraine "The truth is that by demolishing the Kakhovka Dam they destroyed normal water access to coolers at the ZNPP. The second most terrible thing is that the ZNPP was additionally mined during this time The cooler itself was mined. If they put it out of order there will most likely be significant problems." Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, previously said that the Kakhovka Dam breach threatens the operation of the ZNPP. According to Grossi, there is a risk of running out of the required water level to cool the reactors in a few weeks. Read also: Russia, Ukraine fail to accept IAEA plan to protect Zaporizhzhya NPP media reports "On the one hand, we can see that the situation is serious, the consequences (of the dam's destruction) are there, and they are real, as there may not be enough water to cool the reactors," Grossi was quoted as saying by Le Figaro on June 15. "At the same time, there are measures that are being taken to stabilize the situation." Current water levels in the cooling pond are enough to sustain the ZNPP for up to a year, Ukraines nuclear operator Energoatom has stated. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Russian media share photos of grave of Russian general killed in Ukraine Russian media have shared photographs from the grave of Major General Sergey Goryachev, who was killed in Ukraine in June 2023. Source: Fontanka, a Russian media outlet Details: Goryachev, the Chief of Staff of the 35th Combined Arms Army, was buried with military honours at the Serafimovskoe Cemetery in St Petersburg. A reader sent Fontanka photos from the burial site on 20 June. "The plot is located near the Odessa Path," the readers message said. The plaque on the cross displays the dates of Goryachev birth and death: 22 October 1970 12 June 2023. According to Fontanka, the funeral took place on 18 June. Previously: On 13 June, Russian media reported that Major General Sergey Goryachev, Chief of Staff of the 35th Combined Arms Army, has been killed in Ukraine. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! (Bloomberg) -- Russian crude oil flows to international markets have drifted lower, while remaining well above levels seen in February, the baseline month for the countrys pledged output cuts. Most Read from Bloomberg Four-week average seaborne shipments, which smooth out some of the volatility in weekly numbers, edged down in the period to June 18 to 3.63 million barrels a day from 3.66 million in the period to June 11. On that basis, flows are now down by 212,000 barrels a day from the peak they reached in the period to May 21, but are still 250,000 barrels a day higher than they were in the four weeks to Feb. 26. February was the baseline month for production cuts promised by the Kremlin.President Vladimir Putin told the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that the nations oil and gas industry is in good shape. The output in the country is growing and we are happy about it, our sales are robust, he said, without explaining how that would align with Moscow's pledge to cut production. Secondary sources that the OPEC+ producers group uses to monitor its members production levels raised their estimate for Russias February volumes, effectively lifting the countrys output target by about 120,000 barrels a day. There is still little evidence that the pledged 500,000 barrels a day of cuts retaliation for Western sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine have been made, at least not in full. Moscow has cited the diversion of crude previously piped to Germany and Poland through the Druzhba pipeline as an explanation for robust shipments; but that switch happened in January and February, before the output cut was due to come into effect. Flows of Russian crude through the pipeline, now limited to deliveries to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, have been stable at about 240,000 barrels a day since February. And while Russian refineries cut crude processing rates in the first part of May, they have raised them again to the highest levels in nine weeks as the nations downstream maintenance season nears its end. Rising refinery runs are helping to lift exports of refined products. Seaborne exports of fuels like diesel and naphtha are on course to edge higher this month. Crude Flows by Destination On a four-week average basis, overall seaborne exports in the period to June 18 were down by 35,000 barrels a day to 3.63 million barrels a day. More volatile weekly flows also fell, decreasing by about 40,000 barrels a day to 3.53 million barrels a day. Weekly data are affected by the scheduling of tankers and loading delays caused by bad weather. Port maintenance can also disrupt exports for several days at a time. All figures exclude cargoes identified as Kazakhstans KEBCO grade. Those are shipments made by KazTransoil JSC that transit Russia for export through the Baltic ports of Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk. The Kazakh barrels are blended with crude of Russian origin to create a uniform export grade. Since Russias invasion of Ukraine, Kazakhstan has rebranded its cargoes to distinguish them from those shipped by Russian companies. Transit crude is specifically exempted from European Union sanctions. Four-week average shipments to Russias Asian customers, plus those on vessels showing no final destination, edged lower to 3.29 million barrels a day in the period to June 18 from 3.32 million barrels a day in the four weeks to June 11. While the volumes heading to India appear to have declined from recent highs, history shows that most of the cargoes on ships without an initial destination eventually end up there or in China. The equivalent of 422,000 barrels a day was on vessels showing destinations as either Port Said or Suez in Egypt, or which already have been or are expected to be transferred from one ship to another off the South Korean port of Yeosu. Those voyages typically end at ports in India or China and show up in the chart below as Unknown Asia until a final destination becomes apparent. The Other Unknown volumes, running at 202,000 barrels a day in the four weeks to June 18, are those on tankers showing no clear destination. Most of those cargoes originate from Russias western ports and go on to transit the Suez Canal, but some could end up in Turkey, while other cargoes are transferred from one vessel to another, either in the Mediterranean or, more recently, in the Atlantic Ocean. Pakistan has received its first cargo of Russian Urals crude after a tanker conducted a rare ship-to-ship transfer off Sohar in Oman, opening up a new, if not large, market for Moscow. Pakistans coastal refineries, situated around the port city of Karachi, have a combined processing capacity of about 140,000 barrels a day and run on a regular supply of Middle Eastern crude, mostly from Saudi Arabia, with smaller volumes from the United Arab Emirates. The supertanker Tasca completed the loading of a third cargo via ship-to-ship transfer in the Atlantic Ocean, according to data from Kpler. It is now heading around Africa, showing an initial destination of Singapore, which it is due to reach on Aug. 3. The VLCC Monica S took on a cargo of Urals crude via ship-to-ship transfer in the Strait of Malacca before heading to Teluk Semangka at the southern end of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where it transferred the cargo into the VLCC Success Fortune XL, which is now heading to the Indonesian port of Cilacap. Russias seaborne crude exports to European countries edged higher to 104,000 barrels a day in the 28 days to June 18, with Bulgaria the sole destination. These figures do not include shipments to Turkey. A market that consumed about 1.5 million barrels a day of short-haul seaborne crude, coming from export terminals in the Baltic, Black Sea and Arctic has been lost almost completely, to be replaced by long-haul destinations in Asia that are much more costly and time-consuming to serve. No Russian crude was shipped to northern European countries in the four weeks to June 18. Exports to Turkey, Russias only remaining Mediterranean customer, edged lower to 230,000 barrels a day in the four weeks to June 18 from an average of 260,000 barrels a day over the previous four weeks; flows to the country had topped 425,000 barrels a day in October. Flows to Bulgaria, now Russias only Black Sea market for crude, rose to 104,000 barrels a day, their highest level in 11 weeks. Flows by Export Location Aggregate flows of Russian crude edged lower to 3.53 million barrels a day in the seven days to June 18, from 3.57 million barrels a day the previous week. A rebound in shipments from the Arctic and Black Sea ports was more than offset by a drop in the flows from the Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga. Figures exclude volumes from Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk identified as Kazakhstans KEBCO grade. Export Revenue Inflows to the Kremlin's war chest from its crude-export duty were unchanged at $55 million in the seven days to June 18. Four-week average income increased by $1 million to $54 million. President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to fine-tune existing indicators and establish additional ones to calculate oil prices for tax purposes in order to reduce the discount to global crude prices. Russias government calculates oil taxes using a discount to Brent, which sets the floor price for the nations crude for budget purposes. If Russian oil trades above that threshold, the Finance Ministry uses the market price for tax calculations, as has been the case in recent months. From July the discount is currently set at $25/bbl, though this may now be narrowed. The duty rate for June has been set at $2.21 a barrel, based on an average Urals price of $55.97, which was $23.90 a barrel below Brent during the period between April 15 and May 14. The rate for July will be cut to $2.13 a barrel, based on an average Urals price of $54.57, which was $20.89 a barrel below Brent during the period between May 15 and June 14. Origin-to-Location Flows The following charts show the number of ships leaving each export terminal and the destinations of crude cargoes from the four export regions. A total of 32 tankers loaded 24.7 million barrels of Russian crude in the week to June 18, vessel-tracking data and port agent reports show. Thats down by 280,000 barrels from the previous weeks figure and the smallest volume in six weeks. Destinations are based on where vessels signal they are heading at the time of writing, and some will almost certainly change as voyages progress. All figures exclude cargoes identified as Kazakhstans KEBCO grade. The total volume on ships loading Russian crude from Baltic terminals fell to a nine-week low of 1.46 million barrels a day. Shipments of Russian crude from Novorossiysk in the Black Sea edged higher to 604,000 barrels a day. One cargo of Kazakhstani crude was loaded at the port during the week. Arctic shipments rose to a four-week high of 430,000 barrels a day, with three Suezmax tankers leaving the port in the week to June 18. Ten tankers loaded at Russias three Pacific export terminals, unchanged from the previous week. The volume of crude shipped from the region remained above 1 million barrels a day for a 12th week. The volumes heading to unknown destinations are mostly Sokol cargoes that recently have been transferred to other vessels at Yeosu, or are currently being shuttled to an area off the South Korean port from the loading terminal at De Kastri. Most of these are also ending up in India. Some Sokol cargoes are now being transferred a second time in the waters off southern Malaysia. A small number of ESPO shipments are also being moved from one vessel to another in the same area. All of these cargoes have, so far, gone on to India. No cargoes were loaded from the Sakhalin Island terminal in the week to June 18. Sakhalin Energy, the operator of the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project off the islands east coast, whose cargoes are exported through the port, halted one oil platform in May for maintenance, with a second scheduled for work from June to September. Export volumes from the project are likely to be hit by the work. NOTES Note: This story forms part of a regular weekly series tracking shipments of crude from Russian export terminals and the export duty revenues earned from them by the Russian government. Note: All figures exclude cargoes owned by Kazakhstans KazTransOil JSC, which transit Russia and are shipped from Novorossiysk and Ust-Luga as KEBCO grade crude. Note: Weeks have been revised to run from Monday to Sunday, rather than Saturday to Friday. This change has been implemented throughout the data series and previous weeks figures have been revised. Note: The next update will be published on Tuesday June 27, with future updates also to be published on Tuesdays. If you are reading this story on the Bloomberg terminal, click here for a link to a PDF file of four-week average flows from Russia to key destinations. --With assistance from Sherry Su. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Russian propagandist: "I don't want to get f*cked for speaking the truth One of the Komsomol Pravda propagandists A propagandist from the Russian state propaganda outlet "Komsomolskaya Pravda" was caught in a hot mic moment where he revealed his true feelings about the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, in a video clip that went viral on social media on June 20. It was shared, among others, by advisor to the Ukrainian interior ministry, Anton Heraschenko. Read also: Over 500 civilians may have died in Oleshky after dam breach, Ukraine says The Russian propagandist was responding to reports that it was unsafe to swim in the Black Sea due to the breach of the Kakhovka Dam. "I realize that it's sh*t, but should I have talked about it? one host said to another. You even mentioned that it would be better to avoid the Black Sea [as a topic]. I was shocked by your statements. I don't want to be f*cked off because of [speaking about] that. Read also: Russian forces block UN access to areas damaged by Kakhovka dam explosion After the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam by Russian invaders, there has been a significant deterioration in water quality around the Dnipro estuary. This has led to the closure of beaches by the Odesa city council on June 18. As a result of the man-made catastrophe, thousands of fish and other marine wildlife have perished, with scores washing up on shore. Read also: Who and what may suffer most from Kakhovka dam destruction expert interview Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine A Bulgarian armed forces MT-LB armored vehicle is seen during the 2022 demonstrations. Russia claims to have captured a similar armored vehicle from Ukraine and packed it with explosives. Hristo Rusev/Getty Images A recent video shows a old tank exploding, unleashing a massive blast wave. The kamikaze tanks have similarities with the way ISIS militants used car bombs. "What a stupid way to conduct armored operations by the Russians," a retired US general said. In the teeth of a Ukrainian counter-offensive, Russian troops are experimenting with a new and vicious tactic: turning armored vehicles into massive car bombs. One recent video shows an antiquated tank rumbling in a straight path towards a line of trees until a blast stops it in its tracks. A ground-fired weapon like a rocket propelled grenade streaks out from the trees where Ukrainian forces are positioned and strikes the tank, the impact unleashing a massive explosion and blast wave caused by apparent secondaries in the form of what's likely to be tons of explosive. The kamikaze tanks have some similarities with the way ISIS militants used car bombs to attack convoys and to terrify their enemies, but the tactics are a one-off that come at the expense of using the tanks for more effective strategies like rapidly enveloping the enemy with superior firepower. Mark Hertling, a retired general who commanded US Army Europe and is now a military analyst with CNN, said on Twitter: "Pack a tank with explosives, have a volunteer drive it, then jump off after pointing it toward the enemy. What a stupid way to conduct armored operations by the Russians." On Saturday, Russian troops used a similar ploy rigging a captured Ukrainian MT-LB armored fighting vehicle with five bombs and 3.5 tons of explosive. The explosive force of this vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) is massive, but its delivery is crude. "About 300 meters from the enemy, the driver put the car on manual gas, sent it to his side, and jumped," said a Russian officer who oversaw the operation according to an account in the Russian state-run RIA Novosti news agency; the Russians claimed the operation killed a "significant" number of Ukrainians, a claim that couldn't be independently verified. One video released by the Russian state-owned TASS news agency shows the compartment of a vehicle stuffed with a bomb and explosives. Videos of the vehicle blasts filmed from Russian positions show huge fireballs in what, for Russian ultranationalists, may be essentially war pornography but it's harder to assess what impact these dramatic attacks are having on the frontlines as Ukraine claws back some of its territory. Russia's reliance on these tactics is telling. As Hugo Kaaman, a researcher who tracks VBIEDs, pointed out: car bombs are typically used by technologically inferior forces that lack an air force capable of blasting their enemies' redoubts and heavy vehicles. Russia, of course, does have powerful air forces. But Ukraine has effectively forced them to fly far from the battlefield, evening the odds on the ground. Read the original article on Business Insider Three hits to a critical infrastructure facility were observed as a result of a night attack by the Russians on Lviv, but no one was injured. Source: Maksym Kozytskyi, Head of Lviv Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram Quote from Kozytskyi: "At around 05:00 in the morning, Lviv was attacked by enemy Shahed drones. They hit a critically important facility. Three hits. A ceiling between floors was damaged, the windows were broken. There were no casualties or injuries. There was a fire." Details: The Head of Lviv Oblast Military Administration thanked the Ukrainian defenders from anti-aircraft defence because the scale of the disaster could have been much greater, and the rescue workers from the State Emergency Service who worked on extinguishing the fire. Kozytskyi added that during their air-raid alert, he had received a number of complaints from residents of the oblast about the shelters. He also called on all shelter owners and operators to ensure they are open and in good condition during an emergency. "We will respond [to closed and unusable shelters ed.]. If you know that shelters are closed or unusable somewhere in Lviv Oblast, call the regional hotline on 112," Kozytskyi emphasised. Background: At around 05:00, Andrii Sadovyi, Mayor of Lviv, reported that explosions had rung out in the city and the oblast. The Russians hit a critical infrastructure facility during an air attack on Lviv on the night of 19-20 June, with no casualties. In Lviv, public transport routes have been changed because of a nighttime attack by Russian drones. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 20) Senators on Tuesday urged the Department of Health (DOH) to improve the salaries of healthcare workers first before it pursues hiring unlicensed nurses. Sana makita muna nating ilatag ng DOH ang malinaw at kongkretong programa sa mga ospital as far as alleviating the plight of health care workers is concerned, Senator Nancy Binay said in a statement. [Translate: We hope to see that DOH has a clear and concrete program for hospitals as far as alleviating the plight of healthcare workers is concerned.] We should take a look at nurses' salaries and provide more incentives for them to stay and practice in our nation, Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel said in a separate statement. Pimentel also stressed that nurses leave the country to look for higher-paying jobs abroad, which caused the lack of healthcare workers in the country. The proposal to allow non-board passers to practice nursing and grant them temporary licenses is a short-term solution, Pimentel said. Ang pinaka-praktikal ay i-prioritize nating i-hire ang mga unemployed nurses, Binay. Review, amend and offer better paying contracts to our nurses; provide better benefits, and rationalize their work loads. [Translate: The most practical [solution] is to hire unemployed nurses; review, amend and offer better-paying contracts to our nurses; provide better benefits, and rationalize their workloads.] According to Health Secretary Ted Herbosa, the DOH plans to grant nursing graduates, who garnered 70% to 74% marks in the boarding exam, a temporary license and hire them to address the gap in the medical workforce in the country. According to RA 9173 or the Philippine Act of 1991, examinees of the nursing licensure exam must obtain a general average of at least 75% with a rating of not below 60% in any subject in order to pass. Russians launch 35 Shahed UAVs on Ukraine, 32 of them destroyed The Ukrainian Air Force has destroyed 32 of the 35 Shahed attack drones that the Russians launched over Ukraine on the night of 20 June. Source: Air Force on Telegram Quote from Air Force: "The enemy attacked the military and infrastructure facilities of Ukraine with Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 loitering munitions on the night of 20 June 2023. In total, the occupiers used 35 attack drones. 32 of them were destroyed by anti-aircraft defence". Details: The Air Force specified that the Russians launched Shahed drones from the northern and southern fronts from Bryansk Oblast and the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov. The Russian occupation forces mainly targeted Kyiv Oblast, with over 20 attack drones being shot down here. In total, 30 Shaheds were destroyed by the military assets and personnel of the Air Force and two more by Ground Forces units. In addition, at night, the Russian occupiers struck Zaporizhzhia with ballistic missiles Iskander-M/S-300 missiles. "Attack, bomber and fighter aircraft of the Air Force continue to strike at the positions, equipment and behind the lines of the occupying forces," concluded the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Kakhovka HPP Just half an hour before the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant (HPP) explosion, a Russian unit stationed there was urgently ordered to evacuate, Ukrainian Military Intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov told Ukrainian TV broadcasters on June 20. Other enemy units were unaware of the impending disaster. Read also: Ministry of Defense releases intriguing video featuring a silent Budanov Russia deliberately committed this act of ecocide and created a man-made disaster, according to Budanov. All rumors and suggestions to the contrary do not reflect reality, said Budanov. Numerous facts demonstrate exactly how it unfolded. Notably, half an hour before the attack, a unit at the Kakhovka HPP was instructed over radio to quickly gather and leave the premises. Concurrently, a group of (Russian) special forces arrived and the events unfolded as they did... One of the vehicles (suspected by journalists to carry an explosive device) indeed belonged to them. The head of Ukrainian military intelligence added that all units of Russian forces that were nearby really didn't know about the terrorist attack, so the destruction of the dam "caught them by surprise." Read also: Russian forces mining Zaporizhzhya NPP, says Ukrainian intelligence Oleksandr Khorunzhyi, a spokesperson for the State Emergency Service, announced on June 20 that the main evacuation efforts for residents of Kherson Oblast affected by the HPP explosion had been completed. The incident resulted in 818 flooded houses and four flooded settlements on the right bank of the Dnipro. On the temporarily occupied left bank, 17 settlements remain flooded. Read also: Russia shells rescue workers in Kherson Oblast During the night of June 6, Russian forces, which have occupied the town of Nova Kakhovka for over a year, exploded the dam, completely or partially flooding downstream cities and towns along the Dnipro River, including the regional capital of Kherson. Ukraine began evacuating the population from the government-controlled west bank of the Kherson Oblast, while a catastrophe unfolded on the occupied east bank, which suffered much more from the flooding due its lowered elevation. As a result of the Russians' exploding the dam, there are dead and wounded, though the exact numbers are as yet unconfirmed. Read also: Who and what may suffer most from Kakhovka dam destruction expert interview The Prosecutor General's Office launched an investigation under the article of ecocide, and Ukraine appealed to the International Criminal Court. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the Russian attack on the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant the largest man-made environmental disaster in Europe in decades. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine SC Legislature OKs funding for USC-owned island. How much did it get? For over a decade, a University of South Carolina-owned barrier island has been bereft of everything the school promised when the island was donated to USC in the 1980s. But now, Pritchards Island will see a new renaissance after the legislature included a half million dollars in funding for the island in next years state budget. The undeveloped Beaufort County island was once a mecca for students, professors and environmentalists who craved its unfettered nature a place ripe for research, education and respite. But by 2009, the same year donor Philip Rhodes died, the once bustling Pritchards Island went quiet. Federal, state and private funding dried up. Erosion had rapidly eaten away at the shoreline. And lack of staffing left the 1,600-acre expanse unattended. In the past year, since the Rhodes family told The State and Island Packet about their disappointment over the islands disuse, hope for a revival on Pritchards has risen. Those hopes were boosted last week when the legislature backed a recurring expenditure of $500,000. A photo taken with a drone shows the tide coming in Friday, April 8, 2022, to Pritchards Island where the abandoned USC-owned laboratory formerly that was used for coastal research and the study of loggerhead turtles is being consumed by erosion. Its pilings were once hidden by beach that extended about 300 yards in front of the structure. Drew Martin/dmartin@islandpacket.com When Gov. Henry McMaster learned that deeds between Philip Rhodes and the then-Carolina Research and Development Foundation contained a clause saying USC could lose the island to the University of Georgia if it didnt uphold its end of the deal, he reached out to the Rhodes family. South Carolina will live up to every single thing that is in the agreement, which is between the university and your grandfather, he said in a voicemail to Philip Rhodes granddaughter, Martha Rhodes. While the state budget doesnt include the $1.25 million that USC-Beaufort faculty requested for the first year of a long-term plan for Pritchards, Rhodes family said theyre thankful and excited about the progress. Its a positive first step toward a goal of Pritchards Island returning to its crucial role in barrier island education and research, said Martha Rhodes. For USCB faculty, its a big enough step to be a game changer. Weve been trying to get out there all year to the extent we can with no funding, said Joe Staton, the natural sciences department chair at USCB. When the check is cut, were ready to start going. Getting the momentum rolling Pritchards Island is a dream for biologists like Staton. Its relatively untouched and rugged nature is an outlier among the states barrier islands, most of which are built up with beach homes, stores and restaurants. And its home to a diverse ecosystem, rampant with creatures from ghost crabs to bobcats. Its possibly the only barrier island in South Carolina of any consequential size that has never been under agricultural development, Staton said. While the island has been affected by development on Fripp Island, which has led to more rapid erosion on Pritchards, its still a baseline for how an undeveloped barrier island evolves. The juxtapositions between undeveloped and developed barrier islands are important in understanding erosion, sea level rise and climate change. Staton said this is the kind of research USCB will start doing out on Pritchards, along with continued sea turtle conservation efforts and bringing in visiting researchers. As long-term planning solidifies, USCBs marine biology faculty will broaden their work, including developing programs for students and the community. Its what Philip Rhodes intended all along. Philanthropist Philip Rhodes speaks at the unveiling of the University of South Carolina Beauforts Barrier Island Research Facility that he paid to be built on Pritchards Island. Nearly four decades ago, when the Atlanta businessman turned his beloved island over to USC, he had a few requirements. The university was to keep Pritchards Island in a wilderness state and use it for scientific, educational, charitable and general public purposes. For several years, the school, especially USC-Beaufort, did just that. Students and professors conducted research on tides, monitored microscopic organisms, researched shorebirds, and studied salt marsh ecology. The sea turtle program on Pritchards, headed by then-island USCB professor David McCollum, had participants out late in the evening tagging the turtles to monitor their movements. Community members and environmentalists joined in during day programs, and some stayed overnight in a stilted research lab that Philip Rhodes paid to construct in the 90s. Funding flowed in from state and federal grants, community donations and private funding including Rhodes and media mogul Ted Turner and state and federal grants. It covered research, program costs and staff who managed the island. Before now, the last infusion of money was in 2007 when USC was part of a multi-million federal program to measure ocean currents and waves using a radar system. Since 2009, the island has gone largely unused by USC. Remnants of rusted machinery, washed-up debris and the erosion-worn, dilapidated lab building were all that remained. In December, the lab was torn down, but another structure is not in Pritchards near future. Still, the island poses expensive logistical challenges for the school, like getting boats. Its going to take a while to get the momentum rolling, Staton said. But we certainly have the beginning of the resources we need to have an effective and long-term program that will reflect on the island but also give the chances for our faculty and students to have an ongoing presence there. The University of South Carolinas research lab, the depressions of its footprint barely visible, was removed in less than four days as photographed on Oct. 27, 2022 on Pritchards Island. The university is seeking $1.25 million in funding from the S.C. state legislature in order to honor its agreement with the Philip Rhodes family who had donated the island for research. Drew Martin/dmartin@islandpacket.com The biggest hurdle While the state legislature didnt fund USCBs entire first-year proposal, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations Beth Patrick said the recurring monies were the biggest hurdle. Thats the part that will make it sustainable, Patrick said. Were really thrilled to see that get approved. Recurring funding from the state legislature means every year the school will get $500,000 to be used for Pritchards Island up until lawmakers decide its no longer a priority. Patrick said no additional money is available now for Pritchards. However, she added that the school is looking into other sources whether it be private funding, grants or even internal reserve money that could be used on a one-time basis to purchase equipment. Since fall 2022, the island has received one small private gift, said Jason Caskey, USC Foundations president and CEO. With this $500,000, it shows that the state is making a long-term commitment to the work thats been proposed, Patrick said. And from a broader perspective, its working to meet the very requirements Philip Rhodes gave to USC for Pritchards Island when he entrusted it to the school. Search called off for American free diver last seen near Bahamas barge wreck Former police officer Ryan Proulx went missing while diving in the Bahamas (East Hartford Police Department) A search effort has been called off for a US free diver last seen in the Bahamas near the Bimini Barge Wreck. The US Coast Guard and the Royal Bahamas Defense Force ended their search on Sunday after former East Hartford officer Ryan Proulx, 31, was last spotted on Friday, the Coast Guard said. Mr Proulx went missing about 1.5 miles west of the Bimini Inlet, located east of Miami, Florida. Aircraft searched more than 673 square miles before the end of the search on Sunday afternoon. Coast Guard Lt Cmdr Matt Spado said on Twitter: We offer our deepest condolences to the Proulx family. The decision to suspend the active search efforts pending further development is one we never take lightly. Mr Proulx arrived in the Bahamas from Palm Beach, Florida, last Thursday, his friend Steve Diffenbacher told WBPF. The former officer had plenty of diving experience and was a licensed captain. Mr Diffenbacher told the local TV station that Mr Proulx would often travel down the East Coast for clients who wanted to have their vessels transported. Two helicopters and a search plane were deployed to help the Bahamian authorities. The Coast Guard said Mr Proulx was last spotted wearing a green shirt and red fins while free diving at the wreck of the barge off the coast of Bimini, according to ABC News. The barge is almost 75 feet below the surface and is in an area with strong currents. The barge has now developed into an artificial reef which draws large game fish. They gather near the wreck and a drop-off in the area, Scuba Schools International state. Previously, Mr Proulx served in the East Hartford Police and Monroe Police Departments, a statement from the East Hartford department said. The 31-year-old, from Connecticut, travelled to the Bahamas with his wife and a group of others. They left the Palm Beach County Marina last Thursday. Mr Diffenbacher is asking those travelling to Florida to keep an eye out for Mr Proulx, WBPF noted. A search operation is underway deep in the Atlantic Ocean after the OceanGate Expeditions Titan submersible, carrying five people to the wreckage of the Titanic, went missing. Above, the Titan in 2021. (OceanGate Expeditions) As search-and-rescue teams raced against the clock Tuesday to find a submersible that vanished on an expedition to explore the wreck of the Titanic, a group associated with two of the people believed to be on board issued a statement saying there was "cause for hope" that the passengers were alive. "There is cause for hope, based on data from the field we understand that likely signs of life have been detected at the site," the statement read. The statement followed a report by Rolling Stone that "banging" had been detected at 30-minute intervals within the area where the submarine disappeared. The report was based on internal emails from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Operations Center that said a Canadian aircraft had detected the noise after deploying several "sonobuoys." The mission, in a remote area of the Atlantic, is a complex search effort requiring expertise and equipment that involves multiple agencies from the U.S. and Canada, along with OceanGate Expeditions, which owns and operates the missing sub, Capt. Jamie Frederick, a response coordinator with the U.S. Coast Guard's 1st District, said at a news conference Tuesday. Officials said the effort covers an area of about 7,600 square miles larger than Connecticut focusing both on surface and subsurface search. "Those search efforts have not yielded any results, Frederick said. As of Tuesday afternoon, officials believed there were about 40 hours of emergency oxygen left in the submersible, named the Titan, based on the initial air supply of 96 hours. Read more: Titanic tourist submersible carrying 5 disappears on trip to see wreck in North Atlantic OceanGate said its chief executive, Stockton Rush, is one of the five people aboard the missing 21-foot sub. He's the pilot of the vessel carrying four other people. Though officials have so far declined to release any details of those aboard, the other four people have been identified through public statements. They include Hamish Harding, chairman of Action Aviation, a Dubai-based company dealing in aviation sales and acquisitions, and Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a veteran and accomplished diver with more than 30 trips to the wreck site . Harding and Nargeolet are both members of the Explorers Club, according to the professional society. Also on board are Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and son Sulaiman. Since Sunday evening, C-130 aircraft have been conducting surface searches, including with radar, and P-3 aircraft have dropped sonar buoys for subsurface detection. An underwater robot with specialized equipment has been deployed, Frederick said. A Canadian P-3 aircraft is conducting a six-hour search of the area, with more expected Tuesday evening. Additional Canadian coast guard vessels also are expected to arrive, along with divers from the U.S. Navy. More private research vessels are making preparations to join the efforts, and several civilian ships also have volunteered to help, Frederick said. Experts have said the mission is complex because of its remote location, which means it takes longer to deploy equipment, and because it covers areas above and below the surface of the Atlantic. Frederick described the effort to deploy equipment to the scene as a full-court press. But even if the vessel is located, the rescue could be equally complicated, particularly given the dwindling oxygen supply. We will do everything in our power to effect a rescue, Frederick said. #Update A Canadian Aircraft P3 Aurora has arrived on scene to conduct sonar searches. The R/V Polar Prince and R/V Deep Energy are continuing their surface searches. Total search area completed as of this morning is 10,000 SQ miles.#Titanic USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 20, 2023 Former U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Andrew Norris said that it's "extraordinarily unlikely" that the five people on the submersible can be saved at this point, emphasizing the logistical challenges. "Its really a very novel, very, very, very challenging situation, he said. Norris said the main hope is that the submersible has resurfaced and could be found on the water, and officials have not ruled out that possibility. But Norris said that if it is entangled in the wreck's debris thousands of feet below the surface, for example, extrication would be very difficult, given the time constraints. Read more: Titanic: One hundred years later The sub lost contact with the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince about 1 hour and 45 minutes into its dive Sunday morning, about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Mass., the U.S. Coast Guard said. The search is unfolding in a far-flung location about 13,000 feet deep, officials have said. OceanGate organized the dive and owns and operates the missing submersible. The company has been running expeditions with citizen explorers to the Titanic since 2021 on its Titan sub, according to its website. The trip can cost around $250,000. According to its website, OceanGate is a privately owned company in Everett, Wash., established in 2009, that operates a trio of fiveperson submersibles for site survey, scientific research, film production and exploration travel. Its vessels can reach depths of about 13,123 feet, the company said. The company offers an eight-day, seven-night voyage to the Titanic wreck, according to its website. The round-trip from St. Johns in Canada takes intrepid travelers to explore the Titanic wreck. Dives can begin as early as Day 3. Read more: Why are we still so fascinated with the Titanic? Harding had detailed parts of his trip that began Friday across social media until he went missing Sunday. A weather window had opened up, allowing for a dive to the wreck Sunday, Harding wrote on his Facebook page . It was likely to be the only manned mission this year because of the harsh winter, he wrote. His company, Action Aviation, also posted on Twitter about the voyage. RMS TITANIC EXPEDITION 2023 4am start this morning on the RMS Titanic Expedition Mission 5 with @oceangateexped. The sub had a successful launch and Hamish is currently diving. Stay tuned for further updates! @the_explorers_club @ActionAviation0 #titanic #titansub #discovery pic.twitter.com/qVGoYeHVwd Action Aviation (@actionaviation) June 18, 2023 Last summer, CBS news correspondent David Pogue went aboard the Titan for an expedition to the Titanic wreck and interviewed Rush. Pogue described the Titan as having as "much room as a minivan" and containing "improvised" pieces of equipment, which included a ceiling fixture that Rush said was acquired from Camping World and a video game remote control that Rush said runs "the whole thing." A waiver for the Titan declared the "experimental" vessel is not approved or certified by any regulatory body and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death. Read more: These female divers are living legends. How novelist Lisa See captured their story The first attempt by Pogues expedition to reach the wreck resulted in the sub getting lost for a few hours because of a communication breakdown with the surface vessel, which sends text messages to guide the sub's journey because there is no GPS underwater. The teams second attempt to locate the Titanic was successful. OceanGate has faced criticism previously. The April 16, 1912, front page of the Los Angeles Times on the sinking of the RMS Titanic. (Los Angeles Times) Rush's peers in the submersible industry expressed deep concern about the Titan and what they described as OceanGate's refusal to adhere to certain industry safeguards. In a private letter to Rush in March 2018, the Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee at the Marine Technology Society called on him to allow for third-party safety review of OceanGate's submersibles. "Our apprehension is that the current experimental approach adopted by OceanGate could result in negative outcomes (from minor to catastrophic) that would have serious consequences for everyone in the industry," the letter stated. William Kohnen, the chairman of the committee, told The Times that Rush's more cavalier style of innovation troubled industry leaders, who felt compelled to speak out. "OceanGate raised a number of eyebrows and was the subject of many conversations," Kohnen said. That same year, David Lochridge, a former OceanGate employee, raised red flags about the Titan in litigation against the company, particularly OceanGates refusal to conduct critical, non-destructive testing of the experimental design of the hull. Lochridge, a submersible pilot hired to do quality and safety inspections, said he was terminated for coming forward. He said he disagreed with Rushs decision to subject passengers to potential extreme danger in an experimental submersible." Read more: As Conception boat burned, video shows divers trapped below deck sought way out. 34 people died OceanGate said in its own court papers that Lochridge did not accept information provided by a lead engineer on the vessels safety. It also claimed that he filed a false report with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and that he violated his contract by discussing the company's confidential information with outside parties. The case was settled in 2018. Lochridge did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a 2022 article in Maptia, a digital storytelling platform, Rush took shots at the submersible industry. "One of the jabs that gets thrown at us is: Hey, you arent certified. But how can you do something new and get certified?" Rush asked. "If the rules exist for how to do it, then you are operating outside of the rules by doing something different. I think it was MacArthur who said, You are remembered for the rules you break. We try to break the rules intelligently and intentionally." The Titanic was a British luxury liner that embarked on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, on April 10, 1912, bound for New York with 2,227 passengers and crew aboard. But the vessel, then the largest in the world, hit an iceberg and sank in the early hours of April 15, killing more than 1,500 people. In September 1985, an American and French team of researchers found the liner thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean. Times staff writers Summer Lin and Jeremy Childs contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California, your daily guide to news, views and life in the Golden State. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Seattle police arrest man after witnesses report he was firing gun in street Seattle police arrested a man Monday morning after reports he was firing a gun, according to the Seattle Police Department. Just before 10:30 a.m. Monday, police responded to a report of a man firing a gun in the 800 block of South King Street. When police arrived, witnesses pointed out the man and said they saw him fire the gun. Officers spoke to the man, who denied having a gun. The 39-year-old man was taken into custody, where they recovered a 9mm handgun. He was charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm and booked into the King County Jail. One of the current priorities of the defence forces of Ukraine is "weakening the artillery" of the Russian occupying forces on the front lines. Source: Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, on Facebook Details: Danilov states the defence forces are achieving the goals set by the top command step by step, having saved the lives of soldiers and civilians as one of their main priorities. "Cannon fodder storms" is a Russian prerogative of Prigozhin-Gerasimov [Yevgeniy Prigozhin chief of the Wagner Private Military Company; Valeriy Gerasimov Head of the Armed Forces of Russia ed.] style of warfare, not that of Ukraine, Danilov said. Quote: "One of the main priorities of the defence forces of Ukraine at the moment is, first and foremost, "to exhaust" the Russian artillery, destruction of Russian artillery and other armament systems and their crews to clearing the combat theatre for the operations by the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine. The destruction of the Russian control points, ammunition storages, fuel, food products, supply routes these tasks are being performed by the Ukrainian defenders excellently. The number of destroyed Russian military equipment is the highest since the beginning of the war." Details: Danilov remarked that the Ukrainian resistance forces are doing priceless and crucial work in the temporarily Russia-occupied Ukrainian territories, which is facilitating favourable conditions for further combat missions by the defence forces of Ukraine, making the liberation of the Ukrainian territories easier. Danilov explains that the Defence Forces of Ukraine are simultaneously conducting both offensive and defensive actions. They are both conducting their own offensive operations and repelling the Russian offensive, carrying out counter-attacks. The Russian occupying forces are actively hindering the Ukrainian offensive by stepping up combat action in Ukraine's east in tge Donetsk Operational District (near the settlements of Mariinka and Avdiivka), deploying their reserves, shaped of mainly air assault troops, aiming to fully capture Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts and distract the forces and assets of the Defence Forces of Ukraine from other fronts. The Russians are also concentrating additional forces in Ukraine's south, building at least a three-level fortification system. They are also conducting an unprecedented mining activity on the Kupiansk-Lyman front, which is critically important for them, and trying to hinder the "cutting" of the so-called ground corridor to Crimea, which Ukrainian forces may be considering. Danilov stressed that Putins political objectives of destroying Ukraine by military means have not changed, and they remain on the Kremlins agenda. This task will be pivotal until Russia suffers military defeat followed by internal destabilisation and overthrow of Putins regime. Quote: "Putin continues to believe in the victory of his so-called second army in the world, like Hitler believed in the victory of Wermacht in 1945, which will lead to the same consequences. There will be no compromise, there is no alternative to Hitlers bunker." Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! The worlds largest wooden city is coming to Stockholm. Announced on June 20 through Atrium Ljungberg, the firm responsible for the project, Stockholm Wood City is expected to break ground in 2025, with the first completed buildings in 2027. We are proud to introduce Stockholm Wood City. This is not only an important step for us as a company, but a historic milestone for Swedish innovation capability, Annica Anas, CEO of Atrium Ljungberg, said in a statement. Planned in Sickla, which is in the southern parts of Stockholm, the city is planned to extend over 2,690,977 square feet. The project includes a variety of construction types and is expected to bring 7,000 new offices and 2,000 new housing units to the area, along with real estate options for stores and restaurants. The development will span 25 blocks and is estimated to be largest community built using mass timber upon its completion. Stockholm Wood City manifests our future. From tenants, there is a strong demand for innovative, sustainable solutionsa demand that we meet with this initiative, Anas added. In an effort to revolutionize the future, designers and architects are increasingly looking to the past, and wood construction remains a prime example of this occurrence. Wood is generally considered more sustainable than steel and concrete, as timber construction emits fewer pollutants. Engineered timberor man-made timbercan be fireproof as well, which is exceedingly important as forest fires increase in both severity and occurrence due to climate change. Atrium Ljungberg also claims that wood buildings can be better for personal health and that studies have shown they provide better air quality, reduce stress, increase productivity, and store carbon dioxide throughout the time they are in use. Stockholm Wood City hopes to bring these benefits to a larger scale. Though wood construction is increasing, it has mostly been confined to singular structures or blocks. Beliefs that wood is outdated or even dangerousthanks, in part, to disasters like the Great Chicago Firehave slowed its use on a wide-scale level, despite efforts from organizations such as the New European Bauhaus to change this reputation. Our industry leaves a big mark, and it is important for us to make a positive difference in both the shorter and longer term, Anas said. The worlds largest wooden city is also poised to make commuting easier and shorter, decreasing emissions from transportation. The website for the project describes Stockholm Wood City as a five-minute city, denoting that anywhere one would need to gowork, grocery stores, or school, for examplewould only be a five-minute walk away. As Anas concluded, We want to create an environment where our customers, those who will live and work here, can participate in the development and design of the city district of the future. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest More Great Stories From AD Julie Rikelman testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on her nomination to become a federal appeals court judge for the First Circuit in Washington By Andrew Goudsward (Reuters) - A lawyer who argued on the losing side of the U.S. Supreme Court case that ended the national right to abortion won confirmation on Tuesday to a seat on a federal appeals court. The U.S. Senate confirmed Julie Rikelman, a top lawyer for the Center for Reproductive Rights, to the Boston-based 1st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals by a vote of 51-43. Two moderate Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted in support of Rikelman, joining all Senate Democrats present for Tuesday's vote. Rikelman represented Mississippi's last remaining abortion clinic in urging the Supreme Court to reaffirm the constitutional right to abortion and strike down a state law that banned the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The courts conservative majority used the case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, to overturn prior rulings that recognized a national right to abortion, in a landmark decision last June that left the issue in control of states. President Joe Biden Rikelman to the court one month after the courts decision, a move cheered by progressive advocates who have pressed Biden to prioritize civil rights issues in his judicial picks. Rikelman's nomination drew opposition from Republicans, who questioned her abortion rights advocacy during a September 2022 Senate hearing and described her position on the issue as extreme. Rikelman vowed at the hearing to apply the Supreme Courts recent abortion ruling in future cases, recognizing it as the law of the land. She also committed to viewing all arguments in cases before her with an open mind. Prior to working at the Center for Reproductive Rights, Rikelman was a lawyer for NBCUniversal handling litigation and worked at a prominent New York law firm. She is Bidens third nominee to secure a seat on the court, whose active judges were all nominated by Democrats. (Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by David Bario & Shri Navaratnam) The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Julie Rikelman to a lifetime federal judgeship, overcoming opposition from conservatives and anti-abortion groups angry about her long record of advocating for womens reproductive rights. Rikelman, 51, was confirmed 51 to 43 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, based in Boston. Every Democrat present voted for her, along with two Republicans: Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine), both of whom identify as pro-choice. Rikelman has been the litigation director for the Center for Reproductive Rights since 2011, and is well known for representing abortion providers in federal court challenges. Most recently, she argued for a Mississippi clinic in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, the landmark 2022 Supreme Court case that led to Roe v. Wade being overturned. President Joe Biden nominated Rikelman for a judgeship one month after the Supreme Court ruled in the Dobbs case a sign of his efforts to strengthen the federal bench with legal experts on reproductive rights at a time when more than half of the states in the country are banning or further restricting abortions. Few lawyers have fought harder, smarter, and more effectively to protect womens rights in America than Ms. Rikelman, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday. On the bench, I am confident she will serve with excellence to uphold the Constitution. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) recommended Rikelman to the White House for a judgeship. They hailed her confirmation Tuesday night, saying her professional and personal background will contribute to her being an excellent judge. Rikelman was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and fled to the U.S. in 1979. She went on to graduate from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. Rikelman has a deep and unwavering commitment to the rule of law and our Constitution, informed by her own personal experience fleeing religious persecution with her family and moving to the United States, the senators said in a joint statement. We were proud to recommend Rikelman as a candidate for the First Circuit, and we applaud President Biden for his commitment to building a federal judiciary with exceptional legal minds who bring diverse professional and personal experiences to the bench. Julie Rikelman, considered one of the best abortion rights lawyers in the country, will now serve in a lifetime seat on a U.S. appeals court in Massachusetts. Julie Rikelman, considered one of the best abortion rights lawyers in the country, will now serve in a lifetime seat on a U.S. appeals court in Massachusetts. Hard-line anti-abortion groups like Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and Family Research Council had been trying to tank Rikelmans nomination for months, as several GOP senators tried to cast her as an extremist. During her Senate confirmation hearing in September, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called her support for radical pro-abortion laws very, very troubling. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) accused her of being an extreme zealot advocating for abortion rights, and then bizarrely asked her if she knew who leaked the Supreme Court decision in the Dobbs case before it was official. (She said no.) Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) pressed Rikelman on whether she stood by her previous claim that the Supreme Courts decision to gut Roe v. Wade may signal the beginning of the biggest public health care crisis we have ever seen in decades. Rikelman didnt shy away from her record during her hearing, standing by her years of advocacy for women to be able to make their own personal medical decisions. She told Lee that she made her previous comments on the Dobbs case in her role as an advocate, and that as a federal judge she would absolutely follow all precedents set by the Supreme Court including in Dobbs. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who recommended Rikelman to the White House for a judgeship, greets Rikelman ahead of her Senate confirmation hearing. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who recommended Rikelman to the White House for a judgeship, greets Rikelman ahead of her Senate confirmation hearing. Abortion rights groups thanked Biden for nominating Rikelman in the first place. Rikelmans confirmation is a step towards restoring some trust in our judicial system, Mini Timmaraju, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said in a statement. Julie Rikelman is a highly qualified, competent legal expert with a demonstrable record of protecting reproductive freedom and other fundamental rights, said Timmaraju. We look forward to continuing our work with the Senate and the Biden administration to advance reproductive freedom for all. Rakim Brooks, president of Alliance for Justice, a progressive judicial advocacy group, noted the significance of the timing of Rikelmans confirmation: Almost exactly one year to the day the Supreme Court gutted Roe v. Wade. As we mark a year since the devastating Dobbs decision, we continue fighting back with every tool at our disposal. Today, it was confirming an unapologetic defender of civil and human rights, particularly reproductive freedom, Brooks said in a statement. Julie Rikelman is precisely the kind of judge we need on the federal bench. Rikelman is the latest in a series of recent judicial confirmations who have long been priorities for progressives. Two of Bidens other high-profile court picks, voting rights attorney Dale Ho and civil rights attorney Nusrat Choudhury, were confirmed last week. Related... Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 20) President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said his administration will launch a media and information literacy campaign as the Philippines is plagued by disinformation and misinformation. During the 14th edition of the International Conference of Information Commissioners on Monday, Marcos touted the Freedom of Information (FOI) program. We also have to highlight that the FOI Program has greatly advanced the campaign against misinformation and disinformation in the country -- a problem that we in the Philippines also suffer from as I guess all of us do around the world," he said "Like everyone here, we too recognize as a matter of principle that fake news should have no place in modern society, the president also said. To fight disinformation and misinformation, he said the national government will roll out a media and information literacy campaign designed to be digital, multi-media, and youth-oriented. Our people can be assured of the continued implementation of the FOI Program in the executive branch, through the Presidential Communications Office, Marcos said. At this juncture, I reiterate our call not only to the executive branch, but to all branches of government, to genuinely uphold and give effect to the peoples freedom of information in the course of our day-to-day operations, with good faith and with openness, he added. A recent report by Britain-based Reuters Institute showed that influencers were becoming more popular as a news source compared to journalists among young people. In the Philippines, more Filipinos turn to social media platforms, including the Chinese short-form video app TikTok, to get their news, according to the report. READ: TikTok gaining more popularity as news source in PH report Before the May 2022 national elections, Marcos benefitted from a significant volume of false or misleading claims for his presidential campaign, University of the Philippines Journalism professor Yvonne Chua said during a Senate hearing, citing a report from Tsek.ph. His fellow aspirant former Vice President Leni Robredo, on the other hand, was the biggest victim of disinformation, Chua added. READ: Robredo top victim of disinformation; Marcos being promoted by misleading content group On reports that he was leading digital disinformation, Marcos said that while he received offers to deploy troll armies to boost his image, his social media presence was organic. During the 2022 presidential campaign, Marcos was also urged to stop pretending he has a degree from the prestigious Oxford University. The Oxford Philippines Society said Marcos did not finish his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics degree at the prestigious university, citing the confirmation made by the university in 2015. The group said while Marcos received a special diploma in social studies from the university in 1978, it is different from a degree. RELATED: Oxford group: Marcos received special diploma, no college degree Reacting to Marcos campaign against disinformation, the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (CARMMA) said the president needs a mirror to remind himself how he and his family have regurgitated the same lies over the years to deny the atrocities. We agree with you, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.: fake news should have no place in modern society but might we also add, so are its peddlers. Indeed, there should be no place in a modern and democratic society for people who spew lies, especially those who distort and falsify history to whitewash their crimes against the Filipino people, the group said in a statement. CARMMA also said Marcos tapped a massive campaign of online disinformation on social media giants Twitter and Facebook. Tears and frustration for seniors who say thieves keep breaking into their cars Residents at an apartment complex for seniors told Channel 2 Action News criminals broke into more than two dozen cars,and they said this is not the first time this has happened. The seniors who live at the Anthem Senior Apartments in the City of South Fulton told Channel 2s Tom Jones the break-ins are taking money from their pockets they dont have. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Cynthia Hildreth said she burst into tears when she stepped outside. When I came out here and saw my car. December. And then now, she said. Hildreth said someone broke her car window and got inside Sunday night and back in December. Shes on a fixed income and said the car break-ins are stressing her out. Got a heart condition and this aint helping, she stated. Sunday night suspects broke in more than two dozen cars, and stole one. Its 30 cars this time. It was 21 the time before, Donita Etheridge told Channel 2s Tom Jones. Channel 2 Action News saw plastic bags covering the broken windows of several cars while a repairman went from car to car fixing windows. Some residents believe the criminals are looking for money and guns. We dont have guns in our glove compartments. We would take them in the house. Were seniors, Josephine Edwards pointed out. The seniors believe the criminals are coming in through a wooded area that surrounds the complex. It should be gated. It should be fenced in. And a fence high enough, Hildreth explained. TRENDING STORIES: Residents have asked management for a fence and for a security guard from midnight to 6 a.m. They said management told them it would cost too much. I dont feel safe right now, Edwards said. Jones went by the leasing office to see what management had to say. A manager gave Channel 2 Action News the following statement: My first concern is for the privacy of my residents and employees. She then gave him an email address for further comment. Residents feel like management and the criminals dont care about them. Were their grandmothers. Their aunts. Their moms, Etheridge said. Thornton Kennedy, a spokesperson for the complex, later shared a lengthy statement that read: We would like to address a concerning issue that has been affecting our residents at Anthem I and Anthem II, two senior affordable housing communities located at 1910 and 1928 Waycrest Drive in the city of South Fulton. Since September/October 2022, we have experienced a spate of car break-ins. Criminals have broken into multiple vehicles on the property in separate incidents over the last eight months. First and foremost, the safety and the protection of our residents and their property are of paramount importance. We have taken action to combat this pervasive problem. Management has been actively engaged with the South Fulton Police Department, requesting additional patrols in the area to increase security presence. Our communities have controlled access at all entry points. We have installed over 100 cameras throughout the properties to enhance surveillance and deter criminal activities. To further strengthen our security measures, we are currently working with the city to install Flock Cameras. In our efforts to address this issue collaboratively, we have initiated various community-driven initiatives. These include events such as Coffee with a Cop, which fosters open communication between law enforcement and residents. In cooperation with the police department, we are launching a Neighborhood Watch program and we have held Town Hall meetings to keep everyone informed about the progress and receive valuable input. After each unfortunate event, we ensure that residents are promptly notified and provided with guidance on how to stay safe and minimize the risk of vehicle vandalism. We work with our local officers to bring these criminals to justice. While we have been proactive in addressing this issue, we recognize that more cooperation is needed between law enforcement agencies, the judicial system and local municipalities. We firmly believe that by working together, we can make a significant impact on crime prevention and improve the overall safety of our community. We understand that this issue is not unique to our community but rather a challenge affecting individuals and families throughout metro Atlanta and the country. Nevertheless, we are committed to providing a safe environment for our residents, especially considering that we house over 150 seniors who rely on us for affordable housing. Seniors at the complex have had town hall meetings with police and their councilperson. But still, this problem persists. One man said this is the fifth time they have had multiple cars broken into in one night. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: 2023 Indigenous graduates of the John Hopkins Bloomberg School Public Health. (photo: Center for Indigenous Health) The Center for Indigenous Health held a graduation ceremony for seven Indigenous scholars receiving advanced degrees from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health last month on May 27. The 2023 graduates include: Jared Ellsworth, MPH (Navajo) Breanna De Leon, ScM (Apache) Sara Lucero, MPH (Navajo) Tyrone Peterson, MPH (Navajo and Pascue Yaqui) Natalie Joe, PhD, MPH (Navajo) Rene Begay, MPH (Navajo) Olivia Trujillo, MPH (Navajo) Each recipient was given a handmade blanket from Snoqualmie Tribe-owned brand Eighth Generation and a Johns Hopkins frame to encase their new diploma. Family and friends of students were in attendance to celebrate the occasion and many shared stories about each of the students. Graduate Natalie Joe is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and has received a Bachelor of Science in Cellular & Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Fort Lewis College, a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Medicine and a Master of Public Health from John Hopkins. Joe spoke with Native News Online about her achievement. I felt incredible relief, excitement, immense joy, and pride for reaching this accomplishment, Joe said. I did not expect that I would have two graduate degrees at this stage in my scientific career. As an Indigenous woman that holds a higher education degree, I truly hope that my path has solidified and created more pathways for other students that come after me because I am only where I am in part due to the brilliant individuals from historically marginalized communities that created this path for me and the allies that created space within graduate education. Throughout Joes academic journey, she has been driven to study cancer research by how the disease has affected her family and community. She is now working on-site at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., to continue her post-doctoral fellowship and continue training as a researcher. She is a first-generation college graduate and the first person in her family to get a Ph.D. My family has shown immense support and expressed their pride for my accomplishments, Joe said. I could not have done each step along my career without their support, guidance, investment, cheering, and time. I am forever grateful to them I am also proud to say that I am no longer the only PhD in my family and other family members have received their MPHs. I believe that my journey is a way to show my family members and community that this is a possible pathway if they are interested in STEM, and that anyone can take similar steps to achieve this. The Center for Indigenous Health supports current and future Indigenous health professionals in their educational and professional development. The center is based at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and has awarded more than 2,000 scholarships to Indigenous students across various programs. About the Author: "Kaili Berg (Aleut) is a member of the Alutiiq\/Sugpiaq Nation, and a shareholder of Koniag, Inc. She is a staff reporter for Native News Online and Tribal Business News. Berg, who is based in Wisconsin, previously reported for the Ho-Chunk Nation newspaper, Hocak Worak. She went to school originally for nursing, but changed her major after finding her passion in communications at Western Technical College in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. " Contact: kberg@indiancountrymedia.com Evacuations were underway in Kannapolis Tuesday on the second straight day and night of heavy rains across the Charlotte region, a city spokeswoman said. About 30 people were evacuated from homes along Tiffany Avenue Tuesday afternoon, spokeswoman Annette Privette Keller said. No one was hurt, and the American Red Cross was assisting displaced residents, she said. At 4 p.m., low-lying streets across Kannapolis were closed, including Louise Avenue, Marie Avenue, Waldorf Drive, Mable Avenue, 22nd Street, Pine Street, Tiffany Avenue, Cadillac Street and Pump Station Road, Privette Keller said. Flooding also closed the Rocky River and Irish Buffalo Creek greenways, Safrit Park, and the Village Park carousel, splash pad and train, she said. At 6 p.m., roads were flooding in numerous areas in the Charlotte region, the National Weather Service office in Greer, South Carolina, reported on Twitter. If you come across a flooded roadway, TURN AROUND! NWS meteorologists said on Twitter. You dont know the condition of the roads underneath the water and could endanger yourself AND rescuers who arrive to help! The Charlotte area already was so saturated that trees could topple and roads could flood, National Weather Service meteorologist Ashley Rehnberg warned earlier Tuesday. Tuesdays heaviest downpours in Charlotte were forecast to occur between 1 and 3 p.m., with a break from 4 to 5 p.m. and more rain dumps between 8 and 9 p.m., Rehnberg said. Charlotte could see 1/ 1/2 to 2 inches of rain Tuesday, she said. Storms were not expected to be as severe as Monday night, Rehnberg said. Tornado warnings were issued for the Lake Norman, Kannapolis and Salisbury areas Monday evening after funnel clouds were spotted in the sky, but none of them touched down, according to the Greer office. Yet sporadic heavy downpours Tuesday afternoon and evening could further loosen soil and knock down trees, Rehnberg said. And showers and thunderstorms will remain through the week, with the chance 80 to 100%, according to the NWS Charlotte forecast at 1 p.m. Tuesday. Flood watch in Charlotte region Mecklenburg and surrounding counties are under a flood watch until Thursday afternoon. An additional 4 to 6 inches of rain will be possible over the North Carolina Piedmont through Thursday, falling on areas that have already received several inches of rain over the past 24 hours, according to Tuesdays flood watch alert. Flooding forced the evacuation of about 30 residents on Tiffany Avenue in Kannapolis Tuesday afternoon, city spokeswoman Annette Privette Keller said. This will make ongoing flooding worsen and likely cause new flash flooding to develop. A sinkhole near Lake Norman shut down roads Tuesday, Cornelius Police said. Officers and the Cornelius Public Works Department started tending to a 2-foot sinkhole near West Catawba Avenue at the intersection of Rosalyn Glen Road and Chandlers Landing Drive at about 9 a.m., according to public information officer Kristin Prescott. While sinkholes are historically rare in the Carolinas, Cornelius was at least the third in the Charlotte area this month. Sinkholes near Charlotte, Kannapolis About 20 miles east, another sinkhole was expected to shut down Kannapolis roads for more than 24 hours. The inside lane of Dale Earnhardt Boulevard near South Main Street closed Monday afternoon and was not expected to reopen until Tuesday at about 4:30 p.m., according to North Carolinas Department of Transportation. Another sinkhole, which stretched about a yard in each direction, closed part of Northlake Mall Drive ahead of rush-hour traffic earlier this month, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department announced. The closure began near the Firestone Auto Care Center and Red Robin. Floods and sinkholes Sinkholes are most common in states like Florida and Tennessee, which sit above limestone, salt beds and other rocks naturally dissolved by groundwater, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. When rain sits atop land without surface drainage, the water seeps below, taking some of the bedrock with it. Caverns develop under the surface until they one day become too large and the land above collapses. About 30 people were rescued out of flooded low-lying areas in north Kannapolis Tuesday afternoon, according to a city spokeswoman. A flood watch has been issued for the Charlotte area through Thursday evening, and heavy rainfall is projected through Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. Boston, MA - June 13: A man reads a panel in the Slavery in Boston exhibit at Faneuil Hall. A new exhibit in Boston is garnering a ton of buzz, just not the good kind. On Friday, Bostons Faneuil Hall opened an exhibit walking visitors through the history of slavery in the city. But, protestors who showed up last week to the opening say the decision to host the exhibit at Faneuil Hall is highly inappropriate. Thats because Peter Faneuil, the historic sites benefactor, was an enslaver who profited off the transatlantic slave trade and owned enslaved people. At the time of his death, the National Parks Service, which manages Faneuil Hall, says his records indicate he owned five enslaved people. Read more According to the exhibits website, its intended to walk visitors through the history of slavery in Boston and stories of enslaved African and Native American people. However, the decision to host the exhibit in a building named after a man who directly benefitted from the slave trade is rubbing some people the wrong way. Its a total contradiction, Reverend Kevin Peterson, a local civil rights leader, told CBS News. We believe an exhibit such as this is appropriate, although we totally disagree with the fact that this exhibit around slavery or enslavement in Boston is being held at a place built and supported by a slave owner, Peter Faneuil. Not everyone agrees with Reverend Petersons concerns about the location of the slavery exhibit. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu defended the exhibit. This exhibit lays a crucial foundation for Boston to address our legacy of enslavement and support the healing process for our descendant communities, Wu told the crowd assembled outside of Faneuil Hall, according to the Boston Globe. Our administration is committed to confronting these histories. Criticism of the naming of Faneuil Hall isnt new. In 2018, Peterson and others called for the hall to be renamed after Crispus Attucks, a Black and Native American man who is believed to be the first person killed in the Boston Massacre, which helped spark the American Revolution. So far, the calls to change the name of the historic site havent moved the needle politically. But the large protest last week has certainly brought renewed attention to their concerns. 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. Sleep Languages: What They Are And How They Can Help You Get Better Rest From hot sleepers to anxious sleepers to seemingly perfect sleepers, there are five sleep languages you should know. From hot sleepers to anxious sleepers to seemingly perfect sleepers, there are five sleep languages you should know. Whats your love language? is a question youve probably heard, and maybe even asked a partner or friend. But, what about your sleep language? Sleep languages, while not a clinical diagnosis or a term youll hear from your doctor, are a helpful way to understand your sleep patterns, and, hopefully, get better rest. The concept was developed by Dr. Shelby Harris, a clinical sleep psychologist in New York, and Calm, which is known for its meditation programs and sleep tips. So, there are five [sleep] languages, and it doesnt mean that youre beholden to one at any time; you can kind of go between some of them, or you might change throughout time, Harris told HuffPost. When developing these sleep languages, Harris said, she wanted people to think about their sleep and their sleep issues in a way that is not overwhelming. The sleep languages (which are detailed below) are easy ways to determine your sleep preferences and problems. There are 5 sleep languages: The Words of Worry Sleeper The first is the words of worry sleeper, that one I see all the time, so thats the person that reports that theyre anxious at night, that their brain is racing and they cant fall asleep or they wake up early in the morning with a really racing brain, said Harris. She added that she saw a huge spike in this kind of sleeper at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. The Gifted Sleeper Have you ever used the phrase Im a really good sleeper? If so, you may fall into the gifted sleeper category. And while this may be a good thing, Harris said it can sometimes be a sign of an underlying issue. [The gifted sleeper is] also the person who ... if theyre falling asleep anywhere at any point and they can sleep through anything, we want to start thinking: Is it almost too gifted? That maybe theres some sleep apnea or something else going on thats impacting the quality of their sleep? she said. This may not always be the case, but if you are able to fall asleep instantly and in a variety of situations, it could be a sign that your body is not getting the rest it needs overnight. The Too Hot To Handle Sleeper The name too hot to handle sleeper is pretty self-explanatory, but this kind of sleeper is someone who overheats at night. Many things can cause someone to be a hot sleeper, but Harris said perimenopause and menopause are common culprits. The Light As A Feather Sleeper The light as a feather sleeper, thats the person who is restless, they might sleep OK or sleep enough, but its very broken sleep, Harris said. Signs of this include frequently waking up tired despite going to bed in time to get the recommended 7 to 9 hours of sleep. The Routine Perfectionist Sleeper According to Harris, the routine perfectionist sleeper is someone who often has some sleep anxiety and tends to be pretty obsessive about their sleep hygiene. Some people take it to the point where its almost too much, she said. For example, this person may not travel out of fear of sleep disruptions or wont have a glass of wine with friends for the same reason. Dr. Shelby Harris developed five sleep languages based on what she sees in her work as a clinical sleep psychologist. Dr. Shelby Harris developed five sleep languages based on what she sees in her work as a clinical sleep psychologist. Knowing your sleep language can help identify obstacles to getting your Zs. This is a great jumping-off point for people to say, Where do I go from here? said Harris. But if you are struggling with your sleep, seek out a sleep doctor for help. Your restless nights could be the result of a sleep disorder, for which there are evidence-based treatments, Harris said. You want to find a board-certified sleep specialist, Harris said. You can find provider databases through the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine or the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. And remember that these sleep languages are not a clinical diagnosis. Instead, think of them as a way to understand your behavior. You can kind of see where you might fall and target your sleep treatments toward that, Harris said. Its also helpful to know some fundamental sleep advice. When discussing improved health with my patients, the main points I hit on are the aim for a consistent bedtime and sleep schedule, said Dr. Beth Oller, a family physician based in Kansas. Regardless of whether it is a weekend or not. Harris added that you do not need to go to bed and wake up at the exact same time every day, but try to keep it within a one-hour range. Oller noted that a dark bedroom is ideal for sleep, as is a cold room. Additionally, dont look at your phone while youre trying to fall asleep or when you wake up in the middle of the night. If you find yourself driven to check your phone every time you wake up or roll over, then place it across the room where you would have to get up to check it, Oller said. Fitness and time outside can also aid sleep, she noted. And, remember, sleep is very important for overall health. Sleep affects every process of our body, said Oller. Beyond having an impact on how we feel the next day, sleep is connected to all aspects of our health. Getting consistent good sleep has a link to improved mental health, better metabolism regulation, lower risk of heart disease getting adequate sleep each night lets our bodys blood pressure decrease and regulate lower inflammation throughout the body and [strengthen] our immune system, Oller noted. Conversely, not getting enough sleep can negatively impact our memory and concentration, she noted. A sleep-deprived driver has the same delayed response time as someone who is legally drunk, something I frequently remind patients of, Oller said. I often describe sleep as the time our brain and body has to repair, she said. In other words, follow the tips above or work with a sleep specialist to ensure you are getting the rest you need. Do you have trouble sleeping because youre a hot sleeper? Its a common issue. Below are products our Shopping team has rounded up to help. HuffPost may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Every item is independently selected by the HuffPost Shopping team. Prices and availability are subject to change. An oscillating fan to keep your room cool Amazon An oscillating fan to keep your room cool The Pelonis 40-inch oscillating tower fan saves me every summer and its narrow design makes it perfect for small spaces. It has three pre-set modes: natural, which mimics the less-predictable rhythm of an outdoor breeze; sleep, which starts off strong and slows down gradually as you drift off; and normal, which is, well, normal. It also has three intensity settings (low, middle, and high), along with an eco energy-saving setting. It also comes with a battery-operated remote control (just remember to buy your own batteries, since they arent included). Promising review: "Using this fan in my bedroom and it has been GREAT! Much quieter than old style floor fan and the ECO and sleep modes work very well. Theres all types of bells and whistles on this fan, but so far each feature has been great. My sleep quality has definitely improved since the air circulation is more evenly distributed and I dont have to constantly adjust the fan. The fan is not loud; just a low enough hum. But, Ive always liked the white noise of a fan. Im also dealing with the occasional hot flashes, so this fan is plus. I absolutely wont be able to go back to a window or circle oscillation fan. Im a tower fan convert." ALA $69.99 at Amazon A lightweight down alternative comforter Brooklinen A lightweight down alternative comforter Brooklinen offers its top-rated down comforter in a variety of weights, including a summer-friendly lightweight option that features down cluster fill with a cotton sateen shell that is antimicrobial and hypoallergenic. It comes in twin to California king. Promising review: "This comforter is like a cloud. Never have I ever been more excited to get into bed. I bought it because I run hot when I sleep and I have no regrets. I was worried that my 20 lb weighted blanket and 80 lb couch potato dog would depress the filling, but it survived the test and is still as wondrously fluffy as when I first unpacked it." Andrea K. $119+ at Brooklinen (originally $159+) A tumbler to keep at your bedside Amazon A tumbler to keep at your bedside If you often wake up in the middle of the night feeling parched, you may want to add an insulated tumbler to your nightstand. This stylish 40-ounce bottle comes with a straw lid to prevent spills and keeps your beverages cold all night. It comes in several colors, including pink, green, black, mauve and white. Promising review: "Just as pretty as the trending brands style. I got the sea glass sage color and it is the perfect muted color. Keeps my iced drinks super cold all day (and all nightits the perfect bedside table cup!). It fits in my cars cup holders too! It checks all my boxes and is a major win for the price!" Kelsey $29.99 at Amazon A cooling memory foam pillow Amazon A cooling memory foam pillow Tempur-Pedic's Tempur-Cloud Breeze dual cooling pillow has a gel layer on both sides to promote cool sleeping and is made of pressure-relieving materials that provide comfort for your neck, head and shoulders. Promising review: "LOVE this pillow! I get sooo hot at night and have had to always flip my pillows several times a night! This pillow keeps me cool ALL night! Im mostly a stomach and side sleeper and it is soft enough to do that; but it also is firm enough when Im on my back reading or watching TV! Highly recommend!!!" Paul Gandy $156.68 at Amazon $199+ at Tempur-Pedic A cooling blanket Amazon A cooling blanket This double-sided blanket uses Japanese Arc-Chill technology to absorb body heat to keep sleepers cool throughout the night. It comes in several colors, including beige, blue, dark gray, green and pink and from sizes 51 inches by 67 inches to 90 inches by 108 inches. Promising review: "My girlfriend is a werewolf, and she radiates heat like a nuclear reactor. She sleeps with a very small cheap anime throw blanket, the central a/c at 60, and a fan full blast that could make a tornado change direction - and yet she is still hot. Then I got her this blanket and today I woke up with the fan at only half power and I could actually feel my face, she sleeps so soundly and comfortably and doesnt heat up as much. The silky side retains a pretty constant cool feeling throughout the night and just feels really great. Overall, If youre a hot sleeper, this is the one. Highly recommend." Emil Novoa $40+ at Amazon A set of cooling eucalyptus sheets Sijo A set of cooling eucalyptus sheets Sijo's hypoallergenic eucalyptus sheets are perfect for hot sleepers as they're ultra-soft and cooling. The set includes one fitted sheet, two pillowcases and the option to add a flat sheet. They come in seven colors: green, white, cream, pink, light gray, dark gray and blue in sizes twin to California king. Promising review: "This is the only sheet/duvet set Ive ever found that ACTUALLY cools you down. I usually sleep so hot, but with this set I wake up not sweaty for the first time ever." Dylan W. $80.75+ at Sijo A pair of blackout curtains Amazon A pair of blackout curtains Keep out the sun's heat while you sleep with these thermal insulated blackout curtains. They come in several colors, including gray, pink, red, navy blue and taupe and sizes up to 52 inches by 95 inches. Promising review: "We are having a heat wave, and these do a great job of blocking out the heat from the sun. They block out most of the light. I will probably buy more of these for other windows that I am using different coverings on. We are staying cool, and saving money on the electric bill!" Amazon customer $21.99+ at Amazon A breathable coverlet for summer sleeping Riley A breathable coverlet for summer sleeping Coverlets are typically constructed with breathable cotton, making them an ideal choice for bedding in warm months instead of heavier comforters. This delightfully textured Riley cotton coverlet comes in several colors including yellow, lavender, green, red and black. It's made of 100% cotton and comes in twin to California king. Promising review: "This blanket is perfect for sleeping in a hot climate like Texas. It's soft and comfortable, and works well for layering." Tristin H. $110+ at Riley A BedJet cooling and warming system Amazon A BedJet cooling and warming system It's rare to find a sleeping accessory that benefits both hot and cold sleepers, but this BedJet climate control system does just that. It uses funneled ventilation to automatically adjust the temperature in your bed for each hour of the night. You can still use your own sheets other bedding that you already have or use the BedJet sheets that are specifically designed to distribute more air from the funnel. You can also get on-demand cooling or heating thanks to the included remote control. It works on all bed and mattress sizes. Promising review: "I get extremely hot when I sleep to the point of sweating and it's gotten to be almost a daily thing. For the last few years, I had been sleeping on top of my comforter with only a small blanket because I would get too hot sleeping under a comforter. When even that began to feel too hot during the summer, I got the bed jet to cool my bed and now I can comfortably sleep under a comforter and still remain cool. One of the best purchases I have ever made." Janet Clark $489+ at Amazon A set of bamboo pajamas Amazon A set of bamboo pajamas This bamboo pajama set is perfect for hot sleepers because it's moisture-wicking and breathable for a cool night's sleep. It comes in multiple colors, including gray, pink, purple, blue, black and red and in women's sizes S-4X. Promising review: "I cant say enough about these PJs! Ive told a lot of ppl about them and Ive purchased several different styles for myself! These pjs are super soft, cooling, and lightweight. I run hot in the night and these pjs have helped with the night sweats and uncomfortable stickiness." Bonny B $39.99 at Amazon Related... As SoftBanks Masayoshi Son jumps on the AI bandwagon, where will he take his chip business? SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. In his first public showing after a seven-month absence, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said hes focusing on the IPO of Arm, the Japanese conglomerates chip-making unit. Artificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT require a lot of computing power, presenting new opportunities for Arm and its fellow chip manufacturers in the wake of Nvidias strong earnings results. Sons announcement comes after SoftBank recorded massive losses for the past five quarters. With Arm at the core, we will continue to pursue arenas including in quantum, he said at the companys annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday (June 20). The billionaire was expected to talk more about Arm the next day, while attending an in-person shareholder meeting for the first time in four years. Read more That wasnt the only AI-related comment from Son, who has long been an advocate of the technology. Besides looking into AIs potential for his more than 400 portfolio companies, he said he spoke to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman about how Z Holdings Corp., SoftBanks search engine operator, can deploy ChatGPT for Japanese language users. SoftBank slashes its Vision Funds investments SoftBanks effort to take Arm public coincides with a stark pullback in spending by Vision Fund, its main investment segment. The unit spent about $550 million in the first quarter amid falling tech startup valuations, compared to $15.6 billion during the same period just two years ago, Bloomberg data shows. Ive made many, many mistakes in my AI investments, some of them embarrassing, Son said at the June 20 shareholder meeting. But among the many failures, there are a number of buds that will blossom very soon. Could Arm help turn SoftBank around? One of those blossoms could be Arm, by giving a much-needed boost to SoftBank, which has burned billions on money-losing companies such as Uber and WeWork. Three months ago, Arm filed confidentially with regulators for whats expected to be this years largest IPO in the US. Sons doubling down on Arms public debut comes as Nvidia, whose market capitalization is now $1 trillion, has become the leader in AI chips. The SoftBank founder has also reportedly been in talks with Intel and other companies about participating in Arms IPO, according to Bloomberg. Its unclear if that would give Intel and Arm a pathway to compete with Nividia on AI chip dominance, but it doesnt necessarily need to, given the growing demand for AI applications. Arms valuation in the IPO could be anywhere from $30 billion to $70 billion, Bloomberg reports. More from Quartz Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Son of controversial Minnesota lawmaker arrested over crash that killed five women preparing for wedding The son of a controversial former Minnesota lawmaker was arrested in connection with a high-speed crash that killed five young women. Derrick John Thompson, the 27-year-old son of former state Rep John Thompson, was taken into custody on Monday after being hospitalised in Minneapolis, according to FOX9. Hennepin County prosecutors say they are reviewing the case before bringing any charges. Investigators say that Thompson was in a car that allegedly ran a red light on Friday night, slamming into another car with the five women inside. Police claim that the suspect got out of the car and fled on foot but was eventually caught and arrested. The victims, who were all aged between 17 and 20 and preparing for a friends wedding the next day, have been named as Salma Abdikadir, Siham Adam, Sabiriin Ali, Sahra Gesaade and Sagal Hersi. California court records show that in 2020, Thompson was sentenced to eight years in prison for a 2018 crash in Montecito that injured a woman. He was released from prison earlier this year. This is certainly a terrible heart wrenching story and our hearts go out to the families of the five young women who lost their lives, a spokesperson for the Santa Barbara District Attorneys Office told Fox News Digital. Crowds of women and men attend the funeral of the five people killed in a car crash on Lake Street, at the Garden of Eden Islamic Cemetery in Burnsville, Minn., on Monday, June 19, 2023. (AP) Mr Thompson received 577 days credit (for the time he spent in custody pending disposition) at the time of sentencing. Based on the fact that he was sentenced to a violent felony statutorily the defendant would have been required to serve 85 per cent of his time, meaning he would have had close to 5.5 years left to serve from the time of sentencing. A young boy prays as women line up in prayer during the funeral for the people women killed in a car crash on Lake Street, at the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minn., on Monday, June 19, 2023. (AP) However, CA proposition 57 (passed in 2016) changed potential credits calculations and gave CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) wide latitude to award additional custody credits, as well as, early parole opportunities. Mr Thompson was also arrested and convicted for fleeing a police officer in 2017 after being found passed out behind the wheel of his vehicle. No criminal complaint has yet been filed against the suspect because of the holiday weekend and he is expected to be charged on Tuesday, reported FOX9. John Thompson was expelled from the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party caucus in September 2021 after allegedly falsely accusing a police officer of racial profiling. During the George Floyd protests in 2020, John Thompson and Black Lives Matter protesters marched on the home of police union leader Bob Kroll in Hugo, Minnesota. He went on to win election to the state legislature in November 2020, before losing his seat in the November 2022 election. "Jesus Saves" Sign A "Jesus Saves" sign is tacked to a telephone pole. Credit - Getty Images/Darwin Brandis I grew up in a Southern Baptist church in the Upstate of South Carolina. The pulpit of that congregation was commanded by male pastors throughout my childhood. There was the senior pastor, who was arrested for illegally restricting access to a womens health clinic. There was another senior pastor, a married man of course, who was sleeping with a woman from his previous church and making advances on at least one woman at our church. Then, there was the senior pastor who, rather than celebrate the upcoming graduates of our local high school, turned our small towns community-wide baccalaureate service into an anti-abortion screed. And there was the youth pastor, whom I loved deeply, who years later made headlines for going on an anti-LGBTQ+ rant before he led the Georgia legislature in prayer. A colorful cast of characters, all. And all men I listened to growing up, week after week, expound to our congregation, what we believed at least, was the Word of God. These men wereand areall Southern Baptist pastors who, despite their own lives and shortcomings, believe only men are qualified by God to be pastors. I left the Southern Baptist Church years ago, primarily over the issue of womens ordination. And while sometimes, I feel like the Southern Baptist world is so far in my rearview mirror I can hardly see it any longer, weeks like this past one come along. The SBC is in the news again, this time for their decision to disfellowship, a fancy term for kick out, several churches from the Convention for having female pastors, one of those being the megachurch Saddleback in California, which was founded by Rick Warren. Shortly after the Convention voted overwhelmingly to formally kick out these churches, a motion came to the floor and was approved, to change the Conventions constitution to include language that would bar women from being not only senior pastors but pastors of any sort within Southern Baptist congregations. This constitutional change would need an additional vote next year to go into effect. These patriarchal views of church leadership require the SBC to ignore the broader witness of womens roles throughout the Bible, as well as several centuries of often egalitarian leadership in the early Christian Church. As I read about these votes, I couldnt help but think how the SBC has been fighting the same fight for decades, reshuffling old scripts, with a few new talking heads, their leaders warning against the liberal drift that supposedly threatens the Southern Baptist Convention. The notion of a liberal drift, absurd as that is, has been a key boogeyman of the SBC since the Conservative Resurgence or Fundamentalist Takeover of the Convention, which began in the 1970s. This movement, which claimed to be centered on the inerrancy of the Bible, was largely led by two men, the retired Texas judge Paul Pressler, who has been accused by several men of alleged sexual assault and misconduct, and Dr. Paige Patterson, who has himself since been accused of silencing victims of alleged sexual assault. Men who, once again despite their own lives, insist that the Bible asserts only men can be pastors. Southern Baptist theology grew from the soil of 19th-century American patriarchal white racism. The SBC is a religious denomination founded expressly on the defense of slavery. In 1995, the Convention approved an apology for its pro-slavery founding, and yet the denomination has failed to renegotiate how these roots continue to influence its theology. It should therefore come as no surprise the way the leaders of the denomination read the Bible as supporting their own sub-cultures views regarding issues of race, gender, and the Bible. In the end, the SBC possesses a domineering, fear-based theology that is unsurprisingly patriarchal and harmful to women, as well as to marginalized groups, such as those in the LGBTQ+ communities. When I listen to and read so many of the SBC leaders stances on women in ministry, whether it be Dr. Al Mohler or others, Im so often struck by two things. First, the utter lack of humility in their own assertions. Humility opens us to the possibility of being, if not wrong, at least not wholly right. Humility, it seems, has gotten lost in the dogmatic stances of the SBC and its leadership, one of those New Testament fruits of the Spirit that is so lacking in the Convention. The second thing that strikes me today, as it should have in my church when I was growing up, is that theres an unquestioning assertion within SBC leadership that only men, often tragically flawed ones, possess power as spiritual leaders, and that these men have the final say over the roles of womens voices and even womens bodies, inside and outside the Church. The Southern Baptist congregation I grew up in is the place where both my faith and my fears were kindled. I was shaped by the loving members of that congregation, who nurtured my prayer life, who challenged me to engage more deeply with our Scripture. But the pastors there largely failed me. They, like so many of the voices in the SBC, created an atmosphere that didnt allow them or their views on gender roles or the Bible to be openly questioned. What they said was supposed to be gospel truth. The last pastor I had at that church, when I was still a teenager, wouldnt let me preach any longer at my home church, once he heard I was going to a Baptist congregation in my university town, which had a female pastor. At that church, Calvary Baptist, in 1998, Rev. Julie Pennington-Russell was the first women to be called as senior pastor of a Southern Baptist Church in the state of Texas. Under her leadership, I found a faith community that while Baptist, shared little in common with the atmosphere of fear and control Id known at the church in which I grew up. I found a religious leader who not only allowed questions but encouraged them as part of the life of faith. I found a congregation which lived out the reality that various views of our shared faith could exist alongside one another in the pews. Shortly after Julie came to that church, the congregation left the SBC altogether and cast their lot with a more moderate group of Baptists, taking part in an earlier attrition of communities of faith from the SBC. At present, the Southern Baptist Convention continues its long slide into solidifying its patriarchal views of the world, of Scripture, and of the Church. This will only lead to more harm to women, and whether they could ever bring themselves to see this, it will bring harm even to these men in leadership themselves, whose view of the world and of God is so tragically insular and flawed. I wish for them the freedom I experienced under the leadership of a female pastor, of an approach to the Christian faith that recognized we dont possess all the answers, an approach which affirms that questions are part of a healthy faith, a faith that is welcoming rather than exclusionary. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 20) A minor died while 23 people were rushed to hospitals Tuesday morning after an ammonia leak and fire in a cold storage facility in Navotas City. Speaking to CNN Philippines, Navotas City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) head Vonne Villanueva said the casualty, who had a pre-existing condition, was rushed to MCU Hospital in Caloocan due to difficulty in breathing. He also said the DRRMO will ask local health officials to investigate if the death is directly related to the ammonia leak. Twelve people were rushed to Navotas Hospital and 11 others were brought to the Tondo General Hospital. They also complained about difficulty in breathing, but most of them have returned to their residences after being observed in the medical facilities, Villanueva added. The DRRMO said an ammonia leak in the mechanical room of the cold storage facility was reported at 11 p.m. on Monday. The Bureau of Fire Protection responded to control the ammonia leak, but the facility caught fire. It reached third alarm and was declared out at 1:57 a.m. on Tuesday. According to Villanueva, around 100 families had to be evacuated, and they returned to their homes after authorities assured them of their safety. Villanueva also said authorities are investigating the incident to determine the cause of the ammonia leak and fire. Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco told CNN Philippines that the facility will be closed until it is deemed safe. Local officials will also tap experts to set better standards in operating a cold storage facility and prevent similar incidents in the future, he noted. Room XX at the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva, which hosts the Human Rights Council, features a ceiling created by contemporary Spanish artist Miquel Barcelo (FABRICE COFFRINI) The United States, on behalf of 27 countries, condemned Tuesday the open-ended nature of the UN investigation into alleged human rights violations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the "disproportionate" attention on Israel. US ambassador Michele Taylor told the United Nations' Human Rights Council that the group of countries was "deeply concerned" about the Commission of Inquiry (COI), with its "open-ended mandate with no sunset clause" or closing date. The countries, including Austria, Britain, Canada and Italy, demanded an end to the "long-standing disproportionate attention given to Israel in the council". The COI, which is the highest-level investigation that can be ordered by the Human Rights Council, was set up in May 2021 following a surge in deadly violence between Israelis and Palestinians earlier that month. The council established an ongoing independent, international COI to investigate "all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law" in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem. It is also charged with looking into "all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict". - 'Punitive methods' - The first-ever open-ended COI is being conducted by UN rights chief Navi Pillay of South Africa, along with India's Miloon Kothari and Chris Sidoti of Australia. At a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday, Kothari referenced the calls for a sunset clause. "We would like to see a sunset of the Israeli occupation... but until that time, an open-ended mandate is more than justified," he said. Israel is refusing to cooperate with the investigation. "Isn't it a spurious, very silly reason not to talk to the commissioners because they have an open mandate?" Pillay told the press conference. In their second report published earlier this month, the investigators found that authorities both in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories were violating Palestinian civil society rights through harassment, threats, arrests, interrogations, detention and torture. Israel's authorities were responsible for the majority of the violations, the report said. "Our report found that Israeli authorities have used a variety of punitive methods intended to deter and interfere with the activities of Palestinian civil society members," Pillay told the Human Rights Council on Tuesday. - China, Russia back mandate - After the report was published, Israel slammed the findings, saying the country had a "robust and independent civil society... that can operate freely". Israel, the United States and other Western countries regularly criticise the amount of attention devoted to Israel by the Human Rights Council. As Israel is not cooperating with the investigation, its representative did not take part in Tuesday's discussion of the report in the council. Palestinian ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi condemned the US-led joint statement, calling it "disgraceful". Venezuela, speaking on behalf of several countries including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and Syria, gave its full support to the commission's mandate. "We express grave concern over attempts to undermine the... COI," said Venezuelan ambassador Hector Constant Rosales. The European Union's representative noted that some EU member states had not supported setting up the commission "because of concerns about its broad mandate" and permanent nature. apo/rjm/rox H.E.R. performs at Spotify's intimate evening of music and culture during Cannes Lions 2023 at Villa Golda on June 19, 2023 in Cannes, France. After two years of waiting, Spotify is reportedly still demanding that users who want high quality, lossless audio will have to pay for it. Spotify users biting their nails for over two years waiting for a once-heralded HiFi audio feature might be down to their cuticles at this point, but the music streaming app could finally deliver this year. Well, you will have some access to CD-quality audio as long as youre willing to pay the Supremium toll. According to Bloomberg, the new subscription tier is slated to launch worldwide later this year but will first see a release in markets outside the U.S. Individual Premium subscribers are already paying $9.99 a month for ad-less music and unlimited song and podcast downloads. According to Bloomberg, the Supremium name wont likely stick, but the companys regular Premium subscription tier could grant an expanded access to audiobooks. This could be in a number of free hours of streaming listening, or in a set number of free titles per month, plus discounts on other books, akin to Audibles membership model. Gizmodo reached out to Spotify for comment, but we did not immediately hear back. Read more Spotify first announced its HiFi audio plans back in 2021. A full year came and went, and still there was no hint of lossless audio that year or the next. After Spotify said users who paid more would eventually get access to the special sound tier, Apple and Amazon undercut their competitor by offering HiFi for free on their streaming services. Everybodys doing HiFi, and Spotify has been left in the dust. Hell, even Tidal has a premium HiFi option. Last year, Spotify co-President Gustav Soderstrom said the company was still planning a HiFi component after complaining of how the industry changed. Recently, Apple and Amazon both raised the prices of their music subscription services up to $10.99. Spotify could be trying a different strategy that would keep its U.S. Premium price consistent while making up the difference with a more expensive subscription tier. Whatever the music streamer does, it likely needs to offer more than this long-anticipated feature to entice new users. A Spotify subscription into a music/audiobook hybrid tier could certainly be interesting for those who dont want to pay both an Audible and music streaming fee. Spotify could use some more buzz right about now. The streaming app laid off hundreds of global staff in January, around 6% of the company. On Monday, Variety first reported that Spotify was signing a contract for ex-Daily Show host Trevor Noah for a weekly podcast. However, unlike its controversial exclusive contract with mumbling know-nothing Joe Rogan, Noah isnt going to be forced to keep his voice solely on Spotify. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Startup makes game-changing breakthrough that could change our roads and buildings for good: Weve shown that its possible A startup is producing some of the worlds first low-carbon concrete at a plant in Alabama. The company, Los Angeles-based CarbonBuilt with its Alabama-based production partner, Blair Block has already started production of its novel tech concrete, which it says can reduce the production of harmful planet-warming carbon by 70 to 100%. Although concrete has been a necessary part of modern civilization for quite some time, producing it releases large amounts of harmful air pollution into our atmosphere, which heats up the planet. Around the world, over 33 billion tons of concrete are used each year, according to an editorial in the respected journal Nature. This is three times the amount used per person 40 years ago. According to MIT Climate Portal, concrete accounted for 7% of all harmful planet-warming pollution worldwide in 2016. If this technology were used everywhere, and pollution from the global concrete sector was reduced by the amount the startup itself claims it can achieve, it could prevent around a billion metric tons (1.1 billion tons) of harmful carbon emissions from being released into the atmosphere every year. This is not only a milestone for CarbonBuilt and Blair Block but also for the broader concrete and building materials industries, Rahul Shendure, CEO of CarbonBuilt, said in a statement reported by GlobeNewswire. Weve shown that its possible to massively reduce carbon emissions from concrete production without compromising on cost or performance. CarbonBuilt uses a unique process to produce concrete with calcium-rich industrial waste materials, according to Canary Media. These are later combined with water and aggregates, a mix which is then moved into a temperature-controlled chamber. As reported by Canary Media, the process then funnels the harmful planet-warming gases into the chamber. This stimulates a chemical reaction that creates solid concrete and permanently traps the toxic gases in the concrete blocks instead of allowing them to get released into the environment. CarbonBuilt was created in UCLAs engineering school in 2014 and became independent in 2019. The startups technology earned an award of $7.5 million from the NRG Cosia Carbon Xprize in 2021. According to Canary Media, C&C Masonry, a prominent contractor in Alabama, intends to utilize CarbonBuilts alternative blocks in their upcoming contracts, which could require up to 100,000 of them for use in large public projects in Alabama. Overall, CarbonBuilts innovative, environmentally friendly processes could help change the way the U.S. and the world produce concrete. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the coolest innovations improving our lives and saving our planet. The state elections board now says it found no evidence of any election fraud at State Farm Arena during the November 2020 election. Former President Donald Trump and his associates pointed to State Farm Arena as part of their allegations saying it was the center of voter fraud. Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray has learned that the state elections board now wants to send a letter of apology to two elections workers targeted by conspiracy theorists. The state election board decision was unanimous and comes after looking at the results of a lengthy two-year investigation by Secretary of State investigators and agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the FBI. It was the claims from former New York City Mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani that launched a nationwide conspiracy theory of false claims about election fraud with the counting of ballots at State Farm Arena. They took ballots from under a table and counted them in the middle of the night, Giuliani said at the time. Luckily, theres now a tape of it. Gray was the first to show the surveillance video that debunked those claims. Now after two years, the state election board has voted to close the case saying definitively no fraud occurred. RELATED STORIES: For nearly three years, conspiracy theorists targeted two specific volunteers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss. Channel 2 Action News was there as they testified before the Jan. 6 Committee. She called me screaming at the top of her lungs, Shaye, Shaye! Oh my God, Shaye! Just freaking me out, Moss testified. State election board member Ed Lindsey wants the board to send a letter to Freeman and Moss. I would like to ask because of what the particular poll worker has gone through, two poll workers have gone through with certain false claims, I would like to ask that you, as the chair, write a letter affirmatively telling them the matter has been dismissed, Lindsey said. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement: We are glad the State Election Board finally put this issue to rest. False claims and knowingly false allegations made against these election workers have done tremendous harm. Also, the board voted unanimously Tuesday not to take over the Fulton County Election Board after a review panel that had been monitoring the county for two years found major improvements in election performance. One of the things that I saw is remarkable change and improvement during the process, Lindsey said. RELATED NEWS: Man charged with fatally shooting girlfriend in Bessemer, state police say A woman was shot and killed in an apparent domestic situation Monday night. Brandi Marie Genova, 33, was found shot to death at a home at 13 Bestview Avenue, Bessemer, in Lawrence County, according to state police. Michael Joseph Work, 33, has been arrested and charged in connection to her death. State police in New Castle were notified by Works family that he told them he shot Genova, his girlfriend, at their residence, according to a state police report. Troopers and Bessemer Borough police went to the Bestview Avenue home and found Genova dead from apparent gunshot wounds. Work was taken into custody at the Union Square shopping plaza in Union Township, Lawrence County, without incident, according to state police. He was charged with criminal homicide and was placed in the Lawrence County Jail without bond. State police continue to investigate. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Tourist sub goes missing near Titanic wreck Trespassing charges filed against men accused of recording video inside Century III Mall Pittsburgh Police arrest man they say was involved in 2021 homicide in Lincoln-Lemington VIDEO: Trespassing charges filed against men accused of recording video inside Century III Mall DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts Justin Jones was one of two Black Democrats who were briefly expelled from the Tennessee state legislature by a GOP supermajority earlier this year. Justin Jones was one of two Black Democrats who were briefly expelled from the Tennessee state legislature by a GOP supermajority earlier this year. Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones, one of two Black Democrats expelled from the state legislature by their Republican colleagues earlier this year, has called out an empty Juneteenth message from Tennessee House Republicans. May no one suffer from slavery ever again #Juneteenth, the @tnhousegop account posted to Twitter on Monday. Interesting, wasnt this yall two months ago @tnhousegop?? Jones tweeted in response, sharing a headline about his expulsion. In April, a Republican supermajority expelled Jones and state Rep. Justin Pearson, both of whom are Black, for joining protesters who chanted in the House chamber in support of gun control following a school shooting. The House also held a vote on expelling Rep. Gloria Johnson, a white Democrat who similarly participated in the protest, but she managed to keep her seat. Local officials reinstated Jones and Pearson days later. Yall really couldve just kept quiet today, Democratic state Sen. Charlane Oliver wrote in response to the @tnhousegop tweet. Yall expelled two Black members 75 days ago. June 19 has long been celebrated by Black Americans as a day commemorating the end of slavery in the 1860s. In 2021, Congress voted overwhelmingly to make Juneteenth National Independence Day a federal holiday. Related... This state is taking radical action to eliminate toxic forever chemicals from its soil: Its a nightmare The state of Maine will be removing the toxic chemicals known as PFAS also known as forever chemicals from sewage sludge that often gets reused as fertilizer, The Guardian reports. These poisonous chemicals are believed to contaminate food and water on farmlands and other nearby areas. PFAS, which stands for Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, refers to a large class of thousands of synthetic chemicals used for different purposes, such as the production of products resistant to heat and water. Aside from contaminating soils and waterways, they have been found in the blood of people and animals and may have harmful health effects, such as cancer and congenital disabilities. They get their nickname because they dont break down naturally and can slowly build up in the environment or our bodies. The news comes after a recent agreement in which chemical companies Chemours Co., DuPont de Nemours Inc., and Corteva Inc. settled claims that they contaminated several U.S. public water systems with PFAS. The companies deny the allegations but will ultimately pay $1.19 billion as part of their settlement. Years ago, the toxin-filled sewage sludge was simply dumped into the ocean, which caused numerous environmental problems, as The Guardian reported. As a fix, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved it for use as fertilizer. However, that presented problems of its own, as fertilizer with PFAS still contains toxic chemicals that can end up in groundwater, eventually finding its way into rivers, streams, and drinking water. Last year, Maine became the first state to ban the use of PFAS-laden sludge for this purpose. But disposing of these forever chemicals remains quite a challenge, and public health officials are skeptical of the technology that is expected to make it happen, with uncertainty as to whether or not it will be ready for industrial-scale use in the near future. In laboratory settings, experts in the field have been able to eliminate PFAS, but the facilities meant to reproduce the same results in the real world have not been successful as of yet. Meanwhile, Laura Orlando, a sewage system engineer with Boston University and an expert on PFAS issues, seemed more realistic when highlighting the difficulties of eliminating PFAS. Its a nightmare, she told The Guardian. And thats why you dont see these facilities all over the place. Regarding the elimination of PFAS, Scott Firmin, the Portland Water District (PWD) director of wastewater services, admitted that it might not all happen at once. Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet. Pointing to Floridas relatively low tuition costs and saying universities face increased demand from out-of-state students, university system officials are floating the idea of raising tuition for students who come from other states. The systems Board of Governors is slated to take up the issue during a meeting Thursday. Presidents and trustee chairs of all 12 state universities co-signed a letter endorsing the idea of an out-of-state tuition hike. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< As our universities have climbed in stature, student success measures, and research impact, our universities do have a new challenge to confront what some might coin a good problem to have the nations students are demanding to enroll in the State University System of Florida, the university officials wrote in the letter. The universities are asking that each school have leeway to set tuition increases. That would enable each Board of Trustees to assess its own markets, competitive environment, and strategic plan and to periodically make adjustments in the best programmatic and financial interests of our entire university community, the letter said. Florida had the 11th-lowest undergraduate out-of-state tuition in the country during the 2021-2022 school year at $21,150, according to data included in the Board of Governors meeting agenda. That was 17 percent lower than the national average of undergraduate out-of-state tuition. The low-cost tuition that out-of-state learners pay in the State University System of Florida makes attending a Florida university a better deal for many than attending universities in their own state, the letter said. Florida during the same year had graduate out-of-state tuition of $25,830 which was $933 above the national average. The last time that out-of-state tuition was increased in Florida universities was during the 2012-2013 academic year, the officials wrote, and at that time only two of our systems 12 institutions increased tuition, so it has been more than a decade since most of our system addressed out-of-state tuition. Over roughly the past decade, the percentage of out-of-state students has increased relative to university systemwide enrollment at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In 2012, the 12,555 non-resident undergraduate students in the system accounted for 4.9 percent of the 258,238 system-wide undergraduate enrollment. Last year, 31,080 out-of-state undergraduates made up 11.3 percent of the 274,477 total undergraduate enrollment. Similarly, out-of-state graduate enrollment has ticked up over the past 10 years from 26.3 percent in 2012 to 33.5 percent last year, when 25,305 of the total 75,443 graduate students in the system were from other states. The university presidents and trustee leaders described the proposed out-of-state tuition hike as a way to prioritize in-state students. Under state law, the increases for out-of-state students could not exceed 15 percent. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] We owe it to Floridas university-bound students, who are more likely to stay in Florida after graduation, to prioritize our focus around their excellence, the letter said. Meanwhile, state officials have committed to keeping tuition rates level for Floridas in-state students. Data prepared by the Board of Governors, using an annual survey of colleges performed by The College Board, showed that Florida schools this past academic year had the lowest average tuition and fees for full-time resident undergraduates among public four-year schools at $6,365. The national average was $11,103. Gov. Ron DeSantis last week touted the states efforts to keep tuition low before he signed off on the state budget for the coming fiscal year. My view is that these tuition increases over the last generation around the country has not improved the quality of the education in any of these universities, it goes to administrative bloat. And it goes to a lot of things that are not really having a direct impact on student achievement, DeSantis said Thursday. So, were not doing that in Florida, the governor added. We hold the line on tuition, which is very important. [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. Stinky SC paper mill tells judge it has improved. Residents say the plant still reeks The New-Indy paper mill in York County has made changes to improve the plant after residents complained about noxious odors from the facility, lawyers for the company told a federal judge Tuesday. But residents suing the company say the odor has just changed as opposed to improving. New-Indy attorney John McGahren said the company has put in a new steam stripper and plans to put in another steam stripper as it complies with an order from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control to eliminate the odor. McGahren added complaints have dropped and the company has paid a $1 million fine levied by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. South Carolina regulators have received tens of thousands of complaints about the odor with many people saying the stench smelled like rotten eggs. The plaintiffs concerns have been largely addressed, McGahren said during a hearing in front of federal Judge Sherri Lydon on whether to dismiss a lawsuit filed by nearby residents. The judge did not rule on the defenses request to dismiss the case. Residents filed the suit seeking a court order requiring New-Indy to eliminate the odors and cut pulp production until the company obtains a higher level air pollution permit. McGahren added agencies in charge of environmental permitting are putting extreme pressure on New-Indy. Despite the changes made by New-Indy, odors have not gone away, residents said. Well, theyre complying with some orders. The odor has changed, said Jackie Baker of Tree Tops, a community for people 55 and older about four to five miles from the New-Indy plant. And now it smells like a dirty diaper that maybe is being burned. Sometimes its just a very Porta Potty smell. Other times it has a like a burn smell to it as well. Baker said the current steam stripper at the plant is not adequate and another one has yet to be installed. When that smell comes I have to go in the house. My eyes itch, my ears itch, said Bonnie Lens, who moved to her Tree Tops house nine months ago. You can tell that its toxic. Had I known this I would have never moved there. Lawyers for residents argued the company should have obtained a stricter permit from DHEC that would have required public input. Instead the company received a lower level permit that did not require public participation. In applications to DHEC, New-Indy said it would emit less than 10 tons a year of sulfur; instead it emitted 15 tons a day for nine days, said David Hoyle, an attorney for the residents who filed the lawsuit. The companys estimates were based on output of the wastewater treatment plant in 2015, when it was in much better repair, Hoyle said. Hoyle called the modeling done by the company a misrepresentation, rather than a mistake. New Indy, whose parent company is partially owned by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, purchased the former Bowater and Resolute Forest Products plant in 2018, and then switched manufacturing processes. When making the changes, the mill bypassed several key pollution control processes as it switched from making bleached paper to brown containerboard, according to previous reporting. Weather forecasters are predicting strong thunderstorms will rumble across parts of Tampa Bay Tuesday afternoon, including Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties. The National Weather Service released a Special Weather Statement at 3 p.m. for portions of Citrus, Sumter, Pasco, Hernando, northern Pinellas, Hillsborough and northwestern Polk Counties through 3:30 p.m. Doppler radar was tracking thunderstorms along a line extending from 7 miles northeast of Inverness to near Pebble Creak to near Clearwater, the weather statement said. The storms were moving east at about 45 mph and wind gusts were reaching 50 mph. Forecasters said gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and knock around objects. Tyler Fleming, a meteorologist with the National Weather Services Tampa Bay Office, said the area can expect these storms to last through the afternoon and into the evening. Storms are likely to roll in again Wednesday morning, Fleming said. The storms are part of a trough of low pressure over the Florida peninsula and eastern Gulf of Mexico thats stuck in place, Fleming said. This is causing a lot of moisture and thunderstorms, he said. Tuesday morning parts of the Nature Coast had six to seven inches of rain. However, Fleming does not anticipate that much rain in the Tampa Bay area in the afternoon and evening. Instead the area is likely to see about a half an inch or less of rain. There is also a rip current statement in place across Tampa Bay. Forecasters are warning of dangerous rip currents through Wednesday evening. The rest of the week is looking to be quite wet. Rain chances remain elevated through Saturday with the chance of showers and thunderstorms each day in the area. Theres a lot more moisture with a little bit more energy, Fleming said. So a little bit more active than a normal summer pattern. Impacted locations Tampa, Spring Hill, Clearwater, Lakeland, Largo, Pinellas Park, Plant City, Temple Terrace, Zephyrhills, Brooksville, Inverness, Wildwood, Dade City, Bushnell, Beverly Hills, Homosassa Springs, Lutz, Brandon, St. Petersburg and St. Leo. 6 telecom fraud suspects extradited to China from Myanmar Xinhua) 09:48, June 20, 2023 YANGON, June 19 (Xinhua) -- A total of six suspects in telecom fraud cases were returned to China from Myanmar on Monday, according to a statement released by the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar. Myanmar police handed over the suspects to the Chinese police at the Yangon International Airport before they were transported back to China, the embassy's statement said. The suspects were arrested on the Myanmar-Thailand border during an operation jointly conducted by China, Myanmar and Thailand to crack down on telecom fraud crimes, the statement said. The move demonstrates the firm determination and will of China, Myanmar and Thailand to jointly combat transnational crimes, especially crimes involving fraud and gambling. China will continue to strengthen law enforcement cooperation with Myanmar and Thailand, crack down on such crimes, and earnestly safeguard the property and safety of the people, it said. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 20) The offer of reward money will help speed up the gathering of information on the whereabouts of the alleged masterminds in the killing of veteran journalist Percival "Percy Lapid" Mabasa, authorities said Tuesday. On Monday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a total of 3 million reward for information that would lead to the arrest of former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag and his ex-deputy Ricardo Zulueta. Both are wanted for murder. "With or without the reward money, the Philippine National Police, especially the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), will continue to track them," said NCRPO chief MGen. Edgar Okubo. "The announcement of the reward money will add to the chance" of people giving "information about their whereabouts," he added. Okubo said they validate all information they receive on the location of Bantag and Zulueta. The reward on the whereabouts of Bantag is 2 million, and 1 million for Zulueta. In a separate briefing on Tuesday, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the reward money being offered is for the arrest of Bantag and Zulueta and not for their prosecution. "Basta nahuli, it leads to the arrest okay na [If it leads to their arrest, then it's okay]. 'Yung [The] successful conviction is our problem in the DOJ. To prosecute it properly it's their problem. We cannot leave the reward out if the person is really caught because of the information. We will have moral obligation to pay already," Remulla said. He added that the department had information that Bantag and Zulueta are still in the country. "Nandito sila, nasa Luzon. Nagkaroon ng balita na nagpunta ng Mindanao pero hindi totoo, hindi namin navalidate," he said. [Translation: They're here in Luzon. There were reports they went to Mindanao but it's not true, we weren't able to validate.] On Monday, Remulla said he wants both law enforcement and the public "to be more aggressive in helping the department get hold of the suspects in the killing." "Gusto nating palawakin [We want this to widen]. Sometimes it takes a little persuasive power of a reward to make people rise from their slumber," he added. CNN Philippines' Anjo Alimario, Gerg Cahiles, and Pia Garcia contributed to this story The Twin Cities favorite party band, the Suburbs, will headline Stillwater Lumberjack Days, which runs from July 14 through 16. Vocalist Chan Poling and guitarist Blaine John Beej Chaney formed the band in 1977 after spending time in California attending art school. Poling turned to childhood friend Chris Osgood, then a member of the Twin Cities first punk band, the Suicide Commandos, to help fill out the band, which grew to include drummer Hugo Klaers, guitarist Bruce Allen and bassist Michael Halliday. Taking musical and visual cues from the eclectic British glam rock band Roxy Music and David Bowie, the Suburbs quickly established themselves as a one-of-a-kind group in the Twin Cities. They went on to release a pair of major-label albums and scored a hit with Love is the Law, but the group wasnt able to build a nationwide following. They split up in 1987, but have since reunited several times. RELATED: A short history of the Suburbs 45 years as the Twin Cities favorite party band Poling and Klaers lead the current nine-piece lineup of the Suburbs, who released the album Poets Party in 2021. The Suburbs headline the free riverside concert stage on July 15, with support from Clay Fulton and the Lost Forty, Monica LaPlante and Kiss the Tiger. Ruben, the Sunken Lands and Carolyn Your Smith Smith perform on July 14, while Valee De Croix and Humbird are booked on July 16. Additional musical acts will be added. For more details, see lumberjackdays.com. Related Articles (Bloomberg) -- UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces criticism from within his own Cabinet over plans to pay the European Union for access to its Frontex border agency that would be limited by Britains post-Brexit status. Most Read from Bloomberg Home Secretary Suella Braverman is seeking to announce a deal with the EU by the end of September for Britain to secure third-country co-operation with Frontex, according to people familiar with her thinking who requested anonymity talking about matters that arent public. The agency coordinates the border and coast guards of Europes Schengen area. However, members of the government familiar with the proposed agreement said ministers are prioritizing speed over substance. The Home Office said in a statement that working with the EU is a crucial part of its efforts to control immigration. The people suggested the proposal would do little to immediately help Sunak meet his promise to stop the boats and stem the arrival of asylum seekers across the English Channel, one of five key pledges the prime minister has asked voters to judge him by. More than 10,500 have made the crossing so far this year, including almost 3,000 in June. The plans also expose the weaker position Britain finds itself in now its left the EU a reality that the people said had dawned on ministers. While Britain was not a full member of Frontex when it was an EU member, it attended management board meetings, took part in its operations and enjoyed exchanges of border surveillance data. Bare Bones Deal Moreover, under an agreement reached in 2015, the UK did not have to make direct financial contributions to the agency. Before then, the EU tended to reimburse Britains costs. Now it is outside of the EU, the UK accepts it will have to make a financial contribution in exchange for only limited access to Frontex, the people familiar said. Sunak and Braverman are determined to announce a deal with Frontex as soon as possible in order to demonstrate progress on the governments migration pledge, the people said. That meant it would likely only be a bare bones outline that is light on detail, with specifics then negotiated at a later date, they added. Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen began talks over working arrangements to exchange border intelligence and personnel in May. They discussed migration again on a call this weekend. But while Downing Street will attempt to frame it as action to prevent small boats crossings, there will only be very limited work with Frontex in the Channel, with a longer-term focus instead on the EUs southern border, according to the people. While Britain would like full visibility of Frontexs data and intelligence, as a non-EU member it would likely only be able to see some of the information. Similarly, the UK hoped to be able to attend all Frontex management meetings, but now expects only to receive invitations to some of them. That means the proposal by Sunak and Braverman risks being criticized as a worse deal than the UK had with the EU before Brexit, a government official said. (Updates with Home Office comment in third paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a private Christian colleges bid to revive its lawsuit challenging a federal directive prohibiting housing discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. In a brief, unsigned order, the justices declined to take up the College of the Ozarkss appeal of a lower ruling that found the school had no legal standing to move forward with its pre-enforcement challenge. On the day he took office, President Biden signed an executive order directing federal agencies to interpret sex-discrimination provisions in various federal laws to protect sexual orientation and gender identity. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a directive the next month updating its interpretation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). College of the Ozarks, however, wishes to assign its dormitory housing assignments based on students biological sex, not their gender identity, to comport with the institutions religious teachings. The school sued the administration in April 2021 over the interpretation, but a trial judge and a divided appeals court panel found the college did not have legal standing because the school had not shown a concrete injury. The college then appealed to the justices, contending the administration had denied the school a procedural right to comment on the proposal before implementing it. Lower courts had rejected that argument, noting that the school faced no imminent risk of enforcement. That result has mammoth implications, the schools attorneys wrote in court filings. If HUD gets away with rewriting the FHA via the Directive, it has no incentive to ever go through the rule-making process. That eliminates judicial review until after an enforcement proceeding is complete and the regulated entity has already been harmed. The college was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group that has challenged various pro-LGBTQ policies, as well as access to mifepristone, the common abortion pill. The Supreme Courts refusal to hear the colleges appeal prevents its current lawsuit from moving forward, handing a win to LGBTQ students as lower courts grapple with challenges to laws in Republican-led states limiting the ability of transgender students to participate in activities or areas that match their gender identity. The conservative-majority court in 2020 handed a win to LGBTQ advocates by ruling that the Civil Rights Act of 1964s sex-discrimination provision protects people from being fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. But it has since declined on multiple occasions to wade into court battles over transgender rights. The Supreme Court in April declined a request to intervene on its emergency docket to enforce West Virginias transgender athlete ban. College of Ozarks could start a new case against the government if the Biden administration takes enforcement action against the college for not allowing transgender students into the dorms they want. But in court filings, the Justice Department said its interpretation of the housing law left unaddressed how it interacts with Title IXs religious exemption, which the school possesses. Title IX is a federal rule that says a school can not discriminate against students on the basis of sex, but some universities are able to get a religious exemption to bypass this statute. A religious exemption allows a school to implement some policies and beliefs that follow its doctrine but dont necessarily comply with federal law. For example, in 2019, two students who married someone of the same sex were kicked out of Fuller Theological Seminary because the school had a sexual standards policy that aligned with the religious belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. A judge ruled for the school because even though the policy violated Title IX, the school was exempt from it. Because College of the Ozarks also has a religious exemption, the Justice Department argued, it is not likely to be enforced against. Petitioner has not alleged any past, current, or threatened enforcement of the Memorandum or the FHA against it or any similarly situated college Indeed, as the court of appeals emphasized, HUD has never filed a charge of sex discrimination based on a housing policy against an educational institution where, as here, the Department of Education has recognized that institutions entitlement to a religious exemption under Title IX, the Justice Department wrote. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Among the main reasons for the attractiveness of Poland, Ukrainian citizens name primarily socio-cultural factors A survey conducted by the EWL Migration Platform, the EWL Foundation, and the Center for East European Studies at the University of Warsaw found that potential EU and NATO membership of Ukraine would be a key factor in convincing Ukrainian refugees in Poland to return home. According to the study, 57% of respondents cited EU membership and 47% cited NATO membership as major incentives for returning. Read also: How Ukraine keeps migrants connected to home, explains Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna NV interview Higher wages and improved working conditions, a consideration for 54% of respondents, were noted as being more significant for labor migrants, or those who left for Poland before Russia's full-scale aggression, than for war refugees, with 57% versus 48% citing this factor. "For a majority of pre-war migrants from Ukraine, better earnings and a stable life were the main motivations for moving to Poland," said Maria Kuzenko, head of Legalization at EWL. "In contrast, war refugees compelled to come to Poland. Many say they had a satisfactory life in Ukraine and had no plans to emigrate." For war refugees, the possibility of reuniting with family members who remained in Ukraine is a primary motivation for returning home, cited by 57% of Ukrainians who fled to Poland because of the full-scale Russian invasion. Overall, 48% of Ukrainians in Poland see family reunification as a reason to return home. Read also: Working in wartime a discussion with National Bank of Ukraine Governor Andriy Pyshnyi One in five Ukrainians in Poland said that state assistance in rebuilding and reclaiming their homes would encourage them to return. Other motivating factors include the implementation of reforms in Ukraine in healthcare, education, and the judiciary, and the easing of regulations on starting businesses in Ukraine a concern for 16% of respondents. Read also: For some reason, everyone is talking about peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine opinion Respondents were also asked what encourages them to stay in Poland for longer periods of time. Primary reasons for staying included socio-cultural factors such as having friends and acquaintances in Poland (40%), a friendly attitude from Poles (37%), cultural similarities (34%), and language similarities (28%). Economic factors like job opportunities (27%) and simple procedures for legal stay and employment in Poland (22%) also play a part. Primary obstacles to staying in Poland include concern for relatives in Ukraine (41%), financial difficulties (27%), and problems finding work (24%). Lack of Polish language skills could lead 25% of war refugees and 10% of pre-war migrants deciding to leave Poland. Read also: Poland wants to update Treaty on Good Neighbourship with Ukraine by late 2023, says Polish MFA The survey found that although the majority of working-age asylum seekers have found employment in Poland (78%), almost two-thirds (62%) plan to return to Ukraine in the near future. Among those, one in four (24%) plan to return before the end of the war. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine FILE PHOTO: Relatives and friends look for information on passengers of the deadly migrant shipwreck in Malakasa ATHENS (Reuters) -Nine men charged over the worst shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea this year that killed at least 82 people were detained pending trial, the coastguard said on Wednesday, while the European Union promised more funds and actions on migration. Greece, which has come under increasing scrutiny over its response to the June 12-13 disaster, is still searching the sea in the wider area, though the chance of finding more survivors was seen as virtually nil. The 20-30 metre long fishing boat packed with hundreds of migrants sank off Greece's south-west coast in some of the deepest waters of the Mediterranean, on a journey that started from Libya and was supposed to end in Italy. It was thought to be carrying up to 700 migrants from Egypt, Syria and Pakistan, but only 104 people have been rescued. The coastguard retrieved three more bodies on Monday, six days after the disaster, and one on Tuesday, revising the death toll to 82. Hundreds more are feared dead. The suspected smugglers, all from Egypt and aged between 20 and 40 years, appeared before a prosecutor on Tuesday to respond to charges that included manslaughter, setting up a criminal organisation, migrant smuggling and causing a shipwreck. They all denied any wrongdoing, according to state broadcaster ERT. One of their lawyers said on Monday that his client was not a smuggler but a victim who sought a better life in Europe and had paid to be taken to Italy. CIRCUMSTANCES OF SINKING STILL UNCLEAR The ageing vessel was thought to have departed from Egypt, then picked up passengers in the Libyan coastal city of Tobruk on June 10 before setting sail for Italy. Greek authorities said survivors told them they paid $4,500 each for the journey. Greece was alerted by Italy over the boat's presence in its search and rescue jurisdiction on June 12. The boat had been approached by merchant vessels and shadowed by the Greek coastguard for several hours before capsizing and sinking. But the exact circumstances of the vessel sinking were still unclear. Kathimerini newspaper reported that survivors, who were summoned for additional testimonies over the weekend, said for the first time that the coastguard tried to tow their vessel. Greek authorities said the boat repeatedly refused Greek help saying it wanted to go to Italy. They have denied accounts that the boat flipped after the coastguard attempted to tow it. In Brussels, the European Union decided to earmark 15 billion euros as part of its 2024-2027 budget to bolster migration policies. The money would be used, among other things, to foster partnerships with third countries, provide help to refugees in the Middle East and react to humanitarian crises, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. "It is horrible what happened and the more urgent it is that we act", von der Leyen said when asked about the shipwreck. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou and Lefteris Papadimas and Karolina Tagaris; Additional reporting by Tassilo Hummel in Brussels; editing by Grant McCool and Alex Richardson) T-7A Red Hawk Taxi Test, Lambert St. Louis International Airport - St. Louis, MO. MSF23-022 Series. The U.S. Air Force is a step closer to receiving its new advanced jet trainer, after the Boeing T-7A Red Hawk successfully completed taxi tests, ahead of the first flight of the aircraft in its production form. The ground-based tests have proven the power, electrical, and mission systems aboard the jet, a critical milestone on the path to getting the production-standard T-7A ready for flight testing, scheduled to begin later this summer. The aircraft used for the taxi trials is one of five engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) aircraft that follow on from the two company demonstrators that are already engaged in the flight-test program. However, those first two jets were not fully representative of the final production configuration. https://twitter.com/BoeingDefense/status/1671144898144227331?s=20 The flight controls and commands to the fly-by-wire system were crisp and the aircraft maneuvered exceptionally well, said Steve Schmidt, Boeings T-7 chief test pilot, in a company statement. Everything operated as designed and expected. Our priorities are developing this advanced trainer and getting it to future fighter and bomber pilots, said Evelyn Moore, vice president, and T-7 program manager. This test brings us one step closer to the T-7A Red Hawk taking to the skies. The first EMD aircraft is planned to take to the air in the coming weeks, initially flying from Boeings St. Louis, Missouri, facility, before moving to Edwards Air Force Base, California, in the fall. The two production-representative T-7A test jets over St. Louis during a test flight E. Shindelbower/Boeing Company In the background to this positive news from Boeing is the very real fact that the T-7A is running late, which not only means that the company has so far lost $1.1 billion on the fixed-price contract signed with the Air Force but also that that services continuing pilot shortage is further compounded. While the Air Force says it should take 18 months to train mobility pilots and more than two years for fighter and bomber pilots, in reality, it can take up to four years, due to the lack of training aircraft available. You can read much more about this issue here. The first of the two production-representative jets for the T-7A took to the air in December 2016 and the company says that these have flown up to six sorties a day, resulting in more than 7,000 data and test points to date. The T-7A was selected in 2018 to replace the Air Forces aging T-38C Talon. At one time, the Air Force was slated to get its first five production T-7As in 2023, but this has now slipped to December 2025 at the earliest. Meanwhile, the Red Hawk is not now expected to enter service until 2027 three years later than originally planned. Instructor pilots assigned to the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program fly U.S. Air Force T-38C Talons above Wichita Falls, Texas, in July 2022. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joseph Pick As Andrew Hunter, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, recently explained: Due to issues discovered in the early development and test phase of the program, the Air Force is delaying its Milestone C decision to initiate the buy of T-7A production aircraft. By extension, this will shift the T-7A programs initial operational capability (IOC) into the spring of 2027. We are pursuing risk reduction activities to mitigate some of these schedule challenges. Among the problems that have affected the new trainer is wing-rock at high angles of attack (something Boeing says is now resolved) and limitations in the crew escape system the ACES 5 ejection seats have been judged unsuitable for certain aircrew body types, particularly smaller, lighter female pilots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lni0F93RdsQ More generally, part of the reason for the holdup, it seems, is the fact that the much-heralded digital design and engineering ethos that underpins the T-7A hasnt worked out exactly as planned. As we explored in our recent deep dive on the status of the T-7A program: The Red Hawk was expected to begin a new era in rapid design and engineering with iterative development carried out in the virtual world via modeling and simulation without having to bend metal or conduct extensive real-world testing. Systems integration would be accelerated and the time from the first flight to production significantly compressed. That, at least, was how it was meant to happen, although now even Dr. Will Roper, the former assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, and perhaps the closest there is to a digital design and engineering guru has raised questions about possible over-reliance on this kind of approach. Dr. Will Roper, during his time as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. DeAndre Curtiss Digital engineering isnt magic, Roper told The War Zone recently. Just because you use it doesnt mean that all the problems of acquisition get out of your way. Roper also warned about the risks inherent in fixed-price development contracts, for both customer and manufacturer. More recently still, the Air Forces own boss, Frank Kendall, has also moved to downplay some of the expectations surrounding digital engineering processes, in particular as they relate to new aircraft programs. In his words, the promise of digital engineering has been over-hyped. Kendall said that digital tools might help cut costs and reduce schedules by around 20 percent, certainly nothing to slouch at, but he warned against seeing this approach as a revolution in engineering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSGX1NAc6ZE Boeing, too, has described the T-7A as the pathfinder for digitally designed, built, and tested aircraft. The company added: As with any new development program, challenges occur but our commitment to fielding this advanced trainer for future fighter and bomber pilots remains unwavering. Partner to Boeing on the T-7, the Swedish company Saab has been building the aft section of the trainer at its Linkoping facility. Before long, however, Saab will start manufacturing these components in the United States, at a facility in West Lafayette, Indiana. Saab has also touted the way that its experience in digital engineering technologies have been used in the program. Production of aft fuselage sections for the T-7A by Saab at Linkoping in Sweden. Saab Generally, the Air Force and Boeing alike have been reluctant to talk about exactly how the delays in the T-7A program will affect the pilot training pipeline, which is already facing some considerable challenges. The one this that is clear, however, is that the Air Force will be asking more of its T-38 fleet. T-7A delivery delays will not slow the production of [Air Education and Training Command] pilot graduates, Capt. Lauren Woods, a spokesperson for the command told The War Zone. However, it will force the use of the venerable T-38C longer than planned. Capt. Natalie Rambish, 47th Operations Support Squadron aircrew and flight equipment commander and instructor pilot, climbs into her seat in a T-38C Talon as she prepares to fly with a student pilot at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Anne McCready Already in service since 1961, the T-38 suffers from maintenance issues and its recent career has been punctuated by an unfortunate series of mishaps, fatal and non-fatal. Delays in refurbishing the T-38s General Electric J85 turbojets have also kept many of the aircraft on the ground, leading to more trainer shortages. It seems almost certain the T-38 will have to continue training Air Force pilots into the 2030s, hardly a glowing endorsement of the digital engineering approach. With the news that the T-7A has successfully completed taxi tests, however, there is at least some more positive news for the program. There is no reason why, in the long run, the Red Hawk shouldnt fulfill its training promise, and potentially perform other roles, too. Until then, however, Boeing may have to absorb more financial losses and the rapidly aging T-38 will have to soldier on, but in the long run, the T-7 still has the potential to be a major boon for the storied plane maker. Contact the author: thomas@thedrive.com U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Monday, June 19, 2023. | Leah Millis, pool photo via Associated Press Over the weekend, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with three leaders in China, including President Xi Jinping. I came to Beijing to strengthen high-level challenges of communication, to make clear our positions and intentions in areas of disagreement, and to explore areas where we might work together when our interests align on shared transnational challenges, Blinken said in a statement released by the U.S. Department of State. And we did all of that. Blinken described the visit as constructive in a statement, while Xi said the discussions were candid and reaffirmed the country would follow through with agreements made in Bali last year. The visit wasnt expected to yield many (if any) immediate results, as tensions are still high between the two countries after a Chinese balloon entered U.S. airspace earlier this year. Its not a matter of one trip and one conversation, a senior State Department official told Politico. The meetings main objective was to disabuse China of some of the misperceptions it has about what were trying to do even as were also very clear about our intent when it comes to standing up for our interests and trying to advance our values. Keeping communication open was a key objective for the U.S., which was shown in Blinkens request to reopen military-to-military communications with China a request which Chinese officials rejected, per The New York Times. Other topics discussed included the U.S.s nonsupport for Taiwans independence, continued discussion on climate change and the U.S. fentanyl crisis, per The Washington Post. The Taiwan tension. In a debrief, Blinken reiterated that the United States doesnt support Taiwan Independence and that the country has upheld its responsibilities made in the Taiwan Relations Act including making sure Taiwan has the ability to defend itself. Basically, he said, the U.S. is opposed to any unilateral changes of the status quo by either side. 2. Climate change and commerce talks. The Times reported that Blinkens welcome was a little less welcoming compared to other meetings Xi has had with U.S. officials or public figures. For example, the secretary of state was not allowed to sit next to the president like his predecessors. It was a requirement to have him visit before Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and commerce secretary Gina Raimondo could visit the country the people China actually wanted to see to ease their troubled economy. Yellen and Raimondo, along with John Kerry of the climate envoy, are expected to travel later this summer to the country, according to the paper. 3. Chinas role in the U.S. fentanyl crisis. As the top killer in the United States, synthetic opioids were a high point of discussion for Blinken, reported the Post. Though most of the finished products enter the United States from Mexico, precursor chemicals for the drug originate from China. I made clear that we need much greater cooperation to address this critical issue, Blinken said during the conference. No solid action was taken on this issue but the topic wasnt entirely shot down by China. They are continuing to explore setting up a working group to shut off the flow of precursor chemicals, Blinken said. We have no illusions about the challenges of managing this relationship. There are many issues on which we profoundly, even vehemently disagree, Blinken said. We will always take the best course of action to advance the interests of the American people. But the United States has a long history of successfully managing complicated, consequential relationships through diplomacy. Related A group of Florida students and the authors of an award-winning childrens picture book about the true story of a penguin family with two fathers have argued that a Florida school district unconstitutionally restricted access to the book under what opponents have called the states Dont Say Gay law. A lawsuit filed in federal court on 20 June argues that the Lake County school districts decision to pull And Tango Makes Three cited no legitimate pedagogical reason for its decision and was restricted only for illegitimate, narrowly partisan and political reasons. Last year, Lake County officials announced that the title was administratively removed due to content regarding sexual orientation/gender identification prohibited under the Parental Rights in Education Act, what critics have called the Dont Say Gay law. That measure, signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis last year, broadly prohibits classroom instruction on issues related to sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards in other grades. Mr DeSantis signed a measure this year that explicitly expands the law to cover all school grades. Opponents have warned its broad scope could effectively block discussion of LGBT+ people, history and events from state schools, and be weaponised against students, staff and their families under threat from potential lawsuits against school districts over perceived violations. The lawsuit from the books authors Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell and the families of several young students argues that such restrictions violate First Amendment protections, including the authors right to freedom of expression and students rights to receive information. And Tango Makes Three tells a true and heartwarming story, and it teaches students about animal behavior, adoption, diversity among family structures, and responsible family values, the lawsuit states. The authors wrote Tango to spread a message of tolerance and equal treatment. They have a sincere and strongly held desire to ensure that Tango is available to children learning about animal behavior, adoption, and family structures, whether similar to or different from their own and the student plaintiffs wish to read Tango to learn about those very subjects, the plaintiffs wrote. The book was listed among free expression group PEN Americas most-banned picture books of the last school year. Last year, a record high of more than 1,200 attempts to remove books from schools and libraries were reported to the American Library Association. There were at least 1,477 attempts to ban 874 individual book titles within the first half of the 2022-2023 school year, according to PEN America. The figures mark a nearly 30 per cent spike from book challenges over the previous year. Book ban attempts have largely targeted books by and about LGBT+ people, titles written by or involving people of colour, or materials featuring honest discussions of race and racism, according to PEN America. Mr DeSantis and his administration have repeatedly rejected characterising such restrictions as book bans and have accused media outlets of manufacturing a hoax and a fake narrative surrounding them. The state has been at the centre of book challenges and legal battles over school and library materials as the DeSantis administration implements a sweeping agenda targeting public education and lessons and speech he deems objectionable. PEN American and Penguin Random House, one of the largest book publishers in the world, and several prominent authors and families have also sued a separate school district and school board in Floridas Escambia County. A lawsuit filed in US District Court last month argues that school officials have pursued an ideologically driven campaign to push certain ideas out of schools against the recommendation of experts. This disregard for professional guidance underscores that the agendas underlying the removals are ideological and political, not pedagogical, the lawsuit states. The Independent has requested comment from the states Department of Education. Teacher Was Fired From Private School After Questioning Her Salary Her Boss Said That God Told Him She Was Not Passionate About Her Job terminated woman, praying man Rarely will you find instances where the workplace meets religion. Typically, employers frown upon introducing individual religious beliefs and practices into the business environment to avoid claims of discrimination or mistreatment. One exception is in religion-based organizations like churches or private bible schools. A woman on TikTok named Cassidy Elise took to the platform in early 2023 to share the story of being fired from her first teaching job for an unbelievable reason. In the video captioned Welcome to how I got fired as an elementary school teacher, she started by giving viewers a little bit of history. In 2019, Elise finished school and went straight into teaching. At just 22 years old, she had the daunting task of entering her first year as an educator during the Covid-19 pandemic. Believing that it carried more prestige than teaching at a public school, Elise joined the staff at a private school, despite making $7,000 less than she would have made elsewhere. She stayed in the role for two years because she stood behind the schools mission. The first year, teaching was obviously rough because of Covid, but I felt so accomplished, said Elise. By year two, according to her, she was very confident in her teaching and knew she was performing well based on the feedback she got from parents, students, and colleagues. Still, she knew she had a lot to learn and would need to continue to grow in her career. In Elises second year of teaching, her student achieved the highest score improvements in reading, and she was over the moon and filled with pride. I loved my job. I was invited to birthday parties. I was the cool, fun, young teacher, Elise explained of her relationship with her students. RELATED: Woman Is Accidentally Included In a Group Text That Says She'll Be Fired In 3 Weeks There were some things about the job that she did not love, but she was dedicated to the schools mission. After completing her second year, Elise attended an end-of-the-year meeting with her boss. The intention was to discuss how the year went, obtain her contract for the following year, and leave for summer break. During her sit-down with the manager, she decided to voice her concerns over what she was being paid, but didnt make too big a deal of it. Elise had already asked her mom whether or not she should stick around because she was not getting a pay increase. After pondering it, she had decided to stay at the school for the time being and signed her new contract for the next school year when she met with her boss, before wishing him a good summer and leaving for a trip she had planned. RELATED: Boss Tries To Fire Employee For Not Answering Work Calls On His Personal Phone During The Weekend The next morning, the vacationing teacher got a text from her boss, asking her to come back into the office. Something about our conversation concerned me, the man said as he urged her to return to work. Because she had already traveled to another state, Elise declined an in-person meeting, but agreed to speak with her manager via Zoom, despite his preference that the conversation take place in person. Curious about what was going on, she got on the Zoom and listened intently to what her boss had to say. He told her, After our conversation yesterday, I dont think your passion is for teaching, and God told me that is not your passion. RELATED: Woman Quits Job She's Had For 5 Years On The Spot After Returning From Time Off To Find Out She's No Longer The Manager In response she said, 'Thats so cool and interesting because God never told me that. But thats really cool that hes only speaking through you because youre a man.' Nevertheless, the manager decided that because he had received a message about her passion directly from God himself, her contract to teach would be rescinded and not renewed for the following school year. Elise told viewers that her mind was blown because of how well she had done in her job and how passionate she had been when it came to the students she was teaching. But apparently, the young woman took the rejection from the private school as a redirection opportunity. She stopped teaching after that and began a career as a photographer, as shown in her TikTok video below. RELATED: Man Changes His LinkedIn Status To 'Open To Work' So His Job Hires A Replacement Behind His Back & Fires Him Can your job really fire you because they dont think youre passionate enough? Most states in the U.S. are "at-will," meaning that an employer or an employee can end the relationship at any time and for any reason, so long as its not illegal or discriminatory in nature. But labor laws in the United States heavily favor employees. There are a few exceptions to at-will terminations including Public Policy Exemption, where there is a policy in place preventing termination, a Covenant of Good Faith, barring employers from providing false termination reasons that hide their true intentions, and an Implied Contract Exemption, when an employer handbook or prior behavior indicates that an employee can only be fired for a "just cause." In this case, the Covenant of Good Faith appears to have been violated since the termination of Elise was more likely a result of her questioning her low salary than an Act of God. In addition, she had a signed contract in hand, and given her presumed history as an exemplary employee, the school didnt have "just cause" to terminate her. RELATED: A Man Was Fired On The Spot After Giving His 2-Week NoticeHe Thanked Them For The Vacation By Returning Belongings In A Hawaiian Shirt NyRee Ausler is a writer and author from Seattle, Washington. She covers issues navigating the workplace using the experience garnered over two decades of working in Human Resources and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This article originally appeared on YourTango Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 20) The Securities and Exchange Commission is going after online lending and business process outsourcing (BPOs) companies that allegedly harass and humiliate clients. SEC Enforcement and Investor Protection chief Oliver Leonardo said complaints were filed against four online lending companies, two BPOs, and 28 individuals. The companies included in the complaint were FESL Lending Investor Corp., FESL Business Process Outsourcing Services, Realm Shifters Business Process Outsourcing Services, U-Peso.ph Lending Corporation, Philippine Microdot Financing Corp. and Armorak Lending Inc. Leonardo explained the companies violated the Financial Products and Consumer Protection Act, the Lending Company Regulation Act, and the Data Privacy Act. "Pinagbabawal sa batas, Section 8, ang mga pamamahiya, paglapastangan sa karapatan ng ating mga mangungutang, yung pag-share ng contact details, pambabastos," Leonardo explained. [Translation: The law, Section 8, prohibits lending companies from harassing and taking advantage of debtors, and of sharing their contact details.] This is a criminal offense with fine of up to 2 million and five years imprisonment, he added. Also among those tagged as respondents are five Chinese nationals who are supposedly running online lending platforms. CNN Philippines is trying to get the comment of those named in the complaints, which stemmed from a raid conducted last month in Pasig. The complaints came a week after Sen. Joel Villanueva said the government should look into unregistered online lending platforms victimizing people through abusive collection practices. RELATED: The crippling lure of online lending apps Matthew Smith appeared in Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday - National Crime Agency A former deputy head at the prep school once attended by Prince George and Princess Charlotte is facing jail after admitting paying 65,000 to view child abuse in India. Matthew Smith was appointed deputy head of pastoral care at Thomass prep school in Battersea last September following five years teaching in Nepal. But last November, he was arrested by the National Crime Agency after investigators discovered he was sharing abuse material on the dark web. At the time of his arrest, Smith was online, speaking to a teenager in India and encouraging him to send sexual images of a younger child for money. Investigators later established that Smith had paid the same teenager and another Indian boy, a total of 65,398 to abuse children over a five-year period. Chat logs showed how he would instruct the men to perform sex acts on boys and then send videos and images in return for payment. Smith previously worked at Thomass Battersea, which was once attended by Prince George and Princess Charlotte - Reuters/Dylan Martinez He also gave one of them advice on how to befriend children and build their trust with a view to abusing them. Smith, 34, had spent a number of years working in schools, orphanages and NGOs across Nepal and India. Investigators recovered 120,000 indecent images of children from Smiths devices, as well as evidence he had abused children himself while working in India. Last November, Smith pleaded guilty to the initial offences, but last month was charged with a further 17 counts, including encouraging the rape of a child under 13, causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and arranging the sexual abuse of a child. On Tuesday, he appeared at Southwark Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to the additional offences. None of the charges related to his time at the 20,000-a-year Thomass primary school, which was attended by Prince George and Princess Charlotte until the end of the last academic year. School condemns deplorable actions A spokesman for Thomass Battersea said: We have been shocked and appalled beyond measure by this matter and are grateful for the work of the police and courts in bringing this man to account. Mr Smiths employment at the school, which commenced in September 2022, was terminated with immediate effect when the school first learned of the charges against him in November. While the National Crime Agency has confirmed that none of the matters under investigation related to the school or its pupils, these deplorable actions constitute an unforgivable breach of trust and our thoughts are with those who have been impacted or damaged by them. As always, we remain absolutely committed to the ongoing safety and wellbeing of our pupils and our whole school community. Smith a high-risk individual Smith was remanded into custody ahead of a sentencing hearing in August and is expected to receive a substantial prison term. Helen Dore, a senior officer at the National Crime Agency, said: Matthew Smith was a high-risk individual and we moved quickly to locate, arrest and remand him so he could no longer pose a threat to children. Ultimately, we were able to prove that he was a prolific offender who manipulated young men to sexually abuse children on his behalf, giving them detailed instructions and financial reward. While conducting his offending, Smith worked at a school in Nepal, then became a deputy head teacher and head of pastoral care in the UK, so his offending is a deep betrayal of the trust placed in him. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer. Former US president Donald Trump, pictured at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey on June 13, 2023, faces more than three dozen charges in the documents case (CHIP SOMODEVILLA) A federal judge on Tuesday scheduled the criminal trial of former president Donald Trump for his alleged mishandling of classified documents and obstruction to begin on August 14. Trump's legal team is likely to get that preliminary date pushed back by months, however, as it files a flurry of motions over numerous complex legal issues before a jury is seated. The 2024 Republican presidential frontrunner was charged last week with 37 criminal counts over his refusal to return hundreds of government records he took on leaving the White House in 2021. He pleaded not guilty to violating the Espionage Act and conspiring to obstruct justice by concealing documents and misleading investigators. Judge Aileen Cannon ordered both sides to file pre-trial motions by July 24, setting aside two weeks for a trial in Fort Pierce, a two-hour drive north of Miami, where Trump was initially processed. The Southern District of Florida is known as a "rocket docket" jurisdiction, because its judges push for trials to start relatively quickly. But the former president's lawyers will need time to obtain security clearances to access some of the classified material he is accused of mishandling. They will likely file multiple motions to dismiss the case and over the sharing of evidence that could take up to a year, according to some analysts, including former Trump lawyer Tim Parlatore. On Monday, federal magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart approved an order sought by special counsel Jack Smith to keep Trump and his lawyers from releasing sensitive information in the case to the public. In an interview with Fox News, Trump defended his decision to take boxes of documents from the White House, saying many of the papers were "interspersed" with his personal effects. "I want to go through the boxes and get all my personal things out. I don't want to hand that over... And I was very busy, as you've sort of seen," he said. bur-ft/dw Terra logo in front of person in handcuffs. Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon reportedly arrested in Montenegro. The collapse of cryptocurrency TerraUSD shares on the stock exchange. Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon will spend some months in jail, but he should be more concerned about whether South Korea or the U.S. will nab him next. Failed crypto founder Do Kwon is now facing a stint behind bars, not due to his many alleged crypto crimes, but for his very shady passports. On Monday, Montenegros basic court announced it had sentenced Kwon and his compatriot, former Terra chief financial officer Han Chong-joon, to four months in jail. The pair had been arrested earlier this year trying to scamper off to Dubai with forged passports. However, according to the announcement, the jail time also accounts for the months the two spent in custody, from March 23 until June 15, meaning the former Terraform Labs execs will spend just a little over two months in jail. The pair still have time to appeal, which could drag their jail time out even further. Much of their time in court has been spent arguing about bail. The court initially granted the pair a supervised release in their lawyers girlfriends apartment for the low, low price of around $437,000. The countrys higher courts overrode that decision and sent the two back to jail while awaiting trial. Read more South Korean news agency Segye Ilbo reported that Kwon had argued in court that he received the passport through an agency in Singapore recommended by a friend and that he got his Belgian passport through a separate agency. Kwon reportedly claimed he didnt remember the name of the agency, which is always a good sign. Back when Montenegrin authorities arrested Kwon and Chong-joon, the country said they were found trying to escape the country holding forged Costa Rican and Belgian passports. The founder and CEO of Terraform labs had been on the run for close to a year from international police forces after the collapse of his algorithmically stabilized stablecoin Terra became, well, unstable. This led to a $40 billion run on the crypto market that sank some users entire life savings. Both South Korea and the U.S. previously confirmed they hoped to extradite the ex-Terra CEO on massive allegations that include securities and wire fraud. Korean authorities have charged Kwon with breaking the countrys capital markets law. It remains unclear whether Montenegrin authorities will hand Kwon off to authorities from either country. This article is part of a developing story. Our writers and editors will be updating this page as new information is released. Please check back again in a few minutes to see the latest updates. Meanwhile, if you want more news coverage, check out our tech, science, or io9 front pages. And you can always see the most recent Gizmodo news stories at gizmodo.com/latest. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Texas Sen. Angela Paxton says she will 'carry out my duties' in husband's impeachment trial Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, wife of impeached state Attorney General Ken Paxton, arrives to the Senate Chamber at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, Monday, May 29, 2023. The historic impeachment of Paxton is plunging Republicans into a bruising fight over whether to banish one of their own in America's biggest red state. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton said Monday she will carry out my duties ahead of the historic impeachment trial of her husband, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, but did not outright say whether or not she will recuse herself on a vote to remove him from office. Breaking weeks of public silence since her husband was impeached in May, Angela Paxton did not address the accusations in a statement released by her office. Whether Paxton will cast a vote with her husband's job on the line has raised ethical questions ahead of the looming trial in the Senate, which is set to begin no later than August. State law compels all senators to attend, but is silent on whether she must participate. As a member of the Senate, I hold these obligations sacred and I will carry out my duties, not because it is easy, but because the Constitution demands it and because my constituents deserve it, Paxton said. A spokesperson did not immediately respond Monday night when asked whether she intends to vote. The statement was released on the eve of when rules surrounding the trial are expected to be finalized Tuesday by the Texas Senate. There are 31 senators in the chamber, which is led by Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has declined to comment on Sen. Paxton's potential participation in the trial. Ken Paxton is temporarily suspended from office pending the outcome of the trial. Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton (R) said Monday she will carry out her duties as a member of the state Senate, ahead of her husband Ken Paxtons looming impeachment trial in the chamber. I have twice been elected to represent the nearly one million Texans who reside in Senate District 8, and it is a tremendous honor and privilege to be their voice in the Texas Legislature, she said in a statement on Twitter. Each time I was elected, I took an oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of this great state. Texas law compels each member of the Senate to attend when the Senate meets as a court of impeachment, she added. As a member of the Senate, I hold these obligations sacred and I will carry out my duties, not because it is easy, but because the Constitution demands it and because my constituents deserve it. Ken Paxton, the suspended Texas attorney general, was impeached by the Republican-led Texas House in a 121-23 vote late last month over 20 charges of misconduct in office, including bribery, obstruction of justice, false statements, dereliction of duty, unfitness for office and abuse of public trust. The attorney general, who dismissed the impeachment vote as a politically motivated sham, is set to face a trial in the state Senate in late August, according to The Texas Tribune. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Stacia "Stacy" Haynie was named as the sole finalist for the presidency of Midwestern State University by the Texas Tech System Board of Regents on June, 20. Haynie will be the 13th president of the institution following a 21 day waiting period required by Texas law. LUBBOCK The Texas Tech University Board of Regents named Stacia "Stacy" Haynie as the sole finalist to serve as the 13th President of Midwestern State University during a special-called meeting on Tuesday. Haynie, an alumna of MSU and a native of Henrietta, will return to the institution following a 33-year tenure at Louisiana State University. According to the system, Haynie has served in numerous positions during her academic tenure, including as Executive Vice President and Provost and Chief Academic Officer; Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Vice Provost for Academics and Planning; Associate and Interim Dean of the Graduate School and Department Chair. Haynie was recognized by MSU as an Outstanding Education Student in 1981, Distinguished Alumna in the Department of Political Science in 1999 and the same distinction from MSU's Fain College of Fine Arts in 2011. Stacia "Stacy" Haynie was named as the sole finalist for the presidency of Midwestern State University by the Texas Tech System Board of Regents on June, 20. Haynie will be the 13th president of the institution following a 21 day waiting period required by Texas law. Earning her bachelor's in theater and master's in political science from MSU, Haynie went on to earn her doctoral degree in political science from the University of North Texas. After 29 minutes of deliberating in the executive session, the board unanimously approved the new appointment and directed the Chancellor to negotiate the new president's contract and pay. Haynie's tenure as MSU's president will officially begin 21 days from the notice, according to Texas State Law. It is an honor and a privilege to be named the sole finalist for the presidency of Midwestern State University, Haynie said in a statement from the system. MSU Texas and the Wichita Falls community have always held a special place in my heart, and I am ecstatic to have the opportunity to lead my alma mater into the next chapter in its history. My intellectual foundation was built at MSU Texas which is a credit to the faculty and staff of this extraordinary university. I am excited to serve the MSU Texas community and to work tirelessly with the incredible faculty, staff and students to provide that same foundation for others. Background about the search and Midwestern State University MSU joined the Tech System in September 2021 becoming the fifth component institution within the system. At the time, President Susan Shipley resigned as the 11th president of MSU president for retirement. Gov. Abbott signs bill allowing Midwestern State to join TTU System A search committee was convened and the regents appointed JuliAnn Mazachek as the 12th president of MSU in March 2022. Mazachek would later resign 10 months later as she accepted the president position at Washburn University. Chancellor Dr. Tedd Mitchell appointed Keith Lamb as the interim president of MSU in January 2023, and he has served since then. On June 16, Vice Chairwoman Ginger Kerrick-Davis of the Board of Regents and chairwoman of the MSU Presidential Search Committee announced the special called meeting asking the MSU community to watch the meeting as it announced the new president. Mateo Rosiles is a journalist covering Breaking News and Trends in Lubbock and around the area as well as covering the Texas Tech System and the Board of Regents. Send him news tips at mrosiles@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech regents name Haynie sole finalist for MSU president Maybe Android tablets arent dead after all. Maybe they just needed a smart display dock and a beguiling kickstand/hanger thing to make them more functional. According to Engadgets Cherlynn Low, the $500 Pixel Tablet is not a particularly exciting tablet, but it is an intriguing smart display. TMA With its charging speaker dock and $80 case, Google presents a far more compelling proposition. There are some unusual quirks, especially with Chromecasting, but its a stylish hybrid display with a lot going for it. Check out the full review right here. Mat Smith The Morning After isnt just a newsletter its also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here. The biggest stories you might have missed Apple Watch Series 8 is back on sale for $329 The best smart scales for 2023 Opera's generative AI-infused browser is ready for the masses It's also looking to see if it can legally 'take actions' against them. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel wants to open a formal Notice of Inquiry into the impact of internet data caps on consumers. The regulator will also consider "taking action" to ensure data caps don't harm competition or impact access to broadband services. "Internet access is no longer nice-to-have, but need-to-have for everyone, everywhere," Rosenworcel said. "When we need access to the internet, we arent thinking about how much data it takes to complete a task, we just know it needs to get done. Rosenworcel would be unable to take any action on data caps at the moment, though. The FCC currently has just four members (two Democrats and two Republicans), as the Senate refused to confirm President Biden's first nominee, Gigi Sohn, and she subsequently withdrew her name for consideration. Continue reading. Scribble to your hearts content. TMA E Ink tablets combine the feeling of writing in a regular notebook with many of the conveniences of digitized documents. With them, you can take with you and scribble all of your notes on one device. Unlike regular tablets and styli, though, E Ink tablets are nowhere near as ubiquitous they remain a worthwhile purchase to only a very select group of people. Is that you? And if so, what are your best options? Continue reading. Season six brings plenty of old and new elements to the series. In the three years since Black Mirror's previous season, we've had a global pandemic, watched a US president trigger a mob attack on the Capitol and were talking about AI everywhere. According to Engadgets Devindra Hardawar, season six of Black Mirror, which hit Netflix last week, is the series at its best: shocking, incisive and often hilarious. Continue reading. Galaxy S20, 21 and S22 owners can replace the screen, back glass and charging ports. Samsung has announced its self-repair program is now available in the UK and other European countries, after launching in the US last year. Users can access tools and parts needed to fix supported devices, namely the Galaxy S20, S21 and S22 smartphones, along with the Galaxy Book Pro regular and Galaxy Book Pro 360 laptops. In addition to the UK, the program will be available in Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden. Samsung collaborated with iFixit in the US, but parts distributors ASWO and 2Service will handle sales and distribution of the repair kits in Europe. Continue reading. TheGrios fourth annual video special celebrating Juneteenth featured appearances by Roy Wood Jr., Eboni K. Williams and the Alvin Ailey dance company. TheGrio celebrated Juneteenth with its fourth annual Freedom Forward special. Hosts Natasha Alford and Panama Jackson highlighted the best of Black American culture on the day commemorating the end of slavery. Freedom Forward featured interviews with prominent artists, entrepreneurs and thought leaders who educated viewers on the importance of Juneteenth, what they do to acknowledge it, and why its important to celebrate. The special began with Jackson dropping knowledge about the backstory of Juneteenth, dubbed for June 19, 1865, when people enslaved in Galveston, Texas, learned of the Emancipation Proclamation that President Abraham Lincoln had issued more than two years earlier. Though it was long celebrated in Texas and elsewhere, it was not recognized as a federal holiday until 2021. People attend a Juneteenth celebration in 2022, in Fort Greene Park in New York. President Joe Biden made Juneteenth a federal holiday in June 2021, proclaiming it a day for all Americans to commemorate the end of slavery. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images) Jackson spoke to Jason Edwards, chairman and president of Juneteenth U.S.A., about his father, late state Rep. Al Edwards, who worked hard to get Juneteenth recognized in his state of Texas and the nation. The conversation included the revelation that while the United States celebrates Juneteenth as a federal holiday, it is not a paid day off for state workers in every state. One of those states where it is a day off: New York, where the Juneteenth NYC festival happens every year in Brooklyn. Alford interviewed Athenia Rodney, founder and CEO of the festival, which went from being a local event to one of the biggest celebrations of Juneteenth in the nation. Rodney stated that she didnt know Juneteenth existed until high school. By the time she finished college, she realized how important it was. One of the biggest reasons why we consider our event to be so crucial is we are hitting at the home and focus of the community, which is cultural awareness, education, and entrepreneurship that is the crux of what has grown the Black community and we feel like will continue to grow, Rodney said. Freedom Forward gave emerging artists a platform to perform. Poet and author Melania Luisa Marte read a selection from her new book, Plantains and Our Becoming. Jamar Langley, a former contestant on NBCs The Voice, sang an a cappella rendition of the Black national anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing. Comedian and The Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr. comically riffed on Lift Every Voice and Sing and gave insight on what Juneteenth means to him. A highlight from Freedom Forward was an appearance by Gracies Corner founders Javoris Hollingsworth and Arlene Gordon-Hollingsworth. The husband and wife team spoke with Alford about how they created their YouTube channel full of animated sing-along videos for children of color. Javoris said they started the channel out of necessity when they realized there was not enough animated content aimed at Black children. Gracie is based on and voiced by their daughter Gracelyn, who sings educational songs and songs about Black history. Freedom Forward: Juneteenth Special also featured testimonials from theGrio commentators Eboni K. Williams and Michael Harriott. The special concluded with a profile of the Alvin Ailey dance company, featuring a segment of one of their recent performances. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post TheGrios Freedom Forward special celebrates Juneteenth and the best of Blackness appeared first on TheGrio. US President Joe Biden has said that the threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is "real". Source: Reuters, referring to Biden in a conversation with a group of donors in California, reported by European Pravda Details: The US president has stressed that he is concerned about Putin's possible use of nuclear weapons. Quote: "When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado River drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy. They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. It's real." More details: On Saturday, Biden called Putin's statements about the deployment of the first tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus "absolutely irresponsible". Prior to that, Putin said that the first Russian tactical nuclear warheads were already on the territory of Belarus and that the relocation would be completed by the end of the year. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that there are no signs that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Three convicted of seeking to force US citizens to go to China Three men have been convicted in New York for their roles in a scheme to forcibly repatriate US residents to China (Jewel SAMAD) A retired New York police officer and two Chinese nationals were convicted Tuesday for their roles in a scheme to forcibly repatriate US residents to China known as "Operation Fox Hunt." Michael McMahon, 55, Zhu Yong, 66, and Zheng Congying, 27, were found guilty by a federal jury after a three-week trial, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York said in a statement. McMahon, a retired police sergeant turned private investigator, was convicted of acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, conspiracy to commit interstate stalking and interstate stalking. Zhu, of Queens, was convicted of the same charges while Zheng Congying, of Brooklyn, was convicted of conspiracy to commit interstate stalking and interstate stalking. McMahon and Zhu, at the direction of Chinese officials, waged a campaign to "harass, stalk, and coerce" residents of the United States to return to China, the US Attorney's Office said. The scheme was part of a Chinese "global and extralegal repatriation effort known as 'Operation Fox Hunt,'" it said. "We hope this verdict serves as a message to other operatives in the United States working right now at the behest of the People's Republic of China in its effort to silence those who speak out against it," FBI special agent James Dennehy said. McMahon faces up to 20 years in prison, Zhu faces up to 25 years in prison, and Zheng faces up to 10 years in prison. The US government has prosecuted several Chinese nationals in its investigation into the surveillance and harassment of people living in the United States in recent years. Beijing has defended the operation as part of an anti-corruption campaign and said its law enforcement agencies follow international laws when abroad. But Washington has accused the operation of targeting dissidents and opponents of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. According to prosecutors, Chinese officials brought the elderly father of a person targeted for repatriation to the United States from China in an attempt to coerce his return. Other conspirators allegedly harassed the victim's daughter and left threatening notes that referenced harm to family members. According to a report by Spanish-based rights group Safeguard Defenders, nearly 10,000 Chinese nationals worldwide have been forcibly returned since 2014. Through two programs, "Operation Fox Hunt" and "Operation Sky Net," those targeted were pressured to return to China against their will using a combination of non-judicial methods -- including kidnappings, harassment and intimidation, according to the report. cl/caw Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 20) The president of the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) on Tuesday said he agrees with the plan of Health Secretary Ted Herbosa to hire unlicensed nurses who scored at least 70% in their board exam. These are nurses that have already graduated, that passed the college years and at the same time, for me, are already competent except that they are not board passers. They are board eligible, PCP President Rontgene Solante told CNN Philippines The Source. The Philippines, a major deployer of health workers overseas, has a shortage of nearly 130,000 nurses, according to the Department of Health (DOH). Filipino nurses often seek better wages and working conditions abroad, leading to the big gap between supply and demand. The DOH estimated it would take around 12 years to fill the gap at an average of over 10,000 nursing graduates each year. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Herbosa said Labor Sec. Bienvenido Laguesma already agreed with his plan. Kasi technically, may alam 'yon kasi nasagot 'yong 70% ng tanong sa board exam," the health chief pointed out. "So ang gagawin ko lang, i-h'hire ko siya. [Translation: Technically, they have the knowledge because they were able to score 70% in the board exam. So what I will do is hire them.] Herbosa said Laguesma will meet with the Professional Regulation Commission so these graduates will be given temporary licenses. For nursing graduates to obtain their professional license, they must pass the board exam with a minimum score of 75%. Solante said allowing these nursing graduates to work in hospitals will be an incentive for them since the training they will receive can help them eventually pass the licensure test. When they will be employed, because they are still nurses, kailangan lang talaga nila ng (they only need) additional layer of training, he added. If this will be implemented, hospitals should make sure these nurses are guided by licensed medical personnel, he noted. This will be the same as mentoring medical students which is a common practice in the field, he said. Early this month, Herbosa first mentioned the idea of possibly hiring nursing graduates to work in government hospitals even before obtaining their license. Through this, he said the Department of Health can fill its over 4,000 vacant positions for government nurses. Juneteenth might be contained to one day, but its celebrations certainly arent. In Tampa Bay, events honoring the end of slavery nationwide started early this month and many took place over the weekend. Monday, the actual holiday, still saw its share of fanfare, and we spent time with a few community leaders to see how they were observing the day. Yvette Lewis Yvette Lewis, president of the NAACP Hillsborough County branch, got an early start to her day Monday, something the self-proclaimed morning person always does. After getting to the office at 7 a.m., she cleaned a bit then set out for Cyrus Greene Park to do a walkthrough for Tuesdays Make Good Trouble Bus Tour stop in Tampa. It would be a work-heavy day for her, but also one rife with reflection. Typing away on her laptop, she said her duties would coincide with listening to the words of activists like Harriet Tubman, Ella Baker and Fannie Lou Hamer. Juneteenth should be a day of education for everyone, Lewis said. She knows theres debate over who is allowed to celebrate, and made a point to mention Floridas own Emancipation Day on May 20, but she believes there is room for all to participate. The NAACP Hillsborough County branch didnt host any events this year but it partnered with others to commemorate the day, she said. A lot of energy has been focused on the Make Good Trouble Bus Tour, which is making its way through Florida to raise awareness about the challenges for marginalized communities due to the passage of recent legislation. In the middle of talking about the tour, she was interrupted. Oh, God! she said. We got hate mail hate emails. This is nothing new for her, but it did stop her train of thought. She shifted gears. African American history is American history, whether you want to recognize it or not, Lewis said. There are people who dont want to talk about it for different reasons, she said, as it makes them feel guilty or like a victim. But not her. Its empowering to know she can endure anything because of those who came before her. Pastor Alan Harris The first thing pastor Alan Harris did on Monday was drop off his 12-year-old son at summer camp. The second was give the invocation at a Juneteenth event in West Tampa, where a center focused on African American arts and culture will one day stand. He was asked to be part of the event by Hillsborough County Commissioner Gwen Myers, who is leading the effort to create the center. As the pastor of the citys first Black Baptist church, Beulah Baptist Institutional, Harris agreed. In the invocation, he touched on the centers future and the sacrifices made by ancestors. As we reflect on all theyve done, may it motivate us and compel us to continue fighting the good fight, he said. Like others in the area, his Juneteenth celebration spanned multiple days. On Sunday, he held a blackout service, where the congregation wore all black and traditional African clothing. And he planned to join Lewis on Tuesday for the bus tour stop. With the holiday falling in between busier days, he enjoyed Monday relaxing with his wife and son. Harris said they always try to commemorate the day in some way, whether by visiting historic sites or learning something new. This year, they celebrated with good food and company, with Harris himself at the grill. Terri Lipsey Scott Perhaps no one had a busier Juneteenth than Terri Lipsey Scott, executive director of the Woodson African American Museum of Florida in St. Petersburg. Monday was the reveal of the new Black History Matters mural on the street in front of the museum (it formerly said Black Lives Matter), and she spent most of the morning making sure everything was set. By the time she took the podium at the unveiling, she said: As exhausted as I am today, I must say, I aint no way tired. That was clear as she enthusiastically clapped for speakers, danced to Beyonce's Before I Let Go and shared her remarks on the holiday, calling it Americas true Independence Day. Once it concluded, people pulled her for selfies, hugs and congratulatory conversations. She was the woman of the hour. It was easy to see her joy and gratitude, matching the spirit of a day she considers jubilant. With the successful reveal of the mural and a new message now on display, Scott jokingly hoped the rest of Monday would take the shape of a bath and a nap. Though, more likely, the day ended with her gathering with family and admiring the piece in its pristine state. Scott wasnt looking forward to the mural getting all mucky mucky when the street in front of the Woodson reopens July 10. She wishes it could be blocked off forever. Can Tim Moore be sued for being a homewrecker? Heres what NC state law says A lawsuit filed Sunday by a former Apex city councilman alleges North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore used his position as one of the most powerful elected officials to have a years-long affair with his wife. Scott Lassiter, who now serves as an assistant principal in the Wake County Schools system, is suing Moore and seeks more than $25,000 in damages, The Charlotte Observer reported. The lawsuit claims that Lassiters wife, Jamie Liles Lassiter, the executive director of the N.C. Conference of Clerks of Superior Court hoped her acquiescence to Moores demands would benefit her employer. It claims that Moore aggressively pursued a sexual relationship with her. North Carolina is one of five states that allow you to sue someone for wrecking your marriage. Similar laws exist in Hawaii, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota and Utah, The Washington Post reported. Heres what to know about home wrecker laws in the state. How a spouse can sue your fling in NC The alienation of affection law allows a spouse to sue a third party for wrongful acts that deprived them of the love and affection of their spouse, according to Montgomery Family Law, a law firm based in Cary. There is a three-year statute of limitations for alienation of affections claims, which means the innocent spouse must file their claim within three years of the act, the firm says. You must prove the following to be successful in an alienation of affection lawsuit, according to the firm: You and your spouse were in a valid marriage with love and affection The love and affection between you and your spouse were destroyed and alienated The wrongful and malicious behavior of the third party was the cause of the destruction and alienation of your spouses love and affection The wrongful and malicious behavior occurred before you and your spouse separated The alienation led to the destruction of your marriage, separation, depression or economic loss Though the law usually applies to cheating spouses, the state recognizes other types of cases, including in-laws or friends who advise one spouse to leave the other, according to Sodoma Law, a Charlotte-based law firm. How likely is it to win a home wrecker case? A few plaintiffs have won millions in alienation of affection cases in North Carolina. In what is thought to be the largest monetary award in this category, a judge in Raleigh awarded $30 million in 2011 to Carol Puryear, the former wife of a trucking company owner, The News & Observer reported. Puryear ended her 13-year marriage after discovering her husband met another woman at his fathers funeral and began an affair with her. In 2018, a Durham County judge awarded BMX bike show personality Keith King an $8.8 million judgment against the man he said seduced his wife and wrecked his marriage, the N&O reported. Tiny, endangered monkey twins born at Disney World. See them hang out with parents Two new, tiny additions to Walt Disney Worlds Animal Kingdom belong to a species of primate thats one of the most endangered in the world. The pint-sized cotton-top tamarin twins were born on June 12 and are still clinging to their mom and dad as they swing through the trees at the parks Discovery Island, according to a news release from Disney World. The twins mom and dad are first-time parents and are sharing their duties, according to Disney World. The species is native to the tropical forests of Colombia, and with only about 7,500 remaining in the wild, they are considered critically endangered, the release says. The twins are also the first cotton-top tamarins to be born at the theme park since 2001. Photos shared by Disney show the newborns clinging tightly to their parents backs as they hang out in the trees. The infant cotton-top tamarins will cling to their parents backs for around 14 weeks, according to Disney World. Each baby is about 4 inches long and weighs about as much as a chicken egg, according to Disney World. Their sexes have yet to be determined, and names still have not been chosen for them. Infant cotton-top tamarins depend entirely on their family members to survive and will often be carried on relatives backs for up to 14 weeks, the release says. Cotton-top tamarins are native to Colombia and are one of the most endangered primate species in the world, according to Disney World. The twins mom and dad are first-time parents that are doing great and sharing their parenting responsibilities, the release says. Its common for members of the species to have twins. Cotton-top tamarins are known for their unique manes of white hair that some say make them resemble Albert Einstein, according to Disney World. Theyre also intelligent creatures and have 38 distinct calls they use to communicate with one another. Cotton-top tamarins are known for white manes on their heads that some say resemble Albert Einsten, according to Disney World. The twins born at the Animal Kingdom will play an important role in the conservation of their species, which is mainly threatened by habitat loss, deforestation and the illegal pet trade, according to Disney World. The Central Florida theme park also supports local organizations in Colombia, such as Proyecto Titi, which works to try to connect isolated patches of forest to create larger habitats for cotton-top tamarins to survive in. Extremely rare creature born at Tennessee zoo. Take a look at the adorable photos See reunited chimps share warm embrace in Florida after rescue from roadside Ohio zoo Energetic tiger takes on Easter egg at UK zoo. See adorable video of animals playing A Titanic expert, an adventurer, a CEO, and a father and son are on the missing submersible BOSTON (AP) A renowned Titanic expert, a world-record holding adventurer, two members of one of Pakistan's wealthiest families and the CEO of the company leading an expedition to the world's most famous shipwreck are facing critical danger aboard a small submersible that went missing in the Atlantic Ocean. The submersible Titan was reported overdue Sunday night about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. Johns, Newfoundland, according to Canadas Joint Rescue Coordination Center, spurring a desperate international rescue effort. Rescuers were racing against the clock because the oxygen supply could run out by approximately 6 a.m. Thursday. A Canadian aircraft detected underwater noises during the hunt for the Titan. The U.S. Coast Guard said via Twitter early Wednesday that as a result of the noises detected by the Canadian P-3 patrol aircraft, search efforts have been relocated and the data is being used to help guide the ongoing effort. The expedition featuring the Titan was led by OceanGate, making its third voyage to the Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew. A pilot and four other people are on the Titan. They are: STOCKTON RUSH Although his background is in aerospace and technology, Rush founded OceanGate Inc. in 2009 to provide crewed submersibles for undersea researchers and explorers, according to the company's website. Rush is the Titan's pilot, said company spokesperson Andrew Von Kerens. The private company based in Washington started bringing tourists to the Titanic in 2021 as part of its effort to chronicle the slow deterioration of the wreck. The ocean is taking this thing, and we need to document it before it all disappears or becomes unrecognizable, Rush told The Associated Press in 2021. In an interview with CBS News last year, Rush defended the safety of his submersible but said nothing is without risk. What I worry about most are things that will stop me from being able to get to the surface overhangs, fish nets, entanglement hazard,." he said, adding that a good pilot can avoid such perils. Rush became the youngest jet transport rated pilot in the world at age 19 in 1981, and flew commercial jets in college, according to his company biography. He joined the McDonnell Douglas Corp. in 1984 as a flight test engineer. Over the past 20 years, he has overseen the development of multiple successful IP ventures. Greg Stone, a longtime ocean scientist and a friend of Rush, called him a real pioneer in the innovation of submersibles. Stockton was a risk-taker. He was smart. He was, he had a vision, he wanted to push things forward, Stone said Tuesday. HAMISH HARDING A British businessman, Harding lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Action Aviation, an aircraft brokering company for which Harding serves as chairman, said he was one of the mission specialists, who paid to go on the expedition. Harding is a billionaire adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. In March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origins New Shepard rocket. Both the Harding family and the team at Action Aviation are very grateful for all the kind messages of concern and support from our friends and colleagues," the company said in a statement. In a Facebook post Saturday, Harding said he was proud to be part of the mission. Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023," he posted. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive (Sunday). Harding was looking forward to conducting research at the Titanic site, said Richard Garriott de Cayeux, the president of The Explorers Club, a group to which Harding belonged. We all join in the fervent hope that the submersible is located as quickly as possible, he said in a statement. SHAHZADA AND SULEMAN DAWOOD Father-and-son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood are members of one of Pakistan's most prominent families. Their family said in a statement that they were both aboard the vessel. We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time, the statement said. The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members. Their firm, Dawood Hercules Corp., based in Karachi, is involved in agriculture, petrochemicals and telecommunication infrastructure. Shahzada Dawood also is on the board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute that searches for extraterrestrial intelligence. The Dawoods live in the UK, according to SETI. Shahzada Dawood is also a member of the Global Advisory Board at the Princes Trust International, founded by Britain's King Charles III to address youth unemployment. He has degrees from the University of Buckingham in the United Kingdom and Philadelphia University (now Thomas Jefferson University) in the U.S. PAUL-HENRY NARGEOLET Nargeolet is a former French navy officer who is considered a Titanic expert after making multiple trips to the wreckage over several decades. David Gallo, a senior adviser for strategic initiatives and special projects at RMS Titanic, said in an interview with CNN that Nargeolet was on board. He is director of underwater research for E/M Group and RMS Titanic Inc., has completed 37 dives to the wreck and supervised the recovery of 5,000 artifacts, according to his company profile. He was expedition leader on the most technologically advanced dive to Titanic in 2010, which used high-resolution sonar and 3D optical imaging on the bow and stern sections as well as the debris field. While with the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of Sea, he led the first recovery expedition to the Titanic in 1987. A Titanic expert who worked with James Cameron weighed in on the missing submersible A still of the Titanic wreckage from the 1997 film "Titanic." At right, James Cameron in 2023. CBS via Getty Images; Steve Granitz/FilmMagic An explorer who worked with James Cameron on various Titanic-related projects weighed in on the missing submersible. Parks Stephenson said the fact that the submersible lost contact with the mother ship was "unusual." "I am most concerned about the souls aboard," he said on Facebook. A Titanic expert and explorer who worked with James Cameron on various Titanic-related projects weighed in on the mysterious disappearance of the submersible Titan, which was carrying tourists to explore the wreck of the RMS Titanic. In a Facebook post on Monday, Parks Stephenson emphasized the gravity of the disappearance of the underwater vehicle. "No matter what you may read in the coming hours, all that is truly known at this time is that communications with the submersible have been lost and that is unusual enough to warrant the most serious consideration," Stephenson wrote. "I am most concerned about the souls aboard, whose identities have not yet been made public." He included a link to a BBC story about the submersible's disappearance. Stephenson worked as an advisor on "Ghosts of the Abyss," Cameron's 2003 documentary about the Titanic wreck, which came out six years after the director's 1997 epic about the doomed ship. Stephenson reportedly first visited the wreckage of the Titanic which sits over 2 miles below the ocean surface in 2005 with Cameron and returned numerous times throughout the years, most recently in 2019. Stephenson offered insight into the wreck when the first full-sized scans of the ship were revealed this year. "There are still questions, basic questions, that need to be answered about the ship," Stephenson told the BBC in May. Stephenson added that it was possible the ship didn't hit the iceberg on the starboard side, something the scans could help determine. The Titan submersible was reported missing on Sunday and is said to have five people on board. A search-and-rescue mission is underway in the Atlantic Ocean. Correction: June 20, 2023 An earlier version of this story mischaracterized Stephenson's work with James Cameron. He did not work on the 1997 film "Titanic," but on Cameron's other Titanic-related projects. Read the original article on Insider The Titan submersible beginning a descent (Handout) The former director of marine operations for the US company whose Titanic tourism submersible is missing raised safety concerns before being fired, according to a 2018 lawsuit. David Lochridge's misgivings about the safety of the missing submersible, the Titan, are contained in a response he filed to a lawsuit brought against him by its owner, OceanGate. A massive US and Canadian coast guard search effort is underway in the North Atlantic after the OceanGate submersible carrying five people went missing on Sunday during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic. Lochridge, a submarine pilot and diver from Scotland, began working for OceanGate in May 2015 as an independent contractor before being promoted to director of marine operations, according to court documents. In the lawsuit filed in Washington state five years ago, Oceangate accused Lochridge of violating a nondisclosure agreement by divulging confidential and proprietary information. In a counterclaim, Lochridge said he was fired by OceanGate in January 2018 after he "raised critical safety concerns regarding OceanGate's experimental and untested design of the Titan." "Lochridge first expressed verbal concerns over the safety and quality control issues regarding the Titan to OceanGate executive management," the document said. "These verbal communications were ignored." Lochridge was concerned, the counterclaim said, about "the quality control and safety of the Titan, particularly OceanGate's refusal to conduct critical, non-destructive testing of the experimental design of the hull." Passengers on the Titan could be exposed to danger as the submersible reached extreme depths, Lochridge warned. In his filing, Lochridge said the viewing port at the forward end of the submersible was built to sustain a certified pressure of 1,300 meters (4,265 feet), although OceanGate planned to take passengers down to depths of some 4,000 meters. "OceanGate refused to pay for the manufacturer to build a viewport that would meet the required depth of 4,000 meters," the document said. The Titanic rests on the seabed at a depth of around 3,800 meters. - 'Unanimous concern' - Lochridge also "strongly encouraged" OceanGate to use a classification agency such as the American Bureau of Shipping to inspect and certify the Titan, the document said. "Rather than address his concerns or undergo corrective action to rectify and ensure the safety of the experimental Titan, or utilize a standard classification agency to inspect the Titan, OceanGate did the exact opposite -- they immediately fired Lochridge," it said. According to Insider and the New Republic, which first reported on the lawsuit, the complaint was settled out of court in November 2018. OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush is one of the five people on board the Titan. Besides the safety worries put forward by Lochridge, The New York Times on Tuesday published a March 2018 letter from the Marine Technology Society to Rush in which the industry group's members voiced "unanimous concern" about the Titan. "Our apprehension is that the current experimental approach adopted by Oceangate could result in negative outcomes (from minor to catastrophic) that would have serious consequences for everyone in the industry," the letter said. cl/bgs A deep-sea faring submersible vessel that disappeared on an expedition to the Titanic wreckage site only has about 40 hours of oxygen left, US CoastGuard officials said on Tuesday afternoon. The Titan, a five-person capacity vessel run by OceanGate Expeditions, vanished without a trace about 100 minutes after launching from the Polar Prince icebreaker research ship about 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod on Sunday morning. A sweeping search and rescue effort involving Canadian Boeing P-8 Poseidon and C-130 Hercules reconnaissance aircraft and underwater sonar buoys has failed to find any sign of the vessel, US CoastGuard Captain Jamie Frederick said in a briefing on Tuesday. British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding and French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet known as Mr Titanic are onboard, along with Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Sulaiman Dawood. OceanGate Expeditions confirmed its CEO and founder Stockton Rush was the fifth person aboard on Tuesday. More than 48 hours after the vessel vanished, many troubling questions remain. Why did the submersible go offline? The Titan uses two systems to communicate with its surface ship. Text messages can be sent back and forth, and safety pings are emitted every 15 minutes to indicate the subs location and that it is still functioning. Both systems stopped working about an hour and 45 minutes after the Titan submerged on Sunday morning. According to its website, OceanGate developed a Real Time Hull Health Monitoring (RTM) safety feature that assesses the integrity of the Titans hull throughout every dive. The Titan has a carbon fibre hull that connects two titanium domes that can withstand the crushing pressure at a depth of 4,000m (OceanGate Expeditions) The technology can likely gauge any weaknesses in the Titans carbon fibre hull and transmit the data to its five-person crew and the support ship on the surface. The hull connects two titanium domes that are specifically built to withstand the extreme pressure from the weight of the water at 4,000m below sea level. OceanGate Expeditions revealed earlier this month that Elon Musks Starlink satellite company was providing it with internet connection. What could have happened to the Titan? The sudden loss of contact by the Titans twin communications systems was an ominous sign, according to longtime tech journalist David Pogue, who travelled to the famous wreck site onboard the Titan in 2022. There are only two things that could mean. Either they lost all power or the ship developed a hull breach and it imploded instantly. Both of those are devastatingly hopeless, Mr Pogue told CBC on Tuesday. Stockton Rush, left, and a co-pilot inside the Titan during a previous expedition (AP) Alistair Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London, told the Associated Press that another possibility was a leak in the Titans pressure hull. If the vessel had reached the ocean floor and couldnt return on its own, options are very limited, he said. While the submersible might still be intact, if it is beyond the continental shelf, there are very few vessels that can get that deep, and certainly not divers. Underwater currents Another possibility is the Titan came into contact with the wreckage of the Titanic, and became stuck or had its onboard systems disabled. The period between entering the water and when it lost contact would roughly correspond to the length of time it would take to reach the wreckage site. Former ABC News science editor Michael Guillen, who was the first journalist to visit the Titanic wreck site in 2000, shared his own near-death experience after the submersible he was in became caught in an underwater current. Mr Guillen said a strong ocean rip pushed the vessel towards the Titanics 21-tonne propellers, and became wedged under its stern. The crew of the Mir 1 submersible then frantically tried to reverse out, and appeared to collide with the famous shipwreck. After 30 minutes of moving backward and forward, the crew eventually managed to free the vessel and return to the surface. Mr Guillen later wrote in his 2021 memoir Believing is Seeing that he thought he was going to die. The Canadian military has dropped sonar buoys into the water that would likely be able to detect distress signals made by the five-person crew, if they hadnt been incapacitated. What emergency options would the vessel have to float up? The Titan had seven onboard backup systems to return it to the surface. These included drop weights of sandbags and lead pipes that would fall off in the event of an emergency and bring the vessel up to the surface using buoyancy. The Titan was also equipped with an inflatable balloon that was designed to bring it back to the surface. One device is meant to work even if everyone aboard is rendered unconscious. If there was a power failure and/or communication failure, this might have happened, and the submersible would then be bobbing about on the surface waiting to be found, Professor Grieg told the AP. The US Coast Guard has said it is searching a vast 10,000sqm area, indicating that searchers believe the vessel may have resurfaced somewhere in the North Atlantic. However, extensive search efforts have so far failed to yield any trace of the Titan. Can the passengers be saved if the vessel is found? David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate Expeditions who was supposed to be on the latest expedition, said officials are working to source an unmanned vehicle that could reach the 4,000m depth. The crushing pressure of the ocean at that extreme depth means that an unmanned vehicle such as a US Navys Curv-21 would realistically be the only vessel that could reach the missing submersible. The Curv-21 can reach a depth of 20,000 feet and relay video, navigation and sonar data back to operators on the ocean surface via its fibre-optic umbilical cord, according to the US Navy. French president Emmanuel Macron has also sent the research ship Atlante to assist in the search, CNN reported. The ship is equipped with an underwater robot that can reach depths of 4,000 metres, and is expected to reach the site on Wednesday evening. In 1973, two British sailors were rescued from a depth of 487m (1,600 ft) after becoming stranded in a six-foot steel ball. The survivors had 12 minutes of oxygen remaining when they were finally pulled from the sea, according to the BBC. Modern in-person tourism at the Titanic is still in its infancy. The submersible that disappeared Sunday near the Titanic wreckage was on only its third trip since the company OceanGate Expeditions began offering them in 2021. OceanGate had been promoting the third dive for months on its website and in Facebook posts, offering the chance to follow in Jacques Cousteaus footsteps and become an underwater explorer for the price of $250,000. Become one of the few to see the Titanic with your own eyes, the tour company said on its website. The ticket comes with a title: mission specialist. Participants have included a chef, an actor, a videographer and someone who worked in banking, the company said on Facebook. One of the customers said on Instagram last year that it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that lived up to her expectations. My lifelong dream of seeing the Titanic has come true! Chelsea Kellogg, a chef, wrote. I am still trying to process the whole experience. Im still crying. Still overwhelmed by all the emotions. Kellogg, who did not respond to an interview request Monday, said she saw the ships bow, crows-nest and grand staircase. OceanGate seems to be the only company offering dive tours to the Titanic wreckage, underscoring the practical difficulty of reaching the site 12,500 feet down in the cold North Atlantic where the ship sank in 1912. About 1,500 people died. The resting place of the Titanic was unknown for decades, eluding several groups of researchers racing to find it, until a team led by the explorer Robert Ballard succeeded in 1985. Visits some of them by artifact hunters continued off and on for two decades. Don Lynch, the Titanic Historical Societys historian, said there was some tourism in the 1990s and early this century, when there were both artifacts to find and Russian-made submersibles capable of reaching the sites depth. A Los Angeles artist went down in 2000 and produced watercolors from the experience. Lynch, who went down in 2001, said that eventually, the visits trickled off as Russian-made submersibles were retired and fewer artifacts remained. There was a lot of salvage going on prior to that, and I think it reached the point where they werent bringing up anything that was increasing the museum visits, he said. Until now, no submersible at the Titanic site had ever gone missing, he said. Beginning in 2005, there was a 14-year dry spell with no human visits. Then, in 2019, another group visited the wreckage site and reported its rapid deterioration. The pace of visits has picked up since. RMS Titanic Inc., the company that owns the ships salvage rights, once tried to stop tourist visits, hoping to use pictures and tourism operations of its own to raise money for salvage operations, but in 1999 a federal appeals court ruled that tourists could visit, The Washington Post reported. Lynch said he thinks the site should have been treated as an archaeological site with careful documentation of all artifacts. He said he has no objection, though, to tourist visits, especially if they help to pay for research. Go down. Take a look. Thats great. It doesnt damage the ship, he said. Past participants praise the experience in a video OceanGate posted on YouTube in October. The video does not give their names. This is a remarkable event in my life, one person in the video says. Not many people have done it, and thats part of the appeal, too, right? another says. Customers travel to the Titanic area from St. Johns, Newfoundland, aboard a ship this year, the research vessel Polar Prince. On dive days, five people can fit into the submersible, named Titan, and the descent takes a couple of hours, OceanGates website says. You may assist the pilot with coms and tracking, take notes for the science team about what you see outside of the viewport, watch a movie or eat lunch, it says. There is a small toilet in Titans front dome, the website continues. It doubles as the best seat in the house. When the toilet is in use, we install a privacy curtain between the dome and the main compartment and turn the music up loud. OceanGates website promises hours of exploring before a two-hour ascent. There is required safety training for everyone on the research vessel, the website says. Beyond that, training depends on how much customers want to do, such as assisting with navigation. Stockton Rush, the founder of OceanGate, told the travel website Frommers in 2020 that about half of his customer pool were Titanic obsessives, while the other half were big-spending travelers also drawn to space tourism and other big-budget ideas. The original price back then was $125,000, or half this years price. You couldnt write a better story, Rush told the website. You have the rich and the poor. You have opulence. You have hubris. You have tragedy. You have death. The company initially planned to have six expeditions in 2021, Frommers reported, but it ended up running one that year and one last year. Before then, getting a close-up view of the Titanics wreckage meant visiting one of several museums where there are artifacts including one at the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas or perhaps visiting one of the replicas in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, or Branson, Missouri. OceanGates website laid out various details of this years expedition, including a minimum age of 18. The price included training, gear and meals on the ship but not airfare, hotels before departure or insurance. Lynch, the historian, said the tours demonstrate the lasting curiosity about the Titanic. The movie really brought it to a younger audience and created a lot of new Titanic enthusiasts, he said, referring to director James Camerons 1997 film. Every couple decades, something happens that puts it back in the public eye. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com By Joseph Ax and Brendan O'Brien (Reuters) - Canadian aircraft detected underwater noises in the North Atlantic in the search for a tourist submersible that vanished while on a voyage to the wreck of the Titanic , the U.S. Coast Guard said. The discovery on Tuesday led search teams to relocate their underwater robotic search operations "in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises," the Coast Guard said in a series of tweets early on Wednesday. The newly relocated searches by ROV (remotely operated vehicles) came up empty handed but will continue, the Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard did not detail the nature or extent of the sounds that were detected, or how they were picked up. But CNN and Rolling Stone magazine, citing internal U.S. government communications, independently reported late Tuesday that banging sounds were detected by Canadian aircraft at 30-minute intervals in the search area. Rolling Stone, the first to report the news, said the sounds were detected by sonar buoys deployed in the area "close to the distress position" and that additional sonar picked up more banging four hours later. CNN cited a U.S. government memo also as saying that additional sounds were heard about four hours after initial banging were detected, although the news channel said the second occurrence of noise was not described as banging. "Additional acoustic feedback was heard and will assist in vectoring surface assets and also indicating continued hope of survivors," CNN quoted the updated government memo as saying. It was not immediately clear if the news reports were based on the same source. The Titan, operated by U.S.-based OceanGate Expeditions, was built to stay underwater for 96 hours, according to its specifications - giving the five people aboard until Thursday morning before air runs out. One pilot and four passengers were inside the miniature sub early on Sunday when it lost communication with a parent ship on the surface about an hour and 45 minutes into its two-hour dive. SEARCH ZONE AS BIG AS CONNECTICUT The wreck of the Titanic, a British ocean liner that struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in April 1912, lies about 900 miles (1,450 km) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and 400 miles (644 km) south of St. John's, Newfoundland. U.S. and Canadian aircraft have searched more than 7,600 square miles of open sea, an area larger than the state of Connecticut, U.S. Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday. A commercial vessel with a remote-controlled deepwater submersible was also searching near the site, Frederick said. Separately, a French research ship carrying its own deep-sea diving robot vessel was dispatched to the search area at the request of the U.S. Navy and was expected to arrive Wednesday night local time, the Ifremer research institute said. Those aboard Titan for a tourist expedition that costs $250,000 per person included British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, and Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, with his 19-year-old son Suleman, who are both British citizens. French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, and Stockton Rush, founder and CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, were also reported to be on board. Authorities have not confirmed the identity of any passenger. Rescuers face significant obstacles both in finding the Titan and in saving the people aboard, according to experts. In the event of a mid-dive emergency, the pilot would likely have released weights to float back to the surface, according to Alistair Greig, a marine engineering professor at University College London. But absent communication, locating a van-sized submersible in the vast Atlantic could prove challenging, he said. The submersible is sealed with bolts from the outside, preventing the occupants from escaping without assistance even if it surfaces. If the Titan is on the ocean floor, a rescue effort would be even more challenging due to the extreme conditions more than 2 miles beneath the surface. The Titanic lies 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) underwater, where no sunlight penetrates. Only specialized equipment can reach such depths without being crushed by the massive water pressure. "I think if it's on the seabed, there are so few submarines that are capable of going that deep. And so, therefore, I think it was going to be almost impossible to effect a sub-to-sub rescue," said Tim Matlin, a Titanic expert. U.S. President Joe Biden was "watching events closely," White House national security adviser John Kirby said on Tuesday. OceanGate said it was "mobilizing all options," and U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told NBC News the company was helping to guide the search efforts. The sinking of the Titanic, which killed more than 1,500 people, has been immortalized in books and films, including the 1997 blockbuster movie "Titanic," which renewed popular interest in the wreck. (Reporting by Joseph Ax and Brendan O'Brien; Additional reporting by Natalie Thomas, Aiden Nulty, Kanishka Singh, Ismail Shakil, Steve Scherer, Steve Holland, Daniel Trotta, Ariba Shahid and Steve Gorman; Editing by Edmund Blair, Janet Lawrence, Nick Zieminski, Sonali Paul and Raju Gopalakrishnan) The Titanic sits 3,800m (12,500ft) down at the bottom of the Atlantic (file image) Search teams are racing against time to find a submersible that went missing during a dive to the Titanic's wreck. Five people were on board when contact with the small tourist sub was lost about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive on Sunday. There was about 40 hours of oxygen left in the sub as of 13:00 EST (18:00 BST) on Tuesday, the US Coast Guard said. The rescue operation has expanded into deeper waters in the mid-Atlantic, but so far, nothing has been found. The five people on board are British businessman Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet and Stockton Rush - the chief executive of OceanGate, the firm behind the dive. Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon, Capt Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard said crews were "working around the clock" to find the sub, but so far, the search had "not yielded any results". He added it was a "very complex search" across an "enormous amount of distance". US and Canadian agencies, navies and commercial deep-sea firms are all helping the rescue operation, using military planes, a submarine and sonar buoys. Several private vessels are assisting. A commercial pipe-laying ship, Deep Energy, with remote submersibles has also arrived at the site. Oceanographer and world-renowned shipwreck hunter, David Mearns, told the BBC that he was hopeful Deep Energy's subs could reach the 3,800m (12,500ft) depth of the Titanic wreck to search for the missing vehicle. Mr Mearns knows two of the passengers on board personally - Mr Harding, 58, and Mr Nargeolet, 77. Mr Harding is a renowned explorer who has flown to space and holds three Guinness World Records. At the weekend, he said he was "proud to finally announce" that he was part of the mission. Mr Nargeolet is a former French navy officer and diver, and also director of underwater research at a company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic wreck. Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and Hamish Harding (on the left) Titanic's wreck lies some 435 miles (700km) south of St John's, Newfoundland, in Canada, though the rescue mission is being run from the US city of Boston in Massachusetts. The US Coast Guard said research ships the Polar Prince - which was the support ship on Sunday's tourist expedition - and Deep Energy are continuing to search the ocean's surface. A Canadian P3 Aurora aircraft is carrying out sonar searches of the area, which as of Tuesday morning was of more than 10,000 sq miles (26,900 sq km), the Coast Guard added. On Tuesday, France's sea ministry diverted the Atalante, a vessel equipped with a subsea robot, to assist with the search. The missing craft is tour firm OceanGate's Titan submersible, which CBS journalist David Pogue travelled aboard last year to reach the wreckage of the Titanic. He has told the BBC that when the support ship is directly above the sub, short text messages are able to be sent between the two. Otherwise, communication via GPS or radio systems is not available as neither work underwater. Mr Pogue said it was also not possible for those aboard the sub to escape by themselves because they are sealed inside by bolts applied from the outside. A submersible vessel is different from a submarine. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a submarine can launch itself into the ocean from a port independently, while a submersible has very limited power reserves so needs a mother ship that can launch it and recover it. Titan submersible from OceanGate Added to this is the fact that visibility is quickly lost below the surface of the water as light cannot penetrate far. The OceanGate website lists three submersibles it owns, and only the Titan is capable of diving deep enough to reach the Titanic wreckage. The vessel weighs 23,000lb (10,432 kg) and, according to the website, can reach depths of up to 13,100ft. Tickets cost $250,000 (195,000) for an eight-day trip, including dives to the wreck at a depth of 3,800m. A map showing the mothership Polar Prince's known movements On social media at the weekend, Mr Harding said because of the "worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023". He later wrote: "A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow." OceanGate said it had "been unable to establish communications with one of our submersible exploration vehicles", but that its "entire focus [was] on the crew members in the submersible and their families". "We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep-sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible," it added. The company bills the eight-day trip on its carbon-fibre submersible as a "chance to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary". It sets sail from St John's in Newfoundland, with each full dive to the wreck, including the descent and ascent, reportedly taking around eight hours. According to its website, one expedition is ongoing and two more have been planned for June 2024. The Titanic, which was the largest ship of its time, hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in 1912. Of the 2,200 passengers and crew on board, more than 1,500 died. Its wreckage has been extensively explored since it was discovered in 1985. Banner saying 'Get in touch' Do you have information about this story? You can get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. (CNN) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said that the United States and China had made progress toward steering relations back on track as both sides agreed on the need to stabilize the bilateral relationship between the two superpowers. The top US diplomat, speaking after two days of meetings in Beijing with top officials including President Xi Jinping, said that there are key issues between the nations that remain unresolved, but noted that his hope and expectation is we will have better communications, better engagement going forward. Blinken is the first US secretary of state to visit Beijing in five years, and his talks with senior Chinese officials were seen as a key litmus test for whether the two governments could stop relations from continuing to plummet at a time of lingering distrust. Both sides recognized the need to work to stabilize relationship It was clear coming in that the relationship was at a point of instability, Blinken said at a news conference in the Chinese capital Monday. And both sides recognized the need to work to stabilize it. I came to Beijing to strengthen high-level channels of communication, to make clear our positions and intentions in areas of disagreement, and to explore areas where we might work together on our interests, align on shared transnational challenges, and we did all of that, Blinken said. Were not going to have success on every issue between us on any given day, but in a whole variety of areas, on the terms that we set for this trip, we have made progress and we are moving forward, he said. But again, I want emphasize none of this gets resolved with one visit, one trip, one conversation. Its a process, the top US diplomat said. President Joe Biden was closely monitoring Blinkens trip, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday, adding that the US president was updated regularly by his national security team. No immediate progress on military-to-military communications One of the key issues that did not get resolved was that of restoring military-to-military communications between the US and China. Contacts between the countrys top military officials remain frozen, and two recent incidents have raised concerns that the fraught relationship could veer into conflict. China recently rebuffed a meeting between Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, who is under US sanction, in Singapore, although the two did speak briefly. Blinken said that although he raised the need for such channels of communication repeatedly in his meetings, there was no immediate progress. At this moment, China has not agreed to move forward with that. I think thats an issue that we have to keep working on. It is very important that we restore those channels, he said. Yang Tao, director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministrys North American and Oceanian Affairs department, on Monday blamed the sanctions on Li for the ongoing impasse. The US needs to remove the obstacle first, he told reporters. Diplomats discuss economic issues The top US diplomat said his conversations touched on the Ukraine war and North Korea, and that he raised US concerns shared by a growing number of countries about the (Peoples Republic of Chinas) provocative actions to the Taiwan Strait, as well as in the South and East China Seas. He said the US position on Taiwan has not changed and pressed China over human rights. The top US diplomat also repeatedly noted that he sought to clarify the US economic stance toward China in his meetings with top Chinese officials and to emphasize that the US is not seeking to contain China economically. There is a profound difference for the United States, and for many other countries, between de-risking and decoupling, he said. We are for de-risking and diversifying. That means investing in our own capacities and in secure, resilient supply chains, pushing for level playing fields for our workers and our companies, defending against harmful trade practices and protecting our critical technologies so that they arent used against us, he said. Yang, however, rejected that explanation, telling reporters that if the US is simply repackaging decoupling as de-risking from China, the policy is turning away from stability and opportunity. Blinken said China assured the US and other countries that it will not provide lethal aid to Russia and we have not seen any evidence that contradicts that, though he noted that Chinas assurance was in keeping with repeated statements made in recent weeks. What we do have ongoing concerns about, though, are Chinese firms, companies that may be providing technology that Russia can use to advance its aggression in Ukraine. And weve asked the Chinese government to be very vigilant about that, Blinken added. Blinken said he raised human rights in his meetings, including the human rights violations in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. He also said he specifically raised wrongfully detained US citizens and those facing exit bans. The top US diplomat said on areas of potential cooperation, the two sides agreed to explore setting up a working group effort so that we can shut off the flow of precursor chemicals for fentanyl. China is one of the top producers of those precursor chemicals that are used to produce the highly deadly synthetic drug that has claimed the lives of thousands. Blinken and Xi hold high-stakes meeting ending days of uncertainty The top US diplomat described his conversations with top Chinese officials Wang Yi and Qin Gang as candid, substantive and constructive, and said his meeting with Chinas president was important. However, that meeting was not publicly confirmed until shortly before it took place, and uncertainty around whether Xi and Blinken would meet during the two-day visit further highlighted the fraught US-China relations. A failure to schedule a face-to-face meeting would have been seen by Washington as a slight, breaking with a number of previous visits from top American diplomats. The meeting, which took place at Beijings cavernous Great Hall of the People, was only publicly announced by the US about an hour before it went ahead. It lasted roughly half an hour, beginning at 4:34 p.m. local time and ended at 5:09 p.m., a State Department official said. The world needs an overall stable Sino-US relationship, and whether China and the United States can get along has a bearing on the future and destiny of mankind, Xi told Blinken, according to a Chinese readout of the meeting. China respects the interests of the United States and will not challenge or replace the United States. Similarly, the United States must also respect China and not harm Chinas legitimate rights and interests, Xi added. The readout said that Xi told Blinken that the world needs stable China-US relations and that the future of humanity hinges on both getting along. The two global powers have been increasingly at loggerheads over a host of issues ranging from Beijings close ties with Moscow to American efforts to limit the sale of advanced technologies to China. Earlier this year, a Chinese surveillance balloon that was detected floating across the US and hovering over sensitive military sites before ultimately being shot down by an American fighter plane sent relations plunging to a new low and resulted in Blinken scrapping an earlier Beijing visit. This time, the diplomatic mission went forward. China blames US for decline in relations A roughly three-hour meeting between Blinken and Wang earlier Monday underscored the deep challenges in overcoming the mistrust and friction that has come to characterize the relationship. The Chinese governments growing clout internationally and increasingly authoritarian controls at home have pushed the US to reframe how it manages its relations with the power in recent years. Repeating Beijings typical rhetoric, Wang blamed Washingtons wrong perception of China as the root cause of the decline in the two sides relations and demanded the US stop suppressing Chinas technological development and hyping the China threat, according to a readout from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. We must reverse the downward spiral of China-US relations, promote a return to a healthy and stable track, and jointly find the right way for China and the United States to co-exist in the new era, Wang said, adding that Blinkens visit came at a critical juncture in US-China relations, where a choice needs to be made between dialogue or confrontation, cooperation or conflict. Wang also reiterated that Taiwan is one of one of Chinas core interests, over which it has no room for compromise or backdown. The self-ruling democratic island, which Chinas ruling Communist Party claims but has never controlled, has increasingly been another flashpoint in the US-China relationship. Both sides agree to advance dialogue despite profound differences Overall, Wangs comments took a more combative tone than those of Chinas Foreign Minister Qin, who met with Blinken the previous day. Qin said both sides agreed to advance dialogue, exchanges and cooperation and maintain high-level interactions, according to a readout from Beijing. Blinkens Sunday meeting with Qin, which stretched more than five hours and then wrapped with a working dinner, resulted in progress on a number of fronts, with both sides showing a desire to reduce tensions, a senior State Department official told reporters Sunday. Profound differences between the US and China, however, were also clear during the meeting, the official added. While Qin holds the title of Foreign Minister, he wields less power than Wang, who directs the countrys foreign policy through his position among partys core leadership. Blinkens original scheduled visit in early February had been agreed on as a follow-up to an amicable face-to-face between Biden and Chinas Xi on the sidelines of the G20 in Bali in November. That meeting the first in person between the two leaders as presidents was seen a pivotal step in restoring certain lines of communication, which Beijing last year severed last year following a visit from then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. Both the US and China had played down expectations of a major breakthrough during Blinkens visit. Ahead of the meeting, Washington was careful to manage expectations, with a senior State Department official last week telling reporters that he does not expect a long list of deliverables. Meanwhile, both sides are also navigating how the meetings play to their respective domestic audiences. In the US, how strongly to counter China has become the topic of heated political debate with some lawmakers slamming the Biden administration for sitting down with Beijing. China views Washington as actively trying to thwart its development, and is also very much aware the US is headed into a presidential election cycle, where hawkish rhetoric against it may intensify further. Its officials also meet Blinken in an environment where Chinas state media and official rhetoric have long portrayed Washington as a bad-faith actor responsible for destabilizing ties. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Blinken touts progress made in highly-anticipated Beijing meetings" Toddler dies after being found unresponsive at Family Dollar, cops say. Mom charged A woman was arrested after her child was found unresponsive at a dollar store in Ohio, according to police and local media reports. A 3-year-old boy was discovered unconscious in a stroller at a Family Dollar in Cleveland on June 14, a police spokesperson told McClatchy News. One of the boys parents was present at the time, the spokesperson said. The toddler was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to WKYC. The medical examiners office later determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma, according to WJW. The boys mother reportedly lied about what happened leading up to her sons death, according to the outlet, citing an affidavit. She was arrested several days later. She has been charged with murder, according to Cleveland.com. An attorney for the woman could not immediately be reached for comment by McClatchy News. During her arraignment on June 20 in Cleveland Municipal Court, her bond was set at $1 million, according to WJW. Her next court appearance is scheduled for July 3. Toddler accidentally shoots pregnant mom, killing her and unborn child, Ohio cops say Moped rider dies after crashing into deer on South Carolina road, coroner says Speeding boat found racing around Florida river in the dark with no people aboard Donald Trump said his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner will not serve in his administration if he is elected president again in 2024 because it was too painful for the family last time. I said, thats enough for the family. You know why? Its too painful for the family, Trump told Fox News host Bret Baier in an interview that aired in part on Monday. Baier had asked Trump if he planned to involve his daughter and son-in-law in a hypothetical second administration. Nobody has been through what my family has been through, Trump complained, adding that his daughter had been making a fortune with a really successful line of clothing before he appointed her as one of his White House advisers. When I did this, she was really she closed it up, Trump said. She sort of felt she had to. Ivanka Trump shut down her namesake lifestyle brand in July 2018, citing a commitment to her work in Washington and following a significant dip in sales. She and her family members have long faced criticism for skirting conflicts of interest by maintaining their business ties while holding influential White House positions. She said last year she didnt plan to be involved in her fathers 2024 presidential bid or politics, and would instead focus on her family. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner didn't take paychecks for their roles in the White House but faced scrutiny from ethics experts after making millions in outside income during their tenure. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner didn't take paychecks for their roles in the White House but faced scrutiny from ethics experts after making millions in outside income during their tenure. Donald Trump also expressed sympathy for his second-eldest son, Eric Trump, who was heavily involved in his fathers presidential campaigns and efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Hes a fine young man, good student, good everything, comes in. Were doing beautifully, he said. Then I decide to run for president. I mean, I dont think anybody in the world in history has ever had more subpoenas sent to him. Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was indicted by a federal grand jury earlier this month on 37 charges linked to his removal of sensitive documents from the White House and refusal to return them. It followed a separate indictment in April by the Manhattan district attorney. In that case, Trump faces 34 felony charges that he falsified business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels. Related... It Took an Earthquake for These Syrian Refugees to Feel at Home in Turkey Mehdi*, 23, and Samir*, 24, originally from Aleppo and based in Gaziantep, Turkey, look out at Bursa, a city close to Istanbul where the two brothers found refuge after the Turkish government granted 60-days travel permission to Syrians under temporary protection, in April. (Their names have been changed.) The $500 provided by the government to all affected families also helped Mehdi and Samir to temporarily move away from their adopted city, while the aftershocks continued. Credit - Carola Cappellari When a series of earthquakes killed thousands along the Turkish-Syrian border in February, many of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees who settled in Turkey after the beginning of the civil war returned to Syria. The Turkish government had initially granted Syrian refugees permission to leave the quake-hit Turkish provinces for up to two months; as a result, hundreds lined up for hours at border crossings in an attempt to reunite with family members back in Syria. Most Syrian refugees are registered in Turkey under a Temporary Protection Regulation, which grants them access to basic education and health care but it also requires they not leave the provinces in which they are registered. Major cities like Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir had already stopped allowing such registrations in the early stages of the refugee crisis. The majority of Syrians today live in Turkeys south-eastern regions, closer to their homeland. Syrian actor Mohammad Hamza, 21, in Gaziantep, Turkey a few days before leaving the city and moving to Canada with his family, in April. The actor fled war-torn Aleppo and moved to Gaziantep in 2013, where he worked for a few years in a factory before starting acting at a local theater and later in large film productions. Not long after the earthquakes hit his adopted city, the family was granted refugee status in Canada. Carola Cappellari Read More: Photos Show Miraculous Survival Alongside Devastation After Earthquakes in Middle East For a brief moment, despite reviving the sorrows and pain of displacement, the earthquakes in Turkey provided a rare opportunity for Syrians living in the affected area to move freely, reconnect with relatives scattered across other provinces and to visit what Turkey has to offerfrom major cities to its most iconic monumentsfor the first time in their lives. Italian photographer Carola Cappellari documents the lives of Syrian refugees along Turkeys south-eastern borders. Through her work, she strives to counter the narrative of Syrians simply as hopeless victims of war. I wanted to focus on the resilience of these communities affected by forced migration, and especially of young people, Cappellari explains. A neighbour interacts with Duah Gawis paintings, inspired by real-life scenarios witnessed the days following the earthquake inside the informal tent settlement where Gawi has been living following the destruction of their home in Islahiye, Gaziantep, in April. Despite the freedom of movement granted by the Turkish government to Syrian refugees after the earthquake, Gawi's family doesn't have relatives living outside the affected area and was unable to benefit. Carola Cappellari According to a 2017 document listing refugee rights in Turkey, returning to Syria is allowed but will count as voluntary return and could be considered grounds for cessation of temporary protection. Thats why many preferred to use their freedom to travel to visit other parts of the country that has hosted them for years. Read More: War Through Syrian Eyes A whole generation of Syrians who grew up in Turkey has never seen anything outside their province of assignment. Through her photography, Cappellari documented the astonishment and curiosity of young Syrians discovering new places for the first time after many years while they savored their freedom. A view from the house in Istanbul where Khadijah* moved a few days after the February earthquakes caused her university dormitory in Hatay to close. After spending two nights outside, the student was finally able to catch a bus and leave the quake-hit area. It was the first time the student had the opportunity to leave southeastern Turkey since crossing the border from Syria a decade before. (Her name has been changed.) Carola Cappellari Mehdi* keeps track of the places he reached after evacuating from Gaziantep a few days after the earthquake, in March. The evacuation post-quake, for Mehdi and his brother Samir*, meant leaving Gaziantep and boarding a plane for the first time in their life. (Their names have been changed.) Carola Cappellari For Syrians in Turkey, the earthquake created an opportunity to move freely that was quickly followed by a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment preceding the Turkish presidential elections in May. With the re-election of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, there have been more Turkey-E.U. deals to keep Syrians at bay, pushing many to leave the country and cross to Europe by boat through perilous sea journeys. The short 60-day window let many find a brief moment of solace amid a life of restrictions. This project aims to remind that the freedom of movement is not to be taken for granted, that for many people traveling is a privilege and many risk their lives in an attempt to get equal rights of movement, Cappellari says. While MAGA Republicans campaign on erasing history and banning books, its not surprising many of them would blatantly ignore the federal holiday celebrating the hard-won freedoms of Black Americans, DNC spokesperson Rhyan Lake said in a statement to theGrio. Top Republican contenders in the 2024 presidential race were noticeably silent about Juneteenth on Monday, a federal holiday marking the end of U.S. slavery that was unanimously passed by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Congress. Former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the top four candidates according to Real Clear Politics, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie all appeared to forgo acknowledging Juneteenth. Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, Mike Pence and Nikki Haley. (Photo: Getty Images) TheGrio reached out to the campaigns of Trump, DeSantis, Pence, Haley and Christie for comment on why the candidates did not publicly address Juneteenth or to clarify their stance on the federal holiday. None of the campaigns responded by the time of publication. Until it became federal law in 2021, Juneteenth was almost exclusively celebrated by Black Americans as an alternative to Independence Day. During the countrys founding in 1776, many argued all Americans were not free, as Black Americans remained enslaved for another 89 years. However, some Republican candidates did mark the holiday publicly, including U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and radio talk show host Larry Elder, who are all candidates of color, as well as former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. All of the candidates are polling less than 2%, with the exception of Scott, who is polling at 3.6%. Their messages were a contrast to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who acknowledged the immense progress made with race in America but also noted the systemic barriers that still exist for millions of Black Americans including policies and laws recently enacted by Republicans. We honor Juneteenth not to dwell on our original sin as a nation, but to showcase just how far weve come, tweeted Scott, who is the premier Black man in the 2024 contest. We cant forget the lessons of our past, but we must always continue to strive towards a more perfect union. U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) announces his run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination at a campaign event on May 22, 2023, in North Charleston, South Carolina. (Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images) During an interview with Fox Business, Elder, who is also Black, took a more combative tone and called out Democrats for pushing down our throats about systemic racism, which he called absolutely insulting. Ramaswamy, who is of Indian descent, said in a Juneteenth video message that, No matter your skin color you get ahead in this country based on your own hard work, your own commitment and your own dedication. In a statement provided to theGrio, the Democratic National Committee slammed Republican presidential hopefuls who remained silent on Juneteenth. While MAGA Republicans campaign on erasing history and banning books, its not surprising many of them would blatantly ignore the federal holiday celebrating the hard-won freedoms of Black Americans, said DNC spokesperson Rhyan Lake. While President Biden and Vice President Harris have delivered historically low Black unemployment and are fighting to safeguard and build on the progress weve made, these GOP hopefuls have made it abundantly clear that theyre more concerned with pandering to their MAGA base than serving our communities. Christina M. Greer, associate professor of political science at Fordham University and host of theGrios The Blackest Questions podcast, said she is not surprised by the reactions of Republicans or lack thereof on Juneteenth. A Pan-African flag flies from Black Lives Matter Plaza overlooking the White House on Juneteenth to mark the liberation of slavery in 1865 on June 19, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images) We dont hear any of these candidates talking about the very real past that affects so much of our daily experiences, not just as Black people, people of color, marginalized communities, [and] immigrants, Greer told theGrio. She said that the silence is a result of a shift in the Republican Party that is completely taken over by right-wing extremists. Political strategist Alencia Johnson pointed out that a majority of the Republican presidential candidates who did not comment on Juneteenth are also driving culture wars, including DeSantis, who is seen as the architect of an anti-woke movement against a slew of policies related to race. As governor of Florida, DeSantis moved to ban certain teachings about slavery and racism in public school classrooms and prohibited public dollars from being used to fund diversity programs in public colleges. Several Republican candidates erroneously characterized these classroom teachings as critical race theory, which is now a catchall phrase for all things related to race and history. If they were to acknowledge [Juneteenth], it would go against their entire agenda that, quite frankly, is trying to take us back to the days before the Civil Rights Act [and] before the Voting Rights Act, said Johnson. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs legislation on May 15, 2023, banning state funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at Floridas public universities, at New College of Florida in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP) She added, Republicans will not acknowledge that they are treading the water for white nationalism that has been emboldened within the party. Days before Juneteenth, DeSantis and Pence called for a military base in North Carolina to be renamed after slave-owning confederate general Braxton Bragg. When he was president, Trump opposed Braggs name and other confederate leaders being removed from military bases, calling them part of a great American heritage. As long as its white history, then thats American history, but they refuse to acknowledge Black history as American history as well, and they label it as divisive, said Greer, who referred to confederate generals as treasonous traitors who lost the American Civil War. This is pandering [and] its deliberate and explicit to signal to their extremist white voters that these are the types of policies that theyll uphold, she added. Not about Juneteenth and equity and inclusion. Gerren Keith Gaynor Gerren Keith Gaynor is a White House Correspondent and the Managing Editor of Politics at theGrio. He is based in Washington, D.C. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post Top Republican presidential candidates were noticeably silent about Juneteenth appeared first on TheGrio. Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves speaks to his reelection platform before attendees of the Mississippi Press Association annual meeting in Flowood, Miss., Friday, June 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) JACKSON, Miss. (AP) Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves traveled to Alabama for a Republican fundraising event as people in his state were still reeling from back-to-back tornadoes that killed one person, injured dozens and destroyed homes and businesses, and in the midst of lingering power outages from severe thunderstorms. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and Reeves headlined a Republican Governors Association fundraiser on Monday at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Birmingham, according to an invitation obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. Ticket prices ranged from $5,000 for one person to $50,000 for four people. Reeves is policy chairperson for the RGA and is seeking a second term as governor this year. His campaign manager Elliott Husbands said in response to questions Tuesday that the event was planned long ago, and money raised there was not earmarked for any specific campaign. Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi have the only governors races this year. Reeves has stayed in contact with Mississippi Emergency Management Agency leaders since storms started pounding the state last week, including during his Alabama trip that lasted about three hours, Husbands said. The Governor also has personally communicated with local leaders in the affected areas, Husbands said. "In addition, he has already said publicly he is going to be on the ground in the impacted areas tomorrow." Brandon Presley, Mississippi's northern district public service commissioner, is the Democratic nominee for governor. His campaign communications director, Michael Beyer, on Tuesday criticized Reeves for attending the Republican Governors Association event. It is no surprise to see Tate Reeves leave the state for a fundraiser in the middle of storm recovery when given a choice between rubbing elbows with the wealthy and well-connected or speaking face-to-face with Mississippians who have had their lives upended by this storm, he will always go after the money," Beyer said. "If it would mean furthering himself, Tate Reeves would go to Antarctica for a campaign check. Reeves did not fly on the state airplane to the fundraiser, Husbands said. Thousands of people have been sweating without air-conditioning since severe thunderstorms knocked out electrical service last week in central Mississippi. A tornado that struck Jasper County in eastern Mississippi overnight Sunday to Monday killed one person, injured nearly two dozen people and damaged more than 70 homes. Later Monday, another tornado struck coastal Jackson County. It injured six people and damaged about 100 structures. The city of Moss Point was hardest hit. Reeves said Tuesday on social media: Well be here for the long haul to support these communities and help them recover." Tranq is becoming increasingly common in the United States, and is known to cause flesh wounds, which may be the case here (ANGELA WEISS) Opioid addict Martin has seen the deadly fentanyl replace heroin as the most prevalent drug in New York. Now he's trying to avoid "tranq," a flesh-eating drug increasingly causing concern across America. "It makes holes in your body, your skin," said the 45-year-old, whose wounds on his legs and arms signify he may have unknowingly injected the animal sedative, officially named xylazine and commonly called the "zombie drug." The tranquillizer, approved for veterinary use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has infiltrated the illegal drug market in the United States, with producers increasingly using it to augment fentanyl. Overdose deaths where tranq was detected have soared in recent years and in April the White House designated the drug an "emerging threat." "It eats up your flesh, like a crocodile," Martin, who did not wish to give his surname, told AFP during a visit to St. Ann's Corner of Harm Reduction, a drug-support and syringe-exchange center in the Bronx. Xylazine is easily accessible on the internet and almost always coupled with fentanyl, the synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin. Fentanyl pushed the number of fatal overdoses in the United States to nearly 110,000 in 2022, a record. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the estimated number of overdoses involving xylazine in the country rose from 260 in 2018 to 3,480 in 2021. - Amputation - While Philadelphia is the epicenter of tranq use, the drug is also gaining ground in New York. City authorities say traces of xylazine were found in 19 percent of fatal opioid overdoses, around 419 deaths, in 2021. "Fentanyl is a short-acting opioid so people have to use more frequently," to prevent withdrawal, explained Courtney McKnight, clinical assistant professor of epidemiology at New York University's School of Global Public Health. "The thinking is that xylazine has been added to the supply because it can extend the life of fentanyl. However, there are other side effects that come with it that are pretty significant," she added, citing anxiety. Health experts also suspect that xylazine causes abscesses and skin ulcers by tightening blood vessels. In some cases, it can lead to amputation. Workers at St. Ann's are seeing more skin wounds when they're on streets of the Bronx to provide treatment, equipment, clean syringes, fentanyl tests, food and, sometimes, just a few words of advice and comfort. "A lot of times people say that they show up like little bruises or black marks," said Jazmyna Fanini, a nurse at the center. But then "the tissue dies around that area." "I've been seeing them a lot more. They can get really bad sometimes, even down to the bone," she added. The number of fatal overdoses in New York soared more than 80 percent between 2019 and 2021 to 2,668 deaths, largely due to fentanyl as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, which isolated users and hampered relief efforts. African-American and Hispanic communities were the most impacted. Both the city and drug-prevention associations are focusing on naloxone, a nasal spray antidote that reverses an opioid overdose. But xylazine is not an opioid, so naloxone does not reverse its effects. Law enforcement is hamstrung by the fact that the sedative is not legally classified as a "controlled substance". "Even if we found a big stash of it, you wouldn't be able to prosecute somebody for that," New York's special narcotics prosecutor, Bridget Brennan, told AFP. That means "we can't track it back to the source. We can't find out how it's being distributed in large amounts," she added. - 'Safe supply' - At St. Ann's, where each leaf of a paper tree stuck to the wall represents a loved one lost to drugs, the emergence of these new blends of drugs is considered the result of policies that criminalize drug users. "You're going to continue to find all of these different types of substances in the supply until we address the real issue, which is just not having a safe supply," said team leader Steven Hernandez. "The challenge is just simply that people are really being poisoned," he added. The center is taking part in a city-wide program that encourages users to test their drugs before taking them. The initiative should enable health services to monitor developments in the illegal drug market in real time. Leonardo Dominguez Gomez, a field researcher with New York's health department, said it is still possible to avoid xylazine because it hasn't proliferated through the market. "How the city decides to do public health campaigns will impact that," he told AFP. arb-dd/pdh/nro/dhw Ukraines Defence Intelligence has stated that after the Russian side handed over Ukrainian prisoners of war to Hungary, they were not released. Source: Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, on air with Radio Liberty Quote: "There is information, including from relatives of several prisoners, that they were not actually released all this time. They were held in conditions of supervision, with limited contact and communication. Communication with relatives is available only in the presence of third parties, and limited." Details: Yusov has said that Ukraine currently has a preliminary list of prisoners of war who have been transferred to Hungary, but cannot confirm the identities. According to international law, as Yusov has explained, this should have been done by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which, in turn, should have been provided with information by the aggressor state, which is Russia, and another state that is signatory to all agreements, including the Geneva Convention, which is Hungary. However, even the aggressor state does not officially report anything. The Russian Ministry of Defence did not confirm the transfer. Yusov has said that the Ukrainian side knew about the Russian special operation to transfer Ukrainian prisoners of war to Hungary even before the official announcement, Kyiv requested confirmation or denial of this information, but Budapest denied the operation. Quote: "We are dealing with a very strange case, to put it mildly. As in many other cases when it comes to international law and the aggressor state. We are waiting for official confirmation, for access to probably 11 Ukrainian defenders. We have a preliminary list, however, obtained from various sources, including operational channels. We cannot call it official. There is a list of people whom Hungary requested from Russia a few months ago there were 13 names. There is a list with probably 11 that have been handed over. The fact that we are discussing this situation at all is very unfortunate. Because an event that could have been absolutely positive is turning into a kind of dramatic detective story with very tangible political overtones. First of all, on the part of Russia, which is conducting the PSYOP... We need to get in touch with everyone, and relatives need to communicate with all those released. This has not happened yet." Background: The Russian Orthodox Church reported that on 8 June, "within the framework of inter-church cooperation" and at the request of the Hungarian side, a group of Ukrainian prisoners of war of Zakarpattia origin who participated in military operations on the side of Ukraine was transferred to Hungary. Later, Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen, who supervised the agreements with the Russians, confirmed this information. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that the Ukrainian government was not informed about the relevant negotiations between the Hungarian and Russian sides. The temporary representative of Hungary was invited to the ministry for explanations. At the same time, the foreign ministry stressed that the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war is "always good news". Media outlets have figured out that the release of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war and their transportation to Hungary could have been a personal initiative of Zsolt Semjen, Deputy Prime Minister, that no one else in the government knew about. Ukraines Foreign Ministry has said that the conditions of the Ukrainian prisoners transferred to Hungary from Russia do not allow us to talk about their free status, and the Hungarian side is not engaged in a constructive dialogue with Kyiv on this issue. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! This spring, the Idaho Department of Water Resources changed the methodology or process they use to estimate water shortfalls and determine curtailments. This year, the new methodology predicts a 75,200 acre-foot shortfall to the Twin Falls Canal Company. Adam Young is a third-generation barley, wheat and alfalfa grower in Bingham County. His family operates 2,700 acres of irrigated farmland. In such a wet year, that prediction has come as a surprise. But the biggest surprise has been the departments response to it. The department has decreed that, in the absence of a mitigation plan, 700,000 acres (about 1,100 square miles) of groundwater-irrigated land must be curtailed (i.e., dried up). Such a curtailment is predicted to erase about $600 million in annual household income from East Idaho. There are alternatives to curtailment (referred to as mitigation), but because they require the purchase and delivery of excess surface water, they are only viable in years when water is relatively plentiful. In drier years the very times when we most need protection from curtailment mitigation offers little or no protection. The disproportionate impacts of this order on groundwater pumpers in East Idaho is staggering. According to the department, groundwater pumpers, in the absence of mitigation, must shut off 1.6 to 1.8 million acre-feet of water to account for a 75,200 acre-foot injury to the Twin Falls Canal Company. And the new methodology ensures that future shortfall predictions and curtailment orders will be both more frequent and more severe. This places every acre within the East Snake River Plain Aquifer along with adjacent industries, counties and cities in constant jeopardy of widespread curtailment. The departments approach also ignores many of the laws and rules that govern water administration. Idaho administrative rule 37 recognizes that the state must approach the administration and use of surface and ground water in a manner consistent with the traditional policy of reasonable use of both surface and ground water. To that end, the rules state that an appropriator is not entitled to command the entirety of large volumes of water in a surface or ground water source to support his appropriation contrary to the public policy of reasonable use of water. The director is also to consider whether the petitioner making the delivery call is diverting and using water efficiently and without waste. Consider the following. Over the past several years, irrigators in the Bingham Ground Water District have diverted an average of 1.8 acre-feet per acre (af/ac) to water our crops. In contrast, the Twin Falls Canal Company diverts about 5.7 af/ac to irrigators with a similar crop mix. But the problem doesnt lie with irrigators. The department estimates the Twin Falls Canal Companys efficiency at 35%. That means that, of the 5.7 af/ac diverted from the river, only about 2 af/ac actually reaches the farmers. When Magic Valley farmers say that they arent using more water than us and that they face pressure in dry years, theyre telling the truth. Their canals century-old systems are simply ill-equipped to get them the water they need in the driest years. In all, 65% of the water diverted by the Twin Falls Canal Company never makes it to their patrons. But the problem, at its core, doesnt really lie with our canals, either. It lies with the state, whose policies encourage waste and penalize efficiency. The Department of Water Resources calculates canals water needs based on their current efficiency levels. This means that, by becoming more efficient, the Twin Falls Canal Company would be voluntarily surrendering a portion of their water appropriation. This is why, when groundwater pumpers approached canal boards and offered to pay many millions of dollars to upgrade their canal systems, the offer was immediately declined. The state cannot continue to administer water like this. It does not serve irrigators or communities on either side of this discussion. It places groundwater pumpers under the constant threat of curtailment and denies surface water users the kind of improved conveyance systems that could consistently and dependably deliver the water they need. Real solutions exist, but we will never achieve them if we continue to reward waste and discourage the efficient use of our precious water resources. The states current approach is both irresponsible and inconsistent with the principles of prior appropriation. A stable water future depends on a better approach. Adam Young is a third-generation barley, wheat and alfalfa grower in Bingham County. His family operates 2,700 acres of irrigated farmland. June 20, 2023 To read about the other Culture Shifters, return to the list here. In the introduction to Trevell Andersons debut book, We See Each Other: A Black Trans Journey Through TV and Film, the nonbinary Black writer hits readers in the gut with one sentence: I dont remember exactly when I was taught to hate myself. While fiercely loved by their mother and socially conservative granny, Anderson points to the threats of fire and brimstone and the consequences of having a limp wrist as starting points. But they also acknowledge that media had a lot to do with it, too. Despite television and movies being a portal through which a world of possibilities of what life could be and look like, they were also created with an incomplete and flawed transphobic, homophobic and anti-Black agenda. Thats intentional, Anderson writes: It is the oppressor who, more often than not, writes our collective histories ... But the oppressed always find a way, or we make one. Its clear that Anderson has been hellbent on and successful in making their own way just look at their impressive decade-plus career in media, which is paved with self-affirmation, responsibility and truth. Early on, I saw how much joy I got from covering stories and helping people tell their stories. But this work is also about speaking truth to power and holding people accountable, they told HuffPost. Whether its with their delightful podcast FANTI, past staff positions at Out Magazine and the Los Angeles Times, and bylines in publications such as the New York Times, Ebony and Essence, Andersons work also unapologetically shifted how we talk about trans, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people on- and off-screen. Yet, in We See Each Other, Anderson uses their sharp media savvy lens to tell a relatively new story to us. Their own. Journalist and author Trevell Anderson photographed at their home on May 17, 2023. Journalist and author Trevell Anderson photographed at their home on May 17, 2023. Part memoir, part media studies class, part cultural critique, We See Each Other tells the history of transgender representation as it collides with Andersons own nonbinary and trans bad bitchery journey. Its vulnerable, analytical and challenges us to learn more in hopes of doing better. I was inspired to write this because so many folks seem to believe that we, as trans people, dropped onto the face of the earth with Laverne Cox on Orange Is the New Black. Weve been here, Anderson, a 31-year-old native of South Carolina, said. It was also important to write my own history alongside this broader history, to talk about the impact of a number of these images, but to also complicate the conversation in a way. From Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs to To Wong Foo and Tyler Perry to Pose and P-Valley, Anderson goes beyond the standard conversation of the good, bad and ugly of trans representation. I have realized that what could be deemed problematic can also be sites of possibility for folks, particularly in the trans community, they said. But even if that is true, Anderson quadruples down on the necessity of creating trans stories that focus on joy, community and love. Not everything is about tragedy and trauma, Anderson said. We have joy too, which I make sure I put in the book. I just wanted to create something that people could enjoy and learn from. And kiki with me along the way. We See Each Other also corrects the historical record by giving much-needed clarity and nuance to the past. The book tells stories about little-known historical figures, all while calling out the misgendering of Black trans people in media coverage from the 1930s and beyond. Anderson shares that this is an extension of the work of one of their mentors, the late Monica Roberts, a Black trans journalist who founded the award-winning blog Trans Griot. Roberts, a true storyteller and historian in her own right, often wrote about how for generations, the media both Black and mainstream covered trans people. By doing so, she was vital in educating her readers on trans history and life. Monica taught me the importance of righting these wrongs, Anderson said. If nothing else, thats the literal goal of this book. It helps correct the record and fills in the gaps, which is needed given how much various industries have done trans and nonbinary people dirty. Anderson said given the current wave of book bans, We See Each Other is especially important. I hope that in 10, 15 years, when someone is looking for history on trans people through a trans perspective, they can pick up this book and know this is how it really was, they said. They wont have to rely on that history from institutions that have never legitimately cared about them in the first place. Anderson is the first to tell you they didnt always know they wanted to be a journalist. I was supposed to be Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, that was my goal, they say, laughing. But by the end of undergrad, I knew I didnt want to be a lawyer anymore. I realized that the most consistent thing Id done since high school was working on school newspapers. In their senior year, they became the managing editor of the student newspaper at Morehouse College in Atlanta. After seeing that all the other managing editors before them went into the journalism industry, they decided they needed to do the same. (I mean, what else was I going to do with this sociology degree? they joke.) Andersons impact has definitely been felt since their HBCU and Stanford J-school days, not just on the page, the airwaves, the occasional documentary or in the newsroom. They have made it their mission to carve out safe spaces for LGBTQ+ journalists on an institutional level too. This is seen in their leadership in the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), which boasts nearly 4,100 members. Despite the yearly annual convention feeling like a Black family reunion, for Black LGBTQ+ members, the culture can make them feel unwelcome and isolated. But thanks to Anderson and their colleagues leadership, its getting better. Anderson is a co-chair on NABJs LGBTQ Task Force , the former president of the Los Angeles chapter and a national board member; they have made some progress over the years and believes NABJ is safer today than it was five years ago. In 2021, we got Monica Roberts into the Hall of Fame. Even last year, Imara Jones was awarded Journalist of Distinction for her podcast The Anti-Trans Hate Machine, the first trans person to be recognized on that level in our organization with that type of award, Anderson said with a smile. Weve also gotten NABJ to revamp all of its registration materials to be more inclusive, to ask if people identify as trans or nonbinary, so that we could begin to collect that information for the members that we know already exist right in our ranks. Anderson, who is currently running for national president of NABJ, also stresses that they have stayed in the organization to ensure the organization can be home for all Black journalists, which is still a work in progress. I want NABJ to be a space where they can be their full selves, which hasnt always been the case. Just last year in Vegas for the convention, a transmasculine member, who likes to wear wigs and makeup every now and again, told me they did not dress the way they wanted to dress because they thought that it would be unsafe for them, even with me click-clacking up and down and the hall, they admit. Theyre not the only ones. My work is trying to make those people feel comfortable to change the energy and the sentiment in the organization. Anderson also hopes that their work within the organization, including panels, education and advocacy, will help newsrooms and cisgender and straight Black journalists cover LGBTQ issues better. The responsibility of telling Black trans and queer stories shouldnt just be on the shoulders of Black trans and queer people, they said. Other Black people should also feel responsible, and when educated enough, they have to help us tell our stories too. While ensuring fair, accurate and empowering media coverage and representation of trans people has always been necessary, Anderson is clear: Given the current state of nonstop attacks against the trans community and the erasure of LGBTQ people, its especially needed now. Lawmakers across the country are getting these bills passed by telling people that trans folks are predators and we want to take up their space. The reason why they believe that is because they saw it on screen first, they say, adding, They saw Silence of the Lambs. They saw Psycho. They saw all of these images where transness and gender expansiveness were conflated with a man who dressed up as a woman to kill people. Anderson said because conservatives are exploiting peoples ignorance for their gain, the result is harm, over-policing and discrimination. This is particularly true when it comes to trans representation, and Anderson empathically believes the conversation must include the notion of protection. Visibility is great. Representation is great. Being seen is wonderful, but visibility does not protect us alone, they said. We are in a moment in which we are the most visible weve ever been as a community in culture, and we are also the most vulnerable that weve ever been as a community in culture. Protection, in Andersons eyes, means having more accomplices not just allies and more stories that humanize trans people. Humanize us as people, and hopefully you will afford that same humanity you saw on the screen to an actual Black trans person in your local community and make those spaces safe enough for the trans people who are already there to tell you their truth, they said. (CNN) The climate crisis is taking an enormous toll on Europe, which was ravaged by extreme heat, drought, wildfires and glacier melt last year, a new analysis has concluded. A joint report by the World Meteorological Organization and the European Unions Copernicus Climate Change Service found that last summer was the hottest on record for Europe and caused more than 16,000 excess deaths, according to the report. Unfortunately, this cannot be considered a one-off occurrence or an oddity of the climate, said Carlo Buontempo, the director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, in a statement. He added that current understanding of the climate system informs us that these kinds of events are part of a pattern that will make heat stress extremes more frequent and more intense across the region. Several countries, including the UK, Spain, Switzerland and Italy, saw their hottest years on record in 2022. Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world, according to the report, and has been warming twice as fast as the global average for the last four decades. The continent was not only hot but also extremely dry, with big implications for agriculture and water supply. Many parts of the continent saw very low levels of precipitation last year, with France experiencing its driest January-to-September period on record. In Spain, water reserves plunged to just over 40% of capacity, the report found. Persistent drought and high temperatures fueled intense wildfires. Europe experienced the second-largest burned area on record in 2022, the report found, with Central Europe and the Mediterranean, in particular, seeing large areas scorched by fire. Glaciers in the European Alps had a bad year, experiencing a record loss of ice mass due to low snowfall, warm temperatures and Saharan dust, which makes glaciers darker, meaning they absorb more heat and melt faster. And oceans were unusually warm, with average sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic the hottest on record. Rates of warming in parts of the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic and Black Seas, and the southern Arctic were more than three times the global average, the report found. With the arrival of El Nino, a natural climate phenomenon with a global warming effect, many scientists are concerned 2023 could see even starker climate extremes. But there are hopeful signs too. The report found that renewable energy generated more electricity than fossil gas for the first time ever last year, with wind and solar accounting for 22.3% of the EUs electricity, while fossil gas accounted for 20% and coal power for 16%. Increasing use of renewables and low-carbon energy sources is crucial to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a statement. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Heat, drought and fire: Europes year of extremes in 2022 will not be a one-off, new report finds" The Emmy-winning comedian will host a weekly podcast featuring interviews with influential and interesting people. Trevor Noah has signed a deal with Spotify to host a weekly podcast series. The original program for the streaming service will premiere later this year. The still-untitled show will feature Noah, the Emmy Award-winning former host of Comedy Centrals The Daily Show, conducting in-depth interviews with various influential people, according to Variety. As Spotify describes, the podcast will see Noah apply his signature humor and razor-sharp wit to provide a unique perspective on global issues and exciting subjects. Ive always been somebody who enjoys trying new things and exploring different ways to express what I do, Noah said. I think this is going to be a really exciting opportunity to create a little more of what Ive always created and a lot more of what I havent created before. Comedian Trevor Noah, seen April 30 at the Knicks-Heat game at Madison Square Garden in New York, will host a weekly podcast on Spotify that is set to debut this year. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) Although the series is a Spotify original, it will be available on other streaming platforms. Therefore, the deal differs from the ones Joe Rogan, Dax Shepard and others have that render their podcasts exclusive to Spotify. The podcast announcement on Tuesday comes six months after Noah stepped down as host of The Daily Show, ending a successful seven-year tenure. Noah stated that the forthcoming podcast would allow him to go more in depth with interviews without the time restrictions of television. Noah also said the podcast would allow him to record the show anywhere without going to a specific studio in a particular city. I can be anywhere in the world creating an episode, he noted. Since Noahs December departure from The Daily Show, he has focused on stand-up comedy, embarking on his international Off The Record Tour. The concert tour resumes for five sold-out shows in Germany starting June 27. It returns to America in October. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post Trevor Noah gets weekly podcast series with Spotify appeared first on TheGrio. FILE - Wayde Byard, spokesman for Loudoun County, Va., Public Schools, speaks outside circuit court in Leesburg, Va., on Dec. 13, 2022, after he made an initial appearance on charges that he perjured himself during a special grand jury investigation of the school system. A lawyer for Byard told jurors Tuesday, June 20, 2023, that her client is the fall guy for a series of administrative failings. (AP Photo/Matthew Barakat, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) LEESBURG, Va. (AP) A lawyer for a school system official accused of perjuring himself during a high-profile investigation of two school-based sexual assaults told jurors Tuesday that her client is the fall guy for a series of administrative failings. The perjury case against Loudoun County Public Schools spokesman Wayde Byard is the first prosecution to go to trial from a special grand jury investigation commissioned by Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares at the request of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The grand jury examined the school system's handling of two sexual assaults at two different high schools in 2021. The assaults became a major issue in that year's gubernatorial election in part because the boy who committed the assaults was allowed to transfer to another school after the first attack and in part because the boy was wearing a skirt when he committed the first attack in a school bathroom. At the time the county was considering a policy change to allow transgender students to use the restroom of their choice. Byard is well known in the county as the school system's longtime spokesman, and holds a cult status of sorts among students as the voice that delivers the good news about school closures for snow. During opening statements Tuesday, defense lawyer Jennifer Leffler said Byard's fame worked against him in the grand jury investigation, as a politically charged probe looked for someone to blame. He's the face of Loudoun County Public Schools," she said of Byard. "He's the fall guy. That's why we're here. Prosecutor Theo Stamos said the evidence shows Byard lied to the special grand jury when he said he was unaware of the first sexual assault allegation when it occurred at Stone Bridge High School in May 2021. Byard told the grand jury that he only became aware that the allegations involved unwanted sexual contact after the second assault occurred at Broad Run High School in October 2021. Both sides said there are no emails or documents showing that Byard had been explicitly informed of the alleged assault when it occurred in May. But Stamos said Byard was involved in the school system's overall response, in which the allegations were discussed. And she said the school principal, Tim Flynn, told him in a phone call about the alleged assault the day it happened. Flynn was the prosecution's first witness Tuesday. He said he remembers telling Byard about everything that occurred, including the alleged assault and the chaotic scene afterward, in which he ordered the girl's dad to be removed from the building after he reacted angrily. He needs all the information so he can do his job, Flynn said of Byard. On the afternoon of the assault, Byard helped craft a note to Stone Bridge parents that mentioned only the disruption involving the girl's father and not the sexual assault allegation itself. On cross-examination, though, Flynn contradicted his earlier testimony on several key aspects of what occurred that day. He gave different responses about whether an online meeting he had with the superintendent occurred in the afternoon or in the evening. And he struggled to explain why he initially described the allegation as an attempted rape when the girl was saying that she had, in fact, been raped. Critics of the school system say Byard and other administrators intentionally obfuscated the facts of the assault because the school board was considering a new policy that would allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their preference, and the attack would support the arguments of opponents who say it's dangerous for biological boys to use girls' restrooms. Others, though, say details of what occurred at Stone Bridge were not at all immediately clear. Police and school administrators were leery of the allegation at first because there was evidence that the boy and girl had met consensually for sex in the girls' bathroom on previous occasions. Byard, in his testimony to the special grand jury, said he first understood it as a boy-girl incident that went sideways, Leffler said. The school system's former superintendent is scheduled to go on trial later this year on charges brought by the special grand jury. The boy was convicted of both assaults and sentenced last year in juvenile court to attend a locked, residential treatment program until he turns 18. Tributes pour in for Friends star Paxton Whitehead after his death aged 85 Tributes pour in for Friends star Paxton Whitehead after his death aged 85 (Getty Images) Tributes have poured in for Friends star and Broadway veteran Paxton Whitehead following his death aged 85. The English actor, who was a regular guest star in a number of Nineties sitcoms, passed away on Friday at a hospital in Arlington, Virginia, his son, Charles, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday. After news of his death broke, several of the actors friends and former co-stars paid tribute to the late actor on social media. British actor Jim Piddock tweeted: Heartbroken to hear my dear friend and mentor Paxton Whitehead has passed away. He was an extraordinary actor, a brilliant friend and truly wonderful human being. He meant so much to so many people and always brought a smile to the faces of everyone he encountered. While American actress Dana Ivey remembered her dear friend of almost 60 years alongside a photo of them together. Heartbroken to hear my dear friend and mentor Paxton Whitehead has passed away. He was an extraordinary actor, a brilliant friend, and truly wonderful human being. He meant so much to so many people and always brought a smile to the faces of everyone he encountered. pic.twitter.com/jKQksZ0myv Jim Piddock (@realjimpiddock) June 19, 2023 She penned: Ive just heard that my beloved friend Paxton Whitehead has died, on Friday the 16th. We first worked together in My Fair Lady in 1964, and the last time was in Importance of Being Earnest in 2010 friends for 59 years. I loved him so. Heartbroken. Many will remember Whitehead for playing Mr. Waltham, Rachel Greens [Jennifer Aniston] boss at Bloomingdales during season four of series, Friends. He also made guest appearances on popular nineties shows such as Frasier, Caroline in the City, Ellen, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Drew Carey Show and Mad About You. I've just heard that my beloved friend Paxton Whitehead has died, on Friday the 16th. We first worked together in "My Fair Lady" in 1964, and the last time was in "Importance of Being Earnest" in 2010 -- friends for 59 years. I loved him so. Heartbroken. pic.twitter.com/jWuGUiKAXZ Dana Ivey (@hekasia) June 18, 2023 The actor, who hailed from East Malling and Larkfield in Kent, starred in several Broadway productions and earned a Tony nomination for his performance as Pellinore in a 1980 revival of Lerner & Loewes Camelot opposite Richard Burton. The thespian appeared 16 more times on the New York stage between 1962 and 2018, including My Fair Lady with Richard Chamberlain and as Sherlock Holmes The Crucifer of Blood. Whitehead is survived by his son Charles and daughter Alex. Tropical Storm Bret is expected to grow into a Category 1 hurricane before threatening the Caribbean this week while a second tropical wave has increased chances to follow suit and spin up into a tropical depression or storm, according to the National Hurricane Center. In the NHCs 11 a.m. advisory, Tropical Storm Bret was located about 945 miles east of the southern Windward Islands moving west at 21 mph. The system has sustained winds of 40 mph and higher gusts with tropical-storm-force winds extending out 45 miles. Both the atmospheric and oceanic environment look conducive for strengthening during the next couple of days with low shear and abnormally warm ocean waters, Therefore, the forecast continues to call for Bret to become a hurricane in a couple of days, said NHC senior hurricane specialist Richard Pasch. Tropical Storm Bret formed Monday after a short time as Tropical Depression Three. The storms intensity forecast is slightly lower than initially predicted, but the NHC still thinks it will be Hurricane Bret by late Wednesday or early Thursday and remain a hurricane as it approaches the Leewards. Tropical storm watches may be required for some of the islands later Tuesday as its outer winds could affect them late Thursday. Its consensus path has the center of the storm passing near Martinique and St. Lucia by early Friday and then into the open Caribbean waters south of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic over the weekend. The five-day predictions expect vertical wind shear to tear down Brets intensity causing it to likely stay in a more westward path and not curl up toward Hispaniola, although the cone of uncertainty does still include both parts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Drier mid-level air should begin to get entrained into the system. This will likely cause a weakening trend to commence after Bret moves into the Caribbean, Pasch said. Meanwhile, the tropics in the far eastern Atlantic have a second tropical wave with increased chances of forming into a tropical depression or storm. In the 8 a.m. tropical outlook, the NHC said the system located several hundred miles southwest of the Cape Verde Islands continues to produce a large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms with increased organization. Environmental conditions appear conducive for further development of this system, and a tropical depression will likely form during the next couple of days while the system moves westward at 10 to 15 mph across the eastern and central tropical Atlantic, the NHC said. The NHC gives it a 70% chance to form in the next two days and 80% in the next seven. Its progressing in the nearly the same path as Tropical Storm Bret did as it grew from tropical wave into named system off the coast of Africa this past week. If this new system were to become a named storm, it would become Tropical Storm Cindy. The NHC determined the years first storm was an unnamed subtropical storm in January, which was followed by Tropical Storm Arlene that formed earlier this month. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration seasonal forecast released in May projects 2023 to be an average season with between 12 and 17 named storms. Of those, five to nine would grow into hurricanes, and of those one to three would reach major hurricane strength of 111 mph sustained winds or greater. The official 2023 Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1-Nov. 30. Will Tropical Storm Bret wreck your Texas beach plans next week? Heres what to know Tropical Storm Bret developed Monday afternoon in the Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center announced at 5 p.m. Monday. Its projected to approach the Lesser Antilles on Thursday and Friday as a possible hurricane, bringing a risk of flooding from heavy rainfall, hurricane-force winds and dangerous storm surge and waves, according to the NHC. Could Tropical Storm Bret spoil Fourth of July plans on the coast of Texas? Victor Murphy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, says Tropical Storm Bret should have no impact on the weather for the holiday weekend. If it were to enter into the Gulf of Mexico, it would be at least 10 days from now, he explained. The probabilities of this are so low, he said. I would not be worried, Murphy said. However, I would encourage anyone with travel plans to a location along the Atlantic Coast or Gulf Coast of the U.S. or else to the entire Caribbean to monitor the seven day Tropical Weather Outlook forecast from the National Hurricane Center. To monitor the forecast, visit this page. Also, now is the time for all Texans to be prepared for the upcoming hurricane season which runs through Nov. 30. Click here to learn more about hurricane preparedness in Texas. Judge Aileen Cannon has set a date for the trial in the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump. The Trump-appointed judge has signed a court order listing the trial as starting on 14 August of this year in Fort Pierce, Florida. This case is hereby set for a Criminal Jury Trial during the two-week period commencing August 14, 2023, or as soon thereafter as the case may be called, the court order states. Any change of plea must be taken prior to 5:00 p.m. on the last business day before trial is scheduled to begin, it adds. The court order is likely to be challenged as motions are filed, including requests for the trial to be delayed. All pre-trial motions and motions in limine must be filed by July 24, 2023, the court order states. Scott MacFarlane of CBS News noted that This timeline seems quite aspirational.. not likely to hold. Judge Cannon appears to have created whats called a rocket docket seemingly in an attempt to push the trial through the judicial system. Most federal trials take as long as a year as both parties prepare for the proceedings, The Daily Beast noted. Legal experts have previously indicated that Judge Cannon can be unpredictable and that she has ruled in favour of Mr Trump in the past after he appointed her shortly before leaving the White House. While overseeing Mr Trumps challenge to the raid of his Mar-a-Lago estate last year, she added more red tape, slowing down the FBI probe. Former federal prosecutor Brandon Van Grack told The New York Times that the proposed trial date probably wont stand as the discovery process of handing over classified evidence to the defence legal team hasnt started yet. But he said that the date signals that the court is at least trying to do everything it can to move the case along and that its important that the case proceed quickly. Even though its unlikely to hold, its at least a positive signal positive in the sense that all parties and the public should want this case to proceed as quickly as possible, he added. As Mr Trump struggles to retain lawyers to represent him, its unclear if the defence wants the case to move quickly and for the case to be resolved ahead of the 2024 election or if there will be attempts to delay it until after the election. But Mr Trump has for decades attempted to delay legal cases and this case is likely to be given the same treatment. If the trial goes beyond the election and Mr Trump is elected, he may theoretically attempt to pardon himself. He may also order his attorney general to drop the charges against him, The Times notes. Following Mr Trumps indictment in Miami, Special Counsel Jack Smith indicated that he wanted a speedy trial. Judge Cannon wrote in the court order that the trial is set to take place at her home courthouse in Fort Pierce, a small town in the north of the Southern District of Florida. Considering the number of things that have to happen before the case can go on trial, the August date is highly unlikely to remain in place since Mr Trumps legal team has started a process of getting security clearances to be able to view the evidence in the case. The clearance process usually takes months. Mr Trumps legal team is also not set for trial following a number of recent departures. Stanley Woodward Jr, the lawyer representing Trump aide Walt Nauta who was also indicted in the case, is looking for Florida lawyers to help him with the case, The Times noted. Mr Nauta is set to be arraigned next week. As Mr Trump stands accused of unlawfully retaining 31 national defence documents, many with top secret classifications, both sides are set to engage in proceedings behind closed doors to decide how to handle the classified information. Large parts of that legal wrangling will be conducted under the guidance of the Classified Information Procedures Act and if the federal prosecutors are unhappy with any of the future rulings by Judge Cannon in connection to that legislation, they may halt the pretrial proceedings to file an appeal with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Meanwhile, the defence would have to hold off until after a possible conviction to appeal any evidentiary problems according to that legislation. More follows... Former President Trump and his allies on Tuesday bemoaned a plea deal struck between Hunter Biden and federal prosecutors over tax and firearm crimes, comparing it unfavorably to the charges Trump is facing over his retention of classified documents after leaving office. Biden, the presidents son, reached a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to two minor tax crimes and separately admit to the facts of a gun charge through a pretrial diversion program. The agreement will likely keep Biden out of jail, and it resolves a roughly five-year investigation that began during the Trump administration. Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket. Our system is BROKEN! Trump wrote on Truth Social. A spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a Trump-aligned super PAC, ripped the agreement as a sweetheart deal intended to make their bogus case to get Trump appear fair. The American people need President Trump back in office to appoint a truly independent special prosecutor that will finally bring justice, spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. Leavitts statement linked to a post from earlier this month in which Trump predicted prosecutors will hit Hunter with something small to make their strike on me look fair.' Trump himself was arraigned last week on 37 federal counts following a Department of Justice indictment alleging he violated both the Espionage Act and obstructed justice in taking classified records from his White House and refusing to return them. He is also facing charges for concealing documents and misleading investigators. The former president and his team have repeatedly attacked Hunter Biden and suggested he is corrupt dating back to the 2020 presidential campaign. House Republicans have launched an investigation into the foreign business dealings of Biden and other family members of President Biden and their associates, raising alarm about foreign funds that flowed to the first family. Republicans have not produced evidence, though, that directly links Joe Biden to any of his sons foreign business dealings. The president has previously denied knowledge of those affairs. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Mike Pence Photo by STEPHEN MATUREN / AFP via Getty Images Former President Donald Trump has perhaps no greater asset than his ability to take any situation or circumstance, no matter how threatening or embarrassing or potentially disastrous, and convert it into a referendum on himself at large. Details become fuzzy, particulars are flattened, and in the end, Trump is able to convert just about anything into its most basic binary dynamic, with him at the center. Now, facing a historical federal indictment for allegedly flouting espionage laws with his retention and mishandling of highly classified national security documents, Trump has once again maneuvered his critics and rivals within the GOP into an awkward, if familiar, gap between a rock and a hard place. While Democrats (and much of the public at large) are fairly uniform in their assessment of the seriousness of his alleged criminality, Republicans particularly those vying against Trump for the GOP's 2024 presidential nomination are stuck triangulating how best to respond to these unprecedented charges, even as they risk the wrath of Trump's unfailingly faithful base, upon whom their own political futures may very well rest. Broadly, those responses have fallen into three (occasionally overlapping) buckets: Trump did nothing wrong For the most part, proclamations (or unsubtly heavy-handed insinuations) of Trump's absolute innocence have come from the former president's congressional allies not troubled by the electoral math of a national campaign. Blasting the "phony Boxes Hoax indictment against President Trump," Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) claimed the indictment "reflects the most severe election interference on the part of the federal government that we have EVER seen!" "The Biden DOJ is interfering in the 2024 election by bringing bogus charges against Biden's chief political opponent, President Trump," echoed Illinois Republican Rep. Mary Miller. Democrats' heads "must ache painfully from never ending think tank sessions in white walled rooms" trying to "come up with" endless "fake accusations," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) claimed in the midst of a lengthy, rambling Twitter message that encouraged followers to "beat these sick people." Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, longtime Trump ally and chair of the House Judiciary Committee, opted for brevity: Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) was similarly curt, tweeting simply that "we have now reached a war phase" and threatening retribution. This could be bad for Trump Among the officially declared candidates vying for their party's presidential nomination, none have come out quite so forcefully against Trump as former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. "Donald Trump's actionsfrom his willful disregard for the Constitution to his disrespect for the rule of lawshould not define our nation or the Republican Party," Hutchinson said in a statement, concluding that although Trump is "entitled to the presumption of innocence, the ongoing criminal proceedings will be a major distraction" which "reaffirms the need for Donald Trump to respect the office and end his campaign." Other GOP candidates were slightly more circumspect. "I had said I had hoped that the DOJ would see it's way clearer not to move forward here," former Vice President Mike Pence said, before adding that "no one is above the law." "Stop hiding behind the Special Counsel," Pence urged special counsel Jack Smith during a speech to a group of North Carolina Republicans the day after the indictment was published. "Stand before the American people and explain why this indictment went forward." Pence also took oblique aim at Trump himself, telling the crowd that "anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States." Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who has made attacking Trump head on the center point of his candidacy, was similarly cautious, affirming that "no one is above the law, no matter how much they wish they were," before officially weighing in about the specifics of Trump's alleged crimes. He later called the indictment "devastating," telling CNN that Trump's alleged crimes are "particularly awful for someone who has been president and who aspires to be president again." Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, long considered one of the Republicans' most ardent Trump opponents, weighed in on the indictment with a brief statement that echoed Hutchinson's declarative condemnation of the former president. "Mr. Trump brought these charges upon himself by not only taking classified documents, but by refusing to simply return them when given numerous opportunities to do so," Romney said, adding that if true, Trump's crimes fit a broader pattern of "actions offensive to the national interest." Blame the system (and Democrats) Of all the declared Republican presidential candidates, perhaps no one stands to benefit from Trump's downfall more than Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, who trails the former president in distant second place in most primary polls. Nevertheless, seemingly aware that a frontal attack on Trump would, as a result, alienate him from the sizeable bloc of diehard MAGA voters, DeSantis instead reacted to the indictment by pivoting away from its target entirely. Instead, he focused on "the weaponization of federal law enforcement" which "represents a mortal threat to a free society." Neither affirming nor defending the former president's alleged criminality, DeSantis only mentioned his rival in the context of asking why the Justice Department has been "zealous in pursuing Trump yet so passive about Hillary or Hunter?" While other Republicans had leveled similar complaints as part of a broader, more overt defense of Trump, DeSantis instead focused solely on the politics of the indictment not its contents. Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkin, long rumored to be weighing his own 2024 bid, offered a similar pivot away from the substance of the indictment toward allegations of a "two-tiered justice system," claiming somewhat incongruously that "parents in Virginia know firsthand what it's like to be targeted by politically motivated actions." Claiming he will "purge all the injustices in our system so every American is seen by the Lady of Justice with a blindfold on," presidential candidate and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott framed the indictment as something that gives the impression that the scales of justice are "weighted." In a nod toward bipartisanship, Scott added that "you don't have to be a Republican to see injustice and want to fix it." Without mentioning Trump at all, former administration official and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley continued her trend of only indirectly attacking the former president. "The American people are exhausted by the prosecutorial overreach, double standards, and vendetta politics," Haley declared, condemning "the endless drama and distractions" a swipe at the indictment, Trump, or both. Will it change? Beyond the immediate issue of whether Trump will ultimately be found guilty on any of the 37 federal counts included in his Justice Department indictment, there is also a broader question of whether a guilty verdict or even just the indictment itself will matter in the eyes of his supporters, and rivals. To date, with the majority of his fellow 2024 candidates refraining from a frontal attack over the indictment, Trump has once again managed to use his own legal peril to assert dominance over a disparate field of Republicans. If, however, his alleged crimes become a political liability for him among his own base, opportunistic GOP candidates will likely feel emboldened to attack the former president more overtly and without fear of fatally angering his MAGA voting bloc. You may also like Russia reportedly tried to assassinate a high-value CIA asset in Miami DC's 'The Flash' and Pixar's 'Elemental' disappoint at the box office AI: The worst-case scenario Former President Trump has in recent days shown that even a bad news cycle for him can also mean bad news for his challengers in the race for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination. Trump last week was arraigned on federal charges over his retention of classified documents after leaving office, a development that has yet to dampen his support in the primary but that some worry leaves him even weaker in a general election. But those seeking to overtake Trump in the polls as the new GOP party leader have struggled to break through the noise around the arraignment. Instead, Republican candidates have been saddled by questions about Trumps indictment, whether it was justified and whether they would consider pardoning the former president if elected. Some candidates have expressed frustration with the lack of opportunity to make their case on the campaign trail, underscoring the difficulty GOP candidates will have breaking through in a field that has already been dominated by Trump and where the former president is sure to remain front-and-center as his legal problems accumulate. He has a wide lead because he dominates the conversation, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who launched his campaign last week, said Sunday on Fox News. And I think the press and you know I dont want to fault the press but thats all they want to talk about, Suarez said. If we keep talking about the former president, frankly, Im sure hes sitting at home in Mar-a-Lago smiling and laughing because theyre giving him the nomination. Suarez has only been a candidate for a few days, but already his bid has been overshadowed to a degree by Trump; the Miami mayor was one of many 2024 candidates asked in recent days if they would pardon Trump should they be elected president. Suarez appeared to dodge the question, saying that the pardon power should be used to heal the country. Other candidates have similarly seen their attempts to build momentum in early voting states blotted out by Trumps indictment, particularly by questions about whether they would pardon the former president. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum was asked about the issue by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt and said he would not engage with it due to its hypothetical nature. Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) responded similarly to a question about the pardon issue on Fox News Sunday but added that every American is innocent until proven guilty. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley went a tad further, suggesting that she would be inclined in favor of a pardon. Former Vice President Mike Pence called discussion of a Trump pardon premature, adding that he was unsure why some of my competitors in the Republican primary presume the president will be found guilty. Meanwhile, Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur running for the nomination, has managed to use Trumps centrality to the news cycle to garner some attention. When Trump was indicted in Manhattan over an alleged hush money scheme to keep an affair quiet, and again when Trump was indicted on federal charges in the document case, Ramaswamy was first out of the gate among Republican presidential candidates defending the former president and urging his rivals to do the same. Ramaswamy vowed to pardon Trump if he were elected in 2024, putting the pressure on other Republican candidates to pledge to do the same. Trumps third bid for the White House comes against a backdrop of a slew of legal battles. Trump and his legal team are already juggling two indictments and civil cases with filing deadlines or court dates stretching through the summer and into the heart of 2024 campaign season. Two other criminal investigations could bring more charges. The news cycle around Trumps federal arraignment, and the ensuing questions about whether his challengers would agree to pardon him, underscore the conundrum the Republican field is facing. Trump is blocking his rivals from getting much-needed media oxygen. Its the same thing he did in 2016, said one GOP strategist. Its incredibly frustrating for his competitors. Part of the problem for Trumps challengers is that polling has shown Republican voters still support the former president, and in some cases support a hypothetical pardon for him. The views of those voters, whose support other GOP candidates need to overtake Trump in the polls, makes it especially difficult for them to break through. Just as he did in the wake of being charged in Manhattan, Trump seems to have solidified his lead among Republican primary voters in the days after he was arraigned on federal charges. A Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey released Friday and conducted after he announced he had been indicted on federal charges found 59 percent of Republican voters said they would vote for Trump in the primary, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis garnering the next-most support at 14 percent. The same poll found 53 percent of respondents overall, including 80 percent of Republicans, said they would support a pardon for Trump in the interest of national unity if he is convicted in the classified documents case. The surveys make for another reason frustration is building among some Republicans who wish to move on from the former president. Trump blots out the sun, said Dan Eberhart, a GOP fundraiser who has been critical of the former president. The debates may be the only chance for someone to break through, he added. Trump in the proto-incumbent. Front-runner is the wrong word. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Trump gives reason for hoarding Mar-a-Lago classified documents: Didnt want to hand them over Former President Donald Trump said Monday that he didnt want to hand over boxes of classified government documents despite getting a subpoena because he hoped to keep personal items that he believed belong to him. Doubling down on his my boxes defense, Trump admitted in an interview with Fox News Brett Baier that he intentionally defied the grand jury subpoena so he could rummage through the boxes that he first took to his Mar-a-Lago estate more than 1 years earlier. I had boxes. I want to go through the boxes and get all my personal things out, Trump said. I dont want to hand that over to (federal officials) yet. Trump did not flinch when given the chance by Baier to deny or explain prosecution claims that he ordered the boxes moved from a storage room to hide them from federal investigators and even his own lawyers. Before I send boxes over, I have to take all of my things out, Trump insisted defiantly. These boxes were interspersed with all sorts of things. Trump first floated the outlandish claim that he had the right to withhold the classified documents in a fundraising speech the last week hours after he was arraigned on 37 federal counts tied to the documents case. But he expanded on the argument in the Monday interview in a way that may give valuable ammunition to prosecutors, especially since everything he says about the case can be used against him at trial. Defense lawyers would likely cringe at Trumps admission that he intentionally refused to comply with the subpoena. And by explaining his supposed reasons for defying the subpoena, Trump is effectively handing prosecutors a motive for the crimes. The interview came hours after Trump was ordered Monday not to share evidence in his classified documents case with others or spread it on social media. U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart instructed Trump not to disseminate any of the information his defense team is set to receive from federal prosecutors as the discovery phase of the historic case cranks up. The Discovery Materials ... shall not be disclosed to the public or the news media, or disseminated on any news or social media platform, without prior notice to and consent of the United States or approval of the Court, Reinhart, who authorized the search warrant for Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort, wrote in the order. The order, which was requested by the prosecution, was not opposed by Trumps lawyers. It bars Trump from discussing the evidence with anyone not directly related to the case. It also sets strict limits to how Trump can access the documents, requiring him to review them only in the presence of his lawyers and barring him from taking them out of their offices. The former president could face criminal contempt of court charges if he violates the order, Reinhart said. Reinhart issued the order but controversial U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon is expected to preside over Trumps trial in a south Florida court. Trump faces a similar limited gag order in his New York state case on charges tied to hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels. Cannon, a right-wing Trump appointee who has next to no trial experience, last year was heavily criticized for a series of short-lived pro-Trump rulings over the documents that were recovered in the Mar-a-Lago search. Trump is the only former president ever indicted on criminal charges. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment last week. The order applies to Trump as well as his co-defendant Walt Nauta, who is accused of helping the former president hide classified documents from the feds. (CNN) Its a misnomer that heavy drinkers can hold their liquor, a new study found. Instead, people with alcohol use disorder what used to be called alcoholism were significantly impaired on cognitive and motor tests up to three hours after downing an alcoholic drink designed to mimic their typical habits. It seems to be a popular perception that experienced drinkers can handle their liquor like two cowboys in a bar in a drinking competition, and they have some macho strength to take in so much alcohol and handle it, said study coauthor Nathan Didier, a research analyst at the Clinical Addictions Research Laboratory at the University of Chicago. The idea that a person can become tolerant of alcohol at higher exposures is everywhere, all over social media, movies, you name it, said senior study author Andrea King, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the University of Chicago. Our study found some degree of support for an increase of tolerance, said King, who specializes in alcohol rehabilitation research, but it really depends on how much alcohol is consumed, how rapidly and how much time has elapsed since the drinking. This finding is significant, King said, since only about 10% of people with alcohol use disorder go into treatment and binge drinking is on the rise which is consuming five or more drinks for a man or four or more for a woman within the first two hours of drinking. Some go beyond basic binging, engaging in whats called high-intensity drinking. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, this pattern of drinking is defined as consuming alcohol at twice the levels of binge drinking. This dangerous drinking pattern means 8 or more drinks for women and 10 or more drinks for men on one occasion, the institute noted on its website. Various types of drinkers The study published Sunday in the journal Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research. It analyzed three types of young adult drinkers, most in their 20s, who were part of the Chicago Social Drinking Project, an ongoing research study started by King in 2004. The 397 participants included light drinkers, heavy social drinkers and those who had alcohol abuse disorder. Light drinkers were defined as people who drink up to six standard drinks a week but do not binge, King said. In the United States, a standard drink is about 0.6 fluid ounces or 14 grams of pure alcohol, which differs depending on the type of adult beverage you consume. Moderate drinkers were not added to the study, King said, to draw a clear comparison between the impact of light and heavy alcohol consumption: People might overlap, and we didnt want to confuse the distinction, she said. The second group in the study were heavy social drinkers, defined as those who drank 10 drinks a week at a minimum and binged alcohol one to five times a month. The third group included drinkers who met the criteria for alcohol use disorder 28 or more drinks per week for men and 21 for women and who frequently binged at least one-third or more days in a month. In their daily lives, this group averaged 38.7 drinks a week, compared to 2.5 drinks a week for light drinkers and about 20 drinks for heavy drinkers, King said. People in this group also had to meet other criteria for alcohol use disorder, such as not being able to cut down on use, drinking even when it caused trouble with family and friends, and getting into situations where they or others could get hurt. A single drink equaled up to 5 drinks People in all three groups were tested at two different times: once with alcohol, another with a placebo designed to mimic the alcohol. But each time the study participants were told they might receive a stimulant, a depressant, alcohol or a placebo. The intoxicating beverage was a flavored mixed drink with 190-proof grain alcohol, measured by body weight to equalize the effect of the liquor across body types. Women, who metabolize alcohol differently than men and can become more easily intoxicated, received a dose that was 85% of that given to men. The alcohol level of the drink was equivalent to four to five drinks that produce Breathalyzer readings of 0.08-0.09%, which is the threshold for (drunken) driving, Didier said. Before drinking and at various intervals after downing the beverage, alcohol levels were tested. At 30- and 180-minute intervals, participants were asked how impaired they felt on a scale of not at all to extremely. Participants also completed two cognitive performance tasks before drinking and at each half-hour interval: One was a fine motor task in which study participants were scored on how quickly they could put pegs into holes; the other was a pencil-and-paper task designed to test cognitive skills. Some tolerance was seen At first, the study supported the notion that heavy drinkers can manage larger doses without impairment. At 30 minutes, both the heavy drinkers and those with alcohol use disorder had no problems with the cognitive test, while lighter drinkers felt sedated and fatigued, King said. Neither the heavy drinkers nor those with alcohol abuse disorder felt impaired when asked. However, both of those groups did equally as badly on the task of putting pegs in holes, especially at the 30-minute mark. We noted that at 30 minutes after consuming alcohol, all the groups were equally impaired, Didler said. Even though the alcoholic drink used in the study was enough to put all participants over the legal limit, people with alcohol use disorder will drink much more heavily and more quickly, King said. To see if those with the disorder would be impaired at higher levels of alcohol that more closely mimicked their typical intake, researchers gave 60 participants who had alcohol use disorder another drink. This drink contained a level of 190-proof alcohol that was the equivalent of seven to eight standard drinks. At the higher dose, people with alcohol use disorder had 50% more mental and motor impairment than they had after taking the lower dose, the study found. In addition, they did not get completely back to their baseline level of performance after three hours. What this study does is put a spotlight on the limitations of tolerance, Didier said. Even if you have a lot of experience drinking, that doesnt mean that youre not impaired thats an important takeaway. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Heavy drinkers really dont handle their liquor, study says" Donald Trump Jr. railed against the plea deal struck between Hunter Biden and federal prosecutors, saying Tuesday that it reeks of favoritism. The blatantly politicized nature of Joe Bidens Justice Department under AG [Merrick] Garland couldnt be more clear today, Trump Jr. wrote in a statement. The plea deal that they cut with Hunter Biden reeks of favoritism and brazenly reveals a system where there are two-tiers of Justice, wholly dependent on your political affiliation. President Bidens son will plead guilty to tax crimes in the plea deal made with the prosecutors and will enter a pretrial diversion program in connection to an unlawful possession of a weapon, according to court documents filed Tuesday. This comes just a week after former President Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal counts of mishandling classified documents and attempting to keep those documents from the government. If the plea deal is accepted by a judge, Hunter Biden will likely stay out of jail. Trump Jr., along with other Republicans, is decrying the deal struck between Biden and federal prosecutors as a double standard, pointing to how his father, the former president, was recently indicted by the Justice Department. He wrote that the while the Justice Department is taking aim at Republicans, the department will protect those who have the right last name, like Biden. If you are a Republican, Bidens DOJ will throw the book at you and try to put you in prison for 100 years, but if you happen to have the right last name like Hunter, they will protect you and treat you with kid gloves, he wrote. We are no longer a nation with equal Justice under the law, but rather something more akin to a 3rd world banana republic, where the law exists to protect the ruling class, while targeting the opposition. Imagine living in a country where the President openly tries to send the leader of his political opposition to prison for life, while giving his blatantly corrupt son a sweetheart deal to avoid prison and keep the grift going, he wrote in a separate tweet. Wouldnt want to mess up that 10% for the Big Guy! The former president also commented on Bidens plea deal and compared the charges to a traffic ticket Tuesday. Republicans in Congress have also vowed to keep the investigations into Biden going, with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) saying the plea deal shows a two-tier system in America. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Former President Trumps lead over the Republican presidential primary field for 2024 has slipped in the wake of his federal indictment, according to a poll released Tuesday. A CNN poll found that although the former president is still at the head of the GOP field by a wide margin, his support among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents dipped 6 points after he was indicted and arraigned on 37 federal criminal charges in connection with the Justice Departments classified documents probe. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents surveyed, 47 percent said last week that they support Trump for the GOP nomination, down from 53 percent who said the same last month. Earlier this month, Trump pleaded not guilty to the 37 federal criminal charges. The Department of Justice accuses him of holding on to classified documents after his White House term ended and resisting attempts by the government to recover the materials. In second place behind Trump for the GOP nomination is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 26 percent support among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, unchanged from last month, according to the poll. The Hill Elections 2024 coverage Trumps former Vice President Mike Pence got 9 percent, up from 6 percent last month, before he had officially launched his 2024 bid. The rest of the listed candidates including Trumps former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie all earned 5 percent or less. Republican-aligned voters favorable opinions of Trump also dropped since last month, down from 77 percent in May to 67 percent this month, according to CNN. Trump has said he wont drop out of the 2024 race even as he faces the federal charges and various other legal battles, including 34 state criminal charges of falsifying business records in Manhattan. Conducted June 13-17 among 1,350 U.S. adults, the CNN poll results had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Trump news live: Trump denies ever having Iran paper despite recording, as Fox confronts him over 2020 Former president Donald Trump denied that he ever possessed a secret document about attacking Iran despite the fact a recording exists that had him discussing a document he kept from his presidency. Mr Trump spoke in an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier at his property in Bedminster, New Jersey less than a week after he pleaded not guilty to 37 charges in a federal court in Miami at his arraignment. A federal grand jury had indicted him for allegedly willfully mishandling classified documents, obstruction of justice and making false statements. The former president was also confronted by Baier over his insistence that he won the 2020 election which he did not, as the Fox News host made clear in a testy exchange. Voters may be growing sick of Mr Trump as well. In a new poll , voters were most likely to describe Donald Trump in one word: a criminal. Mr Trump also complained about the latest Quinnipiac University poll being cited by Fox News that shows Joe Biden beating him in the 2024 election as the network prepared to broadcast an interview with him. Key Points Americans want Trump to be pardoned in documents case, poll finds Trump campaign rakes in cash after arrest Donald Trump might try to pardon himself Classified documents filing hints at ongoing investigations related to Trump Trump is a criminal and DeSantis is a fascist, poll finds Mike Pence says we should hold off on all the Trump pardon talk Petition seeks to ban Donald Trump Jr from Australia 04:45 , Oliver O'Connell A petition has been launched in Australia calling for a ban on Donald Trump Jr from visiting the country for a right-wing event next month. By Monday nearly 15,000 people had signed the Change.org petition protesting against the former presidents eldest son attending the Turning Point Australia event. Graeme Massie reports. Petition seeks to ban Donald Trump Jr from Australia visit Trump conjures familiar enemy in attacking Democrats as Marxists' 03:45 , Oliver O'Connell Lashing out after his arraignment on federal charges last week, Donald Trump took aim at President Joe Biden and Democrats with language that seemed to evoke another era: He was being persecuted, he said, by Marxists and communists. Read more... Trump, other Republicans conjure a familiar enemy in attacking Democrats as 'Marxists,' 'communists' Garland keeps poker face as firestorm erupts after Trump charges 02:45 , Oliver O'Connell On his first day as attorney general, Merrick Garland pledged a return to what he called the norms of the Justice Department and said he would work to eliminate the perception of political interference. But in the two years since he took office, the former federal judge has found himself in the middle of a political firestorm of historic proportions. Read more... Attorney General Garland keeps poker face as firestorm erupts after Trump charges Christie doubles down on plans to take on loser, loser, loser Trump 01:45 , Oliver O'Connell Chris Christie became the latest Republican to publicly trash the decisions of his partys leadership this week when he laid into the pledge that GOP bigwigs are requiring participants in the 2024 debate cycle to sign. Speaking on CNNs State of the Union, the ex-New Jersey governor seemed to indicate that he had signed the pledge which states that any participant in the GOP debates will support the partys eventual nominee merely in order to make it onstage, while alluding to the idea that he would not hesitate to break it. John Bowden reports from Washington, DC. Chris Christie slams GOP debate pledge as a useless idea and rips loser Trump Unauthorised, illegal and dangerous 01:15 , Oliver O'Connell Donald Trumps former defence chief threw cold water on the assertion from his former boss and his allies that the classified records and other documents seized from the ex-presidents home and resort in an FBI raid were his to take. As the ex-presidents loyalists continue to offer a wide scope of defences for their leader ranging from arguments that Mr Trump was allowed to designate the materials as personal records for his own safekeeping to the idea that the prosecution is merely a politicised weaponisation of the Justice Department, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper has offered his own assessment on the situation. John Bowden has the story. Trumps defence chief slams ex-presidents illegal and dangerous documents trove Watch: Trumps plan to end war in Ukraine (sort of) Tuesday 20 June 2023 00:25 , Oliver O'Connell Trump finally reveals his incredible plan to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours: I would tell Zelensky something, and I would tell Putin something, and Id get them into a room. Of course, he wont say what that something is. pic.twitter.com/wRwkI4HAmY Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) June 19, 2023 Watch: Trump praises Saudi leadership Monday 19 June 2023 23:51 , Oliver O'Connell Trump on Saudi Arabian leadership: They are friends of mine. They are great people. The Crown Prince and the KingI got along with them incredibly. They would do anything. They are great, great people. pic.twitter.com/EIhaMn8bkC Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) June 19, 2023 No more family in White House says Trump Monday 19 June 2023 23:42 , Oliver O'Connell Donald Trump says that if he wins a second term, thered be no Ivanka or Jared in the White House. Thats enough for the family, he says. Trump says that if he wins a second term, there'd be no Ivanka or Jared in the White House. "That's enough for the family," he says. Jill Colvin (@colvinj) June 19, 2023 Watch: Baier lists former officials in the Trump administration now against him Monday 19 June 2023 23:38 , Oliver O'Connell Bret Baier lists former officials in the Trump administration that are either running against him for the GOP nominee or are refusing to support his candidacy. pic.twitter.com/0kMvKlLTMQ Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) June 19, 2023 Despite recording, Trump denies ever having secret document about attacking Iran Monday 19 June 2023 23:35 , Oliver O'Connell Former president Donald Trump denied that he ever possessed a secret document about attacking Iran despite the fact a recording exists that had him discussing a document he kept from his presidency. Mr Trump spoke in an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier at his property in Bedminster, New Jersey less than a week after he pleaded not guilty to 37 charges in a federal court in Miami for his arraignment in Miami. A federal grand jury had indicted him for allegedly willfully mishandling of classified documents, obstruction of justice and making false statements. Eric Garcia reports. Trump denies ever having secret document about Iran despite unclassified recording Monday 19 June 2023 23:34 , Oliver O'Connell Well thats that. Trump just confessed to Fox News that he stole and shared classified materials. https://t.co/W35ZgpT0V9 Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) June 19, 2023 Most damning evidence against Trump is Trump talking Monday 19 June 2023 23:32 , Oliver O'Connell It makes it hard for Trump to deny the intentionally did things when there's tape of him saying he intentionally did them. Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) June 19, 2023 It's almost like Trump is building a case against Trump. Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) June 19, 2023 Trump says he wants to be less combative but press is dishonest' Monday 19 June 2023 23:28 , Oliver O'Connell Bret Baier: What did you learn from your 1st term ... and changes that you would make if you get elected? Donald Trump: I would like to be less combative. But I find the press is extremely dishonest. And if Im not combative, I dont get my word across... I dont think you could win. Watch: Trump talks about recording of him discussing secret documents Monday 19 June 2023 23:25 , Oliver O'Connell Theres a lot going on here and this is going to reviewed: Trump on the recording of him pic.twitter.com/JpohMqb2Li Acyn (@Acyn) June 19, 2023 Baier pushes back on Trumps claim that he won 2020 election Monday 19 June 2023 23:21 , Oliver O'Connell In a remarkable moment, Bret Baier tells Donald Trump he lost the 2020 election pushing back on all of the former presidents claims of voter fraud. Baier also confronts the former president over why he hired so many people he now insults, running through a list of his cabinet. Trump: First of all, I won in 2020 by a lot Baier: You lost the 2020 election Trump: They were counting ballots, not the authenticity of the ballot. The ballots were fake ballots. pic.twitter.com/yrM5gVV1ei Acyn (@Acyn) June 19, 2023 Trump maintains he had right to keep boxes Monday 19 June 2023 23:11 , Oliver O'Connell Former president Donald Trump is sticking with his story that he had the right to take boxes of classified documents and denies he has done anything wrong. Trump: I have every right to have those boxes pic.twitter.com/2z4bhWdhEo Acyn (@Acyn) June 19, 2023 Watch: Trump calls Barr coward Monday 19 June 2023 23:08 , Oliver O'Connell Trump: Bill Barr was a coward. Bill Barr didnt do what he was supposed to do and I fired him pic.twitter.com/xsn0n76RrW Acyn (@Acyn) June 19, 2023 Trump gives Fox News new excuse for not giving back boxes of secret documents Monday 19 June 2023 23:02 , Oliver O'Connell Donald Trump has floated a new excuse for refusing to return classified documents he was very busy. Bevan Hurley reports as his latest interview gets underway on Fox News. Trump gives Fox News new excuse for not giving back boxes of secret documents Judge says Trump must be supervised by lawyer when reviewing evidence against him Monday 19 June 2023 22:45 , Oliver O'Connell Former president Donald Trump will be barred from viewing the evidence the Department of Justice has collected against him, except when in the presence of his attorneys, according to a new order by one of the judges overseeing the criminal case against him. In a four-page order signed on Monday, Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart granted a prosecution request for a protective order meant to shield the information that must be disclosed to Mr Trump about the case against him from public view. Andrew Feinberg reports. Trump must be supervised by lawyer when reviewing evidence against him, judge says Will Trump drag down the Republican Party after his indictments? Monday 19 June 2023 22:15 , Oliver O'Connell Donald Trumps grip on the Republican faithful was evident from the moment he left the federal courthouse in Miami last week. Fresh off becoming the first former president to face criminal charges levied by the government he once oversaw, Trumps motorcade moved through a crowd of hundreds of mostly adoring fans. He met more supporters at a Cuban restaurant in Little Havana, a Miami neighborhood that, like much of south Florida, has swung toward Republicans in recent years. A federal indictment on charges of mishandling the nations most sensitive national security secrets would doom any other White House hopeful. But Trumps reception in Miami and the more than $7 million he raised after the indictment was a reminder of the central tension coursing through the Republican Party as the 2024 presidential primary gets underway. For now, no one comes close to Trump in his command of the voters who will decide the GOPs nominee next year. But Trumps path beyond the primary is far more perilous as he faces significant and growing questions about his ability to appeal to a broader, more moderate set of voters in a possible general election matchup against President Joe Biden. Read more... Trump faces questions about whether he'll drag down the Republican Party after his indictments Petition seeks to ban Donald Trump Jr from Australia Monday 19 June 2023 21:45 , Oliver O'Connell A petition has been launched in Australia calling for a ban on Donald Trump Jr from visiting the country for a right-wing event next month. By Monday nearly 15,000 people had signed the Change.org petition protesting against the former presidents eldest son attending the Turning Point Australia event. The group is affiliated with right-wing provocateur Charlie Kirks Turning Point USA, which aims to reach the next generation of conservatives. Graeme Massie reports. Petition seeks to ban Donald Trump Jr from Australia visit Voices: The indictment has helped Trump in the primaries but theres a catch Monday 19 June 2023 21:30 , Oliver O'Connell Eric Garcia writes: The former president continues to have a vise grip on Republican Party. But there are significant caveats: the charges might hurt the former president with voters outside of his base. The NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that 50 per cent of independent voters thought that Mr Trump has done something wrong or illegal. Read on... The indictment has helped Trump in the primaries but theres a catch Sketch artist defends Trump arraignment picture Monday 19 June 2023 21:15 , Oliver O'Connell The artist behind a flattering courtroom sketch of Donald Trump has defended his controversial depiction of the former president. William J Hennessy Jr was one of three artists who drew Mr Trump, 77, during his arraignment in Miami on 13 June on 37 federal counts related to willful mishandling classified documents, obstruction of justice and making false statements. The sketch of a slimmed down, youthful-looking Mr Trump standing bolt upright provoked protests on social media for being overly generous to the defendant. Bevan Hurley reports. Sketch artist defends controversial take on Trump arraignment Watch: Christie vows to save party from three-time loser, Donald Trump' Monday 19 June 2023 20:53 , Oliver O'Connell I will do what I need to do to be up on that stage to try to save my party and save my country from going down the road of being led by three-time loser, Donald Trump. CHRIS CHRISTIE: "I will do what I need to do to be up on that stage to try to save my party and save my country from going down the road of being led by three-time loser, Donald Trump." pic.twitter.com/njU3O7sbee Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 19, 2023 Trump rants over poll showing him losing to Biden Monday 19 June 2023 20:41 , Oliver O'Connell Former president Donald Trump reacted angrily on Monday after Fox News highlighted a Quinnipiac University poll showing him as trailing President Joe Biden by a four-point margin. Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social website that the respected polling organisation had released a bad poll and accused Quinnipiac of using too few Republican voters in the sample of Americans who were surveyed. Mr Trump argued that the poll actually showed that he was in the lead over Mr Biden. Andrew Feinberg has the story. Fox News to air Trump interview tonight after he criticises network Monday 19 June 2023 20:20 , Oliver O'Connell Fox News guest says its time for someone to pull a trigger over the left' Monday 19 June 2023 20:15 , Oliver O'Connell A Fox News guest discussing last weeks drag nuns protest, the Trump prosecution and the left has suggested the time may be coming for someone in America to pull the trigger like at Concord, the battle which helped to spark the Revolutionary War. Retired MLB pitcher and conservative commentator Curt Schilling made the on-air comments Friday while in conversation with host Jesse Watters. Schilling complained that leaders on the right talk, talk, thats all theyre doing without backing up ideology with action. Sheila Flynn reports. Anger as Fox guest says its time for someone to pull a trigger over the left Francis Suarez: Could he be the first sitting mayor to become president? Monday 19 June 2023 19:45 , Oliver O'Connell In a 2024 Republican presidential field full of long-shot candidates, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez may be on paper anyway the longest long shot of all. No sitting mayor has ever been elected U.S. president, a job that historically has been won by governors, vice presidents, senators or Cabinet secretaries. Some former mayors have become commander-in-chief, but only after serving in higher-profile positions. Read more... Miami's Francis Suarez looks to become first sitting mayor to be president Garland keeps poker face as firestorm erupts after Trump charges Monday 19 June 2023 19:15 , Oliver O'Connell On his first day as attorney general, Merrick Garland pledged a return to what he called the norms of the Justice Department and said he would work to eliminate the perception of political interference. But in the two years since he took office, the former federal judge has found himself in the middle of a political firestorm of historic proportions. Read more... Attorney General Garland keeps poker face as firestorm erupts after Trump charges Voices: Why arent more Republicans attacking Trump like Bill Barr? Monday 19 June 2023 18:45 , Oliver O'Connell The fact is, [former president Donald Trump] is a consummate narcissist...He will always put his own interests and gratifying his own ego ahead of the countrys interests. Reading that comment initially, youd assume it was made by a Democrat. But in fact the speaker there is Bill Barr, Trumps own former Attorney General, who roasted Trump on CBS Face the Nation this weekend. Barr also explicitly pushed back against Republican claims that the prosecution of Trump was unfair or politically motivated. "This is not a circumstance where hes the victim or this is government overreach," he said. "He provoked this whole problem himself." Read more from Noah Berlatsky: Why arent more Republicans attacking Trump like Bill Barr? Donald Trump with his prolific history of baselessly questioning the ethics of judges he doesnt like shouldnt get to dictate who presides over the Stormy Daniels hush money case, Manhattan prosecutors said Tuesday. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs office, opposing the former presidents demand to force the judge on the hush money case to recuse himself, said entertaining the effort would signal that all defendants can shop for judges. Braggs office referenced some of Trumps most notorious attacks on authorities, including a judge who he said was totally biased against him because of his Mexican heritage during a 2016 class-action lawsuit against the since-defunct Trump University. Hes called Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who presided over New York Attorney General Letitia James case against the Trump Organization, a Trump Hating Judge, and the AG, who is Black, a racist. Defendants long history of targeting judges with unfounded allegations of bias makes clear that this motion is based on tactics, not ethics, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo wrote. The prosecutor added in a footnote that theres no reason to believe Trump would stop jamming up the case with legal acrobatics until hes assigned a judge he likes. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felonies alleging he falsified business records to conceal the nature of payments to his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen during his first year in the White House. Trump designated the checks as legal fees, but Bragg says he was actually reimbursing Cohen for paying off Daniels on the eve of the 2016 presidential election to silence the porn star about an extramarital tryst and secure the win, violating election laws. The Republican front-runners lawyers have accused Judge Juan Merchan assigned to preside over the March trial of being a Democratic operative. Trump derided the judge and his relatives on national television in April after pleading not guilty to the charges, resulting in death threats. Trumps lawyers say a $15 donation Merchan made to the Biden campaign and two more to organizations promoting voter turnout, totaling $20, are evidence of a conflict. State rules on judicial conduct prohibit New York judges from making political contributions. However, an ethics panel recently found that modest donations dont reasonably indicate a judges bias. Trump has further argued that Merchans daughter will profit from his downfall at her job at Authentic Campaigns, a political firm that primarily represents Democrats. Braggs campaign for DA briefly considered retaining the firm last fall but, in the end, decided not to, according to Tuesdays filings. Trumps argument is premised on nothing more than his guess that negative rulings or a conviction here may affect national politics in a way that might in turn affect [Merchans] daughters work in the same field, Colangelo wrote, adding that judges routinely preside over cases affecting industries with which they have a connection. Of the donations, Colangelo said well-settled principle makes clear that a judges political leanings are not disqualifying. The judge presiding over Trumps Florida case for taking classified documents from the White House, Aileen Cannon, has donated to Republican candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Cannon has been pressured to recuse herself for previously issuing highly controversial rulings in Trumps favor that caused the conservative appeals court that reversed them to question her understanding of the law. Trump hasnt tried to remove her from the case, in which he admits to the conduct but denies it was a crime. Along with who presides over his case, Trump is trying to control where its heard. He has insisted that Manhattan Federal Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein halt the case from proceeding in the state courts in Manhattan, which would force Braggs prosecutors to alter it for a federal court battle. Also Tuesday, Braggs office asked Merchan to deny Trumps efforts to block subpoenas demanding evidence in E. Jean Carrolls sex abuse litigation and records from the Trump Organization. Assistant District Attorney Susan Hoffinger argued the infamous Access Hollywood tape in which Trump boasts of being able to molest women, which he addressed in his deposition played at Carrolls trial, features prominently in the DAs case, as do his reactions to sex crimes allegations. Trump is also trying to stop the DA from subpoenaing Trump Organization records, including active nondisclosure agreements with high-level staffers employed when the alleged scheme occurred. Trumps lawyer did not return requests for comment. Donald Trumps federal trial on charges related to the classified documents seized at his Mar-a-Lago estate is scheduled Aug. 14, the judge announced Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannons order also told Department of Justice prosecutors and Trump's lawyers to file all pre-trial motions by July 24. The brisk schedule would place the first federal criminal trial of a former president months ahead of his New York state trial in March. Arguments about evidence and what can be debated at trial can often postpone initial trial dates. Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was indicted earlier this month on 37 criminal counts and pleaded not guilty to all charges related to his taking hundreds of classified records with him when he left the White House in January 2021. Special counsel Jack Smith is leading the prosecution of the case. Carl Tobias, a federal trial expert at the University of Richmond School of Law, told USA TODAY he didn't think the Aug. 14 date was "realistic" for several reasons. "Judge Cannon deserves credit for attempting to expedite the trial and for being responsive to Jack Smith's request for a speedy trial," Tobias said. "But Trump and his counsel will do everything possible to delay the trial as long as possible." Trump's co-defendant, Waltine "Walt" Nauta, is scheduled to be arraigned June 27. Cannon said in a footnote to her order that an order setting Nauta's trial will follow. It could not be determined immediately if Cannon intends for the two men to be tried separately, or if Nauta's lawyer has asked for such a separation. Currently, Nauta continues to serve as a personal assistant, or "body man," to Trump and attends to his daily needs as Trump ramps up his presidential campaign. Cannon's trial date order follows another judge's order on Monday that prohibits Trump and Nauta, his former White House valet, from viewing discovery evidence in the case without a lawyer present. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart's protective order also prevents the two men from sharing discovery or potentially exculpatory information provided by the government with the public or the media. Both men appeared in federal court in Miami on June 13. Nauta was given permission to get a second attorney on his legal team before entering a plea. Cannon's order also follows Trump's interview with Fox News on Monday evening in which the former president offered a new explanation as to why he didn't return classified documents he took with him from the White House. Trump told Fox News' chief political anchor Bret Baier on his show "Special Report" that he was "very busy" and didn't have time to separate them from his personal belongings. National Archives and Records Administration, which preserves government records, repeatedly asked Trump to turn over the documents. Asked why he didn't simply return the bankers boxes full of documents after the National Archives and Justice Department moved to subpoena him, Trump said, "Because I had boxes, I wanted to go through the boxes and get all of my personal things out. I don't want to hand that over to NARA yet. And I was very busy, as youve sort of seen." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump's trial in classified documents case set for Aug. 14 Two friends were killed and then a neighbor died. Months later, big questions are still unanswered. The two bodies were discovered this year in front of the last house on a dead-end road in Columbus, Georgia. The women close friends who worked together as billing specialists had been shot to death. Two days later, on March 9, a convicted sex offender was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head at his home next door. In the three months since, there have been no arrests and authorities in the city of roughly 200,000 have offered few details about the unsolved deaths of Juantonja Richmond, 52; Ronisha Anderson, 51; or Solomon Adams, 65. Interviews and documents first reported by NBC News reveal conflicting accounts of key details from the investigation into the womens deaths, including where one of the bodies was found and who may be responsible for the fatal shootings. Their relatives are frustrated at what they described as a lack of progress and little communication from investigators. We need some justice, said Richmonds sister, Danita Tate, 55. We need some answers. I have no faith in the Columbus Police Department. Juantonja Richmond and Ronisha A spokeswoman for the Columbus Police Department, Brittany Santiago, said in a statement Friday that the departments violent crimes unit is working diligently to bring the case to a resolve and, more importantly, bring the victims families closure. The department is awaiting results from a state law enforcement lab, the statement added. The department did not respond to a request for additional comment. For the Richmond family, the killing is especially painful: 14 years ago, Danitas younger sister, Chiquita Tate, was brutally killed in the familys hometown of Baton Rouge. The rising criminal defense lawyers husband was convicted of manslaughter after she was found stabbed dozens of times inside her law office. These girls were making something of themselves, said another sister, Robin Tate. We dont have nobody but us. Thats why it hurts so bad. Is neighbor linked to deaths? A possible motive in the killings remains unclear, as is a potential link between the fatal shootings of the friends and neighbor Solomon Adams. A coroners report obtained by NBC News shows that Adams left several notes around his home suggesting that he had been targeted by an individual and or gang members. The deputy coroner who wrote the report, Elizabeth Allison, said it was her belief that his death may have been self-inflicted. It wasnt clear if he was involved in the fatal shootings of Richmond and Anderson, she wrote. In a brief phone call Friday, Allison declined to comment on the report, saying the coroners office shouldnt have released it. In a separate report that was shared with NBC News, an autopsy for Richmond that the coroners office gave to a representative for Richmonds family appears to offer a more definitive conclusion: Richmond and Anderson were believed to have been shot by an individual who was found dead in his residence after having apparently shot himself. The autopsy does not identify Adams by name, but his body was found in his bedroom after his estranged wife called 911 for a welfare check, according to the coroners report. He had been shot once in the left side of his head. The homes where Juantonja Richmond, Ronisha Anderson and Solomon Adams were found dead. (Google Maps) In an interview, Adams estranged wife, Arimentha Adams, offered another conflicting take: when she spoke to someone from the police department after her husbands death, she said, she was told he had nothing to do with the two women. She didnt recall whom from the department she spoke with but said she was given the information during a phone call. The department spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. Day before his death, man asked ex to call police Arimentha Adams lives in Alabama but said she was still legally married to Solomon Adams at the time of his death. The two met and married after he was released from a Florida prison on child sex crime charges in 2007, according to the states sex offender registry. They went their separate ways after more than a decade, she said, but still talked by phone after his move to Georgia nearly two years ago. During a phone call on March 8 the day after Anderson and Richmond were found dead Solomon Adams told his wife to call the police at 2 p.m. the following day, she said. Arimentha Adams said she didnt ask why, he didnt offer a reason and she didnt do as he asked. We were separated, she said. I didnt ask. It wasnt until the next day, when she couldnt reach him, that she called authorities, she said. In her interview with NBC News, Arimentha Adams described her husbands mood during the Wednesday conversation as good. But in a phone call with the deputy coroner after Solomon Adams body was found, she described his demeanor differently, according to the report. He sounded quite nervous, the report says, describing Arimentha Adams account of the phone call. Arimentha Adams couldnt be reached for clarification. Pair killed minutes after starting at unusual hour The family says another mysterious detail in the killings came in a text message from Anderson to Richmond the night before their bodies were found. Richmonds relatives gained access to the message after her death and provided it to NBC News. Danita Tate said Richmond, a former Army sergeant and bright light who lit up any room she went in, had moved to Georgia decades ago and became close friends with Anderson, a mother of three known for her chocolate chip cookies and the open door and full fridge she offered to whomever was in need, her family said in a statement. Relatives said the pair began working together as billing specialists for Healing Minds Institute, a therapy practice established in 2020 by Andersons ex-husband, Xavier McCaskey, according to a filing with the secretary of states office. They usually did billing together at the home where Anderson and McCaskey still lived, Andersons family said. In the text message, Anderson told Richmond they would start working at 11:30 a.m. the next day, a time that was notable, Danita Tate said, because it was more than an hour before they typically went to work. In the message, Anderson doesnt say why Richmond needed to work early. According to a brief statement the Columbus Police Department released the day of their deaths, authorities were dispatched to the home at 11:35 a.m. after a report of a shooting. Authorities offered conflicting accounts of where the bodies were found. According to the police statement, responding officers found them in the front yard. But Richmonds autopsy says she was found in a car. Allison, the deputy coroner, referred a question about the discrepancy to the police department, which did not respond to a request for comment Friday night. The women were pronounced dead at 12:15 p.m., according to the statement. Anderson was shot in the head, according to a death certificate provided to NBC News by her family. Richmond was shot twice once in the neck and once in the chest, according to the autopsy. Why did they have to work early to do billing? Tate said. Who knew that Tonja would pull up that time of morning? The police department spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment about the text message. McCaskey did not respond to interview requests. Set to move out on her own McCaskey, who has described himself to local media as a former gang member and has served on a city planning commission, married Anderson in May 2021 after theyd been together for years, according to Andersons family. They separated eight months later and divorced last October over what the family described as irreconcilable differences. Before Anderson was killed, the family said, she had found a new home and was preparing to move from the house she shared with McCaskey. In a local TV report published last month, McCaskey is seen on camera visibly upset at the scene of the killings. Speaking to a reporter for the station, he discussed Solomon Adams criminal history and appeared to accuse him of the fatal shootings. The report did not provide evidence linking Solomon Adams to the killings and said it could not confirm McCaskeys claim with the Columbus Police Department. McCaskey did not respond to requests for comment. In its statement, Andersons family said they were disappointed that there appeared to be few leads into the events of March 7, a day that will forever be etched into the minds and nightmares of the Anderson family, the statement said. The family added that it is hopeful that shedding some light on this story will help bring those responsible for this heinous crime to justice. Then, the statement said, our family can finally have peace. CORRECTION (June 20, 2023. 11:20 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated Chiquita Tates relationship to Danita Tate. Chiquita was her younger sister, not older sister. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Nick Brown, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, announced his resignation Tuesday. A spokesperson with his office said Nick Brown has other opportunities he wanted to pursue. Others have said that Brown is readying for a run to be Washington states next Attorney General, which is being vacated as Bob Ferguson campaigns for Governor. BREAKING: U.S. Attorney Nick Brown @NickBrownNow is resigning ahead of expected run for WA Attorney General. Release here: https://t.co/j8ibTUXTqD #waelex #waleg Jim Brunner (@Jim_Brunner) June 20, 2023 A law publication reported that Brown will be going to Pacifica Law Group, a local firm that he previously was a partner. Brown took office in October 2021. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman will serve as the acting U.S. Attorney. Since then, Brown has brought a number of high-profile cases to federal court, focusing on COVID-era benefits fraud, drug rings, human trafficking, and embezzlement. During his years in office, Brown put an emphasis on protecting civil rights, addressing the fentanyl crisis, combatting gun crime, and empowering community voices in public safety efforts. Brown was selected in 2021 to chair the Attorney Generals Advisory Subcommittee on Civil Rights. The U.S. Attorneys Office under Brown put a priority on preventing and prosecuting hate crimes, protecting the most vulnerable and members of marginalized communities. A western Washington native, Brown received his BA Magna Cum Laude from Morehouse College in 1999 and his JD from Harvard Law School in 2002. He graduated from Steilacoom High School in 1995. mynorthwest.com FILE - U.S. Attorney for Western Washington Nick Brown poses for a photo outside the U.S. Courthouse on Oct. 19, 2021, in Seattle. Brown announced on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, he is stepping down a resignation that arrives amid expectations that he's planning to run for state attorney general. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) SEATTLE (AP) Nick Brown, the U.S. attorney for Western Washington, announced on Tuesday he is stepping down a resignation that arrives amid expectations that he plans to run for state attorney general. I hope to return to public service in the future, but I know that the U.S. Attorneys Office will continue its excellent work under the career attorneys and professional staff who assisted me during my time in office," Brown said in a news release announcing his resignation, effective June 21. Barred from addressing politics while serving as U.S. attorney, Brown has not announced intentions to launch a bid to replace Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who kicked off an exploratory campaign for governor in May, one day after Gov. Jay Inslee announced he wont seek a fourth term. Brown, 46, plans to return part time as a litigation partner at Pacifica Law Group in Seattle, where he handled complex civil, regulatory, public policy and other matters for public and private clients before becoming a U.S. attorney. He served as Inslees counsel from 2013 to 2017, helping the governor navigate a thicket of issues that included Inslees 2014 moratorium on the death penalty and tension with the federal government after Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize the sale of marijuana for adults. In 2021, the U.S. Senate confirmed Brown as the U.S. Attorney for Western Washington, making him the first Black U.S. attorney to serve in the state. Brown's work as a U.S. attorney put an emphasis on civil rights, the fentanyl crisis, gun crime and human trafficking. He helped create a cybercrime unit that lead to prosecutions including the indictment of six people accused of filing fraudulent COVID-19 aid applications and receiving more than $3.3 million. An Army veteran and Washington native, Brown served in the Judge Advocate General's Corps from 2003 to 2007 at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Fort Bliss, Texas, and Baghdad, Iraq. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal in 2005. He holds a law degree from Harvard Law School. It's been a longtime professional dream of mine to be U.S. attorney, and I was super honored and particularly humbled to have the job when I got it Brown said in an interview. I'm really proud of the work we've been able to do the last couple years. US-CANADA-TITANIC-SUBMERSIBLE A member of the Coast Guard walks by a Coast Guard Cutter at the US Coast Guard Base Boston in Boston, Massachusetts on June 20, 2023. Credit - Joseph PreziosoAFP/Getty Images The U.S. Navy announced plans Tuesday to send a deep-water lifting system to help in the ongoing effort to rescue and recover a minivan-sized submersible that went missing Sunday in the Atlantic Ocean after taking tourists to visit the wreck of the Titanic. The advanced salvage system, as well as subject matter experts, are expected to arrive Tuesday evening in St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada. The Navy personnel and equipment support the unified command led by the U.S. Coast Guards, which is coordinating rescue and recovery efforts along with Canadian forces and vessels parent company, OceanGate Expeditions. This is a complex search effort, which requires the use of subject matter expertise and specialized equipment, Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick told reporters. While the U.S. Coast Guard has assumed the role of search and rescue mission coordinator, we do not have all of the necessary expertise and equipment required in a search of this nature. Read more: Missing Titanic Tourist Vessel Crew Have Around 40 Hours of Breathable Air Left The small submersible, dubbed Titan, initially had a 96-hour oxygen supply before vanishing Sunday with five people onboard, including an OceanGate pilot with and four passengers who paid $250,000 for an eight-day expedition to visit the Titanic wreckage. By midday Tuesday, the vessel only had about 40 hours of oxygen left, Frederick said, adding pressure to locate it. The unified team is working around-the-clock to bring all available assets and expertise to bear as quickly as possible in an effort to solve this very complex problem, he said. The specialized equipment that the Navy sent Tuesday is known as the Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System. Its a portable lift system thats designed to recover bulky sunken objects such as aircraft or small vessels that weigh up to 60,000 pounds. It belongs to the Navys Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), which provides technical, operational, and emergency support for these sorts of missions. Read more: See Photos of the Wreck of the Titanic When It Was First Discovered Last year, for instance, SUPSALVs crews helped recover a F-35 stealth fighter jet that had sunk about 12,400 feet below the South China Sea. Their crews set a record in 2021 when they pulled up a MH-60S helicopter that plunged to a depth of 19,075 feet off the coast of Okinawa, Japan. The U.S. Coast Guard has been conducting searches 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod at the surface level, underwater using sonar technology, and also by air. Additionally, the U.S. military sent three C-17 planes loaded with rescue-related cargo and equipment from Buffalo, NY to St. Johns. A massive commercial pipe-laying ship, equipped with two remote-control underwater vessels, also arrived at the scene earlier on Tuesday to help with the search. The hope is that the new equipment will be capable of reaching the depths necessary to locate and recover the missing sub. The Titanic, meanwhile, is located about 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at a depth of roughly 12,600 feetor 2.3 miles. More than 1,500 people lost their lives when the RMS Titanic sank on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, on April 15, 1912. By Andrew Chung (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a lower court ruling that blocked South Carolina from ending public funding to Planned Parenthood, giving the Republican-governed state another chance to defend its bid to deprive the reproductive healthcare and abortion provider of government money. The justices sent the case back to the lower court to reconsider the case in light of their 7-2 ruling on June 8 in a similar case from Indiana preserving an individual's right to sue government officials over alleged violations of rights created by federal programs that Congress enacts through its spending power, like the Medicaid health insurance program for the poor. The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had barred South Carolina from terminating funding to Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, the organization's regional affiliate, under Medicaid, because the organization provides abortions. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic operates clinics in the South Carolina cities of Charleston and Columbia, where it provides physical exams, cancer and other health screenings, as well as abortions. The clinics annually serve hundreds of patients covered by Medicaid, a state-federal health insurance program covering low-income Americans. The Planned Parenthood affiliate and Medicaid patient Julie Edwards sued in 2018 after Republican Governor Henry McMaster ordered state officials to end the organization's participation in the state Medicaid program by declaring any abortion provider unqualified to provide family planning services. At issue is whether recipients of Medicaid have the right to challenge state determinations that a medical provider is not qualified to provide certain services. The justices in 2020 turned away an appeal by the state at an earlier stage of the case. The Supreme Court's June 8 ruling allowed an Indiana nursing home resident's family to sue over his care at a government-run facility under the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act. The justices made clear, however, that lawsuits like the family's, brought under an 1871 law that helps individuals challenge illegal acts by state officials, are the exception, not the rule. In the South Carolina case, the 4th Circuit in 2022 ruled in Planned Parenthood's favor, finding that both the right to sue under the 1871 law and the state's move to defund the organization violated Edwards' right under Medicaid to freely choose a qualified provider. "To allow the state to disqualify Planned Parenthood would nullify Congress's manifest intent to provide our less fortunate citizens the opportunity to select a medical provider of their choice, an opportunity that the most fortunate routinely enjoy," the 4th Circuit said. South Carolina is one of numerous Republican-led states that have moved to ban or restrict abortion since the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized the procedure nationwide. South Carolina's legislature in May passed a law to ban most abortions after about six weeks, but a judge blocked it. The law is a revised version of a previous ban that the state's highest court struck down in January. (Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York and Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will Dunham) (CNN) Textbooks in Saudi Arabia have been changing. For years, researchers have been observing a gradual moderation on subjects ranging from gender roles to the promotion of peace and tolerance. Among the changes raising attention recently, in light of reports that the United States is trying to pave the way toward normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel, are edits related to Jews, Christians and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A report released last month from the Israel- and London-based Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), which mainly monitors how Israel and Jews are portrayed in education texts, found almost all examples portraying Christians and Jews in a negative manner were removed from the latest Saudi textbooks, building on trends seen in previous years. Prominent examples removed include implications that Jews and Christians are the enemies of Islam, or that Jews and Christians are criticized for having destroyed and distorted the Torah and Gospel, according to the study. On Israel and the Palestinians, IMPACT-se found moderation, but not yet full acceptance of Israel. Certain references to the Israeli enemy or the Zionist enemy have been replaced with the Israeli occupation or the Israeli occupation army. But other negative references to Israel, as well omitting it on maps is also noted in the study. There continues to be no mention of the Holocaust. In the 2022-23 curriculum, a lesson on patriotic poetry removed an example of opposing the Jewish settlement of Palestine. A high school social studies textbook no longer contains a section describing the positive results of the First Intifada, the late 1980s Palestinian uprising against Israel. And one textbook removed an entire chapter addressing the Palestinian cause. The modifications, IMPACT-se said, are an encouraging sign that progress may include attitudes toward Israel and Zionism. The organization, which has been monitoring Saudi textbooks since the early 2000s, examined changes made to more than 80 textbooks from the 2022-23 Saudi curriculum and more than 180 textbooks from previous curricula. IMPACT-se is also advising the United Arab Emirates ministry of education as it updates its school curricula to include Holocaust education. Short term memory This also is intended to signal that the new Gulf states leaders are modern, forward-thinking and secular-leaning all of which is meant to appeal to a specific, largely external audience, said Mira Al Hussein, a research fellow focusing on Gulf states at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She said however that it is quite ambitious for governments to suddenly do a 180 (degree turn) and start preaching tolerance. The reliance on peoples short-memory is misguided in this instance. IMPACT-se observed that new content in Saudi textbooks also criticizes certain Islamist groups such as Hezbollah, ISIS, al Qaeda, Houthi militias and the Muslim Brotherhood. CNN has not independently verified the findings. The Saudi Center for International Communication and the Ministry of Education didnt respond to CNNs request for comment. Experts on the region say while the textbook changes are notable, they should be seen in context. Saudi Arabias school curriculum came under intense scrutiny in the West after the 9/11 attacks in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually removing radical content from its textbooks. Kristin Diwan, senior resident scholar at the Gulf States Institute in Washington, said the recent changes are in line with the kingdoms new political orientation with the ruling family central to its legitimacy. For decades, the government sought legitimacy at home and abroad though its status as the birthplace of Islam and home to its two holiest sites, but the kingdom has in recent years moved towards a more secular form of nationalism. This allows for the easing of religious language denigrating Shiism, Judaism, and Christianity. It also gives more strategic latitude for the leadership to bargain on these religious issues, as seen through the greater emphasis placed on peacemaking and tolerance, she told CNN in an email. But Diwan cautioned that the while the new language may show more religious tolerance towards Judaism, it leaves the political acceptance of Israel in limbo. This is consistent with efforts to ease religious intolerance of Jews, incrementally preparing the way should a political decision be made on Israel normalization, she said. Relationship with Islam Aziz Alghashian, a researcher on Saudi foreign policy and its ties with Israel, said the kingdom is undergoing a change in its relationship with Islam. It is not sidelining it, but making it more moderate and more tolerant of others. Before, the religious discourse was not overly tolerant because Saudi Arabia was not exposed to globalization as it is today It is clear that this is changing, and it is also clear that it will take time. Alghashian said the amendments in the Saudi textbooks are subtle and dont suggest a major transition towards acceptance of Israel. Some in Israel want to see normalization with Saudi so badly that any interaction about Israel will be framed as something positive towards normalization, he said. The changes suggest that Saudis perhaps have a better understanding of Israel, he told CNN. The general understanding of Israel in the Arab world and Saudi Arabia is misunderstood and not nuanced, he said, adding that that may be changing which is certainly a positive thing. The Joe Biden administration has been pushing Saudi Arabia to normalize ties with Israel, to build on the Abraham Accords that had four Arab nations recognize the Jewish state in a major foreign policy feat for President Donald Trump in 2020. Saudi Arabia opened its airspace to Israeli airlines for the first time last year but has insisted that no normalization will occur before a Palestinian state is established. Normalization continues to be a taboo among Arab publics. An opinion poll conducted last year by the Arab Center Washington DC found that 84% of Arabs surveyed disapprove of their countries recognition of Israel. In Saudi Arabia, support for normalization stood at 5%. Elie Podeh, a professor at the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Hebrew University, who has extensively studied educational systems in the region, said the changes are part of a very long process of moderation. Its not a coincidence. It is a kind of a policy from above and I think that if you combine the two trends, fighting extremism and the other one is, Israel gradually being more accepted as a player in the Middle East. Then you can understand why we are seeing those changes in the education system, Podeh said. But even the deletion of an entire chapter on the Palestinian cause does not mean the Saudi government will suddenly stop caring. Obviously they are not negating, they are supporting the Palestinian issue. Its not that they suddenly they will go in one direction and will neglect the other one. No, no way, Podeh said. But Podeh and the other experts all agreed: public perceptions of Israel will be shaped by much more than textbooks. If you were to ask me something like 20 years ago, I will say (textbooks have) a lot of impact But today, social media, and so many socialization instruments to some extent minimize the role of the textbook, Podeh said. Diwan noted that textbooks are important, but peoples views are impacted by media messaging, by global events, and by personal experiences. Not all of these are in the control of the state. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Saudi Arabia is quietly changing its textbooks. Could that lead to acceptance of Israel?" By Humeyra Pamuk BEIJING (Reuters) -The United States on Tuesday pressed its call for military communication channels with China and signalled concern over reports that China plans a military training facility in Cuba following Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to Beijing over the weekend. Establishing military-to-military communications is essential to reduce frictions between the two global powers, Sarah Beran, White House National Security Council senior director for China and Taiwan Affairs, told reporters in a briefing about the trip. "This is an absolutely critical way for us to manage competition, crisis communication, ensure that there is not miscommunication or misperception about each other's intentions," Beran said. "We remain willing and able at all levels to meet and call on China to respond appropriately to that." Blinken said on Tuesday that the United States would have "deep concerns" about Chinese military activities in Cuba, after the Wall Street Journal reported that Beijing was planning a new training facility there. Blinken told a press conference in London that he had made those concerns clear to his Chinese counterparts. "This is something we're going to be monitoring very, very closely and we've been very clear about that. And we will protect our homeland, we will protect our interests," Blinken added. During Blinken's Beijing visit, the first to China by a U.S. secretary of state since 2018, the nations agreed to temper rivalries to avoid conflict but there were no breakthroughs. China cited U.S. sanctions as an obstacle to military dialogue which Blinken said he had repeatedly raised with his hosts and would continue to push for. Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu has been sanctioned since 2018 over the purchase of combat aircraft and equipment from Russia's main arms exporter, Rosoboronexport. GLOBAL WORRIES Lack of open channels between both nations has prompted international jitters, with Beijing's reluctance to engage in regular military-to-military talks with Washington alarming China's neighbours. Speaking at the same briefing call on Tuesday, the U.S. State Department's top diplomat for East Asia Daniel Kritenbrink said a successful and responsible management of the U.S.-China relationship will only be possible if it is a "two-way street". Kritenbrink said asserting that all bilateral problems were caused by one party "simply doesn't reflect reality." At one of the most significant U.S.-China exchanges since U.S. President Joe Biden took office, the two sides appeared entrenched over a multitude of issues from Taiwan to trade - including U.S. actions toward China's chip industry - plus human rights and Russia's war against Ukraine. The most concrete result of the trip was a commitment to more diplomatic engagements with further high-level U.S. visits in coming months, including possible trips by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. China's defence minister Li earlier this month declined an invitation to meet U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at an international security summit. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Alistair Bell) Most of those who died who were students who boarded at the school in western Uganda More than 20 people arrested in Uganda in connection with Friday's school massacre have been accused of collaborating with the rebel group blamed for carrying out the killings. Among those held are the director and headteacher, who have not commented. Officials say there may have been a dispute over the ownership of the school where the 42 people died. The army say Islamic State-linked militants were behind the attack, but other motives are being investigated. They belong to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group created in the 1990s and took up arms against President Yoweri Museveni, alleging persecution of Muslims. It is now largely based in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. The arrests raise difficult questions about whether locals, and those responsible for the children, had a hand in what happened. But there is very little clarity. Thirty-seven pupils were among those killed, when, late on Friday, attackers stormed Lhubiriha Secondary School in the small town of Mpondwe, close to the border with DR Congo. The victims, many of them staying in dormitories, were burnt or hacked to death, and some were reportedly shot. Eight people were also abducted. On Tuesday, the authorities said that three - one woman and two boys - had been rescued by the army as they targeted the assailants, killing two of them. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, army commander Maj Gen Dick Olum said the violence was a way for the ADF to distract his soldiers from their pursuit of the militants inside DR Congo. A neighbour told the BBC she heard one of the attackers shouting "Allahu Akbar", meaning "God is greatest", and saying: "We have succeeded in destabilising Museveni's country." According to military intelligence, it is suspected that five ADF militants took part in the attack. The ADF, which is now linked to the IS group, has not yet said it was behind the attack though it has carried out attacks in Uganda in the past. While blaming "the terrorists of ADF" for what happened, President Museveni has also talked, without elaborating, about "wrangles" over the school. First Lady Janet Museveni, who also serves as education minister, said there had been a "conflict" between "groups in [the district of] Kasese who wanted to take it over" and the non-governmental organisation (NGO) that built it. She pointed out that auditors from the NGO had been at the school the day before the attack, but said on Saturday that a proper investigation was under way. Ugandan army spokesperson Brig Gen Felix Kulayigye has told the BBC's Newsday programme that along with school officials, two people accused of guiding the attackers "to avoid detection" in Mpondwe have also been detained. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said investment was needed to shore up Ukraine's battered economy (HENRY NICHOLLS) The UK will back Ukraine's economy to the tune of $3 billion over the next three years while it fights back against Russian forces, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Tuesday. More than 1,000 foreign dignitaries from 61 countries along with captains of industry and global investors are expected in London for a two-day conference to help Ukraine get back on its feet. The International Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023, starting Wednesday, is looking for more help from private-sector investors to strengthen the war-torn nation's battered finances. Downing Street said Ukraine's GDP has taken a 29-percent hit since the start of the invasion in February last year, with Russia targeting the economy as well as its towns and cities. But the UK backing would help Ukraine unlock vital World Bank loans to help bolster its vital public services, including schools and hospitals. President Volodymyr Zelensky was looking to the future and was "determined to drive reforms to become more open, more transparent, and ready for investment", Sunak will tell delegates. "This is a vibrant, dynamic, creative, European country that refuses to be subdued. "So, together with our allies we will maintain our support for Ukraine's defence and for the counter offensive, and we'll stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes as they continue to win this war." Downing Street said more than 400 companies from 38 countries with a combined annual revenue of more than $1.6 trillion had promised to back Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction. Several multinationals and major corporations, including Virgin, Sanofi, Philips, Hyundai and Citi, have signed the Ukraine Business Compact, to encourage trade, investment and expertise-sharing. Sunak said he would launch a separate framework to improve investor confidence, working with commercial insurance markets on risks to help meet Ukraine's future needs. The UK will contribute an initial 20 million to help reconstruction projects while the conflict is ongoing, and separately up to 250 million of development funding. Just over half of that will go towards humanitarian support via bodies such as the UN and Red Cross helping communities on the frontline. In all, the UK has provided 347 million in aid to Ukraine since the start of the invasion. phz/jwp/rox Ukraine builds layered air defences as Russia ramps up strikes Ukrainian serviceman prepares an AN/TWQ-1 Avenger mobile air defence missile system for work outside of Kyiv By Tom Balmforth NEAR KYIV, Ukraine (Reuters) - At a glance on a clear summer's afternoon, the U.S.-made Avenger air defence system is barely visible in the shadow of trees at the end of a dirt track outside Kyiv. The short-range unit is an important part of a three-layered air defence network that Ukraine is trying to develop with a range of highly sophisticated Western systems to thwart Russian air attacks. Russia has unleashed regular long-distance missile and drone attacks since October, but it seriously increased strikes in May as Ukraine prepared for a counteroffensive this month. The strikes, which regularly kill civilians, look at least in part aimed at depleting air defence stocks so that fewer systems can be used to protect troops trying to advance under Russian air superiority, Kyiv officials say. "The most difficult is an attack by various types of aerial targets," said the Avenger unit's commander who goes by the call sign "Architect", his pre-war profession. "When they arrive in one night, both (drones) and cruise missiles fly by, that's the most difficult." He leads a six-man team that took up positions two weeks ago after being trained by U.S. military instructors in Europe. They are yet to shoot down any missiles or drones. They join an unfolding air battle that has played out over several weeks during which Ukraine has reported an extraordinary rate of downed drones and missiles, including hypersonic ones. On Friday, Ukraine said it shot down all six cruise missiles and six hypersonic Kinzhal missiles fired at targets in and around the capital. But strikes still regularly slip past defences. Last Wednesday, three civilians were killed in a missile attack in Odesa. The day before 11 were killed in a strike on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's hometown. 'RACE AGAINST TIME' Though it has dropped out of headlines as Kyiv has pressed for F-16 fighter jets from the West, Ukraine is still regularly asking for - and receiving - air defence missiles to replenish stocks, said Yuriy Sak, adviser to Ukraine's defence minister. "Russia's tactic is using cheap drones in order to exhaust our air defences. It's almost like a race against time. Who's going to run out first? The Russians with their missiles or the ones we get from our allies?" he said. Washington has supplied at least 12 Avenger systems to Ukraine. The Avenger is a rotating turret with eight missiles mounted on the back of a Humvee, which makes it highly mobile. "One of our top priorities, when it comes to transforming our armed forces and building up our air defence capability is creating a three-layered air defence system," said Sak. The Avenger, like hand-held Stinger missiles, are at the short-range end of the three layers. U.S.-made Patriot systems are at the long-range end. Avengers have a range of up to 5 km. Patriots have a 3 km minimum range and a maximum of 80 km. There is greater mobility at the short end to counter targets and it is also much cheaper than firing expensive salvos of Patriot missiles, Sak said. The Avenger is effective near the battefield, but there are too few of the systems to go around, he added. In a bid to build up short-end capabilities, Ukraine is pressing Australia to supply four-wheel-drive Hawkei vehicles that can be mounted with air defences and used in the same way as Avengers, Sak said. In the month of May alone, the Air Force reported shooting down 149 cruise missiles, 399 drones, seven hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, three ballistic missiles as well as 11 Iskander missiles of two different types. By contrast in April, the Air Force said it had shot down 73 drones and 21 cruise missiles. The unit commander near Kyiv said he was constantly aware of his responsibility to do his best to protect the roughly 3.5 million people living in Kyiv, and that they were on duty round the clock ready to respond. (Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Sergiy Karazy; editing by Angus MacSwan) Ukraine comes under renewed drone and rocket attack The shooting down of Multiple regions of Ukraine came under sustained attack by Iranian-made Shahed drones in the early hours of June 20. Twenty were downed in Kyiv alone out of a total of 35 across the country. Critical infrastructure in Lviv was hit, and Zaporizhzhya was attacked with ballistic missiles, the Ukrainian Air Force reported. Ukrainian air defense downed 32 out of the 35 Shahed drones launched by Russia. This was the second drone attack on the capital this month, and the first drone attack in the past 18 days. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich "The attack was typical of Russian UAV assaults, the drones approached the capital in waves from different directions, said Kyiv military administration head Serhiy Popko. The air raid lasted more than three hours. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich There is no information about any casualties in Kyiv as of 10 am EET. Read also: Ukrainian official assures all Patriot air defense systems remain fully operational REUTERS/Gleb Garanich Russian troops hit crucial infrastructure and caused a fire in Lviv, said Lviv Oblast governor, Maksym Kozytskyi. According to him, emergency services immediately arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire. There were no casualties. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich Russia also launched seven S-300 and Iskander-M missiles against Zaporizhzhya, damaging a farm as well as recreation infrastructure, according to Yuriy Malashko, head of the Zaporizhzhya Oblast military administration. No casualties have been reported. Read also: Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Russian Bal mobile missile complex with the Kh-35 anti-ship missile Ukraine has mechanisms to counteract the Bal missile system currently deployed on the Russian border, said Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine spokesman Yuriy Ihnat on June 20. The Bal is a Russian coastal mobile missile system using the Kh-35 anti-ship missile as its base. It was adopted in 2008 and designed to control territorial waters and strait zones. It has a range of 120 km with the Kh-35 missile, and 260 to 500 km with the Kh-35U, with a launch interval of just over 3 seconds. "If the enemy uses the Bal system it means that the Russians have a certain shortage of Kalibr missiles, Kh-101/Kh-155, Iskander, and Kinzhal missiles," he said Read also: Ukrainian military reports U.S. Avenger systems deployed in Kyiv Ihnat said the Bal coastal defense missile system has not yet been used, but that Ukraine's military leadership already possesses certain means to counter the new Russian threat. He added that the Russian units are also conducting active aerial reconnaissance along the entire front line, with drones monitoring the movement of Ukrainian troops. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine warned of the threat of the Russian military using Kh35/Kh35U missiles against seven regions of Ukraine after Bal coastal missile systems were moved into Bryansk region, located along Ukraines northeastern border. Read also: Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Ukraine downs Russian drones but some get through due to gaps in air protection A serviceman pays his last respects at the coffin of volunteer soldier Ivan Shulga, a sound producer in TV channels and musician, killed in a battle with the Russian troops near Bakhmut, during a farewell ceremony in Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, June 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Ukrainian air defenses downed 32 of 35 Shahed exploding drones launched by Russia early Tuesday, most of them in the Kyiv region, officials said, in a bombardment that exposed gaps in the countrys air protection after almost 16 months of war. Russian forces mostly targeted the region around the Ukrainian capital in a nighttime drone attack lasting around three hours, officials said, but Ukrainian air defenses in the area shot down about two dozen of them. The attack was part of a wider bombardment of Ukrainian regions that extended as far as the Lviv region in the west of the country, near Poland. The Shahed drones made it all the way to Lviv because of the inability of air defense assets to cover such a broad area, Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said. Air defense systems are mostly dedicated to protecting major cities, key infrastructure facilities, including nuclear power plants, and the front line, he said. There is a general lack of air defense assets to cover a country like Ukraine with a dome like Israel has, he said, in a reference to Israels Iron Dome aerial defense system. In the Lviv region, the Russian strike hit a critical infrastructure facility, starting a fire, according to Lviv Gov. Maksym Kozytskyi. Russia also struck the southern Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine with ballistic missiles. Ukraines air defenses have been reinforced with sophisticated weapons from its Western allies, allowing it a higher success rate recently against incoming drones and missiles. Previously, a winter bombardment by Russia damaged Ukraines power supply, though speedy repairs blunted that Kremlin effort. The latest aerial assaults behind Ukraines front line coincided with the early stages of a Ukrainian counteroffensive, as it aims to dislodge the Kremlins forces from territory occupied since Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022. The counteroffensive has come up against heavily mined terrain and reinforced defensive fortifications, according to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraines armed forces. Russia has also mustered a large number of reserves, he said in a post accompanying a video of him visiting front-line positions with other senior officers. Heavy battles are taking place in eastern Ukraine, around Bakhmut, Lyman, Avdiivka and Marinka, the Ukrainian armed forces said. Russia shelled 15 cities and villages in the eastern Donetsk region, wounding five civilians, including three in Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut, according to Ukraines presidential office. Despite the fierce resistance of the occupiers, our soldiers are doing everything possible to liberate Ukrainian territory. The operation continues as planned, Zaluzhnyis post said. Russia has relocated about 20,000 troops from the areas in the Kherson region after flooding from the recent Kakhovka Dam collapse made it impossible for Ukraine to conduct an offensive there, Ukrainian military analyst Roman Svitan said. The flooding removed the need for the Kremlins forces to protect about 300 kilometers (180 miles) of the more than 1,000-kilometer (680-mile) front line, according to Svitan, and allowed Moscow to increase its military density in the Zaporizhzhia and the Donetsk regions where intensive fighting is occurring. Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to breach the dam earlier this month while under Russian control, according to information obtained by The Associated Press. Svitan said the Zaporizhzhia region appears to be the focus of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, seeking to smash through Russias land corridor with the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. In other developments, Russias Foreign Intelligence Service, known by its acronym SVR, invited Ukrainian diplomats stationed abroad to come to Russia with their families to avoid returning to Ukraine. It claimed many Ukrainian diplomats are unwilling to return home after their tours and want refugee status in the European Union and Asian countries where they worked. Also, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu alleged that Ukraine plans to use U.S.-made HIMARS and U.K.-provided Storm Shadow missiles to attack Russian territory, including Crimea. He warned that using those missiles on targets outside the current war zone would trigger immediate strikes on the decision-making centers on the territory of Ukraine. He didn't elaborate and didnt provide any evidence to support his claim. ___ Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine The Ukrainian Armed Forces are seeking vulnerabilities in Russian defenses with the aim to collapse the frontline just as they did during the Kharkiv operation in the fall of 2022 according to Margo Grosberg, commander of the Estonian Defense Forces' intelligence center. Read also: Ukraine lost less than 10% of its Western equipment in clashes with Russia Estonian intelligence Only a third of the Ukrainian forces trained in the West have been deployed to the fight, Grosberg stated in an interview Estonian news outlet ERR on June 20. He noted that the counteroffensive from the Ukrainian military is taking place in the areas of Bakhmut, southern Donetsk Oblast, and Zaporizhzhya Oblast. The majority of territories liberated by the Ukrainian forces are located in Zaporizhzhya Oblast and in the direction of Orikhov in Donetsk Oblast. However, Grosberg pointed out that Ukrainian forces are yet to reach the primary Russian defensive positions. "No necessary breach point has been found yet, where the entire frontline could collapse under pressure," he said. "At present, Ukrainians are looking for weak spots, where defense is slightly weaker and troop saturation is lower." Read also: Russian troops flood own positions by destroying dam, risk detonating landmines Malyar Grosberg also stated that a major offensive isn't expected this week. The Ukrainians apply a measured, calm approach, he added. Read also: Zelenskyy convenes senior staff meeting on Ukrainian offensive But sooner or later, this gap or spot will be found, and then everything will start happening at a different pace, as it did last fall in Kharkiv. Earlier, Ukraines General Staff reported that Defense Forces made progress in the Melitopol and Berdyansk directions during their ongoing counteroffensive. Read also: Ukraine can deploy 75% more forces for counteroffensive retired officer In addition, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that the Ukrainian military hasn't lost any positions, only liberated them. On June 15, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reported that the Ukrainian counteroffensive continues on several fronts. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine (Bloomberg) -- President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine hasnt yet used new assault brigades in its counteroffensive as troops advance across some parts of the front line. Most Read from Bloomberg Some of the most potent military units are waiting for their hour to join the fight, Zelenskiy said in a video address Monday evening. Kyivs military hasnt lost any positions as they hold their ground in areas seeing an increase in Russian attacks, he said. Ukrainian forces downed 32 of 35 Russian-launched drones in an barrage that reached as far as the western city of Lviv, where it hit a critical facility, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said on Telegram. The European Union meanwhile is ready to propose a financial aid package of around 50 billion ($55 billion) to support Ukraine as it presses forward with the campaign to retake territory lost since Russias invasion more than a year ago. Latest Coverage EU Readies 50 Billion Ukraine Package Ahead of Donor Summit Germany to Place Rheinmetall Ammunition Order Worth $130 Million Putin Foe Navalny Risks 30 More Years in Jail at New Trial Russia Raises Crude-Oil Processing to Highest in Over Two Months Markets Russian crude oil flows to international markets have drifted lower, while remaining well above levels seen in February, the baseline month for the countrys pledged output cuts. Coming Up Ukraine participates in Financial Action Task Force meetings in Paris all week Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. (CNN) Killings and attacks on communities in Darfur by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias have been reported in clear violation of a fragile ceasefire in Sudan, civil society groups said. At least four civil society groups and activists have reported attacks which took place over the weekend in North Darfur. The timings spill into Sunday the first day of a 72-hour ceasefire announced by the two main warring parties, the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). A North Darfur civil society group and the Darfur Victims Solidarity Association said late Monday, the RSF seized an SAF garrison in North Darfurs Tawila locality in the morning, killing a number of armed forces soldiers. Residents of the community fled the area in fighting that started Friday evening. There was a clear violation of the armistice, the groups said. El Fasher Resistance Committees in North Darfur, part of a Sudan-wide civilian pro-democracy network, first alerted the attack on the Tawila community on Friday evening. At least seven people were killed in the initial Friday attack, with the market, local government office and police station looted, livestock and cars stolen, and the towns northern and eastern neighborhoods destroyed, the committees reported. Subsequent numbers of casualties are currently unknown due to communications cuts, a North Darfur activist who requested anonymity on safety grounds, told CNN. In a separate report released Monday, Dar Masalit (Home of Masalit) sultanate said more than 5,000 people were killed and at least 8,000 injured in a two-month period since the start of fighting which began in Darfur on April 24 in West Darfurs capital El Geneina region alone. The Masalit are the majority ethnic group in West Darfur. Their historic home encompasses a wider area that includes parts of eastern Chad, with a sultan as the traditional head of the non-Arab African community. The Dar Masalit report accuses the RSF and allied Janjaweed militias of the killings and other crimes, as published by the sultanate. A series of systematic and bloody attacks launched by the RSF and the Janjaweed militia, with the aim of ethnically cleansing African civilians and of committing genocide, were witnessed by the sultanate, the Dar Masalit report said. CNN cannot independently verify the figures, they are considerably higher than other recent reports of deaths and injuries. Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), a womens rights group active in Darfur, reported over 1,000 deaths and 2,000 injuries in El Geneina since April 24. And Sudans Minister of Health Haitham Ibrahim said 3,000 people have been killed across Sudan since the conflict started on April 15, in an interview on Saudi al-Hadath television Saturday. Information on casualties from Darfur is limited due to the communication blackout, Ibrahim added. Lawyers, doctors and teachers targeted Civil society activists and monitoring groups have also reported the targeting of community leaders, lawyers, doctors, teachers and other professionals on the Masalit community in West Darfur, as well as in Khartoum, since the beginning of the conflict. Several high profile Masalit figures have been killed in the past week, including West Darfur governor Khamis Abbaker. The Darfur Bar Association (DBA) said Monday that two more members of the organization have been killed in West Darfur by the RSF and their militias, without specifying the day of the reported killings. DBA named Professors Tariq Hassan Yaqoub Al-Malik, and the West Darfur humanitarian aid commissioner Al-Sadiq Muhammad Ahmed Haroun, both investigators of killings committed in 2021 at Krinding displaced persons camp in the state. On Sunday, the DBA urged its members to leave the states capital, El Geneina, after the organization reportedly received threatening messages. The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) condemned the killings, saying in a statement: Compelling eyewitness accounts attribute this act to Arab militias and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), even though the RSF communicated a denial of their involvement to the mission. RSF General Abdel-Rahman Gumma on Monday repeated the paramilitary groups denial of responsibility for the governors killing, blaming outlaws. In a recorded voice message posted to Twitter, Gumma called the conflict in Geneina tribal. The UN Human Rights Commission recently expressed concern about a shocking rise in hate speech in West Darfur against the Massalit. I am particularly concerned by reports of gender-based and sexual violence, and by the ethnic dimension of the violence in Geneina, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Monday, adding to the growing number of concerned voices. El Geneina center of attacks The city of El Geneina witnessed the highest number of violent attacks and crimes against humanity in the month of May, when the RSF and Janjaweed targeted shelters and neighborhoods with heavy artillery, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of citizens on some days, the Dar Masalit report said. The report cited the neighborhoods that came under the most fire, including Al Jamarek, Al Buhaira, Al Thawrah, Al Tadamon, Al Madaris, Al Mansoura, and Al Jabal among others. CNN has confirmed attacks on three of the named neighborhoods. On May 28 and 29, RSF and Janjaweed militiamen attacked the Misterei area, some 42 kilometers (26 miles) southwest of El Geneina, resulting in the deaths of dozens of civilians and the displacement of the entire population of the region to Chad, the report stated. CNN geolocated and verified extensive fires in the Misterei area on these dates. On June 15, the siege on all neighborhoods in El Geneina intensified, causing a large number of civilians to flee west toward Chad through the Hashab forests, the Dar Masalit report said. Those fleeing were brutally attackedkilled, wounded and their belongings robbed by RSF and Janjaweed militiamen, the report added. The Dar Masalit report sketched a broad picture of ethnic cleansing by the RSF and associated Janjaweed militias, with a severely deteriorated security and humanitarian situation in West Darfur. CNN cannot independently verify all incidents as outlined in the Dar Masalit report. But CNN has confirmed and reported on thousands of civilians fleeing Geneina and West Darfur. Additional social media videos and testimony, as well as human rights activists and groups reports, support large sections of the Dar Masalit report findings. In the past four days, 15,000 West Darfur refugees, including almost 900 wounded, have arrived in the Chadian border town of Adre, Medicins Sans Frontiers, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said Monday evening. Fragile ceasefire On Saturday, the US and Saudi Arabia announced the RSF and SAF agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, with the two groups agreeing to refrain from military strikes and allow the unimpeded movement of and delivery of humanitarian assistance. The parties agreed that during the ceasefire they will refrain from prohibited movements, attacks, use of military aircraft or drones, artillery strikes, reinforcement of positions and resupply of forces, and will refrain from seeking military advantage during the ceasefire, a joint statement from the US Embassy in Khartoum and the Saudi foreign ministry said in a joint statement. The statement suggested that peace talks facilitated by the US and Saudi Arabia could be disbanded if the ceasefire isnt honored. Its the latest ceasefire agreement in the ongoing conflict between the two Sudanese paramilitary groups that forced US diplomatic staff to evacuate Sudan in April. The previous ceasefires havent stopped the fighting between rival factions. This story was first published on CNN.com, "New killings reported in Darfur on second day of Sudan ceasefire." Diplomats take three Ukrainian prisoners out of Hungary The Ukrainian Embassy in Budapest was able to return three Ukrainian prisoners of war who were handed over to Hungary by Russia without Kyiv's knowledge, Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said in a Facebook post on June 20. Read also: Hungary wasnt involved in POW transfer from Russia, says Hungarian FM According to Nikolenko, the released servicemen are now in Ukraine and are receiving necessary support. "Ukrainian diplomats, alongside the Coordinating Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and other relevant Ukrainian authorities, are actively working to bring home the remaining Ukrainian defenders who were transferred to Hungary from Russia," Nikolenko said. On June 8, the Russian Orthodox Church stated it had handed over a group of Ukrainian prisoners of war to Hungary. The next day, Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate reported that it had not received this information and was in the process of verifying it. Read also: U.S. senator blocks arms sale to Hungary for stalling Swedens NATO bid Washington Post Later, Hungary's Deputy Prime Minister, Zsolt Semjen, confirmed the transfer of the Ukrainian prisoners of war, who were residents of Ukraines Zakarpattia Oblast. Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, claiming it was not informed about negotiations between Budapest and Moscow, requested detailed information about the released Ukrainians. The ministry also requested a meeting with the temporary charge d'affaires of Hungary. Read also: Ukrainian POWs not freed after handover to Hungary intelligence spokesman On June 16, Oleh Kotenko, the authorized representative for missing persons, announced that Ukraine had determined the locations and identities of 11 defenders. According to sources quoted by the Hungarian branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the prisoner transfer might have been a personal initiative of Semjen, unknown to the rest of Hungary's government. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Ukraine-Russia news live: One dead as Putins troops fire at rescue workers in flood-hit Kherson One person has died and seven have been wounded after Vladimir Putins troops fired at rescue workers in the southern city of Kherson, Kyiv has said. Russian forces fired at rescuer workers who were clearing mud from flood-hit Kherson and seven people were wounded, Andriy Yermak, head of the presidents office, said on the Telegram messaging app. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko stated in a separate post that eight of the rescuers were wounded. Russia denies targeting civilians. The collapse of the Kakhovka hydro-electric dam on 6 June unleashed floodwaters across southern Ukraine and Russian-occupied areas of the Kherson region, killing more than 50 people and destroying homes and farmland. Ukraine accuses Russia of blowing up the Soviet-era dam, under Russian control since the early days of its invasion. The Kremlin accused Kyiv of sabotaging the hydroelectric facility. Elsewhere, four of Putins attack helicopters have been shot down by Ukrainian air defences in the past week, Kyiv claims. Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the Ukrainian air force, said a Russian Ka-52 helicopter was hit by an anti-aircraft missile above Ukraines eastern Donetsk region at 11pm on Monday. Key Points Russia attacks Ukrainian cities in overnight air strikes Ukraine says eight villages liberated One dead in Russian shelling of rescuer workers in Ukraines Kherson Ukrainian shelling in Belgorod leaves at least 8 injured Four of Putins attack helicopters downed in last week, Kyiv says Russia says Ukraine plans missile strikes on Crimea One dead in Russian shelling of rescuer workers in Ukraine's Kherson - Kyiv 20:31 , Eleanor Noyce At least one emergency worker was killed and several others were wounded in Russian shelling in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Tuesday, the head of the presidents office said. Russian forces fired at rescuer workers who were clearing mud from flood-hit Kherson and seven people were wounded, the official, Andriy Yermak, said on the Telegram messaging app. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said in a separate post that eight of the rescuers were wounded. Russia denies targeting civilians. Ukraine downs Russian drones but some get through due to gaps in air protection 20:30 , Martha Mchardy Ukrainian air defences downed 32 of 35 Shahed exploding drones launched by Russia early Tuesday, most of them in the Kyiv region, officials said, in a bombardment that exposed gaps in the countrys air protection. Russian forces mostly targeted the region around the Ukrainian capital in a nighttime drone attack lasting around three hours, officials said, but Ukrainian air defences in the area shot down about two dozen of them. The attack was part of a wider bombardment of Ukrainian regions that extended as far as the Lviv region in the west of the country, near Poland. Read the full story: Ukraine downs Russian drones but some get through due to gaps in air protection Blinken, Ukraine foreign minister discuss reforms for investment 20:10 , Eleanor Noyce U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Tuesday discussed the need for Ukraine to continue to implement reforms to establish an environment for investment, the State Department said. They discussed the need for Ukraine to continue to implement reforms in order to establish an environment for investment and sustained economic growth, the State Department said in a statement. EU to train 30,000 members of Ukraines armed forces this year 20:00 , Martha Mchardy EU member states plan to train 30,000 members of Ukraines armed forces this year, including from territorial defence units, AFP reports. In 2023, the EU Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine plans to train 30,000 Ukrainian armed forces personnel, including soldiers of the territorial defence forces, the defence ministry in Kyiv said. The EU made a pledge to train Ukraines armed forces in February this year. Today in pictures 19:30 , Martha Mchardy A Leopard 1 A5 battle tank is seen at FFG Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft - a private company that is refurbishing Leopard 1 tanks that are being donated by NATO member countries to Ukraine (EPA) Olena Sytnychenko (left) and Anastasia Tutus pose for photographs while dressed in the colours of the Ukraine national flag during day one of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse, Berkshire (PA) Flags, including those of the Wagner private mercenary group, for sale on a road outside Moscow (AFP via Getty Images) Ukrainian servicemen stand next to an AN/TWQ-1 Avenger mobile air defence missile system during their combat shift (REUTERS) UN complains Russia won't let aid workers into areas hit by dam collapse in southern Ukraine 19:00 , Martha Mchardy The United Nations has rebuked Moscow for allegedly denying its aid workers access to Russian-occupied areas affected by the recent Kakhova dam collapse in southern Ukraine, which stranded residents, threatened power supplies and caused an environmental calamity as the war approaches 16 months. The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement late Sunday that the organization has engaged with Moscow and Kyiv, each of which occupies parts of the southern Kherson region where the dam and reservoir are located, to address the devastating destruction caused by the breach. The Russian government has so far declined our request to access the areas under its temporary military control, Brown said. Susie Blann reports: UN complains Russia won't let aid workers into areas hit by dam collapse in southern Ukraine Cleverly steps up demands for Putins allies to pay reparations to Ukraine 18:30 , Martha Mchardy Vladimir Putin and his allies should shoulder the burden of funding the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said. Although there was a role for international allies and the private sector in rebuilding Ukraines economy, Mr Cleverly said a significant amount of the burden perhaps even the majority should fall on Russians involved in the invasion. The UK is hosting a major conference on Ukraines recovery this week and Mr Cleverly discussed the situation with his US counterpart Antony Blinken in London on Tuesday. David Hughes reports: Cleverly steps up demands for Putins allies to pay reparations to Ukraine Cyprus president declares 'zero tolerance' policy on evasion of Russia sanctions 18:00 , Martha Mchardy The president of Cyprus on Tuesday affirmed a zero tolerance policy toward any Cypriot citizen or company helping to evade international sanctions imposed on Russia following last years invasion of Ukraine. President Nikos Christodoulides underscored his administrations mission to safeguard Cyprus name as a credible business and financial center after the U.S. and the U.K. recently included a handful of Cypriot nationals and Cyprus-registered companies on a list of enablers helping Russian oligarchs skirt sanctions. Christodoulides told a news conference on his administrations first 100 days in office that the issue affords Cyprus an opportunity to rebrand itself as a financial node connecting East and West, the European market with the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Read the full story: Cyprus president declares 'zero tolerance' policy on evasion of Russia sanctions Dom Joly recalls childhood in war-torn Lebanon as he visits Ukraine 17:30 , Martha Mchardy Dom Joly recalled his childhood in Beirut during Lebanons civil war as he travelled to southern Ukraine to meet families who have survived months of intense fighting on the front line of the war. The Save the Children ambassador visited Mykolaiv and surrounding villages, which have been subjected to relentless shelling and missile attacks, forcing thousands to of families to flee their homes. I think what really interests me about it is because I grew up in that sort of situation, the comedian and writer said. It mustve really affected me. Holly Patrick reports: Dom Joly recalls childhood in war-torn Lebanon as he visits Ukraine Fighter for Ukraine is jailed for 16 years in Russia 16:59 , Martha Mchardy A former deputy commander of a Ukrainian militia unit was sentenced by a Russian court on Tuesday to 16 years in a penal colony for taking part in what Moscow considers an illegal armed group and receiving terrorist training, Russian media reported. Denis Muryga was a senior member of Aidar, one of dozens of volunteer battalions that emerged in Ukraine after fighting broke out in 2014 with Russian-backed groups that declared breakaway republics in the east of the country. The units, some with ultra-nationalist roots, were later absorbed into Ukraines armed forces. Muryga was detained in spring 2022 on the Russia-Ukraine border. Russian military news outlet Zvezda published video of him listening with his head bowed to the sentence, which was slightly less than the 18 years prosecutors had demanded. The Ukrainian military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case. Ukraine says it successfully deploys 1,000 km drone 16:33 , Martha Mchardy Ukraine has successfully used a domestically produced drone with a range of 1,000 km (620 miles), state arms producer Ukroboronprom said on Tuesday. Ukroboronprom spokesperson Natalia Sad posted a selfie with a smiling Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraines commander-in-chief, Mykola Oleshchuk, commander for the air force, and Yurii Husev, head of Ukroboronprom on Facebook. She said the picture was taken after successful use of our drone for 1000 km. She provided no other details nor say if use of the drone meant it had been tested or actually deployed in the conflict. Ukraines military, government, and private companies are working to create an arsenal of cheap and easy-to-produce drones whch they hope could become a game changer in the war against Russia. It has already employed drones for both reconnaissance and attacks. In autumn 2022 Ukroboronprom said it was finalizing work on a new drone that had a range of 1000 km and a warhead weighing 75 kg. On Tuesday, president Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed into law legislation to exempt domestic drone producers from customs duties and value-added tax, lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak wrote on Telegram. Ukrainian kickboxing champion killed while fighting Russian forces 16:13 , Martha Mchardy A Ukrainian kickboxing champion has been killed fighting Russian forces, a website that tallies athletes killed in the war reported. Maksym Bordus, who was in his early twenties, was killed on June 11 in fierce fighting against Russian invaders, the Sport Angels website said. Every day he brought Ukraines victory closer with a weapon in his hands, but he himself will not see it, the website said. Bordus was killed by a Russian shell while on a combat mission in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia on 11 June. A petition was posted on president Volodymyr Zelenskys website calling for Bordus to be posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine. Sport Angels said he had won dozens of tournaments and was the World Association of Kickboxing (WAKO) champion of Ukraine. You break it, you bought it, foreign secretary warns Putin as new sanctions legislation put in place 15:47 , Martha Mchardy British foreign secretary James Cleverly (REUTERS) Foreign secretary James Cleverly said the plan to maintain sanctions until Russian reparations were paid to Ukraine follows that simple premise that you break it, you bought it. The Government has set out plans for new laws which will enable sanctions targeted at Russian oligarchs, members of Russian president Mr Putins inner circle and those involved in his war machine to remain in place until reparations are made. The UK is putting in place new legislation which also creates a new route to allow sanctioned individuals to donate frozen funds to Ukrainian reconstruction. There is a very strong principle of natural justice, whereby a significant, perhaps even the majority, burden for the rebuilding should sit on the shoulders of those who have been responsible for funding or facilitated this brutal, full scale invasion of Ukraine, he said. Putin and his allies should shoulder burden of funding Ukraine reconstruction after war, says foreign secretary 15:37 , Martha Mchardy Vladimir Putin and his allies should shoulder the burden of funding the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war, foreign secretary James Cleverly said. Although there was a role for international allies and the private sector in rebuilding Ukraines economy, Mr Cleverly said a significant amount of the burden - perhaps even the majority - should fall on Russians involved in the invasion. The UK is hosting a major conference on Ukraines recovery this week and Mr Cleverly discussed the situation with his US counterpart Antony Blinken in London today. Foreign secretary James Cleverly (left) and US secretary of state Anthony Blinken (PA) Both Mr Cleverly and Mr Blinken spoke of the need for Kyiv to implement reforms so that it had a strong, prosperous democracy. Mr Blinken said international allies would help Ukraine have the strongest possible democracy which is actually necessary to achieve a thriving economy and for reconstruction. If Ukraine is going to attract the investment it needs, not just from government, not just from the international financial institutions but from the private sector, it has to build the best possible environment to attract that investment, he said during a visit to London. Mr Blinken said he would announce a new robust US assistance package for Ukraine on Wednesday. Major international conference to seek private-sector funds to rebuild Ukraine, says foreign secretary 15:31 , Martha Mchardy UK foreign secretary James Cleverly said a major international conference this week would seek private-sector funds for the rebuilding of Ukraine. Ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London, the foreign secretary said firms needed assurances these investments were safe and the Kyiv administration also needed to implement reforms. Speaking alongside US secretary of state Antony Blinken, he said: This week is very much about encouraging the private sector to invest in Ukraines rebuilding and recovery. U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken and British foreign secretary James Cleverly (REUTERS) We recognise that means we need to demonstrate that those investments will be effective and that they will be safe. That means the ongoing assurance that the Ukrainians seek that they will not be reinvaded once they have successfully regained their territory, their further integration into the Euro-Atlantic institutions and European institutions that they understandably aspire to. But of course it also means supporting them as they perform the reform of their institutions that will facilitate the investment in their country. US and UK stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of Ukraine, says foreign secretary 15:28 , Martha Mchardy The US and the UK stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of Ukraine, UK foreign secretary James Cleverly said in a tweet. Mr Cleverly met with US secretary of state Antony Blinken in London today. The UK and the US stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of Ukraine. Welcome to London, @SecBlinken pic.twitter.com/tJYstCsNB5 James Cleverly (@JamesCleverly) June 20, 2023 Ukrainian refugees helped push German population up 1.3% last year 15:20 , Martha Mchardy Large numbers of refugees from Ukraine fleeing Russias war fueled a 1.3% rise in Germanys population last year, helping push up the number of inhabitants in the European Unions most populous country to more than 84.4 million, official statistics showed Tuesday. Germanys population expanded by 1.12 million in 2022, the Federal Statistical Office said. That compared with an increase of just 0.1%, or 82,000 people, the previous year. All of Germanys 16 states saw their populations increase. The largest proportional increases were in the countrys two biggest cities, Berlin and Hamburg, which both saw rises of 2.1%. Read the full story: Ukrainian refugees helped push German population up 1.3% last year UN has told Moscow its grain deal grievances cannot be solved, says Russia 15:19 , Martha Mchardy The United Nations has confirmed that it cannot do anything to address some of Russias central grievances around the Black Sea grain deal, the state TASS news agency cited Russias Foreign Ministry as saying on Tuesday. The international body is unable, in particular, to ensure the resumption of piped ammonia exports from Russia, the reconnection of its agricultural bank to the SWIFT payment system, or to ensure supplies of spare parts for agricultural machinery, the ministry was cited as saying. One dead in Russian shelling of rescuer workers in Ukraines Kherson - Kyiv 15:18 , Martha Mchardy At least one emergency worker was killed and several others were wounded in Russian shelling in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Tuesday, the head of the presidents office said. Russian forces fired at rescuer workers who were clearing mud from flood-hit Kherson and seven people were wounded, the official, Andriy Yermak, said on the Telegram messaging app. Interior minister Ihor Klymenko said in a separate post that eight of the rescuers were wounded. Russia denies targeting civilians. Comedian Dom Joly calls for Ukrainian children to be supported 15:00 , Martha Mchardy Comedian Dom Joly has called for support for children who are being mentally and physically impacted in Ukraine, saying: Whatever your views on conflicts... they are not to blame. The comic and Save The Children ambassador, who grew up in Beirut during Lebanons civil war, recently visited the city of Mykolaiv and surrounding villages which have been subjected to shelling and missile attacks. Joly documented his time meeting families who are trying to rebuild their homes, school and communities after surviving months of intensive fighting in their hometowns. He told the PA news agency: Whatever your views on conflicts, whos right, whos wrong, what the political rightness is of the whole situation, kids certainly didnt ask to be in that situation. They are not to blame and theyre not making any choices in that. And I think theyre also the most vulnerable. Having previously visited eastern Ukraine in 2018 with the charity, he admitted he didnt quite realise how challenging it would be this time round. Joly noted that he found the impact on mental health was a massive issue from just witnessing the children in these affected areas. We met kids that had been literally standing on train stations with shells landing around them, not knowing whether their mother had survived, he recalled. But apart from anything else, the fact that youve had to leave your house, you leave all your friends, you move to a new area, you have no schooling. So just even the fact that kids spent a vast amount of time in shelters at the moment underground in Ukraine, they do most of their education online, so its very isolating. Today in pictures 14:40 , Martha Mchardy A cloud of smoke after a night drone strike in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv (AFP via Getty Images) An explosion of a drone is seen in the sky over Kyiv during a Russian drone strike (REUTERS) A crater is seen next to destroyed trucks after Russian shelling in Rozumivka, near Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine (AP) People kneel as servicemen carry the coffin of volunteer soldier Ivan Shulga, a sound producer in TV channels and musician, killed in a battle with the Russian troops near Bakhmut (AP) A brief history of Putins love for nuclear weapons 14:20 , Martha Mchardy President Joe Biden has said the threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is real, days after denouncing Russias deployment of such weapons in Belarus. Biden called Putins announcement that Russia had deployed its first tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus absolutely irresponsible. When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado river drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy, Biden told a group of donors in California on Monday. William Mata reports: A brief history of Putins love for nuclear weapons Russia sees grain deal over by July 18 but more talks possible before then - RIA 13:56 , Martha Mchardy Russia considers that the Black Sea grain deal will be finished by July 18, but does not rule out fresh talks with the United Nations on the matter before than, the RIA news agency reported on Tuesday. RIA was citing Russias foreign ministry, which it also quoted as saying that Russias demand to restart the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline as part of the grain deal still stood though Moscow understood it would be impossible to restart it quickly after a blast this month. Blinken: U.S. to set out a 'robust' assistance package for Ukraine 13:55 , Martha Mchardy US secretary of state Antony Blinken said he would set out a new assistance package for Ukraine on Wednesday, as he reiterated Washingtons commitment to support Kyiv during a visit to London. President Biden said ... that we would stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes, and both of our countries are deeply committed to that, Blinken told reporters in a press conference alongside British foreign minister James Cleverly. We will continue to deliver on that commitment, including through a new robust US assistance package that Ill be able to announce tomorrow. Russian soldier gets $12,000 for destroying German tank in Ukraine 13:11 , Martha Mchardy A Russian soldier who destroyed a German Leopard tank in a battle in Ukraine has been given a one million rouble ($11,842) reward by a private foundation, Russias defence ministry said on Tuesday. Scholz calls on China to raise pressure on Russia over Ukraine war 12:53 , Martha Mchardy German chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday said he had called on China to use its influence over Russia more in regards to the war in Ukraine. Speaking alongside Chinas premier Li Qiang after bilateral talks in the German capital, Scholz also said China should not supply weapons to Russia and that the war in Ukraine should not become a frozen conflict Russia says its struck and destroyed eight Ukrainian ammunition warehouses 12:32 , Martha Mchardy Russian forces has struck and destroyed eight ammunition warehouses across Ukraine in the last 24 hours and repelled Ukrainian attacks in three different directions, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Tuesday. The ministry, whose daily statement was cited by Russian news agencies, said Ukrainian forces had attempted attacks towards Donetsk, south of Donetsk and in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. Russia warns Ukraine against striking Crimea with US and British missiles 12:28 , Martha Mchardy Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that Moscow had information that Ukraine was planning to strike Russian-controlled Crimea with longer-range U.S. and British missiles and warned Russia would retaliate if that happened. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, but considers it to be outside the scope of what it calls its special military operation which is focused in eastern and southern Ukraine where Ukraine is fighting to retake territory. Kyiv, which says it is battling for its survival in a war of colonial conquest, says it wants to reclaim all of its territory however, including the Crimean peninsula which hosts Russias Black Sea naval base. Shoigu told a meeting of military officials that Moscow had information that Ukraine planned to strike Crimea with U.S.-supplied HIMARS long-range rocket systems and with British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles. The use of these missiles outside the zone of our special military operation would mean that the United States and Britain would be fully dragged into the conflict and would entail immediate strikes on decision-making centres in Ukraine, said Shoigu. Ukrainian generals and politicians have said many times they do not announce their military plans ahead of time. Shoigu said Ukraines armed forces had carried out 263 attacks on Russian forces positions since June 4, referring to what Moscow regards as the start of Ukraines counteroffensive. Thanks to the smart and selfless actions of our units all of them (the attacks) have been repelled, the enemy has not accomplished its goals, said Shoigu. Ukraine says it has recaptured eight villages in the early stages of its counteroffensive and a defence official has promised that Kyivs biggest blow lay ahead despite tough resistance from Moscows troops. I delayed invasion of Ukraine by several years, claims Donald Trump 11:55 , Martha Mchardy Former US president Donald Trump has claimed he delayed Russias invasion by several years after he told the Russian president: Dont do it. Mr Trump also claimed if he had remained in office, Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine. I have a very good relationship with Putin. I mean, I havent talked to him for a long time, but I have a very strong relationship with Putin, the former president said. He added: Look, I talked to him. I said, if you do it, theres going to be hell to pay. Its going to be a catastrophe. Dont do it. Donald Trump previously claimed he would have ended the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. Kremlin says it sees scant grounds for Ukraine peace talks after African mission 11:47 , Martha Mchardy Russia sees scant chance of peace talks with Ukraine due to Kyivs stance on the issue despite constructive efforts by an African peace mission, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. Russian president Vladimir Putin had held very productive talks with African leaders on Saturday and remained open to dialogue and contacts on Ukraine, said Peskov. But he told reporters that what he called the history of Kyivs position meant one can hardly talk about stable grounds for peace negotiations. Russia jails dual national for fighting for Ukraine 11:44 , Martha Mchardy A Russian court has sentenced a dual Ukrainian-Russian national to 16 years in prison on terrorism-linked charges for fighting alongside Kyivs forces in Ukraine. Denis Muryga was accused by a Russian military court of fighting as part of Ukraines Aidar battalion, Russian news agencies reported. Muryga joined the Ukrainian force in 2015, according to investigators. He was accused of blowing up a bridge in Russian-controlled Luhansk, which led to the death of people. RIA Novosti reported: The defendant fully admitted his guilt and repented. During the debate on the case, the prosecutor asked the court to appoint him 18 years in a penal colony with a strict regime, the lawyer asked him for a minimum term. Kyiv in talks with Western weapons makers about setting up production in Ukraine 11:37 , Martha Mchardy Ukraine is in negotiations with western arms manufacturers to boost production of weapons, Reuters reported. Sergiy Boyev, deputy minister for Strategic Industries in Ukraine said: We are in very detailed discussions with them. And we are certain that we will have the contracts agreements signed within the next few months. Boyev said Ukraine is in talks with manufacturers from Germany, Italy, France and eastern Europe about them producing weapons, including drones, in Ukraine itself. Contracts could be signed in the coming months, Boyev said. Russian mercenary boss says his fighters have yet to receive promised medals as feud with Kremlin continues 11:11 , Martha Mchardy Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin complained on Tuesday that most of his fighters had not yet received medals promised by President Vladimir Putin for their role in the Ukraine wars bloodiest battle, the latest twist in a feud with the top brass. Prigozhins Wagner private army spearheaded the assault on the eastern city of Bakhmut, captured last month by Russian forces after nine months of fighting. Putin congratulated Wagner and the Russian army at the time and said that all those who distinguished themselves would get state awards. But Prigozhin, who has publicly accused the Defence Ministry and its leadership of incompetence and of failing to adequately supply his forces, said most of his men had not been decorated. Yevgeny Prigozhin (REUTERS) Of the state awards for Bakhmut, only Hero of Russia stars have been received. Nothing has been awarded to the fighters, the bulk of the fighters. The lists are with the Ministry of Defence, he said in a statement released by his press office. According to my information, there is a fuss over signing off on the awards. Everybody has already forgotten that they fought and died there, Prigozhin added, accusing generals of instead adorning themselves with trinkets. There was no immediate reaction to his criticism from the Defence Ministry which has ignored his public complaints. His outburst comes as he remains locked in a murky standoff with the Defence Ministry over an order for mercenary groups like his to sign formal contracts with the ministry before July 1. The move would more closely integrate Wagner and Prigozhin into the Defence Ministrys command structure in a subordinate position. Prigozhin initially refused to sign anything, and has since said, without providing details, that he is proposing an alternative contract himself. EU to unveil 50bln euro aid package for Ukraine - sources 11:01 , Martha Mchardy The European Union was set to unveil on Tuesday an aid package for Ukraine worth 50 billion euros ($55 bln), two officials said ahead of a formal announcement. The figure - due to be unveiled by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen - comes after a review of the blocs 2021-27 budget and ahead of an international conference in London on Wednesday and Thursday on raising funds to rebuild Ukraine from a war Russia unleashed on it a year and a half ago. One of the sources, a senior EU official, said the total included 33 billion euros in macro-financial assistance to help replenish Kyivs state coffers as it fights back against Russia. Ukraine downs Russian drones but some get through due to gaps in air protection 11:00 , Martha Mchardy Ukrainian air defences downed 32 of 35 Shahed exploding drones launched by Russia early Tuesday, most of them in the Kyiv region, officials said, in a bombardment that exposed gaps in the countrys air protection. Russian forces mostly targeted the region around the Ukrainian capital in a nighttime drone attack lasting around three hours, officials said, but Ukrainian air defences in the area shot down about two dozen of them. The attack was part of a wider bombardment of Ukrainian regions that extended as far as the Lviv region in the west of the country, near Poland. Susie Blann reports: Ukraine downs Russian drones but some get through due to gaps in air protection Russia says Ukraine plans missile strikes on Crimea 10:52 , Martha Mchardy Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that Ukraine was planning to attack Moscow-controlled Crimea with HIMARS long-range artillery systems and Storm Shadow missiles, and warned that Russia would retaliate, TASS reported. Such strikes, which Russia considers to be outside the area of what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine, would also mean full-scale involvement of the United States and Britain in the conflict, TASS quoted Shoigu as saying. Latest pictures from Bakhmut as Ukraine captures Russian battle tank 10:30 , Martha Mchardy Ukrainian servicemen of the 30th Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi Separate Mechanized Brigade fire from a T-80 main battle tank captured earlier from Russian troops, in a field near the front line town of Bakhmut (REUTERS) A Ukrainian serviceman of the 30th Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi Separate Mechanized Brigade takes a seat in a T-72 main battle tank captured earlier from Russian troops (REUTERS) Ukrainian servicemen of the 30th Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi Separate Mechanized Brigade load shells into a T-80 main battle tank (REUTERS) A Ukrainian serviceman of the 30th Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi Separate Mechanized Brigade rides in a T-80 main battle tank (REUTERS) Russia issues appeal to Ukrainian embassy staff to defect to Moscow 10:01 , Martha Mchardy Russias Foreign Intelligence Service has issued an appeal for staff at Ukrainian embassies around the world and their families to defect to Moscow. We appeal to the employees of Ukrainian diplomatic missions and representative offices of state bodies abroad. If you feel responsible for the fate of your Motherland, ensuring peace and stability in Europe and are under pressure from the criminal Kiev regime leading Ukraine to a national catastrophe, come to Moscow, where you and your loved ones will be guaranteed security, the Russian ministry said in a statement. War in Ukraine on the agenda for Germany-China talks 09:39 , Martha Mchardy The war in Ukraine, trade, and climate change are on the agenda as German chancellor Olaf Scholz holds talks with Chinese premier Li Qiang, who is on his first foreign trip since taking office. Tuesdays meeting in Berlin is the seventh time Germany and China have held high-level government consultations and comes a day after Chinese president Xi Jinping met US secretary of state Antony Blinken, indicating an effort by Beijing to reach out to the West and improve frosty relations. Germany is keen to maintain good ties with China, its biggest trading partner, despite wariness over Beijings growing assertiveness and refusal to criticize the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Germanys recently published national security strategy describes China as a partner, competitor and systemic rival. Mr Scholz has said he wants to avoid over-reliance on Chinese trade and diversify Germanys supply of key goods - an approach he called de-risking - while rejecting the idea of decoupling from China. The position was echoed last month by the Group of Seven leading industrial powers, most of which are heavily dependent on trade with China. Four Russian attack helicopters downed in past week, Ukraine claims 09:31 , Martha Mchardy Two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters have been shot down by Ukrainian air defences since last Friday, a Ukrainian military official has claimed. Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the Ukrainian air force, said a Russian Ka-52 helicopter was hit by an anti-aircraft missile above Ukraines eastern Donetsk region at 11pm last night. Another helicopter was shot down on Friday, while two fighter jets were downed over the weekend, according to reports. The claims could not be independently verified. Over 800 houses remain flooded in Kherson following Kakhovka dam collapse, says Ukrainian interior ministry 09:22 , Martha Mchardy Over 800 houses remain flooded along the right bank of the Dnipro river in Kherson following the collapse of the Kakhovka dam, Ukraines Interior Ministry has said. Four settlements and 818 houses remain flooded, according to the ministry. In a tweet, the Interior Ministry said: The water continues to recede. Currently, the level is 0.31 m. 4 settlements (818 houses) on the right bank of the Dnipro remain flooded. On the temporarily occupied - 17 settlements. We continue to work. At least 16 people are dead and 31 are missing in flooding from the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam, Ukraines Ministry of Internal Affairs said on Saturday. It added that 3,614 people have been evacuated from the flooded areas including 474 children and 80 people with reduced mobility. . . 0,31. 4 (818 ) . . - 17 . . pic.twitter.com/BP143CnxM5 (@MVS_UA) June 20, 2023 Ukrainian shelling in Belgorod leaves at least 8 injured 09:08 , Martha Mchardy At least eight people were injured in Ukrainian shelling on the border town of Valuiki in the Belgorod region in Russia yesterday. A total of 40 artillery shells and 14 Grad shells were fired at the town of Valuiki, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Governor of the Russian Belgorod region confirmed on Telegram, adding that the shelling damaged five apartment buildings, four private households and three cars. The aftermath of shelling (EPA) The shelling damaged five apartment buildings, four private households and three cars (EPA) Russian-backed officials say Ukraine struck town of Nova Kakhovka with drones - TASS 08:42 , Martha Mchardy Ukrainian forces on Tuesday struck the Russian-controlled town of Nova Kakhovka in the southern Kherson region with drones and three civilians were wounded, the TASS news agency reported, citing the local Russian-appointed authorities. The attack took place in the morning, TASS said, and was carried out by loitering munitions, also known as kamikaze drones. The reports could not be independently verified. Russia attacks Ukrainian cities in overnight air strikes 08:13 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain Russia launched a widespread overnight air attack on Ukraine on Tuesday, targeting military and infrastructure facilities in Kyiv and other cities, officials said on Tuesday. Ukraine said it had shot down 32 out of 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched from Russias Bryansk region and the Azov Sea. There was no mention of any casualties in the latest air strikes launched by Moscow since Kyiv began a counteroffensive in which it says it has recaptured 113 square km (44 square miles) of land from Russian forces. The air force said on the Telegram messaging app that air defences had been in action in most regions of Ukraine. However, the main direction of attack by Iranian drones was the Kyiv region. More than two dozen Shaheds were destroyed here, its said on the Telegram messaging app. Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv military administration, said the air alert in the capital lasted over three hours. He gave no details of any damage. They hit a critically important facility. There were three hits, said regional governor Maksym Kozytskiy. The air force said Russia had also hit the southeastern industrial city of Zaporizhzhia with Iskander and S-300 missiles. Ukraines military said that, according to preliminary information, Russia had fired seven missiles at Zaporizhzhia. Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Russia. (REUTERS) Jailed Putin critic Navalny launches anti-Kremlin campaign as new trial could keep him in prison for decades 07:57 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain He is the man who has been leading opposition to Russias President Vladimir Putin for a decade and is currently the countrys most prominent prisoner. Alexei Navalny, 47, who is serving sentences totalling more than nine years was in court on Monday for the start of his latest trial, on charges of extremism. Charges that could keep him behind bars for decades. Beyond the courtroom, he also announced a new mass campaign to turn Russian public opinion against Mr Putin and his invasion of Ukraine urging Russians to join forces in the fight against Putins lies and Kremlin hypocrisy. Navalny launches anti-Putin campaign as new trial could keep him jailed for decades Wagner chiefs tone unambiguously confrontational, says UK MoD 07:12 , Arpan Rai The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said that Wagner mercenary groups chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has taken an unambiguously confrontational towards the Russian defence ministry. Yesterday, Prigozhin said that he was expecting a reply from the Russian defence ministry regarding a contract of his own drafting which he had delivered to the ministry three days before. This follows the MoDs own ultimatum to Wagner and other volunteer formations to sign contracts with the MoD by 01 July 2023, the British defence ministry said. It added that although the content of Prigozhins document has not been made public, the act of him delivering it raises the stakes, and is highly likely another deliberate effort to undermine the authority of the official military authorities. Prigozhins tone towards the MoD has become unambiguously confrontational. The MoD almost certainly sees this as deeply unfortunate at a time when it is grappling with Ukraines counter-offensive, it added. Criticism of Indias stance on Russia not widespread in US, says Modi 06:40 , Arpan Rai Indias stance on Russia in the Ukraine conflict has not faced widespread criticism in the United States, the countrys prime minister Narendra Modi said. On being asked about critical comments in the US for not taking a more forceful stance against Russias invasion of Ukraine, Mr Modi said: I dont think this type of perception is widespread in the US. I think Indias position is well known and well understood in the entire world. The world has full confidence that Indias top-most priority is peace, he said. New Delhi has refused to condemn its old ally Russia for the war in Ukraine and has increased its trade with Moscow to record levels, driven largely by imports of Russian oil. Russia fortifying battlefield with dense mining, says Ukrainian commander 06:31 , Arpan Rai The Russian forces attempting to stop Ukraines advance on the battlefield are planting mines as Moscow looks to fortify territory on the eastern and southern frontlines, the war-hit nations commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said. The enemy is trying to prevent the advance of our units. For this, [they] deployed a system of fortifications with dense mining of the terrain and a large number of reserves, he said on Telegram last night. The Ukrainian commander added that despite the furious resistance of the occupiers, our soldiers are doing everything possible to liberate Ukrainian territory and the operation continues as planned. Zaluzhnyi said he had conducted a meeting with the Ukrainian chief of the general staff of the armed forces, Lieutenant General Serhiy Shaptala, who met troops performing the most difficult tasks in the areas where the fiercest battles are taking place. Russias latest war tactic: Blowing up explosive-laden tanks 05:29 , Arpan Rai Russia has claimed that its forces destroyed a Ukrainian stronghold using a remotely-controlled tank filled with a huge amount of explosives, in a purported new war tactic. The Russian defence ministry said it packed about 3.5 tons of TNT and 5 FAB-100 bombs into the tank. Military bloggers have also flagged this latest Russian war trick where its forces have delivered a suicide tank laden with explosives that is likely remote-controlled, alongside visuals of an ancient T-54/55 VBIED tank being blown to smithereens. FAB-100 bombs on average can carry a 100kg (220-pound) payload. #Ukraine The Russian Army sent a T-54/55 VBIED filled with 6 tonnes of TNT at AFU lines near Marinka, Donetsk Oblast. The attempt failed as the remotely-controlled bomb ran into a mine 100m from the front line, and was then hit by a Ukrainian RPG shot, causing a huge explosion. pic.twitter.com/sXXI57wV7v C Os (@CalibreObscura) June 18, 2023 The video shows the Soviet-era tank touching a mine and exploding before reaching its target near the wars frontline. The Independent has not verified the authenticity of the video. Russia fires missiles and drones in overnight air attack from east to west 04:32 , Arpan Rai Russia fired a widespread overnight air attack on Ukraine targeting the capital and cities in a wide arc spanning east to west as most of the country spent the night with air raid sirens blasting for several hours. The strike hit critical infrastructure in the city of Lviv, sparking fire, said officials from the military administration of the city of about 700,000 people that lies just 70km (43 miles) from the border with Nato member Poland. No immediate casualties have been reported. The Russian air raid targeted telecommunication infrastructure and agriculture and farming properties, said Yuri Malashko, head of the military administration of the Zaporizhzhia region in southeast Ukraine. Kyivs military administration said that its air defence systems were engaged in repelling Russias drone attack on the capital and the region. The overall scale of the attack and the full extent of the damage was not immediately clear. Threat of Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is real, warns Biden 03:44 , Arpan Rai The threat of Russian president Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is real, his US counterpart Joe Biden said, days after denouncing Russias deployment of such weapons in Belarus. When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado river drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy, Biden told a group of donors in California on Monday. They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. Its real, Biden said. Mr Biden had termed Mr Putins announcement that Russia had deployed its first tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus absolutely irresponsible last week. This comes as Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko said his country has started taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, some of which he said were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. 02:00 , Katy Clifton Ukraine has said it has driven Russian forces out of an eighth village in its two-week-old counteroffensive, a settlement on a heavily fortified part of the front line near the most direct route to the countrys Azov Sea coast. Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces had retaken Piatykhatky and advanced by up to seven km (4.3 miles) into Russian lines in two weeks, capturing 113 square km (44 square miles) of land. In the course of two weeks of offensive operations in the Berdiansk and Melitopol directions, eight settlements were liberated, Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app, referring to two cities on the Russian-occupied coastline. In a later statement she said Russia had concentrated its units in the east, including air assault troops, but that Ukrainian forces were preventing their advance. Tuesday 20 June 2023 00:01 , Katy Clifton President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukrainian forces had lost no positions in their counter-offensive against Russian troops, while enemy forces had sustained only losses. In some sectors, our forces are moving forward, in others they are defending positions or resisting assaults and intensified attacks from the occupiers, the Ukrainian president said in his nightly video address. We have no lost positions, only liberated ones. And they have only losses. Overall, the situation is one of pressure, from us, which paves the way for our flag. In pictures: Drone footage shows car filled with explosives on Kakhova dam Monday 19 June 2023 22:00 , Martha Mchardy Russia Ukraine War Dam Collapse Russia Ukraine War Dam Collapse Why did Russia invade Ukraine? Monday 19 June 2023 21:30 , Martha Mchardy Russias special military operation in Ukraine has been raging for one year now as the conflict continues to record devastating casualties and force the mass displacement of millions of blameless Ukrainians. Vladimir Putin began the war by claiming Russias neighbour needed to be demilitarised and de-Nazified, a baseless pretext on which to launch a landgrab against an independent state that happens to have a Jewish president in Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukraine has fought back courageously against Mr Putins warped bid to restore territory lost to Moscow with the collapse of the Soviet Union and has continued to defy the odds by defending itself against Russian onslaughts with the help of Western military aid. Thomas Kingsley and Joe Sommerlad report: Heres why Putin really invaded Ukraine We will turn people against the war, says Navalny, as he faces another trial Monday 19 June 2023 21:00 , Martha Mchardy We will turn people against the war, said jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, as he faces another trial. Navalny, 47, is already serving sentences totalling 11 and a half years, and is now facing an array of charges linked to alleged extremist activity. Acquittals of opposition figures are practically unheard of in Russia. As reporters waited for news from the hearing, Navalnys camp announced a new campaign to turn Russian public opinion against Putin and the war in Ukraine. Navalny, who posts on social media through his lawyers and allies, and in the 2010s brought people onto the streets in their tens of thousands, urged Russians to join forces in the fight against Putins lies and Kremlin hypocrisy. Alexei Navalny, stood, with his lawyers during the hearing at Moscow City Court (Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters) He asked marketing and IT specialists, sociologists, political scientists, donors and volunteers to sign up. We will conduct an election campaign against war. And against Putin. Just that. A long, stubborn, exhausting but fundamentally important campaign where we will turn people against the war, he said. Russias next presidential election is due in 2024, and Putin has yet to confirm whether he will stand. Navalnys movement is banned from all political activity, but he said it could still achieve a powerful impact through targeted messaging, given that every grandmother now has WhatsApp and Telegram. Our activities, of course, will be declared illegal and subversive. All the forces of the state apparatus will be thrown into the fight against it, Navalny said. Well, great, and we will throw all our forces into the fight against the apparatus of war, corruption and stupidity. He said Putin was a talentless military leader who had madly and stupidly led Russia into a dead end with his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Prime Minister pays tribute to bravery of Ukrainian soldiers in call with Zelensky Monday 19 June 2023 20:30 , Martha Mchardy Following the call between prime minister Rishi Sunak and Ukrainian presdient Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, a Downing Street spokesman said: The Prime Minister paid tribute to the bravery of the Ukrainian soldiers on the front line of the counter-offensive and said it was clear they were making good progress. He told President Zelensky that the UK was firmly behind Ukraine as it continued to push back invading Russian forces. Small steps forward would bring success, the Prime Minister added. The Ukrainian president said the pair discussed his countrys need for long-range weapons and pushed for tougher sanctions on Russia. Mr Sunak, who visited Washington earlier this month for talks with US President Joe Biden, said the UK and US are lockstep in their unwavering support for Ukraine. Both Mr Sunak and President Zelensky are expected to address the Ukraine Recovery Conference hosted by the UK this week. Downing Street said the two leaders agreed it is a unique opportunity to underline the strong public and private sector support for Ukraine, and demonstrate the countrys transformation and ongoing reform. Ukraine said to have recaptured village in Zaporizhzhia as fierce fighting continues across frontline Monday 19 June 2023 20:00 , Martha Mchardy Ukraine is said to have recaptured its first village in several days as fierce fighting continues across the frontline. A Russian-installed official said Ukraine had recaptured Piatykhatky, a village in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, and were entrenching themselves there while coming under fire from Russian artillery. The enemys wave-like offensives yielded results, despite enormous losses, the official, Vladimir Rogov, said on the Telegram messaging app. Mark Trevelyan reports: Ukraine said to have recaptured village in Zaporizhzhia Watch: Ukrainian soldiers rescue Russian troops left to drown after Kakhovka dam destruction Monday 19 June 2023 19:30 , Martha Mchardy Voices: People say Ukraine will never recover. Theyre wrong Monday 19 June 2023 19:00 , Martha Mchardy From Bakhmut to Mariupol entire cityscapes have been devastated. But history also tells us that a durable peace is much likelier where planning for recovery begins early, writes Patrick Watt, chief executive of Christian Aid. People say Ukraine will never recover. This is how we prove them wrong | Patrick Watt Russia had means, motive and opportunity to destroy Ukraine dam, drone photos and information show Monday 19 June 2023 18:30 , Martha Mchardy Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to bring down a Ukrainian dam that collapsed earlier this month while under Russian control, according to exclusive drone photos and information obtained by The Associated Press. Images taken from above the Kakhovka Dam and shared with the AP appear to show an explosive-laden car atop the structure, and two officials said Russian troops were stationed in a crucial area inside the dam where the Ukrainians say the explosion that destroyed it was centered. The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The dams destruction led to deadly flooding, endangered crops in the worlds breadbasket, threatened drinking water supplies for thousands and unleashed an environmental catastrophe. Ukrainian commanders say it also scuppered some of their plans to take Russian positions in a counteroffensive that is now in its early stages. Mstyslav Chernov and Lori Hinnant report: Russia had means, motive and opportunity to destroy Ukraine dam, drone photos and information show UN complains Russia won't let aid workers into areas hit by dam collapse in southern Ukraine Monday 19 June 2023 18:00 , Martha Mchardy The United Nations has rebuked Moscow for allegedly denying its aid workers access to Russian-occupied areas affected by the recent Kakhova dam collapse in southern Ukraine, which stranded residents, threatened power supplies and caused an environmental calamity as the war approaches 16 months. The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement late Sunday that the organization has engaged with Moscow and Kyiv, each of which occupies parts of the southern Kherson region where the dam and reservoir are located, to address the devastating destruction caused by the breach. The Russian government has so far declined our request to access the areas under its temporary military control, Brown said. Susie Blann reports: UN complains Russia won't let aid workers into areas hit by dam collapse in southern Ukraine Sunak and Zelensky discuss progress in counter-offensive against Russia Monday 19 June 2023 17:30 , Martha Mchardy Ukraines counter-offensive against the Russian invasion is clearly making good progress, Rishi Sunak has told Volodymyr Zelensky. The two leaders spoke on Monday morning as Kyivs troops backed with Western military equipment from the UK, US and allies are seeking to retake territory occupied by Vladimir Putins forces. The Prime Minister said the UK is firmly behind Ukraine and small steps forward will bring success. David Hughes reports: Sunak and Zelensky discuss progress in counter-offensive against Russia I want concrete membership prospects for Ukraine from Nato, says Zelensky Monday 19 June 2023 16:57 , Martha Mchardy Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he wants concrete membership prospects for Ukraine from Nato, ahead of the alliance summit in Lithuania in July. UK prime minister Rishi Sunak said the alliance will demonstrate a strong signal of support, during a call with president Zelensky today. In his call with Mr Sunak, the Ukrainian president said they discussed further co-operation to expand Ukraines capabilities on the battlefield, in particular through long-range weapons. Earlier today, Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said alliance leaders will not issue an invitation for Ukraine to join Nato at the summit in Vilnius in mid-July. Zelensky thanks World Bank for support after Kakhovka dam collapse Monday 19 June 2023 16:30 , Martha Mchardy In a tweet, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a phone call with World Bank president Ajay Banga. Ukraines president said he thanked the World Bank for its unwavering support during the conversation, noting its response to the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam. He added: I invited the World Bank to reopen its representative office in Ukraine and emphasised that we are interested in cooperation during the post-war transformation of Ukraine, in particular, in overcoming corruption and reducing the share of cash in the Ukrainian economy. Had a phone call with @WorldBank President Ajay Banga. Thanked for the World Bank's unwavering support since the first days of Russia's full-scale aggression. We discussed further development of cooperation, in particular, mobilization of international support. I noted the rapid (@ZelenskyyUa) June 19, 2023 Today in pictures Monday 19 June 2023 16:15 , Martha Mchardy Children examine new items displayed at the open air exhibition of destroyed Russian armoured vehicles in Kyiv (AFP via Getty Images) Ukrainian servicemen examine new items displayed at the open-air exhibition of destroyed Russian armoured vehicles in Kyiv (AFP via Getty Images) Russia will be held to account, says foreign secretary as as new sanctions legislation announced Monday 19 June 2023 15:45 , Martha Mchardy Foreign secretary James Cleverly said Russia will be held to account as new sanctions legislation is announced by the UK. In a tweet he said: The UK can now maintain sanctions on Putins regime until Moscow pays compensation for their destruction of Ukraine. Russia will be held to account. Ukraine will rebuild. The UK can now maintain sanctions on Putins regime until Moscow pays compensation for their destruction of Ukraine. Russia will be held to account. Ukraine will rebuild. James Cleverly (@JamesCleverly) June 19, 2023 Watch: Ukrainian soldiers rescue Russian troops left to drown after Kakhovka dam destruction Monday 19 June 2023 15:45 , Martha Mchardy Today in pictures Monday 19 June 2023 15:15 , Martha Mchardy Nina and her son Mykola, 58, were the only ones in the village who did not evacuate during combat (EPA) Nina, 92, sits on a chair amid the remains of her house in Bohorodychne village, Donetsk region (EPA) Mykola, 58, feeds the geese in Bohorodychne village, Donetsk region (EPA) Jailed Putin critic Navalny back in court for another trial one that could keep him in prison for decades Monday 19 June 2023 14:45 , Martha Mchardy He is the man who who has been leading opposition to Russias president Vladimir Putin for a decade organising mass protests and seeking to expose corruption by officials. Alexei Navalny, 47, is now the countrys most prominent prisoner. He is currently serving sentences totalling more than nine years, having been arrested in January 2021 upon his return to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. On Monday, he was in court facing the start of his latest trial on charges of extremism. Charges that could keep him behind bars for decades. Frank Jordans reports: Putin critic Navalny faces another trial that could keep him in jail for decades Defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin ready to help train Ukrainian pilots' Monday 19 June 2023 14:33 , Martha Mchardy US defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin said it stands ready to help Ukrainian pilots fly and maintain its F-16 fighter jets if Nato states agree to send them to help the country against Russian aggression, the Financial Times reported. The companys chief operating officer Frank St John said: We are standing by, ready to not only backfill need as it arises with new F-16 builds but also any modifications to F-16s as well as training, equipment and systems. Russian diplomat says if grain deal ends, U.N. memorandum on exports will remain in place -RIA Monday 19 June 2023 14:16 , Martha Mchardy Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko said that if the deal allowing safe exports of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea ends, Russias memorandum with the United Nations on facilitating its own exports will still be in force, Russian state news agency RIA reported on Monday. Germanys Scholz: possibility Ukraine war could last a while Monday 19 June 2023 14:09 , Martha Mchardy Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday that Germany is prepared for the possibility that the war in Ukraine could still last for a while. We are preparing for that and adjusting our policies based on that, he said at a news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, adding that Germany would continue to support Ukraine for as long as necessary. NATO summit will not formally invite Ukraine to join alliance -Stoltenberg Monday 19 June 2023 14:07 , Martha Mchardy NATO leaders will not issue an invitation for Ukraine to join the alliance at a summit in Vilnius in mid-July, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday. At the Vilnius summit and in the preparations for the summit, we are not discussing to issue a formal invitation, he told reporters after meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, adding leaders would talk about how to move Ukraine closer to NATO. At the same time, Stoltenberg warned against accepting a frozen conflict in Ukraine in return for an end to the war. We all want this war to end, but a just peace cannot mean freezing the conflict and accepting a deal dictated by Russia, he said. Russia bans human rights group it labels an undesirable organisation -RIA Monday 19 June 2023 13:41 , Martha Mchardy Russia on Monday labelled the human rights group Agora as an undesirable organisation, effectively banning the organisation in the country, Russias state news agency RIA reported. Agora specialised in providing legal help to people it believed were being unfairly persecuted by state officials and bodies. Russian spy chief says loss of NATO-trained soldiers will reduce Kyivs combat potential -RIA Monday 19 June 2023 13:38 , Martha Mchardy The director of Russias Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergei Naryshkin, said that the deaths of a large number of NATO-trained Ukrainian soldiers and the destruction of their hardware would undermine Ukrainian army combat capabilities, the Russian state news agency RIA reported on Monday. Moscow has repeatedly said that Kyiv has suffered major losses, including of Western-supplied equipment, during its ongoing counteroffensive. Britain plans to maintain Russian sanctions until Ukraine is compensated Monday 19 June 2023 13:16 , Martha Mchardy Britain on Monday introduced legislation that will allow it to keep sanctions against Russia in place until Moscow pays compensation to Ukraine, the British foreign ministry said. As Ukraine continues to defend itself against Russias invasion, the terrible impacts of Putins war are clear. Ukraines reconstruction needs are and will be immense, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said. Through our new measures today, were strengthening the UKs sanctions approach, affirming that the UK is prepared to use sanctions to ensure Russia pays to repair the country it has so recklessly attacked, he added. Russian spy chief flags 'suspicious' Ukrainian nuclear activity Monday 19 June 2023 11:48 , Martha Mchardy One of Russias top spymasters said on Monday he hoped that the U.N. nuclear watchdog and the European Union would look into Ukrainian nuclear activity that he said might signal Kyiv was working on a dirty bomb. Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russias SVR foreign intelligence service, did not provide documentary evidence to back his assertions. The Ukrainian defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kyiv has in the past said it takes its responsibilities for nuclear power very seriously while accusing Russia of recklessness when it comes to its occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine. Naryshkin said in a statement that his service had information that a batch of irradiated fuel had secretly been sent from the Rivne nuclear plant in western Ukraine for disposal at a spent fuel storage facility in Chornobyl. He said the action, which Reuters could not independently verify, was suspicious and could only be explained by Kyiv intending to create a dirty bomb, combining radioactive material with conventional explosives. Russia has previously accused Ukraine, without providing evidence, of planning to use such a dirty bomb, amid fears on both sides that fighting around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which Russian forces seized a few days after invading Ukraine early last year, could lead to a disaster. Dead fish cover bottom of dried up Kakhovka reservoir after collapse of dam Monday 19 June 2023 11:43 , Martha Mchardy Dead fish cover the bottom of the dried-up Kakhovka Reservoir after recent catastrophic destruction of the Kakhovka dam near Kherson (AP) A photographer takes photo of dead fish in the dried-up Kakhovka Reservoir (AP) We will rebuild everything in Ukraine, says Zelensky Monday 19 June 2023 11:04 , Martha Mchardy We will rebuild everything in Ukraine, said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr Zelensky said in a Tweet on Tuesday: Not a single ruin will be left in Ukraine. We will rebuild everything, restore everything, and we know exactly what steps need to be taken in what timeframe and with what resources to defeat Russian aggression with our reconstruction as well. When the ruins disappear, it is not just the aggressor who loses, but the very idea of aggression. And it will happen. Clear Ukrainian counteroffensive making good progress, says Rishi Sunak Monday 19 June 2023 10:59 , Martha Mchardy Rishi Sunak told Volodymyr Zelensky it was clear the Ukrainian counteroffensive was making good progress when the two leaders spoke this morning. Both men will speak at a conference in London this week on Ukraines recovery. Volodymyr Zelensky and Rishi Sunak (Getty Images) A Downing Street spokesman said the prime minister paid tribute to the bravery of the Ukrainian soldiers on the frontline. He told president Zelensky that the UK was firmly behind Ukraine as it continued to push back invading Russian forces, the spokesman said. Small steps forward would bring success, the prime minister added. Watch: Ukrainian soldiers rescue Russian troops left to drown after Kakhovka dam destruction Monday 19 June 2023 10:56 , Martha Mchardy Ukrainian special forces rescued a number of Russian soldiers from flooding after the Kakhovka dam was destroyed. Footage shows boats picking up the four men, who were trapped up to their necks when water inundated their trench. The Russian soldiers were already weakened and close to death, Ukraines Ministry of Defence wrote, sharing the footage on social media. Other Russians occupying the area began to shoot at the boat from nearby positions during the rescue, according to Ukraines MoD. The rescued soldiers were then taken back to the Ukrainian base and added to the prisoner of war exchange fund. Click here to watch: Ukrainian soldiers rescue Russian troops left to drown after Kakhovka dam destruction Ukraine says eight villages retaken from Russian forces in two weeks Monday 19 June 2023 10:51 , Martha Mchardy Ukraine confirmed on Monday it had driven Russian forces from an eighth village in its two-week-old counteroffensive in a heavily fortified part of the front line on the most direct route to the countrys Azov Sea coast. A Russian-installed official said on Sunday that Ukraine had taken control of the village, Piatykhatky, in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. He later said Moscow had pushed them out and on Monday morning he said Ukraine was attacking again. Ukraines deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces had not only retaken Piatykhatky but had advanced by up to seven km (4.3 miles) into Russian lines in two weeks, capturing 113 square km (44 square miles) of land. In the course of two weeks of offensive operations in the Berdiansk and Melitopol directions, eight settlements were liberated, Maliar said on Telegram, referring to two cities on the Russian-occupied coastline. The reported capture of the villages reflects incremental gains for Ukraine that highlight the challenge of breaking through lines Moscow has spent months strengthening. Piatykhatky is significant, however, as lies around 90 km from the coast. Kremlin says it will stay in touch with African peace mission Monday 19 June 2023 10:50 , Martha Mchardy The Kremlin said on Monday it would continue to talk to a group of African countries seeking to mediate in the conflict with Ukraine, notably at a Russia-Africa summit next month. President Vladimir Putin on Saturday gave the seven-country African delegation that had come to see him in St Petersburg a list of reasons why he believed many of their proposals were misguided, pouring cold water on a plan already largely dismissed by Kyiv. Kremlin says it declined U.N. help in flood zone over 'security concerns' Monday 19 June 2023 10:49 , Martha Mchardy The Kremlin said on Monday that Russias decision to decline U.N. help in areas of Russian-held Ukraine flooded by the Kakhovka dam breach was motivated by security concerns and other nuances. The United Nations said on Sunday that Moscow had declined its offers of help as the death toll rose and filthy water forced the closure of beaches in southern Ukraine. The collapse of the Moscow-controlled dam on June 6 unleashed floodwaters across southern Ukraine and Russian-controlled parts of the Kherson region, destroying homes and farmland, and cutting off supplies to residents. Monday 19 June 2023 10:25 , Martha Mchardy Jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny appeared before a Russian court on Monday to face new charges of extremism that could extend his prison term by decades. The hearing took place at the IK-6 penal colony in Melekhovo, about 235 km (145 miles) east of Moscow, where Navalny is already serving sentences totalling 11 and a half years. His supporters accuse Russian authorities of trying to break him in prison to silence his criticism of President Vladimir Putin, something the Kremlin denies. An entry in the court record last month showed the new charges relate to six different articles of the Russian criminal code, including inciting and financing extremist activity and creating an extremist organisation. Russia has outlawed Navalnys campaign organisation as part of a crackdown on dissent that started well before the conflict in Ukraine and has intensified in the nearly 16 months since it started. Last week one of his regional campaign leaders was jailed for seven and a half years. In a tweet posted on his account by his supporters last month, Navalny responded with typical irony to the new charges. Well, Alexei, youre in some real trouble now ... The Prosecutor Generals Office has officially provided me with 3,828 pages describing all the crimes Ive committed while already imprisoned. Alexei Navalny (AP) It was not immediately clear which specific actions or incidents the new charges referred to. One relates to rehabilitation of Nazism - a possible reference to Navalnys declarations of support for Ukraine, whose government Russia accuses of embodying Nazi ideology. Ukraine and its Western allies dismiss that charge as baseless. In April, investigators formally linked Navalny supporters to the murder of Vladlen Tatarsky, a popular military blogger and supporter of Russias military campaign in Ukraine who was killed by a bomb in St Petersburg. Russias National Anti-terrorism Committee (NAC) said Ukrainian intelligence had organised the bombing with help from Navalnys supporters. This appeared to be a reference to the fact that a suspect arrested over the killing once registered to take part in an anti-Kremlin voting scheme promoted by Navalnys movement. Navalny allies denied any connection to the killing. Ukraine attributed it to domestic terrorism. Ukraine downs four cruise missiles and four drones overnight Monday 19 June 2023 10:14 , Martha Mchardy Four Kalibr missiles and four Iranian-made Shahed drones were shot down overnight by Ukraine, the countrys Air Force said. Russia launched an attack on south and south-east Ukraine overnight with cruise missiles and self-exploding drones, according to Ukraine. According to regional officials, the southern province of Odesa and the south-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region were targeted by the attack. No casualties or damage were immediately reported. UN says Russia wont let aid workers into areas hit by dam collapse in southern Ukraine Monday 19 June 2023 09:37 , Martha Mchardy The United Nations has rebuked Moscow for allegedly denying its aid workers access to Russian-occupied areas affected by the recent Kakhova dam collapse in southern Ukraine, which stranded residents, threatened power supplies and caused an environmental calamity as the war approaches 16 months. The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement late Sunday that the organization has engaged with Moscow and Kyiv, each of which occupies parts of the southern Kherson region where the dam and reservoir are located, to address the devastating destruction caused by the breach. The Russian government has so far declined our request to access the areas under its temporary military control, Brown said. We urge the Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law, her statement added. Russian military warns of risk of mosquito-borne diseases after Ukraine flooding Monday 19 June 2023 09:33 , Martha Mchardy The Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday that flooding in the Kherson region after the breach of Ukraines huge Kakhovka Dam could lead to mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile Fever breaking out in the area. Russian forces partially control part of the southern Kherson region, which Ukraine has vowed to retake by force. The Russia-controlled Kakhovka dam collapsed earlier this month, causing flooding that has killed at least 52 people. Water flows over the collapsed Kakhovka Dam in Nova Kakhovka, in Russian-occupied Ukraine (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Ukraine has blamed Russia for the collapse of the dam, with the Ukrainian military claiming it was Russias attempt to prevent Ukrainian troops from crossing the Dnipro to attack the occupying forces. Meanwhile, Russia has blamed Kyiv for sabotaging the dam by cutting off water supplies to Crimea and to distract attention from its alleged faltering counteroffensive. Russias Lavrov: West trying to undermine Russias stability ahead of 2024 election Monday 19 June 2023 09:31 , Martha Mchardy Russias foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday accused the West of trying to undermine the stability of the Russian domestic political scene ahead of a planned presidential election next year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country has seen no lost positions in the counteroffensive against Russia, just hours after fending off a bombardment of exploding drones that Russia launched overnight. Early Tuesday, Ukrainian air defenses shot down 32 of the 35 Shahed exploding drones from Russia, officials said, but the bombardment exposed some gaps in Ukraines air protection. The drone attacks were mostly in the Kyiv region, though some extended to other parts of the country, including in the Lviv region. In a video update Tuesday, Zelensky assured the Ukrainian people that the high-stakes counteroffensive, for which the country has been preparing for months, is demonstrating Ukraines strength as it defends or retakes its territory. In some areas, our warriors are moving forward; in some areas, they are defending their positions and resisting the occupiers assaults and intensified attacks, Zelensky said in the video. We have no lost positions. Only liberated ones. They have only losses. In general, it is a situation of pressure, our pressure, which allows us to pave the way for our flag. Blue and yellow colors will be all over our south and all over our east. And the evil state has no such fortifications or reserves that will stop Ukraine. Because we are on our own land, and this gives us the greatest strength. The Ukrainian counteroffensive is in its early stages and comes after nearly 16 months of war with Russia. In the video update, Zelensky discussed diplomatic efforts, noting the various international leaders he has met with and spoken to recently, including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Tuesday. He called on the United Kingdom to maintain its sanctions against Russia until the aggressor compensates for all the damage done to our people and our country. Zelensky said he also spoke to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about our movement towards the EU a step Zelensky has long advocated. He said he expects an interim verbal assessment of our work on the European Commissions recommendations sometime this week. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Ukrainian forces downed 32 out of 35 Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones launched by Russian forces Tuesday morning as the ongoing war between the two countries continues. Officials claimed Russian forces were targeting the Kyiv region in their latest attack, noting air defenses shot down more than two dozen drones from Russias attack. Russias attack was part of a wider bombardment of Ukrainian regions that extends to the western part of the country, where the Lviv region is located, officials alleged. Lviv Gov. Maksym Kozytskyi said the Russian drone strike hit a critical infrastructure facility, which started a fire. Yuriy Ihnat, a Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson, said the drones were able to reach the region due to the inability of the countrys air defenses to cover the area. Ihnat noted that Ukraines air defense systems were used mostly to protect major cities, key infrastructure facilities and its front lines. There is a general lack of air defense assets to cover a country like Ukraine with a dome-like Israel has, he said, making reference to Israels Iron Dome aerial defense system. Russia also launched a ballistic missile attack, which hit the southeastern industrial city of Zaporizhzhia. The head of Zaporizhzhias Military Administration Yuriy Malashko said Russia targeted telecommunication infrastructure and agriculture and farming properties in its attack, according to Reuters. The latest attack comes after Ukraine launched its counteroffensive approach earlier this month, more than a year into its war with Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told NBC News in an interview that his countrys counteroffensive push is generally positive but difficult to pull off, noting his country still has a hard task to force out Russian forces out of occupied areas. The Associated Press contributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Russian troops appear to be making a push in the east. There are indications that Russian forces have launched offensive operations of their own around in eastern Luhansk Oblast. While it is unclear at the moment how successful this is or how far the Russians might be advancing, it would appear to be another challenge facing Kyiv's counteroffensive. The influential Russian Archangel of the Special Forces Telegram channel claims Russian counteroffensive operations are currently taking place in the Donbas. https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1670856185472507904?s=20 The offensive of the 76th Airborne Division is underway, Archangel of the Special Forces channel wrote. The enemy has heavy losses in manpower, there is a massive failure of the armaments and military equipment. Ukraine was not aware of our upcoming offensive, since they interact poorly with [electronic warfare] EW and [remote] REM units, they did not receive advance information about the planned air and missile attack. In statements on her Telegram channel, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar acknowledged some level of Russian offensive activity, especially by airborne units, in that general part of the front lines. The situation in the east is now difficult, she said. The enemy has raised its forces and is conducting an active offensive in the Lyman and Kupiansk directions, trying to seize the initiative from us. High activity of enemy shelling is recorded. Hot battles continue. https://twitter.com/JulianRoepcke/status/1670879627181453331 Lyman, a small town in northern Donetsk Oblast, is about 16 miles east of Kreminna. The enemy does not abandon his plans to reach the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, said Maliar. Currently, this is the enemy's main offensive line. Therefore, he concentrated a significant number of his units in the east, in particular the airborne assault units. Ukrainian forces, she added, act courageously in the face of the enemy's superiority in forces and means and do not allow the enemy to advance. But Ukraines advance, however, is quite difficult, she said, because the enemy threw all their forces to stop the offensive. As a result, Maliar cautioned about reading too much right now into how much territory Ukraine has recaptured. It is not necessary to measure the result of the work of the defense forces exclusively by settlements and kilometers traveled, she said. Because there are much more criteria for the effectiveness of military operations. Still, she offered some hopeful news about operations in the southern part of the front lines in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. In the course of two weeks of offensive operations in the Berdiansk and Melitopol directions, eight settlements were liberated by units of the 'Tavria' [operational group]: Novodarivka, Levadne, Storozheve, Makarivka, Blagodatne, Lobkovo, Neskuchne, Pyatikhatky, she said. All told, in that area, Ukraine advanced up to 7 km and freed an area of 113 square kilometers, she said. https://twitter.com/Feher_Junior/status/1670740240674193408 But, in keeping with Ukrainian assessments we reported on last week - and in line with reporting by The Wall Street Journal and others about a seeming pause in operations as Ukraine figures out what to do next - Maliar said the biggest push is yet to come. https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1670649154601713664?s=20 The ongoing operation has several tasks and the military is carrying out these tasks, she said.They move as they were supposed to move. And the biggest blow is yet to come. Before we head into the latest from Ukraine, The War Zone readers can catch up on our previous rolling coverage here. The Latest Regardless of what is happening on the front lines, Ukraine is continuing to conduct strikes well behind those lines. Ukraine appears to have hit a major Russian ammo depot in the town of Rykove in occupied Kherson Oblast. That's about 105 km behind the front lines. https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1670778593020895235 https://twitter.com/bradyafr/status/1670878953819578373?s=20 There are increasing warning signs about the massive flow of weapons to Ukraine. The New York Times on Monday reported that Ukraine has "paid contractors hundreds of millions of dollars for weapons that have not been delivered, and some of the much-publicized arms donated by its allies have been so decrepit that they were deemed fit only to be cannibalized for spare parts." Kyiv had paid arms suppliers more than $800 million since the Russian invasion in February 2022 for contracts that went completely or partly unfulfilled, the newspaper reported, citing Ukrainian government documents. Some of the missing weapons had eventually been delivered, and in other cases brokers had refunded the money, two people involved in Ukraines arms purchasing told the Times. "But as of early this spring, hundreds of millions of dollars had been paid including to state-owned companies for arms never materialized, one of these people said." We did have cases where we paid money and we didnt receive, Volodymyr Havrylov, a deputy defense minister working on arms procurement, told the Times in a recent interview. He said the government this year had begun analyzing its past purchases and excluding problematic contractors. https://twitter.com/Harry_Boone/status/1670822842366140416?s=20 Another wild video emerging on social media Monday showed a Ukrainian tank crew survive being hit by a Russian rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). As the T-64BV tank belonging to the Ukrainian 35th Marine Brigade approached a trench near a tree line in Storovzheve, Donetsk Oblast, Russian troops fired two rocket-propelled grenades in rapid succession, the video showed. https://twitter.com/CalibreObscura/status/1670538984563376131 You can see the first RPG, possibly a PG-7VR high explosive anti-tank round, whiz by the tank. The first of two RPGs fired at a Ukrainian tank narrowly missed. (Twitter screencap) Seconds later, you can see a second RPG round apparently hit the tank somewhere on the right side. There is a small flash of an explosion, followed by bits of debris flying through the air and then a puff of grayish-white smoke. The damage appeared to be minimal. The second RPG hit the tank, but appeared to cause little damage. (Twitter screencap) A longer video from which this clip was taken shows that tank apparently recovered with some damage to its right front fender. It was likely saved by the explosive reactive armor on its right side, an armor expert tells us. If the RPG took out the T64BV, that would be incredibly lucky, said the expert, a U.S. official with years of armor operations experience speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations. The T64 and newer tanks operated by Ukraine can easily survive a hit by an RPG on the front and sides of the turret, said the expert. An RPG can knock it out if it hits on the side hull and the rear. The turret can theoretically stand up to 100mm older armor-piercing rounds. It easily defeats a small shape-charge round. Most Ukrainian tanks have side ERA, said the expert. So thats why it survived. The tank and its crew of Ukrainian Marines from the 35th Marine Brigade were apparently engaged in fighting a few miles south of Velyka Novosilka, near the Mokri Yaly River during Ukraines push through western Donetsk Oblast near the Zaporizhzhia Oblast border. The Ukrainian troops in this video below were not quite as fortunate. They apparently were hit by a Russian tank shell as they entered a house in the village of Piatykhatky in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. It is unclear what happened to the troops. https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1670840207027970048?s=20 Ukraine sources say they eventually liberated that village while a number of Russian Telegram channels say it changed hands several times over the past 24 hours but remains in Russian control. https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1670681261302480897?s=20 And speaking of wild videos, rumors are bubbling that Russian propagandist Semyon Pegov, the man behind the influential Russian WarGonzo Telegram channel, was badly wounded during the Ukrainian special ops attack on a Russian trench, which you can read about in our recent report here. While there appears to be a likeness, we have no way of knowing at the moment whether that's true. For what it's worth, there's nothing about this on WarGonzo's channel today. https://twitter.com/NAFOKnocking/status/1670844523663048734?s=20 With mines remaining a huge obstacle for Ukraine to overcome, more video has emerged of one of its UR-77 Meteorit mine-clearing vehicles rocket-assisted line charges apparently being used to clear a path. But those systems have also been used as offensive weapons in the past. You can read more about them here. https://twitter.com/2uwmp/status/1670799125959389188?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW- A donated Leopard 2A4 main battle tank was recently seen rumbling down a path in the southern section of the front lines. Where it was coming from or where it was going remains unknown, but it sure was moving in a hurry. https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1670536235251560449?s=20 Images also emerged of a U.K.-donated Challenger tank in service with the Ukrainian armed forces. https://twitter.com/CalibreObscura/status/1670884416166457344?s=20 Images have emerged on social media purporting to show a U.S.-donated M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle launching its Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) tank-busting missiles. It is unclear from the video the outcome of the engagement. https://twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1670766461248307202?s=20 First Person Video drones remain a huge threat to both sides. The video below shows a very up close and personal attack on Russian troops in a trench, though where and when is unknown. https://twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1670182733954383872?s=20 The French-donated AMC-10 RC wheeled armored vehicles are getting good marks from Ukrainian troops who are using them. MX-10 RC were given to us by France, and have already proven themselves in the war, the Ukrainian Deep State Telegram channel reported Monday. Many have seen Russian manipulative footage of the unsuccessful use of this machine, but this wheeled tank, as many classify it, performs the excellent role of a gun that has high accuracy. But Deep State offered one caveat. The main thing is not to use them for frontal assaults, it reported. The vehicle although lightly armored, has a gun like a sniper rifle." https://twitter.com/ralee85/status/1670850088305037312?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW-A Despite that praise, it appears that Russia has captured at least one of them, complete with a technical manual. https://twitter.com/michaelh992/status/1670678587010084865 More images have emerged on social media of Ukraine using its U.S.-donated Zuni unguided rockets on Su-25 Frogfoot attack aircraft. You can read more about them in our story here. https://twitter.com/GuyPlopsky/status/1670453922736279553?s=20 Mobility is a key factor in battlefield success and this Ukrainian sniper has apparently come up with one option for getting around in a hurry - some kind of electric unicycle. Initially, the sniper fires from the prone position, then while in motion. How effective that is, and whether this was all done just for show is unknown, but it's interesting nonetheless. https://twitter.com/igorsushko/status/1670602902031966209 The Russians too are innovating for mobility, but in the case of these images below, going a little old school. Russian troops appear to be using a Kornet anti-tank guided missile system mounted on a motorcycle sidecar. Ukraine has been employing missile teams using motorcycles with sidecars for over a year now. https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1670841928529723409?s=20 The Associated Press, citing "exclusive drone photos and information" it obtained, claims "Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to bring down the Nova Kakhovka dam that was destroyed earlier this month while under Russian control." "Two officials said Russian troops were stationed in a crucial area inside the Kakhovka Dam where the Ukrainians say the explosion that destroyed it was centered," AP reported. "Images taken from above and shared with the AP also appear to show an explosives-laden car atop the structure. Its not clear the car ever exploded and any such bomb would not have been powerful enough to bring down the dam, but Ukrainian officials say the photos show the Russians intent to rig it, and that they had the access and control to do so." https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1670815445518290944?s=20 An anti-Russian Crimean Tartar partisan group claims that Russian troops are showing signs of cholera in the wake of the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam. Our informants from the military hospitals of the Kherson region and the Crimea report that every day they receive a lot of military forces of the Russian Federation with suspicion of cholera, the Atesh group reported on its Telegram channel. Entire units from the Kherson direction located along the North Crimean Canal lose their combat capability and are taken to the rear for treatment. Several Russian soldiers died. Atesh suggests that the cause is most likely due to the use of water from open sources, because there are difficulties with the delivery of bottled or simply purified water to the occupiers. Naturally, the explosion of the Kakhovskaya dam caused enormous damage to nature, revealing many diseases that we will hear about. Atesh warned residents of the Kherson Oblast and Crimea to be especially attentive to the water that you eat. https://twitter.com/Defense_North/status/1670307231751983105 Meanwhile, water levels in the area surrounding the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) remain low. However, while certainly troubling, there appears to be no immediate danger, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Last week, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi assessed the impact of the destruction on the safety of ZNPP. The plants large cooling pond and different channels at or near the site hold sufficient reserves to be able to provide cooling water in the short to medium term in case the reservoir can no longer be used, according to the IAEA. At the moment, water from the discharge channel of the nearby Zaporizhzhia Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP) supplies the ZNPPs spray ponds, which cool the six shut-down reactors and spent fuel, and also keeps the separate cooling pond full, mainly compensating for evaporation. The breach of the dam has identified vulnerable points in the plants water supply chain and there is a need to adapt the entire system to the new situation. But I could also see that the plant is taking concrete steps to address these challenges, stabilize the situation and enable the plant to ensure sufficient cooling water also in the future. The situation is serious, and it requires our continuous close monitoring. But, for now, it is being controlled, he said. The ZNPP is continuing to operate one of the six reactors in hot shutdown to produce steam needed for wastewater treatment and a steam-driven cooling system that provides air conditioning for rooms equipped with instrumentation and control systems important to nuclear safety and security, according to IAEA. In the interim, the plant is also exploring alternative ways to meet the sites needs for generating steam and providing essential cooling. The five other units remain in cold shutdown. https://twitter.com/Tatarigami_UA/status/1670426979856777216?s=20 And finally, even in a war as brutal as this one, there are down moments where troops try to have a little fun and take their minds off the fighting. Such is the case with these Ukrainian troops, who organized a "fashion show" when they had time, not Russians, to kill. https://twitter.com/intermarium24/status/1670768066345463813?s=20 That's it for now. We'll update this story when there's more news to report about Ukraine. Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com Nataliya Sad published a photo with Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny, Director of Ukroboronprom Yuriy Gusev and Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk Ukraine has successfully deployed a domestically-produced strike drone with a range of 1,000 kilometers, according to Nataliya Sad, the press secretary of the Ukroboronprom defense conglomerate, on June 20. Sad also shared a photo featuring Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk, and Ukroboronprom CEO Yuriy Husyev. Read also: Ukrainian-made Sapsan missile system 70% ready, says official The caption accompanying the photo states, "After successfully utilizing our drone for 1,000 km." Ukroboronprom reported on October 17, 2022, that the development of the Ukrainian strike drone was in its final stages. Read also: Ukroboronprom tells about new drones for Ukrainian armed forces "The range is 1,000 km, and the warhead weighs 75 kg," stated the concern. "We are concluding the development phase." On the same day, the Come Back Alive Foundation announced that it was collaborating on a joint project with the Main Intelligence Directorate called "Bavovna in Moscow." The Ukrainian word "bavovna" (meaning "cotton" in English) is a newly-coined term referring to a loud explosion occurring far behind the frontlines. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Ukraine war latest: Military reports advance in the south, says biggest strike still ahead Key developments on June 20: Russian forces attack first responders in Kherson Oblast, killing 1, injuring 7 Ukrainian forces reportedly advance south as fierce fighting is ongoing Evacuation in flooded Kherson Oblast finished, emergency service says Biden: Threat of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons is 'real' Budanov: Russian forces plant additional mines at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Russian overnight drone attack targets infrastructure in Lviv, Zaporizhzhia oblasts Ukrainian forces are advancing on the southern front line as the summer counteroffensive continues, the military said on June 20. Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, the Tavria military sector commander, reported that Russian forces had lost up to five companies of killed and wounded troops in action and 46 units of hardware over the past day in that sector. Tarnavskyi didnt give the exact number of Russian soldiers killed and wounded. However, the size of the Russian armys company ranges from 30 to 150 troops, depending on the branch. Ukraine has been conducting an intensive military campaign in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts since June 8, having had limited success so far, with eight settlements reclaimed from Russian control. It is quite difficult for Ukrainian forces to advance, as the Russian troops have thrown all their forces to stop the offensive, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said. The ongoing operation has several tasks, and the military fulfills them. They are moving as they should have been moving. The biggest strike is still ahead, Maliar said in a Telegram post, adding that the fierce fighting is ongoing. As Ukrainian forces advance south in several directions, Russian troops are concentrating their efforts in the east and continue assaulting the area, aiming to occupy the entire easternmost Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, according to Maliar. Counteroffensive underway: We overestimated Russians and underestimated ourselves Editors Note: The Kyiv Independent introduces soldiers interviewed for the story by their first names or callsigns due to security reasons. DONETSK OBLAST Islams mind was empty of thoughts and feelings as he crawled carefully towards the Russian trenches near Siversk, with grenades prepared. The Kyiv IndependentIgor Kossov Russias nuclear threats Russian forces have planted additional mines in and around the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, including the cooling pond, Ukraines military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov told the national television on June 20. By destroying the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam, Russian forces put the plant at risk. Budanov noted that the dams destruction restrained the regular water access to the plant's coolers. The worst thing is that Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was additionally mined during this time (Russian occupation). The cooler that was mined. If they disable it by blowing it up, there is a high probability that there will be significant problems, Budanov said. Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been occupied by Russia since March 4, 2022, was disconnected from the Ukrainian power grid due to Russian attacks against Ukrainian energy infrastructure. The biggest nuclear plant in Europe serves as the Russian military base for repeated attacks on Ukrainian-controlled territory. Also on June 20, U.S. President Joe Biden said that the threat of Russia's dictator Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is real. When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado River drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy, Biden told a group of donors, as cited by Reuters on June 20. They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. It's real, said Biden. Putin claimed on June 16 that the first Russian tactical nuclear weapons had been stationed in Belarus. Ukraines military intelligence chief said on June 20 he doubts that Putins claim was true. The process of preparing for possible redeployment (of tactical nukes) is indeed ongoing. Storage facilities are being prepared. However, as of now, not a single warhead has been deployed (to Belarus) yet, Budanov told the national television. Occupied Ukrainian plant becomes epicenter of Russias nuclear blackmail Anticipating a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the countrys south, Russia is turning the six-reactor Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in occupied Enerhodar into a ticking time bomb. Repeated Russian shelling from within the plants territory, causing one of the reactors to shut down, has put the en The Kyiv IndependentAlexander Query Overnight drone attack Russia launched 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones from Bryansk Oblast and the Azov Sea, targeting military and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine in an overnight attack. The Air Force said 32 drones were downed, including around 20 in Kyiv Oblast, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration. Russian forces also struck Zaporizhzhia with the Iskander-M ballistic missiles, the Air Force reported. No casualties or damage to residential buildings were reported, according to Zaporizhzhia Acting Mayor Anatolii Kurtiev. Without providing further details, Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Yurii Malashko said Russian forces attacked the regional capital and its suburbs, targeting communications, an agricultural enterprise, and a popular recreation zone. However, the critical infrastructure in the western city of Lviv was hit on the morning of June 20, Lviv Oblast Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said. No casualties were reported. The drone debris has damaged power lines, causing electricity outages in parts of Kyiv and Mykolaiv oblasts, the Energy Ministry reported on June 20. How Russia uses Iranian drones to try to overwhelm Ukraines air defense Russias been shelling civilian housing and infrastructure since the war escalated on Feb. 24 and has a body count in the thousands to show for it. But recently, Moscow prioritized attacking power plants throughout Ukraine, damaging more than a third with big missile and loitering munition attacks. The Kyiv IndependentIgor Kossov Russia targets first responders in Kherson Oblast Russian forces shelled the State Emergency Service rescuers in Kherson, killing one and injuring seven, Presidential Office Head Andriy Yermak reported on June 20. The attack occurred when the rescuers were clearing the silt after the flooding caused by the Kakhovka Dam June 6 disaster. Yermak said six rescuers are in serious condition. At least 21 people died due to the flooding caused by the dam explosion, including five killed in Russian attacks while trying to evacuate on Ukraine-controlled west bank of the Dnipro River, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on June 20. Klymenko also reported that 28 people, including 16 emergency operatives, were injured. As of June 20, 109 people in Kherson Oblast are considered missing, the Reintegration Ministry reported. The main part of the evacuation in the west bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast has finished, Ukrinfrom state-owned news agency reported on June 20, citing the State Emergency Service spokesperson, Oleksandr Khorunzhyi. Locals are gradually returning to their homes, Khorunzhyi said. Meanwhile, Russian forces hinder residents on the east bank from evacuating, blocking the routes and banning locals from leaving the area, according to Ukrainian military reports. Over 500 people died due to flooding in the Russian-occupied Oleshky on the east bank, the Ukrainian military's National Resistance Center reported on June 19. The Kyiv Independent is unable to verify the claim. Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast is located just across the river from Kherson. Ukrainian soldiers from the 60th Battalion of Territorial Defence, are shooting rounds into Russian positions with an S60 anti-aircraft canon placed on a truck, outside Bakhmut - Anadolu Ukraine is reportedly planning to attack occupied Crimea with Himars and British Storm Shadow missile, Russia has claimed in a warning to Kyiv and the West. Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, said that Russia would retaliate if Ukraine started hitting the territory that Vladimir Putin annexed in 2014 The use of these missiles outside the zone of our special military operation would mean that the United States and Britain would be fully dragged into the conflict and would entail immediate strikes on decision-making centres in Ukraine, warned Mr Shoigu. Crimea may become within target of Ukraines arsenal of missiles and artillery as its counter offensive pushes further south. Ukraine says it has recaptured 113 square km (44 square miles) of land from Russian forces. Last week, Russian sources said that more than a hundred Russian soldiers may have been killed by a Ukrainian Himars strike after they were ordered to wait in large numbers to listen to a generals speech. 03:09 PM BST Today's liveblog is now closed Thanks for reading todays liveblog. We will be back tomorrow with all the latest updates on Ukraine. 03:08 PM BST James Cleverly: UK and US stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of Ukraine The UK and the US stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of Ukraine. Welcome to London, @SecBlinken pic.twitter.com/tJYstCsNB5 James Cleverly (@JamesCleverly) June 20, 2023 03:02 PM BST What is a Storm Shadow missile and how does it work? 03:00 PM BST Rescue worker and several others injured in Kherson, says Ukraine Ukraine said that one rescue worker and several others were injured by Russian forces in the southern city of Kherson, which was recently flooded after the breach of a major dam nearby. One employee of the State Emergency Service dead, another eight were injured in Kherson, Ukrainian interior minister Igor Klymenko said on social media, adding that the team was involved in clean up efforts in the wake of the flood. 02:34 PM BST US to set out a 'robust' assistance package for Ukraine US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he would set out a new assistance package for Ukraine on Wednesday at a conference aimed at encouraging private companies to invest in the countrys reconstruction after Russias invasion. Kyiv and London will host the Ukraine recovery conference in London on Wednesday and Thursday, when more than 1,000 foreign officials from over 60 states along with business chiefs and global investors will discuss ways to help the country rebuild. President Biden said ... that we would stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes, and both of our countries are deeply committed to that, Mr Blinken told a press conference alongside British foreign minister James Cleverly. We will continue to deliver on that commitment, including through a new robust US assistance package that Ill be able to announce tomorrow. 02:31 PM BST Pictured: A cloud of smoke after a night drone strike in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv A cloud of smoke after a night drone strike in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv - YURIY DYACHYSHYN/AFP 02:09 PM BST 'Significant' Russian ammunition dump destroyed A significant ammunition dump in Russian-occupied Rykove has been destroyed, new satellite imagery shows. Pictures show widespread destruction of an alleged supply depot in Rykove, 125 miles southeast of the city of Kherson, near the port town of Henichesk. This was a very significant ammunition depot. It has been destroyed, said Odesas military administration. Rykove, located on the railroad between Crimea and Melitopol, is an important logistical hub for Russians in the occupied part of Kherson region. In the southern Kherson region on Tuesday, Ukrainian forces reportedly struck the Russian-controlled town of Nova Kakhovka with drones,local Russian-appointed authorities said. On Monday, Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, said that the Ukrainian counter offensive was making good progress. 01:49 PM BST Preacher swaps dog collar for flak jacket during sermons on the front line Even by the standards of a Protestant preacher, Pastor Ihor Yershovs services are austere affairs. He wears a t-shirt and flak jacket rather than collar and cassock, and his church constitutes whichever building still happens to be standing in the bomb-ravaged Donbas villages where his flock continue to dwell. Yet for residents of hamlets like Maximilianivka, close to the front lines of Ukraines ongoing counter-offensive, his pop-up preaching sessions in homes and basements are their only chance to hear the word of God. Maximilianivka is about 70 per cent destroyed and the people that are still there are living in terrible conditions, Mr Yershov told The Telegraph from his base in nearby Kurakhove, as distant explosions sounded from the fighting outside the nearby separatist-held city of Donetsk. Read more here 01:48 PM BST Russian soldier gets nearly $12,000 for destroying German tank in Ukraine A Russian soldier who destroyed a German-made Leopard tank in a battle in Ukraine has been given a 1 million rouble ($11,842) reward by a private foundation, Russias defence ministry said on Tuesday. It published a video showing the soldier, Andrei Kravtsov, sitting on a hospital bed and receiving a reward certificate from Alexander Karelin, a three-time Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling. The ministry did not say when and where Kravtsov had destroyed the tank or what he was being treated for in hospital. In the video, he appeared to be missing his right hand. Russia says its forces have destroyed a number of German-made Leopards and U.S.-supplied Bradley fighting vehicles since Ukraine launched a counteroffensive earlier this month. Reuters could not independently verify the numbers involved. The defence ministry last week said it had paid individual bonuses. 12:48 PM BST Scholz calls on China to raise pressure on Russia over Ukraine war German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he had called on China to use its influence over Russia more in regards to the war in Ukraine. Speaking alongside Chinas Premier Li Qiang after bilateral talks in the German capital, Mr Scholz also said China should not supply weapons to Russia and that the war in Ukraine should not become a frozen conflict. This is the Chinese Premiers first foreign trip since taking office in March. The meeting in Berlin is the seventh time Germany and China have held high-level government consultations and comes a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, indicating an effort by Beijing to reach out to the West and improve frosty relations. Germany is keen to maintain good ties with China, its biggest trading partner, despite wariness over Beijings growing assertiveness and refusal to criticize the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Germanys recently published national security strategy describes China as a partner, competitor and systemic rival. 12:37 PM BST EU to set aside 50 billion euros for Ukraine The European Unions chief executive, Ursula von der Leyen, on Tuesday unveiled an aid package for Ukraine worth 50 billion euros. The figure comes after a review of the blocs 2021-27 budget and ahead of an international conference in London this week aimed at raising more funds to rebuild Ukraine from its war with Russia. The 50-billion-euro budget reserve will provide perspective and reliability to the blocs Ukrainian partners, von der Leyen said in remarks to journalists after an EU commission meeting in Brussels. 12:26 PM BST Pictured: A crater is seen next to destroyed trucks after Russian shelling in Rozumivka A crater is seen next to destroyed trucks after Russian shelling in Rozumivka - Andriy Andriyenko/AP 11:28 AM BST Satellite imagery shows alleged supply depot before and after destruction 11:14 AM BST Russia claims Ukraine plans missile strikes on Crimea Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed that Ukraine was planning to attack Moscow-controlled Crimea with HIMARS long-range artillery systems and Storm Shadow missiles, and warned that Russia would retaliate, TASS reported. Such strikes, which Russia considers to be outside the area of what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine, would also mean full-scale involvement of the United States and Britain in the conflict, TASS quoted Shoigu as saying. 11:08 AM BST Wagner chief says his fighters have yet to receive promised medals Yevgeny Prigozhin has complained that most of his fighters had not yet received medals promised by President Vladimir Putin for their role in the Ukraine wars bloodiest battle, the latest twist in a feud with the top brass. Prigozhins Wagner private army spearheaded the assault on the eastern city of Bakhmut, captured last month by Russian forces after nine months of fighting. Putin congratulated Wagner and the Russian army at the time and said that all those who distinguished themselves would get state awards. But Prigozhin, who has publicly accused the Defence Ministry and its leadership of incompetence and of failing to adequately supply his forces, said most of his men had not been decorated. Of the state awards for Bakhmut, only Hero of Russia stars have been received. Nothing has been awarded to the fighters, the bulk of the fighters. The lists are with the Ministry of Defence, he said in a statement released by his press office. According to my information, there is a fuss over signing off on the awards. Everybody has already forgotten that they fought and died there, Prigozhin added, accusing generals of instead adorning themselves with trinkets. There was no immediate reaction to his criticism from the Defence Ministry which has ignored his public complaints. 11:06 AM BST Watch: Footage of fire and detonations in occupied Rykove More footage of fire and detonations in occupied Rykove via UNIAN pic.twitter.com/mse26sc10l Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) June 18, 2023 10:49 AM BST Putin's tactical nuclear weapons threat is 'real', says Biden The threat of Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is real, Joe Biden has said, days after denouncing Russias deployment of such weapons in Belarus. When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado river drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy, the US President told a group of donors in California on Monday. They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. Its real, Mr Biden said. On Saturday, Mr Biden called Putins announcement that Russia had deployed its first tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus absolutely irresponsible. Last week, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country has started taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, some of which he said were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The deployment is Russias first move of such warheads - shorter-range, less powerful nuclear weapons that could be used on the battlefield - outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. 10:33 AM BST Kyiv in talks with Western weapons makers about setting up production in Ukraine Ukraine is in negotiations with Western arms manufacturers to boost production of weapons, including drones, and could sign contracts in coming months, a Ukrainian minister told Reuters. Since Russias invasion of Ukraine last year Ukraine has been scrambling to secure weapons ranging from munitions to rocket launchers to missiles. It has received support from countries such as the United States, Germany and Britain and Sergiy Boyev, deputy minister for Strategic Industries in Ukraine, said Kyiv was in talks with manufacturers from Germany, Italy, France and eastern Europe about them producing weapons in Ukraine itself. We are in very detailed discussions with them. And we are certain that we will have the contracts agreements signed within the next few months, Mr Boyev told Reuters on the sidelines of the Paris Airshow. In May, Ukraines President Volodomyr Zelenskiy said the country was working with British defence company BAE Systems to set up a Ukrainian base to both produce and repair weapons from tanks to artillery. No deal has been signed yet. 10:22 AM BST Russia jails dual national for fighting for Ukraine Russia jailed a dual Ukrainian and Russian national for 16 years on Tuesday on terrorism-linked charges for fighting alongside Kyivs forces in Ukraine. A judge in a military court in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don handed down the ruling to a man named Denis Muryga, accusing him of fighting as part of Ukraines Aidar battalion, Russian news agencies reported. The unit is active around Bakhmut, a persistent hotspot of fighting in Ukraines eastern Donetsk region, which the Kremlin claimed to have annexed last year. Muryga is found guilty, the judge said, the Interfax news agency reported, citing a journalist in the courtroom. State prosecutors had requested a sentence of 18 years, it said. 10:22 AM BST Russian-backed officials claim Ukraine struck town of Nova Kakhovka with drones Ukrainian forces reportedly struck the Russian-controlled town of Nova Kakhovka in the southern Kherson region with drones and three civilians were wounded, the TASS news agency reported, citing the local Russian-appointed authorities. The attack took place in the morning, TASS said, and was carried out by loitering munitions, also known as kamikaze drones. Reuters could not independently verify the report. 09:25 AM BST Zelensky: Peace for Ukrainian children There is absolutely nothing in this brutal war that is taking place on our land that would make our Ukraine a source of war or the territory of those who want to take something away from another people. We are defending the lives of our people, our freedom, our independence, our pic.twitter.com/D425Dej7k9 (@ZelenskyyUa) June 20, 2023 09:12 AM BST Pictured: Ukrainian soldiers outside Bakhmut Ukrainian soldiers from the 60th Battalion of Territorial Defense, are shooting rounds into Russian positions with an S60 anti-aircraft canon placed on a truck, outside Bakhmut - Anadolu Agency/Anadolu 09:09 AM BST Modi says criticism of India's stance on Russia not widespread in US, reports WSJ Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that Indias stance on Russia in the Ukraine conflict has not faced widespread criticism in the United States. Asked in an interview with the Wall Street Journal about critical comments in the US for not taking a more forceful stance against Russias invasion of Ukraine, Modi said: I dont think this type of perception is widespread in the US. I think Indias position is well known and well understood in the entire world. The world has full confidence that Indias top-most priority is peace. Modi left on Tuesday on a state visit to the US billed as a turning point for bilateral relations, with deeper cooperation in defence and high technology in focus. 08:27 AM BST Ukraine 'shot down 32 drones' Russia launched a widespread overnight air attack on Ukraine on Tuesday, targeting military and infrastructure facilities in Kyiv and other cities, officials said on Tuesday. Ukraine said it had shot down 32 out of 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched from Russias Bryansk region and the Azov Sea. There was no mention of any casualties in the latest air strikes launched by Moscow since Kyiv began a counteroffensive in which it says it has recaptured 113 square km (44 square miles) of land from Russian forces. The air force said on the Telegram messaging app that air defences had been in action in most regions of Ukraine. However, the main direction of attack by Iranian drones was the Kyiv region. More than two dozen Shaheds were destroyed here, its said on the Telegram messaging app. 07:58 AM BST Britain will not drop sanctions until Russia pays to rebuild Ukraine Britain will keep sanctions against Russia in place until the Kremlin has compensated Ukraine for the destruction it has caused, under new legislation introduced by the Government. A raft of measures to tighten the sanctions regime will also create a route for sanctioned individuals to do the right thing by voluntarily donating frozen assets to a Ukrainian recovery fund, Number 10 said. James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, said: As Ukraine continues to defend itself against Russias invasion, the terrible impacts of [Vladimir] Putins war are clear. Ukraines reconstruction needs are and will be immense. Read more from The Telegraphs Senior Foreign Correspondent here 07:57 AM BST Latest MoD update Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 20 June 2023. Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/sbCxVQyYL8 #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/aYoWLghGOf Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) June 20, 2023 07:43 AM BST Pictured: A drone explosion is seen in the sky over Kyiv A drone explosion is seen in the sky over Kyiv - GLEB GARANICH/REUTERS 07:40 AM BST Russia launches overnight air attack on Ukraine from east to west Russia launched a widespread overnight air attack on Ukraine targeting the capital and cities from east to west as most of the country spent the night with air raid sirens blasting for several hours. The military administration of Lviv, a city of about 700,000 people and 70km from the border with the Nato country of Poland, said Russia hit a critical infrastructure in the city, sparking fire. According to preliminary reports, there were no casualties. Yuri Malashko, head of the military administration of the Zaporizhzhia region in southeast Ukraine, said on the Telegram messaging app that Russias raid targeted telecommunication infrastructure and agriculture and farming properties. There were no casualties reported in Zaporizhzhia. 07:39 AM BST Explosions rock Western Ukraine city of Lviv Russia launched an overnight air attack on the Western Ukraine city of Lviv, rocking it and the surrounding region with explosions, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said on the Telegram messaging app early on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear whether the explosions were Ukraines defence systems repelling the attack or target being hit. 07:38 AM BST Good morning Good morning and welcome to todays Ukraine liveblog. We will be guiding you through all the latest updates on Ukraine. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer. The Ukrainian Defence Forces continue to advance on the Melitopol and Berdyansk fronts, and they are strengthening their positions in new locations; no positions have been lost where the Ukrainian Armed Forces are defending. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 06:00 on 20 June Quote from Andrii Kovalev, spokesman for the General Staff of Ukraines Armed Forces: "Offensive actions continue on the Melitopol and Berdyansk fronts, namely in the areas of Novodarivka - Pryyutne, Makarivka - Rivnopil, and Novodanilivka - Robotyne, the Ukrainian military had partial success during the past day; they are entrenching themselves in the achieved positions. The enemy concentrated its main efforts on defending and preventing the advance of our troops, using reserves and trying to restore the lost ground." Details: The General Staff noted that the Russians continue to focus their main efforts on the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Marinka fronts; heavy fighting continues there, and there were 45 combat clashes over the past day. The General Staff has reported that the Russian occupation forces are engaging in the looting of Ukrainian civilians in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, which suffered flooding due to the deliberate destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant by Russian forces. In particular, at the checkpoints leading to Oleshky, the invaders are confiscating humanitarian aid meant for the affected population. Over the past day, the aviation of the Defence Forces carried out 15 strikes on areas where Russian personnel were concentrated. During the day, units of Rockets Troops and Artillery struck three control points, 10 clusters of personnel and military equipment, two ammunition storage depots, one fuel and lubricant depot, 15 artillery units in a firing position, three air defence facilities, and two more targets used by the Russians. In total, Ukrainian soldiers killed more than 1,010 Russian invaders and destroyed eight tanks, 15 armoured combat vehicles, 23 artillery systems, four anti-aircraft guns, two air defence systems, one helicopter, 10 operational-tactical UAVs, three cruise missiles, 32 vehicles and five units of special equipment. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Ukrainian soldiers are fighting Russian forces along a long southern and eastern front, but progress has been patchy (Anatolii STEPANOV) More than a week into Ukraine's counter-offensive, Kyiv has reported modest gains, liberating eight settlements in the first cautious steps of a daunting fight back against entrenched Russian positions. Much about Ukraine's progress is unclear but its ally Britain has said "both sides are suffering high casualties" and that "Russian forces often conduct relatively effective defensive operations." Analysts also caution that NATO-trained and Western-armed brigades have not yet been fully committed to the fight and that some early assaults are only designed to find weak spots in Russian lines. AFP journalists have recently visited Ukrainian positions along the front, from forested hills in the eastern Lugansk region through Donetsk to Orikhiv 230 kilometres (140 miles) west. The snapshots give an impression of how successfully Ukrainian forces are moving forward and at what cost. - First breakthrough - Most settlements Ukraine says it liberated lie in the wooded and marshy valley south of Velyka Novosilka in the Donetsk region. Here, soldiers of the 68th Jaeger ("Hunter") brigade said Russia put up fiercer than expected resistance in the village of Blagodatne, where Russian corpses lay where they fell and two-way artillery fire echoed. "The regular Russian army was here," said a Ukrainian soldier known by his call-sign "Zahar", alleging professional Russian units were reinforced by prisoners recruited to fight. "Commanders were from the regular army, and a lot of convicts." Combat medic Vinni added: "It took two days to clear the area, because they had a lot of dugouts and passages. It was really difficult for our guys to kick them out of here." The deputy commander of the brigade, using the call-sign "Lermontov", said the wider goal was to capture nearby Russian stronghold Donetsk. - Early setback - On June 8, when Ukraine was still reluctant to confirm the new operation, Russia said it repelled an armoured column near the front line south of Orikhiv. Russian drone footage appeared to show several German-built Leopard mine-clearing tanks and US-made Bradley fighting vehicles damaged. Ukrainian soldiers from the 47th Brigade resting at a cafe confirmed their motorised infantry company had lost most of its Bradleys, but insisted some were recoverable and that the brigade would fight on. "In our unit, six out of ten Bradleys were wrecked, and three damaged," one infantryman said. An officer separately said human casualties had been lower than feared thanks to the disabled Bradleys' tough armour. Ukraine has since launched new attacks on the western and southern fronts and on Monday deputy defence minister Ganna Malyar said the village of Pyatykhatky had been liberated. - Bakhmut battle - The longest and bloodiest battle of the war so far has been the fight for the eastern city of Bakhmut, captured by Russian forces in May after months of slaughter. Almost immediately, Ukrainian assault infantry backed by German artillery began pushing Russian troops from the town's flanks. "They are the most active at night," a soldier with the call sign "Quiet" told AFP. "You can hear the sound of the equipment, and if they speak loud, you can hear them as well." A commander said Russian drones and gliding bombs dropped by planes out of Ukrainian air defences' range were taking a toll, but claimed slow, steady progress all the same. - The next operation? - Ukraine has not announced an operation in the eastern Lugansk region, but rumours of one already seem to have reached the Russians. Infantry from the 100th Territorial Defence Brigade, recruited last year in western Ukraine near the Belarus border, are guarding trenches in the forested hills between Sloviansk and Russian-held Kreminna. Officers said Russian shelling had fallen off last week since the offensive started elsewhere, and troops speculated to AFP that their foe was saving ammunition in expectation of attack. "They are digging their trenches deeper," said a 47-year-old soldier known as "General" thanks to his greying beard rather than his rank. Armed with a shovel, General was also digging so that soldiers at his position could walk to firing positions without crouching. Artillery was audible some 700 metres and a minefield away from Russian positions, but a company commander known as "Tooth" said he suspected some of Moscow's forces had gone to deal with fighting in Belgorod district, inside Russia. Russia has been confronted by cross-border incursions claimed by anti-Kremlin rebels, which some observers saw as a move to distract Moscow from Kyiv's planned offensive. dc/jbr/lcm (CNN) Crews searching for a missing submersible that lost contact while touring the wreckage of the Titanic with five people aboard are keeping a nervous eye on the crafts dwindling oxygen supply as they navigate choppy, remote waters in low visibility. The Coast Guard and the Royal Canadian Air Force are deploying more aircraft and vessels to aid in the search for the 21-foot vessel, which began its descent Sunday morning and has just four days of emergency capability. The search zone covers a remote area some 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and 13,000 feet deep, US Coast Guard District 1 Rear Admiral John Mauger said Monday afternoon. Crews are also dealing with foggy conditions and waves of 3 to 6 feet. It is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area, Mauger said during a news briefing. But we are deploying all available assets to make sure that we can locate the craft and rescue the people onboard. The submersible roughly the size of a minivan was carrying one pilot and four mission specialists when its mother ship lost contact with it about 1 hour and 45 minutes into its descent to explore the Titanic wreckage, authorities said. The vessel has between 70 and 96 hours of life support, Mauger said. It could be on or below the surface, and crews have been using sonar buoys and ship sonar to listen for any sounds that we can detect in the water column, said the Coast Guard, which also is searching with aerial and water surface vessels, with more assets expected to fan out in coming days. There were no underwater searches involved as of Monday, Mauger said. We have to make sure that were looking on both the surface using aerial and surface vessels but then expanding into underwater search as well, Mauger said. Right now, our capability is limited to sonar buoys and listening for sounds. The Canadian Armed Forces is also deploying an aircraft to assist in the search, a spokesperson told CNN. The group conducting the Titanic expedition, OceanGate Expeditions, is also helping in the search and said it is exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely. And Canadian research vessel Polar Prince, which took the submersible to Titanic wreckage site, is assisting search and rescue efforts, a spokesperson for its co-owner Horizon Maritime told CNN. Search and rescue operations at sea are like searching for a needle in a haystack, former US Navy diver, retired Capt. Bobbie Scholley, told CNN Monday. In this case, they knew exactly the location that they were starting with this submersible so they have good data for where to start the search, Scholley said. The submersible also is going to make sounds with systems on board that sonar buoys should be able to pick up, she said. Among those on the submersible is British businessman Hamish Harding, according to a social media post by his company, Action Aviation. The day before the vessel went missing, Harding wrote of the Titanic mission: I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic. Diver PH Nargeolet was scheduled to be on Sundays dive with him, Harding said Saturday in a Facebook post: The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s including PH Nargeolet, Harding wrote, according to CNN news partner CTV News And a St. Johns-based diver knows one of the people on the expedition French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet that diver, Larry Daley, told CBC News; Daley reportedly made the trip to the Titanic two decades ago CNN hasnt been able to reach Nargeolet, and it is not clear if he was among those who boarded the vessel. Nargeolet is a Titanic expert who has taken the trip every year, completing more than 37 dives to the wreck, according to an archived version of OceanGate Expeditions website accessible via the Internet Archives Wayback Machine. Meanwhile, Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman Dawood, of Pakistan, also had embarked on a journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean, their family said Tuesday in a statement. As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available, the family said, adding theyre praying for their loved ones safe return. The US Coast Guard has not released the names of the five people onboard as it works to notify their relatives, an official said Monday. What we know about the vessel and expedition The expedition began with a 400-nautical-mile journey to the Titanic wreck site, then the submersible started its descent Sunday morning, eventually losing contact with the Polar Prince, a converted ice breaker. The last communication between the vessel and OceanGate staff at the surface came in at 11:47 a.m. Authorities were notified at 6:35 p.m., after the 6:10 p.m. resurface time of the vessel passed with no sign of the submersible, according to Polar Prince co-owner Miawpukek Maritime Horizon Services. Chief Misel Joe of Miawpukek First Nation, the expeditions support vessel, got a call Sunday alerting him that the submersible was two hours overdue and still hadnt surfaced and communication with it was lost, he said. At that point, requests for search and rescue had gone out, he said. Theres a tremendous amount of concern, Joe said. I have anguish that people are going through this. I wish there was more I can do. Unlike a submarine, a submersible needs a mother ship to launch it, has fewer power reserves and cant stay underwater as long. A mother ship can communicate with a submersible via text messages which are exchanged via a USBL (ultra-short baseline) acoustic system, according to OceanGate Expeditions archived website. The submersible is required to communicate with the ship every 15 minutes or more frequently, if needed, the site says. That USBL system is the only communications link between the submersible and the surface, it adds. OceanGate Expeditions operates a trip taking passengers to the Titanics wreckage at the bottom of the ocean for prices starting at $250,000, the archived website states, describing its mission support fee for a 2023 expedition. The companys Titanic expeditions include a series of eight-day missions to the famous shipwreck, with trips beginning and ending in St. Johns, Newfoundland, according to the archived site. The company advertised the experience as a way to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary. The vessel, named Titan, is a 23,000-pound submersible made of carbon fiber and titanium, according to OceanGate. It is operated by a gaming controller, what essentially looks like a PlayStation controller, said CNN correspondent Gabe Cohen, who sat in Titan in 2018 while reporting on OceanGate Expeditions for CNN affiliate KOMO. Cohen was blown away by how simple some of the crafts technology seemed, though the company noted it could dive 13,000 feet down into the ocean and handle 150 million pounds of pressure that it would feel on the ocean floor, he said Tuesday on CNN This Morning. Its a tiny vessel, quite cramped and small, Cohen said. You have to sit inside of it, shoes off. It can only fit five people. A Titanic dive takes about 10 hours from start to finish, including the two and a half hours it takes to reach the bottom, the website says. The company calls its clients mission specialists, who are trained as crew members in a variety of different roles, including communicating with the topside tracking team, taking sonar scans and opening and closing the vessels dome, the archived site says. Clients do not need previous maritime experience to join as mission specialists, it adds. In case of an emergency, the submersible is equipped with basic emergency medical supplies and pilots have basic first aid training, according to OceanGate Expeditions website. Mother ship crew focused onboard here for our friends Everybody is focused onboard here for our friends, an expedition participant on the Polar Prince said Monday. We have a situation that is now the part of a major Search and Rescue effort, being undertaken by major agencies, Rory Golden said on Facebook after CNN contacted him. That is where our focus is right now. Online and internet options were being restricted to keep bandwidth available for the coordinated effort that is taking place, Golden said. The reaction and offers of help globally is truly astonishing, and only goes to show the real goodness in people at a time like this. Golden thanked everyone and ended the post: Think positive. We are. Ninety-six hours of life support on the vessel is a short amount of time, said Scholley, the former US Navy diver, though effective resources are being used in the search. The hard part is finding the submersible. And once they find the submersible, there are all sorts of situations of how to get that submersible to the surface, and rescue the crew, Scholley said. The Coast Guards focus is on locating the vessel, Mauger said. If we find this vessel in the water, then we will have to affect some sort of rescue or reaching out to different partners within the US Navy, within the Canadian Armed Forces and within private industry to understand what underwater rescue capability might be available, he added. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Rescuers are racing the clock in search for a manned submersible lost while touring Titanic wreckage." Taras Kremin, the State Language Protection Commissioner, has already recorded several hundred cases of linguicide committed by Russia in the occupied territories of Ukraine during a full-scale war. Source: Taras Kremin in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda Quote: "Such situations are not so much large-scale as systemic. We take them [facts of linguicide ed.] from open sources. We receive information either directly from those who witnessed it or from those who found it. It is impossible to say that we receive information from the occupied territories. However, those who left the occupation or those who live in the liberated territories have the right to contact us and report certain facts." Details: Kremin has said that, as a language protection commissioner, he passes on information about cases of linguicide to law enforcement agencies, human rights organisations and relevant international structures. Background: In spring 2022, Kremin called on Ukrainians to report cases of linguicide for the upcoming trial of the aggressor. On 4 May 2023, Taras Kremin said that the Secretariat of the Language Ombudsman was working with MPs to introduce criminal liability directly for the crime of linguistic violence, which is not yet provided for in the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Ukraine's Zelenskiy: Our forces are destroying the enemy in east, south South African President Ramaphosa, Senegal's President Sall, Zambia's President Hichilema, President of the Union of Comoros Assoumani and Egypt's Prime Minister Madbuly visit Ukraine (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Ukraine's forces were destroying Russian forces in the two main theatres of the conflict, the east and south of the country. "At this time, our soldiers in the south and east are actively destroying the enemy, physically cleansing Ukraine," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video message. "A defence against terror means destroying terrorists. And it is a guarantee that the state of evil will never have the opportunity to bring evil to Ukraine." Referring to a conference to take place in London on post-war recovery, Zelenskiy said rebuilding Ukraine was "a vehicle and a guarantee of security" and a means of "protecting against any repetition of Russian aggression." (Reporting by Ron Popeski and Nick Starkov; Editing by Leslie Adler) Ukrainian servicemen prepare a M119 howitzer for firing towards Russian troops at a position near a frontline in Donetsk region Ukrainian artillerymen praise US howitzers outside Russian-held town Ukrainian servicemen prepare a M119 howitzer for firing towards Russian troops at a position near a frontline in Donetsk region By Max Hunder NEAR KREMINNA, Ukraine (Reuters) - The artillerymen of Ukraine's 67th infantry brigade are delighted with the U.S.-supplied M119 howitzer amid an increase in military exchanges south of the Russian-held town of Kreminna. The men now stationed in Ukraine's northeast have been redeployed from positions around the devastated town of Bakhmut - encircled and locked in fierce fighting for more than nine months before it fell last month to Russian mercenaries. The northeast, where Ukrainian troops made big, rapid gains late last year, may be somewhat less intense, but it still saw plenty of exchanges. And the level of activity has risen noticeably in recent days. Nearly 16 months after the Russian invasion, Ukraine has embarked on a counter-offensive focusing on the south and east and benefiting from supplies of U.S. and other Western weapons. The M119 is described by military experts as a versatile, manoeuvrable and accurate weapon for light units, but with a specific, limited range of up to about 20 km (12.4 miles). The artillerymen spent the day firing at enemy targets with the M119s, which they say they have had for seven months. And, by their account, work brilliantly in the area's gruelling artillery battles. "It all happens in waves," said a gunner, aged 48, who introduced himself by his callsign, Skipper, and sported a cropped beard and cheeky grin. "I can't say that it got more intense. Still, over the last five days, we observe that they (Russian troops) became more active." Exchanges of fire, he said, had picked up on both sides where his unit was stationed. "We also became more active, but everything else had better remain a secret. You'll see what's next." The artillerymen moved quickly to load their gun, toiling in the heat of a sunny June day. Near the front lines, the sky was a clear blue punctuated by thick columns of black, grey or white smoke rising in the distance where artillery had struck. Some reached hundreds of metres into the air. Skipper and several of his comrades lauded the M119 for its precision and compact size, which made it easier to operate, hide and move. A gunner identifying himself as Cousin, 47, lavished praise on the weapon. "It is wonderful They say that modern war heavily relies on artillery, that's our mission," he said. "What is most important is to have enough shells. We can manage everything else on our own." (Reporting by Max Hunder near Kreminna; Editing by Ron Popeski and Stephen Coates) Ukrainian command making right decisions at the front, says NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg The Ukrainian command is making the right decisions at the front amid the ongoing counter-offensive, the Ukrinform news agency quoted NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg as saying on June 20. Ukrainian forces are making progress, he said at a joint briefing with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius at Air Base Jagel in northern Germany. Read also: Shocking report on Prigozhin, Zelensky Europe trip yields progress, Firtash indicted Stoltenberg noted the fighting is very heavy due to the Russians fierce resistance, who are mounting a competent defense However, the Ukrainian command is making the right operational decisions, according to him. Ukraine needs constant support for its counter-offensive to liberate the territory and improve its negotiating position in the future, the official added. Read also: The road is strewn with the bodies of Russian soldiers Photo report from recently liberated village in Donetsk Oblast Stoltenberg also confirmed that Ukrainian pilots had started training on modern fighter jets and thanked the countries that joined this initiative. He believes this is a sign of NATOs readiness to support Ukraine in the long term. Read also: Sweden will train Ukrainian pilots on JAS 39 Gripen jets At the same time, the decision on the timing of the transfer of fighter jets to the Armed Forces of Ukraine has not yet been made, Stoltenberg added. Ukraines General Staff earlier reported that Ukrainian forces were successful in limited counter-offensive actions in Berdyansk and Melitopol areas. Read also: Zelenskyy convenes senior staff meeting on Ukrainian offensive Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also confirmed that Ukrainian forces had not lost any positions, but, on the contrary, had liberated several settlements. The counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is underway in several areas, Ukrainian Deputy Minister Hanna Maliar announced on June 15. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Ukrainian defenders shot down a Russian Ka-52 Alligator helicopter on the Donetsk front on the evening of 19 June. Source: Air Force of Ukraine on Telegram Quote: "Another Alligator down. A unit from the Air Force's anti-aircraft missile forces destroyed a Ka-52 attack helicopter on the Donetsk front at around 23:00 on 19 June!" Background: The Ukrainian Air Force has destroyed 32 of the 35 Shahed attack drones that the Russians launched over Ukraine on the night of 20 June. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as of the morning of 20 June, Ukrainian soldiers had already shot down 306 Russian helicopters. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Ukrainian defenders destroyed a group of Russian infantry Footage has emerged of drones organized by the Black Raven unit discovering and eliminating a Russian infantry group in the Kreminna area of Luhansk region on June 20. The video footage reveals Russian soldiers dispersing in various directions following the initial explosions. Based on the video, it appears that the Ukrainian Armed Forces successfully eliminated at least seven Russian intruders. Read also: Deputy commander and entire battalion of Russian troops from South Ossetia killed in south Ukraine In the past day, approximately 1,010 Russian invaders were reported killed in Ukraine. Overall, Russia's casualties have exceeded 221,000 soldiers since the commencement of the large-scale invasion in February 2022. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Ukrainian military and American Avenger air defense system near Kyiv, June 16, 2023 The U.S.-made Avenger AN/TWQ-1 anti-aircraft missile system is already in service with the Ukrainian military near Kyiv, defense ministry adviser Yuriy Sak said on June 20. The U.S. has provided Kyiv with at least 12 Avernger systems with a range of up to 5 km, Sak clarified. They are designed for short-range action, while the more well-known Patriot system is intended for long-range targets. Ukrainian military and American Avenger air defense system near Kyiv, June 16, 2023 REUTERS/Anna Voitenko "Russia's tactic is to use cheap drones to exhaust our air defenses," Sak said. Ukrainian military and American Avenger air defense system near Kyiv, June 16, 2023 REUTERS/Anna Voitenko It's almost like a race against time. Who will run out first? The Russians with their missiles or the ones we receive from our allies? Ukrainian military and American Avenger air defense system near Kyiv, June 16, 2023 REUTERS/Anna Voitenko Ukrainian military and American Avenger air defense system near Kyiv, June 16, 2023 REUTERS/Anna Voitenko Ukraine is also looking to supplement its Patriot and Avenger systems with Hawkei armored vehicles from Australia, which can be integrated with air defense systems and used in a similar manner to the Avenger, Sak said. Read also: Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine SBU revealed the activities of the former Ukrainian pilot, he turned out to be a traitor Ukraines SBU security service has exposed a retired Ukrainian pilot who collected intelligence on Ukrainian Armed Forces airfields and the personal data of military pilots for Russia, the agency reported on June 20. The pilot, from Berdyansk in Southern Ukraine, reached out to a commander of Russia's 52nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment, whom he had personally known from pilot school. Read also: SBU has discovered over 300 traitors during wartime SBU head He passed on lists of Ukrainian pilots to the Russians, with a particular focus on those with experience flying combat aircraft and attack helicopters, with the aim of recruiting said pilots. The alleged traitor contacted his former classmates and covertly questioned them, seeking information about their contacts, location, and places of service, especially airfields. Read also: SBU detains Kharkiv-based top Russian spy monitoring Ukrainian military The accused traitor is believed to be hiding in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. If captured and convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Zoltan Kovacs stated that prisoners are Ukrainian prisoners of war who are being held in Hungary after being transferred from Russia "have been freed," Zoltan Kovacs, Hungary's state secretary for international communication, told CNN on June 19. The soldiers were "freed in Russia" after the cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta, and were able to declare, out of their own free will, that they wished to come to Hungary, said Kovacs. Kovacs said that most of the soldiers also had Hungarian citizenship, and the rest had "received refugee status in Hungary." Read also: Russia has not confirmed that transfer of Ukrainian POWs to Hungary, says HUR "They are now free individuals who can stay in Hungary or can leave Hungary at any time of their own free will," he said. "The Hungarian government is not following or monitoring their movements any further." Hungarian mass media reported that the POWs are all Hungarians from Ukraine's Zakarpattia region, home to a large Hungarian minority. The Ukrainian government has previously complained that Hungarian authorities are not providing consular access to the POWs, noting that they have yet to establish whether the POWs are in Hungary at all. Read also: Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Andriy Yusov Despite reports to the contrary from Hungarian government officials, the Ukrainian prisoners of war transferred from Russia to Hungary have not been released, said Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman, Andriy Yusov, on June 20. "There is information, particularly from relatives of several prisoners, that they were not actually released all this time," Yusov said. Read also: Hungary continues to hold 11 Ukrainian POWs incommunicado, claims Ukrainian Foreign Ministry "They were kept under surveillance, with limited contact and communication. Communication with relatives is limited and monitored by third parties." Yusov said Ukraine currently has a tentative list of prisoners of war who were transferred to Hungary but cannot confirm their status. The responsibility for doing so lies with the International Committee of the Red Cross. He added that Russia and Hungary, being signatories to agreements including the Geneva Convention, should have provided the necessary information. "The Russian Defense Ministry did not confirm the transfer, Yusov added. Read also: Hungary wasnt involved in POW transfer from Russia, says Hungarian FM "We are dealing with a very peculiar case, to say the least. As in many other cases involving international law and the aggressor state. We cannot consider [the transfer] official. There was a list of individuals that Hungary requested from Russia a few months ago there were 13 names. Now there is a list of approximately 11 individuals that have been handed over. The fact that we are discussing this situation at all is very unfortunate because an event that could have been entirely positive is turning into a kind of dramatic detective story with significant political implications, primarily from Russia's side, which is conducting psychological operations." Yusov stated that the POWs should be granted communication with everyone involved in the case, and relatives should be able to communicate with all those who have been released, but this has not yet happened. He said that the Ukrainian side knew about the Russian special operation to transfer Ukrainian prisoners of war to Hungary even before the official announcement. Kyiv made requests to confirm or deny this information, but Budapest denied the operation's occurrence. "Until the information became public in the media, Budapest denied it, and only after the Russian Orthodox Church unilaterally released the information did representatives of the Hungarian government actually start providing completely different information," he said. Read also: Ukrainian POWs held in Hungary "free," says official Yusov mentioned that Budapest initially claimed that they were prisoners of war, but later stated that they were "free people who had requested [this operation] themselves. We know that this is not true. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged Israel to halt and reverse what he described as troubling and alarming decisions on settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, a U.N. spokesperson said. "The Secretary-General reiterates that settlements are a flagrant violation of international law. They are a major obstacle to the realization of a viable two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace," deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement. "The expansion of these illegal settlements is a significant driver of tensions and violence and deepens humanitarian needs," Haq said. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Kim Coghill) Flags leading to U.N. building Gregory Adams / Getty Images The United Nations has adopted its first-ever high-seas treaty "forging a common wave of conservation and sustainability in the high seas beyond national boundaries," according to a U.N. release. The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty (BBNJ) is legally binding and was signed by the 193 U.N. member states. The BBNJ was signed "to prevent a cascading of species extinctions," especially in the areas known as the high seas or ocean regions beyond national boundaries, U.N. Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Oceans Peter Thomson told CBS News. Approximately two-thirds of the ocean is considered international waters. "This is critical to addressing the threats facing the ocean, and to the success of ocean-related goals and targets," added U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The treaty comes just one year after COP15, the U.N. Biodiversity Conference, agreed to put "30% of the planet and 30% of degraded ecosystems under protection by 2030," through the Global Biodiversity Framework. "To reach that target, we'll have to establish Marine Protected Areas in the High Seas, and happily the BBNJ Treaty will give us the legal means to do that," Thomson continued. The ocean faces several threats, including historic warming due to climate change and human-caused stressors including pollution and overfishing. "By acting to counter threats to our planet that go beyond national boundaries, you are demonstrating that global threats deserve global action," Guterres remarked. You may also like 5 theories for why Trump kept boxes of secret documents Alito did not disclose Alaska private jet trip from GOP billionaire with business before Supreme Court Humans pushed the Earth into a new geological epoch in the 1950s, Canadian lake samples suggest UN refugee chief calls for return to peacemaking to stem flows United Nations High Commission for Refugees Secretary General Filippo Grandi attends the World Refugee Day in Nairobi By Duncan Miriri NAIROBI (Reuters) - The world needs to rediscover its ability to bring peace to various trouble spots in order to curb the growing flow of refugees, the head of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday. There are 110 million displaced people around the world, up from 103 million last year and half that number a decade ago. "The U.N. Security Council, the main international body for peace and security, is broken. They cannot agree on anything," the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told Reuters in the Kenyan capital. "So we need to restore that capacity to lead, to drive peace because that is the only way we can address these flows." A group of diplomats, former statesmen and U.N. officials began seeking political backing for a peacemaking framework earlier this year to shape new standards for resolving conflicts. Among the drivers behind the higher numbers of refugees, which include the internally displaced, is the conflict in Sudan, where rival military factions are battling each other. "Today, right on World Refugee Day, we passed this horrible mark of 500,000 refugees from Sudan," Grandi said. Donors pledged $1.5 billion to help the Sudanese refugees at a conference on Monday. Some of the cash will be used to help 100,000 Sudanese refugees in neighbouring Chad whose camps are threatened by the onset of the rain season, the high commissioner said. "It is a very desperate race against time," he added. He called for a more sustainable solution like a meaningful ceasefire. "If the fighting doesn't stop, this is just the beginning. We will need much more than $1.5 billion, unfortunately," he said. Other reasons for the higher number of refugees include the conflicts in Ukraine, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and the Sahel. Challenges emanating from climate change are also forcing people to move, Grandi said, calling for a multilateral approach to tackling the climate crisis. "The time for working country by country is over," he said. (Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Alexandra Hudson) A passenger reads the front page of the Wall Street Journal reporting on tech company executives testifying to a congressional committee investigating monopoly policies on October 29, 2020 The US has the most highly-developed mass media in the world. Its dramas, comedies, soap operas, animations, music videos and films have a global audience and are part of the staple fare of broadcasters worldwide. TV is America's most popular medium. ABC, CBS and NBC led the pack for decades until the mass take-up of cable and satellite and the arrival of the Fox network. Fox News Channel is the dominant US cable news network. But viewing habits are changing and the proportion of consumed content accounted for by live broadcast TV is falling. The US leads the world in the adoption of over-the-top (OTT) video-on-demand, delivered by broadband internet. There are around 10,000 commercial radio stations. In cities, there are services to satisfy almost every taste. Subscription satellite radio offers hundreds of channels and has millions of customers. "The US has a free, diverse, and constitutionally protected press," says Washington-based Freedom House (2019). It says President Donald Trump has been "harshly critical of the mainstream media, routinely using inflammatory language to accuse them of bias and mendacity". The NGO says news coverage has become more polarised, with some outlets and well-known commentators "providing a consistently right- or left-leaning perspective". Public broadcasting Public broadcasting is partly government-funded, but also supported by private grants. Universities and colleges operate outlets. National Public Radio (NPR) - with hundreds of affiliate stations - offers news, debate and music without advertising. Public TV services operated by PBS have a mission to provide "quality" and educational programming. The government sponsors TV, radio and online outlets aimed at audiences outside the US, including in the former Soviet bloc, the Middle East and Asia, and Cuba. There are more than 1,000 daily newspapers in the US, most of them with a local or regional readership, but they have been hit by online competition. "The industry's financial fortunes and subscriber base have been in decline since the mid-2000s, and website audience traffic, after some years of growth, has levelled off," Pew Research Center said in 2019. The US is the home of the internet. There were 312 million internet users by July 2022, comprising 93% of the population (Internetworldstats.com). There were 270 million social media users by January 2022 (datareportal.com). YouTube, Facebook and Instagram are the leading platforms. Freedom House says internet access is unrestricted, but the leading social platforms have "struggled to control false or hateful material without harming freedom of expression or their own business interests". Press Television Radio NPR (National Public Radio) - non-commercial network of member stations; news, information and cultural programmes iHeart Media - America's largest commercial radio operator, owns more than 1,200 stations Audacy - major commercial operator, formerly Entercom Cumulus Media - major commercial operator External broadcasting News agencies Uruguayans pray for rain as capital reservoir left with only days of water MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) - Uruguay President Luis Lacalle Pou declared a state of emergency in the capital Montevideo because of a water shortage, enacting measures such as tax exemptions for bottled water and the construction of a reservoir. The South American country is experiencing its worst drought in 74 years, which has drained Montevideo's main reservoir. Reports of shortages first began in early May. The construction of the water system will start on Tuesday and will take 30 days at most, the president said in a press conference late on Monday. Water supply is guaranteed in hospitals, residential homes, child and family care centers, according to the president. The government also said it would deliver two liters of free water per day to some 21,000 beneficiaries of a program. (Reporting by Lucinda Elliot; Writing by Valentine Hilaire; editing by Grant McCool) (Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration is only modestly boosting quotas for plant-based diesel despite a fierce lobbying push by biofuel makers who complained the government is lowballing the industrys potential production. Most Read from Bloomberg Under a final slate of biofuel quotas set to be released Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency will require at least 3.35 billion gallons of bio and renewable diesel be blended into US fuels in 2025 up from an earlier proposal of 2.95 billion and last years 2.76 billion requirement, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named before a formal announcement. For 2023 and 2024, the quotas for biomass-based diesel, generally made from soybean oil and other fats, are being set at 2.82 billion and 3.04 billion gallons respectively. At the same time, the agency is paring the amount of conventional corn-based ethanol that could be used to fulfill quotas in 2024 and 2025 from its earlier proposal down to 15 billion gallons for each of those years from 15.25 billion as originally outlined. Representatives of the EPA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Agency staff were briefing key stakeholders, including congressional offices, on the matter Wednesday afternoon. The measure is a blow to biofuel advocates who argued too-low quotas could dampen planned investment in renewable diesel capacity and that recent surges in production warrant much higher targets. While the agency increased 2024 and 2025 biomass-based diesel quotas beyond its earlier proposal, the final targets fall far short of bio and renewable diesel producers push for an additional 500 million gallons annually, and the EPA did not boost the 2023 biomass-based diesel beyond its original plan. Darling Ingredients Inc., which through its Diamond Green Diesel partnership with Valero Energy Corp., is the top US producer of renewable diesel, dropped as much as 8.1% on the news, marking its biggest intraday decline in more than three months. Ethanol and grain makers, including Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. and Bunge Ltd., also retreated. Overall, the agency will require a record amount of renewable fuel to be mixed into gasoline and diesel over the next three years including 22.33 billion gallons in 2025 and 21.54 billion gallons in 2024, up from 20.63 billion mandated last year. In 2023, the total renewable fuel requirement will be 20.94 billion gallons, with an additional 250 million gallons added as a supplement to address a legal rebuke of previous quotas. For cellulosic biofuel, the EPA is requiring 840 million gallons in 2023, 1.09 billion gallons in 2024 and 1.38 billion gallons in 2025. The agency already jettisoned a controversial proposal to expand the Renewable Fuel Standard program to reward automakers for some electric vehicle charging, though officials have said they plan to advance the initiative separately. Read More: US Renewable Diesel at Risk of Oversupply Through 2025 The closely watched biofuel quotas have long been a source of tension for Republican and Democratic presidents, as they seek to balance oft-competing oil refining and agricultural interests. President Joe Biden campaigned on promises to promote corn-based ethanol, but his administration has put muscle into a push for electric vehicles that could limit the market for all liquid fuels, whether made from plants or petroleum. The quotas also have taken on a new dimension for US renewable diesel producers, whose margins are increasingly dependent on the price of tradeable credits that refiners and fuel importers use to prove they have fulfilled the annual biofuel-blending requirements. The US renewable diesel industrys benchmark margins in 2023 are 3% above five-year averages of $2.27 a gallon, in large part because of an increase in the price of those tradeable compliance credits, known as renewable identification numbers, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Brett Gibbs said. Producers this year are receiving $2.86 a gallon for RINs tracking biodiesel, up from an average of $1.63 from 2018 to 2022. --With assistance from Geoffrey Morgan. (Updates with more details from sixth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. The United States and China may be back to talking at a high level, but their battle for global power and influence remains unchecked and mutual suspicion still runs deep. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken set low goals for his visit to Beijing this week, and he met them. About the most the rivals can hope for these days is to stop things getting much worse. Blinken pointed to difficult days ahead, while Chinas foreign ministry warned the relationship was in a downward spiral. It was clear coming in that the relationship was at a point of instability, and both sides recognized the need to work to stabilize it, Blinken said of the reason for his trip. And specifically, we believe that its important to establish better lines of communication, open channels of communication, both to address misperceptions, miscalculations and to ensure that that competition doesnt veer into conflict. The two-day visit to the Chinese capital helped restore top-level ties, but China rebuffed a U.S. request to resume military-to-military contacts. Neither government appears convinced of the others honesty. While the two countries say theyre not enemies intent on harming each other, theyre not pretending to be friends. After meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, Blinken acknowledged entrenched differences. We have no illusions about the challenges of managing this relationship. There are many issues on which we profoundly, even vehemently, disagree, he said. Xi sounded a similar note, but suggested that the rivalry could be overcome. The competition among major countries is not in line with the trend of the times and cannot solve the problems of the United States itself and the challenges facing the world, he told Blinken. China respects the interests of the United States and will not challenge or supplant the United States. Similarly, the United States should also respect China and not harm its legitimate rights and interests. Danny Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for Asia during the Obama administration who is currently vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York, said these so-called negative assurances - that China respects the U.S. and is not looking to displace the United States. and that the U.S. is not trying to contain or hinder China - are important to prevent a collapse in ties. Both sides clearly used the visit to help stabilize the relationship, which has been lurching toward dangerously intense confrontation, he said. And, although both the U.S. and China mentioned specific disagreements, especially about Taiwan, Russel said that the public statements by the two sides were notably positive, particularly by recent standards. But Washington and Beijing remain deeply suspicious of each others actions and intentions. From the U.S. perspective, Chinas rise has challenged its global position. Washington is racing to repair and shore up its relationships in regions where China has made inroads, particularly Africa and the Indo-Pacific, where the U.S. has opened or plans to open at least five new embassies this year. Behind the scenes, the U.S. believes China has ulterior and perhaps nefarious motives. An internal U.S. State Department document prepared earlier this year that focuses on Chinas role at the United Nations and other international organizations said Beijing believes that the Peoples Republic of China must dominate and shape international institutions, standards and values in order to advance both its domestic and global agenda. It views the established rules and norms in the U.N. system and other international organizations as privileging Westerns countries, supporting liberal democratic principles, and posing a threat to its monopoly on domestic political power and assertive global ambitions, said the document, which is marked SBU, which means sensitive but unclassified and was obtained by The Associated Press. The document accuses China of having undertaken a systematic campaign to subvert existing principles and standards, promote authoritarian ideology and policy (and) reprioritize economic development over human rights and democratic governance. In addition, it says China is working to undermine or reshape international law and standards, institutions, and values to legitimize its own development and governance models, including related to human rights (and) using its economic and political influence to compromise institutions transparency, effectiveness, independence and alignment with foundational norms and values. From the Chinese perspective, the U.S. is clinging to fading glory as the worlds lone superpower, and seeking to sabotage Chinas development and growing international stature by sowing mistrust about Beijings intentions. Chinas top diplomat Wang Yi demanded on Monday that the U.S. stop hyping the China threat theory and urged the United States not to project on China the template that a strong country must seek hegemony. He also said China should not be judged in the vein of traditional Western powers, concluding that a change of perspective is the key on whether the U.S. policy towards China can truly return to objectivity and rationality. The rivals are now trying to negotiate more visits: Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang agreed in principle to an invitation to visit Washington and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plans to visit China later this summer, while there are also discussions about a new meeting between Xi and President Joe Biden. But its not clear if China and the U.S. have found any issue of substance they can negotiate about. More talks could help with short-term easing of tensions, but its unlikely to change the fact of a global rivalry. US Coast Guard searches Atlantic for Titanic tourist sub as oxygen supply dwindles Rescue crews are still hunting for a missing submersible that plunged into the North Atlantic Ocean to visit the wreck of the Titanic over the weekend, as oxygen supply for the five passengers has fallen to about 40 hours, the U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday. Capt. Jamie Frederick with the Coast Guards 1st District said the search effort so far has not yielded any results, as crews search across a wide swath of challenging ocean water. This is a complex search, and its complex for a variety of reasons, Frederick said. Logistically speaking, its hard to bring assets to bear it takes time, coordination. Frederick said they will deploy more boats and aircraft, and the Navy is also assisting with the search. The Defense Department on Monday committed two C-130 aircraft for search and rescue flights over the area, with a third C-130 from the Air National Guard to join the search by the end of Tuesday, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Tuesday. In addition, the Navy has been in touch with the Coast Guard and is working to provide personnel such as subject matter experts and assets as quickly as possible. I believe that we are doing everything we can in terms of surveying the area and thats been the focus of the department right now, she added. The five-person submersible, part of a tourist expedition to visit the 1912 wreck of the Titanic, lost contact with a Canadian research ship about two hours after diving into the water Sunday. Authorities reported the vessel as overdue Sunday night, setting off a frantic international rescue operation about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Mass., in water depths of roughly 13,000 feet. The submersible, called Titan, was built with carbon fiber and titanium. It had a 96-hour oxygen supply when it dove at 6 a.m. Sunday, meaning rescuers are racing against the clock to save the passengers. Coast Guard officials said Tuesday that less than half of that oxygen is left. Theres about 40 hours of breathable air left based on that initial report, Frederick said, calling it an estimate. Those on board the vessel include a British billionaire, Hamish Harding, along with Pakistani nationals Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, and French explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet. Also on board is Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, the company that operates the submersible and conducts the Titanic touring experience, according to several media reports. Coast Guard crews out of Boston are searching both on the surface and underwater with Canadian rescuers to find the 21-foot vessel. By Tuesday morning, at least 10,000 square miles had already been searched. Rescue personnel have deployed sonar buoys and a P8 Poseidon aircraft capable of detecting objects underwater to find the sub, along with large ships. The U.S. has also flown Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft overhead. OceanGate is a privately owned company founded in 2009 conducting deep sea explorations. The Titanic viewing experience is also a research expedition and successful dives were completed in 2021 and 2022, according to the company. Ellen Mitchell and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Updated at 4:04 p.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen outside of FDA headquarters in White Oak, Maryland By Aditya Samal and Leroy Leo (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Argenx SE's under-the-skin injection for the treatment of a muscle-weakening genetic disease called generalized myasthenia gravis, the company said on Tuesday. The drug, branded as Vyvgart Hytrulo, is expected to be available in the U.S. next month and will come at a list price of $15,773, the company told Reuters. The FDA had approved an intravenous version of the drug in 2021 under the brand name Vyvgart, but the company expects an under-the-skin version to offer more convenient dosing than infusion into the veins. Vyvgart generated more than $400 million in global sales last year. Vyvgart Hytrulo uses the active ingredient efgartigimod and Halozyme Therapeutics Inc's drug delivery system. Generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) is a chronic neuromuscular disease caused by an abnormal immune reaction that weakens the muscles in different parts of the body. Vyvgart Hytrulo's approval was based on a late-stage study that showed it was non-inferior to Vyvgart in reducing the levels of a certain type of antibody while treating the autoimmune disease. Argenx's new drug will compete with AstraZeneca's Soliris, an intravenous treatment. The approval could boost demand for the drug as patients switch to the subcutaneous product from the intravenous version due to ease of use, William Blair analyst Myles Minter had said ahead of the decision. Minter expected Vyvgart Hytrulo to generate $2.5 billion in revenue for the treatment of gMG alone. By 2025, Argenx plans to target 15 autoimmune illnesses that would be treated with efgartigimod. Around 60,000 people in the United States have myasthenia gravis, an earlier form of gMG, according to a study published in the Journal of Medicine and Life in 2021. Argenx expects the target population for the drug to be around 17,000 patients. (Reporting by Aditya Samal, Leroy Leo and Raghav Mahobe in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Devika Syamnath) Analysts warn U.S. could be heading towards political violence: The Guardian Xinhua) 09:53, June 20, 2023 LONDON, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Analysts have warned that the United States could be heading towards widespread political violence, British newspaper The Guardian has reported. Former U.S. President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election results on Jan. 6, 2021. According to the newspaper, though extremist groups are under renewed pressure, the threat they pose has not disappeared. Within minutes of Trump's indictment earlier this month, threats and even calls for civil war were surging on social media platforms used by his supporters, said a Guardian editorial published on Friday. The violent rhetoric doesn't just come from the grassroots. The Arizona Republican Kari Lake announced that "to get to President Trump, you're going to have to go through me, and you're going to have to go through 75 million Americans just like me ... Most of us are card-carrying members of the NRA (National Rifle Association)." In the United States, the growth of threats and political violence in recent years is undeniable. Last year, research found that more than two in five Americans think a civil war is at least somewhat likely within the next decade. No one foresees a straight confrontation between forces as in the 1860s, let alone a geographic split. What some experts fear is a guerrilla-style asymmetric conflict waged by a decentralised movement, with small groups or lone attackers targeting minority targets such as synagogues or gay clubs, civilians more broadly, infrastructure, or figures such as Democratic politicians, judges, and election officials, the newspaper added. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Antony Blinken The United States will announce a new military aid package for Ukraine on June 21, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on June 20, as reported by Reuters. Read also: U.S. announced $2.1 billion military aid package for Ukraine This announcement comes as a conference on restoring Ukraine is slated to be held in London on Wednesday and Thursday. Over 1,000 foreign officials from more than 60 countries, business leaders, and global investors are set to discuss recovery efforts for Ukraine. President Biden said that we would stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes, and both of our countries are deeply committed to that, Blinken stated at a press conference with UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. He added that the United States will continue to fulfill this commitment, including the forthcoming powerful aid package that he will announce on June 21. Read also: Biden backs Ukraines simplified accession to NATO after war media reports A defense budget bill, which includes $80 million for the purchase and transfer of long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, was submitted to the U.S. Congress on June 16. Read also: Reznikov meets with Pentagon chief in Brussels ahead of Ramstein format meeting U.S. President Joe Biden stated on May 30 that providing ATACMS missiles to Ukraine was still under consideration. A resolution was introduced in Congress urging Biden to supply these missiles to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Previously, the Pentagon indicated that the provision of UK Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine did not change Washington's stance on long-range missiles. Nevertheless, U.S. lawmakers continue to urge Biden to supply Kyiv with longer-range weapons. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine US taco chain used fake priest to trick staff into confessions A taco chain in California used a fake priest to get employees to confess to workplace 'sins' (Ismael ADNAN) A California taco chain used a fake priest to try to get employees to confess workplace "sins" like being late for their shift, the US Department of Labor has said. A man introduced as a minister at the Taqueria Garibaldi chain encouraged staff to unburden their consciences about when they may have done anything to harm their employer. In litigation brought by the Department of Labor, a worker testified that the ersatz man of God had urged workers to "get their sins out," asking if they had ever stolen from the company, or done anything to harm it. The operator of the restaurants in Sacramento and nearby Roseville was ordered to pay 35 staff $140,000 in back wages and damages, the department said in a press release this month. The court action came after an investigation found Taqueria Garibaldi denied employees overtime pay. It also found managers were paid illegally from the employee tip pool and staff were threatened with "immigration consequences" if they co-operated with the Department of Labor's investigation. "This employers despicable attempts to retaliate against employees were intended to silence workers, obstruct an investigation and prevent the recovery of unpaid wages," said Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin in San Francisco. A spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento told the Catholic News Agency the man presented as a minister was not connected to them. "While we dont know who the person in question was, we are completely confident he was not a priest of the Diocese of Sacramento," he said. hg/bgs Betty Sawyer, executive director of the Project Success Coalition and Utah Juneteenth Freedom & Heritage Festival, hugs Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall during the flag-raising ceremony for Juneteenth at the Salt Lake City and County Building in Salt Lake City on June 19, 2023. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News The blue and red flag rose inch by inch over the Salt Lake City-County Building on Monday afternoon as individuals each took a turn hoisting the Juneteenth flag. The collective effort behind the flag-raising ceremony reflected the generations of sacrifice and dedication that have gone into ensuring equal freedoms in Utah and across the country. Community members held hands, raised fists and shed tears as they sang and reflected on the holiday. As a part of our annual commemoration, we always do a libation. We connect with our ancestors and thank them and honor them for laying the framework, the foundation that has brought us thus far on our way, Ogden NAACP President Betty Sawyer said before inviting the crowd gathered for the ceremony to shout out names of individuals in their families or communities who they felt needed to be remembered. Libations traditionally involve the pouring out of a drink in memory of the dead, but this one did not. I always acknowledge those who've gone before me who laid that foundation, Rep. Sandra Hollins said. Being the first Black woman as a state legislator, I am the vision of people who have laid that foundation. Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. specifically the day the last enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, learned that they had been freed on June 19, 1865. It was over 2 years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation and about two months after the Civil War ended. The holiday originated in Galveston the next year, and celebrations eventually spread across the country before becoming a federal holiday in 2021. The Juneteenth flag is seen during the flag-raising ceremony for Juneteenth at the Salt Lake City and County Building in Salt Lake City on June 19, 2023. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News A continued commitment to freedom The ceremony now in its third year with the city's backing served as not only a time to reflect on the history and triumphs of African Americans but to give renewed calls for racial justice in the state. Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall committed to addressing racial disparities that persist in education, health care, housing and criminal justice systems by collaborating with community leaders, organizations and individuals. Juneteenth reminds us that freedom and justice are not easily won and that we must fight for them every day, Mendenhall said. We must continue to challenge systemic racism, advocate for social and economic equality and build bridges that bring our community closer together. Sawyer encouraged individuals to have the courage to speak up about injustices and act. When someone says something whether it's at the family dinner, at the water fountain or in the boardroom that we know is wrong, we have to have the courage to stand alone and call it out with grace, she said. We have to do it with honesty because us shrinking and acting like it didn't happen has not gotten us very far. We're going to have to be bold and courageous enough to stand up, even if we stand alone, to say, No, that's not right. No, equity looks like this and we need to work toward that. MJ Powell is a lifelong Salt Lake City resident who now works with the youth and college division of the national NAACP as well as being a diversity, equity and inclusion intern with the Utah Jazz. He said the most meaningful part of Juneteenth is understanding how laws and policy can often leave behind certain communities. I want to see more policy rooted in positive intention of loving thy neighbor and not necessarily getting into the polarizing items such as critical race theory, he said. Us all coming together today regardless of where we live in the city or our racial demographic it's us demonstrating that we are the Beloved Community and that we can embrace the Utah way, and that means loving thy neighbor and supporting each other in the times that really matter. Betty Sawyer, executive director of the Project Success Coalition and Utah Juneteenth Freedom & Heritage Festival, helps siblings Xander, 12, and Zoe Clark, 9, and Ashley Cleveland and Audre Mcdonald, 6, raise the flag for Juneteenth at the Salt Lake City and County Building in Salt Lake City on June 19, 2023. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News A holiday for everyone For both Powell and Everett Spencer, a Utah-based drummer, Juneteenth isn't just for the African American community; it's for everybody. Spencer traveled across the U.S. during a push to get Juneteenth recognized as a federal holiday. He hopes one day Juneteenth becomes as big of a celebration as the Fourth of July. Everybody should more and more be involved in this holiday to bring it to light. ... This is our independence as well and our independence is your independence, he said. Im really excited about the future for my grandkids because they get a chance to understand the history of African Americans, what we had to do to become free, how long it took for us to be free and then ultimately, the freedoms that we get to enjoy now. Powell added, This isn't just meant for the African American community. As we know, Black history is American history. This is meant for everybody in the Salt Lake City community and nationwide to learn the historical significance of the holiday, but also to celebrate through music, dance and eating really good food. MJ Powell and Everett The Messenger Spencer, left to right, raise their fists during the flag-raising ceremony for Juneteenth at the Salt Lake City and County Building in Salt Lake City on June 19, 2023. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News Rep. Sandra Hollins, D-Salt Lake City, reacts as her name is announced during the flag-raising ceremony for Juneteenth at the Salt Lake City and County Building in Salt Lake City on June 19, 2023. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News Ariane Hibo Ezeh, owner of Akissi Jewelry, speaks with customers during the Juneteenth celebration at The Gateway in Salt Lake City on June 19, 2023. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News Alex Boye performs with oonlookers during the Juneteenth celebration at The Gateway in Salt Lake City on June 19, 2023. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News Onlookers dance during the Juneteenth celebration at The Gateway in Salt Lake City on June 19, 2023. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News Pape Sall, owner of the Balabe Senegalese Cuisine food truck, cooks during the Juneteenth celebration at The Gateway in Salt Lake City on June 19, 2023. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News Melissa Tshikamba speaks with customers at her booth during the Juneteenth celebration at The Gateway in Salt Lake City on June 19, 2023. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News Alex Boye performs in front of Michell Duffin and Natalie Salisbury, right to left, during the Juneteenth celebration at The Gateway in Salt Lake City on June 19, 2023. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News Vaccine expert says anti-vaxxers stalked him after Joe Rogan pressed him to debate RFK Jr. A vaccine scientist said he was stalked after podcast host Joe Rogan called for him to debate Democratic presidential candidate and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Ugh I just was stalked in front of my home by a couple of antivaxers taunting me to debate RFKJr. What is it with people? Peter Hotez, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine, wrote on Twitter Sunday. Hotez had shared a Vice article on vaccine misinformation in a conversation between Rogan and Kennedy on The Joe Rogan Experience, writing that from all the online attacks Im receiving after this absurd podcast, its clear many actually believe this nonsense. Rogan replied to Hotezs post, calling for the scientist to debate the White House hopeful on his podcast. Peter, if you claim what RFKjr is saying is misinformation I am offering you $100,000.00 to the charity of your choice if youre willing to debate him on my show with no time limit, Rogan said on Twitter. Joe, you have my cell, my email, Im always willing to speak with you, Hotez responded, but Rogan argued it was a non answer. Twitter owner Elon Musk stepped in to contend that hes afraid of public debate, because he knows hes wrong. Kennedy told Peter lets finally have the respectful,congenial,informative debate that the American people deserve. Billionaire Bill Ackman said hed add $150,000 to Rogans wager so the public can hear an open debate on an important topic. Entrepreneur Steve Kirsch pledged another $100,000. But others piled on to defend Hotez. Epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding said on Twitter the threat to Dr Hotezs life is real, and explained that a hoard of anti-vaxxers sponsored by RFK Jrs org swarmed him and Hotez at a convention in Washington, D.C. He said Rogan needs to not incite stalking/violence! Businessman Mark Cuban said trying to bully Dr Hotez is ridiculous. Cuban said Rogan and Kennedy have producers and staff that would prepare them for any debate, and argued the podcast host would get to control the conversation. I am now following @PeterHotez and every decent person here who believes in science not quackery should, too, George Takei said. Kennedy, who kicked off a Democratic presidential bid in April and is vying for the White House in a challenge to President Biden, has previously come under scrutiny for his claims about vaccines. YouTube recently removed an interview between Kennedy and commentator Jordan Peterson for violating its guidelines against vaccine misinformation. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Vaccine scientist hounded at home by anti-vaxxers after Joe Rogan and Elon Musk target him on Twitter File. Peter Hotez ((CNN)) A renowned vaccine scientist said he was stalked outside his home by anti-vaxxers on Sunday after Joe Rogan, Elon Musk, and many others challenged him to debate Robert F Kennedy Jr. Houston-based scientist Peter Hotez, 65, tweeted: I just was stalked in front of my home by a couple of anti-vaxxers taunting me to debate RFKJr. It all started when Mr Hotez tweeted on Saturday in support of an article that criticised Spotifys handling of vaccine misinformation. The Vice article was titled Spotify has stopped even sort of trying to stem Joe Rogans vaccine misinformation. The author of the article wrote: The conversation was an orgy of unchecked vaccine misinformation, some conspiracy-mongering about 5G technology and wifi, and, of course, Rogan once again praising ivermectin, an ineffective faux Covid treatment. Mr Hotez retweeted it and commented: Its really true adding that it was just awful. He continued: And from all the online attacks Im receiving after this absurd podcast, its clear many actually believe this nonsense. The article targeted a recent three-hour-long conversation by podcaster Joe Rogan on Spotify with Robert F Kennedy Jr, the anti-vaxxer himself and a presidential candidate. After Mr Hotez commented on the article, Joe Rogan responded by saying: Peter, if you claim what RFKJr is saying is misinformation I am offering you $100,000.00 to the charity of your choice if youre willing to debate him on my show with no time limit. Mr Kennedy Jr has been an anti-vaccine advocate who has peddled false claims linking vaccines to autism. Peter, if you claim what RFKjr is saying is misinformation I am offering you $100,000.00 to the charity of your choice if youre willing to debate him on my show with no time limit. https://t.co/m0HxYek0GX Joe Rogan (@joerogan) June 17, 2023 Soon, billionaires claimed theyd give more money, emboldening vaccine sceptics. Elon Musk tweeted that Mr Hotez was afraid of a public debate because he knows hes wrong. Hes afraid of a public debate, because he knows hes wrong Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 17, 2023 He told the Washington Post that he and his wife were returning with a cake for Fathers Day when two people accosted me when we were walking into the house. He shoved a cellphone camera in my face and asked if I would debate RFK on Rogan. They were clearly lying in wait. Its very sad. All we were trying to do is get a cake for Fathers Day. Spotify Has Stopped Even Sort of Trying to Stem Joe Rogans Vaccine Misinformation. Its really true @annamerlan just awful. And from all the online attacks Im receiving after this absurd podcast, its clear many actually believe this nonsense https://t.co/GwIFsOODC2 Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) June 17, 2023 He added, The anti-vaccine attacks usually come in waves of aggression, and this one is about as bad as its been in the last 20 years. In January last year, a group of more than 270 medical professionals urged Spotify to stop enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance. Though Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, the company presently has no misinformation policy. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Joe Rogan has repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine, the letter read. The Independent has reached out to Spotify for comment. Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) handed over medical records of transgender patients to the Tennessee Attorney Generals office, a spokesperson for the center confirmed Tuesday. John Howser, chief communications officer for the health facility, said in a statement to The Hill that Vanderbilt received requests from the state attorney generals about transgender care at VUMC. Howser noted that the VUMC complies with all health care privacy and security requirements under state and federal law, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA). VUMC received requests from the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General as part of its investigation seeking information about transgender care at VUMC. The Tennessee Attorney General has legal authority in an investigation to require that VUMC provide complete copies of patient medical records that are relevant to its investigation. VUMC was obligated to comply and did so, Howser said in an emailed statement. The Nashville Tennessean first reported Vanderbilt handing over the medical records. A notice issued to patients of the center and obtained by The Tennessean said that the facility was turning over the records due to an investigation into billing for transgender care services that were provided to those who were enrolled in insurance plans sponsored by the state. The newspaper also reported that Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmettis (R) office was looking into possible medical billing fraud at the health facility.Brandon Smith, chief of staff to Skrmetti, told The Tennessean that the office was surprised that VUMC has deliberately chosen to frighten its patients like this. Smith noted to the newspaper that the investigation was focused solely on VUMC, not the patients at the facility. Officials at Vanderbilt announced this past fall that they were pausing gender-affirming surgeries for minors to review their practices after facing criticism from lawmakers and state officials. Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed a measure banning gender-affirming health care for those under 18 in March, a move that prompted LGBTQ rights groups to sue the state of Tennessee for. The Hill has reached out to the Tennessee attorney generals office for comment. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Roman Catholic bishops should discuss how the Church can be more welcoming to LGBTQ+ people and divorcees, a Vatican document released on Tuesday said. They should also reflect on how to give women more decision-making power and allowing them to be ordained deacons, it said. The 50-page working document for a global synod of the bishops also proposes discussion on allowing married men to become priests in remote areas - a possibility that Pope Francis put on hold following talks in a similar meeting in 2019. It even appears to suggest that the Church should be understanding towards those in polygamous relationships. The synod has been in preparation for two years, during which Catholics around the world were asked about their vision for the Church. A first session will be held this October and a second in October 2024. The document, known by its Latin title Instrumentum Laboris, includes suggestions for reflections and discussions for the delegates stemming from the consultations. After the synod, the pope writes what is known as an Apostolic Exhortation, an official document setting out his views on which, if any, of its recommendations should be taken up. This is likely to come some months after the second session. One "question for discernment" in the document reads: "How can we create spaces where those who feel hurt by the Church and unwelcomed by the community feel recognised, received, free to ask questions and not judged? "... what concrete steps are needed to welcome those who feel excluded from the Church because of their status or sexuality (for example, remarried divorcees, people in polygamous marriages, LGBTQ+ people, etc.)?" The Church teaches that same-sex attraction is not a sin but homosexual acts are. It forbids polygamy but the practice is quietly tolerated in some parts of Africa for converts who already have more than one wife. "We have no agenda. There was no conspiratorial meeting among cardinals about how we can add progressive points to the Church," Luxembourg Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich, told a news conference in response to a question about whether the document was imbalanced. "This was a listening experience," he said. Other speakers said it should not be taken for granted that any Church teachings on sexual morality would change because of the consultation. GREATER ROLE FOR WOMEN One section of the document was dedicated to women, a topic expected to be of major attention at the month-long gathering in October following Francis' decision in April to allow women delegates to vote at the assembly for the first time. "What concrete steps can the Church take to renew and reform its procedures, institutional arrangements and structures to enable greater recognition and participation of women, including in governance, decision-making processes ...?" it said. Last year Francis he introduced a landmark reform that will allow any baptised lay Catholic, including women, to head most Vatican departments under a new constitution for the Holy See's central administration. He also named three women to a previously all-male committee that advises him in selecting the world's bishops. The document said most of the local responses called for the question of women becoming deacons to be considered. Deacons, like priests, are ordained ministers, and must be men in today's Church. They may not celebrate Mass, but they may preach, baptise and conduct wedding and funeral services and run a parish with the permission of a bishop. (Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Alison Williams and Angus MacSwan) Te sun rises behind a ridge of trees September near Missoula, Montana (CHIP SOMODEVILLA) A verdict is awaited in a landmark US climate trial involving 16 young people accusing the state of Montana of violating their rights to a "clean and healthful environment." Held v. Montana, which concluded Tuesday, has been closely watched as it could bolster similar litigation that has been filed across the country. It is the first case involving a constitutional claim against a state, and also represents a rare instance in which climate experts have been questioned on the witness stand. Judge Kathy Seeley, who oversaw the trial in the state capital Helena, instructed lawyers for both sides to file post-trial written submissions within two weeks, after which she would render her verdict. She has the power to declare as unconstitutional a state law preventing agencies from considering the impacts of greenhouse gasses when issuing permits for fossil fuel development. Earlier, a large group of supporters waved placards and cheered the plaintiffs and their lawyers as they entered the courthouse, according to footage seen on social media. - Closing arguments - At the heart of the case is a provision within the fossil fuel friendly state's constitution that says: "The state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations." The youths, ranging in age from five up to 22, have said they have been harmed by the "dangerous impacts of fossil fuels and the climate crisis," with children "uniquely vulnerable" to its worsening impacts. During his closing arguments, the plaintiffs' lawyer Nate Bellinger, of the nonprofit Our Children's Trust, said his clients "did not ask for money, but they asked only that their government embrace its constitutional responsibility to alleviate the harms of its own conduct." While Montana argues climate change is a global issue, the plaintiffs "localized this harm in their backyards of felled, diseased trees; the melting of Montana's majestic glaciers; ...skies that are full of choking smoke, and rivers that run dry." "The plaintiffs acknowledge that the work to stop and reverse climate change will be a lifetime journey, but they are asking this court for help," he said. Montana Assistant Attorney General Michael Russell on the other hand argued that the matter of energy policy should be decided by the people, through their representatives in the legislature. "This case has received national attention in part because it has been billed or at least perceived as a sort of referendum on climate change. This is not supposed to be a town hall meeting or a popularity contest, it's a court of law," he added. Russell said that while the state accepted that man-made emissions were responsible for warming, expert witnesses for the prosecution had not been able to quantify the extent to which Montana's laws were responsible for impacts on the ground. - 'Compelling stories' - The trial began on June 12 and concluded a few days earlier than expected after Montana declined to call to the stand several experts, including its only climate scientist, Judith Curry. Curry has contested the scientific consensus on climate change, declaring for example "there's no emergency." Over the course of proceedings, the court heard direct and emotional testimony from the plaintiffs about specific ways their health, emotional wellbeing, family finances and cultural traditions had been impacted. Lead plaintiff Rikki Held, 22, whose family runs a ranch in Montana, said that their livelihoods and wellbeing had been increasingly impacted by wildfires, extreme temperatures and drought. Claire Vlases, 20, said: "When I think about summer, I think about smoke. It sounds like a dystopian movie, but it's real life." Lawyers for the plaintiffs also called renowned climate, health and psychiatry experts to testify. These included eminent climatologist Steve Running, who was part of the UN body that won a Nobel prize in 2007. Michael Gerrard, who founded the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, told AFP the plaintiffs lawyers "did a wonderful job presenting and giving a human face to the case by having all these young people tell their own personal compelling stories." Should the judge find in their favor, "we've seen in other cases that a favorable verdict in one jurisdiction can have a reverberating effect in many other places," said Gerrard. "It would be very energizing to young people and activists around the country." ia/st 'I was very busy.' Trump gives new reason he didn't hand over classified documents Former President Donald Trump offered a new explanation Monday of why he didn't return classified documents he took with him from the White House, saying he was "very busy" and didn't have time to separate them from his personal belongings. Trump made the comments in an interview with Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier on his show, "Special Report." The National Archives and Records Administration, which preserves government records, had repeatedly requested that Trump turn over the documents. Asked why he didn't simply return the bankers boxes full of documents after the National Archives and Justice Department moved to subpoena him, Trump said, "Because I had boxes, I wanted to go through the boxes and get all of my personal things out. I don't want to hand that over to NARA yet. And I was very busy, as youve sort of seen." Baier then read from the Justice Department's June 8 indictment, which charged Trump with 37 felony counts of mishandling national security information and obstructing justice in not returning them. More than 300 classified documents were recovered more than a year after Trump left the White House, most of them under subpoena in June 2022 or during an FBI search in August 2022. "According to the indictment, you then tell this aide to move (the boxes) to other locations after telling your lawyers to say youd fully complied with the subpoena when you hadn't," Baer asked Trump. "Before I send boxes over, I have to take all of my things out," Trump responded. "These boxes were interspersed with all sorts of things." Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges in his arraignment in Miami June 13, and he agreed not to discuss the case with his co-defendant and former White House valet Walt Nauta and potentially dozens of witnesses the Justice Department plans to bring in the case. Trump has insisted since the FBI went to his Mar-a-Lago estate last August that he had the right to keep the documents, in part because as president he had the power to declassify all of them even if he took no specific steps to do so. On Monday, a federal judge issued a protective order barring Trump from having access to discovery evidence in the case without a lawyer present, and from sharing the information with the public or the media. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says he didn't hand over documents because he was 'very busy' A U.S. Army specialist allegedly killed a Seattle couple and wounded three more people at Saturdays Beyond Wonderland music festival. James M. Kelly, 26, has been booked into the Grant County jail on charges of two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree assault. Kelly is a fire support specialist assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment with the U.S. Army, according to JBLM officials. He has been an active duty service member since 2021. He was in the campground on Saturday while the Beyond Wonderland at the Gorge music festival was going on. Police believe Kelly shot Josilyn Ruiz, 26, and her fiance Brandy P. Escamilla, 29, just after 8:20 p.m. while they were walking along the eastern edge of Gorge campgrounds, according to a release from the North Central Washington Special Investigation Unit (SIU). After the initial shooting, he began moving through the crowd before firing at Andrew J. Cauldra, also known as August Morningstar, leaving him with a wounded shoulder. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center. A Crowd Management Services employee, Lori Williams, 61, was responding to the scene when she came across Kelly. He fired at her several times. One of those bullets punched through the windshield of her Polaris Ranger UTV and hit her in the right side of the face. The SIU reported that it shattered her glasses and left her with bruises and cuts. A fifth person, who was identified as Kellys girlfriend, Lily A. Luksich, of Mill Creek, Wash., was shot twice in the lower extremities. She was treated at Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake. Police, who were responding to the shooting, found Kelly in a farm field next to the campground. Moses Lake police Detective Edgar Salazar shot Kelly once. He was treated at Sacred Heart Medical Center before being booked into the jail. Salazar, 35, has worked for Moses Lake police since 2015, and is currently a member of the Street Crimes Unit and is a firearms instructor. He previously served as a U.S. Marine. What do we know about Kelly Kellys hometown is listed as Strongsville, Ohio, and hes never been deployed, according to the Army. He joined in 2021. U.S. Army Special Operations Command Lt. Col. Mike Burns told The News Tribune and The Olympian that they take all allegations seriously and fully cooperating with appropriate. Joint Base Lewis-McChord is an Army and Air Force station south of Tacoma. It is is home to more than 30,000 active duty personnel, nearly 60,000 family members and almost 200,000 retirees and members of their families, according to the Department of Defense. About 16,000 civilians also work on the base. The U.S. Army Special Operations Command extends our condolences to the victims and families of those affected by this act of violence, Burns said. Fundraisers for the victims Ruizs sister-in-law described Ruiz and Escamilla as incredible people in a GoFundMe looking to raise money for her funeral costs and for getting her items from Seattle back to California. Josilyn came into this world on July 13, 1996, hence why she received her middle name Summer, our ray of sunshine, GoFundMe organizer Leilani Hobayan said. As soon as you saw her she would brighten up the room with her big beautiful eyes, beautiful smile and contagious laugh. Ruiz had a kind soul and was always willing to go out of her way to help people. Ruizs passion for helping others expressed itself in her chosen career as a registered nurse. She also loved dancing, singing, attending music festivals, outdoor adventures, acting, snowboarding and traveling, Hobayan said. There are not enough words to describe the wonderful person she is and the wonderful life she lived, the GoFundMe said. She is loved by many and will be truly missed. You can donate by going to bit.ly/RuizFundraiser. One of Cuadras friends organized a GoFundMe to help pay for his medical expenses. He was flown out of the event, transferred around to different hospitals, and has to have surgery and then a long road of physical therapy for his shoulder and arm, organizer Douglas Sheppard wrote. August is an amazing father of two and needs any help he can get financially at this time. You can donate to the GoFundeMe at bit.ly/CuadraFundraiser. The shooting also triggered a mad rush of people trying to flee and left one woman, Jessica Tishkina, with a busted lip and tooth. There was a group of people running out of section H, so we all started running out of towards the pivot all the way across GA (General Admission) and then the Live Nation employees guided us down into premier. The crowd was scared and people were frightened. As we ran into premier, Jessica ended up tripping and falling down hitting her head so hard against the ground her tooth went through her mouth and lip! organizer Keith Fox said. You can donate to help Tishkina at bit.ly/TishkinaFundraiser. A pebble discovered in Iceland might contain the oldest known picture in the country. The sandstone rock, no larger than a fingertip, was found in Sto, an ancient settlement on the islands east coast, archaeologist Bjorgvin Valur Gumundsson said in a June 14 Facebook post. Etched into the rock is a crude depiction of a Viking vessel perhaps the earliest illustration ever encountered on the island, Gumundsson said. The stone carving, pictured here, depicts a viking ship with its sails unfurled, archaeologists said. You can almost see the stripes that have been so memorialized by Hollywood, Smaberg said. You can see the side of the boat, the mast, and you can almost see the striped sails that have been so memorialized by Hollywood, Thomas Smaberg, a history professor at Malmo University in Sweden, who was not involved in the discovery, told McClatchy News. Archaeologists have been excavating Sto, which is made up of several ancient stone structures, for a few years, according to the Icelandic news outlet RUV. Among the structures is a large longhouse, one of the most opulent ever found in Iceland, according to Iceland Review. Silver, beads and Roman coins have been found inside. Recently, though, archaeologists discovered an even older settlement underneath the first, which is believed to have been a Viking chieftains far-flung outpost, per RUV. The carved pebble was found lodged inside a hut in this settlement. Using surrounding organic material, archaeologists were able to date the rock to around 800 A.D., meaning the carving is about 1,200 years old, Smaberg, who teaches courses on Viking history, said. The small stone is of major importance because it provides evidence that Vikings occupied Iceland during the early ninth century, whereas previous evidence indicated they settled the island decades later. There was always speculation (that they settled the country earlier) and no evidence, but this is evidence, Smaberg said. As to whether the carving served some specific purpose, it is hard to say. The Vikings did carvings with runes and images like this on all sorts of material, Smaberg said. So this could be a bored Viking carving a small token of his ship which he sees on the horizon. It could also be a good luck charm, random scribblings, or the work of an artist. We just dont know. Regardless of its original function, the carved rock is a fascinating find that sheds light on the poorly understood early history of Iceland, Smaberg said. Google Translate was used to translate articles from RUV and Iceland Review. Spiky creature a new species shed its skin trying to escape grasp of scientists Spices still had distinctive aroma after being discovered on 15th century shipwreck Two kids - who are not related - develop insatiable appetite. Doctors find rare cause Virgin Galactics VSS Unity rocket plane is dropped from its carrier aircraft during a test flight. Investors snapped up shares of Virgin Galactic (SPCE) after Richard Bransons space tourism firm finally announced plans to begin commercial service at the end of this month. At press time, a share cost $5.93, 25% more than in last weeks trading, but still a far cry from its peak price of $57 in 2021. Read more datawrapper-chart-iig90 Virgin Galactic sends small groups of passengers to briefly visit the edge of space onboard a rocket plane that is dropped from a plane 40,000 feet (12,192 metres) above the ground; the first successful mission took place in 2018. Passengers experience a few minutes of weightlessness before the vehicle glides back to land on a runway. In May, six Virgin employees flew to space in a demonstration mission, the first time the company left the atmosphere since 2021, when Branson made a widely covered trip. Last week, Virgin Galactic announced it would fly a revenue-generating mission with a launch date between June 27 and June 30 that will see several three members of the Italian Air Force fly alongside experiments designed to take advantage of free-fall. Starting in August, the company expects to fly one mission with paying customers per month. After Branson founded Virgin Galactic in 2004, it struggled for more than a decade to produce a vehicle that could safely get to space and back. In 2020, investor Chamath Palihapitiya took the firm public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), which kicked off a boom in the use of that technique to bring risky businesses to public markets. The company boasted a market valuation of more than $13 billion during the 2021 pandemic stock market boom, as meme stocks with unusual stories thrilled retail investors. Its share price has plunged from there, but Branson was able to sell enough stock to help him bail out his struggling airline. Palihapitiya sold all of his Virgin stock in 2021. Todays price suggests the firm is worth $1.7 billion, but even that is a gamble: In its most recent earnings call, executives said Virgin Galactics future profitability depends on developing and operating a new Delta class of rocket planes, expected to debut in 2026. Until then, the company will rely on more than $800 million in cash and securities to keep the doors open and get these new vehicles off the ground. More from Quartz Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. During PRIDE month, KIRO 7 has covered amazing stories like Seattle Mens Chorus, Lavender Rights Project, and Seattle Pride interns. We now take you behind the lives of a Drag King and Queen! I feel like thats the best thing in the world to be able to remove peoples problems even if its just for that three minutes that youre out there, Drag King, Caesar Hart said. Behind all the glitz, glamour, sparkles, and shine is the art of drag. Julias on Broadway has been hosting performances for over two decades. According to Owner/Director/Producer, Eladio Preciado, theyre the longest-running show in Washington history. The secret sauce Im never going to tell, but the secret is you listen to what people want, and then you create. Im very creative and I want to hear what you like, what is it that entertains you, and then from that Im going to create something that targets my customer base, Preciado said. But drag, though it seems to put smiles on faces and entertain, is not always glamourous. Whenever youre having people out there in their day-to-day lives wearing makeup, etc., and you have everyone wanting to attack these individuals, these people are just trying to be (themselves), Drag Queen Versace Doll said. Were not doing anything different than what youre seeing on TV or music videos and we dial it down, we could be up there with that but were not, Hart said. Versace Doll and Caesar suggest coming to a performance first, then making your own decision. They stress the opposition against the drag community is heartbreaking, and dangerous. The ban on drag is just leading to people saying, Trans people shouldnt be around children, they shouldnt adopt, and it just needs to change, its not right. Trans women have been here forever, people of color have been here forever, drag kings have been here forever were not going anywhere, Versace Doll said. Continuing to be themselves regardless of the pushback, the freedom of not hiding who you are, and bringing awareness to LGBTQIA rights, is what keeps Versace Doll and Caesar going. Their safe space at Julias makes that happen. When I created this, I thought Im going to create something thats fun for me, a toy basically, and then one day I realized I created something that I didnt think I could do, and what it is, is a magical place with magical people and we create happiness, Preciado said. Versace Doll and Caesar will be announcers at this years PRIDE parade on Sunday. You can catch the Parade kicking off at Westlake Park at 11 a.m. Voters have to look hard to spot the differences in the race for Nury Martinez's seat Los Angeles City Council District 6 candidates Imelda Padilla, left, and Marisa Alcaraz during a debate in Panorama City in March. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) The two women running in the June 27 election for a Los Angeles City Council seat representing the central and east San Fernando Valley have striking similarities. Both are Democrats in their 30s, have master's degrees and were raised in the Valley by family members who emigrated from Mexico. Candidates Marisa Alcaraz and Imelda Padilla also agree on many city issues. Both support city-mandated minimum wage increases, the hiring of more police officers and the ability to bar homeless people from putting tents near elementary schools. Voters casting ballots in the election for Council District 6 which takes in all or parts of the neighborhoods of Lake Balboa, Van Nuys, Panorama City, Arleta, North Hills, North Hollywood and Sun Valley may not see many differences in the candidates. "To the average voter, they both look rather similar," said political consultant Eric Hacopian, who isn't involved in the race. "Elections like this, especially in the middle of the summer, are won by who has the better turnout programs." Still, one notable contrast is between the candidates' professional backgrounds. Padilla, 35, has held an assortment of jobs over the last decade, including working at a medical group, for an L.A. County program to help young women, as a consultant and, briefly, as an aide in District 6. Read more: Vote centers open for Los Angeles City Council runoff election Alcaraz, 38, has spent the last 10 years at City Hall working for a City Council district in South L.A. that's majority Latino and working class. At a debate in Van Nuys last week, Alcaraz described herself as a "policy nerd" who has worked on legislation and policies that have helped city workers, grocery store workers and others. "It boils down to who's going to fight for the working class for families of the Valley. Who's gonna fight for renters, who's gonna fight for immigrants?" Alcaraz said in an interview. "You can see through my record and what I've worked on that I've always been someone who's stood up for working-class people." Padilla, in an interview, touted her work cleaning up an abandoned grocery store site on Sunland Boulevard one of many quality-of-life issues she's worked on and her time serving on the Sun Valley Area Neighborhood Council. "My experience in the community is going to make me a better candidate, to know how to hit the ground running and prioritize what City Hall should be doing from day one," Padilla said. The special election was sparked by the resignation of City Council President Nury Martinez, whose incendiary comments about her colleagues and various groups on a leaked recording last year drew outrage. City Council District 6 candidate Marisa Alcaraz speaks during a debate in Van Nuys on June 14. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times) Both Alcaraz and Padilla grew up in the Valley and have support from a wide array of unions, community leaders and politicians. Alcaraz's backers argue that she has the City Hall relationships to deliver resources for the district, while Padilla's supporters point to her record of service to the Valley. Alcaraz works as a deputy chief of staff for Councilmember Curren Price, who represents neighborhoods in South L.A. and the area around downtown's convention center. Price was charged last week with 10 criminal counts which he called "unwarranted" related to votes on development and his wife's medical coverage from the city. Alcaraz called the charges "sad." Alcaraz, who lives in Lake Balboa, also worked briefly as a council aide to former Councilmember Richard Alarcon in the north San Fernando Valley, where she helped work on equestrian issues, among others. At Price's office, she spearheaded some of the council member's biggest initiatives. Alcaraz was critical to the city's 2018 passage of the street vending ordinance, said Rudy Espinoza, executive director for Inclusive Action for the City, an economic justice organization. The law legalized street vending and was the culmination of years of protests and hearings supported by immigrant groups. Espinoza said that Price's office was willing to support street vending when other council offices didn't want to touch the issue. Alcaraz was "consistent and practical" on moving the ordinance forward and to help rally other council offices to support it, he said. Theres a lot of value in being understated and getting the work done, said Espinoza of Alcaraz's approach. The street vending issue was personal to Alcaraz, whose father is from Tijuana and used to sell bottled water to motorists struggling with overheated cars at the U.S.-Mexico border, she said in an interview. Alcaraz also played a key role in championing a program called Solid Ground, which helps individuals avoid homelessness through financial help and counseling. The program was launched in L.A. County in 2018. Shortly thereafter Alcaraz helped bring it to the city, said Leticia Andueza, associate executive director at New Economics for Women, a community economic development organization. Today, Solid Ground operates in 16 centers across the city. "She was instrumental in moving it to the city," Andueza said. "Absolutely, it has an impact. Its helping stabilize families." District 6 candidate Imelda Padilla speaks at a debate in Van Nuys on June 14. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times) Padilla's supporters point to her work in District 6. She was part of a group that pushed for the "Clean Up Green Up" program targeting hazardous and unhealthy businesses in the Valley and other parts of the city. The ordinance was signed by former Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2016 and is designed to reduce health risks from industrial businesses and traffic pollution. Padilla, who lives in Sun Valley, also worked for several nonprofits, including Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, where she helped work on the push to raise the city's minimum wage. A decade ago, she worked as an aide for about a year and half for Martinez and did several clean-ups in the district, she said. Padilla knows the needs of the people who are in this community, said Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who has worked with Padilla since the candidate was a youth organizer and Rodriguez worked for former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. Read more: Will charges against Curren Price shake up the Valley council race? Rodriguez also praised Padilla for her work creating an annual event that helps Los Angeles Unified high school and middle school students explore college opportunities and careers. Padilla's brother was incarcerated when she was 18, she said. That led her to focus on helping youths, she said, noting that she saw a lack of college-educated young men coming back to the community to inspire boys. Shes full of a lot energy," said Thomas Soule, who serves alongside Padilla on the board of the Los Angeles Valley College Foundation, a nonprofit that is part of the Los Angeles Community College District. "She's always got a lot of good ideas. Padilla serves as president of the board and has helped raise money for students who are in the country without authorization, among other initiatives. She took classes at Valley College when she was still in high school, she said, and the school has a "very happy special place in my heart." Polls close at 8 p.m. next Tuesday. The winner will face another election for this seat in March 2024, when Martinezs term was due to expire. Read more: Shape Your L.A. at the City Council This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Leader of Wagner Prigozhin with militants Russian mercenary company Wagner is attempting to recruit gamers with little to no combat experience, hoping to deploy them as drone operators, according to Russian Telegram channel Vyorstka on June 19. According to Vyorstka, Wagner used a VKontakte (Russian social media) bot to send messages to selected Russian citizens about its need for UAV operation and maintenance specialists. The advertisement stated that potential candidates should be between 21 and 35 years old, possess good computer skills, and be physically fit. Having experience with joystick flight simulators or a gaming background would be an advantage, according to the post. Read also: Prigozhin alleges Wagner mercenaries captured Russian lieutenant colonel Journalists contacted a Wagner recruiter using the phone number provided in the ads. In addition to standard questions about age, criminal record, and health, the recruiter was interested in the type of devices the potential employee wanted to work with. "We have two types of UAVs: copters and more advanced ones," the recruiter specified. He also offered two work locations: Ukraine and Africa. The recruiter confirmed that no prior combat or military service experience is required for the position. Read also: The true scale of Russian combat losses Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Want to park in downtown Macon? Theres a (new) app for that Regular visitors to downtown Macon are learning the Passport Parking app no longer works to secure a metered parking space in the new Park Macon system. Earlier this year, the Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority took over managing the former Park Macon-Bibb entity from an independent parking management company and switched to the ParkMobile system. ParkMobile is an Atlanta-based company which markets itself as the leading provider of smart parking and mobility solutions in North America. As we continue to strengthen our presence in our home state, were also creating a more seamless experience for Macon visitors and residents. Our partnership will now allow drivers to easily find parking in the city core, ParkMobiles Managing Director David Hoyt said in a news release announcing the launch. Anyone trying to access parking through the old Passport app in downtown zone 4780 now gets an onscreen notice in red that reads, Zone is not currently available. Some signs posted downtown still advertise the old system while the county finalizes the transition and upgrades signage and websites. The old parkmaconbibb.com website is still online, but information about the new system that also controls the county-owned parking deck at 440 Mulberry St. can be found at parkmacon.com. The hourly rate remains $1.25, but users will see a slight increase. The parking costs are the same, UDA Executive Director Alex Morrison said Monday. The ParkMobile fee is 35 cents compared to 25 cents for Passport, however. Bright green signs posted on the back of the meters advertise the new Contactless Parking ParkMobile system with an app that can be downloaded to secure a spot for up to three hours. With the new system, parking spaces also can be reserved in advance, including in the parking garage. Motorists can bypass the app and make a payment through a QR code on the sign, and meters will still take coins. Those without a smartphone can call the toll-free number 877-727-5008 or visit support.parkmobile.io for additional information. June 6, Morrison briefed the Downtown Macon Community Association about the change as he explained the role of the authority to the downtown merchants at their monthly meeting. You probably know me from putting in parking meters, which whether you believe it or not, is one of the most important things to grow and support downtown, Morrison said. Under outside management in its first five years, the parking program failed to generate the anticipated revenue that was to be reinvested in downtown. The COVID-19 pandemic further complicated matters by reducing visitors to downtown and causing personnel shortages for the private company managing the parking system. The authority became increasingly frustrated with the lack of timely financial reporting from the prior management company and lagging collections as people stopped paying to park and ignored tickets when they got them. Morrison wanted the downtown business owners to know the UDA is directly managing the operation, and will be enforcing tickets. The tickets for parking are real tickets. They are backed by Macon-Bibb County, our court system, not a third party putting a fee on you, Morrison said. While Morrison said the UDA will work with anyone who has accumulated a large amount of unpaid tickets, the county will be taking scofflaws to court and reporting them to credit agencies. Take it seriously. Tell your friends to take it seriously, Morrison told the downtown entrepreneurs. The main reason you should take it seriously is because a parking space taken by you or your employees is not helping your business. Before parking meters were restored in 2018, visitors often had to repeatedly circle the streets looking for spaces. Most blocks were seeing almost 100% occupancy every day with no turnover, Morrison said. While the old system had one zone for all of downtown, the new ParkMobile system has a different zone for every block. The zone number is posted on the back of each meter. Morrisons wife, who is the current chair of the Downtown Macon Community Association, said she recently used ParkMobile in another city and found it very easy to use. The lock screen on your phone shows you how much parking time you have left, Julia Morrison said. Its a lot easier to keep track of because its always sitting on your lock screen. ParkMobile announced the new partnership with Macon-Bibb County on June 16, but the county also is working with gtechna on developing new curbside enforcement software that will allow parking attendants to print tickets on their hand-held devices. Gtechna also will install a camera monitoring system in the parking deck to record the license plate numbers of vehicles entering and exiting so that citations can be written for those who did not pay. In recent months, the UDA has been using parking revenue to freshen up that Mulberry Street parking deck that is used by patrons of the Douglass Theatre, and employees of the Bibb County Board of Education and Gateway Plaza. The parking department also added meters to the new angled parking spaces on Cotton Avenue that is now one-way since the creation of the new plaza. The UDA is expected to release more information on the parking changes in the coming weeks. Civic Journalism Senior Fellow Liz Fabian covers Macon-Bibb County government agencies and can be reached at fabian_lj@mercer.edu or 478-301-2976. FILE - Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett smiles during an interview in Omaha, Neb., May 7, 2018. Buffett's company has increased its investments in five major Japanese trading houses to give Berkshire Hathaway control of 7.4% of each of those conglomerates. Buffett disclosed the new investments Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in interviews with Nikkei and CNBC while he is visiting Tokyo this week to meet with executives at the Japanese companies. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) OMAHA, Neb. (AP) Billionaire Warren Buffett is upping his bet on Japan, announcing this week that Berkshire Hathaway will increase its ownership stake in five major Japanese trading houses. The first Berkshire Hathaway investment in Itochu Corp., Marubeni Corp., Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui & Co. and Sumitomo Corp., a 5% stake, was disclosed in 2020 and earlier this year Buffett said that the stake had been increased to 7.4%. Ownership in the companies, Berkshire said this week, has reached 8.5% excluding shares of treasury stock. The trading houses are some of Japans oldest and biggest companies and hold investments in a variety of industries. Their conglomerate business models are somewhat similar to Buffetts own company which owns dozens of companies including BNSF railroad, several major utilities and Geico insurance while also investing more than $300 billion in stocks. Buffett's timing is notable. In 2021, after Berkshire Hathaway had taken a stake in the five trading houses, Japan's Nikkei average recorded its highest year-end closing level since the 1980s when the market bubble in Japan was near its peak. Last week, the Nikkei closed over 33,000 for the first time in 33 years and it is up almost 30% over the past 12 months. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is based in Omaha, Nebraska. They Were Captured by the Russians. Then the Hardest Fight Began. Maksim Kolesnikov, a Ukrainian soldier and returned POW from Russia, in Kyiv, Ukraine on May 13, 2023. (Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times) ODESA, Ukraine Shot through the jaw and tongue by a snipers bullet last year in the last days of the grinding siege at the Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine, Senior Sgt. Maksym Kushnir could not eat or talk, and could barely breathe. But when he hobbled out of a bunker last May with hundreds of other wounded Ukrainian soldiers in a surrender negotiated with Russian forces, there was no medical help or any sign of the Red Cross workers they had been promised. Instead, Kushnir, nine years a soldier and a poet since childhood, said he was taken on a two-day bus journey into Russian-controlled territory and left on a bed to die, with his jaw shattered and gangrene spreading across his tongue. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times I thought it was the end, he said. For the first three to four days, they did not do anything. They expected me to die on my own. That Kushnir survived and returned home to tell the tale is one of the success stories of the war. Even as the two sides are locked in full-scale conflict, Ukrainian and Russian officials have been exchanging hundreds of prisoners of war almost weekly. Yet the prisoner exchanges have also revealed a grim reality. Ukrainian soldiers have come home with tales of appalling suffering in Russian captivity executions and deaths, beatings and electric shocks, a lack of health care and near-starvation rations. Ukraine allows the International Committee of the Red Cross access to the Russian prisoners of war it is holding, an indication that it is meeting its obligations under international conventions of war. Russia does not. It restricts outside monitoring and has confirmed the identities of only some of those it is holding. Ukrainian officials and former prisoners say Ukrainian captives were in a visibly worse state than the Russian prisoners at exchanges. We were skinny like this, Kushnir said, holding up his little finger. Compared to us, they looked well. We were thin and bearded. They were shaved and washed. Its a classic abusive relationship, said Oleksandra Romantsova of the Center for Civil Liberties, a Ukrainian organization that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, summing up the treatment of Ukrainian prisoners. It is unclear how many Ukrainian soldiers are prisoners of war or missing in action. Russia has provided only partial lists of those it is holding, and Ukraine does not release any numbers. But human rights organizations say there are at least 8,000 to 10,000 prisoners, and Ukrainian officials did not dispute those figures. And more Ukrainians have been taken in the fighting in and around the city of Bakhmut in recent months, according to people working to bring prisoners home. There are believed to be far fewer Russians held by Ukraine. Some Ukrainian soldiers have also been placed on trial in Russia on dubious charges, and have received lengthy sentences in the Russian penal system, said Oleksandr Pavlichenko of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union. Among the prisoners of war are 500 medical personnel and hundreds of female soldiers and wounded, said Andriy Kryvtsov, the chair of Military Medics of Ukraine. He said 61 military medics remained in captivity and called for their release. Dr. Yurik Mkrtchyan, 32, an anesthetist, was among more than 2,000 taken prisoner after battles at the Ilyich steel plant in Mariupol in April last year, many of them wounded soldiers he was caring for. He said the Russians provided medical assistance only when he begged them and transferred the wounded to a hospital only when they were close to death. Mkrtchyan, who was released after a prisoner exchange in November, said he remained anxious about the conditions of the wounded, including amputees. They were just the boys who protected our hospital, he said. Most of them are still in captivity, and I see no excuse or explanation for that because they are already disabled, they cannot fight, there is no reason to keep them in prison. Former prisoners and human rights groups say Ukrainian captives, including the wounded and pregnant female soldiers, have been subjected to relentless beatings. Mkrtchyan described how new arrivals had to run a gantlet of prison guards who beat them with sticks, a hazing ritual known as a reception. He recalled running, head down, through the torrent of blows, and seeing a fellow prisoner on the ground. The soldier, a wounded prisoner with serious burns named Casper, was killed by the beating, he said. Maksym Kolesnikov, 45, was among more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers and four civilians who were captured in the days just after the Russian invasion in February 2022, when Russian troops overran his base near the town of Hostomel, north of Kyiv, Ukraines capital. The men were taken for interrogation to a filtration camp in a disused factory, where their commander was beaten within earshot of the whole unit. The Russian network of filtration camps, where military and civilian Ukrainians are screened and interrogated, have been widely criticized for violations of human rights. After a few days, Kolesnikov and his fellow detainees were moved to a Russian prison in the Bryansk region, near the Ukraine border. The reception beating lasted five hours. I was kneed in the face, he said. The beatings continued daily for a month. The guards used rubber truncheons, plastic piping, wooden rulers and knotted pieces of rope, or just kicked prisoners, he said. Prisoners nicknamed one group of guards the electricians because they tormented prisoners with electric shocks. The captives were dangerously malnourished, Kryvtsov said. It was a good day when you found a potato in your soup, said Kolesnikov, who added that he lost about 75 pounds in captivity. He said he suffers from a compressed spine from malnutrition, and hip and knee injuries from the prolonged beatings. Oleh Mudrak, 35, the commander of the First Azov Battalion, was unrecognizable and painfully thin when he returned from four months in captivity after being taken prisoner at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, said his nephew Danylo Mudrak. He regained the weight and underwent surgery on his shoulder, but five months after his release, he died of a heart attack, Danylo Mudrak said. Members of the Azov battalions, long painted as neo-Nazis by Russia as part of its justification for the war, came in for especially harsh treatment, according to Maj. Dmytro Andriushchenko, who was a deputy commander of the Second Azov Battalion when he was taken prisoner at Azovstal. Azov was like a red rag for them, he said. Andriushchenko was in a penal colony at Olenivka in July when an explosion ripped through a barracks, killing at least 50 Azov members. Like several former inmates of Olenivka who were interviewed, he accused Russia of orchestrating the explosion. The prison guards closed the gates to the barracks, preventing survivors from escaping, Andriushchenko said. Mkrtchyan, who was in the same penal colony, said he and other Ukrainian medics urged the guards to let them help the wounded, but they were not allowed to approach them until an hour after the explosion. Russia has blocked calls for an independent investigation into the explosion and blames it on a Ukrainian strike. For some of the wounded from Azovstal, visits by Russian television crews may have been a lifeline. The publicity created pressure on the Russian authorities to care for the prisoners, who were already weak from their time under siege in Azovstal with little food and water, Kushnir said. With his broken jaw and gangrenous tongue, Kushnir could not lie down and sat with his head in his arms for several days without painkillers or antibiotics. Eventually, he was moved to another hospital where doctors amputated his tongue and wired his jaw closed. He dreamed of eating. He wrote some verse: Have mercy on me, fate. Im alive. Dont punish me mercilessly. The physical pain was not as hard to bear as the uncertainty of being a captive, he said. When you dont know what to prepare for, what the next day will bring, he said, especially after seeing what the Russians were doing to our men, and being in constant expectation of death, it is not a cool feeling at all. At the end of June, Kushnir and other wounded men from Azovstal were loaded onto buses and driven to the front line to be exchanged. Back in Ukraine, he has been through multiple operations and spent months learning to talk again by exercising the scar tissue at the back of his throat. His surgeon, Dr. Vasyl Rybak, 44, the head of the department of rehabilitation and reconstructive surgery at a hospital in Odesa, took bone from his hip to reconstruct his jaw, but when that did not work, he inserted a titanium jaw, created at a 3D printing lab in the city of Dnipro. Next, Rybak plans to learn from pioneers in India how to create a new tongue for his patient from muscle tissue in his chest. Hes a hero, he said of Kushnir, during a break after surgery. They all are. c.2023 The New York Times Company West Bank toll rises with deaths of two Palestinians The Palestinian death toll from a Monday raid by Israeli troops on the flashpoint West Bank city of Jenin has risen to six, according to the health ministry. Eight Israeli security personnel and more than 90 Palestinians were wounded (Jaafar ASHTIYEH) A Palestinian died Tuesday from gunshot wounds sustained in an earlier Israeli raid, the Palestinian health ministry said after announcing another man was killed elsewhere in the occupied West Bank. Amjad Aref Jaas "died from critical wounds to the abdomen sustained from live occupation (Israeli) fire" in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, a ministry statement said. The 48-year-old's death raises to six the number of Palestinians killed in Monday's hours-long raid by Israeli troops, which wounded more than 90 Palestinians according to health officials. Eight Israeli security personnel were wounded in Jenin, the military said. Jaas's body was shrouded in a Palestinian flag in a Jenin mosque, before dozens of mourners including masked gunmen gathered for his funeral. After the firefight ended on Monday, the Palestinian health ministry announced Israeli troops killed a 20-year-old near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Zakaria Mohammed al-Zaoul was "martyred by live occupation (Israeli) bullets to the head, in the town of Husan", the ministry said. The Israeli military said troops were "on routine activity" in the town when "a suspect hurled Molotov cocktails" at them. "The soldiers responded with live fire. A hit was identified," it added. In a statement, the militant group Islamic Jihad claimed Zaoul as a member. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported the military used live fire, tear gas and stun grenades during the clashes with young Palestinians. The deaths are the latest in a surge of violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has killed at least 166 Palestinians, 21 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian this year. The tally compiled from official sources includes combatants as well as civilians and, on the Israeli side, three members of the Arab minority. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and its armed forces routinely carry out patrols and raids in Palestinian towns and cities. gb/rsc/jsa Where Amazon opens offices, free bananas follow. You can thank Jeff Bezos. An antique truck is one of two community banana stands at Amazon's second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Alex Bitter/Insider Amazon's HQ2 in Arlington, Virginia features two of the company's community banana stands. Employees and members of the public can pick up bananas for free at the stands. It's the latest iteration of a concept that founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos devised. Amazon's second headquarters, in Arlington, Virginia, has lots of amenities for employees and passersby, including a dog park and a weekend farmers market. But one of its most distinct offerings is much simpler: A stand for distributing free bananas. On Thursday, during the ribbon-cutting for Metropolitan Park, the first phase of the new Virginia headquarters, the bananas were free to Amazon employees and visitors, including Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The stand is actually one of two at HQ2, Amazon told Insider. About 8,000 employees are expected to report to Metropolitan Park by this fall, Insider previously reported. Amazon pushed back the groundbreaking for PenPlace, the second phase of the headquarters, earlier this year as the company cut costs and laid off thousands of employees around the US. Arlington was one of two sites chosen for Amazon's HQ2 in 2018. But it backtracked on plans to build a campus in New York City the following year after backlash from local residents and officials. Although Metropolitan Park just opened, Amazon has supplied a banana stand in the area for just over a year, according to the Washington City Business Journal. Amazon opened its first banana stand outside its Seattle headquarters in 2015. The idea came from Amazon founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos, who wanted to offer a free snack that was healthy and didn't come heavily packaged, Amazon told Insider. Bananas have another advantage, Amazon told Insider: You don't need to wash them before taking a bite. In the first year and a half, Amazon gave out 1.7 million bananas, according to the Journal. Today, Amazon says, it distributes thousands of bananas each week. It also has a total of seven stands: Two in Seattle, one in nearby Bellevue, one in Nashville, two in Arlington, and another in Tokyo. In a video produced by Amazon about the first stand in Seattle, the company interviews enthusiastic patrons of the stand, one even says, "This is my daily breakfast." "Anyone can come in off the street: employees, non-employees, children, dogs," says a "banista," a riff on "barista," who works at the stand. A banana stand also popped up temporarily at Washington DC's Union Station in 2017 as the company was facing increasing criticism from Congress, according to the New York Times. The concept has even drawn at least one imitator: Business advocates in DC's NoMa neighborhood set up their own banana stand in 2018 to promote the area's bid for Amazon's second headquarters, the Washingtonian reported at the time. Read the original article on Business Insider FILE - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Monday, June 19, 2023. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a closely watched visit to Beijing on Monday, during which he met with China's top diplomats and held talks with President Xi Jinping. However, Blinken failed to land the biggest ask on his agenda: restoring China-U.S. military communications. (Leah Millis/Pool Photo via AP, File) TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has wrapped up a closely watched visit to Beijing during which he and President Xi Jinping pledged to stabilize plunging U.S-China ties. But China refused the biggest U.S. request: restoring military-to-military contacts. Blinken said he raised the issue of military communications repeatedly but was rebuffed by the Chinese. It is absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications, he said, adding that it was something the United States will keep working on. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and President Joe Biden have called often over the past few months for China to reestablish military communication channels with the U.S. WHY DID CHINA HALT MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS? China suspended regular contacts with the U.S. military last August after then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, challenging Beijings principle that other countries should refrain from official exchanges with self-governing Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory. But the problem existed even before Pelosis visit. The U.S. says China has declined or failed to respond to over a dozen requests from the Department of Defense for top-level dialogues since 2021. WHY DOES THE U.S. WANT TO RESTORE MILITARY CONTACTS? The U.S. and other nations fear a potential accident involving the U.S. and Chinese militaries that could spiral out of control. In recent months, as tensions between Washington and Beijing have accelerated over a range of issues, including a suspected Chinese spy balloon over U.S. territory, there were several near-collisions of Chinese and U.S. military vessels and aircraft. In early June, a Chinese warship unexpectedly cut in front of a U.S. destroyer in the Taiwan Strait, forcing it to slow down to avoid impact. Days earlier, a Chinese fighter jet flew in front of a U.S. warplane over the South China Sea in a maneuver the U.S. described as unnecessarily aggressive. Washington wants to avoid an incident like one in 2001, when a U.S. Navy aircraft and a Chinese interceptor jet collided off the Chinese island of Hainan, leading to the Chinese pilots death and the U.S. aircraft forced to make an emergency landing in Hainan without Chinese approval. The most important thing for the U.S. side is to avoid these accidents, said Li Nan, a visiting senior fellow who researches Chinas military policy at the National University of Singapore. WHY IS CHINA PUSHING BACK? China has attributed its refusal to restart military communications to sanctions imposed by Washington, a possible reference to sanctions on its defense minister, Li Shangfu. They were part of a broad package of measures against Russia, predating its invasion of Ukraine, imposed in 2018 over Lis involvement in Chinas purchase of combat aircraft and anti-aircraft missiles from Moscow. The U.S. side is surely aware of why there is difficulty in military-to-military exchanges, said Yang Tao, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official overseeing North American affairs, during a briefing Monday following Blinkens visit. One of the reasons is unilateral sanctions against the Chinese side. They first need to remove impediments and create conditions for military-to-military cooperation. Li earlier this month declined an invitation to speak with Austin, his U.S. counterpart, on the sidelines of a defense forum in Singapore. The two officials did shake hands before sitting down at the same table during the forum, a gesture Austin said would not suffice. A cordial handshake over dinner is no substitute for a substantive engagement, he said. The U.S. says the sanctions dont prevent Li from holding talks with U.S. officials. But culturally, Chinese officials may expect a form of public remedy before agreeing to re-engage after sanctions, said Li Nan of the National University of Singapore. You impose sanctions on the guy, and then you also want to have dialogue with the guy, he said. From the Chinese perspective, that doesnt make any sense. China is also pushing back against NATOs increased collaboration with countries in the Asia-Pacific region - including Australia, Japan and New Zealand - which Beijing considers part of its own sphere of influence, said Willy Lam, an adjunct professor of China studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT HOW THE COUNTRIES SEE THEIR RELATIONSHIP? Xi said after his meeting with Blinken on Monday that The competition among major countries is not in line with the trend of the times, according to the Foreign Ministry. Beijing instead sees U.S. policies toward China, such as curbing its access to important technology, as attempts to contain its rise. The United States and China are in a sense talking past each other, said Paul Haenle, a National Security Council official in the Bush and Obama administrations. At the highest level, there is still not agreement in terms of how the two major powers should interact, and I think that will make it difficult for the two sides going forward. US-POLITICS-BIDEN President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Bidenwith his son Hunter Biden, and their daughter, Ashley Bidenat their granddaughter's graduation from the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field on May 15, 2023 in Philadelphia Credit - Brendan SmialowskiAFP via Getty Images This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIMEs politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox. In the end, Hunter Biden did the right thing and accepted responsibility, likely sparing his father an election year trial tinged with sex, drugs, and foreign money. But as President Joe Biden gears up for re-election against a Republican Party determined to undermine his credibility with voters, the political environment is one in which proven facts routinely come secondary to gut feelings. Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of tax dodging and one count of lying on a gun-purchase application. His attorney said the plea deal means the federal probe is now resolved, although prosecutors stopped short of that assessment. In any event, White House allies are relieved that, at least for now, the threat of a member of the Biden family facing jail seems off the table heading into 2024. This has been a half-decade coming. The federal probe began in 2018, but the public only learned about it when Hunter Biden confirmed its existence shortly after Joe Biden won the 2020 campaign. When the elder Biden took office in early 2021, he went to work replacing several U.S. Attorneys with picks more closely aligned to his Justice Departments priorities. Yet the White House left in place the top prosecutor in Delaware, hoping to avoid any suggestion of interference in the investigation. Attorney General Merrick Garland insisted that the prosecutors in Delaware were completely empowered to follow the evidence wherever it led. Now, a Trump-appointed prosecutor and Hunter Biden have agreed to a deal that includes admissions that the younger Biden willfully failed to pay federal income taxes and lied on a form saying he did not have a drug-abuse problem when he bought a gun. Hunter Biden has already paid back-taxes on the income, roughly $1.2 million in liabilities for tax years 2017 and 2018money borrowed from his attorney. If the deal is approved by a federal judge, Hunter Biden would get roughly two years of probation and would be barred from owning a gun for the rest of his life. He would also enter a diversion program, which typically includes rehab. (A child-support case in Arkansas remains unresolved.) For the White House, the end of the Hunter Biden uncertaintyat least for nowgives the West Wing and its pals mounting the re-election infrastructure one less reason to have indigestion and insomnia. Earlier this year, Hunter Bidens team rolled out an aggressive legal strategy against all those gunning for him, one that stirred some anxiety among the Presidents advisers. With the federal investigations closed and zero tangible legal downside for the President, that fierce tension between Team Hunter and Team Joe becomes one of messaging and not of law. Biden himself has largely gotten the defense of Hunter Biden honed at this point. After all, who can disagree with a father expressing unconditional love for a child? At the White House, an aidenot the President or First Lady Jill Bidenreleased a two-sentence statement on Tuesday: The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment. The deal, however, is unlikely to deflate the fevered talk inside conservative circles about the Biden familys alleged influence peddling with shady figures in Ukraine, China, and beyond. House Republicans are continuing to push its probe into Hunter Bidens troubled history, his unproven business relationship with his father, or whether the DOJ and the FBI have worked to protect the Bidens. Senators have long called on a special prosecutor to oversee the investigations. Yet there remains little reason to think that Bidens critics have the goods to prove their claims; if they had proof, theyd have shared it well before Biden entered his third year as President. Put another way: Hunter Bidens guilty plea may close the book on an active federal prosecution of the Presidents son, but it doesnt take the issue away from those voters who are looking for any reason to block Biden from winning a second term. Yes, Hunter Biden is the son of a career politician who became Vice President and then President. He is also a Georgetown and Yale Law graduate who in the 90s served in the Clinton administration, and went on to become a lobbyist and investment banker. Yet conservatives remain convinced the sizable haul of cash he has earned over the years is corrupt in a way that goes well beyond the various other nepotistic gigs that have long peppered the political economy of Washington, including many examples from within the Trump administration. Hunter Biden for the last few years has been, at times, painfully transparent about his addiction and mental health struggles. He has talked publicly about sharing a Logan Circle condo with his crack dealer and fleeing an intervention the Biden family staged to help him. A laptop alleged to have been Hunter Bidens contains a trove of embarrassing, uncomfortable, and possibly incriminating photos, videos, and emails. Lawmakers have used that personal device as a basis of ongoing attacks on the Biden family and their allies. The fact that the Justice Department has spent years combing through the Bidens books and came up with nothing meriting more criminal charges cant be ignored, though. Yet innuendo can carry a lot of water in politics. But Her Emails has become something of a liberal punchline, with even Hillary Clinton hawking swag selling that ubiquitous explanation why voters just couldnt trust her in 2016. The nuance almost always gets hacked away in order to distill a potential scandal into a one-sentence argument. Just take Trumps looming and complex federal case about his alleged retention, mishandling, and sharing of classified documents after he left the White House. The indictment and defense are full of constitutional questions and political nuance. Yet Democrats believe He Stole State Secrets And Fought To Hide Them is a winning solution, all but adopting Republicans critique of Clintons use of a private email account to correspond with her staffers State Department addressesa system also used by Colin Powell. Trump and those who would try to bait Biden into an emotional defense of Hunter Bidens faultsand there are many, to be clearmight run into a disciplined wall impenetrable by innuendo alone. Joe Biden is simultaneously cocky and gaffe prone like few others at his level of experience, but he is vigilant about getting it right when it comes to his family. Throughout his presidency, Biden has been intentional in including Hunter Biden in official events, introducing him as a proud father when the family made a return to their homeland of Ireland, and Hunter Biden is often seen at White House events. Even in the face of a sentencing, there are no doubts about the Biden familys durable embrace of even its most flawed membersnor are there doubts that that clans critics will use that love to cast the President as blind to possible shadiness in his own camp. Make sense of what matters in Washington. Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter. Why the YNW Melly murder trial will go on. What his lawyer wanted and what judge ruled Rapper YNW Mellys double murder trial will continue, the judge ruled Tuesday morning. That was in doubt until Broward Circuit Judge John Murphy denied defense attorney David Howards motion for a mistrial. Howard argued last week that the jury was now tainted after the states questioning of Felicia Holmes, the mother of Mellys ex-girlfriend. Howard asked the judge to strike evidence that couldnt be verified, but Murphy told him to instead submit a motion in writing. Melly, whose real name is Jamell Demons, is accused of gunning down his childhood friends Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr., in an alleged drive-by cover up after spending the night of Oct. 26, 2018, at a Fort Lauderdale recording studio. Confidant Cortlen Henry, known as YNW Bortlen, was also arrested and charged with the murders. Williams and Thomas, both aspiring rappers with the YNW collective, were known as YNW Sakchaser and YNW Juvy, respectively. READ MORE: Calculated cover-up or a botched investigation? Jury will decide in YNW Melly murder trial The 24-year-olds case is among the first being considered after Gov. Florida Ron DeSantis signed a law to lower the threshold for a death sentence to an 8-4 vote. How a mistrial could have changed the case If a judge declares a mistrial, that doesnt mean a defendant is found innocent. Mistrials usually occur after a jury is unable to reach a verdict or if there was misconduct or a serious error that could lead to an unfair trial. If a judge declares a mistrial, prosecutors may pursue a new trial within 90 days of the original trial, in most cases. A mistrial in Mellys case would function just like in any other case, even though he faces death, said Craig Trocino, director of the University of Miami School of Laws Innocence Clinic. Once the death penalty is on the table, the degree of difficulty in everything goes up a couple of notches, Trocino said. The tension levels higher, the stakes are much, much higher, the case is much, much bigger. But the law ... is usually the same. The judge, Trocino said, could craft a curative instruction and tell jurors theyre not allowed to consider specific evidence or testimony in their deliberations. The defense, however, could again argue that the jury was tainted to the point that an instruction wont fix the problem. If the judge denies the motion for mistrial, but things like this keep happening the defense argument is going to be, essentially, Here we go again. The jury was tainted back in June and now theyre tainted again. ...Theres no way that we can have a fair trial. If Melly is convicted and appeals, the Florida Supreme Court will review the court transcripts, including the mistrial motion, Trocino said. The judges may find that the mistrial should have been granted and bring the case all the way back to square one. What went down on the witness stand? Holmes testimony was a major source of conflict for the state and the defense. Howard objected to her taking the stand, which led to several recesses and a back-and-forth with prosecutors. Prosecutor Kristine Bradley wanted Holmes to testify about her statement to police back in 2018. Holmes statement, Howard argued, was inadmissible evidence. According to court records, Holmes told investigators that Melly spoke to his girlfriend via FaceTime that night and said he was the victim of a drive-by shooting that left two of his friends dead. Holmes, according to court records, also said it looked like Melly was hiding and waiting to be picked up. Murphy, however, allowed the state to question Holmes. Her testimony was interrupted more than 10 times for prosecutors and defense attorneys to resolve points of contention with the judge. On the stand, Holmes, who prosecutors declared a hostile witness, denied lying to the police and said she couldnt remember her previous statements, including what Melly said on FaceTime the night of the murders and what her daughters phone number was back in 2018. That was four years ago, Holmes explained while shaking her head. Ive had so much trauma in my life since then. Prosecutors also brought up a series of messages sent in June 2022 from Holmes Instagram account, in which she said yalll can call me Mz Snitch B---- bc Im airing his a-- out to the prosecutor after Mellys team allegedly failed to take care of her financially despite promising to do so. Holmes said she didnt recall that exchange and denied saying anything written in those messages. Near the end of her testimony, Holmes told defense attorney Stuart Adelstein she felt threatened by Bradley. When Bradley asked Holmes if she had threatened her in writing or with physical violence, Holmes responded: Youve been intimidating me this whole time. Prosecutors claim Holmes was arrested while traveling in 2022 after she failed to make it to several court appearances. But Holmes says she was never served a subpoena and thats why she hired an attorney to represent her. The state basically has me on a monitor, Holmes said. I have to go to my job like this. People think Im a criminal. The state has ruined my life. Editor's note: This story references suicide. Resources for those in crisis have been included with this story. Windsor police fatally shot a man while responding to a domestic disturbance call Monday evening. Police say officers went to the 100 block of Sunflower Drive about 9:15 p.m. Monday after multiple calls were made to 911 about a "suicidal and possibly intoxicated resident who was being argumentative and was armed with an unknown firearm." The area is southwest of the intersection of Colorado Highway 392 and Weld County Road 19/Colorado Highway 257. Police say an "uncooperative" 39-year-old man armed with a shotgun fired three rounds after officers arrived. Officers shot him, and he was pronounced dead at an area hospital. The Weld County Coroner's Office has not named him. No one else was injured, according to a news release issued by Greeley Police Department. When an officer fires a weapon in Colorado and someone is killed or injured, state law requires a multi-agency team to investigate. This shooting is being investigated by the 19th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team. That investigation remains ongoing, according to the news release. Those with information that may be relevant who have not spoken to police are asked to call or email Detective Jackson Brunmeier, 970-351-5352 or Jackson.brunmeier@greeleypd.com. Resources for people in crisis National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255, or call 988 SummitStone Crisis Stabilization Unit, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: summitstonehealth.org/services/ UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital and Medical Center of the Rockies crisis centers: uchealth.org/services/behavioral-health/ In case of emergency, call 911. This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Windsor police fatally shoot man during domestic disturbance Emma Watson fans have been left confused by her latest fashion statement. The actor, 33, who is best known for starring as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film adaptations, shared a photo to Instagram on Monday (19 June), in which she posed with her brother Alex Watson. The pair wore matching powder blue outfits, but it was the Little Women stars dress that caught fans attention. Followers were puzzled over whether the dress was floating or hanging from her ears. The dress, taken from Spanish luxury fashion house Loewes Spring Summer 2023 collection, is in fact structured with wiring to create a pointed 3D illusion on the bodice, with the rest of the fabric draped across the legs, giving the appearance of magically levitating. What in the wingardium leviosa is that dress, wrote one fan in the comments, referring to the Harry Potter spell used to make objects levitate. Another added: This dress is defying physics. One fan pleaded for others to explain the dresss design, commenting: Someone make the dress make sense pls. The dress looks like its floating. Im trying to understand, remarked another. How is that dress on your body? Hanging from your ears? Someone else, alluding to Harry Potter, wrote: This is the most hogwarty dress ever! Loewe is known for pushing the boundaries of proportion play using structural illusions to create unique silhouettes. The brand has been responsible for other major moments in pop cultural fashion this year. The fashion house was behind the custom diamante jumpsuit worn by Beyonce during her Renaissance World Tour, which sees the placement of two glove-like hands over her breasts and crotch. On tour with Beyonce. A custom LOEWE look designed for the Renaissance world tour. As seen on stage in Stockholm. Styling Shiona Turini #LOEWE #RenaissanceTour pic.twitter.com/895dChY6ZH LOEWE (@LoeweOfficial) May 11, 2023 Loewe also dressed Rihanna in all red for the Super Bowl half-time show back in February, where the artist announced she was expecting her second child with partner and rapper A$AP Rocky. Watson and her brother used the photo opportunity to promote their newly launched business venture, a luxury carbon neutral gin brand named Renais Gin, as the pair posed alongside a bottle the alcohol. With a heart full of warmth and nostalgia, I am thrilled to introduce - Renais Gin @renaisspirits, Watson wrote on Instagram in April. It is an ode to the sun-kissed vineyards of Chablis where my family has been making wine these past 30 years. Renais Gin is our love letter to Chablis; a carbon-neutral product, lovingly made from upcycled wine grapes. In her Instagram bio, Watson describes her job title at the company as Grand Duchess of Ginspiration. Woman who was among 23 shot at strip mall near Chicago recounts how celebration turned to chaos There had to be at least 200 people in the parking lot when Mariah Dixon arrived Saturday night for what has been billed as a Juneteenth celebration outside a strip mall in DuPage County, near Willowbrook. People, young and old, danced and ate, while others brought clothes and shoes to sell to the crowd. The whole idea of the celebration was a celebration of African American independence, said Dixon, 23, from Bolingbrook. I wasnt expecting it to go left at all. Saturday was turning to Sunday as Dixon held her phone up to record her friend dancing. Then, she remembered, the shooting started. I felt a bullet rush past my face, she said. It felt like a bumblebee passing by. Dixon was one of at least 23 people injured one fatally in the mass shooting at the strip mall parking lot along Illinois Route 83. On Monday, DuPage County Coroner Dr. Richard Jorgensen identified the man killed in the shooting as Reginald Meadows, 31, of Willowbrook. Residents in the apartments near the strip mall said they regularly saw Meadows with his kids at the apartment complex or at one of the stores in the strip mall. A GoFundMe set up for Meadows said he was a father of two and a beacon of love and strength who fell victim to a devastating crossfire incident that shattered the peace and joy of what should have been a day of celebration. Ten people were taken by ambulances to hospitals. Another seven people arrived at hospitals by private vehicle. Four people were treated at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, said hospital spokeswoman Carol Eggers. Three were treated and released. The fourth remains hospitalized. Another five people were treated and released from NorthShore-Edward-Elmhurst Health in Elmhurst, said spokesman Keith Hartenberger. Both declined to provide additional information about the condition, ages and genders of the people who were treated. There were still many unanswered questions Monday as investigators continued to scour the scene for clues that could lead them to the person or persons responsible. No suspects were in custody Monday, the DuPage County Sheriffs Office said in a statement. Residents nearby said the strip mall has been the site of similar celebrations in years past, and that sheriffs deputies were there earlier in the night. Sheriff James Mendricks office previously said deputies were monitoring the gathering but left to respond to a 911 call about a fight when the shooting started. Dixon said she dropped to the pavement when she heard the gunfire and scrambled on her stomach under a nearby car for cover. There were other screams, she remembered, so I dont know if anybody actually heard me, and there were other shots. She said her friend pulled her from under the car and sat her in the friends passenger seat. They sped away for a hospital but were stopped by police, who got an ambulance to take Dixon to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. She said doctors told her a .45-caliber bullet pierced her knee, shattering her kneecap, and lodged in her femur, breaking the bone. She went through one surgery Sunday and is expected to undergo a second surgery later in the week. Dixon said she hasnt slept, the images from that night replaying in her mind. Doctors told her she wont be able to walk for months, she said. A friend set up a GoFundMe to help with expenses while she recovers. When she went out Saturday night, Dixon said she had hoped to take her mind off Fathers Day. Her dad, Marcus Heath Dixon, died of small cell lung cancer in January 2022. Im sure that this is just going to be a hard recovery, she said by phone from her hospital bed. Its already very hard mentally and physically, and I think for me mentally more than physically right now. Late Monday afternoon, there were still visible signs of the chaos from that previous night. Yellow police tape surrounded the strip mall parking lot littered with plastic bottles, aluminum food trays, single shoes. People huddled in small groups, stopping their conversations to watch the television news cameras parked in a row on the street. A few said they wanted to move. One woman walked up to a sheriffs deputy sitting in his car and told him about the blood stains two of them in the hallway of her daughters apartment building, directly behind the strip mall. I want her to leave now, she later said, clutching her cellphone and shaking her head. Its not safe here. ____ A woman has been arrested after using a stolen Glock 19 semi-automatic handgun to shoot toward a Miami Beach bakerys outdoor area and send two people to the hospital Monday night, police say. Officers working the Juneteenth Day Festival about 80 yards away arrested Monica Santos-Gonzalez, 37, on two counts of attempted murder, four counts of shooting or throwing a deadly missile, one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and one count of grand theft of a firearm. The grand theft charge comes from police saying the Glock 19 (serial No. BSWR992) came up as the gun in a Fort Lauderdale police stolen gun case. READ MORE: Two hurt in Miami Beach shooting near bandshell They killed my family An arrest report said a witness saw Santos with a gun and firing it toward the entrance of Moises Bakery, 7310 Collins Ave., where people were gathered. Officers working the festival at the Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., heard three shots. When they ran over, they found a man on the ground in front of 7315 Collins. He had been shot in the leg. Meanwhile, the bakery crowd got the attention of officers, who say Santos was in front of the bakery with a gun in her hand. After being told to drop the gun, the report says, Santos did, and then walked into the bakery. Officers followed her and put handcuffs on her as she said, They killed my family. Three rounds from the Glock were found outside the bakery, the report said. As Santos was being loaded into a police cruiser, officers found a woman at 73rd Street and Ocean Terrace, about 150 yards from the bakery, who had been shot in the right thigh. A Toyota 4Runners rear window also got shot out. Both people who were shot were treated and released from a hospital. All victims claimed Marsys Law rights to have their names redacted from the police report. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman prepares to shake hands with French President Emmanuel Macron, Friday, June 16, 2023 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets Emmanuel Macron as part of an official visit, during which he will also participate in a global financing summit aimed at fighting poverty and climate change. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) PARIS (AP) Competition is heating up for the right to host the 2030 World Expo, a massive event that can generate revenue, jobs and global attention - if everything goes well. Rome, the Saudi capital Riyadh, and South Korea's second-biggest city Busan presented their bids at a key meeting Tuesday of the Paris-based International Bureau of Exhibitions. A vote among member countries is expected in November. Amid criticism in the West of its human rights record, Saudi Arabia seems to be putting on the biggest marketing push. It financed a "Riyadh 2030'' exhibit in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower a monument built for the 1889 World's Fair and splashed ads on Paris taxis. Its crown prince Mohammed bin Salman is on a weeklong trip to France where he's meeting with top officials. Italy's premier and South Korea's president, meanwhile, came to Paris in person to push their bids. The Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odesa also submitted a bid for 2030 before Russia invaded Ukraine last year. With fighting still raging in Ukraine, Odesa's bid wasn't part of the official presentation Tuesday. Arriving at Tuesday's event, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni expressed confidence. I believe that Romes winning hand ... is being able to reconcile tradition and innovation,"' she said. Rome is pledging to respect the environment and the "idea of cooperating with other nations that we are trying to represent, as well with our foreign policy that is never a hit and run policy,'''' she said, according to news agency Lapresse. Tourism accounts for 13% of Italys GDP, so it is a big driver of the national economy. The country hosted Expo 2015 in Milan and is gearing up to host the next Vatican Jubilee in 2025,, with re-paving and other road construction to make mobility easier in the traffic-clogged Italian capital. For Saudi Arabia, hosting the expo would boost the crown prince's push to diversify the kingdoms oil-dominated economy and attract more foreign investment. The kingdoms expo plan includes a massive public transit network, a major park and plan to turn Riyadh into an open art gallery without walls, said Fahd al-Rasheed, the CEO of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City. However, challenges remain, like the potential for crude oil prices to remain low. Also, Prince Mohammed remains notorious abroad for the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. U.S. intelligence agencies say the prince likely ordered the killing, though the kingdom has denied that. South Korea is promising a high-tech expo, including use of AI, 6G, and smart'' airports and seaports. Officials say the event will attract up to 50 million visitors and create 500,000 jobs to Busan, a port city on South Koreas southeastern coast known for its huge harbor, crowded beaches and scenic mountains and Buddhist temples. President Yoon Suk Yeol said Busans bid isnt just about economic benefits. If we host the Expo, that will open a new chapter in our global diplomacy, he said during a meeting with Koreans residing in France ahead of Tuesdays meeting. From K-pop supergroup BTS and Netflixs global megahit Squid Game to Samsung smartphones and Hyundai cars, South Korea is now a cultural and economic powerhouse. But the Asian country still cares about the international recognition that major events can bring to the world's 10th-largest economy. Ukraine is still holding out hope for Odesa's bid, which would boost the war-battered economy and send a clear message to Moscow of further international isolation. The port city is a key gateway for Ukrainian trade, and the Expo would allow Ukraine to show that it is capable of organizing large international events while it continues to make its case for EU membership. While past world's fairs introduced such wonders as the light bulb, the X-ray and the Ferris wheel, they also require big investments and can be a big gamble for host cities if they don't bring in as many visitors as expected for geopolitical or other reasons. Osaka is hosting the next World Expo in 2025. ___ Nick El Hajj in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Frances D'Emilio in Rome, and Hyung-jin Kim and Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea and Samya Kullab in Kyiv contributed to this report. FILE - Wind turbines turn behind a solar farm in Rapshagen, Germany, Oct. 28, 2021. The world is falling well short of the progress needed to meet the United Nations sustainable development goals by 2030 in areas ranging from poverty to clean energy to biodiversity, according to a report Tuesday, June 20, 2023, from the nonprofit tracking the goals. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File) The world is falling well short of the progress needed to meet the United Nations' sustainable development goals by 2030 in areas ranging from poverty to clean energy to biodiversity, with a growing gap between wealthy and developing nations, according to a report Tuesday from the nonprofit tracking the goals. The coronavirus pandemic stalled the limited progress made in the years after United Nations member states adopted the goals in 2015. Now, halfway through the 15-year time frame, not a single one of the goals is on target to be met. We're at the risk of a lost decade for sustainable development, said Guillaume Lafortune, a lead author of the report and vice president and head of the Paris office of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the nonprofit launched by the UN to foster and track sustainable development. And theres actually a risk that the gap between rich and poor countries on sustainable development might be bigger in 2030 than it was in 2015. The goals, which the authors described as an ethical imperative, cover a range of areas, including threats to the climate and environment but also basic human rights such as food, health and education. The authors noted that goals for reducing hunger, improving health and protecting biodiversity are particularly off-track. They said changing global governance mechanisms and global finance architecture are critical for improving progress on all the goals. Lafortune pointed to the global finance summit that opens Thursday in Paris as an important moment for the world. A main focus of the summit is how international finance can be reformed to help the developing nations that are often most vulnerable to climate change but least able to raise capital for things like transitioning to renewable energy. The report analyzed countries' progress on the sustainability goals by assigning them scores from zero to 100. They examined factors like poverty, hunger, disease, carbon dioxide emissions, subjective well-being scores and dozens of other indicators. Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Austria ranked highest. South Sudan ranked lowest, followed by the Central African Republic, Chad, Yemen and Somalia. Lafortune called particular attention to the disappointing United States scorecard, which he said was below average for developed countries. He said the U.S. was one of the worst performers in terms of its commitment efforts and was one of only five member countries that did not present action plans and priorities to the international community. But Lafortune did note that some U.S. cities voluntarily provided local reviews. Kimberly Marion Suiseeya, an associate professor of political science and environmental policy and culture at Northwestern University who did not work on the report, said that while she sees pressing global development shortfalls on issues like the climate emergency, she thinks the Biden administration is taking climate seriously. She also saw signs of optimism in China's progress on renewable energy. Though the country ranked below the U.S. in the report, it has invested more in clean energy, according to research firm BloombergNEF. Anita Ramasastry, a law professor and director of the Sustainable International Development graduate program at the University of Washington, said she wasn't surprised that the sustainable development goals are off track. Ramasastry, who had no part in the report, said she doesnt think many governments with more advanced economies, like the U.S., have embraced the goals or made them relevant to citizens daily lives. She questioned whether the goals were overly ambitious and added that it will be important to examine how the 2030 agenda is financed, as well as the role of the private sector. Business has been asked to fill a role. And I think theres just an ultimate question, which is should we have asked business to fill that role? she asked. Because ultimately the SDGs are meant to be about governments and states. The report made the same point repeatedly, singling out several basic failures in global governance. Those included voluntary implementation of the goals with no enforcement mechanisms when countries fall short, international trade and finance rules not geared to sustainability, and national governments not coordinating well with smaller units of government on the goals. Lafortune called for countries to keep the sustainable development goals in mind as they approach the Paris summit and other global conferences. He said Paris has the opportunity to act as an accelerator toward reforming international institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which he sees as possible elements of a global strategy for investment in tackling climate change and other sustainable development goals. Despite all the fragmentation right now in geopolitics, the many crises and so on, we still need to keep that sort of long-term vision and this idea of multilateralism and global cooperation alive. I think this is absolutely crucial, Lafortune said. I dont think the world will be better off if we just forget about these goals because we wont achieve them. __ Follow Melina Walling on Twitter at @MelinaWalling __ Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about APs climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. WSP investigating after 8 people come out of Parkland apartment standoff, 1 may be the suspect Washington State Patrol troopers chased a suspected DUI driver into a Parkland apartment on Monday. Eight people came out, but the WSP isnt sure if one of them is the suspect. The WSP said just before 9:30 a.m., troopers got calls about a car driving erratically eastbound on State Route 512 and Canyon. Trooper found the car and followed it as it turned around and headed westbound on SR 512. Troopers tried to stop the car and a chase was approved because of the suspected DUI. The chase was then called off because the WSP said there were not enough troopers to follow the car safely. The car was then seen on SR 7 from SR 512. The WSP said when it was on SR 7, troopers tried again to stop the car, but it ran through a red light. Troopers asked to chase but they were denied. As the car turned left onto 112th from SR 7, it crashed into the Monterra Apartments. The driver fled into an apartment unit, reportedly with a gun to someones head. The WSP said eight people have come out of the apartment so far, as troopers handled the situation as a standoff. One shot was fired by the suspect but troopers arent sure who it was aimed at. The WSP said they arent sure if any of the eight people are the suspect. The WSP is currently interviewing them. The WSP also isnt sure if apartment residents were told to evacuate or stay in their apartments. On Monday night, Donald Trump insisted to Fox News host Brett Baier that the 2020 election had been fraudulently rigged against him. I won in 2020 by a lot, lets get that straight, Trump said. They were counting ballots, not the authenticity of the ballot. The ballots were fake ballots, this was a very rigged election, Trump: First of all, I won in 2020 by a lot Baier: You lost the 2020 election Trump: They were counting ballots, not the authenticity of the ballot. The ballots were fake ballots. pic.twitter.com/yrM5gVV1ei Acyn (@Acyn) June 19, 2023 Baier attempted to lay out the dozens of lawsuits, audits, and investigations that had disproven Trumps claim, but was unable to break through the former presidents delusions. Some investigations have continued even years after Trump vacated the White House, and less than 24 hours after the former president once again aired his grievances about 2020 on national television, he was given another reality check. On Tuesday, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced the closure of an investigation into claims of fraud made by former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, after the DAs office found no evidence that would substantiate the claims. Over the course of the investigation, it was confirmed that numerous allegations made against the Fulton County Department of Registration and Elections, and specifically, two election workers, were false and unsubstantiated, Raffensbergs office wrote in a press release. Giuliani had accused two Georgia election workers, Rudy Freeman and Wandrea Shaye Moss of having committed various acts of fraud in the course of counting ballots in Fulton County. Conspiracies leveled against Freeman and Moss included claims they had lied about flooding in election headquarters in order to have poll watchers removed, counted ballots multiple times, and snuck extra ballots into the count to inflate President Joe Bidens margins. Freeman and Moss have since filed a defamation suit against Giuliani. The allegations against Freeman and Moss became drivers of larger efforts by Trump and his allies to interfere with Georgias election outcomes. The pair were subjected to extreme harassment and threats by the former presidents devotees, and became key witnesses to the manner in which conspiracies about the election were formed and weaponized. During her testimony before the Jan. 6 committee, Moss was asked about the attorneys claims that she and Freeman had exchanged a USB drive full of votes. Moss revealed that the drive was actually a piece of candy. Over the course of the investigation, which was conducted with assistance from the Georgia Bureau of Investigations and FBI, Raffenspergers office found that there was no evidence of any type of fraud as alleged. Additionally, investigators found that social media posts purporting to show an admission of voter fraud from an election worker were created by an individual who admitted he created a fake account and confirmed the content that was posted on the account was fake. We remain diligent and dedicated to looking into real claims of voter fraud, Raffensperger said. We are glad the state election board finally put this issue to rest. False claims and knowingly false allegations made against these election workers have done tremendous harm. Election workers deserve our praise for being on the front lines. Raffensperger himself was subjected to efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the election results in Georgia. In January 2021, the former president called Raffensperger and asked that he find the votes necessary to win him the state. There are two concurrent investigations into Trumps efforts to obstruct the transfer of power following his election loss. One is being conducted by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who earlier this month charged Trump with criminal mishandling of classified documents. The second is directly centered on the former presidents actions in Georgia. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is conducting a wide-ranging investigation into Trump and his allies actions in Georgia, and has signaled that she could bring an indictment of her own this summer. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Click here to read the full article. New York teen wins $50,000 for study on brains of people who died by suicide [Source] A 16-year-old high school student from New York won an award and a cash prize for her research studying the brain tissues of people who died by suicide in the hopes that it could one day be used for prevention. The award recipient: Natasha Kulviwat, a high school student from Jericho High School in New York, was among the recipients of one of the awards given at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Dallas on May 19. Kulviwat bagged one of the event's top prizes for her research titled BMED028 Neurobiology of Suicide: Claudin-5 Is a Biomarker. She received the Gordon E. Moore Award for Positive Outcomes for Future Generations Award, which also came with a $50,000 cash prize. More from NextShark: Virginia governor seeks probe into delayed notice of academic awards at US top high school What the research was about: Kulviwat studied the biomarkers of suicide in the brains of deceased donated by their next of kin for the study. The high school student discovered that the 10 bodies of those who had died by suicide had higher numbers of inflammatory cytokines compared to the control group of 10 others who died from other causes. The breakthrough: Although cytokines inflammation is part of the immune systems normal process when pathogens are involved, it could still trigger even without the threats, such as during chronic stress. The research suggested that too much inflammation could affect the brain protein claudin-5, which is typically found in the blood-brain barrier cells that help regulate what passes into the brain cells from the blood. More from NextShark: UNC apologizes to Sikh student handcuffed over article of faith that resembled weapon What the future holds: Kulviwat said she wants to further research interactions between anti-inflammatories and claudin-5 in animal models, which could hopefully result in insights in the future to develop alternative treatments and lower suicide risks. If you or someone you know are experiencing depression or suicidal tendencies, please call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or text HOME 741741 for the Crisis Text Line. More from NextShark: Prominent Peking University professor accused of faking doctoral degree and work experience Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark! San Francisco to offer free Mandarin classes for fifth year Youth plaintiffs in the climate change lawsuit, Held vs. Montana, arrive at the Lewis and Clark County Courthouse on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, in Helena, Mont., for the final day of the trial. Youth plaintiffs say warming temperatures are harming their health and threatening their futures at the closely-watched climate trial. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP) HELENA, Mont. (AP) An attorney for 16 young plaintiffs urged a judge Tuesday to strike down as unconstitutional a Montana law that prohibits state agencies from considering the environmental effects when it weighs permits allowing the release of greenhouse gases. Attorney Nate Bellinger made the plea in his closing argument at the end of a seven-day trial. Plaintiffs say state officials violated their right to a clean and healthful environment, part of the Montana Constitution, by allowing companies to build power plants and expand coal mines, among other things. Like other monumental constitutional cases before, the state of Montana comes before this court because of a pervasive systemic infringement of rights, Bellinger said. During the first-of-its-kind trial, plaintiffs testified about how increased heat, smoke from wildfires and drought affect their activities and mental health. Native Americans said climate change affects their ceremonies and traditional food sources, and climate experts warned the window to address the environmental damage is rapidly closing. Montana Assistant Attorney General Michael Russell said in the state's closing Tuesday that the climate change issue is much larger than Montana can address on its own. He said calls by the plaintiffs for the state to take the lead in addressing climate change was a social statement, not a legal argument. The case put on by the young plaintiffs was a weeklong airing of political grievances that properly belong in the Legislature, not a court of law, he said. The issue at the core of the this case is a fundamental principle of separation of powers," Russell said. The power of the state ultimately resides with the people of Montana and the people of Montana are most directly represented by their elected representatives in the Montana Legislature." However, the courts can be asked to determine whether laws are constitutional. And many of the plaintiffs are not old enough to vote, the lawsuit argued. A ruling from state District Judge Kathy Seeley is expected sometime after the parties file their proposed findings in the case, which are due in early July. One of the plaintiffs, Lander Busse, said he was optimistic that the judge would rule in their favor, adding he hoped the plaintiffs' case would spark a trickle down of other litigation and activism nationally. If Seeley sides with the plaintiffs and declares the state law unconstitutional, it would be up to the Republican-led legislative and executive branches of Montana government to respond. Representatives of Gov. Greg Gianforte's administration indicated during the trial that there is no basis under state law for rejecting permits for projects, even if their climate impacts are disclosed. That means a ruling for plaintiffs could increase political pressure on state officials, but it would not have any immediate consequences, said James Huffman, a former professor and dean emeritus at Lewis & Clark Law School who is now living in Montana. Republicans in Montana seem pretty fixed in their ways, and I dont think a decision by this district court is going to change the way that they think about these issues, Huffman said A decision against the state also could establish new legal precedent and add to the small number of rulings that have established a government duty to protect citizens from climate change. However, only a handful of states including Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts have similar environmental protections in their constitutions. Emily Flower, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Austin Knudsen, described the trial as a publicity stunt staged by an out-of-state organization that is exploiting well-intentioned children." The plaintiffs were represented by attorneys for Our Childrens Trust, an Oregon environmental group that has filed similar lawsuits in every state since 2011 and raised more than $20 million in contributions. None of the previous cases had reached trial. Anyone who has any questions about the legitimacy of the plaintiffs claims wasnt listening at trial last week, Julia Olson, the groups founder, said in response to Flowers statement. She noted that the evidence presented by the young people and by scientists for the plaintiffs was largely uncontested by the states attorneys. The trial has shown the facts are irrefutable, Olson said. ___ Brown reported from Billings, Mont. Known for her dedication, infectious humor and ability to connect with others, its only natural that Kathleen Davis would have a deep-rooted connection to community. Growing up in Decatur, Alabama, Davis, 32, was raised by her single mother and her nana, who had a reputation for her compassion. Her nana was born in Puerto Rico and forged her way into World War II by falsifying her birth certificate. Amid limited opportunities for women in Puerto Rico at that time, her determination led her to the United States military, where she met Davis grandfather. Davis vividly recalls a formative experience from her childhood that has shaped her values and approach to community work. At a Walmart store, she witnessed her nanas kindness when a Spanish-speaking couple locked their keys in their car and was denied help due to a language barrier. Her nana stepped in, offering them a ride home, demonstrating the power of inclusivity and the importance of helping others without hesitation. She was the kind of person that if she saw someone walking on a hot day, she would pick them up and take them where they needed to go, she said. So I think when I look into my core and people say Im a community-oriented person, I think back to that moment, but also a billion more with my nana where she just gave. It really shaped me. Inspired by her nanas acts of kindness and her relentless dedication to community service, Davis has developed a deep-rooted commitment to making a difference. She spent her days with her nana, engaging in activities such as Meals on Wheels and visiting elderly individuals, fostering a sense of connection and bridging generational gaps. This upbringing instilled in Davis a strong belief in the importance of giving back and making others feel included. When you truly model inclusivity and when you truly model goodness that gets passed forward and that happened between me and my nana and thats a part of my soul now, she said tearing up. When you make people feel included, youre a happier person and you have a happier community. For Davis, inclusivity is more than just a buzzword; it is a guiding principle that shapes her interactions and work within the community. She said true inclusivity means recognizing not everyone is fully represented at the table and actively working to provide a seat for those who have been marginalized. With a deep conviction for making a difference, Davis has become an inspiring figure in her community, emphasizing the importance of giving without expectations and fostering inclusivity. Davis philosophy centers around being an instrument of goodness, where she selflessly extends a helping hand without judging or questioning the circumstances of those in need. For her, it is not about scrutinizing whether someone is deserving or sincere, but rather about bringing forth the inherent goodness in humanity. My nana taught me that God delights when nobody sees that it was you but sees the goodness, Davis said. I dont have much money so for me, Im happy to give my time to things in the community. If she sees something she doesnt like in the community, she sees it as her responsibility to get involved and make a change. If she wants to see something in the community grow, she doesnt make a Facebook post, she asks to help. Mentorship holds a special place in Davis heart, as she passionately imparts her wisdom and experiences to younger generations. Her approach is not to boast about her achievements but to provide guidance by sharing both her successes and failures. Earlier this year, Davis was named a Friend of Bonner by University of Lynchburg where she worked as director of engagement marketing from the time she moved to in 2020 until April. Davis said by sharing her experiences, both successes and failures, allows her to connect with younger generations and guide them toward a more fulfilling path. Being able to talk to a younger generation and point them in directions and saying maybe I took a wrong path, and telling them the angle of heres what I did and it wasnt amazing, it flopped in these ways and left me spinning my wheels for years before I got the direction, she said. Its offering the good parts of you and the rougher parts that you had to fine-tune yourself. Despite her outgoing nature now, Davis said she did not always feel confident and struggled with self-perception. Overcoming those challenges, she developed a firm belief in the importance of being seen trying. Davis embraces new opportunities with enthusiasm, unafraid of admitting her inexperience and eagerly immersing herself in various initiatives. I think that I would describe myself now as someone who is funny and likeable, but I think its also important to know that I have not always felt that way about myself, she said. She was brought up in a large and loud family which further shaped her extroverted nature. If you wanted to say something, you had to shout it, she laughed. She said her lively and outspoken personality was not always appreciated, especially when it defied gender expectations. The summer before graduating from University of Alabama, she landed an internship at The Weather Channel working with its design team and though she didnt have much experience and learned much of what she needed to know through YouTube videos, she brought energy to the team. I brought the excitement, I brought the ideas, she said. Acknowledging her potential, the vice president offered her a job in December, provided she graduated early. Determined to seize the opportunity, Davis collaborated with her advisor to complete a rigorous 18-hour final semester, consisting of senior-level classes. This decision meant adjusting her personal timeline, including delaying her coming out process. She moved to Atlanta 48 hours later with a full-time job from the company as a graphic designer working on the development of one of the most popular mobile apps in the country at the time. When I moved to Atlanta I just sort of dug into my career and just really focused myself and my career. I set myself on this track and had all these goals that I thought you needed to have in life because it was clear from a young age I always knew that my success lived and died on my ability to fit in, she said. In 2019, Davis met her wife Gail Goldsmith through a dating app and remembers her shock in finding out she was an Episcopal priest. I can still remember her walking up to me on that first day, like what she was wearing and everything and just being like, I can already tell this is just a beautiful human being, Davis said. With Davis in Atlanta and Goldsmith working as a curate in Auburn, the two began looking for a place to move that they both loved. The two ended up finding Lynchburg on the map even though Davis originally thought of the Jack Daniels city in Tennessee and moved in December 2020, one day after their wedding, with Davis getting her job at University of Lynchburg and Goldsmith as a reverend at Trinity Episcopal. It was important to Davis that they live somewhere with a vibrant downtown and strong sense of community and upon researching Lynchburg, Davis was captivated by its picturesque downtown and the presence of local businesses. Davis made a strong impression on Polly Flint from the moment they first met. Immediately, Kathleen came up to me and she was just so friendly, Flint said. She doesnt know a stranger. Shes very disarming, its like youve known her all along when you meet her. It was immediate. It was just one moment in time, but its lasted forever. When Goldsmith and Davis were moving to Lynchburg at the end of 2020, Flint, a local realtor, gave the couple a tour of the city. Flint said Davis quickly became friends with her husband, sister and other members of her family. She said Davis always brings the fun to any gathering but also is a generous person. Shes going to try to make things better for somebody if their circumstances are not what they should be, she said. You cant help but love her. Flint said Davis is a self-starter who is determined and tenacious in pursuing her goals. Shes a go-getter, shes a comedian, shes an entrepreneur, she goes after what she wants and shes just fun to be around, she said. In just a few short years and still in a new city, Davis has opened for comedian Fortune Feimster, started a local history tour guide business, Curious History, teaches graphic design at UL and general media development and marketing at Randolph College, serves on the board for Hill City Pride and recently started a new job at Centra Health as its marketing business partner. Gail and I always say Lynchburg is our lucky city, she said. Davis genuine approachability stems from her understanding that everyone has their own unique experiences and stories to share. She aims to create a safe space where people feel comfortable opening up and being themselves. Her willingness to listen and support others has been instrumental in fostering deeper relationships within the community. I get this one sweet life, and Im gonna dig into every second of it, she said. So if I start to get stressed about the things that make me nervous, that make me scared, that makes me want to run away, I know that that is a moment where I can dig in even harder. For Davis, Lynchburg is not just a place to live; its an opportunity to make a difference. Despite challenges and moments of fear, she embraces the city as her home and commits herself to actively contributing to its growth and unity. Do things that make you a little uncomfortable, help people, work with people and purposefully reach out to people who intimidate you because you dont fully understand their experience and the way that they walk through life, she said. So instead of spending time repeating things that youve heard about different groups that you dont belong to, spend time with them, give people a chance to bring humanity back into a world where its popular to be divisive. Donna StClair, a Lynchburg native and former co-chair of the Bedford County Democratic Committee, recently received the Democratic Partys nomination for the newly-drawn Senate District 8, seeking to ride her stances on abortion and firearm safety into the Virginia General Assembly later this year. In November, StClair will be pitted against State Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg, who currently represents Senate District 22 and announced his candidacy for the new District 8 in March, unchallenged for his partys nomination following the retirement of longtime local legislator State Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg. A self-proclaimed lifelong yellow dog democrat, StClair said her campaign stands on two major issues for voters in the Commonwealth: Womens reproductive rights and gun safety legislation. I am diametrically opposed to Mark Peakes position on abortion, StClair said about the senators anti-abortion stance. I dont like abortion, never have met anybody who does. But the fact of the matter is that when we make abortions difficult for women, women die. And Im not willing to let that happen. StClair said its her goal if elected to the General Assembly to keep abortions safe and legal but also wants to do whatever is possible to make sure theyre also rare by means of birth control and sexual education. To make her point, StClair used an analogy to question the qualifications of elected officials who make decisions about womens bodies for them. I wonder how people would feel if they got in an airplane and looked in the cockpit and their plumber was getting ready to fly it, she joked. And I ask that question because it makes as much sense to have old dudes who know nothing about medicine making decisions life decisions about a womans body. The issue of abortion also helps shape her stance on gun safety, where she said she is very concerned about the number of gun-related incidents involving young people. Dont tell me you care about a fetus when its real clear to me you dont care about children, she said. Theyre dying from guns. Despite her democratic ideologies, StClair said Republicans arent going to know what to do with me on the issues of gun safety. Im a Democrat who likes guns. I own guns and once upon a time I was the best skeet shooter at Fort McClellan, Alabama, StClair said. I like guns in the right hands for the right reasons. Once a member of the Womens Army Corps, the veteran said she does not understand why anybody thinks they should own AR-15 style assault rifles. If elected, StClair said she would support legislation that limits the selling of assault rifles, as well as passing more stringent red flag laws for gun buyers. Additionally, mental health and suicide prevention is another important issue for StClair, who said suicide by guns is just as concerning to her as the number of mass shootings. The issue hits close to home for her, saying that two of her students from her high school teaching days committed suicide. Not a day goes by where I dont think about those fine young man and wish they could have grown up to be the great people they would have been, StClair said. Weve got a whole country coming out of depression, or trying to come out of depression, she said about the effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on Americans. We have a pressure cooker politically that were living in ... I think weve got to have services for people where they can receive care and counseling and not ever be made to feel as if they are less than whole because they have a mental need. If elected, she said she hopes to destigmatize mental illness and to better fund and promote mental health services. This election will not be StClairs first foray into politics, adding shes ran a last minute write-in campaign in the past. The E.C. Glass High School and Randolph College graduate said she really became engaged in full-throttle activism after her husband, Bruce, died several years ago after a battle with early-onset dementia. A defining moment for getting into politics for her was former President Donald Trumps successful run for the Oval Office in 2016. As a woman, as a veteran, as an American, I just looked at that and thought, This cant be, she said. The greatest nation this world has ever seen cannot elect the equivalent of a carnival barker to be the leader of the free world. And I committed myself at that moment to do everything I could do to try to address it and turn it around, StClair added. During a recent interview, she acknowledged the difficulty of winning in the newly-drawn Senate District 8, which includes all of Lynchburg and Campbell County, as well as a good majority of Bedford County. StClair called the two counties heavily Republican areas. Yet, people who dont subscribe to Mark Peakes particular form of politics deserve to have a means by which they can have their voice heard, she added. And Im that. Vice President Kashim Shettima decorates the new acting Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun in Abuja on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Photo: Facebook/Dada Olusegun The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has decorated the newly-appointed Inspector General of police, Kayode Egbetokun with his new rank of inspector-general of police (IGP). The new acting IGP had also served as Commissioner of Police in Lagos State. Shettima performed the short ceremony in his office at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday. Vice President Kashim Shettima decorates the new acting Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun in Abuja on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Photo: Facebook/Dada Olusegun The VP was assisted by Egbetokuns spouse, Mrs Egbetokun, at the event witnessed by senior government officials, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume. Other officials present were Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma; the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu; and the outgoing Inspector-General of Police, Alkali Baba. Former Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has been taken into the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Ortom was invited for questioning by the anti-graft agency for alleged misappropriation of funds, a month after leaving office. Channels Television reports that the ex-Benue governor arrived at the Abuja office of the EFCC on Tuesday morning and was sighted walking into the building of the anti-graft agency. Benue State is said to have a debt profile of N187.7 billion. More to follow Sokoto governor, Ahmad Aliyu has disguised himself and visited the State Specialist Hospital to ascertain the quality of services provided to residents. The governors press secretary Abubakar Bawa in a statement on Monday, disclosed that the governors decision to visit the facility unannounced follow a series of concerns raised by Sokoto residents over poor service delivery. The statement added that other concerns that forced the governor to visit the hospital were dilapidated structures, erratic power supply, shortage of staff, and lack of functional medical equipment, among others. The governor visited the hospital in a tricycle to get first-hand information from its workers. I was surprised with what I saw during my visit to the hospital, which lasted for four hours; it afforded me the opportunity to see things for myself, Mr Aliyu explained. By Justina Otio Former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili has reacted to the ongoing demolition of some distressed buildings at Alaba International Market. Recall that the demolition of the marked structures began on Saturday, June 17. The Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) had reportedly marked at least 17 buildings for demolition as far back as 2016. However, the demolition has sparked a backlash from the traders who insist that the exercise is politically motivated. Reacting to the situation via Twitter, Ezekwesili called for transparency. She urged the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to publish details of each demolished building and the reason it was removed. Ezekwesili insisted that this move would provide evidence to the public that the exercise is not aimed at attacking the Igbos. Speaking further, she advised President Bola Tinubu against brewing toxic atmosphere against fellow citizens. She wrote, The Governor Sanwo-Olu-led @followlasg on Friday started the process of removing what it described as distressed buildings in the Alaba International Market in the Ojo Local Government Area. I have a Policy advice for @jidesanwoolu that would be helpful for all sides and the public. Mr Governor, please immediately publish details of each destroyed building and the dateline of Due Process rules that were exhausted by your Government before it was removed. It will be wise for the Governor to take this counsel on Transparency and Full Disclosure since it would provide evidence to the public that this is not a vengeful political attack against the predominant Igbo community in Alaba Market. Let me also use this opportunity to really again advise the @followlasg and its cheerleaders including @officialABAT to be careful in persisting to brew a terribly toxic atmosphere against fellow citizens before, during, and after the 2023 elections. Governance by maliciousness does no one any good. A word is sufficient for only the wise. NAIJANEWS NEWS SECTIONS The DeSoto and Boyer Chute national wildlife refuges are offering kid-friendly Junior Refuge Ranger weekend programs that focus on different aspects of wildlife and lands. All programs are free with a valid entrance pass to the refuge. Youth must be accompanied by an adult. Fishing Clinic: Saturday, June 24, and Saturday, July 22, 10 a.m. to noon at South End Recreation Area. Join a certified youth fishing instructor for fishing clinics on the shores of DeSoto Lake at the South End Recreation Area of DeSoto Refuge. The two-hour fishing clinic will provide fishing gear and bait on a first come, first fished basis. Leaf Investigations: Saturday, July 1, 1 to 2 p.m. at the DeSoto Visitor Center Leaves litter the ground and cover our heads during the fall and spring, but what makes them different from each other? Join this program to look at the different key features that help us see the unique compositions of different species leaves. Butterflies Around Us: Saturday, July 8, 1 to 2 p.m. at the DeSoto Visitor Center. Come learn about butterfly species that can be found at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge. The program will discuss pollination and butterfly tracking. Participants will try to identifying those special insects. Chute Study: Saturday, July 15, 10 to 11 a.m., main parking lot at Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge. Interested in learning about macroinvertebrates and other aquatic species that make their home at Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge? During this program, participants will be investigating the waters and banks of the chute to discover what creatures inhabit them. Beaver Studies: Saturday, Aug. 5, 1 to 2 p.m. at the DeSoto Visitor Center. Busy beavers are all around DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge. Help investigate why they are so busy and the tools they use to help them be one of natures best engineers. Herpetology Investigation: Saturday, Aug. 19, 1 to 2 pm at the DeSoto Visitor Center. While they aren't always the easiest to spot, reptiles and amphibians are extremely important parts of the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge ecosystem. This Junior Ranger program will explore herpetology: What makes herps so important. and what kinds of herps live on the refuge? DeSoto National Wildlife Refuges is located along U.S. Highway 30 between Missouri Valley and Blair, Nebraska. Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge, managed by staff at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, is located east of U.S. Highway 75 near Ft. Calhoun, Nebraska. For more information, contact 712/388-4822 or email the refuge at desoto@fws.gov. Find updates at fws.gov/refuge/desoto and fws.gov/refuge/boyer_chute. A look at the series Caleb McCullough caleb.mccullough@qctimes.com This years legislative session was massively consequential, criticized by some Iowans and praised by others. The laws passed, from tax cuts to school regulations, will influence the everyday lives of people across the state for years to come. We wanted to know how these actions and others by the state government affect the everyday lives of people across the state. What they like, what they dont like, where they see our leaders falling short and what they think needs more attention. This story is part of a larger series involving Lee Enterprises newspapers in Council Bluffs, Davenport, Mason City, Muscatine, Sioux City, Waterloo-Cedar Falls and the Lee reporter in Des Moines. The series, What do Iowans Want? attempts to find out what people across the state think about how the government is working for them. The 25 Iowans profiled represent the broad perspectives in our state. Theyre teachers, artists, retirees and athletes. Theyre Republicans, Democrats and independents. Theyre your neighbors and your friends. Jesse Persons, a special education teacher from Moville, said she worries about public school funding, private school assistance, and how that will impact teacher recruitment: "I worry, do we still have or will we still have highly qualified teachers in Iowa?" she said. Forest Dillavou, of Waterloo, likes the direction the state is headed, and he said Gov. Kim Reynolds is helping return the state to more traditional, and more conservative, roots: Iowa was at one point considered in the Bible Belt, and I think we have drifted a long way to the left, he said. The stories will focus on who the people are, what challenges they face daily and how government affects their lives. The entire project will publish online July 14 on all Lee sites. In June 2020, while the rest of the world was grappling with a mysterious virus scientists didnt yet fully understand, Council Bluffs native Ryan Globe remained blissfully unaware. His wife Emily had given birth to their first child that month, a boy, and Globes entire world shrank down to their apartment in the Harvester building. It wasnt until the school he worked at as a custodian contacted him to tell him they were closing for the foreseeable future that Globe fully realized what was happening outside his front door. I was very unaware of what was going on, Globe said in an interview with The Nonpareil. I had just heard about it, I didn't really care. And then I get a call from work telling me, Hey, we're closing, and don't come back. We'll call you when you can come back, but don't worry, we are gonna pay you. Those paychecks came in handy, as did the COVID stimulus checks from the federal government, as the Globes prepared for the arrival of their son. It was really a blessing in disguise for us, Globe said. We ended up getting debt free the month before he was born, and to be able to have a clean slate, that was just such a good feeling. Now, three years later, having enough money to pay the bills is a constant concern, and a kind of a sore spot, for Globe. The buying power of my dollar goes a lot less further than what it was for my parents, for my grandparents, Globe said. Ive noticed, especially in the last two years, every time I go to the grocery store I am paying more, and when I look in the cart, theres less and less. The price of baby food went up 75 cents over three months, Globe said. The cost of diapers and formula have gone up, too, and Globe is definitely feeling the pinch. Weve had to be very frugal, and budget everything to make it to the next paycheck, because after bills are paid and we get groceries, we go fill up the gas tanks, its all gone, Globe said. In addition to not getting enough bang for his buck at the supermarket, Globe also laments not being able to buy a house for his son to have a yard to play in. I remember reading an article in the paper with (Council Bluffs Mayor) Matt Walsh, and he said that we had an affordable housing crisis, Globe said. And I don't see anybody trying to resolve that issue, and I think it's really unfortunate that people who've lived here their whole lives, for them to even have a house have to leave, cause there's nothing here. And what is here goes so fast for so much. We drove by a house, and I knew the kids who lived in that house, their dad was a mailman, their mom was a secretary. That house is not $400,000. I know, because they weren't rich. "They were just average regular Americans, you know? They were middle class. They weren't poor, but they weren't rich. And to see that in neighborhoods I used to ride bikes in, I don't know who could afford that. Because that house was not that much when it was brand new, so I don't understand how it could have almost tripled. Globe, 36, said he and his wife have discussed moving out of Council Bluffs, where he has lived his entire life, because housing is so expensive here. We've looked, there's a lot more affordable housing on the Mississippi side of the state, he said. Globe said that he has older family members who are planning to move into a retirement home, and their children have been talking about what to do with their house. Someone suggested that Globe and his family rent the house instead of selling it to a stranger, but even that turned out to be unaffordable. The property taxes on it, on just a regular house, it's over a thousand dollars a month, Globe said. That's more than a house payment. It's like, for us to even live in a house where we could probably live for free, we still couldn't afford it because of the property taxes. Globe said that hes not griping about wanting anything for free. He just wants his money to go as far as it did 60 years ago for his grandparents. Ryan Globe Name: Ryan Globe Age: 36 Gender: Male Occupation: Custodial at Iowa School for the Deaf Political party: Independent Hometown: Council Bluffs Education: Associates degree What are the biggest challenges you face in your everyday life? Money. The buying power of my dollar goes a lot less further than what it was for my parents, for my grandparents. How do you see Iowas government affecting your life? Ryan cant take a walk with his son outside their building, because the sidewalks are in desperate need of repair; the same with the streets. Legalizing and taxing marijuana would create an income stream that could help pay to repair city, county, and state infrastructure. What issues do you wish the government paid more attention to? Less attention to? Pay more attention to things that people can agree on, like the need to repair infrastructure, and less time encroaching on peoples private lives, especially in schools: If youre a teacher, just do your job. Shut your mouth, teach algebra, teach English. I would say Im entitled, but only in the sense that I want the same opportunities that my mom and dad had, that my grandparents had, he said. To be able to work hard, and work one job, so one parent can be home. So we can afford a house, we can afford a car, for us to actually be able to feed our family. I dont want free things, I just want what was promised to my grandpa and to my dad. That promise hasnt been kept for my generation. Globe refers to people his age as the lost generation, because they started high school in 2001, right as 9/11 happened, followed quickly by the start of the never ending war on terror, and when they graduated college, the country was in a recession, so there were no jobs. I would only say Im entitled to the American dream, and that should be something that everybody who is an American citizen should be entitled to, and we should all collectively work to ensure that everybody can get there, Globe said. And weve lost our way on that, I think. One thing the State of Iowa could do to possibly ease the financial burden on working families would be the full legalization, and taxation, of marijuana, Globe said. I dont see anybody proposing legalizing, he said. That right there, thats kind of like my number one thing, just cause its so stupid its just money wasted. You spend all this time, all this money and energy, locking people up, but you would not do the same thing for alcohol, which is a gateway drug. It will kill people and it ruins you. The people I know who have used cannabis to get off their prescription pills, it's had a positive impact on their life, but that's illegal. Tax revenue from the legal selling of marijuana could be used to fix all sorts of issues throughout the state, like local infrastructure, for example. I can hardly walk my son around the neighborhood, because the sidewalks are garbage, Globe said. I can barely drive my car because the streets are garbage. Why don't you legalize marijuana, take all that tax revenue, and fix the freaking roads and the sidewalks? Dont mistake Globes pro-legalization stance for full blown liberalism, though. He may have cast his first two presidential ballots for Democrats John Kerry in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2008, but he also voted for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson in 2012 and 2016, and he voted to reelect former President Donald Trump in 2020. I would describe myself as a disaffected classical liberal of what it meant to be liberal in the 2000s, Globe said. Using a water bottle and other items on the table, Globe explained what he feels has happened politically in the last 20 years. So you have the center, you have the right, and you have the left, and this is where people fall, Globe said. Well, what happened is, as the Overton window shifted to the left, the left became more left, more liberal, if you want to call it. Globe moved the item on his left further down the table, leaving the items representing the right and the center where they started. From this perspective, the further left they go, well, look at these two, (the center item is) on the right side, but he never actually moved, and neither did the right, Globe said. You just kept moving so far to the left. Globe said that he has lost friends and mentors due to not fully embracing the progressive politics that he thinks go too far. He might not agree with the political right, but theyll still sit down and talk to me, and theyre not gonna call me names. When I try to talk to my friends, they unfriend me and call me names and trash me, Globe said. Why would I even wanna hear you out if youre just going to spew venom at me. At least this side (indicating the right), who I dont agree with on a lot of things, we can talk and we can get along, and we can agree to disagree, and we could still go outside and have a barbecue together. Globe at least in part blames social media for the toxicity present in todays politics, calling it a raging bonfire of negativity, and he credits his wife and son for stopping him from getting swallowed up in the flames. Theres the dark, and then there is the light, and the light was so strong, he said. I just feel like a lot of peoples brains broke in 2020, and I was so just consumed in the light and the love, and all of that (stuff), it didnt stick to me. I could still go into it, but it didnt stick to me. It didnt infect me. 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. Visiting IMF managing director Kristina Georgieva praised Morocco for its economic reforms while saying the country was the ideal place for holding the IMF-WB annual meetings next October. Following talks with head of Moroccan government Aziz Akhannouch in Rabat, Georgieva said Morocco knew how to navigate the post-covid crisis thanks to targeted government actions. She also emphasized that the prospects for developing cooperation with Morocco are very promising, and that the Kingdom enjoys considerable confidence on the part of international financial institutions. Georgieva also met finance minister Nadia Fettah Alaoui and central bank governor Abdellatif Jouahri and flew to Ouarzazate where she was enchanted with breathtaking views and centuries-old history. She also spoke at a conference on central bank digital currencies highlighting the need for coordinated action to set up a common infrastructure that would allow for interoperability. The IMF-WB annual meetings are expected to bring together 14,000 delegates in October in Marrakech as the world seeks to bridge the fragmentations induced by a changing world order. For the Moroccan finance minister, these assemblies will be an opportunity to highlight the major reforms implemented by Morocco in various areas of development, noting that the Kingdom will host the WB/IMF annual meetings after a 50-year absence from the African continent. The choice of the Kingdom to host such a flagship global event testifies to the considerable interest that the international financial institutions have in Morocco, she said. Nadia Fettah pointed out that these highly important meetings, which will bring together economic and financial players from all over the world, are also an opportunity to reconsider the tools used by these international institutions to help developing countries, particularly in Africa. Moroccos central bank governor Abdellatif Jouahri advocated a cautious approach in adopting central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), recalling that the bank set up a working group to look at the matter in 2021. Speaking to a conference attended by IMF chief Kristina Georgieva, Jouahri underscored the urgent character of examining CBDCs which have a role to play in financial inclusion and reducing the amount of cash in circulation, estimated in Morocco at 30% of all transactions. However, he pointed at the need of bridging the digital divide by ensuring access to digital infrastructure. He advocated what he called a camel approach in the sense of moving with caution in implementing CBDCs, which he said are now part of the mission of central banks. IMF chief Giergieva said the IMF was considering a platform for CBDCs in order to ensure they are not limited to domestic uses only. She said CBDCs are key to reducing the cost of remittances and promoting financial inclusion but there was a pressing need for coordination between central banks CBDCs should not be fragmented national propositions To have more efficient and fairer transactions we need systems that connect countries: we need interoperability, Georgieva was reported by Reuters as saying. Already 114 central banks are at some stage of CBDC exploration, with about 10 already crossing the finish line, she said. Georgieva also warned of leaving the void to cryptocurrencies which are often not backed by assets exposing citizens to risks. The Board of Directors of the World Bank approved a $450 million Program-for-Results loan to support the Government of Morocco in implementing an ambitious health reform to improve access to quality public health services for all. Morocco is currently implementing one of the most ambitious and comprehensive health system reforms in the world, demonstrating its commitment to building human capital, the Washington-based institution underlines in a release. Building on the World Banks longstanding engagement in the health sector and current support of the demand-side social protection expansion, this program supports the supply-side health system redesign, the World Bank points out. The reform will improve health outcomes and quality health service delivery through improved responsiveness at all health system levels. The World Bank support will help make the health system more inclusive by expanding coverage in under-served areas, improving the availability of high-quality health services, strengthening the healthcare workforce, and improving the governance of the countrys health system, the release stresses. Improving access to quality healthcare for all is an essential condition for inclusive socio-economic development and human capital accumulation, says Jesko Hentschel, Country Director for the Maghreb and Malta at the World Bank. This loan will lay the foundations for a healthcare system that will continuously measure and improve access and quality of care for all. The program will deliver these outcomes through a multifaceted approach, the Bretton Woods institution underscores, adding that this includes expanding training to build the capacity for health workers, creating performance incentives that link compensation to performance, making health services more accessible in areas with greatest needs, and improving access to high-quality primary health services and routine quality of care evaluations at the regional level. It will also strengthen health system governance with reforms to decentralize systems, improve payment modalities, and strengthen platforms for knowledge sharing and improved health data. This reform will increase health outcomes and provide economic benefits for all by improving competent delivery of health services, enhancing patient experience, and strengthening the foundations of a high-quality health system, says Denizhan Duran, Health Economist and Task Team Leader at the World Bank. Aligned with Moroccan national priorities, the World Bank program will also strengthen the health systems capacity to cope with climate vulnerability and emphasize gender equity and citizen engagement. The large-circulation daily in the USA has ranked Marrakesh among seven great cities in the world that offer great walks and the pleasures of strolling through their urban landscape. In an article entitled In 7 Great Cities, 7 Great Walks, the newspaper said that they asked writers in cities around the world to suggest routes that let the visitor immerse himself in the essence of a place at his own speed. The suggestions put Marrakesh third with its Spider Web of Passageways. The departure point of the Marrakesh adventure is Jemaa El Fna, this carnivalesque, open-air market in the medina, which brims with juice stands, restaurants, and souvenir shops, to say nothing of musicians and performers, the media writes. Nearly twice the size of Central Park, the medina enfolds a vast spider web of passageways that seem designed to disorient outsiders, the newspaper notes, adding that a compelling route from Jemaa El Fna that reveals multiple Marrakesh personalities starts at the white horseshoe archway leading to Rue Riad Zeitoun el-Kadim. The red city adventure allows to behold the soaring battlements of El Badi Palace, a glorious 16th-century monument that is now a peaceful place to wander, the New York Times writes in this article embellished with numerous photos of Marrakesh. The media also cites the former Jewish quarter, the Mellah, and Slat Lazama synagogue, and the Jewish Cemetery. The visitor further admires Art galleries, design shops and fashion boutiques that glow with chic creations. This is the edge of the medinas international design scene and the souks, where traditional artisans ply trades ranging from woodcarving to metalwork to glassware design, the newspaper indicates. The other six great cities with great walks are Paris, Zadar (Croatia), Seoul, Sydney, Saint-Louis and Rio de Janeiro. Vice President of El Salvador Felix Ulloa has affirmed that Morocco is a strategic partner of his country in Africa and the Arab world. In a statement to Diario El Salvador, Mr. Ulloa said Rabat and San Salvador are working continuously to consolidate the bonds of friendship and cooperation through the exchange visits, permanent consultations and coordination in international issues of common interests. Last October, El Salvador opened an embassy in Rabat, the first in the African continent, said the Vice-President, noting that move shows his countrys strong desire to advance relations with Morocco, a model of South-South cooperation, setting a bridge between Africa and Latin America. He also recalled his countrys decision of withdrawing in 2019 recognition of self-proclaimed SADR, a decision which demonstrates El Salvadors firm support of Moroccos territorial integrity and willingness to build strong and mutually beneficial relations with the North African Kingdom. The Vice-President also voiced his countrys desire to strengthen cooperation ties with Morocco, especially in the fields of agriculture, fishing, renewable energies and security. Twenty people had been reported arrested by Ugandan police for suspected collaboration with the notorious militia group blamed for last Fridays (16 June) horrific attack on a school near the border with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Uganda reels from its deadliest attack in more than a decade after the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group that has pledged allegiance to ISIS, killed 41 civilians, including 37 students, in border town of Mpondwe. Twenty arrests have been made of suspected collaborators, suspected ADF collaborators, a police spokesman told the media. Those arrested included the head teacher and the director of the Lhubiriha Secondary School that came under attack, whereby the oldest among the victims so far identified was a 95-year-old woman and the youngest a 12-year-old girl, the police spokesman added, describing the attack on innocent children as barbaric, is inhumane and of course constitutes crimes against humanity. The youngsters were hacked with machetes, shot and burned to death in their dormitories in horrific killings that have drawn global condemnation. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni promised to hunt the assailants into extinction adding that their action the desperate, cowardly, terrorist action will not save them. Pope Francis offered a prayer on Sunday (18 June) for the young student victims of the brutal attack that has shocked Uganda and drawn international condemnation. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called it an appalling act, while the United States, a close ally of Uganda, and the African Union also condemned the bloodshed. It was the deadliest attack in Uganda since twin bombings in Kampala in 2010 killed 76 people in a strike claimed by the Somalia-based Al-Shabaab group. As the world commemorates the World Refugee Day this June 20, the African Union (AU) has reminded that the refugee problem continues to be a persistent challenge on the African continent due to complex factors, perhaps most notably conflicts and political instability affecting parts of Africa. Countries in the Middle East and North Africa region are regularly among those hosting the most refugees in the world but they are at the same time among the most prolific source nations for people fleeing for elsewhere. On the World Refugee Day, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says the first quarter of 2023 has been the deadliest on record for refugees. In 2022, the number of people who were forcibly displaced by war, persecution, human rights abuses and climate change reached an all-time high of 110 million, according to the UN refugee agency. Experts say that fighting in one country often affects several others, noting how hundreds of thousands of Sudanese have fled into neighboring Chad, Ethiopia, Egypt and South Sudan. Also, the AU is commemorating the World Refugee Day with a theme Hope Away from Home. A World Where Refugees Are Always Included. It says the refugee crisis in Africa is due to complex factors, including conflicts and political instability affecting parts of Africa, which continue to force multitudes of African people into forced displacement in different countries. These challenges are compounded by a sharp increase in food insecurity notably in the Horn of Africa, Central Africa, Central and Western Sahel. The UNHCRs Global Trends report says countries in sub-Saharan Africa host one in five of all refugees globally. The largest number 4.7 million are in East Africa, the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region. Algerian journalist Ihsane El Kadis sentence has been increased to 7 years on appeal. Seven years in prisonwith the possibility of release only after having served five of themwas the verdict handed down to Algerian journalist Ihsane El Kadi on Sunday. This marks the most severe sentence ever handed down to an Algerian journalist by the appeals court, Khaled Drareni, North Africa representative of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) deplored. For Drareni, it is a totally incomprehensible verdict. Ihsane El Kadi is on trial for foreign financing of his business. The founder of the Radio M sites and the Maghreb Emergent news site had received from his daughter, who lives in Great Britain, the sum of 25,000 pounds, to pay the salaries of employees and current expenses. This was described by authorities as foreign financing. As during his arrest and trial at first instance, the announcement caused a stir among Algerian journalists. Ihsane, free man, patriot, great and brilliant journalist, no judgment can alter your image. Shame on those who fabricated the cabal, shame on those who supported it, shame on the pseudo anti-imperialists apologists for dictatorships. You are free, Ihsane, free, free, free, tweeted Said Djaafer, the friend with whom he created Maghreb Emergent. The judges also dissolved Interface Medias, the company of Ihsane El Kadi. Ihsane El Kadi was apprehended following a complaint made against Radio M by Ammar Belhimmer, former Algerian Minister of Communication. El Kadi wrote a paper in March 2021 advocating the Rachad movements right to engage in the countrys Hirak (protests) to demand democracy. Earlier in June, the journalist had been sentenced to six months in jail and a fine of 50,000 Algerian dinars. LINCOLN Eleven county Farm Bureau leaders traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with elected officials to discuss the 2023 farm bill priorities, EPAs Waters of the United States regulation and labor/immigration during Nebraska Farm Bureaus first County Leaders D.C. Fly-In. Over the course of three days, these individuals met with Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts, Reps. Adrian Smith, Don Bacon and Mike Flood, and the Senate Ag Committee. It is impactful when lawmakers hear from farmers and ranchers who are directly affected by the farm policy they vote on, said Nebraska Farm Bureau Senior Director of National Affairs Jordan Dux. The farm bill is imperative to ensuring that producers have the necessary risk management tools to help them successfully support the needs of a growing population. As these county leaders interacted directly with elected officials, the personal stories and connections they shared, in addition to the policy goals, encourage the lawmakers to actively support the legislation. Nebraska Farm Bureaus first County Leaders D.C. Fly-In was held in conjunction with the American Farm Bureaus Advocacy Fly-In, according to a Farm Bureau press release. During the visit, county leaders had a chance to hear directly from the chair and ranking members of the Senate and House Agriculture Committees and hear their plans for formulating the next farm bill, with prioritizing funding for risk management tools including federal crop insurance programs being at the top of the list. Excitement over the recent U.S. Supreme Court WOTUS win regarding Sackett v. EPA was also discussed. However, more will need to be finalized before farmers and ranchers can fully breathe a sigh of relief. Lastly, finding a practical solution to the agricultural worker problem by updating labor and guest worker policy was also a top priority. NEFBs county leaders shared personal experiences with all three issues directly with Nebraskas Congressional Delegation. With the current drought, crop insurance is so important to have. My message to our Nebraska delegation was to keep that safety net so we can get through another year and can plant a crop next year, said Dawn Kucera, who farms near Madison and serves on the Nebraska Farm Bureau board representing the P&E Committee. I think the Advocacy Fly-In program is extremely valuable, because it gives us an opportunity to come to Washington, D.C. to see what our primary purpose as Farm Bureau is: promoting policy and working to get legislation that is favorable to farmers and ranchers. This experience gives us an opportunity to see that process firsthand and realize the power that we have when advocating for our issues. Members of Congress valued the experience of meeting with Farm Bureau members noting that the best ideas come from the grassroot level. I have always wanted to go to Washington, D.C. and Ive learned how hard our Nebraska delegation works for us and how Nebraska Farm Bureau represents us, said Tim Lorenz, a Sarpy County Farm Bureau member. The 2023 County Leaders D.C. Fly-in was an opportunity to engage and encourage county Farm Bureau leaders to tell their stories and impact the future of agriculture in Nebraska and nationwide. Nebraska Farm Bureau is essential to be a part of if you are a farmer or rancher, said Hannah Borg, a Dixon County Farm Bureau member. Nebraska Farm Bureau is very influential on state and national issues. It is truly a grassroots organization that protects agriculture and has the backs of farmers and ranchers. County leaders that attended the 2023 County Leaders D.C. Fly-In included: Hannah Borg and Adam Boeckenhauer, Dixon County. Jim Stewart, Lancaster County. Tim Lorenz, Sarpy County. Jason Perdue, York County. Ben Deerson, Saunders County. Vance Tonack, Douglas County. Bree Denaeyer, Cherry County. Krista Podany, Holt County. Dawn Kucera, Madison County. Nick Ladenburger, Hitchcock County. The Nebraska Farm Bureau is a grassroots, state-wide organization dedicated to supporting farm and ranch families and working for the benefit of all Nebraskans through a wide variety of educational, service, and advocacy efforts. More than 55,000 families across Nebraska are Farm Bureau members, working together to achieve rural and urban prosperity as agriculture is a key fuel to Nebraskas economy. For more information, go to nefb.org. LINCOLN Keith County Republican Chair Christine Vail and Seward County GOP Chair Danna Seavers will represent the state at the Mid-West Fly-In June 26-27 in Columbus, Ohio. This is an honor to be chosen by our state leadership to attend this event, Vail said. We are working all across the state to prepare for the 2024 primaries which are less than a year away. After the successful year in the legislature, we look forward to electing true conservatives to represent the people. Over the last few cycles, the RNC has hosted training and networking events around the country for state chairs, RNC members and state party staff, Nebraska Republican Party Chairman Eric Underwood said in a press release. National Party Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has expanded the Regional Fly-ins to include county chairs. Danna and Chris are two of the hardest working party members in the field, Underwood said in the press release. They continuously promote the activities of the party, how to get involved and show up and mentor others in new leadership positions. The batons flew through the air and Boston Pettera completed her routine without a hitch on her way to earning the crown at Miss Nebraskas Teen 2023 competition on June 10. The North Platte High School senior-to-be wowed the judges, not only with her talent, but with her confident answers in the private interview and the on-stage question. Her Community Service Initiative is organ and tissue donation and she articulated her statements well. I chose this because my grandma was an organ and tissue donor, so I got to hear about her impact after she left the world, Pettera said. Her eyes actually went to two little girls, so they get to see the world now because of her, which is so inspiring. Pettera said in the next year as Miss Nebraskas Teen, she wants to help educate the people she meets along the way. I want to share the story, not just of people that I know, Pettera said, but also the people across the state who have done this amazing act of kindness. She is the youth ambassador for the Live On Nebraska organization, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to saving and healing lives through organ, tissue and eye donation, according to its website. Im teaming up with them to hopefully put this in drivers education curriculums across the state, Pettera said, and work up to the Donate Life America organization and just keep spreading this word. Pettera said becoming an organ donor is not a difficult process. To become an organ donor, you have to be 16 and you can go sign up at the drivers license office when you get your license, Pettera said, or you can go onto liveonnebraska.org and sign up there. IPhone users can sign up in the Health app by tapping on their profile picture in the upper right hand corner and then tapping on the Organ Donation tab. Pettera grew up in North Platte her parents are Tanner and Jolene Pettera and she went through the public school system beginning with McDonald Elementary, Madison, Adams and now North Platte High School. She likes North Platte, but wants to explore other places beginning with the college she chooses. Ive been looking at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, but now that I get scholarships from the Miss America organization, Pettera said, I dont know what my big scholarships are until I get to Miss Americas Teen in January. Her favorite subjects are English and science. I just took advanced biology the past school year and I loved every single second of it, Pettera said. Ive always talked about going into the medical field. I love kids and babies, so I want to do something with them, probably a labor and delivery nurse. If that doesnt work out, she is looking at teaching or doing something with kids. Pettera loves to read and can be found any time of the day curled up with a book. Im also a baton twirler, so if you ever drive by my house, Im probably in the driveway twirling my baton, Pettera said. I love to hang out with my friends and my sister and go to the lake. She has been twirling for only five years, which she said is a surprise to many. I love it. It is something that I will be doing for as long as I can, Pettera said. Ive always gone to the Dance Factory for dance and there was a headline on the light board and it was like, Baton twirling starting this fall. I told my mom, this is so cool, I want to do this. It will be so fun and she said, OK, well talk about it. She started at the bottom level and worked her way up, and her final-night performance came off strong. My final trick had been a struggle for weeks on end, I just had not been able to catch it, Pettera said. I actually told my mom the week before, Im going to cut this trick. She said, Dont, dont do it. As she caught the baton that was spinning down from high above the stage, her face lit up with obvious joy. It is just like a surreal experience, especially when you nail a routine, because picking up a baton is not as easy as it may look, Pettera said. Its a lot harder than it seems, so the few tricks that I was very concerned about and got to catch was amazing. Two veterans from two wars a quarter-century apart became the most recent recipients Tuesday of Quilts of Valor from the Heartland Quilters Guild. Ronnie Jarvis of Ogallala, who served during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and Vietnam War veteran Darrel Munson of North Platte received their quilts in a morning ceremony at the 20th Century Veterans Memorial. Munson, who grew up near Tryon, entered the U.S. Marine Corps in 1966 and was deployed to South Vietnam after finishing individual combat training at Camp Pendleton, California. He was discharged in 1968. Quilters Guild member Chris Reinert read from a 1967 letter Munson sent to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Munson, that described combat action around the Marine base at Khe Sanh the site of a subsequent major five-month-long battle in early 1968. I am OK, though I dont know why. Guys were killed or wounded on all sides of me, Munson wrote. One (mortar) round hit about 3 meters from where I had been sleeping about an hour before the attack. North Vietnamese forces soon switched to 140-millimeter rockets, chewing up Munsons Mighty Mite combat truck and blowing out three of its four tires. Two of our line companies went out today to take a hill and ran into real heavy resistance, he wrote. I guess that they left here with companies and have only about platoons left. They did take the hill, but it cost a lot of guys their lives. More than two decades later, Jarvis joined the U.S. Air Force in 1989. He was primarily stationed at Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo, New Mexico, as a member of the Air Force security police. Jarvis was twice deployed to Saudi Arabia after the Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait in August 1990. He holds half a dozen medals from his Gulf War service, including the Air Force Achievement Medal. He was honorably discharged in 1993. The 2023 Miss Nebraska competition brought out the best young women the state offers and after a long week, Morgan Baird won the crown. Baird grew up in Gering, graduating from Scottsbluff High School in 2020. Teresa Scanlan, another Gering woman, went on to win the 2011 Miss America title after capturing the state crown. Baird hopes to do the same at the 2024 Miss America competition that will take place sometime in January, someplace warm, Baird said. I went to Gering schools K through nine, then Scottsbluff in grades 10 through 12, Baird said. My dad went to UNMC (University of Nebraska Medical Center) in Omaha and then got hired at Regional West and moved our family to Gering. Baird was 1 year old when her dad Carl and mom Krista took up residence in western Nebraska. After graduating high school, she went to Western Nebraska Community College where she finished her associates degree. The Scottsbluff college enrollment program is awesome, so I was able to get a year done while I was in high school, Baird said. She graduated from WNCC in 2021 and transferred to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she earned her bachelors in political science, graduating in May. Baird said she felt her private interview was the strength of her road to victory, along with the talent portion. The private interview accounts for 35% of her score, talent is 35%, on stage interview and community service impact statement is 15% and evening wear is 15%. I had a really great American government and history teacher, Gary Largo, Baird said. He was the best. Were still in contact today and hes the reason why I decided to go into social science when I was at community college. While in high school, Baird was on the human services and education career academy tracks and had plans to be a teacher. I really loved child development and those sorts of classes, Baird said, but then I had to write my first lesson plan and I said, ahh, no thanks. She needed to decide what her major would be at community college and thats when she decided her interest in government and history was a better fit for her. While attending UNL, Baird worked as a legislative page for the Nebraska Legislature through its last two sessions. I really loved that environment and I learned a lot, Baird said. I dont know that I see myself ever running for office, but I love the whole behind-the-scenes process. Working as a research analyst or a legislative aide in some capacity, thats probably what I would lean into. Baird won the preliminary talent on June 9 with the ballet she self-choreographed. After her parents had her try out every single sport when she was a youngster, she discovered ballet. You know how (parents) do when youre like five years old and they try out everything, Baird said. Nothing else was my thing and they put me into my first ballet class when I was eight years old. I loved it. She said ballet helped her come out of her shyness. The Tabor Dance Academy in Scottsbluff was her home for dance until she graduated from high school. She also was a teaching assistant while attending WNCC and the teachers there are the reasons why I love dancing so much. An injury in her senior year of high school while she was on the Scottsbluff High drill team almost brought an end to her dancing. (Drill team consists) of a lot of kicking and repetitive motion on top of being a competitive dancer, Baird said. I tore both my labrums in my hips. Theyre still torn, they havent been fixed yet. Ive just had to do a lot of strength training and stretching trying to relieve pain. The only permanent treatment is surgery and Baird said at some point she will need to have double hip surgery. Right now if I can maintain some hip strength, back and core strength, I can minimize the pain as much as possible, Baird said. During the week of Miss Nebraska, I was trying to do my talent the fewest number of times as possible to save my body and make sure I was able to do as well as I could on stage. Dance is not her long-term goal for a career, but she said she would consider teaching perhaps as a sidelight to whatever she decides to do. Perhaps a studio would let me come in once or twice a week to teach a class or two and that would be awesome, Baird said. She is looking forward to everything being Miss Nebraska has in store for her. Im really excited to get in to high schools and colleges and do voter registration drives and things like that, Baird said. Im just really excited to focus on older kids and young adults instead of the elementary students, which is what a lot of titleholders focus on, which is great. I expect to get in to elementary schools as well, but Im excited to interact with some older students. She said it is important for youth to be cognizant of the political process. It affects everyone, it doesnt solely affect older people, older adults, Baird said. Starting from 14 to 15 years of age, we all start voting in high schools for student body presidents. She said everyone votes for positions and learning about the process during the smaller things will help youth when they reach voting age. When it comes down to being 18 and you now have to vote for bigger and more important positions, you already know what the process is like, Baird said. As she travels the state you may see her eating seafood because her favorite food is shrimp, I love seafood, Baird said. Less than a year after his departure from the Nebraska Legislature, former State Sen. John McCollister said much of this year's session he "couldn't bear to watch." This was in no small part due to the rancor that was present nearly every day of the 88-day session. While there were several reasons for this, many viewers including McCollister observed a level of partisan polarization in the officially nonpartisan body that was likely a root cause for the dysfunction. Despite its nonpartisan, one-house structure, it's not uncommon to see party influence in the actions of individual lawmakers. This year, however, the divide went to extremes that McCollister said he hasn't seen before. McCollister, a registered Republican, came into the Legislature in 2015, and described it as a more moderate party than what's seen today. Another former senator, Laura Ebke, who entered the Legislature the same time as McCollister, backed up his description. "We kind of charted our own course," Ebke said. Ebke entered the Legislature as a Republican, but in 2016 she switched her party to Libertarian. She said this was partially due to what she saw as a growing demand for Republican lawmakers to be more disciplined, and unite in support of other Republican bills. Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, who returned to the Legislature this year after being term-limited in 2015, said the body has changed in several ways during her absence. Though the institution has always been "right of center," Conrad said, her first two terms in 2007 through 2015 saw lawmakers acting more as "independent contractors," rather than party representatives. The division this year didn't come out of nowhere, all three lawmakers agreed. There have been "vestiges of dysfunction," according to McCollister, growing within the body for the past several years, aided by several possible factors, like additional money contributing to campaigns, gerrymandering in legislative district mapping and the increased polarization of national politics. One of the more common theories is that the Legislature's term-limit rules enhanced the division this year. The current provision limits lawmakers to two consecutive four-year terms, although they can serve again after sitting out at least four years. Despite several attempts to revise this rule in recent years including one introduced this session term limits have remained unchanged since 2000. In part due to this, the 49-member Legislature brought in 16 new lawmakers this year, and added one more when Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln was appointed after Sen. Suzanne Geist resigned. The lack of experience within the body added to the party influence, particularly within the 32-member Republican majority. Nathan Leach, founder and executive director of Nonpartisan Nebraska, said most of Nebraska's active lawmakers haven't served in a time when this level of division is abnormal. Combined with the animosity that was already present, Leach said he expects many lawmakers fell back on their parties to guide them. "They're in their first year and they're following the leader," Ebke said. The division of this year may be short-lived, Ebke said, because as the newer senators gain more experience, they may become more willing to push back against their party. However, if this is true, that could mean the same issues will come up again when a group of new freshman lawmakers are ushered in following the 2024 election. Leach said it's dangerous to view this year's session as an outlier, both in that it's hopeful thinking, and it isn't backed up by the evidence shown in the Legislature's recent history. As someone who's watched the Legislature for the past decade, Leach said it's been "devastating" to watch the last couple of years. "It's really hard to watch something you love and value kind of deteriorate," he said. The Legislature broke from tradition in several ways this year. For McCollister, he said he spotted an issue within the first days of the session, when lawmakers were deciding committee assignments. McCollister said it was clear that Republicans stacked the committees in their favor and denied Democrats a voice. He pointed to Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont, a former educator, losing her seat as Education Chair to Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, a farmer. For Leach, the worst offense lawmakers made this year was when they suspended their rules to temporarily amend the rules in order to change the process for a session-long filibuster Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha and her allies launched to oppose a bill aimed at restricting gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Several lawmakers objected to the process lawmakers used to get the change enacted back when it was being debated. Leach said even by the most basic definitions, lawmakers did not follow the proper procedure laid out in the rules. First, a proposed rules change is supposed to be heard by a state committee first and go through a hearing, Leach said, where this proposal went straight to the floor. Supporters defended this by arguing the rules change was similar to another rules change that had a hearing earlier this year, but opponents disputed this. Second, Leach said temporary rule changes typically aren't supposed to last longer than a day, whereas this change took effect immediately in March and lasted for the rest of the session. Allowing this sets dangerous implications for the future, as it opens the door for reactionary rules changes mid-session, he said. Conrad echoed Leach's concern with this break in procedure, describing it as one of the most dangerous things that happened this session. However, she also noted instances where she felt the Legislature got it right, including the initial discussion of rule changes that happened in the first days of the session, which Conrad called an "early success." "I don't think the institution is broken," Conrad said. It's worth noting that some in the Legislature don't see partisan government as such a bad thing. Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard proposed a constitutional amendment this year that would turn the Legislature into a more traditional two-house system, as well as make legislative elections partisan. Though his proposal didn't get much support, Erdman and others argued the change would improve representation and the body's efficiency. Amid the turmoil, Republicans were effective at passing legislation this year. Aided by the support of a few Democrats (usually Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha), Republicans passed several bills this session that previously didn't have enough support to make it to the governor's desk, including increasing abortion restrictions, legalizing permitless concealed carry and offering tax incentives for donations to private and faith-based school scholarship funds. These bills were some of the most divisive measures of the session, and it's what Conrad said drove much of the polarization, as it prompted intense reactions from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Despite the increased efficiency, Ebke said she doesn't see any upsides to partisan division. In a one-house system like Nebraska's, she said extra scrutiny and discussion is necessary to determine what legislation passes and what doesn't. Both Ebke and McCollister raised concerns with the collection of bill packages passed this year, some of which had more than 20 bills included. McCollister said this practice raises several issues, including reducing the vetting each bill gets on the floor, especially when some of the bills were added to the packages during late stages of debate. The process also discourages opposition, McCollister said. When multiple proposals are all linked to the same bill, he said a lawmaker may not speak out against a part of the package they oppose if something else they support is also included. In his final remarks of the session, Speaker of the Legislature John Arch defended the packages, arguing the bills included did not show partisan influence, but instead were filled with "good governance bills." Leach said partisan division gives more power to other political figures, like lobbyists and the executive branch. It also distracts lawmakers from public policy issues that affect the majority of Nebraskans. He claimed the majority of key issues lawmakers should be dealing with don't have any relevance to political parties. Without any significant changes, Leach said he fears Nebraska could turn into a "rubber stamp legislature" that approves most bills proposed by the party in majority without much discussion or debate. Leach pointed to several "big picture reforms" he said could provide solutions to this issue, such as extending or abolishing term limits, regulating campaign financing, and a fairer redistricting map. But in the short term, he said leadership needs to work hard before the 2024 session to establish a process that all lawmakers can agree on, regardless of party. Conrad said she's optimistic that this can happen. In the weeks since the session ended, she said she's already met multiple times with lawmakers across party lines, and there appears to be a universal understanding that lawmakers don't want a repeat of this year. However, Conrad agreed that it will require a lot of work to accomplish this, likely taking up most of the interim before the 2024 session begins in January. She said lawmakers must be willing to get deep into key issues, delving into the Legislature's process and build relationships with one another. "I know we're up for the challenge," she said. Ogallalas gentle twin Kenfield brothers, who gave their hometown a unique tourist attraction, had done virtually everything together forever. They didnt quite die together, but it was close. Harvey Kenfield died at his home June 5, three months and two days after Howard Kenfield died three days shy of their joint 96th birthday. The brothers graduated together from Brule High School. They served in the same Korean War U.S. Army unit, both worked 42 years in Ogallalas electronics industry, married their wives five months apart in their late 40s and moved back in together after both became widowers. The Kenfields leave behind several nieces and nephews, two grateful stepfamilies and their shared collection of artwork, Native American artifacts and fossils housed at Ogallalas Petrified Wood and Art Gallery across U.S. Highway 30 from Front Street. And theyre next-door neighbors out at the (Ogallala) cemetery, just one plot and one row apart, said Howards stepson, Michael Keith of Ogallala. Howard and Harvey led quiet lives most of their long years. But after their community helped them find a permanent home for their collection in 2011, theyve gained notice for their perseverance and artistic vision. A chance August 2018 visit to the gallery by Florida filmmaker Hank Bagwell instantly inspired the latter to take out his movie camera. The result was the seven-minute-long 2021 documentary A Legacy in Stone, which debuted at the March 2021 Omaha Film Festival and won Best Documentary that October at the Wild West Film Festival in Folsom, California. They have influenced my art (in that) you dont stop. You just keep doing, Bagwell said Monday. You are what you create. Nebraska Public Media later followed Bagwell to Ogallala, filming its own six-minute-long piece. First aired in May 2022, A Story Set in Stone can be seen on YouTube along with Bagwells short. Born March 6, 1928, to John and Ella Kenfield at Albion, Howard and Harvey joined Ogallalas Good-All Electric Manufacturing Co. shortly after graduating from Brule High in 1946. They would work for Ogallala inventor Robert Goodalls large western Nebraska concern or its successors until their 1988 retirement except for the nearly two years after being drafted. Good-All has lost two of its highly valued employees, the Kenfield twins of Brule, to the military service, the Keith County News reported on Nov. 9, 1950. Harvey worked there as a transformer winder and Howard in rectifier wiring. Inducted together at Omaha that Nov. 28, the twins served with the 24th Infantry Division that was one of the first U.S. units to land in South Korea after the war broke out that June 25. Howard and Harvey Kenfield shipped out after completing basic training in March 1951. After about a year on the Korean front, they returned home on a 30-day leave 12 months later. They were discharged as corporals in August 1952. They returned to Good-All, which was split into three companies after its 1960 purchase by international electronics concern TRW. Howard stayed with the rectifier unit, which was spun off into Good-All Electric Inc. in 1963, while Harvey continued with TRW Capacitor Division (todays American ShiZuki Corp.) until both brothers retired in 1988. Their Ogallala neighbors knew all about their hobby long before then. The twins started in 1953 by collecting arrowheads they found in the Ogallala area. At a friends suggestion, the Kenfields a year later started learning how to cut and polish interesting rocks they found during their hunts. In fall 1955, Howard and Harvey took their arrowhead collection to Colorado for the Loveland Stone Age Fair. They brought home the top prize, the News reported that Oct. 6. The Kenfields next branched out into petrified wood and similar fossils, wandering as far as western Wyoming searching for specimens. Finally, they set to turning petrified wood into intricate music boxes modeled after favorite buildings barns and grain bins, country schools and churches, homes, even outhouses. We go to shows, and sometimes I get ideas, come home and start making some replicas, Howard told Nebraska Public Media for its 2022 video story. By the mid-1970s, the bachelor brothers were famous in Ogallala for the mysterious collection they kept at the house where they lived atop a hill offering vistas of the town below and the South Platte River beyond. Then they each got married. Harvey and Glenda Stephenson exchanged vows on Oct. 12, 1974, followed by Howard and Glenva Keith on March 8, 1975. Harvey and Glenda worked in the quality control lab at TRW, while Howards new bride worked in the testing lab across the hall. Glenda had two children and Glenva one. The twins wouldnt be living together any more. But they bought neighboring 1-acre lots south of Ogallala for themselves and their new families and their burgeoning collection. Howard and Harvey opened the first Petrified Wood Gallery there in 1976. The brothers donated their collection to the Western Nebraska Community Foundation in 2000 with the stipulation that it stay in Ogallala. Front Street, the Keith County seats tribute to its End of the Texas Trail heritage, built an addition on its east side for the first general public access to the Kenfields finds and creations. Friends of the Kenfield Gallery, organized as a nonprofit in 2007, bought a sizable building at 418 E. First St. that had been home since the late 1960s to a roller-skating rink, a succession of retail businesses and an apron manufacturer. By 2011, the Petrified Wood and Art Gallery was settled in its permanent home. Howard and Harvey often could be found there, greeting tourists from far and wide and wandering filmmakers like Hank Bagwell, whose motor home had broken down in Ogallala. To see those two guys at their age still talking about their art it was never about them, said Bagwell, who stayed in touch with the Kenfields. Artists and celebrities too often pursue their craft for personal acclaim, he added. For Howard and Harvey, it was always about this piece, that collection. The ego was gone. Thats what I remember about them. After Glenva died in 2001 and Glenda in 2007, the brothers once more shared a house in the main part of Ogallala. Howard broke his hip and died of complications March 3 at Great Plains Health in North Platte. Harvey held on a bit longer, looking forward to visits from the twins nieces and nephews in April and May. The last of them arrived May 17, less than three weeks before Harveys death. It was evident that he was lonely without his brother and longtime companion, Michael Keith said. From going to the war together in the same unit (to now), it was hard for him, he said. Neither showed that kind of emotion on a regular basis. But I could tell. Harveys two stepchildren, Scott Ross and Melinda Beckler, preceded him in death. He and Howard between them had four stepgrandchildren and 11 stepgreat-grandchildren. Last week, I discussed the progress made by the Legislature this year to curb property taxes. This week, Im addressing the work done on income taxes and social security taxes at the state level. Currently, Nebraskas current top marginal income tax rate of 6.64% ranks 31st among all states. Although this is in the middle of the pack nationally, it is higher than any of our surrounding states. Wyoming and South Dakota have no state income tax, Colorados is 4.4%, Missouris is 4.95%, Kansass is 5.7% and Iowas is 6%. However, Iowas Legislature has voted to reduce their highest rate to 3.9%. If we want to attract more industry to Nebraska, it is imperative that we have a competitive income tax rate. Passed this year, LB 754 was a Revenue Committee bill that made changes to our income tax system. First, LB 754 lowers the rate for the top two individual income tax brackets and the corporate income tax bracket to 3.99% by 2027. The rate for the lowest income tax bracket is 2.46%. Some have criticized the adjustments as tax cuts for the wealthy, but it is important to note how quickly individuals can move through our state income tax brackets. If you are a single person (or married but filing separately), you start to pay income taxes on income over $3,440 (Bracket 1). Bracket 2 taxes income between $3,441 to $20,590, Bracket 3 between $20,591 to $33,180, and Bracket 4 taxes any income above $33,180. If you work 40 hours per week, $33,180 represents an hourly income of $15.95 per hour. Current Census data show that the median household income in Nebraska is $66,644, the average household income is $87,815, and the per capita income is $35,189. Only 6.2% of Nebraska households are high-income households that make over $200,000 per year. If the rate for the top two tax brackets was 3.99% today, like it will be in 2027, that rate would apply to individual income over $20,590 and dual-income filers over $41,190. The 3.99% rate would kick in below the median, average household, and per capita individual income levels. Clearly, most Nebraskans will get a tax cut. In addition to cutting income tax rates, LB 754 also exempts 100% of Nebraskans Social Security income from state income tax beginning in tax year 2024. Previously, our Social Security tax was set to phase out in 2025. LB 754 also allows federal retirees to exclude the amounts received as annuities under the Federal Employees Retirement System or the Civil Service Retirement System from their federal adjusted gross income. Finally, LB 754 was amended to include provisions of LB 318, which authorizes the Nebraska Department of Revenue to approve up to $15 million in refundable income tax credits each year for parents and legal guardians paying for child care. The tax credit is available to qualified individuals whose child receives qualified care, is enrolled in a childcare subsidy program, or the household income is below 100% of the federal poverty level. The amount of credit available is based on the taxpayers total household income. Similarly, the measure allows for credits for contributions up to $100,000 to establish or operate eligible childcare programs. Lastly, tax credits available under the School Readiness Tax Credit Act for childcare providers and employees are increased. These provisions will go a long way toward helping make childcare more affordable and solving our challenges with workforce shortages. Many have asked if these cuts and credit programs are sustainable. Only time will let us know how our economy will perform, but the Legislature was careful to preserve a cash reserve (rainy day fund) of nearly $1 billion. In addition, the budget approved for the next two years provides for only a 2% increase in spending. Historically, we have always had at least a 3% increase in revenue. I am optimistic that this is indeed a sustainable plan. The income tax cuts and credits in LB 754 are just one piece of the puzzle. When paired with the school funding and property tax reduction measures I discussed last week, we are doing everything we can to keep Nebraska competitive and protect taxpayers like you from being over-taxed. As a rural Senator, I will continue to advocate for an equal amount of property tax reductions to match any income tax reductions. Since the state does not assess property taxes, the only way the state can impact local property tax rates is to increase state aid to public schools, in turn allowing local taxing authorities to reduce property tax requests and/or give property taxpayers a direct property tax rebate. The Legislature is doing both. Please continue to reach out with questions about laws passed this session or issues to address next year. You can reach me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729. My door is always open. Abortion-rights sentiment expressed in Spanish is not unusual. Photo: David McNew/AFP via Getty Images In all the recent talk about Republican gains among the fast-growing Hispanic and Latino populations in 2020 and 2022, theres been a prevailing assumption that conservative cultural and religious views among these voters and the alleged progressive radicalism of the Democratic Party on subjects like abortion have played a major part in driving them to the right. While it is perilous to make too many generalizations about people of highly diverse national origins, proximity to immigration, religions, socioeconomic status, regions of the country, and even racial identities, it is pretty clear overall that on this decades hottest-button culture-war issue of abortion, Hispanic Americans are fully part of the countrys solid pro-choice majority. If Hispanics are trending to the right, its largely for other reasons. Indeed, the recent direction of Hispanic opinion has unquestionably been toward support for legalized abortion. A major Pew survey in 2007-2008 showed a narrow plurality of Hispanics 49 percent agreeing that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, with 47 percent agreeing that it should be legal in all or most cases, at a time when, overall, 54 percent of Americans favored legal abortion. The most recent Pew survey on abortion in June of 2022 (just before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade) showed 60 percent of Hispanics favoring legal abortion in all or most cases, right around the overall 61 percent. To some extent, this trend reflects a particularly strong shift toward pro-choice views among Hispanic Catholics. In 2013, the Public Religion Research Institute found that 54 percent of U.S. Hispanic Catholics opposed legalized abortion. In 2022, PRRI showed the anti-abortion percentage dropping to 37 percent, with 61 percent favoring legalized abortion. Another factor driving pro-choice opinion has been a youth-led rise in the percentage of religiously non-affiliated Hispanics, as Pew explained in 2022: As of 2022, 43% of Hispanic adults identify as Catholic, down from 67% in 2010. Even so, Latinos remain about twice as likely as U.S. adults overall to identify as Catholic, and considerably less likely to be Protestant. The share of Latinos who are religiously unaffiliated is on par with U.S. adults overall. At the same time, a relatively high percentage of U.S. Hispanic Protestants 21 percent of the Hispanic population are Evangelicals, often Pentecostals (especially recent immigrants from Central America). They provide a hard kernel of anti-abortion opinion; in the 2022 PRRI survey, 54 percent of Hispanic Protestants were opposed to legal abortion. They are not, contrary to the prevailing buzz, increasing as a share of the Hispanic population; the religious nones are the high-growth category in this as in other demographic groups. Overall, U.S. Hispanics are roughly in sync with national opinion on abortion. Growth in Republican Party voting or affiliation is more likely to be attributable to other factors, ranging from the strongly anti-socialist views of Cuban and Venezuelan immigrants in Florida to support for local fossil-fuel-based industries in Texas, to a general sense in some states that Democrats are taking Hispanic voters for granted. Abortion policy would appear to have little to do with it, and shouldnt provide any particular opportunity for a GOP that is out of step with the pro-choice majority of Americans overall. Indeed, one analysis of the 2022 midterms showed intense pro-choice opinion definitely helped produce better-than-anticipated Democratic results among Hispanics/Latinos in the latest election: Latinos who chose abortion as their top issue, wrote Equis, while a smaller group, voted in dominant fashion for Democrats, and they turned out beyond predicted rates. Dont be surprised if that trend continues until Republicans change their tune on abortion policy. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images Hunter Biden, who has been under federal criminal investigation for years, will plead guilty to two misdemeanors against him and accept a diversion program on a felony charge in a deal with the Feds that will help him avoid prison time. In the tentative agreement unveiled on Tuesday, which still needs sign-off from a federal judge, Biden will plead guilty to willfully failing to pay about $1 million of taxes on income he got from working overseas in 2017 and 2018. And hell agree to a diversion program on a felony gun charge, which stems from his false claim on a 2018 gun-purchase application that he did not have a drug problem. The overall deal will likely mean two years of probation. Authorities will drop the felony charge from his record if he completes the diversion program with no issues. The presidents second son has often proved an unwelcome distraction for his father over the past few years. Authorities launched an investigation into Hunter Biden over the tax and gun issues in 2018. And in 2020, a laptop Hunter left at an Apple repair shop in Delaware, which fell into Rudy Giulianis hands, revealed his prolific drug use and wild sexual escapades as he spiraled in the wake of his brother Beaus death from brain cancer in 2015 and the dissolution of his own marriage. The material bolstered the governments case against him and helped make Hunter into a right-wing obsession. Beyond the dissolute behavior, many conservatives allege that his involvement with the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma is the linchpin of a corrupt plot to funnel money to Joe Biden. No evidence for that claim has emerged, but right-wing commentators were predictably peeved that Hunter has avoided the punishment they were looking for. In a statement, the White House said, The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment. Hunter Bidens admission of guilt stands in contrast to former Donald Trump, who maintains his innocence in the classified-documents case heading to trial in Florida. On Truth Social, Trump commented, Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket. Our system is BROKEN! Sign Up for the Intelligencer Newsletter Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. Th 7 Brew Coffee shop opened over the weekend and welcomed customers to its new Auburn location in front of the University Shopping Center. The coffee spot at 1615 E. University Drive, which has a double-drive thru lane, had a soft opening to get to know the community. They handed out free small drinks on Saturday and Sunday. Just come by and youre always going to get that friendly smile. When you pull up, youll have a good genuine conversation with someone, operations manager Hayden Holtgrewe said. Coffee makes the world go round. We just want to provide that good customer service with the coffee. Holtgrewe said 7 Brew offers up a variety of coffees, teas, Italian sodas, shakes and energy drinks. The business is known for its seven original coffee blends. Holtgrewe said the Blondie, a caramel and vanilla breve, has become the companys best seller. Additionally, customers can customize their drinks. There have 40 different flavors that can be added into shakes, fizzes, teas or energy drinks. Employees will continue to hand out free drinks the rest of the week during what Holtgrewe called community hours. Free small drinks will be available through Friday from noon to 1 p.m. and 5 to 6 p.m. You can basically make any type of drink that you want specifically made, Holtgrewe said. Whatever you want to put in it, we can make it. Holtgrewe said the Auburn communitys positive attitude and college student population made it appealing. The 7 Brew Coffee shop will also have its official grand opening and swag day on Saturday. Free T-shirts will be given out with the purchase of every large drink while supplies last. The brand also plans to donate $1,000 to the Auburn High School Marching Band. The 7 Brew Coffee shop plans to open 79 coffee stands across Alabama and Tennessee over the next six years. The Auburn location is the companys 100th store. The company dropped the building into place with a crane in early May. Holtgrewe said 7 Brew Coffee opened in Rogers, Arkansas, over a year ago. It has grown from eight stores to 100 in the past three years. Youll start seeing them pop up everywhere, Holtgrewe said. Its very cool to see the growth of this thing. The new 7 Brew doesnt feature a lobby or seating, but people can walk up and order their drinks as well as use either of the two drive-thru lanes. Dont let the long lines scare you, Holtgrewe said. We are fast, we are efficient, and the lines look long, but they really do move pretty quickly. Update: The scene of the wreck was cleaned up and the roadway was cleared by late Monday morning. Original story: An 18-wheeler turned over at the I-85 southbound entrance ramp at Exit 62 in Opelika, according to Opelika police. Mulch spilled across the roadway when the truck overturned, authorities said. Crews are on scene for clean up. Opelika police said it is currently unknown how long the roadway will be closed. They ask the public to expect delays and to take alternate routes. A 44-year-old man was shot Friday night near Lee Road 57, leaving him with non-life threatening injuries, according to a Auburn police. Marco Jureell Rowell, 45, of Auburn faces a second-degree assault charge in the shooting. He was booked into the Lee County Jail under a $25,000 bond. Auburn police responded to the call on Friday reporting a shooting in the 100 block of Lee Road 57. Officers and paramedics found the 44-year-old victim suffering from a gunshot wound and provided first aid before airlifting him to the Piedmont Regional Medical Center in Columbus, Georgia, for further treatment. Responding officers found Rowell at the crime scene and identified him as a suspect. Police said the suspect and victim are acquaintances and the shooting was not random. No details about the incident or motive have been released. These fucking morons. ... In more scientific news my mom and I got our sixth dose (fourth booster) of Pfizer and finally took off our masks two weeks ago. I feel a little naked. Reply Thread Link I need to get my booster, thanks for reminding me Reply Parent Thread Link Stabby stabby time! Reply Parent Thread Link A cache of losers. Reply Thread Link Money doesn't buy you class or brains Reply Thread Link Elegance is learned, my friends Reply Parent Thread Link Musk and Rogan are garbage humans, but I'm confused about the doxxing - how was the scientist's address made public? On the podcast? Edited at 2023-06-19 11:48 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link they didnt literally doxx him, just got their fanbase riled up enough to find his address on their own Reply Parent Thread Link We need the orcas to come out of the water and get these fuckers. This is so fucking horrible and scary. Reply Thread Link Stay the fuck away from Peter, assholes! He's a Houstonian and science treasure. BACK OFF!! Reply Thread Link Right?! Hes one of the people that make the Texas Medical Center great! Reply Parent Thread Link Theres no point in debating these fools, hope he stays safe. Reply Thread Link ikr, i hate it when people like rogan and musk call for "debates" like that because 1) we know it is never ever done in good faith, and 2) what even is there to debate??? i am so tired of these annoying ass men playing dumb and being deliberately obtuse Reply Parent Thread Link Men are so emotional (esp. when they're roided up like Rogan) Reply Thread Link Maybe years ago I would've said it's worth it to debate these idiots if you can convince even one person but now I'm like fuck that. What did debating climate change get us? I feel like it just helped the idiots spread their dumb and dangerous ideas. If you've seen those trending videos that are titled "Ben Shapiro destroys liberal" you know it just ends up helping them spread their bullshit in the end. Reply Thread Link yeah i feel at this point people have made up their minds on the topic, whether theyre vaxxed or not, theyre cemented in their perspectives and anti vaxxers arent going to budge it sounds very hopeless but i think we can find alternative ways to spread important information without needing to bicker with conspiracy theorists Edited at 2023-06-20 12:01 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link It's always been pointless since 1. You don't debate facts, especially not when one party is ignorant of the facts and 2. Debate is not how you convey information. Debate is about being a persuasive (or loud and annoying) speaker. These cranks just want a platform to spread their lies. Reply Parent Thread Link I swear so many men online are constantly looking to debate instead of having a conversation and it's so unproductive. Every time I see a man legit straight up say "well I'm trying to debate.." and it's like, and no on else is, stop. Reply Parent Thread Link Ever since I read that study where I found out most people don't care about facts I just focus on emotionally manipulating people to my side. On stuff like twitter I will often post a corrective if someone is being vile not because I care to correct THEM, but in case anyone reading their garbage sees it. Reply Parent Thread Link absolutely...they love this shit because it gives them press and extends their reach. they absolutely don't care about facts, its all about their agenda. Reply Parent Thread Link this whole thing with "you have to hear both sides" is so ridiculous, fuck podcast culture for popularizing it Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Honest to god Ive wondered if these loons would actually listen if the facts were packaged as a conspiracy theory. Make it seem like ~~oh this isnt what the media/government wants you to know~~! Reply Parent Thread Link These assholes. Reply Thread Link i liked marks response esp about how they have teams that will control the conversations but you know these fools will never respond to logic Reply Thread Link Grrr, fuck these assholes and everyone like them On a side note, I thought doxxing was illegal in the US? Reply Thread Link (source for the AIDS denial thing if you're wondering what that is) I read RFK Jr.s book about Fauci. In it, RFK Jr. paints Christine Maggiore as a hero. Christine had HIV/AIDS. She thought anti-retrovirals like AZT are poison. Because of her beliefs, both she and her infant daughter, who she passed HIV to, died of HIV/AIDS several years ago. Debunk the Funk (@Debunk_the_Funk) June 18, 2023 Edited at 2023-06-20 12:17 am (UTC) It's so hard to debate people who have conspiracy theory brain. Because anything he says, RFK Jr. can just counter with "you're a shill for Big Pharma." I mean, this guy literally called an AIDS denialist who ignored all medical advice and caused her daughter to die of AIDS a hero, so. It's very hard to reason. It's not just being ill-informed, it's falling down into the rabbit hole of conspiracy thinking that there are powerful forces acting against us and any belief that can be contributed to said forces is a lie designed to harm us.(source for the AIDS denial thing if you're wondering what that is) Reply Thread Link WOW I just ............WOW How do you see your child die and still live in denial omg Reply Parent Thread Link she got a veterinarian(!!!) to attest to her daughter's death as being unrelated to AIDS despite the fact that she died of an infection that only really affects people with HIV and of course she was tested and found to have HIV by the coroner. Reply Parent Thread Link The last couple years should go to show that many, many people do not give a fuck about the safety of their own kids. This lady was not really unusual. Reply Parent Thread Link Long term denial is so dangerous. Reply Parent Thread Link This QAnon antivaxx radicalization works within 6 weeks. It used to take at least 3-6 months. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link My former co-worker was HIV positive and a conspiracy nut. He believed everything he saw on youtube. He repeatedly would stop taking his medication because he believed he could cure himself with "clean" eating. The amount of times I would tell him that you can't just believe everything you see, that people can just lie about their credentials. That if an over the counter vitamin and leafy greens was the cure it would be known. It was honestly just sad. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link You can't debate these guys. They have zero interest in actual facts and science. They're professional podcasters and grifters as well, so they know how to articulate themselves, even when they're speaking bullshit. They'll just talk over the facts until you give up. Reply Thread Link I worked with an idiot who was a conspiracy theorist and Trump supporter. I quickly realized that I'd have to fight stupid with stupid, and it worked??? I remember when the mask mandate came out, she'd come to my desk and pull it down. So I'd have to tell her, "No girl, I love wearing a mask. Put it back on so no one can read your lips then when you gossip. And you know that your phone is constantly recording you so now less data for it to get on you with half your face covered!" She became the biggest mask proponent after that in our office. Like yeah not ideal, but I had to do what I had to do! Reply Parent Thread Link Not all heroes wear capes! Reply Parent Thread Link Lol exactly!!! I told my coworkers that I liked wearing masks to keep my identity hidden from surveillance cameras since the ~gov is always watching. You have to speak their language to get things across to them. Reply Parent Thread Link Tory Lanezs first lawyer didnt think blaming Megan Thee Stallions ex-friend Kelsey Harris for the shooting was a viable strategy. Newly unsealed emails offer an extraordinary look at the jailed rappers defense strategy. Exclusive from me: https://t.co/ekU9taPZ5a Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) June 19, 2023 You should also be aware that Alex Spiro, Megans lawyer, and/or counsel for @RocNation have launched an investigation into Kelsey having being compromised (bribed or threatened). Shawn Holley when she quit as Tory Lanezs lawyer https://t.co/VRNzHmbej5 pic.twitter.com/IUiMXFSzG7 Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) June 19, 2023 Legal affairs journalist, Meghann Cuniff is continuing her excellent reporting on Torey Lanez who was found guilty by a jury on December 23rd, 2022 of three charges for shooting Megan Thee Stallion.Recently, Meghann Thee Reporter gained access to unsealed court documents and emails showing that Lanez's former attorney, Shawn Holley (notable member of the "OJ Simpson dream team") was not comfortable using the "Kelsie Defense", which would've asserted that Kelsey Harris had fired the gun despite text messages being submitted into evidence where Kelsey texts Megan's bodyguard: "Help Tory shot meg 911 and a recorded call in which the convicted shooter apologizes from prison saying he got too drunk.As part of their attempts to appeal the conviction and get a new trial, Lanez's new attorneys Jose Baez (of Casey Anthony infamy) and Matthew Barhom "argued in their sealed supplement that Holley was personally conflicted in her defense of Lanez because prosecutors were accusing her of helping him try to bribe Harris as a witness"The unsealed documents include an email Shawn Holley wrote to Lanez on December 18th three days before closing arguments formally quitting as his counsel.The prosecutors who are asking for a 13 year sentence for Torey say Shawn Holley was never formally accused of bribery or leaking discovery.OP Note: I would highly recommend reading Meghann's article on her website if you're interested, it goes more in depth on this entire saga. I'm sure I can speak on behalf of all Canadian ONTDers when I say that we do not claim this Maple Gremlin Torey. If he's deported, please drop him off in a lake somewhere. OSHA Cites Food Manufacturer After 2 Workers Suffer Hand Injuries A majority of the violations focus on lockout/tagout procedures and machine guarding, OSHA said. OSHA Training Event for Federal Employees to Be Held in August Some of the topics covered during the event will include workplace violence, forklift handling and safety data sheets. OSHA Finds Pepsi Guam Bottling Employees Exposed to Injuries, Cites Company The company left the guard doors of a bottle-labeling machine open and turned off a safety switch, according to the agency. Employers Who Put Profit Over Safety May See More Penalties with OSHAs New Enforcement Guidance The guidance, announced in late January, will take effect on March 27. Continued tightness in middle distillate inventories globally is balancing recession fears among commodity traders, pushing them to bet on fuel futures even as they exit crude oil. Reuters market analyst John Kemp reported this week that institutional traders had sold the equivalent of 21 million barrels of crude in futures but had bought the equivalent of 14 million barrels of middle distillates in futures in the week ending June 13. Meanwhile, in a sign of continued strong demand for distillate fuels such as diesel, Reuters reported that Chinas diesel fuel exports had increased fourfold in May. The report noted weaker demand at home, which could have discouraged traders from oil and fuels altogether, yet growing exports suggest strong demand elsewhere, prompting a greater appetite for fuel buys. China exported 600,000 metric tons of diesel last month, up from 120,000 metric tons in May 2022, the report said, with gasoline exports also surging, by 67%, to 1.36 million tons. Europe is one obvious destination for Chinese diesel. After banning Russian crude and fuels, the continent has not exactly been able to stop using them. It has just had to find new suppliers, and China has emerged as a big one among them, along with India. Saudi Arabia has somewhat surprisingly joined the ranks of diesel exporters to Europe despite its popularity as a crude oil exporter. The Kingdom has been buying a lot of Russian diesel and exporting its own diesel to Europe. In April, Saudi Arabia became the second-biggest exporter of diesel and gas oil in the world. Perhaps the consistent demand for fuels is among the reasons who commodity futures traders have increased their positions in European gas oil in five of the last six weeks, according to Reuters Kemp. The cumulative increase since late May has reached the equivalent of 24 million barrels. Meanwhile, Argus reported that the premium, at which European diesel is trading to dated Brent in northwestern Europe, has been on the rise, reinforcing the perception of strong fuel demand despite the eurozone recession. On June 15, the premium hit $24 per barrel, Argus noted, adding this was the highest gap between dated Brent and diesel since the end of March. In Europe, stocks of distillate fuels have at the same time declined, further pointing to healthy demand. Globally, these remain tight despite the economic slowdown that sparked fears of a recession and the decimation of oil demand. Reuters Kemp again noted that in a recent column, noting that distillate stocks in Europe were 32 million barrels higher at the end of May than the trough theyd reached a year ago but that they were still 32 million barrels below the 10-year seasonal average. In the United States, Kemp reported, distillate stocks were 5 million barrels higher now than a year ago, but they were 22 million barrels lower than the 10-year average for this time of the year. At the same time, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said that diesel fuel consumption in the United States, except the West Coast, had climbed above the 10-year maximum in March. The exception was attributed to greater biodiesel consumption on the West Coast rather than lower demand. ADVERTISEMENT It appears, then, that even with an economic slowdown, an uneven post-pandemic recovery in China, and an actual recession in much of Europe, demand for fuels remains robust enough to push prices higher and entice traders to buy more futures in that segment. Perhaps the fears for oil demand that have been gripping the market for months may have been premature. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: From the moment that China offered Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) a face-saving way out of the Saudi Aramco initial public offering disaster that he had created, as analysed in depth in my new book on the new global oil market order, the relationship between the two countries has grown ever stronger. Toward the end of last year, Saudi Arabia reiterated its commitment to China as its most reliable partner and supplier of crude oil, along with broader assurances of its ongoing support in several other areas. This followed the comment in March 2021 at the annual China Development Forum hosted in Beijing, from Aramco chief executive officer, Amin Nasser that: Ensuring the continuing security of Chinas energy needs remains our highest priority - not just for the next five years but for the next 50 and beyond. Such statements appeared to confirm that MbS now sees the U.S. as a partner just for its security considerations in the new global oil market order, with no meaningful quid pro quo on Saudi Arabias part, whilst regarding China as its key partner economically and Russia as its key partner in energy matters. A slew of new commitments last week from Saudi Arabia to China appear to confirm these views. To begin with, Saudi Arabias energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said that the Kingdom is keen to cooperate further with China in developing gas ties, as well as those relating to crude oil. These gas ties will span the entire sector, from the development of reserves to new petrochemicals projects, and follow on from the signing last August of a multi-pronged memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Saudi Aramco and the China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec). As the president of Sinopec, Yu Baocai, put it at the time: The signing of the MoU introduces a new chapter of our partnership in the Kingdom [of Saudi Aabia] The two companies will join hands in renewing the vitality and scoring new progress of the Belt and Road Initiative [BRI] and [Saudi Arabias] Vision 2030. Crucially for Chinas long-term plans in Saudi Arabia, it also covers opportunities for the construction of a huge manufacturing hub in King Salman Energy Park that will involve the ongoing, on-the-ground presence on Saudi Arabian soil of significant numbers of Chinese personnel. These will not just be directly related to the oil, gas, petrochemicals, and other hydrocarbons activities, but will also include a small army of security personnel to ensure the safety of Chinas investments. At that point last year, Aramco already had a 25 percent stake in the 280,000 barrels per day (bpd) Fujian refinery in south China through a joint venture with Sinopec (and the U.S.s ExxonMobil) and had also earlier agreed (in 2018) to buy a 9 percent stake in Chinas 800,000 bpd ZPC refinery from Rongsheng. Several other joint projects between China and Saudi Arabia that had been agreed in principle had been delayed due to a combination of factors at the time. These were the ongoing effects of COVID-19, Aramcos crushing dividend repayment schedule, and concern from both countries especially China on how Washington might react to this clear threat to the U.S.s own long-running relationship with Saudi Arabia, as also analysed in depth in my new book on the new global oil market order. The basis of this enduring relationship had been struck back in 1945 at a meeting on 14 February 1945 between the then-U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Saudi King at the time, Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud. The deal that they agreed which had been the basis for all the U.S.s Middle East policy up until very recently - was this: the U.S. would receive all of the oil supplies it needed for as long as Saudi had oil in place, in return for which the U.S. would guarantee the security both of the ruling House of Saud and, by extension, of Saudi Arabia. This landmark deal survived the 1973 Oil Crisis and even looked as though it might survive the Saudi-led Oil Price War from 2014 to 2016, aimed by Riyadh at destroying or at least severely disabling the then-nascent U.S. shale oil industry. The real death of the 1945 Bitter Lake deal came when Russia emerged at the end of 2016 to support the then-beleaguered Saudi Arabia and OPEC in future oil production deals, given the lack of credibility in the global oil markets that both had at the end of the 2014-2016 Oil Price War. With the announcements last week, it seems that all the key elements of the previously-announced deals between Saudi Arabia and China are coming back into play. Just prior to the signing of the wide-ranging MoU in August 2022 the precursor to last weeks agreements - Saudi Aramcos senior vice president downstream, Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, announced the creation of a one-stop shop provided by his company in Chinas Shandong. The ongoing energy crisis [caused by Russias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022], for example, is a direct result of fragile international transition plans which have arbitrarily ignored energy security and affordability for all, he said. The world needs clear-eyed thinking on such issues - thats why we highly admire Chinas 14th Five Year Plan for prioritising energy security and stability, acknowledging its crucial role in economic development, he added. The megaproject in Shandong, which is home to around 26 percent of Chinas refining capacity and is a key destination for Saudi Aramcos crude oil exports, will broadly involve the flagship Saudi oil and gas giant creating stronger ties with the worlds largest oil exporter [that] would enhance Chinas energy security, especially as we work on increasing our production capacity to 13 million barrels per day, according to Al Qahtani. Aside from the fact that Saudi Arabia still cannot produce anywhere near 13 million barrels per day of crude oil, as examined in detail in my new book, closer cooperation between Aramco and China will mean Saudi Arabia investing heavily in the build-out of a large, integrated downstream business across the country in tandem with its Chinese partners. A key facet of agreements made by emerging nations with China is that they tend to feature significant deal creep. As highlighted above, they all tend to feature the build-out by China of major facilities in the target countries that allow Beijing to station significant numbers of personnel including those designated as security staff in and around them. They also tend to act as the precursor to several other more insidious features that only become clearer as time progresses. In December 2022, MbS hosted a series of meetings in Riyadh between Chinas President Xi Jinping and the leaders of countries in the Arab League. The Arab League comprises Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordon, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. At this meeting and the January 2022 meeting between senior officials from the Chinese government and foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, plus the secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) - the principal topics of conversation were to finally seal a China-GCC Free Trade Agreement and to forge a deeper strategic cooperation in a region where U.S. dominance is showing signs of retreat. Also at the December 2022 meetings, Chinas President Xi Jinping identified two priority areas that he believed should be addressed as quickly as possible, as also analysed in depth in my new book on the new global oil market order. The first was the transition to using the Chinese renminbi in oil and gas deals done between the Arab League countries and China. The second was to bring nuclear technology to targeted countries, beginning with Saudi Arabia. Previously, the Kingdom had been in talks to acquire nuclear technology from the U.S. under the 1-2-3 protocol. As highlighted in 2019 by then-US Energy Secretary, Rick Perry, Saudi Arabia had told the U.S. that it wanted to go ahead with a full-cycle nuclear programme, including the production and enrichment of uranium for atomic fuel. The U.S. had made it clear that for U.S. companies to participate in Saudi Arabias project, Riyadh would need to sign an accord on the peaceful use of nuclear technology with Washington. The 1-2-3 protocol was intended to limit the enrichment of uranium for arms purposes. China does not have such a protocol in place for Saudi Arabia. And, as Saudi Arabias energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman again reiterated last week: We came to recognise the reality of today that China has taken a lead and will continue to take that lead [] We do not have to compete with China, we have to collaborate with China. By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The European Union failed to agree on proposed reforms to its energy market after a last-minute proposal from rotating president Sweden about extending state support for coal power. The outcome of Mondays meeting was expected as EU members have markedly different attitudes to coal and its importance in national energy mixes. "For some of us, security means capacity markets," Polands energy minister Anna Moskwa said, as quoted by Reuters. Poland generates some 70% of its electricity from coal. It is also building up nuclear generation capacity to diversify. Yet the EU also had differences in state support for wind, solar, and nuclear, Reuters reported. Some countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria were opposed to the idea of offering fixed-price contracts not only to wind and solar energy generators but to nuclear and other power generators. France, on the other hand, is very much in favor of this idea, which was to be expected given its massive nuclear capacity, which generates about two-thirds of its electricity. "This could lead to market distortions as large parts of the markets could become inflexible, and also to a distortion of a level playing field concerning the prices in Europe," Germanys economy minister Robert Habeck said. On the other hand, the restriction of fixed-price contracts only to certain power generators "endangers the objective of security of supply and of protecting consumers," French energy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said. The EU power market reform aims to decouple the price of electricity across the European Union from the price of natural gas and instead tie it to the price of electricity generated by wind and solar installations. The idea is to lock in prices over a longer term under power purchase agreements with businesses and so-called contracts for difference with the government to avoid the surge that Europeans saw last year. ADVERTISEMENT By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Russias crude oil exports by sea fell slightly in the four weeks to June 18, but were still 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) higher compared to February, which serves as a baseline for the 500,000-bpd production cut Russia has promised this year. In the four weeks to June 18, Russias four-week average volume of crude shipments from its key export terminals inched down to 3.63 million bpd, compared to a 3.66 million bpd four-week average for the period to June 11, tanker-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg showed on Tuesday. Despite the slight drop in Russian seaborne crude exports in the latest week, Moscows crude oil shipments continue to be well above the export levels seen in February this year, which was the month used as a reference for the cuts Russia has said it would make. In the four weeks to June 18, Russian crude exports by sea were 250,000 bpd higher than in the four weeks to February 26, according to the data reported by Bloombergs Julian Lee. The shipment-tracking suggests that even if Russia is making cuts in its production, it is not reflected in the exports of its crude at all. Russia has said that the 500,000 bpd cuts will now extend until the end of 2024, but crude oil export data in recent weeks do not reflect any cutson the contrary, Russian crude oil exports by sea have been rising. Last month, reports emerged that Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin sought to convince Western analysts in a rare call that Russia is indeed reducing its oil production by 500,000 bpd. Russia has stopped reporting oil production levels, and the market and analysts have to rely on vessel-tracking data, trade sources, and import statistics in China and India about the amount of Russian supply. The strong crude flows from Russia have surprised many analysts who have cited resilient Russian exports together with macroeconomic concerns as reasons for the most recent downgrades of their oil price forecasts this month. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com ADVERTISEMENT More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: You can tell what the press agents have to sell by the energy story of the week. A while ago it was small modular nuclear reactors, a promising technology that has so far produced more news stories than reactors. Then came carbon sequestration: burn whatever you want but stick the carbon somewhere. This is a creation of the oil industrys relentless PR program and the likely theme of the next climate conference being staged in a Persian Gulf sheikdom. The story du jour, however, concerns the shortage of electric transmission infrastructure needed to connect renewable energy projects to the grid for delivery to the ultimate customer. Unlike the other two stories, this one is neither self-serving nor bogus. Quick history. In the early days, the electric company put a coal-fired generator in the middle of town to serve customers. Direct current electricity did not travel far. Then the industrys pioneers developed alternating current, which could travel. so they put the generators next to distant waterfalls and sent the current over specially designed transmission lines to the customers. (You couldnt move the waterfall but you could move the electricity.) Then they built huge coal-fired stations next to coal mines and shipped the electricity by wire, rather than build the generating station near the customer and ship the coal to the power station. Now, the industry wants to move electricity long distances from huge wind and solar renewable energy projects (located where the best wind and sun are) to the consumer. Unfortunately, renewable projects are not often located on the same transmission routes as existing coal and hydro generation plants. Moving renewable power to customers requires new transmission lines. The old ones are in the wrong places. Related: Nuclear Diesel Could Become A Gamechanger In Energy Markets Before we go any further, get two things straight. First, owning and operating a transmission line is an attractive business offering good returns. There is no shortage of investors or potential operators. Second, transmission accounts for less than 15% of the electric bill. So whether this business is operated efficiently or badly wont make much difference to the average customers electric bill. Now for the problem, certainly common to Europe, North America and Australia. Transmission projects are bogged down by regulatory, permitting, siting and environmental problems. Getting the line from announcement to completion can take 5-10 years. People dont want their views spoiled. They dont want the lines underwater because the project might stir up the bottom. They dont want the line through the neighborhood because if it does not benefit them directly, why put up with the lines inconvenience? We calculate that in the US, the industry needs to spend at least 50% more to put up a transmission network that will function up to the required level, but we suspect that the spending gap is not due to lack of interest but to delays. The renewable projects are held up waiting for the line. We discussed this with some transmission executives. One said he didnt understand why generators hung around waiting. Wasnt there somewhere else to locate? We werent sure why investors hung around waiting so long for the payoff, either. Another executive, not convincingly, said that his firm offered a portfolio of projects and he had patient, long-term investors. Except we know some of those investors and we doubt they expected to get stuck waiting for so long when they invested. They need to worry that by the time the line is finished, consumers at the end point might have found an alternative power source. Say a small modular reactor, ready for operation by then. Or maybe a solar power satellite (Caltech says that with the drop in rocket launch costs, solar power satellites might cost about the same as a nuclear plant.) Now that they are stuck, they might as well be patient. This situation leads to three questions. First, if building transmission the standard way is so difficult, what about looking at alternatives? Maybe undergrounding, or direct current, or an indirect route or even superconductors? Well, the standard answer is those are more expensive that the standard line. But does that make sense? More expensive than the standard line that you cannot build? Second, might the government view transmission now in the same way it viewed the National Road in the early days of the Republic or the Federal Highway System in the 1950s? If we need it, maybe the government should take the right of way and build it, or at least build one big east-west line to bring renewables to the population centers. Capital costs will make up a large part of the total and the government can raise money at maybe half the cost of a private company. That advantage might encourage the government to do something daring, like install a superconductor line. (We are not engineers opining on the right kind of line, just suggesting that ownership might change the technological decision.) Third, the discussions in the press imply that if we dont close the transmission gap, the whole decarbonization effort might fail. We dont buy that. Building more conventional transmission is the simplest solution. We might, instead, install renewables in less optimal places where building transmission is easier. Or use renewable energy to produce hydrogen rather than transmit it as electricity. Or get serious about a nuclear renaissance or even solar power from satellites. In short, mind the gap but dont panic. By Leonard Hyman and William Tilles for Oilprice.com ADVERTISEMENT More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Via the Jamestown Foundation On May 25, the Council of the European Union ultimately renewed the temporary agreement for the blocs trade liberalization with Ukraine for another year (Consilium.europa.eu, May 25). The decision, which came into force on June 6, was not, however, easy to achieve as the EUs eastern frontiers have been alarmed by the negative consequences this liberalization has had on a strategic segment of agricultural products. In response to that pressure, on June 5, the European Commission prolonged, until mid-September 2023, the ban on imports of Ukrainian grainspecifically wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seedto Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria (Euronews, June 5). At the beginning of 2023, domestic pressure within the EU member states of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) was intensively growing, as domestic producers usually sell their grain during the first fiscal quarter of the year. This pushed the agricultural ministers from Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia to appeal to the European Commission (EC). On January 30, during a session of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, they called on the EC to mitigate the problems caused by Ukrainian grain imports (Farmer.pl, January 30). The EC did not respond to the appeal until late March, proposing an allocation of 56.3 million euros ($61.52 million) from the EUs agricultural reserves to Bulgaria, Poland and Romania, as well as allowing the three countries to complement this aid with up to 100 percent of their national funds (Agriculture.ec.europa.ec, March 20). The support package was rapidly adopted; yet, some still felt it was insufficient. Hence, on March 31, the prime ministers of the same five countries sent a letter to EC President Ursula von der Leyen. The letter contained their proposals for measures to counteract the crisis, including the reintroduction of custom duties and tariff rate quotas in imports from Ukraine if market distortions could not be eliminated by other means (Gov.pl, March 31). In Poland, the situation with agricultural markets led to a small political crisis, which eventually resulted in Henryk Kowalczyks resignation as minister of agriculture and rural development on April 5. Polish farmers had been lobbying for a harsher government policy on imports for quite some time. And the inability to convince the EC to meet these expectations, including the partial reintroduction of duties on Ukrainian agricultural products, was specified as the direct cause for Kowalczyks resignation (Gov.pl, April 5). Related: Chinas Imports Of Russian Crude Oil Hit A Record High Nevertheless, there is more to the story here. Upcoming fall parliamentary elections are looming in Poland, and the countryside is the ruling Law and Justice partys bastion. In 2019, the party overwhelmingly outperformed its opponents and gained 56 percent of villagers votes. Now, it is trying to not lose these votes with the Ukrainian grain crisis in mind. In the days that followed, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Hungary joined Poland in their unilateral decisions to impose a ban on Ukrainian grain imports (Minagro.gov.ua, May 10). By making such a decision unilaterally, these countries upped the ante and, simultaneously, violated EU laws and procedures. By contrast, Romania restrained, waiting for the EC to act on its behalf. This decisive step triggered a series of bilateral meetings held by Ukrainian Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solskyi with his European counterparts. The meeting with Robert Telus, the new Polish minister of agriculture, was of particular importance since the ban on imports of Ukrainian products cut Kyiv off from several alternative export routes via Poland. Almost immediately, the two states reached an agreement. The agreed-upon transit deal became operational just five days after Poland imposed its ban on Ukrainian products. Importantly, the Ukrainian side seemed to understand the objective and political motives behind Warsaws subsequent decisions (Eecouncil.com, accessed June 15). Even so, the ban put Kyiv in a difficult position. Hence, on May 9, during a conference with Von der Leyen in Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his dissatisfaction from neighboring countries protectionism, which is unacceptable and has only strengthened capabilities of the aggressor (Twitter.com/ZelenskyyUA, May 9). Simultaneously, EU commissioners also held meetings with representatives from Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine to introduce their proposals. From Brussels perspective, this issue is problematic from both an economic and legal perspective. Thus, on May 2, the EC adopted temporary one-month-long preventive measures that banned the circulation of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed in all five EU states, which should have led to the lifting of their unilateral bans (Ec.europa.eu, May 2). Following the deal, Brussels proposed to allocate another 100 million euros ($109.22 million) from the EUs agricultural reserves to these states and allow them to provide local producers with an additional 200 percent of aid from their national budgets (Agriculture.ec.europa.eu, May 3). The multimillion support package was to be accepted on May 12 during a special meeting at the EU level. However, the decision was suspended as two out of five countriesHungary and Slovakiadecided to maintain their unilateral bans (PolskieRadio24.pl, May 12). In truth, these bans and the ECs response to them led to the rise of intra-EU opposition in the form of 12 states led by France and Germany, whose representatives, in a joint letter to the EC, expressed their dissatisfaction with the unilateral national bans and the ECs submissiveness (Euronews, May 15). Furthermore, the ECs reaction still did not meet the expectations of the five member states in question. As such, the respective ministers of agriculture from each state submitted another letter calling on Brussels to extend the restrictive measures on Ukrainian agricultural products before the regulation on suspension of duties could be prolonged for another year (TVPWorld, May 11). On May 6, Poland announced that all five countries would ask the EC to increase the support package (Agropolska.pl, May 6), while Bulgarian Minister of Agriculture Yavor Gechev declared that Sofias share of the support package is inadequate and requested information from the EC on the methods used to calculate the distribution of funds for Bulgarian farmers (Radio Bulgaria, May 6). ADVERTISEMENT Ultimately, these developments reveal the multidimensional nature of support for Ukraine. Unconditional assistance to Kyiv may be questioned by even the most supportive states if their governments face domestic pressure or difficulties related to the EUs decision-making process. On the other hand, such crises may improve the international mechanisms of assistance for war-torn Ukraine as well as help introduce other restrictive measures on Russia. For example, on May 6, Andrzej Sado?, Polands permanent representative to the EU, asserted that Warsaw demands more sanctions on Russian agricultural products (PAP.pl, May 6). It seems that, overall, progress is being made to satisfy all parties in the grain dispute. Even so, on June 13, European Agricultural Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski announced that the implementation of the support package has been postponed once again by the decision of Von der Leyen (Sweden2023.eu, June 13). Thus, the issue continues to loom over the CEE states and Ukraine. By Jakub Bornio More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Chinas crude oil imports from Russia soared to an all-time high of 2.29 million barrels per day (bpd) in May as refiners in the worlds top crude oil importer continue to buy discounted Russian oil. Chinas imports of Russian crude oil jumped by 15.3% compared to May last year and surged by 32.4% compared to the 1.73 million bpd crude imports from Russia in April, per data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs cited by Reuters. Saudi Arabia, Russias main competitor in the Chinese market and Moscows partner in the OPEC+ deal, shipped 1.72 million bpd of its crude to China in May, down by 16% month-on-month. Russia again overtook Saudi Arabia as the top supplier of crude oil to China in May, after the Kingdom held the top spot briefly in April. Early this year, Russia was the single largest crude oil supplier to China in January and February, overtaking Saudi Arabia, which was the number-one supplier of oil to China last year. China and India are the key export outlets for Russian crude and oil products now that Russian exports are embargoed in the EU and under a price cap to countries that adhere to the $60 a barrel price cap for Russian crude oil. China and India accounted for at least 56% of total Russian exports of crude and products in May, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly report last week. Indias oil imports from Russia continued to surge as cheaper Russian crude exports find more and more buyers in the worlds third-largest crude oil importer. Indias Russian oil imports in May alone, at 1.96 million bpd, were higher than the 1.74 million bpd in Indias combined imports from the next four largest suppliers - Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the U.S. ADVERTISEMENT Russian oil accounted for a massive 42% of all Indian crude imports, compared to negligible volumes India had imported before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is asking residents to take voluntary energy conservation measures to stave off more blackouts amid the current heatwave. In a notice to Texas residents on Tuesday, ERCOT asked consumers to curb electricity use between the hours of 4pm and 8pmpeak demand time. The conservation request is being made to prevent blackouts as the temperatures hover near 100 and are expected to stay there for some time. As a result of the heat, the Texas grid is straining under the weight of heavy demand, along with lower-than-normal wind energy output and the daily intermittency of solar power. On Monday, Texas shattered its June 2022 electricity demand record of 76,718 MWburning through 79,304 MW so far this month. Today alone, electricity demand in Texas could reach 81,000 MWa figure which would also break the current daily summertime record. ERCOT is requesting all government agencies (including city and county offices) to implement all programs to reduce energy use at their facilities, ERCOTs press release said. ERCOT is using additional tools to manage the grid reliably, including using reserve power, calling upon reductions by large electric customers that have volunteered to lower their energy use, and bringing more generation online sooner. ERCOT has attributed its request to extreme heat, record demand, thermal outages, low wind energy output, and solar generation that contributes nothing to the grid after sunset. ERCOT manages the flow of electric power to 26 million Texas customersor 90% of the states electric load. It is responsible for 52,700 miles of transmission lines and more than 1,100 generation units. The North American Electric Reliability Corp warned in May that the United States would see likely blackouts this summer, forecasting shortfalls in power supplies to the West, Midwest, Southeast, and New England areas of the United Statesand Texas. ADVERTISEMENT By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Ecuador could lose $1.2 billion in annual oil income should a vote to stop production in a major oil block prove successful, the country's energy ministry said on Tuesday. Ecuador's state-run oil company Petroecuador currently produces oil out of three fields from the block in questionthe 43-ITT block in the Yasuni area of the Amazonwhere it has operated for seven years. The issue of banning oil production in Block 43-ITT made it on the ballot from a referendum that was proposed a decade ago, but approved by a constitutional court only last month. Ecuadoreans will be set for a vote in August. "The backers of the request for crude to remain underground made it ten years ago when there wasn't anything. 10 years later we find ourselves with 55,000 barrels per day, that's 20 million barrels per year. At $60 per barrel, that's $1.2 billion," Energy Minister Fernando Santos said on local radio, adding that it could "cause huge damage to the country." Ecuador's oil industry has struggled over the last decade, according to OilPrice.com's Matthew Smith. A combination of poorly constructed and corroded infrastructure, natural disasters, and frequent civil unrest are causing numerous production outages that are weighing on the economy and fragile government finances. Violent protests have rocked the small South American country of 18 million with worrying frequency over the last eight years. The civil disturbances, sparked by fuel price hikes and a spiraling cost of living, along with environmental incidents in Ecuador's Amazon are impacting oil industry operations and causing production outages, Smith wrote in March. Ecuador is an oil-dependent economy in which petroleum is responsible for 58% of its exports by value and 4% of gross domestic production. By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com ADVERTISEMENT More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Copper producer Indonesia will stop exporting copper concentrates in 2024 when two major domestic copper companies finish building their smelters and start processing the raw material locally, Indonesias President Joko Widodo said on Tuesday. Freeport Indonesia and Amman Mineral are expected to start copper processing at their respective new smelters in May 2024, the president said in a speech carried by Bloomberg. If these two big companies complete their smelters, that means we will no longer export raw copper because it will be processed domestically to become copper cathodes, Widodo said. Indonesia last week issued both companies recommendations to continue exporting copper concentrate until their smelters begin operations. Last month, Indonesias Mining Minister Arifin Tasrif said that the country would allow exports of copper, iron ore, lead, zinc, and anode mud from copper concentrates to continue, despite a wider export ban starting this month. Copper prices have fallen in recent days as uncertainty over Chinas economic stimulus and future copper demand has clouded the outlook. But in the medium to long term, copper demand is set to soar, Robert Friedland, billionaire mining investor and founder of Canadian mining company Ivanhoe Mines, said last month. Copper, alongside nickel, is one of the raw materials crucial for the energy transition, and Indonesia mines both of them in massive quantities. Indonesia, the world's biggest nickel miner, has been looking to develop nickel processing industries and ultimately produce batteries for EV manufacturers and is eager to attract foreign companies for those ventures. At the end of last year, Indonesia said it was considering the idea of forming a cartel to manage the supply of nickel and some other key battery metals, similar to what OPEC does for oil. ADVERTISEMENT I do see the merit of creating Opec to manage the governance of oil trade to ensure predictability for potential investors and consumers, Indonesia's Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia told the Financial Times in an interview at the end of October. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Qatar and China are set to sign imminently a new major long-term deal under which QatarEnergy will supply LNG to a Chinese state-controlled energy giant, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. At the end of last year, Qatars state firm QatarEnergy signed the longest-term contract in the history of the LNG industry in a deal to supply liquefied natural gas to Chinese state energy giant Sinopec for 27 years. QatarEnergy will supply China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) with 4 million tons per annum (MTPA) of LNG to China from the North Filed East (NFE) expansion project, just as global competition for LNG intensified amid a European rush to secure non-Russian gas supply. Qatar has traditionally preferred long-term supply deals with customers, at which Europe balked earlier last year. But more recently, even European companies have started negotiations for longer-term supply with LNG providers. China, for its part, is looking to secure LNG to avoid more spot buying amid uncertainties over the Asian spot prices in the coming years. Now QatarEnergy and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) are set to sign this week another 27-year deal, sources briefed on the plans told FT on Tuesday. CNPC is also expected to receive 5% in one LNG train at the North Field expansion, according to FTs sources. In April, QatarEnergy said it would transfer a 5% stake in the development of the huge North Field East (NFE) expansion project to Sinopec, which signed the first 27-year LNG supply deal between Qatar and China in November last year. Qatar announced in 2021 the worlds largest LNG project, which is set to raise its LNG production capacity from 77 million tons per annum (mmtpa) to 110 mmtpa. QatarEnergy is also close to finalizing long-term LNG supply agreements with the UK, France, and Italy, Saad al-Kaabi, Qatars Minister of State for Energy Affairs and QatarEnergys CEO, told FT. ADVERTISEMENT By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Woodside Petroleums bosses have given the green light to the development of the Trion field in the Gulf of Mexico: an ultra-deepwater project estimated to cost some $7.2 billion. According to Reuters, this is the first big investment Woodside Petroleum has committed to making since its merger with the oil and gas business of BHP. Woodside owns 60% of the Trion field with the rest held by Mexicos Pemexthe field is in Mexican waters. The field was discovered back in 2012 by the Mexican company. Pemex, however, did not have the resources to develop Trion on its own and it took on Woodside as a partner in 2017. MarketWatch reports Woodside expects a return rate of more than 16% from that project and an impressively short payback period of just four years. The Sydney Morning Herald notes the payback period is based on the assumption that oil prices will average $70 per barrel in the coming years. The company plans to install a 100,000-bpd floating production vessel and connect it to a storage and offloading vessel with a capacity for 950,000 barrels, the company said. The reserves that the project will tap have been estimated at 479 million barrels of oil equivalent in oil and gas. Of these, Woodsides share is seen at 287 million barrels of oil equivalent. According to Pemex estimates, the gross recoverable reserves of Trion are 485 million barrels of oil equivalent. The investment is aligned with Woodsides strategy, exceeds Woodsides capital allocation framework targets and will be a strong contributor to Woodsides cash flows, shareholder returns and the funding of future developments in oil, gas and new energy, Meg ONeill, the chief executive of the Australian energy major, said. She went on to note that the carbon intensity of the Trion project would be lower than the global average for deepwater field development and that it would be subject to Woodsides emission reduction targets. ADVERTISEMENT By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Via AG Metal Miner COVID-19, poor demand, and several other factors caused a drop in steel production worldwide the past few years. This included China, which is not only the biggest steel producer, but one with a massive impact on steel prices. Indeed, according to a report by the World Steel Association, global crude steel production, including semi-finished products, ingots, and liquid steel, fell to 1.89 billion tons in 2022. This is 3.9% less than 1.96 billion tons in 2021. The silver lining, as has become the norm now, was India. While Chinas production fell for the second consecutive year, India was the only country on the list of large producers to increase steel production. In fact, the countrys output recently reached 125.3 million tons (MT), up from 118.2 MT in the previous year. Indias growth is particularly significant, considering that many of the largest steel-producing countries, including China, Japan, the U.S., and Russia, experienced declines in production. In fact, Iran was the only other country among the top 10 nations to see a rise in steel output. Steel Prices: India Commits to Further Increasing Output Throughout 2022, China produced 1,018 MT of crude steel. This is 1.6% lower than 2021, when figures fell by 2.8%. Still, China produced more steel than the rest of the world combined and 12 times more than the U.S. Indeed, the country produces over half the crude steel in the world, and has been largely responsible for the surge in global crude steel production since 2000. Between that year and 2022, Chinas production zoomed 735%. Meanwhile, North Americas production fell by 18%, and production in the rest of the world rose by 29%. Now that Chinas output is declining, India is seizing the opportunity. In 2019, India became the second-largest steel producer in the world, surpassing Japan. Though the gap between the #1 and #2 spots is still very large, experts believe Chinas southwestern neighbor is on the ascendancy. After all, many expect Indias domestic steel demand to continue expanding in the coming years, driven by infrastructure development and increased construction activity. Remember, India still has a very poor per capita steel consumption rate just one-third of the worlds average. However, the Indian Government has set a target of increasing the share of the manufacturing sector to 25% of the GDP by 2025. It also hopes to achieve 300 MT per annum of steel production by 2030. Production Declines Elsewhere an Opportunity for India The Indian Steel Association (ISA) projects a 7.5% growth in domestic steel demand for the fiscal year 2024. This will put output at 128.85 MT compared to 119.86 MT in FY23. In FY25, the ISA expects a further 6.3% increase to 136.97 MT. This anticipated growth in demand is primarily attributed to the governments focus on infrastructure development and the expansion of construction activities. So far, in 2023, India seems committed to this path of growth, whereas China has allowed demand to drop. According to this report, global crude steel production decreased by 2.4% in April compared to the same period last year. The World Steel Association also noted that its 63 reporting countries produced 161.4 MT of steel in April 2023. This is a significant decline from the 162.7 million tons in April 2022. China alone saw a 1.5% decline, producing 92.6 MT of steel during the same period. Japan and the U.S. also recorded decreases in steel production by 3.1% & 5.3%, respectively. Meanwhile, India saw an increase in steel production, growing 3.2% to reach 10.7 MT. Other global support came from Russia, whose production increased by 1.9% to 6.4 MT. South Koreas output increased by 3% to 5.7 MT and Iran reported an increase of 5.9% to 3.1 MT. Amidst Chinas struggling construction sector and the looming possibility of recessions in the U.S. and Europe, there is no doubt that India is now a crucial factor in revitalizing global steel demand. ADVERTISEMENT By Sohrab Darabshaw More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office found the decomposing body of a man in a train car west of North Platte. At 2:25 p.m. Sunday, a 911 call was made to Lincoln County law enforcement about a dead person in the locomotive at Bailey Yard, the Sheriff's Office said in a press release. At the back of the engine, deputies found the man's body in a small compartment typically reserved to hold a fire extinguisher. The man's name was not released pending the notification of family members. The Sheriff's Office said the man appeared to have wedged himself into the room and shut the door. The Sheriff's Office said there is evidence showing the man was unable to unlatch the door. He died days before his body was found. Investigators saw no signs of foul play. The Sheriff's Office added the man had numerous identifications that showed he was a Mexican citizen. The train engine had been in Mexico for several days before it traveled to San Antonio and then to Nebraska. The investigation is ongoing. This is the second time in roughly two months that a body has been found in a train in North Platte's Bailey Yard. In April, the body of Bernadette Lopez, 42, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, was found by Union Pacific officials aboard a locomotive towed to the yard for repairs. Lopez's body was found wedged in a small generator room just behind the locomotive's cab. An autopsy revealed Lopez died of hypothermia seven to 10 days prior to her body being discovered. The investigation concluded that she likely died in Wyoming. This report includes material from the North Platte Telegraph. A state senator representing north-central Sarpy County participated last Wednesday in the White Houses State Legislative Convening on Reproductive Rights. Sen. Jen Day of Gretna traveled to Washington, D.C., for the event organized by the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs to encourages state legislators from across the country to engage in conversations about policy agendas, democracy and reproductive rights, according to a news release. Im excited to be here exchanging ideas and strategies with other lawmakers on how to protect reproductive rights, Day said in a release. One year after the Dobbs decision, we are at a critical point in history and we have to be steadfast in our commitment to protecting the rights of Nebraskans. In Dobbs v. Jackson, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, stripping womens constitutional right to abortion and handing authority over the issue to states. In the year since, courts have put enforcement of several abortion bans and restrictions on hold while they consider whether they comply with state constitutions, including six currently paused. However, there have been final rulings in just a handful of cases since the Dobbs ruling, with no clear trend on how theyre going, leaving uncertainty in its wake. The debate over abortion rights and gender-affirming care were front and center in the Nebraska Legislature this past session. Lawmakers, with Day and others in opposition, narrowly passed LB 574, which bans abortions at 12 weeks past gestation and gender-affirming surgeries for people under 19, along with restricting puberty blockers and hormone therapy for the same age group. Despite a broad consensus among Nebraskans in opposition to further restrictions on abortion, 2023 was an unprecedented year for anti-reproductive rights legislation, highlighting the need for continued advocacy on this topic, according to the release distributed by Days office. A 45-year-old Nebraska prison inmate convicted of killing his wife by stabbing her 22 times has died. Bobby Wallace was found unresponsive in his cell Sunday at the Reception and Treatment facility in Lincoln, which is managed by the Nebraska Department of Corrections. Staff members initiated CPR procedures, but emergency medical personnel pronounced Wallace deceased, according to a spokeswoman for the Corrections Department. Wallace was serving a 40- to 60-year sentence for second-degree murder, attempted second-degree assault and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony. On May 25, 2013, LaVern Nikki Eubanks, 34, was killed by Wallace in a domestic disturbance near 33rd and Pratt Streets. Prosecutors said Eubanks hit Wallace with a frying pan, and Wallace grabbed a knife and stabbed her 22 times. She died at an Omaha hospital. The Nebraska State Patrol will investigate Wallace's death. As is the case whenever an inmate dies, a grand jury will conduct an investigation, the spokeswoman said. The youngest children in the Omaha Public Schools would no longer be suspended in most cases under the proposed student code of conduct for the 2023-24 school year. The school board is considering the second reading of the revised code of conduct at a meeting Thursday. If approved, OPS will be prohibited from suspending students in pre-kindergarten through second grade unless they bring a weapon to school. The revision follows a legislative bill approved earlier this year that required OPS and all Nebraska districts to make the change. Legislative Bill 632, introduced by State Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha, was a part of the large education package that passed in May. The bill prohibits schools from suspending students from pre-K to second grade. Young children need to be taught and then practice self-regulation to develop memory, attention and self-control skills necessary for the learning environment, the revised code says. If a pre-K through second grade student must be removed from the classroom, they will work in the school with staff and resources to practice and develop skills to support a return-to-the-classroom environment. First and second grade students currently have a two-day maximum on suspensions, according to the code of conduct. McKinney said earlier this year that OPS needs to use alternatives to suspensions to keep students from outcomes like poor academics or involvement in the criminal justice system. Both McKinney and Elizabeth Eynon-Kokrda from Omahas Education Rights Council testified during legislative sessions that the district disproportionately suspends and expels minority students, along with students with disabilities, in prekindergarten through second grades. The district began addressing the problem of disproportionate discipline among minority groups back in 2015 following a review from the Nebraska Department of Education. While the data isnt broken down by grade, in the 2013-14 year, 51% of the districts suspensions were given to Black students while 18% were for White students. In the districts latest data book in the 2021-22 school year, 49% of OPS suspensions were given to Black students while 16% were for White students. Connie Edmond from the Nebraska Commission on African American Affairs also testified, saying suspensions send a message of rejection to young children. Suspension from school sets children up for failure, Edmond said in her testimony. There are no second chances. Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of June 2023 WASHINGTON President Joe Biden's son Hunter will plead guilty to federal tax offenses but avoid prosecution on a separate gun charge in a deal with the Justice Department that likely spares him time behind bars. Hunter Biden, 52, will plead guilty to the misdemeanor tax offenses as part of an agreement made public Tuesday. The agreement will also avoid prosecution on a felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user, as long as he adheres to conditions set by prosecutors. It's somewhat unusual to resolve a federal criminal case at the same time charges are filed in court but not unheard of. The deal ends a long-running Justice Department investigation into Biden's second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden. It also averts a trial that would have generated days or weeks of distracting headlines for a White House that has strenuously sought to keep its distance from the Justice Department. While it requires the younger Biden to admit guilt, the deal is narrowly focused on tax and weapons violations rather than anything broader or tied to the Democratic president. Nonetheless, former President Donald Trump and other Republicans are likely to continue to try to use the case to shine an unflattering spotlight on Joe Biden and his family business dealings and to raise questions about the independence of the Biden Justice Department. Trump, in a post on his social media platform, likened the Hunter Biden deal to a "mere traffic ticket," adding, "Our system is BROKEN!" The White House counsel's office said in a statement that the president and first lady Jill Biden "love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life." Two people familiar with the investigation said the Justice Department would recommend probation for the tax charges, meaning Hunter Biden will not face time behind bars. But the decision to go along with any deal is up to the judge. The people were not authorized to speak publicly by name and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. He is to plead guilty to failing to pay more than $100,0000 in taxes on over $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018. The gun charge states that Hunter Biden possessed a handgun, a Colt Cobra .38 Special, for 11 days in October 2018 despite knowing he was a drug user. The count carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, but the Justice Department said Hunter Biden had reached a pretrial agreement. This likely means as long as he adheres to the terms of the agreement, the case will be wiped from his record. Christopher Clark, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, said in a statement that it was his understanding that the five-year investigation had now been resolved. "I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life," Clark said. "He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward." The agreement comes as the Justice Department pursues perhaps the most consequential case in its history against Trump, the first former president to face federal criminal charges. The resolution of Hunter Biden's case comes just days after a 37-count indictment against former President Trump in relation to accusations of mishandling classified documents on his Florida estate, a case with even more significant political implications. That indictment has brought an onslaught of Republican criticism of "politicization" of the Justice Department and a renewed crescendo of questions about Hunter Biden's business dealings. Meanwhile, congressional Republicans continue to pursue their own investigations into nearly every facet of Hunter Biden's business dealings, including examining foreign payments. Republicans on Tuesday called the federal charges an example of "a two-tiered justice system." Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said the younger Biden is "getting away with a slap on the wrist," despite investigations in Congress that GOP lawmakers say show but have not yet provided evidence of a pattern of corruption involving the family's financial ties. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee called the charges "low-hanging fruit" and vowed not let "full accountability fall by the wayside." Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, on the other hand, called the five-year investigation originating in his home state "thorough" and said he was encouraged "that Hunter is taking responsibility for his actions, paying the taxes that he owes, and preparing to move on with his life." California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was scheduled to campaign with the president Tuesday evening, reaffirmed his support for Biden's reelection after the plea deal was announced. Over the weekend, Newsom told The AP "not on God's green earth" would he launch a primary challenge against Biden. "Hunter changes nothing," Newsom told The AP on Tuesday The Trump charges came from a special counsel, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to conduct an independent investigation to avoid any potential conflict of interest in the Justice Department. The Hunter Biden charges, meanwhile, were filed by the U.S. attorney for Delaware, Trump appointee David Weiss. The Justice Department investigation into the president's son burst into public view in December 2020, one month after the 2020 election, when Hunter Biden revealed that he had received a subpoena as part of the department's scrutiny of his taxes. The subpoena sought information on the younger Biden's business dealings with a number of entities, including Burisma, a Ukraine gas company on whose board he sat. Hunter Biden said in a statement at the time that he was "confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisers." Since then, a federal grand jury in Delaware has heard testimony related to his taxes and foreign business transactions. In February 2021, the department sought the resignation of most Trump-era U.S. attorneys but made a point of noting that it was leaving Weiss in place as a way to ensure continuity in the probe. At a congressional hearing last August, FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed that the investigation remained active out of the bureau's Baltimore field office and said it was a matter that "I expect our folks to pursue aggressively." Garland pledged not to interfere in the probe at another hearing in March. An unnamed IRS special agent, though, later alleged mishandling of the investigation in a letter to Congress in which he sought whistleblower protection. The younger Biden joined the board of Burisma in 2014, around the time his father, then Barack Obama's vice president, was helping conduct the Obama administration's foreign policy with Ukraine. Trump and his allies have long argued, without evidence, that Hunter Biden's work in Ukraine influenced the Obama administration's policies toward the East European nation. Years before the case was brought, Hunter Biden surfaced as a central character in the first impeachment case against Trump, who in an apparent bid to boost his own reelection bid had asked Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a telephone call to announce an investigation into the younger Biden. Republicans later sought to make Hunter Biden's business dealings in Ukraine a prominent issue during the 2020 presidential election. In October of that year, the New York Post reported that it had received from Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani a copy of a hard drive of a laptop that Hunter Biden had dropped off 18 months earlier at a Delaware computer repair shop and never retrieved. The story was greeted with skepticism due to questions about the laptop's origins, including Giuliani's involvement, and because top officials in the Trump administration had already warned that Russia was working to denigrate Joe Biden ahead of the November election. No evidence has emerged of any Russian connection to the laptop or to he will emails found on the advice. Photos: Hunter Biden through the years After watching the dust trails follow the cows in his Herman pastures, Dan Braesch didnt hold back about the fraught conditions facing Nebraska ranchers, farmers and livestock producers this summer because of the ongoing drought. Were in a world of hurt, he said. Almost the whole state is experiencing drought, although conditions are easing some in the western part of the state. Twenty percent of Nebraska is in extreme drought, according to the latest Drought Monitor report. Most of that falls in the eastern half of the state, where 10.9% of the land is under the even worse exceptional drought category. That can lead to widespread crop and pasture losses. Braesch, who also grows corn, soybeans and alfalfa at the D&D Cattle Company (about 44 miles northeast of Omaha), said this is the driest hes ever seen his soil. Hes been in the business since his father started farming in 1975. Last year, our corn crop was about half the year prior. It wasnt good, he said. The way this is happening, its going to be worst yet. Sherry Vinton, director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, said the next few weeks will determine the success of crops in the state. She's hoping that innovations in the ag industry, such as drought-resistant corn, will help farmers and ranchers weather the dry conditions. She, like everyone else, is also hoping for rain. Well know a lot more in July. Thats when decisions will have to be made for pastures. I cant imagine anyone putting in another crop. Its just going to be done, she said. Were OK now. But if this continues, harder choices will have to be made. While the worries at a ranch in Herman or a corn and soybean operation in Wakefield may seem far away from Omaha, urban dwellers are affected just the same. Cattle producers would need to reduce their herds if they dont have enough feed or it becomes too expensive to purchase, causing beef prices to climb. Ethanol production and its byproducts would be affected. The bigger the area is that doesnt get any rain, prices are going to continue to go up, said Lisa Lunz, who raises corn and soybeans with her husband Jim near Wakefield in Dixon County. Last year, they were able to raise only half a corn crop. The Lunzs, like many in the area, are dryland farmers who do not use irrigation. We hope we have enough rain so the crop can continue to grow, and we have something to combine, Lisa Lunz said. She recently got 2 inches of rain. Before that, she agreed with Braesch that this is the driest shes ever seen the soil. There are two reasons. One is that the subsoil was already depleted of moisture from raising last years crops. The second is the type of rainfall the state is experiencing this year. So far, there have been no large weather events that have swept across the state, dropping moisture in large swaths. Instead, rainfall has been hit and miss after a drier winter. We call them popcorn showers. We just have to figure out where they are going to pop, said Clint Aegerter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Omaha. They rain themselves out pretty quick. That pattern has left most areas several inches short of their usual rain totals. While long-term forecasts predict some greater chances of rain in the next few weeks, it would take more than that to carry Nebraska out of the drought. Lindsay Johnson, a climatologist for the National Drought Mitigation Center, which is located at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus, said the state would need a very wet summer. We could get a week of massive storms, but it wouldnt wipe out the drought, she said. Nebraska is in long-term drought that started in June 2021, she said. It's been of longer duration than the 2012 drought, another exceptionally dry period that farmers often compare to this year. While its been a summer of hit-and-miss rainfall, even a few of those showers can save someone's crops and ease conditions for producers. Steve and Joan Ruskamp, who have 2,000 head of cattle on feed near Dodge, were one of the lucky ones recently who received more than an inch of rain. Joan Ruskamp compares each rainfall to a deposit in the bank, allowing their business to continue to move forward through inch by inch of rain. She said the U.S. cattle herd is at its lowest in years. As of Jan 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture put the number of beef cows that had calved in the U.S. at 28.9 million head, down 4% from the same time last year. Thats compared to 29 million head on Jan. 1, 2014, following the 2012 drought cycle. If feed prices go up, it will cost the Ruskamps more to finish the steers they are preparing for market. Its not only corn. The hay supply was the lowest in decades last year. Our goal is to always maintain some level of profitability, so we can keep going in the years to come, she said. Insurance will help many farmers if crops are lost. The Ruskamps say they are preparing for all types of contingencies if feed isnt readily available. They have also turned to their faith. The Rev. Matthew Gutowski has been holding special masses for rain at Catholic parishes in the area, which is under the exceptional drought category. They are as full as the Sunday congregations, he said. I told my folks that it is certainly good and important for us to pray for rain. I also told them to pray for Our Lord to 'rain down' graces and strength into our souls to help us face the challenges of the drought and to ask for trust in Gods care to get us through whatever difficulties we encounter, he said. It is so beautiful to see the strong faith that our farmers have as they come to pray at Mass. Vinton said watching a pasture not grow or a corn crop fail can take a toll on farmers and ranchers. She wants to remind them they can find support by going to farmhotline.com or the rural response hotline at 800-464-0258. The USDA has drought disaster resources for livestock and crop producers, many of which are available through local Farm Service Agency offices. To learn more about these programs, visit farmers.gov/drought or contact a local USDA Service Center. Joan Ruskamp said they were blessed with years of good moisture and crops. These last few haven't as easy, but she says that's the cycle of farming. "We don't know what the rest of the summer is going to do," she said. "As farmers, you have faith when you put the seed in the ground you are going to have something to harvest that fall. Every year is different, and it's out of your control. It's hard, but that's how it is." Photos: Nebraska drought threatening livestock and crops President Bola Tinubu has embarked on his first official trip abroad on Tuesday morning, to attend a two-day summit in France for a new global financial pact. travel-attends-financial-pact-summit-in-france-photos.jpg alt=President Tinubu Departs Nigeria To Attend Financial Pact Summit In France [Photos] width=768 height=448 title=Tinubu Embarks On First Official Travel, Attends Financial Pact Summit In France [Photos] 13> The summit, scheduled for June 22 and 23, aims to explore strategies to restore fiscal stability for countries facing immediate financial challenges. The trip which Tinubu embarked on Tuesday morning marks his first international visit since assuming office as Nigerias president on May 29. Accompanying him to the summit are members of the presidential policy advisory council and senior government officials. A statement by Dele Alake, Special Adviser, Special Duties, Communication, and Strategy, said the leaders will explore opportunities to restore fiscal space to countries dealing with difficult short-term financial challenges, specifically the most indebted. It goes on to state that President Tinubu and other global leaders, multilateral institutions, financial experts, and economists will take a more comprehensive approach to the recovery of economies from the COVID-19 pandemic and rising poverty, with the goal of providing access to finance and investment that will leverage inclusive growth. Tinubus participation in this summit highlights Nigerias commitment to finding solutions for economic challenges and engaging in global discussions on financial matters. President Tinubu is expected to return to the country on Saturday, bringing back insights and potential opportunities to enhance Nigerias fiscal landscape. KanyiDaily recalls that before his travel, President Bola Tinubu had dissolved the Governing Board of all Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies, Institutions, and Government-Owned Companies in the exercise of its Constitutional Powers and in the Public interest. Related The suspects A software engineer, Mumuni Rilwan, who specialized in making stolen smart phones and those used for ransom negotiations by kidnappers untraceable, has been arrested by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), at the popular Computer Village market, Ikeja, Lagos. The Guardian gathered that the suspect who is a graduate of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo State, was arrested alongside a notorious stolen phone dealer, one Gbolahan Osho, also operating at the Computer Village market, who has been arrested serially by the police for dealing on stolen phones. Sources at the IRT disclosed to that Rilwans arrest came following difficulties experienced by operatives of the IRT and other units of the police while conducting investigations into heinous crimes such as murder, armed robbery and kidnappings. It was gathered that most robbed phones or those used for ransom negotiation have been discovered to have been deactivated from the database of network providers across the country. A source who spoke to newsmen on the condition of anonymity explained that the Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Adamu, while acting on the development, directed operatives at the IRT headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, to investigate the development and it was discovered that some software engineers operating at the Computer Village, have been configuring smart phones for stolen phones receivers, armed robbers and kidnappers with software that have made them untraceable. The source added that the operatives, trailed Osho, who they said have been arrested severally for receiving and selling stolen mobile phones during its investigation and Osho, who confessed when he was interrogated, stated that Rilwan has helped him confirm most of the stolen mobile phones, which he has received from armed robbers across the state with software that has made them untraceable. Osho, was said to have disclosed that Rilwan, usually changes the phones original International Mobile Equipment Identify, IMEI number into a new one, whenever he gives him a stolen phone to configure, after which he would make the phone untraceable. He said he paid the sum of N2500, for each phone that would be configured, adding that Rilwan was aware that the phones he worked on were robbed phones. It was gathered that Osho, led the IRT to Rilwans office inside the computer village market and he was arrested with two laptops, which he used in configuring the phones, was recovered, but when interrogated he confessed that he was using the upgraded version of a software known as Octopuses, which he said he bought from the internet. The 25-year-old suspect, who is a native of Oyo State said, I am a software engineer and I learned it online through Google search engine and GSM Forum. I normally charge the sum of N2, 500 to change the IMEI number for my customers phones and I knew that the phones were stolen and I can only change the IMEI of only Techo and Infinix phones and I cant change those of Samsung, Iphone and Blackberry. I can corrupt the IMEI of Techno and Infinix using of upgraded version of a software known as Octopus which is used mainly in unlocking phones and it would automatically make the phones untraceable for a period of three months and by then, the owner of the robbed phones may have stopped looking for it and this would not put the seller of the phone in danger. I want you to know the new IMEI is not permanent, it reverses back to its original IMEI number after three months and if the user want to change it again we will still change it for him. Osho is not the only person I change the IMEI numbers of stolen phones for, there are other people who came to me to change their IMEI numbers for them, and I dont know where they usually get the phones. I dont usually change the IMEI for people I dont know but all the people I change it for are known to me and all the phones were all stolen. Osho, 31, a native of Ikorodu area of Lagos State said he was buying only stolen Techno and Infix phones. According to him, I sell used and new phones at the Computer village Ikeja and I normally source my phones from people who buy from UK and I also buy stolen or robbed phones from Mustapha, Baba Iyabo, Lucky and Ope. I buy mainly Techo and Infinix phones from these people because they couldnt be sourced from people importing phones from the UK. I knew these people were selling robbed or stolen phones to me and I buy them for N15, 000 and N17, 000 depending on the grade. I was arrested by policemen from Ipakodu, when a customer who bought one of my stolen phones was arrested and he led them to arrest me. After I was released, I went back to the market and I told people how the police arrested my customer who led them to arrest me, then they told me that I was foolish not to have changed the IMEI of the stolen phone before selling it. Then they linked me to one Rilwan, who is a software engineer and he changed the IMEI for me at N1, 500. After then, I had taken four phones to him and since I can now change the IMEI number, I thought it would not be easy for the police not to arrest me again. But with this arrest, I will not get myself involved again in dealing on stolen properties. The leaders of Amazor Community in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State have advised the management of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) against the move to pay compensation without carrying out a Post-spill Impact Assessment of communities of the May 2018 Trans Ramos Pipeline Oil Spillage that devastated Amazor and its Communities in the River Ramos Area. The Chairman, Chiefs and Elders Council of Amazor Community, Chief (Dr.) Gari Suwa, who made the call in statement in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, said the council was aware of plans by the company to discuss compensation with some of handpicked members of the community. He however warned such move would be in violation of extant laws and against the spirit of resolution reached in a meeting with the National Oil Spill Detection and Remediation Agency (NOSDRA) last September. Suwa alleged the oil giant has already handpicked some of its hirelings in the communities to discuss compensation in order to truncate and/or preempt the PSIA and Damage Assessment already concluded by NOSDRA with the full participation of SPDC in December 2018. He said: I was surprised that my community chairman and his attorney were among those SPDC invited in January and May 2019 to discuss compensation, while we were awaiting the release of the report of the PSIA and damage assessment carried out and concluded by NOSDRA with the full participation of SPDC in December, 2018. Suwa also expressed disappointment with the Amazor Community Chairman, whom he said, unilaterally and without consultation with the Traditional Head, Chiefs, Elders and the good people of Amazor Community accepted compensation term even though he was part and parcel of the 11/9/2018 meeting. The resolution was to the effect that the payment of compensation in respect of the SPDC spillage shall be based on the PSIA and Damage Assessment already conducted and concluded by NOSDRA, and not by SPDCs dictated compensation that was based on SPDCs JIV Report, he added. He urged NOSDRA to sanction SPDC for her impunity and trying to manipulate and shortchange the communities in an oil spillage, stressing, and that the Amazor Community shall only accept compensation based on the result of the PSIA and Damage Assessment Report. The 11/9/2018 resolution was the outcome of agitations from communities around River Ramos Area following SPDCs guided Joint Investigation Visit with some government agencies that excluded several communities that were impacted by the 17th- 18th May, 2018 Trans Ramos Pipeline Oil Spillage. NOSDRA in consequence of the agitations summoned a meeting of SPDC and the polluted communities at Abuja where the 11/9/2018 resolution was reached for NOSDRA to carry out a comprehensive PSIA and Damage Assessments to ascertain the extent and damage caused by the said spillage. No fewer than five persons have been killed and more 170 buildings burnt down by security operatives in Izombe, an oil bearing community in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State in the last two weeks. Izombe and other adjourning communities like: Agwa, Ejemkwuru, Awa, Akabuo, Mgbele and Ogbaku have been recording incessant security challenges due to activities of criminal elements hiding under the banner of Eastern Security Network (ESN) militia group of IPOB in the areas. However, government in a bid to checkmate the activities of the bandits deployed military personnel, police and Imo State owned Security operatives codenamed Ebubeagu. But rather than help to engender peace and tranquility, the security operatives had turned hostile to residents of the areas mainly Izombe, Community Reporters learned. The situation has adversely affected socio-economic and other activities as markets, schools and churches have been closed in Izombe for almost eight months now. An indigene of Amakpurudere Izombe village who spoke on condition of anonymity said in an interview on Monday June 19, said that five natives of his village have been killed by these security operatives between June 7 and Monday June 19, 2023.. The five persons so far killed in Amakpurudere Village alone were:Benjamin Nwadirigbo, Nwabu Onuigbo (aka Danvata), Obieze Ajaere, Izuka Izuaghanwa and Chike Izuaghanwa, the source said. He added that some others were equally killed in other villages of Izombe like; Ndiawa, Ndioko, Orsu and Ugbele and Agwa a neighbouring community to Izombe. The combined team of police, Ebubeagu and the military had equally destroyed more than 170 buildings in various villages including over 45 houses in Amakpurudere Village alone, he lamented. The source who equally alleged that the security forces looted peoples properties, said that the situation has caused more than 90 per cent of the residents to flee the community. Many people have abandoned their homes since Wednesday June 7, and Monday June 12, 2023 that the security operatives killed Benjamin and four because of the level of fear they have instilled in the people with attendant destruction of buildings. As we speak, I no longer visit home just like many others in spite the information that our family house was among those destroyed, he said. According to him, the houses burnt down in Amakpurudere Village alone belong to the following: Emmanuel Chukwudoruo, Romanus Obiagwu, Philip Okoronkwo, Ifeanyi Umezuruike, Canice Ogbonna, Herbert Nwoke, Late Lucky Nwoke, Lambart Ekejiuba, Simeon Ekejiuba, Sabastine Okereke, Emeka Awaeze and Dom Iwuanyanwu. Others whose houses were affected are: Benjamin Ohanyirim, Jerome Ohanyirim, Late Marcelinus Ogbonna, Lawrence Ogbonna, Calistus Ononiwu, Chief Alex Madubuko, Chief Oliver Ihejirika, Anthony Ihejirika, Alphonsius Ogbonna among others. The source added that he only gave specific information about his village, adding that more than 170 buildings mentioned excluded those damaged last August in Ugbele Village, Eziama and other villages when the incessant attack began. The figure does not include over 150 buildings the military burnt in Umuokwu, Ndioko and Umuorji in October, 2021 when there was clash with the youths as a result of toll collected from crude oil bunkers. In fact if you visit Izombe, you will conclude that Imo State government really do not think good of Izombe in spite the viable economic status of the community before now, he lamented. He regretted that the community being one of the main oil bearing area and food basket of the state was being destroyed like Carthage, while exploitation of crude oil is in progress. He appealed to the media to draw the attentions of Mr President, relevant international and national organisations such as Amnesty International and Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) to help the community out of the carnage going on in Izombe. We need urgent help because our people are suffering and dying. Our people are going through excruciating humanitarian crisis and this is very unimaginable. Many people can no longer feed, many no longer have their houses while hundreds had gone on exile looking for shelters and foods in other communities, he lamented. Related Advertisement By Izunna Okafor, Awka The apex association of lecturers in Nigerian universities, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has told President Bola Tinubu to change the newly-assented Students Loans Act to grant for indigent students. ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, made the call on Monday in Abuja, where he also stated that some beneficiaries of such were committing suicide globally, usually because of their inability to repay within the stipulated time. According to him, there are more than one million students in Nigerian public universities and the loan cannot adequately cater for students tuition. He further added that more than 90 per cent of students wont meet what he called stringent requirements to access and repay the loan. While describing the Students Loan as neither practicable nor sustainable, he also opined that a special scheme for funding indigent students education would be more beneficial. This would have been better if we are giving it to those set of students who are very poor, it should be called a grant, not a loan. It should be called a grant since it is coming from the Federation Account and not that (after) these people have accessed it and when they are graduating, they have heavy loads behind them and within two years, if they dont pay, they go to jail. Thats why were talking about collective bargaining; you have views from all the sides. The idea of student loan came in 1972, and it was in a bank established. People who took loans never paid, you can go and investigate. In 1994, 1993, the military enacted Decree 50 also set up a Students Loan Board. The National Assembly domesticated it in 2004, and within a year, it went off. The money disappeared. We want to see how this one will be different. We, as a Union also did research of countries all over the world, of people who have benefited from this loan, they were committing suicide. Recently, (President Joe) Biden is trying to pay back the bank loans of some who borrowed in the US. It is better to look for alternative means of funding education than encumbering students whose parents earn N30,000 a month with a loan, he said. Related Advertisement Chinese community in Switzerland hosts concert dedicated to BRI 09:59, June 20, 2023 By Wang Qibing, Chen Junxia ( Xinhua GENEVA, June 19 (Xinhua) -- A concert dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the signing of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Switzerland and China was held here on Sunday evening. More than 300 people from Switzerland and other European countries gathered in the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva to attend the concert given by Swiss-Chinese musician Zhao Yuan and the Swiss Saint-Prex Chamber Orchestra. The evening was kicked off by renderings of the Swiss and Chinese national anthems, followed by excerpts from famous European operas, Chinese piano concertos and musical pieces from other parts of the world, including Gioachino Rossini's "William Tell Overture" and Lv Qiming's "Ode to the Red Flag." Orchestra leader Zhao Yuan, who compiled the evening's program, told Xinhua that the concert's leitmotif was about win-win cooperation. The concert was organized by the Swiss-Chinese Association of Fujian (a province on the southeastern coast of China), with the support of major Swiss-Chinese groups, such as the Swiss-Chinese Tourism Association and the Swiss-Chinese Cultural and Art Exchange Association. About 30 Swiss-Chinese teenagers recited the "Ode to the Silk Road", followed by renderings of the "Yellow River Concerto" and "Blue Rhapsody" by Swiss-Chinese pianist Melodie Zhao. Jean-Jacques de Dardel, Switzerland's former ambassador to China with the Chinese name Dai Shangxian, recalled that when he became ambassador in 2014, Switzerland was already one of China's most important trading partners in Europe. Swiss Foreign Ministry official Jean-Luc Oesch said he was very pleased to be invited to such a high-quality concert. "Switzerland and China have signed a free trade agreement, which is the basis for the development of economic relations between the two countries. In addition, China's Belt and Road Initiative is open to the world, and Switzerland is also involved," he said. Music transcends the boundaries of countries, skin colors, races, ages and languages, promotes mutual exchanges and understanding among different civilizations, China's Ambassador to Switzerland Wang Shiting said. The China-Switzerland FTA was the first such document signed between China and a European country. It has injected strong impetus into the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, he said. "Trade can contribute to world peace," Zhang Xiangchen, deputy director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), told the audience, "From the ancient Silk Road to today's Belt and Road, from the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement to the China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement, all our efforts have proved this." "I believe that as more and more people pursue the beauty inherent in trade, peace, friendship, music and food, the world will become a better place," Zhang said. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Spread the love A group in Kaduna State under the aegis of Southern Kaduna Leadership Council (SKLC) on Monday, accused former state Governor Nasir El-Rufai of plots to Islamise the state when he was at the helm of affairs. The Chairman of SKLC, Ishaya Dary Akau, in a statement issued after a press conference in Kaduna, said the system of governance by exclusion which El-Rufai practiced in the state was deliberately against the people of Southern Kaduna. In the statement titled Nasir El-Rufais Viral Video and His Eight Years of Misrule in Kaduna State, the group alleged that the incessant killings and maiming of children, women and youth, and the burning of their homes and destruction of villages and communities in Southern Kaduna from 2015 to 2023 was part of a strategy for Islamic dominance orchestrated by the erstwhile government of El-Rufai. The Southern Kaduna Leadership Council (SKLC) held its regular meeting on the 17th June, 2023, and considered several important matters, including the speech by Mal. Nasir El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, delivered to some religious clerics, the group said. READ ALSO: El-Rufai playing dangerous games with Islamisation comments, says group The SKLC noted that the video of Nasir El-Rufais speech has gone viral and has made public certain issues that have hitherto remained in the domain of conjecture and hypothesis among Nigerians generally, but which we the victims of El-Rufais actions have lived and experienced over a period of eight years. That Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai set out deliberately to misinform the Nigerian public and the world, and waged false propaganda amongst certain religious circles, to the effect that the people of Southern Kaduna who are mainly Christians did not vote for the APC. That El-Rufai picked a Muslim deputy from Southern Kaduna to spite the Christian majority for not supporting the APC and theme most insidious aspect of this El-Rufai Islamist agenda was his claim that he extended such a Muslim-Muslim system to the presidential election in order to extend the scope of Islamic subjugation across the length and breadth of Nigeria within twenty years. The impoverishment of our people arising from the total neglect of the area in 8 years, and the deliberate destruction of farmlands, crops, plantations and forests, harvests and food stocks, in an orgy of terrorist violence were deliberate actions in pursuit of subordination of the people of Southern Kaduna to El-Rufais implementation of jihadism in Kaduna State. That the incessant killings and maiming of our children, women and youth, and the burning of our homes and destruction of our villages and communities from 2015 to 2023 was part of a strategy for Islamic dominance by the government of Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai in Kaduna State. READ ALSO: Court dismisses el-Rufai defamation suit against Shehu Sani That the assassinations, murders, kidnappings, arrests and imprisonment, and removal of indigenous Southern Kaduna traditional rulers, and the balkanization of our chiefdoms to create emirates out of districts under our traditional leaders, was part of an undeclared jihadist campaign being surreptitiously waged by Nasir El-Rufai as Governor of Kaduna State. Advertisement We hereby wish to let the nation and international community know of the heinous plans and to draw the attention of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the 2014 National Constitutional Conference where it was agreed to create Gurara State from the present Kaduna State and to invite the President to activate the demand which has gone through the constitutional process of obtaining the consent of two thirds of the 36 Houses of Assembly in the Federation. The Special Adviser to the President on Communication, Strategy, and Special Duties, Dele Alake, made this known in a chat with Arise News on Monday. The Presidency has revealed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu works for 20 hours every day. This is to ensure that his administration fulfills the campaign promises made to Nigerians. The revelation was made by Special Adviser to the President on Communication, Strategy, and Special Duties, Dele Alake in a chat with Arise News on Monday. Alake said President Tinubu works between 18 to 20 hours each day since his assumption of office on May 29 and has been a hard worker since his time as the Governor of Lagos State. The presidential aide added that Nigerians are now commending President Tinubu on social media for the key actions taken so far in the last three weeks in office. Recall that Alake had said that it would not take Tinubu up to 60 days to assemble a team of competent hands to work with him in the incoming government. The Special Adviser to the President said he did not take his principal more than three weeks to form his cabinet as governor, stressing that two months is too long for him to form his cabinet. In a chat with the Punch, Alake stated that a month is enough for any serious government to form its cabinet and put a structure of government in place after the swearing-in. He had said: I told you in an earlier interview that it didnt take Asiwaju more than three weeks to form his cabinet as governor. That was as at that time. I think 60 days is even too much. A month, maximum, is enough for any serious government to form its cabinet and put a structure of government in place after the swearing-in. A Nigerian lady, Elle Peter has celebrated sickle cell day with a touching story. World Sickle cell day held on the 19th of June, 2023. Elle who struggles with sickle cell disease, disclosed that she has outlived a man who told her father to count her out because she wont live long. The entrepreneur disclosed this via Twitter on Monday, while sharing her battle with the inherited disease on World Sickle Cell Day observed every June 19. Growing up some man told my Dad not to count me among his children cos I have sickle cell and Ill die soon. The man died in 2016 but Im still here healthy and bubbly, the sickle cell advocate wrote. I kept my struggles with sickle cell a secret until my 28th birthday. My mom and I traveled alot and lived outside the country for my treatment for years but friends & family had no idea. Looking back now and realizing my parents were protecting me from stigma and wicked people. Senator Shehu Sani has mocked former President Muhammadu Buhari. According to him, Buhari called previous governments kwarapt but cultivated, incubated and harboured the most larcenous and opaque cabinet in Nigerias history. He took to Twitter and wrote: Wherever he is, the former President is watching how power can be effectively used to reawaken and reinforce the spirit of a nation.A contrast to his boring era that was characterised by deficiency of vision,subservience to a parasitic cabal and notorious for its emptiness.He called all the previous Governments kwarapt while he cultivated,incubated and harboured the most larcenous and opaque Federal Cabinet in Nigerias history. Almost a year after releasing his debut album Boy Alone Nigerian star Omah Lay has returned to Spotify with the deluxe version, released on June 16. The twenty-track album delivers six new tracks, cutting across Afropop, R&B, with a mix of Highlife and Swing. The new tracks, Reason, Its Yours, Come Closer, Imagine with Aitch, Joanna and the Soso Remix featuring Ozuna, were strategically arranged at the beginning of the album to give listeners a fresh experience. Just as the original version had listeners marvelling at his talent, the Boy Alone (Deluxe) has further proven Omah Lays mettle as one of the leading artists in the African music scene whose craft will define the future of Afrobeats. READ: I Was In So Much Pain, Losing My Mind When I Wrote Soso Omah Lay [Video] Originally released in July 2022, Boy Alone displayed an impressive level of artistic depth thats uncommon in Afrobeats through an exploration of the pain and pleasures of fame. Spotify data gives a glimpse into just how popular the original release has been. While Omah Lay is adored in Nigeria, the vast majority of Spotify listeners are streaming his songs from elsewhere in the world. The United States tops the list of countries streaming Omah Lays songs, with France, United Kingdom, Germany and Nigeria rounding out the top five. His hit song Soso ranks as his most streamed track and also stands out as the most exported song globally within the 18-34 demographic. Its followed by his feature on People, a song by Libianca, also featuring Ayra Starr. Spotify is a platform dedicated to supporting and showcasing the best of African content and talent, and providing artists with a place to grow their global fanbases. Omah Lays global reach is a testament to his talent and the vast power and access that streaming offers, says Victor Okpala, Spotifys Artist and Label Partnerships Manager for West Africa. Spotify data further shows that just a few days after its release, the Ozuna remix of Soso is already proving to be a fan favourite on Spotify, occupying the number four spot among his top exports in the 18-34 age group. Omah Lays songs feature on over 5.8 million user-generated playlists globally and more than 300,000 user-generated playlists in Nigeria on Spotify. Understand and Soso top the list of most playlisted songs globally and in Nigeria respectively. DONT MISS: 25 Best Songs of 2022, From Joeboy, Tiwa Savage to Ayra Starr Related Renowned Nigerian comedian, Bowoto Jephthah Tanimola, popularly known as Akpororo, has issued an apology following widespread criticism of his recent joke regarding the Labour Partys presidential candidate, Peter Obi. POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the controversial comment, which suggested that Obi would spend eight years in court, received mixed reactions from Nigerians and quickly went viral on various social media platforms. Recall that during a comedy show held in Abuja, Akpororo praised President Bola Tinubu, hailing him as a healthy and intelligent leader who would remain in power for a total of eight years. He also suggested that Peter Obi would be embroiled in legal battles throughout Tinubus administration. I always say this and people say Im crazy. But in the end, what I said will happen. Tinubu will be president for eight years, Akpororo proclaimed on stage. He went on to highlight Tinubus remarkable transformation, noting, Before he became president, his head, hands, and legs were shaking. But since he became the president, have you seen anything shake? People mocked him on social media for his grammar, but since he became the president, that man reads without looking at books. He is very intelligent. The comedian also expressed his belief in supernatural powers within the political realm, stating, Im telling you how Aso Rock is. When they enter that place, theyre above witches and wizards. They become principalities. Im a Christian, I am spirit-filled. If I tell you something, it will always come to pass. Nothing will happen to Tinubu; he will be president for eight years. Tinubu did not give me any money. Is Peter Obi still in court? He will be in court for eight years. However, after receiving backlash for his comments, Akpororo took to Instagram to address the negative feedback. In a post shared on Tuesday, he clarified that his statement had been taken out of context, asserting that he was merely highlighting the flaws in the Nigerian system and its pervasive corruption. In an effort to provide more context, Akpororo shared the full video of his comedy show on his verified Instagram page, along with the message, Make una no vex, no be wetin I mean be that, I dey try talk about Nigeria system and corruption. Na the full video be this. It is worth noting that Peter Obi is currently in court challenging the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election. Moreover, there are indications that both Obi and Tinubu will once again vie for the presidency in 2027. Advertisement From Chuks Collins, Awka, The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra(IPOB) has bemoaned the ongoing demolition of the popular Alaba International Market in Lagos by the state government and consequently called on the traders there who are predominantly Igbo to consider relocating to their South East homeland. In a media statement by its director of Media and Publicity, Comrade Emma Powerful, IPOB reiterated its earlier think-home clarion call for Ndigbo abroad to come back home and invest, we the global family and movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ably lead by Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu join other well-meaning Biafrans to call on our people in the Western and Northern Regions of Nigeria to take their investments to Igbo Land (ala Igbo) to avoid destruction and this sustained economic profiling IPOB, he added, ..sympathizes with our brothers and sisters in Lagos, who are currently victims of ethnic profiling and prejudice against Ndigbo and all Biafrans in Nigeria. Biafrans have been victims of human and economic destruction from fellow Nigerians right from the amalgamation of the three major nations into Nigeria by Britain up to today. It is therefore high time Biafrans say enough is enough! Biafrans have lost countless lives and properties in their many decades of existence as Nigerians through hate-propelled religious and tribal riots in Northern Nigeria. We came to understand that they are removing those buildings wrongly built on top of cannal but following the hatred Yoruba polititcians had against Ndigbo our people must be prepared because they will come for other buildings within the market. IPOB call on our people to be ready they are coming. But those evil men championing the hateful onslaught will regret their actions soon. The statement noted that during the Nigeria genocidal war against Biafran, many Biafrans were massacred in cold blood, and their properties confiscated in the Northern, Western, and even in some parts of Eastern Nigeria. During and after the 2023 elections in Nigeria, Biafrans in Yoruba Land have been targeted for annihilation, economic sabotage and crippling due to political bigotry and fear of fair competition. The ongoing destruction of major business places of Ndigbo and Biafrans in general, like portions of Alaba International Market, is one of their planned strategies to put a lot of hardworking Biafran youths into poverty. This is part of calculated strategies now being rolled out in phases. Biafrans should therefore not allow their hard earned money to be thrown into the Lagos lagoon as they have planned and threatened long time ago. It is time to return our families and investments home! We are calling on Ndigbo and Great Biafrans at large in Lagos and throughout the northern parts of Nigeria to return home and build shopping malls, modern markets, supermarkets, housing estates and plazas in Biafra Land. On the other hand, we encourage our people to begin large-scale farming of Biafran staple foods. We had developed a buoyant economic region before the Nigeria government imposed their devastating economic policies that forced a lot of Biafrans out of the East. Nevertheless, we are resilient spirited people whose businesses are doing much better than those outside Biafra Land. Together, we can provide our own vibrant economy that will be the envy of the world. Nigeria has time without number shown how much they despise us, and we must not despise ourselves by allowing them that pleasure. If we survived with their wicked 20 policy (the amount of money they gave every Igbo person who had huge amounts in Nigerian banks before the war, and three years of brutal ethnic cleansing civil war, but bounced back and built Nigeria up within 50 years, imagine what we can achieve if we concentrate on building up Biafra Land alone. Dear Biafrans, it is time for us to think home. Nothing will happen to us. We must succeed because God Almighty, Chukwu Okike Abiama is always on our side anywhere we go. Lagos is not Biafra land. If you are told to leave Lagos, do that with all pleasure. The statement lamented that .. many Yoruba elders are not speaking up against the ethnic attacks on Ndigbo and all Biafrans. However, we are urging Yoruba polititcians not to destroy Biafrans properties but give them time to take back their properties and their movable assets Continuous destruction of properties of Biafrans will provoke unimaginable reactions that Yorubas would not expect IPOB supports those calling for our people to come back home, and sees it as a divine arrangement to gather us closer to fight for our exit from Nigeria, which will occur shortly. Biafranhave tried their best to become Nigerians more than other Nigerians, but are left with no other options but Biafra Independence at this point. In the end, everyone will agree that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB have been right all along. Related Advertisement Advertisement By Joshua Chibuzo Andrew, Owerri There is palpable tension in Imo state Magistrate Court Orlu road following the receipt of a threat letter allegedly written by bandits warning that no tribunal cases be further entertained in the state. Grapevine source at the court told our reporter that the warning from the bandits came on Tuesday morning. According to the source, the letter warned that no further tribunal cases should be entertained starting from today. But if the court wants to dare us, they will have themselves to blame. Meanwhile, information reaching our correspondent revealed that the Court premises, as at the time of filing this report, has been deserted and the gate under lock and keys. Speaking with a lawyer who pleaded anonymity, he said the ongoing Election Petition Tribunal may be relocated to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, for further hearing, where the safety of the people would be guaranteed. He described the situation as worrisome and unfortunate, but admitted that the lives of the people are precious. As I speak, the Court premises is empty. Everyone has departed for fear of being harmed. You wouldnt know when these boys are coming, and whether or not the threat letter actually came bandits is not important here, what is rather important is the safety of the people. We had earlier told the government to provide the Court with maximum security to be able to have smooth and hitch-free court proceedings, but not enough attention had been given to this noble request. We cannot risk our lives while carrying out our professional duty. Recall that a Customary Court Magistrate, Nnaemeka Ugboma, at Ejemekwuru Oguta LGA, was brutally killed in the court room while presiding a proceeding. Same way a female lawyer, Barr. O. C Duru, was gruesomely murder after being kidnapped by unknown gunmen at Owerri Nkworji Nkwerre LGA. We shall not treat this warning with levity. Related Advertisement The African Energy Chamber has secured over $1.4bn in intentions to invest in Africas bankable projects in mining, oil & gas, power and renewables from Chinese companies during a one-week working visits to Beijing. During meetings with top Chinese energy companies and financial institutions, the African Energy Chamber discussed the signing of win-win agreements and contracts that will make energy work for Africa while providing Chinese investors with attractive and rewarding opportunities in Africa. Chinas economic transformation in the last few decades in nothing short of remarkable, declared Nj Ayuk. What this country has accomplished is an inspiration for Africa, where nations still need to lift hundreds of millions out of poverty and provide us with sustained economic development for decades. China and Africa share very similar challenges, and the message China is sending us is that if they can do it, so can we. As LNG demand is growing by the day in China, Africa stands to play a role. In 2018, China consumed 276.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas, an increase of 16.6% over 2017. In meetings, the Chamber discussed with Chinese companies the need to invest in gas exploration and the need to also work on African initiatives like LNG2Africa which are a win-win for both Africa and China. Throughout its meetings, the African Energy Chamber secured over $1.4bn in intentions to invest in Africas bankable projects in mining, oil & gas, power and renewables. The biggest encouragement for us is that beyond their investment appetite for Africa, Chinese companies are clear about their intention to invest in the promotion of local content and the building of local manufacturing capacities, added Nj Ayuk. In addition to upstream oil & gas and mining projects, key infrastructure financing opportunities in refinery and storage facilities were also discussed. In light of strong Chinese interest for Africa, and following demands from its Chinese partners, the Chamber will be hosting the first China-Africa Energy Investment Forum in 2020 in Beijing. Post Views: 28 The Kano State Police Command, on Tuesday, said it is intensifying efforts to apprehend the suspects, who murdered a housewife, Malama Farida Dahiru. Already, the State Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu has ordered a comprehensive investigation into the gruesome murder of the housewife. The three-year-old daughter of the deceased was also dumped inside a well within the Gobirawa quarters, a suburb in Ungogo Local Government Area of Kano State. The incident, according to a source, occurred on Sunday night. The assailants reportedly broke into the house of the victim and killed her inside her matrimonial home. The husband of the victim, identified as, Malam Shuaib Abdul-Mumin, was dumbfounded at the gruesome murder of his wife. A relation of the victim, Malam Yahaya Lawal said Abdul-Mumin (husband) had just returned from the wedding party of his friend and noticed the doors of his house locked, shortly before midnight and suspected that his wife might have locked the door. He knocked on the door and got no response. Lawal said, He persistently knocked on the door, without response. That was when he became afraid. After several knocks, he decided to break down the door. As he entered the house, he met his wife in her own pool of blood. Lawal said the deceaseds husband collapsed at the sight of his dead wife. According to Lawal, after killing Farida, the assailants pounced on her ailing daughter, who was undergoing treatment for malaria and dumped her into a well in the compound. Confirming the incident, spokesperson of the Kano State Police Command, DSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, disclosed that the State Police Commissioner, Ahmed Iliyasu, personally led officers to the scene of the incident after receiving the report. On Monday, around 12:00 a.m., we received a sad report that some assailants broke into the house of Malam Shuaibu Abdul-Mumin, at Gobirawa and killed his wife and daughter but spared an 11-year-old child, who is the youngest in the family of four. So, the Police Commissioner led a team of detectives to the scene, where six suspects were arrested in connection with the incident, he said. Scene of the incident where Okada riders and police clashed in Lagos Three persons have been feared killed after a fight broke out between commercial motorcyclists and Policemen at Ijora in Apapa, Lagos. This is coming after a fight started around 9:30am as a result of ban placed on okada and tricycles in Lagos. The incident led to destruction of vehicles and other properties in the area. It was gathered that hell was let loose after policemen had gone to the port community to enforce the State Governments ban on commercial cycles but met stiff resistance from the operators who had earlier vowed to unleash Mayhem in protest against the new order. At the time of this report, security has been reinforced and several motorcycles seized. BLOOMINGTON Boba for Life, 502 N. Prospect Road in Bloomington, is this week's pick for Eats of the Week. Bubble tea is a sweet drink of Taiwanese origin; it consists of tea mixed with milk or fruit syrup and small balls of tapioca, called boba. Manjita Shrestha, who runs the business with husband Aashish Shrestha, spoke to The Pantagraph about the qualities that helped Boba for Life build a Twin Cities following. "It's plant-based; it's from cassava root. We boil the boba and it becomes a jelly texture," she said. "People really started liking it. If I see one new person, I see that person again in the same week, so that's how my business grew. "It was more word of mouth, and we give fresh boba every single time." The family-owned business opened in 2017. At first, Shrestha said, she often had to explain the product to customers because it was new to the area, but that is far from the case today. The journey to business ownership was a winding one for Shrestha, who is originally from Nepal and came to the United States in 2007. She first tried boba when her sister took her to a shop in Oklahoma and promptly became a devotee, searching for it in the Virginia community where she attended school. After graduation, she got a job at State Farm and worked there for five years. But Shrestha and her husband are both foodies and he loves to cook, so they figured they would end up in the restaurant business eventually. She knew she wanted to try entrepreneurship, and she knew that she would want to open a boba business. The passion runs in the family: The couple's 5-year-old daughter also loves boba so much that she wants some every single day. "My favorite thing about boba is that the taste is unique. Our theme, our logo is 'enjoy your drink and don't forget to chew,'" Shrestha said. "I just love the tea and the variety of teas that we provide." Popular menu items include the brown sugar milk tea, taro milk tea, the Oreo shake, and the peach and green apple slushies. The popping bobas, which are juice-based bobas that burst fresh fruit flavors into your mouth, are also customer favorites. Different flavors of popping bubbles are switched out every few months. The shop also offers dumplings or "momo," bakery items, Korean waffle ice cream, macaroons, and coffee as well as indoor dining, take-out, and catering services. Shrestha said they can mix and match the fruit teas with the popping bobas, and they occasionally offer discounts on drinks. "The kids get really excited with those popping bobas, they're really drawn to it. Kids bring their parents and they fall in love with it, so that's how the circle is going," Shrestha said. Shrestha said that a lot of her customers come all the way from Peoria just to buy boba and they often tell her she should open a store there. She said she would consider a pop-up location in the future. She predicted that even more businesses like hers will spring up in the next five years. "The global boba business is booming. It's everywhere," she said. "Everybody knows what it is now, especially teenagers and kids. They love boba." BLOOMINGTON Discussions will continue on the establishment of a special commission to address local gun violence after the Bloomington City Council reached consensus on Monday. Several aldermen voiced concerns, however, that such a commission could be counterproductive due to the work of local groups like the city's own Public Safety and Community Relations Board that perform similar functions. According to data presented by Bloomington Police Chief Jamal Simington in March, there were 42 shots-fired incidents, 15 people shot and five homicides by gun in 2022, compared to 31 shots-fired incidents, 12 people shot and three homicides in 2021. Alderwoman Mollie Ward, who introduced the initiative, said the goal would be to collect gun violence data, including statistics on suicide, that currently is scattered across various websites and community groups. The commission then would be able to identify patterns and develop a comprehensive plan to address them. "I don't see this is a never-ending kind of a commission," Ward said. "I see very concrete, clear mile markers being put in place for when we want reports, when we want recommendations (and) how long this commission will exist." Alderwoman Donna Boelen countered that the commission would lead to a duplication of services from local groups that already are invested in the reduction of gun violence. "The police department has its strategic plan (and) they are working on their goals constantly," Boelen said. "I see this Bloomington gun violence commission initiative as creating a silo (and) we don't need to create another silo." Ward argued that handing this goal over to another group that is not specifically designed for the task runs the risk of the data being "watered down." The measure had been brought before the council during a committee of the whole meeting in February but aldermen voted to place it on a future agenda for further discussion. It was pushed back again after the council authorized the use of a $500,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for various violence prevention initiatives. This money was earmarked to provide for, among other things, access to a national database of ballistic evidence, the purchase of two mobile public safety trailer cameras for public events and the initiation of a gun buyback program. An ordinance to fund these expenses was amended in March at the request of Ward to include measurable reduction targets and an assessment of the overall success of each program. Five out of the nine council members said they would like to hear more about the initiative with Aldermen Boelen, Sheila Montney, Nick Becker and Kent Lee saying they don't need to hear more. Bloomington City Manager Tim Gleason said he will have to speak with Ward and Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe to determine whether this matter will be introduced as an informational item or as an action item during the next city council meeting. How spending on public safety and policing has changed over the last 40 years How spending on public safety and policing has changed over the last 40 years Spending on public safety in cities in the US has doubled since 1980 Police funding has remained about half of public safety budgets consistently for 40 years Even with ballooning public safety budgets, many cities allocate more money to the police Some cities have reigned in police spending, while others have tightened overall public safety budgets The Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice has rejected a proposal by Big Sea on behalf of businessman, Richard Jakpa, who is standing trial alongside Minority Leader and former Deputy Minister of Finance, |Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson for causing 2.37 million financial loss to the state. The proposal, according to a confidential source, sought to pay the cedi equivalent of 2 million in two tranches 500,000 upon settlement of the agreement and a further 1.5 million spread over a period of six months. The company as part of the proposal is also seeking Government of Ghana to return the 30 defective ambulances with all the accessories they came once repayment has been made, as well discontinue the criminal prosecution of all three accused persons. The proposal sent to the Attorney General indicates that it was necessitated by Big Seas desire to protect its interest across West African sub-region, especially when it is not part of the ongoing trial, hence would not have the opportunity to defend itself against allegations that irreparably damage its reputation and business interest. But the Office of the Attorney General has rejected the terms proposed by the company for various reasons, among which include the fact that the proposed money does not make up for the entire money the state lost as result of the purchase of the 30 defective ambulances, which according to trial documents are ordinary buses and do not meet the specification of an ambulance. Another reason for the rejection of the proposal, DAILY GUIDE understands, is that the proposal only covers one of the three accused persons and there is no admission of guilt by Mr. Jakpa or any of the accused persons with respect to the charges levelled against them. Dr. Forson was expected to open his defence last Thursday but the court had to adjourn the case to allow Mr. Jakpa to further negotiate with the Office of the Attorney General on the proposal put forward. It is not clear if any changes have been made to the previous proposal and if the AG maintains its stance, then Dr. Forson, barring any last-minute changes, would open his defence today. Dr. Ato Forson, Sylvester Anemana, a former Chief Director at the Ministry of Health, as well as private businessman, Richard Jakpa, are standing trial for willfully causing financial loss of 2.37 million to the state, through a contract to purchase 200 ambulances for the Ministry of Health, among other charges. An Accra High Court on March 30, 2023, ordered Dr. Forson and two others to open their defence in a trial in which they are accused of purchasing defective vehicles as ambulances for the Ministry of Health. The court, presided over by Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, a Court of Appeal judge sitting as an additional High Court judge, in a ruling held that the three had a case to answer in the charges of causing financial loss and others levelled against them by the Office of the Attorney General in a deal that saw the state spending 2.37 million on the defective ambulances. She held that both the prosecution and the defence teams admit in one way or the other that the ambulances that were imported were defective, so If you have spent money on a vehicle that cannot be used, then there is a case to be answered. The prosecution, led by the Attorney General and Minster for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame and Director of Public Prosecutions, Yvonne Atakora-Obuobisa, closed its case on February 14, 2023 after calling five witnesses, including the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu to prove its case. The main issue raised during the prosecutions case was whether the defective vehicles were purchased in accordance with the purchase agreement approved by Parliament. The other was whether Dr. Forson was authorised by the substantive Finance Minister or any superior officer to write a letter to the Controller and Accountant General directing the establishment of irrevocable Letters of Credit (LCs) which led to the payments. The Attorney General, in a written submission to establish the prosecutions case, asserted that Dr. Forson was criminally reckless in not ensuring that the terms of the agreement were adhered, and that resulted in the institution of the criminal case against him. Dr. Forson, in submission, argues that he wrote the letter on behalf of the then substantive Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper. The AG disagrees with the assertion and argues that the letters were written with no authorisation from any quarters. Source: Daily Guide 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 One of the accused persons standing trial with the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, made an outburst in the courtroom at the Accra High Court today. This, did not go down well with Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, a Justice of the Court of Appeal, sitting as a High Court judge. The court therefore descended heavily on Richard Jakpa, for disrespecting the court. Jakpa, a businessman is on trial with Dr Forson and another, for allegedly causing financial loss of 2.37 million to the state over some ambulance purchase, Graphic Online's Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson reports that in court on Tuesday [June 20, 2023], Justice AsareBotwe warned the accused person not to ever act in such a manner again for she would not hesitate to invoke the powers of contempt. How dare you speak to the court like that? This should be the very last time you will show disrespect to the court, if you do, I will fully use my powers. Mr Jakpa, this is the last time you will be in contempt of court and go home. What you have done is contemptuous and disrespectful, Justice Asare-Botwe warned. Disrespect for the court The presiding judge said some people had chosen to malign the courts in the media, a situation which had created a fester ground for others to disrespect the court The kind of commentary people do in the press is responsible for this disrespect. People get up and say whatever they like regarding the court, she said. Justice Asare-Botwe said she would continue to give accused persons and patrons of her court the freedoms to fully access justice, but she would not countenance any form of disrespect. Counsel for Japka, Thomas Aubyn, apologised for his clients action, while Japka himself later apologised saying My Lady, I am sorry. What happened? The Head of Litigation of Stanbic Bank, Henry Myles Miles, the first witness requested by Dr Forson, was testifying regarding the terms of a loan agreement between the bank and the Government of Ghana for the purchase of some 200 ambulances. Midway through the proceedings, Jakpa asked permission to go and urinate outside, which Justice Asare Botwe initially refused but shortly said he (accused person) should rather go and urinate in a washroom within the courtroom which had been created for accused persons. Jakpa grudgingly left his seat, looked at the judge with disdain and entered the washroom, obviously angry. The accused person kept so long in the washroom that his lawyer had to go inside and find out what was happening. Both the accused person and the lawyer shortly came out of the washroom. As Jakpa was about to sit down, Justice Asare Botwe, in a friendly manner, said that she had instructed her court clerk to get him a hand sanitizer because she was told that there was no soap in the washroom. Jakpa went into a frenzy and shouted but you did not even want me to go and urinate, why are you offering me a sanitizer. This led to uproar in the courtroom with people surprised at the outburst of the accused person. Background Dr Forson, a former Deputy Minister of Finance, and the two others are standing trial for allegedly causing financial loss of 2.37 million to the state in a deal to purchase some 200 ambulances for the country between 2014 and 2016. The other accused persons are Sylvester Anemana, a former Chief Director of the Ministry of Health and Jakpa, a businessman. The accused persons have pleaded not guilty to five counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the state, abetment to wilfully cause financial loss to the state, contravention of the Public Procurement Act and intentionally misapplying public property. Facts Per the A-Gs facts accompanying the charge sheet, in 2009, during the state of the nations address, the then President John Evans Atta Mills, indicated that new ambulances would be purchased to expand the services of the National Ambulance Service to many parts of the country. It said following the state of the nation address, Jakpa, who is a local representative of Big Sea General Trading Limited, a company based on Dubai, approached the Ministry of Health with a proposal that he had arranged for finance from Stanbic Bank for the supply of 200 ambulances to the government. By a joint memorandum dated 30th April, 2012, the Minister of Finance, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, and the Minister of Health, Alban S.K Bagbin, applied for parliamentary approval for the supply of 200 ambulances at a price of 15,800,000 to be paid out of credit arrangement between Stanbic Bank and the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Finance. This memorandum to Parliament did not make reference to any role to be played by either Big Sea General Trading Limited or agents for Big Sea. It also did not refer to the terms under which the ambulances would be procured or the terms under which the company will be involved in the transaction, the facts added. Parliament, it said, approved the financing agreement between the government and Stanbic Bank. According to the facts, Graphic Online's Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson reports that on November 19, 2012, Anemana wrote to the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) seeking approval to engage Big Sea through single sourcing for the supply of 200 ambulances. By an agreement dated December 19, 2012, the Ministry of Health, formally contracted Big Sea General Trading, based in Dubai, for the supply of 200 Mercedes Benz ambulances. The contract sum was 15.8million at a unit price of 79,000) The terms of the delivery, as per the agreement, were that the first assignment of 25 vehicles should be delivered within 120 days of the execution of the agreement. The outstanding 175 vehicles were to be delivered in batches of 25 every 30 days, the facts said. It said per the terms of the agreement, advance payment was prohibited, but rather the payment was to be done through the raising of letters of credit by the government of Ghana to the suppliers of the ambulances. Alleged defects The facts added that on August 7, 2014, Dr Forson, who was the Deputy Minister of Finance, wrote to the Bank of Ghana for letters of credit of 3,950,000 for the supply of 50 ambulances in favour of Big Sea. The letters of credit, the facts added were accordingly released to Big Sea. A consignment of 10 ambulances which was shipped from Dubai on October 22, 2014, arrived on December 16, 2014. A post-delivery inspection of the first batch of 10 ambulances revealed that some were without any medical equipment in them. Other fundamental defects included defects on the body of the vehicles and the patient compartment of the ambulances. The third batch of 10 vehicles were shipped on February 12, 2015. By this time, the second batch had already arrived at the Tema Port. All the 20 ambulances had the same fundamental defects. A total amount of 2,370,000 was paid for the 30 vehicles, the facts added. It said in a letter dated January 20, 2016, the then Minister of Health, Mr Alex Segbefia, told Big Sea that the vehicles did not meet ambulances specifications and were not fit for purpose. 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 Officials in the northern Nigerian state of Kano declared a state of emergency on Monday over phone snatching and other criminal activities in Kano city, local media report. The assembly expressed their concerns over rising incidents of phone snatching, shoplifting, drug abuse and other crimes they said were threatening the city's peaceful environment. In a debate of the motion sponsored by the majority leader in parliament, members of the assembly agreed there was an urgent need to address the situation before it worsens. The assembly adopted the motion urging the state government to take all measures to ensure the perpetrators of the crimes were apprehended and brought to justice. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Tribaverse, an Afrobeats festival that seeks to create environmental awareness and solve climate change issues by exhibiting the richness and diversity of African culture, will host the Greensight Environmental Summit on Saturday, June 24, 2023. Tribaverse, a great place to learn, network, and enjoy performances inspired by a unifying theme to promote green practices and address environmental challenges impacting communities, will have three-time Grammy nominee artist and activist Rocky Dawuni as one of the speakers. The Greensight Environmental Summit, inspired by a unifying theme, "A Path to a Greener Future: Driving a Green Economy in Ghana, will be held at the British Council, Accra, Ghana, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a list of other influential personalities as attendees. According to the organisers, the summit will give the speakers a platform to highlight the environmental challenges and also suggest solutions to promote green practices. At the event sponsored by Ghana Trip, the co-founder of Tribaverse, Luigi Houdson, will introduce the audience to Tribaverses mission. Tribaverse aims to encourage sustainable practices that mitigate climate change towards limiting its adverse effects in Ghana such as rising sea levels, flash floods, changing weather patterns, and more by supporting afforestation practices and giving back to societies in need. The event will be hosted by media personality Natalia Andoh and opened by a keynote speaker with some great personalities as speakers, like Rocky Dawuni and a special guest from the Ministry of Forestry. As part of the brands vision of leveraging the power of music, arts, and culture to foster sustainable development of climate-resilient communities, Tribaverse will roll out other impactful events like a virtual Career Ready workshop, a coastal cleanup day event, a street cleaning and green campaign, a green festival launch, and the Tribaverse Green Festival to promote and achieve green practices. 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 Following the report of the death of a woman pilgrim in Saudi Arabia, the Ghana Hajj Board has issued a statement to say that the deceased was not a member of the team it took for the holy pilgrimage. The statement said that the death of Zulfawu Isahaku, 68, as earlier reported by GhanaWeb, is one that it only read about in the media because, officially, she was not a member of their pilgrims. The Ghana Hajj Board wishes to state that the reported death of a Ghanaian lady Zulfawu Isahaku is something the board like others, read from a section of the media. The deceased is not part of our registered Ghanaian pilgrims performing this years Hajj, the statement said. The statement added that although it appears the woman is Ghanaian, the matter is one that the authorities in Saudi Arabia have to handle. The subject as it is falls within the remit of the Ghana High Commission in Saudi Arabia. We are unable therefore to comment on the subject, the statement added. Earlier, GhanaWeb reported that a Muslim pilgrim from Ghana had reportedly lost her life. The cause of the death of Zulfawu Isahaku, 68, at Mecca is still one that has not been determined, although there are suspicions it may have been attributed to hardship, a report by 3news.com has said. However, the report said that the woman is believed to have come from Kumasi, the regional capital of the Ashanti Region. Zulfawu is also said to have been in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on a visiting visa something that the authorities in Saudi Arabia do not allow for persons coming to the country on pilgrimage. The report added that in the case of the deceased, and just like others like her, they would usually infiltrate the camp of Ghanaians who officially travel to the country to observe the Hajj. This, it added, is usually at the expense of government-registered pilgrims. Zulfawu Isahaku was said to have travelled to Mecca during Umrah season with the intention to stay over and perform Hajj with those officially permitted to. Unfortunately, on her part, she went through difficult times during her stay which led to a worsening medical situation, resulting in her demise, the report said. Also earlier, the Ghana Hajj Board had sent notices and warnings out that pilgrims traveling for the holy pilgrimage in Mecca should not do so on such visas because if they are found, they would be arrested and handed over to the authorities in Saudi Arabia. Tied to that, some three persons are said to have been arrested over the past weekend, the report added. Zulfawus burial is to follow soon, in line with Islamic practices. 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 Spokesperson for Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Dr. Gideon Boako has rubbished claims that the Vice President is no match for former John Dramani Mahama in 2024 elections. Speaking on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" Monday morning, Dr. Gideon Boako laughed off the claims and touted Dr. Bawumia as the best person to compete the Presidential race against Ex-President John Mahama, come 2024. He recounted Dr. Bawumia's impact on the 2020 elections stressing his influence won for the NPP more parliamentary seats in the Northern Region which is believed to be a stronghold of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). To him, Dr. Bawumia will help the New Patriotic Party to win more votes from the NDC strongholds in the northern sector. "Bawumia over the years has demonstrated through his impact in the political scene that he can win more votes for us," he said. Dr. Gideon Boako stressed that "it will be very very dangerous for the NDC in the North" when Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia goes head to head with Ex-President Mahama. "In the 2020 elections, NPP won seventeen (17) seats from the NDC in the whole Ghana. Out of the 17 seats we won from the NDC, 15 of them came from the Northern Region. So, this means Bawumia's influence penetrated the NDC that as even as Running Mate, his effect is so huge that if we leave him head to head with Mahama, it will be very very dangerous for the NDC in the North," he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Dr. Gideon Boako has refuted assertions that the New Patriotic Party electing Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as their Presidential candidate will jeopardize their chances within the Christian community. Some critics claim that Christians will not vote for Dr. Bawumia in the 2024 elections because he is a Muslim. But Dr. Gideon Boako, who is a Christian and the Vice President's Spokesperson, says it is a blatant lie that Christians will not vote for the Vice President when the NPP elects him to lead them into 2024 elections. According to him, there has never been any Vice President in the history of Ghana who is so loved by Christians as Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. "I've never seen a President or a Vice President in Ghana that Christians invite him to their programmes more than Bawumia...Currently, Christians invite Bawumia to their programmes more than any other political figure in this country," he said on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' morning show. To him, Dr. Bawumia is a man of all people and his engagements with the Christian community is testament that they will surely vote for him to be President of Ghana. "He (Dr. Bawumia) understands the Bible as a scholar. He understands the Quran as a scholar," Dr. Boako added. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A farmer in Ejura Sekyeredumase in the Ashanti Region, Opanyin Kwame Anthony Adjei, has called on delegates of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to elect former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Joe Ghartey, as flagbearer of the party. He says Hon. Ghartey deserves to lead the NPP as flagbearer and Ghana as President. Hon. Ghartey who is on his nationwide "Walking and Talking Tour" was commended by Opanyin Kwame Anthony. This was after Hon. Ghartey's team while driving along a bush track stopped to ask a group of farmers on the way to their farm for directions. Opanyin Anthony could not hide his joy when he asked "Isn't that Joe Ghartey" and he got a positive response. He exclaimed, "you used to wear your glasses at the tip of your nose when you were Attorney-General President Kufour's era." He praised Hon. Ghartey for all the work he had done as Attorney-General and Minister for Railway Development. He said Hon. Ghartey had served NPP and the country well, so NPP delegates should vote for him. Opanyin Adjei said Hon. Ghartey was also from the resource-rich Western Region and had never had a Presidential Candidate under NPP or in the Fourth Republic. He concluded emphatically that "this is Joe Ghartey's time." 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 Professor Godfred Bokpin, an economist and lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), has called for the resignation of President Akufo-Addo, citing his inability to effectively govern with a cabinet of up to 40 ministers. Professor Bokpin argues that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Program secured by the country is not a definitive solution to the economic crisis and that additional measures must be implemented to complement the IMF's recommendations. In Professor Bokpin's view, the government should reduce the number of ministers and dissolve unnecessary agencies in order to address the dire economic situation. He suggests merging certain ministries to cut down on government expenditure and urges the president to take action accordingly. The professor believes that it is unnecessary to seek perfect individuals to govern the country, as perfection is unattainable. Instead, he emphasizes the need for effective governance with fewer ministers and a reduced budget, even suggesting the sale of luxury vehicles. Professor Bokpin made these statements during a speaking engagement at the Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank Business Meeting, where the theme was "The Current Economic Situation and You." He also expressed skepticism regarding the IMF's role in transforming economies, stating that the organization lacks a single case study demonstrating successful economic transformation. He points out that Ghana, despite previously being praised for its IMF interventions, is currently struggling. In light of these concerns, Professor Bokpin emphasizes the importance of Ghana deciding on specific interventions and strategies to achieve the broad fiscal policy framework prescribed by the IMF. He believes that relying solely on the IMF will not lead to the desired economic transformation and calls for proactive measures to be taken by the government. 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 Atik Mohammed has predicted the fate of former Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko going into the NPP Super Delegates Congress to determine the five aspirants who will be contesting the partys presidential primary. Boakye Agyarko is part of ten candidates who have filed their nomination forms to contest the race. The NPP will hold a Super Delegates Congress in August 2023 to trim the number to five. Commenting on the election during Peace FMs Kokrokoo show, Atik Mohammed stated emphatically that he doesnt believe the former Minister will make it to the top three in the primary. He told host Kwami Sefa Kayi; "I am biased towards the inclusion of Mr. Boakye Agyarko because of his expertise and how grounded he is in issues of policy. But to be frank and to tell you the truth, if you ask me if he will be part of the top three, I can't say he's part." Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Ghana Bloggers Association (GBA) has dropped a hint of an impending Ghana Bloggers Awards by the end of this year. The Association which is aimed at uniting Ghana's Blogging Community for impactful conversations, editorials and insights released two different posters on their social media pages as a way of announcing some of their intended programs and projects for the year. Though there are no details about when the awards will be held the president of the Association Andre Mustapha Nii Okai Inusah popularly known as Attractive Mustapha stated in a private chat that the criteria for the awards will surely be communicated soon. He added that the aim of the awards scheme is to reward excellence and also reward not only bloggers but include individuals and institutions that are positively helping the growth of the blogging industry. The awards scheme will be quite different from other awards organized in Ghana 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 The ideas put forth in "The Communist Manifesto" inspired generations of political thinkers and economic theorists. Some of those individuals formed socialist political parties to win power by democratic means, while others, like Lenin and Mao Zedong, launched communist revolutions. The result, today, are countries and governments that identify as either socialist or communist or both! Scandinavia is home to a cluster of democratic socialist countries. Countries like Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark have elected socialist democrat parties into power, and their legislatures have passed laws establishing expansive "welfare states." In a socialist welfare state, citizens pay high taxes, but enjoy generous social services including free education (including college), free health care, retirement pensions, paid parental leave, subsidized housing and more. Advertisement "While the traditional liberal model of democracy only emphasizes individual liberty, the social democratic model, according to its proponents, stresses both liberal and egalitarian ideals," wrote John Patrick in "Understanding Democracy, A Hip Pocket Guide." Critics of democratic socialism, he added, would claim that "positive state action to provide egalitarian social programs requires extensive redistribution of wealth and excessive government regulation of the society and economy." This, in turn, would minimize the principles of individual liberty. It's important to point out that in democratic socialist countries, private ownership of business and free-market capitalism are also allowed to exist. And while socialist parties are currently in power, they are not one-party governments. Other political parties are allowed to campaign and run for office. " " Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden (C), Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven (R) and others pose ahead of a bilateral meeting on Stockholm's candidacy for the 2026 Winter Olympics Games, in 2019. Sweden has a democratic socialist government but still retains a monarchy. PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP via Getty Images That's not the case in so-called communist countries like China, Cuba and Vietnam, and wasn't true in the former Soviet Union, either. Those nations are one-party regimes where the authority of the Communist Party is unquestioned and the party chooses government officials, not the people. While there is no real democracy in these countries, capitalism has made significant inroads, particularly in China and Vietnam. Meanwhile, just to keep things confusing, all of the countries that we call "communist" still think of themselves as socialist, just different flavors of socialism. "China is developing its own model of socialism that's very different from the Soviet Union," says Markowitz. "China's model retains power in the hands of a government controlled by the Communist Party, but it's also created a capitalist sector that's become the second biggest economy in the world over the last 40 years." The truth, says Markowitz, is that there has never been a truly "communist" country in Marx's sense of the word, just as there has never been a true democracy. "These are ideals that one works toward and struggles to achieve." Now That's Interesting Socialism hasn't had much success in American politics since Eugene Debs ran for president in the early 20th century, but there are now four members of the House of Representatives who belong to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rashida Tlaib from Michigan. The organization has over 92,000 members in the U.S. 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: Men walk on a peripheral street of Gurgaon, a fast-expanding technology hub on the outskirts of Delhi, known for having one of the worst air quality indexes on the planet. India, 2019 Humidity 75%, Temperature 21C. Credit: Gaia Squarci Between now and 2050 the use of air conditioners to cope with rising temperatures risks generating an increase in emissions in the order of 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in Europe and as much as 120 million metric tons in India. These figures were revealed in a study published in the journal Scientific Reports by environmental economists Francesco Colelli and Enrica De Cian of Ca' Foscari University of Venice, CMCC (Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change) and RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment and Ian Sue Wing of Boston University. The study is the first to illustrate the impacts of climate change on the demand for air conditioners and electricity for cooling in Europe and India: between now and 2050, with the current fuel mix, there is a risk of a mismatch between what is done for adaptation and mitigation, with increased emissions as a result. The rush to buy new air conditioners in the residential sector and the resulting increased use of electricity associated will characterize both relatively richer but more temperate European countries, and relatively poorer but warmer Indian states. The study estimates that by 2050, under a +2/-3 C warming forecast, air-conditioning uptake could double in Europe and grow fourfold in India, reaching about 40% of homes in both regions. On the one hand, more air conditioning will bring benefits to the population by reducing the heat exposure connected to global warming. Researchers have estimated that cooling technologies will lead the population being exposed to 40% less heat in Europe and 35% less in India by 2050. On the other hand, this will have a strong impact on emissions. Between now and 2050 the energy production required by the increased use of air conditioners will cause a rise in annual CO 2 emissions between 7 and 17 million tons in Europe, and between 38 and 160 million tons in India. "With electricity production still based essentially on fossil fuels, air conditioning as a heat adaptation strategy risks undermining our mitigation efforts, i.e., reducing greenhouse gas emissions," explains Enrica De Cian, professor of environmental economics at Ca' Foscari and coordinator of the research project that inspired this study, Francesco Colelli, researcher and co-author of the study, adds, "In countries such as Italy and Spain, choosing air conditioning as an adaptation strategy to rising temperatures will also lead to an increase in peak electricity consumption. This effect could, in turn, cause rises in the price of electricity and increase investment in generation and transmission facilities needed to cope with the new levels of electricity demand." In Italy, in particular, peak annual demand is estimated to increase by around 10 GW, a 16% increase over current levels, in a high warming scenario (known technically as RCP 8.5, which forecasts an increase in global average temperatures of around 45C by 2050). Researchers conclude that mitigating these increases would require a significantly higher energy efficiency of air conditioners sold (which, especially in India, is far below the efficiency of the best available models), or a further push towards decarbonization of energy production, including more stringent greenhouse-gas mitigation targets that could increase carbon prices by 5%30% (as estimated in a previous study by the same research team). The relevant data of this research and of the entire Energya project are currently visible in Venice as part of The Cooling Solution, an exhibition with photographs by documentary filmmaker Gaia Squarci, co-ordinated by Elementsix and curated by Kublaiklan. The Cooling Solution is open until July 31st in the courtyard of Ca' Foscari University and at Ca' Foscari ZattereCultural Flow Zone. Information and an online catalog are available at www.thecoolingsolution.com. More information: Francesco Pietro Colelli et al, Air-conditioning adoption and electricity demand highlight climate change mitigationadaptation tradeoffs, Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-31469-z Journal information: Scientific Reports Provided by Ca' Foscari University of Venice 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 In the face of the biodiversity crisis, and alarming data showing a 69% decline in global animal populations since 1970, researchers are banking on a cool solution to help save species from extinction. Much like egg-freezing is used to preserve human fertility options for a later date, the cryo-freezing of genetic samples taken from animals may play an essential role in curbing species extinctions. A new study published in Zoo Biology titled "Maximizing the potential for living cell banks to contribute to global conservation priorities" sheds light on the immense potential of living cell banks, also known as cryobanks, to contribute to global conservation priorities. These living cell banks preserve genetic materials from animals, such as skin cells, embryos, semen, and live tissue, at ultra-low temperatures. These cells can be cultured and used for various applications, including DNA extraction, assisted reproductive techniques, ensuring genetic diversity in animal populations, and even potentially reintroducing species back into their natural habitats. For the study, researchers analyzed the contents of the Frozen Zoo at the San Diego Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA)the world's largest and most diverse collection of living genetic samplesto develop a framework for the prioritization of species for future sampling. Researchers also used aggregated data from the world's largest database of knowledge on speciesthe Species360 Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS)to identify opportunities for future genetic sample collection. The study shows that 965 different species, including 5% of amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List are currently stored in the SDZWA Frozen Zoo and that further sampling from zoos and aquariums could significantly increase that representation to 16.6%, by providing access to an additional 707 threatened species. Additionally, genetic samples of 50% of the species currently listed as extinct in the wild are already represented within the SDZWA Frozen Zoo, but sampling from the zoological community can increase this number to 91%potentially providing a critical lifeline for these species on the brink of extinction. Lead study author, Dr. Andrew Mooney, Dublin Zoo and Trinity College Dublin's School of Natural Sciences, emphasizes the significance of the study, saying, "This study not only highlights the incredible work done by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance to date, but also the collective potential of the global zoo and aquarium community in further contributing to global cryobanking initiatives and conservation priorities. "As wildlife populations continue to decline around the globe, there has never been a more critical time to collect and preserve genetic samples from threatened species. Cryobanked samples provide unparalleled conservation opportunities, however we must make a concerted effort to work together and collect samples now, before it is too late." Yvonne Buckley, professor of zoology in Trinity's School of Natural Sciences, says, "We are in a biodiversity extinction crisis with over a million species likely to be threatened with extinction over the coming decades. While our first priority is to prevent species from declining in the wild, cryobanking provides a means to safeguard crucial genetic diversity and reintroduce it back into populations to increase their adaptability and resilience." Co-author Johanna Staerk, Species360 Conservation Science Alliance, says, "This study highlights the immense potential of cryobanking in safeguarding endangered species as well as the role of zoos and aquariums in conservation. Given how difficult it is to obtain genetic samples from wild species, zoos and aquariums provide the ideal resource from which to collect genetic samples to ensure the future survival of species." Oliver A. Ryder, Kleberg Endowed Director of Conservation Genetics, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, says, "Over forty years of cryobanking viable cells in the Frozen Zoo has produced a substantive and impactful resource for genomics-based biodiversity discovery and demonstrated possibilities for cellular-based genetic rescue. Urgently needed are expanded efforts in nations across the globe to establish a distributed network of biobanks to make cell-based genetic resources available in an equitable manner and provide future generations with conservation options." Marlys Houck, curator of the Frozen Zoo, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, and co-author on the study, says, "Dr. Kurt Benirschke started the Frozen Zoo in 1975 and hundreds of samples continue to be added each year. Due to his foresight, we have cell lines from species and individuals banked decades ago, some that had not reproduced. Their genetic diversity is not represented in current populations but is available for future genetic rescue through the samples in the Frozen Zoo." In addition to the framework suggesting which species need to be prioritized for genetic sampling, the study authors also encourage the formation of a global cryobanking database, facilitating collaborative efforts in preserving genetic diversity. The study was the result of a workshop held at the IUCN Conservation Planning Specialist Group (CPSG) meeting in 2016 held by Species360 Conservation Science Alliance in collaboration with Oliver Ryder from SDZWA. The role of cryobanking in saving species from extinction: A case study The powerful role of cryobanking in conservation is exemplified through ongoing efforts to save the now functionally extinct northern white rhino. With only two surviving females, scientists are working to save the subspecies from disappearing forever through assisted reproductive techniques using samples from the Frozen Zoo. While the example of the northern white rhino is an eleventh-hour attempt to save the subspecies, study authors stress the importance of proactively prioritizing species and establishing a global cryobanking database to ensure conservation actions can be taken much sooner. Cryobanking may be the only lifeline to save species on the brink of extinction, such as the northern white rhino and the vaquita, due to the availability of living cell cultures for these species. Regrettably, these possibilities will never be realized for the recently extinct Yangtze river dolphin and the Christmas Island pipistrellefor which no living biological samples exist. However, sampling opportunities still exist for most species. Considering that 71% of species listed as 'least concern' on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species are at risk of extinction due to the impacts of climate change, the storage of genetic samples taken now could help conserve those species in the future. More information: Andrew Mooney et al, Maximizing the potential for living cell banks to contribute to global conservation priorities, Zoo Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1002/zoo.21787 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: From left, Keith Cherkauer, Purdue professor of agricultural and biological engineering; Michael Montgomery, an undergraduate in Purdue Polytechnic Institutes School of Aviation and Transportation Technology; and Kevin Lee, a PhD candidate in agricultural and biological engineering, prepare a drone for test flights at the Purdue University Agronomy Center for Research and Education. Credit: Purdue Agricultural Communications photo/Tim Thompson In recent years, Purdue University's Katy Rainey and Keith Cherkauer have worked to predict soybean biomass from drone imagery in Indiana. "We're now expanding that capability to all the public soybean breeding programs in the region," said Rainey, professor of agronomy, who also directs the Purdue Soybean Center. Soon, she and Cherkauer will begin receiving drone imagery collected on a panel of 1,200 soybean varieties that breeders have planted in 11 states across the U.S. north-central region. "Here at Purdue, we'll do all the processing and modification of the images to predict biomass," she said. The effort is part of the SOYGEN3 (Science Optimized Yield Gains across ENvironments) project, which consists of eight universities, including Purdue. "The overarching goal in this experiment is to develop methods and models for selecting soybeans that will be high yielding in future extreme environments under climate-change scenarios," Rainey said. "We know that the future environments we're going to grow soybean in are different from the ones we have now because climate is changing. We're getting more extreme weather, as well, from climate change." The project exploits software, called Plot Phenix, which rapidly converts aerial crop photographs into useful information for plant breeding, crop modeling and precision agriculture. Rainey and Cherkauer, professor of agricultural and biological engineering, and Purdue Ph.D. alumnus Anthony Hearst, CEO of Progeny Drone Inc., patented Plot Phenix in 2022. "I'm interested in water use, the effects of environments, and the ability to measure and simulate soybean across large areas," said Cherkauer, who also directs the Indiana Water Resources Research Center. "Having locations that are farther apart increases the likelihood that we will have a range of environmental conditions." Minnesota soybean breeders and farmers plant different genetic stock than those in Indiana, for example, which requires more heat-resistant varieties. But even areas that share the same annual average precipitation could experience dramatically different years. "We could have drought here in Indiana, and eastern Kansas could be having a normal year. Having access to so many locations that could be experiencing average weather conditions and drier conditions allows us to stretch the image analysis and the models we're building beyond what we do right now," Cherkauer said. Eastern Kansas gets about the same precipitation as Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. But western Kansas receives about half as much precipitation. It resembles central-western Nebraska, the Dakotas and western Minnesota in that regard. "Indiana is almost entirely rain-fed except for seed production and production in the sandy soils. Illinois is going to be similar. As you get into Iowa, they're starting to see a bit more irrigation," Cherkauer said. Cherkauer is a co-founder of GRYFN, a Purdue-affiliated company that has provided a new drone for the project. Calibration flights for the new platform have already begun at Purdue's Agronomy Center for Research and Education, a 1,600-acre farm facility located seven miles northwest of campus. The SOYGEN3 collaboration will fly drones that collect imagery in red, green and blue (RGB, or true color, the type captured by regular cameras). "SOYGEN3 is about starting with relatively inexpensive cameras and hardware systems at a variety of locations," Cherkauer said. But the Purdue drone also will carry multispectral and thermal cameras, yielding better data sets that could lead to recommendations for their SOYGEN3 partners. Such data could help the U.S. maintain its position as the world's leading soybean producer. Revenues in 2022 topped $66 billion. This includes more than $34 billion in exports, according to the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service. "It's a unique crop because it is very important to future protein food security," said Rainey, who was featured prominently in the latest cover story of Seed World magazine. Yet soybean uses are mostly industrial, meaning that people consume only a small percentage of its production. "You might occasionally eat a traditional soy food like tofu or edamame. But for the most part, 95% of soybeans globally are fed to chickens and pigs and are the basis of that food chain," Rainey said. To maintain soybean's burgeoning production, researchers will need a more finessed understanding of how weather and climate affect yield in a range of environments involving genetic variation. Breeders would then be able to select soybean varieties more strategically. "The genetic variation is key because the most obvious way that breeders or breeding organizations in the private sector would use the data that we produce would be in what's known as genomic prediction," Rainey explained. Given enough data over the entire soybean genome, genomic prediction allows breeders to create a statistical model that predicts yield for 10,000 untested lines. "But the genomic prediction models need to be calibrated to environments and have more information in them than what's currently in there," Rainey said. Also needed is a model that includes biomass predictions. Such models are based on drone imagery and genetics. "In my lab, we work on combining that information. We're just about the only ones to do that across the public and the private sector in soybean," she said. 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: Te sun rises behind a ridge of trees September near Missoula, Montana. A landmark US climate trial involving 16 young people who accuse Montana of violating their rights to a "clean and healthful environment" is expected to conclude on Tuesday, an organization representing the plaintiffs said. The case, Held v. Montana, is being closely watched as it could bolster similar proceedings across the country, with most previous suits dismissed before being heard. It is the first involving a constitutional claim against a state, and represents a rare instance in which climate experts have been questioned on the witness stand. Our Children's Trust, one of three organizations representing the youths, said "the state is expected to rest their case in the morning, followed by closing arguments." The trial began on June 12 and was set to run until June 23, but Montana declined to call to the stand its single climate science witness, Judith Curry, its only mental health witness, and others. Curry is known in the scientific community as a climate contrarian, who has called into question the accuracy of climate forecast models. The 16 youths, ranging in age up to 22, have said they have been harmed by the "dangerous impacts of fossil fuels and the climate crisis," with children "uniquely vulnerable" to its worsening impacts. At the heart of the case is a provision within the fossil fuel friendly state's constitution that says, "The state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations." The plaintiffs are not seeking financial compensation, but rather a declaration that their rights are being violated. Specifically, they are challenging the constitutionality of a provision in the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), which prohibits government agencies from considering climate impacts when reviewing permitting applications from fossil fuel interests. The trial saw emotive testimony from the plaintiffs about how they had been directly impacted by climate change. Lead plaintiff Rikki Held, whose family run a ranch in Montana, told the court in at times emotional testimony that their livelihoods and well-being had been increasingly impacted by wildfires, extreme temperatures and drought. The state is also experiencing loss of biodiversity and the rapid melting of its iconic glaciers in Glacier National Park. Michael Gerrard, founder of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, told AFP: "I thought that the testimony was very effective. The young people did a terrific job as did their lawyers." "If it's successful, it may inspire more cases, but of course, it's most likely to be in states that have environmental rights in their constitutions, and there are only about half a dozen of those." The defense's response has focused on questioning both climate science, as well as Montana's specific contribution to a global problem. Montana releases around 166 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annuallyequivalent to the countries of Argentina, the Netherlands, or Pakistan. 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) Schematic of the measurement setup for NPHE. (b),(c) For a material with point group Cnv or Dn (n>2), the intrinsic NPHE response exhibits a simple cosine or sine dependence on the angle () between E and B fields, when B field is rotated in the plane. Credit: SUTD Like the blood coursing through our veins, electrons in the heart of our microchips breathe life into our computers. In the race to accelerate and downsize our electronics, there is a growing demand for new techniques and materials to redefine our current technological approaches. Associate Professor Yang Shengyuan and his team from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) collaborated with Research Assistant Professor Cong Xiao from the University of Hong Kong to investigate a never-before-observed phenomenon in electron transport. The results of their investigation were recently published as "Intrinsic nonlinear planar Hall effect" in Physical Review Letters. "Transport properties of materials are fundamental to our understanding of materials and possible applications," said Associate Professor Yang, who explained that the process of electron transport can be attributed to extrinsic and intrinsic contributions. While extrinsic mechanisms arise from structural and geometrical properties such as defects and impurities, intrinsic mechanisms arise purely from the characteristics of the material itself. "Intrinsic contribution is like the information on the identity card of each material," he elaborated. In the study, the team developed an extended theoretical framework and applied it under various conditions in different materials to search for materials with novel behavior. They found that a range of particular crystal structures had the necessary symmetries needed to manifest a new phenomenonthe intrinsic nonlinear planar Hall effect (NPHE). In conventional materials used in electronics, applying a voltage between two points causes electrons to flow between them. The flow increases linearly with voltage, which allows for the precise control needed in calculations and data storage. However, in the presence of a magnetic field, the transport of electrons across the material can behave in unusual ways. The effects of magnetic fields on electron transport are collectively known as Hall effects. They induce a current that do not necessarily travel in the direction of the applied voltage, which has led to the development of hypersensitive magnetic field sensors. Previous research studied the planar Hall effect (PHE), where the magnetic field, applied electric voltage, and induced current all lie on the same plane. However, most of these phenomena are extrinsic and do not exploit the inherent properties of the material itself. Additionally, these effects typically have linear behaviors, where the induced current scales proportionally with the voltage applied. In order to subvert conventional electronics, nonlinear complex behaviors in materials are more highly sought after. The intrinsic NPHE discovered by Associate Professor Yang's team allows for a much wider range of possible crystals that would demonstrate nonlinear complex behaviors, unlike other PHEs, which only develop under a very tightly restricted subset of crystal structures. As an added bonus, the team found that the size of the intrinsic NPHE changes depending on the directions of the applied magnetic field and electric voltage. This creates an additional knob of controllability in possible applications by a simple rotation. Optimistic in how the effect could be exploited in today's devices, Associate Professor Yang suggested the process could lead to new designs in nonlinear rectifiers or terahertz detectors for long-range communications. To demonstrate the veracity of their proposed mechanism, the team looked to well-known materials that exhibit the necessary symmetries required. The growing interest in two-dimensional (2D) materials for compact and efficient electronics served as an excellent starting point for their search. Consisting of crystalline monolayers of atoms stacked into a sandwich-like structure, these materials often have electronic properties that make them desirable for use in components like transistors. First synthesized in 2017 and under active research since then, the 2D monolayer MoSSe was found to have the necessary crystal structure to demonstrate the proposed mechanism of Associate Professor Yang's team. Starting their calculations ground-up from basic fundamentals, the team discovered that a significant intrinsic NPHE response could develop in the material under the right conditions. Given the wider community's current interest in investigating this material, the team is hopeful that their theory would soon be backed by experimental evidence. Meanwhile, Associate Professor Yang is already looking towards other novel transport phenomena. "Our main goal is to understand the fundamental physics of materials and to know what effects can happen in nature," he highlighted. "We will predict new effects, develop theories for them, and propose possible applications." More information: Yue-Xin Huang et al, Intrinsic Nonlinear Planar Hall Effect, Physical Review Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.126303 Journal information: Physical Review Letters 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 supermassive black hole emits a jet of energetic particles in this illustration. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Near the center of the Milky Way Galaxy sits an immense object that astronomers call Sagittarius A*. This "supermassive" black hole may have grown in tandem with our galaxy, and it's not alone. Scientists suspect that similar behemoths lurk at the heart of almost all large galaxies in the cosmos. Some can get really big, said Joseph Simon, postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. "The black hole at the center of our galaxy is millions of times the mass of the sun, but we also see others that we think are billions of times the mass of the sun," he said. The astrophysicist has dedicated his career to studying the behavior of these hard-to-observe objects. In a recent study, he employed computer simulations, or "models," to predict the masses of the largest supermassive black holes in the universea mathematical concept known as the black hole mass function. In other words, Simon sought to determine what you might find if you could put each of these black holes one by one on a humongous scale. His calculations suggest that billions of years ago, black holes may have been a lot bigger on average than scientists once suspected. The findings could help researchers unravel an even bigger mystery, elucidating the forces that shaped objects like Sagittarius A* as they grew from small black holes into the giants they are today. "We're starting to see from a variety of different sources that there have been pretty massive things in the universe since pretty early on," Simon said. He published his findings May 30 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Galactic symphony For Simon, those "pretty massive things" are his bread and butter. The astrophysicist is part of a second research effort called the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav). Through the project, Simon and hundreds of other scientists in the U.S. and Canada have spent 15 years searching for a phenomenon known as the "gravitational wave background." The concept refers to the steady flow of gravitational waves, or giant ripples in space and time, that undulate through the universe on a near-constant basis. This cosmic churn also owes its origins to supermassive black holes. Simon explained that if two galaxies bump into each other in space, their central black holes may also collide and even merge. They spin around and around each other before slamming together like two cymbals in an orchestraonly this cymbal crash generates gravitational waves, literally warping the fabric of the universe. To understand the gravitational wave background, however, scientists first need to know how massive the universe's supermassive black holes really are. Bigger cymbals, Simon said, make a bigger bang and produce much larger gravitational waves. There's just one problem. "We have really good measurements for the masses of the supermassive black holes for our own galaxy and for galaxies close by," he said. "We don't have those same kinds of measurements for galaxies farther away. We just have to guess." Black holes on the rise In his new research, Simon decided to guess in a whole new way. First, he gathered information about hundreds of thousands of galaxies, some billions of years old. (Light can only travel so fast, so when humans observe galaxies that are farther away, they're looking back in time). Simon used that information to calculate the approximate black hole masses for the largest galaxies in the universe. He then employed computer models to simulate the gravitational wave background those galaxies might create and that currently washes over Earth. Simon's results reveal the full smorgasbord of supermassive black hole masses in the universe dating back roughly 4 billion years. He also noticed something odd: There seemed to be a lot more large galaxies spread throughout the universe billions of years ago than some previous studies have predicted. That didn't make much sense. "There's been the expectation that you would only see these really massive systems in the nearby universe," Simon said. "It takes time for black holes to grow." His research, however, adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that they might not need as much time as astrophysicists once believed. The NANOGrav team, for example, has seen similar hints of giant black holes hiding in the universe billions of years ago. For now, Simon is hoping to explore the full range of black holes extending even farther back in timerevealing clues about how the Milky Way Galaxy, and eventually our own solar system, came into being. "Understanding the masses of black holes is critical to some of these foundational questions like the gravitational wave background, but also how galaxies grow and how our universe has evolved," Simon said. More information: Joseph Simon, Exploring Proxies for the Supermassive Black Hole Mass Function: Implications for Pulsar Timing Arrays, The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2023). DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/acd18e Journal information: Astrophysical Journal Letters 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: Plantar (underneath) view of feet of a four-toed tapir (left) and a one-toed horse (right) (by Nuria Melisa Morales-Garcia. In the middle, a reconstruction of the extinct three-toed horse Hipparion, by Karolina Suchan-Okulska. Overall design by Morales-Garcia. Credit: University of Bristol The distant ancestors of modern horses had hooved toes instead of a single hoof, which vanished over time, according to researchers. The animals, such as the Eocene Hyracotherium, had feet like those of a modern tapir: four toes in front and three behind, each individually hooved with an underlying foot pad. In contrast, modern equids such as horses, asses, and zebras, have only a single toe, the left over original third toe on each foot, encased in a thick-walled keratinous hoof, with an underlying triangular frog on the sole that acts as a shock absorber. An international team of scientists, from the UK, the US, and the Netherlands, analyzed hoof prints and foot bones from modern horses and fossil records to discover what happened to the lost digits. Author Professor Christine Janis from the University of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences explained, "The upper portionsthe remains of the additional hand and foot bonesremain as 'splint bones' fused with the remaining central one, but where are the fingers and toes?" "In later fossil horses there were only three toes front and back. The extra toes, known as side toes, in these horses were smaller and shorter than in a tapir, and likely did not touch the ground under normal circumstances, but they may have provided support in exceptional situations, such as sliding or forceful impact." In findings, published today in Royal Society Open Science, they confirm the older notion that these toes really have been completely lost in evolution, not somehow retained within the hoof, as proposed in another recent paper published in the same journal in 2018. Lead author Professor Alan Vincelette, of St. John's Seminary, Camarillo, California, said, "Although it does seem that remainders of the proximal (upper portions) of the side digits have been retained in modern horses, as the earlier 2018 paper claimed, the distal (lower portions, or toes) have simply been lost. The 2018 paper proposed that in modern horses these side toes are retained within the hoof of the central toe, in part contributing to the frogalthough there are no actual bones within the frog. This was partially based on an interpretation of the hoof prints of an extinct three-toed horse, Hipparion (not on the direct line to modern horses) from Laetoli in Tanzania 3.7 million years ago, the same site that yielded the famous foot prints of the hominid Australopithecus. These hoof prints apparently lacked a frog, and this added weight to the notion that the side toes of horses like Hipparion now contribute to the frog of modern horses. While not all hoof prints of modern horses with frogs record its presence, an undoubted frog can be seen in many hoof prints that are known to have been made by three-toed horses. These observations cast doubt on the notion that the frog of modern horse hooves formed out of the side toes of tridactyl equids. Author Professor Christine Janis from the University of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences said, "While the notion that modern horses have retained all of their original toes as within-hoof remnants is a novel one, and so rather appealing, it can be shown to be incorrect." Alan Vincelette added, "The frog of the horse's hoof evolved independently of the side toes as a unique structure providing shock absorption and traction during locomotion." The team also show that the feet of one-toed horses have a different shape from the main toe of the foot of three-toed horses, being round rather than oval, a difference that may be related to differences in weight distribution and/or ecological habitat. More information: Alan Vincelette et al, 'Hipparion tracks and horses' toes: the evolution of the equid single hoof', Royal Society Open Science (2023). DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230358 Journal information: Royal Society Open Science 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: 2-methylbutyric acid is a pheromone that is released from a relaxed individual and ameliorates the fear in other individuals both in lab rats and wild rats. Credit: Kiyokawa et al. CC-BY-ND Some animals release chemical pheromones which can trigger behavioral or hormonal changes in other animals. It is known that calm rats can reduce fear in nearby rats, but the exact mechanism was unknown. Researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, have found the pheromone responsible and demonstrated its effect both on lab rats and rats in the human environment. Their findings could lead to a new kind of humane pest control. The research is published in the journal iScience. Associate Professor Yasushi Kiyokawa from the University of Tokyo's Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology and his colleagues find rats fascinating to study, partly due to their relatively high intelligence which, in some ways, even allows them to stand in for humans in certain studies on social interactions. "I believe that by studying the social lives of rats, we might actually uncover something about human social interactions as well," said Kiyokawa. "That is one of the motivations behind our latest research topic, which explores in more details than ever before, an observed phenomenon where rats can affect the emotional state of others around them." It has been known for some time that, within the same species, rats which are in a relaxed state can imbue a similar state in nearby rats. Essentially, they can calm each other down without any direct interaction. This is due to pheromones, biological compounds in the air, released from the relaxed rat and received by the scared rat, altering their state. But the nature of the pheromones involved was unknown until now. Microscopic images from the amygdala, the brain site for regulating fear responses. 2-MB reduces the fear by impacting on the brain as evidenced by the decreased production of c-Fos protein, a marker of neural activity. Credit: Kiyokawa et al. CC-BY-ND "To isolate the pheromones involved in this intra-species calming phenomenon, we needed to be careful about how we tried to collect them," said Kiyokawa. "If we stressed out the rat too much, it would likely affect what pheromones it released. So, we had to be creative and come up with a way to collect pheromones from a relaxed rat. We did this by putting a calm rat to sleep and used water to absorb pheromones from its neck." The main pheromone the team found released by relaxed rats was 2-methylbutyric acid (2-MB), which is incidentally found in the aromas of cheese and wine. They first determined this was what they were seeking by making sure it did indeed reduce the fear in other lab rats. Then they laced one of two identical small chambers with 2-MB to see if the rats would show any preference toward either, which they did. This directly showed that rats felt comfortable to sniff the pheromone. Given the striking effect it seemed to have, the team also wanted to see if it would work on wild rats in urban environments. "We tested at two different locations to see if wild rats would respond to 2-MB," said Kiyokawa. "They responded similarly to our lab rats. Synthetic 2-MB reduced their fear of novel things, or neophobia. This is important because it's neophobia in urban rats that makes producing effective traps so difficult." Based on their results, the team believe that 2-MB could be used to create a form of humane pest control. It could be used to lure urban rats into nonlethal traps and also keep them calm while they're being transported out of the urban environment. More information: Yasushi Kiyokawa et al, An appeasing pheromone ameliorates fear responses in the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), iScience (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107081 Journal information: iScience 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 Criminologists have warned dangerous and fatal consequences will continue when overburdened and undertrained police respond to mental health incidents. Australian Catholic University criminologist Dr. Matthew Morgan has proposed an overhaul of training, operational practice and interagency collaboration after his joint research project found 35% of young people with mental illness believed police were procedurally unjust. The paper, published in the international journal Policing and Society, and co-authored by Associate Professor Angela Higginson from Queensland University of Technology, examined data from the Australian Youth Safety Survey (2020) that showed one-third of participants aged between 14 and 25 identified as having a mental health condition. There was a significant correlation between young people with mental illness, particularly those in the LGBTI+ community, and mistrust of police, according to the survey. More than twice the proportion of young people with a mental health condition (9%) than without (4%) gave the lowest score possible on all procedural justice items and said that police almost never act in a procedurally just way with young people. "The prevalence of mental illness in that community is alarming and there's not enough services to support them," Dr. Morgan said. "That's important because police are often the only emergency response available and it's unfair to expect officers to be experts in mental health. Police need more training and partnerships with mental health professionals to safely respond to potentially dangerous situations." Mental health has been a factor in a series of fatal police incidents across Australia and abroad in recent months, including a 29-year-old man fatally shot in Brisbane in May. He had been treated at hospital the previous day. Days later on Sydney's lower north shore, police shot and killed a man after he allegedly lunged at them with large knives. Management of potentially volatile situations involving young people with mental illness impacts their perceptions of police and procedural justice. Research has shown trust and confidence in the police underpins cooperation with law enforcement. De-identified qualitative data in the survey revealed how negative interactions with authorities can lead to a loop of mistrust. "As someone with severe mental illness, if the police are called on me I have a meltdown," a respondent said. "They are more likely to respond in an aggressive and unhelpful manner, which makes me feel unsafe for myself and my friends with similar issues." The study drew on Australian Bureau of Statistics data from a sample of 3,147 participants aged between 14 and 25. A key finding was that young people with a mental illness had significantly lower perceptions of police in relation to procedural justice. This lack of trust in police was intensified when overlapping marginalities were considered such as LGBTIQ+ status. "Sadly, those people are significantly more likely to encounter the police, either as a witness, victim or someone who is arrested, than their counterparts who do not identify as having a mental illness," Dr. Morgan said. "It is then critical that police and other agencies have procedural justice principles woven through their training to improve the safety of young people with mental illness." More information: Matthew M. Morgan et al, Police and procedural justice: perceptions of young people with mental illness, Policing and Society (2023). DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2023.2207714 Journal information: Policing and Society Provided by Australian Catholic 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: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The "Healthy Crops" international research consortium led by Professor Dr. Wolf B. Frommer from Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf (HHU) is developing disease-resistant rice varieties. In eLife, the authors now report on the discovery of a recent bacterial outbreak in Tanzaniaand describe how they modified an African rice variety to make it resistant to the pathogen. Bacterial blight of rice, which is caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pathovar oryzae (Xoo for short), is responsible for devastating crop losses among rice farmers every year. It above all threatens the livelihoods of small-scale farmers in Asia and Africa, and accounts for malnutrition and famine in the affected regions. Although bacterial blight was not considered a major threat to rice production in Tanzania until now, in 2019 fields were detected in the Morogoro region in east Tanzania that showed in part severe damage by the disease. Subsequent surveys further indicated that the pathogen had already spread to many regions of Tanzania by now. Based on the rapid spread, it is not unlikely that the disease will also migrate to neighboring countries. To determine the arsenal used by this strain, the pathogen's genome was sequenced. The analysis of the sequences showed that the bacteria are distinct from the native populations in Africa and are highly similar to strains from Asia. Similar to the Asian strains, but different from the African ones, they have one tool that blocks a common rice resistance gene, called iTAL, and they possess a particular set of keys to the plants' pantry. Injection of a regulatory "key" protein, developed by these bacteria, into rice cells turns on the production of a sugar transporter named SWEET11a that leads to the release of sugar in the neighborhood of the bacteria, which can serve for nutrition and is needed for multiplication and virulence of the bacteria. According to Dr. Boris Szurek, who heads the group involved in the study at the French national research institute for sustainable development (IRD): "Until 2019, strains from Asia were never found in Africa. Similarly, African strains were not found in Asia, pointing to a recent introduction from Asia into Africa, which is now causing yield losses across Tanzania." Professor Dr. Wolf B. Frommer from the Institute of Molecular Physiology at HHU, who heads the international research consortium "Healthy Crops," explains, "To protect African rice production from the emerging threat by the pathogenic bacteria, we have used new breeding techniques to exchange the locks in the popular East African elite variety 'Komboka' so that the pathogen's key cannot open the pantry anymore and thus, not cause the disease. The edited lines show broad-spectrum resistance against all known Asian and African strains of Xoo, including the strains recently discovered in Tanzania." Co-author Professor Dr. Bing Yang from the University of Missouri in Columbia, U.S. adds, "We intend to help African scientists with these discoveries and use new breeding methods to develop locally adapted disease-resistant rice varieties. The knowledge can also be used to inform conventional breeding of varieties resistant to the rapidly spreading strains for those countries that have not yet established regulations for new breeding techniques." Background: Bacterial blight of rice Rice production is vital for food security, regional development and poverty alleviation in many countries, especially developing ones. Around 900 million people from low-income households worldwide currently rely on rice production as producers or consumers. Rice is the most important staple food for more than four billion people worldwide. Bacterial blight is a devastating rice disease that threatens the livelihoods of small-scale, low-income food producers in Africa and Asia in particular. In India for example, almost ten percent of harvests are lost to this disease every yearand that despite effective protective measures. The new rice lines developed could prevent these yield losses and thus provide rice for many millions of people, who would be at risk of famine otherwise. The disease is caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pathovar oryzae (Xoo for short). During infection, Xoo introduces a series of proteins called TAL effectors into the plant cells, which bind to the host genome and activate the expression of plant genes, thereby promoting the production of sucrose transporters from the "SWEET" family. Once the SWEETs are integrated into the plasma membrane, the cells secrete a large amount of sugar which the Xoo bacteria then feed on. This in turn leads to wilting and desiccation of the leaves and eventually to the death of the rice plants. 'Healthy Crops' project Pesticides are often used to combat Xoo, however their effectiveness is limited and they expose the population to risks. The "Healthy Crops" non-profit international research project is taking a different approach, with the aim of breeding and making rice lines available that are resistant to the disease. This is expected to significantly increase yields for small-scale food producers in Africa and Asia. The project is an international consortium involving scientists from HHU, the University of Florida and University of Missouri in the U.S., the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture in Colombia (CIAT), the French national research institute for sustainable development (IRD), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines and Kenya, and two institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The project is led by Professor Wolf B. Frommer, who is based at HHU; Dr. Marcel Buchholzer is responsible for coordination of the project in Dusseldorf. To achieve its goals, the consortium has developed a strategy to combat bacterial blight. The team has already successfully bred disease-resistant rice lines. A diagnostics toolbox has additionally been developed to enable the rapid diagnosis of emerging pathogenic bacterial strains. More information: Van Schepler-Luu et al, Genome editing of an African elite rice variety confers resistance against endemic and emerging Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae strains, eLife (2023). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.84864 Journal information: eLife Provided by Heinrich-Heine-Universitat Dusseldorf 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: Rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis). Credit: Clay Bolt/Public Domain A detailed, high-resolution map of the rusty patched bumble bee's genome has been released by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) scientists, offering new possible approaches for bringing the native pollinator back from the danger of extinction. Putting together the rusty patched bumble bee genome is part of the Beenome 100 project, a first-of-its-kind effort to create a library of high-quality, highly detailed genome maps of 100 or more diverse bee species found in the United States. Beenome 100 is a collaborative undertaking of ARS and the University of Illinois. The expectation is that this library will help researchers answer the big questions about bees such as what genetic differences make a bee species more vulnerable to climate change or whether a bee species is likely to be more susceptible to a pesticide. The rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) is an important pollinator of bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), milkweed, and other wildflowers, as well as crops such as cranberries, plums, apples and alfalfa. But in the last 20 years or so, its population is estimated to have declined by 87 percent. In 2017, the species was listed as "endangered." Where rusty patched bumble bees were once common across the Upper Midwest and Northeast in 28 states and 2 Canadian provinces, now their range is down to disconnected spots in 13 states and one Canadian province. Among the few places they are still regularly found is around the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota and in Wisconsin. "With the amount of detailed information that we and other researchers now have access to in this newly sequenced genome, we have an opportunity to find a whole different approach to strengthening rusty patched bumble bee populations," said research entomologist Jonathan B. Uhaud Koch with the ARS Pollinating Insect-Biology, Management, Systematics Research Unit in Logan, Utah. Koch explained that some of the factors contributing to the decline of rusty patched bumble bees are already known: loss of habitat, reduced variety of nectar sources, climate change, exposure to pesticides, and more pathogens and pests. While scientists have known the widespread presence of the fungal pathogen Varimorpha bombi (formerly called Nosema bombi) has a detrimental impact on many rusty patched bumble bee populations, Koch was a bit surprised by how much Varimorpha genetic material he found in the bumble bee sample that was used to develop the genome map. "We used a small piece of abdominal tissue from a single male collected from a nest in Minnesota, which, given the endangered status of the rusty patched bumble bee, seemed like a very good idea," Koch said. "It's only with the most cutting-edge equipment that you could resolve an entire genome of 15,252 genes and 18 chromosomes from a tiny bit of one bumble bee." It turns out about 4.5 percent of the DNA the researchers sequenced came from Microsporidia, the fungal group that includes Varimorpha bombi. "That's a massive amount of genetic information from the bee tissue sample to be associated with Varimorpha bombi. It demonstrates how pervasive the pathogen is," Koch said. "Having this high-quality genome will support the identification of genetic differences between rusty patched bumble bee populations that appear to be doing well versus where they are in decline," Koch said. "This may give us a handle on identifying the genes that give the more capable population its flexibility to deal with its environment. We may also gain a better understanding of the genetic basis of bumble bee behavior, physiology and adaptation to changing environmental conditions." Once the more successful genes for a particular type of local condition are identified, researchers will be able to give a population a boost in the right direction when it comes to restoring the rusty patched bumble bee to an area through captive breeding programs. The research was published in the journal G3: Genes | Genomes | Genetics and the genome is available on the National Center for Biotechnology Information website https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/assembly/GCF_024516045.1/ . More information: Jonathan Koch, Chromosome-scale genome assembly of the rusty patched bumble bee, Bombus affinis (Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Apidae), an endangered North American pollinator, G3: Genes | Genomes | Genetics (2023). DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkad119 Journal information: G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics 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: Distributions of coefficients for metabolic concentration regulation ( m ). The number of flux changes considered for each pathway is given in the upper left corner (N). The percentages in each plot quantify the fraction of flux changes explained by the corresponding mechanism ( 0.5m<2 , gray interval). Different colors represent different metabolic pathways. Respiration/Respiration means both pairs of transitions were at respirative metabolism. Fermentation/Fermentation means both pairs were at respiro-fermentative metabolism. Respiration/Fermentation means pairs of transitions between respirative and respiro-fermentative metabolism. EMP, EmbdenMeyerhofParnas pathway; PP, pentose phosphate pathway; TCA, tricarboxylic acid cycle. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2302779120 Metabolic reaction flux change is the final result of interacting regulations by intracellular gene expression, transcriptional regulation, protein level, translation modification, and allosteric effect. However, the regulatory mechanism of metabolic flux changes is still not very clear. For the central carbon metabolic pathway, the contribution proportion of two important regulatory factors, protein phosphorylation and the allosteric effects of metabolites, to flux changes has not been quantified, and the metabolic regulatory mechanism behind the Crabtree effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is still not fully understood. For example, the regulatory factors that mainly contribute to the metabolic flux changes through the central carbon metabolic pathway under aerobic respiration and aerobic fermentation conditions have not been reported. In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Xia Jianye's team from the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhuang Yingping's team from East China University of Science and Technology, and Jens Nielsen's team from the Chalmers University of Technology, developed a method to identify allosteric effectors that have physiological reaction flux regulation functions and quantified the proportion of each regulatory factor (protein abundance, thermodynamic potential, substrate concentration, allosteric effector concentration, and protein phosphorylation) contributing to flux changes. By 13C isotopically labeled metabolic flux analysis, scientists first obtained flux distribution of the central carbon metabolic pathway of Saccharomyces cerevisiae under aerobic respiration and aerobic fermentation conditions. They used hierarchical regulatory analysis to quantify the contributed proportion of protein abundance and thermodynamic potentials to flux changes. Then, scientists used the Bayesian inference approach to identify the allosteric effectors that have reaction flux regulation functions. They quantified contributions of these physiologically relevant allosteric effectors combined with the substrates to reaction flux changes. The protein phosphorylation analysis showed that protein phosphorylation plays a key role in regulating the flux of the glycolytic pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This study showed that the regulatory patterns of metabolic flux changes in the central carbon metabolic pathway of Saccharomyces cerevisiae under both aerobic respiration and aerobic fermentation conditions. The method used in this study can be used in the study of metabolic flux regulation mechanisms in other strains. More information: Min Chen et al, Yeast increases glycolytic flux to support higher growth rates accompanied by decreased metabolite regulation and lower protein phosphorylation, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2302779120 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 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: Mars is known as the Red Planet because iron minerals in the soil oxidize, giving it and the atmosphere the distinctive colour. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Humans have been fascinated by Mars probably since the first of the species turned their gaze to the night sky. Space exploration today attests to that continuing fascination. Since the 1960s, more than 40 missions have tried to reach the red planet. As a result, there are currently three rovers active on the Martian surface, plus one lander and one helicopter, while eight orbiters circle the planet. Simulating the red planet's geology and hydrology can reveal how the landscape has changed, helping the search for landing sites for future missions. Special interest "Many of the planets and moons in our solar system are very interesting, but Mars is a little special," said Francois Forget, an atmospheric scientist at Sorbonne University in France. "Nowadays, Mars is quite similar to Earth, but in the past3 to 4 billion years agoit was even more similar." While the extensive exploration to date has produced a wealth of geological data, plenty remains unknown about the fourth planet from the sun. Signs exist of a once vast ocean covering Mars's northern hemisphere, while elsewhere lie scars carved out by rivers and glaciers. Yet the climatic processes that shaped the planet observed today remain a mystery. As far back as 4 billion years ago, when life started to appear on Earth, Mars had rivers and lakes of liquid water. This raises the possibility that life also developed on Mars. But scientists are also interested in the processes that created the dry, desert planet seen today and what they could reveal about Earth's climate. Areas of Mars's surface are more than 3 billion years old. Such records are unavailable on Earth as it has been fundamentally altered by life, which has erased much of the planet's early history. Something else also makes Mars special: it's a place where astronauts are hoping to go at some point. The European Space Agency, or ESA, and the US National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASAare working towards sending astronauts to Mars. Time test Forget is the lead researcher on an EU-funded project developing a model of how Mars evolved in a bid to answer some of the questions about the planet's history. Called Mars through time, the project began in late 2019 and is due to last into most of 2025. Current climate models for Mars cover only short periodsseveral yearsof its history and simulating the impact of features such as glaciers, rivers and lakes is tricky, particularly over long timeframes, according to Forget. The project's model is designed to run for thousands, or even millions, of years, simulating the past evolution of geological features along with the changing atmosphere. While current climate models require assumptions about where water sat on the planet's surface, the evolution one for Mars is designed to work out where water would have naturally developed and reached a stable equilibrium, says Forget. This is done by incorporating more detail into the model such as the effect of microclimates. For instance, slopes that face a pole on a planet are usually cooler, potentially leading to the formation of ice and glaciers. On warmer slopes facing the equator, liquid water might be more likely. "If you wanted to simulate the Earth but you didn't know anything about it, you would put water in the oceans and then slowly Earth's evolution model would, for instance, build the Antarctic ice sheets," Forget said. "You want to be able to do the same on Mars, and of course, the model will create lakes, seas and rivers." It also incorporates large-scale changes that occur on longer geological timescales. The tilt of Mars rotational axis, known as obliquity, typically changes every 50,000 years and brings with it large scale climatic changes. Carbon-dioxide glaciers To use the model, the scientists rely on known data from Mars's past such as geology and topography, the location of rivers, lakes and glaciers and atmospheric composition. They also make some assumptions around missing data. When the simulation runs, the scientists adjust their assumptions and parameters until the evolution of the model Mars fits with the existing knowledge of the planet in the past and the present. Once a model matches the geological records, it provides information on the environment, chemistry and atmosphere of the planet and how they changed, according to Forget. So far, the model has confirmed that some strange-looking morainesdebris left behind by glaciersare likely from ones made of frozen carbon dioxide. The simulations have also suggested how these CO 2 glaciers could have formed and shown that they would have caused dramatic changes in the composition of Mars's atmosphere. To test one theory of how liquid water might have existed on the Martian surface, scientists plugged a hydrogen-rich parameter into their model to get a possible hint of how Mars's climate might have become warm enough to sustain liquid lakes and rivers. The model showed that, if Mars had had a hydrogen-rich atmosphere in the past, it could have produced a significant greenhouse effect and boosted the planet's temperature. Frozen reservoirs At the other end of the temperature spectrum, a better understanding of the formation of glaciers and where frozen water might exist today could help with manned missions to Mars. "Having access, without too much difficulty, to water ice on Mars will be very helpful, according to NASA," Forget said. "They have set up project teams looking at where water ice can be found and the Mars through time project can really contribute." The EU research could also provide information on where liquid water might be found. As it happens, these are areas where astronauts don't want to land. That's because of a concept known as planetary protection. The last thing astronauts want to do is contaminate Mars with microorganisms from Earth, particularly in liquid water where they could thrive. More information: Mars through time 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: Pest Sirex wasp. Credit: Nicolas Meurisse of Scion A strain of roundworm discovered for the first time in Australian pine plantations during University of the Sunshine Coast-led research could become the timber industry's latest biocontrol weapon. UniSC Forest Research Institute's Dr. Helen Nahrung, who studied the worm in a collaboration across Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, said its natural dominance among other strains used to attack a notorious wood wasp pest was surprising and exciting. "The unexpected identification of this nematode (worm) is hugely significant for science and industry," said Dr. Nahrung, who shares the discovery with the NSW Department of Primary Industries, the University of Pretoria and Scion (New Zealand Forest Research Institute). Dr. Nahrung and Dr. Angus Carnegie of the NSW DPI will travel to Brazil in September to outline the finding to a meeting of southern hemisphere commercial plantation managers in the hope of saving more radiata pine trees from a fatal fungus caused by the wasp pest. "Radiata pine is Australia's most prevalent plantation softwood, used widely in housing and furniture construction, but the $1billion industry is vulnerable to the Sirex wasp, an invasive pest that kills trees by spreading a wood-rotting fungus," said Dr. Nahrung. "This worm strain (Deladenus siricidicolaLineage D) is already acting to protect the trees. It burrows into wasp larvae and sterilizes the female eggs, helping to kill the wasp life cycle while also eating the wasp fungus. "We don't know how or when it got to Australia but its genetic strength certainly indicates that it could be a new addition to the worm strains already used for biological control of Sirex fungus." The latest paper, published in the journal Biological Control, reported that the new nematode was found in forests in New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and NZ's North Island. It was the first study to explore the population genetic structure of a large collection of D. siricidicola in Australia since the worm became widely used in biological control in the early 1970s. The research was done in collaboration with the Queensland Government, Australian National Sirex Coordination Committee, Forest & Wood Products Australia and the Tree Protection Co-operative Program at University of Pretoria's Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute. It was reported to Forest & Wood Products Australia with recommendations to review biological control programs with a view to trialing the new nematode. "This should not be seen as a silver bullet, rather a sensible use of the genetic diversity present in the environment," the report stated. More information: Firehiwot B. Eshetu et al, Unexpected diversity in historical biological control programs: Population genetics of the nematode Deladenus siricidicola in Australia and New Zealand, Biological Control (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.biocontrol.2023.105183 Provided by University of the Sunshine Coast 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: Gustavo Wandalen, Pixabay Look around and it's clear that people have become devoted to digital technologies such as mobile phones. Whether its Facebook, Instagram or any of the myriad other platforms available today, many are concerned that they or their loved ones are spending too much time online. An international research team from the University of Melbourne, Stanford University and University College London has been studying a hitherto mostly unrecognized driver of technology use, finding that people are using digital technology to manage their emotions. This is called "emotion regulation," and it is essential to well-being. But there are limitations to digital emotion regulation, and if it gets out of handbecoming the main strategy we usewe may need to find healthier ways of dealing with emotions. The team's paper "Digital Emotion Regulation in Everyday Life" was published on 29 April 2022 in the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. University of Melbourne researcher Dr. Greg Wadley says digital devices are being increasingly used to manage emotions such as stress, anxiety, boredom and the need for social connectedness. "Although emotions are essential to help us navigate the ever-changing, complex and challenging situations we face in everyday life, sometimes people experience emotions they prefer not to have," Dr. Wadley said. "When this happens, we may try to change the emotion to one that feels better, or more suited to the current context. For example, people may increase their anger to prepare for competition, or suppress joy to focus on work. People also help each other manage emotions by sharing good news or providing reassurance after an emotional encounter." Psychologists have catalogued many ways that people manage emotion, as diverse as reappraising a situation, doing exercise, practicing self-compassion, and seeking distraction. But recent research shows that increasingly, people are turning to digital tools and strategies to manage emotion. "The pandemic lockdowns led people to do relatively more digital regulation. We have found that up to half of phone use may be for emotion regulation. Looking to the future, emerging technologies may offer more powerful forms of emotion regulation," Dr. Wadley said. The researchers argue that society could benefit from a better understanding of the complex relationship between emotion and technology use. "Obsessive technology use can represent repeated attempts at regulating negative emotion. A common response to over-use is to restrict access to the technology, for example, through limits on screen-time. But when someone uses an emotion-regulation strategy too much, or the strategy is ineffective, the solution is not abstinence, but to use a better strategy," Dr. Wadley said. "Attempts to mitigate technology over-use should include education about alternative, healthy ways to manage emotion. There are excellent resources that teach healthy emotion regulation skills, providing alternatives for people who want to spend less time on their device. "For most people, digital technologies offer benefits, including convenient ways to deal with the inevitable emotional ups and downs of daily life. Researchers in Europe recently proposed that digital skills education should include 'digital emotional intelligence.' We agree this is the right way forward." More information: Wally Smith et al, Digital Emotion Regulation in Everyday Life, CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (2022). DOI: 10.1145/3491102.3517573 By Kemo Cham and Fatmata Marian Sesay In Gaindema Village in the northern Tonkolili District, a combination of factors have made access to healthcare a major challenge for the people. A long distance from the nearest health facility, poverty, and apparent lack of awareness have left the people susceptible to the dangers of a whole lot of sicknesses, including malaria. Gaindema, a mainly agrarian community, lies three miles away from Mike 91, one of the largest towns in the district and home to the nearest health facility to the village. Little wonder that among the many needs of the inhabitants of the community, health facility is the topmost priority. We face a lot of difficulties trying to get treatment for our women and children, says Abdulai Serry. Mr Serry, who has two wives, sums up the concerns of the rest of the community who say due to the long distance they have to cover to access healthcare, they often have to make a choice between given in to exploitative Okada (commercial transport motor bike) riders and walking, which sometimes happen at a huge cost. Okada is the only means of public transportation for the community. Whenever a child or a pregnant woman falls ill, we spend a lot of money to seek treatment. We pay for Okada in excess. They demand for extra charges when they know the person is sick and we are desperate, laments Mr Serry. Because of this situation, pregnant women are forced to miss out on antenatal clinic schedules and parents prefer going to the herbalists instead of taking their kids to the health center. This, notes Community Health Officer, Sallieu Kamara, means that they always have to deal with many cases of people arriving at the health facility late. Kamara is a senior nurse at the Hinistas Clinic Health Center in Mile 91, which covers mainly the Mile 91 community and six other communities scattered around it, include Gaindema. Kamara explains that like in the rest of the country, Malaria is the major cause of illness in the communities they serve. The parasitic disease accounts for about 80 percent of daily cases, data provided by the facility shows. Majority of the cases are children and pregnant women. According to Nurse Kamara, they record over 600 cases of malaria in a month. This number goes up to over 800 during the rains, the peak period for malaria infection in Sierra Leone, he says. It can costs a minimum of Le3, 000 for a one way ride from Gaindema to Mile 91. Some of the women say they sometimes pay Le4000 for a one-way ride. A minimum of Le6, 000 transportation for two-way is way too much for many of the inhabitants of this community where the people rely entirely on subsistence farming, and for a few, petty trading, to survive. The best option for many of them, therefore, is to trek the three miles distance. But for some, like Ruth Kamara, they would rather stay at home and seek traditional remedies. A suckling mother, Ruth has reported three times for postnatal checkup. She is supposed to attend clinic four times, she says, noting that she has no idea where she would get money for transport for her next trip. Unlike Ruth, Zainab Y. Kamara, who is heavily pregnant, is dangerously far behind schedule. She has already attended antenatal clinic twice, even though nurses told her she must go four times. She has no intention of going back. I have to walk and I cant do that, she says. We find it difficult because some of us our people dont have bike, our husbands dont have money. So if we have an emergency at night, we find it difficult to respond rapidly," adds Mariatu Sankoh, another pregnant woman in the community. "We want government to help us. The distance is too far, she stresses. According to Mr Serry, the general concerns of the community is not only how to get the money for transportation, but also the deplorable condition of the road and the rough nature of the riders, which expose them to constant risk of accident. Sometimes when we transport the pregnant women by Okada it leads to complications, which often forces the nurses to refer them to Magburaka, which increases the cost on us, he says. We get a lot of miscarriages due to traveling by Okada and because of that many people opt for the native way of treatment, he adds. Magburaka is the district headquarters town of Tonkolili. It is located some 34 miles from Mile 91. One of Samuel Turays two wives recently walked her way between Mile 91 and Gaindema. According to the husband, she had money to pay for only one way. And on her way back she had to walk. Her condition got worst on arrival home. Turay says he had to take her back to the health center for further treatment. Turay's elder wife recently went for immunization and the bike that carried her had an accident. This is why it is difficult for us to travel on this road, he stresses. Sierra Leone has a national Malaria prevalence rate of 40 percent, according to the National Malaria Indicator Survey 2016, the latest available data from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS). Malaria is the leading cause of sickness in the country, especially among women and children, with an estimated 1,000 deaths annually among children under 5 years, according to World Health Organization (WHO) data. Malaria is a major fueling factor of maternal and infant mortality in the country. The Sierra Leone government says malaria treatment is free for every category of people in all government hospitals. And this, according to the people of Gaindema, holds true for Hanistas Clinic Health Center. Their concerns though, is accessing the center. But according to CHO Kamara, there is no need for the people of Gaindema to complain about access to health facility as they have a lot of options at hand. The solution is that government has trained Community Health Workers [CHWs] and they are in various villages to handle such situations for communities which are far from health centers, the CHO explains to KMNs Fatmata Marian Sesay, who is based in Mile 91. According to Kamara, the governments policy to establish health facility in any community is determined by its proximity to the nearest health facility. Every three miles away government should erect a health facility, he says, noting that communities which do not meet this threshold have CHWs, who are locals in these communities and who are trained to handle mild cases. Kamara says besides the CHWs, all health centers have health workers who go out on outreach to both sensitize community people and to provide them treatment. The people need to notify the health workers early. Every village has a CHW and they can test for malaria. If after treatment in 24 hours the condition of the patient doesnt improve, they can refer them to other health facilities, he says. Kamara also says that they have observed that people dont complete their treatment, which exposes them to relapses, adding that failure to report early to health centers, due to reliance on herbalists, has led to many a complicated cases which forces the center to refer many people to the regional hospital in Magburaka. We send a lot of complicated cases of malaria among children to Maburaka. When a case of malaria is complicated, the child goes into convulsion and they say its evil spirit, he says. Civil society organizations complement the efforts of the Ministry of Health through sensitization, to encourage people to seek conventional treatment. One major means of this is through radio engagement. Saidu Bah is the Station Manager of Radio Bomkolenke, which is based in neighboring Yelle; it hosts series of such radio programmes. Mr Bah says that because that part of the country has a hot climate the people tend to spend long time outdoors, during which period they get exposed to mosquito bites, hence the high prevalence of malaria cases. A lot of the people here have bed nets and they say they sleep under them, says Bah, who is a member of the Kombra Media Network (KMN), the media arm of the Kombra Network (KN), which is an affiliate of the local NGO FOCUS 1000. KN, which also comprises religious leaders and mainstream civil society activists, engages in community sensitization to encourage people to practice recommended and safe health behaviors. As Kombra Network, we are trying to play our role to sensitize the people. We are monitoring the Free Health Care. Many a times we hear people say they are told to buy medicine from the pharmacy. What we find out is that truly the medicines are delivered, but they are not enough. The government really needs to increase on the drugs supply, Bah says. Copyright 2020 Politico Online Democratic Delegate Stacey Plaskett accidentally says former President Donald Trump "needs to be shot" in an interview with MSNBC Sunday. The Virgin Islands representative quickly corrected herself after the mishap while discussing Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents. Democrat Stacey Plaskett Says Donald Trump 'Needs to Be Shot' As per a report by the New York Post, Plaskett found herself amid a verbal slip-up during a live TV appearance, wherein she slammed Trump over the mishandling of the classified documents. While discussing political matters, she accidentally uttered a statement that dropped many jaws. The prominent Democratic figure accidentally said that "Donald Trump needs to be shot" while discussing the current political climate. The unintended slip of the tongue immediately triggered a flurry of reactions from supporters and critics. However, Plaskett promptly corrected her slip of the tongue during her interview as she quickly realized the mishap. So it turns out she merely misspoke and did not intend to incite violence or harm toward the former President of the United States. Plasketts told MSNBC Sunday anchor Jonathan Capehart, "Trump needs to be shot... stopped." Read Also: Ex-VP Mike Pence Joins the 2024 US Presidential Race, Clashing with Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis Plaskett Blasts Trump for Mishandling Classified Documents The Democrat lawmaker Plaskett the former POTUS, for "having the classified information for Americans' and being able to share it with 'anyone and everyone who comes through' his resort." After a slip of the tongue, Plaskett continued slamming the MAGA leader, saying that the POTUS would "have his day in court." Besides Trump, she also called out other Republicans for their skepticism of the FBI and the Department of Justice, which she dubs mere propaganda. As The Daily Mail reports, Republicans, including Trump, are speculating that US President Joe Biden used the Justice Department to arrest his political rival. The recent chyron incident of Fox News, wherein the conservative news network dubbed Biden a "wannabe dictator," is based on this rhetoric. The graphic claims that the President had his political rival persecuted. Biden has consistently denied any involvement in the case against Trump. Forbes reports that the President says, "I have not spoken to [Garland] at all, and I'm not going to speak with him." It is worth noting that Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith, who charged the former President with 37 felony charges. All of which Trump pleaded not guilty to. Despite these charges, Trump is adamant about his re-election run for the 2024 race, wherein he faces other Republicans, such as former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Biden also confirmed his presidential bid. Related Article: AI-Generated Images of Trump Hugging Fauci Appear in Attack Ad by DeSantis Supporters @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. By U.S. Ambassador Maria Brewer April 8, 2020 The story of U.S. leadership in the global battle against COVID-19 is the continuation of a longer story of global health assistance around the world. These efforts demonstrate a decades-long foundation of American expertise, generosity, and planning unmatched in history. The United States provides aid because we believe its the right thing to do. We also do it because pandemics dont respect national borders. If we can help counties contain outbreaks, well save lives everywhere. Here in Sierra Leone, the U.S. supports the current threat by strengthening surveillance, diagnostic capacity, case management, and supply chain systems, as well as contributing drugs, equipment and vehicles. Our U.S. Presidents Malaria Initiative plays a key role in all of these areas, and will be pivotal in helping to mitigate the challenge of combating COVID-19 in the context of Sierra Leone, as will the Neglected Tropical Disease program that we have conducted in Sierra Leone for the past 10 years. Our generosity and pragmatism explains why the United States was one of the first countries to help to the Chinese people as soon as reports emerged from Wuhan of another outbreak, offering immediate technical assistance to the Chinese Centers for Disease Control, and then, in February, transporting nearly 18 tons of donated medical supplies to Wuhan. We also pledged $100 million in assistance to countries to fight what would become a pandemic including an offer to China, which was declined. Our response now far surpasses that initial pledge. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the U.S. government has committed nearly $500 million in assistance to date. This funding will improve public health education, protect healthcare facilities, and increase laboratory, disease-surveillance, and rapid-response capacity in more than 60 of the worlds most at risk countries all in an effort to help contain outbreaks before they reach our shores. As the largest funder of WHO since its founding, Americas unsurpassed contributions are also felt through the many international organizations fighting COVID-19 on the front lines. Our country continues to be the single largest health and humanitarian donor for both long-term development and capacity building efforts across the globe, funding nearly 40% of the worlds global health assistance programs, adding up to $140 billion in investments in the past 20 years five times more than the next largest donor. Since 2009, American taxpayers have generously funded more than $100 billion in health assistance and nearly $70 billion in humanitarian assistance globally. Sierra Leones health system benefits from the foundation created by the $600 million contribution from the U.S. for response and recovery during and subsequent to the Ebola crisis. This investment improved water and sanitation and provided training for more than 500 health professionals at the primary care level. In addition, we have graduated 176 epidemiologists and more than 180 Community Health Officers have been trained in management and leadership skills. The U.S. Government helped establish Sierra Leones Emergency Operations Centre, which is currently being used to coordinate COVID-19 preparedness and response. We also supported the Public Health Laboratory Rapid Response teams for the testing of Ebola and, now, COVID-19. Our Global Health Security Agenda initiative serves as a platform to detect, prevent and respond to infectious diseases such as COVID-19. U.S. investments have provided significant support for establishment and maintenance of the electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response system, making Sierra Leone the first country in the region to have electronic surveillance at health facility level. Additional ongoing U.S. support for establishment of Sierra Leones electronic Case Based Disease Surveillance system supports real-time reporting of individual cases of priority diseases, including COVID-19. Further, U.S. funding helped establish the Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and supported the development of the countrys National Action Plan for Health Security. We have renovated and equipped entire laboratories in Sierra Leone, including the only Central Veterinary Lab in the country, which is state-of-the-art. We continue to conduct extensive training of diverse cadres of health personnel for many different tasks. To cite just a few examples -- Over 200 Sierra Leonean Public Health Officers across all 16 districts have been trained in field epidemiology through the Field Epidemiology Training Program, gaining key skills in outbreak detection, investigation and control at the health facilities. Forty-three IPC Officers have been trained in infection prevention and control practices and are providing leadership at the national and district level for COVID-19 coordination teams. U.S. implementing partners have developed risk communication messages and printed information, education, and communication materials on COVID-19 in Sierra Leone. The U.S. Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which has provided HIV/AIDS support to Sierra Leone since 2016, has agreed to allow immediate funding for efforts to address COVID-19. In addition, the U.S. Department of Defense has worked with Sierra Leones Office of National Security Disaster Management Department for general emergency preparedness through training on policy and planning. We have also partnered with RSLAF to strengthen the logistics capacity, which is currently playing a role in RSLAFs border deployments to respond to COVID-19. Our help is much more than money and supplies. Its the experts we have deployed worldwide, and those still conducting tutorials today via teleconference. Its the doctors and public-health professionals trained, thanks to U.S. money and educational institutions. And its the supply chains that we keep open and moving for U.S. companies producing and distributing high-quality critical medical supplies around the world. As we have time and time again, the United States will aid others during their time of greatest need. The COVID-19 pandemic is no different. We will continue to help countries build resilient health care systems that can prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks. Just as the U.S. has made the world more healthy, peaceful, and prosperous for generations, so will we lead in defeating our shared pandemic enemy and rising stronger in its wake. Copyright (c) 2020 Politico Online , Cookies . cookies. DUANESBURG Police have arrested the driver of the vehicle whose passenger fled and later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a traffic stop on Interstate 88 on Friday. Alicia G. Eriole, 30, of Schenectady was charged with two counts of first-degree robbery and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. State police stopped a vehicle at about 11:11 a.m. for going over 100 mph. As Trooper Richard Albert was approaching the vehicle, the driver put the window down and the passenger, later identified as 32-year-old Nelson Troche, also of Schenectady, reached out the driver-side window and opened fire, striking Albert in his left upper arm, according to police. Albert returned fire and then Troche and Eriole exited the vehicle. Riole was taken into custody on scene. Troche fled into a wooded area and was found about one and a half hours later in the area of Darby Hill Road in Duanesburg, suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Troopers immediately provided medical aid until EMS arrived and transported him to Albany Medical Center via med flight, where he was declared dead. Riole was sent to the Schenectady County Jail in lieu of $100,000 cash or a $500,000 bond. This investigation is ongoing, and additional charges are anticipated. ATLANTIC CITY A local community organization held its sixth annual Juneteenth festival and cookout Monday at Oscar E. McClinton Jr. Waterfront Park. Organizers from Ubuntu said the event was meant to gather city residents in a celebration of community and freedom. Juneteenth, the Ubuntu way, brings the community together as one, said Ubuntu founder Nefertiti Hathaway, 29 and a city resident. It just allows people to come together and unite and celebrate freedom and unity and community and just be who they are unapologetically. Juneteenth is meant to mark the date when word reached the final outpost of the Confederacy of the end of slavery in 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. It was declared a federal holiday in 2021. The Ubuntu Juneteenth festival ran from 3 to 7 p.m., with the festivities and cool weather drawing hundreds of city residents over the course of four hours for free food, a DJ, live music and dancing. Younger attendees broke off in groups to play different games set up around the park, with the feature attraction being a Spider-Man bounce castle. Pan-African flags lined the perimeter of the park, with additional flags available for passersby to take and wave. Tyshiek Wright, 27, a city resident and city government employee, said he appreciated how the festival had fun to offer for all people in a welcoming, safe atmosphere. The event here is beautiful, Wright said. The kids are out here vibing, the ladies are out here vibing, the fellas are out here vibing, its a great day, man, all positivity. Cape May church celebrates freedom on Juneteenth CAPE MAY Its been more than 20 years since members of Macedonia Baptist Church organized Brenda Bediako, another city resident, said she felt attending the event was a way of marking a momentous occasion in history. She said she brought her two granddaughters to the festival and was enjoying the celebration. I just wanted to be a part of history and a history that goes back for our people, Bediako said after dancing. This is something big for me to be a part of, and Im just proud to be here and just having fun. Area vendors set up booths to sell jewelry, painting, clothes and other arts and crafts. Michael Crews and Omar Hendricks exhibited their paintings, including both expressionist work and stylized portraits of Black figures such as Malcom X and Ray Charles. Crews said he thought the event had the feeling of a small-town gathering and said he wanted to help people cast aside sources of division with art. Theres a lot of history out here, Crews said. Small-town vibes, it brings people together. Rashida Shannon, a teacher with a two-decade career in the Atlantic City School District, said she felt it was important to support community events, such as the Juneteenth celebration. She said she was excited to impart the meaning of Juneteenth onto the younger generation. During her interview, Shannon discussed the holiday with her 7-year-old nephew, Tramar. Its important to support the community, so they know that we all stick together, were all out here for one another, Shannon said. Its important to introduce that concept as young as you can to the kids, because when you introduce a concept like that to them young, they grow up with it. Taking place in the midst of the summer, the Juneteenth festival drew a crowd of visitors to the city. Terry Macon, 74, and her husband, Reginald, 73, came to the Jersey Shore from their home in Philadelphia. Terry Macon said it was important to her to mark the holiday while she was down the shore and was glad to have come upon the Ubuntu festival. It means so much to me as an African American and what our people have been through all these years, Macon said. It was something to celebrate for the people before us whose shoulders were standing on. I wanted to make sure I celebrate that. Ubuntu, established in 2018, is a group that organizes community events, with its premier event having been its 2018 Juneteenth celebration. Hathaway an alumna of Lincoln University, one of the first historically Black colleges or universities in the country said the 2018 event was her first celebration of Juneteenth and that its history of emancipation resonated with her. She said she wanted to help the city develop its own Juneteenth traditions. It is important to show people that we can come together, Hathaway said. For all of these kids coming up, I wanted to show them this is what Juneteenth is and it can be whatever you want it to be. ATLANTIC CITY A day before representing his class as valedictorian at graduation, Rami Rabayah called a new city scholarship a tool in navigating mounting college costs. The Atlantic City High School senior made his remarks Tuesday before about 30 of his classmates, who are some of the inaugural recipients of the scholarship program named after Mayor Marty Small Sr. and funded through federal COVID-19 relief money. I know students who have spoken about how they were going to pay for things like food, bills and rent, said Rabayah, an 18-year-old Princeton University-bound senior. I, myself, wondered how my financial state was going to be, living alone for the first time. Small announced the scholarship in May, intending to use $3 million in unspent American Rescue Plan money toward making college affordabable. The mayor, an alumnus of the high school, said the money would cover the scholarships for the next three years. Citing the pricey cost of college, Small said the program would give dedicated students the opportunity they need to realize their potential. If you can dream it and believe it, you can achieve it, Small told the group. The mayor and his wife, LaQuetta Small, the school districts superintendent, challenged the students to consider using their degrees to better the city. Atlantic City announces $3 million scholarship named for mayor ATLANTIC CITY A $3 million city scholarship program was unveiled Wednesday during a news c I just hope after you go to college, you stay there, you finish and you come back to the great City of Atlantic City and execute some of your ideas, LaQuetta Small said. This year, 100 students each received a $10,000 scholarship. Fifty of the selected students are graduating high school seniors, and the other 50 are city high school graduates who are rising sophomores, juniors and seniors enrolled in a college. Only city residents could apply. City Chief Financial Officer Toro Aboderin has said the scholarship funds would be paid directly to the colleges, generally in two $5,000 installments for the fall and spring semesters. Choosing recipients was extremely competitive and carried out by a 17-person committee made up of officials from various entities, including the city, the school district and local colleges, said Mayor Small, who did not partake in the selection. I wouldnt have wanted to be on that committee if somebody paid me, with the amount of work and time and effort that they put in, he said. Interested students needed to submit an essay with their application and have a college acceptance letter, he said. Vagabond gets OK to make outdoor seating, parking lots permanent ATLANTIC CITY Vagabond Kitchen & Tap House on West End Avenue in Chelsea Heights survi A minimum GPA was not needed for the scholarship because the city didnt want to limit how many students could be eligible for the money, Small said. Small has said he hoped to continue funding the scholarship after the federal money expires, possibly exploring the use of funds saved from reduced debt-service payments, which are believed to drop in the coming years. Rabayah plans to study mechanical engineering at Princeton, hoping to use that degree to help the environment. Heaven Leon plans to major in theater arts at Morgan State University, a historically Black college in Baltimore. You all are going to see all of our faces 10 years from now because everybody behind me is going to be doing something great, Leon said, smiling while greeted with applause and cheers from her classmates. CAPE MAY Its been more than 20 years since members of Macedonia Baptist Church organized their first Juneteenth celebration, remembering and celebrating the end of legal slavery in the United States. At the time, outside of predominantly Black communities, the holiday remained relatively obscure, a celebration of the day word reached the final outpost of the Confederacy of the end of slavery, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Today, Juneteenth is a federal holiday, which Sherry Hazel sees as an indication of progress. It makes us feel pretty good, she said. The youth ministry leader at the historic church on Lafayette Street, Hazel helped organize the young members of the church to speak, sing and dance about Juneteenth and what it means for Black Americans and the entire country. The presentation inside the church Monday was part of a day of events that included food, music, speakers and crafts. On Sunday, Cape May hosted a larger Juneteenth celebration, and there were also other events throughout the area, including in Atlantic City and Ocean City. Lynda Anderson-Towns, a lifelong resident of the area and member of Macedonia Baptist Church, as well as a trustee of the Harriet Tubman Museum of Cape May next door, said the celebrations were worthwhile, but the church wanted to keep some of the traditions of the first Juneteenth event, in Galveston, Texas, in 1866. The story behind Juneteenth and how it became a federal holiday Many Americans are celebrating Juneteenth, marking the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in the U.S. learned they were free. Here is a look at the origins of Juneteenth, how it became a federal holiday and more about its history. One year earlier, on June 19, U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3, announcing the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, a distant outpost of the Confederacy, several months after the end of the Civil War. Even that was not the end of slavery in the nation, however, as Abraham Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation only applied to the states that joined the Confederacy. The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution was proclaimed Dec. 18, 1865. Freed from slavery, many in Galveston left that area but returned for the anniversary for a celebration, Anderson-Towns said. That sense of family connection, celebration and community were part of what led Macedonia Baptist Church to host the event Monday. Youth members Nicholas Beaman, Adlihanna Beamon, Peyton Facey, Mila Cruz, Neville Walton and Ethyn Williams sang and performed the story of slavery and freedom, including singing the spiritual Wade in the Water and a dance acting out the song Stand Up, written by Cynthia Erivo for a film about Tubman. Facey and others imagined themselves as freed slaves. She said she expected wealth as well because the former slaves were capable of working so hard. But it didnt work out that way, she said as part of the program. We found that freedom could make folks proud, but it didnt make them rich. Decades ago, Anderson-Towns said, community members organized Juneteenth and Kwanzaa celebrations. But Juneteenth only lasted a few years, coming at the start of the tourist season, crunch time for most Cape May year-rounders. In 2021, Cape May celebrated the opening of the Tubman museum in a building owned by the church and extensively renovated, with a large Juneteenth gathering in nearby Rotary Park at a time when in-person gatherings were still exceptional. Both Hazel and Anderson-Towns said the museum has helped reinvigorate Macedonia Baptist Church, the last of Cape Mays historically African American churches. The block where Macedonia Baptist Church stands was once the center of Cape Mays Black community, and there were two other former historically Black churches nearby, but they are churches no longer. Macedonia Baptist had always been a multiracial church, Anderson-Towns said, but today, only a small portion of Cape May residents are Black. Our membership has shown some changes because the community has changed, she said. On a sunny June day, children enjoyed an inflated bounce house, and community members showed crafts and artwork. Participants gathered in the church basement for red velvet cake and Juneteenth punch and heard about the history of Black churches in Cape May County. Anderson-Towns said things have changed from when she was growing up, but she sees more work ahead. I feel that were making progress. The progress that we are making is visual; recognition. We have a much deeper progress to make, to turn it to action, she said. Part of that, in her words, will be to recognize there remains a level of systemic bondage, 158 years after Freedom Day came to Galveston. Im enjoying Juneteenth, but I know its just one day. Its not about what you say. It is about what you do, Anderson-Towns said. EGG HARBOR CITY A fugitive in an Atlantic City man's murder over the weekend was captured early Tuesday morning, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said. Dominique Woodall, 27, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was arrested about 2 a.m. in Pleasantville, the agency said in a news release. Woodall was charged with murder, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon without a permit to carry. He was being held in the Atlantic County jail, the Prosecutor's Office said. Woodall is accused of murdering Terrance Dismuke on Friday afternoon outside the Beacon Hall event facility in the 200 block of St. Louis Avenue. South Dakota man a fugitive in Egg Harbor City murder EGG HARBOR CITY Authorities are searching for a South Dakota man accused of murdering an A Family members grabbed Dismuke after he was shot and were driving him to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, City Campus, when their car was stopped by Galloway Township police, according to an affidavit of probable cause. His transportation to the facility continued in an ambulance, the affidavit states. Hospital staff later declared him dead. Dismuke's family interviewed by detectives said they heard a gunshot at a family gathering at Beacon Hall, watching outside as Dismuke ran from a blue Dodge Challenger driven by Woodall, the affidavit states. An occupant in the vehicle told detectives he saw Woodall with a gun "on his lap" around the time of the shooting, the affidavit states. Dismuke was standing on the car's passenger side when Woodall allegedly fired the gun, driving away after the vehicle's remaining occupants exited, the document states. A man investigators say hid in Mexico for more than two decades to avoid capture in the slaying of his ex-girlfriend in Atlantic County was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday. Franciso Martinez, 53, tried unsuccessfully to withdraw his guilty plea in the death of Patricia Boney on Feb. 25, 1994, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday in a news release. Martinez pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter earlier this year. By accepting a plea deal, he agreed to the 20-year sentence, the Prosecutor's Office said. While in hiding, Martinez was featured on TV's "America's Most Wanted." Prosecutors say Martinez stabbed Boney more than 17 times while in her Buena apartment with the couple's toddler. He stole her 1982 Chevrolet Camaro, which was found about a month later in Houston, leading detectives to believe Martinez crossed the southern border. Man who hid in Mexico after 1994 Atlantic County stabbing pleads guilty A fugitive featured on Americas Most Wanted whom authorities say hid in Mexico after he a Boneys 9- and 11-year-old children dialed 911 after finding her in bed bleeding. Before dying, she identified Martinez as her killer to authorities. An autopsy, which noted multiple wounds to Boney's arms and hands from the attack, said Martinezs weapon inflicted a roughly 4-inch wound that penetrated Boneys heart. Martinez was indicted on charges of murder and unlawful possession of a weapon in 1994, being the primary suspect. Prosecutors say he lived in Mexico for more than 25 years under an alias. Atlantic County detectives tracked down Martinez to Mexicos Sinaloa region in the northwest. The U.S. Marshals Office, Interpol and the U.S. Department of State located Martinez, returning him to New Jersey in May 2022. Several agencies, including the Prosecutors Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, collaborated to locate Martinez and extradite him. PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account. (Photo : SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) Hunter Biden coordinated with executives at Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings to open an account at a corrupt Maltese bank. Hunter Biden and his employer at a Ukrainian gas company were involved in opening a foreign bank account that was closed after a money laundering investigation. Emails reveal that Burisma, the allegedly corrupt Ukrainian gas company that hired the President's son in 2014, opened an account with him in Malta at a bank that later shuttered due to a financial crimes investigation. Hunter Biden and Burisma Set up Account With Satabank The revelation that the First Son and Burisma are linked to a bank accused of flouting money laundering rules follows claims made by a longstanding FBI informant that Burisma's owner sent $10 million to Hunter and his father through a complex web of offshore transactions, which were revealed this month by lawmakers. Hunter Biden provided income statements, passport information, and even utility bills to Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi in 2016 to open an account at the now-defunct SataBank in Malta, according to emails obtained from his laptop. The first son was instructed to provide "a certified declaration of source wealth," have them notarized by a lawyer, and send them to the auction house owner in Malta. In 2020, the auctioneer Pierre Pillow and his business PGP Trading Limited were accused of laundering "millions of euros." Maltese prosecutors claim they were alerted to a suspicious transaction involving Burisma and selling a disassembled oil rig. The Times of Malta reported in December 2020 that during the court case, it was revealed that Burisma owner Mykola Zolchevsky had rented Pillow's apartment in Ta' Xbiex, Malta, in 2014 while applying for citizenship of the country through its golden visa program. Zlochevsky and Burisma were the subjects of a financial crime investigation by the UK's Serious Fraud Office and US authorities in 2014. The case was resolved with no charges filed, Daily Mail reported. In a separate email exchange with Hunter, Pozharskyi identified the financial institution as Satabank, and an assistant for the then-second son subsequently sent the financial institution a tax identification number and signature. Read Also: Trump vs. Biden vs. DeSantis: Polls Reveal Voters' Choice for the 2024 Presidential Election Investigation of Burisima Payments to Bidens According to the reports, Pillow was never convicted of any crime, and his attorney stated that "due diligence was performed and the bank approved it." Satabank ceased operations in 2018 after Malta's Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit discovered "gross deficiencies" in the bank's compliance with anti-money laundering and terrorism financing laws. Per NY Post, the emails from Satabank were first reported on Substack by the independent journalist KanekoaTheGreat. The report follows allegations that Hunter and Joe Biden each accepted $5 million in bribes to assist Zlochevsky in evading a corruption investigation when the bank accounts were opened. According to Greene, Zlochevsky allegedly told an FBI informant that "it would take 10 years" for investigators to "discover the payments made to the Bidens because there were so many bank accounts." Hunter, who earned up to $1 million annually from 2014 to 2019 while serving on Burisma's board, introduced Pozharskyi to his father in April 2015 at a dinner in Washington, DC. Eleven months later, in March 2016, Shokin was terminated from his position, weeks before the Satabank accounts were opened. Related Article: Biden Bribery Case: POTUS Berates Reporter for 'Dumb Question' Over 'Big Guy' Reference @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service battles the Acorn Hill Wildfire at the Brendan T. Byrne State Forest in Burlington County. As of Tuesday morning, it is 100% contained but the cause of the fire is still under investigation. Smoke and poor visibility will still be possible to the southwest of the Brendan T. Byrne State Forest site, carried by the winds out of the northeast. Towns like Tabernacle, Shamon, Medford and Hammonton could all be exposed to poor air quality throughout the day. (NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION/Provided) The 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season official kicks off on June 1 and the 21 storm names are in from the World Meteorological Organization. The names encompass almost every letter of the alphabet, leaving out Q, U, X, Y and Z. This year's primary list of names is largely borrowed from 2017's. The storm names rotate every six year, a feature that began in 1979. However, storms that were particularly destructive and deadly may be retired if the World Meteorological Organization, an agency of the United Nations, votes to do so. In the case of this cycle, Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate were retired from the 2017 list. In it's place for 2023 are Harold, Idalia, Margot and Nate. The World Meteorological Organization also names storms for other parts of the world as well. A young man in Chinchwad died of suicide by hanging himself. It was reported that, the deceased left his home for work and called his mother informing about the drastic step that he was about to take. This incident took place in Thergaon on Monday morning. The youth who died of suicide has been identified as Pramod Rajendra Kushwaha (19), resident of Thergaon. According to Senior Police Inspector Krishnadev Kharade, Pramod was having an affair with a minor girl. But both the families were against their marriage as the girl was a minor. On Monday morning he left the house saying that he was going to look for work. Then he called his mother saying "I am sitting on a tree near the river near Birla Hospital to commit suicide. When the family members searched for him on the river bank in Chinchwad, Pramod was found hanging near Thergaon ghat. He was brought down and admitted to the hospital. But the doctors declared that he died before the treatment. Chinchwad Police are investigating the matter. A Davenport teen serving three years on probation for selling marijuana was arrested Thursday after he allegedly pointed a gun at several people standing outside the Cross Creek Apartments on Davenport's Elmore Avenue, police said. Lashawn Terrell Bell, 19, is charged with one count of intimidation with a dangerous weapon. The charge is a Class C felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of 10 years. According to the arrest affidavit filed by Davenport Police Officer Craig Burkle, at 10:47 a.m. Thursday, officers were dispatched to 5901 Elmore Ave. to investigate a disturbance involving a gun. During the investigation it was determined that Bell had contacted the victims and said he was "on his way up." Bell drove by the victims residence while they were standing outside and pointed a gun in their direction. The victims ran inside the apartment for cover. During a post-Miranda interview, Bell admitted to being at the apartment complex and getting into an argument with the victims. During a first appearance on the charge Friday in Scott County District Court, District Associate Judge Cheryl Traum scheduled a preliminary hearing in the case for June 26. Traum also set Bells bond at $10,000, cash-only. Bell was being held in the Scott County Jail. The case remains under investigation, and additional charges against Bell are pending. Bell was sentenced in December to serve three years on probation after pleading guilty to a charge of possession with the intent to distribute marijuana, a Class D felony that carries a prison sentence of five years. A charge of being a minor armed with a dangerous weapon, a serious misdemeanor, was dropped in a plea agreement. According to the arrest affidavits in that case filed by Davenport Police Officer Michael Catton, at 3:27 p.m. on Oct. 10, 2021, a traffic stop was made on a black Chrysler 300 with no license plates in the 600 block of Douglas Court. Bell was the front-seat passenger of the vehicle. A K-9 conducted a free air sniff on the vehicle and positively alerted on the front driver and front passenger doors of the car. During a search of the vehicle, officers seized a loaded .38-caliber Ruger pistol under the drivers seat, and a loaded .40-caliber Smith and Wesson pistol on the floorboard where Bell was sitting. Also on the floorboard where Bell was sitting was a black backpack that contained 31.3 grams of marijuana, a digital scale with marijuana residue and $2,513 in cash. Bell pleaded guilty to the drug charge during a hearing on Oct. 3, 2022, in district court. When District Judge Patrick McElyea sentenced Bell on Dec. 8, 2022, he added two special conditions, one that Bell would abstain from using illicit drugs. In a second special condition, McElyea ordered that Bell complete high school and earn his diploma, and then obtain and maintain employment. However, on June 7, Bell was arrested for allegedly violating the conditions of his probation. He was released from the Scott County Jail after posting 10% of a $2,500 bond through a bonding company. Bell was free on bond until his arrest Thursday on the intimidation with a dangerous weapon charge for which Scott County prosecutors have requested another probation violation revocation. Goodwill Career Advisor Audreanna Dominguez has yet to work from her new desk at the Lincoln Resource Center, but she's already helped more than one person sign up for job training. She spoke with guests Monday afternoon at the Lincoln Resource Center, 318 E. 7th St., Davenport, about how she'll work to break down barriers for those hoping to gain new skills or find jobs through the new Together Making a Better Community (TMBC) business center, which opened Monday. "People are definitely breaking down the doors trying to get their job. Nobody doesn't want to work; just getting the opportunity is the first step," Dominguez said. "So this is what we're here for." TMBC held a ribbon cutting in the Lincoln Resource Center to welcome the community into its new public business space and community board room. A small crowd gathered in the building transformed in 2017 from a former elementary school to a hub for organizations and resources created by and for the Black community. Visitors came to see the two renovated classrooms and learn about the opportunities they can provide. The business center houses computers and a printer, aimed at providing access to internet and other technology some people may not have at home. Other areas allow for individual and group work, and the community board room can provide a professional space for meetings and more. TMBC Executive Director Tracy Singleton said community partners helped fund and renovate the rooms, which cost about $50,000. The organization received grants from the Regional Development Authority and Wells Fargo for the project. Goodwill reached out to her as the spaces were being prepared about housing Dominguez in the business center through the Goodwill Career Center, a free resource empowering people to find professional opportunities. "This is the power of relationships and the power of connections and what we can do if we all work together," Singleton said. It took almost three years to get to this point, she said, and it's almost hard to believe that the spaces are ready for the public. TMBC staff and others started the process in 2020 by cleaning out the old classrooms, she said, which were in rough shape. From there, they had to get furniture and plan for electrical work, then moved on to building out the rooms. Supply-chain issues and lining up times for the different groups involved in the process drew it out, but in early 2023 they were able to start decorating and adding finishing touches to have it ready for a Juneteenth opening. "We're just glad to be to the point where everything came together as it was supposed to," Singleton said. In the future, she said, TMBC plans to renovate the Lincoln Center's auditorium and bathrooms, as well as open a community fridge and kitchen, since the neighborhoods surrounding the building are in a food desert. As a Davenport resident living just a few minutes from the Lincoln Center, Dominguez said, people she's talked to are ready to use the new spaces, just like the rest of the resources TMBC has to offer. "It's important that we create safe spaces for everybody, especially because we're in Iowa. There's not a lot of safe spaces for Black and brown (people), where we can be free to be exactly who we are, whatever that means," Dominguez said. "This is that place. It is definitely a refuge." Photos: Juneteenth celebration at the Lincoln Center in Davenport Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced nearly $150 million in funding for broadband development on Monday, focused on areas with the highest need for high-speed internet. The latest round of the Empower Rural Broadband Grant Program will make available up to $148,960,000 for qualified broadband projects in underserved areas. Funding for the projects will come from the 2021 federal American Rescue Plan Act. Iowans deserve access to reliable, fast broadband, Reynolds said in a news release. Reliable internet connections are needed to live, work and raise a family. This investment in infrastructure gets us one step closer to providing easy internet access to all Iowans. Unlike previous broadband funding opportunities, the grants will be focused on 96 Broadband Intervention Zones around the state, areas that have been identified as having a critical need for broadband access. The zones were identified using feedback from dozens of public meetings, the governors office said in the release. Internet providers can begin applying for state grants on July 14. The state will announce the selected projects in September. It will be the eighth round of funding through the program seeking to bolster Iowas internet speeds in rural areas. The program has awarded more than $350 million in federal and state dollars over the past seven rounds of funding. New district court judges appointed Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has appointed three new district court judges to fill vacancies. Reynolds appointed Ottumwa attorney Michael Carpenter to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of District Judge Lucy Gamon. The judicial district includes Appanoose, Davis, Jefferson, Keokuk, Mahaska, Monroe, Poweshiek, Wapello, Washington and Van Buren counties. Eric Nelson, of Council Bluffs, was appointed to the fill vacancy created by the retirement of District Judge Gregory W. Steensland. Nelson currently serves as an associate district judge. The district covers Audubon, Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie and Shelby counties. Patrick Smith, of Des Moines, was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the recent retirement of District Judge William P. Kelly for the judicial district that includes Polk County. Smith serves as an attorney for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Among more than 11,000 tons of debris from 324 Main St. are dozens of former residents' personal belongings, including TVs, computers and keepsakes. All of it brick, beams, walls, floor tile, cabinetry, appliances, belongings, etc. will be deposited at the Scott Area Landfill, according to asbestos-specific procedures. A Scott County District judge on Friday ordered a halt to what's left of demolition at the partially collapsed downtown Davenport apartment building until 8 p.m. Tuesday to allow lawyers and experts to examine the wreckage for evidence. Constructed in 1906 and opened in 1907 as a hotel, the building was expected to contain asbestos. Until the 1970s, asbestos was widely used in construction materials, including insulation, pipe wrap, and ceiling and floor tiles. Normally, federal requirements dictate that commercial buildings must be inspected and asbestos removed before demolition can take place. But there's an exception for buildings ordered razed after being deemed structurally unsound, which was the case at 324 Main St. following the May 28 partial collapse that killed three people. During demolition, Hawkeye Environmental conducted ambient air quality monitoring, Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) spokesperson Julie Tack wrote in an email to a reporter Friday. "No asbestos was found in any of the air samples," she wrote. Employees in air quality for the DNR spoke with Davenport department heads soon after the collapse to advise them of federal asbestos requirements, Tack wrote, as well as with company D.W. Zinser. The city announced June 1 it had hired the D.W. Zinser Commercial Demolition company to assist with recovery and demolition work. On June 5, a complaint was filed against D.W. Zinser, relating to health and asbestos in the 52801 ZIP code, which covers downtown Davenport, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration website. The case remained open Monday, and from the website, the details of the investigation and who filed the complaint were not clear. Kyle Fisher, the listed contact for Zinser on paperwork notifying the state of demolition, told a Quad-City Times/Dispatch-Argus reporter that OSHA and the state DNR have been "heavily involved" throughout the demolition process. "We have air sampling, which shows everything has been under the air limits," Fisher said, adding that third-party evaluations were conducted to verify the air testing to show everything was "up to snuff." In documents signed June 9, D.W. Zinser notified the state DNR it would begin demolition of the building, which was expected to contain asbestos, June 12. It pledged to keep materials damp to prevent asbestos from entering the air and that it would take the materials suspected to contain asbestos away in lined containers. At the landfill All of the rubble from The Davenport is being treated as contaminated material, because asbestos could not be removed beforehand, said Brian Seals, operations manager at the Scott Area Landfill. The landfill regularly disposes of asbestos-contaminated material, Seals said. In his 18 years with the commission, however, it has not had to deal with 11,000 tons at once. A hole has been dug specifically for the building debris, he said, and it is located away from other waste. Iowa law prohibits anyone from sorting or going through rubble once it arrives at a landfill because of the concern of asbestos, said Bryce Stalcup, deputy director of the Waste Commission of Scott County. In other words, the material won't be sorted once it arrives. The debris instead will be wetted, wrapped, and transported to the landfill in lined containers or dump trucks, and a sprinkler system will keep it damp as it's weighed, Stalcup said. Staff will take precautions, including wearing respirators and sending samples to a lab to test for any exposure, he said. "The risk is low, but it's still there," he said, adding that staff safety and environmental impact are the commission's top priorities. When products containing asbestos are disturbed, tiny asbestos fibers are released into the air, according to the American Cancer Institute. Over time, accumulated asbestos fibers can be trapped in the lungs and cause tissue inflammation and scarring. People who become ill from asbestos usually have been exposed to it on a regular basis, most often in a job where they have worked directly with the material or through substantial environmental contact, according to the institute. According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, wetting the material suspected to contain asbestos when demolishing a building is "the most common and effective method to control the release of asbestos fibers into the air and reduce the risk of inhalation." Reporter Tom Loewy contributed to this story. A federal judge sentenced a Rapid City man on June 9 to six years in a federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for receipt of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Viken sentenced 74-year-old Harland Bernard Johnson at the federal courthouse in Rapid City. Viken also ordered Johnson pay a standard $100 assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund required for each felony federal conviction, a $5,000 assessment to the Victims of Trafficking Fund and another $5,000 in restitution. Law enforcement began their investigation into Johnson after receiving a Cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about an image of a nude girl downloaded from the internet. The IP address led local law enforcement to Johnson's Rapid City address. According to a factual basis statement he signed as part of a plea deal, Johnson invited law enforcement into his house, and he initially said he knew about the photo but didn't know it was child pornography. When law enforcement seized multiple devices that contained child pornography and confronted him about the images, he admitted to viewing child pornography. Johnson had over 300 child pornography images on his computer with the earliest download in 2018. The images included children under the age of 12 and violence. A federal grand jury indicted Johnson in Nov. 18, 2021 with sexual exploitation of a minor, receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography. Johnson was arrested on Dec. 14, 2021. At his arraignment the next day, Johnson pleaded not guilty to all charges. U.S. Magistrate Judge Daneta Wollmann released Johnson pending trial. The conditions of his release included electronic monitoring of his devices. In May 2022, the United States Probation Office computer monitoring software caught a thumb drive plugged into Johnson's computer. The software took screenshots of the photos, which were child pornography. Johnson was arrested again. He pleaded guilty to the receipt charge in September 2022. The mandatory minimum for receipt of child pornography is five years in prison. The maximum is 20 years in prison, five years of supervised release and up to a $250,000 fine. As part of the plea deal, the government dismissed the other two charges. Sexual exploitation of a minor carries a minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years. Possession of child pornography carries the same amount of prison time as receipt of child pornography five to 20 years. When Johnson completes his prison sentence, he is required to register as a sex offender. He is currently held at the Pennington County Jail pending transportation to a federal prison. The South Dakota Army National Guard promoted Scott Linquist of Rapid City to the rank of colonel during a ceremony at Joint Force Headquarters on June 2. Col. Linquist is a full-time employee of the SDARNG. He is currently assigned as the SDNG Public Affairs Officer at Joint Force Headquarters on Camp Rapid. Linquist recently celebrated 33 years in the National Guard. "I don't know where 33 years has gone, but it's been one heck of a ride and I have a lot of great memories and experiences," Linquist said. "To see how you throw everything you've got into everything you do every single day, that's what benefits us (SDNG), so thank you for what you do and what you are going to continue to do," said Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Marlette, South Dakota National Guard Adjutant General, during Linquist's promotion ceremony. "Maj. Gen. Marlette, thank you for the trust and confidence that you have in me and my future abilities, I'll keep giving it my best day in and day out and for the betterment of this organization," Linquist said. Linquist's military career began in May 1990 when he enlisted in the SVC Battery, 2/147 FA as a 13B, cannon crewmember, in Aberdeen. He completed OCS in June 1997 and was commissioned as a 2LT in the 842nd Engineer Company. He transferred to the 1085th Medical Company in April 1998 and went to the Initial Entry Rotary Wing course and Aviation officer basic course at Fort Rucker (now Fort Novosel), AL. He then completed the Medical Service Corps officer basic course at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, followed by the UH-60 Blackhawk qualification course in 1999. Linquist held several leadership positions in the 1085th Medical Company until the unit was redesignated as C Co 1/189th General Support Aviation Battalion. He was selected as the first commander. He held this position from June 2006 to May 2009. He has served in several positions within JFHQ from June 2009 to August of 2016 before being selected as the battalion commander for 881st Troop Command in September 2016 until September 2018. He also held the 196th Regiment (RTI) deputy commander position from August 2019 to October 2021. He has worked full-time for the SDNG since December 1995 and has held several positions within CIO. Linquist has deployed to Bosnia in 2002 with the 1085th Medical Company as the Air Ambulance Platoon Leader and Iraq/Kuwait in 2011-2012 with C Company 189th General Support Aviation Battalion as the Operations Officer. He was also a part of a nation-building exercise to Nicaragua in 2007 with C Company 189th General Support Aviation Battalion providing MEDEVAC for units during Operation New Horizons. Linquist has a bachelor's degree in business management from Black Hills State University and a master's in business administration from the University of South Dakota. He is currently attending the US Army War College and will graduate in July with a master's in strategic studies. Linquist thanked his wife, Rebecca, for her understanding of the missed activities and the sacrifices that she's made to help him with his career and his continued education as he finishes war college. "Thank you for helping me get here. I couldn't do it without you, and my family and friends have been everything to me and my support system is strong," Linquist said. Mexican authorities destroyed 14 homemade armored tanks allegedly built by narco criminal gangs in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas. The Attorney General's Office of Mexico announced the destruction of the improvised armored tanks, aptly dubbed "monstrous," which means "monsters" in English. Mexico Destroys 14 Homemade Armored Tanks Mexico has dealt a powerful blow to the ambitions of narco criminal gangs by confiscating and obliterating 14 ingenious homemade armored tanks, carefully crafted to evade the clutches of law enforcement. As per a report by Vice, Mexican armed forces seized the "monstrous" tanks during their recent series of operations at the northeastern border state of Tamaulipas. The Mexican authorities shattered the dreams of criminals who sought to rule the streets with their impromptu war machines. The improvised tanks are typically made from heavy-duty vehicles fitted with armor plating and mounted with machine guns or other weapons. Criminal groups allegedly use these vehicles to attack rival gangs, the military, or the police. The local criminal gangs allegedly designed these armored vehicles to be sturdy and rugged enough to withstand bullets and other explosives. It encapsulates the determination of these groups to rule in their areas. Vice notes that several criminal groups consider Tamaulipas their home, such as the Gulf Cartel warring factions. The Zetas and Northeastern Cartels are also based in the region, Sinaloa, and the Jalisco New Generation Cartels. However, it is unclear if the seized tanks belonged to these groups. The Mexican government recently flexed its muscle and wrecked these crude but functional machinery. The Attorney General's Office confirmed in a press release that the armed forces destroyed 14 armored vehicles known as monstrous. The destruction of the 14 monstrous leaves a significant blow to the criminal groups operating in Tamaulipas. On top of that, it also shows that the Mexican government is taking a more aggressive stance against organized crime. Mexico's Attorney General Office, which goes by FGR Mexico on Twitter, shared photos and videos of the armored vehicles in a recent tweet. #FGR, en su Delegacion @FGR_Tamps, dio cumplimiento al Programa Destino de Bienes y Objetos del Delito, el cual establece la destruccion de objetos que son instrumentos del delito. Fueron destruidos 14 vehiculos denominados monstruos, asegurados en diversos enfrentamientos en pic.twitter.com/xTqxMHC3iU FGR Mexico (@FGRMexico) June 18, 2023 Read Also: Mexico Authorities Discover 45 Bags of Human Remains in Search of 7 Young People Homemade Narco Tanks in Mexico Besides the recent destruction of improvised armored tanks, Mexico authorities seized other similarly crude vehicles last April and February. Specifically, the Mexican government also destroyed nine armored tanks allegedly built by narco criminal gangs in Tamaulipas last April. And as early as February, the local authorities also got their hands on roughly 11 improvised tanks, which they destroyed later. In June, the authorities continued cracking down on these armored vehicles by destroying 14 more homemade tanks allegedly built by narco gangs in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Related Article: Mexico City Mayor Resigns to Launch Presidential Campaign @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Blackfeet Drug Task Force is holding a public community meeting on Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Stickgame Arbor in Browning to provide updates on its activities and to engage in a conversation about solutions. There will be a barbeque dinner, and attendees will have opportunities to learn about the signs of overdose, receive Narcan training, discuss drug use in the community and learn about public health and law enforcement responses. The Blackfeet Nation established the task force in March 2022 after declaring a state of emergency on fentanyl and drug overdoses, saying there were 17 overdoses and four drug-related deaths in one week. The council, at that time, appointed Misty LaPlant, from Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services, and Kristy Bullshoe, from the behavioral health department, to create the task force. Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services last week reported it seized more than 1,000 fentanyl pills and more than 40 grams of methamphetamine from a house with five people inside. The five people were arrested and are facing tribal and federal charges. For more information on the meeting, contact Misty LaPlant at mistylaplant1@gmail.com. They grew weary of waiting. Last month, fishing outfitters, guides, anglers and people worried about the decline of trout populations in southwest Montana sought immediate action from Gov. Greg Gianforte. Gianforte never responded. Not directly, anyway. However, the governor's office said Monday evening that his response was in the mail. Prior to Monday's exchange, his office said the governor referred concerns about trout in the Big Hole, Beaverhead, Ruby and Jefferson rivers to the relevant agency Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. And personnel from the department turned out in force June 7 in Butte for a two-hour meeting organized by FWP. The departments new director, Dustin Temple, told a restive crowd of about 60 people that FWP had the resources needed to seek explanations and potential remedies for the declining trout populations. Wade Fellin, an outfitter and lodge co-owner serving the Big Hole River, said Sunday that like-minded people decided to launch their own effort by forming Save Wild Trout. That decision followed no reply from Gianfortes office and vague notions about how FWP might proceed, he said. The states inaction and lack of urgency has left us local business owners and impacted community members desperate for answers, so weve formed Save Wild Trout to bring private resources and expertise to work together to find science-based solutions to restoring our fisheries, Fellin said. Though FWP promised massive funding and resources, its clear the state does not have a concrete plan for the immediate term despite our fishery needing immediate action and leadership, he said. So, working together with national fly fishing brands and private donors weve launched the Save Wild Trout campaign. The nonprofit intends to commission study of the rivers and what factors might be driving the decline in trout, Fellin said. On the basis of expert science, we will call for any necessary legislative, regulatory or policy changes for river and fisheries management, he said. Fellin described Save Wild Trout as a coordinated effort led by Upper Missouri Waterkeeper, founded in 2013. After the governor failed to respond, businesses, advocates and community saw the need to take control and provide leadership absent Gianforte, he said. Upper Missouri Waterkeepers website says the organization uses a combination of strong science, community action and legal expertise to defend the Upper Missouri River, its tributaries and communities against threats to clean water and healthy rivers. For now, its not clear what the most salient threats are to trout living in rivers famous for the quality of their fishing and fishing experiences. FWP has said low flows are likely a factor, partly because trout need cold, clear water to thrive and partly because related stress for the fish makes them more vulnerable to disease. Photos of trout netted in the rivers show fish apparently afflicted by fungus. Angling pressure has increased year-by-year and catch-and-release can also stress trout and cause mortality. Paul Siddoway, a longtime advocate for the Big Hole River, said wild trout flourished in the rivers of southwest Montana after the decision in the mid-1970s to stop planting fish. Yet he said a die-off of brown trout, attributed to a fungus, killed a large percentage of spawning age fish in 2014-15. I started pushing for spawning closures on the Big Hole after the 2014-15 die-off and was met with considerable opposition from FWP, as it was not widely accepted that there was a need to panic regarding the brown trout die-off, Siddoway said. Fast forward eight years later and our brown and rainbow trout numbers are at historic lows. He said the current system is plagued with procrastination and the inability to make decisions in a timely manner. Shaun Jeszenka, an outfitter and owner of Frontier Anglers in Dillon, said he supports the privately funded effort to respond to declining trout populations. I think that the Save Wild Trout campaign is necessary, not only to fund the independent study, but to continue to keep the focus on the Big Hole, Jeszenka said. Im of the opinion that the only way the situation will improve is if we can keep more water in the river in late summer and early fall, he said. Leasing or buying water seems like the best solution to me. Fellin said Save Wild Trout will convene an independent panel of multi-disciplinary experts to study the collapse of southwest Montanas trout populations. The panel will identify causes and propose solutions, he said, including legislative, regulatory and/or policy reforms. The move to establish Save Wild Trout follows revelations that both rainbow and brown trout populations are declining in rivers in the Jefferson Basin. FWP has determined trout populations have reached historic lows in the Big Hole River and elsewhere in the region. Potential contributors to the declines include: climate change, increased nutrients, warming water temperatures, irrigation withdrawals, fungus, parasites, a dramatic increase in angling days on the river and trout stressed by catch-and-release fishing, algal blooms and more. Data from three sections of the Big Hole River showed the fewest number of brown and rainbow trout since data were first collected in 1969. The popular Melrose section which stretches roughly from Melrose to Brownes Bridge near Glen is estimated to host fewer than 500 brown and rainbow trout per mile. Melrose peaked at nearly 3,000 fish at the centurys turn and maintained an estimated 2,500 brown and rainbow trout in 2015. In spite of the sobering numbers, people on the Big Hole are still catching fish. The river was busy Friday with anglers floating and casting. News Microsoft's Early June Service Outages Due to DDoS Attacks Microsoft ascribed its "early June 2023" service outages as being caused by distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks by a "Storm-1359" threat actor, per a Friday announcement. It's not clear which early June outages Microsoft is referring to, as there were a couple of major ones. On June 5, Outlook on the Web had service outages, while the Azure Portal had service interruptions on June 9. Typically, Microsoft uses numbered memos to precisely identify its service incidents in its public announcements and its Message Center seen by account managers, but the Friday announcement didn't use them. The early June attacks were carried out by Anonymous Sudan, according to this AP story, citing a Microsoft spokeswoman. Microsoft's announcement, though, used the Storm name instead, which is a temporary designation reserved for unknown or emerging threat activity. Microsoft recently switched to a new security nomenclature based on bad weather themes, which was announced in April. Media reports have described Anonymous Sudan as a "hacktivist" group or as Russian or Russian affiliated, but Microsoft's announcement did not elaborate on the identity of the perpetrators. The early June service outages occurred via DDoS attacks at "layer 7 rather than layer 3 or 4," the announcement explained. Layer 7 is used for application load balancing under the Open Systems Interconnect Model. The attackers likely used "rented cloud infrastructure" and "multiple virtual private servers," plus "a collection of botnets and tools," to carry out the DDoS attacks. A few main techniques were used by the attackers to slow the traffic. An "HTTP(S) flood" attack pushed a "a high load of SSL/TLS handshakes and HTTP(S) requests." A "cache bypass" attack used a series of queries to "force the frontend layer to forward all the requests to the origin," rather than to the cache. Also, a "Slowloris" attack was used, where download acknowledgments aren't recognized or they get delayed, which "forces the web server to keep the connection open and the requested resource in memory." Microsoft's announcement oddly ended with steps for organizations to better protect their layer 7 implementations from DDoS attacks. For its part, Microsoft indicated that it had hardened its layer 7 protections in response, "including tuning Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) to better protect customers from the impact of similar DDoS attacks." Microsoft's Friday announcement perhaps was referring to its June 5 and June 9 service outages, although it's a bit vague. If so, then the DDoS description is more information than previously shared. For instance, Microsoft's team responding on June 5 had ascribed the Outlook on the Web service outage as being due to a problematic Microsoft service update. It did not mention a DDoS attack at that time. Kathmandu: More than 11,000 residents in the Sarlahi and Siraha districts of Madhesh province now have access to clean drinking water, with the successful implementation of seven Solar Drinking Water projects. These projects, supported by the Government of Japan, the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), involved the installation of solar pumps with a total capacity of 186 kWp. The Government of Japan and the UNDP today handed over one of the seven projects 9 kWp Kothi Khola Solar Drinking Water Project to Atrauli Users Committee in Ward 1, Harion Municipality, Sarlahi district, Madhesh province. It reaches out to over 260 residents with access to potable drinking water as well as irrigation for modern agriculture such as drip irrigation for polyhouse farming. Addressing the handover event, Mr. Takahiro Tamura, Charge dAffaires ad interim of Japan to Nepal congratulated AEPC, UNDP, District Water Supply and Sewage Office, Hariwan Municipality and people of Atrauli. I hope that this project will enhance the quality of life and provide sustainable access to clean drinking water. The team has also provided the training to the local c ommunity so I hope that it will support in the sustainable operation of the project. He added that the project will further strengthen the relationship between Japan and Nepal as well as friendship between peoples of two countries. Thanking the Government of Japan, AEPC and UNDP, Mr. Ramesh Budhathoki, Mayor of Hariwan Municipality added, We really need to replicate this model to promote sustainable use of water resources by utilizing renewable energy-based water pumping. We ensure our local governments contribution in maintaining the solar-powered drinking system. Meanwhile, Mr. Vijaya Singh, Assistant Resident Representative, UNDP thanked all collaborators and emphasized the projects contribution to reaching the goals of Nationally Determined Contribution. It was not possible to give access to drinking water to the community alone. Hariwan Municipality and DWSSSO initiated the process and as there was a problem with the quality and reliability of grid, AEPC, UNDP and Japan Government come together with solar pumping system which has enabled locals to access drinking water. He added. Director of AEPC, Narayan Prasad Adhikari said, Earlier, the renewable energy is used only in the places where there is no access to national grid but now with this example of Atrauli, we should learn that it should be reach out to the places where required and we should promote sustainable energy sources. Ms. Kunta Maya Rapal, President of the Atrauli Users Committee said, Now we dont have to walk 3 hours a day to fetch water and we can use that time in agriculture and some productive things which can help us in our livelihood. In Nepal, the Chure hill regions are especially at risk of lacking access to clean watersupply. Locals have long been forced to rely on tiny seasonal streams and water holes due to deforestation, haphazard development, and the extraction of sand and stone, all of which are made worse by climate change. Every day, 3-4 hours were spent by women and children carrying water to their homes. Guwahati: A city-based acclaimed Assamese newspaper has been trolled in social media for using a fake photograph to narrate the horrible story of Manipur in the front page of 19 June 2023 issue. The social media users slammed the editor of Amar Asom for using a photograph, which has been lifted from Myanmars influential Mizzima newspaper, with a completely different content. The original news related to the announcement of the National Unity Government (of Burma) to take strict action against any member of the people's defence force (PDF), who would be found guilty of killing the concerned lady in the photograph. The lady (later identified as a 24-year-old teacher named Aye Mar Tun) was beaten and finally killed for suspectedly being a military informant in November 2022. Speaking to this correspondent from Yangon, Mizzima editor Soe Myint confirmed that the photograph was taken six months back by one of their scribes at Tamu locality of Sagaing region in northern Myanmar. He affirmed that the lady was a Myanmarese (not a Manipuri). The veteran Burmese editor also added that the concerned Assamese newspaper did not take prior permission to publish the photograph in any context. WASHINGTON (AP) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is, on many counts, a curious choice for President Joe Biden to honor with a state visit. Since Russia's Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine 16 months ago, India has boosted its economy by purchasing increasing quantities of cheap Russian oil. Human rights groups and political opponents have accused Modi of stifling dissent and introducing divisive policies that discriminate against Muslims and other minorities. And Indias foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, has espoused a worldview in which there are no allies or friends, only frenemies. But Biden, who will welcome Modi to the White House on Thursday for a state visit, has made clear he sees U.S. ties to India the world's biggest democracy and one of its fastest growing economies as a defining relationship. New Delhi, as Biden sees it, will be essential to addressing some of the most difficult global challenges in coming years, including climate change, disruptions related to artificial intelligence, and Chinas growing power in the Indo-Pacific. Now, we know that India and the United States are big, complicated countries, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the U.S.-India Business Council in Washington ahead of Modi's visit. We certainly have work to do to advance transparency, to promote market access, to strengthen our democracies, to unleash the full potential of our people. But the trajectory of this partnership is unmistakable, and it is filled with promise. Much is at stake for both sides in the Indian leader's three-day visit to the U.S., which begins Wednesday with a stop in New York, where Modi will lead an international yoga day event at the United Nations. Biden wants to bring India closer to the United States as the administration tilts its foreign policy toward Asia and looks to build partnerships in the region in the face of an ascendant China. Modi, for his part, is trying to usher in a more prosperous era for his nation of 1.4 billion, delivering on a promise he made when he swept into office more than nine years ago. The Indian prime minister hopes to strengthen U.S.-India economic and military ties. He also has his own worries about Chinese military activities, along the Himalayan border and in the Indian Ocean. India has been locked in a long-running standoff with China in the rugged mountainous area of Ladakh, where each side has stationed tens of thousands of military personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets. As China has risen, India and the U.S. both need one another and the U.S. needs more partners in the Indo-Pacific, said Jitendra Nath Misra, a professor of diplomatic practice at the O.P. Jindal Global University and a former Indian ambassador. They cant do it alone anymore because China is catching up with the U.S., and the Chinese economy is significantly larger than Indias. So, there is a congruence of geopolitical interests here. There are plenty of signs that the relationship already has taken a leap forward. Trade between the U.S. and India in 2022 climbed to a record $191 billion. The Indian diaspora i n the U.S. stands at nearly 5 million and has become an economic, cultural and political powerhouse. Biden has sought to reinvigorate the Quad, an international partnership of the U.S., Australia, India and Japan. And U.S. defense sales to India have risen from near zero in 2008 to over $20 billion in 2020. Still, the state visit comes with some problematic aspects for Biden, who as a presidential candidate pledged that human rights would be a driving force in his foreign policy. Elaine Pearson, Asia director for the group Human Rights Watch, urged Biden in a letter not to shy away from confronting Modi on India's worsening human rights situation. Her organization plans a Tuesday screening in Washington of a BBC documentary critical of Modi that was banned by the Indian government. The documentary delves into Modi's oversight as chief minister of Gujrat during the deadly 2002 anti-Muslim riots that left more than 1,000 dead. In 2005, the U.S. revoked Modi's visa to the U.S., citing concerns that he did not act to stop the communal violence. An investigation approved by the Indian Supreme Court later absolved Modi, but the stain of the dark moment has lingered. More recently, Modi has faced criticism over legislation amending the countrys citizenship law that fast-tracks naturalization for some migrants but excludes Muslims, a rise in violence against Muslims and other religious minorities by Hindu nationalists, and the recent conviction of Indias top opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, for mocking Modi's surname. Modis government has also demonstrated blatant bias in protecting BJP supporters and affiliates accused in a range of crimes, including murder, assault, corruption, and sexual violence, Pearson wrote, using the initials for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. At the international level, Modis government has often proven unwilling to stand with other governments on key human rights crises, abstaining or refraining from condemning grave human rights violations elsewhere. The Indian government has continually defended its human rights record and insisted that Indias democratic principles remain robust. Modi has offered only limited criticism of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, urging Putin during a meeting last September to move onto a path of peace. The New Delhi-Moscow relationship dates back decades, with Moscow offering key cooperation on defense, nuclear energy and other issues. The Biden White House has privately pressed India to cut its reliance on Russian oil, but has largely avoided publicly criticizing New Delhis stance. In 2021, Russian oil accounted for just 2% of Indias annual crude imports. That figure now stands at more than 19%. Biden is expected to again raise India's reliance on Russian oil as well as human rights in his private talks with Modi, according to a senior Biden administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss preparations for the visit. The White House sees indications that Modi's government has been moving away from Russia since the start of the war, noting a subtle shift in tone in Modi's public comments about Ukraine, a growing desire by India to diversify its sources of military hardware, and an increasing awareness by the Indian government about China and Russia's tightening relationship and what it could mean for India. Richard Rossow, chair of U.S.-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the Biden White House has made the calculation to keep its "powder dry despite its disappointment with India's ballooning oil purchases. We dont want to risk severing the relationship with India, Rossow said of the administration's careful approach. Find small and modest ways to nudge, but dont make that a deciding factor. The official state visit portion of Modi's trip starts Thursday and includes an Oval Office meeting with Biden, an address to a joint meeting of Congress and a lavish White House dinner hosted by Biden and first lady Jill Biden. Modi also is to be honored at a State Department luncheon on Friday hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris and Blinken, and he is scheduled to address members of the Indian diaspora before departing Washington. Biden and Modi are expected to make announcements on cooperation in higher education, space and more. High on the agenda is deepening defense cooperation. India has sought to reduce its reliance on Russian military hardware by buying from the U.S., France, Germany and other countries. But it will likely take decades or more for India to completely wean itself off Russian military hardware, said Rudra Chaudhuri, director of Carnegie India, the New Delhi arm of the international think tank. Richmond is the No. 1 burger city in America, according to a recent report from Clever, a real estate data company. Its a surprise to us too, but heres what they say: Richmond boasts 26.9% more burger restaurants than the average city in the study, with 11.4 burger restaurants per 100,000 residents. In contrast, Dallas has the fewest burger restaurants per 100,000 residents (4.1). American-style restaurants are 21.5% more prevalent in Richmond than the average city in the study, with 10.6 per 100,000 residents. Richmond's burger passion score is 87.2 out of 100, calculated from the popularity of 13 burger-related search Google terms such as "hamburger," "Big Mac," and "burger near me." Burger passion is 11.4% higher in Richmond compared to the average score of 78.2 among cities in the study. The best burgers in Richmond, according to the study, can be found at Beauvine Burger Concept and Boulevard Burger & Brew with the highest and most user reviews on places like Google and Yelp. The city with the most burger passion is Detroit (100), while New York City residents are the least passionate (65.8). Sources for the study include Yelp, Numbeo, Google Trends, the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, and Clevers commissioned study of 1,000 Americans who were asked to identify five cities that they thought had the best burger scenes. Richmond is also the No. 2 city for black bean burgers, No. 8 city for whoppers, and No. 10 for veggie burgers based on Google Trends searches. Although Richmond is the best burger city, it's still very underrated. In a survey of 1,000 Americans, only 4.3% of respondents identified Richmond as one of the top five burger cities in America. In case you were wondering, Americans think the best burgers are in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sacramento. Besides Richmond, the top five burger cities, according to the Clever study, are: Milwaukee, Wisc., Denver, Colo., Oklahoma City, Okla., and Louisville, Ky. You can vote for this years best burger in town when voting opens for The Best contest on July 11. Whats your favorite place to get a burger? Share your suggestions in the comments section. Virginia State Police is investigating the death of an inmate/patient at Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County who was brought to the facility by Henrico County sheriffs deputies. On Monday at 3:58 p.m., Henrico sheriffs deputies arrived at the state hospital to admit a patient for treatment who was charged with several criminal offenses. It was reported to state police that the patient Irvo N. Otieno, 28, of Richmond became combative during the intake process. He was restrained and later died, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said in a statement. Otienos body was taken to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond for an examination and autopsy. The investigation remains ongoing at this time, Geller said. Otieno was arrested Friday in Henrico on charges of disorderly conduct at a hospital, destruction of property and three counts of assaulting a law enforcement officer for offenses that occurred that same day. He was held at Henrico Jail until he was transferred to Central State, a maximum-security psychiatric facility run by the state. A spokeswoman for Henrico Sheriff Alisa Gregory, an elected state constitutional officer, referred questions about the circumstances of Otienos transfer to a Henrico government spokesman. That spokesman, Will Jones, said the sheriff is declining to comment because the matter is under investigation by state police. Happy Juneteenth, and let freedom reign, a rector said in commemoration of the holiday at Peter Paul. St. Peters, St. Johns and St. Pauls Episcopal churches joined together for a special Juneteenth service that featured a performance by the Elegba Folklore Society, followed by a community lunch event bouncy house and all. The events spokesperson Ronald Carey has been present in the community since the late 1960s. St. Peters is a predominantly Black church, and Carey had moved to the area just as the church was integrating. This Juneteenth is an opportunity to continue to connect and relate to one another, the Charlottesville native said. Its for us to understand the relationship of our stories that we got, that we had as individuals, regardless of where we were born, raised, come from, Carey said. Juneteenth celebrates a pivotal moment in American history. Not every person was free after the Emancipation Declaration in 1863, as there were still slaves in Confederate territories. Texas enslaved people would not be free until Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced to 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state that they were free by executive decree on June 19, 1865. Carey said the world must live in a state of jubilation embracing a feeling of triumph today, just as the liberated slaves did on that day in 1865. The congregation clapped, smiled and sang together as the Juneteenth joint service got underway. Soon after, the Elegba Folklore Society took the stage. The performance first created a timeline of the richness of our African traditions, said Omilade Janine Bell, the groups president and artistic director. It started with salutations from African languages, followed by the talking drums performance by Malari Moore and Kurt Patterson. Bell then narrated the presence of music throughout history, moving from West Africa, to the songs of enslaved laborers, to Please Mr. Postman and more until ending in the present day with hip-hop. Bell talked about the importance of energy, nature and clarity. Emphasizing themes of equity and the perseverance of African practices despite efforts to destroy them, Bell was joined by Imani Bell, Adia Blackmon Shabazz and speaker L. Roy Boyd. The six performers received a standing ovation, and finished with happy Juneteenth, proclaimed through the speakers. St. Johns is a national historic landmark. It was constructed in 1741, after colonists traveled westward along the James River. The events programming sheet delineates the history of the churches, with St. Johns founding coming about when the Atlantic slave trade was near its peak and enslaved Africans made up roughly half of the town. Tragically, the slaveholding members who would populate the congregation did not see any contradiction with their faith, the church stated. St. Johns was the site of founding father Patrick Henrys give me liberty or give me death speech. The church continued during the American Revolution, containing records of enslaved peoples baptisms and marriages. The church stated, yet, we acknowledge that many members of the church supported the Confederacy. St. Peters has a long-standing history of education, starting in 1856 when it had Sunday school for Black residents. This work continued during the decades; a parochial school was implemented eventually. We take our shared history seriously, reflecting with pride our national recognition and role in the spiritual life of the city, and engaging in ways we can acknowledge and heal the past injustices that are part of that story, the church stated. 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I was sitting on my boat, out at the dock, and as soon as I heard there was a boat with eight people taking on water, I literally ran down my dock and across the yard, hopped in the truck and headed this way, said Robert Gwaltney, sitting in the boathouse on Cockrell Creek, across from downtown Reedville and near the mouth of the Great Wicomico River, where Smith Point Sea Rescue keeps two of its rescue boats. Gwaltney is a duty captain with the all-volunteer organization. I carry a radio around with me all the time, and Robert does, too, said Bill Turville, another duty captain, noting that they keep up with emergency calls from Northumberland County Sheriffs Office dispatchers. When I heard the call, I called Robert immediately, and I said, Are you going? He said, Im on my way. So, I followed right behind him. Other members of Smith Point Sea Rescue heard the radio chatter, too, and headed for the boathouse. Once their crew numbered four, they set out on Rescue 1, a 42-foot deadrise designed to be an all-weather fishing boat, into the Chesapeake Bay; late arrivals stood by for further instructions. It was a blustery day on the bay, with a bad storm expected later. By the time Rescue 1 reached the scene, the 50-foot boat which had been headed from Virginia Beach toward New Jersey had sunk and the eight people were floating in the cold water, all in life jackets and tethered together. Turville estimated the people had been in the 49-degree water for more than 40 minutes. The crew quickly pulled the eight aboard the boat and hurriedly began trying to warm them. The Coast Guard and Virginia Marine Police also responded to the call, but Smith Point Sea Rescue arrived at the scene first. The Coast Guard boat accompanied Smith Point Sea Rescue to Ingram Bay Marina, while the marine police provided additional blankets for the survivors and stayed behind to clean up debris in the water before following. Rescue 1 delivered the eight people to the marina, where Northumberland County Rescue Squad and Emergency Medical Services were waiting. The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources also assisted. It was a team effort, but it was Smith Point Sea Rescue, a grassroots organization largely made up of retirees, that led the way. All eight were treated one was suffering from hypothermia and all declined transport to Rappahannock General Hospital. If they had spent much longer in the chilly water, the outcome could have been far different. Theres no doubt about that at all, said Northumberland Sheriff John A. Beauchamp, when asked if Smith Point Sea Rescues fast response had saved the boaters lives. He noted how fortunate we are being a waterfront community to have such a group in the area. The vast number of boaters just pass by Northumberland and dont even know Smith Point Sea Rescue exists. Until they need them. *** Smith Point Sea Rescue is the only volunteer rescue unit on the Chesapeake Bay, and organization leaders believe it is one of only two such organizations on the East Coast. The group has been serving the community for almost 50 years towing boaters who have broken down or become grounded in shallow waters or delivering fuel to those who have run out. They also tend to more serious matters, such as capsized boats or people who have fallen overboard and have been carried away by the current. Though Smith Point Sea Rescue is always on call, there are often long gaps between calls, said Buddy Sylvia, who has been involved with the organization for 29 years and is the groups senior captain. The group generally responds to an average of 60 to 65 calls a year, he said. The organization was founded in 1974, as part of a community response to a near-tragic incident when a father and his two young children were rescued after spending an autumn night hanging onto the bow of their sunken boat near Reedville. Based on that, the locals said, Weve got to protect each other, said Sylvia, 84, a Richmond native who moved to the Northern Neck in 1994 after retiring from a federal government job. A nonprofit organization was formed and started enlisting volunteers, who kept in touch in those days by CB radio. They have advanced now to VHF radios and cellphones, and the group has evolved into a combination of rescue squad on the water and the marine version of AAA roadside assistance. Now, as then, there are other entities that respond to emergencies on the water the Coast Guard (the nearest station is at Milford Haven in Mathews County), Virginia Marine Police, the Department of Wildlife Resources and for-profit businesses such as TowBoatUS but they are not always as readily available by boat as Smith Point Sea Rescue, said Beauchamp, the Northumberland sheriff. Smith Point Sea Rescue fills in the gaps, and keeps boats in two locations Reedville and another near Lottsburg, on the northern edge of the county, to handle calls on the upper Potomac. They respond in the way that fire and rescue do, Beauchamp said. But without any government funding. We are strictly good Samaritans, Sylvia said. Remaining financially afloat is always a challenge for the organization. It relies on donations from local residents and boaters and proceeds from an annual oyster roast (which restarted this year after a COVID-19 hiatus), as well as on grants from foundations and trust funds. It recently ordered a new 43-foot boat to add to its rescue fleet. Sylvia plans for it to be operating in time for the organizations 50th anniversary next year. Smith Point Sea Rescue has a roster of about 40 volunteers, none paid, most retired, because they have the time necessary to devote to the organization. Not only that, said Sylvia, volunteers on the rotating weekly watch lists need to live within 15 or 20 minutes of the boats in order to be useful on emergency calls. The group is always seeking new members. It helps immensely for volunteers to be familiar with the bay and with the numerous rivers and creeks that define the edge of this end of the Northern Neck, as Northumberland County has more than 500 miles of shoreline. Gwaltney and Turville became involved with Smith Point Sea Rescue in the last decade. Turville, 74, a retired Navy pilot, was a weekend resident in the Reedville area for a number of years before retiring and moving there full time in 2013. Beyond his Navy experience, he was a recreational boater and knew of Smith Point Sea Rescue. When he had the time, he joined. You need something to keep yourself busy (in retirement), and we enjoy boating and we enjoy helping people, Turville said. Similarly, Gwaltney, 69, who owned a home inspection business in Northern Virginia, is also a boater who has had a home on the Northern Neck since 2004. It was always a comfort to me to know (Smith Point Sea Rescue) was available if I got into trouble, said Gwaltney, who has lived full time in the Northern Neck since 2017. So, when the time came that I was fully retired and had the time to find something to do to stay out of trouble, this was a good fit. Its a good way to give back. Its a niche that nobody was filling here. About Smith Point Sea Rescue Founded in 1974 to help boaters having trouble in the mid-Chesapeake Bay Crew is entirely volunteer and duties are shared 24 hours a day Funded completely by donations and doesn't charge for rescue services Vist smithpointsearescue.com Close 05-28-1985 (cutline): The line at the gate was short for Buckroe Beach Park's last Memorial Day. 03-09-1962 (cutline): Shambles left by high tides in the heart of Buckroe Beach. 05-27-1985: Part of old kiddie park train ride with rollercoaster still remains. 10-06-1985 (cutline): Carrousel, with hand-carved horses, lists for $750,000. 05-28-1985 (cutline): Dick Perry and his children took a rough-and-tumble spin in Dodgem cars. 07-30-1961 (cutline): George C. (Skid) Abott (foreground) converted the old Gordon's fish packing house anchorage at Buckroe Beach to make a popular sport fishing pier which attracts anglers to the beach for both day and night fishing. Some families make a day of it fishing from the pier for blues, spot, trout, seas bass, small cobia, dog sharks and flounder. 03-17-1979 (cutline): Buckroe Beach amusement park is undergoing $500,000 improvement, refurbishing. 05-27-1985: Buckroe Beach amusement park. 03-18-1979 (cutline): Buddy Parrish of development office says Buckroe has to take advantage of uniqueness. 05-27-1985 (cutline): The horses on the 1920 carrousel at Buckroe Beach Amusement Park were painted by Beverly Wilson Schira and her father in 1949. A repainted left them all white. The steeds were one-of-a-kind. Buckroe Beach postcards from early 1900s. Buckroe Beach postcards from early 1900s. Buckroe Beach postcards from early 1900s. From the Archives: Who remembers Buckroe Beach? Buckroe Beach is located in Hampton, Virginia, on the Chesapeake Bay. It is one of Virginias oldest recreational spaces. Originating in the 1600s as Buck Roe plantation, it was open to the public to use when new settlers arrived from England. In the 1920s, the beach became a popular vacation destination for visitors up and down the East Coast. Several hotels and an amusement park stretched along the beach. Recreation areas were segregated until after the 1964 Civil Rights Act. By the 1960s, Buckroe Beach lost its popularity, as many beach goers shifted to other areas like Virginia Beach. Also, there was amusement park competition from the nearby Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. In the early 2000s, investors contributed to a revival for Buckroe Beach. They installed walking paths, pavilions, barbecue grills and a playground into a mile-long boardwalk. 05-28-1985 (cutline): The line at the gate was short for Buckroe Beach Park's last Memorial Day. 03-09-1962 (cutline): Shambles left by high tides in the heart of Buckroe Beach. 05-27-1985: Part of old kiddie park train ride with rollercoaster still remains. 10-06-1985 (cutline): Carrousel, with hand-carved horses, lists for $750,000. 05-28-1985 (cutline): Dick Perry and his children took a rough-and-tumble spin in Dodgem cars. 07-30-1961 (cutline): George C. (Skid) Abott (foreground) converted the old Gordon's fish packing house anchorage at Buckroe Beach to make a popular sport fishing pier which attracts anglers to the beach for both day and night fishing. Some families make a day of it fishing from the pier for blues, spot, trout, seas bass, small cobia, dog sharks and flounder. 03-17-1979 (cutline): Buckroe Beach amusement park is undergoing $500,000 improvement, refurbishing. 05-27-1985: Buckroe Beach amusement park. 03-18-1979 (cutline): Buddy Parrish of development office says Buckroe has to take advantage of uniqueness. 05-27-1985 (cutline): The horses on the 1920 carrousel at Buckroe Beach Amusement Park were painted by Beverly Wilson Schira and her father in 1949. A repainted left them all white. The steeds were one-of-a-kind. Buckroe Beach postcards from early 1900s. Buckroe Beach postcards from early 1900s. Buckroe Beach postcards from early 1900s. The Irish government is offering up to $92,000 to homeowners willing to relocate to remote islands to boost the more than two dozen areas' population. The remote islands in the Atlantic Ocean include Inis Mor, which is an island where a portion of the Oscar-nominated 2022 film "The Banshees of Inisherin" was filmed. It is also one of the Aran Islands that sit off the West coast of Ireland. The islands are considered popular tourist attractions due to their rugged landscapes and deep history. Get Paid up to $92K To Relocate to Remote Irish Island There are roughly 30 islands off the coast of Ireland, with permanent year-round residents cut off daily by the tide. The people there do not have a connection via a bridge or causeway to the mainland. The Irish government said in a plan released earlier this month that some islands have as few as two year-round residents. In the last two decades, the population of these islands has dwindled, with fewer than 3,000 now spread across all of them. Despite their relative inaccessibility, the islands are crucial to the country's tourism, having more than 300,000 annual visitors, as per CBS News. The government's plan noted an ongoing concern for national and international island communities to maintain the population levels. It added that island communities generally have a higher-than-average age profile due to many young adults leaving the islands behind for further education or employment opportunities elsewhere. The plan is similar to Italy's plan to sell homes in small towns for one euro each to attract new residents. However, that endeavor was marred with complaints by homeowners who said they struggled with the high costs of renovating their new homes. Ireland's plan includes an offer of up to $92,000 to homeowners willing to renovate a "derelict building" on one of the islands. Those who can fix up a vacant property can get up to nearly $67,000 for renovation, the government said on its website. Read Also: North Korea Slams Official Responsible for Failed Spy Satellite Launch Taking Care of Tourist Attraction Islands The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, was the one that unveiled the plan earlier this month, which will go live on July 1. The Irish government said that one of the objectives of the plan, known as the "Our Living Islands" program, is to boost the population levels of the islands, according to Fortune. The Irish government called the offshore islands an integral part of the fabric of rural Ireland and has a special significance in Irish culture. For a person to be eligible for a grant, the money from which must be used to renovate the abandoned home, the properties must have been constructed before 1993 and left vacant for at least two years. Humphreys said that due to delivering the new policy, Ireland would have more people living on the islands and more individuals working on them. There would be good career prospects, regardless of where a person is headquartered, said Business Insider. Related Article: Swiss Voters Support Global Minimum Corporate Tax, New Climate Law @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. HELENA, Mont. Whether a constitutional right to a healthy, livable climate is protected by state law is at the center of a lawsuit going to trial Monday in Montana, where 16 young plaintiffs and their attorneys hope to set an important legal precedent. It's the first trial of its kind in the U.S., and legal scholars around the world are following its potential addition to the small number of rulings that have established a government duty to protect citizens from climate change. The trial comes shortly after the state's Republican-dominated Legislature passed measures favoring the fossil fuel industry by stifling local government efforts to encourage renewable energy while increasing the cost to challenge oil, gas and coal projects in court. By enlisting plaintiffs ranging in age from 5 to 22, the environmental firm bringing the lawsuit is trying to highlight how young people are harmed by climate change now and will be further affected in the future. Their testimony will detail how wildfire smoke, heat and drought have harmed residents' physical and mental health. The plaintiffs' youth has little direct bearing on the legal issues, and experts say the case likely won't lead to immediate policy changes in fossil fuel-friendly Montana. But over two weeks of testimony, attorneys for the plaintiffs plan to call out state officials for pursuing oil, gas and coal development in hopes of sending a powerful message to other states. Plaintiff Grace Gibson-Snyder, 19, said she's felt the impacts of the heating planet acutely as wildfires regularly shroud her hometown of Missoula in dangerous smoke and as water levels drop in area rivers. Weve seen repeatedly over the last few years what the Montana state Legislature is choosing, Gibson-Snyder said. They are choosing fossil fuel development. They are choosing corporations over the needs of their citizens. In high school, Gibson-Snyder was an environmental activist who was too young to vote when she signed on as a plaintiff. The other young plaintiffs include members of Native American tribes, a ranching family dependent on reliable water supplies and people with health conditions, such as asthma, that put them at increased risk during wildfires. Some plaintiffs and experts will point to farmers whose margins have been squeezed by drought and extreme weather events like last years destructive floods in Yellowstone National Park as further evidence that residents have been denied the clean environment guaranteed under Montanas Constitution. Experts for the state are expected to downplay the impacts of climate change and what one of them described as Montanas miniscule contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions. Lawyers for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, a Republican, tried repeatedly to get the case thrown out over procedural issues. In a June 6 ruling, the state Supreme Court rejected the latest attempt to dismiss it, saying justices were not inclined to intervene just days before the start of a trial that has been literally years in the making. One reason the case may have made it so far in Montana, when dozens of similar cases elsewhere have been rejected, is the state's unusually protective 1972 Constitution, which requires officials to maintain a clean and healthful environment. Only a few other states, including Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York, have similar environmental protections in their constitutions. In prior rulings, State District Judge Judge Kathy Seeley significantly narrowed the scope of the case. Even if the plaintiffs prevail, Seeley has said she would not order officials to formulate a new approach to address climate change. Instead, the judge could issue what's called a "declaratory judgment saying officials violated the state Constitution. That would set a new legal precedent of courts weighing in on cases typically left to the government's legislative and executive branches, environmental law expert Jim Huffman said. Still, such a ruling would have no direct impact on industry, said Huffman, dean emeritus at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. A declaratory judgment would be a symbolic victory, but would not require any particular action by the state government. So the state could, and likely would, proceed as before, he said. Economist Terry Anderson, a witness for the state, said that over the past two decades, carbon dioxide emissions from Montana have declined, but that's in part due to the shuttering of coal power plants. Montana energy or environmental policies have virtually no effect on global or local climate change because Montanas GHG (greenhouse gas) contributions to the global total is trivial, Anderson said in court documents. He argued climate change could ultimately benefit Montana with longer growing seasons and the potential to produce more valuable crops. Supporters of the lawsuit predicted an overflow crowd when the trial starts Monday in Helena. They rented a nearby theater to livestream the proceedings for those who cant fit in the courtroom. The case was brought in 2020 by attorneys for the environmental group Our Childrens Trust, which has filed climate lawsuits in every state on behalf of young plaintiffs since 2011. Most of those cases, including a previous one in Montana, were dismissed prior to trial. A ruling in favor of the Montana plaintiffs could have ripple effects, according to Philip Gregory, Our Childrens Trust attorney. While it wouldnt be binding outside Montana, it would give guidance to judges in other states, which could impact upcoming trials such as one in Hawaii, Gregory said. Attempts to get a similar decision at the federal level were boosted by a June 1 ruling allowing a case brought by young climate activists in Oregon to proceed to trial in U.S. District Court. That case was halted by U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts on the eve of the trial in 2018. This is the Richmond Times-Dispatch's home for continuing live coverage of Tuesday's 2023 primary elections. Updates from staff writers and editors will be posted throughout the day, so stay tuned. 10:30 p.m.: In the final update of the night, it appears that Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, will hold off a tough challenge from Del. Sally Hudson, D-Charlottesville. Deeds, one of the most senior Democrats left in the Senate after a wave of retirements, has represented the city as a senator since December 2001. More on that race: Here's where things stand in House of Delegates races around the Richmond area, based on data from the Virginia Department of Elections and VPAP: House District 57 (western Henrico): Susanna Gibson defeats Bob Shippee in the Democratic primary Susanna Gibson defeats Bob Shippee in the Democratic primary House District 59 (Hanover/Henrico/Louisa): Buddy Fowler defeats Graven Craig and Philip Strother in the Republican primary Buddy Fowler defeats Graven Craig and Philip Strother in the Republican primary House District 73 (western Chesterfield): Mark Earley, Jr., defeats Ryan Harter and Yan Gleyzer in the Republican primary Mark Earley, Jr., defeats Ryan Harter and Yan Gleyzer in the Republican primary House District 79 (Richmond): Rae Cousins defeats Ann-Frances Lambert and Richard Walker in the Democratic primary Rae Cousins defeats Ann-Frances Lambert and Richard Walker in the Democratic primary House District 80 (Henrico): Destiny LeVere Bolling defeats John Dantzler in the Democratic primary Destiny LeVere Bolling defeats John Dantzler in the Democratic primary House District 81 (eastern Henrico): Delores McQuinn defeats Terrence Lavell Walker in the Democratic primary Delores McQuinn defeats Terrence Lavell Walker in the Democratic primary House District 82 (Petersburg/Dinwiddie): Kimberly Pope Adams defeats Victor McKenzie in the Democratic primary And we'll sign off with an update on the local races in the area: Chesterfield County Commonwealth's Attorney: Stacey Davenport defeats Thomas McKenna in the Republican primary Stacey Davenport defeats Thomas McKenna in the Republican primary Hanover County Board of Supervisors, Beaverdam District: J. Robert Monolo leads Jeff Stoneman and Douglas Schuhle in the Republican primary J. Robert Monolo leads Jeff Stoneman and Douglas Schuhle in the Republican primary Hanover County Board of Supervisors, Mechanicsville District: Ryan Hudson leads W. Canova Peterson, IV in the Republican primary Ryan Hudson leads W. Canova Peterson, IV in the Republican primary Henrico County Board of Supervisors, Three Chopt District: Misty Whitehead defeats Noah Page in the Democratic primary Misty Whitehead defeats Noah Page in the Democratic primary Henrico County Board of Supervisors, Tuckahoe District: Greg Baka defeats R. Craig Suro in the Republican primary; Jody Rogish defeats Anne-Marie Leake in the Democratic primary Thank you for sticking with the Richmond Times-Dispatch for your Election Night coverage. 10 p.m.: Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, toppled Sen. Lionell Spruill, Sr., D-Chesapeake, in the Democratic primary for Senate District 18 despite early returns that indicated that she could have been in for a long night. Politics reporter Charlotte Rene Woods and politics editor Andrew Cain check in on that race, as well as the Charlottesville-area race in which Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, is holding onto a lead over Del. Sally Hudson, D-Charlottesville: 9:45 p.m.: Pastor Katie Gooch has conceded the Democratic primary in Senate District 14 to Sen. Lamont Bagby. Bagby took office two months ago after winning a special election to replace Jennifer McClellan, who vacated her seat after winning a special election to fill the 4th District congressional seat held by the late U.S. Rep. Donald McEachin. Thank you for putting your faith in me, Virginia. I promise you this is just the beginning. pic.twitter.com/2PQVPblEld Lashrecse Aird (@lashrecseaird) June 21, 2023 More on that race: In the Charlottesville area, Del. Sally Hudson, D-Charlottesville, has narrowed the lead held by Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, to just under 600 votes with a few early votes left to count and precincts yet to report in Albemarle and Amherst counties, according to data from the Virginia Department of Elections. And politics reporter Dave Ress has a full look at Sturtevant's win over conservative firebrand Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, who often clashed with her own party over her full-throated support of former President Donald Trump: 9:10 p.m.: We have more from politics reporter Michael Martz on Aird's win. Martz also touches on the Richmond-centered House District 14 race, where Sen. Lamont Bagby looks likely to hold off a progressive challenge from pastor Katie Gooch and earn his second Democratic nomination of 2023: 9 p.m.: The nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project projects that Sturtevant has defeated incumbent Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, by approximately 350 votes in Senate District 12's Republican primary. More on that race: 8:45 p.m.: Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, has defied a map that was looking unfriendly for her just 20 minutes ago. With two precincts to go, she appears to have held off Sen. Lionell Spruill Sr., D-Chesapeake by more than 1,000 votes. 8:20 p.m.: With early votes tallied, Glen Sturtevant has pulled ahead of incumbent Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, in the Republican primary for Senate District 12. Sturtevant leads by approximately 350 votes with just two precincts left to report. On the Democratic side, Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, leads Sen. Lionell Spruill Sr., D-Chesapeake, by just over 500 votes in the hotly contested primary for Senate District 18. But no votes have been reported yet from Spruill's home ground of Chesapeake. And in a local race, incumbent Stacey Davenport leads challenger Thomas McKenna by just under 700 votes in the Republican primary for Chesterfield County Commonwealth's Attorney, with the early votes counted and three precincts left to report. 8 p.m.: In the first major update of the night, incumbent Sen. Joe Morrissey has conceded to former Del. Lashrecse Aird in the Democratic primary for Senate District 13, a district centered around Petersburg. More on that race: 7:40 p.m.: It's still too early for a definitive call, but based on election modeling from VPAP, Mark Earley, Jr., looks likely to win the Republican nomination in House District 73, which covers western Chesterfield County. He leads opponents Ryan Harter and Yan Gleyzer by more than 2,000 votes with just over half of the district's precincts reporting. In other races, incumbent Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, and challenger Glen Sturtevant are running neck and neck in Senate District 12, while former Del. Laschrese Aird, D-Petersburg, holds an early lead on Sen. Joe Morrissey in the Senate District 13 primary. 7 p.m.: Polls are now closed, although anyone who is in currently in line will still be able to vote. Election officials are also now able to start processing the early votes, though provisional ballots cast in precincts Tuesday will be counted later. So will mail-in ballots postmarked by Tuesday, as long as they are received by the end of the week. Richmond's Office of Elections tweeted Monday that just over 4,000 city residents had voted early, either by mail or in person. Good afternoon Richmond! The total turnout for Early Voting for the June primary is 4,094 voters!! (2,217 voters have voted by machine and 1,877 have voted by mail! ) Office of Elections (@RVA_Votes) June 19, 2023 Precinct vote totals from Tuesday will start to be reported to the Virginia Department of Elections in the next hour, so come back here throughout the night for further updates. We're hoping that it won't be a particularly late night; VPAP reports that in the last two off-cycle primary elections (2015 and 2019), the heaviest turnout of any race was 15.7% of the registered voters in a given district. The race in question: the Democratic primary for House District 57 in 2019, won by Del. Sally Hudson who is now hoping to defeat Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, for the Democratic nomination in Senate District 11. *** 6 a.m.: The polls have opened! Each precinct will remain open until everyone who is in line by 7 p.m. has had a chance to vote. If you need to find your polling place, the Virginia Department of Elections has a voter information lookup tool that uses a voter's name, date of birth, Social Security number and locality of residence to show the proper voting location. In the City of Richmond, residents who vote at the following polling places are NOT eligible to vote Tuesday because there are no applicable primary races: Precinct 404 (Jahnke Road Baptist Church) (Jahnke Road Baptist Church) Precinct 412 (Lucille M. Brown Middle School) (Lucille M. Brown Middle School) Precinct 509 (George Wythe High School) (George Wythe High School) Precinct 810 (Celebration Church and Outreach Ministry) (Celebration Church and Outreach Ministry) Precinct 812 (Branch's Baptist Church) (Branch's Baptist Church) Precinct 814 (T.C. Boushall Middle School) (T.C. Boushall Middle School) Precinct 902 (Cardinal Elementary School) (Cardinal Elementary School) Precinct 903 (J.L. Francis Elementary School) (J.L. Francis Elementary School) Precinct 908 (Miles Jones Elementary School) (Miles Jones Elementary School) Precinct 909 (Elizabeth Redd Elementary School) (Elizabeth Redd Elementary School) Precinct 910 (G.H. Reid Elementary School) (G.H. Reid Elementary School) Precinct 911 (Southside Regional Park Community Building) *** 5 a.m.: Welcome to Election Day. Polls will open in an hour, and while the spotlight will be on several high-profile primaries in state legislative races that could swing control of the General Assembly come November, there are also candidates vying for their respective parties' nominations for local offices like county supervisor or Commonwealth's Attorney. By the numbers 22 Contested races for the state Senate in Tuesday's election 25 Contested races for the House of Delegates Two districts in Hanover County have Republican primary contests, including Mechanicsville, where current board chair W. Canova Peterson IV faces off against challenger Ryan Hudson. Henrico County also has two districts with Board of Supervisors primaries. The Tuckahoe district, in the western part of the county, is the only local race with both Republican and Democratic primaries after longtime supervisor Pat O'Bannon announced her retirement in February. And in Chesterfield, incumbent Commonwealth's Attorney Stacey Davenport faces a Republican primary challenge from Thomas McKenna. More on the local races from Times-Dispatch staff reporter Sean Jones: A guide to voting in Richmond-area local elections A look at June's Election Day in photos across Richmond region Virginia voters will pick legislative nominees Tuesday in more than 40 state primaries for the state Senate and the House of Delegates, including a handful of cases in which veteran senators face the prospect of defeat. The marquee contests in the Richmond area are a Democratic primary in which Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Petersburg, is trying to fend off a challenge from former Del. Lashrecse Aird, and a Republican battle in which Sen. Amanda Chase faces two rivals former Sen. Glen Sturtevant and former congressional hopeful Tina Ramirez. If Morrissey and Chase prevail Tuesday amid organized opposition from the establishment wings of their parties, and then prevail in November, they could exert further independence in next years General Assembly session. I think they would both have far less incentive to be simply team players with the leadership, said Bob Holsworth, a veteran political analyst and former dean at Virginia Commonwealth University. Around the state on Tuesday, a number of longtime Democratic senators are imperiled in intraparty challenges. In Senate District 18 in Hampton Roads, a veteran Democrat is sure to lose in a clash of two Democratic incumbents Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth and Sen. Lionell Spruill Sr., D-Chesapeake, who were thrown into the same district when the state Supreme Court imposed new legislative boundaries in late 2021. Voters in Charlottesville and Albemarle will choose between two locally popular Democrats Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, who has served in the legislature since 1992, and Del. Sally Hudson, D-Charlottesville, an economics professor at the University of Virginia first elected to the House in 2019. Senate District 11 also includes Nelson and Amherst counties and part of Louisa County. In Northern Virginia, several Democratic senators have tough primary challenges from the left, including Sen. George Barker, D-Fairfax, co-chair of the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee, who faces Stella Pekarsky, a member of the Fairfax County School Board, in a redrawn Senate District 36. Tuesdays primaries feature many contests in which the nomination will be tantamount to victory in November. The close of nomination season will set the stage for the general election in which all 40 Senate seats and all 100 House seats will be on the ballot. In November, a small subset of competitive contests will determine control of the House of Delegates and the state Senate. During this years legislative session, Democrats had a four-seat edge in the Senate and Republicans held a four-seat edge in the House. The fight for control in November will be crucial to Gov. Glenn Youngkins efforts to implement aspects of his legislative agenda, including further curbs on abortion, expanded school choice and more tax cuts. Here is a recap of Tuesdays legislative primaries in the Richmond area: Morrissey, D-Petersburg, faces a tough challenge from Aird in Senate District 13, based in eastern Henrico County, Prince George County and the city of Petersburg. Aird, who lost her House seat in 2021 to Republican Kim Taylor, has emphasized the abortion issue in a Roe Not Joe tour. Morrissey, a Catholic, has said that he personally opposes abortion, but that he also opposes any attempt to restrict womens access to the procedure. Morrissey was elected to the Senate seat in 2019. He is staking his reelection on voters caring about additional issues, such as criminal justice reform, high-speed internet and economic opportunity. Chase, the only GOP state senator who is not a member of the Senate Republican caucus, is in a tough fight for the GOP nomination in the Chesterfield County-based 12th Senate District, against Sturtevant, a former one-term senator, and Ramirez, who had a sizable war chest from a failed nomination contest for Congress. Elsewhere Tuesday in the Richmond area: * Sen. Lamont Bagby is trying to fight off an energetic primary challenge by progressive candidate Katie Gooch, a community activist and pastor, in a new 14th Senate District that lies mostly in Richmond. * Susanna Gibson, a nurse practitioner, and Bob Shippee, a retired banking director-turned-political advocate, are seeking the Democratic nomination in House District 57, which is based in the Short Pump area of Henrico and includes part of Goochland County. The Democratic nominee will face Republican David Owen in what likely will be one of the areas more competitive contests in the fall. * Del. Buddy Fowler, R-Hanover, is trying to fight off Graven Craig, a trial attorney from Louisa, and Philip Strother, a civil lawyer and winery owner who lives in Henrico, for the GOP nomination in House District 59, which encompasses the western half of Hanover County, a chunk of northern Henrico and much of Louisa. * Lawyer Mark Earley Jr., entrepreneur Yan Gleyzer and Ryan Harter, a member of the Chesterfield County School Board, are seeking the GOP nomination in the newly drawn 73rd District in western Chesterfield. * Lawyer Rae Cousins; Ann-Frances Lambert, a small-business owner and member of the Richmond City Council; and Richard Walker, CEO of a nonprofit called Bridging the Gap in Virginia, are seeking the Democratic nomination in the 79th House District, rooted in the city of Richmond. * Destiny LeVere Bolling, who has worked as communications director at Virginia AFL-CIO, and John Dantzler, who owns a child care center and a real estate company in Henrico, are seeking the Democratic nomination in House District 80, made of a central swath of Henrico. * Del. Delores McQuinn, D-Henrico, is trying to fend off a challenge from Terrence Walker, an administrative assistant working in counseling services at Virginia Commonwealth University, for the Democratic nomination in House District 81, based in eastern Henrico. * Kimberly Pope Adams, an auditor from Virginia State University, and Victor McKenzie Jr., a nonprofit director from Petersburg, are running for the Democratic nomination in the 82nd House District, which includes Petersburg and much of the surrounding area. The Democratic nominee will face Del. Kim Taylor, R-Dinwiddie, who has served one term in the old 63rd District. The sham process that landed Greg Coleman on the Hanover School Board is Exhibit A in why the county needs to move toward electing school board members. Three other applicants for the appointment told Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter Sean Jones that they received unannounced, cursory phone calls from Beaverdam Supervisor J. Robert Monolo on the Saturday before the decision was announced. One candidate had a doctoral degree and is an associate director of professional development at Virginia Commonwealth University; another had 27 years of experience in the banking industry. Two of the overlooked applicants who spoke for the story, and a third who did not, are Black. The interviews, such as they were, lasted no more than 15 minutes, the applicants said. They deserved more than an insulting, performative gesture. To call somebody out of the blue? ... Thats not a serious conversation, said Tim McDermott, a member of Hanover Citizens for an Elected School Board, which is gathering signatures to give voters that choice on a ballot in November. The outcome vests too much power in the appointing supervisor and leaves Coleman beholden to Monolo. Recent history suggests that Coleman better snap to. Hanover School Board members who have dared to vote their conscience (see Confederate school names) or exercise prerogatives distinct from their patron have been promptly shown the door. Unfortunately, the supervisor is the lone check in this imbalanced equation. Hanover remains an outlier in the state of Virginia one of only 13 school divisions, out of 131 overall, where board members are appointed rather than elected, according to Samantha Bosserman, deputy executive director of the Virginia School Boards Association. Hanover Citizens for an Elected School Board is seeking to change that. Its members need to collect 8,536 signatures 10% of the countys registered voters to successfully petition the countys circuit court to place the matter on the ballot in November. The Hanover registrars office has accepted 4,227 signatures so far. McDermott anticipated receiving an additional 2,000 signatures at a meeting of the group Tuesday night. McDermott says the group is shooting for 9,000 signatures. Its good progress, but weve got to turn them in in mid-July. So weve got a lot of work to do. The issue for me is we need a school board that is responsible to voters, and not one person, he said. A school board whose members are directly responsible to voters is better for democracy, he added. Indeed, Hanovers School Board members have been flexing in ways unbecoming even to elected officials, much less those with an unearned mandate. They have overreached on day-to-day matters, usurping the authority of school librarians and teachers, while at times treating dissenting residents with a barely disguised contempt bordering on arrogance. In 1992, Virginia became the last state in the nation to allow elected school boards. Most locales leapt at the chance. But not Hanover. What youre seeing here is that the Hanover Board of Supervisors has basically been comfortable with the situation that they have, said Bob Holsworth, a longtime political analyst and former professor and dean at Virginia Commonwealth University. They should not be. The school boards posture against transgender student rights and particularly the posture of soon-to-depart chairman John Axselle has created some uncomfortable moments for the supervisors. And the school boards recent fervor for book bans has conjured uncomfortable memories of the Hanover School Board absurdly banning the literary classic To Kill a Mockingbird in 1966. Holsworth said getting the issue on the ballot will be a challenge, given how many signatures tend to be disqualified. But what youre seeing is, if you can get it on the ballot, it will pass even in Hanover, he maintains. The argument you make is that its a parents matter situation. If you want parents to control what their children are going to attain in the school system, why not let them have a direct voice? he said. This is a place where the ACLU and the NAACP and the ideology of parents matter are in alignment. Holsworth said an issue like this generally transcends party lines for ordinary people, if not political insiders. But he and McDermott are realists. Although he has heard talk of some political conservatives signing the petition, McDermott is less focused on political outcomes than the choice a vote would engender. If it was elected, maybe they do the same thing, he said of the board. But then theyd be held accountable at re-election by my vote, rather than the one person who appointed them. Holsworth said the original impetus behind elected school boards in Virginia was the sense that the minority or the marginalized were being insufficiently heard. That is certainly the case in Hanover. But he cautions against expecting elected boards to be a panacea. After all, he notes that Sarasota County, Florida, is ground zero among school boards at the forefront of the culture wars. Williams: A monument to charity and change celebrates an anniversary When the statue of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was unveiled 50 years ago in Jackson Ward, it broke a color barrier of sorts in the city of monuments the first known statue to memorialize a Black person in Richmond. An elected school board in Hanover is not necessarily going to be changing all its policies overnight. But its going to give people the opportunity to have a greater voice and to have a debate that takes place during an election season, rather than just reacting to whatever the appointed school board members do at a public hearing in which you really have no capacity to make a serious impact. Indeed, an elected school board would not turn famously conservative Hanover into Berkeley, California, overnight. But elections would add a much-needed level of debate, disclosure and accountability to school matters. Any Hanover resident unwilling to sign this petition should ask themselves: Would I rather my school board member be answerable to his political patron, or to me? The question, at the very least, should be asked at the polls. From the Archives: The Virginia state Capitol building Virginia State Capitol Virginia State Capitol Virginia State Capitol Virginia State Capitol Virginia State Capitol Virginia State Capitol Virginia State Capitol Virginia State Capitol VA State Capitol (Image: The Malaysian Reserve/Razak Ghazali) Economist Professor Geoffrey Williams has commented that the governments recent decision to lower the stamp duty rate for shares traded on Bursa Malaysia to 0.1% will have minimal impact on the stock market. This is due to the persistence of structural problems in the listed companies, which ultimately make these companies unattractive to investors. Professor Williams who is also a lecturer at the Malaysia University of Science and Technology (MUST) explained that although investors would certainly be pleased by the reduction in transaction costs, most companies on Bursa Malaysia are not attractive because they have been underperforming. This is especially when compared against alternative investments in other countries, which are doing much better. In addition to that, investors also need to contend with issues like low liquidity, as well as limited opportunities to get into a favourable position due to factors like closely-held shares and the dominance of government-linked investment companies (GLICs) in many industries. Furthermore, a majority of the big-budget businesses in Malaysia are conducted by government-linked companies (GLCs), which are owned by the government and GLICs. So theres very little room for private companies because they are crowded out of the big-ticket projects by government interference. This is why many of the GLCs should be reformed, starting with the responsible privatisation of the tens of thousands of subsidiary companies they own, said Professor Williams, adding that overseas investors, in particular, are generally unwilling to take on corporate governance along with the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk. Meanwhile, the managing director of Astramina Advisory Sdn Bhd, Wong Muh Rong said that the reduced stamp duty will primarily benefit only retail investors who do not trade in large volumes. For institutional investors, it really wont make a difference in their investment decision, whether or not it is 0.1% or 0.15% as they will be investing way above RM1,000, she said, referring to the maximum cap of RM1,000 imposed on stamp duty. Wong also noted that the government should find ways to encourage more businesses to go public, which will then stimulate capital formation, and provide greater opportunities for investors to diversify their portfolios. One suggestion is to speed up the listing process by giving initial public offering (IPO) advisors more accountability in the listing process, as opposed to the current process where all disclosure of information needs to be cleared by authorities before a prospectus can be published. We need to move away from this, to enable the process to be done speedily. The speed of a listing process is an important criteria when companies decide where to list, said Wong. (Image: Bernama) Head of research at Malacca Securities, Loui Low also proposed that the government could draft policies that attract start-up and foreign-origin companies to list on Bursa Malaysia. With such diversity on the local stock exchange which essentially encourages competition investors may be more attracted to explore and trade. Finally, economist Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam who is also the former Treasury deputy secretary-general opined that the new measures introduced by the government are small and technical in nature. We hope they reflect the new era of bigger changes and more significant reforms, making us more competitive, especially in equity ownership, he commented. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had announced yesterday that the stamp duty rate for shares traded on Bursa Malaysia will be reduced from 0.15% to 0.1% of the contract value from July 2023 onwards. This is one of several strategies that the government hopes to implement to boost the Malaysian capital market, which in turn, is expected to help shore up the local currency. (Sources: The Star, The Edge Markets) 0 0 votes Article Rating SHARE Ecuador celebrates landing of first Cancun flight by Viva Aerobus Cancun, Q.R. A ceremony led by the Minister of Tourism of Ecuador celebrated the first Cancun to Quito flight. On Monday, Ecuadors Minister of Tourism Niels Olsen and executives of Mexicos Viva Aerobus marked the occasion. In a statement, they reported that the new route will offer three Cancun-Quito flights a week. According to Olsen, it was the first time the Cancun flight landed in Ecuador. During the ceremony, Olsen said that this month, we have had a series of good news for the connectivity of Ecuador. We managed to reduce the amounts of the Ecodelta and Potencia Turistica contributions, so flying to and from Ecuador is now chearper, and today, a very important operation is added that connects Ecuador with Mexico through the airports of Quito and Cancun. Welcome Viva Aerobus and its new route that allows us to continue attracting more travelers to the country. This service offers three flights a week operated with Airbus A320 and A31 aircraft that are part of the youngest fleet in Mexico and the fourth youngest in North America, with an average age of only five years. Single trip tickets are being sold inexpensively due to the result of both the airlines business model and the recent government agreement that allowed the reduction of air taxes with the aim of promoting Ecuadors competitiveness and connectivity. We have an extraordinary cultural richness in Quito and we see Viva Aerobus as an ally so that more people can enjoy our city and its surroundings, where they can enjoy spas, bird watching, mountain biking and much more, explained Maria Cristina. Rivadeneira, General Manager of Quito Turismo. According to Viva Aerobus, the Quito Cancun route is characterized by low prices, new planes, point-to-point flights and comprehensive connectivity. In this sense, the Mexican airline details that its flights not only link two cities, they also make available to Ecuadorian passengers a network of routes that connect Cancun with 18 destinations within Mexico. The Cancun -Quito route is designed to serve a growing market. Namely, according to the Ministry of Tourism of Mexico, in the first quarter of the year, Ecuador sent more than 17,000 tourists to Mexico by air, which represented an increase of 56 percent compared to the same period in 2022. Likewise, Turismo de Quito reported that in April 2023, Mexico was positioned among the 10 countries that generated the highest flow of air visitors in Quito. We are prepared to give a warm welcome to all Viva Aerobus passengers. The arrival of this Mexican airline gives a boost to passenger traffic at the Mariscal Sucre International Airport, key to meeting our goal of recovering and exceeding the pre-pandemic figures, that is, above five million a year, said Ramon. Miro, President and CEO of Quiport, operator of the Quito International Airport. Today begins a new chapter in the relationship and connectivity between Mexico and Ecuador, because at Viva Aerobus, we have built a bridge that gives everyone the opportunity to cross borders thanks to a low-cost model that allows us to offer low prices so that people by saving on your transportation, you can travel more, extend your stay or do more activities in the destinations you visit, said Juan Carlos Zuazua, general director of Viva Aerobus. With this new route, Viva Aerobus strengthens its presence in Cancun, one of its six operating bases, with one of the widest offers in the city, from where it flies to more than 25 destinations. Green Angels return to island of Cozumel Cozumel, Q.R. The island of Cozumel once again has Green Angel assistance. On June 16, island mayor Juanita Alonso Marrufo announced the reinstatement of the agency. Mexicos Green Angels Tourist Services were reactivated on instructions from the Secretary of Tourism of the Government of Mexico, Miguel Torruco Marques. The General Director of Angeles Verdes Tourist Services, Alejandro Zuniga Bernal, held a meeting with Cozumel City Council, headed by Juanita Alonso Marrufo, to coordinate the reactivation of its operations on the island. Zuniga Bernal said that as part of the strategies to strengthen road tourism in the state of Quintana Roo, a Collaboration Agreement will be signed with the Cozumel City Council to reactivate the Services of the General Directorate of Tourist Services Angeles Verdes, which are a important element for tourists who visit the island. After seven years of not having a Angeles Verdes presence on the island of Cozumel, services are reactivated in the preamble to the 2023 summer vacation season, thanks to the close collaboration of the head of the Ministry of Tourism (Sectur) and the Mayor, Torruco Marques said in a statement. The Emergency Center was inaugurated in the beach area, which will generate positive synergies in conjunction with Angeles Verdes for timely attention to tourists. Alejandro Zuniga Bernal reported that coverage will be provided on a 63-kilometer-long circuit that will be attended by two units from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. all 365 days a year. Lopez Obrador appoints new Ministry of Interior Mexico City, Mexico With the departure of Adan Augusto Lopez Hernandez, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has appointed a new Minister of the Interior. On Monday, Lopez Obrador announced the appointment of Luisa Maria Alcalde Lujan, the current Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare, as the new head of the Ministry of the Interior, replacing Adan Augusto Lopez Hernandez. Adan Augusto Lopez Hernandez move away from the position to focus on the upcoming Presidential position. I have made the decision to appoint Luisa Maria Alcalde as Secretary of the Interior, in accordance with my powers. () She is young and it is very important to think about the generational change, to give young people a chance, he announced at a morning press conference. The President explained that the new appointment will take effect this week. Luisa Maria Alcalde Lujan will work in corrdination with Alejandro Encinas Rodriguez, who is in charge of the office at the federal agency. Luisa Maria Alcalde has a law degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and a Masters Degree in Law from the University of California, Berkeley. Her previous positions include Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare of the Government of Mexico (2018-currently).,District Coordinator of the National Regeneration Movement (2016-2018), Professor of Collective Labor Law at the Ponciano Arriaga School of Law (2017) and Federal Deputy in the Chamber of Deputies (2012-2015). Mexico sends brigade of 103 to Ontario to help fight Canadas forest fires Guadalajara, Jalisco A team of 100 Mexican forest firefighters have been deployed to Canada. The team left Monday from the Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport in the city of Guadalajara. They landed in Thunder Bay, Ontario Monday evening from where they will be dispersed around the country to help battle ongoing forest fires. In a joint statement from Mexicos Foreign Affairs and Conafor, they reported a team made up of 100 combatants and three technicians from the National Forestry Commission (Conafor) left Monday for the province of Ontario to support the suppression of forest fires that have affected thousands of people. Forest firefighters are seen here leaving for Ontario with their gear inside the Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport in Guadalajara. Photo: Government of Mexico June 19, 2023. The Canadian Inter-Agency Forest Fire Center (CIFFC) requested the support of Mexican combat personnel in the framework of the Operational Plan for the Exchange of Resources for the Management of Forest Fires between Canadian and Mexican participants, ratified this year by both instances. In the joint statement, they explained that this first deployment of specialized personnel left from the Guadalajaras Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport in Jalisco, to Thunder Bay, Ontario, and will support the suppression and liquidation of forest fires for a period of approximately 33 days. On June 18, the staff gathered at the facilities of the Conafor Central Offices in Zapopan for an informative session on the fires that they will attend to in Canada and the operating protocol under the Overseas Incident Command System. All those selected have the experience, physical aptitude, training and adequate deployment equipment to remain in the field for the commission period, as well as international standards to carry out the control and extinction tasks of forest fires. The 103 men and women will spend 33 days battling fires in Canada. Photo: Government of Mexico June 19, 2023. The Government of Mexico strengthens its deep ties of friendship and constant support with Canada. Similarly, it endorses the commitment of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made at the X Summit of North American Leaders to combat climate change to seek the security and well-being of the peoples of the region. Mexico and Canada have an important history of cooperation in the fight against forest fires. Once again, the Government of Mexico endorses its solidarity, commitment and friendship with this country. A state board recently recommended that Roanoke and other nearby localities receive over $750,000 through national opioid settlement payments. Another $3.3 million was recommended for the New River Valley. The Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority, or OAA, said in a press release last week that it had voted to recommend more than $23 million in awards to 76 Virginia cities and counties. Attorney General Jason Miyares announced the final approval of a $26 billion opioid agreement with the nations major pharmaceutical distributors and opioid manufactures in February 2022. Additional settlement announcements followed throughout the year. The national settlements from various prescription opioid manufacturers and distributors are expected to continue for at least 16 more years and will exceed $1 billion in total funding, the OAA said. In 2021, the General Assembly established the OAA to oversee the distribution of 55% of Virginias total settlement funds, the authority said. Of the remainder, 30% is distributed directly to cities and counties, and the remaining 15% to the commonwealth. On June 23, the OAAs board of directors will hear public comments during a virtual meeting before voting on the recommended grant awards. The OAA made two recommendations for the Roanoke Valley, including more than $250,000 specifically for the city of Roanoke. Those grant funds would be spent on adverse childhood experiences training, a peer recovery specialist for the city sheriffs office, naloxone training for fire and EMS personnel, a marketing campaign for a recovery support hotline and drug testing equipment for prevention and harm reduction efforts. For both the city and Roanoke County, the OAA also recommended a $500,000 award to support and expand the Roanoke Valley Collective Response Recovery System. The OAA recommended over $3.3 million for a New River Valley cooperative partnership, which includes the counties of Montgomery, Giles, Floyd and Pulaski, plus the city of Radford. The grant would provide funding for the New River Valley Ecosystem of Recovery to expand its in-patient and mobile treatment abilities, its trauma-informed care and its recovery court program, the OAA said. The money would also be used to supply medication, enhance transportation, train law enforcement and run prevention programs. The southwest region of Virginia is home to localities that have, in recent years, presented some of the highest overdose rates statewide. In 2021, Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem collectively reported about 60 opioid overdoses per 10,000 emergency department visits, according to the Virginia Department of Health. That same year, only four other Virginia localities, including two in the southwest region, reported more. Richmond reported about 61, Bland County about 63, Portsmouth about 64 and Patrick County about 66. Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem are seeing slightly lower overdose rates this year, according to the health departments most recent data report. Each month from January to May, the area reported an average of about 50 opioid overdoses per 10,000 emergency department visits. Israeli forces are believed responsible for killing five Palestinians and injuring nearly 100 others during a raid on the West Bank city of Jenin. Mourners had to lay their loved ones to rest a few hours after Israeli soldiers used helicopter gunships during a raid on a Jenin refugee camp. The attacks, which resulted in the fiercest clashes in the last few years, started early Monday after Israeli forces stormed the camp, firing off live ammunition, stun grenades, and toxic gas. Israeli Forces Kill Five Palestinians Amid West Bank Raid Furthermore, combat helicopters were in the area for the first time in decades after ground troops conducted hours-long fighting. One of the five Palestinian fatalities was found to be a child. In a statement, the Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the victims as 15-year-old Ahmed Saqr, 21-year-old Khaled Darwish, 21-year-old Qassam Sariya, 19-year-old Qassam Faisal Abu Sirriya, and Ahmed Daraghmeh. Authorities also reported that at least 22 injured Palestinians were believed to be in critical condition. Funerals were later underway at the camp cemetery, where relatives and friends came to pay their respects and show solidarity to the bereaved families, as per Aljazeera. One of the media outlet's reporters, Nida Ibrahim, said that Israeli military forces were seen withdrawing from the capt after a few hours of fighting. She added that some people in the camp later recited prayers while others soaked in their sadness and grief. Ibrahim said they have been coming to the cemetery for the past year and noted that there is almost no space for more Palestinians to be buried. Journalists on the ground said that Israeli soldiers shot at several of their colleagues during the assault. Furthermore, the Israeli military troops targeted four ambulances in Jenin, said media and information officer at the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) Nibal Farsakh. He added that the soldiers directly targeted the vehicle using live ammunition that caused material damage to the structure and the ambulance's glass. Read Also: Putin Critic Alexei Navalny Faces New Trial An Unusually Intense Battle The attack was the first time since the Second Intifada that Israeli helicopters were seen open firing while evacuating wounded troops. According to CNN, the Second Intifada was a major Palestinian uprising that ended in 2005. A locally based militant group, the Jenin Brigade, said that its fighters could force an Israeli helicopter away by shooting at it. The group added that it had managed to immobile the Israeli troops' vehicles by shooting at them and ambushing them. On top of the Palestinian fatalities and injuries, eight of Israel's security forces were wounded amid the fighting. A spokesman for the Israeli military, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, said that the Monday battle in and around the West Bank city of Jenin was intense and rare. The military said that at least one powerful explosive device that turned off several Israeli armored vehicles complicated the incident that the Israeli side said started as an arrest raid, said the New York Times. Related Article: Ukraine Says 8 Villages Were Liberated From Russian Troops in 2 Weeks @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. WINTERGREEN A Maryland man is charged with capital murder of a Wintergreen Police Department officer in a weekend shooting. Daniel M. Barmak, of Towson, Maryland, is charged with one count each of capital murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony in connection with the shooting death of officer Mark Christopher Wagner II. Barmak, 23, also is accused of two felony counts of malicious wounding, Virginia State Police said. He is being held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. The incident began shortly after 10 p.m. Friday when an emergency call came into the Wintergreen Police Department about two people being assaulted at a residence in the Wintergreen community of Nelson County, a news release from state police said. After calling police, the two injured men fled the residence on foot. The two 23-year-old men were both taken to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville for treatment of non-life threatening injuries, the release said. Wagner, 31, was the first law enforcement officer to arrive at the residence. He encountered Barmak in the woods and a struggle ensued, the release said. During the course of the struggle over Wagners department-issued handgun, Barmak shot and killed the officer, the release said. Barmak was also shot during the encounter. Wintergreen police and the Nelson County Sheriffs Office took Barmak into custody without further incident. Barmak was taken to UVA Medical Center for treatment of a non-life threatening injury sustained during the incident, the release said. Inside the residence, state police recovered illegal narcotics, the release said. Wagners department-issued handgun was recovered at the shooting scene in the woods. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Notable "Racial Injustice Report" released by Philadelphia DA office on Juneteenth | Main | Vera Institute of Justice reports on "People in Jail and Prison in 2022" June 20, 2023 Hunter Biden agrees to plea deal seeking to avoid prison time on tax and gun charges As reported in this Politico piece, "Hunter Biden has reached a deal with federal prosecutors to resolve a five-year federal investigation into his failure to pay about $1 million in federal taxes and his purchase of a handgun in 2018." Here is more: Under an agreement detailed Tuesday in a filing in federal court in Delaware, President Joe Bidens son will plead guilty to a pair of misdemeanor tax charges. Prosecutors have also charged him with possessing a firearm while being a user of illegal drugs a felony but have agreed to dismiss that charge if he completes a two-year period of probation. Hunter Biden, 53, is unlikely to serve time in prison if he complies with release conditions. The deal calls for both sides to recommend that he be put on probation. The probe was overseen by Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump and was permitted to stay in his post after Joe Biden took office in order to complete the investigation of the presidents son. The White House and the Justice Department have said they did not interfere with Weiss investigation. A one-page document from federal prosecutors to the federal court in Delaware outlining the plea deal is available here. June 20, 2023 at 10:09 AM | Permalink Comments 'rat privilege. Posted by: federalist | Jun 20, 2023 10:25:21 AM Doug: Because Hunter Biden could easily have argued that the 922(g) gun charge [possession of a firearm by a drug addict] is unConstitutional under the 2022 Supreme Court decision, I suspect that for the diversion, Hunter will plead "nolo contendere" (no contest), not GUILTY. Hunter has previously paid the extra $1.2 million in past due taxes, interest and penalties due. The prosecutors plainly don't want him contesting Constitutionality and taking the issue up to the Supreme Court. I think Hunter also needs finality on the Federal criminal investigation because he is being pressured for financial records in his Arkansas child support case, where a trial is scheduled for July 2023. Hunter is already paying $20,000 per month in child support. But the obvious issue is that he isn't being charged with anything related to his business dealings in the Ukraine, or funneling bribes to his father. Posted by: Jim Gormley | Jun 20, 2023 10:59:59 AM He lied on the form, Jim. Posted by: federalist | Jun 20, 2023 11:08:45 AM Weiss was appointed by Obama and allowed to stay on by Trump due to furious lobbying effort by Delaware's two Dem senators.Hes not a "Trump appointee". Posted by: Al Felker | Jun 20, 2023 11:14:15 AM Jim - I've never seen a nolo contendere in the federal system (do hey exist?) - I would suspect a guilty plea, which is either not accepted (or conditionally accepted), then placed into diversion... Posted by: atomicfrog | Jun 20, 2023 11:25:26 AM Let's not forget that this POS was busted out of the Navy for failing a urinalysis. That should be part of the sentencing process. Posted by: federalist | Jun 20, 2023 11:32:42 AM atomicfrog, to the best of my recollection Spiro Agnew pleaded no contest. Don't know if any since. Posted by: Michael R. Levine | Jun 20, 2023 12:28:26 PM So what's the deal, Federalist? You so disagree with Joe Biden's policies that you automatically assume he must be guilty of something ("Democrats are all corrupt"), so this prosecution of his son doesn't do the political damage you'd hoped it would? Posted by: Da Man | Jun 20, 2023 2:37:08 PM It's pretty obvious that this is a sweetheart deal. Posted by: federalist | Jun 20, 2023 3:03:47 PM So you've seen the evidence? Posted by: Da Man | Jun 20, 2023 3:11:24 PM Dude, how many SARs were filed against HUnter, and those who cheat on their taxes to the tune of over $1MM--they usually get some time. Posted by: federalist | Jun 20, 2023 3:30:40 PM Or they get pardoned by a President who is from the same political party and do no jail time at all. https://www.nj.com/politics/2022/07/in-stunning-comeback-after-trump-pardon-gilmore-to-return-as-ocean-county-republican-chairman.html But I digress Posted by: Da Man | Jun 20, 2023 3:51:15 PM Da Man: Two words: Marc Rich. Posted by: federalist | Jun 20, 2023 3:57:52 PM Because Doug would never have a post citing these guys, here it is: https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2023/06/20/hunter-biden-and-the-double-standards-at-doj-n71694 Posted by: federalist | Jun 20, 2023 4:45:45 PM I joined DOJ in September 1974, close to 50 years ago. I never heard of the feds accepting a nolo plea, and much less as part of a plea bargain. My experience is that you either pled guilty or you went to trial. There was no third option. But for however that may be as a theoretical matter, all the reports here are that it's a guilty plea. The court may refuse to accept it, but that very seldom happens. Posted by: Bill Otis | Jun 20, 2023 6:17:56 PM https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-intentionally-provocative-hunter-biden-plea-deal/ What Andy McCarthy has to say about this disgusting spectacle. The DOJ has no moral right to prosecute anyone. Posted by: federalist | Jun 20, 2023 6:27:36 PM Bill, You joined DOJ when I was three. You must have gone to law school with Hammurabi. Posted by: TarlsQtr | Jun 21, 2023 12:36:23 PM TarlsQtr -- Oh sure, I knew Hammurabi. He loaned me some of his clay tablets. Posted by: Bill Otis | Jun 22, 2023 11:25:20 PM Post a comment In an effort to reduce the use of plastic, shoppers at supermarkets are encouraged to bring their own reusable bags. Large supermarket operators will implement a five-cent charge for each disposable carrier bag starting 3 July. (PHOTO: Getty) SINGAPORE In an effort to promote environmental sustainability and reduce plastic usage, Singapore is implementing a new initiative to discourage the use of disposable carrier bags. Starting from 3 July, large supermarket operators will be required to charge a minimum of five cents for each disposable carrier bag to shoppers at their physical stores. Supermarket operators with an annual turnover of more than S$100 million will be applying the charge for disposable shopping bags of all materials. These include supermarkets such as NTUC FairPrice, Cold Storage, Giant, Sheng Siong and Prime totalling about 400 supermarket outlets or two-thirds of all outlets in Singapore. Yahoo Finance Singapore reached out to the five large supermarket operators to find out how much they will be charging consumers for each disposable carrier bag. All five supermarkets NTUC FairPrice, Cold Storage, Giant, Sheng Siong and Prime said that they will be starting with the minimum charge of five cents per disposable carrier bag, without any mention of plans to increase the charge in the future. The charge will not apply to non-carrier bags such as flat-top plastic bags for fresh produce, meat or seafood. Some retailers have already implemented a charge A number of smaller retailers and some supermarkets have already been charging for plastic and paper shopping bags. These include Guardian, Watsons, 7-Eleven, 11 FairPrice outlets, and 178 Cheers and FairPrice Xpress stores. Here's how much it currently costs to use disposable carrier bags at each of these retailers: Retailer Cost NTUC FairPrice S$0.20 per transaction at 11 NTUC FairPrice outlets, regardless of the number of bags used Cheers and FairPrice Xpress S$0.10 per transaction at 178 Cheers and FairPrice Xpress outlets, regardless of the number of bags used 7-Eleven S$0.10 per transaction, regardless of the number of bags used Guardian S$0.05 per transaction, regardless of the number of bags used Watsons S$0.10 per transaction, regardless of the number of bags used In response to queries from Yahoo Finance Singapore, FairPrice Group said that starting from 3 July, it will be standardising the charge across all its supermarket formats to five cents for each disposable bag used. This means that all existing charges which were implemented at the 11 FairPrice outlets and 178 Cheers and FairPrice Xpress outlets will be removed and standardised. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. She also addressed concerns about potential legal repercussions, geopolitical minefields in interview with TMZ. Jocelyn Chia defends her routine in interview with CNN, highlighting its intentions of friendly rivalry between Singapore and Malaysia. (PHOTO: YouTube/Screengrab/AdolaTube) SINGAPORE Under-fire comedian Jocelyn Chia has alleged harassment and bullying from Malaysians, even as she has yet to apologise for making jokes about the MH370 Malaysia Airlines plane tragedy. The American stand-up performer - who was born in Singapore - found herself at the centre of controversy earlier this month, with her routine sparking outrage in Malaysia and Singapore, with calls for an apology and condemnation from government officials. She took to Twitter on Sunday (18 June) to express her frustration at being subjected to alleged harassment from Malaysians, while they simultaneously demanded an apology from her. "Some Malaysians have been brow beating and harassing me, my friends, my family, my colleagues, while at the same time demanding an apology," she wrote in her tweet. "Do they really think I would feel like apologising after getting all this st from them? I will not be bullied into giving an apology. An apology needs to come from the heart, and should not be coerced." The controversy erupted after a short clip of Chia's stand-up routine was posted online, attracting global attention to her comments about Malaysian planes and the MH370 incident. Jocelyn Chia took to Twitter on 18 June to voice her frustration over alleged harassment while facing demands for apology. (PHOTO: Twitter/@JocelynChia) Navigating legal risks and geopolitical minefields In an interview with TMZ published on Tuesday, Chia expressed concerns about potential legal repercussions. She highlighted the case of another Malaysian comedian who was arrested and faced trial for offensive online content, citing the existence of laws targeting such material in Malaysia. "They have arrested a comedian who is Malaysian and had posted jokes online, and that comedian has to stand trial based on his online jokes because they have had precedence for breaking a law that they have for offensive online content," she said. She also mentioned the possibility of being targeted if she were Singaporean due to the strong ties between Singapore and Malaysia, adding, "Singapore kind of needs Malaysia for things like water. They definitely have more political leverage if I was Singaporean." When asked about the potential risk of being detained while traveling to Singapore and then being sent to Malaysia, Chia responded, "I definitely think there is a real risk there, and I need to reach out to the US Embassy in Singapore... probably have to talk to some lawyers." Chia expressed how her life as a comedian used to be simple, focusing solely on making people laugh. However, she now faces the additional burden of considering potential geopolitical ramifications that could land her in jail in another country. "My life as a comedian used to be so simple. Does it get a laugh? It ends there. That was the extent of my consideration," she said. "Now it is, I gotta write a joke, does it get a laugh, and does it have geopolitical ramifications that could end me up in jail in another country?" Routine's intention In an interview with CNN this month, Chia clarified that she had performed this routine over a hundred times without any issues, and it was meant to play on the friendly rivalry between Singapore and Malaysia. She also noted that it is common for comedians to engage in "roasting" and that audience members often approached her after shows to express their enjoyment, indicating that they did not take offence. However, the joke's viral spread on social media led to widespread controversy. In Malaysia, the youth wing of the UMNO, one of the country's major political parties, organised a protest at the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur to voice their displeasure. They considered Chia's joke an insult to the nation and handed a memorandum to the US diplomatic outpost. Singapore, on the other hand, has distanced itself from Chia, with foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan expressing his disapproval of Chia's remarks and apologising to Malaysia, affirming that she certainly does not speak for Singaporeans. The backlash against Chia has resulted in the removal of her Facebook and Instagram accounts, which are no longer accessible. Chia stressed that comedians do not harbour malicious intent behind their jokes and that the goal is ultimately to bring smiles to people's faces. Singapore's Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan condemns comedian Jocelyn Chia's remarks, expressing dismay and offering apologies to Malaysians for the offence caused. (PHOTO: Twitter/@VivianBala) 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. Shiitake cultivation grows into major economic driver in Suizhou, C China's Hubei People's Daily Online) 10:01, June 20, 2023 "With automatic water spray, ventilation, and light control, shiitake cultivation is so much easier than before," Huang He, executive of an intelligent shiitake cultivation base of the Xinda professional cooperative for edible fungi cultivation in Suixian county, Suizhou city, central China's Hubei Province, told People's Daily Online. Huang demonstrated to People's Daily Online how the environmental factors of shiitake greenhouses, such as temperature and humidity, can be easily controlled remotely with a 5G-based intelligent platform outside the greenhouses. A species of shiitake produced in Suizhou city, central China's Hubei Province. (Photo/Xiao Luxin) "Unlike traditional shiitake greenhouses, our greenhouse is like a 'smart butler'. It is equipped with an internal and external shading system, a ventilation system, automatic temperature control devices, and an automatic irrigation system using water and fertilizer integration, among other systems and devices," Huang said, operating shiitake greenhouses on the intelligent platform by touching virtual buttons on a screen. With the help of smart equipment and big data, the shiitake cultivation base, located in Daqiao village, Gaocheng township, Suixian county, is able to achieve accurate control of its shiitake greenhouses in real time and guarantee a suitable growing environment 24 hours a day for shiitakes, thus producing shiitakes of greater quality and with better taste, according to Huang. Thanks to the mushrooming smart agriculture, smart facilities have made it possible for one person to tend to multiple shiitake greenhouses just by touching a screen, said Gao Guibao, executive of the Xinda professional cooperative for edible fungi cultivation, who has been growing shiitakes for nearly 20 years. The Juncheng fungi cultivation cooperative, another major professional cooperative for edible fungi cultivation in Suixian county, has also leveraged smart technologies to improve the capacity and efficiency of its shiitake cultivation base. In 2021, the cooperative invested 15.9 million yuan ($2.22 million) and built 130 intelligent greenhouses. "Our cooperative makes the bags, ensures a 100-percent survival rate, teaches the planting techniques, and takes care of the sale of the products for shiitake farmers," said Tang Cheng, an executive of the cooperative. "Shiitake growers can cultivate more than 7,000 sticks of shiitakes in a single greenhouse. They only need to pay 0.5 yuan in service fees for each stick of the shiitakes. The profit from each shiitake greenhouse is about 28,000 yuan. We grew more than 1 million sticks of shiitakes last year, which brought in an annual profit of more than 20 million yuan," Tang said. The booming shiitake cultivation industry has effectively boosted the income of local farmers. A once impoverished villager working for local shiitake cultivation bases can earn more than 2,000 yuan a month. Suixian county is now a well-known base for the processing and export of shiitakes. With shiitakes produced in the county being sold to regions and countries all over the world, including China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, and the U.S., the shiitake cultivation industry has emerged as a characteristic pillar industry driving the local economy. At an expo of the edible fungi industry held in March 2023 in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian province, Suizhou shiitake topped the list of the value of regional edible fungi brands in China in 2022 with an estimated value of nearly 10.68 billion yuan. Today, Suizhou city is an important part of China's shiitake exports, while the city's shiitake cultivation industry serves as a pillar industry of the foreign trade of Hubei Province. Boasting an annual output worth more than 30 billion yuan, Suizhou's shiitake cultivation industry benefits more than 300,000 citizens. It's estimated that the industry's annual output worth will exceed 50 billion yuan and its exports will surpass $1.2 billion by the year 2025. (Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun) Europe's most dangerous supervolcano, the Campi Flegrei, is getting closer to a potential eruption, a recent study by scientists warns. The volcano, located near Naples in southern Italy, has a crust, which is becoming weaker and more prone to rupturing, making an eruption more likely. Europe's Most Dangerous 'Supervolcano' Likely to Erupt Scientists have warned that Europe's most dangerous 'supervolcano' might be inching closer to an eruption. With mounting evidence and recent developments, the stage is set for a potential geological showdown. According to Space.com, the Campi Flegrei volcano in southern Italy, dubbed as a "supervolcano," is "moving closer to rupture," according to scientists. The lead author of a recent study of the supervolcano, Christopher Kilburn, says their researcher confirmed that Campi Flegrei is inches away from its next explosion. Kilburn, a University College London (UCL) Earth Science professor, notes that it does not necessarily mean that the "supervolcano" is guaranteed to be erupting soon. Instead, he explains, "The rupture may open a crack through the crust, but the magma still needs to be pushing up at the right location for an eruption to occur." Only time will tell if the fiery beast remains dormant for now. The study by UCL and the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) in Italy researchers found that the stage is set for an eruption. The research shows that the current conditions are leaning toward a potential explosion. But as mentioned, it is not certain that an eruption is coming our way. Related Article: Philippines' Mayon Volcano Erupts, Prompting Thousands of Villagers To Evacuate Campi Flegrei Supervolcano As Euro News reports, the Campi Flegrei is a caldera volcano, which means it has collapsed in on itself after a previous eruption. Forbes says that Campi Flegrei, which in Italian means "burning fields," sits in the Bay of Naples and is roughly 8 miles wide. The last instance the "supervolcano" unleashed its wrath was when it erupted way back in 1538, roughly 485 years ago. Hundreds of years have passed since its last explosion, but this time it now possesses a higher risk of a dangerous eruption. More than 1 million residents live near the most dangerous volcano on the European continent. Euro News notes that around half a million of 500,000 people reside within the red zone. It is the area with the highest risk of a potential eruption, according to the Civil Protection Agency of Italy. Besides people living in the risky red zone, roughly 800,000 more residents consider the yellow zone as their home. The new study by scientists warned that some parts of the "supervolcano" are now inching closer to their breaking point. Although the research finds that a massive explosion is less likely to occur, it still predicts that it could trigger small eruptions. Read Also: Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Erupts, Officials Warn of Potential Hazards @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Five years ago, a 37-year-old Rodell Jones was working as a Transportation Security Administration officer at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport having pursued some higher education years earlier, but without landing a degree. He had never been to Iowa or even thought much about it until considering the TSAs offer to earn a certificate in homeland security by taking online courses from a selection of colleges, including Des Moines Area Community College more than 1,000 miles away. After earning that DMACC certificate in 18 months all virtually from his home in Hagerstown, Maryland Jones kept going, pursuing an associate degree in criminal justice from DMACC, with an eye on an eventual bachelors degree. He had planned to do that closer to home, transferring credits to a nearby four-year college, until a DMACC professor asked: Have you thought about UNI? He said, I don't know whether or not you know this, but they have a partnership with DMACC, Jones said. That University of Northern Iowa partnership called UNI at Iowa Community Colleges or UNI@IACC was not just news to Jones, but was news to Iowa last year. Offering associate-degree earners from any of Iowas 15 community colleges the option of seamlessly and virtually completing bachelors degrees in high-demand areas, like criminal justice, the program attracted 348 students in its first year and contributed to an 18 percent one-year spike in UNI transfer students in fall 2022. Before that bump, UNIs transfer student numbers had been dropping year over year, and in 2021 fell to just 453 its lowest in decades and 45 percent below UNIs 829 transfer students in fall 2010, according to Board of Regents documents. UNIs community college collaboration like dozens of other cross-campus collaborations and partnerships that have emerged across Iowa over the last decade had its intended effect of both increasing enrollment, despite a decline in the number of high school graduates, and improving access to higher education for non-traditional students. Jones, after stopping out of college to raise a family, didnt know if he would ever complete a degree. But his experience with the DMACC him confidence to take advantage of its collaboration with UNI. If I can do that, Jones said of his ability to get an associates online, then that means that I should be able to take advantage of going to a university online, which is where we're at now. On track to finish his degree in August, Jones flew to Iowa in May to participate in UNIs commencement. You always dream of walking with that bachelor's degree, Jones said. Non-traditional students Although Jones is a rarity among students taking advantage of the UNI@IACC partnership in that he doesnt live in Iowa and doesnt plan to move here non-traditional students like him are the target of the multitude of cross-campus agreements and collaborations emerging of late. Students who are older, already in the workforce, raising families or from families without a history of college or the resources to finance it are becoming increasingly important across higher education especially in the Midwest, which faces shifting demographics and waning high school graduates. All the four-year schools are, in a sense, competing for the same community college students, and so we do have to look at new partnerships and ways to be collaborative and transfer-friendly, Paul Sapp, director of the UNI@IACC program, told The Gazette. Like Iowas four-year colleges and universities, its community colleges have lost enrollment in recent years, too, making transfer-friendly policies and flexibility important. It's what the market demands; it's what the consumer in this case, the students they're demanding flexibility, UNI spokesman Pete Moris said, acknowledging that most traditional students coming straight from high school prefer the the meat and potatoes experience here on campus. But for the growing number who arent coming straight from high school, Were making sure we schedule around their lifestyle, around their work schedules, Moris said. It does the students no good if we schedule a class that they need at 1 oclock in the afternoon when they're at work. Like Ana Miranda, 36, of Des Moines, whos taking advantage of UNIs 2+2 Elementary Education BA program that lets students pursuing or already holding an associate degree from a community college to finish entirely online the remaining two years needed for a bachelors. It was heaven-sent, Miranda told The Gazette about UNIs collaboration with DMACC where she started her postsecondary journey after earning her high school diploma in 2005. Originally from Mexico, Miranda first had to learn English and then get financial aid to pursue college. My academic journey has been bumpy, said Miranda, who earned her associate degree in 2014 before becoming pregnant and married soon after. I never stopped working full-time (except for maternity leave). I wanted to focus on my new life as a wife and mother, but a part of me refused to give up the dream of becoming a teacher. When she stumbled upon UNIs 2+2 offering, she brought her son with her to an informational meeting and met her now academic adviser. I wont forget that day, Miranda said. But even after starting toward a UNI degree in education, Miranda had to pause when her marriage fell apart. I then returned to the program, took some more classes, but at that point I was struggling with mental health, she said. As hard as it was, I had to make another pause to take care of myself (and my son). Now back on track, Miranda has three courses left, with expectations to graduate next spring. I would not be able to even be talking about graduating next year if it wasnt for the 2+2 UNI-DMACC, she said, adding, I am certain that other non-traditional students (who would not have access to higher education otherwise), will continue to take advantage of this program. I hope they do because it is an incredible opportunity. Partnerships boom Cross-campus collaborations also could help address Iowa workforce challenges. Many center on high-demand degrees and aim to churn out graduates at a faster clip offering shorter times to graduation, like the University of Iowas 3+3 law degree collaboration with 17 institutions statewide. Admitted students from any eligible college or university, including Coe, Cornell, Wartburg and Luther colleges can begin their law-degree pursuits in their fourth-year of undergrad, saving time and money. Or its undergrad-to-grad public health degree partnerships with Coe, Cornell, Luther and Grinnell. Several partnerships have emerged statewide to address the need for more nurses like Kirkwood Community Colleges RN to BSN program with the UI College of Nursing that launched this year. Most of the dozens and dozens of cross-state partnerships have emerged in the last decade the majority in the last few years. Many of the programs are online or hybrid, a style of learning and teaching that campuses had to expand after COVID-19 hit, creating an opportunity to expand. The pandemic also affected enrollment and the workforce. We'll be adding this fall a hybrid accounting program that will be partially online and partially face-to-face here at DMACC-Urban, UNIs Sapp said of his universitys Des Moines Area Community College-based site. That was really something that the leadership of some of the financial sector firms in Des Moines did a great job of collaborating with us and DMACC on, UNI spokesman Moris said. Because there's a need. There are not enough entry-level people going into accounting. Moris said he thinks the partnerships are going to grow as the non-traditional students do with many workers who didnt initially think theyd need a four-year degree discovering or deciding they do. These folks are finding out that they've kind of hit a ceiling in terms of what their earning potential is without that four-year degree, he said. The campuses might hit a ceiling, too, in the straight-from-high school students they can enroll, as that population shrinks. Pulling from and partnering with other campuses to educate as many students in the state as possible could be a path forward for Iowas colleges and universities. Still, Sapp said, even with all the collaboration, competition persists. The transfer students are, I think, more savvy and are really shopping around and looking for their best options, he said. So we all have to try to make sure we're the best option. NORTH SIOUX CITY UnityPoint Health Sioux City is building a new clinic in Dakota Dunes. According to a statement from UnityPoint, the clinic, which is slated to open next year, will offer additional convenience to residents in Dakota Dunes and North Sioux City by providing healthcare services close to home. Located at 350 Gold Circle Drive, UnityPoint Clinic Dakota Dunes will include 7,500 square feet of space and will be home to urgent care and family medicine services. This new location will also feature specialty services initially offering foot and ankle surgery services. "We are proud to be building a new UnityPoint Clinic location in Dakota Dunes. This new medical building will address the increasing demand for healthcare services in our community," said Jane Arnold, senior vice president of operations and regional vice president of ambulatory operations at UnityPoint Health Sioux City. "I'm excited for us to be able to offer important urgent care services for patients of all ages and stages in this community." SIOUX CITY Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he'd match his leadership and problem-solving abilities against anyone else running for president. Hutchinson, who is one of the 13 declared candidates running to be the Republican nominee for President, made the remarks during a meet-and-greet with prospective Iowa caucus-goers at the Wheelhouse Bar & Grill in Sioux City Monday night. In addition to being a two-term Governor of Arkansas, Hutchinson, 72, also represented the state's third district as a U.S. Congressman and served as the Administrator for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Under Secretary for Border and Transportation for the Department of Homeland Security during the George W. Bush administration. "I've been a problem-solver during difficult times and a leader during times of great division," he told an audience of nearly 30 people. asa hutchinson with voter Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson greeted prospective Iowa caucus-goers during a campaign stop at Sioux City's The Wheelhouse Bar & Gril Hutchinson said kitchen-table issues such as the economy and border security are at the top of his list. He said these should rate higher than hot-button ideological issues that may repel independent voters. "Joe Biden is a terrible candidate who is terrible on the issues," Hutchinson said. "But Republicans won't win if we can't attract independent voters." This is why he stresses an outlook focused on the future, as opposed to ruminating on past elections. That was in contrast to former President Donald Trump, the current Republican frontrunner. asa hutchinson shaking hands Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson greeted prospective Iowa caucus-goers during a campaign stop at Sioux City's The Wheelhouse Bar & Gril Admitting he has a long road ahead of him, Hutchinson pointed out that he's making headway. "I recently gave a speech in Georgia during the morning while President Trump was slated to speak later in the day," Hutchinson said. "As soon as I finished talking, a man in a red MAGA hat came up to me, saying I hadn't yet changed his mind on Trump. But the man liked what I was saying." "Sometimes, persuasion takes more time," he said. 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. SIOUX CITY The Sioux City Council, by approving its consent agenda on Monday, green-lighted facade improvements for a Historic Fourth Street building. The council authorized a certificate of appropriateness for the former Aalfs Manufacturing building, 1005 Fourth St. Ho-Chunk. The economic development arm of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, purchased the building in 2021, along with three other buildings in one of downtown's most popular districts. "I think they're really honoring the memories of this building," Councilman Matthew O'Kane said before the vote. Certificates of appropriateness are required by city code for proposed additions or modifications to buildings within Sioux City's historic districts. Plans call for the five-story building to be remodeled into a mix-use structure with main level commercial space and upper-level residential units. The loading dock/canopy, north and east fire escapes and existing penthouse would be removed, under the proposal. The request also includes construction of a new rooftop patio and the installation of 19 windows into the west facade. The building with a brick-and-stone edifice was built in 1890 by the Boston Investment Company in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. Its first occupant was the Sioux City Upholstering Company. Aalfs Manufacturing Company moved into the building around 1922. Aalfs was initially a paint and wallpaper company. It later became a clothing company. Aalfs was sold in 2018 to Grupo Siete Leguas. Ho-Chunk, Inc. buildings (copy) The former Aalfs Manufacturing Company building, 1005 Fourth St., is shown in this 2022 file photo. The Sioux City Council on Monday authorize Orders cancelled Also on the council's consent agenda was a resolution cancelling the city's outstanding purchase orders for two vehicles. On Nov. 2, 2020, the city awarded a $78,654 purchase order to Thomas Bus Sales, Inc. of Des Moines, for a light-duty bus to replace an older bus that had exceeded its life expectancy. However, according to city documents, Sioux City Transit System and the Iowa Department of Transportation found Thomas Bus Sales, Inc. to be unresponsive concerning the status of orders. "As soon as we get this money rescinded and reach out to IDOT, we have the money available," Assistant City Manager Mike Collett said. The other vehicle order, for a $28,126 Ford All Wheel Drive Explorer, was placed with Ed Stivers Ford, Inc. of Waukee, Iowa, on March 21, 2022. The vehicle was intended to replace an older Chevrolet Traverse that had reached the end of its expected useful life. Ed Stivers Ford, Inc. notified City staff in November 2022 that Ford closed the order bank due to lack of production, according to city documents. On Feb. 6, the vehicle purchase was re-bid, and the Council approved the purchase of a $27,600 Chevrolet Traverse. Ho-Chunk, Inc. buildings (copy) The former Aalfs Manufacturing Company building, 1005 Fourth St., is shown in this 2022 file photo. The Sioux City Council on Monday authorize SIOUX CITY The co-owner of a party bike told the Sioux City Council Monday that his business is going to fail if laws can't be changed or adjusted. Pedal Party Pub can't operate in the city because its owners can't obtain the $1.5 million minimum liability insurance policy that is needed for a vehicle for hire permit. The bike, which can hold up to 14 customers, is considered a vehicle for hire because the owners want customers to be able to bring their own beer and wine coolers on board to consume. "We are thousands of dollars in debt already," Pedal Party Pub co-owner Scott Bieler said. "If we don't get some sort of answer, we're just going to have to close our doors and we're just going to have to take this somewhere else." Siouxland Chamber of Commerce President Chris McGowan advocated on the owners' behalf, telling the council that they have done everything they possibly could have in the last 12 months to get their business off the ground. "These people have tried to comply with everything that you've thrown at them for a year. Everything they've been asked to do, they've done. Every change you've asked them to make, they've made," McGowan said. Pedal Party Pub Pedal Party Pub can hold up to 14 customers. It is considered a vehicle for hire because the owners want customers to be able to bring their o The owners of Pedal Party Pub previously appeared before the council on June 12. After that meeting, Councilwoman Julie Schoenherr told The Journal the council can't override state law. "We don't have the power to do it," she said. "They traded a bicycle for a vehicle, so that they can include alcohol service. By doing so, their insurance company will not insure the amount that the state requires that they have." On Monday, McGowan said the private sector's chief complaint is "how difficult the bureaucracy is." He said that $1.5 million in liability insurance "isn't really written for vehicles that move about five miles per hour." "We need to do better. We need to try harder," he said. "If this applies to this business, then, it needs to apply equally to every single other similarly situated business, and you know it does not. To me, that is targeting." Mayor Pro Tem Dan Moore requested a list of those companies, since the city "is being charged with targeting" Pedal Party Pub. Mayor Bob Scott remarked that there are about five party buses that aren't even licensed in the city. "That's been my complaint -- unequal enforcement of our rules," he said. Bieler questioned why the vehicle for hire permit is being asked for, when it can't be regulated. He noted that party bikes could come into the city from other locations, be unaware of the permit and be ticketed by police because they didn't know. "This is such a new thing for the country. It's very hard for any of the laws to really put this in any category," he said of party bikes. "When you look at the description of any vehicles that are in this permit, ours doesn't even fit into it at all." City Attorney Nicole DuBois said the council could consider doing away with the vehicle for hire chapter of Sioux City Code, which would result in the city not regulating taxis or buses any longer. "But, the insurance requirements are still under state code," she said. "That is an option. The city does not have to regulate vehicle for hire." McGowan said a waiver would also be an option for a party bike like the one Pedal Party Pub wants to operate. "It's not a vehicle in the traditional sense. They went to the IDOT to make it a vehicle because that's what was recommended by this body," he said. DuBois said the city "never gave direction" that Pedal Party Pub become a vehicle for hire. She said it's the only way to legally have alcohol on a bike under Iowa Code. "You've got at least four or five bus companies, I can find on Facebook, on the internet. When are we going to go to those companies and demand that they get licensed? You know when? Never," Scott said. "If you don't get it done in a year, you're not going to get it done, and that's not how we ought to enforce our rules." SERGEANT BLUFF Most weekday mornings, Carl Cleveland can be found discussing current affairs with his buddies over a leisurely cup of coffee at a McDonald's restaurant. So, what's been the latest hot topic? The 72-year-old retiree points to Gov. Kim Reynolds' recent signing of a bill that allow Iowa families to use state taxpayer funds to pay for private school tuition -- at an estimated cost of $345 million to the state once it's fully phased in. "I think it was brave for the governor, but it was the right thing to do," he explained. "Having a choice in your children's education is very important to me, and my friends tend to agree with the decision." Which is ironic, since many of Cleveland's morning crew are retired educators and he, himself, was the transportation director for the Sergeant Bluff-Luton Community School District for more than 30 years. "School curriculums have changed a lot over the years," he said. "We're not teaching kids the knowledge they'll need to prosper as adults. Instead, we're filling their heads with things they won't need." What Iowans want - Carl Cleveland Carl Cleveland, a retired Sergeant Bluff-Luton Community School District transportation director, said education needs to go back to the basic Top on Cleveland's study list for students is an appreciation of history, along with a proper understanding of mathematics. Stuff that can go by the wayside, in his opinion, is anything that can be described as "woke." "If we're graduating kids who don't know how to balance a checkbook, it is time to go back to basics," he said. Born into a family with seven other siblings, Cleveland remember his parents struggled to make ends meet on their farm near the tiny town of Luton. "Mom and dad instilled in us a lot of pride, as well as a strong work ethic," he said. "We got up early, did chores around the farm, and, then, we went off to school." Cleveland's parents also instilled in him a passion for politics. "Mom was a pretty strong Democrat and both of my parents supported John F. Kennedy back in the day," he remembered. "Since I grew up during the Cuban Missile Crisis, I also admired JFK. Without his strong leadership, things would've turned out very differently." Though he considers himself a Republican, Cleveland said he always voted for the person. "It shouldn't matter if the person has a D or an R after his name," Cleveland said. "If the person is a strong leader and has good ideas, he'll get my vote." That sense of civic responsibility is something Cleveland and his late wife, Marla, shared with their children, Derek and Nicole, as well as grandchildren Gage and Makenna. "Marla and I raised our family to be moral, upstanding people who cared about their community," he said. "That meant something to us." Cleveland has lived in Sergeant Bluff for more than 50 years and his now-grown children live nearby in the same neighborhood. "Marla and I knew this town would be a terrific town to raise a family," he said. "My kids apparently thought the same thing." Retiring early from the school district, Cleveland said he wanted to spend more time with his wife and family. Eventually getting a bit bored, he and Marla ended up doing maintenance work for the city of Sergeant Bluff for several years. Finally retiring for real over three years ago, the couple thought they'd have time to devote to traveling the country. Sadly, Marla Cleveland died on June 7, 2021. "People ask me if I'd ever remarry," Cleveland said, shaking his head. "Marla was the best. Why would I want anything less." Nowadays, he spends his time with both family and friends. "I'm still involved in politics," Cleveland said. "For better or for worse." So far, he wants to support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' bid for the Republican nomination for president. Cleveland traveled to Sioux Center last month to see DeSantis speak at Iowa 4th District Rep. Randy Feenstra's annual fundraising picnic. "I voted for Donald Trump in the past but I won't this time," Cleveland said. "Trump was a brilliant businessman who didn't know how government worked." "DeSantis, on the other hand, knows his way around government," he continued. "Plus DeSantis has good things to say about education, immigration and the economy, which are my top issues." In addition, Cleveland likes that DeSantis came from a modest background. "You can never forget where you came from and that's been the downfall for many politicians," Cleveland said. "They fall in love with power as opposed to doing what's good for the people who put them into office." This is true for national as well as statewide politicians. "If politicians want to know what's important to Iowans, listen to their constituents," Cleveland said. "What's really important are kitchen table issues that revolve around raising a family and being able to make a living. That should be the main focus of government." SIOUX CITY Sioux City Parks and Recreation Director Matt Salvatore told the Sioux City Council Monday that Leif Erikson Pool could reopen in the next couple of days with off-duty deputies on the premises. The north side pool has been temporarily closed to the public, after a Thursday physical disturbance, which involved roughly 20 teenagers. The majority of the teens were between 13 and 16, according to police. An 18-year-old female, who was initially targeted by the group, was taken to the hospital for treatment of head injuries, following the melee. "We are opening the pool very soon. I've been working with off-duty deputies to try to get two of them," Salvatore said. Resident Jim Stephenson brought up the topic of reopening the pool, during the meeting. "It's 97 degrees outside today. There's a lot of people counting on the pool to go swim, cool down. Some people don't have air conditioning," he said. "I'm sure this is not the first incidence of trouble at that pool or at any park in Sioux City for that matter." Salvatore said the incident was not an isolated one and that officers have been called to the pool 10 times already this season. Mayor Bob Scott said he isn't in favor of opening the pool until law enforcement officers can be stationed at Leif Erikson. "If you have kids that take a cop down and start kicking him, I take that as a little more than a neighborhood skirmish," he said. "It's unacceptable that any kid would have that much disrespect for our police officers." Sioux City police responded to the incident at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. An 18-year-old female, who was initially targeted by the group, was taken to the hospital for treatment of head injuries, following the melee. The police department said in a statement that officers had to physically separate those fighting, including taking a juvenile female to the ground. A 13-year-old female and a 16-year-old female were charged and taken to juvenile detention. "Apparently, there were two girls who were the main instigators. They were continuing to do this while the officers were trying to break it up. They got those two out immediately, charged them and took them both to (juvenile detention)," Sioux City Community Policing Sgt. Thomas Gill told The Journal of a 13-year-old and 16-year-old. Charges could be filed against additional juveniles who were involved in the incident. Private pool rentals and swimming lessons are going on as scheduled at Leif Erikson. Riverside and Lewis pools are continuing to operate as normal. Leif Erickson Pool closed until further notice (copy) The city has temporarily closed Leif Erikson public swimming pool due to physical altercations between a group of teenagers. This years Iowa legislative session was massively consequential, criticized by some Iowans and praised by others. The laws passed, from tax cuts to school regulations, will influence the everyday lives of people across the state for years to come. We wanted to know how these actions and others by the state government affect the everyday lives of people across the state. What they like, what they dont like, where they see our leaders falling short and what they think needs more attention. Sloan cornfield The city of Sloan rises behind a cornfield on June 13. We wanted to know how these actions and others by the state government affect the every Sioux City Skyline A portion of the Sioux City skyline is shown June 12 in a photo taken from the Sergeant Floyd Monument. The Journal and other Lee Enterprises This story is part of a larger series involving the Sioux City Journal and other Lee Enterprises newspapers in the Iowa cities of Council Bluffs, Davenport, Mason City, Muscatine, Waterloo-Cedar Falls. The series, What do Iowans Want? attempts to find out what people across the state think about how the government is working for them. The 25 Iowans profiled represent the broad perspectives in our state. Theyre teachers, artists, retirees and athletes. Theyre Republicans, Democrats and independents. Theyre your neighbors and your friends. Jesse Persons, a special education teacher from Moville, said she worries about public school funding, private school assistance, and how that will impact teacher recruitment: "I worry, do we still have or will we still have highly qualified teachers in Iowa?" she said. Forest Dillavou, of Waterloo, likes the direction the state is headed, and he said Gov. Kim Reynolds is helping return the state to more traditional, and more conservative, roots: Iowa was at one point considered in the Bible Belt, and I think we have drifted a long way to the left, he said. The stories will focus on who the people are, what challenges they face daily and how government affects their lives. The entire project will publish online June 29 at siouxcityjournal.com and all other Lee sites. The first time most hip-hop fans heard Michael Render, better known as Killer Mike, was on Snappin & Trappin, the sixth track of OutKasts 2000 multiplatinum masterpiece Stankonia. Mike took the first verse of the song and ended it with the bold proclamation One mothafuckin verse and already its a classic, a line he believed so fervently that he said it twice. It wasnt totally true20 years later his delivery and flow still sound a bit callow, and an array of late-90s influences are prominently on his sleeve: Biggie-style mafioso storytelling, horrorcore shock-rap, and, of course, a healthy dose of the darkly intoxicating, capacious Dirty South school of music that would soon be known to the larger world as trap. Advertisement It was an auspicious debut, if not one that obviously foreshadowed what would become one of the more unusual and unexpected musical careers of the 21st century. On Friday, Killer Mike released Michael, his first solo album in 11 years, a period in which the now-48-year-old rapper has unexpectedly risen to superstardom. Michael feels like Killer Mikes most personal work to date (he has described it himself as such), a work that touches on his childhood, his family, his religion, his career, and, of course, his beloved Atlanta, with startling depth and warmth. It is, in a lot of ways, the sort of album we should hope for from a mid-career artist, a work of introspection and subtly daring exploration, a work of real musical adventurism that never feels driven by midlife-crisis trend-chasing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Michael is executive-produced by the incomparable No I.D., who lately seems to be the producer of choice for rappers in their late 40s making introspective turns. (Jay-Z was about the same age when he and the Chicago producer made 4:44.) Many of the albums tracks are shot through with the lush, 60s and 70s soul trappings that No I.D.s beats have long been renowned for: The albums opening track, Down By Law, features CeeLo Green and unmistakably evokes mid-1960s Curtis Mayfield. But Michaels most prominent, inescapable musical influence is the Black gospel tradition. The sounds of church are everywhere on Michaelcascading piano runs, whirling B3 organs, soaring choirs. Motherless, which features Eryn Allen Kane and builds from the 19th-century spiritual Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child, is a poignant tribute to Mikes late mother and grandmother, who died in 2017 and 2012, respectively. The albums last track, High & Holy, features Ty Dolla Sign crooning, Blowin smoke up at the heaven, count my blessings, trying to find atonement, while Mike reflects on salvation: My brothers in the fire and to save hims my desire/ Our ambitions often cold, conspire to go higher/ God bless those that confess and God damn the liars. Advertisement Advertisement Michael foregrounds the remarkable influence of Southern sacred music on Atlanta trap, an influence that has always been there for those willing to listen, but that can too easily be overlooked by overly literal appraisals of a genre named after houses used for drug-dealing. (Zaytoven and London on da Track are just two A-list trap producers who cut their musical teeth playing piano in church.) Other Atlanta musical luminaries abound on Michael: Featured artists include Young Thug, Future, Jagged Edge, and 2 Chainz. Advertisement The resistance to pigeonholing that can provoke frustration in his political activism is what often makes him so thrilling as a rapper. And theres Andre 3000 popping up on Scientists & Engineers, the only guest MC here whos been an ATL fixture for longer than Killer Mike himself, and one half of the duo that first introduced him to the world. After that first verse on Snappin & Trappin, Killer Mike became a regular on OutKast records and a member of the vaunted Dungeon Family, popping up on the terrific 2001 OutKast single The Whole World and a pair of tracks on 2003s double-album mega-blockbuster, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. That same year saw the release of Mikes own solo debut, Monster, an album that reached No. 10 on the Billboard 200 and featured the single A.D.I.D.A.S. featuring Big Boi and Sleepy Brown, which peaked at No. 60 on the Hot 100. (It is still Killer Mikes biggest chart hit to date.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the early 2000s, Killer Mike was in ascendance, but then a strange thing happened. During a decade that saw Atlanta hip-hop soar to unprecedented heights of influence and commercial success, and that saw trap stalwarts like T.I., Young Jeezy, and Gucci Mane become megastars, Killer Mikes career stalled. He never stopped making music, much of which was great, but he found himself increasingly pigeonholed as an underground artist, albeit one operating out of what was the hottest city and scene in American music. It was a weird case of being in the right place at the right time and still somehow not being able to catch a break. Advertisement During those years, Mikes music also became more overtly political, taking swipes at figures like George W. Bush and Sarah Palin and railing against poverty, greed, racism, and all manner of exploitation. In 2011, Jason DeMarco, an executive at Adult Swim and an esteemed (and well-connected) hip-hop fanatic, introduced Mike to rapper and producer Jaime Meline, better known as El-P, the onetime founding member of Company Flow, the owner and CEO of the influential underground label Definitive Jux, and generally a living legend of New York underground hip-hop. The pair hit it off, and El-P came on to produce Killer Mikes 2012 album R.A.P. Music. The collaboration was a revelation: El-P had long been one of the most experimental and fearless producers in rap, and the combination of his angular, left-of-center beats with Killer Mikes booming, impassioned rhymes seemed to unlock something dormant for both artists. R.A.P. Musics most striking track was Reagan, a ferocious screed against the late former president that ends on the climactic couplet Ill leave you with four words/ Im glad Reagans dead. Advertisement Related from Slate Luke Winkie Theres Something Odd Going On in Bathrooms at Taylor Swifts Eras Tour Read More R.A.P. Music was a startling album, something simultaneously new and classic in its urgency and its clarity of conscience. In 2012, much of mainstream rap was perpetually woozy from sprawling, glittering blockbusters like Watch the Throne and Take Care. These records were great in their ways, but they werent out there dazzlingly connecting dots from the IranContra scandal to the War on Drugs to the prison-industrial complex. R.A.P. Music was the sort of album that people talked about excitedly and obsessively, not because it was some inescapable pop-cultural monolith but because they wanted other people to go listen to it. It became one of the sleeper hits of the year, finishing at No. 8 on the Village Voices annual Pazz & Jop critics poll and giving Killer Mike his biggest commercial success since Monster. Advertisement Advertisement The following year, El-P and Killer Mike teamed up again, this time as the newly christened duo Run the Jewels. Run the Jewels self-titled debut was released in the summer of 2013 to rave reviews, cresting off the buzz that R.A.P. Music had begun to build. Run the Jewels 2 arrived in 2014, 3 in 2016, then RTJ4 in 2020. Run the Jewels made explosive, uncompromising music: Their records often sounded like the definition of not for everyone, a designation they practically wore on their sleeve. It was remarkable, then, that by the mid-2010s, Run the Jewels had become huge, selling out arenas, headlining festivals, and topping album charts and year-end lists. (Run the Jewels has offered every one of their albums for free as a digital download while also making them for sale in physical form.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Like many artist-activists who define themselves by their outspoken independent streak, Killer Mikes politics can sometimes be messy. Hes a fervent Bernie Sanders supporter as well as a Second Amendment absolutist whos spoken warmly about Georgias Republican governor, Brian Kemp; hes a man whose music seethes with rebellion but who angered some by seemingly running cover for Atlantas political establishment during the protests in the spring of 2020. His lyrics can sometimes trade in retrograde homophobia and misogyny (on Michael, he comes after critics who talk that woke-ass shit, suggesting they hang together on some Brokeback shit), and he can be defensive when questioned about these tendencies. (This terrific recent interview by Vultures Craig Jenkins is a clear-eyed examination of Killer Mikes myriad complexities.) Advertisement Killer Mike isnt a politician, of coursehes a musician, and the resistance to pigeonholing that can provoke frustration in the former arena is what often makes him so thrilling in the latter. Michael reminds us that, Jewels or no Jewels, Killer Mike is a bona fide star, a man who spent years tirelessly making music on his own terms until the world was finally ready to come to him. With its lush production, its earworm hooks, and its frequent moments of almost stately beauty, Michael actually feels like the most commercially accessible work Killer Mike has made in years, though not in a way that ever feels compromised. Its less provocation than rumination, a work of self-examination that never feels self-involved. Its a worthy new chapter in one of modern musics most unique careers, another reinvention from an artist whos incapable of being anyone but himself. John Goodman has a "righteous" physique. On Sunday, in conjunction with the premiere of the third season of his hit HBO series 'The Righteous Gemstones,' the 70-year-old actor flaunted his weight loss on the red carpet of the 62nd Monte-Carlo Television Festival. Goodman began his fitness journey in 2007 when he was at one of his heaviest weights; since then, he has lost more than 200 pounds. John Goodman Shows Off Dramatic Slim-Down Goodman, who once weighed 392 pounds, appeared fit as he walked the red carpet at the festival where he served as the jury president. He displayed his remarkable physique in a tailored suit jacket, beige pants, and a yellow tie. Per NY Post, Goodman's weight loss journey began in 2007 when he quit drinking, but his personal trainer Mackie Shilstone assisted him in going even further. The 'Roseanne' star was introduced to a "Mediterranean-style eating plan" that emphasizes quality sourcing and filling your plate with nutrient-rich whole foods and grains, with an emphasis on fresh produce; lean protein, such as fish and chicken; and, of course, anti-oxidant-rich olive oil. In addition, he exercises six days per week, taking between 10,000 and 12,000 steps per day on an elliptical bicycle and a treadmill. The actor has always been candid about his passion for food and the ups and downs he's encountered. Goodman told People magazine in 2010: "It takes a lot of creative energy to sit on your arse and figure out what you're going to eat next. I desired to live a better life." In 2016, he shared some of his habits with ABC, saying, "I'd grab a handful of food and immediately put it in my mouth. I was only eating constantly. I was just drunkenly eating." Read Also: Report: Hunter Biden Helps Burisima Execs To Create Account With 'Corrupt' Foreign Bank Goodman's Battle With Alcoholism In 2007, the 70-year-old Flintstones actor vowed to completely transform his life and adopt a healthy lifestyle, and it appears he's been sticking to his word. Many were surprised by John Goodman's initial weight loss, as they were accustomed to seeing him in films such as 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' and 'The Big Lebowski.' Goodman has also been open about his battle with alcoholism; in 2007, he achieved recovery after 30 years of battling the addiction. Regarding his reasoning, he stated, "I just got tired, sick and tired of looking at myself. You're shaving in the mirror and you don't want to look at yourself. It gets dangerous." Related Article: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry Won't Receive $20 Million in Spotify Deal, Podcast Set To Be Axed @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In April, Richard North Pattersonauthor of 16 New York Times bestsellerspublished an essay in the Wall Street Journal about his difficulties finding a publisher for his first novel in nine years. The book, Trial, tells the story of a Black teenager charged with the murder of a white sheriffs deputy in rural Georgia, and the efforts of his mother, a prominent voting rights activist, to prove his innocence. According to Patterson, the novel was rejected by roughly 20 imprints of major New York publishers thanks to a new ideology of identity authorshipliterary apartheiddictating that white authors should not attempt to write from the perspective of nonwhite characters or about societal problems that affect minorities. Advertisement To judge by the many irate comments this essay prompted, and the response to similar controversies in the past, this idea really ticks people off. Skeptics have been known to point out that Dickens didnt have to be French to write A Tale of Two Cities, and to offer up such reductio ad absurdum scenarios as a world in which only farmers would be allowed to write novels about farmers, etc. Of course, no one is actually arguing that writers should depict only people of their own ethnicity. Most of the controversies over this issue have arisen in a case-by-case manner, with critics making specific claims about individual titles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The best-known individual title to fall prey to one of these controversies was Jeanine Cummins 2020 novel American Dirt. Around the time the book was published to great fanfare, Mexican American critics complained that Cummins had produced a version of the migrant experience that rang false; that Cummins publisher, Flatiron Books, had attempted to pass her off as having a stronger personal and ethnic connection to that experience than she actually has; and that the marketing of the book was tasteless. There was a subtler issue of the storys framing as well. Aspects of Cummins novel seem engineered to make the protagonist easy to identify with for the middle-class women who buy most of the hardcover fiction in the U.S.; the main character is a bookstore owner fleeing Mexico City to the States with her small son after a drug cartel retaliates against her journalist husband by massacring the rest of their family. Fast-paced and dramatic, the novel has many of the essential qualities of commercial fiction, but Flatiron got carried away and attempted to position it as, in the words of publisher Bob Miller, a novel that defined the migrant experience. Had Flatiron just published it as your basic romantic thriller, American Dirt might have been able to fly to the bestseller lists under the radar of highbrow literary observers. But these grander claims attracted critics who objected to its pretensions to authenticity. Advertisement Its worth pointing out that although media workers consider the American Dirt affair a spectacular blowup, Ive yet to meet anyone outside the industry whos even heard about the controversy, and that includes many enthusiastic readers of the novel, which did in fact become a smash hit, selling more than 3 million copies worldwide. Arguably, the number of potential book buyers who care about whether the ethnicity of an author matches the ethnicity of their characters is vanishingly small. Even if Trial stirred up a fuss on Twitter, its unlikely anyone in the market for a Richard North Patterson thriller would notice it, let alone find it a reason to pass up the book. But the people who work in book publishing are part of the media, and many, including Patterson, believe that what happened to American Dirt and a handful of other books has publishers spooked. Advertisement Advertisement Since his previous novel, Eden in Winter, was published in 2014, Patterson has concentrated on writing columns and essays on politics and social issues. But even back in his bestselling heyday, his novels were known for their attention to such issues as gun control, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and human rights in Africa. Patterson prides himself on the thoroughness with which he researches these topics, and long before sensitivity readers became de rigueur, he was passing his manuscript for 2013s Loss of Innocence to such famous feminists as Gloria Steinem and Carol Gilligan, to make sure hed properly handled such matters as abortion and rape. So what was it exactly that scared the big publishers away from Pattersons new novel? The author found a smaller publisher happy to bring Trial to press, so its now possible to read it and consider this question. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trial begins with 18-year-old Malcolm Hill being pulled over at night by a leeringly racist deputy who makes it clear hes about to abuse the kid or worse. Malcolm has been carrying a gun in his car because of the threats he and his mother, Allie, have received for their voter registration work. The two struggle over the gun, the deputy is killed, and Malcolm is arrested. Allie calls her college sweetheart, a Kennedyesque congressman named Chase Bancroft Brevard, to come help. Given that theres no father in the picture for Malcolm, its crystal clear to the reader why she wants Chase involved, despite having walked out on him after graduation while concealing a big secret. Trial slowly builds to the event in its title, a process interrupted by a long flashback to Chase and Allies Harvard years. Slate receives a commission when you purchase items using the links on this page. Thank you for your support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This novel is just as intensively researched as Pattersons previous books, and, boy, do you see that research on every page. Patterson, by his own account, interviewed over 50 people, including many Black Georgians immersed in the problems of race: voting-rights activists, politically engaged ministers, community leaders, civil-rights and defense attorneys, politicians, law enforcement officers and ordinary citizens. I would not be surprised if many of them are directly quoted in the books dialogue. And ideologically, theres not much here that Twitter could fault Patterson for. Trial mostly consists of Black characters lecturing the appropriately humble and attentive Chase on everything from insurance redlining and tokenism to voter suppression and the agonies that Black mothers feel about the safety of their sons. Their statements, and the novels manifest endorsement of them, are exactly on point according to current liberal/left thinking on these issues. Chase, a former prosecutor, joins as co-counsel, but the lions share of glory goes to the Black attorney Allie brings in to defend Malcolm, so Patterson steers clear of the dreaded accusation that hes crafted a white savior narrative. If you believe that the role of a novel is to comprehensively instruct its readers on the correct moral position to adopt on political, social, and identity issuesand a lot of people do seem to take this viewthen Trial is a nonpareil specimen of the novelists art. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related from Slate Debbie Nathan What I Found When I Went Through Cormac McCarthys Trash Read More Does this make Trial authentic? Im not in a position to verify how accurately Patterson depicts Malcolm as he drives down a dark Georgia back road, with Killer Mike rapping on his sound system, rapping an anthem to resisting the police. But the novels Black characters do feel one-dimensional to me, noble sufferers and crusaders whose only flaws are the flashes of impatience they feel at the stubborn injustice of their lotif that can even be called a flaw. Heres the rub, though: Pattersons white characters also strike me as flat. All of Pattersons characters are flat. Unlike real people, they all say exactly what they think, feel, and mean in fully formed paragraphs. This comes with the territory in many popular thrillers, in which everyone is broken down into camps representing either Good or Evil, and characters possess, at most, one or two personality traits that fix them as specific types. Advertisement Advertisement In Pattersons defense, once Malcolms trial finally begins, the novel picks up, and the gambits and maneuvers of the lawyers and judge generate a good amount of suspense. But that doesnt happen until two-thirds of the way through the book, and what comes before is a soap-operatic slog laden with tendentious speeches about American race relations. For a reader whos thought with any depth about these issues, none of it will be anything you disagree withbut also, none of it will be anything you havent heard many times before. Advertisement Patterson aims to do something worthy here, to foster more empathy in white Americans for the toll that racism exacts from Black Americans. Hes clearly worked hard to understand as best he can what dealing with this feels like to Black people, which is more or less what racial justice activists are always urging white allies to do. Maybe some readers will find that these complex ideas still have dimension, even when delivered by cartoon characters. Maybe an extremely basic legal thriller by an established, bestselling white author is a good way to introduce structural racism to a white audience, if theres one out there that hasnt encountered the concept before. Maybe. Advertisement But none of that is enough to make Trial a good novelby which I mean a novel I can ever imagine enjoying. This isnt to say that Trial couldnt sell. I find the characters in John Grishams novels boringly generic as well, and Grisham reliably moves millions of books. But its difficult for me to criticize book editors who, faced with a bland, preachy thriller by a once-famous author, turned it down, no matter how elevated its intentions. In his Wall Street Journal essay, Patterson assures us that many of the editors who rejected Trial told him that they found the novel impressive and opined that it evoked my best work. It was only his race, he says, that prevented them from accepting the manuscript. I wonder, though, if they might not have been passing the buck, as editors have been known to do. Perhaps its easier to blame the scolds of social media and the junior staff than it is to tell a onetime ace that hes lost his fastball just as his comeback attempt has begun. How to Do It is Slates sex advice column. Have a question? Send it to Stoya and Rich here. Its anonymous! Dear How to Do It, Im a 24-year-old woman from Austin, Texas, and I recently stumbled across this cool job - becoming a sex toy reviewer. According to the job post I found, they want all their reviewers to show their faces in the reviews. They seem to think it makes things more authentic and relatable, I guess. Im pretty open-minded and I think this job could be fun, educational, and maybe even a little empowering. But Im kinda stuck on the whole showing my face part. Right now, Id be okay with people knowing what I do and I feel like this could be a good way to help normalize conversations about sex. But then, I start thinking about the future and I cant help but worry. What if I decide to switch careers later? What if I end up regretting this decision? I mean, its not just about future jobs, but also about how people might see me differently. What do you think? Should I let my worries hold me back from trying this out? Is there any way to kind of future-proof this decision? And how can I balance my current confidence with the possibility of future regrets? Advertisement An Austin Gal Dear Austin Gal, A few years ago, I would have wondered what you were worried about. Werent so many of us naked in public? Wasnt the world on a path to acceptance of sexuality and sex work as legitimate professions? Today, I say dont do it unless this field is absolutely a passion for you. Advertisement Theres no way to future-proof this decision. Between the way that the internet functions as a copy machinemaking it impossible to fully wipe photosand the rapid increases in AI technology, it seems likely (not possible, likely) that employers will be doing a search of candidates faces one day. These pictures would surface if that happened. And they may bite you in the butt. Advertisement Jobs you might want later arent the real concern though. Its infrastructure. Stuff like your ability to have a bank account somewhere other than one that was tanked by the Silicon Valley fiascosomewhere more stable. Its about the fact that we have no idea what kind of bigotry will be allowed in the future because people who work with sex arent a protected class. My former colleagues and I often have a hard time renting apartments, maintaining bank accounts, using dating apps, using PayPal, having social media accounts regardless of the content posted, and engaging with other basic facets of modern life. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With all the wild laws being passed in the U.S., and the Supreme Court voting the way it has been, I think its time for all of us to batten down the hatches. Weve seen the idea of a constant path toward tolerance debunked. If your neck (and actual, literal face) isnt already stuck out there, think about how important it is to stick it out there right now. This gig is something you describe as something youd be trying out, not as a passion or a calling. Id advise that you keep looking for less sexual jobs. Help us keep giving the advice you crave every week. Sign up for Slate Plus now. Advertisement Dear How to Do It, So Im having a hysterectomy this summer. Im mid-40s, Ive got some giant fibroids, there are no plans for children, so its time for the uterus to go. But I really like the way sex feels and dont want to lose any of my much-beloved nerve endings! My surgeon has said its entirely up to me whether I want to keep my cervix. Part of me says no, its ridiculous to have a cervix without a uterus. Part of me says yes, the farther the surgeon stays from my vagina the more likely I am to keep on having my usual orgasms. Any chance you can hook me up with some reliable information about sexual satisfaction post partial and full hysterectomy to help me keep the hookups with my boyfriend as good as they are now? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yeet the Uterus, Save the Cervix? Dear Yeet the Uterus, Ah, the plight of people with internal genitalia, relegated to doing our own research. I reached out to an anonymous gynecologist (and friend of the column!) for some insight. He sent over several papers, from Cochrane and the National Library of Medicine. This one compares several partial and total hysterectomy side effects, short and long-term, including sexual function. This paper takes a look at different risks and different methods of hysterectomy (the ways they get into the body and get the parts out) and includes some discussion of sexual function after the fact. This meta review addresses sexual function. And lastly, heres this study looking at quality of life for Canadian women post-hysterectomy. Advertisement That should be enough to get you started in your research, and help you get your footing. Do ask your doctorif you can trust them to operate you should be able to trust them to give you advice on this. Consider a second opinion. Meanwhile, your hookups will likely change, and your relationship to your body may as well. Better and worse may be connotations youre tempted to put there, but you dont need to do qualitative judgment so much as accept that life brings changes and bodies change. You can do the same things we all do when our bodies change, which is to experiment and find out what feels good now. Look for acts and spots that may feel better than they once did. Appreciate the inherent novelty of being a human who is alive. And give yourself space to say goodbye to who you were yesterday. I think youve got this. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dear How to Do It, Im a 42-year-old woman married for almost 18 years to a 43-year-old man. Weve never had a really active sex life due in part to my vaginismus diagnosis and a low drive on his part. However, I was almost always able to climax with clitoral stimulation. I delivered our second child eight weeks ago and have been cleared by my doctor to resume all activities. My husband and I havent tried anything together yet, but during my few solo sessions, Ive noticed something unusual. I know Im having an orgasm, but I cant feel the rhythmic muscle contractions that make sex so good. Its nice, but certainly not the waves of pleasure Im used to. Is this just a matter of time and patience, waiting until I heal more and regain muscle tone? Or could there possibly be nerve damage? Online articles seem to focus on a lack of orgasm entirely, not loss of sensation. Will I continue to be disappointed or is there a way to make sex satisfying again? Advertisement Advertisement Not Feeling It Dear Not Feeling It, This isnt the kind of situation that can be understood based on a letter, so my advice is to see a specific kind of medical professional. Friend of the column and sexological bodyworker Sylvie Bee once told me that she believes everyone recently postpartum should see a pelvic floor therapist. Yepshe didnt say a sexological bodyworker, like herself, she said a pelvic floor therapist. The pelvic floor people can help you with questions like whether you have nerve damage, whether your muscle tone is returning as expected and whether theres anything you can do to speed that up, and whether anything else might be contributing to your loss of sensation. You may be referred to a sexological bodyworkerand Bee told me that responsible sexological bodyworkers will ask what your pelvic floor therapist said, so its best to do this in proper order. Advertisement Advertisement Much like the writer above, who will be going through physical changes, youve been through some changes, too. Your body is different now, so the responses are different. Try to focus on what is satisfying now, and what might feel better, over trying to replicate what used to work. Do your best to think of this as a re-exploration rather than a return. Stoya More Advice From Slate My boyfriend is, uh, huge. Long and thick as my wrist. We go slow and use lots of lube, but my vagina has a tendency to get really tight when Im close to coming (and Ill be close for like 10 minutes before it happens) and it leaves us both quite sorethough because of endorphins, I tend not to feel the pain until the next day. Secretary of State Antony Blinkens weekend trip to Beijing wasnt expected to produce anything specific, and it didnt. However, it did alter the general tone of U.S.-China relations, which could set the stage for many improvements soon. Most important, it sparked the resumption of diplomacy, of high-level officials on both sides talkingholding candid, substantive, and constructive discussions (as the official read-out put it) about how they might pursue their common interests and prevent their acknowledged disputes from erupting into conflict. That alone is better than staying home and someday watching tensions and misunderstandings uncontrollably escalate into war. Advertisement It was not inevitable that things would go this way. Blinken didnt know until shortly before it happened that Chinese President Xi Jinping would meet with him at all (this was after he spent a total of eight hours talking with Foreign Minister Qin Gang and the Chinese Communist Partys top diplomat, Wang Yi), or that, when he held his right hand out while walking toward him, Xi would shake it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That alone affirmed what had been suggested at National Security Adviser Jake Sullivans meeting in May with Wangthat Xi, no less than President Joe Biden, was keen to calm things down. Not, however, at the expense of compromising fundamental interests. Wang and Qin made clear to Blinken that they will not tolerate interference in Chinas domestic politics or steps toward treating Taiwan as an independent state. On these issues, they said, Chinas stance is non-negotiable (suggesting, perhaps, that on other issues, it might not be so immovable). Blinken made equally clear to them that the U.S. needs to see China back off its military aggression in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea and conform more with rules-based (i.e., Western) trade practices. He also said the U.S. does recognize the One China principlemeaning it does not view Taiwan as independentthough U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, as well as some of Bidens public statements, no doubt make Xi and others suspicious. Advertisement There is still a great deal of mistrust in this relationship, much of it well justified. Talking about it doesnt necessarily change that. However, talking doesor at least couldprevent this mistrust from sliding into the paranoia of believing ones worst-case scenarios are coming true. Related from Slate Fred Kaplan Some Good News About the U.S. Relationship With China Read More As was hoped at its outset, the Blinken trip, such as it was, will now lead to further meetings on trade (attended by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen), global warming (with Presidential Climate Envoy John Kerry), and other issues. It is also hopedand now fairly well expectedthat Biden and Xi will meet, in a side meeting, at the Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) this fall. The only dim sign from Blinkens meeting was Beijings continued refusal to resume a routine diplomatic channel between the U.S. and Chinese military leaders. Perhaps the persistent rebuffing is related to the fact that Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu has been under U.S. sanctions since 2018. Li was the militarys procurement chief at the time and was sanctioned for buying arms from Russia. He was elevated to defense minister just this past March. China has not engaged in arms deals with Russia since Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine. One test of good faith in this new re-engagement with China might be for Biden to lift the sanctions on Li and see what happens. It really no longer makes much sense. Advertisement Advertisement Biden might feel politically constrained on this point. Anti-China sentiment is so fierce on Capitol Hill, within both parties, in the House and the Senate, that Blinken was assailed by many for going to China at all. This fiercenessone of the few bipartisan sentiments in Congressis daffy as a general proposition (diplomacy doesnt always mean appeasement) and particularly misplaced when it comes to this particular trip. Advertisement Advertisement As David Ignatius noted last week in the Washington Post, Blinkens trip to Beijing was only the most prominent of a three-part diplomatic push in Asia. On June 15, Jake Sullivan and Japans top foreign-policy officials held two meetings in Tokyoone with their counterparts from South Korea, the other from the Philippines. On June 22, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet with Biden at the White House. U.S. relations with Japan, South Korea, India, and the Philippines all have at their core a common interest in deterring Chinese expansion. The meetings led by Sullivan and Biden were timed in a way to signal to Xiand to assure U.S alliesthat re-engaging Beijing does not mean relaxing our security commitments. Before Blinken left on his trip, Biden said he hoped for a thaw in U.S.-China relations. Thats what has begun now and what is likely to evolve over the next several months. It is happening because both Biden and Xi thinkcorrectlythat its in both countries interests. It does not mean the dawning of an era of peace and love, and they know that too. It is meant, less ambitiously but more vitally, to block the mindless treadmill to war. Thats what makes diplomacy so important. This is part of Opinionpalooza, Slates coverage of the major decisions from the Supreme Court this June. Were working to change the way the media covers the Supreme Court. Sign up for the pop-up newsletter to receive our latest updates, and support our work when you join Slate Plus. Theres a through line thats more like an oil pipeline connecting the Troubles that currently beset former President Donald Trump and the Troubles currently plaguing the conservative supermajority at the U.S. Supreme Court. In both cases, acts of naked corruption and likely illegality were hidden from sight and covered up, and in both cases, the highest ranking public officials who had abundant opportunity to fix their earlier mistakes opted not to. As a result, both defenders of Trumps unlawful retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and defenders of Clarence Thomas refusal to disclose lavish gifts now find themselves making cruddy, self-refuting arguments about how powerful people dont have to follow the law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its not a good look. And it may be starting to affect the way other rule-of-law Republicans behave. Because how much, really, are regular peoplewho do have to follow the lawexpected to tolerate the idea that law is for the littlest people? Harlan Crows gifts to Thomasmultimillion-dollar travel and school tuition fees and rent-free housing for his familyhave surely affected public confidence and interest in the Supreme Court this year. There is no longer a lick of doubt that the billionaires, and also the millionaires, paying to play at the highest court in the land are seeing their contributions pay off. The drip-drip-drip of judicial misconduct, teamed with the persistent efforts to hide it, has also forced defenders of the rule of lawnotably Chief Justice John Robertsinto making embarrassing claims about vague separation of powers and judicial independence concerns, and the ways in which the court should be immune from scrutiny, untouched by regulation, and far above having to explain itself for either of the above. Advertisement By precisely the same token, Donald Trump has now been charged with multiple felonies, not because he hoarded classified documents after he left the White House, but because, given ample, multiple opportunities to correct for that fact, he conspired both to hide the documents and to lie about it, rather than simply return them. To the extent that its never the crime but the cover-up, what Trump and his defenders still cant provide a reasonable answer for is why he didnt just comply with the requests to give back what hed taken. As Ryan Goodman put it this week, the sole explanation for Trumps hanging on to the papers seems to be some version of the preschoolers defiant mine, mine, mine. And so, instead of mounting a defense of Donald Trumps decision to keep highly classified papers that were never his in the first instance, his staunchest and silliest defenders are forced to advance arguments about all the ways he can do whatever he wants, because having once been president apparently now means that one is king forever. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The through line, again, is that goofy monarchic arguments advanced to defend either sitting Supreme Court justices or criminally indicted former presidents are rarely persuasive. The first way to justify misconduct is always deflection. Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn thus mounted a vigorous (I guess?) defense of Thomas acceptance of lavish gifts and failure to disclose them in a tweet in which he wrote: The left is furious it lost control of the Supreme Court, and it wants it back by whatever means possible. The latest effort is a smear on Justice Thomas. Mike Pence offered the same justification. This is no different than the weaponized deep state defenses animating his GOP rivals current defenses of Trump. The theory is that it doesnt matter what your guy did. What matters is that theres a cabal of evildoers that seeks to take him out, and also, what about what THEYRE doing, and pursuant to that theory, nobody on your team can ever break the law. Sure, its maximalist, certainly its incoherent, but it makes for a hell of a Fox News chyron. Advertisement But the really rich arguments transcend witch hunt and smear and seek to make structural legal assertions about separation of powers that are apparently meant to ensure lavish lifestyles for the powerful, while sounding as if they could be found in a law review. Versions of that argument include Justice Antonin Scalias infamous claim that he didnt need to recuse himself from a case involving Dick Cheney, despite the fact that hed gone duck hunting with Dick Cheney, because if it is reasonable to think that a Supreme Court Justice can be bought so cheap, the Nation is in deeper trouble than I had imagined. Which is not an argument. Or, per Scalia, that because Chief Justice John Marshall had attended dinner parties given by President John Quincy Adams or because Justice Byron White took a ski trip with Bobby Kennedy in 1963, there was no problem with socializing with the famous litigants before them. As applied to Thomas and Crow, the corresponding argument is that justices should be allowed to have wealthy friends who pour money into reshaping the court and the Constitution because, well, everyone should be allowed to have friends. Also, its hardly a coincidence that Thomas wealthy friends pour money into reshaping the court and the Constitution because that is what makes them such awesome friends in the first instance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Similarly, the bulk of what we are seeing as legal claims for Donald Trumps purported innocence, setting aside the deep state witch-hunt stuff and free-floating whataboutism, are argumentsdeeply dangerous onesthat would hold that presidents may keep and retain classified agency documents for as long as they want, to be used however they want, because, well, they are the president, or they once were. Claims about wholesale mind-based declassification, distortions about the Presidential Records Act: So much of this stuff is undergirded by absolute and untenable theories of lifelong uncheckable presidential power. These are not, to be sure, theories that would attach to President Biden, who is deemed a tyrant every time he brushes his teeth. But the general legal theory at this point seems to hold that Trump is the president among presidents, and can do whatever he likes. Advertisement Its the breadth of these monarchic claims that has started to spook serious Republicans, both in the context of the court and in the context of national intelligence and national security. They are finding themselves weirdly aligned, all of a sudden, with critics who believe that the whole purpose of the experiment with democracy was to throw off claims that its basically good to be king. Andrew McCarthy at the National Review, Alan Dershowitz, Bill Barr, and other non-Lego-character-based attorneys are tiptoeing away from that kind of analysis with respect to the former president. And I cant help but wonder whether some of the justices on the high court, who might otherwise have been reliable votes for curbing the Voting Rights Act last week or limiting the reach of the Indian Child Welfare Act this week, are similarly backing away from some of the most sweeping claims about how, if youre a justice, they let you do it. Advertisement Advertisement We still have many cases to come down in the next two weeks, and its certainly possible that this brief period of SCOTUS moderation will come to an end, soonish, in a spectacular series of 63 decisions tearing down LGBTQ+ rights and affirmative action, and creating uncheckable state legislative powers. (If youre a legislature, they let you do it.) Its also possible that something is leading some of this six-member conservative supermajority to blink, and although polling numbers in the wake of Dobbs explain part of that, one has to wonder whether there is something in the behavior of Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas that is scaring their colleagues back to the reasonable center. My guess is, if thats the case, its the profoundly unbecoming claims from those particular jurists about their immunity from scrutiny, from criticism, and from the rules themselves that are scaring off their colleagues who hope to serve for several more decades. I mean, its one thing when your colleagues are accepting lavish gifts and insulting the free press. Its quite another when all that is discovered and publicized and, in response, they start to make claims about being above the rules of the road. I have no creditable explanation for why the #YOLO court, as characterized last year by professor Leah Litman, seems suddenly inclined to want to live for more than just today. The loss of public trust is indisputably a part of it. But grandiose defenses of limitless judicial supremacy may be another. Its early days. But if we are seeing bad ethical behavior by the justices starting to shape the opinions of their fellow justices, it may be the case that last summers rumors of an uncheckable juristocracy were premature. The 90s are back: Were wearing claw clips, jelly sandals, andaccording to some corners of TikTokslathering on Avon bath oil in an attempt to keep our skin free of bug bites. The exact product is known as Skin So Soft, and despite being made literally for the bath, it has been thought to be a solid mosquito repellent for decades. In 1982, a group of researchers at the Letterman Army Institute of Research in San Francisco wrote about the use case for Mosquito News. They had learned via person-to-person channels that the Avon product was widely used as a mosquito repellent (rough translation: the rumor mill says everyones doing it). They werent the only ones. Advertisement We get this a lot, this has been going on forever, Susan Small, a public relations manager for Avon, told me, adding that the company makes no claim that the bath oil repels bugs. But the idea that it does has been so persistent over the years that Avon eventually capitalized on the situation and launched a line of Skin So Soft Bug Guard products containing picaridin. I find it all very charming, says Small of the enduring Skin So Soft/mosquito chatter. Hey, its brand exposure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I will tell you right now: You will not be getting a charming anecdote in this piece about this writer replacing her bug spray with bath oilgive me DEET forever. But despite this factand Avons protestsdata shows that Skin So Soft can ward off mosquitoes. At least, to some extent. Advertisement The Army Institute researchers tried out Skin So Soft by putting it on the arms of three (presumably deranged) volunteers, fastening cages of mosquitos to their arms, and then counting how often the mosquitos bit the treated skin. They found that it did protect against mosquitos, though not as well as DEET. Others have since come to a similar conclusion. Consumer Reports has put the bath oil to the test against other bug repellents, in both 1993 and more recently, finding that it provided about 2 hours of protection against mosquitos. That would put it among the worst-performing insect repellents we tested: The products we recommend generally protect for upward of 5 or 6 hours, CR reporter Catherine Roberts wrote. Advertisement Still! Two hours of protection is a surprising amount for a seemingly random household product. It doesnt totally not work, said Roberts, laughing, when I called her to discuss. She updated CRs coverage of Skin So Soft bath oil this spring, after her partner noticed it continued to be recommended on message boards as a good product to take camping. She does not recommend this. That is an instance where you need your bug repellent to last for several hours, says Roberts. Its not going to cut it. Advertisement But in the shorter term, it can make a difference. Immo Hansen, a professor of biology at New Mexico State University, similarly found that it worked pretty well for half an hour to two hours at repelling mosquitosthe bugs were placed in a tube, and had the option to fly toward volunteersas he and his team reported in a 2015 paper in the Journal of Insect Science. (Pretty well as compared to a control scenario where the volunteers wore nothing on their skin.) Weirdly, Victorias Secret Bombshell perfume, which Hansens team had tested because they thought it might attract mosquitos, outperformed Skin So Soft bath oil, though DEET outperformed both the perfume and the oil. Not all studies have found that Skin So Soft works even passably well. A 2002 New England Journal of Medicine paper reported that Skin So Soft protected volunteers who put their arms into a cage of unfed mosquitos for a paltry 9.6 minutes. Advertisement Advertisement Its probably something in the Skin So Soft bath oil fragrance thats putting off the bugs, says Hansen, who published a paper in January 2023 comparing the effectiveness of various essential oils against mosquitoes. After all, mosquitoes find us by smelling the carbon dioxide we breathe out, and the breakdown of sweat on our skin. Bug repellents attach to their smell receptors, and interfere with that processand voila, they leave us alone. Its not clear what component of Skin So Soft bath oil is doing the trick, though further study could identify it. Hansen says that kind of chemical analysis might be frowned upon by the makers of Avon, who probably want to keep their best-selling formula under wraps. Its also worth keeping in mind that the exact formula for the fragrances in a bath oil can shift without Avon changing the label, so the effectiveness of Skin So Soft against bugs may even change over the years. Your mileage will also probably vary based on how attracted mosquitos are to you in the first place. The best thing to use against bugs is undoubtedly something containing picaridin, or DEET, which is what Hansen personally uses. But he keeps studying other options because, even though its safe, people just dont like DEET; it smells bad, it sounds scary. Which is probably why Skin So Soft bath oil has endured as a hack for so many years. I asked Hansen for the bottom lineif it was OK to use it. As long as youre not headed somewhere where youre at risk of catching malaria, he replied, Yeah, why not? Rick Francis is the Clerk of Court in Southampton County. He also is a descendant of the family that owned Nat Turner. He is keeper of the history of both his family and the county. He is holding Nat Turner's sword which is kept by the Historical Society. Struggles, resilience and the pursuit of hope amidst war are part of many Ukrainians daily lives. Alex, 15-year-old from Cherkasy, Ukraine. He had to flee the dangers of the war together with his mother and his younger brother. (Source: UNICEF/UN0687440/Raica) Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share Share Twitter Facebook Whatsapp E-mail Link to the page This is the second World Refugee Day away from Ukraine for many children and adolescents who have fled the war to Slovakia and across Europe. More than 15 months of displacement, destruction, worries about loved ones, uncertainty and struggles. And the recent events in Ukraine demonstrate that the situation there remains uncertain and volatile, but in neighbouring countries, for many Ukrainians, displacement is no longer a temporary feature. In UNICEF and in the humanitarian sector we talk a lot about needs. When I was in Ukraine during the first months of the war, much of the needs we dealt with were basic: children needed food, water, warm clothes and shelter. In Slovakia, 481 days after the first air raid sirens were heard over Kyiv, needs are very different from what they were when Ukrainians first arrived. Many Ukrainian children have attended online school not only since February 2022, but for over three years (since the pandemic first took hold of our lives). They are not only missing out on learning, but they are desperate to be together with their friends again. Many adolescents also go through a very hard time they tell us they feel very isolated and cannot find peace or connection with others. And adults also struggle the mom of a child with a disability, for instance, is dependent on cash assistance because caring for her child means she cannot get a job. The need to rebuild your life Many readers of this blog will be familiar with this sentiment. Recall the moment you arrived in a foreign country far from your home, family, and your normal way of life, unable to communicate in the local language, it's easy to feel adrift. Over time, we strive to integrate by finding a stable place to live, establishing friendships, and pursuing activities we enjoy. However, many Ukrainians still face struggles. In UNICEF, we understand that supporting children and adolescents entails more than just providing food and coordinating therapy sessions with psychologists. Sometimes, children simply need distractions from their traumatic experiences, opportunities for social interaction, and, most importantly, the chance to make friends including Slovak friends. Ultimately, the key to inclusion lies in connecting with others. This is why we support community centers, dance classes, sports, and events filled with games and enjoyable activities. And some are branching out into new or rediscovered hobbies. A few months ago, we collaborated with Ukrainian teenagers to stage a theater play for International Women's Day. Seeing them on stage, channeling the horrors they lived through so powerfully and beautifully, was incredibly moving. The need to fulfil your potential A couple of weeks ago in Presov, we encountered a young Ukrainian actress who currently works as a hairdresser in a theater. While she holds a job, she asserts that her true calling is to be on stage. This story captures something incredibly important: the need to fulfil your potential and to pursue your dreams, no matter your situation. Ukrainian children, adolescents, young people and even adults dont need to be told what they need and to be happy with it once the need is addressed. They need the opportunity to express their needs. And it is our responsibility to listen and do our best to support their aspirations. The need for hope The destruction of the Kakhovka dam is the latest of a series of horrendous events in this war. We hear so often about 15-year-olds that are unable to cope because they spend their whole days watching the news in an effort to understand who among their loved ones is in danger. The children of Ukraine need to find solace, they need to be able to rebuild their lives and fulfil their potential to get a glimpse of normality back in their lives, but true normality will not come until war still rages in Ukraine. Above all else, the children of Ukraine need peace. Read a selection of short positive stories from Slovakia. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share Share Twitter Facebook Whatsapp E-mail Link to the page Every week The Slovak Spectator brings you a selection of three short stories from across Slovakia in which pessimism and negativity are absent. 1) We have a lot to learn from our elders Helena Ruczova recently turned 104. (Source: RTVS ) Helena Ruczova from Galanta, one of the oldest inhabitants of Slovakia, has lived through significant events such as the first Czechoslovak Republic, the Slovak State, and World War II. On her 104th birthday, she invited the Slovak television staff to celebrate with her. Helena worked throughout her life, even managing a large hotel chain in her seventies. She believes that having goals is crucial for staying alive at 104 years old. Additionally, she enjoys indulging in long sleep until at least 11:00 a.m., some ice cream, whipped cream, and occasionally a good cognac. Ruczova also mentioned her love for tasty dishes like pork cabbage dumplings and Vienna schnitzel. Read more in Slovak. 2) Donate blood and you donate life Awards received by the siblings. (Source: FN AGEL Skalica) Donating blood is a rare and noble act of voluntary assistance. Jana Valachovicova, the head nurse of the oncology department at Faculty Hospital AGEL Skalica, and her brother Marian Valachovic, are inspiring individuals who exemplify selfless help to others. Their dedication extends not only to working with patients battling a formidable illness, but also to their commitment to blood donation. Together, they have already donated blood and platelets an astonishing 155 times. Despite not seeking recognition for her efforts, Valachovicova was honoured on World Blood Donour Day with a prestigious Slovak plaque for her 31 blood donations. However, she doesn't intend to stop there. Her goal is to inspire others to donate, recognising the perpetual need for donors and life-saving blood. Read more in Slovak. 3) Purpose is more important than status Works by Miriam Funova. (Source: majolikamodra.sk) After spending 20 years in the corporate world, Miriam Funova became a well-known figure in the financial sector. However, she made a significant change in her life by relocating from Bratislava to Modra. In Modra, she embraced a new mission: to revive the struggling production of famous Modra pottery products (majolika). Initially, Funova sought investors to help save the brand, but eventually, she and her husband made the decision to personally rescue the Modra pottery tradition. Funova's parents had always encouraged her to pursue her passions. Despite winning the title of the best amateur painter in a Slovak competition during high school, she found herself drawn more towards mathematics and literature. This inclination led her to study economics. After completing her education, she landed a job at a bank, gradually ascending to a top management position in one of Slovakia's largest banks, as she revealed in an interview with Madam EVA magazine. Read more in Slovak. Here's more good news stories published by The Slovak Spectator Bratislava event aims to raise awareness of plight of 35 million displaced. Government picks towns for two new hospitals. Vietnamese people officially recognised as national minority in Slovakia. Boats were again launched on Strbske Pleso Lake after the winter break. Hrusov Castle is coming to life again. FUNNY MEME FOR THIS WEEK Children's tea party Translation: When TA3 are moving out and they only have furniture from the children's corner remaining. Recently, the former prime minister of Slovakia, Peter Pellegrini, gave a pre-election interview to the Slovak TV news channel TA3. As tSlovaks write, they were not interested in the content of the broadcast, but the two tables that attracted attention and added a special charm to the interview. Such a poor "assortment" in furniture is caused by the relocation of TA3 to the new TOWER 5 building, where the new headquarters will be. You can send me your tips on positive news stories about Slovakia or funny memes at: yehor.zhukov@spectator.sk. Thank you! Storm and heat warnings will be in place on Wednesday, a picnic to go to, and good news from Slovakia. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share Share Twitter Facebook Whatsapp E-mail Link to the page Good evening. Here is the Tuesday, June 20 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes. President Caputova will not run for office in 2024 President Zuzana Caputova announces that she will not run for office again on June 20, 2023 at the Presidential Palace in Bratislava. (Source: TASR - Pavol Zachar) President Zuzana Caputova announced on Tuesday that she would not run for president again in the next year's presidential election. "I am sorry if I disappoint those who have expected my candidacy again," she said. The president added that she greatly appreciated the trust people had in her. However, not letting them down means doing this work with full commitment and strength, she noted. "Otherwise, it could happen that the presidency will serve me and not me the presidency and the country," the president said. Caputova became Slovakia's fifth president, and the country's first female president, in 2019. In the past four years, she had to deal with four different governments, verbal attacks and several crises, including the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Quote: "The fate of Slovakia does not depend on one person. " (Z. C., June 20, 2023) INTERVIEW How president's decision not to run again was born President Zuzana Caputova and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg meet in Bratislava on June 6, 2023. (Source: TASR) "I consider it very important to be honest with myself and with people. I based my campaign and the entire performance of my mandate on that. If I didn't stick to that honesty, I would be going against what I built my relationship with the public on," President Zuzana Caputova says in an interview with the Sme daily. In the interview, she explains why she does not want to run for president for the second time. More stories from The Slovak Spectator website Archaeology: Several finds were discovered during the archaeological research in the Barat Kut area near Rimavska Sobota. Several finds were discovered during the archaeological research in the Barat Kut area near Rimavska Sobota. Culture: If you do not know the ingredients for a longer life, this 104-year-old Slovak woman will give you a piece of advice. If you do not know the ingredients for a longer life, this 104-year-old Slovak woman will give you a piece of advice. Opinion: The children of Ukraine need to find solace, they need to be able to rebuild their lives and fulfil their potential to get a glimpse of normality back in their lives, but true normality will not come until war still rages in Ukraine, writes UNICEF's Michaela Bauer. If you like what we are doing and want to support good journalism, buy our online subscription with no ads and a print copy of The Slovak Spectator sent to your home in Slovakia. Thank you. EVENT FOR SATURDAY A picnic in Modra video //www.youtube.com/embed/kqFCTHCC5Rk Modra, a wine-making town near Bratislava, will host another edition of its period picnic on June 24. Put on some vintage clothes, take a picnic basket, deckchairs, blankets and come to the Otcenaska meadow in the Modra-Harmonia resort. Start: 13:00 Venue: Otcenaska, Modra-Harmonia In other news The public broadcaster RTVS will receive a state contribution of 0.17 percent of GDP following a bill adopted by MPs on Tuesday. The new financing model is related to the abolition of licence fees, which will be abolished from July. following a bill adopted by MPs on Tuesday. The new financing model is related to the abolition of licence fees, which will be abolished from July. Slovak society needs a fundamental change, according to 69 percent of respondents to the "How are you, Slovakia?" survey . At the same time, 63 percent of respondents call for reforms and investments. In particular, the country should modernise health care (68 percent), education (42 percent) and the use of renewable resources (31 percent). (TASR) . At the same time, 63 percent of respondents call for reforms and investments. In particular, the country should modernise health care (68 percent), education (42 percent) and the use of renewable resources (31 percent). (TASR) A register of hiking trails will not be established in Slovakia after MPs did not approve a bill on hiking trails on Tuesday. The bill was supposed to regulate hiking trails, their markings, as well as offences. An old Hungarian burial ground from the 10th century on the territory of the future Valaliky Strategic Park, where archaeologists discovered more than 260 graves on June 20, 2023 in Valaliky, near Kosice. (Source: TASR) WEATHER FOR WEDNESDAY: Some clouds. Showers and storms in some places. Very hot and sultry weather! The highest daytime temperature will rise to 34C. Yellow storm and heat warnings will be in place across Slovakia from Wednesday afternoon. (SHMU) Thank you for subscribing and reading. It means a lot to us. P.S. If you have suggestions on how our news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk. Follow The Slovak Spectator on Facebook, Instagram (@slovakspectator) and Twitter (@slovakspectator). Authorities resumed search efforts to find actor Julia Sands several months after he went missing while hiking. According to ABC News, search efforts to find British actor Julian Sands have been reignited after five long and agonizing months. Julia Sands Search Resumes, San Bernardino Sheriffs Confirm The talented actor vanished without a trace, leaving fans and loved ones concerned about his well-being. Now, authorities and dedicated search teams are ramping up their efforts, determined to shed light on the mysterious disappearance and bring Sands back to safety. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed that search operations have resumed in full force. In a press release, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department says they "continued ongoing search efforts in the Mount Baldy wilderness for missing hiker Julian Sands." As Variety reports, a search team, which includes 80 search and rescue volunteers and deputies, and staff, are combing through rugged terrains, dense forests, and even urban areas in their relentless pursuit to find the actor. However, to their dismay, the Sheriff's office says they failed to find him. On top of that, the authorities disclosed that their search efforts involved two helicopters and a drone crew, which flew above the remote areas of Mount Baldy in hopes of locating the actor. The drones helped the search efforts by giving a bird's eye view of areas that are impossible for volunteers to comb through. Variety notes that the 'Warlock' actor has prior experience in hiking before climbing Mount Baldy. However, due to the extreme weather conditions in the area last winter, Sands went missing. Read Also: 'Rick and Morty' to Recast All Justin Roiland Roles for Season 7, Adult Swim Confirms Actor Went Missing in California The 'A Room With a View' star went missing last January in the Mount Baldy Bowl area. The Hollywood Reporter reports the 60-year-old actor reportedly vanished last January 13 at around 7:30 pm, the authorities disclosed. He disappeared amid the extreme weather in the San Gabriel Mountains, where it was snowy and icy, and strong winds also hurled toward the high terrain. The Sheriff's Department describes the conditions in the mountains as "adverse and extremely dangerous." After nearly five months of intensive search, the actor is still nowhere to be seen. The Sheriff's department says they have taken charge of at least eight searches since he went missing in early 2023. Only now, some portions of Mount Baldy are still covered in ice and snow, making it impossible for the search volunteers to go through the steep terrains. But despite that, the authorities are still looking for the actor and experienced hiker. However, officials confirm that their search operations will continue, albeit in a limited capacity. Related Article: LOOK: John Goodman Shocks Fans With Incredible 200 Lbs Weight Loss @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Equator Coffees has been a staple in the Bay Area coffee scene since all the way back in 1995. But it wasnt for nearly another two decades, in 2013, that the brand opened their first cafe. But now, that Mill Valley outpost known as the Proof Lab turns 10 years old, and Equator has lined up a host of special activities to commemorate it. More than just a cafe, the opening of Proof Lab represented something much larger for the brand, and in fact, in a press release, Equator co-founder and executive chair Helen Russell describes it was what launched the second generation of Equator. Proof Lab took Equator from a roasting company to a cafe/roastery that today has nine locations up and down California (with a 10th opening later this month in Los Angeless Fairfax District). To celebrate the 10th anniversary of that seismic shift, Equator has teamed up with artist Fisher Monahan to illustrate all four Marin locationsLarkspur, Sausalito, Mill Valley, and of course Proof Labwith the latter taking center stage in Equator red. The design will be available on 12oz mugs for $20, enamel pins for $7, and stickers for free (while supplies last) at all four locations. As a Proof Lab exclusive, Equator will be releasing a limited edition Celebration Cake Latte that will only be available between Thursday, June 22nd and Sunday, June 25th. And because June is also Pride Month, Equator is collaborating with Mikes Bikes to host the Tour dEquator: Pride Ride. Taking place Sunday, June 25th, the Pride Ride will kick off at Proof Lab, heading up to the top of Mount Tamalpais, before concluding at Equators Sausalito cafe, where participants will be treated to free paninis and drinks. Free to all, Pride Ride attendees are asked to join Equator in donating to the LGBT Asylum Project, which the brand is raising money for through their Cup for a Cause initiative as well as via the sale of their Pride Tiger pins. Its 10 years worth of festivities, all crammed into a single month. For more information, visit Equator Coffees 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. All media vai Equator Coffees https://sputnikglobe.com/20230619/biden-us-china-relations-on-right-trail-after-blinken-visit-to-beijing-1111308245.html Biden: US-China Relations on 'Right Trail' After Blinken Visit to Beijing Biden: US-China Relations on 'Right Trail' After Blinken Visit to Beijing President Joe Biden said the relationship between the US and China is on the "right trail" after Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing and spoke with Chinese leaders, according to the White House press pool. 2023-06-19T23:32+0000 2023-06-19T23:32+0000 2023-06-19T23:32+0000 world antony blinken joe biden beijing china taiwan white house asia-pacific region /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/06/13/1111272571_0:0:3071:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_d6fd5e0e32828702b5778f76d2450ed5.jpg "He did a hell of a job," Biden said on Monday. "We're on the right trail here." The US president said he has been receiving updates of Blinken's meeting with Chinese leaders through White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Over the weekend, Blinken made a long-awaited trip to Beijing to meet with senior Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping, in an attempt to improve relations that had spiraled to new lows over a number of issues, including a possible confrontation over Taiwan. Although Blinken described the talks as constructive, he noted China did not agree to restore military-to-military channels for managing crisis communications. The US government has enraged Beijing by repeatedly sending military aid to Taiwan. Beijing opposes any official contacts of foreign states with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island to be indisputable. Blinken reiterated during his trip that the United States does not support the independence of Taiwan, but voiced concerns to China about its alleged proactive actions. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230619/limited-progress-from-xi-blinken-talks-but-core-us-china-issues-likely-beyond-compromise-1111300783.html beijing china taiwan 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 antony blinken, joe biden, secretary of state antony blinken, white house press pool, china, us-china relations https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/act-of-desperation-possible-ukrainian-attack-on-crimea-could-rapidly-spin-out-of-control-1111334557.html Act of Desperation: Possible Ukrainian Attack on Crimea Could Rapidly Spin Out of Control Act of Desperation: Possible Ukrainian Attack on Crimea Could Rapidly Spin Out of Control Sputnik spoke on Tuesday with two veterans of the US foreign policy apparatus about Shoigus report, why Kiev might resort to such actions, and what the Western response is likely to be. 2023-06-20T16:53+0000 2023-06-20T16:53+0000 2023-06-20T16:53+0000 analysis crimea larry johnson earl rasmussen high mobility artillery rocket system (himars) storm shadow cruise missile /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/03/1e/1094315873_0:50:960:590_1920x0_80_0_0_a54a0c0a9376ba508be0d2daf18fc2bd.jpg Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu warned that Ukraine may attempt to use Western-supplied Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles and longer-range HIMARS ground-based rockets to strike Russian facilities in Crimea.His warning came at a meeting of the collegium of the Russian Ministry of Defense on Tuesday.Sputnik spoke with two veterans of the US foreign policy apparatus about Shoigus report, why Kiev might resort to such actions, and what the Western response is likely to be. They said Western approval was implied by having helped Kiev plan its counteroffensive and that NATO powers are likely to dismiss Moscow's warnings as bluster, despite evidence to the contrary. In the end, such a strike will only make a full-blown Russia-NATO war more likely.Desperate Kiev Trying to Provoke MoscowEarl Rasmussen, an international consultant and retired US Army lieutenant colonel, compared such a potential attack to other actions of desperation by Ukraine outside the scope of the conventional military conflict in Donbass.Rasmussen suggested a threat against Crimea would be aimed at trying to instill fear of some type in the Russian population and pressure Moscow to withdraw its forces.But also obviously, it's for a public relations perspective as well. I think they're trying to demonstrate some type of success or positive - from their perspective positive - prior to the NATO meetings coming up in a couple of weeks, he noted.Meanwhile, Larry Johnson, a retired CIA intelligence officer and former US State Department official, similarly described Ukraines position as a situation of great desperation and characterized such a potentially audacious strike as an attempt to bring NATO into the conflict directly.NATOs Approval Implied by SuppliesRasmussen said that the United States would not openly approve of Ukraine using Western weaponry to attack Crimea, but noted that its tacit approval was implied by Washingtons position that Crimea is still a part of Ukraine and that the 2014 declaration of independence and subsequent referendum on being rejoined to the Russian Federation were not legitimate.He further noted that Ukraine will need to get closer to hit Crimea directly. Perhaps through two defense lines. [It is] doubtful they will be able to but [they] may try.Rasmussen likewise noted that the West should have realized by now that both Russia and China do not bluff and that Moscow will follow through on its threat to strike decision-making centers in Ukraine in the event of a Storm Shadow or HIMARS missile strike outside the special operation zone.They may be cautious and they're not completely destructive like the NATO countries are when they go into countries unprovoked, like Libya, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Iraq, but they are deliberate. And so they should take caution that, yes, those decision-making centers will be hit, he said.Rapidly Spin Out of ControlIt's interesting that Shoigu said in Ukraine. So he's trying to limit, I think, Putin and Shoigu are trying to not to escalate this to a direct NATO confrontation, but Ill tell you, the NATO countries do seem to be almost trying to provoke that type of an action, indirectly, so they can say that they didn't do it. So I think decision-making centers inside Ukraine are fair game and if they're not realizing this and understanding what this is going to do, I don't know what world they're living in, Rasmussen said.Rasmussen noted that US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland admitted in congressional testimony that the US has been actively assisting Ukraine in planning the counteroffensive for several months. That, however, doesnt mean that Russia would strike a NATO country, although it is definitely an escalation.I think primarily the UK and the US are the ones driving this. There's disagreement, I think, within several members on the NATO side and caution. So I don't think they've got full support in the background. But right now they don't need that. They can continue to have Ukraine as the sacrificial lamb, as a proxy there, Rasmussen said.For his part, Johnson warned that the risk of escalation is very severe.Johnson predicted Ukraines Western sponsors would ignore Shoigus words and dismiss it as more bombast from Russia.They've been using these missiles all along anyway. They've been trying to target Crimea all along over the past at least six-seven months. And I know that Russia's air defense has been effective in defeating the attempted launches, Johnson said, adding that this may indicate that Shoigu has some intelligence indicating that Ukraine is planning to do something that it has not done in the past.And then [came] the ensuing civil war in the Donbass and the continued attacks on civilians that were tolerated and not condemned by the West, the former State Department official explained. And then on top of that, with the actions that the United States in particular has taken by deploying its troops to Romania and Poland and deploying missile batteries that could potentially carry nuclear weapons.I think, if Russia was doing those kinds of things to the United States on the borders of the United States, let's say in Mexico and Canada, the United States would view it as an act of war. So I think Russia's reactions are entirely understandable, he pointed out. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230613/why-cant-western-weapons-save-day-for-ukraines-counteroffensive-1111121503.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230619/kiev-politically-pushed-by-nato-to-launch-counteroffensive-despite-being-unprepared-1111302819.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230526/russian-air-defense-intercepted-grom-missile-10-himars-and-2-storm-shadow-lrm-1110606136.html crimea Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Fantine Gardinier Fantine Gardinier 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 Fantine Gardinier himars; storm shadow; crimea; shoigu; ukraine; russia https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/child-of-privilege-hunter-biden-dodges-stiffer-charges-despite-admitting-to-serious-crimes-1111343610.html Child of Privilege: Hunter Biden Dodges Stiffer Charges Despite Admitting to Serious Crimes Child of Privilege: Hunter Biden Dodges Stiffer Charges Despite Admitting to Serious Crimes The US Department of Justice announced it had filed charges against Hunter Biden, an international businessman and the son of US President Joe Biden, related to refusing to pay income tax and illegal possession of a firearm. 2023-06-20T18:30+0000 2023-06-20T18:30+0000 2023-06-20T18:30+0000 analysis hunter biden fbi doj al capone firearm offense joe biden bribery tax evasion /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/04/16/1109760166_0:23:2402:1374_1920x0_80_0_0_5d50539d78ca638ed8a957ecbe91fd5c.jpg Biden has entered a plea deal on the charges, which could put him in jail for up to 15 years. However, experts told Sputnik that the prodigal son admitted to far worse crimes that those he is being tried for, but that the DoJ is refusing to file them against him.Marc Little, a conservative political commentator and executive director of CURE America Action, suggested that perhaps the DoJ is attempting to rehabilitate its zero credibility before their unprecedented political trial against former President Donald Trump begins.Hunters now-alleged involvement in international bribery and corruption will be ignored while the DoJ wages war on the current presidents political opponent, he said.Tyler Nixon, a political analyst and attorney for Donald Trumps former campaign adviser Roger Stone compared the situation to that of Al Capone, who was ultimately jailed on tax evasion charges despite his widely known history of ordering hits on rival gangsters.Frankly, this is [a] disgrace for the justice system, Nixon told Sputnik. It doesn't surprise me at all.The tax charges are used to get someone who was involved in a massive corruption off lightly. I've known Hunter Biden for pretty much since I was a young man, when we were children. It is sad to see that he was then involved in such corruption and frankly, just selling [his] country out to some of the worst actors around the world. This is just kind of a negotiated slap on the wrist. And it leaves off the table all of the most serious crimes involving money laundering, involving influence peddling, involving the sale of his father's office and capitalizing on what I consider borderline treason, he said.'They've Softballed This'Nixon said Hunter Biden escaped much stiffer gun charges that have landed others in prison for many years because he's a child of privilege.I don't think he should be treated differently by the system, either more harshly or less harshly based on what he's done. However, the whole thing is the epitome of hypocrisy. His father is the biggest, probably the most virulent drug warrior still alive, who escalated the penalties for drug possession and all sorts of drug offenses in the 1980s and 90s and even into the early 2000s, to a point that thousands, hundreds of thousands, if not even approaching millions of Americans had their lives destroyed for mere possession of different sorts of controlled substances, thanks to Joe Biden.I mean, Hunter Biden wrote it in his autobiography about this. I guess, some sort of woman in Washington - we don't know if it's a real person or if it was just sort of a literary device - but basically how he spent all this time with this woman in the depths of cocaine use and crack cocaine use. And yet he walks away scot-free. People are rotting in prison to this day for these offenses, and he gets nothing. It's not even addressed, simply only in the context of a gun charge. And similarly, you can bet that no one would be able to negotiate this type of deal, this type of kid-glove treatment, if they were just an inner-city Black person who was involved in any sort of firearms offense that was related to drugs. They would never receive this type of treatment.No Chance DoJ Will Implicate POTUSNixon noted that, when it comes to his business activities, federal prosecutors have had more than half a decade to investigate a mountain of evidence brought forth, including by his former business partner, Tony Bobulinski. Instead, the DoJ under Attorney General Merrick Garland has become a Praetorian guard, a protectorate for the Biden family, he said.We have plenty of evidence that has been uncovered in terms of millions of dollars in wire transfers to Biden family members - inexplicably, no business explanation, no valid explanation other than just raw payoffs by foreign nations and foreign actors. None of this is being pursued in any manner whatsoever by anyone within the Department of Justice or in the FBI. Quite the opposite, in fact: they're actively suppressing it, covering up. And the media similarly doesn't have anything to say about it. The corporate media, I should say, certainly in alternative media, he noted.But even if they did bring it, I guarantee you that Joe Biden would issue a blanket pardon to his son. He may still do so, just to cover the bases before whenever he leaves office, Nixon said.GOP Has Limited OptionsThat said, when it comes to the Republican lawmakers in Congress, Nixon said they have limited options because it would require the impeachment of US President Joe Biden, for which the GOP lacks the political temerity.But here's the thing: ultimately, the Democrats are about abusing process and abusing power and the spectacle. I would think that even the Republicans I disagree with in the House realize that no matter what they bring in terms of if they were to impeach, bring articles of impeachment, they would be voted out of the House. And there was to be a trial in the Senate that requires a two thirds vote to remove a president - its never been done before. And it's just going to be an exercise in futility.It's perilous times for people who believe in justice and equal protection of the laws in America, he concluded. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230613/foreign-national-who-allegedly-bribed-joe-biden-hunter-has-audio-of-their-talks---senator-1111098933.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230602/thousands-of-hunter-bidens-laptop-from-hell-photos-laid-bare-online-1110858805.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230430/criminal-probe-stemming-from-laptop-from-hell-is-no-longer-a-hunter-biden-story-1109999350.html Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Fantine Gardinier Fantine Gardinier 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 Fantine Gardinier hunter biden; charges; tax evasion; burisma; plea deal https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/chinese-german-foreign-ministers-agree-to-maintain-contacts-on-ukraine-1111313883.html Chinese, German Foreign Ministers Agree to Maintain Contacts on Ukraine Chinese, German Foreign Ministers Agree to Maintain Contacts on Ukraine Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, agreed to maintain contacts on the Ukrainian crisis during a phone call, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. 2023-06-20T07:56+0000 2023-06-20T07:56+0000 2023-06-20T07:56+0000 world china germany annalena baerbock qin gang /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/03/07/1108157323_0:171:1463:994_1920x0_80_0_0_f4efb029be8d3f91ec218373decf7224.png Qin told his German counterpart that the foreign ministries of the two countries would continue to play a coordinating role in the bilateral relations, deepen the dialogue on all levels and strengthen coordination in international and regional issues, the statement added. On Sunday, China's Premier Li Qiang started his first foreign visit since he had been elected the head of the government. From June 18-23, Li will visit visit Germany and France at the invitation of these countries. Chinas Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that the visits to Germany and France immediately after Li took office demonstrate the importance of relations China has with these two countries. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230322/xi-presents-ukraine-peace-plan-to-putin-1108663292.html china germany 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 ukrainian crisis, china, chinese diplomacy, annalena baerbock, qin gang https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/czech-satellites-set-for-launch-in-2027-to-hunt-for-resources-in-space-1111336089.html Czech Satellites Set for Launch in 2027 to Hunt for Resources in Space Czech Satellites Set for Launch in 2027 to Hunt for Resources in Space Czech companies plan to launch twin microsatellites into orbit in 2027 to look for valuable resources that humanity will rely on during long space missions, the Czech Academy of Sciences said Tuesday. 2023-06-20T17:08+0000 2023-06-20T17:08+0000 2023-06-20T17:08+0000 world science & tech czech republic satellite space exploration /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/0b/0f/1081173502_0:107:1921:1187_1920x0_80_0_0_05149d7629b386551ef0d56389cf798e.jpg The Slavia mission, which stands for the Space Laboratory for Advanced Variable Instruments and Applications, was announced in 2021. It is led by Brno-based private space firm S.A.B. Aerospace S.r.o. with support from the Czech Transport Ministry and with the Academy's scientific contribution. The Academy said that the technical feasibility study for the project has been completed. If the project is approved, Czech scientists will build laboratory versions of the satellites and the instruments they will carry. The satellites measuring roughly 8in x 8in x 16in will be equipped with a hyperspectral camera used to analyze the composition of near-Earth asteroids, a mass spectrometer that will analyze space dust in the orbit and radio antennas to monitor plasma. Scientists hope that the mission will help map mineral wealth in space, laying the foundations for future mining on asteroids during manned flights to the Moon, Mars and farther into the Solar System. https://sputnikglobe.com/20180612/space-asteroids-mining-1065343942.html czech republic 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 czech republic, cxech satellite, space exploration, microsatellites https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/hungary-serbia-sign-memorandum-on-construction-of-oil-pipeline-1111329219.html Hungary, Serbia Sign Memorandum on Construction of Oil Pipeline Hungary, Serbia Sign Memorandum on Construction of Oil Pipeline The authorities of Hungary and Serbia have signed a memorandum on the construction of an oil pipeline that is expected to be connected with the Druzhba oil pipeline on the Hungarian territory. 2023-06-20T13:16+0000 2023-06-20T13:16+0000 2023-06-20T15:47+0000 economy druzhba pipeline hungary serbia oil pipeline pipelines /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/107820/19/1078201934_0:154:3095:1894_1920x0_80_0_0_6516ea9c22e55ff17e4ae4c3df187b94.jpg The Serbian town of Palic is hosting on Tuesday a meeting of the Strategic Council for Cooperation between Serbia and Hungary, with the top officials of the countries participating in it. The memorandum of understanding on the construction of the oil pipeline was signed by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto and Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic. The countries also signed a document on the creation of a joint venture for trading gas.Later in the day, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said his country has planned for the storage of 560 million cubic meters of gas on its territory and in Hungarian storage facilities for the winter to ensure its energy security."Thanks to our Hungarian friends, there are now no problems. 650 million cubic meters have been reserved in [the underground storage facility] Banatski Dvor in Serbia and Hungary, 560 million cubic meters are in the reserve at the moment. These volumes are immense for Serbia's needs and we are guaranteeing security to people this winter," Vucic said.Russian energy giant Gazprom remains Serbias only natural gas supplier and a major source of pipeline gas for Hungary, an EU member state. Serbia in expected to start importing liquefied natural gas from Greece and transport it northward to Hungary in fall. Azerbaijan also plans to begin pumping gas to the Balkans before the end of the year. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230615/europe-could-face-more-severe-energy-crisis-next-winter--hungarian-fm-1111192668.html hungary serbia 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 druzhba oil pipeline, hungary, serbia, pipeline construction, oil pipeline https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/iceland-suspends-whale-hunting-in-search-of-humane-fishing-methods-1111342272.html Iceland Suspends Whale Hunting in Search of Humane Fishing Methods Iceland Suspends Whale Hunting in Search of Humane Fishing Methods Iceland has suspended the fin whale hunt until the end of the summer, following an assessment by experts who deemed the killing methods employed insufficiently humane, the island nation's government said on Tuesday. 2023-06-20T17:16+0000 2023-06-20T17:16+0000 2023-06-20T17:16+0000 beyond politics iceland whales whaling /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/06/14/1111342109_0:62:2171:1283_1920x0_80_0_0_6fd61e0a130b1e28553867a7b620cb22.jpg "I have decided to suspend all whaling operations in view of the decisive opinion of the Expert Advisory Board on Animal Welfare... In my opinion, the conditions of the Act on Animal Welfare are mandatory. This activity cannot continue in the future if the authorities and the license holders can not ensure the fulfillment of the welfare requirements," Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Svandis Svavarsdottir said in a statement. The report on whaling has been prepared for the ministry by the national Food and Veterinary Authority. The opinion of the expert council was presented to the ministry on Monday. It concluded that the methods used to hunt large whales was violating the Animal Welfare Act, the government said. The decree suspends the whaling season in Iceland until August 31. iceland 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 iceland suspends whaling, whale hunting, whales, nature, welfare requirements https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/imports-of-chinese-cars-to-russia-almost-tripled-in-2023-1111315477.html Chinese Car Imports to Russia Nearly Tripled in 2023 Chinese Car Imports to Russia Nearly Tripled in 2023 Imports of Chinese cars to Russia between January and May almost tripled compared to the same period in 2022, while imports of construction vehicles grew almost eight times. 2023-06-20T09:24+0000 2023-06-20T09:24+0000 2023-06-20T11:07+0000 economy spief 2023 russia china car industry /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/06/14/1111315292_0:176:3017:1873_1920x0_80_0_0_1d1b3be89e487dc7a85ab96c3e317ad3.jpg "Imports of Chinese passenger cars almost tripled, a very significant growth in special vehicles and trucks. Through Zabaikalsk, in five months, our imports of construction vehicles increased by almost eight times in annual terms," he said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). Davydov noted that the growth became possible thanks to the withdrawal of European manufacturers from the Russian market. Chinese Ambassador to Moscow Zhang Hanhui said in an interview with a Russian newspaper in April that in 2022, China exported 162,000 cars to Russia, which is 33.4% more than in 2021, and their share in the Russian market grew from 7% to 19.2%. The SPIEF was held in the Russian city of St. Petersburg from June 14-17. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/russian-imports-nearly-reach-pre-crisis-levels--1111310402.html russia china 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 russia-china relations, car industry, car import, chinese cars, russia-china trade turnover https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/internal-docs-offer-new-details-on-jeffrey-epsteins-ties-to-jpmorgan-chase-1111309645.html Internal Docs Offer New Details on Jeffrey Epsteins Ties to JPMorgan Chase Internal Docs Offer New Details on Jeffrey Epsteins Ties to JPMorgan Chase The report claims to reveal email correspondences between Esptein and Jes Staley. 2023-06-20T04:09+0000 2023-06-20T04:09+0000 2023-06-20T04:08+0000 world america jpmorgan chase jeffrey epstein trial report report trial trial /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/101424/98/1014249890_0:1:600:339_1920x0_80_0_0_6195087d90b48718709e00b265e44f5f.jpg A new report has revealed details surrounding Jeffrey Epsteins ties to JPMorgan Chase, one of the largest banking institutions in the world, and specifically highlighted the financier's ties to former JPMorgan executive Jes Staley.Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges, and died that same year in jail before he was tried in court over sex trafficking charges. The 20-plus internal report was reportedly prepared after news broke of Epsteins arrest in 2019. According to reports based on the USVI lawsuit, Epstein and Staley had close ties and exchanged hundreds of emails before Staley left JPMorgan in 2013 and went on to become the CEO of Barclays. Some of those emails included young women in seductive poses, the report claims.That was fun. Say hi to Snow White, Staley reportedly wrote in a July 2010 email to Epstein. Epstein responded: [W]hat character would you like next? to which Staley replied, Beauty and the Beast.Staley has claimed he was not aware of Epsteins crimes, and ended the friendship before becoming Barclays CEO. The report also noted Esptein offered to help one of Staleys daughters in applying to graduate schools, including Columbia University. The college has claimed there was no meeting between the [school's] president and Staley, nor did the president know Epstein, then or later.The report also reveals ties between Epstein and other people in power, including Dubais Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem and Peter Mandelson, a British politician. Citing the report, US media reported that Epstein then tried to connect both Mandelson and Sulayem to Staley, as well as JPMorgan, for business deals and international expansions.While Sulayem has not responded to requests for comment, Mandelson, a member of the House of Lords, told US media that his connections to Epstein were not a secret and that he very much regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein." https://sputnikglobe.com/20230612/jpmorgan-to-offer-290mln-to-settle-claims-it-benefited-from-jeffrey-epstein---reports-1111092197.html 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 jpmorgan chase, bank, jeffrey epstein, crime, trial, report A contract could be signed in the coming months between Ukraine and Western arms producers to increase the production of weaponry, including drones. Ukraine has been rushing to acquire weaponry such as missiles, rocket launchers, and bombs. Several nations, including the United States, Germany, and Britain, have backed it. Sergiy Boyev, Ukraine's deputy minister for strategic industries, said Kyiv was in discussions with producers from Germany, Italy, France, and eastern Europe about having them produce weapons in Ukraine, according to Reuters. Kyiv Urges More Weapons (Photo : by Roman Pilipey/Getty Images) KYIV, UKRAINE - JUNE 17: People look at displayed weapons and other variety of items left by Russian soldiers in different regions of Ukraine during their invasion, in Mykhailivskyi Square on June 17, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine. In May, Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, stated that his nation was collaborating with BAE Systems, a British defense corporation, to establish a site in Ukraine where tanks and artillery could be manufactured and repaired. Kyiv could more effectively meet its demands while also developing its defense industry to seek international consumers when it is looking to create jobs for Ukrainians if it encouraged foreign defense companies to produce armaments in Ukraine. On Monday, Boyev targeted drone makers at the Paris Airshow, from large international defense companies to tiny suppliers. He wouldn't say which businesses he spoke with. A manufacturing facility in Ukraine would be finished in two years, Turkish defense manufacturer Baykar stated late last year. In the days leading up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Baykar had made plans to construct the facility. Both Moscow's and Kyiv's armies have deployed drones during the conflict. Using drones for surveillance and targeting adversary targets over a wider area is being expanded. Several nations, including Turkey, Norway, and the United States have provided drones to Ukraine, but as the conflict worsens, more is required. The process of negotiating the manufacturing of drones may take longer. Still, it might be a good way to capitalize on Ukraine's current drone competence and generate employment in its western and central regions. An unnamed senior source from the European defense sector claimed that corporations might find it difficult to agree to develop and test drones in Ukraine due to European regulations and requirements. Read Also: Did North Korea Sell Weapons to Russian Mercenary Group for Ukraine War? Ukraine Defense System Ukraine's defense system is a complex and ever-evolving system that includes a variety of weapons, sensors, and command and control systems. It is designed to defend against various threats, including air, ground, and sea attacks. The backbone of Ukraine's defense system is its air defense system. It includes various short-range, medium-range, and long-range air defense systems, such as the S-300, Buk, and Tor systems. These systems are designed to shoot down aircraft, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. A highly trained and motivated military force operates Ukraine's defense system. The United States and other Western countries have provided Ukraine billions of dollars in military aid since the start of the war. This aid has included weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and other equipment. Ukraine's defense system has proven effective in deterring and defeating Russian aggression and inflicting heavy casualties on Russian forces. Related Article: Russia-Ukraine War: Zelensky Declares Kyiv Forces 'Working Toward Victory' as He Returns From US Visit @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/japanese-foreign-minister-starts-europe-visit-on-tuesday-1111313752.html Japanese Foreign Minister Starts Europe Visit on Tuesday Japanese Foreign Minister Starts Europe Visit on Tuesday Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi will begin his official trip to Europe by visiting the United Kingdom on Tuesday. 2023-06-20T07:45+0000 2023-06-20T07:45+0000 2023-06-20T07:45+0000 world japan european union (eu) united kingdom (uk) france chatham house ukrainian crisis diplomacy /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/105318/68/1053186814_0:160:3077:1890_1920x0_80_0_0_9c999af79367fd7bcbe3003d69a99f2c.jpg In London, the top Japanese diplomat will take part in the Ukraine Reconstruction Conference, which is scheduled to take place from Wednesday to Thursday. He will also deliver a speech at the Chatham House, an international affairs think tank, with the address focusing on Japan's diplomacy and the future of the UK-Japan relations. During the European trip scheduled to take place from June 20-24, Hayashi will also visit France. In Paris, the minister will attend a summit for a new global financing pact, which is scheduled to take place from Thursday to Friday. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230616/us-japan-philippines-to-enhance-trilateral-defense-security-capabilities---white-house-1111220317.html japan united kingdom (uk) france 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 japan, uk, france, diplomacy, japanese diplomacy, eu, ukrainian crisis https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/lavrov-holds-presser-after-csto-foreign-ministers-meeting-1111315599.html Lavrov Holds Presser After CSTO Foreign Ministers Meeting Lavrov Holds Presser After CSTO Foreign Ministers Meeting CSTO is a defense alliance created to protect post-Soviet space and includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. 2023-06-20T11:52+0000 2023-06-20T11:52+0000 2023-06-20T11:52+0000 world russia csto collective security treaty organization (csto) csto rapid reaction force /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/06/06/1110943927_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_f4c48757ec8afde591f675e3fc2e62c3.jpg Sputnik is live from Minsk, where Russian top diplomat Sergey Lavrov gives a press conference after a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). It is expected that sensitive issues including the Ukrainian crisis and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh will be discussed at the gathering. Russia's foreign minister and his CSTO counterparts will also meet with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.Follow Sputnik's live feed to learn more! russia 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 Lavrov Holds Presser After CSTO Foreign Ministers Meeting Lavrov Holds Presser After CSTO Foreign Ministers Meeting 2023-06-20T11:52+0000 true PT37M12S 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russia, csto, collective security treaty organization, defense alliance https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/modis-visit-to-us-a-quest-for-economic-advancement-and-independent-diplomacy-1111335513.html Modi's Visit to US: A Quest for Economic Advancement and Independent Diplomacy Modi's Visit to US: A Quest for Economic Advancement and Independent Diplomacy Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will begin his official visit to the United States on June 21 at the invitation of President Joe Biden. High-level discussions are expected to cover bilateral cooperation between the two countries, as well as plurilateral forums such as the G20, the Quad, and the IPEF. 2023-06-20T16:01+0000 2023-06-20T16:01+0000 2023-06-20T17:41+0000 world narendra modi russia china joe biden g20 the united nations (un) us india /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/06/14/1111343100_0:192:2959:1856_1920x0_80_0_0_47b08a874edf5846ed72c34a8def020a.jpg As political analysts and experts discuss the possible outcomes of the upcoming Modi-Biden summit this Thursday, Professor Joe Siracusa, a renowned political scientist and dean of Global Futures at Curtin University in Western Australia, told Sputnik that Washington is unlikely to impose its political will on Modi's India.According to Siracusa, the United States has long sought to twist the arm of India throughout history. Now, the two most pressing issues for the Biden administration include sanctions against Russia over its special military operation in Ukraine and further deepening the security dialogue in response to Chinas increased economic and military power in the Asia-Pacific region.However, India has remained steadfast in its quest to maintain equidistance between global power blocs. Even today, India deftly navigates its relations between Russia and the United States, much as it did between the Soviet Union and the United States in the past.India Has No Interest in Sanctioning RussiaPrime Minister Modi's primary objective during the visit will not be to discuss imposing sanctions on Russia or engaging in geopolitical disagreements between the US and Russia, such as the situation in Ukraine. Instead, Siracusa believes, Modi will seek to secure development funding and expand the narrative of India's progress in the United States.Modi doesn't want to hear about putting sanctions on Russia or the like. He is there to look for development money, to expand the narrative of what he is doing in the United States. He is trying to be a very modern leader, and he doesn't want to be distracted by international relations or American quarrels with Russia over Ukraine or any place else, the political scientist pointed out.In essence, India seeks to maintain a delicate balance and be a significant player in the global power dynamic. It does not seek to align itself exclusively with the United States, as India wants to maintain its independence, forging its own path forward.India's status as a major nuclear power further enhances its ability to chart an independent course. As one of the nine nuclear-armed nations, India marches to its own drummer, relying on its own capabilities rather than on the United States for nuclear deterrence or other security-related matters. Indian troops are not deployed alongside American forces around the world, underscoring India's commitment to preserving its sovereignty.An example of India's assertiveness in pursuing its self-interest was seen during the recent G7 summit, where the United States pressed Modi on the issue of sanctions against Russia. However, Modi promptly dismissed the issue, emphasizing that the focus of the meeting was on economic matters.He said he doesn't want to talk about that. He said, this is not what this meeting is about, it's about economics.Not India's Big BrotherWhile non-Western media has expressed concern that the US may be trying to mold India into a "junior" partner in the Indo-Pacific region, primarily to counter China's growing influence, Siracusa argued that India has consistently pursued its independent path in dealing with China, too.When it comes to China, India does its own thing, he noted.During his visit to Washington, Modi's primary objective remains to advance India's national interests and seek avenues for economic progress. It is unlikely that he will agree with the United States on every issue, as India has its own unique approach to economic prosperity and international engagement.The Indian government has the ability to forge its own trade agreements and relationships with the world, giving it the flexibility to chart its own course. As a result, President Biden is likely to be disappointed if he expects Modi to provide unequivocal support during the visit.As the Indian PM prepares to embark on this crucial visit, the world watches with anticipation to witness the outcome of the Modi-Biden summit. The discussions and interactions between the leaders of these two influential nations will shape the trajectory of their bilateral relationship and have broader implications for global geopolitics.Modis US trip begins in New York, where he will lead the celebration of the International Day of Yoga at the UN headquarters on June 21. On June 22, he will meet President Joe Biden in Washington DC, accompanied by First Lady Jill Biden for a state dinner. Modi will also address the US Congress and a luncheon hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He has also scheduled meetings with top executives of leading companies. https://sputnikglobe.com/20221118/indias-modi-calls-for-global-coordination-against-radicalization-proxy-wars-1104356766.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20221027/indias-trade-with-china-surges-103bln-despite-border-impasses-1102752634.html russia china 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 india, india-us relations, narendra modi, modi visits us, what to expect from modi's visit to us https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/musk-praises-us-entrepreneurs-op-ed-on-ukraines-failing-counteroffensive--1111313588.html Musk Praises US Entrepreneurs Article on Ukraines Failing Counteroffensive Musk Praises US Entrepreneurs Article on Ukraines Failing Counteroffensive In his think piece, David Sacks in particular pointed the finger at US President Joe Biden for perpetuating what the entrepreneur described as a proxy war of choice in Ukraine. 2023-06-20T09:42+0000 2023-06-20T09:42+0000 2023-06-20T09:47+0000 world russia us ukraine elon musk joe biden counter-offensive /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/06/14/1111314052_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_a61c0880ac1ca8fc0e47eb3622b1d127.jpg Elon Musk and presidential precandidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr have agreed with US-based entrepreneur David Sacks's recent article insisting that America is heading towards an outcome similar to Afghanistan in Ukraine, and that Kiev's counteroffensive is failing to achieve its goals.For his part, Robert F. Kennedy Jr noted on his Twitter page: Awaiting White House propaganda offensive sugarcoating this calamity to sustain dwindling support for this misadventure in US.In an apparent nod to the Ukrainian Armed Forces death toll from the conflict, he added that Revelation that UK&US leaders sabotaged April 2022 peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia puts blame for this terrible crime on DC neocons.This followed Sacks arguing in his piece published on Twitter that with each passing day, its becoming clear that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is failing to achieve any of its originally stated objectives.He also recalled that the American public was assured for two decades that the US was winning in Afghanistan and all of that reporting was revealed as a pack of lies when the Afghan army that we were supposedly standing up collapsed within a matter of weeks.Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters during the plenary session of the 2023 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that Kiev had failed to reach any strategic objectives amid its ongoing counteroffensive, losing 186 tanks and 418 armored vehicles to date as the Ukrainian Armed Forces losses continue to mount.The Russian president also mentioned the German-made Leopard 2 tanks that Western countries earlier delivered to Kiev, also referring to the US F-16 fighter jets, due to be supplied to Ukraine. Putin said that the Leopard 2s are burning in the course of Kievs counteroffensive, and that the F-16s will burn too. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230619/kiev-politically-pushed-by-nato-to-launch-counteroffensive-despite-being-unprepared-1111302819.html russia ukraine 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 elon musk's reaction, us entrepreneur remarks about kiev's counteroffensive, ukrainian counteroffensive https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/natos-reluctance-to-freeze-ukraine-conflict-signifies-desire-to-fight---lavrov-1111331980.html Russia Does Not See CSTO as Counterweight to NATO Russia Does Not See CSTO as Counterweight to NATO NATO's position rejecting a frozen conflict scenario in Ukraine means that the alliance would rather have the crisis resolved militarily, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday. 2023-06-20T14:40+0000 2023-06-20T14:40+0000 2023-06-20T18:44+0000 ukrainian crisis russia-nato showdown collective security treaty organization (csto) sergey lavrov us arms for ukraine world nato russia china ukraine /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/06/14/1111342452_0:0:2670:1503_1920x0_80_0_0_0dc2c16b51065cfa8cfd0f27e2b0aea6.jpg Russia does not see the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) as an adversary of NATO and wants the Eurasian bloc to focus on protecting its member states, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday."I do not think that we should remold the CSTO into a bloc that is opposed to anyone. The CSTO has been developing based on the vested security interests of its member states. The CSTO does not seek a leading role in the Eurasian continent," he told reporters.Lavrov also noted that NATO's position on situation in Ukraine means that the alliance would rather have the crisis resolved militarily."If NATO through [Secretary General Jens] Stoltenberg once again declares that they are against what they call 'the freezing of the conflict in Ukraine', it means they want to fight. Well, let them fight, we are ready for it," Lavrov told reporters after a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in Minsk. The top Russian diplomat pointed to multiple statements by Western officials admitting that the Ukraine crisis would long have been over if it were not for the foreign arms supplies and intelligence support to Kiev. These statements amount to admitting that Western countries are waging "hybrid, or even hot, war" against Russia, Lavrov added. Western countries have supplied Ukraine with military aid since the start of hostilities in February 2022. The support evolved from lighter artillery munitions and training in 2022 to heavier weapons, including tanks, later that year and in 2023. An international coalition has been formed recently to provide Ukraine with US-made F-16s, the fighter jets of its choice, and training. Several countries, including the UK, have volunteered to host the training of Ukrainian pilots. Moscow has warned on multiple occasions that by continuing to pour weapons into the conflict, Western countries only escalate it and risk full NATO involvement.Touching upon the issue of the actions of the European Union and the United States in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the top Russian diplomat said that these actions are are aimed at interfering in regional affairs and infringing on Russia's legitimate interests.Moscow is not against other international players' attempts at mediation, the minister said, adding that such initiatives should pursue the goal of ensuring agreements that will reflect the balance of interests of the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples and states.The decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh flared up again in September 2020, marking the worst escalation since the 1990s. Hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered trilateral declaration of ceasefire signed in November 2020. The two former Soviet countries agreed to the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the region. Occasional clashes have since occurred on the border.Speaking about US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Beijing, Sergey Lavrov said that it is an issue that concerns exclusively the US-China relationship.Blinken visited Beijing earlier this week. It was the first visit by a US secretary of state to China since 2018 and the first visit by a member of the US administration since 2019."As for Blinken's visit to China, this is an issue that concerns US-Chinese relations ... We take this as a reality that exists and that reflects, on the one hand, Washington's policy on the Chinese direction and [on the other hand] the principled position of China, which, as you know, advocates that there are no attempts to undermine China's legitimate interests, including in the region immediately adjacent to China," Lavrov told reporters after a ministerial meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Minsk. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230619/kiev-politically-pushed-by-nato-to-launch-counteroffensive-despite-being-unprepared-1111302819.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230426/which-countries-are-sending-weapons-to-ukraine-1109854081.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230614/washington-trying-to-blackmail-armenians-in-karabakh-into-us-brokered-talks-heres-why-1111147719.html russia china ukraine 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 russia special military operation, ukrainian crisis, russia-nato showdown, arms supplies to ukraine https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/norway-to-provide-24-million-for-nuclear-safety-security-in-ukraine---government-1111310808.html Norway to Provide $24 Million for Nuclear Safety, Security in Ukraine - Government Norway to Provide $24 Million for Nuclear Safety, Security in Ukraine - Government Norway will allocate 250 million Norwegian krone ($24 million) for nuclear safety and security in Ukraine, the Norwegian government said in a statement. 2023-06-20T05:14+0000 2023-06-20T05:14+0000 2023-06-20T05:29+0000 world norway ukraine international atomic energy agency (iaea) /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/06/10/1111224717_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_8efe55f8f6b760fc78665237a5624517.jpg "Norway will provide NOK 100 million in support to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This will help to ensure that IAEA experts can maintain a presence in Ukraine... In addition, Norway is increasing its funding for nuclear safety and security cooperation with Ukraine by NOK 150 million," according to the statement. The funding will be administered by the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA), and will be used to reduce the risk of accidents and incidents involving the release of radioactive substances. "IAEA experts provide the international community with independent, credible assessments of the state of nuclear facilities in Ukraine. It is vital for us to have access to this kind of independent information. The IAEA is also providing technical support and assistance to prevent a nuclear accident from occurring, Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said. She said Norway is doing its part to enhance nuclear security. "We will support efforts aimed at enabling the Ukrainian authorities to resume the safe and secure operation of facilities and sites that are directly affected by the hostilities. Repairing infrastructure and restoring regulatory control at the Chernobyl facility will be key priorities," Huitfeldt said. The Ukrainian military continues to regularly shell the city of Energodar and the territory of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant adjacent to the city. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230616/norwegian-military-betting-on-arctic-drones-to-maintain-sovereignty-1111204453.html norway ukraine 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 norway, nuclear safety, ukraine, international atomic energy agency, iaea, energodar, zaporozhye nuclear power plant https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/putin-african-delegation-note-importance-of-russian-grain-supplies-to-africa--kremlin-1111331424.html Putin, African Delegation Note Importance of Russian Grain Supplies to Africa Kremlin Putin, African Delegation Note Importance of Russian Grain Supplies to Africa Kremlin MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a productive conversation with the African delegation, the sides noted the importance of supplies... 20.06.2023, Sputnik International 2023-06-20T15:49+0000 2023-06-20T15:49+0000 2023-06-26T13:46+0000 russia grain supply astana kremlin vladimir putin astana talks astana talks on syria us-china relations china prisoner /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/06/0b/1111061972_0:217:3253:2047_1920x0_80_0_0_a932e887bd1249d3f5206ca52fb73ea7.jpg "The importance of grain deliveries was emphasized [during the talks], but from Russia's point of view, primarily Russian grain to the African continent, to the poorest countries, the importance of continuing these deliveries was really stressed," Peskov told reporters.On Chinese Foreign AffairsThe level of the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership makes us confident that Beijing's efforts to build relations with other nations are not against Moscow, stated Peskov.Our strategic partnership ties with China make us confident that [Beijing's] development of relations with other countries will never be directed against our country, he said, stressing that China has sovereign right to build relations with US.On Military Prisoners Exchange With Kiev RegimeExchanges of military prisoners between Russian and Ukraine is a "delicate" issue that needs to be handled without unnecessary publicity, Kremlin spokesman stated.Earlier in the day, Sputnik obtained a copy of a letter sent by Ukrainian Peace Restoration Center official Alexander Smirnov to prisoner affairs official Dmitry Usov, in which he writes that Kiev has divided its prisoners in Russian custody into several categories according to their exchange priority."I would prefer not to comment on the topic of exchanges. It is quite a delicate issue, a hard and meticulous work which needs to be carried out in silence," Peskov told reporters, when asked what was the Kremlin's opinion on Kiev's approach and whether Moscow had prisoners in its custody whom it would not agree to exchange due to the severity of their crimes.The Ukrainian prisoner classification prioritizes combat-ready soldiers and officers of the nationalist Azov battalion* (banned in Russia), followed by rare military occupational specialties. Regular Ukrainian soldiers with wounds preventing them from continuing service are lowest priority, Smirnov wrote to Usov.In August 2022, the Russian Supreme Court designated Azov as a terrorist organization. According to the Russian Prosecutor General's office, Azov militants use prohibited means and methods of warfare and are complicit in the torture of civilians and killings of children.Astana Meeting on Syria SettlementDmitry Peskov urged the public not to pin too high hopes on a meeting on Syria in Astana, saying that the settlement of the crisis is a very long path.A four-way meeting between the deputy foreign ministers of Russia, Turkiye, Syria and Iran on normalizing relations between Ankara and Damascus is being held in Astana on Tuesday."This is a continuation of the path, a very long path. Of course, one should not pin too high hopes, but the work continues and will continue. Russia keeps adhering to its consistent policy," spokesman said, when asked what the Kremlin expected from the negotiations on the Syrian settlement in Astana.*The Azov battalion is an extremist organization banned in Russia. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230523/china-has-nothing-to-offer-on-possible-high-level-contacts-with-us---embassy--1110548561.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230611/russia-returns-94-soldiers-from-ukrainian-captivity---defense-ministry-1111067698.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230315/twelfth-anniversary-of-war-how-syria-upended-wests-plans-to-nix-statehood-and-isolate-damascus-1108434106.html astana china 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 grain supply, astana, kremlin, vladimir putin, astana talks, astana talks on syria, us-china relations, china, prisoner https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/putin-shows-the-2022-peace-treaty-and-the-media-want-people-to-stop-mentioning-bidens-health-1111308023.html Putin Shows the 2022 Peace Treaty and the Media Want People to Stop Mentioning Biden's Health Putin Shows the 2022 Peace Treaty and the Media Want People to Stop Mentioning Biden's Health On todays episode of The Backstory, host Lee Stranahan discussed current events including Bangladesh applying to join BRICS, and Israel speaking out on Ukraine celebrating Nazi collaborators. 2023-06-20T04:04+0000 2023-06-20T04:04+0000 2023-06-20T10:30+0000 the backstory radio germany pennsylvania i-95 big pharma israel nato china /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/06/13/1111307866_0:0:1920:1080_1920x0_80_0_0_6c870ffa3ec578260c6fdbdd89b84487.png Putin Shows the 2022 Peace Treaty and the Media Want People to Stop Mentioning Biden's Health On todays episode of The Backstory, host Lee Stranahan discussed current events including Bangladesh applying to join BRICS, and Israel speaking out on Ukraine celebrating Nazi collaborators. Sonja Van Den Ende - Independent Journalist, Writer | Ukrainian Refugee Women Turning to Prostitution, Malfunctioning Weapons, Ukrainian Soldiers SurrenderingTed Rall - Political Cartoonist, Syndicated Columnist | Senator Fetterman, RFK Jr's Stance on Israel, and PropagandaIn the first hour, Lee spoke with Sonja Van Den Ende about the peace treaty from 2022, Ukrainian women fleeing to Germany, and the One China policy. Sonja commented on America's stance on Taiwan and how Taiwan will be used against China. Sonja talked about Biden's mental lapses and how the media avoids questions on Joe Biden's health.In the second hour, Lee spoke with Ted Rall about the DC political machine, the past of Senator Robert Byrd, and news apps. Ted talked about the way Twitter has throttled his account and how Ted digests the news through mobile applications. Ted discussed the RFK Jr campaign and the Kennedy family's importance in American history.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. germany pennsylvania i-95 israel china 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 the backstory, biden's health, putin peace treaty, bangladesh to join brics, nazi collaborators in ukraine, ukrainian soldiers surrendering, senator fetterman, rfk jr's stance on israel, america's stance on taiwan https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/qatar-signs-second-long-term-lng-deal-with-china-in-year-1111326254.html Qatar Signs Second Long-Term LNG Deal With China in Year Qatar Signs Second Long-Term LNG Deal With China in Year Qatari state-owned petroleum company QatarEnergy and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) on Tuesday signed the second long-term deal on the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) between the two countries in less than a year. 2023-06-20T11:59+0000 2023-06-20T11:59+0000 2023-06-20T11:59+0000 economy middle east qatar china national petroleum corporation (cnpc) cnpc sinopec lng /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/1a/1092527755_0:82:2917:1723_1920x0_80_0_0_54fc667f84bedbde43b4b50e1ea706ae.jpg The contract provides for the delivery of 4 million tons of LNG to China annually during 27 years, state news agency reported. The signing ceremony took place in Doha, the report said. In November 2022, QatarEnergy signed a similar contract with Chinese state company Sinopec, also for the supply of 4 million tonnes of LNG to China annually during 27 years. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230619/qatar-uae-resume-work-of-diplomatic-missions-from-monday-1111271936.html qatar 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 hydrocarbon economy, lng, qatar, sinopec, cnpc, liquefied natural gas, gas supply https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/russias-economic-activity-approaching-levels-of-late-2021---central-bank-head-1111334309.html Russia's Economic Activity Approaching Levels of Late 2021 - Central Bank Head Russia's Economic Activity Approaching Levels of Late 2021 - Central Bank Head The Russian economy is very close to recovering to the level of activity it had at the end of 2021, Russian Central Bank head Elvira Nabiullina said on Tuesday. 2023-06-20T15:54+0000 2023-06-20T15:54+0000 2023-06-20T15:54+0000 russia russian economy under sanctions elvira nabiullina russian central bank gdp /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/18704/69/187046986_0:104:2000:1229_1920x0_80_0_0_11b9bdb30dc03ac6f1b3913f08209072.jpg "Our economy is now very close to returning to the level of economic activity it had at the end of 2021. 'Recover to its potential,' as we say," Nabiullina told a congress of financial literacy volunteers. Russia's gross domestic product per capita reached $15,440 last year, edging closer to an all-time high of $15,930 registered in 2013, according to International Monetary Fund data analyzed by Sputnik. Earlier in May, data from the World Bank and statistical services analyzed by Sputnik showed that Russia returned to the top ten largest economies last year for the first time since 2014. Nabiullina said during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that Russian GDP growth in 2023 will be in the upper half of the forecast range of 0.5% to 2%. Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the same event that Russia' GDP grew by 3.3% in April. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230314/putin-russian-economy-avoided-collapse-multiplied-sovereignty-despite-enemies-expectations-1108383804.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 russian economy under sanctions, russian economic growth, russian economy, russian economy growth (Photo : LEAH MILLIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Secretary of State Anthony Blinken indicated the US will not support Taiwan's independence. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated decades of US policy toward Taiwan by stating that the United States does not support a declaration of independence by the island's government, which the People's Republic of China considers a rebel province. The statement was made by Blinken during a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, during which the top US diplomat and the Chinese leader attempted to ease months of tension between Washington and Beijing. Blinken Stresses US Commitment to One-China Policy The US secretary of state's previously scheduled trip to China was canceled in the wake of the February downing of a Chinese spy balloon, according to US intelligence. While the US diplomat emphasized that the US does not support Taiwan's "independence," Washington remains a major supplier of arms to the Taiwanese military, and President Joe Biden has stated on multiple occasions that the US would defend Taiwan should China launch an invasion. Officially, his statement does not represent a change in US policy, as the United States has long maintained strategic ambiguity toward the island, supplying Taipei with arms while avoiding official diplomatic contact. Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday and said they agreed to "stabilize" severely deteriorated US-China relations, but America's top diplomat left Beijing with his most important request denied: improved military communications. Blinken stated, after meeting with President Xi, that China is not prepared to resume military-to-military contacts, which the United States considers essential for avoiding miscalculation and conflict, particularly over Taiwan. Nonetheless, Yang Tao, China's top diplomat for the Western Hemisphere, stated that Blinken's visit to China "marks a new beginning." Nonetheless, Blinken and Xi expressed satisfaction with the progress made during the two days of discussions, without identifying specific areas of agreement beyond a mutual decision to return to a broad agenda for cooperation and competition endorsed by Xi and President Joe Biden at a Bali summit last year. And it remained unclear whether these agreements could resolve their most significant disagreements, many of which have international repercussions. Nonetheless, both men expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the highest-level US visit to China in the past five years. Read Also: PHOTOS: Multiple Tornadoes Leave Trail of Destruction in Southern US Republicans Slam Anthony Blinken's Trip to China Meanwhile, Republicans are using Blinken's trip to Beijing to portray the Biden administration as weak on China, equating the diplomatic reset with appeasement. In pursuit of "fruitless" diplomacy, the Biden administration is refusing to take the necessary steps to contain China, despite Washington's increasingly antagonistic stance toward China, America's greatest geopolitical rival, according to Republicans. Prior to Blinken's trip, the chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), called for new sanctions against Chinese officials and tighter export controls. The Biden administration has imposed multiple rounds of sanctions on Chinese organizations and individuals, and its decision to restrict China's access to semiconductor technology has Beijing fuming that the United States is attempting to stifle its growth. Reportedly, the president is "slow walking" certain sanctions against China and has recently toned down his rhetoric. Biden doubted on Saturday that the Chinese Communist Party intended to spy on the United States with its balloon. Per Washington Examiner, Blinken's trip to China, the first by a secretary of state in five years, mirrored this tone. Even as he pressed China on its human rights record and support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he hailed the talks as a "important beginning" that would allow the two nations to close the chapter on the balloon incident. Republicans criticized the trip as a "apology tour" that made America appear weak on the international stage. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the fourth-ranking Republican in the House, stated on Friday that Xi's visit served to "legitimize" his "subversion of our sovereignty," citing China's reported construction of a spy station in Cuba and the sale of US farmland to China. Related Article: Blinken Meets Xi Jinping in High-Stakes Visit to Beijing Aiming To Ease Soaring US-China Tensions @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/secret-services-from-around-20-nations-played-active-role-in-iran-protests-last-fall---irgc-1111321685.html IRGC Reveals 20 Foreign Spy Agencies Had Hand in Last Falls Iran Protests IRGC Reveals 20 Foreign Spy Agencies Had Hand in Last Falls Iran Protests Secret services from almost 20 countries played an active role in the organization of anti-government protests that took place in Iran last fall, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Intelligence Organization Mohammad Kazemi said on Tuesday. 2023-06-20T09:47+0000 2023-06-20T09:47+0000 2023-06-20T10:43+0000 world iran mahsa amini seyed mehdi kazemi irans revolutionary guards (irgc) /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/106045/84/1060458499_0:285:5487:3371_1920x0_80_0_0_9ce461fccb3325bcb89ee5a02d67b45a.jpg "The United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Canada, Belgium, Austria, Albania, Australia, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Bahrain, New Zealand and Israel are among countries that were active during the protests," Kazemi was quoted by a Iranian news agency as saying. Riots broke out in Iran in mid-September in connection with the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old woman died in a hospital in Tehran after suffering a heart attack and falling into a coma after an argument with a minder at a morality police facility over the alleged improper wearing of a hijab. A day after her death, rumors spread that she had been beaten into a coma by police, with these claims sparking protests in the capital which quickly spread to other major population centers. However, medical records and security camera footage released by the government later showed that Amini did not appear to have suffered any physical mistreatment at the hands of the authorities.The situation escalated into calls for the overthrow of Iran's clerical ruler. Tehran believes the unrest was instigated from abroad. https://sputnikglobe.com/20221016/washington-admits-to-aggressive-meddling-in-iran-as-tehran-recalls-1953-coup-1101906653.html iran 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 iran, protests in iran, western fuelled protests in iran, islamic revolutionary guards corps (irgc) https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/situation-with-infectious-diseases-in-kherson-region-remaining-stable---russian-watchdog-1111325593.html Situation With Infectious Diseases in Kherson Region Remaining Stable - Russian Watchdog Situation With Infectious Diseases in Kherson Region Remaining Stable - Russian Watchdog The situation with infectious diseases in the Kherson Region remains stable and the authorities are taking measures to minimize potential risks after the flooding caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, Russian health care and consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said on Tuesday. 2023-06-20T11:44+0000 2023-06-20T11:44+0000 2023-06-20T11:44+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine ukrainian crisis attack on novaya kakhovka dam cholera kherson /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/107957/51/1079575151_0:0:1920:1080_1920x0_80_0_0_9368aaab7870c6741f843ed74bba438d.jpg "Timely monitoring and assessment of infectious morbidity among the population in the area of emergency are being carried out. At the moment, the situation is stable," Rospotrebnadzor said in a statement, adding that it was also taking measures to minimize risks of dissemination of infectious diseases in the area affected by the flooding. Rospotrebnadzor also said that it continued to monitor environmental conditions in Kherson Region, assessing the quality of the water there. Over 350 water samples from different sources across the region have been tested, it added. The watchdog stated that there were also enough vaccines to immunize the local population, if necessary. Earlier in the month, the Ukrainian Health Ministry warned that the risk of a potential cholera epidemic in the area remained a possibility, although it refuted the information spreading on social media about the detection of dangerous infections the cholera bacillus and intestinal bacteria. The upper part of the Kakhovka power plant on the Dnepr River was damaged overnight from June 5 to June 6. It was not destroyed completely, but its crumbling caused an uncontrollable outflow of water to towns on the Russian-controlled eastern bank of the river and the Ukrainian-held western bank. Moscow have blamed Kiev for the dam's destruction. Authorities in some of the affected areas evacuated the population. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230618/death-toll-from-flooding-after-kakhovka-plant-destruction-rises-to-35-1111266784.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230613/mad-max-reality-kievs-blast-of-kakhovka-dam-has-new-hidden-nuclear-risks-1111115298.html kherson 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 russian special military operation, special op, ukrainian crisis, bioweapon, cholera https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/top-uk-diplomat-confirms-plans-to-visit-china-1111335948.html Top UK Diplomat Confirms Plans to Visit China Top UK Diplomat Confirms Plans to Visit China UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly confirmed on Tuesday that he was planning to go to China, after media reported that the trip could take place in late July. 2023-06-20T17:02+0000 2023-06-20T17:02+0000 2023-06-20T17:03+0000 world antony blinken james cleverly united kingdom (uk) china /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/104051/41/1040514108_0:67:1280:787_1920x0_80_0_0_df17a8b1d206a1981f60aa6ca8f62192.jpg UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly confirmed on Tuesday that he was planning to go to China, after media reported that the trip could take place in late July. Cleverly spoke at a press conference in London alongside visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who traveled to London from Beijing where he met with President Xi Jinping and senior Chinese officials for talks on regional and global issues, including Ukraine. Blinken told the press he could not agree more with Cleverlys comments on the need to engage with Beijing, saying it would be "irresponsible not to engage" because lack of contact made misunderstandings and conflict ever more likely. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230619/us-refusal-to-compromise-is-biggest-obstacle-to-mending-china-ties-1111298504.html united kingdom (uk) china 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 uk foreign secretary james cleverly, uk diplomat to visit china, uk-chinese relations https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/trudeau-opens-selection-process-for-next-supreme-court-of-canada-judge-1111334025.html Trudeau Opens Selection Process for Next Supreme Court of Canada Judge Trudeau Opens Selection Process for Next Supreme Court of Canada Judge Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has opened the process to select the next judge who will serve on the Supreme Court of Canada, the Office of the Prime Minister said on Tuesday. 2023-06-20T15:44+0000 2023-06-20T15:44+0000 2023-06-20T15:44+0000 americas canada justin trudeau judicial system /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/07/11/1097399207_0:191:2963:1857_1920x0_80_0_0_cc762bea1a48b9b16d904d7ffdb5bcc2.jpg The Canadian Judicial Council announced on June 12 that Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown decided to retire after serving on the bench since 2015 amid an investigation into alleged misconduct during an event in the United States in January. Accordingly, a non-partisan Independent Advisory Board for Supreme Court of Canada Judicial Appointments will be tasked with identifying jurists of the highest caliber, who are also bilingual and representative of the Canadas diversity, the statement said. Upon concluding the selection process, the Independent Advisory Board will review the submitted applications and forward a shortened list of the highest qualified candidates retained for Trudeaus consideration. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230324/canada-wants-to-project-itself-as-a-pacific-power-through-a-new-anti-chinese-framework-scholar-1108748592.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, justin trudeau, judiciary systeme, canadian supreme court https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/ukrainian-officials-increasingly-not-returning-from-abroad---russian-intelligence-1111328001.html Ukrainian Officials Increasingly Not Returning From Abroad - Russian Intelligence Ukrainian Officials Increasingly Not Returning From Abroad - Russian Intelligence The trend of non-return to Kiev of representatives of the Ukrainian interior, foreign and defense ministries and special services, who are completing long-term business trips abroad, is gaining momentum, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said on Tuesday. 2023-06-20T13:09+0000 2023-06-20T13:09+0000 2023-06-20T13:09+0000 world ukrainian crisis repressive regimes political repression svr ukraine russian foreign intelligence service /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/104530/90/1045309043_0:215:4000:2465_1920x0_80_0_0_771b1470f2108cd51826fe4080dd421b.jpg "Along with the mass exodus of the working age population from Ukraine, the trend towards non-return to Kiev of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, special services and the Ministry of Internal Affairs is gaining momentum," the SVR said in a statement. The SVR is well aware of a significant number of Ukrainian foreign workers who have decided not to return to Kiev after long-term business trips abroad, the statement read. "This is what many employees of Ukrainian diplomatic institutions accredited in the EU countries do. After completing a long-term business trip, they remain in the host countries, changing their diplomatic status to refugee status," the SVR said, adding that employees of foreign missions of Ukraine in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region do the same. Additionally, the SVR said that "mop-ups" are underway in the foreign institutions of Ukraine as Kiev seeks to identify disloyal employees and ensure their early return to their homeland. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230414/top-15-countries-hosting-ukrainian-refugees-1109537269.html ukraine 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 ukrainian crisis, ukrainian flee, repressions in ukraine, repressions zelensky https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/us-bombers-debut-on-swedish-soil-in-historic-drill-1111311713.html US Bombers Debut on Swedish Soil in Historic Drill US Bombers Debut on Swedish Soil in Historic Drill Once associated with neutrality and non-alignment, Sweden has filed for NATO membership and has invited US bombers while waiting for approval from other members. 2023-06-20T06:34+0000 2023-06-20T06:34+0000 2023-06-20T06:34+0000 military sweden russia nato us air force b-1b lancer b-52 military & intelligence bomber /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/07/14/1079939226_0:160:3073:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_41a22b851ba4e73b4b0510c6839b7942.jpg Two strategic bombers from the US Air Force landed on Monday at Norrbotten Wing near the city of Lulea in northern Sweden, for a joint drill with the Nordic country's military.The two B-1Bs are part of the so-called Bomber Task Force (BTF), a strategic mission undertaken by the US Air Force Global Strike Command to help develop the ability to operate from unfamiliar locations and integrate with allies and partner nations. In Lulea, the bombers were accompanied by three Swedish Jas 39 Gripen fighter jets and one US Air Force Hercules-type cargo plane with about 50 soldiers.This marked the first presence of US bombers on Swedish soil in modern times. Swedish Deputy Air Force Chief Brigadier General Tommy Petersson described the landing as a "historic event."Sweden has been holding joint drills with US bombers for several years. The current event, however, has been, according to Petersson, planned for a long time on the initiative of Sweden and preceded by great secrecy. Its length remains unknown even as of now.Petersson furthermore called Norrbotten County a "strategically important area." According to the air force commander, the purpose of the drill is to practice the defense of the country.Return to "Nation-Under-Threat" RhetoricBarely yesterday, the Swedish parliamentary defense committee published a report harkening back to the Cold War-era, according to which the risk of an armed attack against Sweden has increased. Unsurprisingly, Russia was singled out as the biggest and most direct threat a rather stale trope not uncommon for the Nordic nation, which has conjured the image of the "threat from the East" for centuries, with the same one-size-fits-all descriptions used to describe Tsarist Russia, the Soviet Union and modern-day Russia.Over the recent decade alone, the overhyped "Russian threat" has been used frequently to secure defense allotments. Similarly, the new report called for a larger Swedish army, more conscripts, new submarines and not least a continued strengthening of the air force alongside a larger emphasis on NATO.Tellingly, the very same "Russian threat" was last year used as a pretext to abandon the long-standing non-alignment, albeit increasingly formal in recent years, and file a bid to join NATO, which subsequently stalled due to pushback from Turkiye and Hungary.What is a B-1B Lancer?The US Air Force's Rockwell B-1B Lancer is a four-engined long-range bomber that can carry conventional bombs as well as air-to-surface missiles and nuclear weapons.It is designed for supersonic speed and has a range of up to 12,000 kilometers and has variable-sweep wings. The plane is 44 meters long and has a wingspan of 42 meters. It is commonly known as "The Bone" (from B-one).Along with the B-2 and B-52, the B-1 is one of the US Air Force's three types of strategic bombers. With deliveries started in 1985, B-1B has been built in just over 100 copies.In December 2022, its next-generation replacement, the B-21 Raider, was demonstrated by the manufacturer Northrop Grumman. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230619/as-nato-bid-fizzles-sweden-conjures-up-cold-war-boogeyman-of-russian-attack-1111270503.html sweden russia 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 swedish military, joint drills, us strategic bombers, nato membership, nato expansion https://sputnikglobe.com/20230620/wsj-tries-again-reports-claim-china-in-advanced-talks-to-build-training-base-in-cuba-1111346060.html What's Behind Reports China is in Advanced Talks to Build Training Base in Cuba What's Behind Reports China is in Advanced Talks to Build Training Base in Cuba A Tuesday report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) claimed that China is in talks with Cuba to build a joint training base on the north coast of the Caribbean island. 2023-06-20T20:50+0000 2023-06-20T20:50+0000 2023-06-21T05:22+0000 cuba china base training world /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/07/11/1079917167_0:130:3177:1917_1920x0_80_0_0_664ddda0474ea3ff0140e4f7229d52fe.jpg A Tuesday report in the US media has claimed China is in talks with Cuba to build a joint training base on the north coast of the Caribbean island.The report is based on information from anonymous current and former US officials and claims the talks are at an advanced stage but not concluded. It also alleges the Biden administration has reached out to Havana to try and delay or block the deal.The White House has not commented on the reports, nor the Cuban government; the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC, referred the paper to a previous Chinese government statement about alleged China-Cuba negotiations that called Washington an expert in chasing shadows in other countries and meddling in their affairs.Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters on Tuesday she was not aware of the report, adding that we hope relevant parties will focus their time and efforts on doing things that are conducive to mutual trust and regional peace, stability and development.Previous 'Inaccurate' ReportThe report comes less than two weeks after the media outlet claimed Beijing and Havana had signed a multibillion-dollar deal to build a spy base in Cuba to conduct signals intelligence on the US. China and Cuba both denounced the report as totally mendacious and unfounded and even the White House National Security Council called the report inaccurate.A few days later, another anonymous Biden administration official told several US media outlets that China had operated a listening post in Cuba since 2019 - a situation US President Joe Biden inherited from his predecessor, former US President Donald Trump.A Cold DetenteThe reports have come amid a visit to China by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met with senior Chinese diplomatic leaders, including President Xi Jinping, Foreign Minister Qin Gang, and the Communist Partys foreign policy chief, Wang Yi. The trip was delayed from February after the US shot down a Chinese high altitude balloon that Washington claimed was a spying device, but which Beijing said was a civilian scientific airship that was blown off course.The island is a Chinese province in rebellion, which has been controlled by a US-backed government since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. It is about 100 miles from mainland China - roughly the same distance as Cuba is from the US - and has long been host to US forces, which were recently revealed as having secretly operated there for years. Washington has recognized the One China policy since 1979, when it dropped formal relations with Taipei and opened them with Beijing, and Chinas protests over US provocations by supporting Taiwan are typically rooted in this agreement.The US has doubled down on this open but informal support amid its strategic move toward great power competition with Russia and China, seeing Taiwan as a key stronghold in the First Island Chain, a string of archipelagos off the Asian coast with which Washington hopes to contain Chinese expansion.Alienating CubaIn addition, under Biden the US has maintained the numerous restrictions against Cuba put in place by the prior Trump administration, including 243 coercive measures that had been removed under the Obama administration. The measures forbid most trade and travel to Cuba by Americans and American companies. The United Nations has voted for years to condemn the US blockade, and the Cuban delegation to the UN has denounced the sanctions and the chronic shortages of basic goods they cause as an act of genocide and economic warfare" against the Cuban people. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230608/totally-false-cuba-swats-down-us-media-reports-of-hosting-chinese-spy-base-1111014159.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230619/limited-progress-from-xi-blinken-talks-but-core-us-china-issues-likely-beyond-compromise-1111300783.html cuba china Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Fantine Gardinier Fantine Gardinier 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 Fantine Gardinier wall street journal; cuba; china; training; base Longtime harness racing industry participant James "Jimmy" Larente of Leavittown, Pennsylvania passed away on May 23, 2023 at the age of 92. A third generation horseman, Jimmy Larente knew nothing other than horses almost since birth. According to the USTA's Harness Handbook, he summed up his childhood years with one sentence: "We weren't allowed to do anything but work with the horses." At 18, after several years of full-time work for his father, Paul, Jim was off on his own with a two-horse stable. He made his first start at Saratoga and won his first race at Quebec City, both in 1949. In 1966, Jim joined the Frank Safford stable as second trainer and "first driver" and his career took off from there. The leading driver at Brandywine in 1967, Larente opened his own public stable in 1968 and took roots in the Delaware Valley, with trips to New York, The Meadowlands and the Grand Circuit when warranted. Larente was one of the "lieutenants" to which Hall of Famer Ted Wing farmed out precocious youngsters for basic schooling, and one of the best babies that Larente tutored early on Butler B G, who went on to be an outstanding performer for Wing. Desert Ruler, a trotting colt who won a Haughton Memorial elimination, also did well for Larente and Wing. Many other solid performers have pulled his blue and gold colours to victory lane. Mr Overnite was a top Invitational pacer for many years in the Delaware Valley, while Mr Wight was one of the early stars of the New Jersey Sire Stakes program. Good Time Boy was the first top horse with which Jim was identified, while Scully put Larente in harness racing's record books twice as the double-gaited stallion set world marks on both five-eighths and mile tracks. Mr. Larente retired from driving in 2010 with 2,248 wins and more than $7.9 million in purse earnings. A private service has taken place. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of James Larente. Lyle MacMillan has permanently retired and gone to a better place. John Lyle MacMillan passed away on May 23, 2023 at the Surrey Memorial Hospital, aged 88 years. He was born on a humble, mixed farm in the Ottawa Valley, along with a sister and four brothers. They walked to the local one room school and when he was 12 he got the job as janitor, starting the wood stove to warm the room before the others arrived, getting a pail of water from a neighbour each day, sweeping the floor once a week and washing it three times a year for 20 cents a school day. At age 17 he started working in the local bank and by 19 he had joined the RCMP and left home for Regina, Sask. to start training. It was a bold decision to leave home as the MacMillans had only moved four miles since 1803 and his mom's family had been one of the first settlers in Canada (Quebec) in the 1630's. No one ever left the area. Upon graduation, Lyle was transferred to B.C. where he remained on detachment duties for 11 years. He then resigned in order to work night shift as a guard in the Oakalla Prison so he could attend university during the day. After graduating from the University of B.C. with a Bachelor of Commerce and a law degree, and then articling for the required one year, he immediately set up a law practice in Cloverdale with his classmate Ron McKinnon. That was in 1971 and for the next 45 years he remained an active partner in the firm, having declined an offer to be a Judge at the British Columbia Court of Queen's Bench. Lyle always gave back to the community, including being President of the Surrey Memorial Hospital Association and involvement with the Cloverdale Business Improvement Association, the Cloverdale and Surrey Chamber of Commerce and the Cloverdale Legion. In 2016 he received the Community Pillar Award and the Bill Reid Memorial Business person of the year award. However, Lyle's true passion was harness racing, as a horse owner, breeder, trainer and his work with the Cloverdale Raceway (Fraser Downs). He also served as the President of the Canadian Trotting Association and the Canadian Standardbred Horse Society, the only person to serve in that capacity from outside of Ontario or Quebec. Lyle was pre-deceased by his parents, John and Muriel (Rainey) MacMillan, as well as his sister, Alice, and her husband Irwin Bender, by his brothers, Doug (and Nancy), Alfred and Arnold. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, his daughter, Cathy, his son, Kelly (Donna), his children's mother, Joan, his granddaughter's Emma and Bobbie Jo, his sister-in-law, Jeanette, and his brother, Keith. A memorial service will take place at Brookswood Baptist Church, 20581 - 36 Ave, Langley, on June 23 at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be make to Surrey Memorial Hospital. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Lyle MacMillan. Longtime Dawes County Sheriff Karl Dailey officially submitted his resignation on Tuesday, June 13, during the meeting of the Dawes County Commissioners. According to the Chadron Record, Dawes County Chair Web Johnson and board members Vic Rivera and Jake Stewart accepted the resignation with regret and appreciation for Daileys years of service. Dailey, who announced his last day would be July 31 after more than 36 years as sheriff, informed the board hes had an incredible career and has worked with some amazing individuals. According to the Chadron Record, Dailey advised that his resignation had nothing to do with a case in which he had been charged and convicted of a misdemeanor charge of official misconduct. In May, the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed a conviction against Dailey. For his failure to house a man arrested at his jail over an apparent turf war with the Nebraska State Patrol. The case involved the arrest of Jesse Sierra, a South Dakota man who had been arrested on sexual assault and kidnapping allegations for which hes now serving a life sentence. According to testimony at trial in January 2021, Dailey had become upset after he had not been directly contacted as officers with the Chadron Police Department searched for the man. The Chadron Police Department reached out to the Nebraska State Patrol and Dawes County Sheriffs Office. Once authorities arrested the man, Dailey refused to allow him to be jailed at the Dawes County jail and made comments that he would no longer accept prisoners arrested by the NSP at the facility. At a bench trial on the misdemeanor, Dailey admitted he was abusive toward NSP officers because he was upset, but said he wouldnt take Sierra because of his high-risk status and that he was injured. Judge Randin Roland returned a guilty verdict and fined Dailey $750. Dailey appealed his conviction in county court to the Dawes County District Court, which upheld the conviction. He appealed again to the Supreme Court, which rejected Daileys arguments that as jailer he had authority to decline to take Sierra because hed been arrested without a warrant or other court order and by law sheriffs have discretion to determine who is admitted to jail. After the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld Daileys conviction, the Police Standards Advisory Council were expected to consider further action regarding Daileys law enforcement certification. However, the case is not on the PSACs June agenda and a voluntary surrender of Daileys certification due to retirement will likely resolve the case. In response to an inquiry from the Star-Herald, Don Arp, who served as director of the Nebraska Crime Commission until stepping down earlier this month, indicated The Commission and the Police Standards Advisory Council do not comment on such matters if or until they appear on an agenda for a public meeting. According to the Chadron Record, Dailey recommended that Jeff Johns be appointed to fill his position after his resignation. (Photo : ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images) Russian drones targeted Kyiv and other cities in the early hours of Tuesday, striking vital infrastructure in the western city of Lviv. Russia has launched a series of drone attacks aimed at Kyiv and cities from east to west across Ukraine. According to preliminary information provided by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ukraine's air defence systems shot down 28 of the 30 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia on Tuesday. Russia Renews Drones, Missiles Attacks on Ukraine About twenty enemy targets were identified and destroyed by Ukrainian forces and air defense in the airspace surrounding Kyiv, according to Serhiy Popko, head of the military administration in Kyiv, who made the announcement via the Telegram messaging app. In the early hours of the morning, air raid sirens could be heard for nearly four and a half hours in Kyiv and for several hours in many other parts of the country. The military administration of Lviv, a city of approximately 700,000 people located approximately 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the Polish border, reported that explosions were heard at approximately 5:00 a.m. (02:00 GMT) and that Russia struck "critical infrastructure" in the city, igniting a fire. Initial reports indicate that there were no casualties, as per Al Jazeera. There were also missile attacks in the Zaporizhia region of southeastern Ukraine, where the head of the military administration, Yuriy Malashko, stated that Russia targeted agriculture and farming properties as well as telecommunications infrastructure. There were no reported casualties during the Zaporizhia raids. Additionally, three Shahed drones were shot down over the southern region of Mykolaiv, according to a Telegram message from governor Vitaliy Kim. According to BBC, Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine was attacked by a number of Iskander-M ballistic missiles, according to local officials, who added that nobody was injured. The majority of the Ukrainian military's current offensive to recapture territory seized by Russia at the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022 is concentrated in the Zaporizhzhia region. In his nightly television address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that in some areas the military was advancing while in others it was defending against a Russian assault. Read Also: Blinken Says US Does Not Support Taiwan's Independence During Visit to China Russia Warns Ukraine Against Striking Crimea Earlier in the day, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar announced that Ukrainian forces had recaptured the village of Piatykhatky as they attempt to breach Russia's southern front line. It was the eighth Ukrainian village recaptured in the past week, according to her. The latest developments have not been independently confirmed. Officials from Western intelligence agencies report that Russian troops have withdrawn from the front line in Kherson following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on June 6. Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu warned that Russia would retaliate if Ukraine attacked Russian-controlled Crimea with longer-range American and British missiles. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, but it is not included in what it calls its "special military operation," which is focused on eastern and southern Ukraine, where Ukraine is fighting to recapture territory. However, Kyiv wishes to reclaim all of its territory, including the Crimean peninsula, which hosts Russia's Black Sea naval base. Per Reuters, Shoigu told a meeting of military officials that Moscow had information that Ukraine planned to strike Crimea with long-range rocket systems supplied by the United States and cruise missiles supplied by the United Kingdom. Related Article: Russia Rains Missiles on Kyiv Amid African Leaders' Peace Mission Visit @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. With obstacles to the embattled Mountain Valley Pipeline falling away, its operators are attempting to pump new life into a proposed extension that would move a projected 375 million cubic feet of natural gas through the Triad daily. Thats enough fuel to serve more than 2.2 million average U.S. homes for a day. In a filing Thursday with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Mountain Valley requests an extension of a required Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for its planned 75-mile MVP Southgate Extension, now set to expire Sunday, through June 2026. The proposed $500 million Southgate Extension would pick up where the Mountain Valley Pipeline stops in southern Virginia, run through the heart of Rockingham County and end in Alamance County. But that can only happen with the completion of the main 303-mile Mountain Valley project, which paused in early 2022 when courts nullified a handful of environmental permits. The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality emphasized the coupling of the two projects when it rejected water-quality permits for the Southgate project in August 2020. In essence, it would be a pipeline from nowhere to nowhere incapable of carrying any natural gas, and certainly not able to fulfill its basic project purpose, while having no practical alternative, NCDEQ said in explaining its permit denial. Prior to incurring any impacts to North Carolina natural resources ... a level of certainty regarding the completion of the MVP Mainline pipeline is required. Those prospects certainly changed last month when the stalled $6.6 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline which would carry natural gas about 300 miles from the Marcellus shale fields in West Virginia across nearly 1,000 streams and wetlands before ending in Pittsylvania County, Virginia was jumpstarted in a deal between President Joe Biden and Republicans to raise the federal debt ceiling. The measure included a provision requiring fast-tracked approvals for the Mountain Valley, whose completion has been held up by regulatory hurdles and legal challenges. The pact infuriated environmentalists, as does the resulting potential opening for the extension. This Southgate pipeline is not in the public interest and the developers have not demonstrated its viability, Jessica Sims, field coordinator for the group Appalachian Voices, said Thursday. Its threats remain from disproportionately impacting environmental justice communities along the pipeline route to endangering the waterways it would cross. Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate should not have a future. The main pipeline project has been hit with dozens of water-quality violations and hundreds of thousands of dollars in related fines. Environmentalists insist theres no reason to expect anything different in North Carolina. In its filing Thursday, Mountain Valley says it is expecting to complete and activate the mainline by the end of this year. However, without the same fast-tracking considerations tied to the Mountain Valley, the Southgate Extension will face regulatory hurdles and almost-certain legal challenges. The company declined to give a potential timeline for the extension. Mountain Valley remains committed to the MVP Southgate project and continues to evaluate its options to help meet strong residential and business demand for affordable, reliable natural gas, spokesman Shawn Day said in an email to the Journal. There is no update or estimate for construction start or in-service dates available at this time. Both projects have divided political leaders largely along party lines, with Republicans overwhelmingly in support of the pipelines and Democrats, including Gov. Roy Cooper, generally opposed. Completing the Mountain Valley Pipeline will help bring a second interstate natural gas pipeline to North Carolina, N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger of Rockingham County said in an email to the Journal when asked about the project last year. Hopefully Gov. Cooper will reconsider his previous opposition to increased energy security and support this opportunity to lower energy costs and provide manufacturers and residents in North Carolina with reliable access to natural gas. Republicans in the N.C. General Assembly have argued that relying solely on the existing Transco Pipeline which also slices through the heart of the Triad as a primary natural gas supply puts the states energy production at risk. Democrats and critics of the projects, meanwhile, insist that new fossil fuel transmission lines will simply become costly stranded assets paid for by utility customers as North Carolina moves away from the use of fossil fuels that contribute to climate change and moved to renewable energy including solar and wind power. The route As proposed, the MVP Southgate would enter North Carolina in a southwest direction just west of Eden before taking a nearly 90-degree turn and passing near Wentworth and Eden as it heads southeast. After crossing into Alamance County, the pipeline would curl around the north and east sides of Burlington, ending in Graham. For years, Brenda Glover has watched as trees toppled along a severely eroded section of Brushy Fork Creek that divides her backyard from an undeveloped section of Smith Reynolds Airport. In some cases, their roots were ripped from the unstable soil. In others, weakened trunks just snapped. Glover says shed watch the towering hardwoods swaying in the wind on the airport side and wonder, what if one of them fell across the creek and on to her property? She got a frightening answer this week when an 80-foot creek-side wild cherry tree did just that and, in the process, crushed her already compromised chain-link fence and very nearly crashed through her bedroom window. If that tree had been any taller, it would have been in my bedroom, Glover said. She and a handful of her neighbors along Barkwood Drive in the Northwood Estates neighborhood have watched for years as erosion which they say accelerated after the airport clear-cut 250 acres of trees in 2015 has eaten away at their property. That creek has tormented us, she said. After the Journal began reporting on the erosion last June, the airport in October applied for a $320,000 N.C. Land and Water Fund grant to cover most of the cost of a proposed $400,000 project to restore that section of Brushy Fork. The funds board of trustees will decide on that and other grant applications in September. More immediately, Smith Reynolds Director Mark Davidson said Thursday that the airport will take care of removing the tree and replacing the fence. Thats how it should be, Glover said. At first I thought I would call my homeowners insurance (about the tree), she added. Then I got to thinking, No, no, no, no. If Smith Reynolds had cut down all the vulnerable trees closest to the creek on its side, the one that fell in Glovers yard would have already been gone, she explained. The airport last year paid to remove some of those trees, but not those across from Glovers yard. Sometimes when you have a problem, you need to fix the problem so it doesnt become a bigger problem, she said. Now things are happening that could have been avoided. The fallen tree, which hit with such force that it ripped sections of turf from the ground, is just the latest of those things. Portions of Glovers now-crushed fence, whose two remaining sections are held together by rope, hang precariously over the edge of Brushy Forks scoured red bank. A sinkhole about eight feet long and five feet wide is filled in with mulch, dirt and anything else she can find to keep that part of the yard under which the creek actually has tunneled from collapsing. I just cant keep it from sinking, she said. Cut stumps and branches from Glovers own toppled trees are piled along the creeks edge to provide at least some protection against the creek in its fiercest moments. A dead and branchless 50-foot tree, its trunk blotched with a rash of green moss, leans precariously from its creek-side position toward her neighbors house. Glover said shes getting estimates on what it will cost to remove the tree, and knows from experience it will be expensive. Im just trying to do what I can do to save my own land, she explained. Its just a mess, just a mess. I hate living like that, but I cant afford what needs to be done. It wears and tears on your mind, your spirit, your body, your soul, but I try to do the best I can to keep my property up. Glover said shes grateful for the airports efforts to address the erosion, but wishes the help had come sooner, especially after her fallen trees powerful dose of perspective. Its going to work out, she noted. Id just hate for somebody to lose their life before it does. PHOTOS: Erosion at Brushy Fork Creek leads to fallen tree in yard Airport Erosion Fallen Tree Brenda Glover Airport Erosion Fallen Tree Brenda Glover Airport Erosion Fallen Tree Brenda Glover Airport Erosion Fallen Tree Brenda Glover Airport Erosion Fallen Tree Brenda Glover Airport Erosion Fallen Tree Brenda Glover An 80-foot tree on Forsyth County property near Smith Reynolds Airport fell across a severely eroded section of Brushy Fork Creek and onto Brenda Glover's property, just missing her bedroom window. Airport Erosion Fallen Tree Brenda Glover Airport Erosion Fallen Tree Brenda Glover Airport Erosion Fallen Tree Brenda Glover Prior to the war, the systematic destruction of Syria's natural environment had already begun, Mohammad Berro writes in Syria TV. The devastating impact of the war on the Syrian environment has been one of the lesser-discussed yet highly significant consequences of the ongoing conflict that started in 2011. While enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, massacres, forced displacement, and migration have garnered attention, environmental degradation has received insufficient notice despite its long-term implications. The severity of this crisis may even surpass that of the ongoing Syrian massacre. Prior to the war, the systematic destruction of Syrias natural environment had already begun, primarily driven by international companies. These companies forcefully replaced traditional, locally adapted seeds with hybrid varieties that were resistant to local pests but only produced crops once. This tactic ensured that Syrian farmers remained dependent on these companies for their seeds, further entangling the fate of the countrys agricultural sector with foreign interests. The crisis of environmental degradation poses one of the most significant dangers to the Syrian people and their land. The repercussions will continue to affect multiple generations. The UNICEF report in 2023 highlighted that over half of Syrias population was suffering from a lack of safe drinking water. The environmental situation in Syria deteriorated drastically between 2011 and 2023, with various forms of pollution becoming rampant. Three major factors have contributed to this alarming situation. Firstly, there is a scarcity of water, accompanied by pollution and uncontrolled exploitation of water resources. The deliberate destruction during the war has damaged critical infrastructure and impeded the necessary maintenance of irrigation and water transport systems. Furthermore, there has been a complete disregard for water consumption rationalization, pollution prevention, and treatment to ensure its suitability for human use. Even before 2011, numerous reports had already revealed the presence of serious diseases, particularly cancers, due to the consumption of polluted water that was mistakenly considered potable. However, medical specialists who spoke out about these disasters faced fierce security campaigns between 2000 and 2011. This period witnessed an alarming rise in various types of cancers in villages such as Tartous, Lattakia, and other Syrian towns. The neglect of regular maintenance led to the contamination of drinking water channels by sewage (black water). The environmental crisis in Syria demands urgent attention, as its consequences will persist for years to come. Efforts should be made to restore and protect the natural environment, address water scarcity and pollution, and promote sustainable practices to safeguard the health and well-being of the Syrian people and the land they inhabit. Soil erosion, pollution, and degradation have significantly impacted Syrian agricultural lands. United Nations reports indicate that by 2023, 75% of Syrian agricultural lands will experience a sharp decline in productivity due to mismanagement, over-exploitation, and the devastating consequences of the war. Factors such as continuous bombings, the control of armed forces, and the scorched-earth tactics employed by the Syrian regime have further exacerbated the situation. Research by PAX, a peace organization in the Netherlands, reveals that the concentration of heavy metals in Syrian soil today is 1000-2000% higher than pre-war levels, posing long-lasting effects that will impair soil productivity for decades. Deforestation has also taken a heavy toll on Syria. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported a 37% decrease in forest area between 2011 and 2013 alone due to unjust and continuous tree-cutting for fuel. Bombings have caused additional large-scale deforestation, with satellite images confirming the loss of nearly 60% of tree cover in Syria by 2023. The environmental disasters resulting from the war in Syria are not limited to its borders. Their consequences will soon extend beyond, affecting neighbouring regions. Pollution, whether it is soil, air, or water-related, spreads rapidly and contagiously. According to UNHCR, by 2023, one in three displaced Syrians will cite environmental degradation, along with conflict, as a reason for their displacement. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) estimates a 150% increase in particulate matter (PM2.5) in Syrias atmosphere between 2011 and 2023 due to thick clouds of smoke from burning oil wells and local refineries operated by militias using primitive methods. This has led to thousands of victims and the emergence of incurable diseases among the affected population. The decline in environmental conditions has also had a severe impact on biodiversity. A 2023 report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) indicates that 35% of animal and plant species in Syria are at critical risk due to habitat loss caused by war activities, increased hunting, and poaching. All these factors contribute to displacement, and addressing them requires urgent action. It is crucial to prioritize ending the war and working with international support to treat the environmental scars that will persist for decades. Strategies for future recovery and environmental rehabilitation should be developed, including cleaning polluted soil and restoring the green cover through reforestation to resist pollution and restore the natural balance of the land. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. The UK stated that this action was taken on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, according to al-Souria Net. The United Kingdom has recently implemented new sanctions aimed at targeting Assads defence minister, Ali Mahmoud Abbas, and Chief of General Staff Abdel Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim. In an official statement released on Monday, it was stated that this action was taken on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, signifying the UKs strong commitment to holding accountable those responsible for such actions. The individuals subjected to these sanctions will face asset freezes and travel bans. Lord Ahmad, the Prime Ministers Special Representative for the Prevention of Sexual Violence in Conflict, emphasized the significance of these sanctions, stating that they build upon the UKs previous endeavours in this domain. He further expressed that the implementation of these measures sends a resolute message of solidarity to survivors while condemning these unlawful acts. According to the statement, Abbas and Ibrahim have been involved in condoning sexual and gender-based violence, including the reprehensible practice of systematically raping civilians. The Chief of the General Staff was complicit in suppressing the Syrian population by commanding the military forces, which systematically employed rape and other forms of sexual violence. Assads defence minister Abbas played a role in the systematic implementation of rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence against civilians, according to the statement. The United Kingdom has previously imposed sanctions on various political and military figures as well as officials within the Assad regime, often in coordination with the United States. Several months ago, sanctions were enforced on individuals within the Assad regime who were involved in the production and smuggling of drugs and Captagon pills to countries worldwide. Assad appointed the defence minister who is now under sanctions in April 2022, while Abdul Karim Ibrahim was simultaneously appointed as the chief of staff. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Sources told Syria TV that the military convoy is likely heading towards the Manbij area. Facebook pages supportive of the Syrian regime shared images and videos of a military convoy purportedly belonging to the Republican Guard, claiming that it was being directed to northern Syria to resolve the battle. However, analysis by Syria TV and information from private military sources confirmed that the convoy was actually heading towards areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). On Sunday, a substantial military convoy comprising numerous tanks tracked artillery, and military vehicles departed from the Republican Guards 105th Brigade. Photos captured the moment the convoy started its journey at the brigades entrance. Video recordings depicted the convoys arrival in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, specifically at the Khafsa roada key juncture between the territories controlled by the Syrian regime and those controlled by the SDF. Military sources informed Syria TV that the 105th Brigade, under the leadership of Brigadier General Asef Ammar, has not previously engaged in combat operations, which is notable considering its usual responsibility within the Republican Guards 101st Brigade to safeguard the regimes leader, protect the Republican Palace, and ensure the security of vital strategic headquarters. The sources indicated that the military convoy is likely heading towards the Manbij area, located northeast of Aleppo. Regime forces have been stationed there since 2019 following the launch of Operation Peace Spring by Turkey and the Syrian National Army. What are the implications of the Turkish escalation in northern Syria? In the past week, the Turkish army has intensified its aerial and ground bombardment of military positions belonging to the SDF and the Syrian regime along the border region between Syria and Turkey. This escalation has led to casualties and damage to multiple military vehicles on both sides. The escalation initially commenced last Sunday when the SDF targeted the Turkish Jibreen base north of Aleppo, the police station in Oncupnar within the southern Turkish state of Kilis, and the vicinity of the Bab al-Salama border crossing with a number of rockets and mortar shells. According to the Turkish Interior Ministry, the SDF launched the attack from Syrian territory at approximately five oclock in the evening last Sunday, using five rocket launchers. Fortunately, there were no reported casualties or injuries as a result of the attack. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry expressed his disappointment with the European decision, according to Athr Press. In view of the Wests and the United States of Americas persistent rejection of the Arab opening to Damascus, the European Union has decided to cancel the scheduled meeting with the Arab League following Syrias return to the League. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry expressed his disappointment with the European decision, stating that it was regrettable. During a joint press conference with European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in Cairo on Sunday, Shoukry remarked, The European Union should have appreciated the decision to reinstate Syrias membership in the Arab League. However, cancelling the long-awaited meeting with the Arab League, which had not been convened for four years, is a regrettable decision. The Arab decision to support the Syrian people, who have endured a decade of suffering, is aimed at restoring stability to Syria, as reported by the Russia Today channel. Shoukry emphasized that Syrias readmission to the Arab League is a collective decision by Arab countries. It was formulated by the Arab Contact Group in coordination with the Syrian side, with specific conditions to restore relations between Arab nations and Syria. Shoukrys comment followed remarks made by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who highlighted that the Arab-European ministerial meeting, scheduled for this week, had been postponed due to Syrias renewed participation in the Arab League. During the press conference alongside the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Borrell stated, The European Unions stance remains unchanged unless Damascus demonstrates progress in implementing United Nations resolutions, particularly Security Council resolution 2554. As a result, the European Union and the Arab League jointly agreed to postpone the meeting at the European Unions request. Borrell further mentioned that the previous ministerial meeting between the two sides took place in February 2018 in Brussels, and the Arab-European ministerial meeting was originally planned for this week. However, the decision to postpone it was made due to Syrias reentry into the Arab League. He also noted, The European Union respects the Arab Leagues sovereign decision to readmit Syria into the organization, as reported by Russia Today. Following Syrias reinstatement into the Arab League, the US State Department emphasized that at this stage, Washington does not believe that Syria deserves to regain its membership in the Arab League. Gulf pressure on EU Earlier reports from Bloomberg have revealed that officials from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are pressuring the European Union to establish closer ties with Damascus and lift sanctions imposed on Syria. According to sources familiar with the matter, Saudi and Emirati officials have been applying pressure on their European Union counterparts at various levels for several months. These sources further noted that diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the Syrian conflict have not achieved their intended objectives without the easing of sanctions, which would help stimulate the Syrian economy. In addition, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar previously cited a Saudi diplomatic source who confirmed the existence of Gulf-led initiatives aimed at mediating between the West and Syria. The source stated, In order to achieve more than the restoration of diplomatic relations, the opening of embassies, and limited humanitarian assistance in certain areas, it is necessary to strike a balance between the West, Russia, and the Arab role while addressing the concerns of Damascus. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Your daily brief of the English-speaking press on Syria. The UK government has implemented fresh sanctions against individuals allegedly involved in widespread sexual violence in Syria, which includes the minister of defense. Simultaneously, an apparent ISIS assault resulted in the deaths of five pro-regime fighters in Eastern Syria. In another development, HTS has issued eviction notices to 24 families of foreign militants residing in Idleb, primarily consisting of French and Belgian nationals. UK imposes sanctions on Syrian official The UK government has imposed new sanctions on officials accused of perpetrating widespread sexual violence in Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Financial Times reported. A series of asset freezes and travel bans were unveiled on Monday to mark an international day of action to stamp out sexual violence in conflict. Abdel Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim, the Syrian armys chief of staff, and Ali Mahmoud Abbas, the countrys minister of defence, were both sanctioned for what the UK alleges is the systematic use of sexual and gender-based violence against civilians. Both men were appointed in 2022 and had not been previously sanctioned. Lord Tariq Ahmad, the UK prime ministers special representative on preventing sexual violence in conflict, said the threat of rape as a weapon of war must stop and survivors must be supported to come forward. The sanctions send a clear signal to perpetrators that the UK will hold you accountable for your horrendous crimes, he added In the past year, Britain has sanctioned 15 individuals and entities who committed specific human rights violations against women and girls, including 13 responsible for sexual violence. Roadside bomb kills 5 soldiers in E. Syria Five soldiers were killed and seven others wounded on Monday when a roadside bomb ripped through their vehicle in the eastern Syrian province of Deir-ez-Zor, the pro-government Sham FM radio reported. The bomb was planted on the side of a street in the western countryside of Deir-ez-Zor, said the report. Its still unclear who planted the bomb but it bore the hallmarks of ISIS militants who are active in that area. On Sunday, three soldiers were killed and six others wounded by a roadside bomb in the desert area of the central province of Homs. In a separate attack on Sunday, a Syrian lieutenant was wounded by armed men who were believed to be militants from the ISIS group. Syrian Kurdish-led authorities release 33 accused ISIS collaborators after tribal mediation Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria on Sunday released 33 detainees suspected of collaborating with the Islamic State group after mediation efforts by prominent tribal leaders from the eastern Syrian province of Deir-ez-Zor, New Arab reported. The detainees were released after it was announced that they had no blood on their hands, the Hawar News Agency, which is affiliated with the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration in Northern and Eastern Syria (AANES) reported. The AANES military affiliate, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), handed over the released detainees to their families. The release is a normal matter, as new batches are released from time to time, Dr Hussein Azzam, co-leader of diplomatic relations for the AANES-linked Syrian Democratic Council, told The New Arabs sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. The majority have served all or most of their sentences, Azzam said. Some 60 detainees were released by the SDF at the start of April from Deir-ez-Zor. AANES said earlier this month it would begin trying thousands of suspected foreign IS fighters who have been in its custody for years following the international communitys lagging response to the situation. Gender-Sensitive Transitional Justice is an Essential Requirement to Support the Transitional Path Gender-sensitive transitional justice is a critical requirement for supporting Syrias transitional path, and it is imperative for the new Syrian constitution to explicitly include provisions for gender equality, employ inclusive language, and address gender discrimination in order to promote sustainable peace, social justice, and the empowerment of women, a Syrian human rights group has reported. Syrians for truth and Justice published a detailed report in which it maintained that gender-sensitive transitional justice is crucial for supporting the transitional path in Syria. The new Syrian constitution should explicitly include provisions for gender equality, using inclusive language that does not discriminate based on sex, social gender, or gender identity, and that avoids perpetuating gender stereotypes. Syrian women have faced obstacles in participating in public life due to patriarchal norms and structures, limiting their access to rights and resources. The Syrian States structure and successive constitutions marginalize various groups, including women, in public life. Gender-based violence, including political violence, sexual assault, and forced marriages, has increased during the armed conflict. Achieving equality and combating gender-based violence requires comprehensive legal and procedural changes. Transitional justice processes should prioritize women survivors, focus on accountability, truth, compensation, and ending impunity, and exclude sexual violence crimes from amnesty provisions. Gender-sensitive transitional justice is linked to social justice and gender justice, and it is essential for equal access to justice and resources. Womens leadership and political participation have been limited in Syria, with women excluded from influential political positions. The Syrian legislation does not explicitly affirm womens rights in assuming public and political roles, and it contains discriminatory provisions, such as excluding women from becoming the President of the Republic. The Syrian constitution and laws need reform to ensure gender equality and protect womens rights. The group added that in northern and northeastern Syria, which experienced shifts in control between different forces, Kurdish women faced marginalization and restrictions on their rights. The Autonomous Administration of North and Northeast Syria (AANES) issued a constitution with provisions protecting womens rights, but practical challenges and societal traditions still limit womens empowerment and expose them to violence and exploitation. Women often face obstacles when seeking justice in areas where AANES and Syrian government authorities overlap. Based on discussions from the workshop, recommendations include the need for comprehensive legislation to combat violence against women, embodying gender equality in the constitution, revising discriminatory laws, using inclusive language, cancelling reservations on CEDAW, respecting international human rights agreements, establishing a dedicated entity for womens empowerment, promoting gender equality in government and non-governmental institutions, and addressing educational and employment disparities. These measures aim to eliminate discrimination, empower women, and promote gender equality in Syria. Palestinian group threatens Israel from Syria A Palestinian terror group based in Syria with ties to Iran and Hezbollah is actively preparing for a new series of attacks inside Israel the Jewish News Syndicate reported. Speaking from Syria, Fadi Malach, commander of the Galilean Wolves, told the Tazpit Press Service, We are in the midst of preparations for a series of additional operations inside Israel, despite Israels warning to Hezbollah, who might go on another adventure. Malach also told TPS that his group was responsible for a roadside bombing at the Megiddo Junction in northern Israel on March 13 which injured an Israeli motorist. The man who planted the bomb was subsequently killed by Israeli soldiers while driving back toward the Lebanese border. Explosives and a weapon were found in the vehicle and the terrorist reportedly wore a suicide bomb belt. We are responsible for the Megiddo operation and have been active since 2004 in an effort to bring about the liberation of the Galilee, in the first stage, said Malach. The organization also took responsibility for the Megiddo operation on March 13, on Telegram channels in which texts and videos were combined under its name. Malach did not offer any new evidence to support his claim. Israel believes Hezbollah was responsible for the attack. Malach claimed that unlike Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Galilean Wolves have not been co-opted by Iran. We are in contact with the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front in Syria, but we do not represent countries like Iran, but only the Palestinian interest, he insisted. The Palestinian Authority does not represent the Palestinian people, but only the groups that work against Israel. However, Arab reports indicate that the group is loyal to Syrian President Assad and has participated in numerous battles against Syrian rebels, and receives weapons and training from Iran and Hezbollah. Members of the Wolves are said to be Palestinians from refugee camps in Syria. HTS evicts families of foreign militants from houses in Syrias Idleb North Press reported that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) has issued eviction notices to 24 families of foreign militants from the Firqat al-Ghuraba group, comprising French and Belgian nationals, residing in Idleb Governorate, northwest Syria. The HTS claims that these families are affiliated with their institutions and must vacate their homes. Firqat al-Ghuraba is an active jihadist group associated with al-Qaeda, operating in opposition-held areas within Idleb Governorate. It predominantly consists of foreign militants from Europe, including its leader who hails from France or Belgium. According to a security source from HTS in Harem, a town west of Idlib, the Shura Council, which leads the HTS, ordered the eviction of 24 French and Belgian families. The move is aimed at exerting control over Firqat al-Ghuraba militants and compelling them to operate under HTS authority. The source further revealed that the foreign families have already started gathering their belongings and setting up tents on the outskirts of Harem to join other expelled foreign families who relocated there in early June. The Development Office of HTS in Harem estimates that the towns of Harem and Salqin are home to approximately 125 families of foreign militants from the Firqat al-Ghuraba group. On June 1st, the HTS transferred four foreign detainees, including a French national, from Prison 107 in Ideib city to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey in northern Idlib. This transfer was a prelude to handing them over to Turkish intelligence. In recent times, the HTS has intensified its crackdown on foreign militants who are not aligned with their group. Numerous foreign militants, desired by Ankara, are held in HTS prisons, though the purpose behind their detention remains unknown. Since its establishment in 2017, the HTS has maintained control over the city of Idlib and the western countryside of Aleppo, operating under the political and administrative umbrella of the Salvation Government. How Israel lost the Syrian civil war In a long-detailed article, the Jewish News Syndicate argued that the survival of the Assad regime in Syria has resulted in strategic failure for Israel, as it faces increased threats and challenges, including the growing influence of Iran, the establishment of supply routes for Hezbollah, and the encirclement of Israel with missiles, presenting a long-term risk to Israeli security. The article, written by Ehud Yaari, discussed Israels perceived loss in the Syrian civil war. The article emphasizes the survival of the Assad regime in Syria as a strategic failure for Israel. It suggests that with Assads survival and his alliance with Iran, Israel now faces increased threats and challenges. The article highlights the potential consequences of Assads survival, including Irans growing influence in Syria, the establishment of land and air corridors for supplying Hezbollah with precision-guided missiles, and the smuggling of weapons and drugs into Jordan and Palestinian territories. It also mentions Irans long-term plan to encircle Israel with an iron ring of missiles and the assistance provided to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in developing rockets. The author mentions that Israels short-term tactical calculations, such as carrying out airstrikes against Iranian targets in Syria, have ignored the longer-term risks. Iran remains determined to deploy long- and medium-range missiles in Syria, supported by air defence systems. The article outlines Qassem Soleimanis strategic plan to gradually strangle Israel by deploying irregular forces and strong militias with large quantities of rockets and missiles. The article reflects on Israels initial response to the Syrian civil war, where it chose a policy of non-interference and refrained from supporting the rebels. Israel was concerned about the potential rise of jihadist militias and the chaos that could follow Assads downfall. The United States also aimed to prevent a clear-cut victory for Assad, which led to a policy of freezing the situation. The article discusses missed opportunities for Israel to deal a significant blow to Assad, either through airstrikes or covert operations, before the Russian intervention in Syria. It also mentions discussions with the Druze and Kurdish minorities in Syria but concludes that these initiatives did not lead to significant outcomes. The present situation is described, highlighting the control regained by Assad with the support of Russia, Iranian-sponsored militias, and local forces. While Israel has avoided targeting the Assad regime, it has continued to target Iranian facilities and convoys. Irans military presence in Syria has gradually expanded, and its efforts may accelerate if the United States reduces its military presence in the region. In conclusion, the article suggests that Israel has no choice but to vigorously thwart Irans efforts to overpower it. It acknowledges the risks involved and highlights the need for Israel to counteract Qassem Soleimanis strategic plan. OceanGate Expeditions, the company offering dives to the wreck of the Titanic, has identified the five crew members aboard the missing submarine. The crew now faces the risk of hypothermia and oxygen loss. The people onboard the sub named Titan were identified as OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who acts as Titan's captain, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British billionaire Hamish Harding, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Sulaiman. The Titan was last seen being towed by her mothership MV Polar Prince from the port of St. John's, Newfoundland, on Canada's Atlantic coast on June 17 and was launched early morning the next day (June 18). The last time the Polar Prince received communication from the sub was when she last "pinged" while directly above the Titanic wreck. Families Hope for the Best, Fear for the Worst The families of the passengers expressed their concern regarding their relatives on board the Titan. The Dawood family, one of the richest in Pakistan with business connections with the UK, said they are "grateful for the concern being shown by [their] colleagues and friends." They also ask the public to pray for the safety of all on board while respecting the family's privacy. Meanwhile, Harding's stepson Brian Szasz confirmed on Facebook his stepfather was on board the Titan. "Thoughts and prayers for my stepfather Hamish Harding as his submarine has gone missing exploring Titanic," he said. Read Also: Titanic Shipwreck Unveiled in Unprecedented Detail with High-Resolution 3D Scan Submarine Experts: Time is Running Out for Sub's Passengers RMS Titanic Inc. senior adviser David Gallo told CNN time is running out for the passengers of the missing sub if they would not be able to come back to the ocean surface. He said the journey from the surface to the Titanic would take roughly "two and a half hours." "Certainly, time is against us at this point," he assessed. "The only thing that we can say is that everything that can be done is being done." It is believed the Titan has enough oxygen to last underwater until 07:00 US Eastern Time (11:00 UTC) on June 22. There are also fears the Titan was too deep for a manned rescue sub and that the only way to reach the crew was using a remote-operated vehicle that could reach a maximum depth of 20,000ft (almost 6,100m). Gallo said if the Titan would be located, the rescue crew would find it difficult to rescue the passengers on board. As for the cause of the loss of communication, experts currently have varied scenarios in mind ranging from a simple loss of power to a catastrophic failure to its pressure housing. Rescue Efforts The US and Canadian Coast Guards are racing against time as they conduct a joint search and rescue operation to find the Titan. "We have to make sure that we're looking on both the surface -- using aerial and surface vessels -- but [also] expanding into underwater search as well," said US Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger in a news conference Monday (June 19). This is a developing story. Please check back on HNGN later for more updates. Related Article: Titanic Tourist Sub Goes Missing in Atlantic @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Five local members of the Hezbollah militia lost their lives due to the explosion of their truck, according to Orient Net. 15 local contractors associated with Lebanese Hezbollah militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards were killed or wounded when an explosive device detonated inside a car they were travelling in a town recognized as a stronghold of the Revolutionary Guards west of Deir-ez-Zor city. According to our correspondent in Deir-ez-Zor, Zain al-Abidine al-Okaidi, 5 local members of the Hezbollah militia lost their lives, while ten others sustained injuries in the incident. The explosion occurred when an explosive device, planted in an Inter medium-sized truck that the group was using, went off in the town of al-Baghiliya. Okaidi stated that the truck was transporting approximately 18 Hezbollah members who belonged to the communications branch of the Deir-ez-Zor military airport garrison. They were returning from a military training course at the time of the incident. The victims of the blast were all residents of Deir ez-Zor, including two members from Jufra, as well as one member each from Harabesh, Mohassan, and al-Busaira, according to local sources in the area cited by our correspondent. Among those identified as deceased in the explosion were Hudhaifa al-Faraj, Mohammed al-Anzi, and Ahmed al-Abdullah. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. RAINIER A person died in a two-vehicle crash that closed all lanes on U.S Route 30 about 6 miles east of Rainier early Tuesday. The accident was reported by officials around 6:30 a.m. and occurred near milepost 41. Capt. Kyle Kennedy of the Oregon State Police did not provide additional details, including the deceased persons name, but said a press release about the crash will be issued Wednesday. Before the crash was cleared, the Oregon Department of Transportation advised drivers that a detour was being constructed to allow the crash to be cleared and reconstructed. At the time, ODOT spokesperson Don Hamilton told The Daily News he could not confirm if any injuries resulted in the crash but that a crash reconstruction is only done in the most serious circumstances. A Longview woman is under suspicion of first-degree arson after allegedly starting a fire inside her apartment building, located west of Lake Sacajawea and off Washington Way. Jennifer Lee Hedgecock, 54, is set to be arraigned Thursday. She is being held in Cowlitz County Jail without bail on a 10.77 hold for mental health. Court notes state she did not understand the proceedings during her first appearance last Wednesday. On June 13, Longview police responded to an apartment building in the 800 block of 30th Avenue after a tenant reported Hedgecock placed clothes outside the door of another tenant and lit the garments on fire, according to the probable cause statement. The same person who called 911 also told dispatch he extinguished the blaze, but while en route to the scene, police were told the fire reignited. The victim, who needed to be evaluated for smoke inhalation, told authorities she could hear Hedgecock yelling and striking her apartment door, and she yelled back for her to stop. When the victim finally opened the door, she saw flames and shut the door, the report states. Hedgecock also lived in the apartment building and the victim knew her. The Longview Fire Department informed police that smoke filled the victims room down to at least the level of her bed, and charred the victims door, floor and wall outside of the victims apartment, according to the police report. Hedgecock reportedly fled from the scene, and was later spotted by police walking westbound in the 3100 block of Washington Way. While being arrested, Hedgecock allegedly started to spit at officers, and kneed one in between their legs. After being brought to the ground, a spit hood was placed over her head, the report states. Police reportedly found a lighter in one of Hedgecocks pockets, and she rambled incoherently while talking to police. A high-speed police pursuit that went through Lewis and Cowlitz counties reportedly ended with the driver being arrested in Portland late Sunday night. The chase started at 8 p.m., Sunday, after police observed a suspected impaired driver traveling south on Interstate 5 in Lewis County, according to Washington State Patrol spokesperson Will Finn. Just before entering Cowlitz County, the suspect allegedly struck another vehicle near milepost 58 near the county line and kept traveling. Finn said the suspect at times drove between 80 to 100 mph and was finally apprehended by officers of the Portland Police Bureau and Washington State Patrol troopers in the Portland area. Finn could not provide the suspects name and the Portland police could not be reached by deadline. When law enforcement arrested the suspect after a foot chase, there was a laceration on one of his arms, Finn said. Kalama and Kelso Police Department also assisted in the chase. The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution has taken the world by storm. The emergence of AI tools such as ChatGPT and Google Bard has had a profound impact on how we access and process information, with everything now available with just a prompt and click. While these amazing tools can help us in accomplishing simple tasks in our daily lives, they can also help uncover the secrets of the past. A new and groundbreaking AI project, by a team of archaeologists and computer scientists from Israel, aims to do exactly that by translating a nearly 5000-year-old writing system into English in a manner of seconds, meaning it is a supercharged version of Google Translate! Translating Akkadian Cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script with characteristic wedge-shaped impressions that is over 5000 years old. It was in use from the bronze age to the common era, a period that last nearly 3000 years but hasn't been used in 2000 years. There are millions of clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform in museums, libraries, and galleries today. However, due to the extremely low number of Akkadian readers, translating them into understandable language today has been difficult, but not anymore. The Google Translate-like tool was developed as a thesis project at Tel Aviv University. In a research published in the peer-reviewed PNAS Nexus, from the Oxford University Press, Gai Gutherz, a computer scientist who was part of the team that developed the program said, What's so amazing about it is that I don't need to understand Akkadian at all to translate [a tablet] and get what's behind the cuneiform. I can just use the algorithm to understand and discover what the past has to say. Developing the AI tool According to the research, the AI tool uses a mathematical formula known as Neural Machine Translation (NMT), an artificial neural network that is used to translate text from one language to another. While it is difficult to judge what a good translation is, researchers used a machine translation evaluation tool called Best Bilingual Evaluation Understudy 4 (BLEU4) to determine the accuracy. Accurate BLEU4 scores range from 0-100 with 0 being the lowest and 100 being perfect, which is unprecedented. The Akkadian translation tool returned a score of 36.52 for cuneiform to English, and a score of 37.47 for transliterated cuneiform to English, which is fairly good, according to Gutherz. Hurdles faced Since the language is so old, the biggest challenge was to find material to train the AI model on. Researchers combed through images of Cuneiform tablets and even drew samples from an online database from the University of Pennsylvania called Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC). The AI model was trained on 50,544 sentences while 2,808 sentences each were reserved for validation and testing purposes. Moreover, Akkadian was used for over 3000 years, which led to vast differences in the cuneiform symbols and even dialects during this period, which added to the complexity of translating such an old writing system. Where to get it? If you wish to try this groundbreaking AI tool, then an early demo version of it is available on The Babylon Engine. Moreover, if you wish to develop a tool like this of your own, then you can find its source code on GitHub on Akkademia and the Colaboratory. Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India launched the new OBD2 compliant 2023 Shine 125. The new Shine 125 is attractively priced starting at Rs. 79,800 (ex-showroom Delhi). Speaking on the launch of new OBD2 compliant 2023 Shine 125, Mr. Tsutsumu Otani President, CEO & Managing Director, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said, Leading the 125cc motorcycle segment, the success of brand Shine is a testimony to the love and trust of our customers. As we launch the 2023 Shine 125, I am confident, it will create a new benchmark in its segment and further strengthen our position. Introducing the new OBD2 compliant 2023 Shine125, Mr. Yogesh Mathur, Director, Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said, Since introduction, brand Shine has always been synonymous to trust and reliability. With Hondas superior technology, advanced features and the special 10-year warranty package, new Shine offers irresistible value and peace of mind to the customers. Next Generation Technology At the heart of 2023 Shine 125 ticks BSVI OBD2 compliant Hondas trusted 125cc PGM-FI engine, boosted by Enhanced Smart Power (eSP). New Shine125 brings future technology to the present- the Sophisticated, Precise & Sensitive Enhanced Smart Power (eSP). Enhanced Smart Power (eSP) is an integration of the following: Unique Honda ACG Starter: It starts the engine jolt free via the same AC generator used to generate current and charge the battery while riding. This eliminates the need for a conventional starter motor, thus, there are no gear meshing noises. Two mechanical features lead to engine start without applying much force the first being efficient utilisation ofdecompression with slightly opened exhaust valves (at the beginning of compression stroke) followed by the Swing Backfeature which rotates the engine in a slightly opposite direction allowing the piston to take a running start, making it easier to start the engine with a small amount of power. Programmed Fuel Injection (PGM-FI): The system uses onboard sensors to constantly inject optimum fuel and air mixture which aids consistent power output, high fuel efficiency & less emissions. Friction Reduction: The piston cooling jet reduces friction & maintains optimum engine temperature. The offset cylinder and use of rocker roller arm reduce the frictional loss which not only helps in smooth and better power output, but also improves fuel efficiency. Next Level Comfort & Convenience New Shine 125 comes with a 5-Speed transmission which gives a smoother and efficient ride. DC headlamp provides constant illumination without fluctuation which makes riding over rough roads & low speeds during night more convenient. The two-way functioning Engine Start/Stop Switch can be used to start the engine when pressed downwards and acts as an engine kill switch when pressed upward. Integrated Headlamp beam & passing switch provides the convenience of controlling high beam/low beam & passing signal from one single switch. 5-Step Adjustable Rear Suspension can be adjusted as per road conditions for a smoother ride. It also comes with Seal Chain which needs less frequent adjustments and low maintenance. Making every ride on the new Shine 125 comfortable and convenient, is the Combi-Brake System (CBS) with equalizer. High Ground Clearance of 162mm inspires rider confidence and comfort. Long wheelbase of 1285mm improves overall stability and balance. A 651mm long seat smoothly integrated with the fuel tank provides ample space for comfortable long-distance travel. External fuel pump fitted outside the fuel tank reduces the maintenance time as it is easily accessible. Shine 125 comes with high quality tubeless tyres which reduces the chances of immediate deflation in case of a puncture. Grand Style Statement The new Shine 125 makes rider feel Amazing and sophisticated. Bold Front visor with chrome garnish, Premium Chrome Stroke on Side Covers, Magnificent Graphics and attractive Chrome Muffler Cover enhance the looks. The simple yet sophisticated meter design, smart tail lamp and trendy black alloys add a class of distinctiveness which leaves a lasting impression. HMSI is offering a special 10-year warranty package (3 years standard + 7 years optional extended warranty) on 2023 Shine125. Aalok Kumar, Corporate Officer & Sr VP Head of the Global Smart City Business, NEC Corporation, and President & CEO, NEC Corporation India, has been appointed as a member of the Asian Development Banks (ADB) High-level Advisory Group on Digital Technology for Development with effect from May 1, 2023. The eight-member group, consisting of global industry leaders in digital technology and academicians, is committed to further accelerating the utilization of ICT technology among ADB activities for developing countries. Kumar takes on this role from Katsumi Emura, former NEC Corporation Fellow, one of the founding members of the group. Carrying Emuras legacy forward, Kumar will leverage his decades of experience and wide range of knowledge in providing strategic counsel towards the optimal adoption of digital technologies for ADB to carry out its developmental work. Commenting on the appointment, Kumar said, I feel humbled to have been elected to represent NEC Corporation as part of Asian Development Banks High-level Advisory Group on Digital Technology. I look forward to the opportunity to work alongside this esteemed group of industry luminaries to help develop strong strategies for ADB to carry out critical developmental work in Asian countries, cutting across multiple focus areas. Asian Development Bank was established in 1966 as a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. This advisory group was founded in 2019, with a core purpose to help devise digital strategies on ADBs operational priorities, as defined in ADB Strategy 2030. These priorities include addressing poverty, reducing inequality, mitigating climate change, bridging the gender gap, and making cities liveable. These are in alignment with NECs own vision and priority areas for its work in the developing world, and in that regard, this appointment serves as an opportunity for NEC Corporation to accelerate and further cement its efforts towards solving the challenges of the developing world. This accelerates NECs mission of Orchestrating a brighter world bringing immeasurable impact in societies leveraging the power of technology, Kumar further added. An alumnus of St. Stephens College, Delhi and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Aalok Kumar brings nearly three decades of experience in senior leadership roles in business transformation, performance improvement, and margin expansion. Prior to taking up the mantle as the President and CEO of NEC India in 2020, he served as the Senior Vice President of McKinsey & Company. He has also worked in companies that include GE Healthcare, GE Capital and ABN Amro Bank. Oracles new EU Sovereign Cloud is now open, and it will help private and public sector organizations across the European Union gain more control over data privacy and sovereignty requirements. One of the first cloud offerings designed to address the EUs emerging regulatory landscape, Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud gives customers the services and capabilities of Oracle Cloud Infrastructures (OCI) public cloud regions with the same prices, support, and service level agreements (SLAs) to run all workloads. Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud is located entirely within the EU, supported by EU-based personnel, and operated by separate legal entities incorporated within the EU. Part of OCIs distributed cloud strategy, EU Sovereign Cloud provides a new option to help meet regulatory requirements, complementing hybrid and dedicated cloud strategies. Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud is well-suited to host digital businesses operating in heavily regulated industries. Customers with data and applications that are sensitive, regulated, or of strategic regional importance, as well as workloads that fall under EU guidelines and requirements for sovereignty and data privacy, such as the general data protection regulation (GDPR), can now move to the cloud. EU Sovereign Cloud will help digital transformation efforts across critical industries such as healthcare, financial services (including banking and insurance), telecommunications, and the public sector, as customers hosted data remains within the EU member states and the cloud regions are operated solely by EU-based personnel. The European Union technology landscape has changed dramatically due to the growing importance of data protection and localization, leading to increased demand for sovereign cloud solutions that can securely host sensitive customer data and comply with regulations such as GDPR, said Richard Smith, executive vice president, Technology, EMEA, Oracle. Our goal is to meet customers wherever they are in their cloud journey and with Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud, customers in highly regulated industries, as well as those subject to certain country-specific legislation, can now accelerate their cloud strategies. Delivers the Same Services as Oracles Public Cloud at the Same Price Available for customers in all 27 member states of the EU and globally, Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud offers 100+ cloud services available in Oracles public cloud with no premium fees for the sovereignty capabilities, and with the same SLAs on performance, management, and availability. Oracle customers can also gain access to other customer programs such as Oracle Support Rewards. In addition, Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications Suite, which is currently available in the EU Restricted Access (EURA) offering, is planned to be available in the Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud soon. Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud also helps organizations in regulated industries and governments embrace new artificial intelligence (AI) techniques such as generative AI. Organizations have faced major challenges that prevented the use of existing generative AI offerings, including data residency and regulatory requirements preventing them from leveraging AI infrastructure in the public cloud to develop the models required for generative AI. By offering the services and capabilities of Oracles public cloud, Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud enables public sector organizations to use AI infrastructure in a cloud that aligns with EU data residency and sovereignty requirements. Designed and Operated for EU Data Privacy and Sovereignty The new sovereign cloud region operates under a comprehensive set of policies and governance that further enhance OCIs existing internal capabilities for data residency, security, privacy, and compliance. These policies include a framework for data and operational sovereignty, including how OCI stores and manages access to data, and how data access from entities outside the EU are handled. The Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud data centers are located in the EU (Frankfurt, Germany and Madrid, Spain), and they are owned and operated by separate Oracle-owned EU legal entities incorporated within the EU, with operations and customer support restricted to EU-based personnel. Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud builds on Oracle Clouds existing compliance programs that enable customers to demonstrate adherence to regional and industry regulations. It also aligns with EU monitoring regulations, and guidance that limits data transfers out of the EU (such as Court of Justice for EU Schrems II Ruling and European Data Protection Board). In addition, OCIs extensive network of more than 85 global and regional OCI FastConnect partners offers organizations dedicated connectivity to Oracle Cloud Regions and OCI services. Digital Realty is the host partner for the EU Sovereign Cloud region location in Madrid, and Equinix is the host partner for the region location in Frankfurt. FastConnect partners available at launch include Arelion, DE-CIX, Digital Realty, Equinix, and InterCloud. Separated Architecture Helps Enforce Data Security and Strengthens Sovereignty Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud is designed for data residency and security with an architecture that shares no infrastructure with Oracles commercial regions in the EU and that has no backbone network connection to Oracles other cloud regions. Customer access to Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud is managed separately from access to Oracle Clouds commercial regions. Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud is designed for high availability within each cloud region and consists of two cloud regions to support disaster recovery architectures within the boundaries of the EU. Each region comprises three fault domains to help avoid grouping workloads on the same physical hardware. Consequently, any hardware failure or compute hardware maintenance in only one fault domain will not impact instances located in other fault domains. With operations, support, and policies that are distinct from Oracles commercial cloud, Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud helps streamline and simplify customer compliance with EU data privacy and sovereignty guidelines and requirements. In addition, by ensuring that customer data is contained within the EU without requiring additional customer configuration via complex policy tools, Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud helps accelerate customer deployments while lowering risk. New OCI Key Management Services Provide Additional Layer of Data Protection and Help Customers Meet Compliance Requirements To help customers further secure their data and address data sovereignty requirements, OCI is introducing two new key management services available across all Oracle Cloud Regions, including EU Sovereign Cloud: OCI Dedicated Key Management Service and OCI External Key Management Service. OCI External Key Management is built in partnership with the Thales Group and lets customers encrypt their data using encryption keys that are created and managed by the customer outside of OCI. These encryption keys always stay within custody of the customer and are never imported into OCI, enabling customers to move regulated workloads to OCI that require control over the physical storage of keys outside the cloud. OCI Dedicated Key Management gives customers control over their encryption keys by using a dedicated, single-tenant Hardware Security Module (HSM) provisioned within OCI. Customers, Partners, and Analysts Welcome Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud Having cloud services with data centers that are located in the EU and operated, updated, and supported by EU residents, while maintaining isolation from non-EU cloud regions, is an important part of our cloud adoption, said Jarkko Levasma, government CIO, director general, Ministry of Finance of Finland. This will open up possibilities to adopt infrastructure, platform, and software as a service in Finland for the government. Oracle is one of Telefonica Techs strategic partners and we are collaborating on numerous cloud projects, supporting the digitalization of the economy, said Maria Jesus Almazor, CEO, cyber security and cloud, Telefonica Tech. Oracles commitment to Spain, launching a region in our geography, and its sovereign cloud strategy across Europe is very good news for our customers throughout the EU, as sovereignty is key to the digitalization of regulated industries. At DXC we want to congratulate Oracle for the upcoming launch of the EU Sovereign Cloud. This initiative removes barriers to the adoption of cloud services by customers that until now have not been able to embrace cloud, as they were subject to strict compliance restrictions on data processing, said Jorge Pastana, alliances & cloud business development director, DXC Technology. With this new offering, Oracle further facilitates access to high-quality and secure solutions, allowing both private and public organizations to take full advantage of the benefits of the cloud without compromising the integrity and confidentiality of information. It is a remarkable achievement that will fuel technological advancement and strengthen confidence in the digital age. This is a major announcement that has great significance for the Oracle / Kyndryl alliance and will help us leverage Oracles cloud technology. It will remove some of the barriers to public cloud adoption through the concept of sovereign cloud and will comply with regulations and data governance, said David Soto, president, Spain and Portugal, Kyndryl. At Kyndryl, we believe that this announcement and our strong partnership will enable us to help our customers and reinforce our position as a market leader in mission-critical systems management and transformation services. IDC continues to see significant growth in the use of public cloud for mission-critical workloads across major industries. At the same time, data protection laws as well as other regulations that mandate compliance also continue to evolve, said Rahiel Nasir, associate research director, European cloud practice, IDC. All this requires organizations to have greater visibility and control over strategic data assets across their operations. Sovereign cloud services, such as Oracles EU Sovereign Cloud, are designed to give enterprises greater control and protection of their critical data assets. They also aim to help customer organizations comply with data residency rules and regulatory requirements while continuing to take full advantage of the benefits of cloud and digital transformation. Omdias data shows that organizations are increasingly adopting a strategic cloud strategy, such as multicloud infrastructure. This approach is helping businesses across Europe digitalize their operations and drive innovation. But the rise of multicloud does present new challenges for enterprises especially industries impacted by increasing regulation or jurisdictional control of data, said Roy Illsey, chief analyst, Omdia. Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud addresses European data privacy and sovereignty requirements in all 27 EU member states and is designed to support businesses in heavily regulated industries looking after sensitive data and applications as well as workloads that fall under EU privacy requirements. 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: VideoFlow/Shutterstock With the release of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT in November last year, the world of machine learning and AI has opened up to anyone who wants to use the bot to answer questions. And when OpenAIthe company behind ChatGPTreleased its latest language model last March, it meant people could help guide its responses with specific material such as business documents on any topic. While ChatGPT may not be able to produce the most creative responses, this could help with time-consuming, but important, processes like writing policies for quality management, data protection, or equality, diversity and inclusion. Since this generative AI technology is so new, there isn't a lot of research about how it can be used by companies yet. So we conducted an experiment to see what kind of help an AI assistant like ChatGPT could provide when it comes to writing policies. We found that, although it didn't give the most creative responses, ChatGPT could be a useful tool for helping small businesses to create standard HR policy documents. Missing or poorly-written business policies can cause problems for companies and confusion for employees. Policies must be precise and clear to avoid ambiguity and to be understood by readers such as employees. They should also align with an organization's typical communication style. Policies may also need to use specific vocabulary if external standards are being followed in areas like quality management for products and services offered. We used seven equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) policies from a range of organizations, including a public health authority, a university, a large construction firm, a cultural organization and a charity, to create an index of these documents. The different policies reflect a range of sectors and sizes but we kept the sample small to align with the likely time and resource constraints of a smaller organization without a dedicated HR team. We also included a "nonsense" control paper, completely unrelated to EDI, in our experiment to see how much the EDI materials we shared influenced the ChatGPT responses. This also helped determine when the AI was "hallucinating"or making up plausible results based on little or no evidence. The first test First, we prompted the general ChatGPT (so, we didn't ask it to draw on our index of EDI papers) with the following question: "What are the five most important considerations for an equity, diversity and inclusion policy?" The image below shows its response: These results appear reasonable and were drawn from the general knowledge of the ChatGPT modela large language model that's trained on the contents of the public internet at a particular moment in time. This means that, among the vast collection of documents that ChatGPT has been trained upon, enough EDI policies are included to generalize five points in a style that reflects wording commonly found in such documents. Asking the same query coupled with the index from the seven existing EDI policies produced a far more concise list of responses. Summarizing individual documents is a relatively straightforward task, but synthesizing the contents of seven different policies can only be done with accuracy by an AI-based tool up to a point. For example, one of its points was: "supporting the policy with the Board of Trustees and senior management". But not all of the organizations whose policies we included in the sample have a board of trustees. A tougher test Next, we set a harder task: "use the summary bullets to write the introduction to an equity, diversity and inclusion policy for a small consulting company called Thrip and Wear Associates." (Fictitious company name created for the purposes of this experiment.) ChatGPT produced very similar results both when it used our index of policies and when it didn't. Its first paragraph showed potential, using inclusive pronouns and including a series of statements that set out good practice. But by the second and third sentences a preference for joining separate points with "and" indicated a fairly mechanical reworking of the previous bullet points. "Thrip and Wear Associates is committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace that encourages and celebrates the unique contributions of all our employees. We are dedicated to providing equal opportunities for all employees and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination. We strive to create an environment where everyone feels respected and valued, and where each employee can reach their full potential." This simplistic reworking was further confirmed by the inclusion of lengthy comma lists relating to protected characteristics (age, pregnancy and so on) and working conditions. The risk here is that these items won't be read as examples but as a comprehensive list of what is included in a company's policy, implying other characteristics or attributes are excluded. After this, the AI gave up and stopped generating responses. It had run out of memory trying to list people who might engage in behaviors that run counter to an EDI policy: fellow employees, clients, stakeholders, suppliers, visitorsa list that could arguably include anyone. Solving challenges with ChatGPT We then presented details of a made-up clothing manufacturer and challenged ChatGPT to list the key actions for a new EDI policy for the company. We gave details such as the number and gender ratio of employees and managers, but no data on employee backgrounds or EDI policies. ChatGPT's response repeated the points it had listed for the key themes it had previously found within the existing seven EDI policies. It's difficult to fault this. It's a plausible way to tackle the problems posed by the scenario, and why should the response be new or offer more than the previous answer? Our prompt certainly didn't ask for any creativity. Company policies aim to create a safe middle ground. They sift out extremes, encourage consistent, desirable behavior and sideline isolated views or contrary perspectives. Just the kind of thing ChatGPT and similar technologies excel at reproducing. But the similarities in the responses between our index/prompt combination of EDI polices and the examples from the normal ChatGPT interface shows there is no need for additional input, training or coding to use ChatGPT to create something like an EDI policy that is so regularly found online. In fact, our experiment suggested that our efforts at indexing specific EDI policies actually constrained the technology. As such, the general ChatGPT interface works best for business policy writing. The last test Finally, to ensure ChatGPT was using the indexed EDI documents, we challenged it to produce a haiku based on the policies. Its response: Equal rights for all Diversity and inclusion A better future awaits. This answer certainly ticks a lot of EDI boxes when it comes to vocabulary, but it doesn't really mean much. This is something organizations should remember as they experiment with AI to make working life easier: right now this technology works best as a support to the real people operating it, rather than a replacement. 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: A 2023 R1T pickup truck is charged in a bay at a Rivian delivery and service center Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023, in Denver. Electric vehicle maker Rivian says it will follow General Motors and Ford and join Tesla's charging network next year. The startup truck, SUV and delivery van maker says Tuesday, June 20, that like GM and Ford, it will include ports with Teslas connector on future Rivian vehicles starting in 2025. Credit: AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File Electric vehicle maker Rivian says it will follow General Motors and Ford and join Tesla's charging network next year. The startup truck, SUV and delivery van maker says Tuesday that like GM and Ford, it also will adopt Tesla's charging connector, another step toward making it the industry standard. Existing Rivian vehicles will need an adapter to link to a Tesla charger. But Rivian says vehicles manufactured in 2025 and beyond will come standard with a Tesla charging port. It is another domino to fall as the auto industry considers switching to Tesla's connector, which it calls the North American Charging Standard. At present, nearly all automakers other than Tesla use what is called a CCS connector developed with the Society of Automotive Engineers. Tesla's Superchargers are coveted by other automakers because it has more direct current fast-charging plugs in the U.S. than any other network, and its stations are in prime locations along freeway travel corridors. Other automakers also are looking into the switch. On Monday, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said his company's U.S. teams are studying the change and will make a decision in a few weeks. Tesla electric vehicles are charged at a charging station in Anaheim, Calif., Friday, June 9, 2023. Owners of General Motors and Ford electric vehicles will be able charge at many of Tesla's large network of stations across the U.S. starting next year. Credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong "We right now are evaluating that possibility," Tavares said in a brief interview with The Associated Press. "It can have good things and bad things." He said the good things are being evaluated, and the bad things include dependence on Tesla. Currently Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, has no fully electric vehicles on sale in the U.S., but it does sell three plug-in gas-electric hybrids that can go short distances on battery power. The company plans to sell an electric commercial van this year, followed by an electric Ram pickup and other vehicles. Rivian is a relatively small player in the U.S. automotive market, selling just under 30,000 vehicles from 2021 through the first quarter of this year. But the Irvine, California, company is viewed as a key Tesla competitor. Like GM and Ford, Rivian owners will get access to more than 12,000 Tesla Supercharger plugs. In the U.S., Tesla has 1,797 Supercharger stations and more than 19,000 plugs, according to the Department of Energy. Tesla's EV charging connector is pictured at a charging station in Anaheim, Calif., Friday, June 9, 2023. Owners of General Motors and Ford electric vehicles will be able charge at many of Tesla's large network of stations across the U.S. starting next year. Credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong Since the stations are direct current fast-chargers, they can charge EVs relatively quickly as people travel. ChargePoint has the biggest charging network in the U.S. with more than 32,000 stations and 55,000 plugs, but most of them are Level 2 chargers that can take up to eight hours to get a battery up to a full charge. The Energy Department says there are about 54,000 public charging stations nationwide with more than 136,000 plugs. While most are slower Level 2 chargers, the network of DC fast chargers is growing. Still, industry analysts say there is growing momentum to switch to Tesla's connector to become the standard in the U.S., although vehicles likely will need to be able to use both connectors for a while. GM and Ford say they're not paying Tesla anything for access to the network, but owners will pay Tesla to charge just like any other charging system. A Combined Charging System (CCS) plug is photographed at an EV charging station in Anaheim, Calif., Friday, June 9, 2023. Currently in the U.S. there mainly are two types of EV charging plugs, Tesla's North American Charging Standard, and CCS1, which is now used by nearly all other automakers but Tesla. Credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong A Combined Charging System (CCS) connector is plugged into an electric vehicle at a charging station in Anaheim, Calif., Friday, June 9, 2023. Currently in the U.S. there mainly are two types of EV charging plugs, Tesla's North American Charging Standard, and CCS1, which is now used by nearly all other automakers but Tesla. Credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong Tesla electric vehicles are charged at a charging station in Anaheim, Calif., Friday, June 9, 2023. Owners of General Motors and Ford electric vehicles will be able charge at many of Tesla's large network of stations across the U.S. starting next year. Credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong Tesla's EV charging connector is plugged into an electric vehicle at a charging station in Anaheim, Calif., Friday, June 9, 2023. Owners of General Motors and Ford electric vehicles will be able charge at many of Tesla's large network of stations across the U.S. starting next year. Credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong Rivian said in a statement that in addition to joining Tesla's network, it will continue to expand its own charging system, where it will incorporate Tesla's connector. Shares of Tesla closed Tuesday up 5.3%. They're up about 40% since Ford first announced it would join the charging network on May 25. 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. The discovery of investigations into the drugging of preschoolers in Taiwan has caused significant worry on the island. Teachers at a kindergarten in New Taipei City are allegedly sedating children with cough syrups that contain benzodiazepines and phenobarbital, according to BBC News. According to police, it is unclear why the children were given the addicting syrups after weeks of investigation. The controversy, however, has prompted family rallies in front of government offices. On Sunday, hundreds of people rallied in New Taipei City to demand greater transparency from the police inquiry. Many protesters criticized the government for keeping information from the public. Another Drugging Incident in Taiwan? On the opposite end of the island, in the southern city of Kaohsiung, another story involving a medical practice surfaced on Monday. (Photo: by SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images) In this photo taken on January 26, 2021, kindergarten children are cared for by their teachers at Taipei Municipal Municipal Laosong Elementary School in Taipei. - Few places have experienced quite as profound a demographic change as Taiwan, with the average Taiwanese woman in 1951 giving birth to seven children, now it is less than one. Four doctors were found guilty of misconduct and using phenobarbital improperly on roughly 20 youngsters by the local health agency. They received a six-month practicing ban and a fine of 1.4 million Taiwanese dollars (35,989, $46,121). Read also: 6-Year-Old from Illinois Drugged, Tortured and Killed by Stepfather and Mother What Taiwan is Doing Taipei City Hospital has now started providing free blood testing for preschoolers to screen for signs of sedatives in response to growing public concern. The actions follow the scandal's initial appearance in May when parents at a private preschool in New Taipei City accused staff members of giving their kids "unknown drugs" to ingest. In June, local authorities initiated an inquiry in response to more parent concerns. During this examination, it was discovered that at least eight kids had trace levels of the psychoactive medications phenobarbital and benzodiazepines in their systems. On June 12, a court ordered the Kid Castle Educational Institute franchise kindergarten at the center of the dispute to close. A fine of 150,000 Taiwanese dollars (3,800; $4,872) has been imposed on its directors. Police detained and interrogated the principal and five instructors; however, they were later freed on bond. There is an ongoing criminal inquiry. According to local media, the staff said that the parents had given their approval for a list of medications provided by the school, but several parents objected, questioning the medications the school was using. Although uncommon, some cough and gastrointestinal medications include phenobarbital, a Taiwanese pharmacist told the local media. Phenobarbital-containing medications are hard to come by and are mostly used to treat epilepsy or as a surgical anesthetic. The most popular usage of benzodiazepines, a type of depressive medication, is to treat extremely high levels of anxiety. The medicines are extremely addictive, and an overdose can cause fainting and breathing difficulties. Related article: Mexican Cartel Mistakenly Kidnaps Americans Who Traveled to Matamoros @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce 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: Lawmakers vote on the Artificial Intelligence act Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France. European Union consumer protection groups urged regulators on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, to investigate the type of artificial intelligence underpinning systems like ChatGPT, citing risks that leave people vulnerable and the delay before the blocs groundbreaking AI regulations take effect. Credit: AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File European Union consumer protection groups urged regulators on Tuesday to investigate the type of artificial intelligence underpinning systems like ChatGPT, citing risks that leave people vulnerable and the delay before the bloc's groundbreaking AI regulations take effect. In a coordinated effort, 13 watchdog groups wrote to their national consumer, data protection, competition and product safety authorities warning them about a range of concerns around generative artificial intelligence. A transatlantic coalition of consumer groups also wrote to U.S. President Joe Biden asking him to take action to protect consumers from possible harms caused by generative AI. Europe has led the world in efforts to regulate artificial intelligence, which gained urgency with the rise of a new breed of artificial intelligence that gives AI chatbots like ChatGPT the power to generate text, images, video and audio that resemble human work. The EU is putting the finishing touches on the world's first set of comprehensive rules for the technology, but they are not expected to take effect for two years. The groups called for European and U.S. leaders to use both existing laws and bring in new legislation to address the harms that generative AI can cause. They cited a report by the Norwegian Consumer Council outlining dangers that AI chatbots pose, including providing incorrect medical information, manipulating people, making up news articles and illegally using vast amounts of personal data scraped off the internet. The ChatGPT app is seen on an iPhone in New York, Thursday, May 18, 2023. Authorities worldwide are racing to rein in artificial intelligence, including in the European Union, where groundbreaking legislation is set to pass a key hurdle. European Parliament lawmakers are due to vote Wednesday, June 14 on the proposal, along with controversial facial recognition amendments. Credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew, file The consumer groups, in countries including Italy, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Greece and Denmark, warn that while the EU's AI Act addresses some of the concerns, they won't start applying for several years, "leaving consumers unprotected from a technology which is insufficiently regulated in the meantime, and developing at great pace." Some authorities have already acted. Italy's privacy watchdog ordered ChatGPT maker OpenAI to temporarily stop processing user's personal information while it investigated a possible data breach. France, Spain and Canada also have been looking into OpenAI and ChatGPT. 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 Taiwan's tech giant Foxconn and US-European carmaker Stellantis announced Tuesday that they have set up a joint venture to design and sell high-end automotive chips. SiliconAuto will be headquartered in the Netherlands with sales estimated to start in 2026, the firms said in a statement, without providing financial details. "SiliconAuto will provide customers an auto industry-centric source of semiconductors for the growing number of computer-controlled features and modules, particularly those needed for electric vehicles," the statement said. Semiconductors, which power everything from smartphones to toys to hypersonic missiles, became scarce during the coronavirus pandemic as factories shut but demand for electronics surged. Tech companies, including Foxconn, have increasingly looked to shift manufacturing away from China after strict COVID policies, a bout of industrial unrest and ongoing diplomatic tensions with the United States hurt production. Stellantis, the world's third-largest automaker by revenue, said last month that the easing global shortage of semiconductor supplies helped drive sales in the first quarter. Stellantis's electric vehicle sales jumped 22 percent year-on-year in the January-March period, and the group aims to have 47 all-electric models by the end of next year. Foxconnofficially Hon Hai Precision Industryis the world's biggest contract electronics manufacturer and a principal assembler of Apple's iPhones. Foxconn Chief Product Officer Jerry Hsiao said the new collaborative venture with Stellantis would see "a future of extraordinary EV mobility". 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: The researchers tested data transmission by laser over 53 kilometres from the Jungfraujoch to Zimmerwald near Bern. Credit: ETH Zurich Optical data communications lasers can transmit several tens of terabits per second, despite a huge amount of disruptive air turbulence. ETH Zurich scientists and their European partners demonstrated this capacity with lasers between the mountain peak, Jungfraujoch, and the city of Bern in Switzerland. This will soon eliminate the necessity of expensive deep-sea cables. The backbone of the internet is formed by a dense network of fiber-optic cables, each of which transports up to more than 100 terabits of data per second (1 terabit = 1012 digital 1/0 signals) between the network nodes. The connections between continents take place via deep sea networkswhich is an enormous expense: a single cable across the Atlantic requires an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars. TeleGeography, a specialized consulting firm, announced that there currently are 530 active undersea cablesand that number is on the rise. Soon, however, this expense may drop substantially. Scientists at ETH Zurich, working together with partners from the space industry, have demonstrated terabit optical data transmission through the air in a European Horizon 2020 project. In the future, this will enable much more costeffective and much faster backbone connections via near-earth satellite constellations. Their work is published in the journal Light: Science & Applications. Challenging conditions between the Jungfraujoch and Bern To achieve this milestone, the project partners took a significant leap forward in establishing a satellite optical communication link through a successful test conducted between the alpine mountain peak, Jungfraujoch, and the Swiss city of Bern. Although the laser system was not directly tested with an orbiting satellite, they accomplished high-data transmission over a free-space distance of 53km (33 miles). "For optical data transmission, our test route between the High Altitude Research Station on the Jungfraujoch and the Zimmerwald Observatory at the University of Bern is much more challenging than between a satellite and a ground station," explains Yannik Horst, the study's lead author and a researcher at ETH Zurich's Institute of Electromagnetic Fields headed by Professor Jurg Leuthold. The laser beam travels through the dense atmosphere near the ground. In the process, many factorsdiverse turbulence in the air over the high snow-covered mountains, the water surface of Lake Thun, the densely built-up Thun metropolitan area and the Aare planeinfluence the movement of the light waves and consequently also the transmission of data. The shimmering of the air, triggered by thermal phenomena, disturbs the uniform movement of light and can be seen on hot summer days by the naked eye. Satellite internet uses slow microwave transmission Internet connections via satellite are not anything new. The best-known example today is Elon Musk's Starlink, a network of more than 2,000 satellites orbiting close to the Earth that provides internet access to virtually every corner of the world. However, transmitting data between satellites and ground stations uses radio technologies, which are considerably less powerful. Like a wireless local area network (WLAN) or mobile communications, such technologies operate in the microwave range of the spectrum and thus have wavelengths measuring several centimeters. Laser optical systems, in contrast, operate in the near-infrared range with wavelengths of a few micrometers, which are about 10,000 times shorter. As a result, they can transport more information per unit of time. To ensure a strong enough signal by the time it reaches a distant receiver, the laser's parallel light waves are sent through a telescope that can measure several dozen centimeters in diameter. This wide beam of light must be precisely aimed at a receiving telescope with a diameter of the same order of magnitude as the width of the transmitted light beam upon arrival. Soon, satellites could replace expensive deep-sea cables as the internet backbone. Credit: ETH Zurich / Yannik Horst Turbulence cancels out modulated signals To achieve the highest possible data rates, the laser's light wave is modulated in such a way that a receiver can detect different states encoded onto a single symbol. This means each symbol transmits more than one bit of information. In practice, this involves different amplitudes and phase angles of the light wave. Each combination of phase angle and amplitude then forms a different information symbol that may be encoded into a transmitted symbol. Thus, with a scheme comprising 16 states (16 QAM), each oscillation can transmit 4 bits, and with a scheme comprising 64 states (64 QAM), 6 bits. The fluctuating turbulence of the air particles results in varying speeds of light waves both within and at the edges of the light cone. As a result, when the light waves arrive at the detector of the receiving station, the amplitudes and phase angles either add together or cancel each other out, producing false values. Mirrors correct wave phase 1,500 times per second To prevent these errors, Paris-based project partner ONERA deployed a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) chip with a matrix of 97 tiny adjustable mirrors. The mirrors' deformations correct the phase shift of the beam on its intersection surface along the currently measured gradient 1,500 times per second, ultimately improving the signals by a factor of about 500. This improvement was essential in achieving a bandwidth of 1 terabit per second over a distance of 53 kilometers, Horst points out. For the first time, new robust light modulation formats were demonstrated. This enabled a huge increase in detection sensitivity and thus high data rates, even under the worst weather conditions or at low laser power. This increase is achieved by cleverly encoding the information bits in properties of the light wave such as amplitude, phase and polarization. "With our new 4D binary phase-shift keying, or BPSK, modulation format, an information bit can still be correctly detected at the receiver even with a very small numberabout fourof light particles," Horst explains. All in all, the specific skills of three partners were needed for the project's success. French space company, Thales Alenia Space is an expert in targeting lasers with centimeter accuracy over thousands of kilometers in space. ONERA, also French, is an aerospace research institute with expertise in MEMS-based adaptive optics, which has largely eliminated the effects of shimmering in the air. The most effective method of signal modulation, which is essential for high data rates, is a specialty of Leuthold's ETH Zurich research group. Easily expandable to 40 terabits per second The results of the experiment, presented for the first time at the European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC) in Basel is causing a sensation worldwide. Leuthold says, "Our system represents a breakthrough. Until now, only two options have been possible: connecting either large distances with small bandwidths of a few gigabits or short distances of a few meters with large bandwidths using free-space lasers." Moreover, the performance of 1 terabit per second was achieved with a single wavelength. In future practical applications, the system can be easily scaled up to 40 channels and thus to 40 terabits per second using standard technologies. However, scaling up is not something Leuthold and his team will be concerning themselves with; practical implementation of the concept in a marketable product will be carried out by the industry partners. Nevertheless, there is one part of the work that the ETH Zurich scientists will continue to pursue: In the future, the new modulation format they developed is likely to increase bandwidths in other data transmission methods where the energy of the beam can become a limiting factor. More information: Yannik Horst et al, Tbit/s line-rate satellite feeder links enabled by coherent modulation and full-adaptive optics, Light: Science & Applications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41377-023-01201-7 Journal information: Light: Science & Applications 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 Singapore-based tech giant Grab will lay off over 1,000 employees, its CEO said Tuesday, a move that will affect about 11 percent of its workforce. Grab launched in 2012 as a taxi-booking app in Malaysia before becoming Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing firm and expanding into financial services like digital payments. The company has been narrowing its losses and aims to break even by the end of this year. "I want to be clear that we are not doing this as a shortcut to profitability," CEO Anthony Tan wrote in a message to employees Tuesday. He called the "restructuring" a "painful but necessary step". "Change has never been this fast. Technology such as Generative AI is evolving at breakneck speed. The cost of capital has gone up, directly impacting the competitive landscape," the letter said, according to an excerpt posted on Grab's website. "The primary goal of this exercise is to strategically reorganize ourselves, so that we can move faster, work smarter, and rebalance our resources across our portfolio in line with our longer term strategies." The company is on track to break even this year even without the layoffs, Tan said. Grab laid off 360 employees in 2020then about five percent of its full-time workforceas the pandemic hit demand for its services. In 2018, Grab cemented its position as Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing firm when it bought Uber's operations in the region, ending a bruising battle with its US-based rival. The company went public on Wall Street in 2021 by merging with a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. The transaction was the largest-ever US public market debut by a Southeast Asian company, Grab said at the time, and valued the company at $39.6 billion. But its shares have plummeted since debuting at $13. They were selling at around $3.40 on Tuesday. Southeast Asian technology firms have been slashing their workforce as they focus on profitability, including Singapore-based Sea Ltd which cut more than 7,000 jobs last year, froze salaries and slashed spending. Grab's Indonesian rival GoTo laid off 600 workers this year in addition to 1,300 jobs last year. 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: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Submersibles, such as the one that has gone missing near the wreck of the Titanic with five on board, can explore the deep sea like submarines but with more limitations. Compared to submarines, which are generally military vessels, submersibles are more limited in their movement and how long they can stay under water. They can have a small crew or be operated remotely, and are usually used for scientific research, deep sea explorationor sometimes for tourists to catch a glimpse of underwater attractions such as shipwrecks. The latter was the case for Titan, a submersible operated by US company OceanGate. It began its descent towards the Titanic wreck in the North Atlantic on Sunday. But it lost contact with its support vessel on the surface fewer than two hours later, prompting a search and rescue operation. Titan has enough oxygen to last the five people on board for 96 hours, according to OceanGate. Among those believed to be in the vessel are British businessman Hamish Harding, veteran French diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet, prominent Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and the latter's son. How deep can it go? The white tube, which has a porthole in the front, is 6.7 meters (21 feet) long, and 2.8 meters wide. It has a top speed of three knots, or 5.5 kilometers (3.5 miles) an hour. Titan allows tourists who can afford the $250,000 price for a seat to dive down to visit the Titanic, perhaps history's most famous wreck after it sank in 1912. The submersible can take its passengers to a depth of 4,000 meters, according to OceanGate, which means it can just reach the Titanic wreck at 3,800 meters. Stefan Williams, an underwater robotics expert at the University of Sydney, told AFP that the pressure at those depths was "pretty unforgiving". "Every 10 meters you descend into the water, you increase the pressure by effectively one atmosphere," he said. That means that at the Titanic's depth, the pressure is 380 times higher than on Earth's surface. Do submersibles need a crew? While submersibles were usually used for scientific purposes, Williams said there were an increasing number being used for commercial purposes such as tourism. Williams, who works with unmanned submersibles, compared the rise in interest to space tourism, where there was also an "appetite to experience these sorts of things first-hand". But he added that "there is some discussion in the community about the relative merits of manned submersibles versus remotely operated" platforms or vehicles. "You can do an awful lot of exploration and scientific research with uncrewed vehicles," he said. "The utility of putting people into these sort of situations has been questioned." Best- and worst-case scenarios? Williams said the best-case scenario was that Titan had lost communication or power. If so, its safety system may have kicked in, dropping a weight that sent it up to the surface, where the submersible would be waiting to be found by rescuers. The "next least-worst scenario" was that the vehicle had sunk to the ocean floor but remained intact, he said. In this case finding the Titan would be very difficultas would swiftly deploying a mission to try to float or drag the submersible back to the surface, he said. He said there were some remotely operated vehicles capable of a rescue mission at a depth of 6,000 meters, but it could take some time to get them to the scene. The worst-case scenario would be if something like a fire compromised the pressure hull, which "would be a pretty catastrophic failure at that kind of depth", he said. 2023 AFP Ukraine has announced its intention to purchase 1,000 Sweden-made CV90 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) in a joint statement with the Czech Republic and Slovakia in Brussels. Defense ministers Oleksiy Reznikov (Ukraine), Yana Chernokhova (Slovakia), and Martin Shklenar (Czechia) stated they would collaborate for the acquisition and operation of the Mk. IV version of the Swedish-tracked IFV. The ministers also said the agreement would mandate the three countries to share critical information on their procurement plans, operational strategies, and production preparations to accommodate the CV90 into their respective armed forces. The announcement came after Stockholm initially pledged to donate 50 of the vehicles to Kyiv on top of some Archer mobile howitzers in January. Ukraine ranked the CV90 as one of the best IFVs currently in operation, alongside the US M2 Bradley which they already deployed in combat. The announcement was part of Kyiv's plan of acquiring more weaponry from Western arms manufacturers to bolster its defense capabilities and strengthen its forces in its ongoing offensive against Russian forces occupying its southeastern regions. Read Also: Ukraine Will Not Get Requested Gripen Jets, Says Swedish Defense Minister The CV90 is an infantry fighting vehicle built by Saab Bofors Dynamics, a subsidiary of the Saab Group, which also builds the swing-role fighter jet JAS-39 Gripen, and Hagglunds, currently a subsidiary of BAE Systems. It was initially developed in the 1980s and 1990s in Sweden, and its domestic models were built as a modular tracked platform for the Swedish Army, which possessed a 500-strong fleet. The CV90's main armament is its 40mm L/70 autocannon, but export versions of the vehicle can also accommodate a smoothbore 120mm gun in its turret like the light tank application CV90120-T. To date, countries that operate the CV90 outside of Sweden include its fellow Nordic nations, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. The IFV is also used by the Swiss, Dutch, and Estonian armies. Related Article: Ukraine in Talks with Western Arms Makers to Boost Weapons Production @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Gov. Greg Abbott approved a record $1.19 billion in new spending for the Texas A&M University System on Monday. This is the first time the A&M System has received over a billion dollars in new state funds, which are contained in several bills and includes funding across several system schools and agencies. A&M Chancellor John Sharp called this springs Texas legislative session the Higher Education Session in a letter he wrote to the state Legislature. I think because A&M is growing so fast and has become, quite frankly, the school of choice in Texas, we had 40,000 students apply for 10,000 slots, Sharp told The Eagle on Monday. I think the Legislature likes whats going on here and they responded accordingly. State legislators approved $180.9 million to the A&M System in exchange for freezing undergraduate tuition and academic fees for in-state residents over the next two years. These funds were tied to tenure reform and legislation in regard to higher educations Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts, which were bills signed by Abbott last week. Sharp said this started in a committee within A&Ms Board of Regents when the board instructed A&M officials to find ways to not have to raise tuition for the next two years. A&M was a key beneficiary of that because we have more veterans than anybody else, so we got more reimbursement for that, and because were growing so fast, Sharp said. New state spending for the A&M System also included: $159 million for the A&M System agencies for Keeping Texas Prepared and 5% pay increases for agency employees in each of the next two years and $43.1 million in formula and research performance funding for the A&M Health Science Center. Now, anytime theres a tornado, anytime theres a hurricane, an out-of-control wildfire, A&M is now in charge of that, Sharp said. After [Hurricane] Harvey when Gov. Abbott named me as the hurricane czar, or whatever you want to call it, the agencies here, like the Forest Service, like TEEX, Ag Extension these agencies are now basically on the front lines of every one of those disasters that happen. Weve added a ton of work to what an ag extension agent has to do, to what a forest service person has to do, responding to flood waters, hurricanes, whatever disaster happens. An additional $775 million was awarded to A&M System schools and agencies. Those funds included $200 million to the A&M System for quantum and artificial intelligence chip fabrication and $30 million to the A&M Engineering Experiment Station for a new Hypersonic Wind Tunnel. I think our government relations folks continue to do a great job both in Austin and Washington, Sharp said. The phone rang early Monday morning, confirming what Beth Bernardo had been expecting the Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team had been asked to deploy to Perryton, a Texas Panhandle community that was hit by a tornado last Thursday. The teams mission would be helping animals injured in the disaster. These people have lost their homes, some of their family, said Bernardo, VET logistics coordinator. Everything that they have known in their life is completely gone or completely changed. That little bit of hope we can give them by being able to support their animals and support their pets, essentially their other family, has just been incredible. The team, deployed by Gov. Greg Abbott, departed from A&Ms RELLIS campus Monday afternoon to help provide veterinary medical support for animals injured in the Perryton tornado. The team will be in the area for two to three days as they help animals who have suffered lacerations, cuts, scrapes and fractured legs caused by blowing and falling debris, said Dr. Wesley Bissett, founding member and director of VET. Were expecting this to be primarily a dog and cat type of response, said Bissett, an associate professor of large animal clinical sciences. We are prepared to do large animals as needed, but given the area that was hit, we think its going to be primarily household pets. VET is comprised of faculty, staff and students from the A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS). In response to human and natural disasters, the team deploys around the country at the request of local, state and federal officials. This team has responded to four tornado-affected areas. Search-and-rescue missions for individuals affected by the tornado have ceased, but animals in need are still being located, Bissett said. Those pets have been hitting the local vet clinic, he said. Which is at a point now where its overwhelmed and needing assistance. So, their county requested that we come in and well provide triage and stabilization of animals that have been injured. Reuniting pets with their owners is often the first step in recovering from a natural disaster, Bissett said. The reality is, our team, we are in the business of veterinary medicine, he said. But I always tell the team members, Were in the business of hope, because whenever we can put an animal back together and get it back to its family that gives them hope for tomorrow. Beyond helping animals who are injured, VET assists communities in establishing shelters and an animal-focused long-term plan for future disasters, said Dr. Debra Zoran, VET education officer. We go out and help communities plan for the shelters in disastrous areas, Zoran said, an A&M small animal clinical sciences professor. Its the whole idea of What do you do when this happens? [The students] role is to literally set up a shelter for those. And [Perryton], it sounds like they didnt have that, so well probably be helping them. Ten VET members and five A&M Agrilife Extension Disaster Assessment and Recovery agents deployed from Bryan-College Station on Monday. Additionally, two VET members along with VMBS faculty, staff and students from the Veterinary Education, Research, & Outreach (VERO) program will join the team Tuesday. Founded in 2010 at the request of the state, VET is the largest team of its kind. The team has grown significantly in size and capability since its start, Bissett said. Were an official part of the Emergency Response Team, or the states emergency response plan, he said. The vast majority of big issues that have happened in the state since that happened, we have deployed to. Weve also made a couple of deployments out of state to wildfires in California and most recently to hurricane Ian in Florida. Along with VET, Abbott deployed the A&M Public Works Response Team, Forest Service, Texas Task Force 2 and A&M Agrilife Extension service along with other state resources. However, VET does not receive any state funding, Bernardo said. We get the majority of our funding from donors, she said. We do get some grant money, but honestly, it is not enough. We heavily rely on those donors that see what we do and love what we do, and want to help the mission as well. Those donors are just as important as every single person that we have out in the field because otherwise, we couldnt do it. Esteban Gonzalez holds two jobs in town: hes a bagger at H-E-B and a line cook at Star Cinema Grill. Soon, the 17-year-old A&M Consolidated High School graduate will be off to Austin to begin college at the University of Texas in hopes of pursuing a career in the tech industry. He was born in 2005, just two years before the advent of the iPhone, and grew up in the digital age. Technology has encapsulated Gonzalezs generation Gen Z, people born between 1997 and 2012. This generation makes up around 30% of the worlds current population and will make up over a quarter of the workforce by 2025, according to World Economic Forum. Yet, Gen Zers are met with mixed feelings as they begin to enter the workforce at larger volumes with older generations, notably Baby Boomers, on the way out and further rise of technology on the way in. I know theres a lot of thoughts and opinions on Gen Z workers that were seen as lazy or unmotivated, but I dont think thats true, Gonzalez said. I think its just the changing of the times. People are used to old-fashioned hard work. You go to work, you get your hands dirty, you get it done. But in a changing world, we have changing environments and technology. People in general are starting to adapt more to that. A growing demographic Katherine Kleemann is the franchise owner of Spherions offices in Bryan-College Station, Brenham, Conroe and The Woodlands. The recruiting company places talent across a number of industries. In January, Kleemann gave a presentation about the current state of the local workforce at the B-CS Chamber of Commerces 2023 Economic Outlook Conference and noted the median age in Brazos County is 26.8, which is just over the cusp of the Gen Z cut off. The median age in Texas is 34.9, and 38.1 nationwide. The significant difference within Brazos County isnt too odd when considering Texas A&M Universitys undergraduate student population for its flagship College Station campus was 54,502 in fall 2022 and Blinn College had 9,661 students at its Bryan campus and RELLIS that semester. Bryan-College Station is a melting pot of generations, according to Jia Wang, an associate professor at A&Ms adult education and human resource development program. With this generation, you really have to become more personal and more patient, Wang said. I think our area is a wonderful experiment. I think College Station and Bryan is a great lab for working with different generations, and Gen Z in particular, because of the large population we have at the university. Gen Z is also the most diverse generation to date. According to a Pew Research Study in May 2020, only 52% of Gen Z was white, 25% was Hispanic, 14% Black, 6% Asian and 5% were another race or two or more races. We know they are the most diverse population of our workforce, Kleemann said. They really want to work to give back ... their motivation is not the same motivation as your Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, which were work for loyalty, work for stability, work becomes who I am. It can become that for Gen Z, but its really extrinsic, [its] I want to go and be employed somewhere that feels more tied to how theyre giving back and how theyre involved in the community and what theyre doing bigger than bottom line. Non-traditional workstyle Work-life balance is a top consideration among Gen Z when choosing an employer, followed by learning and development opportunities and pay, according to a 2023 Gen Z and Millennial survey by Deloitte. The survey showed Gen Zs hybrid/remote work patterns increased from 36% prior to the COVID-19 pandemic to 61% in 2023, and 77% of Gen Z in hybrid/remote roles said they would consider moving jobs if their employer asked them to work on-site full-time. Wang noted she grew up in an environment that if ones boss was in the office, in-person attendance was expected. For this generation, working has become more flexible. I have to be gone at 4 oclock because I have other obligations, but Im going to pick up the work tonight, Wang said of Gen Z. How do we see and manage them in a non-traditional way and give them that flexibility? Although Deloittes survey showed working hybrid/remote enables better work-life balance, saves money and drives greater productivity, it also makes connecting with colleagues and opportunities for mentorship more difficult. After talking with Gen Z workers and A&M students, Kleemann said theyre realizing fully remote is more challenging on career development, which has created a push for hybrid roles. They did realize for a couple of years they missed out, Kleemann said. The camaraderie of the first job is harder when youre fully remote. The mimicking of your boss and understanding the nuances of your boss were harder. Still, some Gen Zers, like Gonzalez, prefer in-person work. He noted he knows some in his generation will take advantage of working from home, though, thanks to technology. I think its a great thing we have the ability to talk online now and not have to meet up in person, Gonzalez said. That communication is great. Different set of preferences While older generations are more enticed by pay, Deloittes survey showed Gen Z is more concerned with ethics and values. I think historically we think if we give you more pay, more money, you will stay, but interestingly for Gen Z, money compensations really not their biggest motivator, Wang said. We have all kinds of studies [that show] the opportunities for learning and growing, the growth opportunity is really valued. A&M junior Jack Corrales is studying accounting in business honors and serves as president of A&Ms Business Student Council. He explained when his peers start looking at employment, they look at an employers causes or values. Now, in the digital age we live in, everything is kind of out in the open or will eventually be out in the open about what companies are doing and the things that theyre involved in, Corrales said. So, when people associate from a personal and professional standpoint with a certain place theyre working at, they definitely want it to be a place that they feel like theyre comfortable working at from a moral standpoint. This generation is causing businesses to be more forward thinking and live out their mission, vision and values, Kleemann added. Gen Z isnt going to buy until they really research it, she said. They buy through trust and theyre only going to work for a place that not just this company put it on their website, but other people say, its not just on their website but theyre actually living out this value every single day. Growing gig economy Part of Kleemanns January presentation detailed how Gen Z has influenced the workforce, especially in what is known as the gig economy where workers focus on freelance or short-term contracts for work instead of full-time employment. According to Kleemanns presentation, 49% of Americans ages 18 to 35 have a side gig, including 20% with three or more, with ridesharing being the most common. Side gigs provide an extra monthly income of $483 with people spending on average 13 hours per week on said side gigs. They control when they enter and exit the labor force, Kleemann said. And instead of it being by the semester or the year, its by the hour or the day when they turn on an app on their phone. I think that goes right along with their desire, they exude the control over their work and their time and their financial success and theyre comfortable being entrepreneurs or contractors in ways that maybe other generations havent. One growing area of non-traditional income among Gen Z is social media influencers and content creators. HigherVisibility reported in August 2022 that 1 in 4 of the Gen Z generation planned to become a social media influencer. A 2022 Pew Research study showed 72% of people ages 18 to 29, most of whom are in Gen Z, follow influencers or content creators on social media. Theres something worthwhile being an influencer, Gonzalez said. You have a lot of people listen to you, a lot of power, a lot of control, a lot of influence. People use that to make a positive change, but I feel like that shouldnt be the only thing to motivate people to be that. Generational challenges The digital age has been beneficial for Gen Z in a number of ways, but Corrales said one obstacle for prospective Gen Z workers is separating oneself from other applicants. These systems just get so many applications that if youre not taking steps to reach out to recruiters or find some kind of connection with the company or go to an information or apply through an A&M-specific link, like through Hire Aggies, its really easy for your application to get lost and you wont hear back until now, Corrales said. Growing up in the digital age also has allowed Gen Z to have access to endless information in the palm of their hand, but Kleemann said getting them comfortable with not knowing things is something she said she hears from employers. We also are seeing a little bit of they are very used to finding answers to all of their questions at their fingertips, so when they are in a job where theyre put in a conversation where they cant find the answer right there, they have to be comfortable in that unknowing moment, Kleemann said. Nonetheless, Kleemann said the Gen Z worker is driven, even if their definition of success is different than previous generations. According to Gonzalez, college is still a traditional path that has become part of life. Pew Research said Gen Z is on track to be the best-educated generation yet. Gonzalez himself is expected to be transferred to work at an H-E-B in Austin once he moves. People have an idea of what they want to get into, Gonzalez said, but in terms of how theyre going to get there in their college years, I feel like a lot of people dont know how theyre going to get there. Carlos Ghosn, the former CEO of Nissan, filed a lawsuit against the Japanese carmaker and other individuals linked to his dismissal in 2018 and his subsequent detention for suspected financial wrongdoing. He is demanding more than $1 billion in damages to his finances and reputation, as reported by Bloomberg. Ghosn's arrest sent shockwaves across the international car sector and triggered instability inside Nissan that has yet to diminish. Nissan's stockholders also took a hit when the automaker blew its early lead in the EV market. When Nissan was having financial difficulties in 1999, Renault stepped in with a cash infusion, prompting Nissan to hire Ghosn. According to The Guardian, he rose through the ranks to become CEO of both businesses and chairman of the partnership. Ghosn has been vocal in his criticism of Nissan and the Japanese government for ousting him from the largest automaking alliance in the world. Both a criminal case in Japan for what prosecutors have called a conspiracy to underreport his pay and a civil lawsuit launched by Nissan in a Yokohama court seeking monetary damages are pending against him. Also Read: Twitter Accused of Massive Copyright Infringement by Music Publishers Lawsuit Against Former Employer Ghosn submitted his claims to the public prosecutor in the Court of Cassation in Lebanon, where he has been living since his flight from Japan in late 2019, to avoid prosecution. The former automaker executive is responsible for forging Nissan's carmaking partnership with Renault SA and Mitsubishi. Bloomberg obtained a copy of the Arabic-translated complaint filed on May 18. In his case, Ghosn said that the negative effects of the allegations against him, even if they were founded on nothing more than suspicion, would last for the rest of his life because of the gravity and sensitivity of the claims made against him. The suit seeks fines of $588 million, including actual damages and punitive damages of $500 million. At least a dozen individuals are named in the complaint as defendants. Nissan employee Hari Nada is suspected of being a plan instigator in the effort to remove Ghosn from his position. Two top executives, Hidetoshi Imazu and Hitoshi Kawaguchi, had an early role in Nissan's proceedings against Ghosn. Additionally, Toshiaki Onuma, a manager in the CEO's office, cooperated with Japanese prosecutors in exchange for a reduced sentence for himself and Nada. Two members of Nissan's board of directors, Masakazu Toyoda and Motoo Nagai, are also on the list. Ghosn's imprisonment in a Japanese prison for more than 100 days was deemed to be arbitrary and in violation of his human rights by a United Nations panel in 2020. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations Human Rights Council found that the decision to repeatedly arrest Ghosn in order to prolong his custody was "fundamentally unfair." Also Read: Kylie Jenner's Firm Faces Lawsuit For Allegedly Paying its Model Late @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Corey Smith, 27, was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for trafficking a child, according to the Brazos County District Attorneys Office. Smith, who had no prior criminal history, pled guilty to promotion of prostitution, compelling prostitution of a minor and trafficking of a child for which he received a 15-year sentence as well. On Nov. 19, 2020, the Frisco Police Department reached out to the Bryan Police Department in an effort to locate a missing minor they believed to be located in Bryan or College Station. BPD assigned its Direct Department Team (DDT) to assist in locating the minor. DDT located prostitution ads that contained pictures of the minor, identified as A.R., confirming they were in Brazos County. DDT used a phone number on the ad to arrange for an undercover cop to meet with A.R. and another adult female listed on the ad. The undercover cop agreed to engage in sexual acts with both females for a payment of $200. Prior to meeting with the females, DDT coordinated with the Brazos County District Attorneys Office, Scottys House and Unbound BCS, a local human trafficking advocacy group, to xx When officers entered the hotel room at Manor Inn, they confirmed the young female was the missing minor, A.R. Unbound advocates then provided care to both A.R. and the adult female. The Department of Family Services assisted in returning A.R. to her family in Frisco. Bryan Police were able to gather enough evidence to prove Smith was a pimp who recruited the adult female for prostitution purposes and then acquired A.R. to have her engage in prostitution. In addition to the 15-year sentence, Smith will be required to register as a sex offender for life. WASHINGTON Texas Sen. John Cornyn says its time for the Republican party to dump former President Donald Trump and his destined-to-fail bid for a White House return. But Cornyn also has attacked the criminal charges against Trump for alleged mishandling of classified documents as the result of a politically motivated double standard. His approach reflects the tricky path leading Senate Republicans must navigate as they try to push Trump aside without enraging a party base filled with his ardent supporters. In an interview at the Capitol last week, Cornyn was pressed on the potentially competing positions: that its time for the Republican Party to move on from Trump and that the charges against him are the result of a biased Department of Justice. You dont think both can be true? Cornyn responded. Cornyn last month became one of the most prominent Republicans publicly arguing that Trumps inability or unwillingness to appeal beyond his core base spells doom for his 2024 comeback White House bid. When Trump was indicted on 37 felony counts stemming from his alleged mishandling of classified documents, Texas senior senator offered reporters a concise but pointed assessment of the charges: Its not good. And yet Cornyn took to conservative talk radio the next day deploying common GOP talking points that Trump has been unfairly targeted. He told Hugh Hewitt that as president Trump was under attack by then-FBI director James Comey and the Justice Department and also serving under the shadow of a special counsel. He lived through two different impeachment trials in the United States Senate, and now this, Cornyn said of the recent indictment. And then President Biden and Hillary Clinton and others seem to get off scot-free. Thats very troubling, I think, to a lot of people. Such statements are music to the ears of Trump supporters who feel their establishment-rocking champion has gotten a raw deal throughout his political career. But in the interview, Cornyn also stuck to his assertions that Trump cant win a general election. Anybody whos running a campaign understands that primaries and general elections are very different, Cornyn said. In general elections, you have to appeal to a broader audience. And thats what the president doesnt appear to try to do. So the question is, do you want to win or not? The Trump campaign responded to Cornyns anti-Trump talk last month by blasting him as part of the deep state. That attack came despite the fact that Cornyn regularly had Trumps back during his presidency, voted to acquit him at both of his impeachment trials and boasts overall conservative credentials. Cornyn went further Thursday than he had previously in criticizing Trumps alleged conduct in the documents case, but kept coupling it with the kind of what about Biden language used often by Republicans in the wake of the indictment. It says he violated the law multiple times. I have a problem with anybody violating the law, Cornyn said of the indictment. I also have a problem with President Biden if he violated the law. So the main principle is that the same laws ought to apply to everybody equally. While classified documents from Bidens years as vice president and senator were found at his Delaware home and an office, he did not resist efforts by the FBI and National Archives to retrieve them though they were not forthcoming until after the 2022 midterm election. Cornyns fellow Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, has criticized the indictment in sharper terms, saying on his podcast that its garbage from a thoroughly corrupted and weaponized Department of Justice. Cal Jillson, professor of political science at Southern Methodist University, said Cruz has always been a partisan knife-fighter in contrast to Cornyn, who has sought to cultivate the profile of a measured, thoughtful, careful elected official. Hes always had a much different view of himself, of the Senate and his role as a senator than Cruz has, Jillson said. Cornyn also faces political considerations of his own as he tries to at least preserve the option of seeking re-election. He was a key player in writing the bipartisan gun violence law enacted last year in the wake of the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde the most significant measure of its kind in decades. His work on the measure earned him boos at the state convention and official rebukes from county parties. He has defended the law as protecting both the safety of schoolchildren and the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans. His support for other bipartisan compromises, such as the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill at the end of last Congress, intensified criticisms from the far right that hes a RINO, or Republican in name only. Coming to Trumps sort-of defense by complaining about biased prosecutions helps balance his anti-Trump talk for the base, Jillson said. Jillson noted that Cornyn is not up for re-election until 2026 so he has some space to say things that are in the partys long-term interest i.e., that Trump is yesterdays news and needs to be tossed aside. Keeping those long-term party interests in mind could boost his future prospects in Senate leadership. Cornyn is among a trio of senior senators viewed as potential successors to Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell whenever the Kentuckian decides to retire. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has been vocal in Trumps defense. But most Senate Republican leaders have long been trying in vain to move past Trump. Now they face the possibility of Trump winning the partys nomination despite being under criminal indictment. Although bashing the prosecution of Trump as biased could it make it more difficult to ditch him, Cornyn says theres still time for other candidates to surpass him. Its still early and well see, Cornyn said. The national numbers dont reflect the reality of what will be state-by-state primaries. Jillson compared Cornyns situation to what is facing Trumps rivals for the 2024 presidential nomination. Many of them have struggled to find a consistent line on Trumps indictment, in some cases mixing criticism of his alleged conduct with a healthy dose of complaints about political bias in the Justice Department. They are trying to express concern about, reservation about Trumps behavior without going after him so directly that they would alienate the Republican base electorate, Jillson said. Wabash National (NYSE:WNC Get Rating) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday. Wabash National Stock Down 0.7 % NYSE WNC traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $26.82. 1,956,700 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 606,370. The businesss 50-day moving average is $24.53 and its 200-day moving average is $24.98. Wabash National has a twelve month low of $12.81 and a twelve month high of $30.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 1.62. Get Wabash National alerts: Wabash National (NYSE:WNC Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $621.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $624.38 million. Wabash National had a return on equity of 39.80% and a net margin of 5.88%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wabash National will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year. Insider Buying and Selling at Wabash National Institutional Inflows and Outflows In other Wabash National news, Director Larry J. Magee sold 13,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.15, for a total value of $339,950.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 111,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,925,505.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website . Insiders own 1.13% of the companys stock. Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in Wabash National in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Wabash National during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Wabash National during the 1st quarter worth $40,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Wabash National during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in Wabash National by 451.5% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,002 shares of the companys stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 1,639 shares during the period. 97.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Wabash National Company Profile (Get Rating) Wabash National Corporation designs, manufactures, and distributes connected solutions for the transportation, logistics, and distribution industries primarily in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Transportation Solutions and Parts & Services. The Transportation Solutions segment provides dry van and platform trailers; refrigerated trailers; converter dollies; van bodies for dry-freight transportation; cargo and cargo XL bodies for commercial applications; insulated van bodies; stake bodies; platform truck bodies; refrigerated truck bodies; and used trailers, as well as laminated hardwood oak flooring products. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Wabash National Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Wabash National and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Airtel Africa Plc (LON:AAF Get Rating) declared a dividend on Thursday, May 11th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Investors of record on Thursday, June 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.03 per share on Wednesday, July 26th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 22nd. This is an increase from Airtel Africas previous dividend of $0.02. The official announcement can be viewed at this link. Airtel Africa Price Performance Shares of AAF opened at GBX 120.80 ($1.55) on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 110.95, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 118.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 116.52. Airtel Africa has a 52-week low of GBX 104.09 ($1.33) and a 52-week high of GBX 173.10 ($2.21). The firm has a market capitalization of 4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 862.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.14. Get Airtel Africa alerts: Airtel Africa Company Profile (Get Rating) Further Reading Airtel Africa Plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications and mobile money services to customers in Nigeria, East Africa, and Francophone Africa. It offers prepaid and postpaid wireless voice, international roaming, and fixed line telephone services; data communication services, including 2G, 3G, and 4G; and mobile money services, such as digital wallet payments systems, microloans, savings, and international money transfers. Receive News & Ratings for Airtel Africa Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Airtel Africa and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO Get Rating) (NYSE:BMO) have received an average recommendation of Hold from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$135.91. A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$127.00 to C$123.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. TD Securities cut their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$130.00 to C$126.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. CIBC cut their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$145.00 to C$139.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 16th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$134.00 to C$125.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. Finally, Fundamental Research set a C$144.25 price target on shares of Bank of Montreal and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 6th. Get Bank of Montreal alerts: Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.2 % Shares of BMO opened at C$118.86 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of C$84.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.84, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$118.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$123.97. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of C$111.88 and a 12-month high of C$137.64. Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend Bank of Montreal ( TSE:BMO Get Rating ) (NYSE:BMO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 24th. The bank reported C$2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of C$3.15 by C($0.22). The business had revenue of C$8.44 billion for the quarter. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 23.87%. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 12.6312434 EPS for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 28th will be given a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 27th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.95%. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreals previous quarterly dividend of $1.43. Bank of Montreals dividend payout ratio is presently 58.57%. Insider Transactions at Bank of Montreal In other news, Director Linda Susan Huber sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$87.56, for a total value of C$43,780.00. Company insiders own 0.03% of the companys stock. Bank of Montreal Company Profile (Get Rating Bank of Montreal engages in the provision of diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, personal loans, small business lending, cash management, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Bank of Montreal Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of Montreal and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com cut shares of Brinker International (NYSE:EAT Get Rating) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Friday morning. Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of Brinker International in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. They set a neutral rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Brinker International from $48.00 to $45.00 in a report on Thursday, June 8th. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Brinker International from $42.00 to $37.00 in a report on Friday, June 9th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Brinker International from $46.00 to $42.50 in a report on Thursday, June 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Brinker International from $43.00 to $42.00 in a report on Thursday, June 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $36.70. Get Brinker International alerts: Brinker International Trading Down 0.2 % EAT opened at $36.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 2.37. Brinker International has a twelve month low of $21.47 and a twelve month high of $42.12. The firms 50-day moving average price is $38.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.25. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brinker International Brinker International ( NYSE:EAT Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The restaurant operator reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Brinker International had a net margin of 2.17% and a negative return on equity of 44.32%. Brinker Internationals quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Brinker International will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Brinker International by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,758 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Brinker International by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,447 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its stake in Brinker International by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 5,674 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Brinker International by 81.3% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 990 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its stake in Brinker International by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 22,421 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. About Brinker International (Get Rating) Brinker International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the ownership, development, operation, and franchising of casual dining restaurants in the United States and internationally. The company also operates in virtual brands, including It's Just Wings and Maggiano's Italian Classics. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Brinker International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Brinker International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Canadian National Railway (TSE:CNR Get Rating) (NYSE:CNI) had its price target lowered by CIBC from C$185.00 to C$183.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. Several other research firms have also issued reports on CNR. Veritas Investment Research reissued a buy rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Thursday, June 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and raised their price target for the company from C$161.00 to C$184.00 in a report on Thursday, April 6th. ATB Capital raised their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from C$175.00 to C$180.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 25th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from C$169.00 to C$172.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from C$180.00 to C$177.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Canadian National Railway presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of C$169.03. Get Canadian National Railway alerts: Canadian National Railway Price Performance Canadian National Railway stock opened at C$156.33 on Friday. Canadian National Railway has a 52-week low of C$139.88 and a 52-week high of C$175.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$159.59 and a 200-day moving average of C$160.94. The firm has a market capitalization of C$103.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 81.35. Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend Canadian National Railway ( TSE:CNR Get Rating ) (NYSE:CNI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 24th. The company reported C$1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.70 by C$0.12. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 30.60% and a return on equity of 25.38%. The company had revenue of C$4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$4.25 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Canadian National Railway will post 7.8165 EPS for the current year. The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 9th will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 8th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Canadian National Railways payout ratio is currently 39.80%. Canadian National Railway Company Profile (Get Rating) Canadian National Railway Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in rail and related transportation business. The company offers rail services, which include equipment, custom brokage services, transloading and distribution, business development and real estate, and private car storage services; and intermodal services including temperature controlled cargo, port partnership, transloading and distribution, logistic parks, customs brokerage, trucking, and moving grains in containers. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Canadian National Railway Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian National Railway and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Landis+Gyr Group (OTCMKTS:LDGYY Get Rating) and nVent Electric (NYSE:NVT Get Rating) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings and valuation. Institutional and Insider Ownership 86.4% of nVent Electric shares are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of nVent Electric shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. Get Landis+Gyr Group alerts: Analyst Ratings This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Landis+Gyr Group and nVent Electric, as reported by MarketBeat. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Landis+Gyr Group 0 1 0 0 2.00 nVent Electric 0 1 3 0 2.75 Valuation and Earnings Landis+Gyr Group currently has a consensus price target of $54.00, suggesting a potential upside of 134.78%. nVent Electric has a consensus price target of $50.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.95%. Given Landis+Gyr Groups higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Landis+Gyr Group is more favorable than nVent Electric. This table compares Landis+Gyr Group and nVent Electrics revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Landis+Gyr Group N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A nVent Electric $2.91 billion 2.71 $399.80 million $2.53 18.83 nVent Electric has higher revenue and earnings than Landis+Gyr Group. Profitability This table compares Landis+Gyr Group and nVent Electrics net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Landis+Gyr Group N/A N/A N/A nVent Electric 14.41% 16.08% 8.89% Summary nVent Electric beats Landis+Gyr Group on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks. About Landis+Gyr Group (Get Rating) Landis+Gyr Group AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated energy management solutions to utility sector in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers prepayment electricity, commercial/industrial and grid, and non-smart and smart gas meters; heat and water meters and solutions; load control devices; and system deployment, managed network, and energy data management solutions. It also provides various advanced metering infrastructure offerings, including software, meter data management, installation, implementation, consulting, maintenance support, and related services; and develops and provides electronic devices for analyzing electricity usage in households. In addition, the company offers EV charging hardware and smart charging software comprising demand response and flexibility management, as well as cybersecurity solutions. The company was formerly known as Landis+Gyr Holding AG. Landis+Gyr Group AG was founded in 1896 and is headquartered in Cham, Switzerland. About nVent Electric (Get Rating) nVent Electric plc designs, manufactures, markets, installs, and services electrical connection and protection products worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Enclosures, Electrical & Fastening Solutions, and Thermal Management. The Enclosures segment provides solutions to connect and protect critical electronics, communication, control, and power equipment; physical infrastructure solutions to host, connect, and protect server and network equipment; indoor and outdoor protection for test and measurement and aerospace and defense applications in industrial, infrastructure, commercial, and energy verticals; and metallic and non-metallic enclosures, cabinets, sub racks, and backplanes. The Electrical & Fastening Solutions segment offers fastening solutions to connect and protect electrical and mechanical systems, and civil structures; and engineered electrical and fastening products. The Thermal Management segment offers electric thermal solutions that connect and protect buildings, infrastructure, industrial processes, and people; and provides thermal management systems comprising heat tracing, floor heating, fire-rated and specialty wiring, sensing, and snow melting and de-icing solutions. It sells its products under the CADDY, ERICO, HOFFMAN, RAYCHEM, SCHROFF, and TRACER brands. The company markets its products through electrical distributors, data center contractors, original equipment manufacturers, and maintenance contractors. It serves the energy, industrial, infrastructure, and commercial and residential sectors. The company was founded in 1903 and is based in London, the United Kingdom. Receive News & Ratings for Landis+Gyr Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Landis+Gyr Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Cordoba Minerals Corp. (CVE:CDB Get Rating)s stock price traded down 3.8% on Monday . The company traded as low as C$0.38 and last traded at C$0.38. 6,500 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 17,886 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.40. Cordoba Minerals Stock Down 3.8 % The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.85, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market capitalization of C$33.91 million, a P/E ratio of -0.88 and a beta of 0.89. The firms fifty day moving average price is C$0.42 and its 200-day moving average price is C$0.48. Cordoba Minerals Company Profile (Get Rating) Cordoba Minerals Corp., a mineral exploration company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, evaluation, and development of base and precious metal properties in Colombia and the United States. The company explores for copper, silver, and gold deposits. It primarily holds a 100% interest in the San Matias project with exploration licenses covering 146.62 square kilometers and has an additional 893.91 square kilometers of mining titles under application located in the municipality of Puerto Libertador, Department of Cordoba, Colombia. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Cordoba Minerals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cordoba Minerals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sendas Distribuidora (NYSE:ASAI Get Rating) and CP ALL Public (OTCMKTS:CVPUF Get Rating) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings and valuation. Analyst Recommendations This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Sendas Distribuidora and CP ALL Public, as reported by MarketBeat. Get Sendas Distribuidora alerts: Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Sendas Distribuidora 0 1 0 0 2.00 CP ALL Public 0 0 0 0 N/A Profitability Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Sendas Distribuidora 1.86% 29.13% 2.88% CP ALL Public N/A N/A N/A Dividends This table compares Sendas Distribuidora and CP ALL Publics net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Sendas Distribuidora pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. CP ALL Public pays an annual dividend of $0.81 per share and has a dividend yield of 38.4%. Sendas Distribuidora pays out 10.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CP ALL Public pays out 74.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Insider and Institutional Ownership 4.4% of Sendas Distribuidora shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.4% of CP ALL Public shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Sendas Distribuidora shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term. Valuation and Earnings This table compares Sendas Distribuidora and CP ALL Publics gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Sendas Distribuidora $58.17 billion 0.06 $236.31 million $0.78 17.92 CP ALL Public N/A N/A N/A $1.09 1.94 Sendas Distribuidora has higher revenue and earnings than CP ALL Public. CP ALL Public is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sendas Distribuidora, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. Summary Sendas Distribuidora beats CP ALL Public on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks. About Sendas Distribuidora (Get Rating) Sendas Distribuidora S.A. engages in the retail and wholesale sale of food products, bazaar items, and other products in Brazil. The company serves restaurants, pizzerias, snack bars, schools, small businesses, religious institutions, hospitals, hotels, grocery stores, neighborhood supermarkets, and individuals. It sells its products through brick-and-mortar stores, as well as through telesales. The company was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. About CP ALL Public (Get Rating) CP ALL Public Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates and franchises convenience stores under the 7-Eleven name to other retailers primarily in Thailand. It operates through three segments: Wholesale Business, Retail Business, and Management of Rental Spaces in Shopping Centers. The Wholesale Business segment engages in import, export, and distribution of frozen and chilled food with delivery services and focuses on selling consumer products, including fresh food, dry food, and consumer products under Makro brand. Its Retail Business segment is involved in domestic supply chain, distribution system, logistics network, and brand equity businesses. This segment also sells its products under various domestic, international, and small and medium enterprises brands. The company's Management of Rental Spaces in Shopping Centers segment manages buildings and retail spaces in shopping malls. In addition, the company is involved in sale and maintenance of retail equipment; cash and carry, catalog, and e-commerce businesses; marketing and advertising activities; provision of information technology and research and development services, as well as engaged in bill payment collection, life insurance, and non-life insurance broker business. Further, the company offers educational institution, training, business seminar services, as well as healthcare and medical specialist's consultation services. The company was formerly known as C.P. Seven Eleven Public Company Limited. CP ALL Public Company Limited was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand. Receive News & Ratings for Sendas Distribuidora Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sendas Distribuidora and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Hong Kong: Tang Ping-keung visits Macau Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung arrived in Macau today to start his two-day visit to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and called on public security units there. On arrival, Mr Tang called on Chief Executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region Ho Iat-seng to exchange views and share experiences on issues such as safeguarding national security, boundary control point infrastructure, facilitation of the flow of people between the two sides and integration into the country's overall development through in-depth development of the Greater Bay Area with Macau. Highlighting the close ties between Hong Kong and Macau, Mr Tang said the law enforcement agencies of the two places will continue to maintain close contact and strengthen co-operation in various aspects to maintain their prosperity and stability. He called on Macau's Secretary for Security Wong Sio-chak in the afternoon. At the meeting, he introduced the new Greater Bay Area Emergency Response Operational Plan formulated by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to establish a more comprehensive, pragmatic and systematic emergency response mechanism to further enhance the capability of the bay area cities in handling incidents together. Mr Tang paid a visit to various units including Macau's Unitary Police Service, Public Security Police Force and Judiciary Police as well as viewed the Civil Protection Operations Centre. The security chief said he hoped to enhance collaboration with Macau through the visit in various fields including deepening co-operation between the two places on combatting cross-boundary crimes and emergency management, thereby injecting new impetus into the co-ordinated development of the two places. This story has been published on: 2023-06-20. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. 4 people fatally shot in U.S. Idaho Xinhua) 10:02, June 20, 2023 SAN FRANCISCO, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Police in the U.S. state of Idaho said on Monday they were investigating a shooting that left four people dead in the small city of Kellogg, and one person was in custody. The Shoshone County dispatch center received a 911 call Sunday evening, indicating that multiple people had been killed inside a residence in Kellogg, Idaho State Police said in a news release. Law enforcement officers found four people dead when they arrived and detained a 31-year-old male believed to be connected with the deaths, according to the release. Police blocked off parts of an apartment complex in Kellogg. According to local media reports, the shooting occurred at multi-dwelling units behind the Mountain View Congregational Church on Sunday. Law enforcement has not yet identified the victims or the suspect, and they believe that there is no additional threat to the community, state police said. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) On Monday, June 19, the UK parliament voted to accept a report indicating that former prime minister Boris Johnson had lied about "partygate" or rule-breaking parties during the COVID pandemic, dealing a further setback to Johnson's political career. Boris Johnson Resigns From Parliament Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that Johnson resigned from parliament unexpectedly. This was after reviewing the results of a yearlong inquiry into his behavior during the COVID-19 outbreak when lockdown-breaking parties were conducted in Downing Street. When Johnson informed his House of Commons colleagues that all COVID-19 guidelines had been observed at all times in government facilities, the committee concluded that he had misled them. Their report was released last week. If Johnson had not already resigned, the report would have called for him to be suspended from the House of Commons for 90 days and denied him a pass that would have given him automatic access to parliament. Also Read: Whistleblower Reveals Details About Boris' Partygate Scandal House of Commons Votes on Boris Johnson's Partygate Report After Monday's five-hour discussion on the committee's conclusions, the House of Commons voted 354 to 7 to approve the report, according to Reuters' report. Parliament's endorsement of the report's findings may be a humiliating consequence for a leader who was still prime minister less than a year ago, but it does not prevent Johnson from running again for the House of Commons. On Monday, the majority of lawmakers who spoke in parliament were unfavorable of Johnson's actions, while a small group of his supporters cast doubt on the committee's objectivity. Theresa May, the former prime minister, urged Johnson's supporters not to vote against the committee's recommendation because doing so would damage public confidence in the democratic process. Yet, it was "perfectly reasonable," according to Johnson's minister Jacob Rees Mogg, to question the committee's findings. He also implied that those looking into the former prime minister "wanted to come to a particular conclusion." Johnson, who served as prime minister of the UK from the middle of 2019 until September 2022, was widely regarded as one of the country's most divisive leaders in recent times. Polls show that Johnson is unpopular with the general public, although he continues to have the support of some inside the Conservative Party. To avoid further escalating tensions with party members loyal to the previous prime minister, senior lawmakers in the ruling Conservative Party, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and many members of the cabinet, did not participate in the discussion or vote on Monday. Additionally, Sunak missed the Monday voting in parliament to meet with the Swedish prime minister and other officials, as his spokesperson said. According to Reuters, Johnson has called the committee a "kangaroo court," and he claims the report is "intended to be the final knife-thrust in a protracted political assassination." Also Read: UK Government Refuses To Hand Boris Johnson Texts to COVID Inquiry, Will Take Legal Action @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG Get Rating) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 2,200 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock, valued at approximately $294,000. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Riverview Trust Co increased its position in PPG Industries by 81.7% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 238 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC bought a new stake in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 90.6% in the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 242 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in PPG Industries by 45.8% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 277 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. 78.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get PPG Industries alerts: PPG Industries Trading Down 0.7 % Shares of NYSE PPG traded down $1.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $142.05. The companys stock had a trading volume of 253,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,440,914. The businesss 50 day moving average is $138.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.93. The firm has a market cap of $33.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.18. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $107.40 and a 12-month high of $145.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. PPG Industries Announces Dividend PPG Industries ( NYSE:PPG Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 21st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.27. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.35% and a net margin of 7.18%. The firm had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 9th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. PPG Industriess payout ratio is currently 46.27%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on PPG Industries in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on PPG Industries from $160.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Monday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on PPG Industries from $142.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $149.56. PPG Industries Company Profile (Get Rating) PPG Industries, Inc manufactures and distributes paints, coatings, and specialty materials worldwide. The company operates through Performance Coatings and Industrial Coatings. The Performance Coatings segment offers coatings, solvents, adhesives, sealants, sundries, and software for automotive and commercial transport/fleet repair and refurbishing, light industrial coatings, and specialty coatings for signs; and coatings, sealants, transparencies, transparent armor, adhesives, engineered materials, and packaging and chemical management services for commercial, military, regional jet, and general aviation aircraft. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PPG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for PPG Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for PPG Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY Get Rating) has been given a consensus rating of Hold by the twenty research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $70.19. Several research analysts have recently issued reports on OXY shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Friday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. They set a neutral rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $85.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 11th. Get Occidental Petroleum alerts: Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $58.15 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $59.97 and a 200-day moving average of $61.69. Occidental Petroleum has a 1 year low of $54.30 and a 1 year high of $77.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $51.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.78. Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement Occidental Petroleum ( NYSE:OXY Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 9th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.21). Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 27.06% and a return on equity of 45.10%. The firm had revenue of $7.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year. The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 14th. Investors of record on Friday, June 9th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 8th. Occidental Petroleums payout ratio is currently 8.25%. Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 1,789,529 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $59.32 per share, with a total value of $106,154,860.28. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 211,707,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,558,466,299.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 9,236,967 shares of company stock valued at $541,262,534. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth $2,695,000. Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 69,884 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $4,363,000 after acquiring an additional 3,002 shares during the last quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth $828,000. BKA Wealth Consulting Inc. purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth $349,000. Finally, Warther Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 81,801 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $5,107,000 after acquiring an additional 12,089 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the companys stock. Occidental Petroleum Company Profile (Get Rating Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Occidental Petroleum Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Occidental Petroleum and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. WPP (NYSE:WPP Get Rating) and JCDecaux (OTCMKTS:JCDXF Get Rating) are both business services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and dividends. Analyst Recommendations This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for WPP and JCDecaux, as provided by MarketBeat.com. Get WPP alerts: Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score WPP 0 2 5 0 2.71 JCDecaux 2 2 3 0 2.14 JCDecaux has a consensus target price of $17.35, suggesting a potential downside of 16.49%. Given WPPs stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe WPP is more favorable than JCDecaux. Volatility & Risk Profitability WPP has a beta of 1.36, suggesting that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, JCDecaux has a beta of 1.3, suggesting that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. This table compares WPP and JCDecauxs net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets WPP N/A N/A N/A JCDecaux N/A N/A N/A Valuation & Earnings This table compares WPP and JCDecauxs revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio WPP $14.43 billion 0.84 $844.43 million N/A N/A JCDecaux $2.98 billion N/A -$17.16 million N/A N/A WPP has higher revenue and earnings than JCDecaux. Insider and Institutional Ownership 3.8% of WPP shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of WPP shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. Summary WPP beats JCDecaux on 8 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks. About WPP (Get Rating) WPP plc, a creative transformation company, provides communications, experience, commerce, and technology services in North America, the United Kingdom, Western Continental Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and Eastern Europe. The company operates through three segments: Global Integrated Agencies, Public Relations, and Specialist Agencies. It offers advertising, marketing, brand strategies, and campaigns across all media; and provides media planning and buying services. It also provides media investment; data and technology, and content services. The company also offers public relations and specialist agency services. WPP plc was founded in 1985 and is based in London, the United Kingdom. About JCDecaux (Get Rating) JCDecaux SE engages in the outdoor advertising activities worldwide. It operates through three segments: Street Furniture, Transport, and Billboard. The Street Furniture segment is involved in advertising in shopping malls; renting of street furniture; selling and renting of equipment; and the provision of cleaning, maintenance, and other activities. The Transport segment provides advertising services in public transport systems, such as airports, metros, buses, trams, and trains. The Billboard segment is involved in advertising on private property, including traditional large format or back-light billboards; neon-light billboards; and advertising wall wraps. The company was founded in 1964 and is based in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. JCDecaux SE is a subsidiary of JCDecaux Holding SAS. Receive News & Ratings for WPP Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for WPP and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE:SFE Get Rating) in a report issued on Saturday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the asset managers stock. Safeguard Scientifics Stock Down 1.2 % SFE opened at $1.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.93 million, a PE ratio of -2.34 and a beta of 0.90. Safeguard Scientifics has a twelve month low of $1.42 and a twelve month high of $4.54. The company has a fifty day moving average of $1.78 and a 200-day moving average of $2.42. Get Safeguard Scientifics alerts: Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE:SFE Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The asset manager reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter. Insider Activity Institutional Investors Weigh In On Safeguard Scientifics In related news, major shareholder Thomas A. Satterfield, Jr. purchased 48,032 shares of Safeguard Scientifics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $1.53 per share, for a total transaction of $73,488.96. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 356,700 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $545,751. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink . 8.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Clayton Partners LLC increased its stake in Safeguard Scientifics by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Clayton Partners LLC now owns 143,349 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 19,429 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Safeguard Scientifics by 32,504.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 128,786 shares of the asset managers stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 128,391 shares in the last quarter. Yakira Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Safeguard Scientifics by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Yakira Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,164,945 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $2,004,000 after acquiring an additional 11,200 shares in the last quarter. Almitas Capital LLC lifted its position in Safeguard Scientifics by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Almitas Capital LLC now owns 796,632 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $2,470,000 after acquiring an additional 83,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Manhattan Co. boosted its stake in Safeguard Scientifics by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 1,104,006 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $4,117,000 after purchasing an additional 46,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.06% of the companys stock. About Safeguard Scientifics (Get Rating) Safeguard Scientifics, Inc engages in the provision capital to technology-driven businesses in healthcare, financial services, and digital media. The company was founded by Warren V. Musser and Frank A. Diamond in 1953 and is headquartered in Radnor, PA. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Safeguard Scientifics Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Safeguard Scientifics and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shore Capital reiterated their buy rating on shares of Tesco (LON:TSCO Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on TSCO. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Tesco to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from GBX 260 ($3.33) to GBX 310 ($3.97) in a research report on Monday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Tesco from GBX 290 ($3.71) to GBX 270 ($3.45) and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of GBX 302.50 ($3.87). Get Tesco alerts: Tesco Price Performance Shares of Tesco stock opened at GBX 258.80 ($3.31) on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 270.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 253.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 123.29. Tesco has a 1-year low of GBX 194.35 ($2.49) and a 1-year high of GBX 285.30 ($3.65). The stock has a market capitalization of 18.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,588.00, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.64. Tesco Increases Dividend Tesco Company Profile The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 11th will be given a dividend of GBX 7.05 ($0.09) per share. This is an increase from Tescos previous dividend of $3.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 11th. This represents a yield of 2.63%. Tescos dividend payout ratio is 11,000.00%. (Get Rating) Tesco PLC, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a grocery retailer in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. It offers grocery products through its stores, as well as online. The company is also involved in the food and drink wholesaling activities. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Tesco Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Tesco and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI Get Rating) has received an average recommendation of Reduce from the four brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and two have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $39.50. A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. TheStreet downgraded shares of UGI from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Friday, March 10th. Mizuho assumed coverage on UGI in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. They set a neutral rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on UGI in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on UGI from $40.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Get UGI alerts: Insider Activity In other news, CEO Roger Perreault acquired 3,565 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.98 per share, with a total value of $99,748.70. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 41,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,150,677.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows UGI Price Performance A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of UGI by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 16,028 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 4,176 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC raised its holdings in UGI by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 13,366 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in UGI by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 74,002 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $2,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,396 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in UGI by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,633 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 7,225 shares during the period. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its stake in shares of UGI by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 173,055 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $6,489,000 after purchasing an additional 11,826 shares during the last quarter. 81.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Shares of UGI stock opened at $27.80 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.49, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.08. UGI has a 1-year low of $27.00 and a 1-year high of $43.75. UGI (NYSE:UGI Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. UGI had a positive return on equity of 11.38% and a negative net margin of 6.17%. The firms revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that UGI will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year. UGI Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This is a positive change from UGIs previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. UGIs dividend payout ratio is currently -51.19%. UGI Company Profile (Get Rating UGI Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the distribution and marketing of energy products and services. It operates through the following segments: AmeriGas Propane, UGI International, Midstream and Marketing, and Utilities. The AmeriGas Propane segment consists of the propane distribution business of AmeriGas Partners, L.P. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for UGI Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for UGI and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Wendel (OTCMKTS:WNDLF Get Rating) is one of 1,136 public companies in the Asset Management industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Wendel to similar companies based on the strength of its risk, valuation, dividends, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations. Institutional & Insider Ownership 12.6% of Wendel shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.6% of shares of all Asset Management companies are owned by institutional investors. 17.9% of shares of all Asset Management companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. Get Wendel alerts: Profitability This table compares Wendel and its rivals net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Wendel N/A N/A N/A Wendel Competitors 369.87% 7.79% 5.02% Dividends Analyst Recommendations Wendel pays an annual dividend of $1.85 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Wendel pays out 109.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, Asset Management companies pay a dividend yield of 6.9% and pay out 619.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Wendel and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Wendel 0 0 0 0 N/A Wendel Competitors 1061 4453 5652 88 2.42 Wendel currently has a consensus price target of $110.00, indicating a potential upside of 1.85%. As a group, Asset Management companies have a potential upside of 36.32%. Given Wendels rivals higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Wendel has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals. Earnings and Valuation This table compares Wendel and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Wendel N/A N/A 63.72 Wendel Competitors $494.20 million $11.68 million 5.07 Wendels rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Wendel. Wendel is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry. Summary Wendel rivals beat Wendel on 8 of the 10 factors compared. Wendel Company Profile (Get Rating) Wendel is a private equity firm specializing in equity financing in middle markets and later stages through leveraged buy-out and transactions and acquisitions. It invests in both listed and non-listed companies. The firm typically invests in technology services and software, business services, healthcare and industrial technology. The firm seeks to invest in Africa, Europe, European Developed Markets, Western Europe, particularly France, and North America (United States and Canada). It invests between 150 million ($175.46 million) and 500 million ($584.87 million) in companies. It targets majority/control/large minority investments in listed or unlisted companies. The firm seeks to take a seat on the board of directors or supervisory board and key committees of its portfolio companies. It makes balance sheet investments. Wendel was founded in 1704 and is headquartered in Paris, France with additional offices across Asia, North America, United Kingdom and Europe. Receive News & Ratings for Wendel Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Wendel and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Democrat Gregory Maxwell is in the race for Virginias new 39th House of Delegates District. The districts Democratic nominating committee recently announced Maxwell as the partys candidate. Maxwell was born and raised in Franklin County. His only time away was serving in the U.S. Navy on a fast-attack submarine as a sonar technician between 2003 and 2008. When he returned home he used those skills to obtain jobs locally in information technology. He currently works as an information technology specialist for Centra Health in Lynchburg. Maxwell resides with his wife and children in the Sontag community, where hes part of the fourth generation of his family in the county. He recently became more active in issues impacting his community. In 2021 he ran as a write-in candidate for the Snow Creek District seat on the county School Board. Maxwell said he decided to run for the state legislature because he wants to get away from identity politics. He said some voters today seem to care more about the political party rather than the issues that impact them. Local representatives in Richmond, according to Maxwell, only focus on their partys issues and can forget about concerns from voters on the other side. Everyone deserves to have a voice, he said. Im here to speak for the majority and the minority. Maxwell considers himself a conservative Democrat that fits somewhere in the middle of the road on issues. He ran as an independent during his 2021 school board run. I stand for farmers, gun rights and I hate taxes, Maxwell said. Maxwell said he believes people have the right to own guns, but believes there should be some regulations. As a devout Christian, he is against abortion, but doesnt agree with the government creating laws that tell people what they can do with their bodies. What someone else does with their body is none of my business, Maxwell said. Locally, Maxwell said work needs to be done to improve primary and secondary roads in Franklin County and the rest of the district. Two of the most travelled roads in the district, Virginia 122 and U.S. 220, need the most work to improve safety, he said. Maxwell also said he wants to push for greater broadband access for Franklin County and the surrounding parts of the district which includes a portion of southern Roanoke County. He said his goal would be to bring fiber internet to every home. Maxwell also wants to assure teachers are able to do their job successfully. While he said parents should have a voice in their childs education, teachers should be seen as the experts. Instead of tearing down teachers, we should be propping them up, Maxwell said. Another goal for Maxwell is to bring more jobs to Franklin County. He said many people who live in the district currently work in jobs outside it. He said he wants to help bring more jobs to the area to allow residents the ability to better live, work and invest in their community. Maxwell will face the winner of Tuesdays Republican primary between Will Davis and Ron Jefferson. The results of the primary were to be announced after the News-Posts print publication deadline Tuesday. The general election is Nov. 7. Individuals in the Pakistan region have been targeted using two rogue Android apps available on the Google Play Store as part of a new targeted campaign. Cybersecurity firm Cyfirma attributed the campaign with moderate confidence to a threat actor known as DoNot Team, which is also tracked as APT-C-35 and Viceroy Tiger. The espionage activity involves duping Android smartphone owners into downloading a program that's used to extract contact and location data from unwitting victims. "The motive behind the attack is to gather information via the stager payload and use the gathered information for the second-stage attack, using malware with more destructive features," the company said. DoNot Team is a suspected India-nexus threat actor that has a reputation for carrying out attacks against various countries in South Asia. It has been active since at least 2016. While an October 2021 report from Amnesty International linked the group's attack infrastructure to an Indian cybersecurity company called Innefu Labs, Group-IB, in February 2023, said it identified overlaps between DoNot Team and SideWinder, another hacking crew of likely Indian origin. Attack chains mounted by the group leverage spear-phishing emails containing decoy documents and files as lures to spread malware. In addition, the threat actor is known to use malicious Android apps that masquerade as legitimate utilities in their target attacks. These apps, once installed, activate trojan behavior in the background and can remotely control the victim's system, besides pilfering confidential information from the infected devices. The latest set of applications discovered by Cyfirma originate from a developer named "SecurITY Industry" and pass off as VPN and chat apps, with the latter still available for download from the Play Store - The VPN app, which reuses source code taken from the genuine Liberty VPN product, is no longer hosted on the official app storefront, although evidence shows that it was available as recently as June 12, 2023. The low download counts is an indication that the apps are being used as part of a highly targeted operation, a hallmark of nation-state actors. Both apps are configured to trick the victims into granting them invasive permissions to access their contact lists and precise locations. Little is known about the victims targeted using the rogue apps barring the fact that they are based in Pakistan. It's believed that users may have been approached via messages on Telegram and WhatsApp to lure them into installing the apps. By utilizing the Google Play Store as a malware distribution vector, the approach abuses the implicit trust placed by users on the online app marketplace and lends it an air of legitimacy. It's, therefore, essential that apps are carefully scrutinized prior to downloading them. "It appears that this Android malware was specifically designed for information gathering," Cyfirma said. "By gaining access to victims' contact lists and locations, the threat actor can strategize future attacks and employ Android malware with advanced features to target and exploit the victims." KPMG navigates Vietnam VAT regulations By KPMG Tue, June 20, 2023 | 7:00 am GTM+7 Current VAT and tax regulations do not allow input VAT to be offset against VAT payable at the import stage. Photo courtesy of KPMG. 1. Our company issued some VAT invoices having the digital signing date different from the invoice preparation date. Are these invoices legitimate under current regulations and which date should be used for VAT declaration purpose? According to recent guidance of the General Department of Taxation, an e-invoice will be considered as a legitimate invoice if it is digitally signed on or after the date that the invoice is prepared. The VAT declaration with regard to such invoice shall be as follows: - The seller will declare output VAT based on the date of invoice preparation; - The buyer will declare input VAT at the time of receiving the legitimate invoice with all required criteria in accordance with regulations. 2. Our company often imports materials from foreign suppliers, thereby incurring a significant amount of import VAT. Meanwhile, we are having a significant input VAT creditable from domestic purchase. Could we offset such creditable input VAT against the VAT payable at the import stage? According to recent guidance of the General Department of Taxation, the current VAT and tax administration regulations do not provide guidance allowing the input VAT amount that has not yet been fully credited to be offset against the VAT payable at the import stage. 3. Our company incurred the IT services fee charged by overseas company. The IT services including two parts (i) SAP user and (ii) SAP consultancy services. Please advise the FCT rate applicable for this case. The applicable FCT rate for IT services should be as follow: - For SAP user fee, we understand it is related to the right to use SAP, so the FCT rate should be 10% CIT and 0% VAT pursuant to current regulations. - For SAP consultancy service which is separated from the right to use the software, the CIT rate should be 5%. In case that the actual service is fallen to the definition of software service in Point 3, Article 9, Decree 71/2007/ND-CP, it is not subject to VAT. Please note that the scope of this service must be clearly defined as similar to the definition of software service in regulations and the company maintains supporting documents proving the service is relevant to the defined scope. Otherwise, 5% VAT will be applied. Hong Kong's tourism industry is still recovering from the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the government's efforts, some airline companies in Hong Kong decided to offer free airplane tickets. Unfortunately, not everyone can enjoy these free flight tickets. The only people who can get them are those in Japan. If you are living in Japan and want to visit Hong Kong, here's how you can get free air flight tickets. Hong Kong's Airlines To Boost Tourism by Offering Free Flight Tickets! According to The Japan Times' latest report, several airlines in Hong Kong will start offering free flight tickets starting on Monday, June 26. Read Also: British Airways Cancels Flight After Report of Mysterious Foul Odor If you are a Japanese resident, here are the Hong Kong-based airlines offering free tickets. Free ticket registrations are open from June 26 until July 12. But, passengers must be a member of the Cathay Pacific. For those who aren't, they can sign up before the giveaway. Free ticket registrations will start from June 26 and end on July 9. HK Express' giveaway will have first-come, first-serve mechanics. Hong Kong Airlines (number of free tickets available is unknown) Free ticket registration will begin on June 27 and end on June 29. As of writing, Hong Kong Airlines hasn't provided specific details for its giveaway. Hong Kong's Tourism Sector Still Recovering It is estimated that the free airplane ticket campaign in Hong Kong will offer over 700,000 flight tickets to Japanese residents. These free airline tickets, which are part of the country's "Hello Hong Kong" campaign, could further help the Asian country to recover its tourism industry. Recently, Global Times reported that the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) confirmed that HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) visitors surpassed 10 million people during the first five months of 2023. Because of this, HKTB expects Hong Kong to have over 26 million visitors before 2023 ends. If this really happens, then the country's tourism sector can finally recover. If you want to learn more details about the status of Hong Kong's tourism industry, you can click this link. Related Article: American Airlines Secret Policy Might Disappoint You-Here's Why @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Legislators concerned about foreigners buying property in Vietnam By Vu Tuong Tue, June 20, 2023 | 3:42 pm GTM+7 National Assembly members in Vietnam have said stricter regulations on foreign purchases of houses and land in the country are needed. Speaking at a discussion on Monday regarding amendments to the current Housing Law, legislator Pham Van Hoa representing Dong Thap province said that current rules need careful re-consideration because the number of foreigners entering Vietnam annually is quite high. He suggested that only foreign organizations and individuals with investments in Vietnam and foreigners with Vietnamese nationality should be allowed to own houses and land. Legislator Pham Van Hoa. Photo courtesy of National Assembly. Hoa said that in recent times, many foreigners hiding their identities or via Vietnamese individuals and organizations have bought a lot of land in different localities, including major cities. Therefore, the amended law should include limits on land use terms. Like Hoa, Tran Chi Cuong who represents Da Nang city said that the draft amended law does not clearly stipulate when foreign organizations and individuals have the right to own properties with regards to land use rights. Cuong also said lawmakers should re-think rules about foreigners buying houses in Vietnam. Answering the NA members, Construction Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi said Vietnams Law on Housing 2014 allows foreign organizations and individuals to buy and own houses in Vietnam, which the current draft amendments to the law are based on. Construction Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi. Photo courtesy of National Assembly. The minister added that statistics showed that since the 2014 Law on Housing took effect, the amount of houses and land bought and owned by foreigners in Vietnam had not risen significantly. In addition, both the current law and now the draft amendments have strict regulations on the types of properties and land foreigners are allowed to purchase, as well as the number of properties. The minister also said the agency in charge of drafting the amendments will work with others to study them carefully. Vietnam's booming logistics sector still has room for growth By Michael Kokalari Tue, June 20, 2023 | 9:27 am GTM+7 VinaCapitals chief economist Michael Kokalari explains why investors should pay close attention to various opportunities in Vietnams logistics industry. Vietnam has one of the fastest-growing logistics sectors in the world, but the sector is still highly fragmented, which presents attractive investment opportunities for private equity firms and other well-capitalized investors with on the ground expertise helping local businesses accelerate their revenues and earnings by adopting international best practices. The industry has grown 14-16% annually in recent years, according to the Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLBA), and total logistics expenditures in Vietnam are equivalent to over 20% of GDP, which is among the highest in the world - because of the industrys innumerable inefficiencies. For example, three-quarters of Vietnam's freight volume passes through just six of the country's 75 seaports. The rapid growth of Vietnams logistics sector growth is sustainable because of: 1) the ongoing expansion of the countrys manufacturing sector driven by the manufacturing of high-tech products, and 2) the continued growth of the countrys middle class. Regarding the former, Vietnams manufacturing sector currently accounts for just over 20% of the countrys economy but this figure reached above 30% for other Asian Tiger economies. That continued FDI investment inflows which have helped fund the build-out of Vietnams industrial base for are essentially ensured for years to come, partly because Vietnam is a beneficiary of the nascent friend-shoring phenomenon, which we discussed in this report, and which is part-and-parcel of the broader China + 1 effort of multinational companies to diversify some of their production outside of China (ie. to Vietnam, India, Mexico, etc.) Finally, the ongoing growth of Vietnams middle class also presents numerous investment opportunities, especially in niches such as cold-chain logistics - because of greater demand for fresh food and certain perishable pharmaceutical products - and in e-commerce beneficiaries such as last-mile delivery services. Further to that last point, e-commerce in Vietnam is growing by more than 25% annually, and the Vietnamese government targets a much bigger role for e-commerce for the countrys economy going forward which is likely to lead to a regulatory environment that is especially favorable for last mile and other logistics firms. A port in the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port cluster in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, southern Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Ba Ria-Vung Tau newspaper. Overview of Vietnams logistics industry Vietnams logistics industry is comprised of foreign and local firms, but local firms are essentially absent from the international shipping business (there are over 1,600 registered ships in Vietnam - but only 3% of those ships are proper container ships) - with the exception of the handling and delivery of goods overland across Vietnams northern border with China (although this conduit represents a small portion of the goods that flow in and out of Vietnam). The industrys biggest challenge is increasing the quality and reliability of its services but these problems can be addressed by replicating best practices from other logistics markets. In order to analyze the investment opportunities in the sector, weve partitioned the industry into capital-intensive versus capital-light businesses, and into segments of the industry that are highly fragmented, versus those that are highly concentrated, as can be seen above, and we note that the domestic logistics industry is comprised mostly of micro-to-small companies. The businesses in Vietnams logistics sector most in need of investment are those that are capital intensive, and in segments of the industry that are highly fragmented. For example, transportation firms account for about two-thirds of the total enterprises in Vietnams logistics industry, but over 80% of trucking firms in Vietnam have a fleet size of fewer than five trucks, and its estimated that for about 70% of the deliveries trucks in Vietnam make, the trucks returns to their home base empty. Furthermore, middlemen get paid an estimated 30% commission on the final service fees that those trucking companies earn. Even in cold storage transport, which is considered to be one of the most promising segments of Vietnams logistics industry, and which is dominated by foreign-invested firms, is estimated that 70% of firms have less than 10 trucks. In our view, some very compelling opportunities for local firms stem from the fact that sophisticated foreign customers are willing to pay premium prices for reliable logistics services, and that middle-class customers demand for products and services that entail high-quality logistics is soaring (ie. online shopping with home delivery, demand for perishable foods & medicines, etc). Additionally, the long-term investment returns generated from those companies will be augmented by the fact that Vietnamese logistics operators that have sufficient scale and are professionally managed will experience falling costs over time, as bottlenecks stemming from Vietnams infrastructure and other issues are eventually addressed. We also expect attractive investment returns for logistics firms that are beneficiaries of increased high-tech manufacturing in Vietnam and from the ongoing growth of Vietnams emerging middle class. The growth of high-tech manufacturing entails increased demand for higher value-added logistics services such as bonded warehouses for the consolidation of relatively high-value goods (compared to garments & footwear, for example), before those products are exported. Also, the input materials for the production of consumer electronics are typically very valuable, so customs clearance and freight forwarding activities entailed in handling those items necessarily must be of much higher precision and specification than that entailed in handling textiles and yarn for garment production, for example. Finally, we see three potential investment strategies: 1) invest in leading logistics companies, to aggressively grow their assets into an integrated platform that offers clients economies of scale, 2) identify particular assets which need capital for upgrading or can be re-purposed, and drive new business by increasing efficiencies, and 3) M&A / consolidation. The adoption of best international practices such as digitization together with capital injections are critical to all of these strategies, although capital injections are particularly essential if the investors strategy is to grow the capacity of the target firm by adding more trucks, for example, or additional cranes/heavy equipment in port/warehouse businesses. Attractive segments One attractive niche in Vietnams logistics industry is the customs clearance business, in which brokers with good relationships with the proper officials can expedite the clearance of goods in and out of the country by assuring compliance with complex regulations. Most of Vietnams 800+ freight forwarding companies provide customs clearance services, according to the VLBA, but we believe firms that can bundle customs clearance services as part of a core carrier relationship, are capable of satisfying all of the shipping/logistics needs of high tech manufacturing firms can enjoy enhanced pricing power in exchange for providing premium logistics services to those firms. Further to that last point, high-quality logistics are essential to the handling of high-value consumer electronics items, but logistics costs account for just over 1% of the final price of those items (versus circa 30% for agriculture products like rice, for example). The combination of customers high sensitivity to quality, together with the low contribution of logistics services to the total costs of consumer electronics producers equates to enhanced pricing power for integrated logistics firms that are able to service the needs of those demanding customers, by providing what is known in the industry as Third Party Logistics Services (3PL) The vast majority of logistics handling done by local firms in Vietnam can be characterized as First Party Logistics (1PL), or Second Party Logistics (2PL), which essentially facilitates the direct shipment of products from one point to another, but the global logistics industry is increasingly moving towards the so-called 3PL model in which Logistics Service Providers (LSP), provide not only transportation & warehousing services, but additional value-added services such as inventory management, picking & packing, and RFID tracking. The larger firms in Vietnams logistics industry are primarily state-owned enterprises (SOEs), so although those firms may have the financial resources to begin providing 3PL services, they typically do not have the flexibility and/or management capability. Summary Vietnam has one of the fastest-growing logistics sectors in the world, and that growth is expected to continue for years to come, driven by the continued expansion of the countrys manufacturing sector (especially high-tech manufacturing), and by the continued growth of the countrys middle-class, which in turn is driving high growth in the logistics-intensive e-commerce business, as well as demand for perishable food and other products. The industry is fragmented and inefficient, which when combined with its high growth is a recipe for attractive investment returns. In our view, the most attractive businesses to invest in are those that are capital-intensive and are in particularly fragmented segments of the industry. 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This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. To sign-up for EZ-Pay, call us at (903) 785-6901 or e-mail us at circulation@theparisnews.com. We will use the information you provide to change your current billing to EZ-PAY. Your current subscription delivery schedule will not be changed. No refunds for early cancellations. Remainder of early cancellation funds will be donated to Newspapers in Education. CARBONDALE The R. Buckminster Fuller Dome Home at 407 S. Forest Ave. is one step closer to having a museum and visitor center. During the regular Carbondale City Council meeting on June 13, the council approved a special-use permit for a home museum on 809 and 811 W. Cherry St., the area that sits across the street from the dome. Clare Killman made the motion to approve the special-use permit. It was seconded by Adam Loos. The vote to pass the motion was unanimous. The space will be utilized as a typical visitor center with gallery, resource area, educational activities, meeting room, gift shop and archival storage for the preservation of R. Buckminster Fuller documents and artifacts. The R. Buckminster Fuller Dome Not-for-Profit Board also plans to provide space for teaching, seminars and small conferences, in addition to providing meeting space for neighborhood and community groups. The dome was assembled in April 1960 and Fuller and his wife Anne lived there until 1971. Fuller was a professor at Southern Illinois University for 12 years. During his time in Carbondale, Fuller logged multiple accomplishments. He was on the front cover of Time magazine and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He produced some of his most influential writings and received more than a quarter of his 23 patents and nearly half his 48 honorary doctorates. Fullers Dome Home was designated a Carbondale Landmark on Oct. 7, 2003, and became the citys first home museum on Jan. 20, 2004. The Dome Home was considered the most endangered historical structure in the state of Illinois by the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois. In February 2006, the home was added to the National Registry of Historic Places. Judy Ashby, who is on the Fuller Dome Not-for-Profit Board, said the special-use permit is required before they begin construction on the visitors center for the home because it does not meet the current zoning for the neighborhood. The visitor center will house the archives of Fuller and Bill Perk and make those available for future study and research. Perk was a friend and colleague of Fuller. He bought the dome and donated it to the not for profit board, which was created in 2002. The papers are currently stored in the homes of several board members. The board has diligently worked to restore the home. They acquired some of the original furnishings from Fullers sister. Construction on the visitor center is expected to start soon. For more information on Fuller or the Dome Home, visit fullerdomehome.com. High caliber hot rods will take over the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds for the annual celebration of horsepower known as the Street Machine Nationals on June 23-25. Hundreds of automotive enthusiasts will gather with several makes, models and years of street machines, street rods, cars, trucks, sport utility vehicles and custom rides at the venue. The senses will be ignited by the sight of gleaming paint, the rumble of V8 engines and the smell of spent race fuel. Having the Street Machine Nationals helps to foster the passion and love for muscle cars, said Tony Veneziano, public relations and communications manager for Bonnier Events. There are a lot of folks who have been coming to the event for years and actually began coming with their parents and grandparents and are now bringing their own kids. That is pretty rewarding from an event promoter standpoint to see multiple generations of families at events, enjoying the sights and sounds and their love of cars. The Street Machine Nationals debuted in 1977 at Indianapolis. In 1986, the event took place in Du Quoin for the first time, where it continued to grow and gain popularity. The show remained at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds for 13 consecutive years until 1998. Then, in 2013, it made a much anticipated return to Southern Illinois and has once again become a summertime staple and boost to the local economy. The "Nats" as it is widely known, is one of the most popular Pro Street car shows in the country. The partnership with the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds is vital to the continued growth and success of the Street Machine Nationals, said Veneziano. The fairgrounds are a great partner and the event means a lot to them as it does to everyone at Bonnier Events. Veneziano said spectator attendance and vehicle participation numbers were both on an upswing in 2022 after a decline in attendance due to COVID-19. It was pretty much back to normal and business as usual last year, which was great, said Veneziano. After the couple of pandemic years, everyone was excited to be able to get out and get back together and enjoy their passion for cars. Street Machine Nationals crank up the horsepower, heat in Du Quoin Hot temperatures didnt slow down high horsepower hot rods from cruising the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds over the weekend for the Street Machine Nationals. The Pro Street category has a rich and storied history in Du Quoin. Over the years, builders have brought numerous award-winning, one-of-a-kind vehicles to the show that have been featured in popular automotive magazines across the country. A number of longtime legends of Pro Street are expected to be on hand at the 2023 Street Machine Nationals, showcasing some iconic builds and even some new creations. Pro Street Alley continues to grow as more and more Pro Street vehicles are being brought to the show, said Veneziano. We receive inquiries quite a bit from folks who have Pro Street cars that they would like to bring and have on display. Participants can show off the raw power of their rides in the Dyno Challenge, where vehicles come to prove their horsepower and torque output, with bragging rights up for grabs. The cost of the challenge is $60 for two dyno pulls. The Performance Marketplace will feature industry-leading brands with the latest parts, products and services on hand. For those looking for hard-to-find parts and custom pieces, a swap meet is also planned. A burnout contest is scheduled on Sunday before the event concludes with numerous professionally judged awards being handed out in a variety of categories. The Show-N-Shine Contest has been expanded this year to include more categories and will feature all-new pro judges, said Veneziano. Having more categories should lead to even more vehicles being entered in the contest. Veneziano said the Street Machine Nationals are a fun-filled event for the entire family. If you are in to cars, you need check out the Street Machine Nationals, said Veneziano. For more information on the Street Machine Nationals, including how to register for the show, purchase tickets or to view the schedule of events visit www.streetmachinenationals.net. THURSDAY, June 15, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Menopause, a natural stage of a woman's life marking the end of menstruation, can bring many physical and emotional changes that may leave her feeling bewildered and alone. Hot flashes, night sweats and mood swings can disrupt her daily routine and affect her overall well-being. Sound familiar? Think you might be starting menopause? Heres how to identify the most common menopause symptoms. Menopause symptoms The menopausal transition typically begins between 45 and 55 years of age, marking a significant time in a woman's life. This phase usually spans around seven years, although it can extend up to 14 years, according to the U.S. National Institute on Aging (NIH). Menopause is no [menstrual] period for one year, said Dr. Adi Davidov, associate chair and director of obstetrics and gynecology at Staten Island University Hospital in New York. And the duration of this transition can be influenced by factors such as lifestyle choices, including smoking, the age at which it begins, as well as race and ethnicity. As women journey through menopause, they may grapple with various physical and emotional changes that can disrupt their daily lives. These symptoms can vary in intensity and duration, from irregular periods to hot flashes. The most common symptoms of menopause are hot flashes and vaginal dryness, Davidov said. The Cleveland Clinic lists these as the symptoms most often experienced: Irregular periods During menopause, hormonal fluctuations can lead to irregular menstrual cycles. Periods may become shorter or longer, lighter or heavier, and the time between them may vary. Some women may miss periods altogether. These changes occur due to the decline in estrogen and progesterone levels. Hot flashes Dr. Wen Shen, a gynecologist specializing in perimenopause and menopause at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, describes hot flashes as quick bursts of hot skin and drenching sweat that last anywhere from 30 seconds to about five minutes. Your face and neck may turn red, your heart rate may increase, and you will most likely break out in a sweat," she said on a Hopkins site. "Night sweats are the same thing, only youre asleep and are jolted awake by the heat and sweat sensation consuming your body. Vaginal dryness and discomfort Declining estrogen levels can cause thinning and drying of vaginal tissues, leading to vaginal dryness. This can result in discomfort, itching and pain during intercourse. It may also increase a woman's risk for urinary tract infections. Mood swings and emotional changes Hormonal fluctuations during menopause can impact a woman's emotional well-being, leading to mood swings, irritability, anxiety and depression. Some women may also experience difficulty concentrating or memory lapses, commonly called "brain fog." Sleep disturbances Many women experience sleep disturbances during menopause. This can include difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up too early. Night sweats, caused by hot flashes during sleep, can further disrupt sleep patterns, leading to fatigue and daytime drowsiness. The NIH suggests some women with trouble sleeping related to menopause try over-the-counter sleep aids such as melatonin. Others may opt for prescription medications to help them get a good nights sleep. Changes in sexual function Menopause can affect a woman's sexual health and function. Decreased estrogen levels can reduce libido, cause vaginal dryness and make it more difficult to achieve orgasm. These changes can impact a woman's sexual satisfaction and intimacy. Early and premature menopause symptoms The Office on Womens Health notes that premature menopause refers to the occurrence of menopause before age 40, while early menopause typically happens between the ages of 40 and 45. About 5% of women experience early menopause. This transitional phase brings about unique challenges for these women as they navigate the physical and emotional changes associated with menopause at a relatively younger age. Some symptoms to look out for include: Irregular or missed periods Hot flashes Mood swings Vaginal dryness Sleep disturbances Changes in sexual function By understanding and recognizing the common early menopausal symptoms and signs of menopause, women can better navigate this phase of life. Seeking support from health care providers, exploring various treatment options, and leveraging insights from online resources such as the Menopause Preparedness Toolkit: A Womans Empowerment Guide from the Society for Womens Health Research, can help manage symptoms effectively, improving overall well-being and quality of life. Transitioning through menopause can be a complex and transformative journey for women. Whether experiencing irregular periods, hot flashes or emotional changes, women must prioritize self-care and consult health care professionals who can provide guidance, empathy and tailored treatment options to help manage symptoms effectively. Remember, you are not alone on this journey, and with the proper support, menopause can be embraced as a new chapter of growth and empowerment. SOURCE: Adi Davidov, MD, associate chair and director of obstetrics and gynecology, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, N.Y. COLUMBIA -- Able South Carolina and Hire Me SC announce the 8th annual Employer Summit, scheduled during National Disability Employment Awareness Month, on Wednesday, Oct. 18, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Registrants can attend in person at the Philips Market Center in West Columbia, or online through the events virtual platform. The event is sponsored in part by Dominion Energy. The Employer Summit is a one-day conference for business managers, executives and HR professionals ready to hire and retain a workforce inclusive of people with disabilities. The Employer Summit will show businesses how including individuals with disabilities will strengthen their workforce. The 2023 theme, Advancing Access & Equity, will showcase supportive, inclusive policies and practices that benefit employees and employers alike. This years event boasts Keller Kissam, president of Dominion Energy South Carolina and a Calhoun County native, as the keynote speaker. Kissam oversees Dominion Energys regulated utility in South Carolina, serving about 1.1 million electric and gas customer accounts. Prior to the merger with Dominion Energy, Kissam joined SCANA in 1988 as a new utility professional and held numerous positions in both electric and gas operations. He was named vice president-Gas Operations in 1996, vice president-SCE&G Electric Operations in 2003, and president and chief operating officer of SCE&G in 2017. Upon completion of the merger, he was named president-Electric Operations at Dominion Energy South Carolina in 2019, and he assumed his current position in January 2022. Attendees will have access to the same content whether they choose to attend in-person or virtual. One in three South Carolinians have a disability; however, 70% of people with disabilities are unemployed. This is a workforce employers cant afford to miss out on. To this end, we want any business to have the opportunity to join us, whether thats in-person or virtual. We hope that our virtual option will allow employers from across the Southeast and nation to attend, said Sandy Jordan, vice president and chief community integration program officer at Able South Carolina. The registration fee is $95 for both in-person and online attendees. Registration is open now at www.hiremesc.org/employer-summit where visitors can also find information about partnering with the event through sponsorship or by becoming a vendor. Able South Carolina Able SC is a disability-led organization seeking transformational changes in systems, communities and individuals. Since 1994, weve remained a consumer-controlled, community-based, cross-disability nonprofit that seeks to make South Carolina a national model of equity and inclusion for all people with disabilities. To learn more about Able SCs programs and services, please visit www.able-sc.org. Hire Me SC People with disabilities can work, want to work, and should be afforded every opportunity to work. Powered by Able South Carolina and the South Carolina Disability Employment Coalition (SCDEC, a coalition formed to eliminate employment barriers for individuals with disabilities), Hire Me SC is a campaign that promotes a culture of inclusion across the state of South Carolina, one in which employment for every individual, disability or not, is the norm rather than the exception. Learn more at http://www.hiremesc.org. Some Republicans and Democrats are seeking changes in the way many of the states judges are appointed. First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe is among those saying the state needs immediate judicial reform. Corruption and ineffective government are bipartisan issues. Justice in South Carolina is only possible when it is on the hearts and minds of every South Carolinian, he said. Pascoe hosted a two-hour long presentation on Thursday night at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, where he and two lawmakers talked about why changes are needed. People seeking to become judges in South Carolina other than those who serve as municipal or magistrate judges are first screened by the Judicial Merit Selection Commission. The JMSC determines if the judicial candidates are qualified. The S.C. General Assembly elects the judges from among the qualified candidates. Pascoe believes a primary problem is six lawmakers who are also lawyers serve on the 10-member JMSC. The other four members of the JMSC are private-practice attorneys, not elected officials. The legislature doesnt vote on judges until an opaque, almost secret, screening process, Pascoe said. He described the commission as being clouded in secrecy and it often dictates the outcome of judicial races, and thats not right. In short, the JMSC process that we have right now allows a select few lawyer-legislators to carry tremendous power in the selection process of all of our states judges and they practice law in front of those same judges, he said. Pascoe said the call for judicial reform, already has tremendous support. Myself, the attorney general and over 40 sheriffs and solicitors of both parties, Republican and Democrat came together on this issue of judicial reform, he said. Rep. Joseph Joe White, R-Newberry, said lawmakers may approve changes as early as January 2024, when the General Assembly is scheduled to meet again. Why do we continue to let lawyer-legislators criminal defense lawyer-legislators decide who the judges are going to be in South Carolina? A reason why is because the general public doesnt know how we do it, he said. Everybody has bad roads, but few people know we have a bad judicial system, he said. White has proposed legislation which would let the governor appoint six members to the JMSC with one of them recommended by the S.C. Bar Association and another recommended by the S.C. Sheriffs Association. The president of the Senate and the speaker of the House would each appoint two members to the commission. Those appointees cannot be members of the General Assembly. Rep. Russell Ott, D-St. Matthews, said, A change needs to transpire with the process and the system. He also noted, I have the utmost respect for the vast majority of my colleagues who are lawyer-legislators. Otts proposed bill supports, in part, having a seven-member JMSC, rather than 10. The bill would only allow former or retired judges of the S.C. Supreme Court, S.C. Court of Appeals, Circuit Court or Family Court to serve as members. His bill also calls for prohibiting members of the General Assembly from serving as members on the JMSC and calls for stopping lawmakers who have conflicts of interest from voting to appoint judicial candidates. The governor would appoint two members to the JMSC and the following organizations would appoint one member each: S.C. Chapter of American Trial Lawyers, S.C. Victim Assistance Network, S.C. Bar, S.C. Association for Justice and S.C. Sheriffs Association. When lawyer-legislators end up appointing judges, they often end up practicing law in those judges courts, Pascoe said. Pascoe wants the JMSC to be more independent, eliminating lawyer-legislators from the process. He said the judiciary is, hired only by the legislature, paid solely by the legislature and can only be fired by the legislature. He also noted that the operation of the judiciary is funded by the legislature. The judiciary arguably becomes an employee of the legislature, not a co-equal branch of government, Pascoe said. Pascoe said it will be challenging to convince some lawmakers to give up the power they hold on the JMSC. Pascoe and lawmakers told the audience to reach out to their state representatives if they want to see changes about the Judicial Merit Selection Commission and how judges are appointed across the state. In the United States, aspirin ranks high among the most prescribed drugs. More than 40% of individuals aged 60+ take aspirin daily to avoid blood clots, which may cause serious health problems, including heart attacks and strokes. As studies have shown a higher likelihood of significant bleeding with aspirin treatment, doctors have recently moved away from its use as a preventative measure against initial heart attacks and strokes in all elderly individuals. However, in certain situations, it is still suggested for those who have had a heart attack or stroke to avoid another instance. According to CNN, the risk of major bleeding events like aneurysms makes researchers wonder whether aspirin could also have a role in the development of anemia or a lack of oxygen in the blood. Although heart disease and stroke get all the attention, anemia is also a major issue among the elderly that often goes unnoticed. Anemia is linked to poor health in general. These include weariness, memory and thinking difficulties, despair, and increased mortality risk. Studies reveal that 30% of persons aged 75 and older globally are anemic. The Study of Whether Aspirin Causes Anemia or Blood Oxygen Deficiency Over the course of five years, researchers in the US and Australia monitored more than 18,000 persons aged 65 and over. One group got a dummy pill daily, while the other took a modest dosage of aspirin (100 milligrams). Participants in the study, financed by the National Institutes of Health, underwent annual checkups during which their hemoglobin and ferritin levels were measured. The difference was subtle but noticeable. The risk of anemia in adults who took aspirin was increased by 20% compared to those who did not. Moreover, the researchers hypothesized that 24% of the seniors using daily aspirin would develop anemia after five years, compared to 20% of those taking a placebo. Blood oxygen carriers hemoglobin and ferritin were also marginally reduced in those on aspirin regimens. The discrepancy persisted even after researchers accounted for confounding factors, including age, sex, diabetes, kidney problems, and the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), as well as cancer and significant bleeding events that occurred during the trial. Also Read: Unlocking the Power of Patient Advocacy Experts' Possible Explanation for This Phenomenon The authors have a theory on how this might happen. Because it prevents platelets from clumping together, aspirin hinders blood clotting. Cox-1, an enzyme necessary for the health of the digestive tract lining, is also inhibited. With this barrier compromised, even little blood loss from the digestive tract may lead to anemia over time. Although this impact was seen across a wide range of populations, the researchers noted that those with preexisting risks for anemia--such as inflammatory disorders like arthritis or chronic renal insufficiency--should be especially concerned about it. They recommend that physicians keep a closer eye on their patients' hemoglobin levels if they have numerous risk factors, one of which is aspirin usage. Also Read: Study Finds That Testosterone Therapy Does Not Have Adverse Effects on Men's Cardiovascular Safety @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education recently approved South Carolina State Universitys addition of a fire protection engineering concentration under the existing bachelors degree program in civil engineering. The addition of the concentration was prompted by needs expressed by officials at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions for engineers with expertise in fire protection. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions applauds SCSUs vision in developing the fire protection engineering concentration, said Dr. Sean Alford, SRNS executive vice president and chief administrative officer. This critical skillset is in great demand at the Savannah River Site, and it has been an honor for us to partner with a prestigious historically Black college and university to fill a huge void in our state, he said. Graduates of the program will work to protect lives for decades to come. S.C. State trustees approved the universitys fire protection engineering proposal at its Sept. 15 meeting. The Commission on Higher Education gave the official go-ahead on June 6. The fire protection program will prepare one to use the knowledge of fire prevention and suppression to design and recommend equipment to assist multiple organizations in safeguarding life and property against fire and related hazards, said Dr. Frederick Evans, S.C. States provost and vice president for academic affairs. In its proposal for the program, S.C. State noted that few institutions in the nation offer baccalaureate degree programs in fire protection engineering. Every year, fire protection engineering positions go unfilled, showing demand for such engineers around the country. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions is an exemplary partner for S.C. State, university President Alexander Conyers said. Along with offering internships to our engineering students, SRNS is a valuable resource not just for our nuclear engineering program, but also for our other STEM-related efforts. By coming to S.C. State with this workforce development need in fire protection engineering, SRNS demonstrated faith in what this university can do for employers across the state of South Carolina and beyond, Conyers said. Dr. Stanley Ihekweazu, dean of S.C. States College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, said the fire protection engineering program is not designed to replace the universitys regular civil engineering degree program. SC State University is the only publicly assisted university in the State with this option, Ihekweazu said. The program will seek ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) accreditation when it has its first graduate in line with ABET guidelines for accreditation. Two engineers for the price of one. Thats the benefit of a new academic major at South Carolina State University. The College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Transportation (STEM-T) has launched a degree program in mechatronics engineering, a discipline that merges mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. Now industries are looking for engineering graduates who have background in both areas, said Dr. Hasanul A. Basher, professor and chairman of SC States Department of Engineering Technology. There is no industry where mechanical is needed but not electrical or where electrical is needed but not mechanical. The field also includes advanced control systems to design, build and operate smart systems and processes. Basher said modern mechatronics may integrate elements of aviation, artificial intelligence, telecommunications, and cybersecurity. Mechatronics engineers work on the design, testing and manufacturing of smart systems in areas such as robotics, medical and assistive technology, human-machine interaction, manufacturing, and unmanned aerial and ground vehicles. The U.S. Department of Labor has deemed mechatronics an emerging growth area for new jobs. Skills students acquire in SC States program will be valuable to employers from a variety of industrial sectors. including aerospace, automotive, manufacturing, communications, defense, electronics and healthcare. Noting the presence of such major manufacturers as Boeing, Volvo and BMW in South Carolina, Basher said a SC State mechatronics graduate will be extremely marketable in the region and beyond. They need this kind of engineer. Its also cost effective, especially for small companies. Rather than hiring an electrical engineer and a mechanical engineer, they can hire one mechatronics engineer, Basher said. Mechatronics originally was conceived as a combination of mechanics and electronics in the late 1960s but has continued to evolve and grow ever since. Basher said there has been a dramatic increase in mechatronics education at the university level across the globe in the last decade, but the U.S. is behind the curve. Few universities in this country offer a Bachelor of Science degree in mechatronics, and SC State is the first in the state of South Carolina. Japan is way ahead on this started a long time ago, Basher said. Now Europe is far ahead of us, as well. I am originally from Bangladesh, a very small country, and they have it. To prepare the mechatronics proposal, which received approval this spring, Basher and colleagues visited other institutions and outlined a curriculum. In addition to SC States core curriculum and the College of STEM-Ts exiting coursework, he outlined 22 new courses. Even before the mechatronics program received approval, Basher was recruiting students. Omar Shaheed, a rising SC State senior from Moncks Corner was in high school when he visited the campus and learned about mechatronic from Basher. It was new. It was different, Shaheed said. I wanted to see what it was about. So, Shaheed enrolled at SC State as an electrical engineering technology major and got his core and prerequisites under his belt before switching his major to mechatronics engineering. Im learning a lot about how electricity works and how to understand what you are seeing, he said, adding that he will be excited to start mechatronics lab coursework next school year to apply theory to hands-on projects. Shaheed already has benefited from some real-world experience in engineering, as he completed summer internships at Savannah Nuclear River Site and Boeing. The internships allowed me to see where I am in my education and how everything falls into place, Shaheed said. It gave me an idea of what I am learning in class and how that applies to the real world. Shaheed was one of the first six SC State students to selected mechatronics as a major. Basher expects the program to grow swiftly, and the university will need additional faculty to meet the demand and teach the new courses. He and his colleagues in the College of STEM-T have taken on additional course loads to accommodate the program. Basher predicts that at some point, mechatronics will dominate the manufacturing landscape because it includes essential components that will enable all industries to manufacture faster and better. This is the future for many, many companies, and South Carolina State will be among the first to offer them the kind of engineers they need, Basher said. For more information about SC States mechatronics engineering degree, contact Dr. Hasanul A. Basher at hbasher@scsu.edu or 803-536-8474. To apply for admission to SC State, visit the Admissions page on universitys website at www.scsu.edu. (TBTCO) - Nhan loi moi cua Thu tuong Chinh phu Pham Minh Chinh, Thu tuong Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim va Phu nhan tham chinh thuc Viet Nam ngay 20 va 21/7/2023. ay la chuyen tham chinh thuc au tien cua Thu tuong Anwar Ibrahim toi Viet Nam ke tu khi ong nham chuc vao thang 12/2022. Viet Nam va Malaysia chinh thuc thiet lap quan he ngoai giao ke tu ngay 30/3/1973. Nua the ky qua, quan he hai nuoc phat trien tich cuc, tot ep tren moi linh vuc, ac biet la tu khi nang cap len thanh quan he oi tac chien luoc vao thang 8/2015, va cang ac biet hon khi Viet Nam la oi tac chien luoc duy nhat cua Malaysia trong ASEAN. Holding early parliamentary elections to end the political stalemate? Theres nothing shocking about this suggestion in a true parliamentary democracy, since the legislatures dissolution is the norm in the event of deadlock. But its a different story in Lebanon. With democratic process having long since been swapped for a form of outside-the-chamber consensus politics, Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saabs call for early elections in the midst of a presidential vacuum seems to carry a number of political messages for a variety of recipients. Bou Saab is reputed to be close to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the main opponent of Gebran Bassil, leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) bloc to which Bou Saab belongs. A game-changer? On Friday, following a meeting with Berri, Bou Saab called for new elections. I suggested to Mr. Berri that we hold early parliamentary elections in case we fail to elect a president, he said. Although he is a member of the FPM parliamentary bloc, he has demonstrated that he is not shy about flying in the face of his partys instructions. With this room for maneuver, he went against the FPMs instructions to vote for Jihad Azour, by supporting Sleiman Frangieh, the Hezbollah and Amal presidential candidate, during the last presidential electoral session. The decision to back Azour almost broke up the FPM bloc, notably due to the opposition of MPs, including Bou Saab and FPM founding members such as Alain Aoun and Simon Abi Ramia. Bassil even accused Hezbollah of interfering in the FPMs internal affairs and inciting certain MPs to mutiny. The current Parliament is not capable of electing a president, especially if there is no real dialogue, a source close to Berri told LOrient-Le Jour. He added, Were weighing up the pros and cons, but Elias Bou Saabs proposal [to call elections] would perhaps rid the Parliament of a few elected representatives who are unaware of their responsibilities as MPs, and would be an opportunity to see the emergence of a real parliamentary majority. The May 2022 elections produced a split Parliament: Hezbollah and its allies, including the FPM) won 61 seats, short of the 65 that make up the majority. The opposition camp, for its part, has some 42 MPs, while the remaining 25 are in a gray zone. Could early elections change all this? Experts believe that the results could be unfavorable for certain blocs. The opposition, especially the Change MPs, could lose votes, especially if the diaspora is not mobilized as it was the case in 2022, said election researcher Mohammad Chamseddine. The Lebanese Forces (LF) could also lose one or two seats in Jezzine, where they made a surprising result. But the one most at risk is the FPM. The FPM won at least five seats thanks to their alliance with Hezbollah, which they could lose if the latter is less generous this time, he added. The Iran-aligned party had given its Christian ally preferential treatment in this election, favoring the FPM candidates over other allies such as the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) and pro-Syrian independents. Assem Chaya, another electoral expert, agreed with Chamseddine. Between 2018 and 2022, the FPM lost some 40 percent of its votes, but was able to limit the damage thanks to Hezbollahs multifaceted support. Breaking with the latter would be costly for the FPM, particularly in districts with a large Shiite constituency, such as Zahle and Baabda, he said. Not an subject for debate By raising the specter of early elections, Berri and Bou Saab could be telling Bassil that aligning with the opposition is not in the FPMs interests, and that he stands to lose big time if he continues to defy Hezbollah. By denying Hezbollah of the cover it desperately needs to get Frangieh elected, Bassil risks losing a handful of MPs and his bloc will no longer be able to claim being the dominant Christian party. FPM spokesperson Maya Maalouf told LOrient-Le Jour, This is a personal initiative by Elias Bou Saab. Its not a subject for debate by our party. She declined to comment further on the matter.. Bou Saabs proposal also pertains to the opposition. Here too, the message is clear: if you continue to reject the calls for dialogue and persist in blocking Frangiehs election, you risk finding yourself in the minority and losing your room for maneuver. If new elections are held, the LF will emerge stronger, said Charles Jabbour, spokesman for Samir Geageas party. But how likely is it that Bou Saabs suggestion might come to pass? It is relatively easy to call for new elections, said Hassan Rifai, an expert in constitutional matters. All it takes is a simple majority of votes and a quorum of just 65 MPs to shorten the term of the current Parliament. This was already done in 1991, he explained. At the end of the 1975-90 Civil War and following the Taif Agreement which ended the conflict, several MPs were appointed by the cabinet to Parliament, increasing the number of seats required for a simple majority (65) and allowing equal representation between Christians and Muslims. In the face of controversy, the new Parliament called for early elections, which were held in 1992. Technically, nothing would prevent it, but from a political point of view, its practically impossible. The issue will become very controversial, and I think its more a threat than a real project, said Chamseddine. For the LF, the scenario of early polls is categorically ruled out. Despite the Oct. 17 uprising, Nabih Berri refused to hold early legislative elections. Today, he is accusing Parliament of being incapable of electing a president in order to protect himself from international pressure, particularly from the Americans, who accuse him of blocking the process and threaten him with sanctions. It is his political bloc that is actually blocking the election of a consensus candidate by preventing quorum from being met, the LF's spokesperson said. He added, If they really want to resolve the crisis, the March 8 camp must above all put an end to the blockage policy. Or, is it inspired by politics in Israel, where there have been four early elections in two years? This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour. Translation by Joelle El Khoury. Leeds duo on Everton's radar | 20/06/2023 Everton are being linked with two players who were recently relegated with Leeds United and could be available this summer in the form of Jack Harrison and Crysencio Summerville. Harrison was a key player for the Yorkshire club under Marcelo Bielsa and one of interest to a number of Premier League clubs, with the Toffees among them as they seek midfield reinforcements, particularly players who can provide goals and versatility in that part of the pitch. Sean Dyche and Kevin Thelwell are also looking at his team-mate Summerville, according to The Telegraph, with Everton facing competition from Feyenoord. The 21-year-old Dutchman reportedly has a release clause of 20m which might price the Blues out of the running unless they can structure the deal with a low fee up front and staggered payments but the reports suggest that Leeds would be looking for around 12m. Article continues below video content Summerville has scored four League goals in 28 appearances for Leeds since joining them from Feyenoord on the back of loan spells at Dordrecht and ADO Den Haag. Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer () How to get rid of these ads and support TW ToffeeWeb On Tuesday night, the Albany County Commission is expected to vote on retitling the controversially named Swastika Lake -- despite being most synonymous with Nazi atrocities, Albany County Commissioner Terri Jones argues Wyoming needs to keep the good, the bad and the ugly of history alive. The vote to approve the recommendation to rename Swastika Lake is scheduled to take place during the regular meeting at 6 p.m., Albany County Commissioner Sue Ibarra said in an e-mail. Swastika Lake is located in Medicine Bow National Forest near Green Rock Picnic Site just off Highway 130. There's an easy loop trail, which passes right by the lake. Since it sits in a national forest, federal officials must approve any changes. "The proposed name changes will be considered by the Board on Geographic Names, who has the final decision on the name selected," Ibarra told the Star-Tribune on Monday. Many demographic studies list Wyoming as having the smallest Jewish population of any state in America with estimates ranging from about 400 to 2,000 people. Debate over proposed name change During an Albany County Commissioner meeting earlier this month, several parties voiced support for renaming the lake, but the boards only Republican-member Jones described the move as a calling card of communism. Jones' reaction garnered some national attention, leading Robert K. Kraft, well-known owner of the New England Patriots and founder of the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism, to submit an official statement in favor of the name-change on Friday. Although the swastika emerged as an ancient symbol for good-fortune and well-being, it became the most significant symbols of hate, antisemitism and infamy in much of the world outside of Asia, Lindsy Sanders said during the meeting; she was presenting her petition for the name change at the time. Sanders broke down in tears, and stopped to say sorry, while making her case. She found nothing in the local archives or online about the name's origin. Although Swastika Ranch, Swastika Store and the ladys swastika club existed in Albany County, those names were all changed during or after World War II, she said. ...[H]alf a million brave Americans sacrificed their lives in defeat of the Nazis. Keeping the name Swastika Lake in the United States denigrates their sacrifice. On the other hand, Jones argued the good predated the bad by eons and people must keep history and teaching opportunities alive to learn about the good, the bad and the ugly of history, she said during the meeting. Society should not change names, that many might find offensive, to soothe sensitive people, Jones said. An educated person must know that there are two sides of the coin to address. What better place to ask questions and learn than the beautiful Swastika Lake ..., Jones said. Kraft said Friday the word swastika doesn't promote education on its own. Today, many Western countries, including Germany, have criminalized public displays of the swastika and any language that distorts the Holocaust or glorifies the Nazi party, Kraft wrote. [W]e believe there are many more efficient ways to educate the public around the history and origin of the word History behind the symbol A swastika symbol was discovered carved on a 15,000-year-old ivory figure of a bird made from mammoth tusk in its earliest known use, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. The ancient engraving is believed to have been used for health and fertility purposes. From its earliest conception, the symbol was meant to be encouraging of life, an Encyclopedia Britannica entry states. It has been used by cultures throughout history -- in Greek currency, on Iron Age artifacts, as a symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism and so on. While the symbol has a long history of having a positive connotation, it was forever corrupted by its use in one cultural context: Nazi Germany, the entry states. Adolf Hitler adopted the swastika as the German national symbol in 1920, making it a central element in the Nazi Party flag while attempting a totalitarian conquest of Europe and decimating its Jewish population. By 1945, the symbol was totally associated with World War II and the largest recorded genocide in the world. National push for name-changes In recent years, there's been a country-wide push to rid of names, statues and symbolism, which have racist or culturally insensitive origins. For example, changing the name of Swastika Lake would not be the first time such a decision was made in Wyoming, Kraft wrote in the letter. At least 43 geographical features were renamed all across the state just last year to remove a slur aimed at Indigenous women. And other states have had similar debates regarding the use of the word swastika. Two months ago, Mount Halo in Oregon was renamed from Swastika Mountain. In 2020, a small town in upstate New York voted to keep their town's name as Swastika, referencing a similar argument to the one Jones' raised earlier this month, National Public Radio reported. A 19-year-old Cheyenne man told police he pushed his girlfriend off a bed after she bit his finger and heard a pop, but an acquaintance later informed investigators that he called while crying to admit hed strangled her, an affidavit states. On June 15, Phoenix Cerenil was transported to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, where she was found to have an anoxic brain injury with prolonged oxygen deprivation to her brain and abrasions to her neck, the affidavit states. Her doctor noted, at the time, her prognosis was extremely poor, the affidavit states. Cerenil died two days later. Before Cernils death, Charles Rees Karn was facing several felony charges including aggravated assault with serious bodily injury, strangulation of a household member and domestic battery in connection with the incident. Karn will likely face additional charges, as the Cheyenne Police Department announced the incident is now being investigated as a homicide. No additional charges were filed as of Tuesday afternoon, court records show. At 12:21 a.m. on June 15, an individual at a camper near the 4700 block of Cactus Way called 911. There was an open-line and attempts by dispatch for verbal contact, the affidavit states. After about nine minutes, the caller informed dispatch a woman was pushed off a bed and sustained a head injury. An officer arrived on scene and made contact with Karn, the affidavit states. He was crying, stating he and his girlfriend were in the camper. Karn told the officer they were lying in bed when he got upset because Cerenil bit his finger, so he pushed her off the bed. Karn heard a pop, the affidavit states. Cerenil was unresponsive inside the camper, and she was transported to the hospital. Beyond the neck abrasions, an officer noted several visible injuries on Cerenil once she arrived at the hospital, the affidavit states. The officer took photographs of her injuries. Karn agreed to be interviewed at the Cheyenne Police Department, where he informed investigators, hed been dating Cerenil for one year, the affidavit states. He told investigators that he and a friend left for Loaf N Jug at about midnight, leaving Cerenil at the camper. When he returned home, the couple became intimate on the top bunk. According to Karn, Cerenil grabbed his hand and bit his left-ring finger in a playful manner, the affidavit states. Karn said he reacted by pushing Cerenil off the bed and she must have hit her head on the table near the bed, the affidavit states. When investigators asked if theyd been arguing, Karn denied this, the affidavit states. He described a disagreement about Karns impending legal troubles and their relationship. Karns had several criminal proceedings in the past entering a plea agreement in another case as recently as last month, court filings show. Most recently, Karn entered the Kia of Cheyenne dealership while it was closed in January, an affidavit states. He entered the backseat of a Kia Rio and started a fire. The fire went out, so Karn re-entered the vehicle two more times before it stayed lit and ultimately consumed the car, the affidavit states. The dealership estimated the total damage was about $18,000. Karn entered a plea agreement in that case on May 4, but Assistant District Attorney Jonah Buckley filed a motion to deviate from that agreement last week, court filings show. The defendant has violated the agreement by being arrested for new criminal charges on June 15, 2023, the filing states. Following the June 15 incident, officials noticed some injuries on Karn including scratches, bruises and red marks, the affidavit states. He said they were from when he and Cerenil were wrestling two to three days prior to the incident. But a woman associated with Karn shared a different version of events with investigators, the affidavit states. The relationship between the two was not disclosed. The woman told investigators that she received a call from Karn around the same time 911 received the call. Karn told her that Cerenil was not breathing. At about 5 a.m., an investigator texted the woman to ask for Cerenils next of kin information. She responded with the details, but also added that Karn told them a different story. The investigator texted back, What did he tell you? That he strangled her after she bit him, the woman texted back. Karn is scheduled to appear in Laramie County Circuit Court on Friday morning. Netflix show "Bridgerton" has had two seasons so far, with the first focusing on Daphne Bridgerton's life and the second with Viscount Anthony Bridgerton. The show is staying true to its premise as it tells the story of another Bridgerton sibling along with another beloved character. Colin and Penelope We've seen Daphne with Simon and Anthony with Kate, now the third season will bring us the story of Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Bridgerton. We already know how Penelope feels about the third-born sibling, and season three will finally give us the "Polin" story. In the last season, Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) has had a tough year. Aside from her best friend, Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie), finding out about her being Lady Whistledown, she also overheard Colin telling his friends that he would never court her. Coughlan had already revealed a teaser during Netflix's Tudum event in 2022 as she read the first page of season 3's script, stating "Dearest gentlereader, we have been apart for far too long. At last, London's smart set has made its return." This season might finally be the year for Penelope's debut, and as we know, after telling Eloise that she was giving up her gossip sheet, she has actually published again, so we will not be hearing the last of Lady Whistledown just yet. Netflix also revealed a series of photos not only of her and Colin in intimate proximity but of a new look that Penelope has adopted with her hair down. This shows that the clandestine writer is finally growing up to be a woman in the next season. We will see character favorites return as well such as Anthony Bridgerton, Benedict Bridgerton, Lady Danbury, Lady Bridgerton, and Lady Featherington. There will also be new additions to the cast with actor Daniel Francis as Marcus Anderson, along with Sam Phillips as Lord Debling. Of course, we will be seeing more of Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel), who has been painted in a more vivid light after the spinoff series, "Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story," telling the audience how she came to be the adored queen. We might see the third season sooner than we think given that the cast has already started filming in May 2022, which Nicola Coughlan revealed in the Tudum event back in 2022. Season two started filming in March 2021 and launched on March 2022. Read Also: Netflix's Ad-Support Tier Is Gaining Support In The US, Reports Find More Teasers from Netflix The streaming giant made it known that they were working on a live-action series based on the animated show, "Avatar: The Last Airbender." The last we heard about the show was about the casting, which most fans were happy about. Just yesterday, Netflix posted photos of the cast wearing their character costumes. It showed Aang (Gordon Cormier), Zuko (Dallas James Liu), Sokka (Ian Ousley), and Katara (Kiawentiio Tarbell), who you may know as Ka'Kwet from "Anne with an E." Meet Aang, Katara, Sokka and Zuko in Netflixs Avatar: The Last Airbender, coming 2024. #TUDUM pic.twitter.com/b7TKxo9pKC Netflix (@netflix) June 17, 2023 You might also recognize other actors such as June played by Arden Cho, as mentioned in One E-Sports, who took on the role of Kira Yukimura on "Teen Wolf." Another character, The Mechanic, is played by Danny Pudi, who you would recognize as Abed Nadir from the sitcom "Community." Related: Netflix Plans to Invest $2.5 Billion for Creating K-Dramas A 24-year-old Wyoming man was found dead in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, local authorities announced. On Saturday, Keelan Noel, of Torrington, was found lying on a sidewalk in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska shortly before 2 a.m., officials said. Officers were dispatched to Michael Street in Terrytown, the Scottsbluff Police Department said in a post on Facebook. The report indicted Noel appeared to be dead when authorities arrived. Foul play is not suspected, the statement said. The Scottsbluff Police Department has "conducted numerous interviews" and an autopsy was scheduled for Monday morning. The on-scene investigation lasted until about 5 a.m. on the morning Noel was found, the statement said. A vehicle associated with Noel was also taken from the scene. Anyone who may have been near Country Club Road and/or Michael Street during the late hours of June 16 or the early morning hours of June 17, and may have observed anything suspicious, are asked to contact the Scottsbluff Police Department at 308-632-7176 or Scotts Bluff County Crime Stoppers at 308-632-STOP. The investigation is ongoing and further information is expected to be released "when appropriate." A range of expanded legal services offered by Legal Aid of Wyoming intended to help renters weather the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic will now be available through September. Wyomings federally funded Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), overseen by the Department of Family Services, is best known for helping struggling tenants pay rent and other housing-related expenses, like utilities costs. But the program has also supported a number of other housing-related resources, like those offered by Legal Aid of Wyoming, which helps low-income Wyoming residents with civil legal matters. Some of the services currently provided by Legal Aid of Wyoming include: Advising renters on lease agreements; Representing tenants facing evictions and debt collections; Helping tenants navigate disagreements with their landlords; Helping tenants with federal benefits and disability accommodations; and Helping tenants recover money lost to scams. According to a Monday announcement from the Department of Family Services, the state agencys latest award to Legal Aid of Wyoming will allow the nonprofit to continue providing the expanded housing stability services through Sept. 30. The agency has awarded the law firm a total of $1 million through ERAP, the announcement said. ERAP launched in Wyoming in spring of 2021. The program was never intended to be permanent, but instead to provide a temporary safety net for qualifying renters. Because of that, money for ERAP set aside by the federal government came with hard deadlines attached most of the money expires in September 2025, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasurys website. High demand for rental assistance has caused Wyoming to burn through its ERAP funding much earlier than that, however. To prepare for the programs sunset, the Department of Family Services announced in fall 2022 it was starting to gradually wind down ERAPs services. The state agency stopped accepting new applications for direct housing subsidies from ERAP in November, and in February announced the program would be shutting down entirely at the end of June. But legal services funded by ERAP will be around little while longer. ERAP will stop making payments to cover rent and utilities after June, putting some households unable to continue to pay rent at risk, the Department of Family Services said in its Monday statement. The additional ERAP funding will help Legal Aid assist more struggling households across the state. You dont have to be a current ERAP recipient to qualify. To learn more, visit lawyoming.org or call 1-877-432-9955 weekdays between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. As of Friday, ERAP had distributed a total of $107 million in rental assistance to 17,144 households, according to the Department of Family Services website. Current recipients who havent used up their 18 months of eligibility for ERAP rental assistance can still apply for funding extensions through June 30. After that, the programs online portal will be taken down. In the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that preserves a law giving preference to Indigenous families in foster care and adoption proceedings of Indigenous children, Wyoming lawmakers are considering additional protections to related state statutes. Enacted in 1978, the Indian Child Welfare Act was designed to halt decades of government abuse involving the separation of Indigenous children from their families, traditions and cultures. The state of Texas and white foster parents challenged the federal laws preference policy, arguing that the law is based on race and therefore in violation of the U.S. Constitutions equal protection clause. The plaintiffs in Haaland v. Brackeen also argued that the law usurped the power of states in family law issues. In a 7-2 decision, the high court rejected those challenges and affirmed the power of Congress to make laws about tribes and child welfare, marking a major victory for the right of Indigenous people to govern themselves. If the court had come out the other way, it would have been a complete erosion of tribal sovereignty, said Sen. Affie Ellis, R-Cheyenne. This case could have been devastating and fortunately it wasnt. After enacting a mirror version of ICWA on the state level this spring, Wyoming lawmakers are now considering how to proceed in light of the ruling. The state cant weaken its obligation but it can certainly provide more protection, Ellis said. Ellis, a member of the Navajo Nation, was lead sponsor of Senate File 94 Federal Indian Child Welfare Act codification, which codified the federal law in state statute. Gov. Mark Gordon signed the bill into law in March. The Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes championed the state law in anticipation that the legal challenge could dissolve 45 years worth of protections. Todays decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is a landmark victory for child welfare, Tribal culture and our very way of life, the Northern Arapaho Business Council said in a statement. This ruling marks a rejection of shameful pre-ICWA practices that saw Native children systematically removed from their homes and communities in order to erase our language, culture and practices. The Eastern Shoshone Business Council did not respond to WyoFiles request for comment by press time. History and legislation Several studies conducted ahead of the passage of ICWA found that more than one-third of all Indigenous children had been removed from their homes. And of those, 85% were placed with non-Indigenous families and institutions with no tribal ties even when fit and willing relatives were available. To remedy this, ICWA created three priorities for placing Indigenous children when they are adopted or enter into foster care. First preference is a member of the childs extended family, followed by a member of the childs tribe. If neither is possible, the next preference is a member of another tribe. Those priorities were at the heart of the legal challenge and mirror what is now codified in Wyoming law. The Wyoming Legislature also created a task force to consider the protections afforded by the federal law after the high court took up the matter. There was a clear understanding from those of us on the task force that we couldnt be burning much daylight, Rep. Lloyd Larsen, R-Lander, said. We had to make hay while we could because if it was overturned, we wanted to be prepared to come back [in the next session] with something that would continue to protect tribal interests. The courts decision to uphold the federal law relieves a lot of the pressure, Larsen said, but questions remain about whether the state will craft additional legislation the ICWA bill signed into Wyoming law sunsets in 2027. The federal law is the baseline, but are there areas within that federal law that we should address and try to add clarity for the judicial system or not? Larsen asked. I think that will probably be the essence of our next meeting. Ellis, who chairs the task force with Larsen, said: We owe it to ourselves as a state and we owe it to our tribal partners to ask, How can we do this better? Ellis, an attorney, previously taught federal Indian law at the University of Wyoming and served on the U.S. Tribal Law and Order Commission. She said she was a little surprised to see the opinion come out as it did, but called it a really sound decision. I want to be sensitive to the fact that these are family law matters, and theyre really, really hard, Ellis added, before pointing to Justice Neal Gorsuchs concurring opinion as language that I think our country needs to hear. Often, Gorsuch wrote, Native American Tribes have come to this Court seeking justice only to leave with bowed heads and empty hands. But that is not because this Court has no justice to offer them. Our Constitution reserves for the Tribes a place an enduring place in the structure of American life. It promises them sovereignty for as long as they wish to keep it. And it secures that promise by divesting States of authority over Indian affairs and by giving the federal government certain significant (but limited and enumerated) powers aimed at building a lasting peace. What comes next The task force does have another meeting scheduled, in conjunction with the Joint Tribal Relations committee, said task force member Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander. Though it doesnt seem like itd be harmful to explore whatever needs to be done, Case said, I sort of feel the reason for the task force is now over. The Management Council appropriated $40,000 for the task force to work and meet before the 2024 legislative session. In May, the task force held a private work session. It would save very little money, according to Case, to cancel the upcoming meeting since task force members and staff will already be traveling for the coinciding meeting. Case is unsure but open to the idea that theres still work to be done, he said. Theres always issues like access to the courts. Stephanie Amiotte, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties of Wyoming, prefers a proactive approach. As much as we love to say that we can rely upon these decisions, its not a permanent thing, Amiotte said. We know that decisions are overturned or different challenges can be made. The organization and several other ACLU affiliates co-authored an amicus brief in the ICWA case. Amiotte, an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Tribe, said the ACLU would like to see the task force consider several improvements, such as strengthening protections for Native American families at the initial investigation process. ICWA provides protections once a child enters the foster or adoption system following an investigation, but child welfare agencies really need to be educated on both internal biases that may exist and basic lack of understanding about Indigenous cultures and Indigenous practices, Amiotte said. The ICWA task force is scheduled to meet in Riverton on July 12. We are more connected now than at any time in our history. People in Wyoming can call loved ones across the country. We can consult with our doctors via telehealth. We can submit claims to the Veterans Administration online. We can send money with a few simple clicks. With the benefits these new technologies bring, especially for those of us living in a rural state like Wyoming, we also expose ourselves to new risks to our privacy. Big tech companies use our browsing history online to make money by selling targeted ads. Data brokers collect our location data and purchase histories and sell them to anyone willing to pay. Data breaches frequently put sensitive personal information in the hands of criminals, exposing us to risks of identity theft. Even our own government buys vast quantities of Americans personal data. We share information and data in milliseconds instead of hours or days. Our photos, biographical information and even social security numbers are shared and stored online. With so much of our lives taking place online, we need to have strong protections to guard us from privacy invasions. Unfortunately, many of the laws meant to protect our privacy are outdated and written for an era when smartphones and the modern internet were not a daily reality for most Americans. People in Wyoming deserve to make informed decisions about their data, but how can we be expected to know what privacy risks we might face when those details are buried in lengthy terms of service? This is a completely different world than the writers of our Constitution had ever considered. This leads us to a new existential question. How much freedom do we truly have if we cannot control what happens with our information? If we do not know who has access to our data and what they are doing with it, can we even be confident we are truly free? My answer to this question is no. We are not truly free if we are not in control of our own data. In this day in age, that presents a variety of challenges. So much of who we are is already online. The Pandoras box is open. However, I do not believe that hope is lost, yet one of the solutions government intervention also has potential to be the problem. While I am concerned about private companies having unfettered access to our data, I believe it is equally, if not more dangerous, for any government to have that same access. Benjamin Franklin famously said, Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Franklin could never have anticipated just how much freedom his fellow Americans would give up under the guise of connectedness and convenience, and to be frank, I am not sure many of us fully understand how much we are actually giving up. Most of us do not understand how much of our identity is online, and we are certainly not fully aware of who all has access to that information. This is a dangerous game, and it is the duty of our government to not try to gain access and use that data, but instead to safeguard it and make sure that Americans have access to the information they need to secure their identities and make wise decisions when interacting online. That begins, first and foremost, with the information Americans give to the government online. Every service, from tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service to care from the Veterans Administration, requires some sort of online footprint. While this has the potential to make these services quicker and easier for Americans, it also opens us up to risk. Is our government using top of the line security to keep our information safe? Are those government employees accessing our data acting in good faith? Currently, I do not have confidence in that. That is why I am working to ensure the government is not in a position to abuse our data and that we are also protected from private companies that are all too happy to monetize our digital identities. I sit on the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation which has broad jurisdiction over the internet, technology, communications and consumer protection. I am using this position to protect children online, safeguard health data, stop government surveillance, prevent identity theft and address the emerging privacy concerns within Artificial Intelligence. We often say that, in Wyoming, we dont use turning signals because its none of anyones darn business where we are going. When it comes to your personal data, I believe the same sentiment applies and that is why I have become one of the Senates most stalwart champions for data privacy. The people of Wyoming value their privacy, and they value a government that does not infringe on their rights. True liberty is not possible without privacy and I will continue to be a fierce defender of both in the United States Senate. AN aviation company plans to run commercial flights using an electric engine that creates no carbon emissions by 2025. ZeroAvia has flown nine test flights with its hydrogen-electric engine at Cotswold Airport, near Cirencester. The only emission created by the engine is water. When it came time to say goodbye, Doolarie Badree just could not do it. The ailing mother cried, begged, wailed and bought time until, in the end, she let go of the daughter she could no longer care for. So that afternoon, her child, Renuca Badree, was taken from the home she had never left in all her 47 years of life. The water crisis in which 250,000 people were without water one week ago would have lasted for months if the Government had not bypassed the procurement procedure outlined in the procurement act. To say that Amazon employees aren't fond of the company they work for is an understatement. The retail giant has been the reason behind several strikes and unions over the years, and in addition to warehouse workers, delivery drivers are now asking for fair treatment as well. Amazon Says It's Contractor Labor A news headline from Motherboard stated that the Amazon delivery drivers from Palmdale, California were on strike for the first time. However, a spokesperson from the company requested that they change the title as it was inaccurate. According to Amazon's representative, the drivers were merely from a Delivery Service Partner (DSP), Battle-Tested Strategies. The so-called drivers from the DSP demanded that Amazon should provide better pay and improved safety conditions, as reported by The Verge. Despite the clarification that the drivers are contracted workers, the company still has a lot of control over the drivers such as their appearance, what they post online, and when they can come back to work after events that make the working environment unsafe. There's also the fact that the drivers are clad in Amazon uniforms as well as drive clearly labeled company trucks. A total of 84 strikers walked out to go against Amazon's labor practices following the unionization with the Teamsters. The union filed unfair labor charges back in May with the National Labor Relations Board, stating that despite all the mentioned situations in which they operate, Amazon is still trying to legally separate itself from the workers. The document detailing the charges also mentioned that Amazon has not provided its drivers with an air-conditioned vehicle, meaning that they will have to endure "inhumane heat" as they transport goods in the desert, which can reach around 118 degrees Fahrenheit. Given that it tends to get warmer inside the vehicles compared to the open environment, the vans would sometimes reach more than 130 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the delivery drivers. These conditions can become dangerous. According to the University of California, temperatures between 90 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit can cause heat cramps, while 105 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit can lead to heat exhaustion. Temperatures beyond 130 degrees Fahrenheit can ultimately cause heatstroke. Read Also: Amazon Go Store Faces Lawsuit For Violating NYC's Biometric Surveillance Law Amazon Flex is No Better The Amazon Flex program lets anyone apply as a delivery driver with nothing but a driver's license and a working vehicle. Amazon claims that the drivers will be able to set their own schedules and make $18 to $25 an hour. Although, there have been complaints from those who have experienced the program, saying that they have been subjected to long hours, low pay, and dangerous conditions, as reported by Vox. In a lot of ways, they differ from DSPs, but the treatment has some similarities. Amazon drivers have even complained of restroom issues, where male drivers would have to urinate in bottles just to make sure that they would deliver parcels on time. It's a more difficult situation for female delivery drivers, of course, which can be demeaning in both instances. Related: Amazon Products Now Have AI-Generated Reviews About a week ago, I wrote about a friend who was robbed on Stanmore Avenue. That was a Frida Google published quite the doodle for Juneteenth 2023. The popular search giant recently launched a unique doodle created by guest artist Laura Freeman to celebrate this year's Juneteenth with the US' African American community and the American people at large. Freeman is an award-winning illustrator from New York; she has illustrated many books, but she's best known for her work in children's books, per her official website. Laura Freeman Doodle Details Google has been celebrating various significant international events, and Juneteenth is one of those. To commemorate it, Google asked Freeman to create artwork inspired by the event, which depicts "a multi-generational community celebration of the holiday with symbols of freedom including a dove, Juneteenth flag, and Kente cloth patterns." According to the award-winning artist's statement, she focused on Celebration and Freedom as the central themes for her creation, with the former taking more focus than the latter. She also thought featuring only one woman's profile on the right side, but the people at Google suggested she add more profiles showing people of different ages and genders - a good call, in her opinion. Interestingly, the artwork Google used for its Juneteenth doodle wasn't Freeman's first creation for the assignment - she made and went through two artworks before settling on the third after much consideration, which became Google's doodle for the event. Her initial artwork used a pattern made up of the Adinkra symbol for freedom/independence; the colors of the Kente cloth inspired the palette for the rest of the doodle, though she didn't clarify if she used the Kente cloth's color palette for all her artwork or her third and final one. Nevertheless, Freeman felt honored that GOogle asked her to do the Juneteenth doodle. Read More: Steam's Latest Desktop Update Brings UI Improvements, Visuals The History of Juneteenth June 19, commonly known as Juneteenth, is a day of great significance for the African American community. It was on this day in 1865 that enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, received news of their libration through the Emancipation Proclamation President Abraham Lincoln issued in 1863. At the time, Texas and other Confederate States opposed the proclamation, but the Union army under Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger marched into Galveston and issued the now-infamous "General Orders, Number 3," which informed 250,000 African American Texans of their freedom, per CBS News. As a result, African Americans acknowledge Juneteenth with events and gatherings honoring the struggles of those who came before and the ongoing efforts to create a more equitable fair country. NBC News mentioned that the US government acknowledged the event and designated June 19 as a federal holiday in 2021. To celebrate the event, people congregate at carnivalesque festivals with food trucks, arts and crafts, and parades, while some go to concerts and fashion shows highlighting Black excellence and creativity. Those who want to look back are welcome to events hosted by various organizations and universities to remind people of how Juneteenth came to be. Related Article: Google Launches Grey Doodle for Memorial Day Question to candidates: Deaths related to fentanyl are on the rise in Tucson and around the country. What steps should the City of Tucson take to deal with the opioid crisis? Mayor Arthur Kerschen Laws against force and fraud should be strictly enforced. Consenting adults must take full responsibility for their own mistakes. Regina Romero Substance misuse disorder and its consequences were first identified as a public health priority in 2015 in the Pima County Health Needs Assessment. Fentanyl use and the opioid epidemic are real. As Mayor, I have advocated for funding to support the work we are doing locally and supported the efforts of the Tucson Police Department to compete successfully for federal grants such as the Public Safety Program through the Department of Justice. We need to make sure our commissioned officers and community service officers have the resources and training they need to be able to do this work safely and effectively. I have supported investing in the Place Networks Investigation program at the City of Tucson that brings together city departments to coordinate efforts to reduce crime and violence in areas that are experiencing the highest rates of crime. I believe reducing poverty through investments in expanding youth employment programs, neighborhoods and parks is an important longer-term strategy. I continue to support the Community Engagement Division of TPD. I understand that educating our community, especially our children, about fentanyl and opioid use is important. We need to make sure that these resources are in our schools and out in the community. I continue to advocate for the availability of Narcan and training on how to use it for police officers. Finally, the City of Tucson, as well as Pima County, will be receiving funds through the Opioid Settlement. It is critical for us to collaborate together, bringing the resources of the City and County together to address this public health crisis Janet "JL" Wittenbraker The Nation and/or State of Arizona must take measures to close the Mexico/Arizona border and enact legislation to reclassify fentanyl/opioids as class one narcotics and increase penalties for fentanyl/opioids smugglers and dealers. The City should focus its efforts on education initiatives, community policing and law enforcement. Ed Ackerley ENFORCE EXISTING LAWS. Individuals who are addicted to fentanyl need engagement, encouragement, and services. This includes education, enforcement, disruption of supply, accountability, and reduced lawlessness. This is a national and state problem as well, and working with county, state and federal officials, Tucson needs to be at the forefront of engagement to remove the accessible supply, make it harder to be addicted, and provide services to assist addicts to break the cycle. Ward 1 Victoria Lem Victoria Lem did not respond to our questionnaire. Miguel Ortega This is everyones problem, not just the problem of people's addictions or casual drug users. Its a national crisis, and we must partner with federal, state and local agencies to address it. We need to make sure that our local agencies are properly supported and funded and provide even more support for this specific crisis. My background is in counseling and organizing communities in the area of addiction with an emphasis on prevention. The concept of prevention/education is even more important when it comes to fentanyl, given how dangerous and how easy it is to accidentally be exposed and die from that simple exposure. We need to partner with our schools, social service agencies and prison systems in order to successfully solve or mitigate this serious problem. Lane Santa Cruz I lost my older brother George to an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2016. My brothers sudden death has been a painful reminder that conversations about mental health, generational trauma, and addiction-illness are very needed, despite how scary and vulnerable they are. Acknowledgement and greater public awareness are important first steps to begin to heal. Community education and engagement on this issue will be a focus of my second term. In addition, our city needs harm reduction strategies and community/family support systems to prevent drug misuse and addiction. I will work with my colleagues and public safety workers to develop solutions. Addressing the opioid crisis does not have a Band-Aid solution. Ward 2 Paul Cunningham The Fentanyl epidemic is heartbreaking, and there are a number of things we can do to address the Fentanyl crisis. As a middle school teacher, I gravitate towards ways in which we can better equip our young people for the challenges of adulthood. We need to do a better job of educating our youth about the dangers of fentanyl and other drugs. We also need to do a better job of providing after-school programming for youth to give them productive out-of-school activities. We also need to address the other drivers of the crisis, like poverty and homelessness and continue to offer resources to those who need help. Lisa Nutt The first step is admitting that we have a problem. Then, and only then, can we begin to address the number one cause of death for our teenagers. We also need to fully support our law enforcement in arresting those who are breaking the law and prioritize staffing the agencies that treat and transition those members of our community into healthy, productive lives. Some of those agencies are currently operating at less than half their capacity. This is an issue that should have every available resource, including federal, leveraged. Ernie Shack Ernie Shack echoed Wittenbrakers responses Pendleton Spicer First and foremost, the laws that exist need to be enforced, and our police force needs to be provided the tools with which to do so. Those who are charged must get their day in court and, if convicted, serve the sentence meted out to them. Ferreting out those who are aiding and abetting the drug flow into our community is imperative. Educating Tucson citizens about the extreme and lethal dangers of fentanyl and opioids need to begin in school classrooms, along with public service messages of all kinds. We need to implement and support policies that do not enable addiction with no personal responsibility. I agree with Tucson Crime Free Coalition that users be offered two choices--treatment or jail. Ward 4 Ross Kaplowitch Fentanyl use is truly a crisis in Arizona; I would like to see an emphasis on drug education, preferably coming from the police department and other city services. Drug education at an early age, combined with strict drug enforcement and cooperation of the city courts to prosecute those who deal drugs to our most vulnerable residents, will send a strong message to drug traffickers that Tucson, Arizona, does not welcome them. Nikki Lee I am extremely concerned about the rise in fentanyl accessibility, use, and fentanyl-related deaths in Tucson and across the nation. The opioid crisis is a complex and multifaceted issue that requires a comprehensive and collaborative approach. Since Pima County and non-profit organizations provide services to address physical healthcare, mental healthcare, and behavioral healthcare, Ill speak to the City of Tucsons role in responding to this crisis. Tucson Police Chief Chad Kasmar recently briefed the Mayor & Council on this topic and shared that fentanyl now costs less than $1 per pill and that 50% of all fentanyl seized in the United States was seized right here in Arizona. Six out of 10 pills that were seized contained a lethal dose of fentanyl. Fentanyl is widely accessible, especially here in Arizona, and we should all be aware of these facts and concerned about this crisis. Equipping public safety professionals with the necessary tools and training to respond effectively to fentanyl and opioid-related calls is crucial in saving lives and mitigating the impact of the opioid crisis. By ensuring that our first responders are properly equipped to recognize the signs of overdose, administer life-saving medications like naloxone, and ensure their own safety while handling potent substances, we can enhance their ability to serve the community. MADISON, Wis. (AP) A U.S. hiker who fell to her death during a savage attack in Germany and a friend who tried to protect her had just graduated together from the University of Illinois with computer degrees. Authorities haven't released the names of anyone involved in the June 14 incident due to German privacy rules. But the Rev. Mark Zhang of Living Water Evangelical Church in Naperville, Illinois, said Tuesday that 21-year-old Eva Liu and her parents attended the church and Liu's parents told him that she had been killed. It's a very tough situation, Zhang said. Our words are powerless. We just mourn together with them and pray for them. When one family suffers, our whole church suffers. Weihan Chang of Normal, Illinois, said that his daughter, 22-year-old Kelsey Chang, survived the attack. She was released from a hospital on Sunday and was on a plane bound for home Tuesday. He said he hadn't had a chance to talk with her very much. She's pretty damaged by the incident, Weihan Chang told The Associated Press. It's life-changing. According to authorities, Liu and Chang were hiking near Neuschwanstein castle in southern Germany on the afternoon of June 14. The two women encountered a 30-year-old man from Michigan on the path. He lured them onto a trail leading to a viewpoint, according to police. At some point he attacked Liu. When Chang tried to help her the man threw Chang off a cliff. She fell almost 165 feet (50 meters). The man then apparently tried to sexually assault Liu before throwing her off the cliff as well. Mountain rescue teams were able to reach the women but Liu died in a hospital that night. The Michigan man left the scene but was arrested nearby. A bystander said the man had scratches across his face but said nothing as police took him away to jail. The man is suspected of murder, attempted murder and a sexual offense but prosecutors have said it may be three to four months before he's indicted. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Associate Chancellor Robin Kaler said in a statement late Monday evening that Liu and Chang both graduated from the school in May. Liu earned a bachelor's degree in computer science. Chang earned a degree in computer engineering. Our University of Illinois family is mourning the senseless death of Ms. Liu and the attack on (her friend), Kaler said. Both had just graduated in May and should have been able to celebrate such an important accomplishment with the fear of such a tragic outcome. Barry Gin, another pastor at Living Water Evangelical Church in Naperville, said that Liu was a member of the church's youth group before attending boarding school at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora as a sophomore. Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli planned a moment of silence in Liu's honor at Tuesday night's city council meeting. Neuschwanstein, located in southern Bavaria close to Austrias border, is one of Germanys most popular tourist attractions. It is the most famous of the castles built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria in the 19th century. Construction started in 1869 but was never completed. Ludwig died in 1886. It was an early morning in May when Liz McGrath visited a market in Hoi An City, located in Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam. The Australian teacher did not come to buy or trade, but to observe and sketch the view and people going to the market. Ive been plotting this all week, wondering how I might spy without being rude, McGrath replied to a fan who commented on the market sketch she posted on her Instagram account @everydaylizmc. Id gone for an early cycle and spotted an empty step opposite these traders, it was shaded and I was able to sit with my back against a wall perfect. Had my sunnies on, and the only person to pay me any attention was a woman who set up her baskets in front of me as I was finishing. A sketch by Liz McGrath features people at a morning market in Hoi An, Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam. Photo: Supplied The art teacher said that she loved scenes of color and movement, so she enjoyed sketching in markets and found this was often a nice way to begin a conversation with a friendly local. Its completely impossible to capture the heat, noise and bustle of a morning food market, but fun to try, McGrath recalled the experience. The Hoi An market was part of what McGrath had done almost every day during her two weeks in Vietnam in April and May this year: sketching things she saw and ate. But it was not until 2023 that she gained followers with her sketches. Three years earlier, McGrath started to post her sketches on social media thanks to the encouragement of her children, during their visit to Vietnam then. The art teacher living in Wadawurrung Country now has more than 45,200 followers, including those who share her love of Vietnam. A sketch by Liz McGrath features Vietnamese 'banh mi' and 'ca phe phin' (coffee brewed with Vietnamese-style metal filter]. Photo: Supplied Beautiful post Liz. I loved Hanoi when we visited decades ago, one commented, while another said, Im just loving all your sketches as it takes me back to Vietnam, through her posts. Some praised McGrath for taking them with her trip through her works. Traveling through your art is so exciting -- thank you for sharing! one wrote. According to her, she has had many conversations about her Vietnam trip due to posting her sketches on social media. Vietnam is fascinating to many of my followers, and a very popular destination for travelers, she concluded. McGrath and her family have been to Vietnam three times, with her first trip taking place in 1996. I spent a month in Vietnam as a young backpacker, she recalled. A friend and I backpacked from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, on a meandering overland journey that included Da Lat, Nha Trang, Hue, Hoa Lu and Sa Pa. I loved all that I saw and finally returned twenty-four years later, bringing my family with me for a fortnights holiday in January 2020. During two weeks in Vietnam in 2020, the whole family chose to focus on the south, visiting Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, and Hoi An. In their most recent trip in 2023, the family returned to Ho Chi Minh City and Hoi An for a few days, and spent most of their time in the north exploring Hanoi and Lan Ha Bay in Hai Phong City. A sketch by Liz McGrath features Lan Ha Bay in Hai Phong City, northern Vietnam. Photo: Supplied We all had a fabulous time and created many happy memories, she said. I was so delighted to return to Vietnam this year with my family, sketchbook in hand once again. Liz McGrath (second from right) and her family take a photo during their trip to Vietnam. Photo: Supplied 'I found inspiration everywhere' McGraths Vietnam sketches were posted on her Instagram handle regularly like a diary capturing every day of her memorable trip in the Southeast Asian country. Thanks to a collection of nearly 20 sketches, McGraths followers were able to join her journey around Vietnam where they could eat a delicious bowl of pho like she did as soon as she landed in Ho Chi Minh City, grab a loaf of banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches), enjoy a cup of milk coffee, visit Ben Thanh Market, and drink a glass of lime juice to cool off in the hot weather. Leaving Ho Chi Minh City, her audience on Instagram continued to 'get lost' in the culinary world of Hanoi through her sketches featuring ruou mo (apricot wine), banh cuon (steamed rice rolls), cha ruoi (sand worm omelet), banh ran (deep-fried glutinous rice balls), bun cha (rice noodles with grilled pork and meatballs), pho cuon (pho rolls), nom u u (green papaya salad), ca phe trung (egg coffee), and more. Australian art teacher Liz McGrath is seen working on a sketch during her recent trip to Vietnam this year. Photo: Supplied On her journey, McGrath continued to take viewers to the beautiful town of Hoi An, which is home to colorful lanterns and yellow walls festooned with red bougainvillea flowers. I feel that Vietnam is a country blessed with a glorious combination of friendly people, fabulous food, vibrant cities and stunning landscapes, McGrath commented. My visits have spanned a quarter of a century, so I see many changes, especially in places like Hoi An, but those four qualities remain. A fish pond in Hoi An City, central Vietnam, as sketched by Liz McGrath. Photo: Supplied During her time in Vietnam, McGrath often did two or three sketches a day. I always carry a sketch kit with me: its a small sturdy bag that holds an A5 sketchbook, a paintbox and brushes, pens and pencils, she revealed. Im ready to sketch whenever the opportunity arises, and in beautiful Vietnam I was drawn to subjects as varied as koi fish in a pond, to the snack box we enjoyed on the overnight train, to a mouth-watering banh mi. Luckily I found inspiration everywhere. Green chilis and lime, the two spices often found at local eateries in Vietnam, as sketched by Liz McGrath. Photo: Supplied Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! LUCKNOW/INDIA -- At least 54 people died in a district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh over the last few days, the Times of India newspaper reported on Monday, as authorities probed if the loss of lives was due to the heat wave in the region. Another 45 people died in neighboring Bihar state, local newspapers reported. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert warning last week for extreme heat in some regions of the country, including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The government said it was investigating the cause of the deaths that occurred over three days last week in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district, about 970 km (600 miles) southeast of New Delhi. "Deaths have occurred in the district but it is very difficult to say if that happened due to the heat wave," said Ravindra Kumar, the top administrative official of the district, told Reuters, without confirming the number of deaths. "A few of the deaths are related to old age, while some have different reasons. There is no concrete evidence of heat wave behind these deaths." The government fired Diwakar Singh, the chief medical official at the main state hospital in Ballia, for saying that the deaths were due to heat. The state's deputy chief minister, Brajesh Pathak, said on social media that Singh had been removed from his position for making an "irresponsible statement". Temperatures have soared close to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in recent days in Ballia with a severe power crisis compounding the situation. In Bihar, 45 people lost their lives due to heat-related illnesses, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported. Officials in Patna, the capital of Bihar, did not answer phone calls. While the heat wave was expected to continue in some regions on Monday, parts of India's northeastern Assam state reeled under floods triggered by heavy rains. "Rainfall intensity in Assam and other northeastern states is likely to rise this week. Many pockets are expected to receive heavy to extremely heavy rainfall this week, which could lead to flooding," said a senior official with the IMD. WELLINGTON - A man wielding an axe entered three Chinese restaurants on Monday night in New Zealands largest city Auckland, sending four people to hospital, authorities and local media reported. One victim was discharged and three remain in stable condition, North Shore and Auckland hospital spokespeople said on Tuesday. Local media reported that the man went into three Chinese restaurants Zhangliang Malatang, Yues Dumpling Kitchen and Maya Hotpot and started randomly attacking people with an axe around 9 p.m. on Monday night. A witness told local news organisation Radio New Zealand that she was eating at Maya Hotpot with a friend when a man came at her friend with the axe. She said everyone in the restaurant then stood up and someone shouted What are you going do? Why are you doing it? before he hit her friend again. New Zealand Police said they had arrested a 24-year-old man and he was due to appear in court on Tuesday on a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Further charges are expected, police said. Police did not give a motive for the attack. Check out the latest news in Vietnam today: Politics -- Vietnam treasures and wishes to boost its relationship with the European Union, a leading important partner in Vietnam's foreign policy, the Vietnam News Agency cited Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue as saying during his reception in Hanoi on Monday for the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with the Countries of Southeast Asia and ASEAN. Society -- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport on Monday fined two taxi operators and several taxi drivers for committing taxi fare scams to overcharge customers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport by up to 10 times over the firms service prices, following an investigation of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters. -- The administration of Binh Duong Province, a neighbor of Ho Chi Minh City, will hold a ground-breaking ceremony for a Ring Road No. 3 section in its precinct on June 28, the investor of the project informed. -- Police in Ha Tinh Province, north-central Vietnam on Monday said that they had apprehended a 58-year-old female fugitive who had managed to elude a police arrest warrant for 28 years. -- A 32-year-old man had smashed properties and beat his parents before being stabbed to death by his father due to a conflict over property partition in Tien Giang Province, southern Vietnam, local police said on Monday. -- Hospitals in Mekong Delta provinces are concerned over the shortage of drugs for hand, foot, and mouth disease cases while the number of patients is rising at an alarming rate. World News -- A man wielding an axe entered three Chinese restaurants on Monday night in New Zealands largest city Auckland, sending four people to hospital, Reuters reported, citing authorities and local media. -- U.S. and Canadian ships and planes searched on Monday for a submarine that went missing more than a day earlier off the coast of southeastern Canada while taking tourists to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, according to Reuters. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A rescue operation has already been deployed to search for the submersible that was lost at sea after being cut off from surface communication. As of writing, recent news still says that the vehicle along with its passengers is yet to be found. Submersible Still Missing The submersible called Titan is part of an operation from a company called OceanGate Expeditions, where anyone can explore the wreck of the Titanic for $250,000 per person. The expedition will take passengers more than two miles below the ocean's surface. Unfortunately, the unthinkable happened and the marine vehicle got lost in a part of the ocean that was around 13,000 feet in depth. The submersible lost contact with the Canadian research ship MV Polar Prince as it dove around 900 miles east of Cape Cod. US Coast Guard Rear Admiral, John Mauger said that it is a challenge to conduct a search in the remote area and that they have already deployed all available assets to help with the search, as mentioned in The New York Times. Along with aircraft support from both the US and Canada, sonar buoys have also been placed to help search for the vehicle beneath the water's surface. The company behind Titan has thanked those who offered "extensive assistance" to reestablish communications with the submersible. Two members out of five had already been identified. One of them was Hamish Harding, who was the chairman of Action Aviation and posted about the plan to go on the dive. Another was Paul Henry Nargeolet, a French expert on the sunken boat. Despite the contributions of the government and other private companies to hasten the search, there are still factors that cannot be controlled. The search could be delayed by weather conditions, water temperature, or even just the darkness of the night. It's a different situation altogether when it comes to rescuing underwater, as more factors come into play that makes the operation more difficult. Certain equipment will be needed to conduct a successful rescue, not to mention the limited time they will have to do it. Read Also: Find the Titanic's Wreck Underwater at Home With Google Earth - Here's How Why The Submersible Needs to Be Found Quick Like all marine vehicles, Titan only has a limited supply of breathable air before it runs out. On a Monday afternoon, Rear Admiral Mauger said that the vehicle has about 70 to 96 hours available at the point of his statement, as mentioned in the Independent. There are a number of things that may go wrong the longer Titan stays underwater. The pressure in the depths of the ocean alone is already alarming enough for a marine vehicle that cannot be contacted. There's also the matter of the Titan's batteries. The power is needed to keep the inside of the vehicle warm. If the battery runs out, the passengers will be subjected to the freezing temperatures of the deep ocean, which may lead to hypothermia. The rescuers are not only chasing a clock to save the crew from running out of oxygen to breathe. The lack of heated space is yet another danger the crew is at risk of facing of they are not found on time. Related: Never-Before-Seen Footage of Titanic's Remains Have Been Released Hospitals in Mekong Delta provinces, located in southern Vietnam, are concerned over the shortage of drugs for hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) cases while the number of patients is rising at an alarming rate. At the Can Tho Children's Hospital in the namesake city, the number of HFMD child patients has surged since May. Nearly 3,000 HFMD cases have undergone medical check-ups and treatment at the hospital since early this year. The figure was 409 in May alone, soaring 140 percent month on month. The hospital received 390 cases in the first half of this month already. Doctor Huynh Hung Dung, head of the department of infectious diseases at the Can Tho Children's Hospital, said 73 HFMD cases are being treated at the hospital. The disease is mainly found in children under five years old, and patients' condition can worsen quickly. The high number of patients causes more difficulties for the hospital. At present, the volume of Immunoglobulin, a kind of drug for HFMD treatment, remains small, Dr. Ong Huy Thanh, deputy director of the hospital, said, adding that it is seeking new medicine suppliers. If the disease continues to spread and the hospital has yet to find a new drug supplier, it will face a dearth of medicines. In other southern provinces, such as An Giang, Dong Thap, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, and Tra Vinh, the number of HFMD child patients is also on the rise. An Giang has recorded 485 cases so far and the number is forecast to rise further in the next three months, especially when students return to school after their summer holiday. As a result, the risk of a shortage of HFMD medicines will be high. Meanwhile, Dong Thap Province reported 750 HFMD cases, expanding 25 percent year on year, with over 60 percent being children aged under three. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The Cybersecurity and Hi-Tech Crime Prevention Department (PA05) of Da Nang City in central Vietnam cracked down on a ring that illegally collected, bought, and sold bank account information, with the help of bank employees, for up to VND1.9 million (US$81) per account. Police summoned dozens of employees of 13 joint stock commercial banks in different localities across the country in connection with the collection and sale of bank account information to H.D.N., a 30-year-old man hailing from northern Lao Cai Province, who has been detained recently. Among these staffers, N.M.D., an employee of M. Bank, provided N. with the information of 23 accounts, including three at his bank and the remainder at V. Bank, where he was a staff member. D. had used the access granted to him to log in M. Bank's internal system to obtain the information of three bank accounts and then sell it to N.. Regarding 20 accounts at V. Bank, D. had colluded with his former colleagues at this bank to steal the information related to these accounts. D. sold the stolen information to N. for VND200,000-400,000 ($8.5-17) per account. Similarly, P.T.H.T., a staff member of S. Bank in Da Nang, also used her access right to appropriate information related to 25 account numbers designated by N. and then sold all of the information to N. T. got VND500,000 ($21.2) from N. for each account of which all information was provided to the man, according to PA05. L.D.A., another employee of S. Bank, also supplied the information of 25 accounts to N. for VND200,000 apiece, which means A. pocketed a total of VND5 million ($213). N. confessed to investigators that he and the ring members bought account information for VND200,000 each at the minimum and VND1.9 million at the maximum, depending on each specific case. The ring exchanged, bought, and sold information of more than 200 bank accounts to earn over VND400 million ($17,050). Previously, PA05 scouts discovered a group that advertised on social media their services for searching for and providing information of accounts at 22 banks across Vietnam. PA05 then launched an investigation into the groups illegal activities and determined N. as the kingpin. N. confessed from October 2022, he joined a Facebook group named A.T.M Bank Account and used his Facebook, Zalo, and Telegram accounts and those of his lover to post articles advertising their illegal service of account information search and provision. PA05 is expanding its investigation into the case. Last Saturday, the agency issued a decision to prosecute the criminal case of illegal collection, storage, exchange, trade, and disclosure of information on bank accounts, pursuant to Article 291 of the Vietnamese Penal Code, according to national radio Voice of Vietnam. Last month, a similar case was discovered in northern Cao Bang province, leading to the arrest of Hoang Van Nghia, 34, who earned illegitimate profits of up to VND70 million ($2,980) every month from May 2022. In October last year, police in Thua Thien-Hue Province, central Vietnam prosecuted a four member ring that committed the same crime, gaining billions of dong (VND1 billion = $42,570) from buying and selling the information of 255 bank accounts. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Watchdog results have shown that tea processors in Lam Dong Province, located in Vietnams Central Highlands region, did not use dyeing chemicals during their tea processing and production activities, the provincial Department of Industry and Trade affirmed on Monday. The department submitted its results to the Lam Dong Peoples Committee. The Vietnamese Embassy in Pakistan and Afghanistan previously issued a telegram alleging that some firms in Lam Dong Province dyed tea green to attract consumers when exporting the product to the two nations. As such, the provincial department asked five firms in the province to report their tea processing and production steps. These tea processors were also required to list all chemicals used for their tea production. In addition, the department dispatched an inspection team to these facilities to scrutinize the tea processing process. The watchdog found no color additives were used to process and produce tea for domestic consumption and export at these firms. Lam Dong Province, which boasts sought-after tourist destination Da Lat City, mainly exports green tea to Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to the provincial Peoples Committee. Since 2022, no shipments of tea to the two nations have been returned. In 2022, Lam Dong exported some 4,670 metric tons of tea worth US$11.56 million to Taiwan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The province shipped overseas 2,200 metric tons of tea valued at $5.3 million in the first five months of 2023, up over 38 percent in both volume and value year on year. Lam Dong Province mainly exports tea to Taiwan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Photo: M.V. / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism has announced a massive tourism promotion program in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Bangkok, Thailand to introduce Vietnams tourist attractions. A video touts Vietnam as a must-visit destination. The Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City tourism roadshow led by Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu, deputy director of the municipal tourism department, and featuring the participation of some 20 Vietnamese tour operators and many representatives of Vietnamese hospitals and medical facilities, kicked off in the capital city of Cambodia on Monday. The tourism roadshow is set to focus on introducing the diversity of new tourism products and services in Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular. Wellness tourism products are among the highlights of the program. Within the framework of the roadshow, the tourism delegation will implement multiple networking activities to sound out cooperation opportunities to ramp up the number of travelers from Cambodia and Thailand to Vietnam. The program is also aimed at turning medical tourism products into drivers for Ho Chi Minh Citys tourism. Hieu said at the launch of the program that the roadshow would tout Vietnam, especially Ho Chi Minh City, as a friendly, charming, and appealing tourist destination. Ho Chi Minh City has a good geographical connection with Cambodia and boasts favorable traffic systems, as well as visa waiver programs for Southeast Asian nations, making it more attractive to Cambodian visitors. Ngo Van Tuat, minister counselor of the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia, said that through the tourism roadshow in Cambodia, tourism services in Ho Chi Minh City would become more popular in the nation, smoothing the path to beef up two-way tourism. Between January and May, Vietnam welcomed over 167,000 Cambodian visitors, accounting for 3.63 percent of the countrys total international arrivals. A video shows the photos of tourist attractions in Ho Chi Minh City. The tourism promotion program will take place in Bangkok this month after it wraps up in Cambodia, with the participation of Thai travel firms, hospitals, and prestigious medical facilities. As part of the program, Vietnams delegation will visit Bumrugrad and Vinmut hospitals, which are famous for medical tourism in Thailand. A video introducing Ho Chi Minh Citys tourism posted on CNN in late 2022 Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Nuzhat Khan and Shaba Manzoor | TwoCircles.net After several Muslims were allegedly forced to vacate shops and leave their homes in Uttarkashis Purola after allegations of love jihad, a conspiracy theory by Hindu right-wing where Muslim men lure Hindu women and convert them to Islam, multiple videos surfaced on social media showing rallies by Hindu right-wing organisations demanding Muslims leave the state. Support TwoCircles The recent event was marked by an unprecedented display of inflammatory rhetoric, calls for driving Muslims from Uttarakhand, and the propagation of anti-Muslim sentiments. TCN compiled a list of hate speeches by Hindu seers, politicians, and social media users against Muslims in Uttarakhand. A Rundown of Hate Speeches by Prabodhananda In a Facebook video uploaded on 9 June, Swami Prabodhananda Giri, president of the Hindu Raksha Sena, a right-wing organisation based in Uttarkhand congratulated the team of Rakesh Uttarakhandi for identifying and stopping the alleged cases of love jihad in Uttarakhand. Devbhoomi [gods land] has come under jihadis. Every other day, they do love jihad or land jihad. They entrap our innocent girls. I appreciate all my karyakartas for doing a commendable job in teaching them a lesson, he said. If you have to save your daughters, if you have to save your land, if you have to save the math mandir, then you have to free Uttarakhand of all the jihadis. Devbhoomi bachao, jihadi bhagao, this slogan is the only slogan, Prabodhananda further spoke in the video. Prabodhananda is a repeat offender and made anti-Muslim speech earlier during the infamous Dharma Sansad organised at Haridwar in Uttarakhand in December 2021. This is resistance against a particular community. We will cordially chuck them out of here. We will not let them do business here, will not let them open shops. Then they will leave on their own. If they reopen their shops, well force them shut again, Prakash Kumar Dabral, General Secretary of BJPs Scheduled Caste Wing in Uttarkashi declared in an interview to a news organisation, Reporters Collective. A right-wing group, Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan, reportedly put up posters on Muslim-owned shops, warning them to vacate the Devbhoomi. The posters demanded businesses be closed before the Mahapanchayat scheduled for 15 June. A Twitter user @SheetalPronamo wrote, The Hindu of Uttarakhand has come on the streets against Love Jihad. There will be a big mahapanchayat of Hindus on 15th June. Hindu Jagruti. Another Twitter user @rightwing_guy shared a video, captioning it as H!ndus [Hindus] of Uttarakhand showing us how to deal with Love-J!hadis [Love Jihadis]. In a video circulating on Twitter, Rakesh Tomar Uttarakhandi, a self-styled saviour of Hindu women and disciple of Darshan Bharati, founder of Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan is seen to be saying, This is Gods land, this is not Mullahs land, get their houses and shops vacated immediately. In the same video, Bharti said the people of Devbhoomi should be awakened. Our ancestors did not let jihadis enter the mountains. We are not respecting our ancestors. I thank the people of Yamuna Valley who sent a message to the entire Uttarakhandi that it should be free of jihadi. I am telling you they should not be allowed to work here because they are after our women, our land, and our businesses, he said. Multiple videos and posts of Hindutva leaders delivering inflammatory speeches aimed at driving out supposedly illegal Muslim shopkeepers and vendors from Uttarakhand emerged on social media platforms. Will Not Tolerate Love Jihad: Bharti In an interview with a news channel, Bharti, the leader of Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan said, This is Devbhoomi, we will not tolerate love jihad and land jihad. They should leave the Devbhoomi altogether. Dont pollute the Sanatana traditions. People from different religions first come and ask for work from us, then they trap our girls. Every Muslim wants to break our connection to Santana traditions. Not only Indian Muslims but Muslims from around the world are involved in this conspiracy, he further added. I am meeting people across town and urging them not to give their houses and shops on rent to people from the Muslim community. Almost 50% of them agreed with me, Bharti told The Hindu. Dharma Sansad in Uttarakhand, Chavhanke Calls for Driving Out Muslims On 20 April, Tomars organisation, Rudra Sena, another right-wing group based in Uttarakhand held a dharma sansad, in Chakrata. The event attended by several priests called for an economic boycott and violence against the Muslims of the state. According to the newspaper, Times of India statements such as no non-Sanatani would be allowed to settle in Uttarakhand, the Devbhoomi, were made during the event. Prabodhananda was also present at the meeting. Suresh Chavhanke, the Editor-in-Chief of Sudarshan News TV, called for the eviction of Muslims from Uttarakhand in a recent tweet. Datyon Devbhoomi khaali karo (Demons, vacate the gods land), he wrote. Chavhanke is followed by more than 600,000 people on the micro-blogging site. Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair wrote in a tweet that the repeated violence is an outcome of no action by Uttarakhand Police against prominent persons who were part of 2021 Dharma Sansad hate speeches in Uttarakhand despite their names being added in the FIR. Hate Seeded, Circulated Through Digital Platforms: Report In 2018, Observer Research Foundation released research where they statistically mapped hate speech and counter-speech on social media pages active in India. It was found that most of the comments directed toward the minority community incited bodily harm or violence. Among other prominent subjects evoking hate speech, one was the opposition to interfaith marriage between Hindus and Muslims. Last year, a report titled Experiences of Muslims in India on digital platforms with anti-Muslim hate by the Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation [CARE] stated that in India, Hindutva propaganda infrastructures are seeded, circulated, and reproduced through digital platforms. While the digital hate driven by the Hindutva ideology is directed at Indias religious minorities and Dalits, Muslims have been mainly targeted, including genocide calls issued against them, the report says. It is exemplified in the hate campaign waged online against the community in the Uttarakhand incident. Two Circles Network contacted Khajan Singh Chauhan, Station House Officer (SHO) of Purola district, asking if any action has been taken against the hate speech rampant on social media. He replied, We have registered the complaints against them, without any further explanation. Nuzhat Khan and Shaba Manzoor are independent reporters based in New Delhi, India. They tweet at @nuzhatkhan_ @ManzoorShaba AMHERST, N.Y., June 20, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), one of the worlds largest aluminum smelters, has achieved another milestone in its Industry 4.0 transformational journey with the inauguration of an online performance system for its power stations. This system is centered around the EtaPRO Asset Performance and Condition Monitoring platform, installed on over 3,000 units across 60+ countries. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620829245/en/ Mr. Ali Al Baqali, Chief Executive Officer of Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) (Photo: Business Wire) The EtaPRO platform combines the power of thermal performance, anomaly detection, and predictive analytics to help plants increase the availability, reliability, and efficiency of their most critical assets. As Alba seeks to unlock the full potential of digital technology at scale, EtaPRO is helping to improve overall performance, measure plant degradation, enhance asset reliability, and deliver critical data and insights in support of Albas digital transformation efforts. Now that Albas new system is online, they are pleased and impressed with how it has enabled them to transform from labor-intensive past practices to proactive, real-time reliability and performance monitoring, thus enabling quicker fixes with minimum downtime before lasting or costly equipment damage is done. "With EtaPROs ability to operate on-premises and in the cloud, Alba has flexible options for expansion to meet their current and future business objectives," says Albas Chief Executive Officer, Ali Al Baqali. "EtaPRO is a powerful partner to have as we continue to meet our companys objectives in terms of efficiency and optimization." "It has been exciting to see Alba reach this milestone on their path to digital transformation with EtaPRO," stated Richard DesJardins, Chief Operating Officer, EtaPRO LLC. "With EtaPROs Asset Performance and Condition Monitoring technology, Albas power stations can now easily view the real time and historical health and condition of equipment, create high level reports, diagnose an equipment issue, automate routine calculations in addition to displaying trends, and diagnose plant performance." About EtaPRO: EtaPRO LLC., a Toshiba Group Company, headquartered in Amherst, New York, is a leading technology innovator that helps energy and industrial companies maximize their performance. The Companys EtaPRO Asset Performance and Condition Monitoring platform is a real-time digital solution for improving the efficiency and reliability of power generating assets. EtaPRO utilizes empirical and physics-based digital twin technology combined with traditional vibration frequency analysis for detecting and diagnosing equipment deterioration or operating abnormalities in their earliest stages. It is adapted to customer-specific requirements and is used by the global power industry on nearly 700 GW of generation in over 60 countries, including thermal, geothermal, hydro, wind, and solar generating technologies. Learn more: www.etapro.com. About Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) [Ticker: ALBH] At plus-1.6 million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) (2022), Alba is the worlds largest aluminium smelter ex-China with more than 50 years of excellence in Operations, Safety, Environment and Socio-Economic Development. A blue-chip asset of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Alba produces high-quality Aluminium products in the form of Standard and Value-Added Products (VAP)s, which are exported to more than 240 global customers through its sales offices in Europe (Zurich), Asia (Singapore) and subsidiary office in the U.S. Alba is dual listed on Bahrain Bourse and London Stock Exchange and its shareholders are Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company B.S.C. (69.38%), SABIC Industrial Investments Company (SIIC) (20.62%) and General Public (10%). Alba holds globally-recognised certifications such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 27001, ISO 45001, IATF 16949:2016, ISO 22301:2012 Business Continuity Management System (BCMS) and ASI Performance Standard Certification and Ecovadis Certification. As the first aluminium smelter in the Middle East, Alba sits at the heart of a thriving aluminium downstream sector in Bahrain, which accounts for approximately 12% of the Kingdom's GDP. As one of the biggest national companies, it has ensured not only the employment of Bahrain nationals (85% in 2022) but also the enhancement of their capabilities through education, training, and development initiatives at every stage of their career. Alba is recognised as one of the top industrial companies in the world with high standards in Environment practices, Social contribution and Corporate Governance. Launched in February 2022, the Companys ESG Roadmap outlines 6 priority areas - (1) Decarbonisation, (2) Green Energy & Aluminium, (3) Circular Economy & Secondary Aluminium, (4) Employee Welfare, (5) Collaboration & Partnership and (6) Transparency, Communications & Due Diligence. Since its inception, Alba has invested into numerous environment, sustainable and socio-economic development projects that have had a positive impact on the society. Albas first-of-its-kind US$37.5 million zero-waste Spent Pot Lining Treatment Plant, the upcoming 5-7 MW Solar Farm Project and the Power Station 5 Block 4 Project are tangible efforts to meet the goals of the Net Zero Carbon targets by 2060 led by HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain. Alba will also play a crucial role in the upcoming Aluminium Downstream Park, which will increase the contribution of non-oil sectors to the GDP of Bahrain. Albas motto Safety First, Safety Always has ensured that the Safety and well-being of its employees and contractors workforce remain a top priority. The Company broke all previous records in Safety and topped 30 million Safe working-hours without Lost Time Injury (LTI) on 01 September 2022 for the first-time in its history. The Company has been recognised internationally for its excellent Safety and Health track record with awards such as the RoSPA Gold Medal Award (9 years in a row) and International Safety Award with Merit from British Safety Council, as well as six major National Safety Council (NSC) USA awards for 2021. Alba has also been recognised for its initiatives to produce Aluminium responsibly through awards such as Top ESG performer in Bahrain by ESG Invest, Safeguard Label from Bureau Veritas and Best Corporate Governance Award by Ethical Boardroom. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620829245/en/ Contacts Laura Baumann laura.baumann@toshiba.com 716-766-1988 Marimekko Corporation Marimekko Corporation, Press release 20 June 2023 at 8.30 a.m. Marimekko to expand to Singapore First store to open in September Marimekko continues to expand its business in Asia, when a Marimekko store will open at the end of September 2023 in the ION Orchard mall, one of the leading shopping centers in Singapore. At the same time, a Marimekko online store will be launched in Singapore. Asia is the most important geographical area for Marimekkos international growth, and Singapore is a key city in South East Asia, having a wider impact for building brand awareness and positioning in Asia. Our inspiring stores and creative retail concepts have expanded the Marimekko phenomenon in our key markets, especially in Asia. One of the fastest growing markets for us in Asia has been Thailand. We are very happy that our excellent collaboration in scaling up Marimekkos brand together with Tanachira, our partner in Thailand, will now extend to Singapore, says Natacha Defrance, Marimekko's Senior Vice President of Sales, Region East. Having successfully established the Marimekko brand in Thailand during the past eight years in close partnership with the headquarter, we at Tanachira are pleased to expand our partnership with the opening of the first Marimekko store and a cafe concept in Singapore. We are excited to be bringing the joyful design and experience of Marimekko to one of the biggest and most vibrant financial and lifestyle hubs in Asia. This first store will be located at the prestigious ION Orchard mall, right in the heart of the Singapore Orchard Road shopping district where savvy locals and international tourists abound. We are looking forward to this continued collaboration and journey with Marimekko to grow the Marimekko business, says Tanapong Chirapanidchakul, CEO of Tanachira. During the strategy period of 20232027, Marimekko will focus on scaling its business and growth especially in international markets. The Asia-Pacific region is Marimekkos second largest market area, and net sales in the market area are expected to increase in 2023. The growing market, strong brand fit and proven track record with the loose franchise partnership model provide a good foundation for Marimekko for accelerating omnichannel growth in Asia. Further information: Anna Tuominen, Marimekko Communications Tel. +358 40 584 6944 anna.tuominen@marimekko.com DISTRIBUTION: Key media Marimekko is a Finnish lifestyle design company renowned for its original prints and colors. The companys product portfolio includes high-quality clothing, bags and accessories as well as home decor items ranging from textiles to tableware. When Marimekko was founded in 1951, its unparalleled printed fabrics gave it a strong and unique identity. In 2022, the companys net sales were EUR 167 million and brand sales of the products worldwide amounted to EUR 382 million. Globally, there are roughly 150 Marimekko stores, and online store serves customers in 35 countries. The key markets are Northern Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and North America. The Group employs about 460 people. The companys share is quoted on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. www.marimekko.com LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he would set out a new assistance package for Ukraine on Wednesday at a conference aimed at encouraging private companies to invest in the country's reconstruction after Russia's invasion. Kyiv and London will host the Ukraine recovery conference in London on Wednesday and Thursday, when more than 1,000 foreign officials from over 60 states along with business chiefs and global investors will discuss ways to help the country rebuild. "President Biden said ... that we would stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes, and both of our countries are deeply committed to that," Blinken told a press conference alongside British foreign minister James Cleverly on Tuesday. "We will continue to deliver on that commitment, including through a new robust U.S. assistance package that I'll be able to announce tomorrow." Both foreign ministers underlined the conference was focused on encouraging the private sector to use its resources to help speed Ukraine's reconstruction but that Kyiv had to do its part by pressing on with reform and the world had to figure out a way to offer companies insurance against war damage and destruction. "This week is very much about creating the conditions necessary for public sector money, of course, but predominantly private sector money to fund their reconstruction," Cleverly said. "Now, the precise details of how we do that, I don't want to prejudge. The whole point of the next couple of days is that the UK uses its expertise as a global financial services centre, including as a global insurance centre, but also our convening power." Ukraine is seeking up to $40 billion to fund the first part of a "Green Marshall Plan" to rebuild its economy, including developing a coal-free steel industry, a senior Ukrainian official said before the conference. The total bill will be huge, with Ukraine, the World Bank, the European Commission and the United Nations estimating in March that the cost was at $411 billion for the first year of the war. It could easily reach more than $1 trillion. (Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar, writing by Elizabeth Piper and Muvija M, editing by William James and Kate Holton) Teacher at Prince Georges old primary school paid 65,000 for child abuse in India Matthew Smith, 34, from East Dulwich (National Crime Agency) A former deputy head teacher at a school once attended by Prince George and Princess Charlotte is facing many years behind bars after admitting 22 child sex offences. Matthew Smith, 34, from East Dulwich, was raided by the National Crime Agency when investigators discovered he was sharing abuse material on the dark web. At the time of his arrest last November, Smith was caught online speaking to a teenage boy living in India. He had asked him to send sexual images of a younger child in return for money, Southwark Crown Court heard. Smith also had dark web forums dedicated to child sexual abuse open on his computer. Detectives studied those chat logs and financial transactions to establish Smith paid 65,398 to that same teenager, and another also based in India, to abuse children over a five-year period. Smith was living in Nepal and working at a school for the majority of this time. Prior to this, he spent various periods working in orphanages across India between 2007 and 2014. Smith moved back to the UK in July 2022 and two months later began working as deputy head and was in charge of pastoral care at Thomas prep school in Battersea. None of the charges related to his time at the primary the two young royals left when they relocated to Windsor with the Prince and Princess of Wales in August. Officers recovered over 120,000 indecent images of children Smith saved on a laptop, SD card and on his mobile. There is no evidence to suggest he committed offences against children based in Nepal or the UK. Southwark Crown Court (Sean Dempsey/PA) (PA Archive) Smith pleaded guilty to an initial five offences in November 2022. Last month, he was charged with a further 17 counts, including encouraging the rape of a child under 13, causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and arranging the sexual abuse of a child. On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to the additional crimes and will be sentenced at the same court on August 4. A spokesperson for Thomass Battersea said: We have been shocked and appalled beyond measure by this matter and are grateful for the work of the police and courts in bringing this man to account. Mr Smiths employment at the school, which commenced in September 2022, was terminated with immediate effect when the school first learned of the charges against him in November.While the National Crime Agency has confirmed that none of the matters under investigation related to the school or its pupils, these deplorable actions constitute an unforgivable breach of trust and our thoughts are with those who have been impacted or damaged by them. As always, we remain absolutely committed to the ongoing safety and wellbeing of our pupils and our whole school community. Helen Dore, an NCA senior officer, said: Matthew Smith was a high risk individual and we moved quickly to locate, arrest and remand him so he could no longer pose a threat to children. Ultimately, we were able to prove that he was a prolific offender who manipulated young men to sexually abuse children on his behalf, giving them detailed instructions and financial reward. While conducting his offending, Smith worked at a school in Nepal, then became a deputy head teacher and head of pastoral care in the UK, so his offending is a deep betrayal of the trust placed in him. The NCA is dedicated to operating online and overseas, working with global partners to ensure that children are safeguarded and offenders like Smith are brought to justice. Specialist prosecutor Claire Brinton, of the Crown Prosecution Services organised child sexual abuse unit, added: Matthew Smiths crimes are particularly disturbing given his role as a primary school teacher entrusted with the responsibility of caring for and safeguarding children. This conviction sends a clear message that the CPS, working alongside the NCA and international partners, will work to bring to justice to those who sexually abuse and exploit children, wherever that abuse takes place. "The Great Ballroom" (2023), a fabric installation by Woo Hannah, a Seoul-based artist and the winner of the Frieze Seoul's inaugural Artist Award / Courtesy of Frieze Seoul By Park Han-sol Korean artist Woo Hannah / Courtesy of Frieze Seoul Korea's Hyundai Motor said Tuesday it will invest 109.5 trillion won ($85.4 billion) by 2032 to secure a leading position in the global future mobility market, while aiming to sell 2 million all-electric models by 2030. Hyundai Motor's investment plans and EV sales target are up from 95.5 trillion won and 1.87 million units, respectively, announced in March last year. Of the planned investments, the carmaker said it will spend 47.4 trillion won on research and development activities, with 47.1 trillion won allotted for facility investments and 14.9 trillion won earmarked for strategic investments for the 10 years ending in 2032, the company said in a statement. Hyundai expects more than 50 percent of its vehicles to be sold in Korea, the United States and Europe to be battery-powered models by 2030. (Yonhap) HA NOI The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has cut rates four times this year, but the end to the economic downturn is still not in sight, according to Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai. The Deputy PM made the remarks at a conference on issues affecting credit on Monday. Khai said capital holds the key to economic recovery. However, the current situation of the capital market had become a matter of concern as the credit crunch was upsetting the delicate balance of supply and demand. By June 8, credit to the economy grew by merely 3.15 per cent year-on-year, far lower than the annual target of around 14 to 15 per cent. These figures offer a hint of low credit absorption capacity among borrowers across the board. The Deputy PM urged SBV and other relevant public agencies to get legal obstacles out of the way to improve firms' access to credit. "It would ruin their chance of recovery if firms with solid business plans and the ability to repay cannot access credit," said Khai. He also called on SBV to take a more supportive stance on policy rates to boost their recovery as high lending rates would discourage credit demand from potential borrowers. The Deputy PM also underlined the role of commercial banks as credit intermediaries in the financial market. He urged commercial banks to come to firms' assistance when they are in need of credit. SBV Deputy Governor ao Minh Tu said the first five months of the year were a hard time for the central bank as the economy was hard hit by unfavourable factors. In the face of the situation, SVB had never thought of tightening credit. On the contrary, raising capital for the economy was always on top of its agenda. "Under no circumstances were commercial banks allowed to refuse to accept deposits," said Tu. The Deputy Governor also underlined measures SVB had taken to improve the situation. For instance, SBV asked credit institutions to make loans in favour of real estate investors and homebuyers once they are eligible for the loans. Credit was also made readily accessible to construction contractors and suppliers to improve liquidity in the sector. The central bank also restructured loans for some firms in difficulty, launched banks-firms business-matching programmes, organised seminars on credit access for small- and medium-sized enterprises, and offered loans with preferential rates to firms, households, and cooperatives. VNS HA NOI The 14th Vietnam Manufacturing Expo (VME) and the 10th Viet Nam-Japan Supporting Industry Exhibition will return to the capital city in August. VME 2023 is one of the leading exhibitions on machinery and technology for manufacturing. This year will see the participation of more than 200 exhibitors including producers, distributors and machine manufacturers from 20 countries, the event's organiser RX Tradex Co said. The Viet Nam-Japan Supporting Industry Exhibition, hosted by the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) Office in Ha Noi and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)'s Trade Promotion Agency will attract nearly 50 enterprises from Viet Nam and Japan. Viet Nam's industrial sector has made significant improvements thanks to the State's mechanisms and policies, Director of Trade Promotion Agency Vu Ba Phu. The country is now home to about 2,000 enterprises manufacturing spare parts and components. Of them, 300 have participated in global support chains, providing more than 600,000 jobs, Phu said at the press conference in Ha Noi on Tuesday. In recent years, supporting industries have significantly contributed to the development of the country's economy. Businesses have continuously tried to improve product quality, strengthen competitiveness, and meet strict market requirements, he said. The MoIT has actively implemented effective support programmes to enhance production and management capacity for businesses and collaborate with multinational corporations and large FDI companies in Viet Nam. This has led to improvements in the quality of human resources and enhancements in the competitive capacity of Vietnamese enterprises in the processing and manufacturing industries. An example is the co-operation project to assist Vietnamese enterprises in the automotive supporting industries with Toyota Vietnam. He added that the ministry has also established three technical support centres for industrial development in the three northern, central and southern economic regions. These centres aimed to help enterprises in supporting industries accelerate innovation, technology transfer for production and testing, and improve productivity and quality while seeking to participate in the global supply chains. At the same time, the Ministry has also helped build connections between domestic supporting enterprises with FDI investors through trade promotion activities and business-matching events. According to Phu, the Viet Nam-Japan Supporting Industry Exhibition (SIE) will help Vietnamese firms in supporting industries connect with Japanese partners and enhance their production capacities. The chief representative of JETRO Office in Ha Noi Takeo Nakajima said the percentage of domestic procurement in Viet Nam for Japanese companies increased to 37 per cent in 2022 from 28 per cent 10 years ago as per a JETRO survey. However, the rate remained low compared with the economic growth of the two countries, he said. During this year's SIE, 22 Japanese exhibitors will express their desire to buy goods from local manufacturers. Meanwhile, 28 Vietnamese manufacturers in the supporting industry will display their products and introduce their supply capabilities. The two expos will take place from August 9-11 at Hanoi International Centre for Exhibition. VNS HA NOI National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) is preparing to sign agreements with the State Bank of Vietnam and the Bank of the Lao People's Democratic Republic to promote the use Cambodias local currency, riel, in their economic activities. NBC Deputy Governor Chea Serey, as quoted by Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Phnom Penh, highlighted that this initiative would allow consumers to utilise riel for purchasing products/services in other countries through QR codes linked to their domestic accounts. Chea said the promotion of cross-border payments using the riel is expected to enhance its circulation. She noted that the demand for riel has been gradually increasing. Over the years, the circulation of riel in Cambodia has experienced an average annual growth rate of 16.6 per cent, reaching about 14.1 trillion riel (equivalent to US$3.4 billion) in 2022, up from 356 million riel in 1998. However, the rising value of the US dollar has impacted the Cambodian economy. In addition to facilitating cross-border transactions, the use of riel will be encouraged among tourists visiting Cambodia who wish to pay in their local currencies when engaging with Cambodian merchants. However, Cambodias top economist did not specify when new agreements will be reached. It is worth noting that ASEAN-5, consisting of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Singapore, signed an agreement last year to establish cross-border digital payment systems using QR codes. Currently, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand are already connected, and Singapore, Viet Nam and the Philippines are expected to be connected by the end of this year. Moreover, individual bilateral agreements have been formed, such as Thailand's QR links with Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Viet Nam. VNS VIENTIANE Officials from the Salavan province of Laos and the central Thua Thien-Hue province of Viet Nam have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in protecting forests, forest products and wildlife in the border areas of the two localities over the next five years. Under the document, the two will coordinate to prevent and control illegal logging, mining, wildlife hunting, and timber and wildlife trade along the shared border areas. The localities will work on inspecting and supervising the import and export of forest products and wildlife and educating local communities on the importance of forest management and protection, and wildlife conservation. They are seeking funding from international organisations to restore wildlife populations that are on the verge of extinction. The two nations have had long-lasting cooperation in many development areas, especially in ago-forestry collaboration. Last year, Viet Nam and Laos agreed to strengthen comprehensive cooperation in agriculture, forestry, and rural development, focusing on applying technologies, training human resources and investing in trade development. They have cooperated in a series of agro-forestry projects, including those to support agricultural and rural development and poverty reduction models in Houaphanh and Xiengkhuang provinces of Laos. Vietnamese and Lao authorities are also developing a master plan for flood prevention and drainage to ensure food security in central Khammouane and Savannakhet provinces of Laos. VNS BINH PHUOC The Forest Protection Department of ong Phu District in Binh Phuoc Province has received a Burmese peacock-pheasant, which is classified as a critically endangered and rare species of wildlife in need of conservation. On June 17th, when searching for termite mushrooms in a rubber plantation, Ngo Quoc at, a resident in Binh Phuoc Province discovered an unfamiliar bird on the ground. Having never seen this species of bird before, he researched on social media and realised that it was a Burmese Peacock-Pheasant belonging to Group IIB, a critically endangered and rare group in need of conservation. at contacted the Forest Protection Department of ong Phu District and completed the necessary procedures to hand over the bird. The Department will nurture and take care of it for a period of time. Once the health of the Burmese Peacock-Pheasant is stable, the relevant authorities will carry out procedures to release the bird back into the natural environment in accordance with regulations. VNS HA NOI Viet Nam treasures and wishes to boost its relationship with the European Union (EU) a leading important partner in Viet Nams foreign policy, National Assembly Chairman Vuong inh Hue has said. During his reception in Ha Noi on Monday for the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with the Countries of Southeast Asia and ASEAN (DASE) led by its Chairman Daniel Caspary, Chairman Hue spoke highly of positive and significant outcomes in the Viet Nam-EU relationship across the pillars of politics, diplomacy, economy-trade-investment, agro-forestry-fisheries, national defence-security, development cooperation and human rights dialogue. Viet Nam always supported the strengthening of ASEAN-EU strategic partnership. Viet Nam, including its National Assembly, would be ready to play an active role in this process, he said. Caspary, for his part, briefed the host about the delegations agenda with relevant Vietnamese agencies, including a mechanism on cooperation in the implementation of the Viet Nam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and in certain areas within ASEAN, as the EU-ASEAN relationship has been upgraded to a strategic partnership. Stressing that both sides had been experiencing extremely challenging times due to COVID-19 and global conflicts, Caspary believed that in such context, the EU-Vietnam ties would play an increasingly important role. He expressed his expectations that two-way trade would continue to increase in the future, and parliamentary cooperation would play a crucial role in the overall cooperative relationship between the EU and Viet Nam. DASE members said mutual visits and delegations exchanges would contribute to raising mutual understanding, trust and closer ties, bringing prosperity to the people on both sides. The consistent rise in bilateral trade volume over time demonstrated the importance of the EVFTA. They expressed their interest in the fisheries sector, policies promoting the development of Viet Nams regions while ensuring the quality of growth, solutions and orientations to building eco-friendly energy programmes. According to Chairman Hue, Viet Nam is investing significant resources into three national target programmes on sustainable poverty reduction, new rural development, and socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas. Among these, the Vietnamese National Assembly is conducting the highest-level supervision on the implementation of the NAs Resolutions on the National Target Programmes on new rural development and sustainable poverty reduction for 2021-2025, and socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the 2021-2030 period. On regional and global issues of shared concern, Hue suggested that the EU continue playing an active role and contribute with concrete actions to ensure the rule of law, freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea). He also urged for enhanced cooperation between the EU and ASEAN on this matter. The host wished that both sides would continue working closely together, particularly sharing parliamentary experience, improving legal frameworks and addressing global challenges, and at important multilateral and regional parliamentary forums. Caspary said the EU was making efforts to seek approval from the remaining countries' parliaments for the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). He hoped that the EUs "Global Gateway" initiative would contribute to a strong connection between the EU and ASEAN, as well as between the people of both blocs. The Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP) meeting, scheduled to take place in Europe this year, would provide an opportunity for both sides to engage in discussions and exchanges to further boost collaboration. On the occasion, Hue extended his invitation to a delegation of young EP members to the ninth Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians which is to be jointly organised by Viet Nam and the Inter-Parliamentary Union this September. VNS HA NOI President Vo Van Thuong has expressed his belief that the ongoing visit to Viet Nam by Chief Justice of Russia Lebedev Vyacheslav Mikhailovich will further deepen Viet Nam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership. During his reception in Ha Noi on Monday for Mikhailovich, President Thuong thanked the guest for conveying Russian President Vladimir Putins letter to him. He said he concurred with the points raised by Putin in the letter, particularly in regards to further enhancing the long-standing traditional friendship between the two countries across all areas, especially amid complicated developments in the region and the world at present. Viet Nam always valued the comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia, he said, adding that Viet Nam wished to promote deeper and more effective Viet Nam-Russia cooperation, which would meet the practical interests of both nations, for the sake of peace, stability and development in the region and the world. He lauded the two judicial sectors for maintaining the exchange of delegations and coordinating in professional activities, regularly sharing stances on regional and global issues, maintaining annual evaluation of cooperative outcomes and adding new areas of collaboration in a more practical and effective manner. The President stressed that the Vietnamese court sector played a crucial role in implementing the strategy for building and perfecting the socialist rule-of-law State of Viet Nam until 2030, with a vision to 2045, which includes various aspects related to improving the operating efficiency of the court system. Viet Nam encouraged international cooperation between the Vietnamese court sector and the Supreme Court of Russia, as well as courts of other countries, to share information, professional expertise, and improve legal and judicial systems, he said. The host believed that in the near future, the two court sectors would work more closely together, making active contributions to the development of each nation, as well as tightening traditional cooperation between the two nations. Mikhailovich, for his part, said Putin highlighted the long-standing friendship with Viet Nam as one of the priorities in Russia's external relations. Russia advocated enhancing cooperation with Viet Nam across the board, including priority areas for 2022-2023, he said, adding that Russia highly valued and appreciated the working outcomes of the Viet Nam-Russia Inter-Governmental Committee. Amid the complicated global situation at present, both countries needed to expand cooperation in areas such as oil and gas, economy, investment, agriculture, as well as cooperation between the two countries' court sectors and judicial agencies. Briefing the host about the activities of the Supreme Court of Russia and its joint work with the Supreme People's Court of Viet Nam, Mikhailovich said both sides had jointly improved the quality of trials, ensuring fairness and democracy in line with the law. The two sides agreed to increase the exchange of delegations, improve the capacity and professional qualifications of judges and court officials at all levels. VNS NEW DELHI A high-level delegation of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence led by Minister Gen. Phan Van Giang is paying an official visit to India from June 17-20 at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh. Singh hosted a welcome ceremony for Giang and the Vietnamese delegation on June 19 morning at the headquarters of the Indian Ministry of Defence. The two sides held talks during which Singh warmly welcomed Giang and the delegation, affirming that their visit would contribute to tightening the friendship relationship between the peoples and armies of the two countries. Singh affirmed Viet Nam's role as an important partner in India's Act East Policy. Cooperation between the two countries had increasingly been developing comprehensively in the fields of politics-diplomacy, economy-trade, defence-security, culture, education-training, and people-to-people exchanges. The Indian minister emphasised that India wanted to strengthen its comprehensive cooperation relationship with Viet Nam, including in the field of defence. The two ministers appreciated the relationship between the two countries, which is traditional and friendly, fostered by generations of leaders and people of the two countries, and is developing fruitfully. Giang said that India was a close reliable friend of Viet Nam. On behalf of the Government and people of Viet Nam, Giang thanked the Government and people of India for giving the Vietnamese people valuable support during its past struggles for independence and today's national development. The two sides agreed that over the past time, the defence cooperation between Viet Nam and India had been promoted following the frameworks, signed cooperation documents and agreements, and achieved practical results in areas including the exchange of delegations, consultation and dialogue mechanisms, training, army services, defence industry, United Nations peacekeeping, and strategy research. In the coming time, based on the Joint Vision Statement on the Viet Nam-India defence partnership to 2030, and in line with the friendship, tradition, and comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, their cooperation will be promoted in various areas. Regarding multilateral cooperation, the two sides assessed that India and Viet Nam had similar views on many regional and international issues, and closely coordinated and supported each other at multilateral forums, especially within the framework of the United Nations and ASEAN mechanisms of which India is a partner such as the ASEAN-India Summit and the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+). Regarding the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea) issue, the two sides shared the view on settling disputes by peaceful measures, and respecting the diplomatic and legal processes in line with the principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The visit of Minister Giang and the Vietnamese delegation has contributed to the further development of bilateral defence cooperation - an important and strategic pillar of the Viet Nam-India comprehensive strategic partnership for the benefit of the people of each country, and for peace and stability in the region and in the world. VNS HA NOI The Party Central Committee of Communication and Education, the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Viet Nam Journalists Association, and the Voice of Viet Nam on Tuesday organised a meeting with press leaders, marking the 98th anniversary of Viet Nam's Revolutionary Press Day (June 21, 1925-2023). The meeting focused on two main topics: evaluating the initial launch and implementation of the movement to "Build a Cultural Environment in the Press" and implementing plans to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Viet Nams Revolutionary Press Day in 2025. The VJA's report stated that many press agencies, journalists' associations, and unions have actively responded to the movement to "Build a Cultural Environment in the Press," which is linked to the study and implementation of President Ho Chi Minhs thoughts, ethics, and lifestyle. Many levels of journalists' associations and press agencies from the central to local levels have come up with a range of practical and effective models. Regarding the 100th anniversary of the Press Day, many lively and meaningful activities have been planned to celebrate the rich traditions and the contributions of the Vietnamese press to national defence and building efforts including a national-level commemoration ceremony, a meeting with outstanding journalists, publication of the book "100 Years of Viet Nams Revolutionary Press," and the making of a documentary on the history of the Vietnamese press. Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, on behalf of the Government and the Prime Minister, congratulated the journalists on the 98th anniversary and sincerely thanked all journalists and the press nationwide who had been proactive, enthusiastic, and supportive of the Government. To date, Viet Nam has over 800 press agencies with a workforce of over 41,000 journalists. He expressed his hope that Viet Nams revolutionary press would continue to strongly inspire the aspirations, resilience, and upward spirit of every citizen and business, encouraging innovation and positive energy to help the entire political system and the people overcome difficulties and challenges, successfully achieving the economic and social development goals of 2023. The press had truly become a bridge between the Party, State, and the people, by conveying policies and guidelines, inspiring and guiding the people to implement the Party and State's directives and policies, while also serving as a wide-ranging social forum for the people to exercise democratic rights, supervision and social feedback, Deputy PM Ha noted. In his concluding remarks at the conference, Secretary of the Party Central Committee of the Party and Head of the PCC Commission for Publicity and Education Nguyen Trong Nghia said the press would need to do more works to review and evaluate the results of leadership, direction, and implementation of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress from the beginning of the term to now, as well as the solutions and tasks until the end of term. It would be necessary to develop a thorough plan and prepare well for the Party congresses at all levels, towards the 14th National Party Congress (slated for 2025). In addition to continuing to strictly and effectively rectify and handle violations and misconduct in press activities, it was necessary to actively research and propose solutions to support and create favourable conditions for the development of the press, he said. VNS Korean Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Kang Seog-hoon speaks during a press conference at its headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap Chairman still at odds with labor union over relocation to Busan By Lee Yeon-woo Korean Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Kang Seog-hoon expressed confidence over Korean Air's acquisition of Asiana Airlines, Tuesday, stressing that he does not consider a "Plan B," in preparation for failure, at all necessary. "We expect the merger to be concluded during the third quarter of this year," Kang said during a press conference marking the first anniversary of his term. "This is not the time to prepare for failure. This is the time to put in all of our effort." Speaking to reporters at its headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Kang noted that the acquisition has been his main focus since Hanwha Group took over Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) this year. His efforts have included meetings with the European Union's authorities in January and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in May. So far, the acquisition has obtained approval from 10 countries and is currently awaiting approval from the U.S., the European Union and Japan, according to the bank. Kang then highlighted KDB's achievements under his leadership during the past year. "Last January, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced its plans to invest $30 billion in Korea. Just four months later, KDB shaped up the bilateral partnership, signed with UAE's Mubadala Investment Company. We also identified six sectors for investments and discovered additional opportunities worth $2 billion," Kang said. "We will announce the specific investment plans as soon as they are finalized," Kang added. Additionally, Kang commended KDB's swift response to default in project financing (PF) for the construction of a Legoland amusement park in Gangwon Province last October and its support in venture businesses. The success to privatize DSME by Hanwa Group was also highlighted as an achievement. However, long-pending issues that were present even before his inauguration remain, suggesting another challenging year ahead. The chairman is still in dispute with unionized members who oppose the bank's potential relocation to Busan, a promise made by President Yoon Suk Yeol during his presidential campaign. Unionized members of KDB argue that relocating to certain regions contradicts the bank's role in utilizing policy finance. To date, 97 employees left the state lender in 2022 and 37 departed in May 2023. In statements distributed to the reporters, members claimed that the chairman has been avoiding communication. Kang refuted such allegations saying, "I have done my utmost to communicate with employees. As chairman of KDB, I aim to discuss how we can use this government's relocation plan to the benefit of KDB. However, employees are requesting that I oppose the relocation before we can communicate. I do not have the authority, nor am I in the position to oppose the plan." Regarding concerns over its financial solvency, sparked by mounting losses of Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), Kang acknowledged that KDB's financial structure is vulnerable to external variables. He stated that KDB will continue to engage in discussions with the government on this matter. SEOUL The state visit to Viet Nam by President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Yoon Suk Yeol from June 22-24 at the invitation of President Vo Van Thuong is a vivid testament to the special importance given by the Korean government and the President himself to the bilateral relationship, a Vietnamese diplomat has said. In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Nguyen Vu Tung highlighted the significance of the visit, stressing that it would mark an important milestone in the relations between the leaders of the two countries, helping promote stronger exchanges between ministries, sectors, localities, businesses, and people of Viet Nam and the RoK. Viet Nam attached importance to the Viet Nam-RoK cooperation within Viet Nams overall development strategy in general as well as the countrys foreign policy in particular, the diplomat stated. "The Viet Nam-RoK relationship is based on two main pillars trust and win-win cooperation," Tung said, adding that the visit aims to strengthen the trust and mutual benefits. High-level visits and exchanges had always been means to enhance trust between the two nations, he said. "The specific outcomes of this visit are expected to pave the way for lifting the bilateral ties between the two countries to a new height within the framework of the comprehensive strategic partnership, contributing to bringing benefits to localities, businesses and people of both nations," Ambassador Tung said. The trip is also hoped to create new momentum for all-around cooperation between the two countries in 2023, from politics and diplomacy to security, defence, economy, education-training, science-technology, culture, sports, tourism, labour, and people-to-people exchange, according to the ambassador. The RoK is currently promoting several notable policies, including the Global Pivotal State (GPS), the Indo-Pacific Strategy, and the ASEAN-Korea Solidarity Initiative. Therefore, Viet Nam's reception of the RoK president also sends out a message of Viet Nam's support for and trust that the RoK government and its people will successfully implement their policies and development goals in the future, contributing to peace, prosperity, and stability of the region and the world. The visit will take place in an unpredictable geopolitical and economic context in recent times, so it highlights the importance of the Viet Nam-RoK cooperation across fields. The Viet Nam-RoK relations had recorded great progress across fields over the last 30 years, from politics-diplomacy, security-defence, to economy and culture, Tung said, noting that their cooperation had transitioned from "overlapping interest" to a higher level, known as "intertwining interest. The political relations, mutual trust and understanding between high-level leaders of the two countries had always been strengthened throughout different periods, serving as a solid foundation to deepen the bilateral relations in various fields. "The two nations have more opportunities to step up ties as the bilateral and multilateral cooperation frameworks and mechanisms have been strengthened, trust deepened, and people-to-people relation cemented," he noted. Since the establishment of the bilateral diplomatic relations in 1992, the two countries have upgraded their relationship twice, from a comprehensive partnership to a strategic cooperative partnership in 2009, and to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2022. The two nations high-ranking leaders have maintained regular exchanges of delegations and visits. Meanwhile, mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation have been established and operated stably across various fields. Tung emphasised the vital role of economic cooperation in the bilateral relationship, saying that economic ties have been rapidly progressing and the two countries have become top important economic partners of each other in various sectors. The RoK remains the largest foreign investor in Viet Nam and the third biggest trade partner of the Southeast Asian nation. Its trade with Viet Nam ranks first in ASEAN, accounting for 45-50 per cent of the Northeast Asian nations total trade with the bloc. "Increasing people-to-people exchanges between the two nations are the basis for promoting economic, cultural and educational cooperation, and relationships between their localities," Tung stressed. The successful cooperation between the two countries had brought about a new position for each other at regional and global forums, he said, noting that there is great potential for the two sides to expand cooperation if they can fully tap the comprehensive strategic relationship. The two sides should continue to exploit the complementarity of the two economies from the perspective of human resources/labour, value chain/supply chain, technology transfer, and trade balance, the ambassador said. He suggested the two sides expand their partnership in new areas such as climate change response, digital transformation, green development, clean energy, supply chain stability, defence industry cooperation, coordination within the framework of trade agreements and mechanisms, and people-to-people exchange. VNA/VNS HA NOI Viet Nam always attaches importance to strengthening and expanding relations with Russia, considering it one of the top priorities in its foreign policy, National Assembly Chairman Vuong inh Hue has said. At a reception in Ha Noi on Tuesday for Chief Justice of Russia Lebedev Vyacheslav Mikhailovich, Hue welcomed the Russian official's ongoing visit which takes place at a time when the two countries are celebrating the 10th founding anniversary of comprehensive strategic partnership. Congratulating Lebedev and Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court of Viet Nam Nguyen Hoa Binh on their successful talks, Hue affirmed that the Vietnamese NA supports comprehensive and extensive cooperation between the two nations' judicial sectors in general and the supreme courts in particular. He believed that the outcomes of the talks would lead to significant and beneficial cooperation between the two sides in the near future. He expressed his delight that the exchange of delegations at all levels between the two nations had been maintained and stepped up despite the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the Vietnamese NA was actively preparing for an official visit to Viet Nam by Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Vyacheslav Volodin. According to the top legislator, the 13th Party Central Committee issued a resolution on continuing to build and complete the socialist rule-of-law State of Viet Nam in the new period, which includes various contents related to improving the effectiveness of the court system. In this process, the invaluable support, cooperation and sharing of experience regarding law and justice from Russia and its Supreme Court in particular holds significant importance. Lebedev, for his part, said the Supreme Court of Russia submitted 187 draft laws to the Federal Assembly, of which 108 have become laws. According to the Russian law, when the Federal Assembly reviews draft amendments or supplements to certain laws, the collection of the Supreme Courts feedback is mandatory. Apart from the legislative work, the Supreme Court has also engaged in various forms of cooperation with the Federation Council and the State Duma, particularly in fine-tuning and enforcing laws, amending and supplementing activities of courts. Besides working closely with the Federal Assembly of Russia, the Supreme Court had also summarised the practice in the enforcement of laws, analysed and recapitulated trial practices for publication on journals of the government and the Supreme Court, he said. Lebedev believed that his visit would contribute to expanding ties with the Supreme Peoples Court of Vietnam, and that the two nations would promote the exchange of visits at all levels as well as tourism and people-to-people exchanges as Russian citizens were keen on travelling to and vacationing in Viet Nam. VNS HA NOI Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang on Tuesday received the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with the Countries of Southeast Asia and ASEAN led by its Chairman Daniel Caspary who are paying a visit to Viet Nam. At the meeting, Quang expressed his delight at the profound and substantive developments in the relationship between Viet Nam and the EU over the past time. Currently, the EU is one of Viet Nams leading trade-investment partners. Meanwhile, Viet Nam is the EU's largest trading partner in ASEAN. Quang said that he hoped the two sides would continue to cooperate closely, focusing on areas where the EU has advantages and those that follow common trends to serve green growth, sustainable development and climate change response. Stronger bilateral cooperation would contribute to promoting the Viet Nam-EU comprehensive partnership, bring practical benefits to people and businesses of both sides as well as actively contribute to maintaining peace, stability, development, and prosperity in the region and the world. Quang called on the EU official and the delegation to support Viet Nam in having the European Commission (EC)s yellow card warning against its seafood exports lifted. For his part, Caspary and the delegation appreciated the role and position of Viet Nam in the region as well as in the world. He said Viet Nam was also considered one of the good examples of achieving outstanding results in poverty reduction, foreign direct investment attraction, infrastructure development, and its commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050. Regarding the removal of the yellow card, Caspary noted that it was an important issue for Viet Nam and expressed his hope that the issue would soon have results in line with the expectations of the two sides. At the meeting, the two sides also discussed regional and international issues of common concern, including the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea) issue and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. VNS HA NOI The National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control has agreed with the Health Ministrys proposal of moving COVID-19 from a Class A infectious disease, deemed as especially dangerous, to Class B "dangerous". Class A infectious diseases are those with high infection and fatality rates, such as polio, influenza A-H5N1, plague, smallpox, Ebola, Lassa and Marburg hemorrhagic fever, West Nile fever, yellow fever and cholera. Meanwhile, Class B ones are those that can spread fast and cause fatalities, including HIV/AIDS, rabies, influenza, diphtheria, pertussis, tuberculosis, mumps, dengue fever, malaria, measles, hand-foot-and-mouth disease, tetanus, and rotavirus diarrhoea. The steering committee also requested ministries, sectors and localities to continue studying recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to appropriately apply to the disease situation in Viet Nam; and prepare plans for COVID-19 prevention and control suitable to the new situation, especially in strengthening grassroots healthcare and preventive medicine, and mobilising and using resources. The Health Ministry was asked to research and implement vaccination against COVID-19 in accordance with the situation, and consider putting it in the National Expanded Immunisation Programme. The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs was required to maintain the effective implementation of social welfare work, especially for those affected by the pandemic. VNS HCMC Cao Xa Station in Hai Duong Province has been put forward by Vietnam Railways (VNR) to be developed into an international intermodal rail terminal, according to a proposal submitted to the competent authorities. During a recent meeting with Hai Duong authorities, VNR presented a plan to transform Cao Xa Station into an international intermodal rail terminal and suggested operating two transportation routes from this terminal for both import and export of goods. Hai Duong is highly active in manufacturing and processing goods for import and export, boasting nearly 20 industrial parks and over 50 industrial clusters. The province has a significant demand for importing materials from China to Vietnam, as well as exporting goods to foreign markets such as China, the EU, and Russia. Statistics indicate that the volume of goods transported via railway in Hai Duong Province reached about 7,600 tons last year and in the first five months of this year. However, the existing stations in the province do not meet the qualifications to operate international container transport routes. By offering international intermodal transport services at Cao Xa Station, businesses can reduce transport time by two-thirds, as they will be able to conduct import-export procedures directly at the terminal instead of transporting goods to seaports for export to China and Europe. VNRs plan includes proposing two transport routes from the terminal. The first route will commence from Cao Xa, passing through Kep Station in Bac Giang Province and Dong Dang Station in Lang Son Province, before reaching Bang Tuong Station in Guangxi, China. From there, the train will proceed further into mainland China or transit through China to reach Central Asia countries, Russia, and Europe. The second route will start at Cao Xa Station in Hai Duong Province, then go through Lao Cai and reach Hekou Station in China, where the cargo will be transferred to another mode of transport for further transportation within mainland China. Each train will be capable of transporting 20 to 25 containers, taking one day to travel from Cao Xa to Chongzuo Station in Guangxi and 1.5 days to reach a station in Yunnan. Cao Xa Station is situated on the railway route from Hanoi to Hai Phong City and connected to Provincial Road 194B, which links the industrial parks in the province with Tien Kieu Port. The 26th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) kicks off in St. Petersburg, Russia on June 14. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) St. Petersburg A business dialogue between ASEAN and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) was held on June 15 in the framework of the 26th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Russia. The year 2023 marks the 5th anniversary of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between ASEAN and the EAEU on economic cooperation, as well as the 5th anniversary of the ASEAN-Russia Strategic Partnership. The ASEAN-EAEU dialogue on June 15 aimed at creating additional impetus to strengthen and persify cooperation in all areas of the economic and trade agenda, including the circular economy, energy efficiency, industry, food security, logistics, digital technology and tourism. At the dialogue, speakers all affirmed the great potential of economic cooperation between ASEAN and the EAEU. Member of the Board Minister in charge of Integration and Macroeconomics of the Eurasian Economic Commission Sergey Glazyev said that for the EAEU, ASEAN is the most important partner in terms of the system of agreements. However, the low bilateral trade turnover shows that there are great potential and many development opportunities between the two blocs, and it is necessary to convert these potentials into actual results. One of the limitations affecting trade exchanges between the two blocs is the issue of payment, he said, proposing making payment in local currency, or by developing gold standard electronic currency. However, Glazyev said that the most important thing is that businesses should get more information and increase understanding of each other. Deputy Secretary-General for the ASEAN Economic Community for 2021-2024 Satwinder Singh suggested three directions to strengthen cooperation between the two blocs, namely energy security, digital technology, and agricultural products and food processing. Russias Deputy Minister of Economic Development Evgeny Zagainov said that ASEAN and its member countries have a significant position in the pivot strategy of Russia - the most important member state in the EAEU. Zagainov said that within the past year, he has joined Russian delegations to Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar to promote trade. ASEAN is an important market for Russia due to its high economic growth rate, large population, which lead to a large and attractive consumer market, he said, adding that the tourism sector also has a lot of potential for people of both blocs. ASEAN, Japan inks economic cooperation deals The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan have agreed on several economic cooperation measures as they are celebrating the 50th anniversary of dialogue relations this year. ASEAN wants to expand RCEP membership ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn has said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is striving to increase the membership of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The PDP8 continues to prioritise the development of renewable energy to further Vietnams commitment to reach net-zero emission in 2050. By 2030, renewable energy capacity is expected to reach 40GW or 40 per cent of the national power capacity. There will be no limit on the capacity of behind-the grid solar power projects, and no new coal-fired projects are approved. The coal-fired power capacity is targeted for reduction to 20 per cent of national capacity in 2030 (compared to 30 per cent today) and elimination by 2050. Ngoc Nguyen, counsel at Hogan Lovells International LLP At the end of 2021, the wind and solar energy capacity of Vietnam reached 20.6GW, or 27 per cent of national capacity. Doubling the current capacity in the next seven years is well within reach. After new regulation is enacted to realise the removal of the cap on the capacity of behind-the-grid solar power projects, there will be abundant new opportunities for investors who do not need to rely on Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) to offtake energy. Although wind and solar energy comprises nearly 30 per cent of national capacity, their generation rate has been limited to 10-13 per cent due to the weather-dependent nature of those energy sources, an overloaded grid, and regulatory issues causing delay to projects. A balanced development strategy between small renewable power projects and other more stable energy sources including offshore wind and gas-to-power will be important to address the ongoing supply crunch. Compared to the first draft in late 2021, the final PDP8 has tripled the capacity allocated to offshore wind power projects to 6GW by 2030 or 4 per cent of the national capacity. This target has driven increased investor confidence in the prospects of offshore wind projects in Vietnam. The government will need to urgently develop the legal framework for granting site survey licences and selecting investors in offshore wind projects. Perhaps because the policymakers understand those regulatory developments will take time, despite the ambitious 2030 target for offshore wind, the PDP8 includes an initially confusing but ultimately logical provision that the government does not plan to develop major inter-regional transmission lines connecting central southern provinces (where all the major offshore wind power projects being proposed) to the northern region (where electricity demand is highest) before 2030. Priority for gas-to-power As coal-fired projects are phased out, development of gas-to-power projects becomes increasingly essential to ensure a stable base load. The PDP8 prioritises domestic gas to reduce the countrys foreign dependence. By 2030, power projects using domestic gas are targeted to have a total capacity of 15GW or 9.9 per cent of national capacity. At the end of 2020, the total capacity of domestic-gas fired power projects was about 7GW: a result of over two decades development. History teaches us that doubling existing capacity to 15GW in seven years will require hard work. No new domestic gas fields have been developed in Vietnam in the last 10 years, and existing production is declining. The two major gas fields, Blue Whale and Block B, declared commercial discoveries more than 10 years ago but have not yet started production. There will soon be opportunities for investors who do not need to rely on Electricity of Vietnam to offtake energy, photo Le Toan Most recently, in May, EVN requested PetroVietnam to prioritise gas supply to power plants at the expense of suspension of two important fertiliser plants in southern Vietnam, a proposal not well received by PetroVietnam and the agriculture industry. One major bottleneck that has long delayed upstream domestic gas projects is the gas offtake price payable by downstream power plants, most of which are owned by state-owned PVPower and EVN. To close the gap, a coordinated effort between the gas and power industries will be required, in which the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) as the regulator of both industries must be empowered (and shielded from liability arising solely for market reasons) to make bold decisions based on a realistic assessment of domestic gas supply capacity and electricity demand. Perhaps the bravest ambition of the PDP8 is in its plan for liquefied natural gas (LNG) to power. In less than seven years, the LNG-to-power capacity of Vietnam is targeted to grow from zero to 22.4GW, accounting for 14.9 per cent of national capacity. By 2030, LNG-to-power projects are targeted to supply 14.7 per cent of national demand. The PDP8 includes a list of 15 LNG-to-power projects that will be prioritised before 2030. About one-third of those projects have not been awarded to investors and may be subject to competitive bidding for investor selection, a complex and time-consuming process. Some 14 out of 15 projects have not achieved financial close, let alone commenced construction. It is worth noting that prior thermal power projects in Vietnam took 7-10 years to reach financial close. Relying on LNG-to-power to supply over 14 per cent of national demand by 2030 could be either a risky bet or a brave decision of the Vietnamese government to phase out coal. If the latter, urgent actions will be required to assist the shortlisted projects to secure financing. A robust power purchase agreement with a well-balanced risk allocation mechanism will be critical. The PDP8 anticipates the potential delay of LNG-to-power projects by prescribing that if any of those projects are potentially delayed, the prime minister may decide to replace the delayed projects with others. But investors will not invest millions of US dollars to prepare for a project if it is not listed in the plan. A replacement project at an interim stage of development may in reality be nowhere to find when the time comes. Awareness of capital needs Vietnam will require about $12 billion of investment annually in 2021-2030 for developing power plants. In 2011-2020, capital expenditure from EVN made up only one-fifth of $75.5 billion investment capital in electricity generation. Private and especially foreign capital will continue to be critical to the growth of the power industry in the next decade. As pointed out in the PDP8, it is important that the government creates better conditions for private investors and lenders investing in Vietnam. In addition to classic financing hurdles, other issues have emerged in recent years. Uncertainty in the legal framework and its enforcement in the past few years has reinforced investors concerns about change-in-law and curtailment risks in Vietnam. If no compromise is offered by the government, the prospect of finding financing for future large scale offshore wind and gas-to-power projects will dim considerably. Legal restrictions on offshore refinancing have also materially affected the liquidity of projects. Inflexible interpretation of the law by certain government authorities when assessing the financial and technical quality of investors has failed to take into account different corporate structures commonly used in the international market, restricting the ability of certain types of investors to participate. The requirement that an investor use its ultimate parent company (rather than a special purpose vehicle) to own projects would be commercially unacceptable for most international sponsors. The conventional assessment of equity capital of the investors based on their balance sheet may unfairly and unreasonably exclude investors structured as private equity funds, starving Vietnams power industry of an important source of funding. Rather, the government should take into account the broader capacity of the ultimate investors in those funds and the track records of fund managers and their affiliated funds in developing projects globally. The success of renewable energy projects in the last five years has contributed significantly to the economic development of Vietnam. There is no doubt that the strong commitments and bold actions taken by the government, especially the MoIT and EVN, were among the most important success factors. Those actions should be appreciated in the context of the nascent legal framework, where the regulators and the market were left with no choice but to learn by doing. However, growth has its inherent growing pains. If this pain is not managed appropriately, it may dissuade others from proceeding when there is a lack of clarity about the future. Following the PDP8, the market is looking for bolder and stronger actions from the government to push forward those aspirational goals, which cannot be achieved if key stakeholders are intimidated by, or punished for, taking actions required to achieve those goals. To avoid the current situation in the north spreading further, any policies or political decisions taken during this critical time should take into account their impacts on the power industry with a longer-term view matching the ambition of the PDP8. Localities pinning hopes on PDP8 to help beat the heat With clear evidence that Vietnams electricity structure is creaking under the current heat and grid overload, the Power Development Plan VIII contains the acute task of successfully implementing an equitable energy transition in association with smart grid construction and advanced power system management in line with a greener outlook. Tourists in Bali, illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com Jakarta - Authorities of Indonesias Bali have recently issued new regulations for foreign tourists to address the increasing number of law violations on this resort island. In the directive issued on May 31, Governor of Bali Wayan Koster listed several obligations and prohibitions for tourists while on the island. Strict actions, including penalties and legal measures, will be applied to those who violate the regulations. The most importance is to respect the sanctity of temples, religious symbols, and other sacred religious icons, and dress appropriately when visiting these areas. Tourists are expected to dress modestly at tourist attractions and public areas, and the act of respect should be adhered to in all public spaces. They are prohibited from entering the main areas of the temples, climbing sacred trees, or engaging in actions that disrespect sacred places and religious symbols. Gde Pitana, former Deputy Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, who joined in drafting the new regulations, believed that the new regulations are aligned with a responsible tourism trajectory, aiming to develop Bali into a sustainable cultural destination based on the principles of Hinduism and benefiting the environment. Indonesia, Malaysia jointly deal with illegal workers The issue of Indonesian illegal immigrant workers (PATI) was the main agenda of the recent meeting between the Director General of Indonesian Immigration Silmy Karim and his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Ruslin Jusoh. Indonesia urges people to use public transport to protect environment Indonesian Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi has requested local administrations to improve the quality of public transport services in accordance with the applicable safety and security standards. Illustrative image (Photo source: antaranews.com) Jakarta The Ministry of Communication and Informatics of Indonesia is aiming to complete and inaugurate a national data centre in Bekasi district, West Java province, by October 2024. Director General of Informatics Applications at the ministry Semuel Pangerapan on June 19 said that another in Batam city is currently in the tender process and is expected to be completed by 2025. Meanwhile, data centres in two other regions - the new state capital in East Kalimantan and Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara - are still in the planning stage. The construction of the centres is part of the government's programme to prepare facilities to implement an electronic-based government system (SPBE), which is expected to support the realisation of Indonesia One Data to support national interests. The development of these centres is also being undertaken for ensuring a more efficient government. The Indonesian government is preparing to issue a ministerial regulation on the national data centre, including its safety standards, in coordination and collaboration with the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN), Pangerapan added. Indonesia urges people to use public transport to protect environment Indonesian Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi has requested local administrations to improve the quality of public transport services in accordance with the applicable safety and security standards. A condominium complex in An Khanh, Hoai Duc, Hanoi. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi - The Ministry of Construction, per the recommendations of the National Assembly, is introducing new policies regarding foreigners' ownership of houses and apartments in Vietnam. Specifically, the time limit for ownership of apartments for foreigners has been removed. Currently, the ownership time limit is 50 years. According to the Ministry of Construction, the policy allowing foreign organisations and individuals to purchase and own houses in Vietnam is stipulated in Resolution No. 19/2008 of the National Assembly. The Housing Law of 2014 supplemented specific regulations to create favourable conditions for foreign organisations and individuals to reside and work in Vietnam, contributing to attracting foreign investment. The draft amendment of the Housing Law inherits the provisions of the Housing Law of 2014 and clearly defines the conditions under which foreign organisations and individuals can purchase and own houses in Vietnam. According to the Ministry of Construction, since the Housing Law of 2014 came into effect, the number of houses purchased and owned by foreigners in Viet Nam has been relatively low, at around 3,000 units, mainly condominiums in commercial housing projects, without affecting the housing demand of domestic citizens. In addition, the draft amendment of the Housing Law has tightly regulated the types of houses and areas eligible for purchase, and the number of houses allowed to be purchased and owned in a housing project. For example, foreign organisations and individuals are only allowed to purchase commercial houses in projects that are not located in areas requiring security and defence assurance. They can purchase no more than 30% of the apartments in a building or 250 individual houses in an administrative unit with an equivalent population size of a ward. Therefore, the Ministry of Construction said the provision allowing foreigners to purchase houses does not affect the implementation of other housing policies of the State, such as social housing policies, resettlement housing, or affordable housing in urban areas. On the other hand, Resolution 18 of the Central Committee does not mention regulations on foreign organisations and individuals purchasing houses in Vietnam, so the Ministry of Construction proposes to maintain this provision in the draft amended Housing Law. According to delegates at the National Assembly in a meeting on June 19, encouraging and allowing foreigners to own properties in Vietnam requires debate and work to be done in assessing the pros and cons. On the morning of June 19, during a discussion regarding the draft amendment of the Housing Law, deputy Tran Chi Cuong from the central city of Da Nang expressed his opinions on the provisions regarding foreign organisations and individuals being allowed to purchase and own houses in Vietnam. Cuong stated that although the draft law does not clearly specify whether foreign organisations and individuals have the right to own houses associated with land ownership, this issue has not been clarified and may not be consistent with the draft amendment of the Land Law, which regulates that land users who are eligible for land use transfer do not include foreign individuals. Furthermore, the draft amendment of the Real Estate Business Law stipulates that when foreign individuals purchase houses from real estate developers according to the provisions of the Housing Law, and when foreign organisations and individuals purchase projects according to the provisions of the real estate business law, the relevant contents regarding land use rights associated with houses and construction projects shall be implemented according to the Land Law and the Housing Law. In addition, the draft also said that foreign individuals allowed to enter Vietnam are eligible to own houses in the country. "Such provisions are too broad and require further study and consideration. It is especially important to consider whether foreign individuals allowed to enter Vietnam for tourism are permitted to own houses," said Cuong. "Moreover, does this regulation conflict with the Law on Entry, Exit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam? Because according to the draft amendment, the duration of the visa granted to foreign guests is 90 days, except for certain cases such as labour or investment, with a maximum of five years for investors. "If they are allowed to own houses, can those who are granted short-term visas of less than one year stay in Vietnam after the visa expires? This issue needs to be carefully examined and studied to avoid international disputes and conflicts," said him. According to him, foreigners being able to purchase and own houses in Vietnam is a major, significant, sensitive matter that is closely related to security and defence. Therefore, it needs to be explained in detail and assessed for its clear impacts. Houses that entice even the most discerning owners Housing demand has risen over the last two years. Developers who can catch their customers palate at the earliest have the wind at their back when it comes to the luxury apartment market. Palestinian PM calls on U.S. to take measures to protect two-state solution Xinhua) 11:06, June 20, 2023 RAMALLAH, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye on Monday urged the United States to take serious measures to protect the two-state solution and recognize the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Ishtaye made the appeal during a meeting with a U.S. delegation headed by Barbara Leaf, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs at the U.S. State Department, according to an official statement. He called on Washington to support Palestine to join the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and support the Palestinian approach in seeking "full membership" in the United Nations. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and first lady Kim Keon Hee disembark Code One after arriving at Paris Orly Airport, near Paris, June 19. Yonhap President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived in France on Monday to promote Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in its southeastern city of Busan, the first leg of a two-nation tour that will later take him to Vietnam. Yoon will attend a general assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the international body in charge of overseeing the World Expo, on Tuesday and Wednesday, with an English speech planned for Korea's presentation the first day. The assembly will be held in Issy-les-Moulineaux, a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, and bring together delegates from all 179 member states of the BIE. "The government and private sector, and the central and regional governments, have made all-out efforts as one team in order to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan, and every time I met with foreign leaders, I too have requested their support," Yoon said during a Cabinet meeting last week. "The presentation at the general assembly attended by all 179 member states will be an opportunity to show the distinct vision of the Busan Expo." Hosting the Expo was one of Yoon's campaign pledges and was also included among his administration's key tasks. The mega-event has been expected to generate economic benefits of a massive 61 trillion won ($48 billion) by drawing millions of visitors from around the world to engage in immersive activities around the themes of scientific, technological, economic and social progress. Yoon has used almost every diplomatic opportunity to seek support for Busan in competition against three other candidate cities Rome, Italy; Odesa, Ukraine; and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This will be the fourth presentation by the candidate cities ahead of the selection of the winner in November. Other speakers from the Korean side will include rapper Psy, members of academia and chiefs of startup businesses, while Karina of K-pop girl group aespa and soprano Sumi Jo will take part virtually. On Wednesday, Yoon will attend an official reception hosted by Korea to rally support from foreign delegations. In Paris, Yoon will also hold a summit with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, wrapping up a series of summits with the leaders of all member states of the Group of Seven and the European Union conducted over the past two months, Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo told reporters last week. President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and first lady Kim Keon Hee disembark Code One after arriving at Paris Orly Airport, near Paris, June 19. Yonhap Semiconductors are required for everything from cars to fridges Amkor Technologys $1.6 billion semiconductor plant in the northern province of Bac Ninh, Amkors largest facility worldwide, is scheduled for trial production by late October 2023. Secretary of Bac Ninh Party Committee Nguyen Anh Tuan conducted an inspection of the construction progress at Amkor Technology Vietnams plant last week. Tuan expressed his joy at the on-schedule construction of the Amkor plant, while ensuring labour safety. This facility will not only be Amkors largest and most advanced plant globally, but also a model working environment for the group. Amkor plant in Bac Ninh is a key project, marking the beginning of a new trend in attracting new investment to the province, Tuan said. South Korean chip equipment giant Hanmi Semiconductor last week announced the introduction of its local arm, Hanmi Vietnam set in Bac Ninh province, in a bid to revolutionise the semiconductor landscape. Hanmi Semiconductors CEO Kwak Dong-shin believes that Vietnams rising status as a global production hub for semiconductor giants makes expanding into the country a strategic move. Following suit, Infineon Technologies AG, Germanys largest semiconductor manufacturer, earlier this month disclosed its plans to expand operations in Vietnam. The development coincided with the official inauguration of Infineons new office in Hanoi, with a primary focus on chip technology research and development, as well as sales and marketing. By the end of 2023, Infineon aims to assemble a team of approximately 25 technical experts in the chip development division. Hanoi seeks to solidify its position as an internationally renowned hub for research and development, comparable to Infineons prominent centres in Germany, Austria, India, and Singapore, noted C.S. Chua, chairman and CEO of Infineon Technologies Asia-Pacific. The semiconductor market value in Vietnam is set to grow by $1.65 billion over 2020-2025, according to research firm Technavio. The growing adoption of the Internet of Things and smart home technologies are driving the growth of the semiconductor market in Vietnam, and semiconductor component manufacturing sites are being expedited to alleviate global shortages. Foreign companies, including Samsung, Hana Micron Vina, and Amkor Technology, among others, have invested in these projects. Liu Xin, marketing director of Vietnam Ibe Laser Technology Co., Ltd. expressed optimism, Vietnam presents greater opportunities as the electronics landscape evolves, transitioning away from Chinas dominance. I think the number of printed circuit board assembly and semiconductor manufacturers will double or triple in the country soon. Ibe Vietnam may consider doubling the size of its factory in the next five years, Xin added. At present, despite our new entry, I believe that Vietnam is a great country for investment thanks to support from the local authorities, she told VIR. In late April, Ibe Vietnam commenced operations at its $15 million factory after three years of construction. A report by the Bank of Korea (BOK) in May highlighted Vietnams rapid emergence as a significant market for South Korean semiconductor makers, who have been grappling with reduced demand in China due to the escalating US-China conflict. Major smartphone manufacturers have established production bases in Vietnam, with South Korean semiconductors playing a crucial role as intermediary goods in the production of finished products. Vietnams abundant low-wage workforce and its proximity to the Chinese market have attracted global businesses, including South Korean firms, to establish manufacturing facilities in the Southeast Asian nation, outlined the BOK. Dr. Nguyen Khac Giang, a scholar from the ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute, said that by strategically embracing semiconductor sector development, Vietnam has the potential to elevate its global standing within the value chain, transitioning from a labour-intensive paradigm to a technologically advanced economic framework. This transformative shift would enable Vietnam to realise its ambition of achieving a per capita GDP surpassing $18,000 by 2045, he said. However, Giang underscored the imperative for recalibrating the policy framework, fostering increased vocational training programmes in high-tech domains, and bolstering support mechanisms for domestic firms. With a primary focus on attracting prominent industry leaders, Vietnam has successfully enticed investments from notable entities such as Intel, which stands as the pioneer multinational corporation to manufacture semiconductor chips within Vietnams borders, with its manufacturing facility strategically situated in Ho Chi Minh City. Infineon Technologies expands operations in Vietnam Infineon Technologies AG, the prominent German global semiconductor solutions provider, has recently unveiled plans to expand its operations in Vietnam. As part of this strategic move, the company is establishing a dedicated electronic chip development team based in Hanoi. Hanmi Semiconductor spreads wings in Vietnam South Korean firm Hanmi Semiconductor has forged its path into Vietnam, capitalising on the countrys strategic foothold in Asia's high-tech supply chain and its bountiful pool of local talent. Infineon expands operations in line with Hanois R&D goals German global semiconductor solutions provider Infineon Technologies AG has unveiled plans to expand its operations in Vietnam. Nguyen Trong Nghia - Chairman, Commission for Communication and Education, Party Central Committee The Vietnamese revolutionary press is a sharp ideological weapon of the Party and state, having a strong attachment to and accompanying our peoples cause of building and defending the socialist fatherland. Over the years, press agencies and journalists across the country have regularly upheld political missions and responsibilities, closely followed the Partys direction, grasped the realities, and performed assigned tasks well. They have spent much time studying and bringing to life the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress and the Partys resolutions, conclusions, and directives. They have also effectively taken the initiative in producing honest and objective reports and stories, making an important contribution to shaping public opinion, creating consensus in society, and strengthening peoples confidence in the Party and state. What is more, they have also made positive articles on the countrys socioeconomic recovery and development, and achievements of foreign affairs, while also conducting propaganda on Party building, prevention and fight against corruption, wastefulness and negative phenomena. The press has also contributed to the protection of the ideological foundation of the Party, and the fight against the incorrect views of hostile forces. To get these results, besides the laudable efforts of the press agencies and journalists themselves, it is impossible not to mention the role of the directing agency, the press management agency, and the Vietnam Journalists Association, a socio-political professional organisation of journalists nationwide, and a place to gather and unite, cultivate revolutionary ethics, and improve professional qualifications for members. To be worthy of the glorious role and mission of the Vietnamese revolutionary press, I suggest that the press agencies and journalists should continue to focus on making bigger efforts with high political determination, and synchronous and effective actions to well accomplish the goal of building a professional, cultural and modern revolutionary journalism. It is also necessary to pay more attention to the leadership, direction, planning, management and development of the press, with a focus on building a team of press managers and a team of reporters and editors with a political stance, moral qualities, and professional expertise to improve the communication of the Partys guidelines and policies, and the states laws and policies. It is also necessary to closely follow the reality of the countrys economic reforms, and to discover, reflect, and praise patriotic movements, while highlighting the bright spots, positive changes, results, and prospects of the economy. This will contribute to creating an atmosphere of excitement, trust, and consensus among people of all walks of life. Being part of the culture, and at the same time one of the main means of disseminating different types of culture to the whole society, press agencies need to continue to participate in and actively respond to building a cultured environment in press agencies. This is of practical significance towards the 100th anniversary of Vietnam Journalists Day in June 2025. Each press agency must be a cultured agency, and each journalist must have a sense of improving his or her own culture and the human spirit, as well as creating works contributing to preserving, building, and developing an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity; promoting Vietnamese cultural values and human strength, and arousing patriotism, national self-reliance; and developing a prosperous and happy country. *Excerpt from speech at the National Press Festival, March 2023 Tran Quoc Phuong - Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment We highly appreciate the increasing role of the press in the process of socioeconomic development. Reporters are getting better at detecting and covering issues, as well as promoting and encouraging good practices, which are the foundation for the government, ministries, agencies, and localities to contribute to amending laws and regulations to fit with reality. Among newspapers, VIR has been contributing significantly to deliver information related to investment and business activities of enterprises in all industries in particular, as well as to show the problems of people and businesses during the implementation of policies at all levels. As a result, VIR is highly appreciated by all ministries, agencies, localities, organisations, businesses, as well as honoured at many major and prestigious press awards in the country and even abroad for its high-quality work and articles. This confirms the right development and the continuous efforts of all reporters. I offer best wishes to all VIR reporters and the editorial board, who always keep their love and passion for the job, highlighting the policies of the Party and government. I hope for VIR to grow continuously, as well as perform its role as an information bridge between domestic and foreign investors and businesses, management agencies, and also policymakers. Do Thang Hai - Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade I appreciate that VIR reporters and the editorial board closely monitor and inform on issues in our sector. Thank you for the very close and effective coordination with leaders of the ministry and the entire sector to do the most regarding tasks assigned by the Party and government. Managing multi-sectors and fields, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has tried to fulfill the tasks assigned by the Party and state in many fields such as electricity, coal, oil and gas, energy, industrial production, trade, import-export, e-commerce. Such work is carried out with the participation and consensus of ministries, agencies, the business community, and international organisations, especially, with the support of press agencies and journalists. Press agencies have done a good job as a bridge between the MoIT and the public, effectively communicating the policies of the Party, and ministerial and government solutions. Information and the press are important for us. The companionship and support of the press agencies and VIR will help the MoIT to accomplish its goal. We will try the best to complete the tasks assigned by the government as well as provide maximum support for the press, not only from the leadership of the MoIT but also from each unit, to provide timely information on the key issues of the day. Phung Duc Tien - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development The press agencies are crucial in the development of the agricultural and rural sector. They have also contributed to the successful implementation of strategies, plans, schemes, and assignments of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the business community. One of the most outstanding achievements is the contribution to changing the mindset from simply agricultural production to developing an agricultural economy. This is an important factor for agricultural growth and sustainable development. Early this year, the ministry determined some key missions for the press and communication work in 2023. It chose the media as a key channel to communicate our work on legal documents, the undertakings and policies for the development of ecological agriculture, modern rural areas, and farmers, according to the Central Party Committees resolutions on fisheries, forestry, and animal husbandry. The press agencies must also focus on publishing forecasts on opportunities for agricultural products in both domestic and export markets and the benefits of free trade agreements. Raymond Gordon - Vice chancellor and president, British University Vietnam The press is vital to any society and community. It provides a medium through which information can be conveyed. The press works with agencies and businesses and governments to convey the messages that they need truthfully, and to be trusted by the general public. And when it comes to education, VIR not only reports but also helps and engages with universities, schools and other types of education institutions to let the public know whats happening in education and what the opportunities are, particularly for young people but also for older people who need additional training skills. The press plays an important role in the growth of Vietnam, which is an emerging economy that has aspirations of moving to being a wealth economy, as well as committed to being carbon-neutral by 2050. These are all important things for the world and for the people that live in Vietnam. And the Vietnamese people need to be informed about what is happening. In particular, thats going to take education and training. So, theres a lot of pressure on the Vietnamese education system currently, because of the need for skills that they dont currently have. In other words, things are moving quickly. The jobs that young people will have in the future have not even been invented yet. Things are moving so quickly that it creates a sense of excitement for many people, but also risk and alarm. The press can convey what the education institutions are doing, and how those education institutions are preparing our children and our adults for what they need to do. Michele Wee - CEO, Standard Chartered Vietnam On behalf of Standard Chartered Bank Vietnam, I would like to express my sincere and heartfelt congratulations to Vietnam Investment Review (VIR) on the occasion of the Vietnam Journalists Day (21 June). As the leading economic and investment publication in Vietnam, VIR has been an invaluable companion, delivering timely news, insightful analysis, and comprehensive coverage of the business landscape as well as unwavering dedication to sustainability. With sustainability taking centre stage for foreign-invested businesses and investors in Vietnam, VIR actively promotes responsible practices and offers valuable insights into sustainable finance, green initiatives, and broader environmental, social, and governance developments. We appreciate opportunities to have been featured on VIR to share our thoughts and expertise on topics of interest to readers. We look forward to our continued collaboration. Through its high-quality journalism and conferences, VIR empowers the business community, raises awareness among investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers, and underscores long-term and sustainable growth. Most recently, at the conference celebrating 35 years of foreign investment in Vietnam organised by VIR, Standard Chartered Bank Vietnam was honoured for our contribution towards facilitating investment into Vietnam. We are proud of this achievement as it acknowledges our commitment and hard work in delivering value in the country. We wish VIR continued success and development in your journey to deepen the connection between Vietnam and the foreign business community and investors. As Vietnam navigates its path towards a sustainable future, together, we can drive positive change, creating a prosperous and sustainable Vietnam for generations to come. Dang Trong Duc - CEO, KTG Industrial On the Vietnam Journalists' Day, we pause to express our heartfelt gratitude to the dedicated journalists and reporters who work tirelessly to provide accurate and timely information. Their commitment not only benefits the growth of Vietnam's industrial real estate market, but also attracts foreign direct investment, strengthening our nation's economic landscape. The role of the media in shaping public perception and facilitating informed decision-making in relation to industrial real estate development cannot be overstated. By shining a light on industry trends, exploring growth opportunities, and offering insights into market developments, these professionals empower investors and stakeholders to make informed choices. Their unwavering dedication to truth, integrity, and service is what continuously drives our nation towards progress. The future of industrial real estate development in Vietnam relies on many factors, including macroeconomic trends, regulatory policies, and technological advancements. However, it is the media's crucial role in shaping public perception and informing decisions that will remain a driving force behind our nation's continued growth. As we celebrate the Vietnam Journalists' Day, let us acknowledge the power of the press and the profound impact it has on Vietnam's industrial real estate market and foreign investment landscape. Le Hoang Chuong - Assistant vice president, C.P. Vietnam After the pandemic, especially since the beginning of the year, livestock enterprises have faced many difficulties. However, thanks to timely information from the press, especially VIR, businesses (including C.P. Vietnam) have adjusted our business development strategies and felt it easier to breathe. The press and media have quickly conveyed the government's policies to businesses. At the same time, the press communicates the thoughts, problems, and burdens that businesses are facing to policymakers. This helps policymakers make appropriate changes and deliver a range of wide-reaching information on business to all audiences. Happy Vietnam Jornalists' Day. We wish health, happiness, and success to all journalists, reporters, editors, and people working in the media industry. David Jackson - CEO, Colliers Vietnam Journalism is an indispensable communication channel for the development of the economy. In the past 98 years, Vietnams journalism has grown significantly. Nowadays, readers can easily access information through various channel. Journalism has a strong, comprehensive, and pervasive power. Its also an official channel to update news, market happenings, new policies and regulations as well as play a role as a bridge for businesses to reach the mass and contribute data, comments, and forecasts about the market. Journalism provides a reliable, timely, and objective source of information, contributing to the market development towards more transparency and accuracy. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the journalists for their persistent efforts, perseverance, and determination in the profession to bring the latest and most accurate news to readers every day. Winnie Lam - General Secretary, Hong Kong Business Association Vietnam VIR has reported on the challenges and opportunities for foreign investors in Vietnam during and after the pandemic, including great insights from economists as well as investors on the ground It covers a wide range of topics such as government policies to draw foreign investment, the impact of the pandemic on supply chains, and the shifting global economic terrain with much truth and encouragement. There were also many stories featuring the successful turnaround of businesses and those more fortunate helping the vulnerable. Such stories are a motivation for the public to join hands and work together for the betterment of Vietnam. VIR has comprehensive coverage of the impact of the coronavirus on foreign investment in the country. While the COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant challenges, the Vietnamese remain committed to attracting foreign investment and serving the countrys economic growth in the long term. We continue to be optimistic, seeing a lot of new and renewed interest with many delegations to explore and continue to do our part in linking investments through Hong Kong and Vietnam in many years to come. Lars Voedisch - Founder and managing director, Precious Communications Like a typewriter in a touchscreen world, media outlets that resist adaptation are destined to become relics of a bygone era. So its not surprising that press agencies in Vietnam are moving beyond traditional print and online formats to include a wide range of more engaging mediums. This strategic move aligns with global trends and caters to the Vietnamese audiences changing preferences for captivating, interactive, audio-visual, and bite-sized content. Vietnamese press agencies frequently work with local influencers to create engaging content that encourages audience participation and creates a sense of community. More platforms and more ways of accessing news and information mean more opportunities for businesses to reach their target audiences through different channels. The press has long served as a crucial bridge between enterprises, the government, and the public in Vietnam, profoundly impacting business activities. The media regularly promotes Vietnams start-up ecosystem through funding rounds and success stories, inspiring a whole generation of Vietnamese entrepreneurs. It is estimated that there are about 3,800 startups in Vietnam. By providing in-depth analysis and industry-specific information, offering valuable insights for businesses and investors, the media can help increase this number multifold. The media actively promotes Vietnam as an attractive destination for foreign investment. For instance, global manufacturers are are willing to invest in Vietnam, as it aims to move from a low-tech manufacturer to hi-tech manufacturing. This is partly driven by the governments push but mostly because of the awareness created by the media. Saroj Chayavivatkul - Member, Board of Directors, TBC-Ball Beverage Can Vietnam The press plays a vital role in supporting business development and the overall progress of a country. It serves as a reliable source of information, disseminating news and market trends that enable businesses to make well-informed decisions. By providing transparent and accurate information, the press helps build investor confidence, allowing them to assess risks and make informed investment choices. Furthermore, the press celebrates entrepreneurship by highlighting success stories and fostering innovation, which leads to job creation and economic growth. As business operators in Vietnam, we highly value VIR as a credible source of business news. We believe the paper has established itself as a trusted platform for businesses to stay updated on the latest developments in the Vietnamese economy. As Vietnams economy continues to perform strongly, we hope to receive more news and updates to assist us in navigating the countrys dynamic business environment. David Tay - Director, Business Development, Marketing & Communications, PwC Vietnam As the top English language business newspaper in Vietnam focusing on foreign investors, VIR has been instrumental in shaping the investment landscape and fostering a transparent business environment. The papers dedication to delivering accurate, timely, and in-depth coverage has provided valuable insights, facilitating a meaningful exchange of information among stakeholders. Your professionalism and impartiality have earned VIR a reputation as a reliable source for investors, business leaders, and policymakers in Vietnam. As we celebrate the Vietnam Journalists Day, I want to express my deep appreciation for the papers remarkable work. Your extensive coverage of diverse sectors, particularly in investing and mergers and acquisitions, has provided us with valuable insights into the Vietnamese market. Rahul Shinde - Chief information officer, Coca-Cola Vietnam On the Vietnam Journalists Day, I cannot help but reflect on the profound impact that journalism has on our society. Journalists play a pivotal role in shaping our nations future by bridging gaps, dispelling ignorance, and igniting conversations that shape progress. In the era of rapid digital transformation, reliable journalism has become more crucial than ever. Coca-Cola Vietnam recognises the significance of digitalisation and sustainability and is committed to embracing these goals. During our green transition journey, VIRs team of journalists understood our vision, learned about our sustainable practices, and shared our journey with the public. Through its articles, we raised awareness among consumers, inspiring us to join the movement towards a greener, more sustainable Vietnam. In general, with extensive articles and though-provoking talk shows, journalists paint a vivid picture of Vietnams path to sustainability, showcasing the tireless efforts of communities, businesses, and policymakers. Their words, like brushstrokes on a canvas, give life to the net-zero vision, inspiring Vietnamese readers to embrace sustainable practices in their daily lives. On the other hand, Vietnam has made significant strides in its digital economy. Nguyen Manh Hung, Minister of Information and Communications, predicted that by the end of 2023 the portion of the digital economy to GDP may reach over 17 per cent, and with further initiatives to stimulate the economy, it could rise to 25 per cent by 2025. This remarkable growth can be attributed, in part, to the tireless efforts of journalists who have amplified the importance of digital transformation in our society. By highlighting success stories, sharing best practices, and disseminating accurate information, they have fostered an environment of innovation, attracted investment, and propelled our digital economy forward. In addition, journalism in Vietnam has undergone a remarkable evolution in the digital age. Journalists have embraced digital tools and platforms to provide accurate and timely information, combating the spread of misinformation. Their commitment to fact-checking, investigative reporting, and responsible journalism empowers readers to make informed decisions and navigate the digital landscape confidently. Furthermore, the reach of journalism has expanded beyond traditional confines, with newspapers now thriving on various platforms beyond printed editions and websites. Social media platforms have become powerful tools for journalists to engage with their audience and disseminate news in real-time. Video-sharing platforms have also emerged as dynamic mediums for news reporting, offering immersive storytelling experiences. In the future, high-quality journalism will remain paramount. Reputable newspapers play a vital part in conveying accurate information, raising awareness about sustainability, and driving positive change. The contributions of companies like ours, combined with the efforts of journalists, create a powerful synergy that propels the nation towards a digital and sustainable future. Pham Le Ngoc Chau - Business Development Manager, MediaTek Vietnam Under the theme Digital media for a stronger business partnership, the talk show aims to address pressing questions regarding the digital transformation trends in Vietnamese media agencies. It seeks to identify the new value created for readers and businesses, the ongoing issues that media agencies need to address, and the concerns of businesses regarding their communication efforts through media outlets. Live: Talk show Digital Media for a Stronger Business Partnership The Vietnamese press has traversed a formidable 98-year trajectory, continuously adapting to the diverse hues and currents of the socioeconomic tapestry, playing an instrumental role in the nation's fortification, and impelling innovation, integration, and growth. Each stage has witnessed distinct manifestations and methodologies in fulfilling this service-oriented vocation, all while collaborating, uplifting, and propelling many development objectives. Reaffirming the pivotal significance and proactive impetus of information dissemination, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung underscored, "The revolutionary press emerged in 1925, five years preceding the establishment of the Communist Party and two decades prior to the triumphant revolution. This narrative epitomises the momentousness and visionary essence of information exchange. The revolutionary press stands as a vanguard and a thought leader." "For nearly a century, the press has assiduously focused on content creation, wielding the power of the written word and inked parchment with scant regard for technological concerns. However, digital technology has emerged as the cornerstone of productivity across all domains, particularly in the realm of journalism. Unquestionably, the foremost-reaching impact of digital technology permeates the texture of the press and media landscape. Harnessing digital technology as a journalistic medium has become an existential imperative for the press," he said. Recognising the importance of the digital media transformation, the prime minister approved the Digital Media Transformation Strategy on May 6. To implement this strategy effectively, the Ministry of Information and Communications has established the Digital Media Transformation Support Centre under the Ministry of Information and Communications' Authority of Press. According to Luu Dinh Phuc, director general of the Authority of Press, the goal of digital media transformation is to leverage technology to overcome the obstacles faced by media agencies. The aim is to provide customers with a superior experience, increase viewership and listenership, boost advertising revenues, and effectively serve the need for information. The inception of the Digital Media Transformation Support Centre will invariably bolster media agencies in their endeavours to effectively meet the digital transformation goals outlined in the Digital Media Transformation Strategy by 2025, with a vision towards 2030. Experts assert that the Vietnamese press confronts a myriad of challenges as it embarks on the coming leg of its journey, against the backdrop of fervent competition between traditional media and social networks. To propel this process forward, supportive policies and collaboration between relevant parties are crucial in optimising the operational models of media agencies and creating new products, opportunities, revenue, and value. To shed light on this, the talk show will be broadcasted at 9am on June 20. It will also be livestreamed on the websites, fan pages, and YouTube channels of vir.com.vn, baodautu.vn, and tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn. The distinguished guests participating in the talk show include: Mai Huong Giang, deputy director general, Authority of Press, Ministry of Information and Communications. Associate Professor Dr. Bui Chi Trung, vice dean, School of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Science and Humanities, VNU, Hanoi. Le Van Duong, partner, Indochine Counsel Law Firm. Nguyen Thanh Son, chairman, MVV Group. Hanh Nguyen, country business development manager, Exness. The talk show promises to be an engaging and informative platform, bringing together key stakeholders to discuss the future of the media in the digital era and the necessary steps to advance together. VIR to host exclusive talkshow 'Unleashing capital influx in the stock market' Join industry leaders and experts as they discuss effective strategies for capital mobilisation and investment prospects in the stock market, in an engaging talk show organised by VIR. DETROIT (AP) A group of protesters tried to disrupt U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholms appearance in a Detroit suburb to discuss climate change. Granholm, a former Michigan governor, appeared at a climate change discussion hosted by the Detroit Free Press on Monday at a hotel in Birmingham. Members of the Climate Defiance group tried to make their way into the event, with several members checking into the hotel using fake names, the newspaper reported. Some protesters were seen banging on doors before security removed them and later about 20 protesters pounded on the window of the room where the discussion was being held. They played sirens and chanted No MVP, no LNG, Granhom you are killing me. Climate Defiance has called for President Joe Biden's administration to shift the country away from fossil fuels and halt work on pipelines such as the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline running between Virginia and West Virginia, and the Alaska LNG, a natural gas pipeline project in that state. Granholm said she sympathizes with the protesters and understands they want change. A car ran off the road into a ditch on Highway 6 near Riesel early Monday and occupants had to be flown to a hospital for treatment, authorities said. Fire departments from Waco, Mart and Riesel joined Texas Department of Public Safety troopers in rescuing people trapped in a rollover around 3:30 a.m. near the intersection of Mount Moriah Road and East Highway 6, according to a brief statement Monday from Waco Fire Department. A medical transport helicopter flew out to the location to take seriously injured occupants to an area hospital for treatment, Waco fire officials stated. Texas Department of Public Safety investigated a crash at that location and reported the vehicle was a Ford Taurus. Waco water utility staff will take a peek under the hood of each water customers meter over the next couple years, attempting to track and eradicate lead pipes from Wacos water system. Water Utility Director Lisa Tyer will present the initiative to the Waco City Council on Tuesday, as the department makes stops at each meter to take inventory and comply with standards from the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPAs Lead and Copper Rule, first implemented in 1991, aims to limit concentration of lead and copper that enters drinking water, generally through corrosion of water pipes. The use of lead pipes for installation or maintenance of public and private water systems was banned in 1986. Lead and water is definitely a danger especially for young children, water utility spokesperson Jessica Emmett Sellers said. As their brains develop it can really hinder that brain development, so its a much lower risk for adults. A recent revision to the EPA rule requires water providers to take inventory of all service line materials by Oct. 16, 2024. Service lines are the pipes that connect a property to the city water main. Sellers said with water infrastructure being underground, it usually stays in place unless it is broken. The city does have aging pipes, but workers replace substandard components they find during routine maintenance. Anytime we find one, you know, if they go and they work on something that hasnt been worked on in a long time, thats the original pipe lets go ahead and get that out of here. She said there are no known lead service lines in the system. Sellers said water utility workers will be making their way through some 50,000 water meters over the next year and a half to assess the city-owned pipes leading to the water meter and the customer-owned service lines connecting to the user. City water utility employees will visit each customers water meter, which is typically near the street under a plastic cover, and clean it out, she said. They will take a picture to document the pipes and upload it to an app developed by the citys information technology department, creating an inventory of all the citys water pipes in line with the new EPA mandate, she said. The app will remain private to the city until the database is complete and will be released to the public on the October 2024 due date. People will be able to see what kind of service lines their property has, or potentially if youre buying property, renting property, you can see kind of what youre getting into, she said. City employees, rather than subcontractors, will be out in city-branded clothes and trucks will be out doing the work, Sellers said. She said not to fret if residents see someone checking their meter throughout the process, as the workers are likely not shutting the water off. All licensed day cares and schools up to eighth grade will also be required to test their water for lead and copper by the October 2024 due date under the EPAs revised rule. If a meter is found to have lead pipes on either the city or customers side, the customer will be contacted face to face. A worker will provide them with a filter pitcher for drinking water and information on the dangers of lead pipes, advising them on how to stay safe and how to replace lead pipes. The city will pay for the replacement of pipes that connect to the main line, and if a residents water must be shut off for a line replacement they will receive additional guidance, she said. Lead lines on the customers side will be the customers responsibility to replace, but the Housing and Community Development Departments Lead is Preventable Program has income-based assistance available for replacement costs. Residents and property owners will be provided with contact information, estimates and options for replacement during their in-person interactions with city staff, Sellers said. If you wanted to replace all the plumbing in your house thats a pretty big job so theres a little bit of assistance out there available at this time, she said. The citys hunt for lead pipes began in March, and Sellers estimates about a quarter of all residences have already been checked. Of some 12,000 water meters that have been checked, only six were found to have lead pipes, she said. Theres older areas of the city and newer areas of the city so theres going to be certain potential hot spots were hoping that theres not a lot, but the potential is there, Sellers said. In other business Tuesday, the council will: Hear a presentation about alley trash bin enclosures and proposed solid waste improvements along Mary Avenue in line with the citys Downtown Implementation Plan Hold a public hearing on the proposed multifamily zoning for an apartment complex near the intersection of U.S. Highway 84 and Old Lorena Road Consider spending $1 million for about 19 acres of land at 4409 and 4419 S. 12th St. The citys plans for the plot are not yet clear Consider giving landscape architectural firm Design Workshop a $3 million contract to plan and design a park at the Hart-Patterson Track and Field Complex neighboring the former Floyd Casey Stadium site, which is being redeveloped Consider giving Union Pacific some $1.2 million for needed improvements at the Second, Third, Sixth and Eighth street railroad crossings to create a quiet zone from Peach Street to 13th Street. The Heart of Texas Dog Park is looking for solutions, as the privately owned, volunteer-run park risks closure if it does not raise $660 by July 15 to cover insurance renewal and mowing bills due soon. Park board President Michael Wellborn and Secretary and Treasurer Luann Jennings hosted a meeting Saturday to discuss with park users how to move forward, consideration of pursuing nonprofit status and asking attendees for more support. The dog park at 4900 Steinbeck Bend Drive is funded by donations and maintained by volunteers, and its board of directors is down to just four members. Although there are more than 1,000 members in the parks Facebook group, more than 80 members who receive newsletters and an estimated 200-300 visitors to the park every week, the board struggles to conjure up enough money for routine operating costs or enough hands to perform needed services, such as tree cutting and removal or mowing. Its always an effort of cobbling stuff together, and we want to elevate this whole experience above that, Wellborn said. As of Saturday the park had some $839 in the bank, with $1,500 worth of mowing expenses and insurance bills coming up within the month. The parks financial report estimates $600 to mow twice and $900 for liability insurance renewal, not accounting for damage caused by dead trees falling in Fridays storm and other deferred maintenance. Then come the bills for next month. The park land is owned by LuAnn Ervin, who built and maintained the park on her own for about a decade, Jennings said. Estimates are that she spent upwards of $100,000 building that park and maintaining it herself just as a service to the community for all those years, Jennings said. She said Ervin, who owned the neighboring Texas Animal Medical Center, retired in January 2020 and announced she would be closing the park. At the time Jennings and a few other park users asked if they could continue to run the dog park, she said. Ervin agreed, without a formal lease, under three conditions: the park would hold liability insurance, it would be maintained to her standards and it would be kept open to the public. The users, including Jennings, began the process of becoming a nonprofit and formed a board of directors, she said. The corporation became a state-recognized nonprofit, however two lawyers Jennings met with advised that that the park should not proceed with an IRS filing for nonprofit status because it might not qualify, and if it were rejected, it would be out the $2,000 it would take to become recognized as a 501(3) nonprofit. Without having a lease or legal right to the land, spending $2,000 to pursue nonprofit status would not be a good use of money, especially as the park struggled with routine maintenance costs, Jennings said. The lawyers also advised that the primary beneficiary of the board maintaining the land would be the owner, Ervin, therefore financially benefitting an individual, she said. The eligibility would be predicated on the concept that we were maintaining a dog park, but we wouldnt have control over the land that was said dog park, Wellborn said. Jennings said she also met with an assistant city manager around the same time the park was considering nonprofit status, but the city was not interested in purchasing or partnering with the park. She said she was told an off-leash dog park was not a current priority, and the effort it would take to make movement with the city council was too much for park users while they still had a park. The parks three main problems now are with money, maintenance and communication. So far this year, the park is bringing in about half of last years revenue, Jennings said. The parks minimum annual budget just to keep the gate open with no improvements is around $7,900 for an average of about $659 needed per month. So far in 2023, the average donation revenue per month is just shy of $300, and only 50 park users have donated. Weve had more donations in the past week since we announced that we were having this meeting and the dog park was in crisis than we had in May and April combined, but still its not enough, Jennings said. There are also too few people leading and volunteering to do anything other than the bare minimum required to keep the park functional, she said. The four board members currently are communicating needs though Facebook pages and newsletters, dealing with emergencies, arranging funding and performing maintenance themselves while also working full-time jobs. The board has room for about 10 more people who can give a couple of hours each month to event planning, advertising, finance and handiwork. Were unable to coordinate fundraisers, Jennings said. Were unable to develop, coordinate volunteer groups. Its just really just the minimum to keep it going. So were at the same place that weve been for the past 3.5 years of just barely managing to keep the gates open and its not that we need help, we just need everybody whos benefitting from it to do their share. The third problem is communication. Though the parks Facebook group has over 1,000 members and the newsletter has almost 90 subscribers, there is no way to know the parks needs are getting through to anyone, Jennings said. I actually had someone laugh at me one day as I was posting a sign and say, you dont really think anyones going to read that, do you? she said. The park board this week will be in contact with the land owner about leasing the property. That way if she decides to do something else with the land there would be some amount of notice beforehand, Jennings said. The board is hoping for a lease of $1 per year, which is what some nonprofits have as an agreement with a property owner, but they would be happy to pay a reasonable amount if Ervin agrees, Jennings said. We just feel like it makes more sense in raising larger sums of money towards maybe doing the nonprofit filing, improvements, God forbid getting water back into the park again it just makes more sense to go to that kind of effort if we know that well be able to be on the land for a period of time, she said. The park is also looking at retrying for IRS nonprofit status, barring the lease of the property and owner buy-in, and could change its business structure, she said. Lawyers advised the possibility of a membership organization or social club as a means to make up regular operating costs, Jennings said. We dont even have to have a corporate entity, but someone has to be the insured. I cant imagine this thing would work with just people by the goodness of their hearts giving money and doing things around the park, she said. I think it would have to be someone coordinating things. Somebody could even do it for profit. Anyone interested in getting involved or donating to the park can join its Facebook group, visit the Facebook page both named HOT Dog Park Waco or fill out an interest form that links to the groups GoFundMe page at http://bit.ly/hot-dog-park. LINCOLN With current drought conditions spanning the state it may be hard to remember that just a few years ago Nebraska was recovering from catastrophic flooding. The spring of 2019 brought rapid snow melt coupled with frozen-solid ground. This left nowhere for water to go except sideways pushing blocks of river ice the size of houses downstream destroying roads, bridges, and washing away livestock and entire communities. Two Nebraskans lost their lives. Since that time, the U.S. Department of Agricultures Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has been assisting communities with recovery through the Emergency Watershed Protection Programs Floodplain Easements. This program provides landowners the opportunity to voluntarily sell flood-damaged land to NRCS through an easement. This provides the agency the ability to restore and enhance the floodplains functions and values. A healthy floodplain enhances fish and wildlife habitat, water quality, flood water retention, and ground water recharge while making it more resilient to flooding and erosion. Three new easements, located in Knox and Richardson counties were completed through this program. By restoring over 100 acres to natural conditions these floodplain easements will protect the water quality of the Missouri and Niobrara rivers in perpetuity. NRCS Nebraska State Conservationist, Robert Lawson, said, Landowners across Nebraska have faced significant challenges from flooding and natural disasters. These easements are a long-term solution for preventing future damage from flooding. This program offers an option that alleviates the stress of operating in a floodplain while retaining ownership of the property. We are proud to have completed these three floodplain easement projects and look forward to continuing work with local communities to protect natural resources. The NRCS is committed to keeping Nebraskas floodplains healthy and protecting its residents and property from flooding. For more information about floodplain easements and the other programs and assistance provided by NRCS, call or visit a USDA Service Center. There was an Episcopal priest who was shopping for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The salesman talked about speed, acceleration, risk and how women love to climb up on the back of such a powerful machine. Then, he discovered his customer was a priest. Immediately, he changed his approach. He spoke soberly about good mileage, the advantages of 360-degree visibility and how practical motorcycles are. Writing about the experience later, the priest had this to say: Have we told the world that being a Christian is more like riding a lawn mower than a motorcycle? Is the life of faith more safe and sound or dangerous and exciting? The common image of the church is pure lawnmower slow, deliberate and plodding. Our task is to take the church out on the open road, give it the gas and see what this baby will do! I would like to add that some of the churches I served were more like a push mower without any motor. I felt that way because it seemed that if anything happened it had to be the pastor pushing hard to get anything to move. How many of you have ever used a push mower? I used one when I was a kid. You had to get a run at the grass and push with all your strength. A few of the churches I served were hardly any work at all. Churches can do a lot of good and bless a lot of people if the church leaders are positive and energetic. I have to agree with the priest. Most churches probably see themselves as lawnmowers. A lot of churches could benefit from thinking more motorcycle - taking the church out to see what this baby will do. Im sure that the motorcycle analogy could be a bit misleading. Some people would think that motorcycle means fun. A fun life sounds pretty good but even better is a full life. On one occasion Jesus said, I have come that my people may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10) Abundant life I think is what most of us are after. A fun life might feel good for a while but in the long run we are looking for a full life, a life that satisfies us in a lasting way. Jesus came to offer us significance and meaning. I think many generations have settled for instant gratification and self-absorption. God does ask us for our all, 100%. And when we give it to God, then things get pretty interesting. What if every morning we woke up with an attitude that said, Whatever Jesus asks of me today the answer is Yes! Do that and youll never lack for excitement. Prayer: Our Lord, may we honestly check our attitude to see if we are more motorcycle or lawnmower. Amen. Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers remarks during a dinner with Koreans residing in France at a hotel in Paris, June 19. Yonhap South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and French President Emmanuel Macron will discuss North Korea's human rights situation when they hold a summit in Paris this week, Yoon's office said Monday. The two leaders are set to meet Tuesday while Yoon is in Paris to attend a general assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions, the international body in charge of overseeing the World Expo, to promote South Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in its southeastern city of Busan. "Our two countries stress human rights. France has always stressed human rights, and from that perspective, has not established diplomatic ties with North Korea," presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon told reporters in Paris. As summer begins, Kate Marvel from Project Drawdown talks with the team about the solutions already in place to help slow climate change and why the things that worry her the most have nothing to do with the physical science. We want to hear from you! Have a question for the meteorologists? Call 609-272-7099 and leave a message. You might hear your question and get an answer on a future episode! You can also email questions to podcasts@lee.net. Episode Preview About the Across the Sky podcast The weekly weather podcast is hosted on a rotation by the Lee Weather team: Matt Holiner of Lee Enterprises' Midwest group in Chicago, Kirsten Lang of the Tulsa World in Oklahoma, Joe Martucci of the Press of Atlantic City, N.J., and Sean Sublette of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia. More episodes about climate change The increase of billion dollar weather disasters | Across the Sky podcast Learn about the growing number of billion dollar weather disasters and what part of the country is most vulnerable. A warming climate means more than just hotter summers | Across the Sky podcast With the rest of the meteorologists away this week, Sean Sublette talks with Jessica Whitehead, Executive Director of the Old Dominion University Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience, to discuss some of the hidden and subtle ways the warming climate is sneaking up on us. The impact goes of which goes beyond hotter summers. Earth continues to warm. What does that mean for the oceans and people? | Across the Sky podcast An ocean physicist with NASA talks about the warming climates impact and what that means for people living both near and far away from the water. Climate change and what it means for winter snowfall | Across the Sky podcast Dave Robinson, a winter weather expert, talks about measuring snow and the database he runs through the Rutgers Global Snow Lab. What does a warming climate mean for brilliant fall foliage? | Across the Sky podcast What conditions are best for bright fall colors and what is the outlook for this fall? Learn more on Across the Sky! Past episodes Republican politicians and activists are accusing colleges, think tanks, and commercial organizations that research the spread of misinformation of working in concert with the government to stifle conservative speech online, and they are organizing a broad legal campaign against these institutions on Capitol Hill and in the courts to protect their legacy. The legacy of the Republican Party is founded on the dissemination of misinformation, the avoidance of factual evidence, and the construction of fabricated narratives. The tenure of former President Trump has been widely associated with a period characterized by the proliferation of misinformation and falsehoods, commonly referred to as "fake news." This is not the initial government to partake in such conduct. It is within the Republican Party's self-interest to propagate falsehoods. If the GOP refrained from exploiting xenophobia by propagating the unfounded notion that immigrants reduce wages and did not cater to the concerns of white working-class households, they would be unable to maintain their support for corporate America's resistance to increasing the minimum wage as long as Republicans persist in constructing fallacious narratives and minimizing scientific evidence. Republican lawmakers and activists are starting a sweeping legal campaign against educational institutions, think tanks, and commercial firms that do disinformation research, accusing them of colluding with the government to limit conservative discourse online. The campaign has burdened its targets with massive information requests and, in some cases, subpoenas, demanding notes, emails, and other materials about social media companies and the government dating back to 2015. According to those involved, compliance has taken time and resources away from the organizations' ability to conduct research and collect contributions. They and others warned that the attempt harmed the fight against dishonesty in American society when the problem is rising and a presidential election is just around the corner. Many of those supporting the Republican effort, including former President Donald J. Trump, had incorrectly contested the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. The House Judiciary Committee, which won Republican majority control in January, has given the researchers hundreds of letters and subpoenas, only some of which have been made public. It has sent legal notices to those who have not replied quickly or thoroughly enough. Last month, a conservative advocacy group founded by Mr. Trump's former adviser Stephen Miller filed a class-action case in U.S. District Court in Louisiana, replicating many of the committee's accusations and targeting some of the same defendants. Stanford, Clemson, and New York Universities, as well as the University of Washington, are among the targets, as are the Atlantic Council, the German Marshall Fund, and the National Conference on Citizenship, all nonpartisan, nongovernmental organizations based in Washington, the Wikimedia Foundation in San Francisco; and Graphika, a company that investigates online disinformation. The committee has also subpoenaed the World Federation of Advertisers, a trade organization, and the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, which it formed, in a parallel probe. Republican committee leaders have accused the groups of violating antitrust rules by conspiring to cut off advertising funds for content researchers and tech companies considered harmful. On these topics, the right has circulated much disinformation. Many Republicans feel that disinformation researchers have put pressure on social media platforms to discriminate against conservative viewpoints. Subscribe 100% Free to Wall Street Rebel.com and receive access to investment tools worth $17,500! The grievances have been instigated by Twitter's recent move, under the leadership of its new owner, Elon Musk, to disclose certain confidential correspondences exchanged between government representatives and Twitter staff. The correspondence reveals that government officials were encouraging Twitter to take measures against accounts disseminating false information without explicitly mandating such action, as some detractors had alleged. According to Patrick L. Warren, an associate professor at Clemson University, the institution's researchers have dutifully furnished the committee with pertinent documents and delivered a succinct presentation to select staff members. According to him, the recent surge in interest in our organization can be attributed to our presence in the Twitter files, which may have led to a misconstrued understanding of our objectives and undertakings. The present campaign is centered on private individuals who are employed by universities or nongovernmental organizations rather than government officials. Individuals are entitled to exercise their First Amendment rights, which encompass freedom of speech, in their dealings with social media entities. The collective responsible for initiating the class action, America First Legal, has identified two researchers from the Stanford Internet Observatory, namely Alex Stamos and Renee DiResta, a professor from the University of Washington, Kate Starbird, an executive from Graphika, Camille Francois, and the senior director of the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, Graham Brookie, as the defendants. If the lawsuit moves forward, the individuals in question may be subject to a trial and may be liable for civil damages if the allegations are substantiated. The House committee has requested that the researchers furnish emails and other records. Notably, the researchers are also defendants in the lawsuit initiated by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana. Among the plaintiffs are Jill Hines, a director for Health Freedom Louisiana, an organization that has faced allegations of disseminating disinformation, and Jim Hoft, the founder of the Gateway Pundit, a news outlet known for its right-wing perspective. The Western District of Louisiana court presided over by Judge Doughty, has emerged as a preferred forum for legal disputes against the Biden administration. According to Jeff Hancock, the founding director of the Stanford Social Media Lab, who is not affiliated with any of the legal proceedings, the attacks employ a similar line of reasoning that commences with erroneous assumptions. The argument in question pervades various platforms, including the media, congressional committees, and legal proceedings. Its central tenet is founded upon a flawed premise that posits the government as providing guidance for our research endeavors. The House Judiciary Committee has directed a significant portion of its inquiry toward two joint initiatives. Before the 2020 election, the Election Integrity Partnership was established by Stanford University and the University of Washington to detect any endeavors to impede voting, diminish participation, mislead voters, or discredit election outcomes without substantiated proof. Another initiative, which Stanford also orchestrated, was dubbed the Virality Project. This particular undertaking was centered on examining the proliferation of misleading information pertaining to Covid-19 vaccinations. These topics have emerged as highly controversial issues, causing researchers to be subjected to partisan criticism on the internet that has occasionally taken on a disturbingly personal tone. Subscribe 100% Free to Wall Street Rebel.com and receive access to investment tools worth $17,500! A noteworthy argument underlying the committee's investigation and other apprehensions regarding censorship is the notion that scholars or public officials possess the capability or aptitude to terminate social media profiles. As per the accounts of ex-employees at Twitter and Meta, the companies took the verdict to impose penalties on users who violated the platform's regulations. Despite the organizations bringing objectionable information to light, no concrete evidence has emerged to suggest that government officials pressured the corporations to take measures against the accounts in question. According to Mr. Hancock, as researchers, we possess the privilege of academic freedom to conduct our research. Additionally, we are entitled to exercise our freedom of speech to bring to the attention of Twitter or any other company tweets we deem to violate their rules. Academic institutions have endeavored to adhere to the committee's requisites; accumulating years of correspondence has been a laborious undertaking impeded by confidentiality apprehension. The organization is experiencing an increase in legal expenses, coupled with inquiries from its directors and funders regarding the potential risks involved in researching misinformation. The use of online insults has had a detrimental impact on morale and, in certain instances, has even instilled fear in students, causing them to withdraw from the situation. In May, Mr. Jordan, who holds the position of chairman of the committee, issued a threat of legal action against Stanford University for non-compliance with a subpoena that was previously issued. The university's legal representatives had been discussing safeguarding students' privacy with the committee's legal team. The America First Legal case specifically identifies certain students who had volunteered their services. The committee declined to disclose the particulars of the investigation, including the total number of requests or subpoenas issued. Furthermore, there has been no indication of the due course of the investigation, including the possibility of generating a conclusive report or giving criminal referrals. If such actions are indeed planned, the timeline for their execution remains unclear. Nonetheless, the entity appears to have already arrived at a comprehensive inference in its declarations. According to Russell Dye, a spokesperson, the Twitter files and information obtained through private litigation reveal the collaboration between the federal government, social media companies, and other entities to suppress speech deemed unfavorable on the internet. The committee is diligently endeavoring to uncover the root cause of this censorship, with the ultimate goal of safeguarding the First Amendment rights of every American citizen. The impact of partisanship is not limited to scholars alone but is also evident in the behavior of social media magnates. Mr. Musk has taken to Twitter to highlight his efforts in mitigating restrictions and restoring access to previously banned accounts, such as the Gateway Pundit. YouTube has recently announced that it will no longer enforce restrictions on videos that propagate "inaccurate assertions regarding the prevalence of fraud, inaccuracies, or technical malfunctions during the 2020 and previous United States presidential elections." Subscribe 100% Free to Wall Street Rebel.com and receive access to investment tools worth $17,500! by Adam Estes The Air Zoo Aerospace and Science Museum in Kalamazoo, Michigan is renowned for not only being one of the finest air museums in the United States, but also for the quality of its restoration department. As a measure of the respect which their team has earned, the Smithsonians National Air & Space Museum entrusted the restoration (and display) of the sole surviving Curtiss XP-55 Ascender (42-78846) in December, 2001. This particular project probably cemented the museums place as a go-to restoration shop for complex projects, albeit those for static display; they are presently working on the refurbishment of a Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter for display at the Air Zoo. Despite their prowess with the Ascender, the museum has since become most famous for their work with another, far more significant aircraft type, this being the Douglas SBD Dauntless a dive bomber of singular importance to the U.S. Navys success in the Pacific Theatre during WWII. Despite its monumental combat pedigree, the Dauntless served in another vital, although largely under-appreciated role on the home front by helping qualify newly-minted naval aviators in the precarious art of carrier operations. Many of these training flights involved a pair of improvised training carriers in Lake Michigan: USS Wolverine (IX 64) and USS Sable (IX 81). Both of these ships had prior lives as paddle-wheel excursion liners on the Great Lakes: Wolverine operating as SS Seeandbee, and Sable as SS Greater Buffalo. These training operations often involved redundant airframes, those pulled from frontline service so that superior variants could take their place in the fight against Axis Forces. Flying from carriers is a dangerous business in the best of times, but when you throw in the added complexities of inexperienced aircrews, tiny flight decks and tired airframes, it is no surprise that dozens of these training flights from Sable and Wolverine ended ignominiously, with the aircraft resting on the bottom of Lake Michigan. While costly in both human life and treasure, the nation was willing to bear these sacrifices in the name of peace and our future security. While lost lives were mourned, the sunken aircraft were quickly forgotten, and would likely have remained where they fell had their modern scarcity not changed the equation. The SBD was already obsolete when the US entered WWII, and barely a handful of the breed survived the mass-scrapping process which followed our victory in 1945. Even then, all but two of these fully-intact survivors (the Smithsonians SBD-6 BuNo.54605 and the Commemorative Air Forces SBD-5 BuNo.54532) were actually former U.S. Army Air Forces A-24 Banshee variants, and none of these had seen combat. (The Army relegated their Banshees to training roles just seven months or so after the U.S. entered the war, so very few of them actually had the opportunity to meet the enemy anyway.) By the 1980s, although a few SBD hulks had been recovered from the South Pacific and restored, the Dauntless was still such a rare type that those sunken examples on the bottom of Lake Michigan had become economically viable to recover. Many of these airframes had also seen combat during WWII, making them even more significant from a historical perspective. Since the raising of SBD-4 Bu10715 in 1981, eighteen additional Dauntlesses have been been plucked from the bottom of Lake Michigan, bringing the breed back from virtual extinction. The worlds Grumman Wildcat population also benefitted immensely from Lake Michigan recoveries too, along with a handful of even rarer types, but as far as this article is concerned, we will be focusing our discussion on the three Dauntlesses which the Air Zoo has had in their workshop: SBD-1 BuNu.1612, SBD-2P BuNo. 2173, and SBD-3 BuNo.06624. SBD-3 Bureau Number 06624: This was the first Dauntless to undergo restoration at the Air Zoo. Like the majority of the other Lake Michigan recoveries, this aircraft is actually owned by the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida; BuNo.06624 is presently on longterm loan to the Air Zoo. Originally built at the Douglas plant in El Segundo, California, this aircraft first served with Scouting Squadron 41 (VS-41) aboard the carrier USS Ranger (CV 4). While assigned to Ranger in November, 1942, 06624 provided air support for Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa (at a time when most of France was under the control of a Nazi-aligned, proxy-regime in the French city of Vichy). Of note was the aircrafts role in Operation Catapult, attacking Vichy French vessels in Casablanca harbor, scoring a near-miss on the battleship Jean Bart, a devastating hit on the cruiser Primauguet, and damage to the submarine pens nearby. Lt. John M. DeVane, Jr. flew many of 06624s sorties during Operation Torch. The naval aviator would later earn the Navy Cross for the four missions he flew against enemy airfields, vehicles, vessels, tanks, and trucks during the period between November 8th and 11th, 1942. Following Operation Torch, the U.S. Navy withdrew 06624 Stateside to join the Carrier Qualification Training Unit (CQTU) based out of Naval Air Station Glenview, near Chicago, Illinois. On September 19th, 1943, the aircraft was on approach to land aboard USS Wolverine, with Ensign E.F. Anderson (USNR) at the controls. The pilot, believing he needed to change fuel tanks, switched to what he thought was the left main fuel tank at that moment. However, the aircrafts R-1820 engine almost immediately sputtered, losing power he did so. The landing signal officer (LSO) aboard Wolverine gave Anderson the wave off, instructing him to go around, but the trainee pilot tried to make the landing anyway. The Dauntless, failing to snag any arresting wires on the flight deck, went over the side of the ship and splashed into the water. Thankfully, the recovery team hoisted Ensign Anderson out of the drink quickly, but 06624 settled with her fate, sinking into the cold, dark depths of Lake Michigan seemingly forever. However, in 1991, nearly half a century later, the National Naval Aviation Museum contracted A&T Recovery to raise the aircraft from its murky grave. Following a period of storage in Pensacola, the Dauntless arrived at the Air Zoo in November 1993; the museums restoration team spent the next nine years meticulously refurbishing each part of the aircraft. They to refurbish it with the same markings it wore during its time aboard Ranger in Operation Torch. By mid-May in 2002, the Air Zoo had completed their work, and rolled out the magnificent Dauntless to an appreciative crowd. Her original pilot, E.F. Anderson was still alive at the time; although he was unable to attend the dedication ceremony, his son and grandson were there, and posed for photos in the cockpit of the aircraft. Today, BuNo.06624 remains on display in the Air Zoos East Wing. SBD-2P Bureau Number 2173: The airframe was the next Dauntless to receive treatment in the Air Zoos workshop. While we have covered that example in previous articles, suffice to say, it is one of the rarest variants of the breed, being one of just 14 photo-reconnaissance versions of the SBD-2 ever built or converted. The SBD-2 itself was only produced in small numbers too, with Douglas manufacturing just 87 total examples before advancing to the SBD-3. After 2173s construction at the Douglas plant in El Segundo, the Dauntless was initially joined to an aircraft pool in San Diego, from where it moved to an assignment with VS-6 aboard USS Enterprise (CV 6) in April 1941. On June 30th, 1941, an uneven landing aboard Enterprise resulted in the aircraft suffering a gear collapse and wing damage. This would see the Dauntless temporarily reassigned to an aircraft pool in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on July 11th, before being shipped back to San Diego for further repairs the following month. It was still in San Diego during the Japanese attack on Hawaii in December, 1941, but returned to Pearl Harbor in the following month. During the war, the aircrafts records became muddled with those of SBD-2 BuNo.2179, which was lost during a hard water landing while serving aboard USS Hornet (CV 8) on April 21st, 1942, a crash which sadly resulted in the deaths of those aboard the aircraft, Lieutenant Gardner D. Randall and Radioman Second Class, Thomas A. Gallagher. Once Navy archivists recognized the issue, they rectified the problem on the BuNo.2173s movement card, and its story continued After serving as part of Bombing Squadron 5 (VB-5) aboard USS Yorktown (CV 5), Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 1 (CASU-1) and Marine Air Group 21 (MAG-21), the SBDs next assignment was with Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 233 (VMSB-233) until November 1943, just a month before that unit moved to Guadalcanal. But with the arrival of the SBD-5 variant in frontline units, BuNo.2173 returned to the States, spending time at Naval Air Stations (NAS) Jacksonville, San Diego, and Glenview, where it served as part of the CQTU from April 17th, 1943 until its loss in Lake Michigan on February 18, 1944. On that fateful, winter day in early 1944, Lt.(j.g.) John Lendo was making his approach to land aboard Wolverine when the aircrafts engine failed, likely due to carburetor icing. After ditching the Dauntless, Lindo was fortunate that a recovery team was close at hand to pluck him from the frigid waters, but BuNo.2173 was left to its fate, soon sinking to the bottom of Lake Michigan. The aircraft had to sit there until June 16th, 2009, when the Navy finally permitted A&T Recovery to raise it. After a period of storage in Pensacola, the Dauntless moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2016 so that the Air Zoos team of specialists could restore it on behalf of the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum (PHAM) on Ford Island in Honolulu, Hawaii. A generous donation to the PHAM had funded the aircrafts initial recovery, and it seemed fitting, considering the airframes wartime history at Pearl Harbor, that the aircraft should eventually return there for display, even though the museum already had a fully-restored SBD-5 (BuNo.36177) in their collection. Air Zoo volunteers racked up over 40,000 hours over a period of five and a half years restoring the aircraft to its former glory. By October 2021, it was ready for a public unveiling ceremony at the Air Zoo so visitors had a chance to see the magnificence of their labors before the aircraft was disassembled for shipment back to Pearl Harbor. Among those who came to see it were members of the late John Lendos family. After completing his carrier qualification training, Lendo joined Fighting Squadron 45 (VF-45), flying F6F Hellcats from the light carrier USS San Jacinto (CVL 30), the same carrier on which a young Grumman Avenger pilot named George H.W. Bush also served, although it is unknown whether Lendo ever knew the future U.S. President during that period. Sadly, on December 14th, 1944, Lt. Lendo was declared missing in action after failing to return from a sortie over the Philippines. His status changed to killed in action the following year, although his remains have yet to be found. For the Lendo family, BuNo.2173 became a tangible link to the fallen aviator. Once the aircrafts restoration was complete, members of Lendos family were given the opportunity of sitting in the same cockpit which a young Lt. Lendo had flown from back in 1944; it is easy to imagine how moving that moment must have been for all of them. In December 2021, 2173 had arrived safely at Pearl Harbor; the aircraft sits on display in Hangar 37, one of several hangars on Ford Island which survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. With the arrival of 2173, the SBD-5 (BuNo 36177) which it replaced moved on to the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, Massachusetts, where it is now displayed (still on loan from Pensacola). SBD-1 Bureau Number 1612: This is the latest Dauntless to enter the Air Zoos restoration shop. It was the 17th production example to role off the factory line and is the only -1 variant known to survive, making it the oldest surviving example of the breed presently in preservation. Much like BuNo.2173, 1612s story has been covered in previous articles HERE, but to summarize, the US Marine Corps accepted this aircraft for service on September 16th, 1940. It served stateside with VMSB-132 at MCAS Quantico in Virginia from September 1940 until March 1942, when it transferred to VMSB-142 at Camp Kearney (present-day MCAS Miramar), north of San Diego, California. When that unit transitioned to the SBD-4 and sailed for the Pacific Theater in October 1942, BuNo.1612 moved on to the CQTU, but its time there would prove to be exceedingly brief. On November 21st, 1942, the Dauntless ditched in Lake Michigan with Ensign Herbert Welton McMinn of Gouldbush, Texas at the controls. Sadly, the young ensign died in the accident and his body was never recovered. On behalf of the National Naval Aviation Museum, A & T Recovery raised the Dauntless from the bottom of Lake Michigan in January 1994. The aircraft has had a somewhat itinerant life since that day, moving from storage in Pensacola to the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama for a planned restoration in 1996, then returning a year later for an extended period in storage. In 2005, the aircraft moved across the country to San Diego, California where USS Midway Museum were supposed to begin its restoration. However, little actual work took place on the aircraft until its 2012 transfer to the Flying Leathernecks Aviation Museum, then based at MCAS Miramar. The team at Miramar made significant progress on the aircraft, and given 1612s history at the base, it would have been a great place for the aircraft to end up on display. However, with that museums sudden closure due to budgetary concerns on March 28th, 2021, the Dauntless was one of several airframes at Miramar which moved on to other facilities. Considering the significant experience which the Air Zoo team had amassed in working on two previous Dauntless airframes, they were an ideal choice to finish what the Flying Leathernecks volunteers had started. Before arriving at Kalamazoo, 1612 spent a few days on public display at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2021, accompanied by representatives from the Air Zoo, US Navy, A&T Recovery, and members of the late Herbert McMinns family. McMinns family has been a staunch supporter of this aircraft since its recovery. But while it remains certain that the Air Zoo will complete BuNo.1612 before too long, the museums restoration department is currently focussed on yet another Lake Michigan recovery, this being FM-2 Wildcat BuNo.57039. That aircraft is destined for display at the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas, which is expected to open towards the end of 2024. As for the SBD-1, the Air Zoo may not have room to display the aircraft publicly when its restoration is complete. So, with the aircraft still on loan from Pensacola, there is every possibility that BuNo.1612 may one day move to yet another museum. Whatever the future holds, it seems certain that BuNo.1612 will become one of the finest Dauntless restorations anywhere, a testament to the superb effort by both the Flying Leathernecks Aviation Museum and the Air Zoo alike. Cedar Falls Fire Rescue will host a blood drive from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. June 28 at the Public Safety Center, 4600 South Main Street, in the training room. Visit rcblood.org/3MWHFRO to sign up for an appointment or call 1-800-733-2767. All presenting donors will be entered to win a pair of day passes to Lost Island Water Park and a four-pack of Iowa Cubs tickets. OELWEIN After recently celebrating its 125th birthday, first responders evacuated residents from a former hotel in Oelweins main corridor. On Sunday morning, police were alerted to slabs of brick falling off the Mealey Apartments formerly known as the Hotel Mealey located at 102 S. Frederick Ave. The Fayette County Assessors website states there are 34 residential units in the building. Oelweins Building Official David Kral said hes not certain how many of those units were occupied by people, but they have all been evacuated. On the first floor of the building, which is reserved for commercial space, there is an architects firm that was also evacuated. At this time, residents are being housed at the American Legion or with family members. According to the Iowa Secretary of States office, the building is owned by John Kalb through Tiki LLC. Kral said Kalb has been cooperating with the city and also purchased rooms in a nearby hotel for residents to temporarily live. On Sunday, Kral was called in to inspect the building. He said he noticed signs of stress in the building, and recommended evacuating the building erring on the side of caution. He noted that with blocks of bricks falling off the front of the building as well as drywall stress on the interior of the building, the city shouldnt take any chances. He defined drywall stress as cracked drywall as well as crooked door frames. He said that indicates general movement of the building, but he was not sure when the actual shifting took place. Kral noted the interior damage was generally throughout the whole building. The block of bricks that fell from the fourth floor level was about three feet by 15 feet. The extent of the pieces that fell is more concerning than one or two bricks, he said. He said it is not uncommon for brick buildings to have weather wear, especially in Iowas climate of hot summers and cold winters. Kral has been with the building department since last year but in that time has not been alerted of any structural issues. He said he was unsure about the buildings previous inspections prior to his tenure. Earlier this month, a six-story apartment building in Davenport collapsed, resulting in the death of three men. A woman also had part of her leg amputated to free her from the rubble, according to the Quad-City Times. We definitely dont want something like that to take place, Kalb said. So were erring on the side of caution. He said a structural engineer will walk through the building, hopefully this week, to verify the safety of the structure. The building was constructed in 1897 after a boom of business from the Chicago Great Western Railway reaching the city a decade before, according to a National Register of Historic Places nomination from 1983. The fourth floor was added in 1916. Photos: Demolition continues Tuesday on the collapsed The Davenport apartments 061323-qc-nws-demolitioncontinue-103 061323-qc-nws-demolitioncontinue-114 061323-qc-nws-demolitioncontinue-097 061323-qc-nws-demolitioncontinue-065 061323-qc-nws-demolitioncontinue-084 061323-qc-nws-demolitioncontinue-058 061323-qc-nws-demolitioncontinue-076 061323-qc-nws-demolitioncontinue-109 061323-qc-nws-demolitioncontinue-066 061323-qc-nws-demolitioncontinue-105 061323-qc-nws-demolitioncontinue-086 061323-qc-nws-demolitioncontinue-056 CEDAR FALLS The Cedar Falls Rotary Club has kicked off its fundraising campaign for an intricate new monument downtown in honor of essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaders say more than $100,000 has already been raised, putting the club in a good position to reach the $400,000 goal for the future Rotary Plaza in celebration of the clubs 100th birthday. Work will begin within the next 30 days after planning had been in the works the last three years. The site sits in the 200 block of First Street between the Little Red Schoolhouse and Behrens-Rapp filling station and will include a paved path connecting the landmarks. About a year ago, Rotary gained the consent of the City Council to build on the municipal land. The club hopes in six to nine months the plaza will be completed. I think its important we show appreciation to those who risked their lives to keep our world going, said Gale Bonsall, project co-chair. We think this will be an appropriate, good looking, quality project that will accurately depict history. We really want it to last 100 years, and we believe it will with a foundation like a house. The grey and black monument will sit on a granite base and be two inches thick and 40 feet in diameter. Granite benches will surround it. Three eight- by five-foot granite structures in the center will represent the pandemic heroes educators and public servants as well as the sustainers (factory workers, truck drivers, custodians, and other behind-the-scenes workers who carried on during the pandemic). Seven stainless steel bands 12 inches wide, two inches thick and 14 feet tall will be draped over the plaza, representing the seven continents and the fact the whole world was impacted by COVID-19. We initially started with a much smaller project, said Bonsall. But we thought with that valuable of downtown ground we better make it quite special. What will look like steel lecterns will be placed around the monument with significant donors, Rotary milestones, Rotary philosophy and the meaning of the project outlined on each of them. Additionally, smaller features like inscriptions and lights are part of the design. Two trees were removed, the lone issue some councilmembers had with the project last year. At least two trees will replace them. Leaders say a dozen local businesses will play a role in the project. Its so exciting to be at this point, said Mike Butler, project co-chair, and it will feel even better when equipment is there and earth is being moved around. Checks can be written to Cedar Falls Rotary Foundation and mailed to the foundation at PO Box 301, Cedar Falls 50613. A donation also can be made at www.cedarfallsrotary.org/plaza. Questions can be directed to Bonsall at gale.bonsall@gmail.com and Butler at mike.butler052@gmail.com. WATERLOO A Waterloo man has been arrested following a brief chase with police Monday night. Officers attempted to stop a Ford Fusion in the area of South and West First Streets around 9:50 p.m. and the vehicle took off, traveling the wrong way on a one-way street before eventually coming to a stop. Officers found marijuana and methamphetamine in the vehicle. Police arrested 39-year-old Paul McAhren for eluding and driving while barred in connection with the pursuit. McAhren was also arrested on a warrant on charges of assault causing bodily injury and first-degree harassment in connection with a May 11 incident where he allegedly assaulted a woman and threatened her. By Kim Se-jeong First ladies' fashion often makes a buzz. In Korea, first lady Kim Keon Hee's bags are turning heads. On her trip to Japan earlier this year, she carried a bag designed and manufactured by a Korean company showing her . During her , people talked about an eco-friendly bag that she had brought. On Monday, Kim and her husband Yoon Suk Yeol left for Paris and this time, people are talking about two key rings fastened to her bag, showing her support for Busan's bid to host the World Expo 2030. Visible on the key rings were the messages: "Busan is ready" and "Hip Korea" According to local news outlets, she was involved in the making of the key rings and carried them to Paris to hand out as gifts. The presidential couple flew to Paris to attend a general assembly of the Bureau International de Expositions which takes place on Tuesday local time. Yoon is expected to make a presentation making a case for Busan as the host city for the World Expo 2030. The general assembly will select the host city in November. WAUKON An insurance company is asking the court to throw out a lawsuit brought by the owner of a Waukon gift shop that burned down under suspicious circumstances in 2022. Mindy Jo Jones, also known as Mindy Jo Riley, filed a suit against State Farm for allegedly not paying on her policy for Tin Rust and Harmony on Allamakee Street, which was the epicenter of the Feb. 13, 2022, blaze. Jones, 43, currently of Waterloo, is out on bond awaiting trial on charges of first-degree arson and animal abuse in connection with the fire and a dog that perished in an apartment over the store. Last week, attorneys for State Farm filed a motion for a summary judgment, asking the court to dismiss the case without a trial for not following the policys terms. The insurance carrier alleged Jones didnt provide financial records, business documents and other paperwork during the companys investigation into the claim. Jones also didnt respond to a request to submit to questioning under oath, according to court records. State Farm earlier argued in court records that Jones committed an illegal act that led to her loss and was thus barred from benefitting financially. The company began investigating the fire because of indicators of potential fraud, court records states. Records allege the fire started in two different locations in the shop. Jones civil attorney dropped out of the case shortly after filing the lawsuit. No new attorneys have filed appearances to represent her in the lawsuit, according to court records. Trial in the criminal case has been tentatively set for October. Jones also operated a separate Tin Rust and Harmony store in Harmony, Minnesota. That location has since closed. WATCH NOW: Business fire videos Tri-City Clothing fire Salvage yard fire, Cedar Falls, Iowa April 10, 2017 Luigi's Restaurant fire, Oelwein, Iowa, Nov. 12, 2016, Great Wall Fire, Cedar Falls, April 29, 2016 Recycling fire, Airline Highway, Waterloo, Iowa Jan. 24, 2018 Warehouse fire, Oelwein, Iowa May 2, 2017 In August 2022, the Midnight's Children author was stabbed in the right side of his neck and face, his left hand, and his abdomen by a man who rushed onto the stage as he was about to start a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. CEDAR FALLS Cedar Falls police detained a teen following an early morning chase that went through a bean field. Patrol officers noticed the vehicle speeding in the area of Rownd Street and University Avenue around 1:20 a.m. Tuesday. When police attempted to pull it over, the vehicle continued on heading to Greenhill Road. The fleeing vehicle eventually turned south down Oster Parkway, went down a dead-end street and into a bean field, according to police. Officers next spotted the vehicle heading west on Viking Road near Prairie Parkway. The 16-year-old driver was eventually detained for misdemeanor eluding. Stock your car first aid kit with these essentials for summer road trips 1. Bandages 2. Gauze Pads and Tape 3. Alcohol Prep Pads 4. Anti-Itch Soothing Balm 5. Instant Cold Packs 6. Scissors and Tweezers 7. Pain Relievers 8. Aloe Vera Gel 9. Burn Relief Cream 10. Poison Oak and Ivy Wipes CEDAR FALLS Aaron Hawbaker says for years neighbors have asked him to consider running for City Council. The attorney has always "wanted to help people" and now is ready to take that step. He formally announced his decision Monday to make a run at the Ward 4 seat after having lived in town for a more than 30 years. He serves as the state's chief public defender in Waterloo, focused solely on criminal defense. He previously practiced out of private offices, handling legal matters and consulting for individuals, businesses and small city governments. Ward 4 Councilmember Simon Harding is not seeking reelection to a second four-year term. Hawbaker will join Gabe Groothuis, a recent University of Northern Iowa graduate and now financial adviser, in the race. A third candidate, a downtown business owner, is strongly considering a run for the seat or the mayoral chair and told The Courier he expects to announce a decision in the next several weeks. After redistricting, Ward 4 represents the eastern sliver of the city and the College Hill District, the area between University Avenue and 18th Street from Iowa Highway 58 and the Cedar River to the east side of Hudson Road. A Des Moines area native, Hawbaker, 55, first came to Cedar Falls for an education at the University of Northern Iowa on a debate scholarship in 1986 and earned a political science degree. Hes always felt like he could make an impact but never was in a place professionally until recently where he felt he could give an elected role the necessary time. He now has the encouragement of his wife, Becky, to make a run at the seat. This place is a lot different than when I came here in 1986 all for the better, he said. My hope on council would be to continue to work in that vein with the staff, councilmembers and mayor. No single issue is driving his interest. He feels he has the right demeanor and the right experiences to make a difference. Hawbaker noted hes dealt with emotionally charged situations through his legal work and believes hes capable of dealing with those in a similar way at the council dais. Im good at staying level-headed while staying focused on my responsibilities in that particular environment, and I think I would bring that same balance to making policy decisions at the city level, said Hawbaker. Additionally, hes principled and sticks to his guns but goes into decisions with an open mind. Im more than happy to listen, and you can ask anyone Ive worked with, I can change my mind when it shows that Ive been wrong, he said. Focuses will include the redevelopment of College Hill business district as well as economic development and making sure Cedar Falls is part of the solution to Iowa's statewide exodus. I would like to see the same type of development that happened on State Street and Main Street happen in the Hill area as well," Hawbaker said. "We have some great anchor businesses there but obviously there are some vacancies. He pointed to the city's $2.69 million project to revamp Pettersen Plaza as hopefully acting as almost a perfect springboard for future development. Additionally, he'd like to address the nearly empty College Square Mall and push for the continued westward expansion of the city. It will be interesting to see how those neighborhoods are going to develop, because it wont just all be residential and clearly there will be some commercial development to meet the needs," he said. "There will also presumably be additional firehouses and police to ensure adequate response time. Hes OK with growth, especially with the way Cedar Falls has gone about it. Iowas stagnating population trends are concerning. He feels Cedar Falls needs to continue to find ways to incentivize people to come and live here, not just stay, as part of his larger strategy to build "strong neighborhoods." You need to have a diverse business and employment opportunities but also have to have an emphasis on quality of life. We have an amazing trail system, but I think it could get better. The park improvements (are) in the works," he said. "All those things are important that make people want to live here. DECORAH Celebrate Sami Dreams: Portraits of Resilience in the Norwegian Arctic, the newest exhibition at Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School, from 1 to 3 p.m. July 1 with a special reception and gallery talk by exhibit curator Randall Hyman. There will be free museum admission during the event. The reception will take place in the lobby of the museums main building. Light refreshments will be served. Welcome and exhibit comments by Hyman will be at 1:30 p.m. in the third-floor exhibit gallery. During the talk, he will tell the stories behind the pictures and describe the portrait sitters, their interviews, their role in the overall theme of the exhibit, and how the photos were taken. This exhibit is open through Oct. 31 and features 18 photographic portraits of Sami men and women in Scandinavia along with recorded interviews by Hyman that touch on indigenous rights, climate change, reindeer husbandry, art, and other topics. Hyman has traveled the globe on magazine assignments for nearly four decades covering natural history and travel topics from Northern Europe to South America to Asia to Africa. Check vesterheim.org for information about an upcoming online presentation by Hyman. This exhibit and programming are made possible by generous gifts to the Vesterheim Annual Fund from the friends and family of Harley and Norma Refsal. Vesterheim offers innovative and interactive exhibits, classes, and programs both at the dynamic campus and park in Decorah and online at vesterheim.org and Vesterheim social media. For more information on exhibits, classes, programs, tours, membership opportunities, and ways to donate and volunteer, connect at vesterheim.org, (563) 382-9681, and Vesterheim, 502 W. Water St., P.O. Box 379, Decorah, IA, 52101-0379. PHOTOS: Boys' 1A state tennis 052423-spt-branum-7.1.JPG 052423-spt-wsr-ramker-1.JPG 052423-spt-wsr-myers.JPG 052423-spt-branum-3.JPG 052423-spt-branum-6.JPG 052423-spt-branum 1.JPG 052423-spt-branum 2.JPG 052423-spt-branum 4.JPG 052423-spt-branum 5.JPG WATERLOO On June 22, water mains will be flushed in the area from University Avenue to Black Hawk Road between the west city limits. Water may be a brownish color during and after the flushing but the water is bacterially safe. Waterloo Water Works urges customers within the area and several blocks of it to not plan clothes washing on Thursday. BEIJING The United States and China may be back to talking at a high level, but their battle for global power and influence remains unchecked and mutual suspicion still runs deep. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken set low goals for his visit to Beijing this week, and he met them. About the most the rivals can hope for these days is to stop things from getting much worse. Blinken pointed to difficult days ahead, while China's foreign ministry warned the relationship was in a downward spiral. "It was clear coming in that the relationship was at a point of instability, and both sides recognized the need to work to stabilize it," Blinken said of the reason for his trip. "And specifically, we believe that it's important to establish better lines of communication, open channels of communication, both to address misperceptions, miscalculations and to ensure that that competition doesn't veer into conflict." The two-day visit to the Chinese capital helped restore top-level ties, but China rebuffed a U.S. request to resume military-to-military contacts. Neither government appears convinced of the other's honesty. While the two countries say they're not enemies intent on harming each other, they're not pretending to be friends. After meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, Blinken acknowledged entrenched differences. "We have no illusions about the challenges of managing this relationship. There are many issues on which we profoundly, even vehemently, disagree," he said. Xi sounded a similar note, but suggested the rivalry could be overcome. "The competition among major countries is not in line with the trend of the times and cannot solve the problems of the United States itself and the challenges facing the world," he told Blinken. "China respects the interests of the United States and will not challenge or supplant the United States. Similarly, the United States should also respect China and not harm its legitimate rights and interests." Danny Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for Asia during the Obama administration who is currently vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York, said these so-called "negative assurances" that China respects and is not looking to displace the U.S. and that the U.S. is not trying to contain or hinder China are important to prevent a collapse in ties. "Both sides clearly used the visit to help stabilize the relationship, which has been lurching toward dangerously intense confrontation," he said. Though both the U.S. and China mentioned specific disagreements, especially about Taiwan, Russel said, "the public statements by the two sides were notably positive, particularly by recent standards." Still, Washington and Beijing remain deeply suspicious of each other. Washington is racing to repair and shore up relationships in regions where China made inroads, particularly Africa and the Indo-Pacific, where the U.S. opened or plans to open at least five new embassies this year. Behind the scenes, the U.S. believes China has ulterior and perhaps nefarious motives. An internal U.S. State Department document prepared earlier this year, which focuses on China's role at the United Nations and other international organizations, said Beijing "believes that the People's Republic of China must dominate and shape international institutions, standards and values in order to advance both its domestic and global agenda." "It views the established rules and norms in the U.N. system and other international organizations as privileging Westerns countries, supporting liberal democratic principles, and posing a threat to its monopoly on domestic political power and assertive global ambitions," said the document, which is marked "SBU," which means "sensitive but unclassified." The document accuses China of having "undertaken a systematic campaign to subvert existing principles and standards, promote authoritarian ideology and policy (and) reprioritize economic development over human rights and democratic governance." It says China is working "to undermine or reshape international law and standards, institutions, and values to legitimize its own development and governance models, including related to human rights (and) using its economic and political influence to compromise institutions' transparency, effectiveness, independence and alignment with foundational norms and values." From the Chinese perspective, the U.S. is clinging to fading glory as the world's lone superpower, and seeking to sabotage China's development and growing international stature by sowing mistrust about Beijing's intentions. China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, demanded Monday that the U.S. stop "hyping the 'China threat theory'" and "urged the United States not to project on China the template that a strong country must seek hegemony." He also said China should not be judged "in the vein of traditional Western powers," concluding a change of perspective "is the key on whether the U.S. policy towards China can truly return to objectivity and rationality." The rivals are now trying to negotiate more visits: Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang agreed in principle to an invitation to visit Washington and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plans to visit China later this summer. There are also discussions about a new meeting between Xi and President Joe Biden. Photos from Secretary of State Blinken's trip to China On this set of episodes, we sift through many details of the 2012 disappearance and death of 6-year-old Isabel Celis and 2014 kidnapping and murder of 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez. Youll be hearing from Arizona Daily Star reporter Caitlin Schmidt. But first, we travel back to April 25, 2012, shortly after Isabel first went missing. In this episode, host Schmidt discusses how police made the connection between the two cases. Past episodes from this season: Episode One More on the case Isabel was last seen by her parents at 11 p.m. on April 21 when she was put to bed. Her father discovered she was missing the next morning, police said. Police completed a search of the Celis home in the 5600 block of East 12th Street, near East Broadway and South Craycroft Road, at about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday but would not comment on what was found. Thousands of fliers were passed out. Landfills were searched as well as lakes and basins. Isabels parents Sergio and Becky Celis had come under some criticism for not speaking to the media or the public in the effort to find their daughter. More money poured into the search effort, but no more leads for years. Then on June 3, 2014 two years after Isabel Celis first went missing another young girl, Maribel Gonzalez, 13, told her mother she was going to a friends house. Three days later her body was found near West Avra Valley Road by a Pima County sheriffs deputy responding to a call about suspicious activity. A few days after her body was discovered, a Pima County medical examiner ruled the death a homicide by unspecified means. In March 2017, Isabels body was in a rural area of Pima County nearly five years after she disappeared. Police Chief Chris Magnus said it wasnt happenstance. An autopsy later that year confirmed it was a homicide. The bones that were recovered were redacted from the report, but an included chart of a human skeleton show part of a pelvis and several skull bones that are a darker color than the rest of the body. Next time on Late Edition Crime Beat Chronicles, we go deeper into the connection between these two young girls cases and the man on trial for their murders. If you like what we do here at Late Edition: Crime Beat Chronicles, please be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See omny.fm/listener for privacy information. Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation (19 June 2023) The Russian Armed Forces launched a long-range sea-based high-precision weapons strike against foreign-manufactured military hardware storage sites. All the assigned targets have been neutralised. The goal of the attack has been reached. During the day, the most active AFU offensive attempts were in South Donetsk and Donetsk directions. In South Donetsk direction, as a result of competent and self-sacrificing actions of the Vostok Group of Forces units, aviation and artillery, three attacks by AFU combined units have been repelled close to Vremevka salient. The enemy losses were one tank, 12 armoured fighting vehicles, as well as a foreign-manufactured combat engineer vehicle. In addition, two enemy attacks have been repelled, during which two tanks, 10 infantry fighting vehicles and two armoured fighting vehicles have been hit near Malaya Tokmachka (Zaporozhye region). The enemy losses were over 100 Ukrainian servicemen, three tanks, 10 infantry fighting vehicles, 14 armoured fighting vehicles, four motor vehicles, two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems, and D-20, Msta-B and D-30 howitzers. In Donetsk direction, active actions of the Yug Group of Forces have successfully repelled four enemy attacks close to Pervomayskoye, Petrovskoye and Staromikhailovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic). The enemy losses were over 340 Ukrainian servicemen, two armoured fighting vehicles, five motor vehicles, one Polish-manufactured Krab self-propelled artillery system, as well as D-20 and Msta-B howitzers. One ordnance depot of the AFU 5th Assault Brigade has been destroyed near Ivanovskoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic). In Kupyansk direction, as a result of the strikes, launched by Army Aviation, artillery and the units of the Zapad Group of Forces, the actions of two Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups have been prevented close to Timkovka (Kharkov region). The enemy losses were up to 45 Ukrainian servicemen, three armoured fighting vehicles, four motor vehicles, and one Polish-manufactured Krab self-propelled artillery system. In Krasny Liman direction, aviation and artillery of the Tsentr Group of Forces have hit enemy units near Kuzmino, Makeevka (Lugansk Peoples Republic), and Serebryansky forestry. The activities of three Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups have been disrupted close to Yampolovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic), Chervonaya Dibrova and Kremennaya (Lugansk Peoples Republic). The enemy losses were up to 105 Ukrainian servicemen, two infantry fighting vehicles, two armoured fighting vehicles, two pickup trucks, two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems, as well as D-20 and D-30 howitzers. In Kherson direction, the enemy losses were over 40 Ukrainian servicemen, four motor vehicles and one U.S.-manufactured M777 artillery system. Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have neutralised 93 AFU artillery units at their firing positions, manpower and hardware in 102 areas. Two artillery depots have been hit: the AFU 1513th artillery ammunition depot and the 65th Mechanised Brigade close to Zaporozhye. Air defence facilities have shot down one Mi-8 helicopter of Ukrainian Air Force near Orekhov (Zaporozhye region). 5 HIMARS multiple-launch rocket system projectiles have been also intercepted. In addition, 14 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles have been shot down close to Mikhailovka, Pyatikhatka, Pologi (Zaporozhye region), Kirillovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic), Nikolayevka, Zmiyovka (Lugansk Peoples Republic), Staraya Zburyovka (Kherson region) and Velikiy Vyselok (Kharkov region). In total, 444 airplanes, 240 helicopters, 4,700 unmanned aerial vehicles, 426 air defence missile systems, 10,192 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,125 fighting vehicles equipped with MLRS, 5,163 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 11,047 special military motor vehicles have been destroyed during the special military operation. WtR Israeli Ambassador to Korea Akiva Tor listens during the 2023 Korea Times Forum themed "Korea-U.S. Alliance: Security & Space Cooperation" at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk By Kwon Mee-yoo As the Korea-U.S. alliance celebrates its 70th anniversary, The Korea Times Forum scrutinized the current state of the alliance and explored potential pathways for its enhancement. The discourse extended beyond just Korea and the U.S., seeking interpretations in the context of escalating geopolitical tensions mainly stemming from U.S.-China economic and political rivalry and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. After the keynote speeches by Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Do-hoon and Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul, Israeli Ambassador to Korea Akiva Tor noted how the two vice ministers showcased the policy orientation of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration and commitment to the United States. "It is a very strong statement ... I think really anything that strengthens the U.S.-ROK alliance also strengthens the ROK relationship with Israel, almost by definition," he said. ROK is an abbreviation of the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name. Uruguayan Ambassador to Korea Pablo Scheiner listens during the 2023 Korea Times Forum themed "Korea-U.S. Alliance: Security & Space Cooperation" at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul, Tuesday. At left is Indonesian Ambassador to Korea Gandi Sulistiyanto. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul Ambassador of the Philippines to Korea Maria Theresa Dizon-De Vega echoed the relevance of discussing the Korea-U.S. security alliance due to its potential implications for her country, a long-term partner of both countries. On Saturday, June 24, someone walking the trails at Horicon Marsh might peer through their binoculars and ask, Is that a really big glossy ibis? Maybe its a great pied-billed grebe? It couldnt be an exceedingly large bufflehead, could it? Maybe, but probably theyll be looking out over the marsh and see a wobble of kayakers. On June 24, from 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., the community is invited to join fellow outdoor enthusiasts to paddle the 6-mile water trail through the Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wildlife staff will be on hand to help guide paddlers through the trail, all the while educating the public about wildlife on the marsh as participants make their way downstream into the Rock River. Horicon Marsh can be an intimidating paddle for many with the cattails and many nooks and crannies, said Liz Herzmann, Wildlife Conservation Educator for the Wisconsin DNR at the Horicon Marsh Education and Visitor Center. Many people feel more comfortable with this event because there are DNR staff stationed across the route for guidance. Herzmann continued, It allows many people to get out onto Horicon Marsh that may not have otherwise. Whether one is getting the hang of kayaking, or has paddled for decades, there will be something for everyone out on the water. Aside from the guidance and education provided by DNR staff, there will be other features that will benefit participants. There will be free shuttles returning event-goers back to their vehicles. There will be help provided to load and unload vessels. Parking will be free. The trail starts at the Green Head Boat Landing and ends at the Nebraska Street Landing in Horicon. Go wild: Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin offers field trips throughout state Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, a nonprofit organization keen on conserving the state's natural wonders, is offering over 200 experiences with naturalists statewide in the coming months. The free shuttle will be provided by Johnson Bus. It will run from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. from the Nebraska Street Landing back to the Green Head Boat Landing. Kayaks and canoes will not be available for rent at the event. The Horicon Marsh Paddle will be celebrating its 10th year; last year, they had 65 paddlers. Their best year saw more than 300 paddlers join in on the marsh trip. GALLERY: Memorial sculpture added to the Horicon Marsh Palmatory Overlook Three stolen vehicles driven by Chicago residents were stopped and six males were arrested in Dane County after fleeing Columbia County law enforcement. A Columbia County Sheriff's Office release indicated that the department was informed of a stolen vehicle traveling on Wisconsin Highway 33 around 8 a.m. on Monday. The detective responding to the call witnessed a stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee Track Hawk and two other suspected stolen vehicles leaving a gas station eastbound toward Interstate 90/94. The vehicles were traveling fast and recklessly while the detective pursued them after alerting other deputies and the Wisconsin State Patrol. After an unsuccessful traffic stop attempt on the Jeep, the detective pursued the vehicle until it hit a tire deflation device near the border with Dane County. After the Jeep entered a ditch on the side of the freeway, the driver and passenger ran into a field near Windsor. Law enforcement personnel, a K-9 dog, and a drone searched for the suspects. Later, an officer found a suspicious vehicle stopped in the area where the suspects were arrested. Columbia County deputies found the other two stolen vehicles, a Ram TRX - suspected to be stolen - and Dodge Challenger - confirmed stolen, while the Jeep was pursued. A secondary pursuit was needed to track down the Challenger and Ram, as both fled following stop attempts. The vehicles were found at a business on County Highway V in Dane County and the four suspects from both vehicles were arrested at the business. The six arrested suspects were all from the Chicago area and ranged in age between 16 and 23. Names of the suspects were not provided. GALLERY: Columbia County Sheriff Open House Columbia County Sheriff Open House Columbia County Sheriff Open House Columbia County Sheriff Open House Columbia County Sheriff Open House Columbia County Sheriff Open House Columbia County Sheriff Open House Columbia County Sheriff Open House Columbia County Sheriff Open House We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form FILE - Migrants from Eritrea, Libya and Sudan sail a wooden boat before being assisted by aid workers of the Spanish NGO Open Arms, in the Mediterranean sea, about 30 miles north of Libya, Saturday, June 17, 2023. Ministers from Germany and France tasked with regulating migration are joining forces to try to curb deaths on dangerous routes across the Mediterranean Sea. The interior ministers are traveling Sunday for talks with the president and their counterpart in Tunisia, a major North African stepping stone for migrants trying to reach Europe at risk of their lives. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu Parra, File) Korea pledged to extend $7.8 million in humanitarian assistance to Sudan struggling with a monthslong conflict between rival military factions, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday. Yun Seong-deok, Korean Ambassador to Geneva, announced the plan during a U.N. ministerial-level pledging event Monday (Geneva time) to support humanitarian efforts in Khartoum and the neighboring regions hosting Sudanese refugees. "We hope that our assistance will contribute to the relief efforts, and in bringing long lasting stability and development in Sudan," Yun said. "Our government plans to cooperate closely with stakeholders in the international community to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan." The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that around 220,000 people have fled Sudan while over 800,000 remain displaced inside the country due to the current fighting. (Yonhap) Smoke rises from fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in the West Bank city of Jenin Monday, June 19, 2023. Israeli helicopter gunships struck targets in the West Bank, during a fierce gunbattle in which Palestinian militants detonated a roadside bomb next to an Israeli military vehicle. At least three Palestinians, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed. Several dozens of Palestinians were wounded and the Israeli military said seven members of the border police and the army were hurt. They said troops came under fire during an arrest raid in Jenin and shot back at gunmen. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed) Cover Images/JOHN NACION Celebrity In a photo she shared on social media, the 'Little Women' actress wears a blue dress, which had a bizarre wiring underneath its bodice, for her new gin brand campaign. Jun 20, 2023 AceShowbiz - Emma Watson has left her fans baffled with her "gravity-defying" dress. Having shared a photo from her gin brand campaign on social media, the "Little Women" actress attracted the attention of many due to the unusual design of the clothing piece she wore. On Monday, June 19, the 33-year-old let out an Instagram picture from a photoshoot for her and her brother Alex Watson's new luxury gin brand campaign. It offered a look at her wearing a light blue mini dress from Loewe's spring 2023 collection while posing alongside her brother. Due to its bizarre wiring underneath its bodice, Emma's dress appeared to be "defying gravity," prompting many Instagram users to share their bewilderment. One commented, "I'm so happy I'm not the only one who thought the dress is defying gravity." Another, in the meantime, made a reference to a famous spell in Emma's "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" movie, by saying, "What in the wingardium leviosa is that dress." A third joined in by poking fun at the pronunciation of the well-known spell, "This is what happens when you say LeviOsa instead of Leviosa." A fourth, on the other hand, pondered, "How is that dress on your body? Hanging from your ears?", and a fifth asked, "What in the adobe photoshop is going on with this dress or whatever. It is just hanging off her ear? This account is so wack!" Wacky dress aside, Emma has previously confessed that she tasted wine when she was just a kid. Back in April, she told the Financial Times' How to Spend It magazine, "I was quite surprised when other kids got really excited about the idea of getting their hands on alcohol." On the reason behind her confusion, the Hermione Granger depicter explained, "My dad would give me wine and water for lunch since I was a kid." She continued, "So I was pretty confused as a teenager and everyone thought alcohol was a forbidden fruit." You can share this post! Panelists engage in discussion during a session of the 2023 Korea Times Forum themed "Korea-U.S. Alliance: Security & Space Cooperation," at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul, Tuesday. From left are Go Myong-hyun, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, Lee Geun, professor of international politics at Seoul National University Graduate School of International Studies, John Delury, professor of Chinese studies at Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies, and Chun In-bum, former South Korean Army Lt. general and ex-commander of the Special Warfare Command. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk Fence-mending between Washington, Beijing puts Seoul in awkward position By Lee Hyo-jin Formed with the signing of the mutual defense treaty in 1953, the primary goal of the South Korea-U.S. alliance was to protect Seoul from possible North Korean attacks. Over the past 70 years, the bilateral ties have expanded to various areas including trade, technology and culture. But with the international order becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable, experts called for more efforts from both sides and clear mutual goals to maintain the ironclad alliance throughout the next 70 decades. Chun In-bum, former South Korean Army Lt. general and former commander of the Special Warfare Command, saw that Seoul should be more "open and honest" in its relations with Washington. "We're on a strong path and everything is great ... (But) just because we have a great relationship with the U.S. now, it doesn't mean that we're going to have a great relationship in the next 70 years," he said during a session of the 2023 Korea Times Forum themed "Korea-U.S. Alliance: Security & Space Cooperation," Tuesday. In order to maintain the ironclad alliance, he advised South Korea to be more "open and honest about its opinions," based on the idea that the Asian nation is a unique ally to the U.S. bringing a special value. "The alliance has a very strong history built up for 70 years with a clear purpose, or a raison d'etre, which is 1950," said John Delury, a professor of Chinese studies at Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies, referring to the 1950-53 Korean War. "The beginning of this relationship was to ensure that the war never happens again." In that sense, he pointed out that the peaceful mood between the two Koreas as witnessed in 2018 during the previous Moon Jae-in government was destabilizing for the South Korea-U.S. alliance. "I'm neither optimistic nor pessimistic, but I do think that there are some big questions looming, like, 'We are going together, but to where exactly, and will the raison d'etre be sufficient to support it decade after decade?'" Lee Geun, a professor of international politics at Seoul National University Graduate School of International Studies, hoped the bilateral relationship might expand to multilateral or trilateral levels, which would enable South Korea to forge stronger partnerships with like-minded allies. Meanwhile, the experts consider the latest agreement between U.S. and China that could stabilize the intensifying rivalry as potentially posing uncertainties to South Korea's foreign policy on China. Since the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration took office, Seoul has been closely aligning with Washington, to the displeasure of Beijing. Delury said the recent visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping may "change the weather" in formal relationships between the two nations, at least for a while. The U.S.-China dynamics may now move in multiple directions simultaneously, giving confusing signals to the international community. "Countries like (South) Korea, if they don't get the timing right, can suddenly be caught sticking their neck out. I think that's actually happening a little bit right now," he said. Panelists pose during a session of the 2023 Korea Times Forum themed "Korea-U.S. Alliance: Security & Space Cooperation," at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk Cover Images/Famous/ACE PICTURES Celebrity When attending the 2023 Monte-Carlo Television Festival in Monaco, the former 'Saturday Night Live' host looks unrecognizable in a body fit navy blue blazer. Jun 20, 2023 AceShowbiz - John Goodman apparently has succeeded in losing his body weight. After years of sticking to his weight loss goal, the former "Saturday Night Live" host looked sharp as he made an appearance at the 2023 Monte-Carlo Television Festival. While hitting the red carpet of the event in Monaco, the 71-year-old actor had a different appearance after losing a good amount of his body weight. For the occasion held on Sunday, June 18, he sported a long-sleeved white shirt and paired it with a body fit navy blue buttoned blazer. The star of "The Righteous Gemstones" added a pair of loose beige pants and a patterned white-and-yellow tie. To complete the look, he donned a pair of brown loafers and matching sunglasses. John Goodman looks unrecognizable as he attended the 2023 Monte-Carlo Television Festival. John attended the event to serve as the jury president of the festival after being chosen by the event organizer, Laurent Puons. On the reason why Laurent decided to choose John as the head of the jury, Laurent told Variety, "John Goodman is, quite frankly, a legend. My grandson loves him, my mother loves him and I love him." "He's crossed several generations with a phenomenal film career, and a phenomenal television career," the organizer continued. "He's done it all, played every role. If he wasn't leading the jury, we'd give him our lifetime achievement award." John himself has lost more than 200 pounds after years of discipline to lose body weight. He started his weight loss journey back in 2007. At that time, he weighed 400 pounds and reached one of his heaviest weights. John has shared the things he did to lose weight. Back in March 2016, he had an interview with Peter Travers for ABC News when he opened up about his weight loss. "I just stopped eating all the time," he spilled at that time. "I'd have a handful of food and it'd go to my mouth. I was just eating all the time. I was just eating alcoholically." "In the old days, I would take three months out, lose 60 or 70 pounds, and then reward myself with a 6-pack of bud or whatever and just go back to my old habits," he recalled. "Then this time I wanted to do it slowly, move, exercise. I'm getting to the age where I can't afford to sit still anymore. And it gives me the energy to work, 'cause work is very draining." On the reason why John decided to lose weight, he explained, "I just got tired, sick and tired of looking at myself." He continued, "You're shaving in the mirror and you don't want to look at yourself. It gets dangerous." You can share this post! Cover Images/Dutch Press Photo Celebrity The editor-in-Chief of Majesty Magazine feels 'a smidgen of sympathy' for the Duke of York as he's 'unable to do anything' following the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Jun 21, 2023 AceShowbiz - Prince Andrew is reportedly "probably very, very depressed" about not being included in the Order of the Garter procession. The scandal-hit Duke of York - who quit as a working royal after his links to paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein were exposed - attended a lunch for the event in his role as a Royal Knight Companion but was not permitted to join the event on Monday, June 19, which was attended by royals including the Prince and Princess of Wales and Princess Anne. Andrew was "completely lost" but "unable to do anything" about being left out of the procession at Windsor's St George's Chapel, editor-in-Chief of Majesty Magazine Ingrid Seward, 75, told GB News as Andrew's absence made headlines. She added, "Especially seeing all his family riding at the trooping on Saturday when only a few years before he was doing the same thing." Andrew stepped down as a working royal in 2019 over his link to convicted paedophile Epstein, and in 2022 paid an out-of-court settlement to Virginia Roberts, 39, who claims she was made to have sex with the prince when she was a teenager - which he has repeatedly denied. Ingrid added about Andrew, "He's never known anything else except military and royal and he's not adaptable, he's not popular and therefore he hasn't been able to find anything else in his life as far as we know." "He really is in a gilded cage and unable really to do anything and I do have a smidgen of sympathy for him I think he just doesn't understand what he's done. I do feel he's completely lost and I'm sure he's probably very, very depressed, especially seeing all his family riding at the trooping (the colour) on Saturday when only a few years before he was doing the same thing." In a discussion with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, Ingrid went on, "Andrew is very entitled, and this is part of his problem. But I think Charles is actually protecting him, because if he walked down the castle to St George's Chapel in the garter ceremony today, he could be booed. It would just not look right, so he cannot be seen, but he's still there. It's really up to Andrew has to find some sort of life for himself." Ingrid also advised the duke to follow the example set by John Profumo, the politician who was embroiled in one of the biggest sex scandals of the 20th century and later redeemed himself through charity work She said, "I think he's very miserable. He doesn't have the inner resources that perhaps other people have and I just always think of the Profumo scandal and how John Profumo actually went and did huge charity work very, very quietly, to kind of redeem himself to himself. But we haven't seen Andrew do anything. So I think he needs to have some focus to his life." You can share this post! Hulu Celebrity The 'Snowden' director insists the Russian president has been treated unfairly by the West as he describes the controversial politician as a 'very refined individual.' Jun 21, 2023 AceShowbiz - Oliver Stone calls Vladimir Putin a "very refined individual." The 76-year-old film director chatted with the president of Russia for a four-part, four-hour TV series in 2017, and he's suggested that Putin, 70, has been treated unfairly in the English-speaking world. "We were the first English-speaking series to actually let [Putin] speak in his own voice. If you look at the American things they do on him, it's always dubbed like bad Italian cinema from the 1950s. They get an actor who does his voice as a gruff, growly Russian bear, which he's not - he's the opposite. A very refined individual who speaks quietly, reasonably," he told The Independent. The director was widely criticised for filming the series with the Russian president. However, he doesn't regret making the series. He said, "At that time, Putin was the so-called enemy. And our theory was, 'Let's know the enemy.' " Earlier this year, Stone described Putin as a "great leader for his country." The acclaimed filmmaker claimed that Putin - who launched an invasion for Ukraine in 2022 - is "loved by the people" of Russia. He told The Guardian, "I think Russia is doing a great job with nuclear energy. China is also a leader in that field, although I never was able to penetrate into China, which was a shame for the movie - I wish we had. But Putin is a great leader for his country and the people love him." Stone also suggested that he's able to put his personal feelings to one side in order to explore "the truth." The director - who previously interviewed former Cuban leader Fidel Castro - said, "The truth matters to me and we're digging for the truth." You can share this post! WASHINGTON, June 20, 2023 The American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Chinese Chemical Society (CCS) have renewed a partnership agreement. A signing ceremony was held on June 17 at the 33rd CCS Congress at the Hongdao International Convention and Exhibition Center in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China. Zhigang Shuai, vice president, CCS, and James Milne, president, ACS Publications, signed the agreement on behalf of the two societies. ACS and CCS have a shared interest in advancing the chemistry enterprise and its practitioners in identifying solutions to global challenges confronting humanity. As a result, ACS and CCS have renewed their commitment to work together, as well as with other societies, in the following areas: Supporting the global research community by co-sponsoring conferences and providing mechanisms for disseminating research results. Providing programming focused on sustainable development and professional development opportunities in safety, innovation and leadership. Communicating chemistrys value by partnering on outreach activities. Fostering connections by promoting events and resources for society memberships, the broader scientific community and the general public. Activities and events will be guided by the United Nations sustainable development goals. ACS is honored to be able to partner with CCS in several ways, including chemistry festivals, education summits, the Pacifichem conference, and the pre-print server ChemRxiv, says Albert G. Horvath, ACS chief executive officer. I look forward to working even more closely together in the future on behalf of the global scientific research community. This partnership agreement extends series of agreements between ACS and CCS, the first of which was signed on June 20, 2010, during the 27th CCS Congress. West Bengal has been a delightful mix of the quaint and the modern bustling economy. The state has shed its colonial hangover, yet vestiges of the old world charm still exist. West Bengal is also a mix of the bhadralok and addas at tea shops, as well as violent political protests. Under the current TMC government, the state has been strongly maintaining its unique identity. Economic might As per IBEF, West Bengal is Indias sixth largest state in terms of economic size. The state has a projected Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Rs 17.13 trillion (US$ 221.37 billion) in 2022-23. The states GSDP grew at a CAGR of 11.54% from 2015-16 to 2022-23. West Bengal is the largest producer of rice in India, with rice production for the state totalling 14.99 million tonnes in 2017-18. West Bengal is also a major producer of fish. During 2018-19, the state produced a total of 1.85 million tonnes of fish, according to IBEF. In a bid to give a boost to industrial growth, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the State government will set up a Rs 72,000 crore (US$ 9.30 billion) industrial zone in Jangalmahal, the forested areas of south Bengal districts along the eastern freight corridor. West Bengal also plans to raise its share in the countrys IT exports to 25% by 2030. Total export from IT sector of the state crossed an estimated Rs 22,897 crore (US$ 3.28 billion) in 2018-19, as per IBEF. Agri-based business, tea, petroleum & petrochemicals, leather, IT, automobile & auto components, jute products and textiles are some of the major industries in the state. Significant business presence West Bengal, and more specifically its vibrant capital metro city Kolkata has been attracting significant investments by national and international organisations. Some major players of the state include: ITC, Steel Authority of India, Emami, Usha Martin, RP-Sanjic Goenka Group, Bata, Khadims, HUL, Joy Cosmetics, and many more. Kolkata is the biggest market in the East region and has a lions share of the ad revenues and volumes, given the high importance it receives from brands. The Durga Puja season in West Bengal sees some of the highest ad spends by brands in the country and the consumer spends are also reciprocal, witnessing a high year-on-year growth (barring the Covid years). IILM University, based in Greater Noida, is privileged to welcome Mr. Bharat Kaushal, Managing Director, Hitachi India as the esteemed Chancellor of the institution. With a distinguished career spanning several decades, Chancellor Kaushal brings a wealth of experience and expertise to IILM, propelling it to new heights. As the Managing Director for Hitachi India, Chancellor Kaushal has achieved remarkable success over the past six years. He oversees a conglomerate of 28 businesses, with a workforce of over 33,000 employees. Additionally, he leads around 30 manufacturing sites and cutting-edge research and development centres. Hitachi Indias burgeoning footprints is a testimony of how Hitachi is transforming and touching lives of millions through Social Innovation Business. Hitachis partnership with India dates back to 1930s, and since then Hitachi has been strengthening is colossal voyage of business acumen. Hitachi, through its technological prowess, is accelerating innovation with partners across the world to create social, environmental, and economic values. We strive to co-create and collaborate with the policy makers to enhance a citizen's lifecycle comprehensively, by repurposing the critical sectors of IT, Energy, Urban Mobility, Payments, e-Education, Healthcare, Agriculture, and e-Governance. Hitachi has been at the forefront of driving, collaborating and supporting the Indian governments mission of financial and digital inclusion. Hitachi Payment Services and State Bank of India (SBI) Joint Venture (JV) for the establishment of a state-of-the-art card acceptance and future ready digital payment platform for India combines the unparalleled distribution network, customer trust of SBI with cutting edge technology and services of the Hitachi Group in areas such as digital payments technology, services, big data, analytics and artificial intelligence. With Green Technology, Digital Technology and Innovation at the forefront, we have been driving value-based outcomes through IoT enabled solutions envisioned to connect and assimilate devices, people, infrastructure, and processes. With Hitachi's innovative and globally recognised OT (Operational Technology) X IT solutions and data analytics, customers progress from IoT-enabled interactive devices to artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled devices with the cognitive functions of living beings. This is a testimony of how technology touches live and fuels the digital revolution. Through this technological leap, Hitachi has been continuously laying foundations of a new world of possibilities for policy makers, businesses, and organizations to enhance quality of life. Prior to his tenure at Hitachi India, Chancellor Kaushal had a distinguished role, being the first non-Japanese CEO of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) in India. With over 20 years at SMBC, he held various senior management positions, demonstrating his expertise in macroeconomic policy, government advisory, project finance, debt restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions. Chancellor Kaushal's contributions extend beyond the corporate world. He is a member of the Indo-Japan Task Force (IJTF) and serves as the Convenor of the Financial Strategy Group, addressing policy and operational-level concerns between Japan and India. Additionally, he has served as a Strategy Advisor to the India Investment Centre and contributed his expertise to the Economic Policy Unit of the World Bank in Washington DC. Armed with a Master's in International Affairs from Columbia University and an MBA from Northeastern University, Chancellor Kaushal brings a global perspective to his role as the honorable chancellor. Under his guidance and mentorship, IILM has set new milestones and is looking to establish itself as a center of academic excellence, creativity, and industry relevance. The university offers a diverse range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Engineering, Management, Law, and Liberal Arts. IILM's strong alliances with industry leaders such as IBM, Infosys, NASSCOM, Apple iOS, Microsoft, and Oracle Academy provide students with invaluable career opportunities and hands-on experience. These collaborations foster a dynamic learning environment and equip students with the skills needed to embrace the transformative potential of Industry 4.0. Philips Avent celebrated Father's Day with a memorable event featuring a special stand-up performance by renowned standup comic Amit Tandon who commemorated the role of fathers in the journey of parenthood. Held on Fathers Day, the event brought together a diverse audience including influential mommy bloggers to underscore the importance of fathers' active participation and the significance of embracing individual parenting styles. By collaborating with the standup comic and a father himself, Philips Avent aimed to deliver a lighthearted yet impactful message, encouraging new parents to navigate their parenting journey by trusting their instincts. Amit Tandon took the stage and shared his personal experiences and struggles as a father, captivating the audience with his wit and humor. Through his relatable stories, he highlighted the challenges and joys of fatherhood, resonating with both fathers and mothers in the audience. The standup comic also emphasized the role of Philips Avent and products like Electric Breast Pumps and sterilizer bags in empowering fathers to actively participate in caring for their babies, instilling them with confidence and enabling them to proudly say, "Baby...Main Hoon Na!" to their wives and children. The event was attended by over 100+ people, including prominent mommy bloggers known for their influence in the parenting community. Their presence added significance to the occasion, as they actively engage with a large audience and play a crucial role in shaping parenting narratives. Commenting on the campaign, Deepali Agarwal, Head, Personal Health, Philips Indian Subcontinent said, At Philips Avent, we have always believed that our mission, as a brand is to make baby care more inclusive where its not just mothers who do the heavy lifting, but new fathers also have an equally important role to play in the caregiving journey. Through this campaign, Philips Avent continues to spread the message to all new parents to trust their instincts and not give in to the societal pressures of parenting because only they know what is best for their baby." Speaking on this collaboration Amit Tandon said, "I have always believed that young fathers and mothers get a lot of advice from people around them which adds a lot of pressure. Through this standup, I hope new parents take home the message that there is no right or wrong way of parenting. I am happy that Philips Avent believes in the same motto to #ParentYourWay." The event marked a significant step towards creating a supportive and inclusive parenting community, where the message #ParentYourWay was kept at the forefront. The Reliance Group has announced the appointment of Ms Parul Sharma as Group President with effect from June, 20, 2023. As a global communications strategist, Parul brings a rich body of experience to power the Group, andas Tonys wifethe continuity to carry forward his formidable legacy. For nearly 40 years, Tony Jesudasan was the public face of the Reliance Group, its bulwark in Delhi and across the world. Tonys passed away in February 2023. Welcoming Parul to the Reliance Group, Mr Anil Ambani said, I am pleased that Parul is joining us as Group President. While this is her first professional association with the Group, she has for long been a part of the broader Reliance family as Tonys partner. Our memories of Tony and what he meant for the Group makes Paruls entry all the more special. Parul Sharma steered the communications strategy for Rupert Murdochs Star India for 15 years, shaping its corporate image, publicity and relationships. Prior to that she was with the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, based in Cologne. In 2017, she left Star to focus on photography and made a mark in the field in a very short time. Working at the intersection of architecture, urban landscapes and the human form, she has exhibited her work across continents. Her work on the Kumbh Mela being displayed at the prestigious Florence public Museum Marino Marini' in 2019. Her 2020 book Dialects of Silence chronicling Covid deaths and the plight of migrants. A second book Colaba is due later this year. Stepping in Tonys shoes is not the easiest thing to do but he would be pleased to see me try, said Parul Sharma. Besides my experience with global media outlets, I hope to blend empathy and humanism in my stakeholder management. This is a transformative journey for Reliance Group that seeks to uphold the enduring spirit of the past. Parul Sharma will be based in New Delhi. RS Group plc (LSE: RS1), a global provider of product and service solutions, has unveiled its ESG Report for 2022/23, detailing its overall strategy, achievements and future actions required in the area of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). RS overarching business purpose is making amazing happen for a better world to deliver results for people, planet and profit. In November 2021, RS launched its 2030 ESG action plan, entitled For a Better World, which has four global goals and 15 ambitious actions for 2030. The approach also supports six of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and lays the foundation for the Companys long-term vision to 2050. The four key goals are in the areas of advancing sustainability, championing education and innovation, empowering people, and doing business in a responsible way. These four key pillars of RS ESG action plan are further defined as: Developing sustainable operations and product and service solutions for customers and suppliers with a commitment to achieve net zero in direct operations by 2030 Partnering with education providers, building skills and fostering innovative solutions that improve lives with a target to work with 1.5 million young engineers and innovators Empowering people to create a safe, inclusive and dynamic culture where everyone can thrive and grow with a commitment to working toward 40% of the Companys leaders being women and 25% being ethnically diverse Doing business responsibly by ensuring the highest ethical and environmental standards throughout the business and global value chain and embedding ESG targets in employee awards, sustainability-linked loan and supplier objectives The ESG report includes details on the Companys progress in all these areas. For example, RS has reduced its Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 58% since 2019/20 with progress made in the year through distribution centre energy efficiencies and renewable electricity. It has also reduced its Scope 3 transportation emissions intensity1 by 28% since 2019/20, thereby achieving its 2029/30 goal seven years early. This has been made possible through modal shifts from air to sea or air to road and optimising its supply chain to source, store and ship more products locally. Through its global education programme, the Company has reached 471,000 young people across 10 countries globally and approximately 4,400 educational institutions. In addition, RS is supporting its suppliers in working towards and achieving their own ESG goals by launching a supplier ESG action plan and handbook. Furthermore, RS is making significant efforts to help its customers develop more sustainable products and solutions with the launch of its Better World product range that are supported by trusted sustainability certifications. The initiative currently includes 20,000 products that make it easier for individuals and businesses to make more informed decisions about the sustainability and potential positive environmental impact of different products from RS suppliers and partners. RS is also aspiring to grow this range to 100,000 products globally by 2024/25. RS is also developing service solutions such as RS Industria, which uses data and analytics in conjunction with our technical product and maintenance knowledge to help customers improve the efficiency of their operations, reduce energy consumption and cut carbon emissions. ESG is absolutely core to our purpose and in how we operate as a business in conjunction with our employees, our suppliers and our customers, said Andrea Barrett, VP of Social Responsibility and Sustainability at RS. We see the release of our For A Better World report as a key part of the process of transparency for the benefit of all our stakeholders as we state our position, our future and our hopes, and how we view our place and responsibilities not only in terms of the environment and society but also how we govern ourselves as an organisation in a more sustainable manner. Voltas Beko, a JV between Indias No. 1 AC Brand, Voltas and Europes leading free-standing consumer durables player, Arcelik, has launched a new film, #TheStrongerDads, for Father's Day. This film honours the often-overlooked heroes of contemporary households dads, who willingly share the responsibilities of managing household chores while also striving for success in their careers. Voltas Beko aims to celebrate the strength and dedication of fathers who wholeheartedly embrace their equal share in household responsibilities. Urban India is increasingly dissolving gender roles and Voltas Beko aims to contribute to this by showcasing the idea of successful fathers who are also home makers. #TheStrongerDads is a powerful and heart-warming story that unfolds through a day in the life of a homemaker father, showcasing his unwavering commitment to his family. The film beautifully captures the essence of his daily routine and interactions with Voltas Beko products, symbolizing the brand's seamless integration into simplifying their lives. The film's narrative is brought to life through a juxtaposition of the protagonist's voiceover, that combines the language of business with domestic day-to-day situations. This unique approach creates a penny-drop moment for viewers, inviting them to challenge societal norms and recognize the extraordinary strength of these fathers. Throughout the film, audience will witness the protagonist's determination to succeed as an entrepreneur while prioritizing his family's well-being. For us at Voltas Beko, our narrative and brand proposition has been 'tested by real moms'. To us this means a family, where well-being of all members takes centre stage and for centuries women have played the part for us. This Fathers Day, we wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate our fathers, the men who stand tall, break societal barriers and take equal responsibility of the household. We believe that true essence of a family lies in working as a team. '#TheStrongerDads,' is our ode to men who believe in an equal world and are working as equal partners in life. We agreed that this was a thought that needed to be brought out, and worked together to translate the thought into this beautiful film. We hope this acts as a thought-starter and sensitises the society. said Mr. Prasenjit Basu, Head of Marketing at Voltbek Home Appliances. Officials speak during a daily government briefing on the planned release of waste water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant at the government complex in Seoul, June 20. Yonhap The government will conduct emergency radiation tests on the waters at 20 major beaches ahead of the summer vacation season to alleviate concerns over Japan's plan to release contaminated waters from its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, officials said Tuesday. The government also plans to examine radioactivity levels in the high sea waters near Fukushima every month, and already took water samples from those areas in April in order to compare radioactivity levels from before and after the release, Vice Oceans Minister Song Sang-keun said. "We will ensure that our citizens can enjoy their summer vacation with ease," Song said during a daily government briefing on Japan's planned release. The inspection will cover a total of 20 beaches in the country, he said, including Hamdeok Beach on Jeju Island and Gyeongpo Beach in the east coast city of Gangneung and will continue on a weekly basis after the waters are released. At the briefing, Song elaborated how the government plans to test the radioactivity levels in the ocean, following up on an agreement reached last week with the ruling People Power Party to expand the number of testing points from the current 92 places to 200. The government will select 108 points in the ocean waters around the south of the Korean Peninsula and Jeju, and use a "rapid analysis method" to measure the radioactivity levels. The method would speed up the time needed to receive the results, which normally takes at least a month, Song said. The high sea waters near Fukushima will also be subject to the government's monthly inspection and the results will be announced every month, separately by the oceans ministry and the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission. Korea will also maintain its import ban on seafood from Fukushima until its safety is scientifically proven and people accept the results, said Park Ku-yeon, vice minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination. Park also criticized the opposition Democratic Party of Korea for "insulting" the administration's efforts to dispel the health concerns of people. "Distorted claims, including accusations our government is representing the Japanese government, are insulting remarks towards dedicated civil servants who are doing their best for the sake of our citizens," he said. (Yonhap) Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Bern, 20.06.2023 - The head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) will visit Rabat on 22 and 23 June. He will meet his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita. Economic relations and migration cooperation will be at the centre of discussions, as will recent developments in the region. Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis' trip follows a visit to Bern by his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita in December 2021. Building on the good relations that unite Switzerland and Morocco, a joint declaration covering all the areas of cooperation that the two countries wish to develop the economy, new technologies, science and sustainable development was signed on that occasion. This declaration has already led to a number of concrete results. In November 2022, for example, the head of the FDFA signed a bilateral treaty on climate cooperation between Switzerland and Morocco on the sidelines of COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh. Morocco is a major host and transit country on the migration route between sub-Sahara Africa and Europe. With this in mind, the two countries are continuing to strengthen their dialogue on migration. Morocco's economic dynamism, political stability and involvement in major international and regional organisations (UN, League of Arab States and African Union) make it an important partner for Switzerland at global level in the Middle East and Africa. Regional developments of common interest, in particular the prospects for an electoral process in Libya, will be on the agenda of discussion between Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis and his counterpart Nasser Bourita. In addition to the members of his official delegation, the Head of the FDFA will be accompanied by National Councillors Michel Matter and Benjamin Roduit. Address for enquiries FDFA Communication Federal Palace West Wing CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55 E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch Twitter: @SwissMFA Publisher Federal Department of Foreign Affairs https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html After seeing Bahubali, Baji Rao Mastani, and RRR, watching Adipurush was a punishment. The South Indian movie industry has shown us a big shift; they excelled on every level. They have good technicians and skilled people. But in Bollywood, it has always been glory, fantasy, fashion, fiction, and heroism. There are hardly any good movies with mind-blowing VFX (apart from people like Sanjay Leela Bhansali) in filmmaking. Either theyre taking people for granted or dont even realize what theyre doing. The Ramayana is beloved by Hindus because of the lessons and values it imparts on good versus evil and the importance of doing your duty, yet from the teaser, it doesnt seem that these lessons will be shown. Rather, it will be another empty action spectacle designed to bilk money from unsuspecting moviegoers. Adipurush is the latest rehearsal of the Ramayana. The problems that have come to your feet are various. The film has many flaws, such as Raavan looking like a Mughal invader. In the Ramayana, there is a clear description of how he looked, and that is how he has been portrayed down through the ages. Hanuman and his vanar sena look like rejects from Planet of the Apes. However, the biggest gripe that people are having is about the VFX. They had a budget of Rs. 500 crore, and this is what they came up with? Animation in the name of CGI Even Ra.One and Brahmastra (which was a stride for Indian VFX but still not up to Hollywood standards) were better than this movie. Even Ravanas heads look like Snapchat filters applied to Saif Ali Khan gone crazy. Raavan is a complex character. On the one hand, he was a scholar well versed in scripture and a devotee of Shiva. On the other hand, his character flaws, such as his egotism and his obsession with Sita, made him evil and led to his disgrace. In the teaser, Raavan is shown as a one-dimensional brute, a portrayal at odds with his scholarly and meditative nature. Rams physique is clearly unimpressive, with CGI used to give him fake abs and tone up his other body parts. Prabhas is more than capable of flaunting an impressive physique; then why give him fake abs? Even the Ram from the 1987 serial was not digitally buffed up, yet he made an impact on viewers. Lord Rama lives in Hindu hearts, and the Ramayana is one of the great epics that we all follow, believe in, and live by as Hindus. When they are pictured, the filmmakers need to be clearer because they are interpreting it for the world. Already, Hindu gods and goddesses are mocked. We are adding misinterpretation to their narration of our deities. Adipurush is one such horrible representation that one should actually ban. When you announce that the movie is about Lord Ram and Ramayan, you have to stick to the basics and not work against them. Nobody has a problem if Adipurush is a fictional movie based on historical events, but the characters should be fictional too. You cant show some mythical figure that is against the famous narration and claim it as This is Lord Ram or Ravan. Thats simply unacceptable. Ravan is the king of Lanka; he had warriors to fight for him, not apes. And this is the first time Ive seen a king without a crown. Isnt the crown a basic identity for a Lankan King? I mean, kings wear crowns even during battle, and thats an identity that distinguishes them from the rest of the crowd on the battlefield. Just show Ramayan as Ramayan. Whats the complexity? This is actor NTR in Telugu movies portraying Lord Ram. To date, calendar publishers have printed his picture as Lord Ram in South India. Thats the respect the movie industry had for Hindu devotional characters. Adipurush is trying to follow Hollywood filmmaking Take a script from History, change the narration to suit current political trend. My problem with Bollywood-style artistic choices in movies in general is that they have that fantasy of exaggerating everything. Which in turn ruins the true essence of a story, the characters, and the environment involved in that. Pick any movie you want, and you will find a rare, never-ending colorful gloss, like a mandatory thing. However, there are some Indian movies that I would not put in the glossy category. Especially the tiger scene of RRR. It was photo-realistic, and another one would be thumbed because it didnt attempt to look flashy. The makers tried to make things as realistic as possible. Theres only one possibility for Adipurush. Itll become the biggest disaster of all time in the history of Indian cinema. Theres no second possibility at all. Even the die-hard Prabhas fans would agree with me. Made on a massive budget of around 500 crore, it requires a grand opening to start things off. Lets assume it gets around 150 crore worldwide. The movie wont collect much after it, given that the characters in the story are cartoonish. Many other answers have described how some of the visuals are copied from other English movies like Game of Thrones and others. It has already ensured that the expectations of most of the audience are met. Back in 2020, when the announcement of the movie was made, I was genuinely interested in how the movie would be made. But the teaser has ensured that I neednt waste my money on watching the movie. I guess the teaser wouldve had a similar impact on many other viewers. Prabhas looks like a caricature of himself and less like Prabhu Shri Ram. His entire physique is computer-generated and looks extremely fake. His face, moustache, expressions, etc. bring Duryodhana to mind. Other characters are also shown wearing leather like medieval Europeans. Barely a glimpse of Bhagwa. The CGI of Adipurush is horrible, to say the least. It makes one wonder if the team deliberately wanted people to feel unimpressed or underwhelmed. Om Raut had a 500 crore budget, but he seems to have given the job of VFX artist to the top student at White Hat Junior. It is supposed to be a blended animation, but the overall effect is such that you feel like you are watching two different moviesan animated movie and a normal one. (Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com) Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has given approval for setting up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe irregularities worth Rs 12,024 crore in various works of the Mumbai civic body flagged by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). The SIT will be headed by the Mumbai police commissioner, said a statement issued by the Chief Ministers Office late Monday night. The statement said Shinde has given approval to set up the SIT that will probe Rs 12,024-crore irregularities in various works previously undertaken by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was in power (from November 2019 to June 2022) in the state. Indias richest civic body is currently under an administrator and the term of its corporators ended early last year. Shinde has also given directives to include top officials of the Mumbai polices economic offences wing and other senior police officials in the probe, said the release. The municipal corporation undertook several works during November 2019-June 2022, a period which also covered the COVID-19 pandemic. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Mumbai Amit Satam had written a letter to Shinde claiming irregularities in various COVID-19-related works after the CAG submitted its audit report. Satam, in his letter, demanded an SIT probe into irregularities flagged by the CAG report. By Mark Blaxill June 19, 2023 A number of news articles have reported on the death last Thursday of Donald Triplett in Forest Mississippi. Triplett was the first individual with autismCase 1--described in Leo Kanners landmark 1943 paper Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact. Contrary to assertions made in the recent flurry of articles, he was not the oldest individual ever diagnosed with autism. That distinction belongs to Vivian Murdock, Case 6 in Kanners paper, who was born on August 29, 1931 (see Her Name Was Vivian The Age of Autism's First Born Child) ; Triplett, who was born on September 8, 1933, was two years younger than Vivian. Nor was he the first seen at Kanners clinic at John Hopkins, a distinction that belongs to David Speck, born on June 20, 1932, who was first seen at Hopkins in November 1935. But when Tripletts parents, Beaman and Mary, brought Donald from Forest Mississippi to see Kanner at Hopkins in October 1938, he was undoubtedly the first person with autism Kanner had ever encountered; Donald clearly made a lasting impression. Dan Olmsted was the first journalist to locate Kanners Case 1; he tracked Triplett down in 2005 in Forest Mississippi, but the recent coverage inappropriately gives that credit to John Donvan and Caren Zucker, who featured Triplett in their 2016 book, In a Different Key. Dans discovery came when he was working as an investigative journalist at United Press International (UPI) and Triplett became a centerpiece of our 2010 book The Age of Autism. For the sake of the record (and Dans legacy), I have excerpted the section below from our 2017 book Denial. In 2005 we identified Donald T. as Donald Gray Triplett of Forest, Mississippi. The tipoff was a short paper by Leo Kanner from the 1970s. He referred to Donald as a bank teller in the small town of Forest, Mississippia classic case of too much information in this modern Internet age about a supposedly anonymous medical case study. Looking online for Donald T* in the white pages for Forest, we saw one name and one name onlyDonald Triplett, phone and street address given. A child as disabled as Donald T.the index case of a striking new conditionnow had a house and a listed phone number? We dialed it and got a recording of a perfectly pleasant-sounding older man. After cross checking other information about his family, we realized this had to be Case 1, Donald T. After discussing how to approach this discovery, Dan got on a plane and flew to Jackson, then drove into the small town of Forest. We knew that Donald had an older brother, Oliver Beaman Triplett IIIknown as O.B. (their father went by Beaman). Like his father, O.B. had a law firm on the second floor of a building on the town square. Dan walked in, identified himself, and proceeded to have a conversation we have recounted elsewhereabout how Donald had been severely autistic, but then, in early adolescence, developed a near-fatal case of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The treatmentinjected gold salts given over a period of months at the famed Campbell Clinic in Memphiscleared up not just the arthritis but the most severe autism symptoms, allowing Donald to go to college, work at the familys Bank of Forest, and now in retirement travel worldwide. In fact, he was out of town during Dans visit. Its the most amazing thing Ive ever seen, O.B. told us, attributing the improvement to the gold salts regimen. Dan asked him more than once if the treatment, rather the time he had spent with a kindly farm family when he was taken ill, had made the difference. "It sure did," O.B. said. "He became more social.He just had a miraculous response to the medicine. The pain in his joints went away." Donald has one fused knuckle to show for the nearly fatal affliction. There was more good news. "When he was finally released, the nervous condition he was formerly afflicted with was gone," his brother said. "The proclivity to excitability and extreme nervousness had all but cleared up, and after that he went to school and had one more little flare-up (of arthritis) when in junior college. Then a correspondent for United Press International, Dan wrote up the discovery. The article appeared on August 15, 2005: The Age of Autism: Case 1 Revisited, read the headline. The first person ever diagnosed with autism lived in a small town in Mississippi, the article began. He still does. We werent the only ones to comment on Donalds improvement after his gold salts therapy. John Hopkins has kept in touch with the Tripletts for years, and in 1956, Leon Eisenberg, Kanners colleague at Hopkins wrote, On the basis of a tentative diagnosis of Stills disease [JRA], he was placed empirically on gold therapy with marked improvement....The clinical improvement in his behaviorwas accelerated during and after his illness and convalescence at home. Dans article continued: Donald T is now 71, and after a miraculous response to medical treatment at age 12, he appears to have recovered significantly since his original diagnosis as a 5-year-old. Dan didnt name him. A few years later, we both visited him in Forest for an in-depth interview that we published in our book, The Age of Autism. This time we did name him, using our recorded interview verbatim in our book, whose publication date was September 15, 2010. There are obvious reasons why Dans priority is disregarded in favor of Donvan and Zucker. For one, the propagandistic narrative that pervades their 2016 book, subtitled The Story of Autism, takes pains to minimize the relevance of connections between the sharp increases in autism prevalence and exposures to environmental factors, most notably vaccines. Incredibly to us, they argued that it shouldnt matter whether theres an epidemic or not. In addition, Tripletts near miraculous recovery has been misused to minimize the seriousness of the disability Kanner diagnosed and that now affects 1 in 36 American children. Instead of noting his remarkable progress, the coverage focuses on the idea that Tripletts life should give.. people who have children on different levels of the spectrum hope that their children can live happy and full lives. Donald Triplett did live a long and productive life. I met him when Dan and I visited Forest in July 2009; although he clearly showed autistic traits, he had clearly recovered well from his early disability and was a lovely and charming man who had lived a full and independent life. But Dan and I both felt strongly that the message of his life shouldnt be the treacly blather that Donvan and Zucker traffic in. Instead, we believed there were far more critical questions about his life experience, the answers to which might provide useful lessons: What risk factors did he share with Kanners other 10 cases, all of them born in the 1930s? Could his physical proximity to lumber operations using ethlymercury-based fungicides have played a causal role in his autism? Was his diagnosed autoimmune condition, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, connected in any way to the brain dysfunction underlying his autism? How did the treatment with gold salts lead to his recovery and his capacity to live a productive, independent life? To the extent that Donald Tripletts life story can shed light on these questions, he can give more to the autism community than just hope. He can give us answers. Mark Blaxill is co-founder and Editor-At-Large for Age of Autism. The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health (Childrens Health Defense) By Robert F. Kennedy Jr. #1 on AMAZON, and a NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, USA TODAY and PUBLISHERS WEEKLY NATIONAL BESTSELLER Over 1,000,000 copies sold despite censorship, boycotts from bookstores and libraries, and hit pieces against the author. The Wuhan Cover-Up: How US Health Officials Conspired with the Chinese Military to Hide the Origins of COVID-19 (Childrens Health Defense) From the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Publishers Weekly bestselling author of The Real Anthony Fauci comes an explosive expose of the cover-up behind the true origins of COVID-19. Alabamas First Class Pre-K program will add 69 classrooms in 30 counties this fall, according to an announcement made today by Gov. Kay Ivey and the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education. The expansion will create seats for more than 1,200 children. The First Class Pre-K program gives 4-year-olds access to free early education in their communities. It currently serves about 22,000 children and has been awarded the highest quality rating by the National Institute for Early Education Research for 17 years. Legislators recently approved 2024 state budgets, which include an almost $12 million increase for the Office of School Readiness that administers First Class Pre-K. Ensuring our youngest learners have a strong start to their educational journeys is one of my top priorities for my second term. Alabama continues to set the nationwide standard for success with the Alabama First Class Pre-K program, Ivey said in a news release. I am excited to see additional classrooms being awarded to areas of the state with low access and high rates of poverty. Providing all children, no matter their ZIP code, with a solid foundation in education is critical to the future success of our state. Read more: See where child care is most expensive in Alabama. The new classrooms will open in Autauga, Baldwin, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clarke, Colbert, Cullman, Dekalb, Escambia, Fayette, Franklin, Geneva, Houston, Jackson, Jefferson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lee, Limestone, Lowndes, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Pike, Russell, Shelby, Talladega, Tuscaloosa and Winston counties. A full list of new programs and locations can be found here. Alabama wants to make free preschool available to about 70% of 4-year-olds in the state. Students who participate in early childhood learning programs are less likely to repeat a grade, require remedial education, or be placed in special education. They are also more likely to score higher on achievement tests, graduate from high school and go on to college, get higher paying salaries as adults and stay out of prison and off welfare. Families interested in signing up for First Class Pre-K for the 2023-24 school year can fill out a pre-registration application beginning Sept. 1 here. Get the Ed Chat newsletter: Enter your email for weekly updates about Alabama schools from Trisha Powell Crain: According to results from Alabamas 2023 reading test, 11,662 second graders, or 22% of students in the state, are not able to read grade level work. All of those students need to be on a third grade reading level by the end of the 2023-24 school year or they might not move on to the fourth grade. A look at a breakdown by school district shows a wide range of success statewide. Mountain Brook City schools - in the wealthiest city in the state - had 12 out of 367 second graders, or 3%, test below grade level. Vestavia Hills City schools, another district with low student poverty, had 21 of 506 second graders, or 4%, test below grade level. Poverty can pose additional challenges for students learning to read. Not always, though. Theres Saraland City schools in south Alabama. Half of students live in poverty, yet they had only nine of the districts 228 second graders, or 4%, test below grade level. And in Geneva City schools, six of the districts 82 second graders, or 7%, tested below level. Sixty-two percent of students in the district are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. But in some of Alabamas largest school districts, hundreds of second graders tested below grade level, putting them at risk of being retained next year. Mobile County - 1,285, or 32% of the 3,957 second graders, tested below grade level, Montgomery County - 816, or 38% of 2,154 students tested below grade level, Jefferson County - 755, or 31% of 2,450 students tested below grade level, and Birmingham City - 736, or 45% of 1,618 students tested below grade level. The student poverty level in those four districts is between 49% to 60%. The table below shows the percentage and number of second graders who tested below grade level on the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program or ACAP in spring. Click here if you are unable to see the table. Children not reading on grade level - including all children from kindergarten through third grade - should get extra help throughout the school year. All students in kindergarten through third grade have their reading skills tested at the beginning, middle and end of the school year. If test results show consistent deficiencies in those skills, the school must notify parents within 15 days of the school receiving those results. The school must also provide a written plan for how that deficiency will be addressed and give monthly updates to parents on their childs progress. Heres a flyer for parents created by the Alabama State Department of Education outlining what is required under the Literacy Act. What does it mean to read on grade level in the second grade? Expectations for what second graders should be able to read are laid out in the Alabama English Language Arts Standards. Most of us non-teachers have a tough time understanding the jargon in academic standards, though. So AL.com found a free download of the Core Knowledge Foundations second grade student reader. Take a look at the first unit of the second grade school year. Flip to the first story and read through it. Thats what second graders are expected to be able to read when they enter the second grade. Heres the sixth and final unit reader of the second grade school year. The first story has a bit more body to it than the previous one, right? This is what a second grader is expected to be able to read by the end of the second grade year. Heres a look at the details of what Alabama considers reading on grade level or not for second graders. And heres a look at the measures for third graders. How do I know if my child is on track in reading skills? If youd like to check your childs readiness in reading and math, Learning Heroes, a nonprofit that advocates for family engagement in a childs education, has an online tool where your child can answer a few questions to do a quick check. Its important to remember that the outcome of spring testing isnt the only measure considered when schools decide whether to promote or retain a student in third grade. Third graders who reach grade level on an alternative test in summer reading camps can move on to the fourth grade. If a student is unable to demonstrate grade-level reading by passing a test, the student could demonstrate grade-level reading through a portfolio of work collected throughout the school year. Students can be exempted from retention under the following circumstances, allowing the students to move on to the fourth grade, with schools providing additional support: Students who have received fewer than three years of instruction in an English learner program, Students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Section 504 plan who received remediation for two years but still demonstrate a deficiency in reading or who were retained in kindergarten, first, second or third grade, Students who received intense intervention in reading for two or more years but have previously been retained in kindergarten, first, second or third grade for a total of two years, Students with disabilities who do not participate in statewide tests Updated on 6/21/2023 to correctly identify the free second grade reader that AL.com linked in the story. The reader is published by the Core Knowledge Foundation. We apologize for the error. One of Alabamas favorite state parks has added to its accolades, with a travel site rating it as the states most beautiful campground. Trips to Discovers rankings of The Most Beautiful Campground in Every State, updated for summer 2023, includes campgrounds at bucket-list destinations such as Kentuckys Mammoth Cave, South Carolinas Hilton Head Island, Tennessees Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Alaskas Glacier Bay National Park and Wyomings Grand Teton National Park. The sites pick for Alabama is the campground at Gulf State Park. Though the site didnt spell out its criteria in detail, it clearly favored well-equipped campgrounds in picturesque settings, with easy access to natural wonders and other attractions. This park has a spacious campground, as well as a new lodge, two miles of beaches, educational opportunities at the nature center, a swimming pool, and other recreation too, the site said of Gulf State Park. You can make your campground reservation online or look into the cabins and cottages for more of a glamping experience. The campground has 496 sites for both tents and RVs, 11 modern bathhouses, full hookup sites, waterfront sites, picnic tables, and grills. The towns of Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, and Fairhope are all close by. Gulf State Parks beachy location makes it an easy pick, particularly in the summer months. It topped Southern Livings 2023 list of The 10 Best Places To Camp In Alabama, with that site observing that Youll be hard-pressed to find a better or more beautiful beachside campground than the one at Gulf State Park. Should you get tired of the beach, Southern Living said, you can also spend time paddling Lake Shelby or exploring the 27 miles of paved trails and boardwalks passing through nine distinct ecosystems in the park. Thats a reference to the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail, a network of paths that connect the park, Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. Earlier this year, USA Today readers ranked it as the Best Recreational Trail in the sites 10Best Readers Choice Awards. Panelists engage in discussions during a session of the 2023 Korea Times Forum themed "Korea-U.S. Alliance: Security & Space Cooperation," at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk Forged in war 70 years ago, deep ties expand into space By Jung Min-ho Forged in battle seven decades ago to protect the values of freedom and democracy, the Korea-U.S. alliance today seeks to set an example of liberty and peace for countries that support the same principles, top-level government officials in Seoul said Tuesday. What began as a military treaty has strengthened and expanded into a wide scope of sectors, ranging from the environment to space, as the two countries celebrate the 70th anniversary of their special partnership and bond this year. At the 2023 Korea Times Forum, themed "Korea-U.S. Alliance: Security & Space Cooperation," policymakers and experts from different fields shared their views on how the alliance has not just survived, but thrived despite major challenges over the past decades. They also noted the potential geopolitical risks that are poised to test the alliance further in the coming years. Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Do-hoon speaks during his keynote speech at the 2023 Korea Times Forum themed "Korea-U.S. Alliance: Security & Space Cooperation" at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul Reiterating that vision, laid out by President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the U.S. Congress in April, Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Do-hoon said that Korea, along with the U.S., will play a role as a "compass for freedom" in spreading the vision to other countries. "The value that gave birth to the Korea-U.S. alliance 70 years ago still binds them firmly," he said during his keynote speech for the forum at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul. "Our alliance will lead the way for the free world and grow into a righteous one that will contribute to the peace and prosperity of the world." Lee said the alliance has been successful, because it is based on shared values rather than short-term economic interests. "The power of the Korea-U.S. alliance stems from our key shared values: freedom, human rights and the rule of law," he said. "If (the two countries) sought transactional, convenient benefits, it would have been impossible to develop the alliance into what it is today." Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul speaks during his keynote speech at the 2023 Korea Times Forum themed "Korea-U.S. Alliance: Security & Space Cooperation" at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul The improvement in bilateral relations has been especially noticeable in the area of defense, Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul said. "The two countries have been working together to reinforce extended deterrence since the Korea-U.S. summit in May last year, which produced results with the Washington Declaration in April this year," Shin said in his keynote speech, in reference to the bilateral agreement that opened their communication channel regarding the use of Washington's nuclear arsenal against potential threats to Seoul. He said the cooperation is now expanding into space, which has become increasingly critical for future technologies. "Korea and the U.S. will continue to strengthen security ties in space," he said. "It would be the crucial component of their renewed 70-year alliance in the economy as well as security." Lee Young-hoon, senior pastor at Yoido Full Gospel Church, speaks during his speech at the 2023 Korea Times Forum themed "Korea-U.S. Alliance: Security & Space Cooperation" at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk The alliance of the two countries may have started as a result of the 1950-53 Korean War, but personal relationships among citizens began far earlier with American missionaries, who built schools and hospitals here to spread the gospel, Yoido Full Gospel Church Senior Pastor Lee Young-hoon said. "The seeds of the gospel were the cornerstones of the alliance," he said. Yet the rapidly shifting geopolitical situation, where the Washington-Beijing competition for hegemony continues to intensify, presents new challenges to that partnership, said Seung Myung-ho, chairman of The Korea Times and its sister publication, The Hankook Ilbo. Seung Myung-ho, second from left, chairman of The Korea Times and its sister publication, The Hankook Ilbo, smiles as he speaks with Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Do-hoon at the 2023 Korea Times Forum themed "Korea-U.S. Alliance: Security & Space Cooperation" at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul Two men were killed when fire swept through a house in downtown Oxford Tuesday morning. Firefighters were able to rescue an 8-year-old girl who is now hospitalized in Birmingham. The Oxford Fire Department responded at 1:56 a.m. to a report of a fire at 24 Main Street. City spokeswoman Lorie Denton said the first firefighters arrived on the scene at 2 a.m., finding heavy firing showing and people trapped inside. Crews were able to pull the girl from the fire. She was treated on scene by Oxford Health System Paramedics and then taken to Childrens of Alabama. The severity of her injuries was not immediately known. Firefighters found the two men dead inside. Their identities have not yet been released. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Alabama State Fire Marshals Office with assistance from the Oxford Fire Department and the Oxford Police Department. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims that were injured and the families of the deceased, Denton said in a news release. Almost 40,000 student-loan borrowers are in line for refunds in connection to what the Federal Trade Commission described as a student loan debt relief scheme. According to a statement by the FTC, 37,844 people who paid money to Arete Financial Group qualify for checks totaling $3.3 million in connecting to a scheme that charged illegal upfront fees for debt relief but failed to deliver. The FTC sued Arete Financial and related companies and the defendants agreed to settle. According to the lawsuit, defendants pretended to be affiliated with the Department of Education, falsely promising to reduce or eliminate monthly student loan payments but then charged consumers illegal upfront or recurring monthly fees. READ MORE: Student loans update: Repayment restart date announced Defendants promised consumers that in exchange for the payment of upfront fees and subsequent monthly fees, they would reduce or eliminate consumers student loan balances, the FTC said in a statement. However, Arete Financial regularly failed to reduce or eliminate consumers loan balances or monthly payments. The settlement requires the defendants to provide refunds and banned them from the student loan debt relief industry. The FTC has determined the customers who are eligible for refunds and they will be receiving a check. The amount of refund will depend on how much FTC is able to collect and how many people lost money. You can find more information here or by calling 855-678-0558. A three-judge federal district court issued an order Tuesday giving the Alabama Legislature until July 21 to pass a congressional district map to replace the one that courts have ruled most likely violates the Voting Rights Act, a deadline that state officials requested last week. If the Legislature fails to pass a plan by that date, the three-judge courts experts will begin work on a new map. The new map, whether drawn by the Legislature or the court, will be used for Alabamas 2024 congressional elections. House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Guntersville, said representatives have been notified to expect a special session in July. It will be up to Gov. Kay Ivey to call the session and choose the date. Ledbetter said he believes lawmakers will be able to approve a plan by the deadline. At the end of the day, we really dont have a choice, Ledbetter said. We either pass it by that day or theyre going to draw it. And I think for the people of Alabama and for the citizens concerned its a little bit more feasible for Alabamians to draw it instead of a federal court. So I think its imperative that we get it done. Ledbetter said lawyers representing the Legislature and lawyers for Attorney General Steve Marshall are talking about the guidelines needed for a new map to be approved by the court. Weve had a lot of conversations about that between our attorneys and the attorney general, Ledbetter said. So, I think well be able to get something out. And I think its important that we do simply because the legislative body is elected by the people of the state and this gives the state a chance to put a map together and not the federal government. Tuesdays order verified the next steps and the dates that lawyers for the state and for plaintiffs generally agreed to during a status conference with the three judges on Friday. It follows the June 8 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which found that Alabamas congressional map likely violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the influence of Black voters. Only one of the states seven congressional districts has a majority Black population even though 27% of the states population is Black. The Supreme Court decision affirmed the three-judge courts decision of last year and sent the case back to the district court. Tuesdays ruling means that the three-judge court is giving the Legislature the first opportunity to enact a new map. The judges ruled that a new map will need to have a second majority Black district or one that is close to majority Black to fix the likely Voting Rights Act violation. Also in Tuesdays order, the judges ordered the lawyers for the state to provide the court with status reports on July 7 and July 14, and to report on July 21 whether the Legislature has approved a new map. The courts special master and cartographer will begin work on a map after July 21 if the Legislature fails to pass a map. If the Legislature approves a new map by the July 21 deadline, the Black voters and organizations who are plaintiffs in the litigation will have until July 28 to file objections to the new map. Lawyers for the state would have to respond by Aug. 4. If a hearing in the case is necessary, it will begin on Aug. 14. Three groups of plaintiffs filed lawsuits, identified by the names of the lead plaintiffs as the Milligan case, the Caster case, and the Singleton case. The three judges, Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus, District Judge Anna M. Manasco, and District Judge Terry F. Moorer, wrote that Secretary of State Wes Allen told the court that a new map would need to be in place by Oct. 1, 2023 to conduct the 2024 congressional elections. Ledbetter said the Legislatures reapportionment committee, which drew the current map, is beginning work on a new map. House Speaker Pro-Tem Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, is co-chair of the committee, as he was two years ago when the current map was approved. Sen. Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro, is the other co-chair. Livingston replaced former Sen. Jim McClendon, who did not run for reelection last year. The process has started, Ledbetter said. Pro-tem Pringle was chair of that committee before. He still will be in charge of that. I know hes doing some due diligence and trying to get things lined up with the attorneys and everybody else. Here are the other House members of the Reapportionment Committee, appointed by Ledbetter: Cynthia Almond, R-Tuscaloosa; Barbara Boyd, D-Anniston; Jim Carns, R-Birmingham; Steve Clouse, R-Ozark; Corley Ellis, R-Columbiana; Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa; Laura Hall, D-Huntsville; Sam Jones, D-Mobile; Joe Lovvorn, R-Auburn; and Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville. The Senate members, appointed by Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, are Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, 1st Congressional District; Will Barfoot, R-Montgomery, 2nd Congressional District; Lance Bell, R-St. Clair County, 3rd Congressional District; Clay Scofield, R-Guntersville, 4th Congressional District; Livingston, 5th Congressional District; Dan Roberts, R-Mountain Brook, 6th Congressional District; Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, 7th Congressional District; and at-large members Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, Jack Williams, R-Mobile County; Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, and Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva. Public hearings and meetings of the Reapportionment Committee will be posted on the Legislatures website. A former Birmingham resident was killed in a shooting during a weekend Juneteenth event in San Diego. Jonathan Pullum, 20, was among two people shot when authorities said a fight broke out in the crowd during the celebration at Liberty Station. The shooting happened just before 7 p.m. Saturday. Pullam died at a hospital. A second man is expected to survive. Pullum attended high school in Birmingham, where his father Terrance Pullam lives. According to a GoFundMe started by the grieving father, his son was set to join the U.S. Navy. My son Jonathan Pullum was brutally murdered on the early evening of June 17th. @ Liberty Park during the Juneteenth Festival, the elder Pullam wrote. He was only 20 years old and on his way to join the Military Navy. But his life was cut short by a coward. No arrests have been announced. Terrance Pullam told The San Diego Union-Tribune his son attended the event with others who got into a fight. He said his son was shot in the back as he walked away. Jonathan Pullam was also with his brother, 24-year-old Petty Officer 2nd Class Elijah Pullum, who was not injured. Jonathan Pullum was born and raised in San Diego and finished high school in Birmingham, and later moved back to California. He worked at Target and wanted to follow in brothers footsteps and join the Navy. It was not immediately clear which high school he attended. His father remembered him as a loving, smart, respectful, outgoing and charismatic man. Donations to the Pullum GoFundMe can be made here. President Joe Biden, asked about his son pleading guilty to federal tax offenses but avoid full prosecution on a separate gun charge in a deal at a meeting on another subject in California, said simply, Im very proud of my son. Hunter Bidens deal with the Justice Department likely spares him time behind bars. The White House counsels office said in a statement that the president and first lady Jill Biden love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. Hunter Biden, 53, will plead guilty to the misdemeanor tax offenses as part of an agreement made public Tuesday. The agreement will also avert prosecution on a felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user, as long as he adheres to conditions agreed to in court. The deal ends a long-running Justice Department investigation into President Bidens second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden. It also averts a trial that would have generated days or weeks of distracting headlines for a White House that has strenuously sought to keep its distance from the Justice Department. Former President Donald Trump, challenging President Biden in the 2024 presidential race, likened the agreement to a mere traffic ticket, adding, Our system is BROKEN! House Speaker Kevin McCarthy compared the outcome to the Trump documents case now heading toward federal and said, If you are the presidents son, you get a sweetheart deal. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another presidential challenger, used the same term. Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said the younger Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist, despite investigations in Congress that GOP lawmakers say show but have not yet provided evidence of a pattern of corruption involving the familys financial ties. Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, on the other hand, said the case was thoroughly investigated over five years by U.S. Attorney David Weiss, a Delaware prosecutor judge appointed by Trump. Resolution of the case, Coons said, brings to a close a five-year investigation, despite the elaborate conspiracy theories spun by many who believed there would be much more to this. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was scheduled to campaign with the president Tuesday evening, reaffirmed his support for Bidens reelection. Hunter changes nothing, Newsom told The AP on Tuesday. A male was rushed to the hospital after being shot Tuesday afternoon in northern Birmingham. Birmingham police officers were at one small apartment building on a call when shots rang out just yards from them. The gunfire erupted 1024 12th Street North. Officers put out a call for all possible assistance but quickly got the situation under control. When the shooting stopped, a male was found wounded in the parking lot of an adjacent apartment complex. Lt. Richard Haluska said it appears the victim and the suspect were in an argument before the shooting started. The suspect fled the scene in a vehicle. The victim was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. This story will be updated if more information becomes available. Sign up for Alabamafication: Kyle Whitmires newsletter, Alabamafication examines the outsized influence of this very strange state, taking aim at corruption, cruelty, incompetence and hypocrisy while also seeking out those righteous folks making their state and country better places for all. This is an opinion column. When Gov. Kay Ivey took action earlier this year on Alabamas public records law, there was, among the folks I run with, a flicker of hope. My heart jumped a little, too. The governor issued an executive order limiting what state agencies could charge for copies of public records and seemingly setting a time limit for responses. It seemed like a big deal. Only it wasnt what it appeared to be. Those italics are there to tell you that the whole deal was a poisoned apple. All trick and no treat. We should have known better. I should have known better. Anything nice I might have said then? I take it all back. Before I get to how Kay pulled a fast one, its worth understanding just how bad Alabamas open records law is. In a purely technical sense, Alabama has an open records law. That law says public records belong to Alabama citizens and that public officials are to make those records available to citizens not just media or lawyers, but everybody upon request. That might sound definitive, and once upon a time, perhaps it was. But after decades of erosion, the law doesnt work that way, for a couple of reasons. First, the law and the legal precedents that followed it, said public officials may charge a reasonable price to cover the costs of copies, which state and local government agencies have interpreted as as much as they want or more than most folks can pay. Alabama law also says government officials must respond within a reasonable amount of time. To too many public officials, reasonable time means never. Its here the real problem in the law emerges. When youre ignored or told no, you have a right to hire a lawyer and sue. But thats going to cost you legal fees, which these days can start at $200 an hour. And it could take years. And it could make things worse, as the judge might find those records shouldnt be public anyway, as just happened with all police investigative records. In 2019, one business did sue the state for public records. It won. And when it was over, that business had racked up $70,000 in legal fees. In cases like that, the court can demand the state pay the costs if the plaintiff wins, and thats a big if but the court can just as easily stick them with the bill. Even if the court does award legal fees, guess who gets to pay that? Taxpayers. In national rankings, Alabama routinely lands near or at the bottom. Were used to being last, I suppose, but this might be the most important crumby ranking of all. Because public documents are the ammunition for public accountability. Those records are the window through which we can see how officials spend their time and our money. Without a better open records law, theres not much hope of improving Alabamas standing in other national rankings. State Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, has been pushing for a better open records law for several years. This year, he narrowed his focus to one issue a ticking clock. RIght now there is no timeline for responding to a records request. But before the session started, Ivey came forward with her executive order. In it, Ivey set what appears to be hard deadlines for responses to requests. Only, it doesnt. In reality, Iveys order says that state agencies must respond within 45 days or ask for another 45 days. Ask might not be the right word, of course. Ask implies theres an option for you to say, No, I want my documents now. The order gives citizens no such right. Instead, it allows state agencies to rinse and repeat forever. And it provides no mechanism for enforcement but to sue (see above). The first clue that Iveys executive order was a ruse came quickly. Not two weeks after Ivey signed that paper, a south Alabama construction company had to sue Iveys transportation director, John Cooper. The company had asked for emails and text messages between Cooper and Ivey. They refused to turn those over. But Ivey showed her true intentions later when Alabama lawmakers attempted a better fix to Alabamas law. This year, Orr and his co-sponsor in the House, state Rep. Cynthia Almond, R-Tuscaloosa, tried to set a real deadline with the bill. It died on the last day of the session because Iveys office sent word to lawmakers that shed kill it. The governors office confirmed this to the Alabama Reflector and said Iveys executive order had made meaningful progress already. In other words, what Ivey has done is good enough. Except it isnt. Iveys order changed little. To the contrary, it has now preserved the status quo indefinitely. Again, I should have known better. If Kay Ivey gives you a candy apple, check it for a razor blade or youre gonna get cut. Now excuse me for a minute while I spit the blood out of my mouth. Kyle Whitmire is the state political columnist for AL.com and the 2023 recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Sign up for his weekly newsletter and get "Alabamafication" in your inbox every Wednesday. More columns by Kyle Whitmire How Alabama Democrats could blow a Supreme Court victory The moment Alabamas lawyers turned a sure thing into blistering defeat Alabama state Rep. John Rogers has been the feds target for 35 years. He isnt afraid. Dont blame Tuberville for losing Space Command The Alabama Attorney Generals Office has asked the nations highest court to not review the case of death row inmate Toforest Johnson, arguing the inmate hasnt shown any reason for the court to look at his case. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshalls office filed the brief last week to the U.S. Supreme Court. The filing comes in response to Johnson asking the high court to review his case in April. The state argues in its filing that Johnsons attorneys havent proven their argument, which is that the key witness in the 1998 murder conviction testified in hopes of securing a $5,000 reward from the governor. Additionally, Marshalls office states, the lawsuit does not raise an issue of extraordinary public importance or any compelling circumstances. Theres no evidence to show the witness, Violet Ellison, knew about or hoped to get the reward when she took the stand against Johnson, said the AGs Office. Of course, payment of the reward could not have been mentioned at Johnsons trial in 1998 because the prosecutor did not apply for the reward until three years after the trial, said the states filing. The case centers around the shooting death of off-duty Jefferson County Sheriffs Deputy William Hardy in July 1995. The deputy had been working a second job as a security guard at a hotel in Birmingham when he was gunned down. Johnson, now 50, was eventually convicted of capital murder in the case and sent to Alabama Death Row. He is currently housed at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, where he is awaiting an execution date. Read more about his case and arguments to the U.S. Supreme Court here. The conviction was based largely on claims from Ellison. She told police that, while listening in on phone calls made by her daughter to the Jefferson County Jail, she overheard a man who identified himself as Toforest confess to the shooting. She didnt know Johnson. After his 1998 conviction, Johnsons lawyers said prosecutors suppressed evidence that Ellison knew about a $5,000 reward being offered in the case and testified hoping to get the money. That argument was litigated throughout the court system from 2003 until 2018. In 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed Johnsons case and sent the case back to state court. There was a hearing in Jefferson County, and in 2018 the copy of the check that was paid to Ellison surfaced. Johnsons lawyers werent told about the payment and didnt conclusively know about it until seeing that check. The county circuit court judge ruled in favor of the state, and the case again was appealed to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. That court also ruled that Johnsons team couldnt show Ellison knew about the reward money when she talked to police. In 2020, Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr voiced his own concerns about Johnsons case and asked for a new trial, and the original prosecutor supported Carrs motion. That motion for a new trial is pending in Jefferson County while the Supreme Court looks at the current appeal. The state argued in its filing to the high court last week that Carrs brief does not raise any issues of national importance or point to the existence of a conflict. In December 2022, the states highest court declined to look at the case involving the reward money. That prompted Johnsons legal team to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court this spring. President Joe Biden has orchestrated the prosecution of an ex-president for motives that are political. No. Thats not true. The judge who is slated to hear the trial of this ex-president was appointed by him, which means she wont be fair and will let him off. No. Thats not true, either. Sitting at my kitchen table, I can almost hear some peoples heads exploding on reading one of these statements. In my minds eye, I can see the same heads nodding their approval of the other statement. Which statement you believe, and which one you dont, depends on your political persuasion. And in fact, neither of those statements is true. Believing either of them speaks of a fundamental misunderstanding of the legal system. Thats bad because it weakens the one system that can keep us a free people. I am not a lawyer -- though I am married to one attorney and gave birth to two others -- but I do understand that the legal system is highly technical and operates very differently than how most people think it works. I heard a lot of examples of this misunderstanding when I worked for couple of years in my husbands one-person office in 2013 and 2014. Alabama is a mommy state! The voice through the door in my husbands then tiny office was emphatic. That judge always sides with the woman. The young man making those statements was certain that what he said was true. He was wrong, however. Most of us -- me included -- have only a foggy notion of what burdens of proof are, what can and cant be considered by a judge when making a ruling, and how guidance from appellate courts sets out the law. Other times, as his assistant, I heard many litigants proudly say to my husband that Granny, the persons boss or some other person would write a letter to the judge and tell it like it is, and even get such a document notarized. Early in his career, my husband would attempt to explain that the rules of evidence wont allow that, and that the other side cant cross examine a piece of paper. Now -- older, grumpier and busier -- hes likely to simply say, You cant do that. The case against former President Donald Trump is a complicated and carefully constructed set of charges that the Justice Department will present to a judge or jury under the supervision of a judge. The fact that the ex-president/defendant belongs to one party and the current president to another party may seem to matter a lot, but it really wont. The president didnt ring up the Justice Department and tell its lawyers to prosecute. Nor is the judge in this case standing at the ready to dispose of the charges against this defendant. Just as a good prosecution is a carefully placed stack of facts and applicable law, the selection of a judge is also multi-dimensional. Certainly, Im not saying these processes lack a political component. The attorney general was appointed by one president and the judge by the other. However, the process of choosing a federal judge is at least as methodical as preparing a prosecution. A president doesnt call one of his supporters who happens to be an attorney and tell the person to buy a black robe and take the bench. The process of appointing a federal trial judge includes the president, the senator(s) from the home state of the judge, the American Bar Association and, of course, confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Are politics involved? Of course. But the process is in place to weed out incompetent hacks and dishonest judges. In this case, the political advantage in having a judge appointed by the defendant falls to the prosecution. It helps give lie to the notion that some giant conspiracy has weaponized the system. After all, the defendants name is on the document that made her a judge. Will this judge simply do what Chief Justice John Roberts, at his 2005 confirmation hearing, said he would do if appointed? Its my job to call balls and strikes and not to pitch or bat, he assured senators. This is no ball game, however. This prosecution is a test for all of us. If our legal system doesnt remain strong and free from the undue influences of power politics, we will devolve into a banana republic where the law doesnt matter. Theres a lot of conversation these days about how we the people must determine our destiny. When you look at how societies have been governed over the past 3,000 years or so, a government where power is really in the hands of the people is relatively rare. The Age of Enlightenment, the French Revolution and similar movements replaced kings who took their power from God Almighty with a system where all of us get to determine who will have power over us. Doing this requires a strong and independent legal system. Remember that, if you want freedom and self-government. Seeing conspiracies where none exists and imagining that an exercise of the criminal system is a slow-motion coup detat weakens our constitutional system. Tearing that system down would be a critical step in destroying our democracy. If we want a government by and for the people, we have to stop believing the myths and instead try to understand how the legal machine works. Respect for and confidence in the legal system are important. Remember that when you like a meme that says Joe Biden is stealing another election or an assertion that a judge appointed by the defendant cant render justice. Neither is true. If you cant discipline yourself to rely on more than internet memes and oft repeated lies to understand the law, youll have a hand in tearing down our legal system. And in doing that, youll help destroy the democracy you pretend to defend, no matter which side youre on. Frances Coleman is a former editorial page editor of the Mobile Press-Register. Email her at fcoleman1953@gmail.com and like her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/prfrances. A roundup of conversations we're having daily on the site. Subscribe to the Reckon Daily for stories centering marginalized communities and speaking to the under-covered issues of the moment. Cop City protestors in Atlanta opposed to a new $90 million police training center are suing the city for refusing to approve a petition that could halt the projects development during the next municipal election. A coalition of demonstrators, called Stop Cop City Vote, are suing Atlanta Interim Municipal Clerk Vanessa Waldon for denying the petition June 14 for frivolous reasons, claiming it did not include information the suit argues only she could provide. Waldon did not respond to a request for comment Friday. Instead of challenging Waldon on her reason for the denial, the coalition submitted a new petition which it believed corrected the mentioned error. The effect is that the clerk denied the petition because the clerk itself had not yet formatted it correctly, the lawsuit states. On Friday, Waldon told the group that she would look over the revised petition, the suit states, alleging that she intended on treating the revised petition as a new one, which would give her office an additional seven days to approve the document. Waldon allegedly closed her office at noon ahead of the holiday weekend without issuing a ruling on the case. The coalition is asking the court to compel Waldon to approve the petition, through whats known as a writ of mandamus, and provide copies of it to them, in addition to awarding the group reasonable attorney fees incurred from filing the action. According to the suit, the group has 60 days to collect the 70,000 necessary signatures that would put a referendum on the ballot Nov. 7. Once the signatures have been collected, the city council will have 50 days to determine if the petition is valid, the suit states. After that, the city has one week to issue a call for the ballot, which must be placed 29 days prior to the election. This means that every day demonstrators dont collect signatures puts them at risk of not getting the referendum on the ballot at all. As a result of this timetable and the clerks failure to approve the petition last week, each additional day of delay in approval must be subtracted from the 60 days to which petitioner would ordinarily be entitled to obtain signatures, the suit reads. Some Fulton County residents have strongly opposed the construction of the site which officials aim to build in the South River Forest. That opposition came to a head during a police raid of a demonstrator encampment in January, which led to the death of 26-year-old Manuel Teran, who was shot by police 57 times. Officials claim Teran fired the first shot, striking a Georgia State Trooper. At a press conference following the incident, Terans family described them as someone who could never shoot an officer. In June, city council members passed a measure 11-4 that would allocate $67 million for the project. $31 million is to be provided in a one-time payment, with $1.2 million to be provided each year over 30 years. The latest city council move is what inspired the coalition to file the suit in the first place. Having exhausted all reasonable means of influencing the legislative process through public comment, petitioners filed the referendum petition to empower Atlanta voters to decide on the Training Centers fate, the suit states. A senior U.S. diplomat will visit Korea soon to brief government officials here on a recent meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a source said Tuesday. Daniel Kritenbrink, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, who recently traveled to China with the secretary of state, will be debriefing Seoul on the results of the meeting, according to the source. A foreign ministry official also stressed the importance of the "stable development of U.S.-China relations" in bringing peace and prosperity to the region and the international community. "The U.S. plans to debrief us on the outcome of Blinken's trip to China in an appropriate setting," he said. Ahead of his Beijing trip, Blinken held phone talks with Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, expressing his support for Seoul's efforts to improve its ties with China in a "healthy and mature" way based on mutual respect. (Yonhap) A Rasmussen poll taken in October of 2021 found that 56% of all likely voters believed that cheating affected the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Another Rasmussen poll dated April of 2023 revealed that 60% of all likely voters believed that cheating affected the outcomes of many 2022 midterm elections. Unsurprisingly in a Rasmussen poll published on June 14, 2023, 54% of all likely voters believe that cheating will determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. For a majority of the American electorate, and for a much higher percentage of Republicans, the issue of whether there was rampant cheating in the past two election cycles is no longer in question and their concern about the outcome of the 2024 election is fully justified. The Republican National Committee (RNC), beyond issuing the usual fatuous press releases and reports about what they are going to do, has done nothing of substance on the ground to offset unabashed Democrat cheating. In an effort to do what they can, individuals such as Scott Presler and his PAC have been on the ground in the various battleground states doing their best to not only register voters but instructing and recruiting volunteers to promote early voting, mail-in voting and ballot harvesting where legal. However, instead of supporting and coordinating with Presler and organizations such as Turning Point USA, the RNC has deliberately ignored them. By declaring an obviously senescent, incompetent and iniquitous Joe Biden as their potential nominee in 2024, the Democrat party implicitly is poking Donald Trump and the Republican Party in the eye, essentially, claiming that they can successfully elect any buffoon they choose as Trump and the Party are incapable of offsetting or eliminating their overt fraud and manipulation. They can justify their arrogance as an inept Republican Party has lost or grossly underperformed in the last three election cycles. In 2018 with the surprising loss of 40 seats in the House of Representatives, the fraud-riddled 2020 election and the equally fraud-riddled 2022 midterm which should have been a Republican landslide. Since 2018 there has been one common denominator: the same personnel utilizing the same tactics have been and continue to be in charge of the RNC, the clearinghouse for national strategy and voter turnout. While the party has been metamorphizing into a populist blue collar and middle-class America-First entity, the hierarchy has remained entrenched in the Bush self-defeating civility mindset and the resultant acquiescent approach in dealing with a Marxist-infused Democrat party. No one personifies this predisposition more than Ronna McDaniel, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, first elected in January of 2017 and recently re-elected through January 2025. She is the longest serving Chairman since Edwin Morgan, a founder of the Party and its first Chairman (1856 to 1864). Throughout the months of the ill-advised and debilitating Covid-19 lockdown, the Democrats openly telegraphed their intent to legalize by any means possible mail-in voting and exploit ballot harvesting. They quickly assembled a massive legal army to descend upon the battleground states to, oftentimes unconstitutionally, change state voting laws. They were confident in the knowledge that the RNC would not forcefully challenge their efforts. Further, that after the election, the courts, including the Supreme Court, would not overturn any election without irrefutable evidence -- which would be nearly impossible to produce within predetermined timeframes. The Republicans offered little opposition in the various state courts or legislatures as they haughtily allowed themselves to be caught flat-footed prior to the election and were grossly undermanned after the election. Kurt Schlichter of Townhall wrote about his experience in Nevada in 2020 and pleaded with the Republican National Committee not to re-elect McDaniel in 2023. In 2020, I lawyered after the election in Las Vegas. Las Vegas was one of a half-dozen critical cities in winnable states where we knew the Democrat machine would be working overtime to execute their election shenanigans. In fact, Democrat lawyers had been there and elsewhere for months prepping the battlefield for election night. I got a desperate call the day after the election and drove out to Vegas to help. Guess how many lawyers Ronna had ensured were on the ground by the time I rolled in 24 hours after the election ended. 100? 50? A dozen? One? Not one, Kurt. That would be crazy. One And that was on Ronna. Though she denies responsibility. Remember, nothing is her fault. You cant blame her for not getting it done -- she was only in charge. Fast forward to 2022. Did that look like the RNCs legal forces were adequately deployed and ready to win? Governor Lake, what are your thoughts on that? Lost once, GOP? Shame on you. Lose twice? Shame on you again. Lose three times? What the hell are you people thinking re-electing someone who keeps blowing it? Among the unfathomable aspects of this entire debacle is that Donald Trump, the victim of the rampant voter fraud and manipulation in 2020, wholeheartedly endorsed and called for McDaniels re-election as Chairman in January of 2021 stating: I am pleased to announce that I have given my full support and endorsement to Ronna McDaniel to continue leading the Republican National Committee. She easily won re-election and oversaw the overwhelming disappointment that was the 2022 mid-term. Even more confounding is that in January of 2023, while taking a publicly neutral position in the vote to re-elect McDaniel for a fourth term, Trump had his staff lobby for her with the RNC delegates. Despite having the option of electing an extraordinarily well qualified and proven candidate in Harmeet Dhillon, McDaniel on the strength of Trumps influence was again re-elected. Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA, a diehard Trump supporter, openly expressed his disappointment and incredulity that Trump would again put her in office. Trumps continual backing of Ronna McDaniel cannot be justified or dismissed even by the most intransigent Trump supporters as he has had three distinct opportunities to replace her and chose not to. Thus, the oft-repeated excuse that Trump relied on others to recommend personnel choices cannot be used as an explanation. A defense which, in actuality, is a backhanded indictment. Trump is the one who ultimately chose among others, John Bolton, Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, William Barr, Jeff Sessions, Christopher Wray, and James Mattis -- the tip of the iceberg of a long list of hires who have turned against him. Further, Trump refused to fire gross incompetents such as Drs. Fauci and Birx. 2024 is a watershed election that may well decide the fate of the nation. If Donald Trump is serious about winning in November of 2024, he must acknowledge that competence, the ability to motivate the grass roots, and outstanding managerial skills are far more important than personal loyalty or obsequiousness. The time has come for Trump and other viable Republican candidates to call for Ronna McDaniels resignation and for a housecleaning at the RNC. Rampant Democrat voting manipulation and fraud will not be defeated in the gilded offices in Washington D.C. but in the precincts throughout all the battleground states. Image credit: public domain On February 23rd, of this year, Jaqueline Breger, the principal investigator for Harris/Thaler Law Corporation, at the invitation of State Representative Liz Harris (R), made a presentation to a joint committee for the state of Arizona on Municipal Oversight and Elections, which was shocking in scope and magnitude of both the various levels of statewide corruption and election fraud. The report presented was assembled under the direction of John Harris Thaler, Senior Attorney in charge of investigations, who has specialized in racketeering and corruption for over 30 years. His five-man team, which has participated in some of the largest investigations of racketeering and public corruption both in the U.S. and Mexico, also draws in various experts, or advisors in multiple disciplines, as may be required, for specific aspects of investigations. After watching Ms. Bregers report, instincts told me that this warranted a much closer scrutiny, as the extent of the allegations made: bribery, real estate fraud, election fraud, Money laundering, tax evasion, and more, seemed very difficult to believe. The scope of the allegations, as well as the dozens of names in the report included people at the highest levels of power in Arizona, as well as people in many other states. Frankly, I came away skeptical, but wanted to learn more. Initial conversations with various people, including Jaqueline Breger, John Harris Thaler, and Arizona state senator Ken Bennet, left me with many questions and some serious doubts. Further conversations served to clarify and resolve the questions I had. One difficulty in making the presentation was to clearly condense years of a myriad of investigations involving various types of fraud and money laundering, as well as various levels of government and criminal activity into a 45-minute video along with a 96-page report. This then resulted in a tidal wave of information, well beyond what one can easily consume and process when hit cold with the extensive information. The immediate reaction to the report from politicians, as well as the local media, was swift: Breger was attacked, Thalers reputation was impugned. Additionally, issues in other areas, including conflict of interest, were brought to light. In May, Liz Harris was expelled from the Arizona Legislature. The coverage was heavily slanted, as expected. Obviously, a nerve had been struck, but which nerve? Was it the Q-Anon tinfoil hat conspiracy nerve? Or was it the hitting too close to home nerve? That is likely closer to the truth. After some time had passed, allowing for the report to sink in, as well as additional reviews of numerous documents, the scope of the many frauds and the depth of the corruption began to make sense. Further discussions with Thaler served to clarify my thoughts, troubling though they were. In the presentation and supporting documentation, Breger named names of those who benefited from the corruption, which was laid out in some considerable detail. More specifically, forty people are listed on page 85 of the 96-page document, as being the beneficiary of fraudulent second trust deeds. Such deeds are issued by shell companies with no expectations of the deeds being paid back. Many of those names are those of people holding elected office, on the committee or well known to those on that committee. If the information contained was false, then the presenter and Thaler have opened themselves up to litigation. Yet no such litigation has been filed or threatened. The natural tendency of the guilty is to vociferously proclaim their innocence, while simultaneously circling the wagons to protect themselves and their grubstakes. As mentioned earlier, the expulsion, by the Republican-controlled legislature, of Liz Harris, being an example. Harris is a strong conservative who has rubbed some people the wrong way, she was rocking the boat and needed to go. Those same people used this presentation as an excuse, not a reason, to expel her. In reviewing some of the hit pieces written regarding the presentation, there was at least one common thread: no evidence was presented was often repeated. This was clearly not true to anyone who reviewed the 96 pages of the report that was given to the committee. One example of the evidence contained was the deposition on page 28 of one Richard Salazar, who under penalty of perjury stated that he saw multiple boxes of ballots and cash delivered from a private residence in Tempe, to Runbeck Election Services, the company hired by Maricopa County to assist in the counting of absentee ballots. The corruption revealed in the presentation needs to be taken seriously and indeed it is, according to Thaler, at least by some people in positions of authority to investigate issues well beyond the election fraud and other aspects stated above. Thaler has a book, Report to the Governor, which will be released in the coming weeks. One excerpt from the book worth noting: Illegal narcotics are big business, maybe the biggest of businesses. Where drugs exist, tyranny follows, and rights disappear. Arizona is saturated with drugs and drug trafficking. It is awash in cash laundered to protect its narco origins. As a result, it is the most corrupt state in the country. Dont just take my word for it. That conclusion comes from a 2022 study conducted by Harvard University. The authors concluded that Arizona has the highest instances of private gains in the form of cash or gifts by a government official, in exchange for providing specific benefits to private individuals or groups. The study further found significant corruption in the legislative, executive and judicial branches, mostly from bribes. To be clear it is apparent that the corruption discussed by Thaler and Breger is not exclusive to one party, as both Republicans and Democrats are named. The common thread of those involved is plain and simple: Maintain the power they hold so that the money can continue to flow. John Harris Thaler did advise that he has had numerous meetings with investigators of both local and state agencies, as well as the FBI. These allegations are being investigated, but those investigations are moving both slowly and quietly. Too quietly, it would seem. Image: Gage Skidmore Americans no longer have faith in healthcare workers or medical institutions. According to Wisconsin Public Radio, 2022 was the worst year on record for attacks against providers of medical care. The New York City Council recently created an Office of Healthcare Accountability to "shine a spotlight on hospitals that charge exorbitant prices" and gouge the public. Apparently, we trust neither healthcare workers nor medical facilities to put patients first (as most hospital signage proudly proclaims). This is not a misperception. It is reality. In healthcare, both people and institutions serve a third party, government and/or insurance, rather than patients. That statement is written with pain by this physician-author who practiced medicine for nearly half a century. Both people and institutions in healthcare want to do right by patients, but they cannot. The masters they serve are government bureaucrats and insurance executives, not sick people. Your doctor doesn't choose your medication; a pharmacy benefits manager does. You don't choose your doctor; a health plan does. The patient gets the authorized procedure, not necessarily what is judged medically best for that patient. The hospital schedules (effectively delays) your operation based on what the insurance company process dictates. And patients wait interminably for care because of provider shortages created by low federal "allowable reimbursement schedules," AKA payments for services rendered. Death by queue dying while waiting in line for care not delivered in time has become commonplace in the U.S. Third-party payers disconnect patient, or buyer, in market terms, from provider, or seller. The third party tells the buyer what the third party will buy for him. The buyer doesn't choose; the third party does. The third party tells sellers what they are allowed to sell and what payment they will receive, regardless of published price. Patients in aggregate, the public, rightly do not trust health care workers or facilities because they don't work for patients! This loss of trust is not isolated to healthcare. It is equally true of previously trustworthy, great federal institutions such as the CDC, NIH, CMS, FBI, DoJ, and EPA, as well most news outlets and social media. Every day, there are reports of partisan censorship and cancel culture. Americans understand that political advantage rather than public welfare drives decisions at the highest levels of government, both elected and especially appointed officials, along with complicit media corporations. The COVID debacle is a prime example of loss of trust in healthcare. Americans trusted Fauci, the CDC, the NIH, and the FDA to protect us only to learn they pushed a false narrative; suppressed contrary scientific data; and mandated lockdowns, school closures, social isolation, and an untested vaccine policies that irreparably harmed the public. Ex-president Trump has been indicted for mishandling classified documents. Where is similar prosecution for President Biden's similar behavior? And where was prosecution of Hillary Clinton for putting uncounted classified documents on her private email server and then hiding them from scrutiny? Numerous Americans were convicted of illegally occupying Congress on January 6, 2021. Where were prosecutions, much less convictions, when protesters established the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), took over federal buildings, and demanded elimination of police and court systems? Is this not by definition sedition, as claimed for Jan. 6 protesters? When Americans see unequal application of the law, they lose faith in the Department of Justice, supposedly the defender of rule of law. For more than two years (20212023) front pages were dominated by the investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA-30) repeatedly announced, "I have the evidence!" James Comey, then FBI director, obtained FISA court permission to spy on Americans. We now know that Comey lied to the FISA courts when obtaining the warrants. Where is there any consequence for his and his agency's malfeasance? When Americans see weaponization and partisan manipulation of what should be our premier truth-seeking, supposedly objective investigative body, they lose faith in the FBI. Mainstream media, both news and social, aggressively push the charge of systemic racism whites prejudiced against and oppressing blacks. How, then, to explain YouTube canceling the channel of prominent black female commentator Candace Owens? The amendment that protects free speech was placed first in the Bill of Rights because it was considered the most important. The First Amendment doesn't protect "acceptable" speech it is intended to stop government from "abridging the freedom of speech." When speech labeled unorthodox is "canceled," when the rule of law is abrogated, when our communications with each other are filtered, and when Washington takes away freedom starting with medical autonomy, no wonder Americans lose faith that Washington is basing its behavior on the most fundamental principle of our nation: freedom. Deane Waldman, M.D., MBA is professor emeritus of pediatrics, pathology, and decision science; former director of the Center for Healthcare Policy at Texas Public Policy Foundation; and author of the multi-award winning book Curing the Cancer in U.S. Healthcare: StatesCare and Market-Based Medicine. Image via Pxfuel. This past May 1 was a typical day on the New York City subways. Commuters and tourists were transiting beneath the chaos of overhead Manhattan, only to witness New Yorks subterranean version of Dantes Inferno. Specifically, a homeless man, now euphemistically called an urban camper or displaced person, was harassing fellow subway passengers. The Guardian went further in their descriptors, calling Neely a talented dancer who was remembered as kind and loving and even had a fan club. Neely also had a long rap sheet, a fact conveniently overlooked by most media sympathizers. According to the Daily News, Neelly has been arrested 42 times in the last 10 years, most recently in November 2021 for slugging a 67-year-old female stranger in the face as she exited a subway station. He had a history of mental illness. Enter ex-Marine Daniel Penny, a fellow traveler on one of New Yorks subterranean mental institutions on wheels, noting how Neely was harassing and threatening other passengers. With the assistance of several other like-minded passengers, Penny restrained Neely until he stopped resisting. Penny then put Neely into a recovery position (with passengers complimenting his actions), hardly the moves of someone intent on killing Neely. "Hes a hero," said another passenger, who has lived in New York City more than 50 years. One mans hero is another mans criminal, specifically to a left-wing Manhattan District Attorney. Soros-funded DA Alvin Bragg, taking a break from chasing Donald Trump over supposed dressing room hanky-panky at Bergdorf Goodman, convinced a grand jury to indict the 24-year-old White Marine veteran for second-degree manslaughter. Pennys real crime was that he was acting as a Good Samaritan, trying to do the right thing, protecting his fellow subway riders from harassment and potential injury. His other crime was his skin color. YouTube screengrab That last bit is not hyperbole. Noted in an NBC News article on the indictment was this paragraph, Penny, who is white, said he acted to protect himself and other passengers when he confronted Neely, who was Black. If skin color wasnt relevant, why did NBC mention it? It wasnt an issue for Penny. I didnt see a Black man threatening passengers. I saw a man threatening passengers, Penny said. But to the corporate media and left-wing politicians, everything is about race. NBC went further playing the race card, The incident evoked memories of the 1984 shooting of four Black teenagers on a New York City subway by Bernhard Goetz, a white man who feared he was being mugged. Not surprisingly, NBC neglected to mention another NYC race hustle, the Tawana Brawley fake-rape case, where she tag teamed with racial provocateur Al Sharpton to fabricate a story about a Black teenager being raped and kidnapped by a group of white men. If a crazed white guy on the NYC subway shouted to passengers, Im gonna kill you, as Neely did and a Black Marine veteran took him down, restraining him to protect fellow passengers, he would be lauded as a hero, making the rounds of cable news shows and The View. He would certainly not be indicted and facing years in prison, as Daniel Penny is. A shirtless man assaulted a 75-year-old woman as she left a Macys store in Manhattan at Sixth Avenue and West 34th Street over the weekend, according to NYPD. Will DA Bragg pursue this recent Black assailant with any of the vigor directed toward Daniel Penny? Dont hold your breath. The concept of the Good Samaritan goes back to Biblical times, specifically the book of Luke, chapter 10, and the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Whats the message for fellow New Yorkers, or residents of any large American city under full Democrat control? Is it wise to borrow from Spike Lees movie, Do the Right Thing? Or is the now smarter course of action to say, Fuhgeddaboutdit? Those wanting to lend a helping hand had better beware, especially if they are White. If anything goes wrong, they will be castigated, prosecuted, and possibly incarcerated for their noble efforts. Remembering Bob Dylans great song Hurricane about racial injustice toward black boxer Rubin Carter, the skin colors and discrimination in the song have done a 180-degree flip since the mid-1960s in Paterson, New Jersey. Words from the song are appropriate for any Good Samaritan wanabees on the NYC or other big-city transit systems, as it was for Daniel Penny trying to do the right thing, He had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down. With a crucial follow up admonition, Don't forget that you are White. It is not only on subways but also in stores that Good Samaritans are persona non grata. In a metro Denver, supermarket King Soopers fired five employees for stopping a shoplifter. A food worker union in Washington told employees to not stop shoplifters. Uber-woke Lululemon fired store employees for trying to stop shoplifters with the CEO standing behind this decision. Good Samaritans are chumps. Why not make cash registers and paying for merchandise optional? Employees should just watch TikTok videos on their phones and respond only to direct questions from customers. They can leave the store as a free-for-all for thieves. Doing the right thing only leads to big trouble, such as loss of job, or in Daniel Pennys case, loss of freedom. Forget Jesuss Bible teachings. If the Parable of the Good Samaritan now becomes a criminal act, expect wanton crime and violence in Democrat cities to exponentially increase as those wanting to do the right thing follow the lead of the parables priest and Levite, looking down and walking away. Want to be a good Samaritan and do the right thing? Fuhgeddaboudit. Brian C Joondeph, MD, is a physician and writer. Follow me on Twitter @retinaldoctor Substack Dr. Brians Substack Truth Social @BrianJoondeph LinkedIn @Brian Joondeph The Intercept recently revealed that high-ranking U.S. military officials have intelligence resources charged with protecting their physical well-beingand also their egosfrom criticism and potential subsequent embarrassment, in particular due to comments posted on social media. This is not a joke. (Okay, it is in one sense, but not literally.) Yes, according to the left-leaning online newspaper, a new U.S. military unit has apparently been tasked with monitoring social media for mean posts about current and former high-ranking officers. Presumably, stuff like this from Twitter: This fairly reeks of dictatorships, juntas, and other authoritarian regimes. Forget defending against China, Iran, North Korea, et. al., the Obiden administration has fundamentally transformed what was previously the worlds most powerful and capable fighting force. It has emasculated itand tasked it with defending against nationalism, climate change, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, misgendering, disinformation, domestic terrorists (i.e. patriots and parents)and now posts critical of military heads themselves. Somewhere, George Washington weeps. And Patton rages. The looming doom of the Student Loan thing appears to be the next headline meant to divert the attention in the expected Orwellian manner whatever the blowhards and talking heads have to say about this call to have students pay back their loans. Here's where we are now from a CBS affiliate: DES MOINES, Iowa President Joe Biden's plan to forgive eligible borrowers for up to $20,000 in federal student loans is still in limbo, as the U.S. Supreme Court is still deciding if it's legal. With debt relief for up to 43 million Americans at stake, the Biden Administration argued this plan is within the president's authority. It's basically to help out people that maybe took on a lot of student loan debt and don't have a job that allows them to then reasonably pay, make those payments and pay that loan back," said Tim Hagle, a political science professor at the University of Iowa. The plan was quickly met with opposition from those who say that, not only does Biden not have the power, but it's just plain unfair. It vaguely reminds me of the $4.00/gallon gas in the summer of 2007 that coincided with a bunch of ARMs, or adjustable rate mortgages, changing then the whole TARP whatever. This time, well...AT readers probably have their own prognostications in that regard. What has always struck me in the student loan forgiveness plan, or the call to restore payments, is the apparent lack of any rational discussion around the nature of the problem. The side that psychotically screeches about genitalia is not worthy of any consideration; one cannot reason with a child, a drunk, or a lunatic, and they are all three. I am disinclined to preach to the choir, so I'm speaking to the other side. Republicans and conservatives oppose the mass forgiveness of student loans, and many are calling for an end to the current longtime forbearance of student loan payments brought on by COVID, which is coming up around August 30. I understand at least some of their logic. First, yes: Many if not most academic programs are absolute fetid garbage. As a general rule, I have nothing but contempt for any "major" that includes the word "studies." Academia is a rotten, evil, corrupted cesspool full stop. But, like most everything, it is not nearly that simple. It is much too simple to mock the participation-ribbon-bubble-wrapped-perpetual-adolescent with zee/xir degree in Mongolian underwater basket-weaving. The nauseatingly simplistic suck it up buttercup, you took a loan, pay it back reply from many on our side does nothing but make the thing worse. No, I do not believe that these kids are "victims" but you might try not sending more people over to your opponents by merely dismissing the portions of their complaints that are legitimate. The combination of non-bankruptability and capitalizing interest (it becomes principal), among other things, in these student loans makes these loan contracts unconscionable. Mocking an 18- or a 19-year-old kid (who wasn't allowed to run on the playground, got a ribbon for everything, and was never spanked) for getting sucked into an unconscionable contract is hardly a rational act. When one considers the overwhelming pressure to join that world (a bachelor's is "the new high school diploma") and the majority having had no support from their parents the picture becomes a bit more nuanced. Yes, they could have chosen a STEM degree but university is not trade school. Besides, what's that about outsourcing and H.R. being wholly sold out to DIE or ESG, or the unpronounceable alphabet mafia? Even a STEM degree is useless to a cis-white-guy in this schizophrenic job market. The thing that gets at me the most is the total lack of recognition that it is decidedly not STEM majors that, you know, make laws and decide what is or is not published and taught to your kids as TRUTH. After the military, and nearly twenty years in six different industrial trades (a world brimming with its own sicknesses and wholly enslaved to banksters), I got sick of waiting 90180 days for my depressed labor wages while getting abhorrent bills from the IRS and watching my body fall apart to barely meet my most basic bills. I returned to academia as an act of desperation. It was not avocado toast and lattes that made me poor, though some of my own decisions certainly play their part. It's that most tradesmen are impoverished it doesn't matter that your uncle's cousin gets paid $150 an hour to weld in the oil fields, or that you were the beneficiary of the artificial prosperity of the decades after Nixon's "dollar" or Bretton Woods before that. For every "successful" tradesman, there are at least 20 guys pawning their drill so they can get gas to make it to work while they pay inflated prices and earn depressed wages when the work is actually available. I am nearing completion of my doctorate. My major (though as a grad, I am supposed to be snooty and call it a "discipline") is history, with a B.A. in philosophy and a lesser degree in criminal justice. I have student loan debt that, barring a God-wink in the form of a lotto win, I will never be able to pay. When I last spoke to a plumber buddy, he laughed at the idea of studying philosophy. I get it (most philosophers are useless potheads), but I wonder if he knows (or would care) who discovered things like science, engineering, math, ethics, and law. To this day, I wait for the next person to laugh: "Yeah, studying wisdom is a stupid waste of time...nobody should do that." Studying the past is stupid, too only gender-phrenics do that, right? Right? The student loan thing may well be the straw that shatters this house of cards we call a "national economy," though maybe not. It certainly is a divisive political issue. So, while mocking (even deservedly) the army of citizens trapped in lifetime indentured servitude in no small part because there really aren't very many good options and laughing at people who waste their time with Aristotle, Aquinas, Augustine, Descartes, Locke, and Jefferson, consider for a moment what disciplines become teachers, professors, policymakers, and legislators. Yes, most "degrees" are garbage. Equally true, the traditional disciplines are invaluable. But more than this, dismissing everyone who is lost in this absolutely diabolical and usurious "economy" as a deadbeat will guarantee that legislatures continue to overflow with delusional, narcissistic blue-hairs. Ten-thousand bad decisions over the last 110 years are coming to a head. Perhaps the situation is just a little more nuanced than blowing student loans on pizza and weed. Spencer D. "I normally wear pants" Miles; emeritus guy, super-important director of things and stuff, FAS, MDBS, FPDHA (hons.), Hominus notimportantus atallii. Graphic credit: Peggy_Marco, Pixabay license. A short time ago, news broke that Hunter Biden, who blatantly violated gun and tax laws, is getting a laughably lax plea deal. The lack of real justice for a series of real crimes highlights how despicably biased the American legal system is. It's become a two-tiered system with no punishment for real criminals and over-the-top punishment for conservatives. According to the Washington Post: The court papers indicate the younger Biden has tentatively agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges of failure to pay in 2017 and 2018. The combined tax liability is roughly $1.2 million over those years, according to people familiar with the plea deal, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe details of the agreement that are not yet public. Prosecutors plan to recommend a sentence of probation for those counts, these people said. Biden's representatives have said he previously paid back the IRS what he owed. [snip] The second criminal information is about the gun charge. In that case, the letter says, "The defendant has agreed to enter a Pretrial Diversion Agreement with respect to the firearm Information." Handling the gun charge as a diversion case means Biden will not technically be pleading guilty to that crime. Diversion is an option typically applied to nonviolent offenders with substance abuse problems. Image: Hunter Biden selfie from BidenLaptopMedia.com. Laughably, Hunter's lawyer writes, "I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life." In fact, those minimal wrist slaps for felonies (not mistakes) reveal that Hunter's taken no responsibility whatsoever. Tom Fitton sums up nicely what just happened to a man who committed serious felonies, including tax crimes tied to his father's alleged bribery crimes: Breaking: In an "in-your-face" show of contempt for the rule of law, Biden regime gives sweetheart plea deal to Hunter Biden. Avoids prosecutions tied to foreign bribery and Joe. https://t.co/LeUAHU6QsP Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) June 20, 2023 The left will not punish those who support its policies or advance its push for power. A truly tragic example of that refusal to punish wrongdoers emerged in Minneapolis, where the highly criminal son of a hard left BLM state politician just murdered five women with his car: Horrifying video shows the moment Derrick John Thompson, 27, smashed into the car carrying Sabiriin Ali, 17, Sahra Gesaade, 20, Salma Abdikadir, 20, Sagal Hersi, 19, and Siham Adam, 19, officials said. Thompson has a criminal record that includes a 2018 hit-and-run in California that gave the woman life-changing injuries. She spent several weeks in a coma. He was given an eight-year sentence, with 502 days as credit for time already served and another 75 days credit for good behavior. Thompson was freed and on Friday is suspected of being behind the wheel of a speeding car that tried to flee a police officer when it crashed into a vehicle with the five women on Lake Street as they were getting ready for a friend's wedding the next day. When contacted as to why he was out of prison, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney could not give any specific reason but suggested that California's proposition 57 gave the state 'wide latitude to award additional custody credits, as well as, early parole opportunities.' Under the law as they saw it, Thompson should've had to spend another five-and-a-half years in prison. The vehicle Thompson was driving at the time had over 17 pounds of marijuana and $20,000 in cash, according to Fox News. This video, which is horrifying without being graphic, gives you a sense of the speed with which Thompson was traveling on a city street: WARNING: Disturbing video shows moment of impact from reckless driver speeding & running a red light before killing five people and fleeing the scene. Sources have identified the driver as Derrick John Thompson, the son of former DFL state Rep. John Thompson. pic.twitter.com/JVvNDwuaOV Liz Collin (@lizcollin) June 18, 2023 It's possible that Thompson will finally face real consequences now, but the issue is that he hasn't previously faced them, despite the above-referenced conviction in California, plus myriad driving offenses in Minnesota. Thompson's shield has been his father, who is a real piece of work. We wrote about him here, in a post accurately titled "Minnesota's Rep. John Thompson and third-world style political corruption." Rep. Thompson was eventually expelled from the state Legislature. It's reasonable to believe that young Thompson's race, plus his father's political connections and ideology, had a great deal to do with young Thompson's life of crime without consequences. Thompson is just the latest example. The news is filled with stories of people terribly harmed or killed by criminals with endlessly long records who revolve through the doors of our criminal justice system, especially when Soros-funded prosecutors are in charge. Meanwhile, people who walked through the Capitol after the police opened the doors for them are having their lives destroyed. Another example is Dinesh D'Souza, a conservative Trump-supporter who was sent to prison for a political fundraising charge that's usually addressed with a fine and nothing more. America no longer has justice. It has a two-tiered system in which leftists and their political allies (and pawns) are above the law, while conservatives from Trump on down are below the law. Not only does this reveal the true death of our constitutional republic, but it's also, ironically, damaging most of all the people on whom the left relies for political power namely, blacks. After all, it is they who are in the line of fire when violent criminals keep being released to America's streets. Mike Pence once seemed like a social and economic conservative who would be the experienced ballast to Trump, a political newbie who was an unknown quantity. Leftists, however, absolutely despised him because of his conservativism. Now that Pence has thrown his hat into the ring, though, he seems to be trying to get those leftists on his side. Pences candidacy has long struck me as peculiar. As noted, leftists thought he was really bad or, as Biden would say, a bad dude. This was a man who was pro-life and an evil homophobe. Indeed, back in 2015 or so, the Indiana Democratic Party had a whole timeline of his evil homophobia: 2000: During his congressional campaign, Mike Pence said, Congress should oppose any effort to put gay and lesbian relationships on an equal legal status with heterosexual marriage. 2000: Pence also supported the reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act only if federal dollars were excluded from organizations who celebrate and encourage behavior that facilitates spreading of the HIV virus. Further, Pence supported this reauthorization only if those institutions provided assistance to those looking to change their sexual behavior, an off-the-cuff endorsement for ex-gay conversion therapy. 2004: Mike Pence co-sponsored a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would define marriage as solely between one man and one woman. 2007: Pence voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). 2010: Mike Pence voted against the Dont Ask, Dont Tell repeal which allowed LGBT Americans to openly serve their country in military service. Thats just the half of it. According to the Indiana Dems, the outrages continued after. Image: Mike Pence. Twitter screen grab. Pence had other fatal flaws, according to the left. Theyre summed up in pre-Dobbs an essay from the Intelligencer warning against a Pence presidency, even though he had turned against Trump and alienated Trump supporters when he refused even to try to support Trump on January 6. The article explains that Pence is a Koch puppet, an Evangelical Christian, and an Ayn Rand economic acolyte. Worse, unlike Trumpwho the article ironically concedes wasnt a fascist at all but was, instead, a weak centristPence is the truly sinister one. The essays author assures readers that, under Pences fascist administration, abortion and same-sex marriage would end, as would entitlements such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pence would also push the U.S. into global conflictsan ironic point given that, when the Intelligencer published this essay, Biden had already begun the process in Ukraine of seeding WWIII. So, wheres that leave Pences campaign? Well, its clear hes not even trying to get the Trump vote. Regarding Trumps federal indictment, Pence has refused to stand by Trump, pompously intoning that no one is above the law. Hypocritically, Pence is above the law because he got a pass despite being guilty of felonious conduct by having classified documents in his house. Meanwhile, Trump is below the law because hes being persecuted even though, as the president, he had the unfettered right to declassify documents and have them in his possession. Pences self-righteousness, despite his own criminal conduct, will not endear him to conservatives. The problem for Pence is that, even with the Uniparty Republicans at his back, without Trump supporters, Pence cannot win on the right. To prevail, he must have votes from the left. And to that end, Pence has trying to make nice with the LGBTQ++ crowd that so heartily despises him. He recently explained that libertarianism and Christianity come together in protecting adult sex change operations: Um..... According to @Mike_Pence the way a Christian "loves their neighbor" if they are an adult is to legally protect their right to sex change surgeries? This is gross. This is ugly. This is wrong. pic.twitter.com/GovBY5ipPt Luke Macias (@lukemaciastx) June 20, 2023 Ick. Or as Not The Bee says, It may be the "libertarian" position but Christianity and the Gospel of Christ requires you to not endorse evil and affirm delusions. "Love your neighbor" was used during the last three years to get pastors and believers to bow to all sorts of wicked things. If adults can transition, why shouldn't kids be able to? Why is it illegitimate in kids but legitimate in adults? This is a politically nuanced position but morally nonsensical, especially when you understand that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob calls things like gay sexual relations and cross dressing "abominations." Shame on Pence. Its easy to suspect that, like so many whom Trump broke, were finally getting a look at his real colorsand nobody is going to like them. Refugee rights activists in Korea / Courtesy of Bereket Alemayehu By Bereket Alemayehu June 20 was declared in 2001 as World Refugee Day, a day to celebrate and honor refugees everywhere, in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. But refugee rights advocates and activists in Korea are fighting back against the Refugee Amendment Bill, introduced by the Ministry of Justice in 2021 to amend the current Refugee Act. "The bill, which was initiated in 2018 as an answer to the xenophobic sentiments of those who were unfamiliar with Yemeni refugees, has been opposed by refugees and civil society organizations, as well as the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK), UNHCR and lawyers' groups, including the Korean Bar Association and the Lawyers for a Democratic Society," the Korean Refugee Rights Network said in a recent press release. "The Ministry of Justice went ahead with the proposal despite opposition and is now trying to force it through the National Assembly. The Refugee Amendment Bill is aimed at providing a legal basis for deportation of refugees which is already prevalent, and stigmatizing asylum seekers as 'abusive applicants' to reject their applications." According to the group, the key provision of the bill is the introduction of the "inadmissibility determination" procedure, which prevents asylum-seekers from being reviewed and interviewed properly. If passed, the group said, it is likely to result in the deportation of all refugees who have so far failed to prove their cases because they had not been subject to any assistance. Despite such a huge challenge ahead, organizations and rights activists have been busy preparing various public events, such as the Korea Refugee Film Festival (KOREFF) which started on June 17 with the theme "Faces of Us" at Megabox Seongsu cinema. Earlier this year, there was a screening at The Plaza Seoul hotel of the documentary film "Dodomu." Meaning "home" or "homeward bound" in Ukrainian, it was directed by Neil P. George in collaboration with Musab Darwish, an Egyptian refugee as well as assistant director and cinematographer, and narrated by actor Jung Woo-sung, the first Korean UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. The organizers mentioned that "Dodomu'' is a poignant documentary that follows the journey of three Ukrainian refugees in Poland as they navigate the challenges of starting anew in a foreign land. The film reveals their struggles to rebuild their lives and their hopes for the future. Through candid interviews and cinematic storytelling, the movie exposes the complexities of refugee matters and the difficult decisions that the Ukrainians had to make in the face of conflict. The film examines the global plight of refugees and offers a call to action for viewers to empathize with their struggle and support those in need. One of the leading figures advocating for refugee rights is attorney Il Lee, chair of the Korea Refugee Rights Network, who has highlighted the current plight of refugees in Korea. Attorney Il Lee, chair of the Korea Refugee Rights Network / Courtesy of Bereket Alemayehu "Korea is not a country that has nothing to do with refugees," he said. "It is a country that has a legal system, but refugees who seek protection are unfairly rejected. Numerous unfair detentions occurred during a recent three-month intensive joint crackdown. At the border, refugees are repatriated without ever getting a chance to apply for asylum. The Korean government repatriates Russian refugees who oppose the war, at the same time as saying it opposes the Russian war. Uyghur refugees also are rejected. The victims of forced marriage and honor killings are repatriated because it is difficult to verify their claims." He added that there are attempts in Korea to pass legislation to make refugee laws and support systems more regressive. "Things like this are happening not only in Korea but also across the sea in Japan, with a focus on refugee deportation," he said. "There is also hostility towards refugees. As seen in the clear hatred of minorities in the Muslim mosque in Daegu, hatred and attacks on refugees, foreigners and people of other faiths continue to occur in unacceptable ways in the public sphere." But he added that there are also signs of improvement. "It is also true that Korean society is talking more about refugees than in the past," he said. "There are more events, lectures and coverage. Refugee rights as part of universal human rights are easy to talk about for groups familiar with it, but it is often too far-fetched for many citizens. Rather than being understood as 'we who will join hands together' in Korean society, refugees feel far away. For refugees who already live in Korean society, being treated as invisible people without rights is the biggest pain in the long run." Korean refugee rights activist Yuri Yu called for more action. "World Refugee Day is approaching, and many call for celebration. But can't we do more than platitudes about honoring refugees' courage and affirming their resilience?" Yu said. "Let's look at the recent events that unfolded off Greece's west coast, where the capsizing of a refugee-filled vessel resulted in numerous deaths and disappearances. It, again, highlights the ongoing tragedy faced by refugees every day. 2013 onwards, we have witnessed countless similar incidents and the recurring nature of forced movement of people fleeing all year round, from Ethiopia, Egypt, Congo and Palestine, to name a few. The grim reminder raises the question about the significance of celebrating World Refugee Day when the plight of countless individuals persists daily, enduring unsafe journeys in search of safety." During KOREFF, a few pieces of art were on display for public view by Syrian artist Abdul Bashir Tarun, who is currently living in Turkey as a refugee. Twenty-one of his artworks were brought to Korea for a special exhibition to help Syrian refugees who are affected by the earthquake. The Promise, an international development relief organization based in Korea, organized the exhibition at Hey Ground gallery in Seoul. Park Ju-hyun, communication team manager at The Promise, told The Korea Times that all proceeds from the sales of the art will be donated to earthquake-stricken Syrians in accordance with the artist's wishes. The exhibition will run until June 27. Park Ju-hyun, communication team manager at The Promise / Courtesy of Bereket Alemayehu Is the American Dream dead? A disturbing new TIPP poll suggests something like it, with the young most inclined to want to leave the country, fueled by financial stress. According to TIPP: Over one in five Americans express a strong desire to permanently move to another country if given the opportunity, according to a recent Golden/TIPP Poll of 1,480 Americans nationwide. Financial considerations significantly drive this desire. Young adults exhibit the strongest yearning. Interestingly, Democrats and liberals are more inclined to leave, while Republicans and conservatives hold a contrasting sentiment. The online survey was conducted from May 3 to 5. The surveys credibility interval (CI) is +/- 2.8 percentage points, meaning the study is accurate to within 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Americans been surveyed. It wouldn't be surprising, given the Orwellian turn of our government with its mass surveillance and data-gathering, as well as a widespread sense that our elections are dishonest and our votes count for nothing. But the big driver of this "get the hell out" sentiment is economic. TIPP notes that Americans have lost faith in their financial futures: In simple terms, financial considerations are the main driving force. When comparing the two groups - those who want to leave and those who want to stay - across eight financial concerns, we consistently observe a significantly higher number of individuals wishing to quit expressing financial worries than those who want to remain. TIPP notes that those considerations are as follows: Maintaining your current standard of living: 81% of those wanting to move abroad express concerns, compared to 67% of those wanting to stay in the U.S. Having enough savings for retirement: 78% of those wanting to move abroad have worries, while 64% of those wanting to stay in the U.S. share the same concern. Being able to pay medical or health care costs: 71% of those wanting to move abroad express this concern, in contrast to 58% of those wanting to stay in the U.S. Ability to pay utility bills: 66% of those wanting to move abroad worry about this, while 56% of those wanting to stay in the U.S. have similar concerns. Affording mortgage payments or rent: 64% of those wanting to move abroad express concerns, whereas 49% of those wanting to stay in the U.S. share this worry. Making on-time credit card payments: 56% of those wanting to move abroad express this concern, compared to 45% of those wanting to stay in the U.S. Making on-time auto loan/lease payments: 50% of those wanting to move abroad worry about this, while 36% of those wanting to stay in the U.S. have similar concerns. Financing children's education Curiously, it's young liberals who lead the pack, perhaps because they were never taught to love America in the first place, or perhaps because the Democrats cheated them early when they rigged the 2020 Democrat primaries to shut out their favored candidate, Bernie Sanders. It's also a fact that the young are not as tied down as the old. It's a horrible result to contemplate, but we've seen signs of it brewing for years. Young workers don't want to go back to the office following the lifting of COVID restrictions. The COVID lockdowns themselves did great damage to the economy, particularly of young startup businesses. Polls repeatedly show that the public thinks the U.S. is headed the wrong direction under Joe Biden. Even increased mobility, including mobility of jobs, may be a factor. Falling 401(k)s, which I wrote about here yesterday, certainly are. Last September, I noted a study showing that under Bidenomics, there's been a $9-trillion wipeout of private wealth. Last October, I cited a study by economist Stephen Moore and a colleague, showing that Biden has cost Americans an average of $34,000 of their retirement savings. Whatever it is, it's a sad reflection on the shambles the U.S. has become in the era of Joe Biden, who can't stop gaslighting us about what a great job he's done. Americans have lost faith in their financial futures, TIPP noted. That ought to be the number-one election issue for Republicans. When have we ever seen this many Americans whose only American Dream now is escape, getting the heck out? Image: Caltrans graphic via Wikipedia, public domain. The judge in Trumps federal persecutioner, prosecution has set Trumps trial for August 14, which is only nine days before the first Republican presidential debate. Although it seems as if the judge wishes to get the matter cleared before the election itself, there is a smarter way to goassuming one trusts the conservative judges on the Supreme Court to abide by the Constitution (which Im not sure I do). This morning, Judge Aileen Cannon (a Trump appointee) issued a scheduling order setting a trial date in the Trump matter. It states in relevant part as follows: This case is hereby set for a Criminal Jury Trial during the two-week period commencing August 14, 2023, or as soon thereafter as the case may be called. [snip] All pre-trial motionsmust be filed by July 24, 2023. She also left open the grounds for pushing the trial back (or continuing it) to a later date. There are a lot of things to be said here. First, as noted, the trial is set to take place as Trump prepares for the first Republican debate, which is scheduled for August 23. Trump has remarkable focus, but preparing for a nationally-televised debate while youre engaged in a two-week trial that can end with your getting a 100-year-long prison sentence before a hostile mediator (Fox News is sponsoring the debate) is ludicrous. Second, considering the immensity of whats going on, giving a defendant only eight weeks to prepare for a two-week trial is ridiculous. Third, its more than likely that the trial will be continued (probably more than once), taking it smack-dab into the full campaign season. Talk about election interference. Image by Andrea Widburg. What the judge should do is tell Trumps lawyers to file immediately a dispositive motion to dismiss the case, and then she should instantly rule on itin Trumps favor. After that, the matter can be put on an accelerated track to the Supreme Court because (a) Trumps unique status as president makes this an original issue about which no higher court has yet opined and (b) it is a matter of national importance. Even if Trump is having a hard time retaining counsel (given that radical leftists are using McCarthy tactics to disbar conservative attorneys, destroying their livelihoods), and even if his attorneys are mediocre (I have no idea whether they are or not), it shouldnt be difficult to craft a colorable motion to dismiss. The internet is overflowing with people pointing out the myriad abuses in the complaint. Trumps position as president meant he had plenary, or absolute, power over national security questions, including the classification scheme. Anything he removed from the White House to the slightly lessened security of Mar-a-Lago (the Secret Service is always there) was de facto declassified. Even if Trump said he couldnt share something because of its security status, that simply means that, as president, he had lowered the classificationsomething, again, within his absolute authoritysomething Trump intuitively understood, even if he didnt understand the legal nuances. Unlike Hillary, Biden, and Pence, who lacked that authority and therefore committed felonious national security violations, Trump could not violate the law. Its impossible. The National Archives is a subset of the executive branch of government. The bureaucrat cannot make rules overriding a presidents plenary constitutional power to declassify material, nor can it sic partisan DOJ and FBI officials on a former president to demand those materials. The Presidential Records Act cannot make rules overriding a presidents plenary constitutional power to declassify material. The Act is meant to prevent record destruction. The separation of powers means that, without a constitutional amendment, Congress has no control over a presidents classification decisions. The Espionage Act also has nothing to do with a presidents or former presidents handling of once-classified documents. It was intended to capture spies or others providing information, especially military information, to the enemy during a hot war (i.e., WWI, when the act was passed). Much of the Act, as passed, was unconstitutional and ended up being repealed. Lately, its been used to target whistleblowers who offend the federal government. The one thing it has nothing to do with is a president who declassifies documents. See? Easy arguments. All the charges against Trump are bogus out of the gate because of his unique constitutional status. Once the judge dismisses the case, the Biden administration will inevitably appeal. When that happens, one or the other party must petition the Supreme Court, arguing that the questions are purely legalthat is, no evidence needs to be developedand must be resolved instantly. All the above could be done in three weeks. Then, the Supreme Court must get off its tuchis and act instantly. And thats where the real risk comes in. You see, I dont trust the Supreme Court. Technically, it has a conservative majority but many of you have probably noticed that Roberts, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, and Coney Barrett frequently side with the leftists on the court, leaving Thomas and Alito to write principled dissents explaining how the Constitution worksand reminding Americans that, if you have a living constitution, that simply means judges make it up as they go along. (I dont know why those four justices have gone left, although a conspiratorial mind can think of lots of reasons, including blackmail and threats.) A principled Supreme Court will dismiss the case; an activist Supreme Court will nail Trump to the wallbut at least well know before the election season. If these reports from someone close to Tucker Carlson are true and I bet they are some very talented people seem to regard Fox News as a sinking ship and are hopping off. Chadwick Moore, a frequent guest on Tucker Carlson's former Fox News show and the author of a forthcoming biography of Tucker, revealed Saturday that 9 former staffers of his show have left the network to work for their old boss as he rolls out his new program on Twitter...and quite possibly a slate of other offerings there as his organization builds. My sources have now told me *NINE* former Tucker Carlson Tonight staffers have left Fox News to join Tucker on his next venture. There are others who are waiting to leave as soon as a role opens up for them with Tucker. Each of the 9 approached Tucker, not the other way around. Chadwick Moore (@Chadwick_Moore) June 17, 2023 Responding to a tweet, he indicated that the now-famous "chyron guy" is among those staffers. Good, I hope he took the Chyron guy. He's my hero. pic.twitter.com/9ku6Ftphg5 Renee MAGA girl in California. (@RDobihal) June 17, 2023 He did Chadwick Moore (@Chadwick_Moore) June 18, 2023 The Based Chyron Guy, Alex McCaskill, was a former Tucker Carlson Tonight producer who has now left Fox News after ten years, en route to joining Tuckers new team. He is one of at least three former producers who have left Fox to join Tuckers new venture. https://t.co/UioyIyk90L Chadwick Moore (@Chadwick_Moore) June 17, 2023 In subsequent tweets, he delved into aspects of apparent turmoil at Fox News, including the reported refusal of some guests to appear on the network anymore. Also, quietly, many familiar faces from Tucker Carlson Tonight are refusing to appear on Fox News since Tucker was bizarrely pulled off the airand not just the ones who got blacklisted for writing a book about him! Chadwick Moore (@Chadwick_Moore) June 17, 2023 It's no secret that ratings for Fox News have drastically fallen, to the point where MSNBC just took the title of most-watched cable news channel. MSNBC ended Fox News Channel's 120-week streak of first-place prime-time finishes among cable news networks, averaging 1.489 million, and finished first among all cable networks in the latest weekly ratings, largely in response to former President Trump's indictment in connection with his handling of classified records. That's got to really sting. I wonder what board members like Paul Ryan think of the decision to take Carlson off the air and to further antagonize his viewers by attempting to silence his Twitter show. And what about the Murdoch clan, whose fortune is heavily weighted with Fox Corporation stock, slimmed down after selling off the movie studio and other properties and now heavily dependent on FNC for its earnings? I don't know Carlson or any of his staff, but it was obvious to me as a viewer that he had assembled an effective group of producers, writers, bookers, and researchers, so I always expected that he would seek to employ them as he developed his new platform. After all, this split with Fox was forced upon him, so there likely was no strategic vision in place for his own platform. While he is reportedly wealthy from his $20-million Fox salary and family money, he may be raising larger amounts of capital for a broader and deeper challenge to Fox, capitalizing on the loyalty his fans are expressing. Given the amount of material Carlson produced for the Fox Nation streaming channel, it's a good bet that Carlson will be doing more documentaries, perhaps as a streaming channel charging a monthly fee, as Fox Corporation did. Or maybe he and Elon Musk have developed a strategy for monetizing a Twitter-based platform for such work. Given Musk's eagerness to find new revenue sources for Twitter, serving as an alternative platform to cable/satellite and streaming services might be quite a strategic investment for the world's richest man. Tucker made clear on his FNC show which of the on-air talent at Fox he most highly regarded, starting with Trace Gallagher, whom he called "the best in the business." Could Carlson go so far as developing an alternative cable news feed to compete with FNC 24/7? I have no idea. That would require a huge investment and a lot of time. But with Fox News's self-inflicted wounds apparently suppurating, it can't be ruled out. Anheuser-Busch and Target are not the only big corporations that have made extremely foolish decisions in order to placate the woke. They will be dealing with their crises for quite some time, as will Fox. A major segment of the public is angry at woke bullying and is determined to fight back, however long it takes. Hat tip: Daily Wire. The walls are closing in on the fascist far left's echo chamber; that's the reason they couldn't allow their outrage to show over Tucker Carlson's takedown of their dear leader. If you're one of the 30 million people who have viewed Ep. 4 of Tucker on Twitter, entitled Wannabe Dictator (or on Rumble, YouTube, or Odysee), you were treated to a master class in the deadpan satire that is the hallmark of Mr. Carlson as he mocked the left while having a rollicking good time doing it. It's even more hilarious when you consider that they had to ignore this serious affront to their dear leader because he turned one of their formerly favorite techniques against them. He invoked facts they are desperate to keep out of their echo chamber. Mr. Carlson predicted this in his video presentation. No one is ever allowed to invoke the facts of history when it comes to Hitler or the Nazis unless the far left does it as in the case of "Godwin's Law," where they get all authoritarian in shutting down historical debate unless it's framed a certain way. According to the nation's socialist left, it is verboten to compare them to the National Socialist German Workers' (Nazi) Party. Unless they're talking about President Trump: "Sure, call Trump a Nazi. Just make sure you know what you're talking about." Even worse, they've gone so far as to state a few years ago in the Washington Post: "Don't compare Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. It belittles Hitler." The inventor of "Godwin's Law" about Hitler comparisons on the Internet says they're not always inappropriate. Supposedly, referring to the facts of history "diminishes the significance and horror of what the Nazis did and represented" and "thereby insults all who suffered" unless it's the left invoking this to score cynical political points. As they say, if the Democrats didn't have double-standards, they wouldn't have any standards at all. What probably ground their gears was that Mr. Carlson was using a formerly favorite technique the left employs for "proving" that the Republicans, pro-freedom right, and later President Trump was fascist in some form. This technique involves the application of a list of subjective characteristics that always magically fit the target in question primarily because they're subjective. These are hard and fast lists of 12 no, wait, 14 specific characteristics that never change except when they do. They all seem to have originated with a list published on a now-defunct website, www.hippy.com ("no joke," to echo Beijing Biden). Over the years, the items on the lists changed around because we all know that these are "immutable characteristics" except when they aren't. In the first few months of President Trump's first term, the fascist far left suddenly changed the technique to one of long dissertations instead of discrete subjective criteria. This was probably because it became obvious that President Trump didn't fit the template, and the far left wanted to maintain the lie. What was even worse for the left was that the monologue referenced facts the far left wants to keep out of their echo chamber. For example, the video mentioned Hunter Biden and images we're familiar with from his laptop, but that story hasn't penetrated the cone of silence that is the one-sided media bubble of the left. We rummaged through many a far-left site in researching this story because who doesn't want to wade through extremist far-left propaganda? It's always a fun activity, like cutting through poison ivy or hitting your head against a brick wall. We wanted to see if they reacted to this video, and we noticed surprise, surprise that the far left isn't covering the Biden bribery scandal. If you want a good example of this, we present the opening paragraph from the New Republic, entitled "Inside the GOP's Latest Desperate Attempt to Smear Joe Biden: How low will Republicans go?" If you get your news on planet Earth, you agree with me that the biggest news story of last week was the federal indictment of Donald Trump. If, however, you get your news on planet Wingnuttia, you have been led to believe that while the Trump matter was certainly news, the bigger deal by several orders of magnitude was the "proof" that emerged last week that Joe Biden took a $5 million bribe from Ukraine and that Representative Jamie Raskin lied about it. You've also been told that the timing of the Trump indictment was no mere coincidenceit was handed down precisely to distract America from the "fact" of Biden's corruption. If all this is unfamiliar to you, don't worry. There is no such proof. Raskin, one of the most honorable public servants in America, who couldn't lie if you tortured him, did not utter a falsehood. "If all this is unfamiliar to you"? The piece states that as though even ongoing allegations of criminal activity of the Biden family far worse than is being alleged against President Trump aren't even newsworthy. By the way, take note of what the fascist far left thinks is part of our agenda: Their positions give more money to rich people, stop all abortions, take transgender children away from sympathetic parents, ban books, destroy the planet aren't popular, and they know this, so they have to make voters hate the Democrat. Does anyone recall seeing those on any party agenda for the pro-freedom right? And they have the cojones to call us liars. "Destroy the planet"? What do they think that the whole party is going to fly off in spaceships to another planet or something? So you see, they have to be selective in their outrage, lest they reveal too much of the Biden scandals, not to mention the fact that the Biden regime is unconstitutionally surveilling the people, something the people who pretend to be "liberal" used to claim they cared about. The irony in all this is that we're surrounded by the national socialist media, so we can't help but get pounded by their propaganda, while they can sit in a bubble and convince themselves they're getting "both" sides of the story. So do everyone a favor and pass along Tucker's latest. Who knows? Maybe it will make a little headway in opening up some echo chambers. D Parker is an engineer, inventor, wordsmith, and student of history, the director of communications for a civil rights organization, and a long-time contributor to conservative websites. Find him on Substack. Photo credit: Twitter video screen grab. Not long ago, we had armed forces to win wars or deliver a quick blow to our enemies. It kept the peace when the bad guys knew that they really couldn't hide. Just ask Qassem Soleimani, who had his New Year's plans terminated by a drone. Or the Christmas bombing in December 1972 that made the North Vietnamese cry "uncle" and negotiate an end to the Vietnam War. It's amazing what B-52s and fighter-bombers dropping 20,000 tons of bombs will do the enemy. Could we do that today? Probably yes, but there is concern about the growing "woke" in the U.S. armed forces. This is from the Washington Examiner: The Department of Defense proudly declares that "our mission is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security." If only that remained true. Today, the U.S. military's mission is increasingly distracted and its capability diluted by a focus on aping political correctness and identity politics. This theme will be the focus of a series of articles published this week for the Washington Examiner's Restoring America page, which will feature expert voices from leading organizations, including the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, the Independent Women's Forum, and Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services. The need for public attention to what is happening in the U.S. military is significant. Yes, significant, indeed. Maybe alarming, given that our enemies have not gone woke or the pronoun route. The timing of our going woke makes us vulnerable. After all, you have Taiwan. Russia, and Ukraine. China buying Cuba and turning it into a military outpost. Iran praising Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro. In other words, look around the globe, and you'll see our enemies reading military strategy and our side reading the 1619 Project. Yes, making our military strong again should be Topic 1 in the 2024 campaign. After all, nothing matters if we can't win wars or scare our enemies. PS: Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos. Image: US Army National Guard. Alright, gamers, its time to get excited yet again! Nintendo has its Direct presentation every couple of months, and the next one is happening tomorrow. These presentations are usually pretty short, but this next one might be a bit longer. According to The Verge, we should be looking at a 40-minute Nintendo Direct. Thats a pretty long time seeing as the expected roster of Switch games to finish out the year looks to be pretty light. Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom just launched, so thats one major release left out. However, thats not to say that there wont be a section dedicated to this smash hit release. The next Nintendo Direct will be a 40-minute show, so whats going on? The Japanese gaming company didnt give us much information about what its going to feature. It pointed to about 40 minutes of content surrounding Switch releases. There are some games that weve been waiting for for some time- it feels like ages at this point. One game is Pikmin 4. The Pikmin series hasnt seen many entries, but it still remains a popular franchise among fans. Hopefully, well either get a trailer, a release date, or a teaser. Something to let us know that Nintendo hasnt forgotten about it. Speaking of long-awaited titles, fans have their fingers crossed for news about Metroid Prime 4. The Prime series has been a popular staple in the franchise, bringing it into the 3D world. This game has been floating around for years. Weve even had Metroid Dread launch in the meantime. Now that people have finished that game, lets hope for some more Metroid action in the near future. These are just titles that were hoping to be brought up, so dont take this as an official forecast. The presentation could be about just about anything. The event is happening on June 21st, 10 AM EST. To create secure, peaceful environment for realizing human rights 13:27, June 20, 2023 By He Yin ( People's Daily Chinese President Xi Jinping recently sent a congratulatory letter to the Forum on Global Human Rights Governance. Noting that China advocates safeguarding human rights through security, Xi stressed the need to respect all countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity, jointly follow the path of peaceful development, act on the Global Security Initiative (GSI), and create a secure and peaceful environment for realizing human rights. Xi's remarks profoundly expounded on the relations between security and human rights, and emphasized the significance of acting on the GSI for realizing human rights, offering a Chinese plan for maintaining a secure environment for safeguarding human rights. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person, said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Peace and security is the basic prerequisite for the promotion and protection of human rights. Without peace and security, all human rights cannot be realized. At present, global human rights governance is facing severe challenges characterized by emerging threats against world peace and security. Regional security hotspots keep flaring up, local conflicts and turbulence occur frequently, and traditional and non-traditional security threats are entwined. At a time when humanitarian crises created by wars and conflicts are still troubling Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and other countries, a few countries are arbitrarily instigating confrontation, creating contradictions and intensifying conflicts, bringing new security threats to the world. "Security is the precondition for development. We humanity are living in an indivisible security community," Xi said in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022 in April last year. In the speech, he solemnly proposed the GSI, stressing that the world should stay committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and work to create a new path to security featuring dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance and win-win over zero-sum. What he said has been broadly recognized and supported by the international community. In February this year, China officially released the Global Security Initiative Concept Paper, which systematically explains the core ideas and principles of the GSI, and identifies the priorities, platforms and mechanisms of cooperation. The GSI provides ideas for solving global security issues and demonstrates China's wisdom in improving global human rights governance through maintaining world peace and stability. Ong Tee Keat, chairman of Malaysia-based think tank the Center for New Inclusive Asia, noted that the universal and inviolable value of human rights is being endlessly and severely tested in global governance today. He believes the GSI addresses both traditional and non-traditional security issues, and lays a foundation for building a new security framework. It is China's distinctive aspiration to achieve lasting world peace, so that all countries can enjoy a peaceful and stable external environment and their people can live a happy life with their rights fully guaranteed. China's efforts to implement the GSI and build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture are expected to create a more peaceful and secure environment for the world and ensure a realistic basis for protecting and realizing human rights. On the Ukraine crisis, China always stands on the side of peace. Its core stance is to facilitate talks for peace. It advocates for jointly improving the humanitarian situation in the regions and has offered batches of humanitarian assistance. The country has worked to help Saudi Arabia and Iran resume bilateral diplomatic ties, which has promoted reconciliation in the Middle East and offered a rare opportunity for alleviating humanitarian crises in Syria, Yemen and other countries. China supports the peaceful reconstruction of Afghanistan, continues to assist within its capacity for the reconstruction and development of the country, and helps to solve Afghanistan's humanitarian and refugee issues. These concrete actions to maintain world peace and stability demonstrate that China is a responsible major country in improving global human rights governance. The common interest of all humankind is in a world united and peaceful rather than divided and volatile, which helps protect and promote human rights. To maintain international peace and security, promote economic and social advancement and encourage respect for human rights are the three missions of the United Nations stipulated in the UN Charter. China always adheres to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, respects all countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity, and does not interfere in other countries' internal affairs. It supports all countries to choose independently the path for human rights development in accordance with their national conditions, and opposes arbitrary blockades, sanctions and other hegemonic practices against other countries. China always believes that human rights should not be used as an excuse for meddling in other countries' internal affairs or holding back their development, and human rights issues should not be politicized, weaponized or instrumentalized. It opposes any practice to undermine world peace and stability under the disguise of human rights. The issue of security bears on the well-being of people of all countries, the lofty cause of world peace and development, and the future of humanity. China will stay committed to the path of peaceful development. It is ready to work with the international community to follow the GSI and build a world that is free from fear and enjoys universal security, making constant contributions to protecting and promoting human rights. (Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun) Ruling People Power Party Chairman Kim Gi-hyeon speaks during a plenary session of the National Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap Immigration expansion possible alternative solution to low birthrate By Nam Hyun-woo Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, chairman of the ruling People Power Party, pledged, Tuesday, to scrap the voting rights of Chinese nationals in Korea, stressing "the principle of reciprocity" between Seoul and Beijing. The move appears to be an attempt to exploit growing anti-China sentiment among Koreans, which has been escalating following Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Xing Haiming's recent comment that Seoul is making the "wrong bet" by leaning toward the United States. "There is a national assignment that we must achieve to protect our people's interests," Kim said in a speech during a negotiation group meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul. "It is building foreign relations based on the principle of reciprocity. We need to reorganize our relations with China." He said that more than 100,000 Chinese nationals here had the right to vote in the local elections last June, but no Korean nationals in China are able to cast their ballots there. "Why should we be the only one to open the gate? It is fair for Korea not to give voting rights to those from countries which do not give voting rights to Koreans." Kim also criticized that the health insurance coverage for Chinese nationals in Korea is "way broader" than Koreans living in China receive. "Chinese are enjoying greater benefits. This is inappropriate and unfair," Kim said. "We should stop wasting our national health insurance fund, which was established by our people's precious efforts, on foreigners' medical tourism. We should prevent health insurance fraud and free-riding on the health insurance system." A voter submits a ballot at a polling station in western Seoul's Mapo District during the local elections on June 1, 2022. Korea Times photo by Hong In-kee Apple just joined the long list of companies that banned ChatGPT from being used internally. Prior to this, some other companies also prohibited employees from using ChatGPT over the leak of confidential materials. As an AI-driven chatbot, ChatGPT uses natural language processing to generate responses to user queries. It was developed by OpenAI and has been widely used by companies for various purposes, including customer service and internal communication. The chatbot may learn from the data it gets since it employs machine learning algorithms to respond. This might enable the chatbot to gain access to private information about Apples trade secrets. The company is known to be highly secretive about its operations. Any data breach could put Apples business and reputation at considerable risk. Apple employees can no longer use ChatGPT internally According to an internal document that The Wall Street Journal reviewed, the tech giant notified its employees about the ban and asked them not to share confidential data with the ChatGPT. GitHubs automated coding tool, Copilot, is another tool hit with the Apple ban. The news comes after Google also warned its employees about using AI chatbots and sharing data with them. Google even asks employees to be cautious when sharing data with the companys AI chatbot Bard. In another instance, it was reported in early April that ChatGPT had leaked Samsung semiconductor information. All in all, Apples concerns seem justified. The quality of the responses produced by ChatGPT may further justify the ban. The chatbot can produce accurate and pertinent responses, but there is always a chance that it can give inaccurate or misleading information. This could harm Apples business operations and confuse employees. Apples plans for AI and chatbots remained vague. The sources constantly say Apple is working on a rival for ChatGPT while the company has not yet shown any clue. With OpenAIs decision to launch the ChatGPT iOS app, Apple could face a serious setback in the future. Samsungs next Galaxy Unpacked event is just over a month away. The company will launch a bunch of new Galaxy products at the upcoming event in late July. Ahead of that, the company is busy picking up necessary regulatory approvals for the new devices. The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, which is part of this bunch, has just received the NBTC (National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission) certification in Thailand. The Thai regulatory body has listed the device with the model number SM-R955F (via). Thats the global version of the 42mm Galaxy Watch 6 Classic with cellular connectivity. The documents uploaded on the website confirm the name of the product along with LTE connectivity. The same watch will also come in a Bluetooth version, bearing the model number SM-R950F. The 46mm model, meanwhile, bears model numbers SM-R960F (Bluetooth) and SM-965F (LTE). The Galaxy Watch 6 series will bring a few notable upgrades This certification listing doesnt reveal anything else about the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. But there have been plenty of leaks and rumors about the device in the past, so we already know quite a lot about it. The new watch will bring back Samsungs signatory physical rotating bezel after the company decided to omit it from the Galaxy Watch 5 series last year. There will also be a vanilla Galaxy Watch 6 without the bezel ring, though. It will come in 40mm (SM-R930 and SM-R935) and 42mm (SM-R940 and SM-R945) sizes. Like last year, Samsung will ship the new smartwatches with 10W of maximum wireless charging speed. However, the company is marginally increasing the battery capacity of the new watches. Rumors are that the 40mm and 42mm models will feature a 300mAh battery (up from 284mAh), while the 44mm and 46mm models get a 425mAh battery (up from 410mAh). The Galaxy Watch 6 series is also getting an improved Exynos W930 chip. It might help further increase the battery life of the new wrist wearables. In terms of looks, there isnt much Samsung could change. But it has reportedly managed to shrink the bezel a bit, giving the watches a more premium look. An unchanged size with slimmer bezels means the Galaxy Watch 6 series features slightly bigger screens, and sharper too. The new watches should also bring software improvements thanks to Wear OS 4-based One UI Watch 5. Wear OS 4 itself is based on Android 13, a jump from Android 11 for Wear OS 3. Samsung may offer more advanced health features with the Galaxy Watch 6 series. Stay tuned for the official launch next month. Nokia is readying a new budget 5G smartphone, or two. The company may launch the same device with two different names in different parts of the world. The US version of the phone may be called the Nokia G310 5G, while the Finnish brand may sell it as the Nokia G42 5G in other markets. We dont yet have a precise launch date, though. Rumors about the Nokia G42 5G have been doing rounds on the internet since May-end. Codenamed Shadow, the device leaked in a retail listing to give us some early specs last month. A Geekbench entry followed soon, divulging more details. Now, the unannounced phone has popped up on the Bluetooth SIG website with detailed specs. The listing also confirms the existence of a rebranded version for the US market, i.e. Nokia G310 5G. Spotted by Nokiamob.net, the Bluetooth SIG certification for the upcoming Nokia phone mentions three model numbers: TA-1573, TA-1581, and TA-1591. The former corresponds to the Nokia G310 5G while the latter two are for the Nokia G42 5G. However, the listed specs of the two devices are the same. Theres not a single difference, confirming that they are the same device with different names. The publication says the former is the US version. Nokia G42 5G and Nokia G310 5G specs As far as specs are concerned, the new Nokia phones feature a 6.56-inch HD+ (720 x 1,612 pixels) display with a 90Hz refresh rate. The screen has an aspect ratio of 20:9 and comes with a V-shaped centered notch at the top. HMD Global, the Finnish company that makes Nokia-branded phones, has slapped a 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3 panel over the screen for added protection. The display offers a maximum brightness of 560 nits, with a typical brightness of 450 nits and a minimum brightness of 400 nits, Bluetooth SIG confirms. The Nokia G42 5G and Nokia G310 5G are both powered by Qualcomms Snapdragon 480+ 5G processor. Earlier leaks have revealed that the chipset will be paired with 4GB and 6GB of RAM options, along with 128GB of storage. The Adreno 619 GPU will handle the graphics duties. The phones may pack a 5,000mAh battery and support at least 20W of fast wired charging. Other highlights include dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 5.1, and FM. The US version may also include NFC. The devices may debut soon in Grey and Purple colors, running Android 13 out of the box. Its no secret that Reddit has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. However, back in February, Reddit also fell victim to a sophisticated phishing hack, which resulted in the leak of confidential internal documents, codes, contracts, and some personal information belonging to advertisers. Now, in a recent development, the notorious ransomware group, BlackCat, has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack. The group is not only demanding a ransom of $4.5 million but also wants Reddit to revert its recently proposed API pricing changes, which had sparked protests from users and moderators. How did the Reddit hack occur? The attackers managed to breach Reddits security system by creating a deceptive website that closely resembled the companys intranet gateway. Therefore, when unsuspecting employees unknowingly disclosed their login details and 2FA codes through carefully crafted prompts on this fake site, the hackers gained access to the system. However, Reddit has assured its users that the hackers did not gain access to any non-public user data. Demands aligning with Reddits API issue The timing of BlackCats revelation is particularly noteworthy, as it aligns with the public outrage caused by Reddits recent decision to charge companies for API access. This decision has already led to the shutdown of many popular apps, such as Narwhal and Apollo. And despite the criticism, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has repeatedly defended the companys proposed changes, stating that the platform was not originally designed to support third-party apps and that they would not reconsider their position. These people who are mad, theyre mad because they used to get something for free, and now its going to be not free, said Reddit CEO Steve Huffman. But this new demand adds further complexity to the already turbulent situation. This is because, in addition to seeking financial gain, the group is now attempting to influence policies and shape the actions of its target. However, the impact of this new development on API prices remains uncertain, as the company is yet to issue an official statement in response to the demands. Samsung is holding multiple company-wide strategy meetings this week to discuss business plans to tackle the ongoing economic uncertainty. These meetings will be attended by hundreds of senior executives from the companys various global offices. The conference has already begun and will run through at least Thursday. Samsung executives will discuss business plans during this meeting This is the first of Samsungs bi-annual executive meetings this year. The company will hold another at the end of the year, in December. It did the same last year as well. The Korean behemoth also held a separate emergency meeting of its CEOs in December 2022, though. That conference of Samsungs top-level executives was said to be the first of its kind in six years. It came as the market started slowing down, and it still hasnt improved. The company is now holding another big leadership meeting. According to the Korean media, Samsung executives will discuss various pending issues as well as future business plans and strategies during the ongoing meetings. It wants to work out a way to navigate the current economic challenges as early as possible. Sales of most electronic products, including smartphones, have dropped globally as consumers spend cautiously. Several geopolitical tensions have also affected the tech industry supply chains. The chip/semiconductor division, meanwhile, is affected by a price drop. The latest mega meeting of Samsung executives began today, Yonhap News reports. The Korean publication didnt reveal the venue of the conference but it appears to be taking place in the companys homeland South Korea. The report added that Samsungs chip division will only hold a one-day meeting, so it ends today itself. Perhaps considering the Korean time (GMT+9), it may have already ended. The company posted its first quarterly losses from the chip business in 14 years in the first quarter of 2023. Advertisement Samsungs mobile division is holding multiple meetings this week Meanwhile, the mobile division (which also includes home appliances) plans to hold multiple meetings until Thursday. Samsung has been the worlds largest smartphone company for the past several years, but its market share has been dropping lately. Arch-rival Apple is closing the gap to it, threatening to take the crown soon. The South Korean firm may be looking to devise ways to fend off the iPhone maker. Samsung is gearing up to launch new foldables, tablets, and smartwatches next month. The upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event may also be on the agenda of these meetings. The head of PlayStation Mobile Nicola Sebastiani is out, reports MobileGamer.biz. While all of the details of Sebastianis departure are not entirely clear, its being said that he left the company to pursue a new, undisclosed opportunity. The decision to leave probably comes as a surprise. After all Sonys PlayStation Mobile division is a fledgling segment of its gaming arm. It was established in July of 2021 so its not even a full two years old. Sony has also yet to release any games under that division. Sebastiani joined the team at SIE as head of PlayStation Mobile for PlayStation Studios shortly after the division was created. Sony brought him over from Apple where he previously heled the roles of head of business management and content lead for Apple Arcade. During his time with SIE, he helped Sony acquire Savage Game Studios. Although that studio itself is young and was only just created in 2020, it was already working on a AAA live service action game for mobile. Which it now will be launching under the PlayStation Mobile umbrella. Sony has already replaced the head of PlayStation Mobile Without a person to head up the division, things could easily slow down and come to a crawl. But it seems that wont be the case here as Sony has already replaced Sebastiani. Both Kris Davies and Olivier Courtemanche are reported to have been appointed as co-heads of PlayStation Mobile at PlayStation Studios. Both also worked at SIE in the PlayStation Mobile division in previous roles. Having both been brought on in 2022. Sony has yet to release a game under this new division. Its also not clear which games the division is working on other than the unannounced title from Savage Game Studios. But SIE President Jim Ryan has said in the past that he wants to bring PlayStations first party IP to mobile. More than 15 million was spent and 15,000 police officers were deployed in Scotland during operations following the Queens death, papers have shown. Meeting papers due to be discussed at the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) meeting on Wednesday show 15,618,640 was spent on Operation Unicorn, part of the wider UK plan which was implemented when Queen Elizabeth II died in Scotland last year. Police Scotland has since recouped the money from the Scottish and UK governments. They also showed 15,000 officers were deployed across events in Scotland in the days leading up to the late Queens funeral. The meeting will discuss Operation Unicorn and what lessons can be learned from it as well as best practice which can inform events of a future scale. The procession of Queen Elizabeth IIs coffin in Edinburgh (Jon Super/PA) Police Scotland had been planning for the eventuality of the late Queens death for a number of years the papers reveal, with a dedicated team set up in the last four years to review the development and delivery. Operationally, the day of the Queens death was to be known as D-Day but the King announced this would come on September 9, the first day after the late Queen died. Instead, Thursday September 8 was D-Day minus one an event the papers reveal Police Scotland had not planned for. Operationally, the partnership approach employed by Police Scotland in the lead up to the Queens death worked very well the papers suggest, but in hindsight the team should have been increased in later years as the focus on the late Queens health intensified. The SPA has recommended frequent command meetings should be held with testing and exercises taking place regularly. Staff were applauded for their work during the five days of events in Scotland with the papers noting their commitment and attitude. The paper stated: The work that was required, and pressures placed upon, Resource Deployment Unit (RDU) was immense and they performed incredibly well. Social media personality Andrew Tate has been charged with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to exploit women, Romanian prosecutors said. Tate and his brother Tristan, both dual UK-US nationals, and two Romanian nationals have been under house arrest for months during a police investigation. According to a translation of the statement, the prosecutors said there were seven female alleged victims, including some who were misled by false claims of marriage and love. It said the defendants formed an organised crime group in early 2021 to commit human trafficking in Romania, the UK, the US and other countries. Andrew Tate The alleged victims were later taken to buildings in Ilfov county in Romania where they were intimidated, placed under constant surveillance and control and forced into debt, the statement said. It is said the defendants then forced them to take part in pornography which was later shared on social media. One defendant raped an alleged victim twice in March 2022, according to the statement. A number of campaign groups have claimed Tates views make him a danger to young men and boys who see his content online. Tate, who has lived in Romania since 2017, was previously banned from various social media platforms. The former kickboxer has previously denied all allegations of abuse and trafficking. A file has been sent to a court in Bucharest, according to the prosecutors. It is understood a trial will not begin immediately and a judge will have up to 60 days to assess the file. The Tories must end their civil war centring on Boris Johnson, a Cabinet minister has said, as he defended Rishi Sunaks decision to dodge the vote branding him a liar. Mel Stride said on Monday that the caravan has got to move on from the former prime minister after the Commons overwhelmingly backed the sanctions against him. But Mr Sunak has been accused of a cowardly cop-out by avoiding the vote on the Privileges Committees findings that Mr Johnson deliberately misled MPs over partygate. The Prime Minister was accused by Labour of being too weak to stand up to his predecessor, who still commands a fan base among Conservative voters. Mr Stride said Mr Sunak had been busy with long-standing events including hosting his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, on Monday and did not want to exert pressure on colleagues. Rishi Sunak is under pressure after dodging the vote (Susannah Ireland/PA) The Work and Pensions Secretary told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I dont think it is odd that he should be in a position before a vote which is a free vote in which he has made clear it is for the House to decide on these matters. I dont think its odd that under those circumstances he wouldnt want to weigh in and start suggesting a particular course of action. Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said Mr Sunak had committed a cowardly cop-out. Mel Stride defended the Prime Minister (Victoria Jones/PA) Mr Stride told Times Radio he totally accepts the committees findings and defended it from attacks, saying its members acted with absolute integrity and diligence. But he said he abstained because the 90-day suspension that would have been recommended if Mr Johnson had not resigned in anticipation of the findings made him feel quite uneasy. My hope is that Boris Johnson, the current Cabinet that we can all row together now and focus on what people really care about, he added. Only seven MPs voted against the report, with even some of Mr Johnsons staunchest allies abstaining. But the vote has deepened the tensions with the Tory party, which have seen the former prime minister openly criticising Mr Sunak. Much of the Government payroll did not take part in the vote but some Cabinet ministers including Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk chose to support it. Joy Morrissey, who was appointed assistant whip by Mr Johnson and continues to hold the role under Mr Sunak, said she joined those voting against the deeply flawed report. This report with all its flaws risks a chilling impact on the rights of parliamentarians and I felt I needed to make a stand against that. It sets precedents that will last long and reach deep, she wrote on her website. Debating the report, Tory former premier Theresa May urged Conservatives to show that we are prepared to act when one of our own, however senior, is found wanting. Mr Johnson will be denied the pass to Parliament usually granted to former MPs after the sanction recommended by the cross-party committee was endorsed by 354 votes. Mr Stride said Mr Johnson is in a difficult situation, adding to Today: I think really the caravan has got to move on from Boris Johnson, with respect. But a row continues over Mr Johnsons resignation honours list after a video emerged of a mid-lockdown party at Conservative Campaign Headquarters attended by Tory politician Shaun Bailey. Senior Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood said the former London mayoral candidate should reconsider the peerage handed to him by the former prime minister. The former minister told Today that there are big questions surrounding it, adding: Absolutely he needs to consider that, if Im frank. He urged Mr Sunak to grasp the wider issue of peerages, adding: You cant simply have prime ministers stuffing the Lords with their friends. Mr Ellwood added: If theres anything to come of this I really encourage Mr Sunak to now draw a line under Boris Johnsons tenure and indeed influence over the parliamentary party. Mr Stride suggested there could be a way to remove Mr Baileys peerage if the Metropolitan Police come to a damning conclusion about the event in December 2020. There are then mechanisms involving the Forfeiture Committee that can lead to changes to honours that have been given in the past. But I dont want to start pre-judging that process, he told Today. However, the Forfeiture Committee deals with honours such as knighthoods rather than peerages, which can only be removed by an act of Parliament. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Tuesday called on the military to make full preparations for a successful launch of its drone operations command later this year to respond "effectively and overwhelmingly" to North Korean drone provocations. Han made the remarks while presiding over a weekly Cabinet meeting during which a bill on the establishment of the drone operations command was approved. He asked the defense ministry and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to "make every effort to ensure the new drone command can be launched without a hitch so that it can carry out perfect operations early." "Late last year, North Korea used unmanned aircraft to trespass into our airspace. Provocations that threaten peace and security on the Korean Peninsula have not stopped even recently," Han said, stressing a thorough response posture to overwhelmingly deter any provocation from the North. He also said any attempt by the North to shake South Korea and the international community will never succeed. The drone operations command is scheduled to be established in September to carry out various missions by utilizing the unmanned aircraft, including surveillance and reconnaissance, psychological warfare, electromagnetic warfare and strike operations, according to the defense ministry. (Yonhap) Scientists are hopeful that a new method of treating bowel cancer can be found after their research solved a decades-long riddle of why the immune system of patients ignores the disease. Researchers at the University of Glasgow and Cancer Research UKs Beatson Institute have discovered how bowel cancer blinds the immune system so it cannot see the cancer and renders it unable to destroy it. Dr Seth Coffelt, who led the research, said: Normally, immune cells keep things as they should be, patrolling the bowel like security guards, tackling any harmful bacteria and keeping the gut healthy. However, when cells in the bowel become cancerous, they fire these security guards and all the methods these immune cells use to talk to each other to co-ordinate an immune response no longer get produced. Cancer doesnt want immune cells recognising them as a threat, so they manipulate the immune cells so they cant see the threat and simply pass on by leaving the cancer to do its damage. Scientists have said the discovery, published in Cancer Immunology Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, opens the door to potentially reversing or preventing this process. It would allow the immune system to see the bowel cancer cells and stop them from growing and multiplying. 1/2 Scientists at the @CRUK_BI and @UofGlasgow believe they know how bowel cancer blinds the immune system so it cant see the cancer and is therefore unable to destroy it. The latest research was funded by @CRUKScotland @The_MRC and @wellcometrust.https://t.co/8vQZEKx3io pic.twitter.com/UmqQgDJcuz UofG MVLS (@UofGMVLS) June 20, 2023 Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the UK, with about 16,800 deaths in the country every year or 46 every day. In Scotland, around 4,000 people are diagnosed with the disease every year. As part of the work, the Glasgow-based researchers focused on a particular type of immune cell called gamma delta T cells. Bowel cancer begins in the epithelial cells which line the bowel and these T cells patrol this area attacking any threats, such as damaged cells or small tumours, before they cause harm. Scientists already knew that when bowel cancer is present, immune cells that can kill cancer do not often act against the bowel cancer, but they did not know why. Using tissue samples from bowel cancer tumours donated by patients in Scotland, and other countries, scientists were able to identify the specific mechanism the cancer cells use to rewire the gamma delta T cells on a molecular level. The team which made the discovery is now hopeful further research could offer treatments which could reverse that process. Discovering how the cancer calls trick the immune system offers potential for new treatments which could reactivate these immune cells, researchers said. Dr Coffelt said: Our discovery means that if a way can be found to artificially engage the blinded T cells with a drug so that the T cells can see the cancer again, we could find a new effective way to treat bowel cancer. The research also won funding from the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. Five people are on board the submersible tourist vessel which went missing during a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck off the coast of Canada, as a major search and rescue mission works around the clock to locate the Titan submersible. UK-based businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman have been named as two of the people on board, reportedly together with French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet, chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions Stockton Rush, and British billionaire and pilot Hamish Harding. Shahzada and Suleman Dawood The father and son belong to one of Pakistans most prominent families. Shahzada, 48, is vice-chairman of Pakistani conglomerate Engro Corporation, and an adviser to the Kings charity, Princes Trust International, with a focus on its work in Pakistan. It is understood the Dawood family, who live in Surbiton, south-west London, are in Canada for a month. Neighbours of the family told the Telegraph they are very good neighbours, nice interesting people and said the son, Suleman, is 19. With an LLB in law from the University of Buckingham and an MSc in textile marketing from Philadelphia University, Mr Dawood has held several trustee and director roles across several companies. He became a director of the Dawood Hercules Corporation in 1996, and served as vice chairman between 2018 and 2021, according to his LinkedIn profile. The company is an investment holding platform, of which Engro Corporation is a subsidiary. Mr Dawoods father, Hussain Dawood, was a founding patron of Princes Trust International, according to the charity. (PA Graphics) Stockton Rush The chief executive and founder of OceanGate Expeditions, Stockton Rush originally trained as a pilot, becoming the youngest jet transport rated pilot in the world aged 19 in 1981, according to his profile on the OceanGate website. He has been married to Wendy Rush, nee Weil, since 1986, with their wedding announcement published in the New York Times. Ms Weil is listed as the director of communications for OceanGate and a Comms and Tracking Team Member for the Titanic expedition on her LinkedIn page. In a 2017 interview with the alumni magazine for Princeton University, where he studied mechanical aerospace engineering, he said: I was interested in exploration. I thought it was space exploration. I thought it was Star Trek and 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars and then I realised, its all in the ocean. Mr Rush co-founded OceanGate in 2009, and has led crewed expeditions to remote ocean locations including the Titanic. He is also the founder and member of the board of trustees of the linked charity organisation OceanGate Foundation, which uses marine technology to develop understanding of marine science, history and archaeology. Alongside this work, Mr Rush has also overseen development of a number of companies, experimental ventures and inventions, including serving on the board of directors for Seattles BlueView Technologies, a manufacturer of small, high-frequency sonar, and as chairman of Remote Control Technology Inc, producing wireless remote-control devices for companies including Boeing. According to his OceanGate biography he built his own aircraft, which he flew himself, and has undertaken more than 30 dives in a modified two-man submersible. The OceanGate Expeditions submersible vessel named Titan (American Photo Archive/Alamy/PA) He told Sky News in February that he was struck by how beautiful the Titanic was on a previous visit. Mr Rush said: What really strikes you is how beautiful it is. You dont normally see that on a shipwreck. It is an amazingly beautiful wreck. Paul-Henry Nargeolet A former commander who served in the French navy for 25 years, Mr Nargeolet, reportedly 77, was in the first human expedition to visit the ship in 1987, according to the Telegraph. After his career in the French navy, where he was captain of the deep submergence group, he held a number of roles in deep diving and piloting submersibles, including acting as director of DESM, noted on his LinkedIn profile as a French deep diving equipment company. Sky News has reported that he joined the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of the Sea, after the navy, according to The Five Deeps Expedition a company that assembles scientists, engineers and submersible operators for missions. As director of the Underwater Research Programme with RMS Titanic Inc, he led the retrieval of items from the Titanic, across several expeditions. He lives in Connecticut, US, while his adult children live in Cork, Ireland, the Telegraph has reported. The submersible vessel Titan was being used to visit the wreckage site of the Titanic (American Photo Archive/Alamy/PA) Last year he published a book in France about his experiences with the Titanic, Dans Les Profondeurs Du Titanic (In The Depths Of The Titanic). In an interview with the Irish Examiner in 2019 he said: If you are 11 metres or 11 kilometres down, if something bad happens, the result is the same. When youre in very deep water, youre dead before you realise that something is wrong, so its just not a problem. Hamish Harding The billionaire pilot and chairman of Action Aviation, a sales and operations company which manages private jet sales among other business aviation services, shared on his Instagram account that he had joined the Ocean Gate expedition as a mission specialist. Mr Harding, 58, is based in the UAE where the Action Aviation HQ is located, and presents himself in personal social media biographies as a world explorer. His friend, the marine scientist James Mearn, characterised him as very charming and very adventurous in an interview with the BBCs World at One. According to multiple reports, he has two sons, named Rory and Giles, a stepdaughter named Lauren and a stepson, Brian Szasz, and his wife is called Linda. Hamish Harding is one of five people on board the missing submersible tourist vessel (Dirty Dozen Productions/PA) On the Action Aviation website profile Mr Harding writes the company is the professional representative of choice for large aircraft transactions between heads of state, VIPs, Fortune 100 companies and international corporations. Mr Harding holds several Guinness world records, including the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth via the North and South Poles by an aircraft, in 46 hours, 40 minutes and 22 seconds. In March 2021 he was awarded the record for the longest time traversing the deepest part of the ocean on a single dive, alongside Victor Vescovo, at four hours 15 minutes along the sea floor of Challenger Deep in the western Pacific Ocean. In an interview with the Dubai-based Khaleej Times newspaper, Mr Harding said of this expedition: I have always wanted to venture into uncharted territories. THat got me interested in embarking on adventures and explorations, in general. He said he often took his son Giles with him on these trips, including another world-record beating journey to the South Pole when Giles, aged 12, became the youngest person to have visited. Last year, he also took part in the fifth human space flight by Jeff Bezos aerospace company Blue Origin, according to Sky News. Tens of thousands of people with cancer have experienced delays to vital cancer checks and tests over the last decade, a charity has claimed. Macmillan Cancer Support said that cancer care is in crisis due to years of governments failing to act after its new analysis found 180,000 people waited too long for diagnosis tests or to start treatment across the UK over the last 10 years. The charity came to the figure after analysing data on cancer waiting time targets across the UK since 2014. It said that performance against Government-set cancer waiting times targets fell to the worst on record in 2022 in all four UK nations. Meanwhile, a survey of almost 2,500 adults in the UK who have had a cancer diagnosis in the last 10 years, conducted by the polling company YouGov on behalf of the charity, found that 556 had experienced a delay to treatment and diagnosis. Among these, 23% of these said the delay had seen their symptoms get worse or make their cancer incurable or led to them having fewer treatment options. Gemma Peters, chief executive at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: Cancer care is in crisis after years of governments failing to act. Every single person who has faced a worse outcome from their cancer diagnosis because of delays will know the devastating impact that waiting has had on their lives, from the burden of anxiety that their cancer is growing, and for many, the devastating news that their cancer is now incurable. This is categorically unacceptable and entirely avoidable. Governments can turn things around if they act now immediate action will start to tackle the issues people are facing right now, and governments must implement longer-term solutions for everyone affected by cancer in the years to come. That is why Macmillan is launching our new What Are We Waiting For? campaign, calling on all four UK governments to commit to providing the NHS with the funding and support needed to ensure everyone, everywhere gets the potentially life-saving cancer care they desperately need, on time. The charity said it has been contacted by NHS cancer care workers who have expressed dismay at not having the staff or resources they need to provide quality care as quickly as they need to. Naman Julka-Anderson, an advanced practice therapeutic radiographer and an allied health professional clinical advisor for Macmillan Cancer Support, said: Ive had patients arrive for their radical chemotherapy appointment who wait three hours only to be told that because of staff shortages, we cant deliver their treatment today; its inhumane. Patients are really struggling with having to constantly push for their own treatment, support, and just about anything that they need, due to Government inaction. One lung cancer patient said she should not have to ring up and beg for appointments. Jules Fielder, 39, from Hastings, told the charity: The pressures on the NHS are already showing, and its heartbreaking. Just last week, I was called the day before my three-month scan to tell me it was cancelled once again. I rely on my scans; they are my lifeline. I shouldnt be ringing up my team begging for my appointments. I am living life heightened where Im so on edge about my appointments being cancelled, and so anxious that my phone is going to ring with another cancellation. Its affecting everybody around me; my family, my friends, my son, theyre all suffering. I have the disease in my body, but my husband and my son are on the same journey with me. A Scottish Government spokesperson said: Cancer remains a national priority for the NHS and Scottish Government which is why last week we published a new 10-year strategy, focused on improving cancer survival and providing equitable access to treatment. We are committed to detecting cancer earlier and faster, continuing to invest in cancer diagnostics and waiting times. We have also established a network of Urology Diagnostic Hubs, are investing in optimal cancer diagnostic pathways and activating additional Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services across Scotland. The pandemic had a significant impact on all aspects of health and social care, and cancer services were no exception. This new Cancer Strategy will make sure we are properly delivering these vital services and clearly directing future investments. A spokesman for the Department of Health in Northern Ireland said: The Cancer Strategy 2022-2032 sets the direction of travel for cancer services for the next 10 years with the vision to ensure everyone in Northern Ireland has equitable and timely access to the most effective, evidence-based referral, diagnosis, treatment, support and person-centred cancer care. Implementation of the strategy is ongoing, however, the department is aware that there are very significant pressures currently impacting on the delivery of all aspects of cancer care in Northern Ireland and it is extremely disappointing that the departments performance targets for cancer waiting times are not being met. The spokesman added that rapid diagnostic centres continue to be rolled out across Northern Ireland to reduce waiting times for diagnosis and that a wider review of clinical pathways was ongoing. A Welsh Government spokesperson later said: We are investing heavily in cancer services to train additional staff, build new facilities, increase early detection and provide rapid access to high-quality cancer care to ensure people receive the right treatment as quickly as possible. The NHS in Wales has set out a detailed approach in the Cancer Improvement Plan for Wales and this includes a number of actions to improve diagnosis and treatment of cancers, such as the introduction of rapid diagnostic centres. In addition, we announced 86 million for new cancer diagnostic and treatment facilities and are increasing the number of training places for specialists in cancer diagnosis, treatment and palliative care. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: Cutting waiting lists is one of this Governments five priorities and the NHS has seen and treated record numbers of cancer patients over the last two years, with cancer being diagnosed at an earlier stage more often and survival rates improving across almost all types of cancer. We have opened 108 community diagnostic centres that have delivered over four million additional tests, checks and scans including for cancer which is also one of the six conditions we are looking to tackle as part of our Major Conditions Strategy. There are more doctors, nurses and staff working in the NHS than ever before with 50% more cancer staff diagnosing and treating patients now compared to 2010 and we will soon set out plans to boost the healthcare workforce over the next five, 10 and 15 years. Macmillan Cancer Support released the figures as part of its new campaign What Are We Waiting For?, which is calling for government action to tackle the delays to treatment. Painstaking conversation work has yielded bumper broods of barn owls in Co Antrim. Some 14 chicks have been discovered in nests by the Lough Neagh Barn Owl Group. It comes after years of work by volunteers to help support the birds whose population has been under threat due to a loss of suitable habitat, extreme weather and the build up of toxins from poisoned prey. Ciaran Walsh, from the group, said they have more than 70 nest boxes located across the countryside from Toome to the outskirts of Belfast and as far south as Moira. The volunteers were able to access three boxes on Monday afternoon and place rings on the young birds to track their progress. We had three nests in total that we went round, the first nest had five chicks in it and we got to ring those, the second nest had five chicks in it and we got to ring those, and then the final nest had four chicks but they were all too young, too small to ring, but well go back in a number of weeks time and ring those chicks too, he told the PA news agency. We have another three nests but we cant access those. Theyre in chimneys of old farmhouses. We cant get in but we know there are chicks there. Once they start to fledge, well be able to count them but well not get to ring those ones. Mr Walsh said the newest chicks can be traced back to a then record brood of five chicks found in the area in 2018. It was then described as the largest barn owl brood recorded in Northern Ireland. He said: Its pretty good, that all stems back to the very first nest with the five chicks, and those chicks moving out and finding mates and breeding, staying in the area and building up the local population. The first nest with the five chicks in it, were fathered by one of the original five from 2018. Mr Walsh said the numbers are good this year, but said conservation tends to have ups and downs. He said recent good weather has seen mice and rats breed more which the chicks have been eating, helping them to grow to a strong weight. We knew it would come one day but it took its time, he said. Thats the way conservation is, you get a couple of steps forward then youll have setbacks. It moves slowly but once it moves, it makes a big jump. Theyre feeding well, one of the sites this morning we could see most of the prey were rats, and there has been a boom in young rats in that area and so the owl chicks are good and healthy as a result the chicks were so healthy and heavy, his scales couldnt weigh them theyve been eating well which is good as it sets them up well for the coming winter. The Lough Neagh barn owls have tended to stay within a 12km radius. We have put up loads of nest boxes, around 70 within a 12km radius, so hopefully theyll go to those boxes and thatll be next years growth, he said. He described keeping a check on all the nest boxes across the countryside as at times soul destroying. He said: But you do have to go and do it, we have boxes up at Toome, right out to the outskirts of Belfast and down to Moira so there is a lot of driving around, and most of the time they are just filled with jackdaws, not barn owls, so it is a bit soul destroying at times, but you know the good days will come like today. That makes it all worthwhile when you see the numbers starting to grow. If we hadnt put the nest boxes up the birds wouldnt be here. Its a good feeling. In Northern Ireland, barn owls are protected by the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order. It is an offence to intentionally or recklessly damage, destroy or disturb the bird, the nest, the egg or the dependant young at any time. An amended Bill to deal with the legacy of Northern Irelands troubled past now meets the Governments international human rights commitments, Chris Heaton-Harris has said. The Northern Ireland Secretary said he accepted that aspects of the legislation were controversial and uncomfortable but added that he believed it represented the best opportunity for families of those killed during the Troubles to get information about what happened to their loved ones. The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill proposes an effective offer of immunity from prosecution for perpetrators of crimes during the Troubles who co-operate with a truth-recovery body. It would also halt future civil cases and inquests linked to killings during the conflict. While the Government introduced a number of amendments to the Bill earlier this month, the Stormont parties, Irish government and victims groups remain opposed to it. A number of protests have been held against the Governments legacy Bill (Niall Carson/PA) As the amended Bill enters report stage in the House of Lords on Wednesday, Amnesty International urged peers to reject it and the Council of Europes Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, said it would violate international obligations. But, speaking to the Institute of Government in London, Mr Heaton-Harris said there had been a number of attempts to deal with the concerns of victims in Northern Ireland. He said: I was the Governments chief whip when it (the Bill) went through the Commons and it was fairly obvious that the Bill, in the state it went through the Commons, was causing concern. I am not saying that concern has gone away. We extended the amount of time so the Commons could air its views, it has had one of the longest committee stages in the Lords. It was essentially in committee over five months, we tabled a whole host of amendments. He added: We have introduced amendments which I believe do make it Article 2-compliant, so we are doing the right thing by international law. Investigations can continue. But it does contain conditional immunity for those that come forward and give true information to the commission we are setting up. It would then discharge that information in a report to the families who might have asked for it. I know that is controversial, I know that is uncomfortable, I know that is not perfect. It might just give some of the families enough information to feel comforted that they know what happened to their loved ones. I also know that for 25 years since the Troubles, these families have not had anything. Now, it is a generation that is passing on. I hope that when it is reported back to the House of Commons I will be able to stand up hand on heart and say this is an Article 2-compliant Bill. Grainne Teggart from Amnesty International called on peers to reject the deeply damaging bill (Liam McBurney/PA) Grainne Teggart, Amnesty International UKs Northern Ireland deputy director, said the UK Government should abandon the deeply damaging Bill. For a Bill so widely condemned both at home and on the international stage, it is staggering that the Government are intent on inflicting it on victims and perpetuating their trauma, she said. To add insult to injury, the UK Governments trailed game-changing amendments have only served to worsen the situation for victims. No number of amendments will save this Bill. Peers must continue to reject the Governments path to impunity and injustice. Victims deserve better, their rights must be protected. Michael OHare said victims were failed by the legacy Bill (Victoria Jones/PA) Michael OHare, whose 12-year-old sister Majella OHare was shot dead by a British soldier in Co Armagh 45 years ago, said the Bill fails victims. When a crime is committed, usually the victim is prioritised, but it is clear the UK Government arent prioritising us, he said. Their amendments change nothing: they are still protecting perpetrators who carried out serious acts of wrongdoing. We appreciate the strong opposition to date from peers to this Bill and it is vital that continues. At every stage, Government should be hearing that this disgraceful Bill fails victims. Legacy processes should be victim-centred, instead were being shamefully let down. Ms Mijatovic said the UK Government had ignored warnings that the legislation would violate international obligations. She said: I have repeatedly warned that the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill would undermine the human rights of victims, as well as truth-seeking, reconciliation and justice efforts. Despite this, the UK Government has decided to go ahead with the Bill in a way that does not recognise Northern Irelands violent past or honour the suffering of victims. Some National Crime Agency staff have been let off with written warnings for predatory sexual behaviour and senior staff accused of sexual misconduct moved to different departments rather than suspended, inspectors have found. Casual sexism is tolerated in parts the NCA and women have changed their career paths to avoid a toxic male culture present in some operational teams, where representation of women and people from non-white backgrounds is almost zero, a watchdog said. In a report on how well the NCA deals with corruption, Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) raised concerns about how claims of sexual misconduct were dealt with. Today we published part one of a two-part report examining the @NCA_UK's ability to protect its assets from corruption threats. Read the report here:https://t.co/h8yRMCGv0C HMICFRS (@HMICFRS) June 20, 2023 It said: We found significant differences in outcomes between similar cases within the NCA. Cases of proven sexual misconduct generally led to the termination of employment, but not always. We found examples of first written warnings being given for predatory sexual behaviour. We dont support the rationale for this leniency. Managers received more lenient treatment than more junior staff, the inspectorate found. We found that senior staff under investigation for misconduct were treated differently to those of lower grades. Junior officers will usually be suspended immediately if suspected of sexual misconduct. But we found examples of officers more senior than their victims, with multiple allegations against them, being moved to other departments. NCA Director General, Graeme Biggar apologised to female officers let down by the NCA and pledged to take action. While racism and homphobia are not tolerated at the agency, sexism is still present, the report said. We found that casual sexism was still tolerated. We found examples of women still being given certain roles during operational activity because of their gender, inspectors found. Women are still subject to sexist comments in the office and on informal WhatsApp groups. These groups include people in leadership roles. Worryingly, these individuals arent only failing to challenge poor behaviour; in some cases they join in with it. Director General of the NCA Graeme Biggar has apologised to officers who have been let down and pledged to take action (Nick Ansell/PA) Most teams, particularly at the main offices in London and Warrington, behaved professionally and the culture was generally positive and inclusive. However, there are pockets of bad behaviour in operational units that have not been dealt with, HMICFRS said. We were repeatedly told about toxic male cultures. We found they were tolerated by women in the organisation because women are outnumbered and fear the stigma and repercussions of speaking out. We only found these negative cultures in operational teams. One experienced investigator who had joined the agency in the last few years told us that they felt it was like stepping back in time to an old-fashioned [police] CID office when they joined the team. We were told by women that they had changed their career plans to avoid the male cultures in operational jobs. Leniency shown to senior men in sexual misconduct cases had damaged staff confidence in reporting bad behaviour, inspectors found. The report said: We were told of one location that was described as having an old boys network that included the leadership team. This network was felt to be so strong that, if one of their boys was accused of improper behaviour, it would be brushed under the carpet. A staff survey suggested that 34 per cent of victims who had complained about prejudicial or improper behaviour felt they had been punished for speaking out. There were multiple examples of men being given written warnings for misconduct and then returning to the team they had left. Responding to the report, Mr Biggar said: The report finds that most of our officers are professional and our culture is generally positive and inclusive. But it also identifies pockets of bad behaviour and casual sexism, and that we have not provided the leadership to ensure they are tackled. These findings cause me deep discomfort, and I apologise to officers, particularly female officers, that we have let down, through the conduct of their colleagues, through our leadership, or through inconsistencies in our disciplinary outcomes. As Director General, I am determined that we set high standards, and that we are clear that there is no place in the NCA for those who do not meet them. In particular, we will not tolerate harassment or discrimination, and we will root out unacceptable behaviour. We are taking extensive action to address the reports findings, and have already implemented many of the recommendations. But there is more to do, and we recognise it will need constant vigilance, and a relentless focus on creating a culture in which everyone can thrive. That is all essential if we are to deliver our mission of protecting the public from serious ad organised crime. Reducing the size of the army beggars belief and the lack of properly functioning reserve forces is a national embarrassment, a former head of the UK armed forces has said. Lord Nick Houghton, who was chief of the defence staff between 2013 and 2016, criticised the decision to cut regular troop numbers during an appearance before the House of Commons Defence Committee on Tuesday. He said: It beggars belief to me that we have a reduced size of army. We have witnessed the first real formalised warfare above the threshold of war in Ukraine and Russia and within weeks both sides have sort of run out of troops. They have mobilised their nations, they have had to call on reserves and yet we as a nation have no strategic methodology for mobilising the reserves. We dont have a properly functioning reserve. To me its a national embarrassment but they dont appear to want to do anything about it. The size of the British Army has been a source of political argument in recent months, with Labour calling for a halt to the cuts announced in the last defence command paper, published in 2021. Lord Houghton with then-prime minister David Cameron. The former chief of the defence staff said he warned Mr Cameron about the increasing threat from Russia (Toby Melville/PA) In the past decade, the number of regular soldiers has fallen from 97,000 to 76,000 and is set to fall to 73,000. Lord Houghton, who spent 40 years in the army and served in Northern Ireland and Iraq, said the UKs military capability had not been eroded to the point where we should worry, but acknowledged there were problems, including with recruitment and equipment. He said: Theres no doubt about it that the Royal Navy is undergoing a maritime renaissance, but its shortage of available vessels is deeply disturbing. The amount of things that actually work in the Royal Navy is quite disturbing. In August 2022, the navys new 3 billion aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales broke down off the Isle of Wight and the ship remains under repair. Lord Houghton added that the RAF was suffering from a pilot shortage while the armed forces in general were struggling in the global battle for talent. HMS Prince of Wales, the 3 billion aircraft carrier which broke down off the Isle of Wight in August 2022 (Gareth Fuller/PA) The committee, which is conducting an inquiry into armed forces readiness, also heard that stocks held for major warfare had been impacted by austerity in 2010 and, although Lord Houghton had warned about the potential for war with Russia in 2013, little had been done. He said: One of the ways in which we were able to cope with less money was to take a risk against the warfighting consumables or stocks that we held for major warfighting. Now, arguably, you could say that at the time 2010 that was a fair risk to take. Clearly, in the judgement of the government of the day, it was a fair risk to take. By the time I was writing my first letter to the prime minister on arrival (as chief of the defence staff), from memory, I was warning him then that the threats of the possibility that we might be called upon to cross the threshold of formalised warfare against an aggressive Russia were no longer latent but patent and they were acknowledged. Was anything done about it? Not really. He said one of the reasons was that the British defence industry was not run as an cooperative enterprise but on the basis of fixed contracts, meaning companies did not maintain the capacity to produce more stocks at short notice. Failing to appoint a senior minister with sole responsibility over planning for pandemics and other threats has been an error, a former minister has said. Sir Oliver Letwin told the official UK coronavirus inquiry on Tuesday that it is a lasting regret that he had not focused more on pandemics while in the Cabinet Office. Labour said the admission is too little, too late, saying the Conservatives cannot be trusted to protect the public from the emergencies of tomorrow. Sir Oliver Letwin told the inquiry it is a lasting regret that he did not focus more on pandemics while in the Cabinet Office (James Manning/PA) The minister, who has described himself as David Camerons Mr Fix It, said resilience only formed a relatively small part of his role despite it being in his brief between 2011 and 2016. Instead he said he spent a lot of time on endless discussions with Liberal Democrat colleagues in coalition with the Tories in the rather wide-ranging and unusual role. Sir Oliver said: Actually there really ought to be a minister solely devoted to resilience at a senior level. Asked if anyone had ever had this role, he told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry: There hasnt as far as Im aware, and I think that is an error. I came to that view very gradually but by the end of my time I was pretty convinced that we ought to have, and, had I remained in situ, I wouldve tried therefore to move to a model where somebody took that position. But appointing a junior minister would achieve nothing, he said, as they must be senior and close to the prime minister. He expressed regret at following advice to focus on critical national infrastructure, which he described as wildly under-resilient, instead of pandemic flu, which he believed may have allowed him to identify some other catastrophic pathogen to prepare for. Actually, it is absolutely not an excuse for a minister, alas, because you can always ask the following question, you dont have to accept the advice, he said. That is actually what I shouldve done and its a matter of lasting regret that I didnt. Former chancellor George Osborne will be questioned on austeritys impact (Danny Lawson/PA) Sir Oliver also warned that the churn of ministers and officials tasked with preparing for emergencies is a disaster for the country. He said there is an overwhelming case for training for ministers dealing with civil contingencies. Shadow paymaster general Fleur Anderson said: The Tories are showing that they cannot be trusted to protect the public from the emergencies of tomorrow. This Government has been asleep at the wheel for far too long. Oliver Letwins admission that there should have been a dedicated minister for resilience is too little, too late. George Osborne is due before the inquiry where he will face questions over how the austerity cuts he unleashed as Mr Camerons chancellor affected preparedness. MP Margaret Ferriers appeal urging voters not to trigger a by-election has been branded a desperate plea, as efforts to oust the Covid rule breaker from the House of Commons began. From 9am on Tuesday, voters across her Rutherglen and Hamilton West consistency have six weeks to sign a petition to recall their MP from Westminster. If 10% of the electorate choose to do so some 8,113 people out of 81,124 a by-election will be triggered. Despite pressure to resign from her seat since breaching coronavirus rules in 2020, Ms Ferrier remains the MP, now sitting as an independent. She has urged voters not to sign the petition, saying in a 360-word statement on her website: As an independent MP, my constituents are my top priority and always have been. But Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said: Im astonished Margaret Ferrier, in a desperate plea to constituents, is trying to hide the fact that she stood as an SNP MP. She let them down badly by her actions during Covid, and now shes desperate to try to cling on to a seat. Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie with the partys candidate Michael Shanks (PA) The truth is this constituency has not been well represented, as a result of that they need to elect somebody who will provide a fresh start. Ms Ferrier was suspended from the House of Commons for 30 days earlier this month, beginning the recall petition process. Any by-election would be closely contested between Labour and the SNP, both of which have chosen prospective candidates for the seat. Michael Shanks, the Labour candidate, said: If you talk to people here you can sense the anger. He said Ms Ferriers actions were a serious breach of the rules, reckless behaviour, at a time where people all across this constituency put their lives on hold. The Rutherglen & Hamilton West recall petition is now open. It can be signed from 9am today, Tuesday 20 June, to 5pm on Monday 31 July. 8,113 people must sign to force a by-election. Change is coming with @ScottishLabour and @mgshanks.https://t.co/ffvT4iw7t5 pic.twitter.com/okpxpN7IB4 Rutherglen CLP (@RutherglenCLP) June 20, 2023 He added: We didnt get to see loved ones, they didnt get to visit people in hospital. And that anger is just as strong as it was two years ago. The recall petition can be signed at Rutherglen Town Hall, and at six other places in the constituency. If there is a by-election, it will not be long until voters go to the polls again in a general election expected next year. Mr Shanks said it is really important that for however long it is until a general election, people in the constituency have an MP focused on fighting for this community, not focused on fighting for their own job, which is what we have had now for so long. Katy Loudon, pictured with First Minister Humza Yousaf, will stand in the seat for the SNP (SNP/PA) He added: This is a chance for a fresh start, thats what we will be putting forward as the Labour Party. The SNP candidate in the seat will be South Lanarkshire councillor Katy Loudon. She said: Constituents in Rutherglen and Hamilton West have the opportunity to hold a by-election and elect an SNP MP who will stand up for them against this rotten Tory Government. The first step in that process will be to sign the recall petition. In the face of Tory economic incompetence and a Labour Party looking more and more like a Tory tribute act, the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West need a strong SNP voice to stand up for them. Ms Ferrier travelled from Scotland to Westminster after testing for Covid in September 2020 and went on to speak in the House of Commons while awaiting the results. After the test confirmed she was positive for the virus, she took the train back to Scotland. A former Metropolitan Police officer has been found guilty of eight counts of rape of two women, one of whom was aged just 16 at the time. Adam Provan, 44, of Newmarket, Suffolk, was convicted by a jury of six counts of rape of a fellow police officer between 2003 and 2005, and two counts of rape of a teenage girl whom he met on a blind date after lying about his age in 2010. All the offences were committed while he was a serving officer in the Mets East Area Command Unit. Detective Sergeant Victoria James said: These are truly dreadful offences. Provan abused his position to win the trust of both these women. I hardly need to say Provans behaviour fell grossly short of what we expect from our police officers. The 2010 assault was brazen and calculated, with clear indication he had planned it beforehand. The second victim suffered a campaign of controlling and abusive behaviour and sexual violence. I commend the incredible courage of both women in helping us bring Provan to justice. The Commissioner has been extremely clear there is no place in the Met for anyone who does not uphold the highest standards and where there is criminality we will absolutely investigate and bring before the courts. Provan raped the 16-year-old girl in woodland after meeting her through a friend in 2010 and lying that he was 22. He then took her to Central Park, Harold Hill, Romford, and forced her to commit a sex act. The teenager has had to go through two trials to see Provan brought to justice. She told a relative that she had been raped at the time but it was not reported to police until 2016 and Provan was later convicted and jailed for nine years. He was sacked from the Met in March 2019. However, he successfully appealed against those convictions which were quashed in 2022, and a retrial began in May this year, along with six new counts of rape relating to the second victim. The trial at Wood Green Crown Court heard that Provan was violent, abusive and controlling to the second victim. The jury unanimously found him guilty of all eight counts on Monday. Provan will be sentenced on August 21. Government and military officials called Tuesday for multilateral cooperation in fostering regional and global peace during a forum hosted by the Marine Corps, noting the transnational nature of security in an interconnected world. The armed service held the biennial International Symposium for Republic of Korea Marine Corps Development under the main theme of "the Role of the Marine Corps for the Indo-Pacific Region, a Region of Freedom, Peace and Prosperity." The forum brought together some 140 people, including Korea's Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lee Jong-ho and Marine Corps Commandant Lt. Gen. Kim Gye-hwan, and U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific Commander Lt. Gen. William M. Jurney. "As a country's security issues directly or indirectly affect the well-being of countries in the entire world in the end, multilateral security cooperation is indispensable," Seoul's Marine chief said in his address. Lee Seung-beom, director general for international policy at the ministry, stressed the need to expand combined drills between the Korean Marine Corps and its counterparts from key members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to strengthen maritime security capabilities. Korea sent around 280 military personnel to the Thailand-led Cobra Gold exercise in March and six personnel to the Indonesia-led Komodo naval exercise earlier this month, while it plans to deploy some 100 Navy sailors to the Philippines-led Kamandag exercise in October, Lee said. The symposium was launched in 1993 to help chart a direction of the Marine Corps' development in an ever-changing security environment. (Yonhap) The DUP needs the UK Government to demonstrate that Northern Ireland remains a strong and integral part of the UK, Chris Heaton-Harris has told an audience in London. The Northern Ireland Secretary also said that he believes the Windsor Framework deals with the fundamental issues unionism had with the Northern Ireland Protocol. Mr Heaton-Harris is engaged in negotiations with the DUP in efforts to convince the party to return to Stormont. The unionist party have been boycotting the powersharing institutions for more than a year as a protest against post-Brexit trading arrangements. Now underway at @instituteforgov Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris @chhcalling addressing a packed room before being in conversation with @Emma_Norris Watch now and send in your questions https://t.co/WqtgXbvuZD pic.twitter.com/82g93O2LjV Sam Macrory (@sammacrory) June 20, 2023 The DUP disagreed with the protocol, first introduced by then prime minister Boris Johnson, on the grounds that it created a border in the Irish sea and distanced Northern Ireland from the UK internal market. The Windsor Framework was Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks attempt to remedy the issues by reducing checks on goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. The DUP have asked for legislative assurances of their constitutional position before re-entering Stormont. Speaking at the Institute for Government in London, Mr Heaton-Harris said the Government needed to reconfirm Northern Irelands position as a strong and integral part of the UK. He said: There was a court case in the Supreme Court that was about the Act of Union and how the Northern Ireland Protocol had subjugated that. We need to reconfirm essentially whats in the Belfast/Good Friday agreement, that were proud to have Northern Ireland as a strong and integral part of the United Kingdom. And it will remain so until such time as the people of Northern Ireland decide otherwise. Now, Ive said to my Democratic Unionist friends that I can say that on the floor of the house at the dispatch box, but I know its not enough for them just to hear it, so they need some sort of demonstration of that. Mr Heaton-Harris also said that he understood unionist fears surrounding the protocol and the reaction to the idea of being more tied to the EU than the UK economic market. Everyone knows the Prime Minister said it when he launched the Windsor Framework in Parliament that its not perfect, however, it goes a long, long way to solving lots of the practical issues that people were finding, he said And let me try and describe what that felt like, if youre a unionist in Northern Ireland and because of something called the Northern Ireland Protocol, and elements of it, businesses from Great Britain were beginning to remove goods from the shelves of Northern Ireland stores. He added: So if youre a unionist in Northern Ireland, you saw goods from Great Britain, disappearing from your shelves. Now they were replaced by other goods but from the European single market, and actually that was a physical demonstration in many unionist minds, I completely understand it, that Northern Ireland was being dragged out of the orbit of the UKs internal market into the European single market. And so that had to be addressed, and it was no good for the Northern Ireland economy, it was no good for anybody. The Secretary of State also said the Windsor Framework dealt with the fundamental issues unionism had with the protocol. Actually if you look at the Windsor Framework, it doesnt dabble just with the, kind of the top layer of the issues that Northern Ireland has with the protocol, he said. It does deal with many of the fundamental pieces, and stuff that was going to come forward because the protocol had not been fully enacted. Weve had grace periods that were coming to an end, infractions with the European Union that would have gone further, bad blood accumulating. And so we needed to find solutions, if possible, to all of that. And so the (Windsor) Framework went a lot further than I think, even I appreciated at the time. Police in Northern Ireland investigating the murder of Chloe Mitchell have said a post-mortem examination on human remains found in Ballymena has concluded. However, a detective has said that the but the process of identifying the remains is ongoing. Ms Mitchell, 21, was last seen on CCTV in the early hours of Saturday June 3 in Ballymena town centre. A huge search operation took place in the Co Antrim town following her disappearance. Detectives launched a murder inquiry after suspected human remains were found on Sunday, June 11. A murder investigation was launched after human remains were found in the search for Chloe Mitchell (Family handout/PA) Vigils to remember Ms Mitchell were held in her home town and in Belfast last week. Providing an update on the investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Richard Millar said: The post-mortem on human remains found in Ballymena on Sunday June 11 has now concluded. The identification process is still ongoing. Meanwhile, a man charged with assisting an offender over the death of Ms Mitchell has been remanded in custody for a further two weeks. Ryan Johnston Gordon, 34, from Nursery Close, Ballymena, appeared at the towns Magistrates Court for a brief hearing on Tuesday. A barrister for the defendant told the court there was no application for bail at this time. Gordon, who appeared by videolink from Maghaberry Prison, was remanded in custody until July 6. Another man, Brandon John Rainey, 26, from James Street in Ballymena, has appeared in court charged with the murder of Ms Mitchell. A video shows the cramped conditions inside the Titan submersible that went missing during a dive to the Titanic shipwreck. Rescue teams are in a race against time to find the vessel, which had only 96 hours of oxygen on board when started its dive in the early hours of Sunday morning local time. The five passengers trapped on board are also contending with cramped conditions on a vessel that has no seats and is operated with what looks like a PlayStation controller. Read more: Live updates after Titanic tourist submarine goes missing Among those on board are British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, and British-based Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son, Suleman, 19. French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who works for OceanGate, is also thought to be on board, as is OceanGate founder and chief executive Stockton Rush. Inside the Titan submersible OceanGate Expeditions charges individuals $250,000 (195,000) for an eight-day trip, which includes a dive to the wreck of the Titanic. According to the OceanGate website, the submersible is made from carbon fibre and titanium, weighs more than 10,000kg and can reach depths of 13,100ft. A video posted on YouTube by OceanGate gives a sense of just how cramped it is inside the submersible. The Titan submersible is equipped with its own toilet. (CBC) OceanGate founder Stockton Rush, who is on board the missing Titan submersible, showing its features. (CBC) There are no seats inside the Titan submersible. (PA) There is room for five people one pilot and four crew but there are no seats, and those on board must sit close together. Read more: Missing tourist sub locked with bolts from outside The Titan is 22ft (670cm) long, 9.2ft (280cm) wide and 8.3ft (250cm) high, and can reach a speed of 3 knots. There is enough emergency oxygen available on board to last 96 hours. Watch: Inside the missing submersible that went missing during Titanic voyage Titan is the only deep diving submersible with a toilet. Similar to a camping toilet, this is accessed in the forward dome and comes with a privacy screen. There are three screens inside the submersible, one for controls, one for sonar and one for imagery. The inside of the submersible has just one on-off button on the interior wall, while the craft is run by a device that bears a similarity to a Sony PlayStation controller. OceanGate founder Stockton Rush, who is on board the missing submersible, explained in an episode of the BBC's The Travel Show last year how it works. The features of the missing Titan submersible. (PA) The conditions inside the Titan submersible are cramped. (OceanGate) "I like to tell people this is not your grandfathers submarine," he said. The Logitech controller used to pilot the Titan submersible. (CBC) "Its got one button and thats it. We run the sub with this game controller. Its made by Logitech, but its basically a Sony PlayStation style controller. "If you want to go forward you press forward. If you want to go back you press back. You want to turn to the left its like that, you want to turn to the right you turn to the right. Missing Titanic tourist submersible piloted with a video game controller (Insider, 3 mins) How does it work? According to OceanGate, the sub is "a combination of groundbreaking engineering and off-the-shelf technology". Dr Robert Blasiak, an ocean researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This submersible is designed to go down to certain depths. And this Titan sub, according to its specifications, is able to go down to depths of 4,000m. "The Titanic is resting on the sea bed at a depth of about 3,800m, so its within the specifications. The Titan submersible, pictured launching from its docking platform. (OceanGate, Alamy) The Titan submersible vessel, pictured on the surface in this file photo. (PA) "But we have to understand that the forces at that part of the ocean are tough to even wrap your head around. Its about 380 atmospheres of pressure, so 380 times the pressure you feel on the surface walking around. Thats about 200 times the pressure thats in a car tyre, so imagine that all around you. Thats why you need a submersible with really thick walls." On the Frequently Asked Questions section of its website on 30 May, OceanGate said the Titan communicates with the crew on the surface via text messages sent via a USBL (ultra-short baseline) acoustic system. The view for passengers on board the Titan submersible. (OceanGate) The OceanGate submersible Titan went missing on Sunday evening. (Alamy, OceanGate) It said the submersible is required to communicate with those on the surface every 15 minutes or more frequently if needed. The same system is used to track the position of the submersible. Anyone who pays the $250,000 fee to go on board the Titan becomes a "mission specialist", and is tasked with gathering data during the expedition. The website states: "You do not need any previous maritime experience or a specific skill set in order to join. It is helpful to have a sturdy pair of sea legs!" - Everything we know so far about the missing Titan submersible (Evening Standard, 4 mins) Watch: Search for submersible tourist vessel near Titanic wreck Keeping primates as pets will soon be banned with private owners required to pass special licensing conditions, the Government has said. The RSPCA estimates there are between 4,000 and 5,000 marmosets, capuchins, squirrel monkeys and other primates in UK homes. They say it is inappropriate for primates to be kept as pets because they experience complex emotions, form relationships and suffer when alone, which is most often the case when in a domestic setting. Under the Governments plans, primates must be kept under zoo-level standards, with private keepers requiring a licence. It has opened a four-week consultation to hear views on how it should shape the exact conditions of such a licence. Animal welfare minister Lord Benyon said: This Government remains committed to maintaining and improving its world-leading animal welfare standards including for primates who have complex welfare and social needs. Todays announcement is the start of the process of ensuring these intelligent and curious wild animals are better protected and respected. This will fulfil the Governments manifesto commitment to ban the keeping of primates as pets. The RSPCA has said it supports the proposals because many primates are mentally stressed by being kept as pets. They are highly social animals and when kept alone become depressed, self-mutilate, pluck out their own hair and rock and self-hug which are all symptoms of suffering, the RSPCA has said. Its investigations revealed that primates were kept alone in 60% of cases. Dr Ros Clubb, head of wildlife at the RSPCA, said: We warmly welcome the UK Governments proposals to move forward on the issue of restricting the keeping of primates as pets in England particularly after the recent disappointment of the Kept Animals Bill being dropped. We will be responding to the Governments proposals in detail in due course and hope that the regulations will deliver an end to the keeping and trade of primates as pets. Marmosets need the space and mental enrichment that a domestic setting cannot provide (Andrew Matthews/PA) The RSPCA has been calling for a complete ban on the keeping and trade of primates as pets for some time and we know theres public support too with 80% supporting prohibiting the keeping of primates as pets. Primates intelligent brains mean they need space and stimulation but the RSPCA said many are kept in small bird cages and fed fast food or even Class A drugs. Dr Clubb added: Primates needs simply cannot be met in a domestic environment. They are intelligent, sentient and highly social animals with complex needs. Just like humans, primates can become depressed without adequate stimulation. They need a spacious and enriched environment that challenges their intelligent brains and allows for them to behave like primates should. But sadly, our frontline officers are still seeing shocking situations where monkeys are cooped up in bird cages, fed fast food, sugary drinks or even Class A drugs, deprived of companions of their own kind, living in dirt and squalor and suffering from disease. The Government consultation is open until July 18 and once confirmed, the new measures will be implemented under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The King is being kept informed on the search for the submersible that went missing during a dive to the Titanic shipwreck, as the US Coast Guard warned it could have just 40 hours of breathable air left. The submersible, named Titan, lost communication with tour operators on Sunday while about 435 miles south of St Johns, Newfoundland, during a voyage to the shipwreck off the coast of Canada. Among the five people aboard the vessel are Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman. Shahzada Dawood is a longtime supporter of The Princes Trust International and The British Asian Trust, both of which are charities founded by Charles. As such, it is understood that Charles has asked to be kept fully up to date on the situation and that his thoughts and prayers are with the Dawood family and all those involved in the incident. On Tuesday, Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard said a unified command of multiple agencies was formed on Monday to tackle the very complex problem of finding the missing submersible, which has so far not yielded any results. Speaking at a press conference in Boston on Tuesday, Captain Frederick said: So, first of all, its an estimate, right? We know from the data we were using, a starting point was 96 hours. We know at this point were approximately about 40/41 hours (of oxygen left). We know theres about 40 hours of breathable air left, based on that initial report. Rescuers are in a race against time to find British billionaire Hamish Harding and four other passengers on board the 6.7 metres (22ft) long OceanGate Expeditions vessel. They are UK-based businessman Mr Dawood and his son, reportedly together with French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet. (PA Graphics) On Tuesday, OceanGate confirmed that its chief executive and founder Stockton Rush is aboard the submersible as a member of the crew. Captain Frederick was non-committal when asked if there is any way to retrieve the submersible and save the five on board if it can be located. So, right now all of our efforts are focused on finding the sub, he said. What I will tell you is we have a group of our nations best experts in the unified command and if we get to that point, those experts will be looking at what the next course of action is. He added: On Sunday, the co-ordination command centre in Boston received a report from the Canadian expedition vessel Polar Prince of an overdue 21 foot submarine, Titan, with five people on board. The Titan was attempting to dive on the wreck of the Titanic, approximately 900 miles east of Cape Cod and 400 miles south of St Johns, Newfoundland. Hamish Harding is one of five people on board a missing submersible tourist vessel (Dirty Dozen Productions/PA) Approximately one hour and 45 minutes into the scheduled dive, the Polar Prince lost all communication with the Titan, Polar Prince conducted an initial search and then requested Coast Guard assistance. The US Coast Guard in Boston assumed the responsibility of search-and-rescue mission co-ordinator and immediately launched search assets. Since Sunday, the Coast Guard has co-ordinated search efforts with the US and Canadian Coast Guard, Air National Guard aircraft and the Polar Prince, which has searched a combined 7,600 square miles, an area larger than the state of Connecticut. These search efforts have focused on both surface, with C-130 aircraft searching by sight and with radar, and subsurface, with P-3 aircraft were able to drop and monitor sonar buoys. To date, those search efforts have not yielded any results. As well as ongoing plane searches, he said: Today the vessel Deep Energy, a 194 metre pipe laying vessel, arrived on scene with underwater ROV (remotely operated vehicle) capability. They have rendezvoused with the vessel Polar Prince, and commenced an ROV dive at the last known position of the Titan and the approximate position of the Titanic wreck. That operation is currently ongoing. He said there are also several private research vessels with ROV capabilities that are making preparations to join the efforts. The RMS Titanic in her resting place (Atlantic Productions/PA) But he later added: ROVs have different capability, its our understanding the current ROV that is deployed at the site now has some limited capability, it has a camera onboard. He added: On behalf of all the men and women of the United States Coast Guard and our search partners, we offer our most heartfelt thoughts and prayers for the five crew members, their families and their loved ones. Our crews are working around the clock to ensure that we were doing everything possible to locate the Titan and the five crew members. He said the unified command includes the United States Coast Guard, the United States Navy, Canadian Armed Forces and Coast Guard and the Titans parent company OceanGate. The King is hosting world leaders at St Jamess Palace on the eve of the Ukraine Recovery Conference. Charles held an audience with figures including Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal, US secretary of state Antony Blinken, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday evening. They arrived at the palace ahead of the two day conference on Wednesday, where governments will meet to discuss rebuilding Ukraine after the war with Russia. The King shakes hands with US Secretary of state Antony Blinken (Aaron Chown/PA) The 2022 conference, held in Switzerland, established the Lugano Principles, which laid the groundwork for the reconstruction process. The King was greeted in the gilt-edged Throne Room by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Mr Shmyhal, who presented him with a bronze statue commemorating the liberation of Snake Island. The dramatic liberation is approaching its one-year anniversary at the end of June. Charles then met with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Mr Blinken. The King and Queen heralded a new era for Royal Ascot when they attended the sporting event for the first time in their new roles, wishing racegoers luck. Charles and Camilla swept on to the Berkshire course in the traditional carriage procession, and in a joint foreword for the official programme paid tribute to Queen Elizabeths lifelong interest in Royal Ascot. The couple, both fans of racing, waved to the crowds who filled the grandstand on the first of five days of racing and were joined by the Duke and Duchess of Wellington in their carriage. Behind them travelled the Princess Royal with Camillas younger sister Annabel Elliot, the Queens nephew Sir Ben Elliot, former co-chair of the Conservative Party knighted in Boris Johnsons resignation honours list, and his wife Lady Elliot, daughter of musician Steve Winwood. The carriage of the King and Queen, the Duke of Wellington and the Duchess of Wellington arrives (David Davies/PA) The late Queen was a passionate racehorse breeder and had more than 20 Royal Ascot winners during her 70-year reign, and in memory of her commitment to the event the Platinum Jubilee Stakes has been renamed the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee stakes. Before the carriage rides possession footage from the Queens most memorable Royal Ascot moments was played on the big screens and was applauded by the crowds at the end. Charles and his wife, who have taken on the late monarchs thoroughbreds, will be carrying on her tradition and have entered a string of horses over the next five days with the first running in the penultimate race on Tuesday. The official programme featured Charles and Camillas intertwined cyphers on the cover and in their joint foreword said: We are happy in the knowledge that this historic race meeting continues to be a key influence on the global racing and breeding industries. Todays welcome to Royal Ascot from Their Majesties The King & Queen. pic.twitter.com/QEoXI1jiAi Ascot Racecourse (@Ascot) June 20, 2023 The royal meeting always played a central role in her late majesty Queen Elizabeths calendar and the naming of the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes will be a most appropriate way to mark this lifelong interest. A photographic exhibition in the Grandstand will also celebrate the late Queens close association with Royal Ascot, including images of some of her 24 winners. We are sure that this exhibition will prompt many happy memories. They went on to say: Finally, we wish the very best of good fortune to all the owners, breeders, trainers, jockeys and hardworking stable staff with runners this week. The King arrives at Royal Ascot (David Davies/PA) It is a huge and rare achievement to have a runner at Royal Ascot and we very much hope that you all enjoy the experience. While Charles and Camilla arrived by carriage other members of the royal family walked through the gates with Zara and Mike Tindall mingling with racegoers as did Princess Beatrice and husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. In the parade ring the royals greeted each other with kisses, with the Queen, who wore a cream coat and dress by Dior and a Philip Treacy hat, pictured embracing Mr Tindall, a former England rugby player. Royal Ascot is as much a social occasion as a sporting event and among those wearing outlandish hats was Ines Hernandez, an American GP who regularly travels to the UK to attend Royal Ascot with her family. Milliner Viv Jenner wearing her creation (David Davies/PA) Mrs Hernandez, who is also a milliner, was wearing a hat in the shape of a large butterfly she had designed from paisley-patterned material, repeated in her trouser suit. She said: The Queen was a great supporter of Royal Ascot, and I think she would have wanted that relationship between Ascot and the royal family to keep going when she was gone, and hopefully Charles will keep supporting it. Milliner Viv Jenner had a striking a hat featuring ostrich quills and a stylised St Georges flag, she said: I designed this with the king in mind its new beginnings. After last summer I wanted to make a hat in the racing silks of our new king red and purple and gold and Ill be wearing it on Ladies Day this week. The Queen was left biting her nails while the King clasped his face as they watched their first Royal Ascot runner miss out on victory. Charles and Camillas emotions were put to the test just like any other hopeful horse owner as their thoroughbred Saga was well beaten by a rival ironically called Royal Champion. Jockey Frankie Dettori, a favourite with racegoers who retires this year, rode for the couple but he could not emulate past victories and the Queen was left grimacing at the end of the Wolferton Stakes. The carriage of the King and Queen, the Duke of Wellington and the Duchess of Wellington arrives (David Davies/PA) The King and Queen have carried on Queen Elizabeth IIs tradition of supporting Royal Ascot and were joined by members of the royal family as they ushered in a new era. Their day at the races began with a traditional carriage procession, and in a joint foreword for the official programme the couple paid tribute to the late Queens lifelong interest in Royal Ascot. Charles and Camilla, both fans of racing, waved to the crowds who filled the grandstand on the first of five days of Royal Ascot and were joined by the Duke and Duchess of Wellington in their carriage. Behind them travelled the Princess Royal with Camillas younger sister Annabel Elliot, the Queens nephew Sir Ben Elliot, former co-chair of the Conservative party knighted in Boris Johnsons resignation honours list, and his wife Lady Elliot, daughter of musician Steve Winwood. Todays welcome to Royal Ascot from Their Majesties The King & Queen. pic.twitter.com/QEoXI1jiAi Ascot Racecourse (@Ascot) June 20, 2023 The late Queen was a passionate racehorse breeder and had more than 20 Royal Ascot winners during her 70-year reign, and in memory of her commitment to the event the Platinum Jubilee Stakes has been renamed the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. Before the carriage rides procession, footage from the Queens most memorable Royal Ascot moments was played on the big screens and was applauded by the crowds at the end. Charles and his wife, who have taken on the late monarchs thoroughbreds, will be carrying on her tradition and have entered a string of horses over the next five days. The official programme featured Charles and Camillas intertwined cyphers on the cover and in their joint foreword said: The royal meeting always played a central role in her late majesty Queen Elizabeths calendar and the naming of the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes will be a most appropriate way to mark this lifelong interest. The King arrives at Royal Ascot (David Davies/PA) A photographic exhibition in the Grandstand will also celebrate the late Queens close association with Royal Ascot, including images of some of her 24 winners. We are sure that this exhibition will prompt many happy memories. While Charles and Camilla arrived by carriage other members of the royal family walked through the gates, with Zara and Mike Tindall mingling with racegoers as did Princess Beatrice and husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. In the parade ring the royals greeted each other with kisses, with the Queen, who wore a cream coat and dress by Dior and a Philip Treacy hat, pictured embracing Mr Tindall, a former England rugby player. Royal Ascot is as much a social occasion as a sporting event and among those wearing outlandish hats was Ines Hernandez, an American GP who regularly travels to the UK to attend Royal Ascot with her family. Mrs Hernandez, who is also a milliner, was wearing a hat in the shape of a large butterfly she had designed from paisley-patterned material, repeated in her trouser suit. She said: The Queen was a great supporter of Royal Ascot, and I think she would have wanted that relationship between Ascot and the royal family to keep going when she was gone, and hopefully Charles will keep supporting it. Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal presented the King with a sculpture commemorating the liberation of Snake Island at a crowded reception in St Jamess Palace on the eve of the Ukraine Recovery Conference. Mr Shmyhal described the bronze statue, depicting a soldier clutching a Ukrainian flag, as a symbol of his countrys mutual victory with Britain over Russia. The dramatic liberation, when Ukraine retook the small island after its defiant defenders were captured by Russian forces, is approaching its one-year anniversary at the end of June. Charles held an audience with dozens of distinguished guests, including US secretary of state Antony Blinken, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer on Tuesday evening. The gift given to the King by Denys Shmyhal (Aaron Chown/PA) They arrived at the palace ahead of the two-day conference starting on Wednesday, where governments will meet to discuss rebuilding Ukraine after its devastating war with Russia. The King was greeted in the gilt-edged throne room by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly who introduced him to Mr Shmyhal. Presenting Charles with the sculpture, the prime minister said: This is symbolic of our mutual victory. We are so grateful for the support of the UK you are the number one supporter of Ukraine. Ms von der Leyen was also in attendance alongside the president of Estonia, Alar Karis, and Latvian prime minister Arturs Krisjanis Karins. Charles greets Ursula von der Leyen at the palace reception (Aaron Chown/PA) Greeting the King, the EU chief said: We are in this together. At one point the King was asked how his horse performed at Royal Ascot where the thoroughbred Saga was beaten by a rival called Royal Champion earlier on Tuesday only for Mr Cleverly to interject, saying: Oh! Wrong question. It was not the only moment when the horses poor performance became the subject of conversation. While greeting Defence Secretary Ben Wallace later in the evening, the Conservative MP consoled the King, saying: You were right in your prediction. US President Joe Biden sent his warmest regards through Mr Blinken, the secretary of state told the King, adding: And [he] also wants me to tell you how much he admires your leadership on the environment. Before departing, the King also shook hands with Sir Keir and decorated Ukrainian veteran Masi Nayyem, who lost an eye when he was struck by shrapnel. Charles with US secretary of state Anthony Blinken (Aaron Chown/PA) Mr Nayyem, who now campaigns to support veterans, said afterwards that Britains support encouraged him to fight until death for his country. He thanked the UK for providing more than Europe, adding: I fight for freedom we are the last romantics of Europe. We believe our values and what we fight for. The 2022 Ukraine Recovery Conference, held in Switzerland, established the Lugano Principles, which laid the groundwork for the reconstruction process. It aims to galvanise international investment to rebuild the Ukrainian economy, making it a stronger and more stable democracy after the war. Why do some people get headaches in a thunderstorm? (Getty Images) Been suffering from headaches recently? The weather could be to blame. The Met Office has issued yellow thunderstorm warnings across parts of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland this week after almost half a month's worth of rain fell in just one hour in the UK on Sunday. But the change in weather has left some of us struggling. "Please tell me someone elses migraines are triggered by an impending thunder storm? It cant just be me!" one user, @CheerVix, wrote on Twitter. "Thunder and Lightning, least I know why I've had a migraine all night," @ItzEbil added. What causes thunder headaches? (Getty Images) Do thunderstorms really cause headaches? Several studies have found evidence that changes in pressure and temperature increase the likelihood of headaches occurring. A 2017 study indicated a positive link between the atmospheric pressure and the amount of migraine pain a person experiences. An earlier study analysed more than 7,000 patients diagnosed with headaches over a seven-year period. Researchers also scoured national weather data to monitor fluctuations in temperature, humidity and barometric pressure within 72 hours of each patient's headache. As well as finding that an increase in temperature increased chances of getting a headache, they also discovered that headache risk increased by an average of 6% with every five millimetre drop in barometric pressure that occurred. What's the link between lightning and headaches? "The association between headaches and migraines being more frequent when there are lightening strikes or thunderstorms relates to a study back in 2013," explains The Living Well GP, Dr Sonal Shah, GP and Lifestyle medicine expert. Dr Shah explains that a research team looked at 90 people in Ohio and Missouri and found that that on days with lightning compared with non-lightning days, the overall frequency of headache in their study was increased by 31% and that of migraine by 28%. "It's not clear how lightning or its associated meteorologic factors might trigger headaches. However, according to the authors, possible mechanisms could relate to sferics, the low-frequency electromagnetic waves that emanate from electrical storms; positive air ionisation from electrical storms; or the production of irritable aerosols, such as nitrogen oxides and ozone, and allergenic fungal spores," she says. Dr Shah points out that the study was very small and had a number of limitations, therefore, it is difficult to draw meaningful conclusions, but according to the NHS those of us who are prone to getting headaches could find that grey skies, high humidity, rising temperatures and storms can all bring on head pain. "Pressure changes that cause weather changes are thought to trigger chemical and electrical changes in the brain. This irritates nerves, leading to a headache," the site explains. Read more on headaches The recent weather in the UK could lead to some suffering from headaches. (Getty Images) If youre a thunder headache sufferer, what's the cure? While theres not much you can do to change the weather, aside from praying to the weather Gods, the NHS suggests checking the forecast so you can predict when you might suffer and take a preventative painkiller a day or two in advance. For those already in the midst of a thunder headache, Dr Shah recommends: Going for a walk Getting fresh air Stretching your head and neck Or seeing if gentle exercise may help to relieve it "Simple analgesics that can be bought over the counter such as paracetamol and ibuprofen may also be helpful," she continues. When are headaches something to worry about? Dr Shah always recommends that migraine suffers keep a headache diary to monitor their symptoms to see if they can self-identify triggers causing their symptoms (stormy weather may be one of them). "By showing these to your GP or nurse practitioner they may prescribe you suitable medication to take at the time of your headache or even tablets to prevent them occurring in the first place," she adds. "When headaches are becoming frequent or begin to interfere with daily life, this is when you should consult your doctor. Any headache that is sudden in onset, severe, associated with vomiting, drowsiness, confusion or a rash should be reviewed immediately by a doctor, she stresses. Watch: Amber thunderstorm warning for rain, lightning and hail A teenager accused of attempting to open a plane door mid-flight enters the Incheon District Court in Incheon, west of Seoul, to attend his arrest warrant hearing, June 20. Yonhap Police on Tuesday sought an arrest warrant for a teenager who attempted to open a plane door on a Jeju Air flight the previous day. The 19-year-old, whose identity was withheld, was detained Monday after unsuccessfully trying to force open the emergency door of the Jeju Air flight which was heading to Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, earlier in the day from Cebu, the Philippines, with about 180 passengers on board. The Incheon International Airport Police Corps charged him with breaching the Aviation Security Act. According to police, the suspect began behaving strangely and attempted to open the emergency door at around 5:30 a.m., about an hour after takeoff. He was restrained by flight attendants and passengers before being handed over to the Incheon airport police afterward. The emergency exit did not open due to air pressure difference and the plane's safety system, and no one was hurt in the incident. The suspect had reportedly dropped out of high school and was on his way home after staying in Cebu alone for about a month, police said. During questioning, he did not confess to a clear motive for the crime and asked investigators irrelevant questions, like "how many life vests are there on an airplane?" or "whether all flight attendants would be fired if the emergency door is opened." But police said he has no psychiatric treatment records. The incident took place in less than a month since a man in his 30s forced open the emergency exit door on an Asiana Airlines flight en route to the southeastern city of Daegu from Jeju on May 26. (Yonhap) A manifesto for change in the UKs treatment of refugees will be launched at Westminster on Refugee Day, because the Government is making a mockery of human dignity, Lord Roberts of Llandudno said. The Refugee Manifesto was drafted by cross-party organisation Humanitarians Together and is composed of 12 principles for change. The manifesto calls for the UK to stop all dangerous Channel crossings, ensure that children brought to the UK while underage cannot be deported when they reach 18, and review the efficacy of the Home Office. The launch event at the Houses of Parliament on June 20 will be spearheaded by ex-Chelsea and Charlton footballer turned charity campaigner Mickey Ambrose. The manifesto is the brainchild of Lord Roberts of Llandudno, who told the PA news agency it was devised because the present government, its policy, is making a mockery of human dignity. Lord Roberts said: Imagine, when youre a refugee, youve lost everything. You just want some sort of stable condition and we are closing the door. He wants to build a UK with a smile on its face, he said. Citizens of the World Choir at the Queens Jubilee with the band Elbow (Citizens of the World Choir/PA) The event will also be attended by representatives of the Citizens of the World Choir, who will share their perspectives as refugees. The choir has around 60 members from over 30 countries and was founded in 2015 in response to the Syrian refugee crisis. A female choir member in her 40s who arrived in the UK from West Africa told PA that a refugee manifesto was needed. She said: I think the Government needs to understand that the majority, or a great percentage, of people dont choose to shift. Nobody will run if they have stability in their lives. People are running for a purpose. She was really excited to attend the launch of the manifesto in Westminster. She said: I probably couldnt have been able to go without this wonderful group of people organising such an amazing journey for us to go there. I feel good when I raise my voice personally and being part of something like that really means a lot to me. The choir will be performing at Royal Borough of Greenwichs Refugee Week. The group are currently rehearsing for their first stand-alone concert at The Barbicans Milton Court on July 16 and preparing to record their debut album. Tory MPs have cautioned the Government against blindly implementing an international agreement to prevent corporation tax falling below 15%. Conservative former cabinet ministers Priti Patel and Sir Iain Duncan Smith were among those seeking further clarity on the impact of the changes, amid calls for the implementation date to be pushed back. The Government offered to provide updates to MPs and said the UK retains the sovereignty to set our corporation tax rate. Britain was signed up to the deal by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when he was chancellor, in a move brokered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The measures are expected to come into effect from the end of 2023 and are designed to ensure major companies pay their fair share wherever they do business. The Finance (No. 2) Bill helps pave the way to introduce the OECD Pillar Two rules into UK law. Ms Patel, speaking during the Bills report stage, called for greater scrutiny to examine the complexities of the policy and to assess what the UKs competitors are doing. She told the Commons: Theres no point just saying we need to crack on and implement this, we have to do it in the right way. Ms Patel added: Without labouring the point too much, we have left the EU, the Government does have the ability to make its own tax laws and fiscal sovereignty is absolutely crucial to this as well. Why are we now going to surrender powers to the will of the OECD? But actually along with economic growth, we dont want to undermine our ability to be a low-tax global beacon of free trade. The Government is pursuing policies such as freeports, we all welcome this when it comes to competition, but we dont want to be encouraging a culture of subsidies, which is of course, this policy will do. Ms Patel went on: By baking this into primary legislation a requirement for us to implement without any further flexibility, we do risk blindly signing up to a package where foreign officials could overrule decisions and interpretations in our own jurisdiction and our own Government. Conservative former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said Ms Patels compromise amendment to amend the date was seeking to give the Government more time to think carefully about what it is doing. He said: Particularly because the Americans are almost certainly not going to implement this, which means the single largest trading nation in the world will not play a part on this. Ms Patel said she would not move her amendment after she received very, very clear assurances from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt that he will bring regular updates on what the OECD is proposing with regards to policing Pillar Two to the Commons. She added the Government has pledged to bring forward ahead of the summer recess some detailed assumptions and modelling on the expected tax revenues from Pillar Two. Treasury minister Victoria Atkins earlier said the global tax agreement protects against large multi-national groups and companies using aggressive tax planning and shifting their UK profits overseas. On the concerns raised by Ms Patel, the minister said: The Chancellor and I are happy to provide an update on Pillar 2 implementation as part of the forthcoming fiscal event in the autumn and if necessary, in the spring, too. This update at the fiscal events mentioned will include the latest revenue forecasts from the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility). Thats an important point I think, and a status update on international implementation. On sovereignty, Ms Atkins said: We retain the sovereignty to set our corporation tax rate. It is still the lowest in the G7 and we can use important tax levers to boost investment including the UKs world-leading R&D credit and full expensing regimes announced in the Budget. The Bill as a whole enacts measures contained in the Spring Budget. It later received an unopposed third reading and will undergo further scrutiny in the House of Lords at a later date. Ms Atkins said: It takes forward measures to support enterprise and grow the economy by encouraging business investment and helping to increase employment. For Labour, shadow Treasury minister James Murray said the Bill could have been a chance to make the tax system fairer as he spoke of the vicious cycle of stagnation. He added: A fairer tax system is desperately needed after 13 years of low growth and stagnant wages and after 25 tax rises by the Government in this Parliament alone, increases that have pushed the tax burden in this country to its highest level in 70 years. The boss of the Post Office has said he expects its compensation scheme for sub-postmasters affected by the Horizon IT scandal to conclude very soon as he supported the level of pay-outs for victims. Errors made by Horizon software, which was made by tech firm Fujistu and used by the Post Office, led to the wrongful conviction of more than 700 people over false accounting and theft between 1999 and 2015. Nick Read, chief executive of the postage and banking group, said he believes the process of its historic shortfall scheme to repay victims has been fair despite fierce criticism from MPs at Tuesdays Business and Trade Committee. It follows reports that previously convicted postmasters have seen compensation pay-outs heavily reduced, with the Daily Mail reporting how an 80-year-old former postmaster saw his pay-out cut from around 330,000 to 8,000 due to tax and bankruptcy proceedings. Our evidence session with Post Office bosses on Horizon compensation and bonuses has begun. You can watch it here: https://t.co/6V44p9Tc2D Business and Trade Committee (@CommonsBTC) June 20, 2023 When questioned whether pay-outs were fair, Mr Read said: Our objective is to make sure this is fair. I understand the principles and the approach to fairness that is being applied. I believe that is the case and I believe it is happening that way. It comes a day after the Government confirmed that postmasters in the compensation scheme will receive top-up payments to ensure the amount they receive is not unduly reduced by tax. Postal affairs minister Kevin Hollinrake said he expected a further 26 million to be handed to claiming through these tax exempt top-ups. On Tuesday, Mr Read said that progress is being made with shortfall scheme. The historic shortfall scheme will come to its conclusion very soon we have 15 outstanding. The late applicants to the historic shortfall scheme total some 226 of which we have settled 79 already. Regarding the overturned historic convictions, we want to have more people come forward. We have to get more people and Im deeply troubled that people arent coming forward. MPs at the committee also questioned bosses at the Post Office over bonus payments linked to the Horizon IT inquiry, which were paid out unbeknown to inquiry chairman, retired High Court judge Sir Wyn Williams. Mr Read, who had previously said he has handed back bonus payments linked to cooperating with the inquiry, made a fresh apology. He told MPs at the Business and Trade Committee: Let me apologise for the error and the mistake that has been made in our incentive scheme. When the scheme was established it was part of the transformation of the Post Office. Clearly the independent inquiry became a statutory inquiry halfway through the scheme term, and the mistake was that we didnt go back and revisit that particular incentive. That was an error and I apologise unreservedly for that, and thats certainly something that we should have identified. More than one in 10 addresses in some parts of England and Wales are used as holiday homes, new analysis shows. The area of Salcombe, Malborough & Thurlestone on the south coast of Devon has the highest proportion, with 172 holiday homes for every 1,000 addresses. Abersoch & Aberdaron on the Llyn Peninsula of Gwynedd in north Wales has the next highest proportion, at 153 per 1,000 homes. The figures have been compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and are based on the 2021 census. We've used #Census2021 data to reveal the hotspots where second addresses are used as holiday homes across England and Wales. More than 1 in 10 addresses were used as holiday homes in some areas, according to the Census. https://t.co/SxngsviH2i pic.twitter.com/UJQurlky6M Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) June 20, 2023 They show that around 70,000 second addresses across England and Wales are used as holiday homes and are mainly concentrated in coastal areas, national parks and Areas of Outstanding National Beauty. Cornwall had the highest number of holiday homes at the time of the census (6,080), followed Gwynedd (2,590), Dorset (2,490) and North Norfolk (2,195) But South Hams in Devon was the local authority with the highest concentration of holiday homes, with 44 for every 1,000 addresses. South Hams has a long coastline and includes the southern part of the Dartmoor National Park as well as the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It also contains Salcombe, Malborough & Thurlestone, with its chart-topping 172 holiday homes for every 1,000 properties. (PA Graphics) There are seven local areas in England and Wales where at least one in 10 residential properties are used as holiday homes. Along with Salcombe, Malborough & Thurlestone in Devon, and Abersoch & Aberdaron in Gwynedd, they are Trebetherick & Whitecross (140 per 1,000) and Padstow & St Issey (121 per 1,000) in Cornwall; Brancaster, Burnham Market & Docking (130 per 1,000) and Hunstanton (104 per 1,000) in Kings Lynn & West Norfolk; and Wells & Blakeney (109 per 1,000) in North Norfolk. The list excludes the Isles of Scilly, which has a very small resident population. Census data on second addresses includes only people who said they spend at least 30 days a year at the property. The total number of second addresses used as holiday homes, and people who use them, are likely to be higher, the ONS said. New laws regulating the ownership of second homes were passed recently by both the UK and Welsh parliaments. Since April 2023, second homeowners in England have to prove holiday lets are being rented out for a minimum of 70 days a year, and are available to rent for at least 140 days, in order to qualify for small business rates relief. The Welsh Government recently increased its own letting requirements so properties must be rented out for at least 182 days a year, and available for at least 252 days. It has also raised the maximum council tax premium that councils can apply to second homes to up to four times the standard rate. Wales had the highest proportion of people using a second address as a holiday home, relative to the local population In Gwynedd, for every 1,000 local residents, 79.0 people from other local authorities used a holiday home in the area (9,270 people in total). pic.twitter.com/8sGFNqOBPk Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) June 20, 2023 The census shows that around 79 people per 1,000 local residents visited holiday homes in Gwynedd from another local authority, the highest proportion relative to population for any authority in England and Wales. The Isle of Anglesey was the second most popular destination, with 63.3 people per 1,000 local residents coming to holiday homes in the area from elsewhere. North Norfolk (60.0 people per 1,000 local residents), South Lakeland in Cumbria (58.4), the Isles of Scilly (58.3) and East Lindsey in Lincolnshire (54.4) were the next most popular. George Osborne has rejected claims his austerity programme while chancellor depleted the NHS as he suggested his cuts better prepared Britain to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. The Conservative former MP completely disputed the allegations at the official UK Covid-19 Inquiry from medics and unions that his cuts left health and social care in a parlous state. Mr Osborne argued on Tuesday that the UK may not have had the financial scope to spend vast amounts to support the public through the crisis without austerity. The chancellor between 2010 and 2016 conceded that his Treasury should have planned economic measures such as the furlough scheme needed in the pandemic. Former chancellor George Osborne giving evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry at Dorland House in London (Screengrab/PA) The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has argued that the political choice of austerity under prime minister David Cameron left the UK hugely exposed to the pandemic. And the British Medical Association has claimed the cuts put the nation severely on the back foot as the first phase of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry examines whether proper preparations were made. Mr Osborne argued that it was key to ensure that the economy after the massive economic shock of the 2008 financial crisis was able to flex in a crisis. Inquiry barrister Kate Blackwell KC asked: Do you agree, by the time Covid-19 hit the consequences of austerity were a depleted health and social care capacity and rising inequality in the UK? Mr Osborne replied: Most certainly not, I completely reject that. I would say if we had not done that Britain would have been more exposed, not just to future things like the coronavirus pandemic, but indeed to the fiscal crisis which very rapidly followed in countries across Europe Mr Osborne said he needed to repair the seriously impaired public finances. If we had not had a clear plan to put the public finances on a sustainable path then Britain might have experienced a fiscal crisis, we would not have had the fiscal space to deal with the coronavirus pandemic when it hit, he said. George Osborne has now finished giving his evidence and we are taking a lunch break until shortly after 14:00 where we will hear from our final witness today: Dame Sally Davies (Former Chief Medical Officer 2010 2019) UK Covid-19 Inquiry (@covidinquiryuk) June 20, 2023 In his written evidence, Mr Osborne argues that his action had a material and positive effect on the UKs ability to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr Cameron, who gave evidence on Monday, has already argued the cuts were absolutely essential to get the British economy and British public finances back to health so you can cope with a future crisis. Mr Osborne conceded that the Treasury did not plan for an extended lockdown, but questioned whether such a plan would have led to a better furlough scheme anyway. There was no assumption that you would mandate that the population to stay at home for months and months on end so there was no planning for a lockdown, he said. Asked whose fault it was, he said that I dont think its particularly fair to apportion blame when scientists were not elevating threat of such a virus spreading rapidly. But he accepted that with hindsight the Treasury should have developed a blueprint for such a health emergency. Sir Oliver Letwin gave evidence to the inquiry (Stefan Rousseau/PA) TUC general secretary Paul Nowak accused Mr Osborne of trying to rewrite history and gaslight the British public. Everyone can see the damage austerity did to the nation, he said. Earlier at the inquiry, former minister Sir Oliver Letwin told the inquiry that failing to appoint someone to have sole responsibility over planning for pandemics and other threats has been an error. The minister, who has described himself as Mr Camerons Mr Fix It, said resilience only formed a relatively small part of his role, despite it being in his brief between 2011 and 2016. Instead he said he spent a lot of time on endless discussions with Liberal Democrat colleagues in coalition with the Tories in the rather wide-ranging and unusual role. Sir Oliver said: Actually there really ought to be a minister solely devoted to resilience at a senior level. Asked if anyone had ever had this role, he said: There hasnt as far as Im aware, and I think that is an error. He expressed regret at following advice to focus on critical national infrastructure, which he described as wildly under-resilient, instead of pandemic flu, which he believed may have allowed him to identify some other catastrophic pathogen to prepare for. Labour said the admissions were too little, too late, adding the Conservatives cannot be trusted to protect the public from the emergencies of tomorrow. A paranoid schizophrenic who killed three elderly men but was acquitted of murder by reason of insanity is embroiled in the latest stage of a civil court compensation fight. Former scaffolder Alexander Lewis-Ranwell, from Croyde, Devon, was cleared of murder after a trial at Exeter Crown Court in November 2019. Jurors heard how he had battered Anthony Payne, 80, with a hammer, and bludgeoned 84-year-old twins Dick and Roger Carter with a shovel, in Exeter, Devon, in February 2019. Lewis-Ranwell, who was 28 at the time of the Exeter Crown Court trial, has sued G4S Health Services (UK), Devon & Cornwall Police, Devon Partnership NHS Trust and Devon County Council alleging that all four were negligent in their treatment of him. Broadmoor high security hospital, where Lewis-Ranwell had been ordered to be detained (Andrew Matthews/PA) G4S, the trust and the council asked a High Court judge to strike out common law claims made against them but Mr Justice Garnham refused their applications. Lawyers representing the three organisations on Tuesday challenged Mr Justice Garnhams decision at a Court of Appeal hearing in London. Appeal judges Dame Victoria Sharp, Lord Justice Underhill, and Lady Justice Andrews are scheduled to consider legal arguments over two days. Mrs Justice May, the judge who oversaw Lewis-Ranwells trial at Exeter Crown Court, had made a hospital order. She said Lewis-Ranwell would be cared for in hospital with a restriction order and would not be allowed into the community until the agencies were absolutely content that it was safe for him to be released. Lawyers told appeal judges that Lewis-Ranwell had been ordered to be detained at Broadmoor Hospital, in Crowthorne Berkshire, under the terms of mental health legislation. Barrister Andrew Warnock KC, who is leading the councils legal team, told appeal judges that Lewis-Ranwell had brought proceedings at common law and under human rights legislation. He said Lewis-Ranwell alleged that the four organisations were liable to compensate him for the consequences of the killing on the grounds that they had been negligent in their treatment of him. Mr Warnock said G4S, the trust and the council had made applications to strike out the common law claims. He told appeal judges, in a written argument, that the litigation raised an issue of wider public importance and added: It raises an important question of whether those who have killed others but are not guilty by reason of insanity may sue mental health authorities for the consequences of the killings by reason of deficiencies in the care they received. Lord Justice Underhill suggested that Lewis-Ranwells compensation claim could continue under human rights legislation even if the appeal was successful. Lawyers said, outside court, that the human rights aspect of the claim could continue even if the common law claims were blocked. Selena Plowden KC, who is leading Lewis-Ranwells legal team, told appeal judges, in a written case outline, how jurors had given a note to Mrs Justice May, at the end of the trial at Exeter Crown Court, referring to failings in care. She said: The judge read the note in open court, which stated: We the jury have been concerned about the state of psychiatric provision in our county of Devon. Can we be assured that the failings in care for ALR (Lewis-Ranwell) will be appropriately addressed following this trial? Ms Plowden told appeal judges that Lewis-Ranwell, who was born on March 17 1991 and is now 32, had brought claims against the four organisations concerning those failings. She said Mr Justice Garnham had refused to strike out a claim for inadequate provision of mental health services in police custody between February 8 and 10 2019. As a consequence of the alleged systematic and individual failings, the claimant was not assessed under the Mental Health Act and, despite warnings that he posed a risk to the safety of others, he was released from custody (twice) and, within hours, went on to kill three innocent men while acting under delusions, she said. The defendants argue that public policy favours debarring the claim on the basis of consistency and public confidence. She said Mr Justice Garnham was right to find that permitting the claim would not introduce inconsistency. Regular daytime naps could be good for brain health, new research suggests. Daytime napping could slow the rate at which brains shrink as we age, the study led by researchers at UCL and the University of the Republic in Uruguay found. The researchers hope their findings into the health benefits of sleeping during the day will reduce any stigma that still exists around daytime napping. The study suggests the average difference in brain volume between people programmed to be habitual nappers and those who were not was equivalent to 2.6 to 6.5 years of ageing. Senior author Dr Victoria Garfield, MRC Unit for Lifelong Health & Ageing at UCL, said: Our findings suggest that, for some people, short daytime naps may be a part of the puzzle that could help preserve the health of the brain as we get older. The study, published in the journal Sleep Health, analysed data from people aged 40 to 69. Past research has suggested people who have had a short nap perform better in cognitive tests in the hours afterwards than those who did not nap. The new study looked at whether there was a causal relationship between daytime napping and brain health. Researchers looked at 97 snippets of DNA thought to determine peoples likelihood of habitual napping. They compared measures of brain health and cognition of people who are more genetically programmed to nap with people who did not have these changes in DNA, using data from 378,932 people from the UK Biobank study. They found that, overall, people predetermined to nap had a larger total brain volume. The genetic variants DNA changes influencing the likelihood of someone to nap were identified in an earlier study looking at data from 452,633 UK Biobank participants. But the researchers did not find a difference in how well those programmed to be habitual nappers performed on three other measures of brain health and cognitive function. Lead author and PhD candidate Valentina Paz, University of the Republic (Uruguay) and MRC Unit for Lifelong Health & Ageing at UCL, said: This is the first study to attempt to untangle the causal relationship between habitual daytime napping and cognitive and structural brain outcomes. By looking at genes set at birth, Mendelian randomisation avoids confounding factors occurring throughout life that may influence associations between napping and health outcomes. Our study points to a causal link between habitual napping and larger total brain volume. Dr Garfield added: I hope studies such as this one showing the health benefits of short naps can help to reduce any stigma that still exists around daytime napping. Sir Elton John has said the reaction to Phillip Schofields affair with a younger colleague is totally homophobic. In an interview with the Radio Times, the 76-year-old singer claimed a heterosexual relationship with a similar age gap would not have attracted such negative coverage. Sir Elton made the comments as he denounced the status of LGBT+ rights and individuals in America, which he compared to the treatment of the former This Morning presenter. The acclaimed musician, famous for hits including Your Song and Candle In The Wind, said: Well, its all going pear-shaped in America. Theres violence, (discriminatory) laws enacted in Florida, which are disgraceful. Theres a law now that, if you visit a doctor in Florida, they can refuse to treat you if youre gay, which I find just unbelievable. We seem to be going backwards. And that spreads. Its like a virus that the LGBTQ+ movement is suffering. He added: I dont like it at all. Its a growing swell of anger and homophobia thats around America. I dont know if its around Britain because I havent been here that much. But I feel that the Phillip Schofield thing has been totally homophobic. If it was a straight guy in a fling with a young woman, it wouldnt even make the papers. Schofield resigned from ITV last month and was dropped by his talent agency YMU after admitting to an unwise but not illegal affair with a younger male runner on This Morning. Phillip Schofield resigned from ITV last month (Jonathan Brady/PA) During an interview with the BBCs Amol Rajan, the 61-year-old said he had lost everything after admitting to the affair, and that the fallout had had a catastrophic effect on his mind. He also alleged to the Sun that homophobia had motivated criticism towards him, contrasting responses to his affair and Leonardo DiCaprios relationships with younger women. Schofield said: Attraction is attraction. Its no different in the gay world as it is in the heterosexual world or in the lesbian world. There shouldnt be a difference. This is where homophobia comes in. We did first meet when he was 15, I visited the drama school (he attended). So, yeah, theres a difference. Its accepted by Leonardo DiCaprio, its not accepted if its in the gay world. (Radio Times/PA) Sir Elton, who will headline the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival this month with a performance that will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC Radio 2 on June 25, joins other high-profile figures in criticising the backlash against Schofield. LGBT+ rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said earlier this month that the trashing of Schofield had more than a whiff of homophobia, in a statement shared with the PA news agency. Mr Tatchell called the public response a rank double standard, while actor Rupert Everett described media coverage as insane. The full interview is in the Radio Times, out now. James Gandolfinis kindness and generosity has been remembered by his Sopranos co-stars on the 10th anniversary of his death. The US actor, best known for his performance as fearsome mobster boss Tony Soprano, died from a heart attack on June 19 2023, at the age of 51. Michael Imperioli, Edie Falco, Lorraine Bracco and Julia Louis-Dreyfus were among those to pay tribute to him 10 years on from his death. White Lotus star Imperioli, who played cousin Christopher Moltisanti, shared his favourite picture of the pair to Instagram. Batman and Robin my favorite picture of us. And I cant help thinking where we ended up that night and what you said, he captioned the photo. That was one for the books Its so very strange that its 10 years today since you left us. Would love to have shot one more scene or had another laugh or one more late-night chat. Forever grateful to have done so much work together, to have spent so much time in your company and for all the generosity and kindness. Miss you lots as do so many on the planet. In a roundtable interview with Vanity Fair to mark the anniversary, Falco, who played Carmela Soprano, praised Gandolfinis professionalism and instinct while filming on the set of the hit HBO show. James Gandolfini and Edie Falco (Peter Jordan/PA) He didnt let himself get bossed around by a lot of the things that I let walk me aroundthis good-student mentality, she said. I always had to get the lines just right and do the blocking exactly the same every time. And I would watch him, and he was following somethingbigger. And deeper. If he had an impulse to say something a little different, or to change the blocking, he just did it. And I was jealous that he had somehow gotten permission from himself to do that kind of thing. Louis-Dreyfus, who also starred with Gandolfini in romantic comedy Enough Said, described the actor as a very tenderhearted, thoughtful man. I dont know if this is true, but I think he was almost embarrassed to be an actor. I think he was sort of at odds with himself in that sense, she told Vanity Fair. He was a big teddy bear, added Bracco, who played Tony Sopranos therapist, Dr Jennifer Melfi. Gandolfinis son, actor Michael Gandolfini, also paid tribute to his late father on Fathers Day. Happy Fathers Day Dad. I love you. Today, tomorrow, and everyday. I miss you, I love you, he wrote, sharing a picture of the pair from his childhood. Gandolfinis performance in the Sopranos earned him three Emmy Awards, five Screen Actors Guild awards and one Golden Globe. He was also known for his appearances in films including numerous films including Get Shorty, The Taking of Pelham 123 and Zero Dark Thirty. Pfizer Korea employees pose on a trail of Mount Nam in central Seoul, June 16. Courtesy of Pfizer Korea By Lee Kyung-min Pfizer Korea employees participated in environmental protection activities as part of the Green Move Campaign established last year to advance its environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) initiative, titled "Moves for a Healthier World," according to the firm, Tuesday. Pfizer Korea signed a business agreement last year with Forest for Life, a private environmental advocacy group. At least 233 members of the public in Daejeon, Seoul and other cities went tree planting for a combined 622 hours during the second half of last year. The tree planting activities promote the health of employees, citizens as well as nature and a sense of community, the firm said. It also improves physical well-being and psychological stability. Executives and employees of Pfizer Korea are committed to the campaign. The first one was launched last year. They engaged in the green gym activities on central Seoul's Mount Nam, June 16, picking up trash left by hikers. They said the activities help create sustainability in forests. "I was interested in environmental protection activities, but I didn't have any chance to actually practice it," a Pfizer Korea employee said. "Last week's activities helped me better understand the need to protect the environment for a sustainable future." Pfizer Korea CEO Oh Dong-wook said, "It is very meaningful to contribute to the health of the local environment, our employees and citizens. We will continue to focus on leading healthy lives through the campaign, a goal of Pfizer which prioritizes sustainability and healthy living." Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will pledge to stand with Ukraine as long as it takes as he announces three billion US dollars (2.35 billion) in bank loan guarantees to bolster Kyivs rebuild. Opening a major conference in London focused on Ukraines recovery after Russias invasion, Mr Sunak will hail the countrys defiance as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskys troops use a counter-offensive to push back the Kremlins forces. He will announce a financial package that includes World Bank loan guarantees worth three billion US dollars over three years. Downing Street said the guarantees amount to the first bilateral package of multi-year fiscal assistance to be set out by a G7 country. The funding is expected to support public services, including the cost of running schools and hospitals. To mark the two-day summit, hundreds of companies, including British venture Virgin and US bank Citi, have signed up to back Ukraines recovery and reconstruction. In pre-briefed comments, Mr Sunak will tell the Ukraine Recovery Conference on Wednesday: As weve seen in Bakhmut and Mariupol, what Russia cannot take it will seek to destroy. They want to do the same to Ukraines economy. The scale of the challenge is real. The war brought a 29% fall in Ukraines GDP last year, but just look at the streets of Kyiv, despite the threat of attack, people are getting on with their lives and getting on with business. President Zelenskys government is determined to drive reforms to become more open, more transparent and ready for investment. This is a vibrant, dynamic, creative, European country that refuses to be subdued. So, together with our allies we will maintain our support for Ukraines defence and for the counter-offensive, and well stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes as they continue to win this war. Im proud that today were announcing a multiyear commitment to support Ukraines economy, and over the next three years, we will provide loan guarantees worth three billion dollars. Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank Group, said: The UK Governments generous guarantees to the World Bank Group will support the people of Ukraine at a critical moment. The World Bank Group is designed to do hard things like helping people rebuild their lives after devastation. With this support, we will keep delivering on that mission and help Ukrainians imagine a life after the war. On top of the loan guarantees, Mr Sunak will also announce a commitment of up to 250 million of new capital for British International Investment, the UKs development finance institution. No 10 said the money will support private sector investment in major infrastructure projects, energy markets, financial services and agriculture across Ukraine. World businesses are also involved in recovery efforts, with more than 400 companies from 38 countries, with a combined annual revenue said to be more than 1.6 trillion dollars (1.25 trillion), pledging to back Ukraines rebuild as part of the summit. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to address the recovery conference virtually (Carl Court/PA) Major conglomerates, international corporations and retail chains are among those who have signed up to the Ukraine Business Compact, with Virgin, Sanofi, Philips, Hyundai Engineering and Citi among those involved. The Prime Minister will also use the summit to announce the London Conference Framework for War Risk Insurance, which is set to receive G7 backing. As part of its plan to deliver on the framework, the UK is releasing up to 20 million of funding for the Multilateral Investment Guarantees Agency to provide guarantees and insurance for reconstruction projects while the conflict is still going on. Britains funding efforts are in addition to a 240 million boost in UK aid for Ukraine this year, No 10 said. Addressing the conference, Mr Sunak is expected to add: Well stand with Ukraine as they win the peace and harness all their ingenuity and defiance to build the future they deserve. The question for us today is what can we do to support this to fast-track recovery and help Ukraine unleash its potential? We must bring to bear a partnership of governments, international financial institutions and business leaders, all of us here today, to make this happen. The British Government will continue to play its full part. Mr Zelensky is scheduled to address the conference virtually on Wednesday, while Ukraines prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, will give a keynote speech. Mr Shmyhal was one of a number of leaders hosted by the King at a reception at St Jamess Palace on the eve of the conference. Charles held an audience with dozens of distinguished guests, including US secretary of state Antony Blinken, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer on Tuesday evening. Greeting the monarch, Ms von der Leyen told him: We are in this together. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace also attended. A decline in education standards could occur as schools struggle to cover classes with specialist teachers amid recruitment and retention challenges, MPs have been told. Schools are increasingly having to rely on cover staff and non-subject specialists to teach pupils due to teacher vacancies, education leaders have warned. Union bosses told the Commons Education Select Committee that there is a crisis in teacher supply, with one leader warning there is not a school in the country which is not being affected by shortages. Dame Alison Peacock, chief executive of the Chartered College of Teaching, told MPs on Tuesday: Were getting to the point where if you cant even find a supply teacher, if there isnt even someone that you can phone up that can come in, it gets to desperate stakes. Then you start to think well can we have a cover supervisor that can carry that class over? and that then leads to a decline in standards so weve got a very real problem. She added: Im speaking to colleagues who are headteachers, who are senior leaders, who are saying weve never known it this bad. We dont know how were going to fill our posts. It comes after Government figures this month revealed that 44,000 teachers in England left their jobs in state schools last year. This represents 9.7% of all qualified teachers the highest rate since 2017/18. The Department for Education (DfE) data also showed that the number of teacher vacancies doubled from 1,100 in November 2020 to 2,300 in November 2022. Mary Bousted, general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), told MPs that there has been a massive rise in cover teachers being used as a population bulge is moving into secondary schools. Teachers teaching out of the subject area in secondary is now happening on an industrial scale and that will get worse, she said. Education union leaders told MPs on Tuesday that issues with teachers pay and workload were contributing to recruitment and retention challenges. It comes after the NEU announced that its teacher members in England will stage fresh strikes on July 5 and 7 in an ongoing dispute over pay. The NEU alongside three other education unions are currently balloting their members in England to take action in the autumn term. Accountability pressures on school staff and issues with pupil behaviour were also cited as drivers. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders union the NAHT, said school leaders face a cycle of psychological torture waiting for an Ofsted inspection which affects their workload and mental health . When asked whether pupil behaviour was driving teachers out of the classroom, Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said: There is no doubt that pupil behaviour is a significant issue of concern to teachers regardless of length of experience. We can put to the pandemic, and what has happened subsequent to the pandemic, as having created a spike in relation to behaviour issues and challenges within schools. Addressing MPs on teacher shortages, Dr Roach added: These are systemic challenges. There isnt a school, frankly, in the country that is not impacted by the current recruitment and retention crisis. Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), shared school leaders stories with MPs to highlight the challenges they are facing. She said one member said they are going to have to use unqualified teachers or non-subject specialists to teach larger classes even classes doubled up in the hall due to shortages and budget concerns. Tom Cruise thanked Italy for its help in helping overcome the challenges of filming Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning, at the films world premiere in Rome. The Hollywood star recalled the beautiful time he had had in the country, despite the struggles caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The movies release was pushed back several times due to the pandemic, but Cruise said it was a period he would never forget. The Hollywood star recalled the beautiful time he had had in the country, despite the struggles caused by the coronavirus pandemic (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) He attended the global premiere of the film in the Italian capital on Monday, joined by returning co-stars Simon Pegg and Rebecca Ferguson, as well as director Christopher McQuarrie. Speaking on stage with McQuarrie ahead of the screening, Cruise told audiences: I really want to take a moment to express how special this evening is. I want to take a moment to thank Rome, thank Venice, thank Italy. The cast poses on the red carpet of the world premiere for the movie Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning at the Spanish Steps in Rome (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) It was quite challenging I dont want to talk about it too much but everyone knows when we shot this film here and what was going on in the world. Had it not been for every person in the entire community that worked with us, all the way from the restaurants and the streets and the police, the government, the medical staff to make sure we were all safe and create what we were able to create this evening. We were on the phone every day to keep everything going to bring work to people, to bring art to people. Simon Pegg (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) People came to work daily to say hello to us and encourage us it was a very beautiful time and Im very proud of what weve created this is all (of) yours. He added: Its a time I will never forget thank you for this very special night in Rome. To come back again with all of the masks off on this beautiful day to celebrate, all together in a big theatre with a big screen. Actress Rebecca Ferguson (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Everyone looks so handsome and beautiful in their outfits for this evening. Thank you all for being here and thank you for your help in making this happen. Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One sees Cruises Ethan Hunt and his team set out to track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity. The film is due for UK release on July 14. More Conservative voters think the Government should prioritise building social homes than homes for sale or private rent, according to new polling. The research also suggested that a majority (52%) of Tory voters believe not enough social housing is being built in the UK. The National Housing Federation, which commissioned the YouGov poll of 2,048 adults in Great Britain earlier this month, said the results demonstrate strong public support for more social housing and called for a long-term plan from Government to address what they described as a housing crisis. Among Conservative voters, 48% said the Government should prioritise social housing, 28% said housing for sale should be top, 8% said it should be housing for private rent, and 17% did not know. For Labour voters, 65% felt social housing should be prioritised, while the percentage for Liberal Democrat supporters was 54%. Almost three quarters (74%) of Labour voters and 69% of Liberal Democrat voters said they did not think the Government was building enough social housing. The majority of people in each of the three political persuasions said they felt housing issues in the UK had become worse since the last general election in 2019. Some 79% of Labour voters said things had gone downhill, with 74% of Liberal Democrat supporters and 59% of Tory voters agreeing. Asked how easy or difficult it was to find a suitable and affordable home, more Labour voters said they struggled. Almost two thirds (65%) said it was difficult, compared with 54% of Conservative voters and half of Liberal Democrat supporters. Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation said: There is a clear consensus amongst voters from all parties and people across all ages and parts of the country, not only that we need to build more social housing, but that this should take precedence over building any other types of home. There is also indisputable evidence that housing policies over the last few decades, particularly those focused on home ownership, have widened inequality, increased Government spending and made the housing crisis worse. How can it be that we have a national strategy for space exploration, but no strategy for homes back here on earth? With such strong public support for and proof of the need for more social housing, its time for politicians to catch up and make meaningful commitments that will solve the housing crisis and ensure everyone has access to a safe secure and affordable home. We urgently need a long-term plan aimed at drastically increasing the number of affordable and, crucially, social homes built over the next decade. Carol Matthews, chief executive of housing association Riverside, said: We strongly believe a long-term national plan for housing should be the number one domestic policy of the next government after the general election. There is a national plan for music education, and a national plan for sport, health and wellbeing in England. However, we do not have a national plan for housing even though the facts show that access to a decent, safe and affordable home is fundamental for good health, wellbeing and prosperity. A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: The Government is considering a number of measures to improve availability of social housing. We are committed to delivering 300,000 new homes per year and are investing 11.5 billion to build the affordable, quality homes this country needs. Since 2010, we have delivered over 632,000 new affordable homes, including more than 441,612 affordable homes for rent, of which over 162,800 homes are for social rent. The Prince of Wales will turn 41 on Wednesday, days after committing to building social housing on the Duchy of Cornwalls land. William will be celebrating his first birthday since his father, the King, appointed him to the title following the Queens death last year. In an interview with the Sunday Times, William revealed his plans for social housing on the 130,000-acre estate he now controls. The prince also said he wants to make it his mission to end homelessness in the UK. The Prince of Wales attends the opening of Centrepoints Reuben House in south London (Victoria Jones/PA) He told the paper he will launch a really big project to take on the issue. However, the details of the five-year project are being kept secret until the end of the month. William has previous experience tackling homelessness. He is the patron of Centrepoint, a charity which helps homeless young people. Last week, he officially opened Reuben House, a block of 33 studio properties in south London where rents are set at a third of a residents income, on behalf of the charity. Ahead of his 40th birthday last year, he pledged to continue shining a light on the solvable issue of homelessness and to introduce his children to charities supporting rough sleepers. William and Kate on their wedding day, April 29 2011 (John Stillwell/PA) Diana, Princess of Wales, took William to a homeless shelter when he was 11 to broaden the future kings horizons. At the weekend, William was pictured smiling with his three children in a photograph released by Kensington Palace to mark Fathers Day. It shows Princess Charlotte and Prince George on either side of their father, smiling up at him, with the youngest sibling, Prince Louis, hugging Williams shoulders from behind. Prince William Arthur Philip Louis of Wales was born second in line to the throne at St Marys Hospital, Paddington, at 9.03pm on June 21 1982. The Prince and Princess of Wales amuse baby Prince William in the grounds of Government House in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1983 (PA) He weighed 7lb 1 1/2oz and was the first-born son of the Prince and the Princess of Wales. At just nine months old, he accompanied his parents on a six-week official visit to Australia and New Zealand, which was a break from royal tradition. His mother Diana, who separated from Charles in 1992, died in a car crash in Paris in 1997. William was just 15 and his brother Harry 12, and the boys walked behind the princesss coffin during a funeral procession through London. William met Kate Middleton at St Andrews University in Fife, Scotland, and the pair married in 2011 after dating for more than eight years. William after his St Andrews graduation ceremony in 2005 (David Cheskin/PA) He was made the Duke of Cambridge by his grandmother, the Queen, on the morning of his wedding. The couples first child, George also a future king was born in 2013, followed by Charlotte in 2015 and Louis in 2018. After the death of the Queen last September, William and Kate became the new Prince and Princess of Wales, with the King announcing their titles in his historic address to the nation. The title Prince of Wales has long been used for heirs to the throne as William is now, but it is not an automatic right, and is the choice of the sovereign to award it. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, shakes hands with China's top diplomat Wang Yi, right, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, Monday, June 19, 2023. (Leah Millis/Pool Photo via AP) BEIJING (AP) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said they agreed to stabilize badly deteriorated U.S.-China ties, but Americas top diplomat left Beijing with his biggest ask rebuffed: better communications between their militaries. After meeting Xi, Blinken said China is not ready to resume military-to-military contacts, something the U.S. considers crucial to avoid miscalculation and conflict, particularly over Taiwan. Still, China's main diplomat for the Western Hemisphere, Yang Tao, said he thought Blinken's visit to China marks a new beginning. The U.S. side is surely aware of why there is difficulty in military-to-military exchanges, he said, blaming the issue squarely on U.S. sanctions, which Blinken said revolved entirely around threats to American security. Yet Blinken and Xi pronounced themselves satisfied with progress made during the two days of talks, without pointing to specific areas of agreement beyond a mutual decision to return to a broad agenda for cooperation and competition endorsed last year year by Xi and President Joe Biden at a summit in Bali. And, it remained unclear if those understandings can resolve their most important disagreements, many of which have international implications. Still, both men said they were pleased with the outcome of the highest-level U.S. visit to China in five years. The two sides expressed a willingness to hold more talks, but there was little indication that either is prepared to bend from positions on issues including trade, Taiwan, human rights conditions in China and Hong Kong, Chinese military assertiveness in the South China Sea, and Russias war in Ukraine. Blinken said later that the U.S. set limited objectives for the trip and achieved them. He told reporters before leaving for a Ukraine reconstruction conference in London that he had raised the issue of military to military communications repeatedly." It is absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications, he said. This is something were going to keep working on. Speaking to reporters Monday during a campaign fundraising trip to California, Biden said Blinken did a hell of a job. The president said you know progress was made with relations between the U.S. and China because of the meeting. The U.S. has said that, since 2021, China has declined or failed to respond to over a dozen requests from the Department of Defense for top-level dialogues. According to a transcript of the meeting with Blinken, Xi said he was pleased with the outcome of Blinken's earlier meetings with top Chinese diplomats and said restarting the Bali agenda were of great importance. The Chinese side has made our position clear, and the two sides have agreed to follow through the common understandings President Biden and I had reached in Bali, Xi said. That agenda had been thrown into jeopardy in recent months, notably after the U.S. shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon over its airspace in February, and amid escalated military activity in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. Combined with other disputes over human rights, trade and opiate production, the list of problem areas is daunting. But also Xi suggested the worst could be over. The two sides have also made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues, Xi said without elaborating, according to a transcript of the remarks released by the State Department. This is very good. In his remarks to Xi during the 35-minute session at the Great Hall of the People, a meeting that was expected but not announced until an hour before it started, Blinken said the United States and China have an obligation and responsibility to manage our relationship. The United States is committed to doing that, Blinken said. Its in the interest of the United States, in the interests of China, and in the interest of the world. Blinken described his earlier discussions with senior Chinese officials as candid and constructive. Despite the symbolism of his presence in China, Blinken and other U.S. officials had played down the prospects for any significant breakthroughs on the most vexing issues facing the planets two largest economies. Instead, these officials have emphasized the importance of the two countries establishing and maintaining better lines of communication. Thus, China's refusal to resume the military-to-military contacts was a hitch. Progress is hard, Blinken told reporters. "It takes time, it takes more than one visit. Blinken's trip is expected to herald a new round of visits by senior U.S. and Chinese officials to each other's countries, possibly including a meeting between Xi and Biden in India or the U.S in the coming months. Before meeting with Xi, Blinken met earlier Monday with Chinas top diplomat Wang Yi for about three hours, an encounter that produced a harsh assessment of the talks. Chinas foreign ministry said "it is necessary to make a choice between dialogue or confrontation, cooperation or conflict. It blamed the U.S. sides erroneous perception of China, leading to incorrect policies towards China for the current low point in relations. And, it said the U.S. bore responsibility for halting the spiraling decline of China-U.S. relations to push it back to a healthy and stable track." It added that Wang had "demanded that the U.S. stop hyping up the China threat theory, lift illegal unilateral sanctions against China, abandon suppression of Chinas technological development, and refrain from arbitrary interference in Chinas internal affairs. In it's readout of the meeting, the State Department said Blinken underscored the importance of responsibly managing the competition between the United States and the PRC through open channels of communication to ensure competition does not veer into conflict," using the acronym for the People's Republic of China. In the first round of talks on Sunday, Blinken met for nearly six hours with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, after which both countries said they had agreed to continue high-level discussions. Both the U.S. and China said Qin had accepted an invitation from Blinken to visit Washington but Beijing made clear that the China-U.S. relationship is at the lowest point since its establishment. That sentiment is widely shared by U.S. officials. Blinken's visit came after his initial plans to travel to China were postponed in February after the shootdown of a Chinese surveillance balloon over the U.S. In his meetings, Blinken also pressed the Chinese to release detained American citizens and to take steps to curb the production and export of fentanyl precursors that are fueling the opioid crisis in the United States. Since the cancellation of Blinkens trip in February, there have been some high-level engagements. CIA chief William Burns traveled to China in May, while Chinas commerce minister traveled to the U.S. And Bidens national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Wang Yi in Vienna in May. But those have been punctuated by bursts of angry rhetoric from both countries over the Taiwan Strait, their broader intentions in the Indo-Pacific, Chinas refusal to condemn Russia for its war against Ukraine, and U.S. allegations from Washington that Beijing is attempting to boost its worldwide surveillance capabilities, including in Cuba. And, earlier this month, Chinas defense minister rebuffed a request from U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for a meeting on the sidelines of a security symposium in Singapore, a sign of continuing discontent. ___ Associated Press writer Emily Wang contributed. Mississippi cleaned up Monday after multiple storms killed at least one person and injured nearly two dozen as Texas remained in the grip of a powerful heat wave that saw temperatures top 100 degrees across the state. In Mississippi, after storms cut off power for nearly 50,000 customers, electricity had been restored to roughly half of those home and businesses by Monday night, according to outage tracker poweroutage.us. The emergency management agency confirmed the death of a person in Jasper County, an area about 70 miles east of Jackson. The victim has yet to be publicly identified. At least one other person was killed Friday in Madison County, 30 miles north of Jackson. The agency was working closely with counties to assess the damage, it tweeted. Drone video showed splintered houses, downed power lines, mangled trees and scattered debris. MEMA is assisting counties with damage assessments. Here is a look at the damage in Jasper County from last night's storms. This video was recorded today (6/19/23). Media feel free to use this video with credit to MEMA.#mswx pic.twitter.com/PsN6OPZP3A msema (@MSEMA) June 19, 2023 The storm was the latest in a series of extreme weather incidents over the holiday weekend that have left six people dead, injured more than 100 others and cut off power for nearly 500,000 customers. By Monday night, nearly 260,000 homes and businesses were still without electricity across a stretch of the South, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas, according to the online outage tracker PowerOutage.us. Oklahoma appeared to be the hardest hit, with nearly 162,000 customers still without power Monday night. The National Weather Service said late Monday that severe thunderstorms were possible overnight in parts of Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Florida. More than 2 million people across the region were under a storm watch, meaning large hail and powerful winds were possible, the service said. Adrian Cole shows where he found the body of his neighbor, identified by family as George Jean Haynes, outside their home after a tornado struck off Country Road 16, on June 19, 2023 in Louin, Mississippi. (Michael DeMocker/Getty Images) An additional 24 million people across much of Texas remained under an excessive heat warning as cities topped records and officials urged residents to stay safe. The city of San Antonio recorded 105 degrees Monday a record for June 19 while the border city of Del Rio hit 109, also a record, according to the service. In Houston, where temperatures reached 100 degrees, the heat index made it feel like 110, the service said. The weather service urged people to stay hydrated, limit strenuous outdoor activities and take breaks in the shade as much as possible if they are working outside. It also recommended that residents check in on anyone elderly, sick or without air conditioning, and it reminded drivers never to leave children or pets unattended in vehicles. A number of cooling centers will be open across Texas, Gov. Greg Abbotts office said. The State of Texas continues working around the clock to swiftly provide the necessary resources for Northeast Texas communities impacted by these horrific storms, he said in a statement Sunday. State and local officials are on the ground to restore power and ensure the safety and well-being of our fellow Texans. Three people were killed in the state and more than 50 others were injured Thursday after a tornado struck the city of Perryton, near the Oklahoma state line. In Florida, a person was pronounced dead Thursday after having been trapped under a tree at home following a tornado. Beginning this fall, Duke University will offer free tuition to undergraduate students from North Carolina and South Carolina with family incomes of $150,000 or less, the university announced Tuesday. For undergraduate students from the Carolinas whose family incomes are $65,000 or less, Duke will provide additional financial assistance for the costs of housing, meals, course materials and other campus expenses, in addition to providing free tuition. The assistance will be available immediately to eligible undergraduate students from North and South Carolina who are currently enrolled at the university, as well as future students who qualify. Students from military families whose legal residence is in the Carolinas will also qualify, even if they are stationed outside of either state. This additional financial support for undergraduates reflects Dukes commitment to our students from the Carolinas, Duke President Vincent Price said in a statement. By providing even more equitable access to a Duke education, and ensuring students have the resources they need to truly thrive while here at Duke, we will also make our campus community stronger. Currently enrolled students will receive updated financial aid statements reflecting the universitys new commitment by July 1. Covering tuition will cover the vast majority of the expenses associated with attending Duke, Gary Bennett, dean of Dukes Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, told The News & Observer in an interview. The Duke bursars website lists the cost of undergraduate tuition for the 2023-2024 school year as $31,725 per semester, for a total of almost $63,500 for the year. Additional required fees total more than $6,000 per year. On-campus housing costs range from about $4,400 to more than $8,000 per semester. Meal plans cost between more than $850 to more than $4,200 per semester. Duke will use existing university resources to fund the effort, Bennett said. Students will receive the support through grants, not loans, and will not repay the money to Duke. Were going to use our operating resources here in ways that allow us to provide this program and ... to keep it running for the foreseeable future, Bennett said. Duke estimates about 340 students will benefit from the assistance in the upcoming academic year, increasing aid to students from the Carolinas by more than $2 million that year. The university had more than 6,500 students enrolled in the fall 2022 semester, with more than 1,100 of those students that academic year coming from North Carolina more than any other state. More than 150 students were from South Carolina. Duke expects to enroll more eligible students from North and South Carolina in the next five years and anticipates spending an additional $6 million to $7 million per year to provide students with the increased assistance, the university said in announcing the program. Were very excited about this program, fundamentally, because this is our home and its a place where we have our most long-standing commitments, Bennett said. And were really interested in ensuring that families here in the Carolinas know that a Duke education can be affordable, and that once students are here, then theyll have access to a bevy of other supports and resources that will help them to have a really terrific college experience. Bennett said the university has been working toward offering this assistance program for the last couple of years. The income requirement of $150,000 or less balances students and families needs and the universitys ability to continue offering this program over the long term, he said. One of the things we know from our data and that of others is that students from backgrounds like these are more likely to attend colleges that are close to home, and many will remain here in the region after they graduate, Bennett said. So we view this not only as a commitment to students and their families, but also a commitment to the communities here in the Carolinas, where our students and we call home. Duke says it offers more than $130 million in financial aid grants each year, and the majority of students who attend the university pay less than the full cost. Tom Schwartz has served as an inspiration for Tom Sandovals cover band for months but are things getting extra shady between the Vanderpump Rules costars? One of Sandovals recent performances with his band, The Most Extras, quickly got fans talking about the message behind the music as an eagle-eyed follower reposted several stories from the TomTom cofounders Instagram Story on Sunday, June 18, writing, I have never heard these lyrics before. Biggest Vanderpump Rules Feuds And Where Relationships Stand Today Read article In the video which featured footage from Sandovals performance at Engelmann Cellars in California the reality star sang about Schwartz, 40. Schwartzy do you remember when you had a lawn? A homeowner lawn. Your mom came out wearing just a TomTom hoodie and thong. TomTom hoodie and thong, Sandoval, also 40, sang during his rendition of Stacys Mom. When his band kicked off their tour earlier this year, Sandoval surprised attendees by changing up the lyrics during different shows, making jokes about having an interest in Schwartzs mother by tweaking the words of Stacys mom to Schwartzs mom. The Missouri native also poked fun at his cheating scandal with Raquel Leviss in his aforementioned cover of the Fountains of Wayne track. Schwartzs mom has got it going on. Shes all I want, and I wait for so long. Schwartzy cant you see that Raquel is hot for me, Sandoval appeared to sing as the crowd cheered during a May performance in New York. Sandovals personal life originally made headlines in March when news broke about his split from Ariana Madix due to an affair with Leviss, 28. Schwartz, for his part, hooked up with the former beauty pageant queen in August 2022 amid his divorce from Katie Maloney. Schwartz, who owns two restaurants with Sandoval, faced backlash after he publicly supported his best friend. Tom Schwartz and Tom Sandoval's Friendship Over the Years Read article First of all, Ariana, love you. I know you dont love me right now, but I still love you. And also, Tom, I know the whole world hates you. But Im not going to abandon you, old buddy. Im not going to abandon you, he said on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in April. He knows hes a monster for what he did. If you see him, maybe give him a hug. Even if he doesnt deserve it, give him a hug. Hes down bad. Nicole Weingart/Bravo Earlier this month, however, the Minnesota native admitted that his stance has changed after seeing how Sandoval addressed the drama. He made a big mess. And then you know, he left it for us to clean up back at the businesses. And its hard for me not to be resentful of him, Schwartz told Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright on their Reality Hits podcast. Im taking a break from Tom right now. I havent seen him in awhile. Vanderpump Rules Where Are They Now Read article According to Schwartz, he felt exploited by his friend in the aftermath of Scandoval. It just looks like he has no contrition, or it looks like he just doesnt give a fk and hes living out his rockstar dreams and good for him, he added, referring to Sandovals current music tour. I think thats one thing Ive gleaned from all the people in the restaurant. They just dont understand, like the lack of remorse. I know he fking regrets it. But he doesnt do a good job of showing that. The Bravo star concluded by confirming that he is no longer aware of what goes on in Sandovals personal life, saying, I have no clue and it could not make me happier, I dont want to know any secrets. Google Gannett, the parent company of USA TODAY and more than 200 news publications across the country, is suing Google over its digital advertising practices. The federal lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Tuesday, accuses Google of monopolizing advertising technology markets, using deceptive commercial practices and violating U.S. antitrust and consumer protection laws. Google controls 90% of the market for publisher ad servers, which publishers use to offer ad space for sale, Gannett said in a statement. Google also controls over 60% of the market for ad exchanges, which run auctions among advertisers bidding for ad space on publishers websites. Publishers rely on revenue from digital ads to fund operations. Gannett is the largest publisher in the U.S. News publishers depend on digital ad revenue to provide timely, cutting-edge reporting and essential content communities rely on, yet Googles practices have had negative implications that depress not only revenue, but also force the reduction and footprint of local news, Gannetts CEO Mike Reed said in a statement. Without free and fair competition for digital ad space, publishers cannot invest in their newsrooms." Gannett CEO: Here's why we are suing Google for deceptive business practices These claims are simply wrong," Dan Taylor, vice president of Google Ads, said in a statement to USA TODAY. "Publishers have many options to choose from when it comes to using advertising technology to monetize in fact, Gannett uses dozens of competing ad services, including Google Ad Manager. And when publishers choose to use Google tools, they keep the vast majority of revenue. Well show the court how our advertising products benefit publishers and help them fund their content online. In an email, Google affirmed its ongoing support of journalism, noting it has "provided billions of dollars to support the creation of quality journalism in the digital age." Gannett said that last year, Google made upwards of $30 billion in revenue from the sale of ad space on publishers websites, which was six times the digital advertising revenue of all U.S. news publications, combined. But Google notes, "In a study looking at top news publishers using Google Ad Manager, we found they keep over 95% of the digital ad revenue on average when they show ads on their content." It also added that its ad tech fees are transparent and in line with the rest of the industry. Gannett isnt the first to sue Google over its ad practices. Multiple state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against Google with similar allegations in 2020, and this year, the Justice Department and additional states sued Google for monopolizing digital advertising technologies, as Reed notes in an Opinion piece in USA TODAY. The European Unions competition authority also seeks to break up Googles ad-tech business in a separate case filed last week. Gannett, parent company of USA TODAY and owner of more than 200 news publications across the country, is the largest publisher in the U.S. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gannett sues Google over digital advertising practices Sexual minorities are born, not made, so, treat them as such An unprecedented scene occurred in Daegu last Saturday. Municipal employees clashed with police officers in the southeastern city, the capital of Korean conservatives. At the direction of Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, Daegu officials tried to block the Daegu Queer Culture Festival (DQCF), the annual LGBTQ pride parade. In a rare role reversal, police protected the rally to ensure its smooth finish. The mayor said the event was OK, but the participants' "illegal occupation" of roads and streets was not. He was lying. A march must be on the boulevards, not the plazas and sidewalks. The prosecutor-turned-politician knew laws on assembly permits it, but pretended not to. Conservative politicians have not hidden their disdain for queer festivals or LGBTQ people. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon also disapproved of similar events using Seoul Plaza. "Personally, I can't agree with homosexuality," he said. However, personal preference is one thing, and fulfilling one's duty as an elected official should be another. Hong, a prosecutor-turned-politician, attempted to thwart the festival, defying laws and twisting the rules to suit his position. The court rejected two injunctions from Christian groups to ban the Daegu event. "Assemblies are the only forum where politically disadvantaged or minority groups can express their views," it said. "It is difficult to see restrictions on property rights and business freedom outweigh those on freedom of expression." Hong's administrative slogan is "Powerful Daegu" to make the metropolis a vibrant and international city. It explains why the conservative mayor supported building a mosque despite residents' opposition. His respect for Muslims' rights in the predominantly Christian city was a pleasant surprise. So, it is doubly regretful that Hong failed to show similar tolerance toward people with different sexual orientations and gender identities. A city cannot remain powerful, let alone global, unless it is diverse and colorful, like the rainbow colors of LGBTQ. However, Hong's contrasting moves on the two human rights issues reflect his political calculation. He must have thought that winning support from young male voters and conservatives would more than offset possible losses from women and some Christians. It seems as if Hong learned from another prosecutor-turned-politician. President Yoon Suk Yeol has won the top job with such a splitting strategy. Hong's administration is undemocratic and inhumane due to political greed. Admittedly, conservatives hating LGBTQ is a global phenomenon. In the U.S., too, red states lead the discrimination against transgender people. In Africa, where many nations remain under dictatorial rulers, sexual minorities are punishable by law. In an extreme case, Uganda recently enacted a law that can sentence some gays and lesbians to death despite global outcries. However, they are exceptions, not norms. Hosting global events like the G7 summits or Olympics has enabled Japan to shed its discriminatory layers one by one. Taiwan is one of 34 countries, and the first in Asia, which legalized same-sex marriage. Some Koreans, encouraged by the country's rising economic and military power, want it to become a member of the G8. Media commentators call this a "psychological G8" phenomenon. Nonsense! A country where the mayor of its capital city disapproves of disabled people's rights to demonstrate in subways, the head of a state human rights agency denying compensation for victims of wartime massacres, prosecutors raiding labor unions and media outlets and the elected officials of metropolises openly expressing their hatred of LGBTQ can be a wealthy nation, but not an advanced one. Officials like Hong and Oh claim the "majority's right" not to see what they dislike. Sounds reasonable enough. However, the majority's right to use roads and streets freely can never be equated to the minority's right to expose their presence to the world, defying all difficulties. By nature, humans don't like people different from them. As people grow up, they learn to live with different groups. Coexistence is a sign of maturity. There's nothing wrong with being different, and LGBTQ is not made but born. FILE - President Joe Biden attends his granddaughter Maisy Biden's commencement ceremony with first lady Jill Biden and children Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Monday, May 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Bidens son Hunter has been charged with failing to pay federal income tax and illegally possessing a weapon and has reached an agreement with the Justice Department, according to a letter filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware. As part of the agreement, made public Tuesday, Hunter Biden will plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses and is expected to reach an agreement with prosecutors on the felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user. It is somewhat unusual to resolve a federal criminal case at the same time the charges are filed in court, though it is not totally unheard of. The deal ends a long-running Justice Department investigation into Bidens second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden. It also averts a trial that would have generated days or weeks or distracting headlines for a White House that has strenuously sought to keep its distance from the Justice Department. The news comes as congressional Republicans pursue their own investigations into nearly every facet of Hunter Bidens business dealings, including examining foreign payments and other aspects of his finances. It also comes days after a 37-count indictment came down against former President Donald Trump for mishandling classified documents on his Florida estate, another case with even more dramatic political implications. Joe Biden has also faced questions about his sons business dealings and drug addiction. Emerson Miller Season one of 1923 ended in dramatic fashion, with the Dutton family ranch under attack and Spencer and Alex torn apart on their way to help save it. Unfortunately for fans of the Yellowstone prequel, the resolutions to those plot lines and other cliffhangers aren't coming anytime soon. Due to the Writers Guild of America strike, which is now in its second month, it seems unlikely that we're getting season 2 this year. Season one of 1923 ended in dramatic fashion, with the Dutton family ranch under attack and Spencer and Alex torn apart on their way to help save it. Unfortunately for fans of the Yellowstone prequel, the resolutions to those plot lines and other cliffhangers aren't coming anytime soon. The first season premiered in December of 2022, and hopes were high that the second season would follow that schedule. That now seems unlikely, due to the Writers Guild of America strike, which is now in its second month. James Minchin According to NBC Montana, production was supposed to begin in Butte earlier in June. The production company had a contract to rent out the Butte Civic Center for film sets and storage, but Civic Center manager Bill Melvin told NBC Montana that the project has been "delayed indefinitely" due to the strike. Filming of season 1 shut down the Civic Center for most of 2022, with the production company paying $75,000 a month to rent the facility, according to KXLF Butte. Emerson Miller What's more, cast members of the show have confirmed that season 2 will be its last. Brandon Sklenar, who portrays Spencer Dutton, confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter. The actor said, "It's still limited, but I think of it as one piecetheres just a split in the middle, but its all one piece. It will conclude." This news comes on the heels of what's been a very tumultuous year for the Yellowstone universe. Contract disputes with star Kevin Costner have lead to the end of the original series (the second half of the final season is set to air in November), and a new yet-to-be-named series will pick up where that show lets off. Stay tuned for more news on the Yellowstone front. You Might Also Like KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban rulers put a man to death in public on Tuesday in the eastern province of Laghman, the supreme court said, the second confirmed official execution since the Islamist movement took over in 2021. The man was convicted of the murder of five people after an investigation by three courts, the Taliban-run Supreme Court said in a statement, without saying how he was executed. The punishment was carried out in the presence of regional Taliban officials, it said, adding that the execution had been approved by the supreme spiritual leader, who told judges last year to carry out punishments in line with sharia law. "Due to the seriousness of the case, the supreme leader also undertook a final investigation and after discussion with scholars confirmed the execution," the statement said. The first confirmed public execution under the Taliban took place in December in the western province of Farah, being attended by senior Taliban leaders, and drew criticism from the United Nations. Last year, the Supreme Court announced punishments such as public lashing for those accused of offences such as robbery and adultery, signalling a possible return to practices common under Taliban rule in the 1990s. In a report in May, the United Nations mission in the country said more than 300 people had been publicly flogged in six months, calling for an end to the practice and use of the death penalty. Afghanistan witnessed public lashings and deaths by stoning during the previous rule of the Taliban from 1996 to 2001. Such punishments later became rare and were condemned by successor foreign-backed governments, though the death penalty remained legal. (Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar in Kabul; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) Visitors at Three Sisters Falls on April 16, 2023, in Cleveland National Forest outside of Julian. (Sandy Huffaker / For the San Diego Union-Tribune) The San Diego County Sheriff's Department called off the search for a missing man Monday after a rescue team discovered a body at Three Sisters Falls. The Sheriff's Department did not release the name of the missing man and said in a news release that authorities were working to make a positive identification of the body. Less than two weeks ago, a woman died at the same waterfalls. In the latest incident, a 27-year-old man disappeared Friday while swimming with a companion at the middle pool of Three Sisters Falls. The collection of waterfalls near the town of Julian require a challenging hike to reach. The Sheriff's Department said the current was too dangerous for divers to search underwater until Monday. Authorities across California have been urging swimmers to be extra cautious at rivers and lakes this spring and summer. As snow melts from the heavy winter storms, there's heightened risk of high water levels and strong currents. "This fast-moving water can be dangerous to swim in, even for the most experienced swimmers," the Governor's Office of Emergency Services said in a news release this month. According to a tally from the Bay Area News Group, at least 18 people have drowned or gone missing at rivers and tributaries across the state since mid-April. That includes the 27-year-old man who went missing last week at Three Sisters, as well as an Orange County woman who died there a week earlier. On June 8, Sarah Louise Crocker of Ladera Ranch and a teen girl who was a family friend were in the middle pool of the falls when the teen lost her footing. Crocker reached out to assist, and both fell over the edge of the waterfall to the bottom pool, officials said. Crocker died, and the 15-year-old girl was seriously injured. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. A court-appointed doctor has determined that Carlos Reales Dominguez is not mentally competent to stand trial in the deadly stabbing rampage that terrorized Davis in April and May. But jurors will have the final say in July, a judge ruled Tuesday. Reales Dominguez will face a three-day competency trial July 24 in Woodland to determine whether his case will proceed, Yolo Superior Court Judge Samuel McAdam decided Tuesday, a day that saw Reales Dominguez ask for forgiveness for the crimes that left two men dead and a woman critically injured. I want to apologize and say Im guilty, Reales Dominguez said in a clear voice from the defendants table before his attorney, Yolo County public defender Daniel Hutchinson, quickly quieted him and ushered him out of the courtroom. McAdam ordered Reales Dominguezs words struck from the record before deputies returned Reales Dominguez to his seat. McAdams Tuesday ruling setting the July trial date rankled Hutchinson. Hutchinson had asked for a court trial in which McAdam alone would consider the evidence. Its extremely unusual to have a jury trial, Hutchinson said. But McAdam sided with Yolo County deputy prosecutor Matt De Moura, even as he said the upcoming July trial date was on a quick timeline. De Moura also received medical records from Yolo County Jail, where Reales Dominguez remains held without bail, including a questionnaire completed by Reales Dominguez while in custody and an encyclopedia-sized stack of records from medical and mental health care provider Wellpath. McAdam will review yet more of Reales Dominguezs records supplied by Dignity Health before handing them over to prosecutors. Reales Dominguez, the 21-year-old former UC Davis student, expelled from the university days before the violent spree stands accused of multiple murders in the knife killings of two Davis men 50-year-old David Henry Breaux and 20-year-old UC Davis senior Karim Abou Najm and the attempted murder of the woman 64-year-old Kimberlee Guillory. McAdam had suspended criminal proceedings earlier this month and directed doctors to determine whether Reales Dominguez was fit to resume his case. The answer Tuesday was no. HAVANA (Reuters) - A delegation of high-level Cuban officials wrapped up an extended visit to Russia, according to state-run media reports on Tuesday, following up on the nearly 30 trade agreements signed between the allies in Havana in May. Longtime political allies Cuba and Russia - both subject to U.S. sanctions - have sharply increased economic ties by facilitating trade and investment to circumvent those restrictions. The 11-day trip by Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero and Foreign Vice Minister Gerardo Penalver came on the heels of a trade forum in May in which the allies agreed to work together to boost Cubas sugar and rum exports, assure coveted wheat and crude oil supply to the Communist-run island and overhaul crumbling tourist facilities. "We must look for new avenues to carry out our economic relations outside the scope of ... the (U.S.) dollar, which is giving way more and more to a multipolar world, and where other actors such as China, India and Russia acquire greater relevance," Penalver told state-run media outlet CubaDebate upon returning to Havana. Marrero met with his Russian counterpart Mikhail Mishustin as well as with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Communist-run Cuba has been under a wide-reaching U.S. trade embargo since shortly after Fidel Castros 1959 revolution. Those restrictions, reinforced by then-U.S. President Donald Trump, have contributed to a nearly unprecedented economic crisis that has led to shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Russia is ready to supply Cuba with 1.64 million tonnes of oil and oil products annually, Russian news agencies reported last week, citing Marrero. Fuel, especially, has been in short supply in Cuba since March, forcing the government to ration and prompting days long queues for gasoline, further crippling the economy. Penalver said the second half of 2023 would see Russian airline Aeroflot renew flights to the island and bring 1,200 employees of Russian state-run oil firm Rosneft to relax and receive medical check-ups. (Reporting by Dave Sherwood in Havana; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Dozens of his fellow Democrats urged U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday to raise human rights issues with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Washington this week, according to a letter sent to Biden. Modi left for Washington on Tuesday for a visit projected as a milestone in ties between the two countries. "We do not endorse any particular Indian leader or political party that is the decision of the people of India but we do stand in support of the important principles that should be a core part of American foreign policy," said the letter, led by Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representative Pramila Jayapal. A total of 75 Democratic members of Congress - 18 senators and 57 members of the House of Representatives - signed the letter, sent to the White House on Tuesday and first reported by Reuters. "And we ask that, during your meeting with Prime Minister Modi, you discuss the full range of issues important to a successful, strong, and long-term relationship between our two great countries," the letter said. Modi has been to the United States five times since becoming prime minister in 2014, but the trip will be his first with the full diplomatic status of a state visit, despite concerns over what is seen as a deteriorating human rights situation under his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Washington hopes for closer ties with the world's largest democracy, which it sees as a counterweight to China, but rights advocates worry that geopolitics will overshadow human rights issues. Several U.S. rights groups plan protests during Modi's visit. The State Department's annual report on human rights practices released in March listed "significant human rights issues" and abuses in India. 'FRIENDS CAN AND SHOULD DISCUSS THEIR DIFFERENCES' Modi will address a joint meeting of the House and Senate on Thursday, one of the highest honors Washington affords to foreign dignitaries. "A series of independent, credible reports reflect troubling signs in India toward the shrinking of political space, the rise of religious intolerance, the targeting of civil society organizations and journalists, and growing restrictions on press freedoms and internet access," the lawmakers said in the letter. They said they joined Biden in welcoming Modi to the United States, and want a "close and warm relationship" between the people of the two countries, saying that friendship should be based on shared values and "friends can and should discuss their differences in an honest and forthright way." "That is why we respectfully request that in addition to the many areas of shared interests between India and the U.S. you also raise directly with Prime Minister Modi areas of concern," the letter said. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. But when asked last month about human rights concerns in India, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Biden believes: "This is an important relationship that we need to continue and build on as it relates to human rights." (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Don Durfee and Jonathan Oatis) BEIJING (Reuters) -A former deputy governor of China's central bank, Fan Yifei, has been arrested for suspected bribery, Chinas top prosecutor said on Tuesday. Fan, 59, is the highest-ranking official at the People's Bank of China to be arrested under President Xi Jinping's anti-graft drive in the past decade, in a campaign aimed at weeding out corrupt officials in the financial sector. The Supreme People's Procuratorate said in its statement it would prosecute Fan and the case was under further investigation. Reuters was not able to contact Fan for comment. Fan was expelled from the Communist Party and removed from his post this month for serious violations of discipline and the law, state media reported. The top anti-corruption watchdog said he had taken advantage of his position to make profits for others in loan financing and illegally accepting property, state media said. (Reporting by Kevin Yao and Ellen Zhang; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Robert Birsel) By Jason Lim The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) notes in a recent report on the progress of the IAEA Review of Safety Related Aspects of Handling ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) Treated Water at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) that "these findings provide confidence in TEPCO's capability for undertaking accurate and precise measurements related to the discharge of ALPS treated water. Furthermore, based on the observations of the IAEA, TEPCO has demonstrated that they have a sustainable and robust analytical system in place to support the ongoing technical needs at FDNPS during the discharge of ALPS treated water." It doesn't exactly say that the water is safe. But it's a close second since the IAEA does, however, endorse all the methodology and analytics used by TEPCO to evaluate the safety of the water. Based on studies and reports from authoritative and trusted sources, I believe that the Fukushima discharge is safe for fish and humans alike. However, I still don't want to eat fish caught in those waters and don't want my family to do that either. Is that hypocritical? Damn right. But it's a hypocrisy that's rooted deeply in my better-safe-than-sorry instincts. Remember mad cow disease? It seems to be a lifetime ago when former President Lee Myung-bak was ambushed by a flurry of gripes on resuming imports of U.S. beef that quickly blossomed into the biggest street protest seen in the country since South Korea became a democracy, just as he took the reins of the government. Despite scientific and statistical evidence to the contrary, there was real public fear that the resumption of U.S. beef imports would put Korean citizens in imminent danger of contracting the incurable mad cow disease. There was even a widely believed claim that the homogenous Korean race shared a gene that made it especially susceptible, and a warning that babies could catch the disease from wearing diapers made from infected cow parts. To call these claims overblown would be a gross understatement. But they nevertheless tore through the internet to become an onslaught of patently false "truth" that the authorities, despite being armed with "facts," were helpless against. Today, I literally haven't heard of any Koreans contracting mad cow disease from American beef. However, if I were in Korea during those times, surrounded by misinformation flying about and triggering my fears, I would probably stay away from imported American beef. Intellectually, I would understand that the chances of contracting the disease would be miniscule. But I would tell myself it's better to be safe than sorry, even at negligible risk, until the overall social atmosphere changed to lower my threat perception. I consider myself fairly well-informed and rational, but I know that I have and will be making non-rational decisions based on the prevailing public narrative that is patently false and largely driven by partisans interested in fearmongering for their own benefits. In other words, my decisions are not entirely of my own making. I have agency, but my agency is influenced by the prevailing, collective stories that are currently in vogue, regardless of how factually dubious they may be. David Brooks, the New York Times columnist, once wrote, "Behavioral economists have shown the limits of the classical economic model, which assumes that individuals are efficient, rational, utility-maximizing creatures. Psychologists have shown that we are organized by our attachments. Sociologists have shown the power of social networks to affect individual behavior." Amplify this power by a million. Mad cow disease's main social attachment engine was the Agora forum on Korean internet portal, Daum. These days, we have social media platforms that allow us to actively create our own customized echo chamber of similar political leanings, backgrounds, ethnicities, and hundreds of other micro demographics that will reinforce the exact message that we want to hear in the first place. Therefore, the collective stories that are in vogue that so influence my decisions are actually in vogue because I created the space where those stories have become inevitable and trending. It's an insidious, self-feeding loop of confirmation bias that informs a mental construct about the world that can brook no evidence or facts that counter the safety of its ecosystem. Barry Goldwater, often credited as the father of modern American conservative movement, famously said, "The choices that govern his life are choices that he must make; they cannot be made by any other human being Conservatism's first concern will always be: Are we maximizing freedom?'' Unfortunately, that's the not the first concern of a human being, as we have seen in the recent epoch of social media. Our first concern is to feel secure and safe within our own environment both physical and mental. Being secure and safe necessarily means maximizing the stability of the status quo over changes. In fact, any change anything different from what I know is a threat. It's a better-to-be-safe-than-sorry world of stagnation. In this world, freedom becomes the enemy if freedom leads to decisions that can result in changes. Mad cows swimming in Fukushima waters may be perfectly safe to eat. But I won't be eating them because my friends won't be eating them. Until they start eating them, what's the nature of the agency or freedom that I wield? Jason Lim (jasonlim@msn.com) is a Washington, D.C.-based expert on innovation, leadership and organizational culture. Picture of British billionaire Hamish Harding, said to be among the missing submarine's passengers Who died on tourist submersible to Titanic wreckage? Picture of British billionaire Hamish Harding, said to be among the missing submarine's passengers (Reuters) -A five-person submersible vessel taking wealthy adventurers on a $250,000 trip to see the wreckage of the 1912 Titanic disaster 12,500 feet (3,800m) undersea is missing in the Atlantic off Canada. Following is what we know so far: WHO IS ON BOARD? * HAMISH HARDING. The British billionaire and chairman of aviation consultancy Action Aviation is among those missing, according to his stepson. Dubai-based Harding had posted on social media that he was proud to be heading to the Titanic as a "mission specialist", adding: "Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow." In 2016, Harding accompanied former astronaut Buzz Aldrin to the South Pole, when Aldrin became the oldest person ever to reach the Antarctic region, at 86. Harding was also on board the 2019 "One More Orbit" flight mission that set a record for the fastest circumnavigation of earth by aircraft over both geographic poles. * SHAHZADA DAWOOD and his son SULEMAN. Their family have confirmed they are on board. Shahzada is vice chairman of one of Pakistan's largest conglomerates, Engro Corporation, with investments in fertilisers, vehicle manufacturing, energy and digital technologies. According to the website of SETI, a California-based research institute of which he is a trustee, he lives in Britain with his wife and two children. * PAUL-HENRI NARGEOLET. The 77-year-old French explorer, whom media say is one of the five on board, is director of underwater research at a company that owns the rights to the Titanic wreck. A former commander in the French Navy, he was both a deep diver and a mine sweeper. After retiring from the navy, he led the first recovery expedition to the Titanic in 1987 and is a leading authority on the wreck site. In a 2020 interview with France Bleu radio, he spoke of the dangers of deep diving, saying: "I am not afraid to die, I think it will happen one day." * STOCKTON RUSH. The founder and CEO of the vessel's U.S.-based operating company OceanGate is also on the submersible, according to media reports. "It is an amazingly beautiful wreck," Rush told Britain's Sky news of the Titanic earlier this year. "You can see inside, we dipped down and saw the grand staircase and saw some of the chandeliers still hanging." * According to his biography on OceanGate's website, Rush became the youngest jet transport-rated pilot in the world in 1981 at the age of 19. WHAT'S THE FIRM BEHIND THIS? * Based in Everett in Washington State, OceanGate says it uses next generation crewed submersibles and launch platforms to increase deep ocean access as far as 4,000 metres. * "OceanGate has successfully completed over 14 expeditions and over 200 dives in the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico," its website says. "Following every mission, the team evaluates and updates the procedures as part of a continued commitment to evolve and ensure operational safety." WHAT IS THE VESSEL? * Although popularly called a submarine, in marine terminology the "Titan" vessel carrying the five is a submersible. While a submarine can launch itself from a port independently, a submersible goes down off a support ship. (Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi, Kate Holton in London, Dominique Vidalon in Paris, Yousef Saba in Dubai;Writing by Andrew Cawthorne;Editing by Christina Fincher, Alexandra Hudson) A masseuse treats a client next to a podcast studio in Chapel Hill. Over In Cary, a psychic tells futures while working moms nurse in a private room down the hall. And in Raleigh, lawyers brew morning coffees alongside freelancers. Each weekday, the professional diversity of the Triangle comes together through coworking. The area has minority-focused coworking spaces, a women-focused space, national chains and homegrown networks. Some communities cater to startups and others to remote workers wishing to shake the tedium (or the chaos) of their work-from-home routines. One local coworking space is completely free. Another offers small businesses with tangible goods something called cowarehousing. The News & Observer visited nine area coworking communities to see what sets each apart. There were plenty of common amenities across the spaces: beer on tap, murals on the walls, private interview booths, podcast studios, and weekly events for members to mingle. But a slide? Only one had that. Note, this guide isnt comprehensive. There are dozens of local coworking communities from Hillsborough to Knightdale with several launching in the past few years. Not every space could be visited. But we did our best to capture the wide range of local options. If youve curious about Triangle coworking for your business or yourself, this is a good place to start. American Underground American Underground in Durham. American Underground In the Triangle since: 2010 How many local locations: 1 (201 W. Main St., Durham) Prices: Limited coworking for $149 per month. All-access coworking for $199. Private offices start at $399. Hours: 24/7 access What sets American Underground apart? A veteran in the nascent modern coworking industry, American Underground is today a fixture of downtown Durham. It has seven floors (four in one building, three in another next door) and serves startup and remote workers with a mission toward innovation. We think of ourselves sort of as the center of gravity for startup activity in Durham, said Tim Scales, executive director of American Underground. Anything happening along those lines tends to fall here. Given its size, American Underground offers startups flexible office options across its two buildings. There are elevators, of course, but also a slide to the lowest floor. At least once a week, American Underground hosts events to bring members and the broader business community together. Thursday afternoon social mixers are standard. To Scales, the potential to form connections is why members keep coming back. Durham is part of our culture, he added. We can connect with the local restaurants and businesses and help our members find them, too. Blush Blush in Cary Brian Gordon In the Triangle since: 2022 How many local locations: 1 (201 Shannon Oaks Circle, Suite 102, Cary) Prices: Monthly membership for $250 per month. Dedicated desk for $425. Private offices start at $800. Day passes for $30 a day. Onsite childcare starts at $10 an hour (and provided by Hopscotch Labs). Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday What sets Blush apart? A female-focused coworking space in Cary, and the only one in the area to offer on-site childcare. For working parents, the childcare has been a major attraction since Blush opened last spring. I think there should be more of these in the world, said Danielle Leach, a Blush member who brings her 9-month-old daughter to the coworking community. Alison Rogers, who cofounded Blush, said most of the childcare slots are filled by Blush members. Its becoming more of a member benefit, she said. We still do have spots, especially on Fridays, for people to add (the childcare) on to a day pass to try it out. The open work areas at Blush have a variety of seats and table styles, with white walls interrupted by pops of pink murals and accents. Private offices set against the walls are named after famous women like Britney Spears, Maya Angelou, and former North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue. Theres also a library stocked exclusively with women authors, and a private room where parents can nurse their infants. Being situated in Cary, Rogers said, makes it ideal for professionals living between Raleigh and Durham. Frontier RTP Frontier RTP in Research Triangle Park Brian Gordon In the Triangle since: 2015 How many local locations: 1 (800 Park Offices Drive, RTP) Price: Free Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. What sets Frontier RTP apart?: Its free. The areas only public coworking space offers the basic amenities open desks, meeting rooms and individual work pods in the center of the Research Triangle. What sets Frontier RTP apart from all the startup incubators is accessibility, which really drives the community, said Ana Velez, a marketing manager for Research Triangle Park. By lowering the barrier to entry through affordable flex space and free community programming, multi-gen entrepreneurs of any stage in any industry can thrive, connect and grow here. Proximity to the shops of Boxyard RTP is another attraction, Velez said. Construction is also underway to make the entire complex, called Hub RTP, into the first downtown in the parks history. Rich Paules, an account executive who works remotely, said he comes to Frontier RTP when he wants a change of pace. There are less distractions, he said. Fewer kids, chores, tasks starring you in the face. Industrious In the Triangle since: 2015 How many local locations: 2 (Raleigh and Chapel Hill) Price: Memberships start at $299 a month. Offices start at $665. Hours: 24/7 access What sets Industrious apart? Walking into the Industrious coworking space in downtown Raleigh is like walking into a trendy hotel lobby. Staff greet you behind the front desk. Light music plays in the background. Everything is polished and professional. Industrious is an international chain found in more than 65 cities. It aims to be the premium coworking option says David Poland, the companys general manager in the Carolinas and Tennessee. I think its something thats almost immediately noticeable that we put a lot into the design and construction and quality of the IT equipment thats provided, the conference rooms, and even our tech, Poland said. The higher-end amenities attract a more corporate membership set, including law firms and wealth management satellite offices. Located in a downtown tower, Industrious offers breakfast each morning and afternoon snacks. One of the strongest ways to get people together and start talking is food and beverage, Poland said. A basic membership allows members to use their primary location. With an additional charge, they can access any Industrious site in the world. Innovate Carolina Junction (previously Launch) Carolina Innovation Junction in Chapel Hill Launch Chapel Hill In the Triangle since: 2013 How many local locations: 1 (137 E. Franklin St., Suite 611, Chapel Hill) Price: Part-time membership for $200 a month. Full-time for $350. Private offices start at $900. Hours: 24/7 access What sets the Launch Junction apart? Across Franklin Street from the University of North Carolina, the working space Innovate Carolina Junction leans into its connections to Chapel Hill both the school and the town. The space is publicly funded and strives to be the centerpiece of an innovation district in Chapel Hill. The whole building is part of a grander vision of the town to build this hub of innovation, said Alex Joyner, the services manager at Launch, a startup accelerator which is housed at the coworking space. Innovate Carolina, which is currently constructing a second floor, aims to attract both early-stage startups and established companies that want to offer their employees in Orange County an office community. Members dont need to have UNC connection, though UNC-affiliated members get discounts. Between UNC professors and the Launch accelerator, startups have ready resources to help grow their ideas. The feedback we get (from members) is they really appreciate this isnt just a place to sit down and work in your own little quiet space, Joyner said. There is a collaboration effort. Raleigh Founded Raleigh Founded in Raleigh. Brian Gordon In the Triangle since: 2012 How many local locations: 4 in Raleigh, and soon to be a fifth in Cary. Price: Day passes for $25. Virtual access for $100 a month. Full access for $250 a month. Hours: 24/7 access What sets Raleigh Founded apart? Its no coincidence that Raleigh has grown its status as a startup hub in the decade since Raleigh Founded opened its doors. Launched by four local entrepreneurs, the space (first named HUB Raleigh and later HQ Raleigh) at first only admitted members through an application and interview process. The reason, explained Raleigh executive director Lauren Romer was to curate more of a startup ecosystem than a coworking space., But Raleigh Founded has since ditched its applications, allowing in a more diverse set of professionals. Weve been able to keep the culture but we have added more people in different industry areas, Romer said. And now, theres a lot more remote workers. An entrepreneurial ethos is still present across the four Raleigh Founded locations. Regional business leaders stop by for events, and founders are rarely far from another startup leader dealing with the same challenges. Pendo, the well-known software provider, started at the Raleigh coworking hub. And the fast-growing communications startup Levitate, which was started by Raleigh Founded cofounder Jesse Lipson, is currently headquartered at the coworking space. The Loading Dock The Loading Dock in Raleigh. Brian Gordon In the Triangle since: 2016 How many local locations: 3 (two in Raleigh, one in Wake Forest) Price: Standard membership for $150 a month. Unlimited for $250 a month. Dedicated desk for $350 a month. Small warehouse units start at 100ft ($500 per month with a minimum 3-month agreement.) Hours: 24/7 access What sets The Loading Dock apart? One half of The Loading Dock, a homegrown Triangle coworking network, will look like a typical modern communal work space. Members are greeted with a wide layout of desks, offices and interview booths with pun-inspired quotes like I came, I called, I conquered But the other part of The Loading Dock is unique. Two of its three locations offer members industrial storage space for their small businesses. Chain-link fences separate each unit in the warehouse, and the lack of firm walls allows entrepreneurs to be nimbler with its spacing needs. Theres an ability to be flexible with it, said Tim Kennard, community experience manager at The Loading Dock. Youre not locked into a long-term agreement. There are no utilities, so you dont have to think about building care. The minimum lease in the warehouse is three months, Kennard says. Members have access to equipment and an actual loading dock from which to ship their goods to customers. The Wright Village Mel Wright, founder of The Wrightville in Raleigh. Brian Gordon In the Triangle since: 2020 How many local locations: 1 (420 Hubert St., Office 2, Raleigh) Price: Community access for $52 a month. Office space for $225. Hours: 9 a.m to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday What sets this space apart?: Mel Wright, founder of The Wright Village, has created a space dedicated to helping historically marginalized entrepreneurs grow their businesses. As a Black, female veteran, Wright says theres a need to help others like her access capital. We are the only coworking space that provides resources directly to the underserved, she said. There are times when Ive sat in on meetings, and I learned about resources that half my members would not know about because they werent invited to that meeting. The Wright Village has an open-desk common area with private rooms along the side. Wright plans to soon move soon to a new location in Raleigh with double the capacity. Members can access monthly networking events and office hours with established small business entrepreneurs. To Wright, the Village is as much a business incubator as it is a coworking hub. Black women have always been business savvy and starting new businesses, she said. But with any business, if you dont grow or dont have that support, it can fail. WeWork WeWork in Durham Brian Gordon In the Triangle since: 2018 How many local locations: 2 (in Raleigh and Durham) Price: Basic access membership is currently $149 per month. Plus access membership is currently $299 per month. Private offices start on average at $450. Hours: 24/7 access What sets WeWork apart? Even other coworking operators acknowledge that WeWork, more than any other company, spearheaded the modern coworking space experience. The company occupies two floors in downtown Durham and three floors at its downtown Raleigh tower. From the Raleigh office, the city skyline can readily be viewed through expansive windows. Its offices offer all the amenities now prevalent across the industry. Brightly lit spaces. Kombucha, coffee, and seltzer water in a mini kitchen area. Booths, desks, offices under vibrant wall paintings. WeWork arrived to the Triangle in 2018. And though the company hasnt always made headlines for the right reasons, it remains an attractive option for remote workers and companies seeking more flexible, short-term leases. Its the size and scale, said Bennett Younts, WeWorks director of leasing in North Carolina. From what my experience has been locally, theres a cap in a lot of competitors size. (At) WeWork, youre going to be able to come in with a team of 70 to 100 or north of 200 and get a whole floor dedicated or single offices built to a team of that size. More coworking spaces in the NC Triangle 79 West Innovation Hub , Pittsboro C3 Coworking , Hillsborough Carolina Coworking , Chapel Hill Hatch64 , Knightdale Locale 321 , Durham Nest Raleigh , Raleigh Provident1898 , Durham ReCity , Durham Spaces, Chapel Hill, Cary, Durham, Raleigh This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Open Source Do you enjoy Triangle tech news? Subscribe to Open Source, The News & Observer's weekly technology newsletter and look for it in your inbox every Friday morning. Sign up here. BEIRUT (AP) The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Tuesday that without a new injection of funding, it is likely or highly likely that the agency will not be able to deliver some services or pay salaries by the fall. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said at a press conference in Beirut that the agency responsible for services to Palestinian refugees has been facing a shortfall of $150 million to $200 million annually in recent years. Donors at a pledging conference earlier this month provided only $107 million in new funds, significantly less than the $300 million the agency had called for to keep its programs running through the end of the year. Those programs include health and education services and, in some cases, cash assistance to families in Syria, Lebanon, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and Jordan. While he acknowledged that the agency's funding woes have become almost a broken record, Lazzarini warned donors not to "take for granted the ability of UNRWA to muddle through. In Lebanon, which has been reeling from an unprecedented economic crisis since 2019, some 93% of Palestinian refugees in the country now live in poverty. Palestinians in Lebanon are banned from owning property and from working in most white collar professions. The worsening economic situation in the country has driven many to take to the sea in often-deadly attempts to reach Europe. Lazzarini said that when the agency recently advertised for 14 sanitation workers in Lebanon's refugee camps, it got 37,000 applicants, including many holding university degrees. This shows how little avenues Palestinian refugees have here when it comes to job opportunities, he said. Lazzarini said the international community needs to have a proper, honest discussion about what the agency's future role should be in the absence of a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that would mean the end of its mandate. Next year we will be marking the 75th year of an agency, which was supposed to be a temporary agency, Lazzarini said. And at the same time, it seems we have never, ever been further away from a lasting and fair political solution." UNRWA was founded in the wake of the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 to serve hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled or were forced from their homes. Today, their numbers have grown to some 5.9 million people, most in the Gaza Strip and Israeli-occupied West Bank, as well as neighboring countries in the Middle East. President Bidens son Hunter Biden reached a plea agreement with the Justice Department on charges of failing to pay federal income tax and illegally possessing a weapon, according to a letter filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Delaware. The letter states that Biden will plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses. Under the agreement negotiated with the U.S. attorneys office in Delaware, Biden will acknowledge his failure to pay taxes on income he received in 2017 and 2018. In exchange, prosecutors will recommend probation, and he is likely to avoid prison time. He will also enter a diversion program to avoid pleading guilty to a felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user. Biden has said he did not pay the taxes while he was in the depths of drug addiction after the 2015 death of his brother, Beau. He has already paid the outstanding taxes. The agreement means President Biden will not have to contend with the diversion of a trial for his son as the presidential race ramps up and his campaign tries to avoid negative publicity. Hunter Biden's counsel Chris Clark said in a statement that it is his understanding that the five-year investigation into his client has ended. "I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward," Clark said. David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware, said in a separate statement that the investigation is continuing. The Trump administration opened the probe in 2018, and Republicans have since made it a core part of their political messaging. After President Bidens inauguration, Republicans accused the new administration of failing to aggressively pursue the case. When he took office in 2021, Biden kept on Weiss, a Trump appointee, who conducted the Hunter Biden investigation. As Biden campaigned Tuesday in California, aides at the White House maintained their distance from the Justice Department investigation, offering a terse "no comment." The West Wing corridors, typically buzzing with staff and senior officials, were quiet despite the political implications of Hunter Biden's deal for the 2024 presidential election. "The president and first lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life," White House spokesman Ian Sams said in a brief statement. "We will have no further comment." Biden, who was in San Francisco on Tuesday to meet with experts and researchers to discuss artificial intelligence, later told reporters, Im very proud of my son." White House officials have emphasized that the president has sought to preserve the Justice Department's independence and has not spoken to Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland about any investigations into any member of his family. Republicans criticized the agreement Tuesday as weak and unfair to other defendants. It comes days after a 37-count federal indictment was unsealed against former President Trump accusing him of mishandling classified documents and refusing to return them when ordered to under subpoena. That trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 14, though the date is expected to shift. "Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist," House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement. He said the agreement will not affect the committee's investigation into Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings. Republican House members attempted to paint the agreement as lenient, with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) telling reporters that it illustrates a "two-tier" justice system in America. "If you are the president's leading political opponent, the DOJ tries to literally put you in jail," McCarthy said. "If you are the president's son, you get a sweetheart deal." Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) said in a statement to The Times that lawmakers should find out where Hunter Biden "got the money to pay off his tax bills and various debts from his addictions." "There needs to be a thorough investigation of the Bidens' financial dealings overseas and scrutiny of the Justice Departments handling of the investigation," LaMalfa said. Franklin Zimring, a criminologist at UC Berkeley, said Republicans should be cautious about making assessments of the agreement in Hunter Biden's case without more detailed information. That kind of characterization depends upon much more detailed knowledge of how they handle otherwise similar cases than I think they have, Zimring said. Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said the fact that a sitting president's son was charged with federal crimes without the president trying to intervene is a sign of the justice system working. "This development reflects the Justice Departments continued institutional independence in following the evidence of actual crimes and enforcing the rule of law even in the face of constant criticism and heckling by my GOP colleagues who think that the system of justice should only follow their partisan wishes," he said in a statement. It is unclear whether the Justice Department is investigating any of the other allegations Republicans have levied against Hunter Biden. In March, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee published a memo accusing Hunter Biden, other family members and their companies of having collectively received $1.3 million in payments from accounts related to Rob Walker, a Biden family associate" between 2015 and 2017. In March 2017, the memo alleged, Chinese company State Energy HK wired $3 million to Walkers company. The agreement released Tuesday also states that Hunter Biden possessed a Colt Cobra .38 special handgun in 2018 while he was a drug user. Federal law bars "unlawful users" of illegal drugs from owning firearms. The charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, but the Justice Department agreement with Hunter Biden states that he will avoid that charge by attending a diversion program. Adam Winkler, a UCLA law professor who studies gun policy, said the diversion program is a very common alternative to a prison sentence. Especially for first-time offenders who have not committed any violence, this kind of diversion program has been favored by the justice community as a way of rehabilitating people without forcing them into prisons, which we know are dangerous and hostile and sometimes violent places, Winkler said. Hunter Biden is not the first close relative of a president whose conduct has brought unwanted scrutiny. Former President Trump's children Ivanka and Donald Jr. narrowly escaped a fraud indictment in 2012, according to a ProPublica investigation. They, along with Eric Trump and their father, are currently facing a civil lawsuit from New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James alleging financial fraud. Donald Nixon received a loan from a wealthy businessman as his brother Richard Nixon was running for California governor, a development that Nixon's political opponents cited as an example of undue influence. Later, as president, Nixon ordered the wiretapping of his brother to keep tabs on his business deals. After leaving office, former President Clinton issued a statement in 2001 saying he and his wife, then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, were "deeply disturbed" upon learning that Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham, had received $400,000 to secure presidential pardons for two men convicted of federal crimes. Rodham agreed to return the money. In 1980, the U.S. Senate opened an investigation into Billy Carter, brother of then-President Carter, following trips he made to Libya and his registration as a foreign agent after receiving more than $200,000 from the Libyan government. The president tried to distance himself from his brothers business amid his unsuccessful reelection bid against Ronald Reagan. Times staff writer Queenie Wong contributed to this report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. JERUSALEM (AP) Two Palestinian attackers opened fire at a restaurant and gas station near an Israeli settlement in the West Bank on Tuesday, killing four Israelis and wounding several other people before they were shot dead, authorities said, as violence roiled the occupied territory the day after a deadly Israeli military raid. Israeli settlers attempted to carry out revenge attacks across the northern West Bank, raising fears of a repeat of a rampage last February that resulted in damage to dozens of Palestinian homes and vehicles and the killing of a Palestinian man. Carloads of Israeli settlers drove to the northern Palestinian towns of Hawara, Beit Furik, Burin and surrounding villages, setting dozens of cars on fire, hurling stones and trying to set homes ablaze, said Nablus official Ghassan Daghlas. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries. Tuesdays violence underscored the fragility of the situation in the West Bank, where on Monday an Israeli military raid into the northern Jenin refugee camp ignited some of the fiercest Israeli-Palestinian fighting in years, killing six Palestinians and wounding scores more. Palestinian militants targeted Israeli military vehicles with powerful roadside bombs and Israeli forces deployed helicopter gunships to evacuate stranded troops. In the Balata refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus late Tuesday, two Palestinian teenagers were killed when homemade explosives they were handling went off accidentally, the local Islamic Jihad branch said in a statement of condolences. The militant group named the two Palestinians killed as 17-year-old Mohammed Hashah and 18-year-old Alaa Hafnawi. Palestinian media reported that a third was wounded by the blast. A surge in violence in recent months has killed at least 130 Palestinians and 24 people on the Israeli side so far this year, according to a tally by The Associated Press, prompting many on either side of the conflict to fear a possible greater conflagration. The Israeli military said it was sending reinforcements to the West Bank and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to settle the score with the murderers. I want to tell all those who seek to harm us all options are open, he said in a video statement. We will continue to fight terror with all our might." The Israeli military said all of the victims were Israeli citizens, and local media described three of the victims as residents of West Bank settlements while the fourth came from central Israel. They reportedly ranged in age from 17 to 60. Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the two Palestinian gunmen, both affiliated with the Hamas militant group, drove to the shooting scene from the Palestinian village of Urif in the northern West Bank. The men went on a rampage at a gas station next to the Israeli settlement of Eli, the Israeli military said, north of the Palestinian city of Ramallah. They first burst into a hummus restaurant, shooting and killing three people, the army said, before heading out to the gas station and killing another person who was pumping gas into his car. A civilian bystander shot one of the assailants repeatedly, killing him. Hamas identified him as 26-year-old Mohannad Faleh. The second assailant fled the gas station in a stolen Toyota. After an hourslong manhunt, Israeli security forces caught him in the West Bank town of Tubas, shooting and killing him when he tried to run out of his car. Palestinian health officials identified the man as 24-year-old Khaled Sabah. The Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad praised the attack as a response to Monday's deadly military raid. Revolutionaries in the West Bank are striking everywhere, and specifically where (Israel) does not expect it, said Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem, describing the shooting as a reaction to the crimes of the occupation in the Jenin camp. Hours after the attack, Israeli settlers streamed through Palestinian towns, trying to torch property and smashing cars with stones. A few settlers opened fire at Palestinians who had ventured out of their homes to confront them, said Daghlas. Dozens of Palestinians were attacked and wounded by rocks throughout the Nablus governorate, he said, including a Palestinian journalist struck in the face. Videos shared online showed giant fires tearing through the countryside. Although the scale of damage remained unclear, photos circulated overnight showing charred cars and smashed windshields across the Nablus governorate. In the northern village of Luban e-Sharkiyaa, footage showed a partly scorched gas station and trashed convenience store. The northern town of Hawara was the scene of a deadly rampage earlier this year in which Israeli settlers set dozens of homes and cars on fire and left one Palestinian dead after a Palestinian militant attack killed two Israeli brothers. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was convening with the country's army chief and other top security officials to discuss a response to the shooting. Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners have ramped up pressure on the government to crack down harshly on the wave of Palestinian violence. Now is the time for a military operation in Judea and Samaria, said Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, using the biblical term for the West Bank. From the scene of the attack, he demanded that the government launch targeted assassinations from the air, take down buildings, deport Palestinian assailants and impose the death penalty on terrorists. The head of the Yesha Council, the Israeli settlers umbrella organization, echoed calls for a broad (military) operation. We cannot continue to absorb these blows and hope the wave of terrorism will just pass," said Shlomo Neeman. The Israeli rescue service said that one person remained in serious condition, two people in moderate condition and another in light condition. Medics reported that they found seven people suffering from gunshot wounds in the hummus restaurant and the outside gas station. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides strongly condemned the senseless murder of four innocent Israelis and said he was deeply concerned about the civilian deaths" of the past two days. Tuesday's shooting followed fighting in the northern Jenin refugee camp that killed six Palestinians, including a 15-year-old boy, and wounded over 90 others. On Tuesday, the death toll from the raid rose to six when 48-year-old Amjad Abu Jaas succumbed to wounds sustained in the gunbattle, Palestinian health officials said. A dozen Palestinians remain in critical condition. Eight Israeli soldiers were also wounded. After the deadly raid, Palestinians rushed to checkpoints to throw stones at Israeli military vehicles in protest. In the Palestinian town of Husan, west of Bethlehem, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man who they alleged threw a firebomb at troops along a West Bank highway late Monday. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the man killed as 21-year-old Zakaria al-Zaoul. Israel and the Palestinian territories have been gripped by months of violence, fueled by several factors. Rising militancy among a new generation of Palestinians, the new far-right government's hard-line stance against the Palestinians and an escalating Israeli military crackdown on the West Bank have all worked to fuel violence and undermine efforts to calm tensions. Israel has been staging near-nightly raids in the West Bank in response to a spasm of Palestinian violence early last year. Israel says most of the 128 Palestinian dead this year were militants, but stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killed. Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories for a future independent state. ___ Associated Press writer Isaac Scharf in Jerusalem contributed to this report. South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur, co-founder of Terraform Labs, Do Kwon (C), is taken to court in Podgorica (AFP via Getty Images) Fugitive cryptocurrency chief Do Kwon, the entrepreneur sought by the US and South Korea in connection with a $40bn crash, was sentenced to four months in prison by a court in Montenegro. The 31-year-old South Korean national and Terraform Labs founder was found guilty of attempting to travel with a forged passport. He was arrested by the Montenegrin police in March as he tried to board a flight to Dubai at Podgorica Airport. Han Chang-joon, the former chief financial officer of Terraform Labs, was convicted of the same crime and handed a four-month sentence. The two were charged with forging official documents and placed in 30-day pre-trial detention. Police said they recovered doctored Costa Rican passports and a separate set of Belgian passports. Kwon and Chang-joon had pleaded not guilty at their first court hearing in May. The crypto boss reportedly told the court last week that he obtained the documents in Singapore through an agency selling citizenships of various countries and believed the passports to be genuine. Time spent in detention is included in the prison terms, and the pair can appeal the verdict, the Basic Court in Podgorica said. Once we receive the verdict in writing, we will consult with our clients about possible appeal, defence lawyer Goran Rodic told Bloomberg. The court has up to 30 days to officially notify the defence as well as the prosecutors office, the lawyer added. Both South Korea and the US have requested his extradition from Montenegro, while the courts in the country are yet to decide on those requests in separate proceedings. Kwon and five others connected to Terraform Labs are wanted due to allegations of fraud and financial crimes in relation to the implosion of its digital currencies in May 2022. The TerraUSD was designed as a stablecoin", which are pegged to stable assets like the US dollar to prevent drastic fluctuations in prices. However, around $40bn in market value was erased for the holders of TerraUSD and its floating sister currency, Luna, after the stablecoin plunged far below its $1 peg in May. South Korea asked Interpol in September to circulate a red notice for Kwon across the agencys 195 member nations to find and apprehend him. US regulators in February charged Kwon and his company Terraform Labs with orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud. An investigation into a Texas man began after he bragged to coworkers about engaging in sexual activity with a 16-year-old girl, according to federal authorities. One of those coworkers reported Osbaldo Moreno, who was 20 at the time, to law enforcement. The coworker said Moreno, of Lamesa, bragged about having sex with the child in the work bathroom, break room and parking lot multiple times, according to court records. Moreno was charged in November, records show. In February, he pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography. Now, the 21-year-old man has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison, according to a June 16 news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Texas. Morenos defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on June 20. In an October interview with investigators, Moreno waived his rights and said he wasnt in a relationship with the girl but communicated with (her) on a regular basis, according to court records. He said he was once caught having sex with her at a public park, and he also said he engaged in sex acts with her the week before the interview. The girl told authorities she met Moreno in high school and said he reached out to her via Instagram when she was 15, according to an affidavit. Moreno was 19 when they met. She said she was no longer going to school because of her relationship with Moreno, authorities said. It bothered her that people were talking about her relationship with the man, and he didnt want her to go to school because then they wouldnt be able to engage in sexual activity. In a review of Morenos multiple cellphones, investigators said they found more than 150 explicit videos and photos of the girl. She sent the images after the man demanded him, officials said. In one message, authorities said he threatened her with rape. U need to chill or am going to rape u and u not going to be able to walk again, the message obtained by authorities said, according to the news release. The girl told authorities the man did not use protection during sexual activity because he wanted to have a baby with her, officials said. Moreno also faces two counts of sexual assault of a child in the state of Texas, according to the release. Lamesa is about 290 miles west of Fort Worth. If you have experienced sexual assault and need someone to talk to, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline for support at 1-800-656-4673 or visit the hotline's online chatroom. Officer secretly recorded sex acts with 15-year-old from Illinois group home, feds say Passenger sexually abused a minor on cross-country American Airlines flight, feds say High school teacher posed as teen on Snapchat to get nude photos of girls, feds say By Brendan O'Boyle MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's president said on Tuesday that he had asked Israel for a second time to extradite a former official accused of torture in the Latin American country. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requesting help extraditing Tomas Zeron, head of Mexico's criminal investigation agency between 2014-2016 under the previous administration. Zeron led the heavily criticized investigation into the disappearance of 43 student teachers in southwestern Mexico in 2014 under a government to which Lopez Obrador was opposed. The current Mexican government accuses Zeron of torturing witnesses and tampering with evidence and says he went to Israel to evade a probe into his handling of the investigation. "It can't be that Israel protects a torturer under any circumstance," Lopez Obrador said in a regular press conference. Zeron has previously denied allegations of wrongdoing. Lopez Obrador, who made a similar extradition request in September 2021, said he expected Mexico's Jewish community to support the effort to extradite Zeron. Mexico's top human rights official last year said the government's involvement in the 2014 disappearances across federal, state and local levels was a "state crime." Israel's embassy in Mexico declined to comment on Lopez Obrador's remarks. (Reporting by Brendan O'Boyle in Mexico City; Editing by Matthew Lewis) MEXICO CITY (AP) A primary candidate for Mexicos June 2024 presidential elections proposed Monday giving the presidents son a central role in the next administration. The proposal by candidate Marcelo Ebrard raised the specter of a national political dynasty being born in Mexico, where traditionally they were frowned on. Ebrard said that if he wins the nomination of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors Morena party, he would appoint the presidents son, Andres Manuel Lopez Beltran better known as Andy to a newly created Cabinet post to ensure his fathers legacy. While Lopez Beltran has not publicly commented on the proposal, it would appear to be a way to solve a central problem for Morena. The young, disparate party was largely found around, and centered on, Lopez Obrador's personal popularity and charisma, which all the contenders to succeed him lack. The six-way primary race will be decided in September by a series of polls. The inclusion of his son was an obvious bid by Ebrard, the centrist former foreign relations secretary, to ensure continuity and perhaps to attract some of the president's most devoted followers. Ebrard said the son would be put in charge of a Cabinet-level department to continue building on the legacy left by Lopez Obrador. Lopez Beltran has not held any formal post in his father's administration, but has been widely reported to be a behind-the-scenes dealmaker and influencer in political and economic matters. While family dynasties have governed some parts of Mexico at the municipal or even state level, for nearly 100 years an ironclad rule has prevailed on the federal level: the outgoing president agrees to retire from political activity, as does his immediate family. In exchange, incoming presidents have seldom investigated corruption on the part of their predecessors. By John J. Metzler In one of the more predictable rites of spring at the United Nations, the General Assembly has elected, or actually selected, five new non-permanent members to serve on the powerful 15-member Security Council. While this year's contest lacked the drama, debate and deliberation of the past, there were nonetheless some positive outcomes to the current vote. The council's five permanent members are among the U.N.'s founders of 1945 and the Big Five during World War II: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Indeed the so-called Permanent 5 with veto powers still hold the cards. Yet there are another 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms from among the U.N.'s 193 member states. So in the current contest, members from different geographical groups are chosen for a coveted two-year tenure in the U.N.'s most powerful deliberative body. Voting for the new non-permanent members is carried out in the General Assembly by secret ballot and even an unopposed state must receive a two-thirds majority that's 128 votes. But non-contested "done deal" selections are not really elections but backroom arrangements to show consensus and at the same time stifle debate and genuine competition for what amounts to an important vote/voice on the council. Such cozy accord may be fleetingly attractive, but in the long run debases the vote and value of these non-permanent seats. Now let's take a look at the new members who shall take their seats in January 2024. Algeria and Sierra Leone were selected in a non-contested election for the seats. Both members will replace Gabon and Ghana. The People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, since its independence from France in 1962, has been a traditionally "progressive" socialist North African regime. Freedom House, the human rights watchdog, ranks the country as "Not Free" while its ratings on civil and political rights for Algeria stand at only 32 out of 100. Sierra Leone, a West African state, ranks as "Partly Free" with a score of 63 out of 100. The African selection saw the traditional linguistic balance of choosing a French- and an English-speaking country. South Korea won the Asian seat uncontested. The South Korean government ranks highly with Freedom House, rated as a "Free" country with an impressive score of 83 out of 100! For comparison, communist North Korea ranks as 3 out of 100! South Korea's seat replaces the United Arab Emirates. Since joining the U.N. in 1991, South Korea has played a strong role in U.N. security and development issues; it has served on the Security Council on two prior occasions. The Seoul government has the diplomatic depth and gravitas to play a positive role in the next two years. Interestingly South Korea will serve alongside Japan in the Council in 2024. Here's where the political action was. Belarus was vying for a seat against Slovenia, the small Alpine democracy which was once part of Yugoslavia. Belarus, a buffo comrade of Putin's Russia, was running for the seat since 2007. But Moscow's invasion of Ukraine put a negative spotlight on authoritarian Belarus and by December 2021 a competing candidate emerged. The European Union and the U.S. pushed to get another candidate to challenge the seat. Slovenia won with 153 votes to 38 for Belarus. Slovenia is ranked by Freedom House 95 out of 100! That's higher than the U.S. at 83 by the way. Belarus is ranked 8 out of 100! Even Russia scores 16 out of 100. Needless to say, Belarus has an image problem even in the hallowed halls of the U.N.; its current plan to host Russian tactical nuclear weapons sealed its fate. Slovenia will gain the seat now held by Albania. For the Latin America group, Guyana was selected unopposed. Guyana remains a good choice as the country has a 73 out of 100 Freedom House rating. English-speaking Guyana bordering Venezuela has faced some of the refugee outflow from the socialist state. Guyana shall gain the seat held by Brazil. During these turbulent times there's increasing focus on the Security Council whose responsibility to maintain international peace and security has been globally stressed and overextended. During the past decade, the Council faced a Cold War-style political logjam between West and East. This new council balance slightly favors U.S. interests as South Korea and Slovenia are firm allies. Reviving a Security Council which works beyond ideological lines, while unlikely today, clearly remains a long-term necessity. ) is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of "Divided Dynamism: The Diplomacy of Separated Nations; Germany, Korea, China." John J. Metzler ( jjmcolumn@earthlink.net (Reuters) -Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India's stance on Russia in the Ukraine conflict has not faced widespread criticism in the United States. Asked in an interview with the Wall Street Journal about critical comments in the U.S. for not taking a more forceful stance against Russias invasion of Ukraine, Modi said: "I don't think this type of perception is widespread in the U.S." "I think Indias position is well known and well understood in the entire world. The world has full confidence that Indias top-most priority is peace." Modi left on Tuesday on a state visit to the U.S. billed as a turning point for bilateral relations, with deeper cooperation in defence and high technology in focus. New Delhi has refused to condemn its old ally Russia for the war in Ukraine and has increased its trade with Moscow to record levels, driven largely by imports of Russian oil. President Joe Biden has been eager to strengthen relations with India as part of his bid to win what he has framed as a contest between free and autocratic societies, especially China. Modi called for changes to global institutions like the United Nations to adapt them for an increasingly "multipolar world order", and make them more representative of the world's less-affluent countries, the report said. India would like to be a permanent member of the Security Council, he said. "The world should be asked if it wants India to be there," he said. Modi also said that India's ties with China could only progress if there was peace on the border between the two Asian giants. India and China have fortified positions and deployed large numbers of troops and equipment in the western Himalayas in the last three years, after a clash in which 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers were killed in hand-to-hand fighting. "For normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential," Modi told the paper. "We have a core belief in respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, observing the rule of law and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. At the same time, India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity." (Reporting by Lavanya Ahire and Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Raju Gopalakrishnan) A moped rider died after hitting a deer and falling onto a South Carolina road, officials said. The 58-year-old man was rushed to a hospital and went on life support after the June 8 crash. He suffered a traumatic brain injury due to blunt force trauma and died two days later from crash-related injuries, according to the Anderson County coroners office. The man was identified in a June 19 news release as Kenny Ray Reece of Belton. He was a father and grandfather, according to an obituary on the Sosebee Mortuary and Crematory website. The crash was reported just before midnight in the Honea Path area. Reece was driving a moped on a road when a deer tried to make it across, the S.C. Highway Patrol said in a news release. After Reece hit the deer, he was thrown onto the road and sustained a critical injury. He was flown to a hospital in Greenville about 30 miles north of the crash site and later died, according to officials. An investigation into the deadly crash continues, troopers said. Highway Patrol didnt say whether the deer survived the crash that killed Reece. South Carolina drivers are urged to be cautious, as the animals are found throughout the state. Driver hits deer, loses control and slams into building, South Carolina officials say Woman suffers traumatic injuries after 15-foot fall from deer stand, SC officials say CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Former Rwandan police officer Fulgence Kayishema, accused of participating in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, has abandoned his application for bail and applied for political asylum in South Africa, prosecuting authorities and his lawyer said on Tuesday. Arrested last month under a false name on a grape farm outside Cape Town, Kayishema has been on the run since 2001, when the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) indicted him for genocide. He stands accused of ordering the death of 2,000 people seeking refuge in a church. He has denied any involvement in violence during the genocide but has said he was "sorry" for the killings. Kayishema is currently facing 54 charges in South Africa, mainly related to contravening the Immigration Act but including several counts of fraud, and could face additional charges, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said in a statement. The NPA said the 62-year-old accused "has abandoned his bail application and will instead launch an asylum application today". "My client fears for his life, if and when extradited, hence the very reason for his asylum application which has been filed today," Kayishema's lawyer, Juan Smuts, told Reuters in an emailed response. He said further details would be revealed in his client's asylum application to officials at the Department of Home Affairs. The state prosecutor will oppose any bail application on domestic charges should the accused consider applying in future, the NPA said, adding the asylum application had no bearing on the court case. Kayishema remains in custody and the case was postponed to Aug. 18 for further investigation. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Angus MacSwan) HONG KONG (AP) Singapore ride-hailing firm Grab Holdings said it is cutting over 1,000 jobs or 11% of its workforce to cut costs and keep the company competitive, in its biggest round of job cuts since the pandemic. Grab CEO Anthony Tan said in a letter sent to employees late Tuesday that the job cuts were not a shortcut to profitability but part of a fundamental restructuring of its operating model and costs. The primary goal of this exercise is to strategically reorganize ourselves, so that we can move faster, work smarter, and rebalance our resources across our portfolio in line with our longer term strategies, Tan said, describing the restructure as a painful but necessary step for the longer term. Grabs shares on NASDAQ were up more than 5% in premarket trading, but declined nearly 1.5% midday. The Singapore-based company started out as a taxi-hailing service in Malaysia in 2012, before later expanding to ride-hailing, food delivery and financial services across eight countries in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. In 2018, it acquired rival Ubers Southeast Asian operations after years of price wars to carve out market share. Grab has been slower than other technology firms in the region in slashing jobs. The company initially said last September that it had no plans for massive job cuts. Last year, Singapore-based gaming and online retail firm Sea Ltd., axed 7000 jobs or about 10% of its workforce. Grabs rival, Indonesian ride-hailing firm GoTo, had cut 12% of its workforce last year and cut another 600 jobs in March. Although Grab reported a 130% rise in revenue to $525 million for its quarter ended March, it also clocked a loss of $250 million from the same time last year. Grab is potentially grappling with slowing growth, amid higher inflation rates and costs of living, as well as stiff competition from rivals such as GoTo. Its gross merchandise value which calculates the total dollar value of transactions by Grab users rose just 3% for the quarter. Spending per user was down 4% compared to the same time last year. In February, Grab brought forward its profitability goal, expecting to break even in the final quarter of 2023. It previously expected to turn profitable in the second half of 2024. By Tom Balmforth NEAR KYIV, Ukraine (Reuters) - At a glance on a clear summer's afternoon, the U.S.-made Avenger air defence system is barely visible in the shadow of trees at the end of a dirt track outside Kyiv. The short-range unit is an important part of a three-layered air defence network that Ukraine is trying to develop with a range of highly sophisticated Western systems to thwart Russian air attacks. Russia has unleashed regular long-distance missile and drone attacks since October, but it seriously increased strikes in May as Ukraine prepared for a counteroffensive this month. The strikes, which regularly kill civilians, look at least in part aimed at depleting air defence stocks so that fewer systems can be used to protect troops trying to advance under Russian air superiority, Kyiv officials say. "The most difficult is an attack by various types of aerial targets," said the Avenger unit's commander who goes by the call sign "Architect", his pre-war profession. "When they arrive in one night, both (drones) and cruise missiles fly by, that's the most difficult." He leads a six-man team that took up positions two weeks ago after being trained by U.S. military instructors in Europe. They are yet to shoot down any missiles or drones. They join an unfolding air battle that has played out over several weeks during which Ukraine has reported an extraordinary rate of downed drones and missiles, including hypersonic ones. On Friday, Ukraine said it shot down all six cruise missiles and six hypersonic Kinzhal missiles fired at targets in and around the capital. But strikes still regularly slip past defences. Last Wednesday, three civilians were killed in a missile attack in Odesa. The day before 11 were killed in a strike on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's hometown. 'RACE AGAINST TIME' Though it has dropped out of headlines as Kyiv has pressed for F-16 fighter jets from the West, Ukraine is still regularly asking for - and receiving - air defence missiles to replenish stocks, said Yuriy Sak, adviser to Ukraine's defence minister. "Russia's tactic is using cheap drones in order to exhaust our air defences. It's almost like a race against time. Who's going to run out first? The Russians with their missiles or the ones we get from our allies?" he said. Washington has supplied at least 12 Avenger systems to Ukraine. The Avenger is a rotating turret with eight missiles mounted on the back of a Humvee, which makes it highly mobile. "One of our top priorities, when it comes to transforming our armed forces and building up our air defence capability is creating a three-layered air defence system," said Sak. The Avenger, like hand-held Stinger missiles, are at the short-range end of the three layers. U.S.-made Patriot systems are at the long-range end. Avengers have a range of up to 5 km. Patriots have a 3 km minimum range and a maximum of 80 km. There is greater mobility at the short end to counter targets and it is also much cheaper than firing expensive salvos of Patriot missiles, Sak said. The Avenger is effective near the battefield, but there are too few of the systems to go around, he added. In a bid to build up short-end capabilities, Ukraine is pressing Australia to supply four-wheel-drive Hawkei vehicles that can be mounted with air defences and used in the same way as Avengers, Sak said. In the month of May alone, the Air Force reported shooting down 149 cruise missiles, 399 drones, seven hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, three ballistic missiles as well as 11 Iskander missiles of two different types. By contrast in April, the Air Force said it had shot down 73 drones and 21 cruise missiles. The unit commander near Kyiv said he was constantly aware of his responsibility to do his best to protect the roughly 3.5 million people living in Kyiv, and that they were on duty round the clock ready to respond. (Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Sergiy Karazy; editing by Angus MacSwan) By Max Hunder NEAR KREMINNA, Ukraine (Reuters) - The artillerymen of Ukraine's 67th infantry brigade are delighted with the U.S.-supplied M119 howitzer amid an increase in military exchanges south of the Russian-held town of Kreminna. The men now stationed in Ukraine's northeast have been redeployed from positions around the devastated town of Bakhmut - encircled and locked in fierce fighting for more than nine months before it fell last month to Russian mercenaries. The northeast, where Ukrainian troops made big, rapid gains late last year, may be somewhat less intense, but it still saw plenty of exchanges. And the level of activity has risen noticeably in recent days. Nearly 16 months after the Russian invasion, Ukraine has embarked on a counter-offensive focusing on the south and east and benefiting from supplies of U.S. and other Western weapons. The M119 is described by military experts as a versatile, manoeuvrable and accurate weapon for light units, but with a specific, limited range of up to about 20 km (12.4 miles). The artillerymen spent the day firing at enemy targets with the M119s, which they say they have had for seven months. And, by their account, work brilliantly in the area's gruelling artillery battles. "It all happens in waves," said a gunner, aged 48, who introduced himself by his callsign, Skipper, and sported a cropped beard and cheeky grin. "I can't say that it got more intense. Still, over the last five days, we observe that they (Russian troops) became more active." Exchanges of fire, he said, had picked up on both sides where his unit was stationed. "We also became more active, but everything else had better remain a secret. You'll see what's next." The artillerymen moved quickly to load their gun, toiling in the heat of a sunny June day. Near the front lines, the sky was a clear blue punctuated by thick columns of black, grey or white smoke rising in the distance where artillery had struck. Some reached hundreds of metres into the air. Skipper and several of his comrades lauded the M119 for its precision and compact size, which made it easier to operate, hide and move. A gunner identifying himself as Cousin, 47, lavished praise on the weapon. "It is wonderful They say that modern war heavily relies on artillery, that's our mission," he said. "What is most important is to have enough shells. We can manage everything else on our own." (Reporting by Max Hunder near Kreminna; Editing by Ron Popeski and Stephen Coates) UNITED NATIONS (AP) The U.N. special envoy for Libya said Monday he plans to intensify negotiations with the countrys feuding parties to reach a final settlement in the coming months on the most contentious issues blocking long postponed elections in the troubled north African nation. Abdoulaye Bathily warned the U.N. Security Council that prolonging the current status quo is fraught with disaster for Libya and its neighbors. And he said its imperative that members increase pressure on the parties, speak with one voice, and act to remove spoilers. Bathily called draft laws for presidential and parliamentary elections agreed to by a committee drawn from Libyas two rival legislative bodies on June 6 an important step forward, though not sufficient to resolve the most contested issues and enable successful elections. He said the four most politically contested issues in the draft laws are: eligibility criteria for presidential candidates, a mandatory second round of voting even if a candidate gets more than the 50% required to win, no parliamentary elections if presidential elections fail in a first round, and establishment of a new interim government before elections. Without compromise on these issues, Bathily warned that the contested issues are likely to take the electoral process into a dead end as happened in 2021, which will result in further polarization and even the destabilization of the country. Oil-rich Libya plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. In the chaos that followed, the county split with the rival administrations in the east and west backed by rogue militias and foreign governments. The countrys current political crisis stems from the failure to hold elections on Dec. 24, 2021, and the refusal of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah who led a transitional government in the capital of Tripoli to step down. In response, the countrys east-based parliament appointed a rival prime minister, Fathy Bashagha, who has for months sought to install his government in Tripoli. Bathily said the political process in Libya has once again reached a critical stage, stressing that successful elections require not just a legal framework, but also a political agreement that ensures buy-in and inclusion of all major stakeholders. By my next briefing to the council, I intend to intensify negotiations and convene major stakeholders or their trusted representatives to reach a final settlement on the most contentious issues, make the draft laws implementable and enable successful elections with an inclusive political agreement, the U.N. special representative said. Bathily has been briefing the council about every two months. On the security front, Bathily said Tripoli has remained relatively calm but ongoing government operations against drug, weapons, fuel and human trafficking activities in the coastal town of Zawiya and surrounding areas have prompted allegations of political motives and could risk undermining the capitals stability. He also expressed concern at excessive controls by security agencies restricting human rights i ncluding freedom of assembly and freedom of movement. By Ko Dong-hwan The latest technological products will be featured in the largest expo of the country's southwestern region to spur future industries in Gwangju later this month. The Gwangju Future Industry Expo 2023 at Kimdaejung Convention Center will exhibit 14 essential technologies behind the country's vehicles, self-driving cars and auto parts manufacturing industries as well as those for electronic appliances, drones and robots. Some 500 booths prepared by over 300 companies nationwide are expected to be there to explain their products and consult on exports and purchases. Starting this year, the expo merged different exhibitions that had been held separately in North and South Jeolla provinces those for vehicles running on clean energies, local robot industries as well as IoT appliance robots. The merger has expanded this year's expo to a mega size, according to Kim Yong-seung, head of the Artificial Intelligence Industry Bureau under Gwangju's city government. Held for three days from June 29, the expo features the city's key future technologies including self-driving cars, smart factories and smart metal molding. Gwangju Intelligent Electronics (GIEL), a collaborative umbrella brand for all future electronics made in the city, will also be promoted. The expo will accommodate both businesses and the public. A job fair, held simultaneously alongside the expo for those in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province, will assist jobseekers. On the final day of the expo, around 1,000 teenage students from across the nation will join a robot challenge, competing against each other in six different games including curling and wrestling. Visitors to the expo will also get a chance to ride new vehicles from the country's biggest carmakers including Hyundai and Kia, fly drones and check out the latest outdoor camping gear. With the expo organized jointly by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), Gwangju's core industries will see growth in competitiveness and expand sales routes for local small and medium-sized companies, according to Kim. NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) The top U.N. official for refugees praised Kenyas plans Tuesday for an integration program that would aim to make refugees self-sufficient, as he met with the Kenyan president on World Refugee Day. Kenya hosts more than 600,000 refugees, hailing from 23 countries, including neighboring Somalia, South Sudan and Ethiopia. The majority live in Dadaab and Kakuma camps, north of the country. The camps are overcrowded and basic services are overstretched. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, who met with Kenya's President William Ruto on Tuesday, told The Associated Press that Kenya's planned integration program was a more sustainable approach as opposed to the current camp system that heavily relies on aid. He said that $200 million was pledged to the program and more was needed. However, no clear timeline for its kick-off. Grandi added that a model of the integration program was set up in Turkana County a few years ago and that the refugee community is already reaping the benefits. He praised the Kenyan government, which he said was able with U.N. support to help refugees move from temporary places where people live on assistance, on aid to a self-sustaining settlement, well-integrated in the local community. Kenyas Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, who attended the event, said that through promoting the socio-economic inclusion of refugees, we are collectively preparing them for voluntary return to their countries. At the event, Grandi expressed optimism that despite the refugee numbers from the Sudan crisis hitting more than 500,000, pledges made in Monday's U.N. conference would help those in need of assistance. Some $1.5bn was pledged to help provide humanitarian support to those affected by the Sudan crisis, according to the UNHCR. By Duncan Miriri NAIROBI (Reuters) - The world needs to rediscover its ability to bring peace to various trouble spots in order to curb the growing flow of refugees, the head of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday. There are 110 million displaced people around the world, up from 103 million last year and half that number a decade ago. "The U.N. Security Council, the main international body for peace and security, is broken. They cannot agree on anything," the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told Reuters in the Kenyan capital. "So we need to restore that capacity to lead, to drive peace because that is the only way we can address these flows." A group of diplomats, former statesmen and U.N. officials began seeking political backing for a peacemaking framework earlier this year to shape new standards for resolving conflicts. Among the drivers behind the higher numbers of refugees, which include the internally displaced, is the conflict in Sudan, where rival military factions are battling each other. "Today, right on World Refugee Day, we passed this horrible mark of 500,000 refugees from Sudan," Grandi said. Donors pledged $1.5 billion to help the Sudanese refugees at a conference on Monday. Some of the cash will be used to help 100,000 Sudanese refugees in neighbouring Chad whose camps are threatened by the onset of the rain season, the high commissioner said. "It is a very desperate race against time," he added. He called for a more sustainable solution like a meaningful ceasefire. "If the fighting doesn't stop, this is just the beginning. We will need much more than $1.5 billion, unfortunately," he said. Other reasons for the higher number of refugees include the conflicts in Ukraine, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and the Sahel. Challenges emanating from climate change are also forcing people to move, Grandi said, calling for a multilateral approach to tackling the climate crisis. "The time for working country by country is over," he said. (Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Alexandra Hudson) The parents of children killed in a March mass shooting at a Nashville, Tennessee, grade school are arguing in a lawsuit that written material by the shooter shouldnt be released. Allowing news organisations and others who have sought the records to see the writings would cause unfathomable trauma and give the gunman in the shooting, which killed six people, immortality, mother Erin Kinney wrote in a filing obtained by CNN. Ms Kinney, whose son William, 9, died in the shooting, said she hoped to spare survivors and their families from the unfathomable trauma of encountering sensitive material about the deaths of their siblings, friends, teachers; and most certainly to protect them from ever encountering the hateful, diseased words of the monster who slaughtered six human beings in their school. Katy and Michael Dieckhaus, whose daughter Evelyn, 9, was also killed, said they hoped the records wouldnt be made public as well. As one of the families going through such deep grieving of losing their loved one after simply dropping her off at school, we hope a more respectful, clear view can truly start to occur to help make a change that does not include releasing volumes of leverage for others planning similar devastation in this nation, the family said in a court declaration. Multiple, since-consolidated lawsuits, including one by the Nashville Tennessean newspaper, have sought to compel the Nashville police department to release the materials. The paper argued in its complaint that it is seeking to bring to light additional facts regarding this incident, societal and mental health issues, and issues regarding firearms more broadly, which have not yet been revealed through other means. They added that their access to the materials should be protected by the First Amendment and the state constitution, and argued that the parents dont have standing. The police department has denied previous requests to release the writings, claiming theyre related to an ongoing criminal investigation and could also jeopardise public safety. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for 12 July. The Nashville shooter, a former student at the Covenant Christian grade school where the massacre took place, was killed by police. (Reuters) - The United States regrets a decision by Mali's interim military authorities to ask a United Nations peacekeeping force to leave the country, the State Department said on Monday, calling for an "orderly and responsible" drawdown of the mission. Mali's Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop made the request during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Friday, citing a "crisis of confidence" between Malian authorities and the decade-long U.N. mission known as MINUSMA. "The United States regrets the transition government of Malis decision to revoke its consent for MINUSMA," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. "MINUSMA's drawdown must be orderly and responsible, prioritizing the safety and security of peacekeepers and Malians." "We are concerned about the effects this decision will have on the security and humanitarian crises impacting the Malian people," he said in a statement. Mali has struggled to stem an Islamist insurgency that took root following an uprising in 2012. MINUSMA was deployed by the U.N. Security Council in 2013 to support foreign and local efforts to restore stability. Frustrations over the growing insecurity spurred two coups in 2020 and 2021, and the ruling junta has been increasingly at loggerheads with MINUSMA and other international allies, including France. The junta has burned bridges with traditional Western allies and turned to Russia for help boosting its military capabilities. The United States "will continue to work with our partners in West Africa to help them tackle the urgent security and governance challenges they face," Miller said. "We welcome further consultations with regional leaders on additional steps to promote stability and prevent conflict." U.N. Security Council members had started to discuss a draft resolution to extend MINUSMA's mandate, which expires on June 30. It was unclear what would happen now. The U.N. special envoy to Mali, El-Ghassim Wane, said on Friday it would be "extremely challenging, if not impossible" to operate in a country without the government authorities' consent. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols and Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Franklin Paul and Jonathan Oatis) A Duke Energy utility operating in North Carolina leads the Southeast in solar energy, according to a recent report, even as the companys other utility lags. Duke Energy Progress, which operates mostly in Eastern North Carolina and around Asheville, leads the nation in solar energy per customer and is expected to continue doing so in 2026, according to the Southern Alliance for Clean Energys annual Solar in the Southeast report. Duke Energy Carolinas, which operates mostly around Charlotte and Greensboro, ranks sixth of 14 utilities now and is poised to slip below average by 2026. The report reflects a complicated story for solar energy in other ways, too. With 4,760 megawatts of installed solar energy, North Carolina trails only Florida in the seven-state region now. But Georgia is poised to surpass NC in wattage per customer next year and in total installed solar by 2025. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy also projects North Carolina to fall from the second-highest amount in solar energy per customer 793 watts in 2022 to below average in the region by 2026. Per the report, North Carolina is expected to generate 1,181 watts of solar per customer, slightly below the regions projected average. Bryan Jacob, SACEs solar program director and the reports author, said North Carolina adopted a significant amount of solar in the early 2010s, reaching as high as second in installed solar in the country. This is the sixth version of the report. North Carolina came out of the blocks really fast, and its hard to sustain a good lead, Jacob said, noting that North Carolina had a solar power purchase agreement structure that was favorable to development and a state tax incentive. The tax credits mostly expired int 2015, and 2017s House Bill 589 altered the power purchase agreement. Matt Abele, a spokesman for the N.C Sustainable Energy Association, pointed to that bill as a key culprit in other states beginning to surpass North Carolina, both nationally and in the region. House Bill 589 decreased the size of solar panel facilities that could automatically be connected to Dukes grid, cut power purchase agreements from 15 years to five years and added a competitive procurement process. We essentially slowed utility scale solar to a halt in North Carolina, Abele said, adding that transmission headaches around the same time also made installation difficult. That growth has slowed enough that North Carolinas projected solar installation of 1,682 megawatts over the next five years ranks 30th in the nation, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. Duke Energy officials see North Carolinas legislative landscape differently. Randy Wheeless, a Duke spokesman, said HB 589 and then 2021s House Bill 951 introduced certainty, allowing North Carolina to steadily add solar panels without the fits and starts seen in some other states. Certainty, I think, is good for clean energy, and I think there are a lot of states in the nation that are still wrestling with a lot of those issues, Wheeless said. Duke Energy Carolinas solar As far as Duke Energy Carolinas slower adoption of solar, Wheeless pointed to geography. Large solar farms in the state effectively began in Eastern North Carolina, Wheeless said, with farmers leasing old tobacco and soy farms to developers. Those solar farms are in Duke Energy Progress service territory. Eastern North Carolina just got a jump on the rest of the state, Wheeless said. But now, he added, there is more solar activity in the Piedmont and west of Charlotte, as developers seek out new swaths of land on which to build the facilities. Jacob of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy noted that Duke Energy Carolinas not only has less solar, but also more customers. The organization ranks utilities on energy from solar per customer, so Duke Energy Carolinas was hurt on both ends of the equation. Carbon Plans impact In its initial plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the N.C. Utilities Commission found that significant new solar generation would be necessary to meet the goal of a 70% reduction in emissions by 2030. The commissions final plan directed Duke Energy to procure 2,350 megawatts of solar energy by 2024 that should be in service by 2028. Thats slightly more energy than Dukes coal- and natural gas-powered Belews Creek Steam Station in Stokes County can produce at its peak. Environmental advocates and renewable energy trade groups have criticized the Carbon Plan, arguing that it doesnt direct Duke Energy to add nearly enough solar energy quickly enough to meet the targets set out by House Bill 951. An alternative plan filed by some of those groups envisioned a plan that would put 5,200 megawatts of solar on the grid by 2024. Duke plans to file an updated plan in South Carolina in early August describing how it will generate energy across the Carolinas. That will be followed shortly after by a similar plan in North Carolina. We expect to see solar yet again play a role in meeting those Carbon Plan goals in Dukes two utilities there, Maggie Shober, SACEs research director, said during a webinar introducing the report. Wheeless, the Duke spokesman, couldnt yet discuss how much of a role solar could play in the updated plan as compared to the original one. Theres no doubt in my mind that solars going to continue to be built in North Carolina and still be a big part of the energy mix here, Wheeless said. This story was produced with financial support from 1Earth Fund, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Editor's note: This page reflects the search for the submersible as of Monday evening. For the latest updates on the race against time to locate and rescue the submersible, please follow our live updates for Tuesday, June 20. U.S. and Canadian rescue teams were searching Monday for a submersible carrying five people to the wreckage site of the Titanic after the submarine vanished deep in the Atlantic Ocean with four days' or less worth of survival capability. The U.S. Coast Guard in Boston is leading the search for the missing watercraft, which the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, said was reported overdue Sunday night about 435 miles south of St. Johns, Newfoundland. Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander of the First Coast Guard District, said two aircraft each from the U.S. and Canada were involved in the search, along with a commercial ship, and that further assets will be added as the pursuit continues into the night. The operation's location about 900 miles east of Cape Cod and up to 13,000 feet deep complicates the task, as does the need to look both on the surface of the water and below, he said. "It is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area,'' Mauger said at a news conference, "but we are deploying all available assets to make sure that we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board.'' This handout image taken during the historical 1986 dive, courtesy of WHOI (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) and released February 15, 2023 shows the Titanic bow. - In July 1986, nine months after the discovery, a team from WHOI returned to the wreck site, this time using three-person research submersible Alvin and the newly developed remotely operated vehicle Jason Jr. The trip marked the first time that humans laid eyes on the vessel since its ill-fated voyage in 1912. Contact lost with five crew members The Coast Guard tweeted that the 21-foot submersible named "Titan,'' which left from St. John's, began its dive Sunday morning. The Polar Prince, the Canadian ship supporting the watercraft, lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later. OceanGate Expeditions, a Washington-based deep-sea exploration company, confirmed in a statement that it owned the submersible a vessel in the submarine family but smaller and less self-sufficient than the classic military sub. The company's expeditions to the Titanic wreck site include archaeologists and marine biologists. OceanGate also brings people who pay to come along, known as mission specialists. FILE - This undated photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. On Monday, June 19, 2023, a rescue operation was underway deep in the Atlantic Ocean in search of the technologically advanced submersible vessel carrying five people to document the wreckage of the Titanic, the iconic ocean liner that sank more than a century earlier. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File) ORG XMIT: NYSB151 They take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible. The Coast Guard said Monday there was one pilot and four mission specialists aboard. We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible, OceanGate said. We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers. Based on the company's information, Mauger said the submersible has a 96-hour emergency sustainment capability, which would include oxygen and fuel. "So we anticipate that there's somewhere between 70 and the full 96 hours available at this point,'' he said. See the Titanic in whole new way: Full-sized, 3D digital scan shows scale of wreckage site British tourist on board OceanGate adviser David Concannon told The Associated Press the company lost contact with the submersible Sunday morning. Concannon, who said he planned to go on the dive but had to cancel because of a matter regarding another client, said officials are rushing to get to the site a remotely operated vehicle that can reach a depth of 20,000 feet. The Titanic wreckage is believed to lie 12,500 feet deep. Action Aviation said its company chairman, British businessman Hamish Harding, was one of the travelers on board. The experienced adventurer went into space on Blue Origins New Shepard rocket last June. Every attempt is being made for a rescue mission,'' Mark Butler, the companys managing director, told the AP. "There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission. There is equipment on board for survival in this event. Were all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound. Richard Garriott, president of the Explorers Club a New York-based group that supports scientific exploration said he saw Harding a week ago and his excitement was palpable.'' I know he was looking forward to conducting research at the site, Garriott wrote in a letter to members. We all join in the fervent hope that the submersible is located as quickly as possible and the crew is safe. Search to continue overnight The Coast Guard said late Monday that two searches by C-130 aircraft had been completed and the mission would continue though the night. "The Polar Prince and @Rescue106 will continue to do surface searches throughout the evening," the First Coast Guard District tweeted. The Guard said Canadian and US aircraft will resume looking underwater and on the ocean's surface Tuesday. Titanic facts: When did it sink? How many people died? On April 14, 1912, the Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City. On April 15, at about 2:20 a.m., the ship sank. More than 1,500 people died on the Titanic. Of the roughly 2,200 people aboard the ship, only 706 survived. The majority of the people killed were members of the crew and third-class passengers. There were 710 deaths in the third class and 700 deaths among the crew. How many people died on the Titanic?: Facts about the death toll and the survivors Tourists added for expeditions In 2021, OceanGate Expeditions began what it expected to become an annual voyage to the wreckage. The company had said it would include about 40 paying tourists to the team of archaeologists and marine biologists on the trips. The initial group of tourists spent $100,000 to $150,000 apiece. Contributing: The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Titanic tourist submarine live updates: Search underway in Atlantic The search intensified Tuesday for the submersible that vanished two days ago in the North Atlantic Ocean, as ships and aircraft from U.S. and Canada joined the effort to locate the small vessel carrying five people to the Titanic wreckage site before it runs out of oxygen. Capt. Jamie Frederick of the First Coast Guard District in Boston said the Titan, as the submersible is known, had "about 40 hours of breathable air left" around 1 p.m. ET Tuesday, meaning its oxygen supply could get depleted by Thursday morning. He added that an underwater robot had started searching in the vicinity of the Titanic and that there was a push to get salvage equipment to the scene in case the sub is found. Besides that, three C-130 aircraft and three C-17 transport planes from the U.S. military have been aiding the search, and the Canadian military said it provided a patrol aircraft and two surface ships. Still, the remote location 900 miles east of Cape Cod and up 13,000 feet below sea level make the pursuit "an incredibly complex operation,'' Frederick said. The carbon-fiber submersible had a 96-hour oxygen supply when it went to sea at about 6 a.m. Sunday, according to David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate Expeditions, the deep-sea exploration company that owns the vessel. The five-person watercraft was reported overdue Sunday night. It had lost contact with its support ship, the Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, about an hour and 45 minutes after submerging. Among those aboard are OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was piloting the Titan, British adventurer Hamish Harding, two members of a Pakistani business family and a Titanic expert. Jim Bellingham, a Johns Hopkins University expert on deep-sea operations, told USA TODAY that there are three possible locations for the submersible. One possibility is that it could be floating on the ocean's surface after an electrical failure or some other mishap; another is that it is drifting in the water column anywhere between the surface and the bottom because it became buoyantly neutral; or it could be on the sea floor, perhaps tangled with something that won't let it float to the top. The first one is by far the best position, Bellingham said, because even though it would be difficult to spot the 21-foot-long Titan amid the waves, the Coast Guard is just awesome at this. They have amazing capability to see something pretty small in the ocean. A challenging search operation Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander of the First Coast Guard District, told NBCs Today show Tuesday that his crews were working to prioritize underwater search efforts and get equipment there. Experts told The Associated Press the challenges are difficult. Alistair Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London, said submersibles typically have a drop weight, which is a mass they can release in the case of an emergency to bring them up to the surface using buoyancy. A power failure would leave the vessel "bobbing" on the surface, he said. There could also be a leak in the pressure hull, he said. If it has gone down to the seabed and cant get back up under its own power, options are very limited, Greig said. While the submersible might still be intact, if it is beyond the continental shelf, there are very few vessels that can get that deep, and certainly not divers. What you need to know about sub: Maps, graphics show last location, depth and design Experts warned OceanGate of 'catastrophic' outcome, report says OceanGate, the company that operates the missing submersible, was warned its approach to the enterprise could have a "catastrophic'' outcome, according to a 2018 letter written by leaders in the submersible craft industry obtained by The New York Times. The letter was addressed to OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush who's on board the current voyage, according to the company by members of the Marine Technology Society, an organization that advocates for ocean technology and education. The 30-plus signatories said they were apprehensive about the company's experimental approach to its planned exploration of the Titanic wreckage and about the vessel's design, believing they could lead to safety problems that would have a negative impact on the industry as a whole. The letter also says OceanGate's claim that its watercraft design meets or surpasses safety standards is "misleading to the public and breaches an industry-wide professional code of conduct we all endeavor to uphold.'' Passengers asked to help with tasks, limit toilet use OceanGate Expeditions' website, accessed through the Internet Archive by USA TODAY, said all passengers on expeditions are required to be briefed on safety requirements and how to don what it described as a "survival suit." A survival suit can protect people from freezing water and some specialized suits can act as a raft approved for use when submerged up to 600 feet, according to the Department of Defense. OceanGate's website didn't specify what kind of suit passengers have access to. The Titan takes passengers down more than 13,000 feet. Passengers on the submersible are also advised to "restrict your diet before and during the dive to reduce the likelihood that you will need to use the facilities," the website says. Those going on submersible diving expeditions have to be at least age 18 and able to demonstrate basic strength and balance requirements, such as climbing a ladder and carrying 20 pounds, the site says. Passengers might assist with a variety of tasks on the submersible, the website says, including sonar operation, taking photos or videos and assisting the pilot with communications between the sub and the surface. Organ failure a major threat as oxygen levels dip Dr. Albert Rizzo, chief medical officer of the American Lung Association, said those aboard the submersible would be experiencing organ failure as oxygen levels dip and less of it flows to the brain. This leads to weakness, confusion and loss of consciousness. "If somebody has a pre-existing heart condition, that may precipitate a problem as those low oxygen levels develop," Rizzo said. Anxiety and fear, speech and a faster heart rate can increase the amount of oxygen a person uses, he added. "There's a lot of unknowns here as to how the oxygen is supplied in the submersible itself, but it really depends on the rate at which each individual consumes the oxygen as to how long it's going to last," he said. The submersible's ability to filter out carbon dioxide is also a concerning factor if compromised, said Dr. Alexander Isakov, Emory University emergency medicine physician and a former diving medical officer with the U.S. Navy. High carbon dioxide levels are dangerous and can lead to fatigue, hyperventilation, coma and death, he said. Life-threatening hypothermia is also a concern, he said. The submersible's ability to maintain a comfortable temperature is essential amid the extreme cold of the ocean's depths. Nada Hassanein Where is the search area for the submersible? The U.S. Coast Guard in Boston is combing the ocean surface and below water in search of the submersible, using tools including sonar technology and aircraft. The location about 900 miles east of Cape Cod and up to 13,000 feet deep complicates the task, as does the need to look both on the ocean surface and below, the Coast Guard said. "We are deploying all available assets to make sure that we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board," Mauger said. This undated photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. When did the Titanic submarine go missing? The craft launched Sunday morning, but its support vessel lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later, according to the Coast Guard. The Titan disappeared in the North Atlantic Ocean, the remote area where the massive ocean liner the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in 1912. All but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew died. The Titan was being launched from an icebreaker hired by OceanGate and formerly operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. The ship ferried dozens of people and the submersible to the North Atlantic site, where the Titan makes multiple dives. Where is the wreckage of the Titanic? This was OceanGate Expedition's third annual voyage to the Titanic since 2021. The ship is at a depth of nearly 2 miles. The Washington-based deep-sea exploration company has taken archaeologists, marine biologists and tourists to the site of the wreckage. Who is on board the submersible? The Coast Guard said one pilot and four mission specialists were aboard. Mission specialists are people who pay to come along on OceanGates expeditions. They take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the submersible. An initial group of tourists in 2021 paid $100,000 to $150,000 apiece to visit the wreck site. OceanGates website described the mission support fee for the 2023 expedition as $250,000 a person. British businessman Hamish Harding, who lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, was one of the mission specialists, according to Action Aviation, a company for which Harding is chairman. Closer look at the people on board: Who is on the missing Titanic submersible? Passengers include Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood Harding is an adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. In March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific. In June 2022, he flew into space on Blue Origins New Shepard rocket. Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, members of one of Pakistan's most prominent families, also were on board, according to a family statement sent to The Associated Press. The family is known for investments in agriculture, industry and the health sector. Shahzada Dawood also is on the board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute, which searches for extraterrestrial intelligence. French explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet also was on board, according to David Gallo, a senior adviser for strategic initiatives and special projects at RMS Titanic. Gallo identified Nargeolet, a friend who has led multiple expeditions to the Titanic, on Tuesday during an interview with CNN. CBS correspondent describes getting 'lost' on previous submersible trip CBS News correspondent David Pogue tweeted about his experience last year joining the crew and a group of tourists to see the wreck, but he said the submersible "got lost for a few hours" on that trip. "There's no GPS underwater," and communications between the submersible and a surface ship guiding it broke down on part of that trip, too, Pogue said in his report, which aired in November. "An experimental submersible vessel that has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body ... could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death," Pogue read from a form he signed on camera in the report. The submersible has about as much room as a minivan, Pogue said. "I couldn't help noticing how many pieces of this sub seemed improvised," Pogue said, showing viewers what he described as a small "sort-of" toilet. OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush showed Pogue a video game controller and said it was used to "run the whole thing." Rush said important components of the submersible like the pressure vessel were solidly engineered alongside NASA, Boeing and the University of Washington. "Everything else can fail. Your thrusters can go, your lights can go, you're still going to be safe," Rush told Pogue. One member of that trip, bank executive Renata Rojas, said she had been booked on three Titanic dives that were all canceled. What is a submersible? A submersible is a vessel in the submarine family but smaller and less self-sufficient than the classic military sub. Contributing: Francisco Guzman, Donovan Slack, USA TODAY; The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Titanic tourist submarine missing: Live updates of race against time Shootings erupted across the country, in both rural and urban locations, during a holiday weekend commemorating the end of slavery after the Civil War. In Milwaukee, gunfire after a Juneteenth celebration left six people injured, including the suspected gunman, authorities said Monday. The wounded were between the ages of 14 and 19 and included four females and two males, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said during a news conference. He described their injuries as non-life threatening. The shooter is believed to be a 17-year-old male, Norman said. Neither the victims nor the suspected gunman were identified and a possible motive remained unclear. It also wasn't clear how the 17-year-old was injured. During the news conference, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson described the holiday event as "glorious" but pleaded for people with guns to stay away. "There were families out here," he said. "There were kids out here. There were babies out here." "You don't have the right to steal the joy this community felt today," he said. More than 1,600 miles away, in the small northern Idaho town of Kellogg, four people were found dead Sunday night after their neighbor allegedly gunned them down, Idaho State Police said. The suspected shooter was identified only as a 31-year-old man, the agency said in a statement Monday. He was booked into Shoshone County Jail on suspicion of murder, the agency said, adding that it would not provide details about a possible motive or the suspected gunman's relationship to the victims until after a first court appearance. In Chicago, five people were injured in a shooting on the city's far South Side, police said. The precise time of the attack was not clear, but police started tweeting about it at 7:24 p.m. The conditions of the injured were not available. Police in Washington, D.C., reported that four people were struck in two shootings Sunday night. The first happened about 8:45 p.m., police said, and the victims, 15 and 18, died at the hospital. A little more than an hour later, two more people were struck by gunfire, Washington police said, with one of the victims, a 6-year-old boy, hospitalized in critical but stable condition. The other victim, an adult, is stable, police said. In San Francisco, two people were injured Sunday evening in a shooting near Fisherman's Wharf and the Embarcadero, two of the city's most popular attractions for visitors, police said. The victims' conditions were unavailable. The attack may have involved two vehicles, police said in a statement. Officers responding to a 6:48 p.m. report of a shooting near the wharf found both victims and rendered aid, police said in the statement. The injured were rushed to medical facilities, police said. "At the scene officers learned that there were possibly two vehicles involved in the shooting," the police department said. No other suspect information was available. Sunday's violence followed a night of mass shootings Saturday, when at least four people were killed and more than two dozen others were injured in Illinois, Washington state, North Carolina and St. Louis. In the St. Louis shooting, gunfire struck 11 people ages 15 to 19 at a party around 1 a.m. Sunday. One of the victims died, police said. A 12th person was hurt while getting trampled by people trying to flee the scene. A 17-year-old suspect has been arrested, police said. In the Illinois shooting, one person died and 22 others were hurt when gunfire erupted after midnight Sunday at a Juneteenth celebration in Willowbrook, a suburb of Chicago, authorities said. Meanwhile, a Juneteenth celebration in Asheville, North Carolina, ended with a shooting late Saturday that injured two juveniles, police said. A suspect, 16, was charged, police said. As of midday Monday, the Gun Violence Archive had documented 112 deaths and 73 injuries since Saturday. With several hours to go in the long weekend and data from shootings still to be reported, it was not yet clear how the scope of gun violence over the three days will compare with past year's. Over the three-day Juneteenth holiday weekend last year, 181 people were shot to death and 438 were injured by gunfire, according to the archive. During the three-day Memorial Day weekend, 180 people were shot to death and 464 were injured. 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. Park Si-soo, left, CEO of Spaceradar, a local space market intelligence provider, speaks during the 2023 Korea Times Forum's second session discussing space cooperation between Korea and the United States, at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul, Tuesday. The participants include Space Policy Research Center research fellow Shin Sang-woo, second from left, and Chung-Ang University political science and international relations professor Lee Seung-joo. From left on the screen are Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) associate fellow Makena Young and NASA's international program specialist Peyton Blackstock, who joined the session online. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul By Baek Byung-yeul Korea and the United States should strengthen not only military and scientific cooperation in the space industry, but also commerce cooperation in launch vehicles, satellites, semiconductors and tourism, as the combination of the U.S.' advanced technology and Korea's strong production capabilities can create synergy in the rapidly emerging industry, experts said during the 2023 Korea Times Forum, Tuesday. The Korea Times held a forum in central Seoul under the theme "Korea-U.S. Alliance: Security & Space Cooperation" to explore ways for the two allies to bolster cooperation in security and space. The second session of the forum highlighted their growing cooperation in the emerging space sector as the two nations celebrate the 70th anniversary of their alliance this year. Moderated by Park Si-soo, CEO of Spaceradar, a local space market intelligence provider, the participating experts in the discussion session included Space Policy Research Center research fellow Shin Sang-woo and professor Lee Seung-joo of the department of political science and international relations at Chung-Ang University. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) associate fellow Makena Young and NASA international program specialist Peyton Blackstock joined the discussion session via videoconferencing. At the session, experts said it was notable that President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden used the phrase "strengthening U.S.-ROK commercial space cooperation" in their joint statement in Washington, D.C., in April. While the two countries have a long history of military cooperation, their cooperation in space began only in the 1990s, and has been primarily about scientific exploration. In recent years, however, the two countries have been expanding their cooperation in the space sector. In 2021, Korea joined the U.S.-led Artemis Accords on the exploration and use of the moon, Mars and beyond, and the U.S. lifted restrictions on Korea's missile launch range and solid fuel use, opening the door to space rocket launches. In addition, the Danuri lunar orbiter, which settled into lunar orbit last year, is observing the shadowed region of the moon with NASA's ShadowCam equipment. The experts said that the series of cooperation demonstrates that the two countries have a mutually beneficial relationship in the space sector. In particular, they said that despite the U.S. having a clear technological advantage over Korea in the space sector, the continued expansion of cooperation with Korea shows that the U.S. cannot sustain this ecosystem alone, but must expand partnerships with various countries including Korea in the space industry, which is set to grow tremendously in size in the coming years. "It is my understanding that the phrase commercial space cooperation is used in a reciprocal sense. I think not only Korea but also the U.S. wants commercial cooperation in space. This is because both countries want to work together to expand into overseas markets," Shin said. "From a Korean perspective, for instance, U.S. export regulations allow Korean companies to import critical components made in the U.S. to build satellites more quickly, but there have been many delays due to regulations. Korea would like to strengthen commercial cooperation with the U.S. to strengthen this aspect and increase exports to overseas markets." Young said the commercial applications of the space industry could extend beyond satellites and space tourism to semiconductors. "There are more ways to be involved in the space sector for industry not only satellites as there are increasing China's semiconductors smaller parts. Korea has a very innovative workforce that is has strong technology backgrounds, and that can really be called upon to be integrated into space capabilities as well. The U.S. tourism space sector is very strong, and it's one of our strengths as a nation and I think that other countries do that and we would like to help develop other countries' industries as well," Young said. NASA's international program specialist Peyton Blackstock, joins the 2023 Korea Times Forum's second session online, which discusses space cooperation between Korea and the United States, held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS. A U.S.-affiliated company building a steel mill in the Armenian village of Yeraskh has raised the flags of Armenia and the United States in the construction site. GTB Steel, the company building the steelworks, said that by raising the flags it is recording its unequivocal decision that despite the Azerbaijani cross-border gunfire and provocations they will continue the construction as planned. GTB Steel executive Tiran Hakobyan told reporters after the flag raising ceremony on June 20 that they realize that the flags are no guarantee that the Azeri military would stop the shooting. This is the stipulation of the decision of our Board of Directors which was made after long discussions. By [raising the flags] we record that we will not leave this place and we will continue to build the plant, he said. He added that only the government of Armenia has the authority to allow or ban the construction, and that it has given permission. GTB Steel has all required paperwork for the construction, Hakobyan stressed. Last week, Azerbaijani forces shot and wounded two Indian construction workers at the construction site of the steel plant in Yeraskh. The construction site has since been targeted again by the Azeri forces. Will lead Yoga Day at UNHQ in NY today, fly to Washington Prime Minister Narendra Modi being welcomed by India's Representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj and others on his arrival in New York, US, Tuesday, June 20, 2023. PM Modi is on a three-day visit to the US from June 21-24.(Image: Twitter) New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a rousing welcome as he arrived here on Tuesday on the first leg of his maiden state visit to the US. Landed in New York City. Looking forward to the programmes here including interaction with thought leaders and the Yoga Day programme tomorrow, 21st June, Modi tweeted. In a departure statement, he said his talks with US President Joe Biden will provide an opportunity to consolidate our bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as the G-20, Quad and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), adding his US visit will reinforce our ties based on the shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Modi said that on Wednesday morning he will celebrate the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community. He will travel to Washington later on Wednesday and will hold talks with the US President on Thursday, after which he will address a joint session of the US Congress the same day at the invitation of congressional leaders. Modi said the US Congress has always provided strong bipartisan support to India-US ties. On Wednesday morning (IST), Modi will meet some thought leaders and CEOs, including Twitter owner Elon Musk, reports said. In his departure statement ahead of his visit, Modi said: I am travelling to the United States of America on a state visit at the invitation of President Joseph Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. This special invitation is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies. I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community. I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported Indias proposal in December 2014 to recognise an International Day of Yoga. by Vladimir Rozanskij A shortage of rainfall is accentuating the warning signs in Kyrgyzstan's major cities, already plagued by high levels of pollution. The increase in urban population is not accompanied by adequate development of housing, health, and educational infrastructure. Bishkek (AsiaNews) - Summer in Kyrgyzstan has opened with several warning signs about environmental conditions, especially in major cities and the capital city of Bishkek. The winter cloak of smog has left a heavy situation, which is now spilling over into major water shortages, common to the entire Central Asian region, due to the lack of rainfall in recent months. In Biskek all this is piling up on the "old wounds" of the housing, health, education and other infrastructures that cannot cope with the very rapid growth of the city's population, and there is a complete lack of reserves for the future. The city authorities for now seem only to be scrambling to "plug the holes." Municipal deputy Zanarbek Akaev said that "Biskek is in danger of turning into a huge village in the countryside," and a similar situation is being created in Os, a large western city, if the government fails to allocate adequate investment to the needs of urban centers. Economist Azamat Akeneev points out that "population growth, especially in the capital, is exceeding the 2 percent rate, following the typical rhythms of our social condition." Kyrgyzstan remains a fundamentally agricultural country, where in any case most of the population lives in the countryside, and there is a much more delayed movement of migration to urban centers than the average of other nations. Whereas about 1 billion people worldwide lived in cities in the 1950s, today there are about 4.5 billion, more than half the entire population. Urbanization trends bring numerous imbalances everywhere. As Akeneev notes, this growth mainly affects major cities, while small and medium-sized cities see no growth, often in fact declining in population. The metropolis in general should offer more infrastructure and job opportunities, in addition to the vast network of social relations. Especially since in the smaller towns there is not even the advantage of country life, contact with nature and a less contaminated environment. The two main cities of Kyrgyzstan concentrate all these tensions on themselves, and especially the capital is moving toward the formation of an agglomeration that gathers most of the country's population. Economists trust the progress of business activities, linked precisely to metropolitan growth, could create opportunities for private intervention to supplement the sluggishness of bureaucracy. "These are natural mechanisms of market laws," the expert insists, as long as authoritarian impulses can be contained in Kyrgyzstan, and freedom of movement and enterprise guaranteed for citizens. "A lot of people gathered in a small space is still not a city," Akeneev concludes, "we need to give them the opportunity to deploy their skills, and the spirit of initiative. The kingdom's goal is to reach pre-pandemic visitors level while preserving nature. But this could prove in vain due to global warming. According to a new report, Himalayan glaciers are melting at an alarming rate. Thimphu (AsiaNews/Agencies) Bhutan has lowered fees for foreign tourists to boost the number of visitors to pre-COVID-19 levels while upholding its goal of protecting the environment. In September 2022, after two years of closure due to the health crisis, the small kingdom nestled in the Himalayas increased sustainable development fees (SDFs) from US$ 65 to US$ 200. Effective from this month until the end of 2024, tourists paying the daily fees for four days will be allowed to stay an extra four days. Those paying SDFs for 12 days can stay for a full month. The measure only applies to international travellers who pay in US dollars, not those coming from India and paying in rupees. Bhutan is trying to increase tourism revenue from the current 5 per cent to 20 per cent of its gross domestic product, this according to Dorji Dhradhul, director-general of the Department of Tourism. Since January, more than 47,000 people have visited the kingdom, which is hoping to reach 86,000 by the end of the year. In 2019 it welcomed about 315,600 tourists. Local authorities especially want to attract wealthy travellers so that they can earn more to offset tourists' carbon footprint and keep the environment pristine. Unlike neighbouring Nepal, Bhutan has banned mountain climbing to preserve the sanctity of its peaks, foregoing the income that hikers and climbers can bring. Despite its strict policies, Bhutan's efforts may, however, be in vain due to global warming, A report released today by the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) notes that glaciers in the Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountain ranges (which run through several South Asian countries, including Bhutan and Nepal) have shed ice in the 2010s as much as 65 per cent faster than in the preceding decade, Glaciers could lose 75 per cent of their ice by the end of this century, generating flooding and water shortages for 240 million people who live in mountain regions and another 1.65 billion who live downstream. Water flows in the 12 river basins that originate in the Himalayas, including the Ganges, Indus, and Mekong, are likely to peak around mid-century. "While it may sound like we'll have more water because glaciers are melting at an increased rate ... too frequently it will arise as floods instead of a steady flow," said the reports lead author Philippus Wester. Were losing the glaciers, the environmental scientist added. Were losing them in 100 years time. This was expected, but what is unexpected and very worrying is the speed. In fact, past peak water, supplies will eventually dwindle. Meanwhile, melting snow is already having an impact on mountain communities. Weve had huge numbers of yak deaths because during summer they go to higher pastures, said report co-author Dr Amina Maharjan, a senior specialist in livelihoods and migration at ICIMOD. At the same time, locals do not have the support they need. Most of the adaptation is communities and households reacting (to climate events). It is inadequate to meet the challenges posed by climate change, she added. by Giorgio Bernardelli Drafted following the worldwide consultation launched in 2021, the document presented today at the Vatican will guide the work of the assembly next October. Some of the many questions to be discussed are inculturation, the role of women (including in the diaconate), the relationship between interfaith dialogue and persecution, and the concrete synodal ways to exercise authority in the Church. What matters though is to develop a method to walk together. Vatican City (AsiaNews) The General Secretariat of the Synod held a press conference today to present the Instrumentum Laboris that will guide the work of the 16th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops set to meet in Rome on 4 October 2023 for three weeks. For the first time, the assembly will include 70 lay delegates, consecrated persons, and priests in accordance with Pope Franciss will. From being abstract or theoretical", the goal is to make synodality into "a concrete experience" based on a method, in which "problems, resistances, difficulties and tensions" can become a moment of communion. The Instrumentum Laboris is the synthesis of the process undertaken by the whole Church, following the pontiffs call in 2021 to reflect on the topic, "For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission". Each diocese was invited to let everyone speak, with particular attention to the poor and those who would otherwise have no voice in Christian communities. All the reflections were collected and summarised in documents prepared first at national level and then put together in special assemblies held in recent months at the continental level (Asias was in Bangkok last February). The outcome, which is the text published today, will guide the October meeting. Its main threads are the questions the delegates will be called to discuss. The initial phase of the past two years highlighted two key points. First, we have some "characteristic signs" of a synodal Church: a community that listens, that knows how to ask for forgiveness, that is not afraid of differences within it, and - above all is aware of the challenge of holding together the vocation to love everyone with fidelity to the truth. Secondly, there is the way of proceeding, that of "conversation in the Spirit", a method tried and tested in the local phases of the synodal journey, where silence and prayer are intertwined with discussion. In this spirit, after giving the floor to everyone, the first step is not to outline one's own thought, but to start from what good things the other has said. This path helps to avoid splits and helps to seek communally the steps to which the Holy Spirit calls the Church. After clearly outlining this framework in its first part, the Instrumentum Laboris outlines in the second part, three "priority questions" for the Church today, starting from the terms laid out by Pope Francis himself: a communion called to radiate, the co-responsibility of all in the mission and the ways to participate taking into account synodality in exercising authority. For each of these three, the Instrumentum Laboris develops five worksheets full of questions: scrolling through them, many extremely concrete questions emerge that the synodal path brought to light. For example, there is the whole issue of the relationship between Western and other cultures in the Church and the question of forms of discrimination within ecclesial communities themselves. The role of women in a synodal Church is another key issue that emerged (and the Instrumentum Laboris expressly reports that "Most of the Continental Assemblies and the syntheses of several Episcopal Conferences call for the question of womens inclusion in the diaconate to be considered.) One of the questions on relations with other religions is: How can we bear witness to the Gospel in countries where the Church is in the minority, without weakening our witness to the faith, but without needlessly exposing Christians to threats and persecution? As for how to exercise authority in the Church, mention is also made of the possibility of more participatory selection procedures, especially with regard to the selection of Bishops. The Synod will not necessarily give answers immediately to all the questions. Synodality, not individual topics will be the focus, noted at the press conference Card Mario Grech, secretary general of the General Secretariat of the Synod, and Card Jean-Claude Hollerich, its general rapporteur. The important thing is that the Assembly show a way to walk together and listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church, even on issues on which there are different opinions. Meanwhile, the October Assembly will see some new things, most notably the number of participants, as well as the place of work; rather than the Synod Hall, delegates will gather in the Paul VI Hall, the large area where the pontiff normally holds general audiences. In some sessions, the method of discussion tables already adopted in continental assemblies will be used with small groups of bishops, priests and lay people reflecting together. Even in the Vatican. China's Zhejiang province boosts rural revitalization with intelligent agriculture 14:37, June 20, 2023 By Dou Hanyang ( People's Daily Relying on its advantages in digitalization, Zhejiang province in east China has been vigorously developing future farms, which not only promotes the progress of intelligent agriculture, but also injects new impetus into the modernization of agriculture and rural areas. In Nanxun district of the province's Huzhou, fully-equipped demonstration parks have been built for fruit farmers, which provide planting functions including production demonstration, skill training and product exhibition. Photo shows a program that combines fish farming and vegetable growing in southwest China's Chongqing municipality. (People's Daily Online/Liu Hui) In Ninghai county of Ningbo, Zhejiang, the living environment of aquatic animals in fish farms can be optimized through big data monitoring, and every breeding process is backed by intelligent technologies. In silk farms of Shengzhou, Shaoxing of Zhejiang province, silkworms don't feed on mulberry leaves but a unique type of fodder that enables them to spin cocoons. Future farms systematically optimize the agricultural production management, operation model, and distribution system of agriculture with technological and institutional innovation. They are varied with different features in the farming, animal husbandry and fishery sectors. Compared with traditional agricultural production, future farms rely on technology and bring out the full potential for the development of modern agriculture. They have higher requirements for mechanization, digitalization and intelligentization. For instance, by employing artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and biotechnologies, a ranch in Zhejiang's Haiyan county has achieved unattended operation, targeted feeding and intelligent environmental control. A technician checks the growth of tomatoes in a future farm in Huzhou, east China's Zhejiang province. (People's Daily Online/Yi Fan) Future farms are not only partial renovation of production and management technologies, but also comprehensive optimization of agricultural production models. Supported by digital technologies, such farms has distinctive advantages of intensive management of agricultural factors, intelligent and eco-friendly production, efficient management and diverse functions. Future farms lay more emphasis on smoothing supply chains, so as to reshape the agricultural industry system and production models. They could be held by enterprises, villages or townships, with production and management models according to actual demands, which helps gather more social resources and thus achieve concentrated development. In Nanxun district, a future farm was jointly built by a specialized company and local major growers. The company offers the grower one-stop services including plowing, planting, management, harvesting, storage, milling and sales. It also provides the latter with agricultural machinery services priced lower than the market and purchases their crops at a price that is 10 percent higher than the minimum level of the country. As a result, the growers have seen their income go up by 200 yuan ($27.99) per mu (666.7 square meters), which has increased the collective income of the village by 376,000 yuan. This new model, which combines villages, agriculture companies and farmers, has optimized land resources, equipment, technologies, human resources and other production factors. By incorporating more farmers into the industrial chain, it aims at win-win cooperation and helps achieve the common prosperity of farmers. A worker picks eggs from an automated conveyor belt in a workshop of a poultry factory in Suichuan county, Ji'an, east China's Jiangxi province. (People's Daily Online/Li Shuzhe) Future farms, by optimizing the organization of production, promote agricultural upgrading and offers new governance experiences for the development of the industry. The regulation on animal epidemic prevention issued by Zhejiang province has absorbed the relevant experiences gained during the construction of future farms, including animal immunization, quarantine and harmless treatment. This not only helps improve the digital management of animal epidemic prevention, but also sets a good example for other regions in developing intelligent agriculture. Over recent years, China has deeply integrated the Internet of Things, big data, cloud platforms and other new technologies with agricultural development. The exploration of future farms has opened up new prospects for innovative agricultural development. Accelerating the application of big data in agriculture and employing digital technologies in every link of agricultural development will promote the progress of intelligent agriculture, injecting new impetus into farmers' income, rural revitalization and the modernization of agriculture and rural areas. (Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun) Members of a civic group wearing Joseon Kingdom policemen uniforms pretend to flog another member dressed in a blue POSCO uniform, during a rally in front of the steelmaker's headquarters in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, Thursday. Courtesy of POSCO union By Park Jae-hyuk The recent rally of a Pohang residents' civic group calling for the resignation of POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo is drawing severe backlash from company subcontractors, employees and residents living in the steelmaker's hometown in North Gyeongsang Province, according to industry officials, Tuesday. During the rally held in front of the POSCO headquarters in Pohang last Thursday, the civic group's members cut the nose off a scarecrow with a sword and pretended that they were flogging a person wearing the steelmaker's blue uniform. In response, representatives of the employees of POSCO Future M, the group's chemical unit, expressed concerns on Monday about the civic group's radical rally damaging the reputation of Pohang and POSCO. "Amid POSCO Future M's preparation for the second miracle in Yeongil Bay through the rechargeable battery materials business, the civic group's unreasonable behaviors restrain the company's operations and make the company less attractive to global investors," the representatives said in a statement. Unionized workers of POSCO also issued a statement last Friday, pointing out the irrationality of the civic group's conduct. "They humiliated our members, who are also residents of Pohang," said the POSCO union under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions. The steelmaker's joint labor-management council also criticized the civic group last Thursday for showing disrespect for the workers. "It is doubtful whether the civic group's rally is intended for the development of Pohang," the council said. Members of a civic group hold a press conference at Pohang City Hall last Monday to announce their plan to hold a rally calling for the resignation of POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo. Yonhap Today's headlines: Japan's emperor and empress visit a cemetery for independence heroes in Indonesia; Glaciers in the Hindu Kush are melting at an "unprecedented" rate; An activist for independent Sikh state is killed in Canada; Five Palestinians killed in Jenin; In Taiwan kindergarten teachers accused of drugging children; Two Pakistanis aboard submarine lost in Atlantic. MYANMAR - RUSSIA Burma's military junta has signed agreements with Russia to develop wind power and operate direct flights to Moscow and Novosibirsk once a week starting in July. During the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum last week, Burma's Minister of Electricity Thaung Han signed a memorandum of understanding with NovaWind, a subsidiary of Russia's state nuclear company Rosatom, and two other Russian companies. INDONESIA - JAPAN Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, visiting Indonesia, brought offerings to Kalibata Cemetery in Jakarta where those who fought for Indonesia's independence are buried. Among them are 28 former Japanese soldiers, at the time considered deserters. Japan occupied Indonesia for three and a half years during World War II, while the struggle for Indonesian independence, in which about 1,000 Japanese took part, against the former colonial occupier was fought from 1945 to 1949. SOUTH-CENTRAL ASIA Glaciers in the Hindu Kush are melting at an unprecedented rate and could lose 75 percent of their volume by the end of the century, generating flooding and water shortages for the 2 billion people living along rivers downstream. This is according to a report by the Kathmandu-based International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Since 2010, Himalayan glaciers have melted 65 percent faster than in the previous decade: these changes are "largely irreversible." INDIA - CANADA Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a proponent of establishing an independent Sikh state and wanted by Indian authorities, was shot dead in Canada. The 45-year-old was running the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in Surrey, British Columbia. Other activists for the creation of Khalistan have been killed in recent months: Avtar Singh Khanda, in Britain, and Paramjit Singh Panjwar, in Pakistan. "We understand that there is much speculation about the motive for this murder, but we are dedicated to learning the facts and letting the evidence guide our investigation," said Timothy Pierotti of the police homicide investigation team. PAKISTAN Two Pakistanis were also aboard the tourist submarine that was taking a group of visitors to see the remains of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. The Dawood family issued a statement confirming that they had lost contact with Shahzada and their son Suleman. There were other dignitaries on the submarine who paid 0,000 per person for the excursion. Search and rescue operations are ongoing. TAIWAN Teachers at a New Taipei City kindergarten have been accused of drugging children with cough syrups after some parents first filed charges in May. Police have been investigating for weeks but the public is calling for more transparency regarding the investigation. Taipei City Hospital has begun offering free blood tests for preschoolers to check for traces of sedatives. ISRAEL - PALESTINE Last night five Palestinians, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed by Israeli forces during a raid in the Jenin refugee camp and about 90 people were injured. The clashes lasted nearly 10 hours, witnesses said. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Israel to "immediately cease all settlement activities" in the Palestinian territories, calling the settlements a source of "tension and violence" and an obstacle to lasting peace. UKRAINE In Odessa, a Ukrainian city with large bathing facilities and much affected by Russian bombing, local authorities have banned access to all beaches, which have been recognized as "unsuitable for bathing" due to the substantial deterioration of sea water quality as a result of war operations, effectively becoming unhealthy. From left, Starbucks Korea CEO Son Jung-hyun, poses with two grand prize winners Park Ye-seul and Ha Young-yoon, and Director of Employment Promotion at the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities Cha Jung-hoon, during an award ceremony for the company's annual tumbler drawing contest at Starbucks Korea Support Center in central Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Starbucks Korea By Kim Jae-heun Starbucks Korea selected the winners of its tumbler drawing contest, called "Harmony," aimed at raising public awareness on the issues faced by disabled people, the country's largest coffee chain said Tuesday. A total of 406 young artists with disabilities submitted works from April 17 to May 12 and in cooperation with the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities and Heart to Heart Foundation, Starbucks Korea reviewed the creations. The award ceremony, held at the Starbucks Korea Support Center in central Seoul, June 16, chose two grand prize winners and delivered 3 million won ($2,340) to each. The grand prize went to Park Ye-seul, whose work titled "Colorful" depicted a world where people live together in harmony. The other grand prize winner was Ha Young-yoon, who painted "Tree Without Prejudice." Ha said he drew the piece hoping to deliver the message that we all can live without prejudice. "I want to thank my parents who gave me the courage to live in this world, where I couldn't hear anything since I was young," said Ha who has a hearing impairment. Starbucks Korea has been holding the tumbler drawing contest since December 2020, when it opened a store at Seoul National University Dental Hospital, which adopts prize-winning pieces for its interior design. This is the third time the coffee chain held the drawing contest. The winning pieces of the second tumbler drawing contest held last year will be used on Starbucks goods sold at the company's third community store. All of the profits will be used for the projects to improve social awareness on disabilities. "We will continue to work to fight prejudice against people with disabilities through various activities in the future," Starbucks Korea CEO Son Jung-hyun said. Hyundai Shares How it Plans to Hit 2 Million EV Sales Per Year by 2030 Published June 20, 2023 Hyundai Motor Company hosted its 2023 CEO Investor Day on June 20 in Seoul, South Korea, unveiling its visionary mid- to long-term business strategies and financial plans. With the aim of actively leveraging its knowledge and heritage of innovation from internal combustion engine vehicles, the company is committed to a successful transition to the electrification era through its newly introduced strategy, "Hyundai Motor Way." The company will implement this strategy and accelerate its transition toward becoming a smart mobility solution provider by securing a large-scale investment of $84.9 billion over the next 10 years, including $27.8 billion for electrification over the next decade. The company aims for 2 million units in annual EV sales by 2030. The key parts of the strategy include introducing a next-generation modular architecture for EVs, strengthening EV production capacity, battery development capabilities and future businesses, including autonomous driving, hydrogen, robotics and advanced air mobility. Hyundai Motor is leveraging its heritage of innovation and knowledge accumulated over a long period of time as a traditional vehicle manufacturer amidst seismic change in the industry with competition intensifying in a bid for leadership in the electric vehicle market. The company announced that it will achieve a successful transition to electrification by efficiently and effectively leveraging its long experience in vehicle production and sales. "The value of cultivating human-centered innovation by further developing technology inherited from the past is the distinct heritage that a company with a rich legacy can provide," said President and CEO Jaehoon Chang. "As it originated from Pony, the IONIQ 5 N---a high-performance EV scheduled for unveiling in July---will embrace and carry forward the enduring heritage of Hyundai Motor Company." Source: Hyundai Motor Company AMG ADS PHEV kW WLTP As such, it is no surprise that the Audi and BMW rivals chose to swiftly announce the W214-series E-Class station wagon at home on the Old Continent after presenting the sedan version worldwide in late April. Now the touring model aims to be classier but just as functional as its predecessor, plus more "intelligent and customizable" than ever before as it adopts a more dynamic design than the W213 Estate. Still, it seeks to score big points again with both "functionality and load compartment volume."Speaking of the latter, the trunk can be expanded from a standard of 615 liters (21.71 cu. ft.) to 1,830 liters (64.62). In comparison, the available plug-in hybrid version will make do with slightly less 460 to 1675 liters (16.24 to 59.15 cu. ft.), and the E-Class Estate still has generous dimensions for the passengers, as well. That is due mainly to the enhanced wheelbase, which is 22 mm (0.86 in) longer compared to the predecessor at 2,961 mm (116.57 in), while length and height are subtly increased, too. The most significant change comes from the width, though, which is up by 28 mm (1.1 in) to 1,880 mm (74 in) for additional lateral space.Last but not least, the maximum towing capacity varies from 750 kg (1,653.47 lbs, unbraked) to 2,100 kg (4,630 lbs) for the new station wagon that is said to bridge further the gap "to the avantgarde trendsetters from Mercedes-EQ with its new design." The latter is not devoid of flashy ideas like the optional illumination of the radiator grille via LED modules for all model lines (Avantgarde, Exclusive, andLine) plus, there is also the choice of DIGITAL LIGHT headlamps with projection function. Inside, the MBUX 'superscreen' is present and accounted for with all the goodies from the sedan , including the trio of screens, a selfie camera, games, social media, and Zoom integration.Overall, the sleeker E-Class Estate also has a lower drag coefficient of 0.26, standard rear air suspension for the multi-link assembly, or an optional all-round Airmatic with air springs and adaptive+ dampers, and sales kick off this autumn in Europe. As a general note, it seems the new styling works better on the Estate than the sedan, and it will be the perfect choice for those seeking tradition rather than outrage with the upcoming BMW 5 Series station wagon. Anyway, let us talk about the powertrains now.The model range at launch in Europe will include just three options the E 200 gasoline mill, the E 220 d diesel, and the E 300 e plug-in hybrid . All of them rely on 2.0-liter engines, and all of them also have electrified aids. The E 200 and E 220 d are mild hybrids with 204 or 197 hp plus 23 electric ponies. Meanwhile, thehas 204 hp plus 129 hp from the e-motor for a total system rating of 230(308 hp), a sprint to 62 mph (100 kph) in 6.5 seconds, a 227-kph (141 mph) top speed, and an electric () range of 113 km (70 miles). SUV And while they culminated the first half of the year with the arrival of the 2024 Tacoma mid-size pickup truck superstar in America complete with lots of technical and design novelties, plus the 326-hp i-Force Max hybrid powertrain and the all-new Trailhunter trim, among others; they are far from resting. Instead, over in Europe, folks should prepare for the impending release of the second-generation C-HR crossoverthat might feature a completely different style from its predecessor.Meanwhile, the United States received one of the best pieces of news Toyota's legendary off-road nameplate, the Land Cruiser, is returning after a short hiatus. Interestingly, the same teaser concept was also used for the Old Continent announcement a bunch of vintage Land Cruiser badges and that indeed got us thinking about the possibility that both America and Europe would receive the same Land Cruiser version. According to our thoughts which concur with the rumor mill ideas that means Toyota will bring out the successor to the J150-based Land Cruiser Prado to both regions, not the current J300 Land Cruiser sold in the Middle East or at home in Japan.Naturally, this enticing possibility has also lifted the spirits across the imaginative realm of digital car content creators and most of them agree that the Land Cruiser 250 or Prado will feature lots of the same DNA as the newly introduced 2024 Lexus GX 550. The Halo oto channel on YouTube, which provides fresh automotive info that is corroborated with their virtual designs, has even developed a passion for the upcoming Toyota SUV as they first showed the exterior of the Land Cruiser Prado (250) in a couple of hues (blue and crimson) from the front and rear.Next, they also corroborated their virtual designs with the latest rumors flaunted across the Japanese mill that claim the new Toyota will feature not one, not two, but three different front fascia impersonations, and of course, they also gave us their CGI thoughts on the matter. Now there is even a third approach from the resident pixel master as the unofficial presentation comes from the inside out. As such, they are now focusing on the hypothetical looks of the interior, complete with a few color options. Cool, right? Or, wait a minute, are they borderline obsessing with these continued CGI depictions of the popular Toyota model? Oh, well, only time will tell it they were right or wrong... kW All 18 copies will be assembled by hand at Mulliner workshop in Crewe, England, and each car will take around four months to complete. The last one will roll off the line at the end of 2024, and no two Baturs should be the same, given the near-infinite personalization quoted by the Volkswagen Group-owned luxury car brand.Numerous exterior colors are available for the limited-edition ICE-powered GT , including 18-carat gold for the Organ Stop air vent control and Charisma dial. New sustainable materials, such as natural fibers, will be used in the construction of the 18 cars, and Bentley also speaks of Additive Manufactured Gold. All components were rigorously tested in different environments, and for this, the automaker built two pre-production Baturs dubbed the Car Zero and Car Zero-Zero.Finished in Purple Sector, complemented by the high-gloss natural fiber finish on certain parts, Car Zero has a Glossy Dark Titanium grille with contrast chevrons and rides on 22-inch wheels with spokes in Satin and Glossy Black Crystal. Car Zero-Zero has a Marina Teal look, and both finishes and the unique LED headlights were subjected to durability tests, including a 2,500-kilometer (~1,550-mile) tour across Europe, complete with high-speed testing at closed racetracks.Bentley says more than 800 unique components were assessed during the 160-week development work. The cars spent the equivalent of five years in an Arizona desert to make sure the sustainable materials live up to the company's name, and so do the torque vectoring, all-wheel steering, electronic limited-slip differential, active anti-roll control, and Speed-tuned air suspension, which are some of the highlights of this model.The engine, which makes the Batur by Mulliner the most powerful Bentley ever made, proved its worth during the adventure-filled testing regime. Tracing its roots back to the 2003 Continental GT, the 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12 develops 750 metric horses (739 hp/552) and 1,000 Nm (738 lb-ft) of torque. From naught to 100 kph (0-62 mph), the car is estimated to take roughly three and a half seconds and can hit 335 kph or 208 mph, thus making it a true intercontinental cruiser that doesn't cut back on luxury.Bentley managed to sell out all copies of the Batur by Mulliner before the grand unveiling hosted almost a year ago, and that's despite a very eye-watering base price of 1.65 million (equal to $2,112,512/1,933,371). Thus, the best way to get your hands on one is to monitor the used car market closely. And you know it's going to come at a steep premium, right? Several BEV advocates thought that all it would take for customers to buy more electric cars was a broader offer of products. Or more financial incentives, more chargers, and more "education" for those who are not that interested in vehicles powered by a massive battery. This year provided a lot of that. Even so, 2023 was when interest in BEVs dropped for the first time in Ipsos' Navigator study. The global market research company tried to explain that as an ownership costs misunderstanding, but is it? BEV Photo: Ipsos Photo: Ipsos Photo: Tesla ICE Photo: ONE Ipsos apparently started this study in 2019. That year, 27% of the respondents wanted to buy aas their next car. The number raised to 30% in 2020, 36% in 2021, 49% in 2022, and dropped to 48% in 2023. Although that could be considered as a demand stabilization, a more thorough analysis by age shows the intentions have gone down slightly for baby boomers and Generation X but fallen more sharply for Generation Z and Generation Y customers: seven points from 2022 (72%) to 2023 (65%).The research company considered that a problem and tried to find an explanation for the phenomenon. A list of concerns about owning a BEV submitted to the respondents theoretically helped. However, Ipsos dedicated a generous portion of that explanation to one of the least relevant reasons not to buy a BEV: the belief that these cars present a "higher overall cost of ownership." Pay careful attention to how this concern is worded: it will be important to understand its full reach.There is no focus on the main deterrent to BEV adoption: battery life. According to Ipsos, 59% of the respondents said they were worried about that, an increase of five percentual points compared to those who were afraid of the same thing in 2022. The second most relevant concern was recharging time, also with a higher percentage (51% instead of 48%). The research company only recognized that "driving range and battery life cannot yet measure up to what traditional ICE vehicles provide." Yet, Ipsos reinforced that the "worrying backslide in interest" (...) "couldn't come at a worse time for the automotive industry, where new BEV launches are happening at an accelerating pace."With the explanation respondents provided with their list of concerns, it is puzzling that the research company thinks things could be any different. In other words, Ipsos defends that this moment would call for an increase in BEV ownership. It states that the "sustainability benefits BEVs bring to an environmentally conscious world" and other positive factors it comes up with suggest this moment "should theoretically be a perfect opportunity for the industry to capitalize and see a spike in BEV adoption." How, if the main concerns about BEV adoption are yet to be addressed?The only point into which Ipsos goes a little deeper is when it talks about the cost of ownership, giving it a relevance it does not have. Among all concerns about purchasing a BEV, a "higher overall cost of ownership" is in the seventh place. That means there are six more pressing issues for potential customers. That did not prevent the research company from stating that "the myth persists that BEV ownership costs are higher than internal combustion vehicles" and trying to debunk that by using AAA's annual cost of ownership report . Based on that document, Ipsos stated that "the average cost of maintaining a BEV is $9,048 per year, compared to the $10,728 industry average." Indeed, but a better look at the AAA report shows a different picture.First of all, AAA calculated three cost scenarios per year: 10,000 miles, 15,000 miles, and 20,000 miles. Ipsos mentioned the one that relates to the average mileage for American drivers: 15,000 miles per year. In those conditions, BEVs present only the second lowest ownership costs: small sedans demand less money. Driving 10,000 miles per year, small sedans and compact SUVs beat BEVs. Those running their cars 20,000 miles annually also make a better deal buying small sedans than cars powered by batteries.Second, the AAA report calculates only five years of ownership, during which BEVs still have their battery packs covered by the mandatory eight-year warranty. What if these components fail after that period? If the AAA added the expenses for replacing battery packs to the ownership costs, the figures would be much higher. These components are costly (between $15,000 and $20,000), and BEV makers say they are not repairable. The only choice for people willing to keep their cars is to replace the battery packs.Finally, Ipsos asked its respondents about the "higher overall cost of ownership." The word "overall" implies something comprehensive, which includes the vehicle's price tag. If that were the case, BEVs would have a problem: they are more expensive thanvehicles, leading to a higher cost of ownership right off the bat. These cars only dodge that bullet with government incentives, which is equivalent to saying the government is partially paying for those BEVs or renouncing part of the taxes it would demand from their purchase and use. AAA's annual cost of ownership report only considers the purchase price indirectly: through depreciation. According to the association, BEVs are the vehicles that lose more value among all the categories evaluated. Intriguingly, depreciation is not among the concerns with electric cart ownership that the research company presented.With Ipsos data, it is clear what automakers have to do: deal with battery pack lifespan concerns and increase range. The latter would automatically address worries about charging times: a vehicle that does not have to stop during a road trip will not demand fast charging. Our Next Energy (ONE) already suggested its solution for that, but we are yet to hear how it plans to solve battery pack lifespan concerns. The fourth more pressing worry related to BEV ownership is the cost of battery pack replacement, which is intimately connected to fears about the component's lifespan. The only company that seems to be willing to discuss that is AEHRA. The Italian startup said it intends to make battery packs repairable. Sadly, there is no official explanation of what it will do to sort that out.This shows customers are perfectly aware of the dangers involved with BEV ownership. Despite that, Ipsos suggested three measures to improve adoption: offering more range, investing in fast chargers, and educating customers.Apart from improving the range, the two other measures are controversial. As my readers already know, fast charging stresses the battery pack and reduces its lifespan, the main concern related to BEV ownership. "Educating customers" is a euphemism for trying to convince them that BEVs will save the world and their wallets when they know that this is not true. The research company even mentions "the cost of ownership savings" would help attract them when its own source shows they would save more driving small ICE sedans. The bottom line is that educated customers know they will have to worry about battery pack replacements and ranges that may be cut in half at high speeds or cold weather. Is it any wonder why BEV adoption has dropped? Who doesn't love a good tradition? Whether that's gathering around the Christmas tree with the family, going on vacation to a new destination each summer, or never attending an important meeting without your lucky tie, we're all creatures of habit. Leonardo DiCaprio is no exception. Photo: Superyacht Times Photo: Superyacht Times Photo: Superyacht Times .@LeoDiCaprio fighting climate change in style. Leonardo Dicaprio hosts Neelam Gill on his $150m mega yacht in Italy https://t.co/5Bs91d17EO via @DailyMailCeleb John Dennis (@RealJohnDennis) June 19, 2023 The difference between our traditions and DiCaprio's is that his tend to be more expensive, more exclusive, and more damaging to our planet. It's on that last consideration that he's being dragged online once more, with people from all over the world calling him an eco-hypocrite.In the glitzy world of showbiz, DiCaprio is somewhat of an endangered species. He's often described as one of the last true movie stars, especially in the context of how information is being overshared on social media, which leads to overexposure and which, in cinema, translates to a more difficult suspension of disbelief before stepping into the cinematic world. Put differently, celebrities are becoming characters themselves, and audiences are starting to have issues believing the onscreen characters they play in front of the cameras.Leo DiCaprio is not like that. With the sole exception of his rare but predictable outings on promo trails and of the not-so-rare but equally-predictable occasions he rolls out a new under-25 girlfriend, the man is an enigma. At least, he is one compared to other celebrities. When you know what X actress had for lunch on a particular day because she posted about it on Instagram, or the daily routine of Y actor even when he's not on set, DiCaprio's personal life remains a mystery.But this much we do know: his vacations are as predictable as his girlfriend age preference. For the past several years, DiCaprio has taken regular, extended cruises onboard one of the most luxurious and secretive superyachts in operation, the $150 million Vava II . It's mid-June now, so superyacht season kicked off a couple of weeks ago, but now that DiCaprio is back on Vava II means summer has officially started.This also means its open game to criticism for his huge carbon footprint, which clashes bitterly with his environmentalist work. In his Twitter bio, DiCaprio describes himself simply as "actor and environmentalist," and these are also the only two things he ever talks to the media about. He is deeply and financially involved in a series of campaigns with various organizations, fighting against anything from the planned deforestation of the Amazon rainforest to the pollution of our oceans and the greater evil of climate change.DiCaprio, one of Hollywood's most respected and acclaimed actors, is lending his voice and his platform and occasionally many of his own millions, too to much greater causes . It feels strange, then, to see him involved in activities that go directly against these very causes.The superyacht and cruise segments are among the industries with the largest carbon footprint, but they're more savagely attacked by critics than, say, the auto industry, because they're not necessary to daily life. Much like private jets, you can live your life without chartering a luxury superyacht or heading on a cruise and still be able to enjoy yourself and make the most of your money.It's precisely this that DiCaprio's fans and critics can't reconcile: his activism and his choices. Every year, DiCaprio takes at least two vacations at sea and oftentimes spends the entire summer onboard a superyacht.Right now, for instance, he's been on Vava II for at least three weeks, cruising between Cannes , Italy, and, as of this week, Spain. Vava II is always his choice for a boat, too.Delivered to Swiss pharma billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli in 2012, it's a fully custom vessel designed for entertaining large parties . With a total length of 97 meters (318 feet), it features a giant pool, a helipad with hangar for an Airbus H145 (the HB-ZVA registered aircraft that DiCaprio himself flew on at least twice this week), several tenders (including the Lac Leman whose name Vava II occasionally uses on AIS), and gorgeous interiors by Remi Tessier.Vava II is exactly the kind of superyacht we'd all be idling the summer away if we could afford it. But it's not what you'd expect from an environmentalist like DiCaprio, even when you take into account the fact that celebrities are not role models or, better said, that they're role models only when it suits them . Spending an entire summer port-hopping on a superyacht is fun and very fancy, but it's also highly wasteful and polluting. Vava II emits 238 kg (525 lbs) of carbon dioxide per mile (1.6 km) traveled. That's roughly the carbon footprint of a passenger car in two months, for comparison a car you're probably using because you need to in order to go about your daily chores, to get to work, or visit elderly parents. That would be the same car that eco-warriors, though not DiCaprio specifically, will have you ditch because climate change is getting worse.To be sure, Vava II is a beautiful and very elegant boat, and DiCaprio is well entitled to spend his money whichever way he sees fit without us having to form an opinion about it. Life is not black and white but also different shades of gray. Where DiCaprio's yacht-hopping and environmentalism are concerned, it doesn't seem like regular Joes and Janes are willing to let the two mix. It's "either" "or," with no middle ground possible. It may not be the largest or the most exquisite sailing superyacht, but it's certainly a special one. The aptly-named Melody is a graceful vessel inside and out, designed to resemble classic gentlemen's yachts while offering all the modern pleasures of today's pleasure craft. Born as a millionaire's dream boat, this modern classic is still looking for the one who will take it to sea for the first time. Photo: 26 North Yachts Photo: 26 North Yachts HP Photo: 26 North Yachts Melody is a young yacht. It made its debut in the summer of 2022 as the largest sailing yacht ever built in Estonia. Still, its roots go back to more than ten years ago, and the story goes like this. A mysterious but wealthy entrepreneur started dreaming of his own superyacht after admiring several sailing yachts that were flaunting their majestic silhouettes off the coast of Macau, China. The ultimate inspiration came from a Hollywood movie not just any movie, but one in the James Bond series.The 2012 Skyfall convinced the mysterious businessman that his pleasure craft should look just like the classic wooden boats in the golden era of yachting. The stunning 56-meter (183.7 feet) Regina, launched by Med Yachts in 2011, starred as Chimera in Skyfall. It would become the main inspiration for Melody not quite as big, but boasting the same timeless elegance, skillfully blended with state-of-the-art amenities.The millionaire who envisioned Melody found an atypical partner for this ambitious project. Ridas Yachts, a reputable boat builder in Estonia, had never approached a yacht this size before, yet agreed to bring Melody to life.The hull was built in the Netherlands, then traveled to Tallinn, Estonia, in 2017. Olivier F. van Meer was responsible for both the exterior and interior design. The result was a sleek sailing yacht that looks like a classic beauty but is packed with the latest technology in terms of performance and comfort.Sadly, the world pandemic nearly brought this dream project to a halt. The original owner never actually got to enjoy his dream yacht and had to back out of the project. The yacht created for such a specific purpose found itself with no one to officially step onboard.Still, this didn't stop it from gaining worldwide recognition and admiration. It wasn't among the big winners at The 2023 World Superyacht Awards but received a Judges' Commendation. The Estonian shipyard was applauded for successfully building an aluminum ketch of this size. The yacht was even dubbed (unofficially) the safest sailing yacht in the world. Melody 's classic inspiration is obvious throughout its interior and exterior spaces. Lacquered wood paneling abounds yet doesn't look heavy thanks to the minimalistic, toned-down decor. With a generous interior volume of 145 GT, the 136-foot (41.45 meters) Melody offers luxurious accommodations for up to eight guests.The master suite is accessed aft from the foyer, revealing a generous bed that can be converted to two singles, an elegant en-suite bathroom with a shower and a bathtub, a separate desk and dressing area, plus multiple lockers. The two VIP staterooms also feature en-suite bathrooms, generous storage space, and flexible layouts. The fourth guest cabin is smaller and would work great as a children's room. Four crew members also get separate quarters with two cabins, one of which can be converted to a guest room when extra accommodation is needed.The beautiful main salon opens to a spacious lounge area with cozy sofas and a coffee table and to the formal dining area with a U-shaped sofa and a big dining table. Outside, the deck area is more than enough for al-fresco dining and lounging. Although styled like a classic gentlemans yacht, Melody reveals its contemporary spirit through features like the jacuzzi and the tender hatch.The custom-made jacuzzi is located forward of the main mast. At the same time, an inviting seating area unfolds behind the mast, with a classic-style bimini providing protection. Melody benefits from such generous deck spaces thanks to the modern tender hatch, operated via iPad, which freed up a lot of onboard space for socializing.When it comes to equipment, Melody reveals its modern spirit once again. Its state-of-the-art garage houses a 4.5-meter (14.7 feet) Williams DieselJet 445 and other water toys, plus a dedicated refilling station for scuba diving equipment. A single person can gracefully operate this majestic yacht, expertly crafted and fitted with top-quality sails, rigging, and navigation tools, plus a single 500Volvo D13 diesel engine.After such a long, twisted road, Melody still awaits an official owner. It needs to be someone with deep pockets because Melodys price tag indicated a whopping $19.9 million. At the same time, it needs to be someone who can appreciate the timeless elegance of modern classics just as much as luxury and comfort. Estonia's flagship yacht is ready to enchant the one who will see it as a priceless treasure. Once, not very long ago, Mitsubishi had loads of fans worldwide some were squabbling with Subaru and Toyota enthusiasts about who had the best rally cars and argued the Lancer Evolution was king. Others were preoccupied with setting the Mitsubishi Pajero as the emperor of the hill when it came to off-roading and trailering. And a few even dared to think that the company was making one of the best compact pickup trucks on the market since 1978.Today, there is no sign of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution XI anywhere, and the Mitsubishi Pajero has been retired in disgrace. At the same time, the Toyota Land Cruiser prepares for a triumphant return to the United States. Meanwhile, there is nothing but Chinese copycats (sorry, rebadges) like the Renault Clio-based Mitsubishi Colt and Captur-ASX siblings in the European region! Well, at least, the Japanese company has one last asset to escape the feeling that it has become but a pale shadow of its former self an all-new Triton pickup truck. Also known as L200 (or Fiat Fullback or Ram 1200), the new model has been making the rounds for quite a while at one time, prototypes were even spied on in America.Now, the time has come for the sixth generation to enter "beast mode." No, the Japanese automaker has not officially unveiled the all-new Triton but it's not far away from that. Instead, the company kicked off the teaser campaign with some revealing photographs and videos about the process of testing and design that leaves relatively little to the imagination. In the initial announcement teaser, for example, there are more shots of the prototype undergoing heavy testing, and before the short video comes to a halt, there are also a few shadowy images of the truck without any camouflage.Even more of the pickup workhorse is revealed in the second video embedded below, which features an interview with Norihiko Yoshimine, the design director for the Triton (L200) program, where he explains the concept of "beast mode" behind the project while more shots of the pickup truck accompany his words. All in all, we can quickly draw a conclusion from the teasers the XRT Concept was a thinly veiled preview of the production model, and now we also have a pretty revealing notion about how the interior will look like with a central infotainment system screen position high up on the dashboard. As for powertrains, well, we just have to wait for the official reveal set on July 26 in Thailand to get all the juicy details. Folks, over the past few months, I've been testing the Swytch e-bike conversion kit, and may I say, there is absolutely no need to spend thousands of dollars on a new e-bike to enjoy the magic of electric power. Best of all, you don't even need a new bike! Whip out the old two-wheeler, knock the dust off that seat, and hang on tight for this one. Design Evaluation Photo: Florin Profir for Autoevolution Photo: Florin Profir for Autoevolution Real-World Testing Photo: Florin Profir for Autoevolution Photo: Florin Profir for Autoevolution Photo: Florin Profir for Autoevolution Conclusion Applicable in an urban setting Fits a wide range of bikes Affordable Capable Fun Changes bike geometry Cluttered cockpit Limited range What you're looking at in the gallery is nothing more than myself, my beat-up and thrashed Focus Whistler with 27.5-in wheels. Most importantly, integrated into the front hub is nothing more than a 250 W motor powered by a handlebar-mounted battery pack or the Swytch e-bike conversion kit, and may I say, this has got to be one of the best alternatives to a costly e-bike that you can get your hands on!To understand what's going on with this conversion kit, we need to take a step back and analyze all the parts of the whole. If you're unaware of how an e-bike conversion kit works, think of it as a custom VW Beetle project where you're fitting a Boxster engine: It's a timeless base chassis with the power of modern technology. I say this because the kit uses nothing more than your existing bicycle as a base, but that 'Boxster' engine (the Swytch motor and battery pack) is something else entirely. Oh, and you'll understand why I use this comparison shortly.Now, I'm going to skip over the details of my Focus Whistler and stick to the fact that it doesn't matter what sort of bicycle you have; the Swytch kit is available in an array of wheel sizes. From 16 in Brompton wheels to 20 in cruisers, 28 in road bikes, and even 29 in MTB wheels, all can be fitted with this kit. In short, if you have a bike, you can have the same level of fun I do.Overall, the system is composed of several parts, including a wheel and motor setup, the battery mount, the battery pack, and above all, a pedal cadence sensor, the latter being the key to unlocking unlimited speed. Well, as fast as your gears and legs will take you. In the box, you'll also receive a pat stack of zip ties to ensure wires don't get snagged on existing bike components.There is something I do want to bring to your attention. Getting this thing onto my Whistler did require a trip down to Service HubWorks, a local shop where putting the kit together by a professional took around 45 minutes to an hour, with small talk and me messing up Radu's (the mechanic) flow. But, once we got the ok that everything was set, it was time to see what Swytch could do, which we'll get to shortly.From a design perspective, I want to point out just two minor downsides to the setup. The first is that you'll be adding a few extra pounds to your bike, mostly at the front and over the front wheel, and this will affect your ride's geometry and flow but not to the point of no return, as I was still able to grab some airtime with my Whistler while having the kit equipped.The second downside is the battery mount position. Because it sits on the handlebar, it will definitely clutter your cockpit and even impede some lights or other hardware from being centered properly. The added controller and display take this idea even further. As for the battery pack, it will affect the way your steering behaves, as your bike will become a bit more top-heavy.But those are just two minor flaws and downsides of the setup. Other than that, the Swytch kit may be the perfect urban companion for getting around town , running errands, and, if you need to, even hitting a singletrack or two on a Saturday morning.Now, there are a whole bunch of benefits that I've discovered while using such a kit, and the first and foremost is cost. At the time of testing, the Swytch kit was selling for around 1,000, which is roughly $1,300. That's nearly half the cost of your least-expensive e-bike on the market. Secondly, the fun factor of this thing is priceless. You'll understand what I mean.Price aside, there are countless reasons why the Swytch kit needs your attention, but it helps to understand precisely where this system belongs in an urban setting. The reason I say this is mainly because of the kit's range. At this time, two variations are available, 15 km (9 mi) of range or 30 km (18.6 mi). Remember, Swytch is a British brand, and cities are a bit more compact over in Europe. It's this limited range that is sure to keep you using electric power around town.Still, there's a plus side to this. Because of a short range, and a detachable battery, recharging doesn't take very long, with a full charge on the 15 km pack taking about an hour, sometimes less, if your ride didn't tap all your juice. This is where I was able to truly feel this kit's benefits.Imagine that you have a 7-15 mi bike ride to work each day. Well, throw on your battery pack, grab the charger and toss it in your bag or backpack, take your bike downstairs or in an elevator (mine fits), and head to work. Sure, you'll get there with batteries completely drained, but in an hour or so, depending on the pack you have, you'll be up and ready to go yet again.After work, you'll head home, possibly stop for some tea or coffee, and you can recharge the battery once again: most cafes, bars, and restaurants have no problem with you tapping their electric grid for the next leg of your journey - hat tip to Baristro Place for letting us shoot in their cafe. After all, you spend tens of dollars or euros on dinner and drinks. What's a bit of electric power? With your battery now juiced up and ready to go , you'll probably head home. But first, how about a bit of shopping?And that's a day in the life with a Swytch e-bike kit. However, allow me to point out a bit about why this kit may be one of the best solutions for folks looking for unlimited speed while blasting around on their two-wheeler. Now, if you set up this kit on a single-speed machine or anything without gears, your dreams of unlimited speed may go out the window. One, there's no gearing to allow you to reach lower pedal cadences at higher speeds, so you'll eventually pedal without going any faster.But, if you own a geared bike like my Whistler, things take on a whole different story. Right now, I'm rocking a Shimano cassette with 9x3 speeds, and without electric assistance, I can cruise around 35 kph (22 mph) on flat terrain. However, once I throw in the Swytch kit, that number is blown out of the water. I can reach speeds of 50 kph (30 mph) or more. I don't know if Radu tampered with the system, or that's just how it works, but the lack of a torque sensor and the presence of just a pedal sensor means that the motor can be tricked into thinking you're struggling and is fed with power as long as you pedal. Remember that whole bit about a Porsche Boxster engine in a Beetle? This is why I used that comparison.One important question that was on my mind from the very start is how this system changes the dynamics of my MTB. Well, it definitely does, and there are benefits and drawbacks. First of all, there's that added weight to the front of your bike, which will change the way your MTB behaves as you ride uphill. Back down, there are changes too. If you like to jump your MTB, it's definitely going to be harder to lift that front wheel, not impossible, but difficult.While testing this setup on trails, hitting some airtime, and even stairs, I couldn't help but think that the mount and bracket for the battery would fly open at some point in time, and I'd lose the pack. Well, this never happened, and to find out why, we sat down with Co-Founder Dmitro Khroma to get a clearer picture Come to find out, the chances of this bracket ever opening and launching your battery pack into some bushes are zero. Why? This system has been borrowed from a tool often found in a bike shop, mole grips, and once clamped down, "It doesn't let go." It was then tested, on roads, in parks, downhill, and stairs, but above all, in a vibration test machine. The result? "We're very confident in the design." and I highly agree; I had no problems whatsoever with the clamp.At the end of the day, I got to test this kit without having to drop any cash on it; just one benefit of working at autoevolution, but, and this is a big one, if I read a piece of literature such as this, telling me all about how this kit is worth every dollar, even after 200 or so miles, and that I can potentially fly around town like a bat out of hell, assisted by electric goodness, I'd say, "Sign me up!" In short, the Swytch team is onto something here, and this kit has the fun factor, the speed, and the capability to bring you and your bicycle up to modern standards MQB TDI Prototypes of the all-new VW Tiguan have been spotted since last year, and by the looks of it, the compact crossover that slots between the T-Roc and range-topping Touareg in the Wolfsburg brand's family of high-riding vehicles is in the fine-tuning stage. The camouflage has yet to be peeled off officially, but when it does, it will reveal an entirely new design.To no one's surprise, the automaker will give it more than the new front and rear ends, as it appears that it has a bit more space between the axles. This inevitably translates to a roomier interior with improved legroom for backseat passengers. The front and rear windscreen angles are about the same, scooped testers have revealed, and it will feature smaller headlamps, a shorter grille, a larger central air intake in the front bumper, new taillights, and so on.Volkswagen was kind enough to reveal the cockpit of the next Tiguan last week, where one of the biggest novelties is the introduction of a larger infotainment screen. It has a tablet-like design and sits next to the fresh digital instrument cluster that was neatly incorporated into the dashboard. Although similar to the current one, the steering wheel will be all-new, sporting a gearshift lever mounted on the column. This move has freed more space on the center console, which now looks more minimalistic, and hosts a rotary dial to control the infotainment screen measuring 15 inches in diagonal. Lesser versions of the car are expected to feature a 12.9-inch display.Europe's 2024 Tiguan is based on an upgraded version of theEVO platform, which will give it access to numerous powertrains. The model should pack the 1.5- and 2.0-liter gasoline engines, joined by a pair of plug-in hybrids. Sitting at the top of the range will be the Tiguan R, which will be the sportiest and punchiest version of the crossover. The diesel power isn't going anywhere, apparently, as the familiar 2.0-literwill stick around for a few more years. All mills will be mated to a DSG automatic gearbox, as the manual transmission will be discontinued.As the unveiling date approaches, Volkswagen will drop more details about the new Tiguan . It should launch in the first quarter of next year in Europe, and until seeing that new design officially, the wraps have already come off, with a CGI twist. Kolesa signed the renderings shared above, and since they're based on fresh scoops, they are on the realistic side. Do you like the styling? Before answering that question, you should know that North America's next 2025 Tiguan is believed to have an extended wheelbase and perhaps some tweaks at both ends compared to the European derivative. Members of Korea's two largest umbrella unions chant during a press conference at the Franciscan Education Center in Seoul, to call for the minimum wage to be raised to 12,000 won ($9.40) per hour next year from 9,620 won, in this April 4 file photo. Joint Press Corps By Park Jae-hyuk Soaring wages are cited as the most pressing labor issue weighing on foreign firms operating in Korea, followed by the country's rigid workhour system and confrontational labor-management relations, the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry's (KCCI) survey of 202 members of foreign chambers here showed Tuesday. The respondents also pointed to strict guidelines designed to prevent layoffs and excessively harsh punishments for violations of labor laws as urgent matters that need to be addressed. Nearly half of the respondents answered that an advanced labor-management relations law is necessary to create less confrontational relationships between employees and employers, when asked about their views on the government's labor policy reform plans. Foreign-invested companies also want the cap on the weekly number of workhours to be eased, as well as favoring the introduction of a performance-based wage system and more freedom to lay off workers. According to the survey, 37.7 percent of the respondents said that the Korean labor market is less competitive than the labor markets of the countries where their headquarters are located. Only 25.2 percent of the respondents answered that the Korean labor market is more competitive. Against this backdrop, foreign-invested companies expressed optimism about the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's labor policy reforms and how it has dealt with illegal strikes. Among the respondents, 50.5 percent said the labor policy reforms will make Korea more attractive to global investors, and 55 percent answered that Korea will draw more investments if the country roots out illegal strikes. Mentioning Korea's proximity to large markets and its logistics environment as the most important reasons for their investments here, 95 percent of the respondents said they are satisfied with the outcome of their decision to invest in this country. In addition, 97 percent answered that they plan to maintain their investments in Korea at the current level or increase them. "Amid the supply chain restructuring in the aftermath of U.S.-China tensions, foreigners have increased their direct investments in Korea as an alternative to China," Yoo Il-ho, head of the employment and labor policy team at the KCCI said. "Along with deregulations and support measures to solidify Korea's status as an alternative investment destination, labor policy reforms are needed to bolster the competitiveness of the nation's labor market." With all the advancements taking place all around us when it comes to the transportation sector, it's hard to get a good idea of what the future will look like, and what exact tech will be adopted on a large scale. Will it be the flying cars currently being developed in China, or the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicles we keep hearing about? Or will our world remain faithful to land-based means of transport? The heavyweights of the industry, established carmakers, seem to be just as undecided as everyone else, so for now they keep doing what they're doing, which is building road-going vehicles. There are a few exceptions, sure, like Audi and its involvement with Airbus for the Pop.Up Next, but that one kind of feels more like wishful thinking than something that will actually happen.The only automotive company that seems serious at the moment about VTOLs is Stellantis . At the beginning of the year, the huge auto group announced it is backing a maker of such flying vehicles called Archer Aviation.Archer is working on a flying vehicle called Midnight. Equipped with six independent battery packs that power a pair of electric motors each, it should be capable of reaching a top speed of 150 mph (241 kph) and a maximum range of as much as 100 miles (160 km), which is perfect for short intercity trips.Stellantis backing this idea goes far deeper than providing funding for the eVTOL. Archer is currently building a production facility in Covington, Georgia, the "worlds first high-volume eVTOL aircraft manufacturing facility." And it's not doing it alone, as the auto group has its own people embedded in "manufacturing, engineering, supply chain, quality, facilities and human resources."The Georgia plant is expected to open about halfway through next year, and at first it will produce some 650 aircraft per year. If all goes according to plan, and everyone gets crazy over the Midnight, production can be ramped up to 2,300 VTOLs per year. If that happens, the place will become "the worlds leading aircraft manufacturing facility by volume."And there seems to be enough interest in it, as one of America's largest carriers, United Airlines, announced in March it will open an air taxi route using the Midnight. It will link the O'Hare International Airport to Vertiport Chicago, a trip that should not last more than ten minutes. The route is expected to open in 2025.The flying machine could also be used for military purposes, and it already caught the eye of the Department of Defense, including thanks to its capacity to carry over 1,000 pounds (454 kg) of cargo. An official evolution in this respect is not confirmed yet. In the three years preceding the start of the Second World War, another major conflict was raging in Spain. Taking advantage of the fighting between the country's Republicans and Nationalists, Nazi Germany sent personnel there to gain battlefield experience for what would come later. Many of the German soldiers and airmen who fought in the Spanish Civil War did so as part of a military unit called the Condor Legion. Fighting on the side of the Nationalists, the unit became notorious for its strategic bombing tactics, and will forever remain in the history books as the one responsible for the bombing of Guernica, an operation considered a war crime even after it happened, as it made no difference between military targets and civilians.The Condor Legion's aerial component relied on Messerschmitt Bf 109 airplanes for its missions. The plane had its first flight in 1935, and during World War II became the fighter plane with the most aerial kills of the war for instance, during the invasion of the Soviet Union, these planes, of which around 34,000 were made, shot down thousands of Russian plans at the cost of just 350 of their own.The Bf 109 was powered by a Daimler-Benz engine and a single three-bladed propeller. It could reach speeds of 520 kph (320 mph), climb to a maximum altitude of 12,000 meters (39,000 feet), and fly for as much as 1,144 km (711 miles).The plane you're looking at now is part of that incredible breed of machines, and one that flew under the control of the Condor Legion pilots. Serial number 6*88, it is believed to be the only Condor Legion Messerschmitt Bf 109 to be privately owned, and one of just two known survivors of the Spanish Civil War (the other one is presently with the Deutsches Museum in Germany).We find ourselves talking about this plane because it recently popped up for sale on Platinum Fighters. We're told that after its service with the Condor Legion ended, the plane continued to be flown by the Spanish Air Force until 1950, went it was benched from official duties.It continued to fly with other pilots until 1958, and, according to its seller, that might just make it the longest-serving airplane of the 109E variety. That would be the variant powered by the more powerful Daimler -Benz engine and capable of carrying heavier weaponry.The plane as you see it has been in the possession of its current owner since 1981, and it is currently being restored in Germany. It's a process that began back in 2012, but work on it still doesn't seem to be over. The bird is offered as is, and the asking price is no less than $6 million. The Armenian Defense Ministry said the two men discussed the current state of implementation of understandings reached by them during Papikians previous trip to France that took place last September. Security in the South Caucasus was also on the agenda of the talks, the ministry said without giving details. Frances Armed Forces Ministry did not immediately issue a statement on the talks. Papikians September trip to Paris came in the wake of large-scale fighting on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. He met with Lecornu the day after French President Emmanuel Macron received Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. Macron blamed Azerbaijan for the hostilities and said Azerbaijani forces must return to their initial positions. A delegation of French defense officials visited Armenia in October, holding separate talks with Papikian, Armenian army chief Eduard Asrian and High-Technology Minister Robert Khachatrian. The Defense Ministry in Yerevan likewise said at the time that they discussed the implementation of Papikians and Lecornus understandings. No details of those agreements have been made public so far. It remains unclear whether France, which is regularly accused by Azerbaijan of making pro-Armenian statements, is ready to provide any military assistance to Armenia. We certainly support the peace talks that have started with Azerbaijan, but France must help Armenia to defend and protect itself! Christian Cambon, the chairman of the French Senates committee on defense and foreign affairs, tweeted after meeting with Papikian on Monday. The Armenian minister attended the opening ceremony of the Paris Airshow earlier on Monday. Hyundai Motor CEO Chang Jae-hoon speaks during the company's CEO Investor Day in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group Carmaker holds CEO Investor Day, unveils medium- to long-term strategies By Kim Hyun-bin Hyundai Motor hosted the 2023 CEO Investor Day unveiling visionary medium- to long-term business strategies and financial plans and aiming to reach 2 million in annual electric vehicle (EV) sales by 2030, according to company officials, Tuesday. The company announced that it will achieve a successful transition to electrification by efficiently leveraging its vehicle production and sales experience. The company has decided to initiate its "Hyundai Motor Way" strategy by securing 109.4 trillion won ($85.3 billion) of investments for the next decade, including 35.8 trillion won for electrification. The company aims to sell 2 million EV vehicles by 2030 and is focusing on future businesses, such as autonomous driving, hydrogen, robotics and advanced air mobility (AAM). "The value of cultivating human-centered innovation by further developing technology inherited from the past is the distinct heritage that a company with a rich legacy can provide," CEO Chang Jae-hoon said. "As it originated from Pony, the IONIQ 5 N a high-performance EV scheduled for unveiling in July will embrace and carry forward the enduring heritage of Hyundai Motor Company." Chang laid out the Hyundai Motor Way roadmap for success in the electrification era, emphasizing the company's advantages as a legacy carmaker and its proactive pursuit of leadership in EVs. He explained how the company's second-generation dedicated EV platform, under the new Integrated Modular Architecture (IMA), will replace its Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) going forward. The next-generation platform will be used on 13 new dedicated EV models from Hyundai Motor Group's automotive brands Hyundai, Kia and Genesis through 2030. With the IMA, the company expects to standardize modules and parts between the models to further expand economies of scale and significantly reduce EV development complexity and costs. Hyundai Motor plans to apply a range of batteries, including next-generation NCM batteries and LFP batteries, for the second-generation platform. The company is also exploring different form factors of batteries to enhance versatility. To further extend the driving range, Hyundai Motor intends to implement cutting-edge technology that enables battery charging and discharging while driving, utilizing an independent power bank. In addition, the integration of an AI-based battery management system will ensure real-time monitoring and diagnosis of battery conditions, ensuring enhanced safety by preventing thermal runaway. These hardware improvements, the modular architectures and next-generation platforms will enable software architecture compatibility in support of Hyundai Motor's software-defined vehicle (SDV) strategy. The company aims to build an app ecosystem through the application of an open operating system and controller integration, including Level 3 and higher autonomous driving capabilities, high-performance semiconductors and over-the-air (OTA) update advancements. From left, Dr. Chi-Hung Lin, President of Taiwans National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU); Ambassador Bi-khim Hsiao, Taiwan's Representative to the U.S.; and the Honorable Keith Krach, Co-founder of the Krach Institute and former Under Secretary of State, at a discussion hosted by the Krach Institute. https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/mlf-potomac-61923.html Major League Fishing (MLF) MARBURY, Md. (June 19, 2023) Pro Nick Hatfield of Greeneville, Tennessee, caught a five-bass limit Monday weighing 20 pounds, 11 ounces the largest limit weighed throughout the three-day tournament to win the MLF Invitational Stop 5 tournament at the Potomac River . Hatfields three-day total of 15 bass weighing 53 pounds, 12 ounces, earned him the win by a 5-pound, 3-ounce margin over Bass Pro Tour angler Cody Meyer of Star, Idaho, who finished second with a three day total of 15 bass weighing 48-9, good for the $50,000 runner-up payout. After a Polaris Rookie of the Year win in 2021 on the Pro Circuit, Hatfield signed on to the new-look Invitationals for another go-round. After finishing 101st at Lake of the Ozarks in May, it looked like his Bass Pro Tour dreams may have gone by the wayside; but winning the Potomac vaulted him back into the Top 10 in points and may prove to be a key moment in a long career. Starting the day in second behind Martin Villa, Hatfield knew he was close to a win. Still, the Top 10 was about as stacked as can be on the Potomac, and he also knew he needed to do more than just hold serve. Today I decided to scrap where Ive been starting because it sucked yesterday, Hatfield said. I didnt want to try to go in there and scrap out 14 or 15 pounds, I wanted to go for the win. So, he rolled into Chicamuxen Creek and started fishing in a recently opened spawning sanctuary. I knew it hadnt had the pressure; I didnt know if I could catch them in there, but I figured it hadnt had the pressure like everywhere else, Hatfield said. So, I went in there and started catching them pretty quick. I got in a few areas there and caught them on a bunch of different things, but there was one little area in there that was a bream bed, and most of the big ones I caught, I caught off of it. When it went down it was pretty crazy. After catching a few swimming a jig and frogging in a marshy creek, Hatfield pulled out a popper as he roamed around. Things happened in a hurry after that. I stumbled into it as I was fishing, just going down the bank, he said. I threw a popper up close to the point, and one engulfed it. I kept throwing over there, and upon further inspection, after I caught some, I saw it was a bream bed. So, I actually went back to it later in the day and caught another 4-pounder off of it. Running bream beds has gotten a bit trendy recently, and the Top 10 definitely added them into the mix with the usual Potomac staples. For Hatfield, a big patch of spawning bluegill in Quantico Creek did a lot of the heavy lifting. I saw the one in Quantico the second day of practice and I saw there were a bunch of big ones swimming on it and it was easy to get bites, Hatfield said. I never found another one until today. Id say out of 15 bass I weighed, maybe four or five came off something else, he said. Swimming a jig, a frog, ChatterBait, something like that. It was all on bream beds, basically. For his bream beds, Hatfields primary weapon was a wacky-rigged Yamamoto Senko with a No. 1 Hayabusa WRM929. He also mixed in a 3/8-ounce Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait JackHammer, a 3/8-ounce Hayabusa Lil Schmitty Swim Jig , a popping frog and a bone Lobina Rio Rico. He used Doomsday rods for all of his techniques, opting for a 7-foot, medium-heavy model for the wacky rig. Ive wanted to win one of these, Ive tried hard, Hatfield went on to say. I knew that I could do it, and today just shows that I can. I cant wait for the next one, Im ready to go right now. The top 50 pros at the Stop 5 at the Potomac River finished: 1st: Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., 15 bass, 53-12, $117,500 (includes $35,000 Phoenix Bonus) 2nd: Cody Meyer, Star, Idaho, 15 bass, 48-9, $50,000 3rd: Eric Panzironi, Longwood, Fla., 15 bass, 48-8, $20,000 4th: Wyatt Frankens, Corrigan, Texas, 15 bass, 46-9, $18,000 5th: Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va., 15 bass, 46-8, $17,000 6th: Blake Hall, Rogersville, Ala., 15 bass, 46-1, $17,000 7th: Andrew Loberg, Rocklin, Calif., 15 bass, 46-0, $15,000 8th: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 15 bass, 45-13, $14,000 9th: Bryan Schmitt, Deale, Md., 15 bass, 45-12, $13,000 10th: Kyle Weisenburger, Columbus Grove, Ohio, 15 bass, 44-11, $12,000 11th: Pete Ponds, Madison, Miss., 15 bass, 44-8, $10,000 12th: Jim Moynagh, Shakopee, Minn., 15 bass, 44-5, $10,000 13th: Jordan Collom, Canyon Lake, Calif., 15 bass, 44-4, $10,000 14th: Troy Stokes, Trenton, Mich., 15 bass, 44-1, $10,000 15th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 43-13, $10,000 16th: Cody Spetz, Hollister, Mo., 15 bass, 43-12, $10,000 17th: Flint Davis, Leesburg, Ga., 15 bass, 43-11, $10,000 18th: Hunter Eubanks, Inman, S.C., 15 bass, 43-11, $10,000 19th: Cole Hewett, Orange Park, Fla., 15 bass, 43-10, $10,000 20th: Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 15 bass, 43-9, $10,000 21st: David Walker, Sevierville, Tenn., 15 bass, 43-7, $10,000 22nd: Jeremy Southerly, Fulks Run, Va., 15 bass, 43-6, $10,000 23rd: Robert Nakatomi, Sacramento, Calif., 15 bass, 42-14, $10,000 24th: Jason Vance, Battle Ground, Ind., 15 bass, 42-13, $10,000 25th: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 15 bass, 42-11, $10,000 26th: Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 15 bass, 42-7, $10,000 27th: Charlie Reed Jr., Gloucester, Va., 15 bass, 42-5, $10,000 28th: Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., 15 bass, 42-4, $10,000 29th: Wayne Vaughan, Chester, Va., 15 bass, 42-3, $10,000 30th: Mike McClelland, Blue Eye, Mo., 15 bass, 42-2, $10,000 31st: Blake Felix, Warsaw, Mo., 15 bass, 42-1, $8,000 32nd: Cody Pike, Powhatan, Va., 15 bass, 42-1, $8,000 33rd: Michael Catt, Jacksonville, Fla., 15 bass, 41-14, $8,000 34th: Tyler Stewart, Dubach, La., 15 bass, 41-14, $8,000 35th: Christian Greico, Tampa, Fla., 15 bass, 41-13, $8,000 36th: Kyle Hall, Granbury, Texas, 15 bass, 41-11, $8,000 37th: Joe Wieberg, Freeburg, Mo., 15 bass, 41-9, $8,000 38th: Matt Greenblatt, Port Saint Lucie, Fla., 15 bass, 41-4, $8,000 39th: John Duarte, Middle River, Md., 15 bass, 41-2, $8,000 40th: Marshall Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 15 bass, 40-15, $8,000 41st: Braxton Setzer, Wetumpka, Ala., 15 bass, 40-15, $8,000 42nd: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 15 bass, 40-10, $8,000 43rd: Terry Olinger, Louisa, Va., 15 bass, 40-9, $8,000 44th: Eddie Carper, Valliant, Okla., 14 bass, 39-11, $8,000 45th: Travis Harriman, Huntsville, Ark., 15 bass, 39-4, $8,000 46th: Austin Culbertson, Moberly, Mo., 14 bass, 39-2, $8,000 47th: Jack Daniel Williams, Kingsport, Tenn., 15 bass, 38-4, $8,000 48th: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 15 bass, 37-7, $8,000 49th: Joshua Weaver, Macon, Ga., 15 bass, 36-15, $8,000 50th: Kyle Minke, Lindstrom, Minn., 14 bass, 36-12, $8,000 Complete results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Overall, there were 247 bass weighing 663 pounds, 3 ounces caught by the 50 pros Monday. The catch included 47 five-bass limits. The three-day tournament featured a roster of 150 pro anglers competing for a top prize of up to $115,000 and an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2024. The next Invitational event will take place July 25-27 at the Tackle Warehouse Invitational at the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Samsung Electronics headquarters in Seoul / Korea Times file By Kim Hyun-bin Samsung Electronics is conducting a global strategy meeting to address the current challenging business environment and come up with turnaround measures amid a deepening global economic downturn, according to company officials Tuesday. Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee, head of the Device Experience (DX) division, commenced the meeting at the company's plant in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, with the Mobile Experience (MX) business unit on the same day. The Visual Display (VD) and Home Appliances business units will follow on Wednesday, and other departments will join on Thursday. The Device Solutions (DS) division, under the leadership of CEO Kyung Kye-hyun, held its meeting on the same day at the plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. Samsung Electronics' global strategy meetings take place twice a year, in June and December, gathering top executives and overseas branch managers to discuss the current issues of each business division and region. The discussions include sales strategies and other relevant topics. Approximately 100 executives from the DX division and over 130 executives from the DS division, totaling around 230 domestic and international executives, participated in the meeting both online and offline. The MX business unit, which contributed to defending the company's first-quarter performance with strong sales of the Galaxy S23, is expected to share its marketing strategies for upcoming products such as the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Flip 5, set to be launched in the second half of the year. Samsung Electronics will hold its first domestic smartphone unveiling event, "Galaxy Unpacked," in the latter half of next month. The VD and Home Appliances business units, affected by the economic slowdown, are expected to assess market changes resulting from the COVID-19 endemic and discuss strategies to boost sales and competitiveness in the second half of the year. The DS division will also evaluate the performance and strategies of each business unit while exploring ways to overcome the semiconductor crisis. Despite expected losses in the second quarter, discussions will cover expanding global new orders in the foundry sector based on the outlook for the latter half of the year, long-term technology development roadmaps and strategies to seize future markets. Do you consider Election Integrity an issue of some real importance, or just another conspiracy theory interfering with Democratic Socialist political hegemony? No, complete access to everyone voting, even in a willy nilly manner, is more important than getting it right by limiting access to those that would commit Voter Fraud. Yes, the most inalienable right of real citizens of this Democratic Republic is the Right to Vote, and that right shall remain sacrosanct for perpetuity. Again, I don't vote and I don't care. 707 total vote(s) What's your Opinion? Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis suspended North Miami Beach Democrat Mayor Anthony DeFillipo from office on Monday after he was arrested and charged with multiple felonies for allegedly voting illegally in an election multiple times.DeFillipo was charged last week with three counts of Election-Unqualified Voter, each a third-degree felony. Each count carries up to 5 years in prison, if convicted.DeSantis said in an executive order.The executive order also prohibits him fromMiami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, a Democrat, said during a press conference last week thatFernandez Rundle said that DeFillipo had moved out of North Miami Beach to Davie yet he allegedly returned and voted three times in the district that he no longer lived in. She said that cellphone data was used to track where he was on the days that the votes were cast.CBS News reported that he says that he owns two homes in Davie but that none of those homes are his permanent residence.DeFillipo told NBC6.A resident and a commissioner's former campaign worker filed a complaint against DeFillipo late last year alleging that he lived in Davie with his wife and not in North Miami Beach, the report said.At the heart of the issue is how he voted three times in 2022 from an address that he sold in 2021, according to Florida Politics. In an attempt to turn K-12 students into "climate justice" political activists, the Biden regime is spending federal taxpayers money, including Covid relief funds, to produce "curricular materials" for K-12 public schools. The climate issue is a contested political issue, yet they are spending taxpayer money to proseletize the leftwing side of the issue. One local question is whether the Beaufort County Schools are accepting and using any of this Biden political propaganda? https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/joe-biden-wants-to-turn-your-elementary-schooler-into-a-climate-justice-activist/ In the UK, in contrast, there was a lawsuit filed over showing Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth" which promotes the leftwing narrative on climate in schools, and the British High Court ruled that Gore's movie is a "propaganda film" and contained "multiple serious errors of fact" and ordered that it not be shown to school children without clear disclaimers of those two things. BY In 1928 scientist Alexander Fleming returned to his laboratory after a 2-week holiday. A petri dish of bacteria accidentally left on the lab bench, somehow became cross-contaminated with Penicillium notatum mould. Fleming noticed the mould inhibited the growth of the bacteria. This accidental discovery marked the dawn of the antibiotic era and a turning point in medical, and perhaps human history. Recently, another accidental discovery has scientists wondering whether we have turned another corner in history. The story begins with Kevin McKernan, a scientist with 25 years experience in the genomic field and a leading expert in sequencing methods for DNA and RNA. He has worked on the Human Genome Project and more recently in medicinal genomics involving DNA sequencing. In the process of trying to sort out a sequencing problem, McKernan used anonymously sent, Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 bivalent vaccines to act as mRNA controls. Somebody sent me these thinking, this is the perfect control It should be pure. So, if you get this to work, youll sort out your mRNA sequencing problems, McKernan explains in a recent interview. They were right about that. It did sort out our problems. But what we discovered in the process is that they werent pure mRNA. They actually had a lot of DNA in the background. McKernan was shocked, Its not what we were looking for I had this hunch that the new modified nucleotides they have in the mRNA may have a higher error rate, and therefore we would see more mistakes in the mRNA. So, I knew we would have to sequence like a millionfold deep over and over again to find these mistakes. When we did that DNA popped up and I thought Oh, thats a bigger problem. We have to focus on that. I kind of went into panic mode, realizing that I didnt budget any time to look into this, and the world has to know about it. Lets pause here and look at what were told about the Covid-19 mRNA injections. Were assured: The injections are safe. Meanwhile, adverse event reporting systems around the world record previously unseen rates of adverse events and injuries; The injections are effective. We would ask: Effective for what? Not stopping transmission. Were not sure about preventing serious illness either evidenced by recent data and New South Wales Health reports which show a disproportionate number of hospital and ICU admissions amongst the vaccinated. The injection materials stay at the injection site. Recently released documents obtained under FOI show the lipid nanoparticles become widely distributed notably to the liver, spleen, adrenal glands, ovaries, and testes; The injections wont change your DNA. Lets look at that last one a little bit closer. The Australian TGA states you can find reputable information about Covid-19 vaccines on their Is it true section of the website. It is worth a look. In answer to the question Can COVID-19 vaccines alter my DNA? the TGA is clear: No, COVID-19 vaccines do not alter your DNA. They explain, mRNA vaccines use a synthetic genetic code called RNA to give our cells instructions about how to make the coronavirus unique spike protein. When our body has made the protein encoded by the mRNA vaccine, it then recognises the spike protein as being foreign and launches an immune response against it. The RNA from the vaccine does not change or interact with our DNA in any way. Phew. Well, thats ok then, right? Possible routes for mRNA to convert to DNA (including a process known as reverse transcription) were discounted. Until the publication of an annoying little paper in 2022 by Alden et al, an in vitro study involving human liver cells which showed Pfizers mRNA was expressed as DNA within six hours. At the time, this was assumed due to reverse transcription of the mRNA. However, in light of McKernans discovery, theres a whole new possibility to consider. What if the vaccines already contained DNA? Then arguments about whether the mRNA could reverse transcribe into DNA become irrelevant. Lets return to McKernan and take a closer look at what he found. In addition to the expected mRNA, he also found mRNA fragments, other pieces of RNA, and two forms of DNA: linearised and circular. The significance of the circular or plasmid DNA is important. The plasmid DNA is the complete recipe used to program bacterial cells to mass produce the mRNA. This DNA should not be there. Further investigation by McKernan showed the plasmid DNA contained in the vaccines was indeed viable and capable of transformation in bacterial cells. So, the Pfizer and Moderna vials of bivalent vaccine that McKernan tested were contaminated with DNA. DNA encoding the spike gene and potentially capable of inserting into the genome of an organism. The question is, does this DNA have the potential to become part of the genome of a human organism and if so what might be the consequences? This would have required looking at genotoxicity, something Australias TGA says the (Pfizer) injections were not tested for, and the TGA did not ask for. In case you are wondering, there are strict guidelines about DNA contamination levels in mRNA products. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and FDA stated limits are 330 nanograms of DNA per milligram of RNA. In Australia, the TGA says it should be no more than 10 nanograms per dose. (Its unclear how these limits were decided. Personally, wed be hoping for zero DNA in our mRNA injections.) This means that DNA should not be more than 0.033 per cent of the total nucleic acids in the dose. But McKernans analysis demonstrated DNA contamination of up to 35 percent in the bivalent injection samples. This is up to 1,000 times higher than deemed to be acceptable by the regulating authorities. Next, McKernan analysed the monovalent (earlier) injections. The Pfizer monovalent injections were also found to be contaminated with DNA, though not as much. The levels of DNA in the Pfizer monovalent injections were 18-70 times higher than the EMA limit. So, what happens now? These results are in the process of being further verified by the scientific community. In the essence of speed, McKernan published his findings and methods publicly on Substack and online. He explains, The publication system, during the pandemic, is politicised. So, thats probably not going to get the word out very quickly. I had to do my best to document this all and make the data public. If McKernans findings are verified, the implications are serious. Widespread DNA contamination would bring into question the quality of the entire mRNA injection manufacturing process, safety systems, and regulatory oversight. In addition, DNA might not be the only contaminant. This contamination discovery begs a question. What does Australias Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) know about the safety of these mRNA injections? And what discussions have occurred between the TGA and the OGTR regarding the safety of these injections? Some of these questions are being asked and will hopefully get answers. Soon, we hope. Another question weighs heavily. What does this accidental discovery mean for those whove had the mRNA injections, in terms of their health, their offspring, and future of the human genome? Scientists and genomics experts are shocked by the discovery. McKernan too, I didnt expect to find Pfizers entire blueprint for how they manufacture this thing sitting in the vial. Neither did we. The Vax-Gene Files: An Accidental Discovery Monkey Virus DNA Found in COVID-19 Shots What we found is [that] the whole representation of what is happening is a lie The U.S. government is representing to the public that this is a health event and the response to a health event. But in fact, this is a military operation. In this episode, I sit down with former pharmaceutical executive Sasha Latypova. She emerged from retirement during the COVID-19 pandemic to become a whistleblower after she observed the government and vaccine manufacturers veering away from established clinical research and public health protocols. The total volume of adverse events and deaths was tens of times higher than [for] all the previous vaccine products combined, says Latypova, referring to public data from the CDCs Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. We have all kinds of levels of protectionsconsumer protectionsthat should be triggered with this picture long before this extent of injury has occurred. Yet none of them were triggered, says Latypova. We discuss variability in different vaccine lots, and how the U.S. federal government militarized public health and weaponized gene therapy in its deployment of the COVID-19 genetic vaccine. The government was able to commandeer pharmaceutical companies to produce these non-compliant injectable products and distribute them, says Latypova. If you catch an officiala professionallying about something straight to the public, what else are they lying about? FULL TRANSCRIPT Jan Jekielek: Sasha Latypova, such a pleasure to have you on American Thought Leaders. Sasha Latypova: Hi, Jan. Thank you very much for inviting me. Mr. Jekielek: Ive been watching you talk about some very troubling things over the past months. Youve become a whistleblower in the realm of Covid genetic vaccine manufacturing. What did you see that made you start wondering about a problem happening? Ms. Latypova: I became aware of this strangeness with the whole Covid pandemic response very early on, because I worked in the pharmaceutical industry and I had retired before Covid started. I sold my companies and I was enjoying a great life and spending time with my family and doing hobbies and traveling. But when Covid started, I was initially concerned like everyone was. We didnt know what it was. We didnt know about the illness. But I became suspicious when the health authorities started an overt campaign against hydroxychloroquine, which I knew was a safe drug because Im from the industry, and I had familiarity with it. I looked specifically into the issue that they were falsely assigning to it, which is QT prolongation and arrhythmias associated with drug-induced QT prolongation. It happened to be the area of focus of the last company that I had and worked with in pharma. I knew what they were saying about this drug was absolutely not true. More importantly, the regulators knew perfectly well that they were saying things that were not true. That immediately gave me pause. I started thinking, Theyre professionals, they know this issue, they know this data, yet theyre saying things that are not true. That led me to start questioning the whole thing. If you catch an official or a professional lying about something straight to the public, what else are they lying about? That started my whole investigation into it. Also, I was a little bit familiar, not very deeply, but I did come across this mRNA class in the past, in my professional work when these products were in development for other different things, very severe conditions such as cancer. I knew that these products were inherently dangerous, which is not unusual in pharmaceutical research and development. We frequently work on things that are risky and can be toxic, such as chemoagents. But there is application for all sorts of things and the risk-benefit profile is always a consideration. I knew that these products were inherently dangerous and inherently toxic. They were developed as a cancer product in the past. Yet, all of a sudden, our regulators were all gung-ho saying, These are going to be prophylactic vaccines. Theyre going to be given to children, pregnant women, and everyone, regardless of their health status, age, or risk profile with regard to Covid. That gave me yet another pause. I became extremely suspicious about this whole situation, and thats how I started looking into it. Mr. Jekielek: Please tell me a little bit about your background. You said you sold your company. What exactly were you doing and how did you get into it? Ms. Latypova: Im originally from Ukraine. I grew up in the Soviet Union. While I was still in Ukraine, I worked in industries that contracted for health and IT. I also did a bunch of international translations of documentation and negotiations of companies that are coming into the market right after the Soviet Union collapsed. I had some familiarity with the topic. I came to study in the United States for my business degree, and for my graduate degree. I went to work for the pharmaceutical industry right from the start. I worked in various capacities and eventually started several businesses that I co-founded, and they were all successful. The last one, as I said, was actually focused on cardiovascular safety testing in pharmaceutical research and development, looking at electrocardiograms, and looking at QT prolongation, the issue that they were falsely assigning to hydroxychloroquine. That work is called contract research organization, which is a very broad term. There are a variety of contractors. Just think of if you want to build a very large and very complicated house, how many contractors youre going to hire. Its kind of like that. We are involved in a variety of different specialty tasks. A variety of companies are working toward fulfilling these projects and clinical trials. That was my work. Ultimately, the companies were successful. I sold the last one, and I didnt need to work anymore, so I was just having a good time. Mr. Jekielek: You were involved deeply in clinical trials, thats what I want to establish. Ms. Latypova: Yes. Mr. Jekielek: From many different angles? Ms. Latypova: The last one was cardiovascular safety testing in humans. Previous ones dealt with oncology, imaging, studies, and arthritis. I actually worked in all therapeutic areas. My clients were a variety of pharma companies, large ones and small ones, Pfizer included. Pfizer was also our research and development partner. We were developing technologies that they were interested in, applying it to their clinical trial space to make it more precise data collection, more accurate, and more reliable. We partnered with Pfizer several times. We worked with large companies; GSK, Novartis, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and a variety of small biotechs. I was very familiar with the space. Mr. Jekielek: What about the manufacturing side of things? For most of us, this is a black box. You just assume its done and its done right. Ms. Latypova: Exactly. Thats a very big issue that people often dont appreciate. The whole FDA [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] regulation actually hinges on good manufacturing practice regulations. All theyre regulating is the compliance of the manufacturers with what the manufacturer claims about their product, and that what they claim on the label needs to be true, and needs to be reproducible in every pill, every bottle, every vial, and everything that the manufacturer ships. In the United States and worldwide, and especially in developed countries, we have laws that are similar. In the United States, its called good manufacturing practices. Its an extensive set of laws. It governs everything; the raw materials, the impurities, the potency, and the contaminants. Its an extremely complicated structure that every participant of this industry has to comply with parts of or entirely. If you are selling a drug in the United States, then youre responsible for your own compliance with all of it, including the compliance of all your vendors with all of it. I had to comply with parts of this as a contractor that was performing work for Pfizer. We knew how difficult, how extensive, and how tight everything is regulated. Thats what people dont really understand. The majority of the entire industry is engaged in some ways in compliance with these rules. Thats extremely important to know, and its extremely important to follow. You have to prove that the product has certain ingredients and certain quantities. Again, theyre present in every single dose of the product. Thats why I was always focused on this, because I knew how important it was. Mr. Jekielek: You started digging around, and you noticed that things werent quite what they seemed to be. Where did you start looking? Where did you start finding problems? Ms. Latypova: In addition to looking at what was happening with hydroxychloroquine, I became suspicious once the mRNA products started coming on the market. Obviously, there were a lot of reports of adverse events and deaths, which I was expecting. As I said, I knew this product was inherently dangerous. I knew there were going to be a lot of problems. There is the VAERS [Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System] database. The CDC maintains the VAERS database, and there are some others. Theres Yellow Card in the UK, and EudraVigilance in Europe and all kinds of other databases. They all started showing huge numbers of adverse events and deaths right away. The government was denying that those were associated, denying that they were happening, and they continue denying to this day. Mr. Jekielek: I want to discuss VAERS briefly because I had never heard of it until the pandemic. The way the general public was taught about Vaers early on was that it was a poor system that shouldnt really be trusted, because its just self-reporting. I was shocked to learn thats not how it was considered in the past. Ms. Latypova: No. Mr. Jekielek: Please tell me about that. Ms. Latypova: This is very interesting because depending on when you ask CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] officials about VAERS, its either an amazing bulletproof system that is so reliable, that always maintains this wonderful data set for them to monitor safety, or its completely poor and unreliable and usually the reports are made up. It just depends on how they want to answer the question. Historically, before Covid and before it got so contentious, it was considered a fairly reliable database. Its actually a very important database. Theyre saying, Its not definitive if a report shows up for something that was caused by this product. But even on their website it says its an important early warning system to identify unusual data patterns. Thats how I was using it. I was using it exactly for that purpose. I wanted to look at the data pattern that was coming across. The first immediate finding was that the total volume of adverse events and deaths was 10 times and more higher than all the previous vaccine products combined. The database is very old, and I think it started in the nineties. It has reports for about 100 different vaccine products from hundreds of manufacturers. You have a very rich data set, and you see that historically, the level is here. Then, 2021 comes along and its like this. Of course, its a signal, and its undeniable. Theres a signal, its a pattern, and it needs to be investigated. But no investigation ever happened. Mr. Jekielek: We heard that they couldnt find a signal. Ive interviewed a number of people who have spoken directly with the FDA and HHS [U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services] and they said, Were just not seeing any signal here. Ms. Latypova: And that was a signal for me, them not seeing the signal. Because if you have government officials staring at a very loud signal and telling you there is no signal, thats a signal in itself. That was a big question for a long time, I could not understand how they were able to do this, how they were able to deny reality with a straight face, and nothing would happen. Nobody would be in trouble or investigated or prosecuted while we have the very loud and clear signal of huge injury and deaths occurring to Americans, including children and pregnant women. That was a big, big problem, and a big question for me. I couldnt answer it then, but I can now. Mr. Jekielek: What did you decide to do? Ms. Latypova: I wanted to investigate data for myself first. I wanted to look specifically because I have experience in pharma manufacturing and good manufacturing practice compliance. I looked at the data, not just at the total number of adverse events and deaths, but also the patterns of the data across manufacturing lots or in batches. All pharmaceutical products are manufactured in lots or batches. The lots are numbered, and you can look at them. If you go to the pharmacy and buy Advil, you can look at the box, and it has a lot number. Those are the lot numbers that can be recorded in VAERS reports, when people submit the reports. Theyre not always there because people who are submitting the reports; patients, their relatives, pharmacists, doctors, healthcare professionals, or nurses, they dont always have that information. You may not remember what the batch number was that you were injected with. You dont have your card with you or the physician doesnt know. In about 50 percent of the reports, those numbers are there. I was able to match those lot numbers with the CDC lot numbers. I have a list of them. I was able to see that not only were the adverse events high, but the variability of them by batch was absolutely extreme. Mr. Jekielek: Please explain variability. Ms. Latypova: The variability, meaning how many total reports are submitted for a particular batch number. Some batch numbers had two or three reports and some had 5,000 to 6,000. That should never happen, and you should never see that. Think about it, if youre buying Advil today and youre buying it a month from now, your experience a month from now shouldnt be 1,000 percent different, because thats really dangerous. Even if you think Advil is safe medication or aspirin is a safe medication, or even if you buy an orange juice and your experience today and a week from now is 1,000 percent different, thats going to be very dangerous. Just one of those instances is very dangerous. When you see a variability like this between batches of what is supposed to be consistently produced, and good manufacturing practice compliant, it means that the product is not good manufacturing practice compliant. As a comparator, I didnt have a baseline for this and I didnt have information on the batch sizes at the time. I do now, and this story doesnt change, but at the time I didnt. I thought I should compare it to something known, and something known was flu vaccines. I extracted all the data for flu vaccines from VAERS. I looked at how flu vaccine data looks from batch to batch over a long period of time. By the way, there are a variety of producers making different size batches. Historically, there are dozens of manufacturers of flu vaccines, and different sizes of batches. For flu vaccines, it looks as expected for a good manufacturing practice compliant product, which is straight line, very close to zero, all the batches line up, and there is very, very little variability, just a tiny bit. When you compare them to these Covid shots, you cant even put them on the same graph. The flu vaccine data disappears because the Covid shots variability is absolutely huge. At that time, which was toward the fall of 2021, I knew for sure they were not good manufacturing practice compliant. So, we have a not good manufacturing practice compliant product being produced, shipped in millions of doses, and injected in millions of people, including pregnant women and children. We have the CDC and FDA lying and saying, There is no signal at all, and this continues for a long time. Eventually, I ran across research by my current collaborator, Catherine Watt. Shes done an incredible legal analysis of what set of laws the government and the healthcare agencies are utilizing to enable this subversion of the good manufacturing practice compliance laws, and being able to deny that there is any injury, any deaths, or any problem occurring with these products for a long time. This continues to date. What we found is the whole representation of what is happening is a lie. Basically, the U.S. government is representing to the public that this is a health event and the response to a health event. But in fact, what they are doing is a military operation. These so-called vaccines, theyre not really vaccines, but these injections have been manufactured under defense contracts, utilizing the Defense Production Act, other transaction authority, and emergency use authorization under a public health emergency. When these things are used together, then good manufacturing practices do not apply to these products at all. Mr. Jekielek: Even legally? Ms. Latypova: Even legally, yes. Theres a law on the books, 21-USC-360bbb, that says, Emergency use authorized countermeasures under public health emergency cannot constitute clinical investigation. Clinical investigation is actually not possible for these countermeasures. If clinical investigation is not possible, then you cannot have clinical trials, you cannot have informed consent, you cannot have clinical trial subjects, or clinical trial investigators. Utilizing the structure of emergency use authorization, public health emergency, other transaction authority, and the Defense Production Act, the government was able to commandeer pharmaceutical companies to produce these non-compliant injectable products and distribute them, calling them a medicine, when in fact, its not a medicine. Its an act of war. Theyre using the Defense Production Act, its machinery, and the United States military. Even internationally, this is being distributed from this military to overseas militaries, not through the pharmaceutical distribution chain. Theyre using the military machinery to distribute these non-compliant products, including biologicals, chemicals, and all kinds of ingredients we dont really understand very well, and then, call it public health and medicine. Mr. Jekielek: First of all, this sounds so fantastic, what you just said. One thing I know for sure that is not crazy, which is the fact that it is the military that did the distribution. Thats official. Thats public knowledge, and that was announced. I know people who were responsible for the distribution and theyre very proud of doing the distribution, because they felt it was the only structure in society able to deploy this fast enough. I have that on record now. But what about these other parts? This is actually the U.S. government contracting these pharma companies to develop a countermeasure against what? Ms. Latypova: Countermeasure is a very important legal term, and I advise people to look it up. Countermeasure Is a very fuzzy term, first of all. Anything can be a countermeasure. A lock on the door is a countermeasure against the break-in. Calling something a countermeasure, you have already removed the precision of the legal definitions of a pharmaceutical, for example. But we already know its not a pharmaceutical. What I am saying is not a conspiracy theory, definitely not, because the law that I just described is 21-USC-360bbb. Its cited by everyone, including the FDA in their documents, the manufacturers in their documents, and by GAO [U.S. Government Accountability Office] reports that discussed this. Recently, as you may know, Brook Jacksons False Claims Act case was dismissed. You can read the dismissal of this case. The judge agrees with what I just said. He agreed with the fact that Pfizer wasnt supposed to be compliant with good manufacturing practices per contract with the Department of Defense [DOD], that they were producing countermeasures, and that they were producing a large-scale manufacturing demonstration, which is how these things were ordered from the government. He essentially describes this in a more sophisticated hundred page document. Mr. Jekielek: Based on the contract. Ms. Latypova: Based on the contract that Pfizer produced. Mr. Jekielek: Right. Ms. Latypova: Pfizer produced their DOD contract, and since then, hundreds of Department of Defense contracts for Covid countermeasures were released through FOIA [Freedom of Information Act], although theyre partially redacted. I read a lot of them and theyre all online. I read the Pfizer/Moderna ones and some other vaccines, and theyre all essentially similar. Theyre utilizing the structure of ordering countermeasures, ordering prototypes, with the Department of Defense ordering them from the pharmaceutical manufacturers under Defense Production Act, and under other transaction authority. Good manufacturing practices are not part of it at all. This product, by statute, and by contract with the Department of Defense, does not need to be compliant with good manufacturing practices. Another additional part of this whole scheme is the public health emergency announcement. When a public health emergency happens, essentially the executive branch of the government absorbs the power from legislative and judicial. A public health emergency, by various legal amendments and acts over a long period of time, triggers this whole system where the HHS secretary becomes a de facto dictator. The HHS secretary is the sole person who can deploy these products in the United States. The FDA need not be part of it. In the law, it says that HHS secretary, whoever that happens to be, it used to be Alex Azer under Trump, and now its Xavier Becerra. They can determine whether these countermeasures can be deployed in the United States based on available data, if available, it does not have to be available, and based on his own determination about the current risk-benefit profile and future risk-benefit profile. Again, he can take advice from whoever he wants to take advice, but the decision is up to him. Mr. Jekielek: Thats very interesting because its also counterintuitive. If its a DOD operation, why is the HHS secretary responsible for the deployment? Ms. Latypova: In the structure of a public health emergency, its a militarized structure, and they merge and its all the executive branch. HHS and DOD become one organization, and they also wrap FDA into it. Mr. Jekielek: In terms of this operation? Ms. Latypova: In terms of this operation, yes. The public health emergency becomes that trigger for invoking all these military-type of laws saying that now theyre one organization. There are also inter-agency agreements that go into this, where they determine confidentiality, and determine how theyre going to make these countermeasures. The HHS secretary deploys them, and the DOD orders them. They get funding through the DOD, and through BARDA, which is an HHS agency. Theyre all intertwined. Then, FDA rubber stamps everything and pretends that theyre regulating these things, but theyre not. Theyre impersonating regulators basically, because theres nothing in the law that says that FDA regulates countermeasures. They dont. Mr. Jekielek: But you would think someone would want to know. Ive had a number of people on this show who have had pretty serious vaccine injuries. The fallout from this scheme is that the idea that these people could be harmed is denied by society and certainly denied by the authorities. There are admissions in the NIH [National Institutes of Health], but its rare. Mostly they say theres no signal. Most people are diagnosed with anxiety and things like that. This seems to be linked to this idea that this is not a health response. I dont know what your thoughts are on this. Ms. Latypova: I understand why the government denies it, clearly. I still cant wrap my head around denial of this happening by regular physicians. I know that there is a monetary structure that incentivizes this behavior. Theres definitely payments from Medicare and Medicaid to the doctors to vaccinate, and bonuses for numbers of vaccination they administered. There are especially high bonuses to vaccinate somebody who hasnt been vaccinated. Theres a high price on the heads of people who havent been vaccinated to get the injections in and to get boosters. Theres a huge monetary incentive there. Essentially, the government extended its sovereign liability protection to everyone who complies with this system. Throughout this whole structure of producing these injections, distributing them, injecting them, then denying the injury, theres not only a huge monetary compensation and incentive, but also liability protection through the PREP Act [Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act]. Thats also explicit in the DOD contracts with vaccine manufacturers. Not just vaccines, it actually goes with the entire Covid countermeasures production, which includes vaccines, therapeutics, monoclonal antibodies, blood products, diagnostics, masks, swabs, and even staffing and things of that nature. All of them have the PREP Act Liability Exemption Clause, which describes that if you are in compliance with all of this, then you are treated as a covered person under this act, and you are exempt from liability if you follow the orders. The last sentence of that clause says, This is both civil and military application. This product is both civil and military application. By the way, the contracts are redacted with most common redactions. There are two redactions, B6 and B4. B6 has to do with if we reveal this information, it will hurt U.S. foreign policy or U.S. foreign relations. And B4, if we reveal this information, we are revealing information about state of the art technology in the U.S. weapons system. Id like somebody to answer this. Im just listing a set of facts. You can make your own conclusions, but Id like somebody to answer this question, Why and what is being put in these injections? What are people being injected with? Because we know theres huge amounts of deaths and injuries, but we cant address those injuries until we know what they were injected with. We still dont know that. Mr. Jekielek: Ostensibly its synthetic mRNA, and a lipid nanoparticle envelope that activates production of synthetic spike in the body to create an immune response. It definitely does that, but theres more to it. Thats what youre saying, theres more to it than that. Ms. Latypova: Thats what is claimed. What you just said is claimed on the label of the product. But as Ive described before, we know for sure theyre not good manufacturing practice compliant, which means they cant verify to themselves that is what theyre making. Theyre probably making that in some instances, but theres also a whole bunch of other effects and varieties. By the way, if the product is not good manufacturing practice compliant, its open to adulteration and falsification, whether on purpose or by accident. We have now this whole bunch of unknowns happening. Mr. Jekielek: I remember the hearing where Dr. Renata Moon opened up the mRNA vaccine insert, which Bobby Kennedy Jr. says is, The one place where the vaccine companies tell the truth. She opens it up and it reads, Intentionally blank. Dr. Renata Moon: I unsealed the box that the entire thing came in, and then I pulled this out and this is what it looks like. Id like to show this to you. Sorry about that. Its blank on both sides. Dr. David Gortler: Boom, there. Dr. Renata Moon: It says intentionally blank on it. Dr. David Gortler: Thats the data that pharmacists and physicians are basing on giving the injections outside of mainstream media recommendations. There it is right there. Heres a good question. Why didnt they just print that on a piece of paper the size of a postage stamp? Why all the theater of folding it up into a great big piece of paper like that? Why? Senator Ron Johnson: Thats what is passing for informed consent. Dr. Renata Moon: So how am I to get informed consent to parents when this is what I have. I have a government thats telling me that I have to stay safe and effective, and if I dont my license is a threat. How am I to give informed consent to patients? Were seeing an uptick in myocarditis. Were seeing an uptick in adverse reactions. We have trusted these regulatory agencies, I have, for my entire career up until now. Something is extremely wrong. Mr. Jekielek: To your point, you also have talked about the variation between the batches, which by some interpretations might almost look deliberate. I found that to be very strange. Ms. Latypova: Yes. This was one of the findings pretty early on when I was looking at the various data and looking at the variability of adverse events and deaths per batch number. In addition to seeing huge adverse events and death rates overall, we saw huge variability batch to batch. But that variability was also not random, meaning that its not just they dont control their process and theyre producing random outputs. Theres some sort of a design going on as far as whats in those vials in different batches. For example, we saw clusterings by alphanumeric codes, both in Pfizer, and Moderna. Depending on the letters used in the alphanumeric numbering, which should be just random, it should be just some sort of a manufacturing scheme to keep track of things. But depending on the letters, we knew that this set of letters would produce higher toxicity and this set of letters would produce lower toxicity. That should never happen. We also had clusterings by dates of manufacture, and this should also not happen. You should not have a difference between the product produced on the first of the month, or on the 30th of the month. Another colleague of mine from Denmark was recently published in the peer reviewed journal, the European Journal of Clinical Investigations. He published this data he had obtained from the Danish government. Denmark was Pfizer exclusive. They got all the batch numbers for Pfizer and the adverse event data, and he was able to find three different patterns of toxicity, and theyre cleanly separated from each other. Again, we have variability of toxicity. It also aligns in three patterns and theres nothing in between, meaning that this is not actually random by design. By design, they have three different levels, high, medium, and low. The fourth one means something as apparent as placebo, because those people who were injected and dont submit any reports, they dont have any adverse events. We have at least four different levels of toxicity detected in the data from adverse events. Again, this should not happen. This should be explained. There should be an investigation. Once you see some variability of data like this, this huge variability of the clusterings of data by various parameters, there are numerous different safety protocols that should be triggered at the manufacturer. Manufacturers themselves should detect it. Manufacturers should recall these products, should stop the production lines, and start investigations. Thats what they normally do. If the manufacturer is not doing anything about it, then the FDA has all sorts of enforcement powers. They can also force recall, and force investigations. We have all kinds of levels of consumer protections that should be triggered with this picture long before this extent of injury has occurred, yet none of them were triggered. None of them worked. All of them fell apart simultaneously and that kills me. I feel like Ive been screaming for the last two years in an empty space and nobodys paying attention to this. Mr. Jekielek: Have you experienced any blow back? Ms. Latypova: I tried to post this on a more mainstream social media sites, and it was immediately banned and canceled everywhere. I still cant get my Twitter account back. I can use it on my laptop, but I cannot have it on my phone. Instagram deleted my art website. It was 100 percent dedicated to art, and it had nothing to do with this. Yet they banned it, and I can never get Instagram back. But other than social media censorship, no, not really. Mr. Jekielek: Youve been in the middle of the biopharmaceutical industrial complex, as some people call it. Youre aware of its size and power. Did you think twice about disclosing these things as you started? Ms. Latypova: I dont worry about it. Yes, I know theyre powerful. If they wanted to kill me, they would kill me, but that doesnt concern me. Because the evil that has unfolded in the last two-and-a-half to three years is unfathomable to most people. Most people prefer to deny it, rather than to deal with it. I dont want to deny it. I want people to have the knowledge that I do from my professional background and I want them to understand whats going on so that people can stop. In fact, we have been successful so far, because the uptake of these shots now is practically zero. Theres a huge distrust of the pharmaceutical industry, and of the health authorities. People are questioning it. By spillover theyre questioning the childhood vaccination schedule, which is a great development. They should question it, because the people who are able to do this with these shots, where else are they lying? What else is going on? You have to question all of this. Appropriately, people are becoming very skeptical, very concerned, and very protective of their children. Its a great development. As far as justice and investigations and the reform that should come, I hope it will, but thats going to take a long time. At this moment, everyone should understand what happened, understand the truth, and stop taking these injections. Mr. Jekielek: Do you have a theory about what happened? Ms. Latypova: Its pretty speculative to answer this question to the many people who are asking me why. I cant get in the heads of the criminals. I can just tell you that this is what theyre doing. I have the backup to everything that I just said in terms of facts, in terms of the laws that are being utilized, in terms of the noncompliance thats evident, the injury, the deaths, it all ties together. I can show you how they pre-planned this. Why are they doing it? We have to ask them. We have to put them on the stand and have them explain it. Mr. Jekielek: Ive been hearing about this accelerated research in applying mRNA vaccine technology to livestock. People are concerned that this will be something that will enter the food supply. What are the ramifications? We dont know. Hearing everything you just said, it adds an extra serious twist. If all this was created without the proper regulatory oversight, going far beyond the basic concept of EUA [Emergency Use Authorization], how has this triggered accelerated research into the deployment of such products for livestock? Ms. Latypova: Thats a great question. Its not research, its just deployment. Have you seen the speed with which they just said, Now, were going to put it into the food supply. Recently, the bivalent boosters were approved based on eight mice. You dont need any other conspiracy theories to come through to just understand this. If I told you five years ago that theres going to be an injected product forced on every man, woman, and child in the United States, which was approved based on eight mice data, would you think that Im nuts? Yes, and I would think that Im nuts at that time. But this is the reality, and this is what happened. Then, just by diktat, they decide, Were going to inject old cattle with this stuff. There were no studies, and nothing was tested. They tested it on mice, but theyre going to put it in cows? Mr. Jekielek: I dont actually know the state of deployment, but maybe you can explain that to me. Ms. Latypova: Theyre basically putting a bunch of money in front of cattlemen associations and agricultural associations, and theyre saying, Now, we are going to either convert the previous cattle vaccines or just use new mRNA shots for cattle. For what reason? What is the emergency with cattle? Is there a pandemic of cows of some sort that we havent heard of? Why all of a sudden they need to be injected with mRNA? Somebody needs to answer that. I dont know the answer to this. Mr. Jekielek: This has begun, or its planned? Ms. Latypova: Yes. There have been news reports that at least some of the cattlemen associations are going to be forcing this on the participants. Mr. Jekielek: On their membership. Ms. Latypova: Membership, yes. This is going to be regulated that the cattle vaccines are now supposed to be mRNA for some reason. And also theyre going to convert traditional vaccines for humans, traditional childhood vaccines, and vaccines like flu, and RSV, and some other indications, and also convert them into mRNA. Thats published in peer review journals, Were working on these Covid vaccines, and next, were converting all these vaccines into mRNA platforms. Mr. Jekielek: Is it just a mania? Is it a mania because everyone thinks they were so safe and effective? There was this huge information blitz about safe and effective. They said, Youre going to kill grandma if you dont take it. There are many, many pieces of messaging, with billions of dollars spent on it. People have just become obsessed with this technology because weve been told it was so great and the panacea. Ms. Latypova: Yes, its a great money maker for certain people, obviously. A lot of money has been thrown at it by the government. With the government also come the private investors, because they frequently co-invest. There are various types of investors, including private and public funds. They see this spigot of money that opened in this direction and of course, they all follow because it was such a great bonanza. That creates a lot of financial momentum behind this. Technically, theyre claiming its much easier to make these vaccines because its by chemical reaction. You dont have to grow any cultures and so forth, so theyre claiming its also technically easier to manufacture. I have not seen any benefit from them, I only see injury. Mr. Jekielek: By all accounts, these are actually failed products. Its surprising that this technology would be deployed broadly in many areas or even the interest for it to be deployed broadly. Ms. Latypova: Yes. Theyre not only failed, theyre also dual-use. This technology has always been designated dual-use, meaning civil and military, just as theyre stating in the PREP Act clause. Its been designated dual-use technology since at least the nineties. Its current use is indistinguishable from its weaponized use, because as a consumer or even as a manufacturer, its very hard to ensure that that code that youre coding is actually the correct code, the mRNA code in the vial. Mr. Jekielek: I see, right. Ms. Latypova: Its very easy to subvert it, to change it, to introduce other codes, and to introduce other nefarious pieces of code into it. If you dont know what was introduced, you dont have an assay to test for it. Its completely open to adulteration and falsification. Correct, the technology has been in development since the nineties, but no products have come to the market out of it. There have been no successful medical products because of all these problems Ive described. With the manufacturability of it, you cant really make it consistently in good manufacturing practice compliant. Its wide open to these falsifications and the weaponization type of approach. Its also documented in a lot of literature, including NIH textbooks and military reports on bioweapons technology. This phenomenon is very well documented. The use of it is indistinguishable between the supposedly medicinal use that has never been demonstrated, and the weaponized use that has been demonstrated. That whole obsession with this technology seems extremely problematic and very questionable. Somebody has to explain how you distinguish between weaponization use of this technology and what you claim is beneficial medicinal use. Mr. Jekielek: Yes, thats a great question. I just want to clarify. When youre talking about the code, youre basically saying that the mRNA that goes into that technology that is then delivered the way that the mRNA vaccines were delivered, that code is subject to change. You can introduce some other mRNA, and you wouldnt even know to test for it if you didnt know what was put in there. Ms. Latypova: Yes. Mr. Jekielek: Since the whole system is a black box, its very hard to actually track and assay for it. Ms. Latypova: Yes, assay for it, and verify it. In fact, its been allowed by the regulators. Another thing I havent discussed yet, I think youve covered in your publication. At the end of 2020, there was a leak from the European Medicines Agency, and a bunch of Pfizer manufacturing documents were released at the time of the approval, and a bunch of emails between EMA staffers that were discussing this. In these documents, it was clear that at the end of 2020, the European Medicines agency deemed Pfizer as not good manufacturing practice compliant. It was the number one objection from the regulators for their approval. And two, they found this issue of mRNA breaking down and creating broken pieces of mRNA code. At the time, Pfizer told them that the standard for approval should be 50 percent of mRNA should be consistent with the declared code, and the regulators went along with it. The product was approved in Europe within weeks of this discussion. So, 50% of a mRNA should be consistent with the code that they declare for BNT162b2, and then the other 50% is unknown. Mr. Jekielek: Right, they lowered the standard. Ms. Latypova: They arbitrarily lowered the standard for themselves. Somehow, regulators miraculously agreed with that nonsense. That means that 50 percent is undeclared, and 50 percent can be practically any sequence. It could be any designer sequence you can make. If you made a designer sequence and didnt tell anybody what it is, how are you going to make an assay to test for it? You cant. Mr. Jekielek: Right. It just looks like another band. Ms. Latypova: It just looks like another band. It just looks like a piece of mRNA. We dont know what it codes for, but you can introduce all sorts of different things into it, and thats how you weaponize it. Actually, thats described as a weaponization technique for gene therapies in an NIH book that was published. Theres a whole chapter on this. Theres a textbook online that was published in 2018, and thats exactly how it is described. Thats exactly what they put into the approval, and thats what went on the market. Please, lets discuss this openly. Somebody has to explain to us how they are determining that these vials are not the weaponized use, but the medicinal use. Mr. Jekielek: Any final thoughts as we finish? Ms. Latypova: Thank you for inviting me and for the great conversation. My wish is for this information to be discussed and shared. Challenge it please, and prove me wrong. Look at these documents, and prove me wrong. But more importantly, I would like some open, public investigations to start. How can we answer these questions? Because this information will help people who are vaccine injured. Because if we answer these questions, we will know what they were injured by. Mr. Jekielek: Sasha Latypova, its such a pleasure to have you on the show. Ms. Latypova: Thank you very much. Mr. Jekielek: Thank you all for joining Sasha Latypova and me on this episode of American Thought Leaders. Im your host, Jan Jekielek. U.S. President Joe Biden, left, and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks during the G20 leaders summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Nov. 15, 2022. AP-Yonhap Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is, on many counts, a curious choice for President Joe Biden to honor with a state visit. Since Russia's Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine 16 months ago, India has boosted its economy by purchasing increasing quantities of cheap Russian oil. Human rights groups and political opponents have accused Modi of stifling dissent and introducing divisive policies that discriminate against Muslims and other minorities. And India's foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, has espoused a worldview in which there are no allies or friends, only "frenemies." But Biden, who will welcome Modi to the White House on Thursday for a state visit , has made clear he sees U.S. ties to India the world's biggest democracy and one of its fastest growing economies as a defining relationship. New Delhi, as Biden sees it, will be essential to addressing some of the most difficult global challenges in coming years, including climate change, disruptions related to artificial intelligence , and China's growing power in the Indo-Pacific. "Now, we know that India and the United States are big, complicated countries," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the U.S.-India Business Council in Washington ahead of Modi's visit. "We certainly have work to do to advance transparency, to promote market access, to strengthen our democracies, to unleash the full potential of our people. But the trajectory of this partnership is unmistakable, and it is filled with promise." Much is at stake for both sides in the Indian leader's three-day visit to the U.S., which begins Wednesday with a stop in New York, where Modi will lead an international yoga day event at the United Nations. Biden wants to bring India closer to the United States as the administration tilts its foreign policy toward Asia and looks to build partnerships in the region in the face of an ascendant China. Modi, for his part, is trying to usher in a more prosperous era for his nation of 1.4 billion, delivering on a promise he made when he swept into office more than nine years ago. The Indian prime minister hopes to strengthen U.S.-India economic and military ties. He also has his own worries about Chinese military activities, along the Himalayan border and in the Indian Ocean. India has been locked in a long-running standoff with China in the rugged mountainous area of Ladakh, where each side has stationed tens of thousands of military personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets. "As China has risen, India and the U.S. both need one another and the U.S. needs more partners in the Indo-Pacific," said Jitendra Nath Misra, a professor of diplomatic practice at the O.P. Jindal Global University and a former Indian ambassador. "They can't do it alone anymore because China is catching up with the U.S., and the Chinese economy is significantly larger than India's. So, there is a congruence of geopolitical interests here." There are plenty of signs that the relationship already has taken a leap forward. Trade between the U.S. and India in 2022 climbed to a record $191 billion. The Indian diaspora i n the U.S. stands at nearly 5 million and has become an economic, cultural and political powerhouse. Biden has sought to reinvigorate the Quad, an international partnership of the U.S., Australia, India and Japan. And U.S. defense sales to India have risen from near zero in 2008 to over $20 billion in 2020. President Joe Biden meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office of the White House, Sept. 24, 2021, in Washington. AP-Yonhap Allied Digestive Health (ADH), a leading gastroenterology organization backed by private equity (Assured Healthcare Partners), is committed to creating a differentiated value for its patients and physicians through digital health platforms that directly impact care delivery and operations. ADH has more than 130+ GI Physicians (220+ Clinicians, including Nurse Practitioners, Pathologists, Anesthesiologists, and Nutritionists) in New Jersey and New York. With the capital investment from AHP, ADH has become a technologically enabled practice that enhances business processes, facilitates patient access, and improves clinical metrics for its providers. Patient Access Impact As a part of its efforts to improve the end-to-end patient experience, ADH has prioritized establishing a seamless scheduling process. Online scheduling was implemented to allow patients to schedule directly in the practice management through the website (not a marketplace scheduling website like ZocDoc), enabling them to schedule with a provider twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week in a few clicks. It eliminates the need for calling offices and creates an avenue of convenience for the patients like they would book restaurants in their personal lives. ADH has also invested in an after-hours tech-enabled call service for patients seeking assistance during and outside of regular business hours that categorizes all the calls into different types such as scheduling, refills, etc., and if need be, redirects to physicians who are on call to address any emergent patient issue. ADH is investing in generative artificial intelligence (AI) to answer patient financial queries without the burden of a telephone call but through texting. When establishing an appointment, patients also can move their appointment up through their patient accelerator program as other patients cancel appointments. Additionally, ADH has demonstrated its commitment to improving patient satisfaction with its prep management program for patients undergoing a procedure with the ability to get it delivered to the convenience of their homes. As part of the program, patients are assisted in all phases of the preparation process before, during, and after their procedure. As such, the process is simplified, and personalized communication is provided through SMS/phone reminders as well as online chat options. As ADH makes scheduling and preparation more accessible, faster, and more convenient, it can alleviate the stress of scheduling and make gastroenterology care more accessible for patients, especially Colonoscopy, which is still the gold standard in patient care Optimizing Business Processes ADH is committed to simultaneously driving systematic efficiency through process improvement. To improve accuracy and facilitate faster check-in, ADH has replaced traditional paper forms for patients by implementing a complete digital intake system that integrates into their EMR and practice management software. By utilizing artificial intelligence in coding and billing, they canimprove the accuracy and speed at which they bill, enhancing the availability of information to insurance companies and patients. It is alongside the implementation of ADH's new and optimized billing portal, making online payment options available to patients and significantlyreducing the workload. As part of their efforts to continuously identify operational inefficiencies, they have also invested in internal dashboards to increase transparency and identify operational concerns. Clinical Quality Impact From a provider standpoint, ADH actively optimizes internal clinical quality dashboards to improve patient care. This gives physicians greater insight and full transparency regarding crucial quality metrics, highlighting key quality improvement initiatives. To increase the rate of adenoma detection - a key indicator of clinical quality -, ADH has also implemented a computer- aided polyp detection system that utilizes artificial intelligence. ADH also uses artificial intelligence tools for clinical documentation, saving time and streamlining workflow processes. Thus, resulting in a faster turnaround time for notes, improved charting and coding accuracy, and an accurate collection process. With the adoption of new technologies, ADH is dedicated to advancing clinical quality outcomes. With implementing new programs and prioritizing process improvement, ADH has significantly improved patient satisfaction and the end-to-end process from scheduling, completing intake, preparing for their procedure, and managing their bill. As part of ADH's commitment to improving patient communication, artificial intelligence tools have been implemented to facilitate patient queries without requiring a telephone call. From a business process standpoint, administrative tasks have significantly reduced through digital intake, and billing has become more seamless with AI coding and billing and online payment options for patients, and operational issues are easier to identify through internal dashboards. As a result, ADH achieved an overall net promoter score of 88% in 2022 from its patient survey. Providers can focus on providing comprehensive patient care and prioritize clinical quality metric performance through these improvements. Further, the organization can significantly improve overall productivity, allowing ADH to provide care to a larger population of patients, therefore increasing accessibility to gastroenterology care. About Assured Healthcare Partners Assured Healthcare Partners (AHP) provides capital solutions supporting growth, consolidation, and repositioning opportunities in the healthcare services industry. AHP combines its flexible capital with company and sector-specific research, as well as an extensive industry network and internal team of specialized healthcare resources, to unlock value for portfolio companies and investors. For more information about AHP, please visit www.ahpartners.com. Medical technology company Becton, Dickinson and Co. plans to sell its surgical instrumentation platform to Steris, a medical device company, for $540 million. The divestiture will include V. Mueller-, Snowden-Pencer- and Genesis-branded products in addition to three manufacturing facilities in St. Louis, Cleveland and Tuttlingen, Germany. The assets included in the transaction account for annualized revenue of about $170 million, according to a June 20 news release from BD. The deal is expected to close within BD's fiscal year 2023, which ends Sept. 30. About 360 BD employees will transfer to Steris after the transaction, the release said. The Touro College of Dental Medicine at New York Medical College in Hawthorne will increase its enrollment and build a clinical facility in New Mexico to expand care. The school will add 100 students per class, bringing the total number of students in new classes to 210, according to a June 19 news release. As part of a new program at the school, all students will spend the first two years at the school's Valhalla, N.Y., campus to study biomedical foundation and simulation of dental skills. The school will then send 110 students to continue clinical studies in New York while another 100 students will finish at a new clinic in New Mexico. The school acquired property in Albuquerque, N.M., to build a clinical education facility on the campus of Lovelace Biomedical Research Laboratories, a nonprofit contract research organization. Dean Ronnie Myers, DDS, said the new clinic will help increase access to care for underserved communities in the state and promote careers in dentistry because New Mexico does not have a dental school. St. Louis-based Ascension is facing a lawsuit for allegedly taking employees' fingerprints without their consent, Law360 reported June 16. According to the suit, filed in Illinois state court on June 15, employees of a Chicago-based hospital within Ascension's network allege that the health system unlawfully required them to scan their fingerprints to access a medicine dispensing system. The suit also alleges that the health system did not obtain written consent from employees prior to making them scan fingerprints, thus violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, which was passed in the state in 2008. The law requires organizations that use and store biometric identifiers to comply with certain requirements. The class still has to be certified. Becker's reached out to Ascension for comment and will update the story if more information is learned. The cost of ransomware per incident has doubled in the past two years to $26,000, according to Verizon's 2023 data breach investigations report. The report analyzed 16,312 security incidents between November 2021 and October 2022, and found the following: Seattle-based UW Medicine plans to start charging for MyChart messages June 27, KIRO reported. Patients won't be charged for the Epic EHR patient portal messages that take providers five minutes or less to answer or if they lead to an appointment, are related to a visit from the past seven days or are for a medication refill, according to the June 19 story. "The vast majority of things will remain unbilled. We think less than 5 percent of these messages will be billed," Hunter Wessels, MD, president of UW Physicians, told the news outlet. However, patients will be charged for new issues (medications, symptoms, chronic disease changes, referrals) or requests to fill out medical forms, KIRO reported. Messages, which will be billed in 10-minute increments, will range in cost from $7 to $28 with Medicaid, $14 to $52 with Medicare and $27 to $98 for people with no insurance. Insured patients will only be responsible for their copay or deductible. UW providers handled more than 1.5 million MyChart messages last year, according to the story. Brian Kirk was released from the CEO role at Norton (Kan.) County Hospital after being put on administrative leave and later reinstated. The hospital's board of trustees made a motion to fire him at a May 17 board meeting, according to a notice on its announcements page. Kellen Jacobs, the hospital's rehabilitation manager, was named interim CEO. Mr. Kirk was placed on administrative leave Dec. 15 after the board indicated it wanted to conduct an internal investigation. The hospital did not specify the purpose of the investigation, although Mr. Kirk was questioned about working conditions and treatment of employees during a September town hall meeting. He was reinstated Jan. 4. Two physicians at the hospital resigned shortly before Mr. Kirk was let go. Miranda McKellar, MD, and Theresia Neill, MD, decided it was in their best interest and the hospital's to "explore other employment opportunities," according to a May 8 news release. Becker's has reached out to Norton County Hospital and will update this story if more information becomes available. Medical eponyms, or conditions that are named after former physician leaders and experts in medicine, often have dark roots and although their continued phase-out is supported by top medical groups including the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization, some experts argue against this, The New York Times reported June 19. Conditions including Aspergers syndrome, Clara cells and Reiter's syndrome can all be linked back to physicians who were Nazis. Removing this terminology, some say, is "correcting history," according to The Times. However, others like Sabine Hildebrandt, MD, an anatomical educator at Harvard Medical School in Boston, argue that preserving the terminology is important and can also serve as a reminder of a dark history that should never be repeated in medicine. "I would like to see them not as badges of honor, necessarily, but as historical markers as teaching moments," Dr. Hildebrandt told The Times. Still, there are many voices calling for the erasure of these terms as they often do not even honor the correct individuals. For instance, in the case of Asperger's syndrome, Lorna Wing a British psychiatrist was found to have conducted much more extensive research into the condition than its namesake, Dr. Hans Asperger. "Trying to keep an eponym and strip it of its honorific meaning is probably really, really challenging," Jason Wasserman, PhD, a bioethicist at the Oakland University School of Medicine in Rochester, Mich., told The Times. "Built into medical culture is the glory of the discovery." Irving, Texas-based Christus Health is planning to integrate a New Mexico hospital into its network, something that is raising concerns among healthcare staff and the local community, according to a June 19 Source NM report. Concerns raised by staff at the Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo, and in the Otero County community, have arisen because Christus Health is a Catholic system and may curb women's reproductive rights if the acquisition proceeds, according to the report. A Christus spokesperson did not directly respond to questions over what the acquisition of the Gerald Champion center might mean for contraceptive access. Christus Health is guided by directives that prohibit a range of reproductive health services, including abortion and contraception, the report said. Despite such concerns, Otero County commissioners voted unanimously June 7 not to send a letter to the New Mexico attorney general questioning the transaction, the report said. The letter had been drafted by Amber Mayhall, healthcare services director for Otero County. "I understand that Gerald Champion wants to bring in more services and bring in more doctors, but at what cost?" she said. "We do not deserve to have such a large consequential economic decision made in the dark." "Elective abortions" have never been a service at the 98-bed Gerald Champion facility, CEO Jim Heckert said. Here are 10 healthcare billing fraud cases Becker's has reported since May 30: 1. Two Florida pharmacies will pay $7.4M to settle allegations they overcharged Medicare and Tricare for medically unnecessary compounded medications. 2. Columbia, S.C.-based Bon Secours St. Francis Health System, St. Francis Hospital and St. Francis Physician Services agreed to pay $36.5 million to resolve allegations that it made illegal kickback payments to surgeons tied to the volume or value of referrals. 3. Rachel Peay-Goodman, MSN, RN, a nurse practitioner in Idaho, was found civilly liable for unlawfully prescribing controlled substances and submitting a false claim to Medicare 4. A Fayetteville, N.C.-based cardiologist and his practice agreed to pay more than $5 million to resolve allegations of false Medicare and Medicaid claims linked to atherectomy procedures. 5. A North Carolina mental health clinic owner pleaded guilty to a $4.7 million Medicaid fraud scheme in which he submitted over 1,500 fraudulent claims to the program. 6. The former executive director of an Ohio counseling center was sentenced to three years in prison for leading a $3.5 million Medicaid fraud scheme. 7. A physician assistant from Monroe, N.C., was found guilty for his role in a genetic testing scheme involving $10 million in fraudulent Medicare claims. 8. The former chief compliance officer of a Florida pharmacy holding company was convicted for his role in a $50 million Medicare fraud scheme. 9. An Arkansas lab owner was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $30 million in restitution for his role in a $134 million healthcare fraud and money laundering scheme. 10. A Philadelphia-based physician practice and two physicians agreed to pay $1.5 million plus interest to settle allegations that they misrepresented the severity of illness and services rendered to increase Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part B reimbursements. Becton Dickinson plans to sell its surgical devices business and three manufacturing plants as part of a divestment planned for the end of 2023. Steris, an Ireland-based medical devices company, will buy Becton Dickinson's surgical products business for $540 million, which includes manufacturing sites in St. Louis, Cleveland and Tuttlingen, Germany, according to a June 20 news release. "Divesting the platform advances [... the company's] 2025 strategy and is an important step in simplifying BD's product portfolio and manufacturing network," the release said. The spine surgery industry has seen major shifts through the years. But some areas may be due for a serious shakeup. Here are the areas where six spine surgeons told Becker's that change needs to happen. Note: These conversations were edited for clarity. Question: What area of spine surgery is in most need of a disruptor? Scott Blumenthal, MD. Texas Back Institute (Plano): I think there's a huge pendulum to doing these scoliosis fusions, at many levels fusing to the sacroiliac joint, and we're overtreating in that realm. We're treating 80-year-old patients with back pain, which everybody has when they're 80 anyway, and a little bit of deformity based on numerical scales, which they call sagittal parameters. I think there will be a disruptor because I think there's just too much of that going on right now. Ernest Braxton, MD. Vail-Summit Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery (Vail, Colo.): I think the area that is in most need of disruption is not necessarily with an implant or a device. It is a method to keep up with the Herculean task of keeping up with preauthorization. So having more tools and equipment to access the available literature quickly, accessing insurance indications more quickly, and getting an ability to do an automated response. So it's more along the preauthorization, getting people through the system, through the operator to the operating room. I think that the preauthorization process is in line for disruption because we're using antiquated equipment, we're sending faxes and trying to find old patient records. It should be a much more automated, unified system to get across our indications of reasons for doing surgeries that we do. Daniel Choi, MD. Spine Medicine & Surgery of Long Island (Patchogue, N.Y.): We need a disruptor in the payment space, and that's where I've been working a lot with advocacy. I think that things like Medicare payment fee schedule reform right now, it's horrendous. The government will reimburse all other parts of Medicare, including hospitals and DME and all other sections. But physician professional fees continue to decline, which causes access issues for patients seeking spine care. It's hard for them to access the physicians that they need and that kind of system. Brian Gantwerker, MD. The Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: We need a lot of disruption in the payment space. I think we need to re-approach and rethink the way surgeons are remunerated. We're all doing a very good job and taking care of patients and concentrating hard on the outcome. But the reimbursements continue to get cut as if it's getting easier to take good care of patients on less money. It's actually getting much harder. So a discussion has to be had between the stakeholders about what is reasonable reimbursement and how it cannot continue to go down. We have to change how we reimburse for surgeries. Theresa Pazionis, MD. Temple Health (Philadelphia): Spinal deformity surgery is definitely in need of a disruptor because right now we have a lot of patients who could benefit from the surgery. But some of the techniques are more invasive than many patients are willing to undergo, and development of more minimally invasive techniques using either navigation or robotics I think is going to revolutionize the field where we're able to offer more patient surgery with better outcomes, shorter lengths of stay and enhanced recovery pathways. Vladimir Sinkov, MD. Sinkov Spine (Las Vegas): There are tons of areas for disruption, innovation and spine, and we're seeing that. Our surgeries are becoming less invasive and more effective, but all of that is being hampered by refusal of insurance companies to pay for things. You can figure out ways to combat it through some kind of artificial intelligence and use something to help you fight a prior authorization. The problem with that is the insurance company will have their own artificial intelligence fighting your artificial intelligence. I think it needs to be more of forcing insurance companies to actually follow their contracts because the contract they signed with the patient or with the employer was to take care of the patient and provide healthcare, and they failed to do that. Cigna, a payer that provides health benefits for 19 million Americans annually, will now cover Relievant Medsystems' Intracept procedure for the treatment of vertebrogenic low back pain. Coverage for the procedure went into effect on June 15, and it is now available to Cigna members in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, according to a June 20 press release. Recently Palmetto GBA, a Medicare contractor covering patients in seven states, also expanded access to basivertebral nerve ablation for more than 5 million patients. More than 10,000 patients have been treated with Relievant Medsystems' minimally invasive Intracept procedure, the only FDA-cleared treatment for chronic vertebrogenic low back pain. Fall in inflation will lead to an easing of pain for mortgage payers: economist A new 47m packaging and labelling factory in west Belfast owned by entrepreneur Dr Terry Cross is to create nearly 170 jobs in the next four years. Dr Cross is the founder of Delta Print and Packaging, which was sold to Finnish giant Huhtamaki, and the owner of Hinch Distillery in Co Down. Now his latest venture Biopax based in a 70,000 sq ft factory at Springvale Business Park - will produce packaging and labels for the food service, retail, distribution and beverage sectors. The venture will be led by sales and marketing director Liam OConnor and general manager Greg Prescott. Dr Cross said: Biopax was born out of a passion to develop a truly green solution for todays packaging needs. "The company has invested significantly in research and development and the best green technology which along with our in-house expertise will enable collaborative solutions to be delivered to our customers. "We are confident that the company understands the current market and the high growth potential. We know that this will bring huge economic benefits to Northern Ireland. It will help revolutionise consumer packaging solutions in the UK and Europe by promoting a circular economy in fibre packaging and reducing landfill waste and the release of harmful chemicals into our ecosystem. Economic development agency Invest NI is supporting Biopax to create the 169 jobs and has offered it advice and guidance on R&D and how to increase exports. Recruitment has begun, with 45 of the jobs already in place. Interim chief executive Mel Chittock said: This major investment will bring the former Caterpillar site back to life with a state-of-the-art factory and machinery. 169 jobs will be created in west Belfast across a range of functions including design, printing, production, sales and finance. "Once in place, the jobs will contribute over 5.7m annually in salaries to the NI economy. Importantly, there will be opportunities for local people through apprenticeships, training, and re-skilling. This is excellent news for west Belfast and for Northern Ireland. Liam OConnor, sales and marketing director, added: We are delighted to unveil Biopax to the world and intensify our operations that will make an undoubted difference to the environment. There has been considerable investment in the factory and its technology and manpower. We have a team of experts leading the business who have spent a large part of their careers working in fibre-based packaging and labels, as well as a design and development team who have a track record in delivering high-quality sustainable packaging designs and solutions for some of the worlds largest brands. How Maxol Braid River in Ballymena will look following a major investment, including the addition of a new EV charging hub Forecourt retailer Maxol is investing 2.3m in expansion and modernisation at two premises in Northern Ireland. The family owned company is redeveloping and expanding its Maxol Braid River service station in Ballymena and modernising Maxol Marino near Holywood. Its part of a five-year 84m capital investment programme by the business to meet growing demand for forecourt services. In Ballymena, the company will be adding technologies including solar panels and an energy management system. It will also add a new electric vehicle (EV) charging hub under Maxols Recharge brand, with four EV charging units serving one vehicle each. Meanwhile, the retail space at Braid River will be more than doubled, from 102 square metres to 246 square metres. The station will be closed while the work is carried out, with the revamped premises due to open in October. The company said the investment at Maxol Marino, located on the Belfast to Bangor Road at Cultra, will upgrade in-store and forecourt facilities. The entrance will be relocated and parking will be increased to accommodate 23 vehicles. Brian Donaldson, chief executive officer of The Maxol Group, said: These investments reflect our ambition to develop our service stations with a convenience-led offer that provides our customers with the latest food concepts and convenience goods. With Maxol Braid River set to have only the second EV charging hub in our Maxol estate, and with the continued rollout of our sustainable forecourt design, these investments reaffirm our commitment to being a more sustainable forecourt retailer. I look forward to the completion of these projects that will ensure we can continue to meet the needs of our customers in modern, vibrant, sustainable and welcoming environments. Maxol operates 241 service stations across the island of Ireland, of which 112 are owned by the company. A former Caterpillar site in west Belfast is being transformed into a centre of innovation for green packaging and labelling targeting global markets. Dr Terry Cross is investing 47m in his new Biopax business in Springvale Business Park, with 45 positions already filled at the site and a total of 169 jobs to be created over the next four years. Invest NI is extending 4.6m in support for the project, which, with its ambition to lead innovation in eco packaging, aligns with the agencys 10X goals. The firm has ambitious plans to export its polyethylene-free carton board, label and wrap solutions worldwide, leveraging Northern Irelands unique dual-market access offered through the Windsor Framework. It marks a second foray into the sector for Dr Cross, who sold his previous business, Delta Print & Packaging, to Huhtamaki for 80m in 2016. Biopax will produce fibre-based fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and foodservice packaging and labelling, including containers for Hinch Distillery, another business launched by the entrepreneur in 2019. This business, fledging as it is, has significant growth potential which will bring huge benefits to Northern Ireland, said Dr Cross, speaking at a launch event for Biopax this morning. It will help revolutionise customer packaging solutions in the UK, Europe and further afield by promoting a circular economy in fibre-based packaging and reducing landfill waste and the release of harmful chemicals into our ecosystem. We are delighted to be able to create this forward-thinking and environmentally focused business right here in Belfast and tap into the local talent while creating job opportunities in an economically deprived part of the city. Biopaxs 8.4-acre site includes a 70,000-sq-ft factory, soon to double in size, said Dr Cross, with the firm currently seeking accreditation to supply packaging for over-the-counter and prescription pharmaceuticals. Once all 169 jobs are filled, Biopax is expected to deliver an annual 5.7m in salaries, said Mel Chittock, interim CEO of Invest NI. This investment will make a real difference to peoples lives, said Mr Chittock, to those young people who will leave education and choose to develop lifelong career paths in specialisms such as printing, dye coating or design; to those who have had careers elsewhere and want to retrain in an exciting, growing industry; and to those who want to return to work, having had, for example, caring responsibilities or health challenges. Mr Chittock also said an action plan laying out the way forward for the agency should be published by the end of the summer, following a review published in January. Led by Sir Michael Lyons, the review called for profound change at the 160m-a-year organisation. It highlighted 17 areas in which the agency needs to improve, including leadership, governance, sub-regional partnerships and its portfolio of programmes. With the review also looking at how Invest NI has been implementing the departments 10X strategy to make the economy more innovative, Mr Chittock today highlighted the Biopax project as aligning with the 10X goals. Theres a tremendous amount of work being undertaken at this moment in terms of the review, he said. Were working closely in partnership with the Department for the Economy. We have a number of working groups working our way through each of the recommendations, drilling down to what the underlying challenge is and the issues are and making sure collectively, between ourselves and the department, we can actually resolve some of the challenges that have come out of the review. There are working groups in each of the recommendation areas. Each of those recommendations are being looked at in turn and they are being addressed individually so its everything from the leadership of the organisation through to how we engage, the number of programmes etc. I would anticipate there will be a number of public statements as time goes by. Some of the issues are very complex by their nature. What we hope to do is, by the end of the summer, with the department publish what the action plan looks like and some of the work thats behind that and then regular updates as and when required. Biopax is currently recruiting across commercial, technical and operations roles, said the firms sales and marketing director, Liam OConnor, who has previously worked for Dr Cross at Delta. Manufacturing is one of the major contributors to the Northern Irish economy and its important for us that we are providing the means by which we can promote and nurture a career in STEM to protect the lifeblood of this extremely important sector, said Mr OConnor. Global brands with retail channels in the European Union are not afraid to source their packaging products from Northern Ireland. Our unique position of unrestricted dual-market access to both the EU and GB must be sized upon. The future is bright for the circular economy, and the future is bright for manufacturing in Northern Ireland. Also speaking at the launch event was Sinn Fein MP Paul Maskey, who said the investment represented a vote of confidence in the people of west Belfast and the wider region. Superstar Taylor Swift will be coming to Dublin in 2024. The Blank Space hitmaker will be playing the Aviva Stadium on June 28 and 29 next year. Tickets are to go on sale on July 13, 2023. The star will play multiple dates in the UK and Ireland, also visiting Madrid, Lyon, Zurich and other European cities. Swift will kick off the UK and Irish leg of the European tour with two Edinburgh concerts at the BT Murrayfield Stadium on June 7 and 8. Following this, the pop icon will play Liverpools Anfield Stadium on June 14 and 15. Shell then be in Cardiffs Principality Stadium for one day on June 18. She will also be playing four Wembley Stadium shows on June 21, 22 as well as August 16 and 17. After the first two London shows, shell play the Dublin dates and jet off to Amsterdam. Shell finish off the tour with the two final London dates. Swift is currently on the American leg of the Eras tour, which has drawn recording-breaking crowds. The set of the show spans hits from her entire career. She performs 45 songs in the three and a half hour extravanganza. Earlier this year, Swift was named global recording artist of the year for a third time making her the most decorated act in the prizes decade-long history. The 33 year old pop superstar previously won the award in 2014 and 2019. Fans can register on each citys official ticket registration page here up until June 22 at 11:59pm (local time) in the UK, and on June 23 at 11:59pm (local time) in Ireland and Europe. A Belfast man who smashed a glass over a womans head and kicked a PSNI officer in the groin has been jailed for five months. Blair Rainey also lashed out at a second policeman during an attack at his home in the south of the city. The 27-year-old defendant admitted assaulting both constables, common assault, breaching a restraining order and possessing Class B and C drugs. Belfast Magistrates Court heard he became violent after the woman, with whom he had an on-off relationship, made a distressed 999 call on December 16 last year. When police arrived at the address on Olympia Street Rainey swung at one officer, striking him on the shoulder, and struggled with a number of his colleagues. A Crown lawyer said he had also pushed the woman against a wall and smashed a glass off her head. Quantities of cannabis and Lyrica drugs were located at the property. Rainey was arrested but remained aggressive while in police custody, according to the prosecution. The lawyer added: He then kicked a constable in the groin. Defence counsel accepted there were no excuses for her clients behaviour, but stressed his guilty pleas to the charges. Imposing five months' custody, District Judge Steven Keown also ordered Rainey to pay 200 compensation to the woman and a further 150 to both police officers. Prolific pimp Martin Heaney was back in court today for breaching a Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Order. Sex trafficker Heaney was handed a six-month jail term after he admitted breaking the court order by accessing websites offering sexual services on two occasions in July 2022. With an address on the Ormeau Road in Belfast, Heaney appeared in the dock of Belfast Crown Court and was sentenced by Judge Paul Ramsey. In July last year, Heaney was handed a five-year sentence at Craigavon Crown Court for a series of serious offences committed against women, including controlling prostitution for gain and human trafficking. Due to time already served on remand, he was released on licence and was made the subject of a seven-year Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Order (STPO). As part of the order, Heaney was banned from any involvement in the sex trade and prohibited from accessing any websites advertising sexual services. Within days of his release, Heaney was arrested at the hostel where he was residing on the Ormeau Road due to suspicions he had flouted the STPO. Having initially denied he had breached the order, a trial was due to commence in Belfast today. Before the jury was sworn, Heaneys barrister, Peter Coiley, addressed Judge Ramsey and asked that his client be re-arraigned on two counts of breaching the order. He was charged with accessing a website, the purposes of which are advertising in-person sexual services on July 23, 2022, and again on July 25, 2022. When the charges were put to Heaney, he replied Guilty to both. Prosecuting barrister Robin Steer said the charges related to two websites advertising sexual services which were accessed by Heaney. Mr Steer said there was no evidence to suggest Heaney had made direct contact with any woman who was advertising her services as an escort, stripper or companion, but that the order was breached when he accessed the sites. The prosecutor added that the offences were committed against a backdrop of Heaneys relevant criminal record. Mr Coiley spoke of Heaneys admissions made during an interview after his arrest, when he told officers: Ive done this. Im sorry. Im aware of it now and it won't happen again. Pointing out that his client has been in custody since the breach, Mr Coiley said that, whilst in prison, Heaney is continuing to rehabilitate himself and avail of any services offered to assist him. Judge Ramsey said that, whilst Heaney had breached the order, the accessing of the websites was not the most severe breach but one which warranted a jail term. Imposing the six-month sentence, Judge Ramsey then told Heaney: You can go back into custody. Heaney was then led from the dock in handcuffs by prison staff. Just one investigation resulted in referral to the PSNI NI trusts have spent more than 22m on overpayments over a four-year period Seven healthcare staff members who were overpaid by their respective health trusts in Northern Ireland had their cases treated as fraud, the body responsible for pay has revealed. The information has been revealed through a Freedom of Information (FoI) request from the office of a Northern Ireland MP to Health and Social Cares Business Services Organisation (BSO). The response said that overpayments were registered on the payroll system as a loan. Loans are issued to staff for other reasons other than an overpayment such as pension arrears owed as a result of a late pay award and advances of salary due to hardship, said the response. Investigations into potential fraud are undertaken by the BSOs Counter Fraud Services (CFS) department. The data revealed that two cases arose in both the Northern and Western Trust areas, with one each in the Southern and South Eastern Trusts. One more came from within the Public Health Agency, while the Belfast Trust recorded no fraud investigations over the time period. At the time of the response, three of the investigations had reached a conclusion, with no referral being made to the PSNI in two of the cases. While a referral to police was made in the third case, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) directed no prosecution. Investigations into the remaining four cases are still ongoing, the response said. Further requests for information to the Trusts from this newspaper were able to reveal some more detail regarding the ongoing cases. The case involving the Public Health Agency was resolved by the individual repaying the money owed after being referred to the CFP (the BSO Counter Fraud and Probity directorate). The member of staff had already left the employment of PHA prior to the one potential fraud case being referred to CFS for investigation, said the response. It added that in relation to one case , we would advise that this case was resolved by the individual paying back all monies owed in full. The Western Trust said neither of the two staff were placed on precautionary suspension while the CFS investigated. The response confirmed one case was still live. In relation to the first case, CFS determined fraud was not proven, and a Trust recovery process is underway to recoup the monies overpaid, with a repayment plan in place, they said. In relation to the second case, the CFS investigation remains ongoing; meanwhile the employee has been informed of the overpayment figure to be repaid, and advised that a repayment plan will need to be arranged to recoup the monies overpaid. Both the Southern Trust or South Eastern Trust refused to release the requested information from their single cases, citing concerns over staff identification. The initial HSC response also revealed that the budget for running the BSOs counter-fraud service in 2021-22 was 1,356,000. That marked the highest budget provision in the last 10 years, while the actual costs were recorded as 1,028,000 during the same period. Actual expenditure peaked in 2019-20, when 1,232,000 of the 1,262,000 budget was spent. The Department of Health said referrals were made to the Counter Fraud Service if they deem it appropriate. The Department cannot comment on individual cases referred to the BSO Counter Fraud Service, said a spokesperson. All organisations within the HSC have a responsibility to consider the circumstances around overpayments. If the organisations deem it appropriate in accordance with their fraud response plans, case referrals will be made to the BSO Counter Fraud Service. It comes after this newspaper reported NIs health trusts made more than 22m in overpayments to staff over the last four years. Data showed almost 18,000 overpayments were made between January 2019 and December 2022. The figures were obtained through a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by the Belfast Telegraph. The bulk of the 17,274 overpayments were made in 2022, when 5,129 erroneous payments were made. The Belfast (5,774) and Northern (3,345) Trusts had the highest number of overpayments within the four-year period. Collectively, the trusts spent more than 22,453,000 on overpayments during the four years. Only 13,811,774 has been recouped by the trusts during the same four-year period, accounting for around 62% of the money that has been paid out. The figures mean an 8,641,735 overpayment of public money is still owed to the five NI health trusts. The Southern Trust has been the most successful in recouping overpayments, getting back around 65% of the money owed, while the Belfast Trust was the least successful, claiming back 59% of its payout. Calls are being made for tighter regulations on electronic gaming machines. Charities have united to call for tighter regulation of the gaming industry in Northern Ireland home to the highest number of gambling addicts in the UK and Ireland. It comes as the International Association of Gaming Advisors (IAGA) starts its 40th annual International Gaming Summit today at the Culloden hotel in Co Down. Delegates paying up to $2,000 per ticket to attend the forum for the gambling machine industry. But leading voices in Northern Ireland who combat gambling addiction have written an open letter to IAGA. In it, they highlight how one in 50 people here suffer an addiction, according to a 2016 survey with numbers now likely to be higher. For each person directly affected at least another six friends and family will be negatively impacted. Each year in the UK there are more than 400 gambling-related suicides. The rate of gambling addiction in Northern Ireland is alarming it is four times higher than in Great Britain and almost three times that in the Republic of Ireland. A lack of effective regulation bears some of the blame. There are simply no rules here governing online gambling, while those that relate to the highly addictive electronic gaming machines (EGMs, or fixed-odds betting terminals) are out-dated and are neither properly adhered to nor enforced. The letter states: While there is clearly an urgent need for legislation regulating online gaming and EGMs, the absence of a functioning legislative assembly means that those lured into gambling addiction and those around them will continue to pay a heavy price. Northern Ireland is a grey market, so-called because it sits somewhere between jurisdictions that explicitly allow and regulate gambling and black markets, where it is outlawed. Grey markets are attractive as they tend to be cheaper for operators and have fewer barriers to entry. They are also liable to exploitation by less scrupulous operators. IAGA has called for regulation of EGMs in the US. Charities urged the delegates to impress upon NI politicians and those they meet at City Hall and Hillsborough Castle that NIs gaming industry urgently requires regulation to help slow the spread of this deadly epidemic. The letter was signed by Pete Keogh, Trustee, Gambling with Lives; Pauline Campbell, Director, Dunlewey Addiction Services; Gerry McElroy, CEO, Cuan Mhuire NI; Colin Hayburn, CEO, Extern; Anne Doherty, CEO, MindWise; and Ross Hendry, CEO, CARE. IAGA has been contacted for comment. Defence counsel tells court there were police objections to potential bail address A flat on James Street, Ballymena has been central to the police investigation. Pic: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press. A man accused of assisting an offender in relation to the alleged murder of Ballymena woman Chloe Mitchell has had his bail application adjourned. Ryan Johnston Gordon appeared via video link at Antrim Courthouse on Tuesday morning, speaking only to confirm he could see and hear the court. Gordon (34), of Nursery Close in Ballymena, is charged with assisting an offender by concealing evidence intending to impede the apprehension or prosecution of another person. Gordons defence counsel indicated that they would not be moving an application for bail as yet, stating that police had raised objections to a potential bail address in the Ballymena area. No update was provided by the prosecution. The judge adjourned the case for two weeks, fixing it for update on July 6 at Ballymena Courthouse. He requested that if a bail application was to be made, that the court be notified beforehand. Ms Mitchell (21) was last seen on CCTV in the James Street area of Ballymena in the early hours of June 3. A huge search operation was launched, with Community Rescue Service volunteers scouring steep banks around the River Braid. The search was called off after suspected human remains were found in Ballymena. A flat on James Street, Ballymena has been central to the police investigation. Pic: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press. Last week unemployed Brandon John Rainey (27), of James St, Ballymena appeared in court charged with her murder. A judge refused an application for the defendant to be detained in a Belfast psychiatric unit while on remand. Defence counsel Neil Moore said the defendant was a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and argued he should be detained in the facility under Article 43 of the 1986 Mental Health Order. The court heard Rainey had previously been a resident at the clinic and had been subject to a tribunal in August 2022 to assess him for release. The tribunal ruled that he should not be released, but a full hearing 14 days later overturned the decision, leading to Raineys release. Police objected to the application and said Rainey should be remanded at Maghaberry as he had previously absconded three times from the facility. On each occasion, he was located in the Ballymena area, which a PSNI detective said indicated a propensity to return to the area. Refusing the application, the judge ordered he be held in HMP Maghaberry, with medical professionals attending the prison for psychological assessments. Rainey is set to appear before the court again on July 6, the same date to which Gordons bail application has been adjourned. NI Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris also skips vote DUP MPs abstained from Mondays House of Commons vote on the Boris Johnson Partygate report. MPs backed the report that found the former Prime Minister deliberately misled MPs over lockdown parties at Downing Street endorsing the Privileges Committee's findings by 354 votes to seven. Many Conservative MPs did not vote, including the PM, Rishi Sunak. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris also did not vote, nor did his immediate predecessors Brandon Lewis or Shailesh Vara. The damning report, published last week, found that Mr Johnson deliberately misled the House of Commons after the Partygate scandal emerged by repeatedly telling MPs that Covid rules had been followed at all times in Downing Street. On Monday, MPs voted on whether to endorse the votes findings, with just seven rejecting the report. Former PM Theresa May and Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt were among the senior Conservatives who supported the report's findings, as did NIO minister Steve Baker and ex-NI Secretary Julian Smith. No vote was recorded for 225 MPs, because they either abstained or did not turn up to vote. No vote was recorded from the eight DUP MPs Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Gregory Campbell, Carla Lockhart, Paul Girvan, Jim Shannon, Ian Paisley, Gavin Robinson or Sammy Wilson. The SDLPs Claire Hanna also did not vote. The Northern Irish MPs who voted to approve the report were Alliances Stephen Farry and SDLP leader Colm Eastwood. No MPs from Northern Ireland voted not to endorse the report. Mr Johnson had urged his allies not to oppose the report, arguing that the sanctions have no practical effect, although critics said it was a move designed to avoid revealing the low level of remaining support for him among Tory MPs. The vote followed several hours of debate, during which Tory and opposition MPs delivered a series of blistering speeches in which Mr Johnson was criticised as a "man child who won't see that he only has himself to blame" and defended as "a human too". Mr Johnson had announced he was quitting as an MP ahead of the report's publication, branding the committee a "kangaroo court". Almost one in five Queens University students will have their graduations affected this summer, it has been confirmed. Previously, all graduating students had feared they would not receive their full degree classifications this summer due to a UK-wide marking boycott. QUB has estimated that around 750 students will have their degree classification pending. This affects around 18% of approximately 4,200 students who were due to graduate this summer across a range of areas, including law, history, anthropology, politics, architecture, psychology, music, environmental planning, archaeology, sociology and criminology. Queens University staff had previously confirmed that they would boycott marking final year exams. It is understood that an agreement has been reached to allow most students to graduate after attempts to reduce the impact of the UK-wide Marking and Assessment Boycott (Mab) by the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU). The university management says it has expressed gratitude to the local UCU branch who facilitated this development as an act of good faith, and to the staff members of the university who worked hard to reach this agreement. A QUB spokesperson said: We are doing everything we can to resolve the situation but, given this is a UK-wide action, we are limited in the scope of our response. We can understand the reasons for the strike but are disappointed that the people suffering most from this action are the students. Previously, Professor Sean OConnell, president of the local University College Union at QUB, said the refusal to mark papers is "very much a last resort. "We have been taking strike action for several years now and it hasn't worked, so this is really the final tactic that the union is trying to use this time," he told the BBCs Stephen Nolan show on Tuesday. Rory Golden (51), from Dublin, who has dived twice to the wreck of the Titanic. This photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the companys Titan submersible (OceanGate Expeditions, AP) The five people inside a submersible that went missing during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic have roughly 40 hours of breathable air left, Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard has said. Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard said there were around 40 hours of breathable air left aboard the submersible, named Titan, which lost communication with tour operators on Sunday while about 435 miles south of St John's, Newfoundland, during a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck off the coast of Canada. Speaking at a press conference in Boston on Tuesday, Capt Frederick said: "So, first of all, it's an estimate, right? "We know from the data we were using, a starting point was 96 hours. "We know at this point we're approximately about 40/41 hours (of oxygen left)." He added: "We know there's about 40 hours of breathable air left, based on that initial report." It comes as rescue teams are continuing the search for the submersible tourist vessel which went missing this week during a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck. Rory Golden is the first Irish diver to visit the wreckage of the Titanic and he is on board the ship that launched the submersible. A spokesperson for the Belfast Titanic Society said earlier on Tuesday that they are very concerned about everyone potentially in danger and their thoughts are with those on board and their friends and family. We have been in touch with Rory Golden to pass on our thoughts at this time and we understand he is safe on board their ship atop, the spokesperson added. Rory says he is well. They are concentrating on the rescue effort at international level and his communications are restricted due to keeping bandwith open for the rescue efforts. Independent.ie has reported that along with a British billionaire explorer, one of the other people on board the missing vessel has family living in Ireland. Paul-Henri Nargeolet, believed to be the pilot of the missing Titanic tourism sub, has family in Cork. Read more Search continues for submersible with British billionaire among five onboard The renowned French diver (77) has a grandson still being educated in the city, as well as two adult children. His son was recently with him on a research trip in the United States. The gentle and generous scientist gave a talk at University College Cork on his Titanic work in October 2019, just before Covid, with all proceeds going to the benefit of his grandsons school. He was quoted at the time as saying: Whether you are 11 metre or 11 kilometres down, if something bad happens, the result is the same. When youre in very deep water, youre dead before you realise that something is happening, so its just not a problem. Locator map of Titanic shipwreck The US Coastguard are in a race against time to find the vessel, which may just have 50 to 70 hours of air left, according to authorities. It was just above the shipwreck when communications went down. OceanGate Expeditions said: "We are exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely. Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families. We are working toward the safe return of the crew members." Guests are believed to pay around $250,000 (around 195,000) to see the Titanic wreck which lies 12,500ft beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. On Tuesday morning, the UK Ministry of Defence indicated that NATO's submarine rescue system (NSRS) may not be able to reach the submersible as "the depths of water involved greatly exceed" those at which it can safely operate. An NSRS submersible, used to rescue stricken submarine crew, can operate at 610m, while a remotely operated vehicle can go to depths of 1km. The Titanic wreck is much deeper at 3,800m. The search is underway British billionaire and famous explorer Hamish Hamish Harding is among the five people trapped on the submarine, alongside Pakistani business advisor Shahzada Dawood and his son, who also reside in the UK. The family of Shahzada Dawood, who serves on the board for Prince's Trust International, said: "Our son Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, had embarked on a journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. "As of now, contact has been lost with their submerisible craft and there is limited information available." New 3D scans of the Titanic lying at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean were published recently. Photo: Atlantic Productions/Magellan A writer who took the Titanic submersible trip last year said he feels "optimistic" for the missing OceanGate craft. Mike Reiss told BBC Breakfast communication was also lost during his dive down to the Titanic. Mr Reiss said: "I'm optimistic just because I know the logistics of it. And I know really again, how vast the ocean is, and how very tiny the craft is. He added: "So the idea is, if it's down at the bottom, I don't know how anyone's going to be able to access it, much less bring it back up. "There is a hope that it's at, or near, the surface. "I did three separate dives. I did one dive to the Titanic and two more off the coast of New York. "Every time they lost communication and again, this is not a shoddy ship or anything." Search for submersible tourist vessel near Titanic wreck However, an expert on the history of the Titanic has said he is "very worried about the souls" on board the missing submersible. Tim Maltin, an author, historian and TV presenter said the tourists were in a difficult situation. Mr Maltin said on BBC Breakfast: "If it's near the Titanic it would be easier to find, but the problem is of course you can't do a ship-to-ship transfer even, the pressure is absolutely intense. "It's nearly two miles miles down, it's pitch black. "So I also am very, very worried about the souls who are on board." He added: "I think they're quite brave people who have been down there, but equally they know the risks but no one expects it to go wrong on your dive." A British billionaire explorer is on board the missing Titanic tourist submarine somewhere in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. The chairman of private plane firm Action Aviation, Hamish Harding, who has previously travelled on the Challenger Deep to the bottom of the ocean, took to Facebook on Saturday to announce that he was joining OceanGate Expeditions for its Titanic mission this week. I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic. Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023, he wrote, alongside an image of him signing a card reading Titanic Mission V. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. We started steaming from St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do. The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s including PH Nargeolet. More expedition updates to follow IF the weather holds! He has not posted online since. Yesterday as news of the missing submersible broke Mr Hardings stepson Brian Szasz confirmed that his stepfather was on board the vessel when it went missing. Thoughts and prayers for my Mom and Hamish Harding, he wrote on Facebook, alongside a post sharing family photos and articles about the missing sub. Thoughts and prayers for my stepfather Hamish Harding as his Submarine has gone missing exploring Titanic. Search and rescue mission is underway, he wrote in a follow-up post. OceanGate Expeditions, a company offering eight-day tourist missions to see the Titanic wreckage at a cost of $250,000 per person, confirmed on Monday that its submarine was lost at sea with crew members on board. The company said in a statement to CBS News that it is exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely. Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families, it said, adding that it is deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible. The exact number of people missing remains unclear but the companys submersibles can carry up to five people at a time. It is also unclear if they are all crew members or if some are paying tourists. The submersible operates by being launched from a mother ship which then later recovers it at the end of its mission. A search and rescue operation led by the Boston Coast Guard is currently under way in the Atlantic Ocean. The rescue mission will be very difficult, said RADM Parry pointing to the undulating sea bed, the fact the Titanic lies in a trench on the sea floor and that the debris of the shipwreck will make it challenging to locate the sub using sonar. The only hope I think one has is that the mother ship will have a standby craft that will be able to go down and investigate immediately what is going on, he said. When asked how quickly this could happen, he said that any responsible organisation would have another submersible ready to go down at an hours notice. If the company doesnt, he said it could take up to a couple of days for search teams to send such a craft from the east coast. Attempts to contact OceanGate have been unsuccessful. The company last posted on Twitter on June 15, detailing its latest Titanic expeditions. Its been an incredibly busy two weeks! Thank you to all of our dive teams whove joined us heres a look at our Mission 3 and Mission 4 crew, the company said. The Belfast-built Titanic, operated by the White Star Line and constructed by Harland & Wolff, sank on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean back in 1912. The ship the largest vessel at the time set sail from Southampton, UK, on April 10 1912, with more than 2,200 passengers and crew on board headed for New York City. Five days into its voyage, the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the ocean. More than 1,500 people died. In recent years, people have taken trips to visit the wreckage which now lies around 12,500 ft at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The Independent Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a joint press conference in London (Leon Neal/PA) Vladimir Putin and his allies should shoulder the burden of funding the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said. Although there was a role for international allies and the private sector in rebuilding Ukraines economy, Mr Cleverly said a significant amount of the burden perhaps even the majority should fall on Russians involved in the invasion. The UK is hosting a major conference on Ukraines recovery this week and Mr Cleverly discussed the situation with his US counterpart Antony Blinken in London on Tuesday. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content The Government has set out plans for new laws which will enable sanctions targeted at Russian oligarchs, members of Russian President Mr Putins inner circle and those involved in his war machine to remain in place until reparations are made. He said it follows that simple premise that you break it, you bought it. Mr Cleverly added: There is a very strong principle of natural justice, whereby a significant, perhaps even the majority, burden for the rebuilding should sit on the shoulders of those who have been responsible for funding or facilitated this brutal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London, the Foreign Secretary said private firms needed assurances their investments in rebuilding the country were safe and the Kyiv administration also needed to implement reforms. This week is very much about encouraging the private sector to invest in Ukraines rebuilding and recovery. We recognise that means we need to demonstrate that those investments will be effective and that they will be safe. That means the ongoing assurance that the Ukrainians seek that they will not be reinvaded once they have successfully regained their territory, their further integration into the Euro-Atlantic institutions and European institutions that they understandably aspire to. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a press conference at Carlton Gardens in London (Leon Neal/PA) Ukraine wants to join Nato and benefit from the security guarantee that comes with membership of the alliance. Both Mr Cleverly and Mr Blinken spoke of the need for Kyiv to implement reforms so that it had a strong, prosperous democracy. Mr Blinken said international allies would help Ukraine have the strongest possible democracy which is actually necessary to achieve a thriving economy and for reconstruction. If Ukraine is going to attract the investment it needs, not just from government, not just from the international financial institutions but from the private sector, it has to build the best possible environment to attract that investment, he said during a visit to London. Mr Blinken said he would announce a new robust US assistance package for Ukraine on Wednesday. The King shakes hands with prime minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal (Aaron Chown/PA) The King is hosting world leaders at St Jamess Palace on the eve of the Ukraine Recovery Conference. Charles held an audience with figures including Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal, US secretary of state Antony Blinken, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday evening. They arrived at the palace ahead of the two day conference on Wednesday, where governments will meet to discuss rebuilding Ukraine after the war with Russia. The King shakes hands with US Secretary of state Antony Blinken (Aaron Chown/PA) The 2022 conference, held in Switzerland, established the Lugano Principles, which laid the groundwork for the reconstruction process. The King was greeted in the gilt-edged Throne Room by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Mr Shmyhal, who presented him with a bronze statue commemorating the liberation of Snake Island. The dramatic liberation is approaching its one-year anniversary at the end of June. Charles then met with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Mr Blinken. Scotlands first-ever recall petition for a sitting MP is opening on Tuesday, following the suspension of Margaret Ferrier from the House of Commons. From 9am, voters in Rutherglen and Hamilton West will have the chance to sign a petition to recall their MP from Westminster. If 10% of the electorate choose to do so some 8,113 people out of 81,124 then a by-election will be triggered. Despite pressure to resign from her seat since breaching coronavirus rules, Ms Ferrier remains the MP, now sitting as an independent. She urged voters not to sign the petition, saying her constituents are her top priority. Labours prospective candidate is Michael Shanks (Rebecca McCurdy/PA) Earlier this month, she was suspended from the House of Commons for 30 days, beginning the recall petition process. Any by-election would be closely contested between Labour and the SNP, both of which have chosen prospective candidates for the seat. Ms Ferrier travelled from Scotland to Westminster after testing for Covid in September 2020 and went on to speak in the House of Commons while waiting for the results. Later, after the test confirmed she was positive for the virus, she took the train back to Scotland. In a statement on her website, Ms Ferrier said: I made a mistake for which I continue to apologise and have faced severe punishment. It has not deterred me from doing right by constituents and continuing to fight on their behalf. I hope that my constituents will recognise this. As an independent MP, my constituents are my top priority and always have been. The most important thing is that they are able to access the right support when they need it, and can be confident that their views are represented. My record speaks for itself in this respect. I do not have any desire or need to play into party politics, which inevitably distracts from constituency issues and the needs of local residents. While parties have already spent months arguing about their candidates for a by-election that has not even been confirmed, they have disregarded the very real issues faced by many in our community. She said some of her constituents believe the instructions from the local authority on the recall petition are unclear, adding: If you wish to see me continue as your MP, then do not sign the petition paper. It is ultimately up to the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West to decide what happens next not Westminster, not Holyrood, and certainly not any political party HQs. Labours candidate Michael Shanks has said people in the area deserve so much better than a rule-breaking MP. The SNPs prospective candidate is Katy Loudon (SNP/PA) The SNPs candidate will be councillor Katy Loudon. Ahead of the petition opening, she said: Constituents in Rutherglen and Hamilton West have the opportunity to hold a by-election and elect an SNP MP who will stand up for them against this rotten Tory government. The first step in that process will be to sign the recall petition. In the face of Tory economic incompetence and a Labour Party looking more and more like a Tory tribute act, the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West need a strong SNP voice to stand up for them. South Lanarkshire Council has organised the recall petition in line with statutory requirements. There will be seven signing places across the constituency. Monday July 31 will be the last day on which they are open, with the petition closing at 5pm. National Coalition Party chairman Petteri Orpo has been elected as Finlands new prime minister (Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva/AP) Finland has sworn in a new coalition government which is seen as the most right-wing in the Nordic countrys modern history. The 19-member Cabinet of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, leader of the conservative National Coalition Party, was approved by the Eduskunta legislature, after which President Sauli Niinisto appointed it. Following lengthy talks over seven weeks, the NCP, which won the most seats in the April 2 general election, announced a deal last Friday with three other parties to form a governing coalition that includes the far-right Eurosceptic Finns Party, which follows a largely nationalist and anti-immigration agenda. Finlands new Prime Minister, Petteri Orpo and Finance Minister Riikka Purra hold a press conference in Helsinki (Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva/AP) The two junior partners in the coalition are the Christian Democrats and the Swedish Peoples Party of Finland. Due to the dominance of the two senior coalition partners, which are conservative and populist, Finnish media describe Mr Orpos government as national conservative in nature. Political analysts say the new Cabinet is Finlands most right-wing government since the Second World War. Mr Orpo, a 53-year-old veteran politician, is a former finance and interior minister and has headed the NCP, Finlands main conservative party, since 2016. Other key NCP ministers include Elina Valtonen as Finlands second female foreign minister and NCP vice chairman Antti Hakkanen as defence minister. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, centre, with some of his Cabinet members at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki (Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva/AP) Mr Hakkanens role is particularly significant since Finland became Natos 31st member in April and the country with a population of 5.5 million that neighbours Russia is in the process of integrating its military systems and infrastructure into the alliance. The populist Finns Party, runner-up in the parliamentary election, has the important finance minister portfolio, held by party leader Riikka Purra, and the interior and justice minister posts. Mr Orpos Cabinet is set to carry out major social policy and labour reforms and budget cuts over the next four years. Among other things, it seeks to substantially decrease Finlands government debt and is taking a hard stance on immigration, including tightening the requirements for residence permits and citizenship. The four parties hold a majority of 108 seats in the 200-member Parliament. A possible pardon for the figurehead of Fijis violent 2000 coup has the potential to put the Pacific island countrys reformist government and its influential military at loggerheads. The last time an amnesty for George Speight was proposed nearly two decades ago, it helped set in motion another coup and entrenched a role for the military in politics, a tension that Fiji continues to grapple with today. The renewed speculation about the former businessmans release from prison also highlights the possibility of political instability at a time when Fiji, one of the few Pacific island countries with its own defense force, is central to U.S. efforts to counter Chinas increased influence in the region. Fiji has suffered four coups since the late 1980s, all rooted in the economic and political divides between indigenous Melanesian Fijians and the descendants of indentured Indian laborers. Speight claimed to be acting in the interest of indigenous Fijians when his forces stormed parliament on May 19, 2000 and took Fijis first prime minister of Indian descent, Mahendra Chaudhry, and his cabinet hostage. The rebellion, which resulted in several deaths among rebel and loyalist soldiers, was eventually quelled by the military, but at the cost of dividing and scarring that institution. In 2002, Speight was condemned to death for treason, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison. Mahendra Chaudhry (center), the former premier and leader of the Fiji Labour Party, arrives for a joint press conference with leaders of the opposition parties in Suva, Dec. 17, 2022. [Saeed Khan/AFP] The architects of the other coups, current Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and his predecessor Frank Bainimarama Fijis strongman leader from 2006 to 2022 were powerful enough to guarantee their own immunity from prosecution. The prospect of freedom for Speight and his conspirators was zero until Bainimaramas FijiFirst party was defeated in national elections last December. The supporters of two of the three parties in the current coalition government led by Rabuka are largely indigenous Fijian and, for that reason, the new administration seems willing to facilitate a Mercy Commission review of Speights petition for a pardon. This has not been to the liking of the military which, under the 2013 constitution introduced under Bainimaramas government, has overall responsibility to ensure the security, defense and wellbeing of Fiji. Earlier this month, Military Commander Jone Kalouniwai expressed his reservations about any move to pardon Speight. In response, Acting Minister of Home Affairs, Filimoni Vosarogo, was respectful. He expressed appreciation that the commander had brought the militarys concerns to him, which he said was a demonstration of commitment to the rule of law. Fiji Military Commander Frank Bainimarama delivers a statement to news media at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in the nations capital, Suva, announcing the army has taken over the country, Dec. 5, 2006. [Tim Wimborne/Reuters] In his statement, Vosarogo was at pains to assure the commander that the government would consider his views, and explained in detail the process that the Mercy Commission was required to follow. It was not the first time the military had expressed dissatisfaction with the new government. In January, Kalouniwai raised concerns about sweeping changes made by Rabukas coalition, which acted quickly to replace Bainimarama-era appointees in the civil service and opened investigations into alleged official misconduct. That situation was quickly diffused by Minister of Home Affairs Pio Tikoduadua formerly a lieutenant colonel in the Fijian military who called Kalouniwai for a meeting, and assured the commander that all government actions were guided by the law. Christine Arjun, a member of a human rights organization, prays during a vigil held for the Fijian hostages taken during a coup, at the Anglican church in the capital, Suva, June 11, 2000. [Naashon Zalk/AFP] The events in the months following Speights coup help explain why a pardon for Speight is anathema to Fijis military leaders. Besides social and economic damage, the upheaval factionalized the defense force and threatened its previously unchallenged authority by unleashing rebel soldiers and civilian coup supporters against the establishment. During the standoff, the emboldened rebels captured key security installations. The most serious incidents were the takeover of the Sukanaivalu Barracks in northern Fiji on July 7, 2000; the storming of a police station and the taking of 30 hostages; and the attempted mutiny at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in the capital, Suva, on Nov. 2, 2000. The Sukanaivalu Barracks was recaptured six weeks later without the rebels putting up a fight, and while the Queen Elizabeth Barracks uprising was short-lived, it was bloodier. A rebel plot to assassinate Bainimarama then the military commander failed, but three soldiers loyal to the civilian government were killed, including one who was shot while he slept. Four rebel soldiers were reportedly rounded up, tortured and killed by loyalist troops. A proposal in 2005 by a civilian government led by Laisenia Qarase to pardon Speight and his co-conspirators with a Reconciliation, Tolerance and Unity Bill only served to heighten social tensions. Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka inspects an honor guard during a welcoming ceremony at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, June 7, 2023. [Marty Melville/AFP] Those indigenous Fijians who saw Speight as a champion of their cause supported the bill while most Fijians of Indian descent, who felt they were the victims of a racist coup, opposed it. In December 2006, Bainimarama made good on threats to remove the elected Qarase government. This coup, like the two that Rabuka led in 1987 and Speights 2000 overthrow of the civilian government, caused deep divisions in Fiji. Rabuka, whose coups aimed to protect indigenous Fijian political power, now presents himself as a reformer who vows to right the wrongs of the authoritarian Bainimarama era. His government recently repealed a draconian media law that allowed fines and prison time for content deemed against the national interest. However it also cannot afford instability or a loss of investor confidence as government finances are challenged in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and its damage to Fijis crucial tourism industry. Kalouniwai, for his part, has previously called on soldiers to respect the result of the December election. Many Fijians, still picking up the pieces after the economic downturn, will be hoping he heeds his own advice. Shailendra Bahadur Singh is an associate professor and head of the journalism program at The University of the South Pacific in Fiji. He has written widely on Pacific media, politics and development. The views in this article are his own and do not reflect the position of The University of the South Pacific or BenarNews. Gambling tycoon She Zhijiang (fourth from left) is seen at a meeting of the China Myanmar Economic Corridor in 2019. Updated at 12:01 p.m. ET on 2023-06-26 Chinese Communist Party officials appear to be distancing themselves from detained gambling tycoon She Zhijiang, whose casinos have been linked with massive human trafficking and online scam operations in Southeast Asia, and who faces imminent repatriation to China after Thai police arrested him in August 2022. She, 41, a naturalized Cambodian national who owns property and gaming ventures in Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines, stands accused of running illegal online gambling operations. He will likely be sent to China very soon coinciding with the expiration of his 30-day appeal period, according to an official statement and a person familiar with the case. A deputy spokesman for the Thai Supreme Prosecutors Office announced that the court had issued a deportation order for She on May 25. However, the order allowed 30 days for She to appeal the decision. Shortly afterwards, Thailands Provincial Electricity Authority said it would cut off the power supply to Shwe Kokko, the site of Shes U.S. $15 billion real estate and casino mega-project. It has become notorious as a bastion of illegal activity, including drug trafficking, amid violence and unrest in post-coup Myanmar. Meanwhile, officials linked to Beijings international outreach and influence operations are now claiming he has no connection with a key organization carrying out its United Front work among overseas Chinese. While official reports show that She attending top-level meetings in Beijing in 2019 hosted by the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, a known United Front organization, officials at the body said they had no knowledge of Shes case when contacted by Radio Free Asia, and that it fell under the remit of the China Federation of Overseas Entrepreneurs instead. RFA is a news service affiliated with BenarNews. However, an official at the entrepreneurs organization said She, as a former high-ranking officer in the organization, would still be the business of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. Court documents As Chinese officials appeared to pass the buck on She, a Thailand-based dissident who shared a detention center cell with him in Bangkok told RFA that the former gambling tycoon was desperate to avoid repatriation to China amid an ongoing crackdown on human trafficking and online scams, which have netted thousands of victims across the region in recent years. According to court documents shared with the dissident by She, he had once been a valued collaborator for the Chinese authorities, and was put in touch with state security police in the southern island province of Hainan and given a handler to provide intelligence for Beijing. She now fears that his most basic human rights wont be protected, and is calling on the international community to help prevent his extradition to China, said the dissident, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. Radio Free Asia was able to confirm that the dissident had been held in the same detention facility as She. She wouldnt be the first former darling of the United Front system to face repercussions back home amid an ongoing anti-corruption and anti-espionage campaign that typically nets people who have fallen out of political favor under General Secretary Xi Jinping, or who are considered insufficiently loyal to Chinas supreme leader. In May, a court in the eastern city of Suzhou handed down a life sentence to 78-year-old American citizen John Leung, who headed a Beijing-backed overseas Chinese community group, after finding him guilty of espionage. Leung had also previously been photographed alongside high-ranking Communist Party officials. She Zhijiang made his name and fortune in Myawaddy, an extremely sensitive area in the hands of the Chinese, the dissident said, referring to an area in southeastern Myanmars Kayin state, where Shes Yatai Corp is a major investor in the Shwe Kokko Special Economic Zone. While the Shwe Kokko mega-project along the Thaungyin River was initially promoted as a way to spur economic growth and deliver material benefits to the local community, it has gained notoriety more as a bastion of illegal activity, according to the Washington-based Center for Advanced Defense Studies, C4ADS, an independent research outfit that studies transnational organized crime networks. According to the dissident, She believes that his army of some 5,000 mercenaries and his deep connections in the local area should protect him from the worst form of political retaliation upon his return to China. Yet he still fears he could receive the death penalty. I told him he has been abandoned by the Communist Party, who can easily deal with other people under his command, the dissident said, adding that She had handed over copies of hundreds of pages of court trial records and other documents and asked him to make them public. Much of the material details close cooperation between She and Chinese Communist Party officials, including his recruitment as an agent by the state security police. They also allege that he paid up to two million yuan in bribes to An Chen, secretary-general of the China Federation of Overseas Entrepreneurs. Personal fiefdom According to the dissident, She ran afoul of Beijing after he grew extremely powerful in Myawaddy, and wanted to run the Asia-Pacific City complex in the Shwe Kokko Special Economic Zone as his personal fiefdom something that the Chinese Communist Party couldnt countenance owing to the strategic importance of the area, which is close to the border with Thailand. Chinese state media reports from the time of Shes arrest described She as the Asia-Pacific City online scam king, whose operation in Myawaddy had attracted more than 100 casino and scam companies to Asia-Pacific City. Amid a vast network of vested interests and transactions, crimes like smuggling, kidnapping, human trafficking, fraud, assault, extortion are densely intertwined and span Southeast Asia and China, said the August 2022 Phoenix News report on Shes arrest. She Zhijiang, who has changed his nationality and who has multiple pseudonyms, rules the roost like an emperor. According to the dissident, none of these activities could have taken place in Myanmar without the knowledge and collusion of the Chinese Communist Party. You cant do this stuff with no backing behind them are governments and warlords, he said. The Chinese Communist Party controls 100% of this place. Another person familiar with organized crime in the region agreed that the Chinese government is heavily involved with organizations carrying out criminal activities in the region. Theres a man called Zhao Wei in the Golden Triangle SEZ who has leased a piece of land for 99 years, and the place is full of gray-to-black operations, the person said. The entire area is under his control ... and he is engaged in scams, human trafficking and wild animal trafficking around there. Radio Free Asia (RFA) produced this report. It has been updated to correct references to She Zhijiangs extradition and citizenship, and to add Radio Free Asias attempts to contact Chinese state security officials for comment. 5G technology arrives in time for Tibetan antelopes' breeding season in Hoh Xil Xinhua) 15:01, June 20, 2023 XINING, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Tsesogyal has been notably excited during his recent patrols in Hoh Xil, as he can now send frequent updates to his daughter. With the help of a 5G base station, he can call his daughter and send her photos of the Tibetan antelopes roaming in the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Situated at an average altitude of over 4,600 meters in the Sanjiangyuan National Park, the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve had long suffered from a lack of communication signals, except for the route along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway. "Entering the nature reserve meant being isolated from the outside world, especially in the Drolkar Lake area. Patrollers could only contact their families through satellite phones," said Tsesogyal, a 27-year-old patroller of Hoh Xil. Under first-class state protection in China, Tibetan antelopes, a once-endangered species, are mostly found in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province, and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Currently, the breeding season for Tibetan antelopes is underway. Every year, tens of thousands of pregnant Tibetan antelopes start their migration to Hoh Xil from May to give birth. The Drolkar Lake area in Hoh Xil is a crucial birthplace of the species. On May 31, a 5G base station started operation in the preservation station of the Drolkar Lake. This means that a 5G network now covers the heartland of the UNESCO natural heritage site. "It is a significant step of the Sanjiangyuan National Park's pursuit of intelligent ecological protection," said Sun Lijun, deputy director of the park administration. Sun noted that, based on the geographical factors and ecological monitoring requirements, the park chose to set up the 5G base station in the Drolkar Lake area, which can better monitor the migration and delivery of Tibetan antelopes. Guo Xuehu, deputy head of the preservation station of Drolkar Lake, also hailed the establishment of the 5G base station. "The preservation station rescues a number of calves every year. We can now have video calls with professional veterinarians through cellphones to receive timely treatment guidance for sick calves," said Guo, adding the 5G network also helps enrich patrollers' lives. To minimize the ecological impact of the construction of the 5G base station, the Qinghai branch of China Mobile, a telecom giant in China, introduced large-bandwidth and long-distance microwave transmission for the first time in the high-altitude and uninhabited areas. The maximum transmission rate within the 5G coverage area of Drolkar Lake reached 860Mbps, according to Hu Bo, from the company. In the future, more 5G base stations are expected to be built in the nature reserve. More advanced technologies, such as 5G remote patrolling and helicopters, will be introduced to enhance anti-poaching and monitoring capabilities of the reserve. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Dominating news headlines around the world presently is the huge search and rescue operation underway to retrieve a handful of wealthy tourists, including a British billionaire who went missing in the Atlantic on a submarine adventure to explore the shipwreck of the Titanic. Meanwhile, there is a conspiracy of silence in the international media over the details coming out about the drowning of 700 migrants in the Mediterranean last week the direct result of a willful, callous neglect of human life. Whilst such tragic events have become all too common, the magnitude of the tragedy that unfolded last Wednesday in the Mediterranean, not far from the Greek coastal town of Pylos, has shaken millions. A fishing boat overloaded with migrants sank, for reasons that have yet to be fully established. 79 people have already been confirmed dead, but that is only a fraction of the real casualties. Estimates suggest as many as 800 were on board, and yet only 104 survivors have been rescued. According to many of those who survived, many women and up to 100 children were in the hold below deck. None survived. This is one of the deadliest and most tragic shipwrecks in the Mediterranean in recent years, in a sea that has often been described, not without reason, as a graveyard of souls. According to the International Organisation for Migration, at least 27,000 people have been lost in the Mediterranean since records began in 2014. 2,000 lost their lives in 2021, and 2,400 lost their lives in 2022. These estimates, in fact, refer to the minimum number of dead and missing. Whilst new information continues to come out about the circumstances surrounding the tragedy, one thing is clear: reports from survivors and activists are starkly at odds with the official story being circulated by the Greek Coast Guard. A picture emerges of hundreds of lives lost as a direct result of the disgusting, government-led and deliberate policy of ignoring, harassing and pushing back migrants in distress at sea. Official story unwinds The doomed vessel reportedly set off from Tobruk, Libya, and was bound for Italy. According to the Greek Coast Guard, they had first spotted the vessel at midday on Tuesday. They claim they then offered assistance, to which they received a negative response, apart from a request for water and food supplies. The vessel again, according to the Coast Guard's claim was seaworthy, and continued on its course, with the Coast Guard discreetly monitoring it until it stopped moving at around 2am, and then capsized, sinking completely within minutes. At that point, the Coast Guard launched a search-and-rescue operation. Demonstration of thousands of people in #Athens against racism and the ship wreck. Rescuers saved 104 passengers from the boat that sank in deep waters off #Greeces coast early on Wednesday while they found 79 dead. pic.twitter.com/kdeT9b17MI Siavash Shahabi (@siashahabi) June 16, 2023 Testimony from an activist who was contacted several times by occupants of the vessel, however, as well as information published by the Alarm Phone group, contradict the Coast Guards version of events. They show that the ship had ceased moving and was clearly in distress from as early as 5pm (some 9 hours before it capsized this was further confirmed by BBC analysis), that shortly thereafter it had been abandoned by the captain, and that the occupants were constantly calling for any help. At the same time, the Coast Guard itself admits that, while it was informed about the ship by Frontex (European Border and Coast Guard Agency) at 11am on Tuesday morning (15 hours before the tragedy unfolded), it only made an effort to confirm its existence three hours later (at 2pm!) when it sent a helicopter(!), which took off from the island of Lesvos, more than 550 km from the location where the vessel sank! The Greek Coast Guards version of events has been further contradicted by survivors, with some of the latter claiming that it was the attempt to tow the boat that led to it capsizing, something the former deny having attempted. The Greek Coast Guard have quite clearly lied to cover up their role in causing this tragedy. It is becoming ever-clearer that the Coast Guard in the first instance deliberately delayed its response and action (as part of a method that is dubbed weaponising time), and when it became clear that the boat could not move (becoming, thus, permanently stranded in an area of Greek responsibility) they violently attempted a pushback, which went terribly wrong. According to one survivor, the Greek Coast Guard explicitly told those on the boat that they were to be pushed back to Italian waters. This is one of the deadliest tragedies to have resulted from the widespread implementation of the illegal and inhumane policy of the Greek capitalist state and the Mitsotakis government towards migrants, and in particular the policy of pushbacks by the Greek Coast Guard, whereby migrants are forcibly returned to international waters and abandoned to their fate. The Greek government has long attempted to deny that it has a policy of pushbacks, but just last month it was forced to respond to footage showing the Coast Guard forcibly capturing migrants who had made landfall, putting them on Coast Guard vessels, and then returning them to a flimsy raft, far out at sea. Other footage has shown the Greek Coast Guard ramming vessels, trying to puncture inflatable rafts, and even firing ammunition in the vicinity of migrants. The sheer callousness of the Greek bourgeoisie was brought out earlier this year with hearings in the trial of 24 migrant rescue workers. These humanitarian workers are being criminalised for saving human lives, and are being perversely presented in their trial as being a migrant smuggling crime ring! This is a clear attempt to prevent lifesaving work. The result of all this is that smugglers are therefore resorting to longer journeys and choosing riskier routes, multiplying the risks to life. Racist Fortress Europe Of course, the policy of the Greek bourgeois state is an extension of the racist anti-immigration policy of the European Union as a whole. European capitalism, which along with US imperialism is principally responsible for imperialist occupation and military interventions in African and Asian countries, is treating the innocent victims of its foreign policy with vile brutality, turning the continent into a fortress, and adopting such shameful measures as the EU-Turkey agreement. Thus, migrants are confronted in their home countries with the most savage manifestation of the inherent contradictions of capitalism, a system in an ongoing and ever-deepening crisis. As a result, they find themselves forced to choose between a life of misery and war at home, and a journey that, at worst they may never complete, and at best, leads on to a life of exploitation as a second-class worker, forever targeted by the most reactionary elements of the country that they attempt to seek refuge in. The fact that the people of Greece took to the streets in Athens, Thessaloniki and many other cities today to demand accountability for the murderers of refugees should be an example for all peoples. As a refugee journalist living in Greece, I am grateful!!! #Greece # pic.twitter.com/Im7rdS6sue Vedat Yeler (@vedatyeler_) June 15, 2023 Migration is not just an unwanted by-product of the system for the capitalists, but a very useful and welcome tool. But the ruling classes want only as many cheap labourers as they need. As political, socio-economic and environmental conditions displace ever more human beings, closed border policies and the misanthropy of capitalism will constantly threaten to create ever more tragedies. Since the tragedy, workers and youth in Greece have demonstrated an outpouring of solidarity, with mass protests of thousands on 16 June in Athens and Thessaloniki, raising the slogans the government and the European Union kill, and No to fortress Europe, solidarity with refugees. In the wake of this tragedy, it is the duty of every militant of the left, the labour movement and the youth to stand up for migrants and refugees. There is an urgent need for concrete, united initiatives from the Left and from the mass organisations of workers and youth. We say: Bennington, VT (05201) Today Except for a few afternoon clouds, mainly sunny. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early will give way to occasional showers later during the night. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Talking Points Memo: The failure of the Biden administration is only getting more and more obvious by the day. Heres three major agencies that are falling apart. President Biden snaps at reporter for asking about Hunters text messages. SCOTUS rules on states control over elections and agrees to hear case on wealth tax. Bill renews calls for investigation into Zuckerbergs efforts into the 2020 presidential election. Former Prosecutor Cully Stimson on his new book Rogue Prosecutors: How Radical Soros Lawyers are Destroying Americas Communities. Reuters releases report that says all living US Presidents descended from slaveholders all expect Donald Trump. Smart Life: pickleball injuries This Day in History: International Body Piercing Day Final Thought: Leaving money to kids, charities & friends In Case You Missed It: Read Bill's latest column, "They're Not Victims" It's the 'Summer Reading Special!' 'Killing the Killers,' Killing the Legends,' and 'Killing Crazy Horse' all for $32.95. We'll also give you a FREE 'Team Normal' hat. 'Team Normal!' gear is 15% for a limited time. Go to BillOReilly.com now and order! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices GEMCOVAC-OM is an omicron-specific mRNA-based booster vaccine developed using the indigenous platform technology DBT has facilitated establishing Gennova's mRNA-based next-generation vaccine manufacturing for developing the platform technology from proof of concept till Phase I clinical trial of the prototype mRNA-based vaccine developed against the Wuhan strain. GEMCOVAC-OM is an omicron-specific mRNA-based booster vaccine developed using the indigenous platform technology by Gennova in collaboration with DBT. Like the prototype vaccine, GEMCOVAC-OM is a thermostable vaccine, which does not require ultra-cold chain infrastructure used for other approved mRNA-based vaccines, making it easy for deployment pan India. It is delivered intra-dermally using a needle-free injection device system. When administered intradermally in participants as a booster, it generated significantly higher immune responses. The clinical outcome demonstrates the need for variant-specific vaccines for desired immune response. Timely treatment within the first 4.5 hours of a stroke is crucial Boehringer Ingelheim India, the Indian arm of Germany headquartered biopharmaceutical firm Boehringer Ingelheim, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Public Health Department of the Government of Maharashtra (GoM). The partnership aims to enhance stroke care services in hospitals across the state through timely and quality care to patients, while further strengthening the stroke care infrastructure in the state. Stroke is a leading cause of death and disabilities in India and the country ranks second worldwide with 7.7 lakh deaths from stroke. The Union Ministry of Health survey for Maharashtra also indicates a high burden of non-communicable diseases (48.3%), with stroke being one of the top 10 causes of mortality. This stems from lack of public knowledge and awareness about the risk factors and treatment, and high cost of stroke care, highlighting the urgent need for prompt and adequate medical care for stroke patients. As part of the MoU, Boehringer Ingelheim India through the ANGELS initiative will equip hospitals with capacity building of multidisciplinary stroke teams to access valuable resources including educational materials, standardisation tools, consultancy support, and a quality monitoring process. A pilot project on stroke detection and management will be launched in five districts - Thane, Auranagabad, Pune, Nanded and Amravati, after which the programme will be launched in the rest of the state. The Public Health Department, GoM will ensure smooth functioning and quality implementation of the project undertaken by the ANGELS initiative. This includes providing 24*7 CT scan facility with at least one technician for Face-Arms-Speech-Time (FAST) diagnosis aside from basic infrastructure and facilities. To enhance healthcare services, ensure timely diagnosis, and improve accessibility of healthcare services Lupin Human Welfare and Research Foundation (LHWRF), the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of Mumbai-based pharmaceutical firm Lupin, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Maharashtra to address the growing prevalence of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in the Palghar district of Maharashtra. The partnership aims to prioritise the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases while working to reducing their long-term prevalence. To lay a strong foundation, an assessment study was conducted to map existing services, identify challenges in healthcare delivery, and estimate the cost-of-service gaps. The findings were reviewed by the Public Health Department (PHD) and incorporated into Lupins final programme. The programme will be implemented over the next five years, initially focusing on two blocks, Palghar and Dahanu. The primary objectives include raising awareness about the risks associated with CVDs and COPD, highlighting the importance of early screening and diagnosis to prevent complications and decrease mortality rates. The campaign will also promote healthy lifestyles and implement preventive measures, underscoring the significance of early screening, diagnosis and adherence to treatment. This year represents a significant milestone as we celebrate the 70th edition of the esteemed Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. This prestigious event takes place from 19-23 June 2023, with entries from around the globe. The festival aims to unite creative professionals from diverse backgrounds to admire, honour and acknowledge the outstanding and most imaginative work internationally which both sets the benchmark and drives our industry forward. The Trophy Stout, Reclaim Your DNA Campaign bravely challenges the British Museum which holds captive over 900 objects from the historic Kingdom of Benin, including the Benin Bronze artefacts that were pillaged from Nigeria by British troops. The campaign creates an opportunity for Nigerians to connect and engage with their past and petition towards bringing their national treasures home. This work was created in collaboration with Dentsu Creative SSA and our client, AB InBev. As a proudly 100% homegrown beer brand with a rich history of supporting Nigerian cultural endeavours, Trophy Stout is determined to restore these treasures to the hands of Nigeria where they rightfully belong. The Reclaim Your DNA Campaign revolutionised the concept of a museum experience by crafting an immersive digital journey that stands to rival any traditional exhibits. Users were granted the opportunity to delve into the captivating history of the Benin Bronzes, while simultaneously engaging with exclusive, ephemeral digital artworks that drew inspiration from the originals. Furthermore, this ground-breaking initiative provided a free, accessible platform for everyone, enabling users to not only explore the digital art but also download 3D versions of the unique artwork, truly reclaiming their connection to this cultural heritage. Dentsu saw exceptional results from this campaign, culminating in over 390,000 Nigerian sign-ups, the largest petition in Africa to date, 150 million earned impressions and 50 million Nigerians reached. With over 97 Benin Bronzes returned as a result of this massively successful campaign, Dentsu are all routing for an African win. For more: As media partner to the Creative Circle SA, were proud to publish exclusive daily snapshot updates from Cannes. Dont miss the first Diary of Creative Circle at Cannes from the SA cohort on the ground in Cannes, every day from 19-24 June! Also Book Now for The Full Circle event, brought to you by the Creative Circle - an inspiring showcase of the top trends, insights and award winning work from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Board has appointed Nada Wotshela as acting group chief executive officer effective 1 July 2023 while the recruitment of a new GCEO is underway. Source: @ SABC SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Board has appointed Nada Wotshela as acting group chief executive officer In a statement released by the SABC, it states: "The Board is confident of Wotshelas abilities in steering the public broadcaster during this time. We implore on the SABCs stakeholders, internally and externally, to support her during this period." Wotshela, says the statement, is a seasoned broadcaster with more than 20 years of working experience at the SABC with 12 of these years in senior management and executive roles. She possesses both the technical knowledge and the leadership skills of public broadcasting and is currently serving as group executive for radio at the SABC. Wotshela has both a BA Degree (Psychology and Sociology) and an MA Degree in Developmental Studies. She began her radio career with Ubuntu Community Radio in Port Elizabeth in 1996 as a presenter, a producer, and a newsreader. She moved to CKI FM in 1998 and transformed it from a community station to the youth radio station launched as Tru FM in November 2007. After a stint at Umhlobo Wenene FM, she was appointed as an SABC pProvincial general manager first in the Western Cape and thereafter in the Eastern Cape. She was appointed group executive: SABC Radio in December 2017. Farewell In a separate statement, the SABC bids farewell to its current CEO, Madoda Mxakwe, whose five-year tenure comes to an end on 30 June 2023, the first SABC Group Chief Executive Officer to complete his contract in over 15 years. Appointed in July 2018, Mxakwe joined the SABC at a time when it was facing governance failures, corruption, gross mismanagement, and a crippling financial situation. "Over the past five years, Mxakwe and the Management team worked closely with all employees and the Board to reverse the dire situation, setting the public broadcaster on a recovery path and rebuilt its credibility. Although the financial sustainability challenges still persist, the SABC stabilised under his leadership," says the statement. "The SABC Board, on behalf of all the SABCs internal stakeholders, would like to thank Mxakwe for his significant contribution to the SABC and South Africa and wishes him well in his future endeavours," it continues. Human8 ( previously known as InSites Consulting ), the new human-driven consultancy, today announced 11 new partner appointments. All new partners will step in as shareholders on a global group level and will become more closely involved in global strategic choicemaking as a result. With these appointments, the agency can now leverage the leadership skills of 36 partners across the globe. Following an intense partner selection program over the past two months, supported by an external leadership assessment, Human8 appointed a diverse mix of new partners. The new partners are Amy Perifanos (US), Bob Yazbeck (US), Daniel Teixeira (APAC), Delphine Vantomme (EMEA), Ian Brown (EMEA), Lisa McFarland (US), Mark Alvarez (APAC), Paul Child (EMEA), Stijn Poffe (EMEA), Thomas Troch (US) and Timo Vandemaele (EMEA). Our people are truly the foundation of our company, so its key we continue to grow and develop our leaders today and for the future. We take that even a step further with the partnership model we already embraced in the early days of founding our business. Partnership implies rewarding those that have had a significant impact on our people, clients and our business, allowing them to grow from business leaders to business owners. says Kristof De Wulf, CEO Human8. At the same time, the agency also announced the departure of some legacy partners, such as Henk Pretorius (SA, former co-founder and CEO Columinate), Quentin Ashby (UK, former co-founder and CEO Join the Dots) and Erica van Lieven (AU, former founder and CEO Direction First). The departing partners remain shareholders as non-executive partners and thus as firm supporters of the company. As former legacy business founders/owners in our acquisition growth journey, Henk, Quen and Erica were fellow community pioneers in our industry. By joining forces over the past 5 years, weve been fortunate to not only experience their individual greatness and commitment but also the greatness of the people they brought along this exciting ride. A grant thank you for setting the example and paving the way. You will be missed!, concludes De Wulf. Meet the new Human8 partners Amy Perifanos (US Detroit) Becoming a Human8 Partner is especially exciting to me because it represents the evolution of Human8 as a collective and an investment in the future we can build together. Ive been fortunate enough to have the bulk of my career with Gongos, and I never couldve imagined the exciting career in front of me back in 2007 when I joined the company. Our partner group is a remarkable group of people, and I cant wait to work alongside other global leaders to advance and grow the business! Bob Yazbeck (US Detroit) Im thrilled to become a Human8 partner! With the coming together of 10 strong and complementary agencies, Human8 is well-positioned to attract and retain talent, clients, and their stakeholders who are ready to journey with an industry-leading consultancy. An exciting future is ahead for all who come along for the ride. Daniel Teixeira (APAC Singapore) Its such an exciting opportunity to join the Human8 partner group an intense, but equally interesting and rewarding process. Its been 13 years in the making since I joined as a junior consultant in 2010. This is a big levelling up of my globetrotting journey (from Ghent over London to Singapore) at Human8, and I look forward to continuing to contribute to the growth of our business. Being passionate about sector specialisation, I want to push a stronger combination of people-led insights & consultancy, with the goal of generating a stronger impact for our clients. Delphine Vantomme (EMEA Ghent) Im thrilled to join the Human8 partner group pushing our business towards human-centric consultancy. In an AI-driven world, brands need strong partners to curate, unlock and activate human insights and Human8 is in the best possible position to take up that role. Human empathy for positive change! Ian Brown (EMEA Manchester) Im delighted to become a Human8 partner! Contributing to our offer development and business expansion over the past 10 years has been extremely rewarding and Im looking forward to helping lead the next stage in our exciting journey. I'm particularly passionate about partnering with clients and harnessing our global solutions to ensure human understanding and empathy are at the heart of our decision-making. Lisa McFarland (US Detroit) I believe in creating our own serendipity and not letting life just happen to us. To make the most of the time I have and be a catalyst in all that I do, applying to become a Human8 Partner was a no-brainer for me. My motivation is driven by my love for this company, my desire to have a voice in our future, and my passion for nurturing new possibilities. I cant wait to see all the great things we will purposefully make happen! Mark Alvarez (APAC Singapore) Im delighted to be part of an amazing group of visionaries in our industry! Together with the entire partner community, we will continue to pioneer innovative and meaningful ways of connecting brands with people and culture. By integrating human insights into the process of making business decisions, brands can foster a culture that values these perspectives and strengthens customer relationships. Paul Child (EMEA London) Becoming a partner at Human8 demonstrates the importance of the UK market to our continued success as a brand. Im excited to build the reputation of Human8 as a people-first business who advocate for real people right to the heart of our clients businesses. The future will hold a great many challenges for us all, in our everyday lives and our professional ones and staying close to how and why people think and behave as they do, will ensure that future is a positive one. Stijn Poffe (EMEA Ghent) I am honoured to be selected as a partner at Human8, a company I joined over a decade ago as a junior consultant. When I started at InSites Consulting, now Human8, despite having a healthy portion of ambition, I never imagined being where I am / we are today. From a small Belgian player to a global company in 24 offices across 6 continents, helping brands do what matters, every day. I have always been an ambassador of the company and I believe the partnership model and the diverse selection of new partners, is a testament to our company culture. Passionate about business strategy our clients as well as our own I am looking forward to helping shape and navigate our future! Thomas Troch (US New York) I'm delighted to join the talented partner group at Human8, marking a significant milestone in my professional journey. Guided by a shared global vision and a re-invented portfolio, we are poised to contribute to positive change. As innovation takes centre stage for many of our clients, our renewed offering integrates a profound understanding of people with the empowering ability to reimagine solutions. I'm excited about the opportunity to continue to collaborate closely with our clients, leveraging the power of innovation to drive impactful change and propel their growth." Timo Vandemaele (EMEA Ghent) 12 years ago, I joined an ambitious and entrepreneurial market research agency which Ive seen evolve first-hand to a truly global human-driven consultancy, present across 6 continents and almost 1.000 people strong. Im extremely proud to join our partner community and be a part of the continued journey of Human8. In a historic deal, Airbus, the renowned European aerospace company, has announced the sale of 500 single-aisle planes to IndiGo, India's leading airline. This groundbreaking agreement marks the largest plane deal ever recorded. By entering into this agreement, IndiGo is set to become the world's largest customer of the A320 Family, which is among the top-selling aircraft lines globally. With this deal, IndiGo's total order for Airbus aircraft reaches an impressive count of 1,330. During the announcement at the Paris Air Show, both companies refrained from disclosing specific financial details of the sale. The aircraft delivery is scheduled for between 2030 and 2035. This landmark order is democratising affordable air travel for millions of people in the worlds fastest growing aviation market, said Christian Scherer, chief commercial officer and head of international at Airbus. IndiGo's chief executive officer, Pieter Elbers, stated in a press release that the order will empower the company to advance its mission of fostering economic growth, social cohesion, and mobility in India. This commitment holds significant weight as India recently surpassed China as the world's most populous country. Video monetisation has become an essential strategy for content creators and publishers to generate revenue from their online content. With the right approach, you can effectively monetise your videos and maximise your earnings. This article will guide you through the process of creating a successful video monetisation strategy, concept of video monetisation, and Membrana Media as a key player in the video monetisation landscape. Video monetisation involves generating revenue from video content by leveraging advertising or other revenue models. The primary objective is to turn the viewership and engagement on videos into tangible financial returns. This can be achieved through different methods, including pre-roll ads, etc. Guide to successful video monetisation for publishers To create a successful video monetisation strategy, consider the following steps: Step 1: Define your goals and audience Clearly define your goals for video monetisation. Determine whether you aim to maximise ad revenue or drive product sales. Additionally, understand your target audience to align your monetisation strategy with their preferences and interests. Step 2: Choose the right video content production platform Investing in video content production platforms is crucial for publishers aiming to create high-quality, engaging videos. These platforms provide tools for enabling publishers to deliver compelling content to their audiences. By producing captivating videos, publishers can attract more viewers and increase monetisation opportunities. Step 3: Implement programmatic video advertising Integrate programmatic video advertising into your strategy. Utilise programmatic advertising to manage and sell your ad inventory effectively. Leverage targeting capabilities and data-driven insights to maximise ad performance and revenue. Step 4: Optimise video player and ad placement Optimise the video player and ad placement to enhance user experience and engagement. Choose a video player that supports various ad formats, provides seamless integration, and offers advanced analytics. Strategically place ads at key moments within your videos to capture viewer attention without causing disruptions. Step 5: Produce engaging and valuable content To attract and retain viewers, it is essential to produce engaging and valuable video content. Create content that aligns with your target audience's interests and preferences. Focus on delivering educational, entertaining, or informative videos that provide value to your viewers. Consistency is key, so establish a regular video publishing schedule to keep your audience engaged. Step 6: Monitor performance and adjust strategy Regularly analyse the performance of your video ads using the reporting and analytics tools provided by your programmatic platform. Identify areas for improvement, optimise ad placements, and refine your targeting strategies to maximise revenue. Video content production platforms Video content production platforms play a crucial role in the video monetisation ecosystem. These platforms provide tools, resources, and infrastructure to produce, edit, and distribute their video content. They often offer additional features like analytics, monetisation options, and audience engagement tools. Membrana Media: Innovating video monetisation Membrana Media is a content video production platform that provides video monetisation solutions for publishers and help optimise their video ad revenue. Membrana Media offers advanced solutions for programmatic video advertising and yield optimisation. By leveraging artificial intelligence, Membrana Media optimises video ad delivery, targeting, and pricing in real-time. It maximises the value of video ad inventory by connecting publishers with premium demand sources and advertisers. Through its user-friendly interface, publishers can easily manage and monitor their video monetisation efforts, gaining insights into performance metrics and revenue generation. Membrana Media's key features include: Revenue optimisation: Membrana Media's solution is designed to help South African publishers maximise their revenue potential by effectively monetising their video content. We employ programmatic advertising to ensure publishers receive the highest possible ad rates, enabling them to capitalise on the competitive advertising prices prevailing in the market. Membrana Media's solution is designed to help South African publishers maximise their revenue potential by effectively monetising their video content. We employ programmatic advertising to ensure publishers receive the highest possible ad rates, enabling them to capitalise on the competitive advertising prices prevailing in the market. Enhanced video player: Elevate your video content with Membrana Media's advanced and customisable video player. Our seamless integration ensures a branded and user-friendly experience, seamlessly blending with your website's design. Say goodbye to clunky players and deliver visually cohesive and captivating videos to your audience. Elevate your video content with Membrana Media's advanced and customisable video player. Our seamless integration ensures a branded and user-friendly experience, seamlessly blending with your website's design. Say goodbye to clunky players and deliver visually cohesive and captivating videos to your audience. Tailored video content: Our solution empowers publishers to publish customised videos that are perfectly aligned with the content of their website. This personalisation ensures that the content remains relevant and resonates with the audience, leading to higher viewer retention and increased user satisfaction. By leveraging video ads within their content, publishers can enhance user engagement and provide a more interactive and immersive experience. Our solution empowers publishers to publish customised videos that are perfectly aligned with the content of their website. This personalisation ensures that the content remains relevant and resonates with the audience, leading to higher viewer retention and increased user satisfaction. By leveraging video ads within their content, publishers can enhance user engagement and provide a more interactive and immersive experience. Experienced production team: At Membrana Media, we boast a dedicated team that specialises in crafting high-quality videos tailored specifically for your website. We ensure a seamless integration with your design, resulting in a visually appealing and cohesive user experience. With this solution, publishers can enjoy a flexible implementation of video ads on their website, tailored to their specific needs. In conclusion, video monetisation offers publishers a lucrative avenue to generate revenue from their online content. Programmatic video advertising and video content production platforms play significant roles in the monetisation process. Membrana Media, with its innovative video monetisation solutions, empowers publishers to optimise their ad revenue and capitalise on the growing demand for video content. A snap poll has revealed that customers are not basing their purchasing decisions on price alone but excellent customer service, with better products/services are on a par with price, in joint second place, when it comes to importance. Source: Anawat sudchanham 123rf Customer empathy and good service are still more likely to sway shoppers than having the lowest price tag, snap poll finds These results are from a snap poll conducted last week by nlightencx, a South African customer experience agency, among its client base. Given the lack of economic confidence and price rises for just about everything, we wouldnt have been surprised if our clients told us that they are basing every purchasing decision on price, says nlightencx CEO Nathalie Schooling. Instead, what we found is that it all comes down to price was only listed by 22% of respondents as their decisive factor. Great customer experience came out tops (56%), with better products/services also listed by 22% of respondents. What this tells businesses, Schooling believes, is that a knee-jerk strategy based on internal cost-cutting and the lowest possible price point is unlikely to deliver the expected results. Of course, consumers are looking for a good deal and we can expect them to be more fickle than usual when it comes to customer loyalty and being willing to switch products and suppliers. But consumers are savvy enough to know that good deal and lowest price are seldom the same thing,she adds. The bottom line is customer empathy The bottom line, Schooling explains, is that businesses need to have empathy; to recognise the current price-consciousness in the market, while understanding that modern consumers are often unwilling to trade low price for an inferior product offering and a bad customer experience. It is a basket of expectations. Get any one of them wrong and customer loyalty goes out the window more so now than in good times, Schooling says. Rapidly eroding customer loyalty is borne out by international research. Salesforce, a global customer relationship management software company, published a 29-country study last year entitled State of the Connected Customer, which found that 71% of consumers had switched brands at least once in the preceding 12 months as priorities, lifestyles, or financial situations changed. Of these, nearly half made the change because of customer service, while nearly 60% did so because of product quality. And almost 90% (the highest total since 2018) believed the experience a company provides is as important as its products or services. Overreliance on technology is short-sighted Writing in Forbes business magazine, contributor Brian Solis, a digital anthropologist and futurist, agrees that empathy is vital. He refers specifically to digital empathy, which he defines as the ability to humanise customer behaviours, preferences and aspirations through the connection between human-centred data, insights, and the meaningful customer engagement powered by those insights. Schooling concurs, warning that an over-reliance on technology particularly as businesses look to trim staffing costs can be the antithesis of a good customer experience. Right now, AI is all the rage and, yes, it has its place. But beware corporate South Africa real human interaction will usually trump the bots, she says. Empathy through tech use it sparingly and responsibly. Understand that people need to be heard and their queries seen to. If your bot cant do that effectively, then dont even go there, she urges. Tips for service excellence and customer loyalty Schooling offers the following tips to businesses looking to deliver customer experience excellence and retain client loyalty: Almost a quarter of a million young South Africans lost their jobs in the first three months of 2023, taking the youth unemployment rate to 62.1%, the highest in a year. Faced with cash flow problems and an uncertain future, many businesses had to make the hard choice to stop hiring, graduate programs, and apprenticeships because they thought they didn't have enough time or money to find and train new workers. But we must now find ways to ease the youth unemployment burden despite these challenges. "Many jobs for young people are part-time or temporary and don't give much in the way of training or career advancement. Entry-level jobs also often require at least three years of experience, so young people never really get the chance to get the knowledge they need. So, what can businesses do to break this cycle?" asks Khethiwe Nkuna, responsible business and corporate citizenship lead for Accenture in Africa. "We must create skills development prospects in market-relevant, in-demand ICT and other areas, and have more initiatives based on partnerships with other organisations to close unemployment gaps for young people," she says. On 15 June 2023, Accenture participated in the Information and Opportunities (I&O) Expo hosted by the Motsepe Foundation at the Sandton Convention Centre, Pavilion Room. The expo is an initiative that seeks to connect youth graduates with available opportunities within companies. These candidates are Motsepe Foundation Alumni, final-year students and the broader spectrum of unemployed youth, including those with an academic focus on STEM. The I&O Expo aims to link critical companies and organisations with young people in South Africa through a hybrid expo presentation of labour market opportunities and requirements. "At Accenture, we are passionate about uplifting and supporting our youth and establishing a favourable environment for them to thrive. We pledge to continue supporting young people in skills development and job opportunities where possible through various initiatives and platforms such as the I&O Expo. We envision that by being present at the expo, we will connect directly with the graduates supported by the Motsepe Foundation to personally establish ways to assist them in understanding better the skills and competencies needed for the labour market, especially in our industry," says Nkuna. "It is an opportunity for us as a partner company to network with participants and inform them of available job opportunities to possibly sign-up for." Accenture's various youth development initiatives aim to address challenges in skills shortage from the grassroots level. Their Skills 2 Succeed (S2S) an initiative that has equipped more than 5.8 million people with the skills to make substantive improvements to their lives, Global Opportunity Youth Network (GOYN), and Accenture Education Trust (AET) are among their top youth-oriented initiatives. Information on how to get involved or recruited into these programmes will be readily available at the expo, with first-hand guidance on each process and requirement. "There will be an Accenture stand at the expo where individuals can sign up to connect with us. There will also be giveaways for those who love a bit of competition and activity," shares Nkuna. The Motsepe Foundation exists to alleviate poverty and sustainably improve the living standard of the poor, unemployed and marginalised people of South Africa. The Motsepe Foundation works to support projects that have the potential to assist beneficiaries in becoming self-reliant and improving the quality of life for all. Giving back has been, and continues to be, an integral part of our moral duty and collective responsibility. It is a concept that has held African families and communities together for generations, despite the continent's many challenges. "Accenture is deliberate in creating meaningful partnerships with organisations who share a vision for the success of the youth of our country," states Nkuna. "As such, we echo the Motsepe Foundation's sentiments on confronting youth unemployment decisively with effective partnerships and information sharing as part of the solution." Since 2015, Accenture has invested over R30m in strategic partnerships to scale S2S initiatives, and in FY21, Accenture's contributions to address pandemic-related challenges have grown to R80m. "These initiatives are aimed at supporting communities and building resilience. Many align with the company's Skills to Succeed objectives, opening doors to employment, entrepreneurship and economic opportunity for South Africa's youth. Now is the time to give talented young people the chances they deserve." concludes Nkuna. Marriott International has partnered with Delaware Investment to establish its inaugural JW Marriott luxury safari lodge in the Serengeti, Tanzania. Anticipated to launch in 2026, the lodge will be located within the Serengeti National Park, an esteemed Unesco world heritage site renowned for its vast plains, the awe-inspiring great migration, and impressive herds of wildlife. JW Marriott Serengeti Lodge is expected to offer 30 private suites, including two presidential suites, all of which will benefit from their own swimming pool and deck area. Additionally, extensive food, beverage and meeting facilities are planned. JW Marriott Serengeti Lodge will sit between the Grumeti and Mbalageti rivers, benefitting from the abundant wildlife that accesses the rivers to the north and south alongside stunning views of the plains surrounding the lodge. The Serengeti National Park is an important wildlife conservation and wilderness area in sub-Saharan Africa spanning approximately 14,763km. It is the starting point of one of Africas greatest wildlife spectacles - the great migration, which involves millions of animals travelling a distance of approximately 2.9km from Serengeti into the neighbouring Masai Mara between June and September. The Big Five, including lion, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros and African elephant can also be found in the Serengeti. Marriott's commitment to enriching experiences We are delighted to partner with Delaware Investment Limited for this landmark project in the Serengeti, an exciting new destination for the brand which also signifies our growing commitment to offering enriching experiences for our guests. said Jenni Benzaquen, senior vice president, brand portfolio Europe, Middle East and Africa at Marriott International. Serengeti is located approximately 660km north-west of Dodoma in Tanzania, sharing a border with Kenya. The closest and easiest way to reach the camp is from the Grumeti airstrip, located a 25-minute drive from the site. International visitors can access the lodge from Kilimanjaro International Airport followed by a domestic flight to an airstrip in Serengeti or an eight-hour drive with scenic views of the vast savannas and wildlife along the route. Its a very exciting moment for us to be able to collaborate with Marriott International to debut such a prestigious brand in one of the most iconic wildlife destinations in the world, said Rishen Patel, owner of Delaware Investment. JW Marriott Serengeti Lodge will mark the brands second luxury safari lodge in Africa, following the opening of JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge earlier this year in the Masai Mara national reserve in Kenya. Marriott International currently operates more than 120 properties in Africa across its portfolio. This year's Galliova Food and Health Writers' Awards returns with an exciting new category: the Galliova Egg Hero. Source: Barmalini 123rf This years Galliova Food and Health Writers Awards returns with an exciting new category: the Galliova Egg Hero Open to food and health writers and social media influencers with content aimed at budget-conscious South Africans with limited disposable income, the Galliova Egg Hero category is aligned with the very qualities that make eggs such a popular food among South Africans. The Galliova Awards (Galli= Latin for chicken, ova = egg) are sponsored by the Egg and Broiler Producers of the South African Poultry Association (SAPA), and honour excellence in food and health writing. The awards are open to food and health media of South African print and online publications, including influencers and bloggers. Eight awards valued at R214 000 will be presented this year. A first prize and runner up will be awarded for all categories, except the overall Galliova Champion where there is only one winner. Affordability emphasised The new award category also provides social media influencers with a second opportunity to submit their work to the Galliova judges, as its open to both print and online media. This category differs from the Galliova Egg Champion Award in that the affordability of the recipe must be prioritised, with special consideration being given to budget restraints i.e., recipes should be low-cost meals for any time of the day. The recipes should also contain minimal and inexpensive ingredients that are readily available. Using everyday South African pantry staples or leftovers will be favourably acknowledged by the judges. By way of example, all the ingredients for a meal for two people must not cost more than R50,00 and for a meal for four, not more than R100.00. Bonus points will be awarded for the overall promotion of eggs, the inclusion of educational and health information about eggs, tips on egg preparation and originality and creativity of content. Overall recipe preparation must be quick and easy, and other methods of cooking must be taken into consideration. Constantly evolving The new category demonstrates once again how the Galliova Awards now in its 34th year is constantly evolving to reflect the local medias response to the changing needs of South African consumers. Eggs are one of the most affordable proteins compared to other protein sources. They are accessible for cash-strapped South Africans, and can be eaten for every meal, not just breakfast, says The South African Poultry Association (SAPA). "This versatility allows food and health writers to easily make eggs the hero of their budget-friendly recipes for breakfast, lunch, supper, snacks and even school lunchboxes, adds SAPA. The Association says it has been encouraging to see so many print titles coming back after the pandemic. Traditional publications and online media, including social media influencers and food bloggers, have a vital role to play in supporting South Africans through these challenging times by providing useful, relevant content. Educating consumers on easy, economical and healthy meals is part of that, and both chicken and eggs fit the bill perfectly, says SAPA. The Award categories The award categories are: Galliova Food Writer (Food print & online media). First prize R25,000 and the runner up R6,000 Galliova Food Stylist (Food print & online media). First prize R30,000 and the runner up R8,000 Galliova Health Writer (Health print & online media). First prize R20,000 and the runner up R5,000 Galliova Egg Champion (Food/health print & online media). First prize R20,000 and the runner up R5,000 Galliova Chicken Champion (Food/health print & online media). First prize R20,000 and the runner up R5,000 Galliova Digital Content Creator (South African credible digital food content creators who have their own website and a minimum of two linked social media platforms). First prize R20,000 and the runner up R5,000. Galliova Egg Hero (Food/health: print & online media and digital content creators).First prize R20,000 and the runner up R5,000 Galliova Champion (Judges will select one entrant from the winners in the above seven categories, whom they believe deserves this prize). One prize R20,000 The Galliova Awards is renowned for its commitment to strict, fair and transparent judging. As in previous years, an adjudication event will be held between the judges and the award sponsors in early October to interrogate each submission against the entry criteria. General and individual entry feedback will be provided. The winners will be announced on 20 October 2023 at a lunch in Cape Town. Google for Startups has unveiled the 25 African startups chosen for this year's $4m (R72.7m) Black Founders Fund. Of these 25 startups, three South African companies have made the cut. Image supplied These include Excel At Uni, which supports student funders via digital services, HealthDart, a digital HMO providing end-to-end health services with insurance, and Zinacare, an online platform for accessible, affordable healthcare services. Each selected startup will receive up to $150,000 (R2.7m) in non-dilutive cash awards, up to $200,000 (R3.m) in Google Cloud credits, Ad support, one on one mentoring by industry experts and invaluable connections within Googles network. The other selected startups: Akoma Health (Nigeria): Tech platform for accessible, culturally conscious mental health services in Africa. BezoMoney (Ghana): Digital banking for Africa's underbanked via mobile/web platforms. Chargel (Senegal): Digital trucking platform connecting shippers/carriers in Francophone West Africa. Charis UAS (Rwanda): Provides 3D geospatial data via drone technology. Evolve Credit (Nigeria): SaaS for digitising and managing banking services. EzyAgric (Uganda): AI-powered mobile technology to enhance Africa's farming sector. Fez Delivery (Nigeria): Last-mile logistics platform for various industries. Fleetsimplify (Kenya): Monetization platform connecting gig drivers & vehicle owners. Herconomy (Nigeria): Female-focused fintech aiming to be Africa's first women's bank. Jumba (Kenya): Improving Kenya's construction sector supply chain via B2B platform. MDaaS Global (Nigeria): Tech-powered diagnostic centres for affordable healthcare. My Pocket Counsel (Nigeria): Legal tech platform for contract generation and management. Orda (Nigeria): Pan-African neobank for restaurants, offering cloud-based software. Periculum (Nigeria): Data company aiding in credit assessment, fraud/churn risk. Raenest (Nigeria): Fintech offering global financial services to freelancers/startups in Africa. Ridelink (Uganda): E-logistics platform providing shipping and real-time tracking. Susu (Cote d'Ivoire): Health platform providing healthcare services/insurance funded by African diaspora. Talamus Health (Ghana): Tech solutions targeting healthcare inefficiencies in Africa. TruQ (Nigeria): Streamlining mid-mile logistics across Africa with third-party vehicle connectivity. Tushop (Kenya): Tech platform for group buying of daily essentials in Kenya. Uzapoint (Kenya): Mobile/web POS for digitising bookkeeping in Africa's informal sector. Zydii (Kenya): Localised digital training solutions for African SMEs. The Black Founders Fund, now in its third year, aims to help tackle systemic racial inequality in venture capital (VC) funding by providing equity-free grants and mentoring to early-stage Black-led high-growth businesses across Europe and Africa. Folarin Aiyegbusi, head of startups ecosystem, Africa at Google said: "Startups play a major role in advancing Africas digital transformation. We look forward to working with this group of innovative founders who are using technology to solve some of the most pressing challenges in Africa. The Google for Startups Black Founders Fund is committed to addressing the stark inequality in VC funding by providing Black founders with the resources and support they need to succeed." EVANS Kamombo, a top Zanu PF official, who was disqualified from standing as the partys parliamentary candidate for Nyanga North constituency and sentenced to nine years in jail for theft, has had his conviction quashed by the High Court. Kamombo was being acccused of stealing fertiliser worth US$40 075 belonging to Zimbabwes ambassador to Tanzania Anselem Sanyatwe. A High Court judge yesterday dismissed the matter after the chief witness, Nyanga North MP Chido Sanyatwe failed to attend court to testify against him. It also emerged that Kamombo was vying for a parliamentary seat held by the ambassadors wife, a key witness in the matter. Kamombo was in March slapped with a nine-year jail term by Mutare magistrate Richard Ramaboea, with two years of his sentence set aside on condition that he pays restitution. The judge ruled that the complainant's wife, Chido, should have testified. We appealed against conviction and sentence, the conviction was set aside and the sentence was quashed, he is now free after spending some weeks in prison, Kamombos lawyer said. Newsday The government has launched the Spatial Economic Activity Data - South Africa (Sead-SA) programme, aiming to enhance understanding of economic activities within the country's geographic distribution and characteristics. National Treasury and the Human Sciences Research Council officially inaugurated the project on Monday, 19 June. Sead-SA is a new initiative that addresses the gaps that exist between the local economy of cities and the wider economic geography of the country by leveraging tax and other administrative data sources. For the first time, granular spatial data exists to help inform vital policy, planning and research questions about urbanisation; uneven development; territorial disparities; and productivity and economic conditions of municipalities, cities, towns and suburbs/wards. The creation of disaggregated and granular economic data are essential for monitoring changing economic conditions as well as sectoral and spatial shifts over time. Addressing the official launch of the programme on Monday, minister of finance Enoch Godongwana said as far back as the Reconstruction and Development Plan (RDP), government recognised that urban areas, particularly metropolitan areas, were key centres of economic activity, employment, and innovation, and that by addressing spatial inequalities and creating sustainable human settlements, it could achieve inclusive and sustainable growth. Targeted investments in urban infrastructure The Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in October 2020, went further, emphasising the need for targeted investments in urban infrastructure, services, and housing. In the 2023 Budget Review in February, we sought to give life to these ambitions by continuing to support economic development at the local government and municipal level through various grants and technical assistance. Through the Cities Support Programme (CSP), for example, we are mobilising National Treasury and partner resources around township economic development and industrial park revitalisation within the metros. Financial support to the metros through grant instruments is projected at R6.3bn over the medium term. The Sead-SA programme is a key step toward achieving these lofty aims and making sure that these allocated funds and efforts are well-targeted, said the minister. The launch, he said, represents an important milestone on a journey that started about nine years ago, when the metropolitan municipalities lobbied national government to make available national administrative data sets that could assist them in making sense of their city economies. The problem they wanted solved, was the lack of spatialised economic activity data in South Africa. Metros did not know where firms and jobs were located within their boundaries and how firm and employment activity changed over time. The cities explained that this meant that they were making policy, planning and investment decisions on modelled and incomplete data, largely accessed at a cost from the private sector. The minister said this kickstarted the journey towards Sead-SA. The first Metro spatialised economic activity reports were produced by National Treasury in April 2021 providing time series data between 2013 and 2018 that demonstrated firm and employment trends across metro spaces. The commitment of all parties to respecting the integrity, anonymity and sensitivity of the tax data strengthened relations of trust among parties and laid the foundation for extending the pilot to all municipalities in the country with the support of local government association Salga. This collaboration has extended to the exploration of a spatialised version of the entire Sars integrated business register, to enable access to additional four public and third-party data sources. The agreement is to integrate this with StatsSAs national statistics system. This will broaden the scope further to include the contributions of other national administrative data sources. The minister explained that the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development as the custodian of land-related datasets and the Spatial Data Infrastructure Act, 2003 is a strategic partner going forward. Indeed, the Sead-SA programme is not owned by any particular entity it is a shared brand that is intended to act as an umbrella for joint efforts in ensuring open access to credible spatialised economic-activity data from multiple public and private administrative data sources, said Godongwana. The country cannot afford low returns on public-sector investment, firm closures and downsizing or job losses, he said, adding that reviewing this data, its value in providing clear policy directions and evidence to assist government make tough investment choices and decisions, is abundantly clear. He said the programme has placed the country on a positive trajectory of evidenced-based economic planning and investment, greater transparency and deeper accountability for the collective efforts within municipal spaces. It provides us with the tools to question what we are currently doing, its impact, and what we need to change to rebuild and grow our economy. The minister urged relevant public- and private-sector actors who have not yet been part of this process to come on board and contribute to the next stage of the journey. Senator Rand Paul teed off on globalist Bill Gates Sunday, heavily intimating that the billionaires obsession with funding research into deadly viruses led directly to the COVID pandemic. Appearing on Fox News, Paul noted that Gates visited China last week. Bill Gates is the largest funder of trying to find these viruses in remote caves and bring them to big cities, Paul asserted, referring to gain of function research. So what happened in China is they went eight to 10 hours south of Wuhan, two to 300ft deep into a cave, found viruses, and took them back to a city of 15 million, Paul further explained. There are many, many scientists who think that Bill Gates is wrong in funding this, he added. We dont need to be searching for viruses that may never interact with man. And its worse than that. They bring viruses that we may never interact with, they bring them back to the lab, but then they manipulate them by combining them with other viruses to create viruses that dont exist in nature, Paul continued. But this has largely been funded by Bill Gates. He funds the WHO more than most countries do. So theres a responsibility there I think hes inadvertently helped to create something that the biggest danger to mankind right now is something that hes been funding, The Senator further noted. Watch: Paul was responding to reporting last week by Michael Shellenberger and Matt Taibbi that outlined how the first people to contract COVID were scientists working in the Wuhan virology lab. One of them, the one they think that was the first scientist to get sick, the first person to get sick, was one of the ones creating these new viruses, viruses not found in nature. This is the gain of function research. And so this essentially closes the deal, Paul stated. What Im going to try to pursue now is, whoever revealed this, if theres documentation of this, its all supposed to be declassified tomorrow. And that legislation passed unanimously if we can get those records, and actually put it out there for all the public to see that the first person that got sick was a scientist at the lab, then its a done deal, the Senator continued. We know it came from the lab, and everybody can just admit it, but then we can move to the reform, Paul further stated, adding The reform is, we shouldnt be funding this kind of research in China, but we also shouldnt be funding this kind of research in the United States. What we need is an international consortium of countries that will voluntarily agree to restrict this, Paul emphasised, adding The United States needs to restrict this. There are people estimating that, the next time this happens, the next time we have a leak from a lab, that between 5 and 50 percent of the population could die from another manmade virus. This is very, very serious. This is up there with nuclear arms control. This is up there with the danger of nuclear war. But this is much more insidious, The Senator urged. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube: Follow on Twitter: Follow @PrisonPlanet Brand new merch now available! Get it at https://www.pjwshop.com/ ALERT! In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. We need you to sign up for our free newsletter here. Support our sponsor Turbo Force a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. Also, we urgently need your financial support here. BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase are reportedly aiding the Ukrainian government in setting up a reconstruction bank that could see rebuilding projects being heavily invested in by private entities. The Financial Times noted that it would cost Ukraine roughly $411 billion to rebuild their country amid the onslaught of attacks by Russia, but the cost is continuing to increase. The Ukraine Development Fund is still in the early stages of setting up the reconstruction bank, but potential investors will get an inside preview of how things will look during a London conference that is set to take place this week. With the steep cost to rebuild, the Ukrainian government reached out to BlackRock in November to see if there was a conceivable way of attracting investments. JPMorgan was soon added in February. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed last month that he was working with the two financial institutions and consultants at McKinsey, per the report. Philipp Hildebrand, BlackRock vice-chair, said: So many of todays long-term challenges are best addressed through blended finance and this is one. You need these vehicles to mobilise capital at scale. Though BlackRock and JPMorgan are offering their services, they will likely have the first look at potential investments in the Eastern European country. The report noted that the current development has only deepened JPMorgans relationship with its long-standing client, Ukraine. The financial institution has helped Ukraine raise more than $25 billion in sovereign debt since 2010, and it led in the countrys $20 billion debt reconstruction in 2022. BlackRock has claimed that Ukraine needs a development finance bank that would provide the country with infrastructure, climate, and agriculture opportunities. This will apparently make them more attractive to other long-term investors. JPMorgan was added to the venture due to its debt expertise. Stefan Weiler, JPMorgans head of debt capital markets in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, said: The fund is being set up to also give public and private sector investors the opportunity to invest into specific projects and sectors. There will be different sectoral funds that the fund identified as priorities for Ukraine. That aim is to maximise capital participation. However, it does not appear that Ukraine is expected to receive such investments until the end of the conflict with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a meeting with the African Union, revealed that Ukraine had allegedly signed a treaty in the spring of 2022. But the country went back on it after Russia had agreed to the terms. Antiguas ambassador to the US, Sir Ronald Sanders, disclosed that former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has purchased a seized superyacht previously owned by a Russian oligarch at an auction. The Alfa Nero was linked to oligarch Andrey Guryev.Getty Images Billionaire and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt won an auction Friday for the 267-foot Alfa Nero, paying $67.6 million for the superyacht that had been abandoned in Antigua Bay by a sanctioned Russian oligarch. The Antigua and Barbuda Port Authority revealed the sale in a statement reported by outlets including Boat International. Antiguas ambassador to the US, Sir Ronald Sanders, said the buyer was Schmidt, Bloomberg reported. The yacht was linked to Andrey Guryev, who made his money in the fertilizer business and was sanctioned last year by the US Treasury Department following Russias invasion of Ukraine. Guryev is believed to have close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin. Guryevs daughter had tried to intervene to stop the auction, according to Bloomberg, by claiming she owned the yacht. Her action came despite a legal representative for Guryev telling Bloomberg in March that he did not own the yacht. Mr Guryev neither owns nor controls the Alfa Nero and has simply used the vessel from time to time under commercial charter since 2014, his representative told the outlet. RT reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, discussed plans to seize naughty Western companies. Read more In this meeting, economy, banking relations, business and some related topics were discussed, said Badri. Although Beijing does not have formal diplomatic ties with the Taliban government, China is among the few countries that have maintained a diplomatic presence in Kabul since the Taliban took back the country following the US disastrous withdrawal in 2021. Following the withdrawal, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Italian news outlet La Repubblica that China would be its principal partner in rebuilding Afghanistan after a 20-year US occupation. China is also interested in bringing the West Asian nation to join Beijings Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). US sanctions and banking restrictions have dealt heavy damage to Afghanistans banking system, which has been cut off from the global financial system. These policies have served as the primary cause of the countrys ongoing economic crisis. Afghanistans central bank has been unable to supply adequate liquidity to banks due to its inability to print money and the illegal freeze of nearly $10 billion in foreign reserves, $7 billion of which are held at the Federal Bank of New York. China has recently shown an economic interest in its neighbor, and is seeking investment opportunities in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) particularly in mining. In April, the Taliban said that a Chinese firm was interested in investing $10 billion in lithium extraction as part of a project that would allegedly employ over 120,000 Afghans. Afghans are looking forward to exploiting their lithium and other mining deposits for their benefit, Shahabuddin Delawar, the Talibans minister for mining, said. At the start of the year, the Taliban signed an oil extraction deal with Chinese firms Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co. (CAPEIC). Emails from the Biden laptop shed light on Burismas opening of a Maltese bank account for Hunter Biden in the spring of 2016. This newly discovered development coincides with the allegations made by an FBI source, suggesting that Mykola Zlochevsky, the founder of Burisma Holdings, allegedly paid a $5 million bribe each to then-Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. In 2014, Ukraine initiated criminal cases against Zlochevsky and Burisma, the company where Hunter Biden held a board position and received substantial compensation. Zlochevsky, who faced investigations for money laundering and public corruption, allegedly employed the Vice President's son to leverage his political influence in order to halt the investigations. According to the FBI whistleblower document, the pay-for-play scheme is outlined, with Zlochevsky purportedly safeguarding 17 audio recordings of conversations with the Bidens as an "insurance policy." Among these recordings are two alleged conversations with then-Vice President Biden himself. Mykola Zlochevsky, Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Viktor Shokin In 2018, Joe Biden proudly claimed that he pressured Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko into firing Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, who was conducting an investigation into the Ukrainian energy company where his son was a board member. Biden accomplished this by leveraging the threat of withholding a $1 billion US loan guarantee during his trip to Kyiv in December 2015. During a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, Biden infamously declared, "I looked at them and said: I'm leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you're not getting the money." He added, "Well, son of a bitch. He got fired." Viktor Shokin has stated that at the time of his termination in March 2016, he had formulated "specific plans" to investigate Burisma, which included interrogations and other crime-investigation procedures into all members of the executive board, including Hunter Biden. In May 2016, Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi informed Hunter Biden via a series of emails about the opening of a Maltese bank account. Pozharskyi requested the documentation required for the account opening, including a copy of Hunter's passport, a bank reference letter, and a utility bill serving as proof of his residential address. Hunter responded by stating, "We are working on this - I was traveling with my dad and had my passport abroad last week." In the subsequent weeks, Hunter Biden's assistant, Joan Mayer, engaged in email correspondence with Vadym Pozharskyi, reportedly the third-ranking executive at Burisma. During these exchanges, Mayer provided copies of Hunter's passport, a utility bill, and a bank reference letter, as requested. On May 13, 2016, Mayer sought clarification on the requirements for a "certified declaration of source wealth." She suggested providing a letter from Hunter's corporation, Owasco, to confirm his annual salary, asking, Is that what the bank is looking for? On the same day, a Burisma attorney sent an email to Hunter, sharing the address and swift code of Satabank, a Maltese bank that would be shuttered for violating money laundering laws in 2018. A few days later, Hunter's assistant sent "Hunter's tax ID number and signature" to the Burisma executive, who responded with a confirmation: "All received!" Our world is becoming a creepier place with each passing day. Most of us just want to live our lives in peace without excessive governmental interference, but unfortunately the control freaks that are running things just cant help themselves. Ultimately, they arent going to be happy until they are able to watch, track, monitor and control virtually everything that we write, say and do. This is one of the big reasons why they are gearing up to introduce central bank digital currencies all over the western world. Such digital currencies will make it much easier for them to control us financially. And a new tool that was just introduced by the UN will make it much easier for them to control what we write on the Internet The iVerify System Is Here The UNs new fact-checking system is going to be a game changer, but so far the mainstream media is being really quiet about it. Perhaps that is because they dont want millions of us to object to this sort of tyranny. The UN developed iVerify in conjunction with big tech companies and Soros-funded organizations, and it will be used to crack down on disinformation and hate speech all over the globe The United Nations has unveiled an automated fact-checking service to counter so-called disinformation and hate speech on the internet in a project partnered with Big-Tech and Soros-funded organisations. In response to what they brand as online information pollution, which they claim is a global challenge, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched its iVerify platform to counter alleged disinformation and hate speech online. The global bodys automated fact-checking tool, was developed in partnership with the United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC), Facebook and Google-funded fact checker Meedan, the Meta-owned CrowdTangle, and the Soros-funded International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). Needless to say, this tool will not be used to crack down on points of view that Big Tech and George Soros agree with. Instead, it will be used to crack down on those that choose to be independent thinkers, and that should greatly alarm all of us. Of course iVerify is not the only very strange development that has been in the news in recent days Hail The Size Of Softballs On June 14th, some areas of Arkansas were absolutely pounded by softball-sized hail Parts of Arkansas were affected by large hail as severe thunderstorms moved through the region on Wednesday, June 14. Video recorded by Lailah Spearman from her porch in Royal, Arkansas, shows large hailstones littering her front yard as loud banging can be heard. Spearman told Storyful that she was in her living room when the hail started. It sounded like bombs going off, and we looked outside and saw huge softball-sized hail, she said. And it turns out that some parts of northern Texas were also hit by hail as large as softballs Severe storms brought large hail, caused power outages, and delayed flights in North Texas. Some people reported hail as large as softballs. In the old days, it was very rare for this sort of thing to happen. But now it is no big deal because it happens all the time. When hail gets this big, it can do some really serious damage. We were warned that this was coming. Now it is here. Record High Temps Accompany Record Drought Swept South Unfortunately, all of that hail did little to ease the drought conditions in the middle of the nation. Extremely hot temperatures quickly returned, and in some areas the heat index actually exceeded 120 degrees Parts of Texas and southern Louisiana are feeling like a steam room amid a dangerous heat wave thats set to last more than a week. Blistering heat and stifling humidity have already combined to push the heat index above 120 degrees in spots, posing a significant danger to vulnerable populations and those without adequate access to cooler environments. The Lone Star State broke heat records on Thursday and Friday, and many more are expected to fall over the coming days. Of course summer hasnt even begun yet. So if ERCOT is already bracing for record energy usage, what will things be like once we get deep into July and August? The blast of hot weather raises the potential for record energy usage, according to ERCOT, the council overseeing the flow of electric power to most of the state. The heat wave will push the Texas energy grid to its brink, forcing ERCOT to issue a weather watch through June 21, which are posted when they forecast high demand. We were warned that this was coming. Now it is here. Decay In America Is The Infrastructure Of America Beyond Repair? The spectacular collapse of a key section of I-95 in Philadelphia recently has put a spotlight on Americas crumbling infrastructure. It has now become a major political issue, but as an article posted on Yahoo News has pointed out, this is a crisis that has been building for decades Infrastructure in the United States has been at a breaking point for decades. The recent collapse of an overpass on the I-95 interstate in Philadelphia created a traffic nightmare for one of the countrys busiest highways and shined a light on Americas ongoing infrastructure problems. For much more on all of this, please see my previous article entitled Americas Infrastructure Is Collapsing Right In Front Of Our Eyes. We were warned that this was coming. Now it is here. A Man Getting Pregnant The last item that I want to mention today is a very controversial trend in motherhood. The following comes from a recent NPR article that profiled a 37-year-old transgender man that just got pregnant Kayden Coleman, 37, was surprised to learn he was pregnant. In 2013, he had just had top surgery a double mastectomy and had temporarily stopped taking hormones for the procedure. Coleman, who is transgender, said doctors had told him he couldnt get pregnant. A few years later, assuming that hed been taking hormones long enough to avoid another pregnancy, he found he was expecting again. Today, he is raising two young daughters. We were warned that this was coming. Now it is here. The pace of change in our society has accelerated to an absolutely blistering pace, and things are only going to get wilder in the years ahead. Are you prepared for what is coming? We all need to evaluate where we are physically, mentally, emotionally, financially and spiritually, because the times that are in front of us will greatly challenge everyone. Michaels new book entitled End Times is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here. Spoiler: none of the charges involve Hunter's role as an international bag man for the Biden family (alleged, of course), which included a $10 million payment from Burisma to Hunter and Joe Biden, according to an FBI source. The Post, which notably had a 1300 word article whipped up as the charges were announced, writes; The agreement caps an investigation that was opened in 2018 during the Trump administration, and has generated intense interest and criticism since 2020 from Republican politicians who accused the Biden administration of reluctance to pursue the case. The terms of the proposed deal negotiated with Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, a holdover from President Donald Trumps administration are likely to face similar scrutiny. -WaPo Hunter, 53, is now expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges of failure to pay in 2017 and 2018, for a combined tax liability of roughly $1.2 million. He'll also admit to illegally possessing a weapon after his 2018 purchase of a handgun - which will likely result in a 'diversion program' which would result in the removal of the gun charge if all of the program's conditions are met. In total, Hunter will likely receive two years of probation and diversion conditions. The federal investigation into Hunter Biden began in 2018, and initially centered around Hunter Biden's finances related to overseas business ties and consulting work. Over time, the international business dealings were dropped from the investigation - perhaps due to Joe Biden's alleged involvement - and the focus shifted to Hunter's failure to report his income, as well as whether he lied on paperwork to purchase the gun in 2018. President Biden stands with his son Hunter Biden and sister Valerie Biden Owens as he looks at a plaque dedicated to his late son Beau Biden while visiting Mayo Roscommon Hospice in County Mayo, Ireland, on April 14. (Patrick Semansky/AP) Of course - this reeks of a containment strategy to avoid implicating the sitting President, as the feds apparently haven't been looking into ill-gotten gains from a massive international influence-peddling operation while his dad was VP, for which there is ample evidence. 2 years ago, before the last presidential election, we interviewed a former business partner of the Biden family called Tony Bobulinski. His story of influence peddling and corruption went ignored. Bobulinski's learned quite a bit more recently. Here's part of what he had to say. pic.twitter.com/mCaEYLbGgw Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) October 5, 2022 Guess it's up to House Republicans to get to the bottom of Hunter's business dealings. And then what? Does anyone think Biden AG Merrick Garland is going to prosecute the First Son for anything meaningful? As Jonathan Turley noted earlier this month; Form 4473 is required for gun purchases like the one of Hunter in 2018. It asks: Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance? Warning: The use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside. Hunter reportedly lied and said no. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms maintains this ban applies to people who have admitted to using illegal drugs in the 12 months before buying a gun. Hunter Biden was using drugs before, during, and after that period. We previously discussed the issue which became even greater news when it was learned that the gun was tossed into a trash bin in Wilmington by Hallie Biden, widow of the deceased brother of Hunter. After the death of his brother Beau, Hunter began a sexual relationship with Hallie and she apparently became concerned about what he might do with the gun. President Biden has demanded red flag enforcement that would also appear to target the conduct of his own son. Now, Hunter Biden could be arguing against some of these laws as unconstitutional under a more expansive view of the Second Amendment. While most courts have upheld the ban on drug users, Hunters lawyers reportedly told the Justice Department that they will challenge the law under Bruen where a six-justice majority declared that such limitations must be consistent with the practices during the founding period. This is not the first glaring contradiction to arise under the Hunter Biden scandals. President Biden has long campaigned against deadbeat Dads, but did not utter a word of concern when his son spent years resisting recognizing or supporting his daughter until a settlement was raised with the help of a court. He is now trying to reduce those payments. The President and First Lady continue to refuse to acknowledge their granddaughter, Navy, as Hunter opposes her use of the family name. Bidens arguments in Arkansas, to paraphrase his new found allegiance, appears to be that Navy Ill give you my [more child support] when you pry (or take) it from my cold, dead hands. Given his fathers call for greater enforcement of red flag laws and gun controls (including permitting requirement), it will be interesting to see how the Justice Department deals with what appears an knowing violation of the federal gun laws. While this is not the charge that most concerns the White House, it is still a charge that can come with a sentence of up to 15 years in prison. Ironically, when he committed the alleged violation, the penalty was 10 years. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act raised the maximum penalty for that offense to 15 years. The president who enthusiastically signed that law was Joe Biden. MAI TT believes God put her into prison for a reason and she has accepted her fate as she battles to settle into life behind bars. The convicted thief spoke exclusively to H-Metro yesterday on the side lines of a party hosted for the children of inmates at Chikurubi Female Prison. The party was hosted by Collen Abrahams. Collen is the son in-law of Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service Commissioner General, Moses Chihobvu. Mai TT recalled a time when she visited the prison to donate sanitary wear and food and wanted to spend a night with the inmates but was denied the opportunity. I am yet to accept that I have to stay behind these walls and get used to such an uncomfortable environment, said Mai TT. What came into my mind on my second day in my cell was my idea of visiting this same prison years ago. I pleaded with prison officials to allow me to spend one night with inmates, but they denied me that chance, arguing that their protocol does not consider such requests. I was touched by the living conditions of inmates, especially innocent babies, accompanying their mothers in prison. She added: I wanted to know more and little did I know that one day I would be counted among inmates kwete zvekunyepera kana kukumbira. I want to believe that God is the one who gave me the idea to visit the prison and donate sanitary wear and food that year. Ndakazarurirwa kuti ndiMwari akazoona zvakanaka kuti ndiuye nenzira inouya nevazhinji vavo. A new chapter of my life has started and I need more grace to endure until I complete my sentence. Ndiwo unonzi mutsanyo uyu, ndakamboramba kudya asi ndinonzwa kushumirwa neumwe mutowo, its painful. She said those who were mocking her should not stop. It is my prayer that all those mocking me continue to do so, maybe, I will find favour in Gods eyes and He will get me out of this place. God is in control and His grace will take me through the race. Mai TT mixed and mingled with other inmates at the party and appeared to be having fun as she danced to music. She was asked to give a vote of thanks and closed the event with a long prayer and thanked Collen and his family for hosting the party. H Metro An urgent High Court application challenging the 2023 candidate nomination fees has been dismissed on the eve of the sitting of the nomination court. High Court Judge Justice Munamato Mutevedzi ruled that the application was not urgent and is now likely to be heard after nomination day. Represented by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), politician Egypt Dzinemunhenzva, Harare North legislator Allan Markham, Vongai Zimudzi and Tapiwanashe Chiriga launched an urgent court challenge to determine the nomination fees in September last year. This was after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) gazetted Statutory Instrument (SI) 144 of 2022 in August requiring aspiring presidential candidates to pay US$20 000 to contest in the presidential elections while aspiring legislators will pay a candidate fee of US$1 000 with aspiring candidates for local authority elections paying US$200. On Monday, Justice Mutevedzi heard arguments from both parties before ruling that the matter was not urgent. High Court Judge Justice Munamato Mutevedzi on Monday ruled that the application seeking an urgent determination of a challenge of exorbitant nomination fees for 2023 general elections is not urgent and that the matter should be set down for hearing on a normal and ordinary court roll, said ZLHR in a statement. The complainants had given ZEC a 72-hour ultimatum to withdraw SI 144 and argued that the nomination fees are exorbitant and should be withdrawn, however, no action was taken then. In a related matter, Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD) in collaboration with the Institute for Young Womens Development (IYWD), and an independent prospective candidate of Dangamvura Tendai Lynnet Mudehwe have also filed an urgent court application challenging the candidate nomination fees. The three are being represented by Advocate Choice Damiso from the Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA). In an application dated 19 June, they cited the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs as the first respondent, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission as the second respondent, Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development and the third responded, Minister of Finance and Economic Development forth responded, the Zimbabwe Gender Commission as the fifth responded, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission as the sixth responded while the Attorney General of Zimbabwe is the seventh respondent. In papers filed with the Constitutional Court, the applicants contend that the prescribed nomination fees are grossly unreasonable and arbitrary to such an extent they amount to a violation of the right to stand for public office and the right to equality and non-discrimination protected under sections 67 (3)(b) and 56 of the constitution respectively. According to Statutory Instrument (SI) 144 of 2022, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, with approval of the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, hiked the nomination fees required for both the presidential and constituency Member of Parliament candidates for election by a record high 1900%, from US$1000.00 to US$20000.00 and US$50.00 to US$1000.00 respectively. Their plea is for the court to declare sections 2(a) and 2(b) of the Electoral (Nomination of Candidates) (Amendment) Regulations, 2022 (No. 1) Statutory Instrument 144 of 2022 null and void and of no force and effect. They said they want the court to order the Minister of Justice, Legal And Parliamentary Affairs and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) cited as the 1st and 2nd respondents respectively to urgently consult with the Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Minister of Finance And Economic Development, the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission and the Attorney General Of Zimbabwe who are also cited as respondents and within 24 hours, publish an amendment to the Electoral (Nomination of Candidates) (Amendment) Regulations, 2022 (No. 1) Statutory Instrument 144 of 2022 prescribing reasonable nomination fees. In the case of failure by the 1st and 2nd respondents to comply, the applicants want the court to order the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to apply the nomination fees prescribed in sections 3(1) (a) and (b) of the Electoral (Nomination of Candidates) Regulations, 2014; Statutory Instrument 153 of 2014 which prescribes US$50.00 and US$1000.00 for the prospective MP and Presidential candidates respectively. CITE Photo: SEOUL ADEX 2023. S eoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (Seoul ADEX) 2023 shall take place from October 17th to 22nd at Seoul Airport. As the largest and most comprehensive aerospace and defense event in North-east Asia, Seoul ADEX is one of the biggest events in the region. Seoul ADEX brings more opportunities for aviation enthusiasts, aerospace professionals, key defense personnel, and the public. The Seoul ADEX 2023 is hosted by KAIA (Korea Aerospace Industries Association), KDIA (Korea Defense Industries Association) and KOTRA (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency). ADEX 2023 is supported by Ministry of National Defence, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, ROK Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, DAPA (Defence Acquisition Program Administration) and Seongnam City. View the Link The High Court has appointed an interim examiner to the company that operates the Iceland chain of retail stores in the Republic. The court heard that Metron Stores Limited is insolvent and unable to pay estimated debts of 36 million as they fall due. Advertisement The firm has got into difficulties recently due to factors including a recent order served on it by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) requiring it to withdraw all imported frozen food of animal origin from its stores. However, an independent experts report has stated that the company has a reasonable prospect of survival if certain steps, including the appointment of an examiner, are taken. Mr Justice Michael Quinn on Tuesday appointed chartered accountant and insolvency expert Mr Joseph Walsh as interim examiner to Metron Stores, which operates 26 Iceland stores in the Republic of Ireland and employs over 344 people. Advertisement Petitioning the court for Mr Walsh's appointment, Ross Gorman BL for the company, which specialises in selling frozen foods and groceries, said that it had decided to seek the protection of the courts due to issues including last week's decision by the FSAI decision to serve a notice on it. Advertisement That notice required to company to withdraw and recall all imported frozen foods of animal origin from all its stores brought into Ireland since March 3rd last year. Alleged breaches of legislation Counsel said the FSAI's move was a precautionary step caused by several alleged breaches of food legislation. The company has "fully complied with the terms of the FSAI notice," Mr Gorman said, adding that his client has identified 239 products out of a full range of 3,000 items that may be in breach of EU regulations. The reason behind the alleged breaches is that the products in question were imported into the UK and then the Republic. Advertisement The only veterinary certificate in place on those items are from the UK, Mr Gorman said. In order to comply with EU regulations, the items need veterinary certification from within the EU. Had the items been imported from Northern Ireland then the issue would not have arisen, counsel said. Advertisement Mr Gorman said the company has taken steps to address the issue and obtain the appreciate certification, so the items comply with FSAI requirements. Advertisement As part of its efforts, the company has engaged with the FSAI and has identified a new Irish based supplier of frozen foods, he said. The company believes that over 25 legal actions against it, including personal injuries claims and litigations threatened and brought by some of its landlords will result in it potentially sustaining significant liabilities. Significant losses The company has suffered significant losses in the last two years, as a result of a high-cost base. Other issues that had cause the company financial problems are various employment issues, including a strike at one of its stores. Advertisement Mr Gorman said these issues have been mainly resolved. Counsel said the independent report, prepared by insolvency expert Cormac Mohan, stated that the company can continue to survive if a scheme of arrangement can be agreed between the company's creditors and if fresh investment can be secured through the examinership process. In addition, the company would also have to have leases of loss-making stores repudiated or renegotiated. Counsel said the company's main debtor it its owner and sole shareholder Project Point Technologies Limited (PPTL), which is owed 34 million. It also owes some 44 trade creditors 1.7 million, as well as over 230,000 in rates. It acquired, and then entered into a franchise agreement regarding Iceland's Irish stores from the UK company Iceland Foods Limited, earlier this year. Counsel said that since the purchase the new owners have been taking steps to address losses sustained in recent years and restructure the business. It has implemented and identified 6m in savings but is still loss making, counsel said. Counsel said that the appointment of an examiner would be in the best interests of all the relevant parties and would give the company the best opportunity of surviving. The company is also confident that it can obtain the fresh investment it requires. The matter will return before the courts in two weeks' time. A campaign has been launched to have Drogheda in Co Louth recognised as the State's latest city after census figures revealed that the greater Drogheda area has a population of over 67,000. The figure include populations from not only Drogheda, but East Meath, with the Drogheda City Status group describing it as a 'transboundary city.' Advertisement Anna McKenna, chairperson of the group, told Newstalk Breakfast that Drogheda has been neglected for years. She said that city status would serve as a welcome, if challenging, boost for the area. "It is important to acknowledge potential challenges that come with it. A transition to a city would indeed come with increased competition and the need for careful resource management, she said. "[It] would need to have the proper planning and collaboration, and that all comes with the administration and the governance. Advertisement "Until we get that, Drogheda's still going to be the hidden city, or the neglected city. Money hasn't been put in, resources haven't been put into Drogheda: there's no IDA in Drogheda, there's no State agencies in Drogheda." Advertisement Ms McKenna said giving Drogheda city status would simplify its governance. "We would have our own administration, our own governance; at the moment we're governed by two county councils - one in Meath and one in Louth. We're falling between the two stools, and it's not helping us [in] any way.We can't make our own decisions regarding anything." Ms McKenna said that a meeting was held in the Central Statistics Office on Monday in relation to how Drogheda could become a city. "One of the reasons (to make it a city) is the agglomeration of East Meath with Drogheda... they used to do that on a grid of 100 metres - now they've changed it to 250 metres, which is good for us. "If it's followed through like that, it would look as if Drogheda is going to become a city. "Then it goes to the politicians, and it's up to the political establishment to follow on," she said. If you have been listening to or reading the news lately, the Consultative Forum is probably all that you have heard about. Everything you need to know about the Forum is below. What is the Consultative Forum? The purpose of the Consultative Forum is to increase public understanding and generate discussions on our foreign, security, and defence policies. Advertisement This Forum will give Ireland a chance to look at the experiences of other European countries when introducing a new security policy. The Consultative Forum will include participation from civilians, military experts and practitioners, all with different experiences and opinions. What will be discussed? The Consultative Forum will discuss a wide range of issues, such as Irelands efforts to protect the rules-based international order through peacekeeping and crisis management, arms-control and disarmament, and non-proliferation, international humanitarian law, and conflict prevention and peace building as well as a discussion on Irelands policy of military neutrality. Advertisement In regard to Ireland's neutrality the Consultative Forum's discussion will be broad and will look at new and emerging threats, including cyber, hybrid, disinformation and threats to critical infrastructure. Advertisement The Forum will also look at our current and future engagement in European Union Common Security and Defence Policy, as well as our existing relationship with Nato through the Partnership for Peace. When and where are they on? The Consultative Forum will take place over four days in three different locations. On June 22nd, the forum will take place in University College Cork, the second day of the Forum will take place on June 23rd in University of Galway, the Forum will end in Dublin Castle on June 26th and 27th. What is the format? The format will see Louise Richardson as the Forum's chair, an Irish counterterrorism expert who now works in philanthropy. She was the former vice-chancellor of Oxford University. Advertisement Experts such as academics and researchers will hold moderated discussions at the forum, as well as military experts and civilians. Representatives from the embassies of all EU member states, including Austria, Malta and Cyprus, have been invited to attend. Likewise, representatives from Finland, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland were invited to speak as panellists because, like Ireland, they are active participants in peace building, conflict prevention and resolution, human rights and international humanitarian laws globally, but have different security policies. Advertisement Typically, this discussion would have been conducted through a Citizens Assembly, but Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin explained that the Government had chosen a Consultative Forum because two Citizens Assemblies were already planned on drugs and education. Advertisement What have politicians said about the Consultative Forum? Sinn Fein has described the Consultative Forum as a "blatant attempt to undermine Irish neutrality". Fine Gael's Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee has welcomed the Consultative Forum saying: "we might be furthest away from what's happening at the moment, that doesn't leave us immune to any threats, so I think we all want to discuss what are our capabilities, how do we defend ourselves." Social Democrats TD, Gary Gannon said he had genuine fears that there is a drift towards Nato as he said many of the Forum's speakers are "pro-Nato". Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney, said criticism of the Forum was "disappointing" and he urged people to get involved with the Consultative Forum. Advertisement Likewise, Mr Martin supports the Forum and explained how every European country has to re-examine their security policy following the war in Ukraine. He said: "To shy away from doing so or to do so behind closed doors would have been a fundamental mistake and an abrogation of responsibility." What did President Michael D Higgins say about the Consultative Forum? Advertisement In an interview with the Business Post, the President stated that Ireland is "playing with fire" and "drifting" towards Nato. He warned about moving away from Ireland's traditional policy of "positive neutrality" and he referred to the Forum's chair, Louise Richardson, as a person "with a very large DBE (Dame of British Empire)". He has since received criticism that he overstepped the line where the President does not involve himself in politics and has issued an apology for his "throwaway" comments about Louise Richardson. What will the outcome of the Consultative Forum be? Once the Consultative Forum has finished, Chief Richardson will draft a report and give it to Mr Martin, who will then decide if he will bring the recommendations to the Government or not. How can I take part? Anyone can take part in the Consultative Forum, regardless of if they are an Irish citizen or not. To attend the Forum you can register or submit an expression of interest. You can also make a submission to the public consultation. If you cannot attend in person, the forum will be live-streamed and recorded on the Gov.ie website. You do not need to have specialised knowledge to take part as the purpose of the Consultative Forum is to further everyone's understanding of these topics. A Sinn Fein TD has claimed there is a major generic fault in 11 of the operating theatres in the new National Children's Hospital. The party's health spokesperson, David Cullinane, told RTE's Morning Ireland that a source told him the generic fault has an impact on air ventilation systems. Advertisement He said the project's board has known about this situation for a year. "An external company was brought in to look at the ventilation system and warned that there were difficulties and problems. The board knew about it in May of last year. "It took 12 months for the board to act, to stop the works and to establish what they're now saying as workshops to look at the extent of the works needed to be done. "The source that I spoke to again this morning, and this is somebody at the heart of this project, tells me that this is very, very serious. Advertisement Advertisement "That it will add potentially tens of millions to the cost of the children's hospital, but also could take up to 12 months to complete the changes because what we're talking about here in terms of the operating theatres are obviously very, very sensitive theatres." Mr Cullinane added that the Government has to "come clean" about the situation. "They (the Government) can't be asleep at the wheel. It's my understanding as well that these eleven operating theatres failed the test that was carried out in March. So, for me this is an absolute disaster. For me this cannot be swept under the carpet." Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly told RTE News that it would be useful if Sinn Fein could say if their source was the contractor. Advertisement "I don't know who it is. We don't know who it is. We don't want a situation, and this may not be the case, but we don't want a situation whereby the contractor is feeding information to Sinn Fein who is then maybe inadvertently acting in a way as to undermine the position of the State. It would be very useful if Sinn Fein could clarify, not any individuals obviously, but if the source they keep referencing is in fact the contractor." Mr Donnelly said the contractor had committed to handing the hospital over to Children's Health Ireland and to the State in March of next year. He added that he expected the contractor to meet that obligation. Board statement A statement from the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board said: "There has been no material change to the design on the new childrens hospital. The potential works in the 11 operating theatres are minor works they are not on the critical path. Advertisement "The NPHDB has been aware of the potential issue since May 2022. It is being addressed in a timely and appropriate manner. "The change, if instructed to BAM, will involve the movement of 4 ceiling grilles in each of the 11 theatres. This will not cost tens of millions of Euro, as is being claimed, and is not expected to have an impact on the completion date of the hospital. "BAM has been instructed to continue works in accordance with the current design and this potential issue with be addressed at the appropriate time." The publisher of the Belfast newspaper Sunday Life is asking the High Court to strike out a defamation claim brought against it by a Sinn Fein constituency organiser. Liam Lappin, who has an address in Drumcondra, Dublin, claims he was defamed in an article published online and in print by Mediahuis UK Limited on March 1st, 2020. Advertisement A tweet the following day by former Sunday Life columnist Ruth Dudley Edwards, in which she shared the article and added a comment, also defamed him, he alleges. He has sued Mediahuis and its reporter Suzanne Breen over the article, and Ms Dudley Edwards over her subsequent tweet. On Tuesday, Mr Justice Charles Meenan reserved his decision on an application by Mediahuis and Ms Breen asking him to strike out Mr Lappins claims of defamation and injurious falsehood against them. Advertisement Mr Lappin also alleges breaches of his privacy and data protection against Mediahuis UK, but these were not part of the strike-out application. Advertisement Earlier, he was told by Mediahuis that Ms Dudley Edwards was not an employee and was tweeting from her personal account. The media groups senior counsel, Ronan Kennedy, told the judge the article in question is not about the plaintiff at all and the meaning Mr Lappin claims can be inferred from it stretches credulity. Mr Lappin, who is also a school teacher, is not named in the article, but he is in a group photograph accompanying it that Mediahuis says was taken at the 2019 Sinn Fein Newry and Armagh Christmas party. Mr Kennedy said it is not usual practice, as was suggested by the other side, to blur out the faces of individuals who are not the subject of the article. Instead, the newspaper circled in red the two with whom the reporting was concerned, he said. Advertisement The words of the article, said counsel, are not reasonably capable of bearing the meanings pleaded by Mr Lappin in his legal documents. The legal test the court must apply is whether a reasonable reader would come to the conclusion advanced by Mr Lappin. There is absolutely no reference to the plaintiff in the article, Mr Kennedy said, adding that the court must consider the article, which includes the photograph, as a whole. The claim of injurious falsehood bears no reasonable cause of action and/or is bound to fail, he submitted. Advertisement Mr Lappins senior counsel, Thomas Hogan, said the court must decide if it would be perverse for a jury to find in favour of his client based on the meaning of the article. The publisher chose to publish the photograph without pixelating the faces of those not relevant to the piece, including Mr Lappin who was front and centre in the frame, Mr Hogan said. The newspapers intention is irrelevant, he said, adding that one can incidentally defame someone but defame them nonetheless. Mr Hogan said that if his clients case is not pleaded properly he should be given an opportunity to amend the pleadings. The judge said he would give his decision at a later date. Members of the public are being asked to report any sightings of a pod of 20 whales spotted in the Waterford Estuary by marine experts. The pod of long-finned pilot whales was spotted by Wexford man, Damien Quinn who was flying a drone over the estuary at the time on Monday evening. Advertisement The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group are concerned as the most critical time for intervention is before the whales become beached and there is very little experts can do to keep them alive. The group appealed for the public to notify them of any fresh sightings off Dunmore East and Creadan Head in Waterford, Duncannon and Arthurstown in Wexford to notify them. The marine group said: We are asking members of the public and local agencies to keep a close eye on the waters from any of these sites where they were seen yesterday, Dunmore East, Creadan Head, Duncannon and Arthurstown. Advertisement As the most critical time for intervention is before they live-strand, and so if we know in advance where they are and feel that a stranding is imminent we have the option to cut them off from the shoreline and attempt to coax them to deeper and safer waters. Advertisement They added that once whales have live-stranded, it is really too late and in most circumstances, most will not survive due to their large size and bulk, with adult bulls weighing up to three tonnes. According to the IWDG the pod was in a very "tight formation and behaving in a manner suggesting they are stressed. The second largest of our oceanic dolphins, pilot whales are generally found in deeper waters off the continental shelf edge (around 1,000m), and sightings under these circumstances are often associated with mass live-stranding events. IWDG have, through the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Dublin, officially requested the assistance of the local RNLI in Dunmore East to try and encourage them back into deeper offshore water as light faded on Monday. Advertisement An initial search of the area early on Tuesday morning by a Group member resulted in no further sightings of the pod, however it is a huge area and is certainly too large for one person to cover the Group added. But for now, no news is good news and we can only hope they've made it out of the estuary into open water, where they are still a long way from their normal habitat, but at least not in any immediate danger of stranding. Comments made by President Michael D Higgins about Professor Louise Richardson were "not just ill-considered but disgraceful," according to the director of the Maynooth Centre for European Integration Studies, Prof John O'Brennan. Prof O'Brennan will be a panellist at the upcoming Consultative Forum on International Security Policy, which Prof Richardson will be chairing. Advertisement President Higgins has apologised to Prof Richardson for questioning her role and saying she was a "person with a very large DBE Dame of the British Empire." Prof O'Brennan described the "attack" as being "almost without precedent" from an Irish President. "She is a person of estimable reputation. The jibe about the British Empire just seems extraordinarily incongruous to me," Prof O'Brennan said. "I have never heard President Higgins say anything of that kind about people like Sir Bob Geldof for example or any of the other people in the arts and culture world who have received honours from the British." Advertisement Advertisement "At a stroke it also undermined all the good effort that President Michael D Higgins himself has made around British/Irish relations over the years." Neutrality Meanwhile, Prof O'Brennan said he had always been very open on his position on neutrality. "[Irish neutrality] has always been mythical. It has become something of a sacred cow over time. I have been for a long time advocating that Ireland join Nato. "We have obligations to our European partners and in my view the ostrich-like mentality that we have operated over the years is not one that can be sustained in an environment both in Europe and internationally where the security landscape has changed enormously. We have to face up to our responsibilities and our obligations." Advertisement Prof O'Brennan said it was important to emphasise that his voice was a "minority voice" at the forum. "What President Higgins did was to reduce the forum to kind of caricatures being exclusively about military security when in fact the range of topics to be discussed is vastly broader. "It includes cybersecurity, hybrid threats, threats to our critical infrastructure, threats to food security, the importance of maritime surveillance as well as peace keeping conflict resolution and a whole panoply of other things.What his comments did was to at a stroke almost delegitimise the work of the forum before it had begun." He questioned whether it was appropriate for the President to make remarks of the kind he communicated to the Sunday Business Post. "Imagine a context for example where he was advocating in favour of joining Nato. There would be outrage throughout the country." A senior nurse has appeared before a fitness-to-practise inquiry over her failure to properly assess a resident of a care home who had fallen in a bathroom which meant he went six days untreated with a broken hip. The inquiry heard that the nurse, Patricia Lloyd, had also not informed the residents family, his GP and his occupational therapist as well as her own managers about the incident in which he fell while going to the toilet. Advertisement Ms Lloyd, a registered intellectual disability nurse, made admissions in relation to six allegations over her conduct while working as a clinical nurse manager at Galtee View House in Ballylanders, Co Limerick five years ago. The centre, which is operated by St Josephs Foundation, is a 10-bed residential care unit for people with intellectual disabilities. Advertisement The inquiry by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland heard that Ms Lloyd had failed to carry out a full assessment of a resident who had fallen while going to the toilet on New Years Day in 2018. The NMBIs fitness to practise committee was informed that the resident was a man in his 50s with Down syndrome who also suffered from dementia and severe intellectual disabilities. Advertisement It heard that the resident suffered a fall while in the bathroom while he was being attended by a care assistant. Counsel for the NMBI, Eoghan OSullivan BL, said other staff including Ms Lloyd, who was the nurse in charge, were alerted to the incident. He claimed the nurse had closed an incident report on what happened on the same day which had the consequence of the incident not being escalated. Effectively there was very little done or recorded after the fall, said Mr OSullivan. Advertisement He said some other nurses were made aware at the end of Ms Lloyds shift that day about what had happened but had not been given the expected level of detail in nursing notes. The inquiry heard that although the resident had shown no obvious signs of an injury, he had spent the next six days in a wheelchair. Advertisement Mr OSullivan said the resident was not able to vocalise his feelings or if he was in any pain. However, he said there was a noticeable change in the man the following day when he became more agitated and vocal and was not himself. Advertisement Mr OSullivan said concern about the residents condition was raised on January 6, 2018 by a care assistant with another nurse which resulted in him being brought to hospital by ambulance where a suspected broken hip was confirmed. Although there was no official falls policy in place at Galtee View House at the time, Mr OSullivan said Ms Lloyd had still not conducted appropriate observations of the resident after his fall. He said this had resulted in the delay of six days in diagnosing the fracture of his hip which had caused him distress, discomfort and pain. In a statement, the care assistant who was with the man at the time of his fall said he was crying and screaming about one hour after the incident. Advertisement The barrister said the nurse should have made everyone aware of the fall so that the resident could have been monitored. He said the mans family doctor who visited him on January 3, 2018 was not told about the fall. Advertisement Mr OSullivan said Ms Lloyd has mistakenly attributed the mans decreased mobility and his increased distress to his dementia and low sodium levels. The inquiry heard that the nurse had not regarded the fall as a significant incident because he did not seem to have any injuries. She told managers who reviewed the incident that the resident did not seem distressed and was able to stand up without any assistance after the fall. Ms Lloyd also faced an allegation that she retrospectively documented the incident in the centres nursing notes without clearly identifying that they were being made retrospectively. Mr OSullivan claimed the allegations amounted to poor professional performance as well as breaches of the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives. It is not an inquiry about the fall but the management of the fall, said Mr OSullivan. He acknowledged that the admissions made by Ms Lloyd, who has been a registered nurse since 2007, had removed the need for the NMBI to call 15 witnesses. Counsel for Ms Lloyd, Matthew Jolley BL, said his client had apologised for the mistake she had made for which she would be eternally sorry. Mr Jolley said the nurse had followed a flawed logic in relation to the incident. Pleading for leniency, he said the nurse had an otherwise impeccable history of work before and after the incident. The inquiry heard that she was suspended for a period of around eight months by St Josephs Foundation and ultimately resigned her position at Galtee View House. Mr Jolley said Ms Lloyd had questioned her ongoing employment as a nurse as a result of what happened and she feared the consequences of the current inquiry. The inquirys chairperson, Anne-Marie Duffy said the committee would deliver its findings in due course. The increased cost of living is making it more difficult for women to leave homes where they are being abused with Women's Aid indicating that more people than ever are reaching out for help from its frontline services. The Womens Aid Annual Impact Report 2022 outlines 31,229 contacts with its National Freephone Helpline and Regional Face-to-Face services, a 16 percent increase on last year and the highest number ever recorded. Advertisement During these contacts 33,990 disclosures of domestic abuse were made, including 5,412 reports of abuse of children. Womens Aid also recorded the names of twelve women who had their lives stolen in violent circumstances. Sarah Benson, Chief Executive of Womens Aid, told Morning Ireland on RTE Radio 1 that the cost of living and housing crises exacerbate the toll on women and families affected. Advertisement "If you don't have the means to go somewhere it is very difficult to leave. We also often don't focus on economic abuse itself as a tactic within domestic violence. That can be an incredibly effective tool if you combine the two. The fact that that somebody may be economically abused, that they may not have access to their own income, they may have been coerced in to leaving their job and then you have the housing crisis. Advertisement One of the areas that does need attention is we talk about domestic violent refuges -- they are important but they are short term emergency accommodation. Our housing for all strategy needs to be far more integrated and documented to look at the needs for domestic violence survivors." The Womens Aid report stresses that, while it is encouraging and important that more women are speaking up and reaching out for support, every system they are accessing are creaking at the seams. This includes specialist frontline services, specialist accommodation provision and the family and criminal law systems. Ms Benson says the promised reforms in the governments Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence "cannot come quickly enough" and must be properly resourced to avoid failure. Advertisement Our Annual Impact Report 2022 is a harrowing reminder of the levels of violence and abuse in homes and relationships in Ireland. While our figures are shocking, we know that they are only the tip of an enormous iceberg. Advertisement One in four women in Ireland are subjected to domestic abuse. We know that so many women suffer alone, in silence and without specialist support. Behind our figures released today are real women and families whose lives have been devastated by the scourge of male violence. Women who are trying to protect and keep themselves and their children safe in the face of unrelenting pressures." Ms Benson said that women told them that their partners or ex partners were subjecting them to a broad and brutal pattern of abuse. "Women reported assaults with weapons; constant surveillance and monitoring; relentless put downs and humiliations; the taking and sharing of intimate images online, complete control over all family finances; sexual assault, rape, and being threatened with theirs or their childrens lives. The impacts on these women were chilling and ranged from exhaustion, isolation, and hopelessness; to being brutalised and wounded, suffering miscarriages, poverty, feeling a loss of identity and suicide ideation, hypervigilance; and homelessness. Advertisement Advertisement Ms Benson said that aside from the horrific and often long-lasting impacts of domestic abuse, victims/survivors often face many other challenges. "The court systems, and in particular, the District courts are under pressure, creating lengthy, protracted, and traumatising delays for women involved in legal proceedings. We are aware that post-separation abuse is a significant issue that is often played out in family law courts. Last year alone, 26 percent of women in contact with us were being abused by a former partner. Ms Benson said that the Government has now completed year one of the Third National Domestic Sexual and Gender Based Violence Strategy. Advertisement "For the first time ever, the government has structured its strategy around the four key components that will help truly eradicate male violence against women: prevention, protection, prosecution, and policy co-ordination. Progress has been made towards setting up a new dedicated Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence agency, to begin improvements to the family law system, to review school curriculum to include reference to consent and healthy relationships, to introduce stalking and non-fatal strangulation legislation and a law has now passed for statutory paid domestic violence leave for employees. There have been welcome increased resources for vital specialist domestic violence services but these are coming from a baseline of historic neglect. Advertisement This is all excellent progress but still much to be done to ensure correct implementation and enforcement of these measures. It will require focus, co-ordination and - crucially continued investment from Government to see the ambitions of the Strategy realised. Ms Benson added that 2022 was a year of "horrific violence" against women, in their homes and on our streets with twelve womens lives ended by violence. "The recent Independent study on Familicide and Domestic Violence Deaths provides a ground-breaking roadmap to help prevent future domestic violence deaths. Rapid implementation of legislative change is needed to facilitate real and meaningful actions to support bereaved families and to establish a system of domestic violence death reviews, such as are in place in other jurisdictions including Northern Ireland. These changes require a whole of Government approach and should not be dispersed across different departments without a coordinated plan. We must get this right to honour the many lives that have been lost in such circumstances, and to honour their loved ones left behind. We must give ourselves the tools to learn from the past so we can do better in the future to prevent such deaths. Women's Aid can be contacted on 1800 341 900. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Ukraine's forces were destroying Russian forces in the two main theatres of the conflict, the east and south of the country. "At this time, our soldiers in the south and east are actively destroying the enemy, physically cleansing Ukraine," Mr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video message. Advertisement "A defence against terror means destroying terrorists. And it is a guarantee that the state of evil will never have the opportunity to bring evil to Ukraine." Referring to a conference to take place in London on post-war recovery, Mr Zelenskiy said rebuilding Ukraine was "a vehicle and a guarantee of security" and a means of "protecting against any repetition of Russian aggression. Advertisement Pope Francis has held talks with Cubas president, in his first full week back at the Vatican following abdominal surgery. A brief statement from the Holy See about the pontiffs private meeting with Miguel Diaz-Canel on Tuesday gave no details about what the two men discussed. Advertisement But it mentioned the importance of the diplomatic relations between the Holy See, evoking among other things the historic visit of St John Paul II in 1998, during a subsequent meeting with the Vaticans Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Swiss guards march before the arrival of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel at The Vatican for a meeting with Pope Francis. Photo: Domenico Stinellis/AP. The prelate and the Cuban leader also discussed the communist-led Caribbean nations situation and the contribution that the Church offers, especially in the sphere of charity, the statement said. Advertisement Cuba has been struggling through an economic crisis. Francis visited Cuba in 2015, as part of the Vaticans drive to encourage better international relations. That quest included John Paul IIs 1998 papal pilgrimage, the first-ever by a pontiff, to Cuba. Advertisement Cardinal Parolin and Mr Diaz-Canel also discussed some international themes of reciprocal interest, but the Vatican did not specify which ones. The importance of continuing the commitment to always favour the common good was also stressed, the Holy See said. Advertisement Doctors have urged 86-year-old Francis to pace himself as he recovers from surgery on June 7 to repair a hernia and remove painful scarring from previous operations. Heeding their advice, the Pope will not hold his traditional Wednesday morning audience with pilgrims and tourists in St Peters Square this week. The weekly appointments in past summers have been suspended for the month of July, in deference to hot weather and to give the pontiff a bit of a break. Advertisement Members of the Cuban community in Italy protest at President Miguel Diaz-Canels visit to the Vatican. Photo: Domenico Stinellis/AP. At the far end of a boulevard that leads to St Peters Square, a handful of protesters demonstrated against Francis receiving the Cuban leader. They held placards demanding human rights be respected in Cuba and for the release of political prisoners there. Earlier this year, a papal envoy to Cuba pressed Cuban authorities to release Cubans who had been jailed and grant amnesty to those sentenced for participating in protests on the island in 2021. St John Paul II used his pilgrimage to Cuba to encourage the nation to open itself more fully to the world and for other nations to reciprocate. Advertisement The Vatican in general expresses scepticism regarding economic sanctions, such as those applied by US administrations against Cuba. Trade, climate change and the war in Ukraine are on the agenda as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz holds talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who is on his first foreign trip since taking office. Tuesdays meeting in Berlin is the seventh time Germany and China have held high-level government consultations and comes a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, indicating an effort by Beijing to reach out to the West and improve frosty relations. Advertisement On Monday, Mr Li, a former Communist Party secretary for Shanghai who became Chinas No 2 official in March, met German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and had dinner with Mr Scholz at the Chancellery before the start of formal talks. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, centre, awaits the arrival of Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Berlin (Markus Schreiber/AP) Advertisement Germany is keen to maintain good ties with China, its biggest trading partner, despite wariness over Beijings growing assertiveness and refusal to criticize the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Advertisement Germanys recently published national security strategy describes China as a partner, competitor and systemic rival. Mr Scholz has said he wants to avoid over-reliance on Chinese trade and diversify Germanys supply of key goods an approach he called de-risking while rejecting the idea of decoupling from China. The position was echoed last month by the Group of Seven leading industrial powers, most of which are heavily dependent on trade with China. Nevertheless, Germany has acknowledged that major global problems such as climate change can only be resolved together with China, and the official motto of Tuesdays meeting is Acting sustainably together. Advertisement Chinese Premier Li Qiangs visit to Berlin is his first foreign trip since taking office in March (Markus Schreiber) Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wengbin said last week that the choice of Germany as Mr Lis first stop fully reflects the high importance China attaches to China-Germany relations. He said China looks forward to sending positive signals to the world to strengthen dialogue and co-operation and joining to address challenges so as to promote the prosperity and development of the world economy. Advertisement After visiting the European Unions biggest economy, Mr Li will travel to France the second-biggest where he will attend the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, which is being held at French President Emmanuel Macrons initiative. Germany pressed China to lean harder on Russia over its war in Ukraine on Tuesday, while leaders from both countries pledged to work together to combat climate change as two of the worlds biggest carbon dioxide emitters. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and about half of his Cabinet hosted a delegation led by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, making his first foreign trip since becoming Chinas No 2 official in March, as the two nations held high-level government talks for the seventh time. Advertisement The meeting in Berlin came a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, indicating an effort by Beijing to reach out to the West and improve frosty relations. Chinese Premier Li Qiangs visit to Berlin is his first foreign trip since taking office in March (Markus Schreiber/AP) Advertisement Germany is keen to maintain good ties with China, its biggest trading partner, despite wariness over Beijings growing assertiveness and refusal to criticise the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Advertisement Germanys recently published national security strategy describes China as a partner, competitor and systemic rival. Mr Scholz called on the Chinese delegation to do more to persuade Russia to end the war in Ukraine. I appealed again to the Chinese government to exert its influence even more strongly on Russia in this war, he said, standing alongside Mr Li. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China carries a very special duty here. It is important that China continues not to deliver weapons to the aggressor, Russia. Advertisement Mr Scholz added that he is thankful China continues to make clear there must be no threat to use nuclear weapons. Mr Li did not respond directly or mention Ukraine in his statement, and the two leaders took no questions. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Chinese Premier Li Qiang agreed to set up a climate and transformation dialogue (Kay Nietfeld/dpa/AP) Advertisement Germany and China agreed at Tuesdays meeting to set up a climate and transformation dialogue to find ways to make industrial processes more climate-friendly and speed up the transition to renewable energy sources. Advertisement Mr Scholz pointed to extreme weather events such as droughts in China and floods in Germany to illustrate the importance of action. As major emitters of CO2, Germany and China bear particular responsibility in the fight against climate change, he told reporters. We will face this responsibility together. Mr Li said that dealing with climate change should become an important field of co-operation for both sides. Advertisement Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed Chinese Premier Li Qiang to Germany with full military honours (Michael Kappeler/dpa/AP) The Chinese premier emphasised trade and economic issues in his comments. Deglobalisation is flaring up again and the global economy is lacking growth dynamics, he said, according to an interpreter. He added that China places great value on the development of relations with Germany and Europe. After visiting the European Unions biggest economy, Mr Li will travel to France the second-biggest where he will attend the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, which is being held at French President Emmanuel Macrons initiative. Mr Scholz has said he wants to avoid over-reliance on Chinese trade and diversify Germanys supply of key goods an approach he calls de-risking. He said he reassured Mr Li that we have interest in an economic decoupling from China. Advertisement That position was echoed last month by the Group of Seven leading industrial powers. He noted that access to the Chinese market and fair competition conditions for German and other foreign companies in China remain a challenge, on which we are pushing for concrete improvements. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and about half of his Cabinet hosted a delegation led by Chinese Premier Li Qiang (Kay Nietfeld/dpa/AP) As Mr Scholz and Mr Li met, German security officials warned of the continued danger posed by Chinese espionage. A report by the BfV domestic intelligence agency, published on Tuesday, notes that Chinas Ministry of State Security is actively trying to obtain information on areas of political, economic and scientific interest to Beijing, as well as on Chinese dissidents in Germany. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the country is also examining the potential risks from the use of telecommunications equipment made by Chinese company Huawei in Germanys 5G networks. This inquiry will be completed in the summer and then we will provide an assessment, she said, adding that this could result in Huawei equipment having to be removed. Nine men suspected of crewing a migrant-smuggling ship that sank off Greece, leaving more than 500 missing, appeared in court on Tuesday for questioning. Their court appearance came as new accounts emerged on the sinking and the appalling conditions on the trip from Libya towards Italy. Advertisement The Egyptian men face charges that include participation in a criminal organisation, manslaughter and causing a shipwreck. The hearing took place in Greeces southern city of Kalamata. Only 104 men and youths Egyptians, Pakistanis, Syrians and Palestinians survived one of the worst migrant shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea early on June 14. Sohaib Asghar, centre, waits at the turnstiles and speaks to survivors in Malakasa (Petros Giannakouris/AP) Advertisement Eighty-two bodies have been recovered, the last on Tuesday, as a large search continued for a seventh day. Advertisement Survivors said women and children were trapped in the hold as the ship capsized and sank within minutes, to one of the deepest spots in the Mediterranean. New survivor accounts emerged on Tuesday confirming that about 750 people paid thousands of pounds each for a berth on the battered blue fishing trawler, seeking a better life in Europe. In sworn statements provided over the weekend, and seen by The Associated Press, survivors described shocking conditions on the five-day journey. Advertisement Most of the passengers were denied food and water, and those who could not bribe the crew to get out of the hold were beaten if they tried to reach deck level. The statements also echoed previous accounts that the steel-hulled trawler sank in calm seas during a botched attempt to tow it. This clashes with the Greek coast guards insistence that neither its patrol boat that escorted the trawler in its last hours nor any other vessel attached a tow rope. The Greek ship cast a rope and it was tied to our bows, survivor Abdul Rahman Alhaz said in his sworn statement. Advertisement Syrian survivor Fedi, 18, right, is reunited with his brother Mohammad, who came from Italy to meet him, in Kalamata (John Liakos/InTime News/AP) Advertisement Then we moved forward, but not for more than two minutes. We shouted stop, stop because our boat was listing. (It) was in bad shape and overloaded, and shouldnt have been towed. Alhaz, 24, a Palestinian from Syria, said he paid 4,000 dollars (3,000) to board the ship at Tobruk in eastern Libya. Advertisement He said the people in charge on the trawler were all Egyptians, and recognised seven men from pictures Greek authorities showed him. Most of the Pakistanis were in the hold, and were lost with the boat, he said. One of the crew had told me there were more than 400 Pakistanis on the boat, and only 11 were saved. These did not include the wife and two children of Rana Husnain Neseer, 23, who were in the hold. Mr Neseer himself, who said he paid 7,000 euros (6,000) for the trip, travelled on deck. About 750 people were on board, he said. (The crew) didnt give us food or water, and hit us with a belt to keep us from standing up. He said other passengers told him that a tow line was attached by a big ship just before the sinking. He did not see that as I was bent low and praying. Advertisement But he felt the vessel sharply list. We all went to the other side to balance it, which made our boat tilt in the other direction and sink, added Mr Neseer, who recognised four of the survivors as crew members. Fellow Pakistani Azmat Khan Muhammad Salihu, 36, identified three men, including one who hit him when he tried to leave the hold, and one who struck passengers with a belt. Being in the hold, he had no first-hand account of why the ship sank and said there were no women and children in his section below decks. I was saved because I found an opening and got out, his statement said. I called to the others to follow me but nobody managed to escape. Greece has been widely criticised for not trying to save the migrants before the sinking in international waters. Officials in Athens say the passengers refused any help and insisted on proceeding to Italy, adding that it would have been too dangerous to try to evacuate hundreds of unwilling people off an overcrowded ship. Asked about the incident as World Refugee Day was marked across the globe on Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: It is horrible, what happened, and the more urgent is that we act. Advertisement Ms Von der Leyen said the EU should help African countries like Tunisia, where many migrants leave for Europe, to stabilise their economies, as well as finalise a long-awaited reform of the EUs asylum rules. She did not, however, mention Libya, from where the doomed trawler and many similarly overloaded Europe-bound boats depart across the particularly dangerous Mediterranean migration route. More than 110 million people are displaced around the world. On #WorldRefugeeDay, we reiterate the EU's commitment to improve the situation of millions of refugees caught up in conflicts or major humanitarian crises. Joint statement with HR/VP @JosepBorrellF European Commission (@EU_Commission) June 20, 2023 Five other human smuggling suspects were arrested in Pakistan this week and some allegedly confessed to sending some of the Pakistanis who were on the trawler, officials in Islamabad said. Relatives of at least 124 people in Pakistan have contacted authorities to find out about missing loved ones believed to have been on the trawler, the officials said. The full details of the sinking remain unclear. Photos and videos from before the sinking show people crammed on all available open spaces of the trawler. One survivor, Ali Sheikhi from the northeast Syrian town of Kobani, told Kurdish TV news channel Rudaw that the smugglers did not allow life jackets and threw whatever food the passengers had into the sea. Advertisement Speaking on Sunday phone from a closed reception centre near Athens where survivors were taken, Mr Sheikhi said he was directed to the hold but paid the smugglers to go out on to deck. By the time the ship sank they had been at sea for five days. Water ran out after a day and a half, and he said some passengers resorted to drinking seawater. Mr Sheikhi also said the trawler went down after its engine broke down and another vessel tried to tow it. In the pulling, (the trawler) sank, he said. Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man in fighting in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said, as the death toll from clashes earlier in the city of Jenin rose to six. The fatalities were the latest in a surge of violence that has wracked the region. Advertisement The Palestinian Health Ministry said late on Monday that 21-year-old Zakaria al-Zaoul was shot in the head in the town of Husan, west of Bethlehem. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that he was killed during clashes with the military. The Israeli military said a suspect threw a firebomb at troops stationed along a West Bank highway near Husan. The troops responded with live fire and confirmed a hit, the army said. Palestinians take cover during clashes between Israeli forces and militants in the West Bank city of Jenin (Majdi Mohammed/AP) Advertisement Advertisement Israel and the Palestinians have been gripped by months of violence, focused mainly in the West Bank, where at least 126 Palestinians have been killed this year. Monday saw one of the fiercest days of fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants near the northern West Bank city of Jenin. The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Tuesday that 48-year-old Amjad Abu Jaas had succumbed to wounds suffered in the gun battle. Advertisement His death took to six the number of Palestinians killed in Mondays fighting, with more than 90 others injured. Eight Israeli soldiers were also wounded, according to the army. The fighting saw Israel use helicopter gunships in the West Bank for the first time in several years, and Palestinian militants detonated a large roadside bomb under an Israeli armoured vehicle. Smoke rises during fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in the West Bank city of Jenin (Majdi Mohammed/AP) Advertisement Israel has been staging near-nightly raids in the West Bank in response to a spasm of Palestinian violence early last year. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have surged during that time. Israel says most of the Palestinian dead were militants, but stone-throwing youths protesting at the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killed. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed at least 20 people this year. Advertisement Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinians seek those territories for a future independent state. Lawyer John Eastman, the architect of a legal strategy aimed at keeping former US president Donald Trump in power, concocted a baseless theory and made false claims of fraud in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election, a prosecutor said Tuesday in arguing that Eastman be disbarred. Eastmans lawyer said his client never intended to steal the election, but was considering ways to delay electoral-vote counting so states could investigate allegations of voting improprieties. Advertisement Mr Trumps claims of fraud were roundly rejected by courts, including by judges the Republican appointed. Eastman faces 11 disciplinary charges in the State Bar Court of California stemming from his development of a dubious legal strategy aimed at having vice president Mike Pence interfere with the certification of President Joe Bidens victory. If the court finds Eastman culpable of the alleged violations it can recommend a punishment such as suspending or revoking his law licence. The California supreme court makes the final decision. Advertisement John Eastman, left, as former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani speaks at a rally in support of Donald Trump called the Save America Rally (Jacquelyn Martin/AP) Advertisement Duncan Carling of the office of chief trial counsel, which is seeking Eastmans disbarment, said Eastmans legal theory was unsupported by historical precedent and law and contrary to our values as a nation. Eastman continued his efforts to undermine the election even after state and federal officials publicly rejected Trump allies claims of fraud, Mr Carling said. All of his misconduct was done with one singular purpose, to obstruct the electoral count on January 6 and stop vice president Pence from certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the election, Mr Carling said. Advertisement He was fully aware in real time that his plan was damaging the nation, he added. Eastmans lawyer, Randall A. Miller, told the judge that Eastman was not there to steal the election or invent ways to make president Trump the winner. Miller said Eastman was merely engaging in what he said was a serious debate at the time about what authority the vice president had concerning the certification of the election. The facts will show that the purpose of D. Eastmans eventual assessment here was to delay, to delay the counting of the electoral votes so that there could be reasonable investigation undertaken by those states, he said. Advertisement Advertisement The proceedings are expected to last at least eight days. The California State Bar is a regulatory agency and the only court system in the US that is dedicated to lawyer discipline. Eastman is expected to testify later on Tuesday. Eastmans disciplinary hearing comes as special counsel Jack Smith continues his investigation into efforts by Mr Trump and his Republican allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Advertisement Rishi Sunak believes the saga over Boris Johnsons partygate lies to MPs is now over as a UK Cabinet minister called for an end to the Tory civil war. The British prime minister, who did not vote on Monday as MPs backed the findings of the report into Mr Johnsons conduct, respects the decision of the House, Downing Street said. Advertisement Mr Sunak blamed a diary clash for his absence from the Commons and has declined to give his opinion on the scathing report by the Privileges Committee on his predecessor. Advertisement Asked whether Mr Sunak believes his predecessor did mislead the House, the UK prime ministers official spokesman said: He respects the decision the House has come to, this follows extensive work by the committee. But beyond that I dont have anything more to add. Advertisement Asked whether the prime minister thought the matter was now closed, the spokesman said: Yes. The UK government is seeking to draw a line under the row, which has seen Johnson loyalists warning that Tory MPs could face deselection by their local Conservative associations if they backed the finding that the former prime minister deliberately misled the Commons. Work and pensions Secretary Mel Stride said on Monday that the caravan has got to move on from the former prime minister after the Commons overwhelmingly backed the sanctions against him. Advertisement But Mr Sunak was accused of a cowardly cop-out by the Liberal Democrats for avoiding the vote which saw MPs overwhelmingly endorse the committees report. The British prime minister was accused by Labour of being too weak to stand up to his predecessor, who still commands a fan base among Conservative voters. Mr Stride said Mr Sunak had been busy with long-standing events including hosting his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, on Monday and did not want to exert pressure on colleagues. Advertisement Rishi Sunak is under pressure after dodging the vote (Susannah Ireland/PA) The work and pensions Secretary told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I dont think it is odd that he should be in a position before a vote which is a free vote in which he has made clear it is for the House to decide on these matters. Advertisement I dont think its odd that under those circumstances he wouldnt want to weigh in and start suggesting a particular course of action. Mr Stride told Times Radio that he totally accepts the committees findings and defended it from attacks, saying its members acted with absolute integrity and diligence. Advertisement But he said that he abstained because the 90-day suspension that would have been recommended if Mr Johnson had not resigned in anticipation of the findings made him feel quite uneasy. My hope is that Boris Johnson, the current Cabinet that we can all row together now and focus on what people really care about, he added. Mel Stride defended the Prime Minister (Victoria Jones/PA) Only seven MPs voted against the report, with even some of Mr Johnsons staunchest allies abstaining. But the vote has deepened the tensions with the Tory party, which have seen the former prime minister openly criticising Mr Sunak. Much of the UK government payroll did not take part in the vote but some Cabinet ministers including Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk chose to support it. Joy Morrissey, who was appointed assistant whip by Mr Johnson and continues to hold the role under Mr Sunak, said she joined those voting against the deeply flawed report. Advertisement This report with all its flaws risks a chilling impact on the rights of parliamentarians and I felt I needed to make a stand against that. It sets precedents that will last long and reach deep, she wrote on her website. Mr Johnson will be denied the pass to Parliament usually granted to former MPs after the sanction recommended by the cross-party committee was endorsed by 354 votes. Mr Stride said that Mr Johnson is in a difficult situation, adding to Today: I think really the caravan has got to move on from Boris Johnson, with respect. But a row continues over Mr Johnsons resignation honours list after a video emerged of a mid-lockdown party at Conservative Campaign Headquarters attended by Tory politician Shaun Bailey. Senior Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood said the former London mayoral candidate should reconsider the peerage handed to him by the former prime minister. The former minister told Today that there are big questions surrounding it, adding: Absolutely he needs to consider that, if Im frank. Mr Stride suggested there could be a way to remove Mr Baileys peerage if the Metropolitan Police come to a damning conclusion about the event in December 2020. There are then mechanisms involving the Forfeiture Committee that can lead to changes to honours that have been given in the past. But I dont want to start pre-judging that process, he told Today. However, the Forfeiture Committee deals with honours such as knighthoods rather than peerages, which can only be removed by an act of Parliament. Ukrainian air defences downed 32 of 35 Shahed exploding drones launched by Russia early on Tuesday, most of them around Kyiv, officials said, in a bombardment that exposed gaps in the countrys air protection. Russian forces mostly targeted the region around the Ukrainian capital in a night-time attack lasting around three hours, officials said, but Ukrainian air defences in the area shot down about two dozen of them. Advertisement The attack was part of a wider bombardment of Ukrainian regions which extended as far as the Lviv region in the west of the country, near Poland. Ukrainian marines prepare anti-aircraft machine gun positions on the outskirts of Avdiivka (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP) The Shahed drones made it all the way to Lviv because of the inability of air defence assets to cover such a broad area, said Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat. Advertisement Advertisement Air defence systems are mostly dedicated to protecting major cities, key infrastructure facilities, including nuclear power plants, and the front line, he added. There is a general lack of air defence assets to cover a country like Ukraine with a dome like Israel has, he said, in a reference to Israels Iron Dome aerial defence system. In the Lviv region, the Russian strike hit a critical infrastructure facility, starting a fire, according to Lviv Governor Maksym Kozytskyi. Russia also struck the southern Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine with ballistic missiles. Advertisement Russia attacked the Zaporizhzhia region, where Europes largest nuclear power plant is located, with ballistic missiles (Kateryna Klochko/AP) Ukraines air defences have been reinforced with sophisticated weapons from its Western allies, allowing it a higher success rate recently against incoming drones and missiles. Previously, winter bombardment by Russia damaged Ukraines power supply, though speedy repairs blunted that effort. Advertisement The latest aerial assaults behind Ukraines front line coincided with the early stages of a Ukrainian counter-offensive, as it aims to dislodge the Kremlins forces from territory occupied since Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022. The counter-offensive has come up against heavily mined terrain and reinforced defensive fortifications, according to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraines armed forces. Advertisement Russia has also mustered a large number of reserves, he said in a post accompanying a video of him visiting frontline positions with other senior officers. Despite the fierce resistance of the occupiers, our soldiers are doing everything possible to liberate Ukrainian territory. The operation continues as planned, his post said. Advertisement A Ukrainian marine from 35th brigade walks to his position on the outskirts of Avdiivka (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP) Heavy battles are also taking place in eastern Ukraine, around Bakhmut, Lyman, Avdiivka and Marinka, the Ukrainian armed forces said. Russia shelled 15 cities and villages in the eastern Donetsk region, wounding five civilians, including three in Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut, according to Ukraines presidential office. In other developments, Russias Foreign Intelligence Service, known by its acronym SVR, invited Ukrainian diplomats stationed abroad to go to Russia with their families to avoid returning to Ukraine. It claimed many Ukrainian diplomats are unwilling to return home after their tours and want refugee status in the European Union and Asian countries where they worked. Meanwhile, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu alleged that Ukraine plans to use US-made Himars and UK-provided Storm Shadow missiles to attack Russian territory, including the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula. He warned that using those missiles on targets outside the current war zone would trigger immediate strikes on the decision-making centres on the territory of Ukraine, but did not elaborate. Rescue teams are searching for a British billionaire and four others who went missing on a deep-sea vessel near the wreck site of the Titanic ocean liner. The US Coast Guard is leading the search for the small craft, named Titan, which was reported overdue about 435 miles south of St Johns in Newfoundland, Canada, on Sunday evening. Advertisement British billionaire Hamish Harding, chairman of private plane firm Action Aviation, has been named as one of the people on board. The Titans dive on Sunday is one of many that have been made to the wreck, which is about 2.4 miles below the surface, by OceanGate Expeditions since 2021. Advertisement Here, we sum up what we know so far. What do we know about Hamish Harding? On social media at the weekend, the billionaire said he was proud to finally announce he would be aboard the mission to the wreck of the Titanic. Advertisement But he added that due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. He continued: A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. Advertisement We started steaming from St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do. Mr Harding holds three Guinness World Records, for longest duration and distance traversed at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel, and fastest circumnavigation via both poles by aeroplane. Two of these feats were achieved by Mr Harding and fellow explorer Victor Vescovo when they dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench the deepest part of the ocean in a two-person submergence vehicle in March 2021. Advertisement Hamish Harding is one of five people on board. Photo: Dirty Dozen Productions/PA In July 2019, Mr Harding was part of a team that achieved the fastest circumnavigation of Earth via both geographic poles by plane with a time of 46 hours, 40 minutes and 22 seconds. In June last year, he travelled to space as a tourist with fellow billionaire Jeff Bezoss Blue Origin company. Advertisement His cousin, Kathleen Cosnett, told The Daily Telegraph she saw Mr Harding as daring and inquisitive, and that she was devastated to learn he was missing. Who else was on board? Advertisement Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman Dawood have been named as two of the other people on the submersible by their family. A Dawood family statement obtained by CNN said: As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available. We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time. The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members. Mr Dawood is the vice chairman of Pakistani conglomerate Engro Corporation, which was founded as a fertiliser business, and, according to the companys website, a board member of the Kings charity, Princes Trust International. It is understood the Dawood family, who live in Surbiton, southwest London, are in Canada for a month. French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet and chief executive and founder of OceanGate Expeditions Stockton Rush are also on the vessel, according to reports. What do we know about the rescue? In a press conference on Monday, Rear Admiral John W Mauger of the US Coast Guard said they are doing everything they can to find the submersible, saying it has one pilot and four mission operators aboard. Advertisement The Polar Prince expedition ship is searching for the missing vessel (Dirty Dozen Productions/PA) He said they were conducting a search 900 miles east of Cape Cod in collaboration with the Canadian armed forces and commercial vessels in the area. It is a remote area and a challenge, but we are deploying all available assets to make sure we can locate the craft and rescue the people onboard, he said. Rescuers have until Thursday before oxygen runs out on the vessel. What is the latest on their condition? A distress signal from the submarine has been sent out, according to oceanologist Dr Simon Boxall of the University of Southampton. He told PA: This is second-hand knowledge but my understanding is that they have received a signal from the submarine. You cant use radios underwater. You rely totally on pings. What they have is really limited communication. Apparently they have had, and I dont know when they have had an emergency ping saying the vessel is in distress. I dont know if that is automatically generated or generated by people on board. It could be that the vessel is lost already or it could be automatic. He said he did not know when the message was transmitted. What problems could rescuers face? Dr Boxall said rescuers would have to first locate the submarine which is not a trivial ask as it could be as much as 4km deep, while the boat is beyond the reach of helicopters. Advertisement Very few vessels can reach the sort of depths that may be needed to carry out a successful rescue mission, he added on GB News. If the submarine is found, crews would then have to work out how to get it to the surface. The worst scenario would be if the hull was crushed, he added. What kind of vessel was it? The 6.7m (22ft) craft weighs 10,432kg and is capable of diving to depths of 4,000m with a comfortable safety margin, according to operator OceanGate. In a May 2021 court filing, OceanGate said the Titan had an unparalleled safety feature that assesses the integrity of the hull throughout every dive. At the time of the filing, Titan had undergone more than 50 test dives, including to the equivalent depth of the Titanic, in deep waters off the Bahamas and in a pressure chamber, the company said. During its 2022 expedition, OceanGate reported that the submersible had a battery issue on its first dive and had to be manually attached to its lifting platform, according to a November court filing. What was the boats mission? The goal of OceanGates expeditions has been to chronicle the Titanics deterioration as well as the underwater ecosystem that shipwrecks often spawn. What is left of the Titanic is slowly succumbing to metal-eating bacteria that consume hundreds of pounds of iron a day. Advertisement Holes pervade the wreckage while the crows nest is already gone. Some have predicted the ship could vanish in a matter of decades as holes yawn in the hull and sections disintegrate. The company outfitted the Titan with high-definition cameras and multi-beam sonar equipment. Charting the wrecks decomposition can help scientists predict the fate of other deep-sea wrecks, including those that sank during the world wars. Another focus is the sea life as hundreds of species have only been seen at the wreck. What are the common misconceptions about the operation? Dr Boxall said one common misconception is that people will get decompression sickness, commonly nicknamed the bends, if the boat moves up too quickly. He told PA that those on board would not suffer ill-effects because the boat is at atmospheric pressure. He also said it is a mistake to believe passengers could use escape hatches because if they did they would be crushed. He added on GB News that the boat is not above the surface because if this was the case crews would be able to use radios. The shock collapse of popular wedding dress boutique The Bridal Atelier has left brides-to-be across Australia stranded without their dresses, and liquidators of the company say its unlikely consumers will receive any money back for their orders. Independent designers that manufactured dresses for the business have been scrambling to get in contact with customers directly to ensure orders are finished in time for their wedding days. Liquidators Michael Dullaway and Mark Pearce of Pearce & Heers on Tuesday were appointed to two businesses that ran The Bridal Ateliers stores in Sydney and Melbourne. The Bridal Atelier offered wedding dress fittings in the two cities and was a stockist of several third party bridal designers, who manufactured dresses for the business. The USS America, the largest amphibious assault carrier in the 7th Fleet, entered the Port of Brisbane on Tuesday afternoon for a brief stopover. The 257-metre-long vessel, with F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and other aircraft on board, is in Australian waters to take part in the bilateral combined military training event Exercise Talisman Sabre. On board the USS America, off the coast of Queensland, ahead of Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023. Credit: Brittney Deguara The ship travelled south, off the Sunshine Coast, to dock at Fisherman Islands. It will be in Brisbane for several days but not be open to the public; however, sailors and marines were expected to disembark. Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie has referred senior Australian Defence Force officers to the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, but legal experts say it is unlikely the case will ever be heard. Lambie told the Senate there was a culture of cover up at the highest levels of the Australian Defence Force and that she had gone to the Hague because she believed the military leadership was hanging more junior officers out to dry over wrongdoing in Afghanistan. Lambie, who served in the army for almost 11 years before entering politics, on Tuesday released a 28-page legal brief signed by herself and three legal experts claiming there was a case for the court to launch an investigation into the defence forces chain-of-command responsibility for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in 1998 to investigate the gravest violations of international law including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Washington: The US Coast Guard says a Canadian aircraft has detected underwater noises in the area where a vessel with five people aboard went missing while on an expedition to see the wreck of the Titanic. The coast guard said that as a result of the noises heard by the Canadian P-3 aircraft, search efforts had been relocated, but they were yet to find anything. Along with ships and planes, an underwater robot has also been deployed to the vicinity of the Titanic. The update came after a club connected to one of those on the submersible said it understood that signs of life have been detected. Richard Garriott, the president of the Explorers Club, of which British explorer Hamish Harding is a member, has released a statement saying there is cause for hope in the search and rescue mission. Latest News The work from home contrast between banks and brokers How brokers have a choice that bank employees don't have FTX Australia's AFS licence cancelled The cancellation took effect on July 14 Jean-Pierre Gortan, managing director of Sydney-based brokerage Simplicity Loans & Advisory, has cracked the top five on the NSW fundraising leaderboard for Vinnies CEO Sleepout, which will be held on Thursday night. The annual CEO Sleepout is a one-night event that involves more than 1,000 CEOs, business owners and leaders across Australia sleeping outdoors to support the homeless. Each participant commits to raising funds to help Vinnies provide essential services for people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. At the time of publication, Gortan (pictured above) had so far raised more than $42,000 which would support Vinnies to provide 133 individual support programs, 351 beds, and 1,404 meals. Now in his fifth year of doing the CEO Sleepout, Gortan will have raised over $117,000 in total to support homelessness if he reaches his $50,000 goal this year. The current amount raised puts him currently in fifth place out of more than 400 participants in NSW. It's important to acknowledge that every night in Australia, thousands of people are left without a safe and secure place to call home, Gortan said. I believe that no one deserves to experience such uncertainty and vulnerability. I hope to gain insight into the harsh realities of sleeping rough and increase awareness of this important issue. Gortans sponsors include Bendigo Bank, Westpac, Traders in Purple, Marketplace.Finance, Secured Lending, LMG, MSquared, Waterco Limited and Fortis Legal. Industry sleepout Starting in 2006, Vinnies CEO Sleepout raised more than $9.4 million last year, exceeding the $9.3 million raised in 2021. While Gortan may be near the top of the leaderboard, many mortgage industry leaders plan to sleep rough at the White Bay Cruise Terminal in Sydney on June 22 to support the more than 116,000 Australians who do not have a safe place to live. Now in his third year of the CEO Sleepout, Lendi Group chief distribution officer Brad Cramb will sleep rough again this year, with the companys co-founders Sebastian Watkins and David Hyman also taking part. Lendi Group, which plans to raise over $100,000 collectively as individuals and as a company, is matching every Aussie franchisees fundraising dollar for dollar. AFG head of sales and distribution Chris Slater will also be sleeping rough this year. Also in his third year of participating in the event, Slater has already raised over $13,000, exceeding his target of $12,500. Gortan looked forward to seeing his peers at the event, saying it was important for the mortgage industry to continue to contribute to the cause and give back to those who are less fortunate. I humbly request your support in breaking the cycle of homelessness in Australia. Donating just $100 can make a substantial difference to those in need, Gortan said. Please consider contributing to my fundraising efforts and help make a meaningful impact in the lives of others. Click here to pledge funds for Simplicity Loans & Advisorys Jean-Pierre Gortan, here to support AFGs Chris Slater and his team, or here to contribute to Brad Cramb and the Lendi Group teams efforts. To find out more about the Vinnies CEO Sleepout click here. UB receives $10 million in New York State funding for construction of a James Joyce Museum From the James Joyce Collection at the University at Buffalo, a copy of the Irish poet and author's novel "Ulysses." Photo: Douglas Levere Moving our magnificent James Joyce Collection to a home worthy of its renown has been a key goal for our scholarly environment, and doing so reaffirms the significance of this distinctive scholarly gem to our university, our broader community in Buffalo and Western New York, and our friends and colleagues around the world. BUFFALO, N.Y. The University at Buffalo Libraries, home to the worlds largest and most comprehensive collection of materials by and related to author and poet James Joyce, has received $10 million in funding from New York State for the construction of the UB James Joyce Museum. The facility aims to attract a broad global audience to discover and experience the achievements of the renowned Irish author, widely recognized as the most influential literary figure of the 20th century. The funding, a capital-project priority for UB, was secured through the advocacy of New York State Senator Tim Kennedy and with the support of Gov. Kathy Hochul. It was announced today (June 16) at a news conference in the Austin Flint Main Reading Room on the second floor of Abbott Hall on UBs South Campus. Moving our magnificent James Joyce Collection to a home worthy of its renown has been a key goal for our scholarly environment, and doing so reaffirms the significance of this distinctive scholarly gem to our university, our broader community in Buffalo and Western New York, and our friends and colleagues around the world, said President Satish K. Tripathi. Kennedy, whose district includes UBs South Campus, has been a longtime supporter of the universitys Joyce Collection, bringing leading representatives of the Irish government to visit, along with distinguished members of the Irish-American Diaspora. The collection highlights Buffalos rich Irish-American legacy. This funding is transformational for the preservation of Irish heritage here in Buffalo and all of New York State, and will allow the University at Buffalos extensive collection of James Joyces work to be truly celebrated, Kennedy said. Ive fought for this state investment for years, because I firmly believe the UB James Joyce Museum will attract visitors from around the world, and further strengthen the relationship between the United States and Ireland. This is an example of true collaboration, and it would not have been possible without the partnership of UB President Satish K. Tripathi, James Maynard and the incredible team at UB, Kennedy said. Im thrilled to be able to deliver this funding alongside Governor Hochul, and look forward to seeing this museum open its doors. The announcement arrives on Bloomsday, the annual commemoration of Joyces life and career, named for Leopold Bloom, the main character in Joyces masterpiece, Ulysses, perhaps the most important English-language novel of the past 100 years, with a plot that takes place on a single day, June 16, 1904, in and around Dublin, Ireland. UBs James Joyce Collection, currently housed within the UB Libraries Poetry Collection on the North Campus, is an unparalleled destination for scholars and visitors from around the world. The UB James Joyce Museum will increase that visibility and expand public access to the universitys historical resources and literary treasures with a permanent exhibition space for visitors to study, learn and engage with these rare materials. On behalf of our entire university community, I would like to thank Senator Tim Kennedy for his enduring support of UB and our mission of excellence. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Governor Hochul for her commitment to amplify our impact as New York States flagship university, Tripathi added. Since the arrival of the first archival pieces in 1950, UBs James Joyce Collection has grown to include more than 10,000 pages of Joyces working papers, notebooks, manuscripts, photographs, correspondence, portraits, publishing records, ephemera, and personal artifacts, as well as Joyces private library and the complete body of significant Joyce criticism. Were thrilled that we can move forward with a permanent exhibition space for the UB James Joyce Collection, said Evviva Weinraub Lajoie, vice provost for UB Libraries. This funding will enable us to present these resources in ways that have an even greater impact on local, national and international communities curious about the literary arts and the work of James Joyce. Under the guidance of Kelly Hayes McAlonie, UB director of campus planning, UB Libraries has been preparing to begin work on a design consultation that includes dedicating roughly 5,000 square feet of the first-floor atrium in Abbott Hall as exhibition space for the museum. Since its inceptio more than 85 years ago, UB has served as the library of record for 20th- and 21st-century Anglophone poetry, said Maynard, curator of the UB Poetry Collection and coordinator of the UB Rare and Special Books Collection. This new state funding ensures the vibrancy of the UB James Joyce Collection and gives us an opportunity to now enthusiastically extend a global invitation to experience the life and works of Irelands James Joyce in what will be the UB James Joyce Museum. The museum is expected to draw thousands of visitors annually as an international destination and cultural landmark. We are delighted to welcome this news, which helps ensure UBs world-class James Joyce Collection will be seen by as many people as possible, said Helena Nolan, consul general of Ireland in New York. In 2021, the Irish government supported the creation of a James Joyce mural in downtown Buffalo to increase the visibility of the UB James Joyce Collection. We thank Governor Hochul and Senator Kennedy for their leadership and look forward to continue our work with them on ensuring that this collection is open to the world from its new home at UB. Assessment of how climate scientists communicate risk shows imperfections, improvements We really need clear definitions for the words that we use so that our findings can be as clear as possible for everyone. Scientists have long struggled to find the best way to present crucial facts about future sea-level rise, but are getting better at communicating more clearly, according to an international group of climate scientists, including a leading UB expert. The consequences of improving communications are enormous, the scientists say, as civic leaders actively incorporate climate scientists risk assessments into major planning efforts to counter some of the effects of rising seas. Writing in Nature Climate Change[CN1] [VS2] [VS3] , the scientists review the language and graphics used in climate assessment reports between 1990 and 2021 by members of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). As one of the authors, Sophie Nowicki, UB Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Geology, shares that communicating in ways that are both accurate and understandable can be difficult. Because there are many stakeholders that use the IPCC projections for adaptation and planning policies, it is very important that we (the scientists) learn how to communicate our findings better, says Nowicki, a core faculty member of the UB RENEW Institute, which develops solutions for complex energy and environmental issues. According to Nowicki, conveying information about the potential range of future sea-level rise to those who will use this information to make decisions about long-term coastal planning and adaptation can be a challenging task, as there is a great deal of uncertainty about future sea-level rise. We really need clear definitions for the words that we use so that our findings can be as clear as possible for everyone, Nowicki says. The study, Communicating future sea-level rise uncertainty and ambiguity to assessment users, finds that future sea-level change is characterized by both quantifiable and unquantifiable uncertainties. Theres quantifiable uncertainty, which can be measured and presented with a degree of confidence, explains Robert Kopp, a lead author of the study and a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences, and then theres ambiguity, a form of deep uncertainty that cannot be well represented quantitatively. The analysis shows aspects of sea-level rise where the level of risk could be quantified have been presented accurately, informing public bodies effectively. But when conveying sea-level uncertainties that have been and remain difficult to quantify, the language in the reports often has fallen short, either oversimplifying projections or conveying the information in a confusing manner, according to the analysis. Such language could lead policymakers to neglect the risks associated with possible high-end sea-level outcomes. Ambiguity arises in situations in which analysts can interpret a common set of facts in highly divergent ways or cant interpret them at all, Kopp says. The study contrasts the language used to convey ambiguities in the risk of late-century sea-level rise in the IPCC reports in 1990, 1995, 2001, 2007, 2013 and 2021, along with the UNs Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate issued in 2019. In the First Assessment Report, released in 1990, the authors characterized a rapid disintegration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet because of global warming as unlikely in the next century. In contrast, in the Sixth Assessment Report, published in 2021, scientists warn that higher rates of sea-level rise before 2100 could be caused by earlier-than-projected disintegration of marine ice shelves, the abrupt, widespread onset of marine ice sheet instability and marine ice cliff instability around Antarctica. The report goes on to explain that the processes are characterized by deep uncertainty. It concludes: In a low-likelihood, high-impact storyline, under high emissions such processes could in combination contribute more than one additional meter of sea-level rise by 2100. Communicating complex risk scenarios to the public in an effective manner is an ongoing process. If the approach taken in the most recent climate report in 2021 is successful, it will be accurately reflected in future regional assessments and will ultimately be judged by policymakers, along with climate and social scientists. It matters that scientists get it right, the study concludes. The authors of the study, all of whom were involved with the Sixth Assessment Report, include those from UB and Brown University in the U.S., as well as others in China, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore. Youve probably believed a few of these surprising sex mythsfrom the right way to pull out to the nuances of consent, were deep diving into the biggest misconceptions men have about sex. Bigger is better. Its only good sex if it looks like it does in porn. Harder, better, faster stronger. Theres a chance youve encountered these ideasor even believed them yourselfat some point or another. Its no surprisewith the abysmal state of sex education in Malaysia, there has been little opportunity to correct these ideas before they had festered into mainstream thought. As it stands, sex is still very much a taboo topic on our shores, but there is fortunately change on the horizon. To help us debunk the biggest misconceptions about sex, we spoke to sexologist and professional counsellor Andrea Koh, who is a member of both the Reproductive Rights Advocacy Alliance Malaysia (RRAAM) and the All Women Action Society (AWAM) as well as a partner of Durex Academy. Ahead, find the full debrief, from whether size actually matters to what really counts as losing your virginity: Misconception #1: The bigger the size, the better the sex In our phallus-obsessed world, a bigger penis is often seen as more desirable. But, does size really matter? According to the experts, unfortunately, being well-hung doesnt necessarily mean youll be a stallion in bed. Koh asserts that its actually very subjective: While some individuals may place importance on size, it is crucial to note that sex isnt solely focused on penetration or intercourse; it involves a variety of activities like arousal, foreplay, intimacy, technique. The ability to meet each others needs and desires plays a significant role in determining sexual satisfaction. Additionally, the preferences of your partner play a significant role because not everyone enjoys a larger size, as it can be uncomfortable or even painful for some individuals, she elaborates. Hence, its not the size that guarantees better sex, but open communication, mutual respect, and a focus on overall sexual well-being that are more likely to contribute to a fulfilling and enjoyable sexual experience than a specific size alone. Misconception #2: The harder you thrust, the better it feels Rough sex can be fun, but going harder and faster (and stronger) isnt always better. Koh explains that engaging in rough sex without proper care and consideration can lead to several potential harms, including: Physical discomfort and pain : Rough or aggressive thrusting can cause significant discomfort and pain for women, making the experience unpleasant and potentially causing injury, especially for individuals with medical conditions like PCOS, endometriosis, or other pelvic health issues. It can also cause damage to the cervix, leading to pain, bleeding, or other complications. : Rough or aggressive thrusting can cause significant discomfort and pain for women, making the experience unpleasant and potentially causing injury, especially for individuals with medical conditions like PCOS, endometriosis, or other pelvic health issues. It can also cause damage to the cervix, leading to pain, bleeding, or other complications. Vaginal tears and abrasions : Excessive force during intercourse can result in tears or abrasions in the vaginal area, which can lead to pain, bleeding, irritation, or a burning sensation. This can also increase the risk of STI transmission due to potential exposure to bodily fluids and microtears in the vaginal area. : Excessive force during intercourse can result in tears or abrasions in the vaginal area, which can lead to pain, bleeding, irritation, or a burning sensation. This can also increase the risk of STI transmission due to potential exposure to bodily fluids and microtears in the vaginal area. Emotional and psychological distress : Rough sex without proper consent or communication can lead to emotional and psychological distress for both partners, potentially causing a strain on the sexual relationship. : Rough sex without proper consent or communication can lead to emotional and psychological distress for both partners, potentially causing a strain on the sexual relationship. Other physical injuries: Engaging in excessively rough sex can have less common consequences, such as injuring ones own genitals and increased risk of heart attack or back pain. Similar to exercise, pushing beyond safe limits can result in self-inflicted harm. Overall, Koh reiterates that it is important to approach sexual activities with care and consideration for both partners well-being, ensuring that the intensity and pace are suitable for everyone involved. Misconception #3: Sex is just like it is in the pictures Of course, by pictures we mean pornography. An unfortunate fact is that, for many young people in Malaysia, pornography is the primary source of sexual education, which has led to a warped perception of what sex actually looks like among the population. In fact, according to Durex, a whopping one in three Gen Zers believe that the sex shown in pornography is normal sex. Koh emphasises that at the core of it, porn stars are actors, and just like any other movies we watch, they are performing to make the scenes visually appealing and captivating. Thus, what is depicted in pornography may not reflect real-life sexual experiences accurately. Some of the major differences between the sex portrayed in porn and sex in real life include: Unrealistic expectations : Pornography often portrays exaggerated and unrealistic scenarios, where sexual activities focus primarily on performance and visual appeal. There are a lot of crucial aspects of real life that are often omitted in porn, such as the need for foreplay or emotional connection. In reality, the emotional bond between partners and taking the time for foreplay is necessary to ensure both partners are properly warmed up and able to be intimate before engaging in the main actions. Unrealistic expectations for individuals can lead to disappointment or dissatisfaction in real-life sexual experiences. : Pornography often portrays exaggerated and unrealistic scenarios, where sexual activities focus primarily on performance and visual appeal. There are a lot of crucial aspects of real life that are often omitted in porn, such as the need for foreplay or emotional connection. In reality, the emotional bond between partners and taking the time for foreplay is necessary to ensure both partners are properly warmed up and able to be intimate before engaging in the main actions. Unrealistic expectations for individuals can lead to disappointment or dissatisfaction in real-life sexual experiences. Consent and communication : In pornography, consent and communication may not be explicitly emphasized or portrayed but in real-life, clear consent, as well as open communication about desires and boundaries, are essential for a healthy and respectful sexual experience especially when engaging in high-risk activities such as those related to BDSM. Attempting such activities without proper consent and thorough research and understanding can be dangerous, especially for beginners. : In pornography, consent and communication may not be explicitly emphasized or portrayed but in real-life, clear consent, as well as open communication about desires and boundaries, are essential for a healthy and respectful sexual experience especially when engaging in high-risk activities such as those related to BDSM. Attempting such activities without proper consent and thorough research and understanding can be dangerous, especially for beginners. Diversity of bodies and experience s: Pornography often showcases a limited range of body types and sexual experiences, which may not accurately represent the diverse realities of real-life sex. Everyones bodies, preferences, and desires are unique, and its important to embrace and celebrate this diversity. Certain sexual behaviours that seem common in pornography may not be as common in real-life. For example, the idea that all women can squirt (female ejaculation) or orgasm through vaginal penetration are misconceptions perpetuated by porn. s: Pornography often showcases a limited range of body types and sexual experiences, which may not accurately represent the diverse realities of real-life sex. Everyones bodies, preferences, and desires are unique, and its important to embrace and celebrate this diversity. Certain sexual behaviours that seem common in pornography may not be as common in real-life. For example, the idea that all women can squirt (female ejaculation) or orgasm through vaginal penetration are misconceptions perpetuated by porn. Editing and scripting : Pornography is carefully edited and scripted to create visually stimulating content. The timing of climax or ejaculation varies from person to person, but porn usually doesnt show this variability. Its important to recognize that editing techniques can create an illusion of quick and effortless experiences. : Pornography is carefully edited and scripted to create visually stimulating content. The timing of climax or ejaculation varies from person to person, but porn usually doesnt show this variability. Its important to recognize that editing techniques can create an illusion of quick and effortless experiences. Safety and hygiene practices: Pornography typically neglects to portray essential aspects of sexual health, such as the use of condoms, regular STI testing, and other safe sex practices. In real life, it is important to prioritise safety, consent, and practising good hygiene for everyones sexual well-being. Understanding these differences is crucial to developing a healthy and realistic perspective on sexuality, which in turn helps to promote safer, more fulfilling and more satisfying sexual experiences. Misconception #4: Virginity is objective Theres one thing weve all been told our whole liveslosing your virginity involves p in v action and the breaking of the hymen (a soft and elastic tissue found in the vagina). However, this isnt necessarily the case. Koh stresses that virginity is not determined by the condition of a specific body part but is rather a personal definition that varies among individuals. In short, virginity is a social and cultural construct. Different people may have different perspectives on what constitutes sexual activitysome may consider only penis-vagina penetration as sex, while others include a broader range of sexual activities like oral sex or heavy petting as sex. Either way, as Koh puts it, It is not our place to judge or impose a single definition of virginity on others. Misconception #5: The hymen only breaks during a girls first time On the topic of virginity, the hymen is also a highly misunderstood organ. Unlike other organs, the hymen does not serve a specific function and can naturally wear down or tear on its own, says Koh. It is not a reliable indicator of virginity since it can be easily broken through regular daily activities, and its rupture does not necessarily cause bleeding. In fact, identifying a torn hymen can be challenging, as it can blend seamlessly with the surrounding vaginal tissue. On that note, contrary to popular belief, not all women will bleed during their first sexual encounter. Bleeding can occur due to various reasons, including the tearing of the vaginal entry or rough sexual activity, rather than the breaking of the hymen, Koh expands. The absence of bleeding does not negate someones virginity. Misconception #6: Condoms are optional as long as you pull out Nothing is more freeing than throwing caution to the wind, but there is a time and place for itand it is certainly not while youre doing bedroom gymnastics. According to Koh, there are numerous risks associated with having unprotected sex, including: Unintended pregnancy : The withdrawal method, where the man removes his penis before ejaculation, is not a reliable form of contraception. Pre-ejaculate fluid can contain sperm, which can lead to pregnancy if it comes into contact with the vagina. Using a condom provides a barrier that significantly reduces the risk of unintended pregnancy. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) : Engaging in unprotected sex puts individuals at a higher risk of contracting STIs. These infections, such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, HIV and herpes, can be transmitted through various sexual activities, including vaginal, anal, and oral sex. Its important to note that some individuals may not exhibit symptoms of STIs, making it more challenging to determine if you or your partner are free from these infections. Additionally, theres a risk of unknowingly transmitting these infections to other sexual partners. Condoms act as a barrier, preventing direct contact and reducing the risk of transmission. Personal peace of mind: Using a condom provides a sense of security and peace of mind to fully enjoy the experience. It allows individuals to engage in sexual activities with reduced anxiety about unintended pregnancies and the transmission of STIs. Overall, the key message is clear: Wrap your willy before you get silly. Cover your stump before you hump. When in doubt, shroud your spout. Wear a condom. Koh asserts that you should consistently and correctly use barrier methods of contraception, such as condoms, to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancies. Its also important to ensure that the condoms are stored and used according to the instructions provided. In addition, its highly recommended to get tested regularly for STIs (every three to six months), especially if you have multiple partners or engage in high-risk sexual behaviours, she continues. Regular testing helps detect any infections early and allows for timely treatment and prevention of further transmission. Misconception #7: Consent ends at yes By now, most are aware that sex is not sex unless there is explicit consent (anyone arguing otherwise is likely a terrible human being). However, what isnt often discussed are the nuances of consent. Was your partners Yes enthusiastic? Have you checked that your partner is comfortable with you trying something new mid-coitus? The reality is that consent is an ongoing conversation that should continue throughout your sexual tryst. Here are some effective ways Koh suggests to ask for consent and ensure your partner feels comfortable during sex: Open and honest communication : Talk about boundaries, desires, and comfort levels before engaging in any sexual activity. Create a safe space where both partners feel comfortable expressing their needs and boundaries. Use clear and affirmative language to seek consent, such as Is this okay? or Do you like it when I touch you here? Encourage your partner to openly express their desires and boundaries. Pay attention to verbal and non-verbal cues: Consent can be given through verbal affirmation or non-verbal cues such as enthusiastic participation, body language, and active engagement. Silence or non-action does not indicate consent. Its important to note that a person who is unconscious or intoxicated cannot give consent regardless of whether they had consented earlier. Make sure to continuously check in with your partner and be attentive to their responses. Respect and accept boundaries: Its essential to respect and accept your partners boundaries without question or pressure. If your partner says no or expresses discomfort, immediately stop, provide support and ensure their well-being. Never guilt or coerce your partner into changing their boundaries. Remember that consent can be withdrawn at any point during sexual activity. Koh concludes that by prioritising open communication, active listening, and respecting boundaries, you can create an environment where consent is continuously sought and enthusiastic participation is encouraged. Ultimately, we want to ensure that all individuals involved in sexual activities feel comfortable, empowered, and fully in control of their choices. Misconception #8: You can only catch and spread HIV if youre a gay man This is dangerous rhetoric that continues to thrive despite mounting evidence against itwe reiterate: Anyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, can be at risk of contracting HIV. Koh has listed the need-to-knows about how HIV is transmitted and the prevention methods for your reference: HIV is primarily transmitted through certain bodily fluids like blood, semen, vaginal fluid, or breast milk. Common transmission routes are unprotected sex, sharing needles, and mother-to-child transmission. These fluids need to come into contact with damaged tissues, such as cuts or open wounds, or be directly injected/transmitted into the bloodstream. Common transmission routes are unprotected sex, sharing needles, and mother-to-child transmission. These fluids need to come into contact with damaged tissues, such as cuts or open wounds, or be directly injected/transmitted into the bloodstream. To prevent the spread of HIV, the most effective methods are using condoms and taking medication specifically designed to treat HIV. Condoms act as a barrier, preventing the transfer of fluids that could potentially carry the virus into any cuts or wounds that may occur during sexual activity. Condoms act as a barrier, preventing the transfer of fluids that could potentially carry the virus into any cuts or wounds that may occur during sexual activity. Taking medication can significantly reduce the risk of transmission and reduce the amount of HIV in the blood, to the point where the viral load becomes very low and is undetectable by tests. This helps prevent transmission to others and allows individuals living with HIV to lead healthier lives. Misconception #9: If youre suffering, you just have to suck it up Theres a big grin and bear it culture when it comes to mental health in men, but were here to remind you that it is okay to feel how youre feeling and that you dont have to suffer in silence. No matter how big or small your problems seem, do not hesitate to seek professional guidanceand that goes for all aspects of your mental health, not just the parts pertaining to sex. If you have specific concerns or difficulties related to your sexual health or relationships, Koh urges you to consult with a healthcare professional or a trained sex therapist. Reliable sources such as healthcare providers, reputable websites, or sexual health organizations can provide accurate information and provide expert guidance, support, and tailored advice to help address your unique needs, she says. This proactive approach ensures that everyone involved can navigate their sexual experiences in a safe, healthy, and enjoyable manner. About Durex Academy When it comes to sexual health, education is imperative. Durex Academy is a comprehensive sexual well-being education initiative that provides excellent sources to dispel common misconceptions about sex. The campaign aims to host on-ground workshops in local universities and colleges, partnered with SPOT Malaysia, to provide the Malaysian youth with the necessary knowledge to have well-informed and safe intimate experiences. The workshops will cover everything from STI education to consent to keeping yourself protected. Find out more about the campaign here. For more stories on wellness and sexual health, click here. Valuation of Adani Group's eight companies more than halved in the six months to April 2023 against just a 6 per cent decline in the top 500 non-government companies, a report said on Tuesday. Adani Total Gas lost 73.8 per cent of its value, Adani Transmission saw a decline of 69.2 per cent, while Adani Green Energy was down by 54.7 per cent, the report by Axis Bank's Burgundy Private and Hurun India said. "The eight companies in the Adani Group have a combined value of Rs 9.5 lakh crore and constitute 4.5 per cent of the total value of 500 top companies. The Adani Group companies in the review period decreased their value by 52 per cent or Rs 10.25 lakh crore against a decline of just 6 per cent by the top 500 companies," the report said. Adani Enterprises and Adani Total Gas also moved out of the top 10 most valuable firms during the period under review, the report said. It can be noted that in late January, a US-based short-seller published a scathing report alleging governance lapses and other shortcomings in the Adani Group, which led to a massive fall in the share prices of its listed entities. The Gautam Adani-led group has denied any wrongdoing. The report said Reliance Industries was the most valuable Indian company at Rs 16.3 lakh crore despite a 5.1 per cent decline, and was followed by Tata Consultancy Services at Rs 11.8 lakh crore and HDFC Bank at Rs 9.4 lakh crore. Also Read Adani Green Energy to seek board approval to raise up to $1 billion Rajiv Jain's GQG Partners to invest another $1 bn in Adani group stocks Adani Group revives Mundra PVC project, gets credit line worth Rs 14,000 cr Can Adani convince investors to back his capital-hungry businesses? Adani stocks still reeling from losses inflicted by Hindenburg report CCI approves acquisition of stake by mortgage lender HDFC in 2 insurers Sebi raps Edelweiss Broking for not reporting suspicious activity Vedanta places Thoothukudi's 'restart ready' plans on the fast track After TPG, Piramal to sell its entire 8.34% stake in Shriram Finance Infosys, association of tennis professionals launch 'Carbon Tracker' The value of the top 500 companies decreased marginally by 6.4 per cent to Rs 212 lakh crore from Rs 227 lakh crore as on October 30, 2022. The top 500 companies underperformed when compared to benchmarks like the 30-share Sensex, which was flat during the six months. Unlisted vaccine maker Serum Institute of India saw a 13 per cent decline in its valuation at Rs 1.92 lakh crore during the period, the report said. Among the listed unicorns, the valuation of Nykaa, Zomato, Paytm and Policybazaar declined by Rs 7,872 crore during the review period, it said. To make it to the list of the top 500 non-state-owned companies, an entity was valued at over Rs 5,500 crore or USD 672 million. Digantara, a space technology start-up, said on Tuesday it has raised $10 million in a funding round led by Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Indian and Southeast Asia) and Kalaari Capital. The Series A1 round also saw participation from Global Brain, a Japan-based venture capital firm, Campus Fund, and the founders of IIFL Wealth. The Bengaluru-based company, which got seed funding of $2.5 million from Kalaari Capital in 2021, will use the fresh capital to deploy the first phase of its surveillance satellite constellation. The money will help the company in developing its space situational awareness (SSA) service and launch it early next year. The company said that there is a pressing need for infrastructure that enables safe space operations. Peak XVs investment comes days after its rebranding from Sequoia India and Southeast Asia. We will invest heavily in launching our space tech infrastructure to track previously unobservable objects and significantly increase data points. This will empower stakeholders with comprehensive insights for efficient decision-making in an increasingly complex space environment, said Anirudh Sharma, Digantaras co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO). The team at Digantara is working towards creating the most advanced SSA data collection infrastructure. We believe that this will lead to significant capability in the life cycle of managing satellites, which is a rapidly growing market. We are thrilled to partner with Anirudh, Rahul and Tanveer on this journey, said Shailesh Lakhani, MD, Peak XV Partners. Also Read What makes Elon Musk's brain implant devices a double-edged sword Stocks to Watch: Infy, HCL Tech, Sah Polymers, Concor, IIFL Wealth, RailTel Entrepreneurs create wealth; it is time to celebrate their spirit Going slow: Infosys, Wipro keep Class of 2023 waiting for campus hiring Brokerage industry undergoing big transformation: IIFL Securities chairman Nandan Nilekani donates Rs 315 cr to IIT Bombay, total support at Rs 400 cr IndiGo tripled in size during past seven years, retired old planes Pidilite to manufacture Litokol and Tenax products from Italy in India Lupin signs MoU with Maharashtra govt to combat rising prevalence of CVD India centre stage at Paris air show, as AI set to order 470 aircrafts Digantara, which operates via a 30-member team of engineers, recently expanded its operations to Singapore. It has commenced the development of Indias first commercial SSA optical observatory in Uttarakhand. The firm also recently launched two missions that served as the space weather testbed. Pixxel, a separate space technology start-up which is building a constellation of satellites for monitoring Earth, earlier this month raised $36 million from Google. India has become a critical market and clinical trial hub for Novo Nordisk as the Danish drug major focuses on chronic diseases beyond diabetes. Novo Nordisk, which currently enjoys over a 50 per cent share of Indias insulin market, is planning to introduce its long-acting basal insulin Icodec that needs to be taken only once a week and an obesity drug in the country by 2025. It has started conversations with its manufacturing partner Torrent Pharmaceuticals to double its manufacturing capacity. Speaking with Business Standard, Vikrant Shrotriya, managing director and corporate vice-president for India business at Novo Nordisk, said: Our focus is chronic diseases, and we are getting active there -- we want to have therapies for the entire chronic diseases spectrum. All these diseases -- diabetes, liver and kidney diseases, hypertension, and cardiac issues -- are interconnected. He further said the companys strategy would be to bring the latest launches in Denmark and the US soon to India. As for the oral long-acting GLP-1 analogue obesity drug that is intended for once-daily treatment, Novo Nordisk is witnessing huge demand globally, Shrotriya said. We are working on creating higher capacities. Talks are on with our current partner Torrent Pharmaceuticals in India as we are looking to double our capacities here, he said. Though Shrotriya did not comment on investment, according to industry estimates, setting up an insulin or biologics manufacturing plant takes around Rs. 300 crore as investment. Both for Icodec and the obesity drug, Indian patients are part of the global trials. India is part of every clinical trial done by Novo Nordisk. In fact, at this point, around 36 clinical trials are ongoing here across 300 clinical trial sites, he said. Around 150 people are working on clinical trials in India, and on top of this, there is also a team of over 700 people who work in medical writing, data analytics, regulatory writing, etc, for India and also global trials. Shrotriya claimed that India now accounts for 8 per cent of Novo Nordisks global clinical trials. Also Read As Singapore hangs man, these are the nations with the harshest drug laws Danish PM delivers ChatGPT-written speech to highlight risks posed by tech CDSCO, states begin joint checks of drug-making units across India India's drug regulator serves show-cause notice to online pharmacies India working on single-window portal for drug regulation processes Adani Group cos valuation halves against 6% decline for top 500 cos: Report CCI approves acquisition of stake by mortgage lender HDFC in 2 insurers Sebi raps Edelweiss Broking for not reporting suspicious activity Anil Agarwal's Vedanta kicks off plans to restart Sterlite unit in TN After TPG, Piramal plans to sell entire 8.34% stake in Shriram Finance Of Novo Nordisks total strength of 55,000 people, India houses around 4,500. Indias insulin market is estimated to be around Rs. 3,500-4,000 crore, growing at a 10 per cent CAGR. Indias oral diabetes market is around Rs. 13,000-14,000 crore and is clocking an 11 per cent CAGR. Novo Nordisk serves around 3-4 million patients in India and makes around 40-50 million vials of insulin here. Torrent Pharmaceutical manufactures insulin for Novo Nordisk in Gujarat from crystals that are imported from Denmark. India is estimated to have 100 million diabetics, most of whom are either undiagnosed or not on chronic medication. Around a fourth of this population is expected to be on medication. Around 30 per cent of diabetics are expected to be in need of insulin, thus making India one of the most coveted markets globally for insulin players. Tourism enters peak season as summer vacation arrives in China People's Daily Online) 10:38, June 20, 2023 Tourists have fun at "Nanji" Village of Jiaowei Township of Xuwen County, Zhanjiang City, south China's Guangdong Province, May 27, 2023. (Xinhua/Deng Hua) The summer vacation is a peak travel season in China. In the week following the end of the college entrance exam, the first travel peak during the graduation season emerged. From June 9 to 12, flight bookings made by people aged between 17 and 19 increased three times over the previous week on qunar.com, an online travel service provider. Statistics from many online travel platforms and travel agencies indicated that inquiries, search volume and bookings for travel products during the summer vacation have continued to surge. To meet the rising demand, many tourism destinations and travel agencies have launched promotions. On May 18, online travel platform Fliggy kicked off its mid-year promotion activity. On that day, hotel bookings saw a year-on-year increase of over 98 percent. Fliggy has worked with airlines, car rental companies, hotels and resorts to launch products and services which can provide more consumer guarantees, are more cost-effective and can be stored for later use. As of June 12, Fliggy had sold more than 1 million products during the mid-year promotion activity. Over 200,000 air tickets, including one-way and round trip tickets, had been sold, and more than 700,000 domestic hotel packages had been purchased. "The high season for booking travel products this year has come much earlier than last year. The mid-year promotion season is an important period for people to store travel products for the summer vacation," said Cheng Chen, who is in charge of Fliggy's mid-year promotion activity. As temperatures rise, the Duku Highway, which is hailed as "the most beautiful highway in China," will reopen. Many travel agencies have launched products linked to the route. "I'm looking forward to a road trip along the route which offers views of high mountains and valleys, grasslands and snow-covered mountains," said a tourist named An Xiaoping from north China's Tianjin municipality. The summer vacation is a busy season for parent-child tours and study tours. The Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism in southwest China's Sichuan Province recently released travel routes under the theme of novelty, study tours and rural tourism. Many service providers in the province have launched such products as summer camps and parent-child study trips to try to attract tourists. Many travel products take the summer heat into consideration. With an average altitude of 1,100 meters and an average summer temperature of 23 degrees Celsius, southwest China's Guizhou Province is one of the coolest places among those located along the same latitude, and about three-fourths of places in the province can become destinations for avoiding the summer heat. Guiyang, Liupanshui, Bijie, Anshun and Qianxinan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture are ideal places to avoid the summer heat in Guizhou. This summer, Guizhou has launched favorable policies to attract tourists. Between June 16 and August 31, students from middle schools, primary schools and universities, children aged 6 years old or younger, and people aged 60 years old or older are exempt from paying any entrance fee at state-owned A-level scenic areas in the province by showing cards that can prove their identity. (Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun) Infosys Co-founder and Chairman Nandan Nilekani has donated Rs. 315 crore ($38.5 million) to his alma mater, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. This builds upon his previous grants of Rs. 85 crore to the institute, bringing the total value of his contributions to Rs. 400 crore. The donation will be used to foster world-class infrastructure, stimulate research in emerging areas of engineering and technology, and nurture a deep tech start-up ecosystem at IIT Bombay. Nilekani and IIT Bombay Director Subhasis Chaudhuri formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Tuesday in Bengaluru. Nilekani joined IIT Bombay in 1973 to pursue a bachelors degree in electrical engineering. The latest donation marks the golden jubilee of his association with the institute. IIT-Bombay has been a cornerstone in my life, shaping my formative years and laying the foundation for my journey. As I celebrate 50 years of my association with this esteemed Institution, I am grateful to give forward and contribute to its future. This donation is more than just a financial contribution; it is a tribute to the place that has given me so much and a commitment to the students who will shape our world tomorrow, Nilekani said in a statement. Over the last 50 years, Nilekani has stayed connected with the institute in multiple roles. He served on the board of the IIT Bombay Heritage Foundation from 1999 to 2009 and was on the Board of Governors from 2005 to 2011. According to the institute, his initial contribution of Rs. 85 crore over the years was instrumental in constructing new hostels, co-financing the School of Information Technology, and establishing Indias first university incubator, thereby boosting the Indian start-up ecosystem. Donations by alumni to their alma maters are not a new phenomenon. Alumni donations to the top five IITs are estimated to have crossed thousands of crores of rupees. In 2021, a US-based alumni group of IIT-Bombay donated $50 million to the institute. Last year, IIT Kanpur alumnus Rakesh Gangwal, co-founder of IndiGo Airlines, made one of the largest personal donations of Rs. 100 crore that was focussed on supporting the School of Medical Sciences and Technology at the institute. In the same year, the IIT Madras class of 1978 donated Rs. 3 crore to the institute to improve research capacities. Around 55 per cent of the alumni of IIT Gandhinagar made financial contributions of nearly Rs. 70 lakh to the institute in FY23. Also Read How Nandan Nilekani seeded path-breaking initiatives for Digital India Uncertainty an overriding theme; flexibility to secure future: Nilekani Infosys Q3 growth may be muted on higher furloughs; PAT may rise 9-15% YoY Infosys strong TCV, deal wins in Q3 lend comfort amid macro risks: Analysts Infosys Q4 Preview: Profit may weaken sequentially; FY24 guidance eyed IndiGo tripled in size during past seven years, retired old planes Pidilite to manufacture Litokol and Tenax products from Italy in India Lupin signs MoU with Maharashtra govt to combat rising prevalence of CVD India centre stage at Paris air show, as AI set to order 470 aircrafts WhatsApp introduces feature to silence calls from unknown numbers IIT Bombays strategic plan for the coming decade includes setting up world-class centres of excellence in strategic areas such as artificial intelligence, green energy and quantum computing, nurturing a deep tech start-up ecosystem, and providing best-in-class research, living and academic facilities to students and faculty. The plan envisages raising funds worth about $500 million over the next five years. Nilekanis anchor contribution of $38.5 million is expected to help initiate the programme. Lupin Ltd, on Tuesday, said that its corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm, Lupin Human Welfare and Research Foundation (LHWRF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra government to address the growing prevalence of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in the Palghar district of Maharashtra. In a regulatory filing, the company said, The partnership aims to prioritise the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases while working to reducing their long-term prevalence. Collaboration to enhance healthcare services, ensure timely diagnosis, and improve accessibility of healthcare services, the company said in a statement. Shares of Lupin Ltd, on Tuesday, rose marginally at Rs 830 on BSE. As a leading healthcare provider, Lupin has consistently championed improved accessibility to high-quality, cost-effective medicines for Indias marginalised and vulnerable communities, said Nilesh Gupta, managing director, Lupin. Through our collaborative efforts with state governments, we aim to strengthen existing healthcare systems and programs, focus on awareness, and enhancing quality, accessibility, and utilisation of healthcare services, he added. Also Read Brokerages downgrade Lupin post weak Q3; see up to 17% downside Mankind Pharma IPO to open next week: Check price band, GMP, other details Lupin Pharma launches Lurasidone Hydrochloride Tablets in US Mankind Pharma IPO opens today: Check GMP, price band, other details here We can raise money in our new venture firms in future, says Lupin MD India centre stage at Paris air show, as AI set to order 470 aircrafts WhatsApp introduces feature to silence calls from unknown numbers IIFL Securities to approach SAT against Sebi order on taking up new clients Matter Motor Works partners with Airtel Business for its AERA motorbikes Apple Vision Pro: Can it create a new category for the tech giant? This collaboration is poised to significantly lower the prevalence of CVDs and COPD in Palghars selected blocks. Our unwavering dedication to tackling these health concerns with focused solutions will ensure a lasting impact on the community. By emphasising preventive measures, early detection, and comprehensive treatment options, we aim to alleviate the disease burden in the district, ultimately enhancing the overall health and well-being of the community, said Dr. Nagnath Mudam, joint director (NCD), Directorate of Health Services, Maharashtra. Tushara Shankar, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, LHWRF, said, Maharashtra has witnessed a notable surge in the prevalence of CVDs and COPD. Our partnership with the state government is focused on delivering disease management healthcare services, enabling supportive interventions, and prioritising preventive measures. By offering a comprehensive solution, our aim is to effectively combat these diseases and provide holistic care to the affected population. By Yueqi Yang and Katherine Doherty A new crypto exchange backed by firms including Citadel Securities, Fidelity Digital Assets and Charles Schwab Corp. said its gone live, a move that could reshape the digital-asset landscape amid heightened US scrutiny of the sector. EDX Markets, an institutional-only exchange announced in September 2022, will offer trading in four cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. Unlike existing crypto platforms such as Coinbase Global Inc. and Binance Holdings Ltd., it offers a non-custodial model, meaning that it doesnt hold clients digital assets during trading. Instead, EDX is working with a third-party custodian, according to Chief Executive Officer Jamil Nazarali. An expectation among regulators that crypto exchanges should be separated from broker-dealer functions, similar to the structure of traditional financial markets, will create opportunities for EDX, Nazarali said. We believe crypto is here to stay, but for it to evolve as an asset class it needs to adopt the rules and investor protections that exist in traditional finance, Nazarali said in an interview. The message weve got from our investors is that this creates an even bigger space for us. Already backed by companies including Paradigm, Sequoia Capital and Virtu Financial Inc., EDX raised new funding through additional investors including Miami International Holdings, GTS, GSR Markets, and HRT Technology. It plans to launch EDX Clearing to settle trades later this year. Also Read Crypto wrap: Market trading flat amid regulatory crackdown on Binance Twitter now worth just 33% of Elon Musk's purchase price, says Fidelity Crypto market cracks 5%, Bitcoin at 3-month low after US SEC sues Binance 'Greatest ever': Citadel made nearly $16 billion for clients in 2022 Meesho's valuation slashed 10% to $4.4 billion by Fidelity Investments Centre initiates talks with global investors over LIC business prospects KKR to buy up to $44 bln of PayPal's 'buy now-pay later' loans in Europe Pratt & Whitney, Awiros launch AI-based aircraft engine analysis tool IRDAI moves Supreme Court against SAT's order in Sahara-SBI case Mission 2025: Adani group eyes 90% Ebitda via infrastructure business The US Securities and Exchange Commission recently widened its crackdown on the crypto industry through lawsuits against two of the biggest firms, Binance and Coinbase, alleging that they acted as unregistered securities exchanges, broker-dealers and clearinghouses. The firms have denied the allegations. SEC Chair Gary Gensler has long criticized existing crypto platforms for failing to separate different parts of their businesses, such as custody, market-making and trading, which could result in conflicts of interests. Institutional interest in crypto investing has waned after the industry went through a market crash and high-profile firms including FTX collapsed last year. Still, some traditional financial institutions have been laying the groundwork to participate in the crypto markets. BlackRock Inc., the worlds largest asset manager, filed last week to launch a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. The time is ripe for Airbus and Boeing to look at India in terms of setting up facilities to manufacture commercial aircraft, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Tuesday. His comments came a day after IndiGo placed the worlds largest-ever single-tranche plane order with Airbus. Air India had in February placed an order for 470 aircraft 250 with Airbus and 220 with Boeing which would be a mix of narrow-body and wide-body planes. IndiGo on Monday placed an order with Airbus for 500 A320 family of aircraft, which are narrow-body planes. When asked by Business Standard if Airbus should establish a manufacturing facility in India, considering these two giant orders, Scindia replied: I do not think it would be right for me to advise Airbus on what it should do in terms of international strategy. That is for Airbus and Boeing to decide. But I think the time is ripe to look at India (to establish a manufacturing facility). The minister added that Airbus has already looked at India. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, he said. The C295 (military aircraft) facility is the first major step Airbus has taken in terms of setting up a manufacturing facility in India. It will be set up in Vadodara, and the Prime Minister has laid the foundation stone for it. Airbus is already here, he stated at a press conference. In September 2021, India sealed a nearly Rs. 21,000 crore deal with Airbus to procure 56 C295 transport aircraft to replace the ageing Avro 748 planes of the Indian Air Force. Under the agreement, Airbus will deliver 16 C295 planes from its Spain facility within four years, and subsequently, the remaining 40 planes will be manufactured in Vadodara, in collaboration with Tata Advanced Systems. The minister had last month said that Indian carriers must have greater wide-body planes in their fleet so that they can operate a higher number of international flights, empowering India to become a civil aviation focal point. A wide-body plane has a bigger fuel tank, allowing it to fly long distances like the India-US route. IndiGos Monday order is only for narrow-bodied planes. This (IndiGo order) is a landmark event in the realm of civil aviation, but I do not think we should look at the fine print in terms of narrow-bodied versus wide-bodied because it is no longer a black-and-white area. It is a grey area. For instance, the A321s have an aeronautical range of roughly 3,800 nautical miles, and the A321XLR can go up to 5,000 nautical miles, said Scindia. That provides you with the bandwidth and the range to be able to fly these aircraft internationally as well. It is IndiGos decision eventually, but I think it has somewhere stated it is looking at wide-bodied aircraft. It has already wet-leased some wide-bodied planes, and they are in operation today. I do not think you should sign on the dotted line just yet, he added. The minister called IndiGos order a new point of inflexion. The latest order by IndiGo talks of the potential this sector holds, not just for the airlines but also for the people who desire to travel by air, he stated. The expanded fleet of IndiGo and Air India will assist India in becoming a civil aviation nucleus. He said that Delhi airport would become the first hub in India. He also talked about supply-chain issues that engine and plane manufacturers are facing right now. We are very clearly facing them (supply-chain issues). As Covid-19 eases, these issues are expected to get resolved, he added. Unsubscribe to continue This is a subscriber only feature Subscribe Now to get daily updates on WhatsApp Three states and one Union Territory (UT) on Tuesday raised Rs. 5,600 crore through auction for state government securities against Rs. 22,500 crore raised by 11 states last week. This week, the amount raised by four states was also much less than Rs. 18,000 crore, indicated in the auction calendar for this week. According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, Tamil Nadu raised the highest amount Rs. 4,000 crore through two bonds. Out of this, Rs. 2,000 crore was through a 20-year paper with cut-off yield of 7.34 per cent. And, Rs. 2,000 crore was through a 10-year paper with a cut-off yield of 7.39 per cent. Bank of Baroda (BoB), in a research note, said the cut-off yield for 10-year paper was higher at 7.39 per cent versus 7.35-7.37 per cent last week. During the same period, the yield on 10-year government of India bonds increased by 6 basis points (bps) to 7.06 per cent. More than anticipated, the hawkish tone of US Federal Reserve (Fed) and RBI has impacted the yield movement, also leading to steepening of the yield curve for the state government paper, BoB added. Also Read MPC lowers projection for inflation, raises growth outlook a bit in FY24 RBI Monetary Policy: Repo rate up by 25 bps, FY23 inflation pegged at 6.5% RBI MPC: When and where to watch policy announcement by Shaktikanta Das RBI MPC: When and where to watch policy announcement by Shaktikanta Das RBI MPC increases repo rate by 25 bps, pegs FY24 inflation at 5.3% New formal job creation at 4-month high in April, shows EPFO data Time has come for Airbus, Boeing to make India jetliner hub: Scindia PSUs allowed to import Chinese solar modules; NTPC to benefit the most Trai unveils easier regulations for submarine cable landing stations Mumbai 18th most expensive city for luxury living: Julius Baer Index Apart from Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir issued a 12-year paper at 7.36 per cent yield to raise Rs. 500 crore. Mizoram floated a 15-year paper at 7.36 per cent yield for Rs. 100 crore. Andhra Pradesh raised Rs. 1,000 crore through two instruments 17-year at 7.35 per cent for Rs. 500 crore and 9-year at 7.40 per cent for a similar amount, RBI data showed. In FY24 (till June 20), states have borrowed Rs. 3.83 trillion, higher than the Rs. 3.53 trillion raised during the same period last year. The companies that have been found wrongfully claiming subsidies under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME-II) scheme may be debarred from availing of them in the future and may also have to forego sops on electric vehicles (EVs) sold in the last 15 months, The Economic Times (ET) reported on Tuesday. The Centre is considering strict action against the companies found to be violating local sourcing norms. The list includes names like Hero Electric, Okinawa Autotech, Ampere EV, Revolt Motors, AMO Mobility and Lohia Auto, the report said. The nodal agency for the scheme, the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI), is discussing the option of disbarment with other departments. Last month, the Centre had sent recovery notices worth Rs 500 crore to these companies. The ET report added that the Centre has received 1.05 million claims for incentives from the companies registered under FAME-II. Of this, it has not approved claims of 400,000 electric two-wheelers. The subsidy disbursal of Rs 1,400 crore was suspended earlier this year by the Centre pending the completion of enquiries by testing agencies Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and the International Centre for Automotive Technology (iCAT). The main issue was sourcing the parts from China and assembling them here. Earlier, Business Standard reported that against the backdrop of a reduction in incentives by the Centre, the electric mobility segment in India witnessed a slowdown in the first 15 days of June. Average daily sales volumes of electric two-wheelers (e2W) declined by over 62 per cent from May. Daily sales of electric three-wheelers and four-wheelers, on the other hand, witnessed an uptick. Also Read Compliant with localisation norms under FAME II: Okinawa MD Sharma Not in receipt of Centre's notice for subsidy recovery: Okinawa Autotech As govt cuts down subsidy, EV two-wheelers may get costlier from June 1 One in every four ads processed in FY23 had violations by influencers: Asci FAME subsidy violation: Two-wheeler EVs under fire for pricing breach Centre panel for arbitration law reforms to have first meeting on June 20 Centre's livestock draft Bill 2023 sets the cat among the pigeons US share in India's merchandise exports up despite diversification move Sarbananda Sonowal seeks faster Sagarmala execution from Maharashtra govt PM Narendra Modi's upcoming US visit: India eyes WTO disputes resolution From 3,395 units sold per day in May, the volume slipped to 1,271 units in June, shows data on the VAHAN portal of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). Sales of e2W made 7.73 per cent of the overall 1,497,956 two-wheelers dispatched last month. They are now down to 2.65 per cent in June, so far. Daily sales of petrol two-wheelers rose to 46,755 units in June from 44,926 units in May. Industry players say the decline in e2W sales is due to the reduction in incentives under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME-II) scheme and the ongoing investigation into the alleged deviation from the phased manufacturing programme guidelines. Buoyed by friendly government policies and production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, India is set to cross Rs 1,20,000 crore in mobile exports in the current fiscal year (FY24), driven by tech giant Apple, the top electronics industry body told IANS on Tuesday. The country surpassed a remarkable Rs 90,000 crore worth smartphone exports in the fiscal year 2022-2023. According to the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), the mobile phone exports have already registered a massive 128 per cent growth in the months of April-May this year. "Mobile phone exports growth in 2023-24 have bucked the trend of falling exports with a growth of 128 per cent in the first two months of 2023-24," Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, ICEA, told IANS. "We are confident of crossing Rs 120,000 crore in this financial year compared to Rs 90,000 crore in the last financial year which was a phenomenal 90 per cent growth," Mohindroo added. Amid this stupendous growth in the mobile exports, Apple's share is set to exceed 50 per cent in FY24, according to the ICEA. Also Read India surpasses Rs 85,000 cr worth mobile phone exports in FY23: Data From mobile phones to chips, India manufacturing enters golden era Indian smartphone export likely crossed over Rs 82,000 cr in FY23 Apple opens its first official store in Mumbai; what we know so far Budget 2023 wishlist: ICEA calls for rationalisation of duties on parts Millets on the menu: 'Superfood' in the limelight has crop of challenges Even at 4.25% inflation rate, Das sees disinflation process as protracted State support and spectrum allocation allow BSNL to ring up business As holistic wellness takes centre stage, luxury retreats dial up the game India set to achieve $300 bn electronics manufacturing target: MoS IT In May, iPhone exports reached a record Rs 10,000 crore, pushing the total mobile shipments from the country to Rs 12,000 crore. The top five global destinations India currently exports mobile phones to are the UAE, the US, the Netherlands, the UK and Italy. "The mobile phone industry will cross $40 billion manufacturing output," according to Mohindroo. More than 97 per cent of the smartphones sold in India are now being produced locally. India is now the second largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world. The country is now moving in a different direction, "which is largely export-focused and led by the government's PLI push". According to estimates, India and Vietnam are set to become the biggest beneficiaries of smartphone supply chain migration out of China. --IANS na/ The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) is planning to further intensify its crackdown against non-functional (shell) companies, the Economic Times (ET) reported. The MCA has already struck off hundreds of thousands of shell companies that are often used to funnel black money, the report said, quoting sources aware of the matter. According to the report the MCA is planning to rake up the physical verification of non-functional or non-compliant firms by the Registrar of Companies (ROC). This is likely to compel such firms to take compliance more seriously and become more disciplined. A company is required to have a registered office within thirty days, which should be capable of receiving and acknowledging all communications and notices for the firm. In the past three years, nearly 127,952 firms were struck from records according to Minister of State for corporate affairs Rao Inderjit Singh's statement in Lok Sabha in February. The MCA has been proactively working to crackdown on shell companies since 2016, the report said. Also Read RoC to check GoMechanic's books amid allegations of irregularities: Report Registrar of Companies to crack down on law violators with new reforms Simplified filings: RoC approval not required for most corporate actions Company formation, conversion made easier and swifter on new MCA portal MCA concludes demerger hearing of Shipping Corp, may approve soon: Sources Compromise with wilful defaulters to help banks recover dues much faster 3 states, 1 UT raise Rs 5,600 cr; yields on 10-year paper harden further New formal job creation at 4-month high in April, shows EPFO data Time has come for Airbus, Boeing to make India jetliner hub: Scindia PSUs allowed to import Chinese solar modules; NTPC to benefit the most Quoting another source the ET report said that this decision will complement the ongoing drives by Enforcement Directorate and Tax officials against such shell companies. MAC21 portal's database which is meant for various filings under the Companies Act and the LLP Act will further aid drive against such companies, the report said. The National Land Monetisation Corporation (NLMC) is planning to conduct its first auction of small-sized immovable assets of certain central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) as a trial run by the end of the July-September quarter of 2023-24 to prepare for a large asset sale later. No big assets have been transferred to NLMC as yet. The company is working to develop a process to conduct the valuation and auction of these assets, a senior finance ministry official told Business Standard. The Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE) announced Jammu and Kashmir Board Class 10th result 2023 on Monday, June 19. Students who have appeared for JKBOSE 10th exams can check the JKBOSE 10 result 2023 from the official website, i.e., jkbose.nic.in. The JKBOSE class 10th exams were held from March 9 to April 5 in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. JKBOSE class 10th pass percentage According to the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education, a total of 148701 students appeared for the class 10th examination, out of which 118791 cleared the exam. The board added that the overall pass percentage of class 10th stood at 79.89 per cent. Girls outperformed boys in JKBOSE class 10th result as girls' pass percentage stood at 81.68, while boys' pass percentage was 78.23 per cent. How to check the JKBOSE class 10th result 2023? Here are the simple steps to check JKBOSE class 10th result: Step 1: Visit the official website of JKBOSE, i.e., jkbose.nic.in Step 2: Check for the 'Result of Secondary School Examination (Class 10th) Session link on the homepage. Step 3: On the login page, enter your roll number and registration number and click on submit button. Step 4: Once you enter your credentials successfully, the class 10th result will appear on your screen. Step 5: You can check and download your scorecard for future reference Also Read JKBOSE 8th result 2023: Get full details on official website in PDF format BSE Odisha 10th Result 2023: All you need to know about checking result PSEB 10th results 2023 announced: Here's how to check and download Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar likely to host G20 event: Govt official RBSE 10th Result 2023 set to release today at 1 pm, here's the full details NIT Rourkela to host CSAB-2023 and co-host JoSAA; registrations start today IIT Madras raises Rs 231 cr in funding from alumni, firms, donors in FY23 JEE Advanced 2023 result announced on June 18, here's how to check Results of JEE-Advanced announced; Vavilala Chidvila Reddy bags top rank UP govt signs MoU with Khan Academy to improve Maths skill of students JKBOSE announced class 12th results earlier Jammu and Kashmir Board of Secondary Education released the class 12th result on June 9. The total pass percentage for class 12th was 65 per cent. A total of 127636 students enrolled for the examination out of which 82,441 students cleared the examination. Also Read Adipurush garners Rs 340 crore on box office within three days of release Blinkit shuts some Gurugram dark stores for good as delivery workers strike Neighbour reveals how he discovered gruesome Mumbai murder by Manoj Sane Top CEOs got an average hike of 9% in 2022, workers' wages fell 3%: Oxfam TMS Ep334: Indian tech sector, Indian workers in Gulf, markets, Covid BF.7 Adipurush garners Rs 340 crore on box office within three days of release The case of Kajol's 'missing' social media: Celeb brands & their gimmicks Adipurush advance booking: Prabhas-starrer sells over 470,000 tickets BET Awards 2023: Everything you need to know about awards, performances Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday suggested identification of credit-deficient districts in each state and carrying out special credit outreach camps there. She also suggested holding a special district level review committee meeting between July 15 to August 15 and inviting MPs from such districts to further brainstorm on ideas of financial inclusion by opening Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts. She said this while chairing a meeting of a consultative committee attached to the finance ministry, which focussed on financial inclusion. During the deliberations, Sitharaman reviewed the progress made under PMJDY, Jan Suraksha schemes and MUDRA Yojana. The meeting was also attended by the Ministers of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary and Bhagwat Karad, as well as MPs of the consultative committee from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Senior officials of the Finance Ministry as well as RBI, NABARD and other public sector banks were also present at the meeting. Also Read UBS Group completes takeover of Credit Suisse to create bank titan Nirmala Sitharaman's Daughter Parakala Vangamayi ties knot in Bengaluru Post-pandemic development requirements becoming lot more focussed: FM FM Sitharaman to review state of economy at FSDC meeting on Monday India's financial inclusion journey can be example for other countries: UN Barings PE, ChrysCapital acquire 90% stake in HDFC Credila for Rs 9,060 cr Want to hedge against risky bets? Invest in the current SGB tranche Rupee dips tracking Asia FX, eyes US Fed chief testimony this week Corporate sector begins to contribute to growth of GFCF: ICICI Securities Karur Vysya Bank in expansion mode; sets up 800th branch in Chennai A presentation was given by the banking secretary, highlighting the progress made so far and the way forward for furthering the financial inclusion drive of the government. The Finance Minister said that for those still outside bank reach, the MPs should pro-actively participate in the financial inclusion efforts, and guide banks and financial institutions for their effective implementation in their constituencies. --IANS ans/pgh By Dharamraj Dhutia and Swati Bhat MUMBAI (Reuters) - A slight tweak to a key regulatory requirement for Indian banks could help reduce volatility in the overnight interbank borrowing rates, senior bank treasurers said on Tuesday. The weighted average interbank call money rate has been above the repo rate of 6.50% for five straight sessions despite the banking system liquidity surplus staying above one trillion rupees ($12.18 billion). Banks are required to maintain a cash reserve ratio (CRR) of 4.5% of their total deposit base, which has risen to around 190 trillion rupees. But cash conditions in the banking system have tightened due to monthly tax outflows, among other reasons, keeping interbank borrowing costs on the higher side. Advancing the time at which banks compute their CRR requirement from 11:59 p.m. IST to 5:00 p.m. IST to match with the overnight cash markets close will likely give banks better visibility of their balances and prevent them from keeping substantial buffers, the bankers said. "In today's scenario, a surplus of 750 billion rupees to one trillion rupees is considered as neutral liquidity, as this money will not be used for lending in markets and banks keep it aside to meet potential outflows," said a treasury head of a state-run bank. Also Read Banks express concern over high overnight funding costs, ask for RBI's help Rupee outlook positive, central bank eyed; bond yields likely to rise Bankers await signs on RBI's liquidity approach amid persisting disconnect RBI to hike rates again on sticky inflation, Fed pressure, say analysts No contagion seen on Indian bonds, forex from SVB collapse: DBS Bank TCS levy: Credit card users may have to declare forex transactions to banks FM seeks spotting of credit-deficient districts for financial inclusion Barings PE, ChrysCapital acquire 90% stake in HDFC Credila for Rs 9,060 cr Want to hedge against risky bets? Invest in the current SGB tranche Rupee dips tracking Asia FX, eyes US Fed chief testimony this week Conducting more fine-tuning operations and more regular shorter-tenor repos and reserve repos would also help with volatility, the treasury officials added. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should also de-stigmatise borrowing by banks at the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) window, they said. The RBI introduced the MSF borrowing facility for commercial banks for emergencies. But most state-run banks are reluctant to borrow from it as bank boards are notified and it can come up at audit meets. This pushes banks to either keep additional funds or borrow at higher rates in the interbank market. "When MSF was introduced, it was a penal rate. But back then banks had the option of daily repo borrowing, which is not part of the new liquidity framework and MSF is the only option left," a senior treasury official at a large private bank said. ($1 = 82.1023 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Swati Bhat; Editing by Janane Venkatraman) Australia is expected to attract the highest net inflow of high net worth individuals in 2023 at 5,200, while the UAE has dropped to second place , following its record-breaking influx in 2022, according to the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2023, which tracks wealth and investment migration trends worldwide. While UAE is still expected to enjoy an impressive net arrival of 4,500 new millionaires this year, Singapore ranks third with a net inflow of 3,200 HNWIs, its highest on record, followed the US with an expected net influx of 2,100 millionaires. Prior to the Covid blip in 2020 and 2021 when the pandemic hampered both the movement and the tracking of millionaires, Australia had secured the top spot from 2015 to 2019. The USA saw the biggest net inflows globally in both 2013 and 2014. Approximately 82,000 high-net-worth individuals have moved to Australia over the past 20 years (2002 to 2022), and another 5,200 are expected to arrive in 2023. According to Henley and Partners, Australia has been consistently mentioned as the millionaires migration destination of choice because of its climate and lifestyle, the world-class education and healthcare, the distance from global crisis hotspots. Moreover, unlike the UK and the USA, Australia has no inheritance taxes or death duties. Add to that ttractive visa programmes aimed at attracting highly skilled professionals. The report features the latest net inflows and outflows of dollar millionaires (namely, the difference between the number of HNWIs with investable wealth of $ 1 million or more who relocate to and the number who emigrate from a country) as projected by global wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth. These consistently large inflows are possibly linked to Australias points-based immigration system which favors wealthy individuals and those with professional qualifications (accountants, doctors, engineers, hi-tech professionals, and lawyers), said Andrew Amoils, Head of Research at New World Wealth. Other possible reasons for Australias popularity among migrating millionaires: Also Read India to lose 6,500 millionaires in 2023, Dubai and Singapore top choice Decoded: Why India's millionaires are flocking to Dubai and Singapore EB-5 visa: What is it, who can apply and how it is different from H1-B visa US extends visa walk-in interview waiver for more applicants; check here H1-B visa deadline likely to get extended as users face technical glitches Rewards galore: Most loved credit cards for online spends in India Want to hedge against risky bets? Invest in the current SGB tranche Sun Life Asia Service Centres rebrands itself as Sun Life Global Solutions SIP accounts closures rise 7.4% to 1.42 mn month-on-month in May Withdrawal of Rs 2000 notes is win for real estate, gold, consumer durables Weather, beaches, and scenery the country is rich in natural beauty. Wide open spaces Australia has one of lowest population densities in the world, with only three people per km2. This compares very favorably to the worldwide average of 60 people per km2 (see latest World Bank data). Safety and security New World Wealths in-house safety index currently rates Australia as one of the safest countries on earth, along with the likes of Iceland, Switzerland, Malta, and New Zealand. First-class healthcare system Australias public healthcare system is rated among the best in the world. It is also relatively simple for incoming high-net-worths to pay their way onto the system, unlike the USA, where obtaining healthcare insurance can be complicated and expensive, especially for aging individuals. Advanced economy Australia is especially strong in energy and mining, financial services, healthcare, and real estate. High quality of life for families the country holds great appeal as an ideal place for bringing up children Excellent education opportunities Australias education system frequently ranks among the top in the world. English speaking country Most high-net-worths globally know English, whether as their first or as an additional language. Taxes although company and income tax rates are quite high, unlike most other high-income markets, Australia has no estate duty, which encourages wealthy people to stay in the country and build their businesses for future generations. "In the four years prior to the pandemic, Australia was regularly attracting more than 10,000 millionaires each year. The countrys border was effectively closed for two years in 2020 and 2021, and in that time Australia experienced a net outflow of people for the first time in its history. Arrivals, including permanent arrivals, started rebounding in 2022 and the trend has continued into 2023," said Tony Le Nevez, Managing Partner at Henley & Partners Australia. In May 2022, Australia had a change of government and almost immediately the incoming government announced an increase to the permanent migration program and a review of the immigration system. Like many developed countries, Australia faces a severe skills shortage and an aging population. The review restated the long-held view that the migration of highly skilled people can help increase Australians standard of living by contributing to higher productivity levels in the economy. Indians too in the last few years have preferred Australia over USA and UK because of the simplified visa process."In the four years prior to the pandemic, Australia was regularly attracting more than 10,000 millionaires each year. The countrys border was effectively closed for two years in 2020 and 2021, and in that time Australia experienced a net outflow of people for the first time in its history. Arrivals, including permanent arrivals, started rebounding in 2022 and the trend has continued into 2023," said Tony Le Nevez, Managing Partner at Henley & Partners Australia. " Post the pandemic, HNIs are considering alternate residencies in order to have an insurance for health care, lifestyle, education, etc. Australia emerges as a strong location given the large Indian diaspora, the high human development index, economic and civil liberties, and the possibility of receiving a citizenship. Also the highligly skilled visa programme has been a boon to highly qualified professionals, which has helped Australia secure highly skilled talent," said Bijal Ajinkya, Partner, Khaitan & Co. India, Australia ink new pact for work visas Earlier this month, India and Australia inked a migration and mobility partnership pact to open up opportunities for students, academic researchers and business people. Under the new scheme, Indian graduates of Australian tertiary institutions on a student visa can apply to work and pursue professional development without visa sponsorship for up to eight years. This programme will begin from 1 July 2023. The country also has one of the lowest pollution levels and has so far been resistant to global recession. "At present, the Indian community is the third-largest group of migrants in Australia. More than 600,000 Indians call Australia home," according to Gaurang Patel of Phoenix Business Advisory.Earlier this month, India and Australia inked a migration and mobility partnership pact to open up opportunities for students, academic researchers and business people. The list of eligible educational qualifications covers engineering, renewable energy, ICT, mining, artificial intelligence, AgriTech, and FinTech. More areas will be added later. Mobility Arrangement for Talented Early-professionals Scheme (MATES), a new pilot program, will be included with an annual cap of 3,000 places for 4 years. Mobility Arrangement for Talented Early-professionals Scheme will provide a new mobility pathway for new career professionals with some knowledge in skills, and Indian graduates will be considered more to work and live for up to 2 years in Australia. The Australian government also said that the current visa process for high-skilled professionals will be made quicker and easier. Launched as a pilot program in 2019, the Global Talent Independent Programme was designed to help grow Australias innovation and tech economies by providing a streamlined pathway to permanent residence for highly skilled executives, businesspeople, entrepreneurs, and professionals. The future-focused industry sectors targeted under the program include agri-food and agtech, digitech and fintech, education, health services, and renewable energy. The Australian government is seeking the best and brightest global talent in the following 10 future-focused sectors: Over 25,000 Global Talent Independent visas have been issued since 2019, and a further 5,000 places have been set aside for the Global Talent Independent program for the 2023/24 financial year. Resources, energy, and mining technology Agricultural technology (agtech) Defense, space, and advanced manufacturing Financial services and technology (fintech) Health industries and medical technology (medtech) Circular economy Infrastructure and tourism Education Cyber security Quantum information, advanced digital technology, data science, and information and communications technology (ICT) Golden visa getting scrapped? Authorities in Australia are planning to scrap the Significant Investor Visa (SIV) program, also known as the Golden Ticket, which offers visas to all persons who invest at least $5 million in this country. A government review published in March found that Business Innovation and Investment Programme migrants contributed less to the economy than the average Australian, as the cohort, despite their wealth, tended to be older and earned lower incomes through capital returns on passive investments, reported Reuters. A new migration strategy iex expected be released later this year, which would include "radically reshaping" the BIIP programme. India's migration and mobility partnership with Australia In Decemeber 2022, India and Australia also inked the conomic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), under which a new category of 4-year visas for investors will be introduced. Australia is also expected to issue 1,800 new visas to Indian chefs and yoga instructors and also grant students work opportunities after their education. Effect of 20% TCS: Expedia to stop 'pay now' option for foreign bookings Short term debt funds are in demand: Where should you park your funds? Is UPI the new Rs 2000? Data suggests so, says SBI Last date to link PAN-Aadhar cards on June 30: Know how to pay penalty here Filing ITR without taxable income: Details on benefits, advantages RBI MPC increases repo rate by 25 bps, pegs FY24 inflation at 5.3% RBI MPC: When and where to watch policy announcement by Shaktikanta Das RBI MPC: When and where to watch policy announcement by Shaktikanta Das RBI Monetary Policy: Repo rate up by 25 bps, FY23 inflation pegged at 6.5% MPC lowers projection for inflation, raises growth outlook a bit in FY24 P2P platforms essentially match lenders with borrowers. Different platforms focus o According to news reports, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently sent a list of questions to registered peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms enquiring about several aspects of their business. While some industry insiders dismissed these queries as routine, others believe they are a precursor to the regulator undertaking further tightening of norms within the industry. In the meanwhile, investors using these platforms to earn higher returns should exercise a lot of caution. 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 Directorate of Vigilance has issued show-cause notices to Public Works Department (PWD) officials in connection with the alleged expenditure on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence case, an official statement said on Sunday. The resident of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is situated on 6, Flagstaff Road in Civil Lines. The notice has been issued by the Directorate of Vigilance to seven PWD officials. The PWD officers have been given 15 days time to respond to the notice, the statement read. Notably, this comes after BJP alleged Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal of spending Rs 45 crores on the renovation of his official residence. In April, hundreds of BJP leaders and workers staged a massive demonstration against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the alleged Rs 45 crores renovation of his official residence. BJP leader Harish Khurana said that they were protesting against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly spending crores of rupees on the renovation of his official residence in the national capital. Also Read BJP demands white paper on pollution from Delhi govt as AQI deteriorates Will answer all questions, says Kejriwal as he appears before CBI AAP calls SC verdict on services row 'tight slap' on mission to topple govt Having attained national party status, AAP to go full throttle for 2024 BJP govt at Centre fighting with everyone, alleges Delhi CM Kejriwal Khattar takes train to join Gadkari to lay foundation stone in Sonipat Leadership at global institutions like UN needs to be re-evaluated: PM Modi PM Modi in the US: Semiconductors to drones, here's what will be in focus PM Modi leaves for US, says visit a reflection of vigour of bilateral ties UP dy CM asks officials to reserve beds, wards for heat stroke patients "It is questionable that a person who claims to be 'Kattar Imaandar' spends 45 crores rupees on the renovation of the official residence. He spent 11 cr on his wardrobe, obviously, questions will be raised," he said. Meanwhile, Former Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said that CM Kejriwal allegedly spent Rs 45 crores of public funds on his luxurious bungalow, including extravagant items like Dior polish Vietnam marble, expensive curtains, and high-end carpets. He said that the CM has been accused of reportedly spending public funds on a lavish 7-star residential facility for himself during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, has been accused of reportedly spending public funds on a lavish 7-star residential facility for himself during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to official records, a total of Rs. 44.78 Cr. was spent on the "Addition/Alteration" of his accommodation at Flagstaff Road," he tweeted. The special occasion of International Yoga Day serves as a reminder to all of us to take care of ourselves in simple ways, such as practising yoga and staying active. Since the establishment of International Yoga Day in 2015, there has been no turning back. Since 2015, June 21 has been International Yoga Day, which aims to raise awareness of the benefits of yoga, an ancient practice. This year marks the 9th International Day of Yoga, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead a yoga class for the first time at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21, 2023. International Yoga Day 2023: Theme "Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam," which beautifully encapsulates our collective aspiration for "One Earth, One Family, One Future," is the theme for International Day of Yoga 2023. International Yoga Day 2023: History During his speech to the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed a dedicated yoga day. All 193 UN member states agreed to celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21. On June 21, 2015, the inaugural celebration took place. Also Read Together we stand stronger: PM Modi as he leaves for US on 1st state visit World Earth Day 2023: Top 7 Travel Tips For Eco-Conscious Holiday PM Narendra Modi's US visit: Top points for Indian diaspora in US PM Narendra Modi to visit US from June 21 to 25: What is a state visit? PM Modi in the US: Semiconductors to drones, here's what will be in focus West Bengal EC approves women polling personnel for Panchayat polls 7 PWD officials get show cause notice over Delhi CM's house renovation Khattar takes train to join Gadkari to lay foundation stone in Sonipat Leadership at global institutions like UN needs to be re-evaluated: PM Modi PM Modi in the US: Semiconductors to drones, here's what will be in focus The ancient Indian practice of yoga is honoured through the celebration of International Yoga Day. Yoga helps alleviate stress and anxiety as well as physical relaxation. International Yoga Day 2023: Importance The main goal of the International Day of Yoga is to spread the word about yoga as a holistic way to improve mental and physical health. This observance has a significant impact on highlighting the significance of mental and physical health in the modern world. In addition, the day encourages regular meditation practice to cultivate mental clarity and self-awareness, which are necessary for success in a stress-free environment. The overall goal of International Yoga Day is to make people more aware of the many benefits of yoga. More than 70 per cent of the students joining the MBBS course in the top medical colleges in the country this year will be from just nine states, The Times of India (ToI) reports. The marks range for the NEET-UG 2023 exam results shows that around two in three candidates that have marks above 400 hail from eight states Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, UP, and West Bengal, the newspaper reported. For the marks range of 620 and above, Delhi has replaced Bihar in the top eight. While a NEET score of 400 marks is not enough to get a seat in a government medical college for students belonging to General and OBC categories, looking at the candidates' profiles more closely reveals that students from these states dominate even the 620 and above marks range and account for nearly 66 per cent of candidates, the report said. A total of 114,000 students qualified for the NEET-UG 2023 exams, the results for which were announced on May 13. All these students are eligible to participate in the counselling process. 230,000 candidates have a score of more than 400 marks, on the other hand, there are over 45,000 students with marks between 500-619. A total of 18,757 students have scored 620 and above in NEET 2023, ToI reported. The maximum marks for the exams were 720. Students took the NEET exam this year to secure a seat for 104,333 MBBS and 27,868 BDS seats on offer. Other than this, there are 52,720 seats in Ayush programmes and 603 in BVs (Bachelor of veterinary science) and animal husbandry. Additionally, admissions for homoeopathic and Unani medicines are also based on NEET-UG scores. Rajasthan has the highest (12.3 per cent) share of candidates with 400 and above scores. Uttar Pradesh stands second on this parameter at 11.8 per cent and Maharashtra comes in third with 9.9 per cent, the report added. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan cautioned on Tuesday that the collapse of the higher education sector is "worse" than the collapse of the law and order. Khan was reacting to numerous reports about alleged fake certificate cases and other malpractices involving activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the ruling CPI(M), at higher education institutions in the state. By now, a handful of cases have surfaced in which forged documents were allegedly used to secure a teaching job or admission to Post Graduate courses, all involving SFI activists, lending a huge setback to the student's organisation. The Governor, who is also chancellor of state varsities, said that if one is able to do all this because one belongs to a particular student's organisation then it's a serious thing, adding that he will be looking into all such cases. --IANS sg/sha Also Read MP Mohammed Faizal disqualified; Lok Sabha Secretariat issues notification Guv vs govt, Vizhinjam violence, double murder stirred Kerala in 2022 NIA raids several places in Bihar as part of crackdown on govt-banned PFI PM to lay foundation stone of India's first Digital Science Park in Kerala UCC constitutional objective to deliver uniform justice: Arif Mohammed Khan Senthil Balaji to undergo surgery on June 21, says TN health minister Central team to be deployed in UP, Bihar to aid in heatwave response Heatwave in India: Govt's 5-member team to visit worst-affected states Anti-Corruption Bureau arrests EPFO officer for taking Rs 7 lakh bribe Smallpox spreads in Bihar village, locals allege medical negligence Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called the second meeting of the National Capital Civil Services Authority (NCCSA) on June 28 to discuss the transfer and posting of officers in the city. According to Chief Minister's office, Kejriwal received a proposal from the Services Department encompassing three distinct categories of requests. These categories include departments requesting the transfer of certain officers, posting of officers against vacant positions, and an officer's request for transfer/postings. Kejriwal's office also said that it has received complaints from numerous officers alleging that the Services Department is selectively and arbitrarily processing transfer and posting requests. Several officers have pointed out that their transfer requests have been pending with the Services department for a long time without any response. The Chief Minister has sent the file back, instructing the Chief Secretary, who is the Member-Secretary of the NCCSA, to compile and present all the requests falling under these three categories. Additionally, Kejriwal has directed that all requests received by the Services Department in the last six months, which were neither pending nor rejected, must be submitted to the Chief Minister's Office by June 21. The meeting is scheduled for June 28 at 11:00 a.m. and will be held at the Chief Minister's Camp Office, where discussions will take place regarding the transfer and posting of officials in the national capital. Also Read AAP calls SC verdict on services row 'tight slap' on mission to topple govt BJP govt at Centre fighting with everyone, alleges Delhi CM Kejriwal Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal inaugurates Ashram flyover after months of closure Cong Prez Kharge calls meeting to discuss 'ordinance' issue in Delhi Kejriwal loves power, position, money: BJP spokespman Sambit Patra Nearly half of Ukraine-returned students have shifted to other countries IRDAI moves Supreme Court against SAT's order in Sahara-SBI case International Yoga Day: Kejriwal to restart free Yoga classes for Delhiites Possible to make new Covid strain vax in 100 days: Gennova BioPharma Delhi extends permit validity of taxis running on CNG, other clean fuels The Chief Minister's office has claimed that a few weeks ago, when the Chief Minister, who is also the Chairperson of the NCCSA, received a proposal for disciplinary proceedings against an officer, the Chief Secretary completely bypassed the Chief Minister and the NCCSA when Kejriwal raised a query on the proposal. "The Chief Secretary (CS) and the Lt Governor (LG) colluded to take action against the mandate of the NCCSA. In a blatant disregard of Section 45F(1) of the Centre's Ordinance and established constitutional practices, the Chief Secretary overruled the Chief Minster's directions for furnishing additional information and directly sent the file to the LG, bypassing the CM and the NCCSA. Then, acting on the CS's advice, the LG disregarded the authority of the CM and NCCSA and ordered the suspension of the officer," the Chief Minister's office alleged. --IANS atk/sha In a major relief to thousands of taxi owners across Delhi, the Transport Department has directed that all taxis plying on CNG or other clean fuels and possessing a contract carriage permit will now have their permit validity extended to 15 years. However, this extension is subject to the fulfilment of all other prescribed conditions as stipulated in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR), 1989, and Delhi Motor Vehicles Rules (DMVR), 1993, it said. In a statement, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said the move will help thousands of taxi drivers who will be able to ply their CNG vehicles for a total of 15 years now. "It is an initiative towards providing cleaner and greener modes of transportation while ensuring the welfare and convenience of taxi owners and operators in the city," he said. The decision to extend the permit validity comes after a careful observation by the transport department, which revealed a disparity in the duration of permits among various categories of taxis operating under the contract carriage permit in Delhi, the statement said. Until now, taxis registered under the City Taxi Scheme 2015 with DL1RT had a permit validity of only eight years. In contrast, all other taxis, including black and yellow cabs and other categories, enjoyed a validity of 15 years, which corresponds to the vehicle's age as defined by the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, it said. Also Read Overcast morning in Delhi with 25.4 deg C minimum temp, air quality drops New Haryana rules on stone crusher units may blunt the war on air pollution Top headlines: Airfares high on Holi, Uber to go to court over bike taxi Stepping on the gas: CNG fuel of choice in green mobility quest Delhi govt to engage with taxi industry players over bike taxi ban: IAMAI Foreign tourist arrivals increasing in India: Kishan Reddy at G20 Schools to resume classes in violence-hit Manipur from July 1: Officials Manipur students in Delhi-NCR struggling to survive due to strife in state IMD issues orange alert in several parts of Rajasthan amid Cyclone Biparjoy PM Modi looks to solidify India's tech prowess with US state visit "This discrepancy prompted the transport department to rectify the situation and ensure fair treatment for all taxi owners in the region. The move to extend the permit validity to 15 years for taxis running on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or clean fuels is seen as a positive step toward promoting environmentally friendly transportation options and reducing pollution levels in the city," the statement said. The department has urged taxi owners and operators to ensure they meet all other conditions specified in the relevant Acts and regulations. Adherence to these prescribed requirements will remain crucial for maintaining the extended permit validity, it said. The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police carried out a massive operation on June 19 that targeted drug dealers in over 100 locations across the national capital. The initiative, referred to as "Operation Kawach," aims to combat the harmful effects of drug addiction on children and youth. The Anti-Narcotics Task Force had previously arrested around 43 individuals involved in the supply of illegal alcohol and drugs to college and school students. The crackdown demonstrates the administrations commitment in preventing drug distribution in educational settings and safeguarding the health of young people. Operation Kawach: Overview During "Operation Kawach" in Delhi, officials reported that a total of 31 drug offenders and 12 bootleggers were arrested by the police. In order to combat drug abuse in the city, some 100 locations were raided as part of this operation. The Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) and the Crime Branch from all districts made up a comprehensive force of 80 police teams to carry out a series of actions. According to the police, the ANTF conducted extensive on-the-ground assessments Collaborating with the Delhi Police and identified over 100 potential targets for simultaneous raids. Operation Kawach: Raids In the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, the raids were successfully carried out all over Delhi. According to reports, 31 drug offenders were detained in 30 NDPS cases and 12 bootleggers in six Excise Act cases. The police said the operation resulted in the seizure of 957.5 grams of heroin, 57.884 kilograms of ganja, and 782 quarters of illegal liquor. Also Read 39 years of Operation Bluestar: What happened in Punjab and the aftermath Human trafficking moving deeper underground due to Covid-19: UN report Glitch on metro's yellow line: The monkey business of Delhi's monkeys Japan's crime rate increases for 1st time in 20 years due to Covid-19 Operation Sheesh Mahal: Why do BJP and Congress want Delhi CM to resign? To ensure driver comfort, Centre mandates air-conditioning in trucks Manipur skips annual Rath Yatra procession amid ongoing ethnic violence Himalayan glaciers may lose 75% of their ice by 2100, shows new study Balasore tragedy: No staff missing, all cooperating with CBI, says Railways Chalk out plan to set up outlets of organic products: Yogi to officials The reports added that Delhi Police had arrested 534 narco-offenders in 412 NDPS cases and recovered approximately 35 kilograms of heroin/smack, 15 kilograms of cocaine, 1,500 kilograms of ganja, 230 kilograms of opium, 10 kilograms of charas, and 20 kilograms of poppy, so far. Union Minister for Tourism and Culture G. Kishan Reddy on Tuesday said that foreign tourist arrivals during the period of January to April 2023 were 166 per cent higher than compared to last year. G. Kishan Reddy was speaking during the 4th Tourism Working Group Meeting under G20 underway in Goa. "Our foreign tourist arrivals after Covid-19 have now increased. During the period from January to April 2023 it is 166 per cent higher than compared to the arrivals registered during the last year for same period," he said. The minister said that a visit to India, would be incomplete, without experiencing the beauty, greatness and richness of our spiritual strength and diversity of different places of the country. "Since ancient times, travelling to India was an avenue for finding oneself and India has always been a popular destination for travellers from all corners of the globe seeking and self-discovery. This has provided opportunities for people across 200 countries and varied faiths to experience India's culture and spiritual heritage," Reddy said. He added that the final meeting will provide action points and recommendations for national and other governments, and other tourism stakeholders, to act upon to achieve, sustainable development goals. Also Read Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy stable, under observation at AIIMS Goa lawmakers, oppn leaders want to name new airport on Manohar Parrikar Telangana wants freedom from nepotism: Union Minister G Kishan Reddy Viveka murder case: CBI issues fresh notice to Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy G20 meet will help India maximise its potential in tourism sector: Minister Schools to resume classes in violence-hit Manipur from July 1: Officials Manipur students in Delhi-NCR struggling to survive due to strife in state IMD issues orange alert in several parts of Rajasthan amid Cyclone Biparjoy PM Modi looks to solidify India's tech prowess with US state visit Will the iCET get a boost during PM Narendra Modi's visit to the US? "Currently our government has two priorities, they are sustainable infrastructure creation, to cater to the growing needs of the tourists, and raising awareness among the tourists, for responsible consumption and adoption of an environmentally conscious lifestyle and through the launch of the G20 Tourism and SDG Dashboard, a legacy has been created," Reddy said. He said that the dashboard being developed, shall promote policies and initiatives by the G20 countries, and guest countries in building a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient sector. Reddy also appealed to build a more diverse, resilient, and sustainable tourism sector for the future generation. --IANS sbk/prw/bg The fatalities due to the heatwave in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district has risen to 68 since June 15, with temperatures soaring up to 43.5 degree Celsius in the region. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to review public health preparedness amid the prevailing heatwave conditions across the country. Mandaviya said that a five-member team, comprising senior officials from the health ministry, and the India Meteorological Department (IMD), will visit states that are worst affected by the heatwave. He informed that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been ordered to recommend measures to minimise the adverse effect of heatwave conditions. A committee, led by K N Tiwari (Director of Medical Care) and A K Singh (Director of Infectious Diseases), visited villages in Bansdih and Garwar development blocks which reported maximum casualties. They met with the family members of some of the deceased to study if a certain pattern may be spotted. Singh said that some of the deceased were unwell for a long time but what remains undeniable is the high heat and humidity levels in the villages. Also Read Heatwave scorches north India as mercury touches 46 degrees; respite soon? H3N2 influenza: Symptoms, spread, prevention, what do experts say? IMD issues heatwave to severe heatwave warning for several states/UTs IMD's heatwave warning: Here're 6 common health problems to look out for As mercury soars, Centre issues guidelines for workers during hot summers It's time to follow Rajdharma: Cong takes dig at PM over Manipur situation IndiGo's order for 500 Airbus A320 aircraft landmark for industry: Scindia Cough syrup row: Zero tolerance on spurious medicines, says Mandaviya Cine workers' association writes to PM Modi asking for ban on Adipurush Rath Yatra: Lord Jagannath, his siblings ascend chariots following rituals He added that there were power outages in the villages which worsened the situation. He informed that additional air coolers have been put up in the wards of the district hospital where some patients had complained of facing unbearable heat. Officials from Lucknow said that they havent yet found a strong link between the incident and high temperatures in the region. CM Yogi holds meeting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also held a high-level meeting to review the situation in the state, and gave necessary guidelines, said a statement from the Chief Minister's Office. "The effect of a heatwave is being seen in various districts of the state for the last few days. In such a situation, concrete arrangements should be made at every level for the protection of common life, livestock and wildlife," Yogi said. He instructed officials to set up 'pyaus' (places for drinking water) at public places in all municipal bodies/rural areas. According to the IMD, heatwave conditions persisted over east Uttar Pradesh since June 12. The agency said that the mercury in the city is expected to go below 40 degrees Celsius after June 22. Why do heatwaves cause deaths? When high temperatures combine with high humidity, heatwaves can become fatal. For instance, in Mumbai this year, 13 people died from a heatstroke while attending a government function in an open space. Though the city was not experiencing heatwave conditions, experts said that high humidity levels could have been one of the reasons behind the deaths. A similar thing may have happened in Ballia. According to the IMD, the relative humidity in Ballia on June 18 was 31 per cent (at 5:30 pm) and the maximum temperature was 43.5 degrees Celsius. This means that the Heat Index (HI) touched 51 degree Celsius, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) HI calculator. Such conditions could severely impact humans, sometimes becoming fatal, according to a report in The Indian Express. Joy Merwin Monteiro, assistant professor at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, told The Indian Express, Humans lose heat generated within their bodies by producing sweat that evaporates on the skin. The cooling effect of this evaporation is essential in maintaining a stable body temperature. Monteiro said that as humidity rises, sweat does not evaporate and thus makes it difficult to regulate body temperature. This could cause a heat stroke, which takes place only when the body temperature goes above 40 degrees Celsius, he explained. Excessive heat increases metabolic activity in the body, which causes a drop in blood pressure and oxygen levels. This situation is called hypoxia. Prolonged exposure to moderate heat with poor hydration levels in these circumstances, can lead to hypoxia. Individuals with pre-existing metabolic disorders such as diabetes, the obese or the elderly, are more vulnerable. Glaciers in Hindu Kush Himalayas are melting at unprecedented rates and could lose up to 75 per cent of their volume by 2100, scientists have said, adding that this would cause dangerous flooding and water shortages for the 240 million people who live in the mountainous region. On Tuesday, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) issued a report warning that if greenhouse gases are not drastically reduced, flash floods and avalanches will become more common in the coming years. It stated that the availability of freshwater would be impacted for the 240 million people who live in the Himalayan region, as well as another 1.65 billion who live downstream of the 12 rivers that originate in the mountains. "The people living in these mountains who have contributed next to nothing to global warming are at high risk due to climate change, said Amina Maharjan, a migration specialist and one of the reports authors. Current adaptation efforts are wholly insufficient and we are extremely concerned that without greater support, these communities will be unable to cope, she said. Several previous studies have found that the cryosphere regions of the Earth covered in snow and ice is among the worst affected by climate change. Also Read Climbers set to celebrate 70 years of Everest summit amid melting glaciers Karnataka HC says not having sex is cruelty under Hindu Marriage Act Hindu rate of growth: Where does the term come from and what it means IPCC's 'final' warning: Current goals not enough to limit global warming Excessive methane emitted from mega wildfires fuels vicious cycle: Study Balasore tragedy: No staff missing, all cooperating with CBI, says Railways Chalk out plan to set up outlets of organic products: Yogi to officials Coaching centre fire row: DIOS issues notices to 54 institutes in Noida If Centre doesn't release Rs 3,622 cr rural fund, will move to SC: Mann Govt appoints SBI MD Janakiraman as RBI deputy governor with 3-year tenure According to recent research, Mount Everest's glaciers, for example, have lost 2,000 years of ice in the last 30 years. The report also found that Himalayan glaciers have receded 65 per cent faster since 2010 than in the previous decade, and that changes to the region's glaciers, snow, and permafrost caused by global warming have been "unprecedented and largely irreversible." Glaciers across the entire region will lose 30 to 50 per cent of their volume by 2100 if temperatures rise 1.5 degrees Celsius or 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the report said. But where glaciers will melt most depends on location. At three degrees Celsius of warming what the world is roughly on track for under current climate policies glaciers in the Eastern Himalayas, which includes Nepal and Bhutan, will lose up to 75 per cent of their ice. At 4 degrees Celsius of warming, that increases to 80 per cent. Were losing the glaciers, and were losing them in 100 years time, said Philippus Wester, an environmental scientist and one of the lead authors of the report. Last week, India's Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the purchase of US-Made Predator drones, arguably the best in the world. The deal will cost India around $3.5 billion for 31 high-altitude, long-endurance Predator-B drones. India already operates two Sea Guardian drones, an unarmed version of the deadly Predator series. What are Predator Drones? Developed by a San Diego-based defence contractor, General Atomics, Predators drones are considered the best in the business. Primarily developed to conduct surveillance-related operations, one of these drones famously identified Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in 2000. Thereafter, armed versions of the Predator drones were developed that came with lethal Hellfire missiles. With continuous revisions and updates, today's predators have become far more superior compared to their earlier versions. These drones can operate at heights up to 50,000 feet for over 27 hours with a payload capacity of 1,746 kg. India is interested in the MQ-9B SkyGuardian and MQ-9B SeaGuardian variants of these drones, which are designed to operate via satellite and have endurance of more than 30-40 hours, a report in The Times of India said. These drones can fly in all weather conditions with payloads of more than 2000kg. Predator drones operational history: A brief Also Read No, Israel has NOT found two cases of a new variant of coronavirus Understanding Recep Erdogan's victory and future outlook for Turkey AI-powered US military drone kills operator during simulated test: Report All you need to know about Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Erdogan's rival in Turkey Direct damages of Turkiye earthquakes equivalent to 4% of GDP: World Bank Effect of 20% TCS: Expedia to stop 'pay now' option for foreign bookings West Bengal transport operators refuse to supply buses for poll duty Several trains in Rajasthan cancelled in view of cyclonic storm Biparjoy Kejriwal writes to L-G over 'deteriorating' NCR law & order situation Candidates from 9 states corner 70% medical college seats; Rajasthan tops Since it started serving with the American armed forces in 1995, Predator drones have seen extensive usage in the conflict zone. The Predator was first deployed over Bosnia in the summer of 1995 and General Atomics was awarded the first contract of series production in August 1997. Later, it was deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, and Syria to support operational requirements. With extensive and proven experience in war-torn zones, Predator drones have made a reputation for themselves. Predators' superiority in unmanned warfare is unmatched so far. Other drones in the world While American Predator drones are the gold standard when it comes to the best drone technology, other countries are also making strides in developing their own unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Israel's Elbit Hermes 450: It is an assault UAV equipped with two Hellfire missiles. With an endurance of over 20 hours, it can be used for reconnaissance, surveillance, and communications relay. These drones are also operated by the US. Turkey's Bayraktar drones: Turkey has made significant advances in drone making. Its Bayraktar drones have shot to fame after its operational prowess came to light as Ukraine used them to zero in on Russia's land-based targets which were turned to fumes seconds later after they were locked. The Bayraktar can carry laser-guided and has a compact body that can be carried on a truck. Importantly, they only cost a fraction of American Predator drones. The drone is sold to 13 countries and is said to have the ability to change the course of wars. These very drones were used to decide the fate of the Azerbaijan-Armeia war when the two countries fought in 2020 over Nagorno-Karabakh. Where does India stand in the drone race? While India recognises the quintessential role drones can play in modern warfare, its own development of the same is abysmal. However, with a renewed push towards the drone industry, startups in the country are focused on developing and identifying new applications and use cases for drones, a KPMG report said. Centre is taking a keen interest in improving indigenous know-how of drone technology and its liberal policies and other initiatives like drone shakti are supporting the market's growth, the report added. Drone Shakti is a production-linked incentive scheme designed to bolster domestic drone development. DRDO Rustom The DRDO Rustom is a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. It has been derived from National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL's) LCRA (Light Canard Research Aircraft developed by the team that worked under the late Prof Rustom Damania in the 1980s. The Rustom will have three variants namely, Rustom-1, a tactical UAV with an endurance of 12 hours. The second is Rustom-H, a larger UAV with a flight endurance of more than 24 hours which will also have a higher range and service ceiling. Service ceiling refers to the maximum height an aerial vehicle can achieve. The third, Rustom-2 (TAPAS-BH-201) will be a UAV based on Rustom-H. It is being developed on the lines of General Atomics MQ-1 Predator. Its first flight took place in November 2016. The Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Development of North Eastern Region, G Kishan Reddy on Monday said India will become the number one destination in the world by 2047 in the tourism sector. Speaking to Media, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said, "The tourism sector's G20 ministerial meetings will start tomorrow. Today, side meetings have taken place. Ministers have come today as well. United Nations World Trade Organisation Secretary-General, some other important organisations, delegates from different countries, and experts are part of it. You take any tourist destination in India including different areas, nearby 6-7 km, you can identify a lot of plastic because tourists throw away plastic bottles and food items. Not only for India, but plastic is also a very big issue for any tourist destination across the world. We want to aware people of the country on how to use plastic. Today, we had a discussion with officers of G20 countries and stakeholders in the meeting over this." He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Ganga cruise which was a success. "In another event, we discussed cruise tourism. Recently honourable Prime Minister in India inaugurated the Ganga cruise. A cruise started for about 50 days. It was a success. In India, we have a sea coast of more than 750 km. We need to explore. People from different countries want to visit India and people from India also want to visit other countries. But today, in India, people think cruise tourism is for rich people, but I would want to say that middle-class families can also go for cruise tourism. We are trying to promote cruise tourism in the coming days. This year as well a conference will be held. From many different countries people from cruise tourism will come to the Global Investment Summit which will be organised by the Ministry of Tourism to invest," Reddy added. He said that the Ministerial meeting of the G-20 will start on Tuesday in which discussions will be held on different issues. "The Ministerial meeting of G-20 will start tomorrow in which discussions will be held on different issues because you know tourism and hospitality is one of the sectors that have been highly affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. We are moving ahead with great hope. Tourism will be an important sector in India. India is going to be the world's number 1 destination. Different countries have different issues. India has spiritual tourism, UN related UNESCO heritage sites. These 250 G20 meetings that are being held in India, will give a chance to improve tourism in India," said Reddy. Also Read Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy stable, under observation at AIIMS Viveka murder case: CBI issues fresh notice to Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy Telangana wants freedom from nepotism: Union Minister G Kishan Reddy National strategy, Roadmap formed to boost medical tourism: Govt Murder of Ex-Andhra minister: SC stays HC order granting bail to accused Will not give assent to University Laws Amendment Bill: Kerala Governor All wings of govt must work in tandem to realise objectives: Odisha CM PM Modi to launch 2 Vande Bharat trains in Madhya Pradesh: CM Chouhan Manipur CM urges people with arms not to attack, appeals to maintain peace Centre's livestock draft Bill 2023 sets the cat among the pigeons Speaking about bilateral dialogue with G20 countries, Reddy said, "I am going to hold discussions with every single country delegate about how to bring their good practices in India and how to give India's any technology to them. In the coming days, the National tourism police will come and different websites will be opened. Tourism officers will also be appointed in different important embassies. I have full faith that there is a full chance for the tourism sector to move ahead. Different bilateral discussions will be held with all 29 countries on how to move ahead with mutual cooperation, and what MoU can be there. Today also we have signed 2-3 MoUs and in the coming days more MoUs can be signed." Speaking about International Yoga Day, he said that on the day of International Yoga Day, a Yoga session will be organised in Raj Bhawan on June 21 in the morning. When asked if tourism will play a major role in boosting the economy of India, Reddy said, "Tourism will definitely play a major role in boosting the economy of the country. By 2025, we will be in a better situation and by 2047, India will become the world's number 1 destination in the tourism sector. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia on Tuesday termed the IndiGo Airlines order for a staggering 500 Airbus A320 family aircraft as another landmark in the country's aviation industry. Addressing the media here, Scindia expressed enthusiasm for the groundbreaking order. "India has once again set another landmark in the aviation industry," he declared. "IndiGo's order for 500 aircraft from a single manufacturer is unparalleled, solidifying its status as a pioneer in the aviation sector. This momentous decision will not only revolutionise the domestic aviation market but will also have a profound impact on our nation's economy," he said. Scindia went on to emphasize the economic benefits that the civil aviation industry brings to the country. "First Air India had placed 470 aircraft orders and now IndiGo. Every dollar invested in civil aviation yields $3.1 in terms of new growth, along with the employment multiplier effect," he explained. "For every direct job in civil aviation, there are 6.1 indirect jobs created in the sector. This highlights the immense dividends that accrue from the ever-expanding civil aviation sector," he said. The minister's remarks shed light on the significant role that the aviation industry plays in stimulating economic growth and generating employment opportunities. Also Read IndiGo hits new peak post 500 Airbus aircraft order; experts see 29% upside Largest Indian order: Indigo likely to place an order for 500 planes today India has enough potential for recurring aircraft orders: GE Aerospace IndiGo, Go First face P&W engine headwinds; over 50 planes on ground Analysts see upto 38% upside in IndiGo; suggest tracking costs, airfare cap Zero tolerance on spurious medicines, 71 cos issued notices: Mandaviya Cine workers' association writes to PM Modi asking for ban on Adipurush Rath Yatra: Lord Jagannath, his siblings ascend chariots following rituals Stalled monsoon in India likely to gain momentum in 3-4 days: IMD officials Karnataka HC says not having sex is cruelty under Hindu Marriage Act IndiGo's order comprises a combination of A320NEO, A321NEO, and A321XLR aircraft, scheduled to be delivered between 2030 and 2035. The purchase agreement was finalised at the Paris Air Show 2023, with representatives from IndiGo and Airbus present on Monday. In a statement on Monday, IndiGo confirmed that the engine selection and the precise mix of A320 and A321 aircraft will be determined in due course. Currently operating a fleet of over 300 aircraft, IndiGo already has outstanding orders for 480 aircraft, expected to be delivered by the end of this decade. With this new firm order for 500 aircraft in the 2030-2035 time-frame, IndiGo's order-book now boasts almost 1,000 aircraft, securing a steady stream of deliveries well into the next decade. --IANS ssh/dpb On the eve of International Yoga Day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accused the Central government of shutting down Yoga classes where 17,000 people used to practice Yoga. Kejriwal said on Tuesday that for him, Yoga Day would be the day when he would start free Yoga classes again for the people of Delhi. "Tomorrow is International Yoga Day. This day inspires us to do Yoga. "Two years ago the Delhi government started free Yoga classes for the people of Delhi. About 17,000 people started doing Yoga in these every day. Last year They got these Yoga classes stopped. Who benefits from this? Should public welfare programs like this be stopped? "Yoga day for me will be the day when I will again start free Yoga classes for Delhiites. "But if you have good intentions then God also supports you. They stopped us in Delhi, we started free Yoga classes in Punjab. I am glad it is getting overwhelming support from people in Punjab," Kejriwal tweeted. Also Read 9th International Yoga Day 2023: Date, Theme, History and Importance Lenovo Yoga 9i review: Premium 2-in-1 laptop powered by Intel Core i7-1360P Rajnath to join Naval officers to perform yoga on board INS Vikrant Yoga, Zumba, mental wellness in focus as student suicides shake Kota Yoga, zumba, mental wellness in focus as student suicides shake Kota Possible to make new Covid strain vax in 100 days: Gennova BioPharma Delhi extends permit validity of taxis running on CNG, other clean fuels Foreign tourist arrivals increasing in India: Kishan Reddy at G20 Schools to resume classes in violence-hit Manipur from July 1: Officials Manipur students in Delhi-NCR struggling to survive due to strife in state The International Day of Yoga has been celebrated across the world annually on June 21 since 2015, following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014. --IANS atk/dan/bg The sacred Jagannath Rath Yatra commenced today, June 20. It's a grand religious festival that takes place every year in Odishas Puri. It is one of the most significant festivals for Hindu pilgrims that attracts devotees from all over the world seeking blessings of Lord Jagannath, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The Jagannath Yatra is closely related to Lord Jagannath at Shri Kshetra Pri Dham in the state of Odisha. The history of Jagannath Rath Yatra is depicted in several Hindu scriptures like Brahma Purana, Padma Purana, Skanda Purana and Kapila Samhita. The Jagannath Rath Yatra is celebrated enthusiastically all over the world but it is majorly celebrated in Puri, Odisha. Thousands of devotees throng the streets of Odisha to enjoy the colourful spectacle by devotional singing, dancing and chanting. Apart from Odisha, the festival is also celebrated in Gujarat's Ahmedabad. The 146th Rath Yatra commenced on Tuesday Morning in Ahmedabad, where lakhs of devotees join the 18-Km route of the procession to catch one glimpse of the deity. Gujarat's Rath Yatra is considered the second biggest Rath Yatra in the country after Puri's Jagannath Rath Yatra. Gujarat Police will monitor the Rath Yatra with 3D mapping technology and anti-drone technology to avoid any misfortune during the Jagannath Rath Yatra 2023. This year, the Yatra will commence on June 20 at 10:04 pm and conclude on June 21 at 7:09 pm. The preparation for Jagannath Rath Yatra starts a month before the festival. Also Read Ahead of Rath Yatra, Puri police prohibits drones near Jagannath Temple BJP to take out rath yatra in Tripura ahead of assembly polls from Jan 1 Sensex slips 347 pts on profit-taking, Nifty holds 18,500; RIL, SBI dip 2% LIVE: Indian-origin Ajay Banga confirmed as next World Bank president PM Modi flags off Odisha's first Vande Bharat, launches railway projects Sukhu flags off 20 new e-buses of HRTC, to replace 1,500 buses in phases Health minister to chair high-level meeting to review heatwave management Heatwave death toll in Ballia reaches 68 after 14 more patients succumbed 9th International Yoga Day 2023: Date, Theme, History and Importance West Bengal EC approves women polling personnel for Panchayat polls President Murmu greeted the people President Droupadi Murmu greeted the people of India on the occasion of Jagannath Rath Yatra and prayed to bring happiness, peace and prosperity to everyone's life. President Murmu tweeted, "On the occasion of the commencement of the Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, I extend my heartiest congratulations and best wishes to all the countrymen, especially the devotees of Lord Jagannath. I pray to Mahaprabhu Jagannath that this festival of devotion and dedication brings happiness, peace and prosperity in everyone's life. Jai Jagannath." PM Modi also extends greetings on Jagannath Rath Yatra PM Narendra Modi also extended his greetings to the people through Twitter. He tweeted a video in his voice where he shared his experience with Jagannath Rath Yatra when he was in Gujarat. PM could be heard mentioning the divine aura of Puri's Jagannath Rath Yatra. In his video, he also mentioned that people from different communities come together for the Rath Yatra, which shows the unity of the country. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday travelled by Jan Shatabdi Express train from Chandigarh to Sonipat where Union Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will be inaugurating 11 flyovers on the eight-lane national highway from Delhi to Panipat. The Chief Minister's Office told IANS that the Chief Minister is a frequent traveller in a train. "Even he prefers to travel by train to his hometown Karnal from Chandigarh," an official said. Regarding Gadkari's daylong visit to the state on Tuesday, the official said besides the inauguration of 11 flyovers part of a 24-km long project constructed with an outlay Rs 900 crore, he would lay the foundation stone of four national highway projects in Sonipat, Karnal and Ambala at a cost of Rs 3,835 crore. Gadkari will also lay the foundation stone for the construction work of Karnal Green Field Six-Lane Ring Road project at Kutail village in Karnal district. The total length of this project is 35 km and it will cost about Rs 1,700 crore. Similarly, the Union Minister will lay the foundation stone for the construction work of Ambala Green Field Six Lane Ring Road project at Jandli village in Ambala district. The total length of this project is 23 km and it will cost a total of Rs 1,100 crore. Also Read Haryana CM Khattar keeps Sports portfolio held by Minister Sandeep Singh Haryana to set up horticulture market with outlay of Rs 2,600cr in Sonipat No fresh tax proposed in Haryana budget for 2023-24, says CM Khattar Haryana govt to open drug de-addiction centres across the state: CM Khattar Haryana announces one day state mourning in memory of MP Rattan Lal Kataria Leadership at global institutions like UN needs to be re-evaluated: PM Modi PM Modi in the US: Semiconductors to drones, here's what will be in focus PM Modi leaves for US, says visit a reflection of vigour of bilateral ties UP dy CM asks officials to reserve beds, wards for heat stroke patients Under PM Modi's leadership, India achieved remarkable milestones: Official A day earlier Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala said the government is strengthening the road network. These major road projects will change the picture of infrastructure in the state and will also give a new direction to the development of industries. Along with Haryana, the commuters of Punjab, Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir passing through the Delhi-Panipat corridor will be benefitted. Similarly, the construction of Ambala and Karnal Ring Road will provide relief to the local people from the traffic congestion in the city in both the districts. --IANS vg/dpb Amid the violence in Manipur, Chief Minister N Biren Singh appealed to the people to maintain peace and urged those with arms not to attack so that normalcy can be restored. "I appeal to the people who are with arms not to attack anything. Please maintain peace so that we can resource normalcy in the state....," said N Biren Singh while talking to reporters. Earlier on Monday, CM N Biren Singh visited some relief camps in the state and said that the state government is soon going to construct pre-fabricated houses to accommodate the people temporarily. "I visited some relief camps and people are suffering. State Government is going to construct pre-fabricated houses to accommodate them temporarily," Manipur CM said. "Around 3000-4000, houses will be constructed...We are looking for the place where the construction can be done," he further stated. On the intervening night of June 18-19, an Indian Army soldier was injured after armed miscreants resorted to unprovoked firing from Kanto Sabal towards Chingmang village on which Manipur CM said he will hold a review meeting of the security, how it happened. Also Read As Manipur reels from violence, home minister Shah to visit the state today Tribal protest in Manipur turns violent; curfew imposed, internet suspended There is no crisis in Manipur BJP, says CM; gives details of ministers Kuki MLAs, civil society groups decide against dialogue with Manipur govt Shielding governance failure will not resolve Manipur's problems Centre's livestock draft Bill 2023 sets the cat among the pigeons Mandatory footwear quality standards to come into force from July 1 LS Speaker completes 4 years in office, says House enhanced India's image Odisha triple train crash: House of railway signal JE sealed by CBI Telangana High Court issues notice to RBI Governor in Mahesh Bank case "Now, I am going to have a review meeting of the security, how it happened and how it can be prevented in the future. These types of things have to be stopped immediately...," Manipur CM said. The soldier sustained a gunshot wound and was evacuated to Military Hospital Leimakhong and is currently stable. In a tweet, Spear Corps said, "Armed miscreants resorted to unprovoked firing from Kanto Sabal towards Chingmang village during the night of 18/19 June. Army Columns resorted to controlled retaliatory fire keeping in view the presence of villagers in the area. One Army Soldier sustained Gun Shot Wound, was evacuated to Military Hospital Leimakhong and is stable. Additional columns inducted in the area and joint operations are in progress." The Indian Army conducted a flag march in the violence-affected area in Imphal Valley on Sunday. Last week, on Wednesday, miscreants tried to burn down the official residence of Manipur minister Nemcha Kipgen in Imphal West. His home was partly burnt. Violence gripped Manipur on May 3 after clashes erupted during a rally organised by the All Tribals Students Union (ATSU) to protest the demand for the inclusion of Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list. Nearly half of the 23,515 students who were studying in Ukraine until Russia attacked it in February 2022 have transferred to universities in other countries such as Russia, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, according to people aware of the development. Moreover, about 10 per cent of the affected Indian students will have returned to that country by April 2023, according to data collected by the Indian embassy in Kyiv. Prime Minister Narendra Modi left India for his first state visit to the United States of America (USA) on Tuesday. In a statement released before leaving, Modi said that the invitation by US President Joe Biden "is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies". PM Modi will commence his visit in New York and will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations headquarters. Then, he will travel to Washington DC, on June 22. US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a state dinner in honour of the prime minister the same evening. PM Modi will also address a joint sitting of the US Congress on June 22. On June 23, PM Modi will be jointly hosted at a luncheon by US Vice President Kamala Harris and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He will then interact with leading chief executive officers (CEOs) of global companies. He is expected to meet business leaders of 20 top American companies. He is also expected to address a gathering of more than 1,500 diaspora and business leaders who have been invited to the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington. What is in focus during PM Modi's state visit to the US? Also Read AI-powered US military drone kills operator during simulated test: Report Jet Airways looks into abyss as JKC fails to renew its flying permit Jet Airways revival hits new snag as more employees quit amid uncertainty Chequered history: Why the MIG-21 came to be called 'the flying coffin' Jet Airways revival: NCLAT to rule on consortium plea against SBI on May 30 PM Modi leaves for US, says visit a reflection of vigour of bilateral ties UP dy CM asks officials to reserve beds, wards for heat stroke patients Under PM Modi's leadership, India achieved remarkable milestones: Official PM Modi leaves for his first State visit to US, to attend programmes Crucial that India takes lead in making tourism more sustainable: Official In his statement, Modi said, "We collaborate closely in science and technology, education, health, defence and security fields. The initiative on critical and emerging technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration to defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, artificial intelligence and biotech sectors. Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific." Also Read: PM Modi leaves for his first State visit to US to attend programmes According to news agency ANI, PM Modi will meet the top 20 business leaders of US companies, including Mastercard, Accenture, the Coca-Cola Company, Adobe Systems and Visa. According to a report by The Economic Times (ET), the visit is likely to boost the semiconductor supply chain in India. It is among the main goals of the US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET). In March, the two countries had signed a pact on increasing private-sector cooperation in semiconductors and developing an ecosystem for the same. Moreover, the visit is also expected to bring in new defence industrial technology for India. Earlier, foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said that the visit would focus on co-production and on ensuring that the industrial "ecosystem" engages "intensely" with the US. PM Modi is likely to sign a deal with the US to acquire 31 MQ-9 Reaper weaponised drones. Moreover, reports have also stated that a deal with General Electric to produce the cutting-edge GE-F414 jet engine in India may also be signed. The engine powers the F/A-18 Hornet, the US Navy's go-to fighter. Jet engine technology is widely considered the most critical part of aviation technology, and a manufacturing unit will be transformational for Indian airspace. Notably, the US has never allowed the transfer of this level of technology to any country. After the US visit, PM Modi will go to Egypt on another state visit and will be hosted by the country's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi between June 24 and 25. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday, emplaned for the United States for his first historic State visit. Prior to leaving for the US, PM Modi tweeted, "Leaving for USA, where I will attend programmes in New York City and Washington DC. These programmes include Yoga Day celebrations at the @UNHQ, talks with @POTUS @JoeBiden, address to the Joint Session of the US Congress and more." PM Modi was invited by the US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The visit will commence in New York where the Prime Minister will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21. PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22 and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening, according to a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The PM will also address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress on June 22. The invitation to deliver such a historic speech was extended by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, demonstrating bipartisan support and respect for Prime Minister Modi in the United States. He would be the first Indian Prime Minister to address a joint session of the United States Congress twice. The invitation letter from the President and First Lady praised PM Modi's last historic address seven years ago, which helped cement the connection between the two countries. Also Read Kamala Harris faces new test of political skills in US poll 2024 campaign Biden falls onstage at graduation ceremony; White House says he's 'fine' Kamala Harris announces $562 mn for climate resilience in Florida Biden, Harris meet top donors to raise funds for 2024 election campaign Kamala Harris to meet Google, Microsoft, OpenAI CEOs to discuss AI risks Crucial that India takes lead in making tourism more sustainable: Official Top headlines: Byju's sacks staff, Zee Ent terms Sebi's order unjustified CBI court sentences ex-Syndicate Bank manager to 7 yrs of imprisonment Fire at MP's Satpura Bhawan due to short circuit, finds enquiry committee Together we stand stronger: PM Modi as he leaves for US on 1st state visit The White House emphasised in its message that it was an occasion to reaffirm the two countries' deep and close alliance. PM Modi expressed his thanks for the privilege and stated that he was looking forward to addressing the joint session. In his message, PM Modi reiterated the pride in having a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership with the US founded on the principles of democratic values, close people-to-people ties and a staunch commitment to global peace and prosperity. On June 23, the Prime Minister will be jointly hosted at a luncheon by US Vice President Kamala Harris and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In addition to official engagements, the Prime Minister is scheduled to have several curated interactions with leading CEOs, professionals, and other stakeholders. He will also meet members of the Indian Diaspora. He is expected to meet business leaders of 20 top American companies here and is also expected to address a gathering of more than 1,500 diaspora and business leaders who have been invited to the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington. Top 20 business leaders of US companies including Mastercard, Accenture, the Coca-Cola Company, Adobe Systems and Visa are expected to meet with the Prime Minister, two people familiar with the event and its logistics told ANI. The business advocacy group, the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) headed by Dr Mukesh Aghi will host 'We The People: Celebrating the U.S.-India Partnership' on Friday, June 23, 2023, in Washington D.C. A reception at the Hall of Nations Terrace (Kennedy Center) will follow the Prime Minister's address. The event with some of the important names including Shantanu Narayen, Chief Executive Officer of Adobe Systems; Julie Sweet CEO of Accenture; Ryan McInerney CEO of Visa Inc, Michael Miebach, CEO of Mastercard; and James Quincey, CEO of Coke Cola. After this, the PM will then travel to Cairo to pay a state visit to Egypt from June 24-25. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on his two-nation trip to the US and Egypt on Tuesday, he said his invitation to Washington by President Joe Biden is "a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies". "I am travelling to the United States of America on a state visit at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. This special invitation is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies," he said in a statement just before departing. "I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the UN Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community. I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported India's proposal in December 2014 to recognise an International Day of Yoga. "I will thereafter travel to Washington D.C. President Biden and I have had the opportunity to meet several times since my last Official Visit to the US in September 2021. This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership," he added. The Prime Minister noted that the India-US ties are "multifaceted, with deepening engagements across sectors". "The US is India's largest trade partner in goods and services. We collaborate closely in science & technology, education, health, defence and security fields. Also Read Together we stand stronger: PM Modi as he leaves for US on 1st state visit Biden falls onstage at graduation ceremony; White House says he's 'fine' PM Narendra Modi to visit US from June 21 to 25: What is a state visit? PM Narendra Modi's US visit: Top points for Indian diaspora in US From State Dinner to UN Event: Full schedule of PM Modi's US state visit UP dy CM asks officials to reserve beds, wards for heat stroke patients Under PM Modi's leadership, India achieved remarkable milestones: Official PM Modi leaves for his first State visit to US, to attend programmes Crucial that India takes lead in making tourism more sustainable: Official Top headlines: Byju's sacks staff, Zee Ent terms Sebi's order unjustified "The initiative on critical and emerging technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration to defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, Artificial Intelligence and biotech sectors. Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacifi. "My discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders will provide an opportunity to consolidate our bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and IPEF. "I will also have the pleasure of joining President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for the State Banquet along with a number of dignitaries. "The US Congress has always provided strong bi-partisan support to India-US ties. During my visit, I will address a Joint Session of the US Congress at the invitation of Congressional leadership. Strong people-to-people linkages have been instrumental in developing the trust between our countries. I look forward to meeting the vibrant Indian-American community that represents the best of our societies. I will also meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating our trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains," the Prime Minister said. He expressed confidence that his visit to the US "will reinforce our ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Together we stand stronger in me in meeting the shared global challenges". After wrapping his US visit, Modi will then will travel to Cairo from June 24-25 at the invitation of Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. "I am excited to pay a state visit to a close and friendly country for the first time," he said. "We had the pleasure of receiving President Sisi as the Chief Guest at our Republic Day celebrations this year. These two visits in the span of a few months is a reflection of our rapidly evolving partnership with Egypt, which was elevated to a 'Strategic Partnership' during President Sisi's visit. "I look forward to my discussions with President Sisi and senior members of the Egyptian Government to impart further momentum to our civilisational and multi-faceted partnership. I will also have the opportunity to interact with the vibrant Indian diaspora in Egypt," Modi added. --IANS ans/ksk/ Narendra Modi arrives in the US on his first official state visit with Indias geopolitical clout higher than at any point since he took power in 2014. Hell be looking to leverage that to become an indispensable partner for American tech ambitions. The trip will be a high-profile affair, complete with a banquet at the White House and an address to the US Congress, making Modi the first Indian prime minister to speak in front of the legislature twice. Besides meeting US President Joe Biden, he set to catch up with private-sector leaders including Tesla Inc.s Elon Musk. For Biden, India offers a diplomatic and military counterbalance to Chinas power in the region, at a time when the US is distancing itself from its biggest trade partner and the worlds manufacturing powerhouse. Both nations see Beijing as a threat, with Biden expanding Trump-era export curbs to China and Modis government banning hundreds of Chinese apps in the wake of a border clash that left 20 Indian soldiers dead in 2020. High on the agenda will be removing regulatory constraints to doing business, particularly in the tech space. As the Biden administration seeks to prevent China from obtaining advanced chips and other technology, the US and India are working on ways to promote semiconductor manufacturing in India, according to officials aware of details who asked not to be named since discussions were private. The frequency of recent contact between officials from both governments has been unprecedented, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said last week. Its all designed to take away whatever the barriers that are keeping us from being able to drive forward, he added. Also Read Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Jan 19 visit to Hyderabad postponed PM Narendra Modi arrives in Ahmedabad to bid adieu to his mother PM Modi performs last rites of his mother Heeraben in Gandhinagar India accords high importance to disaster risk reduction: Principal Secy India stands for peaceful resolution: PM on 'China's military expansion' Rajnath to join Naval officers to perform yoga on board INS Vikrant Christian body writes to PM Modi seeking President's rule in Manipur Opposition parties to discuss Centre's ordinance on June 23 in Patna US visa appointments for mid-July to mid-August open for students Work-from-home scams rising in India; here's all you must know about them Modis ambition for India to become a player in chip manufacturing looks far more credible today, after US imports of chips from the South Asian nation multiplied more than 38 times in the first quarter. Apple Inc. tripled iPhone production in India over the past fiscal year as it seeks to reduce its reliance on Beijing, while memory maker Micron Technology Inc., which is under investigation in China, is close to receiving government approval on a $1 billion semiconductor plant. India as a consumer of technology is now being replaced by an India which is at the table, wanting to frame the standards along with like-minded nations for the future of technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a minister who often speaks on behalf of the governments tech policy team, told Bloomberg News in a recent interview. The technological cooperation with the US is also spilling over to defense. General Electric Co. and Hindustan Aeronautics are set to sign an agreement during Modis visit to produce engines for Indias fighter jets. The two sides will have a flexible licensing agreement allowing for the transfer of technology. The US is quite choosy about whom it shares military technology with, said Manjari Chatterjee Miller, a senior fellow at the US-based Council on Foreign Relations. A deal allowing GE to produce jet engines in India it will show how seriously the US is taking the partnership. US national and business leaders have heaped praise on India even while the government keeps sky-high import tariffs on a range of sectors. To bring more advanced manufacturing within its borders, India has combined these import duties on smartphones with subsidies designed to get assemblers like Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. and Wistron Corp. to set up shop locally. Its worked: Hon Hai plans a $700 million plant for iPhone parts and Samsung Electronics Co. is also looking to expand production. India presents a unique crucible for technology successes there are guaranteed to succeed anywhere else in the world, Sanjay Gupta, the head of Google in India, said at an industry event. Although India has had some early success with smartphone assembly, helping Apple export more than $7 billion of its devices from the South Asian nation in the last fiscal year, many components are still imported from China. While Indias $10 billion push to make chips is just beginning, questions remain about whether the nation can provide the uninterrupted power and water supply needed by companies that make the most-cutting edge chips, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Modis trip comes at a pivotal time for Indias tech ecosystem, where a new digital law is being crafted in consultation and sometimes in conflict with big names like Google, Meta Platforms Inc. and Twitter. Draft legislation expected within weeks will help determine exactly how big an opportunity India presents to overseas players. Even as Internet firms pour billions of dollars into the nation on the prospect that its a China-sized opportunity without the censorship deployed by the Communist Party, India is also among the top nations requesting content removal. Twitter Inc. has gone to court to fight blocking orders the company says suppress free speech, and organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation have called on India to reverse plans to undermine privacy-protecting encrypted communications. In March, an Indian court upheld an antitrust fine on Alphabet Inc.s Google over its dominance of mobile platforms. Far from being discouraged, Google is pouring more investment and energy into tailoring its Android software to India, including by expanding the local languages it supports. Chandrasekhar said in the interview that India has the single-biggest bloc of users in the world with some 830 million people on the internet. That means companies must follow Indias rules if they want a piece of the market, he said, adding that the government doesnt intend to have an adversarial relationship with anyone. Dont be under any illusion that theyre here for any charitable purposes, Chandrasekhar said about tech investors in India. No other market this big. The Punjab Assembly on Tuesday passed the Sikh Gurdwara (Amendment) Bill, 2023, with a thumping majority in the absence of the main opposition Congress, paving the way for eliminating the undue control over the free to air telecast of the sacred Gurbani from the Golden Temple. Gurbani is the term used by Sikhs to refer to compositions of the Sikh Gurus. All three members of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BSP combine opposed the Bill that was introduced in the House by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who said only one channel (PTC) had control over telecasting the Gurbani. "Now, this channel along with all channels would also get free feed of the live Gurbani," he said. Speaking on it, SAD legislator Manpreet Ayali said one channel shouldn't have the exclusive rights over the live telecast of Gurbani. "The SGPC should run its own channel. The government should not interfere in the SGPC affairs." Also Read Why was this woman with a face painting denied entry into Golden Temple? Khalistan a dangerous ideology, threat to national security: Report Pro-Khalistani leader Hardeep Nijjar shot dead in Canada's Surrey Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Act to end right over Gurbani telecast: CM Mann PM Modi instrumental in fulfilling demands of Sikhs: Sikh American leader Why Ramayana adaptation Adipurush is in the eye of storm in Nepal, India Traffic disrupted briefly by West Delhi residents over water supply issue Delhi Police Crime Branch raids over 100 locations under Operation Kawach To ensure driver comfort, Centre mandates air-conditioning in trucks Manipur skips annual Rath Yatra procession amid ongoing ethnic violence He appealed to the government to reconsider its decision of tabling the Bill in the House. "It will set a wrong precedent and in the coming days, governments would start interfering in the SGPC matters." Wrapping up discussion on the Bill, the Chief Minister said the Bill aims at freeing the undue control of a particular family over the rights to telecast sacred Gurbani. He said it was a paradoxical situation that the SGPC or the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee under the influence of a family that controls its affairs, had given intellectual property rights of telecasting the sacred Gurbani to a channel owned by them. Mann questioned how these rights of Gurbani, which is repository of knowledge and faith, can be given to any channel. The Chief Minister said the Bill is in no way interference in religious affairs, rather it is a simple step to ensure that Gurbani reaches every household. He said in the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, after section 125, section 125-A will be inserted for live telecast of Gurbani free of cost. Mann said the Act stipulates that it will be the duty of the board (the SGPC) to propagate the teachings of the Gurus by making uninterrupted (without any on screen running advertisements, commercials, distortion) live feed (audio or audio as well as video) of the holy Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib available free of cost to all media houses, outlets, platforms, channels, etc, whoever wishes to broadcast it. The Chief Minister reiterated that as a humble and devotee Sikh, he is a votary of free to air telecast of the Gurbani across the globe. He wondered how this was an attack on 'panth' as he was just opposing the control of a particular channel over the telecast of Gurbani, which is totally unwarranted and unjustified. He said this move is not aimed at giving rights to any particular channel of government or of any single individual but it is aimed at spreading the message of Gurbani across the globe. The Chief Minister asserted that the government is fully competent to amend this act as the apex court had already through a judgment ruled that this Act is not an interstate Act. He said a single family had dominated in the affairs of the SGPC since long due to which an irreparable damage had been made to the Sikh 'panth'. Mann said playing a dirty game this family tried to encash the religious sentiments of Sikhs by giving exclusive rights of telecast of Gurbani to their blue eyed channel whereas no mention of word telecast or broadcast was there in the Act. --IANS vg/uk/ The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to hear the interlocutory application (IA) filed by the Manipur Tribal Forum alleging that even after the Centre's assurances to this court, 70 tribals were killed in violence in the state. Mentioned before a vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and M.M. Sundresh by senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, he submitted that the IA was for the security of the tribal areas and that people were being killed even after the Central government's assurances to the apex court. "This institution is our last hope and even after assurance the tribals are being killed," Gonsalves said. However, the bench said that it will hear the matter once the court resumes its normal functioning post summer break and listed it for hearing on July 3. The top court also said: "This is a serious issue of law and order ... I hope the court is not required to pass orders for Army intervention, etc." On the other hand, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that security agencies were doing their best. Also Read Tribal protest in Manipur turns violent; curfew imposed, internet suspended As Manipur reels from violence, home minister Shah to visit the state today Centre notifies appointment of Chief Justices for four high courts Manipur violence: Centre sets up three-member panel to probe cause Northeastern Railway cancels all Manipur-bound trains following violence From common villager to Prez of India; a journey of Murmu on 65th b'day Foodgrain prices increase up to 15% in 2 weeks due to delays in monsoon India to buy 31 Predator drones from US for $3.5 bn; all you need to know Effect of 20% TCS: Expedia to stop 'pay now' option for foreign bookings West Bengal transport operators refuse to supply buses for poll duty "So sorry this is being said," he further said. The application by Manipur Tribal Forum, a tribal welfare body, stated, "Ethnic cleansing of Kukis by the Arambai Tenggola and Meitei Leepun is the core issue." It says that the assurances given by SG saying that "peace is being restored", are not useful anymore, and made in a non-serious fashion and are not even intended to be implemented. "The reason why this hon'ble court ought not to rely anymore on the empty assurances given by UOI (Union of India) is because both the UOI and the Chief Minister of the state have embarked jointly on a communal agenda for the ethnic cleansing of the Kukis," the forum submitted. It claims that since the last hearing of the issue in this court, 81 more persons belonging to the Kuki tribe have been killed and 31,410 Kukis displaced. Further, 237 churches and 73 administrative quarters have been torched and 141 villages destroyed, the court was told. It stressed that the media coverage portraying the violence as a "clash" between two tribal communities is far from the truth. The attackers are backed by the ruling party in power, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the forum has contended. "Though the Meiteis and the tribals have had differences, yet they have co-existed for decades. Local skirmishes have certainly taken place but the well planned, organised armed attacks and the razing of villages as has happened is completely unprecedented," the application reads. Therefore, without such groups being arrested and prosecuted, "any semblance of peace will be fragile", the application says. The application also talks about the involvement of top politicians and drug kingpins in poppy cultivations that are dependent on tribal workers. A forum approached the Supreme Court, requesting the evacuation of Manipuri Tribals who have sought refuge in the CRPF camps due to violence. On June 8, the Manipur government had assured the top court that they would address the violence and take proactive measures. The court then called for relief camp arrangements, protection of religious sites, and rehabilitation of displaced persons. The forum, however, submitted an objection, stating that the arrangement made by the Union Home Ministry was unacceptable as it did not consult the tribal groups. The ministry formed a committee led by former Gauhati High Court Chief Justice, Ajay Lamba, to investigate the matter. --IANS spr/dpb Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday, left for the US for his first state visit to the country and second by an Indian prime minister. In a statement issued before leaving, PM Modi said, "I am travelling to the United States of America on a state visit at the invitation of President Joseph Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. This special invitation is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies." New York on International Yoga Day PM Modi will commence his visit in New York, where he will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the headquarters of the United Nations (UN). "I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported India's proposal in December 2014 to recognize an International Day of Yoga ," Modi said. Washington DC and state dinner He will then travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22 and meet Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a state dinner in honour of the prime minister the same evening, according to a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The PM will also address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress on June 22. Also Read Biden falls onstage at graduation ceremony; White House says he's 'fine' Lenovo Yoga 9i review: Premium 2-in-1 laptop powered by Intel Core i7-1360P Yoga Day 2023: PM to host event at UN headquarters; check other details International Labour Day: Celebrations, history, and all you need to know Modi to lead Yoga day celebrations at UN, address US Congress next week Latest Live: PM Modi leaves for his first historic state visit to the US India will become number one destination for tourism by 2047: Reddy Will not give assent to University Laws Amendment Bill: Kerala Governor All wings of govt must work in tandem to realise objectives: Odisha CM PM Modi to launch 2 Vande Bharat trains in Madhya Pradesh: CM Chouhan "India-US ties are multifaceted, with deepening engagements across sectors. USA is India's largest trade partner in goods and services. We collaborate closely in science and technology, education, health, defence and security fields. The initiative on critical and emerging technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration to defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, artificial intelligence and biotech sectors. Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific," Modi said in the statement. Also Read: From State Dinner to UN Event: Full schedule of PM Modi's US state visit Modi added that his meeting with Biden and other senior US leaders "will provide an opportunity to consolidate our bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and IPEF". Meetings with leading CEOs On June 23, PM Modi will be jointly hosted at a luncheon by US Vice President Kamala Harris and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In addition to official engagements, the prime minister is scheduled to have several curated interactions with leading chief executive officers (CEOs), professionals, and other stakeholders. He will also meet members of the Indian diaspora. "I will also meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating our trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains," PM Modi said. He is expected to meet business leaders of 20 top American companies and is also expected to address a gathering of more than 1,500 diaspora and business leaders who have been invited to the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington. Top 20 business leaders of US companies including Mastercard, Accenture, the Coca-Cola Company, Adobe Systems and Visa are expected to meet with the Prime Minister, news agency ANI reported. Modi's statement also said, "I am confident that my visit to the US will reinforce our ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges." State visit to Egypt From Washington DC, PM Modi will leave for Egypt's Cairo for his first state visit to the country between June 24 and 25. "I will travel to Cairo from Washington DC at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. I am excited to pay a state visit to a close and friendly country for the first time," PM Modi said. India had invited El-Sisi as the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations this year. "I look forward to my discussions with President Sisi and senior members of the Egyptian Government to impart further momentum to our civilizational and multi-faceted partnership. I will also have the opportunity to interact with the vibrant Indian diaspora in Egypt," he added. (With agency inputs) Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, India achieved remarkable milestones showcasing its immense potential in various fields, Guido Maniscalco, a Tampa City Council member said on Monday and added that those achievements are a testament to the hard work, resilience and spirit of its people. Taking to Twitter, the Indian Embassy in the US shared Maniscalco's video message and thanked him for that. In a video message, Maniscalco said, "Prime Minister Modi, your presence here is a testament to the enduring friendship and collaboration between our two great nations. On behalf of the residents of Tampa and Hills Borough County, I offer you a warm and gracious welcome. India, under your leadership, has achieved remarkable milestones showcasing its immense potential in various fields." "Your nation's achievements are a testament to the hard work, resilience and spirit of its people. As a councilman of a diverse community in Tampa, I am proud to acknowledge the striking similarities between our two democracies. The United States and India share a deep respect for individual freedoms, equality and the pursuit of happiness. We believe in the power of democracy to empower our citizens and provide them with opportunities to shape their destinies," he added. In the video message, he also stated that PM Modi's visit to the US represents an opportunity to strengthen the bond between the two nations and deepen cooperation. The member of Tampa City Council further stated that together, India and the US can address the pressing challenges of time, fostering economic growth and promoting global peace and security. Also Read US reopening visa, consular services in Cuba post-2017 health issues India accords high importance to disaster risk reduction: Principal Secy India and Israel to 're-accelerate' work to strengthen strategic relations US responsible for Ukraine crisis, seeks to reap economic benefits: Lavrov Tunisia welcomes decision as Saudi Arabia, Iran move ahead to resume ties PM Modi leaves for his first State visit to US, to attend programmes Crucial that India takes lead in making tourism more sustainable: Official Top headlines: Byju's sacks staff, Zee Ent terms Sebi's order unjustified CBI court sentences ex-Syndicate Bank manager to 7 yrs of imprisonment Fire at MP's Satpura Bhawan due to short circuit, finds enquiry committee "Prime Minister, as you embark on this visit I encourage you to explore the warmth and hospitality of Tampa and Hillsborough County. Our doors are open and our community stands ready to engage in meaningful dialogue and exchange ideas that will further strengthen the ties between our nations. Once again, on behalf of the residents of the city of Tampa I extend a warm welcome to you, Prime Minister Modi. May this visit mark the beginning of a new chapter in the friendship and cooperation between our two nations. Together, let us work together toward a brighter future guided by the principles of liberty, justice and equality," he added. PM Modi is all set to visit the US today and will commence his trip with the Yoga Day celebrations at the UN headquarter. Meanwhile, a US congressman, Andrew Garbarino from New York's second congressional district said that he is delighted that Prime Minister Modi will make a historic state visit to the United States. He further stated that he is looking forward to PM Modi's speech in front of the joint session of Congress on June 22. "This truly does highlight the strong US-India partnership, and I wish him the best trip and the most success," Garbarino said in a video message which was shared by the Indian embassy in the US. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening, according to a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The PM will also address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress on June 22. Another Congressman Matt Cartwright, ahead of PM Narendra Modi's State Visit to the US, said that he is delighted that they are receiving PM Narendra Modi. "What a momentous, special occasion this is, and we welcome him to the United States. We eagerly look forward to him being hosted by the United States President, Joe Biden at the White House on June 22, 2023," he said in the video message. He further stated that he cherished the relationship between India and the USA as stronger than ever and really one of the most consequential relationships of the 21st century. After his tweet, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted, "Appreciate your warm message, Congressman @RepCartwright. We deeply value the cherished #IndiaUSPartnership and look forward to PM @narendramodi's visit." On June 23, the prime minister will be jointly hosted at a luncheon by US Vice President Kamala Harris and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In addition to official engagements, the Prime Minister is scheduled to have several curated interactions with leading CEOs, professionals, and other stakeholders. He will also meet members of the Indian Diaspora. Reacting to the University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday said that he would "not give assent" to the bill as it goes against the spirit of the Constitution. Speaking to the reporters, he said that the purpose of appointing the governor as chancellor in Universities of all the states was to avoid a university-to-executive interface. "The purpose of appointing the governor as chancellor in Universities of all the states was to avoid university-to-executive interface. The universities are being controlled by them (Government). More than half of the universities have no regular vice-chancellor...I don't know what's going to happen. This bill goes against the spirit of the Constitution and the law, and I will not give assent to it (University Laws Amendment Bill)," said Arif Mohammed Khan. Kerala Assembly passed the University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 on December 13. Kerala Law Minister P Rajeev on December 7 last year introduced an amendment in the Assembly whereby a new Chancellor can be decided by a three-member committee comprising the chief minister, the leader of the Opposition, and the Speaker. According to the amendment Bill introduced in the Assembly, "The government shall appoint an academician of high repute or a person of eminence in any of the fields of science including agriculture and veterinary science, technology, medicine, social science, humanities, literature, art, culture, law or public administration as the chancellor of the university." Also Read A governor's role is to ensure state govts work as per law: Arif Khan Guv vs govt, Vizhinjam violence, double murder stirred Kerala in 2022 PM to lay foundation stone of India's first Digital Science Park in Kerala UCC constitutional objective to deliver uniform justice: Arif Mohammed Khan Intend to limit buffer zones within forests; may launch survey: Kerala govt All wings of govt must work in tandem to realise objectives: Odisha CM PM Modi to launch 2 Vande Bharat trains in Madhya Pradesh: CM Chouhan Manipur CM urges people with arms not to attack, appeals to maintain peace Centre's livestock draft Bill 2023 sets the cat among the pigeons Mandatory footwear quality standards to come into force from July 1 Chancellor is appointed for a period of five years and it is mandated that the person so appointed shall be eligible for reappointment for one or more terms. The Chancellor may resign his office by an intimation in writing to the government. India and US US visa appointments for mid-July to mid-August open for students Opposition parties to discuss Centre's ordinance on June 23 in Patna Christian body writes to PM Modi seeking President's rule in Manipur Rajnath to join Naval officers to perform yoga on board INS Vikrant PM Modi looks to solidify India's tech prowess with US state visit Saudi prince MBS warned US of economic pain amid oil feud last year: Report Option for arbitration in agreement not binding on parties: HC observation Beyond all the discussions about sharing technologies between India and the US that will take place on Prime Minister Narendra Modis US visit is the shared realisation that trade relations between the two are hardly technology-heavy. This is where the stress is perceived in the business relations between the two economies. The US, the worlds leading technological power, currently offers hardly any significant products to excite the Indian market; the same applies for Indian exports. The huge upsurge in discussions between the two countries on the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) takes off fr Prime Minister Narendra Modi emplanes for the USA visit, in New Delhi, Tuesday. PTI Photo 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 As the world gears up to celebrate International Day of Yoga on Wednesday, Surat is set to make history with an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people for a yoga session. A team from the Guinness World Records has arrived in Surat to verify the record-breaking feat, with an estimated 1.25 lakh people expected to join the yoga session on Wednesday. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will also be present at the event. The vibrant city of Surat will be the focal point of the state-level celebrations to mark International Day of Yoga. The grand event will take place at Y Junction in Surat, where approximately 1.25 lakh individuals are expected to actively engage in the yoga session, demonstrating their commitment to health and well-being. The enthusiasm for the event is already apparent, with over one lakh people having registered for the event as of Monday morning. Also Read 9th International Yoga Day 2023: Date, Theme, History and Importance Rajnath to join Naval officers to perform yoga on board INS Vikrant Yoga, Zumba, mental wellness in focus as student suicides shake Kota Yoga, zumba, mental wellness in focus as student suicides shake Kota Scholarships worth Rs 75 cr misappropriated by institutes in UP: ED India deserves much higher, deeper, wider profile and role: PM to WSJ Mandaviya reviews heatwave preparedness; team to visit worst hit states Delhi CM calls NCCSA meeting to discuss transfer, posting of officers Nearly half of Ukraine-returned students have shifted to other countries IRDAI moves Supreme Court against SAT's order in Sahara-SBI case To accommodate the massive gathering, the event venue has been meticulously divided into 135 blocks, each block accommodating around 1,000 participants. Special arrangements have been made for school students, with separate blocks designated for their participation. Approximately 20,000 students from 42 private schools will be joining the event. The Y Junction BRTS route, where the event will take place, has undergone a transformation as green carpets have been laid to welcome the yoga enthusiasts. As a result, bus services will be temporarily suspended on this route on Wednesday, allowing for a dedicated space for the yoga session. In order to authenticate the record-breaking attempt, a team of eight to 10 representatives from the Guinness World Records is present in Surat. The administration has appointed 2,500 dedicated volunteers to assist the team in the meticulous counting process. Each participant will be provided with a belt by the Guinness representatives, and the counting will be conducted by scanning the barcode on the belt, leaving no room for discrepancies. --IANS janvi/arm Hitachi has suffered heavy losses in India and has fallen out of the top three air conditioner (AC) brands in the country, a position it held before the Covid-19 pandemic, The Economic Times (ET) reported on Tuesday. Executives said the firm may require a radical shift in strategy to take back its position. Quoting figures from researcher GfK, industry executives said from more than nine per cent in the pre-pandemic 2019-20, Hitachis market share of the number of ACs halved in April. From 2020-21, Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India has seen its profits shrink year-on-year and the firm went into losses in 2022-23. Hitachi was among the top three AC brands in India in 2019-20 but in 2022-23, the firm ended at the seventh spot. Lloyd and Daikin entered the top four bracket and second spots. The Indian air conditioner market, which is worth Rs 28,000 crore and sells more than 8 million units annually, is highly competitive with over 30 brands vying for market share. Hitachi has a great recall value in the urban parts of India and to garner back its retail position, all that the firm needs is some hero models, retail push, and marketing, the head of a major retail chain said. Breaking the pre-Covid levels of 2019-20 for the first time, Hitachi Air Conditioning India in 2022-23 registered a 10 per cent year-on-year rise in sales to Rs 2,384 crore. But it also recorded a net loss of Rs 82 crore when compared to a net profit of Rs 16 crore in 2021-22, and Rs 33 crore in 2020-21. Rs 83 crore in 2019-20 and Rs 86 crore in 2018-19. In contrast to Hitachi, other listed air conditioner manufacturers have seen their profits improve compared to the pre-pandemic period. For example, Voltas' net profit increased to Rs 1,405 crore in 2022-23, up from Rs 464 crore in 2018-19. Blue Stars net profit rose to Rs 366 crore in 2022-23 from Rs 121 crore in 2018-19. Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India has been undertaking cost cuts since last year, the chief of a leading electronics retail chain told ET. The firm merged a few service centres and closed a few of its branches and offices. An executive said that the company needs to decide whether to position itself as a value brand or a premium brand. He also said that the company needs to relaunch some products with India-oriented innovation to win back market share. He noted that the company used to be a premium brand, but its pricing actions were more in line with a mass brand. When Hitachis peers were increasing prices due to gross margin pressure and higher input costs, Hitachi cut prices last year, another executive said. Due to this, they lost margins, retention, and their premium factor, he added. Shares of IIFL Securities plunged 18 per cent to Rs 58 on the BSE in Tuesdays intra-day trade amid heavy volumes after the market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) barred the company from onboarding new clients for two years.The SEBI has prohibited the company from onboarding new clients for a period of two years in respect of its business as a stock broker, IIFL Securities said in an exchange filing.This order has been issued in connection to finding the mixing of clients funds with proprietary funds. Such an order could keep stock under pressure as it will impact business growth and thus earnings trajectory, ICICI Securities said in a note.Meanwhile, IIFL Securities said the Order does not affect companys existing business with the existing clients. The company is in the process of preferring an appeal against the said Order before Securities Appellate Tribunal.Further, the company said it has always met all its obligations towards exchanges and clients on time. The company has always followed a Compliance First approach and carried out business in full compliance in letter and spirit with extant laws and regulations, it added.At 10:11 AM; IIFL Securities quoted 12 per cent lower at Rs 62.53, as compared to 0.41 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. The average trading volumes on the counter jumped over four-fold today. A combined 6.5 million shares changed hands on the NSE and BSE. Till Monday, the stock had rallied 20 per cent in the month of June. But the good part is that Biparjoy has given a short relief from scorching heat in parts of northern India. Moving on, JioCinema, it seems, is slowly turning up the heat on its rivals like Netflix and Amazon Prime. And the modus operandi is the same old tried and tested formula: start with freebies. Jio Cinema streamed the 2023 IPL free of charge. Soon it had over 10 million subscribers. So what does Jio Cinemas rise mean for the other players? Cyclone Biparjoy has weakened. But not before wreaking havoc in Gujarat and parts of Rajasthan. While there was no loss of life reported, normal life has been hit hard. Biparjoy has dealt a big blow to the coastal economy. With the frequency and intensity of such cyclones increasing, what are the larger economic implications? Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday took a jibe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the Opposition meeting scheduled for June 23 in Patna, saying the opposition should ask the CM about the corruption going on in the state. "Those opposition parties that are going to Bihar must ask Nitish Kumar about the corruption that is going on there. This should not be an alliance of corrupted parties. They should also say who is the leader of their alliance," said Union Minister Anurag Thakur. Notably, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called a meeting of top opposition leaders to stitch a grand alliance against the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The meeting will be held in Patna on June 23. The meeting, which is aimed at laying the groundwork for the coming together of like-minded Opposition parties against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government at the Centre, was originally scheduled to be held on June 12. However, giving a blow to the grand alliance government in Bihar, Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) President Santosh Suman on Monday said that their party will be submitting a letter of withdrawal of support to the Bihar government and to the state Governor. Santosh Suman said that they have sought time from Bihar Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar today evening in this regard. Also Read Patna police may fine Baba Bageshwar, Manoj Tiwari for traffic violation Anurag Thakur unveils newly constructed hostel of SAI in Lucknow, UP As Nitish tries to bring Opposition together, here's a look at his journey Two air passengers arrested in Patna for travelling in drunken state Patna High Court orders stay on Bihar govt's caste-based survey People have 'lost faith' in BJP in Manipur, PM does not care: Congress Congress ministers fixing commission rates for department work: Bommai Cong accuses BJP of 'dishonesty', files complaint against Nadda, Malviya Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM announces withdrawal of support to Nitish govt Uttar Pradesh's farm exports increase 5% to Rs 19,000 crore in FY23 While addressing the press conference, Santosh Suman said," We are in the midst of party expansion. We will go to Delhi. Our options are open. If NDA approaches us we will talk to them. We will also look for third-front possibilities. We will consult with various NGOs. After 3-4 days we will inform the people of our final decision. We will submit our letter of withdrawal of support to the Bihar government to the Governor. We have sought time from the Governor today evening." Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM has four MLAs in the 243-member Bihar Legislative Assembly. JD(U) has 45 MLAs while the RJD has 79. The BJP has 77 legislators in the House. On Aug 9, 2022, Former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) extended unconditional support to Nitish Kumar and the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan minutes after Nitish Kumar tendered his resignation as the state chief minister. Congress has accused BJP leaders of posting deregatory posts against its party leaders and said that it has filed a criminal complaint against all the individuals involved in defaming Rahul Gandhi. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet on Monday, "The BJP IT Cell sunk to new depths of desperation and dishonesty with their latest attack on the Congress and Rahul Gandhi." "The Congress has filed a criminal complaint against all the individuals involved and it shall be pursued to the fullest extent of the law. No matter how high or "powerful" they (BJP leaders) may think they are, we will make sure that they are held accountable for the lies they peddle," Ramesh added. His remarks came after Karnataka Congress on Monday lodged a complaint against BJP National President J.P. Nadda and party's IT Cell head Amit Malviya with the High Grounds police in Bengaluru in connection with publishing derogatory posts against Congress leaders. The complaint has been filed by Karnataka Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Priyank Kharge, and KPCC Spokesperson Ramesh Babu for releasing an animated video of Rahul Gandhi. The complaint has also been lodged against Chandigarh BJP President Arun Sood. Malviya had posted an animated video from his official social media account on June 17. Also Read Rahul Gandhi takes a late-night truck ride to speak to drivers; see video Rahul Gandhi convicted in Modi surname defamation case: What we know so far BJP meeting likely next month in Delhi to endorse extension of Nadda's term J P Nadda's tenure as BJP president extends till June 2024 amid elections Digvijaya offers residence to Rahul after he was asked to vacate bungalow Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM announces withdrawal of support to Nitish govt Uttar Pradesh's farm exports increase 5% to Rs 19,000 crore in FY23 Chhattisgarh government scouts for land for industry in Bastar region Govt laying groundwork to become developed nation by 2047: Rajnath Singh Saurabh Bharadwaj targets LG VK Saxena over recent killings in New Delhi "In that video it is claimed that the Congress party is indulging in anti-national activities and whenever Rahul Gandhi goes abroad, he is indulging in anti-national activities. The video also shows that Congress and Rahul Gandhi are breaking the nation," Priyank added. "We have decided to close down the factory of lies run by the BJP. They could get away with it as it was their government here (Karnataka). The fact-check unit was closed then. The BJP party workers themselves created fake news. We will not let it happen now. Fact-check unit would be strengthened. I have already spoken to the Chief Minister. The posts which are communal, disturbing peace, will be dealt with and strict action would be taken," he said. We will also speak to the Home department and create a separate squad for the fact-check process," Priyank added. "They (BJP) will always post vicious messages and sow seeds of hatred and create fear. We can't sit quietly when people like J.P. Nadda, Amit Malviya and Arun Sood, who are in responsible positions, spread lies from their accounts. They will have to prove the charges," he said. "We had lodged a complaint under IPC Sections 505 (2), 553 (A), 120 (B), 34. Let Amit Malviya come to Bengaluru and explain how Congress indulged in anti-national activities. Otherwise, he will have to seek apologies and give a letter that he won't make such changes in future," he added. --IANS aks/dan/khz/ The Congress will set up a separate ministry at the Centre to tackle the problems of the backward classes, SC/ST and others when it comes to power, AICC General Secretary Mukul Wasnik said here on Tuesday. Addressing the executive meeting of Maharashtra Congress' SC Cell, Wasnik said that the BJP government is continuously reducing the welfare funds for OBCs, SC, ST, and other schemes for backward classes are not being implemented. "After the Congress comes to power at the Centre, we shall form a separate ministry specifically to address the problems of all the backward classes. We will also make budgetary provisions in proportion to the population of the backward classes for their welfare schemes," Wasnik declared. He warned that the biggest challenge facing the nation today is the BJP government, which does not even allow the Parliament to function properly. The Constitution was framed with the idea of taking together all the communities together, but in the past few years, the BJP regime has worked to disrespect the Constitution, he said. "If the Constitution has to be protected and democracy be saved, there is no other option except the Congress," said Wasnik, flanked by top state leaders, including Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole, Varsha Gaikwad, Siddharth Hattiambire, Suresh Shetty, Anis Ahmed, Devanand Pawar and others. Also Read Winnability will be criterion while allocating tickets for LS polls: Pawar Party going through transformation process: Congress leader KC Venugopal Congress accuses BJP of fuelling speculation on Pawar's next political move Pawar steps down as NCP chief, forms panel to decide on future action Won't be in govt if Pawar joins BJP with NCP group: Shiv Sena spokesperson 2024 Lok Sabha polls: AIADMK wants to make a strong comeback Opposition parties to discuss Centre's ordinance on June 23 in Patna If Centre doesn't release Rs 3,622 cr rural fund, will move to SC: Mann Punjab Assembly passes Bill to replace Governor from Chancellor's post Oppn uneasy over presence of Congress in Patna meet ahead of 2024 LS polls Addressing the meeting, Patole said that post 2014, 'Hindutva-wadi' forces have raised their heads in the country and spoiled the atmosphere of amity in the lands of great icons like B.R. Ambedkar, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and others. "We are continually raising the problems of the masses with the BJP government, which is engaged in spoiling the peaceful atmosphere in the society. People should not fall prey to its conspiracies. The citizens have realised their mistake of 2014, which will not be repeated next year," Patole said. Gaikwad explained how the backward classes are being attacked in Maharashtra, but the state government of Shiv Sena-BJP is doing nothing to stop these atrocities. "We shall need a bigger struggle in the coming days, with the participation of all the people from different sections of the society, to defeat the forces which are attempting to create strife in the country," said Gaikwad. Hattiambire announced that the party will start a 'Dikshabhumi to Chaityabhumi Constitution Gaurav Yatra' soon to spread the message of defending the Constitution and safeguarding democracy. During the procession between Nagpur and Mumbai, the party will distribute 2,000 copies of the Constitution in all the districts enroute. --IANS qn/arm Leaders of ten opposition parties from violence hit Manipur, led by Congress, on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ignoring the people of the north eastern state and not meeting the opposition leaders before leaving for his US visit. The Congress criticised Prime Minister for meeting the film writer Manoj Muntashir, who wrote obscene dialogues for the movie Adipursh, but has no time to meet senior leaders of the country. Congress leader Ajoy Kumar claimed that the writer Muntashir met Modi without any appointment for 45 minutes while the leaders from the violence ridden state, including even those from the BJP, were not able to get audience with him (PM Modi). Addressing a joint press conference at the party headquarters, Congress leader Ajoy Kumar said: "Since June 10, several senior leaders of Manipur, including political leaders, civil society people are waiting here to meet Prime Minister Modi. Even Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, and the Assembly speaker are waiting for the appointment." He said that senior leader Ibobi Singh, who was the Manipur Chief Minister for 15 years and many other top leaders of Manipur are not able to meet PM whereas a script writer can meet Prime Minister without appointment. He said that a memorandum was also submitted by the delegation of 10 parties to the Prime Minister's Office. Also Read PM holds meeting with top ministers to discuss strategy for Budget session Your voice is India's voice: PM Modi at Voice of Global South summit UN will remain 'talk shop' if it doesn't reflect reality, says PM Modi May 'temple of democracy' continue strengthening India's development: PM Narendra Modi can become first Indian PM to address US Congress twice If Cong wins, will set up separate ministry for backward classes: Wasnik 2024 Lok Sabha polls: AIADMK wants to make a strong comeback Opposition parties to discuss Centre's ordinance on June 23 in Patna If Centre doesn't release Rs 3,622 cr rural fund, will move to SC: Mann Punjab Assembly passes Bill to replace Governor from Chancellor's post Kumar was joined by former Chief Minister of Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh, including the leaders of the opposition parties, Manipur PCC President Keisham Meghachandra Singh and others who said that they were disappointed as the Prime Minister had not spared even ten minutes for them before leaving for his US visit. Kumar said that the opposition leaders have been camping here for the last ten days in the hope of meeting the Prime Minister. "Not only these leaders, but the people of Manipur felt deeply disappointed that the Prime Minister had no time for them," he said. Meanwhile, former Chief Minister of Manipur Ibobi Singh said it was the failure of the Chief Minister Biren Singh as he had himself admitted that it was an intelligence and administrative failure. "As citizens of this country, we were waiting here to meet Modiji. We have not come here to beg something from the Prime Minister but what has happened in Manipur should be considered a national issue. Handling of violence in Manipur is a failure of double engine government," the former chief minister said. He said while the Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Manipur after 26 days and stayed there for three days, even that did not help in restoration of peace. Opposition's memorandum The memorandum submitted by the Opposition leaders highlighted that more than 150 people have died while over 1,000 people were injured. More than 5,000 houses have been burned down and more than 60,000 people are displaced. Hundreds of churches and temples have also been burnt down. The memorandum also alleged that it was the "BJP's politics of divide and rule" that had led to the present crisis. The memorandum referred to the demand of 10 MLAs, including two Ministers in the government, belonging to Kuki tribe, demanding a "Separate Administration" for Kukis. It warned against any move to divide the Manipur state. It said that stoic silence of Prime Minister over the ethnic violence which has claimed many lives and created havoc for thousands of citizens sends a clear message of indifference to the people of Manipur. It also held Chief Minister Biren Singh responsible for the violence and said that he was the architect of present ethnic violence because of his arbitrary actions. "Had he taken preventive and prompt actions, the ethnic clashes could have been averted." The signatories of the memorandum include leaders from the Congress, JDU, CPI, CPM-M, TMC, AAP, Forward Bloc, Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena and RSP. The Congress has been critiical of the Prime Minister's silence on the Manipur violence. The Congress on Tuesday also reminded the Prime Minister to follow 'Rajdharma' instead of indulging in "publicity to improve his image". --IANS aks/dan Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit sends a strong message that the relationship between India and the US is critical and pivotal and the most defining partnership of the 21st century, the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) said on Tuesday. "This historic and important state visit sends a strong message that the US-India relationship is critical and pivotal and the most defining partnership of the 21st century," USISPF President and CEO, Mukesh Aghi said. "Prime Minister Modi's state visit will reaffirm, the strength of the strategic partnership and cement our relations in defence, energy, healthcare, technology, and education. This relationship is best epitomised by the concept that these are two democracies, sharing a common vision," Aghi said in a statement. Prime Minister Modi is visiting the US from Wednesday to Saturday at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The visit includes a state dinner as well as an address to the joint session of Congress on Thursday. Welcoming Prime Minister Modi USISPF Chairman and Chairman Emeritus of Cisco, John Chambers, said: "It is an honour to have Prime Minister Modi back in the US. He has been a role model for many of us around the world with Digital India and how he brings those benefits to every citizen across the country. Also Read India, US 'model' for strategic partners to work together: USISPF Chairman May 'temple of democracy' continue strengthening India's development: PM PM Modi meets prominent Aus biz leaders; invites investments in India PM Modi's US visit will set new benchmarks for bilateral ties: Pentagon PM holds meeting with top ministers to discuss strategy for Budget session Why is Congress silent on religious conversions, questions Narottam Mishra Nitish, Tejashwi to visit Chennai to convince Stalin for mega Oppn meet Cong leader mocks Scindia, says BJP has made him 'bhai saheb from maharaja' West Bengal transport operators refuse to supply buses for poll duty India has core belief in respecting sovereignty, territorial integrity: PM "Prime Minister Modi is able to build relationships with various stakeholders in the United States and focuses on the win-win aspect. Prime Minister Modi has the ability to inspire hope and translate hope into vision and vision into results and those benefits are well evinced." Before flying to the US for a landmark state visit, Prime Minister Modi said India is in the process of gaining its rightful position in the world. "We do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world," the Prime Minister said in an interview to The Wall Street Journal. "There is an unprecedented trust between the leaders of the US and India," Modi said. Modi's visit will commence in New York where he will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the UN headquarters on Wednesday. He will be the third Indian leader to make a state visit to the US with the previous two visits by former president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in June 1963 and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November 2009. --IANS mi/ksk/ The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday announced that all opposition parties will discuss the ordinance imposed by the Central government in an upcoming meeting. The meeting is scheduled to take place in Bihar's Patna on June 23. "The primary agenda of the meeting will be the Centre's ordinance on Delhi. The opposition seeks clarity from the Congress regarding their stance on this matter," stated the AAP. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal emphasised that the ordinance not only applies to Delhi but also has the potential to be enforced in any full-fledged state in the country. Kejriwal highlighted that the Central government now possesses the authority to introduce similar ordinances on any subject within the concurrent list. Therefore, it is crucial for all opposition parties to unite and deliberate on this issue to ensure the protection of states' autonomy. "I hope that the Congress will clearly state its position, as the other political parties present in the meeting will inquire about it. The first topic to be discussed will be the Delhi ordinance. I will explain the risks of this ordinance to each and every party attending the meeting. I will bring the Constitution of India with me and demonstrate how this ordinance ridicules it," said Kejriwal. Also Read AAP to contest in 'as many seats as possible' in Nagaland assembly polls Satyendar Jain put on waiting for 5 months for urgent spinal surgery: AAP Ordinance row: Congress leaders from Delhi, Punjab meet Kharge, Gandhi Kejriwal should realise his mistake: Delhi Cong chief over ordinance row In cash-strapped Punjab, CM Mann sits tight on OPS, focuses on freebies If Centre doesn't release Rs 3,622 cr rural fund, will move to SC: Mann Punjab Assembly passes Bill to replace Governor from Chancellor's post Oppn uneasy over presence of Congress in Patna meet ahead of 2024 LS polls It's time to follow Rajdharma: Cong takes dig at PM over Manipur situation PM to meet entrepreneurs, CEOs, think tanks during first US state visit He added, "Just because it has been implemented in Delhi, which is often considered a 'half-state', doesn't mean it cannot be implemented in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and other states. By promulgating such ordinances, the Centre can undermine all matters falling within the concurrent list of the Constitution of India." --IANS atk/prw/bg According to reports, Chingari, a India-based short video app has announced a new round of layoffs that will affect around 20% of its employees. The startup company shot to popularity after TikTok was banned in June 2020. It competes with brands like Instagram and Snapchat. "We deeply regret the need for these workforce reductions of 20% as a part of Chingari's organisational restructuring. These were one of the toughest decisions for our management and we understand the impact they have on our employees. We are appreciative of their contributions and commitment to Chingari," said a Chingari spokesperson. Chingari layoff: Current Overview Sources reported that the HR team informed employees who were affected by the layoffs in one-on-one interactions. The company currently employs approximately 248 people, and if 20% of its workforce is reduced, approximately 48 jobs will be eliminated. About 27,000 people have lost their jobs at Indian startup companies since 2022. Co-founder Aditya Kothari left the startup company a few weeks ago. Chingari has offered the affected employees a two-month salary as severance pay to compensate them for the uncertain job loss. In addition, it has extended their health insurance for an additional three months. Chingari layoff: Company overview The company was established in 2018, after the popular video app, TikTok was banned in India due to tensions between India and China. Aditya Kothari, Biswatma Nayak, Deepak Salvi, and Ghosh started the business. Chingari application users can transfer their recordings and cooperate with companions and furthermore offer, and browse the content. Also Read ChatGPT arrives on Apple App store for iPhones: Everything you need to know Asia leads 'back to office' effort; nearly 50% say will quit if no WFH Women returning to work after break find most demand in telecom, HR sectors Short video app Chingari lays off 20% of workforce amid restructuring US to control land sales to foreigners within 100 miles of 8 military bases Tired of getting spam calls on WhatsApp? Here's how you can stop them now WhatsApp widely rolling out new community entry point on Apple iOS WhatsApp rolling out screen-sharing feature for video calls on iOS beta Twitter to focus on video and commerce in business revamp, deets inside Facebook, Instagram suffer global outage for more than 2 hours again Additionally, the application owns the native cryptocurrency token GARI enabling the video content creators to earn on the application's blockchain from their content. India, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkey, and the United States currently support the application. Chingari layoff: Previous Overview At a time when cryptocurrency and short-video apps are struggling for survival, the layoff reflects the company's financial health. Chingari received a significant investment from Aptos a few months ago. At that time, it was stated that the funding would be put toward user growth, product development, global expansion, and building up the technical team. According to reports, the business also planned to join the unicorn club and was in discussion to raise significantly more capital than it had previously raised. Software major Adode's $20 billion acquisition of cloud-based designer platform Figma is reportedly under scrutiny by the antitrust regulators in the European Union, the media reported on Tuesday. The EU regulators are preparing to launch a formal investigation into the acquisition, reports the Financial Times. The UK's competition watchdog is also looking into the Adobe-Figma deal. Adobe is already discussing the acquisition with regulators in the UK, EU, and the US. In September last year, Adobe announced it would acquire design software company Figma for about $20 billion in a cash and stock deal. Founded by Dylan Field and Evan Wallace in 2012, Figma pioneered product design on the web. The combination of Adobe and Figma will usher in a new era of collaborative creativity. Also Read Beijing had access to app data: Fired ByteDance executive in law suit NCLAT sets aside NCLT order on Zee Entertainment-Sony India merger Zee Entertainment zooms 14% in 4 days on hopes of settlement with lenders Notifying changes in competition law may face CCI quorum challenge Huge win for Russia as TikTok propaganda labels on agencies fall flat Japan ID system causes concern amid payment glitches, incorrect deliveries India centre stage at Paris air show, as AI set to order 470 aircrafts We hosts one of world's largest refugee populations: Pakistan President Unable to import parts, Suzuki shuts two-wheeler, car plants in Pakistan Pakistan enters election mode, poll body starts making arrangements "The combination of Adobe and Figma is transformational and will accelerate our vision for collaborative creativity," said Shantanu Narayen, Chairman and CEO, Adobe. Figma has a total addressable market of $16.5 billion by 2025. The company is expected to add approximately $200 million in net new ARR this year, surpassing $400 million in total ARR exiting 2022. --IANS na/ By Reed Stevenson Carlos Ghosn, the former head of Nissan Motor Co., sued the Japanese automaker and connected individuals for ousting him in 2018 and arranging his arrest for alleged financial misconduct, claiming more than $1 billion for deep damage to his finances and reputation. The former auto executive, who forged Nissans carmaking alliance with Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., filed his claims with the public prosecutor in the Court of Cassation in Lebanon, where he has lived since his dramatic escape from Japan in late 2019 to flee trial. The lawsuit, seen by Bloomberg News, was submitted on May 18 and translated into English from Arabic. The arrest of Ghosn, 69, sent shockwaves through the global auto industry and unleashed turmoil within Nissan that continues to this day. Ghosn has minced few words criticizing Nissan and Japans legal authorities for removing him from the worlds biggest automaking alliance. He still faces criminal charges in Japan for what prosecutors describe as a plot to underreport his compensation, as well as a civil lawsuit filed by Nissan in a court in Yokohama seeking monetary damages. The serious and sensitive accusations against me will linger in peoples minds for years, Ghosn asserted in the lawsuit, saying he will suffer from them for the remainder of his life, as they have persistent and lingering impacts, even if based on mere suspicion. The lawsuit claims $588 million in lost compensation and costs, as well as $500 million in punitive measures. Nissans shareholders also suffered losses after the company squandered its first-mover advantage with respect to electric vehicles. Ghosn is no longer a shareholder in the Japanese company. Also Read Renault Nissan inks agreement with Kamarajar Port for car shipments Nissan rolls out Magnite SUV, marks milestone of 100,000 units at TN plant Nissan Motor India's total wholesales rise 28% to 8,991 units in Dec 2022 Renault Nissan Automotive progresses towards Carbon Neutrality vision Nissan plans to develop left-hand drive 'Magnite'; to step up exports Daniel Zhang to step down as Alibaba CEO, Eddie Wu Yongming to succeed him Google Doodle honors Polish sculptor Magdalena on her 93rd birthday 7 dead, more than 70 injured in rain-related incidents in Pakistan Netherlands to soon roll out semiconductor export control measures: Report iPhone maker trying to get IP rights on Apple fruit in unique battle Ghosn was sent by Renault in 1999 to turn around the Japanese carmaker, which had been struggling before receiving a cash injection from the French company. He later became chief executive officer of both companies and chairman of the alliance. The lawsuit also makes claims against at least a dozen people, including: - Hari Nada, a Nissan employee seen as one of the key instigators of the plot to oust Ghosn - Hidetoshi Imazu and Hitoshi Kawaguchi, two senior Nissan managers with early involvement in Nissans actions against Ghosn - Toshiaki Onuma, a manager in the CEOs office, who along with Nada, agreed to cooperate with Japanese prosecutors to avoid prosecution - Masakazu Toyoda and Motoo Nagai, two Nissan board members A representative for Nissan said the company hasnt yet received the lawsuit or is aware of it, and therefore cant comment or make anyone available for comment on Ghosns claims. The lawsuit includes other individuals and entities, which have not yet been served, according to Ghosns legal representative. Lebanons public prosecutor has set a hearing for September. Authorities in Lebanon can request cooperation from their Japanese counterparts to investigate Ghosns assertions. Its not clear whether Japans judicial system, which Ghosn has said is rigged and violates the most basic principles of humanity, would be willing to cooperate with authorities in Lebanon, which doesnt extradite its citizens. In 2020, a UN panel found that Ghosns detention in a Japanese jail for more than 100 days was neither necessary nor reasonable and violated his rights. The decision to arrest Ghosn four times in a row so as to extend his detention was fundamentally unfair, according to the United Nations Human Rights Councils Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The 18-page claim includes Ghosns plan to bring Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors under a grand alliance with Fiat Chrysler, which he says fueled concerns within Nissan in early 2018 that he was seeking to make the partnership irreversible. Nada and others then laid the groundwork to have Ghosn arrested in order to remove him from Nissan and the alliance, according to the former auto executive. Ghosn also described his intentions for taking a voluntary pay cut in 2011 after new disclosure rules in Japan triggered efforts to find legal means to retain and pay him during retirement. Those plans eventually became the basis for the arrest of Ghosn and Greg Kelly, a former Nissan director who was involved in the salary discussions. A trial verdict last year exonerated Kelly of most charges and imposed a fine on Nissan. The former auto executive described how he received job offers by Volkswagen AG, Ford Motor Co. and a more lucrative salary to join General Motors Co., but decided to stay with the alliance following the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. Ghosn said the efforts within Nissan to find ways to compensate and keep him were criminalized because that was the only means found by the conspirators to get rid of him as the chairman of the board of directors. Nada and others then waged a defamation campaign to tarnish his image, Ghosn asserts in the lawsuit. The claim also details the involvement of the Japanese and French governments, the purge of certain people from Nissan following Ghosns arrest, issues with the companys internal investigation into the matter and damage done to shareholders as a result of the actions. In a way, the lawsuit is the crystallization of Ghosns efforts to clear his name following his arrival in Lebanon, where in early 2020 he held an epic news conference denouncing his arrest. The former auto executive spent part of his childhood in the country and lives in a house that was bought and restored by Nissan, which he had planned to buy from the company upon retirement. They cannot plot a lie and cheat and get away with it, Ghosn said by telephone from Beirut. This is just a small response to the damage they created. I dont think they can right the wrong, because the damage is so deep this is intended to repair part of the damage that has been done. By Yoshita Singh China on Tuesday blocked a proposal by India and the US at the United Nations to designate Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Sajid Mir, wanted for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, as a global terrorist. Beijing blocked the proposal that had been moved by the US and co-designated by India to blacklist Mir under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council as a global terrorist and subject him to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. In September last year, it was learnt that China had put a hold on the proposal to designate Mir at the UN. Beijing has now blocked the proposal. Mir, believed to be in his mid 40s, is one of India's most wanted terrorists and has a bounty of USD 5 million placed on his head by the US for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. In June last year, Mir was jailed for over 15 years in a terror-financing case by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan. Also Read Sale of petroleum products halves in Pakistan, high inflation to blame Historical trail of Pakistan's powerful military enterprise: Explainer Pakistan's efforts for peace should not be seen as weakness: Pak Army chief Most-wanted naxal Dinesh Gope arrested after evading capture since 2016 BRICS members vow to combat terrorism financing, terror safe havens Global chip race touches off spending spree, led by Intel's $50 bn campaign Plan in the works to hand over Karachi port terminals to UAE for funds US President Joe Biden's son Hunter to plead guilty to tax charges Race against time to rescue titans in missing Titanic submersible World's largest commercial jet purchase orders by number of aircraft Pakistani authorities had in the past claimed Mir had died, but Western countries remained unconvinced and demanded proof of his death. This issue became a major sticking point in FATF's assessment of Pakistan's progress on the action plan late last year. Mir is a senior member of the Pakistan-based LeT and is wanted for his involvement in the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. "Mir was LeT's operations manager for the attacks, playing a leading role in their planning, preparation, and execution, the US State Department has said. Beijing, an all-weather friend of Islamabad, has repeatedly put holds on listings to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorists under the sanctions committee of the UN Security Council. The US State Department had said that Mir has been a senior member of LeT since approximately 2001. From 2006 to 2011, Mir was in charge of LeT's external operations and planned and directed various terrorist attacks on behalf of the group. Additionally, Mir conspired to commit a terrorist attack against a newspaper and its employees in Denmark between 2008 and 2009. For his role in the Mumbai attacks, Mir was indicted in the United States in April 2011. In August 2012, the US Department of the Treasury designated Mir as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. As a result of this designation, among other consequences, all property and interests in property of Mir that are subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with Mir. "Mir is on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists List, according to information on the State Department website New Delhi, June 20: The Dawoodi Bohra communities from across America are eagerly looking forward to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States starting Tuesday. The Dawoodi Bohras are Muslims hailing mainly from the Indian subcontinent. They also have large numbers in Pakistan, Yemen, East Africa, and the Middle East, as well as growing populations in Europe, North America, South East Asia, and Australia. The leader of the community, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, serves as the spiritual and temporal guide of the worldwide Dawoodi Bohras community and primarily resides in India. Prime Minister Modi has had a long association with the Dawoodi Bohra community, including during his time as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, saying that their affection keeps raining on him wherever he goes. Also Read PM to flag off Vande Bharat trains, inaugurate educational campus in Mumbai SC asks Varanasi collector to hold meet to provide wazu' at Gyanvapi mosque Ayodhya Mosque construction to begin after Ramzan, layout gets clearance Rahul Gandhi's 53rd birthday: All you need to know about this Gandhi leader PM holds meeting with top ministers to discuss strategy for Budget session IOC awards Olympic Order to WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus No company responded to crisis-hit Pakistan's offer to buy LNG cargo Incessant rainfall in Bhutan linked to Assam floods, say Officials Yoga's benefits are precious in today's dangerous and divided world: UN Biden's son to plead guilty to misdemeanour tax felony, firearm possession Earlier this year, while inaugurating the new campus of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah (Saifee Academy) - the principal educational institute of the Dawoodi Bohra community - at Marol in Mumbai, PM Modi said that he was attending the event not as a Prime Minister but as a family member who has been associated with the community for four generations. 'When I go somewhere not only in the country but also abroad, my Bohra brothers and sisters definitely come to meet me,' the Prime Minister remarked as he highlighted the love and concern of the Bohra community for India. 'The people of the Bohra community in foreign lands can act as brand ambassadors of shining India. The Dawoodi Bohra community will continue to play an important role in reaching the goal of a developed India,' said PM Modi. With over 5,000 families, the Dawoodi Bohras are spread across the United States and, despite their relatively small numbers, have played an important role in their local societies. During his visit to the country in September 2019, PM Modi interacted with the members of the community in Houston, Texas. The community members felicitated the PM and spotlighted his association with 'Syedna Sahib' besides recalling the Prime Minister's visit to Indore's Saifee Mosque to attend Ashara Mubaraka - the commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain. Tweeting after the interaction, PM Modi said: 'The Dawoodi Bohra community has distinguished itself across the world. In Houston, I had the opportunity to spend time with them and speak about a wide range of issues.' Earlier today, children and adults from the Dawoodi Bohra communities in Houston and Collin County got together in welcoming Prime Minister of India. 'The community is honoured to be part of this historic occasion, reflecting on their commitment to fostering harmony between their beloved home, the United States, and their cherished Indian roots,' tweeted the Dawoodi Bohras of USA. The community members in California also put out a video to extend a warm welcome to PM Modi. 'Many American Dawoodi Bohras have deep spiritual and familial ties with India and are proud to contribute to the strong bonds between the two nations,' the members said. Earlier this month, TV Nagendra Prasad, the Consul General of India in San Francisco, visited Dawoodi Bohra centre in Fremont to celebrate the community's centuries-old rich Indian heritage. (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India has a core belief in respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, observing the rule of law and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. In an interview with "Wall Street Journal", prior to his departure for a state visit to the US, Modi said that at the same time, India is fully prepared and committed to protecting its sovereignty and dignity. All countries should respect international law and the sovereignty of countries. Disputes should be resolved with "diplomacy and dialogue," not war, he noted. "Some people say that we are neutral. But we are not neutral. We are on the side of peace," he was quoted as saying. "The world has full confidence that India's topmost priority is peace," the Prime Minister said in the interview. Also Read Ukraine urges nations to vote to preserve its territory in UN resolution UN draft resolution calls for peace to ensure Ukraine's sovereignty Ukrainian Military hints hitting Russian cruise missiles in occupied Crimea Ukraine's first deputy foreign minister to arrive in India for 4-day visit Fire erupts at Crimea oil depot as hit by Ukraine's drone: Russian official Man attacks diners with axe at New Zealand's Chinese restaurants, 4 hurt Looking forward to hearing PM Modi's address, can't wait: US Congressmen Water in Ukrainian regions affected by dam collapse highly contaminated Alibaba names Joseph Tsai chairman, Eddie Wu CEO in a surprise shake-up Singapore ranked the most expensive city in the world for luxury living Touching upon the UN Security Council member, Modi said that there has to be an evaluation of the current membership of the council and the world should be asked if it wants India to be there. India will do whatever it can and supports all genuine efforts to bring an end to the conflict and ensure enduring peace and stability, the Prime Minister added. For normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquility in the border areas is essential, he said. Modi said in the course of the interview that he is the first prime minister to be born in free India, "And that's why my thought process, my conduct, what I say and do, is inspired and influenced by my country's attributes and traditions. I derive my strength from it". "I present my country to the world as my country is, and myself, as I am," he said. On India-US relationship, the Prime Minister said in the interview that there is an unprecedented trust between the leaders of the US and India. "India deserves a much higher, deeper and wider profile and a role," he said. "We do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world," Prime Minister Modi was quoted as saying in the interview. The world today is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. To create resilience, there should be more diversification in supply chains, he said. --IANS ans/shb/ Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India stands on the side of peace in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. In an interview with WSJ ahead of his departure for a historic State visit to the US, PM Modi said that when it comes to the Ukraine conflict, "Some people say that we are neutral. But we are not neutral. We are on the side of peace." Asked about cricitism in the US of his government for not taking a more forceful stance against Russia in the conflict with Ukraine, PM Modi told the publication, "I don't think this type of perception is widespread in the US." "I think India's position is well known and well understood in the entire world. The world has full confidence that India's topmost priority is peace," he told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that was conducted at the Prime Minister's residence in New Delhi. The Prime Minister said all countries should respect international law and the sovereignty of countries, disputes should be resolved with diplomacy and dialogue, not war. India has abstained from UN votes condemning the invasion. Also Read Why a WSJ writer considers BJP 'most important foreign political party'? Wall Street Journal reporter detained in Russia, US condemns strongly India has core belief in respecting sovereignty, territorial integrity: PM Modi visit will reaffirm strength of Indo-US strategic partnership: USISPF TikTok dismisses reports saying US wants Chinese owners to divest Carlos Ghosn sues Nissan, connected individuals over his 2018 ouster Daniel Zhang to step down as Alibaba CEO, Eddie Wu Yongming to succeed him Google Doodle honors Polish sculptor Magdalena on her 93rd birthday 7 dead, more than 70 injured in rain-related incidents in Pakistan Netherlands to soon roll out semiconductor export control measures: Report The PM during his interview with WSJ said he has spoken several times to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He said he most recently spoke to Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Japan in May. "India will do whatever it can" and supports "all genuine efforts to bring an end to the conflict and ensure enduring peace and stability," PM Modi said. According to The Wall Street Journal, India's relationship with the US has strengthened in recent years in part because of economic ties. Trade between the two countries reached a record USD 191 billion in 2022, making the US India's largest trading partner. The US is India's third-biggest source of foreign direct investment and one of the top five destinations for investment from India. India has at the same time, maintained close ties with Russia, which still provides about 50 per cent of the country's military supplies, including arms, ammunition, tanks, jet fighters and S-400 air defence systems, according to WSJ. PM Modi during the interview also said that "there is an unprecedented trust" between the leaders of the US and India. He hailed growing defence cooperation between the two countries as "an important pillar of our partnership," which he said extends to trade, technology and energy. In the US, PM Modi will address the joint session of the US Congress, meet with business leaders and Indian expats, and join President Joe Biden for a state dinner at the White House. Rear Admiral Tran Thanh Nghiem, Commander of the Vietnam People's Navy, called on India's Naval Staff Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar and discussed the contemporary maritime environment and opportunities to enhance bilateral naval cooperation. Taking to Twitter, a Spokesperson of the Indian Navy said, "VAdm Tran Thanh Nghiem, CinC, #VietnamPeoplesNavy (VPN) called on Adm R Hari Kumar #CNS on 19 Jun 23. Discussions held on contemporary #maritime environment & opportunities to enhance bilateral #NavalCooperation incl areas of capacity building, capability enhancement." "Highlighting the strong relations between the two navies, CinC VPN acknowledged the significance of gifting of the indigenously-built in-service Missile Corvette INS Kirpan towards enhancing Vietnam's naval capabilities," it added. Meanwhile, Vietnam's General Phan Van Giang, who is officially on a visit to India from June 18 to 19, held bilateral talks with Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on Monday to further boost the defence cooperation between India and Vietnam. Vietnam's minister will during his stay, also undertake a cultural visit to Agra. Yesterday, General Phan Van Giang, Minister of National Defence of Vietnam laid a wreath at National War Memorial here. Also Read Vietnam Airline to connect Mumbai with Ho Chi Minh City from May 20 PM Modi, Israeli PM Netanyahu discuss bilateral cooperation over phone call Bengal, Vietnam have much to do to strengthen bilateral trade: Envoy BCCI to sell digital, TV rights for bilateral series separately: Report Netflix makes preparations to open Vietnam office after negotiating for yrs Norway to provide $23 mn for nuclear safety in Ukraine amid war with Russia UNSC needs better reps including countries like India: UNGA Chief Ukraine says 8 settlements recaptured in southern region in past two weeks Paris air show returns with jets and missiles in demand, says report IMF working hard on global central bank digital currency platform Earlier, Giang called on the President of India Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday, said a press release by President's Secretariat on Monday. Welcoming General Giang and his delegation to India, the President said that India and Vietnam share a rich history of civilizational and cultural linkages spanning over 2000 years. She added that Vietnam is an important pillar of India's Act East Policy and a key partner of our Indo-Pacific Vision. President Murmu noted that the India-Vietnam 'Comprehensive Strategic Partnership' has widened the range of bilateral collaboration including in defence and security cooperation, trade and investment relations, energy security, development cooperation, cultural and people-to-people relations. She said that bilateral defence cooperation is one of the strongest elements of this partnership. She was happy to note that the India-Vietnam defence engagement spans a wide spectrum, including capacity building, industry cooperation, Peacekeeping, and joint exercises. Tech giant Apple is reportedly trying to gain intellectual property (IP) rights over depictions of apples, the fruit, which has left a fruit farmer's organisation in Switzerland worried. According to a report in Wired, the Fruit Union, the oldest and largest fruit farmers' organisation in Switzerland, is concerned that it may have to change its logo because the iPhone maker is attempting to secure IP rights for "a realistic, black-and-white depiction of an apple variety known as the Granny Smith". "Their objective here is really to own the rights to an actual apple, which, for us, is something that is really almost universal that should be free for everyone to use," Fruit Union Suisse director Jimmy Mariethoz was quoted as saying. According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation's records, Apple has made similar requests to dozens of IP authorities around the world. Authorities in Japan, Turkey, Israel, and Armenia have already accepted their fate, albeit reluctantly. "Apple's quest to own the IP rights of something as generic as a fruit speaks to the dynamics of a flourishing global IP rights industry, which encourages companies to compete obsessively over trademarks they don't really need," the report noted. Also Read Apple opens its first official store in Mumbai; what we know so far Comfort and security: what does it take to set up a smart home Apple BKC Mumbai store previewed ahead of April 18 opening: See pictures Here's a first look of the Apple store that opens in Mumbai tomorrow Apple unveils Apple Card's savings accounts with 4.15% interest rate Taliban's treatment of Afghan women may amount to gender apartheid: UN India has core belief in respecting sovereignty, territorial integrity: PM Man attacks diners with axe at New Zealand's Chinese restaurants, 4 hurt Looking forward to hearing PM Modi's address, can't wait: US Congressmen Water in Ukrainian regions affected by dam collapse highly contaminated The tech giant had submitted an application to the Swiss Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) in 2017, requesting the IP rights for a realistic, black-and-white depiction of an apple variety known as the Granny Smith -- the generic green apple. "The request covered an extensive list of potential uses -- "mostly on electronic, digital, and audiovisual consumer goods and hardware," according to the report. The Swiss institute partially granted Apple's request last year, saying that Apple could have rights relating to only some of the goods it wanted. Apple later filed an appeal. According to the Fruit Union, there is no clarity on what uses of the apple shape Apple will try to protect. "We're concerned that any visual representation of an apple -- so anything that's audiovisual or linked to new technologies or to media -- could be potentially impacted. That would be a very, very big restriction for us," Mariethoz was quoted as saying. Apple did not comment on the report. --IANS na/svn/ Japan's "My Number" national identification card system caused further concern following a number of new errors, with the government saying on Tuesday that numerous cards were erroneously linked to the wrong cardholders' payment methods. In the latest debacle involving the system's privacy concerns, 172 cards were erroneously linked to online payment methods, including those connected to credit cards of the wrong cardholders, reports Xinhua news agency. The results of a government survey regarding the errors that were linked to a state campaign to incentivise more people to sign up for their own My Number card showed that under the scheme where an applicant was given 20,000 yen ($141) worth of points, vast numbers of errors occurred. According to the survey, 172 errors related to the campaign were found in 131 municipalities, with 136 incidents of sensitive information being entered while a different person was still logged in to the system, and more than 30 cases where mistaken IDs were entered for payment purposes by the cardholder. Among other cases adding to those plaguing the unpopular system, there were two cases in which ID cards were erroneously issued to people with the same names as the intended recipients, the government said on Tuesday. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications claimed that the cards issued in error were not misused. Also Read Rupay forex card out soon: Should you pick one over a credit/ debit card? BOB Financial opens up its entire RuPay Credit Card base for linking on UPI NPCI plans more tie-ups to boost global acceptability of RuPay debit cards No TCS on overseas payment via international credit, debit cards: FinMin As credit card transactions rise in India, debit cards take a backseat India centre stage at Paris air show, as AI set to order 470 aircrafts We hosts one of world's largest refugee populations: Pakistan President Unable to import parts, Suzuki shuts two-wheeler, car plants in Pakistan Pakistan enters election mode, poll body starts making arrangements Pak defiant, allows fundraising to promote terror, facilitates infiltration The ever-rising cases of errors regarding the cards, however, have punctuated the risk the cards present for being used fraudulently when it comes to receiving state benefits or tax-related duplicity. "It was a mistake that should never have happened," Digital Minister Taro Kono told a press conference regarding the erroneous deliveries. --IANS ksk/ At least four people were injured after a man armed with an axe allegedly attacked diners at several Chinese restaurants in Auckland, New Zealand police said on Tuesday, adding that the suspect was arrested at the scene. Late Monday night, the police received calls from the suburb of Albany, a popular area for dining in the city, with reports of attacks at the Zhangliang Malatang, Yues Dumpling Kitchen and Maya Hotpot restaurants, reports the BBC. A staff member at one of the eateries said the incident began without warning as the man entered and suddenly "took a hammer-like thing out and attacked people sitting at a table", while a chef described the aftermath as "like a war zone". Police said that the suspect, a Chinese national, was also charged with causing grievous bodily harm. The attack did not appear to be racially motivated and was being treated as an isolated incident, it added. "We acknowledge how frightening this incident was for those involved, and for the wider community, and we are ensuring there is support in place for both the victims and their friends and family," police commander Inspector Stefan Saga said. Also Read Twitter removes 'government-funded' news labels from all media accounts Hockey World Cup IND vs NZ Crossover: Harmanpreet and co eye Last 8 spot Chris Hipkins sworn in as New Zealand PM, succeeds Jacinda Ardern Canada bans foreigners from buying property after surge in property prices McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski says layoffs coming by April to cut costs Looking forward to hearing PM Modi's address, can't wait: US Congressmen Water in Ukrainian regions affected by dam collapse highly contaminated Alibaba names Joseph Tsai chairman, Eddie Wu CEO in a surprise shake-up Singapore ranked the most expensive city in the world for luxury living Search underway for submersible with five crew on Titanic-wreck expedition --IANS ksk/ Netherlands will soon join the United States and Japan in rolling out new semiconductor export control measures aimed at keeping sensitive technology away from China due to concern for potential misuse, the country's economic affairs minister told reporters on a visit to Washington, Voice of America (VOA) reported. As per VOA, the measures are likely to further restrict sales to China by Netherlands-based ASML, maker of the world's most advanced chip-printing machines, which last year disclosed the "unauthorized misappropriation of data" by a now former employee in China. The US in October 2022, announced its own export control measures affecting advanced computing integrated circuits and certain semiconductor manufacturing items. The country said the measures were aimed at items that "could provide direct contributions to advancing military decision making" such as "designing and testing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), producing semiconductors for use in advanced military systems, and developing advanced surveillance systems that can be used for military applications and human rights abuses." Allies including Japan and the Netherlands were then asked by the US to introduce similar measures. Netherlands' minister of economic affairs and climate, Micky Adriaansens, told a group of journalists on June 8 at the Dutch Embassy in Washington: "The main concern is [the chip-making technology] will be used in military products." Also Read Vedanta-Foxconn JV set to get govt approval for its chip-making plant Not Accurate: Pentagon on reports about China's Spy Station in Cuba India renews call for chipmakers as Anil Agarwal's $19 billion plan drags Netherlands, Japan join US limits on chip tech to counter China: Report 'Dramatic decrease' in Islamic State activities in Iraq and Syria: US iPhone maker trying to get IP rights on Apple fruit in unique battle Taliban's treatment of Afghan women may amount to gender apartheid: UN India has core belief in respecting sovereignty, territorial integrity: PM Man attacks diners with axe at New Zealand's Chinese restaurants, 4 hurt Looking forward to hearing PM Modi's address, can't wait: US Congressmen Adriaansens acknowledged that negotiations with Washington have not been easy. "To be honest, the conversation has been intense, and is still intense," she said. "But we agreed already upon the main issues, with a good [mutual] understanding of what is the right thing to do." Adriaansens said those understandings still have to be translated into regulations but that her country understands the importance of the measures, as per VOA. "We realize that we, the U.S., the Netherlands, Japan and Korea, are very strong in the semicon[ductor] value chain, supply chain, and we have a responsibility there," the minister said, echoing a statement made by Japan's trade minister in March. Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Asim Munir, has assured the Armys all-out support to complement the governments efforts to deal with the economic challenges facing the country, media reports said. The Army chief made these remarks during a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Tuesday, Geo News reported. The huddle unveiled an elaborate 'Economic Revival Plan' in the wake of economic hardships being confronted by the country, an official statement issued by the PM's Office said. Speaking on the occasion, General Munir assured the Army's all-out support to complement the government's efforts for economic revival, considered fundamental to the socio-economic prosperity of Pakistanis and for reclaiming the country's stature among the comity of nations, Geo News reported. Sharif recalled that his government inherited an economy which was on the brink of collapse. With bold and difficult decisions, it is now being steered towards growth and development, he said. "There are, however, massive challenges ahead. Export-oriented FDIs hold the key to economic revival. The government has, therefore, decided to adopt a holistic/whole-of-government approach which fosters partnerships within the federal and provincial governments for effective implementation and execution," the premier was quoted as saying at the meeting. Also Read Pak army refuses to exercise restraint on mobs attacking military property Sale of petroleum products halves in Pakistan, high inflation to blame Historical trail of Pakistan's powerful military enterprise: Explainer Pakistan's efforts for peace should not be seen as weakness: Pak Army chief Ex-Pak Prez Zardari rules out possibility of contesting elections with PDM Dawoodi Bohra community in US eagerly waits for PM Modi ahead of visit IOC awards Olympic Order to WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus No company responded to crisis-hit Pakistan's offer to buy LNG cargo Incessant rainfall in Bhutan linked to Assam floods, say Officials Yoga's benefits are precious in today's dangerous and divided world: UN The investors would be given primacy and fast-track approvals through a well-coordinated approach, he added. The premier also observed that the expected investments would create jobs and livelihoods for the youth and women. "The focus should be on empowering the youth and women to realise their full potentials," Sharif said, Geo News reported. --IANS san/arm Pakistan's removal from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) "Grey List" in October 2022 came with the assurance that it would fall in line and cease support for terrorism. However, it has become evident that Islamabad's commitment to this promise is dubious at best. A recent incident in North Kashmir's Kupwara district, where the Army successfully foiled an infiltration bid by eliminating five terrorists, serves as a stark reminder of Pakistan's nefarious intentions. It is just one example of many incidents that illustrate Pakistan's continued efforts to disrupt peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Despite losing the 30-year-long proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir and mounting international pressure, Pakistan remains defiant. The international community has recognised Pakistan as a hub of terrorism, and this perception hampers its credibility and prospects for economic growth. If Pakistan's leadership and the deep state fail to acknowledge the problems the country faces and redirect their efforts towards stability, the consequences could be dire. The nation risks becoming increasingly impoverished, politically unstable, and isolated on the global stage. Additionally, the growing influence of China in territories like PoK raises the possibility of Pakistan losing control over its own regions. Also Read BRICS members vow to combat terrorism financing, terror safe havens Sri Lanka delays presenting new Anti-Terror Bill amid fresh opposition Protests in Sri Lanka's northern, eastern provinces over anti-terror bill Army on high alert in J&K along LoC to thwart infiltration by terrorists Russia pushes India for help to avert its global financial isolation Yuan dips after China cuts rates; Swedish crown at weakest since 2009 India's position on Russia understood in entire world: PM ahead of US visit Carlos Ghosn sues Nissan, connected individuals over his 2018 ouster Daniel Zhang to step down as Alibaba CEO, Eddie Wu Yongming to succeed him Google Doodle honors Polish sculptor Magdalena on her 93rd birthday The terrorist bosses sitting across the Line of Control (LoC) are making desperate attempts to keep the cross border terrorism alive in Jammu and Kashmir. They are finding it hard to digest that the terror which they kept alive for three-long decades is "gasping and dying" in Jammu and Kashmir. According to the officials some infiltration attempts this year have been successful but the number of terrorists who have managed to sneak in has been very low. There were a couple of successful infiltration bids in the Poonch-Rajouri area in which dreaded terrorists from Pakistan came in and they targeted ordinary people and some security personnel at some places as well. According to the official data in 2022, there were 27 incidents in which 24 infiltrators were killed and four were arrested. During the attempts of infiltration from across the border from 2005 till October 31, 2019, 1,011 terrorists were killed, 42 apprehended and 2,253 pushed back/returned due to efficient vigil of security forces. According to official sources, 19 terrorists were killed during the course of infiltration in 2020 and 12 in 2021. One terrorist was apprehended in 2021. There were 77 infiltration attempts in 2021 and 99 in 2020. The data reveals that in both 2022 and 2021, 193 terrorists (including during infiltration) were killed. Of 193 terrorists killed in 2022, at least 56 were Pakistanis. From a peak of 2,345 in 2001, terrorist fatalities dropped to a low of 84 in 2012, and increased again for six consecutive years: 100 (2013), 114 (2014), 115 (2015), 165 (2016), 220 (2017), 271 (2018). They declined to 163 in 2019, but increased again to 232 in 2020. Since 1988, a total of 23,918 terrorists (including during infiltration) have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir. Persistent support for terrorism Pakistan's persistent support for terrorism not only undermines regional peace but also has severe consequences for its own stability. While Pakistan continues to focus its efforts on destabilizing J&K, it neglects the pressing issues within its own borders. The country is plagued by economic struggles, increasing poverty rates, and a deteriorating security situation. Failure to address these internal challenges may lead Pakistan down a path of self-destruction. Pakistan's misguided priorities are evident in its neglect of social and economic development. The country's resources are diverted towards supporting terrorist activities instead of investing in sectors that could uplift its population. This shortsightedness perpetuates a vicious cycle of poverty, unemployment, and extremism, ultimately fueling more terrorism within its own borders. JeM raises funds, Salahuddin makes public appearance Pertinently, Pakistan was included in FATF "Grey List" in June 2018 for deficiencies in its legal, financial, regulatory, investigations, prosecution, judicial and non-government sector to fight money laundering and combat terror financing considered serious threat to global financial system. In February this year members of UN-designated terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is responsible for several terrorist attacks, including the 2001 attack on Indian Parliament and the 2019 Pulwama attack, were seen openly collecting funds in Peshawar to fight "Jihad" in Palestine and Kashmir. After Pakistan's exit from the FATF list fundraising for terrorist activities has become a common sight in Pakistan. According to netizens it is a very normal sight in big cities of Pakistan for someone to stand up after prayers and openly ask for funds to support terrorism. The ease with which these groups openly collect funds has once again revealed that Pakistan is still using terrorism as an instrument of its state's policy. It has put a question mark on the ability of the neighbouring country to crack down on terror groups, which it has reared in its backyard for the past so many years. Earlier this year designated global terrorist and chief of the terror outfit Hizbul-Mujahideen, Syed Salahuddin, was openly seen addressing his supporters in Islamabad thus making it evident that he and his group still enjoy the tacit support of the Pakistan establishment. FATF warns Pak After Salahuddin's appearance and his renewed call to revive terror in J&K, President of FATF, T. Raja Kumar, reminded Pakistan that it has been removed from the "Grey List" with specific conditions and it should fulfil the promise it has made to FATF. He made it clear that Pakistan is being monitored and it needs to act fast. The FATF had placed Pakistan in its grey list in 2018 due to its failure to curb terror financing but removed it last year. However, recent developments such as the open fundraising by JeM and global terrorist Syed Salahuddin making a public appearance suggest that the country still has a long way to go in curbing extremist activities. New Delhi has repeatedly raised concerns about Pakistan's involvement in supporting and sponsoring terrorism, both at regional and international platforms. Pakistan's actions violate international norms and pose a significant threat to regional security. The international community has been reminding Pakistan again and again that it should stop harbouring terrorists and stop making persistent attempts to destabilise the region and disrupt peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Pak refuses to mend ways When Pakistan was removed from the "Grey List" India had sounded a caution stating that Pakistan must continue to take credible, verifiable, irreversible and sustained action against terrorism and terrorist financing emanating from territories under its control. But Pakistan is refusing to mend its ways and continues to sponsor terror. During the nine years of Modi's rule Pakistan has been made to understand in clear terms that talks and terror cannot go together and India remains resolute in its commitment to ensuring the safety and security of its citizens. And if it continues to indulge in misadventures it can face repercussions. --IANS ksk/ As Pakistan is entering an election mode, the country's poll body has started making arrangements for the electoral exercise. With the terms of the National Assembly, as well as the provincial assemblies in Sindh and Balochistan are moving closer to expiration within the next two months, the Election Commission Pakistan (ECP) is making preparations for the general elections scheduled to take place in October. Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja was briefed about the preparations for the upcoming general elections. According to sources, Raja was informed that the procurement of papers for necessary election material and ballot papers had been completed and its storage had been ensured. Also Read Amid political turmoil, Imran Khan-led PTI seeks clearance for Lahore rally Imran Khan's party claims police raided PTI leader Usman Dar's residence Pakistan deploys troops to halt unrest from ex-PM Imran Khan's arrest Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf members threatened to quit party: Imran Khan Imran Khan will be arrested if fresh protests are launched: Pak minister Pak defiant, allows fundraising to promote terror, facilitates infiltration Yuan dips after China cuts rates; Swedish crown at weakest since 2009 India's position on Russia understood in entire world: PM ahead of US visit Carlos Ghosn sues Nissan, connected individuals over his 2018 ouster Daniel Zhang to step down as Alibaba CEO, Eddie Wu Yongming to succeed him Moreover, the draft of listing of polling stations had also been prepared, which will be forwarded to returning officers immediately after the notification. As per law, the last date of registration, exclusion and verification of voters is July 13. The ECP has also initiated an awareness campaign and has been on constant contact with the National Database Regulatory Authority for printing and distribution of electoral rolls, procurement of papers for polling material and ballots completed. Analysts say that the current coalition government is now ready to go through with the elections after its arch rival Imran Khan and his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have been stripped of fits political standing after May 9 violence. "The road for the current government to retain its power and re-install a coalition setup is clear now. Imran Khan was the biggest threat to the government. Now that his party is broken and his political status has been weakened to the extreme; the government has no problems or challenges in sight to form another coalition government with its partners," said Javed Siddique, a senior political analyst. It was previously debated that the government was inclined towards delaying the general elections as it feared losing in the electoral process due to the strong political challenge posed by Khan and his party. --IANS hamza/ksk/ John Gittelsohn & Angus Whitley Rescuers raced to find a submersible diving vessel with five people aboard that went missing in the North Atlantic while on an expedition to view the Titanic shipwreck. The US Coast Guard received a call Sunday from the submersibles command ship, the Polar Prince, saying it lost contact with the vessel about 1,450 kilometers east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, according to Lt. Samantha Corcoran, a Coast Guard spokesperson in Boston. A C-130 plane with radar capability was dispatched to search the area Sunday, and was joined Monday by a Canadian P-8 Poseidon, an aircraft designed for anti-submarine warfare. Were focused on the search and hoping to safely locate all five individuals, Corcoran said. OceanGate Expeditions, the operator of the expedition to the Titanic, said in a statement it was exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely. Also Read Search underway for submersible with five crew on Titanic-wreck expedition Titanic tour submersible goes missing, here's everything you need to know Titan Q4 net profit up 50% to Rs 734 crore, dividend of Rs 10 declared Framed for growth: Titan's Titan Eye+ has set sights on booming market Helped by festive sales, Titan reports 12% standalone biz growth in Q3 World's largest commercial jet purchase orders by number of aircraft Pak Army chief assures full support to Sharif's economic revival plan Dawoodi Bohra community in US eagerly waits for PM Modi ahead of visit IOC awards Olympic Order to WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus No company responded to crisis-hit Pakistan's offer to buy LNG cargo The companys missing submersible, the Titan, carries a pilot and four crew to a maximum depth of 13,120 feet and can monitor their health in real time. The system provides early warning detection for the pilot with enough time to arrest the descent and safely return to surface, according to OceanGates website. The Titan also has a life-support system that can sustain a five-person crew for 96 hours, according to the website. The vessel is 6.7 meters long and is made of carbon fiber and titanium. Among those missing is Hamish Harding, chairman of Action Aviation, according to Mark Butler, managing director of the Dubai-based aircraft brokerage. Two other members of the crew, Engro Corp Vice Chairman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, are from one of Pakistans most prominent business families. A rescue effort led by several government agencies and deep-sea firms was attempting to re-establish contact with the missing submersible. According to several newspapers Stockton Rush, founder and chief executive officer of OceanGate, and French pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet, are also on board. Amid the ongoing conflict with Russia, Ukrainian forces have recaptured eight settlements from Russian forces in the south of Ukraine in the past two weeks, CNN reported citing Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar. In a Telegram post, Hanna Maliar said offensive operations in the Berdiansk and Melitopol directions in the Zaporizhzhia region have liberated the communities of Novodarivka, Levadne, Storozheve, Makarivka, Blahodatne, Lobkove, Neskuchne and Piatykhatky. The status of Piatykhatky was in dispute on Sunday after the Russian government denied a report from its own installed leader in southern Ukraine and refuted his claim that Ukrainian forces had recaptured the village, CNN reported. On Monday, Hanna Maliar said the Ukrainian army had advanced 7 kilometres into Russian-occupied territory in the southern Tavria sector, recapturing an area of 113 square kilometres (44 square miles, according to CNN report. She praised the "professionalism and courage" of Ukrainian soldiers for the advances in the frontline. Hanna Maliar said that Russian forces in eastern Ukraine launched over 5800 attacks and used over 277,000 munitions over the past week, the report said. She said that Russian soldiers had been more active against a Ukrainian advance near Bakhmut and Lyman-Kupyansk, Avdiivka and Mariinka. Earlier on June 13, Ukrainian forces recaptured seven villages from Russian forces in the past week, CNN reported while quoting Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar. Also Read Russia reports heavy fighting along border regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia India, Bangladesh discuss trade settlement in rupee, free trade agreement Mutual funds adopt T+2 settlement cycle for redemption payouts Markets to shift to T+1 settlement system from January 27: Report Settlement Commission looks to raise awareness through FAQs Paris air show returns with jets and missiles in demand, says report IMF working hard on global central bank digital currency platform Wheat rises in Paris as US drought may cut grain supply worldwide PM Narendra Modi's upcoming US visit: India eyes WTO disputes resolution WTO preparatory meet in Geneva to set stage for 'successful' MC13 Hanna Maliar in a post on Telegram said the "advance of the offensive troops amounted to 6.5 kilometres" in Donetsk and Tavria. She further said, "The area taken under control amounted to 90 square kilometres," CNN reported. Maliar said that the villages that have been recaptured including Lobkove, Levadne, Makarivka Novodarivka, Neskuchne, Storozheve and Blahodatne were liberated. Earlier on June 13, three people were killed and thirteen others sustained injuries in a Russian missile attack on Odesa, a Black Sea port in Ukraine, Al Jazeera reported citing Ukraine's military. Russia fired four cruise missiles towards the city, according to the southern military command of Ukraine. Two missiles were reportedly destroyed by the military before they could reach their objectives, reported Al Jazeera. As per the Al Jazeera report, as a result of air combat and blast waves, a business centre, an educational institution, a residential complex, food establishments and shops in the city centre were damaged," the southern command of the Ukrainian military said. Pakistani President Arif Alvi said his country continues to host one of the largest refugee populations in the world. In his message on the occasion of World Refugee Day being observed on Tuesday, Alvi said that "on the day, we are reminded of the immense contributions of the government and people of Pakistan in hosting millions of Afghan refugees over the past four decades", reports Xinhua news agency Pakistan's unparalleled humanitarian efforts in providing refuge to such a large number of displaced individuals, despite limited resources, serve as a testament to the spirit of brotherhood and compassion, the President said. He said that the people and government of Pakistan opened their arms to Afghan refugees based solely on the principles of humanity and solidarity, and extended support despite the challenges. For 40 years, there has been no friction between the refugees and the host communities, exemplifying harmonious coexistence and mutual respect, he said. The president said that the policies of the government ensure refugees' access to education and healthcare, and to having their bank accounts and other opportunities. Also Read Pak President Alvi returns to Parl Bill curtailing chief justice's powers PTI to write to Pak Prez Arif Alvi about Punjab caretaker govt's tenure Shehbaz govt to table Pak SC bill in joint session of parliament today Pakistan President Alvi holds hours-long meeting with PTI chief Imran Khan Farmers committing suicide is not new issue: Maharashtra agri minister Unable to import parts, Suzuki shuts two-wheeler, car plants in Pakistan Pakistan enters election mode, poll body starts making arrangements Pak defiant, allows fundraising to promote terror, facilitates infiltration Yuan dips after China cuts rates; Swedish crown at weakest since 2009 India's position on Russia understood in entire world: PM ahead of US visit "In order to equip Afghan refugees with knowledge and skills, we have implemented comprehensive educational programs, ensuring that refugee children have access to quality schooling," he added. Alvi also expressed his country's resolve to work closely with the UN Refugee Agency and other humanitarian agencies to provide essential assistance and protection to refugees residing within Pakistani borders. --IANS ksk/ United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the eve of International Day of Yoga said that benefits of this ancient practice (Yoga) are precious in today's dangerous and divided world. "In a dangerous and divided world, the benefits of this ancient practice (Yoga) are particularly precious. Yoga offers a heaven of calm," he said in a message on Tuesday, on the eve of the International Day of Yoga, which is observed on June 21 every year. He further added that, "On this International Day of Yoga, let us embrace the spirit of unity, and resolve to build a better, more harmonious world for people, planet and ourselves." Prime minister Narendra Modi is set to lead a yoga session at UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday during the course of his ongoing US visit. --IANS ans/dan Also Read Rajnath to join Naval officers to perform yoga on board INS Vikrant Yoga, Zumba, mental wellness in focus as student suicides shake Kota Yoga, zumba, mental wellness in focus as student suicides shake Kota 9th International Yoga Day 2023: Date, Theme, History and Importance Deep breathing oxygenates blood effectively, improves lung capacity Biden's son pleads guilty to misdemeanour tax offenses, firearm possession Influencer indicted on human trafficking, rape charges in Romania PM Modi looks to solidify India's tech prowess with US state visit China ramps up flood control preparations amid growing El Nino threat Titanic tour submersible goes missing, here's everything you need to know Huawei launched the 2023 Tech Arena competitions in Europe at Viva Technology, one of Europe's biggest tech summits, on Friday. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619325644/en/ Dr. Jose R. Calvo gives a keynote address on competitions role in industry-academia cooperation (Photo: Business Wire) Tech Arena competitions are sponsored and designed by Huawei's worldwide labs in partnership with top universities to give students from around the world more opportunities to experience and learn how to solve real-world problems. Liu Shaowei, President of Huaweis European Research Institute, explained that the company plans to host 10 Tech Arena competitions for over 1,000 students during the 20232024 school year. These competitions will be hosted in several countries, including France, the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland, and Israel. Liu also emphasized that Huaweis sharing of the results of past Tech Arena competitions was evidence of Huaweis determination to invest in young talent. By the end of 2022, there were more than 5,400 students from over 52 universities who had participated in Tech Arena. Also to date, Huawei has offered more than 3 million dollars to make this competition platform available to global students. The results showed that more and more young people truly are improving from Tech Arena; this is aligned with the companys intention to help build stronger talent pools for local communities, Liu added. Liu also released the themes of some Tech Arena competitions; other competitions will reveal theirs later in the year. Tech Arena Ireland: Build a reliable and trustworthy data assistant using ModelArts' cloud power to co-pilot in the data lakes Tech Arena France: Optical network expansion by adding fiber Tech Arena Switzerland: RAW burst image super-resolution Contestants in Tech Arena will have the opportunity to test their skills involving coding, algorithms, mathematics, and engineering to solve real-world industry problems. The competitions will hand out awards to multiple winners. Dr. Jose R. Calvo, President of the Institute of International Relations at the Royal European Academy of Doctors, noted: These competitions such as Tech Arena not only prepare students for future careers in these in-demand fields but also empower them to contribute to solving some of our most significant global challenges. Huawei currently operates a network of R&D research centers in Europe, mainly staffed with local researchers. The centers currently partner with over 300 universities and 900 research institutes around the world for international talent cultivation and research. For more information on 2023 Tech Arena competitions, please visit us at: https://www.huawei.com/en/seeds-for-the-future/competitions View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619325644/en/ Startek (NYSE: SRT), a global customer experience (CX) solutions provider, proudly announces its recognition with three prestigious Comparably Awards for Best CEOs for Women, Best CEOs for Diversity and Best Career Growth. Startek Global CEO, Bharat Rao, has been honored for the second consecutive year, recognizing his unwavering commitment to diversity and inclusion practices within the company. These accolades underscore the ongoing Startek dedication to creating an inclusive work environment, highlighting the company's commitment to diversity, career advancement and empowering women in leadership positions and driving professional growth opportunities. "We are incredibly honored to be acknowledged with three Comparably Awards. These wins reflect our unwavering dedication to fostering an inclusive culture at Startek," said Bharat Rao, Global CEO of Startek. "To see my name and the Startek brand recognized alongside other exceptional companies is humbling. I extend my heartfelt thanks to all the Startek associates who shared their perspectives and enabled and our company to be recognized. I am proud to lead a company that values and celebrates the contributions of all our people." S M Gupta, Chief People Officer, Startek, highlighted the company's strong culture, stating, "Our inclusive culture is the backbone of the success of Startek. We foster an environment that celebrates diversity, encourages collaboration, and promotes professional growth. Winning these Comparably Awards reaffirms our leadership's commitment to creating a workplace where our team members can thrive and reach their full potential." The Startek commitment to diversity, equal opportunities and professional growth has not only earned the company recognition but has also attracted top talent and enabled the delivery of exceptional customer experiences. By championing these values, Startek continues to be a trailblazer in the customer experience management industry. For more information about Startek and its commitment to diversity and career growth, visit www.startek.com. About Startek For more than 35 years, Startek has delivered customer experience (CX) excellence for the worlds leading brands. Spread across 12 countries, our 38,000 associates create memorable, personalized experiences in both voice and non-voice channels. Our clients span from fortune 500s to fast-growing startups in a diverse range of industries including cable, media and telecom; travel and hospitality; retail and e-commerce and banking and financial services. By creating closer connections, Startek delivers value for our clients, opportunity for our people and sustainable growth for our shareholders. To learn more visit www.startek.com and follow us on [email protected]. About Comparably: Comparably (now a ZoomInfo company) is a leading workplace culture and corporate brand reputation platform with over 20 million anonymous employee ratings on 70,000 companies. With the most comprehensive data on large and SMB organizations in nearly 20 different workplace categories based on gender, ethnicity, age, experience, industry, location, education it is one of the most used SaaS platforms for employer branding and a trusted third party site for workplace culture and compensation. For more information on Comparably and its annual Best Places to Work Awards, visit www.comparably.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230616024064/en/ Bihar Police Constable Recruitment 2023 Notification has been released by the Central Selection Board of Constables (CSBC) for 21391 constable positions. The application process for the recruitment will begin on 20 June 2023, and eligible and interested candidates will have until 20 July 2023 to complete the Bihar Police Constable Recruitment 2023 Application form. Overview Recruitment Organization Central Selection Board of Constables (CSBC), Bihar Post Name Constable Vacancies 21391 Job Location Bihar Last Date to Apply July 20, 2023 Category Bihar Police Vacancy 2023 Official Website csbc.bih.nic.in Bihar Police Recruitment 2023 Bihar Police has just issued an official notice for the Bihar Police Vacancy 2023. This recruitment drive seeks to fill a total of 21,391 vacancies in the Bihar Police Department. Aspiring applicants can apply for Inspector, Sub-Inspector, Assistant Sub-Inspector, and other posts. The online registration process for the Bihar Police Vacancy will begin on June 20, 2023, and will end on July 20, 2023. How to Apply for Bihar Police Constable Jobs in 2023? Visit the Central Selection Board of Constables (CSBC), Bihar's official website at www.csbc.bih.nic.in. On the homepage, select "Recruitment" and finish the registration process. Fill out the Bihar Police Constable Recruitment 2023 application form completely and upload all required documents. Login with your Registration number and Password to pay the Bihar Police Vacancy 2023 Application Fee online. Submit the Bihar Police Constable Recruitment 2023 Application Form and obtain a print copy. Application Fee General/OBC/EWS Rs. 675/- Bihar state candidates Rs. 180/- Salary Rs. 21700-69100/- (Level-3) Vacancy Details UR 8556 EWS 2140 BC 2570 EBC 3842 BC Female 655 SC 3400 ST 228 Grand Total 21391 Educational Qualification and Age Restriction Candidates must meet certain standards to be considered for the Bihar Police Vacancy 2023. They must be Indian citizens with a 12th-standard diploma from a recognised board. Furthermore, the age range for Bihar Police Vacancy 2023 is 18 to 25 years. The Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment and Promotion Board plans to conduct direct recruitment for 52,699 constable positions, making it the state police's largest recruitment drive in history. By July 15, the tender for selecting the executive organisation in charge of the written examination and other recruitment-related responsibilities will be issued. Overview Name of the Organization Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment & Promotion Board (UPPRPB) Post Name UP Police Constable, PAC, Fireman Job Type UP Police Constable Government Job No of Posts 52699 Posts UP Police Constable 2023 Notification Release Date Till 15 July 2023 Official Website uppbpb.gov.in How to Apply? Candidates must first visit the official website of the Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment & Promotion Board @ uppbpb.gov.in There will be a notification link for UP Police Constable Online Application Form Recruitment 2023 For 52699 Posts click on it. Now you must enter your personal information and upload your photo, signature, and documents. Pay your exam fee and fill out the application form. Please print your application fee. Application Fee General/OBC : Rs.700/- SC/ST : Rs.300/- Selection Applicants must ensure that they meet the eligibility requirements. The Written Test, Physical Standard Test (PST), Physical Efficiency Test (PET), Medical Test, and Document Verification will be used to make the selection. Vacancy Details UP Police Constable Civil 41811 Posts UP Police PAC 8540 Posts UP Police Special Security Force 1341 Posts UP Police Fireman 1007 Posts Total Post 52699 Age Limit 18 - 23 Years Toyota Motor Philippines has introduced one of its most important new models of the year: the all-new Wigo. As Filipinos seek to become more... ATLANTA (June 20, 2023) The Carter Center announced today that former U.S. Ambassador Cameron Hume will lead the Centers international election observation mission in Sierra Leone. The June 24, 2023, elections will be an important moment for Sierra Leone, as they provide a critical opportunity for the citizens and leaders of the country to demonstrate their commitment to peaceful and democratic elections, Hume said. I call on all political parties, candidates, and their supporters to participate peacefully and to adhere to their commitments in the Electoral Pledge. I am pleased to lead the Carter Center mission to observe this important election. The Carter Center has had a core team of electoral experts and a group of medium-term observers in Sierra Leone since early May. Hume and the Carter Centers delegation of short-term observers are arriving in Freetown this week to meet with key stakeholders, including political party candidates, organizations, government officials, civil society organizations, and other international and citizen domestic observer missions. The Carter Center mission will deploy election observers for polling, counting, and tabulation on election day. The Carter Center is observing Sierra Leones elections at the invitation of the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone. The Carter Center conducts its work in accordance with the 2005 Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and will make any assessments based on relevant parts of Sierra Leones national legal framework as well as regional and international obligations for democratic elections. The Carter Center has been a force for peace in Sierra Leone since 2002, when it observed the first presidential and parliamentary elections since the end of Sierra Leone's devastating civil war. Since then, The Carter Center has played a role in the countrys 2007, 2012, and 2018 national elections. ### Contact: In Atlanta, Maria Cartaya, maria.cartaya@cartercenter.org In Freetown, Nicholas Jahr, nicholas.jahr@cartercenter.org The Carter Center Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope. A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. Global production outfit Buck is growing its European team with a new office in London, where it has hired James Britton as executive producer in charge of the companys U.K. team. Bucks recent expansion is hardly surprising. The companys commercial work is unique and often entertaining, and the company has ambitions to expand its narrative output as well. The company produced several episodes of Netflixs Emmy-winning special We the People and it will launch its first video game, Lets! Revolution! Later this summer. Bucks U.K. office details: Bucks London office is the second European-based headquarters for the company, which opened an Amsterdam office in 2021. The company also has locations in Los Angeles, New York, and Sydney. Britton joins Buck from Stink Studios, where he spent the last 12 years as group managing director and was instrumental in growing the companys workforce to 120 employees. He has worked with global clients including Spotify and Nike as well as leading U.K. brands like Warp Records and iD Magazine. Britton has a strong background in sustainable business practices he is a non-executive advisor to the carbon measurement start-up Zevero and will help forge the way forward for Buck as the company works towards a B Corp certification. Bucks initial office workforce will include associate creative director Jen Zhang, senior producer Jamey Kitchens, animation director Joe Brooks, senior designer and animator Bianca Beneduci, and a team of workers with experience in design, animation, branding, and experiences with creative leadership under executive creative director and partner, Vincent Lammers. Aggregate Industries welcomes UK's first green bio-fuel cement tanker 20 June 2023 Aggregate Industries (part of Holcim) has taken delivery of the next generation of cement tanker, fuelled by a green bio-fuel. Marking a UK first, the company has deployed the truck as part of its Lafarge Cement business. Working with logistical partner, Lomas Distribution, the 44t bulk tanker is fuelled by hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), a fossil-free alternative to mineral diesel, resulting in up to 90 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The truck joins the fleet of 50 Lafarge Cement vehicles operating out of the Cauldon cement plant in the UK and working across cement operations in the Midlands and Northwest. According to the company, the use of alternative fuels such as HVO is a central pillar in Aggregate Industries net zero strategy, which aims to decarbonise the business and achieve net zero before 2050. Matt Owen, supply chain manager in Aggregate Industries cement division, said, The benefits of using HVO are there for all to see. Being able to reduce carbon emissions by up to 90 per cent is huge for us, alongside the reduction in things like nitrous oxide. Also, HVO is a direct drop in replacement for diesel so easy to switch to. We are trialling the vehicle and will be monitoring and evaluating its performance and its emissions. We are already using HVO in our loading shovels at our three cement dockside terminals at Glasgow, Ellesmere and Chatham and are planning to introduce more HVO fuelled vehicles over the year. The cement division has also recently taken an electric cement truck on trial working with Lomas. Luke Olly, carbon and energy manager at Aggregate Industries, added, This is a fantastic step forward as we look to accelerate our journey to net zero. Our aim as a company is to reduce unblended gas oil usage by more than 90 per cent by 2035. HVO offers us one of a number of opportunities to do this. It is circular in nature as it starts out as raw material derived from plants and we are effectively re-using waste after it has been used in the food industry. We have plans to increase alternative ways to fuel our vehicles and plant equipment whether that is through HVO, electric or hydrogen and we look forward to rolling these out across the business over the coming years. Published under 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 Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions Donald Wayne Orr, went to be with the Lord on June 18, 2023 at age 82 years. Donnie, as he was called by his immediate family, was raised in Tunnel Hill, Ga., and Chattanooga, Tn., on the Westside during his formative years. He was married at 16 years old (for 36 years) and joined the United States Armed Services at 18 and served for six years. He was an MP in the Army and based at a Special Combined Forces post in France during the Vietnam War. As such, he received a medal and commendation for his marksmanship. He went into the ministry and became a Pastor for the Church of God of Prophecy in 1965 and eventually became a Bishop. During his ministry he called Tennessee, South Dakota, Oregon, and Florida his home. In his 20s he obtained a welding certificate and received his BA and certificate in Counseling in his thirties. While living in the Ocala, Fl. area after retiring from pastoring, he went to work for the State of Florida and ended his career in Child Protective Services. He retained his work there for over 30 years. He was still working at age 80. He was a member and deacon at the Assembly of God in Marion Oaks, Ocala, Fl., After a long illness with Covid he retired from his work with Kids Central and came home to live with his daughters. It has been their pleasure to enjoy the last years with him and to be with him as his journey here ended. They will tell you he has always been a great listener and a very loving father. In his words, it is never goodbye, just" See you later, gator". He was preceded in death by his loving wife, Nancy S. (Day), his father Richard W. Orr and mother Norma Christine (Powell), as well as his one sister Mary Ellen and his three brothers, Charles, Robert, and William "Billy" Orr. He is survived by his three daughters, Donna (Gene Gouge), Teresa (Steven Weaver) and Michelle (Matthew Phillips); along with his grandchildren, Charity Julian, Leslie Benson, Benjamin and Daniel Lewis, Wesley Ransom, Brennan and Trenton Phillips, his great-grandchildren, Jordan and Courtney Robison and Khloe and Eathon Lewis, and a sister, Sandra Taylor. A Celebration of Dons Life will be held in the chapel of Hamilton Funeral Home with Rev. Larry Gouge officiating on Thursday, June 22, at 1 p.m. The family will receive friends on Wednesday, June 21, from 4-7 p.m.. He will be laid to rest alongside his wife, Nancy in the Chattanooga National Cemetery with military honors. Please share your thoughts and memories with the family at www.hamiltonfuneraloptions.com Hamilton Funeral Home and Cremation Services are entrusted with these services. Police were sent to Regions Bank at 601 Market St. to check on an ATM that possibly had a skimming device placed on it. Police tried to speak with someone inside the bank or the complainant, but the bank was closed and the complainant was calling from outside the area. Police checked the bank and found one ATM that was not functioning. Police looked at the ATM but didnt see anything that was out of place. All items on the ATM appeared to have age on them, and nothing appeared to have been recently added. Police were unable to determine if this was the ATM that had been affected or if maybe it was another ATM in the area, as the complainant was not clear on this information. * * * A man on Shallowford Road called police to say someone stole his wife's phone out of her vehicle. The man said his wife left her vehicle unlocked and someone must have entered her car and taken the phone. He said it was a gray iPhone 13 Pro Max with a see-through cover. The man thinks a certain man took the phone because he attempted to log into his apple ID and discovered an email associated with the other man. The man said he just wants the phone back and nothing else done about it. * * * Police responded to 3745 Cummings Hwy. to assist a semi-truck driver who was needing assistance with traffic, so that he could navigate up Scenic Highway towards Lookout Mountain. The driver was escorted up the mountain without incident. Lookout Mountain Police Department also assisted with the call when they crossed over into their city limits. * * * A man on Rivoli Drive told police someone opened a credit card in his name and had packages delivered in his name. The shipping address for this suspect was in Abondal, Az. Police referred the caller to contact Phoenix Police Department to make a report because the suspect is residing there and the crime occurred in their jurisdiction. * * * A woman on Jersey Pike called police and reported someone broke into her vehicle and stole several items. She said she locked her doors last night, but when she went to her vehicle that morning the doors were unlocked. Credit and debit cards were stolen, but there hasn't been any transactions on either account. * * * A man on Meade Circle called police and said he was in the process of buying a house and found a closed Verizon account where he owed $4,000. He said the account was opened in 2013 and closed approximately three or four years ago. He said he didnt open a Verizon account. The man needed a police report for documentation reasons. * * * A man on Mountain Creek Road told police the chrome battery cover to his Kenworth truck had been taken. No investigative leads or suspect information was available. An officer saw the cover removed in an apparent attempt to take the batteries. The immediate area was checked for the cover, but it was not found. * * * A woman walking her dog in the gravel lot on New York Avenue found a black pistol lying on the ground. She thought it was a toy gun when she picked it up by the handle. The firearm was loaded with six rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber. Police ran the firearm through NCIC and discovered it verified as stolen from Douglasville, Ga. The firearm was turned into property. A fugitive wanted out of Florida for battery was located in the Walmart and arrested. They were also found in possession of illegal drugs and paraphernalia and were charged with those offenses as well as disorderly conduct.An alarm was activated at the Ooltewah Nursery. It was found to have been an accidental activation.A patient from Life Care Centers of Collegedale called police because they didnt believe their nurses were administering medication in a timely manner.The patient was advised to direct their concern to the facility administration.Collegedale police assisted Chattanooga police with a vehicle crash in the 8900 block of Lee Highway.Walmart reported a theft that had occurred the day before.An officer responded to an alarm at Collegedale Academy high school. Everything checked out ok.Walmart reported a theft that had occurred this past Thursday and another that had occurred on Sunday.A driver was arrested in the Walmart parking lot for DUI, refusal of implied consent, and possession of illegal drugsAn alarm was activated at the B&B Building Supply. The business was locked up. The Tennessee Department of Transportation announces the launch of Project Milkweed, a new mail-order resource aimed at restoring and preserving habitats for monarch butterflies and other pollinator species across Tennessee. Project Milkweed provides free native milkweed seeds to Tennesseans upon completion of an online form. Orders are taken on a rolling basis and will be fulfilled during September and October just in time for fall planting. To order seeds, get planting tips, and learn more about the benefits of milkweed, visit https://tnpollinators.org/milkweed/.Pollinators are vital to life, growing food, and the economy of Tennessee, TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley said.This effort is an excellent way to educate the public about their critical importance and the threats they face and expand pollinator-friendly practices from TDOT-owned rights-of-way to neighborhood backyards.Officials said, "Contrary to its name, milkweed is a flowering plant that serves a critical role as a host plant in the lifecycle of monarch butterflies. Host plants are necessary for the survival and growth of another organism. Milkweed provides a place for monarchs to lay their eggs and serves as food for their larvae and caterpillars. The natural toxins within the milkweed leave build-up in the body of the caterpillar and give the adult butterfly a bitter taste for protection against predators. Both the monarch butterfly population and milkweed habitats have experienced a 90 percent decline since 1992, and efforts like Project Milkweed are critical to restoring these pollinators and host plants."Project Milkweed is a subset of TDOTs Pollinator Habitat Program, a partnership between multiple state agencies and nonprofits that aims to conserve native pollinators and pollinator habitats. Pollinators are more diverse than just bees and butterflies and can include birds, bats, beetles, moths, and more. They are important not only for the growth of native wildflowers but also contribute an estimated $24 billion to the economy by pollinating food crops. Pollinators around the world are experiencing large population declines because of habitat loss, disease, pesticide use, and changing climate."This announcement is made in conjunction with National Pollinator Week; a nationwide celebration and awareness effort that calls attention to the steps everyone can take to protect and restore pollinator populations. More information about National Pollinator Week can be found at https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator-week. Whitfield County deputies arrested Aaron Terrell Tyler, 43, of Clayton County, Ga., after investigators said he attacked two women at a Dalton hotel Tuesday morning. Both women were able to escape. Tyler is a convicted sex offender in connection to a 1995 case in Illinois. The investigation began shortly after 7:10 a.m. on Tuesday when a woman arrived at the Dalton Police Services Center at 301 Jones Street to report an assault. The woman told an investigator that she was staying overnight at the Red Roof Inn on West Walnut Avenue while traveling through the area. She was loading her car to check out when she was approached by a man who asked her if he could help her with her luggage. The woman declined and went back to her room and the suspect followed her inside. He closed the door behind them and attempted to lock the door but the woman began to yell and scream for help. After being unable to quiet the victim down, the man fled. At this point, a description of the suspect was given to patrol officers who began to look for the suspect. When the detective arrived at the hotel, staff at the front desk told them that a man matching the suspects description was staying at the hotel named Aaron Tyler. Detectives attempted to make contact with Tyler but were unable to locate him. The detective then encountered a second woman in the lobby of the hotel who was very upset and reported encountering the same suspect. The second victim told investigators that she had a knock on the door of her room earlier in the morning and that when she answered the door, a man matching the suspects description attempted to force his way into the room. The victim was able to stop him and push him back out and closed and locked the door to get away. Investigators executed a search warrant on the room rented by Tyler and were able to determine that he was the suspect in both assaults. Investigators determined that Tyler was released from jail in Clayton County yesterday and was in Dalton waiting to begin a drug treatment program but had been denied entry in the program. Investigators believe that is Tylers only connection to the Dalton area. The City Council has delayed a decision on whether to approve the establishment of a new working group to rally resident support for Trostyanets, a Ukrainian city, until July 11. It had been set for consideration next Tuesday. Mayor Tim Kelly is urging the effort, saying the city survived 31 days of Russian occupation and is struggling to recover from the effects of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. City Councilman Darrin Ledford said he is "up to 20 questions" concerning the move. He said he would forward the questions to the Kelly administration. The answers are to be sent to all council members. Councilman Ledford said he had only recently gotten the proposal. He said, "What I am seeing is a lot of financial commitments." City officials said no city money is involved. Mayor Kelly met Trostyanets Mayor Yuri Bova at the 2023 Cities Summit of the Americas in April, when five Ukrainian mayors came seeking help from their American counterparts, and both mayors resolved to explore relations between the two cities consistent with Chattanoogas other existing Sister City relationships. Such cultural and economic exchanges would also give the people of Chattanooga the opportunity to help the war-torn town recover and rebuild, as well as open up new cross-Atlantic relationships and opportunities for economic development and trade, it was stated. (Editors Note: This is the first of three parts of a historical essay recently written by longtime Sale Creek historian and author Curtis Coulter about the long-forgotten story of how World War II prisoners of war housed at area military bases and camps were used in the once-thriving peach industry in Sale Creek). Over the last 34 years, I have written six books about Sale Creek, numerous written articles, and have spoken on other Sale Creek subjects. I have also produced two maps of historical and geographical sites in Sale Creek and produced a historical calendar of events. However, the one topic that has probably interested and intrigued me more than any other was the existence of Camp Sale Creek which was a German POW camp established during the closing days of World War II and the presence of 287 German prisoners of war. I began a quest for some written documentation about the camp in 1989 when I wrote my first book, "Sale Creek, Tennessee 1885-1955, Remembrances of a Gentler Time." I had heard stories about the camp from my parents, grandparents, and other local people while I was growing up; however, it was not until I wrote that book when I was forty-one years old that I really became interested in knowing more about it. At that time and at the suggestion of former resident Col. Edward Alexander (U.S. Army), I contacted the U.S. Army Military History Institute at Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania to request any information their institute might have about the camp or possibly some pictures of it. Two weeks later I received a letter stating that there was no official record of there ever having been a camp at Sale Creek, and, therefore, there were no file photos available. Finding no success there, I turned to personal recollections of surviving community members who had vivid memories of the camp. There are advantages and disadvantages to relying on personal recollections as I discovered. Personal feelings, experiences, and reactions are quite accurate and factual; however, dates are not. From interviews with those people, I determined at that time that the year 1944 was the year of the POW camp; however, recently, after finally locating a newspaper article about the camp as well as a book that mentions the Sale Creek facility, the actual year of the camp turned out to be 1945. The book is titled "Axis Prisoners of War in Tennessee" by Austin Peay State University professor Dr. Antonio Thompson, and the newspaper article came from the Chattanooga Times dated July 23, 1945. The discovery of that newspaper article and the book ended a 34-year search for a written account of the camp. This treatise will look at several aspects of the POW camp, and they will also be presented in separate posts on Facebook since this is going to be a quite lengthy piece; however, I felt that this is such a unique historical subject that all Sale Creek residents need to know about it and appreciate it as part of the history of Sale Creek. I will use the information from the article and the book as well as the interviews that I conducted with Sale Creek residents in 1990 when I wrote A Sentimental Journey Down Country Roads and a later book that I wrote in 1992 titled When Peaches Were King The Story of the Peach Business at Sale Creek, Tennessee. Conditions That Led Up to the Request for Prisoners to Come to Sale Creek: Sale Creek was a major regional and national peach producer from the early years of the 20th century up until 1954. By 1926 there were over 266,000 producing peach trees in Sale Creek, covering every available and accessible hill. The business had grown in magnitude until buyers and shippers swarmed over the community each year to get their share of the peach crop. During that year over 600 refrigerated box carloads of peaches were shipped to Dayton, Cincinnati, Lima, and Cleveland, Ohio, Wheeling, West Virginia, Detroit, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Buffalo, New York. In addition to buyers and shippers, other industry representatives congregated as well, including chemical company representatives, additional railroad employees and agents, ice company agents, pump and spray representatives, mule and horse breeders, and other specialized workers. Sale Creek was a beehive of activity, especially during the peach preparation, picking, and packing seasons when the two packing houses often and routinely loaded fifty or more refrigerated box cars of fruit daily. Dr. Antonio Thompsons book, Axis Prisoners of War in Tennessee, stated that when Vivian Browne of the Chattanooga Times arrived in Sale Creek to report on the German POWs and to capture the activity surrounding what promised to be a record crop with new estimates approaching 250,000 bushels, she noted a varied crowd of people surrounding the two packing houses. There were college professors, farm extension personnel, high school boys and girls signing up for work, farm workers, writers, photographers, executives of food store chains, Army personnel, TVA observers, and customers who wanted any amount of peaches from a bushel and more. Peach preparation began in the late winter and early spring with pruning, dusting, and spraying, and as one of my esteemed friends and the last owner of the Ell-Dee Orchard Company, William C. List, told me one time, The secret to peach raising is spray, spray, spray. Roads were repaired, machinery and wagons readied, and employees scheduled. The actual picking process began around the third week of July and extended into early August. The Elberta variety came in first followed by a few other varieties with the Brackett peach being the main late peach in the communitys repertoire. All peaches are judged early or late when compared to the Elberta, which is the standard. The Elberta was far and away the most popular variety of peach raised in Sale Creek. The Great Depression caused many small operators to leave the peach growing business, but the slack was taken up by two large, local companies the Ell-Dee Orchard Company of W.H. List and T.E. Downey, and Hamilton Orchards belonging to Grover C. Eldridge. When World War II started in December of 1941, many Sale Creek and local area men either joined the military or got drafted into service, approximately 387 by best counts. Many others who ordinarily worked in agriculture got better-paying jobs in defense plants and abandoned the life of the agricultural worker for good. By 1945, this exodus of strong workers created a real dilemma and manpower shortage for the two big companies. From a high of nearly a quarter of a million bushels of peaches in 1926, the Sale Creek crop had dwindled over the years; however, the quality of the fruit had drastically improved to the point that high prices were normally attained for the available fruit. The 1944 peach crop was an average 50,000 bushels which still made a handsome profit for the growers; however, everything fell into place in 1945 to make a bumper crop comparable to 1926. Grover Eldridge first estimated that there would be 150,000 bushels with the possibility of up to 250,000 bushels hanging on the trees. To put this into perspective, with 384 bushels of peaches per rail car, the crop would have required over 651 box cars to transport. If baskets were placed end to end, the crop would have extended for 71 miles or basically from Sale Creek to Knoxville. This was a huge business, and there was a real danger that the area would suffer immeasurable financial loss if the peaches could not be picked and shipped because of a lack of manpower. The spring weather had also raised another concern there were no late frosts which caused the fruit to ripen early and meant that the expected crop would come in at least one week earlier than normal. With this realization in mind, Grover Eldridge, whose wife, Georgia, was a Rosenburg of German descent, made his way to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, where a sizable number of German POWs were housed. There, he spoke to the commandant of the base, Colonel Howard Clark, about the possibility of getting prisoners brought to Sale Creek to harvest his crop for him. At that time, prisoners had been used in other parts of Tennessee to harvest crops including strawberries, peaches, apples, peanuts, and potatoes. Eldridge explained the dire need for the prisoners to pick the crop or else the Sale Creek area would face severe economic harm. Many prisoners did not like or necessarily want to work in agricultural jobs; however, they preferred doing the work over sitting idly around the main prison camps located across the state of Tennessee as well as other states. In all, there were over 425,000 Axis prisoners, 378,156 German and the rest Italian prisoners of war in the United States during the war with over 8,000 in the state of Tennessee, and the largest concentration being housed at Camp Forest in Tullahoma (now Arnold Engineering Development Complex belonging to the United States Air Force.) A two-fold agreement was reached at that time. (1) An advance party of forty POWs from Fort Oglethorpe would come in the early spring and stay into July to prune and spray the crops in order to get them ready for picking in late July and early August. (Editors note: Archie James Poole, Sr., who later in the war ended up in the Philippines, was a military policeman who started out transporting prisoners from East Coast bases to Fort Oglethorpe.) (2) A follow-up group of 250 prisoners from Camp Forest in Tullahoma would arrive in late July to pick the peaches and load them into refrigerated box cars. To be continued Pre-loaded syringes with COVID-19 vaccine are ready for use in New Orleans, on Jan. 25, 2022. The COVID-19 vaccines are on track for a big recipe change this fall. Scientific advisers for the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, June 15, 2023, discussed whether the next round of shots should only include protection against the newest omicron strains that are now dominant worldwide. As the summer kicks into full gear and we start to stay outside and enjoy nature a lot more, its important to remember the people in history who have fought to preserve our planets natural beauty and ecosystems. Marjory Stoneman Douglas has been referred to as the Guardian of the Glades for all the work she did to protect and stress the importance of the Florida Everglades. This is her story. Marjory was born in Minnesota in 1890. After graduating high school in 1908, she attended Wellesley College to study English literature. She was elected Class Orator and graduated in 1912. After college, she briefly lived in Newark, New Jersey, and met newspaper editor Kenneth Douglas. They married a few months after meeting, but their marriage did not last long, as Kenneth quickly developed an issue with alcohol and put them both in debt. In 1915, her father invited her to live with him in Miami, Florida, where she got a job as a society reporter and editor for the Miami Herald, which her dad had founded in 1908. During World War I, Marjory began volunteering for the American Red Cross in 1917 and got to travel to Europe. Throughout this time, she continued writing for the Herald and wrote about her experiences there. After finishing her work with the Red Cross and returning to Miami, she was made assistant editor at the Miami Herald. This was when the subject of her articles turned toward redevelopment concerns in Florida and other topics she was passionate about, like womens suffrage, civil rights, and more, in her popular daily column The Galley. Marjory left the Herald and turned to freelance writing in 1923. She wrote award-winning short stories for a series of publications and started teaching at the University of Miami from the late 1920s to the early 1930s. Since she was known as a vocal advocate for Floridas natural beauty and the Everglades, author Harvey Allen approached Marjory in the early 1940s to contribute to his book series about rivers in America. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. One of the most recognized signs in the world is the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, California. Its been referenced in so many aspects of pop culture, and tourists love taking pictures with it every year. This year, the famous landmark is turning 100 years old! Although many people immediately think of the sign when thinking about Los Angeles, not everyone knows its history. What better time to learn about it than on its 100th birthday? Surprisingly, the Hollywood sign started as a billboard on top of Mountain Lee that advertised a housing development built in Hollywood Hills in 1923. The sign read Hollywoodland and was lit up with electric lights, which blinked all night. The sign cost $21,000 and was only expected to be kept up for 18 months, but it stayed there for decades. In the 1940s, the sign began to fall apart, and the housing development it had been put up for folded and shut down. But, it had become such a notable feature that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce had it rebuilt, and ownership of the sign was given to the city of Los Angeles. When the sign was repaired in 1949, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce took down the land part of the sign so it only read Hollywood. The sign grew in popularity as a national landmark, but by the 1970s, it was in poor shape once again. Letters began falling down the mountain, and one person even tried lighting an L on fire. Surprisingly, the person to step in and hold a fundraiser to raise enough money to repair the sign was famous magazine publisher Hugh Hefner. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Have you ever gone on vacation and stayed at a hotel or resort where another guest wouldnt leave you alone? One woman is still thinking about a recent creepy experience she had with a campsite employee while camping out in the Sahara desert. Shes 23 years old and recently traveled to Africa with her family. They stayed at a luxury campsite in the Sahara Desert and slept in furnished tents with bathrooms and door locks. She and her sister shared a tent for the two nights they were there, while her parents shared one across a walkway. During their first night at the campsite, she and her sister started getting to know some of the young men that worked there. They were all in their 20s and 30s and seemed friendly and harmless. While hanging around the campfire, she noticed that one of the men paid a lot of attention to her, and although she was a little uncomfortable, she brushed it off. Out in the desert, you can see the stars really well and even the Milky Way on clear nights, she explained. But, you have to wait for the moon to go down, which is around 2:00 AM. I guess its a normal thing for the guys to come around to the tents and knock on the door to see if youre awake and want to come out to look at the stars. That same night, her sister decided to go out and look at the stars while she stayed in the tent to sleep. She left the tent door unlocked so her sister wouldnt get locked out. However, that decision quickly turned into a mistake. About an hour later, she was sleeping on her side and suddenly woke up to the sight of one of the male campsite employees peeking his head into her tent. After staring at him in shock, she realized it was the same one who had been staring at her during the campfire. He wanted her to join him to look at the stars. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Pixabay/succo Archbishop Peter Machado expressed his support for the decision made by the government of Karnataka to revoke the anti-conversion statute that had been in place in their country. This law was reportedly enacted in 2022, which led to an increase in the number of attacks on Christians. Revoking Anti-Conversion Law UCA News reported that in September 2022, the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government passed the bill in defiance of opposition parties and minority groups, including Christians and Muslims, who comprise up 2% and 13% of Karnataka's 64 million residents, respectively. The leaders of the minority communities argued that the bill would provide extremist pro-Hindu groups with an instrument to use against them and that this was their primary concern. In the state election in May, the BJP was defeated, and in its place, a secular administration led by the Congress party was installed. During the election campaign, the Congress party committed to reverse all of the "unconstitutional decisions" made by the BJP, and the decision to repeal the rule prohibiting religious conversion was a component of this promise. According to The Quint World, Karnataka's proposed anti-conversion law is comparable to legislation that has been or is in the process of being enacted in several other Indian states that were or are under the control of the BJP, including Gujarat (2021), Madhya Pradesh (2021), Uttar Pradesh (2021), Himachal Pradesh (2019), Uttarakhand (2018), Jharkhand (2017), Rajasthan (2006), and Chhattisgarh (2006). Arunachal Pradesh has a legal system, although this law has yet to be implemented. While many northern states still need to pass the law, law enforcement and lawmakers act as though it is a nationwide mandate. As mentioned, if found guilty, the individual faces a possible prison sentence of three to five years and a monetary penalty of 25,000 rupees or more than $300. However, suppose the offense involved the improper conversion of a minor, a woman, or a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. In that case, the individual faces a potential prison sentence of up to ten years and a fine of 50,000 rupees. Additionally, if there is an illegal "mass conversion," defined as the conversion of two or more people, the penalties can go as high as one lakh rupees or over $1300. Also Read:Violence Uprising in Northeast India Claims 60 Lives, Leads to Church Burnings and Internet Blackouts Archbishop Commends Karnataka Government's Decision Based on a report from Matters India, there has been a rise in the number of assaults committed against Christians as a direct result of anti-conversion laws in Karnataka and other states. According to the archbishop of Karnataka state, who is in charge of the Catholic Church in the state, they have also contributed to the growth of uncertainty, distrust, and conflict across communities. Moreover, on Thursday, Jun 15, the administration of Karnataka, which is led by the Congress party, and which just won an election against the Bharatiya Janata Party, decided to repeal the anti-conversion law and advocated taking actions to legally remove the law during the next session of the state parliamentary assembly, which will begin on Monday, July 3. On the other hand, in a press statement that was released following the state cabinet's decision to withdraw the legislation, the Archbishop of Bangalore, Peter Machado, expressed his appreciation and fulfillment towards the government of Karnataka for taking the initiative to overturn the anti-conversion bill. In addition, Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash, an advocate for human rights and peace, hailed the action taken by the government of Karnataka as a significant step in re-establishing the liberty guaranteed by the Indian constitution. The government of Karnataka has reportedly taken an essential step in protecting the constitutional rights of its citizens by repealing a regulation widely seen as extraordinarily harsh and prohibitive of religious conversion. Related Article: Anti-Conversion Law Prompts Attack On Historic Church In India Pixabay/Julie Rose The governing assembly of the Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA) has made a significant decision, voting not to sustain the appeal made by the Neland Ave., Christian Reformed Church. The request sought to retain a deacon married to a person of the same sex, contrary to the denomination's established doctrine. Synod's Decision According to a report from Religious News Service, during the meeting held in Grand Rapids this week, the Synod, representing the highest governing body of the CRCNA, ordered the Neland Ave., Christian Reformed Church to immediately revoke the appointment of "any and all" officeholders engaged in same-sex relationships. The decision was met with mixed reactions but was upheld by the majority. In addition to the ruling regarding the Neland Ave. Christian Reformed Church, the Synod also voted to instruct all classes, which are the regional jurisdictions of the CRCNA, to ensure that pastors, elders, and deacons who publicly disagree with the denomination's stance on human sexuality conform to its doctrine. This further reinforces the Synod's position on same-sex relationships within the church. Moreover, The Banner reported that the appeal made by the council of Neland Avenue CRC in Grand Rapids, Michigan, against the Synod 2022 order to rescind the decision to ordain a deacon involved in a same-sex marriage was ultimately rejected during Synod 2023. The vote count showed 124 delegates opposing the appeal, with 47 in favor and six abstaining. As mentioned, the decision reached by Synod 2023 came after a thorough review of the situation by an in loco committee, which was authorized to act on behalf of Synod 2022. Deliberations by a Synod 2023 advisory committee and passionate debates among the delegates for and against the Neland council's action played a significant role in reaching this outcome. On the other hand, the CRCNA, one of the oldest but smallest denominations in the Americas, currently consists of approximately 200,000 members across the United States and Canada. The church has been grappling with tensions surrounding questions of sexuality since last year's Synod 2022, during which delegates voted to affirm the confessional status of the church's position that "homosexual sex" is considered a sin. Also Read:Anglican Communion in Nigeria Takes Resolute Stance Against Same-Sex Marriage Neland Avenue's Appeal The Grand Rapids church, known for its commitment to extending a warm welcome to all, including the LGBTQ+ community, faces an uncertain future within the Christian Reformed Church (CRC). As the denomination convenes for Synod 2023 from June 9-16, the church's manner of ministry is under scrutiny, Fox 17 reported. In 2022, the CRC codified same-sex relationships as sinful during its annual gathering at Calvin University. This decision elevated the belief to a "confessional" status, putting those who disagree in direct conflict with the church and subject to potential disciplinary action. As a result, Neland Avenue, the Grand Rapids church, was required to rescind its decision to ordain a deacon in a same-sex marriage. However, Neland Avenue appealed the request, stating that the issue of same-sex relationships should not be a salvation matter that divides churches or denominations. The church has sought to create a space of inclusivity and understanding through scripture studies and testimonials. Meetings between Neland Avenue's council and the in loco committee established by Synod revealed the growing polarization within the CRC. Both sides mourned the prevalence of "echo chambers" and a "winner take all" mentality in the church and broader society. Related Article: Support for Same-Sex Marriage Rises to New High of 71% Pixabay/Irina L The testimony of the former Governor, Nyesom Wike, was recently shared at St. Peter's Deanery. He recalls the day when he became ill from consuming contaminated food and emphasizes God's role in saving his life. God Intervention In Rumuepirikom, Obio-Akpor, Rivers State, Nigeria, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike was born into the family of Reverend and Nlemanya Wike on Mar. 12, 1963. According to Content 101, he is a politician, lawyer, and the 6th Governor of Rivers State in Nigeria. In addition to that, under the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Nyesom Wike also served as the Minister for State Education. As per Gistreel, during a special Thanksgiving ceremony organized by his family at the St. Peters Deanery in Rumuepirikom, the former governor revealed an incident of food poisoning in 2018. He mentioned that his liver and kidneys had stopped functioning, but due to God's intervention and medical professionals' help, his life was saved. Moreover, when asked to describe what happened, Nyesom Wike explained that he was transported to Beirut at midnight when the physicians there informed him that both his liver and kidneys had ceased functioning. He added that everyone around him turned into a suspect at that point. Based on a report from Justnaija, the former governor indicated that in December of 2018, he had planned to participate in a Thanksgiving celebration hosted by his immediate predecessor in the role of Chief of Staff. On the other hand, he could not leave his room beginning that Sunday due to his deteriorating health. Because of his condition, he was confined to bed and unable to participate in the annual state banquet on Jan. 1, 2019. During that particular event, he did not know about the poisoning that had taken place in the party's secretariat, so he asked the deputy governor to make a speech on his behalf. As stated, Nyesom Wike was relieved when the physicians told him his organs had started operating normally again. He was thankful for the different treatments that he had undergone and conveyed his gratitude to them. Even while they carry out their responsibilities in the interest of the people, those in positions of authority are exposed to several dangers and difficulties; this occurrence reportedly serves as a vivid reminder of these risks and problems. Also Read: Elder Pearson Highlights Importance of Interfaith Relationships in Improving Quality of Life Nyesom Wike's Faith Punch reported that in the days leading up to the People's Democratic Party presidential election in 2022, Nyesom Wike's wife, the Honorable Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike, informed the former governor over the phone that she had been diagnosed with cancer. Accordingly, Nyesom Wike expressed his devastation at the news and admitted that he had even entertained the idea of withdrawing from the run for the presidency. However, his wife firmly convinced him not to do so and explained that, to the glory of God, she was ultimately healed of cancer, and her life was preserved. He also asserted that God went even further to offer him and the state a seamless election process in the wake of a gang-up organized by the same individuals who pledged that they would abide by the collective decision of Rivers elders over who chooses his successor and Nyesom Wike reportedly feels at ease now that a suitable successor has been selected. Related Article: Latter-Day Saints Member Won American Idol Season 21, Shares About His Faith on Social Media Unsplash/Taylor Flowe A 12-year-old student's antisemitic harassment led to the resignation of a Jewish social studies teacher at Nessacus Regional Middle School last week. The student allegedly made numerous Nazi jokes and gave the teacher a scary drawing of Adolf Hitler. She is now charged with a misdemeanor of criminal harassment. The events, which started in February when Morrison Robblee, 25, revealed his Jewish heritage to his sixth-grade students, have been getting worse, he told the Berkshire Eagle. A troubling succession of things happened after that, and Robblee eventually resigned. Massachusetts Middle School Teacher Resigns Amid Antisemitic Harassment On one occasion, the student called Robblee homophobic epithets in front of the class. Robblee expelled the offending student from class after the incident. According to the article in the New York Post, following that, school officials set up a "restorative circle," where Robblee, the student, and an administrator could discuss the situation. The student, according to Robblee, had been silent the whole meeting, which he saw as a warning sign of upcoming harassment. He said he thought this stillness should have been a clue that this wasn't going to be a peaceful resolution. On one occasion, the student called Robblee homophobic epithets in front of the class. Robblee expelled the offending student from class after the incident. Following that, school officials set up a "restorative circle," where Robblee, the pupil, and an administrator could discuss the situation. The student, according to Robblee, had been silent the whole meeting, which he saw as a warning sign of upcoming harassment. He said he thought this stillness should have been a clue that this wasn't going to be a peaceful resolution. Things took a depressing turn in April. Robblee, who observed Passover, came to school wearing a yarmulke, a skullcap typically worn by religious Jews. More offensive remarks were made in return by the student. Also Read: Jewish Activists Lead Opposition Against Reintroduction of Religion in US Public Schools Gruesome Sketch and Other Violating Gestures of the Student According to the Insider, Robblee received a gruesome sketch from the pupil a few days after he was put in detention. It showed Hitler standing over a dead person with the label "Jew" while surrounded by swastikas and gas canisters. The student, who was eventually disciplined and removed from his class, seemed motivated to make his point, according to Robblee, who told the publication about him. Despite the dismissal, Robblee claimed that the harassment continued, with the student making obscene jokes about the Holocaust in the hallway, which also included the ones about gas chambers, and sending him derogatory letters about his instruction. According to the news source, the student is accused of criminal harassment, a misdemeanor, and his identity has been protected because he is a child. Superintendent Leslie Blake-Davis has spoken on the district's procedure for managing incidents of bigotry and hate following the departure of a Jewish teacher from Nessacus Regional Middle School who had been the target of antisemitic harassment. According to the story in Daily Mail, due to confidentiality, Blake-Davis was unable to speak about the particular instances involving the sixth-grade student and the teacher, Morrison Robblee, but she was able to describe the district's typical practices in cases of bias or hatred. The district's initial response, according to her, is to remove the accused kid from the classroom setting while a due process inquiry is underway but still ensuring the continuation of their educational services. Related Article:Antisemitism Marrs Hanukkah Celebration as Jewish Community Struggles with Rising Hate Crimes Unsplash/Thomas Bormans This past weekend, a horrifying terrorist incident occurred in the Kasese district of southwest Uganda, leaving at least 42 people dead. There were 37 victims found, and some are unidentified charred bodies of students studying at the secondary boarding school, a high school institution, where the attack occurred. The Ugandan authorities quickly blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) for the attack on Friday night. Witnesses claimed to have heard shouts of "Allahu akbar!" during the terrible incident, in which male pupils were set ablaze, and female students were mercilessly beaten with machetes. Tragic Terror Attack on Ugandan Boarding School Claims 42 Lives According to the article shared in Your News, both the Islamic State and the ADF's parent group have not made a formal claim of responsibility for this heinous conduct. High-ranking officials have hypothesized that outside groups fighting for control of the institution may have used the jihadists to topple the current leadership. The authority of a non-governmental group that is currently in charge of the school and is under Canadian oversight may be threatened as a result of the attack. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the ADF is said to have its headquarters, and the Kasese area share a border. Following the assault, the governments of Uganda and the DRC have expanded "Operation Shujaa," a joint military effort that was started in late 2021 with the express purpose of destroying the ADF. As part of the operation, 1,700 Ugandan militaries were permitted access to DRC areas, joining forces with local soldiers to search down ADF hideouts. The group has stated ambitions to destroy both governments and build an extremist "caliphate." In 2021, after the United States designated ADF as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, the DRC government also authorized the establishment of a U.S. "anti-terrorism" contingent within its borders. Also Read: Plateau Terrorist Attack Brutally Killed Pastor, 49 Church Members Heartbroken Father Describes Shocking Security Breach and Horrific Scenes at Ugandan School Attack According to the story shared in Christian Headlines, local news accounts reported that the horrific incident started late on Friday at Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe. Attackers stormed both male and female dormitories, subjecting the unsuspecting students to an unthinkable ordeal. After the horrific terrorist attack on a boarding school in southwest Uganda's Kasese area, the father of one of the victims, Hurubana Kimadi Onesmus, expressed his confusion at how the assailants were able to enter the tightly guarded facilityaccording to the story shared in Yahoo! News, the father, whose grandson attended the school and whose son worked as a security guard there, expressed similar difficulty in making sense of the awful occurrences. The 69-year-old father told the BBC that he was shocked by the significant military presence in the region. He questioned how such an incident could occur in spite of increased security measures being in place. Security at the school has significantly improved as a result of the attack. However, the BBC team was only given a brief window of time to take pictures of the burned-out structures when they arrived at the scene. They were confronted with a horrific and upsetting scene. A striking memory of the ruthless machete attacks and the gunshots that echoed as the girls fled for their lives can still be seen on the ground outside the girls' dormitory. The boys' dormitory had been secured in the meantime, either by the courageous students who stood their ground against the insurrectionists or by the attackers themselves. The building was cruelly doused in fuel by the terrorists, who then set it ablaze. The air inside the charred remnants is filled with the overpowering smell of death. Beds have been reduced to wire mesh and are covered in horrifying flesh fragments. The frightening attack serves as a depressing reminder of the immediate necessity for increased security measures and preventive measures to safeguard educational institutions and guarantee the safety of students. Related Article:Nigeria Terrorist Killed Another 33 Christians The crisis pregnancy center in Winter Haven, Florida, was hit the night after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. When the sun came up, the scrawled, spray painted messages were visible from one end of the outside wall to the other: YOUR TIME IS UP; WERE COMING FOR U; WE ARE EVERYWHERE; JANE WAS HERE. Similar messages marred pro-life clinics in 24 states. The rash of vandalism started around the May 2022 leak of a Supreme Court draft of the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, and continued throughout the year and into 2023. More than 50 clinics across the country reported graffiti and broken windows, with damage sometimes in the tens of thousands of dollars. Six clinics were also set on fire. A leaderless terrorist organization named Janes Revenge claimed much of the credit. This was only a warning, the group said in a first communique sent after a firebombing in Wisconsin. We will not stop, we will not back down, nor will we hesitate to strike until the inalienable right to manage our own health is returned to us. According to Janes Revenge, the extreme tactics are justified in part by pro-life extremists attacks on abortion clinicswhich once averaged about 10 bombings and arsons per year. Four people, all in their 20s, have been arrested for the attack in Winter Haven. Two others have been arrested for attacks in New York and Wisconsin. All face federal charges under a law Bill Clinton signed to protect abortion clinics in 1994. Our people have genuine and deeply felt differences on the subject of abortion, the president said at the time. But we must all agree that as a nation we must remain committed to the rule of law. It is what keeps us civilized. It is what enables us to live together. Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here. In seminary, my discipleship courses had a particular focus: passing on what the apostles had taught about doctrines like the Atonement and practices like Bible reading and prayer. For me, as for many evangelicals today, this made discipleship mainly a matter of nurturing faith and spiritual growth. Michael J. Rhodes had a similar experience. But then one day he heard John Perkins speak: He pointed out all this stuff in Scripture Id never paid attention to, stuff that had never crossed my discipleship radar. Poverty relief, love for other races and ethnicities, and other justice issues were central to the discipleship modeled by Jesus and the apostles. Rhodes, a pastor and an Old Testament professor, came to realize that community justice needs to be part of Christian discipleship, not because of some liberal agenda or to keep up with the times, but because the Bible tells us so! And so he devoted himself to this fuller perspective in his own ministry. His book Just Discipleship: Biblical Justice in an Unjust World is the fruit of that work. The book is structured in four parts. The first gives a biblical definition of justice and shows its place within the Bibles mandate for discipleship. As Rhodes observes, the American church in particular has offered the world a justice-less, or at least justice-light, version of our faith, but Scripture is a story of unjust people being justified and renewed in Gods just image. Part 2 explores several ways Gods people were shaped for justice in biblical times, distilling key concepts from those examples for our own day. Rhodes explores the just community created through Israels feasts as described in Deuteronomy, including how they bonded orphans, widows, Levites, debt slaves, and dependent strangers as kin. He also reflects on the cries for justice sung in the Psalms, the essential role of justice within the wisdom instruction of Proverbs, and the continuity of these Old Testament moral priorities within the ongoing mission of grace in the New Testament. The book really starts to shine in part 3, where Rhodes draws out additional justice resources from Scripture, in particular the jubilee principle, and applies them to some of the most controversial social questions of our day. The jubilee principle (or jubilary imagination) is rooted in the Levitical Year of Jubilee (Lev. 25). This was the crowning application of Israels sabbath year cycles, celebrated every seventh seven years (that is, every 49 years). On the Day of Atonement that year, family lands previously lost through indebtedness were restored. Family members who had fallen into debt servitude were also released. The Jubilee, Rhodes explains, shows Gods politics of holiness. He gave every household in Israel a part in the nations socioeconomic assets, and he taught Israel practices to prevent multigenerational poverty. Article continues below In the final part of the book, Rhodes shifts gears from specific justice issues to explore (and critique) various approaches to politics deduced from Scripture. The Romans 13 Only approach, for instance, views government as instituted by God and thus to be obeyed, but it largely avoids thorny questions of involvement in government. After all, the idea of political involvement was not even conceivable in Pauls day, when running for office or holding authorities accountable through protests were not options for conquered subjects of an empire. Rhodes next considers the Joseph Option, patterned after the example set by Joseph in his rule on behalf of Pharaoh. At first glance, he writes, Joseph seems like the perfect model for wise, faithful action. But on closer examination, Joseph used his power to protect his own family while gradually enslaving the Egyptians under Pharaohs absolute rule. As with many Genesis stories, Josephs rule is an origin story with an ironic purpose. It shows how the very system that gave Pharaoh so much power to oppress the Hebrews was created by a Hebrew to preserve life! This irony magnifies the injustice of Pharaoh for enslaving the Hebrews, but it does not justify employing Josephs political method. What Rhodes calls the Revelation Only option offers another extreme: regarding government as an always-evil beast like the monsters in Johns apocalypse. Rhodes affirms that governments often do take on beast-like roles, but that is not a complete picture. Revelation was written to those who were powerless before mighty persecutors, and its message is still relevant for the persecuted. But some, Rhodes observes, wrongly interpret Revelation to suggest that this powerlessness is normative. On the contrary, there are societies where believers can exert political influence for good. Article continues below After assessing the various alternatives, Rhodes finally lands on the Daniel Option. Daniel was able to operate within the Babylonian government while retaining integrity to speak truth to power and oppose corruption. Joseph pursues his political goals without ever confronting the regime, writes Rhodes. Daniel, on the other hand, recognizes that you cannot seek the welfare of the empire without confronting the rampant injustice of the empire. Just Discipleship is both convicting and inspiring. There is plenty to critique, of course. In particular, the book gives little attention to biblical law (apart from the festivals and Jubilee). Even the Ten Commandments go unmentioned, which is surprising given their profound influence on Christian discipleship throughout history. Drawing upon this heritage could have strengthened the book (although, in fairness, Rhodes repeatedly admits his work is not comprehensive). Evangelicals today are highly vocal on certain social issues, like abortion, gender, and homosexuality. But they are often muted on otherslike racism, poverty, and immigration. Rhodess book is a timely exhortation to adopt the whole work of holiness taught by Jesus, whose priorities are formed in us through just discipleship. Michael LeFebvre is a Presbyterian minister and a fellow with the Center for Pastor Theologians. Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here. Most times, you hear the dragon boats before you see them. Jumanji-style drum beats fill the air, pounding out a steady rhythm as a 20-strong crew paddles in sync on long, sleek boats in a bid to outrace one another. But the intensity of these competitions arent the only eye-catching feature during the Dragon Boat Festival, which takes place on the fifth day of the fifth month in the lunar calendar and falls on June 22 this year. The boats visually arresting designs also play a part in enticing crowds of curious onlookers. Every boat bears a fierce-looking dragon head on its bow, with two horns, piercing eyes, and a wide-open mouth filled with sharp teeth. Most Chinese Christians do not see any issue with observing or participating in the Dragon Boat Festival, whether through the boat races or in eating savory, sticky rice dumplings known as zongzi (). However, they may regard dragons negatively because of how these fabled creatures are depicted in Scripture. Its important to dispel misconceptions about these mythical beings in Chinese culture and develop a fuller understanding of what dragons in the Bible refer to, the biblical scholars CT interviewed say. Chinese people often have furniture or jewelry bearing images of dragons, as they symbolize prosperity, luck, blessing, and wisdom in Chinese culture. The fantastical beasts are also emblems of imperial power: Chinese emperors were described as the dragon and often wore a robe emblazoned with a dragon to represent their divine and omnipotent rule. But some pastors in Malaysia and Hong Kong, as well as at Chinese churches in the US, tell believers to destroy these items because they are evil, says K. K. Yeo, a New Testament professor at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, who was born and raised in Borneo, Malaysia. Christians whose Chinese names contain the character long () for dragon may even be encouraged to change them. Assuming that the Revelation 12 dragon is Western and reading the Western meaning of dragons into the Chinese dragon is a major flaw in biblical interpretation, Yeo said. This is a misunderstanding, and therefore a simplistic way of condemning Chinese culture flat out. Wordplay In the Chinese Union Version (CUV) of the Bible, the character long () for the word dragon appears 138 times. In the Old Testament, it is typically found in transliterations of biblical names such as Absalom (), says Chee-Chiew Lee from the School of Theology (Chinese) at Singapore Bible College. Article continues below The character is mostly used to represent dragon in the Book of Revelation. In the CUV, it appears in verses that mention the red dragon (12:3), the beast with two horns that speaks like a dragon (13:11), and when an angel catches the dragonalso described as an ancient serpent or a deviland binds him for a thousand years (20:2). Only one Bible translation, the Worldwide Chinese Version, uses the Mandarin characters for the phrase evil snake () instead of dragon in Revelation, Lee said. To accurately grasp what Scripture refers to when speaking of dragons, we have to recognize that the Bible was situated in ancient Near East culture, the biblical scholars interviewed by CT emphasized. In such a polytheistic environment, a god often battles withand defeatsan opponent that is usually portrayed as a serpent. A Babylonian myth, for example, records the god Marduk fighting with the serpentine sea goddess Tiamat, while a Canaanite Ugaritic tale shows the god Baal at loggerheads with Lotan, a seven-headed sea monster whose name means coiled. In the King James Version, the Hebrew word tannin is translated as dragon in verses like Jeremiah 51:34 and Nehemiah 2:13. The Hebrew word livyatan appears in the Greek Septuagint as either ophis or drakon, and the latter word may be one reason why these ancient beasts became known as dragons in English, says Lee. The problem when translating [these words] as dragon is that you think of the medieval dragon, not the Jewish serpent, Lee said. The medieval dragon has wings. In the Hebrew tradition, it has no wings and no feet. Its more like a snake than a lizard. It doesnt have fire spewing from its mouth. Readers of Chinese versions of Scripture may also see dragons through a cultural lens. In Chinese mythology, dragons have scaly, slinky bodies and are wingless, although male dragons have the ability to fly to the heavens and cause rain to occur. (Female dragons oversee earthly water bodies.) Dragons exist in many different realmsfrom the sky to the sea and the underworldand exert control over them. Protestant translators wanted Chinese believers to leave the potentially idolatrous aspect of culture behind, and so connected long to negative imagery in the CUV, which was published in 1919. But an accurate reading of long in Scripture requires understanding that there are two senses in translation, Lee says. Article continues below The first involves a translation of language: In English and Chinese Bibles, the words dragon and long, respectively, are different symbols and represent different mythic animals. The second refers to a translation of culture, wherein a symbol that denotes something in one culture need not be totally equivalent in another culture. For example, said Lee, If, in the Chinese culture, receiving a gift means you need to open it after your giver leaves, it doesnt translate that all cultures must do the same. For believers, this all means that the biblical symbol of the snake or serpent as evil does not imply that dragons in Chinese culture are evil. The Chinese understanding of dragon is different from the ancient Near Eastern [understanding], which is used in the Bible. These are two civilizations that are not the same, Yeo said. Instead, he suggests understanding long as er long (), or evil dragon, to bring out a clearer understanding of the beast in Revelation. Fallacious assumptions One danger in always reading long as a representation of evil can occur when Chinese Christians reject their culture in its entirety, Asian biblical scholars say. Without learning the hermeneutics of metaphors and symbols, people tend to equate symbols with reality or ontology rather than [seeing] symbols as cultural expressions, Lee explains. Symbols are dependent on their culture, and their use in that culture is rather fixed. In her Mandarin-language seminary courses, Lee uses examples of common cultural customs to demonstrate how symbols are imbued with meaning from their particular cultures. The giving of red packets during the Lunar New Year signifies a festive season in Chinese culture, but when it comes to other local celebrations like Hari Raya Puasa (what Eid al-Fitr is known as in Singapore), people exchange green packets, not red, because the color green symbolizes paradise, eternity, and wisdom in Islam. In China, such misconceptions about Scripture and culture were more pervasive in the 1980s and 90s, says Zhang San, a pastor in Shanghai (he is using a pseudonym for security reasons). Christians in China refrained from wearing clothes with dragon imagery and did not participate in dragon boat festivals. Many also refused to sing a popular patriotic song, Descendants of the Dragon, because they felt that believers were not descendants of Satan, who is referred to as a dragon in Revelation 20:2. Article continues below This is no longer an issue for churches in China today because of improvements in biblical literacy, says Zhang. Besides understanding that tannin is used to describe various sea creatures like whales, crocodiles, and serpents, churches in the country have also moved from more literal to more allegorical expositions of Revelation. Another danger in understanding long as evil may arise when this interpretation results in a very distorted sense of eschatology, said Yeo. Upon rejecting Chinese culture by deeming it evil and thinking that it will be ultimately destroyed, some might think that Western culture is better, whether consciously or subconsciously, Yeo says. This perception of the Wests superiority is problematic to Yeo: All cultures have their good points. All are also fallen. Once you have a comparative superior-inferior culture, you are going to have ethnocentrism, racism, nationalism, and a colonial mentality. Salvific connections These misconceptions may persist in some parts of Asia. But Chinese Christians dont see any conflict with their faith when participating in the Dragon Boat Festival, because the event has cultural and historical roots rather than religious ones, Yeo says. At the same time, Christians do not have a reputation for evangelizing during the Dragon Boat Festival. Zhang, the Shanghai pastor, attributes this lack of engagement among Christians in China to the countrys rapid urbanization and strong atheistic education, which has removed and cleaned the existence of civil religion. Compared to urbanized China, the Chinese diaspora in Taiwan, Malaysia, and Hong Kong has a more thick culture of superstition and religion to differentiate them from other segments of society, said Zhang. Churches also tend to be more active during another event in the lunar calendar, the Hungry Ghost Festival, because of its Buddhist and Taoist roots and because it often engenders fear of evil spirits and questions around mortality, Yeo says. Nevertheless, Chinese Christians can explore using the origin story for the Dragon Boat Festival as an opening for the gospel. While some say this tradition arose because of superstitious villagers in China who worshiped a dragon god and held dragon boat races to fend off misfortune and seek divine blessing, most Chinese people attribute the events origins to royal advisor Qu Yuans heroic patriotism. Article continues below Qu Yuan was a poet and political figure in the third-century state of Chu, or ancient China. During the period of the Warring States, Qu Yuan warned his king that neighboring state Qiu was a threat to Chu. The king failed to heed his advice and banished him instead. Upon seeing his homeland descend into turmoil, a despairing Qu Yuan took his own life by drowning in the Mi Luo River. One version of this account says that farmers took dragon boats out on the water to save Qu Yuans life, while another says that rice dumplings were thrown into the river to feed fish and a river dragon, thereby preventing his body from being consumed. Many Chinese people regard Qu Yuan as a beloved figure who transcends the simple story of his self-sacrifice, coming to represent the very embodiment of patriotism. Chinese believers, however, can take Qu Yuans story a step further by teasing out its connections with Christian themes. The biblical narrative provides us with a larger, more persuasive narrative on why a heroic event is not simply about Chinese history but has Christian faith motifs connected with it, Yeo said. In the Christian sense, he is like a prophetic figure standing for justice and peoples rights. Believers can use Qu Yuans heroism as a means of pointing toward the Christian idea of martyrdom, which talks of dying for God in pursuit of justice, love, and fidelity, Yeo added. Stories like these can also raise valuable questions about the relationship between Chinese history and Christian faith: Thats the kind of work the church should do, linking the two rather than a dualistic, binary thinking. When reading and sharing about long in Scripture, Chinese Christians can do this well by deepening their understanding of cultural anthropology. Dragons in Chinese culture convey a desire for security, peace, blessing, joy, and power, and these can be a helpful starting point for believers to share about a yearning for a greater and more enduring hope, Yeo says. It all has to do with the biblical understanding of salvation. Find those themessalvation of God and Christ for humanityand how the sourceGod and his Wordcan bring about good news. Bassist John Patitucci grew up in Brooklyn in a family who valued music, but it wasnt until he heard a musician coax an orchestra out of an acoustic bass that he was converted. This week on The Slow Work, Patitucci joins host Sandra McCracken to talk about his come to Jesus moment with the bass and with Christ himself. It's a story of the devotional work of making and playing instruments, the community nature of production, and the beauty of Jesus who welcomes both sinner and saint to sing new songs of hope. Special Guest: Acoustic bassist John Patitucci has performed throughout the world and as a studio musician with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Pat Metheny, Wynton Marsalis, Astrud and Joao Gilberto, Joao Bosco, and Dori Caymmi. Since 1985, his many recordings with Chick Corea, Aeos Elektric Band and Akoustic Band, his six solo recordings for GRP Records, and his subsequent recordings have put him at the forefront of the jazz world and brought him worldwide acclaim, as well as three Grammy Awards and over 20 Grammy nominations. Patitucci is professor of jazz studies at the City College of New York and a frequent clinician and guest lecturer at schools around the world. He is currently touring with his trio in support of his latest recording, Remembrance, which features saxophone genius Joe Lovano and drum virtuoso Brian Blade. Resources Referenced: Light in the Canyon I Was Made to Love Her For Once In My Life Gridlock One More Angel The Slow Work is a production of Christianity Today Executive Producer: Mike Cosper Host: Sandra McCracken Producer: Azurae Phelps Editor and Mix Engineer: Dan Phelps Music: Tyler Chester Graphic Design: Chris Bennett Social Media: Kate Lucky Colorado priest reinstated after being cleared of criminal charges A Roman Catholic priest in Colorado who had been accused of sexual abuse has been reinstated into service by church leadership after being cleared of all criminal charges earlier this year. The Rev. Michael O'Brien had been put on administrative leave in September 2021 after being accused of sexual assault when he served at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Aspen from 2002 to 2011. Earlier this month, the Archdiocese of Denver announced that they were reinstating OBrien, following a criminal investigation that found no wrongdoing and after an internal church review. OBrien will return to serving St. Anthony of Padua of Julesburg and St. Peters Catholic Church in Crook as the pastor beginning on July 1, according to the announcement. I will not let irresponsible and unfounded civil lawsuits keep a good priest from ministry, said Denver Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila, as quoted in the announcement. His fortitude in the face of a false accusation has been inspiring to me and to the other priests in the Archdiocese who unfortunately have to live in fear of a false charge like this impacting or even destroying their vocation and good name. In a letter to the congregations of St. Anthony and St. Peters that was quoted in the announcement, Aquila acknowledged that a lawsuit had been filed against OBrien based on the accusations. I have been advised by the Review Board and by our attorneys that the lawsuit is frivolous, and the claims are spurious, wrote the archbishop. The Archdiocese of Denver continues in our commitment to take all allegations of misconduct seriously, and to ensure that the safety of our children and families is and remains a priority for our Church. Chief Deputy District Attorney Don Nottingham of the 9th Judicial District told CBS News Colorado in a statement on Saturday that the allegations against OBrien were thoroughly investigated by the Aspen Police Department. The Office of the District Attorney for the Ninth Judicial District consulted with APD and was present for parts of the investigation. Both the D.A.'s Office and APD felt that such allegations should be investigated as thoroughly as possible, and APD did exactly that, stated Nottingham. The D.A.'s Office, upon reviewing all the information available, agreed with APD that no charges should be filed related to the allegations. The D.A.'s Office is grateful to the dedicated investigators at the Aspen Police Department for taking this investigation extremely seriously and working diligently to ensure the truth was known. Hunter Biden pleads guilty to criminal tax charges, unlawful firearm possession Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, who has garnered much attention over his personal scandals, has pleaded guilty to federal criminal tax charges. The president's son entered a pretrial diversion agreement in which he pled guilty to one charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is a user or addict of illegal drugs, reported CNBC on Tuesday morning. Chris Clark, who is serving as a criminal defense lawyer for Hunter Biden, said in a statement that the guilty pleas should mark the resolution of a five-year investigation into the presidents son. Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement, stated Clark, as quoted by CNBC. A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the government. Clark added that Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. Hunter Biden has been a source of controversy for Joe Biden since before the 2020 presidential election, when the New York Post published a story that reported Hunter Biden had his father meet with an executive from the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma not long before the elder Biden pressured officials in Ukraine to fire a prosecutor investigating the company. The NY Post referenced emails from the hard drive of Hunter Bidens laptop, which had been seized by the FBI. The laptop also contained embarrassing images and videos of Hunter Biden using drugs and having sex with various women, as well as details of questionable business dealings with communist China. Many conservatives have accused major media outlets of burying the Hunter Biden story so that Joe Biden would have a better chance of defeating President Donald Trump in 2020. Social media entities like Twitter outright censored the NY Post story. National Public Radios Kelly McBride argued in favor of burying the story via a newsletter back in 2020, claiming that there were many, many red flags in that New York Post investigation and that the claims of the story dont amount to much. Intelligence officials warn that Russia has been working overtime to keep the story of Hunter Biden in the spotlight. Even if Russia cant be positively connected to this information, the story of how Trump associates Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani came into a copy of this computer hard drive has not been verified and seems suspect, wrote McBride at the time. And if that story could be verified, the NY Post did no forensic work to convince consumers that the emails and photos that are the basis for their report have not been altered. Massachusetts church vandalized after congregation removes LGBT pride flags A Massachusetts church was vandalized after a preschool that rents space at the church posted online about how LGBT pride flags its owner posted on the church property was removed by church members. Pleasant Street Preschool, owned by the openly gay Mike Richmond and his partner, rented space at Grace Community Church of Marblehead. Richmond recently posted pride flags on the church property to celebrate LGBT pride month. According to an Instagram post by Richmond on the Pleasant Street account last Wednesday, a married couple removed the pride flags. In the post, Richmond also said the church told the school in March that they were being evicted in June without a clear explanation why. "As a gay person who runs a business there, I simply wanted representation and to display this symbol of peace, love and acceptance," claimed Richmond. "I never discussed Pride, the flags or what it means to be gay with the children. They noticed them on the way to the park and thought they were pretty." "I'm so beyond sad and frustrated. I can't tell you how difficult it is to have to go there every day now and try to remain composed and run a normal day for the kids." Last Friday, the Marblehead Police Department announced that Grace Community Church, which first opened in 1810 as a Baptist church but is now nondenominational, had been vandalized with LGBT-themed graffiti. The incident likely took place late Thursday evening. "The content of the graffiti most likely is in support of the LGBTQ+ community," stated authorities, stressing that "members of Marblehead's LGBTQ+ community have already offered to pay for and clean up the vandalism." Marblehead Police Chief Dennis King said in a statement that "vandalism will not be tolerated, and those responsible for this act, or any future acts, will be held accountable if identified." "I know that tensions are high around the removal of pride flags at the church. But people need to allow for the process to address any dispute between the Church and their tenant," stated King. "I think that I can say with confidence that people in the Town of Marblehead choose to respect one another over everything, even if they disagree." The graffiti included a rainbow spray-painted on the side of the church, with the phrases "stay gay stay hard" and "love is 4 everyone" painted next to it. The vandalism was first discovered by Richmond, who called the police. The Marblehead Pride Committee posted on Instagram that it "does not condone any form of violence or vandalism." "Positive change happens when we are kind and respectful to ALL of our neighbors," the post reads. Preschool supporters staged a nonviolent protest against the church Sunday for its eviction decision, with local news estimating that around 150 people attended. Church leadership issued a statement to The Marblehead Current published on Sunday, saying that the congregation removed the pride flags in part because they generally refuse to engage in political activism. "We are a politically and culturally diverse congregation. For this reason, we do not put signage for many things, even good things, on the church front," stated the church. "We generally steer clear of any displays that may be interpreted as political. As a church, and as a landlord, that is our right. Civil liberties also apply to churches, and means we must extend respect in all directions." New Zealand court cancels Christian teachers license for refusing trans pronouns A New Zealand court has ruled in favor of canceling a Christian high school math teacher's license to teach after he refused to call a trans-identified student by a preferred name and pronouns. The New Zealand Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal an independent body with each panel chaired by a lawyer and two teachers issued a decision against an unnamed math teacher in February. The ruling was made public on Monday. At issue was the teacher refusing to call a 14-year-old student, born female at birth, by the "preferred male name" because it went against his sincerely held Christian beliefs. Deputy Chair Timothy MacKenzie authored the decision, writing that for the "teacher to not only ignore the student's wishes (and the instruction of the school), but also to isolate them and advise them it was wrong, risked quite significant harm." "Whilst the role of a teacher (particularly at a secondary school) will from time to time require the application of some paternalism in the lives of their students, this conduct was completely inappropriate and out of line," MacKenzie continued. "It risked belittling the student and minimizing the huge personal event occurring in [her] life. It transgressed well outside of the boundaries of a teacher's role." The tribunal emphasized that it did not want to be viewed as "moving to punish" the teacher for his religious beliefs, claiming that the teacher "is entitled to his views and religious beliefs." "What we must do is consider whether he has insight and rehabilitative prospects that we could address," the tribunal stated. "In our view, there is a real and appreciable risk that such conduct, or similar conduct, will be repeated by [the teacher] if he was to be in that position again. Indeed, given [the teacher's] statements to us, we would say that it is quite likely to occur again in similar circumstances." According to The New Zealand Herald, the teacher told the tribunal in February that he refused to accept the idea of gender transitioning in any way. The teacher also reportedly rejected a proposed compromise by the trans-identified student to use a "preferred male name" while also continuing to use the she/her pronouns that correspond to the student's sex. During the February hearing, the teacher denied breaking any school rules. He also claimed that he felt as though calling the student by her preferred pronouns and name would be engaging in serious misconduct and child abuse. The teacher claimed that anyone trying to change their gender identity needs "help and deliverance" and that the school is wrong for supporting the notion that "gender is a choice." The teacher also reportedly compared preferred pronouns to students wanting to identify as "earthly royalty or a judge" and demanded to be referred to as "Your Honor." "Although these examples may seem absurd, they are the same logic as calling a girl a boy, or a boy a girl and may lead to abuse of teachers and others. Is it appropriate for a teacher to call a student by the pronoun 'Your Honour' or to expect teachers to refer to students as different animals?" the teacher said, as quoted by The Herald. In addition to the teacher's license being canceled, he reportedly resigned from his teaching position at the school. The Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand said in a statement released Monday that it supports the decision, stating that "the teacher should have applied the code and the values of the teaching profession, when asked by a student to use their preferred pronouns." "All teachers are legally bound and regularly recommit to comply with the code, which sets out the commitments to the teaching profession, learners, families and whanau and society. In essence, it describes how a teacher must behave. When the code is broken, it can result in disciplinary action being taken," the TCANZ stated, as quoted by the Herald. "Teachers need to help learners to think critically about issues and understand different views, theories, perspectives and experiences and it is not okay for a teacher to use their authority to undermine the personal identity of their learners, or to inappropriately influence them to take a course of action." Oklahoma teen arrested for allegedly taking photos of boys in bathroom at church camp A 19-year-old Oklahoma man was arrested for allegedly filming and photographing minors in the bathroom at the Kiamichi Baptist Assembly camp in Talihina, according to authorities. The Latimer County Sheriff's Office announced Saturday that authorities were called to the scene last Wednesday, with Bartels agreeing to go with police for an interview about his alleged activities. After a confession and a search of Bartels phone, he was placed under arrest for possession of child pornography and manufacturing child pornography. Bartels is currently at the Latimer County Jail on a $100,000 bond, stated Latimer police. Investigators in the case were Latimer County Sheriff's Office Investigator Tanner Killingsworth and D.A. Investigator Michael Oliver of Latimer and Leflore County. A camp affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, Kiamichi was founded in 1942 and has served approximately 10,000 children and teenagers every year. In an emailed statement to The Christian Post on Monday, a Kiamichi spokesperson said they have 40 cabins on their property, with each cabin being overseen by an area church and with its own dorms and dining space. The young man had just graduated high school and came with his group as a camper. We were informed that he had taken pictures of male members in his group in their underwear. So we immediately called the sheriff, stated the spokesperson. I understand that they found images on his phone that were taken before he was at camp. However, I was not present for any questioning of the suspect. He was not a staff member or affiliated with the camp in any capacity. Supreme Court tosses ruling in favor of Planned Parenthood in Medicaid funding case The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated a lower court decision that stopped South Carolina from terminating a Medicaid provider agreement with Planned Parenthood due to the organization providing abortion services. In an orders list released Tuesday morning, the nation's high court granted a writ of certiorari in the case of Kerr, Dir. SC Dept. of Health v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, et al., vacating an earlier judgment and remanding the case to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court ordered the 4th Circuit to consider the case in light of Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion Cty. v. Talevski, a 2022 decision in which the high court ruled 7-2 that provisions in the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act created enforceable rights for nursing home residents. In 2018, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster issued an executive order barring any entity that operated abortion clinics from being part of the Medicaid program, arguing that allowing them in the program may indirectly fund abortion. The 2018 order expanded a 2017 executive order from McMaster, who said in a statement at the time that taxpayer money "must not directly or indirectly subsidize abortion providers like Planned Parenthood." "There are a variety of agencies, clinics, and medical entities in South Carolina that receive taxpayer funding to offer important women's health and family planning services without performing abortions," said McMaster. Planned Parenthood and a woman named Julie Edwards, who relied on Medicaid to pay for her reproductive health services, sued the state shortly after the 2018 executive order was issued. The plaintiffs argued that the executive order violated federal law, as Congress amended Medicaid in the 1960s to allow individuals the freedom to choose their providers. Arguing the case on behalf of South Carolina, the legal nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom argues that the 1965 amendment did not define which providers are qualified and allows states broad authority to make that determination. A district court granted a preliminary injunction on behalf of Planned Parenthood and Edwards, arguing that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their arguments. A permanent injunction was issued in December 2020. In March 2022, a three-judge panel for the 4th Circuit unanimously ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood, with Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III authoring the panel opinion. "South Carolina terminated Planned Parenthood's agreement notwithstanding the fact that all parties agree that Planned Parenthood is perfectly competent to provide the non-abortive healthcare the individual plaintiff sought and requested," wrote Wilkinson, a Reagan appointee. "To allow the State to disqualify Planned Parenthood would nullify Congress's manifest intent to provide our less fortunate citizens the opportunity to select a medical provider of their choice, an opportunity that the most fortunate routinely enjoy." Is historic American civil religion compatible with Christianity? In our increasingly secular society, Christianity gets a bad rap. Religion in general is less and less welcome in the town square. But as Ive argued elsewhere, you cant ever truly vacuum religion out of society. We were made to worship, and worship we will. Laws enforce a moral vision, and so they will enforce someones moral vision, good or bad. Historically, its been understood that America had what was called a civil religion. This is a term used to refer to the implicit religious values of a nation, as often expressed in national ceremonies and civil customs. And, historically, Americas civil religion has been built on Christianity. These days, it seems like more and more its built on LGBTQ-anity. What I want to consider, however, is whether or not our historic American civil religion is compatible with Christianity. Are they friends or foes? My argument here is that American civil religion is not necessarily at odds with Christianity, emphasis, mind you, on "necessarily." At its best, civil religion can serve as a transcendent, unifying element of a nations culture and civic life. As theologian and historian Dr. John Wilsey has defined it, civil religion is A set of practices, symbols, and beliefs distinct from traditional religion that provide a transcendent paradigm around which the citizenry can unite. According to Enlightenment thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau, civil religion was a part of the social contract, a part of the general will. Civil religion was a key piece for embodying the people as a national organism, for forming the majority, and those within it (as well as the outlaws). Alexis de Tocqueville also saw civil religion as necessary for liberty. And in America, he saw conditions for a vibrant civil religion, made up of symbols, sources, traditions, and even sacred scriptures. In America, those sacred scriptures of our civil religion trace back to the foundation of the country, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution (and preamble), and particularly the Bill of Rights. These are aspirational as well as procedural documents. The corpus of civil religion has been built out over time, arguably including other items such as George Washingtons farewell address, the Monroe Doctrine, the Gettysburg Address, Lincolns Second Inaugural, the Emancipation Proclamation, and so forth. In the American civil religion, our symbols include the flag, the Capitol, our monuments, and even our land, especially the National Parks. And, largely, the ideas from our American civil religion draw from virtuous wells, including historic Protestant Christianity. Again, all of these elements, and the celebration of what they are and how they contribute to our nation, are not necessarily at odds with Christianity. However, Wilsey also provides a five-fold test for the practice of civil religion (or American exceptionalism) to ensure that it doesnt ever rise to the level of replacing Christianity or threatening the Gospel. He writes: Exceptionalism does not necessarily come into conflict with the Christian gospel. But when expressed and understood in strongly providential terms, it involves at least five theological themes imported from Protestant Christian theology and applied to America: 1. chosen nation, 2. divine commission, 3. innocence, 4. sacred land, and 5. glory. When exceptionalism relies on these themes, then the idea is in conflict with the Christian Gospel. This kind of exceptionalism should be rejected because it potentially makes America an object of worship, bestowing a transcendent status upon it. And it sets America up as a necessary player in redemption history. From a Biblical standpoint, this soteriological form of American exceptionalism paves the way toward heterodoxy at best, heresy and idolatry at worst. Where might we see these wrong views of civil religion in practice? Consider the first one: Claiming that America is a particularly chosen nation or that we are under a special election of God. Historian Conrad Cherry argues that the history of the American civil religion is a history of the conviction that the American people are Gods New Israel, his newly chosen people elected by God for a special destiny and that this belief has been evident in the focus of American sacred ceremonies, the inaugural addresses of our presidents, the sacred scriptures of our civil religion. This is going too far; America is not the new Israel the Church is. One good example of making civil religion sound almost salvific is President John F. Kennedys inaugural address. He references God in such a way as to not contradict Christian notions of God, weaving the transcendent nature of a God blessing America into his address in such a way as to appeal to Jews and Protestants along with Catholics. If you try to find a passage that is anti-Biblical in his address it will be hard to do, but he never clearly explains the Gospel or calls the American people to the greatest religious good repenting of their sins and believing in Jesus Christ. Therefore, from a theological perspective, in order for American civil religion to operate in peaceable cooperation with and not at odds with Christianity, two standards must be met. First, the content and practice of the civil religion that which it honors, reveres, and holds out as unifying and praiseworthy, and then the manner in which it calls citizens to participate must fall within the bounds of Christian ethics and values. Put differently, it must meet the Philippians 4:8 test: Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things. For example, if gay pride becomes a core value of American civil religion (as it seems to have become already), and the nation is called to celebrate homosexuality with perverse displays, then it sets itself at odds with Christianity. The second standard for the Christian, along with the content and the manner of celebration, is that at no point does participation in American civil religion rise to an idolatrous level. For example, our civil religion encourages us to sing the National Anthem (a good thing) in a respectful manner (also appropriate). But if we are told that by singing the National Anthem, we are pledging our loyalty to the nation above all else, even God, then the civil religion has become idolatrous. In Exodus 20:2-3, God gives His people the first commandment, telling them, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. And in Deuteronomy 6:4, God reminds the Israelites to Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. In conclusion, I stand in the same place in which I started: No, American civil religion and Christianity are not necessarily at odds with each other. However, like patriotism or nationalism, civil religion for the Christian must take its rightful, assigned place on the list of our priorities, beneath our allegiance to God, the practice of our one true religion, Christianity, and the exercise of our Christian duties to God and man. Originally published at the Standing for Freedom Center. Google-owned Blogger censors pastor's open letter to parents on pride month for 'hate speech' A Texas pastor's open letter to his congregation on how parents can offer a Biblical response to pride month for their kids has been censored by the Google-owned blogging platform Blogger. Pastor Dan Phillips of Copperfield Bible Church in Houston shared a letter on Pyromaniacs, a blog from Grace to You Executive Director Phil Johnson hosted by Blogger. In the letter, Phillips explained how, in the beginning, God created man both male and female, according to the book of Genesis. "You remember that God made Adam and Eve, a man and a woman," Phillips wrote. "That's what sex means it means being a man, or being a woman." "So they took the whole month of June to pretend together that all these wrong and harmful things are good, and they call June 'Pride' month. Like the Bible says, their 'glory is in their shame' (Philippians 3:19)." After adding that "Jesus can save any sinner!" Phillips explained that Christians should not hold any hate in their heart toward anyone. "So we don't hate people who want bad things. We would be exactly the same if it weren't for Jesus," he wrote. "We love people who don't know Jesus, we pray for them, we want to help them, we want to tell them about Jesus." "And when they believe, we accept them and love them and help them to learn to walk with Jesus, just like we're doing." On June 8, Phillips tweeted that Blogger deleted the post "because they deem it 'hate speech.'" According to a screenshot of a Blogger administrator email shared by Phillips, the post was deleted because the content violated the company's "hate speech policy." Blogger's policy defines hate speech as "content that promotes or condones violence against or has the primary purpose of inciting hatred against an individual or group on the basis of their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or any other characteristic that is associated with systemic discrimination or marginalization." The Christian Post reached out to Google for comment on the post's removal. A response is pending. Phillips told CP that his objective with the pastoral letter was to demonstrate that Christians are "not showing hatred to homosexuals by preaching Christs redeeming Gospel." "I would argue that the hatred comes from those who tell them they have no hope of redemption, can only resign themselves to these cravings, and must insist they are 'proud' of them and 'gay' because of them," he said via email Monday. He also argued that by neglecting to identify LGBT individuals as sinners like everyone else, Christians are actually denying them the hope that is found in Christ Jesus. "We can only be clear on Christs salvation if we are clear on the sin from which He saves the repentant," said Phillips. "In a sad irony, classifying [LGBT individuals] as other than sinners has the corollary effect of removing the hope of salvation. "Christ came to save sinners, not rationalizers." The Blogger web publishing service which was bought by Google in 2003 has a form for users to report community violations, which includes the question, "How did you feel when you saw this post?" In response to Blogger's email, Phillips later asked, "Is Christian speech forbidden?" He added: "What is real hate speech? Real hate speech is telling people that they are doomed to live hopeless lives as slaves of destructive sin. It is telling them that other sinners can be redeemed and freed in Jesus Christ, but not them. It is telling them that their only hope is paper-thin rationalization and censorship of all contrary views. That's hate-speech." Phillips said Sunday that his sermon on pride month had become one of his church's most downloaded podcasts in nearly two decades. He tweeted: "Another little unexpected gift from Google's censorship. In just two weeks, the 'Pride Month?' sermon has become our 6th most downloaded sermon in seventeen years of posting sermons. May God bring fruit from it to His glory. Only eternity will tell." It's not the first time Google has been accused of censorship toward Christians. In 2019, the founder of an organization that serves military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder alleged that Google-owned YouTube barred him from running an advertisement that used "Christian" as a keyword but allowed him to run the same ad using "Muslim" as a keyword. In a separate incident, the head of a Lutheran publishing house in 2018 claimed Google stopped accepting advertisements related to the organization's website "because of the faith we express." Judge allows Texas to remove Planned Parenthood from Medicaid program A judge has issued an order allowing Texas to remove Planned Parenthood from the state Medicaid program, preventing the abortion provider from getting an injunction. State District Judge Lora Livingston of Travis County issued an order on Wednesday, blocking the injunction request, arguing that Planned Parenthood should pursue action through federal courts. This decision is not made lightly. In the light of the ongoing public health crisis, the risks of the individual losing healthcare and medical attention requires increased attention and scrutiny, wrote Livingston, as reported by the Austin-American Statesman. Jennifer Allmon, executive director of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, said in a statement approving of the removal that Texans already have better options for healthcare. There are hundreds of providers throughout the state of Texas willing to serve poor women with authentic healthcare services that are not also peddling abortion, stated Allmon, as reported by Life News. The Texas Pregnancy Care Network has a list of such providers throughout the state and if these providers do not accept Medicaid, they can make referrals to life-affirming Medicaid providers who can offer genuine healthcare to women in need. Dyana Limon-Mercado, the executive director of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, denounced Texas removal of Planned Parenthood from Medicaid as harming healthcare [abortion] access for the most vulnerable Texans. Planned Parenthood will do everything it can to protect and fight for its patients since it remains painfully clear that [Texas Gov. Greg] Abbott and his administration will continue to fail Texans in the most devastating ways, stated Limon-Mercado, as reported by NPR affiliate KUT. Last November, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an en banc ruling that said Texas and Louisiana could cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. Overturning an earlier panel opinion, the majority concluded that the law does not give Medicaid patients the right to challenge a states determination that a particular Medicaid provider is unqualified. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a supporter of his states Planned Parenthood Medicaid ban, released a statement last year approving of the Fifth Circuit's ruling. Planned Parenthood is not a qualified provider under the Medicaid Act, and it should not receive public funding through the Medicaid program, he stated. However, last month, Judge Maya Guerra Gamble had temporarily blocked Texas from removing Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program, arguing that the abortion provider deserved more time to make their case. Promoting LGBT kids' books, 'glory holes': 5 shocking discoveries in Fox News leak Leaked documents reveal that Fox Corporation, the parent company of the influential conservative cable news channel Fox News, has embraced LGBT ideology to a large degree and that one of the employees of the prominent news outlet is openly hostile to the channel's audience. Conservative commentator Matt Walsh, host of The Daily Wires The Matt Walsh Show, shared the contents of leaked documents provided by a Fox News employee in a lengthy Twitter thread Thursday. The documents show Fox Corporations support for LGBT ideology and promotion of sexually explicit material to its employees. ????1/ BREAKING: We've obtained internal docs from @FoxNews employees. Fox Corp is celebrating Pride by encouraging employees to read about glory holes, supporting a group that gives sterilizing hormones to homeless youth, & deployed woke AI to monitor everyone. EXPLICIT CONTENT: Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) June 15, 2023 Walshs latest Twitter thread comes three weeks after he suggested a boycott of Fox News due to a report showing that the cable channel allows trans-identified employees to enter bathrooms for either sex, meaning that men can enter women's restrooms and vice versa. And guarantees them the right to be addressed by their preferred pronouns. Additionally, Walshs earlier discussion about Fox News brought up the networks puff piece about a trans-identified teenager whose parents began transitioning the child at the age of 5. 'SoAppalling': Why the outrage over Fox News' trans child segment matters Walsh described the cable channel's promotion of LGBT ideology that its on-air personalities often criticize on their programs as a betrayal, concluding that there is absolutely no difference between Fox and any of the woke corporations that it pretends to criticize. Here's a list of five things to know about the latest information detailing Fox News embrace of LGBT ideology. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next Pennsylvania court rules against abortion clinics, state can limit Medicaid funding for abortion A Pennsylvania court has ruled against a group of abortion clinics suing the state over a law that limits Medicaid funding for abortion. A seven-judge panel of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled last week in the case of Allegheny Reproductive Health Center et al v. Pennsylvania Department of Human Services that the abortion clinics lacked the standing to sue. At issue in the lawsuit was Pennsylvanias Abortion Control Act, which prohibits the use of state and federal funds for abortions, with exemptions for rape, incest, and life-threatening medical emergency for the mother. President Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt authored the majority opinion, concluding that women enrolled in Medicaid, not the clinics, had the right to sue the state over the limits. We conclude that Reproductive Health Centers do not have standing to vindicate the constitutional rights of all women on Medical Assistance, some of whom may not be their patients, and who may or may not agree with the claims asserted on their behalf in the petition for review, wrote Leavitt. The interests of Reproductive Health Centers are not inextricably bound up with the equal protection interests of all women enrolled in Medical Assistance. Judge Ellen Ceisler, a member of the seven-judge panel, authored an opinion that dissented in part and concurred in part, arguing that the clinics did, in fact, have the standing to sue since they suffer direct financial damage because of the limits. Providers argue persuasively that analogous United States Supreme Court authority, adopted by this Court as applicable in Pennsylvania, confers standing in the circumstances of this case, wrote Ceisler. Pennsylvania House Republican Leadership, who alongside Democrat Governor Tom Wolf defended the law in court, released a statement celebrating the Commonwealth Court ruling. Pennsylvanias courts have been consistent for decades that medical assistance dollars and other publicly funded programs should not fund abortion procedures. This policy is consistent with existing federal law as well, stated House Republican Leadership last Friday. This case was brought forward by Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers who want to make abortions more prevalent in our communities. This ruling in our favor is a victory for all pro-life Pennsylvanians. The Womens Law Project, which argued the case on behalf of the clinics in court last October, denounced the ruling and vowed to appeal the case to the state Supreme Court. While the outcome was expected, a deeply disturbing aspect of todays ruling was that the Wolf Administration had challenged the abortion providers standing to bring this litigation, and the court agreed, stated the Project. The court determined that abortion providers cannot challenge abortion restrictions on behalf of their patients; in other words, the court asserted that pregnant patients must be the ones to go to court. Historic Presbyterian church in San Franciso hosts all-ages 'Drag Queen Bible Story Hour' Church's Facebook page: "For the gift of Drag Queens, O God, we give you thanks! For the first time in nearly 200 years, a Presbyterian church in San Francisco held Sunday services featuring drag performers speaking to audiences that included young children. Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco hosted a Drag Queen Bible Story Hour event Sunday with LGBT advocate Rev. Jane Spahr and performers Joann Fabrixxx and Flamy Grant. The church thanked God for the gift of drag queens and shared images of the event on social media. A Facebook post from June 18 read in part: ... We thank God for the great diversity present in this world and hold to the truth that each and every one of us is created in God's image and loved by God. For the gift of Drag Queens, O God, we give you thanks! #DragQueenBibleStoryHour The Rev. Victor Floyd told a local NBC affiliate that Calvary Presbyterian held the event in response to hateful rhetoric against drag performers in churches. Were hoping to offer a little balance to all of the hateful rhetoric that is out in the country and especially from churches and politicians, who are using churches and using trans people and drag queens as their props, Floyd was quoted as saying. Spahr, a self-described lesbian evangelist who has advocated for gay ordination in the PCUSA as far back as 1993, was convicted by a denominational PCUSA commission in 2010 for violating her ordination vows by conducting same-sex marriage ceremonies. In 2015, PCUSA voted to approve an amendment to its constitution to officially change their definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. Calvary Presbyterian, which was founded as a congregation in July 1854, has been named as an official San Francisco landmark and is included in the United States National Registry of Historic Places. The church also has advocated for using third-person pronouns for God and even has a banner hanging above the church entryway which reads, GOD: the original they/them. Calvary Presbyterians drag performance is the latest in a wave of churches not just in San Francisco but across the U.S. hosting men dressed in womens clothing to teach audiences of all ages. Last month, protesters, drag performers and at least one adult in a furry costume attended a so-called family-friendly drag show that was moved to a local church at the last minute. Kids were seen on video attending the Pride Prom event hosted by Grayson County Pride in Sherman, Texas, located about 65 miles north of Dallas. Another group of protesters, The New Columbia Movement, a Catholic advocacy group, marched with a flag reading DEFEND PURITY, REJECT PERVERSION were also on hand as they prayed the rosary alongside locals at the event. In October 2022, a United Methodist Church pastor in Florida invited a man dressed in womens clothing to preach a sermon with children seated next to him. Allendale UMC Senior Pastor Andy Oliver said he invited Isaac Simmons, who performs in drag as Ms. Penny Cost, to deliver the sermon on Oct. 2 because he wants all people to see people like themselves called by God to preach the Gospel. In a Facebook post, Oliver wrote that Simmons who was seen in a video clip of the service wearing a wig and a sequin dress was an angel in heels appearing to shepherds in the fields on the night shift, telling them that Good News had arrived on their doorstep. Trans activist convicted of triple homicide transferred to women's prison A trans activist found guilty of a triple homicide, a crime the presiding judge called "the most depraved crime" he had seen in over 30 years, will serve his life sentence at a California women's prison. David Chester Warfield, a biological male who identifies as a woman named Dana Rivers, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Wednesday. California Department of Corrections inmate locator portal lists the 68-year-old inmate as having been booked into the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla on Friday. Women's rights advocate Kara Dansky tweeted a screenshot Saturday, tagging California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener and the Democratic party in the tweet, writing, "We'll never stop fighting." Last year, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Scott Patton oversaw the trial where Warfield was found guilty of murdering Oakland resident Charlotte Reed, her wife, Patricia Wright, and Wright's 19-year-old son, Benny Toto Diambu-Wright, in November 2016. "It is a horrible thing to sentence someone to die in prison, and I don't take that lightly," Judge Scott Patton said during the Wednesday court hearing, according to The Mercury News. "But this is the most depraved crime I ever handled in the criminal justice system in 33 years. Frankly, you deserve to spend the rest of your life in prison." As The Berkeley Scanner reported on June 14, Patton sentenced Warfield to 150 years in prison. At the start of the hearing, the judge denied a motion for a new trial filed by defense attorney Melissa Adams. In the motion, Adams cited 26 alleged legal errors, including Warfield's inability to get a haircut before the trial and the use of certain crime scene photographs as evidence. Patton dismissed the defense attorney's claims as "trivial matters" that "in no way affected [Warfield's] trial in any meaningful fashion." According to the evidence, Warfield shot and stabbed Wright and Reed multiple times in the bedroom of their home. In December, a forensic psychologist referred to Warfield's stabbing of Reed 40 times after shooting her as "overkill" during his testimony. Wright's teenage son managed to make it outside of the house after he was shot in the torso before he collapsed in the street, The Berkeley Scanner reported. Following his arrest, Warfield entered a not guilty plea before later pleading not guilty by reason of insanity, according to the outlet. However, Patton ruled in January that the trans activist was sane when he committed the three murders. During the Wednesday hearing, prosecutor Abigail Mulvihill read a statement by Wright's younger brother, Richard Wright, who claimed he could not attend the hearing due to illness and the emotions surrounding the case. The murder victim's brother described his sister as the "rubberband of our family," declaring, "I miss my sister." "Dana Rivers chose to execute my family," he stated. "She chose to use every ounce of her entitlement to drag this out for years." "She chose her entitlement and narcissism over basic human decency," he continued. "Dana Rivers chose violence, cruelty, sadism and entitlement over and over and over again." Warfield made national headlines in 1999 after being fired for openly discussing "sexuality and the importance of gender self-determination" with his students at Center High School in Sacramento County, California. As The New York Times reported, Warfield told his students that he had been sodomized when he was young, that he was a woman trapped in a man's body and that he would be changing into a woman in the fall. The Center Unified School Board argued that Warfield's dismissal was based on objections from parents who felt the teacher should have obtained their permission before discussing such a topic with children. The board maintained that Warfield's gender identity was not relevant in its decision. According to The Mercury News, Warfield sued the school district, receiving $150,000 in the settlement. Warfield's ability to serve his life sentence at a women's prison is due to California's Senate Bill 132, implemented in 2021. The bill allows biological men who identify as female to request a transfer to a women's prison. During The Christian Post's "Unmasking Gender Ideology" event in March, Amie Ichikawa, who served five years in a California state prison and now heads the Woman II Woman prison advocacy group, argued that the 2021 bill caused conditions at Central California Women's Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla to deteriorate rapidly. In a bonus episode of CP's podcast series, "Generation Indoctrination: Inside The Transgender Battle," the former inmate recalled feeling "helpless" during the time she spent imprisoned alongside biological men. "Just to know that you have absolutely no control of your environment, your own physical wellbeing, your mental health, nothing. And there's really no one you can talk to about it," she said. "It's so unbelievable that I would call home every day crying for weeks, trying to explain to my family that there was a serial rapist housed here. And that this is legal, that the state really did it." World Refugee Day: Christian groups honor plight of the persecuted Christian organizations across the globe are highlighting the plight of refugees and displaced individuals worldwide in honor of World Refugee Day, which comes amid an exponential rise in people forcibly displaced from their homes over the past decade. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has reported a surge in the number of displaced persons worldwide due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order. At the close of 2021, the figure was 89.3 million. By mid-2022, it stood at 103 million. And at the end of 2022, it reached 108.4 million. In 2011, that figure was 38.54 million. This increase is largely attributed to ongoing conflicts such as those in Sudan and Russia's war on Ukraine, religious persecution, human rights violations, increasing violence against indigenous and African-descent communities and natural disasters. In response, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America emphasized the importance of its faith-guided mandate to seek justice, peace and protection for displaced persons. The mainline Protestant denomination highlighted the role of the United States as a global leader in refugee resettlement, urging for an increase in admissions. Last year, the U.S. resettled only 25,465 refugees, despite having an annual ceiling of 125,000, the ELCA lamented. Since World War II, Christians have been pivotal in efforts to help welcome refugees into their communities, as several of the organizations authorized by the State Department to resettle refugees are Christian organizations that partner with churches. The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the largest faith-based nonprofit in the U.S. dedicated to serving immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees, has welcomed over 500,000 refugees and asylum-seekers since 1939. The Adventist Development and Relief Agency observed World Refugee Sabbath on Saturday, affirming the need to respond to the struggles of the displaced. ADRA International President, Michael Kruger, stressed the importance of addressing refugees' basic needs and advocating for their rights. "World Refugee Day serves as a reminder that we must all work together to end the difficulties and adversities that millions of refugees and host communities face," ADRA International President Michael Kruger said. World Relief, a global Evangelical humanitarian organization authorized by the State Department to help resettle refugees in the U.S., is sharing refugee stories on its website to humanize the issue. In a video, a refugee named Milan said he fled his home in war-torn Burma when he was 16 years old. He is now married with two daughters. After 15 years of living in Malaysia, where they couldn't work or send their kids to school, they were selected for resettlement in South Carolina, where he found a job as a barista. "When I read my Bible about Joseph and Daniel, I see that they are really faithful to God, but they have trouble in their life," he said. "But they overcome their situation because God is almighty." The Evangelical Immigration Table highlighted the work of Calvary Chapel South in Kent, Washington, which established a barista training program for newly arrived refugees and immigrants that helps them prepare for and find employment. The program's creator, Holly Andrews, has also launched a training program at Brooklake Church in Federal Way, Washington. Thus far, the two churches have trained over 25 refugees. The ELCA and LIRS have invited their members to a national day of advocacy to engage their elected representatives at the federal level, urging all to learn more about refugee admissions in the U.S. and to advocate for neighbors in need through prayer and action. In the creative realm, the electro-pop band Ooberfuse premiered their song "Show Me Love" ahead of World Refugee Day, Independent Catholic News reported. In Virginia, Church World Service will celebrate World Refugee Day in downtown Harrisonburg, showcasing the strength and courage of refugees, according to WMRA. World Refugee Day, designated by the U.N., serves as an international reminder of the strength and courage of those forced to flee their homes due to conflict or persecution. As of this month, there are nearly 35.3 million refugees, 62.5 million internally displaced people, and 5.4 million asylum seekers, according to UNHCR, which says stateless individuals who lack nationality and consequently access to fundamental rights further compound this crisis. The agency reports that 76% of the world's refugees and individuals requiring international protection reside in low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, 70% of these refugees and individuals needing international protection dwell in nations adjacent to their countries of origin. More than half of all refugees and individuals needing international protection originate from merely three countries: Syria, Ukraine and Afghanistan. Deadly Storms In The South, Iowa Abortion Ruling, McLean Bible Church Lawsuit, And How Sexting Destroyed A Megachurch Pastor link to download the audio instead. link to download the audio instead. 06:54 06:54 Top headlines for Tuesday, June 20, 2023 In this podcast episode, we discuss the impact of powerful storms in the southern U.S., resulting in deaths and power outages for hundreds of thousands. We delve into key legal developments, from the Iowa Supreme Court's ruling on the state's heartbeat abortion law to the Court of Appeals of Virginia's decision on a lawsuit involving McLean Bible Church. Lastly, we reflect on former pastor Patrick Garcia's analogy about his departure from ministry, drawing insights from his presentation at the Bob Russell Ministries Mentoring Retreat. Subscribe to this Podcast Follow Us on Social Media Get the Edifi App Subscribe to Our Newsletter Links to the News Top headlines for Tuesday, June 20, 2023 In this podcast episode, we discuss the impact of powerful storms in the southern U.S., resulting in deaths and power outages for hundreds of thousands. We delve into key legal developments, from the Iowa Supreme Court's ruling on the state's heartbeat abortion law to the Court of Appeals of Virginia's decision on a lawsuit involving McLean Bible Church. Lastly, we reflect on former pastor Patrick Garcia's analogy about his departure from ministry, drawing insights from his presentation at the Bob Russell Ministries Mentoring Retreat. Christians join faith leaders in opposing Illegal Migration Bill Christians and other faith leaders have joined forces to oppose the Illegal Migration Bill currently making its way through Parliament. The launch of the campaign coincides with Refugee Week and is being co-ordinated by Together With Refugees. It has the support of the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, who arrived in the UK at the age of 14 as a refugee from Iran. She said, "This bill would allow the UK to turn its back on people in desperate need - denying safety to those who are vulnerable. Instead it would lock up people who have fled terrible circumstances in fear for their lives. "I arrived in this country aged 14 and was given protection and welcome. "But the proposals in this bill would mean detaining children who need help behind bars. I am proud to join with other faith leaders to stand with refugees against this bill. It does not represent who we are as faith leaders or as a nation." The Illegal Migration Bill would block people arriving in small boats across the Channel from claiming asylum. It would also allow people, including children, to be detained for an unlimited period of time. The proposals have been criticised by the UN, which said they "would amount to an asylum ban". In a video voicing their joint opposition, leaders from the Muslim, Christian and Jewish faiths say the Illegal Migration Bill would "punish" people seeking sanctuary from war, persecution or oppression. "As people of faith, we strive to welcome the stranger, to offer hospitality, to love, protect, listen, learn, and show compassion. This is who we are," they say. "Across the UK, now and throughout history, individuals and communities of faith have welcomed refugees into their homes and lives. When people travel across borders because they are fleeing war, persecution or oppression, we are ready to play our part. "But the Illegal Migration Bill will deny people desperately seeking safety in the UK the right to community, peace, compassion and security. It will ban people from getting the protection they need, punish them for seeking sanctuary, and separate families. Instead of hospitality, it treats people with hostility, discrimination and distrust. "We believe in a different approach. We believe in a fair and just asylum system that welcomes those who need protection and respects their dignity. We call on the government to listen to communities who say this bill does not reflect what we want our country to be. As people of faith, we will stand together with refugees, because it's who we are." Other Christians backing the campaign include the Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev John Perumbalath, Emily Shepherd, Co-CEO of Welcome Churches, and Rev Sally Foster-Fulton, Moderator of the Church of Scotland General Assembly. Decriminalising abortion would harm more women and babies Last week, news broke that a 44-year-old mother of three was jailed for two years for inducing an abortion after the legal limit. Carla Foster took abortion pills while almost eight months pregnant, leading to her unborn baby, Lily, being stillborn. The judge overseeing the case described the mother's overwhelming remorse and brokenness about what happened. This case is both shocking and heartbreaking. I believe it demands a two-fold response both lament about the death of a beautiful baby, and compassion for a mother who has suffered unimaginable trauma. Sadly, we haven't seen this from many in the political sphere in recent days. Instead, we've seen cynical campaigning. 'Pro-choice' groups and politicians are using the case to call for full decriminalisation of abortion in England and Wales, as is currently the case in Northern Ireland. While decriminalisation would mean women in situations like Ms Foster's would not face prosecution, it wouldn't do anything to reduce harm to women or babies. Decriminalisation is the first step in a campaign seeking to remove abortion restrictions altogether. Campaigners want women to be able to opt for an abortion at any stage of pregnancy up to birth itself, with no consequences. More traumatic late-term abortions would be the result. Campaigners who want this refuse to recognise the humanity of an unborn baby until it is outside the womb. Their position is extreme, and out-of-step with wider public attitudes. In England and Wales, late term abortion at 24 weeks or later is only permitted in narrow circumstances. For example, when the mother's life is thought to be at risk, or the baby has a disability. At present, late term abortions account for a small number of all abortions. In 2020, there were 236 abortions at 24 weeks or later in England and Wales; 229 of which were based on the baby having a disability. A total of 46 were at 32 weeks or later. These numbers are very small when you consider that the total number of abortions in England and Wales in 2020 reached 209,917. Do we really want to open the floodgates to unrestricted abortions after eight months' gestation? Polling suggests that most women favour a lower abortion limit, as is the case in most European nations. The UK's current 24-week regime is among the most permissive in the world. Stella Creasy MP Tweeted that "this case reveals the bitter truth contrary to what some claim. Abortion is not legal in England - you can be prosecuted for having one." That is because at the end of the day, Carla Foster's actions resulted in the death of her baby. She acted outside the law of the land which, mercifully, still provides some protection to the unborn. I feel compassion for Foster and recognise that she acted out of desperation. She was also let down badly by BPAS, which supplied her pills via a telemedicine abortion scheme that is proven to be dangerous. At the same time, it is right that she is facing consequences for her actions. The fact that Foster feels regret about what she did confirms that she knows that it was wrong. The sentence handed down will deter other women from acting as she has and causing harm to their babies and themselves. It's important to stress that full decriminalisation of abortion will not resolve some of the systemic issues that drive women towards it. It is long past time politicians across the UK looked beyond abortion and asked what services and support is available to women who are pregnant. Abortions have reached a record high in our nation and, contrary to what abortion groups claim, this isn't the mark of a compassionate society. A 2022 report found that almost 1 in 5 women claim the cost of childcare was the main reason they chose to have an abortion. We need politicians to be advocating for changes to legislation that will allow women to make life-affirming choices. Decriminalisation is a wrong and damaging solution to a much larger and more complex problem. Dr Rebecca Stevenson is a Policy Officer at Christian Action Research and Education (CARE) Kristie Higgs should never have been sacked In 2018 when Kristie Higgs shared Facebook posts with her friends criticising inappropriate material being used in sex education classes in her child's school she was sacked for gross misconduct. Her crime? Sharing widespread concerns about the sexualisation of children in schools. Or in other words, caring for children. Christian Concern supported Kristie as she took her case to the Employment Tribunal where she brought a claim for discrimination and harassment against the school. She lost that case in 2020, and the Employment Appeal Tribunal has finally now ruled that Kristie has grounds for her case to be remitted for reconsideration because she was merely manifesting her Christian beliefs which constitute a protected characteristic. Government now concerned about sex education Kristie's concerns are now mainstream. Just last week, the government announced the formation of an independent expert advisory panel to advise the government on a review of relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). This panel will advise the government on what is appropriate or not appropriate to be taught in RSHE at different ages. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak himself called for a review into sex education after more than 50 Conservative MPs wrote to him with concerns that "children are being indoctrinated with radical and unevidenced ideologies about sex and gender." Miriam Cates MP, in particular, has been outspoken in criticising completely inappropriate content such as graphic lessons on oral sex, how to choke your partner safely, and 72 genders. Kristie sacked for sharing the same concerns Back in 2018, Kristie was alarmed by what she read about what passes for sex education in some primary schools. She posted a link to a petition on Facebook encouraging others to share their concerns by signing the petition. Kristie's Facebook account was in her maiden name and had no links to her employer. A similar petition was subsequently signed by over 115,000 people, leading to a debate in Parliament. Kristie also shared an article which critiqued the notorious 'No Outsiders' programme for promoting LGBT ideology in schools. Kristie commented "This is happening in our primary schools now." She was aware that this material was being introduced in her son's Church of England primary school. An anonymous Facebook 'friend' complained to her employer about her posts, and, incredibly, she found herself sacked for gross misconduct. During the investigation, Kristie's views were compared to 'pro-Nazi' views, and she was accused of being intolerant. Double recusal of Employment Tribunal panel members With the help of the Christian Legal Centre, Kristie took her case to the Employment Tribunal which ruled against her in October 2020. So she took her case to the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Very unusually, in July 2022, the judge was forced to recuse one of the panel members from presiding because he was clearly a trans activist who had made a number of public statements relating to key issues in Kristie's case. The judge rightly concluded that there could be a perception of bias. Even more unusually, in what is perhaps an unprecedented occurrence, a second member of the panel was also forced to recuse himself in March this year for perception of bias because he had publicly campaigned on the same issues that Kristie's Facebook posts were about. This double recusal demonstrates the evident bias of Employment Tribunal panel members, many of whom are clearly LGBT activists. The judge decided she should hear the appeal on her own in order not to delay the appeal any further. Christians need to be vocal It really beggars belief that someone could be sacked for sharing concerns about sex education in schools. Surely it is those who are not concerned about sex education who should be sacked! Those who are sexualising children and perverting their minds. Those who are grooming children into LGBT lifestyles. Surely we want more people like Kristie in our schools who care for the moral welfare of our children! Conversely, if no-one complains, schools will believe that no-one objects to what is being taught. Then we will be guilty of acquiescing to the sexualisation of more children. It is vocal LGBT activists who are very deliberately pushing extreme sexual material to young children under the guise of sex education. Then when parents request sight of the offending material, the organisations are too embarrassed to share it. Let's remember that the government review would not have happened were it not for multiple vocal complaints about the content of sex education in schools. We cannot allow vocal LGBT extremists to indoctrinate our children. I hope and pray that the government review comes up with some robust recommendations about what is and is not age appropriate. The government should also require schools, or organisations that schools use, to make public the lesson contents of all sex education lessons. The morality of a whole generation is at stake. Public debate requires ability to freely speak We also hope that Kristie is finally vindicated when her case is re-heard. The judge recognised that the facts of the case "touch on matters of current public debate relating to same-sex relationships, transgender issues and the way such matters are addressed in schools." Should a school worker not be allowed to participate in this debate on pain of dismissal for gross misconduct? If people who work in the area concerned cannot express their informed views then we are not able to have a legitimate democratic public debate about these matters. This should concern us all. Kristie's concerns are now mainstream - so mainstream that they are now shared by the government. Yet she lost her job for vocalising them. This is perverse and clearly unjust. Her dismissal cannot be allowed to stand. Tim Dieppe is co-author with Beth Peltola of Questions to Ask Your Muslim Friends, published by Wilberforce Publications, 2022. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Finding the answer to the worlds most pressing issues rests on one crucial capability: high performance computing (HPC). With HPC, complex questions that have puzzled humankind for centuries are being unraveled at record speedssuch as unlocking mysteries of the universe, finding cures for diseases, sequencing DNA, and mitigating the impacts of climate change. The supercomputers that power HPC, however, require more and more energy to operate. For instance, the power consumption of the worlds fastest supercomputer rose from 7.9MW in 2012 to 29.9MW in 2022. Its no wonder thatper a recent study commissioned by Dell Technologies, Intel and NVIDIAHPC operators have elevated the importance of sustainability to the number two priority, even surpassing price. We applaud and support the efforts of HPC operators to improve sustainability. That means we must collectively and continuously work to manage HPCs power requirements in areas where we can have a measurable impact. There are three ways to do this: Maximize hardware energy efficiency Consolidate infrastructure Use renewable energy sources Deploying Energy-Efficient Hardware The Hyperion Research study found three geo-specific motivations for the heightened prioritization of sustainability in HPC deployments. These motivations help shape geo-specific conversations about sustainability. As depicted in the figure below, The Asia-Pacific region is driven by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals region is driven by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals In Europe , organizations are concerned about rising, and thus unmanageable energy costs , organizations are concerned about rising, and thus unmanageable energy costs North America is motivated to do more with less Dell Universally, 60% of respondents in the study said sustainability initiatives will impact their on-premises HPC budgets. Interestingly, half of those respondents said sustainability initiatives will reduce on-premises purchases; the other half indicated that sustainability initiatives will increase them. For respondents anticipating an HPC budget reduction, the goal is to reallocate dollars to sustainability initiatives. Dollars are moving to purchasing new energy-efficient hardware or devoting resources to optimization efforts or changing where HPC workloads are run. Dell Technologies, NVIDIA, and Intel are supporting these organizational efforts. For instance, Dell Technologies, a committed steward of sustainability, has worked to decrease energy intensity across its entire portfolio, achieving a 76% reduction since 2013. Consolidating Infrastructure Beyond the individual hardware components, designing and deploying HPC infrastructure is a sophisticated undertaking. Ensuring infrastructure is consolidated and set up for optimal performance is a key lever to accelerating sustainability initiatives. At Durham University, this principle is fundamental to providing HPC resources. Since 2001, Durham Universitys tier 1 national supercomputing facility has supported scientists and researchers around the world and is using HPC to build a digital simulation of the universe, starting with the Big Bang. During an infrastructure upgrade, Dell Technologies helped Durham University optimize and modernize its infrastructure to achieve performance enhancements and improved sustainability. The results include 18X faster data backups, 72% less power, and a reduction of 60 tons of CO 2 per year. Using Renewable Energy Sources In addition to reducing the energy intensity of hardware and consolidating HPC infrastructure, sustainability initiatives are also advancing with the use of renewable energy sources. A great example of that is atNorth and BNP Paribas. When it came time to update its infrastructure, BNP Paribas, a leading bank in the European Union, turned to atNorth and Dell Technologies to help it expand responsibly and build a future-proofed HPC infrastructure. BNP Paribas moved a portion of its data center operations to atNorths facility in Iceland, an economical, energy-efficient data center operating 100% on renewable energy. As a result, BNP Paribas lowered its total cost of ownership (TCO) with 50% less energy and 85% less CO 2 output. In addition, BNP Paribas increased power efficiency at higher compute density, achieving future-proofed, more environmentally-responsible HPC resources. By using only renewable energy sources and decreasing our carbon footprint by 85%, BNP Paribas is realizing its dual mission to reduce its environmental impact and better serve our customers, shared Ricardo Jantarada, Global Head of Telecom & Datacenter at BNP Paribas. Advancing Environmentally Sustainable HPC HPC holds great promise to unlock some of humankinds most pressing, complex issues. At the same time, deploying HPC sustainably has risen to a top priority, as shown by research with organizations around the world. To advance sustainable HPC deployments requires action in three major areas: hardware energy efficiency, infrastructure consolidation, and renewable energy sources. Starting today helps accelerate sustainability initiatives to create a better tomorrow for all. Want to learn more about HPCs amazing possibilities? View The Seven Wonders of the HPC World here. Learn more about Dell Technologies environmentally sustainable HPC solutions here. ______________ Sponsored by Dell Technologies, Intel and NVIDIA, the Hyperion Research survey had worldwide coverage with a strong focus on international sites and sustainability questions relating to HPC, artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and the results of using HPC. Data was collected via direct interviews and surveys of HPC and Cloud Service Provider (CSP) data center managers, directors, or leads as well as scientists, researchers, and engineers. The adoption of multiple clouds by European business and public agencies continues to increase due to the need for competitive differentiation and growth through speed, quality, and the delivery of great customer experiences. To achieve these goals, IT and business executives must manage challenges across data governance, security, and compliance to protect sensitive customer, citizen, and country data using privacy, access, and security controls. For further details, check out the IDC report on sovereign cloud here. Data has become both a business and national asset. The ability of enterprises and governments to control data and run workloads while operating within legal jurisdiction, complying with multi-jurisdictional regulations, and protecting against unauthorized access requires a critical set of sovereign capabilities which are essential for customer trust and business growth. Given this transformational journey, sovereign clouds should be included as part of a multicloud strategy. Using common sovereign tenants and principles is becoming increasingly necessary while at the same time supporting capabilities that deliver efficiency, reduce complexity, and enable standardization. This approach provides a foundation from which IT and business teams can ensure that the necessary solutions are in place to control, secure, and store data in compliance with relevant regional, national, and (where applicable) international laws and guidelines. A multicloud architecture can provide layers to meet local and national regulations, and thereby give organizations greater choices and flexibility across multiple sovereign cloud environments. Fundamentally, a multicloud approach to sovereign cloud is about unlocking and supporting emerging data economies with as little complexity and uncertainty as possible. This approach empowers enterprises to focus more on serving their stakeholders through innovation and growth. Additionally, a multicloud approach to sovereign cloud enables legacy application and back-end infrastructure modernization. Technology executives must understand that establishing a sovereign cloud is complex and difficult, especially without assistance from a partner or vendor with deep expertise. There are various complex dimensions spanning data security and data protection, understanding regulations and their impact on technology needs, and the complexity of driving standardization and controls across multiple clouds. In addition, data classification for a sovereign cloud is essential for its success. This complexity requires technology leaders to build expertise with strategic partners who have the depth and bench strength to deploy a sovereign cloud. As part of a sovereign cloud foundation, multicloud tools enable organizations to tailor infrastructure to their specific needs, and respond in an agile way to data privacy, security, and geopolitical disruptions. When it comes to vendor and partner support, customers should not expect to create a sovereign cloud on their own because of the required complexity and expertise. Lets take two examples of sovereign cloud deployments using large global professional service partners, VMware and Broadcom. VMwares technology has been a critical foundation for driving innovation and scale for governments and public agencies in Europe for many years. With a set of tools that can position customers to work across multiple clouds, VMware can enable the critical foundational requirements for a sovereign cloud, and has been an instrumental partner in the process of driving innovation for governments and public agencies in Europe. After its pending acquisition by Broadcom, VMware will be supported by Broadcoms lengthy track record of significant R&D investments, an innovation-focused culture, and commitment to customers. Broadcoms acquisition of VMware creates opportunities for the new, combined organization to offer customers a more complete set of sovereign cloud capabilities. Such a set of capabilities could help accelerate digital transformation across Europe while also furthering the needs and objectives of sovereign clouds. Digging deeper into multicloud technology capabilities, enterprises must consider how to manage the necessary controls, security, and data transparency required for a sovereign cloud. Without the right technology foundation that empowers these capabilities, the successful deployment of a sovereign cloud is simply not possible. Additional key areas customers must consider enabling a sovereign cloud include: Basing the technology architecture on a resilient and scalable architecture that takes advantage of process automation across application, service, and operational tasks and capabilities Taking a focus on data and security policies that deliver layers of digital protection and sovereignty across the software development pipeline and service operations Enabling processes that empower jurisdictional controls, and an ability to adjust to geo-political dynamics, enabling business and IT teams to manage and control confidential data via advanced methods and practices Enabling an organization to adopt country-specific regulatory, compliance, and data requirements, (regardless of the underlying cloud platforms) with data control points and reporting mechanisms Multi cloud solutions like those offered by VMware provide European enterprises and the public sector with a flexible, consistent digital foundation to build, run, manage, connect, and protect their most important and complex workloads. Once Broadcom completes its pending acquisition of VMware, the combined company can make new and significant R&D investments, develop a stronger and broader set of innovations, and foster larger professional service partnerships focused on multicloud capabilities to power and enable sovereign cloud. Learn more about sovereign cloud in IDCs Market Perspective: Considering a Sovereign Cloud? A Blueprint for IT and Business Executives About Steven Elliot: IDC Stephen Elliot is Group Vice President at IDC, responsible for P&L and team management for multiple programs spanning IT operations, observability, AlOPs, ITSM, DevOps, automation, virtualization, multi-cloud management, FinOps, end point management, log analytics, container management, DaS, cloud native management and software defined compute. Mr. Elliot advises Senior IT, business and investment executives globally in the creation of strategy and operational tactics that drive the execution of digital transformation and business growth. Primeste notificari pe email Nota bene: Adresele email cu extensia .ru nu sunt acceptate. Contractare si Achizitie Bunuri Anunturi de Angajare Granturi - Finantari Burse de studiu Stagii Profesionale Oportunitati de voluntariat Toate Articolele In recent days, we saw significant movement in a case involving federal charges under the Espionage Act against an individual alleged to have mishandled highly sensitive official information. Julian Assangethe founder of WikiLeaks, which, in the early 2010s, published a trove of leaked defense and diplomatic documentshas been fighting his extradition from the UK, where he is currently in prison, to face the espionage charges in the US; in 2021, a judge ruled in his favor, citing risks to his mental health, but a higher court overturned that verdict, and, earlier this month, denied him permission to appeal, ruling that he had not raised any properly arguable point. Assanges supporters say that the extradition threatens his human rights and that the charges he faces in the US criminalize truth-telling. In any case, he plans to fight on. Recent days, of course, also brought a raft of fresh Espionage Act charges against another individual: Donald Trump, who stands accused under the act of willfully retaining classified materials after leaving the White House in 2021. He has also been charged, under different statutes, with concealing the documents from federal law enforcement officials, making false statements about them, and conspiring with an aide to obstruct the investigation in the case. Trump and his allies have since whined that the charges amount to targeted political persecution and are incorrectly predicated: Trump himself said that the Espionage Act is designed for the prosecution of traitors and spies, and that he is nothing of the sort; Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, acknowledged that Trump may have committed wrongdoing, but insisted, He is not a spy. He is overcharged. The word espionage, of course, does typically refer to spying. But as many observers have pointed out, the Espionage Act (with its capital E and A) is much broader in scope than this classical definition might suggestnot only in theory, but in practice, not least under the presidency of Donald Trump. According to the CNN fact checker Daniel Dale, at least seven comparatively obscure individuals have been convicted of retaining sensitive documents since Trump took office in 2017; just this month, Robert Birchum, an Air Force intelligence officer, was sentenced to three years in prison after acknowledging that he stashed hundreds of papers at his home and in other locations. And presidentsagain, very much including Trumphave increasingly wielded the act against leakers who have disseminated such materials, either to the news media or online. Just last week, prosecutors brought additional Espionage Act charges against Jack Teixeira, the Air National Guardsman accused of posting classified information to Discord. Since being charged, Trump has been mentioned in the same breath as various other leakers, including Reality Winner, who was jailed for passing proof of Russian election interference to The Intercept; Daniel Hale, who was jailed for leaking information about Americas use of drone warfare, also to The Intercept; and Teixeira. (Writing for the New York Times, Oona A. Hathaway, a Yale law professor, noted suggestions that both Trump and Teixeira may have kept hold of classified information to win clout among friends.) This vein of commentary, particularly as applied to the likes of Winner and Hale, risks concealing obvious, important differences: Trump is in no way a whistleblower acting in the public interest, and he has not been accused of leaking or widely disseminating the documents he retained. (James Risen, a veteran national-security reporter at The Intercept, called such comparisons facile.) Yet Trump has at least been accused of bragging to acquaintances about retaining classified material. And his case has, at the very least, begun to spark a broader conversation around the Espionage Acta conversation to which whistleblowing, and by extension journalism, are absolutely central. The Espionage Act dates to World War I. It was first passed in 1917 and subsequently bolstered to clamp down on supposedly seditious anti-war dissent, including among members of the press; Victor Berger, a newspaper editor turned Socialist congressman, was convicted under the act, as was the activist and writer Emma Goldman. (Publications linked to both individuals were denied mail privileges by the postal service.) Provisions targeting dissent were later struck off, but the informational core of the Espionage Act survived and, since the fifties, has not been significantly revised. (The act predates the modern classification system and so applies to the broader category of national-defense informationthough these days, documents falling under the act are typically classified.) During the Cold War, the act was wielded against alleged spies like Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were accused of passing nuclear and other secrets to the Soviet Union and eventually handed the death penalty. (As fate would have it, yesterday marked the seventieth anniversary of their executions.) Prosecutions of whistleblowers under the Espionage Act were once rare: according to Heidi Kitrosser, a law professor at Northwestern University, the act had only been used to target sources for news organizations on three occasions by the time George W. Bush left office in 2009. The Obama administration, however, aggressively went after government leakers. Trump maintained something like the same pace. Prosecutions of leakers havent always invoked the Espionage Act, but they often have, and critics of the law, from press-freedom advocates to progressive members of Congress, have repeatedly argued that it should be amended to enshrine some degree of legal protection for whistleblowers who leak information in the public interest. Others have argued that the act in its present form is unconstitutional and should be thrown out by the courts. Around the time that the recent charges against Trump were unsealed, Ryan Grim, The Intercepts DC bureau chief, pointed out that Daniel Ellsbergthe whistleblower who leaked the Pentagon Papers to the press in the early seventies and was charged under the Espionage Act, only for the case to be thrown outhas often made this argument. On Friday, Ellsberg was in the news againhe died, aged ninety-two. Charlie Savage, of the Times, subsequently reported that Ellsberg had sought, as his life neared its end, to get charged again under the Espionage Act, as a vehicle to try to convince the Supreme Court that it violates the First Amendment. In 2021, Ellsberg passed Savage a decades-old classified record that was still in his possession, concerning US plans for a nuclear strike on China. Savage published a story, but Ellsberg was never charged. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Even many critics of the Espionage Act dont believe that it is unconstitutional in every sense; Jameel Jaffer, the director of Columbias Knight First Amendment Institute, told MSNBCs Mehdi Hasan last week that he doesnt know of any First Amendment advocate whos ever said that, adding that the argument has always been that the act is unconstitutional as applied to publishers and whistleblowers. Who gets to call themselves a publisher or a whistleblower can be a thorny question, as Jaffer noted. Trumps alleged conduct clearly doesnt place him in either bracket, and journalists have no obvious professional interest in defending its legality. The problem here is thathowever different the cases of Trump and, say, Winner or Hale might bethe Espionage Act currently leaves no room to assess motivation or public interest. As Thomas Drake, a former top national-security official turned whistleblower, put it, the deep irony is that the Espionage Act, in its contemporary use, cant tell Trump and Hale apart. The closer you look, the hazier the lines here become; in his defense of Trump against claims of espionage as spying, for instance, Graham seemed to elide, in his definition of that term, leaks intended to damage this country to both foreign powers and news organizations. At the very least, much as the initial probe into Trumps mishandling of classified documents opened an adjacent, wider media debate as to whether the US government classifies too much information, we should hope that the Espionage Act charges against Trump, however solid they prove to be, might shine a broader spotlight on the act itself, and whether its recent applicationnot least, but not only, by Trumphas served the public good. As Kitrosser put it in an article for Lawfare, at the same time that the Trump administrations prosecution record undermines the notion that Trumps indictment is political persecution, both things should lead us to rethink the Espionage Acts capaciousness. Indeed, the gulf between Trumps alleged behavior and that of the media sources prosecuted by his administration illustrates the extraordinary breadth of the act. Ellsberg once warned Savage that the Espionage Acts extraordinary breadth could in theory allow the government to weaponize it not only against those who leak documents to the press, but the reporters who publish them, or evenperhapsthose who read their articles and dont immediately alert the authorities. Already, such fears are not purely theoretical: press-freedom groups have repeatedly warned that the Espionage Act charges against Assange cross the Rubicon by criminalizing activities that constitute routine reporting techniques. That it was Trumps administration that filed these charges may look, in light of last weeks news, to be ironic. But the Biden administration has continued to press them. As the Freedom of the Press Foundation noted after the British courts recent rejection of Assanges plan to appeal, his case is not about one individual, its about freedom of the press. Trumps case is not about freedom of the press. But the Espionage Act is, and the debate around it is far bigger than Trump, too. Other notable stories: ICYMI: The tech platforms have surrendered in the fight over election-related misinformation Update: This post has been updated to clarify a reference to accusations about Trumps dissemination of classified documents. Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop. An injured truck driver described as pretty tough by her doctor after she finally sought treatment more than a year after a back injury was eligible for total temporary disability benefits despite the late notice, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled Friday. The high court reversed a decision by a divided Court of Appeals panel that found Donna Splawn Sprouse waited too long to report her claim, that her back pain was caused by pre-existing sciatica, and that she wasnt disabled for the length of time that she claimed. In a unanimous opinion, the high court said the appellate panel improperly reweighed evidence to arrive at different conclusions than the Industrial Commission. A claimants pre-existing medical condition cannot properly be deemed to constitute a complete bar to a successful workers compensation claim when a plaintiff provides evidence to support the Commissions conclusion that a work-related accident has caused a new injury that aggravated or accelerated the individuals pre-existing condition, the opinion says. The high court also reversed the Court of Appeals finding that Sprouse did not give timely notice and its decision on the period of time she was disabled. The Court of Appeals, they totally ignored the doctors testimony and inserted their own opinion for the doctors, which you are not allowed to do under our rules, Sprouses attorney, Scott W. Roberts in Gastonia, said. The Court of Appeals wasnt supposed to touch it. They not only touched it, they tore it part. Donna Sprouse and her husband John Sprouse were both employed as long-haul tractor-trailer drivers for the Mary B. Turner Trucking Co. On Sept. 24, 2016, Donna was driving westbound on Interstate 40 in Tennessee when the right front tire of their rig exploded, causing the truck to crash into an embankment. John Sprouse, who was in the cabs sleeper at the time of the crash, sustained foot and shoulder injuries. Donna was stiff and sore but did not suspect that she suffered any serious injury. She informed her employer on the day of the accident but did not seek medical help immediately, saying later that she was focused on getting her husband back to their home in North Carolina. Two days after the accident, Donna Sprouse sought treatment with her primary care provider for soreness and muscle spasms. A nurse practitioner prescribed anti-inflammatory medications and a muscle relaxer. Sprouse continued to experience pain after the crash but thought it was connected to previously diagnosed sciatica. She and her husband both returned to work in January 2017. By September 2017, Sprouse sought treatment again when her fingers became numb. A nurse practitioner diagnosed acute left lumbar radiculopathy and ordered a magnetic resonance imaging test. After an MRI was taken in December 2017, the nurse practitioner determined Sprouse had moderate to severe stenosis. She was referred to Dr. Matthew J. McGirt, a spinal neurosurgeon. In the meantime, Sprouses symptoms grew worse. She started dragging her foot and suffered weakness in her arms, which caused her to drop things. McGirt determined that Sprouse had two herniated discs in her cervical spine, the result of compression during the September 2016 truck crash. He reported that she was temporarily totally disabled from Sept. 28, 2017 the date she visited her nurse practitioner for numbness in her fingers. McGirt testified at the Industrial Commission that Sprouse was pretty tough because . . . she had some pretty darn significant weakness that she was not coming in and screaming nor did we have a long drawn out workers [sic] comp conversation nor a causation conversation. McGirt filed a notice with her employer that she was injured because of the September 2016 accident on Feb. 8, 2018. McGirt performed fusion surgery to correct the herniated discs on Feb 12. Sprouse returned to work on April 21, 2018. The Industrial Commission found that McGirts testimony was credible and awarded Sprouse temporary disability benefits from Sept. 28, 2017 until the date she returned to work after surgery. Although North Carolina law requires claimants to provide written notice of workplace injuries within 30 days, the Industrial Commission decided that she had a reasonable excuse because she had notified her employer about the accident on the date it happened and had not sought care for a work injury until much later only because she was not aware that her injury was caused by the accident. Accident Fund appealed the commissions opinion and award. Two of the three judges on the Court of Appeals panel that heard the case decided that Sprouse had not given timely notice, that her injury was caused by a pre-existing condition and that she was not disabled until the date of her surgery, Feb. 8, 2018. The Supreme Court agreed with dissenting judge on the appellate panel, who wrote that the majority had essentially reweighed the evidence to come to a different conclusion than the Industrial Commission. The appellate courts duty goes no further than to determine whether the record contains any evidence tending to support the finding, the opinion says. At each stage of its analysis in the present case, the Court of Appeals majority significantly departed from these well-established principles of appellate review by making its own credibility determinations, viewing the evidence in a light which was not most favorable to plaintiff, and usurping the Commissions role as factfinder in this workers compensation matter, the high court said. The Supreme Court reversed the decision and restored the Industrial Commissions opinion and award. BEACHWOOD, Ohio -- A warm, sunny day with music in the air and the smell of food wafting about, combined for the perfect setting for the citys first Juneteenth celebration. While other local communities, such as University Heights, South Euclid, Richmond Heights and Pepper Pike, held their Juneteenth events over the weekend, Beachwoods celebration actually took place on the holiday, Monday, June 19. The well-attended event had visitors watching their steps, as a great many children played in the playground just west of the Beachwood Family Aquatic Center and people crowded around the food trucks and the booths from which 30 vendors sold their wares. Meanwhile, still others line-danced to the music spun by DJ Huff, Jr. just outside the aquatic center wall. Juneteenth marks the day in 1865, about two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, in which Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas and announced that to the countrys last slaves that they had been freed. Celebrated ever since among some within the African-American community, President Joe Biden declared the day a national holiday in 2021 by signing into law the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. Northfield's Sonyette Farrier was among the 30 vendors who took part in the Juneteenth event. Farrier's business is called Foot Traffic & Accessories. I love it. I love it, said Sonyette Farrier, who was at the Beachwood event as a vendor selling footwear from her part-time business, Foot Traffic & Accessories. I was just telling my husband I was glad to see how many people came out to support the Juneteenth event. But Im hoping they understand the purpose behind Juneteenth. Weve been celebrating Juneteenth for about 25 years, but I lived on the East Coast, where its very prominent, she said. When I moved back here, a lot of people didnt even know what Juneteenth was about. Last year, when they made it a national holiday, I think thats where the awareness kind of struck. This year, people are really out and about. Now, with all this going on, hopefully our youth are aware of it and people arent just taking it to be a day off from work, a holiday. They understand the purpose behind why were celebrating. (Young people) havent been educated (about Juneteenth), and our seniors have to educate the youth. It has to be taught in schools and they have to be exposed to it, what really happened, and they have to understand the storyline of what took place. Working with the city of Beachwood, the recently formed parents group African American Affinity Group, organized the city's Juneteenth event. From left are Treasurer Donna Houston; Danelle Edwards, who handles public relations; President Kandi Kee-Bey; Vice President Lori Crump; and Secretary Sharnez Williams. Working as a shoe distributor for 17 years, Farrier, of Northfield, said the business is her hobby she uses to relax. For her main job, she works as a cardiovascular technician at the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center to serve those who have served us. The Beachwood event kicked off with a trio of Beachwood Middle School students singing Lift Every Voice and Sing, also known as the Black national anthem, and a few words from Mayor Justin Berns. In addressing those gathered, Berns told of how this was the citys inaugural Juneteenth celebration. Were hoping this will be an annual Juneteenth celebration and it looks like, from all aspects, it will be an annual celebration, Berns said. I never anticipated a turnout like what we have. Berns also noted that, after City Council approved June 12 the expenditure of $3.4 million for a new playground, that youngsters at next years event will be treated to new equipment upon which they can have fun. Organizers for the first Juneteenth celebration in Beachwood were the five members of an organization known as the African American Affinity Group. The women are Black mothers of children who attend Beachwood City Schools. The group formed in January and, said Vice President Lori Crump, spent the past two months organizing the Juneteenth event, including lining up the vendors. All but one of the vendors at the event are African Americans. Treasurer Donna Houston said that the Beachwood Schools have various volunteer affinity groups, and that the African American Affinity Group is the latest to form. Look at the turnout we have, isnt it amazing? Houston said. Were overwhelmed with the turnout. This is important because its a celebration of the end of slavery, she said. Were here to spread diversity. This is a celebration of diversity and bringing people together. When people think of Beachwood, they maybe think of Jewish people, but this is a diverse community. Its Jewish, African-American, Asian, Hispanic, and more. Theres a lot of diversity in Beachwood. Attendees enjoy some line dancing at the Beacwhood Juneteenth celebration. See more Sun Press news here. CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Organizers of the 10th annual Democracy Day held at City Hall earlier this month pointed out that no money was exchanged for the peoples right to free speech. At issue is corporations right to be counted as people and their corporate money -- lots of it -- in turn constituting protected speech under the U.S. Supreme Courts Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission (FEC) decision handed down in 2010. In 2013, Cleveland Heights voters overwhelmingly passed a citizens initiative supporting an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to clearly state that: -- Only human beings, and not corporate entities of any kind, are entitled to constitutional rights -- Money is not speech, and therefore money in politics can be regulated. We have seen the ways that vast wealth and unaccountable corporate power pre-empt and eclipse democratic institutions, host and moderator Carla Rautenberg said prior to the June 7 public hearing. This has greatly worsened since the Supreme Courts Citizens United decision of 2010, and specifically, in the State of Ohio. Nearly 20 people spoke at the YouTube-broadcasted hearing before Mayor Kahlil Seren and City Council, many touching on those issues. Its not just a matter of Democracy Day for League of Women Voters Cleveland Heights-University Heights Chapter Chair Wendy Deuring. This is more like Democracy Summer for the State of Ohio, Deuring said, citing a very special election coming up Aug. 8, with those in power -- generally due to gerrymandered voting districts -- counting on a low voter turnout for State Issue 1. Supporters of Issue 1 say its vital to protecting our state constitution from the evils of outside interests -- except for the fact that the move to get it on the August ballot was sponsored by a wealthy donor from Indiana, Deuring said. She added that proponents in the statehouse are also seeking $6 million from outside lobbyists to pay for TV commercials. If passed in August -- with early voting opening July 11 -- Issue 1 would be implemented in two phases, beginning with the reproductive health ballot initiative requiring 60 percent plus one (affirmative) vote to pass in November, rather than a simple majority. Going forward with phase two, Issue 1 if passed would then require that all future ballot initiatives collect valid signatures from 5 percent of the eligible voters in all of Ohios 88 counties, rather than the current 44 counties. This would end up raising the bar from difficult to virtually impossible for future citizen-led initiatives, Deuring said. Issue 1 could also allow one county to effectively block future measures that could include revising the redistricting process -- taking it away from elected officials, raising the minimum wage, gun control, moving to ranked choice voting and who knows what other crazy schemes the people of Ohio might actually be in favor of, Deuring added. With that in mind, the local LWV chapter urges people to vote early and enjoy August with a clear conscience. Historic proportions Len Friedson, former treasurer of the successful Citizens for an Elected Mayor local ballot initiative in Cleveland Heights, spoke on the corruption that never ends with the former Ohio House Bill 6, which led to federal bribery and racketeering convictions of former Republican Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and ex-GOP Chairman Matthew Borges. The $60 million cash-for-legislation schemers actually relied on the Citizens United ruling as a defense, although the jury didnt buy it. Friedson pointed out that state officials did little investigation on the case, and no executives with FirstEnergy were ever charged criminally for attempting to orchestrate a $1.2 billion bailout for their nuclear power plants. Instead, FirstEnergy signed a deferred prosecution agreement, admitted to bribing Householder and agreed to pay $230 million in penalties. There is no dispute that corruption was at play here, Friedson said, adding that the amount of money provides more proof that Citizens United must be overturned. Meet ALEC Dan Sieck warned that home rule charter protections continue to erode as lobbyists in Columbus urge state lawmakers to override any attempts at local regulation of things like fracking, timbering, puppy mills, cell towers. local minimum wage, paid leave, plastic bags and pesticides. And Sieck believes it all comes right out of the playbook of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). You may not know ALEC, but ALEC knows you, Sieck said. And theyre coming to take your rights as a citizen. Each of these actions by the Ohio General Assembly has a clear correlation to ALEC in how these laws are being written in Columbus. Deborah Van Kleef spoke on the paradox of privatizing the welfare system, as the government hires for-profit consulting firms to assist in enacting reforms. At the same time, Van Kleef wonders whether those companies have now created their own cycle of government dependency. Censorship rising On other fronts, Heights Libraries Director Nancy Levin recalled only one book removed from their collection over the past 15 years. And the publisher pulled that one because it was plagiarized, Levin added. Before 2021, most challenges were aimed at one book, Levin said. But last year, for the second year in a row, book challenges across the U.S. doubled from the previous year. Now, as many as 100 books are being challenged at one time. In listing the most objectionable material, Levin cited content with LGBTQIA subjects leads the list of topics being selected for banning at about 40 percent. From there, the banned list extends to books about marginalized people, anything with touching, sex, sexual orientation and non-Christian religious practices, mental health, Holocaust or historical topics that could be deemed as critical race theory and slavery are close behind, Levin said, adding that 75 percent of books banned are fiction. The Heights Libraries has strong policies to allow people to challenge books, Levin said. However they are equally strong in defending the need to have a balanced collection representing many points of view. Their three-year strategic plan includes the goal of providing unbiased sources of information and combatting censorship and disinformation, Levin said. While childrens parents and legal guardians should be the deciders of what their kids read, librarians have gone from trusted professionals to being portrayed as groomers seeking to indoctrinate young children. Levin added that activists should also consider running for their local school board or City Council and joining the Board of Library Trustees. Gun reforms As a board member of the God Before Guns coalition, Rev. Heidi L. Barham has participated in several Democracy Days in Cleveland Heights, with her focus again on common sense gun laws. Is it time yet to set aside the wants and wishes of special interest groups so we can stop banning books and start banning bullets and bump stocks? Barham asked. Firearms have become the leading cause of death among children, ahead of car accidents and childhood cancers. But Barham noted that the Ohio state legislature continues to pass laws like Stand Your Ground, Permitless Carry and restrictions to keep communities like Cleveland Heights from making stricter gun laws. Is it time yet for us to put officials in office who will enact legislation and put programs in place to protect the lives of our children rather than the profits of corporate entities and political war chests? If you ask me, it is long past time, Barham said. Read more from the Sun Press. CLEVELAND, Ohio An associate of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel who worked with a City of Cleveland employee to funnel a half-ton of cocaine in the Cleveland area was sentenced Tuesday to nearly four years in prison. David Gomez-Orrantia, 42, helped facilitate drug deals for the cartel and former Cleveland Waste Collection Department employee Christopher Ficklin. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge (File photo) Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday attacked the Centre over not filling vacancies in the government and accused it of being anti-Dalit, anti-tribal, and also said that by distributing a few thousand appointment letter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was only "throwing dust into the eyes of the youths in an effort to garner applause". Kharge took to Twitter and wrote, "The priority of Modi government has not been to fill the vacancies. As compared to 2014 the vacancies in central government jobs have doubled. Around 30 lakh posts are vacant in government departments." Taking a swipe at the government, Kharge said, "The insensitive Modi government is anti-Dalit, anti-tribal, anti-backward class and anti-economically weaker sections that is reason why it is not filling vacant posts. By distributing a few thousand appointment letters, Modiji is only throwing dust into the eyes of the youths in an effort to garner applause." The Congress has been critical of the central government over the vacant posts in the government departments. On Sunday, even former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi criticised the government over the decline of over two lakh jobs in the public sector undertakings (PSUs). He said that the PSU's used to be the pride of India and every youth's dream for employment, and the hopes of lakhs of youths are being crushed for the benefit of a few capitalist friends. CLEVELAND, Ohio Jennifer Brothers wept as she told a federal judge Tuesday that the man who sold her son the counterfeit oxycodone pills that led to his death has left a gaping hole in her life. Brothers said the Sept. 21, 2020, death of her son, Anthony Seaman, started a forever nightmare. She said that she believed the dealer who sold the drugs, Michael Edwards, knew that he sold her son fentanyl pills, instead of the less lethal opioid. CLEVELAND, Ohio Hudson police say a Pride flag was taken from a residents home on Colony Drive and burned. State Rep. Casey Weinstein, a Democrat from Hudson, said a constituent emailed him last week to share that the flag was set on fire early June 11. Our Pride flag was targeted and burned on our front porch, the email from the resident said. I have replaced the flag, and it will continue to fly through Pride Month. (The incident took place) as legislation is being discussed this week about gender-affirming care bans and a bill similar to Floridas dont say gay bill. The emails author is an Air Force veteran who served seven deployments, Weinstein said. cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer reached out to police for a full report. In a statement, Hudson Mayor Jeffrey Anzevino and City Council said the incident is an unacceptable act of hatred. Hudson is a city that is built on mutual respect for all beliefs, the statement said. We are a community that is proud to celebrate our differences and to welcome everyone with open arms. The burning of this Pride flag is a direct attack on our values and on our community. Council is urging anyone with information to contact Hudson police at 330-342-1800. Councilwoman Nicole Kowalski said people in the community are enthusiastic to show their support for the LGBTQ community after the incident, including one woman who is offering to provide a Pride flag for anyone in Hudson who is interested. We also encourage residents to join us in standing up against hate and intolerance, the statement by city leaders said. We can all do our part to create a more inclusive and welcoming community for all. AKRON, Ohio A 41-year-old man was hospitalized after he was shot while walking down a South Akron street by a man on a dirt bike, police say. The victim and another person were walking along the 800 block of Brown Street at about 1:45 p.m. Monday when they came upon the suspect, who was sitting on the dirt bike. The suspect reportedly spoke to the victim and the other person before opening fire. The suspect drove off south on the dirt bike. No arrests have been made and the person who was with the victim ran from the scene after the shooting and has not been located. TOWN OF FREEDOM, New York A 24-year-old woman and two children were killed Saturday when the car she was driving was struck head-on by a pickup truck driven by her brother, reports say. According to the New York State Police, the pickup driven Evan Klink, 21, of Freedom, N.Y., crossed the center line of a road at around noon and struck the sedan driven by his sister, Dahlia Klink, 24, also of Freedom, syracuse.com reports. State troopers tell syracuse.com that Havanah Lopez, 17, of Java, N.Y., and Molly Kibler, 6, of Freedom, both passengers in Dahlia Klinks vehicle, were pronounced dead at the scene. Dahlia Klink was taken to Erie County Medical Center but died of her injuries later Saturday. A 4-year-old girl in her vehicle was seriously injured. Evan Klink was treated at the scene for minor injuries, WKBW Channel 7 reports. A 19-year-old passenger in the truck, Cameron Klink, was flown by helicopter to a hospital with serious injuries. WIVB Channel 4 reports that investigators say the 2006 Dodge Ram driven by Evan Klink crossed the center line intentionally before losing control. WIVB also reports that Klink is being evaluated by drug-recognition experts. Reports say the crash remains under investigation. EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio The son of an elderly woman who was killed in a house fire Saturday says an entire community will miss his mother. Geraldine Harris, 72, died in the house fire that broke out about 4 a.m. at her home in 1200 block of East 135th Street, according to the office of the Cuyahoga County medical examiner. She died in the emergency room at University Hospitals. CLEVELAND, Ohio Police are investigating three slayings that took place throughout the city on the Juneteenth holiday. The first shooting happened at 2 a.m. Monday at a home on Rugby Road near St. Clair Avenue in the Collinwood-Nottingham neighborhood. Heres a look at some of the top stories trending online today. They include an update on a potential hurricane, the search for a missing sub, U.S.-China relations and much more. Top stories Tropical Storm Bret is forecast to become a hurricane by Wednesday (CNN) Record heat bakes the South as deadly tornado tears through Mississippi (ABC) Blinken and Xi pledge to stabilize U.S.-China relations in rare Beijing talks (CNBC) Ships, planes search for sub that went missing on trip to Titanic wreckage (Reuters) Donald Trump Says Secret Document He Described on Tape Referred to News Clippings (NY Times) Other trending headlines With festivals and reflection, America marks Juneteenth (NBC) Russia launches overnight air attack on Ukraine from east to west (NY Post) New Jersey man charged with assault after throwing phone at Bebe Rexha during show (USA Today) Draymond Green declines player option, to become free agent (ESPN) Aaron Taylor-Johnsons Kraven the Hunter Is Out for Blood in First Trailer (Collider) COLUMBUS, Ohio Leaders of the Ohio Democratic Party say they have collected just more than 100,000 voter signatures ahead of a key state deadline to set a statewide election in November for a ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. Since March, volunteers working with the Ohio Democratic Party have collected 100,637 signatures, state party Chair Liz Walters said in an interview on Tuesday. BOSTON, Massachusetts A 21-foot submersible with five people onboard that was planning to explore the wreckage of the Titanic more than 12,000 feet below the Atlantic Ocean surface has gone missing, spurring a massive rescue operation by the U.S. Coast Guard. A news release from the Coast Guard says the sub, named Titan, was launched Sunday morning from the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Mass. The vessel was reported overdue Sunday night. The Coast Guard says the crew on the Polar Prince lost contact with the sub about 1 hour and 45 minutes after it launched. The search is being conducted both at and below the oceans surface, with the Polar Prince and Coast Guard aircraft searching the area for signs of the sub. An aircraft with underwater sonar capability also is being used in the search. It is a remote area and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area, Rear Adm. John Mauger, a commander for the U.S. Coast Guard, said during a news conference Monday. But we are deploying all available assets to make sure we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board. Mauger said the Canadian Coast Guard and Canadian armed forces are assisting with ships, aircraft and sonar buoys. He said the U.S. Coast Guard also has contacted commercial vehicles in the area of the search asking for help in locating the missing sub. Our thoughts are with the families and the crew members onboard this submersible, Mauger said. Were working very closely with all U.S. and international partners to provide any capability that we can provide to search for the overdue vessel and rescue the crew members onboard. The Titan is operated by OceanGate Expeditions. Mauger said during the news conference that the sub has a 96-hour oxygen supply. In an email to The Associated Press, David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate, said officials were working to get a remotely operated vehicle that can reach a depth of about 20,000 feet to the site as soon as possible. OceanGates expeditions allows people who pay in the six-figures to come along, known as mission specialists. According to ABC News, a trip in 2023 costs travelers $250,000 each. The missing specialists take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible. The Coast Guard said Monday that there was one pilot and four mission specialists aboard. U.K. billionaire businessman Hamish Harding was one of the mission specialists, according to Action Aviation, a company for which Harding serves as chairman. The companys managing director, Mark Butler, told the AP that the crew set out on Friday. There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission, there is equipment on board for survival in this event, Butler said. Were all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound. Even if the sub is on the surface, it would need to be found in order to get the five passengers out. The titanium hatch to the sub is bolted shut from the outside, ABC News reports. We know we lost communication, retired Navy submarine commander David Marquet tells ABC News. Its probably not just malfunctioning because then they would have just come back up to the surface and they would have started communicating from the surface, so I fear something worse happened. OceanGate said its focus was on those aboard and their families. We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible, it said in a statement. The Associated Press contributed to this story. 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The new aircraft will soon enter service, thanks in part to the war in Ukraine. Thats because Iran is an ally of Russia and supplies them with weapons to use in Ukraine. That means the Ukrainians are unable to interfere with the Iranian theft of Ukrainian aircraft technology essential to building Simorgh. Less than a year earlier Iran announced they had designed and built a new twin-engine military transport aircraft called Simorgh. As with most Iranian announcements like this, the reality of the situation was somewhat different. Simorgh is actually a rebuilt Russian-designed An-140 transport. Iran assembled fourteen of these from component kits supplied by Russia and called their version the Iran-140. Only 39 An-140s were built and none remain in service. Most were built in Russia and two of these were lost in crashes. The first crash, in 2002, involved a Ukrainian airline An-140 carrying a delegation of top Ukrainian Antonov aircraft designers and engineers to a ceremony in Iran to commemorate the assembly of the first Iran-140. Iran went ahead and assembled fourteen Iran-140s and was planning to begin building its own. The plan was abandoned in 2014 when a second Iran-assembled Iran-140 crashed. In 2005 an Azerbaijan An-140 was lost in a crash. The 2015 Iranian announcement ended the brief career of the An-140. None remain in service and most have been retired, perhaps in the hope that someone will come up with a safe updated version. This is what Iran claims to have done. But to enhance confidence in the Simorgh there is no official mention of the Iran-140. None is needed, anyone who has seen an Iran-140 will note the resemblance. If the Simorgh turns out to be a safe and reliable, Iran will be praised. If the Simorgh runs into problems, it will be seen as another Iranian bait and switch. The Antonov An-140-twin turboprop aircraft was designed in Ukraine and built in Russia. Entering service in 2007, the 19 ton An-140 was used mainly as a civilian aircraft, as it can carry 52 passengers. The An-140s sold to Russia are modified for military use. The civilian version sold for about $9 million each, but the militarized version has sturdier landing gear, more electronics and is configured to carry five tons of cargo. This increased the price to about $12 million. This is about half the price of a similar Western aircraft. That economy comes at a cost, as five of the 35 An-140s delivered so far have crashed, killing 111 people. Four of the crashes resulted in total destruction of the aircraft. The 19 ton An-140 has a range of 1,300 kilometers and a cruise speed of 460 kilometers an hour. The 39 An-140s were delivered to four nations, including Russia and Ukraine. Russia bought them, in part, to improve diplomatic and economic relations with Ukraine. But the Russian Air Force also wants to rebuild its air transport fleet and replace existing An-24s and An-26s. The An-140 is a radical upgrade of the 21 ton An-24. While first developed in the late 1950s, the An-24 design was upgraded in the 1960s, to the An-26 and the latest version is the An-32. The original An-24 transport entered service in the early 1960s. Over 1,100 AN-24s were built and over 500 are still in use. About ten percent of An-24s were lost in accidents. Before the end of the 60s, some 600 of an improved model, the An-26, were built and about 200 are still flying. In the 1970s, even more powerful versions (An-30, An-32) entered service but only about 360 of these were built. The crew consists of two pilots and a loadmaster. The An-140 also carries a loadmaster when in all-cargo mode. Antonov built the original An-24 series to be simple, rugged, and easy to use and maintain. They succeeded. Fifty years later it should not be surprising that nearly a thousand An-24/26 series aircraft were still working. That's not the first time this has happened, as after 70 years there are still several hundred DC-3 transports working in odd (and often remote) parts of the world. One problem with the An-24/26 is that since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, spare parts have been difficult to get. Some Western and Indian firms eventually got into that business but by the late 1990s, lots of the An-24/26s were grounded because parts were not available. With age comes other problems. Engines, and other parts of these aging aircraft, are prone to fail at bad moments. There is still a problem with spare parts or at least the quality of those parts. The network of factories producing the spares fell apart when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The parts supply network has been slowly rebuilt, with many factories outside of Russia now producing needed components. The quality of these parts varies, which adds to the sense of adventure one has when flying in these aircraft. HMD LCO2 multi-gas carriers LCO Capital Ship Management Amazon's warehouse working conditions, which have come under increased scrutiny in recent years, are now at the heart of a congressional probe being led by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. In a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Sanders, who chairs the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said the e-retailer's "quest for profits at all costs" has caused warehouse employees to experience unsafe working environments without access to adequate medical attention. "Amazon is well aware of these dangerous conditions, the life-altering consequences for workers injured on the job, and the steps the company could take to reduce the significant risks of injury," wrote Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democratic party. "Yet the company has made a calculated decision not to implement adequate worker protections because Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder, and you, his successor as Chief Executive Officer, have created a corporate culture that treats workers as disposable." Steve Kelly, an Amazon spokesperson, told CNBC in a statement that the company strongly disagrees with Sanders' claims in the letter. Separately, the company said Sanders has been invited to tour one of Amazon's warehouses. Sanders called on Jassy to turn over more information related to Amazon's injury and turnover rates, as well as data on its on-site medical clinic, called AMCARE, dating back to 2019. He also asked Jassy to say whether Amazon has, internally or through a third party, examined "the connection between the pace of work of its warehouse workers and the prevalence or cost of injuries at its warehouses." Sanders said Jassy has until July 5 to respond to the inquiry. The HELP committee posted a form on its website seeking testimonials from current and former Amazon employees about their experiences at the company. Amazon faces ongoing federal probes into its safety record beyond the Senate's actions. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the U.S. Attorney's Office are investigating conditions at several warehouses, while the U.S. Department of Justice is also examining whether Amazon underreports injuries. Amazon says it has made progress on reducing injuries across its U.S. operations and continues to invest in safety initiatives, projects and programs. It has also appealed a string of citations issued by OSHA in recent months around safety hazards and violations. Under Sanders' leadership, the HELP committee has taken aim at other companies' workplace records. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz testified in front of the committee in March after Sanders repeatedly criticized the coffee chain's handling of workers' unionization efforts. Sanders has also been a frequent critic of Amazon's labor practices, hosting a Senate Budget Committee hearing in May of last year and inviting Bezos to discuss the company's approach to unions. WATCH: Why OSHA is investigating Amazon for 'failing to keep workers safe' Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Tuesday as investors digested China's central bank decision to cut its one-year and five-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points each to 3.55% and 4.20%, respectively. The move comes after the People's Bank of China cut some of its key lending rates last week. Mainland Chinese markets were mixed following the announcement, with the Shanghai Composite down 0.47% to end at 3,240.46, its second-straight day of losses. In contrast, the Shenzhen Component rebounded from its Monday loss and was up 0.28%, closing at 11,305.35. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slid 1.57%, dragged by health-care and technology stocks. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.86% and closed at 7,357, leading gains in the region and marking a seven day winning streak. US President Joe Biden points to the crowd after speaking during the League of Conservation Voters Annual Capital Dinner, at The Anthem in Washington, DC, on June 14, 2023. President Joe Biden will meet with with artificial intelligence experts in San Francisco on Tuesday as the U.S. government continues to grapple with how best to regulate the technology, according to a White House official. The visit comes as many in Washington are seeking to learn more about AI's risks and benefits for society so they don't repeat the mistakes around lack of early regulation on social media and other internet technologies. Biden is expected to meet with eight experts involved in researching AI or advocating on its potential impacts. They include: Center for Humane Technology Co-founder and Executive Director Tristan Harris, a former design ethicist at Google Common Sense Media Founder and CEO Jim Steyer, who advocates for policies enabling a safer internet experience for families. Algorithmic Justice League Founder Joy Buolamwin, whose organization raises awareness about the potential impact and biases AI could further in society. Khan Academy Founder and CEO Sal Khan, who runs the online education nonprofit. The issue has generated a lot of discussion in the Biden administration, with White House principals meeting to discuss AI two to three times a week, according to a White House official. In May, Vice President Kamala Harris hosted executives in the AI space, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Shortly after that, Altman testified before Congress as legislators contemplate how to set rules of the road for the technology to mitigate bias and deal with consequences on the workforce, among other things. Biden is also expected to fundraise for his 2024 reelection campaign during his visit out West, according to The Associated Press. -CNBC's Emma Kinery contributed to this report. WATCH: Investing in AI: What to Consider US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference at the Beijing American Center of the US Embassy in Beijing on June 19, 2023. Pedro Pardo | AFP | Getty Images BEIJING U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday he failed to revive military-to-military talks with China, despite earlier hopes of reopening that communication channel. Blinken's trip to Beijing over the last two days the secretary's first under the Biden administration marked a resumption of high-level U.S.-China government meetings after a tense four-plus months. Military communication had dropped off during that time. China's Defense Ministry declined a call with its U.S. counterpart in early February after the discovery of an alleged Chinese spy balloon over U.S. airspace. Both countries' defense heads attended an annual event in Singapore earlier this month, but they did not have a formal meeting. The balloon incident delayed Blinken's visit to Beijing by more than four months. The secretary arrived Sunday and had meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Director of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Foreign Affairs Office Wang Yi, and State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang. Blinken told NBC News on Monday that the spy balloon "chapter should be closed." watch now He also told reporters Monday that during the meetings, he "repeatedly" raised the need for direct communication between the two countries' militaries. "I think it's absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications, military to military," Blinken said. "That imperative, I think, was only underscored by recent incidents that we saw in the air and on the seas." "At this moment, China does not agree to move forward with that," he said, noting the U.S. would keep working toward restoring those communication channels. The U.S. shot down the alleged Chinese spy balloon in February. Beijing maintains it was a weather balloon that blew off course. Earlier this month, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said a China warship came within 150 yards of a U.S. destroyer in the Taiwan Strait. Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory, with no right to independently conduct diplomatic relations. The U.S. recognizes Beijing as the sole government of China but maintains unofficial relations with Taiwan, a democratically self-governed island. U.S. sanctions at play The People's Bank of China has cut several key policy rates to bolster economic growth in the world's second-largest economy. The People's Bank of China cut two more key lending rates on Tuesday for the first time in 10 months to prop up growth in the world's second largest economy. The Chinese central bank cut the one-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points from 3.65% to 3.55%, and trimmed the five-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points from 4.3% to 4.2% for the first time since August. "On their own, 10bps cuts are too small to make a great deal of difference to monetary conditions, especially since market interbank rates are already below policy rates," Capital Economics' Julian Evans-Pritchard and Zichun Huang wrote in a note. "But the PBOC tends to use changes in policy rates as signaling tool, with the heavy lifting being done by other tools such as adjustments to reserve requirements and bank loan quotas," they added. "The latest round of rate cuts suggests that these tools will be deployed too." A gauge of Hong Kong-listed Chinese developers, the Hang Seng mainland properties index, fell more than 3%, with Country Garden slumping by about 5%. About half the participants in a Reuters poll had forecast a deeper cut of at least 15 basis points to the five-year rate. As New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie prepared to run for president earlier this year, he canvassed some of Wall Street's wealthiest donors about whether they would finance a $100 million effort to take on former President Donald Trump, according to a person who heard directly from the GOP candidate. Since those calls, several business titans have piled cash into Christie's young campaign for the Republican nomination, with one big exception: longtime Christie ally, Mets owner and hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen, according to GOP fundraisers, party donors and a person close to the businessman. A person close to Cohen told CNBC that Cohen has yet to donate to either Christie's campaign or the allied super PAC called Tell It Like It Is. This person, like several others cited in this story, declined to be named in order to speak about private matters. Cohen has no immediate plans to help Christie or get involved with the GOP primary at large, but his intentions could always change, this person added. Wall Street executive and former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci previously told Semafor he expected Cohen to support Christie. Scaramucci, who, like Christie, has become one of Trump's biggest critics on the right, has said he is backing the former New Jersey governor. During an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday, Christie teased that prominent people are supporting him. But he did not name them. "I wouldn't have gotten into the race unless I had some very significant people," he said. "But I think what you're going to find a lot of people who were with Donald Trump before are now with us. Some folks who were other candidates in 2016, like Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio are now with us," he added. A spokesman for the Christie campaign did not return a request for comment. Colin Reed, a spokesman for the Christie super PAC, would not say who has donated to the group so far and only described the funding support as "overwhelming." "In the two weeks since Gov. Christie announced his candidacy, the support for Tell It Like It Is has been overwhelming," Reed told CNBC in an emailed statement. "We'll have more to say about our financial support in due time, whether it's from long-standing friendships like Mr. Cohen or anyone else drawn to the governor's message of moving the Republican Party forward and defeating Joe Biden." Despite Trump leading in the polls, many of the party's top financiers are not getting behind the former president and are looking for an alternative to lead the Republican ticket. Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman and businessman Andy Sabin have said they won't back Trump at least during the 2024 primary for president. Cohen and his wife, Alexandra, contributed just over $5 million during the 2016 election to America Leads, a super PAC that backed Christie's failed run for president in 2016, according to data from the nonpartisan OpenSecrets. The data also shows that Cohen later contributed $1 million toward Trump's inaugural celebration at a time when Christie also publicly supported Trump. Christie and his family have been close to Cohen for years, and the former governor currently serves as a member of the Mets board of directors. A pharmacist prepares to administer Covid-19 vaccine booster shots during an event hosted by the Chicago Department of Public Health at the Southwest Senior Center in Chicago, Illinois, Sept. 9, 2022. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Covid strain selection for the next round of shots puts Pfizer , Moderna and Novavax on track to deliver new jabs in time for the fall a decisive win for the vaccine makers as they gear up to compete against one another. The FDA on Friday advised the three companies to manufacture single-strain jabs targeting the omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, one of the most immune-evasive Covid variants to date. That strain accounted for nearly 40% of all Covid cases in the U.S. in early June, but that proportion is slowly declining, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But facing pressure to deliver new shots by the fall, Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax began development on versions of their vaccines targeting XBB.1.5 months before the FDA's decision. Preliminary data those companies presented last week indicates that their jabs produce strong immune responses against all XBB variants. The FDA's strain selection means the companies won't have to scramble to manufacture shots targeting an entirely different strain, which would delay the timing of delivery. Pfizer said Thursday it will be able to deliver a shot targeting XBB.1.5 by July. Moderna and Novavax did not provide specific timelines for their versions. Still, the FDA's decision means that all three companies will likely deliver their updated jabs on time. Shots targeting XBB.1.5 seem "the most feasible to get across the finish line early without resulting in delays in availability," Dr. Melinda Wharton, a senior official at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said at an FDA advisory committee meeting Thursday. The U.S. is expected to shift Covid vaccine distribution to the private sector as soon as the fall, when the federal government's supply of free shots is expected to run out. Manufacturers will sell their updated jabs directly to health-care providers rather than to the government. That doesn't include Johnson & Johnson , a once-leading Covid vaccine developer. The company's shots are no longer available in the U.S. after reports of rare but serious blood-clotting side effects. For Pfizer and Moderna, the commercial market is an opportunity to tap into more distribution channels than they did under government contracts. But both companies still expect Covid-related sales to decline this year as the world emerges from the pandemic and fewer people rely on vaccines and treatments. Pfizer expects Covid shot revenue to fall to $13.5 billion this year from $37.8 billion in 2022. Moderna expects a minimum of $5 billion in revenue from its Covid vaccine, its only available product. The jab generated $18.4 billion in revenue last year. For Novavax, the commercial market is crucial to its survival through 2023 and beyond. The cash-strapped company won U.S. approval for its Covid vaccine under emergency use just last year due to regulatory and manufacturing delays. Now, one of Novavax's top priorities is to capture commercial market share after lagging behind Pfizer and Moderna. The FDA's strain selection positions Novavax as a viable competitor against those household names. The company hopes to rake in $1.06 billion to $1.24 billion in sales of its Covid vaccine this year. That's slightly lower than the $1.5 billion Novavax's shot generated last year. But the three companies still face the same hurdle: It's unclear how many Americans will roll up their sleeves to take updated vaccines later this year, even if those shots are delivered on time. Only around 17% of the U.S. population around 56 million people have received Pfizer and Moderna's latest boosters since they were approved in September, according to the CDC. A crypto exchange backed by financial giants Charles Schwab , Fidelity Digital Assets and Citadel Securities has officially launched trading in four crypto assets, the company said Tuesday. EDX Markets first announced its launch plans for a "non-custodial" exchange in September, about two months before the collapse of FTX. Paradigm, Sequoia Capital and Virtu Financial are among the other early backers. The announcement comes days after BlackRock filed an application to launch what would be the first spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the U.S., confirmation that despite the crypto industry's black eye from FTX and other bad actors in 2022, and the chill from U.S. regulators this year, long-term institutional interest has not diminished. The EDX exchange allows trading of bitcoin , ether , litecoin and bitcoin cash , none of which were named "crypto asset securities" in the lawsuits the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought against Binance and Coinbase two weeks ago. EDX has said it strives to "meet the needs of the world's largest and most sophisticated financial institutions," many of which remain crypto curious but skeptical of centralized crypto services providers, if not because of the failures of many in 2022, then because of the regulatory uncertainty the remaining players now find themselves in. To quell any fears about misuse of funds, EDX plans to operate as a "non-custodial" exchange, meaning that rather than handling customer assets directly, it will act as a platform on which a network of firms can execute and settle trades between crypto assets and fiat currencies. EDX also has plans to launch a clearinghouse business this year to facilitate the settlement process but will keep customer assets held at third-party banks and a crypto custodian. The company also announced it has closed a second funding round with new investors, including the options-exchange operator Miami International Holdings and affiliates of proprietary trading firms DV Trading, GTS, GSR and Hudson River Trading. Sue Gordon, former principal deputy director for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and Matt Olsen, Uber's chief trust and security officer and former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, during a panel discussion at CNBC 's @Work conference in San Francisco, Nov. 4, 2019. The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday a new unit within its National Security Division focused on pursuing cyber threats from nation-state and state-backed hackers, formalizing an increasingly significant part of the national security apparatus into the Justice Department's hierarchy. In a statement, Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen said the new unit would allow the DOJ's national security team "to increase the scale and speed of disruption campaigns and prosecutions of nation-state threat actors, state-sponsored cybercriminals, associated money launderers, and other cyber-enabled threats to national security." The DOJ has aggressively pursued state-backed cyber actors, especially those in China or North Korea. National security officials outside the DOJ have also emphasized China as a top cybersecurity concern, including the U.S.' top cybersecurity official. The announcement made no mention of Chinese cyber efforts, which CISA Director Jen Easterly described last week as an "epoch-defining threat." But in a separate event Tuesday at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, Olsen emphasized the work that the DOJ has been doing to combat Chinese cyber efforts. "China has compromised telecommunications firms," Olsen said at the event. "It conducts cyber intrusions targeting journalists and dissidents in order to suppress the free flow of information. And the PRC is capable of launching cyberattacks that could disrupt U.S. critical infrastructure." Concerns over corporate and industrial espionage have long been a concern for top government and corporate executives, especially as Chinese concerns seek to leapfrog and develop equivalent technology, allegedly off the backs of U.S. innovation or research. Last month, the Secretary of the Navy confirmed the Navy had been "impacted" by a China-backed hacking group that was seeking intelligence and data. The release did emphasize the threat posed by Russian malware and ransomware groups, which researchers and practitioners characterize as potent but less coordinated and less strategic than incursions from China. While Chinese hacking groups have "lived off the land," gathering intelligence and data, Russian and North Korean groups often seek to extort their victims for profit, generating revenue for themselves or their governments. Building cases against those groups can take years, and don't always result in an arrest, given the far-flung nature of the hacking groups. "NatSec Cyber will serve as an incubator, able to invest in the time-intensive and complex investigative work for early-stage cases," Olsen said. watch now Dyson is known for its consumer gadgets such as vacuum cleaners, hair styling products and air purifiers, but it is now breaking into a new generation of products. Recently launched devices like its 360 Vis Nav robot vacuum boast "intelligent" features, which require more software development and the company has ramped up hiring in order to support those functions. "We've really seen a ten-fold increase in our engineers working in software over the last years," Dyson's Chief Technology Officer John Churchill said. "We're hunting for the greatest talent, from graduates of colleges to experienced people, to join us to pivot Dyson into more of a software world." The company is trying to hire another 2,000 engineers globally, according to Dyson's director of upstream robotics, Kashyap Chandrasekar. "Robotics and software are the largest pools of people we're trying to hire," he said. The Dyson 360 Vis Nav robot vacuum is displayed at the company's headquarters at St. James Power Station in Singapore in May 2023. Lauren Choo | CNBC Another Dyson device that has garnered attention, due to its futuristic look, is the Dyson Zone headphones that double as a wearable purifier. While the Zone has been criticized for its $999.99 price tag and bulky appearance, Churchill remained optimistic. "With new products, we have a high selling price because there's so much investment in terms of that technology," he told CNBC in an interview. "The first generation of products is really the stepping stone, in terms of the journey, and the products are going to continue to evolve." When asked about public health and access, Churchill said "We'll continue to look into how we can bring the cost down to make it available to more people." Dyson's global investment plan Since its inception in 1991, founder Sir James Dyson has been set on pioneering new technology. Dyson started in the United Kingdom, before launching into Australian, European, American and Asian markets. While Dyson faced headwinds like rising costs and chip shortages like many other consumer technology companies, the privately owned company reported 6.5 billion ($8.15 billion) in revenue for 2022, up from 6 billion the year before. The company currently has a 2.75 billion investment plan divided across Singapore, the U.K. and the Philippines. The company already has research and development focused campuses in U.K., Malaysia and Shanghai and is now investing 166 million in a new tech campus in Batangas, Philippines. Dyson's Singapore Headquarters at the St. James Power Station. Lauren Choo | CNBC A key part of Dyson's global investment scheme is the 247,000-square-feet battery plant in Singapore. The company has estimated it will be up and running by 2025. "Our new battery factory allows Dyson to have a much longer-term view because they're supported by a very clear strategy from the government to allow us to make big investments, with the confidence that they're going to be supported," Churchill explained. Singapore in focus U.S. Representative George Santos (R-NY) speaks to the media as he leaves Central Islip Federal Courthouse in Central Islip, New York, May 10, 2023. The identities of the people who guaranteed Rep. George Santos' $500,000 bond in his criminal fraud case will be revealed Thursday at noon ET, a federal judge ordered Tuesday. Judge Joanna Seybert's order in U.S. District Court in Long Island came less than two weeks after the Republican lawmaker's attorney argued that the bail backers' identities should be kept private because of the "media frenzy" surrounding the case. Other sealed documents in the case, including Seybert's full written order, are also scheduled to be unsealed Thursday, according to a docket entry in Santos' case. Santos' lawyer, Joseph Murray, did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on the judge's order. Santos, 34, pleaded not guilty last month to charges of defrauding his campaign supporters, lying to obtain unemployment money and making false statements on his congressional disclosure forms. After his initial court appearance, Santos was released on a $500,000 bond backed by multiple guarantors, whose names were kept under seal. Multiple news outlets asked the court to release those names, arguing that the public had a right to know their identities. The New York Times contended the substantial bail figure "presents an obvious opportunity for political influence," especially because the charges against Santos "involve abusing the political process for personal gain." A magistrate judge in the case sided with the news outlets earlier this month but gave Santos time to appeal the decision. Three days later, Murray asked for that order to be reversed, arguing the guarantors would be subject to "attacks and harassment" if their identities were to be made public. "These attacks have been extremely angry, anti-gay, anti-Republican and all around antisocial," Murray wrote. The heated climate already contributed to one of the three guarantors "having a change of heart and withdrawing," Murray wrote, adding that the other two will likely follow suit if their identities are released. Seybert's order Tuesday noted the soon-to-be-unsealed documents will be kept under wraps until Thursday at noon ET, "during which time Defendant may move to modify the conditions of his release, should the Suretors seek to withdraw from serving as suretors." Santos, who took office under a cloud of scandal in January, is the Republican Party's first openly gay representative elected to Congress. He has vowed not to resign and is currently seeking reelection in 2024. The phrase "financially comfortable" can mean different things to different people, whether that's having enough money to stay out of debt or being able to buy a second home. One thing is certain: The amount of money Americans say makes you financially comfortable changes depending on where you live. The amount varies by almost $1 million between cities, according to an analysis of 13 major U.S. metropolitan areas by financial services company Charles Schwab. Here's a look at the net worth residents of each city say you need to be considered financially comfortable in 2023, ranked by net worth thresholds: San Francisco: $1.7 million Southern California (includes Los Angeles and San Diego): $1.5 million New York City: $1.2 million Seattle: $1 million Washington, D.C.: $1 million Boston: $932,000 Dallas: $820,000 Chicago: $817,000 Atlanta: $729,000 Denver: $710,000 Phoenix: $653,000 Houston: $606,000 Net worth is defined as the total value of assets a person or corporation owns, minus the liabilities they owe. While the amounts on this list are high, keep in mind that most cities listed have a relatively high cost of living. In many, the cost of living is 50% or more above the U.S. average, according an analysis by personal finance website Kiplinger. A lot of that has to do with housing costs. San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles are some of the most expensive places to live in the country. While the median home price in the U.S. overall is currently $436,800, the median in these cities sits closer to $1 million, according to Redfin data. It seems likely not many people actually reach these thresholds, either, since the overall U.S. median household net worth is $121,700, according to the Federal Reserve's most recent data. For the purposes of the study, feeling financially comfortable is considered different from feeling rich. When survey respondents were asked how much they needed money to feel wealthy, the numbers were much higher. They ranged from $2.5 million in Denver to $4.7 million in San Francisco the highest amount of all cities listed. The online survey was conducted in March, with a sample of 500 to 750 local residents for each metropolitan area, between the ages of 21 and 75. DON'T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work & life? Sign up for our new newsletter! Get CNBC's free Warren Buffett Guide to Investing, which distills the billionaire's No. 1 best piece of advice for regular investors, do's and don'ts, and three key investing principles into a clear and simple guidebook. If you were to tell me that Club names Estee Lauder (EL) or Danaher (DHR) would ever miss their quarters not once but twice, I would have told you to go get your head examined. These are clockwork beat and raise companies, which is why it's so hard to value them now. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is also a head-scratcher. All of these have been troubled stocks in this year's market resurgence. Here's an update on each and why I'm reluctant to give up on them yet. DHR YTD mountain Danaher YTD performance Danaher's made a series of disposals to go all in on life sciences, which now looks like a really bad bet because there have been so few initial public offerings (IPOs) of life sciences companies. I don't think I have ever seen such a drought since the love for biotech began in October 1980, with the wild opening for Genentech (now of Swiss biotech giant Roche). That let the floodgates open. Can Danaher pivot? I think they are, but they need to make an acquisition to change the mix. I know they are upset with themselves, I have enough sources to prove that. But it hasn't really meant anything because they seem so caught looking the wrong way. EL YTD mountain Estee Lauder YTD performance Estee Lauder just shocks me. This company has pivoted so many times: first a dependence on U.S. department stores, then a move to China, and then a blowout connection with duty-free stores globally only to discover that the duty-free chains overordered expecting a wave of Chinese tourists that never showed. Now both companies have to prove their mettle. I am reluctant to bail on Danaher because the pent-up demand for biotechs that want to come public might be ready after they see how well the Cava (CAVA) IPO did last week, nearly doubling on its debut Thursday. Estee Lauder, at the end of this week, acted like there was something going on, but I can't fathom what it might be. I just don't want to give up on the Houdini of CEOs, Fabrizio Freda, who knows this business better than anyone. Can he have something up his sleeve? He sure has before. But these two companies are not alone. JNJ YTD mountain Johnson & Johnson YTD performance If you told me that J & J would be embroiled in a gigantic talc class action suit after former CEO Alex Gorsky assured me endlessly when he was at the helm that there was no asbestos in it, I would say, "Wow, Gorsky's legacy is taking a hit here." The company is willing to part with $8.9 billion right now, which is not enough for some of the plaintiff's bar and that's nothing short of incredible. That said, there's a suit going on in Northern California with a dying 24-year-old man claiming that excess use of J & J baby powder is to blame, which could make $8.9 billion look small. Bottom line Johnson & Johnson, Estee Lauder and Danaher are why this business of stock picking and running a portfolio can be so daunting. They are all blue chips names, for whatever that's worth. All are historically well-run with amazing balance sheets. And yet, they have nothing in their favor right now except for this situation having never been the case before. Can it be this time? I can't gamble that way. So we own them, through and through. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long EL, DHR, JNJ. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED. People walk by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on February 14, 2023 in New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images Investors have reasons to get more bullish on U.S. Foods , according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Brian Harbour upgraded the food distributor service's stock to overweight from equal weight and upped his price target by $8 to $54. His new target implies the stock could rally 29.7% in the next 12 months. Shares rose 1.6% before the bell. The stock has outperformed the market in 2023, up 22.4%. "We've been looking to become more constructive on USFD following management changes and the potential for new thinking/initiatives after management's agreement with an activist shareholder last year," Harbour said in a note to clients Tuesday. "Quantifying these opportunities is still a work in progress, in our view, and admittedly the stock has been given some credit already." "But there are some fundamental factors we think will continue to work in USFD's favor and drive the narrative," he added, "and we now underwrite more upside to our base case target." USFD .SPX YTD mountain US Foods vs. the S & P 500 Harbour said he sees more opportunity for the company following activist investor involvement that prompted a CEO change earlier this year and other management adjustments. He also said the narrative change should help the company beyond just the last few quarters. While the company has had solid product assortment and technology in the past, he said, it struggled with service, operational efficiency and execution, and its supply chain. Harbour said these areas have become a focus as the company looks to better its business, with some improvements already made. Compared with competitors, Harbour said, U.S. Foods is the "pure play" for U.S. broadline distribution. Additionally, the analyst said the company could be the most favorable customer exposure to have today if the U.S. macro economy holds up, as expected by the firm. Working with other businesses that aren't restaurants also makes the stock more attractive relative to peers. Meanwhile, he said, cash-and-carry opportunities provide optionality to the business. While it only makes up about 5% of sales by firm estimates, Harbour wrote that it's a higher-margin business that caters to a more price-sensitive consumer. This business could be resilient if the macro economy does soften, he said, and is an area for share gains and consolidation over time, particularly through the Smart Foodservice business. It's also a unique characteristic of U.S. Foods in its peer group, he noted. Better financials and consistency in that area could help support the stock's valuation, Harbour said. The company's improvement in both case growth and profit has shown business-driven performance as opposed to just post-pandemic recovery, he said. And more consistent performance compared with expectations can help close what's been seen as a valuation gap against peers. The company also has a cleaner balance sheet than it has had historically, he said. Elsewhere, Harbour downgraded Performance Food Group to equal weight from overweight and pulled his price target down to $66 from $74. Still, his price target implies the stock could rally about 17.2% in the next year. CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report. In this photo illustration, boxes of the diabetes drug Ozempic rest on a pharmacy counter in Los Angeles, April 17, 2023. Novo Nordisk on Tuesday sued five medical spas and wellness clinics for allegedly selling cheaper, unauthorized versions of the company's weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. The Danish drugmaker initiated the lawsuits in federal courts in New York, Texas, Florida and Tennessee, according to complaints obtained by CNBC. The suits accused the spas and clinics of marketing and selling "compounded" drug products that claim to contain semaglutide, the active ingredient in both Ozempic and Wegovy. Compounded drugs are custom-made versions of a treatment that are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Novo Nordisk is the sole patent holder of semaglutide and does not sell that ingredient to outside entities. It's unclear what the spas and clinics are actually selling to consumers. Novo Nordisk asked the courts for orders blocking the sales of the unauthorized drugs and an unspecified amount of money damages. "These unlawful marketing and sales practices, including the use of Novo Nordisk trademarks in connection with these practices, have created a high risk of consumer confusion and deception as well as potential safety concerns," the company wrote in a press release Tuesday. The spas and clinics named in the lawsuits include Pro Health Investments, Champion Health & Wellness Clinics and Flawless Image Medical Aesthetics. It also includes Effinger Health, which operates as Nuvida Rx Weight Loss, and Ekzotika Corp., which is doing business as Cosmetic Laser Professionals Med Spa. The latter clinic offers a $30 Groupon for a one-week "semaglutide weight management program." The spas and clinics didn't immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment. The suits come amid a shortage of Wegovy and Ozempic, which has led to a boom in compounded alternatives that claim to be the popular injections. The FDA last month warned about the safety risks of unauthorized versions of Ozempic and Wegovy after reports emerged of adverse health reactions to compounded versions of the drugs. Several states have also threatened to take legal action against compounding pharmacies that make or distribute unapproved variations of Novo Nordisk's weight loss treatments. A rainbow adorned Boston Red Sox logo is displayed on the center field video board on Pride Night prior to a baseball game at Fenway Park, Tuesday, June 13, 2023, in Boston. Some corporate sponsors have kept lower profiles at Pride celebrations this year, but most have not tightened their purse strings or ditched LGBTQ causes in the face of conservative blowback, event organizers and advocates say. Many Pride organizers across the country say high-profile brand backlashes, restrictive legislation and heightened threats against LGBTQ people have fueled record crowd turnout this year. While that has often meant spending more to keep attendees safe, the polarized climate has also kept sponsorship dollars flowing to Pride events and the groups they support. Nearly 78% of U.S. Pride organizers surveyed this year by InterPride, a network of Pride events around the world, said their corporate sponsorships either rose or held steady since last year higher than the 62% global figure while 22% reported declines. Indy Pride, which organizes official celebrations in Indianapolis, faced new difficulties in the run-up to this year's festivities. One corporate sponsor pulled its logo from an event, and another raised questions about a youth Pride carnival it had agreed to sponsor after getting "blasted" on social media, said executive director Shelly Snider. Most of the Pride organizers NBC News spoke with, including Snider, declined to identify corporate sponsors that shrunk their involvement or visibility, concerned about alienating important financial backers. Like Indy Pride, Pride organizations are typically nonprofit organizations that also offer year-round services to the LGBTQ community, such as grants, educational events and support for political activism. Indy Pride's security costs have tripled, Snider said, and its events have beefed up their safety protocols. "We've hired extra security, gone through 'stop the bleed' training in case there is an active shooter," she said. "This is new to this year. I didn't think when I took this job that we would have to [learn how to] use a tourniquet, but here we are." Even so, Indy Pride raised a record $641,000 and saw crowds swell to an estimated 60,000 at its festival and parade last weekend, putting the event at full capacity. The mix of changes Snider and other organizers described paint a more complicated picture than recent headlines around brands' scrambles to respond to anti-LGBTQ backlash like that faced by Bud Light and Target may suggest. While some businesses have walked back their ties to LGBTQ events and causes, including Pride-related marketing, many more have maintained or increased their support. Josh Coleman, president of Central Alabama Pride in Birmingham, said some longtime corporate sponsors dropped out this year, including Wells Fargo. Others have demanded more input on where their branding appears. But donations have held steady this month, he said, in part because more local and regional sponsors have filled the gaps left by larger companies' retreats. "It's been a little frustrating," Coleman admitted. "Some folks use allyship when they want to." Overall, though, "we've seen an uptick in support throughout the year," he said. "More people are showing up and out, including allies." In Tennessee, where a federal judge recently rejected a drag ban that state Republicans enacted earlier this year, corporate backing for Memphis's Mid-South Pride hasn't suffered. "We had issues," festival director Vanessa Rodley said in an email, but after the judge temporarily blocked the measure from taking effect in late March, "we saw a wave of new sponsors that wanted to show support. There are a few we never got back, but thanks to our community stepping up and new sponsors, we were able to make it." A handful of major brands, including Kroger and Terminix, didn't return as Mid-South Pride sponsors after making $7,500 and $3,500 contributions, respectively, in 2022, the group's public sponsor lists in recent years show. But others, such as Nike, Ford, Charles Schwab and Tito's Vodka, either matched or upped their previous-year investments, which ranged from $5,000 to $10,000 apiece. And regional businesses, including a mortgage brokerage and a dentistry practice, jumped in this year with $5,000 sponsorships. A Wells Fargo spokesperson said the bank "is a longstanding supporter of the LGBTQ+ community" and still "sponsoring parades in cities across the country." After being contacted, a Kroger spokesperson said the grocery chain "discovered a recent retirement left the [Memphis] parade without a contact at the company" and reached out to Mid-South Pride organizers. "We provided a contact from which to request support for this year or a future event." Terminix didn't respond to a request for comment. Some advocates warn that any pullback in the visibility of corporate support during Pride Month especially by the most well-known brands risks signaling that LGTBQ consumers are expendable. Others have long called for fewer rainbow-slathered logos and more substantive, if quieter, support from private-sector allies. "Visibility is the least important," said Bruce Starr, CEO of the marketing agency BMF. "What are you actually donating and giving" to support LGBTQ causes year-round matters more, he said. In Auburn, Alabama, Pride on the Plains President Seth McCollough said one of the group's three corporate sponsors gave money this year but asked to not be thanked or recognized publicly. "It was kind of surprising to me," McCollough said, but added, "I guess I understand where they are coming from." McCollough said Pride on the Plains hasn't lost its biggest corporate backers even though state lawmakers advanced anti-drag and anti-trans bills this year. Among them is Target, which drew national attention for pulling some Pride merchandise last month after store employees were threatened. The retailer continues to be a top sponsor and provides volunteers to Pride on the Plains, McCollough said. But while big businesses can often contribute larger sums, the group relies on smaller companies for most of its funding anyway. Many Pride celebrations facing difficulties are in the Midwest and South, regions that have seen a wave of Republican-led anti-LGBTQ legislation this year. Organizers in bluer states haven't experienced much difference. Pride officials in New York City, home to the first Pride March, in June 1970, said this year would be on par with last in terms of arranging sponsors and security. But Pride organizers in Charleston, South Carolina, said they've seen a significant drop in funds and sponsorships post-pandemic, after setting records in 2019. Kendra Johnson, executive director of Equality NC, said threats against the community and Pride events have risen dramatically throughout North Carolina. "I'm 52 I've never seen it like this," Johnson said, citing threats of violence and cases in which she said organizers were doxed. Johnson's LGBTQ advocacy group doesn't plan Pride festivities, but she said some organizers in the state have told her of sponsors pulling out of local events. Ron deHarte, co-president of the United States Association of Prides, an umbrella group representing nearly 100 organizers across the country, acknowledged that many groups face growing challenges. "We're hearing that there are a few organizations that have made their own decision to modify their programs or cancel based on legislation, out of fear of government action" by some state authorities, he said. But many sponsors remain committed after years of support for the LGBTQ community, despite the criticism that often comes with it. Tense political climates, as well as presidential election years, tend to drive enthusiasm and attendance at Pride celebrations because many people become more engaged, deHarte said. "This certainly isn't the worst we've seen," he said, "and we've continued to survive for decades." The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) has opened a new clinical examination centre in the Crown Prince Centre for Training and Medical Research, Bahrain. This state-of-the-art facility provides RCPI with an ideal location to conduct its exams and strengthens the partnerships between the Crown Prince Centre for Training and Medical Research, Bahrain and RCPI. As the RCPI grows its presence in the Middle East, this strategic expansion marks a significant milestone for RCPI as it responds to the ever-increasing demand for highly skilled and trained medical personnel across the Gulf being driven by factors such as aging populations and the rising prevalence of chronic diseases. Healthcare spending Healthcare spending in the GCC is expected to reach $135.5 billion in 2027, increasing by 5.4% per year from 2022, with Bahrain expected to see a CAGR of 6.1%, according to recent research from Alpen Capital. The newly established examination centre showcases RCPI's commitment to advancing medical education and providing exceptional postgraduate training opportunities for doctors looking to upskill. This aligns with RCPIs strategic objective to be globally active, increasing its presence across the world and growing international membership, collaborating and sharing knowledge and expertise across borders. Opening the new examination centre, Prof Mary Horgan, President of RCPI, said: "There is an enduring and strengthening bond between Ireland and Bahrain which is reflected in the opening of our new centre. It is a true honour for us to have Bahrainis who have graduated from our esteemed training programmes serve as convenors for these examinations. As an Infectious Diseases Consultant, the pandemic underscored the significance of collaboration among medical professionals and the advantages of tapping into an international network. Quality and safety Becoming a Member of RCPI offers doctors unparalleled professional development opportunities throughout their medical careers. In addition, RCPI actively collaborates with doctors and healthcare leaders worldwide to enhance the quality and safety of healthcare in ever-evolving healthcare environments." Brig (Prof) Fahad bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, Commander of the Royal Medical Service of the Bahrain Defence Force, said: We are so excited to host and be the exclusive hub for the MRCPI exam in the Kingdom of Bahrain like we are for the court of examiners of the MRCSI intercollegiate exam. This will elevate our young colleagues practice both locally and regionally and hopefully open up new horizons for more collaboration with the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland. It was also an immense pleasure receiving Prof Mary Horgan as one of our esteemed guests last week, and we hope to see her and more from our RCPI colleagues in Bahrain in the future. Serve as a hub The examination centre will serve as a hub for aspiring doctors, enabling them to gain valuable skills, knowledge, and recognition within the global medical community. Doctors who pass the rigorous examinations will be conferred as Members of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, joining an esteemed global network of 13,000 RCPI member doctors, gaining recognition for their expertise and improving their employability across the globe.-- TradeArabia News Service Thailand's poll body certified the results of last month's election on Monday, paving the way for the first session of parliament in the next few weeks ahead of the formation of a new government. The election commission said it had endorsed the winners of all 500 seats of the lower house, which must convene within 15 days to elect a speaker, who will then call for a joint session of the bicameral legislature to vote on a prime minister. The progressive Move Forward party pulled off a stunning victory in the May 14 ballot, closely followed by the populist Pheu Thai party, as the opposition thrashed rivals allied with the royalist military after nine years of government led or backed by the army. The opposition has formed an eight-party alliance that is expected to back Move Forward's Harvard-educated leader Pita Limjaroenrat for prime minister and form a coalition government likely next month. Though endorsement of the results clears up some of the uncertainty in the election aftermath in Thailand, it is far from clear whether Pita can muster enough support to become premier, which requires 376 votes from the combined upper and lower houses. The alliance has control of 312 seats and will need to court votes from either rival parties or some of the 250 members of a conservative-leaning Senate, who were appointed under military rule after a 2014 coup. BlackRock's new push into the battle for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund appears to be giving a boost to one of its potential rivals in the space and creating an arbitrage play for opportunistic traders. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) , which has long traded at a steep discount to its net asset value, rose 12.8% Friday after BlackRock filed to launch a spot bitcoin ETF. The Grayscale fund continued to surge Tuesday, adding about 14%. While bitcoin has also been climbing , GBTC's large move has narrowed the discount to about 36% as of Friday, according to The Block , down from about 43% a week prior. Grayscale is in a legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about converting its GBTC into an ETF. A decision in that case is expected later this year. "I would say that the narrowing of the discount is likely related to the BlackRock filing in part, and also due to increased perception of likelihood of Grayscale winning its lawsuit against the SEC," said Bryan Armour, the director of passive strategies research for North America at Morningstar. GBTC 5D mountain The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust has rallied more than bitcoin in recent days. Grayscale does not offer a redemption mechanism for GBTC, which would help close the discount gap, but it would with an ETF. If the GBTC were to be converted into an ETF, buying it at a discount now would allow a trader to capture additional upside if the price of bitcoin rises. Offering redemptions outside the ETF process could lead to large outflows that hurt the earning power of the fund for Grayscale, Armour said. The fund has about $16 billion in assets under management and charges a 2% annual fee. The move by BlackRock could be a sign some of Wall Street's heavy hitters are giving at least quiet support to the crypto industry and to bitcoin ETFs in particular. The proposed BlackRock fund would also use Coinbase as a custodian for cryptocurrency, even though Coinbase was recently sued by the SEC . The regulator has long opposed a spot bitcoin ETF, and Chair Gary Gensler has ramped up enforcement actions against the crypto industry in recent months. But even if Grayscale wins the case, there is some uncertainty about what the next step would be. Some experts have suggested the SEC could respond to the ruling by banning the bitcoin futures ETFs already on the market instead of allowing spot funds to proceed. The regulator could also choose to allow the BlackRock fund but not the Grayscale conversion, given differences in the filings, said Pat Tschosik, senior portfolio strategist at Ned Davis Research. "If BlackRock is getting an ETF, I would want to own the BlackRock ETF. I wouldn't want to own the Grayscale. I still don't see the clear path unless you can somehow alter Grayscale to do everything that BlackRock is doing," Tschosik said. Ned Davis Research recommended GBTC as a buy in January , but closed that trade suggestion in May. The trade had an on-paper gain of 32.3%, according to NDR. Tschosik said the discount tends to widen and narrow based on broader sentiment about the direction of bitcoin. In any case, it seems likely a bitcoin ETF wouldn't be launched until at least 2024, said William Cai, co-founder of Wilshire Phoenix, an asset management firm focused on crypto. "Actually, getting a bitcoin ETF launched is likely a year and a half away in the best-case scenario," Cai said. Wilshire Phoenix's wShares has a pending registration filing for its own bitcoin trust, but that product is not an ETF. Another consideration for investors betting on the discount closing is that GBTC trades over the counter, meaning it is subject to fewer rules and potentially less liquidity than traditional exchanges. "The difference between OTC and an exchange is that it's a broker-dealer network without a lot of the same protections and regulations that you would get on an exchange. For most people, that really won't affect trading in GBTC, but it does come with more risk," Armour said. Grayscale did not respond to CNBC's request for comment for this story. It's time to buy Baidu , thanks to artificial intelligence, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Gary Yu upgraded shares of the Chinese internet stock to overweight from equal weight and raised his price target by $30 to $190. His new target implies a 30.9% upside from where shares finished Friday. Baidu should be poised to win from a likely shift of offline spending in 2022 to online by 2030, Yu said. That's because of its full-stack AI capabilities, commercial use cases, willingness to continue research and its development investments in the AI space. An early advantage and relatively lower regulatory hurdles should also help the company lead the pack, he said. "We believe China's AI evolution is at an inflection point, and BIDU is the best play to capture the US$7.4tn AI internet opportunity," Yu said in a note to clients Monday titled "The Best AI Play in China." AI could help create a 12% upside to 2025 core revenue estimates, he said. Baidu is the "pure" AI player among internet peers, though Yu did call the stock his second top pick behind Alibaba . Yu said Baidu has proven its place in the AI world by extending technology to intelligent driving, already running the largest robotaxi fleet in the world with partnerships with manufacturers in the autonomous driving space. The company also owns the most extensive set of generic proprietary search data as the largest search engine in China, which can help it improve its AI models over time. Baidu was not only an early investor in AI going back to 2010, it also was the first to launch a product similar to ChatGPT in China. That's given the company a head start on competition. More than 200,000 companies have signed up for the company's cloud platform so far, Yu noted, and AI could help drive demand going forward. Yu said potential regulatory approval in the second half of the year, which could lead to "instant" and "mass" adoption of AI-generated content that could result in monetization opportunities, could be a near-term catalyst. After investors focused on hardware and semiconductor stocks and then A-shares in the space in the first two stages of the AI craze, Yu said, attention may move next to companies with applications and infrastructure for the technology. That could lead to the rerating of Chinese internet companies, he said. Baidu shares are up nearly 27% year to date. BIDU YTD mountain BIDU in 2023 CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to supporters as he arrives at the Lotte New York Palace hotel in New York City, June 20, 2023. As China's economy falters, top U.S. corporate executives are making it a priority to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his state visit to the White House, including Thursday's dinner. Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam will be among the several U.S. CEOs attending the White House state dinner Thursday, according to sources familiar with the situation. The state dinner is a first for India and is viewed by New Delhi as a coup. "The opportunity is huge. The administration is going all out to give the prime minister a close-to-royal welcome," Frank Wisner, former U.S. ambassador to India, told CNBC. Other companies with a big footprint in India will also send their CEOs, including Marriott 's Tony Capuano and Cummins ' Jennifer Rumsey, according to multiple sources. The biggest deal to be announced will be General Electric co-producing military jet engines in India alongside Hindustan Aeronautics. "Strengthening of US-India defense and security ties will likely be a major outcome for the trip, especially around issues of critical technology sharing and defense equipment IP," said Safiya Ghori-Ahmad of the Atlantic Council who previously worked on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to CNBC. Separately, CNBC has learned General Atomics is nearing a deal to sell new drones to New Delhi at a time when the country is trying to beef up its security. Modi's arrival to the U.S. follows a high-profile meeting in China between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's President Xi Jinping on Monday in a bid to ease tensions between the two largest economies in the world. China is one of the agenda items when Modi meets with Biden and U.S. executives Thursday and Friday. "Both the U.S. and India share a common interest in managing the rise of Chinese power," said Wisner. A separate Modi meeting with tech leaders is also in the works for Friday, where technology transfer and finding ways to diversify away from China will be discussed, per multiple sources. With China's economy decelerating and political tensions high, corporate America has taken steps to diversify away from the country. Apple opened two retail stores in India earlier this year after moving some iPhone production to the country. CNBC previously reported Apple is also looking to move some of its iPad production from China to India, although unskilled labor and weak infrastructure present challenges for U.S. businesses wishing to expand businesses there. Sources close to Modi say the Indian leader is hoping to ease those concerns and see more U.S. companies commit to manufacturing there as well. Modi is said to have met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday to discuss opening a factory in the country as well, sources previously told CNBC. Former U.S. President Trump appears on classified document charges after a federal indictment at Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. United States Courthouse, alongside his attorney Chris Kise in Miami, Florida, U.S., June 13, 2023 in a courtroom sketch. A Florida federal judge on Tuesday scheduled the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump for his alleged illegal retention of classified government documents to begin Aug. 14. But experts do not expect the trial to begin nearly so early, given the time needed to resolve complicated legal issues before a jury could hear testimony and be presented with evidence. Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was indicted earlier this month on more than three dozen criminal charges related to his keeping hundreds of classified records after he left the White House in January 2021. If the trial date holds, it would come just over a week before the first GOP presidential debate of the campaign. The 77-year-old has pleaded not guilty in the case. In the order Tuesday, Judge Aileen Cannon told Department of Justice prosecutors and lawyers for Trump to file all pretrial motions by July 24. Cannon also ordered that all hearings in the case, including the trial, will be held in U.S. District Court in Fort Pierce, Florida. The case against Trump is occurring in the federal Southern District of Florida, which is known for its so-called "rocket docket," a reference to judges scheduling and pushing for trials to start quickly compared with other federal jurisdictions. A Ukrainian serviceman mans a machine gun as he rides on a MaxxPro MRAP in the recently liberated village of Blagodatne, Donetsk region on June 16, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Anatolii Stepanov | AFP | Getty Images It's becoming increasingly clear that Ukraine could have a long and bloody slog ahead of it when it comes to its counteroffensive aiming at recapturing Russian-occupied territory in the south and east of the country. While still in its infancy, Ukraine's counteroffensive has produced only limited gains so far, with eight settlements reclaimed in the last two weeks. Ukrainian officials are the first to admit that the country's armed forces face a "tough duel" with Russia in the weeks and months ahead. "We knew from before we started [the counteroffensive] that this wasn't going to be a walk in the park," Yuriy Sak, a senior advisor in Ukraine's defense ministry, told CNBC Tuesday. "We knew that Russians had months to prepare for it, we knew that they have built very, very strongly-fortified defense lines, that they have laid millions of mines along the front line. They're dug in so deep, that we already had a very good idea that this will be not an easy task," he added. Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has intensified over recent weeks as Kyiv launched counteroffensive operations in at least three areas of the frontline spanning southern to eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar announced Monday that over the past week, Ukrainian troops in the Zaporizhia direction in southern Ukraine had advanced up to seven kilometers (4.3 miles) and liberated 113 square kilometers (43.6 square miles) of territory, including eight settlements. But in later comments last night, Maliar conceded that it "is quite difficult for our defenders to advance, because the enemy threw all their forces to stop the offensive," adding that the fighting "is hot both in the east and in the south" of the country. "Despite the fact that our troops are advancing in several directions of the south, the enemy is concentrating a lot of his efforts in the east and continues to advance there," she noted in comments translated by Google. "The enemy will not give up positions easily and we must prepare for the fact that it will be a tough duel. [that's] exactly what is happening now." Russians 'not running away' this time Defense analysts have said they expect Ukraine to launch bigger counterattacks on Russian forces in the months to come, and suggest its early phase has been used to probe for weaknesses in Russia's defensive lines. Maliar appeared to endorse that view, stating: "The ongoing operation has several tasks and the military is carrying out these tasks. They move as they were supposed to move. And the biggest blow is yet to come." She did not elaborate further. Nonetheless, there is mounting pressure on Ukraine to produce solid results and analysts told CNBC that expectations could be far too high. They said that Ukraine has, in a way, become a victim of its own success after "lighting" counteroffensives last year saw it recapture a swathe of the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine, and a good part of Kherson in the south. Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker, told CNBC Tuesday that it was too early in the counteroffensive to make a judgment call. "Last year, Ukraine showed a kind of lightning effect and Russians were just running away. This time, Russians are not running away, they're fighting, but we are moving ahead." Urging patience, Ukraine defense advisor Yuriy Sak told CNBC: "We understand that everybody and us more than anybody else wants [the counteroffensive] to be progressing faster." "But when planning the next military steps every day, our military command is taking into account priority number one, which is advancing further with minimum losses on our side. So this is why the decision-making is very, very careful, we are still probing and doing reconnaissance in different parts of the frontline in some places we are moving better, or faster," he added, alluding to the gains so far in the south. Need for more weapons An oft-heard cry from Kyiv has been for more weapons from its international allies and, more crucially, the fast delivery of those weapons to Ukraine. Indeed, in the time Ukraine has waited to launch its counteroffensive facing inclement weather and muddy ground conditions, and awaiting a long-awaited decision on the supply of battle tanks such as Leopard 2s Russia has been able to build deep defenses in occupied territory. As such, Sak said the counteroffensive's relatively slow progress so far was as to be expected, but he repeated Ukraine's call for more military hardware from its international allies. watch now "A lot will depend on our ability to receive faster, more weapons because the air dominance along the front line is entirely in Russian hands ... so we just need to be patient all of us and make sure that we progress without exposing our troops to unnecessary risks," Sak said. There has been much criticism of Kyiv's NATO allies for their slowness to agree and supply hardware to Ukraine. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, chair of Rasmussen Global and former Secretary General of NATO, told CNBC Tuesday that "we are much too slow." "The embarrassing discussion on the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks is a very sad example on how we have allowed Putin to exploit our hesitation to fortify his defenses," Fogh Rasmussen said, adding that this had made it far harder for Ukraine to carry out its counteroffensive. Lawmaker Oleksiy Goncharenko agreed that it had been frustrating to see the West's procrastination over weapon supplies Ukrainian military personnel receive armoured manoeuvre training on German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks at the Spanish army's training centre of San Gregorio in Zaragoza on March 13, 2023. Oscar Del Pozo | Afp | Getty Images Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces is increasingly intense as Ukraine conducts counteroffensive operations in at least three sectors of the front line spanning southern to eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar announced Monday that over the past week, Ukrainian troops in the Zaporizhzhia direction have advanced up to 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) and liberated 113 square km of territory, including eight settlements. But in later comments last night, Maliar conceded that it "is quite difficult for our defenders to advance, because the enemy threw all their forces to stop the offensive" and added that the fighting "is hot both in the east and in the south" of Ukraine. "Despite the fact that our troops are advancing in several directions of the south, the enemy is concentrating a lot of his efforts in the east and continues to advance there," she noted in comments translated by Google. "The enemy will not give up positions easily and we must prepare for the fact that it will be a tough duel. Exactly what is happening now," she said. Still, she added, "the ongoing operation has several tasks and the military is carrying out these tasks. They move as they were supposed to move. And the biggest blow is yet to come," she said without elaborating. Ukraine's armed forces said it had "eliminated" 1,010 Russian troops in the past day alone amid fierce fighting as Ukraine's counteroffensive continues, but with a reportedly high level of attrition for both sides. CNBC was not able to verify the information in the report and both Ukraine and Russia have looked to minimize their own reported losses while looking to accentuate their opponent's. Holly Ellyatt This hidden gem in Southeast Asia is one destination that you must visit with family to enjoy a great time. On thing we can assure that you won't be be disappointed and would want to make Vietnam an annual holiday ritual. Vietnam is an extremely captivating holiday destination that combines natural beauty, cultural heritage and historical sites that will leave you wondering, why didn't you travel to this hid gem in Southeast Asia earlier. As they say it's never too late and if you're planning to venture out on a solo holiday or want to enjoy an awesome break with your friends, then we recommend you try Vietnam. CNBCTV18's Zenia Baria, travelled to Vietnam with her friends, and reminisces her sojourn. She recalls the experience as awe-inspiring. Here's a look at the exhaustive planning she and her friends undertook. How much they spent and what did they do on their 6 days, 5 nights tour. A stereotypical trip to Vietnam features the likes of Ho Chi Minh City, Hai An, Ba Na Hills, and Da Nang. However, the five friends decided to explore destinations like Hanoi, Ha Long Bay and Ninh Binh. Let's delve some of the most intriguing things to do and see in Vietnam. From kayaking to hiking to shopping and much more Reaching Vietnam: Taking off from Mumbai to Noi Bai International Airport We set foot at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi after a seven-hour journey from Mumbai, with a two-hour layover in Kolkata. Flights operated by major international airlines, such as Indigo, AirAsia, Lufthansa and others, land here. Airfares are pocket-friendly and begin from roughly Rs 23,000 if booked in advance. There are direct four-hour flights to Vietnam from Mumbai, But we opted for a connecting flight via Kolkata. Stay We stayed at the Ha Noi Calido Hotel for Vietnamese dong 4,53,600, or about Rs 1,593, per night. Day 1 and 2 Indulging in Hanoi nightlife Who said one can experience a buzzing night life in Chi Minh City only? The Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi boasts a dynamic nocturnal culture, with a variety of events for tourists to enjoy. While it may not be as busy as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi has enough to offer once the sun goes down. Visit The Old Quarter This is the epicentre of Hanoi's nightlife. In the evenings, the small alleyways come alive with crowded night markets, street food sellers, and lively pubs. Ta Hien Street better known as "Beer Street", is a popular area for locals and tourists to socialise and savour some inexpensive beer. Rooftop Bars At night, Hanoi's skyline provides a distinct viewpoint, and rooftop bars are a great opportunity to take in the city's sights. Skyline Hanoi, Summit Lounge, and 1900 Le Theatre Rooftop Bar are all popular places to unwind, drink cocktails, and soak in the panoramic views of the city. Night Markets Hanoi's night markets, such as the Hang Dao Night Market and the Dong Xuan Night Market, are melting pots where you can buy souvenirs, sample local street cuisine, and mix in the lively atmosphere. For the foodies If you're on a holiday, you absolutely must pamper your taste buds . Whether you are a food-lover or not, gorging on local food is one of the tastiest things to do in Vietnam. And the experience is enhanced by the delectable pho and scalding hot Vietnamese coffee. Vietnamese food is famous across the world for its fresh ingredients and robust flavours. Food lovers will find an endless array of delicious dishes to try, such as spring rolls, banh xeo (Vietnamese crepes), at the famous street food stalls that offer pho (noodle soup) and banh mi (baguette sandwiches). Bun cha is a famous Vietnamese dish that originated in Hanoi and has now spread around the world. It's a tasty and filling dish with grilled pork, rice noodles, fresh herbs, and a dip. Pho, quintessentially Vietnamese, consists of rice noodles, broth, herbs, veggies, and meat. To get the most genuine and exquisite taste, order pho at one of Vietnam's well-known restaurants. The traditional way of eating pho is to have it for breakfast. The local coffee is a must-have. Snake Wine (made from Cobra) and Scorpion Rice Wine are cocktails for individuals who enjoy experimenting with cuisine. These beverages, despite their deadly names, are not only edible and harmless, but are also extremely good for one's health. Banh mi is a baguette sandwich popular the world around. It's a mix of Vietnamese and French cuisines that pays homage to Vietnam's colonial heritage. The title "banh mi means "bread" in Vietnamese, alluding to the French baguette used as the sandwich's basis. Banh xeo, which translates to "sizzling cake" in English, is another popular Vietnamese dish. It is a savoury pancake, or a pancake prepared from rice-flour batter that is loaded with a variety of ingredients and is often served with fresh herbs and dip. Shopping Hanoi has its famous Night Market on Weekend Walking Street. The walkways surrounding Hoan Kiem Lake are transformed into a lively night market every weekend. Its ambience is full of life and the diverse assortment of things such as apparel, accessories, souvenirs, and street food are a sensory delight. It's a favourite hangout for both residents and tourists and it is budget friendly. Hanoi is famous for its silk products, and there are numerous silk shops and tailors where you can get custom-made clothing. These shops offer a variety of silk fabrics and can create traditional Vietnamese ao dai dresses, suits, dresses, and more. We ended our day with a good night's sleep and rise early for our cruise to Ha long Bay. Day 3 Ha Long Bay Cruise Our next stop was Ha long Bay cruise, and we were informed a day earlier that the cruise we had initially booked was cancelled and instead, we were upgraded to a luxury cruise. Hosted by Aspira Cruises, the cruise costs around Rs 15,000, per night. Our travel guide, Bobby, arrived at the hotel at 8 am to pick us up for the cruise. En route, we made a pit stop at a Pearl Farm. Yes, pearls are also found in abundance, given Vietnam's lengthy coastline. Ha Long Bay in Vietnam is a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its spectacular natural beauty the landscape is replete with limestone islets and green waterways. As for the cruise itself, it has well-appointed cabins with modern amenities, and either private balconies or large windows to enjoy scenic views. Also read: Discovering delicious and diverse cuisine of Vietnam Ha long Bay, often known as the 'descending dragons', is dotted with lush green islands. Breathtaking views among other exciting activities for tourists like sailing and kayaking in the bay area, fishing and a cooking class is something we experienced first hand, followed by an overnight stay. The cruise incorporated a mini swimming pool on the deck where we could relax and unwind. Day 4 & 5 Tour of Ninh Binh Ninh Binh is a province in northern Vietnam often referred to as "Ha long Bay on land". Ninh Binh offers visitors a unique and picturesque experience. Our guide helped us organise a five-hour luxury bus ride to Ninh Binh from Ha long Bay harbour that cost Rs 4,000. We reached Ninh Binh in the evening and decided to try out the local food close to our hotel Tam Coc Banana Bungalow, where we paid Rs 4,785, per night. We rented scooters at affordable prices and decided to explore the island. We rode to the night market where locals sell various items such as lanterns. These markets often come alive with colourful decorations and lights, offering a lively and bustling atmosphere. Day 6 We woke up early the next day and headed to Mua Cave, which is a sunrise point. Mua Cave offers panoramic views of the surrounding countryside and the karst landscape. To reach the viewpoint, visitors need to climb a steep staircase of about 500 steps. The effort is rewarded with a stunning view a personal favourite. Post the hike, we decided to pamper ourselves with a much-needed massage Overall for the 6 days, 5 nights trip, they spent around Rs 60,000 per person. But believe us, the trip was worth it. The country is extremely safe for solo women travellers, offers a refreshing change from the hustle and bustle of routine life and will compel you to travel again to this amazing country. Editors note: Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz teaches creative writing in the University of the Philippines Mindanao. Her book, Abi Nako, Or So I Thought (2020, UP Press) is the first lesbian memoir published in the Philippines. In the Philippines, we do not have a word for lesbian in our major languages. But it doesnt mean that she does not exist. As a child I learned about gender and homosexual identities through a counting or sorting game that uses this chant: Girl, Boy, Bakla, Tomboy,' which determines what gender a child is depending on his/her age. Girl corresponds to one, Boy to two, Bakla to three, Tomboy to four and the chant goes on until it stops at ones age, e.g. an eight-year-old child is a tomboy, regardless of his/her biological sex. Here was also where I learned that nobody wants to be called bakla or tomboy even in a silly childrens game. They become the butt of jokes because bakla is the word for male homosexual and tomboy is a female homosexual. Later, I learned to identify as lesbian, but even the term is fraught with conflict about how it is defined, particularly in the Philippines. While the easy solution is to say that a lesbian is a woman who has romantic and sexual relations with women, that does not reflect the historical struggle around the term, particularly prompted by Adrienne Richs concept of the lesbian continuum, in which virtually all women can be considered lesbian by virtue of their commitment to women. The continuum refers to a range through each womans life of woman-identified experience." Rich also describes it as forms of primary intensity between and among women, not limited to sexual experience. When I first realized that I was a lesbian, I was a Literature major in college, and so I sought refuge and understanding, as usual from literature. (Two years later, I wrote my first lesbian story.) But I couldnt find any lesbian writers in Philippine literature. Its not that they did not exist, but that they were invisible. The erasure of the lesbian is so systemic, that even in anthologies of womens writing published in the 90s, the lesbian writers were not identified as such. Maybe it was a function of the authors themselves who were in the closet at that time, or the heteronormative bias of the feminist editors. So, I had to find the lesbian in the Western tradition. If any queer anthology truly shaped me, it would be Chloe Plus Olivia: An Anthology of Lesbian Literature from the Seventeenth Century to the Present edited by Lillian Faderman. Yet even with the mountain of literary pieces available to her, she admits the problem with the term lesbian, which she describes as anachronistic. She emphasizes that many of the women writers of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and even nineteenth centuries would not have considered themselves lesbian even had that word been available to them. Thus, as an anthologist, she decided to use the term only to signal content about female same-sex emotional and physical relationships though it is not a word other eras would have been likely to employ. It was through this anthology that my imagination opened up to what Faderman calls the literature of romantic friendship and of lesbian encoding, which led me to reading the work of early Philippine women writers such as Leona Florentino as lesbian texts. Florentino, the mother of Isabelo de los Reyes, wrote many love poems for women, which Ilocano literature scholars have described as merely commissioned work. More importantly, the 1994 anthology introduced me to what Faderman calls post-lesbian-feminist literature, which, even then, she coded as queer (though derisively, I think). It was this section of the anthology that opened me up to creative possibilities in writing the lesbian experience that I would only realize in my own writing 25 years later, when I did my creative practice PhD. Ive always wished there were a lesbian anthology ever since the first Ladlad volume of Philippine gay writing came out in 1994. And there was! In 1998, Anvil Publishing Inc. published Tibok: Heartbeat of the Filipino Lesbian, edited by Anna Leah Sarabia. But when I gained more experience as a literary writer and editor, I realized that I should put together the lesbian anthology I wanted to read. And this dream only came to fruition in 2021 when Anvil published Tingle: Anthology of Pinay Lesbian Writing, much belated, much awaited. READ: A new Filipino anthology shines light on stories by women loving women But before Tingle, the University of the Philippines Press published in 2017, an Asia-Pacific anthology, Press: 100 Love Letters edited by Laurel Flores Fantauzzo and Francesca Rendle-Short. The call for submissions was for letters from women to women. And while the queer angle was obvious, the anthology included more than that. Each letter in the book celebrates love and desire between women, in different stages and ways. But it really must be read as a queer womens anthology, breaking ground in the Philippines, making space for women naming their desire for what they can have, or cant have, for what they used to have, or what they do have, and even what they never had. The contributors from the Asia-Pacific (mostly Australia and the Philippines) took the prompt and found a variety of forms to embody this desire: poems, essays, illustrations, playing cards, photographs. They literally made love with their hands. "It is an urge that is primordial in me as a lesbian this writing of love letters and the making with my hands." It is an urge that is primordial in me as a lesbian this writing of love letters and the making with my hands. The Quebecoise lesbian writer Nicole Brossard asserts, Writings make sense that begin with the declaration of love (quoted in Nicole Brossard: Essays on Her Works). There can be no lesbian writing without this ideal beloved. In their epistolary introduction, Fantauzzo and Rendle-Short give us an intimate glimpse of the way they themselves journeyed with the project. We read it and we feel as if we know them, or they know us. That if we read the book, we are sharing in what Rendle-Short calls Desire lines of travel present here on these pages. Fantauzzo talks about the Philippine context of the love letter, referring to Rizal, the kundiman, Catholicism. Rendle-Short affirms, The letter is a declaration. The letter is an exhortation. The letter is a report. The letter is a plea. The letter is a tenuous bridge. Putting the book together, they asked, What happens when women write to each other, for each other? We name our desire to each other and call it forth collectively. Aside from letters to the beloved, the book also contains letters from daughters to mothers and mothers to daughters the first love a woman knows, the one that is most instructive. And sometimes devastating. In my own early writing of lesbian fiction, I imagined, as a motherless child whose mother failed my expectations, I was mothering desire, desiring mother. In the accomplishment of Press, we call back the lesbian continuum, and find our place in it as women who love women in all the ways that we know how. Press: 100 Love Letters is available from the University of the Philippines Press. NEWS Your article is being updated or not found. Please refresh after a moment A consortium led by South Korean steelmaker Posco Group has won a $6.7-billion deal to build the worlds largest green hydrogen plant in Duqm, a port town in east-central Oman, reported The Korea Economic Daily, citing sources familiar with the matter. The Omani authorities will be signing the deal on June 21 with the Posco's consortium partners in the presence of its energy and minerals minister, it stated. The consortium partners include Samsung Engineering, a construction unit of Samsung Group, and two other Korean state-run power companies as well as French energy major Engie and Thai national petroleum company PTTEP. As per the deal, Posco Holdings will be leading the project and managing the plant-building processes in Oman, while Samsung Engineering will handle the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work of the facilities, stated The Korea Economic Daily report. The other firms in the consortium will either produce or sell the green hydrogen generated by the factory, it added. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 20) The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Tuesday said it will focus on improving services and facilities in LRT-2 using additional revenue to be generated by the fare hike in August. For LRT line 2, 97% of the expected additional revenue will be allocated for maintenance and operation expenses, and to also upgrade the systems like the signaling, communications and also improve or rehabilitate the existing line, DOTr Assistant Secretary for Railways Jorgette Aquino told CNN Philippines The Source. On Monday, the Light Rail Transit Authority announced the approved fare increases for LRT-1 and LRT-2 to be implemented starting Aug. 2. The minimum boarding fee would increase to 13.29 from 11, and 1.21 for every kilometer traveled from 1 per km. Aquino said in a statement that the hike will contribute to maintaining affordable mass transportation services for the two commuter-train lines. While operators of LRT-1 and LRT-2 are allowed to file for a fare hike every two years, this will only be the first time in eight years that such an increase will be implemented, she said. The fare increase was supposed to be implemented in April, but President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered its suspension. Aquino noted that 80% of the new fare is still subsidized by the entities that operate and maintain the train lines. In the case of LRT-2, which is under the governments supervision, the actual end-to-end fare of a passenger from Antipolo station to Recto station is 178, she said. While the fare to be paid by a commuter for that route will increase from 30 to 35, a chunk of it or 143 is still subsidized by the government, Aquino explained. The same is also being implemented in LRT-1 which is operated and maintained by Light Rail Manila Corporation, a private entity, she said. For MRT-3, Aquino said authorities are set to refile their petition for a fare increase within two weeks. Fare hike for this train line was rejected due to some technical issues, she noted. The DOTr official said the decision on the petition of MRT-3 may take three to four months. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 20) The Sandiganbayan has turned down the bid of former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) officials to seek the immediate dismissal of corruption cases they are facing over their alleged involvement in the misuse of pork barrel. In its resolution, the anti-graft courts second division said the motion for leave of court to file demurrer to evidence filed by former TLRC officials Dennis Cunanan, Francis Figura and private individuals Rolleo Ignacio and Bernardita Ignacio lacked merit as there is sufficient evidence of their guilt. After a careful study, the court finds that the evidence adduced by the prosecution, testimonial and documentary, appear to be prima facie sufficient to sustain the conviction of the accused of the crimes charged against them unless successfully rebutted by defense evidence, the court said in the resolution signed on June 16. The court noted that the charges alleged conspiracy among the accused. This means they have to present evidence to disprove the charges against them or their non-participation in the conspiracy. A demurrer to evidence seeks the immediate dismissal of a case soon after the prosecution rests its case. The defendant would waive his right to present evidence on the ground that the prosecutions evidence is weak. A leave of court has to be granted first before a defendant can file a demurrer. Cunanan, Figura, and the Ignacios are facing graft, malversation, and falsification of public documents over the alleged diversion of millions of former Manila 5th district Representative Joey Hizons pork barrel to bogus non-government organizations in 2007. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 20) Senators Bato Dela Rosa and Robin Padilla had different takes on former Senate President Franklin Drilon's criticism about the "lack of decorum on the part of certain senators." Drilon earlier advised Senate President Migz Zubiri to "draw the line" and reminded him that the burden of "upholding and restoring the prestige of the Senate" is his responsibility. The statement came just a month after Padilla drew flak due to the viral video of the neophyte senator struggling to make a motion during a plenary session. He was also criticized after he was seen combing his mustache during a separate session. In the same month, Dela Rosa was accused of debasing the Senate as an institution when he knelt before cops accused of involvement in illegal drug trade, begging them to tell the truth during a committee hearing. Asked to respond to Drilon's reminder, Dela Rosa admitted that his occasional loud laughter may have contributed to the noise in the session hall. "Nakakalimutan ko minsan na senador pala ako, akala ko pulis pa rin akoNake-carried away ako sa emotion ko and I'm sorry for that kung nasisira ang imahe ng Senado dahil diyan sa mga ginagawa ko," he said. [Translation: I sometimes forget that I am a senator, I think I'm still a police officerI get carried away by my emotions and I'm sorry if I ruin the image of the Senate because of what I do.] "I'm sorry for that and I'm ready to make amends. I am ready to adjust," he added. Meanwhile, Senator Robin Padilla said he did not feel alluded to when he heard of Drilon's statement. Padilla also said he does not see the need to make amends, adding that younger lawmakers have a different way of doing things. "Wala namang masama doon lalo na kapag tigwas tigwas na ang bigote, mas mahirap naman," he said, referring to his viral video. "Ako ay nalalapit sa taumbayan sa pagiging ako. Kapagka binago ko yung sarili ko baka malayo sila sakinAko ay hinalal para mapalapit sa tao, di maging mukhang kagalang galang," he said. [Translation: There is nothing wrong with that, especially if the mustache is in disarray... I am connected to the people because of who I am. If I change myself, they might distance themselvesI was elected to be close to the people, not to look respectable.] Dela Rosa and Padilla said the Senate leadership did not lack in reminding them of the proper decorum. Former Senate President Tito Sotto said there is still time for improvement, especially for those in their first years in office. "They should welcome such observations, lalo na ng mga antigo ay dapat pakinggan (especially from seniors should be heard). They should take it in stride and try to follow traditions," Sotto said. Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva earlier said senators will discuss concerns on the decorum of some colleagues. CNN Philippines correspondent Eimor Santos and digital producer Faith Ragasa contributed to this report. Germany (CNN Philippines, June 20) Around 2,000 journalists gathered in Bonn, Germany for the annual Global Media Forum, where they tackled pressing challenges facing the media industry. These challenges include false information and propaganda, threats to safety, and even the rise of artificial intelligence or AI. "We need to ask ourselves what we as journalists should do to overcome divisions, but also what our responsibilities are," Deutche Welle director-general Peter Limbourg said at the opening of the 16th Global Media Forum. Limbourg also advised journalists to harness social media's power and make the most of its reach to fight for the truth, even when these platforms themselves pose a risk to their profession. "Journalists need to stop letting the algorithms of platforms set the agenda of their work," he said. In one of the panel discussions, United Nations Head of Communications Melissa Flemming also highlighted the need to protect free and independent media amid these challenges. We just need to all advocate for protection of journalists freedom of the media and press governments. We need more funding for independent media around the world working in precarious situation, Flemming said. Journalists face difficult circumstances in 70% of countries across the globe, according to Hendrik Wust, Minister President of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Around the world, countless journalists are victims of despotism and violence. Things are not good for the freedom of the press in the world, Wust said. Additionally, he said that even while AI poses a threat to media, journalists will continue to perform a key function that AI cannot. Journalists cannot be replaced. They are driven by attitude and hunger for freedom. They are guided by guidelines which AI cannot have, Wust added. CNN Philippines is among the media organizations that took part in the two-day Global Media Forum. Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), one of the worlds largest aluminium smelters, has achieved another milestone in its Industry 4.0 transformational journey with the inauguration of an online performance system for its power stations. This system is centered around the EtaPRO Asset Performance and Condition Monitoring platform and installed in over 3,000 units across 60+ countries. As Alba seeks to unlock the full potential of digital technology at scale, EtaPRO is helping to improve overall performance, measure plant degradation, enhance asset reliability and deliver critical data and insights in support of Albas digital transformation efforts. Real-time reliability With the new system online, Alba has been able to transform from labour-intensive past practices to proactive, real-time reliability and performance monitoring, thus enabling quicker fixes with minimum downtime before lasting or costly equipment damage is done. The EtaPRO platform combines the power of thermal performance, anomaly detection, and predictive analytics to help plants increase the availability, reliability, and efficiency of their most critical assets. With EtaPROs ability to operate on-premises and in the cloud, Alba has flexible options for expansion to meet their current and future business objectives, says Albas Chief Executive Officer, Ali Al Baqali. Powerful partner EtaPRO is a powerful partner to have as we continue to meet our companys objectives in terms of efficiency and optimisation. It has been exciting to see Alba reach this milestone on their path to digital transformation with EtaPRO, stated Richard DesJardins, Chief Operating Officer, EtaPRO. With EtaPROs Asset Performance and Condition Monitoring technology, Albas power stations can now easily view the real time and historical health and condition of equipment, create high level reports, diagnose an equipment issue, automate routine calculations in addition to displaying trends, and diagnose plant performance.-- TradeArabia News Service Browser Compatibility Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks. We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Today is June 20, 2023 and here's what you need to know: Denver, Aurora and thousands of local governments nationwide are receiving settlement money from companies that made, sold, or distributed opioid painkillers, such as Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen and Walmart. In the case of Denver, the city so far has received nearly $2 million in five installments in the last two years. In Aurora, the figure stood at a little more than $500,000. Colorado is due a total of $385 million over a number of years, of which 10% will be controlled by the state, 80% by local governments and 10% by the Colorado Opioid Abatement Council. In Colorado, opioids have killed more than 8,500 people over the past two decades. In 2020 alone, Colorado saw roughly 1,500 drug overdose deaths, nearly two-thirds of which were opioids, according to the Colorado Health Institute. The 1,500 drug overdoses in 2020 represented a nearly 40% increase over the previous year. The Colorado Board of Education approved $180 million in grants across the state from a prioritized list of 17 Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) school construction projects. Board members approved the grants during their monthly meeting last week. Lawmakers enacted the Building Excellent Schools Today Act or BEST in 2008 to address the limited capacity many Colorado schools have to replace aging facilities. Since 2008, BEST has contributed more than $3.5 billion in grants which are designed to improve health, safety, security and technology in Colorados public schools. More than half of the grants will be funded, in part, by the Colorado State Land Board, marijuana excise tax, the Colorado Lottery and earned interest. Projects include roof replacements, fire alarms and security upgrades as well as other major renovations. Awardees will be expected to contribute about $79 million in matching funds. Two of the projects are contingent on local approval of bonds by district voters. A federal judge has refused to dismiss the lawsuit of a former Weld County schools superintendent who alleges her school board fired her after she stood up against multiple incidents of racism, sexism and homophobia involving one of the district's principals. Leslie Arnold led Weld County School District RE-5J from 2018 to 2021, where she reportedly received positive performance reviews. However, days after Arnold sent an email decrying the "cover-up" of a principal's problematic behavior, the elected board of education terminated her contract. On June 14, U.S. District Court Judge Nina Y. Wang denied the school district's request to dismiss the lawsuit. She found Arnold had credibly alleged the board fired her because of "protected activity" under civil rights law specifically, that she opposed leaving Principal Brian Littlefield in charge of Roosevelt High School given multiple, substantiated incidents of discrimination. "There are no 'magic words' necessary to qualify for protected opposition," Wang wrote. Instead, "the employee simply must convey to the employer his or her concern that the employer has engaged in an unlawful practice prohibited by discrimination law." The Colorado Attorney General's Office employs a handful of recent law school graduates who serve as Ralph L. Carr Appellate Fellows, where they get immediate experience handling cases before the state's two highest courts. "We wanted to figure out a way to bring newer lawyers into the office and give them real, substantive experience while also addressing some of the needs the office had," Eric R. Olson, Colorado's solicitor general until recently, told Colorado Politics. "And one of the needs is our backlog in criminal appeals." Olivia Probetts joined the Department of Law for a two-year stint as a Carr Fellow in 2021, shortly after graduating from the University of Chicago's law school. She spoke to Colorado Politics about her time litigating criminal appeals and other projects including a recent case the members of the U.S. Supreme Court heard in April. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said they agreed to stabilize badly deteriorated U.S.-China ties, but Americas top diplomat left Beijing with his biggest ask rebuffed: better communications between their militaries. After meeting Xi, Blinken said China is not ready to resume military-to-military contacts, something the U.S. considers crucial to avoid miscalculation and conflict, particularly over Taiwan. Still, China's main diplomat for the Western Hemisphere, Yang Tao, said he thought Blinken's visit to China marks a new beginning. The U.S. side is surely aware of why there is difficulty in military-to-military exchanges, he said, blaming the issue squarely on U.S. sanctions, which Blinken said revolved entirely around threats to American security. Yet Blinken and Xi pronounced themselves satisfied with progress made during the two days of talks, without pointing to specific areas of agreement beyond a mutual decision to return to a broad agenda for cooperation and competition endorsed last year year by Xi and President Joe Biden at a summit in Bali. And, it remained unclear if those understandings can resolve their most important disagreements, many of which have international implications. Still, both men said they were pleased with the outcome of the highest-level U.S. visit to China in five years. By Dedra Cordle Staff Writer The South-Western City Schools Board of Education has approved the use of federal dollars to build a new learning center for students on the westside. At a meeting held earlier this spring, the board granted authorization for the district to seek bids for a contract that would oversee the construction of a new Stiles Family Resource Center in order to meet the demands of the growth in the area. The scope of the project will entail building a standalone facility to the west of the current site, which is slightly adjacent to Stiles Elementary School. It will house 10 permanent classrooms with an alternate bid for 12 classrooms. It will also include office spaces, meeting spaces, and a health clinic. According to Evan Debo, the districts executive director of communications, the existing Stiles Family Resource Center location was built nearly three decades ago and it can no longer withstand the current and projected growth of the population on the western boundary. Due to growing early childhood enrollments and a rising need for special education interventions at the preschool level, the building is outgrowing its physical location, said Debo. Coupled with an aging facility, primarily made up of modular components, the site was identified (by the district) as a development project to serve both academic groups with 21st century amenities. The current timeline for the project calls for the construction of the new Stiles Family Resource Center to begin in the fall of 2023. If all goes according to plan and there are no delays in the procurement of building materials, the learning facility should be completed in the late spring/early summer of 2024. The district will continue to host special education specific classrooms and the Head Start program at the current site. Debo said the construction of the new facility will not impact their operations. Programming at the SFRC will not be impacted by the construction project as the project will take shape independent of the current SFRC footprint in the lot area to the west of the facility, he said. The construction of the new Stiles Family Resource Center is estimated to be $5.8 million. The district will utilize the federal dollars it received as a part of the third phase of the American Rescue Plan and The Elementary and Secondary School Elementary Relief Fund (ARP-ESSER). According to an interview with Treasurer High Garside about the funds earlier this year, the district has received an allocation of $61.5 million through the ESSER III program. Under the federal guidelines to access these funds, 20 percent had to be put aside to implement learning loss objectives caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, the district has spent more than $14 million to combat learning loss by hiring additional counselors, intervention specialists, social workers, and student support liaisons; offering online tutoring services; building a more robust summer school program; providing Chromebooks to all students; and partnering with organizations such as the YMCA of Central Ohio to provide social and emotional needs for students. The ESSER III dollars have also been utilized to make infrastructure upgrades within the district, much like they are doing with the Stiles Family Resource Center. According to Debo, these are the projects that have taken place or are currently underway: HVAC work at all of the intermediate schools on the southwest and westside. The replacement of chiller units at seven buildings with a projected completion by mid-fall. An addition at Hayes Intermediate School. Roof repair and replacement at the recreation centers. The replacement of removable walls at Buckeye Woods and Darby Woods with solid blocks for infrastructure and safety upgrades. An event center expansion at the South-Western Career Academy, which is slated to be complete in 2024. Planned HVAC work at Central Crossing High School and the SWCA. Planned sound and lighting equipment upgrades to the high school auditoriums. With these projects and the utilization of the federal dollars to build a new resource center, the district will have used most of its ESSER III funding unrelated to the learning loss allocation. Debo said those funds are mostly encumbered and will continue to be spent in accordance with the districts spending plan. Jordans Airport International Group said that Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) welcomed 3,501,681 passengers (PAX) during the first five months of 2023, registering 38.1% growth against 2022 figures. Meanwhile, QAIA received 30,078 aircraft movements (ACM), 18.7% more than the figures recorded during the same period in 2022. As for year-to-date cargo figures, QAIA handled 25,021 tons, marking a 6.6% rise compared with 2022 figures. During May, 724,933 PAX travelled through QAIA, up 3.4% against 2022 figures. Additionally, QAIA witnessed 6,302 ACM and handled 5,081 tons of cargo, indicating a 1.1% decrease and a 9.9% increase, respectively, as opposed to 2022. With the start of the summer season, our team is working diligently to ensure QAIA offers an exceptional airport journey to accommodate the expected rising passenger numbers. We are collaborating closely with all concerned stakeholders and stand ready to deliver a warm and welcoming experience that makes our passengers feel like home at Jordans prime gateway to the world, said Airport International Group CEO, Nicolas Claude. TradeArabia News Service Modi leaves for US visit, to start with Yoga Day at UN headquarters in New York City Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that his state visit to the United States of America would be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of the Indo-US partnership. He asserted that together, the two countries would stand stronger in meeting shared global challenges. Indian diaspora in the United States of America eagerly await the arrival of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a state visit, at the invitation of US President Joe Biden. Photo: PTI Modi, who left for the US today, said in a departure statement released through the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) that his state visit would start with a celebration of yoga. In the statement, Modi said: I am travelling to the United States of America on a State Visit at the invitation of President Joseph Biden and First Lady Dr Jill Biden. This special invitation is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for the United States. Photo courtesy: Twitter/@PMOIndia I will commence my visit in New York [City], where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters, with the UN leadership and members of the international community. I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported Indias proposal in December 2014 to recognise an International Day of Yoga. Modi will then travel to Washington DC. His statement said: President Biden and I have had the opportunity to meet several times since my last Official Visit to the USA in September 2021. This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership. Also read: Indian-Americans march to welcome PM Modi ahead of official visit The US was Indias largest trade partner in goods and services, and the two countries would work closely in the fields of science and technology, education, health, defence and security, Modi said. The initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies had added new dimensions and widened collaboration in defence industrial co-operation, space, telecom, quantum, Artificial Intelligence and biotech sectors, he added. Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, said the PMO statement. In the departure statement, Modi said that his discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders would provide an opportunity to consolidate bilateral co-operation and collaboration at plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity). Incidentally, President Biden and Prime Minister Modi gave each other a warm hug at the G7 summit in May, held in Hiroshima, Japan. Modi was at the G7 summit as the guest of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida; he also attended the Quad summit Australia, India, Japan, and the United States at the same venue. Biden had said then that he was flooded by requests for invites to events featuring Modi during his US state visit. In a tweet, Modi said that in the US, he would also get the opportunity to meet business leaders, interact with the Indian community and meet thought leaders from different walks of life. We seek to deepen India-USA ties in key sectors like trade, commerce, innovation, technology and other such areas, he said. The Indian prime minister will join the US president and his wife for the state banquet along with a number of dignitaries. Noting that the US Congress had always provided strong bipartisan support to India-US ties, Modi said that during his visit, he would address a joint session of the US Congress at the invitation of the Congressional leadership. Strong people-to-people linkages have been instrumental in developing the trust between our countries. I look forward to meeting the vibrant Indian-American community that represents the best of our societies, said Modi. I will also meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating our trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains, he said. He expressed confidence that his visit to the US would reinforce ties between the two countries based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Together, we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges, Modi said in his statement. Modi to visit Egypt after United States After his US state visit, Prime Minister Modi will head to Egypt, also on a state visit. I will travel to Cairo from Washington DC at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. I am excited to pay a State Visit to a close and friendly country for the first time, he said. We had the pleasure of receiving President Sisi as the Chief Guest at our Republic Day celebrations this year. These two visits in the span of a few months is a reflection of our rapidly evolving partnership with Egypt, which was elevated to a Strategic Partnership during President Sisis visit. Modi added, I will also have the opportunity to interact with the vibrant Indian diaspora in Egypt. With inputs from PTI Helsinki, June 20 (UNI) The Finnish parliament on Tuesday approved the candidacy of Petteri Orpo, the leader of the National Coalition Party that won the parliamentary elections in the country, as the new head of government, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported. Orpo's candidacy was approved by a vote of 107 in favor, 81 against and 12 abstentions, the speaker of the parliament said. After the parliamentary elections in Finland in April, Orpo led a negotiating group to form a new government, which included representatives of the National Coalition Party, the Finns Party, the Swedish People's Party of Finland and the Christian Democrats. As of June 16, the parties managed to develop a common program of action for a four-year term of the mandate and formed a new, 77th government of Finland. Finnish President Sauli Niinisto is scheduled to appoint a new cabinet on Tuesday afternoon. UNI/SPUTNIK AKS Pakistani agent holds Indian couple seeking to enter US illegally hostage in Iran: Reports According to reports, a Pakistani agent is holding a young couple from Gujarat's Ahmedabad city to ransom in Iran. They had reportedly planned to enter the US illegally, police said. Gujarat Polices Marine Task Force a specialised force trained for coastal security. Photo courtesy: Twitter/@DGPGujarat A process was on to register an FIR in this connection at Krushnanagar Police Station in Naroda area and the Ahmedabad city crime branch has started an investigation into the matter, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Chaitanya Mandlik said yesterday. Since the incident has taken place outside the country, the crime branch will approach the Indian Embassy in Iran with all details to secure the release of the couple, identified as Pankaj Patel and his wife Nisha Patel, both aged 29, the official said. As per details shared with Krushnanagar police by the couple's family, the two wanted to enter the US illegally and came in contact with a Hyderabad-based agent who arranged for their air tickets. As per the agent's plan, the couple was supposed to land at Tehran in Iran and then proceed further as per instructions, police said. However, after they landed at Tehran airport a few days back, a Pakistani agent took them to a hotel and held them hostage for ransom, officials said. The Pakistani agent and his accomplices thrashed Pankaj Patel and sent a video to his kin and sought a huge amount of money to release the couple, they added. (PTI) (Except for the headline and introduction, this story has not been edited by Connected to India's staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) The Conservative Party has been successful in diverting public scrutiny for the past fourteen years, employing customary tactics that have shielded five of its Prime Ministers from public and parliamentary scrutiny. Boris Johnson is not the first liar in Tory politics, nor will he be the last in British politics. It is customary for both the ruling classes and non-ruling elites in British politics to propagate lies to serve their own interests. Throughout history, political integrity has been foreign to the British ruling classes. The Partygate report may unveil the truth, but ironically, truth itself becomes a casualty, where Tories escape accountability and outsource the blames on others. Will Boris Johnson be remembered as the first liar in British politics? And will he be the last? Lies in British politics are not coincidental; they are deeply ingrained. Deception and misleading both the Parliament and the public have become customary practices in modern British politics. Manipulating public opinion through diversionary tactics has become a weapon for gaining and retaining power. False narratives and political expediency lie at the core of modern British politics, spanning from Churchill to Sunak. The Tory-led "EU Referendum" project, for instance, was built upon a foundation of lies. Similarly, the Labour Party, under Tony Blair, infamously presented the "dodgy dossier" that served as a pretext for the invasion of Iraq in 2003, also based on a pack of lies. The Costs of War Project report by Brown University and the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs revealed the devastating toll of the Iraq war from March 2003 to October 2018, with an estimated 268,000 to 295,000 people killed in violence, including 182,272 to 204,575 civilians according to Iraq Body Count's figures. Tony Blair's lies resulted in the loss of millions of Iraqi lives.The consequences were dire, not only in terms of human lives but also in financial terms. British taxpayers were burdened with a staggering 8.4 billion, and numerous British and American soldiers paid the ultimate price for the lies perpetuated by war criminals like Tony Blair and George Bush. The mistakes made by Blair and his counterparts were not mere errors but deliberate falsehoods that led to catastrophic consequences. The cost in terms of lives lost and resources squandered cannot be understated, and it is a painful reminder of the grave impact that lies and deception can have on the world. The vilification campaign against former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is yet another example of the pervasive use of lies in British politics. Corbyn's unwavering honesty and integrity in both public and private life became a disqualification in the eyes of the British political establishment. The ruling classes orchestrated his defeat, but they were unsuccessful in tarnishing Corbyn's reputation for honesty and integrity. Despite enduring relentless vilification, Corbyn continues to hold a prominent position in British politics. The truth has a remarkable resilience throughout history, and no matter how much reactionary propaganda is employed, it cannot conceal the everyday realities of politics in Britain. Corbyn's steadfastness in the face of such attacks serves as a testament to the enduring power of truth. While the British ruling classes may have sought to undermine Corbyn, they have failed to extinguish the genuine integrity that he embodies. The literal normalisation and naturalisation of Kiplingian lies have played a role in shaping and domesticating everyday lives in Britain. The persistence of otherness in British politics is evident as the current Tory Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, leads efforts to target establishments such as restaurants, car washes, nail bars, barber shops, and convenience stores in order to apprehend so-called illegal immigrants, many of whom are among the poor and homeless. It is important to question who these individuals labelled as illegal immigrants truly are, why they have come to Britain, and the circumstances that compelled them to leave their loved ones and homes behind. The lives and livelihoods of people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have been devastated by colonial and neo-colonial wars, as well as neoliberal economic policies. These individuals have been sold fraudulent dreams of a better life in Britain and America, prompting them to embark on perilous journeys across treacherous waters and roads. Tragically, their paths often lead them to death, destitution, or encounters with figures like Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who acts as a heartless immigration officer. Rishi Sunak's temporary role as an immigration officer is a part of a juvenile and deceptive practice employed to divert attention from his party's failures and shield himself from public scrutiny. The hundred and six pages Partygate inquiry report, conducted by the Privileges Committee of the British Parliament, not only highlights the evident character of Boris Johnson as a habitual liar but also exposes the deceptive political strategies employed by the Tories.The timing of the report's release is part of a broader strategy by conservative spin doctors to construct a convenient exculpatory narrative, allowing both past and current Tory Prime Ministers to evade accountability for their utter failures while diverting public attention.The Conservative Party has been successful in diverting public scrutiny for the past fourteen years, employing customary tactics that have shielded five of its Prime Ministers from public and parliamentary scrutiny. Boris Johnson is not the first liar in Tory politics, nor will he be the last in British politics. It is customary for both the ruling classes and non-ruling elites in British politics to propagate lies to serve their own interests.Throughout history, political integrity has been foreign to the British ruling classes. The Partygate report may unveil the truth, but ironically, truth itself becomes a casualty, where Tories escape accountability and outsource the blames on others. Will Boris Johnson be remembered as the first liar in British politics? And will he be the last?Lies in British politics are not coincidental; they are deeply ingrained. Deception and misleading both the Parliament and the public have become customary practices in modern British politics. Manipulating public opinion through diversionary tactics has become a weapon for gaining and retaining power. False narratives and political expediency lie at the core of modern British politics, spanning from Churchill to Sunak.The Tory-led "EU Referendum" project, for instance, was built upon a foundation of lies. Similarly, the Labour Party, under Tony Blair, infamously presented the "dodgy dossier" that served as a pretext for the invasion of Iraq in 2003, also based on a pack of lies. The Costs of War Project report by Brown University and the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs revealed the devastating toll of the Iraq war from March 2003 to October 2018, with an estimated 268,000 to 295,000 people killed in violence, including 182,272 to 204,575 civilians according to Iraq Body Count's figures.Tony Blair's lies resulted in the loss of millions of Iraqi lives.The consequences were dire, not only in terms of human lives but also in financial terms. British taxpayers were burdened with a staggering 8.4 billion, and numerous British and American soldiers paid the ultimate price for the lies perpetuated by war criminals like Tony Blair and George Bush.The mistakes made by Blair and his counterparts were not mere errors but deliberate falsehoods that led to catastrophic consequences. The cost in terms of lives lost and resources squandered cannot be understated, and it is a painful reminder of the grave impact that lies and deception can have on the world.The vilification campaign against former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is yet another example of the pervasive use of lies in British politics. Corbyn's unwavering honesty and integrity in both public and private life became a disqualification in the eyes of the British political establishment. The ruling classes orchestrated his defeat, but they were unsuccessful in tarnishing Corbyn's reputation for honesty and integrity.Despite enduring relentless vilification, Corbyn continues to hold a prominent position in British politics. The truth has a remarkable resilience throughout history, and no matter how much reactionary propaganda is employed, it cannot conceal the everyday realities of politics in Britain.Corbyn's steadfastness in the face of such attacks serves as a testament to the enduring power of truth. While the British ruling classes may have sought to undermine Corbyn, they have failed to extinguish the genuine integrity that he embodies.The literal normalisation and naturalisation of Kiplingian lies have played a role in shaping and domesticating everyday lives in Britain. The persistence of otherness in British politics is evident as the current Tory Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, leads efforts to target establishments such as restaurants, car washes, nail bars, barber shops, and convenience stores in order to apprehend so-called illegal immigrants, many of whom are among the poor and homeless. It is important to question who these individuals labelled as illegal immigrants truly are, why they have come to Britain, and the circumstances that compelled them to leave their loved ones and homes behind.The lives and livelihoods of people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have been devastated by colonial and neo-colonial wars, as well as neoliberal economic policies. These individuals have been sold fraudulent dreams of a better life in Britain and America, prompting them to embark on perilous journeys across treacherous waters and roads. Tragically, their paths often lead them to death, destitution, or encounters with figures like Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who acts as a heartless immigration officer.Rishi Sunak's temporary role as an immigration officer is a part of a juvenile and deceptive practice employed to divert attention from his party's failures and shield himself from public scrutiny. The racist political tactics rooted in colonial discourse on migration form the core of the lies perpetuated by the British ruling class. Blaming refugees and illegal immigrants for health and homelessness crises allows the Tories to find respite for their own underfunding and austerity measures while evading accountability. These lies and misleading narratives provide a smokescreen for the Tory government's own failures and create a buffer against public scrutiny. It is crucial to challenge and expose the deceitful practices that perpetuate injustice and divert attention from the real issues at hand. Rishi Sunak's temporary role as immigration officer is a deceptive practice to divert attention from his party's failures The history of Pax Britannia is indeed tainted by a legacy of lies, dishonesty, death, destitution, robbery, looting, scandals, and deceptive practices perpetrated by the British colonial empire. The concept of "civility" and the so-called "civilizing" missions of British colonialism served as a grand deceit to exploit people and plunder their resources. The notion of colonial civility, in reality, meant endless murder, boundless exploitation, and the enslavement of indigenous populations in their own lands. The absence of accountability defined the scandals of the British empire, allowing its atrocities to go unpunished. The relationship between lies and British politics is deeply entrenched in history, with the ruling classes weaving deception into the very fabric of political discourse in modern Britain. Lies, misinformation, and deceptive political strategies serve to undermine democracy and weaken citizenship by sowing disillusionment among the masses. They provide a means for the ruling and non-ruling elites to evade public scrutiny and democratic accountability. The erosion of trust, accountability, and the subversion of democratic processes are central to the growth of a culture of depoliticisation, which aligns with the requirements of capitalism to shield itself from democratic scrutiny. Boris Johnson represents the epitome of deceptive politics in contemporary Britain, where the ruling class undermines democracy and democratic practices to subjugate its citizens through the proliferation of lies. The purpose is to domesticate the population and maintain control in the name of nationalism based on white supremacy. Working class politics offers an alternative to combat the pervasive culture of deceptive mainstream politics in Britain and beyond. Grounded in the reflections on the everyday realities of both material and non-material aspects of people's lives, working class politics has the potential to drive transformative change in society along a progressive trajectory that aligns with the needs and aspirations of the masses. Working class politics is rooted in an understanding of the mosaic of truth and reality, acknowledging the historical struggles of the working class against various forms of capitalist deception. Throughout history, these struggles have highlighted the need for alternatives that challenge the status quo and address the systemic injustices perpetuated by deceptive political practices by the ruling classes. The resurgence of working-class alternatives is evident, and it is crucial for society to open its doors and windows to embrace the working-class political struggles. By doing so, we can strive towards a peaceful and prosperous society that is founded on truth and authenticity, moving away from the manipulative tactics of deceptive politics. Embracing working class politics provides an opportunity to prioritise the well-being and aspirations of the majority, fostering a more equitable and just society for all. --- *University of Glasgow, UK New Delhi, June 20 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday morning left on a six-day visit to the US and Egypt. The PM will attend programmes in New York City and Washington, including Yoga Day celebrations at the UN Headquarters and hold talks with US President Joe Biden. In a tweet, the PM said: Leaving for USA, where I will attend programmes in New York City and Washington DC. These programmes include Yoga Day celebrations at the @UN HQ, talks with @POTUS @JoeBiden, address to the Joint Session of the US Congress and more. In a departure statement, the PM said he is travelling to the US on a State Visit at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. This special invitation is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies. He said he looks forward to celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the UN Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community. I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported Indias proposal in December 2014 to recognize an International Day of Yoga. He said his visit to Washington will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of the India-US partnership. India-US ties are multifaceted, with deepening engagements across sectors. USA is Indias largest trade partner in goods and services. We collaborate closely in science & technology, education, health, defence and security fields. The initiative on Critical & Emerging Technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration to defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, Artificial Intelligence and biotech sectors. Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. PM Modi said his discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders will provide an opportunity to consolidate our bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and IPEF. He will also join President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for the State Banquet along with a number of dignitaries. The US Congress has always provided strong bi-partisan support to India-US ties. During my visit, I will address a Joint Session of the US Congress at the invitation of Congressional leadership. Strong people-to-people linkages have been instrumental in developing the trust between our countries. He said he looks forward to meeting the vibrant Indian-American community that represents the best of our societies. He will also meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating the bilateral trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains. I am confident that my visit to the US will reinforce our ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges. He will travel to Cairo from Washington D.C. at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. I am excited to pay a State Visit to a close and friendly country for the first time, the PM said. We had the pleasure of receiving President Sisi as the Chief Guest at our Republic Day celebrations this year. These two visits in the span of a few months is a reflection of our rapidly evolving partnership with Egypt, which was elevated to a Strategic Partnership during President Sisis visit. I look forward to my discussions with President Sisi and senior members of the Egyptian Government to impart further momentum to our civilizational and multi-faceted partnership. I will also have the opportunity to interact with the vibrant Indian diaspora in Egypt. The MEA spokesperson in a tweet said: PM @narendramodi sets off on a visit to USA and Egypt. In the first leg, commencing in New York and then on to Washington, a historic first Official State visit to USA with a packed program awaits. The visit will set the stage for further accelerating India-US partnership. UNI RN This list is made by SecurityScorecard, one of the flagship companies in the third-party risk management (TPRM) industry. The challenge that TPRM companies have is rather simple: Provide a mechanism for companies that do business with other companies to evaluate the risk that their vendors present to them, from a cybersecurity perspective. SecurityScorecard and its primary competitor, BitSight, use a similar methodology: Create a risk score (sort of like your credit score), evaluate companies, and score them. Sounds easy, right? Nope. Imagine if the credit reporting agencies decided that theyd start evaluating large enterprises with the same credit scoring algorithm that they use for me, as an individual. Of course theyll look awful! Think about the size of Googles perimeter all its publicly visible IP addresses against Intel (which came in first on the Forbes list). One of these is predominantly a chip manufacturer, and I seriously hope they have a small external footprint. This tells us nothing about Intels cybersecurity practices, which I hope are heavily focused less on their website security (which contributes to their rating) and more on their product and manufacturing security (which dont contribute to their rating). Google, on the other hand, looks like one of the slum lords of the internet. Their addressable IP space is one of the largest on the planet, so of course theyll look bad from the outside at a cursory glance, especially if one of your measures is the size of someones attack surface. The credit reporting agencies, for better or worse, have much more data than the TPRM scoring companies. Theyre embedded throughout our financial system, collecting a lot of information that shouldnt be publicly available. The TPRM scoring companies, on the other hand, are doing the equivalent of drive-by appraisals. They look at the outside of businesses on the internet and decide how reputable they are based on their external appearances. Of course, certain business types will look more secure than others. The alternative to TPRM scoring is, sadly, the TPRM questionnaire industry, which is only marginally less unhelpful. This is an industry focused on shipping massive questionnaires to vendors, which take huge efforts to fill out. Dedicated teams then review the answers to search for any answer that looks like a no to follow up on (all mature vendors have by now figured out to never say no to any questions). Theres now an entire industry focused just on streamlining filling out these questionnaires. The TPRM problem is yet to be solved. Companies have a real need to understand the actual risks they inherit from their vendors, including both intrinsic risk (risk the vendor brings to you) and usage risk (risk created by how youre using the vendor). Unfortunately, neither the scoring space nor the questionnaire space are solving this problem. Mexico City, June 20 (UNI) Venezuela, with the introduction of Russia's Mir bank cards in the country, is participating in the creation of a financial system of the new world, President Nicolas Maduro said. "New payment systems are emerging in the world. Venezuela was subjected to cruel, unfair and criminal sanctions, we faced attempts to isolate us monetarily and financially. Now we are building new payment systems, new financial systems, new monetary systems of the new world," Maduro said during the "With Maduro +" television program. "The Central Bank of Venezuela has announced the good news that we are joining the Russian payment system used by many countries of the world: the Mir system," he said. In March, ATMs in Cuba began to accept cards of the Mir system. Myanmar will begin to accept them by December 2023. Nicaragua has also expressed the desire to join the system. Mir cards are now accepted by partner banks in Abkhazia, Armenia, Belarus, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South Korea and South Ossetia. Iran, Indonesia, Egypt, Thailand, India, Venezuela, Mauritius, Nigeria and Ethiopia also show interest in connection to the Mir system. UNI/SPUTNIK GNK If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit Financial Management and Administration Assistant - Djibouti GIZ- Internal/External Vacancy Announcement #119/2023 Better Migration Management Djibouti The Better Migration Management III (BMM III) program aims to respond to an overall objective to improve migration management in the Horn of Africa region, and in particular to curb the trafficking of human beings and the smuggling of migrants within, though and from the Horn of Africa. As part of the implementation of the BMM program, GIZ has a dual role both to coordinate the activities of the implementing partners based on the agreed-upon annual work plan as well as to directly implement certain activities. In furtherance of these responsibilities, GIZ works closely with government and non-government offices and officials and must maintain strong, professional relationships with many different national stakeholders in the countries of implementation Duration of Contract: 15.10.2023 Application deadline: June 30, 2023 Place of Work: Djibouti This position is a limited term opening for 3 months as a temporary maternity replacement. Please consider this when applying. Responsibilities Under the supervision of the National Coordinator and the finances head in brussels, the Admin and Finance assistant will be responsible for: Smooth functioning of financial administration in line with GIZ standard procedures. Effective coordination with the colleagues of the finance Department in Addis Ababa Preparing the payment voucher/cash voucher Support processing monthly financial data such us properly documents arranged Provision of assistance in accounting issues Tasks 1. Finance Provide support for banking matters and all bank account operation. Do closing of the month in cash book Monitor account payable and monthly feedback to the the team leader in Finance and Project Coordinator. Follow up all application official journey and the settlement in accordance of the staff; Checks accuracy of vouchers, codes to the proper cost etc. category prepares all; The vouchers payments (petty cash/bank voucher); Maintain filling for financial section and keeps information confidential. Reports on all kind of critical issues in financial management to the superior. Work on winpaccs cash book. Performs other duties and tasks at the request of management. 2. Administration Organizes and coordinates appointments for the Country Coordinator or other BMM project staff, as directed. Helps organize events and document meetings, workshops, and semi4nars within or outside the project. Prepare invitation letter to other project staff. Helps prepare visitor program, travel schedules, transport of visitors, and hotel and ticket reservations. Verify and control the consequent filing at all levels for the bookkeeping, the contracts and the logistics. Follow the procurement and logistics principle and procedure and develop the correct registration of materials and handle minor procurement for the BMM project. Create filing system which allows the connection between purchase of material and the inventory of the program as required. Performs other duties and tasks at the request of management. Monitoring and updating if the logbook and FMS are filled. Contract follow up with the event. 3. Procurement of Goods and Services Support the project in procurement of goods under EUR 5.000 as per the GIZ rules and regulations. Support the project in procurement of services including local Consultants contracts under EUR 8.000 as per GIZ Rules and Regulations Drawing up contracts. Maintains checklists and the current agreed system with the department head. Advising projects on contract related matters. Following up on tenders from its publication, evaluation till awarding. Following up on contracts on the Cosoft till closure. Follows up on contracts with the project/programs using Procurement and Services Status Notification System. Keeps database on suppliers and conducts regular search for alternatives (update a shortists on suppliers) Receives and checks delivered materials. Checks invoice, delivery receipts and other papers and submit for signature. Update the onsite Asset on every procurement update/ protocol hand over. Required qualifications, competences, and experience Qualifications Bachelors Degree in accounting or similar; Professional experience At least 3 years professional experience. Knowledge of MS EXCEL Application. Knowledge of an accounting software will be advantageous. Other knowledge, additional competencies Good working knowledge of ITC technologies (related software, phone, fax, email, the internet) and computer applications (e.g. MS Office); Good working knowledge of English and French (mandatory). fluency in local languages is an asset; Good management and organizational skills; Customer and service-oriented attitude; Willingness to upskill as required by the tasks to be performed corresponding measures are agreed with management and; Working in multi-cultural environment Application procedure: Interested and qualified candidates shall submit their motivation letter along with their recent CV Email. Note: - Please make sure you mention the Vacancy Number Financial Management and Administration Assistant Djibouti #119/2023 in the subject line of your email application. Due to large number of applications, we categorise applications with the vacancy numbers. Applications without vacancy numbers in subject lines might not be categorized in the appropriate folder and could be disqualified. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted We encourage persons with disabilities to apply for the position. In case of equal qualification, persons with disabilities will be given preference. Applications from qualified women are encouraged. Advertisement Glamorous racegoers donned fascinators and towering heels as they arrived for the start of Royal Ascot today. Racegoers dodged the earlier wet weather as they put of their best colourful dresses and dapper morning suits to descend on the Berkshire racecourse. Royal Ascot, the jewel in the crown of the UK racing calendar, starts today with the Queen Anne Stakes and will run until Saturday. Around 300,000 people are set to attend the prestigious event, some of them royalty and world-famous celebrities. The day is a much a social occasion as a sporting event and racegoers take the opportunity to turn on the style, from chic hats and summer dresses to sharp suits. It's the first year the event, a favourite of the late Queen, has gone ahead since her death in September. King Charles and Queen Camilla led the royal procession in the first carriage alongside the Duke & Duchess of Wellington, as God Save The King played. Welcome to an eclectic first day at Royal Ascot! This trio of racegoers donned a 70s style Tommy Hilfiger suit, a bright red and white floral frock with an over-sized hat, and a chic white dress with a horse-inspired hat Another race goer used Royal Ascot's pedigree racers as inspiration for her striking blue headwear A vision in pink, a beautiful blue and a rainbow brolly to boot: Two of today's spectators at Britain's most high profile summer race meet Some female racegoers took advantage of the relaxed dress code, by opting for suits and trousers - instead of the traditional dresses Exuberant headwear has dominated day one at Royal Ascot; Eliza Cortez opted for a peacock feather design This spectator channelled the spirit of the day, arriving wearing a horse-inspired creation Vibrant: Designer Isabell Kristensen also went bold, donning a turquoise skirt suit, with a dramatic oversized hat Princess Anne, known for considering Ascot the must-attend event of the year, is pictured holding the Winner's Trophy The Princess Royal chatted as she got ready to present the trophy on the first day of Royal Ascot 2023 Zara and Mike Tindall were the first of the royal guests to arrive, with King Charles' niece opting for a Leo Lin Cecilia Linen Midi Dress in green The keen equestrian looked gorgeous in the 375 number which she paired with heels and a fascinator Red velvet: Designer Daniel Lismore, described by Vogue as 'England's most eccentric dresser' plumped for a lavish pillar box red crushed velvet with a patriotic Union Jack head piece Bit of all white! Bruce Forsyth's widow Wilnelia Merced opted for a crisp white suit, making the most of the new rules Una Healy led the glamour in a crisp white summer dress while tapping into the Barbiecore trend with baby pink slingback heels and feathered hat - with a nod to racing superstar Frankie Dettori Una's hat included a sweet nod to the former Question of Sport star - showing a golden statue of him atop his horse TV presenter Charlotte Hawkins opted for a pretty green dress and fascinator The TV presneter, a regular at Ascot, was a vision in green as she stunned from head to toe English model Hana Cross opted for bridal chic in a cut out gown with shiny black shoes Quick change: Reality TV star Georgia Toffolo - known as Toff - looked pretty in a ethereal white number before changing into a burned orange piece Model Eunice Olumide looked every inch a style queen in a beach-themed lilac and apricot dress with an artistic hat in canary yellow Model Victoria Valentine Brown looked stunning in a pink floral number and modest headpiece Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi were among the royals arriving at the show Princess Beatrice stayed cool in a Beulah London dress - which cost 500 - for the day out. Despite being known for her love of extravagant headpieces, the daughter of Princess Andrew kept it relatively lowkey compared to other guests Something appeared to catch Zara Tindall's eye as she stood with her mother, Princess Anne, and Dolly Maude Zara, known for her love of racing and following in her mother's footsteps, carried a gold clutch to match with her summery floral dress Princess Beatrice's husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, 39, looked very sharp in a top hat and tails as he chatted to other guests King Charles, a keen gardener, appeared to be admiring the pink carnations in different shades as he drew someone else's attention to them Sweet family moments: Zara Tindall hugged her uncle King Charles as he arrived at the races Mike Tindall greets his wife's aunt - Queen Camilla - as the royals enter the racecourse The Queen, 75, looked effortlessly elegant in cream coat dress, matching hat and gloves Heir they are! Charles and Camilla pictured in the Royal Box at Ascot this afternoon The Princess Royal styled her hair in an elegant updo and wore a pretty pink lipstick for her first Royal Ascot without her late mother Brigitte, Duchess of Gloucester, who is celebrating her birthday today, beamed in blue as she took part in the Royal Procession King Charles and Queen Camilla seen after leaving the carriage and making their way to the royal box Following them in a second carriage was The Princess Royal, alongside Annabel Elliot - sister to The Queen. They were joined by Annabels son, Ben, and his wife, Mary-Clare. A third carriage followed with Duke & Duchess of Gloucester in, alongside horse breeders breeders Lord & Lady Bamford. Closing up the procession was horse trainer Willie Mullins and his wife, as well as The King & Queens long-standing racehorse trainer, Ralph Beckett, with his wife. Last year Charles lead for the first time due to the late Queen's mobility issues. Today, the King and Queen arrived in a horse drawn carriage, with Charles removing his hat and tipping it to the crowds. Princess Anne wore a pretty teal coat dress and hat for the occasion. Pictured: The royal following Charles and Camilla in another carriage Princess Anne was joined by Queen Camilla's lookalike sister, Annabel Elliot Pictured: Queen Camilla's sister Lady Annabel Elliot seen arriving at Ascot with her son Sir Ben Elliot Zara and Mike Tindall were the first of the royal guests to arrive, with King Charles' niece opting for a Leo Lin Cecilia Linen Midi Dress in green. The keen equestrian looked gorgeous in the 375 number which she paired with heels and a fascinator, while ex-Rugby pro husband Mike picked a traditional morning suit. Meanwhile, Charles opted for his traditional grey morning suit, while Queen Camilla wore all white with a wide-brimmed hat. In a touching tribute to her late mother-in-law, Camilla opted for a brooch that first belonged to the Queen Mother and was often worn by the Queen. The Queen mother wore the brooch for her 100th birthday, while the Queen herself wore it to Zara Tindall's wedding. Elsewhere, Una Healy led the glamour in a crisp white summer dress while tapping into the Barbiecore trend with baby pink court shoe heels and feathered hat, which came with a nod to racing superstar Frankie Dettori. The former Saturdays star opted for the green and pink statement headpiece - commissioned by bookmakers Ladbrokes - to celebrate the jockey's final royal meeting. In honour of the late monarch, the Platinum Jubilee Stakes, a six-furlong sprint which is staged on the Saturday of Ascot's five day meeting, will from now on be known as the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. Chairman of Ascot Sir Francis Brooke Bt. said: 'The late Queen's close association with Ascot Racecourse was well known throughout the world, but no race at the Royal Meeting previously carried the name of Queen Elizabeth II. 'His Majesty the King has approved the renaming of the Platinum Jubilee Stakes to The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. 'This will both honour Her Late Majesty in perpetuity and maintain the connection with the three Jubilees celebrated since the inception of the race as the Golden Jubilee Stakes in 2002.' The King and Queen looked delighted as they arrived at the event in a carraige Camilla opted to wear the Queen's brooch and diamond earrings for the day out King Charles III and Queen Camilla attend day one of Royal Ascot Some female racegoers took advantage of the relaxed dress code, by opting for suits and trousers - instead of the traditional dresses. While the formal dress code remains, in recent years organisers have encouraged visitors to be more 'experimental' with their fashion. Racegoers can also opt to dress from either the male of female dress code, regardless of their gender. Meanwhile TV presenter Charlotte Hawkins was hoping green was her lucky colour as she opted for a emerald and white outfit for the meet, with a Camilla Rose hat. Royal Ascot, the jewel in the crown of the UK racing calendar, starts today with the Queen Anne Stakes and will run until Saturday. Around 300,000 people are set to attend the prestigious event, some of them royalty and world-famous celebrities. The day is a much a social occasion as a sporting event and racegoers take the opportunity to turn on the style, from chic hats and summer dresses to sharp suits. Another racegoer mixed masculine and feminine fashion perfectly in a lilac suit with strappy stilettos This dapper chap sported some drop-down earrings and a burgunfy tie with elephant print as he attended Royal Ascot Racegoer Katherine Kitson arrives sporting a Union flag outfit on day one of Royal Ascot Spectator Victoria Brown chose a pretty pleated floral chiffon outfit with white heels and a pale pink bag Towering heels and pretty dresses were the look for many of the guests at the event First, let me take a selfie! Huge headpieces were popular with many of the female guests It's all 'armless! One guest opted for statement sleeves in a crisp white number for the occasion Hats off! This guest appeared to have one of the biggest hats of the day - which she paired with a red dress Floral chic! Friends complemented each other in yellow and blue as they celebrated the event One guest opted for a bright pink look with an oversized hat Another guest added a subtle patriotic touch with a cross on her headpiece Monochrome was a popular look with many guests who opted for black and white looks Simple pink looks were another popular choice as many tapped into the Barbiecore trend Gatsby glamour! One guest opted for art deco chic in a 1920s style get-up Racegoer Nana Acheampong dons a beautiful acid lime lace detail dress, with a matching manicure Apple of Ascot's eye: One guest grabbed attention in a flowing yellow dress - which she paired with a headpiece full of fruits, while another opted for a lime number Racegoer Chloe Frost looked gorgeous in a blue number with navy heels Many of the ladies opted for floral dresses including these three friends who picked low key fascinators Designer Virginia Chadwyck-Healy stunned in a bright pink number with a flower print Pretty in pink: Another guest opted for a classic baby pink headpiece and blazer dress All the better to see you with! One guest coordinated her binoculars with her champagne outfit in the ultimate chic move Perfection in pink: Silky pink was the look of the day of this guest Many racegoers opted for jumpsuits and trousers for the day out Retro girlband Tootsie Rollers opted to match in a Pretty Dress Company and Bee Smith hats The girlband could be mistaken for bridesmaids in their white floral dresses Hats off to ya! Big fascinators tended to be the look of the day with giant hats popular among guests Red royal time! One guest looked gorgeous in a huge red hat that was sure to command attention Eccentric style! While some guests opted for top hats and black lace (left) others pocked multicolours (right) What a complement! Two racegoers contrasted each other in pink and blue for the day out Gorgeous in green! One racegoer hoped to tap into the luck of the Irish in her cool mint dress with white heels The bigger the better! Many of the female guests picked massive fascinators for the day out Chairman of Ascot Sir Francis Brooke Bt. said: 'The late Queen's close association with Ascot Racecourse was well known throughout the world, but no race at the Royal Meeting previously carried the name of Queen Elizabeth II. 'His Majesty the King has approved the renaming of the Platinum Jubilee Stakes to The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. 'This will both honour Her Late Majesty in perpetuity and maintain the connection with the three Jubilees celebrated since the inception of the race as the Golden Jubilee Stakes in 2002.' However, racegoers will notice a subtle change in their cream and gold 7 programmes. Barbiecore seemed to capture the imagination of many guests who opted for pretty pink looks Bridal chic! One guest looked gorgeous in an off-white number Orange you glad to see me! One guest was sure to grab attention in a coral and pink gown with white heeled sandals She got the monochome memo: Another guest looked smart in a sleek white number ahead of the races Ryan Thomas and Lucy Mecklenburgh attend day one of Royal Ascot 2023 Rainbow glam! Another guest picked all the colours for a sleek outfit Springtime florals were popular among guests including Apprentice star Luisa Zissman, who managed to narrowly avoid the soggy weather for the day out One guest opted for a glam rock pink dress with cool grey accesories as she joined a male guest in a morning suit One guest took advantage of the recently relaxed dress code opted for a jumpsuit instead of the traditional dress Royal Ascot, the jewel in the crown of the UK racing calendar, starts today with the Queen Anne Stakes and will run until Ladies' Day on Friday. One racegoer is pictured Hat designer Ilda Di Vico modelled her own brand as she showed up in a classic Chanel-inspired black A-line dress with a string of pearls and statement heel Ilda Di Vico lead the glamour in the monochrome number as she was joined by a male guest in a morning suit Racegoers aboard a horse drawn carriage on day one of Royal Ascot It wasn't just the ladies who dressed to impress with many male guest in a traditional top hat and tails for the occasion Arriving in style! Many arrived atop a horse-drawn carriage Perfect pink: Seas of coral, red and pink were on guests throughout the day Floral fashion was a theme among racegoers, including one who opted for a 2770 feather trim silk dress from Andrew GN (left) while another (right) opted for a 700 number from Elliat Susan and Matthew Verrall opted for yellow and blue for the day out - with Matthew opting for a fun teddy atop his hat Two racegoers were hoping to get lucky in jersey colours as they celebrated the day Union Jack bunting greeted the guests, many dressed in morning suits, as they arrived at the racecourse Ladies in their best dressed managed to narrowly avoid rain and storms as they queued by for the day out Pretty in pink! Barbiecore was certainly a theme for the day with many of the female guests in baby pinks Perfection in purple! One staff member picked a purple fascinator for the day out Hats off to that! The bigger the better seemed to be the way of the day with fascinators with one racegoer wearing a bright red piece while another chose peacock feathers Following the Coronation of King Charles, the racecards now carry a new cypher, replacing the late Queen's official royal emblem with a joint one to reflect both the King and Queen. On social media, Royal Ascot shared a photograph of the new look, writing: 'We are delighted to unveil the racecard cover for the opening day of Royal Ascot 2023, the first displaying the joint cypher of Their Majesties The King & Queen.' Both the King and Queen have individual cyphers. The joint cypher is more similar in design to Queen Camilla's own emblem but adds an additional swirling C to represent the King. The Queen Consort's official cypher is a swirling 'CR' monogram under a Crown. The entwined letters stand for Camilla Regina Latin for Queen. Like Charles's cypher, Camilla's design is based on the Tudor crown but is more elaborate and stylised. It is the first time in 70 years that the country's most famous horseracing event will carry a new cypher. An exhibition by royal photographer Chris Jackson, to mark the late Queen's close association with Royal Ascot and a lifelong interest in horses and racing is shown. It featured more recent work the exhibition contains photographs from the Getty Images archive including some of her twenty four winners A sniffer dog roams the ground ahead of day one of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire Sniffer dogs made sure the grounds were ready ahead of the arrivals descended on the Berkshire racecoure The Queen, who passed away in Balmoral Castle last September, had a lifelong association with Royal Ascot, developing a love and passion for horse racing throughout her 70-year reign. And the event has paid tribute via renaming a race in the late Queen's honour. The Platinum Jubilee Stakes, a six-furlong sprint which is staged on the Saturday of Ascot's five day meeting, will from now on be known as the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. Queen Elizabeth II had 24 winners in total, having been a keen racehorse owner, with her final triumph coming by way of Tactical in the Windsor Castle Stakes three years ago. Choir Boy raced home as her first ever winner during the 1953 Royal Hunt Cup, which occurred during the same week of Her Late Majesty's coronation at Westminster Abbey. The joint cypher is similar in design to Queen Camilla's own individual cypher but adds an additional swirling C to represent the King Individual cyphers: Like Charles's cypher (pictured), Camilla's design is based on the Tudor crown but is more elaborate and stylised Views have praised Alison Oliver's 'superb' performance as a teenager caught in the middle of her feuding parents' battle over their disabled daughter's right to live. The actress, 26, is currently starring alongside Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen in the new BBC drama Best Interests, which is set in Cheltenham. The latest episode, which aired last night, follows parents Andrew and Nicci as they try to decide the fate of their disabled daughter Marnie (played by Niamh Moriarty). The four-part series opens with Marnie - who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy as a baby - suffering a severe cardiac arrest. As a result of this, the 13-year-old is left brain damaged and completely reliant on a ventilator for her survival. After Marnie's doctor Samantha (played by Noma Dumezweni) suggests taking the teenager off life support, Nicci tries desperately to fight the hospital's stance. Meanwhile, Andrew finds himself siding with the medical team's opinion and refuses to stand with his wife in court - leaving their daughter Katie caught in the middle. In last night's episode, Katie goes to visit her father - who has moved in with his brother in the wake of the dispute. The father-and-daughter find themselves in a blazing argument as Katie accuses Andrew of 'abandoning' his family and begs him to 'stand beside' her and her mother in court. During the heart-wrenching scene, Katie tells her father: 'Marnie [is alive] and my job is to support mum and actually try and survive. So your love has helped neither of those things. 'No it's not my job. It's actually not my job to support mum or you. I'm supposed to be a f***ing teenager so f**k you for doing this to me.' In response, Andrew tells her: 'I didn't. Marnie did [...] I don't blame her, I just acknowledge the fact that her condition caused difficulty.' The scene ends with Katie storming out of the house after Andrew refuses to return home - as Nicci continues working with a 'Pro Life' charity to raise funds for Marnie's case. Andrew (played by Michael Sheen) sits down with teenage daughter Katie (played by Alison Oliver) after leaving the family home in Best Interests The heartwrenching scene between the father and daughter struck a nerve for viewers - who branded the actors 'superb' Left: Andrew played by Michael Sheen. Right: Katie played by Alison Oliver in the latest episode of Best Interests The interaction between the father-and-daughter struck a nerve with viewers - prompting fans to gush about the episode on Twitter while it aired. One wrote: 'Christ alive, that father-daughter scene was utterly superb.' 'Wow, what a powerful story,' another added. 'Best thing I've seen on the BBC this year. 'I expect many awards, looking forward to the last episode.' A third gushed: 'That head-to-head scene between Michael Sheen and Alison Oliver was pretty intense with terrific acting from both actors.' 'Another harrowing episode,' a fourth said. 'Just brilliant.' 'B****y hell. Best Interests is riveting,' a fifth replied. 'These three leads are all incredible.' Katie (played by Alison Roman) with younger sister Marnie (played by Niamh Moriarty, who has a form of cerebral palsy called spastic diplegia) The series follows Andrew and Nicci (played by Sharon Horgan) as they go to court to decide their disabled daughter's fate Noma Dumezweni (pictured) plays Marnie's doctor, who advises Nicci and Andrew cease treatment 'Alison Oliver, you absolutely stole that episode,' a sixth said. Praising the series overall, another fan tweeted: 'Despite the very sad subject matter, it remains heartwarming, profoundly nuanced and true to itself while going into even more emotional depth with every single episode.' Elsewhere in the series, flashbacks show Nicci and Andrew learning their daughter has muscular dystrophy, and learning more about what it means for her future. Breaking the news that their daughter had the incurable condition, the doctor tells them that a 'further deterioration seems likely, while she's unlikely to be able to walk unaided and will see further deterioration to key organs. 'I think you should prepare yourself than Marnie's life will not be a full one.' He continued: 'There are many beautiful stories in this life. Marnie's life is going to be different. You will find such joy if you adapt to that difference.' Muscular dystrophy The muscular dystrophies (MD) are a group of inherited genetic conditions that gradually cause the muscles to weaken, leading to an increasing level of disability. MD is a progressive condition, which means it gets worse over time. It often begins by affecting a particular group of muscles, before affecting the muscles more widely. Some types of MD eventually affect the heart or the muscles used for breathing, at which point the condition becomes life-threatening. There's no cure for MD, but treatment can help to manage many of the symptoms. Advertisement Nicci wants every possible intervention for her daughter, including experimental treatments discovered on the internet. The mother-of-two tells doctors: 'She still laughs, she still loves.' However the medical team claim ongoing intervention isn't in Marnie's 'best interests', saying she is 'decreasing rapidly', though there's a suspicion it's really a question of money. The series was written by Jack Thorne - who wrote the script for His Dark Materials. Previously speaking of the project, Michael said: 'Jack Thorne is such an extraordinary writer and he has approached this incredibly important and urgent subject with humanity, honesty and humor.' Niamh, who has a form of cerebral palsy called spastic diplegia, previously said of the role of Marnie: 'I didnt think I would ever get the opportunity to prove myself and my talents' and called on those casting for disabled parts to use disabled actors. She told the Irish Independent: 'I hope that they [young people] will feel seen, because when I was a child, I never saw myself on a screen and I think if I did, it would have completely brightened my world and I would have felt so represented.' The teen actor, who was raised in Killiney, County Dublin, said it was hugely important to her to get the character's 'physicalities' right. A holidaymaker has revealed how her face became so swollen from sun burn that her own sister didn't recognise - after falling asleep on a beach for five hours. Isabela Chatwin, 21, from Utah, saw her face balloon until she looked like 'a giant marshmallow' after deciding not to wear sun cream while on holiday with friends in San Diego, California. The 21-year-old assumed she wouldn't need any SPF as it was a cloudy day and she was only planning on taking a short nap on the beach. But four days later, the interior design assistant woke up to discover that her face had swollen so much she couldn't see and her skin had erupted in painful blisters. When she arrived back to her hometown, her three-year-old sister Aero was left confused as she didn't recognise her big sister. Isabela Chatwin saw her face balloon until she looked like 'a giant marshmallow' after deciding not to wear sun cream while on holiday with friends in San Diego, California Hilarious footage shows the bewildered youngster in the doctor's waiting room asking 'is that Bela?' while mother Kim, 54, reassures her. Isabela said: 'I fell asleep on the beach for five hours. When I woke up my skin looked completely fine for the rest of the day, the next morning it was bright red. 'I thought it was just a sunburn and that's as bad as it was going to get. I woke up the next day and it was puffy and blisters on my cheeks and it was painful. 'On the fourth day, my face was so swollen and the blisters had popped. I could barely opening my eyes, I could barely see. 'I thought it was going to be permanent. I was really scared. It hardly looked human. It was like a giant marshmallow, just completely swollen. 'When I got home, I was wearing a surgical mask to hide it so Aero knew it was me because of my voice. 'I took it off for the first time at the doctors and that's when she saw my face was completely different and she ran to my mother saying, "Is that Bela?" 'I teased her and said "my name was Jessica, nice to meet you". Then she said I looked like a turtle.' Isabela went on a holiday with friends to San Diego, California and assumed she didn't need sun cream as it was cloudy. Pictured: After the swelling healed (left) when her face was swollen (right) The 21-year-old assumed she wouldn't need any SPF as it was a cloudy day and she was only planning on taking a short nap on the beach. Pictured: Isabela before she fell asleep When she arrived back to her hometown, Lehi, Utah, her three-year-old sister Aero was left confused as she didn't recognise her big sister. Pictured: Isabela and Aero She said she would be 'really cautious' in the warm weather, saying she would be wearing suncream if she was out for more than an hour What is sun poisoning? Sun poisoning is a severe case of sunburn - caused by prolonged exposure to UV rays. Dermatologists warn it can happen to anyone if they stay in the sun for a long time without protection. Wearing sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, and protective clothing can protect against the reaction. A normal sunburn typically starts within minutes to hours after sun exposure, and can cause redness, itchiness, warmth, pain, and sensitivity. On the other hand, sun poisoning has more serious symptoms and may need medical attention. The skin condition can result in a rash, blistering, fever and chills, nausea, dehydration, and confusion. Advertisement After rushing to see a doctor, she was diagnosed with sun poisoning, prescribed steroid creams and told her to stay out of the sun for three weeks. Sun poisoning is a severe case of sunburn, which is a reaction to the damaging ultraviolet (UV) rays of the sun. Isabela shared the footage on TikTok last week five years on since the incident and says she speaking out to warn others how important it is to wear suncream no matter how cloudy the sky is. Isabela said: 'It's funny to look back but it was excruciatingly painful. I usually wear suncream because I have really fair skin. 'It was a cloudy day, it had rained and I didn't realise I was going to sleep that long. 'It doesn't matter what the sky looks like, if you're outside and the sun is up, protect your skin no matter what. 'I'm really cautious now. I wear suncream if I'm out for more than an hour and I don't do tanning beds because I don't want to risk it.' The Princess of Wales chatted all things art with Sir Paul McCartney this morning ahead of the opening of a Beatles exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. Kate, 41, met the former Beatles singer and his wife Nancy as she visited the gallery this morning to officially re-open it following a three-year restoration project. She had a fit of the giggles as Macca, 81, who has his own photographic exhibition opening there next week focusing on The Beatles in 1963 to 64, joked about whether his wife would have been born then. At 63, she would have been born in 1959 and reassured him she had been. Upon arrival this morning, the Princess stuck to the theme of the occasion and opted for a 450 Self Portrait white midi dress with a pleated skirt and a white boucle tweed jacket as she arrived at the National Portrait Gallery, which has been closed for three years for an extensive refurbishment programme. Beaming as she arrived, the mother-of-three opted for simple pearl teardrop earrings and wore her thick brunette locks down in a bouncy blow-dry. She opted for her black 620 Aquazzura pumps, which are also favoured by the Duchess of Sussex. The Princess of Wales erupted in laughter upon meeting Sir Paul McCartney at the National Portrait Gallery this morning, as he joked that his wife Nancy (right) might not have been around in the 1960s when he was in The Beatles To accessorise, she carried a simple but classic black quilted Chanel clutch bag. Sir Paul, in his customary suit and trainers, greeted the princess with a handshake and introduced Kate to his wife, Nancy. Hello, nice to meet you too, the princess said. McCartney told her that the NPG staff had been amazing here, really theyve been great. Its amazing how long the planning is, how many conversations happen pre everything, Kate replied. Thats true, the star said. Explaining more about his exhibition, McCartney said it focused on a very specific period, 1963 to 1964. When you werent even born, he said, smiling, to the royal. A work of art! The Princess of Wales looked radiant in a white Self Portrait dress with a pleated skirt and tweed jacket as she arrived at the National Portrait Gallery The doors incorporate 45 carved brass panels, representing every woman, throughout time. After meeting the artist and the architect, Kate will visit The Mildred and Simon Palley Learning Centre, which has doubled its capacity for learners as part of the project. And, of course, she will learn about the gallery's early years programme, as part of her commitment to improving development of children up to the age of five. During her visit, Kate was able to see a first glimpse of some of the gallery's new acquisitions as it re-opens The Princess of Wales stands in front of Joshua Reynolds's portrait of Mai in the National Portrait Gallery The Princess of Wales also viewed the Yevonde: Life and Colour exhibition as part of her tour of the refurbished gallery Kate appeared to critique the art in the exhibition as she toured the newly-opened gallery During her visit, the Princess visited The Mildred and Simon Palley Learning Centre where she met Rania, three, and her mother After laughing at the ex-Beatle's joke, the Princess of Wales shook his wife Nancy's hand Chatting to Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy, who was dressed in a chic blue midi dress and tan boots, the Princess laughed along with the pair Kate beamed as she stood with the Beatles star, 81, who cracked a joke about his 63-year-old wife being 18 years younger than him Is Kate a Beatles fan? The Princess couldn't stop smiling in the company of the music legend As the Princess shook the hand of Sir Paul McCartney, she beamed as the pair greeted each other Turning to to his wife he added: Oh, you werent either. Nancy laughingly looked upwards and counted before replying that she very much had been. Kate was keen to ask McCartney how he was able to choose what pieces you wanted in there. The singer said he had the help of the gallerys curator and his own archivist. But were there pieces that were very important to you personally?, she asked. For me the pictures of John and George particularly, just because they are not here, he replied. The encounter, in the unprepossessing surroundings of the gallerys gift shop, was a last minute addition to the princesss schedule given that McCartney - whose exhibition is entitled Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64 Eyes of the Storm - was in town. As she arrived at the gallery to review the results of the extensive renovation project, the Princess met with renowned artist Tracey Emin. The pair were pictured chatting as Kate looked up in awe at the new doors of the National Portrait Gallery, themselves a work of art designed by Emin. Kate looked radiant with her hair in ringlets as she gazed up at the new doors of the National Portrait Gallery designed by renowned artist Tracey Emin (pictured) Emin's design incorporates 45 carved brass panels, representing every woman, throughout time Emin led the Princess of Wales into the National Portrait Gallery through the doors she had designed Kate opted for simple pearl teardrop earrings from Heavenly London costing 90 The Princess waved to adoring royal fans as she left the National Portrait Gallery after her visit Standing outside the new doors, the Princess of Wales said farewell to the staff and royal fans outside the building Kate looked regal as she chatted to a gentleman outside of the National Portrait Gallery about the three-year refurbishment The princess was chic as ever in another black and white outfit following her appearance in an Alessandra Rich polka-dot dress yesterday Kate's favourite heels! The Princess is known for often choosing her Aquazzura heels, which the Duchess of Sussex also owns Upon arrival, the Princess sat down with nursery-age children who were taking part in a multi-sensory workshop inspired by the world of Beatrix Potter in the gallert's Mildred and Simon Palley Learning Centre. Chatting to the mother of three-year-old Rania during a colouring session, the Princess asked about the toddler's artistic interests. Rania's mother told Kate her daughter 'loves drawing' - while little Rania appeared too engrossed in her stickers to notice she was in the company of royalty. As the royal took a look at Rania's brightly-coloured creation, she pointed out: 'Look at these! Like buzzy bees', while the toddler nodded in acknowledgment. Kate then asked: 'Who is this? Can you remember? Is this Peter Rabbit?' Rania, who was still engrossed in her stickers, replied: 'Yeah!' at which point Kate chuckled and told her: 'Very nice!' The Princess's Self Portrait dress is designed to look like a layered two-piece, with a tweed jacket and a chiffon skirt On her feet, Kate opted for the 620 Aquazzura black pumps which she was spotted wearing ahead of the Coronation The Princess stepped out of the car and shook hands with a gentleman upon arrival at the National Portrait Gallery Kate beamed as she strolled up to the gallery, which will reopen to the public on June 22 following an extensive restoration project The detailing on the Princess's intricate outfit included black piping around the seams and embellished buttons Kate appeared to be critiquing a piece of art as she stood outside the gallery, about to walk through its brand new doors The Princess pushed her thick brunette locks behind her shoulders as she arrived The Princess kept her jewellery simple for the occasion, opting for a pair of pear teardrop earrings Beaming as ever, Kate waved to royal fans who had gathered to catch a glimpse of her on her solo engagement To accessorise, the Princess carried a classic black quilted Chanel clutch bag, which fit with her monochrome theme The Princess of Wales brushed her hair away from her face as she arrived at the National Portrait Gallery Global activist Malala Yousafzai made an appearance at the reopening of the National Portrait Gallery today The young philanthropist was effortlessly elegant in a peachy pink ensemble as she stopped by the London gallery today Famed artist Grayson Perry, left, was also pictured at the event for the gallery's reopening today The Gallery's Under 5's Programme, which has been developed in conjunction with London Borough of Westminster, works with family hubs and state nurseries in the area to encourage creative learning. Elsewhere, Kate will have the oppportunity to look at some of the Gallery's new acquisitions such as Joshua Reynolds' Portrait of Mai. She will also view Yevonde: Life and Colour, a new exhibition which explores the life and career of Yevonde, the pioneering London photographer who spearheaded the use of colour photography in the 1930s. The organisers of Royal Ascot have paid heartwarming tribute to the Queen with a photo exhibition of her racing highlights. Following her Coronation in 1953, the Queen travelled to the racecourses in Berkshire at least once a year to attend the event - and only missed it in 2020 due to Covid lockdowns. The Duke of Kent was asked to replace the Queen in the Royal procession at the event last year, which took place just three months before her death. To mark the first Ascot since her passing, organisers have displayed a heartwarming collection of photos of the Queen visiting Ascot over the years. These include a black-and-white photo of the royal riding on the tracks in 1960 when she was 34 years old. Pictured: The exhibition of the Queen's racing highlights that has been put on display at this year's Ascot The mother-of-four was pictured with a headscarf and riding boots on on as hwe horse galloped along the track. The Queen was taking part in an unofficial race with others members of her royal party and ended up finishing fourth. What's more, the organisers also selecting a photograph of the Queen beaming at Ladie's Day in 2013. The event turned out to be one of the Queen's most successful Ascots as her horse Estimate won the Gold Cup - making her the first monarch in 200 years to scoop the prize. The late royal was pictured beaming at her trophy, which was presented to her by her son Prince Andrew. The Queen was dressed in one of her signature coat dresses in a pretty shade of purple. Underneath her jacket, the monarch wore a pretty floral dress - which perfectly complimented the flowers on her hat. In the image, the Queen is seen wearing a three-strand pearl necklace - which she also wore to her final ever Ascot in June 2021. Pictured: The Queen appeared in high spirits as she arrived at Royal Ascot in June 2021, which would be her last time visiting the races The Ascot tribute, which was written by royal photographer Chris Jackson, read: 'Queen Elizabeth II loved Ascot. Ascot loved Queen Elizabeth.' Left: The Queen rides on the tracks at Royal Ascot in 1960. Right: The Queen with a trophy after her horse Estimate won the Gold Cup during Ladies' Day at Royal Ascot in 2013 The full Ascot tribute, which was written by royal photographer Chris Jackson, read: 'Queen Elizabeth II loved Ascot. Ascot loved Queen Elizabeth. 'For over 70 years of Queen Elizabeth's reign, Ascot remained the epicentre of the late Monarch's life, a highlight of the summer season that saw her late Majesty at her happiest among crowds of adoring racegoers and in the vicinity of some of the world's most beautiful racing horses. 'For someone who received her first horse Peggy, a gift at the age of four, horse racing and breeding became the love of her life. 'The late Queen rode into her 90s and, an accomplished horsewoman who in the later years drew huge pleasure from being around her splendid and much-adored horses. Pictured: The late Queen Elizabeth and Princess Anne pose with Her Majesty's horse Estimate, after winning the Gold Cup at Ladies Day in 2013 Pictured: Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie celebrate after their grandmother's horse won the Gold Cup in 2013 'This love that was evident in her face as she was presented with the Gold Cup trophy, the first monarch in over 200 years to win this coveted award and something that so clearly meant so much to her. 'As someone who has documented Queen Elizabeth at Ascot for almost 20 years, I will never forget the moment as the crowd got behind Estimate, cheering as the filly charged across the finish line to the delight of everyone present. 'As someone who photographed the Queen throughout the year, I always knew that it would be scot where we saw this famously stoical and professional Royal at her most relaxed and genuine, clearly enjoying being in the presence of horses as she studied their form on the race-card with intense and knowing expression before bursting into laughter as she chatted to her racing manager or was greeted by a exuberant jockey. 'Ascot was also somewhere where The Queen was surrounded by family, the support and enjoyment she received from their presence is evident in many of the photographs you will see in this exhibition as is the sheer delight on the Monarch's face. 'Looking through the images from this exhibition, it will be clear that Ascot was a life-long love of the Monarch - from the grainy but atmospheric black-and-white shots from the 50s that include a young Princess Elizabeth galloping down the racetrack to the crisp digital images of recent years, one constant remains throughout the decades, that clear and evident love of the moments she spent near the hallowed turf of the world's most famous horse-racing meeting. The King and Queen Camilla offer a wave to crowds at Trooping the Colour on Saturday ahead of their first Ascot since the Coronation The joint cypher is similar in design to Queen Camilla's own individual cypher but adds an additional swirling C to represent the King Following the Queen's death last September, Ascot described Her Majesty as the sport's 'greatest supporter'. They wrote in a poignant statement: 'The nation mourns the loss of a much loved and respected Monarch. The world of racing has lost one of its greatest supporters. 'We at Ascot are privileged to have so many memories of Her Majesty The Queen at this her racecourse, including some wonderful victories in the Royal colours. 'We offer our deepest sympathies to His Majesty The King and the whole Royal Family.' What's more, the event has also renamed an event in the Queen's honour. The Platinum Jubilee Stakes, a six-furlong sprint which is staged on the Saturday of Ascot's five day meeting, will from now on be known as the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. Queen Elizabeth II had 24 winners in total, having been a keen racehorse owner, with her final triumph coming by way of Tactical in the Windsor Castle Stakes three years ago. Choir Boy raced home as her first ever winner during the 1953 Royal Hunt Cup, which occurred during the same week of Her Late Majesty's coronation at Westminster Abbey. Royal Ascot 2023 is scheduled to run from Tuesday June 20th until Saturday June 24th. Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands put on a friendly display today as they greeted the Belgian Royals during a visit to Brussels. Arriving by train at Brussels-South train station, Dutch Queen Maxima, 52, absolutely dazzled in a fitted pale gold coat dress. The mother-of-three wore her long blonde hair up in a sophisticated knot, adding a wide-brimmed cream hat, diamond earrings and a three-strand necklace. She finished her classic look by adding dark beige shoes and matching gloves. Joined by her husband King Willem-Alexander, 56, who looked sharp in a royal blue suit with a crisp white shirt and pale blue tie, the two posed for photos as well-wishers flocked to greet them. Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands put on a friendly display today as they greeted the Belgian Royals during a visit to Brussels The awesome foursome: Queen Mathilde (L) stands next to King Willem-Alexander, King Philippe, and Queen Maxima (R) as they pose for photos ahead of their review of the troops Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander enjoyed an official welcome ceremony as they arrived at the Royal Palace to sign the visitors book Queen Maxima beamed as she greeted fans and well-wishers in the crowd after she and Queen Mathilde made their way round The husband and wife were welcomed by Belgian foreign minister Hadja Lahbib, before being whisked away to greet King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium at the Royal Palace. The foursome appeared delighted to see one another with King Willem-Alexander stopping to kiss Queen Mathildes gloved hand before enveloping her in a hug. The Belgian Queen looked stunning in a red strapless dress that had a sheer overlay to cover her chest and long sleeves. Adding to her look, Mathilde, 50, also wore delicate diamond drop earrings and a matching red hat with a sweet bow on the side. Her husband, King Philippe, 63, looked suave in a dark blue suit, white shirt and paisley-patterned tie. On arriving at the Royal Palace, Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander were invited inside to take part in a welcoming ceremony. Sitting at a table in the magnificent ball room, officials looked on as the royal couple signed a book, looked on by the Belgian king and queen. Following the ceremony, the King and Queen of the Netherlands will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, commemorating all unidentified Belgian soldiers who fell during the First World War. Hello! Queen Maxima (L) beams as she waves from the balcony alongside her husband King Willem-Alexander, King Philipe and Queen Mathilde (R) Queen Mathilde crouched low to the ground as she chatted with the flower girls and received poseys from them Showing off their motherly side! Queen Mathilde and Maxima knelt down to chat to a pair of young girls Queen Maxima (L), and Belgium's Queen Mathilde (R) pose with flower girls at the Grand Place in Brussels as part of the Dutch Royal family's state visit to Belgium King Willem-Alexander looked delighted to see Queen Mathilde as he greeted her by kissing her hand Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander arrived in Brussels by train to begin their three-day state visit of Belgium and the Belgian Royals The husband and wife were welcomed at the train station by Belgian foreign minister Hadja Lahbib Their action-packed day does not stop there as Willem-Alexander and Maxima will visit the Federal Parliament of Belgium to speak with members of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate before being given a tour of the building. This evening will see King Philippe host a state banquet at the Castle of Laeken, at which both heads of state will give a speech. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maximas tour does not stop here. Wednesday will see the King and Queen travel to Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Waterloo and Charleroi, before heading to Leuven and finishing in Antwerp. The state visit aims to reaffirm the excellent ties between the two neighbouring countries, which have strong historical, social and economic links. Along the tour, the two royal couples will visit many different centres, museums and companies that are working towards a sustainable future in which energy is green and affordable. Queen Camilla appeared on the edge of her seat as she attended her first Royal Ascot since the Coronation this afternoon. The royal, 75, looked effortlessly elegant in cream coat dress, matching hat and gloves for her day at the Berkshire races. The mother-of-two arrived in a horse-drawn carriage with her husband King Charles and their friends the Duke and Duchess of Wellington. After warmly greeting other members of the Royal Family, the King and Queen made their way to the Royal box - where they had a prime view of the races. As a life-long fan of horseracing, Camilla seemed particularly invested in what was unfolding on the tracks. King Charles and Queen Camilla put on an animated display from within the Royal box at Ascot this afternoon Grasping onto her binoculars, the Queen was seen grimacing as she watched from the sidelines. King Charles and Queen Camilla appeared in high spirits as they lovingly greeted members of their family at their first Royal Ascot since the Coronation. The monarch, 74, was dressed in traditional grey morning suit for the annual sporting event in Berkshire. Along with a double-breasted waistcoat, the King donned a light pink tie, a blue patterned pocket square and was seen carrying a black top hat. Underneath her smart coat, Camilla wore a white dress with a silver neckline - which offset the Queen Mother's Shell Brooch pinned on the lapel. The sophisticated royal styled her hair in her signature bouncy blow-dry and opted for a pair of chic dangly pearl earrings. The couple were joined by other members of the Royal Family - including Princess Anne, Zara and Mike Tindall, Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and Camilla's recently widowed sister Annabel Elliot. Princess Beatrice, 34, looked effortlessly elegant in a midi floral gown with voluminous sleeves by Belulah which she paired with a pink silk headband by Juliette Botterill Millinery. Queen Camilla looked on edge as she while watching the action unfold on the tracks in front of her Pictured: Queen Camilla clasps at her binoculars as she watches the races from the Royal Box Pictured: King Charles wore a grey morning suit and black top hat for Ascot while Camilla was elegant in a cream coat dress The royal, 75, looked effortlessly elegant in cream coat dress, matching hat and gloves for her day at the Berkshire races The mother-of-two arrived in a horse-drawn carriage with her husband King Charles and their friends the Duke and Duchess of Wellington After warmly greeting other members of the Royal Family, the King and Queen made their way to the Royal box - where they had a prime view of the races Grasping onto her binoculars, the Queen was seen grimacing as she watched from the sidelines Camilla was alert as she observed the races at Ascot today - looking very immersed in the action Camilla appeared to bite her nails while watching the racing action today, alongside the King King Charles appeared just as animated as his wife during some Royal Ascot scenes today Pictured: Princess Anne seen waving at guests attending Royal Ascot this afternoon King Charles pictured greeting his niece Zara Tindall with an affectionate kiss on the cheek as he arrived at Ascot Princess Anne pictured on stage at Royal Ascot to present trophies to the winning breeders Princess Anne pictured holding the winners trophy for the 16-20 St James's Palace Stakes Princess Anne, 72, pictured walking in the Royal Ascot grounds with her daughter Zara Tindall, 42 Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi pictured with Mike and Zara Tindall today Queen Camilla pictured with her son Tom Parker Bowles and her husband King Charles Along with a double-breasted waistcoat, the King donned a light pink tie, a blue patterned pocket square and was seen carrying a black top hat King Charles looked dapper in a grey morning suit and black top hat as he arrived at Royal Ascot today Lord Bamford (left) and the Duke of Gloucester arriving on day one of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse Birgitte Duchess of Gloucester arrives in a carriage Royal Ascot this afternoon Princess Anne pictured with her daughter Zara Tindall and former jump jockey Dolly Maude at Royal Ascot Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi was also dressed in a morning suit, which he paired with a pink tie, for the occasion Royal Ascot, the jewel in the crown of the UK racing calendar, starts today with the Queen Anne Stakes and will run until Ladies' Day on Friday. Around 300,000 people are set to attend the prestigious event, some of them royalty and world-famous celebrities. In this year's pamphlet, the newly-crowned King and Queen took the opportunity to write a special message to guests. They wrote: 'We are delighted to welcome you to Royal Ascot in this, the year of our Coronation. Five days oh highly competitive racing will again be watched and enjoyed by millions, both here and abroad. 'We are happy in the knowledge that this historic race meeting continues to be a key influence on the global racing and breeding industries. 'The Royal Meeting always played a central role in Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth's calendar and the naming of the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes will be a most appropriate way to mark this lifelong interest. 'A photographic exhibition in the Grandstand will also celebrate The late Queen's close association with Royal Ascot, including images of some of her twenty four winners. We are sure his exhibition will prompt many happy memories. King Charles and Queen Camilla pictured arriving at their first Royal Ascot since the Coronation Queen Camilla greeted Mike Tindall with a kiss on the cheek as the first day of Royal Ascot got underway The couple were seen arriving at the event in a horse-drawn carriage with the Duke and Duchess of Wellington 'As improving sustainability is crucial to all events and businesses, we were pleased to hear that the Village Enclosure at Ascot will be net carbon zeo this year and that the racecourse is making renewed efforts to minimalise waste. 'Finally, we wish the very best of good fortune to all the owners, breeders, trainers, jockeys and hardworking stable staff with runners this weeek. 'It is a huge and rare achievement to have a runner at Royal Ascot and we very much hope that you all enjoy the experience.' The day is a much a social occasion as a sporting event and racegoers take the opportunity to turn on the style, from chic hats and summer dresses to sharp suits. It's the first year the event, a favourite of the late Queen, will go ahead since her death in September. Following her Coronation in 1953, the Queen travelled to the racecourses in Berkshire at least once a year to attend the event - and only missed it in 2020 due to Covid lockdowns. Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli pictured at the Royal Ascot this afternoon Queen Camilla looked sophisticated in a cream dress coat and matching hat and gloves Princess Beatrice is all smiles as she speaks with another male guest at Royal Ascot this afternoon Zara Tindall appeared in high spirits this afternoon as she attended Royal Ascot with members of her family Pictured: Queen Camilla's sister Lady Annabel Elliot seen arriving at Ascot with her son Sir Ben Elliot King Charles and Queen Camilla seen looking at the racecourse after arriving in a horse-drawn carriage Heir they are! Charles and Camilla pictured in the Royal Box at Ascot this afternoon King Charles and Queen Camilla seen after leaving the carriage and making their way to the royal box Queen Camilla's coat dress featured some pleating around the side and extra silver embellishment Princess Anne wore a pretty teal coat dress and hat for the occasion. Pictured: The royal following Charles and Camilla in another carriage The Princess Royal styled her hair in an elegant updo and wore a pretty pink lipstick for her first Royal Ascot without her late mother Princess Anne arrived at Royal Ascot with Queen Camilla's sister Lady Annabel Elliot, Sir Ben Elliot and his wife Lady Mary-Clare Stylish spectators Zara and Mike Tindall pictured at the first day of Royal Ascot this afternoon The King's niece wore a 660 Cecilia pale green floral midi dress by Leo Lin for the occasion, matching the look with a chic straw boater with pink ribbon Meanwhile, ex England rugby star Mike, 44, opted for traditional attire, wearing a top hat and tails, waistcoat and pinstripe trousers - and a cream rose on his lapel The Duke of Kent was asked to replace the Queen in the Royal procession at the event last year, which took place just three months before her death. To mark the first Ascot since her passing, organisers have displayed a heartwarming collection of photos of the Queen visiting Ascot over the years. These include a black-and-white photo of the royal riding on the tracks in 1960 when she was 34 years old. What's more, the organisers also selecting a photograph of the Queen beaming at Ladie's Day in 2013. The event turned out to be one of the Queen's most successful Ascots as her horse Estimate won the Gold Cup - making her the first monarch in 200 years to scoop the prize. The late royal was pictured beaming at her trophy, which was presented to her by her son Prince Andrew. The full Ascot tribute, which was written by royal photographer Chris Jackson, read: 'Queen Elizabeth II loved Ascot. Ascot loved Queen Elizabeth. The King and Queen Camilla offer a wave to crowds at Trooping the Colour on Saturday The joint cypher is similar in design to Queen Camilla's own individual cypher but adds an additional swirling C to represent the King 'For over 70 years of Queen Elizabeth's reign, Ascot remained the epicentre of the late Monarch's life, a highlight of the summer season that saw her late Majesty at her happiest among crowds of adoring racegoers and in the vicinity of some of the world's most beautiful racing horses. 'For someone who received her first horse Peggy, a gift at the age of four, horse racing and breeding became the love of her life. 'The late Queen rode into her 90s and, an accomplished horsewoman who in the later years drew huge pleasure from being around her splendid and much-adored horses.' Following the Queen's death last September, Ascot described Her Majesty as the sport's 'greatest supporter'. They wrote in a poignant statement: 'The nation mourns the loss of a much loved and respected Monarch. The world of racing has lost one of its greatest supporters. 'We at Ascot are privileged to have so many memories of Her Majesty The Queen at this her racecourse, including some wonderful victories in the Royal colours. 'We offer our deepest sympathies to His Majesty The King and the whole Royal Family.' What's more, the event has also renamed an event in the Queen's honour. The Platinum Jubilee Stakes, a six-furlong sprint which is staged on the Saturday of Ascot's five day meeting, will from now on be known as the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. Following the Coronation of King Charles, the racecards now carry a new cypher, replacing the late Queen's official royal emblem with a joint one to reflect both the King and Queen. The Ascot tribute, which was written by royal photographer Chris Jackson, read: 'Queen Elizabeth II loved Ascot. Ascot loved Queen Elizabeth.' Left: The Queen rides on the tracks at Royal Ascot in 1960. Right: The Queen with a trophy after her horse Estimate won the Gold Cup during Ladies' Day at Royal Ascot in 2013 On social media, Royal Ascot shared a photograph of the new look, writing: 'We are delighted to unveil the racecard cover for the opening day of Royal Ascot 2023, the first displaying the joint cypher of Their Majesties The King & Queen.' Both the King and Queen have individual cyphers. The joint cypher is more similar in design to Queen Camilla's own emblem but adds an additional swirling C to represent the King. Queen Elizabeth II had 24 winners in total, having been a keen racehorse owner, with her final triumph coming by way of Tactical in the Windsor Castle Stakes three years ago. Choir Boy raced home as her first ever winner during the 1953 Royal Hunt Cup, which occurred during the same week of Her Late Majesty's coronation at Westminster Abbey. Royal Ascot 2023 is scheduled to run from Tuesday June 20th until Saturday June 24th. Shannon Johnson snapped this photo 12/06/2022 while he was waiting for a train that had been stalled on the tracks for over an hour. Zara and Mike Tindall cut a stylish pair as they arrived at Royal Ascot this afternoon. The royal couple were among the spectators arriving on the first day of Britain's most glamorous race meet, with Princess Anne's daughter sporting a 660 Cecilia pale green floral midi dress by Leo Lin for the occasion. The 42-year-old equestrian also donned a chic straw boater with pale pink ribbon, keeping her blonde hair neatly tucked away. She matched the elegant outfit with a nude clutch bag and nude Sauvereign shoes adorned with gold gems and her initials on the bottom. Meanwhile, ex England rugby star Mike, 44, opted for traditional attire, wearing a top hat and tails, waistcoat and pinstripe trousers - and a cream rose on his lapel. Stylish spectators Zara and Mike Tindall pictured at the first day of Royal Ascot this afternoon The King's niece wore a 660 Cecilia pale green floral midi dress by Leo Lin for the occasion, matching the look with a chic straw boater with pink ribbon Meanwhile, ex England rugby star Mike, 44, opted for traditional attire, wearing a top hat and tails, waistcoat and pinstripe trousers - and a cream rose on his lapel Glamorous racegoers at the event dodged the earlier wet weather as they donned colourful dresses and dapper morning suits to descend on the Berkshire racecourse. Some female racegoers took advantage of the relaxed dress code, by opting for suits and trousers - instead of the traditional dresses. While the formal dress code remains, in recent years the racecourse has encouraged visitors to be more 'experimental' with their fashion. Racegoers can also opt to dress from either the male of female dress code, regardless of their gender. Royal Ascot, the jewel in the crown of the UK racing calendar, started today with the Queen Anne Stakes and will run until Ladies' Day on Friday. Around 300,000 people are set to attend the prestigious event, some of them royalty and world-famous celebrities. The day is a much a social occasion as a sporting event and racegoers take the opportunity to turn on the style, from chic hats and summer dresses to sharp suits. It's the first year the event, a favourite of the late Queen, will go ahead since her death in September. She matched the elegant outfit with a nude clutch bag and nude Sauvereign shoes adorned with gold gems and her initials on the bottom Despite an early downpour, the weather appeared to hold for first day attendees, with Zara, 42, adjusting her buttons as she arrived at the event The couple were amongst the first royals to arrive at the races, with other members of the Windsor family thought to be attending later In recent years Her Majesty marked the festivities with a royal carriage procession, while the tradition will continue this year, King Charles is yet to confirm if he will be leading it. However, Charles lead the procession last year, with the Queen watching it from home due to mobility issues. In honour of the late monarch, the Platinum Jubilee Stakes, a six-furlong sprint which is staged on the Saturday of Ascot's five day meeting, will from now on be known as the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. Chairman of Ascot Sir Francis Brooke Bt. said: 'The late Queen's close association with Ascot Racecourse was well known throughout the world, but no race at the Royal Meeting previously carried the name of Queen Elizabeth II. 'His Majesty the King has approved the renaming of the Platinum Jubilee Stakes to The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. 'This will both honour Her Late Majesty in perpetuity and maintain the connection with the three Jubilees celebrated since the inception of the race as the Golden Jubilee Stakes in 2002.' Advertisement While there were royals - including King Charles and Queen Camilla - aplenty at Royal Ascot this afternoon, other celebrities were, it seems, a little harder to come by in Berkshire. A season of summer sport - with a side portion of high glamour - kicked off today as thousands of spectators and a sprinkling of celebrities, including Una Healy, Daniel Lismore, Lucy Mecklenburgh, arrived at the beautiful wooded enclosure next to Windsor Great Park. Zara and Mike Tindall were the first of the royal guests to arrive, with King Charles' niece opting for a Leo Lin Cecilia Linen Midi Dress in green. The keen equestrian looked gorgeous in the 375 number which she paired with heels and a fascinator, while ex-Rugby pro husband Mike picked a traditional morning suit. King Charles and Camilla followed shortly afterwards, to lead the traditional carriage ride. Elsewhere, Una Healy led the glamour in a crisp white summer dress while tapping into the Barbiecore trend with baby pink court shoe heels and feathered hat, which came with a nod to racing superstar Frankie Dettori. The former Saturdays star opted for the green and pink statement headpiece - commissioned by bookmakers Ladbrokes - to celebrate the jockey's final royal meeting. Designer Daniel Lismore, described by Vogue as 'England's most eccentric dresser', plumped for a lavish pillar box red crushed velvet with a patriotic Union Jack head piece Mellow yellow: TV star Lucy Mecklenburgh donned a pretty yellow dress with strappy diamante heels The former TOWIE star and her fiance Ryan Thomas cut a stylish pair as they arrived at the Berkshire racecourse on Tuesday Meanwhile TV presenter Charlotte Hawkins was hoping green was her lucky colour as she opted for a emerald and white outfit for the meet, with a Camilla Rose hat. Even stylish, Bruce Forsyth's widow Wilnelia Merced opted for a crisp white suit, making the most of the more relaxed dress rules at the event. And Reality TV star Lucy Mecklenburgh donned a pretty yellow dress with strappy diamante heels to attend the race day. The former TOWIE star and her fiance Ryan Thomas, in top hat and tails, cut a stylish pair as they arrived at the Berkshire enclosure. Designer Daniel Lismore, described by Vogue as 'England's most eccentric dresser' plumped for a lavish pillar box red crushed velvet with a patriotic Union Jack head piece, while English model Hana Cross opted for bridal chic in a cut out gown with shiny black shoes. Luisa Zissman and Georgia Toffolo also stunned as they rocked up to the racing event in classy ensembles. Luisa teamed her ruffled dress and head-turning headwear with a white handbag and chunky white heels. Made In Chelsea favorite Georgia, 28 - a regular at the event - was a chic as ever in a summery white dress with a laser-cut flower design. She teamed the dress with a broad-rimmed burgundy hat and white espadrille wedges. Una Healy led the glamour in a crisp white summer dress while tapping into the Barbiecore trend with baby pink slingback heels and feathered hat - with a nod to racing superstar Frankie Dettori Bit of all white! Bruce Forsyth's widow Wilnelia Merced opted for a crisp white suit, making the most of the new rules Zara and Mike Tindall were the first of the royal guests to arrive, with King Charles' niece opting for a Leo Lin Cecilia Linen Midi Dress in green The keen equestrian looked gorgeous in the 375 number which she paired with heels and a fascinator Una's hat included a sweet nod to the former Question of Sport star - showing a golden statue of him atop his horse TV presenter Charlotte Hawkins opted for a pretty green dress and fascinator Springtime florals were popular among guests including Apprentice star Luisa Zissman, who managed to narrowly avoid the soggy weather for the day out The TV presneter, a regular at Ascot, was a vision in green as she stunned from head to toe English model Hana Cross opted for bridal chic in a cut out gown with shiny black shoes Quick change: Reality TV star Georgia Toffolo - known as Toff - looked pretty in a ethereal white number before changing into a burned orange piece Royal Ascot, the jewel in the crown of the UK racing calendar, starts today with the Queen Anne Stakes and will run until Saturday. Around 300,000 people are set to attend the prestigious event, some of them royalty and world-famous celebrities. The day is a much a social occasion as a sporting event and racegoers take the opportunity to turn on the style, from chic hats and summer dresses to sharp suits. It's the first year the event, a favourite of the late Queen, will go ahead since her death in September. In honour of the late monarch, the Platinum Jubilee Stakes, a six-furlong sprint which is staged on the Saturday of Ascot's five day meeting, will from now on be known as the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. Chairman of Ascot Sir Francis Brooke Bt. said: 'The late Queen's close association with Ascot Racecourse was well known throughout the world, but no race at the Royal Meeting previously carried the name of Queen Elizabeth II. 'His Majesty the King has approved the renaming of the Platinum Jubilee Stakes to The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. 'This will both honour Her Late Majesty in perpetuity and maintain the connection with the three Jubilees celebrated since the inception of the race as the Golden Jubilee Stakes in 2002.' Mere mortals donned fascinators and towering heels as they arrived today. Racegoers dodged the earlier wet weather as they put of their best colourful dresses and dapper morning suits to descend on the Berkshire racecourse. Some female racegoers took advantage of the relaxed dress code, by opting for suits and trousers - instead of the traditional dresses. While the formal dress code remains, in recent years organisers have encouraged visitors to be more 'experimental' with their fashion. Racegoers can also opt to dress from either the male of female dress code, regardless of their gender. A young woman has hit out at men who hate body hair by slamming their 'unwanted opinions' and calling on others to 'embrace the fur.' Spencer Barbosa, who prides herself on being a body positivity advocate, took to TikTok to share her insight. The 20-year-old, from Ontario, said that she had been plagued with body hair from just seven years old, but refuses to accept that it is 'unhygienic' or 'masculine.' And dozens of other social media users rushed to shower her with praise and offer their own thoughts on the matter. Spencer Barbosa, who prides herself on being a body positivity advocate, took to TikTok to share her insight The 20-year-old, from Ontario, said that she had been plagued with body hair from just seven years old, but refuses to accept that it is 'unhygienic' or 'masculine' In the clip, which has been liked more than 245,000 times, Spencer talks directly to camera as she shares her insight. She begins by focusing on her legs, stomach, arms and upper lip before continuing: 'Body hair - let's talk about it. So recently on my For You Page I have seen a lot of men adding their unwanted opinions - as they always do - on women's bodies. Poll Do YOU embrace your body hair? Yes No Do YOU embrace your body hair? Yes 356 votes No 617 votes Now share your opinion 'Now I'm Portuguese, I'm hairy, I will always be hairy because I will always be Portuguese.' Spencer candidly continues: 'I have had hairy legs since the age of seven, I have been stealing tweezers from my mom since the age of seven to pluck my moustache. 'Now it wasn't until this year that I caught myself "apologizing" for my hairy legs like why the hell was I apologizing... 'If you want to have hairy legs this summer, have hairy legs this summer and if you despise hair and you don't want hair on your body, remove the hair on your body. 'You being hairy is not an inconvenience to me. Having body hair is not unhygienic or masculine. It literally grows on your body.' She concludes by urging others to 'embrace the fur' before sticking her tongue out and pretending to lick her arm hair. The TikToker, who has gained more than 8.8 million followers on the platform, uploaded the clip alongside a caption that read: 'CEO of hairy arms' In the clip, which has been liked more than 245,000 times, Spencer focuses on her legs, stomach, arms and upper lip Dozens of other social media users rushed to shower her with praise and offer their own thoughts on the matter The TikTok creator, who has gained more than 8.8 million followers on the platform, uploaded the clip alongside a caption that read: 'CEO of hairy arms.' And other social media users were quick to comment in support of the sentiment. One wrote: 'Hair is literally natural, it's going to grow.' Another added: 'Bruh hair is fine, the only thing I can say is that if you're annoyed by your hair, you decide what you do with it. It's no one else's business.' And a third said: 'Don't apologize for having it, just say "sorry it bothers you" and just laugh.' Princess Beatrice beamed as she stepped out at Royal Ascot with her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, this afternoon. The royal, 34, who has just become an auntie once more after her sister Eugenie gave birth for the second time, donned a 495 Beulah long-sleeved nude dress patterned with tiny pink flowers. She completed her summery outfit with a hot pink Juliette Botterill Hat and a white leather handbag with wooden handles. Meanwhile her husband Edo, 39, with whom she shares a daughter, Sienna, cut a sharp figure in a three-piece suit and tails. The royal couple joined other members of the family for King Charles's first Royal Ascot as monarch as he and Queen Camilla appeared in the Royal Procession. Princess Beatrice, 34, beamed as she arrived at Royal Ascot with her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi This year, the annual racing event paid tribute to its 'biggest fan', the late Queen Elizabeth II, Beatrice's grandmother, who attended almost every year of her seven-decade reign. Last summer, just after celebrating her Platinum Jubilee which marked 70 years on the throne, Her late Majesty did not attend the festival for the first time. This year, organisers have displayed a heartwarming collection of photos of the Queen visiting Ascot over the years. They include a black-and-white photo of the royal riding on the tracks in 1960 when she was 34 years old. As Beatrice chatted to guests while her cousin, Zara Tindall, stood beside her, her strawbetty-blonde locks hung down her back in a wavy ponytail The princess, who has just become an aunt for the second time after her sister Eugenie gave birth, wore a Beulah dress The mother-of-four was pictured with a headscarf and riding boots on on as hwe horse galloped along the track. The Queen was taking part in an unofficial race with others members of her royal party and ended up finishing fourth. What's more, the organisers also selecting a photograph of the Queen beaming at Ladie's Day in 2013. The event turned out to be one of the Queen's most successful Ascots as her horse Estimate won the Gold Cup - making her the first monarch in 200 years to scoop the prize. The late royal was pictured beaming at her trophy, which was presented to her by her son Prince Andrew. The Queen was dressed in one of her signature coat dresses in a pretty shade of purple. Underneath her jacket, the monarch wore a pretty floral dress - which perfectly complimented the flowers on her hat. In the image, the Queen is seen wearing a three-strand pearl necklace - which she also wore to her final ever Ascot in June 2021. Queen Camilla sported the Queen Mother's Courtauld Thomson Scallop-Shell Brooch for her appearance alongside King Charles at Royal Ascot today. The 75-year-old, dressed in a cream coat dress and a matching hat and gloves, completed her elegant outfit with the dazzling accessory, which was also a favourite of Queen Elizabeth II's. As the name suggests, the brooch takes the shape of a shell made of rows of diamonds and a single pearl, while several strings of diamonds in varying lengths dangle underneath. It was designed by Lord Courtauld-Thomson, son of a famous Scottish inventor, and made in 1919 in London by The Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Co., Ltd, before being left to Queen Elizabeth, the future Queen Mother, in 1944 by his sister, Winifred Hope Thomson. A prized possession, it was worn by the Queen Mother to mark her 100th birthday, and was left to Queen Elizabeth II when her mother passed away in 2002. Queen Camilla sported the Queen Mother's Courtauld Thomson Scallop-Shell Brooch for her appearance alongside King Charles at Royal Ascot today Her late Majesty wore her mother's brooch to several special occasions - including the unveiling of the Queen Mothers statue and to her granddaughter Zara's wedding to Mike Tindall. King Charles and Queen Camilla appeared in high spirits as they lovingly greeted members of their family at their first Royal Ascot since the Coronation. The couple were seen arriving at the event in a horse-drawn carriage with the Duke and Duchess of Wellington, who participated in the Coronation procession last month. The monarch, 74, was dressed in traditional grey morning suit for the annual sporting event in Berkshire. Along with a double-breasted waistcoat, the King donned a light pink tie, a blue patterned pocket square and was seen carrying a black top hat. The couple were joined by other members of the Royal Family - including Princess Anne, Zara and Mike Tindall, Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and Camilla's recently widowed sister Annabel Elliot. A prized possession, it was worn by the Queen Mother to mark her 100th birthday (pictured), and was left to Queen Elizabeth II when her mother passed away in 2002 Queen Elizabeth II, wearing the Courtauld Thomson Scallop-Shell Brooch, at the unveiling of a new statue of Queen Elizabeth (pictured, left) and at the Royal wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall in 2011 (pictured, right) After stepping out of the carriage, Charles was pictured greeting his niece Zara warmly and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. Meanwhile, Camilla was also seen greeting Mike Tindall in a similarly warm fashion. Princess Beatrice, 34, looked effortlessly elegant in a midi floral gown with voluminous sleeves by Belulah which she paired with a pink silk headband by Juliette Botterill Millinery. Royal Ascot, the jewel in the crown of the UK racing calendar, starts today with the Queen Anne Stakes and will run until Ladies' Day on Friday. Around 300,000 people are set to attend the prestigious event, some of them royalty and world-famous celebrities. King Charles and Queen Camilla pictured arriving at their first Royal Ascot since the Coronation King Charles also wore a dazzling tie pin when attending Royal Ascot today. It featured a silver crown and a sapphire gem, as well as a shimmering set of diamonds King Charles pictured greeting his niece Zara Tindall with an affectionate kiss on the cheek as he arrived at Ascot Queen Camilla greeted Mike Tindall with a kiss on the cheek as the first day of Royal Ascot got underway Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli pictured at the Royal Ascot this afternoon The day is a much a social occasion as a sporting event and racegoers take the opportunity to turn on the style, from chic hats and summer dresses to sharp suits. It's the first year the event, a favourite of the late Queen, will go ahead since her death in September. Following her Coronation in 1953, the Queen travelled to the racecourses in Berkshire at least once a year to attend the event - and only missed it in 2020 due to Covid lockdowns. The Duke of Kent was asked to replace the Queen in the Royal procession at the event last year, which took place just three months before her death. Heir they are! Charles and Camilla pictured in the Royal Box at Ascot this afternoon King Charles and Queen Camilla seen after leaving the carriage and making their way to the royal box To mark the first Ascot since her passing, organisers have displayed a heartwarming collection of photos of the Queen visiting Ascot over the years. These include a black-and-white photo of the royal riding on the tracks in 1960 when she was 34 years old. What's more, the organisers also selected a photograph of the Queen beaming at Ladies' Day in 2013. The event turned out to be one of the Queen's most successful Ascots as her horse Estimate won the Gold Cup - making her the first monarch in 200 years to scoop the prize. KSI and Logan Paul's popular energy drink will now be available at Tesco, the celebrity influencers have announced - after previously not being stocked by the supermarket giant due to 'security cost' concerns. In an excited Tweet, the YouTuber, 30 - real name Olajide 'JJ' Olatunji - and his American co-founder, 28, posed up a storm in front of a store, holding bottles of Prime. A truck with the viral beverage's branding was also parked outside, as the duo couldn't contain their glee for the snap. KSI retweeted the post from Prime's account, writing: 'FINALLY'. In past, the content creator claimed that Tesco wasn't offering the popular drink because of 'security cost' concerns. In an excited Tweet, the YouTuber, 30 - real name Olajide 'JJ' Olatunji - and his American co-founder, 28, posed up a storm in front of a store, holding bottles of Prime 'We have the supply lol,' he tweeted in January. 'Tesco just told us that the security cost to protect shoppers would cost more than they were willing to spend based off the prime demand. 'That's why it won't be in Tesco. They're waiting for the demand to go down.' That same month, Tom Bastable, developer of the Prime Tracker app told The Grocer that it seemed Tesco had initially feared the media frenzy and attention that the in-demand drink attracts. 'Whilst what happened at Aldi stores was great media coverage for Prime, I imagine the store perspective on it may be different,' he told the outlet. MailOnline has reached out to Tesco for comment. After Prime was first launched in the US last year, it has been estimated that more than 100 million bottles have now been sold worldwide. KSI retweeted the post from Prime's account, writing: 'FINALLY'. In past, the content creator claimed that Tesco wasn't offering the popular drink because of 'security cost' concerns After Prime was first launched in the US last year, it has been estimated that more than 100 million bottles have now been sold worldwide. Stock image used So what is actually in the viral Prime drink? The drink launched by influencer boxers Logan Paul and KSI has been marketed as a healthy alternative to many energy drinks. The vast majority of each 500ml bottle is filtered water, mixed with 10 per cent coconut water. The latter is good source of minerals like potassium, magnesium, calcium and sodium important components of in heart, skeletal and muscle health. Branding around Prime boasts it contains no added sugar and zero caffeine. Therefore it isn't really an energy drink. Cans of energy drinks, and in particular their consumption by young people, have been controversial as some can contain more than 80g of sugar and have as much caffeine as three cups of coffee. In comparison, prime only has 2g of sugar per bottle, about 7 per cent of an adult's recommended intake. It instead gets its sweetness from a substances Sucralose and Acesulfame K. These are both artificial sweeteners, a family of low-calorie chemicals used instead of sugar. While there have been some health concerns about these substances, health authorities say they are safe. However, some studies have suggested sweeteners can stimulate appetite or alter the gut microbiome and therefore increase the risk of weight gain and obesity. Advertisement The popularity of the energy drink, which is mainly comprised of filtered water and coconut water, is thought to have been fuelled by the enormous social media reach of KSI and Logan Paul. In February, the launch of a new flavour of the drink sent shoppers wild as people were filmed queueing for hours outside supermarkets to get their hands on bottles. Shocking footage emerged of a branch of Sainsbury's in Liverpool where shoppers fought over bottles of the orange and mango flavour. As the entrance opened for the first time, scenes soon descended into carnage as impatient shoppers, including both adults and children, climbed over each other in a desperate bid to reach the bottles. Furious staff, who had moments earlier warned of a three-bottle limit per person, could be heard urging the customers to 'stop f***ing pushing'. Another individual could be heard saying, 'guys, it's just a drink'. Children were seen in the crush as staff members tried to prevent the fighting. And when the drink first arrived in the UK in June last year, scenes of pandemonium broke out. Demand for the drinks outpaced supply as youngsters tried to emulate their social media heroes. When Aldi started selling Prime last December, limiting bottles to one per person, customers queued at dawn and were pictured jumping over shelves in the frenzy to get their hands on it. Wakefield Wines, an off-licence in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, went viral after reportedly selling bottles for 100 each, while a 12-pack was advertised for 50,000 on auction site eBay, together fuelling the demand further. But the craze acquired a sinister edge when a 17-year-old in Kent was arrested for stealing a case, and reports emerged of children being bullied into handing over their drinks. One ten-year-old was also reportedly punched in the face when he refused to give his drink to a group of teenagers in the park. Queen Camilla's animated display on the first day of Royal Ascot may have reminded many of one beloved late monarch absent from the annual event today - her mother-in-law Queen Elizabeth II. Her Majesty, who passed away last September, was well known for her love of equestrian events and always lit up on sight of the animals, with her fondness for horses well documented. One of the most known TV clips of Queen Elizabeth II shows her clapping her hands and beaming as her horse Estimate claimed victory in Royal Ascot's Gold Cup in 2013 the first time in the race's 207-year history that it had been won by a reigning monarch. And today, King Charles III's wife appeared to pay homage to his mother as she looked excited, stressed, relieved and delighted at today's festivities. Queen Camilla appeared on the edge of her seat as she attended her first Royal Ascot since the Coronation this afternoon. The scene was reminiscent of her late mother-in-law's animated displays. Queen Camilla's animated display on the first day of the Ascot may have reminded many of one beloved Royal absent from the annual event for the first time today - her late mother-in-law The royal, 75, looked effortlessly elegant in a cream coat dress, matching hat and gloves for her day at the Berkshire races. Camilla arrived in a horse-drawn carriage with her husband King Charles and their friends the Duke and Duchess of Wellington. After warmly greeting other members of the Royal Family, the King and Queen made their way to the Royal box - where they had a prime view of the races. As a life-long fan of horseracing, Camilla seemed particularly invested in what was unfolding on the tracks. Grasping onto her binoculars, the Queen was seen grimacing as she watched from the sidelines. The scene was reminiscent of the late Elizabeth, who was discussing 'her love for her horses right to the very end', according to her trusted bloodstock and racing adviser. In September last year, John Warren said he spent the weekend before Queen Elizabeth II died in Scotland, discussing her horses, as they had done so many times before. In September last year, John Warren said he spent the weekend before Queen Elizabeth II died in Scotland, discussing her horses, as they had done so many times before. Both pictured at Ascot in 2013 Her Majesty's fondness of horses began when she was just four after her grandfather, King George V, gave her a little Shetland pony. Pictured at Ascot in 2021 Camilla appeared in high spirits as she enjoyed Day One at this year's Royal Ascot with her husband Her Majesty, who passed away last September, was well known for her love of equestrian events and always lit up on sight of the animals. Pictured at Ascot in 2013 Queen Camilla (left) appeared on the edge of her seat as she attended her first Royal Ascot since the Coronation this afternoon. Pictured right, Queen Elizabeth II at the 2008 Derby Festival at Epsom As a life-long fan of horseracing, Camilla (left) seemed particularly invested in what was unfolding on the tracks. Her enthusiasm channelled that of the late Elizabeth's (pictured at Ascot in 1955) King Charles III's wife appeared to pay homage to his mother as she looked excited, stressed, relieved and delighted - all at once - at today's festivities. Camilla and Elizabeth pictured at Ascot in 2009 'We sat there for hours over the weekend strategising and making plans going forward', he recalled. 'And I think the nicest thing for me is to know that she was surrounded by her family members. 'She was in such a healthy state of mind and in tremendous form. It's very important to know that she was absolutely, wonderfully switched on.' Mr Warren also recalled that day at Ascot in 2013, saying her display of emotion was the culmination of a seven-year journey with Estimate, from before her birth. 'The footage you can see doesn't actually show you the final two furlongs,' he said. 'This was a really hard-fought battle. It just seemed like forever and ever and ever before it was going to happen. Was it going to happen? Wasn't it going to happen? The royal, 75, looked effortlessly elegant in cream coat dress, matching hat and gloves for her day at the Berkshire races The mother-of-two arrived in a horse-drawn carriage with her husband King Charles and their friends the Duke and Duchess of Wellington After warmly greeting other members of the Royal Family, the King and Queen made their way to the Royal box - where they had a prime view of the races Grasping onto her binoculars, the Queen was seen grimacing as she watched from the sidelines Camilla was alert as she observed the races at Ascot today - channelling the late Queen Elizabeth II 'And, as the filly passed the post, the elation from the Queen was absolutely wonderful. She had a really huge tear in her eye, in both her eyes. I could see she was brimming with emotion, which was a wonderful thing.' Mr Warren said: 'I think it was everything that she'd put into breeding horses and racing horses achieving an ambition which is no different to any parent wanting their child to win at the Olympics. This felt the same elation as that.' Mr Warren recalled how the Queen 'practically galloped' from the Royal Box to the unsaddling enclosure, despite being in her 80s, 'carried' by the Ascot crowd. 'And in typical style of a horsewoman, although everyone was giving the Queen their congratulations, the Queen was absolutely steadfast to get to Estimate herself and give her a wonderful and well deserved pat,' he said. 'That was a hugely touching thing to witness, the Queen just focusing purely on this creature that had delivered for her. That was remarkable.' Mr Warren said Estimate's victory was one of the real highlights of the Queen's long association with horseracing, along with her victory with Highclere, in the Prix de Diane, at Chantilly, in 1974. King Charles and Queen Camilla seen after leaving the carriage and making their way to the royal box Heir they are! Charles and Camilla pictured in the Royal Box at Ascot this afternoon King Charles and Queen Camilla pictured arriving at their first Royal Ascot since the Coronation He added: 'The Queen has definitely been excited and emotionally charged about having some other winners particularly at Ascot, where the eyes are on but I think this one was one that was so satisfying because it is such an iconic race.' But he said her interest in racing was as much about planning the journey of a horse over years as it was winning with legendary mounts. Her Majesty's fondness of horses began when she was just four after her grandfather, King George V, gave her a little Shetland pony. By the age of six she had fallen in love with riding, becoming an accomplished equestrian in her teenage years and has continued to ride for pleasure throughout her life. From her first appearance at the annual Trooping the Colour to 1986, the monarch would attend the ceremony on horseback. She first attended the Royal Windsor Horse Show as a horse-mad teenager in 1943. Together with Princess Margaret, the 17-year-old showed off her equestrian prowess by winning the Pony & Dogcart class. The Queen owned several thoroughbreds for racing after she initially inherited King George's breeding and racing stock following his death in February 1952. King Charles pictured greeting his niece Zara Tindall with an affectionate kiss on the cheek as he arrived at Ascot Queen Camilla greeted Mike Tindall with a kiss on the cheek as the first day of Royal Ascot got underway Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli pictured at the Royal Ascot this afternoon In 1974, the monarch's interest in horses was the subject of a documentary title, The Queen's Race Horses: a Private View, which she herself narrated. In May 2022, the Queen attended the Windsor Horse Show and was also the guest of honour at the equestrian extravaganza A Gallop Through History, the first major event of the Jubilee festivities. Camilla, meanwhile, is also known for her love of horses. She has even reportedly taken over the day-to-day running of the late Queens stables rather than the King. The new role sees Camilla tasked with maintaining the relationships with the late Queens trainers and overseeing the stables. John Warren, the late Queens Royal bloodstock and racing advisor, has previously said that it is Camilla, rather than her husband, who has the greatest passion for horses. He said: He has always followed it, but it has been his mothers interest so it has been at arms length. He owns a few horses himself, in particular with the [then] Duchess of Cornwall. She is absolutely besotted by racing. She also has a life-long association with equestrian charities. As the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla supported the Ebony Horse Club, the British Equestrian Federation and the Brooke Hospital for Animals. In 2013, she joined Queen Elizabeth II on a joint visit to the Ebony Horse Club in Brixton, south London, where children learn to ride in an urban setting. Camilla has also often spoken about her childhood spent riding ponies along with her other great passion reading. In a recent interview with Childrens Laureate Joseph Coelho, Camilla said: I think I have to admit, in the end, I ended up probably being a sort of pony-mad child with Black Beauty, which I howled over, night after night after night. The King has tonight hosted world leaders at St James's Palace on the eve of the Ukraine Recovery Conference - where he also fielded questions about his horse's poor performance at Royal Ascot today. Charles, 74, held an audience with figures including Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal, US secretary of state Antony Blinken, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen this evening. Greeting the King, the EU chief said: 'We are in this together.' They arrived at the Palace ahead of the conference tomorrow, where governments will meet to discuss rebuilding the war-torn nation following its conflict with Russia. The King was greeted in the gilt-edged Throne Room by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Mr Shmyhal, who presented him with a bronze statue commemorating the events at Snake Island. The King is hosting world leaders at St James's Palace on the eve of the Ukraine Recovery Conference Mr Shmyhal described the bronze statue, depicting a soldier clutching a Ukrainian flag, as a symbol of his countrys 'mutual victory' with Britain over Russia. The dramatic liberation, when Ukraine retook the small island after its defiant defenders were captured by Russian forces, is approaching its one-year anniversary at the end of June. Presenting Charles with the sculpture, the prime minister said: 'This is symbolic of our mutual victory. 'We are so grateful for the support of the UK you are the number one supporter of Ukraine.' At one point the King was asked how his horse performed at Royal Ascot where the thoroughbred Saga was beaten by a rival called Royal Champion earlier on Tuesday only for Mr Cleverly to interject, saying: 'Oh! Wrong question.' It was not the only moment when the horses poor performance became the subject of conversation. While greeting Defence Secretary Ben Wallace later in the evening, the Conservative MP consoled the King, saying: 'You were right in your prediction.' US President Joe Biden sent his 'warmest regards' through Mr Blinken, the secretary of state told the King, adding: 'And [he] also wants me to tell you how much he admires your leadership on the environment.' Charles, 74, held an audience with figures including Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal (centre) and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen (right) this evening Keir Starmer, left, was also present at the event, and was pictured avidly chatting with the King The King shook hands with Ukraine's Prime Minister at tonight's event, following a busy day at Ascot Charles also met with Defence Secretary Ben Wallace (pictured right) as he hosted tonight's event Charles and Denys Shmyhal were pictured chatting as the King welcomed world leaders into the Palace They arrived at the Palace ahead of the conference tomorrow, where governments will meet to discuss rebuilding the war-torn nation Pictured: A sculpture from Ukraine presented to King Charles III by the Prime Minister of Ukraine during tonight's reception Before departing, the King also shook hands with Sir Keir and decorated Ukrainian veteran Masi Nayyem, who lost an eye when he was struck by shrapnel. Mr Nayyem, who now campaigns to support veterans, said afterwards that Britains support encouraged him to 'fight until death' for his country. He thanked the UK for providing more than Europe, adding: 'I fight for freedom we are the last romantics of Europe. We believe our values and what we fight for.' King Charles also met with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Mr Blinken. The 2022 conference, held in Switzerland, established the Lugano Principles, which laid the groundwork for the reconstruction process. It's been a busy day for the King, who this afternoon attended the first Royal Ascot since the Coronation with his wife Queen Camilla. The couple appeared in high spirits as they lovingly greeted members of their family. The monarch was dressed in traditional grey morning suit for the annual sporting event in Berkshire. Along with a double-breasted waistcoat, Charles donned a light pink tie, a blue patterned pocket square and was seen carrying a black top hat. Underneath her smart coat, Camilla wore a white dress with a silver neckline - which offset the Queen Mother's Shell Brooch pinned on the lapel. The sophisticated royal styled her hair in her signature bouncy blow-dry and opted for a pair of chic dangly pearl earrings. The couple were joined by other members of the Royal Family - including Princess Anne, Zara and Mike Tindall, Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and Camilla's recently widowed sister Annabel Elliot. Princess Beatrice, 34, looked effortlessly elegant in a midi floral gown with voluminous sleeves by Belulah which she paired with a pink silk headband by Juliette Botterill Millinery. Royal Ascot, the jewel in the crown of the UK racing calendar, starts today with the Queen Anne Stakes and will run until Ladies' Day on Friday. Around 300,000 people are set to attend the prestigious event, some of them royalty and world-famous celebrities. In this year's pamphlet, the newly-crowned King and Queen took the opportunity to write a special message to guests. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly (left) and King Charles met with officials from Ukraine at the Palace Charles was seen enjoying a conversation with Anthony Blinken as world leaders gathered at the Palace tonight The King looked deep in conversation as he shook hands with the US Secretary of State at tonight's event The King enjoyed a drink as he chatted up a storm with Labour leader Keir Starmer as tonight's event The pair appeared very animated as they shared a discussion at St James Palace tonight The 2022 conference, held in Switzerland, established the Lugano Principles, which laid the groundwork for the reconstruction process The King was greeted in the gilt-edged Throne Room by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Mr Shmyhal, who presented him with a bronze statue commemorating the events at Snake Island. Pictured chatting with world leaders The King looked to be enjoying a conversation with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly at the event Pictured left to right: King Charles, James Cleverly, Director General, Defence and Intelligence Thomas Drew and National Security Adviser Tim Barrow all enjoyed the reception Ukrainian veteran Masi Nayyen (centre) pictured during a reception at St James Palace in London ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference They wrote: 'We are delighted to welcome you to Royal Ascot in this, the year of our Coronation. Five days oh highly competitive racing will again be watched and enjoyed by millions, both here and abroad. 'We are happy in the knowledge that this historic race meeting continues to be a key influence on the global racing and breeding industries. 'The Royal Meeting always played a central role in Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth's calendar and the naming of the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes will be a most appropriate way to mark this lifelong interest. 'A photographic exhibition in the Grandstand will also celebrate The late Queen's close association with Royal Ascot, including images of some of her twenty four winners. We are sure his exhibition will prompt many happy memories. 'As improving sustainability is crucial to all events and businesses, we were pleased to hear that the Village Enclosure at Ascot will be net carbon zeo this year and that the racecourse is making renewed efforts to minimalise waste. 'Finally, we wish the very best of good fortune to all the owners, breeders, trainers, jockeys and hardworking stable staff with runners this week. 'It is a huge and rare achievement to have a runner at Royal Ascot and we very much hope that you all enjoy the experience.' An Instagram star who has been 'missing' for four years after quitting social media to care for her chronically ill daughter has re-emerged to claim that she's fighting a serious health battle of her own. Jessica Stein, 40, from Sydney, lived a glamorous life travel blogging under the name of Tuula Vintage and boasted nearly two million followers before giving birth to her daughter Rumi, now six, who has Mosaic Trisomy 2 - an extremely rare disorder that can lead to serious medical problems and heart defects. Her cousin, Sara, has issued a plea for help, telling Jessica's loyal fans that she and Rumi are 'battling major health issues... and are unable to proceed forward with treatment'. She said the pair are suffering from 'multiple complications of a connective tissue disorder they both share' - a genetic condition causing faulty tissue throughout the body. Sara said the two have also been diagnosed with craniocervical instability, retroflexed odontoid and tethered spinal cord - causing 'episodes of paralysis' and an 'inability to lay down without strangulation'. Due to what they claim is 'severe mismanagement' of doctors and neurosurgeons, the condition has only worsened over time. On Monday, Sara shared the update on Instagram with Jessica's 1.9million fans and also created a GoFundMe page that has raised more than $33,500 in 16 hours. An update about the health and welfare of 'missing' Sydney influencer Jessica Stein, 40, has been shared Jessica's cousin, Sara, said Jessica and her daughter Rumi, six, are suffering from 'multiple complications of a connective tissue disorder they both share' - a heritable condition causing faulty connective tissue throughout the body This is all in stark contrast to how Jessica once travelled around the world blogging under the name Tuula Vintage (pictured in Italy in 2017) The image shared on Instagram shows Jessica cradling Rumi on her lap with the pair in neck braces. This is a stark contrast to Jessica's past life, which was once filled with idyllic photos of herself exploring the world in designer clothing. Sara said Jessica's limbs can 'completely change colour', her nails turn blue and her face can 'flush and swell'. But she claims doctors continued to say Jessica's scans 'were clear' and her physical and acute symptoms were 'due to anxiety'. Jessica is now incapacitated at home and is unable to work, drive, cook, clean or co-parent properly, the GoFundMe said. What is Mosaic Trisomy 2? Trisomy 2 mosaicism is a rare chromosome disorder characterised by having an extra copy of chromosome 2 in a proportion, but not all, of a persons cells. Many cases of trisomy 2 mosaicism result in miscarriage during pregnancy In infants born with trisomy 2 mosaicism, severity as well as signs and symptoms vary widely. When trisomy 2 mosaicism is detected during early pregnancy with chorionic villus sampling (CVS), the affected cells may be confined only to the placenta, and not present in the fetus. The severity and specific symptoms present generally depend on the level of mosaicism (the proportion of cells affected) and the location or type of affected cells in the body. Trisomy 2 mosaicism is not inherited. It is caused by a random error in cell division during early development of the embryo. Symptoms may start to appear during pregnancy and as a newborn. Source: rarediseases.org Advertisement Rumi's dad (pictured) is 'providing constant emergency check-ins and day-to-day support for both of them' Jessica and Rumi are 'unable to lay down without strangulation and fainting and need to wear neck braces at times', her cousin said 'Jess is completely unable to lay down. She is forced to prop herself up on a wall or wedge and pillows. This would make even the strongest of people go insane,' Sara wrote. 'She has been unable to work, drive, cook, clean or properly co-parent. She cannot lift anything and now doesn't leave the house outside of medical necessity. She can barely walk or talk before losing her breath and voice, fainting and appearing to be strangled internally. 'She tries pushing herself to breaking point every single day just to be present in Rumi's life. 'Jess has been bounced in circles between expensive specialists and imaging without anyone managing her care, which she has been largely left to figure out on her own.' 'Jess has suffered gaslighting by the health system for many years while trying to advocate for Rumi and herself,' the GoFundMe page read In October 2017 (pictured), Jessica and her partner, Patrick Cooper, launched a campaign page titled 'Our Little Warrior Rumi' to raise money for Rumi's medical treatments Jessica's family shares features of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Marfan Syndrome and brittle bone Sara continued on the GoFundMe: 'After years of trying and failing to navigate the rigid health care system, they are having to turn to the community to help find them appropriate health care. 'Jess has suffered gaslighting by the health system for many years while trying to advocate for Rumi and herself. 'She was repeatedly told that the symptoms she was explaining were "physiologically impossible to survive" and that "she wanted to have a sick child in hospital." 'Their family shares features of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Marfan Syndrome and brittle bone.' At the start of the traumatic ordeal, Jessica suffered from an injury while in hospital a few years ago and was labelled 'hysteric'. But a CT scan wasn't ordered and instead Sara said the neurologist 'misdiagnosed her with conversion disorder' - claiming that she 'wasn't coping with having a sick child'. 'Jess was left alone, and in agony trying to get help in a system built against her. She now has major vascular congestion symptoms that leave her unable to lay down, with tearing chest pain and spitting up blood. She's too tired to fight anymore,' Sara continued. Jessica's limbs would 'completely change colour', her cousin, Sara, said Little Rumi (pictured) has been suffering from sickness her whole life and the genetic condition is incurable Jessica also suffered a rocky pregnancy due to complications from an injury she received after being hit by a car as a teenager For years she has been silent on social media for multiple reasons, including feeling 'isolated and defeated'. 'She is so tired of having to fight so hard for them both to receive adequate and appropriate health care and cant do it anymore,' the GoFundMe page continued. While fans are relieved to finally read an update, thousands were devastated by the news. 'I was thinking of you the other day and was wondering what happened with Rumi. Reading this breaks my heart,' one fan wrote on Instagram. 'Sending so much love to Jess and Rumi, hoping they get the medical care and support they deserve,' another commented. 'Heartbreaking. Good on you Sara for activating the village,' a third wrote. But she said ranking theories 'was not smart' and the lab leak cannot be ruled out In March 2021 the WHO confirmed the lab leak theory was 'extremely unlikely' The World Health Organisation should never have dismissed the Covid lab leak theory in favour of Beijing's frozen food origin story, one of the agency's most senior officials claimed today. Professor Marion Koopmans, a world-renowned virologist, acknowledged the WHO's decision 'was not smart'. The respected head of viroscience at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam was one of twelve tasked with probing how the pandemic emerged, on behalf of the UN agency. The initial investigation by the WHO in January 2021, which saw a group of scientists travel to Wuhan, concluded that 'all hypotheses remain on the table'. In its March 2021 report, it then ranked the likelihood of four popular theories, ruling the natural origins theory to be the most likely. The initial investigation by the WHO in January 2021, which saw a group of scientists travel to Wuhan, concluded that 'all hypotheses remain on the table'. In its March 2021 report, it ranked the likelihood of four theories, ruling the natural origins theory to be the most likely. But it placed the lab leak an 'extremely unlikely pathway' behind the frozen food origin story. The theory the virus has been introduced via 'cold food chain products' - pushed by the Chinese Government - was deemed a 'possible pathway' instead by the UN agency But it placed the lab leak as an 'extremely unlikely pathway' behind the frozen food origin story. The hypothesis that the coronavirus was introduced via 'cold food chain products' pushed by China was deemed a 'possible pathway' instead by the UN agency. But speaking on a BBC podcast investigating the source of the pandemic, Professor Koopmans said the hypothesis that the virus escaped from a secretive lab inside the ground zero of Wuhan could never be ruled out. She told Fever: The Hunt for Covid's Origin, an eight-part BBC Radio 4 series, that 'ranking in retrospect was not smart', adding: 'We shouldn't have done that.' Professor Marion Koopmans (pictured), head of viroscience at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, was one of twelve tasked with probing how the pandemic emerged on behalf of the World Health Organization Pressed by John Sudworth, the BBC's former Beijing Correspondent, on whether she would now put both the frozen food and lab scenarios on an equal footing, she admitted 'neither of them are ruled out in my mind'. The lab leak theory, once dismissed as an outright conspiracy, has gained increasing traction in the years since the virus first caused a global pandemic. It centres around the fact that the virus first emerged miles away from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), where researchers were known to be working on coronaviruses found in bats. Most experts maintain that Covid most likely emerged naturally, being transmitted from animals to humans what is known as zoonosis. Such theories have largely pointed to Wuhan's Huanan seafood wholesale market, where numerous species of live animals were kept and sold, as the potential site where such an infection could have taken place. Many of the earliest cases in December 2019 and January 2020 had visited the site, where live animals were sold. No concrete proof to support any origin argument has ever been found, leaving experts fearing the truth will never be uncovered. Professor Koopmans told the podcast: 'Everyone is biased yes. I am biased for [the] natural origin [theory] because of everything we've seen in the past. While China has insisted the virus originated elsewhere, academics, politicians and the media have contemplated the possibility it leaked from a high-level biochemical lab in Wuhan - raising suspicions that Chinese officials simply hid evidence of the early spread 'That's such a known high-risk situation. So call me biased. But it's also about probabilities. It's not just about possibilities.' Asked whether including the frozen food theory in the final report 'was an undermining of the mission itself', she said: 'I don't think so.' She added: 'Again as a scientist, looking at the literature and looking at what is possible, I felt we should also not throw it out because it was pushed politically.' But she acknowledged that inclusion of the theory was not meant to imply the pandemic actually began outside China. 'Not necessarily outside, just being brought to the market. Of course viruses do not originate in frozen food,' she said. 'It would have to be frozen food for instance of an animal brought into the Wuhan system.' But pressed by Mr Sudworth on how likely this was, she responded: 'I don't know.' At the time of publication the report was criticised due to a lack of cooperation from Beijing. The Chinese government allegedly refused to discuss the lab leak theory unless the final report stated no further investigation was needed, and withheld key data and samples from WHO scientists. Some experts now say Covid may have emerged from within the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Here security personnel are pictured keeping watch during a visit by the WHO in 2021 Other Covid origin theories point to Huanan seafood market in Wuhan as being the epicentre of the outbreak. Many of the earliest cases in December 2019 and January 2020 had visited the site, where live animals were sold 'Of course it was not free of pressures,' Professor Koopmans told the podcast. 'The process derailed that's for sure.' However, she added: 'I know many people want to say it's because of a cover-up. I know there have been a lot of actions from China to control information, to suppress information but what can I do as a scientist.' She said: 'I've been asked "why didn't you demand to have the lab journals opened and see the raw results?" That's an audit.' Beijing has repeatedly been accused of a cover-up, stifling attempts to investigate a lab in Wuhan which was experimenting with similar viruses months before a disease emerged in the city that quickly swept the world and killed millions. But Professor Koopmans is not the first to recently reconsider the likelihood of various Covid origin theories. In a previous episode of Fever, Professor Ian Lipkin, an epidemiologist based at Columbia University in New York, said that he stands by the idea Covid was not deliberately created in a lab and a natural origin remained the most likely scenario. However, while most lab leak scenarios for Covid's origins have centred on the WIV, he pointed to another lab, the Wuhan Centre for Disease Control, located just a few hundred metres from Huanan market, where the first cases of the virus were tracked, as one possible source. This lab was known to be involved in the collection of thousands of blood and faecal samples from wild bats with staff who worked there not always wearing the recommended level of PPE while doing so. Earlier this month it was also revealed that China's own 'bat woman' Dr Shi Zhengli, a leading virologist based at the WIV, at one point feared Covid could have leaked from inside her secretive laboratory. The number of single women trying to get pregnant through IVF has soared while demand for egg-freezing is also booming, a report by the UK's fertility regulator reveals. More people than ever are having fertility treatment in the UK, with egg and embryo freezing the fastest growing procedures, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said. Patients aiming to become a single mum to an IVF baby rose 44 per cent from 2,001 in 2019 to 2,888 in 2021. And the number of IVF patients in female same-sex relationships increased by 33 per cent from 1,649 to 2,201 over the same period. This means that single patients and patients in female same-sex relationships had the biggest increase in IVF use. Hollywood actress Sienna Miller revealed last year that she had frozen her eggs aged 40 to avoid the 'existential threat' of her ticking biological clock Meanwhile, egg freezing and storage by all women increased 64 per cent from 2,576 cycles in 2019 to 4,215 in 2021, which is 11-times more than the 373 in 2011. Experts say the Covid pandemic had a big impact on the numbers of women wanting to freeze their eggs in the hope of preserving their fertility. Some will be waiting to get on the property ladder, establish their career or waiting to find a partner. Others may progress to have a baby alone. Sarah Norcross, director of the Progress Educational Trust, said of the latest data: 'The dramatic rise in the number of egg freezing cycles could be linked to the pandemic. 'Restrictions on socialising may have prompted some women to think more about their fertile window, and decide to try to increase their reproductive choices.' And Alison Campbell, chief scientific officer at Care Fertility Group and honorary professor at the University of Kent, said: 'Families come in many forms, and it is good to see such a continued increase in numbers of single patients and those in same-sex partnerships undergoing fertility treatment and building their families. 'However, access to treatment can be challenging for these patients who often do not qualify for NHS funding, and so require them to self-fund. 'NHS-funded IVF treatment cycles remain below pre-pandemic levels for most age groups, with great variability by nation and region.' More people than ever are having fertility treatment in the UK, with egg and embryo freezing the fastest growing procedures, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said The HFEA data shows the average age at which women have fertility treatment with IVF has risen to 36, compared to almost 31 for those who conceive naturally. It also reveals more patients than ever before are paying privately for IVF. Some 63 per cent of IVF cycles among patients aged 18 to 34 were funded privately in 2021, compared with 52 per cent in 2019. The number of IVF cycles funded by the NHS continued to vary across the UK with an overall 16 per cent decrease to 20,000 cycles in 2021 from around 24,000 in 2019. Ms Norcross said: 'The 16 per cent drop in the number of IVF cycles funded by the NHS between 2019 and 2021 is an extremely worrying trend. Read more: How Covid pandemic led to a boom in young women who freeze their eggs by increasing concerns over ticking body-clock Advertisement 'While some of this could be attributed to the pandemic, it is unlikely that all of it can. 'The fact that most people under 35 are having to fund their own fertility treatment, during a cost-of-living crisis and when mortgage rates are expected to soar, means that many will not be able to afford to have the chance of having a family.' There was a 10 per cent rise in IVF and donor insemination cycles between 2019 and 2021, which is equal to around 7,000 more cycles. Live birth rates per embryo transferred have increased from 7 per cent in 1991 to 25 per cent in 2021 for patients aged 35 to 37 and from 6 per cent in 1991 to 17 per cent in 2021 for patients aged 38 to 39. For those aged 40 to 42, the live birth rate per embryo stands at 10 per cent, but plummets for women aged 43 and over. Julia Chain, chairwoman of the HFEA, said: 'Overall, the new HFEA report paints a promising picture. 'It shows treatment numbers are back at pre-pandemic levels and thanks to improved clinical and laboratory practice, over time pregnancy rates are increasing. 'Despite the pandemic being declared officially over, the aftershocks are still being felt as delays across other areas of healthcare prevent some patients accessing fertility services. 'Our report shows that the average age of IVF patients has increased to 36, around five years older than mothers who get pregnant naturally and these aftershocks could mean that the average age of an IVF patient continues to rise. 'Although pregnancy rates have increased, the likelihood of success decreases with age. 'For some patients, this may mean they never get the baby they hoped for and that's heartbreaking.' More than 100,000 cancer patients may have been harmed by treatment and diagnosis delays over the past decade, a damning study suggests. Macmillan Cancer Support said its analysis of NHS figures show 180,000 have been forced to wait longer than they should for care since 2014. Many will have seen their cancer progress while waiting, leaving some with fewer treatment options and others with a disease that had become incurable. The charity blamed repeated government failures for putting 'tens of thousands of lives at risk' across the UK and described the figure as 'shameful'. Doctors and nurses are being 'stretched to breaking point' because of a shortage of staff and scanners, Macmillan added, noting that some healthcare workers have described the impact on patients as 'inhumane'. Macmillan Cancer Support said its analysis of NHS figures show 180,000 have been forced to wait longer than they should for care since 2014 It said that performance against Government-set cancer waiting times targets fell to the worst on record in 2022 in all four UK nations. Meanwhile, a survey of almost 2,500 adults in the UK who have had a cancer diagnosis in the last decade found that 556 had experienced a delay to treatment and diagnosis. Of these, 23 per cent said the delay had seen their cancer get worse, made their cancer 'incurable' or led to them having 'fewer treatment options'. This equates to at least 100,000 people across the UK, Macmillan said. Gemma Peters, chief executive at Macmillan Cancer Support, which commissioned the YouGov poll, said: 'Cancer care is in crisis after years of governments failing to act. 'Every single person who has faced a worse outcome from their cancer diagnosis because of delays will know the devastating impact that waiting has had on their lives, from the burden of anxiety that their cancer is growing, and for many, the devastating news that their cancer is now incurable. 'This is categorically unacceptable and entirely avoidable. How you can beat NHS waiting lists: By exercising the right to choose your hospital, you could be seen at least three months earlier - so why aren't more patients being told about it? Choosing or switching hospital is not a dodgy loophole: its part of NHS rule boo Advertisement 'Governments can turn things around if they act now immediate action will start to tackle the issues people are facing right now, and governments must implement longer-term solutions for everyone affected by cancer in the years to come. 'That is why Macmillan is launching our new 'What Are We Waiting For?' campaign, calling on all four UK governments to commit to providing the NHS with the funding and support needed to ensure everyone, everywhere gets the potentially life-saving cancer care they desperately need, on time.' The charity said it has been contacted by NHS cancer care workers who have expressed dismay at not having the staff or resources they need to provide quality care as quickly as they need to. Naman Julka-Anderson, an advanced practice therapeutic radiographer and an allied health professional clinical advisor for Macmillan Cancer Support, said: 'I've had patients arrive for their radical chemotherapy appointment who wait three hours only to be told that because of staff shortages, we can't deliver their treatment today; it's inhumane. 'Patients are really struggling with having to constantly push for their own treatment, support, and just about anything that they need, due to Government inaction.' One lung cancer patient said she should not have to 'ring up and beg for appointments'. Jules Fielder, 39, from Hastings, told the charity: 'The pressures on the NHS are already showing, and it's heartbreaking. 'Just last week, I was called the day before my three-month scan to tell me it was cancelled once again. 'I rely on my scans; they are my lifeline. I shouldn't be ringing up my team begging for my appointments. 'I am living life heightened where I'm so on edge about my appointments being cancelled, and so anxious that my phone is going to ring with another cancellation. 'It's affecting everybody around me; my family, my friends, my son, they're all suffering. 'I have the disease in my body, but my husband and my son are on the same journey with me.' A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'Cancer remains a national priority for the NHS and Scottish Government which is why last week we published a new 10-year strategy, focused on improving cancer survival and providing equitable access to treatment.' A spokesman for the Department of Health in Northern Ireland said: 'The Cancer Strategy 2022-2032 sets the direction of travel for cancer services for the next 10 years with the vision to ensure everyone in Northern Ireland has equitable and timely access to the most effective, evidence-based referral, diagnosis, treatment, support and person-centred cancer care.' A Welsh Government spokesperson said: 'We are investing heavily in cancer services to train additional staff, build new facilities, increase early detection and provide rapid access to high-quality cancer care to ensure people receive the right treatment as quickly as possible.' The biggest threat to those on board is the rising levels of carbon dioxide Dr Dale Mole, a retired emergency and preventative medicine physician and the former director of undersea medicine and radiation health for the US Navy, said the passengers will be battling with a 'hostile internal submarine environment' A US Navy veteran warned of the chilling health effects of being trapped in a submarine just weeks before the Titanic tourism sub went missing, DailyMail.com can reveal. In a scientific paper published in a medical journal last month, Dr Dale Mole, the former director of undersea medicine and radiation health for the US Navy, detailed the 'hostile' environment onboard commercial submersibles, with passengers facing depleting oxygen supplies, toxic carbon dioxide levels and plummeting temperatures. The Titan vessel that is still missing will have a carbon dioxide scrubber on board to remove excess toxic gas that builds up when passengers exhale in the confined space, but in most craft this will have a limited capacity. There is also a risk of hypothermia due to the low temperatures in the depths of the ocean, as well as hyperventilation induced by panic attacks, which can use up more valuable oxygen. Dr Mole's paper was published in a scientific journal on May 29, just 20 days before the Titan vessel lost contact with its mothership, leaving five people trapped. The sub now has just 40 hours' worth of oxygen left, according to the US Coast Guard. Speaking to DailyMail.com today, Dr Mole said it is 'very much' a race against time to rescue the passengers, if they are not already dead from a 'catastrophic rupture of the pressure vessel.' The Titan vessel will have a carbon dioxide scrubber on board to remove excess toxic gas that builds up when passengers exhale in the confined space, but in most craft this will have a limited capacity. There is also a risk of hypothermia due to the low temperatures in the depths of the ocean, as well as hyperventilation induced by panic attacks, which can use up more valuable oxygen The Titan vessel, which was visiting the Titanic wreckage, submerged at 8am EST on Sunday around 400 miles southeast of St John's, Newfoundland. It lost contact with its mothership at 9.45am an hour and 45 minutes into the dive. With no sign of the craft yet, the five Titanic tourists including a British billionaire, a French maritime expert, a British businessman and one of Pakistan's wealthiest men and his son face the double threat of dwindling oxygen and extreme cold at two miles below the surface. There is a chance that Titan could be on the ocean's surface but because the passengers were sealed inside the main capsule by 17 bolts that can only be opened from the outside, they are trapped and could still suffocate unless found soon. In his paper, published in the journal Ciottone's Disaster Medicine, Dr Mole said: 'Trapped crew in a sunken ship or submarine face many physiological challenges, including toxic gases, exposure to elevated ambient pressures, and hypothermia.' Dr Mole told DailyMail.com today: 'Anytime humans are confined in an airtight space, most people may think of oxygen, but carbon dioxide is actually a bigger concern. 'In a submersible, they'll have some system of scrubbing carbon dioxide. If they lost battery power, then that system would no longer work.' A scrubbing system removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, making the air safe to breathe. Dr Mole said: 'When people inside breathe in oxygen, they'll breathe out oxygen, and it'll go from like 21 percent to 17 percent [oxygen]. But they'll exhale carbon dioxide, and that carbon dioxide has to be removed because otherwise it becomes toxic. Shahzada Dawood, 48, (pictured with his wife Christine) a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are amongst the five people missing in the submarine that set off to see the wreck of the Titanic Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding (pictured), CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition The company's Titan sub submerged at 8am EST on Sunday morning around 400 miles southeast of St John's, Newfoundland, according to the US Coast Guard. It lost contact at 9.45am but it wasn't reported to the Coast Guard until 5.40pm 'The people inside will find it difficult to breathe, their depth of respiration will increase. They'll develop headaches and gradually become unconscious. 'The rising level of carbon dioxide is what kills people first when they're in an airtight environment, not the level of oxygen.' If the submersible is not found within the next 40 hours, Dr Mole said: 'Once they lose the ability to remove carbon dioxide from that internal atmosphere, that will be the thing that leads to the lethal event.' He explained: 'It's like putting a bag over your head. They'll have a feeling of stuffiness or air hunger, and then unconsciousness follows after that.' Hypothermia is another significant risk for those on board. Dr Mole said: 'Inside a small submersible like that, the electronic equipment on board will generate some internal heat, and the occupants will be generating heat as it's not a very big space. 'But with the middle sphere in contact with the ocean, it will get pretty cold in there quickly. The average ocean temperature is 41 degrees Fahrenheit.' 'Initially, [the passengers] will start shivering to try and generate heat, which uses up more oxygen, and then oftentimes, some of the early things that are affected are judgment.' They will then lose the ability to use their hands, and 'then will gradually lapse into unconsciousness,' Dr Mole said. He added: 'You want to try and stay as calm as possible and turn off as much electrical equipment as you can to conserve battery power and make sure you have enough energy for your scrubbers.' Another possibility is 'some sort of accident that was more like a catastrophic rupture of the pressure vessel', Dr Mole said. He said: 'That happens so quickly, you really wouldn't know what had happened.' If that was the case, those on board would have died instantly, he added. If the submersible is still intact, Dr Mole said the passengers should not be suffering any adverse health effects yet. 'According to the advertised 96 hours of oxygen or life support, one would assume everything would be operating fairly normally.' Stuck in an increasingly stressful situation, the submarine's passengers are also likely to panic. Symptoms of a panic attack include increased heart rate, shortness of breath, trembling and muscle tension. People may feel lightheaded, nauseous and dizzy and experience shaking and sweating. Passengers may start breathing rapidly and deeply, which can cause too much carbon dioxide exhalation with too little oxygen inhalation. This can all lead to hyperventilation, which can make you feel like you're going to pass out. Dr Mole submitted his paper to the journal two years ago, which by coincidence was published weeks before the Titan incident. It read: 'National and international governments and organizations must have a robust and reliable search and rescue response plan in place that is regularly exercised. 'Medical personnel must be well-versed on the unique attributes of maritime medicine, as well as being an integral part of any rescue team.' Weight-watchers on Ozempic and other versions of the drug are causing a surge in visits to the Emergency Room, experts warn. Some doctors have spoken out on social media about a rise in patients on Ozempic and Wegovy coming to hospitals with violent diarrhea, bloating and nausea three of the more severe side effects of the fat-loss injection. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also raised the alarm over a rise in risky counterfeit versions of the drug, which are being sold by rogue pharmacies cashing on huge demand for the treatments and also causing waves of sickness. Some doctors say that they are seeing more patients on the drug taken as a weekly injection in hospitals than ever before (stock image) Elon Musk has used Ozempic to slim down in recent years. He's pictured above attending the Vanity Fair Oscars party in 2020 Warning over rising admissions linked to the drug, one ER doctor who goes by the Twitter handle @thatERguy wrote on Twitter: 'The amount of people coming to the ER for the side effects of Ozempic.' They added, describing the reasons for admissions: 'Diarrhea. Nausea. Bloating.' Social media has also been awash with users claiming to have fallen so sick after taking the drugs that they wound up in hospital. They include Joy McClellan, from Arizona, who said she was 'almost killed' by a counterfeit version of Ozempic. 'Two ER trips and six days in the hospital. I'm lucky I didn't die, but someone is going to,' she wrote online. In another US-based case, Twitter user Joshua Schiff said a close family member was hospitalized within two weeks of taking semaglutide with severe pancreatitis a painful inflammation of the pancreas. 'The hospitalization lasted for six days and landed them with a $30,000 hospital bill and (possible) long-term damage to their pancreas.' They added: 'Be careful with this stuff.' And a third woman claimed on Twitter that just two injections of semaglutide led to their husband being admitted to hospital with a 'gallstone attack'. '[It was his] worst ever and nearly needed surgery a very high risk for him,' she added. At the end of May, the FDA also cautioned over increasing reports of side effects in people taking the drug which had likely been reported by medical centers. They linked the uptick to 'compounded', or cocktail, versions of the medication. These become available when pharmacies start to make their own versions because they do not have enough supply to meet prescriptions. In their release, the agency said: 'FDA has received adverse event reports after patients used compounded semaglutide.' Asked about the uptick today, a spokeswoman for the FDA said: 'The agency is continuing to evaluate reports submitted to validate and assess any safety trends with the compounded formulations of semaglutide.' Dr Laurie Keefer, a health psychologist at Mount Sinai based in New York, previously told CBS News that she had seen a rise in patients on Ozempic coming into hospital. She said they were later diagnosed with gallstones or kidney failure. More than eight in ten people on semaglutide the drug behind Ozempic and Wegovy suffer side effects while on the drug, according to its clinical trial on 2,000 obese adults with results published in 2021. Plus-size model and TikTok star Remi Bader also revealed that she used Ozempic (left). Comedian Chelsea Handler has admitted using the shot too These tended to be 'mild-to-moderate' in severity, the paper noted and included problems like diarrhea, vomiting, constipation and nausea. But nearly one in ten patients also faced severe side-effects which, in some cases, led to them discontinuing the use of the medication. This included the emergence of a gallbladder-related disorder such as gallstones or pancreatitis. There were no figures given for how many patients ended up visiting the ER or were hospitalized overnight due to side effects. Since the study, other side effects have emerged, including muscle loss, being repulsed by your favorite foods and even bizarre dreams. Prescriptions for the drugs have spiraled more than 2,000 percent in just three years, from 230,000 a year in 2019 to more than five million last year alone and are projected to keep rising. The drug is a GLP-1 receptor, which triggers hormones in the brain that keep the stomach full and tell the body to stop eating and avoid cravings. Doctors had to start rationing Ozempic in May after its popularity as a weight-loss drug led to widespread shortages nationwide. Their popularity has led to delays in getting the medication to pharmacies across the country, leading many to start mixing their own versions. Novo Nordisk, which is behind Ozempic and Wegovy, has been contacted for comment. Ex-CMO said patients had died 'horribly' and apologised to families of those lost Dame Sally Davies today apologised to families bereaved by Covid as she slammed the UK's failures in preparing for the pandemic. Grilled on why the UK was so focused on flu and not other types of pathogen, the ex-chief medical officer blamed 'groupthink' among Government and experts. An emotional Dame Sally, whose voice broke at one point, added that she was sorry to Brits who lost loved ones and who died 'horrible deaths'. Addressing the Covid Inquiry, she said: 'Maybe this is the moment to say how sorry I am to the relatives who lost their families. 'It wasnt just the deaths, it was the way they died. It was horrible.' Dame Sally added that the full impact of lockdowns had failed to be considered and acknowledged the impact had 'damaged a generation'. She also criticised a lack of 'healthy resilience' among Brits, pointing to bulging obesity rates as one reason why the Covid pandemic struck so hard. In an emotional apology, ex-chief medical officer (CMO) Dame Sally Davies said how sorry she was to families of those who lost loved ones during the pandemic Dame Sally was Englands chief medical officer between 2010 and 2019. The role is currently held by Sir Chris Whitty. She was being questioned about the UK's preparedness for a pandemic. When asked why Britain had so heavily focused on flu, Dame Sally said there was a 'groupthink' among Western nations that influenza was the bigger threat and that it had gone unchallenged. 'The system, which included me in that way, needed more challenge,' she said. Dame Sally stated that she 'tried' to raise the idea of other pathogens being threats, specifically SARS and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). She said: 'Following a visit to Hong Kong where I learned a lot about SARS, I did ask, unofficially, about doing a SARS review and was told "Oh no, it wont come here". READ MORE: George Osborne questions whether schools should have been shut during Covid lockdowns as ex-Chancellor insists his austerity policies meant Britain was BETTER able to respond to coronavirus George Osborne queried whether schools should have been shut during Britain's coronavirus lockdowns as he gave evidence to the official Covid Inquiry Advertisement 'I went to Korea, I came back and I asked for MERS practise, and we did Exercise Alice.' 'So, I did put some challenge in it but maybe this is the moment to say how sorry I am to the relatives who lost their families.' Her voice breaking at one point, she told the inquiry that she heard a lot about the frontline battles with Covid from her daughter, who worked as a doctor in Scotland. 'It was harrowing and it remains horrible.' she said. Dame Sally also told the inquiry that the impact of the pandemic on the UK was not down to health inequality but rather the 'lack of resilience in the publics health', which included the nation's expanding waistlines. 'One reason we had a bad outcome from Covid, and I presume would get from flu, is because of what you have been told are health inequalities. 'I would talk about the lack of resilience in the publics health; 25 per cent of children in year six are obese; 60 per cent of adults are obese or overweight; we have high levels of diabetes. 'How does Government play a role in improving the health of people? Because there is a Libertarian view that its all down to each of us as individuals and how strong we are, but of course it isnt about that. 'Its about the structure of our society and how to make the healthy choice the easy choice, whether its activity or what we eat.' During the pandemic, obesity was established to increase the risk of becoming severely ill with Covid due to how the condition affected general health. READ MORE: Lockdowns were never part of UK's pandemic plan, Department of Health secretary tells Covid Inquiry - and DENIES there was ever a national PPE shortage Sir Chris Wormald, permanent secretary for the Department of Health, told the Covid Inquiry today that the Government's widely-criticised strategy was heavily based on a flu outbreak Advertisement In her evidence she also hit out at lockdown, stating that while she agreed with it in principal, it had 'damaged a generation'. 'Its clear that no one thought about lockdown. I still think we should have locked down, although a week earlier,' she said. 'But during that we should have thought do we need to further? 'The damage I now see to children and students from Covid and the educational impact tells me that education has a terrific amount of work to do. 'We have damaged a generation and it is awful as head of a college in Cambridge watching these young people struggle. 'I know in pre-schools they havent learned how to socialise and play properly, they havent learned how to read at school. We must have plans for them.' When asked by lead counsel Hugo Keith KC on whether not foreseeing the possibility of a lockdown when planning for a pandemic was 'one of the more notable failures in this strategic planning', Dame Sally again apologised, saying: 'Im sorry, we didnt plan for that. 'I think I would prefer to have planned to not get us to that stage but we didnt recognise that it could.' It's not the first time Covid lockdowns have come under fire in the Covid Inquiry. Yesterday, Sir Chris Wormald, permanent secretary at the Department of Health, detailed how economically-crippling lockdowns 'were not what we had planned for'. Dame Sally also discussed how she had instigated Alice, an exercise modelling the impact of MERS, four years before the Covid pandemic. When asked whether the recommendations from the exercise were put into place, she responded: 'I would have expected them to be but it appears they werent.' During the Covid Inquiry, she was also asked about another virus exercise, Cygnus, which was a 2016 government simulation of a flu outbreak to test the UKs pandemic readiness. Last week the inquiry's chief lawyer, Hugo Keith KC, presented the Inquiry with an extraordinarily complicated flow chart detailing the government's chain of command in helping to protect Brits from future pandemics. The diagram, created by the Inquiry to reflect structures in 2019, links together more than 100 organisations involved in preparing the country for any future infectious threats READ MORE: Have you started to grind your teeth? Why Covid could be to blame... according to a dentist who saw the SAME spike after 2008 recession Dr Jennifer Collins, who is the Lead General Dentist of Northumberland Dental Care and the Clinical Director of the Dental Care Ireland group, said she has seen an upsurge in the number of patients who are grinding their teeth at night since the pandemic Advertisement It involved nearly officials from central and local government, NHS organisations, prisons and local emergency response planners and a report on the exercise was later compiled and distributed. When asked by Mr Keith whether she was aware that only a bare majority of the 22 recommendations were completed, Dame Sally said she was not. Ex-Chancellor George Osborne was also questioned by the inquiry today and he queried whether schools should have been shut during the lockdowns. He said it was still an open question as to whether children should have been prevented from attending classrooms when the pandemic hit. Mr Osborne, who was in charge of the Treasury between 2010 and 2016, said there were 'absolutely critical questions about balancing the life expectancy of an 80-year-old versus the educational opportunities of an eight-year-old'. He also admitted there was 'no planning' done by his department for nationwide lockdowns while he was in office. But he claimed it was 'not clear' whether the economic support given to British businesses or workers - such as through the furlough scheme - would have been any better if plans had been drawn up in advance of the Covid outbreak in 2020. He also defended his austerity policies during his time in charge of the public finances, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, and insisted they had made Britain better able to respond to the Covid crisis. Mr Osborne pointed to 'poorer countries' not being able to afford lockdowns or provide loans to keep businesses afloat. He gave evidence to the inquiry a day after his close political ally, ex-prime minister David Cameron, had been quizzed on how he'd prepared Britain for pandemics during his time in Downing Street. In his evidence Mr Cameron admitted that it was a 'mistake' for his Government to focus too heavily on the threat of an influenza pandemic. The inquiry continues tomorrow with current Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who was Health Secretary from 2012 to 2018, to be questioned. READ MORE: Third of adults suffer from depression in parts of the US Panel also said older adults, over 65 years, could benefit from depression tests All young and middle-aged adults should be screened for anxiety and depression at least once in their lifetimes, a leading panel of doctors has said. The US Preventive Services Taskforce (USPSTF) one of the most influential bodies in American healthcare said there was a 'moderate net benefit' to screening 19 to 64-year-olds. The group believes cases are going undiagnosed because of a shortage in physicians and a spike in mental health problems following the pandemic. If doctors were to follow the recommendations of the task force, it would involve at least 195million Americans booking 10-minute appointments to take a survey that screens them for the conditions. It marks the first time the doctors have recommended routine screenings in a primary care setting and comes off the back of draft guidance published last October. Experts sounded a mixed note about the move, with some heralding it as a 'positive step forward' while others warned it could raise the risk of the overprescription of addictive medications to treat mental health problems. The US Preventive Services Taskforce an influential healthcare panel said there was a 'moderate net benefit' to screening 19 to 64-year-olds. The panel also recommended depression screening for the over-65s (stock image) Older adults over 65 years should only be screened for depression, the panel recommended. There was insufficient evidence that the group should be screened for anxiety, however, which may be linked to differing attitudes about mental health in older age groups. Back in the 1960s, estimates suggested that 12million adults had anxiety while four million had depression. But over the following decades, these figures have skyrocketed. Estimates suggest 40million adults now have anxiety while 19.3million are thought to be depressed. Modern lifestyles including spending longer on mobile phones and more stress linked to work have been blamed for the uptick. But decreased stigma about mental health issues and increased awareness is also thought to be driving the rise. Anxiety was defined as a constant or disproportionate fear over everyday events such as going to work, going home or being in a public place. Depression was defined as having at least two weeks of mild to severe persistent feelings of sadness. Making their recommendation today in JAMA, the panel said that everyone should be screened at least once for anxiety and depression. The panel said that after the initial screening doctors could use their 'clinical judgment' for how often someone should be checked thereafter. The screening could be done once every year or two when young and middle-aged adults are meant to visit their doctor for a routine check-up. The recommendation is not binding, meaning doctors do not need to enforce it. But the USPSTF guidance is normally picked up and implemented by medical bodies. It also raises the chance of insurance covering further mental health screenings. It has also previously been suggested that anyone who has symptoms they are concerned about or has previously faced a stressful life event such as divorce or moving to a new city should get checked. Examinations can be carried out using surveys designed to screen participants' emotional well-being. For treatments, the panel recommended psychotherapy such as talking with a psychologist and benzodiazepines, like Xanax, that work by acting on a chemical in the brain to trigger feelings of being calm. But in a nod to emerging treatments such as ketamine therapy for anxiety, the panel also said that people could use 'relaxation and desensitization therapies'. The panel stopped short of recommending anxiety screenings for older adults, those over 65 years old, however saying there was insufficient evidence of the benefit. But on depression, the panel said there was a 'moderate net benefit' for the group. The above poll shows that more Americans are being diagnosed with depression than in previous years And this graph, tracking trends in 2020 to 2021, also shows an uptick in the proportion of people diagnosed with anxiety The panel recommended that all children aged 12 to 18 years should be screened for anxiety and depression in October last year. Publishing their decision in JAMA today, the Taskforce said: 'Anxiety disorders are commonly occurring mental health conditions. They are often unrecognized in primary care settings and substantial delays in treatment initiation occur. 'The USPSTF concludes with moderate certainty that screening for anxiety disorders in adults, including pregnant and postpartum persons [women], has a moderate net benefit. 'The USPSTF concludes that the evidence is insufficient on screening for anxiety disorders in older adults.' Experts have expressed concerns over these recommendations, fearing it could lead to an over-medicated population and another opioid-like crisis. The most common anxiety medications fall into the class of benzodiazepines, with highly addictive drugs like Xanax, Klomopin, and Valium. A person who uses the drugs each day to manage severe cases of anxiety could become dependent on them in a matter of weeks, studies suggest. The body builds tolerance to the drugs as well, meaning a frequent user will need bigger and bigger doses over time to keep the drugs working further raising the risk of addiction. In most extreme cases, users turn to the street where versions of the drug that could have dangerous contaminants like fentanyl circulate. Fentanyl is the main driver of America's drug overdose crisis, responsible for 70 per cent of the 107,000 overdose deaths recorded in the US in 2021. Commenting on the approval, Dr Gary Maslow, a psychiatrist at Duke University in North Carolina, told NBC News: 'This is a positive step forward.' Dr Wanda Nicholson, vice chair of the task force and a public health expert in Washington D.C., added: 'This is a call to action'. One of the first Covid patients to fall ill with the virus in China had received federal dollars from the US government to fund the research suspected of causing the pandemic. Ben Hu, one of the scientists who worked at the the Wuhan Institute of Virology and became ill in November 2019 with suspected Covid, had been the recipient of government grant money to research how coronaviruses infect humans. Last week, it emerged through US intelligence reports that three of the first Chinese patients to come down with symptoms consistent with Covid worked on coronavirus research at the WIV, including Dr Hu. While not a smoking gun, proponents of the lab leak theory will cite the nature of their work as yet another piece of indirect evidence that the virus escaped from the research facility, which was world-renowned for its work on bat viruses. The watchdog group White Coat Waste sued the sprawling National Institutes of Health to gather information about the three early infections with a virus whose symptoms looked like Covid Shi Zhengli - dubbed the 'Bat Lady' or 'Bat Woman' for her work on bat coronaviruses - investigated the possibility Covid could have emerged from her lab back in 2020 according to colleagues. Ben Hu was reportedly one of her star pupil Research projects that included Mr Hu on the investigative team enjoyed years of US federal funding in the millions to investigate coronaviruses, including those from bats that could infect humans. Ben Hu is described as being a protegee of Dr Shi Zhengli, a top Wuhan-based virologist who has earned the nickname 'bat woman' from years of hunting for coronavirus samples in bat caves. Alina Chan, a molecular biologist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and coauthor with Matt Ridley of Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19 said: 'Ben Hu is essentially the next Shi Zhengli. 'He was her star pupil. He had been making chimeric SARS-like viruses and testing these in humanized mice. If I had to guess who would be doing this risky virus research and most at risk of getting accidentally infected, it would be him.' White Coat Waste, a conservative-leaning anti-animal research group filed a series of Freedom of Information Act requests and eventually sued the National Institutes of Health for answers about funding so-called 'gain of function' research which often entails engineering a pathogen to make it more infectious. White Coat Waste president Anthony Bellotti said: 'Our FOIA investigation and winning a lawsuit against the NIH have unveiled the pandemics ultimate smoking gun: the U.S. government-funded Wuhan gain-of-function experimenter Ben Huprobable patient zero at the Wuhan Laband its wasteful spending on his reckless animal experiments almost certainly caused a lab leak and COVID.' When the term 'lab leak' comes up, chances are good that Wuhan Institute of Virology and EcoHealth Alliance will follow close behind. The controversial EcoHealth Alliance group has been at the center of the Covid origins debate since 2020. The New York-based nonprofit held millions of dollars in grant money from the National Institutes of Health and doled some of it out to fund research on bat viruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. An oversight investigation conducted by the Office of Inspector General, the watchdog for the federal Department of Health and Human Services, found that NIH grant money dispursed to EcoHealth and awarded to smaller recipents including the WIV was poorly managed. The federal government's audit concerned three National Institutes of Health grants that went to EcoHealth totaling $8 million from 2014 to 2021. At least $598,000 went to the WIV. After more than three years of living with the coronavirus and its many mutations, the origins of the pandemic remain murky. For a while, the prevailing belief was that the opportunistic virus was harbored in an animal host where it was able to mutate and eventually infect humans. But the consensus on Covid's origins has slowly shifted away from exclusively favoring the natural origin theory and discounting the lab leak theory as xenophobic conspiracy. One camp believes it most likely that the virus was either allowed to leech from the highly secure bio lab in Wuhan or did so by accident. Those on a the lab leak side, which include China hawks and several federal intelligence agencies and officials, have voiced frustration at China for obstructing investigations into the origins of the pandemic. FBI Director Christopher Wray said in February that China's government has been trying to 'thwart and obfuscate' the investigation both by the US government as well as the World Health Organization. While China has insisted the virus originated elsewhere, academics, politicians and the media have contemplated the possibility it leaked from a high-level biochemical lab in Wuhan - raising suspicions that Chinese officials simply hid evidence of the early spread The question of whether the global outbreak began with a spillover from wildlife sold at the market or leaked out of the Wuhan lab just eight miles across the Yangtze River has given rise to fierce debate. Some studies point to a natural spillover at the Huanan wildlife market. Positive swab samples of floors, cages and counters also track the virus back to stalls in the southwestern corner of the market (bottom left), where animals with the potential to harbour Covid were sold for meat or fur at the time (bottom right) On the other hand, most virologists believe that the coronavirus first infected humans after jumping from an animal reservoir. Genetic evidence gathered at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, at the epicenter of the 2020 outbreak strengthened this theory. Genetic material collected from January to March 2020 at the market showed animal DNA in samples already known to be positive for Covid. A significant amount of the DNA appeared to come from raccoon dogs, which were traded at the market. Their findings do not provide the smoking gun needed to confirm that Covid had its origins in animals, though. To this day virologists have not been able to pinpoint the intermediary animal that housed Covid before it was able to jump to humans. While the pandemic has ebbed and years have elapsed since the initial outbreak, the lab leak theory has gained more proponents. The Department of Energy concluded with 'low confidence' earlier this year that the virus likely leaked from a lab. The FBI has also concluded with moderate confidence that the virus emerged from the WIV accidentally. In another report on Covid's origins, this time from Senate Republicans out in April doubled down on the accidental lab leak theory and highlights evidence that Chinese officials and scientists 'possessed some level of awareness of an outbreak of infectious disease well in advance of the first disclosure of this information to the public on December 31, 2019'. Meanwhile, four agencies and the National Intelligence Council assessed with low confidence that the virus likely jumped from animals to humans through natural exposure. But some of what the Wallife deal covers is already provided by banks The deal aims to protect against smartphones falling into the wrong hands Insurer Wallife is launching an anti-hacking policy in the UK later this year Like it or not, smartphones are increasingly key to buying things, doing online banking and interacting with the wider world. So the prospect of your phone being stolen is scary, as the customer is not just losing a costly device but also opening themselves up to fraud. Someone who steals a phone can have access to bank details, credit and debit card information and everything needed to steal an identity. Despite this, the average customer cannot just call up an insurer and buy insurance against fraud which results from their phone being stolen. But that is all set to change this year with the launch of a new insurance product from insurer Wallife. System shock: Smartphones have become a portal to the wider world, which amplifies the consequences of one falling into the wrong hands This Biometrics ID deal will pay out if a customer's smartphone is stolen and they suffer any financial loss as a result. When the product launches later this year it will also include protection to help stop that sort of fraud from happening in the first place. But there are a few strings attached, and some of the protection offered by the deal is already provided by banks. This is everything we know so far about how the new sort of insurance deal will work. What does Biometrics ID do? The idea is the policy protects an individual's digital identity if a fraudster gets hold of their smartphone. It does not pay out for any other sort of fraud loss that does not involve a phone, such as someone being defrauded on a computer. An app that comes with the Wallife policy can detect if a phone has been stolen using a form of digital fingerprint. It does this by checking for big changes in how a phone is handled and used, for example a phone being unlocked and operated in a different way to normal. If likely fraud is established in this way, the policy then pays out for any financial loss. Customers also get technical help to recover lost data, assistance with cyber bullying and legal help. People with a Wallife deal also get a payout for legal costs for any offences committed by criminals that have stolen their identity. The Wallife app also helps screen links, documents and codes for likely fraud, cutting the chance a policyholder will fall victim to fraud. Wallife chief growth officer Bruno Ferreira said: 'In Western Europe, around one in three people have had their digital identities attacked in some way - whether that's their social media profiles or emails being hacked, or their financial accounts being attacked. 'But to date there have been no insurance products to protect affected consumers and help them get back on their feet. 'Considering how much of our lives are now lived online, it's a huge gap in the market that isn't being served by existing insurance providers.' The deal will not pay out for the cost of your stolen phone. Profit from loss: Losing control of your smartphone can mean losing money to criminals How much will it cost? At the moment there are no Wallife policies for sale in the UK. Wallife is an Italian insurer and is still setting up its UK arm. However, Wallife's Italian cyber protection policies start at 54 (46.08) if paying yearly, rising to 84 and 120 depending on the level of cover the consumer wants. A Wallife spokesperson said UK premiums would likely be similar to Italian ones when the deal goes on the market this year. Don't I get some of this cover from my bank anyway? Yes. If your smartphone is stolen and a fraudster uses it to steal your money, your bank should refund you. Under Payment Services Regulations, banks must refund victims of unauthorised fraud in full. That means part of the protection Wallife offers is already available in the UK. However, a Wallife spokesperson defended the policy, saying: 'It is correct to say that consumers can reclaim money lost to fraud from their current bank, but there are more and more grey areas where banks are pushing back against being liable for all cases. 'The combination of what Wallife offers - a technological solution that prevents many instances of fraudulent access, education about risks, and insurance coverage - means consumers can have much more peace of mind that their digital identities are protected - including not just their finances, but also their social media profiles and their data.' Wallife would not pay out for fraud losses if a customer was conned into transferring money to a criminal - but then, nor would half of all banks. This is known as 'authorised push payment' or APP fraud. Because Wallife policies only pay out if a phone is stolen, no APP claims count. Even banks only pay out half of APP fraud claims, with the exception of TSB, which has agreed to pay all such claims. What are the alternatives to Wallife? Currently there are no other insurers selling this sort of insurance for individuals in the UK. Cyber insurance for businesses has been around since 1997, though it has been slow to take off. Some other insurers do offer cyber cover as part of home insurance for wealthy homeowners, but there are no standalone insurance deals to cover hacking risks. A Wallife spokesperson said: 'We believe our offering is unique. Current insurance services providers haven't kept up with online trends and threats, and so there aren't currently suitable products on the market that cover emerging threats developing from technology, even though one in three people have experienced a digital identity violation.' In the UK there are other products that offer levels of protection against being hacked, but these are not insurance deals. For example, computer security firm Norton has an 'identity advisor plus' package for 19.99 a year, which scours the internet for your data being abused. It then alerts you to any identity theft and passes you on to a team of experts who can help. However, it is not an insurance deal and so there is no cash payout. Similarly, company Bitdefender's digital identity protection offers the same protection for 2.99 a month, or 35.88 for the first year. I have car insurance with LV and it claims to cover misfuelling. However, having recently accidently done this, I tried to claim the 210 cost back. LV rejected my claim on the basis that I had first called Green Flag, my breakdown cover company, and not LV. I can't recall reading this specific requirement in my policy. Anyway when sputtering to a halt on a dark side road it seemed obvious to call my breakdown service and not my insurer. Am I correct to be a little surprised by this? I would expect most people in similar circumstances would contact their breakdown company... Via email Pumped up: Putting the wrong fuel in your prized motor means an expensive bill Sam Barker, of This is Money, replies: Putting the wrong fuel into a car is something all drivers dread. A moment of distraction at a forecourt and our petrol car could end up full of diesel, or vice versa. Depending on how much of the wrong fuel you put in, the best-case scenario is your tank needs pumping out, which normally costs 150 to 300. The worst-case scenario can also cause serious engine damage and a bill for hundreds or thousands of pounds. To make matters worse, most car insurance cover does not pay out for misfuelling claims. Only 13 per cent of car insurance policies cover the cost of draining the wrong fuel from a vehicle as standard, according to financial information firm Defaqto. Another 3 per cent of these insurance deals let you pay extra to cover the cost of draining fuel from an engine. When it comes to engine damage from misfuelling, only 42 per cent of car insurance deals will pay out. Your LV policy does cover mis-fuelling claims, but LV staff made a mistake when you called them to make a claim. The LV claims handler wrongly said the insurance policy would only pay out if you used the insurer's own mis-fuelling service. However, that is not the case, and LV can also pay for the costs you paid to Green Flag. The sticking point is you have a voluntary excess of 300 and a compulsory excess of 100, meaning it is cheaper for you not to claim at all. LV has apologised and given you 25 for the inconvenience. An LV spokesman said: 'We're sorry our customer is unhappy with the service he received from us. 'LV car insurance customers who have cover for mis-fuelling are able to make a claim on their policy in the event they break down. 'If they decide to use another company to recover their vehicle, they are also able to make a claim to be reimbursed for the amount they've paid but the excess on the policy needs to be paid. 'In the case of this customer, although he is able to claim reimbursement for the costs that he paid to recover his car after misfuelling, the cost of his claim was 210 but his voluntary excess of 300 + 100 compulsory excess on his car insurance policy is 400, so if he decided to make a claim then it would cost him more. 'When he initially called us, we recognise we could have been clearer with him about the situation and as an apology we've compensated him 25.' AstraZeneca is planning to break off its China business to protect it against rising tensions between Beijing and the West. The pharmaceuticals giant, which is valued at 180billion, making it the biggest on the FTSE 100, is considering listing its China division on either the Hong Kong or Shanghai stock exchange as a separate legal entity. AstraZeneca would still retain control of the business under the plans. Several major multinational companies are scrambling to restructure their operations to adapt to growing geopolitical tensions between China and the US and its allies. Banking giant HSBC, which has listings in both London and Hong Kong, has come under increasing pressure from its largest shareholder, insurance giant Ping An, to separate its Asia business, which it says will allow it to boost performance in the growing market. Spin-off: AstraZeneca is considering listing its China division on either the Hong Kong or Shanghai stock exchange as a separate legal entity And earlier this month US venture capital group Sequoia announced it would split off its China division into a separate entity called HongShan which would be completely independent from its American operation. Sequoia has previously made bets on fast-growing Chinese tech companies, including Tik Tok owner Bytedance and online shopping giant Alibaba. AstraZeneca has been discussing the idea of carving out its China arm for several months and the matter was recently brought to the fore by a downturn in global biotech stocks, the Financial Times reported. A listing of the business on Chinese exchanges could protect it from crackdowns on foreign companies by the Communist Party as well as help it secure faster approvals for its drugs in the lucrative Chinese market, the worlds second-largest for medicines after the US. China is already a core area for the pharma giant, accounting for around 13 per cent of its total revenue last year. AstraZeneca is also the largest overseas pharmaceutical firm in the country by sales. The company shows no signs of wanting to pull back from the market. Boss Pascal Soriot said in April that the group definitely could make acquisitions in China and that the country was completely open to foreign firms. Last month the group also signed a 468million partnership with Shanghai-based LaNova Medicines to develop and sell a cancer drug. AstraZenecas move comes as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met Chinese President Xi Jinping this week to cool rising tensions between the two countries. Relations have flared in recent years amid spats over the status of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, as well as human rights and US efforts to curtail Chinas computer chip industry. Pay cut: Susan Davy, who has run water firm Pennon Group for nearly three years agreed to forgo her 450,000 bonus Pennon Groups boss saw her pay fall by nearly two-thirds after she gave up her bonus because of outrage over the firms record of sewage dumping in rivers. Last month Susan Davy, pictured, who has run the South West Water owner for nearly three years, joined several other industry executives in deciding to forgo her 450,000 bonus amid growing public anger over the state of the industry. The decision contributed to her pay packet dropping to 543,000 last year from 1.53million a year earlier as Davy was only paid her base salary, benefits and pension. Earlier this month, Pennon sparked outrage by hiking its dividend for the year by 10 per cent to 111.7million despite South West Water being fined 2.15million in April for illegally dumping sewage in rivers and the sea around Devon and Cornwall. The firm is also facing an investigation by the industry regulator Ofwat into whether South West Water was accurately reporting leaks and the volume of water used by customers. Expansion plan: Kurt Geiger agreed a deal with Wells Fargo Capital Finance UK and Blazehill Capital Kurt Geiger has penned a 150million funding agreement as it sets its sights on international expansion. The luxury British design company has agreed a deal with Wells Fargo Capital Finance UK and Blazehill Capital to refinance its existing debt and grow in Europe and North America. Founded in 1963, Kurt Geiger opened its first store on Londons Bond Street and has been based in the capital ever since. It is now owned by private equity firm Cinven. Kurt Geiger has been on a mission recently to increase its presence across the Atlantic as it tries to broaden out the brand. Dale Christilaw, chief finance officer at Kurt Geiger, said the fresh funding would provide significant flexibility. Stubbing it out: BAT boss Tadeu Marroco took over last month British American Tobaccos new chief executive has unveiled a major boardroom reshuffle as he doubles down on its transition from cigarettes to vapes. The announcement is the first major change by Tadeu Marroco, who took over last month after Jack Bowles left after four years in charge. He quit weeks after the tobacco firm agreed to pay 509million to US authorities after a subsidiary pleaded guilty to charges it violated US sanctions on North Korea. Bowles has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the North Korea case. Marrocos shake-up sees Johan Vandermeulen, who steps up to chief operating officer, and Kingsley Wheaton, who will become chief strategy and growth officer. But the changes mean BATs management board will be male as its only female member, Hae In Kim, steps down from her post as director of talent, culture and inclusion. BAT has been on a mission to pivot away from cigarettes and towards vapes and heated tobacco products. An activist shareholder has written to the financial watchdog to demand it investigate whether Home REIT misled investors. In a letter to the Financial Conduct Authority, The Boatman Capital which has been pushing for an overhaul of Home REIT said the troubled homeless landlords backers have been badly burnt by the company. Boatman claimed a reason for this was its failure to provide complete and accurate information to the market. Probe call: Landlord for the homeless Home REIT has been accused of misleading investors Home REIT claimed it invested in high quality accommodation for vulnerable people, including the homeless and domestic abuse victims, when it made its debut on the market in 2020. But it has been embroiled in crisis since November last year when investigative financial research group Viceroy Research published a report questioning its business model. It triggered a domino effect that saw Home REIT delay its annual results, which remain unpublished. The companys share price was suspended at the start of this year as it remains locked in a series of disputes with tenants about the state of its properties. Holding: Boohoo owns a stake of around 26.6% in Revolution Beauty Boohoo has revealed plans for a boardroom coup at troubled Revolution Beauty. The online fashion group is the make-up retailers biggest shareholder, and has called for the removal of top bosses. Boohoo which owns a stake of around 26.6 per cent in Revolution Beauty plans to vote against the reappointment of chief executive Bob Holt, chairman Derek Zissman and chief financial officer Elizabeth Lake at the firms annual general meeting for shareholders next Tuesday. It has also requested a separate general meeting to oust the three bosses. Boohoo wants to replace them with its non-executive director and former New Look chairman Alistair McGeorge as interim executive chairman, and its former finance boss Neil Catto as finance boss. A Boohoo spokesman said it believed a senior leadership team with the right retail, e-commerce and consumer brands experience is required to deliver shareholder value. Saga is forecasting 2023 profits will be 'well ahead' of last year, following a continued recovery in its cruise and travel businesses. Loosening travel restrictions and the widespread rollout of Covid-19 vaccines have helped the over-50s specialist achieve a rebound in trade over the past two years. Saga told investors on Tuesday that its travel division's booked revenue for the 2023/24 season as of last Sunday was 150million, a 37 per cent jump on the same time last year, primarily owing to a resurgence in demand for touring programmes. Recovery: Loosening travel restrictions and the widespread rollout of Covid-19 vaccines have helped Saga achieve a massive rebound in trade over the past two years The Kent-based company is therefore confident the segment will return to an underlying pre-tax profit for the full year, as per previous guidance. Meanwhile, the group said its ocean cruise arm had a load factor - the proportion of available seats filled with passengers - of 79 per cent, seven percentage points higher than in 2022. Euan Sutherland, chief executive of Saga, said: 'Four months into the financial year, we have continued to build on the momentum in our cruise and travel operations, while making further progress in our growth agenda through the development of our newer businesses. 'Year-end underlying profit is expected to be well ahead of the prior year.' However, Saga cautioned that its insurance broking business faces a 'challenging market', with policy sales down 6 per cent on last year due partly to difficulties in the motor and home sector. In January 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority introduced new rules banning car and home insurers from offering cheaper premiums to new customers while charging more to renewing customers, a practice known as 'price walking'. Vehicle insurers have also had to contend with rising costs caused by microchip shortages limiting the production of new cars and boosting secondhand motor prices. In addition, car repairs have gotten more expensive because of soaring energy bills, higher demand for courtesy cars, and a dearth of technicians. But while Saga's performance in these two sectors is struggling, it reported revenues from private medical insurance climbed by 16 per cent. Record numbers of Britons are using private healthcare due to massive NHS waiting lists that arose after millions of operations were postponed at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Saga announced on Tuesday that it had struck a partnership with Bupa, which it claimed 'will not only improve our current proposition but also open up exciting new opportunities for a digital health and wellbeing offer for our customers'. Saga shares were 3.5 per cent higher at 135p during the later afternoon, yet they remain more than a third down on a year ago and have plunged by around 92 per cent in the past five years. Animal rights groups are preparing to rescue dozens of dogs from a barbaric 'festival' in China where pets are not only eaten but tortured first because raised adrenalin levels allegedly 'heighten a man's sexual prowess.' Thousands of dogs are rounded up every year and sent to the 10-day Yulin Lychee and Dog Meat Festival in southern China. It is due to kick off on Wednesday. Estimates are that 10,000 dogs are eaten with lychees each year. 'Nobody knows how horrific it is. I've been there,' Los Angeles animal advocate Bobi Leonard who has traveled to China multiple times told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview. 'There are a lot of people there who are against it,' added Leonard, a skin-care expert who donates 20% of her profits to animal charities. 'They are advocates that really fight.' Thousands of dogs, both stray and pets, are snatched off the streets or stolen from families, and then crammed into tiny wire cages where they are then transported across China to Yulin Dog bodies are put on display for sals at a market ahead the 2014 Yulin Dog Eating Festival A woman eats dog meat and lychees at the 2015 festival. Many Chinese believe consuming the meat over the Summer Solstice brings extra good luck and wards off the summer heat Marc Ching traveled to China to rescue dogs at the festival. He had to pretend he was a restaurant owner who was going to serve the pets as food Eating dogs is common in China and some other parts of Asia and has been for hundreds of years, but owners who have adopted rescued dogs say what happens every year in Yulin is truly horrifying. The dogs are tormented in the most unspeakable ways before being killed with the belief that the heightened adrenaline released due to the pain improves the quality of the meat, Sheena Gao a board member of the Animals Hope and Wellness Foundation, which has shelters in both China and Los Angeles, explained. Festival goers also believe this 'improved' meat increases male sexual performance, wards off disease and provides good fortune. 'The dogs are torched, clubbed, boiled alive, skinned alive. It's absolutely horrific,' said Gao, who along with composer Rayko spearheaded a June 11 fundraiser at the Rafi Lounge in Malibu hosted by the groups Yoga Stops Yulin and In Defense of Animals. Thousands of dogs, both stray and pets, are snatched off the streets or stolen from families, and then crammed into tiny wire cages where they are then transported across China to Yulin in preparation for the festival, said Gao. 'The dogs and cats in these trucks go for days without food or water and when they arrive they are extremely sick or injured,' said Gao. 'Our ultimate goal is to put an end to the horrific Yulin Dog Meat Festival.' There are still a lot of people in China let alone in America who are unaware of the Yulin Dog Meat Festival, something Susan Praver hopes to change. Praver adopted Chinglee, her 7-year-old part-Samoyed part-American Eskimo, in 2017 after reading online about rescuing dogs from China. 'When I was reading about this I freaked out and knew I had to do something. I needed to get involved. I couldn't even sleep thinking about this,' said the luxury real estate agent. 'It's not just that they eat the dog, they feel the more they torture the dog, the better the meat.' 'I saw a photo of my dog online. He was all dirty and bloody. They were going to hang him until a wonderful person named Marc Ching, whom my dog is named after, stepped in and saved him. 'He was buying the dogs at the festival by pretending to be a restaurant owner.' A pioneer in bringing awareness to the infamous festival, Ching founded Animal Hope & Wellness and has gone on to save tens of thousands of dogs. 'Nobody knows how horrific it is. I've been there,' said Bobi Leonard holding her new pug Josephina, rescued from China. Amber Doughty adopted her 7-year-old Chow/Shiba Inu mix from Animal Hope the & Wellness, a rescue group that brings dogs from China. 'Griffin is my child, my fur baby,' said Doughty Anya McGrath adopted 6-year-old Mira, a Chinese Village Dog, in 2020 from the Animal Hope & Wellness Foundation in Los Angeles after she was rescued while en route to the Yulin Dog Meat Festival Mira stretches out on a yoga mat at the Malibu fundraiser. 'She was really skinny and really timid. When I got her, you could tell she had been nursing. We don't know what happened to her puppies,' said McGrath. 'It's not just that they eat the dog, they feel the more they torture the dog, the better the meat,' said luxury real estate agent Susan Praver, pictured with her dog Chinglee Composer Rayko (left) and violinist Sheena Gao spearheaded the fundraiser held in Malibu at the Rafi Lounge, known for its tranquil setting and wellness programs including yoga, meditation and traditional Japanese tea ceremonies 'The majority of people in China who know about this festival are opposed to it. And then there are those that don't even know it exists, which is why social media and spreading the word is so vital,' Praver added. While some may argue the subject matter is too gruesome, Amber Doughty explained that a person doesn't have to look at the photos and videos in order to support the cause. 'I am more comfortable reading about it because I can't but see the visuals. It's just too heartbreaking,' said Doughty who adopted her 7-year-old Chow/Shiba Inu mix from a rescue group that brings dogs back from China. 'I saw him and I was like I have to meet him. You just know. When I took him to the vet, they found grooves in his gums so he was probably gnawing at a fence trying to get out. He is missing some teeth, said Doughty. 'Griffin is my child, my fur baby,' added Doughty who agrees that awareness is the first step towards a solution. ' 'More people need to know about this. It can't be ignored. When I bring up the subject, some people say stop, I don't want to hear about it. 'But not hearing about it doesn't mean it's not happening,' Doughty reasoned. 'I want to be the voice for the voiceless.' Anya McGrath adopted 6-year-old Mira, a Chinese Village Dog, in 2020 after being rescued while en route to the Yulin Dog Meat Festival. 'She was really skinny and really timid. When I got her, you could tell she had been nursing. We don't know what happened to her puppies. She seemed really sad, like melancholy,' said McGrath. 'But she is much happier now.' McGrath, a vegan. said all animals should be protected 'If people knew what really happened to these animals, they would think differently.' Eating dog meat in China dates back to hundreds of years, but the Yulin festival only started in 2009 and is held over the Sumer Solstice, which this year falls on Wednesday next week. The notion is that consuming the meat during this time of the year brings extra good luck and is supposed to ward off the summer heat. Most argue that the festival is merely a marketing ploy for a lucrative business where restaurant owners and traders come to eat and buy the 'medicinal' meat. 'The dogs and cats in these trucks go for days without food or water and when they arrive they are extremely sick or injured,' said Gao. 'Our ultimate goal is to put an end to the horrific Yulin Dog Meat Festival.' People have been eating dog meat for centuries n China and some other parts of Asia but the Yulin festival only started in 2009 'More people need to know about this. It can't be ignored,' said Amber Doughty. 'When I bring up the subject, some people say stop, I don't want to hear about it. But not hearing about it doesn't mean it's not happening,' 'It feels good to rescue a dog from such a gruesome death,' said Gao. 'But we also have to realize it is only a drop in the bucket and for each dog saved, hundreds more are not' Festival goers believe meat 'improved' by torture increases male sexual performance, wards off diseases and provides good fortune. Contrary to this belief, dog meat has no known health benefits and after the long journey to the city of Yulin in Guangxi province, many of the dogs arrive sick with canine influenza, infections, parvo, distemper and/or parasites. 'We are seeing the younger generation in China getting more involved. When they hear about the truckloads of caged dogs and cats making their annual trek to Yulin, they do what they can to stop the trucks and rescue the animals,' said Praver. 'However more awareness is needed.' All the people who have rescued animals that were bound for the festival recognize that they can only do so much. 'It feels good to rescue a dog from such a gruesome death,' said Gao. 'But we also have to realize it is only a drop in the bucket and for each dog saved, hundreds more are not.' To support efforts to save Yulin's dogs, visit: https://www.animalhopeandwellness.org/china-shelter-available-dogs-cats The estranged husband of a Swedish multi-millionaire could be jailed for breaching court orders during a bitter divorce battle, a London judge has warned. Louise Backstrom, 33, and Martin Wennberg, 39, have been embroiled in a fierce legal dispute in London's High Court following the breakdown of their marriage in 2021. A London judge previously said Ms Backstrom, who is worth 250million, must pay her estranged husband 6.5million, after he initially asked the court to award him 40million. However, Mr Wennberg could now be jailed after High Court judge Mr Justice Peel found the 39-year-old 'guilty' of '10 separate breaches of court orders' in March. The 39-year-old's 'liberty' is now 'at stake' after the judge said he will sentence him on 4 July 2023 following Mr Wennberg's failure to attend a sentencing hearing on Monday. Louise Backstrom, 33, was ordered to give her estranged husband Martin Wennberg, 39, more than 6.5million following the breakdown of their six year marriage Mr Justice Peel concluded in March that Mr Wennberg was 'guilty' of '10 separate breaches' of orders and was due to make decisions about sentencing on Monday. However, the Royal Courts of Justice judge adjourned decisions on sentencing until next month, after Mr Wennberg said he could not attend Monday's hearing. He said sanctions could include imprisonment while noting that Mr Wennberg's 'liberty' was 'at stake'. A barrister representing Swedish multimillionaire Ms Backstrom said sentencing should not be delayed. Michael Glaser KC said Mr Wennberg had failed to appear at a number of hearings and described his behaviour as 'contemptuous'. Mr Justice Peel said he was 'somewhat sceptical' about the circumstances of Mr Wennberg's 'absence'. He added that 'sanctions' may 'include imprisonment' and told the hearing that he had decided to adjourn. 'It may be said that this is a cautious approach,' Mr Justice Peel added. 'But given the nature of these proceedings, and the fact that the husband's liberty is at stake, it seems to be I should proceed in that cautious way.' A judge determined Swedish businesswoman Louise Backstrom (pictured) has a net worth of around 250million The judge's statements come after another judge made decisions about the division of money between the Swedish couple earlier this month. Deputy High Court judge Leslie Samuels concluded Ms Backstrom has a net worth of around 250 million. The judge, in turn, ruled the businesswoman should hand her estranged husband more than 6.5 million, following the breakdown of their six-year marriage. He was told the Swedish couple lived in England, and heard that Ms Backstrom was involved in a family business started and controlled by her grandfather. Mr Wennberg had initially called on the court to award him a financial package worth more than 40 million. Judge Samuels heard Ms Backstrom had made a 6.5 million 'housing fund' offer in accordance with the terms of a pre-marital agreement - and concluded that the agreement should carry 'full weight'. He said Ms Backstrom should also hand over about 60,000 a year over the next six years to meet Mr Wennberg's 'income needs'. The owner of an award-winning Indian restaurant today claimed a family who did a runner on a 215 bill at a gastropub did the same to him just weeks earlier. Karim Ullah, 50, said he was gobsmacked after seeing CCTV of the family who allegedly ran up the bill at The Fisherman's Arms, Newlyn, in Penzance, Cornwall on Sunday and walked off without paying after saying they were going for a cigarette. Mr Ullah said he immediately recognised two of those in the pictures as being part of a group that he claims ran up a bill of 182.15 at his Brohmon restaurant in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, on April 29 and left without paying after saying they were stepping out for a cigarette. He fumed: As soon as I saw the images, I knew that it was the same people who did a runner from my restaurant. Ill never forget them, especially the man with the bushy beard, who I spoke to and the woman in a denim jacket. Im disgusted by what they did to me and what they did to this pub. I actually rang the pub to express my sympathies and tell them that the same thing happened to me. These people are scumbags who should be stopped because its a horrible way to behave. Karim Ullah, 50, (pictured) has claimed that a family who did a runner on a 215 bill at a gastropub in Newlyn did the same to him just weeks earlier at his Brohmon restaurant in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex The Fisherman's Arms posted CCTV footage and grabs on social media calling out the diners who it claimed stayed for about three hours, had three courses and drank cocktails before walking out Mr Ullah said that he immediately recognised two of those in the pictures as being part of a group that he claims ran up a bill of 182.15 at his restaurant on April 29 and left without paying after saying they were stepping out for a cigarette Mr Ullah said a group of four people came to his restaurant at around 8pm on 29 April. Along with ordering starters of tandoori lamb chops and tandoori spiced chicken they also ordered two expensive bottles of wine, which came to more than 50 and several beers. He claimed: After the starters, they said they were all going out for a cigarette. There was nothing about their behaviour that made me suspicious, and they were just like any other customers that we had in on that Saturday night. 'The man with the beard said that it was his mothers birthday and they had come to my restaurant to celebrate. After about five minutes they came back in and ordered their mains of Lamb Biryani and two-house special lamb curries called Made in Stanstead. After eating their food, the group then ordered desserts but told waiters that they were first stepping out for a cigarette. Mr Ullah said: Clearly they have the same modus operandi. They go out for a cigarette and then dont come back. They had been gone for around five minutes and I went out to see where they were and briefly spoke with them. Mr Ullah (pictured) said that he informed police and provided them with CCTV footage from a pub opposite of the group smoking beside his restaurant as he does not have any installed They said that they were standing away from the restaurant because they didnt want to be anti-social and smoke near it. So, I came back in. Five minutes later I went back out and they had gone. That was it and I was left 182.15 out of pocket, which is a hefty amount for a small restaurant like ours. Mr Ullah said he told police and provided them with CCTV footage from a pub opposite of the group smoking by his restaurant as he does not have any installed. After examining the footage, police later informed him that they would not be taking any further action. He said: Ive informed the police that this same group have done it again and have sent them the images from the pub in Cornwall. Im livid that this happened to me or to any other business owner. This group clearly know what they are doing. They were very relaxed and calm about walking out for a cigarette and have probably done this many times before. Its obvious that they are experienced at running off without paying the bill and the police should take action. The Fisherman's Arms pub shared CCTV footage which showed these punters walking out The pub shared close up images of these diners as they claimed a group walked out without paying Another close up image the pub shared on social media as they wrote about the incident Last year, Mr Ullahs restaurant was named Best Restaurant in Essex at the British Restaurant Awards which took place at the Ritz Hotel. Brohmon specialises in serving traditional Bengali cuisine alongside more traditional Indian dishes. Mr Ullah opened his 38-seater restaurant three years ago. He said: Were a small restaurant and being robbed of 182 is not easy to take. Weve had a very difficult time because of Covid and being cheated out of money like this, well its a real kick in the guts. The 28-year-old mum-of-two from Scotland said her life will never be the same A couple from Scotland had to have a leg and fingers amputated after suffering a horrendous machete attack. The man, 28, was so badly injured he had to have his right leg amputated, while his partner, also 28, lost two fingers on her left hand when she was hurt as she tried to call police. The mother-of-two, from Lanarkshire, Scotland, said her life will never be the same following the terrifying ordeal. She has since moved out of her home and hopes to now find somewhere else for her and her two young children to live. The woman said: 'It's a horrendous thing that happened to me and it's difficult to talk about. A couple from Scotland had to have a leg and fingers amputated after suffering a horrendous machete attack. The man, 28, was so badly injured he had to have his right leg amputated His partner lost two fingers on her left hand when she was hurt as she tried to call police The 28-year-old mum-of-two, from Lanarkshire, Scotland said her life will never be the same following the terrifying ordeal (pictured: The street in Lanarkshire where the attack happened) 'I'm just trying to move forward with my life and recover from all of this. It has been a traumatic experience. 'I'm trying to focus on me and the kids at the moment. My partner and I have now gone our separate ways. I'm not in touch with him any more. 'I can't tell you why we were attacked.' The attack took place at about 2:30am on May 19. The injured pair were taken by ambulance to Monklands Hospital, in Airdrie, for treatment and the amputations on both victims were carried out later by surgeons. Police Scotland had made an appeal for witnesses but details of the incident only emerged last week after photographs of the injured couple emerged. One image shows the male victim in a hospital bed with his right leg amputated above the knee and his left leg bandaged and in a brace. His arms are also heavily bandaged from above the elbow downwards covering both hands. It is understood that his fingers were also badly damaged in the attack. An image of the woman shows her left arm bandaged from below the elbow covering the hand where the fingers were amputated. She had witnessed the attack and was swiped with a blade when she went to phone for help - causing her to lose two fingers on her left hand. A relative of the woman said: 'Even the police have said it was the worst they had ever seen. She was lucky she did not lose more than her two fingers.' Following the attack last month, police said there had been a disturbance in the house and that the injuries suffered by the couple were 'serious', but no further details were given. Police said their inquiries into the incident are continuing. The full details of the weapons used in the violent attack are not known. Detectives are understood to be attempting to track the movements of the individuals they suspect could be responsible. Neighbours at the scene said they were shocked by the severity of the attack on the young couple. They said the female victim had been living in an upstairs flat for several years. One male neighbour said: 'It sounds as though the man is lucky to be alive. It seems he was in a life-threatening condition at one stage. 'We have had the police to our doors asking if we saw or heard anything. It happened when most people were in their beds.' In an appeal last month, police described the couple's injuries as 'serious'. A Police Scotland spokesman said on Saturday: 'Inquiries are still ongoing.' A girl who detransitioned after deciding to identify as a boy and undergoing a mastectomy, has blamed professionals for letting her go ahead with the procedure. Jasmine, who was a patient at the controversial Tavistock transgender clinic, says her decision to transition to male was a 'mistake' and she now feels like a 'mutilated experiment gone wrong', The Telegraph reported. She was reportedly referred to the Gender Identity Development Service by a trans charity and only saw professionals three times, before being referred to the adult clinic after turning 17. Jasmine also claims that after she was referred to adult services, she was prescribed cross-sex hormones and put on the waiting list for a mastectomy after her second appointment. Jasmine, who has spoken out as part of a new ITV documentary called The Clinic, is one of several people to criticise the Tavistock centre. An interim review carried out by paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass in July last year called the clinic's model 'unsustainable'. A spokesperson with the Tavistock centre told the newspaper it is working with NHS England to provide a new model of care. MailOnline has approached the Tavistock centre for comment. Jasmine, who was a patient at the controversial Tavistock transgender clinic, says her decision to transition to male was a 'mistake' and she now feels like a 'mutilated experiment gone wrong' Jasmine said she first learned about the concept of transitioning on social media and - after watching videos of people documenting their journey - 'wanted it so badly.' Now she says transitioning 'made things a lot worse'. She says it was partly a mistake she made 'because I was a child' but also somewhat the fault of the 'various professionals that treated me.' Jasmine claimed she took testosterone for over a year and her body now has 'irreversible' changes, including to her voice which is 'significantly lower than it was before'. She says she does not know what it's like to have an adult's body or how the treatments have 'affected my fertility or my internal health'. 'When I detransitioned, no one checked up on me,' she reportedly told the documentary. 'When I decided I was going to detransition, they discharged me.' Jasmine claims the Tavistock centre told her she was 'no longer a patient here' and told her she would have to join a waiting list if she wanted to receive care again. She added: 'I kind of feel a little bit mutilated and like an experiment gone wrong walking through society sometimes.' The Tavistock clinic is the only NHS gender identity service for youngsters in England and Wales. It is due to close in May 2024, to be replaced by two regional hubs in the north and south of the country. Earlier this month, NHS England announced that puberty blockers will be given to adolescents suffering from gender dysphoria only as part of clinical research. The NHS published its guidance for the new gender incongruence service for children and young people, which will replace the clinic at Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust in north London. A spokesman in early June confirmed that children treated at the new gender clinics will not be routinely offered puberty blockers as part of their treatment, but said there could still be exceptional circumstances to that if a clinician makes the case that there are reasons why the child should have them. Treatment being received by those attending the London Gids clinic will not change, he added. The Tavistock clinic is the only NHS gender identity service for youngsters in England and Wales. It is due to close in May 2024, to be replaced by two regional hubs in the north and south of the country The plans largely follow the interim review, include putting medical doctors in charge of physical treatments rather than therapists or psychologists. It states that data and follow-ups after treatment will be collected on an on-going basis, with puberty blockers prescribed only as part of an NHS research programme. The NHS also says social transitioning - the changing of clothing and pronouns to the opposite sex - should be led by the young person and their family, with input from clinicians. In 2021/22 there were more than 5,000 referrals to the Tavistock, compared to just under 250 referrals in 2011/12. The demographic also widely changed from birth-registered males to predominately female patients, many of whom also presented with 'neurodiversity and other mental health needs and risky behaviours'. Whistleblowers claimed clinicians at the Tavistock adopted differing approaches when prescribing puberty blockers, despite their long-term effects being poorly understood. Meanwhile, there are more than 8,000 young people currently waiting for care. The NHS has previously acknowledged there has been a 'lack of clinical consensus and polarised opinion on what the best model of care for children and young people experiencing gender incongruence and dysphoria should be'. The NHS said earlier this month that it aims to have a study started by next year on the impact of puberty blockers on gender dysphoria in children and young people with early-onset gender dysphoria. The Clinic is on ITV1 and ITVX at 10.20pm on Sunday Hundreds of Australian brides have been left 'begging' for their wedding dresses after a popular bridal boutique abruptly closed its doors. The Bridal Atelier, which has stores in Sydney and Melbourne, has entered liquidation with a public notice posted to ASIC's website on Monday. The boutique, which specialises in bohemian-style gowns, will now be managed by joint liquidators Mark William Pearce and Michael Dullaway. Georgia Schroeder, the company's retail and operations manager, said she was a 'broken woman' in a lengthy LinkedIn post on Monday. Since the shutdown, she has received 'hundreds' of calls from devastated brides-to-be 'crying and begging' about their gowns and the loss of money'. Hundreds of Australian brides have been left 'begging' for their wedding dresses after a popular bridal boutique abruptly closed its doors The Bridal Atelier, which has stores in Sydney and and Melbourne, has entered liquidation with a public notice posted to ASIC's website on Monday 'The past few days have been the toughest I've ever had to deal with professionally and personally,' she wrote. 'Being hired as the new Retail and Operations manager at the Bridal Atelier was a dream come true. Or so I thought... 'After less than two months in the role I received a text on Friday notifying me that the company was closing - effective immediately.' Ms Schroeder claimed the store owner has 'disconnected her phone' leaving her to field hundreds of calls from brides desperate for answers. 'I am personally completely crushed. And even though it won't mean much to the hundreds affected. We have all been left in the dark. 'This is a lesson to put your pride aside and reach out as a business owner if you need help. I was ready to help with the accounts however I was never given the chance. 'I apologise from the bottom of my heart to all those affected and want them to know that if I could have done something I would have.' The boutique, which specialised in bohemian-style gowns, will now be managed by joint liquidators Mark William Pearce and Michael Dullaway Ms Schroeder, the boutique's operations manager, claimed the owner has 'disconnected her phone' leaving her fielding hundreds of calls from desperate brides TikToker 'partygirlclauds' who describes herself as 'your wedding bestie' urged those affected to make a claim with Fair Trading and the ACCC as soon as possible and to contact their designer to see if they could help. She said hundreds if not thousands of brides had been left without their dresses. 'They have no website, they have no social media, and they have not communicated to any brides that they are closing down or to pick up dresses that are fully paid for,' she said. 'They have not advertised anywhere that they are closing down.' Several brides-to-be shared their experiences with the boutique in the comments. 'I am one of the affected brides. My dress was literally meant to come in this month and now I don't know what's going to happen,' one said. 'Devastating! I'm waiting on 2x dresses that I've paid for in full,' a second wrote. A third shared: 'This happened to me. I was due to receive my dress the first week of May and I have been chasing them since. I'm heartbroken.' Affected brides have been left in limbo by the shutdown, with many yet to receive their gowns Ms Schroeder commented on the video: 'I am gutted and can't apologise enough to those affected. Please reach out.' Anna Campbell, one of the brands stocked by the boutique, encouraged brides who had recently ordered a dress with them to get in contact. 'We are devastated to hear of the sudden and heartbreaking closure of our Sydney retailer, "The Bridal Atelier",' the brand wrote on Facebook. 'Even in these uncertainty times, you, our bride, are our number one priority and focus. Rest assured that we remain dedicated to upholding our commitment to you and will ensure that the highest level of service and care is provided through every step of your remaining bridal journey.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Schroeder for comment. A disabled man described as a 'gentle giant' stopped breathing as transit officers worked to restrain his gigantic wrists. Joshua Van Malssen, 24, died after being detained on Friday by transit officers outside the Raines Square fare gates of the Perth Underground. The hulking youth, who struggled with a genetic disorder, had been repeatedly warned to move on before his tragic arrest. Daily Mail Australia can reveal transit guards noticed Mr Van Malssen had stopped breathing after grappling with him on the ground while in a desperate struggle to cuff him. Joshua Van Malssen, 24, stopped breathing while being detained on Friday by transit officers Forensic police gather evidence in the Perth Underground after the death Joshua Van Malssen Mr Van Malssen's death has caused the ire of disability advocates amid claims his mother had been denied National Disability Insurance Agency funding for a support worker. But an official report on the incident compiled by transit guards, and obtained by Daily Mail Australia, has cast doubt on what, if anything, a carer might have done to prevent the tragedy. Transit guards had pleaded with Mr Van Malssen, who lived with a genetic disorder, to peacefully leave the area after he verbally abused an officer as he made his way towards the Murray Street exit. 'You f**king c**t ... f**k you, you f**king c**t,' Mr Van Malssen allegedly shouted multiple times. In a twist of fate, the troubled man is alleged to have then turned around and made his way back down the escalator into the station where he continued to rant. Worried officers described Mr Van Malssen as 'highly agitated' as he verbally blasted customer service staff. 'You f**king dog c**t, I'll f**k you up,' he allegedly shouted while pointing at a staffer. The ugly incident is believed to have been captured in its entirety on CCTV cameras within the station. Officers claim Mr Van Malssen was warned 'multiple times' to settled down and told he wouldn't be allowed to travel if he continued carrying on. The official report claimed Mr Van Malssen did not heed the warnings and proceeded to try and push his way past officers while continuing to abuse customer service staff. Joshua Van Malssen had been exiting at Raines Square in the Perth Underground 'Mr Van Malssen has become highly agitated with his erratic behaviour escalating and was also seen to be sweating profusely,' the report stated. Desperate officers pleaded with him to stop. 'Come on Jay-Jay you're getting all sweaty and worked up, come upstairs for some fresh air and calm down,' one officer begged. 'You shut your f**king hole, I don't f**king know you, I only know him,' came the response. With other rail users watching on, Mr Van Malssen was warned if he didn't move on he could be 'physically removed'. '(He) said said "F**k you I'm going home" while attempting to walk past officers in the direction of the station fare gate entry,' the report stated. It was then officers claimed Mr Van Malssen 'flinched' his right arm in a move seen as a direct threat. Two officers immediately grabbed the disabled man and began walking him out of the station, the report stated. 'Mr Van Malssen has then attempted to break the hold of officers by tensing his arms and shifting and dropping his body weight,' an officer claimed. TIMELINE TO TRAGEDY JUNE 16: 8.10PM Joshua Van Malssen arrives at underground via Horseshoe entrance 8.16pm Transit officers alerted after he randomly abuses staff at the Raines Square fare gates While approaching the Murray Street exit, Mr Van Malssen turns around and continues his tirade within the station Transit officers warn Mr Van Malssen repeatedly to move on Mr Van Malssen proceeds to try and push his way past officers 24-year old 'flinches' his right arm in a move seen as a direct threat 8:19pm Two officers immediately grab Mr Van Malssen and try to escort him out He resists, forcing officers to try and restrain him Officers observe his hands and feet to be shades of blue 8.27pm Once cuffed, Mr Van Malssen is observed to be not breathing Officers provide CPR until paramedics take over JUNE 16: 9.35pm Mr Van Malssen is pronounced dead at Royal Perth Hospital Advertisement 'Due to his size and erratic behaviour (an officer) was instructed to apply a harness restraint to assist officers in safely dealing with Mr Van Malssen.' Rolled into a prone position, officers claim Mr Van Malssen became further enraged, pulling his arms in, tensing his body, rolling onto his side and kicking out with his legs. Officers claimed they were initially unable to fit hand restraints on Mr Van Malssen due to the size of his wrists, with his swollen hands described as 'a mixture of purple and red in colour'. His ankles and feet were observed by officers to be in a similar condition. Joshua Van Malssen, 24, had been repeatedly warned to move on Joshua Van Malssen, 24, allegedly threatened customer service staff and officers before being arrested Once restrained, officers placed Mr Van Malssen in a seated position where they noticed his lips and cheeks had changed colour to blue and grey. 'Mr Van Malssen was unresponsive, not breathing and had a faint pulse. Hand restraints were immediately removed, and he was rolled onto his back,' the report stated. Officers immediately began CPR while paramedics rushed to the scene. Mr Van Malssen was later pronounced dead at Royal Perth Hospital. Western Australia's major crime squad is now investigating the death, which is not being classed as suspicious. Mr Van Malssen had Sotos Syndrome - a genetic disorder which results in excessive growth and cognitive impairment. His family claimed he should not have been alone, but their plea for independent living support was rejected. 'The NDIA came back and said look were not going to give you this funding, well give you just a few hours extra so 4-6 hours a day of support which wasnt enough,' disability advocate Samantha Connor told 7news. 'The family perspective is they dont think he would have passed away if he had the support that day at the train station.' Webjet has launched a massive sale on flights to the Northern Territory with airfares from major cities available for as little as $18. Webjet's Red Centre Sale has slashed $175 off flights to Uluru and Alice Springs with trips with Jetstar, Virgin Airlines and Qantas from Sydney to the NT starting at $21. The sale started at 12am on Tuesday and will run through to 11.59pm on Saturday, unless sold out prior. Webjet's Red Centre Sale is selling airfares from major cities to Uluru (above) from $18 Customers flying from Brisbane and Melbourne can pick up flights to Uluru from $18 with Adelaide travellers also able to snag airfares to Alice Springs from $80. The sale applies to all flights from the select airlines departing to Alice Springs and Uluru from November 30. A Northern Territory Tourism spokesman said the sale is the perfect opportunity for Aussies to explore the outback state. 'Nestled at the foot of the ancient Tjoritja/West MacDonnell National Park, Alice Springs is the picturesque gateway to the Red Centre,' he said. 'Visitors can expect breathtaking outback scenery, stunning desert waterholes, eclectic events, and a thriving arts and culture scene.' The tourism spokesman claimed there was no shortage of outdoor activities for travellers to take part in at Alice Springs. 'Must-do Alice Springs experiences include epic sunrise hot air-ballooning over the West MacDonnell Ranges, cuddling adorable baby joeys at Kangaroo Sanctuary, and exploring some of Australias leading First Nations art galleries and exhibitions,' he said. Uluru also has a long list of options that include drone shows and dinner under the stars. Northern Territory Tourism said the sale is a great chance for Aussies to explore the outback state with $175 slashed off every airfare (pictured, Palm Valley Oasis) 'Travellers flying to Uluru will also have a breadth of immersive experiences at their fingertips from new cutting-edge sound, drone and light show Wintjiri Wiru, to Field of Light, dining under wide open starry skies and an array of Aboriginal cultural tours and activities,' the Northern Territory Tourism spokesman said. A ban on climbing Uluru, a sacred site for the local Anangu people, came into effect on October 26, 2019. On 26 October 1985 Uluru and Kata Tjuta - formerly known as the Olgas - were handed back to the Anangu people. Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park's board of management, made up of a majority of Aboriginal traditional owners, unanimously decided in 2017 to close the climb. Fox News Channel's Bret Baier told former President Donald Trump during a contentious interview that aired Monday night that he was the loser of the 2020 election - something the 2024 Republican hopeful still denies. The back-and-forth continued to get heated when Baier asked Trump how he would be able to recruit good people to work for him at the White House for a second term. Baier noted how in recent days Trump had called former Attorney General Bill Barr a 'gutless pig' and said his ex-Chief of Staff John Kelly was 'born with a [very] small brain.' The Fox News anchor had first asked Trump how he would be able to attract independent female suburban voters back to his camp after losing them to President Joe Biden in the 2020 race. 'First of all I won in 2020 by a lot, OK?' Trump replied. 'Let's get that straight. I won in 2020.' 'You lost the 2020 election,' Baier replied. Fox News Channel's Bret Baier (right) told former President Donald Trump (left) during a contentious interview that aired Monday night that he was the loser of the 2020 election - something the 2024 Republican hopeful still denies The two men then squabbled over the election result, with Baier arguing that there was 'no evidence' of Trump's longheld widespread election fraud claims. 'There were recounts in all of the swing states,' Baier noted. 'There were investigations, widespread corruption there was not a sense of that. There were lawsuits. More than 50 of them, some in front of judges that you appointed. 'There were reviews of every single case of voter fraud in six battleground states and they found fewer than 475 cases,' the Fox host continued. Trump continued to push the false claims. 'You know why? Because they didn't look at the right things,' he argued. 'They were counting ballots, not the authenticity of the ballot. The ballots were fake ballots.' Baier then went back to the broader question of what Trump would change to win the next election. 'I would like to be less combative but I find that the press is extremely dishonest and if I'm not combative, I don't get my word across. If I'm not combative, I don't know, I don't think you could win,' the ex-president argued. And Trump said he would push for 'strong people, strong government.' 'We put people in that were great and we put people in who weren't,' the ex-president explained. 'I now know Washington probably better than anybody,' he continued. 'I know the good ones and the bad ones - and we will have really great strong people, I already know who they are, but we will have really great strong people, OK?' That prompted a monologue from Baier. 'This time your Vice President Mike Pence is running against you. Your ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, she's running against you. Your former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he's not supporting you. You mentioned National Security Advisor John Bolton. He's not supporting you either. You mentioned Attorney General Bill Barr. He says you shouldn't be president again. He called you a consummate narcissist and troubled man. You recently called Barr a gutless pig,' Baier said. 'Your second Defense secretary isn't supporting you. He called you irresponsible,' the Fox host continued. 'This week you called your White House Chief of Staff John Kelly weak and ineffective and born with a very small brain. You called your acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney a born loser. 'You called your first Secretary of State Rex Tillerson dumb as a rock and your first Defense Secretary James Mattis the world's most overrated general. You called your White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany milquetoast and multiple times you've referred to your Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao as Mitch McConnell's China-loving wife,' Baier added. He then turned to Trump: 'So why did you hire all of them in the first place?' 'Because I hired 10 to one that were fantastic,' the ex-president argued. 'For every one you say I had 10 that love us.' Trump also pushed that those allies-turned-critics were being paid - pointing out how Barr had gotten a post-White House book deal. Trump's interview with Baier - which will continue on his 6pm EST show Tuesday night - comes amid the ex-president's feud with the right-leaning news network. Over the weekend Trump pushed that only he could revive the network's ratings. 'Fox must get smart fast before it's too late,' he posted to Truth Social. 'Only "Trump" can save Fox News. It is in freefall!' The owner of a North Carolina fishing boat whose crew reeled in a 619-pound blue marlin that was disqualified because the fish was 'mutilated' says the rules are outdated and should be revised. Ashley Bleau, who owns the vessel Sensation, battled with the marlin for six hours on Saturday as the crew attempted to tire the fish out and haul it aboard. But their efforts were all for nothing after they were excluded from winning $3.5million when judges ruled the fish had been 'mutilated' - specifically that damage to the fish had been caused by a shark. Bleau says the damage on the enormous 619.4lb catch was so small as to be almost insignificant. 'The mutilation was less than the size of my hand,' Bleau told Pirate Radio during a discussion about the tournament on Monday. Ashley Bleau, the owner of a North Carolina fishing boat, who reeled in a 619lb marlin says the rules over 'mutilation' are outdated and unclear after his winning catch was disqualified The crew of Sensation and their 619-pound blue marlin was pictured with their catch before they were disqualified from the tournament after it was noticed the fish had been mutilated One of the devastated crew members of Sensation was seen being consoled following their disqualification from the tournament and loss of $3.5million in prize money When Sensation docked at Big Rock Landing Saturday night, a massive crowd eagerly awaited its weigh-in as the champion was determined. After a lengthy discussion between the crew and tournament officials, it was decided the marlin's eligibility would be determined the following morning. Officials ruled against them, awarding the crew of the boat Sushi, hailing from Nags Head, North Carolina, the winner. Sushi will win prize money of $2.77 million from the total tournament purse of $5.8 million. Sensation would have received a larger payout because of their catch weighing more than 500 pounds. Sushi didn't manage to cross that threshold. The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in North Carolina has become extremely popular in recent years with more than 270 boats taking part in this latest competition. The competition is serious business with several fishing lines cast in the hope of catching something big A total of 271 vessels took to the open water off the North Carolina coast on Saturday Those on board the Sensation are seen in a blurry, yet dramatic action shot from Saturday Bleau said he knew something was amiss shortly after the his boat landed and the massive marlin was examined while a crowd of hundreds chanted, 'weigh the fish!' 'I saw two of the judges whispering to one another and asked what was going on. They pointed out the shark bite on the side of the fish. There was no discussion of disqualification at that time. We weighed the fish and we were on cloud nine.' When their marlin's total weight was announced, there were cheers from the crew and the crowd, but Bleau was informed his catch would likely be barred from being entered into the competition. A shark bite near the fish's head was noticed by the tournament weigh masters and brought to the attention of the boat's crew. 'The mutilation was less than the size of my hand,' Bleau told Pirate Radio during a discussion about the tournament on Monday The enormous fish was seen being brought onto land - ready for its weigh in The board detailing the Sensation's catch with a whopping weight of 619.4lbs 'I didn't have the rule book right in front of me. It looked to be a very superficial wound but I knew that they had made their decision that night,' Bleau said during a Monday radio interview 'I think the mutilation rule is outdated,' Bleau protested. 'We've got a more prevalent shark population but in a nutshell the rule needs to be done away with, period. In the past three years, this rule has come into effect twice,' he explained. 'There's different interpretations. It's about as clear as mud. Everybody thinks it's black and white and it's not. 'I didn't have the rule book right in front of me. It looked to be a very superficial wound but I knew that they had made their decision that night,' Bleau went on. The president of the Big Rock tournament then pushed for Bleau and his crew to undergo a lie detector test. 'I gave them our video and pictures of the fish being caught. We took the lie detector test on Sunday but it seemed like they had made their decision the night before,' Bleau said. A statement by organizers explained why Sensation's catch was disqualified from the tournament and lost its $3.5million payday The crew of the Sensation battled for six hours to haul the enormous catch aboard the boat 'I got to experience some of the best highs on my bucket list. The best case scenario will be for the fish to be declared a valid fish. I would like more attention from the community to have the mutilation rules done away with so it is not a point of contention going forwards in the future. 'What's happened happened - we can't change it right now. We need to do what it takes to bring the best fish in next years tournament.' Arbitration will take five days, after which a final decision will be made. Tournament officials said the decision to award the runner-up the prize money is consistent with rules followed throughout the event's 65 year history. 'After careful deliberation and discussions between the Big Rock Rules Committee and Board of Directors with biologists from both NC State CAST and NC Marine Fisheries biologists as well-as an IGFA official, it was determined that SENSATION'S 619.4lb Blue Marlin is disqualified due to mutilation caused by a shark or other marine animal,' a statement by organizers read. The team that were thought to be runners up, Sushi, were seen celebrating after they ruled first prize Shushi's crew celebrated with their bumper prize money of $2.77million The crew of Sushi ultimately claimed first prize after their 484.5lb blue marlin was declared the top catch The crew of Sushi were seen open-mouthed after learning they had secured the top spot and the massive payday 'It was deemed that the fish was mutilated before it was landed or boated and therefore it was disqualified,' they continued. 'The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament follows IGFA rules regarding mutilated fish as outlined in Rule. #23 in the Big Rock Official Rules. IGFA rules state that the following situation will disqualify a fish: 'Mutilation to the fish, prior to landing or boating the catch, caused by sharks, other fish, mammals, or propellers that remove or penetrate the flesh.' 'This decision is consistent with prior decisions made by the tournament in similar circumstances over the last 65 years.' 'SUSHI has been declared the first place winner of the 65th Annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament for their 484.5lb Blue Marlin. CHASIN A claimed second place with their 479.8Ib. Blue Marlin. The 470.2lb blue marlin captured by C-STUDENT will finish in third place.' A brave young woman who will use euthanasia laws to end her own life this week has shared one of her final meals by the beach with a close friend. Lily Thai, 23, cannot move and battles 'excruciating' pain from a rare condition known as auto-immune autonomic ganglionopathy. That is a condition where a person's body attacks their own nervous system, leaving her bedridden, unable to move and in a constant state of agony. Lily is scheduled to die on Wednesday via South Australia's voluntary assisted dying laws, which the state enacted in January. In one of her final outings away from the hospital, Lily was taken to the beach by her close friend and paramedic, Danika Pederozolli, 28. Lily Thai, 23, who will use euthanasia laws to end her own life this Wednesday, enjoyed an outing by the beach eating McDonalds with her friend and paramedic, Danika Pederozolli The pair sat in the back of the open ambulance while enjoying the sight of the picturesque ocean and the sounds of the waves together. A photograph shows Lily resting on a bed, enjoying a serving of Mcdonald's fries and looking out at the golden sand and blue water in front of her. Danika, who met Lily through a St John's Ambulance cadet program, said she would remember her close friend as a 'vibrant attitude, positive and warm presence'. 'She's such a positive and warm presence in your life and (such a) smart person,' she told The Advertiser. 'I'll miss her greatly. Lily's just a really beautiful person, (and) having her in our lives we've been very lucky to know her.' She added that it was 'pretty horrible' what Lily was going through and a situation that 'no young person should be in' but said the support for her has been 'beautiful'. Lily is receiving palliative care at Flinders Medical Centre's Laurel Hospice in Adelaide's south and signed the paperwork last week confirming her decision to have her life terminated. She has been preparing herself for the difficult moment, and she has been busy getting her affairs in order. Lily has been battling health issues since she was a teenager, with a doctor first diagnosing her with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome at 17. According to the Advertiser, a year later, she caught an upper respiratory infection that left her unable to walk, use her bowels, eat, or drink without getting sick. She received treatment for a spinal fluid leak, which she initially believed she had, but it didn't improve her condition. Lily then travelled to Sydney and eventually found some relief through expert care provided by a team of doctors at Macquarie University Hospital. She had also visited a surgeon who specialised in patients with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. By this stage, her condition had deteriorated to the point that she was wearing a halo brace - which forms a ring around the patient's head, stopping them from moving their head or neck while their spine heels. She also had to use a nasal feeding tube as she couldn't eat anything without getting sick, leaving her tipping the scales at 40kg. Lily had spinal fusion surgery and was fitted with a tube to help with stomach acid secretion. The surgery occurred during the middle of the Covid pandemic, meaning she was not allowed visitors. She got discharged early as she struggled being alone for such a long period of time. Lily was then referred to a neuroimmunologist in Sydney who formally diagnosed her with AAG. It was then she also discovered her condition had led to multi-organ failure and a large lesion was found on the left side of her brain. Lily (pictured right with fellow patient and AAG sufferer Annaliese Holland, 23) is unable to move and battles 'excruciating' pain from a rare condition known as auto-immune autonomic ganglionopathy Lily went back to Adelaide and was admitted to Flinders Medical Centre's Laurel Hospices, where she spends her days 'just surviving'. She's grappled with the heartbreaking thought that she only had a matter of time before her body gave up. Lily spends most of her time sleeping in her hospital bed to avoid dealing with the constant chronic pain from her condition. It had also been lonely, if not for family visits and the close friendship she struck up with fellow patient, Annaliese Holland, 23, who also suffers from the same condition. Annaliese's symptoms had begun from the age of 12 with severe pelvic pain. Doctors initially believed she had endometriosis, but after treatment her symptoms still grew worse. Doctors tested her for a number of illnesses throughout her teenage years, but were unable to diagnose her. It wasn't until she was 19 that Annaliese was correctly diagnosed with AAG. Like Lily, the rare condition has left her with chronic pain, multiple organ failure and the inability to eat or drink normally, relying on a feeding drip instead. She feels constant nausea, vomits 10 times a day and has battled sepsis, blood infections and brain swellings. Her bones have also become brittle and weak due to the number of medications she is on. Doctors are unable to resuscitate Annaliese if her heart stops as the compressions could kill her. She's currently preparing for major surgery, where doctors will try to correct the forward rounding of the upper spine. It's expected to take 12 hours. Lily was admitted to Flinders Medical Centre's Laurel Hospices (pictured) after heading back to Adelaide from Sydney Both Lily and Annaliese say living with a terminal illness at a young age is different as you mourn the 'life (you) never got to have'. Annaliese is providing comfort to Lily to make her final days more bearable. 'All I can do is brush her (Lily's) hair or moisturise her legs. I just want her to know that I'm there and people care,' she said. Lily explained that it's been difficult for her friends and family after she made the decision to go through with voluntary assisted dying. 'Mum (had) to step out of the room, because she found it too much, but they respect my decision, and they'd rather not see me suffer anymore,' she said. But she explained that it had gotten to the point where she had 'lost control of everything else in my life'. She is at peace with her decision and has already penned heartfelt letters to her friends and family, said goodbye and planning out parts of her funeral. Lily has asked those wishing to honour her legacy to donate to the Hospital Research Foundation. You can donate here. Britain's chief police officer hinted last night that his force could reopen an investigation into a lockdown 'jingle and mingle' Christmas party at which Tory activists were filmed dancing and drinking. Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said 'colourful' footage of the event that emerged at the weekend 'tells a story way beyond' a group photograph of the guests published in 2021. Thirty people were formally invited to the 'jingle and mingle' gathering on December 14, 2020, held on behalf of Tory politician Shaun Bailey's unsuccessful campaign to run as Mayor of London. At the time, London was under Tier 2 restrictions meaning indoor socialising was not allowed. The invitation to the event, seen by the BBC yesterday, show guests were invited to 'jingle and mingle... for the Shaun Bailey for London Holiday Party'. It emerged after footage released at the weekend showed the Tory activists drinking and dancing at the party, with one admitting guests were 'bending the rules'. Scotland Yard said last November that it would not take action against Mr Bailey or other guests after the group photo of the party was published. The invitation to the event, seen by the BBC yesterday, show guests were invited to 'jingle and mingle... for the Shaun Bailey for London Holiday Party' Sir Mark Rowley (pictured), the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said 'colourful' footage of the event that emerged at the weekend 'tells a story way beyond' a group photograph of the guests published in 2021 But yesterday Sir Mark appeared to imply his force is likely to reconsider this after the latest footage emerged. 'The team are looking at that with a view to whether that provides a basis for further investigation... I think we can all see the colourful nature of the video and how much it tells a story way beyond the original photo,' he told the News Agents podcast. 'I need to let a team work through that but I think we can all guess which way it will go.' Scotland Yard confirmed it is reviewing new material. Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has apologised for the video, suggesting the footage was 'terrible' and would leave the public feeling 'extremely angry'. It was sent on behalf of Ben Mallet, a former aide to Boris Johnson who was awarded an OBE last week. Last night Downing Street confirmed Rishi Sunak will not strip Mr Bailey, who has since been given a life peerage, or his campaign manager Mr Mallet of their honours after the video emerged. At the time, Mr Bailey said: 'I want to apologise unreservedly for attending a gathering held by some of my staff in my campaign office... It was a serious error of judgment at a time when Londoners were making immense sacrifices to keep us all safe and I regret it wholeheartedly.' Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: 'The Conservatives should be utterly ashamed. It's clear it's one rule for them and another for everyone else... Mr Sunak should personally intervene and urge those implicated to give up their honours.' A Tory Party spokesman said: 'Formal disciplinary action was taken against the four Conservative Campaign Headquarters staff seconded to the Bailey campaign.' Tourists who pay $250,000 to descend almost 13,000 feet below sea level to view the wreck of the Titanic must sign a waiver saying they accept the submersible is not approved by any regulatory body, it has been revealed. OceanGate Expeditions was founded in 2009 to take wealthy explorers to see the ship, which hit an iceberg and sank in 1912. The wreck was not located until 1985 when it was found 350 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Scientists have been visiting for decades, but OceanGate completed its first tourist dive only in 2021. Those boarding the submersible must sign a waiver that states: 'This experimental vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death.' OceanGate's submersible was designed by the company to travel almost 13,000ft below sea level to the wreck of the Titanic - but 'has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death' David Pogue, a CBS journalist, is seen inside the submersible. He descended to see Titanic last year The controller of the submersible is taken from a video game handset David Pogue, a CBS News Sunday correspondent, participated in an OceanGate expedition last year, and in November told of his experiences. 'I couldn't help noticing how many pieces of this sub seemed improvised, with off-the-shelf components,' he said. 'Piloting the craft is run with a video game controller.' OceanGate's CEO Stockton Rush - who is believed to be among the five people on board the missing sub - told Pogue that the vessel had been designed with help from NASA, Boeing and a team from the University of Washington. It was last heard from on Sunday morning, one hour and 45 minutes into its mission. Reaching the wreck usually takes two and a half hours. As of Monday afternoon, the submersible had 96 hours of air left, the U.S. Coast Guard said. But fears are mounting that the submersible imploded, or sunk to the sea bed and became trapped. No Coast Guard vessel is able to reach the sea bed at those depths. This is the last sighting of the submersible, Titan, which was launched on Sunday. It is seen in a photograph shared by Hamish Harding's company. He and the four others onboard remains unaccounted for The submersible is seen before embarking on its expedition The Boston Coast Guard is now looking for the missing vessel. The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada OceanGate Expeditions is one of the only companies that offers the tours. Tickets cost up to $250,000. The crew was diving to the ocean floor to survey the Titanic wreckage Pogue said Monday he had been told that there were seven ballasts that the submersible could jettison to float to the top. 'Either they are bobbing on the surface and have no power,' he told Chris Cuomo on NewsNation. 'Or something happened that overrode all seven of those ballasts. 'Or the really horrible possibility is the capsule developed a leak, and they'd be dead in a fraction of a second.' Pogue said the expeditions were incredibly risky. The submersible is made of carbon fibre and titanium, built to withstand the intense pressure beneath the sea - around 6,000 lbs per inch. It is equipped to communicate with the mothership via text messages. When Pogue was on board the mothership, the submersible below him lost its bearings on the sea bed, and was unable to locate the wreck - despite the mothership sending messages down telling the sub to move left, or right, or go straight ahead. The mothership, MV Polar Prince, set off from Newfoundland on Saturday bound for the spot above the Titanic wreck, 370 miles away Pogue said the subs were astonishingly basic inside. 'These submersibles are one-offs,' he told Cuomo. 'They are sometimes jerry rigged. The lights he bought from camperworld.com - something like that. 'All of them are like this - the James Cameron one, all of them.' For the 1997 film 'Titanic,' Cameron took 12 dives to the shipwreck, leading him to develop deep-sea film and exploration technology. He has made 33 dives to the site in total. Pogue said that every attempt to reach the site was incredibly dangerous. 'This company does several expeditions a year, parked over the Titanic each time for five days,' Pogue told Cuomo. 'Usually they make it down to the site one time, or none. 'Sometimes twice a week, but never five times, because the conditions are never right ever day.' The mothership, MV Polar Prince, set off from Newfoundland on Saturday bound for the spot above the Titanic wreck, 370 miles away. The submersible went into the water in the early hours of Sunday. On board were British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, 58; French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet; and the CEO of OceanGate, Stockton Rush. The other two passengers have not been named. In an interview last year, Rush told CBS News that his was 'a very unusual business'. He added: 'It's its own category. It's a new type of travel.' He said their clients were a range of people. 'We have clients that are Titanic enthusiasts, which we refer to as Titaniacs. 'We've had people who have mortgaged their home to come and do the trip. And we have people who don't think twice about a trip of this cost. We had one gentleman who had won the lottery.' The submersible - it is not a submarine, because it is not independent and relies on a mothership - lost contact with the mothership one hour 45 minutes into its descent. Analysts believe it could have lost power, or sunk and perhaps became trapped on the wreck. Some initially suggested it perhaps surfaced and was bobbing without power, but that seems increasingly remote. An Aussie bloke says he will continue working despite winning $2.5million in the most recent Saturday Lotto draw. The ticket was purchased from Here's Luck Lottery Centre in Cloverdale, Western Australia and matched the winning numbers for a Division One prize of more than $2.5 million. The winner, a man in his 60s, said he sat down for his Sunday morning coffee and decided to check his ticket, realising that line 10 contained all six winning numbers. 'I checked the ticket about 300 times to make sure the numbers didn't change,' the ticket holder said. 'Now I know it's not a joke or a dream,' he added. Pictured is a worker at the Here's Luck Lottery Centre in Cloverdale WA, where the winning ticket was sold While the win is still sinking in, the winner shared plans of chasing the sun and spending his winter overseas, in between continuing to work and keep busy. Lotterywest spokesperson Emma Rogers said there was more good news with a Monday Lotto win lifting Western Australia's Division One winners tally to 43 this year. 'A Monday Lotto ticket from Sea Change News in Dunsborough is now worth $1 million,' she said 'This year, more than $130 million in Division One prizes has been won by West Aussies, with this week offering up another $130 million to be won, thanks to Powerball and Saturday Lotto.' Powerball has jackpotted to $100 million for this Thursday's draw. While the Saturday Lotto's has reached a $30 million Megadraw for the weekend. Tickets are available in-store, online and via the app before 6pm day of draw. A young Aussie has revealed he has spent around $35,000 covering his body in tattoos. Tattoo artist Cain Simmons questioned his client James about how much he has paid for his tattoos outside Sydney's Broadway Tattoo and Body Piercing shop. 'Say all up, from $30 to $35 grand. It's a lot, but you've got to pay that s**t to get good quality tattoos,' the 21-year-old said. He also advised anyone considering getting a tattoo to 'pay up' instead of travelling to Bali for a cheaper alternative. Sydneysider James (pictured) said he has spent between $30,000 and $35,000 on tattoos 'Instead of going to Bali and getting faded tattoos that last two years, no point. Pay the money, and that's it,' he said. The inked-up Aussie explained he has sleeve tattoos on both his arms, tattoos on his right leg, his back, his chest and even his neck. James said it took about two years to get all the work done, and he plans on getting more tatts. 'My arm sleeves, my chest and my whole back, I completed in pretty much a year and a half,' he said. 'Before that, I did my leg and all my other little tattoos - that was probably six months, not even. So, two years to do all my tattoos. Just smash them out, get them all done, and you're sweet. 'I'm doing the inside of my chest today with Cain, and then I'm going to smash my left and then I'm pretty much done.' The 21-year-old has tattoos on his neck, chest, back and right leg, as well as sleeve tattoos on both his arms, and plans on getting more Simmons explained the pair have become good mates. 'One and a half years ago, James came to me with no tattoos on his upper body and said... I want to get tatted up,' Simmons wrote. 'Little did I know then that what he meant was he wanted to get full covered by the time he's 25. 'Who would have thought we would have come this far, from a client to a brotherhood.' But Aussies were shocked by the steep price the young man has spent, with many claiming he should have saved the money instead. 'Waste of money bro, that's a house deposit,' one person commented. Another claimed he would be 'mega rich' if he had invested the $35,000. Others slammed the young man for criticising the quality of tattoo work in Bali compared to Australia. 'Bali has some pretty good studios. Some are even Australian-owned,' one wrote. 'Lol my Bali sleeve took 10 hours my Aussie sleeve took 3 days, Bali sleeve looks better! Both the same age and Aussie sleeve has faded more,' another commented. 'Bali tattoos and artists are way better than Aus. I got a shin tattoo in Bali with colour about year ago. No fade. Got my arm done in Aus and is faded,' a third chimed in. There are many factors that can influence the price of a tattoo including the artist's experience, the size, design complexity, time to complete and where on the body the tattoo is placed. Tattoo artist Cain Simmons (pictured), who is also known as Hurricane Ink, shared a series of videos outside the Broadway Tattoo and Body Piercing shop of his client James On average, a small tattoo can cost anywhere between $100 to $300, while medium tattoos start at about $700. Those looking or a larger or more intricately designed tattoo can expect to spend about $1,500. Labour costs are also a factor, with junior tattooists charging about $85 an hour and mid-level tattooists $130 an hour. Highly experienced tattooists charge about $190 to $250 an hour. Missing British billionaire Hamish Harding has a Guinness world record for the longest duration spent at the bottom of the sea. The London-born adventurer set it in 2021 after diving in a submersible to the deepest place on Earth, the Mariana Trench, and traversing it for four hours and 15 minutes. It was one of three world records the 58-year-old has earned. He set another one for the longest distance three miles covered at the bottom of the ocean. His first was set in 2019, for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth via North and South Poles in a Gulfstream 650ER business jet. And last year he went into space. Before setting off on the Titanic tourist submarine, which is now missing, Mr Harding told his social media followers: 'A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. 'We started steaming from St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada, yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning. Until then, we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.' An employee of Mr Harding last night revealed the billionaire had wanted to go on the trip for 'a long time' - adding there is still 'plenty of air' onboard. Missing British billionaire Hamish Harding (pictured) has a Guinness world record for the longest duration spent at the bottom of the sea Before setting off on the Titanic tourist submarine, which is now missing, Mr Harding told his social media followers: 'A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow.' Pictured: Harding exploring the South Pole The Action Aviation employee said: 'There is plenty of air onboard still and there is plenty of time for a rescue to be carried out and we are waiting for the authorities to update us. 'He is the only member of Action Aviation onboard and we are just waiting for updates. This is something Hamish had been looking forward to for a long time.' The father of two is married to American national Linda Dunbar Szasz and they have two sons, one a fourteen-year-old boy named Giles. The father who is friends with astronaut Buzz Aldrin said recently: 'I used to read the book of Guinness World Records regularly as a child. 'I always wondered how I could get into it. I did not think I could do it. And I didn't want to do something stupid like setting a record for the number of ping-pong balls bounced in a day, or something like that.' As the frantic search for the Titanic submersible was under way yesterday, family members asked for prayers for Mr Harding. The aviator, businessman and explorer is no stranger to perilous expeditions. He told an interviewer in 2021 how his submarine, Challenger Deep, sustained a damaged thruster during his journey to the 'truly spectacular' Mariana Trench, which lies seven miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. He said: 'The sub has many safety features, including four days' reserve of oxygen, water and emergency rations. 'The only problem is that there is no other sub that is capable of going down there to rescue you. It will take three years to build another one. So, having four days of supply doesn't make a difference really. If something goes wrong, you are not coming back.' An employee of Mr Harding last night revealed the billionaire had wanted to go on the trip for 'a long time' - adding there is still 'plenty of air' onboard A social media post from Brian Szasz, the stepson of Hamish Harding A submersible craft used to take people to see the wreck of the Titanic has gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean with its crew on board This is the last sighting of the submersible, Titan, which was launched on Sunday. It is seen in a photograph shared by Mr Harding's company Mr Harding, who runs an aviation company in Dubai, also has the distinction of taking the oldest man moon-landing astronaut Mr Aldrin, at the age of 86 and the youngest, his 12-year-old son, to the South Pole, saying: 'Buzz is an old friend of mine. We had always talked about going to the South Pole together and we finally did it in 2016.' An only child, Mr Harding was born in Hammersmith, London, in 1964, and has degrees in natural sciences and chemical engineering from the Cambridge University. Last year, he was one of six astronauts to go to space on Blue Origin's fifth human space flight aboard its New Shepard rocket. Before another trip to the North Pole two months before going into space he said: 'People, especially as they grow older, tend to give up on their dreams. 'When I think of something unusual, I just try to find ways to make it happen.' An employee of Mr Harding said: 'He is the only member of Action Aviation onboard and we are just waiting for updates. This is something Hamish had been looking forward to for a long time' A fugitive father from Florida has been arrested in Massachusetts following two months on the run after he allegedly told his pregnant teenage daughter to kill herself on her birthday. Gared Wayne Canales, 34, reportedly told his young daughter in an April phone conversation that she was 'worthless' and for her to 'kill yourself, just don't say it,' according to court documents. The inconsolable 13-year-old cut herself and swallowed 14 Benadryl pills in two separate suicide attempts, both of which she survived. Now, after being on the run, the alleged bad dad has been caught. Mugshot of Gared Wayne Canales, 34, who allegedly told his 13-year-old, pregnant daughter to kill herself on her birthday He was located over the weekend in Massachusetts and transferred back to Flagler County, Florida, where he was jailed on charges of felony child abuse Canales became the subject of a two-month, nationwide manhunt before he was finally located in New England and transferred back to Flagler County, Florida, where he is facing child abuse charges. According to court documents, Canales verbally abused his daughter during a call in April, when he called her a 'b****' and other crude and hurtful names. 'You're not worth it,' he allegedly told her. 'I choose my girlfriend over you anyway, and go kill yourself.' The following night, the teenager cut herself on the wrist with a knife, leaving a minor wound. The night after that, she tried again to die by suicide, this time using a shard of glass from a smashed picture of her and her father. Later in the week, while in a car with her mother, the victim consumed 14 Benadryl pills, after which her mother rushed her to a local hospital, where her stomach was pumped. She told hospital staff she had 'attempted suicide due to her father stating to go kill herself.' The girl later told investigators she wanted to press charges against Canales, and an arrest warrant was subsequently issued on April 14. According to court documents, Canales verbally abused his daughter during a call in April, when he called her a 'b****' and other crude and hurtful names Police attempted to find Canales at his last known address in Louisiana, but he had already fled by the time they arrived. Detectives finally found him in Massachusetts over the weekend and he is currently being held on a $10,000 bond for felony child abuse. There was no word on why Canales had fled to Massachusetts. Officials filed a restraining order that prevents Canales from contacting his daughter. A friend of the British billionaire missing on a trip to dive to the Titanic has said she fears his submersible is trapped on the sea bed. Jannicke Mikkelsen, a Norwegian explorer, said she knew Hamish Harding, 58, would be 'calm' amid the crisis. He is one of five people on board a submersible, which at 4am on Sunday began its descent to the resting place of the Titanic, nearly 13,000 feet below the surface. The round trip - for which participants pay $250,000 - usually takes eight hours. But contact with the mothership was lost one hour and 45 minutes into the trip, before reaching the wreck, and rescuers are now engaged in a race against time to try and recover the submersible and its crew. 'My biggest fear is knowing that they are trapped, without being able to get help,' said Mikkelsen. 'There is no one who can reach him on the bottom.' Jannicke Mikkelsen, a Norwegian explorer, is pictured with Hamish Harding, who she described as a mentor and friend. Harding is currently missing after attempting to reach the Titanic on a submersible Mikkelsen on Monday night spoke to NewsNation's Chris Cuomo This is the last sighting of the submersible, Titan, which was launched on Sunday. It is seen in a photograph shared by Hamish Harding's company. He and the four others on board remain unaccounted for OceanGate Expeditions offers tours of the famous shipwreck. Tickets cost up to $250,000 Mikkelsen, a cinematographer specializing in extreme environments, said she was deeply concerned by the fact the crew missed their ascent window - their expected time to surface. On Monday afternoon, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said the submersible has 96 hours of emergency oxygen on board, based on information received from the vessel operator. 'My fear is that they didn't make their last ascent window,' Mikkelsen told Chris Cuomo on NewsNation. 'They didn't. We are starting to make worst case scenarios.' G. Michael Harris, a Titanic expedition leader, said he knew several of those on board, and the outlook was grim. He told Fox News's Jesse Watters that there was oxygen on board and CO2 scrubbers, but ultimately there was no magic solution. 'Just not feeling good about it,' he said. 'When we deploy it's usually a two and a half hour drop down to the wreck site itself. 'We go down 3,980 meters. We spiral down, a corkscrew action, about three degrees per second to land right basically in front of the bow of Titanic. 'Once we get down there we begin our grid searches and our decay and everything that goes on with Titanic.' Titanic expedition leader, @gmichaelharris, says more people have been to outer space than the depth of the ocean that the missing Titanic tour submarine is. He says theres nothing the Navy can do right now and things arent looking good. pic.twitter.com/JHdSSZOe3Q Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) June 20, 2023 The US Coast Guard in Boston is now looking for the missing vessel. The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada The crew was diving to the ocean floor to survey the Titanic wreckage Harding excitedly posted to social media about being on the mission before launching the submarine Harris said the worst situation would be an implosion of the hull around 3,200 meters. 'I don't see anything that can happen at this point. When you are talking 6,000lbs per square inch, it is a dangerous environment. 'More people have been to outer space than this depth of the ocean.' He said you have to 'do everything perfect by the book', and it was 'not looking good'. Mikkelsen said Harding acted as a mentor to her, and was well aware of the risks he took. 'Hamish is an explorer at heart and this is one of the things he wanted to explore, on his checklist,' she said. 'Hamish knows the risks before he starts. 'I know that Hamish will be calm, they will work together through their checklist of options.' Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday The mothership, MV Polar Prince, set off from Newfoundland on Saturday bound for the spot above the Titanic wreck, 370 miles away. The submersible went into the water in the early hours of Sunday. On board were Harding, French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet; and CEO of OceanGate, Stockton Rush. The other two passengers have not been named. The submersible - it is not a submarine, because it is not independent and relies on a mothership - lost contact with the mothership one hour 45 minutes into its descent. It takes two and a half hours to descend to the wreck. Analysts believe it could have lost power, or sunk and perhaps became trapped on the wreck. Some initially suggested it perhaps surfaced and was bobbing without power, but that seems an increasingly remote possibility. There were 96 hours of air left on the submersible as of Monday afternoon, and the U.S. Coast Guard said they are engaged in a race against time. There are no rescue submarines in the U.S. Coast Guard that are able to reach the depths of the Titanic. Harding holds the Guinness World Record for the longest duration spent at the bottom of the sea. The London-born adventurer set it in 2021, after diving to the deepest place on Earth, the Mariana Trench, and traversing it for four hours and 15 minutes. It was one of three Guinness world records he has earned. He set another one for the longest distance, three miles, covered at the bottom of the ocean. His first was set in 2019, for the fastest circumnavigation of the earth via North and South Poles in a Gulfstream 650ER business jet - with Mikkelsen filming the adventure. Last year he went into space. The father of two - who is friends with astronaut Buzz Aldrin - said recently: 'I used to read the book of Guinness World Records regularly as a child. I always wondered how I could get into it. I did not think I could do it. 'And I didn't want to do something stupid - like setting a record for the number of ping-pong balls bounced in a day, or something like that.' As the frantic search for the Titanic submersible was underway Monday, family members asked for prayers for Harding as his latest adventure went awry. The aviator, businessman and explorer is no stranger to perilous expeditions. Images from Ocean Gate, one of the tour companies that operates the expeditions, show the wreckage Marine Traffic shows the Canadian Coast Guard's Horizon Arctic and Kopit Hobson 1752 are now making their way to the wreckage and the Polar Prince, the boat used for the expedition He told an interviewer in 2021 how his submarine, Challenger Deep, had sustained a damaged thruster during his journey to the 'truly spectacular' Mariana Trench, which lies seven miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. 'The sub has many safety features, including four days' reserve of oxygen, water and emergency rations,' he said. 'The only problem is that there is no other sub that is capable of going down there to rescue you. It will take three years to build another one. 'So, having four days of supply doesn't make a difference really. 'If something goes wrong, you are not coming back.' Harding, who runs an aviation company in Dubai, also has the distinction of taking the oldest man - moon landing astronaut Aldrin, at the age of 86 - and the youngest, his 12-year-old son, to the South Pole. 'Buzz is an old friend of mine,' he said. 'We had always talked about going to the South Pole together and we finally did it in 2016.' An only child, Harding was born in Hammersmith, London, in 1964, and has degrees in natural sciences and chemical engineering from Cambridge University. Last year, Harding was one of six astronauts to go to space on Blue Origin's fifth human spaceflight aboard its New Shepard rocket. And before another trip, to the North Pole two months prior to going into space, he said: 'People, especially as they grow older, tend to give up on their dreams. When I think of something unusual, I just try to find ways to make it happen.' The missing tourist submersible with five people aboard including British billionaire Hamish Harding is understood to have last 'pinged' while it was directly above it's destination - the Titanic. The sub, owned and operated by OceanGate Expeditions, was taking a crew of five people - including company CEO Stockton Rush, French explorer PH Nargeolet and Harding - 12,500ft underwater as part of its 195,000-a-head tour of the 1912 shipwreck. The crew, who launched at around 4am on Sunday but lost communication with the sub's mothership MV Polar Prince an hour and 45 minutes into the two hour descent, has enough oxygen to last underwater until 12pm on Thursday UK time (7am EST). But as the terrifying race against time began yesterday afternoon, rescuers admitted the sub could have become stuck in the wreckage of the Titanic which is 370miles from Newfoundland in Canada but lies in US waters. Submarine experts also fear the vessel is too deep for a manned rescue sub, such as the US Navy sub which is limited to 2,000ft, and that the only way of reaching it may be using a remote operated vehicle. These can reach a maximum depth of 20,000ft. 'Titan' - the name of the Titanic submersible - lost contact with the surface for at least seven hours and had appeared to be closing in on its destination. This is the last sighting of the submersible, Titan, which was launched on Sunday. It is seen in a photograph shared by Hamish Harding's company. Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday The crew is understood to have enough oxygen to last underwater until 12pm Thursday (7am EST). Pictured: Harding, who is aboard the sub, and his son French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition A photo of OceanGate's 'Mission 3 and Mission 4 crews', posted online by the company before setting sail It's understood that Titan communicates by sending a ping to the Polar Prince every 15 minutes - the last of which was received while the submersible floated above the Titanic wreckage at about 10am EST yesterday (3pm UK time). It was at that moment that chaos ensued. A distress call was sent to the US Coast Guard at 9pm, whose Boston branch is leading an operation to carry out what would be the deepest undersea rescue mission ever. With 96 hours of air left between five crewmembers until Thursday, Rear Admiral John W. Mauger told a press conference on Monday that the US Coast Guard is working 'as hard as possible' to find it while 'lives are at risk'. But former Coast Guardsman John Mixson told Fox News it was an 'extremely serious and dire situation', adding: 'It's hard to say whenever you just lose total communications in a situation like that what actually happened until you find the vessel. 'This isn't a common occurrence at all. Obviously, something very rapid and very tragic took place.' OceanGate, whose website says customers do not require any previous diving experience but that there are 'a few physical requirements like being able to board small boats in active seas', said it was receiving help from government agencies and deep-sea companies. The eight-day trip includes a two hour dive to the Titanic wreck and the same on the way up. It can be around eight to ten hours in total. David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate who had actually planned to be on the expedition, said that officials are working to get a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that can reach a depth of 20,000ft to the site as soon as possible. Meanwhile, C-130s and P-8s from the US and Canada are also being used to assist in the search in the remote area of the ocean, 900 miles east of Cape Cod and 370 miles southeast of southernmost Newfoundland. The Boston Coast Guard is now looking for the missing vessel. The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada OceanGate Expeditions is one of the only companies that offers the tours. Tickets cost up to 195,000 Video from a previous mission shows the interior of the submersible that has been underwater since the early hours of Sunday Commercial ships helping the rescue mission also have access to sonar buoys which are capable of listening to a depth of 13,000ft, the Coast Guard said. Admiral Mauger conceded that the craft may have become stuck in the Titanic's wreckage and said the rescue mission was 'very complicated'. 'We're working as hard as possible, bringing all assets to bear to try and find the submersible,' he added. 'We were notified yesterday [Sunday] afternoon and we began immediately to mobilise assets to search both the surface of the water, search from the air, and to detect any vessels under the water as well. We've had a comprehensive search to find these people.' Admiral Mauger said the coastguard did not have the capabilities to reach it, if that was the case, telling Fox News: 'We don't have equipment onsite that can do a survey of the bottom...there is a lot of debris [at this wreckage] so locating will be difficult. 'We don't have the capabilities at this time. Right now, we're focused on trying to locate it.' Former Rear Admiral Chris Parry, during a separate appearance on Sky News, echoed Mauger's concerns. 'It's very worrying. It could have become entangled in the wreckage of Titanic, we don't know yet,' said Parry. 'The wreck site is a long way from anywhere. The only hope one has is that the mothership will have a standby craft that can investigate immediately what is going on.' OceanGate, which was founded in 2009, had chartered the MV Polar Prince, to take them to the dive site. The crew was diving to the ocean floor to survey the Titanic wreckage Images from Ocean Gate, one of the tour companies that operates the expeditions, show the wreckage Harding has been into space, visited both poles, circumnavigated the globe and holds three Guinness World Records Harding excitedly posted to social media about being on the mission Harding's post before the dive. The boat departed St John in Newfoundland on Saturday Harding's stepson posted on social media that he was among the missing Polar Prince is believed to have departed St Johns in Newfoundland on Saturday, with the submersible - made of of five-inch-thick carbon fiber, capped on each end by a dome of titanium - launching at around 4am Sunday. The Titan subs have no way of directing themselves under water. Instead, they rely on text messages from the mothership, instructing them where to go. The missing tourist sub is classified as a submersible, not a submarine, because it does not function as an autonomous craft, and relies instead on a support platform. Last year, a CBS journalist was on the mothership when the sub went off course. It was missing for two-and-a-half hours before it returned but none of those onboard were harmed. Tickets for the trip cost 195,000 for an eight-day excursion during which groups pair off into smaller pods to dive in the submersibles for up to ten hours. OceanGate advertises it as 'a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' to 'safely dive the Titanic wreckage site' in a '12,500-foot journey to the bottom of the sea'. Wealthy tourists are told that 'if money isn't an object and you don't mind close quarters', then they can 'step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary'. Billionaire and CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai Mr Harding, who has been into space, visited both poles, circumnavigated the globe and holds three Guinness World Records including for the longest time spent at the bottom of the ocean vowed not to be someone who 'especially as they grow older, gives up on their dreams'. OceanGate confirmed its sub was missing, writing: 'We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely. Multiple C-130 aircraft are now assisting in the aerial search for the vessel, which has not been heard from since Sunday morning The Polar Prince is the expedition ship used to take tourists from Newfoundland out to the wreckage site. The sub is deployed once out at sea 'Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families. We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers.' The sub uses Elon Musk's Starlink to communicate with its mothership because it is so far out to sea. Before the trip, London-born Harding excitedly posted to social media about being there. Harding said it a 'window' had opened up that would allow the group to dive. 'A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. We started steaming from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning,' he wrote. His company, Action Aviation, posted on Sunday at 4am confirming that he was 'diving'. According to OceanGate's website, one expedition is ongoing and two more have been planned for June next year. The Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912, on its maiden voyage from England to New York after hitting an iceberg, killing more than 1,500 people. The wreckage was found in 1985, broken into two main sections. By the early 2000s, scientists were warning that the numbers of tourists visiting the wreck were potentially damaging it - warning that holes had opened up in the decks, walls had crumpled, and that rust was spreading all over the ship. They also noted it was a graveyard, and deserved respect. Rishi Sunak said two weeks ago that illegal immigration plan 'is starting to work' The number of Albanian migrants reaching Britain in small boats has doubled in the past week. The latest figures appear to realise Home Office predictions of a resurgence this spring after numbers plummeted over the colder months. In the first five months of this year 151 Albanians arrived by small boat, according to published data. But in the past week the running total has doubled to almost 300, as a further 150 migrants arrived in just seven days, Border Force sources said. Signs of a resurgence will alarm Rishi Sunak, who two weeks ago said his illegal immigration plan 'is starting to work'. He voiced cautious optimism as arrivals showed a 20 per cent year-on-year dip. However, this year's arrivals are now just 10 per cent below the same point last year. Separate Home Office figures showed there were 333 arrivals of all nationalities across the Channel yesterday, bringing this year's running total to 10,472. At the same point last year the figure stood at 11,662. Border Force officials escort 50 migrants into Dover Docks, Kent in January earlier this year Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during a meeting with Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson inside 10 Downing Street Mr Sunak has made stopping small boats one of his five key pledges as Prime Minister after Albanian arrivals helped push last year's total to a record 45,700. In all, there were 12,301 Albanian small boat arrivals last year the largest nationality overall after a previously unseen surge from the east European country began in May. Albanian arrivals went from 235 in the first three months of last year to 1,930 in the following quarter and 9,037 in the next one. From October to December they fell to 1,099 and then to 29 from January to March. Provisional data for April 1 to May 30 showed there were 122 Albanian arrivals. The Home Office said its Small Boats Operational Command was working with French partners and other agencies to 'disrupt the people smugglers'. n Egyptian small boat migrant Hamouda Chitioui, 34 jailed yesterday at Winchester Crown court for attempting to enter the UK illegally but likely to be freed due to time spent on remand told the judge if he had known he faced prison 'I would not have come here'. A teacher has resigned and lost his registration after refusing to acknowledge a transgender student's preferred pronouns and name. The New Zealand teacher faced the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal on February 15 following a series of incidents with the 14-year-old student in 2021. The decision was publicly released on Monday revealing the transgendered 14-year-old had been a student in the teacher's math class. The teacher, whose name has been expunged from the decision documents, refused to call the student by their chosen male name and continued to use she/her pronouns. A New Zealand teacher has lost his registration in New Zealand after he refused to acknowledged one of his transgendered student's chosen male pronouns (stock image) The student, who was not of age to legally change their name, had their name changed in the school's portal. The teacher told the student during a morning tea break that acknowledging them as transgender would go against their Catholic beliefs and constitute child abuse. The tribunal initially did not want to 'move to punish' the teacher but later found the teacher was beyond 'rehabilitation' and therefore no longer qualified to teach. Although not denying any of the accounts of the student's accounts, the teacher denied any wrongdoing while representing himself at the tribunal. He told the student they didn't them to 'go down a path of sin' by using their preferred pronoun. The decision said the teacher also claimed anyone wishing to transition from their birth sex should seek 'help and deliverance'. 'Teachers have a responsibility of care and part of this is affirming the birthsex of every child, the gender they were created as, which is an inseparable part of their identity,' he told the tribunal. 'God knows best and this behaviour will have negative consequences.' He later compared transitioning genders to hypothetical cases such as a child wanting to be identified as a different race, species or 'as (a) earthly royalty or a judge'. He told the tribunal he believed that transgenderism was the first step towards other 'sins' such as homosexuality, referencing bible excerpts such as 'man should only lie with a woman'. The teacher's submissions caused the tribunal to have 'significant concerns' about his ability to continue working as a teacher. 'They (the teacher) begin with objection based on Christianity, move to verbatim scripture, and then continue on to link the conduct with 'the devil', homosexuality and even abortion,' the decision reads. 'He is entitled to his views and religious beliefs. What we must do is consider whether he has insight and rehabilitative prospects that we could address.' The teacher referenced bible excerpts and his beliefs that transgenderism is a 'sin' during his hearing to the NZ Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal (stock image) The tribunal found the teacher had risked causing current and future students 'significant harm'. They determined there 'is a real and and appreciable risk that such conduct, or similar conduct, will be repeated by (the teacher) if he was to be in that position again'. 'The Tribunal is left with the firm view that Mr is not fit to be a teacher. The conduct on its own calls this into serious question,' the decision reads. 'Determining it however is that Mr maintains his position that it was appropriate to treat the learner in this way. And he not only maintains it, but he has done so in an extreme, offensive and hysterical way. 'The candid and unyielding statements made by (the teacher) provide the best evidence of his future risk.' The decision also found the teacher's 'insufficient insight' into what was causing his behaviour and therefore lacks a chance of rehabilitation. 'Therefore, there is an apparent ongoing risk that leaves no option but to deregister,' it read. The furore surrounding Phillip Schofield's affair with a younger This Morning runner is 'totally homophobic', Sir Elton John has claimed. The musician, 76, said in an interview with the Radio Times that a heterosexual relationship with a similar age gap would not have attracted such negative coverage. Sir Elton made the comments as he denounced the status of LGBT+ rights and individuals in America, which he compared to the treatment of the former ITV star. He alleged that had the affair involved a 'straight guy in a fling with a young woman' that details of the relationship 'wouldn't even make the papers'. Mr Schofield, 61, resigned from ITV last month and was dropped by his talent agency YMU after admitting to an 'unwise but not illegal' affair with a younger colleague. The presenter also alleged that homophobia had motivated criticism towards him, contrasting responses to his affair and Leonardo DiCaprio's relationships with younger women. Sir Elton John has claimed the furore surrounding Phillip Schofield's affair with a younger This Morning runner is 'totally homophobic'. The musician is pictured during a concert at the Palau Sant Jordi arena in Barcelona on May 22 Sir Elton alleged that had Mr Schofield's affair involved a 'straight guy in a fling with a young woman' that details of the relationship 'wouldn't even make the papers'. Phil Schofield, Holly Willoughby and his younger lover are pictured on the This Morning sofa Sir Elton, famous for hits including Your Song and Candle In The Wind, said: 'Well, it's all going pear-shaped in America. There's violence, (discriminatory) laws enacted in Florida, which are disgraceful. 'There's a law now that, if you visit a doctor in Florida, they can refuse to treat you if you're gay, which I find just unbelievable. 'We seem to be going backwards. And that spreads. It's like a virus that the LGBTQ+ movement is suffering.' He added: 'I don't like it at all. It's a growing swell of anger and homophobia that's around America. 'I don't know if it's around Britain because I haven't been here that much. But I feel that the Phillip Schofield thing has been totally homophobic. 'If it was a straight guy in a fling with a young woman, it wouldn't even make the papers.' Phillip Schofield (pictured) resigned from ITV last month. He also alleged homophobia had a part to play in the negative response to the relationship - after he was accused of grooming his former flame During an interview with the BBC's Amol Rajan, Mr Schofield, 61, said he had 'lost everything' after admitting to the affair, and that the fallout had had a 'catastrophic effect' on his mind. Mr Schofield alleged homophobia had a part to play in the negative response to the relationship - after he was accused of grooming his former flame. He also insisted that if the relationship had been heterosexual there would be much more acceptance and even pointed to Titanic star Mr DiCaprio, who is famed for his penchant for dating significantly younger women. Mr Schofield said: 'Attraction is attraction. It's no different in the gay world as it is in the heterosexual world or in the lesbian world. 'There shouldn't be a difference. This is where homophobia comes in. 'We did first meet when he was 15, I visited the drama school (he attended). 'So, yeah, there's a difference. It's accepted by Leonardo DiCaprio, it's not accepted if it's in the gay world.' Sir Elton made the comments in an interview with the Radio Times as he denounced the status of LGBT+ rights and individuals in America, which he compared to the treatment of the former ITV star Sir Elton, who will headline the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival this month with a performance that will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC Radio 2 on June 25, joins other high-profile figures in criticising the backlash against Mr Schofield. LGBT+ rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said earlier this month that the 'trashing' of Schofield had 'more than a whiff of homophobia', in a statement shared with the PA news agency. Mr Tatchell called the public response a 'rank double standard', while actor Rupert Everett described media coverage as 'insane'. Sir Elton's full interview is in the Radio Times, out now. An Indigenous elder who helped the government carve out the Voice to Parliament referendum question has urged the Australian public to vote on principle - claiming further details won't be made public until after a 'Yes' vote. Aunty Pat Anderson, co-chair of the Uluru Dialogue and Alyawrre elder, told ABC News Breakfast Australia has 'never gone to a referenda with all the details' and that this will be no different. Australians will be asked to vote on whether a Voice to Parliament should be enshrined in our Constitution between October and December this year. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described the proposal as a 'modest' request which will have little impact on the lives of most Australians - but will make all the difference for our nation's most vulnerable. Critics, meanwhile, argue it either does too little or too much, and that there are too many questions yet to be answered. Aunty Pat Anderson, c o-chair of the Uluru Dialogue and Alyawrre elder, told ABC News Breakfast Australia has 'never gone to a referenda with all the details' and that this will be no different Aunty Pat said: 'In this kind of democracy, the one we have here in Australia, we vote on matters of principle. 'There are nine principles that are out there for everybody to look at, and all of the details of how it's all going to work will be done after the "yes" vote.' She said there would be 'enough information for the general public to make up their minds'. Attorney General Mark Dreyfus made some progress in clearing up the primary confusion about the scope of the Voice during a press conference on Monday. He listed five areas in which the advisory body will be focused and making recommendations to parliament: health, employment, education, housing and justice. But the message was somewhat diluted just hours later when Minister for Indigenous Affairs Linda Burney was unable to give the same answer in Question Time. Aunty Pat said: 'There are nine principles that are out there for everybody to look at, and all of the details of how it's all going to work will be done after the "yes" vote' Aunty Pat Anderson said: 'This is a milestone. 'This is fundamental to any democracy. Most of us here, we have spent our lives in the trenches, as our parents before us and generations. This is big for us. We can do better than were doing' Poll Do you understand the purpose of the PM's proposed Voice to Parliament? YES NO Do you understand the purpose of the PM's proposed Voice to Parliament? YES 773 votes NO 7215 votes Now share your opinion Deputy Liberal Leader Sussan Ley asked: 'Minister, what areas of public policy will not be within the scope of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice?' Ms Burney would not be drawn on the details, instead stating the Government had been 'extraordinarily clear' on the role of the advisory body. 'If she'd listened more carefully to the debate she wouldn't have to ask that question,' Ms Burney said. 'It is stated time and time again that the Voice will concern itself with issues that directly affect First Nations people.' Mr Dutton asked for clarity on what that would exclude. Mr Albanese and the referendum working group has outlined some key details of the way the body will work, insisting it will operate 'transparently', will not have veto power and will work independently. Committee members will be appointed by Indigenous communities and will serve on the committee for a fixed period of time, yet to be determined, he said. However, there appears to be mixed signals. Thomas Mayo, who authored a guide on the Voice to Parliament and has been part of the working group, said the proposal could be a step towards reparations and compensation being paid to Aboriginal people. Mayo has become one of the most prominent campaigners in the Voice after contributing to the creation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2017 Speaking at the Sydney Writers Festival to promote his new handbook to the Voice to Parliament, Mayo said he's throwing 'everything he has' at this referendum He made the comment in a video published by Search Foundation, a left-wing thinktank that markets itself as the successor to the Communist Party of Australia. Mr Mayo was speaking about the Uluru Statement from the Heart, some two years before the Albanese government announced there would a referendum on a First Nations Voice - an Aboriginal body with the power to propose alterations to all bills before parliament that impact indigenous people. 'This is the first step, it's a vital step and it puts all the explanation behind it. Pay the Rent for example, how do we do that in a way that is transparent and that actually sees reparations and compensation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people beyond what we say and do at a rally?' The 'Pay the Rent' movement wants homeowners to voluntarily pay a percentage of their income to Aboriginal elders without any government oversight or intervention. Elsewhere, Mr Mayo said politicians would be 'punished' if they ignored advice from the advisory body. Aunty Pat said the referendum provides 'an opportunity to make real structural change so that First Nations people, First Peoples of this land, will be able to participate fully in all of the decisions and policies that are made about us. 'We have never been at the table discussing this and being involved in all the decisions that affect us. 'That's been the missing ingredient over all these generations where the Government of the day, irrespective of political persuasion, reckons they know better than black fellas.' A dying schoolboy begged for his mother after being stabbed at a railway station, a court heard yesterday. Justin McLaughlin, 14, was comforted by young friends who rushed to his aid after the incident on October 16, 2021. One girl later told police of a knife-wielding assailant and blood dripping from the blade following the attack at Glasgow's High Street station. The evidence was heard yesterday at the trial of 18-year-old Daniel Haig. He denies murder but it is agreed between prosecutors and his legal team that he delivered the blow which caused Justin's death. Jurors at the High Court in Glasgow were played a recording of a police interview involving a 14-year-old girl who had been with Justin and others at the railway station that day. Justin McLaughlin, 14, was comforted by young friends who rushed to his aid after the incident on October 16, 2021 One girl later told police of a knife-wielding assailant and blood dripping from the blade following the attack at Glasgow's High Street station She told how the group had spotted two boys on the platform and Justin shouted towards them before being grabbed and punched. She said one of the two boys had taken 'something' from a bag and hidden it under his top. It became apparent it was a knife after it fell onto the tracks. The attacker jumped down to retrieve the weapon. The girl said she shouted on everyone to run. But she recalled that Justin, from Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, tripped before the assailant 'grabbed his jacket and stabbed him'. The girl said: 'I looked at his knife and there was blood dripping off it.' She immediately went to help Justin, who 'said something like 'They have got me' and fell face first onto the ground, the court heard. The girl added: 'Justin was trying to stand up. He kept saying 'I need my mum, I need to go home'.' The wounded teenager also insisted he was 'fine'. Other people at the station also came to his aid. The girl said: 'His lips had turned blue and white. The other boys (with them) were crying.' Justin was taken to hospital but never recovered. He had been stabbed in the heart. Floral tributes outside High Street Station in Glasgow's East End where teenager Justin McLaughlin was found The witness and some of the other youngsters were taken to a police station. The girl was quizzed further during the interview about the actual stabbing. She recalled Justin being grabbed by the shoulder or jacket. She added: 'He shoved it in him. I was confused if he punched or stabbed him.' She said the attacker initially walked off before running out of the station. The girl again told how some of Justin's friends were in tears on the platform. The youngster stated: 'They could not look at it as it was their best pal.' The girl herself said she had felt 'petrified' on becoming aware of a knife and that what happened had left her 'in shock'. The trial later heard from another boy who was in Justin's group that day. In his recorded police interview, the 16-year-old spoke of seeing a 'Rambo' knife with 'spiky bits all over it'. He also recalled Justin stating at one stage to his attacker: 'You think you are the big man.' After being struck, jurors heard Justin told his friend: 'Leave me, I am a goner.' The trial, before judge Lord Clark, continues. Slapping a blanket ban on North Sea oil and gas extraction will cost tens of thousands of Scottish jobs, Sir Keir Starmer has been warned. The Labour leader was urged to 'keep the lights on' by rowing back on his radical plans to ditch fossil fuels for green energy. In a speech in Edinburgh yesterday, Sir Keir pledged to create a publicly owned Great British Energy (GBE) company to focus on renewables. The new firm would have its headquarters in Scotland, although no specific location has been confirmed. Sir Keir said there would be 50,000 jobs created in Scotland although some 90,000 currently depend on the North Sea off- shore industry. Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer reacts after delivering a speech on Green Energy at the headquarters of Nova Innovation Starmer flanked by after Britain's Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and Scotland's Labour leader Anas Sarwar Yesterday he insisted oil and gas would be 'a key part of the mix for decades to come, until well into the 2050s'. Labour's North Sea Bloodbath Q&A Under threat: Offshore oil work What is Labour's policy on oil and gas exploration? Labour wants to ban any new licences being granted to allow exploration for new oil and gas fields in the North Sea. But Sir Keir Starmer confirmed he would not overturn any licence granted before, and if, he gets the keys to Number 10. That includes the controversial Rosebank oil field, expected to produce 300million barrels of oil. A licence for Rosebank is expected to be issued imminently. The controversial Cambo oil field would also escape any ban as it has already started exploration work. The licence for exploring Cambo, believed to be one of largest reservoirs of oil in the North Sea, was extended by two years in 2022 despite angry opposition from environmental campaigners. Sir Keir has also pledged to create Great British Energy (GBE), a publicly-owned company he claims will distribute the benefits from renewable energy to ensure they are reinvested in the UK. What is the current situation with extracting fossil fuels in the UK? Of the 283 active oil and gas fields in British waters, 180 will be shut down by 2030. With Labour insisting it will not issue any more licences for oil exploration, the oil and gas trade body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) says a combination of 'political uncertainty, the soaring cost of borrowing and the aftermath of Covid' is having a catastrophic effect. OEUK figures found 196 wells decommissioned in 2022, down from 124 the year before Exploration digging in the UK is also 'at an all time low' with only four or five wells opened in each of the past three years. Searches for new fields have so far discovered just two in 2023. How many jobs are at risk? Of the 200,000 jobs that are estimated to rely on the North Sea energy sector, 90,000 are based in Scotland. Labour insists it will not jeopardise 'good jobs', but will only promise to create 50,000 new jobs as part of its energy policy which will cost 28billion per year by the end of its first term in power. Advertisement However, oil and gas trade body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) pointed out that 180 of the 283 active fields are due to be shut down by 2030. Furious critics claimed the damaging proposals were 'too much, too soon' and not grounded in reality. OEUK chief executive David Whitehouse said there was 'no simple choice between oil and gas on the one hand and renewables on the other'. He said: 'The reality is that to keep the lights on and grow our economy, we need both. Labour's proposed ban on new exploration licences is too much, too soon. 'It would be damaging for the industry, for consumers and for the UK's net zero ambitions. North Sea supplies are essential to energy security and we need new licences just to slow the natural decline in current levels of production while we build the low carbon systems of the future. 'By the mid-2030s, oil and gas will still provide for 50 per cent of our energy needs. 'Consumers and businesses won't forgive anyone who shuts down Britain's oil and gas industry only to replace it with imports of foreign oil and gas.' During his speech, Sir Keir tried to convince Scots his 'green energy revolution' would not abandon them but argued: 'The moment for decisive action is now'. He said: 'Let me say directly to those people in Scotland nervous about the change this mission requires: I know the ghosts industrial change unearths. 'As a young lawyer, I worked with mining communities to challenge the Tories' pit closure programme. But deep down, we all know this has to happen eventually and that the only question is when. 'So, in all candour, the reality is this: the moment for decisive action is now. 'If we wait until North Sea oil and gas runs out, the opportunities this change can bring for Scotland and your community will pass us by and that would be a historic mistake.' Sir Keir added: 'My offer, the Labour offer, is this; a credible plan to manage the change, protect good jobs and create good jobs. No cliff edges. 'But at the same time, to harness the wealth that is in our air, in our seas, in our skies and use it to serve the interests of your community.' Ryan Crighton, policy director at Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said he supported Labour's 'big ambition on renewables, grid infrastructure and de-risking new technologies'. He added: 'However, it is completely overshadowed by a position on oil and gas which is not grounded in the realities of the energy transition and will drive away they very companies they want to partner with to make the UK a clean energy superpower.' Mr Crighton added that a 'cliff edge' for oil and gas extraction 'will decree decades of decline upon the regions which have powered the UK through the toughest of times'. Scottish Conservative energy spokesman Liam Kerr said: 'Despite his desperate attempts at re-spinning it in recent days, the Labour leader is sticking stubbornly to his disastrously-received and catastrophic position of banning all new oil and gas projects. Furious critics claimed the damaging proposals were 'too much, too soon' and not grounded in reality 'That would cost tens of thousands of skilled jobs and destroy communities across the North East. That's madness when we know that renewable sources don't yet cover our energy needs because it would lead to costly foreign imports of fossil fuels, increasing our carbon footprint. 'Keir Starmer spoke of the need to remove Putin's foot from our throat, yet his plan would give Russia even more influence over UK and European energy markets. 'He claims that Labour is not turning off the taps in the North Sea and that there will be no cliff edge for oil and gas workers but banning all new projects is the very definition of both these things.' Mr Kerr added: 'We all want a just transition to net zero but there's nothing just about abandoning skilled workers, while we're still reliant on oil and gas.' Environmental vigilantes have claimed responsibility for deflating the tyres of more than 100 vehicles in Scotland last week. The group, who call themselves the 'Tyre Extinguishers', targeted vehicles across Aberdeen. It is believed that they stuck lentils into the tyre caps in order to deflate the tyres. The group has carried out similar activities in Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. A statement on their Twitter page said: 'Aberdeen Scotland: SUVs disarmed last night in Ashgrove and Cornhill areas. A statement on their Twitter page said: 'Aberdeen Scotland: SUVs disarmed last night in Ashgrove and Cornhill areas' 'First action in Aberdeen, after previous actions in Glasgow, Dundee and Edinburgh! Great work!' Martin Quinn said his Nissan Qashqai was targeted. He told Planet Radio: 'The first we noticed this morning was when my wife went to the car, she phoned me to say that all of her tyres were flat. It is believed that they stuck lentils into the tyre caps in order to deflate the tyres. The group has carried out similar activities in Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow (File image) 'When I took off the cap which was already loose on the tyre I noticed there was a lentil under it and all the other tyres were the same. 'My wife then looked up online to find out if anyone else had been affected by this and it seemed that a large number of people were complaining about it.' Another group, the 'Deflationists', targeted the Shawlands and Newlands areas of Glasgow last summer. The Tyre Extinguishers last year claimed to have deflated the tyres of SUVs in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. Police Scotland have been asked to comment. A man trying to help the poor and homeless by giving them unwanted food he rescues from supermarkets has been threatened with harsh penalties. The 46-year-old man, known as Michael, digs into bins at supermarkets in Sydney's inner-west for throwaway food, which he would then leave outside his Enfield home for those who need it. He posted photos of what he'd collected from dumpsters to an online community page dedicated to reducing waste in the area. 'Good morning neighbours, I put these out this morning before I left for work,' he captioned one photo of a heaped pile of bread and vegetables. The 'proper legend' has said that he is now facing a year-long ban and $1,000 fine from an unspecified mall after they caught him on CCTV going through their bins. A 46-year-old man, known as Michael, excavated bins at supermarkets and posted photos of what he'd collected from dumpsters to an online community page The 'proper legend' has said that he is now facing a year-long ban and $1,000 fine from supermarkets after they caught him on CCTV going through their bins Michael was happy to help reduce peoples' grocery bills and encouraged them to 'only take what you need', but now he's having to rethink this strategy. 'I feel good that I can help in any way I can to reduce their grocery budget and help move short dated or excess stock,' he told Sky News. 'I and many others have now been slapped with a ban from shopping malls because management do not like the public going through their bins. 'Unfortunately my details have now gone to the police and if they catch me again its $1,000 fine and a 12 month ban.' Before these prospective punishments, Michael was offered help by a vegetable vendor who saw him sifting through bins a couple of months ago. They willingly offered him their excess produce to add to the pile growing on his porch, which would quickly disappear after his status updates. Locals from the area lamented the situation Michael found himself in and praised the 'great deed' he had been doing for the community. 'I have picked up bread from you twice and it makes a massive difference as I'm struggling with money at the moment and unemployed,' one person wrote. 'Proud to call you a neighbour,' a second added. Despite the pushback from supermarkets, dumpster diving has become a massive trend across the country as the cost of living continues to rise in Australia. New Zealand man Brenden Rikihana, 53, rummages through dumpsters in Western Australia and donates most of his haul to struggling families and charities. Mr Rikihana films what he finds in bins at Woolworths, Coles and Aldi on his 'Bin Living with Big B' social media channels. Brenden Rikihana, 53, is a self-confessed 'scavenger' who also rummages through supermarket dumpsters looking for products and fresh food items he can donate to charity Approximately 7.6million tonnes of food is thrown away each year in Australia, of which 70 per cent is perfectly fine to eat, according to Foodbank. In 2016, France became one of the first countries in the world to introduce an anti-waste law, forcing supermarkets to give unsold produce to food rescue organisations. While there is no equivalent law in Australia, Coles and Woolworths have both teamed up with charities like SecondBite which aims to end world hunger. Despite these initiatives, Dr. Carol Richards and Dr. Bree Hurst from the Queensland University of Technology found that supermarkets still find ways to throw out food. 'First, the strict 'quality' standards required by the Coles and Woolworths duopoly means that a large volume of food does not reach the supermarket shelves,' they wrote in 2017. 'This is produce that does not meet size, shape and appearance specifications such as bananas that are too small, or apples that are too red. If producers do not agree to meet these standards, they will lose access to approximately 70-80 per cent of the fresh food market in Australia. 'Supermarkets attribute their high quality standards to consumer demands however, consumers can only buy what is available at the supermarket.' Lowering cosmetic standards for foods sold in supermarkets would dramatically help reduce food wastage in the supply chain, according to a 2022 report from the NSW government. Other research from Foodbank shows that food wastage costs households around $2,000 to $2,500 per year and costs the economy $36.6billion each year. The head of the Yes campaign for the Voice to Parliament referendum has sidestepped questions about whether it will be a step toward reparations being paid to Indigenous people, after that was suggested by one of the proposal's chief architects. Yes23 Campaign Director, Dean Parkin, was asked about comments made by Thomas Mayo, who also sits on the board of the same campaign, in a series of videos published before the Voice referendum was announced. In one clip from 2020, Mr Mayo spoke about the proposal being a step towards making compensation for Indigenous people a reality. 'Pay the Rent' for example, how do we do that in a way that is transparent and that actually sees reparations and compensation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people beyond what we say and do at a rally?' he said. The 'Pay the Rent' movement wants homeowners to voluntarily pay a percentage of their income to Aboriginal elders without any government oversight or intervention. When asked about this by 2GB broadcaster Ben Fordham on Tuesday, Mr Parkin responded: 'It's got nothing to do with the Voice.' The campaign director of the Yes campaign, Dean Parkin (pictured left with the head of Indigenous Affairs and Strategic Inclusion at National Australia Bank, Eveanne Liddle), was asked about Mr Mayo's comments on 2GB on Tuesday One of the architects of the Voice to Parliament, Thomas Mayo (pictured), spoke about making compensation for Indigenous people a reality during an unearthed video from 2020 'The Voice has absolutely, and has always been about, getting to the nub of those real issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in communities (such as) health, education,' he said. 'Everyone's talking about their young people, whether it's in urban areas, remote areas. I was out at Barunga last week, they're worried about their young people's futures. That's what the Voice will be focused on.' If approved at the referendum later this year, an Aboriginal-only body will be set up - with its role enshrined in Australia's constitution - to make input and advise upon any bill before parliament which will impact indigenous people. Mr Parkin was asked again about 'paying the rent' after the audio from Mr Mayo's video was played on air. 'It's not the conservation that I'm having now, Ben,' Mr Parkin responded. 'That's not the weight of the issues that people have been talking to me.' 'Everyone's going to have their say on these issues, they're going to be able to input them into the piece, but it'll be our mob on the ground that will hold the people on the Voice to account.' 'They're going to have to look them in the eye and say, 'Well, what are you doing about clean drinking water in our communities? What are you doing about looking after our young people?' 'These are the things Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people want to see action on.' He added that there would be 'enormous accountability on the members of the Voice'. In March, Mr Mayo stood shoulder to shoulder with a tearful Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as the official wording of the referendum question was announced Mr Mayo said in another unearthed video posted in 2021 that politicians would be 'punished' if they ignored advice from the advisory body. 'The power in the Voice is that it creates the ability for First Nations to come together through representatives that they choose, representatives that they can hold accountable,' he said. 'And then go forth with coherent positions on how things should be - what legislation needs to be created, what legislation needs to be amended, what funding is needed and where. 'And then be able to campaign for that, and punish politicians that ignore our advice. That is where the power comes from.' In response to that comment, Mr Parkin said that the Yes campaign wanted to ensure politicians were 'getting the decisions right on the issues that affect our communities'. 'This is not a partisan shot in anyway shape or form, but over the years they (politicians) just haven't been getting it right.' 'We want them to be held to account more tightly on issues affecting Indigenous affairs.' Mr Mayo (pictured), said politicians should be 'punished' if they ignore advice from the advisory body in another video from 2021 Mr Mayo has said the referendum would be the best chance to close the gap in life outcomes between indigenous and non-indigenous people. 'As I've travelled around the country over the past six years, speaking to all kinds of interest groups, including people from all political persuasions, I have sought to bridge the gap by helping them to see it from their perspective,' he told The Australian . 'I stand by this referendum being a unifying proposal, it is about peace and love and that is purely my interest for this country.' His advocacy has sparked criticism from prominent 'No' campaigners including Aboriginal Senator and Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, and Indigenous leader and former Labor Party president, Warren Mundine. She described Mr Mayo's comments as 'divisive statements' that were made 'publicly and proudly'. 'These shocking revelations speak to the aggressive and radical agenda behind the Voice and destroy once and for all the myth that this massive change to our Constitution is 'a modest request',' she said. 'He is very clear that the intention, the goal, the ambition of the Voice and this referendum is to divide Australians.' His comments have sparked backlash from 'No' campaigners such as Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (pictured) Mr Mundine told Daily Mail Australia that the controversy around Mr Mayo's comments would 'put a whole new bend in the 'Yes' campaign'. 'We're very much aware about who he is. We know his political bend,' he said. 'We've already said its (the Voice to Parliament) more than just an advisory group.' The Voice referendum is expected to be held sometime between October and December this year. Ben Fordham has slammed major power companies for making million-dollar profits while Australian households struggle to pay their bills. The 2GB radio host lashed energy giants for 'making a fortune' while their customers suffered 'panic attacks' opening their energy bills each month. 'Australia is heading for trouble on energy. We have scaled back traditional base load power and the back up supplies are not ready and they are unreliable,' he explained 'That's one of the reasons we're paying so much on power bills.' 'The boss of the Australian energy market operator Daniel Westerman is delivering a speech today. He has a blunt message: Australia is not building renewable energy fast enough to compensate for the loss of coal-fired power. 'And the aggressive target of 82 per cent renewables by 2030 appears to be impossible, Mr Fordham said. 'Coal is on the way out. Two-thirds of the east coast still relies on coal for electricity, but the generators are coming offline. 'Ladell shut in April, Eraring will shut by 2025. And at least three other coal plants will be shut by 2030. 'Our bills are expected to rise by another 25 per cent in a matter of days,' he said. 'Some customers are facing outrageous hikes up of to 80 per cent, and at the same time, the power giants are making big fat profits.' Origin, an energy provider to over four million households, made a $365million profit in 2022 and is on track to make one billion in 2023. 'Origin's share price has risen by almost 60 per cent in the past 12 months. They are making a fortune while you have a panic attack over your bill. Ben Fordham has slammed greedy power plants for making a profit while millions of households struggle to pay their energy bills (pictured, a coal-fired power plant) The 2GB radio host lashed energy giants for 'making a fortune' while their customers suffered 'panic attacks' opening their energy bills each month. CEO of the Minerals Council, Stephen Galilee, said the profits were a 'kick in the guts' for families battling major power price increases. Mr Galilee said the energy crisis was proof that Australia had prematurely ditched coal for renewables which were not yet ready to take the load. 'We should have the cheapest and most reliable power in the world,' the CEO said. 'And instead we're in this mess.' Last week, Aussie households were told to brace for another round of bill shock as three of the country's electricity providers increased their prices by 30 per cent. AGL and Origin Energy have confirmed that from July 1, customers in NSW, south-east Queensland and SA will see bill increases between 21.2 and 29.8 per cent. Red Energy is also raising prices by more than 20 per cent, and increasing the service to property fee by 42 per cent. Victorian households will get, on average, an increase of 25.5 per cent on their bill from August 1. CEO of the Minerals Council, Stephen Galilee, said the profits were a 'kick in the guts' for families battling major power price increases (stock image) The hikes translate to about $540 extra on the average annual AGL bill for NSW households, about $565 for South Australians, about $447 for those in Queensland and about $341 for Victorians. Origin residential customers in NSW will see a $407 increase on average, while those in South Australia will see a $405 hike, those in Queensland $347 and those in Victoria $361. Small business customers of Origin Energy in those same regions will also get an increase as the new financial year gets underway of between 20.5 and 27.3 per cent. AGL and Origin companies provide electricity for nearly half of all Australians, holding 49 per cent of the residential market share and about 47 per cent of the small business market. 'Wholesale energy costs, which account for about a third to half of final bills, continue to be 'the predominant driver of increased retail electricity prices', the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) said. A slow shift away from coal towards renewable electricity is underway but it will be at least a decade before the country is weened off fossil fuels (pictured, a home in Sydney) Price caps on gas and black coal introduced in December 2022 prevented even larger price hikes being put on consumers, AER chair Clare Savage said. Origin and AGL have said they will offer additional support to customers as the increases are brought in. Meanwhile, Origin Energy will build a big battery on the site of Australia's largest power plant, Eraring, as it also prepares to exit coal-fired power. It has committed $600 million for the first stage of the large-scale battery project. Origin said it will continue to assess the market, which will help inform when it will close all four units at Eraring, near Lake Macquarie. The NSW government has not ruled out intervening to keep Eraring open beyond its scheduled closure date of 2025, because it supplies about a quarter of the state's energy needs. NSW Premier Chris Minns said the government has to look at commercial decisions made by energy companies in NSW. AGL's Liddell coal-fired power station in the Upper Hunter, which until recently provided 10 per cent of the state's electricity will also be replaced by renewable energy and big batteries. Huge investments in battery storage will be needed to cover Australia's needs when wind and solar power is inactive (pictured, a wind farm in Tasmania) 'It's important that electricity consumers in this state have a steady reliable source of power and there's big challenges there in terms of the renewable energy revolution,' Mr Minns said. 'We believe that if we get the pathway right, we can put downward pressure on bills and make sure that energy is reliable.' Stage one involves construction of a 460 megawatt battery storage system anticipated to come online in the final three months of 2025. Origin has the option to increase the battery to 700MW and double dispatch duration to four hours, under approvals already in place. Battery equipment will be supplied by Finnish technology group Wartsila, while design and construction services will be provided by Enerven, a subsidiary of SA Power Networks. A mother of two will remain behind bars on remand after she allegedly doused another woman with accelerant in an attempt to set her on fire. Ashley Jean Zammit, 33, was arrested and charged with one count of act intended to cause grievous bodily harm in Caboolture, Queensland, on Saturday. Police allege Ms Zammit visited a Banksia Beach property to find a 36-year-old Morayfield woman who is known to her about 9.45am on April 4. A mother of two will remain behind bars on remand after she allegedly doused another woman with accelerant in an attempt to set her on fire (stock image) It is further alleged Ms Zammit splashed the accelerant onto a Morayfield woman's clothing and body before attempting to set her on fire with a lighter. According to court documents, Ms Zammit allegedly used an 'explosive substance' to unlawfully throw on the Morayfield woman. The Morayfield woman was able to escape uninjured and drive away in her car. Ms Zammit's defence solicitor, Ngarangi Rangihuna, told Caboolture Magistrates Court on Tuesday his client wouldn't be appearing via video link because she hadn't been eating since her arrest. 'She's been having issues downstairs [in the watch house],' Mr Rangihuna said. 'She has with issues ... taking medication and eating. She's gone a significant period of time without having any food.' Mr Rangihuna said Ms Zammit had been engaging with mental health specialists. He said his client would be willing to abide to strict bail conditions, including reporting three times a week and wearing an ankle monitoring device. Magistrate Kurt Fowler denied the bail application, stating he would have been more willing to consider granting bail if Ms Zammit was living 'two, three, 400km away' from the alleged victim (stock image) Magistrate Kurt Fowler denied the bail application, stating he would have been more willing to consider granting bail if Ms Zammit was living 'two, three, 400km away' from the alleged victim. 'This is an allegation that she deliberately drove somewhere with a jerry can full of fuel, it can't be suggested it's a spontaneous act and to the extent caused that to be put on another person where there's a [alleged] history of animosity,' Mr Fowler said. 'She [allegedly] had a lighter which at some stage was used or attempted to be used to cause a light to attempt a naked flame.' Mr Rangihuna said he had instructions to continue with the bail application despite the possibility his client could live in Casino, NSW, on bail. He indicated to the court his client would consider appealing the bail application before the Brisbane Supreme Court. Mr Fowler adjourned the matter to August 1 for further mention. 'It's like someone choking someone with suffocation. Clearly the issue here is underlying mental health, it's just too risky,' he said. Police fear a missing man who vanished in regional Victoria three months ago could have met with foul play. Victoria Police said on Tuesday they believe John Swiety, 57, may have met with 'foul play' around March 17, when he was last seen in the remote town of Goongerah, more than five hours east of Melbourne. Investigators said they believe Mr Swiety and another man, 47, described as an 'associate', left Morwell in a white Hiace van on the morning of his disappearance. Victoria Police said on Tuesday they believe John Swiety, 57, may have met with 'foul play' around March 17, when he was last seen in the remote town of Goongerah, more than five hours east of Melbourne Investigators said they have ascertained that Mr Swiety and another man, 47, described as an 'associate' left Morwell in a white Hiace van on the morning of his disappearance They said the pair travelled to the Ironark Track in Goongerah, where Mr Swiety was last seen. At about 8am Mr Swiety got out of the van, leaving his two terriers inside, and has not been seen since. Mr Swiety's associate was found by hunters about 6am the next day after he became bogged about 30kms south east of Ironbark Track. On the same afternoon, investigators said, Mr Swiety's two dogs were found wandering the Bonang Hwy in Goongerah. They said Mr Swiety's associate had been interviewed a number of times by detectives, and is assisting with the investigation. Detective Inspector David Dunstan, from the Missing Person Squad, said police were keen to speak with anyone with knowledge of what Mr Swiety was doing near the Ironbark Track or who might have seen the white van in the area that night. 'We currently hold grave fears for John's welfare and his disappearance is considered to be very much out of character,' Detective Inspector Dunstan said. 'Investigators are keen to know more about John's movements in the days leading up to his disappearance,' he said. 'We're particularly keen to speak to anyone who has further information on what John was doing near the Ironbark Track or anyone who might have seen him or the white van in that area on the night.' Victoria Police said they would like to speak to anyone who saw this van travelling between Morwell and Goongerah on March 17 Detective Inspector Dunstan said Mr Swiety's family were 'desperate' for answers. 'Over the last three months, both Missing Persons Squad and local detectives have made a significant number of inquiries in order to try and establish John's whereabouts, however we haven't been able to locate him,' he said. 'We're appealing for anyone who does have information, whether that is from anyone who had seen John or knows where he may currently be, to come forward and contact police.' 'John's family are desperate for answers and we're hoping that someone will do the right thing and provide them.' Police have released an image of the white van, and would like to speak to anyone who saw it on March 17 travelling between Morwell and Goongerah. Belarus said they have started taking delivery of the tactical nuclear weapons Joe Biden has warned the threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is 'real', days after denouncing Russia's deployment of such weapons in Belarus. It comes after Biden on Saturday called Putin's announcement that Russia had deployed its first tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus 'absolutely irresponsible'. 'When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado river drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy,' Biden told a group of donors in California on Monday. 'They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. It's real,' Biden said. Last week, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country has started taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, some of which he said were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Joe Biden warned the threat of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons is 'real'. He is pictured walking down the steps of Air Force One, California, on Monday Biden called Putin's announcement that Russia had deployed its first tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus 'absolutely irresponsible'. Putin is pictured at a meeting with a delegation of African leaders in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday The deployment is Russia's first move of such warheads - shorter-range, less powerful nuclear weapons that could be used on the battlefield - outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. The United States has said it has no intention of altering its stance on strategic nuclear weapons in response to the deployment and has not seen any signs that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon. In May, Russia dismissed Biden's criticism of its plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, saying the U.S. had for decades deployed such nuclear weapons in Europe. The Russian deployment is being watched closely by the United States and its allies as well as by China, which has repeatedly cautioned against the use of nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine. It comes after a leading academic dubbed Russia's siting of nuclear weapons in Belarus a 'blackmail tactic' to threaten the West. Mark Almond, director of the Crisis Research Institute in Oxford, said President Vladimir Putin's decision to station them close to the Polish border was designed to add 'layers of uncertainty' about Russia's strategy. 'The Belarussian weapons are a far bigger threat to Western Europe,' said Dr Almond. 'It poses the question to Washington if they are not directly threatened, how far are they willing to go in risking nuclear suicide in the defence of European allies? The launching of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile at Plesetsk testing field, April 20, 2022 Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile systems and other armoured vehicles drive along a street before a military parade on Victory Day, May 9, 2023 Belarus has started taking delivery of Russian nukes. President Alexander Lukashenko is pictured with Putin during a meeting at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in Sochi, June 9, 2023 'It is a blackmail tactic dating back to when Putin was a KGB agent in East Germany during the Cruise Missile crisis of the 1980s. 'This is a ploy to try to decouple the Western alliance over Ukraine by threatening neighbours like Poland that act as supply routes for our military aid.' He said the Kremlin's move offered Russia other advantages including to its key ally in the region, Belarus's President Aleksandr Lukashenko. These include ambiguity about control of the weapons. Russia has oversight, but Belarus may claim it could deploy them if fighting spills across its border from Ukraine. Western allies will also be wary of supplying arms to Ukraine if there is a danger that they could be directed at Belarus and raise the threat of nuclear attack. Putin told the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday that the transfer of the warheads to Belarus would be completed by the end of summer. He insisted they would be used only if Russia's territory or state was threatened, adding it was a warning to anyone 'thinking of inflicting a strategic defeat on us'. The wife of a road rage victim says she is tortured by images of him in hospital with a fractured skull and swelling of the brain after an attack that left him requiring CPR at the scene to save his life. Father-of-two John Totsis, 47, remains in hospital three weeks after a road rage attack allegedly carried out by a 34-year-old man who was refused bail in Bankstown Local Court in western Sydney on Tuesday. Photos of a bloodied Mr Totsis were posted online by his sister Vicki and his wife Li E Zl, who is stuck in the Philippines trying to arrange a visa to be by her husband's side. 'Praying for your fast recovery my sweetheart.. It's torturing me when I really want to see you, take care of you and be with you in this time of crisis, but I can't for now. I don't have yet my visa,' Ms Zl - a secondary school teacher - posted on Facebook. The post accompanied the photo of Mr Totsis in hospital which had been placed on Facebook by sister Vicki Totsis who described her brother's injuries as 'two skull fractures and swelling to the brain'. John Totsis (above with his wife Li E Zl) is in hospital with brain injuries after an alleged road rage attack by a 34-year-old man who was refused bail in Bankstown court on Tuesday Mr Totsis (above in hospital) was allegedly punched by Din Decevic and then aided by two Good Samaritans and is now being treated for skull fractures and welling to the brain The Ford Raptor driver charged over an alleged road rage incident is Din Decevic, of Punchbowl, who is accused of punching Mr Totsis in the back of the head, causing him to hit the ground and suffer a brain haemorrhage. Vicki Totsis said a passing motorist who saw a stricken Mr Totsis performed CPR before paramedics arrived at the scene at Belmore, in Sydney's south-west, on May 28. Din Decevic was arrested in Lakemba on Monday night - three weeks after allegedly leaving the scene of the incident - and was charged with recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm. He did not appear in Bankstown Local Court on Tuesday and magistrate Glenn Walsh said the accused will remain in custody pending a hearing on Thursday when he will apply for bail. At the time of his arrest, Mr Decevic was already on bail for an alleged stalking charge which is set down for a hearing at Bankstown Local Court in December. Police will allege that around 7.15pm on Sunday 28 May 2023, Mt Totsis had stopped his Hyundai Getz on Peel Street, Belmore. A short time later, police allege Mr Decevic parked his Ford Raptor utility behind the other man's vehicle, exited the utility and assaulted the victim. Police released this image of a vehicle following the alleged road rage incident which put Mr Totsis in hospital with serious injuries after he fell backwards and struck his head Police will allege the assault occurred around 7.15pm on Sunday 28 May 2023 on Peel Street, Belmore (pictured) Police will allege Mr Totsis fell backwards and struck his head on to the ground. Mr Totsis was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being taken to St George Hospital in a serious but stable condition. Mr Decevic allegedly left the scene in his Raptor prior to the arrival of police. Detectives released a photo of a vehicle and a description of a man they now allege is Din Decevic, and arrested him on Monday night. Mr Totsis remains in a serious but stable condition at St George Hospital. Police leaders said shooting may have stemmed from a fight between a group of girls around 4:20 p.m. At least six teenagers were shot Monday afternoon around where Milwaukee's Juneteenth celebration had just finished, according to police and fire officials. The shooting happened about 4:20 p.m. outside Greater Philadelphia Church of God in Christ, according to witnesses and a Facebook Live video taken by a bystander in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said six teens were shot, including a 17-year-old boy, who may have been a gunman himself and is now in custody. Norman said the shooting may have stemmed from a fight among a number of girls and young women, but he didn't know what sparked the dispute. It comes after a weekend where numerous shootings and deaths were reported across the nation. In nearby Chicago, at least eight people were killed over the weekend in separate shootings. At least six teenagers were shot Monday afternoon where Milwaukee's Juneteenth celebration had just wrapped up, according to police and fire officials Posted by Mona Marie on Monday, June 19, 2023 Officials in Milwaukee said the victims, four girls and two boys, ranged in age from 14 to 19 years old. Police were still seeking additional suspects who they said hadn't yet been identified. The injuries for those in the shooting near North King Drive near Locust Street varied but did not appear life-threatening, the chief said. 'Milwaukee, what's going on with our children?' Norman wondered aloud at a news conference. Norman noted he has taken part in the city's Juneteenth celebrations for eight years without previous bloodshed. 'Parents, guardians, elders, we need to engage in ensuring that this violence that our children are bringing these streets ceases. No handgun, no weapons of destruction, should be in the hands of our young ones.' 'This is a story that plays out too often, and its getting really old. Really old,' Norman said. Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson stressed that Monday's Juneteenth observance itself was a safe and growing event, calling the subsequent violence 'totally, totally unacceptable.' Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson spoke during a news conference outside the Milwaukee Police Department Milwaukee police investigate a shooting along North King Drive near Locust Street, in Milwaukee, Monday, June 19, 2023 'We had thousands and thousands of people here celebrating and bringing themselves together and having a sense of community. That's a powerful thing. That's the true story about what this day is,' said Johnson, a Democrat. A man who identified himself as T. Jenkins told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that a fight between two women preceded the shooting. A young man pulled out a gun and everyone scattered, Jenkins said. The man fired some of the shots, he said. Jenkins provided aid to a young woman with a neck wound. 'I applied pressure to her neck,' he said. 'I tried to keep everyone calm around me.' The Facebook Live video taken in the immediate aftermath of the shooting showed at least two young people with gunshot wounds being treated by paramedics on the pavement. The Facebook user tried to comfort her sobbing friend, who was trying to contact her mother. Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said six teens were shot. Norman said the shooting may have stemmed from a fight among a number of girls and young women, but he didn't know what sparked the dispute It comes after a weekend of gun violence across the nation, including eight people killed in nearby Chicago. During the peaceful daytime Juneteenth event in Milwaukee, vendors sold food and wares as community organizations offered resources, snacks and free giveaways. Music thumped from booths and food trucks offering refreshing treats in the heat drew long lines. Youth dance groups, marching bands and drill teams entertained crowds in a parade along King Drive earlier in the day. Police officers were stationed in several places along the route. Keith Caldwell, another vendor, described the scene this way: 'I just heard commotion, gunshots, people screaming.' On security at the event, Caldwell talked of the need for gun control. 'Right now, it's like an uncontrollable situation,' he said. The crash occurred in the small town of Freedom, NY about 50 miles outside of Buffalo Police are still investigating the cause of the accident and are working to subpoena a blood sample from the brother, Ryan Klink, 21 A man in upstate New York tragically killed his own sister and two minors when he swerved into oncoming traffic and crashed into his sibling's car. Evan Klink, 21, smashed his Dodge truck into his sister Dahlia Klink's Ford hatchback killing the 24-year-old and her daughter Molly Kibler, 6, and another minor Havanah Lopez, 17. The two minors were pronounced dead at the scene on Freedom Road in the town of Freedom, around 40 miles south of Buffalo, Saturday afternoon. Dahlia Klink died of her injuries on Sunday at the Eric County Medical Center. Evan Klink was treated for minor injuries and taken to the New York State Police station in Warsaw, New York. Dahlia Klink, 24 (center left), was killed in a head-on collision Saturday, as was one of her daughters The fatal accident occurred when a Dodge pick up truck driven by Dahlia's brother, Evan Klink, swerved into oncoming traffic Dahlia Klink's other daughter - who has not been identified - was also taken to the hospital with serious injuries following the crash. Another passenger in the Dodge, Cameron Klink, 19, was transported by helicopter to a hospital with serious injuries. Inspectors are still attempting to understand what happened, but according to witnesses, the Dodge pick-up suddenly moved into the oncoming lane. It remains unclear whether or not the swerve was done deliberately. Police are also working on determining the speed Evan Klink was traveling. The speed limit on the part of the road where the fatal crash occurred is reportedly 55 mph. The state police's reconstruction unit is reviewing physical evidence from the crash site and the Dodge. New York State Police are working with the local county DA's office to obtain a subpoena for the driver's blood, according to a spokesperson. Authorities have not clarified that all the passengers in the two cars were related, though a series of Facebook posts from the victims' family members suggest they were. Molly Kibler, Dahlia's six-year-old daughter with her fiance Ryan Kibler, also died as a result of the accident Havanah Lopez, 17, was a passenger in Dahlia's car who was also killed in the crash Dahlia's other daughter, as well as one of the passengers riding in the Dodge were brought to the hospital with critical injuries The small town in Western New York, about 50 miles from Buffalo, has a population of less than 3,000. Some of the residents were left in shock about the tragic family affair: 'How's the driver of the truck going to live with himself now and the rest of the family?' Freedom resident Sue Fish told WKBW. Several GoFundMe pages for the victims' funeral costs are currently circulating. Do you know more? Contact tips@dailymail.com A wild brawl at an inner-city McDonald's allegedly erupted after a teen sneaked behind the counter to confront staff, Macca's bosses have revealed. Macca's staff and the youth chucked food and drinks at one another in Wynyard Station McDonald's in central Sydney at 1am on Thursday. Footage shows a staff member throwing a milkshake in the face of the teenage boy before he retaliates and hurls chips, soft drinks and other items. But on Tuesday, McDonald's told Daily Mail Australia the explosive video only told half the story. 'What is not shown is the customer earlier entering the restaurant and going behind the counter to disrupt the kitchen and threaten crew,' said a company spokesman. But the fast-food giant said the employees' furious reaction broke company rules and they would now be under investigation. 'The behaviour of our employees in this video is not in accordance with our policies, and we are looking into this with the restaurant,' the spokesman added. The customer was hit by a drink thrown by one of the staff members (pictured) 'The health and safety of our people and customers is our top priority. 'Anti-social behaviour is not tolerated in our restaurants and we expect our people to be treated with respect at all times. 'We will always do our best for our customers, but we wont accept abuse, intimidation, threats or violence towards our employees. 'Police were called to assist, and we are supporting employees involved.' Two teenagers, aged 17 and 15, have since been arrested for assaulting a 23-year-old McDonald's employee and were dealt with under the Young Offenders Act. In the video, a young man, who is wearing grey shorts, a pink hoodie and cap, can be seen standing at the counter before a member of staff blindsides him by throwing a drink in his face. He recoils in surprise and slips backwards on the spilled drink, then returns to the counter and starts launching items at the staff, in the process appearing to break one of their point-of-sale machines. Screams and laughter can be heard from other customers as the man then shouts 'p***y' at the workers. A member of staff then launches a well-aimed drink straight at his face and the customer retaliates by spraying the cowering staff with chips and drinks that are waiting behind the counter. He then walks backwards out of the fast-food restaurant and turns to smile at the camera. The video, which was originally shared by the Brown Cardigan Instagram page, attracted hundreds of comments, with many condemning the customer's actions. 'Shame on this guy!' wrote one. 'Let's remember most of the people working at Macca's are teenagers or people on student visas.' The individual slipped and fell on the thrown drink before rising to his feet to hurl food and drinks back The incident took place at Wynyard Station McDonald's (pictured) in inner-city Sydney in the early hours of Thursday morning Others saw the funny side. 'That first drink to the face then slipping in it combo was DEVASTATING,' wrote one. 'There was no recovery from that. Winner: employee.' Another quipped: 'Not Happy Meal.' Police confirmed the incident and added: 'About 1am on Thursday, police were called to a restaurant in Wynyard following reports of a malicious damage incident. 'On arrival, officers attached to Sydney City Police Area Command were told an employee of the restaurant - a 23-year-old man - had been assaulted. 'A short time later, police arrested two males aged 17 and 15 on George Street, Sydney. 'Both teenagers were taken to Day Street Police Station where they were dealt with the Young Offenders Act.' Australians have been urged to read their contracts carefully after it was revealed 20 per cent sign in less than a minute with several stung by ridiculous clauses. Sydney legal platform Lawpath looked at 7,000 customer contracts in the last six months and found on average a statutory declaration was signed after just 60 seconds and a commercial leasing agreement in 90 seconds. Aussies spend an average of 1 minute and 40 seconds analysing a waiver, two minutes and 10 seconds when hiring equipment and two minutes and 30 seconds when examining the terms and conditions of buying a product. The lack of due diligence has left some in a tight bind after discovering they had agreed to a bizarre list of terms and conditions. Among the odd clauses included a mechanic refusing to be held responsible for any damage inflicted to a customer's car and an employer who stopped a staff member from working for a different company in the same industry. Shocking new data has revealed Australians are spending less than a minute checking legally binding contracts such as a will or workplace agreement (stock image) Lawpath data showed confidentiality agreements are signed within an average of three minutes while wills and estates take Aussies roughly four minutes to sign. The average signing time for any document is two minutes and thirty seconds while one in five people will sign a legally binding form in under 60 seconds. Australians are now being urged to read the fine print themselves or employ the help of somebody who understands the law to look over their legal documents. Lawpath CEO Dom Woolrych said a 'concerning' number of Australians weren't reviewing legally binding contracts before signing them. 'We have received feedback indicating that people find legal contracts to be complex and overwhelming, leading them to believe that there is no benefit in reading them,' he said. 'I can sympathise, I'm guilty of not reading the Apple or Facebook terms.' The failure to inspect a document properly before signing on the dotted line has had serious consequences for some Australians. One client signed an employment contract with an agency that specified upon leaving they were unable to work in the technology industry for a minimum of six months. Another employee experienced issues after signing on with an education provider whose contract included the statement: 'There is no minimum guarantee of any volume or term of Services or Fees'. This allowed the company to demand a large volume of services without providing the employee with adequate compensation. Up to 54 per cent of Australians sign a legal document within three minutes, making them susceptible to 'contract blindness' a new study has warned (stock image) A third ran into trouble when trying to break a contract which had an 'automatic renewal' clause which had locked them in for another two years. The contract had a clause stating that termination could only be provided with a three month written request before the end of the term. Other examples include the terms and conditions of a car park which read: 'You agree the operator shall not in any circumstances whatsoever be liable for any loss of or damage to your vehicle...' Another cheeky Motor Vehicle Repairer's Contract read: 'I agree that you shall not be liable for fire, loss or damage to the vehicle whilst under your control... or the loss of the car's contents.' Lawpath has launched a new AI program to help small businesses read the fine print by providing clear and concise explanations of the legal content. The technology extracts key dates and information and help businesses navigate seemingly difficult legal contracts with ease. A bereft father has revealed the body of his 20-year-old son, who was last spotted wandering bare-footed in bushland, has been found after a desperate week-long search that rallied the local community. Kyle Morris is reported to have been found by police near Linkfield Rd, Bridgeman Downs, north of Brisbane on Monday afternoon between 2 and 3pm. Family and police put out repeated pleas for public help in finding Kyle after he was captured by church CCTV footage wearing a T-shirt, shorts, no shoes and a black motorcycle helmet on June 12 around 4am, near where the body has been located. Kyle's dad, Darren Morris, has taken to Facebook to announce the 'devastating' news of his son's passing. 'It is with a very heavy heart that I tell you, that our beloved son has been found dead this afternoon,' Mr Morris wrote as he paid tribute to the concerted effort to find Kyle. The body of 20-year-old Kyle Morris has been found after a week-long search that rallied the community 'It is only through all of your efforts, care, concern, best wishes, sharing of posts, posting up flyers, the great SES volunteers (Anita and the team), the police force (Corey, Troy, Kayne and the team at Albany Creek) etc. that we found him so quickly and the family can now rest, knowing that Kyle is not alone and suffering somewhere. 'You should all be proud of yourselves as a community. I thank you all from the bottom of my broken heart. RIP mate.' Mr Morris told the Courier Mail that his son was studying business at Brisbane's Griffith University part-time, and was working with the family business learning to be a consultant. 'He was a wonderful boy, friendly and polite,' Mr Morris said. 'He loved riding motorbikes and jet skis. Keen to have a successful career. '(Kyle) suffered from anxiety at times. But 95 per cent of the time he was a happy, well adjusted young man.' Kyle's dad, Darren Morris, paid a heartfelt tribute to his son and thanked the community for their efforts amid an outpouring of grief and sympathy on social media On Sunday Mr Davis posted an open letter addressed to his son on Facebook. I love you. Your mum loves you. Your grandparents love you. Your sister even loves you!,' it read. 'Thousands of good people you have never even met, care about you and want to see you back, safe and sound, with your family.' The outpouring of sympathy and grief under Mr Davis's post announcing Kyle's passing underlined how widespread and deep the communal chord struck by the heart-wrenching case has been. 'I have been keeping up to date since coming across a previous post within my community,' read a typical comment. 'I do not personally know Kyle or his family, but I couldnt stop thinking and hoping that he would turn up safely. This is truly a very heart-breaking outcome for a young man with so much life yet to be lived! 'I now hope for the family to have closure and be afforded the time they need to properly grieve, knowing Kyle is peacefully resting in a much safer place. 'I think this will touch many members of the broader community and hopefully shine a light on just how precious life, and to cherish every moment you can.' Police are working with the coroner to formally identify the body. Lifeline 13 11 14 She is spending her final day 'relaxing' with loved ones A 23-year-old woman who will end her life through euthanasia is spending her final 24 hours 'relaxing' and farewelling friends and family. Lily Thai is scheduled to die on Wednesday via South Australia's voluntary assisted dying laws, which the state introduced in January. The young woman has suffered 'excruciating' pain from a rare condition known as auto-immune autonomic ganglionopathy - where a person's body attacks their own nervous system. Since the age of 17, Lily has suffered debilitating illnesses that robbed her of a life, leaving her bedridden and unable to move. She is currently receiving palliative care at the Flinders Medical Centre's Laurel Hospice. Lily (pictured right with fellow patient and AAG sufferer Annaliese Holland, 23) is unable to move and battles 'excruciating' pain from a rare condition known as auto-immune autonomic ganglionopathy. She will end her life through euthanasia on Wednesday Lily said she was not well enough to go outside in her final days and instead would remain in her bed while being comforted by her loved ones, The Advertiser reported. One person who's been by Lily's side is her close friend and ambulance officer Danika Pederzolli, 28. Ms Pederzolli recently took Lily out to the beach, with a heartwarming snap showing the pair sitting in the back of an open ambulance while enjoying the sight of the ocean and some McDonald's fries. Ms Pederzolli, who met Lily through a St John's Ambulance cadet program, said she would remember her close friend as having a 'vibrant attitude, positive and warm presence'. 'She's such a positive and warm presence in your life and (such a) smart person,' she told the publication. 'She was just so happy, and she's still like that now, she's no different.' She described Lily as 'sunshine in human form' and wrote her a heartfelt note that she gifted to her along with a teddy bear. Lily Thai, 23, who will use euthanasia laws to end her own life this Wednesday, enjoyed an outing by the beach eating McDonalds with her friend and paramedic, Danika Pederozolli Ms Pederzolli added that it was 'pretty horrible' what Lily was going through and a situation that 'no young person should be in' but said the support for her has been 'beautiful'. Lily said the support she's received after sharing her story has been incredible. 'Lots of people (who) I haven't spoken to in a long time (have reached out), which has been absolutely beautiful,' she said. Lily signed the paperwork last week confirming her decision to have her life terminated. She has been battling health issues since she was a teenager, with a doctor first diagnosing her with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome at 17. A year later, she caught an upper respiratory infection that left her unable to walk, use her bowels, eat, or drink without getting sick. She received treatment for a spinal fluid leak, which she initially believed she had, but it didn't improve her condition. Lily then travelled to Sydney and eventually found some relief through expert care provided by a team of doctors at Macquarie University Hospital. The 23-year-old has been robbed of a life after suffering debilitating health issues She had also visited a surgeon who specialised in patients with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. By this stage, her condition had deteriorated to the point that she was wearing a halo brace - which forms a ring around the patient's head, stopping them from moving their head or neck while their spine heels. She also had to use a nasal feeding tube as she couldn't eat anything without getting sick, leaving her tipping the scales at 40kg. Lily had spinal fusion surgery and was fitted with a tube to help with stomach acid secretion. The surgery occurred during the middle of the Covid pandemic, meaning she was not allowed visitors. She got discharged early as she struggled being alone for such a long period of time. Lily was then referred to a neuroimmunologist in Sydney who formally diagnosed her with AAG. It was then she also discovered her condition had led to multi-organ failure and a large lesion was found on the left side of her brain. Lily went back to Adelaide and was admitted to Flinders Medical Centre's Laurel Hospices, where she spends her days 'just surviving'. She's grappled with the heartbreaking thought that she only had a matter of time before her body gave up. Lily spends most of her time sleeping in her hospital bed to avoid dealing with the constant chronic pain from her condition. It had also been lonely, if not for family visits and the close friendship she struck up with fellow patient, Annaliese Holland, 23, who also suffers from the same condition. Annaliese's symptoms had begun from the age of 12 with severe pelvic pain. Doctors initially believed she had endometriosis, but after treatment her symptoms still grew worse. Doctors tested her for a number of illnesses throughout her teenage years, but were unable to diagnose her. It wasn't until she was 19 that Annaliese was correctly diagnosed with AAG. Lily has asked those wishing to honour her legacy to donate to the Hospital Research Foundation. You can donate here. Tempers have flared during a press conference held by Lidia Thorpe justifying her decision to vote 'No' for a referendum vote on a the Voice to Parliament. The independent senator was flanked by members of the Blak Sovereign Movement, including her former media advisor Jennetta Quinn-Bates wearing striking 'No' sunglasses, as she declared: 'The Voice is in violation to our ancient protocols'. 'We have never agreed to be governed by the colonial Australian government... we do not surrender now. The Voice is just a vehicle for unwanted constitutional recognition.' A question asked about Ms Thorpe's links to the 'Pay the Rent' group by a reporter sparked fierce backlash by a elder in her crew shouting: 'How dare you?' 'How dare you insult us while we're talking about our future? How dare you insult us,' the woman shouted. The woman was consoled by Ms Thorpe as fellow elder Fred Hooper stepped up to answer the question - which was about the 'Pay the Rent' initiative - on the senator's behalf. Ms Thorpe said: 'This is what we've got to deal with.' She also warned Fred Hooper not to 'fall into' the question being asked. Tempers have flared during a press conference held by Lidia Thorpe justifying her decision to vote 'No' on the Voice to Parliament Jennetta Quinn-Bates was among the group, wearing black tinted 'No' sunglasses . At one stage she whispered in Ms Thorpe's ear before she proceeded with answering the question 'The Commonwealth Government have put millions of dollars to the Yes campaign. We don't know if there is a No campaign. We're just saying no because we are sovereign nations that don't agree with the Voice,' Ms Thorpe said. Senator Thorpe, as well as her sister, uncle, and grandmother all have some links to the 'Pay the Rent' collective, which since its establishment in the 1970s spends donated money at grassroots levels. In answering questions about her family's ongoing role in the collective, and whether it would be donating to the No campaign, Senator Thorpe brushed off the journalist, instead saying it was set up to 'address the effects of genocide'. 'With all due respect you're one of the journos who throws me under the bus all the time,' she said. Ms Quinn-Bates then whispered in Ms Thorpe's ear, before she proceeded with answering the question. 'I don't have any details to any bank accounts, I've never been a signatory to any bank accounts. You'll have to follow up with the Pay the Rent crew.' The 'Pay the Rent' movement wants homeowners to voluntarily pay a percentage of their income to Aboriginal elders without any government oversight or intervention. Thomas Mayo, a signatory to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and architect of the Voice to Parliament, indicated the proposed advisory body, if passed in a referendum late this year, could be a stepping stone toward reparations. The 'Pay the Rent' movement wants homeowners to voluntarily pay a percentage of their income to Aboriginal elders without any government oversight or intervention Pictured: A member of Senator Thorpe's crew wearing 'No' sunglasses He made the comment in a video published by Search Foundation, a left-wing thinktank that markets itself as the successor to the Communist Party of Australia. Mr Mayo was speaking about the Uluru Statement from the Heart, some two years before the Albanese government announced there would a referendum on a First Nations Voice - an Aboriginal body with the power to propose alterations to all bills before parliament that impact indigenous people. 'This is the first step, it's a vital step and it puts all the explanation behind it. Pay the Rent for example, how do we do that in a way that is transparent and that actually sees reparations and compensation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people beyond what we say and do at a rally?' Elsewhere, Mr Mayo said politicians would be 'punished' if they ignored advice from the advisory body. The son of an expelled ex-Minnesota state representative with a previous hit-and-run conviction in California was arrested and charged with murder for allegedly plowing into a vehicle carrying five Somali women, killing them all, in Minneapolis. Horrifying video shows the moment Derrick John Thompson, 27, smashed into the car carrying Sabiriin Ali, 17, Sahra Gesaade, 20, Salma Abdikadir, 20, Sagal Hersi, 19, and Siham Adam, 19, officials said. Thompson has a criminal record that includes a 2018 hit-and-run in California that gave the woman life-changing injuries. She spent several weeks in a coma. He was given an eight-year sentence, with 502 days as credit for time already served and another 75 days credit for good behavior. Thompson was freed and on Friday is suspected of being behind the wheel of a speeding car that tried to flee a police officer when it crashed into a vehicle with the five women on Lake Street as they were getting ready for a friend's wedding the next day. Derrick John Thompson, the son of an expelled ex-Minnesota state representative with a previous hit-and-run conviction has been arrested and charged with murder for plowing into a vehicle carrying five Somali women , killing them all, in Minneapolis on Friday When contacted as to why he was out of prison, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney could not give any specific reason but suggested that California's proposition 57 gave the state 'wide latitude to award additional custody credits, as well as, early parole opportunities.' Under the law as they saw it, Thompson should've had to spend another five-and-a-half years in prison. The vehicle Thompson was driving at the time had over 17 pounds of marijuana and $20,000 in cash, according to Fox News. It is one of Thompson's many arrests and a lengthy rap sheet for the son of a disgraced Minnesota politician. Thompson's father John Thompson was expelled from the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party caucus in September 2021 for lying about being racially profiled by a police officer over his past problems with the law, which included a domestic violence accusation. He was officially unseated in November 2022, despite being endorsed for re-election in 2021 by prominent Democrats in the state, including Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Representative Ilhan Omar. In April 2022, Thompson - who by that time was an independent - was accused of brandishing his official business card in what St. Paul cops suggested was an attempt to cower them. Thompson's father John Thompson was expelled from the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party caucus in September 2021 for lying about being racially profiled by a police officer over his past problems with the law, which included a domestic violence accusation John Thompson is also said to have screamed at officers following the traffic stop in St. Paul on April 24, when his 26-year-old daughter Larraja Austin was pulled over. Thompson accused them of racism and successfully managed to persuade the cops to let Austin drive off without being made to perform a sobriety test or arrested. Officers taking part in a crackdown on bad driving pulled the beautician over after watching her swerve, and are said to have smelt weed in her car on doing so. Condemning Thompson's alleged behavior in a blistering Facebook post, St. Paul Chief of Police Todd Axtell wrote: 'It turned ugly fast. Thompson attended Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's State of the State speech at 6 p.m. on the same day that his daughter was pulled over. In the summer of 2021, the St. Paul Police Department released footage of Thompson being pulled over and making similar allegations of racism against officers. Thompson said that he was guilty of 'driving while black.' That incident led to it being revealed that Thompson held a Wisconsin driver's license. That revelation saw the media discover that John Thompson had previous domestic abuse allegations against him. Thompson was accused of a series of domestic abuse incidents dating back to 2003. In one instance, the alleged abuse took place in front of his children. The state rep's wife, Lea Austin Thompson, came forward in 2021 to say of her husband, 'I have never been abused. He never has abused me.' Thompson (C) marches with Black Lives Matter protesters outside the Brooklyn Center police headquarters on April 13, 2021 in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Thompson's wife has previously come forward to say that her husband never abused her Following those revelations, Thompson was removed from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party party caucus in the Minnesota legislature. Thompson said in a statement after his expulsion that he would continue to serve his constituents as an independent. Thompson rose to prominence following the killing of his 'good friend' Philando Castile, according to a 2021 St. Paul Pioneer-Press profile. While a feature in Vice Magazine referred to him as Castile's 'best friend.' On his official website, Thompson wrote, 'My family and I have always worked hard and kept to ourselves until the day my friend and co-worker Philando Castile was shot and killed during a traffic stop. At that moment, I knew that I could no longer remain silent.' The girls' car is shown (top left) seconds before being hit by Thompson's SUV on Friday The girls' car is shown being knocked sideways at 95mph after the moment of impact His son, Derrick John Thompson, now faces charges in connection to Friday's horrific crash. The five women killed were doing last-minute shopping at a Minneapolis mall Friday and having the tattoos applied for a friend's wedding the next day. They were on the way home when Thompson ran a red light and smashed into them in his SUV at around 10pm. He was traveling at around 95mph - 40 miles over the 55mph speed limit, according to public officials. Thompson survived the crash and fled his vehicle on foot to a nearby Taco Bell. He was arrested there later and taken to the hospital. A Minnesota State Police trooper began pursuit of the SUV on an interstate as it was speeding near 100mph where the speed limit is 55mph in south Minneapolis, according to the state's Department of Public Safety. The SUV exited the highway before it could be pulled over and ran the red light, crashing into the women's car. The five victims were regular attendees of the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in nearby Bloomington, Minnesota, according to director Khalid Omar. 'These are pearls of our community. They leave a big void. All five of them had bright futures,' he said. Ali had just graduated high school and was set to attend the University of Minnesota, while the other four were all currently in college. 'They weren't doing anything wrong,' Omar added. 'They were just getting ready for their friend's wedding.' A group of five Minnesota women preparing for a friend's wedding by getting henna tattoos were killed Friday night after a driver trying to speed away from police slammed into their car. Sagal Hersi, 19 and Siham Adam, also 19, were two of the victims Sahra Gesaade, 20, and Salma Abdikadir, 20, were two of the victims in the tragic crash. Abidkadir volunteered as a tutor at her local mosque Sabiriin Ali, 17, was the youngest of the five killed. She had just graduated high school and was headed to the University of Minnesota The girls started to drive down Lake Street just before 10 p.m. when an SUV being followed by a Minnesota State Police trooper ran a red light and smashed into their car The scene outside the fatal crash on Friday night. The suspect tried to flee to Taco Bell but was taken to the hospital from there Omar noted all five women were volunteers at the Islamic Center, with Ali and her mother working as caretakers, while Abdikadir often taught kids to read and write in Arabic. The Islamic Center has started a public fundraiser for the families involved, which has drawn over $344,000. 'We find ourselves in deep sorrow today, for our community experienced a heartbreaking tragedy last night. We have lost five of our bright, young sisters in a severe car accident. 'May Allah grant mercy upon the departed and open the doors of Jannah for them,' the page read. 'These young Muslim sisters, were shining stars of hope for our future. Unfortunately, their lives were cut short last night by a driver evading the police.' He explained desire for Voice to lead to reparations A prominent 'Yes' campaigner described his vision for life after a Voice to Parliament is introduced - including reparations for Indigenous people, 'rent' being paid to live on Australian land and the abolishment of 'harmful colonial institutions'. A series of tweets dating back to 2018 that were published by Thomas Mayo, an architect of the Voice referendum question and signatory of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, show his push for an eventual treaty that would see land handed back to First Nations people. This vision for a Voice to Parliament appears to directly contradict Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's hope for a 'modest' concession to assist the nation's most vulnerable. He listed 'all the things we imagine when we demand' a Voice, including 'reparations, land back, abolishing harmful colonial institutions'. Additionally, Mr Mayo said his sights were set on 'getting ALL our kids out of prisons & in to care... integration of our laws & lore, speaking language, wages back'. Mr Mayo said a 'guaranteed representative body' was 'needed [to]... properly pursue the rent that is owed and an abolishment of systems that harm us'. A prominent 'Yes' campaigner described his vision for life with a Voice to Parliament - detailing ambitions for reparations to Indigenous people, 'rent' being paid to live on Australian land and the abolishment of 'harmful colonial institutions' Daily Mail Australia has obtained a series of old tweets dating back to 2018 and published by Thomas Mayo, an architect of the Voice referendum question and signatory of the Uluru Statement of the Heart In 2020, Mr Mayo got into a heated online exchange with Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe - a vocal critic of the Voice to Parliament. She has long argued a treaty is more important than constitutional recognition, denying the legality of the constitution and expressing concerns about the sovereignty of First Nations people if the referendum passes. Mr Mayo told her a constitutional Voice will give Indigenous people a platform to 'negotiate' with the Commonwealth on their 'obligations'. 'Australians already will support a referendum to recognise our Voice,' Mr Mayo said. 'They are much less likely to support what we may claim in a treaty (reparations, land back, etc). 'A constitutionally enshrined Voice is important to establish to use the truth to support treaty negotiations.' Mr Mayo described the advisory body as a 'vital step in the fight for justice'. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Mayo for comment. The unearthed tweets come days after footage surfaced of Mr Mayo making inflammatory comments about his vision for the future. In one clip from 2020, Mr Mayo spoke about the proposal being a step towards making compensation for Indigenous people a reality. These tweets reveal Mr Mayo has been pushing for a Voice to Parliament with hopes it could be utilised down the track to negotiate a treaty, which would demand reparations and land being handed back to First Nations people Mayo has become one of the most prominent campaigners in the Voice after contributing to the creation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2017 Mr Mayo was speaking about the Uluru Statement from the Heart, some two years before the Albanese government announced there would a referendum on a First Nations Voice. 'Pay the Rent for example, how do we do that in a way that is transparent and that actually sees reparations and compensation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people beyond what we say and do at a rally?' he said. The 'Pay the Rent' movement wants homeowners to voluntarily pay a percentage of their income to Aboriginal elders without any government oversight or intervention. Mr Mayo said in another unearthed video posted in 2021 that politicians would be 'punished' if they ignored advice from the advisory body. In March, Mr Mayo stood shoulder to shoulder with a tearful Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as the official wording of the referendum question was announced 'The power in the Voice is that it creates the ability for First Nations to come together through representatives that they choose, representatives that they can hold accountable,' he said. 'And then be able to campaign for that, and punish politicians that ignore our advice. That is where the power comes from.' In Question Time on Tuesday, Minister for Indigenous Affairs Linda Burney was unable to condemn Mr Mayo's comments. 'I am not responsible for what other people say,' she said. 'At the end of the day, this is about doing things differently so we can move the dial on a national shame in this country.' Mr Mayo said a 'guaranteed representative body' was 'needed [to]... properly pursue the rent that is owed and an abolishment of systems that harm us' The 'Pay the Rent' movement wants homeowners to voluntarily pay a percentage of their income to Aboriginal elders without any government oversight or intervention Meanwhile the Prime Minister said Australians will be afforded a 'once in a lifetime opportunity' to improve the lives of First Nations people between October and December. 'Where's the downside here?' he asked. 'What are people risking here? 'From my perspective this is all upside.' Mr Albanese said 'the truth is for most people watching this it will have no impact of their lives', but that it 'might make things better for the most disadvantaged people in Australia'. After years of doing things 'for' Aboriginal people, often with the best of intentions, the PM said a Voice to Parliament would allow Indigenous people to take the front seat on matters crucial to them. There have been many concerns about what exactly this means. Critics of the Voice say there is not enough detail provided on just what matters the advisory body will have input in. Attorney General Mark Dreyfus tried to clear up that confusion during the press conference. He listed five key issues which will become the core focus of the advisory group: health, employment, education, housing and justice. 'No harm can come from this referendum, only good,' he said. 'The parliament has done its job and now it's up to the Australian people.' Both the Yes and No campaigns will now ramp up efforts to connect with voters ahead of the referendum, which will likely take place in October this year. The Liberal Party, Nationals and One Nation will all oppose the Voice and contribute to official No pamphlets to be delivered to every household. Labor and the Greens, along with several independents, will collaborate on a Yes pamphlet. What we know about the Voice to Parliament so far Here, Daily Mail Australia looks at some of the key questions about the Voice so far, and how the government has tackled them: What kind of advice can the Voice provide the Parliament and Government? The Voice will advise on matters that directly relate to Indigenous people. It will respond to requests made by the government, while also having the power to engage proactively on matters that they believe impact them. The group will have its own resources to research matters and engage with communities at a grassroots level to ensure it is best reflecting their needs. How will members of the Voice be chosen? Members of the Voice will be appointed by Indigenous communities and will serve on the committee for a fixed period of time, yet to be determined. The way the communities choose their representatives will be agreed upon by the local communities in tandem with the government as part of a 'post referendum process' to ensure cultural legitimacy. Who can become a member of the committee? Members of the Voice must be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. They will be chosen from across each state and territory and have balanced gender representation nationally. The government has also guaranteed that young people will be included in the committee to ensure representation across the broad scope of the community. Will the Voice be transparent? The government states the Voice will be subject to scrutiny and reporting requirements to ensure it is held accountable and remains transparent. Voice members will be held to standards of the National Anti-Corruption Commission and will be sanctioned or removed from the committee if there are any findings of misconduct. Will the Voice have veto power? No. Will the Voice work independently of other government bodies? The committee must respect the work and role of existing organisations, the government says. Will the Voice handle any funds? The Voice will not directly manage any money or deliver any services to the community. Its sole role will be in making representations about improving existing government programs and services, and advising on new ideas coming through the parties. Advertisement Who is Thomas Mayo? The humble 'wharfie' at the centre of the Yes campaign Mayo has become one of the most prominent campaigners in the Voice after contributing to the creation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2017. His career started as a humble 'wharfie', first as a maritime trainee at the Darwin Port Authority, followed by 14 years as a crane operator. He eventually landed a job at the maritime union, propelled forward by his strong sense of justice. He worked as a branch secretary and now, 19 years after arriving as a bright-eyed teen on the wharf, he's the union's National Indigenous Officer. In March, Mayo stood shoulder to shoulder with a tearful Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as the official wording of the referendum question was announced. For the first four decades of his life - including for the publication of his first books - Mayo went by Thomas Mayor. In 2022, he changed his surname to Mayo. The decision was one to honour his heritage and revert to the name of his forefathers, revealing a priest a generation earlier 'decided our last name was spelt wrong and changed it to Mayor'. After demanding an end to 'all fearmongering', Mayo warned a 'no' outcome from the referendum would 'give [politicians] a mandate to ignore us, to not listen to us, to continue with the dog whistling' and to ultimately 'take our nation further toward Trump-ism' Speaking at the Sydney Writers Festival last month to promote his new handbook to the Voice to Parliament, which he co-authored with veteran journalist Kerry O'Brien, Mayo said he's throwing 'everything he has' at this referendum. 'I'm not going to stop working until the referendum,' he said. 'We must win.' Mayo was born on Larrakia country in Darwin, and has previously claimed he learned to hunt foods with his father and island dance from the local Torres Strait Islander community of which he was a member. Speaking to the Judicial College of Victoria earlier this year, Mayo said he was a 'really quiet fella' who 'never expected to be doing what I'm doing'. He said he is motivated by a 'dislike of injustice', and learned most of what he knows 'about solidarity and acting collectively' during his near two decades on the wharf. 'My mum and dad weren't engaged in politics in any way,' he said. 'My dad is the type that just wants to get on with it and says what's all the complaining about.' 'It was from the older wharfies [who inspired me]. I learned a lot from those union elders.' Mayo was born on Larrakia country in Darwin, and has previously claimed he learned to hunt foods with his father and island dance from the local Torres Strait Islander community of which he was a member Thomas Mayo hits back at criticism of Voice One of the main arguments against a Voice to Parliament is the notion that there are 'already Indigenous MPs' in positions of power who 'have a Voice. But Mayo said this is completely irrelevant and, potentially, fleeting. 'Indigenous members of parliament firstly represent the electorates they're elected to represent,' he said. 'They have to do that to get re-elected... and, their loyalty is to their party. 'They're not representing Aboriginal people. We don't know how many will be elected next time around.' Mr Mayo said a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament is about 'consistency'. 'These are representatives that we get to choose, that we get to hold to account in our own elections. We can see what they're saying on our behalf. 'This gives us an enhanced democracy,' he said. Advertisement By 2010, he was offered an opportunity to 'step up' in his advocacy work. He said: 'I loved working on the wharfs, driving on the cranes, sweating it out in the heat. But... I thought it was time to start using my brain a bit more.' Mayo argues a Voice to Parliament would enhance the nation's democracy and boost our social standing among the rest of the world. Despite criticism from the right, Mayo said Indigenous Australians 'are not heard right now... not a priority because we have no democratic effect'. He argued gaps in life expectancy and higher incarceration rates further prove his point. 'For me, it means justice,' he said. 'It means recognising what should have been recognised from the very beginning when Cook arrived.' He helped to create the Uluru Statement from the Heart, arguing that his people have 'always put through proposals to have political representation - a voice, essentially'. 'We did the hard work. All of that consensus building, the debates, the passionate discussions to compromise amongst ourselves. The nature of consensus is never getting everything that everyone wants.' Back in November 2022, Mayo called journalist Kerry O'Brien, asking if he'd be interested in collaborating on his next book. The book, recently published, would be a 'guide' to the Voice to Parliament, designed to answer the questions of the general public and filter out the unnecessary political infighting. O'Brien told the crowd at SWF he'd never done anything like it, but that it didn't take him long to agree. He said he has no doubt the Australian public largely want to see the referendum succeed. If it doesn't, he said, 'it'll be a matter of confusion and fear - which is the entire strategy'. 'How obscene is it that some people stoop to the lowest of the low to claim that Aboriginal people will use the voice to feather their nests,' he said. 'Look to the character of the people holding these conversations to determine who is speaking truth and who isn't who do you believe?' The primary argument of the 'No' campaign' is that there is not yet enough information about how the Voice to Parliament would work. Peter Dutton previously said the referendum could 'have an Orwellian effect where all Australians are equal, but some Australians are more equal than others' - a direct reference to George Orwell's satirical novella from 1945, Animal Farm. He said he is motivated by a 'dislike of injustice', and learned most of what he knows 'about solidarity and acting collectively' during his near two decades on the wharf The vote will need support from the majority of Australians in the majority of states to be successful. The Voice will establish a body that can 'make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples'. This body - comprised of Indigenous people from a range of ages and demographics - would give advice to the government. Vital equipment needed to rescue a missing submersible that disappeared while heading to the Titanic wreck is being held up by U.S. officials who have failed to approve paperwork, a tourism company has claimed. OceanGate's submersible, named Titan, lost contact Sunday morning, one hour and 45 minutes into its voyage to the famous shipwreck 12,500ft beneath the waves. On board were five passengers, and a desperate attempt is being made to locate the submersible before its air runs out. The five were named on Monday as a Pakistani father and son; a British billionaire adventurer; a French Navy veteran; and the CEO of OceanGate. From mission launch, the sub has up to 96 hours of life support. However, rescue attempts are being hampered by U.S. government bureaucracy, with a plane of equipment on the British island of Guernsey being unable to take off for the scene until paperwork is signed, according to OceanGate advisor David Concannon. 'We need to move. We do not have minutes or hours. We need to move now,' he said. This is the last sighting of the submersible, Titan, which was launched on Sunday. It is seen in a photograph shared by Hamish Harding's company. He and the four others onboard remains unaccounted for David Concannon, an advisor to OceanGate, was due to be on board the Titanic expedition on Sunday, but a last-minute scheduling issue meant he was not available. He said that vital rescue equipment was being held up by U.S. bureaucracy Machinery needed for the rescue effort (pictured) is currently awaiting transport from the British island of Guernsey Concannon said that the machinery (above) needed urgent permission to be flown to the site 'This equipment has been on the tarmac for hours. 'When I communicate with the U.S. government, I get 'out of office' replies - not from everyone, but from key people that have a sign-off on this.' He told NewsNation: 'That's unacceptable.' Concannon, who has previously led an expedition and made multiple dives to the Titanic site, was supposed to be the expert on OceanGate's journey to the wreckage on Sunday - but a client emergency kept him on shore. He said every minute counted in the race to find and retrieve the sub. 'If we move fast, we can get to the site in 40 hours from where the ship is now,' he said. 'If we get the assets flown from Guernsey Channel Islands overnight, we can have them mobilized on the ship in a day and we can get there inside the window. 'Now, it's at the end of the window, but we can get there inside the window where there's still oxygen in the submersible and that's what we want to do.' Government officials have not commented on his accusations and the US Coast Guard detailed its rescue efforts during a Monday afternoon briefing. As Concannon detailed the difficulties, a fleet of rescue vessels desperately headed to the site, about 400 nautical miles from Newfoundland, Canada, to try and aid the search. Three Canadian ships were known to be among them - the Skandi Vinland, Atlantic Merlin, and Kopit Hopson. The US Coast Guard is now looking for the missing vessel. The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada The red circle shows the spot where the Titanic shipwreck is located and a fleet of boats and planes is headed to aid in the rescue efforts The Skandi Vinland left St John's in Newfoundland at 2:38pm local time on Monday, and was expected to reach its destination by 11:30am on Tuesday The Atlantic Merlin should be at the site by 8:30pm on Tuesday The Kopit Hopson - previously named the Edward Cornwallis - is en route to the site The Skandi Vinland left St John's in Newfoundland at 2:38pm local time Monday, and was expected to reach its destination by 11:30am Tuesday, according to marine tracking data. An icebreaker, the Kopit Hopson, left the port just before 6pm bound for the rescue area. And the tug boat Atlantic Merlin left St John's at 10:51pm on Monday, and was expected in the zone by 8:30pm on Tuesday. They were accompanied by aircraft from the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. Coast Guard has launched two C-130 planes to survey the surface, while Canada has deployed a CP-140 Aurora 140118 - aircraft 'which utilizes sonar technology with buoys,' said Chief Petty Officer Robert Simpson. The C-130s were being flown throughout the night by the 106 Rescue Wing, based out of Westhampton, New York. On Monday night, the north eastern division of the Coast Guard tweeted that the mothership - Polar Prince - for the OceanGate's submersible and the U.S. rescue flights were continuing overnight. 'The Polar Prince and @Rescue106 will continue to do surface searches throughout the evening,' they tweeted. 'Two C-130 flights have been completed from @USCG CG Air Station Elizabeth City.' They said the Canadian search flights would resume in the morning. In addition to the C-130s, a CP-140 Aurora 140118 - similar to the Poseidon P-8 Boeing aircraft (shown above) - has been deployed and will drop sonar buoys in the water in an effort to detect any sound Video from a previous mission shows the interior of the submersible that has been underwater since the early hours of Sunday 'JRCC Halifax has tasked one Royal Canadian Air Force Aurora aircraft out of 14 Wing Greenwood in Nova Scotia for aerial search, and Canadian Coast Guard Vessel Kopit Hopson 1752 will also be assisting MRCC Boston with a surface search for the submersible,' the Halifax rescue team, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, said in a tweet. OceanGate said in its statement it was 'deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible.' Even when the rescue vessels get there, they face an immense challenge. First they need to find the sub: they know where it should be, but in the dark depths it may not be possible to find. The U.S. Coast Guard has already said that it does not possess any rescue equipment able to go down as deep as the Titanic. An uncrewed vehicle - essentially an underwater drone - could be sent down. The Polar Prince is the expedition ship used to take tourists from Newfoundland out to the wreckage site A desperate search mission is underway to rescue a Titanic tourist submarine which has vanished 12,500ft below the Atlantic Ocean with just 96 hours of air left The crew was diving to the ocean floor to survey the Titanic wreckage The U.S. Navy has one submarine rescue vehicle, The New York Times reported, but it can reportedly reach depths of just 2,000 feet. For recovering objects off the sea floor in deeper water, the Navy relies on what it calls remote-operated vehicles, such as the one it used to salvage a crashed F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in about 12,400 feet at the South China Sea in early 2022. That vehicle, called CURV-21, can reach depths of 20,000 feet. It would take a long time to get the CURV-21 in position: the kinds of ships that transport it normally move no faster than about 20 miles per hour. If the Titan's batteries run down and are no longer able to run heaters that keep the occupants warm, the occupants would soon die of hypothermia. And if the pressure hull fails, death would be within a fraction of a second. The mothership, MV Polar Prince, set off from Newfoundland Saturday bound for the spot above the Titanic wreck, 370 miles away. The submersible went into the water in the early hours of Sunday. On board were British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, 58; French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet; and the CEO of OceanGate, Stockton Rush. Also on board were Shahzada Dawood and his son, Sulaiman Dawood. The elder Dawood is a trustee of the SETI Institute in California, according to a biography published on its website, and is vice chairman of Dawood Hercules Corporation, part of the Dawood Group. Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday Harding excitedly posted to social media about being on the mission French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition In an interview last year, Rush, the CEO, told CBS News that his was 'a very unusual business'. He added: 'It's its own category. It's a new type of travel.' He said their clients were a range of people. 'We have clients that are Titanic enthusiasts, which we refer to as Titaniacs. 'We've had people who have mortgaged their home to come and do the trip. And we have people who don't think twice about a trip of this cost. We had one gentleman who had won the lottery.' The submersible - it is not a submarine, because it is not independent and relies on a mothership - lost contact with the mothership one hour 45 minutes into its descent. Analysts believe it could have lost power, or sunk and perhaps became trapped on the wreck. Some initially suggested it perhaps surfaced and was bobbing without power, but that seems increasingly remote. A powerful Republican state lawmaker has been accused of using his position to coerce one of his married employees to have an affair with him, according to a lawsuit. North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore is being sued by Scott Lassiter, who claims Moore used 'his position' to entice his now ex-wife into a three-year affair. Lassiter, a former Apex City councilman, says his wife Jamie, executive director of the North Carolina Conference of Clerks of Superior Court, admitted to the affair. The lawsuit states that Jamie said she had 'group sex with other individuals seeking Tim Moore's political favor' but 'implored' her husband to allow it to continue so she didn't lose her job. Both Jamie and Moore deny the claims, with Lassiter seeking $200,000 in damages for the destruction of his marriage. The Republican Speaker of the House in North Carolina Tim Moore faces a lawsuit by a former government official that accuses him of having group sex with people who wanted political favors Tim Moore is also being accused by the plaintiff, Scott Lassiter (pictured left), of carrying on an affair with his wife Jamie Liles Lassiter (pictured right) The lawsuit states: 'Moore used his position as one of the most powerful elected officials in North Carolina to entice Plaintiff's wife, a mid-level employee of the state government, to participate in an illicit relationship with him.' North Carolina is one of the few states that allow jilted spouses to sue someone for interfering in their marriage. The cases are known as 'alienation of affection' and can be filed in five other states. Speaking to WRAL, Jamie said: 'Scott Lassiter has serious mental health and substance abuse issues, which I can only assume led him to file this outrageous and defamatory suit,' her statement says. 'The claims are not only false but impossible as we've been separated with a signed separation document for years. 'To be clear, I'm a strong professional woman, and the only person who has ever abused me or threatened my career was my soon to be ex-husband. 'Our marriage was a nightmare, and since I left him, it has gotten worse. We are reaching the end of our divorce process and this is how he's lashing out.' The lawsuit accused Moore - who is divorced - of 'enticing' Lassiter's wife, and persuading her to 'engage in degrading acts to satisfy his desires'. Lassiter admitted to spying on his wife and Moore having dinner at a steakhouse in Raleigh on December 21 after she'd told him she was out with a female friend, according to the lawsuit Moore, who has served in the state house since 2003 and as Speaker since 2015, has denied the charges, while Jamie Lassiter has called the lawsuit 'punitive.' Lassiter admitted to spying on his wife and Moore having dinner at a steakhouse in Raleigh on December 21 after she'd told him she was out with a female friend. When Lassiter confronted her, he claims that she told him about the affair but begged him to allow it to continue. Five days later, Lassiter says he confronted Moore at a Raleigh restaurant, where he admitted to the affair and then made him an offer. Moore's lawyer released a statement after the filing saying they were looking forward to a trial and 'we are confident that the Speaker will be vindicated.' The Republican himself added: 'We will vigorously defend this action and pursue all available legal remedies.' Legal documents say that the affair between Jamie and Moore continued between 2019 and January 2023, Jamie Lassiter also claims that Scott is the only person to have ever tried to ruin her career Lassiter claims a John Doe snuck onto his property to install a camera 'at an angle facing Plaintiff's house so that it could, upon information and belief, capture photos and video recordings of events inside and outside (Lassiter's) home.' It also claims that after being confronted by Lassiter, Moore 'implied' that 'he could use the power he held as Speaker in some way to benefit' him. Lassiter's suit says he 'angrily' told Moore that he 'did not want any political favors'. A second person is listed as a defendant in the suit, though they are not named. Court filings allege that the unidentified man snuck onto Lassiter's property install a camera 'at an angle facing his house.' He believes that this was in a bid to 'capture photos and video recordings of events inside and outside (Lassiter's) home.' Moore, who has served in the state house since 2003 and as Speaker since 2015, has denied the accusations. Scott Lassiter - who had a failed run for state house of his own in 2022 that ended after redistricting - and Jamie Lassiter officially separated on January 11, 2023, according to the lawsuit When asked for comment, Lassiter's attorney said in a statement that 'The complaint speaks for itself. There is irrefutable evidence to support Mr. Lassiter's claims.' On Monday, YouTube took down an interview between Jordan Peterson and presidential hopeful RFK Jr. YouTube removed an interview conducted by Jordan Peterson with 2024 Democratic candidate for president Robert F. Kennedy Jr., claiming it violated its guidelines against sharing vaccine misinformation. During the interview, RFK Jr. repeated his arguments against the vaccine while making other bizarre claims, including that chemicals in water are turning children transgender. The Google-owned company said Monday: 'We removed a video from the Jordan Peterson channel for violating YouTube's general vaccine misinformation policy, which prohibits content that alleges that vaccines cause chronic side effects, outside of rare side effects that are recognized by health authorities.' Kennedy, who launched his presidential campaign in April, criticized YouTube for the removal of the video, which was posted earlier this month. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he was being censored and argued there is no misinformation in a video YouTube has taken down citing its vaccine misinformation policy What do you think ... Should social media platforms censor presidential candidates? My conversation with @JordanBPeterson was deleted by @YouTube. Luckily you can watch it here on @Twitter (thank you @elonmusk). #Kennedy24https://t.co/PJFKWH6zmd Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) June 18, 2023 On Twitter, Kennedy wrote: 'What do you think Should social media platforms censor presidential candidates?' 'My conversation with @JordanBPeterson was deleted by @YouTube. Luckily7 you can watch it here on Twitter (thank you Elon Musk). Peterson also responded, accusing YouTube of having 'taken upon itself to actively interfere with a presidential election campaign.' According to its vaccine misinformation policy, YouTube forbids content that 'poses a serious risk of egregious harm by spreading medical misinformation about currently administered vaccines that are approved and confirmed to be safe and effective by local health authorities and by the World Health Organization (WHO).' The platform stated its guidelines apply to all content and creators on the platform, no matter their politics. Earlier this month, Kennedy's Instagram was reinstated following a ban issued due to posting 'debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines.' Kennedy's campaign told Fox News that although 'vaccines are not a major priority for Mr. Kennedy in this campaign, he will be happy to debate the issue with any prominent proponent of the conventional view.' 'Mr. Kennedy does not believe the attacks are coordinated. People are simply speaking out according to what they believe. These beliefs are the result of the long influence of corporate money in medicine, research, media, and government.' 'Even so, there are troubling indications in published research of serious safety issues with vaccines in general, but especially the Covid shots. The real issue for Mr. Kennedy is regulatory capture and corporate influence over government. He is in favor of properly conducted, unbiased, transparent safety testing of all vaccines,' concluded the campaign's statement. Jordan Peterson, a psychologist and conservative commentator, said YouTube was choosing to interfere in the 2024 election In the interview with Peterson, Kennedy claimed it is the chemicals in the water that are turning children transgender. The son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy said that 'a lot of the sexual dysphoria' America is seeing comes from exposure to chemicals in the water. 'I think a lot of the problems we see in kids, particularly boys, it's probably under-appreciated on that how much of that is coming from chemical exposures, including a lot of the sexual dysphoria that we're seeing,' he said. 'I mean, they're swimming through a soup of toxic chemicals today, and many of those are endocrine disruptors. There's atrazine throughout our water supply.' RFK Jr. has found himself in news headlines in recent days, mainly for his vaccine views. He has long been critical of them, saying they cause autism. The 2024 hopeful recently appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast, where he questioned vaccines. That led Dr. Peter Hotez to criticize the interview on social media. Rogan then issued a challenge for the doctor to debate RFK Jr. on his podcast. The challenge led to backlash, from both sides of the debate, on social media. A chef has banned vegans from his restaurant after a run-in with an unhappy customer ignited an online war between carnivores and non-meat eaters. UK-born celebrity chef John Mountain has posted a Facebook notice that reads: 'Sadly all vegans are now banned from Fyre for mental health reasons. We thank you for your understanding. xx' Fyre is the restaurant Mr Mountain runs in the northern Perth suburb of Connolly. His statement on social media explained why non-meaters are no longer welcome. 'A young girl reached out to me and said she was coming to the restaurant and asked if there were vegan options,' he said. 'It was my only shortfall I said I would accommodate her, I said we had gnocchi, vegetables and that was that.' UK-born celebrity chef John Mountain has ignited an online war after banning vegans from his Perth restaurant On the Saturday in question Mr Mountain said he forgot about the women's request because he had been busy catering a private party. His sous chef was not happy that evening, scolding him for 'not telling them about the vegan customer.' On Sunday the young woman lodged a complaint. 'My only option was the vegetable dish it was okay but not that filling and I was shocked to see it was $32,' she wrote in her complaint via a direct Facebook message, as reported by PerhNow. 'I think it's incredibly important nowadays that restaurants can accommodate everyone and to not be able to have actual plant-based meals shows your shortcomings as a chef. 'I hope to see some improvements in your menu as I have lived in Connolly for quite some time and have seen many restaurants come and go from that building and none of them last. 'If you don't get with the times, I don't hold out faith that your restaurant will be the one that does.' It seems the restaurant took the woman's complaint to heart. 'As for vegans/vegetarians being a very low minority, especially in the northern burbs' I try to accommodate everyone else,' its response started. 'Thanks for your negative review please feel free to share your s**tty experience and I look forward to not seeing you again. 'How very childish. 'You and all your vegan mates can all go and enjoy your dishes in another venue. You are now banned.' After Mr Mountain announced the ban on social media an online tussle broke out between his supporters and detractors in Google reviews He reaffirmed his ban in a post replying to a disgruntled contributor to Google reviews. 'But if you beautiful vegans want to join together and slag off my business then good luck, keep going, let's see what my customers think,' he wrote. 'And from now on ALL Vegans are now banned from my restaurant. Thankyou for your disgusting review and please enjoy the Currambine. Xx' These responses led to a flurry of competing one-star and five-star Google reviews between those venting their displeasure at Mr Mountain's stance and those supporting the restaurant. Mr Mountain told PerthNow the negative reviews 'really hurts the business'. 'F*** vegans seriously Im done. At the end of the day, its not what I want to do, they can f*** off. One review provided a lengthy lecture on why Mr Mountain should be serving vegan dishes. 'In today's society, the demand for vegan options is on the rise,' the review reads. 'Providing vegan options is not only vital for catering to individual food preferences but also presents an opportunity for businesses to target a wider market and increase their revenue.' However, many reviews simply rate the restaurant 'one star' and provide no reasons, which prompted a response from Mr Mountain. 'Oh my. All ten one star reviews,' he writes. 'Sadly we don't overly cater for vegans although I'd sadly agreed to cater to our customers needs. 'But that night I had a huge outdoor catering gig that spoilt their night. The vegan in question decided to be very personal about my 'inabilities' as a chef and for that I was a little rude to her reply.' Interrogated by another reviewer, he provided the following response: 'Oh my. I go out of my way on a daily basis to change the menu to suit peoples requirements. 'But when I'm told I'm going to go bust because I don't cater for vegans then we're done. Rude isn't half of how I truly feel.' As a celebrity chef in Britain, Mr Mountain shared a talent agent with TV cooking superstar Jamie Oliver There were unabashed supporters of his stance, who invariably gave the restaurant a five-star rating, helping it retain its four-star average. 'I'm in love with the food. I especially love the fact that the menu doesn't waste space on a vegan option,' one person writes. 'All the trees saved by this choice lessens our nations impact on global CO2 levels.' Others objected to the 'fake reviews' being used as a weapon. 'Trying to tear a business down with reviews is disgusting as you not only harm the owners but the respectable people who work there and trying to make a living to provide for family's,' a reviewer wrote. 'These people are working ridiculous hours and dealing with stupid requests and demands from people like you who refuse to read a menu before dining. 'If you know your difficult to cater for then buy a bag of chickpeas, draw a face on them and maybe you will have a friend. 'I know plenty of vegans who understand that businesses do market research before opening their restaurants in specific areas to cater to the majority. I will be making my booking soon.' 'Seems emotions were high from both sides,' wrote a would-be peacemaker. 'Both sides showed good reasons for this (both were human with emotions, one felt cheated of money and time and one felt personally attacked). 'I hope you can get all these reviews removed from Google. Minus of course the initial review from the actual disgruntled customer, if one was left.' Mr Mountain has lived in Australia for seven years after arriving from Britain where he was a celebrity chef who shared an agent with kitchen superstar Jamie Oliver. He starred in cooking shows the Great British Menu and Chef Race UK v US. He has also worked with culinary trailblazers Heston Blumenthal at the original famed Fat Duck restaurant in Berkshire, England, as well as the brash Michelin three-starred Marco Pierre White at the Mayfair in London. A gang of masked burglars who stole more than 50,000 in cash from bookies and shop safes have been jailed for a combined total of 50 years after they were caught red-handed by the Met's Flying Squad. The group of eight were caught after a sting organised by the capital's police force found them raiding betting shops, cash and carry warehouses and off licenses across south London. CCTV footage showed the crooks using tools and ladders to break into businesses, before destroying their security systems and cutting their power supplies before fleeing the loot. One video showed the masked gang carrying a circular saw to cut through a safe after they climbed down a ladder from the roof of a bookies in Streatham - another showed them beating up a warehouse worker before robbing him as they looked for the building's keys. Erfan Badita, 28, Marian Durla, 27, Sarok Sarhad, 23, Albert Meliteanu, 20, Alexandru Nastase, 24, Claudiu Durla, 23, Cristian Alexandru Durla, 20, and Nicolai Lucian Zaharia, 34, were all jailed for stealing the large sum of cash over the four year period. Two members of the masked gang in a betting shop on Church Street in Croydon. The group stole 50,000 over a four year period One of the robbers were also caught on CCTV stealing from a betting shop on Streatham High Road In another rain, two of the gang members were spotted burgling an off licence Most of the raids were carried out at night when the buildings were closed, except one warehouse robbery where the gang waited for a staff member to close up, when they attacked him demanding the keys, which the man did not have. In frustration they searched him a number of times, with one of the crooks trying to take a ring from his finger. They were unable to find the property's keys so instead robbed the man of cash in his wallet, leaving him cable tied and beaten. But they were unable to find the keys to the property, so they robbed the man of the cash in his wallet and left him cable tied and beaten. His injuries were not life-threatening, police said. A picture from one raid in Croydon, showed two members of the gang with hood and masks as they wandered in through the betting shop with wielding their tools. During the robbery, the gang were unaware they were being watched by detectives from the Met's Flying Squad and they were all arrested, some having literally been 'caught in the act'. After searching Sarhad's home in Croydon, cops found a large amount of cannabis, weighing scales and drug dealing equipment. Ringleader Badita, who police believe was involved in every offence between September 2018 and March 2022, sent around 47,000 in proceeds from the burglaries back to his home country of Romania. Sarok Sarhad, 23, (left) was jailed for three-and-a-half years while group ringleader Erfan Badita (right) was jailed for 16 and a half years Marian Durla, 27, (left) and Claudiu Durla, 23, were also jailed following the sting operation. At Croydon Crown Court today, Badita was jailed for 16-and-a-half years after pleading guilty mid-trial to conspiracy to commit burglary. He was also found guilty of robbery, five counts of possession of a prohibited weapon - CS Spray - and transferring criminal property, such as the money transfer to Romania. Marian Durla, from Croydon where all the gang lived, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary and being found guilty by the jury of robbery. Sarhad was handed a three-and-a-half year term after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary and possession with intent to supply a class B drug. Meliteanu, of no fixed address, was given a sentence of five-and-a-half years inside after he was found guilty of robbery and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary. Nastase was jailed for one year after pleading guilty to conspiracy to burgle, possession of a prohibited weapon - a stun gun - and having a banned weapon - in this case CS gas. Cristian Alexandru Durla was handed a five-and-a-half year term after being found guilty of robbery and pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary Nastase was jailed for one year after pleading guilty to conspiracy to burgle, possession of a prohibited weapon - a stun gun - and having a banned weapon - in this case CS gas Meliteanu, of no fixed address, was given a sentence of five-and-a-half years inside after he was found guilty of robbery and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary Claudiu Durla was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison after he was found guilty of robbery and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle. Cristian Alexandru Durla was handed a five-and-a-half year term after being found guilty of robbery and pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary. Zaharia was jailed for one year after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit burglary. Detective Sergeant Paul Bartlett of the Met's Flying Squad said: 'This gang were organised and ruthless in their goal of parting business owners from their cash. 'But the effects of their crimes ran far deeper than a loss of money for the victims - the damage they caused to buildings and security systems when they broke in was an added expense; not to mention the psychological effects suffered by victims of crime that can be traumatic and long lasting. 'I have no doubt that if we hadn't caught them, they would still be victimising hard working legitimate businesses today. 'I am pleased that they have now all been convicted and hope that this highlights the consequences of crime to other like-minded individuals.' One of Pakistan's richest men and his teenage son are among the five missing in the submarine that set off to see the Titanic before losing all communication thousands of feet underwater, it was revealed today. Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Suleman, 19, were in the tiny underwater craft when it lost signal in the Atlantic Ocean, 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Their family, including Shahzada's wife Christine and daughter Alina, are now enduring an agonising wait for any news of the pair - hoping in vain that they could be found before the oxygen onboard runs out in around 50 hours. 'We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety,' the Dawoods said in a statement. The family are among the richest in Pakistan, but have strong links to the UK and Shahzada is believed to live in a Surrey mansion with Christine, who works as a life coach, Suleman and daughter Alina. Shahzada is the vice chairman of Engro Corporation, which makes fertilisers, food and energy, as well as the Dawood Hercules Corporation, which makes chemicals. He was born in Pakistan but moved to the UK where he studied law at the University of Buckingham. The missing tourist submersible with five people aboard including British billionaire Hamish Harding is understood to have last 'pinged' while it was directly above its destination the Titanic. Paul-Henri Nargeolet, the French world-renowned explorer, is also on board. OceanGate chief executive Stockton Rush is believed to be the fifth crew member. There is now a desperate race against time for rescue crews from the US and Canada to find the 21ft vessel, which takes tourists 12,500ft underwater to see the wreck. It is believed it has enough oxygen to last until 12pm on Thursday UK time (7am EST). Shahzada Dawood, 48, (pictured with his wife Christine) a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are among the five people missing in the submarine that set off to see the wreck of the Titanic Shahzada Dawood, 48, who is currently missing, is pictured here with his wife Christine Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding (pictured), CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about the trip on Sunday French Navy veteran Paul Henri Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition If the submersible is intact, the five people onboard will be facing dwindling oxygen levels and fighting the cold and facing the risk of hypothermia, David Gallo, senior adviser for strategic initiatives, RMS Titanic, which owns the salvage rights to the wreck site, told CNN. He said hypothermia will be a risk 'if the sub is still at the bottom, because in the deep ocean it is just above freezing cold'. READ MORE: Inside Titan, the submersible that vanished on expedition to the Titanic wreckage Advertisement 'One of the biggest things is where is it? Is it on the bottom, is it floating, is it mid-water? That is something that has not been determined yet... We will have to wait and see and hope for the best,' Mr Gallo added. The sub, owned and operated by OceanGate Expeditions, had launched at around 4am on Sunday and was taking the crew on its 195,000-a-head tour of the 1912 shipwreck of the Titanic. But the crew lost communication with the sub's mothership MV Polar Prince an hour and 45 minutes into the two-hour descent and there is now a desperate search to find the vessel and those on board before the air runs out. And as the race against time began yesterday afternoon, rescuers admitted the sub could have become stuck in the wreckage of the Titanic which is 370 miles from Newfoundland in Canada but lies in US waters. Submarine experts also fear the vessel is too deep for a manned rescue sub, such as the US Navy sub which is limited to 2,000ft, and that the only way of reaching it may be using a remote operated vehicle. These can reach a maximum depth of 20,000ft. Gallo said that if the submersible is located, the rescue crew would find it difficult to rescue those on board the vessel. 'The water is very deep - two miles plus. It's like a visit to another planet, it's not what people think it is. It is a sunless, cold environment and high pressure,' he said. The desperate families of those on board - Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman, Mr Harding, Mr Nargeolet and Mr Rush - are now desperately waiting for news of their loved ones. READ MORE: From the North Pole to Space and the ocean floor - the adventurous life of Hamish Harding Advertisement The Dawoods are members of one of the most prominent business families in Pakistan. Shahzada's father Hussain, 79, is the Chairman of the Dawood Hercules Corporation, which makes chemicals, and the Engro Corporation, which makes fertilisers, food and energy. Shahzada is vice chairman of both companies and is also a member of the Global Advisory Board for King Charles' Charity, Prince's Trust. He is also in the Founder's Circle of the British Asian Trust. The father-of-two is also on the board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute that searches for extraterrestrial intelligence. Shahzada was born in Pakistan but moved to the UK to study law at the University of Buckingham. He then went on to study at Master's in textile marketing in 2000 at Philadelphia University. Shahzada had decided to take his son Sulaiman on the 'Titan' - the name of the Titanic submersible - for the five-day trip with three others when disaster struck and they lost contact with the surface after appearing to close in on their destination. It's understood that Titan communicates by sending a ping to the Polar Prince every 15 minutes - the last of which was received while the submersible floated above the Titanic wreckage at about 10am EST yesterday (3pm UK time). It was at that moment that chaos ensued. A distress call was sent to the US Coast Guard at 9pm, whose Boston branch is leading an operation to carry out what would be the deepest undersea rescue mission ever. The submersible, Titan, is seen moments before it descended on its current dive on Sunday Pictured: File photo of inside the missing OceanGate Expeditions submarine which is currently missing with five people on board Pictured: File photo of the missing OceanGate Expeditions submarine which is currently missing with five people on board Shahzada Dawood (pictured) and his son Sulaiman Dawood were on board the small underwater craft take paying tourists to view the famous wreck Shahzada Dawood (pictured) and his son Sulaiman Dawood were on board the small underwater craft take paying tourists to view the famous wreck The crew is understood to have enough oxygen to last underwater until 12pm Thursday (7am EST). Pictured: Harding, who is aboard the sub, and his son Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday A photo of OceanGate's 'Mission 3 and Mission 4 crews', posted online by the company before setting sail British businessman Hamish Harding, who lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, was one of the mission specialists on board the vessel, according to Action Aviation, a company for which Harding serves as chairman. Harding is a billionaire adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. In March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket. Action Aviation's managing director Mark Butler said: 'There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission, there is equipment on board for survival in this event. We're all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound.' But with less than 52 hours of air left between five crew members until Thursday, Rear Admiral John W. Mauger said that the US Coast Guard is working 'as hard as possible' to find it while 'lives are at risk'. But former Coast Guardsman John Mixson told Fox News it was an 'extremely serious and dire situation', adding: 'It's hard to say whenever you just lose total communications in a situation like that what actually happened until you find the vessel. 'This isn't a common occurrence at all. Obviously, something very rapid and very tragic took place.' But writer Mike Reiss, who took the Titanic submersible trip last year, said he feels 'optimistic' for the missing OceanGate craft. Mr Reiss told BBC Breakfast communication was also lost during his dive down to the Titanic. Mr Reiss said: 'I'm optimistic just because I know the logistics of it. And I know really again, how vast the ocean is, and how very tiny the craft is. He added: 'So the idea is, if it's down at the bottom, I don't know how anyone's going to be able to access it, much less bring it back up. 'There is a hope that it's at, or near, the surface. I did three separate dives. I did one dive to the Titanic and two more off the coast of New York. 'Every time they lost communication and again, this is not a shoddy ship or anything.' In contrast, an expert on the history of the Titanic said he is 'very worried about the souls' on board the missing submersible. Tim Maltin, an author, historian and TV presenter said the tourists were in a difficult situation. Mr Maltin said on BBC Breakfast: 'If it's near the Titanic it would be easier to find, but the problem is of course you can't do a ship-to-ship transfer even, the pressure is absolutely intense. 'It's nearly two miles miles down, it's pitch black. 'So I also am very, very worried about the souls who are on board.' He added: 'I think they're quite brave people who have been down there, but equally they know the risks but no one expects it to go wrong on your dive.' OceanGate, whose website says customers do not require any previous diving experience but that there are 'a few physical requirements like being able to board small boats in active seas', said it was receiving help from government agencies and deep-sea companies. The eight-day trip includes a two hour dive to the Titanic wreck and the same on the way up. It can be around eight to ten hours in total. David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate who had actually planned to be on the expedition, said that officials are working to get a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that can reach a depth of 20,000ft to the site as soon as possible. Meanwhile, C-130s and P-8s from the US and Canada are also being used to assist in the search in the remote area of the ocean, 900 miles east of Cape Cod and 370 miles southeast of southernmost Newfoundland. Pictured: File photo of outside the missing OceanGate Expeditions submarine which is currently missing with five people on board The Boston Coast Guard is now looking for the missing vessel. The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada OceanGate Expeditions is one of the only companies that offers the tours. Tickets cost up to 195,000 Video from a previous mission shows the interior of the submersible that has been underwater since the early hours of Sunday Commercial ships helping the rescue mission also have access to sonar buoys which are capable of listening to a depth of 13,000ft, the Coast Guard said. Admiral Mauger conceded that the craft may have become stuck in the Titanic's wreckage and said the rescue mission was 'very complicated'. 'We're working as hard as possible, bringing all assets to bear to try and find the submersible,' he added. 'We were notified yesterday [Sunday] afternoon and we began immediately to mobilise assets to search both the surface of the water, search from the air, and to detect any vessels under the water as well. We've had a comprehensive search to find these people.' Admiral Mauger said the coastguard did not have the capabilities to reach it, if that was the case, telling Fox News: 'We don't have equipment onsite that can do a survey of the bottom...there is a lot of debris [at this wreckage] so locating will be difficult. 'We don't have the capabilities at this time. Right now, we're focused on trying to locate it.' Former Rear Admiral Chris Parry, during a separate appearance on Sky News, echoed Mauger's concerns. 'It's very worrying. It could have become entangled in the wreckage of Titanic, we don't know yet,' said Parry. 'The wreck site is a long way from anywhere. The only hope one has is that the mothership will have a standby craft that can investigate immediately what is going on.' OceanGate, which was founded in 2009, had chartered the MV Polar Prince, to take them to the dive site. The crew was diving to the ocean floor to survey the Titanic wreckage Images from Ocean Gate, one of the tour companies that operates the expeditions, show the wreckage Harding has been into space, visited both poles, circumnavigated the globe and holds three Guinness World Records Harding excitedly posted to social media about being on the mission Harding's post before the dive. The boat departed St John in Newfoundland on Saturday Harding's stepson posted on social media that he was among the missing Before the expedition, Mr Harding had messaged his friend, retired Nasa astronaut Colonel Terry Virts, to say: 'Hey, we're headed out tomorrow, it looks good, the weather's been bad so they've been waiting for this.' As rescue teams continued the search for the submersible vessel, Colonel Virts added that he and his friend 'don't really talk about risks'. The Titan subs have no way of directing themselves under water. Instead, they rely on text messages from the mothership, instructing them where to go. The missing tourist sub is classified as a submersible, not a submarine, because it does not function as an autonomous craft, and relies instead on a support platform. Last year, a CBS journalist was on the mothership when the sub went off course. It was missing for two-and-a-half hours before it returned but none of those onboard were harmed. Tickets for the trip cost 195,000 for an eight-day excursion during which groups pair off into smaller pods to dive in the submersibles for up to ten hours. OceanGate advertises it as 'a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' to 'safely dive the Titanic wreckage site' in a '12,500-foot journey to the bottom of the sea'. Wealthy tourists are told that 'if money isn't an object and you don't mind close quarters', then they can 'step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary'. OceanGate confirmed its sub was missing, writing: 'We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely. Multiple C-130 aircraft are now assisting in the aerial search for the vessel, which has not been heard from since Sunday morning The Polar Prince is the expedition ship used to take tourists from Newfoundland out to the wreckage site. The sub is deployed once out at sea 'Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families. We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers.' The sub uses Elon Musk's Starlink to communicate with its mothership because it is so far out to sea. Before the trip, London-born Harding excitedly posted to social media about being there. Harding said it a 'window' had opened up that would allow the group to dive. 'A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. We started steaming from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning,' he wrote. His company, Action Aviation, posted on Sunday at 4am confirming that he was 'diving'. According to OceanGate's website, one expedition is ongoing and two more have been planned for June next year. The Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912, on its maiden voyage from England to New York after hitting an iceberg, killing more than 1,500 people. The wreckage was found in 1985, broken into two main sections. By the early 2000s, scientists were warning that the numbers of tourists visiting the wreck were potentially damaging it - warning that holes had opened up in the decks, walls had crumpled, and that rust was spreading all over the ship. They also noted it was a graveyard, and deserved respect. A friend of the British billionaire trapped inside a submarine missing on a voyage to the Titanic wreck has revealed the last text he received from him. Retired Nasa astronaut Colonel Terry Virts said Hamish Harding had messaged him to say: 'Hey, we're headed out tomorrow, it looks good, the weather's been bad so they've been waiting for this.' As rescue teams continued the search for the submersible vessel which has five people onboard, Colonel Virts added that he and his friend 'don't really talk about risks'. Mr Harding is chairman of private plane firm Action Aviation, which said he is one of the mission specialists on the OceanGate Expeditions vessel reported overdue on Sunday evening about 435 miles south of St John's, Newfoundland, Canada. A major search and rescue operation, which is being led by the US Coast Guard and involves military aircraft 900 miles east of Cape Cod, continued this morning. Colonel Terry Virts, a friend of Hamish Harding, speaks to ITV's Good Morning Britain today Hamish Harding is trapped inside a submarine missing on a voyage to the Titanic wreck Retired Nasa astronaut Colonel Terry Virts, shared a final text from Harding ahead of his expedition This is the last sighting of the submersible vessel, Titan, which was launched on Sunday And Colonel Virts told ITV's Good Morning Britain today: 'We don't really talk about risks, it's known. He understood the risks for sure, there's no doubt about that. READ MORE Friend of British billionaire believes the crew are stuck in sub on ocean floor-but says she is sure he will remain calm Advertisement 'The last text I got was, "Hey, we're headed out tomorrow, it looks good, the weather's been bad so they've been waiting for this". 'He went down to the deepest part of the ocean, set a few world records at the Mariana Trench [deepest part of the ocean] and we talked quite a bit about the risks and the different things that they were going to be able to do. So he was very excited about it.' Mr Harding set a Guinness world record for the longest duration spent at the bottom of the sea. The London-born adventurer dived in a submersible to the deepest place on Earth, the Mariana Trench, and traversed it for four hours 15 minutes in 2021. It was one of three world records the 58-year-old has earned. He set another one for the longest distance three miles covered at the bottom of the ocean. His first was set in 2019, for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth via North and South Poles in a Gulfstream 650ER business jet. And last year he went into space. Speaking about the voyage to the Titanic, Colonel Virts added: 'They are actually going there for a fun trip, but they're doing some serious science also. The wreck of the Titanic has been changing over the years, it's starting to disintegrate. 'And there are several scientists on the mission that are actually looking at the sub-sea surface and how the Titanic is going. So it wasn't just a fun trip, they were actually doing real exploration for all of humanity. OceanGate Expeditions is one of the companies that offers the tours of the famous shipwreck The US Coast Guard in Boston is now looking for the missing vessel off Newfoundland The crew was diving to the ocean floor to survey the Titanic wreckage 'Titanic is not only important to Britain, it's important to everybody. So they are able to see how the vessel is deteriorating over the years under the ocean.' The US Coast Guard said the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince and 106 Rescue wing will continue to conduct surface searches while the it had also sent two C-130 flights to search for the missing submersible. Mr Harding's cousin, Kathleen Cosnett, told The Daily Telegraph she saw Mr Harding as 'daring' and 'inquisitive', and that she was 'devastated' to learn he was missing. On social media at the weekend, Mr Harding said he was 'proud to finally announce' he would be aboard the mission to the wreck of the Titanic, the luxury ocean liner which hit an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing more than 1,500 people. OceanGate Expeditions said its focus was on those aboard the vessel and their families. Harding posted to social media about being on the mission before launching the submarine Colonel Terry Virts is a retired Nasa astronaut and a friend of the missing Hamish Harding 'We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible,' the company said in a statement. 'We are working toward the safe return of the crew members.' A court document filed by OceanGate in the US in April states that the submersible, named Titan, can dive to 13,120ft 'with a comfortable safety margin'. The vessel weighs 20,000lb, is made of 'titanium and filament wound carbon fibre' and has proven to 'withstand the enormous pressures of the deep ocean', OceanGate reportedly said. The submersible was taking part in OceanGate's third annual voyage to the monitor the decay of the ship's wreckage, following expeditions in 2021 and 2022. Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has called on the Victorian Premier to reconsider his career in politics after he referred to another MP as a 'half-wit grub'. Ms Ley said the behaviour would be 'unacceptable in any workplace' and demanded Daniel Andrews apologise for the slur. Mr Andrews lashed out at Opposition women's spokeswoman and Eildon Cindy McLeish in state parliament on Tuesday before going in to withdraw the comment. Ms McLeish branded the divisive state Labor leader a 'serial bully' who 'treats women terribly'. He doubled down on that statement a short while later, on the back of calls from Ms McLeish that he apologise. Mr Andrews lashed out at Opposition women's spokeswoman and Eildon Cindy McLeish in state parliament on Tuesday before going in to withdraw the comment Ms McLeish branded the divisive state Labor leader a 'serial bully' who 'treats women terribly' She said: 'Those comments were deeply offensive to me, but I probably wasn't surprised because this is a pattern of behaviour we continue to see from the premier. 'A woman should not have to put up with that in their workplace.' But Mr Andrews said he would not apologise for 'defending the member for Northcote' - Kat Theophanous. Ms Ley said: 'Can you imagine if a CEO of any company called a senior woman a ''half-wit grub''? 'He should reflect on whether it is time to move on from politics.' A dog walker has claimed he was attacked by a Co-op delivery robot with a 'mind of its own' after it rammed into his German Shepherd. Brian Dawson, 56, said a shopping bot rammed into his dog Pippa while they were walking on the pavement near a Co-Op branch in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. The robots are meant to be programmed to avoid collision but Mr Dawson, a Tesco delivery driver, said it went on to ram him in the leg, causing him to kick the droid to remove it 'out of harm's way'. Footage from Mr Dawson's neighbour's doorbell camera, shows the shopping containing travelling at pace down the pavement before coming to an abrupt stop after colliding with the animal. Infuriated by the crash, Mr Dawson shoved it onto its side which 'triggered its alarm' and made a 'terrible racket'. Brian Dawson, 56, said a shopping bot rammed into his dog Pippa during an incident near a Co-Op branch in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire Footage captured on his neighbour's doorbell camera shows the bot suddenly stopping when it has contact with the dog The 'furious' man told The Sun: 'It came towards me at considerable speed and hit Pippa, who's 12 and a bit doddery. 'I thought, 'I'm not having that!' and admit I gave it a bit of a kicking before taking my dog home out of harm's way. 'I was furious and went back out to make a note of its serial number or QR code. But it came straight for me again and hit my left leg.' He then drove to make a complaint to the store, when the robot appeared, the alarm was still making a racket. Mr Dawson added that he tried to complain to Co-op staff but was told by the manager that the robot was not his responsibility. A Co-op spokesperson told MailOnline on Monday: 'We are very sorry to hear of Mr. Dawson's experience and we have raised this isolated incident with the robot's operating company to ensure it is immediately investigated.' The bots are operated by Starship Technologies, the robot company launched by the co-founders of Skype. A spokesperson from Starship Technologies said: 'Our robots make thousands of deliveries around the world every single day and the safety of these deliveries is taken very seriously. We are looking into the incident and are in contact with Mr Dawson. Before the crash, the bot can be seen pootling along the pavement as it approaches Mr Dawson The bots are operated by Starship Technologies, the robot company launched by the co-founders of Skype 'The robots don't travel at any great speed, 4mph or less, and the service has been operational in Milton Keynes for over 5 years now, where the robots have been widely welcomed by members of the community.' Over the coronavirus lockdown, the popularity of the knee-high robots in Milton Keynes surged. The robots, which allow the delivery of groceries in as little as 20 minutes, even brought food for free to NHS workers. The shopping bots look like small white plastic boxes mounted on six wheels, kitted out with a bright orange flag that is lit up at night, so motorists and pedestrians can see them while they trundle around. The delivery robots were spotted in December forming an orderly queue to use a pedestrian crossing - with one asking a passer-by to press the button for them. Starship has previously said the robots are not 'shy' and are happy to ask strangers for help when they need it. She was flown to Australia and her breathing tube was removed The fall rendered her unconscious and she needed brain surgery A mum left fighting for life after falling over on a dream holiday in Thailand is showing 'good signs' after being flown back to Australia for treatment. Kylee Enwright, 48, arrived at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle on Saturday night after she was flown home on a Thai Airways plane. The mother-of-three, from Singleton in the Hunter Valley, stepped off a half-metre high balcony on the first day of her holiday in Khao Lak with her husband Paul on May 28. The pair had been sipping cocktails before she tumbled and hit her head on the ground - suffering a catastrophic brain injury. But Mr Enwright said the condition of the mum from Singleton, NSW has been 'getting better'. The mother-of-three from Singleton in the Hunter Valley, stepped off a half-metre high balcony on the first day of her holiday in Khao Lak with her husband Paul on May 28 Kylee Enwright (pictured), 48, arrived at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle on Saturday night after she was flown home in the back of Thai Airways plane 'The biggest improvement she's had is her breathing tube has been taken out,' he said in a GoFundMe update on Monday. '[She also] doesn't have a deep brain injury. 'It's all around the outer edge. We took that as a good sign, but I'm no doctor.' The crowdfunding page was set up to help the family pay for the whopping $200,000-plus expenses after Ms Enwright's fall. Because the couple had been drinking before the horror accident, their travel insurance company Cover-More refused to cover her expenses due to a clause about alcohol in their policy. The couple's bar tab showed nine Long Island iced teas and 14 beers ordered to their room number that day. But Mr Enwright has refuted the claim and says others may have added to their bar tab. Ms Enwright was instantly knocked unconscious after the fall and was 'bleeding from the head and ears'. She was rushed to hospital and underwent six-hour emergency brain surgery to remove the left side of her skull. The mother remained in an induced coma in Thailand with her husband and three children - who had flown into the country - by her side. Ms Enwright (pictured, in hospital) was knocked instantly unconscious after the fall and was 'bleeding from the head and ears' 'She's got no skull on one side of her head, so one small movement the wrong way and we could be right back where we started the first time,' Mr Enwright told 7news this week. 'You can see the pain in her eyes, you can see the frustration.' The pair had been at the bar and decided to go back to their hotel room and get a massage before heading out to dinner. But his wife first wanted to use the bathroom and upon returning she took a different route back to the bar. Mr Enwright believes his wife assumed their was a step down from a wooden deck as she was heading back. 'However there were no steps, and as she stepped off the deck her body dropped into nothingness, with the full momentum of her body sending her face first into the pavement below,' he said. Meanwhile, after returning to Australia she continues to receive care at the Newcastle Hospital On Monday her husband said the staff at the hospital were 'pretty happy' with her progress. They had put her feet and hands in restraints so she couldn't harm herself. And he said she had been trying to free her feet - which was a positive sign. The mum (second right) just had her breathing tube removed in a 'good sign' for her long-term recovery after returning to Australia Because the couple had been drinking before the horror accident their travel insurance company Cover-More refused to cover her expenses due to a clause about alcohol in their policy 'There was some problem-solving skills going on there ... that was an encouraging sign. She's quite alert and awake, she just can't communicate,' he said. Mr Enwright added he hopes she will leave ICU and start rehab soon adding doctors have told him the best recovery a brain injury can make is in the first three to 12 months after an accident. 'We still have a long way to go, one day at a time ... she will need more surgery in three to four months,' Mr Enwright said. This will involving replacing the place where the skull was taken away with a 3D printed titanium implant, he told the Newcastle Herald. Meanwhile, the crowdfunding page had raised a whopping $219,651 by Tuesday which enabled the family to fly her back via the Medevac flight on Saturday. Mr Enwright has thanked donors from 'the bottom of my heart'. The woman who died alongside three teenagers in a horrific car crash was warned about her dangerous driving by a magistrate just weeks before. Alicia Montebello, 31, and three teenagers were killed when her red Toyota Corolla hatchback veered out off a country road and ploughed into a tree near Bochara in south-west Victoria last month. The young victims were Hamilton teens Meghan Fox, 14, Joshua Elmes, 15, and Lucas Gorzali, 14. Meghan's sister Jorja survived the crash despite life-threatening injuries. Now it has emerged that Montebello was warned about her risky driving during an appearance at Warrnambool Magistrates' Court in April - just six weeks before the fatal smash. Alicia Montebello (pictured), 31, was warned about her dangerous driving by a magistrate just weeks before the horror smash that killed her and three teenagers The car at the centre of a deadly crash in Bochara (pictured) was declared unroadworthy by police weeks before the accident 'In terms of driving behaviours, make sure they are responsible,' magistrate Franz Holzer told Montebello after she pleaded guilty to wilfully damaging Branxholme Recreation Reserve, near Hamilton, when she was caught ripping up the oval's turf doing burnouts in February. The magistrate decided not to restrict her licence, according to Nine newspapers. Montebello, a Coles checkout supervisor, also pleaded guilty to stalking the Fox sisters at the April 14 court appearance. Some concerned parents also told police they feared their teenage daughter - who is not being identified by Daily Mail Australia - was being groomed for sex by Ms Montebello. Daily Mail Australia previously revealed a string of online messages from the adult to the teenager almost half her age, telling her: 'I love you...I love you little one.' In another post she added: 'My best friend - I love you little one.' Montebello was fined $700 without conviction for wilful damage, two counts of stalking, and four counts of contravening bail. In addition to the those charges, Ms Montebello also had a lengthy traffic history. She was disqualified from driving in January 2015 after she was caught drunk in an unregistered car in South Australia. Jorja and Meghan Fox were involved in a shocking crash just outside of Hamilton. Meghan died and Jorja suffered life-threatening injuries Teens Joshua Elmes (left) and Lucus Garzoli were both tragically killed in the crash Montebello was banned for four months and 14 days, but in February 2016 she was banned again for driving while disqualified and given a suspended 12-day jail term. She had previously faced other charges of speeding, driving an unregistered vehicle and driving with alcohol in her blood while on P plates, as well as drug possession charges. It was reported earlier this month that police had declared Montebello's car unroadworthy. The father of one of the teens killed in the tragic crash revealed he warned his son against getting in the car with Ms Montebello. Matthew Elmes, 46, father of Joshua, feared Ms Montebello was a dangerous driver who was feeding the youngsters' need for quick thrills. 'If you want an adrenaline rush, it's probably better to go to a theme park or go skydiving, but don't get in a car,' said Mr Elmes. Ms Montebello had been regularly seen driving the Corolla in the area prior to the crash and reportedly encouraged her passengers not to wear seat belts while she drove 'erratically'. Montebello (pictured) was reportedly in Warrnambool Magistrates' Court just six weeks before the crash where she was fined $700 without conviction for wilful damage, stalking and bail offences The mother's Facebook post that pleads with those living in the Hamilton region to stop tearing down a memorial to Alicia Montebello who died in the crash Parents told police they feared their teenage daughter - who is not being identified by Daily Mail Australia - was being groomed for sex by Alicia Montebello (pictured) A haunting video apparently taken inside the car was posted to Snapchat just hours before the crash and appears to show it speeding at 130km/h down a country road. Police say they have not yet been able to establish who was behind the wheel of the car when it crashed and are still investigating. Montebello's distraught mother, Debbie, pleaded with locals to stop pulling down a memorial to her daughter. 'STOP STOP PLEASE,' she wrote on a Hamilton residents' Facebook group. 'I am begging the people of Hamilton to stop trashing our daughter n sister memorial site. Its killing us. 'We know you are all angry at Alicia. But please stop. We are grieving n hurting too.' This is the horrifying moment a homeless robber followed a 73-year-old grandmother and her granddaughter into their home and violently hurled them into the street in an 'attempted kidnapping' that has shocked France. The elderly woman and the seven-year-old were dragged out of their house and sent crashing to the pavement by the attacker who had jammed his foot in the door to sneak in and grab his victims. He then violently yanked the sobbing child to her feet, before throwing her aside as he grabbed some of the pensioner's belongings. The child can then be seen running back to her terrified grandmother, with the family dog appearing at the door which, prosecutors say, may have scared the attacker off. The incident took place yesterday at around 5.30pm at Place de l'Europe, in the heart of Bordeaux. Horrifying footage captures the moment a robber followed a grandmother and her granddaughter into their home in Bordeaux After the elderly woman and her granddaughter entered the home, the man sneaked in and jammed his leg in the door to stop it from closing and then violently hurled them both out onto the street The suspect, a homeless Frenchman who has not yet been named, was arrested an hour later, according to France's CNEWS. Police used an electroshock weapon during his arrest due to his agitated state. He was well known to police with around 15 previous convictions. According to Bordeaux's public prosecutor the grandmother said the man had tried to kidnap the girl but was eventually scared away by the barking dog. A neighbour had provided officers with a description of a black Renault Clio the man escaped in and the suspect was arrested at about 6.30pm. He was subdued before being taken to a police station where he revealed he was under 'guardianship and psychological monitoring', CNEWs reported. A blood alcohol test was performed on the suspect and the results were negative. The grandmother suffered injuries to her head, elbow and foot and will be monitored for four days while the young girl was said to have suffered cuts and bruises. 'She will be seen again today, as well as the child, so that a forensic doctor can carry out a complete expertise of the two victims and determine the psychological consequences of this act of particular violence, as evidenced by the video broadcast on the social media,' the prosecutor's statement said. The Mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic, said he was 'extremely shocked' by the attack but added: 'The answers to be given are not simple: they are only simple for those who are looking for scapegoats [...] I will not howl with the wolves, that is the easy solution.' Government spokesperson Olivier Veran expressed his 'strong emotion' at the footage and condemned the 'gratuitous violence' which 'illustrates the need for security for the French people'. But the government also faced criticism from the right, with the attack coming after a mass stabbing at a children's playground in the southeastern city of Annecy this month, carried out by a Syrian refugee. 'These attacks are daily and the insecurity, aggravated by the migratory chaos, is becoming endemic. How many videos like this are needed before the authorities react?' tweeted far-right National Rally (RN) figurehead Marine Le Pen. 'What a horror. Bordeaux today. This is what they have done to our country. The French, wake up,' said the far-right pundit turned politician Eric Zemmour. The leader of the right-wing Republicans Eric Ciotti said: 'This major repeat offender should be in prison!' The video shows the man hurling the grandmother and granddaughter to the ground. He savagely attacks both of them, yanking the young girl to her feet According to Bordeaux's public prosecutor the grandmother said the man was trying to kidnap the girl but was eventually scared away by the barking dog (right) The incident is the latest to spark outrage in France and comes just days after an attacker, named as Abdelmasih Hanoun, went on a knife rampage in the town of Annecy. The 31-year-old clinched onto a necklace with a crucifix on it before he launched his 'abominable' rampage in a lakeside park, a tourist hotspot in southeastern France. A total of six people four young children and two adults were rushed to hospital after being hurt in the rampage. The 'backpack hero' who chased him away has said his Catholic faith gave him the strength to fight the attacker. Henri d'Anselme, 24, told journalists he was undertaking a walking tour of France's cathedrals when he came across a playground in Annecy. He said he saw the man attack children in a stroller as their mother desperately tried to shield them. Video footage shows him trying to block the assailant with one of his two backpacks, pursuing the man into the playground and throwing one of his bags at the attacker. Dubbed 'the backpack hero' (le heros au sac a dos) by media, the management and philosophy student suggested it was God's will he was there to intervene. All I wanted to know was what my daughters were learning in sex education. Two years and one court case later, Ive been branded a bigot... and parents still arent being told From the heights of space to the deepest depths of the ocean and everything in-between, British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding has led a life of daring. Born in Hammersmith, west London, the 58-year-old, who turns 59 on Saturday, runs an airplane company in Dubai, catering to the needs of the world's wealthiest people by selling and buying jets. His business has seen him rack up a vast personal fortune but his adventures outside the corporate world are what have made him stand out from the crowd. Mr Harding has made a career out of 'making unusual things happen' and has three Guinness World Records and a trip to outer space on the Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin on his resume. In 2021, he set the record for the longest time spent at the bottom of the sea after exploring the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth, for four hours and 15 minutes. Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about starting the trip on Sunday Mr Harding has made a career out of 'making unusual things happen' and has three Guinness World Records. Harding is pictured with his son Giles, who is the youngest person to make it to the South Pole Born in Hammersmith, west London, the 58-year-old runs an airplane company in Dubai alongside his adventuring John Travolta hands Hamish Harding a Guinness World Record award after his success Harding lives in Dubai with wife Linda, and sons Rory, 18, and Giles, now 15, as well as their two Golden Retrievers Retired Nasa astronaut Colonel Terry Virts shared a final text to him from Mr Harding ahead of his expedition At the same time, he set the record for the greatest distance covered at full ocean depth. Also, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 2019, he set a world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth. But his record-setting barely scratches the surface of a life filled with danger and excitement. In 2016, he joined close friend Buzz Aldrin on an expedition to Antarctica, where the astronaut became the oldest person to reach the South Pole at the age of 86. Mr Harding repeated the trick in 2020, returning with his son Giles who, at the age of 12, became the youngest person to reach the point. And last year, he was awarded a Living Legends of Aviation honour by actor Morgan Freeman. The award has previously been given to Mr Aldrin, as well as billionaires Sir Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. Mr Harding, who has degrees in natural sciences and chemical engineering from Cambridge University, also holds 16 air speed records and last year became the first Briton to travel on Blue Origin's fifth human spaceflight mission. The businessman lives in Dubai with wife Linda, and sons Rory, 18, and Giles, now 15, as well as their two Golden Retrievers. He also has a stepdaughter named Lauren and a stepson named Brian Szasz. He previously said his love for space and aviation began while watching the Apollo moon landing aged five. Speaking about his daredevil lifestyle, Mr Harding also said: 'People, especially as they grow older, tend to give up on their dreams. When I think of something unusual, I just try to find ways to make it happen.' Discussing his awards, he said recently: 'I used to read the book of Guinness World Records regularly as a child... I always wondered how I could get into it. Speaking about his daredevil lifestyle, Mr Harding also said: 'People, especially as they grow older, tend to give up on their dreams. When I think of something unusual, I just try to find ways to make it happen' Mr Harding is one of five people on board a submersible, which at 4am on Sunday, began its descent to the resting place of the Titanic Jannicke Mikkelsen, a Norwegian explorer, is pictured with Mr Harding, who she described as a mentor and friend Last year, he was awarded a Living Legends of Aviation honour by Morgan Freeman In 2016, he joined close friend Buzz Aldrin on an expedition to Antarctica, where the astronaut became the oldest person to reach the South Pole at the age of 86 'I did not think I could do it. And I didn't want to do something stupid-like setting a record for the number of ping-pong balls bounced in a day, or something like that.' Now, as rescuers desperately try to find him and his fellow explorers trapped inside a missing Titanic sub, his family have asked for prayers for Mr Harding. However, he is most likely to be remaining calm, according to friend Jannicke Mikkelsen, a Norwegian explorer. 'Hamish is larger than life. He lives exploration. He is an explorer to the core of his soul. He has been to the bottom of planet earth in the Mariana Trenchhe's even been in space. We circumnavigated the planet togetherthe north and south pole, and set the world speed record. 'He will work through the emergency procedures together with the crew. He is also an experienced submersible pilot so he will be a valuable asset to the crew and helping motivate the crew as well if morale is low.' Meanwhile, another friend, retired Nasa astronaut Colonel Terry Virts, shared the final text he received from Harding ahead of his expedition. It read: 'Hey, we're headed out tomorrow, it looks good, the weather's been bad so they've been waiting for this.' The round trip for which participants pay 195,000 usually takes eight hours. But contact with the mothership was lost one hour and 45 minutes in, before reaching the wreck, and rescuers are now engaged in a race against time to try and recover the submersible and its crew. Before setting off on the Titanic tourist submarine, Mr Harding told his social media followers on Saturday: 'A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. Mr Harding previously said his love for space and aviation began while watching the Apollo moon landing aged five Mr Harding, who has degrees in natural sciences and chemical engineering from the Cambridge University, also holds 16 air speed records In 2021, he set the world record for the longest time spent at the bottom of the sea after exploring the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth, for four hours and 15 minutes 'We started steaming from St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada, yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning. Until then, we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.' An employee of Harding last night revealed the billionaire had wanted to go on the trip for 'a long time'. It is not the first time he has faced peril on one of his expeditions. He told an interviewer in 2021 how his submarine, Challenger Deep, had sustained a damaged thruster during his journey to the 'truly spectacular' Mariana Trench, which lies seven miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. He said: 'The sub has many safety features, including four days' reserve of oxygen, water and emergency rations. The only problem is that there is no other sub that is capable of going down there to rescue you. It will take three years to build another one. So, having four days of supply doesn't make a difference really. If something goes wrong, you are not coming back.' He joined Victor Vescovo, a US explorer, on the 12-hour dive to Challenger Deep, the deepest known point of the seabed at around 36,000ft beneath the surface. Mr Vescovo then travelled with Mr Harding on the Blue Origin flight last year. This made them the first crew to visit both Challenger Deep and space. Meanwhile, his circumnavigation of the globe saw the air temperature plunge to -83C, just three degrees above the aircraft's tolerance limit. That forced the crew to drop 5,000ft to avoid catastrophic cold damage, though they managed to complete the flight. Mr Harding has been into space, visited both poles, circumnavigated the globe and holds three Guinness World Records He excitedly posted on social media about being on the mission His post before the dive. The boat departed St. John in Newfoundland on Saturday Mr Harding's stepson posted on social media that he was among the missing The Boston Coast Guard is now looking for the missing vessel. The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada Colonel Virts joined Mr Harding as they made the trip in 46 hours, 39 minutes and 38 seconds, beating the previous record of 54 hours, seven minutes and 12 seconds. 'I'm ecstatic,' Mr Harding said at the time. 'We pushed the boundaries of aeronautics and the aircraft handled it flawlessly.' The adventure remains the fastest circumnavigation of the earth via North and South Poles in a Gulfstream 650ER business jet. This was to mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing by Neil Armstrong and Aldrin, according to the Living Legends of Aviation. Among his other accolades, Mr Harding helped introduce the first regular business jet service to the Antarctic. And, in September 2022, his aviation company Action Aviation supplied a customised Boeing 747-400 to transport eight wild cheetahs from Namibia to India to launch a project by the government to reintroduce the animals to the country. They had been extinct in India since independence in 1947. A former TV journalist has told how he 'almost died' in a submersible that got stuck in the wreck of the Titanic - as a search continues today for five people who are missing 12,500ft under water. British billionaire Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, 48, one of Pakistan's richest men and a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust, and his son Sulaiman, 19, are among the group stuck in the 22ft underwater craft operated by OceanGate. While efforts continue to find them before their oxygen runs out, ex-ABC science editor Michael Guillen revealed his own terrifying experience in 2000 when he became the first TV correspondent to visit the wreck in a sub two and half miles under the Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland. News footage shared by Dr Guillen told how the vessel was suddenly caught in a strong underwater current that pushed it towards the Titanic's 21-ton propellers. After becoming wedged under the stern, the crew tried to reverse out - at which point a bang was heard as chunks of debris were seen floating through the water. Ex-ABC reporter Michael Guillen revealed his own terrifying experience when he became the first TV correspondent to visit the wreck (this is a still from news footage of the incident) A current pushed the sub underneath the Titanic's stern, as which point the crew began fiddling with the controls to try and reverse it out TITANIC ACCIDENT. When I was at ABC News, I became the first TV correspondent in history to report from the wreck of the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, 2-1/2 miles below the surface. An accident happened that almost claimed my life. Here's what happened. #Titanic pic.twitter.com/b4t3WtaRdc Dr. Michael Guillen (@DrMGuillen) June 19, 2023 'So are we stuck or what?' a voice can be heard asking in the footage. The team eventually managed to free the sub and get it back to the surface, but Dr Guillen said the accident 'almost claimed my life'. READ MORE - Inside Titan, the cramped 22ft-long submersible that vanished over the Titanic Advertisement Dr Guillen was on a submersible called the Mir 1 which was built in 1987. Writing in his 2021 book Believing is Seeing, Dr Guillen said: 'It seemed to me we were heading toward it [the propeller] too fast - and, worse, accelerating. 'Later, I learned that our sub accidentally got caught in a fast-moving, deep-underwater current. A split-second later, Mir 1 slammed into the Titanic's propeller. 'I felt the shock of the collision: rusty debris showered down on our submersible, obscuring my view through the porthole.' Dr Guillen said 30 minutes passed and the team were trying to dislodge the vessel by 'moving it forward and backward, forward and backward' to 'rock us out of our stuck position'. At this point he started to think they would not make it out. But he said he then suddenly felt as if an 'invisible presence' had entered the sub, and 'shortly afterward everything went quiet' before the engine 'stopped roaring' and it felt like they were floating again. At this point a bang was heard as large chunks of debris were seen floating through the water 'So are we stuck or what?' a voice can be heard asking in the footage The team had managed to free Mir 1 from the propeller but Dr Guillen admitted that even today he did not fully understand how he had survived the incident. Dr Guillen, who is a Christian, also wrote how he 'experienced God's presence and peace right when I was resigned to kissing my life goodbye'. OceanGate's submersible, The Titan, is now the only five-person sub in the world capable of reaching the Titanic. The vessel is controlled by a reinforced Playstation controller, though it doesn't have a GPS system and is guided by text messages sent by a team above water. CBS correspondent David Pogue, who has travelled onboard one of the submersibles, has said it would be impossible for those inside it now to escape without help. Passengers were sealed inside the capsule by 17 bolts that were applied from the outside and could only be removed by an external crew, he told the BBC yesterday. He told The Context programme that the craft had seven different functions to allow it to resurface and it was 'really concerning' none of these had worked. A graphic showing the sub Dr Guillen was in becoming stuck under the Titanic's stern The team eventually managed to free the sub and get it back to the surface, but Dr Guillen said the accident 'almost claimed my life'. He added that these resurfacing capabilities would be irrelevant if the sub became trapped or sprang a leak. READ MORE - How the many missions to explore sunken secrets of the ocean have ended in disaster Advertisement 'There's no backup, there's no escape pod - it's get to the surface or die,' Mr Pogue said. Meanwhile, a writer who took the Titanic submersible trip last year said he is 'not optimistic' over the search for the missing OceanGate craft. Mike Reiss told BBC Breakfast communication was also lost during his dive down to the Titanic. Mr Reiss said: 'I'm not optimistic just because I know the logistics of it. And I know really again, how vast the ocean is, and how very tiny the craft is. He added: 'So the idea is, if it's down at the bottom, I don't know how anyone's going to be able to access it, much less bring it back up. 'There is a hope that it's at, or near, the surface. I did three separate dives. I did one dive to the Titanic and two more off the coast of New York. Authorities are currently searching for OceanGate's 22ft carbon fiber and titanium vessel called the Titan after it vanished on Sunday The Boston Coast Guard is now looking for the missing vessel. The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada Authorities are currently searching for OceanGate's 22ft carbon fiber and titanium vessel called the Titan after it vanished on Sunday 'Every time they lost communication and again, this is not a shoddy ship or anything.' The missing tourist submersible is understood to have last 'pinged' while it was directly above the Titanic. Stockton Rush, chief executive of OceanGate - which organised the trip - is believed to be the fifth crew member. It is believed the sub has enough oxygen to last underwater until 12pm on Thursday UK time (7am EST). Time is running out for the five adventurers inside the missing Titanic tourism sub - as it emerged there may only be two deep sea vessels on the planet with a fighting chance of rescuing them before their oxygen runs out on Thursday. US and Canadian ships and planes have swarmed the area about 900 miles east of Cape Cod but are yet to find them as the search enters a third day today. Officials are racing to get a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to search for Titan - the name of the Titanic submersible. These can reach a depth of 20,000ft and are connected to a ship via an 'umbilical cord', allowing the pilot to control it from above using thrusters and relay images from sonar and camera systems. Some can lift objects from the sea bed. The only likely rescue would come from an un-crewed vehicle - essentially an underwater drone. The US Navy have one they used to salvage a crashed F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in about 12,400 feet in the South China Sea in early 2022. The US Navy also has a Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS), which can recover items using a winch from 21,000ft depths. There is also a privately owned two-man sub called Limiting Factor. In 2019 the explorer Victor Vescovo used it to become the first person to reach the deepest point in all five oceans. Stephen McGinty, author of The Dive: The Untold Story of the World's Deepest Submarine Rescue, told Sky News there is 'no reason' why crews could not use 'a remote controlled vehicle' to attach a rescue line to Titan. He said: 'It would take a long time, hours to get down to the bottom - and then attach, if they find it, a rescue line'. Mr McGinty says it will come down to whether they find the sub in time and what depth it is at. Limiting Factor, a two man sub that is able to go to the depths where the Titan (pictured off South Georgia) could be. It has the record for going to the bottom of the world's five deepest ocean basins A U.S. Navy-owned research vessel, deploys the cable-controlled Undersea Recovery Vehicle (CURV-21) off the coast of Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina. The CURV is designed to meet the U.S. Navy's deep ocean recovery requirements down to a maximum depth of 20,000 feet and helped recover a jet last year Sonar buoys have been dropped into the Atlantic to listen for the Titan. Planes and ships with similar technology are also scanning the sea for any sign on the surface and down below, including any noise from the missing men banging on the hull or screaming for help - a key instruction given in the case of a deep sea emergency. And nuclear submarines from Britain and the US could be sent. Today a new specialist ship is scanning the water. Deep Energy is searching the seafloor using cameras usually employed when laying pipes deep underwater. But experts have said that even if the missing Titan is found on the sea bed - they are unlikely to be able to rescue the five people on board. Commander Ryan Ramsey, who served in the British Royal Navy's submarine service for 23 years is less hopeful, and believes there is no chance of rescue. And with no sign of the craft yet, the five Titanic tourists and adventurers inside face the double threat of dwindling oxygen and extreme cold at two miles below the surface. Experts believe the vessel has a maximum of 96 hours of life support, meaning that air in the sealed sub will run out at around lunchtime on Thursday. Sonar buoys have been dropped into the Atlantic to listen for the Titan. Planes and ships with similar technology are also scanning the sea for any sign on the surface and down below, including any noise from the missing men banging on the hull or screaming for help - a key instruction given in the case of a deep sea emergency. David Gallo, senior adviser for Strategic Initiatives, RMS Titanic, said it is now a 'race against time' to find the sub and save those inside. He said: 'Where is it? Is it on the bottom, is it floating, is it mid-water? That is something that has not been determined yet. We will have to wait and see and hope for the best. The water is very deep two miles plus. It's like a visit to another planet, it's not what people think it is. It is a sunless, cold environment and high pressure'. Excited Instagram posts as they prepared to dive, then radio silence after 105 minutes and a final 'ping' over the Titanic before it vanished: How the Titan disappeared on Sunday The final photos of the tiny underwater craft leaving the port in St. John's in Canada with the five crew members on board were revealed (pictured) Billionaire Hamish Harding's excited message just before the Titan dived thanks to a 'weather window' Timeline: When the Titan vanished Saturday 7pm (US time): Hamish Harding posts about mission Sunday 4am: Titan begins its dive off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, 5.45am: Vessel loses contact with the surface 10am: Titan sends last distress signal 5.40pm: Boston coastguard contacted 9.15pm: Alert raised with Nova Scotia coastguard Monday The US Coast Guard said it has launched a sweeping search approximately 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, while the Canadian Coast Guard said it too is taking part in the effort with fixed wing aircraft and a ship. 'We are deploying all available assets to make sure that we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board,' US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters in Boston, where he was overseeing the operation. Tuesday The search and rescue operation, involving military aircraft 900 miles east of Cape Cod, was continuing on. The US Coast Guard said the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince and 106 Rescue wing will continue to conduct surface searches alongside two US C-130 flights. Advertisement Billionaire Hamish Harding, who is on board, revealed on Sunday that the vessel was leaving from St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada, with support ship the Polar Prince. He said that they planned to dive around 4am on Sunday morning, local time. Before submerging, Mr Harding, 58, a British entrepreneur and explorer, had excitedly posted a message to social media about a 'weather window' opening up that would allow the group to dive after 'the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years'. He promised: 'More expedition updates to follow IF the weather holds!' At 5.45am the last picture of the Titan was taken on the surface and it set sail. But less that two hours in, it lost contact with the Polar Prince. But after an hour and 45 minutes into the eight-hour mission, at 5.45am, 350 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, contact was lost with the state-of-the-art craft. The descent to the Titanic usually takes two hours. Once there, the explorers have several hours to look at the world's most famous shipwreck. The ascent to the surface then takes around two hours. But the Titan never surfaced and was reported 'overdue' on Sunday afternoon and the coastguard were informed by its mothership MV Polar Prince, which was waiting for them. The Titan sends a 'ping' every 15 minutes to help give its location in the absence of GPS at huge depths. The last ping was sent at around 10am on Sunday, right above the Titanic. There has been no signal since. The coastguard appear to have been contacted almost 12 hours later - at 9.15pm - but it is not yet clear why. As well as Mr Harding, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, the French world-renowned explorer, is also on board. OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush is believed to be the third crew member. Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, were on board. They are heirs to the great Dawood business dynasty and amongst the richest people in Pakistan - although they live in Surrey, England. Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition Shahzada Dawood (pictured) and his son Sulaiman Dawood were on board the small underwater craft take paying tourists to view the famous wreck Sulaiman Dawood, 19, who is missing on board the submarine is pictured with his mother Christine There may only be TWO underwater vessels on Earth with a chance of completing the deepest undersea rescue mission ever The only likely rescue would come from an uncrewed vehicle essentially an underwater drone. The US Navy has one submarine rescue vehicle, although it can reportedly reach depths of just 2,000 feet. For recovering objects off the sea floor in deeper water, the Navy relies on what it calls remote-operated vehicles, such as the one it used to salvage a crashed F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in about 12,400 feet in the South China Sea in early 2022. That vehicle, called CURV-21, can reach depths of 20,000 feet. Getting the right kind of equipment such as a remote vehicle like the CURV-21 to the site takes time, starting with getting it to a ship capable of delivering it to the site. CURV 21 is a 6,400-pound Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) that is designed to meet the US Navy's deep-water salvage requirements. It helped recover a Jet in the South China Sea Dr Dawn Wright and CDR Victor Vescovo inside the control capsule of the submersible DSV Limiting Factor Triton, an American manufacturer of deep-sea submersibles, has a two-person deep-sea model with a 3.5-inch Titanium Alloy hull that supports dives up to 16 hours long. It is called Limiting Factor. The company says its submersible can reach the deepest point in the ocean in less than two and a half hours. In 2019, the explorer Victor Vescovo used it to become the first person to reach the deepest point in all five oceans. Sonar buoys, ships and military aircraft are combing sea: How are they searching for the missing sub and what can they use to rescue them? US and Canadian ships and planes began swarming the area on Monday about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, some dropping sonar buoys that can monitor to a depth of 13,000 feet, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said. Canadian Boeing P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft will resume their surface and subsurface search today. The US Coast Guard have tasked two Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft with overflights. 'We are deploying all available assets to make sure that we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board,' Mauger said told reporters yesterday. 'It is a remote area and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area'. He said officials had asked commercial vessels to help too and that more help will arrive in the coming hours. This includes a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to attached to a ship on the surface with an 'umbilical cord'. This is the only way of getting down to the Titanic to see if the Titan is there. The 21ft submarine was seen being towed by the mothership MV Polar Prince out to sea to the wreckage site of the Titanic on Sunday Multiple C-130 aircraft are now assisting in the aerial search for the vessel, which has not been heard from since Sunday morning The Polar Prince is the expedition ship used to take tourists from Newfoundland out to the wreckage site. The sub is deployed once out at sea A Canadian Coast Guard vessel and military aircraft are also assisting the search effort, which was being led by the US Coast Guard in Boston. There are calls for the US and British navies to send nuclear submarines, but the UK Ministry of Defence has said this morning that the depths of water close to the Titanic 'greatly exceed those at which the NATO submarine rescue system can safely operate'. Later Downing Street said the Navy is on standby and 'ready to help' in the operation led by the US. David Gallo, senior adviser for Strategic Initiatives, says that the area that they are looking will be small, given the Titan mini-submarine only travels at around 2mph. He said: 'If it has gotten into trouble on the surface it might drift a bit, but on the bottom motoring 2 miles an hour, something like that. So the search area should be small. It means that you can focus on a very tight area and bring your sonars in, cameras in, and whatever you need to do into that area to try to locate the sub,' Gallo said. 'So it's not like looking for a huge area of the sea floor'. However, the depth, and darkness of the water makes it very tricky indeed. Eric Fusil, a submarine expert and associate professor at the University of Adelaide, said: 'As there is no tether between the Titan and the support surface ship, the only way to communicate or detect from the surface is through the sea water'. But he added that the depth of the Atlantic means that no GPS is available and radar will not work down to the Titanic. He said that despite potential fog and waves on the Atlantic, they will be found very quickly of they are there. But added that in the sea itself 'spotlight or laser beams are absorbed within a few metres' - making it very hard to see other than at close quarters. Alistair Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London, said: 'If it has gone down to the seabed and can't get back up under its own power, options are very limited'. He said that if the vessel is found, they would somehow have to get a ship with a two mile cable. But there are very few crafts, or pilots, that could bring that cable to the sea bed and successfully attach it to the Titan to haul it upwards, 'While the submersible might still be intact, if it is beyond the continental shelf, there are very few vessels that can get that deep, and certainly not divers', Mr Greig said. The submarine has seven ways it can rise to the surface of the Atlantic. Submersibles typically have something called a drop weight. Mr Greig said. 'A mass they can release in the case of an emergency to bring them up to the surface using buoyancy', he said. But the fact it is not bobbing on the waves already suggests it has not been deployed. There are also hydraulic systems, carrying 'roll weights', that are controlled inside the submarine. These don't require power either. And if the people on board are unconscious there are weights with 'fusible links', which drop off after a prolonged period of time under water. There is also a giant airbag that can be inflated to provide buoyancy, making at least half a dozen ways that the vessel can rise to the surface in an emergency. Did it spring a leak and implode - or was there a fire inside? What could have gone wrong with the Titan? First: A major power cut: This would have caused instant loss of communication. Eric Fusil says that some submersibles have a backup source of energy - but it is not clear if the Titan had these - or if these also failed. Second: A fire on board: A short circuit on the instruments or controls. This could knock out the systems. It could also release toxic fumes that could knock out the five people in the enclosed space. Third: Flooding: If the hull failed due to the pressure at the depths close to the Titanic, the Titan would take on water. But the vessel does have sensors that should warn of this in advance. But if combined with a power failure, the ship could be doomed. Fourth: A crash: The Titan could become trapped or entangled with debris of the Titanic on the floor of the Atlantic. There are very strong currents in the ocean - and it is possible the vessel could find itself in a situation where its path is blocked or it is trapped. Naval experts warned the rescue mission in the 'wild north Atlantic' was extremely difficult. Former Rear Admiral Chris Parry told Sky News: 'It's very worrying. It could have become entangled in the wreckage of Titanic, we don't know yet. The wreck site is a long way from anywhere.' Steve Somlyody, a Florida-based senior research scientist told Fix News: 'For there not to be any communications or any movement, indications are that something went critical. The submersible, Titan, is seen moments before it descended on its current dive on Sunday 'The pressure down there at 4,000 meters is pretty high. About 5,800 PSI at Titanic depth. If they had any kind of leak, it would lead to an implosion and it would happen in an instant, very immediately. You wouldn't even know it happened.' Former ABC science editor Michael Guillen revealed his own terrifying experience in 2000 when he became the first TV correspondent to get into a sub to visit the wreck - which sits two and half miles under the surface of the Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland. Dr Guillen said 30 minutes passed and the team were trying to dislodge the vessel by 'moving it forward and backward, forward and backward' to 'rock us out of our stuck position'. Banging on the hull and yelling to be heard on sonar: How 'mission specialists' on Titanic tourist trip are trained to deal with an emergency File image of the Titan submersible that has gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean To be a 'Mission Specialist' on the Titan, no diving experience is necessary, according to CNN, who have unearthed an archived section of OceanGate's website. Applicants must be over 18, able to pay $250,000 for the trip and 'be able to demonstrate basic strength, balance and flexibility'. Previous diving experience is not required before joining an OceanGate expedition to visit the wreckage of the Titanic, an archived version of the operator's website said. To be a Mission Specialist, applicants must be at least 18 years old when the trip begins and pay $250,000, according to an archived version of the itinerary seen by CNN, which is no longer accessible on their website. At $250,000 (195,000) a seat, tickets are not cheap and far from being ordinary tourists, the so-called citizen explorers are expected to play an active role in the research mission to the maritime heritage site. Mike Reiss, a New York-based writer who has worked on the Simpsons, went on board in 2020. He told the BBC: 'You sign a massive waiver that lists one way after another that you could die on the trip. They mention death three times on page one so it's never far from your mind. 'As I was getting onto the sub my thought was this could be the end. 'So nobody who's in this situation was caught off guard. You all know what you are getting into. 'It is really exploration. It is not a vacation. It's not thrill seeking, it's not sky diving. These are explorers and travellers who want to see something.' OceanGate's submersible, The Titan, is now the only five-person sub in the world capable of reaching the Titanic. The vessel is controlled by a reinforced Playstation controller, though it doesn't have a GPS system and is guided by text messages sent by a team above water. CBS correspondent David Pogue, who has travelled onboard one of the submersibles, has said it would be impossible for those inside it now to escape without help. Passengers were sealed inside the main capsule by 17 bolts that were applied from the outside and could only be removed by an external crew, he told the BBC yesterday. Can the five adventurers be saved if they find are found? Experts warn of the grim truth about being stuck in the depths of the ocean Finding the Titan is the start of what would be the deepest recovery mission in history. READ MORE: Inside Titan, the submersible that vanished on expedition to the Titanic wreckage Advertisement The record rescue was a submersible at a depth of 1,575ft in the late 1970s. But Titan was visiting the Titanic, which lies in two parts at the bottom of the Atlantic around 13,000 feet below the surface. The UK Ministry of Defence said today it is monitoring the incident involving three British citizens, but the depths of water greatly exceed those at which the NATO submarine rescue system can safely operate. The depth nuclear submarines travel at is classified, but it is understood to be around 2,000 to 3,000ft - 10,000ft above the Titanic's wreck. John Mixson, a retired US Coastguard lieutenant and expert in long-range search and rescue, said: 'From what I understand, the vessels are not designed for long-range, multi-day excursions. 'So it's going to be a very, very uncomfortable, dark experience with a lot of hope and prayers. 'I would say it is extremely serious. It's a dire situation. But on the other side of that fact, it is still considered classified as a search and rescue mission, which should give everyone hope, including the family members and friends of the people on board the vessel'. Commander Ryan Ramsey served in the Royal Navy's submarine service for 23 years, spending more than 6,000 days underwater before eventually commanding his own nuclear sub. Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, the 53-year-old from Oxford, feared doomed OceanGate sub was a lost cause and that the technology to launch a rescue mission 'doesn't exist'. READ MORE: From the North Pole to Space and the ocean floor - the adventurous life of Hamish Harding Advertisement 'There is no way of rescuing them,' the naval veteran said. 'Most rescue systems can get only reach 500m not 3,000m. 'The technology, as far as I'm aware, doesn't exist to carry out a rescue operation that deep. 'If they are still in a position to be rescued, they're running out of air and creating more carbon dioxide - that's a killer.' Continuing, the submarine captain, feared it was unlikely the boat - if it has suffered a catastrophic failure - would ever be recovered. 'It's probably imploded by now,' he added. 'The pressures at that depth are absolutely huge. 'If there's a fault in any part of that submarine or any crack then quickly the pressure take hold and crush it.' Asked what he thought when he heard about the crisis unfurling in the Atlantic, he said: 'It made my blood run cold. 'The people who decided to go down there are adventurers and they push the limits of what humans can do. 'But if you at the YouTube footage of that submarine, you could question the integrity of it. 'When I looked at it there was no way I would have done it and I have been underwater most my life.' What are their chances of survival? Retired US Navy submarine Captain David Marquet has admitted that the 'odds are against them'. His view is that if the five men have a less than a one per cent chance of surviving 'if they are on the bottom'. He said 'Time is running out in terms of their supply of oxygen, which they're going to want to try and extend. 'If they're still alive, they're going to want to try to relax, minimise their oxygen use, minimise all physical activity, they're not going to want to panic and get excited and they're going to want to take naps because that's a good way to minimise your oxygen use. 'When you're under that much water it's 400 times the pressure that we experience here. 'You can't transfer them to another vessel, we need to actually somehow hook or claw their vessel and bring it up to the surface, which means we need a ship above them with a two-mile cable. 'Then we need to somehow get the hook onto their vessel and get it back up which means we probably need another vessel down near them, which can get the hook on.' Read below to find out all about the inspiration for today's Google Doodle The latest Google Doodle is celebrating the birthday of Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz. Despite most commonly being labelled as a sculptor, Abakanowicz was credited for revolutionising the field with her use of textiles in this medium. As a result she won a host of awards throughout her life from the 1960s all the way to the 2010s. Abakanowicz died in 2017 as one of Poland's most internationally acclaimed artists, find out more about her below. Magdalena Abakanowicz won a host of awards throughout her life from the 1960s all the way to the 2010s Abakanowicz is credited for introducing textiles to the medium of sculpture Today's Google Doodle marks the 97th birthday of the Polish sculptor, who died in 2017 Who was Magdalena Abakanowicz? Magdalena Abakanowicz was born in Falenty, Poland in 1930 into a landowning family of nobility from her mother's side, while her father's lineage could be traced back to Genghis Khan according to the family. She was still just nine when Nazi Germany invaded Poland and as a result matured more quickly than she perhaps might have done, as her family participated in the Polish resistance. What is a Google Doodle? Google Doodles are a fairly regular feature, used by the organisation to celebrate major anniversaries, holidays, and the lives of some of the worlds most historic and significant figures. They tend to incorporate the Google logo within a design often by a guest artist. Recent doodles have celebrated LGBTQ+ icon Willi Ninja, actor Alan Rickman, and Juneteenth. Advertisement By 14 she worked in Warsaw hospital as a nurse's aid experiencing the horrors of war first-hand. When Poland became communist after World War II, the art that artists could pursue was restricted, with Modernism, for example, made illegal. However, this did not stifle Abakanowicz's creativity. She attended the Academy of Fine Art in Sopot aged 19 but moved to Warsaw a year later to attend the country's leading art school, and graduated in 1954. What art did she create? At the Academy in Warsaw, Abakanowicz was heavily constrained, saying she 'hated' her professor for erasing all of the 'unnecessary' lines in her drawings. After graduating, she began by producing 'biomorphic' paintings, which she saw as a way of 'fighting back' by making them 'as large as the wall permitted.' Political changes in the 1950s meant that restrictions on art were eased, and Abakanowicz began embracing a more structured and geometric style. Through the 1960s Abakanowicz created a number of 'soft sculptures' using textiles hung in rooms to create three-dimensional pieces, and these became known as Abakans after her, and earned her her first award in art - the Sao Paolo Grand Prix. However, Abakanowicz did not rest and changed medium throughout her career despite the success of the Abakans. In the 1970s and 80s she moved into study of the human condition through her art, creating humanoid sculptors. This developed into one of her later works titled Agora, which can be found in Chicago's Grant Park. Consisting of 106 giant cast-iron figures, it is considered one of her most important works. Over her life Abakanowicz received countless awards and commendations for her art, which was featured in museums and galleries across the world. Agora, which can be found in Chicago's Grant Park, is considered one of Abakanowicz's most important works How did she die? Abakanowicz died in April 2017 in Warsaw aged 86. Her death followed a long battle with illness according to her husband Jan Kosmowski. Russia is moving towards forced chemical castration of paedophiles, a system already operating in neighbouring Kazakhstan. A pro-Putin political party in Moscow has produced new legislation which is under review by the government. Russian ally Belarus has already moved to use such a method of castration against convicted child sex offenders. Current laws in Russia have failed to prevent rising paedophile attacks on children, according to the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party. One brutal alleged attack last month on two girls aged ten and 12 was by a returning fighter from Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. The alleged rapist - named only Sergei Sh - was seen on a video as he was brought handcuffed to his interrogation Named only as Sergei Sh, he was wearing his Wagner mercenary army uniform when he threatened the schoolgirls before raping them the day after he arrived in his home city from the war. He told them he would blow them up with a grenade unless they submitted to him. He approached them near their school in Novosibirsk and forced them behind garages where he sexually attacked them. The girls told their parents about the alleged rapes and said the man was wearing military fatigues and an insignia that matches Wagner private military company - showing a skull. The new draft laws would impose forcible chemical injections on convicted paedophiles in the months before they are released at the end of sentences. The jabs aim to lower the male libido. Pictured: Sergei Sh being taken to interrogation. Wearing the uniform of 'convicts' army Wagner, he approached the girls near their school in Novosibirsk and forced them behind garages where he sexually attacked them 'The need for the legislation is because the current measures to combat crime are not effective enough - [child sex attack] numbers are growing, and convicts often relapse after being released from prisons,' said a report. Russian MP Boris Chernyshov, 31, demanded the 'forced administration of substances that reduce sexual attraction for a long time or permanently'. Russia should 'use the experience' of other countries, he said. Kazakhstan has operated a system of forced castration for paedophiles for several years, and authoritarian Belarus has put similar laws in place. One of those castrated in Kazakhstan was Berik Zholdasov - who has been married four times - after he was convicted of raping his eight-year-old stepdaughter causing her so much physical damage that doctors had to remove her womb. A nurse and grandmother tasked with chemically castrating paedophiles in one Kazakh jail claims the West should also follow the ex-Soviet state's example. Zoya Manaenko, 69, insists it is right that child sex attackers should face this ultimate punishment. 'These people need to be stopped somehow,' said the nurse, who works in a prison hospital. 'They commit terrible crimes against children. So it is right that the law allows this.' Paedophiles have been shown on TV telling of their anguish after undergoing forced castration. One said on TV: 'I know it's harmful to my body. 'I know it will affect my health in future.' Another said: 'Now I am sorry I committed such a crime.' Kazakhstan is changing its system to chemically castrate convicts prior to their release. Until now the injections have been conducted during their full sentences in jail. Schools are allowing children to identify as cats, horses and dinosaurs - and teachers are 'failing to question them', it was claimed today. There was widespread outrage earlier this week when a 13-year-old girl was branded 'despicable' by her teacher for rejecting her classmate's claim that she identified as a cat. Now further stories are emerging of pupils who identify as animals with very human characteristics - often known as 'furries'. At a state secondary school in Wales, one student is said to 'meow' when asked questions by a teacher, rather than answering in English, the Telegraph reports. In other schools, one apparently insists on being addressed as a dinosaur, one claims to identify as a horse while another is said to wear a cape and demands to be acknowledged as a moon. Now further stories are emerging of pupils who identify as animals with very human characteristics - often known as 'furries' Pupils claim teachers are 'not allowed to get annoyed' about such behaviour in case it is seen as being discriminatory. Litter boxes in schools? The litter boxes in schools hoax is a rumour alleging that certain schools in North America provide litter boxes in bathrooms for students who 'identify as cats' or 'furries'. A Michigan school district last year denied that litter boxes were provided to students who identify as 'furries' after a woman made the claim in a school board meeting. The woman, Lisa Hansen said: 'So yesterday, I heard that a least one of our schools has - in one of the unisex bathrooms - a litter box for the kids that identify as cats, and I am really disturbed by that. And I will do some more investigation on that.' Superintendent Michael E. Sharrow said it was 'unconscionable' that he had to address the issue in an email to parents that was also posted on Facebook. 'Let me be clear in this communication. There is no truth whatsoever to this false statement/accusation! There have never been litter boxes within MPS schools,' Sharrow said. Advertisement However, lessons are reportedly becoming completely derailed by these interactions, impacting the quality of their classmates' education. Tracy Shaw, of the grassroots Safe Schools Alliance, said she has seen an increasing number of reports of children identifying as animals, but added that these remain in small numbers. 'This is worrying, as there is a high probability that those children have been online in unregulated chat forums,' she said. 'We know predators will do anything to get to children and what better way than to infiltrate chat forums pretending to be a cute furry animal? These children are often already isolated and vulnerable; they may also feel that they don't fit in. 'Teachers need to be showing professional curiosity when they encounter children who are identifying as animals. 'Affirming children as animals harms those children as it fails to look into their lives and get them the help them need. It also harms other children in the school. 'We are appalled that children are expected to ignore the evidence before their own eyes and pretend that children are something they are clearly not. 'When schools then sanction those children for not going along with the concept that children have animal identities that are valid and authentic, we have to believe that those schools have been infiltrated and are no longer a safe place for children.' Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, told MailOnline: 'In the current climate this cannot be dismissed as innocent examples of 'imaginative play', but further examples of the confusing and harmful ideologies which are continuing to escalate in our schools. 'This story exposes the confusion and untruths being embedded in schools which are developing into a public health crisis. 'This is where 'inclusive' education leaves teachers, parents, and children lost in moral chaos and confusion. 'Out of fear of questioning or going against the secular orthodoxy on these issues, teachers are forced to go along with it and to kowtow to whatever a child 'identifies' at any given moment. 'The harmful impact on children will not just be seen now, but also in the years to come if it goes unchecked. 'Teachers who rock the boat by refusing to use a pupils' preferred identity, or who raise standard safeguarding concerns over transitioning children, are marginalised, silenced and have even ended up losing their careers. 'Truth is becoming stranger than fiction. Sadly, such is the climate of fear in schools, we can no longer rely on the common sense of teachers.' However, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said he hasn't heard of it arising as an issue in schools. 'There are nine million children in England's schools so it is not surprising that all sorts of things crop up in discussions in classrooms,' he said. 'Teachers and leaders are very good at dealing with whatever situation arises.' It comes after two teenage Year 8 pupils at Rye College in East Sussex were ordered to stay behind in class after clashing with their classmate who identifies as a cat The government is due to issue new guidance on self-identity this week, but the issue of 'furries' will not be specifically addressed. A Department for Education spokesman said teachers would be trusted to apply 'common sense' in each individual case. It comes after two teenage Year 8 pupils at Rye College in East Sussex were ordered to stay behind in class after clashing with their classmate who identifies as a cat. One of the girls secretly recorded their conversation with the teacher, who can be heard reprimanding them both for their views that gender is binary, calling it 'really despicable' and 'very sad'. The girls were also told 'if you don't like it you should go to a different school.' Last night, the mother of one of the girls, who has asked to be kept anonymous, told MailOnline: 'I'm so proud of my daughter, she will always stand up for what she believes is right and this is all that she did. 'She expressed a view that many, many of her classmates and their parents would share yet she was shouted down and bullied by someone in authority.' Earlier this year, it emerged that the Safer Schools safeguarding organisation had issued guidance for parents and teachers on how to support 'furries'. It's unclear how many UK pupils identify as such, but Safer Schools published a lengthy document advising how to respond if they encounter one who does. The series of observations about furries includes reassurances that it's in no way unusual for pupils to want to do this: 'It's normal for young people to express themselves through ''dressing up''.' The post on the organisation's website explains how members of the furry 'community' like to take on the persona of an animal a 'fursona' and interact with other like-minded 'fursonas' by chatting and in acts of role play. It further outlines how furries take on the personality and physical attributes of their chosen animal and some members make or buy vibrant costumes of their characters, known as 'fursuits'. Conventions are held around the world where these like-minded people can meet up in their altered animal ego, it says. The birthrate in NSW public hospitals has plummeted to its lowest level in over a decade and Australia's cost of living crisis is to blame, according to new data. Just under 16,000 babies were born in public maternity wards in the first three months of this year. This is the lowest figure of any quarter since records began in 2010, according to an analysis of Bureau of Health Information data. The number of babies born spiked briefly during the pandemic to a high of 19,081 during April to June in 2021, primarily due to an increase in conceptions when people were forced to stay at home. Just under 16,000 babies were born in public maternity wards in the first three months of this year - the lowest figure of any quarter since records began in 2010 Covid, fears over cost-of-living and climate change as well as reduced immigration are all cited as reasons for the drop off Australian National University demographer Dr Liz Allen said a number of depressing factors were discouraging would-be parents from having children. 'Covid, cost-of-living, climate change, and a growing backdrop of economic downturn creating the perfect storm,' Dr Allen tweeted. She added: 'Time (and data) are showing just how Covid has disrupted families; formation and childbearing. Delayed, hastened, postponed, and forgone births.' But her insights were pounced on by a legion of vaccine skeptics and conspiracy theorists who falsely claimed the downward trend was due to the Covid vaccine. Jamie McIntyre, a controversial Gold Coast entrepreneur, claimed the drop-off was down to a 'not so safe, effective or necessary vaccine, (being) forced upon the elderly, pregnant mums and even children'. The Therapeutic Goods Administration found no evidence that Covid-19 vaccines cause infertility in males or females, or any future infertility in children. The Therapeutic Goods Administration found no evidence that Covid-19 vaccines cause infertility in males or females, or any future infertility in children Dr Allen hit back at her critics, claiming 'the story of declining births in NSW is a complex social one, not a reductionist anti-vax fearmongering horror story'. 'To suggest Covid vaccinations, or any immunisations for that matter, contributed biologically to declining births is to deny the ample evidence and nefariously co-opt data in a way to strike fear,' she told news.com.au. 'It is a real shame that instead of talking about the actual reasons for declining births and how to better support families, ill-informed and scurrilous people are misusing falling births data to progress unrelated lines of faux science.' Australian government actuary Karen Cutter said the decline in the birth rate could also be explained by a lack of immigrants coming to Australia in the pandemic years. 'Immigrants are mostly young, and tend to have babies,' she said. 'I suspect the fertility rate for new migrants in the year or two after migrating is well above the population average, so a lack of migration in the last few years may well be having a sizable impact on birth rates now.' The construction worker got drunk during the delay from 1pm to 8.30pm Darren Gill was due to fly from Manchester to Santander in July with wife and son A holidaymaker was escorted off his Ryanair flight to Spain by armed police after knocking back shots during a seven-hour delay and going on a drunken rampage. Construction worker Darren Gill, 33, accused police of 'ruining his holiday' and even headbutted a steel pole when they ejected him from the flight after he heckled cabin crew during an inflight safety demonstration. The Yorkshireman was due to fly from Manchester Airport to Santander in Spain with his partner Sam Baker and their young son on July 26 last year. He had posted on Facebook: 'Get me on that plane - whooooo' but their 1pm flight was delayed until 8.30pm, at which point he decided to hit the bar and got progressively drunk. During a foul-mouthed tirade, Gill, who was at the front of the aircraft, drunkenly shouted abuse across fellow passengers towards his embarrassed partner at the back of the plane. Holidaymaker Darren Gill was escorted off his Ryanair flight in July by armed police after he knocked back shots during a seven-hour delay before going on a drunken rampage at staff Gill, 33, fought with armed police and accused them of 'ruining his holiday' when they were called to the plane after he heckled cabin crew He asked her: 'Where the f**k is my passport?' then told officers: 'Why am I being taken off? - I'm not even drunk.' After attempts to calm him down failed, he was handcuffed after struggling and headbutting a steel post as he was led away. He went on to call one of the officers a 'fat b*****d' and shouted that they had all 'ruined his holiday'. By the time Gill, from Keighley, near Bradford in West Yorkshire, sobered up in the cells he could barely recall the incident. His partner dumped him later that day and threw him out of their house. It is not known if she went on holiday without him. At Manchester Magistrates Court, Gill admitted being drunk on an aircraft and was fined 459 with a 184 victim surcharge and 85 costs. Megan Edwards, prosecuting, said: 'Fully armed specialist officers were called to Gate 3 in Manchester Airport's Terminal 3 in response to reports of a drunken passenger refusing to listen to airline staff and being generally abusive. 'The Ryanair flight, bounded for Santander, Spain, was stationary at the gate with its front door open next to a stairwell to the runway. When they arrived, officers were told the defendant was not listening to the flight safety announcements and was being loud and generally uncooperative with staff. 'When the officers boarded the plane, the defendant started to walk towards them. They could smell intoxicants on his breath, he had slurred speech and was very unsteady on his feet. He had excitedly posted on Facebook: 'Get me on that plane - whooooo' - but their 1pm flight was delayed until 8.30pm The Yorkshireman was due to fly from Manchester Airport to Santander in Spain with his partner Sam Baker and their young son on July 26 last year Gill's partner Sam Baker (pictured together) dumped him after the incident. It is not known whether she then went on holiday without him 'They asked him to retrieve his bag from the overhead lockers. He walked over to his aisle and then shouted, "Where the f**k is my passport" across the whole plane to his wife sitting at the back. 'He then shouted, "Why am I being taken off, I'm not even drunk". An officer then attempted to move him towards the cabin door for exit but the defendant started to struggled and pulled the officer towards the door. 'The other officer in attendance then assisted in restraining the defendant and they managed to put him in an armlock before eventually handcuffing him despite him struggling throughout. 'The officers told the defendant to calm down and relax as they had to go down stairs to get off the plane... Once they got to ground level the defendant began to struggle again and became rigid. He started shouting that the officers "ruined his holiday". 'During the struggle he screamed that he couldn't feel his hands, despite the officers leaving adequate space to move in the cuffs. He also called one of the other officers a "fat b*****d." 'The defendant's behaviour was getting more and more irate and at one point he headbutted a steel pole he was passing, causing a small laceration. 'The defendant refused to calm down and so the officers took him to the ground. Soon after this he calmed down and sat back up. He was then arrested and taken to a nearby custody suite.' Gill had 67 previous offences on his record including a public order matter in 2004. At Manchester Magistrates Court (pictured outside), Gill admitted being drunk on an aircraft and was fined 459 with a 184 victim surcharge and 85 costs Gill and Baker had been dating for seven years and lived together in Keighley prior to the incident Gill had knocked back shots in the departure lounge at Manchester Airport while waiting for his flight In mitigation, defence lawyer Harold Smith said: 'On the day of the incident, the defendant was bound for a holiday to Spain with his partner and two children. They arrived at the airport at 10.30pm with their departure due at 1pm. 'However, this flight was delayed and they eventually didn't board the next flight till half 8 that evening. During that time the defendant did consume some shots, however ill advised that was. 'He only has a very scant recollection of the incident and therefore has no choice but to accept the facts laid out by the prosecution. He has no issue with drugs or alcohol, he just foolishly consumed a lot of alcohol before the delayed flight. 'He was living with his partner in Keighley prior to this incident. They started a relationship seven years ago and unfortunately their relationship came to an abrupt end that day. He has subsequently left the address and moved to a new part of Keighley.' Rishi Sunak declared the Partygate furore over Boris Johnson 'closed' today as ministers begged for Tories to stop infighting. Downing Street attempted to draw a line under the extraordinary scenes as the Commons approved the Privileges Committee report last night. The PM's spokesman said he 'respected' the decision taken by MPs, who voted by 354 to seven to endorse the conclusions that Mr Johnson lied to the House - something he dismissed as 'tripe'. Mr Sunak joined many Conservatives in swerving the debate, instead attending a Jewish Care event. It is understood Mr Johnson is keen to soothe tensions that have seen the two men publicly trading blows in recent weeks. The impact of the Tory feuding was underlined today with polls showing Labour's lead surging. Research by Redfield & Wilton Strategies found Keir Starmer's party was 20 points ahead - up from 14 points a week ago. Meanwhile, Deltapoll put the advantage at 19 points, eight point more than the previous week. It is understood that Boris Johnson (file picture right) is keen to soothe tensions that have seen him men publicly trading blows with Rishi Sunak (left in London last night) in recent weeks Research by Redfield & Wilton Strategies found Keir Starmer's party was 20 points ahead - up from 14 points a week ago Meanwhile, Deltapoll put the advantage at 19 points, eight point more than the previous week MPs voted by 354 to seven to endorse the controversial Privileges Committee report that found Mr Johnson lied to the House - a conclusion he dismissed as 'tripe' Asked if Mr Sunak believes his predecessor did mislead the House, the PM's official spokesman said: 'He respects the decision the House has come to, this follows extensive work by the committee, but beyond that I don't have anything more to add.' Pressed on whether the premier regarded the matter as closed, the spokesman said: 'Yes.' In a round of broadcast interviews this morning, Work and Pension Secretary Mel Stride denied that Mr Sunak was too 'cowardly' to register a vote on the committee's report last night, saying he had been busy with 'long-standing events' including hosting his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson. The Cabinet minister told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I don't think it is odd that he should be in a position before a vote which is a free vote in which he has made clear it is for the House to decide on these matters. 'I don't think it's odd that under those circumstances he wouldn't want to weigh in and start suggesting a particular course of action.' Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said Mr Sunak had 'committed a cowardly cop-out'. Mr Stride told Times Radio he accepted the committee's findings and believed members acted with 'absolute integrity' and 'diligence'. But he said he abstained because the 90-day suspension the report recommended - largely academic because Mr Johnson had already resigned - made him feel 'quite uneasy'. 'My hope is that Boris Johnson, the current Cabinet that we can all row together now and focus on what people really care about,' he added. Only seven MPs voted against the report, after Mr Johnson urged his allies not to participate in the division. Much of the Government payroll did not take part in the vote but some Cabinet ministers including Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk and Education Secretary Gillian Keegan chose to support it. Joy Morrissey, who was appointed assistant whip by Mr Johnson and continues to hold the role under Mr Sunak, said she voted against because the report was 'deeply flawed'. Mr Sunak himself joined many Conservatives in swerving the debate, instead attending a Jewish Care event Mr Johnson also entertained his Swedish counterpart at Downing Street yesterday 'This report with all its flaws risks a chilling impact on the rights of parliamentarians and I felt I needed to make a stand against that. It sets precedents that will last long and reach deep,' she wrote on her website. During bruising scenes in the House, Tory former premier Theresa May urged Conservatives to 'show that we are prepared to act when one of our own, however senior, is found wanting'. Mr Johnson will be denied the pass to Parliament usually granted to former MPs after the sanction recommended by the cross-party committee was endorsed by 354 votes. Mr Stride said Mr Johnson is in a 'difficult situation', adding to Today: 'I think really the caravan has got to move on from Boris Johnson, with respect.' The stretch has cleared many trees to make way for multiple shops Koala habitat to be destroyed and replaced by Toyota dealership A koala hotspot is set to be wiped out for a Toyota dealership, the latest in a string of tree clearances on the Gold Coast. Around 500 koalas lived in Coomera in 2018 but their habitat continues to dwindle to make way for new developments. In recent years, large sections of bushland in the region has been replaced with a shopping strip containing McDonald's, KFC and a Taco Bell, which are all located across from a Westfield that opened five years ago. A Woolworths is also soon to be opened nearby, with land being cleared in September for the supermarket. Locals in Coomera on the Gold Coast are outraged as a koala habitat is set to be cleared to make way for a Toyota dealership In recent years, large sections of bushland in the region has been replaced with a shopping strip containing McDonald's, KFC and a Taco Bell, which are all located across from a Westfield that opened five years ago (pictured) Koalas are a protected species and local conservation teams say they have taken in multiple rescues since the business hub replaced their habitat. With a decline in the herbivorous marsupial's home, conservationists are predicting the iconic Aussie creature will soon become extinct on the Gold Coast before 2025. A Toyota Australia spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia the company it is 'strongly committed to addressing environmental issues' and were not part of the approval process concerning the site development. Toyota did however confirm 138 trees assessed as 'koala habitat trees' were removed to make way for the dealership. 'No koalas were found during the clearing, which was undertaken with a wildlife expert present at all times to ensure the safety of all potential fauna in the area, as well as koalas,' a Toyota spokesperson said. A Toyota Australia spokesperson said the company is 'strongly committed to addressing environmental issues' and were not part of the approval process concerning the site development With a decline in the herbivorous marsupial's home, conservationists are predicting the iconic Aussie creature will soon become extinct on the Gold Coast before 2025 (pictured: Coomera site for new Toyota dealership) The Coomera Conservation Group have made its displeasure about the move known, taking to social media on multiple occasions to voice its outrage on the continued clearing of koala habitats in the region. 'The Coomera Town Centre and the surrounding area has seen astronomical clearing of koala habitat over the past decade,' the group wrote on social media. 'This area represents the last significant island within the urban area.' Locals also aired their grievances online about the dwindling wildlife in the area. 'Is nowhere safe for koalas now,' one person exclaimed. 'Where are our beautiful wildlife to go? Snatching the only areas that are left to koalas,' another said. While a third simply wrote: 'Money, money, money'. A sheep farmer threw his wife to the ground and poured beer on her during a row after she went on holiday with friends to Majorca during the lambing season. Andrew Bailey, 65, attacked private nursing assistant Lesley in a fit of rage after she returned home from the Balearic Islands and allegedly criticised her husband because there was no food in the fridge. During the assault at the couple's farm in Tarporley, Cheshire, Bailey grabbed his spouse of 12 months by her dressing gown lapel, 'threw' her to the floor then took a bottle of beer she had in her hand and tipped it over her head. Ms Bailey, 53, suffered bruising to her shoulder during the scuffle and later said she felt 'breathless' as if being 'waterboarded' as the beer went over her face. A court heard she has since been diagnosed with PTSD. She claims she went on holiday to 'get away' from her husband, who was also accused of coercive behaviour and whom she referred to as a 'psychopath'. Andrew Bailey, 65, threw his wife to the ground and poured beer over her, leaving her with injuries and PTSD, a court heard At Warrington magistrates court, Bailey, now of Carnforth, denied wrongdoing but was found guilty of assault by beating. He was cleared of coercive behaviour. The court heard the pair met through a dating app during the first lockdown in 2020 and quickly formed a 'passionate relationship'. They later moved in together and wed in August 2021 after three attempts at arranging a ceremony. Ms Bailey was previously a carer and labelled a 'townie' by her new husband, but she was said to have become 'enamoured' with the farming lifestyle and bonded with him over the purchasing of sheep at market. The pair bought fashionable and expensive Badger Faced Texel sheep for the upcoming lambing season. They were said to be 'quite wealthy' but after Covid affected their income they set up a farm shop called the Chicken Coop, selling their own produce and local eggs. But according to Ms Bailey, her husband became angry when her ex-police officer father moved to the area to be closer to her and often stayed at the farm. The former couple are said to have met on a dating app and bonded over buying sheep at market Bailey was sentenced to a 24-month community order during which he must complete 20 rehabilitation activity hours and 100 hours of unpaid work Bailey was said to have called his father-in-law a 'miserable old man who drank two bottles of wine a night' and expressed 'disdain' for his wife and her friends, saying: 'They are not country people, they are town people.' The conflict came to a head on February 23 last year, after Ms Bailey went on holiday with her friends during the important lambing season. At court, Bailey said it was 'inappropriate' of his wife to have gone away during the lambing season and called the attack a 'tussle'. He also admitted to the court he had grabbed her by the collar, claiming the injuries he inflicted could have been sustained 'at any time'. Bailey told the hearing: 'Farming is all I ever wanted to be, it's what I'm good at. But Lesley didn't realise that farming is seven days a week. She would say it's Friday, you're going out - but you can't do that on a farm and it's not my cup of tea anyway.' He accused his ex-wife of having a 'drinking problem'. He added: 'It was inappropriate to go on holiday during lambing season. It is a difficult time of year, but it is also the nicest time to be a farmer as you actually bring lambs into the world. I don't know why you would possibly go away, a farmer would never do that.' Bailey, a sheep farmer, and his wife had been married for 12 months at the time of the assault Wife Lesley said: 'I was a happy-go-lucky, positive person before this and it will take me a long time to get back to the old me' On her arrival back to the UK, Bailey picked up his wife from the airport but was said to have been rude to her during the journey back to the farm. That evening Ms Bailey made dinner and the pair settled down for a movie night but she was said to have started to complain her husband had not bought any food for them whilst they were away. As she got a bottle of beer from the kitchen, Bailey grabbed her, later claiming his plan was to 'take her to the fridge and show her' the food, before bundling her to the floor and emptying the contents of the bottle over her face. Police were called after a relative alerted by the noise saw Ms Bailey lying on the floor and her husband standing over her. Bailey was arrested and kept in custody for 23 hours. He denied assaulting his wife, saying: 'I never assaulted her, it was a tussle. I took her by the collar and said let's see if there is some food in the fridge. Andrew Bailey, 65, attacked private nursing assistant Lesley (pictured) in February 2022 At court, Bailey said it was 'inappropriate' of his wife to have gone away during the lambing season and called the callous attack a 'tussle' 'She could have got those injuries at any time. There is no way I could ever control that lady. It was always about her father.' In a statement to police, Ms Bailey said: 'He just flipped and I could see it in his eyes. I feel damaged and destroyed by this. I was a happy-go-lucky, positive person before this and it will take me a long time to get back to the old me.' 'I have lost trust in people and humanity. This experience will have a profound effect on my family and will also affect my elderly father, who is in ill health. He thought he should have done more to help me. 'I'm just trying to take life day by day and return to being a very positive person. 'I don't want anyone to be hurt by him again. I was diagnosed with PTSD and signed off for two weeks from work. This meant I made a loss of 600 in earnings.' Bailey was sentenced to a 24 month community order during which he must complete 20 rehabilitation activity hours and 100 hours of unpaid work Lesley suffered bruising to her shoulder during the scuffle and later said she felt 'breathless' as if being 'waterboarded' as the beer went over her face Bailey was sentenced to a 24-month community order during which he must complete 20 rehabilitation activity hours and 100 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay the court 800 in trial costs as well as the 114 statutory surcharge. A non-contact restraining order was also imposed between all parties for two years but magistrates rejected a request to ban Bailey from visiting the former marital area of Tarporley and Wettenhall, where his now ex-wife works. The couple have since divorced. After the case, Ms Bailey said: 'I had no contact with his ex-wives before this but one of his previous partners has since said to me that she doesn't want to be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life. 'The night before our wedding I was thinking how I could get out of it. When I went away that time, it was not a holiday - it was to get away from him. 'While I was there, he was constantly messaging me, saying why have you taken the car out, why are you taking fuel. 'When he picked me up, he was in a foul mood. When I got back he grabbed me by the dressing gown, twisted it and threw me to the floor. 'He poured drinks over my nose and mouth so I couldn't breathe. I felt I was being waterboarded and I thought he was going to ram me into the floor again. 'I feel he is a psychopath. I am pursuing him through the civil courts as he still owes me in excess of 30,000.' In mitigation, defence lawyer Steve Coupe said: 'Farming is his life, and he has a solid reputation in the community. He doesn't do much outside of farming. For a gentleman of 65, he should be starting to slow down but he works five days a week and most weekends on the farm. 'He has not had a police call out in the last 42 years and has only had one instance of contact with the complainant since the incident. They have now divorced.' The millionaire wife of a man once dubbed Britain's 'worst landlord has been hit with a 166,000 court bill after losing a court fight against a council over safety work that left her red brick Victorian home a multi-coloured 'laughing stock'. Judith Wilson, 73, claims her once elegant home in the village of Wateringbury, Kent, has become an 'eyesore' after her local council carried out vital safety repair works on an external wall, removing large sections of brickwork. The former maths teacher - whose husband Fergus Wilson, once the biggest private landlord in the country who infamously tried to ban a 'coloured tenant' who 'smelled of curry' from living in one of his homes - claimed council workers re-inserted the original bricks 'any old how,' resulting in an odd multi-coloured effect. The 'white, yellow and green' renovated section of the red brick 18th century building led to Mrs Wilson being peppered with letters and comments from disgruntled village residents, she said. The property tycoon sued Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council for 100,000 over the alleged 'damage' done to the facade of the former teashop but has now been left with a court bill of 166,000 after losing her case at Central London County Court. Judith Wilson, 73, lost her court war against Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council after suing the authority following safety work on her Victorian home which left the property an 'eyesore'. She is pictured leaving Central London County Court with husband Fergus Before: The property had a red brick facade with a discoloured square patch at the front of it (pictured in 2016) After: Urgent work was needed to make the building safe. However, Mrs Wilson claims the original bricks were inserted back in 'any old order' creating a multi-coloured patchwork effect. Pictured is the home in Wateringbury, Kent, in 2021 Mrs Wilson carved out a 250million real estate empire alongside husband Fergus, accumulating multiple properties in the 1980s when the prices were at rock bottom. They went on to become multi-millionaires, with houses across Kent, including a 2million mansion near Maidstone, Kent's county town. At the height of their power, property mogul Fergus is thought to have owned 300 homes before raking in more than 40million from the sale of 166 properties. The 'eyesore' home in Tonbridge Road, Wateringbury, currently at the centre of the court row is a former tea shop bought to use as a residential property. A renovation project was carried out in two phases between 2018 and 2019, first stabilising the structure and later rebuilding the affected front wall. Mrs Wilson was initially happy to fund and oversee the project, but had to step back in 2019 because of health problems, with Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council taking control to make it safe, using its powers under the Building Act 1984. As a self-confessed 'control freak' who liked to keep a tight hand on her building projects, it was deeply frustrating to have to surrender control, Mrs Wilson told the court. And things got worse for the tycoon when she saw the result of the council's builders' handiwork. 'The final result was awful. We looked at the brickwork and some people came up to us and said "what on earth is this?". They were staggered,' she told the judge. Mrs Wilson told District Judge Samuel Rippon she also received letters from local residents 'complaining about it being an eyesore'. Villagers in Wateringbury, Kent, have reportedly complained about the state of the home following work to make it structurally safe Mrs Wilson carved out a 250million real estate empire alongside husband Fergus, accumulating multiple properties in the 1980s when the prices were at rock bottom. The married couple are pictured together 'I'm very concerned because this is a pretty village and when you look at these bricks it's an absolute eyesore,' she added after the court hearing. Mrs Wilson sued for 100,000 over the alleged 'damage' done to the former teashop's facade. The council denied all liability and counter-sued to cover the costs of the latter phase of the building project. Representing herself in court, Mrs Wilson argued the authority was liable to compensate her for breaching its duty of care while contracted to carry out the repair works. Horatio Waller, the council's lawyer, said safety had been the overriding priority, stating: 'Mrs Wilson accepted the property was in a dangerous condition in 2019'. He added a risk assessment from November that year pinpointed the building as 'likely to collapse - and with the potential consequence of fatalities'. While the builder who oversaw the project had told the court the wooden lintel of the building 'was so rotten that the wall was sinking', before adding: 'I wasn't instructed to make the building look pretty, just to make it safe'. The council, not Mrs Wilson, was in charge of the building project, argued the barrister Mr Waller, and safety not aesthetics was the key factor. Horatio Waller, the council's lawyer, said safety had been the overriding priority, stating: 'Mrs Wilson accepted the property was in a dangerous condition in 2019'. Pictured is the home after its renovation work On top of that, he claimed Mrs Wilson did not specifically ask for the bricks to be re-coloured or given a 'soot wash' to retain their authentic look. Judge Rippon ultimately threw out Mrs Wilson's claim, saying the works had been necessary for safety reasons, with the council identifying the hazardous state of the building as a risk to human life. He said: 'She admitted that both she and her husband are control freaks who generally controlled every part of a project. 'She felt that she was prevented from being involved in this and this was clearly a source of frustration. Mrs Wilson was unhappy that due to her ill-health she couldn't oversee the works.' The judge accepted the council's case and concluded 'no duty of care was owed by the authority to the claimant in respect to the building works. 'The works were carried out to make the building safe - no more,' he added. The judge ordered Mrs Wilson to pay 106,752 to cover what the council spent on the work, plus interest, with another 60,000 up front towards its lawyers' bills. In June last year, her husband Mr Wilson faced his own court war when he was banned from selling off his houses in a bid to avoid paying a 250,000 legal bill. It came after the property mogul was banned for life from contacting Ashford Borough Council after a 10-year campaign of abuse against its staff. During the campaign, Mr Wilson referred to a female member of staff as an 'objectionable lady' and 'Michelin lady' in an email where he called for her to be sacked. Six years ago the landlord gained infamy for banning tenants he described as 'coloured' because he said they smell like curry. In 2017 this ban was overturned in a court victory for the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Brit tourists have revealed how they were left 'shaken' after the off-road 4x4 they were in broke down on a 'cliff edge', leaving the massive vehicle tilting near a steep slope in Turkey. Josef Killey, 24, and partner Joseph Morphet, 29, were with 14 other tourists travelling along a dirt track when the vehicle ground to a halt. A tyre popped, leaving the vehicle tilting towards the side of a slope, in a scene that evoked the ending of the legendary 1969 heist film the Italian Job, where the robbers' loot-laden bus hangs over the edge of an Alpine road. Charlie Croker, played by Michael Caine, famously says: 'Hang on a minute, lads - I've got a great idea.' Other cars were available to transport them but, feeling unsafe, the couple - who had been enjoying a holiday in Bodrum - and their group of eight decided to go on foot, along with another family of five, walking for 45 minutes in the 30-degree heat. One of the passengers can be seen inspecting the vehicle as it is perched over the edge of the 'cliff' The 4x4 dangling over the 'cliff' edge. Josef Killey, 24, and partner Joseph Morphet, 29, were with 14 other holidaymakers, travelling along a dirt track when the vehicle ground to a halt Josef, a financial crime analyst, said: 'It was a full truck with kids, kids in our family and another family with kids and grandparents on board. 'Everyone was really shaken up by it and the lack of information from the guides just made it even worse. 'It could have gone horribly wrong and we are grateful it didn't but the thought is scary enough for us.' Josef said the group had booked the tour on June 3 through the concierge at their hotel in Bodrum, where they were enjoying a two-week holiday. The group were told by tour guides that they could get in one of the other 4x4s and continue the tour, but they refused as they felt unsafe. As there were no alternative routes down the mountain, the group walked for 45 minutes to the next stop-off point, where they agreed to get in another vehicle for a ride to the main road. The passengers attempting to bring the vehicle back onto the road Josef Killey and his partner Joseph Morphet in Turkey. Josef said the group had booked the tour on June 3 through the concierge at their hotel in Bodrum, where they were enjoying a two-week holiday Josef said that they still felt unsafe in the vehicle and after just a few minutes asked to be let out so they could walk the remaining way to the main road. After establishing there were no more cliffs or dangerous roads, the group agreed to return to the vehicle and finish the tour. 'It was quite bumpy - our driver was telling us we could stand up on our seats to look at the view, so people were stood up and holding onto the railing,' said Josef. 'The driver pointed out an eagle flying across on our left side where the cliff edge was. It was quite a narrow road and he was distracted and wasn't looking where he was going. 'Everyone was shouting to get out of the vehicle, it was like someone had slammed on the brakes really hard. 'We said we don't want to get into another one of the cars and don't want to go back the way we came. 'We walked for 45 mins in 28 degrees to a photo stop up the road - we were all exhausted by the time we got there. The group walking to the next stop-off point in the 30-degree heat and the vehicle at the side of the 'cliff'. The group were told by tour guides that they could get in one of the other 4x4s and continue the tour, but they refused as they felt unsafe The vehicle before the crash. Josef, a financial crime analyst, said: 'It was a full truck with kids, kids in our family and another family with kids and grandparents on board' 'The tour guide said we could carry on along the road or wait and go back the way we came in a Jeep. 'We decided to get back on and get to the main road, but the driver was distracted so we insisted on getting out even if it was just short distance to road and said we would walk. 'We then asked the new driver if there were any more cliffs and he said no, so we continued the tour from there.' A representative for the tour company said: 'We were driving on a hard terrain road when a stone hit the rim of the tyre which broke down the centre. 'We provided a second vehicle in 20 minutes as we were away from the city centre. 'The guests insisted on not getting in the vehicle and said they wanted the walk. 'A Jeep followed them until they get on the main road. We offered them a full refund and to take them back to the hotel as well as a full check-up at the hospital in case of any injury. 'The guests refused to go back to the hotel, choosing to continue the excursion. We also refunded half of the money they paid for. They also got a free zipline, water pistols and photos which were worth 100. 'There was no crash at all, it was just a break down while off-roading. We obey the highest health and safety rules and regulation but cars can break down all the time.' An emotional support dog has been used in court for the first time to help a sex assault victim give evidence against a couple who abused her as a child. Siberian husky, Luna, was used to help keep the witness calm as she testified against Paul Higginson and his wife Pamela, who were jailed for more than 50 years between them. The couple, from Deal, Kent, were found guilty by a jury of a string of sex abuse and rape charges spanning from the 1980s to the 2010s. During the court proceedings, seven-year-old Luna kept one of the victims company in between her stints in the witness box. She was kept in a side room at the court and sat with the woman after her ordeal of reliving the abuse she suffered. Siberian husky, Luna, was used to help keep the witness calm as she gave evidence against a couple who abused her as a child Owner Angelina said: 'Luna is such a wonderful dog who is loving and kind. I'm so happy to share that love with those who need it the most. 'She spent time with the victim during her visit to the court as part of a six-week trial. 'She was there when she put her hand out for a cuddle, when things were getting tough, and in exchange enjoyed a biscuit or two. 'Her presence helped keep the victim calm and Luna was a welcome distraction before and after giving such painful evidence.' Angelina has been volunteering her dog's therapy services at Kent Police since November and Luna is one of 12 dogs used by the force to help vulnerable people during interviews and after being victims of serious crime. But this was the first time that Luna had supported anyone inside court and the first time the force had used a therapy dog in court. Nearby Medway Magistrates Court held a trial alongside researchers at Canterbury Christ Church University that saw a therapy dog used to assess whether they can help defendants and witnesses. Support dogs have been used in the US and Australia, but they have not been widely used in the UK. PC Martyn Tulk, who oversees volunteers within Kent Police's Special Constabulary, added: 'Volunteers are invaluable to Kent Police and we very much appreciate the role that they play within the force. Members of the Community Policing Canine Team all give up their free time to enable positive exchanges with the public. 'This allows people to benefit from all the positive effects therapy dogs can have both mentally and physically. 'Therapy dogs can help reduce stress and anxiety while providing a sense of connection in difficult situations.' Paul Higginson (left), 72, and wife Pamela (right), 73, could die behind bars after being jailed for more than a total of 50 years Paul Higginson, 72, was convicted of multiple counts of rape, indecent assault, gross indecency and possessing indecent images of children. The charges included sexual assault of a girl under the age of 13 and indecent assault of a girl under the age of 14. Pamela, 73, was convicted of aiding and abetting rape and causing suffering to a child during the 1980s. At Canterbury Crown Court, Paul Higginson was jailed for 29 years, while Pamela was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Both will have to serve two thirds of their sentences before they are eligible for release on parole, the judge said. Detective Chief Inspector Matthew Smith, of Kent Police, branded the couple's crimes as 'horrific'. He said: 'The offences carried out by this couple were horrific and will have a long-lasting impact on their victims. 'I hope the careful investigation carried out by my officers, and the long sentences now handed down, give the victims some sense that justice has been done. 'I would like to pay tribute to their bravery and urge anyone who has suffered abuse or sexual violence to report it to police so we can keep you safe and bring perpetrators to justice.' Humza Yousaf today insisted Nicola Sturgeon still had a 'good contribution to make' and denied her woes represented a 'death knell' for the SNP's independence dream. The Scottish First Minister claimed support for breaking up the UK among Scottish voters remained 'absolutely rock solid' despite a 'really difficult' time for his party. Ms Sturgeon, who remains MSP for Glasgow Southside, is expected back at the Scottish Parliament today for the first time since her arrest this month. The ex-SNP leader was released without charge pending further investigation after being quizzed for more than seven hours as part of a probe into the party's finances. She is the third senior SNP figure to have been arrested as part of the police's Operation Branchform, which is probing the spending of 600,000 in donations. It followed the arrests of her husband Peter Murrell and former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie in April, who have also both been released without charge. Humza Yousaf insisted Nicola Sturgeon still had a 'good contribution to make' and denied her woes represented a 'death knell' for the SNP's independence dream Ms Sturgeon, who remains MSP for Glasgow Southside, is expected back at the Scottish Parliament today for the first time since her arrest this month Mr Yousaf claimed support for breaking up the UK among Scottish voters remained 'absolutely rock solid' despite a 'really difficult' time for his party Ahead of Ms Sturgeon's expected return to the Scottish Parliament today, Mr Yousaf told Sky News he was 'not surprised' his predecessor was coming back to Holyrood. Asked if part if him wished she was not returning, the SNP leader said: 'No, not at all. 'She's a very good parliamentarian. She's got a good contribution to make and therefore I'm not surprised she's coming back to parliament.' He added: 'She's been released without charge, she's going to get on with the job of representing her constituents. 'I'll get on with my job of representing my constituents and making sure I'm leading the country as the First Minister of Scotland.' Ms Sturgeon departed as first minister and SNP leader in March and the subsequent dramatic developments in the police probe have seen a drop in the party's popularity. A Panelbase poll this weekend showed Labour were on course to win more seats than the SNP at the next general election. But Mr Yousaf denied that the current troubles experienced by his party and Ms Sturgeon would be a 'death knell' for the SNP's campaign for Scottish independence. He said: 'I don't believe that at all. What I believe is that, yes, the last couple of months have been extremely challenging for the SNP - I'm not going to fool your viewers by denying that being the case. 'Even despite the toughest few weeks, the toughest couple of months probably in our party's recent history, support for independence is absolutely rock solid. 'So we've got that solid support for independence, my job is to make sure that when these matters pass - and they will pass - we continue to build on those strong foundations that has seen us elected by the people of Scotland election after election after election. 'The next national test, of course, will be that general election and I've got every confidence we will go into that election hoping to win.' Returning to her Glasgow home on Sunday for the first time since her arrest on 11 June, Ms Sturgeon said: 'I can't say very much just now. 'What I will say is reiterate the statement I issued last Sunday I'm certain that I have done nothing wrong. 'I intend to be back in Parliament in the early part of the week, I'll make myself available for questions then. 'For now I intend to go home and catch up with some family.' A journalist who travelled on the same submersible that has gone missing near the Titanic with five people on board has described how it was cobbled together from abandoned pipes and driven by a games console controller. CBS correspondent David Pogue said passengers on the Titan submersible are sealed inside the main capsule by 17 bolts that can only be opened from the outside - with only 90 hours of oxygen. 'There's no backup, there's no escape pod - it's get to the surface or die,' he told the BBC. Mr Pogue - who descended to see the Titanic last year - compared the sub to something put together by MacGyver - the TV series character known for his ingenuity in making devices from different items to get out of difficult situations. Recalling the interior of the submersible in November, he described white camping lights on the ceiling, off-the-shelf security cameras, Ziploc bags for a toilet and construction pipes as ballast. CBS correspondent David Pogue is seen inside the submersible, which he described as very basic The journalist holding up a games controller that is used to control the sub Mr Pogue visited the Titanic onboard a Titan sub last year 'The main centre section looks like a shiny white tube about minivan length. It's made of five inch thick carbon fibre which no one has ever used in a submersible before,' he told Unsung Science. 'At each end of the white tube is a tiny silver dome. The front end cap has a 22-inch round window made of seven-inch thick plexiglass so you can see out. When you get to the bottom of the ocean - that's your view of the Titanic. 'If you have to go to the bathroom you can crawl into the window end of the sub and hang up a black cloth for privacy. There's a one foot square box on the floor that contains Ziploc bags. 'There are a couple of touchscreen PC monitors on the floor of the sub but there are no controls. The multi-million sub is controlled with a games controller.' The vessel is controlled by a reinforced Playstation controller, though it doesn't have a GPS system and is guided by text messages sent by a team above water. Mr Pogue said it would be impossible for those inside it now to escape without help. Speaking to the BBC yesterday, he said passengers were sealed inside the main capsule by 17 bolts that were applied from the outside and could only be removed by an external crew. He told The Context programme that the craft - which he said was 'not made for consumers' - had seven different functions to allow it to resurface and it was 'really concerning' none of these had worked. He added that these resurfacing capabilities would be irrelevant if the sub became trapped or sprang a leak. 'There's no backup, there's no escape pod - it's get to the surface or die,' he said. Mike Reiss, a writer who took the Titanic submersible trip last year, appeared on BBC Breakfast to discuss his experience today. 'It couldn't be lower tech, you just drop down for 2 and half hours,' he explained. 'The ship is propelled by very tiny motors that look like a fan you would have on your desk and it is steered by an X-box joystick from a game system. 'You are very taken with how simple it is.' People inside a Titan taking photos of the wreckage on their smartphones through a round window at the front The trips to the Titanic are operated by OceanGate, a company based in Washington A view of the famous wreck taken from one of OceanGate's subs Mr Reiss said they experienced some technical faults, adding: 'It's pitch dark down there and the radar, the compass stopped working. We spent most of our time down there just flailing around, trying to find the biggest thing in the ocean.' READ MORE - How the many missions to explore sunken secrets of the ocean have ended in disaster Advertisement The writer said he was 'not optimistic' for the people inside the sub. 'I know how vast the ocean is and how very tiny this craft is,' he said. Shahzada Dawood, 48, one of Pakistan's richest men and a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust, and his son Sulaiman, 19, are among the group stuck on the tiny underwater craft - operated by OceanGate - to take tourists to view the wreck. British billionaire Hamish Harding is also on board with Paul-Henri Nargeolet, the world-renowned French explorer. Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate - which organised the trip - is believed to be the fifth crew member. It is believed the sub has enough oxygen to last underwater until 12pm on Thursday UK time (7am EST). OceanGate Expeditions was founded in 2009 to take wealthy explorers to see the ship, which hit an iceberg and sank in 1912. The wreck was not located until 1985 when it was found 350 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Visitors were warned that the sub 'has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death' Tourists have been visiting it for decades, often in immensely-strong but internally rudimentary submersibles. Yet those boarding the submersible must sign a waiver that states: 'This experimental vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death.' Mr Pogue said yesterday he had been told that there were seven ballasts that the submersible could jettison to float to the top. 'Either they are bobbing on the surface and have no power,' he told Chris Cuomo on NewsNation. 'Or something happened that overrode all seven of those ballasts. 'Or the really horrible possibility is the capsule developed a leak, and they'd be dead in a fraction of a second.' The submersible is made of carbon fibre and titanium, built to withstand the intense pressure beneath the sea - around 6,000 lbs per square inch. It is equipped to communicate with the mothership via text messages. When Mr Pogue was on board the mothership, the submersible below him lost its bearings on the sea bed, and was unable to locate the wreck - despite the mothership sending messages down telling the sub to move left, or right, or go straight ahead. This is the last sighting of the submersible, Titan, which was launched on Sunday The submersible is seen before embarking on its expedition Mr Pogue said the subs were astonishingly basic inside. 'These submersibles are one-offs,' he told Cuomo. 'They are sometimes jerry rigged. The lights he bought from camperworld.com - something like that. 'All of them are like this - the James Cameron one, all of them.' For the 1997 film 'Titanic,' Cameron took 12 dives to the shipwreck, leading him to develop deep-sea film and exploration technology. He has made 33 dives to the site in total. Mr Pogue said that every attempt to reach the site was incredibly dangerous. 'This company does several expeditions a year, parked over the Titanic each time for five days,' he told Cuomo. 'Usually they make it down to the site one time, or none. 'Sometimes twice a week, but never five times, because the conditions are never right ever day.' The mothership, MV Polar Prince, set off from Newfoundland on Saturday bound for the spot above the Titanic wreck, 370 miles away. The submersible went into the water in the early hours of Sunday. The Boston Coast Guard is now looking for the missing vessel. The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada OceanGate Expeditions is one of the only companies that offers the tours. Tickets cost up to $250,000. On board were British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, 58; French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet; and the CEO of OceanGate, Stockton Rush. The other two passengers have not been named. In an interview last year, Mr Rush told CBS News that his was 'a very unusual business'. He added: 'It's its own category. It's a new type of travel.' He said their clients were a range of people. 'We have clients that are Titanic enthusiasts, which we refer to as Titaniacs. 'We've had people who have mortgaged their home to come and do the trip. And we have people who don't think twice about a trip of this cost. We had one gentleman who had won the lottery.' The submersible - it is not a subsubmarine because it is not independent and relies on a mothership - lost contact with the mothership one hour 45 minutes into its descent. Analysts believe it could have lost power, or sunk and perhaps became trapped on the wreck. Some initially suggested it perhaps surfaced and was bobbing without power, but that seems increasingly remote. The University of Sydney student alleges she was kicked out of hotel Xu Yitong, 26, claims she was raped by a butler at Maldives Ritz-Carlton An Australian student claims she was raped by a butler at the Ritz-Carlton resort in the Maldives. Xu Yitong, 26, a student at the University of Sydney, stayed at the luxury hotel where rooms cost $3,000-a-night on June 10 during a solo trip to the idyllic holiday destination. Ms Xu - who gave her written consent to Daily Mail Australia to be identified - said she was assigned a butler who showed her to the room and explained the hotel's facilities. Later that day, Ms Xu accidentally broke her phone by splashing water on it. Xu Yitong (pictured), 26, a student at the University of Sydney, alleges that a butler working at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the Maldives raped her Ms Xu (pictures) claims that after the alleged incident the hotel asked her to leave, even accusing her of making up the complaint to 'get a free stay' The holidaymaker, who is of Chinese origin but has studied in Sydney for five years, had called reception for help when she could not reach her family on the room's phone. Reception then sent her butler to the room to provide assistance. 'He came and he let me use my sim in his phone and speak to my mother,' Ms Xu said. 'He then sat on the bed and started chatting with me. "Why did you come alone, where do you live etc".' Ms Xu said she began to feel uncomfortable so tried to change the subject but the butler persisted in his line of questioning. She underwent a medical examination and took pictures of her bruising but has been frustrated by the response of the hotel and the police 'He took a chewing gum and started chewing and asked me if I wanted to kiss, which left me numb,' she said. 'I was blank. I said, "no, I dont like physical contact". I took my computer and translated it to him in case he didnt understand.' Ms Xu alleges the butler then tried to force her mouth open with his tongue, before asking if she was gay because she would not let him. 'He started forcing his tongue into my mouth and said, "I will be a gentleman",' she explained. 'He then pushed me to bed and started removing his pants and he put his penis in my mouth twice. The hotel (pictured), where rooms cost up to $3,000 a night, opened two years ago. Its circular theme - all the villas and the hotel's overall shape are concentric - was the based on the design of the late Australian architect Kerry Hill 'He then went ahead and touch me down in my private part and tried to (have sex). I was forcing and trying to stop him but he wouldnt.' Ms Xu managed to escape and wrap herself in a duvet. The butler then allegedly ejaculated on her computer screen, which he wiped with a towel. Before leaving, he allegedly told the terrified victim she just 'needed time to open up' and that he would be back. Ms Xu said she immediately reported the incident to the hotel. But they 'made it look like nothing' and tried to confiscate the laptop and the semen-stained towel from her room before she requested police attend the scene. 'Police came and took my statement,' she said. 'They took samples from my mouth and told me it would take a week to get the results and that I should leave before the results come.' A spokesperson for the Ritz-Carlton Maldives Fari Islands said: 'We take such allegations seriously and this matter is currently with the police' She also underwent a medical examination and took pictures of the bruising and scratch marks on her body. Ms Xu filed a complaint under 'criminal sexual contact' at the local police station the following day but said the officers were not helpful. She claims the officers told her they 'had no reason to arrest him yet'. Ms Xu alleges that the hotel asked her to leave, even accusing her of making up the complaint to 'get a free stay'. 'I left the hotel and there wasnt even an apology,' she said. 'You (Ritz-Carlton) only train your housekeepers to ask for tip. I was raped in your hotel and you did nothing.' The hotel, where rooms cost up to $3,000 a night, opened two years ago. Its circular theme - all the villas and the hotel's overall shape are concentric - was the based on the design of the late Australian architect Kerry Hill. Ritz-Carlton's refers to its staff as 'ladies and gentlemen' whose ethos is apparently never to say no to guests. A spokesperson for the Ritz-Carlton Maldives Fari Islands said on Twitter: 'We take such allegations seriously and this matter is currently with the police. 'The safety and well-being of our guests and associates are of the utmost importance. 'We continue to cooperate with the authorities, and are in regular communication with the guest.' Daily Mail Australia has reached out to the hotel for further comment. George Osborne points to 'poorer countries' not being able to afford lockdowns George Osborne today queried whether schools should have been shut during Britain's coronavirus lockdowns as he gave evidence to the official Covid Inquiry. The ex-Chancellor claimed it was still an open question as to whether children should have been prevented from attending classrooms when the pandemic hit. He said there were 'absolutely critical questions about balancing the life expectancy of an 80-year-old versus the educational opportunities of an eight-year-old'. Mr Osborne, who was in charge of the Treasury between 2010 and 2016, admitted there was 'no planning' done by his department for nationwide lockdowns while he was in office. But he claimed it was 'not clear' whether the economic support given to British businesses or workers - such as through the furlough scheme - would have been any better if plans had been drawn up in advance of the Covid outbreak in 2020. He also defended his austerity policies during his time in charge of the public finances, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, and insisted they had made Britain better able to respond to the Covid crisis. Mr Osborne pointed to 'poorer countries' not being able to afford lockdowns or provide loans to keep businesses afloat. George Osborne queried whether schools should have been shut during Britain's coronavirus lockdowns as he gave evidence to the official Covid Inquiry Mr Osborne, who was in charge of the Treasury between 2010 and 2016, admitted there was 'no planning' done by his department for nationwide lockdowns while he was in office The former Chancellor gave evidence to the inquiry a day after his close political ally, ex-prime minister David Cameron, had been quizzed on how he'd prepared Britain for pandemics during his time in Downing Street. Mr Osborne suggested there were still a number of unanswered questions about the effectiveness of the global response to Covid-19 as he was grilled about a lack of Whitehall planning for the 'stay at home' message issued to households in 2020 and early 2021. He said: 'What I would observe now, just as a citizen who very much wants this inquiry to come up with some good answers, is I don't think we still know the answer to some of those questions. 'I don't want to jump ahead of this inquiry, but should the schools have been locked down in the way they were? 'Even now, after the pandemic, we don't know the answer to those questions. Certainly I don't and maybe the inquiry can get to the bottom of that. 'They are absolutely critical questions about balancing the life expectancy of an 80-year-old versus the educational opportunities of an 8-year-old. 'Incredibly hard questions and it's not absolutely clear to me now that as a country we know, or the rest of the world knows, what the answer to those things is. 'The idea that all of this could have been forethought I don't is the case.' Mr Osborne admitted the Treasury did not plan for an extended lockdown in the UK when considering the possibility of a pandemic outbreak. He said: 'There was no planning done by the UK Treasury, or indeed as far as I'm aware, any Western treasury for asking the entire population to stay at home for months and months on end - essentially depriving large sectors of the economy like hospitality of all their customers for months and months to come.' But the ex-Chancellor insisted that the Treasury business support schemes that were established in early 2020 'turned out to be fairly easy and rapid' to set up. 'So yes, planning could have been done for a furlough scheme in advance,' he added. 'I'm not clear, observing it at that point as just a citizen, I'm not clear that would have made a better furlough scheme than the one we actually as a country saw.' Mr Osborne suggested that 'groupthink' had meant that no planning for national lockdowns took place anywhere across the world prior to 2020. 'There was no assumption that you would mandate that the population to stay at home for months and months on end so there was no planning for a lockdown,' he said. But Mr Osborne added it was not 'particularly fair to apportion blame' when scientists were not 'elevating' the threat of a virus such as Covid spreading rapidly. In his written witness statement to the inquiry, Mr Osborne defended his austerity policies during his time as Chancellor amid claims by medical unions that public spending cuts had left the NHS ill-prepared for the Covid crisis. He wrote: 'I have no doubt that taking those steps to repair the UK's public finances in the years following the financial crisis of 2008/09 had a material and positive effect on the UK's ability to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.' As he expanded on his witness statement at today's hearing, Mr Osborne suggested even the best pandemic planning would have been worthless without stable public finances. He said: 'The one thing I'm sure of is there's no point having a contingency plan you can't pay for. 'And absolutely central to all of this is the ability of your economy and your public finances to flex in a crisis.' He added: 'Above all as a country, whatever hits you, you need to be able to respond, to throw - in this case - large amounts of public funds at the problem, without it leading to a fiscal crisis or a banking crisis. 'Poorer countries in the world were not able to afford lockdowns, poorer countries in the world were not able to provide loans for businesses to stay in operation.' Talking about the 'massive economic shock' of the 2008 credit crunch, Mr Osborne said: 'If we had not had a clear plan to put the public finances on a sustainable path then Britain might have experienced a fiscal crisis, we would not have had the fiscal space to deal with the coronavirus pandemic when it hit.' He also claimed the economic turmoil that followed Liz Truss's 'mini-Budget' last September showed problems with public financing were not 'some abstract problem for the UK either'. 'If you can't fund yourself, you cannot spend 340billion on Covid support,' he added. In his written witness statement to the inquiry, Mr Osborne defended his austerity policies during his time as Chancellor Mr Osborne, pictured ahead of his 2010 Budget, insisted his austerity policies had made Britain better able to respond to the Covid crisis Sir Oliver Letwin told the inquiry it was an 'error' that a senior government minister is not appointed with sole responsibility for planning for pandemics or other potential crises Earlier today Sir Oliver Letwin - who was the Cabinet Office minister in charge of resilience between 2011 and 2016 - told the inquiry it was an 'error' that a senior government minister is not appointed with sole responsibility for planning for pandemics or other potential crises. 'Actually there really ought to be a minister solely devoted to resilience at a senior level,' he said. Sir Oliver also claimed the churn of ministers and officials tasked with preparing for emergencies is a 'disaster for the country'. 'Im pretty certain that the entire structure of the civil service means that you cant really make progress in a career without going through endless different jobs one after another, which I regard as a disaster for the country, particularly disastrous in the case of things that have very long lead times and where learning from experience is critical,' he added. Teams trying to find the submersible that went missing during a voyage to the Titanic can take heart from a range of successful rescue missions in the past. These include the Nigerian cook who survived for nearly three days underwater by crouching in an air bubble, and a castaway who survived for 438 days off Mexico. There was also the astonishing 19rescue of Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman whose mini-submarine plummeted to 1,575ft below the surface with 80 hours' air. And then there was the young fisherman Rolando Omongos who was found in 2017 nearly two months after being given up for dead at sea off the Philippines. In one of the biggest rescue missions in history in 1939, some 33 men from the US submarine Squalus were saved after their vessel sank 240ft into the ocean. Here, as rescue efforts continue off Newfoundland for the stricken Titanic tourist submersible, MailOnline looks at six famous tales on or below the water: Harrison Okene Survived nearly three days in an air bubble Harrison Okene survived for nearly three days under water in May 2013 by crouching in an air bubble after his tugboat capsized about 20 miles off the Nigerian coast. The cook, who was the sole survivor in a crew of 12, survived on a single bottle of Coca-Cola to quench his thirst for 62 hours at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. His boat capsized and later rested on the seabed upside down at a depth of about 100ft (30m), but he was able to survive in the air pocket until rescuers reached him. Mr Okene said he could smell the dead bodies of his fellow crew members and horrifyingly hear fish eating them as he tried to stay above the surface of the water. The two flashlights that he had found gave up after less than a day but he was eventually rescued by deep-sea divers who discovered the wreckage. A video captured the astonishing moment he was found as he reached out a hand and touched one of the rescue team members, letting them know he was alive. Mr Okene suffered nightmares after his ordeal and vowed never to go in the sea again but he has since become a commercial air diver to depths of 165ft (50m). Harrison Okene survived for nearly three days under water in May 2013 off the Nigerian coast Mr Okene, second left, poses inside a decompression chamber with members of the DCN Diving team who saved his life after being trapped for three days Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman rescued with 12 minutes to go Things were looking grave for Roger Mallinson, 35, and Roger Chapman, 28, when their mini-submarine plummeted to 1,575ft below the surface with 80 hours' air. The duo had been working beneath the Atlantic Ocean 150 miles off the coast of Cork in Ireland laying a phone cable in August 1973 in the Pisces III vessel. After it was hauled to the surface, a faulty hatch to a self-contained compartment broke, water poured in and it sank straight down, breaking the link cable on the way. The craft was left impaled in the seabed and the submariners had to change carbon dioxide filters hourly to avoid suffocation, using two clockwork timers as alarms. Three submarines, several ships, planes and helicopters were involved in the rescue which eventually led to them being hauled up with only 12 minutes' oxygen left. Mr Chapman went on to develop unmanned submarine use. Mr Mallinson admitted of their ordeal: 'Neither of us really thought we were going to get out.' The Pisces III sunk 1,575ft below the surface in August 1973 with just 80 hours worth of air Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman celebrate after being rescued from Pisces III in 1973 The Daily Mail's front page tells the story of the rescue effort to bring the men to safety Rolando Omongos Rescued after two months adrift on tiny boat A young fisherman from the Philippines was given up for dead at sea, battling hunger, thirst and despair for nearly two months on a tiny boat. Rolando Omongos, who was aged 21 when his vessel drifted all the way to Papua New Guinea, was eventually rescued by a Japanese vessel in 2017. He said he survived on rainwater and moss growing at the hull of his 8ft long boat, finding respite from the heat of the sun by diving into the water frequently. His 31-year-old uncle Reniel Omongos, who was on a second small boat, died after a month. Rolando believed hunger and exposure killed him. The relatives had set off in December 2016 with other fishermen aboard a purse seiner from General Santos, a southern Philippine port facing the Celebes Sea. A storm separated Rolando and his uncle from their mother boat in January 2017, and they ran out of fuel five days later. But he said: 'I never lost hope.' Rolando Omongos from the Philippines was rescued by a Japanese fishing vessel in 2017 Jose Salvador Alvarenga Castaway survived 438 days at sea Castaway Jose Salvador Alvarenga survived 438 days adrift at sea, claiming he stayed alive by drinking urine and turtle blood and eating fish and birds he caught. The tuna fisherman from El Salvador washed ashore in January 2014 in the Marshall Islands, having drifted 6,700 miles from the coast of Mexico since November 2012. The boat he and crewmate Ezequiel Cordoba were sailing in was crippled by a storm, but Mr Alvarenga later told how his best friend starved to death. The family of Mr Cordoba sensationally claimed that he was a victim of cannibalism, but Mr Alvarenga denied this and said he had thrown the body into the water. He was in surprisingly good health after his ordeal, having claimed to have become so hungry that he grabbed jellyfish from the water and swallowed them whole. Mr Alvarenga later said he came close to giving up hope of being rescued after several large ships came near his small fishing boat but none tried to rescue him. Jose Salvador Alvarenga steps off a boat after being found on the Marshall Islands in 2014 Jose Salvador Alvarenga attends a press conference in February 2014 after his rescue Brett Archibald Floated for 29 hours without a lifejacket Brett Archibald fell overboard from a tour boat in Indonesia in 2013 and drifted 11 miles but survived by floating for 29 hours despite not wearing a lifejacket. The South African father-of-two said he had been close to drowning at least eight times during the ordeal, which saw him stung by jellyfish and attacked by seagulls. Mr Archibald was eventually plucked from the Mentawai Strait by Australian surfer Dave Carbon with his blood pressure dangerously low at 68/44. His face and head were significantly burnt, his tongue engorged, his eyes red and painful and his nose had a huge hole where the gulls had pecked it. A few months after his ordeal he endured two severe panic attacks, but he started speaking publicly about his experiences and raising money for charities. Mr Archibald also wrote about his horrifying story in a book called Alone: Lost Overboard In The Indian Ocean which was serialised in the Daily Mail in 2016. Brett Archibald is taken to safety after being rescued from the Mentawai Strait off Indonesia Brett Archibald being greeted by his wife Anita and children Jamie and Zara after his rescue Squalus rescue 33 men rescued after submarine sank in 1939 One of the most famous submarine rescue missions dates back nearly a century, when the US vessel Squalus sank 240ft off America's east coast in 1939. The ship was off New Hampshire with 56 Navy personnel and three civilians on board when the engine room flooded due to a fault with an air valve. Some 26 men drowned but the other 33 in the forward compartments sent up a location marker and used Morse code to communicate with Navy rescuers. While they waited, those trapped on board also had to contend with the risk of chlorine gas that had started to leak from the battery compartment. But all 33 men were brought out of the craft with a newly developed rescue chamber, with a couple coming up at a time in what was a 13-hour process. Survivors of the Squalus disaster being helped from the diving bell in 1939 The US submarine Squalus sank 240ft down off America's east coast in 1939 An aspiring female pilot who left a former soldier covered in blood when she threw a glass at him during a night out has been spared jail. Leyla Binns, 20, said she had only intended to throw the contents of her glass at Harrison Savage but it slipped out of her hand because it was wet and hit him in the face leaving him needing 11 stitches. Lincoln Crown Court heard she had acted out of 'misplaced loyalty' to a friend, who had been in a relationship with Mr Savage when she attacked him in the cathedral city on a New Year's Eve night out. Judge Simon Hirst told her: 'The way you behaved that night is much of the reason why decent people don't want to go out in this city at night.' She was handed a suspended sentence after admitting unlawfully wounding - leaving her free to take up a job at East Midlands Airport next week, the court was told. Leyla Binns, 20, said she had only intended to throw the contents of her glass at Harrison Savage but it slipped out of her hand because it was wet Binns, who describes herself online as an 'aspiring commercial airline pilot' was a pupil at the UK's first air and space training institute in Newark, Nottinghamshire Binns, who describes herself online as an 'aspiring commercial airline pilot' was a pupil at the UK's first air and space training institute in Newark, Nottinghamshire. and featured regularly in articles promoting the course. It aims to help aspiring pilots and engineers secure a pathway into the RAF and airspace industry, and boasts a 35,000 flight simulator. She was on a night out with Mr Savage's ex girlfriend, Emily Barker, when she attacked him in the early hours of New Year's Day, 2022. The court heard Binns decided to intervene after Miss Barker was left crying in the toilets of the Home nightclub following an argument with Mr Savage. Mr Savage was punched and slapped by Binns who then walked away, the court heard. Thomas Welshman, prosecuting, told the court: 'Mr Savage thought that was the end of it' but his next recollection was 'being covered in blood and receiving treatment from emergency services'. One of Mr Savage's friends saw the glass leaving Binns' hand from a distance of six feet, the court heard. 'Suddenly Mr Savage's face was covered in blood,' Mr Welshman added. Binns was handed a suspended sentence after admitting unlawfully wounding - leaving her free to take up a job at East Midlands Airport next week, The friend described seeing Binns freeze before telling Mr Savage: 'Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it, I didn't mean to hurt you.' But a police officer who attended the scene noted Binns saying: 'It is something that was deserved.' The prosecution accepted Binns only intended to throw the contents of her glass at Mr Savage. In a victim statement which was read out in court Mr Savage said he felt 'gutted and saddened' by the events of the night. Mr Savage, who said he suffered from PTSD from his time in the Army, said: 'It is the thought I could have been blinded or even killed that frightens me.' Jeremy Janes, mitigating, said Binns, of Scunthorpe, had no previous convictions and described her behaviour on the night 'as totally out of character'. 'She went to swill Mr Savage,' Mr Janes said. 'It was a reckless act with a wet hand.' Mr Janes said Binns there were a number of references testifying to her character, including one from a care home where she worked, and another from the college course she had just completed. Mr Janes said: 'She is clearly from her academic record a young woman who is very intelligent.' Mr Janes added that Binns was still hoping to fulfil an ambition of flying in the United States. 'Going out and binge drinking is very out if character for her,' he added. 'She has not gone out drinking in the last 18 months. Drinking and flying are simply incompatible.' Passing sentence on Friday Judge Hirst told Binns: 'If the glass had been in a different position Mr Savage may well have lost his eye. Judge Hirst said had the throwing of the glass been deliberate then the length of a custodial sentence would have been the only decision. But Judge Hirst told Binns because of her guilty plea and lack of previous convictions he could suspend her sentence. Binns was sentenced to ten months in a young offenders' institution, suspended for 12 months. She must also complete 100 hours of unpaid work in the community and 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days. Binns was also ordered to pay compensation of 1,500 to Mr Savage and 535 court costs. Judge Hirst warned Binns: 'Please don't come back to court. If you do, you will be going down the stairs.' Judge Hirst also remarked that Miss Barker, who attended court to support Binns, 'had not covered herself in glory,' with a message posted after the glass incident. Controversial British influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have been indicted on human trafficking and rape charges in Romania. The brothers - along with Romanian women Luana Radu and Georgiana Naghel - are under house arrest after being detained in the country last year. The anti-organised crime prosecution's unit (DIICOT) 'ordered the indictment' of the four defendants for offences, including 'setting up an organised criminal group... trafficking in persons... rape', they said. DIICOT prosecutors have ordered the confiscation of assets from the Tate brothers including 15 luxury cars, luxury watches and about $380,000 they held in cryptocurrency, the agency's statement said. Reacting to the news, Tate, 36, wrote on Twitter: 'I'm sure this case has absolutely nothing to do with stealing my wealth.' A spokesperson for the Tate brothers told MailOnline that while the indictment was 'entirely predictable, we embrace the opportunity it presents to demonstrate their innocence and vindicate their reputation'. The four were held in police custody from December 29 until March 31 before a Bucharest court put them under house arrest. Andrew Tate has also been charged with raping one of the victims, while his brother Tristan has been charged with instigating others to violence. The brothers and female associates have denied all allegations of abuse and trafficking. The trial will not start immediately, and could take several years. Controversial British influencer Andrew Tate (pictured in April) has been indicted on human trafficking and rape charges in Romania, according to prosecutors The Tate brothers - along with Romanian women Luana Radu and Georgiana Naghel (pictured in February handcuffed and being led into court) - are currently under house arrest after being detained in the country last year Luana Radu (pictured), 32 was previously based at a police station in central Bucharest but quit the force eight years ago to pursue a career working in video chat rooms. She has now been indicted along with the Tate brothers in Romania Georgiana Naghel (pictured), 28, who is an American citizen, has also been indicted. She is believed to be Andrew Tate's girlfriend Under Romanian law, the case gets sent to the court's preliminary chamber, where a judge has 60 days to inspect the case files to ensure legality. The Tate brothers, former kickboxers who have US and British nationality with millions of online followers, are the highest-profile suspects to be sent to trial in Romania for human trafficking. Prosecutors have said the Tate brothers recruited their victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship or marriage. This accusation was laid out in a press release on Tuesday about the indictment. 'The injured persons were recruited by the foreign nationals, by misleading them about the intention to establish a marriage/cohabitation relationship and the existence of real feelings of love (the loverboy method),' the release says. The indictment says the alleged victims were '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 in order to produce and disseminate through some social media platforms materials having such a character.' It goes on to say that the seven injured persons identified during the criminal investigation were subjected to forced labour'. It adds that of the seven who were also 'sexually exploited by the organised criminal group, three became civil parties in the criminal process.' 'Regarding the crime of rape,' the indictment says, 'it was noted that, in March 2022, an injured person was forced by one of the defendants, through the exercise of physical violence and mental pressure, to repeatedly have sexual relations (two material acts).' It also accused the defendants of violence against the one 'injured persons', citing an October 2021 incident in which one - who wanted to stop making pornographic material and leave the Ilfov property - was attacked. It also accused the defendants of illegally accessing a computer system and altering 'the integrity of the computer data' of one of the alleged victims. It said the defendants 'posted on the social media account belonging to her the materials that - obtained in this way, which depicted her in compromising poses'. In a statement to MailOnline, a representative for the brothers said their primary focus now 'will be to establish the truth and ensure a fair and impartial examination of the evidence the legal team will submit'. 'The indictment now allows us to present a comprehensive body of evidence, diligently collected and prepared over time, which will undoubtedly substantiate the brothers' claims of innocence. Tate's legal team are prepared to cooperate fully with the appropriate authorities, presenting all necessary evidence to exonerate the brothers and expose any misinterpretations or false accusations,' they said. 'We express our gratitude to all those who have stood by us, supporting our clients during this challenging time. 'We request the media and the public to exercise patience and refrain from making premature judgements until all the facts are presented in a court of law, and respect the basic principle of democracy, the presumption of innocence.' A number of campaign groups have claimed Tate's views make him a danger to young men and boys who see his content online. Tate, who has lived in Romania since 2017, was previously banned from various social media platforms. Last week, DIICOT announced the brothers were being investigated for more serious human trafficking charges. Tate (pictured December 29 as he was arrested) was held in police custody from December 29 until March 31 before a Bucharest court put them under house arrest Andrew Tate (left) has also been charged with raping one of the victims, while his brother Tristan (right) has been charged with instigating others to violence. The brothers and female associates have denied all wrongdoing The officials said the pair - along with the two other female Romanian suspects - were being investigated for human trafficking in continued form, saying it was a more serious crime than separate counts of trafficking. DIICOT notified the Tate brothers that the human trafficking charge had changed to trafficking in continued form, a DIICOT spokesperson said on June 13. Under Romanian law, trafficking of adults carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. One more alleged victim was added to the case, which started out with six women, the spokesperson said. At the time, the Tate brothers' legal team said the changes were in the suspects' 'legal interest'. 'The legal framework has been revised and altered to ensure an impartial investigation is upheld,' they said in a statement. 'The brothers and their legal team consider today's hearing proves their legal rights are respected and necessary steps are being taken to ensure an objective investigation. They will continue to collaborate with authorities to prove their innocence and restore their reputation,' the statement added. Tate has denied any wrongdoing and is continuing to dispense his wisdom on Twitter, where he has grown from 4.8 million to 6.9 million followers since January. 'We will all disappear one day. The difference between me and most is that when I disappear the world still feels my presence', he wrote earlier this year. News of the indictment of Tate and his associates came a week after a fourth British woman claimed she was victim of sexual assault by the influencer, alleging he choked her until she lost consciousness. The 30-year-old has joined a civil claim for damages against Tate, after three other women said in April that they intended to begin proceedings. The woman, who was a university student aged 20 at the time of the allegations in 2014, said she met Tate on a night out in his hometown of Luton, Bedfordshire. She said they had consensual sex but this became violent when Tate choked her, and when she awoke he was still having sex with her, which she did not consent to. The woman told BBC Newsnight that this was her second encounter with Tate. A few months earlier they had consensual sex. She said while they were having sex on their second encounter, Tate put his hand on her throat and 'strangled me' until she passed out - and that when she came round 'it was a bit confusing at first', and he was 'still having sex with me'. The woman also said she was subjected to violent threats by Tate, including one to kill her, adding: 'He kept saying, "I own you, you belong to me". 'All throughout the night he was being fairly aggressive and saying horrible things.' Romanian police officers wait to enter Andrew Tate's and his brother Tristan's residence, on the outskirts of Bucharest, Romania, to check if they are present at the location, April 1 A Lamborghini seized in the case against Tate is towed away in Bucharest on January 14 A spokesman for Tate insisted all sexual acts he had been involved in had been consensual - and he does not condone violence towards women. The woman did not report the incident to police at the time, saying she only realised she had been sexually assaulted about six years later when she described what had happened to her friends. She has now joined three other British woman aged in their late 20s and early 30s as they pursue civil claims for damages against Tate. They all say they were victims of sexual violence by Tate between 2013 and 2016, when he lived in the UK. Flaunting his muscles, cigars and fast cars, Tate's videos on social media fascinate millions - particularly teenage boys. Giving tips on how to be successful along with misogynist and sometimes violent maxims, the 36-year-old Briton has said women cannot be independent and blames those who are raped or assaulted. His controversial output has made him one of the world's best-known influencers. In 2022, the words 'Andrew Tate' were among the most searched on Google. But many adults only learnt of his existence in recent months, despite his influence on young men in the English-speaking world and beyond. He went viral in December after he launched a bizarre Twitter attack on climate change activist Greta Thunberg. 'Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions', he wrote to her, posting a photo of him filling a Bugatti with petrol. Thunberg's crushing reply referencing his 'smalld*ckenergy' was retweeted over 570,000 times. He went viral in December after he launched a bizarre Twitter attack on climate change activist Greta Thunberg, along with this picture of him filling a Bugatti with petrol. Thunberg's crushing reply referencing his 'smalld*ckenergy' was retweeted over 570,000 times Tate was born in the United States in 1986 and has US citizenship, according to his website. But after his parents separated, he grew up with his mother and brother in Luton, an economically depressed town north of London. He has lived in Romania for several years. Before his rise to fame on social media and subsequent arrest, Tate was a professional kickboxer who gained the title of world champion. He first came to wider attention by appearing as a contestant on the 'Big Brother' reality show in the UK in 2016. But he was quickly ejected after a video emerged showing him hitting a woman. After that he focused on building his online presence. In August last year, he was banned from social media platforms, including Instagram and TikTok, for misogynist messages. His Twitter account was allowed back, however, after Elon Musk bought the company. Tate founded the so-called Hustler's University, where he promises to teach paying students 'the secrets that ONLY the wealthiest people know'. Tate and his brother Tristan were once 'broke as a joke' but are now 'self-made multi-millionaires', he writes on his site. He runs a paid social networking platform called his 'war room', whose 'mission' he describes as helping 'all men to become the very best versions of themselves'. 'All men should be strong', he repeatedly states. However, his comments on women have proved the most controversial. 'There's no such thing as an independent female', he said in a podcast. 'Unless she has a man directing her. She's gonna f*ck it up'. He also said: 'I'm a realist and when you're a realist, you're sexist'. He describes how he would hit a woman who accused him of cheating on her and says that women who are assaulted or raped are to blame. But his Twitter messages since his arrest have been very different. Flaunting his muscles, cigars and fast cars, Andrew Tate's videos on social media fascinate millions - particularly teenage boys He now quotes Nelson Mandela and the Koran. Having declared himself an atheist, he said in October that he had converted to Islam. In January he appeared in court in Bucharest in handcuffs, carrying a book that appeared to be the Koran. He indicated on Twitter on March 23 that he was observing Ramadan, during which Muslims abstain from food and water from sunrise to sunset. He wrote that when he was given food, 'I spend my entire day destroying the flies and ants who get close to the meal' until the sun goes down when 'in accordance' with Ramadan, 'I eat the stone cold food in my cell by myself.' At least 20 people are now under investigation around the world Groups see torture ideas planned and commissioned and then carried out in Asia A monkey torture ring sadistically abused and killed baby macaques on camera for customers in the UK and US, an investigation has found. A year-long BBC probe found the cruel ring was operating globally with hundreds paying Indonesians to torture and kill infant long-tailed macaques on video. An alleged key video distributor in the US, known as the 'The Torture King', discussed a poll on one of the groups that gave the option of hammers or pliers for use in torture, adding: 'It went from baby bottle teasing to fingers being snipped off.' The torture ring started on YouTube, before moving to private groups on Telegram, the BBC World Service investigation found. In the secretly filmed video, M Ajis Rasjana tells an undercover reporter that when he is 'very, very angry' he hits the monkeys against the wall. In the secretly filmed video, M Ajis Rasjana talks to the undercover reporter. He says that if he is 'very, very angry' he hits the monkeys against the wall Rasjana notes that about a week ago he banged a monkey's head against the wall and blood was coming out of its mouth, which he says was 'so cool', while laughing He notes that about a week ago he banged a monkey's head against the wall and blood was coming out of its mouth, which he says was 'so cool', while laughing. Police are now seeking out the buyers and a number of arrests have already been made. BBC journalists went undercover in one of the main Telegram torture groups, where hundreds of people got together to plan torture ideas and commission people in Indonesia and other nations in Asia to put them into practice. The group aimed to make tailored videos showing the abuse, torture and sometimes killing of baby long-tailed macaque monkeys. The BBC located the torturers in Indonesia, and the buyers and distributors in the US. They also managed to access an international law enforcement effort to have them punished for their actions. At least 20 people are now under investigation around the world, including three women living in the UK who were arrested by police in 2022 and released under investigation, and one man in Oregon, USA, who was indicted last week. Mike McCartney, allegedly a key video distributor in the US, who is called 'The Torture King' in the videos, described to the BBC journalists the moment he joined his first Telegram monkey torture group. McCartney, who the BBC say used to be a motorcycle gang member and served prison time before he joined the monkey torture network, remarked: 'They had a poll set up. Do you want a hammer involved? Do you want pliers involved? Do you want a screwdriver?' He said the video that followed was 'the most grotesque thing I have ever seen'. McCartney came to run a number of Telegram groups that saw torture enthusiasts distributing videos. 'It's no different than drug money,' he said. 'Drug money comes from dirty hands, this money comes from bloody hands.' The BBC also identified two other key suspects being investigated by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS): Stacey Storey, a grandmother from Alabama in her 40s known as 'Sadistic' among others in the network, and a ringleader known as 'Mr Ape', whose real name was not disclosed by the broadcaster for safety reasons. At the end of the video, the reporter asks Rasjana if he can take a photo of one of the monkeys 'Mr Ape' said in an interview with the publication that he had caused the deaths of at least four monkeys and tortured several others more. He also said that he had commissioned 'extremely brutal' videos. Department of Homeland Security agents took Storey's phone, finding almost 100 torture videos, along with evidence that she had funded the creation of some of the most horrifying videos produced. Storey was involved in a torture group earlier this month, according to police sources. Approached by the BBC in Alabama in January, Storey said she had been hacked and would not comment on the allegations in depth. 'Mr Ape', Mike McCartney and Stacey Storey are three of five key targets in the Homeland Security investigation, which is ongoing. They have not been charged, but could face up to seven years in jail if prosecuted and convicted. The DHS investigation is being led by Special Agent Paul Wolpert. He said all law enforcement involved had been profoundly shocked by the alleged crimes. 'I don't know if anybody would ever be ready for a crime like this,' he said. 'The same with the attorneys and the juries, and anybody who reads that this is going on. It is going to be a shocker I think.' He added that anyone taking part in the distributing or buying of monkey torture videos should 'expect a knock on the door at some point'. He said: 'You are not going to get away with it.' Police in Indonesia have arrested two torture suspects. Asep Yadi Nurul Hikmah, who was charged with animal torture and the sale of a protected species, received a three-year prison sentence. M Ajis Rasjana was sentenced to eight months, the maximum available for animal torture. The lover of a sadistic prison reform boss who subjected her husband to a 20-year campaign of torture threatened his estranged wife if she gave evidence. Adrian Taylor, 52, turned up at the home of businesswoman Caroline Grant and warned of 'repercussions' if she spoke out against merciless Sheree Spencer, Hull Crown Court heard today. Spencer, 45, made her husband Richard Spencer's life a living hell with daily beatings and abuse that left him cowering on the floor in the foetal position. She was jailed for four years in February over what a judge termed 'the worst case of controlling and coercive behaviour I have seen'. Hull Crown Court heard that after Spencer's arrest last year, Taylor, a father-of-six, warned Ms Grant if she was lined up as a witness over the case. Adrian Taylor was handed a two-year conditional discharge and told to pay 1,250 in fines and costs Spencer, of Bubwith, East Yorkshire, made 46-year-old Richard's life a living hell over the course of two decades The court heard he turned up at her home on October 27 and warned her of 'repercussions should she be a witness'. Ultimately, no witnesses were needed because Spencer, a senior Prison Service manager who bragged of a friendship with Boris Johnson, pleaded guilty to all charges. Taylor appeared at Hull Crown Court today to admit threatening unlawful violence. Judge John Thackray, KC, said the remark was made in the 'spur of the moment'. He told Taylor: 'It was extremely foolish behaviour by you. 'Comments like that lead to people being charged with perverting the course of justice and then very significant sentences follow. 'As it happens you didn't interfere with the court process because she wasn't a witness. 'If she was, serious charges could have followed and you would have been in serious jeopardy of a custodial sentence.' Taylor, from Barmby Moor, East Yorkshire, was handed a two-year conditional discharge and told to pay 1,250 in fines and costs. He was also ordered not to contact Ms Grant and to stay away from her address. Taylor's lover Sheree Spencer (left) was jailed for four years after making her husband Richard Spencers (right) life a living hell Caroline Grant was threatened by her estranged husband at her home after he had an affair with the abusive prison boss Spencer was jailed on February 24 following proceedings at Hull Crown Court Taylor, who was said to be 'remorseful' had initially been charged with witness intimidation but the count was not proceeded with Dale Brook, defending, told the court: 'He is 56 and works as a baker. He 's never been in trouble before. He's got no previous convictions.' Spencer, of Bubwith, East Yorkshire, made 46-year-old Richard's life a living hell over the course of two decades. On one occasion she defecated on the floor and forced him to clean it up and on another she beat him with a wine bottle so badly it permanently disfigured his ear. In furious tirades she would call him 'tiny c***,' 'fat boy,' 'a pussy' and 'dumb dumb' and caused bruises and scratches that he would need to cover with make-up before going outside. She admitted assaults against Richard and controlling and coercive behaviour across the duration of their relationship which began in 2000 and led to marriage in 2009. They split in 2021 when Richard could no longer hide the appalling abuse he had suffered at her hands. MailOnline exclusively revealed how, after leaving her marital home, Spencer was then welcomed into Ms Grant's home. At her new residence near York, Spencer guzzled mugs of wine and flirted with Taylor in the evenings. Ms Grant, who shared a child with Taylor, said: 'When Sheree's marriage broke down, I was the only person who stood by her, and she thanked me by stealing my partner. 'From the moment she arrived in our home, she and Adrian were drinking together and acting like a pair of giddy teenagers around each other. 'Even though there were alarm bells sounding, I felt sure that nothing would happen after I'd given her a home in her time of need. But Sheree only cares about Sheree. She seduced Adrian from right under my nose.' Taylor accompanied Spencer to hearings at Hull Crown Court which resulted in her being jailed on February 24 for four years and being handed an indefinite restraining order. Spencer's brother, Sean McCann, is also set to go on trial after allegedly trying to warn off witnesses who might have been called to give evidence against her. McCann, 44, of Rugeley, Staffordshire, will appear at Cannock magistrates on June 12 accused of intimidating a witness Mr Spencer on October 10 last year. A Brazilian man accused of stabbing his flat mate to death just days before she was due to get married has been remanded in custody. Tejaswini Kontham, 27, an engineering graduate from the University of Nottingham, was killed in the flat in Neeld Crescent, Wembley, north-west London, last Tuesday. Her friend Akhila Janagama, 28, was also knifed in the alleged unprovoked attack, but survived. Keven Lourenco De Morais, 24, appeared at the Old Bailey today via video-link from HMP Wormwood Scrubs charged with murder and attempted murder. The court heard how Ms Jangama walked into the kitchen and saw her friend being stabbed, before the alleged attacker turned and knifed her too. Tejaswini Kontham, 27, an engineering graduate from the University of Nottingham, was killed in the flat in Neeld Crescent, Wembley, north-west London, last Tuesday Keven Lourenco De Morais, 24, appeared at the Old Bailey today via video-link from HMP Wormwood Scrubs charged with murder and attempted murder The flat had four rooms rented out separately and one was shared by Ms Kontham and Ms Janagama. Lourenco De Morais' girlfriend lived in another room, the court heard. Police attended the scene and Lourenco De Morais was arrested at 6.20pm. Ms Kontham had come to the UK to study a master's degree in engineering and was due to return home to India within days of her death to get married. Forensics investigate the scene of the killing at a flat in Wembley, north-west London last week The flat had four rooms rented out separately and one was shared by Ms Kontham and Ms Janagama Judge Sarah Munro remanded Lourenco De Morais in custody ahead of a plea and trial preparation hearing on September 15. A two-week trial date was set for April 22, 2024. Lourenco De Morais, of Neeld Crescent, Wembley, is charged with murder and attempted murder. He was assisted in court by a Portuguese interpreter. Police have attended his home in the usually peaceful village to offer 'advice' A parish council has been torn apart by an extraordinary dispute that has seen all but one member and the clerk quit and someone hide the key to the community noticeboard. The mass walk-out was announced in a letter that blamed remaining councillor John Crowfoot for his allegedly 'abusive' behaviour. Mr Crowfoot says the letter is 'libellous and unlawful' and must be removed from public display in the parish noticeboard. But he is unable to do anything, as none of his former colleagues will admit to holding the key. Police attended historian and translator Mr Crowfoot's house in the normally peaceful village of Geldeston in Norfolk and offered him 'words of advice'. The mass walk-out was announced in a letter that blamed remaining councillor John Crowfoot (pictured) for his 'abusive' behaviour Mr Crowfoot says the letter is 'libellous and unlawful' and must be removed from public display in the parish noticeboard (pictured) But he dismissed it as a 'waste of time' and plans on forming a new administration. In the meantime, he is being assisted in running the parish by South Norfolk District Council. 'There are important issues the people of Geldeston want examined road safety, flooding and so on. You can't carry on without a parish council,' he said yesterday. 'It's been an extraordinary event but we will get on with addressing local issues for local people. It's been a bit of a storm in a teacup.' The internecine war began on May 10, when the parish council held its first meeting since local elections six days earlier. The hot-tempered assembly saw Mr Crowfoot object to it being opened by Ian Ansell, who was chairman before the election and was yet to be formally reinstated. Clerk Tina Newby overruled the objection. Another argument followed when Mr Crowfoot objected to Mr Ansell and his deputy, John Ashfield, being re-elected to their posts, despite all the other councillors voting in favour of the motion. A member of public walked out of the meeting during a debate about fencing at the village's allotments after being upset by an unnamed councillor, the minutes reveal. Mr Crowfoot admitted the member was him. The bad blood saw Mr Ansell and Ms Newby quit at the end of May, followed by five other members two weeks ago. The letter, which has remained in the noticeboard since, named Mr Crowfoot who helped set up a literature prize in Russia and worked with a human rights organisation that has been closed by Vladimir Putin - as the cause of the breakdown in relations and blasted his 'consistent unacceptable behaviour'. It added: 'We no longer feel that this councillor represents the community's best interests or conducts himself in an acceptable manner and is therefore unable to fulfil his role as a parish councillor. 'This "vote of no confidence" is in response to the actions of this councillor, spanning several months, in which he has been abusive not only to other members of the parish council but also members of the public at parish meetings and, in particular, the clerk, Tina Newby.' The other councillors and Ms Newby have declined to discuss what happened. Mr Crowfoot who was visited by police on Saturday complained he had been smeared by the accusations and anyone levelling them at him should spell them out 'chapter and verse' so that he can refute them. Police attended historian and translator Mr Crowfoot's house in the normally peaceful village of Geldeston in Norfolk (general view pictured) and offered him 'words of advice' None of Mr Crowfoot's ex-employees will admit to holding the key - so he cannot remove the letter He added: 'It seems to have come to a head and now we are forming a new parish council. South Norfolk Council has said that you can't have a parish council cease to exist. There must be one that looks after people's needs.' Mr Crowfoot was re-elected to the council in the May local elections. He became a parish councillor in 2019. The village, which has fewer than 500 residents, is on the north bank of the River Waveney, near Beccles in Suffolk. It was home to Nobel Prize-winning chemist Dorothy Hodgkin, whose work advanced the technique of X-ray crystallography used to determine the structure of biomolecules. She died in 1994. Margaret Thatcher, who was taught chemistry by Hodgkin at Oxford in the 1940s, hung a portrait of her in her office at Downing Street while prime minister. A Norfolk Police spokesman said: 'Police received a report of harassment on June 2, 2023. Officers visited the suspect at their home address and words of advice were given.' The district council was approached for a comment. Ms Peterson said it's 'no different to banning Muslims' Animal rights activist Tash Peterson has called out a celebrity chef for banning vegans from his upmarket restaurant, bizarrely saying the move is 'no different to banning Muslims or women'. British restaurateur John Mountain sparked uproar from non-meat eaters when he posted a notice to Facebook that read: 'Sadly all vegans are now banned from Fyre for mental health reasons. We thank you for your understanding. xx' The move was prompted after a customer at Fyre in the northern Perth suburb of Connolly, criticised his $32 vegetable gnocchi. 'One incident where this chef is clearly upset by a valid complaint, and then to discriminate an entire group of people, I don't see it as any different to banning Muslims or women, it's a blatant form of discrimination,' Ms Peterson told 7News. '$32 for a bowl of vegetables really isn't good enough in 2023 when veganism is on the rise and places should really cater for everyone. 'I think he's triggered by veganism and I think it's a defence mechanism against his own guilt.' Animal rights activist Tash Peterson (pictured) has called out a celebrity chef for banning vegans from his upmarket restaurant calling the move 'no different to banning Muslims or women' UK-born restaurateur John Mountain sparked uproar from non-meat eaters when he posted this notice to Facebook The chef has a history of lashing out at customers who leave bad reviews. One diner who gave Fyre a one-star rating in an online review that has now been deleted, was met with a fierce retort. 'If only we could rate our customers. Sadly you couldn't be pleased,' the owner said. 'And next time never threaten my staff with your childish insults, you are certainly not welcome to return.' Mr Mountain also snapped back at nnother commenter who lambasted the eatery for the venue's lack of steak knives and for the waiter clearing their 'empty plates' too soon. 'Thank you for your kind words. We have recently purchased steak knives for those who require to saw through our aged black Angus fillet,' Mr Mountain said. 'And as for clearing the empty plates, that's just a disgrace.' And a third customer who left a one-star review with no comment was not spared from the chef's disgust. 'Thank you sooo much for your one-star review without any explanation, maybe it was the fact I didn't reply to your BYO at 545pm on a Saturday evening at service, who knows,' the TV star said. 'But you my dear have won first prize this month for the most pointless review. Take care and remember to say hi next time you come for dinner, XXX.' UK-born celebrity chef John Mountain has ignited an online war after banning vegans from his Perth restaurant Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Mountain explained why non-meaters are no longer welcome at his restaurant. 'A young girl reached out to me and said she was coming to the restaurant and asked if there were vegan options,' he said. 'It was my only shortfall I said I would accommodate her, I said we had gnocchi, vegetables and that was that.' On the Saturday in question Mr Mountain said he forgot about the women's request because he had been busy catering a private party. His sous chef was not happy that evening, scolding him for 'not telling them about the vegan customer.' On Sunday the young woman lodged a complaint. 'My only option was the vegetable dish it was okay but not that filling and I was shocked to see it was $32,' she wrote in her complaint via a direct Facebook message, as reported by PerthNow. Fyre is an upmarket restaurant in the northern Perth suburb of Connolly 'I think it's incredibly important nowadays that restaurants can accommodate everyone and to not be able to have actual plant-based meals shows your shortcomings as a chef. 'I hope to see some improvements in your menu as I have lived in Connolly for quite some time and have seen many restaurants come and go from that building and none of them last. 'If you don't get with the times, I don't hold out faith that your restaurant will be the one that does.' It seems the restaurant took the woman's complaint to heart. 'As for vegans/vegetarians being a very low minority, especially in the northern burbs' I try to accommodate everyone else,' its response started. 'Thanks for your negative review please feel free to share your s**tty experience and I look forward to not seeing you again. 'How very childish. 'You and all your vegan mates can all go and enjoy your dishes in another venue. You are now banned.' As a celebrity chef in Britain, Mr Mountain shared a talent agent with TV cooking superstar Jamie Oliver Mr Mountain has lived in Australia for seven years after arriving from Britain where he was a celebrity chef who shared an agent with kitchen superstar Jamie Oliver. He starred in cooking shows the Great British Menu and Chef Race UK v US. He has also worked with culinary trailblazers Heston Blumenthal at the original famed Fat Duck restaurant in Berkshire, England, as well as the brash Michelin three-starred Marco Pierre White at the Mayfair in London. Mr Mountain was contacted for comment by Daily Mail Australia. A mother has told of her heartache after her five-year-old son was stabbed to death by his grandmother while she suffered delusions linked to paranoid schizophrenia. Cristina Lazar said she 'never would have trusted' her mother Elena Anghel, 51, to care for her son David-Mario alone if she had shown any signs of illness. The little boy's lifeless body was found by police at his home in Earlsdon, Coventry, last January, and Anghel said she 'had done what she had done to Mario out of love'. Today Anghel admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility and was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order following the 'truly tragic' case. Mario's devastated mother said in a victim impact statement that Anghel 'loved' her son and and that she never saw him do anything around him that would 'alarm' her. The judge was told Anghel (right) had an extensive history of treatment in Romania for psychotic and depressive disorders dating back to at least 2009 Elena Anghel, 51, has admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility. Her grandson David-Mario Lazar was found stabbed to death by police in Earlsdon, Coventry last January (pictured together) Mario, five, was found stabbed to death by police in Earlsdon, Coventry last January Anghel, who had an extensive history of treatment in Romania for psychotic and depressive disorders dating back to at least 2009, killed Mario at their house in Poplar Road on January 25, the court heard. The prosecution accepted her not guilty plea to a charge of murder and she was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court by Mrs Justice Cockerill to an indefinite hospital order. In a victim impact statement read by prosecutor Peter Grieves-Smith, David-Mario's mother Cristina said: 'Mario was five years old when he died and he was killed by my mother. 'I still cannot believe this has happened. It is over a year ago now and nothing changes. 'In our home Mario is everywhere. There are pictures and memories of him all over. 'He will never be forgotten. I never saw her (Anghel) do anything around my son that would alarm me. She loved him and he loved her. 'I would never have trusted her to care for Mario if she had shown any signs of illness.' A post-mortem later confirmed that little Mario had died from his stab wounds Anghel was looking after Mario while his parents were at work (Mario is pictured with his parents) Passing sentence, High Court judge Mrs Justice Cockerill described the case as 'truly tragic'. The judge told Anghel: 'The sad truth is that when you killed Mario you were exceedingly mentally unwell. Your delusions were all encompassing. You had in effect lost contact with reality. 'You were convinced that your grandson was in such danger of terrible suffering that it would be better to kill him and that is what you did. I am sure you would never have hurt, much less killed, Mario had you not been very ill.' Imposing a hospital order 'without limit of time' on Anghel, the judge said: 'You have expressed profound remorse... so much so that you have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. 'That course (a hospital order) is supported without reservation by all of the medical professionals. 'You will need treatment for the rest of your life. The evidence is clear - this is best done in hospital.' Anghel will be readmitted and detained at Ardenleigh women's secure unit in Birmingham for an undisclosed amount of time while she seeks treatment for her mental health. A post-mortem confirmed that David Mario had died from his 29 stab wounds. Anghel was looking after the little boy while his parents were at work on January 25 last year. She was sectioned under the Mental Health Act following his death and remanded in a secure mental health facility. Cristina Lazar said that she can never forgive her mum Elena for her horrid crime. The statement continued: 'I was pregnant with my second child when Mario died and Janis is now 11-months-old. He looks just like Mario, but none of the things he does are like Mario. 'I sometimes think that God has sent him back to us. In our home Mario is everywhere. There are pictures and memories of him all over. He has his own room and he will never be forgotten. 'I have a dream that Mario is ok, he's missing us but he is ok. The pain of this never goes away. Time moves on but nothing will ever change. Our lives changed forever. 'I know now that my mother was ill in the mind, this is what made her do this. I struggle to fully understand how someone can appear to be ok and then, a very short time later, do something like this. 'I know her illness is in the mind, but her hands did this and I cannot forgive this. Whenever I think of her I just see Mario's face, it is just too much. Mario is pictured with his mother Christina, his father Dorinel and grandmother Ms Anghel 'Mario was my first child, my first son. I learnt how to be a mother with Mario, he was so lively and happy, smiling all the time. I think often of the relationship he had with my mother. 'He loves her so much and I know that she loved him. This is why I know there must have been some illness that made her do this because there was no other reason for her to do this.' Opening the facts of the case against Anghel, prosecution Christopher Tehrani KC said a forensic psychiatrist had stressed that, in his opinion, the defendant was 'very unwell' at the time of the killing. Mr Tehrani said Anghel joined other family members in Coventry after being treated for a 'moderate' mental disorder in March 2020 in Romania. The prosecutor told the court: 'She has no previous convictions. She does however have a psychiatric history. 'Mario's parents were aware that the defendant had had prior problems with mental health. Mario's parents were not aware of any continuing mental health issues.' The court heard Romanian-born David-Mario, described as a bright boy who took pleasure in learning English, was killed after coming home from school with his father, who then returned to work. A post-mortem examination showed he had suffered a total of 29 areas of sharp force injury, including wounds to his head, chest, back and hand. Summarising a statement made by David-Mario's mother shortly after he was killed, Mr Tehrani said: 'He was the most precious thing to her. He was her world. He was always happy and smiling.' Addressing the events which led to the boy's death, Mr Tehrani added: 'When Mario arrived home he shouted to the defendant that he was home. 'The defendant asked him how school had been. The defendant appeared to be her normal self and had been in the preceding weeks as far as they could tell.' The court heard that Anghel had made Mario soup after greeting him as normal. However at 3.30pm she used a kitchen knife to repeatedly stab her grandson. Shortly before 5.15pm, the court heard Anghel went to a Co-op store in nearby Earlsdon Street in a distressed state, appearing to be saying 'police' and 'translate' repeatedly. In a tribute, Mario's parents Cristina (pictured) and Dorinel said 'he will never be forgotten' Police were called to the scene and Anghel told an officer who could speak Romanian that she had killed her grandson, making delusional claims that she had not wanted him to suffer serious assaults at the hands of someone else. Mr Tehrani said: 'She said she had done what she had done to Mario out of love. 'When they (police officers) attended the property, the horror of what had happened within the property became evident. Mario's body was lifeless. 'No pulse was detected and there was no other signs of life. Shortly thereafter Mario was declared dead.' Offering mitigation prior to sentence, defence KC Caroline Haughey described the case as 'an utterly tragic and horrendous event for all parties.' 'What is abundantly clear is that she loved her grandson unconditionally,' she added. Shortly after their son's death, his parents Cristina and Dorinel paid tribute to David-Mario in a statement issued by West Midlands Police. They said: 'Our son, he was the most beautiful child in the world. 'He was a very happy boy. He was always smiling from when he woke up to when he went to sleep. 'He had so much energy. He loved to dance and sing. He is all of our hearts, all our love and is everything to both of us.' Bodies of civilians shot by Russian soldiers lie on a street in Bucha . The hands of one of the victims are tied behind his back. 3 April 2022 Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Russian military and authorities have committed multiple war crimes in the form of deliberate attacks against civilian targets,[1][2][3] massacres of civilians, torture and rape of women and children,[4][5] torture and mutilitation of Ukrainian prisoners of war, and indiscriminate attacks in densely populated areas.[6][7][8] The Russian military exposed the civilian population to unnecessary and disproportionate harm by using cluster munitions[9][10][11][12] and by firing other explosive weapons with wide-area effects such as bombs, missiles, heavy artillery shells and multiple launch rockets.[11] The result of the Russian forces' attacks has been damage and destruction to civilian buildings including houses, hospitals, schools, kindergartens,[11] nuclear power plants,[13] historic buildings, and churches.[14][15] By February 2023, a year into the conflict, the attacks had resulted in the documented death of more than 8,000 civilians, though the real death toll is presumed to be higher, while approximately 5,000 missile strikes, 3,500 airstrikes and 1,000 drone strikes against Ukraine were recorded.[16] After the Russian withdrawal from areas north of Kyiv, overwhelming evidence of war crimes by Russian forces was discovered.[17] In particular, in the town of Bucha, evidence emerged of a massacre of civilians perpetrated by Russian troops, including torture, mutilation, rape, looting and deliberate killings of civilians.[18][19][20] the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (OHCHR) has documented the murder of at least 73 civilians mostly men, but also women and children in Bucha.[21] More than 1,200 bodies of civilians were found in the Kyiv region after Russian forces withdrew, some of them summarily executed.[22] There were reports of forced deportations of thousands of civilians, including children, to Russia, mainly from Russian-occupied Mariupol,[23][24] as well as sexual violence, including cases of rape, sexual assault and gang rape,[25][26][22] and deliberate killing of Ukrainian civilians by Russian forces.[27] In the first month of the invasion, the Monitoring Mission also documented possible cases of hostage-taking[11] and arbitrary detentions, including abductions, torture and enforced disappearance, of journalists, activists, public officials, and civil servants in Russian-occupied territories.[28][11][29] The mission also expressed concern about mistreatment of prisoners of war in the conflict,[11] as prisoners of war held by both Ukrainian and Russian/separatist forces were repeatedly abused,[30] exposed to public curiosity,[31] and in some cases tortured[32][33] and/or killed.[34][35] The OHCHR also expressed concern on the use of human shields,[36] forcefully conscripted soldiers[37] and detention camps.[22] On 2 March, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened a full investigation into past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide committed in Ukraine by any person from 21 November 2013 onwards, set up an online method for people with evidence to initiate contact with investigators, and sent a team of investigators, lawyers, and other professionals to Ukraine to begin collecting evidence.[38][39][40] Two other independent international agencies are also investigating violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law in the area: the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, established by the United Nations Human Rights Council on 4 March 2022, and the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, deployed by Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The latter started monitoring human rights violations by all parties in 2014 and employs nearly 60 UN human rights monitors. On 7 April 2022, the United Nations suspended Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.[41] By late October, the Ukrainian Prosecutor's office had documented 39,347 alleged Russian war crimes, identified more than 600 suspects, and initiated proceedings against approximately 80 of them.[42] On 17 March 2023, the ICC issued arrest warrants against Vladimir Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova over allegations of involvement in the war crime of child abductions during the invasion of Ukraine.[43][44] Indiscriminate and deliberate strikes on civilian targets Shelled residential buildings in Kyiv, 14 March 2022 Damage to a residential building in Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia following the airstrike of 9 October 2022 According to human rights organisations and to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, the invasion of Ukraine was carried out through indiscriminate attacks and strikes on civilian objects such as houses, hospitals, schools and kindergartens.[6][7][11] On 25 February, Amnesty International stated that Russian forces had "shown a blatant disregard for civilian lives by using ballistic missiles and other explosive weapons with wide area effects in densely populated areas". In addition, Russia has falsely claimed to have only used precision-guided weapons. Amnesty International said on 25 February that the attacks on Vuhledar, Kharkiv and Uman, were likely to constitute war crimes.[6] Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal said on 26 February that Russia was committing war crimes.[45] A 3 March statement by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the agency had recorded at least 1006 civilian casualties in the first week of the invasion, but that it believed that "the real figures are considerably higher."[46] The World Health Organization released a statement on 6 March saying that it had evidence that multiple health care centres in Ukraine had been attacked, and Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that "attacks on healthcare facilities or workers breach medical neutrality and are violations of international humanitarian law."[47] On 24 March, Amnesty International accused Russia of having repeatedly violated international humanitarian law during the first month of the invasion by conducting indiscriminate attacks, including direct attacks on civilian targets. According to Amnesty International, verified reports and video footage demonstrated numerous strikes on hospitals and schools and the use of inaccurate explosive weapons and banned weapons such as cluster bombs.[48] On 5 July, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet reported that most of the civilian casualties documented by her office had been caused by the Russian army's repeated use of explosive weapons in populated areas. Bachelet said that the heavy civilian toll from the use of such indiscriminate weapons and tactics had by now become "indisputable".[22] Use of cluster munitions Reports on the use of cluster munitions have raised concerns about the heavy toll of immediate civilian casualties and the long-lasting danger of unexploded ordnance.[11][12] Neither the Russian Federation nor Ukraine ratified the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions,[9] but the use of cluster munitions in populated areas may already be deemed incompatible with principles of international humanitarian law prohibiting indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks.[8] According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, weapons equipped with cluster munitions have been used both by Russian armed forces and pro-Russian separatists, as well as to a lesser degree by Ukrainian armed forces.[49] On 19 June, The New York Times reported it had reviewed over 1000 photographs of potentially outlawed munitions. It identified photographic evidence of the widespread use of cluster munitions in a wide spectrum of civilian areas. It noted that most were unguided missiles, which have the propensity to cause collateral damage to civilians. It also found cases of other types of weapons whose use might be against international law, such as land mines.[50] Hospitals and medical facilities Photo distributed by the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs showing a Ukrainian civilian killed during the Russian bombing of Chernihiv As of 26 March, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine verified 74 attacks on medical facilities, 61 of them in Government-controlled territory (e.g. air strikes on hospitals in Izium, Mariupol, Ovruch, Volnovakha and Vuhledar), nine occurring in territory controlled by Russian affiliated armed groups, and four in contested settlements. Six perinatal centres, maternity hospitals, and ten children's hospitals had been hit, resulting in the complete destruction of two children's hospitals and one perinatal hospital.[11] On 26 March, AP journalists in Ukraine claimed they had gathered sufficient evidence to demonstrate that Russia was deliberately targeting Ukrainian hospitals across the country.[51] On 30 March, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that there had been 82 verified Russian attacks on medical care in Ukraine including attacks on healthcare facilities, patients, and healthcare workers since 24 February. WHO estimated at least 72 were killed and 43 injured in these attacks.[52] By 8 April, WHO confirmed 91 attacks.[53] Energy infrastructure Since October 2022, Russia has increased the intensity of attacks on power stations and other civilian infrastructure in a campaign intended to demoralize the Ukrainian people and threatening to leave millions of civilians without heating or water during winter.[54][55] As of 20 October 2022, up to 40% of Ukraine's power grid has been attacked by Russia.[56] The government has asked citizens to conserve energy, and rolling blackouts have been introduced.[57] The World Health Organization has warned of a potential humanitarian crisis, saying that "lack of access to fuel or electricity due to damaged infrastructure could become a matter of life or death if people are unable to heat their homes."[55][58] Denise Brown, the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Ukraine, said that the attacks could result in "a high risk of mortality during the winter months."[54] Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that "attacks targeting civilians and objects indispensable to the survival of civilians are prohibited under international humanitarian law" and "amount to a war crime."[59] The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen[60] and 11 members of NATO's eastern flank also called the attacks a war crime.[59] In his comprehensive analysis,[61] Charles J. Dunlap jr., executive director of Duke Law School's Centre on Law, Ethics and National Security and former deputy judge advocate general of the U.S. Air Force, pointed to the view that [e]lectric power stations are generally recognized to be of sufficient importance to a States capacity to meet its wartime needs of communication, transport, and industry so as usually to qualify as military objectives during armed conflicts,[62] furthermore that they have been a favourite target for almost a century, and that Ukraine did resort to similar tactics in 2015.[63] Military structures, too, typically rely on the civilian electrical grid. Also, attacks on civilian enterprises may be justified due to the Ukraine's "sizeable domestic military-industrial complex" and due to energy exports (also in the form of electricity) being one of Ukraine's main revenue sources. The distinction between military and civilian targets is still relevant but does however not preclude attacks on dual-use (military and civilian) facilities if it is not "reasonably feasible to segregate [civilian portions] out from the overall strike" - as it may be the case with Ukraine's "thoroughly integrated" electrical grid. The blurring of citizen and combatant, e.g. by calling upon citizens to report enemy positions via government apps, further complicates the picture.[64] Similarly, proportionality of military advantage and civilian harm must be maintained but may be seen as adequate in this case, with about 70 civilian deaths (as of his writing) vs. 40% of the national grid knocked out. When evaluating the consequences, harm to civilians is understood by the US DoD as "immediate or direct harms".[65] On the other hand, taking into account "remote harms" like the possible starvation or freezing of Ukrainian citizens in the following weeks or months is disputed, esp. as large parts of the grid have been restored quickly so far and as the Ukraine, too, is obliged to protect its citizens from extreme cold, regardless of the actions of the attacker.[66] Finally, while explicit terror attacks are prohibited under international law, the disaggregation of justified military advantages and a psychological impact upon civilians is often hardly feasible. The US view is that "attacks that are otherwise lawful are not rendered unlawful if they happen to result in diminished morale."[67] Nuclear power plants At 11:28 pm local time on 3 March 2022, a column of 10 Russian armored vehicles and two tanks cautiously approached the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest.[68][69][70] The action commenced at 12:48am on 4 March when Ukraine forces fired anti-tank missiles and Russian forces responded with a variety of weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades.[69] During approximately two hours of heavy fighting a fire broke out in a training facility outside the main complex, which was extinguished by 6:20am,[13][11] though other sections surrounding the plant sustained damage.[69] That evening, the Kyiv US Embassy described the Russian attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as a war crime,[71] though the US State Department quickly retracted this claim with the circumstances of the attack being studied[72][73] and the Pentagon declining to describe the attack as a war crime.[74] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of committing "nuclear terror" by ordering the attack on the plant[75] and Ukraine regulatory authorities stated that Russian forces fired artillery shells at the plant, setting fire to the training facility.[76][77] The Russian Ambassador to the UN responded that Russian forces were fired upon by Ukrainian "saboteurs" from the training facility, which they set fire to when they left.[78] Later on 4 March, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that the plant's safety systems had not been affected and there had been no release of radioactive materials, however, he was "... gravely concerned about the situation at Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant. The main priority was to ensure the safety and security of the plant, its power supply and the people who operate it".[79] Attacks on nuclear power facilities are mainly governed by Article 56 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions,[80][81] which generally prohibits attacks against civilian nuclear power plants.[82][83] According to international scholars: "if it is established that Russian forces engaged in the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia plant or objectives in its vicinity in a way that risked a radioactive leak, it is almost certain that this operation violated Article 56"[82] but it is "less likely" that Russian forces have committed a war crime in this case.[83] On 13 April, a report of the OSCE Moscow Mechanism's mission of experts concluded that Russian forces "did not attack buildings that could have released dangerous forces if damaged. They attacked and damaged, however, nearby buildings by attacks that could have affected those able to release radioactivity."[84] Cultural heritage The use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects has raised concerns about the proximity of historic monuments, works of art, churches and other cultural properties.[85][14][86][87] Russian forces damaged or destroyed the Kuindzhi Art Museum in Mariupol, the Soviet-era Shchors cinema and a Gothic revival library in Chernihiv,[88] the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial complex in Kyiv,[89] the Soviet-era Slovo building[14] and the regional state administration building in Kharkiv, a 19th-century wooden church in Viazivka, Zhytomyr Region,[90] and the Historical and Local History Museum in Ivankiv.[91] On 24 June, UNESCO stated that at least 150 Ukrainian historical sites, religious buildings, and museums were confirmed to have sustained damage during the Russian invasion.[92] Cultural property enjoys special protection under international humanitarian law.[93] Protocol I of the Geneva Convention and the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (both binding on Ukraine and Russia) prohibits state parties from targeting historic monuments in support of a military effort and from making them the objects of acts of hostility or reprisals.[93] Protocol II of the Hague Convention allows attacks on a cultural property only in case of "imperative military necessity" provided that there is no feasible alternative. While Protocol II does not apply as such, as only Ukraine is a party and it applies only between parties,[84] the provision on imperative military necessity may be applicable if it is interpreted as informing the convention, rather than adding to it.[93] Attacks against cultural heritage amount to war crimes and can be prosecuted before the International Criminal Court.[93] Willful killing of civilians by soldiers Kyiv and Chernihiv regions Human Rights Watch cited reports that in Staryi Bykiv Russian forces rounded up at least six men and executed them on 27 February. The villagers' bodies were allowed to be buried on 7 March.[94] The soldiers left on 31 March. The Guardian said that three or four additional executions had taken place and that the local school had been destroyed. Much of the property in Staryi Bykiv and Novyi Bykiv was damaged or destroyed.[95][96] On 28 February, five civilians attempting to defend their village's post office in Peremoha, Kyiv Oblast were summarily executed by Russian forces who had stopped in the town. The post office was later blown up to hide evidence of the killings.[97] On 7 March, a Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces drone operating near the E40 highway outside Kyiv filmed Russian troops shooting a civilian who had his hands up.[98] After Ukrainian forces recaptured the area four weeks later, a BBC news crew investigating the area found the bodies of the man and his wife close to their car, all of which had been burned. More dead bodies lined the highway, some of which also showed signs of burning. During the incident, a couple in that car was killed, and their son and an elder were released. The burning of bodies may have been an attempt by Russian troops to destroy evidence of what they had done. At least ten dead were found along the road, two of them wearing recognisable Ukrainian military uniforms. The drone footage was submitted to Ukrainian authorities and London's Metropolitan Police.[98] On 26 March 2022, Russia, repelled from Kyiv, progressively withdrew from the region to concentrate on Donbas.[99] Borodianka's mayor said that as the Russian convoy had moved through the town, Russian soldiers had fired through every open window. The retreating Russian troops also placed mines throughout the town, inhabitants later reported that Russian troops were deliberately targeting them and blocking rescue efforts during their occupation of the city.[100] On 15 April, Kyiv regional police force reported that 900 civilian bodies had been found in the region following the Russian withdrawal, with more than 350 in Bucha. According to the police most almost 95% of them were "simply executed". More bodies continued to be found in mass graves and under the rubble.[101] As of 15 May, over 1,200 civilian bodies had been recovered in Kyiv region alone.[22] The Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced the discovery of 132 bodies in Makariv, accusing the Russian forces of having tortured and murdered them.[102][103] On 5 July, the OHCHR in Ukraine was working to corroborate over 300 allegations of deliberate killings of civilians by Russian armed forces.[22] Other than prima facie evidence and witness statements testifying to war crimes, evidence includes Ukrainian government intercepts of Russian military conversations,[104][105] and Russian government contingency planning for mass graves of civilians.[106] Bucha massacre Photo distributed by the Ukrainian government showing bodies in the Bucha area in April 2022 After Russian forces withdrew from Bucha north of Kyiv, at the end of March, videos emerged showing at least nine apparently dead bodies lying in the street in the residential area of the town. Journalists who visited the area reported seeing at least twenty corpses in civilian clothing.[107] On 1 April, AFP reported that at least twenty bodies of civilians lay in the streets of Bucha, with at least one the bodies having tied hands. The mayor of the city, Anatolu Fedoruk, said that these individuals had all been shot in the back of the head. Fedoruk also said that around 270 or 280 individuals from the city had to be buried in mass graves.[108][107] In Vorzel, west of Bucha, Russian soldiers killed a woman and her 14-year-old child after throwing smoke grenades into the basement in which they were hiding.[109] On 15 April, local police reported more than 350 bodies found in Bucha following the withdrawal of Russian forces and said most died of gunshot wounds.[101] Video footage from a drone verified by The New York Times showed two Russian armoured vehicles firing at a civilian walking with a bicycle. A separate video, filmed after the Russian withdrawal, showed a dead person wearing civilian clothing matching the drone footage, lying next to a bicycle.[110] The Economist reported an account of a survivor of a mass execution. After getting trapped at a checkpoint when it came under fire from Russian artillery, the man was captured by Russian soldiers, along with the construction workers he was sheltering with at the checkpoint. The soldiers moved them to a nearby building being used as a Russian base, strip-searched them, beat and tortured them, then took them to the side of the building to shoot and kill them. The man was shot in the side, but survived by playing dead and later fleeing to a nearby home.[111] BBC News also reported that bodies of civilians found in a local temple had their hands and legs tied and that some were also crushed by a tank.[112] Footage released by the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces appeared to show 18 mutilated bodies of murdered men, women and children in a summer camp basement in Zabuchchya, a village in the Bucha district.[19] One of the Ukrainian soldiers interviewed stated there was evidence of torture: some had their ears cut off, others had teeth pulled out. The bodies had been removed a day before the interview and corpses of other killed civilians were left in the road, according to him.[113] A report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, an American state-funded media organization, described the basement as an "execution cellar" used by Russian forces.[114] Victims of the Bucha massacre According to residents of Bucha, upon entering the town, Russian tanks and military vehicles drove down the streets shooting randomly at house windows.[115] The New York Times reported that during the Russian occupation snipers set up in high rise buildings and shot at anyone that moved.[116] A witness told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that the Russians "were killing people systematically. I personally heard how one sniper was boasting that he 'offed' two people he saw in apartment windows... There was no need. There was no military justification to kill. It was just torturing civilians. On other blocks, people were really tortured. They were found with their hands tied behind their backs and shot in the back of the head." Locals asserted the killings were deliberate and many reported that in several instances snipers would gun down civilians for no clear reason.[117] HRW heard reports that civilians were fired upon when leaving their homes for food and water, and would be ordered back into their homes by Russian troops, despite a lack of basic necessities such as water and heat due to the destruction of local infrastructure, they also accused Russian troops of shooting indiscriminately at buildings and refusing medical aid to injured civilians.[115] According to a Kyiv resident who was present at the Bucha headquarters of the territorial defence force, Russian soldiers checked documents and killed those who had participated in the war in Donbas. He said that Russian troops killed people with tattoos associated with right-wing groups, but also those with tattoos of Ukrainian symbols. According to his account, in the last week of the occupation, Kadyrovite Chechen fighters were shooting at every civilian they encountered.[118][119] Another resident reported that Russian soldiers checked the cell phones of civilians for evidence of "anti-Russian activity" before taking them away or shooting them.[120] On 5 April, Associated Press journalists saw charred bodies on a residential street near a playground in Bucha, including one with a bullet hole in the skull, and a burned body of a child. The journalists were unable to verify their identity or the circumstances that led to their death[121] On the same date, The Washington Post reported that Ukrainian investigators found evidence of beheading, mutilation and incinerations of corpses found in the town. On the next day, they also reported that three other corpses, one beheaded, were found inside a glass factory, according to the investigators, the bodies of at least one of those killed were turned into a trap and mined with tripwires.[122] On 21 April Human Rights Watch reported they had found "extensive evidence of summary executions, other unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, and torture" in Bucha. The human rights organisation documented the details of 16 apparently unlawful killings including nine summary executions and seven indiscriminate killings of civilians.[123] While Ukrainian officials called the situation "genocide", "a massacre" and "war crimes", Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that some of the footage was fake and accused Ukrainian troops of killing people by shelling the town. Numerous other countries demanded investigations and accountability, with UK prime minister Boris Johnson stating the footage in Bucha was "yet more evidence that Putin and his army are committing war crimes".[124] Several nations such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain have called for the prosecution and punishment of Russia troops for reported atrocities in the invasion.[125] On 4 April, US president Joe Biden called Putin "a war criminal". UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the United Kingdom would use its resources to bring Putin to justice for atrocities being uncovered in Bucha.[126] Amnesty International stated that the killings near Bucha constituted "extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings, which must be investigated as likely war crimes". Agnes Callamard, the Secretary General of Amnesty International, added that "Testimonies show that unarmed civilians in Ukraine are being killed in their homes and streets in acts of unspeakable cruelty and shocking brutality".[127] On 19 May, the New York Times released videos showing Russian soldiers leading away a group of civilians, then forcing them to the ground. The dead bodies of the men were later recorded by a drone on the spot where the video was recorded and the bodies were later found after Bucha's liberation. The videos clearly show the murdered men in Russian custody minutes before their execution and confirm eyewitness accounts. The troops responsible for the murders were Russian paratroopers.[128] On 8 August the local authorities completed the counting of victims and reported that 458 bodies had been recovered from the town, including 9 children under the age of 18; 419 people had been killed by weapons and 39 appeared to have died of natural causes, possibly related to the occupation.[129][130] On 7 December OHCHR reported that the Monitoring Mission in Ukraine had documented the unlawful killing of at least 73 civilians mostly men, but also women and children in Bucha, and were in process of confirming another 105 alleged killings.[21] Kharkiv region Bodies being exhumed from mass graves in Izium On 15 September 2022, after Russian forces were driven out of Izium in the Kharkiv counteroffensive, a large number of mostly unmarked graves was found in the woods close to the city.[131][132] Amid the trees were hundreds of graves with simple wooden crosses, most of them marked only with numbers, whilst one of the larger graves bore a marker saying it contained the bodies of at least 17 Ukrainian soldiers.[131] According to Ukrainian investigators, 447 bodies were discovered: 414 bodies of civilians (215 men, 194 women, 5 children), 22 servicemen, and 11 bodies whose gender had not yet been determined as of 23 September. While a minority of the casualties were caused by artillery fire[133] and from lack of healthcare,[134] most of the dead showed signs of violent death and 30 presented traces of torture and summary execution, including ropes around their necks, bound hands, broken limbs and genital amputation.[135][136][137] On Kupiansk, a family of three and their neighbour were reportedly shot and buried in a mass grave, the bodies were found by local law enforcement officers, according to them, Russian troops shot the civilians at close range in mid-September, the 4 dead bodies have bullet wounds in the chest and head, automatic weapon casings were also found during the inspection of a cellar not far from the site, on 6 October, local police found the bodies of two tortured men in a brick-making workshop in the city, one of the dead has a gunshot wound, criminal proceedings have been initiated on both cases (under Part 1 of Art. 438 (violation of the laws and customs of war) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).[138] On 5 October, mass graves were also found on Lyman, Ukrainian troops and law enforcement officials found 110 trenches containing graves, some for children, at the Nova Maslyakivka cemetery, the bodies showed signs of "explosive and projectile injuries, as well as bullet injuries", 55 bodies of both civilians and soldiers were found on the trenches, among the dead was a family and their 1-year-old child, the youngest found in the graves.[139] 34 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers were also found, in total, 144 bodies were found in the city, 108 of which in mass graves, among the dead, 85 were civilians.[140] According to witnesses, Russian troops killed everyone who had collaborated with the Ukrainian military, and forced the locals to bury the bodies, they also said that many bodies were left for days on the street and that those that died by shelling were buried by family or neighbours, many bodies of dead Russian soldiers were also found in the city.[141] Trostianets After the town of Trostyanets in Sumy Oblast was retaken from Russian control, the local doctor at the morgue reported that at least one person in town was killed by Russians after being tortured, and young people were abducted. The town's hospital was also shelled; The New York Times said it was unclear who hit the building, but the locals accused the Russians.[142] Reporters from The Guardian visited the town after it was retaken from Russian troops and found evidence of executions, looting and torture carried out by Russian troops. According to the town's mayor, the Russians killed between 50 and 100 civilians while they occupied the town. One local witness stated that Russian soldiers fired into the air to frighten women delivering food to the elderly while shouting "Run bitches!".[143] Shooting at civilian vehicles According to Ukrainian regional authorities, at least 25 civilians, including six children, have been killed in attacks on cars trying to flee Chernihiv, or attacked in public places; one such incident, involving the killing of a 15-year-old boy on 9 March, was investigated by BBC and reported on 10 April.[144] On 2 May Human Rights Watch documented three separate incidents involving the Russian forces opening fire on passing cars without any apparent effort to verify whether the occupants were civilians. The incidents took place in Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, involved four vehicles and killed six civilians and wounded three. Multiple witnesses' accounts and in loco investigations revealed that the attacks on civilians were likely deliberate and suggested that the Russian forces had also fired on other civilian cars in similar ways.[3] On 28 February, Russian forces shot at two vehicles that were trying to flee from Hostomel, northwest of Kyiv. On 3 March, in the same area, they opened fire on a vehicle with four men who were going to negotiate the delivery of humanitarian aid. In the village of Nova Basan, in the Chernihiv region, Russian soldiers shot at a civilian van carrying two men, injuring one of them; they pulled the second man from the van and summarily executed him, while the injured man escaped.[3] CCTV video also from 28 February shows that two civilians (a 72-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman) were killed when their car was blown apart by shots from a Russian BMP armoured infantry fighting vehicle at the intersection of the Bogdan Khmelnytsky Street and the Okruzhna Road, near the hospital in Makariv.[145][146][147] The Kyiv Independent reported that on 4 March Russian forces killed three unarmed Ukrainian civilians who had just delivered dog food to a dog shelter in Bucha. As they were approaching their house, a Russian armored vehicle opened fire on the car.[148] In another incident, on 5 March at around 7:15 AM in Bucha, a pair of cars carrying two families trying to leave the town were spotted by Russian soldiers as the vehicles turned onto Chkalova Street. Russian forces in an armored vehicle opened fire on the convoy, killing a man in the second vehicle. The front car was hit by a burst of machine-gun fire, instantly killing two children and their mother.[149] On 27 March the Russian army shot at a convoy of cars carrying civilians fleeing the village of Stepanki, near Kharkiv. An elderly woman and a 13-year-old girl were killed. The incident was investigated both by the team on war crimes of the prosecutor's office in the Kharkiv region and by the Canadian news outlet Global News. The prosecutor's office said that on 26 March a Russian commander had given the order to fire rockets at civilian areas in order to create a sense of panic among the population. Global News presented what it saw as flaws in the official investigation.[150] On 18 April, during the capture of Kreminna, Russian forces were accused of shooting four civilians fleeing in their cars.[151][152] Kupiansk civilian convoy shooting Aftermath of the attack on the civilian convoy in Kupiansk On 30 September, a convoy of six civilian cars and a van on the outskirts of the village of Kurylivka (at that time in the so-called "gray zone" between Kupiansk and Svatove) was discovered by Ukrainian forces, with around 24 people killed, including a pregnant woman and 13 children.[153] Ukraine accused Russian forces of being the perpetrators.[154] Investigations suggested that the civilians were killed around 25 September.[138] the bodies were apparently shot and burned out, according to 7 witnesses who managed to flee to the village of Kivsharivka, the convoy was ambushed by Russian forces on 25 September at around ~9:00 AM (UTC+3) while leaving for the village of Pishchane through the only available road at that time, after the attack, the Russian troops reportedly executed the remaining survivors.[155] During the month, law enforcement officers identified all the victims of the convoy.[156][157][158] 22 people managed to escape, 3 of those (including 2 children) injured.[157] in the following days, 2 other bodies were found, with the final death toll being 26.[159] Some of the physical evidence (the bodies of the victims and the car) was examined by French experts. They discovered signs of the use of 30 mm and 45 mm high-explosive shells, as well as VOG-17 and VOG-25 grenades.[160] Shooting of Andrii Bohomaz In June 2022, Russian troops fired against Andrii Bohomaz and Valeria Ponomarova, an married couple in an car in the Izium area.[161] The car was struck with a 30 millimetre round fired from the gun on a BMP-2 fighting vehicle.[162] The couple fled from their damaged car after the attack, Bohomaz had been badly injured in the head, Russian troops later found him, and, incorrectly assuming he was dead, dropped him in a ditch, he woke up 30 hours later, with several injuries and shrapnels lodged in his body.[163][161] Bohomaz later managed to walk to an Ukrainian position, being rescued and given first aid by Ukrainian troops.[164] Ukrainian forces later liberated the region, allowing them to start an investigation about the shooting, Ukrainian police have accused Russian commander Klim Kerzhaev of the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division for being responsible for the shooting, based on interceptions of his phone calls to his wife after the shooting.[161] Torture of civilians On 22 March the non-profit organization Reporters Without Borders reported that Russian forces had captured a Ukrainian fixer and interpreter for Radio France on 5 March as he headed home to a village in Central Ukraine. He was held captive for nine days and subjected to electric shocks, beatings with an iron bar and a mock execution.[165][166][167] On 25 March Reporters Without Borders stated that Russian forces had threatened, kidnapped, detained and tortured several Ukrainian journalists in the occupied territories.[28][168] Torture is prohibited by both Article 32 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Article 2 of the United Nations Convention against Torture.[169][170] In April Human Rights Watch visited 17 villages in Kyiv Oblast and Chernihiv Oblast that had been under Russian occupation from late February through March 2022. The human rights organisation investigated 22 summary executions, 9 unlawful killings, 6 enforced disappearances, and 7 cases of torture. Witnesses reported that Russian soldiers beat detainees, used electric shocks, and carried out mock executions to coerce them to provide information.[171] Twenty-one civilians described unlawful confinement in inhuman and degrading conditions.[171] On 4 April, Dementiy Bilyi, head of the Kherson regional department of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, said that the Russian security forces were "beating, torturing, and kidnapping" civilians in the Kherson Oblast of Ukraine. He added that eyewitnesses had described "dozens" of arbitrary searches and detentions, resulting in an unknown amount of abducted persons.[172] At least 400 residents had gone missing by 16 March, with the mayor and deputy mayor of the town of Skadovsk being abducted by armed men.[173] A leaked letter described Russian plans to unleash a "great terror" to suppress protests occurring in Kherson, stating that people would "have to be taken from their homes in the middle of the night".[174] Russian soldiers were also accused of murders, tortures, and beatings of civilians in Borodianka during the withdrawal,[175][176] Ukrainians who escaped from occupied Kherson into Ukrainian-controlled territory provided testimonies of torture, abuse and kidnapping by Russian forces in the region. One person from Bilozerka in Kherson Oblast provided physical evidence of having been tortured by Russians and described beatings, electrocutions, mock executions, strangulations, threats to kill family members and other forms of torture.[177] An investigation by the BBC gathered evidence of torture, which in addition to beatings also included electrocution and burns on people's hands and feet. A doctor who treated victims of torture in the region reported: "Some of the worst were burn marks on genitals, a gunshot wound to the head of a girl who was raped, and burns from iron on a patient's back and stomach. The patient told me two wires from a car battery were attached to his groin and he was told to stand on a wet rag". In addition to the BBC, the Human Rights Watch UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has reported on torture and "disappearances" carried out by Russian occupation forces in the region. One resident stated: "In Kherson, now people go missing all the time (...) there is a war going on, only this part is without bombs."[178] Kherson's elected Ukrainian mayor has compiled a list of more than 300 people who had been kidnapped by Russian forces as of 15 May 2022. According to The Times, in the building housing the Russian occupation authorities, the screams of the tortured could be frequently heard throughout the corridors.[179] On 22 July Human Rights Watch published a report documenting 42 cases of torture, unlawful detention and enforced disappearance of civilians in the Russian-occupied areas of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.[180] Witnesses described torture through prolonged beatings and electric shocks causing injuries including broken bones, broken teeth, severe burns, concussions, cuts and bruises. They also described being kept blindfolded and handcuffed for the entire duration of the detention, and being released only after having signed statements or recorded videos in which they pledge to cooperate or urge others to cooperate with the Russian forces.[180] Ukrainian officials estimated that at least 600 people had been forcibly disappeared in the Kherson region since the Russian invasion.[180] Teachers in Russian-occupied areas were forced by the military to teach in the Russian language and were tortured for using Ukrainian.[181] Russian torture chambers Kyiv region On 4 April, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine stated police in the Kyiv region found a "torture chamber" in the basement of a children's sanatorium in Bucha. The basement contained the bodies of five men with hands tied behind their backs. The announcement was accompanied by several photos posted on Facebook.[182][183] Sumy region In mid-April 2022 The Independent obtained two testimonies of survivors of a Russian torture chamber in Trostyanets, Sumy oblast. According to the witnesses, at least eight civilians were held in a basement of a train station, where they were tortured, starved, subject to mock executions, forced to sit in their own excrement, electrocuted, stripped, and threatened with rape and genital mutilation. At least one prisoner was beaten to death by Russian guards who told the prisoners "All Ukrainians must die". Two were still missing at the time of the report. One prisoner was given electric shocks to his head until he begged the Russian soldiers to kill him. Numerous bodies, mutilated to the point where they were unrecognizable, were discovered by investigators in the area around the town.[184] Kharkiv region After the successful Kharkiv counteroffensive by Ukraine which liberated a number of settlements and villages in the Kharkiv region from Russian occupation,[185] authorities discovered torture chambers which had been used by Russian troops during their time in control of the area. In the town of Balakliya, which the Russians occupied for six months, forensics specialists, human rights activists, criminal law experts, and Ukrainian investigators found extensive evidence of war crimes and torture. During the Russian occupation, the troops used a two-story building named "BalDruk" (after a former publishing company which had an office there before the war) as a prison and a torture center. The Russians also used the police station building across the street for torture. Ukrainian officials say that around 40 people were held in the torture chambers during the occupation and subject to various forms of violence, including electrocution, beatings and mutilation.[186][187] Two torture chambers specifically for children were also found in the city, one of the kids who had been held there described being cut with a knife, burnt with heated metal and subjected to mock executions.[188] Another Russian torture chamber was found in the liberated village of Kozacha Lopan, located at the local railway station.[189][190] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that more than ten torture chambers, along with mass graves, had been discovered in the Kharkiv areas liberated by Ukrainian troops.[189][191] Zelenskyy also said: "As the occupiers fled they also dropped the torture devices".[190] Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office stated that "Representatives of the Russian Federation created a pseudo-law enforcement agency, in the basement of which a torture chamber was set up, where civilians were subjected to inhumane torture."[190] Ukrainian prosecutors have opened investigations into Russia's use of torture chambers.[192] In Izium, journalists for the Associated Press found ten torture sites. An investigation found that both Ukrainian civilians and POWs were "routinely" subject to torture. At least eight men were killed while under torture.[193][194] Between late September and early October, Human Rights Watch interviewed over 100 residents of Izium. Almost all of them reported having family members or friends who had been tortured, and fifteen people said they had been tortured themselves; survivors described torture by administration of electric shocks, waterboarding, severe beatings, threats with firearms and being forced to hold stress positions for long periods.[195] Residents stated that the Russians targeted specific individuals and that they already had lists of those locals who were in the military, the families of military people, or the people who were veterans of the war in Donbas.[196] They also said that in selecting victims they would terrorize the townspeople by publicly strip searching them.[197] By October, no less than 10 torture sites had been identified in the town of approximately 46,000 inhabitants.[198] Zaporizhzhia region In July 2022, The Guardian reported on torture chambers in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region based on the testimony of a 16-year-old boy who was held in one of them, beginning in April. The boy was arrested by Russian soldiers while trying to leave the occupied city of Melitopol because he had a video on his phone from social media, which featured Russian soldiers expressing defeatist attitudes towards Russia's invasion. He was held in a make shift prison in Vasylivka. According to his testimony, he saw rooms where torture took place, as well as bloodstains and soaked bandages, and heard the screams of the people being tortured. The torture involved electric shocks and beatings and could last for several hours.[199] Kherson region After the liberation of Kherson by Ukrainian forces from Russian occupation, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said that investigators had discovered Russian torture chambers established especially for children. According to local testimony revealed by Lubinets, the children were denied food and given water only every other day, were told their parents had abandoned them and forced to clean up the blood resulting from torture in adjacent torture cells for adults.[200][201][202] Lubinets reported that a total of ten torture chambers were discovered by Ukrainian investigators in Kherson region, four of them in the city itself.[201] A Russian makeshift prison that functioned as an FSB torture chamber was discovered in the city, Ukrainian authorities estimated the number of people who had been imprisoned there at some point to be in the thousands. Among other instruments of torture, FSB officials used electric shocks against the victims.[203] Civilians as human shields According to Human Rights Watch, both Russian and Ukrainian armies have based their forces in populated areas without first evacuating the residents, thus exposing them to unnecessary risks.[204] On 29 June, also the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern about Russian armed forces and pro-Russian armed groups as well as Ukrainian forces taking up positions close to civilian objects without taking measures for protecting the civilians.[36] The human rights agency received reports of the use of human shields, which involves the deliberate use of civilians to render certain military objectives immune from attack.[36] ABC News and The Economist reported Russian soldiers using over 300 Ukrainian civilians as human shields in Yahidne from 3 to 31 March. Russian forces were using the village as a base to attack the nearby city of Chernihiv and had established a major military camp in the local school. For 28 days, 360 Ukrainian civilians, including 74 children and 5 persons with disabilities, were held captive in inhumane conditions in the basement of the school while the nearby areas were under attack by the Ukrainian forces.[204] The basement was overcrowded, with no toilet facilities, water and ventilation. Ten elderly people died as a consequence of the poor detention conditions. Witness accounts report cases of torture and killings.[205][206][171] According to the OHCHR what happened in the school of Yahidne suggests that the Russian armed forces were using civilians to render their base immune from military attacks while also subjecting them to inhuman and degrading treatment.[207] The BBC and The Guardian found "clear evidence" of the use of Ukrainian civilians as human shields by Russian troops in the area near Kyiv after the Russian withdrawal on 1 April, citing eyewitness accounts from inhabitants of Bucha and the nearby village of Ivankiv, and of residents of the village of Obukhovychi, near the Belarusian border, Russian troops were accused of using civilians as human shields as they came under attack by Ukrainian soldiers. Multiple witnesses reported that, on 14 March, the Russian soldiers went door-to-door, rounded about 150 civilians and locked them up in the local school, where they were used as protection for the Russian forces.[208][209] United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities stated that it had received reports of disabled people being used as "human shields" by Russian armed forces.[210] United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stated that Russia's use of nuclear power plants for active military operations as tantamount to the use of human shields, citing reports that Russian forces were firing on Ukrainians from nuclear sites.[211] Since the beginning of the invasion,[212] Russia has repeatedly accused Ukraine of using human shields, a claim which has been rejected by scholars Michael N. Schmitt, Neve Gordon, and Nicola Perugini as an attempt to shift blame for civilian deaths to Ukraine.[213][214] Sexual violence According to experts and Ukrainian officials, there are indications that sexual violence was tolerated by the Russian command and used in a systematic way as a weapon of war.[17][215][26] After the Russian withdrawal from areas north of Kyiv, there was a "mounting body of evidence" of rape, torture and summary killings by Russian forces inflicted upon Ukrainian civilians, including gang rapes committed at gunpoint and rapes committed in front of children.[17] In March 2022 the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine stressed the heightened risks of sexual violence and the risk of under-reporting by victims in the country.[11] At the beginning of June, the Monitoring Mission received reports of 124 episodes of conflict-related sexual violence committed against women, girls, men and boys in various Ukrainian cities and regions. The alleged perpetrators were from the ranks of Russian and pro-Russian separatist armed forces in 89 cases and from civilians or unidentified individuals in territory controlled by Russian armed forces in 2 cases.[216][217] In late March Ukraine's Prosecutor General opened an investigation into a case of a Russian soldier who was accused of killing an unarmed civilian and then repeatedly raping the dead man's wife. The incident allegedly took place on 9 March in Shevchenkove, a village outside of Kyiv.[218] The wife related that two Russian soldiers raped her repeatedly after killing her husband and the family's dog while her four-year-old son hid in the house's boiler room. The account was first published by The Times of London.[219][220] Russian spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the allegation as a lie.[221] Ukrainian authorities have said that numerous reports of sexual assault and rape by Russian troops have emerged since the beginning of the invasion in February 2022.[220] Ukrainian MP Maria Mezentseva said that these types of cases were underreported and that there are many other victims.[222] Meduza published an in-depth account of the same case in Bogdanivka and of other events.[223] In another reported incident, a Russian soldier entered a school in the village of Mala Rohan where civilians were sheltering and raped a young Ukrainian woman. Human Rights Watch reported that the woman was threatened and repeatedly raped by a Russian soldier who cut her cheek, neck and hair.[224] According to witness statements, the villagers informed Russian officers in charge of the occupation of the village of the incident, who arrested the perpetrator and told them that he would be summarily executed.[225] Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated that Russian soldiers had committed "numerous" rapes against Ukrainian women. According to the Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict database, sexual violence by Russian forces has been reported in three of seven years of conflict since 2014 in eastern Ukraine.[226] A report published by The Kyiv Independent included a photo and information about one man and two or three naked women under a blanket whose bodies Russian soldiers tried to burn on the side of a road before fleeing.[227] Ukrainian officials said the women had been raped and the bodies burnt.[228] Human Rights Watch received reports of other incidents of rape in Chernihiv region and Mariupol.[224] ABC News reported in April 2022 that "rapes, shootings and a senseless execution" have occurred in the village of Berestyanka near Kyiv, noting a specific incident where a man was reportedly shot by Russian soldiers on 9 March after attempting to block them from raping his wife and a female friend.[229] On 12 April 2022, BBC News interviewed a 50-year-old woman from a village 70 km west of Kyiv, who said that she was raped at gunpoint by a Chechen allied with the Russian Armed Forces. A 40-year-old woman was raped and killed by the same soldier, according to neighbours, leaving what BBC News described as a "disturbing crime scene". Police exhumed the 40-year-old's body the day after the visit by BBC News.[230] A report by The New York Times related that a Ukrainian woman was kidnapped by Russian soldiers, kept in a cellar as a sex slave and then executed.[231] On 3 June, the United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, told the U.N. Security Council that dozens of violent sexual attacks against women and girls have been reported to the U.N. human rights office, and many more cases likely have not been reported. She also said the country is turning into a human trafficking crisis.[232] As of 5 July 2022, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine had verified 28 cases of conflict-related sexual violence, including rape, gang rape, torture, forced public stripping, and threats of sexual violence. OHCHR reported that 11 cases, including rape and gang rape, were committed by Russian armed forces and law enforcement.[22][216] In addition, due to the limited communication, especially with areas under Russian or separatist control (such as Mariupol) and contested cities, a major barrier to verification of cases remain access, the exact number of sexual violence cases have been difficult to track or respond to in a timely manner.[233] Reports of sexual violence have been reported to Ukrainian and international authorities, law enforcement officials and media personnel as Russian troops have withdrawn.[234] A 52-year-old woman was taken by Russian soldiers in occupied Izyum and repeatedly raped while her husband was beaten. She, along with her husband, was arrested on 1 July and was taken to a small shed which served as a torture room. The Russian soldiers put bags over their heads and threatened them, afterwards, they forcibly undressed her, groped her, and told her that they would send photos of the activity to her family members to humiliate her and them. The woman was then raped repeatedly by the commander of the unit for the next three days, while simultaneously the other Russian soldiers beat her husband in a nearby garage. The rapist would then describe the assault to the husband. She attempted suicide by hanging, but failed. Subsequently, the Russian soldiers tortured her with electric shocks and humiliated her. The Russian commander also obtained the woman's bank number and stole the funds out of her account. The woman and her husband were released on 10 July when they were dumped blindfolded by the Russians at a nearby gas station. They managed to escape to Ukrainian territory, and, after Izyum was liberated in September, returned home.[235] In late September 2022, a panel of investigators from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine[236] released a statement which said that the commission has "documented cases in which children have been raped, tortured, and unlawfully confined." and labeled these as war crimes. The same report also referenced children being killed and injured by Russia's indiscriminate attacks as well as forced separation from family and kidnapping.[4] Doctors at a maternity clinic in Poltava reported cases of women who had been raped by Russian soldiers and then had window sealant injected into their sexual organs so that they could never have children.[237] Abduction and deportation According to Ukrainian officials and two witnesses, Russian forces have forcefully deported thousands of residents from Ukraine to Russia during the Siege of Mariupol.[238][239][240] On 24 March, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that the Russian army had forcibly deported about 6,000 Mariupol residents in order to use them as "hostages" and put more pressure on Ukraine.[241][242] According to the Russian ministry of defense the residents of Mariupol had a "voluntary choice" whether to evacuate to the Ukrainian- or Russian-controlled territory and that by 20 March about 60,000 Mariupol residents were "evacuated to Russia". Human Rights Watch has not been able to verify these accounts.[243] The US embassy in Kyiv cited the Ukrainian foreign ministry as claiming that 2,389 Ukrainian children had been illegally removed from the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and taken to Russia.[244][245] On 24 March, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman said that over 402,000 Ukrainians had been forcefully taken to Russia, including around 84,000 children.[246][247] Russian authorities said that more than 384,000 people, including over 80,000 children, had been evacuated to Russia from Ukraine and from the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.[248] Deportation of protected peoples such as civilians during war is prohibited by Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.[249] On 7 June, Human Rights Watch specialist Tanya Lokshina emphasized this point, reiterating that that forcible deportation against people's will was itself a war crime, and called Russia to stop this practice. In addition, Human Rights Watch and Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group reported cases where refugees were being intimidated and pressured to implicate Armed Forces of Ukraine personnel for war crimes during long interrogation sessions, including the Mariupol theatre airstrike.[250] Deportations due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Time period Deported Source 18 February 90,000[a] Ombudsman of Ukraine[251] 24 February 24 March 2022 402,000 Ombudsman of Ukraine[252] 24 February 11 April 2022 700,000 Ombudsman of Ukraine[251] 24 February 28 April 2022 1,000,000 Ombudsman of Ukraine[253] Arbitrary detention and forced disappearance The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine confirmed that in the first month of the invasion they had documented the arbitrary detention in Russian occupied territories of 21 journalists and civil society activists, nine of whom had already reportedly been released.[29][8][11] The Human Rights Monitoring Mission also verified the arrests and detention of 24 public officials and civil servants of local authorities, including three mayors, by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups of the self-proclaimed republics of Luhansk and Donetsk.[29][8][11] International humanitarian law allows the internment of civilians in armed conflict only when they individually pose a security threat,[254][255] and all detained persons whose prisoners of war (PoW) status is in doubt must be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention until their status has been determined.[256] Reports of missing civilians are rampant in villages to the west of Kyiv, as Russian troops have withdrawn in the area, with a large majority of them male. One woman in Makhariv told reporters she witnessed Russian soldiers force her son-in-law at gunpoint to drive away from their house with the troops and he has not been seen since. Another man disappeared in Shptky, while attempting to deliver petrol to a friend with only his burned out and bullet-ridden car found later by Ukrainian troops.[257] On 5 July, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights documented 270 cases of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance of civilians, eight of whom were found dead. The OHCHR informed the Human Rights Council that arbitrary detention of civilians had become "widespread" in territory controlled by Russian forces and affiliated armed groups. OHCHR also reported that since the beginning of the invasion the Security Service of Ukraine and National Police had arrested over one thousand pro-Russian supporters, and that 12 cases were likely to amount to enforced disappearance by Ukrainian law enforcement bodies.[22][258] As of 15 May 62 victims (44 men and 18 women) of enforced disappearance had been released by Russian and Russian-affiliated armed groups. On most occasions the victims were released during "exchanges of prisoners" between Russia and Ukraine.[22] According to the OHCHR, such exchanges might constitute cases of hostage taking, which in armed conflict amounts to a war crime, if the liberation of detained civilians had been made conditional by the Russian forces on the release by Ukraine of Russian prisoners of war.[22] Filtration camps Evacuees from Mariupol raised concerns about the treatment of evacuees from Mariupol by Russian troops through a Russian filtration camp, that is reportedly used to house civilians before they were evacuated. Similar camps have been compared by Ukrainian officials to "modern-day concentration camps". Refugees have reported torture and killings when being processed through filtration camps, especially in Mariupol.[259][260] These include beatings, electrocution and suffocating people with plastic bags over their heads.[259] The refugees were fingerprinted, photographed from all sides, and had their phones searched, and anyone believed to be a "Ukrainian Nazi" was taken to Donetsk for interrogation. They also told reporters there was a lack of basic necessities and a majority of the evacuations forced refugees into Russia.[261][262][263][264] On 5 July the OHCHR expressed concern about the whereabouts and treatment of those who had not passed the filtration process, who were possibly detained in unknown locations at high risk of being subjected to torture and ill-treatment.[22] Abduction of Ukrainian children According to Ukrainian authorities, Russian forces have also kidnapped more than 121,000 Ukrainian children and deported them to Russia's eastern provinces. The parents of some of these children were killed by the Russian military. The Russian state Duma has drafted a law which would formalize the "adoption" of these children.[265] The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that there was a "blatant threat of illegal adoption of Ukrainian children by Russian citizens without observing all the necessary procedures determined by the legislation of Ukraine. and called on United Nations bodies to intervene to have the children returned to Ukraine.[266] On 1 June 2022, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy accused Russia of forcibly deporting more than 200,000 children from Ukraine, including orphans and children separated from their family. According to Zelenskyy, this amounts to a "heinous war crime" and a "criminal policy," whose object "is not just to steal people but to make deportees forget about Ukraine and not be able to return."[267][268] Forced conscription At the end of February, Ukrainian civilians were reportedly forced to join the pro-Russian separatist forces in the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk people's republics.[37] The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights documented cases of people forcefully taken to assembly points where they were recruited and immediately sent to the front line. They were men working in the public sector, including schools, and also people stopped on the street by representatives of local "commissariats".[37] As recalled by the OHCHR, compelling civilians to serve in armed groups affiliated with a hostile power may constitute a serious breach of the laws and customs of international humanitarian law, and it constitutes a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the ICC. The OHCHR also expressed concern about the case of some forced conscripts who have been prosecuted by Ukrainian authorities notwithstanding their combatant immunity under the law of armed conflict.[37] Mistreatment of prisoners of war As of November 2022, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) conducted 159 interviews with prisoners of war held by the Russian and Russian-affiliated forces, and 175 interviews with prisoners of war held by Ukraine.[269] The vast majority of Ukrainian prisoners reported that they had been held in dire conditions of internment and subjected to torture and ill-treatment, including beatings, threats, mock executions, electric and positional torture. Several women prisoners were threatened with sexual violence and subjected to degrading treatments and enforced nudity. The UN agency also collected information about nine possible cases of death during the "admission procedures" to the internment camps.[269] According to HRMMU report, Russian prisoners of war made credible allegations of summary executions, torture and ill-treatment by members of the Ukrainian forces. In several cases Russian prisoners were stabbed and subjected to electric torture.[269] Ukraine launched criminal investigations into allegations of mistreatment of prisoners of war.[269] Russian POWs As of 31 July 2022, OHCHR documented 50 cases of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of war in the power of Ukraine, including cases of beating, shooting, stabbing, positional and electric torture.[11] One prisoner of war was reportedly suffocated by Ukrainian policemen of the Kharkiv SBU during his interrogation.[11] Torture of Russian POWs in Mala Rohan According to a report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), members of Ukrainian armed forces shot the legs of three captured Russian soldiers and tortured Russian soldiers who were wounded.[270] The incident is likely to have occurred on the evening of 25 March in Mala Rohan, south-east of Kharkiv, in an area recently recaptured by Ukrainian troops,[271][272] and was first reported following the publication on social media accounts of a video of unknown authorship between 27 and 28 March.[273] One of the video's versions depicts a number of soldiers lying on the ground; many appear to be bleeding from leg wounds. Three prisoners are brought out of a vehicle and shot in the leg by someone off-camera.[274] Alleged execution of captured Russian soldiers On 6 April a video allegedly showing Ukrainian troops of the Georgian Legion executing captured Russian soldiers was posted on Telegram.[275] The video was verified by The New York Times and by Reuters.[276][35] A wounded Russian soldier was seemingly shot twice by a Ukrainian soldier while lying on the ground. Three dead Russian soldiers, including one with a head wound and hands tied behind his back, were shown near the soldier. The video appeared to have been filmed on a road north of the village of Dmytrivka, seven miles south of Bucha.[277] Ukrainian authorities promised an investigation.[278][279] Disputed surrender of Russian soldiers in Makiivka On 12 November, a video appeared on pro-Ukrainian websites showing the bodies of soldiers in Russian uniforms lying on the ground in a farmyard in the Makiivka area.[280][281] On 17 November, more footage emerged, taken from the ground by a person at the scene. The video shows the Russian soldiers as they exit a building, surrender, and lay face down on the ground. Then another Russian soldier emerges from the same building and opens fire on the Ukrainian soldiers who are surprised.[280][281] An aerial video from the site documents the aftermath, with at least 12 bodies of Russian soldiers, most positioned as they were when they surrendered, bleeding from gunshot wounds to the head.[281][282] The authenticity of the videos was verified by The New York Times.[281] Russia and Ukraine accused each other of war crimes, with Russia accusing Ukraine of "mercilessly shooting unarmed Russian P.O.W.s," and Ukraine accusing the Russians of opening fire while surrendering.[281][283] Ukraine's officials said the Prosecutor Generals office would investigate the video footage as the incident may qualify as a crime of "perfidy" committed by the Russian troops in feigning surrender.[283][284] On 25 November the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said "Our Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has conducted a preliminary analysis indicating that these disturbing videos are highly likely to be authentic in what they show" and called on the Ukrainian authorities to investigate the allegations of summary executions of Russian prisoners of war "in a manner that is and is seen to be independent, impartial, thorough, transparent, prompt and effective."[285] Ukrainian POWs As of 31 July 2022, OHCHR verified that, out of 35 interviewed, 27 Ukrainian prisoners of war had been subjected to torture by Russian and pro-Russian armed forces and policemen. Victims reported being punched, kicked, beaten with police batons and wooden hammers, electrocuted, threatened with execution or sexual violence, and shot in the legs.[11] OHCHR had also received information about the deaths of two Ukrainian prisoners as a result of torture, one beaten and electrocuted on 9 May at the Melitopol airfield, the other beat to death at the Volnovakha penal colony near Olenivka, Donetsk region, on 17 April.[11] Execution of surrendering Ukrainian soldiers At an Arria-formula meeting of the UN Security Council, the US ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice Beth Van Schaack said that US authorities have evidence that surrendering Ukrainian soldiers were executed by the Russian army in Donetsk.[286][287] A Ukrainian soldier who was shown among prisoners in a Russian video on 20 April, was confirmed dead days later.[288] Eyewitness accounts and a video filmed by a security camera provide evidence that on 4 March Russian paratroopers executed at least eight Ukrainian prisoners of war in Bucha. The victims were local inhabitants who had joined the defense forces shortly before they were killed.[34] Torture and castration of Ukrainian prisoners In June of 2023 The Times reported on two former Ukrainian soldiers who had been tortured by Russians while in captivity and castrated with a knife, before being freed in a prisoner of war swap. A psychologist who was treating the men reported that she had heard of many other similar cases from her colleagues.[237] Death sentence against foreign soldiers serving in the Ukrainian armed forces Following a trial by the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic, three foreign-born members of the Ukrainian armed forces, Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner, and Brahim Saadoun were declared mercenaries and sentenced to execution by firing squad.[289] Aslin and Pinner, originally from England, had been serving in the Ukrainian military since 2018,[290] while Saadoun had come in 2019 from Morocco to study in Kyiv,[291] having enlisted in November 2021.[292] The ruling was described as illegal because the defendants qualify as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions and have not been accused of committing any war crimes.[293] On 10 June the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the death sentences and the trial. A spokesperson of the organisation declared that "such trials against prisoners of war amount to a war crime,"[294] and highlighted that according to the chief command of Ukraine, all the defendants were part of the Ukrainian armed forces and therefore should not have been considered mercenaries. The OHCHR spokesperson also expressed concern about procedural fairness, stating that "since 2015, we have observed that the so-called judiciary within these self-contained republics has not complied with essential fair trial guarantees, such as public hearings, independence, impartiality of the courts and the right not to be compelled to testify."[294] The International Bar Association issued a statement saying "that any implementation of the pronounced death penalty will be an obvious case of plain murder of Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Brahim Saaudun and deemed an international war crime. Any perpetrators (anyone engaged in the so-called DPR court and anyone who conspired to execute this decision) will be regarded as war criminals", also pointing out that neither Russian nor Ukrainian law allows the death penalty.[295] On 12 June, Donetsk People's Republic leader Denis Pushilin reiterated that the separatists did not see the trio as prisoners of war, but rather as people who came to Ukraine to kill civilians for money, adding that he saw no reason to modify or mitigate the sentences.[296] Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin accused the trio of fascism, reiterating that they deserved the death penalty. He added that the Ukrainian armed forces were committing crimes against humanity and were being controlled by a neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv.[297] On 17 June, the European Court of Human Rights issued an emergency stay of Saadoun Brahim's execution. It stressed that Russia was still obliged to follow the court's rulings.[298][299] Earlier in June, the Russian State Duma passed a law to end the jurisdiction of the court in Russia, but it had not yet been signed into law.[300] On 8 July the DPR lifted a moratorium on the death penalty.[301] On 21 September five British citizens held by pro-Russian separatists were released, including those sentenced to death,[302] and also the Moroccan citizen Saadoun Brahim was freed after a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia.[303] Execution of Oleksandr Matsievskyi In early March a video emerged showing the execution of an unarmed Ukrainian POW who is murdered after he says "Glory to Ukraine", while smoking a cigarette.[304] The Russian officer in charge of the prisoner (off camera) shouts "Die Bitch!" and fires multiple rounds from a machine gun into him. The President of Ukraine's office called the execution a "brutal murder".[304] Torture of captured Ukrainian soldiers On 22 July, Human Rights Watch documented the torture of three Ukrainian prisoners of war, members of the Territorial Defense Forces, and the death of two of them in the occupied areas of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts.[180] Castration and murder of a Ukrainian POW in Pryvillia On 28 July, a video was posted on Russian social media which shows a Russian soldier castrating a Ukrainian prisoner of war, who is tied up and gagged, with a box cutter.[305] On the next day, a continuation video was posted with possibly the same soldiers where they taped the POW's mouth with black tape, placed his head in front of his cut genitals, and shot him in the head. After that, the Russian soldiers started grabbing the POW's corpse with ropes connected to his legs.[306][307] On 5 August, the Bellingcat group reported that the videos were geolocated to the Pryvillia Sanatorium, located in Pryvillia, Luhansk Oblast, and interviewed the apparent perpetrator by telephone.[308] A white car marked with a Z a designation marking Russian military vehicles and a militarist symbol used in Russian propaganda can also be seen in the video; the same car can also be seen in earlier, official videos released by Russian channels, of the Akhmat fighters at the Azot plant during the Russian capture of Sieverodonetsk.[308] Pryvillia had been captured and occupied by Russians since early July.[309] Bellingcat identified the soldiers involved, including the main perpetrator (an inhabitant of Tuva), who wore a distinctive wide brimmed black hat, as members of the Akhmat unit, a Chechen Kadyrovite paramilitary formation fighting for the Russians in the war in Ukraine. The investigation also indicated that the video contained no evidence of tampering or editing.[308][310] Beheading and mutilations In April 2023, two videos surfaced which appeared to show beheaded and mutilated Ukrainian soldiers.[311] One video purportedly filmed by Wagner Group mercenaries showed the bodies of two Ukrainian soldiers next to a destroyed military vehicle, their heads and hands missing, with a voice commenting in Russian in the background.[312] The second video appeared to show Russian soldiers decapitating a Ukrainian prisoner of war using a knife. The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said that Regrettably, this is not an isolated incident.[313] Looting Kherson Local History Museum after being looted by Russian troops Looting is a war crime under several treaties.[314] Survivors of the Bucha massacre, talking to Human Rights Watch (HRW) following the retreat of the Russian forces, described the treatment of people in the city during the occupation: Russian soldiers went door to door, questioning people and destroying their possessions. They also said that Russian soldiers looted the town, and took clothing, jewelry, electronics, kitchen appliances and vehicles of evacuees, the deceased, and those still in the city.[315] Wall Street Journal journalist Yaroslav Trofimov reported hearing of Russian soldiers looting food and valuables during his visit to southern Ukraine.[316] The Guardian journalists visiting Trostianets after a month-long Russian occupation found evidence of "systematic looting".[317] Similarly, villagers in Berestyanka near Kyiv told ABC News that before the village returned to Ukrainian control, Russian soldiers looted clothes, household appliances and electronics from homes.[229] Videos have been posted on Telegram, reportedly showing Russian soldiers sending stolen Ukrainian goods home through courier services in Belarus. Items visible in videos included air conditioning units, alcohol, car batteries, and bags from Epicentr K stores.[318] News aggregator Ukraine Alert posted video showing stolen goods found in an abandoned Russian armored personnel carrier, and an image reportedly showing a damaged Russian military truck carrying three washing machines. Intercepted telephone calls have also made mention of looting; a call by a Russian soldier released by the Security Service of Ukraine included the soldier telling his girlfriend: "I stole some cosmetics for you" to which the girlfriend responded "What Russian person doesn't steal anything?"[319] The Russian company CDEK postal service stopped live streaming its CCTV in early April. CDEK live-streams video from its delivery offices as a courtesy to customers to show them how busy the offices are, before customers visit the branches. This live stream was used by Lithuania-based exiled Belarusian dissident Anton Motolko as evidence of looting. Some of the items came from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and were radioactive or contaminated with radioactivity.[320] There were reports of bazaars set up by Russian forces in Belarus to trade in looted goods, such items as "washing machines and dishwashers, refrigerators, jewelry, cars, bicycles, motorcycles, dishes, carpets, works of art, children's toys, cosmetics". Russian soldiers sought payment in euros and US dollars, however, and due to currency restrictions this was difficult for locals.[321] Widespread claims of looting and other damage by Russian troops to cultural institutions were raised by Ukrainian officials with a majority of the accusations coming from the areas of Mariupol and Melitopol. Ukrainian officials claimed that Russian forces seized more than 2,000 artworks and Scythian gold from various museums and moved them into the Donbas region.[322] Experts in Ukraine and elsewhere who track Russian looting and destruction of cultural heritage in Ukraine cite evidence that state-sponsored and systematic conducted by specialists began with the invasion of Crimea in 2014.[323] Genocide Several national parliaments, including those of Ukraine[324] as well as Canada,[325] Poland,[326] Estonia,[327] Latvia,[328] Lithuania,[329] Czech Republic,[330] Ireland[331] declared that the war crimes taking place in the invasion were genocide. Scholars of genocide, including Eugene Finkel,[332][333] Timothy D. Snyder,[334] Norman M. Naimark[335] and Gregory Stanton,[336] and legal experts Otto Luchterhandt [de][337] and Zakhar Tropin[338] said that along with the acts required by the definition of genocide,[339] there was genocidal intent, together establishing genocide. Human rights lawyer Juan E. Mendez stated on 4 March 2022 that the genocide claim was worth investigating, but should not be presumed;[340] and genocide scholar Alexander Hinton stated on 13 April that Russian president Vladimir Putin's genocidal rhetoric would have to be linked to the war crimes in order to establish genocidal intent.[336] A report by 30 genocide and legal scholars concluded that the Russian state is guilty of inciting genocide in Ukraine, that it has committed acts prohibited by the Genocide Convention, that a serious risk of genocide being committed exists, and that this triggers the obligation of state parties to the convention to take action to prevent genocide.[341][342] National legal proceedings Ukraine The Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba stated on 25 February that Russia was committing war crimes, and that the ministry and the Prosecutor General of Ukraine were collecting evidence on events including attacks on kindergartens and orphanages, which would be "immediately transfer[red]" to the ICC.[343] On 30 March, Ukraine's chief prosecutor announced that she was building 2,500 war crimes cases against the Russian invasion.[344] On 13 May the first war crimes trial began in Kyiv, of a Russian soldier who was ordered to shoot an unarmed civilian.[345] The soldier, Vadim Shishimarin, soon pleaded guilty to this crime.[346][347] Shortly after Shishimarin pleaded guilty, two other low-ranked Russian soldiers, Alexander Bobikin and Alexander Ivanov, were tried on war crimes charges for firing missiles at a residential tower block in Kharkiv.[348] They also pleaded guilty.[349] Several international legal teams were formed to support the Ukrainian prosecutors.[350][351][352] EU Joint Investigation Team In the aftermath of the Bucha massacre, the EU established a Joint Investigation Team with Ukraine to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity. Within the framework of the Joint Investigation Team, a pool of investigators and legal experts by Eurojust and Europol is made available for providing assistance to Ukrainian prosecutors.[350] On 6 April 2022, United States Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the U.S. Department of Justice was assisting Eurojust and Europol prosecutors with their investigation, and that the Justice and State Departments were also making efforts to support the Ukrainian prosecutor.[353] Task Force on Accountability for Crimes Committed in Ukraine In late March 2022, the Task Force on Accountability for Crimes Committed in Ukraine, a pro bono international group of lawyers, was created to help Ukrainian prosecutors coordinate legal cases for war crimes and other crimes related to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[351][344][352] Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group On 25 May 2022, the EU, US, and the UK announced the creation of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA) to help coordinate their investigations and to support the War Crimes Units of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine (OPG).[352] Other countries Several states, including Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, and Sweden, announced in March and April 2022 that they would conduct investigations of war crimes in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine under the universal jurisdiction principle of international humanitarian law.[354] International legal proceedings International courts that have jurisdiction over cases originating from the Russian invasion of Ukraine include the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights.[355] Because of the backload of cases in Ukrainian courts, which as of June 2022 have more than 15,000 pending cases, and the number of international bodies and foreign countries cooperating in the investigations of war crimes in Ukraine, there were calls to create a special hybrid court to centralize domestic and international efforts.[356] In May, the idea of establishing a special international tribunal was formally endorsed by a group of members of the European Parliament.[356] The establishment of a special tribunal within the framework of the United Nations could be hampered by Russia's position as a permanent member of the Security Council and by the difficulty of gathering the necessary two-thirds majority in the General Assembly.[356] International Criminal Court On 25 February 2022, ICC Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan stated that the ICC could "exercise its jurisdiction and investigate any act of genocide, crime against humanity or war crime committed within Ukraine."[359] Khan stated on 28 February that he would launch a full ICC investigation and that he had requested his team to "explore all evidence preservation opportunities". He stated that it would be faster to officially open the investigation if an ICC member state referred the case for investigation. Lithuanian prime minister Ingrida Simonyte stated on the same day that Lithuania had requested that the ICC investigation be opened.[360] On 2 March 2022, 39 states had already referred the situation in Ukraine to the ICC Prosecutor, who could then open an investigation into past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed in Ukraine by any person from 21 November 2013 onwards.[361][362] On 11 March two additional referrals were submitted to the ICC Prosecutor, and the Prosecutor declared that investigations would begin.[39] The Prosecutor's office set up an online method for people with evidence to initiate contact with investigators,[39] and a team of investigators, lawyers and other professionals was sent to Ukraine to begin collecting evidence.[38][39] Neither Ukraine nor Russia is parties to the Rome Statute, the legal basis of the ICC. The ICC has jurisdiction to investigate because Ukraine signed two declarations consenting to ICC jurisdiction over crimes committed in Ukraine from 21 November 2013 onwards.[40][363][364] Articles 28(a) and 28(b) of the Rome Statute define the relation between command responsibility and superior responsibility of the chain of command structures of the armed forces involved.[365] As of 10 June, the ICC investigation had dispatched more than 40 investigators, the largest effort ever in ICC history, and there are calls to create a special court or international tribunal to handle the casework.[356] In mid-June, according to the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service, an alleged GRU officer, who was a student of prominent genocide professor Eugene Finkel, attempted to gain entry into the Netherlands under an assumed identity. The purpose was to infiltrate the ICC via an internship, which would have given him to access and potentially influence the pending criminal war crimes case.[366][367] International Court of Justice On 27 February, Ukraine filed a petition with the International Court of Justice arguing that Russia violated the Genocide Convention using an unsubstantiated accusation of genocide in order to justify its aggression against Ukraine.[368][369] On 1 March, the ICJ officially called on Russia to "act in such a way" that would make it possible for a decision on provisional measures to become effective.[370] Initial hearings in the case took place on 7 March 2022 at Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlandsthe seat of the courtto determine Ukraine's entitlement to provisional relief.[371] The Russian delegation did not appear for these proceedings,[372] but submitted a written statement.[373] On 16 March 2022, the court ruled 132 that Russia must "immediately suspend the military operations" it commenced on 24 February 2022 in Ukraine,[374] with Vice-president Kirill Gevorgian of Russia and Judge Xue Hanqin of China dissenting.[375] The court also unanimously called for "[b]oth Parties [to] refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the Court or make it more difficult to resolve.[374] Proposed specialised court for the crime of aggression The Council of Europe called for the establishment of an international criminal tribunal to "investigate and prosecute the crime of aggression" committed by "the political and military leadership of the Russian Federation."[376] Under the Council of Europe's proposal, the tribunal should be located in Strasbourg, "apply the definition of the crime of aggression" established in customary international law and "have the power to issue international arrest warrants and not be limited by State immunity or the immunity of heads of State and government and other State officials."[376] Similarly, other international bodies such as the European Commission and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and several governments, including the Government of Ukraine,[377][378] supported the establishment of a specialised court to try the crime of aggression. In November 2022 the NATO Parliamentary Assembly designated the Russian Federation as a terrorist organization and called upon the international community to "to take collective action towards the establishment of an international tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression committed by Russia with its war against Ukraine."[379][380] In November 2022 the European Commission said that the European Union would work to establish a specialised court to investigate and prosecute Russia for the crime of aggression.[381][382][383][384] Other international organisations International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine On 4 March 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted 32 in favour versus two against and 13 abstentions to create the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, an independent international committee of three human rights experts with a mandate to investigate violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law in the context of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[385][386] ON 23 September 2022, the Commission released their first public statement, confirming the violation of human rights by Russian forces,[387] with instances of indiscriminate killing, sexual violence against children, and torture across dozens of locations in Ukraine. They claim that the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas is a source of immense harm and suffering for civilians. There are detention of the victims as well as visible signs of executions on bodies. They documented cases in which children have been raped, tortured, and unlawfully confined. Children have also been killed and injured in indiscriminate attacks with explosive weapons UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), whose monitoring of human rights violations by all parties in Ukraine started in 2014,[389] continued its monitoring during the 2022 Russian invasion, retaining 60 monitors in Ukraine.[390] On 30 March 2022, HRMMU had recorded 24 "credible allegations" of Russian use of cluster munitions and 77 incidents of damage to medical facilities during the invasion. Michelle Bachelet stated, "The massive destruction of civilian objects and the high number of civilian casualties strongly indicate that the fundamental principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution have not been sufficiently adhered to."[390] Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe A report released by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 12 April 2022 stated that while a detailed assessment of most allegations had not been possible, the mission had found clear patterns of war crimes by the Russian forces.[84] According to the OSCE Report, had the Russian army refrained from indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks, the number of civilians casualties would have remained much lower and fewer houses, hospitals, schools and cultural properties would have been damaged or destroyed.[84] The Report denounced the violation of international humanitarian law on military occupation and the violation of international human rights law (right to life, prohibition of torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment) mostly in the areas under the direct or indirect control of Russia.[84] International reactions Banner raised by the Vilnius City Municipality. During House of Commons commentary in February 2022, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated that "anyone who sends a Russian into battle to kill innocent Ukrainians" could face charges. He remarked in addition, "Putin will stand condemned in the eyes of the world and of history."[391] On 16 March, U.S. President Joe Biden called Putin a war criminal. On 23 March, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the United States formally declared that the Russian military had committed war crimes in Ukraine, stating, "based on information currently available, the US government assesses that members of Russia's forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine."[392] A week later the US State Department issued a formal assessment that Russia has committed war crimes.[393] On 12 April 2022, Biden described Russia's war crimes in Ukraine as constituting genocide.[394] He added that Putin "is trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian".[395] On 3 April 2022, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian described abuses by Russian forces in Ukrainian towns, particularly Bucha, as possible war crimes.[396] On 7 April, French President Emmanuel Macron said the killings in the Ukrainian town of Bucha were "very probably war crimes."[397] The United Nations General Assembly voted on 7 April 2022 to suspend Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council over "gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights".[41] A metal detectorist who discovered a 1,000-year-old Viking relic has been told it could fetch up to 24,000 at auction. Jason Jones, 44, was searching a field in Norfolk when he uncovered a 5.5 inch long bronze die just two inches under the soil. The construction worker had no idea what the 1.5 inch wide object was at first but after posting his find to Facebook he was flooded with messages from people helping him to identify it. He learnt that the die, which is being put up for sale on 18 July, would have been pressed against the gold or silver cheek plates of an 11th century Viking iron helmet to impart a decorative pattern on it. It has the pattern of the world tree Yggdrasil and a serpent Nidhogg intertwining within its roots. In Viking or Norse mythology the Yggdrasill is an enormous ash tree that connects the nine worlds while serpents represented order and destruction. Jason Jones, 44, discovered a 1,000-year-old Viking relic (pictured) and has been told it could fetch up to 24,000 at auction The construction worker (pictured with his daughter Ela and wife Lisa) had no idea what the 1.5 inch wide object was at first Jason had been detecting with his wife Lisa in a field where they had previously found two Medieval silver coins. He said he had no idea what he uncovered until he posted a picture of it on Facebook and was told of its significance by other detectorists and archaeologists. The construction worker, who also detects with his children, Rio, 19, Ela and Lia, said: 'On January 29th of this year, my wife Lisa and I were searching on a field in Norfolk which had produced two Medieval silver coins on a previous visit. 'I had forgotten to charge my main detector, so had to use my backup machine on this occasion. 'I returned to the area where the coins were found and got a loud signal, and at a depth of just two inches found an unusual bronze object. Lisa came over and was speechless when she saw it. 'Neither of us had any idea what it could be, but that evening after posting a picture on Facebook we realised it was Viking in date and notified the local archaeologist to have it recorded. 'It was soon to be clear it was a very interesting find due to the rapid response from the experienced detectorists and archaeologists on the groups. 'My inbox went crazy with compliments and people trying to help identify the find. Straight away, people from Scandinavia suggested it being a Viking piece of the Urnes Style. 'I was advised to contact the British Museum to report and record. The whole recording process was very interesting and a great experience.' The die, which has the pattern of the 'world tree' Yggdrasil and a serpent Nidhogg intertwining within its roots, would have been pressed against the gold or silver cheek plates of an iron helmet to mark them Jason (left), Lisa (centre) and Ela (right) at work detecting in a field Jason Jones (second from the right) with wife Lisa (front) out on a detecting trip Jason said he will split the proceeds from the sale with the landowner and spend his share on his family. The intricate Urnes style ornamentation is going under the hammer at London-based auctioneers Noonans. The Vikings invaded Britain in the 8th century when they landed on the island of Lindisfarne off the coast of Northumbria. Harold II defeated the Viking invasion of King Harald Hardrada of Norway at Stamford Bridge, York, in 1066 before being defeated by William of Normandy just three weeks later. Nigel Mills, coins and artefacts specialist at Noonans, said: 'This is an intricate 11th century Urnes style ornamentation possibly representing the world tree Yggdrasil with the monstrous serpent Nidhogg intertwining within its roots. 'At the bottom is a fleur-de-lis which appears to form the tail of the serpent. 'The die is used to replicate the design into a thin sheet of metal which is pressed into the die and then has the intricate design formed. 'This is called repousse and creates a lightweight decorative motif which can be applied to a military helmet. In this case it is likely to be the cheek guards or the nose guard. 'The helmet would be iron, and the decorative repousse plaque would be either copper or silver or gold depending on the status of the recipient, and then applied to the helmet. 'You can see this decoration on important helmets like the Sutton Hoo helmet. It was identified as Viking on Facebook from the style which is typically Viking. The precise identification came later when the museum at Norwich examined it.' Two top House committees will be hearing directly from Special Counsel John Durham this week following the release of his scathing report that found the Department of Justice and the FBI had no basis to launch the Trump-Russia probe. Durham was appointed by then-Attorney General Bill Barr in 2019 to look into misconduct related to 'Crossfire Hurricane', which investigated now-debunked Trump-Russia collusion allegations. He concluded four years later that the FBI opened the flawed probe 'based on raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence.' On Tuesday, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) led by Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, is holding a closed-door hearing with Durham. The House Judiciary Committee led by Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, will host Durham in a public setting on Wednesday. As part of the closed-door hearing, Turner told DailyMail.com that the committee plans to work with Durham to identify legislative solutions to fix systemic issues within the Department of Justice. Durham - who was appointed by then-Attorney General Bill Barr in 2019 to look into misconduct related to Crossfire Hurricane - concluded that the FBI opened the probe 'based on raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence' Turner said the aspect of Durham's report that he found 'the most disturbing' is that it shows 'wrongdoing in the FBI, in the Department of Justice and concerns with the intelligence community itself. 'I've had personal conversations with John Durham that our goal... is to not only go through his report and the issues that he identifies, but to get his recommendations as to where changes need to occur.' Turner said it is important to promote solutions currently as the committee is in the process of renewing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) - which has to be completed by the end of the year. He added that another top concern is that the DOJ and FBI used political campaign opposition research 'to politicize government functions to negatively impact an opposition candidate.' He hopes to work with Durham and the committee to put into place remedies as soon as possible before the next election. 'It's not just an issue of bad people being in powerful positions who corrupted those positions. It's also that our rules and laws need to be changed, so that these mechanisms cannot be used again this way to really harm the American public.' The hearings come as the FBI is investigating Biden for alleged mishandling of classified documents, and just days after Trump appeared in a Miami court and was arrested on 37 federal counts related to files found at Mar-a-Lago. Republican senators Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley are also pressing Durham to provide answers about why top FBI officials - including former Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe - refused to cooperate with his investigation into the agency's opening of the Trump-Russia collusion probe. Durham issued 2,800 subpoenas, executed 500 search warrants and conducted hundreds of interviews with key officials including Hillary Clinton and her campaign associates, Trump campaign officials and hundreds of involved FBI officials - but notably a few of the FBI's top brass at the time refused to cooperate with Durham's probe. Durham did not interview James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strozk, Bill Preistap, Kevin Clinesmith - who was convicted by Durham for illegally altering an email - and Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS, which the Republican senators call 'odd.' 'As we continue to review the report, we noticed that several high-level former government officials directly involved in Crossfire Hurricane either declined or partially declined to cooperate with your investigation,' Johnson, R-Wis., and Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote to Durham in a letter last month. The senators point to a footnote in the report that stated 'some personnel' in the FBI's Counterintelligence Division 'refused to cooperate' with the investigation. FBI leadership intervened to 'urge those individuals to agree to be interviewed,' the report also notes. 'It seems odd that individuals would be allowed to avoid fully cooperating with your office, particularly given your authority to compel testimony and records,' they write. The Republicans are pressing Durham to provide information on whether Durham issued subpoenas to those specific individuals and whether DOJ 'impeded' any of his office's investigative practices. Durham is set to testify before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on June 20 Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, had confirmed to DailyMail.com that he would be requesting Durham appear before his committee Although Durham's report does not recommend any 'wholesale changes' in guidelines or policies of the Department of Justice, it says there is a 'continuing need' for the agencies to recognize the lack of 'analytical rigor' and apparent 'confirmation bias.' The FBI responded to the report in a statement to DailyMail.com saying that there are 'corrective actions' in place now that would have prevented 'missteps in 2016.' 'The conduct in 2016 and 2017 that Special Counsel Durham examined was the reason that current FBI leadership already implemented dozens of corrective actions, which have now been in place for some time,' the FBI told DailyMail.com. 'Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented. This report reinforces the importance of ensuring the FBI continues to do its work with the rigor, objectivity, and professionalism the American people deserve and rightly expect.' Jeffrey Epstein repeatedly dined out at ritzy Manhattan restaurants with New York power couple Tim and Nina Zagat years after he was arrested and placed on the sex offender list, a bombshell report claims. Following his 2008 arrest on state charges, the pedophile financier quickly returned to his life of luxury after his time behind bars, continuing to party with an array of billionaires, heads of state and industry titans. According to a report by the Daily Beast, Epstein and Tim Zagat were closely tied in the years after his arrest, where they would allegedly enjoy meals out with famous faces including Hollywood director Woody Allen. Despite his reputation for opulence, those that knew Epstein also alleged that he never enjoyed meals out at expensive restaurants because he 'ate like a sixth grader.' Pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein lived a life of luxury following his 2008 arrest up until his suicide in custody in 2019 Tim (right) and Nina Zagat allegedly became friends with Epstein and enjoyed an exclusive dinner party with the disgraced financier The report into the decade between Epstein's 2008 Florida arrest and his death by suicide in 2019 revealed his sphere of influence continued to grow despite the disturbing charges levied against him. Tim and Nina Zagat, who rose to fame after creating the eponymous fine dining guide, reportedly ran in the same high-rolling circles as Epstein, and in 2014 allegedly attended at least one dinner organized by the sex trafficker. The dinner also allegedly included around a dozen others, including Epstein's girlfriend Karyna Shuliak, magician David Blaine, and Hollywood director Woody Allen. The exclusive guest list was obtained by the Daily Beast through a public records request. Epstein would continue to dine out with his high-rolling friendship group, which allegedly included director Woody Allen (left) and magician David Blaine The origin of Zagat and Epstein's friendship is unclear, however they knew each other since at least 2002, when they travelled on Epstein's private jet to the annual TED conference. And according to the report, Epstein and Zagat's relationship continued after his 2008 arrest. That year, Epstein pleaded guilty to state prostitution and underage prostitution charges, and spent over a year in Florida prison. A highly criticized plea agreement saw US attornes decline to federally prosecute him for over a decade. The two reportedly became closely entwined in the years since, and emails have revealed how Epstein continued to enjoy a well-connected lifestyle after falling foul of the law. In one emailed exchange, Epstein and Zagat planned to treat 'the Sultan' to a dinner in New York, who was allegedly Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem. Sulayem's name was also reportedly used by Epstein to purchase his private island, the infamous hub of his depraved sex trafficking empire. When reached by the Daily Beast for comment, Zagat reportedly described Epstein as 'radioactive', but declined to comment on their meetings. Jeffrey Epstein lived a life of luxury, but former friends have revealed he would 'eat like a sixth grader' during lavish meals Epstein reportedly used Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem's name to buy his infamous private island in the US Virgin Islands (pictured) Epstein and Zagat would eat at some of Manhattan's most exclusive restaurants, including the now-shuttered Italian hotspot Ristorante Morini (pictured) According to emails intimately detailing his activities, Epstein would repeatedly dine out with his famous friends. One dinner cited in the report included one between Zagat, the disgraced financier, and Woody Allen. The group dinner was reportedly at Ristorante Morini, a now-closed Italian restaurant in Madison Avenue. Comedian Bobby Slayton, who also attended events with Epstein, told the Daily Beast that despite his fine-dining lifestyle, Epstein was 'not a fan of going out to dinner'. 'Once he said, You and Tim always talk about food. What is it with you guys and food? He said that about a few people. He didnt understand why people like to eat good food,' Slayton said. 'I could never get him to go out. He had me over to his house a few times for dinner with a bunch of comedians. 'When I asked him about restaurants one time, he goes, Call Zagat, he knows about food. What do I know?' He claimed that Epstein would 'eat like a sixth grader', and would habitually survive off just burgers and peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches while his guests enjoyed lavish meals. 'Every time I would go to his house, all he would talk to me about was comedy,' Slayton added. 'He would never talk about girls, I never saw any of the girls.' In a telling moment, he says that Epstein showed him his private island, but when he suggested bringing his wife for a visit, Epstein turned to him and responded: 'No wives'. The family of a doctor found dead in the Ozarks last month has revealed he died by a gunshot to the head - a wound they say was not self-inflicted. The new detail, offered up by the late physician's brother Tuesday, pertains to the mysterious death of Dr. John Forsyth - and comes three weeks after the father-of-eight's dead body was found floating in a lake in Arkansas. An affluent man who made a fortune as an early investor in Bitcoin, Forsyth, 49, was reported missing nine days earlier - sparking a massive search after he failed to report to a shift at his hospital 25 miles away. Police have since confirmed Forsyth was shot, but have said little else publicly or to Forsyth's family as they continue to probe his death. Three days before he disappeared, he proposed to his pregnant fiancee. Days before that, he finalized a divorce to his wife - the mother of seven of his eight children. Forsyth's brother Richard previously told DailyMail.com he saw Forsyth days before his disappearance, and that his behavior did not constitute 'the actions of a person who kills himself.' Richard also claimed his brother was kidnapped and threatened by several assailants last year, in an occurrence he said was 'crypto-related'. The family of Dr Forsyth was not aware of how the couple met, but a LinkedIn profile belonging to Barnett shows she worked as an ER nurse practitioner at the same hospital The new detail in the mysterious case was offered up by the late physician's brother Richard Monday - three weeks after the father-of-eight's dead body was found floating in a lake Police - seen here retrieving the Missouri doctor's body on May 30 - have since confirmed he shot, but have said little else to Forsyth's family as they continue to probe his death 'It is my understanding he was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head, and it was not suicide,' the Missouri mans brother told Fox News Tuesday - after refraining from offering details about the 2022 case out of concern for for his family. 'This was planned. This was very neatly done, and it is very sinister,' Not revealing who provided him with the information concerning the fatal gunshot, Richard remained adamant his sibling's death was a homicide, and that the perpetrator - or perpetrators - responsible could still be out there. 'I want to know if my family is in danger. I want to know if Im in danger,' Richard said, alleging a second abduction. 'We dont have that information.' Speaking to the outlet, Richard - who founded the crypto firm OnFo with his brother in 2018 - added that he's learned his brother likely died the same day he vanished from rural Cassville, a town of just 3,100 people. He went on offer other details he says supports his and his family's claims Forsyth was kidnapped and later killed, such as the fact that his brother and his ex-wife were allegedly on good terms, and their relationship ended roughly two years ago. The account comes after he revealed to DailyMail.com some of the circumstances surrounding his brother's alleged abduction last year, in early February 2022. Richard said Forsyth - who allegedly made millions investing in Bitcoin during its early days - was kidnapped but did not report the crime. He allegedly only told a mutual friend, who then relayed the story to police and the rest of Richard's family after he went missing. 'It was cold. He was zip-tied. He was made to feel very unsafe and taken on a car ride with some people to a bridge and was threatened,' said Richard. John said the harrowing ordeal was somehow related to cryptocurrency but did not offer details. Not revealing who provided him with the information concerning the fatal gunshot, Richard remained adamant his sibling's death was a homicide, and that the perpetrator - or perpetrators - responsible could still be out there, putting him and his family in danger 'He did not file a police report because he believed he was in continued danger,' he added. Despite the terrifying ordeal, Forsyth never filed a police report. He further disclaimed that there was no evidence yet linking the 2022 incident with Forsyth's death last month but insisted: 'It stands out very stark in the tableaux of facts that have emerged about the case.' Meanwhile, the three agencies investigating Forsyth's death - the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Benton County Sheriff's Office in Arkansas, and the Cassville Police Department - have not commented on the case, aside from saying the 'investigation' is active. A frustrated Richard told Fox News: 'They said they know a lot more now and are halfway through their investigation. I have no idea what that means.' Forsyth's body was found near the bank across from the Lost Bridge South area of Beaver Lake, which is about 20 miles south of Cassville, police said Forsyth is pictured here his pregnant fiancee Laura Barnett. Three days before he disappeared, he proposed. Days before, he finalized a divorce to his ex- the mother of seven of his children In an eerie new image his stethoscope can be seen dangling around the rear-view mirror of his Infiniti sedan An expansive 90-acre search was carried out by the Cassville Police Department soon after, which failed to turn up any results until a kayaker found his body last month What is known, is that Forsyth was last seen on surveillance footage walking towards an RV he kept in the parking lot of the hospital where he worked at around 7am, and had texted his fiance to tell her he would see her later. She replied at 6:59 am, but he never respond. He kept the $260,000 RV in the hospital parking lot so he could sleep in between his lengthy, 12-hour shifts. That evening, Frothy was due back at the hospital at 7pm, but never showed up. His other car, a black Infiniti, was later found near a waste facility at a recreation center a mile away, where he is seen on surveillance footage pulling into at around 7:12am Forsyth's wallet, phone and passport were all left inside, as well as his stethoscope - left dangling from the vehicle's rearview mirror. In the aforementioned surveillance footage, a white SUV can be seen briefly pulling up alongside the sedan, before departing. Roughly 15 minutes later, a man cops believe is the doctor is seen in the video walking out of the frame on foot. He is not seen returning to the car, which remained parked and unlocked when it was found by cops. Investigators said they recovered a total of four other phones - as well as a computer - from the RV and Infiniti, with detectives telling the family they were able to access all the devices and are about 'halfway' through the investigation. 'It was a Google Pixel 6 Pro and police said it was badly cracked, but I had seen it pristine a few days earlier,' Richard told Fox Tuesday. When contacted, Barnett and Johns ex-wife declined to comment, though his father, Robert Forsyth, previously told Fox his son had 'made some enemies' over the years and 'would imply there are people who don't like what I'm doing.' When asked about this dynamic, the grandfather refused to elaborate. At the time of his death many family members did not know Forsyth was engaged to Laura Barnett, 39. The doctor had proposed to Barnett, who is reportedly eight months pregnant, just days before he went missing. The couple worked together at Mercy Hospital, where she is a nurse. Forsyth vanished on May 21 after leaving Mercy Hospital, Missouri, just ten days after he is said to have divorced his wife Shortly after he was reported missing, authorities located his black sedan abandoned at the Cassville Aquatic Park in the Ozarks Sheriff's Divers search Beaver Lake, Arkansas, for clues in the suspected murder of Forsyth It has since been claimed that the doctor had as many as five cell phones in his vehicle, with his family saying they knew of at least two His brother explained that Forsyth had kept his relationship with his fiance secret out of respect for his ex-wife during their divorce - which saw a judge order the doctor to pay about $19,000 a month in alimony and child support. 'I think that both of them were aware of the sensitivity of coming out with such information during a divorce,' Richard told DailyMail.com. 'And they also have their professional lives and reputations, and I think they wanted to handle things appropriately. 'They wanted to try to be as respectful to the communities they belong to as they could. And it's an odd thing to say that we may sometimes show respect by omitting important facts.' Richard also said that police are treating the death as a homicide, but have not revealed additional details to the family. Police have not said whether they are treating the death as homicide or a suicide, and have not released the location of the gunshot wound, saying the autopsy results will not be revealed until the investigation is complete. DailyMail.com has reached out to the Benton County sheriff's office for comment. OceanGate Expeditions, the tourist company responsible for the missing submersible with five people on board, took eight hours to report it to the Coast Guard after it lost contact, DailyMail.com can reveal. The company's Titan submerged at 8am on Sunday morning around 400 miles southeast of St John's, Newfoundland, near to where the famous shipwreck lies. There are five people onboard; tourists Hamish Harding, 58, Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, French Navy pilot Paul-Henry (PH) Nargeolet and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush. At 9.45am - an hour and 45 minutes into the dive - it lost contact with its mothership, the Polar Prince. But it wasn't reported as missing to the US Coast Guard until 5.40pm, eight hours later. Canada's Coast Guard wasn't alerted until even later - 9.13pm on Sunday night. Now, experts say the crew - who had around 48 hours of oxygen left on Tuesday morning, have just a one percent chance of survival. 'If I was advising the Prime Minister, I'd say their chances are one percent,' Lt. David Marquet, a former nuclear submarine commander for the US Navy told DailyMail.com this morning. At 9.45am - an hour and 45 minutes into the dive - it lost contact with its mothership, the Polar Prince. But it wasn't reported as missing to the US Coast Guard until 5.40pm, eight hours later. Canada 's Coast Guard wasn't alerted until even later - 9.13pm on Sunday night The Titan sub is shown on Sunday morning, seconds before submerging at around 8am with five people onboard The Polar Prince is the expedition ship being used in the dives. It didn't alert the Coast Guard until 5.40pm The ship wreck is 12,500ft underwater. There are fears the Titan is now trapped inside it Last year, the Titan lost communications with the mothership for two hours during a similar dive. It resurfaced, and the mishap was documented jokingly by a CBS reporter who happened to be on board at the time. The company has not yet explained why it took so long to alert the Coast Guard when the Titan lost communications on Sunday. In a statement on Tuesday, it said: 'For some time, we have been unable to establish communications with one of our submersible exploration vehicles which is currently visiting the wreck site of the Titanic. TIMELINE OF MISSING SUBMERSIBLE SUNDAY 4AM: Departure from Newfoundland on expedition ship the Polar Prince 8AM: The Titan, a five-person, 22ft submersible, submerges 9.45AM: Titan loses comms with the expedition ship 5.40PM: US Coast Guard alerted 9.13PM: Coast Guard station in Nova Scotia alerted MONDAY Missing sub is first reported by media THURSDAY 8AM: 96 hours since submersion Advertisement 'Our entire focus is on the wellbeing of the crew and every step possible is being taken to bring the five crew members back safely. 'We are deeply grateful for the urgent and extensive assistance we are receiving from multiple government agencies and deep-sea companies as we seek to reestablish contact with the submersible. 'We pray for the safe return of the crew and passengers, and we will provide updates as they are available.' 'We havent even found them yet. If we do, I would raise it to 15 percent. 'It is bleak I dont want to say it but Im trying to be realistic. 'Miracles do happen [like the Thai boys who were lost in a cave in 2015] but this is a different situation. 'This is a desperate race against time.' He compared it to trying to find a 'minivan' in the enormous ship's wreckage. 'The problem, it is most likely on the bottom at this point because it wasnt found on the surface and it doesnt seem to be making any noises so this leads me of a pessimistic thought-process that they are unable to turn on the hull. 'Were then talking about trying to find a minivan amongst the wreckage of the Titanic. 'Once they find it though we've got to get it up to the surface which means either freeing it if its lodged in the Titanic somehow. 'Or more likely, they have lost the ability [to surface], so we need to hoist them which needs a ship with a 2.5mile-long cable. 'The most difficult part will be getting the hook on to it. It's like that arcade game except you can't see, so paint the walls black, and make it 2.5miles long - and theres wind in there so it is blowing around. 'All is not lost yet because they still have oxygen but imagine the sub is on the far side of the moon that is a better representation. 'Even if you find it, how do you get it back up? They can't open it from the inside - its bolted from the outside.' Marquet lamented the fact that there are few other - if any other - vessels with the capability of diving to 12,500ft to rescue them. 'The US and Royal Navy have a long history of operating submarines and they dont go as deep as these guys do. They are in uncharted territory. If our subs went that deep, everyone would be dead. Shahzada Dawood, 48, (pictured with his wife Christine) a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are amongst the five people missing in the submarine that set off to see the wreck of the Titanic, it was revealed today Sulaiman Dawood, 19, who is missing on board the submarine is pictured with his mother Christine Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding (pictured), CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition 'The sub would rupture there would be a crack in the hull, or a pipe would burst, it would fill with water sink to bottom. And the pressure... everyone would die.' 'At this pressure - its 400 times the pressure of sea level. That is hard to conceive 'It would take all the air in a room and collapse it to the size of a trash can. At these pressures, if it sprung a leak, they would be dead before they know it.' Aaron Amick, a US Navy contractor and veteran, echoed his concerns. 'I know everyone is waiting on the US Navy to save the day, but our rescue sub is limited to 2,000ft depth. 'There is no one able to reach the Titan who can rescue Titan. Her only hope is to find a way to the surface on her own where we can help,' he said. Amick likened the Titan to a 'tomb' dropped in the water with no emergency air breathing devices onboard. 'They basically lock 5 people in a tomb and drop it to the bottom. The crew never had a chance,' he said, adding that occupants can only get out if it is on the surface. Inside the missing sub, which is like a 'minivan' with room for five people A desperate search is currently underway for a 22-foot deep-sea vessel (shown in this graphic) that went missing with five people on board as it dove towards the wreck site of the Titanic, who are now cut off from the world in claustrophobic conditions He said he imagines the sub is 'sitting on the bottom', well out of reach. 'Loss of power or structural failure are my two best guesses. Both? Sitting on the bottom either way,' he said. Rear Admiral John Mauger, who is coordinating the search, said on Tuesday crews had been working 'round the clock' to locate it. 'This is a complex case and the Coast Guard doesn't have all the resources to be able to affect this kind of rescue, although this is an area within our search zone,' he said on Tuesday morning during an appearance on Good Morning America. OceanGate is in charge of the underwater search, he said. The company has not provided specifics on when the vessel went missing, or when it was reported to the Coast Guard. There are fears Sydney's underworld could erupt in yet more bloodshed after a killer gangster known as 'Little Crazy' was released back out on the streets following almost eight years in jail as rumours swirl there is a $2million bounty on his head. Mohammad 'Little Crazy' Hamzy, 37, of the notorious Hamzy clan and a former member of the Brothers 4 Life gang, was released from Macquarie Correctional Centre in Wellington, 360km west of Sydney, on Tuesday morning. Hamzy, who has been imprisoned since 2015 over the manslaughter of another gangster, is emerging into a vastly different world since he last enjoyed freedom: one in which five of his close relatives have been gunned down. The brutal slayings have overturned the Hamzy clan's dominance on the streets, leaving the Alameddine crime clan and the Comanchero bikie gang holding tentative power in the city's underworld. About a dozen fatal shootings since August 2020, have been linked to the feud. There are concerns 'Little Crazy' could exact revenge over the alleged murders of his cousins Bilal Hamze, Mejid Hamze, Ghassan Amoun and distant relatives Toufik Hamze and his 18-year-old son, Salim. Mohammad Hamzy, 37, of the Hamzy clan, was released from Macquarie Correctional Centre in Wellington, 360km west of Sydney, on Tuesday morning. His freedom has sparked fears bloody warfare will be ignited among Western Sydney's rivals gangs What is left of the Hamzy crime clan? Bassam Hamzy: in prison Mejid Hamzy: shot dead Ibrahem Hamze: on remand Haissam Hamze: on remand Mejid Hamzy: shot dead Bilal Hamze: shot dead Ghassan Amoun: shot dead Salim Hamze, 18, and his innocent father, Toufik: shot dead Advertisement Hamzy earned his nickname for having a ferocious temper and a penchant for violence. An underworld source told the Daily Telegraph Hamzy gang members may 'feel honour-bound to avenge the deaths of Mejid, Bilal and Ghassan'. 'But he's (Little Crazy) made so many enemies over the years that everyone from the Comanchero and Hells Angels to the Alameddines want him dead. 'The big issue for him is that from when he went to jail until now (when he got out), is that there aren't as many soldiers in the Hamzy camp.' Underworld rumours are circulating that Little Crazy, also known as LC, has a $2million bounty on his head. His release comes with strict conditions, including having to wear an electronic tag and a ban on making contact with bikie or crime gangs. He was denied parole in February for his own protection and to stop the outbreak of a deadly gang war. A State Parole Authority panel found he presents an 'unacceptable risk' to the community, while NSW Police feared his release could spark a spate of gang violence. Police have been plotting for months how to prevent an eruption of violence being provoked by his release and NSW Police's Raptor squad, which focusses on bikie gangs, will monitor him closely. Underworld figure Mejid Hamzy (pictured), who was gunned down outside his southwestern Sydney house in 2020 There are fears 'Little Crazy' (pictured) could exact revenge over the alleged murders of his cousins Bilal Hamze, Mejid Hamze, Ghassan Amoun and distant relatives Toufik Hamze and his 18-year-old son, Salim Brothers 4 Life gang boss Bassam Hamzy (pictured) has been in jail since 1999 He was previously stabbed at John Money corrections centre in October 2020, shortly after the killing of his cousin. Last October, a wild brawl broke out between rival Alameddine and Hamzy gangsters at Ballina Airport, the gateway to popular NSW holiday town Byron Bay. His cousin Bassam Hamzy founded the 'Brothers 4 Life' gang in prison after he converted to radical Islam. He was originally sentenced for the murder of a teenager, Kris Toumazis, outside a Sydney nightclub in 1998. He is currently locked up in Australia's toughest prison, Goulbourn Supermax, and has been convicted of trying to run a drug syndicate from his cell. An experienced diver who has traveled far into the depths of the ocean to view the Titanic wreckage fears the submersible that vanished on Sunday may have imploded thousands of feet underwater. G. Michael Harris, who said he possibly knows three of the five occupants on board the missing sub, told Fox News' Jesse Watters he is not optimistic they will be rescued and believes there is nothing the U.S. Navy can do. 'Worst situation is something happened to the hull and our fear is that it imploded at around 3,200 meters,' (10,000 feet) Harris said. At those depths, the weight of the water would exert extreme pressure on the missing submersible - around 6,000 pounds on each square inch of its hull. Five people were on board Titan, the 22ft craft taking paying tourists to view the wreck 12,500ft under water when they lost signal on Sunday in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. G. Michael Harris, an experienced diver who has been to view the Titanic wreckage, fears the submersible that vanished on Sunday may have imploded thousands of feet underwater Pictured: The tiny underwater craft leaving the port in St. John's in Canada with the five crew members on board British billionaire Hamish Harding has been confirmed as one of the five on board the vessel, along with OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, UK-based Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son Sulaiman Dawood. Rescue crews from the US and Canada are still trying to find the vessel, which is understood to have last 'pinged' whilst directly above the Titanic wreck, before the air onboard runs out. It is believed the submarine has enough oxygen to last under water until 12pm on Thursday UK time (7am EST). But an implosion would mean any hope is already long gone. If any part of the submersible's carbon-fiber and titanium hull had suffered a small crack or fault, a deadly implosion would have followed after. And on Monday night, Harris explained to Watters on his show that that the Titan drops to extraordinary depths to reach the wreck of the Titanic - which takes about two and a half hours and more than 10,000 feet. 'No. No. I mean, I don't see anything that can happen at this point,' he said in response to whether the U.S. Navy can do anything at this point. 'When you're talking 6,000 pounds per square inch, it is a dangerous environment. More people have been to outer-space than to this depth of the ocean. When you're diving in these situations you have to cross your T and dot your Is. You have to do everything absolutely perfect and by the book.' 'Throw in a bunch of tourists in a new sub, which was just created in the last couple of years,' Harris continued. 'It's not looking good.' Five people were on board the sub taking paying tourists to view the wreck 12,500ft under water when they lost signal on Sunday, 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada Pictured: File photo of inside the missing OceanGate Expeditions submarine which is currently missing with five people on board It's understood that Titan communicates by sending a ping to the Polar Prince every 15 minutes - the last of which was received while the submersible floated above the Titanic wreckage at about 10am EST Sunday. (3pm UK time). It was at that moment that chaos ensued. A distress call was sent to the US Coast Guard at 9pm, whose Boston branch is leading an operation to carry out what would be the deepest undersea rescue mission ever. British businessman Hamish Harding, who lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, was one of the mission specialists, according to Action Aviation, a company for which Harding serves as chairman. Also on board were Pakistani nationals Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, according to a family statement sent to the AP. The Dawoods belong to one of Pakistan's most prominent families. Their eponymous firm invests across the country in agriculture, industries and the health sector. Their family, including Shahzada's wife Christine and daughter Alina, are waiting for news of the pair. 'We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time,' the statement said. 'The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members.' Shahzada Dawood also is on the board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute that searches for extraterrestrial intelligence. Shahzada Dawood, 48, (pictured with his wife Christine) a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are amongst the five people missing in the submarine that set off to see the wreck of the Titanic, it was revealed today Sulaiman Dawood, 19, who is missing on board the sub is pictured with his mother Christine French explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet also was on board, according to David Gallo, a senior adviser for strategic initiatives and special projects at RMS Titanic. Gallo identified Nargeolet, a friend who has led multiple expeditions to the Titanic, on Tuesday during an interview with CNN. Nargeolet's agent has since confirmed his presence on board. The expedition was OceanGate's third annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew. Since the wreckage's discovery in 1985, it has been slowly succumbing to metal-eating bacteria. Some have predicted the ship could vanish in a matter of decades as holes yawn in the hull and sections disintegrate. The initial group of tourists in 2021 paid $100,000 to $150,000 apiece to go on the trip. OceanGate's website had described the 'mission support fee' for the 2023 expedition as $250,000 a person. Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding (pictured), CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition Unlike submarines that leave and return to port under their own power, submersibles require a ship to launch and recover them. OceanGate hired the Polar Prince to ferry dozens of people and the submersible craft to the North Atlantic wreck site. The submersible would make multiple dives in one expedition. The expedition was scheduled to depart from St. John's, Newfoundland, in early May and finish up at the end of June, according to documents filed by the company in April with a U.S. District Court in Virginia that oversees Titanic matters. OceanGate says on its website that customers do not require any previous diving experience but there are 'a few physical requirements like being able to board small boats in active seas', said it was receiving help from government agencies and deep-sea companies. The eight-day trip includes a two hour dive to the Titanic wreck and the same on the way up. It can be around eight to 10 hours in total. Gen-Z workers who came into adulthood during the pandemic are taking courses to learn the basics when it comes to working with others in person. Recent college graduates who experienced college and internships mostly remotely are now faced with tasks like choosing professional attire and networking with colleagues at the workplace. Graduates of the class of 2023 began college during the early days of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Spring 2020, meaning they missed out on learning a lot of the soft skills needed in a professional setting. A new report by the Wall Street Journal explores how some companies are now offering recent grads training on how to behave professionally at the office. KPMG, a company that provides tax and advisory services, is one of the workplaces providing new hires with training courses that cover how to talk to colleagues in person, including the appropriate level of eye contact and pauses. Various companies and colleges are offering courses teaching skills like maintaining eye contact, listening closely to others, taking pauses and avoiding jargon The company told the WSJ they have found new hires are 'stiff, talk too fast, or rely too much on filler words like um, as they presented.' New hires will go to a training facility in Florida where they will practice through different scenarios involving conflict within teams and how to talk to a colleague or client. They will learn tips like maintaining eye contact, listening closely to others, taking pauses and avoiding jargon. The consulting company Proviti has also taken steps to help their Gen-Z hires catch up with office culture, with executive vice president of global human resources Scott Redfearn saying they have had to remind new employees to avoid casual clothes like ripped jeans. Meanwhile, various colleges are also tackling the issue of Gen-Z's inexperience with working in person. Michigan State University now requires that many of its business majors take courses that advance skills such as face-to-face networking. One course mentioned by the WSJ teaches students to pause after introducing themselves and how to respond to signs that someone is trying to end the conversation. During the pandemic, Gen-Z graduates missed out on learning a lot of the soft skills needed in a professional setting Recent graduate Joslynn Odom told the WSJ how courses at her alma mater, Miami University in Ohio, taught her proper dining etiquette such as eating at the pace of more senior leaders, avoiding personal questions, and how to properly hold a fork. During his first days as an intern at Warner Bros. Discovery, 23-year-old William Lopez-Gudiel was shown a presentation on dress codes and navigating interpersonal relationships. Jialan Wang, an assistant professor of finance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told the WSJ that recent graduates also need help improving their emailing skills. She said many will ignore important emails while expecting a response from professors immediately, even over holidays. As the world gets back to post-Pandemic norms, Gen-Z will have to catch up to traditional office norms. While many of these graduates may be more comfortable in the virtual world, date shows Gen-z is actually itching to get to the office. According to an April survey by TimelyCare, 53 percent of 2023 graduates said they wanted a fully in-person job, with only 21 percent saying they wanted to work fully remotely. A Skorpion sub-machine gun like the one used to gun down beautician Elle Edwards has been shown to the jury trying the man accused of murdering her. Elle, 26, from New Brighton, Merseyside, was shot twice in the back of the head eight minutes before midnight on Christmas Eve last year, as she was sat on a planter box after 'having the misfortune' to leave the pub she was in for a cigarette. Today, forensic firearms expert told Liverpool Crown Court that the self-loading machine pistol could have been used in full automatic mode, which could fire 20 shots in one-and-a-half seconds. But the gunman who launched the attack outside The Lighthouse pub in Wallasey on Christmas Eve fired 12 single shots - including a burst of seven, then another two, followed by three more. The shots were fired from a distance as close as two-and-a-half metres from the crowd, the court was told. A Skorpion sub-machine gun like the one used to gun down beautician Elle Edwards has been shown to the jury trying the man accused of murdering her Elle Edwards, 26, was shot twice in the back of the head eight minutes before midnight as she was sat on a planter box after 'having the misfortune' to leave the pub for a cigarette The self-loading machine pistol could have been used in full automatic mode, which could fire 20 shots in one-and-a-half seconds The jury was replayed the CCTV of the gunman walking along the side of the pub before firing the volley of shots at the group which included his intended targets. The prosecution claim that the gunman was Connor Chapman who wanted to attack rival gang members Jake Duffy, 22, and Kieran Salkeld, 28. The shooting was said to be the culmination of a feud between the Woodchurch estate in Birkenhead, where Chapman lived, and the nearby Ford estate. Gun expert Mr Horne said he had studied the CCTV and identified the three separate volleys of shots. He told the court: 'If you look at the duration of the shots, it leads me to believe they were fired individually.' Mr Horne said the weapon has three modes - safe, semi-automatic or fully automatic. He told the jury that on fully automatic mode it would fire a volley of shots until the trigger was depressed. He said: 'This particular gun has got a high firing rate of 14 to 15 rounds per second so if you pull the trigger and don't let go very quickly, before you can sneeze you would have emptied the magazine.' Mr Horne told the court he believed the gun was in semi-automatic, or single-shooting mode, when it was used on December 24. The prosecution claim that the gunman was Connor Chapman (pictured) who wanted to attack rival gang members Jake Duffy and Kieran Salkeld A grab of the CCTV issued by Merseyside Police of the gunman wearing red gloves arriving the Lighthouse pub car park on December 24, 2022 Photo of red glove shown to jurors in the trial of Connor Chapman. The glove was recovered from the house of Thomas Waring, who is charged with assisting an offender and possessing a prohibited firearm Police photo of a cartridge casing recovered from outside the Lighthouse pub The demonstration gun used by Mr Horne was passed around the jury who were given a detailed description of the mechanisms of the weapon. Forensic scientist Dr Mandy Wood said cartridges found at the murder scene and a red glove found in a house visited by Chapman after the murder both had Type One gunshot residue. But there was only one particle of residue on the glove which was found 34 days after the murder. She said that her findings were 'neutral' and could not establish whether the glove had been worn by the gunman who fired the shots which killed Elle. Forensic scientist John Cullen said analysis of a bullet casing recovered from outside the Lighthouse showed low-level DNA profiles from at least two people. He said: 'There was very strong support that some of the DNA in that mixture had originated from Mr Chapman, rather than that none of the DNA had originated from him.' The court heard that a single particle of gunshot residue was found on the back of a red glove recovered at the home of Thomas Waring, 20, where Chapman is alleged to have gone after the shooting. The prosecution have shown the jury CCTV footage of the Mercedes used by the gunman being parked in the car park of The Lighthouse and highlighted red gloves worn by the driver. Dr Wood said the finding was of little significance because only one particle of residue was found. Mr Cullen said there was extremely strong support for the view that DNA from both Chapman and Waring was present in the glove and it was expected they had both worn the glove at some time. Police at the cordoned off Lighthouse Inn, Wallasey Village, following the fatal shooting of Elle Edwards Chapman denies the murder of Elle, two counts of the attempted murder of Duffy and Salkeld and three of wounding with intent of other people in the group outside the pub. He further denies and possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life. Chapman admits the destruction of a Mercedes used in the shooting which he claims was borrowed by an unnamed associate on the night. His co defendant Thomas Waring ,20, denies assisting an offender and taking part in the destruction of the Mercedes. He has admitted failing to disclose the PIN of a phone which police wanted to interrogate as part of the investigation. The trial continues. Ron DeSantis is going after the team Donald Trump decided to surround himself with during his White House tenure after the former president insisted he only hired the 'best and most serious' people. A 30-second clip from the Florida governor's campaign flashed images of who Trump decided to work with during his four years in office, after he vowed to Fox News that he would only bring in 'great, strong' people if he wins another four years. 'Trump has learned nothing,' the video concludes. A tweet introducing the video read: 'Trump just said he 'did' surround himself with 'the best and most serious people' as president.' Ron DeSantis' campaign released an attack ad mocking Donald Trump for claiming he hired and surrounded himself with the best people in 2016 and will do it again in 2024 A video montage showed images of Trump with people the DeSantis campaign deemed failures. This includes leader of the White House COVID-19 response Dr. Anthony Fauci Also fellow White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx 'Here are some of those people,' it continued with a video montage of people Trump hired. The video clip showed images of Trump with Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, who were tasked by the ex-president in the early days of the pandemic with leading the White House response to COVID-19. Many Republicans have bashed the policies implemented by the recommendation of Fauci and Birx, saying that Trump was misled into creating more-restrictive-than-needed lockdowns. DeSantis rose to national prominence due to his response to COVID-19 in Florida becoming notable for reopening schools and businesses and lifting restrictions earlier than most other states. The governor is still campaigning off of this in his run for president, vowing not to allow the country to fall into a 'Faucian dystopia' and declaring his state the Free State of Florida. DeSantis' campaign released a video Monday mocking Trump for telling Fox News host Brett Baier that he hired the best people in 2016, flashing images of him with people he decided to work with. This included Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, former House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. The video concludes that 'Trump has learned nothing' One of the images showed mega-media start Kim Kardashian with Trump in the Oval Office as she worked to lobby the then-president to commute the sentence of a marijuana law violator In the middle of the images flashing on screen was a picture of Trump with mega-media personality Kim Kardashian, who made it her mission to work with the then-president to get the sentences commuted of marijuana law violators. Her campaign was successful, and she met with Trump in the Oval Office during his presidency. The video montage concluded with an image of Trump with Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was the first person in the upper chamber to endorse and campaign with Trump in his third bid for the White House. While DeSantis has the best shot of beating Trump out of all 13 Republicans vying for the nomination, he still is around 20 points behind the frontrunner in polling. DeSantis waited until announcing his candidacy last month to launch full-on attacks against his main competitor, but is now going after his record and venturing into deep Trump country during campaigning to ask voters to switch their vote in 2024. A Texas man has been charged with four counts of felony animal cruelty after dismembering six puppies by cutting off their paw or legs. Justin Reilly Belton, 44, was arrested on Saturday and remains in the Harris County Jail on a $48,000 bond. Court documents state that Belton allegedly cut off legs or paws of puppies, who were still alive, with an unknown object - one puppy was found with two legs cut off. Police found a dead female dog, believed to have been the puppies' mother, as well as several other dogs in 'unsanitary and confined conditions' at Belton's Baytown home. Justin Reilly Belton has been charged with four counts of felony animal cruelty - he was arrested on Saturday and remains in the Harris County Jail on a $48,000 bond A visit to the home by local broadcasters revealed a gate which restricts access to the front door and a sign next to the search warrant declares the home is unlivable. An RV sits in the back and evidence that dogs occupied the residence was noticeable during the visit. A neighbor approached by ABC 13 said they were 'surprised by the allegations' but did not comment further, while others declined to speak on the matter 'fearing retaliation.' A visit to the home revealed a gate which restricts access to the front door A sign next to the search warrant declares the home is unlivable Dog food was found in a plastic container at the 'unlivable' property An RV sits in the back and evidence that dogs occupied the residence was noticeable during the visit Belton has a lengthy rap sheet which includes a harassment charge which was dismissed in 2016 and a deferred adjudication on a felony stalking charge in 2012. The 'Cruelty to Livestock Animals' and 'Cruelty of Non-Livestock Animals' of the Texas Penal Code 'prohibits a person from intentionally, knowingly or recklessly cruelly treating an animal.' He's expected in court today. This is a developing story. It was an image which captivated the world. In September 1985 the ship was seen by the public for the first time in 73 years after being found by a team led by US Navy officer Robert Ballard. The photo, which was published in the Daily Mail and elsewhere, was taken two and a half miles below the Atlantic waves, more than seven decades after the ship hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sank with the loss of more than 1,500 lives. Ballard's discovery, on September 1, was made all the more remarkable with his revelation in 2008 that the mission was actually a cover story to allow the US Navy to find the wrecks of two nuclear submarines during the Cold War. After finding USS Thresher and USS Scorpion - which were lost during the 1960s with more than 200 men on board - Ballard was given just 12 days to look for the Titanic. If luck had not been on his side, he might never have found the wreck at all. It was an image which captivated the world. In September 1985 the ship was seen by the public for the first time in 73 years after being found by a team led by US Navy officer Robert Ballard. The photo, which was published in the Daily Mail and elsewhere, was taken two and a half miles below the Atlantic waves Since the Titanic slipped beneath the freezing waves of the Atlantic in April 1912, the the stricken ship has been an object of fascination for millions, Above: The Titanic embarking on its maiden voyage from Southampton Speaking shortly after the wreck was discovered, Ballard said the ship was like 'going back in time. The fact that she is in total darkness adds to the feeling of eeriness.' Three years before the discovery, Ballard was a naval intelligence officer and oceanographer, working on developing his own remote control underwater vehicle. Running out of money, Ballard initially approached Navy bosses for funding to help find the Titanic. That was when officials asked him to first find the submarines, one of which they feared may have been sunk by the Soviet Union. 'I couldn't tell anybody,' the oceanographer said in 2008. 'There was a lot of pressure on me. It was a secret mission. I felt it was a fair exchange for getting a chance to look for the Titanic.' He added: 'We handed the data to the experts. They never told us what they concluded our job was to collect the data. I can only talk about it now because it has been declassified.' Because of the need for secrecy, Ballard said how he suggested that the team 'tell the world' that they were looking for the Titanic. USS Thresher (SSN-593) was the lead ship of her class of nuclear-powered attack submarines. She was lost in 1963 during deep-sea diving tests after a high-pressure pipe burst, causing the vessel to lose power and implode as it sank. The USS Scorpion disappeared in 1968 amid speculation that it was sunk by Soviet forces. Ballard's discovery was made all the more remarkable with his revelation in 2008 that the mission was actually a cover story to allow the US Navy to find the wrecks of two nuclear submarines during the Cold War Nuclear-powered submarine the 'USS Thresher' steers through the sea, early 1960s. The sub sank in April of 1963, killing the entire crew Officers and crew members of the 'USS Scorpion' stand on deck as the submarine arrives in Portsmouth, England, May 10, 1960. The vessel disappeared in 1968 Dr Ballard mapped both submarine wrecks using his newly developed underwater robot craft. He concluded that the most likely cause of the Scorpion's destruction was being hit by a rogue torpedo it had fired itself. Investigating the wrecks gave Dr Ballard the idea of finding a trail of debris that would lead him to the Titanic. Both the Thresher and Scorpion had both broken into thousands of pieces. He criss-crossed the North Atlantic seabed and eventually found a debris trail leading him to the luxury liner's final resting-place. Speaking in 2018, Ballard said: 'I learned something from mapping the Scorpion that taught me how to find the Titanic: look for its trail of debris.' At the time she entered service, the Titanic was the largest ship in the world. She was the second of three Olympic-class liners operated by the White Star Line. Pictured: The ship being pulled out of Belfast harbour during sea trials It took him eight days to find the ship. In the four days he had left, Ballard filmed the wreck. He said that his team's mood changed quickly as it got closer to the wreckage site. 'We realized we were dancing on someone's grave, and we were embarrassed,' Ballard said. 'The mood, it was like someone took a wall switch and went click. 'And we became sober, calm, respectful, and we made a promise to never take anything from that ship, and to treat it with great respect. 'You don't go to Gettysburg with a shovel. You don't take belt buckles off the Arizona.' China is in talks to build a joint military training facility in Cuba, triggering alarm in the Biden administration at the prospect of Chinese troops within 100 miles of Florida's coast, according to a new report. Discussions are at an advanced stage but are not yet final, and the Biden administration has contacted Havana in an attempt to head off the deal, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing current and former US officials. The officials said the plans were revealed in highly classified new US intelligence, which they said is being interpreted with varying levels of alarm by analysts and policymakers. Concerningly for US officials, the proposed Cuban base is part of China's 'Project 141,' a plan to build a global network of military bases and logistical support, sources told the Journal. It follows US allegations that China is running electronic spy bases on Cuba, in an attempt to eavesdrop on sensitive military communications. China is reportedly in talks to build a joint military training facility in Cuba, triggering alarm in the Biden administration. A view of Havana is seen above Chinese air force personnel are seen marching in a file photo. The US officials said plans for the training facility in Cuba were revealed in highly classified new US intelligence The White House and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment from DailyMail.com on Tuesday morning. A spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington DC referred questions from DailyMail.com to recent remarks from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning. 'Im not aware of what you mentioned,' Mao said in response to a question about the plans for a military base in Cuba at a regular briefing with reporters on Tuesday. 'We hope relevant parties will focus their time and efforts on doing things that are conducive to mutual trust and regional peace, stability and development,' she added. Word of the proposed training facility comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a two-day diplomatic visit to Beijing, where he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but failed to establish military hotlines sought by the US side. Blinken said China is not ready to resume direct military-to-military contacts, something the US considers crucial to avoid miscalculation and conflict, particularly over Taiwan. China has been resistant to the kind of direct hotlines that were in place between the US and USSR during the Cold War, believing they could embolden American troops to take provocative actions. Meanwhile, issues regarding Cuba are increasingly coming to the fore in tensions between DC and Beijing. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken (left) met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) in Beijing on Monday in a bid to improve bilateral relations Last week, US officials accused Beijing of using Cuba as an electronic spying post. US officials say that China and Cuba jointly operate four electronic surveillance posts around the island, and that China significantly upgraded its intelligence collection facilities there in 2019. China, Washington's top geopolitical rival, has previously denied the claims it is using Cuba as a spy base. The Chinese embassy in Washington DC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday morning. Earlier this month, a Chinese foreign ministry official dismissed claims of any military arrangement between China and Cuba, saying that the US is an 'expert in chasing shadows'. Cuba says the only military incursion in its territory is the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, which belongs to the United States, and previously dismissed claims of a Chinese base as a US fabrication. In recent months, US-China relations sank to their lowest point in recent memory, after the US shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon over its airspace in February. Beijing has also escalated its military activity in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, raising concerns in Washington. In recent months, US-China relations sank to their lowest point in recent memory, after the US shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon over its airspace Beijing has also escalated its military activity in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, raising concerns in Washington. Chinese leader Xi Jinping is seen above Combined with other disputes over human rights, trade and opiate production, the list of problem areas is daunting. Blinken met on Monday with Xi and said they agreed to "stabilize" badly deteriorated US-China ties. However, Americas top diplomat left Beijing with his request denied for better direct communication between the two countries' militaries. Still, China's main diplomat for the Western Hemisphere, Yang Tao, said he thought Blinken's visit to China "marks a new beginning." "The U.S. side is surely aware of why there is difficulty in military-to-military exchanges," he said. China has blamed the deadlock on US sanctions against top Chinese military officials, which Blinken said revolved entirely around threats to American security. A former Mafia boss who is in a North Carolina federal prison for ordering multiple murders has pleaded for compassionate release due to chronic medical conditions linked to old age. Vittorio 'Little Vic' Amuso, 88, was convicted of murder and racketeering in June 1992, where he was linked to nine murders and three attempted killings in a Brooklyn Federal Court trial. The mobster - who was once head of the Lucchese family - was sentenced to life without parole and is being held at a federal prison in Butner. He has served 31 years so far but his attorneys have pleaded for his sentence to be reduced citing his poor health. They submitted a court filing last week which claimed Amuso's 'life expectancy is grim' and his 'deteriorating health render his remaining quality of life negligible', according to the New York Daily News. His attorneys said he is suffering from serious health problems which have largely made him immobile and included testimonies from his children and grandchildren. Former Mafia boss Vittorio Amuso, 88, who is in a North Carolina federal prison for ordering several murders has pleaded for compassionate release due to chronic medical conditions He was convicted of murder and racketeering in June 1992 where he was linked to nine murders and three attempted killings in a Brooklyn Federal Court trial The mobster - who was once head of the Lucchese family - was sentenced to life without parole and is being held at a federal prison in Butner Amuso's 'advanced age and severe chronic medical conditions, along with his long imprisonment and perfect institutional record' is 'extraordinary and compelling reason for a sentence reduction', according to the court filing. The former boss of the Lucchese crime family is said to require a wheelchair to get around due to chronic arthritis, has blurred and worsening vision, has lost all of his teeth and regularly makes calls for medical assistance. He has made several pleas, including handwritten notes, for cortisol shots which were not answered promptly, according to his lawyers. The court document added that granting him compassionate leave 'would not diminish the nature and circumstances of the underlying offenses nor undercut the need for general/specific deterrence'. 'Mr. Amusos life expectancy is grim, and his advanced age and deteriorating health render his remaining quality of life negligible,' it stated. 'Indeed, Mr. Amusos advanced age and medical ailments have substantially diminished his ability to provide self-care within a prison setting, and conventional treatment promises no substantial improvement.' Amuso's family members provided testimonies which described him as a devoted Catholic who has guided and supported his children and grandchildren through phone calls during his time in prison. He was convicted of all 54 counts in a racketeering indictment which charged him with nine murders, extortion, labor corruption and gambling. It came two months after authorities secured a guilty plea against infamous Mafia boss John Gotti. The former Mafia boss was also named in federal indictments which related to other alleged Lucchese family conspiracies during his time in prison. Amuso's longtime friend and former lieutenant Alfonse DArco took over as acting boss of the mob when he went into hiding. But DArco later turned informant and the FBI captured Amuso in a shopping mall Scranton, Pennsylvania. Mob associate Peter Chiodo pleaded guilty to a mafia scheme to rig bids in the window-replacement industry and Amuso ordered his murder because he thought he turned into an informant FBI surveillance photograph of Amuso (left) with his underboss Anthony 'Gaspipe' Casso (right) He provided key testimony against him which provided a view into the murder, violence and schemes of the Mafia. DArco said he decided to inform because he was fearful that mob associates were about to kill him and his son. Another mob associate Peter Chiodo had pleaded guilty to a mafia scheme to rig bids in the window-replacement industry and Amuso ordered his murder because he thought he turned into an informant. Chiodo was ambushed on May 18, 1991 at a Staten Island gas station and shot 13 times but he survived. Following this, Amuso ordered for Chiodo's sister Patricia Capozzalo to be killed. She was shot outside her Gravesend, Brooklyn, home on March 10, 1992 but also survived. Chiodo later became a government cooperator and helped send Amuso to prison. Amuso is the latest former crime boss to plead for compassionate release under the First Step Act of 2018. Mafia boss Peter Gotti quit the mob by renouncing his criminal lifestyle in a bid for compassionate release from prison after 17 years. He is pictured here in 2002 Peter, right, was jailed shortly after he took over the Gambino family from his dying brother John, left, in 2002. He died from natural causes in prison in 2021 aged 81 Michael 'Baldy Mike' Spinelli, who was sent to kill Capozzalo, who is scheduled to be released from prison in 2026, was denied compassionate release last month by Brooklyn Federal Judge Raymond Dearie. Vito Guzzo, 58, who was convicted of five murders in 1998, was refused early release by Brooklyn Federal Judge Margo Brodie a few weeks later. Mafia boss Peter Gotti renounced his criminal lifestyle in a bid for compassionate release from prison after 17 years back in 2019. He was jailed shortly after he took over the Gambino family from his dying brother Gotti in 2002. He hoped to return to his daughter's home in Howard Beach, Queens via compassionate release from prison under the First Step Act of 2018. He filed a seven-page motion for release in Manhattan Federal Court, where he stated he wants 'to help others not make the life mistakes he made'. Peter died from natural causes in prison in 2021 aged 81. Mob boss Anthony Russo, who was sentenced to life in prison after ordering murders during the Colombo crime family civil war, had his sentence cut to 35 years by Brooklyn Federal Judge Frederic Block last year. He was released in February. Amusos attorneys referenced this case in his plea for compassionate release. A former head of sixth form at one of the UK's most prestigious public schools has gone on trial accused of historic sexual abuse of three pupils over a 17-year period. Russell Tillson, a Conservative councillor and former local Tory association chairman, is alleged to have committed six offences of indecent assault while teaching at Tonbridge School, a boys' boarding and day school in Kent where fees cost up to 48,000 a year. He is accused of molesting two boys in 1984 and a further victim in September and October 2001, at which point an internal investigation was launched. One of the victims is said to have complained to the school in the 1980s, but was told Tillson was too 'valuable' a member of staff and so no investigation would take place, jurors at Maidstone Crown Court, Kent, heard. Tillson, 73, was considered a 'charismatic' teacher who 'abused his trust' in his role assisting pupils with university applications, in particular Oxford and Cambridge. Russell Tillson, 73, is accused of six offences against three former pupils of the school, which he left in 2001 after an investigation was launched into his conduct The alleged offences all took place during one-to-one tuition or 'social occasions' in his private accommodation at the school, where he permitted pupils to drink alcohol and smoke. Tillson is accused of grabbing the genitals of two of the complainants, rubbing the shoulder, chest and leg of one, and touching one boy's penis. It is also claimed he slid his fingers down one pupil's body and attempted on another occasion to slide his hand down the front of the youngster's trousers. Tillson, it was said, had a 'triumphant' look on his face after 'firmly' gripping one teenager's testicles. But it was said Tillson finally left the education establishment in 2001, after 21 years of teaching there, when further abuse was reported and an internal investigation launched. It was not until October 2020 however that Tillson was arrested after police had contacted the school in February 2019 and then traced the alleged victims. When interviewed, the pensioner described himself as having been 'one of the top brass' at the school and branded the accusations as 'fiction', the jury of eight men and four women was told. But he confirmed he had held social gatherings for his pupils where he gave them beer or sherry to drink, telling officers it 'added to the conviviality'. The court heard at the start of his trial on Monday that despite the time gap between the alleged incidents, there was 'a common theme' in what was said to have occurred. Prosecutor Dominic Connolly told the jury: 'This case concerns allegations of sexual assaults by Russell Tillson when he was employed as a teacher at Tonbridge School. 'The Crown say those offences were committed on three different pupils. One says he was sexually assaulted in 2001. Two other former pupils say they were sexually assaulted years earlier in the mid 1980s. 'All three say they were sexually assaulted in a very similar manner. 'It is clear from the evidence that you will hear that Mr Tillson was a charismatic and successful teacher. 'The Crown say that he abused his position of trust in order to assault three of his pupils for his sexual pleasure.' It was not until October 2020 however that Tillson was arrested after police had contacted the school in February 2019 and then traced the alleged victims The first alleged victim to be tracked down by police said he was molested twice by Tillson in 2001 after being offered private tuition to help prepare for a university entrance exam Tonbridge School provides education for around 800 pupils and is set on a 150-acre site. In December last year, it was the 8th highest-ranking independent school in the country, and the top boys' boarding school, in the Sunday Times 'Parent Power' league table. The court heard the three ex-pupils, all boarders at the time, described Tillson as 'charismatic, brilliant and someone you wanted to get on with' if considering Oxbridge universities. The first alleged victim to be tracked down by police said he was molested twice by Tillson in 2001 after being offered private tuition to help prepare for a university entrance exam. In an interview recorded in 2019 and played in court he told how he had gone to Tillson's home where they sat watching football, drinking and smoking. He told officers that they were sitting on a sofa when the teacher produced a pre-written essay for him as well as a 'glowing' reference. But he then became 'over-friendly' and began squeezing and stroking the teenager's leg, said Mr Connolly. The boy was later given a past examination paper to read, only for Tillson to walk behind him and begin to massage his neck and shoulders. The touching then became 'more persistent', continued the prosecutor, leading to Tillson allegedly moving his hand down the boy's chest and inside his trousers. 'The boy froze, he thinks for about five seconds during which he describes Mr Tillson fondling him,' said Mr Connolly. The boy then stood up and fled, and the alleged incident was later reported to the school. He returned to Tillson's home on two further occasions when, it was said by the prosecution, he was molested. Asked by defence counsel David Osborne why he had gone back to see the teacher late at night on his own if he was 'nervous' about him, the complainant replied: 'I cannot honestly answer that question but as a young, impressionable boy I made the wrong decision.' He denied he made up his accusations out of 'resentment' following a row with Tillson over his Oxbridge application. The court heard that after the alleged abuse had been reported to the headmaster, Tillson 'quietly left the school'. 'That's when they were saying he was unwell,' the former pupil told police. 'One of the reasons people thought it was so strange was because in the 20-plus years he had been at school he had never missed a day out of illness.' He added that the reference Tillson gave him regarding his academic capabilities was 'fiction', and one of 'a lot of warning signs' he had 'perhaps ignored or chose not to think about'. 'There was an internal investigation that led to Mr Tillson leaving Tonbridge School in 2001,' Mr Connolly told the court. 'The matter was not taken any further until the police were provided with paperwork by the school in February 2019.' Among the documents police found a letter written by another pupil to the headmaster 35 years earlier in December 1984. It referred not only to a physical assault by Tillson but also his 'continual homosexual harassment', the jury heard. When traced by police in May 2019, the former pupil said Tillson was 'a brilliant teacher, very charismatic and someone you wanted to get on with' if you wanted to apply to Oxbridge, the court heard. He recalled that having been invited to the sixth form head's accommodation along with several other boys, he was talking to Tillson when he 'grabbed and squeezed' his testicles 'sufficiently hard that it hurt' and for between five and 15 seconds. 'He remembers writing the letter and being invited to see the headmaster after he had received it,' said the prosecutor. 'He was told by the school that they were not going to do anything about the complaint as Mr Tillson was too valuable a member of staff.' The third alleged victim also told police of a social occasion at Tillson's when he had to physically slide off a chair to stop the teacher molesting him. Then, later that evening as he stood with a glass of wine in one hand and food in the other, he described being 'shellshocked' when Tillson allegedly grabbed his testicles. 'He described it as a firm but not crushing grip, and a triumphant look on Mr Tillson's face,' Mr Connolly told the court. As a result, the boy also wrote a letter for the school which he never sent. In it he detailed an earlier incident during a one-to-one tutorial in which he alleged Tillson had 'cosied up' to him on a settee before rubbing his shoulders and back and then trying to slide his hand down the front of his trousers. Tillson, from Dymchurch in Kent, was arrested in October 2020 and denied the accusations. 'He said he was regarded as one of the top brass at the school and lived at various properties owned by the school while teaching there,' Mr Connolly said. 'Pupils would visit for tuition purposes, sometimes in groups and sometimes individually. On such occasions, pupils were offered alcoholic drinks - beer or sherry - which he said added to the conviviality. 'He described the allegations made by the three males as fiction.' At the start of the trial, potential jurors were told of Tillson's various educational and political links. These include four other independent schools, including Brighton College in Sussex and Wellington School in Berkshire. Tillson's political career in Kent has seen him serve as deputy leader of Shepway District Council and chairman of the Folkestone and Hythe Conservative Association. The one-time school governor has also sat on New Romney Town Council, Dymchurch Parish Council and St Mary in the Marsh Parish Council. The trial continues. A Panda Express cook is suing the Chinese food franchise, claiming her manager physically assaulted her when he found out she was pregnant. Romerian Logan, 19, has accused BiQing Liu, manager of the Panda Express located at the Newport Centre mall in Jersey City, of making negative comments about her pregnancy and suggesting she get an abortion last July before physically assaulting her a few weeks later. The pregnant cook was 18 years' old at the time and had been with Panda Express, the largest Asian fast food restaurant chain in the United States with over 2,200 locations, since 2019. Logan's lawyer, Margaret T Korgul, Esq. claimed Panda Express and BiQing Liu violated the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination by refusing to provide her with reasonable accommodation for her pregnancy, harassing her, abusing her physically and creating a hostile work environment - ultimately forcing her to leave her job. Logan also accused Panda Express higher-ups of ignoring her complaint. She said she reported the incident to Human Recourses which failed to take action. BiQing Liu, manager of the Panda Express located at the Newport Centre mall in Jersey City, has been accused of physically assaulting a pregnant cook Romerian Logan, 19, is suing the Chinese food franchise, claiming her manager made negative comments about her pregnancy suggesting she get an abortion last July before physically assaulting her a few weeks later According to the lawsuit filed last week in state court, when Logan shared the news of her pregnancy with her boss, Liu was reportedly disappointed and 'started making negative comments' about her pregnancy and 'suggested that she get an abortion.' Three months later, Liu 'physically assaulted (Logan) by physically restraining her from leaving the workplace after her shift,' according to court documents. The lawsuit alleged that the company, including several co-defendants that include 'natural persons' and 'commercial entities at present unidentified, knew Liu engaged in a 'continuous pattern of physical and emotional harassment,' but still faced no repercussions. And according to the suit, Logan's bosses made her work environment increasingly unpleasant following her complaint. She was assigned manual labor tasks like 'scrubbing jobs' that were more difficult to complete due to her pregnancy, it claims. Logan said she was ultimately terminated by the company last December, just four months before giving birth a baby boy. According to the New York Post, a representative of the Jersey City franchise said Liu has been transferred to another Panda Express location in New York City. In 2021, Panda Express faced another lawsuit from a 23-year-old former employee, who claimed she was forced to strip down to her underwear during a 'cult-like' training seminar that was essentially required for her to earn a promotion. Jennifer Spargifiore worked for a Panda Express in Santa Clarita, California, and sued the franchise for sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and a hostile work environment. She alleged she was forced to strip to her underwear and hug a male participant also in his underwear during a training seminar conducted in July 2019. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elaine Lu ruled that Spargifiore was bound by the terms of agreements she signed in 2016 and 2018 in which she said she would arbitrate disputes. Lu heard arguments on May 27 and then took the case under submission June 3. In the court papers filed with Lu, Spargifiores lawyers note that retired Judge B. Scott Silverman found that there was no agency relationship between Panda and Alive and that therefore, the remainder of the plaintiffs case alleging sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress should be decided by a jury, according to the Antelop Valley Times. Footage filmed by one of the guests showed the women performing a routine and later give lap dances to a group of men The event featured live music, a comedy show and a raffle before the hired group of bikini-clad women stepped to the front of the auditorium A Mexican mayor has come under fire for hiring female strippers to perform at a Father's Day event in the southern town of Huehuetan, which shares a border with Guatemala. Hundreds of dads turned out Saturday at the municipality's auditorium where Mayor Miguel Villalobos treated them to live music, a comedy show and a raffle of televisions, fans and microwaves before a group of dancers stepped out. Footage filmed by one of the attendees shows the strippers - of Central American descent according to El Universal newspaper - performing their routine. At one point during the raucous celebration, three men were picked out of the crowd and seen lying on the stage floor receiving full body lap dances. Strippers were hired by the administration of Miguel Villalobos, a mayor in the southern Mexico city of Huehuetan, for a Father's Day event on Saturday One of the strippers performs a dance routine for hundreds of men at the event Mayor Miguel Villalobos has yet to make any statements on his decision to have strippers perform for Father's Day The invite for the controversial event was posted on Villalobos' Facebook account June 2 and again Friday, and clearly barred women and children from attending. 'Tomorrow! Don't forget, an event just for dads, the day has arrived,' the mayor's caption read. However, a video of the event that was uploaded Monday to the mayor's page showed multiple women in attendance. Local media outlets reported that there were mothers in the building who were disgusted and walked out with their children while the strippers were performing. Local feminist organization, 50+1 Collective Chiapas Chapter, condemned the stripper act due to the 'sexually suggestive dances.' Female strippers stand over members of the crowd at a Father's Day event hosted by the mayor of the Mexican town of Huehuetan on Saturday Mayor Miguel Villalobos (right) greets one of the hundreds of dads who attended the controversial Father's Day celebration where female strippers were present 'Father's Day was conceived to highlight the importance of the father figure in people's lives, emphasizing his role in the integration and maintenance of the family nucleus,' the collective said in a statement Monday. 'Therefore, it is unfortunate that the (mayor), Jose Manuel Angel Villalobos, on the occasion of this date, has offered a show that reproduces gender stereotypes, reducing women as sexual objects. Placing women in a place of subordination and reproducing patterns of objectification and domination constitutes symbolic violence.' The group also called on local officials to receive proper training on gender issues to ensure that women's rights are not violated. Mayor Villalobos had not addressed the event as of Tuesday morning. Hunter Biden has reached a deal with prosecutors that would see him plead guilty to tax crimes and dispense with a gun charge but likely avoid jail time, according to new Justice Department filings. The president's son has been under investigation for five years for tax and financial allegations, as well as for paperwork for purchasing a handgun where he attested that he did not abuse drugs. That contradicted admissions in his own autobiography where he detailed an addiction to crack cocaine that led to a stint in rehab. The agreement with prosecutors still must be approved by a federal judge, and comes at a time when the Justice Department is under scrutiny for its handling of high-profile investigations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Hunter Biden has reached a deal with prosecutors that would see him plead guilty to a trio of crimes but likely avoid jail time, according to new Justice Department filings Sources told NBC prosecutors will recommend probation which would spare the president's son jail time but could land him in hot water if he violates terms. Both tax times to which he will plead guilty are misdemeanor charges. The Washington Post reported prosecutors would recommend two years' probation. Any further terms of probation that prosecutors would recommend were not immediately available, and would be subject to modification by the court. U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, a holdover from the Trump administration, has been overseeing the politically charged probe. A document Weiss filed with the court Tuesday states that the criminal information charges the defendant with tax offenses 'namely two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax,' as well as 'one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.' U.S. Attorney David Weiss asked a judge to schedule hearing for Hunter Biden for two tax offenses and a gun charge, following a years-long investigation into the president's son 'The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment,' said White House spokesman Ian Sams U.S. Attorney David Weiss said Hunter Biden agreed to enter a 'diversion agreement' where defendants can admit the facts of the case without entering a formal guilty plea Hunter Biden's problems have been a running theme during the Biden administration. Here President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden attend the University of Pennsylvania 267th Commencement Ceremony at Franklin Field in Philadelphia The gun charge dates to a period where Hunter was involved with Hallie Biden, the widow of his late brother, Beau The plea deal allows Hunter Biden to put the long-running federal investigation behind him, although House Republicans blasted the agreement and are expected to keep up their own probes of alleged corruption Regarding the gun charge, Hunter 'has agreed to enter a Pretrial Diversion Agreement,' according to Weiss. Handling the matter as a diversion case means Hunter wouldn't technically have to enter a guilty plea. Such cases are reserved for people who have a clean record and are facing non-violent charges who can meet a series of criteria. They are meant to reduce recidivism and often are applied to people dealing with substance abuse issues. The letter stated that prosecutors and Biden's lawyer Christopher Clark jointly request a court appearance on the firearm change and a plea hearing on the tax charge. Clark said in a statement: 'With the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the Unites States Attorneys Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved.' 'Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement. A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward,' he said. In 2021, Hunter reportedly paid back the feds for outstanding taxes, more than two years after disclosing the probe into his finances. The New York Times reported he told an associate the amount was more than $1 million, and that he needed a loan to pay what he owed the government. The Hunter probe has been a lingering political issue for the Biden administration, and throughout the president's tenure the White House has had to respond to questions about his pricey art sales along with a series of disclosures about his business dealings and personal life gleaned from his laptop. The probe of the alleged gun violation coincided with a period of repeated mass shootings, and the president's call for more restrictions including a ban on assault-style weapons. Republicans have been hammering the administration for allegedly uneven application of justice, after a federal grand jury indicted Trump on charges of willful retention of national security documents and conspiracy to obstruct an investigation into the matter. The 37-count indictment has the former president facing a court date currently set for August in the heat of the Republican presidential primaries. A separate probe of classified material uncovered at President Biden's home and former office is ongoing. House Republicans have demanded Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is heading the Trump probe as well as a probe into January 6, hand over materials about how early decisions got made in that matter. The plea deal comes despite President Biden telling MSNBC: 'First of all my son has done nothing wrong. I trust him, I have faith in him. 'And it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him.' Hunter's failure to pay taxes came from a time when he was acting as a high-flying international lawyer doing deals around the globe, while also according to his autobiography using drugs. His dealings extended from Ukraine, where he won a lucrative position on the board of the Burisma energy firm, to trips to China where he is accused of trying to leverage his father's influence while Biden was vice president to secure business. Information gleaned from his infamous laptop, which according to a Wilmington repair shop owner Hunter dropped off seeking computer support but never reclaimed, shows him posing naked with a gun and smoking what appears to be a crack pipe while passed out in bed. 'The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment,' said White House spokesman Ian Sams. The guilty plea is not likely to be the end of the matter for Hunter Biden or his father. House Republicans have already set up multiple probes of the Biden administration and have been focusing on his family members. House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer has been repeatedly demanding possession of an FBI file on claims made by a whistleblower of 'bribery.' He called the allegations 'very credible,' but has yet to provide proof. Comer blasted the plea deal as a 'sweetheart' deal. Trump hammered the 'corrupt' Justice Department about an hour after news broke of the deal reached by the U.S. Attorney he appointed. 'Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket. Our system is BROKEN!' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Back in 2018, Trump hailed Weiss when nominating him before he was confirmed by the Senate. He said Weiss and other candidates 'share the Presidents vision for 'Making America Safe Again.' The Biden DOJ then kept Weiss on after the changeover in administration. He met with Hunter's team in April to discuss the case, in one signal it was reaching its conclusion. Hunter Biden disclosed the investigation in December 2020, weeks before his father took office. It had been ongoing for about two years at that time. The gun charge relates to a period in 2018 when Hunter became involved with the widow of his brother, the late Beau Biden. His sister-in-law allegedly took his handgun and tossed it in a dumpster. A man recovered the gun, which got federal authorities involved. Eventually that led to a search for the paperwork traced to the gun purchase. Hunter Biden, like other handgun purchasers, was required to answer the question: 'Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?' He answered no. Yet another 'touron' has been caught on camera behaving badly at Yellowstone National Park. Heart-stopping footage posted on the hugely popular Tourons of Yellowstone Instagram page showed a mother evading barriers around a fast moving river and leading her young son towards the water, yards from the edge of the Lower Falls in the Wyoming park. The cliff drop is 308 feet, nearly twice the height of Niagara Falls, although the flow rate is far less. A man and another child can be seen on the viewing platform communicating with the woman and the youngster while taking pictures. As pointed out by many of the commenters on the video, accidents occur easily around waterfalls. At the same site in 2014, an eight-year-old girl plunged more than 500 feet to her death after losing her footing when leaving the designated trail. 'Please tell me she's been arrested and charged with child endangerment,' said one commenter. Another said: ''This has to be the worst one yet... one small slip/trip and over the falls they go,' as another called the woman: 'Mom of the year.' The woman and her young child are shown here dangerously close to entering the water beside the Lower Falls in Yellowstone National Park The cliff drop is 308 feet, nearly twice the height of Niagara Falls, although the flow rate is far less During the video, the woman can be seen communicating with a man who is taking pictures of her The woman and her child were just yards from the waterfall's edge The area around the Lower Falls is known for its hiking, located in Yellowstone's Grand Canyon. Yellowstone's official website notes that in order to view the Lower Falls: 'Use paved overlooks or take short hikes for closer views.' In May, the National Park Service put out a public service announcement warning the public of the dangers surrounding waterfalls in the lead-up to the summer months. The warning urged the public to be mindful of mist, slippery rocks, slopes and undercurrents when close to water features. Visitors are also advised to wear suitable footwear because 'flippy floppies may lead to slippy sloppies.' Members of the public are allowed to enter most water areas at Yellowstone. It's not clear when the video was taken. DailyMail.com has reached out to Yellowstone for further comment on this story. Just a handful of the roughly three million annual visitors die by accident at a park that spans parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Park historian Lee Whittlesey told Cowboy State Daily in 2022 that the vast majority of deaths at Yellowstone are due to 'visitors' false sense of security' and are the result of 'hubris or carelessness about the park's imminent dangers.' This comes after a series of incidents involving reckless tourists interfering with wildlife at Yellowstone. Earlier this month a shocking video emerged showing an unidentified man harassing a black bear at the park. Park officials said that the man's behavior was 'egregious' and if he is identified, he could face six months in prison and/or a $5,000 fine. The man, who was standing in an offensive stance with his fists clenched in the video, can be heard barking viciously at the bear. He then attempted to chase the bear - who appeared to be relaxing atop a mountain, minding his own business - but the bear didn't budge. This time, instead of running away, the bear stared at the reckless man, seemingly growing tired of his behavior and decided to retaliate and chase him back to his car. The tables quickly turned for the deranged daredevil, who went from growling at the bear to yelling for his life. Two tourists also came dangerously close to being gored by bisons at Yellowstone National Park in shocking videos posted within the span of two weeks, last month. One video, also posted by TouronsOfYellowstone and credited to Russ Bjorn on Instagram, shows a woman, who has not yet been identified, extending her hand in an attempt to touch the bison. In a split second, the bison lunged forward, giving the impression that it is about to charge. The woman quickly retreated in a panic, stumbling over herself in the process. The frightened screams of the group can be heard in the background. Search efforts include specialized aircraft, a fleet of ships and sonar buoys - but the efforts are still akin to finding a needle in a haystack The current record for an underwater rescue was in 1973 at a depth of 1,575ft The Titan sub launched on Sunday at 8am with enough oxygen to last for 96 hours. It was headed 12,500ft beneath the Atlantic Ocean If search teams miraculously recover the Titan submersible with all five crew alive, it would likely mark an unprecedented feat of underwater rescue. The current record for the deepest underwater rescue ever achieved was 1,575ft beneath the surface of the ocean. Titan, which has been missing since Sunday morning after it embarked on a journey to the wreckage of the Titanic, was headed for depths of 12,500ft, or around 2.4 miles. For context, the operating depth of a US Navy Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarine is up to around 1,000ft. A blue whale, the largest animal ever known to have existed, reaches maximum depths of around 1,640ft. The US Coast Guard and other agencies have deployed every piece of equipment at their disposal to the search - but the mission is still akin to finding a needle in a haystack. The Titan submersible was headed for depths of 12,500ft. In comparison, the current record for an underwater rescue was 1,575ft. Search teams have deployed all the assets at their disposal to try and find the vessel - but the search is still akin to finding a needle in a haystack OceanGate's Titan submersible began its journey at 8am on Sunday morning around 400 miles southeast of St John's, Newfoundland, according to the US Coast Guard. It lost contact at 9.45am but it wasn't reported to the Coast Guard until 5.40pm The odds of recovering the craft if it's trapped at the bottom of the ocean are close to zero, especially at the depths of the Titanic wreckage. The hope is that it has been able to ascend and could be floating somewhere on the ocean surface. TIMELINE OF MISSING SUBMERSIBLE TITAN 8am Sunday: Titan submerges around 900 miles east of Cape Cod 9.45am: Polar Prince expedition ship loses contact with the submersible 5.40pm: Coast Guard first alerted to the missing sub 9.13pm: Canadian Coast Guard alerted Thursday at 8am: 96 hours of oxygen runs out Advertisement But that, too, is beginning to seem almost impossible. The sub was carrying five people: British billionaire and explorer Hamish Harding, 58; UK-based Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son, Sulaiman Dawood, 19; French Navy pilot Paul-Henry (PH) Nargeolet; and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush. At a Tuesday press conference at the US Coast Guard Station in Boston - which is coordinating the search and rescue effort - First District Response Coordinator Captain Jamie Frederick conceded that rescue was not guaranteed. He said he didn't know whether they'd be able to rescue the five people on board even if the craft was found. The Coast Guard has already searched 7,600 square miles of ocean - a search area the size of Connecticut. At 12,500ft underwater, there are few vessels able to dive deep enough to find it. The only ones able to search the ocean floor are remotely operated vehicles which are searching the ocean now. The current record for an underwater rescue was in 1973, when the Pisces III submersible was rescued after 80 hours at a depth of 1,575ft. The vessel was laying telephone cables in the Celtic Sea, about 150 miles off the coast of Ireland. If teams searching for Titan find the sub underwater, getting it to the surface is another feat entirely, requiring more specialist equipment. The 21ft submersible has an oxygen supply of up to 96 hours and time is running out to find it US and Canadian ships and planes have swarmed the area about 900 miles east of Cape Cod. Officials are also deploying a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to search for Titan. A handful of these can reach depths of up to 20,000ft and are connected to a ship via an 'umbilical cord', allowing the pilot to control it from above using thrusters and relay images from sonar and camera systems. Some can lift objects from the sea bed - although few are thought to be capable of lifting a load of Titan's 21,000lb weight. The only likely rescue would come from such an un-crewed vehicle - essentially an underwater drone. The US Navy has one it used to salvage a crashed F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in about 12,400 feet in the South China Sea in early 2022. The US Navy also has a Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS), which can recover items using a winch from 21,000ft depths. There is also a privately owned two-man sub called Limiting Factor. In 2019 the explorer Victor Vescovo used it to become the first person to reach the deepest point in all five oceans. Sonar buoys have been dropped into the Atlantic to listen for the Titan. Planes and ships with similar technology are also scanning the sea for any sign on the surface and down below, including any noise from the missing men banging on the hull or screaming for help - a key instruction given in the case of a deep sea emergency. A U.S. Navy-owned research vessel, deploys the cable-controlled Undersea Recovery Vehicle (CURV-21) off the coast of Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina. The CURV is designed to meet the U.S. Navy's deep ocean recovery requirements down to a maximum depth of 20,000 feet and helped recover a jet last year Limiting Factor, a two man sub that is able to go to the depths where the Titan (pictured off South Georgia) could be. It has the record for going to the bottom of the world's five deepest ocean basins And nuclear submarines from Britain and the US could be sent. Deep Energy is searching the seafloor using cameras usually employed when laying pipes deep underwater. But experts have said that even if the missing Titan is found on the sea bed - they are unlikely to be able to rescue the five people on board. Commander Ryan Ramsey, who served in the British Royal Navy's submarine service for 23 years is less hopeful, and believes there is no chance of rescue. Cdr Ramsey, who served in the Navy's submarine service for 23 years, told MailOnline that those on board - including French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet and OceanGate chief executive Stockton Rush - will now be facing dwindling oxygen levels, while another expert warned the crew members face the risk of hypothermia. 'There is no way of rescuing them,' said the naval veteran, who commanded a Royal Navy nuclear submarine. 'Most rescue systems can get only reach 500m (1,640ft) not 3,000m (9,000ft). A British engineer who survived after his submarine sank 1,500ft off the coast of Ireland 50 years ago has a 'horrible feeling that something might be seriously wrong' on the missing Titanic tourist submersible. Roger Mallinson, who was burying a telephone cable in the Celtic Sea seabed with his colleague Roger Chapman, described the case of the missing Titan sea vessel as 'horrendous' as he reflected on his own nightmare experience in 1973. The missing OceanGate submersible has drawn parallels to the sunken Pisces III submarine - whose occupants were saved after an incredible 80-hour rescue operation that saw them lifted to safety with just 12 minutes of oxygen left. To this day, it is the deepest successful underwater rescue in history. Speaking about the ongoing search for the 22-foot-long deep-sea vessel that went missing with five people on-board as it dove towards the Titanic shipwreck, Mallinson said: 'It is horrendous.' The now 85-year-old told Sky News: 'I can't understand why they haven't transmitted some signal of some sort. I have a horrible feeling that something might be seriously wrong that they aren't able to transmit a signal. In 1973, Roger Mallinson (left), 35, and Roger Chapman, 28, had been imprisoned for 80 hours in their crippled mini-submersible Pisces III Mallinson (pictured), now 85, described what its like being stuck in a submersible and voiced his concerns for those missing on the Titanic tourist sub Divers begin to open the hatch of the miniature submarine Pisces III as she breaks water after being rescued 'I would have thought a hammer on a bit of the hull somewhere would be a good transmitter and it would carry.' Time is now running out for the five adventurers with their oxygen set to run out on Thursday - and with the group feared to have a one in 100 chance of survival at best. The Coast Guard said today that it may not be able to rescue the sub even if it can find it. But well-wishers can take heart from the scarcely believable 1973 rescue of Mallinson and Chapman, whose mini-submarine plummeted to 1,575ft below the surface with 80 hours air after an accident 150 miles southwest of Cork, Ireland. Their plunge prompted a huge international rescue operation which eventually saw them dragged to the service with just 12 minutes of oxygen left. When asked whether he ever thought he wouldn't make it out of the trapped submersible alive, Mr Mallinson said: 'We certainly did [think we wouldn't make it]. 84 hours is a very long time and we didn't have enough food, we didn't have enough oxygen, we didn't have enough battery power to run a scrubber. 'We just had to really ration everything and look after each other. We looked after each other and that was the major lifesaver.' Friends and relatives of the five people in the missing Titan sea vessel will now be hoping for a similar outcome. Mallinson revealed today how the decision to steal a bottle of oxygen at the last minute was the reason he survived. Rescuers in a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean are racing against time to find a missing submersible carrying five people on a mission to document the wreckage of the Titanic If the Titan sub can be rescued it would be the deepest underwater rescue ever. It submerged at 8am on Sunday morning around 400 miles southeast of St John's, Newfoundland, according to the US Coast Guard. It lost contact at 9.45am but it wasn't reported to the Coast Guard until 5.40pm 'Luckily before we started the dive I stole a bottle of oxygen,' he told Sky News. 'Because we stole it, I'm still here otherwise we certainly wouldn't be here. We'd have run out just after we crashed on the bottom, we would have run out. Mallison and Chapman have previously revealed how they were forced to huddle for warmth and set alarms to avoid carbon dioxide poisoning. It all started after the two Brits had been in the Pisces III submersible - a 20ft-long 'small' submarine - for eight hours as they buried a telephone cable in the seabed under the dark ocean. All went to plan initially, with the experienced pair preparing to surface in time for breakfast after a hard night's work on their 325th dive of the mission. The men were described as being hungry, exhausted and damp from humidity as they reached the surface at 9.18am. They were looking forward to some eggs and bacon when a diver from the Vickers Voyager support ship attached a tow rope to their sub that would take them to shore. However, it was at this point that things started to go disastrously wrong. Roger Chapman (second left) waves as he is taken to the Vickers Voyager, after being released from the crippled miniature submarine Pisces III Roger Chapman (left) and Roger Mallinson (right) are reunited with their wives after being rescued They did not know at the time, but a damaged hatch cover - which Mallinson had earlier flagged for repairs, only to have the request overruled by his bosses - had sprung open when, in a freak accident, a tow rope had wrapped around a hatch bolt. On Sky News today, Mr Mallinson blamed the diver for incorrectly putting the tow rope to the hatch, adding: 'He pulled the hatch off and would never admit it after. 'But that's what happened.' A high-pitched alarm sounded, ringing twice and telling both men about a potential leak. Water rushed in. Things got worse when the Pisces III was suddenly pulled downwards. The men held on for dear life and, at around 200ft, the tow line suddenly pulled taut, leaving them swinging like a pendulum. A spare battery for the underwater telephone, the size of a breeze block, came loose and began crashing from one side to the other. A sonar set had also broken free and was battering both of them as they waited to see what would happen next. Just a few minutes later, the towline snapped, sending them plummeting to the sea bed. '[It was] very frightening and we crashed to the seabed in 26 seconds. We'd taken four minutes to come up. Suddenly we went down in 26 seconds.' The pilots raced to secure every loose object, anything that could ricochet around the cabin when they hit bottom, then switched off all the electrical equipment, to minimise the risk of an explosive fire on impact. As rescuers desperately search for the missing Titan, well-wishers will be hoping for a similar outcome to what befell the Rogers As the gauge span past 1,000ft and then 1,200ft, Chapman stacked seat cushions across the back of the cabin, to soften the inevitable crash upon impact. The men also stuffed cloths in their mouths so they wouldn't bite through their tongues. After another severe jolt, the sub came to a halt, sending them crashing against the walls and tumbling over each other. A gauge in the Pisces III told them they were at a staggering 1,575ft. Despite the terrifying drop, the ship was intact and, in darkness, Chapman wrote in his notebook: 'On bottom.' They were trapped at a depth twice that of any previous submarine rescue and there was more than enough water above them to submerge the Empire State Building. As the reality of their situation sunk in and the two Rogers oriented themselves with the darkness, they quickly realised they were facing a few key problems. Firstly, they realised they had a dwindling oxygen supply but also realised they needed to stop the build-up of carbon dioxide, which would kill them. The ship was also freezing cold and they had little food. Luckily, their electrics were still working, meaning they had light and heat. The Boston Coast Guard is now looking for the missing vessel. The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada Shahzada Dawood, 48, (pictured with his wife Christine) a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are amongst the five people missing in the submarine that set off to see the wreck of the Titanic, it was revealed today Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding (pictured), CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition The crew was diving to the ocean floor to survey the Titanic wreckage However, a loud hissing told them that their main oxygen bottle was leaking. This triggered a mad dash from the pair, who found the bottle buried under equipment that had fallen during their plunge. They had another scare when they found the 'scrubber' a device that filtered out the carbon dioxide they exhaled. Discussing the tense moment they found the device, Chapman said later: 'If it was damaged beyond repair, our survival time would be very short indeed. 'My heart felt like it was going to thump a hole in my chest. But I could have wept for joy. It was OK.' They set-up two clockwork timers with plastic dials that they used to trigger an alarm every 30 minutes to remind them to activate the scrubber. The pilots were aware that if they fell asleep and failed to switch the scrubber on, there was a chance neither of them would wake up. Chapman was trembling with fear and cold and the water pressure was so strong that it would crush both men if the hatch opened. He made an inventory of their supplies and was dismayed to find only one soggy sandwich each left. Mallinson, a 35-year-old father-of-three, took jam, Chapman, a 28-year-old recently married former Royal Navy submariner, took cheese and chutney. They also shared a can of lemonade, half a flask of black coffee, a tin of powdered milk, a packet of sugar, two apples and three biscuits, as well as the standard lifeboat ration of glucose tablets. Though all of their equipment was in good condition, they only had a patchy radio signal, meaning they were in the dark as to what was happening above them. To distract himself, Mallinson imagined Bach's organ music in his head, moving his fingers to mimic a keyboard. That was the only movement they allowed, otherwise remaining motionless and taking only shallow breaths to preserve their oxygen supply. The men even experimented with their CO2 scrubber to save air - though this left them with headaches and bodyaches. To make matters worse, Mallinson was still feeling the affects of a dodgy meat pie from a pub, leaving him with cramps and pain. Eventually, he used a plastic bag to relieve himself - only for the stench to make the conditions even worse. The men huddled together, snatching mere minutes of sleep when they could as exhaustion and thirst battered them. The temperature inside the sub was 10c but with 95 per cent humidity and condensation running down the walls, they felt colder. Rescuers tried to contact them - only to be drowned out by the clicks of dolphins. Mallinson found this comforting, though Champman was frustrated. As they tried to survive and hold on, an extremely complex plan was launched to try and save them. Peter Messervy was put in charge of their rescue. He had previously been stuck in the Pisces III himself after it sunk a few years earlier and he was highly decorated, having won the George Medal for removing six torpedoes from a sunken Japanese submarine in 1959. Together with his team, he determined that the Rogers had enough oxygen to last them until 4pm on Saturday. As they had sunk at around 9am on Wednesday, this meant that the rescue had to be completed in just under 80 hours. There were four other Pisces-type mini subs in existence but only one, the Pisces II, was near enough to help. By 10.35am the Pisces II was ordered to head to port, from where it would be flown to Cork. However, Messervy wasn't satisfied and so requested that Pisces V, which was off the east coast of Canada, be flown to Cork by a Royal Canadian Air Force Hercules. Another key component of the rescue effort was an offer from the US Salvage Department of an unmanned submarine called the Controlled Underwater Recovery Vehicle, or CURV. While the Voyager hurried back to Cork to collect the two submersibles, an RAF Nimrod kept a marker on the men's position. Two Royal Navy ships headed at full speed to the area too. 'Neither of us really thought we were going to get out,' Mallinson said afterwards. 'You knew you had as much time as when your life support ran out, and that would be it.' Messervy's team was working flat out and, by 1am on Friday, August 31, with just 39 hours of oxygen left, the Voyager support ship returned with the two submersibles on board. At 2.14am Pisces II was launched, equipped with a rope and a toggle that had been made especially for the rescue attempt. The plan was for the toggle to be attached to Pisces III, so the craft could be hauled to the surface. Unfortunately, several issues struck the vessel and, when it eventually reached the bottom, it was unable to find the Pisces III. While Pisces II was being repaired, Pisces V was launched but it too failed to find the two men. Eventually, at 12.44pm on Friday, the lights of Pisces V suddenly caught the Pisces, moving the trapped men to tears. 'Tears streamed down Roger's face and, as if ashamed, he buried his head on my shoulder,' Chapman said. The two men cracked open a tin of lemonade in celebration. However, multiple attempts to secure a rescue line failed. One submersible sprang its own leak and had to return to the surface while another developed an electrical fault. Once, a hook and line simply refused to work, and could not be attached. 'We were running out of time,' Chapman recalled. 'Soon there'd be no power to run the scrubber.' Finally, nearly 70 hours into the ordeal, two lines were secured. Just before 11am on the morning of Saturday, September 1, the lifting of Pisces III began. The craft swung wildly and Chapman later commented that it was like a 'like a horrible big dipper gone mad'. To make matters worse, the bags containing Mallinson and Chapman's waste burst, flooding their small space. And there were still more twists to come. The ascent had to be halted twice - the first time because one of the other subs was entangled in the rescue line, the second time to attach another, stronger rope. At precisely 1.17pm, the Pisces surfaced. Chapman looked at the oxygen gauge and saw that there was a mere 20 minutes left. Later checks revealed the available oxygen was at just 12 minutes. 'There was a loud bang,' Chapman said. 'The hatch was opened and there was sunlight streaming in from above. Real voices spoke and hands reached down.' The two men collapsed into a inflatable boat and were taken to the Voyager, where, despite their exhaustion, they were both given a clean bill of health. But guests have found a clever way to bypass this with a new form of queueing In Camp de Mar, Majorca some hotels have rule to stop sun lounger scramble A Brit holidaymaker has been left stunned to discover a new level of sunbed-grabbing insanity at a Majorca hotel. In recent years tourists have been getting up increasingly early to put their towels down to ensure that they have a prime poolside spot for the day. But in a number of popular holiday spots, hotels have added some form of rule in a bid to prevent morning towel dashes. This includes the resort area of Camp de Mar in Majorca in Spain, where some hotels are keeping their pool shut until later in the morning to keep the early risers at bay. Crafty guests, however, have already found a way to bypass this rule - by putting their towels down on the floor at the entrance to the pool area. In the resort area of Camp de Mar in Majorca in Spain, hotels are keeping their pool shut until later in the morning to keep away the early risers (File photo) Photos show beach bags and towels placed in an orderly queue leading to the closed-off pool area so hotel guests can secure their sun bed the moment that it opens. Holidaymaker Geoff told The Mirror: 'In an effort to control the sunbed madness, the door from the hotel to the pool area was kept locked until 8am. 'So people were lining their towels up on the floor in a queue order by the door before it opened. I must add this wasn't youngsters, but mostly elderly and middle-aged people.' Discussing the behaviour of the other guests at a four star hotel in Camp de Mar, he said: 'The towel line actually went back much further (than the picture shows) and the owners were seated on the sofas just out of sight, ready to fly outside when the door was unlocked. 'I don't know what time they started, but we were up at 6.30am one morning to grab breakfast before an excursion, and there was already an established towel queue forming at the door. Crazy behaviour!' Meanwhile, a holiday hero has spoken out against some 'entitled' tourists who reserved sun loungers for nine hours while he and his wife were on holiday in Bali. Newlyweds Thom Aspland and Lisa were honeymooning at Bali's Grand Barong Resort where they were met by unfurled towels on sun loungers at 6.30am. After returning at 1pm and seeing the chairs untouched, the couple waited for a further hour of no movement, before finally ditching the reserving towels and taking the spot themselves. Hilarious footage captured the moment a holidaymaker (in black T-shirt) bagged five sun loungers by sprinting through the sun beds before throwing his towels on the best pool-side spots They were met at 3.30pm by the shocked pair of 'entitled' tourists 'iPads and books in hand'. The couple were even sure to teach their competitors a lesson by ushering other tourists in their place as they left. Speaking to Yahoo News, Thom said: 'We definitely thought they were entitled, but were surprised they didn't confront us.' He assumed that the lack of confrontation was down to the fact that 'they knew what they had done'. Thom also noted the hilarious extent of the couple's pettiness in getting on the beds in the first place. 'We didn't even want the beds,' he said, but the compulsion to prove a point was too strong. 'Many places here have an hour rule, so we just made sure we gave them an hour once we got in the pool,' he added. He revealed that he and Lisa had been looking on from the bar for two hours before making their move. He also gave comical detail about the approach of the pair who thought they would get away with the nine-hour reservation, saying that 'they quickly walked towards the chairs, then stopped and looked at each other to pause'. 'They then frantically looked for their two personal towels' before departing to their hotel room never to be seen again, he said. The happy couple made absolutely certain that they proved their point when they left by passing the beds on to a mother and daughter after telling them the whole story. Thom shared the 'petty' revenge story online with droves of followers agreeing that leaving towels on seats all day was 'sun hogging' and disrespectful. 'Am I the only one hoping there's a day two to this situation,' one person said. Another wrote: 'Proof that not all heroes wear a cape. 'Would shout you both a Bintang if I were there.' 'I would've done the same except I wouldn't have waited - if they weren't there using them its free for all,' a third added. Some also commended the couple for waiting the hour that they did. Thom then posted an update of the empty poolside chairs on the following morning as a sign of victory. 'Free all morning,' he declared. In August, the hilarious moment a holidaymaker bagged five sun loungers by sprinting towards them before throwing his towels on the best pool-side spots was posted on TikTok by a guest who filmed the chaotic scene from her balcony at the Paradise Park Hotel in Los Cristianos, Tenerife. The video shows a large pool surrounded by a decked terrace, moments before several people emerge and start running towards the sunbeds. One man dressed in yellow can be seen sprinting towards the loungers with several towels on his arm. He skipped past rows of other chairs until he reached the ones in the prime pool-side spot. While the other guests made their way towards the loungers, he took a shortcut to arrive there first and threw his towels down to claim the seats at an impressive speed. This wasn't the first time the man was on the hunt, as another video showed him in a black T-shirt securing the best spot. Jess Clarke, who filmed the crowd, captioned her video: 'Day Three Sunbed Wars'. It quickly gained more than 11,000 likes and hundreds of comments were left by viewers saying, 'Love it, so funny' or remarking, 'I've never seen sunbed wars that bad.' Another commented: 'Guy in yellow put in a proper shift.' A fourth said: '9am sunbed wars paradise park Tenerife what a sight.' One user recognised the man from Ms Clarke's previous video titled 'Day 1'. The hotel is known for sunbed reservation races and similar scenes were captured on camera last year. Thom Aspland's 'victory' post on Facebook saw him pictured with his wife Lisa. 'Free all morning,' he declared, with reference to the empty poolside chairs A viral TikTok video from July shows tourists at the Tenerife hotel making a shameless dash for the best poolside spot. Footage shows a crowd of holidaymakers show up at a pool at Paradise Park just as it opens. They then drop their towels on the hotspot's best loungers with some even glancing around guiltily as they do it. TikTok user Sarah, whose clip has already garnered more than five million views in just one day, simply captioned it: 'The Sunbed Race'. Paradise Park spokesman Rafael Ruiz-Benitez de Lugo told MailOnline last year: 'We were amused to see it considering that our hotel has five swimming pools and areas with space and sunbeds for everyone. 'Although we see quite a bit of talent among our guests for obstacle races.' Tourists in Palma de Mallorca raced to reserve a sun lounger at 9am as they sprinted alongside the pool Some appeared to be sprinting at full speed as they overtook others in the mad rush for the limited seats As soon as 9am struck, the competing holidaymakers started to run beside the pool adjacent to the hotel Footage shared on TikTok shows the horde decked out in their hats and towels ready for a day of basking in the Majorcan heat Weeks before, in June last year, sunbed-blockers had their towels taken away by hotel staff at another resort in Tenerife. Holidaymaker Amanda Proctor filmed the moment the workers picked up dozens of towels that guests had laid out on empty sun loungers in a bid to reserve the best seats next to the pool at the five star Gran Costa Adeje Hotel in southern Tenerife. Ms Proctor said that the staff at the hotel, which features four pools, took the guests' bags and towels and left a note on the chairs telling them where to collect their belongings. The holidaymaker said there was a sign at the hotel saying guests were not allowed to reserve sunbeds before 10am. A spokesman at the hotel told MailOnline: 'At GF Gran Costa Adeje, we defend the right of all our guests to enjoy our pools and we ask everyone to respect our policy. 'All guests will have their space in our solarium. In this situation, our colleague, like the entire GF Gran Costa Adeje team, is a hero without a cape. We are very happy with the reaction to the video and from our customers.' Though humans have explored much of the planet and its surroundings, certain pockets remain inaccessible to all but the most wealthy. For $100million private citizens can pay to orbit the moon in a Russian spacecraft and for $20million they can spend a week in the International Space Station (ISS). Those more conservative can spend half a million dollars to fly to the beginnings of space or $250,000 to visit the depths of the planet's oceans. In the last few decades, new industries tailored to billionaire tourists have multiplied, pioneered by some of the most renowned capitalists, including Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and Elon Musk. 'Rich guys, they love rocket ships,' said Donald Trump during a Cabinet meeting in 2018 about private investment in space. 'That's good. That's better than us paying for them.' Those 'guys' like submarines too. Branson, who founded Virgin Galactic to take private citizens to space, founded Virgin Oceanic in 2014 to visit the planet's deepest waters. British billionaire Hamish Harding, aboard the submarine that vanished this weekend during a tour of the Titanic shipwreck, had also been to the Mariana Trench in 2021 and a year later traveled to space with Blue Origin. Richard Branson, who is known for founding Virgin Galactic, has also turned his focus to the the waters. In 2014 he started Virgin Oceanic to reach the deepest points of the world's oceans. He is pictured on a submarine in 2011 Jeff Bezos founded Blue Origin, which takes tourists to space, and directly competes with Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic Branson and Bezos founded Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin respectively. Bezos' Blue Origin has taken paying customers in its New Shepard capsule up to the boundaries of space where they feel weightlessness for a few minutes and return. Although Blue Origin does not disclose the price of those tickets, its direct competitor, Virgin Galactic, currently sells seats for $450,000. READ MORE: The cast of millionaires and billionaires who pay 195,000 per seat for a trip to follow Titanic director James Cameron and descend to the most famous shipwreck in the world Advertisement But other, lesser-known companies have been trading for decades and taken billionaires not just into orbit but even on trips to the ISS. The advent of space tourism is associated with Dennis Tito, an American investment manager, who paid a reported $20million for a seven-day trip to the ISS in 2001. The operation was the result of a deal between Russian company MirCorp and the American company Space Adventures Ltd and was seen as a way to generate money to fund the maintenance of the aging outpost. It was founded in 1998 and has since taken a number of ultra-wealthy private citizens to the station. Since 2007 it has offered a trip around the Moon on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for $100million, which will 'take you to within a few hundred kilometers of the Moon's surface.' 'It's not just about working for the government or being a fighter pilot or NASA, it's now available to you and me,' said its chairman Eric Anderson in a video promoting its trips to the ISS last year. 'We have changed what it means to be an astronaut. Space Adventures is the original space experiences company that enables private citizens with opportunities to fly to space,' he added. Some of its clients include Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, Microsoft software engineer Charles Simonyi and computer game developer Richard Garriott. It organized the flight of Japanese billionaire and fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawato to the ISS in December 2021. 'I'm so curious, "What's life like in space?" So, I am planning to find out on my own and share with the world,' Maezawa said in a statement earlier that year. Within months of completing that trip he said he would also be voyaging to the Mariana Trench. California millionaire Dennis Tito is thought to be the first space tourist. He is pictured in 2001 getting out of a Russian Soyuz rocket Dennis Tito, pictured with his wife in 2022, booked a flight to the moon on SpaceX's Starship that year In December the 47-year-old announced he would journey around the moon with Musk's rocket and satellite company SpaceX at some point this year, that would make him the first private passenger on a SpaceX moon mission. Space tourism has also become a way to fund expensive and unprofitable trips to space in the hope that research and technological advancement will eventually drive the cost down. Mike Gold, an associate administrator for Space Policy and Partnerships at NASA, told The Washington Post in 2018 that such sponsorships are useful. 'Just like in the early days of aviation, with barnstorming, these initial activities will help build the infrastructure and the foundation that can lead to future innovations that, frankly, we cannot imagine right now,' he said. NASA's website suggests that reaching low-Earth orbit is akin to summitting Everest - which over the years has become increasingly accessible but was once a privilege reserved only for the especially rich. It is not just space or the vast blue deep that have intrigued the world's richest. Two years ago the world's first private icebreaker was launched by a Russian billionaire to facilitate luxury travel to the North Pole. The 253ft, 79.5m vessel dubbed La Datcha was commissioned by Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov, 52, but is also available to charter for 665,000 per week. Space Adventures Ltd organized the flight of Japanese billionaire and fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawato the ISS in December 2021 Laliberte paid $35million for a 10-day visit to the International Space Station and became Canada's first space tourist The vessel features a deep-sea submarine, two helipads and snowmobiles and can stay afloat without refueling for 40 days. Thanks to advanced fuel tank and waste disposal systems, La Datcha can spend up to 40 days on open sea without the need to return to port to refuel. And while would-be passengers are out exploring the high seas, they will be living in the lap of luxury. Crew members and guests can take out the snowmobiles, relax in a sauna, frequent the massage room or take a dip in one of two onboard hot tubs. The icebreaker, intended for travel to both the north and south poles as well as tropical regions, is designed to hold 24 crew and 12 additional passengers. Mr Tinkoff told media company Yacht Harbour: 'The world is so big and our life is so short that we need to explore as much as possible.' Ranking alongside the allure of space and the north and south poles, is the world's tallest peak, Everest, which has long-tempted wealthy adventurers. Between the early 20th century and the 1970s, attempts to summit the 29,032ft peak were extremely expensive and rare - only the most determined climbers bothered. Two years ago the world's first private icebreaker was launched by a Russian billionaire to facilitate luxury travel to the North Pole. The 253ft, 79.5m vessel dubbed La Datcha was commissioned by Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov, 52, but is also available to charter for 665,000 per week But in the 1990s the experience became increasingly commercialized and the cost reduced drastically. In the last decades a climber can expect to spend anywhere from $30,000 to $100,000 on summitting the world's tallest peak. One of the the most famous commercial ascents of Everest was documented by the journalist Jon Krakauer, who convinced his employer, Outside Magazine, to fund a summit attempt in 1996 which he would write about. 'The plain truth is that I knew better but went to Everest anyway. And in doing so I was a party to the death of good people, which is something that is apt to remain on my conscience for a very long time,' he concluded the introduction to a memoir. Above the 7,500 meter height, in what's known as the mountain's death zone, commercial climbers crowded the mountain and the traffic prevented others from descending as a storm struck, killing eight climbers. 'Attempting to climb Everest is an intrinsically irrational act - a triumph of desire over sensibility,' he wrote in the introduction to a memoir. The number of commercial climbs of Everest went from almost zero in 1970 to around 600 in 2019, according to a compilation of records for expeditions to the Himalayas, The Himalaya by the Numbers. The number of commercial climbs of Everest went from almost zero in 1970 to around 600 in 2019. The mountain has been overpopulated in recent years, preventing climbers from descending properly In a famous photo taken on Everest in 2019, a number of commercial climbers tourists could be seen lined up along a path near to its summit. In 2014 a Google executive, Alan Eustace made headlines after jumping from a balloon near the top of the stratosphere. He was lifted in a space suit to an altitude of around 130,000 feet by a balloon filled with helium. After jumping he spent around 15 minutes falling down to earth equipped with a parachute, a jump for which he broke a Guinness World Record. Texan billionaire Jim Clark spent more than $15 million on a 100-foot yacht known as the Comanche hoping to build 'the fastest boat ever'. Billionaire plans to conquer uncharted territories have been met by come criticism. In 2021 Prince William told the BBC that the wealthiest people should not be focused on exploration. In this photo taken in May 2019, a long queue of climbers line a path on Mount Everest. About half a dozen climbers died the week prior while descending from the congested summit 'We need some of the world's greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live,' he said. '[It] really is quite crucial to be focusing on this [planet] rather than giving up and heading out into space to try and think of solutions for the future.' Similarly Bill Gates has attacked Elon Musk for investing his money on rockets and not vaccines. He told the BBC earlier this years, 'It's actually quite expensive to go to Mars. You can buy measles vaccines and save lives for $1,000 per life saved.' Nargeolet warned in 2019 if something bad happens when a submersible is underwater 'you're dead before you realize that something is happening' He has been on at least 35 dives to the wreckage site before boarding the OceanGate Expedition's Titan Sunday morning before it went missing A Titanic expert onboard a missing submersible once gave an ominous warning about the dangers of deep dives, saying almost any mistake means certain death. French mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77, is widely considered to be a 'leading authority' on the sunken cruiser, leading several expeditions to the Titanic wreckage site off the coast of Newfoundland and even supervising the recovery of thousands of artifacts including the 20-ton section of the Titanic's hull. He was on at least 35 dives to the wreckage site before boarding the OceanGate Expeditions' Titan submersible early Sunday morning, which lost contact with mothership MV Polar Prince an hour and 45 minutes into its two hour descent as it was hovering above its destination. Based on his expertise with these deep dives, Nargeolet told the Irish Examiner in 2019: 'If you are 11 meters or 11 kilometers down, if something bad happens, the result is the same. 'When you're in very deep water, you're dead before you realize that something is happening, so it's just not a problem.' Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77, is one of the four passengers onboard a submersible missing in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland He is a renowned Titanic expert, conducting at least 35 dives to the wreckage site He boarded OceanGate Expedition's Titan submersible (pictured) Sunday before it lost contact with its mothership about an hour and 45 minutes into its voyage Nargeolet was born in Chamonix, France and sent more than two decades in the French Navy, rising to the rank of commander. He retired in 1986 and joined the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of Sea, leading deep sea submersibles. In that position, Nargeolet participated in the Five Deeps expedition, exploring the deepest parts of all five of Earth's oceans and even breaking the record for the deepest submersible dive at 10,928 meters, or 35,853 feet, below sea level. By 1987 he led the first expedition to the Titanic, two years after its discovery. He later said that when he came across the wreckage site for the first time, he and his two crew members were stunned into silence for 10 minutes as 'we were at the foredeck, the most beautiful part where you saw the anchor chains, bronze winches still polished by the water and sedimentation... you could read perfectly they were made in Glasgow.' From there, Nargeolet continued to lead dives to the Titanic, helping to map the site and chart the course of deterioration. 'At the beginning we were scared to recover artifacts owned by passengers, but then we realized we could learn a lot about the passengers,' he once said, according to the Telegraph. 'We are resurfacing the history of these families, and for me, that's a good thing.' When asked why the Titanic fascinated him so much more than 100 years since it crashed into an iceberg and sank, he said: 'The word Titanic is magic in my opinion because it always sparks a reaction. 'There are those who are interested in the construction of the boat. There are those who are interested by the billionaires of the time on board, as they were the stars of the time, some are interested in the immigrants looking for a new life in North America... everyone can find an interest in the Titanic. 'Once you've put your head in the Titanic, it's hard to take it out.' Nargeolet now resides in Connecticut, while his adult children live in Cork, Ireland. John Paschal, 31, Nargeolets stepson who has a Connecticut address, said just a few words about the search, declined to say anything personal at this time, not wanting to sound like he was speaking of him in the past tense. I dont want to speak in terms of active and passive with him. I just want the search and rescue process to play out at this point. We hope for the best possible result for everyone whos on board. We hope they return safely and soundly, and were keeping everyone in our thoughts and prayers. We appreciate the efforts made by everyone so far in the search and rescue effort. Also on board the submersible is billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about starting the trip on Sunday Shahzada Dawood, 48, a board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, (pictured together) are also on board the missing submarine Nargeolet is now said to be running out of air on a small submersible with British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding and a British father and son duo. The vessel began its dive on Sunday morning, and will run out of oxygen on Thursday morning eastern time, if it is still intact and has not imploded due to a fault. Inside the 22-foot long vessel, there are no seats and only one toilet a small black box with a black curtain drawn across for privacy. All passengers are barefoot and must sit on the floor. There is no 'door' to get in and out of the vessel. Instead, the passengers are bolted in from the outside before their journey begins with 17 bolts, which begins with the Titan being launched from a recovery platform, which has tanks used to sink and resurface the vessel. It was also revealed yesterday that tourists who pay $250,000 to descend almost 13,000 feet below sea level to view the wreck of the Titanic must sign a waiver saying they accept the submersible is not approved by any regulatory body. But in a May 2021 court filing, OceanGate said the Titan had an 'unparalleled safety feature' that assesses the integrity of the hull throughout every dive. 'This onboard health analysis monitoring system provides early warning detection for the pilot with enough time to arrest the descent and safely return to surface,' the company explains on its website. While it is therefore likely the submarine is still intact, the missing submersible is a small vessel only designed to hold five people for a single day. The submersible is just big enough to fit the five passengers, with only one toilet US and Canadian ships and planes have now swarmed the area about 900 miles east of Cape Cod but are yet to find them as the search enters a third day today. Officials are racing to get a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to search for Titan - the name of the Titanic submersible. These can reach a depth of 20,000ft and are connected to a ship via an 'umbilical cord', allowing the pilot to control it from above using thrusters and relay images from sonar and camera systems. Some can lift objects from the sea bed. The only likely rescue would come from an un-crewed vehicle - essentially an underwater drone. The US Navy have one they used to salvage a crashed F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in about 12,400 feet in the South China Sea in early 2022. The US Navy also has a Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS), which is can recover items using a winch from 21,000ft depths. There is also a privately owned two-man sub called Limiting Factor. In 2019 the explorer Victor Vescovo used it to become the first person to reach the deepest point in all five oceans. Limiting Factor, a two man sub that is able to go to the depths where the Titan could be. It has the record for going to the bottom of the world's five deepest ocean basins A U.S. Navy-owned research vessel, deploys the cable-controlled Undersea Recovery Vehicle (CURV-21) off the coast of Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina. The CURV is designed to meet the U.S. Navy's deep ocean recovery requirements down to a maximum depth of 20,000 feet and helped recover a jet last year Sonar buoys have also been dropped into the Atlantic to listen for the Titan. Planes and ships with similar technology are also scanning the sea for any sign on the surface and down below, including any noise from the missing men banging on the hull or screaming for help - a key instruction given in the case of a deep sea emergency. And nuclear submarines from Britain and the US could be sent. Today a new specialist ship is scanning the water. Deep Energy is searching the seafloor using cameras usually employed when laying pipes deep underwater. But experts have said that even if the missing Titan is found on the sea bed - they are unlikely to be able to rescue the five people on board. Commander Ryan Ramsey, who served in the British Royal Navy's submarine service for 23 years is less hopeful, and believes there is no chance of rescue And with no sign of the craft yet, the five Titanic tourists and adventurers inside face the double threat of dwindling oxygen and extreme cold at two miles below the surface. Experts believe the vessel has a maximum of 96 hours of life support, meaning that air in the sealed sub will run out at around lunchtime on Thursday. A third giant shark has been spotted swimming off the Spanish coastline near to a popular British tourist destination in less than a week. A group of fishermen in Majorca captured the moment the shark approached their boat in the calm waters of Cap de Formentor, near Puerto Pollensa. As it got closer to the boat, the men realised it was a grey, six-gilled flat-toothed reef shark, known as cow sharks and turned the boat engine off to avoid hurting the creature. The Majorca Daily Bulletin said the appearance was 'very unusual' as the harmless species usually lives at the bottom of the sea and does not tend to surface. Fishermen filmed the moment a huge shark approached their boat, the giant creature was identified as a cow shark Cow sharks are usually harmless and live at the bottom of the ocean, the men turned off the boat's engine to avoid hurting the shark This is the third shark incident off the Spanish coast in a week, last Thursday beachgoers ran to safety as a shark edged towards the shoreline on Aguamarina Beach, South Alicante. At around 10am, lifeguards blew their whistles to warn locals and tourists to get out of the sea as soon as possible. The morning afterward footage emerged of what was thought to be a blue shark, lurking in the water at the port of Ciutadella de Menorca. While shark encounters are rare at resort towns in Spain, a few incidents have been witnessed over recent years. Back in 2016, a blue shark was blamed for attacking a tourist further down the coast in Elche, near Alicante. The 40-year-old victim was rushed to hospital after being bitten and required stitches for his hand. First aiders described the bite as 'large' and said he had come out of the sea covered in blood. The dramatic moment bathers try to run to safety through waist-high water as a shark nears the shoreline off a Costa Blanca beach Initial reports said the shark was a blue shark which is about seven foot long An incident in 2018 saw tourists running out of the water in panic after a blue shark emerged off the packed Majorcan beach of Calas de Majorca. The recent shark sightings comes after a tiger shark killed a 23-year-old Russian tourist in Egypt earlier this month. Vladimir Popov was ripped apart in Hurghada on the shores of the Red Sea and reportedly screamed 'Papa, papa' as the shark attacked him in front of horrified beachgoers. It was confirmed that body parts of the man were recovered from inside the shark's stomach. The tiger shark which killed Popov has been embalmed and is being prepared for an exhibition at a museum in Egypt, according to local media. A marine biologist said the pregnant tiger shark was suspected of having killed twice in 2022. In July of last year, 68-year-old Austrian tourist Elizabeth Sauer was attacked in the water while snorkeling. The shark struck a second time just feet away, killing a Romanian tourist. Joe Biden said just last month that his son did 'nothing wrong' but now Hunter Biden is charged with a gun felony and plans to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax offenses. The president's son reached a deal with the Justice Department after lying on a government form about whether he was using drugs when he purchased a gun, according to court filings Tuesday. In an interview with MSNBC, Biden was asked how his 53-year-old son's business and tax dealing have impacted his presidency. 'First of all my son has done nothing wrong,' the president said in reference to the multiple investigations and high amount of scrutiny placed on Hunter. 'I trust him, I have faith in him,' Biden told host Stephanie Ruhle in May during his first one-on-one since announcing his reelection campaign. 'And it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him.' President Joe Biden said in an interview last month that his son did 'nothing wrong' despite the multiple investigations involving his business dealings and the charges levied this week Hunter Biden reached a deal to plead guilty to two tax charges and face probation for lying on a federal form to purchase a firearm 'And it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him.' Upon news of the charges, White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement: 'The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment.' Hunter will plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors and has agreed to take probation on the gun charge. If he violates probation, it would mean further prosecution, the new DOJ filings note. The deals mean that Hunter Biden will likely avoid jail time. The president's son has been under investigation for five years for tax and financial allegations, as well as for paperwork for purchasing a handgun where he attested that he did not abuse drugs. That contradicted admissions in his own autobiography. U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss has been overseeing the probe and the agreement with prosecutors still must be approved by a federal judge. A document Weiss filed with the court Tuesday states that the criminal information charges the defendant with tax offenses 'namely two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax,' as well as 'one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.' The letter stated that prosecutors and Biden's lawyer Christopher Clark jointly request a court appearance on the firearm change and a plea hearing on the tax charge. Hunter lied on a firearm report (above) required for a gun transaction. A photo of the form shows he answered 'no' when asked if he was an 'unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance' The deals the president's son reached this week are likely to see him avoid jail time for the trio of charges U.S. Attorney David Weiss said Hunter Biden agreed to enter a 'diversion agreement' where defendants can admit the facts of the case without entering a formal guilty plea. Hunter lied on a federal form saying that he was not on drugs in order to be able to purchase a firearm Last year Hunter paid back the feds for outstanding taxes, two years after disclosing the probe into his finances. The Hunter Biden probe has been a lingering political issue for the Biden administration. Republicans have been hammering the administration for allegedly uneven application of justice, after a federal grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump on charges of willful retention of national security documents and conspiracy to obstruct an investigation into the matter. A separate probe of classified material uncovered at President Biden's home and former office is ongoing. House Republicans have demanded Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is heading the Trump probe as well as a probe into January 6, hand over materials about how early decisions got made in that matter. A woman has appeared in court accused of attacking cabin crew after getting drunk on board a holiday jet. Zoe Alexander, 33, is said have become 'aggressive' and 'kicked out' out at staff and verbally abused passengers on a TUI flight from Manchester to Cuba. Manchester Magistrates' Court heard how Alexander allegedly became drunk and 'more intoxicated' on the flight and tried to access a 'premium area' of the plane. The captain of the plane was alerted and he contacted authorities on the ground, the court heard, and Alexander was arrested when she arrived on the return flight to Manchester. Alexander spoke to confirm her name, address and date of birth when she appeared in the dock. Zoe Alexander, 33, is accused of attacking cabin crew after getting allegedly getting drunk on board a holiday jet destined to fly from Manchester to Cuba. She is pictured outside Manchester Magistrates' Court Alexander spoke to confirm her name, address and date of birth when she appeared in the dock. She is pictured leaving court in the rain No pleas were entered to the charges against her of being drunk on an aircraft, three counts of assault and two counts of using threatening, abusive, insulting words or behaviour. But she indicated she denied being drunk on the aircraft. Magistrates bailed Alexander, from Hornchurch, Essex, and she's due to appear at Manchester Crown Court on July 25. Two 19-year-olds accused of raping a British woman and filming the act in a Greek hotel, have been released from custody but ordered to report to the embassy in London every month while the investigation continues. The 24-year-old unidentified Briton claimed the two teenagers assaulted her in her inebriated state in a hotel room last week in Rethymno on the Greek island of Crete. She alleged the pair filmed the sexual assault on their mobile phones after meeting them at a bar in the city earlier that night. The woman said the three consumed alcohol and went back to the hotel where the two men were staying. She said she woke up naked the next morning and did not know where she was. Both men were arrested and appeared in court on Monday where they were released with restrictive conditions and fined. The 24-year-old unidentified Briton claimed the two teenagers assaulted her in her inebriated state in a hotel room last week in Rethymno (pictured) on the Greek island of Crete As Greek police arrested the two unidentified teens last week on suspicion of rape, the 24-year-old was taken to a medical examiner to undergo tests. The two are now free to fly back home but must report to the Greek Embassy in London each month. MailOnline has since contacted the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for comment. It comes just two weeks after an Albanian man accused of raping a British tourist in the sea and attempting to do so again at her hotel in Rhodes was freed from custody. This time, however, the man was barred from leaving Greece pending further investigation. The British woman, 20, told police the 23-year-old man raped her earlier this month on June 3 after they went for a swim at Glystra beach on the east coast of the island. The young woman said the man then took her back to her hotel room in Kiotari where he attacked her and tried to rape her a second time, Vradini newspaper reported. The tourist, who has not been named, testified that she had met the man two weeks ago and that they exchanged messages on WhatsApp before meeting up in person last week. The Albanian national insisted to investigators that the pair had consensual sex before they ate together and then went to her room to have sex again, the Dimokratiki newspaper reports. The British woman, 20, told police a 23-year-old man raped her on Saturday, June 3 after they went for a swim at a Rhodes (pictured) beach on the east coast of the island The British tourist told police that she had met the suspect at her hotel room in the afternoon of June 3 before they agreed to ride on his brother's motorbike to Glystra beach where they went swimming. She said that the man then attacked her while they were in the sea and raped her. The victim walked onto the beach and put on her clothes before begging the suspect to drive her back to her hotel room. But when they arrived at the hotel at 4pm local time, the 23-year-old man followed her back to her room where he took off her clothes and tried to sexually assault her again. This time, the woman was able to push him away from her and forced him to leave the room. The victim then left the hotel and reported the rape and assault to Rhodes police. Detectives launched a manhunt for the Albanian man. He was found hours later and taken to the police station. A case has been filed against him for rape, for which he could face up to ten years in prison. He has now been released from custody on the condition that he does not leave the country. The investigation continues. Republicans are unsatisfied with Hunter Biden's guilty plea in his tax fraud case - calling it a 'sweetheart deal' and a 'distraction' from the more scurrilous bribery allegations they are probing. Hunter Biden's lawyers have reached a deal with prosecutors that would see him plead guilty to two tax crimes and resolve his gun form violation but likely avoid jail time, according to new Justice Department filings. Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the new plea deal would actually help the House GOP's investigation because the Department of Justice could not use a pending investigation to withhold information. 'Now this does nothing to our investigation,' McCarthy told reporters Tuesday morning. 'It actually should enhance our investigation because the DOJ should not be able to withhold any information now saying that there's a pending investigation. They should be able to provide Chairman Comer with any information that he requires.' 'It continues to show the two-tier system in America,' the speaker added. 'If you are the president's leading political opponent, the DOJ tries to literally put you in jail and give you prison time. But if you are the president's son, you get a sweetheart deal.' 'Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling and possibly bribery,' Oversight Chair James Comer said in a statement. 'These charges against Hunter Biden have no impact on the Oversight Committee's investigation,' the Kentucky Republican added. The president's son has been under investigation for five years for tax and financial allegations, as well as for paperwork for purchasing a handgun where he attested that he did not abuse drugs. Hunter Biden has reached a deal with prosecutors that would see him plead guilty to a trio of crimes but likely avoid jail time, according to new Justice Department filings That contradicted admissions in his own autobiography where he detailed an addiction to crack cocaine that led to a stint in rehab. The agreement with prosecutors still must be approved by a federal judge, and comes at a time when the Justice Department is under scrutiny for its handling of high-profile investigations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. 'Hunter Biden pleading guilty to a gun charge and misdemeanor tax charges with no jail time is a stunt to make him look like he is just cooperating with the DOJ,' Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., wrote on Twitter. 'Meanwhile the pathetic and weaponized DOJ who protects their puppet President and refuses to prosecute Joe Biden and Hunter for taking bribes from Ukrainian oligarchs and raking in tens of millions of dollars from foreign countries bc the Big Guy makes policy decisions to be help his customers are the real crimes the Biden's should be charged with!,' she went on. 'Oh but hey, look at Jack Smith trying to throw President Trump in jail for 100 years for legally possessing documents he's allowed to posses under the Presidential Records Act. We are controlled by COMMUNISTS!!' Democrats were largely silent, though some praised the president's son for 'taking responsibility.' 'I am encouraged that Hunter is taking responsibility for his actions, paying the taxes that he owes, and preparing to move on with his life,' Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., wrote on Twitter. U.S. Attorney David Weiss said Hunter Biden agreed to enter a 'diversion agreement' where defendants can admit the facts of the case without entering a formal guilty plea Hunter Biden's problems have been a running theme during the Biden administration. Here President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden attend the University of Pennsylvania 267th Commencement Ceremony at Franklin Field in Philadelphia Top Oversight Democrat Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said the charges prove the Justice Department's 'institutional independence.' 'The U.S. Attorney for Delaware, who was appointed by former President Trump and kept on by President Biden, has investigated and now criminally charged the son of the sitting President with two misdemeanor tax counts and a firearms count,' he said in a statement. 'This development reflects the Justice Department's continued institutional independence in following the evidence of actual crimes and enforcing the rule of law even in the face of constant criticism and heckling by my GOP colleagues who think that the system of justice should only follow their partisan wishes.' Republicans on the Oversight Committee are currently investigating an FBI form that details a conversation between the FBI and a confidential source. In it, the informant detailed claims of a $5 million 'arrangement' of an exchange of money for policy decisions between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national. Hunter Biden was part of the arrangement and allegedly also cashed in on $5 million. The claims have not been proven, and Democrats allege the form's claims originated with Rudy Giuliani and have already been investigated. But the FBI has not been forthcoming with the unclassified form - keeping it from members of Congress until they threatened to hold FBI Director Chris Wray in contempt and refusing to show it to the wider public. Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., chair of the Republican Study Committee, wrote on Twitter: 'Biden's DOJ is treating Hunter w/ kid gloves, giving him a deal that only the President's son could receive. 'If any of my constituents pled guilty to the same crimes, they'd be facing jail time. This plea deal will not stop our investigation into the Biden crime family.' Sources told NBC prosecutors will recommend probation which would spare the president's son jail time but could land him in hot water if he violates terms. Both tax times to which he will plead guilty are misdemeanor charges. Prosecutors would recommend two years' probation. Any further terms of probation that prosecutors would recommend were not immediately available, and would be subject to modification by the court, according to the Washington Post. U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, a holdover from the Trump administration, has been overseeing the politically charged probe. A document Weiss filed with the court Tuesday states that the criminal information charges the defendant with tax offenses 'namely two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax,' as well as 'one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.' Last month IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley told CBS News he immediately saw deviations in Hunter's tax probe investigation when he was assigned the case in January 2020. He became concerned that prosecutors were mishandling the 'controversial' case and felt bound to blow the whistle due to his oath of office. 'This is a job, and my oath of office is to treat everybody fairly that we investigate,' he told CBS News. '[This case] was way outside the norm of what I've experienced in the past. There were multiple steps that were slow-walked were just completely not done at the direction of the Department of Justice. 'When I saw the egregiousness of some of these things, it no longer became a choice for me. It's not something that I want to do. It's something I feel like I have to do.' 'It's no coincidence that less than a week after President Trump is arraigned by the DOJ, Hunter Biden is pleading guilty to a sweetheart deal with no jail time,' Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., chimed in. 'They are going for the low-hanging fruit by charging Hunter Biden with a gun felony and two tax misdemeanors, after years of slow walking their investigation. For AG Garland to maintain his mantra that there is one standard of justice is pathetic.' 'Its never been more clear that we have a two-tiered system of justice when you have the son of the sitting President of the United States selling our country out to the highest bidder, laundering money, committing tax fraud, accepting bribes,' said GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik in a statement. 'House Republicans will not rest until the full illegal corruption of the Biden Crime Family is exposed.' 'Hunter Biden is receiving a sweetheart deal from the DOJ that shields 'THE BIG GUY' Joe Biden from the Biden foreign bribery operation. The cash & diamonds he didn't pay taxes on came from CHINA, RUSSIA & UKRAINE. No FARA foreign agent charges? TWO SYSTEMS OF JUSTICE!' Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., wrote on Twitter. Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., called the alleged tax and gun crimes a 'diversion from the real issues' as he accused the media of 'willfully ignoring the biggest political scandal in history.' Regarding the gun charge, Hunter 'has agreed to enter a Pretrial Diversion Agreement with respect to the firearm Information,' according to Weiss. Handling the matter as a diversion case means Hunter wouldn't technically have to enter a guilty plea in the gun matter. Such cases are reserved for people who have a clean record and are facing non-violent charges who can meet a series of criteria. They are meant to reduce recidivism and often are applied to people dealing with substance abuse issues. The letter stated that prosecutors and Biden's lawyer Christopher Clark jointly request a court appearance on the firearm change and a plea hearing on the tax charge. In 2021, Hunter reportedly paid back the feds for outstanding taxes, more than two years after disclosing the probe into his finances. The New York Times reported he told an associate the amount was more than $1 million, and that he needed a loan to pay what he owed the government. The Hunter Biden probe has been a lingering political issue for the Biden administration, and throughout Biden's tenure the White House has had to respond to questions about his pricey art sales along with a series of disclosures about his business dealings and personal life gleaned from his laptop. Republicans have been hammering the administration for allegedly uneven application of justice, after a federal grand jury indicted Trump on charges of willful retention of national security documents and conspiracy to obstruct an investigation into the matter. The 37-count indictment has the former president facing a court date currently set for August in the heat of the Republican presidential primaries. A separate probe of classified material uncovered at President Biden's home and former office is ongoing. House Republicans have demanded Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is heading the Trump probe as well as a probe into January 6, hand over materials about how early decisions got made in that matter. The plea deal comes despite President Biden telling MSNBC when asked about Hunter: 'My son has done nothing wrong.' 'First of all my son has done nothing wrong, Biden told the network, following months of public reports about the substance of the probe. 'I trust him, I have faith in him,' Biden said. 'And it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him.' Hunter's failure to pay taxes came from a time when he was acting as a high-flying international lawyer doing deals around the globe, while also according to his autobiography using drugs. His dealings extended from Ukraine, where he won a lucrative position on the board of the Burisma energy firm, to trips to China where he is accused of trying to leverage his father's influence while Biden was vice president to secure business. Information gleaned from his infamous laptop, which according to a Wilmington repair shop owner Hunter dropped off seeking computer support but never reclaimed, shows him posing naked with a gun and smoking what appears to be a crack pipe while passed out in bed. 'The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment,' said White House spokesman Ian Sams. Trump hammered the 'corrupt' Justice Department about an hour after news broke of the deal reached by the U.S. Attorney he appointed. 'Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere 'traffic ticket.' Our system is BROKEN!' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Back in 2018, Trump hailed Weiss when nominating him before he was confirmed by the Senate. He said Weiss and other candidates 'share the President's vision for 'Making America Safe Again.' The Biden DOJ then kept Weiss on after the changeover in administration. He met with Hunter's team in April to discuss the case, in one signal it was reaching its conclusion. Hunter Biden disclosed the investigation in December 2020, weeks before his father took office. It had been ongoing for about two years at that time. The gun charge relates to a period in 2018 when Hunter became involved with the widow of his brother, the late Beau Biden. His sister-in-law allegedly took his handgun and tossed it in a dumpster. A man recovered the gun, which got federal authorities involved. Eventually that led to a search for the paperwork traced to the gun purchase. Hunter Biden, like other handgun purchasers, was required to answer the question: 'Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?' He answered no. A gay bar in Minneapolis has removed Anheuser-Busch products from its beer line after criticizing the brand for how it handled backlash over its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The Saloon, which bills itself as the city's longest-running gay bar, said ahead of its Pride celebrations that it will replace the products with beers from local breweries. Anheuser-Busch lost $27 billion in value due to a campaign with Mulvaney that upset conservatives. Then the company upset progressives too, after failing to support Mulvaney through the backlash. 'Anheuser-Busch had an opportunity to support a marginalized community in a way that few other corporations have attempted, but they abandoned that direction. We view that as unacceptable,' said the bar's owner John Moore in a statement. Beers such as Bud Light, Michelob Golden Light and Michelob Ultra will be replaced at the Minnesota bar with local brands like Modist Brewing Co. and Bauhaus Brew Labs. The Saloon, a gay bar in Minneapolis, has removed Anheuser-Busch products from its beer line over the brand's handling of its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney Anheuser-Busch lost $27 billion due to a campaign with Mulvaney that upset conservatives and eventually also angered progressives who say the brand abandoned the influencer Beers such as Bud Light, Michelob Golden Light (left) and Michelob Ultra right) will be replaced at the Minnesota bar 'We will continue to pursue avenues to keep our money local and community-based while we remain one of the best parties in Minneapolis and a place where our queer community can come together to celebrate our existence,' said The Saloon's general manager Robby Palmer. The Saloon issued its decision before hosting several block parties celebrating Pride over the weekend. Anheuser-Busch has been dealing with the scandal since Mulvaney posted cans the company sent, specially designed to celebrate her first year of 'girlhood' back in April. After Anheuser-Busch tried to distance itself from the Mulvaney promotion, Bud Light also faced backlash from the opposite direction, with pro-LGBTQ groups accusing the company of abandoning the transgender influencer. Several gay bars in Chicago have also decided to drop all Anheuser-Busch products, arguing the company has turned its back on the LGBTQ+ community. The company has since lost billions of dollars in market capitalization, and continues to be boycotted by tens of millions of former consumers. Anheuser-Busch has been dealing with the scandal since Mulvaney posted cans the company sent, specially designed to celebrate her first year of 'girlhood' back in April Earlier this month, Modelo Especial dethroned Bud Light as the top American beer, as its sales have increased more than 15 percent from the same time a year ago. Bud Light's parent company said earlier this month it will triple its marketing spending in the US this summer as it tries to boost ailing sales. Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Michel Doukeris has downplayed the impact of the backlash, saying Bud Light's US sales declines in the first three weeks of April represented only one percent of InBev's global volumes. 'We believe we have the experience, the resources and the partners to manage this,' Doukeris said during a conference call with investors earlier this month. The Belgian based brewer placed two executives responsible for partnership Alissa Heinerscheid, the vice president of marketing, and her boss, Daniel Blake on leave in April. The exec was hired to overhaul Bud Light's marketing in June 2022 with the vision of freshening up its image, while Blake had worked at Anheuser-Busch for nearly nine years. Heinerscheid's short-lived tenure reportedly included a widely-lauded Super Bowl ad featuring Miles Teller and wife Keleigh Sperry, as well as 'the Bud Light Carry' campaign that showed a woman carrying a round of beers to a table of friends without spilling a drop. Those ads, statements from the beer brand revealed, were part of Heinerscheid's vision to make the brand more female friendly - something she described only a few months ago as a 'passion point'. Ex-SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon is quizzed about her and her husband's arrests Nicola Sturgeon today refused to answer questions about whether her husband is 'innocent' as she made her first public return to Holyrood since her dramatic arrest. The ex-SNP leader, speaking to reporters at the Scottish Parliament, was quizzed about her detention as part of a police probe into the spending of 600,000 in donations. Ms Sturgeon, who departed as Scotland's first minister at the end of March, said she was 'absolutely certain that I have done nothing wrong'. She also continued to defy calls - including from senior SNP figures - for her to step aside from the SNP while Police Scotland's Operation Branchform continues. Ms Sturgeon claimed temporarily suspending her SNP membership would 'compromise my ability and my right to assert my position that I hold absolutely, which is that I have done nothing wrong'. But asked whether her husband Peter Murrell - the SNP's former chief executive who was previously arrested in April as part of the police probe - was 'innocent', the former first minister declined to answer. Nicola Sturgeon refused to answer questions about whether her husband is 'innocent' as she made her first public return to Holyrood since her dramatic arrest The ex-SNP leader, speaking to reporters at the Scottish Parliament, was quizzed about her detention as part of a police probe into the spending of 600,000 in donations Asked whether her husband Peter Murrell - the SNP's ex-chief executive who was arrested in April as part of the police investigation - was 'innocent', Ms Sturgeon declined to answer Mr Murrell's arrest came just prior to a two-day police search of his and Ms Sturgeon's Glasgow home Police probe into SNP finances - what's happened so far May 2021 Douglas Chapman resigns from his role as SNP treasurer, saying he had not been given enough information to do his job July 2021 Police Scotland confirm they are investigating after seven complaints were made around donations to the SNP. This followed allegations that 600,000 raised for campaigning towards Scottish independence was diverted elsewhere. August 2021 As the party's annual accounts are published, new SNP treasurer Colin Beattie acknowledges 'concern' about transparency over independence-related appeals that had raised more than 600,000. December 2022 It emerges that Peter Murrell, the SNP chief executive, had loaned the party 100,000 in June 2021. February 2023 Nicola Sturgeon suddenly announces her resignation. She says this was not in relation to short-term pressures but because she knew in her 'head and heart' that the time was right to go. March 2023 Amid the SNP leadership contest to replace Ms Sturgeon, her husband Mr Murrell announces he is stepping down as the party's chief executive amid a row over the party's membership numbers. 5 April 2023 Mr Murrell is arrested and is released without charge, pending further investigation, the same day. 9 April 2023 A luxury camper van is seized by police investigating the SNP's finances, thought to be worth around 110,000. 18 April 2023 Mr Beattie is arrested and interviewed by police. He subsequently quits as SNP treasurer. May 2023 The SNP appoint AMS Accountant Group as their new auditors. Their previous auditors Johnston Carmichael stood down in September 2022. 11 June 2023 Nicola Sturgeon is arrested and quizzed by officers for more than seven hours before being released without charge. Advertisement Ms Sturgeon replied: 'Before I say what I'm about to say, I'm saying it as a statement of fact - not a loaded statement that you should read anything into one way or another. 'But in a situation like this I can only speak for myself and I am only speaking for myself.' Ms Sturgeon admitted the past few weeks had 'not been the best period in my life'. She added: 'It's not an easy period. I'm not saying that for sympathy The thing that sustains me right now is the certainty that I have done nothing wrong. 'It is a belief and a certainty that I have.' Ms Sturgeon was released without charge pending further investigation after being quizzed on 11 June for more than seven hours as part of the probe into the SNP's finances. She is the third senior SNP figure to have been arrested as part of Operation Branchform. It followed the arrests of her husband, Mr Murrell, and former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie in April, who have also both been released without charge. Mr Murrell's arrest came just prior to a two-day police search of his and Ms Sturgeon's Glasgow home. This saw a blue forensic tent erected out the front of the property, while officers were spotted scouring both inside the house and outside in the back garden. Soon afterwards, a luxury camper van - thought to be worth around 110,000 - was seized by police. Michelle Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, is among senior SNP figures to have called for Ms Sturgeon to be suspended from the party or resign the SNP whip while the police probe continues. She has referred to how she herself - when Ms Sturgeon was party leader -resigned the SNP whip in 2015 when police began an investigation into a fraud case, which was later dropped. Asked about calls from within the SNP for her to resign the party's whip in the Scottish Parliament, Ms Sturgeon said this afternoon: 'It won't surprise anybody to hear I search my soul on these questions on an ongoing basis. 'I have dedicated most of my life to the SNP. The interests of the SNP are as close to my heart as it's possible to be.' She stressed that stepping aside from the party would 'compromise my ability and my right to assert my position that I hold absolutely which is that I have done nothing wrong'. But Ms Sturgeon hinted she could yet remove herself from the party, adding she would 'consider on an ongoing basis at all times what's in the best interests of the SNP'. The ex-first minister was asked directly about Ms Thomson's claim that she should be 'consistent' on the stance she took as party leader over SNP politicians who were involved in police investigations. 'I understand Michelle's position, I understand why she said what she has said. I right now am speaking for myself,' Ms Sturgeon replied. Responding to Ms Sturgeon's press conference at Holyrood this afternoon, Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said: 'Last week Nicola Sturgeon was in hiding and now she's come out fighting. But her latest "I've-done-nothing-wrong" press conference is unlikely to have pleased either her husband or Michelle Thomson. 'While the former first minister was adamant she was innocent of wrongdoing in the SNP finances scandal, she pointedly refused to give any such assurances on behalf of Peter Murrell. 'Michelle Thomson is rightly annoyed that she was forced to give up the SNP whip by her then-leader Nicola Sturgeon, who is now refusing to follow her own precedent. 'But rather than apologise to her colleague, Nicola Sturgeon would only say she understood her anger, which will be cold comfort to those suspended under her leadership. 'Nicola Sturgeon's claim that she's not going anywhere, because to do so might compromise her protestations of innocence, indicates she is more interested in her reputation than the SNP's.' Humza Yousaf insisted Nicola Sturgeon still had a 'good contribution to make' and denied her woes represented a 'death knell' for the SNP's independence dream Mr Yousaf claimed support for breaking up the UK among Scottish voters remained 'absolutely rock solid' despite a 'really difficult' time for his party Ahead of Ms Sturgeon's return to the Scottish Parliament today, her successor Humza Yousaf told Sky News he was 'not surprised' his predecessor was coming back to Holyrood. Asked if part if him wished she was not returning, the SNP leader said: 'No, not at all. 'She's a very good parliamentarian. She's got a good contribution to make and therefore I'm not surprised she's coming back to parliament.' He added: 'She's been released without charge, she's going to get on with the job of representing her constituents. 'I'll get on with my job of representing my constituents and making sure I'm leading the country as the First Minister of Scotland.' Ms Sturgeon departed as first minister and SNP leader in March and the subsequent dramatic developments in the police probe have seen a drop in the party's popularity. A Panelbase poll this weekend showed Labour were on course to win more seats than the SNP at the next general election. But Mr Yousaf denied that the current troubles experienced by his party and Ms Sturgeon would be a 'death knell' for the SNP's campaign for Scottish independence. He said: 'I don't believe that at all. What I believe is that, yes, the last couple of months have been extremely challenging for the SNP - I'm not going to fool your viewers by denying that being the case. 'Even despite the toughest few weeks, the toughest couple of months probably in our party's recent history, support for independence is absolutely rock solid. 'So we've got that solid support for independence, my job is to make sure that when these matters pass - and they will pass - we continue to build on those strong foundations that has seen us elected by the people of Scotland election after election after election. 'The next national test, of course, will be that general election and I've got every confidence we will go into that election hoping to win.' Sky News and ITN presenter Rae Stewart has died aged 56 as tributes pour in for the 'brilliant journalist', who has passed away following an 'illness'. Mr Stewart had worked in journalism for more than 20 years at places such as Sky, ITN, STV and GMTV. He married fellow journalist Vicki Young, the BBC's deputy political editor. He had also worked as head of communications for the Iraq Inquiry and was press secretary to Nick Clegg during his time as the leader of the Liberal Democrats. During the coronavirus pandemic in 2021 he spent time as the interim head of communications for NHS Test And Trace. Sky News and ITN presenter Rae Stewart has died aged 56 Stewart had worked in journalism for more than 20 years at places such as Sky, ITN, STV and GMTV. (Pictured on This Morning in 2018) His colleague and close friend Stephen Jardine announced his death on Tuesday morning, writing: 'My best friend Rae Stewart has died after an illness. 'He was just 56. Rae was a proud son of Tain and a brilliant journalist, author, husband, father and friend. 'All my thoughts today are with him and his beloved family.' Stewart was also an author, publishing his first novel, The Vibe, in 2017, inspired by his travels around India, particularly Goa. His second book, Smoke On The Water, was published this March. Stewart, who was born in Tain in the Scottish Highlands before moving to south west London with his family, took an early retirement in 2022 for health reasons. Mike Edwards OBE tweeted: 'Desperately sad to learn of the passing of Rae Stewart - a friend, colleague and fellow Highlander. A cracking lad taken far too soon.' STV News editor Nichola Kane shared: 'Terrible, terrible news which has caused much sadness at STV today. 'Loved working with Rae. Always professional but never took himself too seriously. Lots of fun and an absolute gentleman. Oh and THAT voice. Much love to @StephenJardine and all Rae's loved ones.' OceanGate also refused to have the vessel 'classed' by an independent organization that would ensure it met accepted technical standards The company which launched a submersible that has vanished on a mission to the Titanic's wreckage fired a director who raised concerns about its safety and also refused to have the craft independently inspected, DailyMail.com can reveal. OceanGate bosses fired David Lochridge, who was Director of Marine operations for the Titan project, in 2018 after it disagreed with his demand for more rigorous safety checks on the submersible, including 'testing to prove its integrity'. The company also opted against having the craft 'classed', an industry-wide practice whereby independent inspectors ensure vessels meet accepted technical standards. OceanGate, which charges up to $250,000 for a seat on the submersible, suggested that seeking classification could take years and would be 'anathema to rapid innovation'. Titan is currently missing with five people on board after it lost communication during a dive to the Titanic's wreckage, which is around 12,500ft below the Atlantic. A frantic search and rescue operation is underway to locate and recover the submersible before its oxygen supply runs out. OceanGate bosses fired David Lochridge, who was Director of Marine operations for the Titan project, in 2018 after it disagreed with his demand for more rigorous safety checks on the submersible, which is missing after a mission to the Titanic wreckage Titan is currently missing with five people on board after it lost communication during a dive to the Titanic's wreckage, which is around 12,500ft below the Atlantic In 2019, OceanGate said seeking classification for Titan would not 'ensure that operators adhere to proper operating procedures and decision-making processes two areas that are much more important for mitigating risks at sea'. Classification involves recruiting an independent organization to ensure vessels like ships and submersibles meet industry-wide technical standards. It is a crucial way of ensuring a vessel is fit to operate. In a blog post titled 'Why Isn't Titan Classed?', OceanGate suggested classification would take too long. The post said: 'While classing agencies are willing to pursue the certification of new and innovative designs and ideas, they often have a multi-year approval cycle due to a lack of pre-existing standards 'Bringing an outside entity up to speed on every innovation before it is put into real-world testing is anathema to rapid innovation.' The company said its 'innovations' included a real-time (RTM) hull health monitoring system which is 'not currently covered by any classing agency'. OceanGate suggested its own in-house safety protocols were sufficient. The blog concluded that 'by itself, classing is not sufficient to ensure safety'. Lochridge, whose role included overseeing safety on the Titan project, had urged OceanGate to seek classification several years ago, before he was sacked in a disagreement about safety checks on the craft. David Lochridge, who was Director of Marine operations for the Titan project, was fired after meetings with OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who is on board the missing submersible He also wanted the company to carry out a scan of Titan's hull to 'detect potential flaws' rather than 'relying on acoustic monitoring' which would only detect an issue 'milliseconds before an implosion'. The revelation is significant because rescuers do not know whether Titan is still at the bottom of the ocean - triggering fears it could have 'imploded' under extreme pressure. In a court document filed in 2018, lawyers for the company said Lochridge's employment was terminated because he 'could not accept' their research and plans, including safety protocols. OceanGate also claimed that Lochridge 'desired to be fired' and had shared confidential information with others and wiped a company hard drive. The company said he 'refused to accept the voracity of information' about safety from Titan's lead engineer. Lochridge had relocated from the UK to Washington to work on the development of the Titan which was previously called Cyclops 2. A former Royal Navy marine engineer and ship's diver, he was described by OceanGate as an 'expert in the field of submarine operations and rescue'. Legal filings obtained by DaiyMail.com show that he wrote a report in 2018 which was critical of the company's research and development process for the vessel. Lochridge also 'strongly encouraged that OceanGate utilize a classification agency, such as the American Bureau of Shipping, to inspect and certify the Titan.' The suit states that 'OceanGate refused both requests, and stated it was unwilling to pay for a classification agency to inspect its experimental design.' Lochridge 'disagreed with OceanGate's position to dive the submersible without any non-destructive testing to prove its integrity, and to subject passengers to potential extreme danger in an experimental submersible.' Lochridge stated he could not accept OceanGate's research and development plans. Based on Lochridge's position, OceanGate terminated his employment, the legal filings reveal. Pictured: File photo of inside the OceanGate Expeditions sub which is currently missing with five people on board The Boston Coastguard is now looking for the missing vessel. The wreckage of the Titanic sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada CEO Stockton Rush had asked Lochridge to assess the safety risks because he was the 'best man for the job', according to the lawsuit. Rush is one of five people on board the missing sub, along with two renowned explorers and a UK-based Pakistani businessman and his teenage son. But Lochridge was 'ignored' when trying to raise verbal concerns over the safety and quality control of Titan. In his report he said: 'With Cyclops 2 (Titan) being handed off from Engineering to Operations in the coming weeks, now is the time to properly address items that may pose a safety risk to personnel. 'Verbal communication of the key items I have addressed in my attached document have been dismissed on several occasions, so I feel now I must make this report so there is an official record in place.' OceanGate did not comment on the Lochridge lawsuit, or its refusal to seek classification, when approached by DailyMail.com. The company said its 'entire focus is on the wellbeing of the [Titan] crew'. The lawsuit states that Lochridge felt the acoustic analysis OceanGate wanted to rely on would 'only show when a component is about to failoften milliseconds before an implosionand would not detect any existing flaws prior to putting pressure onto the hull.' Lochridge claims that he was sacked because he 'he raised critical safety concerns regarding OceanGate's experimental and untested design of the Titan.' He had several meetings in 2018 'regarding the quality control and safety of the Titan, particularly OceanGate's refusal to conduct critical, non-destructive testing of the experimental design of the hull.' During one meeting he discovered that the viewpoint was only built to a certified pressure of 1,300 meters despite OceanGate intending to take passengers down to 4,000 meters. Legal filings state: 'Lochridge learned that the viewport manufacturer would only certify to a depth of 1,300 meters due to the experimental design of the viewport supplied by OceanGate, which was out of the Pressure Vessels for Human Occupancy ('PVHO') standards. 'OceanGate refused to pay for the manufacturer to build a viewport that would meet the required depth of 4,000 meters. Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding (pictured), CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday Shahzada Dawood, 48, (pictured with his wife Christine) a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are amongst the five people missing in the submarine that set off to see the wreck of the Titanic, it was revealed today 'The paying passengers would not be aware, and would not be informed, of this experimental design, the lack of non-destructive testing of the hull, or that hazardous flammable materials were being used within the submersible. 'Discouraging whistleblowers from coming forth with quality control issues and safety concerns that threaten the safety of innocent passengers would undermine and jeopardize the public policy, and put innocent passengers at increased risk.' The case was ultimately settled out of court in November 2018. Lochridge did not immediately respond to a request for comment by DailyMail.com. During its 2022 expedition, OceanGate reported that the submersible had a battery issue on its first dive and had to be manually attached to its lifting platform, according to a November court filing. Lochridge was set to make a series of dives in May 2018 in the Titan, before he was fired by OceanGate in January. At the time they were charging $105,129 for the trip, with 54 people signing up for the deep dive which ultimately did not happen. Lochridge previously piloted a sub down to the Andrea Doria, a passenger liner that sank off Massachusetts in 1956, with the loss of nearly 50 lives. Former President Donald Trump compared Hunter Biden's agreement with prosecutors to a 'traffic ticket' and complained that the system is 'BROKEN!' as he reacted to the news of a plea deal Tuesday on his Truth Social website. The first son will plead guilty to tax crimes and will enter into a probation agreement over a gun charge, according to new court filing by the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney in Delaware. The deal will likely keep Hunter out of prison. 'Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere "traffic ticket,"' Trump said. 'Our system is BROKEN!' Last week Trump was arrested and charged with 37 federal crimes related to his mishandling of classified documents that were removed from the White House and moved to Mar-a-Lago after the Republican left office. Former President Donald Trump (left) compared Hunter Biden's (right) agreement with prosecutors to a 'traffic ticket' and complained that the system is 'BROKEN!' as he reacted to the news of a plea deal Tuesday on his Truth Social website 'The Hunter/Joe Biden settlement is a massive COVERUP & FULL SCALE ELECTION INTERFERENCE "SCAM" THE LIKES OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN IN OUR COUNTRY BEFORE,' Trump posted to Truth Social later Tuesday. 'A "TRAFFIC TICKET," & JOE IS ALL CLEANED UP & READY TO GO INTO THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION - AND THIS AS CROOKED DOJ, STATE, & CITY PROSECUTORS, MARXISTS & COMMUNISTS ALL, HIT ME FROM ALL SIDES & ANGELS WITH BULL.! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!' If convicted, Trump would be facing a maximum total of 400 years in prison. Despite the charges being very different - Trump's being considered more serious - that disparity was not lost on the ex-president's allies. 'People are going wild over the Hunter Biden Scam with the DOJ!' Trump commented on Truth Social. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said Hunter's plea deal 'reveals a two-tiered system of justice.' 'Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery,' Comer charged. 'These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committee's investigation,' the Kentucky Republican continued. 'We will not rest until the full extent of President Biden's involvement in the family's schemes are revealed.' House Speaker Kevin McCarthy expressed a similar sentiment, also referencing the 'two-tiered' system. 'If you are the president's leading opponent, the DOJ tries to literally put you in jail,' McCarthy told reporters Tuesday on Capitol Hill. 'If you are the president's son, you get a sweetheart deal.' Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called the deal a 'stunt' to make Hunter look like he is cooperating with the Justice Department. Greene went onto to say both Hunter and President Joe Biden should be prosecuted for 'taking bribes from Ukrainian oligarchs and raking in tens of millions of dollars from foreign countries' - a claim made by an unverified FBI whistleblower. 'Oh but hey, look at Jack Smith trying to throw President Trump in jail for 100 years for legally possessing documents he's allowed to posses under the Presidential Records Act,' she added. Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti pushed back on the apples-to-apples comparisons Republicans were making between Hunter Biden and Trump's charges. 'It insults the intelligence of the American people to compare misdemeanor tax charges to a scheme to steal Top Secret documents and obstruct justice when the government asked for them back,' Mariotti tweeted Tuesday. 'If anything, Hunter Biden was treated harshly - those crimes are rarely charged.' The Delaware U.S. attorney in charge of the case, David Weiss, was nominated by Trump in November 2017. When President Biden took office he kept Weiss in place as the investigation into Hunter was ongoing. Weiss was one of the only Trump-appointed U.S. attorneys to keep his job. Tate, his brother and two Romanian women have been charged with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to exploit women Amount seized by Romanian prosecutors from Tate was revealed in indictment Romanian police have revealed details of Andrew Tate's wealth as they today indicted him and three others on human trafficking and rape charges. Despite the misogynist influencer previously claiming to be a 'trillionaire', a press release from Romania's anti-organised crime prosecution's unit DIICOT suggested Tate's true fortune was more likely around 10 million. As part of the indictment, prosecutors ordered the confiscation of luxury assets from the Tate brothers including 15 high-value cars, 14 luxury watches and about 440,000 held in cryptocurrency, the agency's statement said. DIICOT has been investigating Tate, his brother Tristan and two female Romanian acquaintances - Luana Radu and Georgiana Naghel - since last year. The agency 'ordered the indictment' of the four defendants for offences, including 'setting up an organised criminal group... trafficking in persons... rape', they said. Romanian police have revealed details of Andrew Tate's (pictured April 10, 2023) wealth as they today indicted him and three others on on human trafficking and rape charges Despite the misogynist influencer previously claiming to be a 'trillionaire', a press release from Romania's anti-organised crime prosecution's unit DIICOT suggested Tate's true fortune was more likely around 10 million. Pictured: A car is pictured at 'The Hustlers University' site belonging to Tate and his brother in Bucharest on January 14, as investigators work at the site The four were arrested on December 29 and held until March 31 before a Bucharest court put them under house arrest. Earlier this month, DIICOT notified the Tate brothers that the human trafficking charge had changed to trafficking in continued form, a DIICOT spokesperson said on June 13. READ MORE: Andrew Tate and his brother are charged with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit woman in Romania Advertisement They have now been formally indicted, which means they will appear before a judge. The trial will not start immediately, and could take several years. Andrew Tate has also been charged with raping one of the victims, while his brother Tristan has been charged with instigating others to violence. The brothers and female associates have denied all allegations of abuse and trafficking. Investigators are also continuing to probe their finances, with investigations on-going into alleged money laundering linked to the brothers. In total, the assets seized by DIICOT are estimated to be worth around 10 million, according to The Sun Online, citing sources. While still a significant amount of money, it is much less than Tate has previously claimed to be worth. In the past, he has bragged about a fortune ranging from 100 million to being the self-proclaimed 'world's first trillionaire.' The DIICOT indictment suggests his fortune is much smaller, however. According to the source quoted by The Sun Online: 'The biggest assets of Tate brothers are their cars - which are estimated to be around 8 million. 'Their houses and lands are also estimated at more than 2 million,' they added. 'As for their account,' the source told the publication, 'further investigations are to be made, as there is also another file on their names for money laundering, a file which is far from being ended.' The assets listed in the indictment include: '15 lands and buildings located within the [Romanian regions] of Ilfov, Prahova and Brasov, 15 luxury cars, 14 luxury watches, 2 ingots and a medal, the social shares owned within 4 commercial companies.' It said the shares within four commercial companies were in different currencies, in the amounts of 86,580 Romanian lei (15,000), 52,650 euros (45,000), 17,430 US dollars (13,500) and 10,370 British pounds - a total of around 84,000. As part of the indictment, prosecutors ordered the confiscation of luxury assets from the Tate brothers including 15 high-value cars, 14 luxury watches and about 440,000 held in cryptocurrency, the agency's statement said. Pictured: Romanian police seize a Ferrari from the Tate bother's 'Hustler University' complex on the outskirts of Bucharest, January 14 In the indictment, prosecutors ordered the seizure of 15 properties belonging to the Tate brothers in various locations in Romania A Lamborghini seized in the case against Tate is towed away in Bucharest on January 14 Prosecutors said they had also seized 14 watches from the Tate brothers Prosecutors have also seized Tate's cryptocurrency holdings, which it listed as just over 21 bitcoin, worth around 440,000 as of June 20, 2023. This was listed as being valued at $380,000 in the indictment, which may have been based on an exchange rate that is now out-of-date. In its press release listing the assets, DIICOT also said the Tates would have to pay an advanced legal fee of 52,000 ahead of the trial. Responding to a tweet which appeared to mis-translate DIICOT's estimated value of his crypto assets, Tate accused prosecutors of 'stealing his wealth'. 'I'm sure this case has absolutely nothing to do with stealing my wealth,' he wrote, after the Twitter user claimed he had $380 million worth of crypto assets seized. When translated online, the amount listed in the indictment - written in Romanian - appeared to be the $380m cited by the user, but that was an incorrect translation of how commas and dots are used in Romanian media when writing numbers. Tate grew his social media presence by flaunting his muscles, cigars and fast cars - fascinating millions, particularly teenage boys. He often posed with luxury cars, including a Bugatti Veron in a photo which caused him to go viral in December - days before his arrest - when he launched a bizarre Twitter attack on climate change activist Greta Thunberg. 'Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions', he wrote to her, posting a photo of him filling the Bugatti with petrol. Thunberg's crushing reply referencing his 'smalld*ckenergy' was retweeted over 570,000 times. Before that, pictures showed Tate's car collection at their $600,000 compound on the outskirts of Bucharest - including a Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini and a Rolls Royce. However, in a podcast before his arrest Tate actually denied that he owned any of the luxury cars, implying his Bugatti was actually owned through a series of companies and trusts that gave him access to the supercar. Andrew Tate went viral in December after he launched a bizarre Twitter attack on climate change activist Greta Thunberg, along with this picture of him filling a Bugatti with petrol. Thunberg's crushing reply referencing his 'smalld*ckenergy' Pictured: A blue Ferrari is seen being confiscated by Romanian law enforcement in January Tate's case is expected to go to trial in September, but could take several years. Under Romanian law, the case gets sent to the court's preliminary chamber, where a judge has 60 days to inspect the case files to ensure legality. Prosecutors have said the Tate brothers recruited their victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship or marriage. This accusation was laid out in a press release on Tuesday about the indictment. 'The injured persons were recruited by the foreign nationals, by misleading them about the intention to establish a marriage/cohabitation relationship and the existence of real feelings of love (the loverboy method),' the release says. The indictment says the alleged victims were '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 in order to produce and disseminate through some social media platforms materials having such a character.' It goes on to say that the seven injured persons identified during the criminal investigation were subjected to forced labour'. It adds that of the seven who were also 'sexually exploited by the organised criminal group, three became civil parties in the criminal process.' 'Regarding the crime of rape,' the indictment says, 'it was noted that, in March 2022, an injured person was forced by one of the defendants, through the exercise of physical violence and mental pressure, to repeatedly have sexual relations (two material acts).' It also accused the defendants of violence against the one 'injured persons', citing an October 2021 incident in which one - who wanted to stop making pornographic material and leave the Ilfov property - was attacked. It also accused the defendants of illegally accessing a computer system and altering 'the integrity of the computer data' of one of the alleged victims. It said the defendants 'posted on the social media account belonging to her the materials that - obtained in this way, which depicted her in compromising poses'. In a statement to MailOnline, a representative for the brothers said their primary focus now 'will be to establish the truth and ensure a fair and impartial examination of the evidence the legal team will submit'. 'The indictment now allows us to present a comprehensive body of evidence, diligently collected and prepared over time, which will undoubtedly substantiate the brothers' claims of innocence. Tate's legal team are prepared to cooperate fully with the appropriate authorities, presenting all necessary evidence to exonerate the brothers and expose any misinterpretations or false accusations,' they said. 'We express our gratitude to all those who have stood by us, supporting our clients during this challenging time. 'We request the media and the public to exercise patience and refrain from making premature judgements until all the facts are presented in a court of law, and respect the basic principle of democracy, the presumption of innocence.' Tate grew his social media presence by flaunting his muscles, cigars, fast cars and luxurious lifestyle - fascinating millions, particularly teenage boys. Tate's controversial output has made him one of the world's best-known influencers. Tate founded the so-called Hustler's University, where he promises to teach paying students 'the secrets that ONLY the wealthiest people know'. Tate and his brother Tristan were once 'broke as a joke' but are now 'self-made multi-millionaires', he writes on his site. Tate has denied any wrongdoing and is continuing to dispense his wisdom on Twitter, where he has grown from 4.8 million to 6.9 million followers since January. Tate was born in the United States in 1986 and has US citizenship, according to his website. But after his parents separated, he grew up with his mother and brother in Luton, an economically depressed town north of London. He has lived in Romania for several years. Before his rise to fame on social media and subsequent arrest, Tate was a professional kickboxer who gained the title of world champion. He first came to wider attention by appearing as a contestant on the 'Big Brother' reality show in the UK in 2016. But he was quickly ejected after a video emerged showing him hitting a woman. After that he focused on building his online presence. In August last year, he was banned from social media platforms, including Instagram and TikTok, for misogynist messages. His Twitter account was allowed back, however, after Elon Musk bought the company. He now runs a paid social networking platform called his 'war room', whose 'mission' he describes as helping 'all men to become the very best versions of themselves'. 'All men should be strong', he repeatedly states. However, his comments on women have proved the most controversial. 'There's no such thing as an independent female', he said in a podcast. 'Unless she has a man directing her. She's gonna f**k it up'. He also said: 'I'm a realist and when you're a realist, you're sexist'. He describes how he would hit a woman who accused him of cheating on her and says that women who are assaulted or raped are to blame. But his Twitter messages since his arrest have been very different. While still a significant amount of money, the 10 million seized is much less than Tate has previously claimed to be worth. In the past, he has bragged about a fortune ranging from 100 million to being the self-proclaimed 'world's first trillionaire' The Tate brothers - along with Romanian women Luana Radu and Georgiana Naghel (pictured in February handcuffed and being led into court) - are currently under house arrest after being detained in the country last year He now quotes Nelson Mandela and the Koran. Having declared himself an atheist, he said in October that he had converted to Islam. In January he appeared in court in Bucharest in handcuffs, carrying a book that appeared to be the Koran. He indicated on Twitter on March 23 that he was observing Ramadan, during which Muslims abstain from food and water from sunrise to sunset. He wrote that when he was given food 'I spend my entire day destroying the flies and ants who get close to the meal' until the sun goes down when 'in accordance' with Ramadan, 'I eat the stone cold food in my cell by myself.' An Australian man has sparked hilarity after claiming he is sleeping in a tent in his garage with an air filter' after his partner dropped precautions against the virus. The man - who tweets under the handle @Jason_gasdive - posted a picture of the tent he's supposedly sleeping in - sending Twitter into a firestorm with the now-viral post receiving hundreds of mixed reactions. Jason, who claims to have never had COVID-19, was questioned by fellow Twitter users about his decision, but claims it's a matter of safety. Alongside the picture, Jason explained to his handful of followers: 'This is my bed in the garage because my partner has dropped precautions. I take precautions 100% of the time. Don't tell me that this hasn't upended every f**king second of my life.' It comes almost four years after the world was plunged into lockdown when the pandemic struck in late 2019. Now, most governments have lifted all restrictions as the disease has become milder and most people have taken the vaccine. An Australian COVID-19 obsessive claimed he is sleeping in a tent in his garage with an air filter after his partner 'dropped precautions' against the virus - almost four years after the pandemic rapidly spread across the globe in late 2019 Jason jokingly claimed he was among those who still saw the pandemic as an imminent risk and continue to live with pandemic-era restrictions and mandates. The Australian man was mocked by other social media users when he told followers that he had 'tried to sleep in a mask,' but can't. 'I've tried to sleep in a mask and I can't. I know people sleep in CPAP masks all the time, so it's possible but I can't do it,' he wrote on Twitter. 'And yeah, the alternative is a neurotropic bat virus that hollows you out and wears your body like a cheap suit It's not as exciting as the zombi [sic] movies.' Jason also slammed critics who believed he was 'faking' and for those questioning why he didn't 'just leave' that he 'loves' his partner but found the tent helpful. 'I found the tent helped. Note that there's a HEPA poked through the door,' he tweeted. 'When I had it set up indoors I also had 2 HEPA inside the tent with me. Many poked fun at Jason for being too afraid of the virus, calling him a 'moron' and saying he has a 'mental illness' 'So it was pressurized, nothing could leak in, only out. Over 120 ACH meant I could unmask after 20 air changes, 10 min.' Many who saw the post appeared to fall for the prank and were concerned they were an indication that Jason was suffering from a 'mental illness' and should 'seek help.' 'You are very gravely mentally ill and constitute a threat to yourself and those around you. Please seek emergency psychiatric attention immediately,' said one critic. 'This is a mental illness,' another said. While others had less patience and said: 'Ur (sic) a f*****g moron lol.' One questioned the real reason he was actually in the garage, saying: 'Jason, be honest with us. Your partner put you in the dog house.' However, not everyone was against his obsessive precaution, like-minded Twitter users surfaced from the depths of the internet to show their support for Jason - one calling anyone who isn't still thinking about the pandemic a 'selfish self absorbed a*****e.' 'People give up because they're selfish self absorbed a******s PERFORMATIVE a******s,' they wrote. 'You want to join the others in your SARS love fest have at it. BUT that's your failure not ours.' Another user said: 'Oh wow. I'm so sorry you're forced to endure life like this. If I were in your situation I would be doing the same.' One person claims they stopped speaking to their family because they'd 'stopped masking' despite mask requirements being eased in Australia. 'My parents make negative comments about my mask and refuse to go outside to meet me,' they claimed. While not a lot is known about Jason, he does reveal to his followers, that he lives in Australia and provides figures to support his concerns, although its unclear whether he's been vaccinated. 'I live in Australia. 200 people a week die with COVID on their death certificate,' he tweeted. '400 excess deaths a week. You'd have to have brain damage to think it's over.' According to the World Health Organization in May Australia saw a peak of COVID related deaths for the week starting May 8 which sat at 207. This was however not the case for the rest of the month where a dramatic drop was seen with only 49 COVID related deaths by the week of May 29. This is the Department of Justice form that has led to Hunter Biden's undoing after he admitted to lying about his drug addiction when buying a gun. Delaware, where the First Son purchased the 0.38 caliber pistol, makes any buyer answer a series of questions before they can lay their hands on a weapon. One from the 2018 application asks if the applicant uses or is addicted to drugs. The box is clearly checked 'no.' Joe Biden has always insisted that his son did nothing wrong. But Hunter has now decided to plead guilty in a probation agreement in relation to the gun charge, as well as to two tax crimes. Hunter allegedly lied on a firearm report (above) required for his gun transaction. A photo of the form shows he answered 'no' when asked if he was an 'unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance' His answer contradicts what he wrote in his memoir 'Beautiful Things' in which he openly admitted to his battle with alcohol and narcotics. As part of the promotional blitz for that book, he told CBS News that at one time he was 'smoking crack around the clock'. A picture from Hunter Biden's leaked hard drive shows him posing naked while holding a semi-automatic handgun by his side Video discovered on Hunter's laptop computer shows him naked and brandishing a handgun in a hotel room in 2018, allegedly five days after buying the gun. Hunter's girlfriend at the time, Hallie - his brother Beau's widow - eventually threw out the revolver after finding it in his car at grocery store Janssen's Market in Wilmington, Delaware. She claims that she disposed of the gun because she thought he was going to kill himself. She told the store, and the store's general manager called the police. The FBI was called to the scene and both Hunter and Hallie were interviewed by police. Angry text exchanges between the pair were later leaked online in which Hunter accused his sister-in-law turned lover of turning him over to the feds. 'I hate what you've done to me,' Hunter said. 'I won't ever recover from all of this.' Hunter's sister-in-law and one-time girlfriend Hallie had found a gun in his car, wrapped it in a plastic bag, and threw it away in the trash outside Janssen's Market (pictured) in Wilmington, Delaware in October 2018, because she feared he would use it to kill himself The plea deal that Hunter Biden struck on Tuesday should mean that he avoids going to jail if the agreement is signed off by a judge. Under the agreement, he has said he will plead guilty to a pair of misdemeanor tax charges. Prosecutors have also charged him with possessing a firearm while being a user of illegal drugs, which is a felony. But DOJ officials have agreed to dismiss that charge if he completes a two-year period of probation. But his legal woes do not end there. Republicans are vowing to ramp up their Congressional probe into allegations of Hunter's influence peddling. GOP bigwigs accuse the 53-year-old of using his father's political connections to land lucrative contracts abroad. Hunter Biden's many controversies have been a headache for his father's presidential term and could be weaponized by Republicans in the 2024 race Lunden Roberts is suing Hunter over allegations that is failing to pay the correct amount of child support for their daughter Navy Joan There is also an ongoing lawsuit between one of his former flings, an ex-stripper who bore his out-of-wedlock child. Lunden Roberts is suing Hunter in a row over alleged missing child support payments for their daughter Navy Joan Roberts, born in August of 2018. She alleges that he has ignored court orders requiring him to turn over records about his finances. Hunter appeared in court in Arkansas last month in a bid to reduce his $20,000 monthly child support payments. He has claimed in the past that he was so drunk and high on drugs that he had no recollection of the trysts with the one-time erotic dancer. But after a 2020 paternity test, Biden began to pay child support although his father has made no mention of his seventh grandchild. Ministers are under fire today after revealing that almost 800 Armed Forces families are living in potentially unsafe homes that are overdue gas safety checks. Some 795 homes lacked a certificate - which shows they have been checked by a qualified engineer and pronounced safe to live in - as of today, Defence Procurement Minister James Cartlidge told MPs. In a written statement he said said he had given private contractors responsible for upkeep until the end of June to clear the 'unacceptable' backlog. He said a number of factors were behind the delay including contractors being unable to get into the homes or failing to turn up to appointments, and a shortage of trained engineers to carry out the checks. Luke Pollard, Labour's shadow armed forces minister, said: 'Our Armed Forces personnel deserve homes fit for heroes. Some 795 homes occupied by service personnel lacked a certificate - which shows they have been checked by a qualified engineer and are safe to live in - as of today In a written statement to the Commons Defence Procurement Minister James Cartlidge blamed a number of factors including contractors being unable to get into the homes or failing to turn up to appointments, and a lack of trained engineers to carry out the checks. Luke Pollard, Labour's shadow Armed Forces minister, said: 'Our Armed Forces personnel deserve homes fit for heroes. 'But as we mark Armed Forces Week, it is deeply concerning that Ministers have revealed nearly 800 forces families are currently at risk living in homes without essential gas certificates. Immediate action is needed to make these homes safe.' In his statement today Mr Cartlidge said that the Ministry of Defence is responsible for some 47,800 military homes in the United Kingdom. This means that the number lacking gas safety certificates amount to just 1.6 per cent of the total. However, he added: 'The expiry of a certificate does not immediately render a house unsafe, but, clearly, the longer a home is left with expired certificates, the greater the risk that it could become so. 'During checks to date, no issues have been identified that would represent a serious safety concern for the families involved. 'That said, the safety of our personnel is paramount and it is unacceptable for any family to be living in a home without the necessary checks. He confirmed that he had told contractors that all but exceptional cases in occupied homes should be cleared by the end of the month - or 'preferably sooner' - with unoccupied homes sorted by mid-July. Ford is set to reprise his role as Indiana Jones one final time in the upcoming film which will be released next week Actor Harrison Ford has teared up during an interview over his final appearance as Indiana Jones, telling fans 'it means the world to me'. Ford, 80, has portrayed the archaeologist since 1981 with the film 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and has reprised his role as Jones for the final time in 'The Dial of Destiny'. In an emotional interview on BBC Radio 1, Ford has said his role as Jones and the love his fans have for him 'means to the world' to him. Speaking to BBC Radio 1 presenter Ali Plumb alongside his co-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge , Ford said: 'I think the thing that I most admire about them is the depth and subtlety of the emotion, and the importance of emotion in these films. 'As this last one concerns age and frailty and changing nature of life, it was especially compelling to me, because I am of that age and I wanted it to feel real for the audience. In an emotional interview promoting the film, Ford fights back tears as he tells presenter Ali Plumb how much the role means to him Set in the year 1969, the film follows Jones set against the backdrop of the American 'space race.' 'I wanted them to see the complexity of that experience with someone they've spent 40 years with. Host Plumb then told a clearly emotional Ford: 'Can I just say, on behalf of all the fans, thank you. Its been such an adventure. 'We love you so much. I dont want to make you blush or anything, but you mean the world to us and thank you.' Ford seemed taken aback by the kind words and shared his own message to fans, saying: 'I must say to you, thank you sincerely. It means the world to me.' Indiana Jones And The Dial of Destiny, the first of the franchise not to be directed by Steven Spielberg , is scheduled to hit theaters on Friday, June 30. It is to be Ford's final adventure wearing the iconic hat and carrying his trusty whip in the film which is set in 1969 with the backdrop of the Space Race. The film, set for release on June 30, also stars Mads Mikkelsen and Antonio Banderas. Ford first starred in the series as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was released in 1981 In the new film he stars alongside Phoebe Waller-Bridge, pictured here, as his goddaughter Helena Shaw The character is known for carrying his trusty whip and wearing an old looking fedora Set in the year 1969, the film follows Jones set against the backdrop of the American 'space race.' Jones is said to be, 'uneasy' about the American government enlisting former Nazis in their race to beat the Russians to the moon. Waller-Bridge portrays Indiana Jones' goddaughter Helena Shaw in the movie, with filmmakers describing the character as 'slippery' and 'charming'. Ford had previously confirmed that the upcoming movie would be his last time appearing as Jones. He previously told Total Film: 'I've been able to deliver amazing films developed by Steven [Spielberg] and George [Lucas] over a 40-year period, and to end it not with a whimper, but a bang, has been my greatest ambition for this excursion.' A Utah mother accused of poisoning her husband only to later write a children's book about grief is now suing his estate. Kouri Richins, 33, filed a civil suit against her husband, Eric Richins' estate, on June 9 alleging she deserves several monetary and physical assets as outlined in a prenuptial agreement the two made prior to their June 2013 wedding. She claims in the suit that she is entitled to half of all equity on the couple's home, which she estimates to be worth 'at least $1.9million,' as well as about $2million in proceeds from the sale of Eric's share of a stone masonry business following his death. But Kouri is currently being held without bail at the Summit County Jail for allegedly murdering Eric in March 2022 by giving him a Moscow Mule laced with about five times the lethal dose of fentanyl. She has not yet entered a plea on charges of criminal homicide, aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance, but her sister-in-law, Katie, alleges she had a financial motive for the murder. Kouri Richins, 33, has filed a civil lawsuit alleging she deserves several monetary and physical assets as outlined in a prenuptial agreement the two made prior to their June 2013 wedding She is currently being held without bail at the Summit County Jail for allegedly murdering her husband, Eric, in March 2022. The couple is pictured here in an undated picture Kouri and Eric were married in June 2013, but before they walked down the aisle, the couple signed a prenuptial agreement in which Eric included a list of assets and debts that were acquired prior to their marriage that he wanted to remain in his ownership if the two were to divorce. It included Eric's 50 percent ownership interest of C & E Stone Masonry LLC, saying the business would remain his sole property even if Kouri invested in, or spent money on the company. Under the agreement, obtained by ABC 4. the only way Kouri could claim ownership or rights to the business is if Eric 'should die prior to [Kouri] while the two are lawfully married.' But prior to his death, Eric reportedly assigned ownership of the business to the Eric Richins Living Trust, and after he was found dead at their family home in Kamas, the interest from the business was sold to his partner, Cody Wright. Proceeds from that sale were around $2 million, according to the suit, but are currently on hold as Kouri argues that even though her husband transferred the business interest to the trust, it does not diminish her rights as set forth in the prenup. She also argues that their family home was not included in the list of assets Eric had prior to their marriage, which she says is proof that it is a joint marital asset, and she should therefore be entitled to half of all equity on the house they bought in 2012 for $400,000. Kouri argues she contributed to the down payment on the home, the monthly mortgage payments and utility payments. She also said that after Eric's death, she funded a swimming pool and fencing at the house, which were contracted before his death. But a police search warrant following Eric's sudden death noted he had expressed concerns his wife was trying to kill him, and he had changed his will and power of attorney to give his sister full control before he was allegedly poisoned. Before the two were married in June 2013, they signed a prenuptial agreement Kouri alleges the prenuptial agreement gives her the right to half of the equity they accrued on their Kamas house (pictured) Eric set up a trust on November 3, 2020, and Kouri says he included the family home in the trust without her authorization or knowledge. He also allegedly assigned personal property (purchased with funds from his and Kouri's joint bank accounts) without Kouri's knowledge or consent. But Eric's sister claims he set up the trust after discovering that Kouri had stolen or misappropriated about $494,000 of his money. Katie alleged in a petition to block Kouri's claims on Eric's estate that in 2016, just three years into their marriage, Kouri started having financial problems and began stealing money from Eric to help with her real estate business. She argued that Kouri took money from his bank accounts and ran debts on his credit cards without his knowledge and even tried to change his life insurance policy to make her the sole beneficiary. According to the petition, Eric learned in September 2020 that Kouri had withdrawn at least $100,000 from his bank accounts and borrowed about $30,000 on his credit cards. Katie says he then confronted Kouri about the stolen money, and she admitted to taking it. At around the same time, Katie claims, Eric discovered Kouri borrowed another $250,000 using a fraudulent Power of Attorney claim. The petition alleges that in March 2019, Kouri opened up a bank account with a revolving line of credit and borrowed $250,000 without Eric's knowledge or consent, forging his signature. She then allegedly had Eric sign a Power of Attorney document legally binding Eric to the loan, but 'upon signing, Eric did not believe he was signing over such substantial rights.' Katie says Eric confronted Kouri about the fraudulent loan, and she reportedly admitted she had wrongfully taken the loan and promised to pay it back. She allegedly repeated this promise as well as those to pay back Eric for the stolen bank money and credit card charges just a few days before Eric's death. Eric's family told investigators shortly after he died they suspected Richins had killed the father-of-three. Pictured: Kouri and Eric Richens with their three children Kouri allegedly took money from Eric's bank accounts and ran debts on his credit cards without his knowledge and even tried to change his life insurance policy to make her the sole beneficiary Additionally, the petition states, Kouri reportedly logged into Eric's life insurance account without his permission in January 2022 and changed the beneficiary from Cody to herself. But her attempt was unsuccessful, as the change had been discovered, and Eric changed it back to Cody. Kouri also allegedly promised she would pay Eric's tax obligations for his company and for his personal account using Eric's money, but she reportedly misdirected funds intended to be paid by C & E for the business' tax obligations as well as for Eric's personal tax obligations. The total amount Kouri misdirected or stole that were intended to be paid for Eric's federal tax obligations is at least $80,024, according to the petition, while the total amount for state tax obligations is reportedly at least $134,346. Katie's motion to disqualify Kouri from the estate, however, can not be granted until Kouri is found guilty, or not guilty, in her husband's murder. Following Eric's death, Richins wrote 'Are you with me?' - a picture book she wrote to help children cope after the death of a loved one Authorities say Richins had told police she had performed CPR on Eric after finding him unresponsive in their home, but fire crew and medics who responded to the scene said this was unlikely as there was blood coming from his mouth. Court documents say Richins had bought $900 worth of fentanyl pills from an acquaintance before the Valentine's Day meal and two weeks later she asked for $900 more. Days later, Eric died of an overdose. Court documents show he suffered an allergic reaction following a meal with Richins. He could not breathe and passed out after using an EpiPen and taking Benadryl. Following Eric's death, Richins had claimed he had an addiction to pain medicine in high school but there was no substance abuse issues since. But friends and family told police said they hadn't any idea of Eric being addicted to any form of medicine, and officers did not find any pain killers in the family home. It was later discovered that Kouri took her children on lavish vacations shortly after Eric's death. Nearly one year later, she penned a book to help children deal with grief, entitled 'Are You With Me?' She said in an interview earlier this year she was motivated to write the book after searching Amazon and Barnes and Noble and finding 'nothing' to help them 'cope'. 'I went on Amazon and Barnes and Noble to try to find something to help us cope at night, nights are the hardest. I just wanted some story to read to my kids at night and I couldn't find anything that suited them, so I was like "let's just write one."' She went on to describe her husband's death as a 'shock.' 'My husband passed away unexpectedly last year. March 4 was a one year anniversary for us. He was 39. 'It completely took us all by shock,' she claimed. Politicians and former prosecutors have slammed Hunter Biden's 'slap on the wrist' after it was revealed that the First Son has pleaded guilty to failure to pay income tax and is cutting a deal on a gun charge in court documents filed today Blasted as a 'sham' and an 'absolute laughable joke,' the charges mark the conclusion of a four-year investigation by the federal prosecutor in Delaware, David Weiss. But a law enforcement source close to the probe told DailyMail.com prosecutors had 'all the information' they needed to charge Hunter with tax and gun offenses in 2019. 'They were looking at the tax case, they were looking at the firearms case, they had all of that information in 2019. They could have charged it in 2019, before President Biden announced,' the source said. The source also told DailyMail.com that Weiss had been investigating potential money laundering offenses by the First Son for just as long but is failing to charge over those. First Son has pleaded guilty to failure to pay income tax and is cutting a deal on a gun charge in court documents filed today Blasted as a 'sham' and an 'absolute laughable joke,' the charges mark the conclusion of a four-year investigation by the federal prosecutor in Delaware, David Weiss James Comer, Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, is set to take testimony from Hunter's longtime close friend and business partner Devon Archer, who served alongside the First Son on the board of allegedly corrupt Ukrainian gas company Burisma House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, who is running an investigation into allegedly corrupt Biden family business dealings at home and abroad, told DailyMail.com he had seen evidence of 'influence peddling and possibly bribery'. 'Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery,' the senior Republican said. 'These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committee's investigation. We will not rest until the full extent of President Biden's involvement in the family's schemes are revealed.' Republican Senator Ron Johnson, who has been involved in a congressional investigation into the Biden family's business dealings for four years, said the charges did not nearly cover what he believes Hunter should be tried for. 'A sham investigation within our multi-tiered system of Justice produces the predictable result: Hunter gets off with a light slap on the wrist, and the public will not learn the truth,' the Wisconsin senator told DailyMail.com. Former Utah federal prosecutor Brett Tolman, who runs a criminal justice advocacy group in Texas, said: 'This prosecution is an absolute laughable joke,' and claimed that the Justice Department is 'violating its own internal policies on this case' by not charging the 'highest provable offense'. 'If DOJ treated Hunter Biden like the thousands of no-names who get prosecuted he would be looking at decades in federal prison. Yes, I said decades,' Tolman said. Republican Senator Ron Johnson, who has been involved in a congressional investigation into the Biden family's business dealings for four years, said the charges did not nearly cover what he believes Hunter should be tried for Former Utah federal prosecutor Brett Tolman, who runs a criminal justice advocacy group in Texas, said: 'This prosecution is an absolute laughable joke,' and claimed that the Justice Department is 'violating its own internal policies on this case' by not charging the 'highest provable offense' Criminal defense trial attorney Kevin Evans, who is currently suing the State Department over its refusal to release records on Hunter's suspect overseas business deals, said he 'didn't expect anything more' than a 'sylphlike slap on the wrist' by the DoJ. 'I would be pretty shocked if they moved to add any real significant charges, like failure to register for the Foreign Agents Registration Act, accepting bribes, things of that nature,' Evans told DailyMail.com. 'If there's going to be any outing of those kinds of activities it'll have to be through congressional investigations. Criminal defense trial attorney Kevin Evans, who is currently suing the State Department over its refusal to release records on Hunter's suspect overseas business deals, said he 'didn't expect anything more' than a 'sylphlike slap on the wrist' by the DoJ 'Now there'll be a probation officer who does a pretrial sentencing report to the judge. The probation officer will issue their report with a recommended range, and then it will be up to the judge at sentencing. 'I don't know if the prosecutor and Biden's lawyers have worked out any agreement on that in advance, but that doesn't mean the court would be bound by it. The case against Hunter has been mired with claims of a coverup and suppression by whistleblowers from inside the government's probe. The DoJ removed the entire team probing Hunter Biden's tax returns last month after an IRS whistleblower claimed his colleagues were 'covering-up the president's son's financial crimes'. 14-year IRS veteran Gary Shapley said the agency 'slow-walked' Hunter's case. 'There were multiple steps that were slow-walked were just completely not done at the direction of the Department of Justice,' he said in a CBS interview last month. 'When I took control of this particular investigation, I immediately saw deviations from the normal process. It was way outside the norm of what I've experienced in the past.' Insiders to the congressional investigation of the Bidens say their fight to shed light on the family's business dealings which they believe are corrupt will continue despite his plea deal. James Comer, Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, is set to take testimony from Hunter's longtime close friend and business partner Devon Archer, who served alongside the First Son on the board of allegedly corrupt Ukrainian gas company Burisma. Archer, as well as Hunter's business partner Eric Schwerin, who handled Joe Biden's taxes while he was Vice President, are cooperating with the committee's probe, Comer's staff say. Hunter's attorney Chris Clark issued a statement saying the charges 'resolved' the investigation. 'With the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the Unites States Attorney's Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved,' he said. 'Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement. A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government. 'I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward.' A White House spokesperson said: 'The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment.' Protesters from the eco-group Just Stop Oil caused more traffic misery for workers attempting to drive home late this afternoon with a slow march through the City of London. The activists have been protesting six days a week since April, causing traffic problems and testing the law as the government introduces new powers for the police to try to stop these protests. The group commenced their march from Mansion House late this afternoon - just in time to affect the evening rush hour. Tory MP Chris Philp, minister of state for crime, policing and fire, tweeted: 'The public are sick of Just Stop Oils planned programme of deliberate disruptions to daily lives. 'Ive just signed an SI [Statutory Instruments] to change the law, giving Police power to stop protests causing more than a minor hindrance to a journey. This comes into effect at midnight tonight.' Protesters from Just Stop Oil continue their protest in the City of London this afternoon with a slow march from Mansion house station The activists have been protesting six days a week since April, causing traffic problems and testing the law Yesterday, the group's antics were halted by furious school pupils who were seen reprimanding slow-marchers for making them late for lessons. Eco campaigners clad in orange had selected Stratford, east London, and Ealing, west London, for their now-familiar street shuffle. As congestion in East London got worse throughout yesterday's morning rush hour, police imposed a Section 12 order. One motorist, who the campaigners explained their cause to, seemed fairly unimpressed. He told them: 'I don't give a f***, get out of the way.' Meanwhile in west London, officers were swifter and slapped the area with the legal imposition immediately. It means they can arrest them if they do not stop blocking the highway. Just Stop Oil say it is going to be carrying out the same tactics and actions forever unless the government and multi-national corporations cave in to their demands. The campaign group wants an end to new fossil fuel projects, yet have so far failed to target any of the countries who are the worst environmental offenders. Just Stop Oil has angered motorists since it was created last February. A school pupil remonstrates with Just Stop Oil protesters as they carry on their actions of bringing traffic to a standstill to the streets of London yesterday in Stratford A young man is seen ripping a Just Stop Oil poster from marching activists yesterday This motorist seemed particularly aggrieved by the march and told them he 'didn't give a f***' Just Stop Oil's never-ending series of protests continued yet again yesterday in London Police eventually turned up to stop Just Stop Oil by putting in place a legal order against them in Stratford, east London The legal order makes it unlawful to walk in the road and gives police the power to arrest them The outfit has recently become something of a hot potato. The Tories say Labour are in the pocket of them, due to both organisations receiving donations from the same eco-entrepreneur, Dale Vince. The tycoon who founded energy company Ecotricity even joined the protesters last week for one of their marches. It comes after measures to tackle eco-zealots were approved by the Lords last week. Peers voted against moves to throw out Suella Braverman's proposals, which will give police wider powers to tackle road-blocking protesters. The Home Secretary said groups such as Just Stop Oil were 'putting people's lives at risk' by blocking ambulances and stopping patients from getting to hospital. Paedophile Jeffrey Epstein invited ex-Barclays Bank boss Jes Staley to meetings with top UK Government officials after he was released from jail for sex crimes, an internal investigation has revealed. The 22-page internal report, prepared by JPMorgan Chase after Epstein's arrest in 2019, reportedly showed how the sex offender would regularly provide business advice to then-exec Staley. Epstein also offered to connect Staley with then Chancellor Alistair Darling and Peter Mandelson, the former business secretary and de facto deputy prime minister, according to the Financial Times. He is also understood to have invited Staley to meetings with senior officials in the government of Dubai. The unreleased report may suggest Staley's involvement with Epstein goes deeper, and even saw the pedophile offer help with an application one of Staley's daughters sent to Columbia University. At the time, Staley - who left his job as chairman of the investment banking unit of JPMorgan Chase in 2013 - was tasked with managing Epstein's multimillion-dollar account. Paedophile Jeffrey Epstein (pictured in 2005) invited ex-Barclays Bank boss Jes Staley to meetings with top UK Government officials after he was released from jail for sex crimes, an internal investigation has revealed Epstein also offered to connect Staley with then Chancellor Alistair Darling and Peter Mandelson, the former business secretary and de facto deputy prime minister, the report claims. Peter Mandelson is pictured with Jefferey Epstein at the peadophile's 54th birthday JPMorgan insists that 66-year-old Staley - seen here with Epstein, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and Bill Gates - concealed such information from the bank. The picture was taken after Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution from underage girls in 2008 According to the report, Epstein wrote to Staley in January 2010 seemingly inviting him to meet with high ranking officials at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. 'I've set up you and peter to meet in davos with darling,' Epstein allegedly wrote. Staley, days later, replied: 'Peter last night. Darling in 20 minutes. Will talk again with Peter this AM.' Darling has claimed he has 'no recollection of meeting Staley', the Financial Times reported, adding that he denied having dealings with Epstein and questioned: 'Why would I?' The document in question involved JPMorgan's efforts to purchase the Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) stake in Sempra Energy and a mining deal in the Congo. Darling has claimed the Treasury was not involved in running RBS and that meetings on government business would have been attended by civil servants. In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, Darling said he 'very much regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein,' and that he 'never had any kind of professional or business relationship with Epstein in any form.' A source close to Mandelson confirmed that he did meet Staley to discuss the banking crisis but said Epstein 'certainly' did not set up the meeting. The report also alleges that Epstein and Mandelson spoke and met on a 'number of occasions', including in Paris. A spokesperson for Mandelson told the newspaper that he 'very much regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein'. 'This connection has been a matter of public record for some time. He never had any kind of professional or business relationship with Epstein in any form,' the spokesman added. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Darling or Mandelson. JPMorgan's 22-page internal report, prepared after Epstein's arrest in 2019, reportedly showed how the late sex offender would regularly provide business advice to then-exec Jes Staley, (pictured) and even personal aid using his high-profile connections In the report unveiled Monday, penned immediately after Epstein's second and last arrest, JPMorgan staffers reportedly remarked how Epstein had appeared to be forming relationships with senior executives and officials from various foreign governments, before referring those figures to Staley and the bank for prospective business deals. Some notable figures named in the Journal's report included Dubai's Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem and British politician Peter Mandelson, both of whom engaged in regular correspondence with Epstein after his 2006 arrest in Florida. Bin Sulayem, the CEO of prominent ports operator DP World, made several visits to Epstein's Manhattan townhouse between 2011 and 2014, according to JPMorgan - meetings that were only made possible by an email introduction from Epstein. According to the Journal, a message penned in December 2009 saw Epstein tell Staley how to conduct himself around the Emirati businessman during these meetings - reportedly saying: 'sultan is laying the groundwork for you to establish a serious presence.' '[JPMorgan's] reputation in the region is poor,' Epstein warned, roughly a year after he himself was sentenced to 18 months in jail for a sex ring in Florida. However, under a secret arrangement, the US attorney's office agreed not to prosecute Epstein for federal crimes - after which the disgraced banker posed for a photo with Epstein, former JPMorgan Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, and Microsoft CEO Bill Gates seemingly in celebration at Epstein's Manhattan home. Moreover, Staley sensationally visited Epstein in prison after his 2019 conviction for prostitution in the US Virgin Islands, after which he hanged himself before being incarcerated. Perhaps most sensational of the findings, though, are notes that show how Epstein invited Staley to meetings with various senior officials in foreign governments, including then UK Parliament member Peter Mandelson and Dubai port kingpin Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem The report, meanwhile, insists that not just Staley, but JPMorgan's current head of asset and wealth management, Mary Erdoes, had 'regular communication with [Epstein] related to certain strategic initiatives and business proposals' starting in 2011. The document reportedly claims that several of these messages were personal in nature, with the lion's share of the correspondence coming between Staley and Epstein - who regularly discussed women and referred to themselves as 'family.' In one July 2010 email exchange, Staley reportedly wrote to Epstein, 'That was fun. Say hi to Snow White.' In response, Epstein reportedly wrote: '[W]hat character would you like next?'; to which Staley replied, 'Beauty and the Beast.' In 2011, the pair seemed to engage in an exchange that referenced Epstein's 2008 conviction in Florida, with Staley telling his high-profile client, 'You have paid a price for what has been accused. But we know what u[sic] have done for us. 'We count you as one of our deepest friends. And most honest of people.' The report also allegedly contained correspondence that suggested Staley shared nonpublic information with Epstein, such as prospective executive shuffles before they were officially announced and word on still-ongoing deals. The developments comes as current JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has waged legal war against Staley The new information dump serves as the latest development in a case filed by the US Virgin Islands that contends the New York-based bank knew about Epstein's behavior for years - and even aided by turning a blind eye to the sex fiend's sordid exploits. The bank recently settled a similar suit brought by an unnamed woman on behalf of several of Epstein's victims, forking over $290million in the process. The evidence brought by both parties was enough to sway a Manhattan judge to rule the cases could go forward, and order the firm in March to hand over any records involving CEO Jamie Dimon and ex-exec Staley in the process. The pair, former close friends who held positions of power during Epstein's crimes at his island compound, have since waged legal war against one another, with Dimon, 67, insisting Staley, 66, knowingly concealed information about Epstein's account. The unreleased report serves as the bank's latest attempt to prove to the court that this is, in fact, the case, as it pursues its own suit against Staley. It alleges Staley misled them as to the continued actions of Epstein, while the Virgin Isles continues to maintain the high-powered exec - who left his CEO job at Barclays in 2021 - knew about Epstein's trafficking of women and teenage girls on their island. The bank also claims Staley was the unnamed executive identified in the aforementioned Epstein accuser's recently settled suit, which accused the banker of engaging in assaults along with Epstein. Staley's lawyers denied the allegations against him and told the Wall Street Journal that their client, who left the bank in 2013 for a short-lived CEO-stint at Barclays, regrets his relationship with Epstein. The report further claimed that Epstein even offered to help one of Staley's daughters, Alexa, apply to several graduate schools, including Columbia University The report further claimed that Epstein even offered to help one of Staley's daughters, Alexa, apply to several graduate schools, including Columbia University. Epstein reportedly assured Staley he would get in touch with various Columbia officials and connect Staley to the university's president. In response to those claims, a spokesperson for the New York Ivy League institution stated: 'There was no meeting between the president and Staley. Nor did the president know Epstein, then or later. There is no factual basis for these assertions.' DailyMail.com has reached out to Alexa Staley - who graduated Columbia four years later with a Doctor of Philosophy in Physics - for comment. The report, which claims to show what the bank knew about its ties to Epstein, is now being used by the bank as it continues to faceoff with the government of the Virgin Islands in court, and could soon be made public as proceedings persist. The island is where Epstein kept a home and is said to have abused dozens of girls. Last November, Jane Doe sued JPMorgan, alleging the bank secretly presided over Epstein's trafficking empire on the island, while keeping him as a client for 14 years. In her complaint, Doe said a 'powerful financial executive' who was friends with Epstein had sexually assaulted her but she declined to name him 'out of fear.' In The US Virgin Island's suit, the Caribbean territory has claimed at least one JPMorgan exec knew about Epstein's trafficking of women and teenage girls. JPMorgan maintains that Staley - who has nearly four decades of experience in the banking and financial spheres - concealed such information from the bank. Like the case involving the victims, US Virgin Islands is asking for an undisclosed amount of money from the bank for keeping Epstein on as a client, and missing red flags about his more than a decade of misconduct. The US territory has called Dimon 'a likely source of relevant and unique information' about why JPMorgan kept Epstein on as a client, even after he was arrested in 2006 and later indicted by a grand jury for taking part in a child prostitution ring in Palm Beach, Florida. A spokesman for the US Virgin Islands government said of the recent settlement: 'We are gratified to hear about the settlement that will provide victims of Jeffrey Epstein some compensation for JPMorgan Chase's role in facilitating Epstein's crimes against them. 'The US Virgin Islands will continue to proceed with its enforcement action to ensure full accountability for JPMorgan's violations of law and prevent the bank from assisting and profiting from human trafficking in the future. 'The US Virgin Islands is committed to protecting women and girls who could otherwise become victims going forward.' Epstein was a client at the bank between 1998 and 2013 - seven years after he was arrested and convicted of using underage prostitutes in Palm Beach, Florida. Bank employees were concerned about Epstein's large cash withdrawals, some of which were used to pay underage girls in exchange for sex, but he was allowed to remain a client for years. According to depositions that were part of the lawsuit, he would regularly withdraw between $40,000 and $80,000 a month. The withdrawals rang alarm bells among compliance officials, but he explained them away by claiming they were for fuel and landing fees for his private plane. Epstein ran much of his criminal activities out of his compound on Little St. James Island, a private itself he owned off the coast that falls in the Virgin Islands' jurisdiction. The territory has claimed that at least one JPMorgan exec knew about Epstein's trafficking on their island 'The parties believe this settlement is in the best interests of all parties, especially the survivors who were the victims of Epstein's terrible abuse,' a statement released by JP Morgan on Monday said Epstein ran much of his criminal activities out of his compound on Little St. James Island, a private itself he owned off the coast that falls in the Virgin Islands' jurisdiction. After the full extent of Epstein's crimes became known in 2019, Staley initially claimed he and Epstein were little more than acquaintances tied by business. Later he admitted to having a close professional relationship that he established while running JPMorgan's private bank and asset management division from 2000 to 2009. Staley became the CEO of Barclay's in 2015, but later stepped down amidst a probe into whether he had concealed the extent of his relationship with Epstein. While a high-ranking JPMorgan executive, Staley famously visited Epstein in prison after his conviction for prostitution in 2008. The bank has denied Staley actually went to the prison, saying instead Epstein visited Staley at his office during a work release for his 18-month prison sentence. Epstein died in custody while awaiting a sex trafficking trial. In his absence, the only person to have faced criminal prosecution over his crimes is Ghislaine Maxwell. She is currently serving a 20 year prison sentence after being convicted of facilitating the abuse. DailyMail.com has reached out to JPMorgan for comment. A New Hampshire state senator has been arrested after he allegedly slapped and spat on an employee during a fight at a bar and restaurant he owns. Keith Murphy, a Republican from Manchester, turned himself in on Monday on assault charges stemming from the April incident at Murphys Taproom, according to the Manchester Police Department. Police claim an employee said he was spat on and slapped by Murphy during an argument at the establishment. Surveillance footage not yet released to the public allegedly backed up the employee's claims. Video also showed Murphy pick up a chair 'in an aggressive manner,' per authorities. New Hampshire Republican state senator Keith Murphy Murphys Taproom, an Irish restaurant and bar, opened in 2007 and claims to have the largest selection of draft beer in the state Murphy, 47, issued a statement on Monday defending himself from the charges and claiming he is the victim in the situation. 'I am innocent of these charges and I look forward to my day in court,' he wrote on Facebook. 'When the facts are known it will be clear that the police have charged the victim in this case. I will be defending my name, reputation, and business through the legal process, and I defer all further questions to my attorney, Donna Brown.' The politician added: 'Withhold judgment until that happens.' Murphy is charged with two counts of simple assault and one count of criminal threatening. The father of four was released on personal recognizance bail and will have to appear in court again on July 24. Murphys Taproom, an Irish restaurant and bar, opened in 2007 and claims to have the largest selection of draft beer in the state. Murphy was elected to represent District 16 in the state's senate last year and previously served as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. Murphy was elected to represent District 16 in the state's senate last year New Hampshire senate president Jeb Bradley, a fellow Republican, issued a statement saying Murphy has shown 'the highest of character' in the Senate. 'I want to express my strong support for our colleague Senator Keith Murphy following news of a workplace dispute with an employee,' Bradley said. On the other side of the aisle, however, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley stating the senator should resign if the allegations are true. 'These are very serious charges that should be taken seriously by all involved, said Buckley. 'If Senator Murphy is convicted, without question he must leave the Senate immediately.' Murphy stepped into the state senate race last year after the GOP nominee, Michael Yakubovich, left the race over health issues. During his campaign, he pledged to promote fiscal responsibility, school choice and to cut taxes. House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik is planning to work on 'rooting out the rot' within the Department of Justice during a closed-door hearing Tuesday featuring testimony from Special Counsel John Durham, who recently released a scathing report on systemic failures within the FBI. Durham concluded in his report that the FBI opened the flawed 'Crossfire Hurricane' probe into now-debunked Trump-Russia collusion allegations was 'based on raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence.' Stefanik, R-N.Y., previewed her line of questioning exclusively with DailyMail.com at the National Press Club ahead of a closed-door House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) hearing with Durham Tuesday afternoon. The House Judiciary Committee will also host the special counsel in a public setting on Wednesday. 'I sit on the House Intelligence Committee, so I will be asking John Durham questions today. I think it's important that every American take the opportunity to read the Durham report. This is bombshell - the politicization and the weaponization at all at the highest levels of the FBI and the Department of Justice going after Democrats' top political opponent,' Stefanik said. Durham - who was appointed by then-Attorney General Bill Barr in 2019 to look into misconduct related to Crossfire Hurricane - concluded that the FBI opened the probe 'based on raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence' 'So I'm going to ask John Durham about what changes need to be made to root out the rot in these agencies,' she continued. 'It's something that I'm very familiar with, having served on the House Intelligence Committee and seeing just the abuse of power of the highest ranking officials there with no consequences,' the top Republican told DailyMail.com. Stefanik also said that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reauthorization - which must be completed by the end of 2023 - is critical. 'There were major, major abuses of FISA, and virtually no consequences. That needs to be addressed. So I plan on asking John Durham about that as well.' Stefanik also blasted the plea deal - including no prison time - secured by the president's son Hunter Biden for tax and gun charges Tuesday morning. 'Today, you have Joe Biden's Department of Justice giving the son of the sitting president of the United States Hunter Biden a slap on the wrist, and meanwhile you have them continuing this witch hunt against Donald Trump,' she said. 'These agencies need to be reined in,' Stefanik continued, adding that she remains 'proud to support President Trump' despite his arrest last week on 37 federal counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents. The chairwoman was the first from congressional GOP leadership to pledge her support for Trump in the 2024 presidential election. As part of the closed-door hearing, HPSCI Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told DailyMail.com last week that the committee plans to work with Durham to identify legislative solutions to fix systemic issues within the Department of Justice. Turner said the aspect of Durham's report that he found 'the most disturbing' is that it shows 'wrongdoing in the FBI, in the Department of Justice and concerns with the intelligence community itself. 'I've had personal conversations with John Durham that our goal... is to not only go through his report and the issues that he identifies, but to get his recommendations as to where changes need to occur.' Turner said it is important to promote solutions currently as the committee is in the process of renewing Section 702 of the FISA. He added that another top concern is that the DOJ and FBI used political campaign opposition research 'to politicize government functions to negatively impact an opposition candidate.' He hopes to work with Durham and the committee to put into place remedies as soon as possible before the next election. 'It's not just an issue of bad people being in powerful positions who corrupted those positions. It's also that our rules and laws need to be changed, so that these mechanisms cannot be used again this way to really harm the American public. Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is holding a public hearing with Durham on Wednesday Republican senators Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley are also pressing Durham to provide answers about why top FBI officials - including former Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe - refused to cooperate with his investigation into the agency's opening of the Trump-Russia collusion probe. Durham issued 2,800 subpoenas, executed 500 search warrants and conducted hundreds of interviews with key officials including Hillary Clinton and her campaign associates, Trump campaign officials and hundreds of involved FBI officials - but notably a few of the FBI's top brass at the time refused to cooperate with Durham's probe. Durham did not interview James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strozk, Bill Preistap, Kevin Clinesmith - who was convicted by Durham for illegally altering an email - and Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS, which the Republican senators call 'odd.' Although Durham's report does not recommend any 'wholesale changes' in guidelines or policies of the Department of Justice, it says there is a 'continuing need' for the agencies to recognize the lack of 'analytical rigor' and apparent 'confirmation bias.' The FBI responded to the report in a statement to DailyMail.com saying that there are 'corrective actions' in place now that would have prevented 'missteps in 2016.' 'The conduct in 2016 and 2017 that Special Counsel Durham examined was the reason that current FBI leadership already implemented dozens of corrective actions, which have now been in place for some time,' the FBI told DailyMail.com. 'Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented. This report reinforces the importance of ensuring the FBI continues to do its work with the rigor, objectivity, and professionalism the American people deserve and rightly expect.' The Boston Police Department has launched an investigation into an adult woman after shew as accused of using fake identification papers to fraudulently enroll in three public high schools. Students were informed in a letter sent by Jeremiah E. Burke High School, that the woman falsified paperwork to register for Jeremiah E. Burke High School, Brighton High School, and English High School at various points during the 2022 - 2023 academic school year. The unnamed individual has been discharged and ordered to stay away from Boston Public School facilities, according to the letter obtained by Dailymail.com. Boston Public School Superintendent Mary Skipper said in a statement: 'I am deeply troubled that an adult would breach the trust of our school communities by posing as a student.' The investigation is ongoing but police and school staff do not believe any harm was caused to students or staff by the woman. Boston Public Schools officials say an adult woman has been ordered to stay away from school facilities after authorities found she fraudulently enrolled in multiple high schools as a student Students were informed in a letter sent by Jeremiah E. Burke High School, that the woman falsified paperwork to register for Jeremiah E. Burke High School, Brighton High School, and English High School at various points during the 2022 - 2023 academic school year The investigation is ongoing but police and school staff do not believe any harm was caused to students or staff by the woman 'This appears to be a case of extremely sophisticated fraud,' Skipper added. 'As soon as BPS personnel identified irregularities with the student's enrollment, the case was referred to the Boston Police who are now undertaking a criminal investigation,' she said. The woman was able to register by utilizing the student transfer process and enrolling under multiple pseudonyms, Skipper said. Last week, a Boston Public School employee noticed an 'irregularity' in the woman's paperwork on file and reported it to District leadership, who immediately contacted Boston Police. According to the police report, school officials became concerned when the woman's 'father' notified the school that his daughter would be withdrawing and enrolled in St. Columbkille School due to bullying. The school grew suspicious because she had only been enrolled on Thursday, June 8, and they had already started addressing the claims earlier that morning. Concerned that there may be a custodial issue, the school requested all of the enrollment paperwork from the district. It was then that they noticed further inconsistencies such as incorrect letterhead, while phone numbers went straight to voicemail. Boston Public School Superintendent Mary Skipper (pictured) said in a statement: 'I am deeply troubled that an adult would breach the trust of our school communities by posing as a student' The school said the families of students who may have interacted with this individual are currently being contacted directly by school staff and investigators. 'I am grateful to the BPS staff who caught this and quickly acted and to the Boston Police for launching an immediate investigation,' Skipper said. Police said the investigation is ongoing and no charges have been filed at this time. The age and name of the suspect has been redacted from the police report. Skipper said the school will provide additional updates if relevant information becomes available. In January, another adult woman was accused of impersonating a minor and fraudulently enrolling as a student in a New Jersey high school. Hyejeong Shin, 29, was arrested after attending classes at New Brunswick High School for four days before her true age was discovered. Shin's attorney, Darren Gelber, said the Rutgers University graduate knows she made a mistake and that it was her longing for the sorts of friendships she had in high school that made her decide to do it. She entered a not guilty plea to charges that could carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison. She was destined to be the greatest passenger ship of her age when she went down in a tragic collision at sea a huge blow to Britain's naval prestige. No, not the RMS Titanic but Her Majesty's Hospital Ship Britannic, which sank after hitting a mine in the Aegean Sea in November 1916. She was the largest ship to be lost during World War I. There was, however, a connection with the ocean-going liner that had gone down four years earlier after hitting a giant iceberg in the North Atlantic. They were sister ships, built in the same dockyard Belfast's venerable Harland & Wolff and launched within three years of each other. The sinking of the Britannic might suggest to some the idea there's a curse attached to the Titanic and anything or anyone to do with her. Her Majesty's Hospital Ship Britannic sank after hitting a mine in the Aegean Sea in November 1916, she was the largest ship to be lost during World War I The sinking of the Britannic might suggest to some the idea there's a curse attached to the Titanic and anything or anyone to do with her The RMS Titanic of the White Star Line sunk at around 2:20 AM Monday morning April 15, 1912 after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic And, from suicides and other tragedies, the litany of sad occurrences makes for striking reading. Meanwhile, attempts to salvage or raise the tragic ship have ended in failure while films retelling the event have often been plagued by difficulties and near-disaster. Even Titanic museums haven't been spared in 2021, a fake iceberg wall at a US Titanic museum in Tennessee collapsed, injuring three visitors. The Britannic's case is particularly shocking. After the Titanic sank, the 883ft Britannic was modified with the purpose of ensuring she didn't meet the same fate as her older sister. Her hull was strengthened and she was fitted with more lifeboats. Sadly, even these safeguards were insufficient to save her from sinking or those on board from dying. Perhaps aware of the Titanic's failure to deploy lifeboats effectively, some of the Britannic's crew prematurely put the first two lifeboats into the water when the great vessel began to sink. They were sucked into the still-turning and partly surfaced propeller, threshing the boats and their occupants to pieces. The 30-strong death toll was small compared to the more than 1,500 who died on the Titanic. But the Britannic wasn't the only ship connected to the Titanic that faced such a gruesome end. The RMS Carpathia, the Cunard passenger liner that became famous for rescuing the Titanic's survivors (and was dubbed the 'ship of widows' as so many of the survivors were women), was also sunk during World War I off the southern Irish coast after being torpedoed by a German U-boat. Five crew members died. But it was not just ships that were blighted. Many of the 706 reported survivors of the Titanic were not spared the 'curse'. Haunted by the terrible trauma they witnessed, many went on to live troubled lives. The Countess of Rothes recalled how, a year after the disaster, she was dining out with friends when she 'suddenly felt the awful feeling of intense cold and horror' that she'd experienced on the Titanic. She realised it was because the restaurant musicians were playing The Tales Of Hoffman, the last music she had heard from the Titanic's orchestra. Decades before 'survivor syndrome' would be diagnosed as a specific mental health condition which often entails a feeling of guilt, many of the Titanic survivors reported the symptoms of disassociation, a state where sufferers feel disconnected from their thoughts and memories. Countess of Rothes (pictured) said she 'suddenly felt the awful feeling of intense cold and horror' that she'd experienced on the Titanic a year after the tragedy when dining out with friends Oscar-winning film, Titanic, starring Kate Winslet (pictured) turned into a nightmare for many involved, she developed hypothermia and flu and was injured dozens of times during six months of filming Marjorie Dutton, who was an eight-year-old passenger on the Titanic, wrote in 1955 how her life had never recovered from the voyage. Her father was drowned, taking the family's 'worldly wealth' with him. 'Since that time I have been blessed with bad luck and often wonder if it will ever give me a break, but it just seems to be my lot,' she said. Was it significant, she wondered, that her name had been published at the time as having been among those who drowned? Some of these traumatised survivors went on to take their own lives tragically early. Madeleine Astor, a member of that fabulously wealthy family, had been an 18-year-old travelling home on the liner from honeymoon with her husband John Jacob, who died. Under the cruel terms of his will, she could inherit his fortune only if she never married again. She became increasingly dependent on prescription drugs and died aged 47 amid rumours she had taken an overdose of sleeping pills. Fellow First Class passenger Jack Thayer, another member of a rich American family who survived the sinking but lost his father, was plunged into depression during World War II when another family member met a watery grave: his son, a bomber pilot, was shot down over the Pacific and never found. Two years later, after his mother, another Titanic survivor, died near to the anniversary of the ship's sinking, Thayer slit his throat and wrists. Attempts to turn the Titanic tragedy into film have also been dogged by misfortune. Even the Nazis had a go. Hitler's propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels tried to make a budget film in 1943, Titanic, which attempted to portray the ship's sinking as a damning indictment of British greed, stupidity and cowardice. The film was certainly 'cursed'. Its director ended up being hanged in a Gestapo prison cell after mocking the Nazi war effort. Plagued by delays and problems, the film wasn't ready until Germans faced imminent defeat. Goebbels realised a movie about a ship sinking would be seen as an allegory about the Nazis, so it was banned in Germany. The film had been shot on a German liner, the Cap Arcona, which was sunk just two years later in the Baltic by British warplanes. Tragically, they hadn't been aware it was carrying 5,000 concentration-camp inmates and prisoners of war. Only 500 people survived. When the impresario Lew Grade made the movie Raise The Titanic starring Jason Robards in 1980, so much was spent on water tanks and scale models of the ship, that the budget ballooned to $40million. Grade later said ruefully: 'It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic'. Even the production of the Oscar-winning 1997 feature film, Titanic, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, turned into a nightmare for many involved. Winslet developed hypothermia and flu and was injured dozens of times during six months of filming, much of it in Mexico. When filming moved to Canada, many of the cast and production crew were mysteriously poisoned after being served clam chowder that had been laced with the drug PCP. More than 50 people had to be taken to hospital. For decades, it seems, the ship that was supposedly unsinkable has brought peril and death to those associated with it. Now, the world is praying such a tragedy will not unfold once more 12,500ft below those freezing waves. A mother who killed her newborn son by smothering him with cling film has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail, meaning she could soon be out of prison having served most of her tariff. Ineta Dzinguviene, 38, was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow after she pleaded guilty to culpable homicide on the basis of diminished responsibility at an earlier hearing in Edinburgh. Baby Paulius was just hours old when Dzinguviene placed a piece of cling film over his mouth and smothered him to death at her home in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, in April 2010. Dzinguviene had previously been convicted of murdering Paulius and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 15 years in jail in 2011, but this conviction was quashed in March by the appeal court. She now faces being deported to her homeland of Lithuania to serve a 15-year jail sentence she received for the murder of her other child, three-day old daughter Paulina. Ineta Dzinguviene, 38, pleaded guilty to culpable homicide on the basis of diminished responsibility Paulina was killed in 2009 after her mother wrapped her in a plastic bag and placed her in a cupboard. In June 2011, the then 26-year-old was jailed for a minimum of 15 years at the High Court in Glasgow after the death of her son. As she received therapy in prison, she disclosed details of a traumatic childhood and her abusive relationship. There were reports at the time that she had wanted to hide her pregnancy from her husband. The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission referred her case to the appeal court after fresh evidence was obtained about her mental state at the time of her son's death. It showed she suffered from complex post-traumatic stress disorder after suffering years of domestic and sexual abuse. Dzinguviene has now effectively served her sentence, which was backdated to when she was first remanded in custody on April 15, 2010. At the sentencing on Tuesday, judge Lady Poole told the court: 'You had an upbringing characterised by neglect, and then a troubled marriage.' Dzinguviene pleaded guilty to one charge of culpable homicide of her hours-old baby, Paulius Dzingus, at the High Court in Edinburgh (pictured) The judge said she had taken into account a criminal justice social work report and everything said in Dzinguviene's defence. Lady Poole continued: 'You have had a very difficult life. In particular, your treatment at the hands of others prior to being imprisoned makes difficult reading. 'You have various issues with your health. You have been in custody since 15 April 2010. In prison you have engaged well, including with programmes offered to you. 'Although your culpability at the time of your offending was diminished by your mental state, the harm you caused was extreme. 'You took the life of your son Paulius. He was a newborn baby. You deprived your son of his life and all he could have been. 'After you killed Paulius, you hid his body in a bag amongst rubbish in the common stairway where you lived. 'Killing a defenceless baby is behaviour which society cannot tolerate. You must be punished for what you did.' This is the frightening moment a judge was kidnapped at gunpoint outside his home in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo before he was released two hours later. Judge Sergio Aviles had just stepped out of his vehicle and was removing an object from the front passenger seat when he was approached by a man Monday night in the municipality of Chatumal, about five hours south of Cancun. A surveillance video showed the 42-year-old judge running away and tossing a shirt he was carrying to the ground while one of his would-be captors chased after him. The suspect aimed his firearm at Aviles without firing a single shot before the judge tripped and fell to the ground. Judge Sergio Aviles was kidnapped in front of his home in Quintana Roo, Mexico, on Monday night. The 42-year-old was released by his captors about two hours after the incident. He was beaten and received medical attention at a local hospital Mexican judge Sergio Aviles (top left) runs away from one of his would-be abductors in front of his home in the Quintana Roo city of Chatumal Aviles was immediately surrounded by both suspects as their accomplice put their vehicle in reverse before they forced him inside. Moments later, one of the kidnappers ran back to the magistrate's SUV where he searched for an item, although it's unknown if he removed anything. The suspect then rejoined his cohorts to flee the scene. The Quintana Roo State Public Security Ministry said in a statement that Aviles made it back on his own to his residence shortly after midnight and was 'safe and sound.' He was beaten by his captors, but his injuries were non-life-threatening. He was taken to a medical facility for an evaluation. Judge Sergio Aviles (left) is approached by one of the kidnappers (right) Monday night One of the kidnappers aims his gun but does not fire as he chased after Mexican judge Sergio Aviles Aviles, who serves as the director for the Quintana Roo Electoral Court, attended the conference for the Electoral Political Rights of the LGBTTTIQ Community prior to his abduction, according to his social media feed. The kidnappers remained on the run as of Tuesday. Aviles has not made any public statements regarding the incident. The latest government figures show that at least 420 abductions were reported between January and May in Mexico. Aviles' kidnapping would be the first reported all year in Quintana Roo. In April, as many as 150 people from the Indigenous community of Nurio stormed the city hall in the municipality of Paracho, Michoacan, and abducted Mayor Eric Padilla and councilman Noe Zapata. The group took Padilla and Zapata by force after they refused to increase the self-governed community's budget for fiscal year 2023. Security forces eventually rescued the pair without incident. Deep dive vessels from across the world have been deployed to help search for the missing Titanic tourist submersible as the Coast Guard says those on board only have about 40 hours of oxygen left. The US Navy said on Tuesday it is sending experts and a 'Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System' which can lift small vessels to assist. A team from France is expected to arrive in Canada on Wednesday to operate a remotely operated robot and a submarine deployed from the Atalante ship. The boat can hold up to 30 technicians and scientists for up to 45 days, and both the devices on board are able to reach 6,000m (around 20,000ft) below sea level. OceanGate's submersible, the Titan, is currently missing with five people on board after it lost communication during a dive to the Titanic's wreckage, which is around 12,500ft below the Atlantic. A frantic search and rescue operation is underway to locate and recover the vessel before its 96-hour oxygen supply runs out. A team from France is expected to arrive in Canada on Wednesday to operate a remotely operated robot and a submarine (pictured) which are deployed from the Atalante ship. Who was Stockton Rush? San Francisco-born Rush, 61, founded OceanGate Expeditions in 2009 - after trying, and failing, to buy explorer and businessman Steve Fossett's submersible, after the adventurer died in a 2007 plane crash. As a young man, Rush was more interested in space than deep seas: At 19, he became the youngest jet transport-rated pilot in the world, qualifying with the United Airlines Jet Training Institute. For the next three years he flew for Saudi Arabian Airlines on his summer holidays from his aerospace engineering course at Princeton. From 1984 he worked with the US Air Force on F-15s and anti-satellite missile programs, with the aim of eventually taking part in the space program. Rush obtained an MBA from Berkeley and went on to work for multiple companies, specializing in sonar, subsea technology and radars. Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate He built a Glasair III experimental aircraft which he flew regularly, and his own Kittredge K-350 two-man submersible. Rush always intended to take tourists to the Titanic: in 2017, he said he planned to then branch out to excursions to hydrothermal vents or deep-sea canyons, and underwater battlefield tours. He then hoped to work with oil and gas exploration. In 2018, the Manned Underwater Vehicles committee of the Marine Technology Society, a 60-year-old trade group, warned that the 'current 'experimental' approach' of the company could result in problems 'from minor to catastrophic.' The company also fired David Lochridge, who was Director of Marine operations for the Titan project, after disagreeing with his demand for more rigorous safety checks on the submersible, including 'testing to prove its integrity'. Additionally, the company opted against having the craft 'classed', an industry-wide practice whereby independent inspectors ensure vessels meet accepted technical standards. The first trips to see Titanic began in 2021. Rush was killed in the June 18 disaster. Advertisement Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai, and Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, plus his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19. OceanGate's CEO Stockton Rush is also understood to be on board the vessel, which vanished on Sunday, along with French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet. The Navy does not say how deep its lifting system can operated. Titanic sits 12,500ft below sea level. The system was successfully used in March 2021 to retrieve a Sea Hawk helicopter that was sitting on the seabed near Okinawa, Japan, some 19,075 feet below the surface. A new salvage record was set at the time. 'The Navy is sending subject matter experts and a Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS), motion compensated lift system designed to provide reliable deep ocean lifting capacity for the recovery of large, bulky, and heavy undersea objects such as aircraft or small vessels, from Navy Supervisor of Salvage,' a Navy Spokesperson told The War Zone on Tuesday. This 'expertise and equipment will support USCG [U.S. Coast Guard] and the unified command. 'Personnel and equipment are scheduled to arrive at St. John's [in Canada] tonight.' FADOSS is a modular system that can be employed from any suitable ship to recover objects weight up to 60,000 pounds. Titan weighs some 23,000 pounds, according to OceanGate. Atalante, which is expected to arrive in the search zone later on Wednesday, is less than 48 hours away from the site where the sub went missing, according to Herve Berville, France's junior minister in charge of maritime affairs. It has a manned submersible called Nautile and remote-operated vehicle Victor 6000 on board. Nautile can dive to a depth of 20,000ft with a crew of three and is one of the very few manned deep-sea submarines. It has three wide-angle viewports and LED searchlights provide a direct view of the seabed. A dive on board the sub can last up to eight hours, of which six can be spent working at the sea floor. The remote-operated Victor 600 is a deep-water ROV remotely operated by cable that can also go to depths of 20,000ft. It is equipped with a high-performance navigation system which comprises a range of sensors connected to an inertial navigation system and has completed more than 700 dives. The high-resolution optical imaging system ensures an optimal visual perception of the environment and can also generate optical 3D reconstructions of the area under observation. Victor 6000 is connected to the ship by an electromechanical cable which is 26,250ft-long and supplies 20 kW of power. Victor 6000 is connected to the ship by an electromechanical cable which is 26,250ft long and supplies 20 kW of power Atalante can hold up to 30 technicians and scientists for up to 45 days, and both the devices on board are able to reach 20,000ft below sea level TIMELINE OF MISSING SUBMERSIBLE TITAN 8am Sunday: Titan submerges around 900 miles east of Cape Cod 9.45am: Polar Prince expedition ship loses contact with the submersible 5.40pm: Coast Guard first alerted to the missing sub 9.13pm: Canadian Coast Guard alerted Thursday at 8am: 96 hours of oxygen runs out Advertisement Optical fibers in the cable send the data and image flows to the surface, allowing it to be piloted from the ship in real time with there being no limit to the duration of a drive. Along with the French vessels, a Bahamas-flagged ship - which is owned by a UK and US company - is also assisting in the search effort. The Deep Energy is owned by TechnipFMC, which specializes in laying pipe and cables, and arrived at the wreck site on Tuesday morning. In a statement they said: 'The effort is being led by the United States Coast Guard with support from the Canadian Coast Guard.' The ship is carrying two remotely operated vehicles that can dive to 9,850ft to help with the search. They unmanned submersibles, operated from a control room on the mothership, and are tethered with 3,280ft-long cables. At a press conference at the US Coast Guard Station in Boston - which is coordinating the search and rescue effort - First District Response Coordinator Capt. Jamie Frederick conceded on Tuesday that a rescue was far from guaranteed. Titan is currently missing with five people on board after it lost communication during a dive to the Titanic's wreckage, which is around 12,500ft below the Atlantic Two remotely operated vehicles are being used to help the search, but they can only dive to 9,850ft. The Titanic wreck is 12,500ft below sea level Along with the French ship, a Bahamas-flagged ship which specializes in laying pipe and cables is also assisting in the search effort Even if they locate the missing vessel in time, there is no certainty it can safely be brought to surface. The Coast Guard has already searched 7,600 square miles of ocean - an area the size of Connecticut. At 12,500ft underwater, there are few vessels able to dive deeply enough to find it. The only ones able to search the ocean floor are remotely operated vehicles which are searching the ocean now. Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are among the five people trapped in the sub French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding (pictured), CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday If they find the sub, getting it to the surface is another feat entirely, requiring specialist equipment that is not yet on-site. Other experts likened it to requiring a 2.5 mile-long cable to lasso to the far side of the moon. There are multiple civilian ships assisting in the search, along with US Navy, Canadian Navy ships and aircraft. Among pieces of equipment now on the way to the site is a decompression chamber for the five passengers, should they be brought to the surface. The Oxford University graduate worked with children across India and Nepal A top-ranking teacher at a primary school that educated Prince George and Princess Charlotte has admitted paying thousands of pounds to Indian teenagers in return for sexually explicit images of children. Matthew Smith, 34, from East Dulwich in London, today pleaded guilty to a further 18 counts of child sex abuse, including paying more than 65,000 to coerce teenagers in India into abusing children. The ex-deputy headteacher at Thomas's prep school on Battersea High Street, south west London, was fired from the 20,000 a year prep school that taught Prince George and Princess Charlotte after allegations first emerged last November. The Oxford University graduate previously worked in orphanages and NGOs across India from 2007-2014 before taking up a job as an assistant headteacher at a British school in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, from 2017 and July 2022. Smith has now pleaded guilty to a total of 22 charges after investigators raided his London home last November to find him asking a teenager in India to send him sexual images of a younger child, police said. Matthew Smith, 34, (pictured) today pleaded guilty to 18 counts of child sex abuse at Southwark Crown Court The teacher also had Dark Web sites and forums open on his computer dedicated to child sexual abuse, the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) said. Detectives subsequently analysed chat logs and bank transactions to reveal Smith paid the same teen, and another also living in India, a total of 65,398 to abuse children over a five-year period. Before working at the school in Nepal, Smith spent various periods working in orphanages and NGOs across India between 2007 until 2014. He then moved back to the UK last July and began working at Thomas's prep in September, where he was a deputy head teacher and head of pastoral care, before being sacked from the school two months later when he was charged by police. Chat logs showed Smith would order the young men to perform sexual acts on boys and send them images and videos as examples of ones he would like to see re-enacted. The prep school teacher also gave one of the teenagers advice on befriending children and building their trust in order to abuse them, police said. Potential of his crimes was first found while Smith was working in India, but there is nothing to suggest he committed abuse against children based in Nepal or the UK, the NCA said. Following a raid on Smith's south east London home, officers found over 120,000 indecent images of children saved on his laptop, a SD card and on his phone. Prosecutors charged him with a total of 22 offences, including encouraging the rape of a child under 13, causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and arranging the sexual abuse of a child. He today pleaded guilty to 17 counts at Southwark Crown Court having previously admitted five counts at a hearing in November. Matthew Smith previously worked as a deputy head teacher at Prince George and Princess Charlotte's 20,000 a year Thomas's prep school in Battersea, south west London (pictured) Helen Dore, senior officer of the National Crime Agency, said: 'Matthew Smith was a high risk individual and we moved quickly to locate, arrest and remand him so he could no longer pose a threat to children. 'Ultimately, we were able to prove that he was a prolific offender who manipulated young men to sexually abuse children on his behalf, giving them detailed instructions and financial reward. 'While conducting his offending, Smith worked at a school in Nepal, then became a deputy head teacher and head of pastoral care in the UK, so his offending is a deep betrayal of the trust placed in him.' None of the offences relate to his job at the 20,000-a-year Thomas's primary school, which was attended by Prince George and Princess Charlotte until the end of the last academic year. Both royal children have now moved to Lambrook School, near Ascot in Berkshire, and had left by the time Smith started work in September. Claire Brinton, specialist prosecutor in the CPS's Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, branded Smith's crimes 'particularly disturbing' given he was a primary school teacher. She said after the hearing today: 'Matthew Smith's crimes are particularly disturbing given his role as a primary school teacher entrusted with the responsibility of caring for and safeguarding children. 'Thousands of images and videos were recovered from his devices which showed an appalling catalogue of sexual abuse being perpetrated on children. 'Smith offered individuals payments for indecent images to gratify his own sexual desires, which resulted in the horrifying abuse of young children in India. 'This conviction sends a clear message that the CPS, working alongside the NCA and international partners, will work to bring to justice those who sexually abuse and exploit children, wherever that abuse takes place.' Oxford University graduate Mathew Smith (pictured) previously worked for NGOs and orphanages in India and at a British school in Nepal Before his role at Thomas's, Smith was assistant head teacher at the British School in Kathmandu, Nepal, for five years. He also taught at the St Paul's School in London, which charges fees of 44,000 a year, and has degrees from both Oxford and Cambridge universities. A Thomas's school spokesperson said: 'We have been shocked and appalled beyond measure by this matter and are grateful for the work of the police and courts in bringing this man to account. 'Mr Smith's employment at the school, which commenced in September 2022, was terminated with immediate effect when the school first learned of the charges against him in November. 'While the National Crime Agency has confirmed that none of the matters under investigation related to the school or its pupils, these deplorable actions constitute an unforgivable breach of trust and our thoughts are with those who have been impacted or damaged by them. 'As always, we remain absolutely committed to the ongoing safety and wellbeing of our pupils and our whole school community.' Smith will be sentenced at the same court next month. The Met Police Commissioner has complained it should be easier to fire bad officers as he reveals he has 'over 500' staff on restricted duties. Sir Mark Rowley also told The News Agents podcast said that 'several hundred' of his officers have been suspended following investigations into police standards. He said it was was with a 'heavy heart' that he chose not to describe the Met Police as institutionally racist after Baroness Louise Casey's damning review into the force's culture and standards. The Casey Review, published in March, found the force to be institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic in the wake of a series of scandals, including the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer and Pc David Carrick being unmasked as a serial rapist. Asked how many Met officers are currently being investigated over sexual and domestic abuse claims, Sir Mark told the podcast's co-host Emily Maitlis: 'It's many hundreds. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said its not as easy as it ought to be to rid the force of bad police officers Pictured: General view of New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley with Baroness Louise Casey before answering question from the London Assembly police and crime committee at City Hall in east London 'I don't have the number at the top of my head but it's many hundreds.' On how many Met officers have been suspended as a result of these investigations, he added: 'We have well over 500 who are restricted and several hundred who are suspended. 'So, I've said we need to get rid of hundreds of people. 'If you look back over the last few years, the Met has been sacking 50 people a year. So clearly, the answer is going to be a lot more than that. 'So, it's going to be hundreds of people we need to remove from the organisation who are a serious challenge at the same time as creating a stronger, healthier, better trained organisation that's more resistant to this in the future.' He told The News Agents' co-host Jon Sopel 'it's not as easy as it ought to be' to rid the force of bad police officers. Sir Mark added: 'So, something that most people would have no reason to know is that police officers aren't under normal employment law in most respects. 'They're under something called police regulations, in terms of how performance is managed, or how misconduct is investigated and dealt with, it is more bureaucratic, slower, more difficult than normal employment law. 'And so actually these issues are significant, and I've asked the Prime Minister and Home Secretary to look at this, and the Mayor has asked them to look at it as well.' On the need to improve the reputation of the Met, Sir Mark said it is his 'mission to deliver more trust, less crime and high standards'. He added: 'I would much rather be talking about the trust of the public and tackling crime with them full stop. 'The fact I have to talk about standards and the fact alongside saying, I've got tens of thousands of fantastic men and women, I've got hundreds who shouldn't be here, that's professionally annoying, but that's what I came back (to the force) to do. 'Because we have to sort that out for our credibility. Asked how many Met officers are currently being investigated over sexual and domestic abuse claims, Sir Mark told the podcast's co-host Emily Maitlis: 'It's many hundreds' (file photo) 'And the vast majority of my colleagues, they're up for that, which is why when we look at things like the Casey Report it was them who told that picture that they want tackled.' Responding to the findings of the Casey review at the time, Sir Mark said he accepted the diagnosis of racism, misogyny and homophobia in the Met, but would not use the term institutional because it has become politicised and is ambiguous. Addressing Baroness Casey's assessment that the force is institutionally racist, Sir Mark told the News Agents 'it's a contentious phrase with a long history'. He added: 'And some people feel very, very strongly that unless you say that word, you're not serious, I know that. 'And it's with a heavy heart, I chose not to use it. 'But when I know that for a big proportion of people, it means something entirely different, which isn't what she [Casey] means. 'And that's why I stood away from it, and I realise that's contentious.' Comes following the 37-count Justice Department indictment of Trump Donald Trump lost six points in Republican voter polls after his indictment allowing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to close the gap between the two front runners for 2024's presidential candidate. The former president still holds a commanding 47 percent of support among Republican voters, according to a CNN/SSRS survey released Tuesday. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis consistently comes in second place, but is 21 percent behind Trump in the most recent polling. When the same survey was taken in May, Trump was ahead of DeSantis by 27 percent 53 percent to 26 percent. The biggest change between May and June polling was that Trump was handed a federal indictment by the Justice Department with 37 counts against him in the case involving his handling of classified documents when leaving office. Charges include ones that fall under the Espionage Act, which South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham says in an 'overcharge' because Trump 'is not a spy.' A new poll shows Trump lost a 6% advantage over Ron DeSantis following his indictment The most major change to happen between May and June is that DeSantis officially announced his candidacy for president, and Trump was indicted by the DOJ Nearly two-thirds of Americans approve of the decision to indict Trump but a whopping 92 percent of Republicans feel that politics played a role in the charges. Even 63 percent of Democrats say they feel the same. The CNN poll shows the rest of the crowded Republican primary field in far places behind Trump and second place DeSantis with none earning double digits. Ex-Vice President Mike Pence earned 9 percent, former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley brought in 5 percent support among Republican voters and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott came in fifth with 4 percent. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, one of the most recent Republicans to enter the race, earned 3 percent and all remaining candidates got either 1 percent or less. The candidates that failed to break the 1 percent mark are former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson; North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum; self-made biotech millionaire Vivek Ramaswamy; conservative radio personality Larry Elder; Miami Mayor Francis Suarez; Dallas-based businessman Ryan Binkley; and businessman and failed Michigan gubernatorial candidate Perry Johnson. Initial polling following news of the indictment earlier this month did not appear to affect the former president's standing among voters but it now seems that the president's response may be impacting his popularity. DeSantis has also hit the campaign trail hard since then, going to all four early primary contest states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada over the last few weeks. The rest of the GOP primary field has failed to earn double digit support so far against Trump and DeSantis The Florida governor has condemned the indictment against Trump and has shared in overall GOP disdain at the so-called 'weaponization of the federal government' in going after Republicans. 'The weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society,' DeSantis tweeted. 'We have for years witnessed an uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation.' 'Why so zealous in pursuing Trump yet so passive about Hillary or Hunter?' he added. Despite this, DeSantis has also started to come out more harshly against Trump in his campaign videos and in rallies across the country. The US Coast Guard has given the bleak warning that it may not be able to rescue the missing Titanic tourist sub - even if it is able to find it. The Titan submersible has been missing since 9.45am on Sunday morning after being launched into the Atlantic at 8am. OceanGate Expeditions - the company which runs the tours and is responsible for the sub - did not notify the Coast Guard until 5.40pm. There are five people onboard, including three wealthy tourists, and the sub's oxygen supply is now just 40 hours, giving rescue crews until Thursday morning to find it before it runs out. But even if they locate the missing vessel in time, there is no certainty that it can safely be brought to surface. At a press conference at the US Coast Guard Station in Boston - which is coordinating the search and rescue effort - First District Response Coordinator Capt. Jamie Frederick conceded on Tuesday that rescue was not guaranteed. Scroll down for video At a press conference at the US Coast Guard Station in Boston - which is coordinating the search and rescue effort - First District Response Coordinator Capt. Jamie Frederick said it was not certain the sub could be saved - even if it is found today The company's Titan sub submerged at 8am on Sunday morning around 400 miles southeast of St John's, Newfoundland, according to the US Coast Guard. It lost contact at 9.45am but it wasn't reported to the Coast Guard until 5.40pm 'Even with that amount of time left, if you were to find the submersible at this moment, would that give you enough time to save those five people on board?' he was asked. TIMELINE OF MISSING SUBMERSIBLE TITAN 8am Sunday: Titan submerges around 900 miles east of Cape Cod 9.45am: Polar Prince expedition ship loses contact with the submersible 5.40pm: Coast Guard first alerted to the missing sub 9.13pm: Canadian Coast Guard alerted Thursday at 8am: 96 hours of oxygen runs out Advertisement 'I don't know the answer to that question... all I know is we will do everything within our power to effect a rescue,' Frederick replied. The Coast Guard has already searched 7,600 square miles of ocean - a search area the size of Connecticut. At 12,500ft underwater, there are few vessels able to dive deeply enough to find it. The only ones able to search the ocean floor are remotely operated vehicles which are searching the ocean now. If they find the sub, getting it to the surface is another feat entirely, requiring specialist equipment that is not yet on-site. Other experts likened it to requiring a 2.5mile long cable to lasso to the far side of the moon. There are multiple civilian ships assisting in the search, along with US Navy, Canadian Navy ships and aircraft. Among pieces of equipment now on the way to the site is a decompression chamber for the five passengers, should they be brought to the surface. 'Getting salvage equipment on-scene is a top priority,' Frederick said. Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are among the five people trapped in the sub Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding (pictured), CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition The search site is some 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, 400 miles southeast of Newfoundland. Getting there is a difficult enough feat without finding the missing sub beneath the ocean surface At 9.45am - an hour and 45 minutes into the dive - it lost contact with its mothership, the Polar Prince. But it wasn't reported as missing to the US Coast Guard until 5.40pm, eight hours later. Canada 's Coast Guard wasn't alerted until even later - 9.13pm on Sunday night. The logistical challenge is immense; the Titanic wreck is situated some 400 miles southeast of St Johns, Newfoundland - around 900 miles east of Cape Cod. A Canadian Coast Guard cutter is expected to arrive at the search area this evening. It takes several days for Coast Guard ships to reach the site from the US. In addition to the underwater remote operated vehicles and Coast Guard ships, several aircraft are surveying the water for any signs of the sub on the surface. 'We don't want to exhaust one possibility in place of another. We don't want to rule out that it is on the surface. 'If it is on the surface we are fairly certain we will be able to find it,' U.S. Coast Guard First District Captain Robert Simpson added. DailyMail.com previously revealed it took OceanGate eight hours to report the submersible as missing. The company has not yet explained why it took so long to raise the alarm. Three men have been convicted of stalking a family in New Jersey on behalf of the Chinese government. Michael McMahon, a retired NYPD sergeant, Zhu Yong, 66, and Zheng Congying, 27, both Chinese citizens, were found guilty of stalking and a related conspiracy charge at Brooklyn Federal Court. Yong and McMahon, 55, were also found guilty of acting as unregistered foreign agents, and Yong was convicted on a second conspiracy charge. Each of the men played a role in Operation Fox Hunt a campaign that the Justice Department says is part of the Communist Party's push to control Chinese nationals around the world. All three men worked to track down dissidents who had fled China and intimidate them into returning. Michael McMahon (pictured), a retired NYPD sergeant, Zhu Yong and Zheng Congying were found guilty of stalking and a related conspiracy charge at Brooklyn Federal Court Yong (right) and McMahon were also found guilty of acting as unregistered foreign agents. Zheng Congying (left) gave a thumbs-up outside of the court The case is the first that the Justice Department has prosecuted to battle the operation, with charges against the three men announced in 2020. Xu Jin, a former Chinese government official who moved to the US in 2010, was targeted in the plot organized by government officials. Jin appeared on Chinas most-wanted list in 2015 facing charges of bribe-taking, but the US case did not look into his alleged crimes in Beijing. He had directed the municipal development division of the Chinese city of Wuhan before being charged with taking millions of dollars in bribes, according to a 2021 ProPublica investigation. Communications between the men started in 2016 when Yong reached out to McMahon, who had been working as a private investigator. McMahon's lawyer claims that he believed Yong, a New York resident, was working for a private company seeking to recoup money. He then carried out surveillance for five days, spread out over six months, in 2016 and 2017 as well as unearthing records relating to Jin's whereabouts. Court documents say that McMahon used unauthorized police contacts to find Jis address, vehicle registration, social security number, bank account and overseas trip details, passing these onto Chinese agents. In 2018, Zheng Congying traveled to the man's house in New Jersey and taped a note on his door The note read: 'If you are willing to go back to the homeland and spend 10 years in prison, your wife and children will be safe and well' Some of the spy gear that was found in one of the agent's luggage, including night vision goggles Prosecutors say that the days McMahon was hired coincided with Jin's 82-year-old father making a trip to see his son in a bid to get him to return to China. Beijing authorities forced the elderly man to make the trip, and had previously jailed Jin's sister because her brother had refused to come home. The officials reportedly did not know Jin's address, and used the meeting with his father the lure him out to track his whereabouts. Chinese operatives surveilled and harassed Jis daughter in California and sent a video of Jis mother and sister crying and distraught, hoping to intimidate him into returning. Jis sister-in-law, Liu Yan, also testified that two strangers came to her house and told her to tell him either you go back to China on your own and admit the crime or you disappear. The former cop also met Yong's associate Hu Ji - a police officer in the Public Security Bureau in Wuhan, China. All three met at a Panera Bread restaurant in October 2016, with a picture showing McMahon grinning and putting his arm around Yong. In 2018, Congying traveled to the man's house in New Jersey and taped a note on his door which read: 'If you are willing to go back to the homeland and spend 10 years in prison, your wife and children will be safe and well.' Prosecutors say that the days McMahon was hired coincided with Jin's 82-year-old father making a trip to see his son in a bid to get him to return to China Congying's lawyer, Paul Goldberger, said that his client was 'just a kid' who had driven to the home as a favor to Yong, and that he had immediately regretted his actions. McMahon claimed he thought he was working for a Chinese construction company and says the fact that he alerted the authorities to his work proves it. All three denied the charges and claim they had no idea they were working for the Chinese government. 'I did everything by the book,' McMahon said outside the courtroom. 'This is outrageous. What happened? Absolutely outrageous.' McMahon was paid $5,000 in cash in the Panera restaurant, and another $14,000 in checks and wire transfers, much of that deposited into his personal accounts and those of his wife and son. Craig Heeren lead US prosecutor said: 'Just because he conceals it badly, doesnt mean its not an attempt to conceal. 'They all participated in the same criminal conspiracy Each agreed to harass the victim so he would return to China.' The government also argued that an online search conducted by McMahon identified Ji as an Interpol fugitive wanted by Beijing. Zheng Congying leaves Brooklyn Federal Court, Brooklyn, New York, for his trial on Operation Fox Hunt Zhu Yong leaves Brooklyn Federal Court for a trial on Operation Fox Hunt in New York on May 31, 2023 He also failed to fully disclose the Chinese payments on his income tax returns, with Prosecutor Irisa Chen adding: 'McMahon knew this was not the true reason. He looked the other way.' The defendants will be sentenced at a later date and potentially face decades in prison for the charges. A jury deliberated for two days over the charges, and was interrupted after a juror reported receiving anti-Chinese Communist Party literature. It is unclear if this was targeted, and she was allowed to return to the pool where discussions continued. Chinas foreign ministry earlier criticized the Justice Departments focus on Fox Hunt cases and said the US was the real culprit. Spokesman Wang Wenbin in Beijing said: 'China firmly opposes the USs slanders and smears, its political manipulation, the false narrative of transnational repression, and blatant prosecution of Chinese law enforcement and cyber administration officials. A former passenger on the missing Titanic tourist submersible said he prepared himself to never get off the vessel after signing a waiver which listed 'three ways to die on page one'. Mike Reiss, who made his money as a producer and writer on The Simpsons, revealed that he is 'not optimistic' about the rescue of the five passengers on the sub, which has been missing since 9.45am on Sunday. There are five people onboard Titan; tourists Hamish Harding, 58, Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, French Navy pilot Paul-Henry (PH) Nargeolet and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush. Mr Reiss was one of just a handful of people who have ever been on the exclusive expedition to the bottom of the ocean, joining a crew on OceanGate Inc's sub last year to tour the doomed ship. He said of the five passengers currently on Titan: 'I just feel for these people, my hopes are with them. I am not optimistic, I know how tiny the vessel is and how huge the ocean is'. Mike Reiss, who was a producer and writer on The Simpsons, revealed that he is 'not optimistic' about the rescue of the five passengers on the Titan sub 'I got on the sub and at the back of my mind was "well, I may never get off this thing," that's always with you,' he added. Speaking to the BBC today, Mr Reiss revealed he has been on three separate dives including the one to the Titanic and that each had 'lost communication'. He also detailed the experience of being onboard the luxury submersible, which tourists fork out $250,000 to travel on to the wreckage. 'The experience going down was very relaxing, it's a beautifully-designed submarine that feels almost spa-like on the inside. So even though there's five people just sitting on the floor of something that's about the size of a minivan it's very comfortable. 'I fell asleep on the way down it's 2.5 hours of just dropping in the very quiet and there is a porthole but all you see is blackness.' He said even though they made it to within 500 metres of the Titanic, the sub had to spend 'a good 90 minutes just doing a random walk on the bottom of the ocean, just flailing around and trying to find the biggest boat in the world'. The passengers on his expedition only had a short amount of time to see what he described as the 'highlights' of the world famous wreck. 'Twenty minutes before we had to resurface we finally saw the Titanic and I have to say it was just enough in our case for a highlights tour, we looked at the anchor, looked at the porthole, looked at the bow of the ship and then we had to go back up. 'It shows you the unpredictability of it all. The next day they sent another 5 passengers down to see it and they circled it and got to see every inch of it. Mr Reiss detailed the experience of being onboard the submersible, which tourists fork out $250,000 to travel on to the wreckage The Titan sub submerged at 8am on Sunday morning around 400 miles southeast of St John's, Newfoundland, according to the US Coast Guard. It lost contact at 9.45am but it wasn't reported to the Coast Guard until 5.40pm French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding (pictured), CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday Shahzada Dawood, 48, (pictured with his wife Christine) a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are amongst the five people missing in the submarine that set off to see the wreck of the Titanic, it was revealed today The company has taken tourists to the site since 2021, and Mr Reiss was one of a number of groups who made the perilous journey last year. 'Somehow there's just the acceptance of it [the risk]. 'This is why I have this sympathy for the people on board the sub, that theyre not panicking, that they knew what they were getting into.' He said the 'They built this beautiful submarine which can go where no other vessel can go, so if in the worst case they are down at the bottom of the ocean I can't see how anyone will be able to get to them, much less rescue them. At a press conference at the US Coast Guard Station in Boston - which is coordinating the search and rescue effort - First District Response Coordinator Capt. Jamie Frederick said it was not certain the sub could be saved - even if it is found today The Titan submersible has been missing since 9.45am on Sunday morning after being launched into the Atlantic at 8am. There are five people onboard including three wealthy tourists. The submersible's oxygen supply for the five people on board is now just 40 hours. At 12,500ft underwater, there are few vessels able to dive deeply enough to find it. The only ones able to search the ocean floor are remotely operated vehicles which are searching the ocean now. TIMELINE OF MISSING SUBMERSIBLE TITAN 8am Sunday: Titan submerges around 900 miles east of Cape Cod 9.45am: Polar Prince expedition ship loses contact with the submersible 5.40pm: Coast Guard first alerted to the missing sub 9.13pm: Canadian Coast Guard alerted Thursday at 8am: 96 hours of oxygen runs out Advertisement If they find the sub, getting it to the surface is another feat entirely, requiring specialist equipment that is not yet on-site. Other experts likened it to requiring a 2.5mile long cable to lasso to the far side of the moon. There are multiple civilian ships assisting in the search, along with US Navy, Canadian Navy ships and aircraft. Among pieces of equipment now on the way to the site is a decompression chamber for the five passengers, should they be brought to the surface. 'Getting salvage equipment on-scene is a top priority,' Frederick said. The logistical challenge is immense; the Titanic wreck is situated some 400 miles southeast of St Johns, Newfoundland - around 900 miles east of Cape Cod. At a press conference at the US Coast Guard Station in Boston - which is coordinating the search and rescue effort - First District Response Coordinator Capt. Jamie Frederick said it was not certain the sub could be saved - even if it is found today. 'Even with that amount of time left, if you were to find the submersible at this moment, would that give you enough time to save those five people on board?' he was asked. 'I don't know the answer to that question... all I know is we will do everything within our power to effect a rescue,' Frederick replied. The Coast Guard has already searched 7,600 square miles of ocean - a search area the size of Connecticut. The 21ft submersible has an oxygen supply of up to 96 hours The search site is some 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, 400 miles southeast of Newfoundland. Getting there is a difficult enough feat without finding the missing sub beneath the ocean surface A Canadian Coast Guard cutter is expected to arrive at the search area this evening. It takes several days for Coast Guard ships to reach the site from the US. In addition to the underwater remote operated vehicles and Coast Guard ships, several aircraft are surveying the water for any signs of the sub on the surface. 'We don't want to exhaust one possibility in place of another. 'We don't want to rule out that it is on the surface. 'If it is on the surface we are fairly certain we will be able to find it,' a Coast Guard official said, adding it is 'impossible' to say if it's more likely it is on the surface or beneath it. DailyMail.com previously revealed it took OceanGate eight hours to report the submersible as missing. The company has not yet explained why it took so long to raise the alarm. The missing submersible that offers tours of the Titanic wreckage is piloted by a modified Playstation controller. The OceanGate submarine vessel is controlled using a wireless Logitech F710 gamepad, CEO Stockton Rush revealed last summer. The system is advertised as having 'state-of-the-art lighting and sonar navigation systems', despite not having GPS. It is understood to utilise 'internally and externally mounted 4K video and photographic equipment'. The vessel also uses Elon Musk's Starlink to communicate with a communications and tracking team on its mothership, MV Polar Prince, via short text messages. The sub is meant to communicate with the main ship - which in 2005 was listed on eBay with a reserve price of $1million - every 15 minutes to inform the team of its location. But the last message was received while the submersible floated in the Atlantic above the cruise liner wreckage at about 10am EST on Sunday (3pm UK time). Five people are on board. CBS correspondent David Pogue is seen inside the submersible, which he described as very basic The journalist holding up a modified Logitech games controller that is said to be used to control the sub The Titan - which has become lost while diving the wreck of the Titanic - has been described as an 'experimental vessel' READ MORE - EXCLUSIVE: OceanGate REFUSED to put missing Titan sub through independent inspection process and also fired director in 2018 after he asked for more rigorous safety tests OceanGate bosses fired David Lochridge, who was Director of Marine operations for the Titan project, in 2018 after it disagreed with his demand for more rigorous safety checks on the submersible, which is missing after a mission to the Titanic wreckage Advertisement CBS correspondent David Pogue descended to see the Titanic last year. Footage from his journey shows how he laughed when he was shown the vessel's controls. Mr Rush held up the F710 controller and told the journalist: 'We run the whole thing... with this game controller.' Speaking to the BBC yesterday, Mr Pogue said passengers were sealed inside the main capsule by 17 bolts that were applied from the outside and could only be removed by an external crew. He said: 'There are a couple of touchscreen PC monitors on the floor of the sub but there are no controls. The multi-million sub is controlled with a games controller.' Mr Pogue said it would be impossible for those inside it now to escape without help. The journalist also interviewed Mr Rush, who - describing how the sub moved around - said: 'We only have one button, that's it. It should be like an elevator, it shouldn't take a lot of skill.' He reassured the journalist that the vessel was safe, adding that his team had worked with Boeing, Nasa, and the University of Washington to ensure it could withstand deep-sea pressure. And he added: 'Everything else can fail. Your thrusters can go, your lights can go. You're still going to be safe.' Mike Reiss, a writer who took the Titanic submersible trip last year, today told BBC Breakfast that the sub 'couldn't be lower tech'. 'The ship is propelled by very tiny motors that look like a fan you would have on your desk and it is steered by a joystick from a game system. 'You are very taken with how simple it is.' Mr Reiss said they experienced some technical faults, adding: 'It's pitch dark down there and the radar, the compass stopped working. We spent most of our time down there just flailing around, trying to find the biggest thing in the ocean.' The writer said he was 'not optimistic' for the people inside the sub. 'I know how vast the ocean is and how very tiny this craft is,' he said. OceanGate is not the only firm to utilise gaming controllers. It is understood that the US Navy uses gamepads to control submarine periscopes and photonic masts. The Boring Company also uses an Xbox One controller to steer a massive drilling machine. British billionaire Hamish Harding's company released a statement on Tuesday saying it has 'great faith and trust' in the rescue missions as the CEO runs out of oxygen. Harding, 58, is among the five adventurers on board a submersible that lost contact with its mothership as it reached the site of the Titanic wreckage early Sunday morning. Experts have said OceanGate's Titan sub had enough oxygen to last the crew 96 hours, but it is set to run out Thursday morning. US Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard crews are now scouring the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland for the missing vessel, but officials said on Tuesday that even if they are successful in finding the ship, they may not be able to save it. Still Harding's company, Dubai-based Action Aviation, said in a statement posted to Instagram it has faith in the ongoing rescue missions. 'Both the Harding family and the team at Action Aviation are very grateful for all the kind messages of concern and support from our friends and colleagues,' it said. 'We are thankful for the continued efforts of the authorities and companies that have stepped in to aid in the rescue efforts. We put great faith and trust in their expertise.' Hamish Harding, 58, is one of five passengers on board a missing submersible that took off early Sunday morning to see the Titanic wreckage site Harding is the British billionaire CEO of Dubai-based Action Aviation In a statement on Tuesday, his company said it has 'great faith and trust' in the ongoing rescue missions The company's statement then went on to tout Harding's many accomplishments. He has made a career out of 'making unusual things happen' and has three Guinness World Records and a trip to outer space on the Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin on his resume. In 2021, he set the record for the longest time spent at the bottom of the sea after exploring the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth, for four hours and 15 minutes. At the same time, Harding set the record for the greatest distance covered at full ocean depth. Also, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 2019, he set a world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth. But his record-setting barely scratches the surface of a life filled with danger and excitement. In 2016, he joined close friend Buzz Aldrin on an expedition to Antarctica, where the astronaut became the oldest person to reach the South Pole at the age of 86. Harding repeated the trick in 2020, returning with his son Giles who, at the age of 12, became the youngest person to reach the point. And last year, he was awarded a Living Legends of Aviation honor by actor Morgan Freeman. The award has previously been given to Aldrin, as well as billionaires Sir Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. Harding, who has degrees in natural sciences and chemical engineering from Cambridge University, also holds 16 air speed records and last year became the first Briton to travel on Blue Origin's fifth human spaceflight mission. The businessman lives in Dubai with wife Linda, and sons Rory, 18, and Giles, now 15, as well as their two Golden Retrievers. He also has a stepdaughter named Lauren and a stepson named Brian Szasz. 'The team at Action Aviation are extremely proud of Hamish and we look forward to welcoming him home,' the statement from his airplane company says. Harding holds 16 air speed records and last year became the first Briton to travel on Blue Origin's fifth human spaceflight mission Shahzada Dawood, 48, (pictured with his wife Christine) a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are also amongst the five people missing in the sub French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left)also took part in the expedition, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition The search site for the missing submersible is some 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, 400 miles southeast of Newfoundland. Getting there is a difficult enough feat without finding the missing sub beneath the ocean surface Before he set off on his voyage to see the Titanic wreckage early Sunday morning, Harding posted about the opportunity on Instagram. 'A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow,' he wrote on Saturday. 'We started steaming from St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada, yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning. Until then, we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.' An employee of Harding last night revealed the billionaire had wanted to go on the trip for 'a long time.' But just an hour and 45 minutes after the OceanGate's Titan submersible left for its trip, it lost contact with its mothership MV Polar Prince. It wasn't reported as missing to the US Coast Guard until 5.40pm, eight hours later. Canada's Coast Guard wasn't alerted until even later - 9.13pm on Sunday night. Now, experts say the crew - who had around 48 hours of oxygen left on Tuesday morning, have just a one percent chance of survival. 'If I was advising the Prime Minister, I'd say their chances are one percent,' Lt. David Marquet, a former nuclear submarine commander for the US Navy told DailyMail.com this morning. At a news conference on Tuesday, First District Response Coordinator Capt. Jamie Frederick said even if crews can find the submersible they may not be able to rescue those on board OceanGate's Titan submersible is seen here when it descended underwater at around 4am EST Sunday. It is the last known siting of the ship At 9.45am - an hour and 45 minutes into the dive - it lost contact with its mothership, the Polar Prince. But it wasn't reported as missing to the US Coast Guard until 5.40pm, eight hours later. Canada 's Coast Guard wasn't alerted until even later - 9.13pm on Sunday night TIMELINE OF MISSING SUBMERSIBLE TITAN 8am Sunday: Titan submerges around 900 miles east of Cape Cod 9.45am: Polar Prince expedition ship loses contact with the submersible 5.40pm: Coast Guard first alerted to the missing sub 9.13pm: Canadian Coast Guard alerted Thursday at 8am: 96 hours of oxygen runs out Advertisement The Coast Guard has since searched 7,600 square miles of ocean - a search area the size of Connecticut. At 12,500ft underwater, there are few vessels able to dive deeply enough to find it. The only ones able to search the ocean floor are remotely operated vehicles which are searching the ocean now. If they find the sub, getting it to the surface is another feat entirely, requiring specialist equipment that is not yet on-site. Some experts likened it to requiring a 2.5mile long cable to lasso to the far side of the moon. There are multiple civilian ships assisting in the search, along with US Navy, Canadian Navy ships and aircraft. Among pieces of equipment now on the way to the site is a decompression chamber for the five passengers, should they be brought to the surface. 'Getting salvage equipment on-scene is a top priority,' First District Response Coordinator Capt. Jamie Frederick said. But he noted that crews may not be able to rescue the passengers which also includes French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood, 48, his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush. 'Even with that amount of time left, if you were to find the submersible at this moment, would that give you enough time to save those five people on board?' Frederick was asked at a Tuesday news conference. 'I don't know the answer to that question... all I know is we will do everything within our power to effect a rescue,' he replied. Finding the missing submersible (pictured) is an arduous task as Coast Guard crews have already searched an area the size of Connecticut for the ship The logistical challenge is immense; the Titanic wreck is situated some 400 miles southeast of St Johns, Newfoundland - around 900 miles east of Cape Cod. A Canadian Coast Guard cutter is expected to arrive at the search area this evening. It takes several days for Coast Guard ships to reach the site from the US. In addition to the underwater remote operated vehicles and Coast Guard ships, several aircraft are surveying the water for any signs of the sub on the surface. 'We don't want to exhaust one possibility in place of another. We don't want to rule out that it is on the surface. 'If it is on the surface we are fairly certain we will be able to find it,' U.S. Coast Guard First District Captain Robert Simpson added. Hunter Biden lawyer Chris Clark said Tuesday that it was the end of the road for a five-year probe of the president's son, now that he is pleading guilty to two tax misdemeanors. 'My understanding is were done,' Clark told MSNBC bluntly when asked about the status of any other Hunter investigation related to his business practices, lobby registrations, or other matters. He repeatedly attested to the fairness of prosecutors in their handling of the probe, which also has him dispensing with a gun charge without a guilty plea being required. He said he wouldn't agree to make a deal if there were more charges pending. That came despite U.S. Attorney David Weiss saying the government's investigation of Hunter Biden is 'ongoing.' 'My understanding is were done,' Hunter Biden lawyer Chris Clark told MSNBC Tuesday, when the U.S. Attorney's office announced the president's son would plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors Weiss attached the line about the state of the probe to a statement about a negotiated plea arrangement with the president's son, amid Republican fury about what one influential Republican probing the Bidens termed a 'sweetheart' deal. He did so while confirming that Biden would plead guilty to two tax crimes related to $1.5 million in unreported income, while also resolving a gun charge dating to a period in October 2018 when he was addicted to drugs including crack cocaine. Prosecutors say the unpaid amount over the two years totaled $200,000. Clark issued a plea for understanding, as he said his client feels 'happy to move on with his life and his recovery.' He acknowledged that Hunter did not 'timely pay' his taxes owed. 'I understand that he's the son of the president of the United States, but all of us have family members that have struggled with addiction and other issues. And I know it's hard to have empathy for that. But a lot of people show no empathy. That's not a legal issue. That's just kind of you wish the world be different,' he said. He took issue with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who on Tuesday compared Hunter's case with former President Donald Trump, who is charged with 37 counts of willful mishandling of national security information and conspiracy to obstruct justice following the discovery of boxes of classified material at Mar-a-Lago. 'There was no basis for what he said and hes not right,' said Clark. McCarthy said there was a 'two-tiered' system of justice. 'If you are the president's leading opponent, the DOJ tries to literally put you in jail,' McCarthy said. 'If you are the president's son, you get a sweetheart deal.' Clark predicted his client would be released without conditions when he goes before a judge at a date that is not yet scheduled. He said it was up to the court whether Biden would get probation and under what terms. 'The judge is going to do whats fair. And whats fair is my client gets on with his life,' he said. He also said prosecutors tried to be fair during the five-year investigation. 'I spent many years interfacing with the prosecutors who brought this investigation. I think they really tried to be fair, I think that they tried to be thorough, tried to look into everything possible. And I really think they tried to be fair,' he said. 'With the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the Unites States Attorney's Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved,' Clark told DailyMail.com earlier in a statement. Hunter Biden has reached a deal with prosecutors that would see him plead guilty to a trio of crimes but likely avoid jail time, according to new Justice Department filings. But U.S. Attorney David Weiss said in a statement the investigation is 'ongoing' He said his client would 'take responsibility' for two misdemeanor tax crimes, while the firearm charge related to a handgun Hunter Biden purchased that his former lover and sister-in-law tossed into a garbage can would be resolved through a diversion agreement.' 'I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward,' Clark said. Weiss issued his own comment through a statement where he spelled out information about the charges. The two misdemeanor tax offenses carried maximum penalty of 12 months in prison for each, and he was facing up to 10 years in prison on the gun charge, although If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison on each of the tax charges and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the firearm charge. Notwithstanding Weiss' statement about the 'ongoing' probe, a source told Politico the agreement is 'comprehensive' and represents the end federal investigations into Hunter. 'This is the end of it,' a source told the publication. But that won't persuade congressional Republicans to back off their own probe of Hunter's lucrative role serving on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma and other matters. The president's son reached a deal with prosecutors that would see him plead guilty to tax crimes and dispense with a gun charge but likely avoid jail time, according to new Justice Department filings. The president's son has been under investigation for five years for tax and financial allegations, as well as for paperwork for purchasing a handgun where he attested that he did not abuse drugs. That contradicted admissions in his own autobiography where he detailed an addiction to crack cocaine that led to a stint in rehab. The agreement with prosecutors still must be approved by a federal judge, and comes at a time when the Justice Department is under scrutiny for its handling of high-profile investigations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Sources told NBC prosecutors will recommend probation which would spare the president's son jail time but could land him in hot water if he violates terms. Both tax times to which he will plead guilty are misdemeanor charges. The Washington Post reported prosecutors would recommend two years' probation. Any further terms of probation that prosecutors would recommend were not immediately available, and would be subject to modification by the court. U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, a holdover from the Trump administration, has been overseeing the politically charged probe. A document Weiss filed with the court Tuesday states that the criminal information charges the defendant with tax offenses 'namely two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax,' as well as 'one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.' U.S. Attorney David Weiss asked a judge to schedule hearing for Hunter Biden for two tax offenses and a gun charge, following a years-long investigation into the president's son 'The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment,' said White House spokesman Ian Sams U.S. Attorney David Weiss said Hunter Biden agreed to enter a 'diversion agreement' where defendants can admit the facts of the case without entering a formal guilty plea Hunter Biden's problems have been a running theme during the Biden administration. Here President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden attend the University of Pennsylvania 267th Commencement Ceremony at Franklin Field in Philadelphia The gun charge dates to a period where Hunter was involved with Hallie Biden, the widow of his late brother, Beau The plea deal allows Hunter Biden to put the long-running federal investigation behind him, although House Republicans blasted the agreement and are expected to keep up their own probes of alleged corruption Regarding the gun charge, Hunter 'has agreed to enter a Pretrial Diversion Agreement,' according to Weiss. Handling the matter as a diversion case means Hunter wouldn't technically have to enter a guilty plea. Such cases are reserved for people who have a clean record and are facing non-violent charges who can meet a series of criteria. They are meant to reduce recidivism and often are applied to people dealing with substance abuse issues. The letter stated that prosecutors and Biden's lawyer Christopher Clark jointly request a court appearance on the firearm change and a plea hearing on the tax charge. Clark said in a statement: 'With the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the Unites States Attorneys Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved.' 'Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement. A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward,' he said. In 2021, Hunter reportedly paid back the feds for outstanding taxes, more than two years after disclosing the probe into his finances. The New York Times reported he told an associate the amount was more than $1 million, and that he needed a loan to pay what he owed the government. The Hunter probe has been a lingering political issue for the Biden administration, and throughout the president's tenure the White House has had to respond to questions about his pricey art sales along with a series of disclosures about his business dealings and personal life gleaned from his laptop. The probe of the alleged gun violation coincided with a period of repeated mass shootings, and the president's call for more restrictions including a ban on assault-style weapons. Republicans have been hammering the administration for allegedly uneven application of justice, after a federal grand jury indicted Trump on charges of willful retention of national security documents and conspiracy to obstruct an investigation into the matter. The 37-count indictment has the former president facing a court date currently set for August in the heat of the Republican presidential primaries. A separate probe of classified material uncovered at President Biden's home and former office is ongoing. House Republicans have demanded Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is heading the Trump probe as well as a probe into January 6, hand over materials about how early decisions got made in that matter. The plea deal comes despite President Biden telling MSNBC: 'First of all my son has done nothing wrong. I trust him, I have faith in him. 'And it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him.' Hunter's failure to pay taxes came from a time when he was acting as a high-flying international lawyer doing deals around the globe, while also according to his autobiography using drugs. His dealings extended from Ukraine, where he won a lucrative position on the board of the Burisma energy firm, to trips to China where he is accused of trying to leverage his father's influence while Biden was vice president to secure business. Information gleaned from his infamous laptop, which according to a Wilmington repair shop owner Hunter dropped off seeking computer support but never reclaimed, shows him posing naked with a gun and smoking what appears to be a crack pipe while passed out in bed. 'The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment,' said White House spokesman Ian Sams. The guilty plea is not likely to be the end of the matter for Hunter Biden or his father. House Republicans have already set up multiple probes of the Biden administration and have been focusing on his family members. House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer has been repeatedly demanding possession of an FBI file on claims made by a whistleblower of 'bribery.' He called the allegations 'very credible,' but has yet to provide proof. Comer blasted the plea deal as a 'sweetheart' deal. 'Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery,' he said. Trump hammered the 'corrupt' Justice Department about an hour after news broke of the deal reached by the U.S. Attorney he appointed. 'Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket. Our system is BROKEN!' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Back in 2018, Trump hailed Weiss when nominating him before he was confirmed by the Senate. He said Weiss and other candidates 'share the Presidents vision for 'Making America Safe Again.' The Biden DOJ then kept Weiss on after the changeover in administration. He met with Hunter's team in April to discuss the case, in one signal it was reaching its conclusion. Hunter Biden disclosed the investigation in December 2020, weeks before his father took office. It had been ongoing for about two years at that time. The gun charge relates to a period in 2018 when Hunter became involved with the widow of his brother, the late Beau Biden. His sister-in-law allegedly took his handgun and tossed it in a dumpster. A man recovered the gun, which got federal authorities involved. Eventually that led to a search for the paperwork traced to the gun purchase. Hunter Biden, like other handgun purchasers, was required to answer the question: 'Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?' He answered no. Terrifying footage captured the moment a woman allegedly tried to lure a four-year-old boy away from his Ohio home while posing as a worker for Child Protective Services to 'scare his parents.' Lisa Nacrelli, 44, was arrested and charged with child enticement on Monday in Cincinnati after the boy's family alerted authorities about the alleged kidnap attempt. The family's security video appears to show Nacrelli approach the boy as he sits on his bicycle in front of his house in Norwood on Saturday. The woman is then seen talking to the boy for several minutes and running her hands through his hair and back. The boy's father Timothy Spradlin told FOX19 NOW that after a few minutes interacting with Nacrelli, the boy became uncomfortable with the way she was touching him. Lisa Nacrelli, 44, was arrested and charged with child enticement after allegedly trying to lure a four-year-old boy away from his Ohio home Surveillance footage shows the woman talking to the boy for several minutes and running her hands through his hair and back 'She touched him uncomfortably enough to where he put his hands up,' the father said. 'Weve taught him stranger danger, and he put his hands up and said, "I have to go talk to my mom."' Indeed, the video shows the moment the boy tells the woman he has to go inside the house to get his mom. Jaimie Spradlin, the boy's mother, told ABC affiliate WCPO that Nacrelli then introduced herself as a CPS worker, showing a badge with her name and 'rattling off her children's names.' Nacrelli asked if she could inspect the family's home and claimed she was there because someone had filed a report, Spradlin said. The woman left after inspecting the home. The family then reportedly contacted CPS and were told there was no case involving them and the agency had not sent a representative to their home. 'Everything was a lie, and now we're sitting here on top of being enraged that this even happened, terrified because I don't know what her plan was," the boy's mother said. 'I know that she told my son that she has a black vehicle and that there's a really pretty car seat in it for him.' Nacrelli allegedly introduced herself as a CPS worker, showing a badge with her name The boy's father Timothy Spradlin said the boy became uncomfortable with the way the woman was touching him Nacrelli claimed in court that she had been drinking since waking up the day of the incident. 'I walked to Kroger to get more beer on the walk home I saw a young child that I felt wasn't being supervised so in an attempt to scare the parent I pretended to be from CPS,' she told the court. But the boy's mother insists Nacrelli asked the boy to go with her three times. 'Your intention was clearly to take my son, to convince him to walk down the street with you to this house, which I didn't even know you lived this close which is terrifying in of itself,' said Spradlin. According to WCPO, Nacrelli lives blocks away from the Spradlin home. She's unemployed and has a criminal history that includes disorderly conduct arrests in 2005 and 2011. Police said Nacrelli was also charged with burglary and impersonating an officer on Tuesday. Nacrelli cried during her bond hearing on Tuesday, after which she was released on her own recognizance with electronic monitoring. The boy's father wrote on Facebook on Monday: 'This woman that touched my kid is out back on the streets. This woman needs to be put away.' Video shows the moment an allegedly drunk Disney World attendee exited a ride while it was in motion - causing general chaos and a war of words with other guests. The heated altercation was recorded by another rider on what was supposed to be a relaxing boat ride at Disney's EPCOT theme park - famed for its 'Drink Around the World' challenge. The pastime sees guests enjoy characteristic drink and fare from countries like Mexico, Morocco, and France, and regularly results in parkgoers getting more blitzed than they might have intended. Such was the case this past Friday, when the unnamed woman seen in the footage stumbled off Epcot's Gran Fiesta Tour in the park's margarita-rife Mexican Pavilion. A pair of clips posted to TikTok the next day laid bare the disruption - showing how the ride was brought to a stand till for safety purposes as the woman teetered along the exit platform at the water's edge, looking to leave the slow-moving tour. The display led many to assume she was intoxicated, and saw cast members tell her to return to her seat. When she refused, guests stranded on the boat began to join the chorus of disapproval, resulting in them being berated by the woman as well. Scroll down for video: Video shows the moment an allegedly drunk Disney World attendee exited a ride while it was in motion - causing general chaos and a war of words with other guests The display led many to assume she was intoxicated, and saw cast members tell her to return to her seat. When she refused, guests stranded on the boat began to join the chorus of disapproval, resulting in them being berated by the woman as well 'Call security now!' someone stuck on the boat is heard shouting to a cast member on the first of the two clips, as staffers seemed at a loss as to how to handle the incident. As guests beg staff to let them get off the boat, the disruptive guest can be heard shouting at the fed-up parkgoers, but much of it was inaudible. A command from a cast member frustrated by the woman's actions, however, is heard over the emerging chorus of jeers from those stuck on board. 'Ma'am, you have thirty seconds, or I'm coming back there, and I'm taking you down!' the staffer says in initial video - which has been viewed more than 300,000 times. At this point, the guest appears to heed the worker's warning, walking back over to the boat and taking the hand of someone on board. She then starts to get back in the vehicle, before having a change of heart and returning to the platform. The clip later cuts out - but was followed with another, even more viral video that has been viewed almost 2million times in a matter of days. It begins with the female guest again standing on the platform, declaring her intention to get off the ride by whatever means necessary. 'I'm getting off!' she shouts in the clip, slurring her words. Several parkgoers can be heard yelling back during the resulting frenzy, urging the woman to sit down. A caption penned by the TikToker who witnessed the encounter read: 'Part two. She screamed. Tried to fight with the people in the boat behind her. Swung on two young workers. Scared kids and pissed everyone off.' 'Call security now!' someone stuck on the boat is heard shouting to cast member on the first of the two clips, as staffers seemed at a loss as to how to handle the incident. As guests beg staff to let them get off the boat, the disruptive guest can be heard shouting at the fed-up parkgoers, but much of it was inaudible A command from a cast member frustrated by the woman's actions, however, is heard over the emerging chorus of jeers from those stuck on board. 'Ma'am, you have thirty seconds, or I'm coming back there, and I'm taking you down!' the staffer warns At this point, the guest appears to heed the worker's warning, walking back over to the boat and taking the hand of someone on board. She then starts to get back in the ride vehicle, before having a change of heart and returning to the platform Several parkgoers yelled back at the unidentified woman during the chaos, urging her to sit down so the ride could move again @shianne_1995 Part two. She screamed. Tried to fight with the people in the boat behind her. Swung on two young workers. Scared kids and pissed everyone off. Then ran and had to be taken out by security #disney #epcot #fyp original sound - Shianne_1995 The woman, however, continues to refuse, and unhooks a security railing and staggers toward the ride exit. Within seconds, she was intercepted by an employee who tells her to stay put. 'No. Ma'am, you cannot leave the station right now,' the staffer is heard saying through a veil of forced politeness. 'You are not leaving.' Still undeterred, the woman goes to to hop the line divider to take her leave, before cops were eventually called. The TikToker who posted the clips, @Shianne_1995, wrote the woman 'ran and had to be taken out by security.' Workers, meanwhile, restarted the attraction - after being forced to keep it halted due to a guest standing on the emergency platform only a few inches from its side. When asked about the circulating footage Tuesday, Orange County cops would not confirm the woman's identity, but said officers responded to 'two separate disturbances' involving a 37-year-old woman that Friday night. The first occurred at 7 pm at the Mexico Pavilion, the Epcot area where the Gran Fiesta Tour ride is located. The second transpired roughly an hour later in the line for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ride, with deputies airing the belief the woman involved was intoxicated. 'The victims in both incidents did not wish to prosecute' and the unnamed guest 'was trespassed from property,' a rep for the department said. It is not clear whether the woman was permanently banned from the park, but looking at precedents set by similar incidents, that may be the case. DailyMail.com has reached out to Disney World for comment. The clip goes on to cut out - but continues with another, even more viral video , that has been viewed almost 2million times in a matter of days, where the woman returns to the platform and forces her way to the exit. An accompanying caption claimed she struck two Disney staffers Before that, the female guest again stood at the platform, declaring her intention to get off the ride to a staffer who at first refused to allow her to exit 'I'm getting off!' she shouts in the clip, slurring her words. Several parkgoers can be heard yelling back, urging the woman to sit down Still undeterred, the woman goes to to hop the line divider to take her leave, before cops were eventually called. Police would not confirm her identity, but said a woman was removed from the park after causing a disturbance on the ride that same night. She is not facing charges The heated altercation was recorded by another rider on what was supposed to be a relaxing boat ride at Disney's EPCOT theme park - famed for its 'Drink Around the World' challenge. The ride is set in the park's margarita-rife Mexican Pavilion, which has a taco and margarita booth The viral altercation comes as guests have increasingly aired concerns over the amount of drinking that goes on at Disney's EPCOT. Offering drinks at several pop up shops as opposed to sitdown restaurants, the park regularly deals with overly inebriated customers. 'EPCOT is my favorite Park..but in the last couple of years it has changed,' Reddit user u/New_Grangee recently wrote on a thread about said subject. 'My kids laugh at the parents having to push their partners around in the kids strollers at 10 am cause they have had too much already or the ones passed out on the benches.' 'The World Showcase used to be one of my favorite parts about Disney. Now, I barely want to go,' Reddit user u/GeneralLeiaAndMe added. 'The number of intoxicated adults is starting to become ridiculous.' u/BowTie1989 similarly sniped: 'Disney should limit drinks on propertyperiod.' READ MORE: OceanGate REFUSED to put sub through independent inspection process The letter was sent to Stockton Rush who is missing along with the vessel The letter was sent by the Manned Underwater Vehicles committee of the Marine Technology Society Experts in submersible vehicles wrote a letter warning the CEO of OceanGate that their approach could end in 'disaster' years before their vessel vanished. The company's craft, the Titan, is currently missing with five people on board after it lost communication during a dive to the Titanic's wreckage. A frantic search and rescue operation is underway to locate and recover the submersible before its 96-hour oxygen supply runs out. Leaders in the submersible industry sent a letter to OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush who is currently missing along with the vessel urging him to take caution. The letter, obtained by the New York Times, warned that 'the current 'experimental' approach' of the company could result in problems 'from minor to catastrophic.' Leaders in the submersible industry sent a letter to OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush (pictured) who is currently missing along with the vessel urging him to take caution It was sent by the Manned Underwater Vehicles committee of the Marine Technology Society, a 60-year-old trade group that aims to promote ocean technology and educate the public about it. But it is unclear if any employee or Rush himself responded to the letter, and there was no further detail on why the approach was considered dangerous. Officials searching for the missing sub have warned that they may not be able to rescue the missing tourist sub even if they find it. Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai, and Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19. Rush is also understood to be on board the vessel, which vanished on Sunday, along with French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet. The sub's oxygen supply is now at just 40 hours, giving rescue crews until Thursday morning to find it before it runs out. Rescue crews from the US and Canada are still trying to find the vessel, which is understood to have last 'pinged' while directly above the Titanic wreck. First District Response Coordinator Capt. Jamie Frederick said the Coast Guard has already searched 7,600 square miles of ocean - a search area the size of Connecticut. The Boston Coast Guard is now looking for the missing vessel. The wreckage of the Titanic sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding (pictured), CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday Shahzada Dawood, 48, (pictured with his wife Christine) a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are among the five people missing in the submersible that set off to see the wreck of the Titanic, it was revealed today At 12,500ft underwater, there are few vessels able to dive deep enough to find it. It comes after DailyMail.com revealed that OceanGate refused to put their submersible through an independent inspection process and fired a director in 2018 after he asked for more rigorous safety tests. Bosses fired David Lochridge, who was Director of Marine operations for the Titan project, after disagreeing with his demand for more rigorous safety checks on the submersible, including 'testing to prove its integrity'. The company also opted against having the craft 'classed', an industry-wide practice whereby independent inspectors ensure vessels meet accepted technical standards. OceanGate, which charges up to $250,000 for a seat on the submersible, suggested that seeking classification could take years and would be 'anathema to rapid innovation'. In 2019, the firm added that seeking classification for Titan would not 'ensure that operators adhere to proper operating procedures and decision-making processes two areas that are much more important for mitigating risks at sea'. Titan is currently missing with five people on board after it lost communication during a dive to the Titanic's wreckage, which is around 12,500ft below the Atlantic OceanGate bosses fired David Lochridge, who was Director of Marine operations for the Titan project, in 2018 after it disagreed with his demand for more rigorous safety checks on the submersible, which is missing after a mission to the Titanic wreckage Classification involves recruiting an independent organization to ensure vessels like ships and submersibles meet industry-wide technical standards. It is a crucial way of ensuring a vessel is fit to operate. The Manned Underwater Vehicles committee of the Marine Technology Society said in a statement about the tragedy that the 'modern commercial submarine industry' is 'regulated in accordance with international safety standards through classification societies.' They added: 'These organizations have rules and safety standards for the design and construction of systems ranging from submersible vehicles to super tankers and oil platforms. 'The main classification organizations for submersibles include the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Det Nortke Veritas (DNV) and Lloyds Registry (LR) among others. 'The submarine industry has a safety record of fifty years without incident. This is due to the engineering discipline and professional approach exercised by members of the industry, and the collective observation of (and adherence to) a variety of safety standards.' Headteachers should intervene to stop children identifying as cats, horses, moons or other 'neo genders', Downing Street has said. A spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that it is not right for children to be influenced by the 'personal views' of teachers when it comes to transgender issues. No 10 has waded into the debate after it emerged that schools are allowing children to identify as cats, horses and dinosaurs and that teachers are 'failing to question them'. There was widespread outrage earlier this week when The Telegraph revealed a 13-year-old girl at Rye College in East Sussex had been branded 'despicable' by her teacher for rejecting her classmate's claim that she identified as a cat. Now further stories are emerging of pupils who identify as animals with very human characteristics - often known as 'furries'. A spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (pictured) said that it is not right for children to be influenced by the 'personal views' of teachers when it comes to transgender issues At a state secondary school in Wales, one student is said to 'meow' when asked questions by a teacher, rather than answering in English. In other schools, one apparently insists on being addressed as a dinosaur, one claims to identify as a horse while another is said to wear a cape and demands to be acknowledged as a moon. These are known as 'neo pronouns', which refer to objects or animals as opposed to traditional genders. Responding to the story about the Year 8 pupil at Rye College, Rishi Sunak's official spokesman told The Telegraph that teachers shouldn't be teaching 'contested opinions as facts' and asked for headteachers to not be afraid to intervene in extreme cases. 'In broad terms, teachers have a responsibility to encourage their students to engage respectfully with those they disagree with,' the spokesman said. 'They should also not be teaching contested opinions as fact, shutting down valid discussions and debates. 'It's important parents and carers are reassured that children aren't being influenced by personal views of those teaching them. Any example that strays from this would be wrong and we would expect headteachers to act.' It comes after two teenage Year 8 pupils at Rye College in East Sussex were ordered to stay behind in class after clashing with their classmate who identifies as a cat Now further stories are emerging of pupils who identify as animals with very human characteristics - often known as 'furries' It comes after two Year 8 pupils at Rye College in East Sussex were ordered to stay behind in class after clashing with their classmate who identifies as a cat. The parents of the teenager branded as 'despicable' told MailOnline their daughter was 'bullied' by her teacher for speaking out. One of the girls secretly recorded their conversation with the teacher, who can be heard reprimanding them both for their views that gender is binary, calling it 'really despicable' and 'very sad'. The girls were also told 'if you don't like it you should go to a different school'. The teacher remained silent when confronted by the Mail. The mother of one of the girls, who has asked to be kept anonymous, told MailOnline last night: 'I'm so proud of my daughter, she will always stand up for what she believes is right and this is all that she did. 'She expressed a view that many, many of her classmates and their parents would share yet she was shouted down and bullied by someone in authority.' She continued: 'For that teacher to tell her to leave and go to another school if she didn't like what she was being told made my blood boil. What kind of welcome is that for a 13-year-old girl. It comes as the government is due to issue new guidance on self-identity this week, but the issue of 'furries' will not be specifically addressed. A Department for Education spokesman said teachers would be trusted to apply 'common sense' in each individual case. Tracy Shaw, of the grassroots Safe Schools Alliance, said she has seen an increasing number of reports of children identifying as animals, but added that these remain in small numbers. 'This is worrying, as there is a high probability that those children have been online in unregulated chat forums,' she said. 'We know predators will do anything to get to children and what better way than to infiltrate chat forums pretending to be a cute furry animal? These children are often already isolated and vulnerable; they may also feel that they don't fit in. 'Teachers need to be showing professional curiosity when they encounter children who are identifying as animals. 'Affirming children as animals harms those children as it fails to look into their lives and get them the help them need. It also harms other children in the school. 'We are appalled that children are expected to ignore the evidence before their own eyes and pretend that children are something they are clearly not. 'When schools then sanction those children for not going along with the concept that children have animal identities that are valid and authentic, we have to believe that those schools have been infiltrated and are no longer a safe place for children.' Rye College is a member of the Aquinas Trust, which boasts that one of its key values is 'promoting equality, celebrating diversity, and addressing disadvantage' Earlier this year, it emerged that the Safer Schools safeguarding organisation had issued guidance for parents and teachers on how to support 'furries'. It's unclear how many UK pupils identify as such, but Safer Schools published a lengthy document advising how to respond if they encounter one who does. The series of observations about furries includes reassurances that it's in no way unusual for pupils to want to do this: 'It's normal for young people to express themselves through ''dressing up''.' The post on the organisation's website explains how members of the furry 'community' like to take on the persona of an animal a 'fursona' and interact with other like-minded 'fursonas' by chatting and in acts of role play. It further outlines how furries take on the personality and physical attributes of their chosen animal and some members make or buy vibrant costumes of their characters, known as 'fursuits'. Conventions are held around the world where these like-minded people can meet up in their altered animal ego, it says. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon may have ordered a 2019 review of the bank's relationship with sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, emails released as part of an ongoing lawsuit suggest. In a letter unsealed on Tuesday, the US Virgin Islands made the claim in its lawsuit accusing the largest US bank of ignoring Epstein's sexual abuses and letting him run a sex trafficking operation. Internal emails show that following Epstein's July 2019 arrest on sex trafficking charges, JPMorgan conducted an internal review review known as 'Project Jeep' investigating the bank's relationship with Epstein. The review included emails between Epstein and Jes Staley, former friend and JPMorgan private banking chief whom the bank has tried to blame for its client relationship with Epstein. In a July 2019 email, JPMorgan's head of financial crimes compliance Peter Neilson wrote that he was working on the review with input from 'top of house,' which attorneys for the Virgin Islands argue is a reference to Dimon. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon may have ordered a 2019 review of the bank's relationship with sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, emails released as part of an ongoing lawsuit suggest In a July 2019 email, JPMorgan's head of financial crimes compliance Peter Neilson wrote that he was working on the review with input from 'top of house' 'Top of house requested that we expand our analysis to related parties and put together slides. Should have in a few days. We are treating it as a project at this point,' Neilson wrote in the email. Epstein had been a JPMorgan client from 1998 until the bank terminated him in 2013, years after he was convicted of soliciting a minor for sex in a Florida state case. He died of an apparent suicide in August 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on federal charges of sex trafficking dozens of girls as young 14. In a May 26 deposition, Dimon said he never met Epstein, did not recall discussing his accounts internally, and barely knew who Epstein was prior to the July 2019 arrest. The US Virgin Islands wanted Dimon to sit for a second deposition after additional documents about Epstein and Staley surfaced, including the emails cited in the newly unsealed letter. However, US District Judge Jed Rakoff, who oversees the lawsuit, denied that request for a second deposition on Friday. JPMorgan declined to comment when reached by DailyMail.com on Tuesday. The bank has previously denied any wrongdoing, but said it regrets taking on Epstein as a client. 'Project Jeep' found that former JPMorgan exec Jes Staley was 'regularly communicating' with Epstein and seeking his advice, even while he was jailed in Florida JPMorgan has attempted to to pin any blame on former executive Jes Staley, who had close ties with Epstein and once referred to their friendship as 'profound,' according to court filings Epstein had been a JPMorgan client from 1998 until the bank terminated him in 2013. He died of an apparent suicide in August 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial In the newly unsealed June 7 letter, the US Virgin Islands cited Neilson's email referring to a 'project' ordered by 'top of house'. That review turned into Project Jeep - a portmanteau drawn from Epstein's first and last names - the bank's review of its client relationship with the sex offender. USVI attorneys argued that 'top of house' was a reference to Dimon, citing other JPMorgan communications that used the phrase to refer to the CEO. In October 2019, another internal JPMorgan email with the subject line 'Project Jeep Current Review' referred to a 22-page summary of emails primarily between and among Epstein, Staley and others. That summary 'was prepared as part of Project Jeep, which the documents suggest may have been ordered by Dimon himself, not by the legal department and not in relation to any pending or anticipated litigation,' the US Virgin Islands said. The review showed Staley seeking Epstein's advice on issues such as his own compensation and the 2008 financial crisis, including some messages while Epstein was jailed after pleading guilty to a Florida state prostitution charge. 'I hope you keep the island,' Staley wrote Epstein on September 29, 2008, two weeks after Lehman Brothers collapsed. 'We may all need to live there.' Staley has acknowledged being friendly with Epstein, but denied knowing about his sex trafficking. His lawyers did not immediately respond to requests on Tuesday for comment. A spokesperson for the Virgin Islands said the bank's senior executives 'ignored the evidence of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes.' Little St. James Island, one of the US Virgin Islands properties of financier Jeffrey Epstein, is seen in an aerial view in 2019 JPMorgan last week agreed to settle a similar lawsuit brought by Epstein victims for $290 million. The US Virgin Islands lawsuit is scheduled for an October 23 trial in Manhattan federal court. JPMorgan is suing Staley to cover its losses in the US Virgin Islands' and Epstein victims' lawsuits. Staley, 66, led JPMorgan's asset management business from 2001 to 2009, and its corporate and investment bank from 2009 to 2013. He later spent six years as Barclays Plc's chief executive. JPMorgan is separately suing Staley to cover its losses in the lawsuits filed by the USVI and Epstein's victims, also demanding he forfeit eight years of pay. Staley has denied any wrongdoing, and asked Judge Rakoff to dismiss the bank's case, accusing JPMorgan of using him as a 'public relations shield' to deflect blame for its own failures in working with Epstein. The number of teenage girls diagnosed with eating disorders has soared by as much as 42 per cent since the start of the Covid pandemic, when calls to charities shot up, academics have warned. Experts also sounded the alarm over an increase in rates of self-harm among teenage girls. With more girls diagnosed in wealthier neighbourhoods, eating disorder experts also said there could be a 'postcode lottery of care', with those in more deprived communities unable to access the support they need. The new study, published in the Lancet Child And Adolescent Health journal, saw experts examine UK GP records for children and young people aged 10 to 24 between 2010 and 2024. The researchers from the University of Manchester, Keele University, University of Exeter and mental health research charity The McPin Foundation looked at anonymised GP health records of over nine million patients from 1,881 general practices in the UK. Since March 2020, when the pandemic hit, diagnoses of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia were 42 per cent higher than would be expected among teenage girls aged 13-16, and 32 per cent higher for those aged 17-19, they found. Since March 2020, when the pandemic hit, eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia were 42 per cent higher than would be expected for teenage girls aged 13-16 (stock image) The number of cases of self-harm was 38 per cent higher than expected among girls aged 13 to 16, the experts reported. No increase in self-harm was observed among boys or girls of other ages. The researchers said they did not identify a rise in reported eating disorders among boys. But the charity Beat said it had seen 'significant increases' in contacts from young men. And it said the overall figures were 'not surprising' after the charity had a 300 per cent increase in calls to its helpline during the pandemic. The charity also raised concerns over inequitable access to care for patients, with children from wealthier backgrounds more likely to be diagnosed. Even before Covid, a diagnosis of an eating disorder was more common among girls from affluent backgrounds. But after the crisis, the gap rose even further with those in wealthy communities seeing a 52 per cent higher rate of diagnosis compared to previous trends, while those from poorer backgrounds had a 22 per cent rise in cases. Lead author Dr Pearl Mok, from the University of Manchester, said: 'The reasons for the increase in eating disorder diagnoses and self-harm episodes amongst teenage girls during the pandemic are likely to be complex and could be due to a mixture of issues such as social isolation, anxiety resulting from changing routines, disruption in education, unhealthy social media influences, and increased clinical awareness. 'Our study is large but episodes of self-harm that were not treated by health services were not captured in our data, so the rise in self-harm incidence might have been even greater than we observed. 'However, it is also possible that cases of self-harm not coming to the attention of services may have exhibited a different pattern. 'We found that the increase in eating disorders and self-harm was greater in less deprived than in more deprived areas. 'This may reflect differences in service provision and challenges in accessing clinical care, rather than greater increases in risks for self-harm and eating disorders during the pandemic amongst those living in the least than in the most deprived communities.' Beat said the overall figures were 'not surprising' after the charity had a 300 per cent increase in calls to its helpline during the pandemic (stock image) Commenting on the study, Tom Quinn, director of external affairs at eating disorder charity Beat, said: 'These figures are shocking but sadly not surprising; during the height of the pandemic we saw demand for our helpline services spike by 300% and it is still remaining high. 'We also know that the NHS is treating more children and young people than ever before, with healthcare professionals under huge amounts of strain. 'It is surprising that there has been no increase in diagnoses in young men, as we have seen significant increases in contact and the latest NHS data shows more demand in both young men and women. 'This much-needed research has also raised some pertinent questions around care inequality. 'The rise in diagnoses in less deprived areas cannot be attributed to any one cause, but in general people in those areas will have easier access to primary care, making it more likely that eating disorders will be spotted earlier. 'We know there is still a postcode lottery and these gaps must be addressed so that everyone can get the help they need as quickly as possible.' Gemma Byrne, policy and campaigns manager at mental health charity Mind, said: 'It is deeply concerning to see such an increase in the number of young women experiencing eating disorders, and facing a postcode lottery when it comes to treatment. 'Across the board, from community to acute care, the services are struggling to keep pace with a nation in the grip of a mental health crisis. 'Young people with mental health problems are bearing the brunt of years of under-investment. 'The mental health care system needs a complete overhaul to deal with the level of demand services are facing.' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'We recognise the devastating impact eating disorders can have on an individual and family's life, which is why we're investing an additional 2.3 billion a year in NHS mental health services by March 2024, so more adults, children and young people in England can receive appropriate treatment. 'Capacity at children and young people's community eating disorder services is also being increased across the country thanks to an additional government investment of up to 54 million a year by March 2024.' Mark Cuban has attacked Joe Rogan for failing to challenge RFK Jr. on claims made during a podcast episode that WiFi radiation causes cancer and breaks down the 'blood-brain barrier'. His comments were made during a bizarre Twitter spat which involved at least half a dozen high profile users, including at one brief point Elon Musk. Notably, Cuban aligned himself with prominent vaccine advocate Dr. Peter Hotez, who had shared a VICE article criticizing Rogan for allowing 'vaccine disinformation' to spread following the episode last week with RFK Jr. Cuban accused Rogan of being a 'bully' by inviting Hotez to debate RFK Jr. on his show and said his disparaging comments towards the pharmaceutical industry were unfair. He then took the opportunity to plug his own pharmaceutical startup. Cuban aligned himself with prominent vaccine advocate Dr. Peter Hotez, who had shared a VICE article criticizing Rogan for allowing 'vaccine disinformation' to spread Rogan on the weekend challenged Dr. Peter Hotez to appear on his podcast and debate with RFK Jr. on claims he had made in a recent episode RFK claimed to Rogan that various forms of electromagnetic radiation, and notably WiFi, can cause cancer 'Trying to bully Dr Hotez is ridiculous,' wrote Cuban. 'It's also disrespectful to all the doctors, researchers and medical professionals that dedicate their lives to saving lives, like Dr Hotez and the 800k plus doctors in the country that believe vaccines save lives,' wrote Cuban. The entrepreneur went on to suggest that Rogan had become a form of mainstream media and was guilty of all the things he had previously criticized it for. 'Joe , you and @elonmusk's @twitter are the mainstream online media and your platforms have become everything supposedly wrong with MSM. You are driven by self interest. Just like the MSM always has been accused of,' he wrote. The event at the heart of the huge Twitter dispute was RFK Jr.'s three-hour appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast, which was released on June 15. In the next days certain comments made by Kennedy, who is also running for president, went viral in the form of short clips on Twitter. Mark Cuban's full tweet in which he accused Rogan of being a bully and also plugged his own pharmaceutical company During one clip, which has now been viewed on the platform around 7.1 million times, RFK claimed to Rogan that various forms of electromagnetic radiation, and notably WiFi, can cause cancer. 'WiFi radiation does all kind of bad things including causing cancer,' the Kennedy said. 'WiFi radiation causes cancer?' Rogan replied. 'I'm representing hundreds of people who have cell phone tumors behind the ear, it's always behind the ear you favor with your cell phone,' said RFK, who is also a lawyer. 'But cancer's not the worst thing. WiFi radiation opens up your blood-brain barrier and so all these toxins that are in your body can now go in your brain,' he added. Rogan then asked how that worked, to which the Kennedy replied: 'Now you're going beyond my expertise.' In the wake of the interview Dr. Peter Hotez shared the VICE article, whose headline read: 'Spotify Has Stopped Even Sort of Trying to Stem Joe Rogans Vaccine Misinformation'. Rogan, offended by the allegation he had allowed misinformation to propagate on his podcast, then challenged Hotez to appear on a subsequent episode and debate with RFK as to whether he was spreading pseudo-science. 'Peter, if you claim what RFKjr is saying is "misinformation" I am offering you $100,000.00 to the charity of your choice if you're willing to debate him on my show with no time limit,' wrote Rogan on Saturday night. The event at the heart of the huge Twitter dispute was RFK Jr.'s three-hour appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast as part of episode 1999, which was released on June 15 Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. leans on the bollard wall along the United States-Mexico border Hotez proceeded to ask for more money and said he would appear independently, a counterproposal Rogan would not accept. Meanwhile, others embroiled in the debate suggested that for Hotez, a dean at the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, to debate RFK Jr. would undermine science. Tom Nichols, a staff writer for the Atlantic, wrote: 'No medical professional should ever agree to do this. Never. It elevates the conspiracy guy, demeans the medical professional, and will only convince the kooks out there that RFK is right because a real doctor took the time to debate him.' 'Never debate a conspiracy theorist,' he added. That was the comment that caused Rogan to launch a broader attack on the pharmaceutical industry - the one that upset Cuban. Pursley, Brittnee's fiance, was shot, but managed to escape and is in the hospital Gary Barnett shot and killed his estranged wife Regina Patterson, stepdaughter Brittnee Perez, his three grandchildren, and himself at the home Grim photos show blood smeared on the front of a Tennessee home where a gunman massacred his family before turning the gun on himself. Aaron Pursley was the sole survivor of last week's murder-suicide in Marion County, and remains in the hospital after he escaped to a neighbor's home. Pursley's aunt Lisa Massengale Kilgore told WTVC that he had just gotten engaged to Brittnee Perez, one of the victims, when his life changed forever. Authorities said Gary Barnett, 48, shot and killed his estranged wife Regina Barnett, her daughter Brittnee and three children before torching the home. Aaron Pursley was the sole survivor of last week's murder-suicide in Marion County. He's pictured with two children who were not victims of the massacre, a local TV station reported Grim photos show blood smeared on the front of a Tennessee home where a gunman massacred his family before turning the gun on himself The house was fully engulfed when the authorities arrived on the scene. Pursley was found with three bullet wounds and flown to Chattanooga hospital where he faces surgery. 'It just broke our hearts,' Kilgore said. 'It's very hard to talk about and hard to handle.' Kilgore said her nephew escaped to a neighbor's house for help. 'The Lord was not finished with him. And he carried him outside to be able to go get help,' Kilgore said. 'Aaron fell down on the porch and managed to get up. He said it was all he could do.' Kilgore said her nephew may need one of his fingers amputated. But it's the horrific memories of the tragedy that haunt him. 'When he tries to go to sleep, all he can replay in his mind is you know the actual shooting,' she said. 'He does not want to be left alone.' The gunman who carried out the massacre posed in a 'Friday the 13th' mask only months before he went on the rampage. Authorities said Gary Barnett, 48, shot and killed his estranged wife Regina Barnett, her daughter Brittnee and three children before torching the home The house was fully engulfed when the authorities arrived on the scene Police tape blocked the home in Tennessee that was the site of a murder-suicide that left six people dead In a posting made in October 2022, several months before the deadly shooting, Barnett is pictured wearing the Jason Voorhees mask from the 'Friday the 13th,' horror film franchise. In a TikTok video that Barnett also posted to his Facebook last week a woman says: 'One really messed up things that guys experience after a breakup is when their ex not only pretends, but spreads word that he is a bad man just so she doesn't feel guilty over how she treated him.' Barnett also posted on his Facebook a quote from Marvin Heemeyer: 'I was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable. Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things.' Heemeyer was an American automobile repair shop owner who demolished numerous buildings with a modified bulldozer in Granby, Colorado in 2004. Meanwhile, ex-wife Regina had filed a restraining order against her husband a month ago warning that she feared he would kill her in a drunken rage, court records show. A gunman who killed his wife, her daughter and three kids in an horrific murder-suicide in rural Tennessee posed in a 'Friday the 13th' mask only months before he went on the rampage and carried out the murder-suicide Barnett also posted a quote from Marvin Heemeyer: 'I was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable. Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things.' A judge had approved a 'no contact order' against Barnett which was still active at the time of the killings. Regina wrote in court documents: 'My soon to be (ex) husband threatened to shoot me and he verbally abuses me every day. He also threatened to shoot my dog. He also has anywhere from 50 to 60 guns in his room. I am afraid he will get drunk and shoot me.' It was earlier revealed that Regina's daughter Perez had been visiting her at the home at the time of the murders. The victims have been taken to Nashville for autopsies. Ex-wife Regina had filed a restraining order against her husband a month ago warning that she feared he would kill her in a drunken rage, court records show One victim at the scene was found with three gunshot wounds and was taken to the hospital The sole survivor escaped to a neighbors house for help The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is in taking the lead in the investigation Family mass killings have become a disturbingly common tragedy across the country. They've happened nearly every 3.5 weeks for the last two decades on average. In 2022 there were 17 of them, according to a database, compiled by multiple media organizations. Ten were murder-suicides, and 14 were shootings. The database defines a mass killing as four or more people slain, not including the assailant. Sequatchie, Tennessee, is one of more than 30 communities sent reeling by a family mass killing in the last two years, a list that includes communities of wealth and poverty and spares no race or class. Adam Montgomery, 33, is alleged to have punched his daughter Harmony, 5, to death in the back of his car according to an unsealed affidavit A newly unsealed affidavit has accused the father of missing girl Harmony Montgomery of beating her to death before stuffing her remains into a duffel bag. Adam Montgomery was indicted last year on murder charges over the disappearance of his daughter, five-year-old Harmony who vanished in 2019. Earlier today, a 48-page affidavit was released based on interviews with Montgomery's estranged wife Kayla which has alleged that he stuffed his daughters body into a bag after beating her to death. Kayla , 32, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors after reaching a plea deal in a separate perjury case. Investigators said they believe the girl was fatally beaten by Montgomery after she had a toileting accident in a his car on Dec. 7, 2019. Adam Montgomery, the father of long-missing Harmony Montgomery is said to have fatally punched her in the new affidavit Harmony vanished sometime in late November or early December of 2019, but cops were only made aware of her disappearance in the fall of 2021 According to the affidavit, Kayla told police that Montgomery killed Harmony on Dec. 7, 2019, while the family lived in their car. Kayla, who was Harmony's stepmother, said he was driving to a fast food restaurant when he turned around and repeatedly punched Harmony in the face and head because he was angry that she was having bathroom accidents in the car. Kayla claims Montgomery then told her: 'I think I really hurt her this time. I think I did something.' Kayla Montgomery told police that Harmony began making a moaning noise for about five minutes and then stopped. The affidavit says later that day, the two realized Harmony was dead and put her body in a duffel bag. For the next three months, investigators allege, Montgomery moved the body from container to container and place to place. According to his wife, the locations included the trunk of a friend's car, a cooler in the hallway of his mother-in-law's apartment building, the ceiling vent of a homeless shelter and an apartment freezer. At one point, the remains were kept in a tote bag from a hospital maternity ward, and Kayla said she placed it in between her own young children in a stroller and brought it to her husband's workplace. Harmony had lived with her father, and his convict wife Kayla Montgomery, in the weeks leading up to her disappearance Kayla Montgomery, pictured here, was sentenced in November to at least 18 months in prison after lying to a grand jury Crystal Sorey (right) - Harmony's biological mother - lost custody of the young girl in 2018 because of her drug addiction An employee at the now-closed restaurant told police he saw it there but never questioned Montgomery 'since he knew he had children.' Investigators allege that Montgomery disposed of the body in early March 2020 using a rented moving truck. Toll data shows the truck in question crossed the Tobin Bridge in Boston multiple times, but the affidavit has no other location information to indicate the location of Harmony's body. In April, police searched a marshy area in Revere, Massachusetts. Kayla Montgomery was sentenced in November to at least 18 months in prison. She had pleaded guilty to charges that she lied to a grand jury about working at a doughnut shop on Nov. 30, 2019, the day she said she last saw Harmony. As part of that plea deal, she agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, who dropped charges that she lied to state health officials about having the child in her care in order to collect welfare benefits and that she received stolen firearms. Investigators allege that Montgomery disposed of the body of Harmony in early March 2020 using a rented moving truck, months after she died Earlier this year the search for Harmony was moved from their Manchester house to wetlands in Revere The young girl, who was blind in one eye, was in her father's care at the time of her disappearance after her mother, Crystal Sorey, lost custody in July 2018 due to substance abuse. The search for Harmony's body continues with pictures from the last known residence of Harmony being stormed by the FBI who were seen hauling out evidence, including a fridge, from the apartment. Cops had then been seen removing evidence, including a full-sized refrigerator, from the Manchester home, as well as a plethora of other items that were covered up in various packaging. Earlier this year, officers began searching wetlands in Revere for the body of Harmony, that has yet to be recovered. Tucker Carlson has slammed the Department of Justice over Hunter Biden's plea deal and described it as a 'lifetime of sins washed away in an instant'. The son of President Joe Biden has reached a deal with prosecutors that would see him plead guilty to tax crimes and dispense with a gun charge - and means he would likely avoid jail time. He has been under investigation for five years for tax and financial allegations, as well as for paperwork for purchasing a handgun where he attested that he did not abuse drugs. But former Fox News host Carlson has since excoriated the plea agreement and claimed the Justice Department had 'baptized' Hunter, 53. He took to his new show on Twitter on Tuesday to criticize the decision and claimed he had 'pleaded guilty to pretty much nothing'. Tucker Carlson has slammed the Department of Justice over Hunter Biden's plea deal and described it as a 'lifetime of sins washed away in an instant' Hunter Biden has reached a deal with prosecutors that would see him plead guilty to tax crimes and dispense with a gun charge but likely avoid jail time U.S. Attorney David Weiss (pictured) said Hunter Biden agreed to enter a 'diversion agreement' where defendants can admit the facts of the case without entering a formal guilty plea 'Donald Trump had an idea. "They'll hit Hunter with something small to make their strike on me look fair," Trump wrote that about two weeks ago,' Carlson said. 'This morning Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to pretty much nothing. He pled to two misdemeanor tax evasion charges then entered a diversion on a federal gun charge. 'That's it. As far as Merrick Garland's Justice Department is concerned Hunter Biden is done.' He added: 'There was no pre-dawn raid carried out live simultaneously on CNN, there was no perp walk, no handcuffs, no press conference. 'Above all there was no felony. Hunter Biden who broke federal gun laws can still carry a gun. It's like it all never happened. 'In fact the justice department just baptized Hunter Biden. A lifetime of sins washed away in an instant. It was a secular miracle.' Hunter contradicted claims he did not abuse drugs in his own autobiography where he detailed an addiction to crack cocaine that led to a stint in rehab. His agreement with prosecutors must still be approved by a federal judge, and comes at a time when the Justice Department is under scrutiny for its handling of high-profile investigations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Sources told NBC prosecutors will recommend probation which would spare the president's son jail time but could land him in hot water if he violates terms. Both tax crimes to which he will plead guilty are misdemeanor charges. The Washington Post reported prosecutors would recommend two years' probation. Any further terms of probation that prosecutors would recommend were not immediately available, and would be subject to modification by the court. U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, a holdover from the Trump administration, has been overseeing the politically charged probe. A document Weiss filed with the court Tuesday states that the criminal information charges the defendant with tax offenses 'namely two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax,' as well as 'one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.' Regarding the gun charge, Hunter 'has agreed to enter a Pretrial Diversion Agreement,' according to Weiss. Handling the matter as a diversion case means Hunter wouldn't technically have to enter a guilty plea. Such cases are reserved for people who have a clean record and are facing non-violent charges who meet a series of criteria. They are meant to reduce recidivism and often are applied to people dealing with substance abuse issues. Hunter Biden has been under investigation for five years for tax and financial allegations, as well as for paperwork for purchasing a handgun where he attested that he did not abuse drugs The gun charge dates to a period where Hunter was involved with Hallie Biden, the widow of his late brother, Beau U.S. Attorney David Weiss asked a judge to schedule a hearing for Hunter Biden for two tax offenses and a gun charge, following a years-long investigation into the president's son The letter stated that prosecutors and Hunter's lawyer Christopher Clark jointly request a court appearance on the firearm change and a plea hearing on the tax charge. Clark said in a statement: 'With the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the Unites States Attorneys Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved.' 'Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement. A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government. 'I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward,' he said. The two misdemeanor tax offenses carried maximum penalty of 12 months in prison for each, and he was facing up to 10 years in prison on the gun charge, although Hunter's lawyer Clark said it was the end of the five-year probe and told MSNBC: 'My understanding is were done,' when asked about the status of any other Hunter investigation related to his business practices, lobby registrations, or other matters. He repeatedly attested to the fairness of prosecutors in their handling of the probe, which also has him dispensing with a gun charge without a guilty plea being required. He said he wouldn't agree to make a deal if there were more charges pending. That came despite U.S. Attorney Weiss saying the government's investigation of Hunter Biden is 'ongoing.' Weiss attached the line about the state of the probe to a statement about a negotiated plea arrangement with the president's son, amid Republican fury about what one influential Republican probing the Bidens termed a 'sweetheart' deal. He did so while confirming that Biden would plead guilty to two tax crimes related to $1.5 million in unreported income, while also resolving a gun charge dating to a period in October 2018 when he was addicted to drugs including crack cocaine. Prosecutors say the unpaid amount over the two years totaled $200,000. 'My understanding is were done,' Hunter Biden lawyer Chris Clark told MSNBC Tuesday, when the U.S. Attorney's office announced the president's son would plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors The plea deal allows Hunter Biden to put the long-running federal investigation behind him, although House Republicans blasted the agreement and are expected to keep up their own probes of alleged corruption Clark issued a plea for understanding, as he said his client feels 'happy to move on with his life and his recovery.' He acknowledged that Hunter did not 'timely pay' his taxes owed. 'I understand that he's the son of the president of the United States, but all of us have family members that have struggled with addiction and other issues. And I know it's hard to have empathy for that. But a lot of people show no empathy. That's not a legal issue. That's just kind of you wish the world be different,' he said. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy compared Hunter's case with former President Donald Trump, who is charged with 37 counts of willful mishandling of national security information and conspiracy to obstruct justice following the discovery of boxes of classified material at Mar-a-Lago. McCarthy said there was a 'two-tiered' system of justice. 'If you are the president's leading opponent, the DOJ tries to literally put you in jail,' McCarthy said. 'If you are the president's son, you get a sweetheart deal.' A friend of the British billionaire missing on the Titanic tourist submersible has said that 'every single minute' feels like hours and that it would be a 'miracle' if the crew survive as their oxygen supply dwindled to less than 40 hours tonight. Norwegian explorer Jannicke Mikkelsen said she has been left unable to sleep as rescuers scour the remote North Atlantic to find her friend Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet. Mikkelsen is hoping for good news despite the US Coast Guard issuing a bleak warning today that it may not be able to rescue the sub - even if they find it. The Titan submersible, owned and operated by OceanGate Expeditions, vanished on Sunday while it was taking the crew 12,500ft under water as part of its 195,000-a-head tour of the 1912 Titanic shipwreck - which is some 400 miles southeast of St Johns, Newfoundland in Canada. The crew lost communication with the sub's mothership MV Polar Prince an hour and 45 minutes into the two-hour descent and there is now a desperate search to find the vessel and those on board before the initial 96 hours of air runs out on Thursday at 12pm. DailyMail.com previously revealed it took OceanGate eight hours to report the submersible as missing. Norwegian explorer Jannicke Mikkelsen (pictured with Hamish Harding in 2019) said she has been left unable to sleep as rescuers scour thousands of square miles in the remote North Atlantic to find her friend Hamish Harding and four others Mikkelsen, a Norwegian explorer (pictured with Hamish Harding) is hoping for good news despite the US Coast Guard issuing a bleak warning today that it may not be able to rescue the sub - even if they find it OceanGate Expeditions offers tours of the famous shipwreck. Tickets cost up to 195,000 Speaking from Svalbard in Norway on Tuesday, Mikkelsen said she last spoke to Harding right before his dive to the Titanic and wished him 'godspeed.' 'I didn't consider that this type of expedition would be as dangerous as it's turned out to be,' she said. 'As explorers, we are pessimistic and objective. And as it stands right now, it would be a miracle if they are recovered alive.' Mikkelsen, a cinematographer specialising in extreme environments, also said London-born Harding was 'being branded as a UK billionaire going for a sightseeing trip to the Titanic' but that the expedition were also for scientific research. 'These types of expeditions are very expensive and we need people like Hamish who can pay and sponsor such an expedition, but also take the risk of joining such an expedition with his expertise,' Mikkelsen said. Mikkelsen said she met the CEO of Dubai-based company Action Aviation in 2017 while working at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Together they took part in 2019's 'One More Orbit' flight mission that set a record for the fastest circumnavigation of Earth by aircraft flying over both geographic poles. She previously said that she knew Harding would be 'calm' amid the crisis, but that her biggest fear was knowing they are trapped 'without being able to get help'. 'There is no one who can reach him on the bottom,' she said. Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are among the five people trapped in the sub French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition Today, at a press conference at the US Coast Guard Station in Boston, US - which is coordinating the search and rescue effort - First District Response Coordinator Capt. Jamie Frederick conceded on Tuesday that rescue was not guaranteed. 'Even with that amount of time left, if you were to find the submersible at this moment, would that give you enough time to save those five people on board?' he was asked. 'I don't know the answer to that question... all I know is we will do everything within our power to effect a rescue,' Frederick replied. The Coast Guard has already searched 7,600 square miles of ocean and the only way to search the ocean floor is by using remotely operated vehicles which are searching the water now. If they find the sub, getting it to the surface is another feat entirely, requiring specialist equipment that is not yet on-site. There are multiple civilian ships assisting in the search, along with US Navy, Canadian Navy ships and aircraft. The US Coast Guard in Boston is now looking for the missing vessel. The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada This is the last sighting of the submersible, Titan, which was launched on Sunday. It is seen in a photograph shared by Hamish Harding's company. He and the four others on board remain unaccounted for The crew was diving to the ocean floor to survey the Titanic wreckage Harding excitedly posted to social media about being on the mission before launching the submarine Mikkelsen said that Harding had acted as a mentor to her, and was well aware of the risks he took. 'Hamish is an explorer at heart and this is one of the things he wanted to explore, on his checklist,' she said. 'Hamish knows the risks before he starts. 'I know that Hamish will be calm, they will work together through their checklist of options.' Harding holds the Guinness World Record for the longest duration spent at the bottom of the sea. The adventurer set it in 2021, after diving to the deepest place on Earth, the Mariana Trench, and traversing it for four hours and 15 minutes. It was one of three Guinness world records he has earned. He set another one for the longest distance, three miles, covered at the bottom of the ocean. His first was set in 2019, for the fastest circumnavigation of the earth via North and South Poles in a Gulfstream 650ER business jet - with Mikkelsen filming the adventure. Last year he went into space. Images from Ocean Gate, one of the tour companies that operates the expeditions, show the wreckage The father of two - who is friends with astronaut Buzz Aldrin - said recently: 'I used to read the book of Guinness World Records regularly as a child. I always wondered how I could get into it. I did not think I could do it. 'And I didn't want to do something stupid - like setting a record for the number of ping-pong balls bounced in a day, or something like that.' The aviator, businessman and explorer is no stranger to perilous expeditions. He told an interviewer in 2021 how his submarine, Challenger Deep, had sustained a damaged thruster during his journey to the 'truly spectacular' Mariana Trench, which lies seven miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. 'The sub has many safety features, including four days' reserve of oxygen, water and emergency rations,' he said. 'The only problem is that there is no other sub that is capable of going down there to rescue you. It will take three years to build another one. 'So, having four days of supply doesn't make a difference really. If something goes wrong, you are not coming back.' Hardin, also has the distinction of taking the oldest man - moon landing astronaut Aldrin, at the age of 86 - and the youngest, his 12-year-old son, to the South Pole. 'Buzz is an old friend of mine,' he said. 'We had always talked about going to the South Pole together and we finally did it in 2016.' An only child, Harding was born in Hammersmith, London, in 1964, and has degrees in natural sciences and chemical engineering from Cambridge University. Last year, Harding was one of six astronauts to go to space on Blue Origin's fifth human spaceflight aboard its New Shepard rocket. And before another trip, to the North Pole two months prior to going into space, he said: 'People, especially as they grow older, tend to give up on their dreams. When I think of something unusual, I just try to find ways to make it happen.' A submarine that is missing as it headed to the wreck of the Titanic suffered electrical damage and also had to be rebuilt for not being able to withstand the deep ocean before it was eventually able to start carrying wealthy tourists to the site. OceanGate Expeditions started its dives to the Titanic in 2021 using its submersible named Titan, which is at the centre of a desperate search after going missing 12,500ft beneath the waves. The company initially planned to use it for a trip to the Titanic in 2018 but this was abandoned after it sustained damage to its electronics from lightning. Then, in 2019, the voyage was postponed again because of a problem with complying with Canadian maritime law limitations on foreign flag vessels, according to technology news site GreekWire. Then it suffered further problems in 2020 and had to be completely rebuilt after tests showed signs of cyclic fatigue that reduced the hulls depth rating to 3,000 meters, which was well short of what it required to get close to the Titanic. The vessel, built of carbon fibre and titanium was originally designed to take five people to depths of 4,000 metres (13,123 feet). A submarine that is missing as it headed to the wreck of the Titanic suffered electrical damage and also had to be rebuilt for not being able to withstand the deep ocean before it was eventually able to start carrying wealthy tourists to the site. The submersible is pictured above OceanGate Expeditions started its dives to the Titanic in 2021 using its submersible named Titan, which is at the centre of a desperate search after going missing 12,500ft beneath the waves. Pictured is an interior view of the vessel The company initially planned to use it for a trip to the Titanic in 2018 but this was abandoned after it sustained damage to its electronics from lightning. Then, in 2019, the voyage was postponed again because of a problem with complying with Canadian maritime law limitations on foreign flag vessels. Then it suffered further problems in 2020 and had to be completely rebuilt. The tourist submersible is pictured above After detecting problems at how deep it could go OceanGate also announced at the time that it was working with NASA to ensure that it was strong enough to survive the oceans depths. It's thought that the problems were addressed before the Titan's fateful dive on Sunday-however the exact reason the submersible lost signal with its mothership is not yet known. The company has been promoting its latest trip to the historic wreck on its website and through social media channels for the past few months, tantalising rich customers with the promise that they too can follow in the footsteps of legendary diver Jacques Cousteau and become an underwater explorer by going to see the Titanic. Tickets to join the expedition cost an eye-watering 195,000. The company was founded in 2009 by Stockton Rush, 61, who is also its CEO and is one five people on board the missing Titan. It was on only its third trip since OceanGate began offering the once in a lifetime trips to the Titanic and announced at the time that six would take place that year, which did not materialise. Another took place in 2022 followed by this years doomed trip. Since launching, OceanGate has taken wealthy tourists on a number of missions to deep sites mainly across the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico selling the trips not just as a top-end tourism activity but an opportunity to assist its experts and benefit from the companys experience of diving. The tours are pitched to the same type of clients as space tourism: adventurous, curious, and extremely wealthy. They have included visits to shipwrecks in Elliot Bay, Seattle; exploring deep waters in California and carrying out a shark survey. According to the companys website, OceanGate has successfully completed more than 14 expeditions and more than 200 dives. OceanGate currently owns and operates three five-person submersibles The company was founded in 2009 by Stockton Rush, 61, (pictured) who is also its CEO and is one five people on board the missing Titan OceanGate currently owns and operates three five-person submersibles. The first, Antipodes, could travel to a depth of 1,000 feet. In 2012, the company acquired another submersible, and rebuilt it into Cyclops 1, a vessel that could travel to a depth of up to 1,640 feet. It served as a prototype for the newest submersible, the Titan. Mr Rush is a qualified aerospace engineer and became the youngest jet transport rated pilot in the world aged just 19, according to the companys website and obtained a degree in aerospace engineering from Princeton University three years later. In 1984, he joined the McDonnell Douglas Corporation as a Flight Test Engineer on the F-15 fighter jet programme and also spent two years at Edwards Air Force Base working as part of the US Governments anti-satellite missile programme. He has personally built a Glasair III aircraft, and heavily modified a Kittredge K-350 two-man submersible, which has gone on over 30 dives to date. He now oversees OceanGate's financial and engineering strategies. Mr Rushs wife Wendy is director of Communications for OceanGates and an expedition team leader, according to her LinkedIn page. The company is based in Everett, Washington State close to where the couple live. Mr Rush runs OceanGate with four others in its leadership team, all of whom have extensive experience in technology, business and the maritime industry. He also sits on a board of directors which is made up of a retired Rear Admiral, a high-profile lawyer and other notable business figures from technology and maritime sectors. TIMELINE OF MISSING SUBMERSIBLE TITAN 8am Sunday: Titan submerges around 900 miles east of Cape Cod 9.45am: Polar Prince expedition ship loses contact with the submersible 5.40pm: Coast Guard first alerted to the missing sub 9.13pm: Canadian Coast Guard alerted Thursday at 8am: 96 hours of oxygen runs out Advertisement The companys trips to the Titanic wreck in the Titan are its unique selling point, with wealthy customers lured by the promise that they will be part of a scientific and technological survey of the site. Those who can afford the hefty price are referred to as mission specialists or citizen scientists with the company emphasising that they are not just there to view the wreck but participate in a scientific study. Yet despite these claims to expertise and the dangers involved, those boarding the Titan must sign a waiver that states: 'This experimental vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death.' And despite the companys experience of taking tourists into dangerous waters, the Titan is controlled by a reinforced PlayStation controller and only has one window for them to peer out of. Wealthy passengers are not given any special training prior to departure and do not require diving qualifications but do need basic agility so that they can climb a 10ft ladder and be able to stand on a chair. The 22ft carbon fiber and titanium submersible also does not have a GPS system and uses Elon Musk's Starlink to communicate with its mothership, MV Polar Prince because it is so far out to sea. It is guided by text messages sent by a team above water. These are exchanged via a USBL (ultra-short baseline) acoustic system. The Titan pings its location to the Polar Prince every 15 minutes the last of which was received while the submersible floated above the Titanic wreckage at about 3pm UK time on Sunday. David Pogue, a CBS News Sunday correspondent, participated in an OceanGate expedition last year, and in November told of his experiences. He said: 'I couldn't help noticing how many pieces of this sub seemed improvised, with off-the-shelf components. 'Piloting the craft is run with a video game controller.' Wealthy passengers are not given any special training prior to departure and do not require diving qualifications but do need basic agility so that they can climb a 10ft ladder and be able to stand on a chair. Pictured is the OceanGate Expeditions submersible vessel named Titan The 22ft carbon fiber and titanium submersible also does not have a GPS system and uses Elon Musk's Starlink to communicate with its mothership, MV Polar Prince because it is so far out to sea. Pictured is an OceanGate tourist submersible The company is also prolific on social media as it boasts about its trips and scientific work to the Titanic site. Pictures posted on Facebook show members of previous trips to the wreck while another claims: We make sure to honour the Titanics legacy on each mission. The company has also posted testimonials from those who have participated in previous trips to the Titanic. One from Aaron N, who went in 2021 said: This is one of the most interesting and unique experiences I have ever had Less than 300 people have been down to the Titanic to see the wreck. Even diving to almost 4,000 metres in a submersible is an experience onto itself. Another reads: OceanGate Expeditions makes you a full member of the crew and the experience allows you to participate in every aspect of the expedition. Prince Andrew was facing fresh questions over his close friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein tonight, after documents suggested the two men may have had contact after the royal said he had cut ties. The Duke of York was infamously pictured walking in Central Park in New York with Epstein in December 2010 not long after the disgraced financier had been released from an 18-month jail sentence for child prostitution offences. Andrew who was criticised for staying with Epstein in his 60 million Manhattan house during the trip insisted that it was the last time he had contact with him. He told Emily Maitlis in his Newsnight interview that he never saw or spoke to him again. But emails unearthed by JP Morgan in a probe into its former executive Jes Staley and his relationship with Epstein appear to suggest otherwise. Prince Andrew leaves sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's home as they go for a stroll together through New York's Central Park in December 2010 Jeffrey Epstein, 66, was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in New York on August 10, 2019 Prince Andrew (left), Ghislaine Maxwell (centre) and Jeffrey Epstein (right) at Ladies Day of Royal Ascot, Berkshire, in June 2000 Epstein was a client of the bank for years. Following his arrest in 2019, JP Morgan produced a 22-page report detailing his close personal relationship with Mr Staley, who was head of the banks private banking arm. The report, seen by the Daily Mail, also sheds light on his relationship with Prince Andrew. It states that in February 2011 two months after the Central Park meeting Epstein writes to Staley Andrew asked for your London schedule. The entry suggests Andrew may have had contact with Epstein to enquire about meeting with Mr Staley. In November 2019, Andrew gave an interview to BBCs Newsnight about his friendship with Epstein. He was asked by Ms Maitlis: Was that visit, December of 2010 the only time you saw him after he was convicted? to which he replied: Yes, yeah. She asked him: Did you see him or speak to him again? To which he replied: No. Andrew claimed the visit to see Epstein was to tell him they could no longer be friends. He told Maitlis by mutual agreement during that walk in the park we decided that we would part company and I left, I think it was the next day and to this day I never had any contact with him from that day forward. The emails are part of the lawsuit filed by the US Virgin Islands against JPMorgan, accusing the bank of knowingly benefiting from Epsteins sex trafficking. Last year, the duke paid a reported 12million settlement to Virginia Roberts, 39, over her claims that he sexually assaulted her when she was 17, which he has always denied. Epstein died by suicide in prison while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges in 2019. JPMorgan earlier this month settled a lawsuit for allegedly facilitating Epsteins sex-trafficking ring for a reported 231million. The US bank will pay the sum to more than 100 victims of the late paedophile. The bank is still engaged in a legal battle with Mr Staley, who has also been accused of sexually abusing a young woman at Epsteins Virgin Islands retreat, which he denies. Prince Andrew did not respond to a request for comment. President Joe Biden on Tuesday was supportive of his son Hunter, who made a deal with federal prosecutors that would see him plead guilty of tax crimes and go on probation over a gun charge - likely avoiding any jail time. Biden is in the Bay Area through Wednesday, mostly on a fundraising trip for his 2024 presidential campaign. However he appeared in front of the cameras for under five minutes Tuesday afternoon in San Francisco, at an event alongside his 'buddy,' California Gov. Gavin Newsom, about artificial intelligence policy. 'I'm very proud of my son,' Biden said as he was peppered with questions about Hunter's plea deal. He ignored them at first but then answered. He was asked if he had spoken to Hunter today and did not respond to a shouted query about whether he encouraged the first son to take the guilty plea. Reporters were then ushered out of the room. President Joe Biden voiced support for his son Hunter at an articial intelligence policy event Tuesday afternoon in San Francisco Hunter Biden reached a deal with prosecutors that would see him plead guilty to a trio of crimes but likely avoid jail time, according to Justice Department filings out Tuesday In the past Biden has spoken about being 'proud' of Hunter, pointing to his recovery from drug and alcohol abuse. A Department of Justice legal filing gave details Tuesday about Hunter's plea deal - which has been condemned by former President Donald Trump and his top GOP Congressional allies. The president's son has been under investigation for five years for tax and financial allegations, as well as for paperwork for purchasing a handgun where he attested that he did not abuse drugs. That contradicted admissions in his own autobiography where he detailed an addiction to crack cocaine that led to a stint in rehab. The agreement with prosecutors still must be approved by a federal judge, and comes at a time when the Justice Department is under scrutiny for its handling of high-profile investigations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Sources told NBC prosecutors will recommend probation which would spare the president's son jail time but could land him in hot water if he violates terms. Both tax times to which he will plead guilty are misdemeanor charges. The Washington Post reported prosecutors would recommend two years' probation. Any further terms of probation that prosecutors would recommend were not immediately available, and would be subject to modification by the court. President Joe Biden (left) was peppered with questions about Hunter's plea deal as held an artificial intelligence policy event alongside his 'buddy,' California Gov. Gavin Newsom (right) U.S. Attorney David Weiss asked a judge to schedule hearing for Hunter Biden for two tax offenses and a gun charge, following a years-long investigation into the president's son U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, a holdover from the Trump administration, has been overseeing the politically charged probe. A document Weiss filed with the court Tuesday states that the criminal information charges the defendant with tax offenses 'namely two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax,' as well as 'one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.' Regarding the gun charge, Hunter 'has agreed to enter a Pretrial Diversion Agreement,' according to Weiss. Handling the matter as a diversion case means Hunter wouldn't technically have to enter a guilty plea. Such cases are reserved for people who have a clean record and are facing non-violent charges who can meet a series of criteria. They are meant to reduce recidivism and often are applied to people dealing with substance abuse issues. The letter stated that prosecutors and Biden's lawyer Christopher Clark jointly request a court appearance on the firearm change and a plea hearing on the tax charge. Clark said in a statement: 'With the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the Unites States Attorneys Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved.' 'Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement. A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward,' he said. 'The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment,' said White House spokesman Ian Sams U.S. Attorney David Weiss said Hunter Biden agreed to enter a 'diversion agreement' where defendants can admit the facts of the case without entering a formal guilty plea Hunter Biden's problems have been a running theme during the Biden administration. Here President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden attend the University of Pennsylvania 267th Commencement Ceremony at Franklin Field in Philadelphia The gun charge dates to a period where Hunter was involved with Hallie Biden, the widow of his late brother, Beau The plea deal allows Hunter Biden to put the long-running federal investigation behind him, although House Republicans blasted the agreement and are expected to keep up their own probes of alleged corruption In 2021, Hunter reportedly paid back the feds for outstanding taxes, more than two years after disclosing the probe into his finances. The New York Times reported he told an associate the amount was more than $1 million, and that he needed a loan to pay what he owed the government. The Hunter probe has been a lingering political issue for the Biden administration, and throughout the president's tenure the White House has had to respond to questions about his pricey art sales along with a series of disclosures about his business dealings and personal life gleaned from his laptop. The probe of the alleged gun violation coincided with a period of repeated mass shootings, and the president's call for more restrictions including a ban on assault-style weapons. Republicans have been hammering the administration for allegedly uneven application of justice, after a federal grand jury indicted Trump on charges of willful retention of national security documents and conspiracy to obstruct an investigation into the matter. The 37-count indictment has the former president facing a court date currently set for August in the heat of the Republican presidential primaries. A separate probe of classified material uncovered at President Biden's home and former office is ongoing. House Republicans have demanded Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is heading the Trump probe as well as a probe into January 6, hand over materials about how early decisions got made in that matter. The plea deal comes despite President Biden telling MSNBC: 'First of all my son has done nothing wrong. I trust him, I have faith in him. 'And it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him.' Hunter's failure to pay taxes came from a time when he was acting as a high-flying international lawyer doing deals around the globe, while also according to his autobiography using drugs. His dealings extended from Ukraine, where he won a lucrative position on the board of the Burisma energy firm, to trips to China where he is accused of trying to leverage his father's influence while Biden was vice president to secure business. Information gleaned from his infamous laptop, which according to a Wilmington repair shop owner Hunter dropped off seeking computer support but never reclaimed, shows him posing naked with a gun and smoking what appears to be a crack pipe while passed out in bed. 'The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment,' said White House spokesman Ian Sams. The guilty plea is not likely to be the end of the matter for Hunter Biden or his father. House Republicans have already set up multiple probes of the Biden administration and have been focusing on his family members. House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer has been repeatedly demanding possession of an FBI file on claims made by a whistleblower of 'bribery.' He called the allegations 'very credible,' but has yet to provide proof. Comer blasted the plea deal as a 'sweetheart' deal. Trump hammered the 'corrupt' Justice Department about an hour after news broke of the deal reached by the U.S. Attorney he appointed. 'Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket. Our system is BROKEN!' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Back in 2018, Trump hailed Weiss when nominating him before he was confirmed by the Senate. He said Weiss and other candidates 'share the Presidents vision for 'Making America Safe Again.' The Biden DOJ then kept Weiss on after the changeover in administration. He met with Hunter's team in April to discuss the case, in one signal it was reaching its conclusion. Hunter Biden disclosed the investigation in December 2020, weeks before his father took office. It had been ongoing for about two years at that time. The gun charge relates to a period in 2018 when Hunter became involved with the widow of his brother, the late Beau Biden. His sister-in-law allegedly took his handgun and tossed it in a dumpster. A man recovered the gun, which got federal authorities involved. Eventually that led to a search for the paperwork traced to the gun purchase. Hunter Biden, like other handgun purchasers, was required to answer the question: 'Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?' He answered no. In a chilling sense of forboding, missing Brit Hamish Harding spoke of the importance of 'taking steps before they go wrong' in a revealing interview with a Dubai-based media outlet. He also spoke of how his family had grown accustomed to his daredevil lifestyle in a bitter twist of irony. The intrepid explorer and millionaire who was based in Dubai and one of five Titanic tourists trapped in a missing submarine, spoke of his life philosophy in Arabian Gulf Business Insights last year. The leader of this week's expedition told the publication: 'I believe you make your own luck in life. You create the environment around you, where luck comes or doesn't come, based on your decisions, your anticipation of things going wrong, and taking steps before they go wrong.' Last June, before launching on a Blue Origin space tourism flight, Harding had said he was not feeling nervous even though such suborbital flights were relatively new, only 20 people having made the journey. Missing Brit Hamish Harding spoke of the importance of 'taking steps before they go wrong' in a revealing interview with a Dubai-based media outlet The deep-sea voyage was meant to happen end of December but was delayed multiple times until Sunday, when he and four other explorers boarded the Titan submersible. Pictured is the OceanGate Expeditions submersible 'I haven't really had a chance to feel nervous yet and I've always wanted to do this. I've wanted to go into space all my life,' he told the UAE's The National newspaper at the time. TIMELINE OF MISSING SUBMERSIBLE TITAN 8am Sunday: Titan submerges around 900 miles east of Cape Cod 9.45am: Polar Prince expedition ship loses contact with the submersible 5.40pm: Coast Guard first alerted to the missing sub 9.13pm: Canadian Coast Guard alerted Thursday at 8am: 96 hours of oxygen runs out Advertisement After landing back on Earth, Harding said he already had the submarine trip lined up and was excited about exploring the Titanic. The deep-sea voyage was meant to happen end of December but was delayed multiple times until Sunday, when he and four other explorers boarded the Titan submersible. Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman are among the other passengers on the Titan. Reports said French Navy pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet and the boss of tour company OceanGate, Stockton Rush, are also on board. Harding also told Abu Dhabi based The National that his family had grown accustomed to his extreme senes of adventure-seeking. 'My family's got pretty used to it. Every year I'll go off and do something a bit unusual, and so I don't think they worry too much,' he said. In Dubai, where the British billionaire who has a Guinness world record for the longest duration spent at the bottom of the sea lives, his wife Linda is believed to be waiting for news. A major search and rescue operation, being led by the US Coastguard and involving military aircraft, is under way. OceanGate Expeditions said its focus was on those aboard the vessel and their families. The vessel is pictured above The 21ft submersible has an oxygen supply of up to 96 hours OceanGate Expeditions said its focus was on those aboard the vessel and their families. 'We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible,' the company said in a statement. 'We are working toward the safe return of the crew members.' Last year, Harding flew on board New Shepard, as part of the Blue Origin NS-21 mission, one of six to go to space on the flight. In 2021, he dived into the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, the deepest point on Earth and before that, in 2019, he flew around the world in a record-breaking flight with Nasa astronaut Terry Virts. In the interview with Arabian Gulf Business Insights, he even spoke of his admiration for Jeff Bezos, the man he said he would choose as his dream mentor. 'He built up a fantastic company we all use Amazon and then he reinvested some of the profits from Amazon in Blue Origin,' he said. 'I was so impressed by the whole operation. He's not trying to make a return on equity. He is trying to do something very special for humanity, getting millions of people into space over the next few decades.' A baby seal stunned surfers when it swam up to them and hopped on their boards to pose for snaps. The unusual encounter was filmed by 'Drone Dude Ed' on Pacific Beach in San Diego, California, on June 18 as the surfers held a line-up meeting in the water. The video shows the cute baby seal hopping from surfboard to surfboard as the group looks on in shock. In one scene, the pup appears to wave its fin at the drone filming the incredible encounter from the air. Scroll down for video: A baby seal stunned surfers when it swam up to them and hopped on their boards to pose for snaps The unusual encounter took place on Saturday in San Diego, as several surfers held a line-up meeting in the water Surfer Kim Evgenia called it 'the most beautiful thing that has ever happened to me'. She added: 'I'm never getting rid of this board. 'Endlessly grateful to "dronedudeed" for being there with me and catching this incredible moment on his cam.' One local gushed: 'I can't get over this. Absolutely incredible.' Maria said: 'Oh my goodness. 'My heart would have stopped that very moment because of pure delight.' Tony added: 'That has to be a sign of good luck.' Candace remarked: 'Magical moment and so awesome "dronedudeed" was there to video it.' Joshua commented: 'Respectfully, commonly seals jump on boards to escape a predator underneath.' According to witnesses, the pup was unusually friendly and seemed unafraid of the group of surfers. The video shows the cute baby seal hopping from surfboard to surfboard as the group looks on in shock In one scene, the pup appears to wave its fin at the drone filming the incredible encounter from the air The heartwarming footage was captured by a drone deployed by Ed Hartel, who had been trying to capture footage of a seal pup Witnesses said the pup was unusually friendly and seemed unafraid of the group of surfers Nearby SeaWorld officials were informed of the incident and sent a team of experts to check on the animal A SeaWorld spokesperson said: 'There was no need to intervene as the pup appeared to be old enough to care for itself.' The spokesperson added that there had been no reports of a dead seal in the area after surfers claimed the pup's mother had died "Basically, he swims from board to board jumping on different surfers' boards. He'll sit there for five to 10 minutes and then paddle to another surfer's board and he does it all morning long," Hartel told KFMB-TV Despite the show of affection, surfers did the right thing and did not touch the seal, as is advised by wildlife officials Beach visitors theorized a seal killed by a great white shark in the area a few days earlier was the pup's mother Visitors also theorized a seal killed by a great white shark in the area a few days earlier could have been the pup's mother. Nearby SeaWorld officials were informed of the incident and sent a team of experts to check on the animal. A SeaWorld spokesperson said: 'There was no need to intervene as the pup appeared to be old enough to care for itself.' The spokesperson added that there had been no reports of a dead seal in the area after surfers claimed the pup's mother had died. If anyone finds a dead marine animal on the beach, SeaWorld advises them to contact the San Diego Environmental Services Department or the Southwest Fisheries Science Center. A gentle slap on the wrist for Hunter and a straight punch in the nose for the rest of us. Call me naive, but I didn't expect this to be so blatant. On Tuesday, Joe Biden's Justice Department offered our troubled First Son a plea deal for tax evasion and illegal gun possession. After a 5-year federal investigation, countless man hours and gallons of newspaper ink spilt, America's least favorite deadbeat dad appears to have received the sweetest of sweetheart deals. For those alleged crimes, dear old H, former crack head and prostitute connoisseur, is expected to walk free with little more than probation. Hunter allegedly failed to pay Uncle Sam at least $200,000 on $1.5 million of income between 2017 and 2018. And for this, the scion of the Biden family was handed two measly misdemeanors. Next, we have a gun charge. In the depths of his addiction, Hunter allegedly lied on federal background check and claimed that he was clean, when he wasn't. For that Hunter will likely be given a pretrial diversion agreement. Translation, no penalty. The first question we must ask is why exactly did this case take 5 years? That's longer than the Russian Collusion investigation. It's longer than World War Two, for that matter. As of now, there's no explanation for that other than a whistleblower's claim that the DOJ 'slow-walked' the probe. After a 5-year federal investigation, countless man hours and gallons of newspaper ink spilt, America's least favorite deadbeat dad appears to have received the sweetest of sweetheart deals. Hunter allegedly failed to pay Uncle Sam at least $200,000 on $1.5 million of income between 2017 and 2018. And for this, the scion of the Biden family was handed two measly misdemeanors. 'When I took control of this particular investigation, I immediately saw deviations from the normal process,' Gary Shapley, a 14-year veteran of the IRS told CBS News last month. 'It was way outside the norm of what I've experienced in the past.' What else didn't we see in the plea deal? Any mention whatsoever of the Foreign Agent Registration Act, which sent Trump's 2016 campaign manager Paul Manafort to jail. This glaring omission exists despite the fact that Hunter, along with eight of his family members have allegedly taken millions of dollars from a Chinese company with close ties to the Communist government. And finally, for those paying close attention, there was something else odd about today's announcement. Hunter was offered a plea deal prior to his arrest and the conclusion of the case or so it appeared. 'The investigation is ongoing,' read a DOJ press release on Tuesday. Hunter's attorney saw it differently. 'It is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved,' said lawyer Christopher Clark. I'm sure that Clark's right. They've put Hunter's problems behind him. Good for you, Hunter. Bad for us, America. If you didn't think it before, you do now: there are two tiers of justice in America. Do you think any other person in America would get the same treatment? Criminal defense attorney Arthur Aidala says they wouldn't. 'I've handed 100 federal criminal cases. For any ordinary person charged in connection to a $200,000 tax liability, federal prosecutors would be recommending jail time,' he told me. 'Plus, they've negotiated a plea deal before an arrest and even the conclusion of the discovery process. Altogether, this is "kid glove" treatment taken to the extreme.' This looks absolutely terrible to Americans. In fact, it looks like an abomination of justice. And President Biden has been actively interfering in this investigation from nearly the get-go. 'When I took control of this particular investigation, I immediately saw deviations from the normal process,' Gary Shapley, a 14-year veteran of the IRS told CBS News last month. 'It was way outside the norm of what I've experienced in the past.' In the depths of his addiction, Hunter allegedly lied on federal background check and claimed that he was clean, when he wasnt. For that Hunter will likely be given a pretrial diversion agreement. Translation, no penalty. Just last month he told MSNBC, 'My son has done nothing wrong I trust him. I have faith in him.' Last year, the First Lady made the meddling a family affair. 'Everybody and their brother have investigated Hunter,' she told NBC News in October. 'They keep at it, and at it, and at it. I know that Hunter is innocent.' Well, he's certainly not innocent, but he may as well be. The double-standard is undeniable. President Biden demands that wealthy Americans 'pay their fair share' of taxes, while his son cheats on his returns. Democrats declare that 'no one is above the law,' while Donald Trump is indicted for allegedly mishandling classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison, but Hunter skates. Let's not forget that Trump also been charged in New York City under a suspicious novel legal theory that allowed a biased prosecutor to criminalize a sleazy payoff to a porn star. And Trump, along with the nation, were the victims of a shoddy Russian collusion hoax. No, the Hunter Biden saga cannot end here. There are too many lose ends. This looks absolutely terrible to Americans. In fact, it looks like an abomination of justice. And President Biden has been actively interfering in this investigation from nearly the get-go. But mark my words, the next time there's a bombshell Hunter headline the mainstream media will claim that it's old news. After all, they'll lecture, a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney has investigated it all and determined that the First Son is in the clear. Please remember that's complete b.s. In the words of Joe Biden, 'Where's the money?' That's right. And the good news is that with Republicans in control of the House of Representatives, we will hopefully find out. Two weeks ago, a closely guarded FBI form reportedly revealed allegations that a Ukrainian oligarch paid Hunter and another unidentified member of the Biden family $5 million apiece for their help quashing a corruption probe of his company. This week, DailyMail.com reported emails showing that the very same Ukrainian tried to help Hunter set up a bank account with a shady Maltese bank. That's not weird at all. On Tuesday, a dogged and determined House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer vowed that his committee will not rest until the Biden 'family's schemes' are fully uncovered. For sake of us all, I hope he does so that we can all restore our faith in American justice. Jill Biden fought back tears on Tuesday as she listened to women describe the physical and mental health affects of being denied an abortion in the year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade. The first lady held a conversation with four women about the impact the Dobbs ruling had on their lives. It's part of a series of events President Joe Biden's administration is holding ahead of Saturday's one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. 'The Dobbs decision was devastating,' Jill Biden said. 'The Dobbs decision took away women's constitutional rights, their ability to make their own healthcare decisions.' She hugged the women before their conversation started. And she fought back tears as the four women shared their personal stories, holding hands with some of them as they spoke. All the women described the life-threatening danger they faced after being denied an abortion while carrying a fetus unable to survive. An emotional Jill Biden listened to women share their stories of life-threatening conditions they faced after being denied abortions The first lady seemed particularly moved when Dr. Austin Dennard of Texas, an OB/GYN, spoke about finding out her baby had anencephaly - a condition that causes a baby to be born without parts of the brain and skull. Dennard wiped away tears as she talked about knowing her baby would not survive after being born and how, due to Texas abortion's ban, she had to travel out of state for the procedure. She said she and her husband 'were worried and afraid about whether or not we should use a credit card or tell anyone where we were going to the East Coast. We were worried that our abilities to practice medicine would be compromised. It was completely humiliating.' 'I am here as a person, who also happens to be a doctor, telling you that the state of Texas completely deserted me of my own reproductive rights, but it is also disassembled the foundation of the doctor patient relationship: trust and open honest communication,' she said. 'I never thought I would need abortion for a planned - let alone two. But I did and those were the right decisions for my family and me. The State of Texas should not be making these decisions for me or for anybody else.' Jill Biden listened to women discuss the impact of the Dobbs' decision on their lives and health Jill Biden holds the hand of Elizabeth Weller of Texas as she speaks about her pregnancy complications and her difficulty in seeking medical care Jill Biden also held the hand of Elizabeth Weller of Texas, who described how, when she was 18 weeks pregnant with her first child, her water broke. Weller was told by doctors that they couldn't intervene until they could no longer detect a fetal heartbeat or she developed a life-threatening infection. She returned until she developed an infection severe enough for the hospital to proceed with an abortion. 'I was given two options. I could either stay in the hospital to wait for my baby to die. At which point I could get the abortion I needed to protect my health. Or I could go home and wait for either my daughter's death or for an infection to develop that might cause my own demise,' Weller said. 'We asked about going to another state but my doctor concerned for me said that traveling was too dangerous. The darkest week of my life began as I left the hospital and amniotic fluid actively leaked out my feet down my legs. With every passing day, I felt the state's intentional cruelty.' Jill Biden has spoken out about her own experience with abortion, when she helped a close friend recover from the procedure pre-Roe vs. Wade, when it was still illegal. She has criticized Republicans for the role back of abortion rights. And she has used that and other issues as a rallying cry for the Democratic base. She has copied President Joe Biden in criticizing the policies the Bidens say 'MAGA Republicans' will bring. 'You know what's in store if these MAGA Republicans win. We know it because we lived it,' Jill Biden said at a fundraiser in California last week. 'Remember how hard it was last time? This time, it's going to be even harder,' she noted. 'The fight for freedom doesn't end. This is the most important election of our lives.' Jill Biden kicked off a series of events the White House is holding to mark the one-year anniversary of the Dobbs' decision The first lady met with four women in the Blue Room of the White House to hear their stories At Tuesday's roundtable, Anya Cook of Florida described how she faced life-threatening denials of care following a miscarriage. Her water broke at 16 weeks but was she was sent home from the emergency room because of Florida's abortion ban. The next day she miscarried and returned to the hospital. 'Doctor said I lost more than half the blood in my body. And I was so weak I need six more days in the hospital,' she said. 'All because career politicians who are not doctors had interfered with fundamental and essential health care, policy decisions, very personal and private life decisions. We don't know if I can get pregnant now or carry to birth. But the target of our wrath is very well known: It's the people who have taken our human rights to health and liberty and personal autonomy. Someone needs to fight back against these insidious laws in states across the country. This is my fight. This is our fight,' she said. Nancy Davis of Louisiana talked about how she learned, at 10 weeks, her fetus had a condition called acrania, in which the skull does not develop. Doctors confirmed it was a fatal diagnosis but said they could not perform an abortion due to the state's abortion laws. She traveled to New York for the procedure. 'I was being forced to carry my baby while still grieving. I had to navigate 1400 miles to a foreign place, leaving my children and my family behind just to access abortion,' she said. The White House is planning a series of high-profile events around the one-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision. On Friday President Joe Biden, Jill Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris will join several Democratic abortion rights groups for a special event ahead of Saturday's anniversary. For the anniversary itself, Harris will travel to North Carolina to make a major speech on the abortion rights issue as she and Biden run for a second term in the White House. The decision by the Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, returned to individual states the power to regulate any aspect of abortion not protected by federal law. In the aftermath, Democrats used the issue to rally their base ahead of the 2022 midterm election. The party's ability to keep the Senate and Republicans' small gain in the House was attributed to voter anger over the Dobbs decision. Fourteen states currently have bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, one when cardiac activity can be detected around six weeks, and three at 12 to 15 weeks, according to a tally by the Associated Press. Of those 17 states with the tightest restrictions, 12 do not have exceptions in cases of rape or incest. They all have exceptions to save the life of the woman in at least some circumstances. At least six states have bans that courts have paused. One more state, North Carolina, has a ban after 12 weeks of pregnancy that doesn't take effect until July 1. The abortion bans also apply to prescribing pills to induce abortions. The series of events planned around the anniversary show that Biden and his campaign are using the issue to rally their voting base ahead of the presidential election. And, on Friday, President Biden, Jill Biden, Vice President Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will join EMILYs List, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and Planned Parenthood Action Fund to mark the one-year anniversary. The King is being kept informed on the search for the submersible that went missing during a dive to the Titanic shipwreck, as the US Coast Guard warned it could have just 40 hours of breathable air left. The submersible, named Titan, lost communication with tour operators on Sunday while about 435 miles south of St John's, Newfoundland, during a voyage to the shipwreck off the coast of Canada. Among the five people aboard the vessel are Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman. Shahzada Dawood is a longtime supporter of The Prince's Trust International and The British Asian Trust, both of which are charities founded by King Charles. As such, it is understood that the King has asked to be kept fully up to date on the situation - and that his thoughts and prayers are with the Dawood family and all those involved in the incident. The King is being kept informed on the search for the submersible that went missing during a dive to the Titanic shipwreck Among the five people aboard the vessel are Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman The submersible, named Titan, lost communication with tour operators on Sunday while about 435 miles south of St John's, Newfoundland, during a voyage to the shipwreck off the coast of Canada. On Tuesday, Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard said a 'unified command' of multiple agencies was formed on Monday to tackle the 'very complex problem' of finding the missing submersible, which has so far 'not yielded any results'. Speaking at a press conference in Boston on Tuesday, Captain Frederick said: 'So, first of all, it's an estimate, right? 'We know from the data we were using, a starting point was 96 hours. 'We know at this point we're approximately about 40/41 hours (of oxygen left). 'We know there's about 40 hours of breathable air left, based on that initial report.' Rescuers are in a race against time to find British billionaire Hamish Harding and four other passengers on board the 6.7 metres (22ft) long OceanGate Expeditions vessel. They are UK-based businessman Mr Dawood and his son, reportedly together with French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet. READ MORE: OceanGate Expeditions sub suffered electrical damage and had to be rebuilt for not being able to withstand the deep ocean BEFORE it went missing on Titanic dive with five people on board A submarine that is missing as it headed to the wreck of the Titanic suffered electrical damage and also had to be rebuilt for not being able to withstand the deep ocean before it was eventually able to start carrying wealthy tourists to the site. The submersible is pictured above Advertisement On Tuesday, OceanGate confirmed that its chief executive and founder Stockton Rush 'is aboard the submersible as a member of the crew'. Captain Frederick was non-committal when asked if there is any way to retrieve the submersible and save the five on board if it can be located. 'So, right now all of our efforts are focused on finding the sub. 'What I will tell you is we have a group of our nation's best experts in the unified command and if we get to that point, those experts will be looking at what the next course of action is.' He added: 'Approximately one hour and 45 minutes into the scheduled dive, the Polar Prince lost all communication with the Titan, Polar Prince conducted an initial search and then requested Coast Guard assistance. 'The US Coast Guard in Boston assumed the responsibility of search-and-rescue mission co-ordinator and immediately launched search assets. 'Since Sunday, the Coast Guard has co-ordinated search efforts with the US and Canadian Coast Guard, Air National Guard aircraft and the Polar Prince, which has searched a combined 7,600 square miles, an area larger than the state of Connecticut. 'These search efforts have focused on both surface, with C-130 aircraft searching by sight and with radar, and subsurface, with P-3 aircraft we're able to drop and monitor sonar buoys. 'To date, those search efforts have not yielded any results.' As well as ongoing plane searches, he said: 'Today the vessel Deep Energy, a 194 metre pipe laying vessel, arrived on scene with underwater ROV (remotely operated vehicle) capability. 'They have rendezvoused with the vessel Polar Prince, and commenced an ROV dive at the last known position of the Titan and the approximate position of the Titanic wreck. That operation is currently ongoing.' Captain Frederick also went on to explain that there are several private research vessels with 'ROV capabilities that are making preparations to join the efforts'. But he later added: 'ROVs have different capability, it's our understanding the current ROV that is deployed at the site now has some limited capability, it has a camera onboard.' He continued: 'On behalf of all the men and women of the United States Coast Guard and our search partners, we offer our most heartfelt thoughts and prayers for the five crew members, their families and their loved ones. 'Our crews are working around the clock to ensure that we were doing everything possible to locate the Titan and the five crew members.' The unified command includes the United States Coast Guard, the United States Navy, Canadian Armed Forces and Coast Guard and the Titan's parent company OceanGate. A Kansas father-to-be was caught in the crossfire of an armed robbery at a local gas station leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Christopher 'Chris' Halbrook, 18, was on his way home from a car show in south Wichita when he decided to stop at the QuikTrip at the intersection of MacArthur Road and Meridian Avenue just after 11.30pm on June 3. But while he was there, a 20-year-old robbery victim started exchanging gunfire with a male suspect who started shooting him. Halbrook was hit in the spine and is now paralyzed below the waist. He is now in rehab and hopes he can make it home in time to welcome his first child in about two months. Christopher 'Chris' Halbrook, 18, was left paralyzed when he was struck by a bullet when stopping at a local gas station on June 3 He is now in rehab and is trying his hardest to make it home in order to welcome his first child with his fiancee Hailie Shae (pictured) Police continue to investigate the shooting, but his mom says she is 'overwhelmed.' 'I can't fathom a reason why,' Halbrook's mother, Tiffany, told KSN. 'It's terrible. Like he didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve this at all. 'I think this through and through in my head, and many times, I wish I would have ben there and I wish it would have been me. Like why couldn't it just have been me?' Tiffany added Chris was 'just in the wrong place in the wrong time, and it's devastating.' But Chris has started to make progress with his hand movements, and is awake and talking, according to a GoFundMe to raise money for his medical bills and accessories. He now has some good days and some bad days with his fiancee Hailie Shae, who is about six months pregnant. 'He's strong,' Tiffany said. 'But I can tell. You just know your kid. You just know when they are overwhelmed. 'You just don't want people to know that you are breaking put a smile on your face, crack a smile and go about your day. It's kind of what you do.' Chris' mom, Tiffany, said he has some good days and others days when he is struggling She said she is trying to hold it together for her four other children while continuing to visit Chris in the hospital Tiffany said she is now trying to hold it together for her four other children, while continuing to visit Chris in the hospital. She has gotten some help from a local community group, which installed a wheelchair ramp at their home an endeavor that would have cost at least $50,000. Tiffany is also facing overwhelming medical bills, as her 18-year-old son did not have full healthcare coverage. Still, family friend MacKenzie Jack said: 'I think she's doing great. 'I mean, during all this, it's been such a hard thing to cope with but with all the other kids that she has, she's doing great, she's a great mom. 'But I know it's hard on her.' In fact, in an update on the GoFundMe last week, Tiffany wrote: 'My world is falling apart. I'm trying to hold strong, life's overwhelming and I'd be lost without Hailie Shae during this and her help at the hospital when I can't be there because I have four others at home that need me too. 'When everything falls apart, I look at my son and how strong and rave he is, and I'm beyond thankful he is still with us today,' she added. 'I'm standing, I'm a fighter until I die. Hang on with me, guys, as I try and pick up these pieces and put our lives back together.' She also told KSN: 'I just know the important thing is Chris is a fighter. He's got it in him. 'It's not something you can make sense o, especially with everything going on and him being paralyzed,' Tiffany continued. 'It's our whole life changed in a matter of seconds over people's decisions to unload a gun in a crowd of people.' Experts say it may take miracle to find submarine lost at the bottom of Atlantic Advertisement Lost for three days in a freezing 22ft tube at the bottom of the ocean, the missing Titanic explorers chances of rescue appeared wretched tonight. If they are still alive, the terrifying reality is that their best hope is to repeatedly bang on the hull in the dark and scream for help. Two and a half miles above, on the choppy surface of the Atlantic, sophisticated sonar buoys are bobbing around listening for any signs of life in the murky depths. They are part of a massive rescue operation launched on Sunday night that was ramped up yesterday with aircraft and ships scouring the Atlantic. State-of-the-art underwater drones are also being deployed in the desperate hunt in the waters where the cursed Titanic sunk 111 years ago. But experts warned that conditions are so treacherous it will take a miracle just to find the missing submarine let alone rescue it before its dwindling oxygen supply runs out tomorrow. State-of-the-art underwater drones are also being deployed in the desperate hunt in the waters where the cursed Titanic sunk 111 years ago Royal Navy Rear Admiral Chris Parry likened the bottom of the Atlantic to being in space, saying: Its utterly dark down there, and you have also got a lot of mud and other stuff getting swept up. You can only see about 20 feet in front of you with searchlights. There are very strong ocean currents which are pushing you along. 'Passengers have to sign a waiver which mentions DEATH three times' A former Titan passenger has revealed how adventurers have to sign a waiver warning them of deadly risks before embarking on the submarine. Mike Reiss, a New York-based writer who travelled on the Titan to the Titanic wreckage last year, said that communication failures were commonplace. He told the BBC: I have taken three different dives with this company, one at the Titanic and two others and you almost always lost communication. He added: Nobody walked into this with any illusions. You sign a waiver before you even get on the boat. It mentions death, and three different ways you can die, on page one. If, in the worst case, they are down at the bottom of the ocean, I cant see how anyone can get to them, much less rescue them. Advertisement If the mini-sub has lost power, with no working propellers, lights or heating, its five passengers will be in total darkness in temperatures of around 3C (37F) as the doomed craft rolls along the seabed. Oceanographer and Titanic expert David Gallo said: Where is it? Is it on the bottom, is it floating, is it mid-water? That is something that has not been determined yet. The water is very deep two miles plus. Its like a visit to another planet. It is a sunless, cold environment and high pressure. The basic problem is that the submersible, Titan, has stopped transmitting signals, making it almost impossible to locate. It is supposed to send a sonar ping (radar and GPS not functioning under water) to mothership Polar Prince every 15 minutes, but the last one was at 9.45am EST (2.45pm UK time) on Sunday an hour and 45 minutes into the dive as it was floating right above the Titanic. For some reason, OceanGate Expeditions, the company that runs the tours of the Titanic, took eight hours to call the coastguard on Sunday. It was reported to the US Coastguard at 5.40pm (10.40pm UK time), and Canadas coastguard was alerted even later, at 9.13pm (2am on Monday UK time). OceanGate Expeditions charges wealthy tourists 195,000-a-head for the once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the 1912 shipwreck up close.The last haunting photo of Titan shows it being towed along by mothership Polar Prince in grey choppy seas shortly before submerging, 350 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The sealed vessel descended with 96 hours of air, meaning it is due to run out at 10am tomorrow UK time. Finding a 22ft-long craft on the surface of the ocean is hard enough, let alone underwater, but a massive search is under way. A fleet of Canadian ships the Skandi Vinland, Atlantic Merlin and Kopit Hopson, an 83 metre-long icebreaker equipped with a helicopter steamed to the rescue area, along with tugboats, cutters, and commercial vessels. Tonight Deep Energy, a pipe-laying ship, arrived above the Titanic site and launched its underwater drone, which is equipped with a camera, towards the subs last known position. Shahzada Dawood (right), 48, a UK-based board member of the Prince's Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman, 19, were in the tiny underwater craft when it lost signal in the Atlantic Ocean Stockton Rush, 58, is Chief Executive Officer and founder of OceanGate Inc. He is understood to have been leading the underwater mission World-renowned explorer Hamish Harding, 58, is among the five people who went missing aboard the tourist submarine The Canadian and US authorities also deployed a P-8 Poseidon, a cutting-edge aircraft normally used to hunt Russian submarines, a CP-140 maritime patrol aircraft, and two C-130 Hercules planes. The P-8 carries 129 sonar buoys, which are dropped on to the surface of the water and ping for submarines, working out the location of underwater objects by the speed and trajectory of the returning echo. But they are scanning for a small craft on a search area of 7,600 square miles. Horrifyingly even if Titan had made it to the surface the passengers would still face suffocation unless they were located because the submarine cannot be opened from the inside. Its door is sealed by 17 bolts to withstand the enormous water pressure at depth.Titan is designed to automatically resurface after a certain number of hours underwater, even if it has lost power, with weights being dropped to make the craft buoyant. READ MORE: COASTGUARD SAYS IT CAN'T GUARANTEE RESCUE OF MISSING TITANIC SUBMARINE At a press conference at the US Coast Guard Station in Boston - which is coordinating the search and rescue effort - First District Response Coordinator Capt. Jamie Frederick said it was not certain the sub could be saved - even if it is found today Advertisement But the US admiral leading the search said the craft might have become entangled in the Titanics wreckage, meaning it would have to be cut free by force. No human can dive so deep, and even nuclear submarines cannot safely go there, with both the US and British navies saying the depths greatly exceed their operating capabilities. In contrast however, France has dispatched a research vessel equipped with a deep-sea robot whose umbilical cord can extend five miles, which is expected to arrive this morning. Ultimately there may be only two underwater vessels on Earth with a chance of completing the deepest undersea rescue mission ever. CURV-21, a remote-operated vehicle (ROV) can reach depths of 20,000 feet almost twice the depth of the Titanic and was used by the US Navy last year to salvage a crashed F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in the South China Sea. It is unclear where CURV-21 is, but in any case the kinds of ships that transport it normally move no faster than about 20mph. Triton, an American manufacturer of deep-sea submersibles, has a two-person deep-sea model. A British-based firm, Magellan Limited, also has a vehicle that could dive that deep, but it says the US government had allegedly blocked them from joining the mission. But even if an ROV could find the missing sub, pulling it free and bringing it to the surface would be an immense and unprecedented challenge. In full working order, it takes Titan two hours to make a safe ascent. Winching it to the surface even if a three-mile sturdy chain was readily available would be fraught with peril. Back at the surface, the sub would then urgently need to be opened no easy task for a craft designed to withstand 6,000lbs of pressure and which might be damaged. When British engineers Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman were rescued from their submersible Pisces III in 1973, they had an estimated 12 minutes of air left when the hatch was finally jemmied open. In Titans case, it could require what one expert called a serious tin opener to break through the armour plating without harming the occupants. The French vessel Atalante, which was on a mission for the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea, should arrive in the area today at around 6pm UK time. Its deep-sea underwater robot, Victor 6000, operates from an umbilical cord that can extend five miles and is able to work in deep seas up to 18,000ft. However last night an experienced diver who has travelled far into the depths of the ocean to view the Titanic wreckage fears the submersible may have simply imploded. An implosion would mean any hope is long gone. If any part of the submersibles carbon-fibre and titanium hull had suffered a small crack or fault, under the weight of two-and-a-half miles of water, the craft would have been squashed flat within a fraction of a second. The search site is some 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, 400 miles southeast of Newfoundland. Getting there is a difficult enough feat without finding the missing sub beneath the ocean surface The 21ft submersible has an oxygen supply of up to 96 hours but it is thought the crew of five have just 40 hours of breathable air left At 9.45am - an hour and 45 minutes into the dive - it lost contact with its mothership, the Polar Prince. But it wasn't reported as missing to the US Coast Guard until 5.40pm, eight hours later. Canada 's Coast Guard wasn't alerted until even later - 9.13pm on Sunday night. The logistical challenge is immense; the Titanic wreck is situated some 400 miles southeast of St Johns, Newfoundland - around 900 miles east of Cape Cod. A Canadian Coast Guard cutter is expected to arrive at the search area this evening. It takes several days for Coast Guard ships to reach the site from the US. In addition to the underwater remote operated vehicles and Coast Guard ships, several aircraft are surveying the water for any signs of the sub on the surface. 'We don't want to exhaust one possibility in place of another. We don't want to rule out that it is on the surface. 'If it is on the surface we are fairly certain we will be able to find it,' U.S. Coast Guard First District Captain Robert Simpson added. DailyMail.com previously revealed it took OceanGate eight hours to report the submersible as missing. The company has not yet explained why it took so long to raise the alarm. Ever since Titan went missing on Sunday, there has been no indication as to what could possibly have gone wrong. The submersible last pinged while directly above the wreck, an hour and 45 minutes into a two-hour descent. As there is no way of communicating with the sub, it is left to experts to predict what may have occurred. Scenario 1: Power blackout Associate Professor Eric Fusil, director of the shipbuilding hub at the University of Adelaide, said Titan ran on batteries and a loss of power means a loss of communications. It is unclear if power back-ups are on the Titan, he said. As there is no way of communicating with the sub, it is left to experts to predict what may have occurred This is why some submersibles have two sources of energy electrical and other such as compressed air or hydraulic to power safety systems. Scenario 2: A fire If any on-board electricals short-circuited, theres the possibility a fire could have occurred. This could ruin the submarine communication systems and create toxic fumes for the passengers. Another possibility is that there may have been a fire, such as from an electrical short circuit, Professor Stefan Williams, from the Australian Centre for Field Robotics at the University of Sydney, wrote on The Conversation website. This could compromise the vehicles electronic systems which are used for navigation and control of the vessel. Scenario 3: Leak/implosion Submersibles face increasing pressure the deeper they dive, and even a small leak could be catastrophic. At 4,000 metres, that is the equivalent of more than 4,000 tons applied on an area the size of one square metre, Mr Fusil said. Titan has a composite hull with inbuilt sensors that can withstand such pressure, but it requires a very accurate round shape. Any out-of-circularity defect could result in a near-instantaneous implosion. Even a small leak could be catastrophic for any submersible due to the overwhelming pressure they face as they dive Adventurer G Michael Harris, who has visited the Titanic wreck several times, said: Worst situation is something happened to the hull and our fear is that it imploded at around 3,200m, he told Fox News. More people have been to outer space than to this depth of the ocean. You have to do everything perfectly. Throw in a bunch of tourists in a new sub, which was just created in the last couple of years its not looking good. Scenario 4: It's on the surface It is possible that Titan rose back to the surface but has failed to communicate with the support ship. Search teams are scouring the area but Dr Simon Boxall, an Oceanographer at the University of Southampton, told BBC News. If its at the surface its likely there would have been contact. Scenario 5: Stuck in wreckage Strong underwater currents could have pushed the sub too close to the Titanic, where it may have become entangled or stuck. Footage shared by ex-TV journalist Dr Michael Guillen, who visited the wreck in 2000 and he worked as science editor at ABC news, shows how his vessel was caught in a strong current that pushed it towards the Titanics 21-ton propellers. After becoming wedged under the stern, the crew tried to reverse out at which point a bang was heard as chunks of debris were seen. The crew later managed to free the vessel. The Titan mini-submarine may have become stuck in the wreckage of the RMS Titanic that the passengers on board initially set out to see What could conditions be like for the passengers? Its going to be cramped. Theres no other facilities there, except a toilet, Dr Boxall said. The main thing is people are going to be very, very worried. There is no escape pod if you came into the water at those depths youd be crushed, so they are reliant on the submersible being found, and the difficult task of recovering it. If it is intact, those onboard will be facing dwindling oxygen levels and fighting the cold, David Gallo of Strategic Initiatives, RMS Titanic, which owns the salvage rights to the Titanic wreck site, told CNN. Can the submarine be found before time runs out? Its a tough search, Dr Jamie Pringle, reader in forensic geosciences at Keele University, told the Mail: 24-hours from when first reported missing are the golden hours, statistically. The longer the time elapses, the less chance anyone is found alive. Both the search area position, water depth, strong water currents and small sub size will be challenging for sonar to find, especially near the bottom and potentially hidden in the ocean floor. Tim Maltin, an author, historian and TV presenter, said the tourists were in a difficult situation. If its near the Titanic it would be easier to find, but the problem is, of course, you cant do a ship-to-ship transfer even, the pressure is absolutely intense, he told BBC Breakfast. Its nearly two miles down, its pitch black. So I also am very, very worried about the souls who are on board. A California supermarket desperate to slow the constant shoplifting that has plagued parts of the state has installed giant metal barriers at exits to stop the thefts. A Safeway in Vallejo recently added metal emergency exit gates in front of one of the entrances that warn an 'alarm will sound' if thieves try to leave the building. CBS reporter Betty Yu also said the Vallejo store closed a second entrance and other locations are following suit to deter thieves from stealing. Some Safeway locations installed exit bars months ago, as one shopper took to Twitter to show one store going to the extreme, blocking off closed checkout lanes with large metal gates, as well as lining pathways leading out of the store with obstructions as well. 'Bars everywhere, multiple security guards, you have to scan your receipt for the gate to open in order to exit, and if you don't buy anything an employee has to open the gate to let you out,' a Twitter user remarked in February about an Oakland Safeway store. DailyMail.com has reached out to Safeway for comment. A Safeway in Vallejo recently installed metal emergency exit gates in front of one of the entrances that warn an 'alarm will sound' if shoppers or shoplifters attempted to leave the building Shoplifting and theft have been a huge problem in San Francisco has it becomes overrun with the homeless and drug addicts Many cities in California have dealt with high-crime rates and homelessness as liberal policies have done little to stem the problems. That has caused people to move out of the state and hurt economic activities in some downtowns, including San Francisco. San Francisco has greatly been impacted by major businesses packing their bags after the streets have been overtaken by the homeless and drug-addled, which has fueled a rise in crime. Tourism is down by 16 percent from pre-pandemic levels and workers have abandoned their offices to work from home and stores are emptying out. In its place, some 7,000 homeless have descended on downtown areas and tourist traps. San Francisco's once bustling Union Square and downtown area is a shadow of its former self: rows of empty stores, sparse crowds even on peak weekend shopping days and nearby hotels including a huge Hilton - unable to cover their mortgage payments. The historic Flood Building, a survivor of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, stands largely empty: Gap has gone along with nearly every other business in the property with the exception of a tired branch of Dr. Martens and an Urban Outfitters store offering 70 percent discounts. An Oakland store installed gates on each checkout lane that is closed to stopped shoplifters Gates and bars are also been set up near the entrances to force customers to go through checkout lanes to leave Signs tell customers that an 'alarm will sound' if customers use the exit On Market Street is the soon-to-be sold Westfield San Francisco Center its doorways reeking of urine and every store staffed by hulking security guards. Westfield announced its planned departure on Monday and several occupants of the mall have already said they'll follow. Days later, AT&T announced its iconic flagship store around the corner at 1 Powell Street, one of the largest in the country, was to permanently close. The local branch of Walgreens is boarded up, although still open, and was recently the scene of a fatal confrontation between a homeless trans woman and a security guard. Ross Dress For Less and Saks Off 5th are operating a one-in, one-out system to deter thieves while Nordstrom Rack is closing down altogether in September along with its sister Nordstrom and scores of other stores such as T-Mobile and Payless Shoes. Edward Liu, 49, a local resident and hospital worker told DailyMail.com: 'A lot of the stores are closing, a lot of hotels are shutting down. 'You don't get the numbers in downtown anymore because a lot of people are working from home. 'The homeless don't make people want to stay for sure it's just not very appealing. Robbery is up nearly 15 percent in San Francisco, while overall crime is down 6.7 percent 'They defecate, they urinate on the street. They do drugs on the street. The mayor isn't doing anything and it's been like this for a very long time.' Commercial realtor Mark Ritchie told DailyMail.com that San Francisco had suffered particularly badly from the rise of remote working which has decimated footfall in the financial district and Union Square areas. He said: 'The office market in San Francisco is devastated. It's had the most severe backlash from Covid and remote work because of how tech-oriented the economy in the Bay Area is. 'San Francisco is one of the hardest cities to commute into downtown so the remote work crowd, there's even more resistance.' Robbery is up nearly 15 percent in San Francisco, while overall crime is down 6.7 percent. A thrill-seeker who intended to join billionaire Hamish Harding on the missing Titanic sub pulled out of the dive because he thought OceanGate was 'cutting too many corners', it has emerged. Chris Brown, 61, had paid the deposit to go on the doomed voyage, but says he changed his mind after becoming concerned by the quality of technology and materials used in the vessel, The Sun reported. Among his concerns were OceanGate's use of 'old scaffolding poles' for the ballast and the fact that its controls were 'based on computer game-style controllers'. He told the newspaper that despite being 'one of the first people to sign up for this trip', he ultimately decided the 'risks were too high'. Mr Brown added that he feels 'really upset about Hamish', who is among the five passengers on the submersible, called the Titan, that are currently missing. The sub lost communication during a dive to the Titanic's wreckage, which is around 12,500ft below the Atlantic. A frantic search and rescue operation is underway to locate and recover the vessel before its 96-hour oxygen supply runs out. Chris Brown (pictured with Sir Richard Branson) pulled out of the dive because he thought OceanGate was 'cutting too many corners', it has emerged Mr Brown claims he had paid the deposit to go on doomed voyage, but says he changed his mind after becoming concerned by the quality of technology and materials used in the vessel. OceanGate's Titan submersive is pictured above Mr Brown and Mr Harding signed up for the then-80,000 voyage after sharing a 'few beers' while holidaying on Sir Richard Branson's Necker Island. The pair paid the 10 per cent deposit for the trip, which has since more than doubled in price, while the Titan was still being developed, he claimed. But Mr Brown alleged that in the years that followed, he learned OceanGate had 'missed key targets' when depth-testing the submersible. The multi-millionaire digital marketing tycoon found it concerning that the vessel was controlled by a modified Playstation controller. He also is understood to have been worried by the technical issues and delays throughout the development process. He told The Sun: 'I found out they used old scaffolding poles for the sub's ballast. 'If you're trying to build your own submarine you could probably use old scaffold poles. But this was a commercial craft.' Mr Brown, who says he is 'not one to shy away from risk', eventually emailed OceanGate and asked for a refund. He is worried for his friend, but says Mr Harding is not the panicking type. He believes the billionaire is likely keeping 'extremely calm' and 'processing plans, schemes and ideas through his enormous brain'. Mr Brown says Mr Harding will be 'giving hope' to the other passengers. Mr Brown found it concerning that the vessel was controlled by a modified Playstation controller. He also is understood to have been worried by the technical issues and delays throughout the development process He is worried for his friend, but says Hamish Harding (pictured) is not the panicking type. He believes the billionaire is likely keeping 'extremely calm' and 'processing plans, schemes and ideas through his enormous brain' OceanGate Expeditions has been chronicling the Titanic's decay and the underwater ecosystem around it via yearly voyages since 2021. The craft submerged Sunday morning, and its support vessel lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later, according to the Coast Guard. The vessel was reported overdue about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John's, Newfoundland. The Titan was launched from an icebreaker that was hired by OceanGate and formerly operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. The ship has ferried dozens of people and the submersible craft to the North Atlantic wreck site, where the Titan has made multiple dives. The US Coast Guard said Tuesday afternoon that the submersible had about 40 hours of oxygen remaining, meaning the supply could run out Thursday morning. OceanGate has described the Titan as 'the largest of any deep diving submersible' with an 'unparalleled safety feature' that assesses the integrity of the hull throughout every dive. OceanGate has described the Titan as 'the largest of any deep diving submersible' with an 'unparalleled safety feature' that assesses the integrity of the hull throughout every dive Made of titanium and filament wound carbon fiber, the Titan weighs 20,000 pounds (9,072 kilograms) in the air, but is ballasted to be neutrally buoyant once it reaches the seafloor, the company said. Titan is capable of diving four kilometers (2.4 miles) 'with a comfortable safety margin,' according to documents filed by the company in April with a US District Court in Virginia that oversees Titanic matters. At the time of the filing, Titan had undergone more than 50 test dives, including to the equivalent depth of the Titanic, in deep waters off the Bahamas and in a pressure chamber, the company said. During its 2022 expedition, OceanGate reported that the submersible had a battery issue on its first dive and had to be manually attached to its lifting platform. Lily is spending her final day 'relaxing' with loved ones She wants to raise awareness of rare condition AAG A 23-year-old woman will end her life through euthanasia today. Lily Thai is scheduled to die through South Australia's voluntary assisted dying laws, which the state introduced in January. Surrounded by loved ones, doctors will administer an IV medication that will terminate Ms Thai's life within 10 seconds. Lily (pictured right with fellow patient and AAG sufferer Annaliese Holland, 23) is unable to move and battles 'excruciating' pain from a rare condition known as auto-immune autonomic ganglionopathy. She will end her life through euthanasia on Wednesday The young woman has suffered 'excruciating' pain from a rare condition known as auto-immune autonomic ganglionopathy (AAG) - where a person's body attacks their own nervous system. She has truck up a friendship with fellow patient Annaliese Holland, 23, who also suffers from the same condition. The pair wants to raise awareness about AAG, hoping attention on their cases will allow symptoms to be diagnosed earlier for others and more funding raised for medical research into the condition. Since the age of 17, Lily's debilitating illnesses has affected her quality of life, leaving her bedridden and unable to move. She is currently receiving palliative care at the Flinders Medical Centre's Laurel Hospice. Lily said she was not well enough to go outside in her final days and instead would remain in her bed while being comforted by her friends and family, The Advertiser reported. One person who's been by Lily's side is her close friend and ambulance officer Danika Pederzolli, 28. Ms Pederzolli recently took Lily out to the beach, with a heartwarming snap showing the pair sitting in the back of an open ambulance while enjoying the sight of the ocean and some McDonald's fries. Ms Pederzolli, who met Lily through a St John's Ambulance cadet program, said she would remember her close friend as having a 'vibrant attitude, positive and warm presence'. 'She's such a positive and warm presence in your life and (such a) smart person,' she told the publication. 'She was just so happy, and she's still like that now, she's no different.' She described Lily as 'sunshine in human form' and wrote her a heartfelt note that she gifted to her along with a teddy bear. Lily Thai, 23, who will use euthanasia laws to end her own life this Wednesday, enjoyed an outing by the beach eating McDonalds with her friend and paramedic, Danika Pederozolli Ms Pederzolli added that it was 'pretty horrible' what Lily was going through and a situation that 'no young person should be in' but said the support for her has been 'beautiful'. Lily said the support she's received after sharing her story has been incredible. 'Lots of people (who) I haven't spoken to in a long time (have reached out), which has been absolutely beautiful,' she said. Lily signed the paperwork last week confirming her decision to have her life terminated. She has been battling health issues since she was a teenager, with a doctor first diagnosing her with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome at 17. A year later, she caught an upper respiratory infection that left her unable to walk, use her bowels, eat, or drink without getting sick. She also received treatment for a spinal fluid leak. Lily then travelled to Sydney and eventually found some relief through expert care provided by a team of doctors at Macquarie University Hospital. The 23-year-old has been robbed of a life after suffering debilitating health issues She had also visited a surgeon who specialised in patients with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. By this stage, her condition had deteriorated to the point that she was wearing a halo brace - which forms a ring around the patient's head, stopping them from moving their head or neck while their spine heels. She also had to use a nasal feeding tube as she couldn't eat anything without getting sick, leaving her tipping the scales at 40kg. Lily had spinal fusion surgery and was fitted with a tube to help with stomach acid secretion. The surgery occurred during the middle of the Covid pandemic, meaning she was not allowed visitors. She got discharged early as she struggled being alone for such a long period of time. Lily was then referred to a neuroimmunologist in Sydney who formally diagnosed her with AAG. It was then she also discovered her condition had led to multi-organ failure and a large lesion was found on the left side of her brain. Lily went back to Adelaide and was admitted to Flinders Medical Centre's Laurel Hospices, where she spends her days 'just surviving'. She's grappled with the heartbreaking thought that she only had a matter of time before her body gave up. Lily spends most of her time sleeping in her hospital bed to avoid dealing with the constant chronic pain from her condition. It had also been lonely, if not for family visits and the close friendship she formed with fellow patient, Ms Holland. Ms Holland's symptoms had begun from the age of 12 with severe pelvic pain. Doctors initially believed she had endometriosis, but after treatment her symptoms still grew worse. Doctors tested her for a number of illnesses throughout her teenage years, but were unable to diagnose her. It wasn't until she was 19 that Annaliese was correctly diagnosed with AAG. Lily has asked those wishing to honour her legacy to donate to the Hospital Research Foundation. You can donate here. Britons will be left worse off if tech giants are given stronger powers to appeal decisions made by a new digital regulator, the consumer watchdog has warned. Rocio Concha, chief economist at Which?, said a Digital Markets Unit (DMU) is necessary to ensure consumers are not ripped off online but warned yesterday that its effectiveness would be undermined if the Bill was changed to make it easier for tech firms to question its rulings. Giving evidence to the Lords communications and digital committee, she told peers it would leave the DMU locked in legal battles that would ultimately leave it redundant. The regulator has been set up to curb the biggest tech firms, such as Facebook and Google, in sectors such as online advertising and app stores. Britons will be left worse off if tech giants are given stronger powers to appeal decisions made by a new digital regulator, consumer watchdog Which? has warned Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill, it will be handed powers to force firms to significantly alter their business models and fine them up to 10 per cent of their global turnover. Currently, any decision can be subject to judicial review a quick and cheap process that allows companies to question the ruling on a point of law. But concerns have been raised over a concerted lobbying campaign to change this to a merits-based system, which will instead allow firms to appeal whether the decision was right or wrong. MPs were last week warned it would be used as a delaying tactic to stop any decisions being implemented, with the process often being very expensive and dragging through the courts for years. The Lords committee yesterday also heard from the boss of price comparison website Kelkoo, who told how his company had been decimated by Google after the tech giant decided it was a threat. Richard Stables said Google put its own service at the top of search listings and demoted his website so far that no users were able to see it, resulting in huge job cuts and office closures. The firm lodged a complaint with the EU in 2009 but the legal case is still running to this day despite Google being found guilty and fined more than 2billion for breaching competition law. Mr Stables said Google has continued appealing the decision, meaning the situation has still not been remedied more than 13 years later. He warned the exact same thing would happen in the UK if the merits-based system was brought in. He said the legislation needed to be robust and not allow tech giants to run rings around [the DMU] just because theyve got thousands of lawyers and enormous budgets. Ms Concha said it was vital that judicial review was the process used under the Bill, warning: We change that and the regime doesnt work. She added that changes would leave the DMU locked in legal battles and they will never be able to implement this, and it would cause other businesses to fail, similar to Kelkoo, and would be unfair on consumers who will not see new innovations in these markets. One in ten homes are now used as holiday lets in seven pockets of England and Wales, official data shows. Top of the list is the Salcombe, Malborough and Thurlestone area of South Hams, where there are 171.9 holiday homes for every 1,000 properties. Meanwhile, the Welsh coastal area of Abersoch and Aberdaron in Gwynedd, was in second with 153.3 holiday homes per 1,000 properties. The rest of the seven are made up of two areas of Cornwall and three in North Norfolk, the Census data from the Office for National Statistics shows. Holiday hotspots: South Hams has the highest concentration of holiday homes, ONS data suggests In Cornwall, the areas of Trebetherick and Whitecross, along with Padstow and St Issey are third and fourth respectively. Meanwhile, in Norfolk the areas of Brancaster, Burnham Market and Docking, Hunstanton and Wells and Blakeney all have more than 100 holiday homes per 1,000 properties, making up the rest of the list. Around 70,000 second addresses were used as holiday homes, visited by more than 200,000 people in England and Wales, the ONS says. Holiday homes account for 4.1 per cent of all second addresses and were mainly concentrated in coastal areas, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty or national parks, including the Lake District, Dartmoor and Eryri (Snowdonia). The ONS said that the Census 2021 data on second addresses only includes people who usually reside in England and Wales who said they spend at least 30 days a year at the address. The total number of second addresses used as holiday homes, and people who use them, are likely to be higher, it suggested. The list of holiday home hotspots where one in 10 addresses are used as holiday homes include South Hams' Salcombe The South West and Wales As a whole, the South West had the highest concentration of holiday homes compared with other English regions and Wales, at 7.5 for every 1,000 homes. This was followed by Wales, with 6.9 holiday homes for every 1,000 homes. London had the lowest at 0.6 per 1,000. The figure was higher in local authority areas known as popular tourist destinations. In South Hams in Devon, there were 44.1 holiday homes for every 1,000 homes. This was the highest rate of any local authority area in England and Wales excluding the Isles of Scilly, which has a particularly small resident population. South Hams has a long coastline and is home to the southern part of Dartmoor National Park, as well as the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. South Hams was followed by Gwynedd in North Wales at 41 per 1,000 homes, which contains most of Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park, North Norfolk at 38.7 per 1,000, and the Isle of Anglesey at 32.9 per 1,000. Both UK and Welsh parliaments have recently passed new laws to further regulate the ownership of second homes. Last year, the Government changed the law so that second homeowners would pay council tax on properties that are not genuine holiday lets. Second homeowners must now prove holiday lets are rented out for a minimum of 70 days a year, and are available to rent for at least 140 days. The Welsh Government recently increased its own letting requirements so properties must be rented out for at least 182 days a year, and available for at least 252 days. It has also raised the maximum council tax premium that councils can apply to second homes, to up to four times the standard rate. Abersoch is among the holiday home hotspots, according to the data from the Office for National Statistics Popularity of staycations Almost half - or 48.5 per cent - of those who used a second address as a holiday home travelled within Britain, up from 42.3 per cent in the 2011 Census. Around two in five - at 41.8 per cent - of those who used holiday homes in Britain travelled less than 100 kilometres from their usual address. And around one in every 50 people who used a holiday home stayed in the same local authority as their usual residence. At a regional level, using holiday homes in the same area as a usual residence was most common in Yorkshire and the North of England. Around two-thirds of holiday home users in these areas came from within the same region, 63.5 per cent in Yorkshire and the Humber, 63.2 per cent in the North East, and 61.7 per cent in the North West. Of the 93,650 Londoners who used second addresses as holiday homes, almost a quarter travelled within the South, with 14.4 per cent going to the South East, and 10 per cent to the South West. Almost two-thirds - at 62.3 per cent - of Londoners who used holiday homes travelled outside of Britain, the highest proportion of any region of England, or Wales. Only 0.7 per cent stayed at addresses in London. Mark Harris, of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: 'The pandemic boosted the notion of the staycation and demand has remained relatively high since, particularly as the cost of travel abroad is higher than perhaps we have become used to in recent years. 'With so many holiday homes in the more popular locations, it is understandable why there has been some local opposition to this development as it is pushing up prices and potentially pricing out locals.' Conservative women are more attractive than left-wing females, according to a European study of thousands of faces. Danish and Swedish researchers tested a deep-learning artificial intelligence, called a neural network, that can predict a person's political leanings the majority of the time, based solely on their headshot. It found that right wing women more were attractive, based on a publicly available scoring system. The group found no such link in men, but did determine that the left-leaning men showed more neutral, less happy faces, suggesting perhaps better skill at guarding their emotions. The true purpose of the researchers' study, however, was to show the alarming accuracy of off-the shelf AI, which can correctly guess a person's political views based on limited information, like a simple selfie, posted to social media everyday. 'Our results confirmed the threat to privacy posed by deep learning approaches,' the researchers wrote in their published findings for the Nature-owned journal Scientific Reports. For men (top) and women (bottom) the team had their neural net create average faces based on the top 20 most extreme politically left-wing or right-wing belief scores. The researchers found that right wing women more were attractive, based on publicly available scoring system created by 60 human raters ranking the looks of 5,500 other human faces The researchers, a trio of psychologists and political scientists from Denmark and Sweden, selected 3,323 publicly submitted headshots of political candidates for analysis in a neural network capable of facial expression coding and classification. The photos all came from candidates running in the 2017 Danish Municipal election, submitted by the candidates themselves to the Danish Broadcasting Cooperation. For both men and women, the AI was correct at predicting the political leanings of a person, based on just one photo of their face, 61 percent of the time. The results were even more accurate for men, 65 percent, before the team stripped their photo dataset of any visual imagery other than the man's face. Given the low level of political polarization in Denmark and the lower political stakes in these municipal races, the researchers theorized that these candidates were the most likely to reflect the faces ordinary, everyday, politically partisan individuals. Danish political scientists have called these local candidates, affectionately, the 'last amateurs in politics,' making them ideal surrogates to test how AI might succeed at guessing the average person's politics from just a few photos online. Danish researchers tested a neural network capable of predicting a person's political leanings, based solely on their headshot. Heat maps (pictured) revealed which parts of the women and men's faces the neural net focused on to make its eerily accurate political predictions While the AI determined that women with more attractive facial features were more likely to be politically conservative, it found no connection of the sort while analyzing its pool of male politician's photos. For both men and women, the AI was correct 61 percent of the time The researchers did cut 188 individuals out of the original dataset based on their non-European ethnicity, saying that those candidates were more than 2.5-times more likely to represent a left-wing party and would have racially biased the AI. Face API by Microsoft's Azure's Cognitive Services was used by the neural network to asses the emotional state expressed in each candidate's photo. Its results determined that 80 percent of the faces displayed a happy expression, while 19 percent read as neutral. Alarmingly, the AI was even more accurate for men, 65 percent, before the team stripped their dataset's photos of any visual imagery other than the man's face (as pictured above) 'Using a pre-developed and readily available network that was trained and validated exclusively on publicly available data,' they wrote in their conclusion, 'we were able to predict the ideology of the pictured person roughly 60% of the time.' While the Danish team determined that this was partly due to bias in the kind of photos politicians present to the public and partly due to Face API struggling to identify certain other facial expressions. The deep-learning algorithm did catch one unusual distinction, however: female, left-wing political candidates were slightly more likely to be read by the neural net as having a face expressing contempt, the researchers said. The team was much more confident in the neural net's findings linking a high attractiveness rating with conservative views. 'These results are credible given that previous research using human raters has also highlighted a link between attractiveness and conservatism,' the authors wrote. While the deep learning algorithm did find attractiveness to be a predictor of political slant for women, the same could not be said for male candidates. Nor could macho stereotypes: the neural net failed to detected any noticeable distinctions between right-wing and left-wing men based on its programmed indicators for masculine facial features. MailOnline has compiled a list of artefacts they may have hoped to see such as shoes and champagne bottles They planned to visit the Titanic shipwreck despite harsh weather but lost contact soon after the dive started Billionaire Hamish Harding is among the five passengers who are missing on the OceanGate submersible Advertisement A massive search and rescue effort is now underway to locate the missing submersible containing five people that embarked on a journey to see the Titanic wreck. The 'Titan' submersible, operated by US company OceanGate, started its dive early Sunday morning and has only around 70 hours of oxygen remaining as of Tuesday afternoon. London-born Hamish Harding is aboard the Titanic-bound submarine alongside Stockton Rush, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman. Here, MailOnline looks at the precious artefacts they may have hoped to see on the voyage down to the wreck, which lies around 13,000 feet at the bottom of the North Atlantic. Interest in the legendary Titanic has peaked even higher since the release of the first digital scans of the shipwreck last month, showing a stunning 3D reconstruction in amazing detail. Haunting images show a pair of shoes that lie at the bottom of the North Atlantic on the wreck of the Titanic, which sank on its maiden voyage in April 1912 Another image captured from the wreck shows unopened bottles of champagne that would have been poured into many of the 2,500 champagne glasses on board the vessel Interest in the legendary Titanic has peaked even higher since the release of the first digital scans of the shipwreck last month, showing a stunning 3D reconstruction of the wreck When it departed from Southampton on April 10, 1912, the Titanic's stock included 18,000 sheets, 7,500 blankets and 5,000 table cloths. READ MORE: Digital scans show Titanic wreck like never before The ship's stern (the back) is a twisted mess of metal, after it hit the ocean floor still rotating in a counter-clockwise direction Advertisement Other items on board the iconic 880-foot-long vessel included 2,500 champagne glasses, 45,000 napkins and 50,000 towels. There were also 800 elderdown quilts, 12,000 knives and 12,000 forks, 19,000 spoons, 400 sugar basins, 500 cream jugs, 1,000 finger bowls, 12,000 cups and saucers and 1,200 teapots. As well as the champagne, the drinks on board included 1,000 bottles of wine, 850 bottles of spirits and 150,000 bottles of beer. Food included 75,000lbs of red meat, 25,000lbs of poultry, 11,000lbs of fresh fish, 40,000 eggs, 250 barrels of flour, 40 tons of potatoes, 800 bundles of asparagus and 36,000 apples. Many of the artefacts have since decomposed, or been eaten away by marine and microbial life, but others still remain and still entice adventurers to the bottom of the ocean while withstanding cramped conditions. Until this year, pictures of the wreck could capture only very small areas at a time due to the darkness and harsh conditions almost 2.5 miles beneath the ocean surface. But using deep-sea mapping, images show the ship as if the water around it had been removed and offer extraordinarily detailed views of its final resting place. Experts hope full-sized digital scans of Titanic taken by deep-sea mapping company Magellan Ltd during an expedition last summer will help to shed more light on some precise aspects of what happened on the night it sank in 1912, when 1,500 passengers and crew lost their lives. There is still debate over exactly where the iceberg struck, with some historians suggesting it could have scraped along the bottom of the Titanic rather than the starboard side as is commonly accepted. Among the sites recreated in the scan is a hole in the boat deck where the grand staircase once stood as well as views of the captain's bridge and the wheelhouse. In director James Cameron's film, poor artist Jack Dawson, a third-class passenger played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is seen kissing the hand of Kate Winslet's Rose DeWitt Bukater after she walks down the staircase. Jack, wearing a dinner jacket and bow tie, initially catches the gaze of Rose's villainous fiance Caledon Hockley before the young woman, wearing a glittering jewel-lined dress, treads elegantly down the stairs. He then kisses her hand and tells her: 'I saw that in a Nickelodeon once and always wanted to do it.' Another photograph shows the barely recognisable remains of the luxury liner's grand staircase, where fictional soulmates Jack and Rose met in James Cameron's 1997 epic about the disaster Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio as Rose and Jack in the 1997 film Titanic In the film, Jack kisses her hand at the bottom of the staircase and tells her: 'I saw that in a Nickelodeon once and always wanted to do it' The first class staircase leading to the a la carte restaurant on board the Titanic, which sank after striking an iceberg The White Star Line ship was the largest and most luxurious in the world when it set sail on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on April 10, 1912. Titanic was cruising at almost full speed around 22.5 knots or 25 miles per hour when lookouts spotted the iceberg at 11:40pm on the evening of April 14. Despite efforts to steer her around the obstacle, Titanic struck the iceberg, generating six narrow openings in the vessel's starboard hull, believed to have occurred as a result of the rivets in the hull snapping. Titanic began sinking bow-first, with water spilling from compartment to compartment as her angle in the water became steeper. Titanic broke in half just before it made its final plunge in the early hours of April 15, 1912, and now two parts of the ship the bow and the stern lie 2,600 feet apart. Both halves are surrounded by a field of debris consisting of bits of metal and pieces of furniture, as well as passenger clothing and even jewellery, including the necklace 'made from the tooth of a megalodon shark'. Deep-sea mapping company Magellan Ltd says the necklace is made from the tooth of a megalodon shark with gold built into it Experts hope studies of the scans could reveal more about the mysteries surrounding what happened on the night it sunk, such as the exact mechanics of how it struck the seafloor The grandest ship: RMS Titanic departing on its maiden voyage from Southampton on April 10, 1912. The remains now lie on the seafloor about 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada Sinking of the Titanic: Lifeboats row away from the still lighted ship on April 15, 1912, as depicted in this British newspaper sketch Owned and operated by the White Star Line, the passenger vessel set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on April 10, 1912. Pictured: Cafe Parisien on board Titanic In 1985, more than 70 after she sank, the Titanic wreck was discovered around 370 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada, with numerous expeditions diving down to investigate the wreck since then. READ MORE: The five biggest mysteries surrounding Titanic Photograph of RMS Titanic leaving Southampton at the start of her maiden voyage on April 10, 1912 Advertisement But, until recently, explorers have only been able to take murky snapshots of the decaying ship. Specialist investigators from Magellan Ltd, a deep-sea mapping company based in Guernsey, carried out scans last summer, along with Atlantic Productions, based in Hammersmith, west London, which is making a documentary about the project. Remote-controlled submersibles controlled by a team on board a ship spent more than 200 hours surveying the wreck and took more than 700,000 images of it from every angle to create the exact 3D reconstruction. Atlantic Productions chief executive Anthony Geffen told the BBC: 'Great explorers have been down to the Titanic... but actually they went with really low-resolution cameras and they could only speculate on what happened. 'We now have every rivet of the Titanic, every detail, we can put it back together, so for the first time we can actually see what happened and use real science to find out what happened. 'It will take a long time to go through all those details but literally week by week there are new findings.' Parks Stephenson, a Titanic historian, said there are still 'basic questions' that need to be answered about the ship and he hoped the 3D scan might help to answer them. 'We really don't understand the character of the collision with the iceberg. We don't even know if she hit it along the starboard side, as is shown in all the movies she might have grounded on the iceberg,' he said. Images show stalactites of rust on the ship's bow, the serial number on a propeller, and a hole over where the grand staircase once stood Remote-controlled submersibles controlled by a team on board a ship spent more than 200 hours surveying the wreck and took more than 700,000 images of it from every angle to create the exact 3D reconstruction. Above: The Titanic's boiler Specialist investigators from Magellan Ltd, a deep-sea mapping company based in Guernsey, carried out the scan last summer, along with Atlantic Productions, based in Hammersmith, west London, which is making a documentary about the project. Above: The mangled remains of part of the wreck A 3D-scanned image shows the ship's wheelhouse, where the captain would have spent much of his time The Titanic boasted a huge luxury dining hall that catered to the vessel's first class passengers, of whom there were around 325 The first class lounge on board RMS Titanic, which was built by the White Star Line. It had been headed for New York when it sank He added that the Titanic wreck site has previously been 'subject to human bias as we try to look at the scale of it', saying: 'This model is the first one based on a pure data cloud, that stitches all that imagery together with data points created by a digital scan, and with the help from a little artificial intelligence, we are seeing the first unbiased view of the wreck.' Magellan's Gerhard Seiffert, who led the planning for the expedition, said the depth of the wreck was a 'challenge', as were the currents at the site and the fact they were not allowed to touch anything in case they damaged the wreck. He said: 'The other challenge is that you have to map every square centimetre even uninteresting parts, such as on the debris field you have to map mud, but you need this to fill in between all these interesting objects.' Other researchers have previously warned that salt corrosion and metal-eating bacteria have worn away parts of the Titanic's structure, resulting in a partial collapse, including an area of the hull near the officers' quarters on the starboard side. Advertisement A shocking graphic has revealed how the missing Titanic submersible could be stuck on the ocean floor in waters more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. Authorities raised the alarm on Sunday when an OceanGate Titan vessel vanished less than two hours into its venture towards the historic shipwreck. One of Pakistan's richest men, Shahzada Dawood, is aboard the vessel alongside his son Suleman, billionaire Hamish Harding, Stockton Rush and Paul-Henry Nargeolet. Now, rescuers are in a race against time to find them, with their oxygen supply due to run out within the next 50 hours. But just how far into the deep blue could they be? Famous landmarks that are known for their height pale in comparison to the depth of the Titanic, with the Statue of Liberty just 305ft, the Eiffel Tower just 1,083ft and the Empire State Building at 1,250ft TITAN SUBMERSIBLE SPECIFICATIONS Maximum depth: 13,123 ft (4,000m) Capacity: Five people (one pilot and four crew members) Pressure vessel material: Carbon fibre and titanium Overall dimensions: 22ft x 9.2ft x 8.3ft high (670cm x 280cm x 250cm) Weight: 23,000 lbs (10,432 kg) Speed: 3 knots Life support: 96 hours for five crew Advertisement The sub, is owned and operated by OceanGate Expeditions, and had launched its 195,000-a-head ($248,094) tour to Titanic's shipwreck from the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at 2:30am EST (7:30am GMT) on Sunday. It's understood that Titan communicates with those on the surface by sending an alert to its mothership, the Polar Prince, every 15 minutes. The five passengers on board last 'pinged' the mothership at 10am EST (3pm GMT) on Monday, while directly above their destination of the Titanic. This could indicate that they are now somewhere on the ocean floor, with the wreckage split in two halves at around 12,500ft (3,800m) below the surface. To put this into comparison, MailOnline has created a graphic showing how this depth compares to famously tall structures. It reveals how landmarks that are famous for their height pale in comparison to this - with the Statue of Liberty at just 305ft (106m), the Eiffel Tower at 1,083ft (316m) and the Empire State Building at 1,250ft (411m). Even the UAE's Burj Khalifa - the world's tallest building - looks tiny against the depths of the North Atlantic, at a height of 2,217ft (675m). And the vast Grand Canyon is no different at 6,000ft (1,828m) - less than half the depth of the Titanic's wreckage. Authorities raised the alarm on Sunday when an OceanGate Titan vessel that vanished less than two hours into its venture towards the historic shipwreck The Boston Coast Guard is now looking for the missing vessel. The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition One of Pakistan's richest men, Shahzada Dawood, is aboard alongside his son Suleman Sulaiman Dawood, 19, is also aboard the missing submersive in the North Atlantic On average, submarines can venture to around a maximum of 1,476ft (450m), according to Marine Insight, which is just over the height of Chicago's Willis Tower. But OceanGate's Titan submersible is designed to reach depths nearly 800 per cent greater than this, at a maximum of 13,123 ft (4,000m). While this beats the depth of the North Atlantic seabed, experts fear it may be too far for a US Navy sub to reach, with its capabilities limited to just 2,000ft (609m). As a result, remotely operated vehicles may be the only alternative to rescue them - reaching maximum depths of 20,000ft (6,096m). David Gallo, who owns the salvage rights to the Titanic's wreck site, told CNN: 'One of the biggest things is where is it? Is it on the bottom, is it floating, is it mid-water? 'That is something that has not been determined yet... We will have to wait and see and hope for the best. 'The water is very deep - two miles plus. It's like a visit to another planet, it's not what people think it is. It is a sunless, cold environment and high pressure.' Lucky stargazers may catch sight of two planets tomorrow after many head out to celebrate the annual summer solstice. As Wednesday officially marks the first day of summer, Mars and Venus will shine brightly in the night sky - just a month before they are set to align with Mercury in a mini 'planetary parade'. The summer solstice takes place when the Earth's tilt towards the Sun is at its peak, making tomorrow the longest day of the year. Venus, Mars and the moon will be visible to those in London as they head towards the western horizon at around 10pm GMT, according to Stellarium charts. But US-based starwatchers may be waiting a while longer to clearly see the trio as darkness kicks in at around 3am CST. Venus, Mars and the moon will be visible to those in London, as they head towards the western horizon at around 10pm (GMT), according to Stellarium charts READ MORE: Summer Solstice: All you need to know The annual summer solstice will soon occur, marking the first official day of summer and the longest day of the year Advertisement Two solstice events take place every year, with a 'summer solstice' in June and a 'winter solstice' each December. Right now, the Sun is located above the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern hemisphere, which is the northernmost latitude it reaches each year. Meanwhile, the North Pole is also tilted greatly towards the Sun, stretching out the number of daylight hours experienced by more northerly countries. On June 21, the UK could experience more than 16 hours of daylight, while the Arctic will likely experience a 'polar day' of complete light for 24 hours. By contrast, more southerly nations will experience their shortest day of the year with drastically less hours of light. While Venus and Mars should be visible once the darkness kicks in, it is important to bring along binoculars or a telescope to a good stargazing spot. NASA also recommends checking the weather forecast ahead of time to find a cloudless area. This should also provide an unobstructed view of the horizon, avoiding buildings and any blaring city lights. To differentiate between stars and planets, watchers should look for objects that don't twinkle amid the flickering stars. The June solstice occurs at the moment when the Earth's tilt towards the Sun is at its peak, making tomorrow the longest day of the year Reports suggest that many will also get the chance to view the Moon's eerie Da Vinci glow But if you miss out on the spectacle - don't worry. Another spectacle will take place in the coming days, with the Moon expected to give off an eerie Da Vinci glow. This phenomenon is aptly named after the acclaimed Italian researcher who solved its mystery more than 500 years ago. It takes place when sunlight is reflected from Earth onto the Moon's surface, then once more into our eyes. Professor Don Pollacco, University of Warwick Department of Physics, explained: 'When the Moon is a thin crescent you can often see the dark part of moon shining faintly. 'At first glance this may seem quite mysterious as the crescent is the part of the Moon that is illuminated by the sun so where does the light from the unilluminated part of the Moon come from? 'In fact what we are seeing is light from the Earth being reflected back from the Moon! Hence the name Earthshine.' At first glance at this pendant, you'd be forgiven for mistaking it as a random blob-like object. But the carved, 1.7-inch graphite object might actually have been modelled on a penis, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Bordeaux have analysed a 42,000-year-old pendant discovered in the Selenge Basin in northern Mongolia. If it is indeed phallic in nature, it would be earliest phallic artwork found to date. However, not everyone is so convinced, with one expert dismissing the pendant as a 'small and rather shapeless object.' At first glance at this pendant, you'd be forgiven for mistaking it as a random blob-like object. But the carved graphite object might actually have been modelled on a penis, according to a new study The phallus: An image of strength and virility Phallic emblems are found on a wide range of Roman objects, from amulets to frescoes to mosaics to lamps. They were symbols intended to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits. As the ancient author Pliny attests, even babies and soldiers wore such charms to invite divine protection. Source: Met Museum Advertisement Throughout history, phallic emblems have been found on a wide range of objects from decorative furniture in homes to prints on the walls. Many once believed the symbol acted as protection from evil - with babies even wearing penises on their necks for good luck, according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 'The phallus was an object of veneration and was given a magical-religious cult,' the museum said. 'The phallic symbol is represented on lamps, masks, pendants and rings, walls of houses, pavement of a street, corners, balconies, doors, baths or walls. Always preserving its character as a collective protector from potential evils and dangers.' The pendant was found in Mongolia in 2016, and has been dated to between 42,400 and 41,900 years old. While it doesn't look particularly like a phallus at first glance, the researchers point to specific features that suggest it may be phallic. This inclues a defined urethral opening, and features to distinguish the glans from the shaft, according to the researchers. While it doesn't look particularly like a phallus at first glance, the researchers point to specific features that suggest it may be phallic. This inclues a defined urethral opening, and features to distinguish the glans from the shaft, according to the researchers Speaking to Science, Solange Rigaud, lead author of the study, explained: 'Our argument is that when you want to represent something abstractly, you will choose very specific features that really characterize what you want to represent.' The pendant was found to be smoother on one side that the other, suggesting it was warn around the neck like a necklace. Meanwhile, wear on its surface suggests it may have been handed down across multiple generations, according to the team. It remains unclear what the object was meant to symbolise. However, not everyone believes the University of Bordeaux team's theory. Speaking to Science, Curtis Runnels, an archaeologist at Boston University, who was not involved in the study, said he 'would need to be convinced' that it represented a penis. Until then, he calls it 'a small and rather shapeless object.' The pendant was found in Mongolia in 2016, and has been dated to between 42,400 and 41,900 years old A mountain of discarded clothes in Chile has become so large it can be seen from space. The red-rocked desert of Chile's Atacama plateau has become a dumping ground for the West's used and faulty fashion items in recent years, with everything from ski boots to Christmas sweaters ending up in landfill in the area. The growing and increasingly toxic pile of discarded clothes reflects the leftovers of the roughly 59,000 tons of used and unsold clothing that arrives at Chile's Iquique port each year from Europe, Asia and the United States. Whatever can't be sold across South America stays here, as it slowly decays. These images were obtained by SkyFi , a consumer app that sees its mission as 'democratizing space' by making access to satellite imagery and technology more readily available to anyone The growing and increasingly toxic pile of discarded clothes atop Chile's Atacama desert plateau constitutes the leftovers from the roughly 59,000 tons of used and unsold clothing that arrives at Chile's Iquique port each year from Europe, Asia and the United States These images were obtained by SkyFi, a consumer app that sees its mission as 'democratizing space' by making access to satellite imagery and technology more readily available to anyone. 'The satellite image that we ordered of the clothes pile in Chile's Atacama Desert really puts things into perspective,' a spokesperson for SkyFi said. 'The size of the pile and the pollution it's causing is visible from space, making it clear that there is a need for change in the fashion industry.' Many of the clothing items made with synthetic fabrics, or treated with chemicals, will take as long as 200 years to biodegrade leaving toxins in their wake like carcinogenic Azo dyes and Phthalates ued in faux leather, linked to ADHD, asthma, and diabetes. SkyFi said that they were able to locate the dumpsite's geocoordinates with the help of activists on the communication platform, Discord. America and the rest of the developed world's addiction to fast-fashion has escalated into a growing hundred-billion-dollar industry. According to one report, the market size for shoddily made, briefly on-trend clothing increased from $106.42 billion to $122.98 billion in 2023 While merchants from Chile's capital city of Santiago buy some of the tens of thousands of tons of discarded clothes as it pours into Chile's Iquique port from the developed world, at least 39,000 tons of truly unwanted items end up in the Atacama each year America and the rest of the developed world's addiction to fast-fashion has escalated into a growing hundred-billion-dollar industry, according to a report by The Business Research Company. The market size for shoddily made, briefly on-trend clothing has continued to increase from $106.42 billion to $122.98 billion in 2023, based on the market research firm's analysis. While news media accounts of the clothing industry's rampant and fickle obsessions are often reflecting in exposes on child labor or slave wages in countries like China or Bangladesh, the end-of-cycle damage to the natural world has only recently garnered more attention. Through northern Chile's Iquique port, the South American nation has become a hub for second-hand and unsold clothing resold across Latin America. While merchants from Chile's capital city of Santiago buy some of the tens of thousands of tons of discarded clothes as it pours in from the developed world, at least 39,000 tons of truly unwanted items end up in the Atacama each year. 'This clothing arrives from all over the world,' Alex Carreno, an ex-employee Iquique's import area, told news agency AFP in 2021. 'What is not sold to Santiago nor sent to other countries stays in the free zone,' Carreno said, because no one wants to shoulder the sitff tariff costs required just to haul the clothes someplace else. Mark Zuckerberg could launch his own rival platform to Twitter in the coming months, all part of his masterplan to capitalize off the chaos and user dissatisfaction under Elon Musk's leadership. Coding began at Facebook's parent company Meta this past January on the new social app, codenamed Project 92, as Meta's chief product officer Chris Cox told a companywide meeting earlier this month. And big name celebrities are already in talks to commit their posts to the platform, including broadcasting legend Oprah Winfrey and Tibetan religious leader the Dalai Lama a curious choice, coming in the wake of the Buddhist icon's bizarre 'suck my tongue' incident this past spring. 'We've been hearing from creators and public figures who are interested in having a platform that is sanely run,' Cox told Meta employees, lobbing a thinly veiled criticism at Musk's Twitter operations. The dig elicited cheers from Meta's assembled staff, according to The Verge. News reports suggest that the public name for Meta's new app could become 'Threads.' Threads will reportedly have a 500-character limit per post, truer to Twitter's original ethos The Dalai Lama apologized last April, after a unsettling video appeared on social media in which he kissed a young Indian boy on the lips before asking him to 'suck' his tongue. The Tibetan religious leader is one of the big name celebrities in talks to join Meta's Twitter rival The rich, the famous and the influential, Cox said, are desperate for a new platform 'that they believe that they can trust and rely upon for distribution.' Reports suggest that the new app's public-facing name could become 'Threads' and that it will feature a continuous scroll of text, just like Twitter, along with buttons akin to both the Like and Retweet functions. Threads will also hew closer to Twitter's original 180-character limit, offering a slightly longer, but still short 500-character limit per post. As one social media industry inside put it, Threads will look 'remarkably similar to Twitter.' Many ordinary Twitter users, as well as the platform's large community of scientific experts, academics and even former NASA astronauts, have also sought out alternatives in recent months. Mastodon a free, decentralized and open-source microblogging platform has increasingly become a haven for scientists hoping for more level-headed conversations between themselves. 'I have been much more active there than I have been on Twitter,' astronomer Mark McCaughrean of the European Space Agency told Science late last year, following his own move to Mastodon. Many have described the platform as a more democratic alternative than Twitter, because Mastodon's decentralized structure means that no single person, company or sever has full control of its operations. Many Twitter users, scientific experts, and even former astronauts, have also sought out alternatives in recent months. Former NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez vowed to jump from the platform, amid Musk's plans to convert 'blue check' verification into a pay-to-play scheme Big name celebrities are already in talks to commit their posts to Meta's new Twitter rival, codenamed 'Project 92,' including Oprah (right) and the Dalai Lama (left) Last November, Mastodon reported over 70,000 new sign-ups on a single Friday, in direct response to Musk's finalized $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. 'If it becomes too toxic and abusive,' Emory University virologist Boghuma Titanji also told Science amid Twitter's raucous transition, 'I will leave to preserve my well-being and consider other platforms.' Former NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez vowed to jump from the platform as well, amid Musk's plans to convert 'blue check' verification into a pay-to-play scheme, although Hernandez nevertheless remains an active tweeter to date. But Musk has also received praise by those, like Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Republican Senator John Kennedy on Capitol Hill, who see the billionaire as a champion of free speech for reinvigorating First Amendment rights on the platform. Musk, Senator Kennedy said last December, had taken a 'very courageous stand on the First Amendment' since acquiring Twitter. 'Hes tough as a pine knot.' 'Project 92,' which Cox explicitly described as 'our response to Twitter,' will integrate with Instagram's current account system, allowing Instagram users to automatically transfer their followers and user information straight to the new microblogging site. It will also integrate with Mastodon, and other decentralized platforms that use the same ActivityPub API system as Mastodon, Cox said. The design of the app, according to social media consultant Matt Navarra, 'looks remarkably similar to Twitter,' or really old Twitter, as Musk's version continues to experiment with everything from longer posts, to newsletters, to exclusive live broadcasts. Navarra, who claimed internal knowledge of Meta's plans, told the Sydney Morning Herald that Meta's Twitter-killer could launch as soon as 'the end of the month or beginning of next month.' 'They have been onboarding people for a little while,' Navarra said. 'I know for a fact they've been talking to a British celebrity, and some US big name stars.' That said, the only name disclosed by Meta's chief product officer Cox as a lock for their new platform was the Minneapolis, Minnesota-native music producer DJ Slime, who Cox boasted had committed to using the app. Cox told company employees that Meta's goal for 'Project 92' was to make an app that emphasized 'safety, ease of use, reliability' to ensure that creators had a 'stable place to build and grow their audiences.' Meta, Cox said, will be making the app public 'as soon as we can.' Cavallin has now expanded on her allegations against the Man United star The Brazilian DJ filed a report with police against Antony in Brazil this month DJ and influencer Gabriela Cavallin has revealed details of alleged domestic violence and threats by Manchester United forward Antony in a television interview in Brazil. Cavallin filed a report with police in the country earlier this month, alleging domestic violence, threat and bodily injury against the player. She has now expanded on her allegations in an interview with Brazil's Record TV, telling journalist Roberto Cabrini that she had first suffered abuse last year in Brazil. 'He held me by both arms, threw me on the bed and fell on top of me,' Cavallin said. 'At that, my silicone prosthesis dislocated. Man United star Antony has been accused of domestic violence by a former partner in Brazil Gabriela Cavallin gave a interview in Brazil to expand on her allegations against Antony 'At the time, it gave me such a shortness of breath that it looked like I was going to die.' Cavallin said that she needed to have 40 stitches in the inner part of her breast following the incident. She has also alleged that Antony had threatened that the couple and their unborn son would 'die' if she ended their relationship. In June 2022, Cavallin revealed on social media that she had suffered a miscarriage while her and Antony were expecting their first child. Cavallin had also claimed that Antony had made her a prisoner in their home and not allowed her to leave. 'He broke my suitcase, took my handbag, my passport. He broke my mobile phone, he wouldn't let me go,' Cavallin said. Cavallin confirmed that she intends to pursue the case in England as well as back in Brazil Cavallin filed a report with police in Brazil earlier this month against the Man United star 'I was a prisoner from 10pm to almost 3.30am. I call it private captivity. I just wanted to get out of there and he told me that I wouldn't leave until I erased everything. 'I think his mother called his physiotherapist and asked for help. No one could control it.' Cavallin confirmed she intends to file claims against the Manchester United player in England. 'I'll do whatever it takes,' Cavallin said. 'I'll go to England to report the assault, failure to help, false imprisonment, psychological abuse, everything he did to me.' Brazilian outlet Uol Esporte reported that Antony has declined to comment on the allegations made by Cavallin. Manchester United declined to comment when the allegations against Antony were revealed earlier this month, but the Premier League club were understood to be investigating the matter. Coronation Street will return to screens with another action-packed week of drama, filled with new arrivals and bombshells galore. After weeks of anticipation, Brookside legend Claire Sweeney will finally make her debut on the soap as Tyrone Dobbs' long-lost mother. After her steamy affair with the villainous Damon, Sarah Platt is stunned when she discovers she's pregnant, and struggles to figure out who the father is. And, after failing to kill his partner Elaine, serial killer Stephen Reid's woes continue to pile up after Owen grows suspicious of his finances. Here is everything you need to know about next week's action on the Corrie cobbles... Sarah's baby bombshell Coronation Street SPOILER: Next week sparks even more turmoil for Sarah Platt when she discovers she's pregnant Who is the father? After breaking the news to her husband Adam, Sarah decides to get a DNA test, what will the results be? With her marriage still in turmoil, Sarah joins Dee-Dee in the Rovers, but she takes a sip of her wine, she baulks and worried she might be pregnant, hurries out. Back at home Sarah looks at her positive pregnancy test in total shock. Stealing herself, she hands Adam the pregnancy test and admits that she doesn't know who the father is, him or Damon. Adam reels in shock. Sarah decides to get a DNA test and heads to the clinic - will Adam be by her side? And who will the father be? Evelyn gets a surprise from her past Here she is! Next week finally sees Brookside legend Claire Sweeney made her debut on the Street, as she watches Tyrone Dobbs and Evelyn from afar Bombshell: As Evelyn heads home, she spots Cassie across the street but chooses to ignore her, but on her way to the bistro, she receives a call which stops her in her tracks Look who it is! Later, Evelyn is stunned when she receives a phone call revealing that Cassie is in hospital What is she doing? Evelyn returns home to be met by Tyrone who reveals that someone called Cath has come to see her After agreeing to share their dog Freddie, Roy shows Evelyn the schedule he's drawn up for the pooch's care. But when Evelyn discovers she's got Freddie whilst Roy takes Yasmeen to a meeting of the Historical Society, she's less than impressed. As Evelyn grumbles to Tyrone about Roy spending time with Yasmeen, his mother Cassie (played by Claire Sweeney) watches unbeknown to them. Following Tyrone's advice, Evelyn steals herself and invites Yasmeen and Roy to join her later at the bistro. As Evelyn heads home, she spots Cassie across the street but chooses to ignore her, but on her way to the bistro, she receives a call which stops her in her tracks. As Roy and Yasmeen wait for Evelyn, she hurries into A&E reception and explains that her daughter, Cassandra Plummer has been admitted as an emergency. Later, Evelyn receives a call from the hospital, but chooses to ignore it, but after much soul searching decides to call at the hospital only to discover Cassie has discharged herself. Evelyn returns home to be met by Tyrone who reveals that someone called Cath has come to see her. Evelyn enters the living room and is horrified to see Cassie grinning at her. When Tyrone enquires how they know each other, Evelyn's thrown into panic - will she come clean? Is Max's new girlfriend hiding something? Questions: Elsewhere, as Max heads to see his girlfriend Bec, he's approached by man named Gav, who violently grabs him - what's Bec hiding? Following his release from prison, things have been looking up for Max as he forms a new romance with Bec. But in upcoming episodes, as the teen heads to her flat, Gav approaches and explains that he's been released from the STC and he intends to marry Bec. When Max reveals that Bec has moved on and she's going out with him now, Gav's furious and grabs him. Spotting Bec, Max shouts at her to run, but has Bec got her own secrets? Stephen's woes pile up Oh dear! After failing to kill his partner Elaine, things get even worse for Stephen next week, as he snaps at her, leaving her worried about his low mood What's going on? After Stephen is confronted by Owen over his dodgy finances, he is forced to hide his fury when his loved ones surprise him in honour of Canada Day After failing to kill his partner Elaine, things get even worse for Stephen next week, as he snaps at her, leaving her worried about his low mood. Michael reckons his bad mood is down to the fact he's missing Canada, but of course viewers know he couldn't be further from the truth. Meanwhile Jenny offers to put in a good word for him with Owen and Stephen can't hide his gratitude. When Stephen reveals that it's Canada Day, Elaine forms an idea. Determined to win Owen round, Stephen invites him for lunch, but in the flat, he levels with Stephen and admits that he doesn't trust him and suspects he's using Seagull Ltd to siphon money from Underworld and wants Jenny for himself. As Stephen tries to argue, the door opens and Elaine, Audrey, Sarah and Michael burst in waving flags and wishing him a happy Canada Day. Stephen paints on a smile, but he's taken aback to clock Elaine scowling at him - what has she seen? Paul is torn over his faith Plans: Paul begins to question his faith after Billy suggests he get baptised, as they draw up a bucket list while he struggles with motor neurone disease Bernie orders Paul and Billy to enjoy some quality time together while she cleans the flat, and the vicar suggests his partner should come up with a bucket list while hes still fit enough. Gemma organises a game of darts and to give Paul a chance, instructs Billy, Todd and Bernie to throw with their weaker hands. Paul is visibly touched. Bernie and Gemma tell Paul and Billy about their idea for a chilli eating competition to raise funds for Pauls equipment. Later, Billy suggests to Paul that he could baptise him, but he refuses, adamant its not for him. Dee-Dee talks to Paul about her religion, about how its brought her comfort, will he reconsider? Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX. Emmerdale is back with another week of action packed scenes filled with shocks affairs and rows galore. Erotic authors Liam and Wendy rekindle their steamy affair, unaware their partners Bernice and Bob are growing ever closer under the roof of their B&B. As Jai and Laurel announce their engagement, their wedding plans are thrown into chaos when a huge secret comes to light. And as her social media following builds, Amelia is shaken when she is harassed by an eagery follower, leading her father Dan to take desperate measures. Here is everything you need to know about next week's action in the Dales... Jai discovers a huge secret Emmerdale SPOILERS: Jai Sharma when he discovers a decades-old secret about his past that could tear his family apart It was going so well! This comes right after the happy news that he and Laurel on engaged, leading him to uncover some old paper work while looking for his divorce certificate Drama! As an ex-addict, Laurel worries how Jai's secret could lead him to spiral back into his drug use When Jai makes a mistake whilst booking a holiday on a website it gives Laurel an idea... and before long, Laurel gets down on one knee and asks Jai to marry her. With her proposal delightfully accepted they soon happily discuss the correct order to tell people their news. Jai realises he needs to retrieve his divorce certificate so heads off to find his legal documents. Searching he dislodges the contents of an old box and discovers an official document among the miscellanea, and a closer look reveals something is not right... And the discovery threatens to tear his family apart... The next day, Jai is still upset regarding his discovery and loses his temper at work, and as an ex-addict, Laurel is worried how he may react and implores him to talk to his parents. When rambling Rishi arrives, he is oblivious to Jai's rising ire, and as he finally explodes, Jai reveals he knows the secret leaving Rishi aghast. Jai's incredulous at his dad's weak explanations as Rishi covers, clearly lying through his teeth and utterly fails to tell Jai the truth. The next day, when Jai discovers Manpreet has known the secret since their marriage, and he furiously forces his father away. With an engagement party planned, Jai still can't escape his turmoil and oblivious Archie heads out on a secret mission to find his absent grandfather. Will Rishi's arrival help or make things worse? Amelia's social following takes a sinister turn Drama! As her social media following grows, Noah is concerned when he discovers inappropriate messages from Amelia's followers Scary: Later, Amelia is stunned when a man named Lloyd turns up at the salon, revealing he's her top subscriber, and locks them inside Worrying: As her father Dan realises that Lloyd knows where they live, he contacts the police - will it work? Amelia is pleased testing her new ring light at the Salon but Mandy reminds her to continue to promote the workplace within her makeup tutorials. With a positive response for her newest video, Amelia is elated and eager to please her fans, and Dan is furious to discover she has been missing college. Amelia stands her ground resolute she is going to continue with her profile to make money, but Noah is concerned with how much she is prioritising her social media. After being given the cold shoulder he realises he needs to win her back round and offers to help her with her college work. They reconcile and all is well until Noah sneakily peeks at Amelias very active phone notifications, and is horrified by what he sees. When her father Dan returns home, Noah tells him what he has seen, but Amelia argues back emphasising her ability to handle these inappropriate requests and puts Noah on notice. The next day Amelia is angry at Dan for confiscating her phone and laptop. Sarah tries to mediate between Noah and Amelia. A man arrives at the salon, claiming to be a customer, but he watches Amelia with an intense and greedy interest. Soon he blindsides her by revealing hes Lloyd, her top subscriber to her page, leaving Amelia stunned, as she thought the subscriber she'd been speaking to was a woman. Lloyd demands one on one time with a frightened Amelia and traps her inside, but fortunately, Mandy returns but Amelia, once calmer, insists she's not getting her dad involved. But with Lloyd's messages continuing to stream in..and a written note from him, Dan is alerted to Amelias predicament. They realise Lloyd knows where they live. Dan intends to take action with the police but distraught Amelia insists she doesnt want police involvement. The next day - when Lloyd manages to get hold of Amelia's phone number - Dan puts his foot down and calls the police. The police arrive but will it work? Liam and Wendy reignite their affair... Romance? As their chemistry continues to sizzle, Liam and Wendy decide to reignite their steamy affair The chemistry sizzles in the cafe between Wendy and Liam, and she struggles to hide her interest as he types away on his laptop. When an enthusiastic Lydia muscles in having got wind Liam is writing a novel, jealous Wendy heads off. Later, Lydia continues to pitch Liam a narrative twist for his novel, but her tale cuts rather too close to home to an arriving Wendy who is jealous to see Lydia giving Liam writing advice and breaks up the little party. The next day, Bob presents Wendy with a gift whilst Bernice and Bob fight their attraction as they try to keep their relationship professional. Later as the three discuss a barbeque idea for the B&B over lunch, Wendy is distracted by Liam and his latest writing. When he surreptitiously but deliberately leaves some pages behind Wendy is quick to swipe them. Bait taken! The next day, Liam is pleased to have Wendy back on board as his story editor, but is surprised when she also wants to rekindle the affair. ...but Victoria has rumbled them! Oh dear! But later, Victoria gets wind of the pair and confronts Wendy, who pleads her to keep quiet - will she tell Bob and Bernice the truth? Meanwhile, Victoria picks up on the banter between Bob and Bernice and is suspicious something is going on between them. Soon Victoria casts her aspersions to panicking Bob and Bernice is furious to overhear Bob, grasping for an excuse, tell Victoria how Bernice is still in love with Liam. Before long, Victoria calls round to tell Liam that Bernice still has a massive crush on him, but his dishevelled look and Wendys handbag on the sofa raises her suspicions. Victoria tells Wendy she knows about her affair and Wendy implores her to keep it a secret. Will Victoria keep schtum and can Wendy call a halt to their affair at the behest of Victoria? READ MORE: Locklear is back on the booze after 20 stints in rehab - and has lost 40lbs on Ozempic as sources close to the actress say her family is 'very worried' Heather Locklear looked downcast and totally engrossed in her own thoughts as she sat on a curb waiting for her ride in Los Angeles last week. The Melrose Place alum's blond hair was messy and she looked puffy in the face when DailyMail.com spotted her Thursday afternoon. Dressed in all black, the actress waited for up to half an hour before fiance Chris Heisser picked her up in his SUV. Heather, 61, perked up when her man arrived and greeted the former motocross racer with a big smile. She carried her large Louis Vuitton bag over her shoulder, hopped in the car and rode off with her fiance. DailyMail.com spotted Heather Locklear sitting on a curb last week in Los Angeles looking lost in thought Heather, 61, perked up when her man arrived and greeted the former motocross racer with a big smile Chris Heisser proposed to Locklear in 2020. She captioned this photo, 'my favorite person on earth' Dressed in all black, the actress waited for up to half an hour before fiance Chris Heisser picked her up in his SUV The actress had messy hair and looked puffy in the face as she wore all black and carried a Louis Vuitton bag Heather carried her large Louis Vuitton bag over her shoulder, hopped in the car and the pair drove off DailyMail.com broke the exciting news in 2020 that three years after rekindling her relationship with her high school sweetheart, she accepted Heisser's proposal. She has been going steady with her on/off beau since cleaning up her act following a highly-publicized stint in rehab. Last month DailyMail.com spotted the actress with the new ink visible on her wrist as she left lunch in Malibu. Her new tattoo reads 'Ava', which is the name of her 25-year-old daughter The pair dated in the late 1970s at Newbury Park High School, went through multiple marriages and have had their share of ups and downs since getting back together in the fall of 2017. The couple were an item before Heather went on to marry rockers Tommy Lee from 1986-1993 and Richie Sambora from 1994-2007, with whom she has a daughter, Ava. Last month DailyMail.com spotted the actress with new ink visible on her wrist as she left lunch in Malibu. Her tattoo reads 'Ava', which is the name of her 25-year-old daughter. It's been Ava's steadfast support of her mother that was said to have helped the star finally get sober in 2019. Ava reportedly had a front-row seat to her mother's fall from grace that kicked off with a DUI after she and Sambora split in 2006. DailyMail.com broke the exciting news in 2020 that three years after rekindling her relationship with her high school sweetheart Chris, she accepted his proposal. Heather, Ava and Chris are pictured together in a social media snap The pair dated in the late 1970's at Newbury Park High School, went through multiple marriages and have had their share of ups and downs since getting back together in the fall of 2017 Chris and Heather were once an item before she went on to marry rockers Tommy Lee from 1986-1993 and Richie Sambora from 1994-2007 Heather has come a long way from hospitalizations, several arrests and stints in rehab, with the support of her daughter Ava and fiance Chris The next decade was filled with hospitalizations, several arrests and 20 stints in rehab. In February 2018 she was arrested for domestic violence and for battery against a police officer who attended the incident at her mansion in Thousand Oaks, California. In June, she was arrested again for allegedly verbally and physically abusing an ambulance EMT who responded to her home following a call for help. Then in November 2018, she was placed on a 5150 hold after her therapist determined that she was experiencing a mental breakdown. In August 2019, Locklear pleaded no contest to eight misdemeanor counts: five counts of battery on a peace officer, one count of battery on an emergency medical personnel, and two counts of resisting, obstructing or delaying a peace officer. She was ordered to complete a 30-day residential rehab stay in a mental health facility with a 120-day jail sentence suspended. Famed makeup artist Karen Sarahi Gonzalez and popular influencer Sebastian Robles tied the knot in a lavish ceremony and reception on Saturday. The Kim Kardashian lookalike, 34, wed her beau, 33, in the Simi Valley, California, surrounded by several fellow influencers and a notable Australian beauty guru. Gonzalez, who is better known as Iluvsarahii on social media and is worth approximately $5 million, wowed her guests in a stunning 3D floral applique gown which featured a trumpet silhouette and off-the-shoulder straps. The bride had her brunette hair out in loose curls before tying it back into a ponytail to dance at reception. She also changed her outfit during reception - wearing her ceremony dress for the first dance and her arrival, before changing into a sparkling long sleeve number. Karen Sarahi Gonzalez and Sebastian Robles tied the knot in a lavish ceremony and reception on Saturday. Pictured at their rehearsal dinner Meanwhile, Robles wore a signature black tuxedo for the ceremony, before changing into a cream suit jacket. While the event had a strict 'no phones' policy, guests shared all their intimate photos days later. Australian Chloe Morello, 32, attended the lavish wedding with her husband Sebastian Mecha. The YouTuber and her beau looked incredible as they watched Gonzalez and Robles say 'I do'. Gonzalez, who is better known as Iluvsarahii on social media, wowed her guests in a stunning 3D floral applique gown that featured a trumpet silhouette and off-the-shoulder straps She also changed her outfit during reception - wearing her ceremony dress for the first dance and her arrival before changing into a sparkling long sleeve number Morello dressed in a sophisticated number, wearing a long black Sau Lee gown that featured a high split up her thigh and a plunging neckline. She paired her look with a pair of black strappy heels and accessorised with a clear plastic clutch. The Australian makeup artist opted for a classy daytime makeup palette with thick eyeliner and a light brown lip, and kept her brunette locks styled off her shoulders using a black headband. Australian Chloe Morello, 32, attended the lavish wedding with her husband Sebastian Mecha (both pictured) Morello dressed in a sophisticated number, wearing a long black Sau Lee gown that featured a high split up her thigh and a plunging neckline Meanwhile, her husband wore a tailored black suit and tied that featured a black vest. Sharing photos of the day to Instagram on Monday, Morello - who boasts more than 1.2 million followers - shared a sweet moment kissing Robles, plus a picture of the bride at the wedding reception. 'The most beautiful wedding venue I think Ive ever seen! Seriously WOW,' she captioned her post. 'Everything at Karen & Sebas ceremony & reception was beyond beautiful. Congratulations!' Gonzalez and Robles tied the knot two-and-a-half years after their engagement in 2020, but continued celebrations in the lead-up to their big day The bride threw a wild bachelorette party in Mexico that lasted days, with each night a different theme and outfit Night one was a girls' night in, where the stunning bride wore a white silk pyjama set that featured white feathers The mother-of-two added that she only owns 'one black tie worthy dress' and wears it to 'every wedding'. Gonzalez and Robles tied the knot two-and-a-half years after their engagement in December 2020, but the pair continued celebrations in the lead up to their big day. The married couple threw a rehearsal dinner two nights before the wedding. At the pre-wedding event last week, Gonzalez wore a white halter neck dress by Akira with her hair in a bun to show off a set of earrings bought from Second Wind, while her podcaster hubby wore a black western shirt with white detailing. Another night's theme was 'drunk in love', where Gonzalez rocked a white corset mini dress The group danced the night away in a swanky nightclub The girls wore pink dresses of different styles and held printed faces of Robles 'Last night look for our rehearsal dinner. This is your sign to do it on a Thursday so you can stay out and enjoy yourself,' Gonzalez wrote. The bride also threw a wild bachelorette party earlier this month in Mexico that lasted days, with each night a different theme and outfit for the influencer. Night one was a girls' night in, where the stunning bride wore a white silk pyjama set that featured white feathers. Her guests all wore matching pink feather pyjama sets. The bride was carried in on a throne-like chair by staff as she carried a bottle of champagne The next day, the girls all boarded a yacht where they sailed around Cabo San Lucas. Gonzalez wore a stunning bridal-themed swimsuit while her party all wore black bikinis. Another night's theme was 'drunk in love', where Gonzalez rocked a white corset mini dress, while the girls wore pink dresses of different styles and held printed faces of Robles. Her final night's theme was 'RIP to my last name' - guests wore all black while Gonzalez's outfit consisted of a white silk dress with a feathered hemline and high split. Robles and Gonzalez have reportedly been dating since 2010. The couple first met onboard a party bus in 2009. It wasn't until 2017 when Gonzalez introduced officially debuted her boyfriend to fans, sharing a 28-minute YouTube video titled 'Meet My Boyfriend + Get To Know Us'. Jackie 'O' Henderson struggled to keep her breakfast down after making a horrifying discovery in the kitchen of her villa in France on Tuesday. The 48-year-old, who is currently broadcasting the Kyle and Jackie O Show from Saint-Tropez, revealed she almost vomited after curdled milk erupted from her milk frother while she was making a coffee. 'I've been making coffees with the frother and unbeknown to me the frothing of the milk has been [spilling] out under the coffee machine,' she explained. 'This morning it erupted like an explosion of curdled milk everywhere. I don't know where it came from but it had been nesting under the coffee machine.' Jackie continued: 'I was cleaning it up with a sponge and I had it all over my hands and that was it I just started gagging.' Jackie 'O' Henderson (pictured) is left disgusted and almost vomits after a horrifying discovery in the kitchen of her Saint-Tropez villa 'You gagged and nearly vomited because of your own filth,' her co-host Kyle Sandilands responded. Jackie, Kyle and several other staff members are currently broadcasting their hit KIIS FM radio show from the South of France, as the shock jock enjoys his honeymoon with wife Tegan Kynaston. On Monday, Kyle recalled a misunderstanding that occurred while he was at a local restaurant with Jackie and her pre-teen daughter, Kitty. An older French man, described as a 'creep' by Kyle, approached their table and was 'pointing at Kitty's breasts' while rubbing his own chest suggestively. 'The kid's 12 years old!' exclaimed Kyle, who admitted he was outraged by the man's behaviour. 'I thought, "The predator's here, they don't even hide it,"' said the stunned host. The 48-year-old revealed to her KIIS FM co-host Kyle Sandilands that she almost vomited after curdled milk erupted from her milk frother while she was making a coffee 'Approaching kids at tables. This is some bulls**t!' However it later became clear that the man was actually gesturing at Kitty's singlet, which bore a logo for the prestigious US college, Georgetown. 'Anyway, apparently his granddaughter went to Georgetown and he wasn't saying anything about her breasts,' said Kyle. 'The language barrier is proving to be a problem here,' laughed Jackie, while Kyle admitted, 'I might end up in prison here before we get home [to Australia] because I'm overreacting to a lot of stuff.' Jessy Schram is a married lady! The Chicago Med star, 37, married her longtime love Sterling Taylor on June 18. The couple tied the knot in front of family and friends in a 60,000-square-foot architectural antiques shop in her hometown of Chicago, Illinois. 'We were looking for a venue that felt unique and out of the ordinary,' Schram told People. 'One day we stumbled into an antique shop, that's also a furniture salvage warehouse, and as we walked around we felt the fun and the energy that it brought. It was quirky and different and still romantic,' she shared. The actress walked down the aisle in a mermaid-style wedding gown with a plunging neckline from designer Dana Harel. Newlyweds: Jessy Schram is a married lady! The Chicago Med star, 37, married her longtime love Sterling Taylor on June 18 'It was that dress that your friend throws into the pile that was different from everything you originally thought you wanted,' she explained to the outlet. 'I loved how classic it felt while giving that extra bit of excitement. It feels classic yet still day dreamy,' she recollected. 'When I tried it on, I felt like the most beautiful version of myself. I felt like a bride and there was only this dress.' Schram and Taylor met in 2017 through friends. The newlyweds welcomed 113 guests to their wedding and the ceremony was officiated by her One Chicago co-star Oded Fehr. The bride is a staple on the Hallmark Channel and has also appeared on Veronica Mars and in Mad Men. Many of her co-stars were among the guests. 'The ceremony, our vows and seeing each other and everyone there as we walk down the aisle. And of course, the most epic dance party,' she told People before her wedding. Long time loves: The couple tied the knot in front of family and friends in a 60,000 square foot architectural antiques shop in her hometown of Chicago, Illinois Co-star: The newlyweds welcomed 113 guests to their wedding and the ceremony was officiated by her One Chicago co-star Oded Fehr Pizza: On the night before the wedding the couple treated their guests to a Chicago pizza rehearsal dinner Chicago Med: Jessy plays Dr. Hannah Asher on the long running medical drama On the night before the wedding the couple treated their guests to a Chicago pizza rehearsal dinner. After dinner, the group took a sunset cruise down the Chicago river to look at the architecture of the city. 'We wanted a sense of adventure and community,' Schram said. The actress also shared what getting married means to her and her new husband. 'It means taking that extra step as partners and co-pilots,' she said. 'That extra commitment mentally, physically, cosmically to doing and creating life with someone. For us it's a declaration, not only to ourselves, but with our community, that we choose each other.' Sam Burgess has made another surprise reveal this week after getting engaged to his pregnant fiancee Lucy Graham - debuting a set of braces on his teeth. The NRL star, 34, revealed the new mouth gear in happy engagement photos his British bride-to-be shared on Instagram. In the images, Sam flashed his metal and clear braces as he brandished a huge grin. The former Rabbitohs player appears to be correcting a snaggle tooth at the front of his smile which he has had for years. Sam and Lucy announced their engagement after arriving back from their babymoon in Fiji. Sam Burgess has made another surprise reveal this week after getting engaged to his pregnant fiancee Lucy Graham - debuting a set of braces on his teeth The former rugby player, 34, revealed the new mouth gear in happy engagement photos his British bride-to-be shared on Instagram. On Monday, the blonde bombshell showed off her massive diamond engagement ring for the first time in a set of pictures from the trip. Lucy flaunted her new bling as she posed alongside her beau. Looking absolutely delighted after Sam proposed, she cuddled up to her man against the tropical backdrop in a brown bikini. In the images, the NRL star flashed his metal and clear braces as he brandished a huge grin The former Rabbitohs player appears to be correcting a snaggle tooth at the front of his smile which he has had for years She wrote alongside the series of images 'Saaaaa cute,' and added a love emoji. Lucy was first seen wearing a huge diamond ring on her left hand wedding finger as the couple arrived home in Sydney on Sunday evening. The pair are set to welcome their first baby together in three months. He revealed the latest addition to Australia Zoo's expanding family last week. And this week, Robert Irwin was 'on top of the world' after revealing the big news. In a Sunday Instagram post, the ecstatic 'Wildlife Warrior' gazed out to sea while standing atop an enormous tree stump. 'On top of the world. Well, technically a tree stump,' wrote the 19-year-old television personality and zookeeper. The jubilant post comes after the celebrity conservationist introduced an extremely rare species of turtle to the wildlife sanctuary after his father Steve Irwin discovered them in 1990. Robert Irwin (pictured) was 'on top of the world' after last week revealing some big news In a Sunday Instagram post, the ecstatic 'Wildlife Warrior' gazed out to sea while standing atop an enormous tree stump Posting a video of the gorgeous animal to Instagram, the media personality explained the freshwater species was named Elseya irwini after his father. 'For many years we've wanted to have them here at Australia Zoo, and finally we can say we've got them. We've actually rescued several Irwin's Turtles,' he said. 'There's simply not enough data known about them to classify them as an endangered species because they're so incredibly rare.' Robert Irwin, 19, (pictured) welcomed a brand new member to the Australia Zoo family last Monday He continued: 'But what we do know is that they're very much at the mercy of human-created threats. Things like dams, mining, pollution, habitat degradation.' As he gently held the docile creature in his hands, Robert went on to explain the Irwin's Turtle lives 'in very isolated pockets' of water. 'So if anything were to happen to these waterways it would be game over for the entire species,' he said. The celebrity conservationist introduced an extremely rare species of turtle to the wildlife sanctuary after his father Steve Irwin discovered them in 1990 'Which is why it's so incredibly important to have a population here at Australia Zoo to ensure that this species can survive on for generations to come,' he added. The new family addition comes after Robert was reportedly planning to pop the question to his girlfriend Rorie Buckey after seven months of dating. According to New Idea magazine, protective mother Terri Irwin had concerns her lovestruck son and his smitten girlfriend, 18, will rush down the aisle too early. Posting a video of the gorgeous animal to Instagram, the media personality explained the freshwater species was named Elseya irwini after his father 'Terri feels like Robert is moving way too fast,' a source told the publication. 'Rorie's a sweetheart and it's easy to see why he is absolutely smitten, but Terri knows the stakes are high,' they added. They claimed Robert is a 'romantic' who is hoping to emulate his mother's quick engagement to her late husband Steve after just eight months of dating in 1992. Robert and Rorie, who is the niece of legendary Australian actor Heath Ledger, are currently in a long-distance relationship, with Robert based at Australia Zoo in Queensland while Rorie is in Perth. The new family addition comes after Robert was reportedly planning to pop the question to his girlfriend Rorie Buckey, 18, (pictured) after seven months of dating . Katie Holmes flaunted her chic summer style while out and about with a male friend in New York City on Monday. The Dawson's Creek alum, 44, displayed her well-defined arms in a charming floral dress that she matched with purple sandals and accessorized with two gold necklaces. The Batman Begins star - who has been promoting her new film Rare Objects - wore a tan canvas bag on her shoulder and showed off her smooth complexion without makeup behind dark glasses. The MTV Movie Award winner appeared natural and relaxed, with her brunette hair slightly blowing in the wind as it was parted to one side and falling naturally over her shoulder. While waiting on the corner for the light to change, Holmes seemed preoccupied with her pink phone, reading something intently. Summer style: Katie Holmes flaunted her chic summer style while out and about with a male friend in New York City on Monday Looking good: The Dawson's Creek alum, 44, displayed her well-defined arms in a charming floral dress that she matched with purple sandals and accessorized with two gold necklaces Her unidentified friend, who also joined her for a walk over the weekend, donned a green button-up shirt worn open over a blue and white striped shirt paired with jeans and blue sneakers. He carried a black bag over his shoulder and wore a dark hat as he crossed the street with Katie. Katie has recently directed a film called Rare Objects, which can now be streamed on Amazon Prime, Google Play, iTunes, and Vudu through on-demand services. Holmes also co-wrote and starred in the modern version of Kathleen Tessaros book, which follows a young woman who strives to recover after experiencing the trauma of sexual assault. She finds work at an antique store where the compassionate owners help her regain her confidence. However, her past demons start to resurface and threaten her progress. The film marks her third time leading a project and the second for her production company, Layfayette Pictures, which she established last year. While appearing as a guest on The Drew Barrymore Show in April, Katie discussed her new film while opening up about how she was inspired by Barrymore's career. Holmes revealed that Barrymore had inspired her to start producing her own films after Drew made Never Been Kissed, Charlie's Angels, Duplex, and Fever Pitch. Busy girl: The Batman Begins star has been promoting her new film Rare Objects Streaming now: Katie directed and starred in Rare Objects, which can now be streamed on Amazon Prime, Google Play, and iTunes Talented: Its impressive how much work the Dawsons Creek actress has put into the movie. Not only did she direct it, but she also co-wrote the screenplay and acted as one of its producers Deep character: Holmes directed, co-wrote, and starred in the film which follows a young woman who strives to recover after experiencing the trauma of sexual assault 'I'm such a fan of yours, and everything you've done in your career has been an inspiration, and it gives me confidence because when you started producing, it was like, 'Oh, we can do that? Women can do that?'' said Holmes. Katie added, 'And so thank you, you give so much.' Drew seemed appreciative of the compliment. Last year, Holmes also starred in and directed Alone Together, which featured her daughter Suri singing Blue Moon on the soundtrack. Katie and her daughter Suri began the process of college applications in March. However, Tom Cruise, Suris father, is not involved in her life and, thus, wont assist her in this process. Emma Watson showed off her incredible figure in a range of stunning images for the new Prada Beauty campaign released on Monday. The Harry Potter star, 33, sizzled on the beach in the surf-themed suit where she slipped into a sexy cut-out black bikini. She had her enviable frame on display in the flattering one piece that featured a high neck zip design and sparkly detailing. Emma displayed her flawless complexion and holiday glow as she looked out to sea and held a huge orange surfboard. Another shot saw her fix the camera with a sultry stair as her dark tresses were slicked back with sea water. Wow! Emma Watson showed off her incredible figure in a range of stunning images for the new Prada Beauty campaign released on Monday Stunning: Another shot saw her fix the camera with a sultry stair as her dark tresses were slicked back with sea water She then changed into a white bikini and chunky knitted jumper for boat shots where she cuddled a sweet dog. The Hermione Granger actress accessorised with a brown and white bandana and beamed with confidence. The new shots come just a few days after Emma was seen piggybacking with snack brand founder Ryan Kohn as the duo frolicked in Venice. The newly-single star looked in high spirits just weeks after it was reported that she'd split from the son of retail tycoon Sir Philip Green, Brandon. She could be seen smiling from ear-to-ear as she made her way to a water taxi with Ryan. Emma was with Brandon for 18 months and it was in Venice when their relationship became public after they were spotted holding hands. MailOnline contacted a representative for Emma for comment at the time. Emma and Brandon are said to have split some time after Christmas - following a 'serious' romance. Brandon had a reputation as a party-lover and previously dated a number of models. He was once caught patting Kate Moss' bottom on holiday in St Barths. Summer: She then changed into a white bikini and chunky knitted jumper for boat shots where she cuddled a sweet dog Happy: The Hermione Granger actress accessorised with a brown and white bandana and beamed with confidence Raised in the tax haven of Monaco his Bar Mitzvah, at the fabled Hotel Du Cap, included performances by Beyonce and Andrea Bocelli. However, more recently he demonstrated an interest in good works including biodiversity and the oceans, and was described as 'polite and smart' by friends. With a fledgling tech investments company, Brendan had seemed a good match for Watson, a serious-minded woman who took a degree at Brown University post-Potter. She now harbours ambitions behind the camera, having set up two film production companies and directed herself in a Prada commercial. The star has also developed a grape-based gin, Renais some of the grapes for it come from her father's vineyard in France. Emma famously remarked during a period when she was single that she was 'self-partnered' but by more conventional standards she has been a serial monogamist and serially unlucky in love. An early boyfriend was rugby player Tom Ducker. He was followed by a more serious romance with fellow Oxford University students Will Adamowicz and Matt Janney. She has dated three young tech millionaires, most significantly the entrepreneur William 'Mack' Knight. Fun: The new shots come just a few days after Emma was seen piggybacking with snack brand founder Ryan Kohn as the duo frolicked in Venice They split in late 2017 after a two year romance. On the rebound she had a six month love affair with handsome Glee actor Chord Overstreet. They broke up during the summer of 2018. She was then spotted sharing cocktails with tech CEO Brendan Wallace, the is co-founder of a venture capital fund who she may or may not be dating again now. By the summer of 2019, she had moved on to another tech millionaire, Brendan Iribe, CEO of Oculus. He was followed by businessman Leo Robinton, with whom she spent two years. In an interview she said: 'The boyfriends or partners I've had have generally made me feel really cherished. They've built me up.' Australian model Charlie Austin has confirmed her break-up with restaurant owner husband Scott Robertson by going public with another hospitality bigwig. Austin, 30, has been sharing loved-up posts on Instagram with nightclub boss Poata Okeroa for the last few months, while saying nothing of her prior marriage split. There is no suggestion of an overlap between the two relationships. Okeroa is a business partner of entrepreneurs Julian Tobias and Eric Jury, owners of late-night hotspots Sussudio in Potts Point and Flamingo Lounge in Kings Cross. He made headlines last year for banning diners with visible tattoos, 'designer-labelled apparel' and 'heavy jewellery' from his Middle Eastern restaurant and nightclub Bedoin in Double Bay. The controversial dress code was introduced to 'discourage intimidating appearances', he said at the time. Model Charlie Austin (right) has confirmed her split from restaurant owner husband Scott Robertson by going public with another hospitality bigwig, nightclub boss Poata Okeroa (left) Austin, 30, has been sharing loved-up posts on Instagram with nightclub boss Poata Okeroa (pictured together) since November last year, while saying nothing of her prior marriage split The pair have been romantically linked since November last year, having spent a number of milestones together, including New Year's Day, Charlie's recent 30th birthday, as well as a romantic trip to the exclusive Osborn House hotel. Despite splashing her new romance all over Instagram, little is known of Austin's split from Robertson - the owner of Glass Island, a floating restaurant on Sydney Harbour. The former reality star, who appeared on cycle seven of Australia's Next Top Model in 2011, has quietly reverted to her maiden name on Instagram, having previously gone by Charlie Robertson. The pair tied the knot in 2019 at the French-themed wedding venue Deux Belettes in the Byron Bay Hinterland. She posted a gushing tribute to her husband on their one-year anniversary. Despite splashing her new romance all over Instagram, little is known of Austin's split from Scott Robertson (right) - the owner of Glass Island, a floating restaurant on Sydney Harbour The reality star, who appeared on cycle seven of Australia's Next Top Model in 2011, has quietly reverted to her maiden name on Instagram, having previously gone by Charlie Robertson '365 days as Mrs Robertson! Being married to you is a dream. You're the kindest, sweetest man I've ever known with the most beautiful soul,' she wrote. 'I'm so thankful for you and the way you love me. Happy anniversary, baby. I'll carry your heart forever.' Prior to tying the knot, Austin was spotted in 2015 aboard Leonardo Di Caprio's super yacht, which was moored in the Mediterranean during the Cannes Film Festival. She had a small role in the actor's hit movie The Great Gatsby, and it is believed she was one of the models he partied with when filming wrapped in Australia in 2012. Austin has fronted campaigns for brands including Running Bare, Bras N Things, Moontide Swimwear and Homebodii. A spokesperson for Austin declined to comment on her marriage split. Roxy Jacenko has debuted her new engagement ring during her lavish trip to Greece, just weeks after reports she and her husband Oliver Curtis have split. Posting to Instagram on Monday, Roxy videoed the giant bling on her let hand wedding ring finger. The ring is from The Prestwick Place, who make Moissanite and lab-diamond pieces. The PR queen often wears pieces from the jewellers in place of her real and very expensive engagement ring while travelling. Her new ring features a gold band and a single large 2.25ct oval diamond and is worth around $5,500. Roxy Jacenko has showed off a stunning engagement ring, just weeks after reports that she and her husband Oliver Curtis have split (both pictured) She captioned the clip: 'When @theprestwickplace delivers direct to Athens the perfect travel ring.' It comes after Roxy's marriage has been under scrutiny for weeks after it was announced that Oliver is moving to Singapore for work. Following this, Roxy sold her family mansion in Sydney's Vaucluse and shut down some of her businesses. The PR executive was then forced to say they aren't getting a divorce following rumours, but she revealed that they did consider splitting when her husband initially approached her about the international job. Posting to Instagram on Monday, Roxy shared a video of her hand flaunting the diamond ring that was placed on her ring finger Speaking to the Kyle and Jackie O Show two weeks ago, the mother-of-two revealed she'd argued with her 37-year-old husband about his decision to leave, noting that he'd spent years splitting his time between Sydney and Tasmania for his previous job. 'I basically said to Ollie, "look, you go to Singapore and I'll stay here". And he's like, "well, I don't know if that would work". And I was like, "well, it's worked for the last five years",' she said. Roxy recalled how he told her he needed to be a resident of Singapore for the sake of his job and personal finances. 'I was like, "Ok, well then what's my option?" He goes, "oh, we have to get divorced".' Surprisingly, Roxy said she was perfectly content with ending her marriage then and there. 'I'm good with that. So just give me the paperwork, I'll sign the paperwork we can get divorced. You do your job there and I'll stay here. And we'll visit',' she said. While Roxy has since said that they aren't getting a divorce, she revealed that divorce was on the cards when her husband initially approached her about the international job Roxy eventually decided against ending the marriage and agreed to move the whole family to Singapore for the sake of her daughter Pixie, 11, and Hunter, eight (pictured) However Roxy eventually decided against ending the marriage and agreed to move the whole family to Singapore for the sake of her daughter Pixie, 11, and Hunter, eight. 'It's time. They need a dad around, and because he's never here... like, he comes [back home to Sydney] like two days at a time,' she explained. She also blamed her long-distance relationship with Oliver as the reason why she constantly spoils her children with lavish gifts, claiming she struggles to tell her kids 'no' when he isn't around. Roxy later joked that Oliver 'probably has a wife in each port', adding: 'But hey, whatever, it's 2023.' Hollywood star Sienna Miller's sister has revealed that their father, American former banker and art dealer Edwin Miller, is 'withdrawing from the world' with Alzheimer's disease. 'I miss him beyond description,' bridal wear designer Savannah, 44, says. 'As his Alzheimer's progresses and he slowly withdraws from the world, my heart aches for this man. Savannah Miller attends the Royal Ascot Gold Cup Dinner at The Dorchester on May 11, 2023 in London 'I miss him beyond description,' bridal wear designer Savannah, 44, says. 'As his Alzheimer's progresses and he slowly withdraws from the world, my heart aches for this man Hollywood star Sienna Miller's sister has revealed that their father, American former banker and art dealer Edwin Miller, is 'withdrawing from the world' with Alzheimer's disease 'His hugs are still as deep, thank God, but the life and spark, that was all pervading, has gone out.' The sisters' mother is ex-model Jo Miller, who was married to Edwin until 1987. He went on to marry the interior designer Kelly Hoppen. When it comes to a muscular physique, Queen Letizia of Spain takes the crown. The 50-year-old wife of King Felipe showed off her toned arms in a sleeveless, floral-print midi dress by Diego Estrada. The former newsreader was on a visit to a furniture workshop in Madrid with Queen Rania of Jordan, 52. Letizia is known to follow a strict exercise routine including daily cardio workouts and Iyengar yoga that builds strength and tones muscles. When it comes to a muscular physique, Queen Letizia of Spain takes the crown The 50-year-old wife of King Felipe showed off her toned arms in a sleeveless, floral-print midi dress by Diego Estrada Harry vendettas harm security ex-spy chief Is Prince Harry now a national security risk? A stinging article published on influential Washington D.C. website The Hill condemns the Duke of Sussex for intervening in politics by declaring his view that the British Government has hit 'rock bottom'. 'He clearly has no grasp of the gravity and responsibility of the affairs of state,' declares The Hill. 'Or, perchance, if he does, then he clearly does not care how his words and actions, in pursuit of personal goals or vendettas, actively undermine the national well-being and security of the country of his birth.' The article's author is Jonathan Sweet, a retired Army colonel and 30-year military intelligence officer, who led the U.S. European Command Intelligence Engagement Division from 2012 to 2014 a figure not so easily dismissed in Montecito. Heiress Irene Forte claimed earlier this year to have developed a miracle cream for her skincare brand that could beat the signs of ageing. But Sir Rocco Forte's daughter (right) is even more proud of her latest production: a baby with her husband, tech chief Felix Winckler, 41. Here's the first photograph of their girl, Alisea, now eight weeks old. Irene is a close friend of Princess Eugenie, who attended her wedding in Sicily in 2021. Heiress Irene Forte claimed earlier this year to have developed a miracle cream for her skincare brand that could beat the signs of ageing But Sir Rocco Forte's daughter (right) is even more proud of her latest production: a baby w ith her husband, tech chief Felix Winckler, 41 Prince Albert of Monaco was missing his wife, Princess Charlene, at the opening of the Monte Carlo Television Festival, but he was joined by his daughter Jazmin, who flew in from California Jazmin, 31, whose mother is American waitress Tamara Rotolo, met her father, 65, for the first time when she was 11 after a DNA test confirmed his paternity Albert's TV date with U.S. daughter Prince Albert of Monaco was missing his wife, Princess Charlene, at the opening of the Monte Carlo Television Festival, but he was joined by his daughter Jazmin, who flew in from California. 'I'm really glad I came,' she tells me. 'It's my first festival in Monaco and I'm proud to be here. I came to represent my family and to promote my acting.' Jazmin, 31, whose mother is American waitress Tamara Rotolo, met her father, 65, for the first time when she was 11 after a DNA test confirmed his paternity. Kyle Sandilands got into a fight with a waiter during a family lunch with his new wife Tegan Kynaston and their son Otto in France this week. The 52-year-old, who is currently broadcasting the Kyle and Jackie O Show from Saint Tropez, lost his temper after the waiter tried to dob him in to police for parking his car in a loading zone. 'We parked at the front in what appeared to be a loading zone and went inside and the waiter was [speaking in French to my assistant Bruno],' Kyle explained on his radio show on Tuesday. 'Bruno said "you might get towed away" but I told him to sit down we are ordering food.' 'The police showed up in their fancy uniform and gave me a ticket. The food showed up and we started eating and I looked over at the dirty waiter and he was looking at the cops and raising his eyebrows and pointing towards our table.' Kyle Sandilands has revealed he got into a fight with a waiter during a family lunch with his new wife Tegan Kynaston and their son Otto in France Kyle said he then stood up and confronted the waiter, yelling: 'C**t, are you giving me up dog?' 'Then I pointed to my eyes and back towards him as in I'm watching you,' he said. Kyle's co-host Jackie O Henderson questioned: 'You are on your honeymoon, why do you get so angry? I'm so glad I wasn't there for that.' Jackie, Kyle and several other staff members are currently broadcasting their hit KIIS FM radio show from the South of France, as the shock jock enjoys his honeymoon with wife Tegan. On Monday, Kyle also recalled a misunderstanding that occurred while he was at a local restaurant with Jackie and her pre-teen daughter, Kitty. An older French man, described as a 'creep' by Kyle, approached their table and was 'pointing at Kitty's breasts' while rubbing his own chest suggestively. 'The kid's 12 years old!' exclaimed Kyle, who admitted he was outraged by the man's behaviour. 'I thought, "The predator's here, they don't even hide it,"' said the stunned host. The 52-year-old, who is currently broadcasting the Kyle and Jackie O Show from Saint Tropez, lost his temper after the waiter tried to dob him in to police for parking his car in a loading zone 'Approaching kids at tables. This is some bulls**t!' However it later became clear that the man was actually gesturing at Kitty's singlet, which bore a logo for the prestigious US college, Georgetown. 'Anyway, apparently his granddaughter went to Georgetown and he wasn't saying anything about her breasts,' said Kyle. 'The language barrier is proving to be a problem here,' laughed Jackie, while Kyle admitted, 'I might end up in prison here before we get home [to Australia] because I'm overreacting to a lot of stuff.' Lori Harvey confidently embraced her inner 'cowgirl' as she modeled various stylish ensembles for Good American's latest Summer Denim collection in new Instagram posts shared on Monday. The model, 26, who recently enjoyed a girls night out with close pals Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber, showcased upcoming pieces for Khloe Kardashian's successful clothing brand-which is slated to drop later this week on Thursday June 22. The daughter of comedian Steve Harvey flaunted her summer-ready figure in a strapless, light blue denim minidress that contained a slight fringe on the top and also bottom hem. She slipped into a pair of black, over-the-knee boots to complete the ensemble and threw on a black cowboy hat with silver accents to partially cover her short brunette locks. The beauty could be seen striking a pose next a tower of hay while posing inside of what appeared to be a spacious barn. Stunning: Lori Harvey, 26, put on a show-stopping display as she modeled various stylish ensembles for Good American's latest Summer Denim campaign in new Instagram photos shared on Monday New collection: The daughter of comedian Steve Harvey flaunted her summer-ready figure in a strapless, light blue denim minidress In the caption of the post which was uploaded onto Good American's main Instagram page, Khloe penned, 'Face card of dreams. Model/entrepreneur, @loriharvey features in our Summer Denim collection.' 'These pieces are designed to hold you in, smooth you out, and sculpt you where you want it. Drops Thursday, June 22nd.' Lori also donned a black, sleeveless denim cropped top that contained thick straps that wrapped around her shoulders in a separate video. She additionally slipped into a pair of high-waisted, black jeans that gave a glimpse of her toned midriff. To coincide with the all-black color scheme, the media personality added another black cowboy hat on top of her wavy locks. For a flashy touch to the overall look, Harvey added an assortment of chunky, silver necklaces and a glittering choker. The beauty also added a few eye-catching chain belts on the left side of the pants which contained thigh-high slits on the side. The model stepped outdoors and was surrounded by grassy fields as well as various trees and bushes on a ranch that stretched out behind her in the distance. The short clip then transitioned to close-up shots of light blue denim jeans while 'Good American' popped up onto the screen. Ready for summer! Lori also donned a black, sleeveless denim cropped top that contained thick straps that wrapped around her shoulders in a separate video Denim collection: She additionally slipped into a pair of high-waisted, black jeans that gave a glimpse of her toned midriff Theme: To coincide with the all-black color scheme, the media personality added another black cowboy hat on top of her wavy locks Count down: The short clip then transitioned to close-up shots of light blue denim jeans while 'Good American' popped up onto the screen 'Introducing: Summer Denim ft. @loriharvey. From must-have denim details to light washes for hot weather, each piece is tailored to embrace your every curve,' Khloe wrote in the caption of the promotional reel. In another snippet, the star struck a funny pose wearing a denim strapless dress from the earlier post. Lori further embraced the summer season by wearing a cropped, white tank top along with a pair of high-waisted, ripped jeans that were secured with a brown and silver-studded belt that was loosely wrapped around her waist. She accessorized the look with various necklaces and bracelets on each of her wrists as she slowly walked towards the camera while a horse followed closely behind her. The model notably was formerly a competitive equestrian and had initially aimed to compete at the Olympics, but due to a back injury, could not pursue the goal. In another clip, Harvey was seen casually striking a few poses as she gently leaned against the horse. 'Capturing the essence of a sexy summer with @loriharvey in our new Summer Denim collection.' The model also appeared in other reels and photos that were uploaded onto the brand's Instagram stories on Monday to further tease the anticipated collection that drops on Thursday. One photo introduced Lori as the face of the Summer Denim campaign as she bent down to lean against a white fence. The slits on the black pants easily flashed a pair of fashionable, black cowboy boots that she had donned. Having a blast: In another snippet, the star struck a funny pose wearing a denim strapless dress from the earlier post Stylish: In another reel, Lori could be seen sporting a black, denim strapless jumpsuit and accessorized the outfit with a long, gold-chained necklace Spending time outdoors: Lori further embraced the summer season by wearing a cropped, white tank top along with a pair of high-waisted, ripped jeans that were secured with a brown and silver-studded belt Past competitor: The model notably was formerly a competitive equestrian and had initially aimed to compete at the Olympics, but due to a back injury, could not pursue the goal Former sport: In another clip, Harvey was seen casually striking a few poses as she gently leaned against the horse All about the denim: The upcoming Summer Denim collection is slated to drop later this week on Thursday June 22 In another reel, Lori could be seen sporting a black, denim strapless jumpsuit and accessorized the outfit with a long, gold-chained necklace that contained a colorful, diamond-shaped pendant on the front. She strolled towards the camera across a wooden bridge as she slowly led a horse and paused for a few snaps. A caption towards the bottom appeared and read, 'Cowgirl Magic: Discover the new collection inspired by model/entrepreneur and former competitive equestrian.' Another snap showed the star lounging on a grassy hill while modeling one of the stylish outfits for the Cowgirl themed shoot. 'Summer Stunner: Capture the essence of a sexy summer in a new collection of curve flattering denim pieces,' appeared on the image. One of the last pictures to appear on the Instagram stories showed Lori striking a sultry pose while she knelt down on her knees on a dirt road. She donned a plain, white cropped top and blue jeans that were slightly smudged with traces of dirt and dust. Her right hand was placed on top of her head while the other was partially placed in the left pocket of the pants. Khloe Kardashian has been working hard behind-the-scenes for her Good American brand, which she launched back in 2016. Striking a pose: The model also appeared in other reels and photos that were uploaded onto the brand's Instagram stories on Monday to further tease the anticipated collection 'Cowgirl Magic': A caption towards the bottom appeared and read, 'Cowgirl Magic: Discover the new collection inspired by model/entrepreneur and former competitive equestrian' Latest campaign: One photo introduced Lori as the face of the Summer Denim campaign as she bent down to lean against a white fence Fashionable: The slits on the black pants easily flashed a pair of fashionable, black cowboy boots that she had donned A 'stunner': Another snap showed the star lounging on a grassy hill while modeling one of the stylish outfits for the Cowgirl themed shoot Posing: One of the last pictures to appear on the Instagram stories showed Lori showing off a sultry pose while she knelt down on her knees on a dirt road Last week on Thursday, she celebrated the release of her collaboration with Body Glove to create gold and hot pink swimwear that took inspiration from the 1980s. During a recent interview with Elle, Khloe opened up about the 'inclusivity' of her brand, and showcasing women of all shapes and sizes. 'For Good American, thats who weve always been, and its not a fad for us. We dont sell to retail stores unless theyre going to carry the full size range,' she explained. 'That does financially hinder us a lot because not every department store has the budget to do that; I get having a buying budget, and I respect that, but we want everyone who buys Good American to feel included, respected, and seen.' She later added, 'Now that Im a mom and have a daughter, I want her to see every version of herself, her friends, and her cousinsI want everyone to feel validated, I guess.' Successful brand: Last week on Thursday, Khloe celebrated the release of her collaboration with Body Glove to create gold and hot pink swimwear that took inspiration from the 1980s Inclusive: During a recent interview with Elle, Khloe opened up about the 'inclusivity' of her brand, and showcasing women of all shapes and sizes Businesswoman: Aside from being prominent in the fashion industry, the beauty also launched her own skincare line called SKN by LH in 2021 Skincare line: During an interview with Essence late last year in December 2022, the star opened up about creating the brand herself Lori, who is currently dating Swarm actor Damson Idris, has also been keeping busy. Aside from being prominent in the fashion industry, the beauty also launched her own skincare line called SKN by LH in 2021. During an interview with Essence late last year in December 2022, the star opened up about creating the brand herself. 'That has arguably been one of the hardest things Ive ever done in my life, but also one of the most rewarding and fulfilling, because this is the first thing that Ive really been able to call my own thing that Ive really been able to call my own, that I built from the ground up.' She added, 'I wanted to be very hands-on with everything I was doing, and I wanted to make the mistakes, so that I could learn from them and really know how to be a businesswoman at the end of the day.' Jackie 'O' Henderson has attracted a potential suitor while spending time in the south of France. The radio host is currently in Saint-Tropez with her co-host Kyle Sandilands as he celebrates his honeymoon with wife Tegan Kynaston and the pair are continuing to broadcast The Kyle and Jackie O Show overseas. On Tuesday morning, Jackie, 48, was surprised in the studio by a handsome Frenchman named Douglas - a 25-year-old waiter who met Jackie at dinner the night before and wanted to take her on a date. Douglas attempted to woo Jackie during the show, saying if he didn't come to visit her he would never see her again. 'I'm here just for you, Jackie,' he said. 'I just want my date with you.' Jackie 'O' Henderson has attracted a potential suitor while spending time in the south of France . On Tuesday morning, Jackie, 48, was surprised in the studio by a handsome Frenchman named Douglas - a 25-year-old waiter who met Jackie at dinner the night before and wanted to take her on a date Kyle said he was 'impressed' by Douglas' motives and he'd never witnessed anything more romantic, comparing the gesture to something seen in a movie. The radio hosts went on to ask Douglas a series of questions to determine whether or not he would be the perfect match for Jackie. But things took a turn when he revealed a few deal breakers - Douglas admitted was a 'party boy', takes drugs and has slept with over 200 people. Douglas attempted to woo Jackie during the show, saying if he didn't come to visit her he would never see her again. 'I'm here just for you, Jackie,' he said. 'I just want my date with you' He also said he'd committed a few crimes but had never been caught. The final deal breaker for Jackie was that Douglas was a serial 'cheater' when he was young, despite only being in one serious relationship. Jackie ultimately declined the date offer, leaving Kyle disappointed. 'I think he's a nice person,' Kyle said, before Jackie added: 'You're lovely. You're lovely Douglas.' Jackie, Kyle and several other staff members are currently broadcasting their hit KIIS FM radio show from the South of France They're in the European country for Kyle's honeymoon with his wife Tegan Kynsaton Jackie, Kyle and several other staff members are currently broadcasting their hit KIIS FM radio show from the South of France, as the shock jock enjoys his honeymoon with wife Tegan Kynaston. Earlier this month, Jackie revealed her wish list when it comes to finding the perfect man, saying she always chooses personality over looks, and has been on two dates so far after joining up to popular dating app, Hinge. 'Ninety-nine per cent of the checklist was characteristics,' she told News.com.au. 'When it came to physical, there was hardly anything I put in there.' However, there is a height requirement for potential love interests. 'I did have height in there! 511 and above is a preference, but I think my limit on Hinge was like 5'9,' she said. Jackie added she wants to be with someone who likes 'being healthy' but they certainly didn't need to have abs. Earlier this month, Jackie revealed her wish list when it comes to finding the perfect man, saying she always chooses personality over looks The blonde beauty was previously married to British photographer Lee Henderson from 2003 to 2018. The former couple share custody of 12-year-old daughter Kitty. She has not publicly dated anyone since the split, but Lee has moved on with jujitsu instructor Gabriella Motta. Jackie revealed in May she had joined dating app Hinge following her recent slimdown. She told her KIIS FM co-host Kyle Sandilands she had spent the previous night chatting to 'three or four' different men that she'd matched with. The star went on to reveal that she was open to dating a younger man, and had set her age range on Hinge from 35 to 55. Before meeting Lee, she was briefly married to 'Ugly Phil' O'Neil in the late '90s. Married At First Sight's Bronte Schofield has been raking in the cash since joining OnlyFans last week. The 28-year-old online beauty educator has since taken to social media reveal the eye-watering amount of money she made on OnlyFans in her first three days. In a video shared to her TikTok page, the Perth-based TV bride revealed she cashed in more than $100,000 in her first week on the platform. 'POV: You start an [OnlyFans] account for a lol and make $100,000 in 3 days,' she wrote over the video of her pretending to faint. Bronte added: 'Did it for the plot [and] here we are.' Married At First Sight's Bronte Schofield, 28, (pictured) has been raking in the cash since joining OnlyFans last week The 28-year-old online beauty educator has since taken to social media reveal the eye-watering amount of money she made on OnlyFans in her first three days. The busty brunette was the first bride from this year's season of the Channel Nine dating show to announce that she was joining an OnlyFans account. Two other brides from season 10 are understood to have shut down their accounts after signing up to the show. Bronte announced the news with her Instagram followers on Thursday by sharing a racy photo of herself in a skimpy pink bikini. In a video shared to her TikTok page, the Perth-based TV bride revealed she has cashed in over $100,000 on the platform 'POV: You start an [OnlyFans] account for a lol and make $100,000 in 3 days,' she wrote over the video of her pretending to faint 'You asked for it,' Bronte captioned the photo adding a chilli and lock emoji. For $25.99 per month, fans can subscribe to Bronte's account and see a side of the former bride they haven't seen on TV. The bio of Bronte's OnlyFans profile states: 'You asked for it, so here we are. I don't intend to disappoint. And don't mind me, I'm just busy showing off without my bikini.' Bronte announced the news with her Instagram followers on Thursday by sharing a racy photo of herself in a skimpy pink bikini Bronte was a controversial figure on the 2022 season of Married At First Sight, and has kept her feud going with her ex Harrison Boon since the end of the show. Harrison recently opened up about his doomed marriage to Bronte in his most unfiltered interview to date. In a bombshell tell-all with Daily Mail Australia, the builder, 32, spoke about the jaw-dropping moment he discovered Bronte was on the show for fame. For $25.99 per month, fans can subscribe to Bronte's account and now see a side of the former bride they haven't seen on TV The father of one made a series of bombshell revelations - including the moment he confronted Bronte about playing it up for cameras and how he caught her 'lying' during filming. 'The edit was completely on Bronte's side for the entire thing,' Harrison began. 'So many scenes were cut that would've completely swayed the audience. I think if people actually saw what I was reacting to, they would've thought, 'This guy's just a reasonable bloke'.' He later found out that Bronte had been discussing him and her intentions in a group message before the experiment began. He said that he feels that Bronte went onto the show with ulterior motives. Christie Swadling was recently caught using the FaceTime app on her mobile phone while driving. The 'bankrupt' influencer, 27, who had to write-off her last luxury car, shared a clip of her call with stepson Kaden which showed her operating a vehicle at the time. It was re-shared to Instagram watchdog account Dutch Minty on Monday in a post which noted the fitness guru's misuse of a mobile while driving. In the video, Christie was video calling her fiance Joel Price's son as he set up and managed a 'lollie stand' on the side of the road at his mother's house. At the bottom right of the screen, Christie could be seen driving her car as she looked from the camera to the road. Christie Swadling, 27, (pictured) was recently caught using the FaceTime app on her mobile phone while driving She originally posted the video to her own Instagram stories, writing: 'Kaden's at his mum's and FaceTiming me to show me his lollie stand. I legit can't with this kid, such a hustler. He sells s**t on my Facebook market account too.' According to the New South Wales state laws, where Christie currently lives, a driver may receive an audio phone call while operating their vehicle under certain conditions. The mobile device must be secured to a cradle fixed to the car and can only be used if the driver isn't required to touch any part of the phone. The 'bankrupt' influencer who had to write-off her last luxury car, shared a clip of her call with step-son Kaden which showed her operating a vehicle at the time All other functions including video calling, texting, emailing, social media, web browsing and photography are prohibited unless parked. Since Christie was video calling her step-son rather than receiving an audio call, her use of the mobile device while driving could be considered illegal under NSW law. According to the NSW transport department, the fine for illegal mobile phone use in NSW is $362, or $481 if detected in a school zone. It was re-shared to Instagram watchdog account Dutch Minty on Monday in a post which noted the fitness guru's misuse of a mobile while driving There is a five demerit point penalty for illegal mobile phone use, which increases to 10 demerit points during double demerit periods. Daily Mail Australia has reached out for comment. It comes after Christie revealed in February she was forced to write-off her prior luxury car last year. 'To those who don't know, I wrote my car off in the city a few months back... but my new car arrives next month,' she said in an Instagram Q&A at the time. While she provided no details on what happened to her last vehicle, Christie did reveal she bought a new 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander to replace her old car. She is known for her daring outfit choices. And a recent Instagram photo of Gabrielle Epstein certainly had people looking twice as she bared very nearly all in a skimpy dress. The Australian model, 29, turned heads as she posed in a full-length baby blue gown. She posted several photos to her Instagram story on Tuesday that showcased the daring dress. And it appeared she hadn't tied the backless dress properly, as it quite prominently showed off her bum crack. A recent Instagram photo of Gabrielle Epstein (pictured) certainly had people looking twice as she bared all in a skimpy dress The busty-blonde also showed off some side boob in the skimpy dress, as she flaunted her figure in a beautiful mountainous location. In the snaps, the model turned her back to the camera and showed off her backside as she pouted her lips. She kept her long blonde locks back in a messy bun to flaunt her bare back, as he accessorised simply with a pair of gold hoop earrings. It was far from the first time Gabrielle has showcased a daring outfit on her Instagram. Last month, the model didn't wear much as she enjoyed a night out in Mexico. Her flimsy frock featured a very low-cut cowl neckline and sheer fabric which revealed her underwear. The Australian model, 29, turned heads as she posed in a full-length baby blue gown Last month, the model didn't wear much as she enjoyed a night out in Mexico She fixed a chain around her waist to highlight her slender midsection with the clasp hovering just above her bottom. Gabby drew more attention to her best assets by wearing a silver pendant around her neck and she styled her hair in a cute braid. Meanwhile, the blonde bombshell sizzles on the cover of Maxim magazine's June issue, showing off her incredibly toned figure in a black corset, matching G-string and a shrug top. In another sultry image from the spread, Gabrielle also posed topless as she reclined on a sun lounge in a pair of tiny shorts while reading the newspaper. Julia Fox shared heartbreaking news that her pet cat, Fernando, passed away on Monday. While mourning the loss, the Uncut Gems actress, 33, took to her Instagram to share a throwback clip of her two-year-old son, Valentino, sitting beside the pale orange feline on the couch. In the video, her only child plants a smooch on the top of the cat's head and pretends to feed him with his baby bottle. From behind the camera, the model can be heard encouraging him to give the cat who passed away at the age of 16 another kiss and Valentino gently does so. 'RIP,' the media personality who walked the runway in a sheer slip dress during Milan Fashion Week wrote over the clip as her caption. 'My sweet Fernando.' Devastating news: Julia Fox shared heartbreaking news that her pet cat, Fernando, passed away on Monday. While mourning the loss, the Uncut Gems actress, 33, took to her Instagram to share a throwback clip of her two-year-old son, Valentino, sitting beside the pale orange feline on the couch 'My first baby,' she continued about her cat born in 2007. 'Growing up with you was the biggest blessing. 'I love you so much,' she added in her touching note before calling him 'truly the best cat in the world'. In the past, the Down the Drain author kept relatively private about her pets and did not post about her cat on social media at all. However, with this clip, she shared an adorable moment with the pet and her toddler son. On the same day, Fox also shared a clip of herself in a risque ensemble from DSquared2 while partying with a mystery man. The siren modeled a seashell bikini top and a white micro skirt that revealed a black G-string. She also donned a pair of black sandal heels with a gold lobster on the dorsal side of each foot. In the clip, she was seen smoldering and dancing with her hand placed on the man's chest as he filmed her. At the end of the clip, she blows a kiss to the camera. Mourning the loss: 'RIP,' the media personality who walked the runway in a sheer slip dress during Milan Fashion Week wrote over the clip as her caption. 'My sweet Fernando' Adorable: In the video, her only child plants a smooch on the top of the cat's head and pretends to feed him with his baby bottle Partying away: On the same day, Fox also shared a clip of herself in a risque ensemble from DSquared2 while partying with a mystery man Daring outfit: The siren modeled a seashell bikini top and a white micro skirt that revealed a black G-string. She also donned a pair of black sandal heels with a gold lobster on the dorsal side of each foot Mystery man: In the clip, she was seen smoldering and dancing with her hand placed on the man's chest as he filmed her. At the end of the clip, she blows a kiss to the camera Her son: The filmmaker currently only has one child whom she shares with her ex-husband, Peter Artemiev. The former couple had tied the knot in 2018 before calling it quits and filing for divorce two years later. After their split, the ex-girlfriend of Kanye West welcomed Valentino on January 17, 2021 The filmmaker currently only has one child whom she shares with her ex-husband, Peter Artemiev. The former couple had tied the knot in 2018 before calling it quits and filing for divorce two years later. After their split, the ex-girlfriend of Kanye West welcomed Valentino on January 17, 2021. Recently, the brunette bombshell brought along her kid to work to Italy for Milan Fashion Week. Keeping her 1.5 million followers on Instagram updated, Fox has been busy posting pictures of daring ensembles she modeled during her trip. While in Milan, she had taken on the runway and walked the Dsquared2 Spring/Summer 2024 fashion show in a sexy negligee. She also attended the British Vogue and LuisaViaRoma event in a show-stopping red ensemble and turned up the drama with her makeup. Fans of the Yellowstone spinoff 1923 could be in for a long wait after production on the show was paused for the foreseeable future due to the ongoing writers strike. The series, which stars Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, was set to begin production earlier this month, but filming never commenced due to the strike, reports NBC Montana. This is the latest setback for showrunner Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone empire, after his flagship series was reported to be ending amid disputes with star Kevin Costner. According to NBC, the Butte Civic Center manager Bill Melvin said representatives from 1923 informed him that the series had been delayed due to the strike, which would prevent Sheridan who wrote all of the first season's episodes from writing additional episodes or changing any aspect of the scripts. Members of the Writers Guild of America are on strike for better pay and to get assurances from major studios and streamers that they won't replace writers with AI-created scripts, though the studios have so far been unwilling to budge. On hold: Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren's Yellowstone spinoff 1923 has been delayed indefinitely due to the ongoing WGA strike, NBC Montana reported on Monday Keeping its options open: The show is reportedly asking for an extension on a contract to rent the Butte Civic Center for $75K-per-month through the end of the year; still from 1923 Production was originally slated to begin on Monday, June 5. The Civic Center may still be able to profit from the production, even if filming isn't going on at the moment. According to Melvin, the series is paying the city of Butte and Silver Bow County $75,000 per month for the use of the city's Civic Center through the end of 2023. The production has reportedly requested a 10-day extension on the contract. That arrangement will need to get the OK from the City-County Commission, but NBC notes that the Civic Center's board has already expressed its approval to let 1923 continue renting the venue. The production may also request future extensions as the writers strike continues with no end in sight. Melvin added that the Civic Center was ready to go whenever the cast and crew were given the all clear to resume filming. Like many prestige streaming shows, 1923 was only expected to have a relatively short run, and Paramount confirmed earlier this year that it would get a second eight-episode season to wrap up the prequel series. Ford and Mirren star as the descendants of Yellowstone's John Dutton III (Costner). There series follows the earlier one-and-done season of 1883, which starred Tim McGraw and his wife Faith Hill. It may not be as simple as wrapping up the WGA strike, which could continue for months to come due to the studios and streamers' intractability. The series might also be hit by a potential strike from the Screen Actors Guild, after its members authorized a potential stoppage should its own negotiations with the studios and streamers fall through. Strike two: The turmoil is the latest problem for writerdirectorshowrunner Taylor Sheridan after disputes with Yellowstone's Kevin Costner led to reports of the show's ending; still from Yellowstone Next shoe to drop: Sheridan (L) could have more trouble, as a potential Screen Actors Guild strike could overlap or even follow the WGA strike; seen with Kelly Reillly and Costner in 2018 Rather than negotiation directly with studios, the guilds have been trying to find agreements with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the studios and top streamers. The Directors Guild of America recently announced a deal to prevent a strike, but several members of the union have expressed disappointment at the terms of the deal. Other members of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have lambasted the DGA for the relatively modest terms of its deal and the quick resolution, which may have strengthened the studios' negotiation position against the WGA and Screen Actors Guild. However, a majority of the members of the DGA will still have to vote to accept the deal. Ellie Williams shared a heartbreaking tribute to her late father, Treat Williams, on Father's Day, one week after he died in a tragic motorcycle accident. His grieving daughter, 25, shared two pictures of her dad on Instagram stories. In the first image, Treat helped baby Ellie stand as he supported her from the back. She inscribed the image, 'I love you, Dad. I miss you.' The second image showed Treat with grey hair sitting on a tractor in the middle of a field. She captioned the post, 'I took this picture of my pops when I was in college. He's so handsome.' Hair star Williams, 71, died on Monday after his motorcycle smashed into an SUV which was turning left into a parking lot by Long Trail Auto near Dorset. Touching: Treat Williams' daughter, Ellie Williams shared two images of Treat on Father's Day. In the first picture, the doting dad helped baby Ellie stand. She inscribed the post, 'I love you, Dad. I miss you' Gone too soon: Ellie shared a heartbreaking tribute to her late father one week after he died in a tragic accident. She captioned the post, 'I took this picture of my pops when I was in college. He's so handsome' On Wednesday, Ellie shared another moving post on Instagram as the family gathered at their $1million Vermont estate following his fatal motorcycle accident. Ellie shared a snap showing her father's beloved dog Woody, with text overlaid that simply read: 'We're home, dad.' Williams was conscious and alert after being thrown to the pavement, answering questions from paramedics before he was airlifted to Albany Medical Center in New York, where he was pronounced dead. Ellie - who is the only daughter of the Golden Globe nominated star and his wife Pam Van Sant - described her 'terrible heartbreak' in the wake of his death. Ellie also shared a link to a New York Times article about her father with her followers and described it as 'wonderful'. On Tuesday she shared a grief-stricken message alongside an old picture of her father and a close-up of his name emblazoned on a bomber jacket. 'This is a pain I have never felt. I am absolutely shattered,' she wrote. 'Thank you to everyone who has sent messages and kept our family in your hearts during this terrible heartbreak.' Police said Treat was 'unable to avoid a collision' with a 2008 Honda Element driven by Ryan Koss, 35. The actor, 71, died last Monday after his motorcycle smashed into an SUV which was turning left into a parking lot by Long Trail Auto near Dorset Ellie shared another post on Wednesday which said 'we're home, dad' as the family gathered at their $1million Vermont estate following his fatal motorcycle accident His daughter Ellie, 25, shared a photo from the family home on Wednesday and has described her 'terrible heartbreak' in the wake of his death A witness who saw the crash said Treat was conscious after being thrown from his motorcycle. 'He was totally alert, answering questions,' said Matt Rapphahn, the owner of Long Trail Auto on Route 30, adjacent to the crash site. Rapphahn, 29, was standing outside his shop when the crash took place right in front of him. 'He was totally laid out, and they were asking him basic questions, like ''do you know where you are,'' and ''what's your wife's name,'' that kind of stuff,' he recalled. 'And he was responsive. He seemed like he was awake the whole time because, obviously, when they had to move him, you could see he was in a great deal of pain. They loaded him up into the ambulance and drove off. 'Honestly, I was pretty hopeful that he was going to pull through.' He said Treat was a regular customer - a classic car and motorcycle enthusiast who'd bring his vehicles in for repairs and restoration work. 'He stopped into the shop just a few weeks ago and made some appointments for his vehicles,' Rapphahn said. 'He pulled up here in his old Apache pickup truck, a blue '57 Chevy. We were talking about actors going on strike right now, and he seemed kind of grumpy about it. He wanted to get back to work acting.' 'We talked about airplanes too because he was an airplane enthusiast,' he added. 'I'd run into him in town all the time,' he said. 'He'd share some stories. He had such a good laugh. He was a great guy, super nice. This was his home. This was his community.' He said Treat was also exceptionally generous and once wrote a check to repair the home of one of Matt's mechanic friends after a fire. 'People around here have been using that old cliche all day that for somebody who is Hollywood famous, he was totally chill,' he said. Vermont State Police detectives confirmed driver Koss was not drunk at the time of the horror crash. Authorities gave an update to press on Tuesday as the force continues to investigate what happened. Pictured: Ryan Koss, 35, was driving his Honda Element SUV on Route 30 and was turning into the auto shop parking lot when he collided with Williams Koss had an appointment at the autobody shop to bring his SUV to get a state inspection sticker Ellie, pictured with her father in April, is the only daughter of the Golden Globe nominated star and his wife Pam Van Sant She described her 'heartbreak' to her Instagram followers on Tuesday in the wake of her father's death, and thanked people who had sent her messages of support Koss' car had major damage to the front end passenger side, while William's 1986 Honda VT700c motorcycle (pictured) had 'front-end damage' Lieutenant Steven Coote said investigators have not yet made 'a formal determination' on who is to blame for the crash, according to the Boston Globe. He added that Koss, who is from Pownal in the south-western corner of Vermont, was screened and cops 'determined there wasn't any evidence of impairment'. The driver was also 'checked by medical personnel at the scene for minor injuries', and he did not need hospital treatment. Coote added that detectives have 'utilized tools and technology' including a drone flight, as well as 'old-fashioned crash investigation stuff' like on-scene photographs in the investigation. He told reporters he could not provide an 'exact timeframe' for when the probe is likely to conclude, but he hopes 'to have some more answers soon'. Following the fatal crash, Koss' car had major damage to the front end passenger side, while Treat's 1986 Honda VT700c motorcycle had 'front-end damage'. The Everwood actor had been riding his $3,500 bike when he was hit by Koss' vehicle as it cut across the northbound lane of Route 30 in the Morse Hill Road area of Dorset, south-west Vermont. He was wearing a helmet at the time and was treated at the scene by paramedics before being rushed to hospital via helicopter, where he was pronounced dead. Treat and Koss in all likelihood knew each other, as Koss works at the theater where Williams performed American Buffalo in 2017. It is currently not known when Treat's funeral will take place. Treat, best known for his roles in Everwood and Hair, was enjoying his weekend mowing the lawn at his $1million Vermont home just hours before the tragedy. He was married to actress Van Sant, and together they had two children, Gille and Ellie - and often shared his idyllic country life for his fans on social media. Treat was born 1951 in Rowayton, Connecticut, and kickstarted his professional acting career in his 20s after graduating from Franklin and Marshall College. He shot to fame after his debut role in the thriller Deadly Hero in 1975. He also performed in 1976's The Ritz and The Eagle Has Landed. In 1979, he starred as George Berger in the film Hair, which was based on the Broadway musical. Treat pictured with his children Gil and Ellie on set of White Collar in Manhattan in May 2012 Treat Williams pictured with his wife Pam Van Sant and their beloved dog Woody In a social media post hours before the fatal crash, Williams shared a snap of his land with the caption: 'Mowing today. Wish I could bottle the scent' In 1979, Treat starred as George Berger in the film Hair, which was based on the Broadway musical It was the role which earned him his first Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year - and two years later, he got his second nomination for his acting in Prince of The City. He also played Dr. Andrew Brown in Everwood - and he received two SAG Award nominations for his work on the show. In a social media post from just seven hours ago, he shared a snap of his land with the caption: 'Mowing today. Wish I could bottle the scent.' And two hours before the news of his death came to light, he recorded himself mowing the ground, writing: 'What a real Vermonter does.' Melissa Doyle appeared ageless on Saturday as she stepped out back stage at Channel Seven's studio before her surprise appearance on The Morning Show. The former Sunrise host, 53, worked all her best angles for Instagram in a stunning Carla Zampatti gown for her epic return to breakfast television. Appearing as a guest alongside her daughter Talia, the veteran television presenter looked half her age in the black frock worth an eye-watering $999. She paired the timeless look with a simple pair of black pumps as she styled her golden tresses to frame her natural beauty. 'Loving this dress! Simple, elegant and comfy! Thank you Carla Zampatti,' she captioned the photo before making her TV appearance. Melissa Doyle, 53, (pictured) appeared ageless on Saturday as she stepped out back stage before her surprise appearance on The Morning Show Her fans fell into a frenzy and flocked to her comments section to express their delight over her fresh look. 'Dazzling. And the dress is absolutely stunning too,' one person said. 'You could light up a dark room with that smile. Stunning as always,' another wrote. The former Sunrise host worked all her best angles for Instagram in a stunning Carla Zampatti gown for her epic return to breakfast television. Pictured with daughter Talia (front right) and The Morning Show hosts Kylie Gillies (back left) and Larry Emdur (back right) Appearing as a guest alongside her daughter Talia, 19, the veteran television presenter looked half her age in the black frock worth an eye-watering $999 She paired the timeless look with a simple pair of black pumps as she styled her golden tresses to frame her natural beauty Her fans fell into a frenzy and flocked to her comments section to express their delight over her fresh look A third added: 'F**king stunning! 'Scuse the language on that one, but aye, you look amazing!' Melissa appeared on The Morning Show alongside her daughter Talia as they spoke about their recent trip to Kenya for World Vision. The Channel Seven journalist, who has been an ambassador for the charity for years, took the 19-year-old for her first visit to the impoverished nation. While on the trip, the two women saw farming regeneration projects, a women's empowerment saving group, and met Mel's sponsor child, Bridget, four. Tom Cruise and Scarlett Johansson seem to be on the same page about combining their star power for a film project. The 60-year-old Top Gun: Maverick star revealed at the Rome premiere of his latest blockbuster Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One that he 'absolutely' is interested in working with the 38-year-old Avengers actress. His interest in collaborating comes after Johansson confessed at the New York City of her new Wes Andersondirected film Asteroid City that Cruise is the last major star that she dreams of sharing the screen with. 'Id love to work with Tom Cruise,' she admitted to The Hollywood Reporter on the red carpet on June 13, adding that she hoped someone would pitch a film idea featuring the two. Luckily for her, Cruise told THR he was game when it came time for him to lead a film premiere. It's fate: Tom Cruise, 60, said he would 'absolutely' want to work with Scarlett Johansson, 38, in the future during the Rome premiere of Mission: Impossible 7 on Monday. She previously said he was the last major star she wanted to work with at the Asteroid City Premiere Big fan: 'Shes amazing,' Cruise gushed about Johansson. 'Theres a great actress and a movie star. After he was asked if he thought the two actors could be compatible on screen, he replied, ' Yes. Its gonna happen'; still from Mission: Impossible 7 'Shes amazing,' he gushed about Johansson. 'Theres a great actress and a movie star. After he was asked if he thought the two actors could be compatible on screen, he replied, 'Yes. Its gonna happen.' It's not uncommon for actors to praise their colleagues to keep their options open, but Cruise indicated he was genuinely interested as he went on to praise the Ghost World star. 'Look, I've watched her career her whole life. She's enormously talented, very charismatic,' he said. 'It'd be fun.' The Minority Report star added that Johansson 'could do everything.' 'She could do comedy, drama, action, suspense. She's someone that really draws you in on the screen, on camera,' he continued. 'So absolutely, it's gonna happen.' The actor also delved into his love for making films that excite audiences at a premiere for his new film, which is likely to do just that. 'I love that cinema experience, and this film was made for that,' he said. 'I've always been studying any new programs that they have and any way that I can engage an audience and make it more entertaining more immersive. Look, I have always wanted to make movies and travel the world and to be able to have this opportunity now, this is what I wanna do.' Cruise enthusiasm for new projects comes shortly after Mission: Impossible 7 received rapturous first reactions from assorted critics and social media stars who caught the film early. Thumbs up: 'Look, I've watched her career her whole life. She's enormously talented, very charismatic,' he said. 'It'd be fun.' The Minority Report star added that Johansson 'could do everything'; still from Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One Stealing the show: Johansson has been receiving special praise for her lead role in Wes Anderson's critically acclaimed new comedy Asteroid City (pictured) Johansson has been receiving her own acclaim for Asteroid City, which has been a hit with critics, many of whom have singled out her lead role opposite Jason Schwartzman. The film is currently paying in limited release and scored an astounding $890K estimated four-day opening, according to Deadline. That comes out to a four-day per-theater average of $148,901, which would be a record since the start of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. According to its distributor, Focus Features, Asteroid City also boasts the best per-theater average since 2016's La La Land. Samuel Johnson has revealed the bizarre symptoms he experienced after he almost died in a shocking car accident in June 2021. The actor, 45, said he 'spoke with a Russian accent for several days' and then thought he was a 'Japanese schoolgirl'. 'Admittedly, I was a bit wonky straight after the accident. I had a Russian accent for three days. I was a Japanese girl, aged eleven, for a day and a half,' he wrote in a column for the Love Your Sister website. 'And there was a pseudonym on my wrist. I just knew my name wasn't Alexis. My name was Sam, and I was a cancer fundraiser. It was a confusing time.' 'I was convinced I was in a doughnut factory, then I thought I might be in an insane asylum. It's called Post Traumatic Amnesia, or PTA.' Samuel Johnson has claimed he thought he 'was a Japanese schoolgirl for days' after near-fatal car accident gave him a brain injury Samuel was driving to a relative's house on June 19th, 2021 when he pulled over and crossed the road to relieve himself, because he was 'bursting' and didn't think he could wait an extra half hour. As he went to return to his vehicle, he was accidentally struck by a car. He later confirmed he had broken his skull, suffered bleeding on the brain, injured the ligaments in his neck, partially dislocated his jaw and endured deep bruising down the side of his body. Discussing his lucky escape on Sunrise, he added: 'I'm here, so I'm really grateful. I basically nearly died. 'It's really common for people who have a brain injury to be quite emotional, and I was crying a lot, I was very emotional. In a column for the Love Your Sister website, the actor, 45, revealed he 'spoke with a Russian accent for several days' and then thought he was a 'Japanese schoolgirl'. Pictured Samuel and his sister Hilde 'I went to being slightly on the gushy side, to being a full-time gusher. My family wish I never had the accident as I'm now super emotional.' He added that during his six-week hospital stay, he saw many people that were 'a lot more injured' than himself. 'There were people that had been there for months, and were way more injured than me. I'm not trying to diminish what I went through, but there were people that got collected at a higher speed - we feel a little bit lucky. 'At home we call it the good accident.' 'Admittedly, I was a bit wonky straight after the accident. I had a Russian accent for three days. I was a Japanese girl, aged eleven, for a day and a half,' he said Samuel's brush with death was another tragic blow for his family, who lost their sister Connie in September 2017. She had suffered from bone cancer at age 11, uterine cancer at age 22 and breast cancer at age 33. Connie died one day after being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia at age 40. Samuel started the Love My Sister cancer charity in 2012 alongside Connie. Edwina Bartholomew's husband Neil Varcoe recently went public about his struggle with the debilitating illness Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. And on Monday, he took to Instagram to thank his fans for the outpouring of support he had received. Alongside some scenic nature shots taken at the rural NSW farm he works at, he wrote some heartfelt words. 'Thank you for your kind comments, DMs, texts and emails I'm thrilled that my story has resonated,' he began. 'There are so many people with invisible conditions like mine that feel seen today, and that's incredible. I'm OK and far too headstrong to let Chronic Fatigue beat me.' Edwina Bartholomew's husband Neil Varcoe recently went public about his struggle with the debilitating illness Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Both pictured Many of Neil's fans quickly took to the comment section to commend his bravery. 'That attitude will help you heaps,' one fan gushed, while another wrote: 'Stay positive'. Last week, Edwina, 39, revealed her husband Neil has been quietly battling the debilitating illness for years. On Monday, the farmer took to Instagram to thank his fans for the outpouring of support he had received from them In a joint interview with The Australian Woman's Weekly, the pair revealed that Neil was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome five years ago, and that his condition has made raising their daughter Molly, three, and son Tom, one, very difficult. According to the magazine, Edwina broke down in tears as she recalled the 'overwhelming' experience of welcoming two children while also managing her husband's illness. 'It was just as intense for those first six or eight weeks [after giving birth]. You just go, 'Oh my gosh, this is confronting',' she said. Many of Neil's fans quickly took to the comment section to commend his bravery. Pictured with Edwina and their son Tom 'We're getting better at it. I can tell now when Neil's having a tough day,' she added. Neil, who has pursued a career in farming after being sacked from Twitter amid Elon Musk's job cuts, also described the first time he was afflicted with symptoms of chronic fatigue, telling the magazine he was sick for about three weeks. 'My energy went through the floor and there were moments when I would walk to the end of my street, and I had to turn around and come back home. I had nothing left,' he said. Neil said managing his condition has been a 'really tough path', and that he's 'had to make some really tough decisions' with 'Edwina's support'. 'There are so many people with invisible conditions like mine that feel seen today, and that's incredible. I'm OK I am I'm far too headstrong to let Chronic Fatigue beat me,' Neil wrote She's set to make her debut as The Doctor's newest companion later this year. And Millie Gibson certainly set pulses racing in a plunging red satin mini dress as she shared a gallery of Instagram snaps from her fun-filled birthday weekend on Tuesday. The former Coronation Street star, 19, who is set to board the TARDIS as companion Ruby Sunday, slipped into the gorgeous dress as she enjoyed a swanky Italian dinner. Millie also shared snaps from her trip to a trip to Sketch in Mayfair, before heading to Build-A-Bear to pick up a cuddly toy to match her own quirky sense of style. The actress also wowed in a gorgeous white mini dress as she enjoyed an afternoon tea overlooking the city of London. Wow! Millie Gibson, 19, set pulses racing in a plunging red satin mini dress as she shared a gallery of Instagram snaps from her fun-filled birthday weekend on Tuesday Here she is! The Coronation Street star who is set to board the TARDIS as companion Ruby Sunday, slipped into the gorgeous dress as she enjoyed a swanky Italian dinner Having fun? The actress also wowed in a gorgeous white mini dress as she enjoyed an afternoon tea overlooking the city of Cardiff Millie also shared an eye-popping video clad in her tight red dress as she strutted down the street to her birthday meal. Her post was captioned: 'birthday weekending.' It comes after Millie was branded a 'diva' by Dr Who cast and crew after struggling to deal with night shoots since filming began in Cardiff last month. The actress will star alongside Ncuti Gatwa and Jonathan Groff in the forthcoming run of the cult BBC sci-fi series, which turns 60 this year. Despite throwing herself into the project, Millie's attitude about filming times reportedly hasn't gone down well with the team working on the show. A source told The Mirror: 'No one could question Millie's commitment to Doctor Who, but there is a lot of pressure coming into a role like this. 'She is determined to get it right. But the days are long and at times, when night filming has been suggested, she has made her feelings clear. 'Millie is a pro on set and although night shoots are part of the job, they can be tiring for even the most experienced actors. Lavish: Millie shared a glimpse of the restaurant's picturesque decor as she enjoyed the swanky dinner in honour of her 19th birthday Funky: Millie also shared snaps from her trip to a trip to Sketch in Mayfair, donning a 90s-inspired look consisting of a pink T-shirt and a blue bucket hat Cute! She also shared a snap of her fluffy pink companion after paying a visit to Build-A-Bear 'She won't be the first or last person to be a bit annoyed by a night shoot, but it has won her some snippy comments behind the scenes. The word 'diva' has been used once or twice when tempers are fraying.' MailOnline has contacted Millie's representatives and the BBC for comment. The blonde beauty is set to join the long-running show as character Ruby, acting as the new Doctor Ncuti Gatwa 's companion. It was revealed in December that she had bagged the role, with the news being announced during Children In Need's annual telethon. Doctor Who returns in November 2023 with three special episodes to coincide with the show's 60th anniversary, with David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor. The Fifteenth Doctor, played by Ncuti, will then take control of the TARDIS, with his first episode airing over the festive period next year. In a statement, the star said that the new role is a 'dream come true' as the much-anticipated secret was finally revealed, much to the delight of fans. 'Whilst still being in total disbelief, I am beyond honoured to be cast as the Doctor's companion,' Millie said in the statement released by the BBC. 'It is a gift of a role, and a dream come true, and I will do everything to try and fill the boots the fellow companions have travelled in before me.' She added: 'And what better way to do that than being by the fabulous Ncuti Gatwa's side, I just can't wait to get started.' Doctor Who will air on the BBC in the UK and Ireland and streaming platform Disney+ will show episodes to audiences elsewhere. Coming soon: Millie is set to join Ncuti Gatwa as companion Ruby Sunday in the new series of Doctor Who, which kicks off later this year EastEnders legend Anita Dobson, 73, will also star in the series and will be playing Mrs Flood, the elderly neighbour to The Doctor's companion Ruby. Anita recently let slip the name of her Doctor Who character and what her role will entail while speaking exclusively with MailOnline. While attending the ICON Awards in Support of Prostate Cancer Charity in February, she gushed about playing Mrs Flood, the elderly neighbour to Millie's Ruby Sunday. She brushed off talk of playing a lead part in the show, admitting: 'I wouldn't say starring, I think the Lord himself, Ncuti and Millie are the ones starring, I'm merely joining the ranks of. The star-studded cast for the upcoming series will also feature tw o-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon. The actor - who goes by the pronouns she/they - will be portraying the new baddie in the BBC science fiction TV series. Emma Watson left fans bamboozled with her 'gravity-defying' dress, on Monday. The Harry Potter actress, 33, took to Instagram where she posted snaps of herself posing with her brother Alex for his new gin brand, Renais. Emma looked sensational in a stunning strapless baby blue draped minidress boasting asymmetric wiring, from Loewes spring 2023 collection. The superstar's followers were immediately confused over the garment's structure, questioning how it stayed in place and asking if it was Harry Potter style wizardry. One fan asked: 'What in the wingardium leviosa is that dress?' while another added: 'The dress looks like it's floating. I'm trying to understand.' Eh? Emma Watson left fans bamboozled with her 'gravity-defying' dress after posting snaps of herself posing with her brother Alex to Instagram, on Monday, for his new gin brand, Renais 'The dress said wingardium leviosa,' commented someone else as another follower asked: 'How is that dress on your body? Hanging from your ears?' Someone asserted: 'This dress is defying physics,' with another admitting: 'This image is bamboozling me,' while someone else noted: 'the dress is giving wingardium leviosa.' The new shots come just a few days after Emma was seen piggybacking with snack brand founder Ryan Kohn as the duo frolicked in Venice. The newly-single star looked in high spirits just weeks after it was reported that she'd split from the son of retail tycoon Sir Philip Green, Brandon. Emma was with Brandon for 18 months and it was in Venice when their relationship became public after they were spotted holding hands. MailOnline contacted a representative for Emma for comment at the time. Emma and Brandon are said to have split some time after Christmas - following a 'serious' romance. Brandon had a reputation as a party-lover and previously dated a number of models. He was once caught patting Kate Moss' bottom on holiday in St Barths. How? The superstar's followers were immediately confused over the garment's structure, questioning how it stayed in place and asking if it was Harry Potter style wizardry Raised in the tax haven of Monaco his Bar Mitzvah, at the fabled Hotel Du Cap, included performances by Beyonce and Andrea Bocelli. However, more recently he demonstrated an interest in good works including biodiversity and the oceans, and was described as 'polite and smart' by friends. With a fledgling tech investments company, Brendan had seemed a good match for Emma, a serious-minded woman who took a degree at Brown University post-Potter. She now harbours ambitions behind the camera, having set up two film production companies and directed herself in a Prada commercial. Emma famously remarked during a period when she was single that she was 'self-partnered' but by more conventional standards she has been a serial monogamist and serially unlucky in love. An early boyfriend was rugby player Tom Ducker. He was followed by a more serious romance with fellow Oxford University students Will Adamowicz and Matt Janney. She has dated three young tech millionaires, most significantly the entrepreneur William 'Mack' Knight. They split in late 2017 after a two year romance. On the rebound she had a six month love affair with handsome Glee actor Chord Overstreet. They broke up during the summer of 2018. Out and about: The new shots come just a few days after Emma was seen piggybacking with snack brand founder Ryan Kohn as the duo frolicked in Venice (Emma pictured in 2018) She was then spotted sharing cocktails with tech CEO Brendan Wallace, the is co-founder of a venture capital fund who she may or may not be dating again now. By the summer of 2019, she had moved on to another tech millionaire, Brendan Iribe, CEO of Oculus. He was followed by businessman Leo Robinton, with whom she spent two years. In an interview she said: 'The boyfriends or partners I've had have generally made me feel really cherished. They've built me up.' Kelly Osbourne has launched into a furious tirade where she branded Prince Harry 'a whining, whinging, complaining t**t.' The star, 38, delivered a scathing rant where she slammed the Royal's recent confessions about his struggles, insisting: 'Everybody's life is f*****g hard.' Speaking on the I've Had It podcast, Kelly left hosts Jennifer Welch and Angie 'Pumps' Sullivan in hysterics when she branded Harry a 'f*****g t**t.' She said: 'I think Harry is a f*****g t**t, I do! He is a whining, whinging complaining, woe is me, I'm the only one whose had mental problems, my life was so hard, everybody's life was f*****g hard! 'Everybody's f*****g life is hard, you were the Prince of a goddamn country who dressed up as a f*****g Nazi, and now you're trying to come back as the Pope. Suck it! No!' Brutal! Kelly Osbourne has launched into a furious tirade where she branded Prince Harry 'a whining, whinging, complaining t**t' Drama: She also referenced Harry's 2005 controversy when he was pictured wearing a Nazi uniform at a costume party Elsewhere on the podcast, Kelly also reflected on her own struggles with drug addiction, and revealed she was admitted to rehab five times during her battle to get clean. 'Rehab can be the best thing that ever happened to you, and it can also be the most boring 28 days of your life, right? It's all about what you put into it,' she confessed. 'I got to the bottom of so many hardcore issues and the root of so many of my problems. It changed everything, once you have an understanding and you get a diagnosis of what it is that's going on.' It comes just days after it was confirmed that Meghan Markle's Spotify podcast Archetypes will not be renewed for a second season. The streaming giant and the Sussexes released a joint statement saying they have 'mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together'. But Bill Simmons, Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetization at Spotify, condemned the pair in an episode of his own podcast on Friday. 'The f***ing grifters. That's the podcast we should have launched with them,' he said. 'I've got to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It's one of my best stories.' There have been several issues between the Sussexes and the royals in recent years. Harry and Charles are understood to be barely on speaking terms after the Duke repeatedly criticised his family in a series of interviews and his memoir, Spare. Speaking out: The actress delivered a scathing rant where she slammed the Royal's recent confessions about his struggles, insisting: 'Everybody's life is f*****g hard' Brutal: She said: 'He is a whining, whinging complaining, woe is me, I'm the only one whose had mental problems, my life was so hard, everybody's life was f*****g hard!' Axed: It comes just days after it was confirmed that Meghan Markle's Spotify podcast Archetypes will not be renewed for a second season Since officially leaving the Royal Family and moving to California in 2020, Harry and Meghan have pursued a number of different areas to bring in revenue. This includes Harry's bombshell memoir Spare which he created as part of a reported 15million ($20million) deal with Penguin Books. The couple also teamed up with Netflix to produce the docu-series called Harry And Meghan, with the streaming giant reportedly paying the pair roughly 77million ($100million) for the six-episode series. The Sussexes reportedly signed a 15million ($20million) deal with Spotify for Meghan's Archetypes project in late 2020 but insiders close to the audio giant claim the couple did not meet the productivity benchmark required to receive the full payout. The move to ditch the Duchess of Sussex's show, which explores the 'labels that try to hold women back', follows discussions months ago about renewing it for a second series, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. Tributes have poured in for Friends star Paxton Whitehead after his death at the age of 85. The English actor, who was a Broadway stalwart and regular guest star in an array of Nineties sitcoms, died on Friday at a hospital in Arlington, Virginia. His son, Charles Whitehead, confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday morning. Taking to Twitter after his passing, several of the actor's friends and fans paid tribute to the late actor. Whitehead's former co-stars also reached out to share their condolences as they shared their memories of the beloved actor. Sad news: Friends star and theatre veteran Paxton Whitehead died on Friday at a hospital in Arlington, Virginia at the age of 85 (pictured in 2012) Fan favourite: Whitehead will be known to many for playing Mr. Waltham, Rachel Green's [Jennifer Aniston] boss at Bloomingdale's during season four of hit series, Friends (pictured left, with Aniston and Tate Donovan on the show) Actor Jim Piddick shared: 'Heartbroken to hear my dear friend and mentor Paxton Whitehead has passed away. 'He was an extraordinary actor, a brilliant friend, and truly wonderful human being. He meant so much to so many people and always brought a smile to the faces of everyone he encountered.' Actress Dana Ivy posted a picture of the pair together and wrote: 'I've just heard that my beloved friend Paxton Whitehead has died, on Friday the 16th. 'We first worked together in "My Fair Lady" in 1964, and the last time was in "Importance of Being Earnest" in 2010 -- friends for 59 years. I loved him so. Heartbroken.' Other fans shared: 'Rest in Peace, Paxton Whitehead. Well done, sir'; 'RIP to the great actor Paxton Whitehead...... He did all the great style of acting that you would expect from great British actors but we all know him from one role.... Thornton Melon's nemesis Phillip on Back to School.....' Whitehead will be known to many for playing Mr. Waltham, Rachel Green's [Jennifer Aniston] boss at Bloomingdale's during season four of the hit series, Friends. The actor also made appearances on popular shows, Frasier, Caroline in the City, Ellen, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Drew Carey Show and Mad About You. Whitehead, from East Malling and Larkfield in Kent, starred in several Broadway productions and earned a Tony nomination for his performance as Pellinore in a 1980 revival of Lerner & Loewes Camelot opposite Richard Burton. The thespian appeared 16 more times on Broadway from 1962-2018, including My Fair Lady with Richard Chamberlain, Lettice and Lovage, Noises Off and The Importance of Being Earnest. Memories: Several of the actor's friends and fans took to Twitter to pay tribute to the late actor He also famously starred as Sherlock Holmes The Crucifer of Blood in 1978 and 1979, which ran for 236 performances at the Helen Hayes Theatre. He starred alongside Glenn Close in the producation, which was nominated for four Tonys Awards. Whitehead didn't make his film debut until 1986 when he appeared in Back To School as Dr Philip Barbay, dean of the business school at Grand Lakes University and the boyfriend of literature professor Diane Turner (played by Sally Kellerman). He appeared in the NBC comedy Made About You from 1992 to 1999 as the uptight neighbour Hal Conway. In an interview in 2017, Whitehead said his most farcical roles were the ones he enjoys the most. He said: 'Everybody says [they] are difficult to do, but it depends. You either have a knack for it or you dont.' He continued: 'I think it is hard for some people. I found it not so difficult. I dont know. I just seemed to respond to it. 'When I was younger, I would try very hard to get the vocal point right. If I felt the rhythm and sound of the character if I got that right, and usually the difference is very subtle then I think everything else seemed to follow, the movement and so on.' When asked how he would sum up his life and career in one word, Whitehead mused: 'Serendipitous!' Whitehead is survived by his son Charles and daughter Alex. Victoria Silvstedt commanded attention in a racy black mini dress as she attended the Golden Nymphs party during the 62nd Monte Carlo TV Festival on Monday. The Swedish beauty, 48, made sure all eyes were on her in the halter neck number, which boasted several cut outs up the sides. She elevated her frame in a pair of towering strappy heels and toted her belongings in a coordianted silver bag. The former Playboy bunny styled her long blonde tresses in voluminous waves as she worked her magic on the red carpet. Victoria - who is in a relationship with millionaire businessman Maurice Dabbah - flashed her gorgeous smile as she posed up a storm in the eye-catching outfit. Turning heads: Victoria Silvstedt commanded attention in a racy black mini dress as she attended the Golden Nymphs party during the 62nd Monte Carlo TV Festival on Monday Dressed to impress: The Swedish beauty, 48, made sure all eyes were on her in the halter neck number, which boasted several cut outs up the sides Also in attendance was Frederique Bel, who wowed in a dazzling strapless gold and pink zebra prink midi dress. Victoria and Maurice, who is dubbed one of the richest businessman in Sweden, have been together since 2011. Victoria enjoyed a lengthy stint in the spotlight after being chosen to represent her country in the Miss World pageant in 1993. After her pageant days, the Scandinavian stunner was spotted by Hugh Hefner and went on to become a Playboy Playmate. Since her career rocketed, Victoria has modelled for some of the world's most prestigious fashion houses, including Chanel, Dior and Valentino. Despite the glamorous veneer to her lifestyle as a young model, she revealed there was a dark side in a recent interview with Female First. Victoria said: 'I started very young to model in Paris when I was 18, I remember like starving myself to fit into the clothes. 'It was an amazing experience but you know I did shows for Valentino, Chanel, so it was really prestigious.' Mark Wright has revealed his bizarre fears that he cheated on his wife with a ghost. The former TOWIE star, 36, has been happily married to Michelle Keegan, 36, for eight years but was left terrified that he may have been unfaithful after spending the night at Chillingham Castle - which claims to have some of the highest levels of paranormal activity in the country. Mark, who was staying at the castle to film for his BBC show A Wright Family Holiday, was left freaked out after going to bed in his underwear but waking up naked. The TV personality was left fearing that an amorous spirit was the culprit, worrying that his bed had been invaded by a ghost who wanted to 'have a little play', The Daily Star reports. Mark said: 'Do you think it would be classed as cheating having a little slap and tickle with a ghost? I didn't see one unless I slept through it.' The Only Way Is Ectoplasm: Mark Wright has revealed his bizarre fears that he cheated on wife Michelle Keegan with a ghost after spending the night at a haunted castle Chillingham Castle is a 13th-century, Grade I-listed stronghold in Northumberland famed not only for a number of battles but also for its history of hauntings. According to the castle's website, one resident wraith is the white pantry ghost - a frail figure who sometimes appears in the castles inner pantry. There is also a pair of voices that can be heard talking in the chapel. It is never possible to follow their words and they appear to stop talking if you make efforts to trace them. It's surprising that Mark opted to spend the night at the castle, having previously spoken about his fear of the paranormal. He one shared his fears that ghosts were present in his bedroom with Michelle, telling Woman's Own: 'I'm the man of the house so if something happens she just goes to sleep and I'm the one lying thinking, "Is that the ghost from that film in this room?"; Yet Mark has been pushing himself for his new BBC show, revealing that filming felt like delving into a long therapy session. The series follows Mark as he tours Britain with his brother Josh and dad Mark Senior, and said it made him reflect on his life and how his busy career impacted his loved ones. In one episode of the show, Mark confessed: 'Being away from my family has happened gradually, and it's gotten more and more I'm not proud of it. 'I can't say no to work because I'm so in fear of losing it all. I have this real struggle overcoming that fear that one day it's genuinely all going to be gone.' Spooky stuff: Mark, who was staying at the castle to film for his BBC show A Wright Family Holiday, was left freaked out after going to bed in his underwear but waking up naked Dare you enter? Chillingham Castle is a 13th-century, Grade I-listed stronghold in Northumberland famed not only for a number of battles but also for its history of hauntings Mark continued: 'It spirals, doesn't it? If I feel like I'm going to lose it all, that makes me work more, see my family less, and makes my head feel a bit more crazy. 'I know I've not been me and who I should have been the last few years, and that's what this (holiday) is about.' He admitted to his father: 'I pride myself being the best son, but dad, I think that comes from you. 'I genuinely think that comes from watching you go through the things you had to go through in life to get back on your feet. 'I think I'm so scared every day that everything that I've got is going to end.' The six-episode series sees the trio take time out of their daily routine to reconnect with one another. They explore the stunning British countryside, idyllic beaches and breath-taking mountains, on a trip packed full with white-knuckle activities, emotional revelations, and plenty of laugh-out-loud family banter. The aim of the trip was for Mark and his family to reconnect after Mark Snr nearly died from COVID during the pandemic and also lost his brother, Eddie, to the virus. A Wright Family Holiday airs on BBC One on Thursday at 8pm. Fantales have been discontinued and The Project's Kate Langbroek is not happy. During Tuesday's episode of the current affairs show, the television personality addressed the controversial cancellation of the iconic caramel sweets. She joked that the lollies, which are notoriously hard to chew and have been known to dislodge tooth fillings, will be missed by dentists. 'How am I going to lose my fillings now? My dentist will be protesting this!' Kate said with a laugh. Her co-star Sam Taunton was quick to respond: 'I will buy you some Minties. That will get the job done', referring to the equally tough to chew mint candies. Fantales have been discontinued and The Project's Kate Langbroek (pictured) is not happy However the radio star was not a fan of the trivia on the wrapper, claiming it was hard to read. 'You can't learn the trivia because the writing is so little and they pick people from 1848,' she added. Viewers were also quick to share their outrage at the news. 'Polly waffles now Fantales. Outrageous!!!' commented one fan on Twitter. 'They can't do that... they are iconic,' wrote another, before a third added, 'The nerve of them!' 'This is shattering news. Fantales are my absolute faves,' said one more. 'Haven't we been through enough?? Nestle can get stuffed,' added another. 'Terrible news. I love my Fantales,' wrote someone else. 'Jesus Christ! Will there be anything of Australiana' left?' quipped another. Viewers were also quick to share their outrage at the news Fantales, one of Australia's most iconic lollies, are being discontinued after nearly a century Fantales, one of Australia's most iconic lollies, are being discontinued after nearly a century. Manufacturer Nestle made the shock announcement on Tuesday that the chocolate covered caramels, famed for movie star stories on the wrappers, would stop being producing from next month. The decision follows declining sales and the need for significant and expensive upgrades to continue to make Fantales at Nestle's Melbourne confectionery factory, the company said. 'We know our decision to stop making Fantales will be sad news for many people,' Nestle Oceania Confectionery General Manager Andrew Lawrey said in a statement. 'Many of us grew up with Fantales and have fond memories of them. 'Despite the sense of nostalgia Fantales evoke, unfortunately people simply aren't buying them as often as they used to.' Kate joked that the lollies, which are notoriously hard to chew and have been known to dislodge tooth fillings, will be missed by dentists He said the equipment needed to make Fantales needs significant investment. 'It's become increasingly difficult to get the parts we need to maintain it, and with declining sales, replacing it isn't viable,' Mr Lawrey said. Fantales were first created in 1930, when the Golden age of Hollywood had people flocking to the movies. To ride the wave, the chewy caramels were wrapped with 'fan tales' of actors and musicians on its wrappers. The New York Times once declared it Australia's most defining lolly. 'How am I going to lose my fillings now? My dentist will be protesting this!' Kate said with a laugh 'While investment in the future of Fantales is not sustainable, we're continuing to invest in our other Allen's lollies, including fan favourites such as Snakes Alive, Party Mix and Minties,' Mr Lawrey said. Fantales were first created in 1930 and for generations the brand has been synonymous with the movies, with its famous 'fan tales' of actors and musicians on its wrappers. The last production of Fantales will be in mid-July, and Fantales will be available for sale while stocks last. Nestle said all staff from the Fantales production line will move to other roles within the factory. Jessica Rowe is known for her eccentric style. And the television star and author was flaunting her unique sense of fashion on Tuesday during a lunch date with a friend. The Australian journalist, 52, headed out to a Sydney cafe, with her newly dyed bright purple locks catching the eye. Jessica opted for a Ken Done style twin set featuring a loose top and matching pants in rainbow colours. She wore a feathered vest in a maroon tone over the top, adding some snakeskin boots in a rich blue. Jessica Rowe (pictured) is known for her eccentric style. And the television star and author was flaunting her unique sense of fashion on Tuesday during a lunch date with a friend The star finished her look with a patterned tote bag and bright blue framed cats eye sunglasses. Sitting down to her meal, Jess laughed heartily, clearly enjoying her sunny day out. It comes after Jessica wrote a letter to her 16-year-old self, as she hopes to inspire younger girls that life does get better. She posted to Instagram to share her wisdom, as she promoted a new coming of age movie called Sweet As. While the clip was full of some thought-provoking points, she also hilariously told her younger self that she will 'kiss a lot of frogs' throughout her life. The Australian journalist, 52, headed out to a Sydney cafe, with her newly dyed bright purple locks catching the eye. Jessica opted for a Ken Done style twin set and feathered vest Starting off the video as she shared an adorable throwback snap of herself as a teenager, Jess said: 'A letter to my 16-year-old self. 'My darling girl life will change, it's not going to stay the same, even though you feel stuck. Your terrible skin, it will clear up, I promise you that. 'It doesn't matter that you don't understand physics, you're never going to understand it, and it is very boring. 'No one is going to ask you about the marks you got at school, it doesn't matter. You are going to travel, you are going to spread your wings and have the most extraordinary adventures.' While the media personality's points were mainly positive, she did tell her younger self that her dream of becoming a foreign correspondent doesn't come true. It comes after Jessica wrote a letter to her 16-year-old self, as she hopes to inspire younger girls that life does get better She continued: 'You won't be a foreign correspondent, but there will be some pretty exciting things that happen for you. 'You are going to kiss a lot of frogs, they are going to break your heart but you are going to find the right person for you. And chase a life my darling girl full of joy.' Ending on a humorous note, Jess said: 'And, you are still going to be a crazy cat lady.' While the self-confessed 'crazy cat lady' never became a foreign correspondent, she had a successful career as a presenter on Channel 10's Studio 10 and later became a best-selling author and mental health advocate. In 2004, Jess married fellow broadcaster Peter Overton and they share two children together, Allegra, 16, and Giselle, 13. Heidi Klum looked as chic as ever on Tuesday as she enjoyed a romantic gondola ride with husband Tom Kaulitz in Venice. The model, 50, sought shade beneath a pretty black parasol as she took in the sights of the Italian city on the boat ride with her rocker beau, 33. Heidi appeared in a great mood as she beamed away, while cutting a stylish figure in a black dress and oversized black sunglasses. Meanwhile, the Tokio Hotel guitarist kept it cool in a loose white shirt with a black floral design. The couple were joined by son Jonah, 17, and daughter Lou, 14, whom she shares with ex Seal. Loved up: Heidi Klum looked as chic as ever on Tuesday as she enjoyed a romantic gondola ride with husband Tom Kaulitz in Venice Sitting pretty: The model, 50, sought shade beneath a pretty black parasol as she took in the sights of the Italian city on the boat ride with her rocker beau, 33 The family certainly seemed to be enjoying the trip out in the sunshine as they took in their surroundings while a gondolier guided them across the water. It comes as day after Heidi shared a romantic kiss with husband Tom in new images shared to Instagram from their Venetian break. The German American supermodel kept it casual with a low-cut sleeveless black dress with white trim on the collar. She paired the summery dress with a long gold necklace and an assortment of gold rings on her fingers. The television host's husband wore a low-cut colorful print shirt, black sunglasses, and gold earrings. This comes after they spent time with Heidi's three kids that she shares with her ex-husband Seal. The America's Got Talent host met Tom, the lead guitarist for Tokio Hotel, when she was serving as host of Germany's Next Top Model back in 2018. Heidi revealed to US Weekly that she wasn't even aware of her future husband's band at the time they first met, explaining that Tom's brother Bill, 'did a stage dive,' on Germany's Next Top Model, 'And all my models had to pretend to be rock stars and then do the stage dive into the crowd.' So chic: Heidi appeared in a great mood as she beamed away while donning oversized black sunglasses Cooling down: Tom cooled down with a beer as they took in the sights Family: The couple were to be joined by son Jonah, 17 (left) and daughter Lou, 14 (right) whom she shares with ex Seal Sweet: The couple cuddled up to one another on their tour of the historic city A little help: Heidi was later helped ashore Stroll: Heidi cut a chic figure in a black dress while Tom opted for a cream embroidered shirt and matching trousers Sightseeing: They enjoyed a spot of sight seeing and window shopping The blonde German-born beauty added, 'So, I had met him many, many years ago, but I didnt know he had a twin brother that I was going to be married to one day.' Tom and Heidi got engaged in 2019 after one year of dating. It was the entrepreneur's third marriage, having been married previously to Zoolander star Ric Pipino from 1997 to 2002, and then to Seal, the father of three of Heidi's children. In addition to giving birth to Henry, Jonah and Lou during the span of her seven year marriage to Seal, Heidi's second husband also adopted her firstborn daughter, Leni. Heidi posted pictures with Henry, Jonah and Lou on her Instagram a few days before her romantic bridge kiss with Tom. Chatty: They chatted intently during their sun soaked tour Love: Heidi placed a loving hand on her husband's thigh Beaming: The couple beamed as they enjoyed their Italian getaway Lovebirds: They strolled through the square together hand-in-hand Strut: Heidi strutted her stuff in a pair of colourful sandals Bag lady: Heidi toted her essentials in a large straw bag and carried her parasol In a demonstration of love, Tom made a concerted effort to 'get to know' Heidi's kids when he first met them, according to People. A source told People that Tom now thinks of himself as an 'extra dad' to Heidi's four offspring. So dedicated was Tom to Heidi and her children, that her four kids actually even ended up helping the rocker with his proposal to their mom back during Christmas 2019. 'So Tom and the kids together worked on making a breakfast tray for Heidi that had coffee, flowers and a ring box. It was important for Tom to have the kids included in the whole thing,' the source said. Heidi, 'loved his thoughtfulness and that he included the kids,' in the romantic proposal. EastEnders has been hit by a huge scheduling shake-up as fans finally learn the truth about George Knight's past this week. In an epic two-night affair, viewers will finally learn the truth about George (Colin Salmon) and his ex-wife Rose and fans convinced they already have worked out her true identity. The BBC soap have teased the upcoming reveal with mysterious trailers with fans scouring through them in a bid to find clues. And it seems some have come to the conclusion that Rose is actually the alter ego of former character Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) an identity she used after faking her own death. One teaser sees a red bloom in a vase at the Queen Vic with the words 'Every Rose Has A Thorn....'. Who is EastEnders Rose Knight? Soap fans have linked the mysterious character to ICONIC soap villain ahead of her identity FINALLY being reveled Following the news that Michelle Collins would be reprising her role as the villainous and presumed dead Cindy, alongside Adam Woodyatt as her ex-husband Ian, rumours have been rife that Cindy and Rose were actually the same person. And one soap fan spotted a detail in the latest trailer that links the characters in an unlikely way. They noted that if the letter 'E' was taken from Rose and added to Thorn, the two words would then spell 'Ros Thorne'. Ros appeared in the show between 1997-1998 as a private detective hired by Ian to track down his wife and sons Peter and Steven, after she fled the country after paying a hit man to try and kill him. The investigator, played by Scottish actress Clare Grogan, tracked Cindy down in Italy and helped Ian take his sons back to Walford. Cindy eventually returned to the UK before being jailed for attempted murder and later died in prison during child birth. Taking to the comment section another fan wrote about the theory: 'Omg youre a genius!'. While a second said: ' I mean that's very clever if it's intentional'. Sinister: In an epic two-night affair, viewers will finally learn the truth about George Knight's past and the identity of his ex-wife Rose and fans convinced they already have worked out her true identity (Colin Salmon pictured as Geroge) Could it be? It seems some have come to the conclusion that Rose is actually the alter ego of former villain Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins, pictured) an identity she used after faking her own death Link: They noted that in the latest trailer if the letter 'E' was taken from Rose and added to Thorn, the two words would then spell 'Ros Thorne' Someone else wrote: 'Good spot. Maybe [Ros] was in on it?'. And a fourth said: 'Omg this is so clever if this is true!!' EastEnders typically releases each day's episode at 6am on BBC iPlayer before they are broadcast that evening for busy fans to plan their daily soap fix. However, these two episodes will be aired simultaneously at 7:30pm on BBC One and iPlayer, so that all of the fans can watch the dramatic truth unfold. Linda Carter has been determined to find out the truth about George's past after fearing he's using her mother Elaine to gain control of the Queen Vic. She's enlisted Phil Mitchell's help, and he convinces Callum Highway to search the police database for information about George. While Callum confirms that George's record is clean, he's concerned that he couldn't find any information about his ex-wife Rose, and Phil confronts him. Throwback: Ros appeared in the show between 1997-1998 as a private detective hired by Ian to track down his wife and sons Peter and Steven, after she fled the country after hiring a hit man to try and kill him (actress Clare Grogan pictures on the show as Ros) Hitman: Cindy eventually returned to the UK before being jailed for attempted murder and later died in prison during child birth (pictured with co-star Adam Woodyatt as Ian Beale) What a spot! Taking to the comment section another fan wrote: 'Omg youre a genius!' Actor Colin Salmon previously addressed the mystery surrounding George's past, which will finally be revealed in the upcoming episodes. He said: 'Conflict is drama, and drama is our business. It's complex! Life is complex, and there are so many things that can send people off on the wrong trajectory. 'I love the idea of exploring that in drama because the catalyst doesn't have to be some huge thing. 'It can just be a misunderstanding. It's more real like that. Being misunderstood is a nightmare for a straight shooter like George.' EastEnders airs the truth about George's past on Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and iPlayer. Ryan Gallagher is looking for a new pair of shorts and it's not going to plan. The former Married At First Sight star posted to his Instagram Stories on Tuesday to show the workwear he's spotted online at men's wear retailer Lowes. 'I'm looking for work shorts and this is what Lowes have up for workwear on site,' he wrote, followed by a series of images. They showed the very skimpy and short selections on offer in the utility clothing section. Leaving little to the imagination, the pants rode up high on the model's legs and fit very close to his body. Ryan Gallagher is looking for a new pair of shorts and it's not going to plan. Pictured with fiance Emily Seebohm 'Like do I have to sunscreen by balls? I'd need a new pair every day after looking for the last pair lost up my a**e', he joked in a caption on the images. It comes after Ryan and his fiancee Emily Seebohm endured a frightening situation this weekend. The Olympic swimmer and the reality star woke up Sunday morning to find their cars broken into and their personal belongings stolen, including Emily's wallet. Ryan was heading to work when he found their garage door open and their cars damaged and ransacked. 'They did steal my wallet, my credit cards and they rummaged through the cars,' Emily told Seven, explaining that her purse had been sitting in a pocket on the door. 'All the of keys were inside, so luckily they couldn't steal any of the cars. (It was) very scary waking up to that on a Sunday morning,' she said. The former Married At First Sight star posted to his Instagram Stories on Tuesday to show the workwear he's spotted online at men's wear retailer Lowes They showed the very skimpy and short selections on offer in the utility clothing section 'Like do I have to sunscreen by balls? I'd need a new pair every day after looking for the last pair lost up my a**e,' he joked in a caption on the images The athlete called the police to report the crime and said it was difficult to sleep on Sunday night after the violation. Ryan joined OnlyFans last month and he has already had enormous success on the adult content site. The former reality star, 34, claimed he makes up to $50,000 a month and is one of the most popular people on the platform. 'I'm making very good money, between one dollar and $50,000 a month. I'm in the top three percent,' he told 2DayFM's Hughesy, Ed and Erin. He said while he had the full support of his fiancee Emily, his parents were indifferent to his adult career. It comes after Ryan and his fiancee Emily Seebohm and endured a frightening situation this weekend. Both pictured Ryan was heading to work when he found their garage door open and their cars damaged and ransacked 'They have had a laugh. My parents pretty much lost me after MAFS, they don't care anymore.' Ryan added that even though he has Emily's support, she will never join the adult site herself as her swimming career is 'actually respected' by people. For $15 per month, fans can now see a side of Ryan they haven't seen on TV and the bio of Ryan's OnlyFans profile states: 'Just an Aussie bloke with a big willy.' Ryan's move into adult work comes after he announced his engagement to Olympian Emily Seebohm in March, after they met on the set of The Challenge in August. Liam Gallagher's son Lennon was the spitting image of his famous dad as he stepped out for a casual stroll on Tuesday morning. The model son of former Oasis star Liam and actress Patsy Kensit looked in good spirits as he took to the streets of London. Lennon, 23 - named after late Beatles legend John - showed off his edgy sense of style in a black shirt and three-quarter length black cropped jeans. The young model appeared to be emulating Liam's laid-back-look as he let his brown locks fall messy on his head, with a pair of sunglasses buried underneath. He paired his look with a pair of black biker boots and carried around a Mulberry bag in his arms. Dead ringer: Liam Gallagher's son Lennon was the spitting image of his famous dad (pictured right in 1996) as he stepped out for a casual stroll on Tuesday morning The Brit pop progeny appeared in good spirits as he laughed and chatted with friends in the sunny city. Liam's three children Lennon, Molly Moorish and Gene Gallagher are all known for bearing an uncanny resemblance to their famous father. Meanwhile, last year, Lennon told MailOnline he finds the fact he's 'traced everywhere online' to be 'paranoia-inducing'. He touched upon his dislike of the 'super tech-orientated age' we live in, noting: 'There's no real privacy. It's kind of paranoia-inducing.' Speaking about his band Atomation, Lennon revealed he and his fellow bandmates have 'talked about growing up in today's tech-heavy world' which brought him to the realisation that: 'I just don't feel the need to show everyone what I'm doing all the time.' Lennon pointed to the fact that despite boasting 139,000 Instagram followers, he has 'zero posts'. The rising star explained: 'Everyone is always posting on it. You're always seeing what your friends are doing, where they are going and who they're with.' He added: 'I don't like that. If you go on my Instagram account I have zero posts.' Different: Lennon, 23 - named after late Beatles legend John - showed off his edgy sense of style in a black shirt and three-quarter length black cropped jeans Lennon - who has graced Italian Vogue and appeared at London Fashion Week - also spoke candidly about the world of modelling. He admitted it can be 'difficult at times'. Lennon was first scouted at the age of 16 while walking down Brick Lane. He explained: 'I was walking in Brick Lane, and I was like, 16. I just got an army jacket and I was walking away from the store, this woman pulled me over and was like, ''You should be a model, take this card. We have a shoot in Africa, you should do it''.' Noting the situation seemed 'sketchy', Lennon went on: 'I didn't do the shoot because it seemed really sketchy, so I told my mum and she was like, ''If you want to get into it, I know some people''.' Lennon candidly told how he reaches out to his agent if ever he feels unsure about a shoot or casting call. 'It's always pretty difficult putting yourself up for castings and stuff and putting yourself out there,' he stated. Family: As well as Lenno, Liam is father to daughter Molly, 24, with ex Lisa Moorish, and 21-year old Gene (right) with All Saint's Nicole Appleton 'And then there's like hundreds of people who maybe look a bit like you, look so different to you, and like everyone is going in and out, and you're like, ''I'm not going to get this!''' Lennon admitted: 'You kind of do get a bit insecure, I can't lie,' before noting the importance of asking for help. 'For the context of being in the studio, if there's something you don't like you can always call your agent and they are always willing to help you out. 'They'll always try to help you out to their best ability. You're not alone. 'You should never feel like you should be pushed into something you don't want to do.' Jonnie Irwin has tearfully recalled the moment he told wife Jessica Holmes about his terminal cancer diagnosis, two months after she gave birth to their twins. The A Place In The Sun presenter, 49, has been bravely battling the disease since it was discovered in his lungs back in 2020. It has since spread to his brain. Speaking on the AIG Life's The OneChat podcast Jonnie, who shares his three sons Rex, three, and twins Rafa and Corma, two, with his wife, described it was the 'hardest thing' he ever had to do. 'I can remember it like it was yesterday. And I've got no memory since my whole brain therapy. But that bloody memory stays in my head'. Going on to say 'And it is brutal. All I can remember is hugging her and just saying, "Sorry"'. Heartbreak: Jonnie Irwin, 49, has tearfully recalled the moment he told wife Jessica Holmes about his terminal cancer diagnosis, two months after she gave birth to twins (pictured together earlier this year) Ill health: The A Place In The Sun presenter, 49, has been bravely battling the disease since it was discovered in his lungs back in 2020 . It has since spread to his brain (pictured last month) Elsewhere in the chat Jonnie revealed he wanted others to 'learn from his mistakes' after he was forced to continue working following his diagnosis. Saying: 'I didn't take critical illness insurance out and therefore I had to keep working, without work, I've got no means of paying the bills'. 'And if I had taken the critical illness insurance out, that could've covered my outgoings and I probably could've told the world [about his condition] a lot sooner.' He went on to say that he would have had two years of 'living a more open life style' if he had thought about such eventualities and hoped to help others not make the same mistake. 'I think at the time I just thought I can better spend that money elsewhere. Where I don't know. I've not frittered it away. Maybe because I know what benefits it would have had, it just seems ridiculous that I didn't'. Going on to say: 'I thought I was doing well just taking out life insurance. It's one positive thing and helped me a great deal in getting a financial position in life to know my wife and my boys are more secure. But how I wish I'd taken out that extra cover.' Jonnie revealed he kept his terminal cancer battle a secret for two years in order to keep working to provide for his family. After going public with his diagnosis last year, he was let go from the property programme because they were no longer able to insure him when he was filming abroad. Father: Speaking on the AIG Life's The OneChat podcast Jonnie, who shares his three sons Rex, three, and twins Rafa and Corma, two, with his wife, described it was the 'hardest thing' he ever had to do Brave: The A Place In The Sun presenter has been bravely battling the disease since it was discovered in his lungs back in 2020 . It has since spread to his brain He explained: 'The only reason I kept it secret is because I've got to earn, I've got to feed my babies, pay the bills. 'And as soon as you say you've got cancer, people just write you off. I had to live with it as a secret. It was really difficult living with such a massive cloud above me and pretending to everyone else. 'For the first year and a half I could work. Unfortunately, one of the companies claimed they couldn't insure and didn't renew my contract. It left a massive hole in my income.' He continued: 'I felt like I'd been thrown on the scrapheap. They'd recruited within a week and then I could see some else doing my job.' Secret: Jonnie revealed he kept his terminal cancer battle a secret for two years in order to keep working to provide for his family (Jonnie pictured on A Place in the Sun in 2019) Jonnie said it was when he was hiding from photo shots and taking selfies with fans that he decided to speak out about his terminal diagnosis. He said: 'The day came when I decided I'm going to tell the world and I just thought as well I might get some money for the family. 'It's been a massive weight off my shoulders. The day I came out and told the world I have terminal cancer is the day I started living again. 'I started being Jonnie Irwin again. I actually feel alive.' From Lutterworth to Lanzarote: How former estate agent Jonnie Irwin's TV career took off after he beat hundreds to present A Place in the Sun TV presenter Jonnie Irwin has revealed he is suffering with terminal cancer, saying he hopes sharing his terminal cancer diagnosis will inspire others to 'make the most of every day' Born in 1973, Jonnie Irwin grew up in Bitteswell, Leicestershire, and attended Lutterworth Grammar School and Community College before becoming an estate agent. In 2004, Irwin was selected from hundreds of applicants alongside co-presenter Jasmine Harman to present Channel 4's show A Place In The Sun - Home Or Away. The property programme was a surprise hit and syndicated widely. Irwin also regularly presents the BBC's Escape To The Country and To Buy Or Not To Buy. In January 2011, Sky 1 broadcast Irwin's own show called Dream Lives for Sale, in which he helped people leave their lives in the UK in order buy their dream business. Later that year, he started a new series The Renovation Game which aired on weekday mornings on Channel 4. Outside of presenting, he is also a commercial director for Judicare, which describes itself as a 'specialist law firm providing clients with legal advice on all matters related to overseas property'. Irwin married Jessica Holmes in September 2016. Together they have three sons and lived in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire before moving to Newcastle. On November 13, Irwin was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He told Hello magazine: 'I don't know how long I have left, but I try to stay positive and my attitude is that I'm living with cancer, not dying from it.' Advertisement Ferne McCann displayed her blossoming bump in a purple bikini during her sun-soaked Turkish getaway recently. The former TOWIE star, 32, who is her first child with fiance Lorri Haines, 32, looked gorgeous in the stylish two-piece as she enjoyed a swim in her hotel's pool. Ferne's stylish ensemble featured a triangular top and drawstring bottoms and showed off her gorgeous figure. The reality star, who is already a mother to daughter Sunday, five, whom she shares with jailed ex-partner Arthur Collins, slicked back her dark wet hair. She completed the look with a selection of gold jewellery as she cool off in the water before strolling back to her sun lounger. Blossoming: Ferne McCann, 32, displayed her blossoming bump in a purple bikini during her sun-soaked Turkish getaway recently Gorgeous: The former TOWIE star, who is her first child with fiance Lorri Haine s, 32, looked gorgeous in the stylish two-piece as she enjoyed a swim in her hotel's pool Ferne announced she is expecting a baby with businessman Lorri, last year. The pair got engaged in July 2022, with Ferne previously stating their relationship feels 'right' after they bonded over their trauma. Speaking to pal Vicky Pattison on her The Secret To podcast, she said: 'He's got a child. I've got a child. We bonded over our trauma. 'Like we literally like laid everything on the table. I was like, here's all my s***. And he had the same and yeah, it's worked out.' It comes after Ferne revealed on the podcast that she is hoping to give birth at home and wants it to be filmed for her ITVBe reality show, but is struggling to convince Lorri. She said: 'I so desperately want it [her child's birth] to be on the show. But we were sort of warming him [Lorri] up. 'I've got this birth plan in my head, and I want a home birth and I want it to be positive. And I want everyone to see me like, pull the baby out. 'I've just got this vision and he's just like, 'No, that's just weird', but I'm like, 'It's beautiful and it's amazing!' [] Stylish: Ferne's stylish ensemble featured a triangular top and drawstring bottoms and showed off her gorgeous figure Water baby: She emerged from the pool after enjoying a dip and cooling off Stunning: The reality star, who is already a mother to daughter Sunday, five, whom she shares with jailed ex-partner Arthur Collins , slicked back her dark wet hair Stroll: Bangles: She completed the look with a selection of gold jewellery as she cool off in the water before strolling back to her sun lounger Blended family: Lorri - who has a son the same age as Sunday from a previous relationship asked Ferne to marry him in July 2022 after the couple had been dating for seven months 'Reality stars get a bit of a bad name, but I saw that Ronaldo and his Mrs were doing a reality show. Everyone's doing it, so just go for it!' Back in the UK, Ferne celebrated with friends and family at her lavish baby shower over the weekend. She looked glowing as she showed off her bump in a tight orange dress for the festivities in London. Ferne teamed the halter neck ensemble which featured a daring thigh-split - with a pair of green strappy heels and a clashing fuchsia pink bag. Bonding: The pair got engaged in July 2022, with Ferne previously stating their relationship feels 'right' after they bonded over their trauma Candid: Speaking to pal Vicky Pattison on her The Secret To podcast, she said: 'He's got a child. I've got a child. We bonded over our trauma Hoemebird: It comes after Ferne revealed on the podcast that she is hoping to give birth at home and wants it to be filmed for her ITVBe reality show, but is struggling to convince Lorri Curves: Ferne topped up her tan and showed off her curves before returning to the UK for her baby shower Bronzed: She showed off her bronzed physique after spending a week in the sun She styled her caramel locks in loose waves and seemed in good spirits as she smiled and posed for the camera The event was held on the rooftop of Seabird restaurant in the city, and she said that she 'loved it'. Taking to Instagram, Ferne told her 2 million followers: 'There were games and I loved it because I never had a baby shower when I was pregnant with Sunday' The TV personality shared how she was given pictures of babies and given the challenge to guess who was who out of her friends and family from the images, as well as being told funny tales of her pregnancy journey. She also received a number of presents, one of which included a steriliser that proved a hit because of her love of a neutral colour. Guests in attendance included Ferne's mum, Gilly, TOWIE alumni Danielle Armstrong and other close friends. Molly Smith showed off her incredible figure in a very skimpy bikini as she posed up a storm in sizzling holiday snaps. The former Love Island star, 29, has been enjoying a sun-soaked getaway to Miami but was left in tears as she faced long airport delays after her flight was cancelled. Taking to Instagram on Monday, Molly shared an array of eye-popping snaps from the holiday as she appeared to jet off to her next location. The television personality, who rose to fame on the ITV2 dating show in 2020, put on a very busty display in a plunging turquoise two-piece as she lounged on a chair by the pool. She showed off her washboard abs as she worked up a sweat and tensed her stomach for a snap. Incredible: Molly Smith showed off her incredible figure in a very skimpy bikini as she posed up a storm in sizzling holiday snaps Wow! Taking to Instagram on Monday, Molly shared an array of eye-popping snaps from the holiday as she appeared to jet off to her next location The aspiring personal trainer styled her golden locks in a messy bun and wore a chic collection of pearl jewellery. She let her natural beauty shine through as she sported minimal make-up for the gorgeous bikini shots. Alongside the sizzling holiday pictures, she simply teased: 'us.' But things quickly took a turn for the worse for the blonde beauty, who found herself with no where to stay after a slew of cancelled flights. Taking to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday morning, Molly broke down in tears as she updated fans on her airport nightmare. She explained how her flight had been delayed - and then cancelled - from Miami to Orlando. Consequently, she missed her connection flight from her next destination. This left her with no choice but to stay another night in Miami. But she had nowhere to go. Tough: But things quickly took a turn for the worse for the blonde beauty, who found herself with no where to stay after a slew of cancelled flights Racy: She showed off her washboard abs as she worked up a sweat and tensed her stomach for a snap Impressive! Molly, who rose to fame on the ITV2 dating show in 2020, put on a very busty display in a plunging turquoise two-piece Captioning the video, she penned 'I've honestly had enough', as she told followers: 'So just when I thought it couldn't get any worse... I've been crying so ignore me. It's tipped me over the edge now, I've hit a wall. 'So I booked a hotel because I didn't get my voucher sent through to me for the cancelled flight, like I did last night. So I had no where to stay. 'So I thought do you know what I'll just book a hotel, which was on the list that they were offering. Managed to finally find my bags. 'So I ring them to find out where the shuttle is and say can you come pick me up? And they basically said they've not got a reservation, even though I've got the confirmation and the money's come out my account. But no. 'There's no reservation under my name so it's like half two in the morning and I'm still stuck at the airport.' Coming back on her social media the next morning, Molly admitted she was 'feeling a bit more optimistic' as she had gathered with other passengers to drive to Orlando instead. The television personality rose to fame when she met boyfriend Callum Jones on the ITV2 dating show Love Island in 2020. Unhappy: Taking to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday morning, Molly broke down in tears as she updated fans on her airport nightmare Emotional: Molly explained how her flight had been delayed - and then cancelled - from Miami to Orlando. This left her with no choice but to stay another night in Miami, with nowhere to go Molly and Callum are one of Love Island's major success stories, meeting on the first-ever winter edition of the show, where they left before the finale. The couple moved into a lavish four-bedroom house in Manchester that November after meeting on the show. The couple recently celebrated their third anniversary together as they both shared a gallery of snaps to Instagram to mark the occasion. Former scaffolder Callum has previously revealed that he can see himself marrying model Molly and potentially having children together. They have gone from strength to strength - but it wasn't always smooth sailing for the couple, as their get-together caused a stir on the ITV2 show. Callum entered the show as one of the original contestants and connected with Shaugna Phillips at the beginning. Advertisement The first trailer for Zoey 102 was released on Tuesday morning. Jamie Lynn Spears - who is the younger sister of Britney Spears - stars in the July movie that is a follow up to her popular TV series Zoey 101, which aired from 2005 until 2008. The trailer begins with Zoey Brooks wondering why everyone is talking marriage at their age. Then her best friend Quinn Pensky (Erin Sanders) surprises her when she calls and asks her to be her maid of honor in her wedding to Logan Reese's (Matthew Underwood). The news hits Zoey hard as she gulps her wine while looking shell-shocked that her bestie is tying the knot. Before the wedding Zoey comes face-to-face with her high school love from PCA - Chase Matthews (Sean Flynn) - and it rocks her. Turns out there are still some feelings between the two. New! The first trailer for Zoey 102 was released on Tuesday morning. Jamie Lynn Spears - who is the younger sister of Britney Spears - stars in the July movie that is a follow up to her popular TV series Zoey 101 which aired from 2005 until 2008 But it's complicated. Zoey is so embarrassed about being single that she hires a very handsome man to pose as her suave doctor boyfriend. Chase is put off, even though he has a pretty date of his own by his side. But then Zoey and Chase get close once again as she reveals to him that she is not sure where her life is headed. 'When did life get so messy? I would kill to go back to PCA,' Zoey says, clearly suffering from angst. Chase replies, 'I'm sure we'd all love to go back.' She also seems lost and is missing her teen years. 'I just think about all the things I dreamed about in high school and now, I'm here. And it's like, Is this it? Is this the dream?' she muses. Gulp: The trailer begins with Zoey Brooks wondering why everyone is talking marriage at their age Painful: Then her best friend Quinn Pensky (Erin Sanders) calls and asks her to be her maid of honor in her wedding to Logan Reese's (Matthew Underwood). The news hits Zoey hard as she gulps her wine while looking shell-shocked that her bestie is tying the knot Getting fans excited: Before the wedding Zoey comes face to face with her high school love from PCA - Chase Matthews (Sean Flynn) - and it rocks her Her love: Turns out there are still some feelings between the two The movie streams on Paramount+ on July 27. In mid May the 32-year-old former Nickelodeon star uploaded a seconds-long clip from Zoey 102 showing two wedding bands on a sandy beach. The star wrote in the caption: 'Giving you 102 reasons to be excited for summer.' Jamie serves as an executive producer. For hire: But it's complicated. Zoey is so embarrassed about being single that she hires a very handsome man to pose as her boyfriend Ouch: Chase, left, is put off, even though he has a pretty date of his own She lights up when she sees her ex: Spears is flirty with her former boyfriend The new guy in her life: Her fake boyfriend seems interested in her Zoey 101 ran from 2005 to 2008 for a total of four seasons, and fans have long-awaited a reunion. The film's log line reads: 'Over a decade after the iconic series ended, Zoey Brooks is still trying to figure out life and love, this time in her 20s. 'The Pacific Coast Academy (PCA) gang returns to Malibu for an over-the-top wedding turned high school reunion for the books.' Jamie Lynn will return as Zoey Brooks, Erin Sanders as Zoey's BFF Quinn Pensky, and Sean Flynn will reprise his role as Chase Matthews, Zoey's love interest. A press release also named original cast members Matthew Underwood, Christopher Massey, Abby Wilde, and Jack Salvatore as returning characters. Newcomers will be Thomas Lennon, Owen Thiele, and Dean Guyer. In Nickelodeon's post, the caption read, 'The PCA crew, all grown up,' with a pink heart emoji. Announcement: It came as the official Nickelodeon Instagram also shared a post announcing that the sequel to the hit show Zoey 101 would be arriving later this year Long time coming: Zoey 101 ran from 2005 to 2008 for a total of four seasons, and fans have long-awaited a reunion At the wedding: Here Jamie Lynn is seen as the maid of honor Where is the blushing bride? Guests turn to see when the bride will walk down the aisle Here she comes! The bride is seen running toward the venue Spears first announced a sequel was in the works back in January and shortly thereafter production got underway in North Carolina. She said in a statement shared by Variety at the time, 'I'm beyond thrilled to be back alongside my PCA family and continue the story of Zoey and all the characters fans know and love. 'As an executive producer, it's been an exciting opportunity to work with such incredible talent as well as Paramount+ and Nickelodeon.' And announcing the project on Instagram, Jamie Lynn posted a photo of her director's chair emblazoned with her name in pink cursive along with a copy of the script sitting atop her belongings. In a subsequent snap, chairs belonging to her co-stars were also included. 'IT'S OFFICIAL! Are you ready...' she gushed in the caption, adding shout-outs to Paramount+ and Nickelodeon. The original series followed the adventures of Zoey, a student attending the former all-boys school Pacific Coast Academy after it opened up enrollment to girls. The show was a hit on Nickelodeon but was suddenly cancelled in 2008 after four seasons and three years on air. Since appearing on the series, Spears has continued her acting career with roles in Sweet Magnolias and various other projects. Teaser: The 32-year-old former Nickelodeon star uploaded a seconds-long clip in May showing two weddings bands on a sandy beach In February Jamie said she's been having a 'magical experience' making the spin-off film. She took to Instagram with a carousel of 10 shots from the set of the forthcoming film for her 2.1 million followers to see. 'Bittersweet feels,' she captioned the shot, adding of the cast and crew, 'I truly love all of these humans.' Spears said that 'the NEW ERA of ZOEY would not exist without each and every person doing their part to create this magical experience, including our amazing fans.' Nina Dobrev modeled a pink suit as she told the hosts of CBS Mornings that she loved filming The Outlaws with Pierce Brosnan and Adam DeVine. 'We had a blast making this movie,' the 34-year-old actress said. The Canadian-born film and television star paired her pink suit with a white blouse. She wore her long chocolate-brown hair loose around her shoulder, keeping her accessories minimal with a set of chunky gold earrings. The Netflix film star matched her pink and white suit ensemble with a pair of elegant white pumps. Pink lady: Nina Dobrev modeled a pink suit as she told CBS that she loved filming The Out-Laws with Pierce Brosnan and Adam DeVine Cute look: The Canadian-born film and television star paired her pink suit with a white blouse. She wore her long chocolate-brown hair loose around her shoulder, keeping her accessories minimal with a set of chunky gold earrings. The Netflix film star matched her pink and white suit ensemble with a pair of elegant white pumps Girl boss: The Out-Laws star rocked her pink power suit on a CBS Mornings appearance promoting her new Netflix film In The Out-Laws film, Nina plays Adam's fiancee Parker McDermott, a woman with two criminal outlaw parents, played by Pierce and Ellen Barkin. Chaos ensues when the classic tale of meeting the parents for the first time devolves into Parker's parents robbing the very bank that Parker's fiancee works at as a manager. The original Netflix comedy film is set to drop on the streaming platform on July 7. Nina and the Pitch Perfect star - who are friends in real life - promoted their upcoming Netflix project on CBS Mornings together. The Vampire Diaries star joked that her favorite moment from The Out-Laws trailer was when Adam was walking up the stairs at the bank in the film and his gun falls out of his pocket. Nina's 39-year-old funnyman co-star recounted how he photobombed Nina on the Teen Choice Awards red carpet 10 years ago. He explained that they were already friends and he thought it would be fun. The actors already starred in the movie The Final Girls in 2015. The Out-Laws will be the Bulgarian-born beauty's first film role since her appearance in the 2022 film Redeeming Love. Her pal: The beauty was joined by her The Out-Laws costar DeVine Meet the parents: The official poster for The Out-Laws was revealed on Nina and Adam's CBS Mornings appearance Pre-wedding jitters: Adam plays a beleaguered bank manager with criminal in-laws in The Out-Laws Criminally cute: Nina's in-laws in The Out-Laws are played by Ellen Barkin and former James Bond star Brosnan As Nina's acting career continues to flourish with her upcoming Out-Laws role, offscreen her relationship with Olympic gold medalist Shaun White is still going strong. Although the couple aren't engaged yet, they have been together for three years and counting. The 36-year-old athlete consistently shows up for his A-list girlfriend on film sets and red carpets, showing his support for his long-term girlfriend. The Out-Laws star reciprocates her boyfriend's affection, writing on her Instagram page back in 2022 after Shaun retired from snowboarding 'I am in awe of you.' 'I couldn't be more proud of everything you have accomplished over the last 20 years as a competitor and the man you have become. You are one of a kind,' Nina wrote. Advertisement Kylie Jenner was seen in three racy new images posted to her Kylie Cosmetics Instagram page on Tuesday. The 25-year-old billionaire was seen from the chest up as she almost spilled out of her sparkly mandarin orange strappy bikini top that had slim ties which crossed in the front. The swimsuit exposed a lot of the reality TV star's ample chest. The suit may have been from her old line Kylie Swim, which came out in September 2021. The 5ft6in girlfriend of Dune actor Timothee Chalamet held up a pink butter lip balm as she was hawking one of her best selling products. 'Juicy lips all summer!' the caption began. 'Kylie Jenner wearing our new tinted butter balm in shade PINK ME UP AT 8.' Kylie's mother Kris Jenner hit the like button on the post on the Kylie Cosmetics page which has over 25million followers. Well suited: Kylie Jenner was seen in three racy new images posted to her Kylie Cosmetics Instagram page on Tuesday. The 25-year-old billionaire was seen from the chest up as she almost spilled out of her mandarin orange strappy bikini top that crossed in the front Chest in show: The swimsuit exposed a lot of the reality TV star's ample chest. The suit may have been from her old line Kylie Swim, which came out in September 2021 Buy my stuff: The girlfriend of Dune actor Timothee Chalamet held up a pink butter lip balm as she was hawking one of her best selling products Jenner wore her raven hair down and slightly damp. Her makeup was relatively light as she had on bronze eyeshadow, pink blush and a light pink glossy lip to hawk the product. The California resident wore her nails long and with a neon yellow polish that could not be missed. The mother of two - she has daughter Stormi and son Aire with ex-partner Travis Scott - wore no jewelry and had a fresh tan with golden sparkles on her arms and chest. Kylie Cosmetics, LLC is an American cosmetics company founded by Kylie Jenner in 2014. The company began selling Kylie Lip Kits, a liquid lipstick and lip liner set, on November 30, 2015. Formerly known as Kylie Lip Kits, the company was renamed Kylie Cosmetics. Its parent company is Coty. Over the years, Kylie has teamed with her sisters Khloe, Kim and Kendall, as well as her mom Kris for special launches. This post comes just as her new 'beau' Chalamet - who has dated Lourdes Leon and Lily-Rose Depp in the past - was seen with her at a home. Kylie and Timothee 'hang out every week' it was claimed in April. The make-up mogul and the 27-year-old actor have grown close over recent months, but an insider insists their relationship is 'not serious' for the time being. Same but different: Last week she posted this image from the same shoot. 'Juicy lips all summer!' the caption began. 'Kylie Jenner wearing our new tinted butter balm in shade PINK ME UP AT 8.' Kylie's mother Kris Jenner hit the like button on the post on the Kylie Cosmetics page which has over 25million followers Suited babe: Kylie launched a swim line in 2021. Here she is seen modeling an orange monokini at her studio Another look at the same suit: Jenner seems to love wearing orange, and the color seems to suit her A break from the norm: And in this image she has on a pink, orange and yellow monokini that is low on fabric, high on sex appeal The source told PEOPLE: 'She is getting to know him. Kylie is having fun. After years of back and forth with Travis [Scott], she just wants to date without any pressure.' Kylie met the actor at an event in Europe earlier this year. The brunette beauty considers Timothee to be 'fun and charming'. The insider added: 'They have a lot to chat about.' Meanwhile, Kylie recently insisted that she wants to keep her personal life out of the spotlight. The TV star explained that in spite of her celebrity status, she actually prefers to spend time at home with her friends and family. She told HommeGirls: 'I value a lot of personal time. 'So, I usually have people over for dinner, or I go to someone's house, or if we're going out somewhere usually my friends come over and we get ready together.' Kylie finds it tough to engage with fans while also retaining a degree of privacy. New love: This comes just as her new 'beau' Chalamet - who has dated Lourdes Leon and Lily-Rose Depp in the past - was seen with her at a home. Kylie and Timothee 'hang out every week' it was claimed in April. Seen in April She explained: 'The internet is amazing because obviously that's where I started my business. It's been great for me to connect with my fans but now I think it's about finding balance. There's a dark side to it. It's just about finding that balance.' Kylie rose to international stardom through her appearances on Keeping Up With The Kardashians, her family's hit reality TV series. But Kylie insists she doesn't actually watch a lot of reality TV and she doesn't have any ambitions to branch out on her own. Asked which other reality show she'd like to appear on, Kylie replied: 'Oh my God, I don't really watch a lot of reality TV. This is hard. I would never switch up and leave Hulu and my sisters.' Josie Gibson has seemingly blasted toxic TV culture amid the ongoing scandal surrounding This Morning and ITV. And the former Big Brother star, 38, stressed the importance of 'always being polite' to everyone behind the scenes. It comes after former co-host Phillip Schofield stepped down from ITV altogether, as he admitted to having an affair with a much younger male This Morning colleague, which was followed by accusations of a toxic work place. Josie also praised co-hosts Holly Willoughby and Alison Hammond and discussed their bond saying they were all raised by 'strong women'. Presenter: Josie Gibson, 38, has seemingly blasted toxic TV culture amid the ongoing scandal surrounding This Morning and ITV Co-host: The former Big Brother star stressed about the importance about 'always being polite' to everyone behind the scenes (L-R) Holly Willoughby, Josie Gibson In her NEW! column Josie discussed her secret to success in showbiz writing: 'Always be polite to everybody'. 'Be even more polite to the people at the bottom, because the ones who are making your tea and coffee, one day they will be your editors and they will be your producers,'. Praising Holly she said: 'I love to see women, and my friends, do well and really try and get the results they deserve'. Josie joined Holly on her return to the ITV following the scandal and has since appeared as a regular co-host. Eamonn Holmes, who previously hosted This Morning with wife Ruth Langsford, has repeatedly criticised the alleged 'abusive' culture at the show - claiming he is now standing up against 'bad people' in the workplace and speaking the truth. Eamonn spoke to Sean McDonald on his Blethered podcast, and said bluntly: 'The abuses in work places of how people are treated by a lot of big companies is scandalous really.' The journalist added: 'I do like representing people that don't have a voice, who aren't represented and have nobody to speak for them. 'I think I've always had that bit of a superhero thing in me which has always got me in trouble. Which is, 'Pardon me, what did you just say to him? I'm sorry, if you're going to pick a fight then pick a fight against me'. Golden girl: In her NEW! column Josie discussed her secret to success writing: 'Always be polite to everybody' (pictured with co-host Craig Doyle) Pals: Praising Holly she said: 'I love to see women, and my friends, do well and really try and get the results they deserve'. She joined Holly on her return to the ITV following the scandal (pictured) Scandal: It comes after former co-host Phillip Schofield stepped down from ITV altogether, as he admitted to having an affair with a much younger male This Morning colleague , which was followed by accusations of a toxic work place 'That's my sort of attitude. And then you can be seen as wrong. But I only stand up against bad people, and I think there are quite a lot of bad people,' he said on the podcast. 'There's a lot of things in life that people can't handle and one of the things they can't handle is the truth. They can't. Because it's about their version of the truth.' The former This Morning host criticised the lack of unions within the TV industry, putting some people in very vulnerable positions he said he doesn't condone. MailOnline has contacted ITV for a comment. Yikes! Holly and Dermot O'Leary squirmed on Tuesday's instalment of This Morning Awkward: The duo were visibly uncomfortable as chef Gino D'Acampo asked if there was 'any news' he should know of, during his return to the show, following a month-long Italy trip It comes after Holly and Dermot O'Leary squirmed on Tuesday's instalment of This Morning. The duo were visibly uncomfortable as chef Gino D'Acampo asked if there was 'any news' he should know of, during his return to the daytime show, following a month-long Italy trip. While doing a preview of his cooking segment, Gino said to Holly and Dermot: 'Everything is under control. I'm back. 'Any news from the last month that I should know of? Anything I should know?' to which Holly insisted: 'No. No news,' as the studio fell notably quiet. Gino responded: 'Good, so we can go straight into the cooking...' before pausing to ask: 'Why is nobody talking anymore, what's happened?' Dermot joked: 'We need to rephrase, Gino is back for a one-time only...' Russell Simmonds has apologized for 'being frustrated and yelling' at his youngest daughter Aoki Lee Simmons, in a disturbing FaceTime video that was posted by his ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons. The ousted Def Jem co-founder posted a mea-culpa late Monday evening saying, in part, that he was 'DEEPLY sorry for being frustrated and yelling.' Russell, 65, was accused by Kimora, 48, of 'threatening [their] kids' lives' and claims Aoki, 20, has severe panic attacks as a result of his behavior and has been 'placed on emergency medication' every time she speaks to him. In response, Russell told his followers that God had been 'testing' him lately, writing: 'God is testing you a little bit, its ok, be strong... they are called growing pains... as you know, we grow through adversity and struggle.' The somewhat rambling response also included this message to his daughters: 'But know this... there are no conditions... for sure i love you guys more than i love myself.' His words accompanied a picture of his two daughters, Aoki and Ming Lee Simmons, 23. Russell was responding to the shocking footage that showed him angrily berate his daughter who could be seen crying and looking distressed on a muted FaceTime call with her dad. Explaining why she shared the clip, Kimora wrote to her followers: 'I'm so sorry to have to do this. But this man has been threatening my kids' lives. I'm hearing so much more now. We won't be bullied, threatened, or afraid. Who [gives a f***].' She added: 'No one should live like this. No one's child. This is abuse. Not okay. The threats, not okay. The fear mongering. Not okay.' Russell Simmons APOLOGIZES for 'being frustrated and yelling' at his as crying daughter Aoki, 20, in disturbing FaceTime call shared by ex Kimora: 'I love you guys more than I love myself' Disturbing footage: Kimora Lee Simmons has shared this muted FaceTime call that appears to show her ex-husband Russell Simmons berating their youngest daughter Aoki Lee Simmons DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for both Kimora and Russell who have so far been unavailable for comment. Kimora ended her 11-year marriage to Russell in 2009 citing 'irreconcilable differences.' They also share 23-year-old daughter Ming Lee Simmons. Simmons (born Perkins) and her second husband Tim Leissner were sued by Russell over allegedly stealing 4M shares of his stocks in 2018. The Queens-born New Yorker accused them of making a 'fraudulent transfer' of his 50% shares in the energy drink company Celsius to pay Leissner's legal/bail fees totaling $44M. The 51-year-old ex-Goldman Sachs banker avoided jail time by pleading guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit money laundering for stealing $2.7B from Malaysian wealth fund 1MDB. Their youngest daughter Aoki is a Harvard University grad, who currently works as an intern for New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Aoki also shared the muted video of one of her recent FaceTime conversations with Russell where his face was visibly full of rage. 'Dad, I stopped talking to you because you were giving me panic attacks to the point I was placed on emergency medication every time we spoke,' Aoki wrote in a text. 'This is abuse': The 48-year-old former model (R, pictured May 27) accused the 65-year-old ousted Def Jam co-founder of abusing the 20-year-old Harvard University grad (L), whose panic attacks got so severe she 'was placed on emergency medication every time' they spoke Kimora wrote via Instastory on Monday: 'I'm so sorry to have to do this. But this man has been threatening my kids' lives. I'm hearing so much more now. We won't be bullied, threatened, or afraid. Who [gives a f***]' Simmons (born Perkins) shared a text from Aoki with the caption: 'No one should live like this. No one's child. This is abuse. Not okay. The threats, not okay. The fear mongering. Not okay' 'She did not steal it. You lost it!' In texts the ONE Management model shared via Instastory, Russell repeatedly calls Kimora a 'piece of s***' who has 'stolen my money and the love of my kids' In another exchange, Summons said 'your mother and Tim [Leissner] took what equals $250 million dollars of my money' and Aoki replied: 'You are being blocked for not respecting my boundaries. I asked you 10 million times to not talk to me about this lawsuit again' Bad blood: The former married couple have been warring for years, with Russell accusing Kimora in 2021 of stealing 4M shares of his stocks in the energy drink company Celsius to pay her embattled husband Tim Leissner's (L, pictured in 2019) $44M bail. 'I cannot have a relationship with you until that stops. No one stops me from talking to you, my health does. I have to put that first. Every time I spoke to you, you would yell and scream about a legal situation that I can't even respond to because I am not involved! I am you child, not your lawyer, your ex-wife - any of it. 'I can do nothing. Yet you yell at me like it's my fault. You were putting so much anger and rage on me every phone call. Cursing, screaming, and god knows what else. I'm sorry but I cannot be the target of that, it's not fair. It got to the point I could not hear your voice without having an anxiety attack. You have to at least respect I'm putting my health and well-being first.' In texts the ONE Management model shared via Instastory, Russell repeatedly calls Kimora a 'piece of s***' who has 'stolen my money and the love of my kids.' 'She did not steal it. You lost it. Understand? You lost it with your actions,' Aoki defended in her reply. In another exchange, Summons said 'your mother and Tim [Leissner] took what equals $250 million dollars of my money' and Aoki replied: 'You are being blocked for not respecting my boundaries. I asked you 10 million times to not talk to me about this lawsuit again.' 'It's like talking to a cruel child or something, and no he does not financially support me,' wrote Simmons who claimed the native New Yorker calls herself, her mother, and her sister 'bi***es.' 'He hasn't given me a dime in years. I haven't had a graduation gift, a birthday gift, so much as a taxi ride in years.' In a tearful video, Simmons said Russell has 'completely changed' since being accused of over 20 women of sexual assault and misconduct, which led to his life in exile in Bali (due to extradition laws). Simmons - who claimed her dad calls herself, her mother, and her sister 'bi***es' - cried: 'It's like talking to a cruel child or something, and no he does not financially support me. He hasn't given me a dime in years. I haven't had a graduation gift, a birthday gift, so much as a taxi ride in years' '#DaddysGirl': In a tearful video, Simmons said Russell has 'completely changed' since being accused of over 20 women of sexual assault and misconduct, which led to his life in exile in Bali (due to extradition laws) Aoki wrote: 'Some of us do think he's mentally ill or experiencing something like dementia, he really acts like he hates and does not know his children frequently. Prior to his media issues, he was really the best dad ever and a great co-parent. He and my mom were best friends. We all defended him against anything, and then he suddenly turned on anyone who will let him lash out. It's a really just terrifying change to watch' 'Love you so much!' The vegan yogi - who used to run the meditation/yoga app GDAS - did not comment on his daughter's posts but Instastoried a happy Father's Day message he received from his niece Vanessa Simmons Simmons' #MeToo scandal was detailed in Kirby Dick + Amy Ziering's critically-acclaimed documentary On the Record, which premiered in 2020 on HBO Max. 'Some of us do think he's mentally ill or experiencing something like dementia, he really acts like he hates and does not know his children frequently,' Aoki wrote. 'Prior to his media issues, he was really the best dad ever and a great co-parent. He and my mom were best friends. We all defended him against anything, and then he suddenly turned on anyone who will let him lash out. It's a really just terrifying change to watch.' The vegan yogi - who used to run the meditation/yoga app GDAS - did not comment on his daughter's posts but Instastoried a happy Father's Day message he received from his niece Vanessa Simmons. Kimora is also mother to two sons - Wolfe, 8; and Gary, 14 - with Tim (whom she hasn't been pictured with since 2019), and she mothered 14-year-old son Kenzo with ex-fiance, two-time Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou. DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for both Russell and Kimora who have so far been unavailable for comment. Kristin Davis showed off her megawatt smile while stepping out in New York City on Tuesday. The 58-year-old Sex And The City actress looked youthful and vibrant in a green and white maxi dress as she continued press for season two of And Just Like That... She happily waved to fans in the Big Apple as she showed off her trim waist by cinching her frock with a thick, white belt. The Colorado native donned a pair of very lightly tinted, round aviator eyeglasses, elevating her summer-ready look. Also on Tuesday, Kristin weighed in on co-star Kim Cattrall's upcoming cameo while chatting with Extra. Beaming! Kristin Davis showed off her megawatt smile while stepping out in New York City on Tuesday On the go: The 58-year-old Sex And The City actress looked youthful and vibrant in a green and white maxi dress as she continued press for season two of And Just Like That... In a virtual conversation, Kristin noted about the long-rumored behind-the-scenes friction of her hit show: 'I just feel like the world is a complicated place and we do not need to get into any more drama.' Cattrall, 66, chose not to appear as her beloved character Samantha Jones in the first season of the HBO show. It was announced last month that she would reprise the role for one scene in season two. 'We also really thought that it would be nice for the fans. I know the fans miss Samantha and shes a great character,' Kristin told Extra. 'And I feel like it rang true to life, like you have these really intense friendships and then maybe somebody moves or gets into a relationship or whatever different thing happens. 'And you dont see them all the time but that doesnt mean that youre not friends. And that doesnt mean that you might not hear from them.' The mother-of-two highlighted the audience when discussing the critically acclaimed franchise. 'We just know with the 25th anniversary, we want to make the fans happy. And I hope that theyre happy,' she noted during the chat. And she teased, 'Were trying to keep whatever secrets we can keep.' Accessory: The Colorado native donned a pair of very lightly tinted, round aviator eyeglasses, elevating her summer-ready look Two cents: It comes as Kristin weighed in on co-star Kim Cattrall's upcoming cameo while chatting with Extra Fashionista: Charlotte switched up her look later in the day as she reemerged in a lacy black dress While on the go in the big city, Kristin wore her lustrous brunette locks in an off-center part and voluminous waves. Her dress boasted puffy sleeves and a deep but modest neckline with a small bow tie accent. She teamed the look with a pair of pointed toe white heels and wore understated, silver-toned dangling earrings. The actress flaunted a short, nude manicure and wore rings on both of her hands. Davis, who played Charlotte on the popular series, looked stunning in a full face of flattering makeup. In another part of her interview with Extra, she talked about working with John Corbett, who plays Carrie's love interest Aidan Shaw. 'It was so much fun! Hes such a joy and he was so happy to be back and that just brings so much to it. 'Weve known John a long time now, so he brought fresh air when we needed it, and was just full of joy,' she gushed. 'Theres never a dull moment with John Corbett.' Thoughts: About season two of the Sex And The City reboot, Kristin said she and her costars 'want to make the fans happy'; Cattrall pictured June 15 in NYC About Charlotte in the forthcoming season, the Hollywood fixture said, 'Charlotte is still being her best mom self to her two children, who present all kinds of interesting challenges, and her best wife self to Harry.' She added, 'And things are going well, but I would say that under the surface, she has some unfinished parts of herself. I think thats something that I relate to as a mom for sure, and I feel like other women might relate to.' On June 6, Kristin took to Instagram to acknowledge the 25th anniversary of Sex And The City's premiere. Engaging her 1.2 million followers, she wrote, 'It is impossible to believe it has been 25 years! 'I consider myself the luckiest person in the world to be a part of this story that connects so many of us together. It has and continues to be a JOY!' She concluded, 'Thank you to all of you who have come along for the ride. We love you.' Season two of And Just Like That... premieres on Max on June 22. Advertisement Heidi Montag slipped into a plunging, patterned swimsuit for a beach day with her family in Hawaii on Tuesday afternoon. The 36-year-old former MTV personality - who recently joined Kristin Cavallari in a TikTok video - savored quality time with husband Spencer Pratt and their two sons. The longtime couple welcomed new addition Ryker in November 2022 as he joined older brother Gunner, aged five. Heidi and Spencer shared a kiss as the happy clan took a dip into the ocean, kicking off their summer. Heidi, who hails from Colorado, was smiling from ear to ear as she held her baby boy close. Looking great: Heidi Montag slipped into a plunging, patterned swimsuit for a beach day with her family in Hawaii; pictured with sons Ryker, seven months, and Gunner, five Sweet: Heidi and husband Spencer Pratt shared a kiss as the happy clan took a dip into the ocean, kicking off their summer Heidi's golden blonde locks were slicked and wet after playing in the water with her children. She rocked a short, pale pink manicure as she kept Ryker, who looked adorable in blue swim trunks, on her hip. For his part, Spencer wore a pair of black swim trunks with a horizontal blue and red diamond pattern going across them. He kept a watchful eye on Gunner, who was dressed in a long-sleeved red and blue swim shirt that said 'captain of the sea.' The youngster teamed it with a pair of navy blue swim trunks with white stripes. Pratt, who is from Southern California, wore a long chain with a red crystal pendant around his neck. He is a collector of crystal and also sells them. He rocked a sporty, black, waterproof watch on his left wrist while soaking up the sun with his family. Later, the former MTV star got a workout in as he held a drink in one hand while lifting a wooden weight in the other. Growing family: The longtime couple welcomed their new addition in November 2022 as he joined older brother Gunner Hands-on parent: Heidi's golden blonde locks were slicked and wet after playing in the water with her children Priceless: Ryker looked at ease as he basked in his mother's attention and affection Doting mom: She rocked a short, pale pink manicure as she kept Ryker, who looked adorable in blue swim trunks, close Family time: The 36-year-old former MTV personality savored quality time with husband and their two sons Montag has taken to Instagram in recent days to share glimpses at the family vacation. In one post shared with her one million followers, she wrote, 'Already the best trip of my life at my favorite hotel @1hotel.hanaleibay. 'So much for all of us to enjoy at this magical and sustainable hotel. Making memories left and right! Aloha.' She uploaded several snapshots, including some in which she modeled a red bikini. Days ago, sharing a different post, the blonde beauty gushed, 'This trip was epic! Packed with memories and family fun!' It comes after Heidi took to the photo-sharing app earlier this month to mark Gunner's preschool graduation. She shared a photo of her and Spencer embracing the tot as he wore a white graduation cap and smiled. 'Time is flying by! Gunner has graduated from preschool! Oh my gosh I have had so many tears of joy and reflection,' she said. Too cute: Spencer's bond with his firstborn was evident as he planted a kiss on his cheek Playful: Gunner was a great big brother as he entertainer his younger sibling with funny faces Heidi spoke to Us Weekly in December and said her infant son 'has a great temperament.' 'Parenthood this time is really different. I just think I have so much more to focus on with Gunner and with our businesses...I'm busy! It just feels very different and easier,' she explained to the publication. She continued: '[I'm] juggling the heartstrings with Gunner and making sure I have that time with him...Mom guilt is something I'm really trying to balance. 'It's just more people to worry about constantly...I do just love Gunner and Ryker so differently, but it's equal. I just feel really whole.' As far as he physical state since welcoming her second child, Heidi said in a TikTok post earlier this year: 'So my goal is just to get strong, to have strength. 'I fit back into my Alo [workout clothes], which is great. And now I'm going to be stronger and better than ever!' Laughter: The doting mom shared a laugh with her young sons Bonding: Gunner enjoyed playing with his new sibling Multitasking: The SoCal native held a drink in one hand while lifting a wooden weight in the other Reps: Spencer looked focused as he maneuvered a weight Heidi and friend Kristin recently dropped in on TikTok to share a video of them lip-syncing Aqua's 1997 single Barbie Girl. The Uncommon James founder described Montag as her 'BFF' and 'rideordie' in the caption of the post. The pair both appeared in the original iteration of The Hills, which premiered on MTV in May 2006. Montag appeared in all of the show's six seasons while Cavallari joined the show as a guest at first, later signing on as a full-time cast member. Armie Hammer and his estranged wife Elizabeth Chambers have settled their divorce almost three years after filing. It comes weeks after the Los Angeles County District Attorney announced that the Call Me By Your Name actor would not be charged over claims of sexual assault after an ex-girlfriend previously accused him of raping her. Hammer, 36, and Chambers, 40, first announced their separation after 10 years of marriage in July 2020 following disturbing allegations that Hammer had perpetrated violent abuse on women, which he has denied. The pair are said to have reached an agreement regarding their property as well as any child and spousal support issues between them, TMZ reports. Settled: Armie Hammer and his estranged wife Elizabeth Chambers have settled their divorce almost three years after filing This comes months after Chambers spoke of the moment she knew her marriage to Hammer was over, revealing he left her heart 'broken in nine million pieces.' Speaking about the breakdown of her marriage in a candid chat with ELLE magazine, Elizabeth revealed that cracks had been showing for months, with the actor's behaviour during lockdown proving to be the final straw. The couple were on holiday with their children Harper, eight, and Ford, six, when Covid cases began to spike in the States, so they decided not to return to Los Angeles but instead quarantine in the Cayman Islands with Armie's father and stepmother. Yet their already strained marriage began to break down even quicker, with Elizabeth describing Armie as 'the worst' during quarantine. For his part, Armie has described the time as being a 'very complicated, intense situation, with big personalities all locked in a little tiny place,' likening himself to a wolf 'caught in a snare' that wants to 'chew his own foot off.' Despite their struggles, Elizabeth was left blindsided when her husband decided to leave the family and return to California, where he helped a friend restore an old motel outside Joshua Tree National Park. 'My heart was broken in nine million pieces, and I still drove him to the airport,' she confessed. She added: 'Marriage is always going to be difficult, and, as with any relationship, you go through a process. Especially if you throw success and fame into the mix; it just becomes more magnified Controversy: Hammer, 36, and Chambers, 40, first announced their separation after 10 years of marriage in July 2020 following disturbing allegations that Hammer had perpetrated violent abuse on women, which he has denied '[Over time] your partner is learning things about themselves,' she says. 'They're growing, you're growing; you hope that you're growing together.' Ultimately, they had grown too far apart to make their relationship work. While attempting to build herself back together, Elizabeth sought comfort from the marriage counsellor she had seen with Armie, famed psychotherapist and relationship specialist Esther Perel. '[Esther] always said heartbreak is literally worse than a heroin addiction, and I think about that a lot', she confessed. Elizabeth is now dating wellness specialist Ricardas Kazinec, 26. Family: The exes share two children together, daughter Harper, eight, and son Ford, six While the couple are 'so in love', Elizabeth revealed they have to act 'completely platonic if the kids ever see us together, because I dont think its in their best interest to see their mom dating someone while theyre still processing divorce.' Elizabeth admitted it felt like she was 'ripping' her family apart by filing for divorce. She explained: 'The dissolution of my family was literally my biggest fear of my whole life. You're building something, right? You're weaving a beautiful tapestry, and the last thing you want is for a knife to come and rip the tapestry in half.' Elizabeth's heartache was only magnified when a series of depraved revelations about Armie's sex life were made public, among them that he had cannibalistic fetishes. 'I was learning things as the public was,' Elizabeth revealed. 'I was like, 'There are no words. What the f**k?' The Social Network star had been under investigation for sexual assault since February 2021 after his ex-girlfriend, Effie Angelova, 26, accused him of 'violently' raping and abusing her in 2017. Last month the LA County District Attorney announced the actor would not be charged over claims of sexual assault following Effie's accusations of rape. Throwback: Chambers and Hammer pictured at the Paris premiere of Call Me By Your Name in 2018 Armie posted a statement to his Instagram account after a spokesperson LA DA George Gascon announced he wouldn't face charges due to a 'insufficient evidence.' 'I am very grateful to the District Attorney for conducting a thorough investigation and coming to the conclusion that I have stood by this entire time, that no crime was committed,' Hammer wrote. 'I look forward to beginning what will be a long, difficult process of putting my life back together now that my name is cleared.' Tiffiny Blacknell, Director of the DA's Bureau of Communications, said in a statement that they were not able to prove Angelova's claims. 'Sexual assault cases are often difficult to prove, which is why we assign our most experienced prosecutors to review them. In this case, those prosecutors conducted an extremely thorough review, but determined that at this time, there is insufficient evidence to charge Mr. Hammer with a crime,' she said. 'As prosecutors, we have an ethical responsibility to only charge cases that we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt. We know that it is hard for women to report sexual assault,' Blacknell added. She did say that the county would continue to provide support to alleged victims with services. 'Even when we cannot move forward with a prosecution, our victim service representatives will be available to those who seek our victim support services. Due to the complexity of the relationship and inability to prove a non-consensual, forcible sexual encounter we are unable to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.' Armie posted a statement to his Instagram account after a spokesperson LA DA George Gascon announced he wouldn't face charges due to a 'insufficient evidence' He has denied the accusations of rape through his attorney and said all of his sexual encounters were 'completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance and mutually participatory'. Several other women came forward and accused Hammer of being interested in kinky sex and even cannibalism in the wake of Angelova's claims. The Call Me By Your Name star was dropped by his personal publicist and former agency as well as multiple projects following the allegations. Hammer also stepped down from a role in Jennifer Lopez's film Shotgun Wedding, but maintained his innocence. 'I'm not responding to these b******* claims but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children for four months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic,' he said in a statement to the Daily Mail. The actor subsequently claimed he tried to commit suicide in the Cayman Islands following the backlash. Chambers pictured with Hammer in 2018 'I just walked out into the ocean and swam out as far as I could and hoped that either I drowned, or was hit by a boat, or eaten by a shark,' Hammer said. Angelova hit back, accusing Hammer of being 'manipulative' and trying to 'evoke sympathy'. She said he had told her the suicide story years before she spoke out, and was only sharing it publicly in an attempt to gain sympathy and silence his victims. The actor has admitted he was emotionally abusive towards his former partners, but blamed his actions on being traumatized by a youth pastor who allegedly sexually abused him when he was 13. The scandal began when the Instagram account House of Effie started leaking disturbing messages, said to be sent by him between 2016 and February 2020, that include conversations about BDSM, in addition to numerous sexual references to cannibalistic acts and blood-sucking. In one message, the actor allegedly writes to the woman: 'I am 100% a cannibal. I want to eat you.' 'F**k. That's scary to admit,' the message continues. 'I've never admitted that before.' Hammer's former partners Paige Lorenze and Courtney Vucekovich then also accused him of being physically and emotionally abusive while they were together. Career torpedoed: The Call Me By Your Name star was dropped by his personal publicist and former agency as well as multiple projects following the allegation Lorenze told Page Six that the actor had carved the letter 'A' into her pelvis to brand her and then sucked the blood that oozed out. In March 2021, Angelova officially came forward with her attorney Gloria Allred, alleging: 'On April 24, 2017, Armie Hammer violently raped me for over four hours in Los Angeles, during which he repeatedly slapped my head against a wall bruising my face. 'He also committed other acts of violence against me to which I did not consent.' Angelova said she thought Hammer was 'going to kill' her and claimed he beat her feet during the alleged attack 'so they would hurt', according to Variety. The 26-year-old claimed she met Hammer on Facebook when she was 20, before falling in love with the actor. But she has since said she fell victim to 'manipulation tactics'. Shortly after, the LAPD confirmed it was investigating the actor after a 'community member' came forward with an attorney on February 3, 2021, with a sexual assault claim. Model Paige Lorenze, a former professional skier turned Instagram mode, spoke of the 'deeply traumatic' four month relationship she had with Armie Hammer, which left her emotionally and physically scarred Hammer has continuously denied the allegations made against him. His lawyer has said Hammer's encounter with Angelova was 'completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory'. In a statement, the lawyer said: 'Effie's own correspondence with Mr. Hammer undermines and refutes her outrageous allegations. As recently as July 18, 2020, [she] sent graphic texts to Mr. Hammer telling him what she wanted him to do to her. 'Mr. Hammer responded, making it clear that he did not want to maintain that type of relationship with her. 'It was never Mr. Hammer's intention to embarrass or expose [Effie's] fetishes or kinky sexual desires, but she has now escalated this matter to another level by hiring a civil lawyer to host a public press conference. 'With the truth on his side, Mr. Hammer welcomes the opportunity to set the record straight. From day one, Mr. Hammer has maintained that all of his interactions with [Effie] and every other sexual partner of his for that matter have been completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory. '[Effie's] attention seeking and ill-advised legal bid will only make it more difficult for real victims of sexual violence to get the justice they deserve.' Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey was spotted for the first time on the Bessemer, AL set of his next film, The Rivals of Amziah King, on Tuesday. In the scene, the 53-year-old Texan - who plays Amziah King - hauled two boxes marked 'pure honey' out of a bottling plant while wearing a white Henley top, suspenders, blue jeans, and brown cowboy boots. Matthew sported a burly beard and his costume also included a blue bandana around his brown curly locks as well as a wedding band. McConaughey was joined by 19-year-old newcomer Angelina LookingGlass, who plays a mystery role in filmmaker Andrew Patterson's 'deeply atmospheric, character-focused crime thriller set against the unique backdrop of remote Oklahoma.' The Black Bear Pictures production will be distributed in the States via WME Independent - according to Deadline. Action! Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey was spotted for the first time on the Bessemer, AL set of his next film, The Rivals of Amziah King, on Tuesday Meet Amziah King! In the scene, the 53-year-old Texan hauled two boxes marked 'pure honey' out of a bottling plant while wearing a white Henley top, suspenders, blue jeans, and brown cowboy boots On Sunday, the Agent Elvis actor's wife of 11 years - Women of Today founder Camila Alves - shared a Father's Day tribute on Instagram featuring his hands covering his family's hands. Matthew and the Brazilian 41-year-old - who met at Hollywood hotspot Hyde back in 2006 - will next celebrate the 15th birthday of their eldest child, son Levi, on July 7. The McConaugheys are also proud parents of 13-year-old daughter Vida and 10-year-old son Livingston. The Austin FC minority owner hasn't officially confirmed he's starring in Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone sequel - premiering December on Paramount Network - but he certainly admires the original series starring his old friend, Cole Hauser. 'I admire the simplicity of it. One way you could explain Yellowstone and [exiting star Kevin] Costner's role is what will men do to protect land and family in a world that is trying to encroach?' Matthew told the Lex Fridman Podcast on June 13. 'In a world where there's a cowboy ethos that deems trespassing more clear earlier than other hats. I admire that simplicity of right and wrong.' McConaughey continued: 'It's above the law. It's a little bit of, "If the law ain't handling this, I am." And then it is, "The law's not going to handle this, therefore I am." Then it is, "I'm handling this. The law? Talk to them when you get to them. I'm handling this."' On March 14, Apple Studios greenlit David West Read's 10-episode half-hour comedy series starring the Golden Globe winner and his potential half-brother Woody Harrelson moving both of their families on to the same Texan ranch. And on September 12, Viking Books will publish Matthew's 32-page children's book Just Because, which features illustrations from Renee Kurilla. Married character: Matthew sported a burly beard and his costume also included a blue bandana around his brown curly locks as well as a wedding band Hard work: McConaughey was joined by 19-year-old newcomer Angelina LookingGlass (L), who plays a mystery role in filmmaker Andrew Patterson's 'deeply atmospheric, character-focused crime thriller set against the unique backdrop of remote Oklahoma' 'The power of a father!' On Sunday, the Agent Elvis actor's wife of 11 years - Women of Today founder Camila Alves - shared a Father's Day tribute on Instagram featuring his hands covering his family's hands Dazed & Confused castmate: Matthew hasn't officially confirmed he's starring in Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone sequel - premiering December on Paramount Network - but he certainly admires the original series starring his old friend, Cole Hauser (R) McConaughey told the Lex Fridman Podcast on June 13: 'I admire the simplicity of it. One way you could explain Yellowstone and [exiting star Kevin] Costner's role is what will men do to protect land and family in a world that is trying to encroach?' The Austin FC minority owner continued: 'In a world where there's a cowboy ethos that deems trespassing more clear earlier than other hats. I admire that simplicity of right and wrong' Coming soon! On March 14, Apple Studios greenlit David West Read's 10-episode half-hour comedy series starring Matthew and his potential half-brother Woody Harrelson (R, pictured in 2018) moving both of their families on to the same Texan ranch Anna Richardson has revealed the names of the stars who will strip nude for a celebrity special of Naked Attraction. The TV host, 52, teased the identities of those who will featured on the Channel 4 show. Blue frontman Duncan James, 45, is one of the first celebrities to be announced, despite being in a relationship with Brazilian hunk Rodrigo Reis since 2019. Anna said: 'Duncan James was like, 'I'm up for it!', and I was like, 'Oh my god!', the journalist told. 'And the lovely Anna Whitehouse, who does the Mother Pukka podcast, said to me a couple of weeks ago that she'd do it.' Bombshell: Anna Richardson has revealed the names of the stars who will strip nude for a celebrity special of Naked Attraction Cheeky: Blue frontman Duncan James, 45, is one of the first celebrities to be announced, despite being in a relationship with Brazilian hunk Rodrigo Reis since 2019 Broadcaster India Willoughby, 57, previously revealed she was originally approached to star in a Celebrity edition of Naked Attraction in aid of Stand Up to Cancer. But the plan drifted when producers couldn't find enough people willing to take part in it. India previously told the Daily Star: 'I was asked to do the show and I wanted to do it. I was up for it and it was in the pipeline. But unfortunately they couldn't get enough people, so it went down the pan. 'If I was going to do the show, it would have to be in the next 12 months or so or everything is going to be hanging around my ankles!' The news about the show comes after it was revealed earlier this month that Channel 4 has axed or delayed some of its most popular shows after running out of money to fund them including Naked Attraction. Despite its boss Alex Mahon earning 1.2 million last year, the Mail on Sunday revealed staff at the channel are calling it a 'bloodbath' as big-money celebrity flop Scared Of The Dark and ground-breaking medical documentary Rescue: Extreme Medics, based in Scotland, have all been canned. The much publicised return of reality series Four Weddings has also been scrapped, though a team from an independent production company had been commissioned to make it. Staff on fixed contracts to work on the programme were immediately laid off, with some now worrying about how they will pay their rent. Friday night favourite The Last Leg, one of the channel's most popular shows hosted by Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker, is set to have the length of its next series cut to save money. Channel 4 has instructed lawyers to thrash out deals with heads of production companies to get out of contracts for shows which are worth millions of pounds, meaning it has been left with expensive legal bills and exit fees. Cast: 'The lovely Anna Whitehouse, who does the Mother Pukka podcast, said to me a couple of weeks ago that she'd do it,' Anna said Proposal: Broadcaster India Willoughby, 57, previously revealed she was originally approached to star in a Celebrity edition of Naked Attraction in aid of Stand Up to Cancer The crisis comes after Ms Mahon and her colleague Ian Katz fought off a Government plan to privatise it, with one of their arguments being that it funds independent production companies nationwide. A source told The Mail on Sunday that the channel believes it is better to cut its losses. But staff blame Mr Katz for wasting money on expensive but little-watched shows such as reality series Rise And Fall, which is understood to have cost the channel 14 million money which could not be justified because of its low ratings. One insider said: 'Everyone is calling it a Channel 4 bloodbath. At first everyone was in total shock when Four Weddings was cancelled. 'It's almost unheard of that a show that is going really well is decommissioned, but as news started to spread, other shows were falling down too. 'They were told that Ian Katz had been looking at the channel's entire output, and they were sorry but it had to happen because there was no money. 'The casting team were already in place to start on Naked Attraction and were all told they were no longer needed as they were not making another series. 'They tried to lessen the blow to the show's freelance crew by saying they hope to make another series in December, but that doesn't help them now.' Ms Mahon and Mr Katz announced last week that they have deferred taking bonuses worth hundreds of thousands of pounds and scrapped a planned pay rise, amid the crisis. However, one Channel 4 employee said: 'It's only because they have had to.' A spokesman for the network said: 'Channel 4 cares deeply about the Indie community and our wider supply chain of freelancers. They are the beating heart of our business. 'While we recognise the actions we are asking of some are causing some short-term pain, the plan we have in place underscores our ongoing commitment to our financial sustainability and our continued support of the UK's independent production sector 'The Executive Directors have already made the decision to defer retention payments and earlier this year declined a salary rise as part of a wider response to a very difficult ad-market in Q2, which is affecting all commercial broadcasters.' Vicky Pattison choked back tears as she spoke candidly about her egg freezing journey with fiance Ercan Ramadan, in the second of a two-part Lorraine special on Tuesday morning. The Geordie Shore star, 35, joined Lorraine and Dr Hilary Jones in the studio - where she opened up about her decision to wait to have a family later in life. 'When you're freezing your eggs you're so focused on the end goal you don't even consider the journey and how you get there,' she said. 'I actually think that was a huge reason why I've decided to do this. I just think most women who do it are unprepared, so I underestimated the process.' She told viewers: 'I've had moments where I think, "come on just do it now," but the thing is, I'm trying to be responsible Lorraine.' Motherhood: Vicky Pattison shed tears as she spoke about her egg freezing journey with fiance Ercan Ramadan, in the second of a two-part Lorraine special on Tuesday morning Candid: The TV sensation has been documenting her egg freezing journey after beginning the process at the London Women's Clinic in Harley Street last year 'I want to be the very best parent I can be, and in order to be that, I have to do it at the right time. 'So I'm hoping that in the next couple of years I'll be able to conceive naturally, but if I can't and if anything does happen, I have that security blanket so to speak.' The reality star detailed the emotional moment that she had the call from the lab: 'Out of six mature eggs, that we decided to turn into embryos, three have survived the fertilization and blastocyst process, so that's pretty amazing.' 'That means three little me and Ercan's are going in the freezer. I'm over the moon!' Vicky said as she looked on cloud nine over the big news. Vicky revealed things started to feel 'real' only when she got that call and at that point realised: 'I am going to have a family, and do all the things I wanna do!' The TV sensation was seen attending the London Women's Clinic in Harley Street with Ercan, who she has been dating for four years. The couple decided to go through a series of lab tests to determine the likelihood of a successful outcome and Vicky revealed she felt shaky after having 10 eggs removed. She said: 'It's been a few days since my egg retrieval and I've not actually recovered very well. I feel like I underestimated this.' Vicky previously revealed how the hormones she'd been taking had affected her emotions. Speaking out: The Geordie Shore star, 35, joined Lorraine and Dr Hilary Jones in the studio - where she opened up about her decision to wait to have a family later in life Vicky said: 'I want to be the very best parent I can be, and in order to be that, I have to do it at the right time. So I'm hoping that in the next couple of years I'll be able to conceive naturally' 'The wheels came off this weekend. My tummy became really distended. I started to feel a low-level of pain and nausea. My hormones! I was just all over the place,' she told. She even joked: 'I cried because Wrexham got promoted.' Ercan said: 'It's been a tough few days.' The star explained that after the procedure, other eggs that were removed from her were also frozen immediately for what she called a 'a back-up, back-up plan'. During the first part of Lorraine's special, Vicky revealed that at 35 she finally felt ready to settle down with Ercan but not yet ready to become a parent. The Geordie Shore star told she'd started thinking seriously about having her eggs frozen last year, and had spoken to her mum about it. 'Women want more but the only thing that hasn't changed is this ticking time clock - this biological clock that we are beholden to. And it's scary,' she told Lorraine. 'I want to enjoy being his [Ercan's] fiance. I want to enjoy being his wife. And when the time's right, I want to enjoy being a mother.' Vicky explained: 'It's been a few days since my egg retrieval and I've not actually recovered very well. I feel like I underestimated this' Dr Hilary explained: 'Now is not cheap most women got privately for this, and there is no guarantee. But there is a very good chance that you can have a baby in the future' Dr Hilary joined the conversation earlier today about the egg freezing process: 'It's something you might do because of different reasons. 'And now is not cheap most women got privately for this, and there is no guarantee. But there is a very good chance that you can have a baby in the future.' Mum Carroll also joined the conversation - as she admitted she didn't fully understood the process until Vicky had explained it to her. In a supportive statement, Ercan said: 'When she first mentioned it [egg freezing] I was a bit like Vicky's mum. I said, "you don't need it. We're going to be fine." 'But the older you get, the harder it is to have children, so it is a difficult one but we'll get through it and hopefully for women out there it encourages them and it helps them understand, like we have.' Vicky Pattison left fans in stitches as she shared the result of her fake tan fail on Tuesday. Shortly before she appeared on ITV's Lorraine to discuss her egg freezing journey, the reality star, 35, took to Instagram to share a picture of her foot looking dark orange in colour. The funny snap was revealed to be the result of a fake tan fail and Vicky made fun of herself on her page. She captioned the image: 'I do not know how to explain this. I haven't worn or applied fake tan in about 3 weeks and every morning I have woken up over the last couple of days this one foot is browner/oranger.' She added: 'Just this one foot though... not the other one and nowhere else on my body ... WTF????? Can anyone offer any explanation???? Ps I apologise my feet are vile.' Big fail: Vicky Pattison shared hilarious snaps of her bright orange foot as she pleaded with fans for help over fake tan fail in a funny Instagram post on Tuesday Tantastic: Vicky revealed that was baffled because she hadn't applied fake tan for three weeks but her foot kept getting darker She posted another snap later on framing her 'orange' foot as she wore a pair of classy cream stiletto heels and joked: 'Nah honestly... I can't with this foot,' along with a laughing face emoji Earlier in the day, the reality sensation hid her fake tan fail as she appeared on Lorraine for an emotional interview. Vicky choked back tears as she spoke candidly about her egg freezing journey with fiance Ercan Ramadan, in the second of a two-part Lorraine special. The Geordie Shore star joined Lorraine and Dr Hilary Jones in the studio - where she opened up about her decision to wait to have a family later in life. 'When you're freezing your eggs you're so focused on the end goal you don't even consider the journey and how you get there,' she said. 'I actually think that was a huge reason why I've decided to do this. I just think most women who do it are unprepared, so I underestimated the process.' She told viewers: 'I've had moments where I think, "come on just do it now," but the thing is, I'm trying to be responsible Lorraine.' 'I want to be the very best parent I can be, and in order to be that, I have to do it at the right time. 'So I'm hoping that in the next couple of years I'll be able to conceive naturally, but if I can't and if anything does happen, I have that security blanket so to speak.' Ironic: It appeared Vicky's tanning experiment didn't end up very well - but she took the chance to poke herself with her 5.4M Instagram followers The reality star detailed the emotional moment that she had the call from the lab: 'Out of six mature eggs, that we decided to turn into embryos, three have survived the fertilization and blastocyst process, so that's pretty amazing.' 'That means three little me and Ercan's are going in the freezer. I'm over the moon!' Vicky said as she looked on cloud nine over the big news. Vicky revealed things started to feel 'real' only when she got that call and at that point realised: 'I am going to have a family, and do all the things I wanna do!' The TV sensation was seen attending the London Women's Clinic in Harley Street with Ercan, who she has been dating for four years. The couple decided to go through a series of lab tests to determine the likelihood of a successful outcome and Vicky revealed she felt shaky after having 10 eggs removed. She said: 'It's been a few days since my egg retrieval and I've not actually recovered very well. I feel like I underestimated this.' Vicky previously revealed how the hormones she'd been taking had affected her emotions. 'The wheels came off this weekend. My tummy became really distended. I started to feel a low-level of pain and nausea. My hormones! I was just all over the place,' she told. She even joked: 'I cried because Wrexham got promoted.' Ercan said: 'It's been a tough few days.' The star explained that after the procedure, other eggs that were removed from her were also frozen immediately for what she called a 'a back-up, back-up plan'. During the first part of Lorraine's special, Vicky revealed that at 35 she finally felt ready to settle down with Ercan but not yet ready to become a parent. Speaking out: Earlier in the day, Vicky Pattison joined Lorraine Kelly and Dr Hilary Jones in the studio - where she opened up about her decision to wait to have a family later in life Vicky said: 'I want to be the very best parent I can be, and in order to be that, I have to do it at the right time. So I'm hoping that in the next couple of years I'll be able to conceive naturally' The Geordie Shore star told she'd started thinking seriously about having her eggs frozen last year, and had spoken to her mum about it. 'Women want more but the only thing that hasn't changed is this ticking time clock - this biological clock that we are beholden to. And it's scary,' she told Lorraine. 'I want to enjoy being his [Ercan's] fiance. I want to enjoy being his wife. And when the time's right, I want to enjoy being a mother.' Dr Hilary joined the conversation earlier today about the egg freezing process: 'It's something you might do because of different reasons. 'And now is not cheap most women got privately for this, and there is no guarantee. But there is a very good chance that you can have a baby in the future.' Mum Carroll also joined the conversation - as she admitted she didn't fully understood the process until Vicky had explained it to her. In a supportive statement, Ercan said: 'When she first mentioned it [egg freezing] I was a bit like Vicky's mum. I said, "you don't need it. We're going to be fine." 'But the older you get, the harder it is to have children, so it is a difficult one but we'll get through it and hopefully for women out there it encourages them and it helps them understand, like we have.' CAIRO (AP) - The governor of Darfur on Tuesday called for an international investigation into violence against residents of the region, which has experienced some of the worst fighting in Sudans ongoing conflict, saying it's a return to past genocide. Mini Arko Minawi urged the U.N. Security Council to allow the International Criminal Court to probe "crimes and assassinations" that took place in the western region over the past two months. Sudan descended into chaos after fighting erupted in mid-April between the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. The conflict, which capped months of tensions between rival generals, has killed more than 3,000 people and wounded over 6,000 others, according to Health Minister Haitham Mohammed Ibrahim. It has forced more than 2.2 million people to flee their homes to safer areas inside Sudan and to neighboring nations. The fighting has centered on the capital, Khartoum, but spread elsewhere in the African country, including Darfur. The violence in Darfur, a sprawling region consisting of five provinces, has recently taken an ethnic dimension, with the RSF and Arab militias reportedly targeting non-Arab tribes in the region, according to U.N. officials. The U.N. envoy in Sudan, Volker Perthes, said earlier this month that such attacks, which include targeted killings, rapes and other atrocities, could amount to crimes against humanity. People board a truck as they leave Khartoum, Sudan, Monday, June 19, 2023. Sudan's warring parties have begun another attempt at a cease-fire after more than two months of brutal fighting - and ahead of an international conference to raise funds for humanitarian assistance. (AP Photo) Minawi said "excessive force" has been used against residents in many areas in the region, including Genena, the capital of West Darfur province, and the town of Kutum in North Darfur province. "What is happening in Darfur now is no less than what had happened in 2003," he said in a video posted Monday on his social media accounts, referring to the region's genocidal war in the early 2000s. He spoke of residents killed, women raped and the looting and burning of properties, and assassinations of the regions political and community leaders, including the governor of West Darfur, Khamis Abdalla Abkar. Akbar, a member of the Masalit ethnic group, was abducted and killed Wednesday hours after he accused the RSF and allied Arab militias in a televised interview of attacking Genena. Activists and rights defenders have blamed his slaying on the RSF, a charge the paramilitary force denied. Dar Masalit sultanate, which represents the Masalit ethnic community in Darfur, also called for an "immediate international intervention" to protect civilians in Darfur. In a detailed report issued Monday on the violence in Genena, the sultanate accused the RSF and Arab militias of launching a "series of systematic and bloody attacks" aimed at "ethnically cleansing, and of committing genocide against African civilians." It said more than 5,000 people were killed and at least 8,000 others wounded in two months in the city. Darfur suffered the genocidal war when ethnic Africans rebelled, accusing the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum of discrimination. Former dictator Omar al-Bashirs government was accused of retaliating by arming local nomadic Arab tribes, known as Janjaweed, who targeted civilians. The Janjaweed, who later evolved into the RSF, were accused of widespread killings, rapes and other atrocities in Darfur over the past two decades. In the current conflict, the RSF and allied Arab militias have repeatedly attacked the city, especially areas inhabited by the Masalit community, according to residents and activists. Many towns, villages and displacement camps were looted and burned down. Activists also reported that dozens of women were raped inside their homes and while trying to flee the fighting in Darfur. Almost all rape cases were blamed on the RSF, which didnt respond to repeated requests for comment. "This spiraling violence bears terrifying similarity with the war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated in Darfur since 2003. Even those seeking safety are not being spared," said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty Internationals regional director for East and Southern Africa. The Rs 2,000 note withdrawal decision and response to it so far suggest that the move can help boost FY24 GDP growth to beyond 6.5 per cent estimated by the RBI, a report said on Monday. The real GDP growth for the first quarter of FY24 will come at 8.1 per cent with an upward bias and the Reserve Bank of India's 6.5 per cent estimate can also be exceeded, economists at the country's largest lender SBI said. "We expect Q1 FY24 GDP growth at 8.1 per cent with an upward bias due to the impact of Rs 2000 note withdrawal event...This reinforces our projection that FY24 GDP could be higher than 6.5 per cent, basis the RBI estimate," a note said. It can be noted that earlier this month, the RBI informed that over half of the currency notes in the denomination have returned back, with 85 per cent of it coming as deposits into banks, while the remaining 15 per cent have been exchanged at bank counters. Based on this experience, the SBI note said the consumption can get a Rs 55,000 crore boost because of the move. It estimated Rs 3.08 lakh crore to come back as deposits into the system, of which Rs 92,000 crore will come into saving banks accounts, of which 60 per cent will get withdrawn, thus giving an immediate increase in consumption at Rs 55,000 crore. In the long run, the boost can be Rs 1.83 lakh crore because of the consumption multiplier, it added. "One of the major benefits of withdrawal of Rs 2000 note might be the immediate uptick in consumption demand," the report said. It is expected that high-value amounts could move to high-value spends, such as gold/jewellery, high-end consumer durables like AC, mobile phones, and real estate, according to the note. It cited reports of an increase in fuel payments and cash on delivery, with online food aggregator Zomato reporting three-fourths of users opting for cash payments by Rs 2,000 notes. The SBI economists also said that the RBI move is expected to increase donations to temples and other religious institutions through Rs 2,000 notes and will push sundry purchases like consumer durables and boutique furniture. As per the note, the RBI's retail central bank digital currency (CBDC), which is being tested in a close user group already, will also benefit from the move to withdraw Rs 2,000 notes. "The absence of higher denomination note should propel faster adoption of E-RUPI for merchant transactions, concurrent with physical fiat currency," it said. Yoga is incomplete without Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), Dhyana (meditation) and Dharana (focused concentration) The history of Yoga in Indian culture is more than five thousand years old. Many complex physical diseases and mental disorders can be cured by various yoga asanas, pranayama, deep breathing, meditation, and mindfulness. There is also improvement in the personality. Due to these benefits, the popularity of yoga as a preventive therapy is increasing progressively all over the world. Yoga counsellors have been appointed in allopathic hospitals in many countries around the world including India. The global popularity of yoga is not without reason, psychologists and doctors themselves have wholeheartedly accepted its positive effects on the body and mind. In the transition period of Covid-19, one can lead a stress-free and happy life by practising yoga. This unique way of life of the Indian sages teaches a person to live happily and also provides liberation to those who move forward on the path of Yoga. The sages created this knowledge for self-welfare so that they can get freedom from the hassle of worldly traffic and lead a prosperous life. Today, yoga is being spread more in the context of health protection than from a spiritual perspective. There are three stages of yoga education - medicine, immortality, and salvation. After the scientific interpretation of Yoga Vidya, it is being used significantly all over the world to make the body healthy as well as to get rid of mental diseases. According to a research work published in May 2020, in a prestigious research journal, the 'Indian Journal of Psychiatry', the Lab for Molecular Reproduction and Genetics of the Anatomy Department of AIIMS and the Department of Psychiatry together concluded that the treatment of depressed patients due to genetic causes is also possible through yoga.* Under this research, a comparative study was done by a group of doctors on 160 patients undergoing treatment for depression. They were divided into two groups of 80 each - One group was restricted to medicine only, while the other group was made to practice yoga asanas for twelve weeks along with medicinal treatment. On completion of the research work, blood samples from both groups were tested. The report gave astounding results. Only 29% of the patients taking only the medicines benefitted, on the contrary, 60% of those who practised yoga along with medicines availed benefits. *The Corona epidemic resulted in a rapid increase in the patients of depression in all the countries of the world. By the research of AIIMS, Dr Reema Dada suggested that practising asanas like Surya Namaskar, Mayurasana, Vrikshasana, Tadasana, Bhujangasana, Janushirasana, Pawanmuktasana, Shalabhasana, Paschimottanasana, Anulom-Vilom Pranayama, Bhramari, Kapalbhati can significantly help in curing depression and other diseases like arthritis. Mayurasan and Ardhamatsyendrasan are considered a panacea for diabetes and abdominal disorders. Apart from physical and mental balance, yoga is also effective in maintaining efficiency, a well-organized routine, and a lifestyle. Yoga has special importance in changing the sanskaras of the mind. Although India has had many sages of Yoga, the most famous and prominent among them is Maharishi Patanjali. Today, yoga is directly related to disease prevention, keeping the body flexible and healthy. In reality, this is not yoga but only a means of 'Ashtayoga' of Patanjali Yogasutra. Patanjali has specifically defined yoga in the Yoga Sutras 'Yogaschittavrittinirodha' i.e., restraining the violent and malevolent instincts of the mind by practicing Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dhyana, and Dharana respectively. On International Yoga Day, emphasis is given to the practice of physical postures and workouts. There is hardly any discussion on Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), Dhyana (meditation), and Dharana (focused concentration). Yoga is incomplete without imbibing these three steps of the Yogasutra. It paves the way to make a person's body, mind, subconscious and soul work smoothly in one rhythm. It is a method of establishing an interrelationship between man and nature. Patanjali was an intense psychologist; he observed that man's personal life is full of sorrows. These sorrows are directly related to the change in the mind and so, Patanjali talks about living a disciplined life by methodically practicing the middle way of meditation Ashtanga Yoga. However, in today's era, yoga is associated with Hinduism, and there is also an attempt to take political advantage of it. But the concept of yoga was born even when the concept of religion was not clear and is used for thousands of years to get rid of physical distress and worldly sorrows. Thus, it is propagated today at the international level due to its positive impact on the health of human beings and the welfare of humanity. (The writer is a Yoga Expert and Naturopathist. Views expressed are personal) International Yoga Day has gained immense popularity globally. Millions of people participate in yoga-related events on this day With International Yoga Day being just a few days away, an atmosphere of excitement and intense activities can easily be sensed not just in India, but across the globe. It is a coincidence that the day was declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2014, after the call for the adoption of June 21st as International Yoga Day by Prime Minister Modi during his address to the UN General Assembly in September 2014. And this year, PM Modi during his next visit to the US, may lead an exciting group of Yoga practitioners on the 21st of June in the park next to the same UN headquarters. Yoga has been one of the greatest symbols of Indias rich cultural heritage. It is an ancient practice that originated in India and encompasses physical, mental and spiritual disciplines. It promotes harmony between the body and mind and helps individuals attain a state of well-being. International Yoga Day aims to raise awareness about the benefits of practicing yoga and encourages people to adopt it as a part of their daily lives. Each yogic activity is key to improving flexibility, strength, and physical, mental and emotional balance. Its a practice that prepares us to meet modern life challenges successfully. When the world speaks about holistic health and well-being for mankind, Indias ancient wisdom of Yoga is invariably discussed and appreciated. Its popularity grew multifold during the Covid pandemic, when physical and mental fitness was much stressed globally, spurring millions of people to turn to Yoga for the same. A spike in stress levels during the pandemic was observed with increased time being spent in confined spaces along with added workload as people were forced to adapt to the new realities. Here, Yoga offered a solution for maintaining physical fitness as well as contributing towards ones mental peace and emotional equilibrium even in the midst of the calamitous impacts of the restrictions. Considering the well-documented rewards of Yoga for holistic health and well-being of the population, it is indeed a matter of pride for every Indian that this precious inheritance of India has found global acceptance. The benefits of Yoga in immunity building and management of stress are well established with evidence galore. With programmes like Global Yoga Conference and International Yoga Day, more and more people are being drawn into the fold of practising Yoga and related activities. There is a widespread realization today that health is of foremost importance for everyone, much ahead of a career. The UN has acknowledged that yoga serves humanity in alleviating sufferings and brings people together through compassion, and kindness,. International Yoga Day has gained immense popularity globally, and millions of people participate in yoga-related events on this day. It has become an opportunity to unite people from different backgrounds, cultures, and religions in the pursuit of holistic health and well-being. The continuous celebrations of Yoga Day are sure to further spread awareness among people about this practice and the benefits it can bring in their lives and deepen a sense of continuous connection between an individuals inner consciousness and the external world. The Ministry of Ayush, being the nodal ministry for the International Day of Yoga in India, deserves a lot of appreciation, as it has taken the lead in organizing eight successful editions starting in 2015, which have found great enthusiasm and worldwide support. Now, with the whole government approach and support from all institutions nationally and internationally, and co-operations and collaborations to build on the progress achieved over the last 8 years in taking the message of holistic health to each and every part of the world, Yoga along with Ayush has a lot to contribute. (The writer is a senior journalist) Yoga has now become a global good, which promises unflinching support to further good health and wellness across the globe Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to celebrate the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) with its president Csaba Korosi, making this heavenly practice truly a global movement. The same UNGA had declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga in 2014, after Prime Minister Narendra Modis fervent call. At the UN headquarters, the excited group of Yoga practitioners would also include top leaders, intellectuals, diplomats and officials from several countries. This shows the pace at which Yoga is receiving acceptance all across the globe, and fast acquiring a greater proportion of Indias soft power, as Yoga goes much beyond the constraints of age, gender, caste, community, religion and nation, making it the biggest mass movement in the quest for good health and well-being. It was because of the rising influence of India at the international level under PM Modi that 193 members of the UNGA and 173 co-sponsor countries unanimously approved the resolution of the United Nations in which the establishment of 21st June as the International Day of Yoga was passed. The UNGA agreed that Yoga offers a holistic approach to health and well-being. It also said in its resolution that the widespread promotion of the benefits of practising Yoga is necessary for the global populations health. It also added that Yoga brings about harmony in all areas of life and is known for its significant role in preventing diseases, promoting health and treating many disorders related to lifestyle. Since 21st June 2015, the International Day of Yoga is celebrated across the globe through various activities and programmes. Without a doubt, Yoga has now become a global good, which promises unflinching support to further good health and wellness across the globe amid the most challenging times for the global health infrastructure. Now, Yoga is being practiced in more than 100 countries and all accept it as an act that brings about harmony between the body and the mind, besides finding solutions to a myriad of health issues. It is needed not just for physical power and well-being, but also for mental balance and emotional stability. Yoga is seen as something which prepares people to meet modern life challenges successfully. Both the young and the old can practice these without any trouble. It is based on yogic traditions and various techniques based on scientific knowledge. Hence, the number of foreign tourists coming to India for Yoga training has increased significantly since 2015. The emergence of Yoga as a remedy to all kinds of physical, psychological and mental issues, has made it an important public health movement throughout the world. The role of Yoga in public health policies and behaviour also has significantly increased. Yoga is being seen as an invaluable gift of the ancient Indian tradition to the world as it embodies unity of mind and body, thought and action, restraint and fulfilment, harmony between man and nature and a holistic approach to health and well-being. It is not just an exercise, but a spiritual journey to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and nature. The steps taken by the Modi government to add Yoga and other Ayush systems of health to public health programs are forward-looking and progressive. Earlier, Yoga was not well recognised as a healthcare system even in official documents but only as a therapy. But, the situation started changing when the Modi government changed the governments thinking and approach towards the role of Yoga and its relevance in public health. The first significant sign of the change occurred on 9th November 2014 when a dedicated Ministry of Ayush was created and now Yoga has become a part of this ministry. Since 2014 Yoga has received tremendous encouragement under the brilliant leadership of PM Modi. The National Yoga and Naturopathy Promotion and Development Board was set up in February 2016 by the Ministry of Ayush to advise the ministry on various programmes for the development of yoga. To improve the quality of Yoga training for the people, the certification of Yoga professionals and the verification of Yoga organizations were recognised by the ministry. All the reforms for bringing yoga into the mainstream are being integrated and included in the International Day of Yoga. Yoga is now increasingly used in hospitals of all disciplines for the management and treatment of both physical and mental diseases. The acceptance of Yoga as therapeutic support for health and treatment of lifestyle-related issues is now well-established because, during the last nine years, the increase in research publications on Yoga as an experimental clinical therapy has been tenfold. During the period Yoga-based clinical trials have also increased eight times, and interestingly most of these cases were those where participants had come from foreign countries. Without a doubt, this day sends out the message of universal brotherhood. It is the day of the oneness of humanness, which brings us together by narrowing down distances of all kinds. The world is now realizing the importance of Yoga even more due to the Coronavirus pandemic, as it improves our immunity to fight effectively any kind of viral attack or disease. Now, we need to be further aware of the benefits of Yoga, which is one of the greatest symbols of Indias rich cultural heritage and encourage the entire mankind to adopt it as a part of their daily lives. (Writer is a Member of Parliament, & Chairman, of the Parliamentary committee on the welfare of SC/ST. He is also an eminent surgeon. Views are personal) India and Vietnam on Monday reviewed the entire spectrum of their bilateral Defence ties during talks here between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his counterpart General Phan Van Giang. Rajanth also announced that India will gift indigenously-built missile corvette INS Kirpan to Vietnam to enhance the capabilities of its Navy. Both Ministers identified means to enhance existing areas of collaboration, especially in the field of Defence industry cooperation, maritime security and multinational cooperation, Defence Ministry officials said later. As part of his engagements, the Defence Minister of Vietnam also visited the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) headquarters and discussed ways to enhance Defence industrial capabilities by cooperation in research and joint production. The two sides have been focused on further boosting bilateral Defence ties and reviewing the situation in the South China Sea, a region that has witnessed growing Chinese assertiveness. Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan and other top officials from the Ministry of Defence were present during the talks. General Giang arrived in India on June 18 on a two-day visit. Earlier in the day, he laid a wreath at the National War Memorial and paid homage to the fallen heroes. General Giang is also scheduled to visit Agra in Uttar Pradesh. The film Adipurush, a grand retelling of the Ramayana, has sparked protests in various cities across India and has been banned in Nepal. Despite the controversies surrounding it, the film has managed to earn a staggering `340 crore within just three days of its release. The protests against Adipurush gained momentum on Monday in several parts of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Delhi, as audiences took to the streets to express their objections. The film directed by Om Raut faced criticism for its dialogue, colloquial language, and portrayal of certain characters from the beloved epic. Addressing the growing controversy, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur announced that the films writer and director have agreed to make necessary modifications. He emphasised that nobody has the right to hurt the sentiments of others and that the Central Board of Film Certification has already taken a decision on the matter. Adipurush, released in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Tamil languages on Friday, stars Prabhas as Raghav (Ram), Kriti Sanon as Janaki (Sita), and Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh (Raavan). The protests against Adipurush continued with demonstrations taking place in different parts of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Delhi. In Varanasi, a group of individuals tore down posters of the film. A Hindu outfit organised a protest outside a theater in Mathura. The Hindu Mahasabha has filed a police complaint with the Lucknow Police against the makers and actors of the film. However, a formal case has yet to be registered. Acharya Satyendra Das, the chief priest of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, called for an immediate ban on the film, stating that its dialogues were infuriating. He urged the Government to take necessary measures to prevent such incidents from recurring. In Mathura, activists from the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha staged a protest outside a cinema located in the Govind Nagar police station area. They raised slogans against the film and voiced their opposition to its themes. Joining the chorus of dissent, the Samajwadi Party criticised Adipurush and expressed solidarity with the faithful who felt hurt by what they considered to be cheap and superficial dialogues in the film. Party president Akhilesh Yadav called upon the censor board to scrutinise the political character certificate of those who manipulate peoples faith for their own agendas using political funds. He even posed the question, Has the Censor Board become Dhritarashtra?, alluding to a blind king from the epic Mahabharata. Shivpal Yadav, another leader from the Samajwadi Party, alleged that the film aimed to undermine the revered character of Lord Ram and his story by employing dialogues that were deemed shallow and lacking depth. In Maharashtras Palghar district, a group of protesters disrupted the screening of Adipurush at a mall in Nalasopara. Identifying themselves as members of the group called Rashtra Pratham, the protesters chanted Jai Shri Ram slogans and called for a boycott of the film, according to a police official. In Delhis Shahdara area, a group of people raised slogans outside a movie theater. However, a senior police official confirmed that the screening continued without any interruption. In a significant development for the aviation industry, IndiGo, Indias leading airlines, has unveiled plans to acquire 500 Airbus aircraft. With a list price of $55 billion, this deal marks the highest-ever civil aviation order and represents the largest single aircraft purchase made by any airline from Airbus. The financial specifics of the agreement have not been disclosed. IndiGos latest order solidifies its position as the worlds largest customer of the A320 Family, with a total of 1,330 Airbus aircraft on order, according to a statement released by the airline. The exact composition of A320 and A321 aircraft, as well as the selection of engines, will be determined in due course. The agreement was signed during the Paris Air Show 2023, with key representatives, including Rahul Bhatia, Promoter & Managing Director of IndiGo, Venkataramani Sumantran, Chairman and Non-Executive Independent Director of IndiGo, Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo, Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO, and Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of International. IndiGos CEO Elbers emphasised the significance of this historic order, stating, An order book now of almost 1000 aircraft well into the next decade enables IndiGo to fulfill its mission to continue to boost economic growth, social cohesion, and mobility in India. He also expressed pride in being Indias preferred airline for connectivity and affirmed IndiGos belief in the growth of India and its strategic partnership with Airbus. Scherer hailed the order as a milestone in the partnership between Airbus and IndiGo, further democratizing affordable air travel for millions of people in the worlds fastest-growing aviation market. He emphasized the A320 Familys exceptional operating economics, which have fueled IndiGos growth over the past two decades. In February of this year, Tatas Air India placed an order for 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus, including 250 planes from Airbus, making it the largest-ever aircraft order in global aviation history at that time. An Army soldier was injured in an incident of unprovoked firing by miscreants in Manipurs Imphal West district late on Sunday night. The soldier sustained gunshot wounds in his left leg and was promptly evacuated to the military hospital at Leimakhong. The incident occurred around 11.45 pm in Kanto Sabal village, adjacent to Leimakhong (Chingmang). Following the attack, Army Columns took necessary action and retaliated with controlled fire, considering the presence of villagers in the vicinity. Reacting to the attack on an Army soldier, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Monday warned people that they will have to face the consequences if they do not stop violence in the State. Stop it (violence). Otherwise, they will face the consequences. I also appeal to the people... Meitei people who are with arms ... Not to attack anything and maintain peace so that we can restore normalcy in the state, Singh told reporters here. Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of Indias most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of `10 lakh on his head, was gunned down outside a gurdwara in Canada, officials here said on Monday. Two unidentified gunmen opened fire at Nijjar, 45, as he was preparing to leave in his vehicle from the parking lot of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, Surrey, in the western Canadian province of British Columbia at around 6 am IST Monday (8.30 pm on June 18, Sunday, Canadian time), local reports claimed. Police officers provided medical assistance until paramedics arrived, but the man died of his injuries at the scene, they said, adding no arrests have been made and the police have not released any suspect descriptions. The Gurdwara was being presided over by Nijjar himself for the past four years, giving rise to speculation that funds from the shrine were being embezzled for funding terror activities in Punjab. Canada-based Nijjar was designated a terrorist by India under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020 and his property in the country was attached by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September 2020. Interpol Red Corner Notice was also issued against him in 2016. The local police of Surrey had also put Nijjar under house arrest temporarily in 2018 on suspicion of his terror involvement but he was released later. The killing is the latest instance of terror kingpins being targeted outside India. In May, another wanted Khalistani terrorist Paramjit Singh Panjwar was shot dead by unidentified gunmen while he was out for a morning walk near his residence in Lahore, the provincial capital of Pakistans Punjab province. Panjwar, 63, was heading the Khalistan Commando Force-Panjwar group and was also designated as a terrorist by India under the UAPA in July 2020. Nijjar, a native of village Bhar Singh Pura in Jalandhar, Punjab, had a long tryst with Khalistan militancy since migrating to Canada in 1995. Initially, an operative of Babbar Khalsa, he was involved in some of the most high-profile terror cases of the first decade of the millennium including the Shingar Cinema bomb blast (Ludhiana, 2007) and the assassination of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat President Rulda Singh (Patiala, 2009). He was introduced to Pakistan-based fugitive KTF supremo Jagtar Singh Tara, now incarcerated in India, in 2011 and switched to the newly formed KTF. According to reports, Nijjar regularly met with Jagtar Singh Tara, the fugitive KTF supremo based in Pakistan. These meetings allegedly took place during the annual jathas, where Nijjar was purportedly trained in the fabrication of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and the handling of high-end firearms. Officials have also disclosed that Nijjar provided substantial financial support to Tara from Canada. He reportedly financed Taras relocation from Pakistan to Thailand in 2014 and went to great lengths to prevent Taras deportation from Thailand later that same year. Nijjar reportedly trained three Sikh youths in the handling of AK-47 rifles and Russian sniper guns in Mission City, British Columbia. These individuals were then sent to India with the intention of targeting senior police officials and prominent leaders of the Dera sect, according to officials. After a hiatus of several years, Nijjar resurfaced with a series of alarming incidents. He was linked to multiple acts of terrorism, including the killings of Manohar Lal Arora, a follower of the Dera sect (November 2020), Avtar Singh, former Sarpanch of Udhampur village in Ropar (December 2021), and an attempted assassination of Pragya Gyan Muni, the priest of Bhar Singh Pura village (January 2021). Moreover, it has been revealed that Nijjar formed an alliance with Arshdeep Singh Gill, also known as Arsh Dala, a notorious Punjabi gangster based in Surrey. Together, they delved into organized financial crimes in both Punjab and Canada to finance their terror plans. This venture reportedly made Nijjar a target for rival criminal gangs operating in the Surrey-Delta area. In early 2019, Nijjar was enlisted by the US-based organization Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) to lead their Referendum 2020 campaign in Canada. Since then, he became a prominent figure in SFJ-sponsored demonstrations and car rallies in the Surrey-Vancouver region. Nijjar was known for his provocative actions, including desecrating the Indian national flag outside the Indian Consulate in Vancouver on significant Indian national days. He also played a prominent role in the Referendum voting events in Brampton and Mississauga, Ontario, last year. As the Canadian police moved Nijjars body from the scene, a group of Sikhs reportedly raised pro-Khalistan and anti-India slogans, indicating the continuing support for such ideologies. In recent developments, Avtar Singh Purba, a prominent pro-Khalistani activist involved in the attack on the Indian High Commission in London, passed away in a Birmingham hospital after a prolonged illness. Singh was allegedly affiliated with the banned Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) remnants active in the UK and other countries. Additionally, several other instances of targeted killings have occurred in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Bashir Ahmad Peer, a self-styled commander of the terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, was shot dead in Rawalpindi, while Syed Khalid Raza, a former commander of the Pakistan-based Al Badr terrorist group, was similarly killed outside his residence in Karachi. Kashmir-born terrorist Aijaz Ahmad Ahanger, also known as Abu Usman Al-Kashmiri, reportedly met his demise in Kunar province, Afghanistan. All Hindi films, including Adipurush, were banned in Nepal on Monday following a controversy over its dialogues, including the mention of Sita as Indias daughter. Police personnel were deployed across 17 halls in Kathmandu to ensure that no Hindi film was screened. Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah on Sunday said no Hindi film will be allowed to run in Kathmandu Metropolitan City until the dialogue Janaki is a daughter of India in Adipurush is removed not just in Nepal but also in India Sita, also referred to as Janaki, is believed by many to have been born in Janakpur in southeast Nepal. Gita Press, the Gorakhpur-based publisher, has declined the cash component of the Gandhi Peace Prize award, amid controversy surrounding the Governments decision to confer the accolade on the publisher known for its affordable religious books focused on Sanatan Dharma. Gita Press cited its long-standing tradition of not accepting donations as the reason for rejecting the cash prize of `1 crore. Following the announcement of the award, the trustee board of Gita Press met and unanimously decided to decline the monetary portion while expressing gratitude for the honour. The renowned publisher, established in 1923, has faced financial challenges throughout its journey. The Ministry of Culture recognised Gita Press with the Gandhi Peace Prize for its exceptional contributions to social, economic, and political transformation through non-violent and Gandhian methods. The announcement of the award to Gita Press was embroiled in a political controversy as Congress general secretary-in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh had on Sunday alleged that the decision to honour Gita Press with the Gandhi Peace Prize is a travesty and its like awarding Savarkar and Godse. Responding to the Congress criticism, Union Minister Jitendra Singh hit out at the Opposition party saying nobody has any objection to it except those who consider Muslim League a secular organisation. Geeta Press is associated with Indias culture, our ethos and Hindu belief, and it produces affordable literature which reaches every household, Singh said while replying to questions at a press conference at the BJP headquarters here. Asked about Rameshs remark, Singh said, And, who are those levelling allegations? They are those who say that Muslim League was secular. The Congress forgot that it was the Muslim League which gave two nation theory, got India partitioned and took credit for the creation of Pakistan, the Union Minister said. I think getting into these kinds of debates is a sheer waste of energy, he said. He was referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhis remarks during the US tour that the Kerala-based Indian Union of Muslim League is a completely secular party and there is nothing non-secular about it. Rahul was answering a question about his partys alliance with the regional party. Without taking names, Singh said nobody has any objection to Gita Press getting the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 except two leaders of the Congress. The Gandhi Peace Prize, instituted in 1995, aims to honour individuals without any discrimination and includes a cash prize, citation, plaque, and traditional handicraft or handloom item. Gita Press is praised for its dedication to spreading holy books, enriching Indias Sanatan culture, and making spiritual texts accessible to the masses. Expressing gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Culture Ministry for bestowing the prestigious award, Gita Press manager Lalmani Tripathi stated, It is a matter of great honour for us. It is our principle not to accept any kind of donations, so the trustee board has decided not to take the award in any monetary form. However, we will certainly accept the award for the honour of it. The Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 will be conferred on Gita Press, Gorakhpur, in recognition of its outstanding contribution towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violent and other Gandhian methods, the Ministry of Culture announced on Sunday. Gandhi Peace Prize 2021 recognises the important and unparalleled contribution of Gita Press, in contributing to collective uplift of humanity, which personifies Gandhian living in true sense, the statement said. The jury headed by the Prime Minister unanimously decided to select Gita Press as the recipient of the prize, the Ministry said in a statement. The publisher thanked the Prime Minister and the Union Culture Ministry for conferring the prestigious award on it. It is a matter of great honour for us. It is our principle not to accept any kind of donations, so the trustee board has decided not to take the award in any monetary form. However, we will certainly accept the award for the honour of it, Gita Press manager Tripathi told reporters Monday at Gorakhpur. Trustee board chairman Keshav Ram Agarwal, general secretary Vishnu Prasad Chandgotia and trustee Devi Dayal look after the management of the press, Tripathi said. Gita Press is the worlds largest publisher of Hindu religious texts and it was founded in 1923 by Jaya Dayal Goyanka and Ghanshyam Das Jalan for promoting the principles of Sanatan Dharma. The press has published more than 93 crore books so far and all the publishing work of the press is done in Gorakhpur. Tripathi said they publish 1,800 types of books in 15 languages. In the financial year 2022-23, we provided 2 crore 40 lakh books to our readers and despite its low cost, the monetary value of the books is Rs 111 crore. The demand of the books is very high and despite all efforts, we are not able to meet the demand for the books, Tripathi said. Two leaders of Congress have objections just because they have to criticise... Gita Press is associated with Indias culture. They did not partition the country, like the Muslim League did, the Minister added. The Gandhi Peace Prize is an annual award instituted by the Government in 1995, on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi as a tribute to the ideals espoused by Mahatma Gandhi. The award is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, language, caste, creed or gender. The award carries an amount of Rs 1 crore, a citation, a plaque and an exquisite traditional handicraft/handloom item, the ministry said. Recent awardees include Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said, Oman (2019) and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (2020), Bangladesh. Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah complimented the Gita Press for being awarded with the Gandhi Peace Prize and said it has been doing a wonderful job of selflessly taking several holy books to the masses. If Indias glorious ancient Sanatan culture and base texts can be read easily today, the Gita Press has an incomparable contribution in this. For more than 100 years, the Gita Press has been doing a wonderful job of selflessly taking many holy books from Ramcharit Manas to Shrimad Bhagwad Gita to the masses, Shah said in a tweet in Hindi. Hazaribag Deputy Commissioner Nancy Sahay and Superintendent of Police Manoj Rattan Chothey have instructed all police stations of the district to be on high alert mode during the Eid-ul-Adha ( Bakr-Id) and coming festivals. A letter has been issued by the administration and police jointly to the police stations that CCTV cameras must be fixed outside the religious places. They must be alert on social media messages. The police can take legal action on the persons who post such messages which can disturb the peace of the society. They have further instructed that the direction must be given to such trust which can control the situations. The officers must be alert in sensitive areas, if they will receive any information then they must take the action immediately. The SP said that the concerned police stations must start patrolling in their areas. If any doubtful persons were seen during the patrolling must take into custody and investigate them. The police also keep a close eye on the activities of the anti- social elements. Police must be tried to collect the information regarding the activities of the doubtful persons. Information technology will be helpful in controlling the situations. They further said that the extra police force will be available for the district within two or three days. The static magistrates will be also deputed by the district administration. We have marked the points for the deputation of the static team along with magistrate and police officers. They said that the festival Eid-ul- Adha and coming festivals including Rath Yatra must be passed in peace and communal harmony. The district administration will be always available for the public of Hazaribag. The police control room will be on 24x7 service mode. In a shocking incident, an 8-year-old boy was kidnapped and murdered in Jahanpur village under Aaraniya police station of Bulandshahr. The victim was the only son in the family. The police, however, claimed that the boy was murdered even before the ransom call was received by the family members. According to reports, Rajesh Chauhans eight-year-old son, Chirag, was abducted by a domestic worker, Arun of Aligarh, last Thursday. The boy was taken by the accused on a motorcycle while taking him home from the farm in village Jahanpur. The accused also took Rajeshs mobile phone. He later used the same phone to demand a ransom of Rs 15 lakh after calling on the phone of a relative of Rajesh. Rajesh immediately informed the police after which the police launched a hunt for Arun. Finally, on Monday morning, the cops managed to arrest Arun. Later, on the tips provided by Arun, the body of Chirag was recovered from the jungles of Kaseru village under Chadaus police station of Aligarh district. Senior Superintendent of Police Shlok Kumar said that Chirag was taken to Aligarh by the accused and murdered the same evening and later a ransom demand was made. The wife of the accused was also involved in the incident so the police arrested her. Further interrogations are on to confirm involvement of others in the kidnapping. Meanwhile, in Simiriya village under Babina police station of Jhansi, a youth was lynched by the family members of a woman after the two were caught in compromising position. Reports said that Bharat Singh alias Golu Yadav of Simiriya village of Jhansi, fell in love with the wife of Lal Singh living in the neighborhood. The woman has been having a dispute with her husband for the last one year so Bharat Singh used to meet her secretly for the last few months. Last Saturday, Lal Singhs wife went to her in-laws house in the same locality. On Saturday night, Bharat went to meet her and around midnight, the in-laws caught him in a compromising position with Lal Singhs wife. Reports said that the in-laws brutally assaulted Bharat and after he turned unconscious, they called the police after which he was rushed to hospital. Pushpendra, the cousin of the deceased, said that on Sunday morning, the police informed them that Bharat was admitted in a health facility at Babina block, but when they reached there, they learnt that he was pronounced dead soon after reaching the hospital. Superintendent of Police City) Gyanendra Kumar Singh said that on Saturday night they received information that Bharat alias Golu Yadav was lying in an injured state in the house of Lal Singh Parihar. He said the police reached the spot and admitted Bharat to the community health centre where he died during treatment. A case has been registered against five people on the complaint of the victims family and four have been arrested. Youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday gathered at the official residence of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel against the alleged scam in the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC) exam. Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) National president Tejasvi Surya said while addressing protestors that the investigation of CGPSC scam will be done by the central probe agency if the BJP will return to power in the state. Referring to alleged coal, liquor and PSC scams in Chhattisgarh, Surya, alleged that the Chief Minister has become the collection master. The Bengaluru South Lok Sabha MP Surya also claimed the state government has turned the PSC into a Paisa Sakelo Company (money collection company). Former Chief Minister Raman Singh and BJP State Chief Arun Sao also addressed the protestors. The BJYM workers were stopped at the police barricade near a temple. They were detained and later released. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan paid homage to late Madhavrao Sapre, the pioneer of national language Hindi, profound thinker, intellectual editor, journalist, freedom fighter who was dedicated to public works, on his birth anniversary. Chief Minister Chouhan garlanded the portrait of Sapre in the auditorium located at the residence office and paid floral tributes. Sapre was born on June 1871 at Patharia in Damoh district. Sapre's creativity was multi-dimensional. His contribution to the country is extraordinary and timeless. He got Hindi words for many English words. In the year 1905, his "Hindi Vigyan Kosh" was published. Sapre did the work of awakening the ideological social revolution. Sapre passed away on April 23, 1926. The Madhavrao Sapre Memorial Newspaper Museum dedicated to him is operated in Bhopal. Governor Mangubhai Patel has said that mass awareness is necessary to eradicate sickle cell anemia. For effective prevention, management and treatment of sickle cell anemia, every community and individual has to serve humanity by becoming a partner. Governor Patel was addressing the seminar and screening camp on World Sickle Cell Day on June 19 at Eklavya campus of Semarkhapa, Mandla. Patel said that service to humanity is service to God. Everyone should cooperate as much as possible in the noble cause of treating sickle cell anemia. The central government has set a target to make India free of TB by the year 2025 and sickle cell anemia by the year 2047. To accomplish this, we all have to come forward and cooperate with the government. Patel said that sickle cell anemia is a genetic disease. For its eradication, every family must be counseled and screened.. Along with this, while examining pregnant women in Anganwadi centers, their family history of illness will also have to be ascertained. He said that children will also have to be checked for sickle cell anemia from time to time by visiting Anganwadi centers, primary, secondary, higher secondary schools and colleges. Information about various programmes and policy provisions being run by the Central and State Governments for the eradication of sickle cell anemia was also given. The Governor said that the central government has made a provision of Rs 15 thousand crore in the budget for the eradication of sickle cell anemia. The state government has also set up the State Hemoglobinopathy Mission for sickle cell eradication awareness and management and other programmes are also being run in collaboration with the health department. Governor Patel said that children affected by sickle cell anemia should do regular yoga and exercise. Give importance to nutritious food at home and eat simple sattvic food. He also advised the children to avoid consumption of fast food and other oily food. Governor Patel also gave information about the welfare schemes of the Central and State Government for the empowerment of daughters and women. Union Minister of State for Steel and Rural Development Faggan Singh Kulaste said that the health department should speed up the investigation of sickle cell disease by coordinating with ICMR and other technical institutions. He talked about running an intensive programme for checking sickle cell in tribal-dominated areas. State Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Prabhuram Choudhary gave the welcome speech. He gave detailed information about various efforts being made by the state government for eradication, screening and management of sickle cell anaemia. An exhibition was also organised in the programme by the Health Department for screening, investigation and awareness. Governor Patel visited the exhibition. He inquired from the doctors about the process to be followed in the examination of sickle cell. The programme started with the lighting of the lamp and the national anthem. In the seminar, the experts gave information from PPT about the symptoms of sickle cell anemia disease, prescribed procedure for prevention and management and sickle cell eradication programmes of the state government. Two daughters, Archana Manikpuri and Prachi Jharia, who have been benefitted from the state government's programmes for the treatment of sickle cell, shared their experiences and expressed their gratitude for the co-operation received from the government. MLA Devsingh Saiyam, Dr. Ashok Marskole, District Panchayat President Sanjay Kushram and public representatives, Principal Secretary DP Ahuja, President of Tribal Cell Deepak Khandekar, Commissioner Health Dr. Sudam Khade, Commissioner Jabalpur Division Abhay Verma, IG Balaghat Sanjay Singh, DIG Balaghat Mukesh Srivastava were present along with senior officers, sickle cell affected children and family members. The All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) has written a letter to the Chief Minister appealing for land settlement and patta (proprietary rights) to be granted to the refugees who have been settled since 1950 in Punjabi Refugee Colony, East Bengal Colony, and Sindhi Refugee Colony under Golmuri and Sitaramdera police station areas. The AISSF has emphasized the need for the long-pending issue to be addressed, ensuring security and stability for the affected communities in the Golmuri and Sitaramdera regions within the East Singhbhum district. In the letter, the AISSF has highlighted the plight of the refugees who were displaced from their homes during the partition of India in 1947 and subsequent migrations. It emphasized that these refugees have been residing in the Punjabi Refugee Colony, East Bengal Colony, and Sindhi Refugee Colony for over seven decades without proper land settlement and proprietary rights. The absence of legal documentation and property rights has posed numerous challenges to their socio-economic well-being. Satnam Singh Gambhir, the president of AISSF, East stated, "The refugees in Golmuri and Sitaramdera have been living in these colonies for several generations, and it is high time their rights are recognized and addressed. The lack of land settlement and patta has resulted in various issues, including the inability to access government schemes, difficulties in property ownership, and uncertainties regarding their future. We urge the Chief Minister to intervene and provide a resolution to this long-standing problem." The AISSF has called for immediate action to be taken to survey the land occupied by the refugee colonies and subsequently provide land settlement and patta to the affected families. The federation has urged the Chief Minister to initiate the necessary processes to ensure the legal recognition and security of the refugees' rights to their residential properties. This appeal by the AISSF reflects the collective voice of the affected communities and aims to draw the attention of the state government towards the grievances and challenges faced by these refugees. It seeks to emphasize the significance of granting land settlement and proprietary rights to enable them to lead stable lives and access essential services and benefits. As the letter reaches the Chief Minister's office, the AISSF and the refugees in Golmuri and Sitaramdera police station areas eagerly await a positive response from the government, hoping for a resolution that will provide the much-needed relief and stability to these long-suffering communities. Taking note of contaminated water in the national Capital, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday directed the Delhi Jal Board(DJB) to come up with a comprehensive plan to provide a permanent solution for the affected areas. To kick-start the process, the Chief Minister instructed the immediate installation of Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants in 20 identified JJ colonies. He gave these directions while chairing a high-level review meeting with DJB officials. It was aimed to assess the progress made and discuss future strategies to ensure the timely implementation of the permanent solution. Water Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj, Delhi Jal Board Vice-Chairman Somnath Bharti and senior DJB officials were present in the review meeting. Kejriwal emphasised the need to identify the root cause of water contamination and develop an effective strategy to address the issue. Under his direction, the DJB has been entrusted with the task of formulating a detailed plan to eradicate water contamination across the city. Furthermore, he stressed the importance of ensuring the quality of water before commencing any tubewell projects. He emphasised that thorough examination of water quality should be conducted prior to obtaining the necessary No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for the installation of tubewells. This approach will expedite the implementation process once the NOCs are granted. To maximise the availability of clean water, the Government plans to extract water from areas with a high water table through tube wells. The extracted water will undergo treatment, guaranteeing a safe and pure supply of water to the people of Delhi. As scorching temperatures continue to simmer large swathes of Uttar Pradesh, a widespread power crisis has engulfed the state, leaving residents in distress due to frequent power disruptions. The electricity distribution system, spanning from urban to rural areas, has been overburdened by overloading, leading to deterioration of the situation. The power shortage has resulted in significant inconvenience to consumers, with frequent tripping and erratic power supply becoming a daily struggle. According to a power official, The unprecedented surge in power demand has put immense pressure on the system, leading to frequent tripping and disruptions in the supply chain. This surge has disproportionately affected rural areas, where electricity is available for only six to eight hours, while urban areas experience relatively better power supply, ranging from 15 to 20 hours. Residents in Sultanpur, Amethi, Barabanki, Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Ambedkar Nagar, Sitapur, Rae Bareli, Prayagraj and Ayodhya have been particularly affected by the power crisis. In Amethi, a resident expressed frustration, saying, We are facing daily hardships due to the erratic power supply. It is affecting our daily routines and productivity. The power supply schedule in several districts has been severely disrupted. Amethi is currently getting power supply for only 15 to 18 hours, while the rural areas of Bahraich receive power for just 12 hours. In Barabanki, more than 500 villages receive electricity for only six to eight hours, while the city faces power cuts lasting three to four hours. Sitapur faced undeclared power cuts, tripping and low voltage, prompting a resident to comment, We are left in the dark, literally and figuratively. The situation is unbearable. In response to the power crisis, a senior power official stated, The increased power demand has put immense strain on the distribution system, leading to frequent faults and overloading. The average power supply across the Gorakhpur division stands at approximately 18-19 hours, with specific areas experiencing variations. Ayodhya, however, witnessed a slight improvement in power supply following the intervention of the chief minister, with the city now receiving electricity for more than 23 hours and rural areas getting power supply for around 16 hours. Concerns over overloaded transformers and the failure to promptly replace them have been raised by residents. In several regions, including Bareilly and Budaun, industrial sectors are grappling with power cuts lasting two to three hours, affecting productivity and causing financial losses. Expressing his concerns, a resident of Bareilly remarked, The power cuts are crippling businesses. It is difficult to operate machinery and maintain a smooth workflow. The power authorities acknowledge the challenges and are working to address them. BM Sharma, Director (Technical) at Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam, clarified, There is no shortage of power in the region. Deviations from the schedule are primarily due to breakdowns and faults. We are making efforts to meet the increased demand and alleviate the power crisis. With the power crisis continuing to impact the lives of millions in Uttar Pradesh, authorities are urged to expedite their efforts to stabilise the distribution system and ensure uninterrupted power supply to residents across the state. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday flagged off 20 new e-buses of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation on Monday. Sukhu said the corporation operates 17 electric buses in Kullu, five in Mandi, three in Bilaspur, 15 in Kangra. With the addition of the 20 vehicles, the fleet size for Shimla has risen to 70. The operational cost of the e-buses is approximately Rs 25 per kilometre -- much lower than diesel-powered buses. Promoting e-mobility will reduce carbon emission and contribute to environmental preservation, he said. The corporation has issued a tender for 75 buses to be used in Shimla town and Nadaun, Sukhu added. The Himachal government will replace the corporation's entire fleet of 1,500 buses with e-vehicles in a phased manner and the necessary infrastructure is being set up. These e-buses will also ply on the tourist circuit as well, he said. The chief minister said the state government aims to transform Himachal Pradesh into a "green energy state" by March 31, 2026, for which the current Congress dispensation made various provisions in its maiden budget. Sukhu and his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri, who also holds the Transport portfolio, along with other ministers travelled in an e-bus from Chaura Maidan to the Secretariat to attend a Cabinet meeting. Milk Processing Plant to be set up in Himachal in collaboration with NDDB, says CM Shimla: The Himachal government will set up a state-of-the-art milk processing plant at a cost of Rs 250 crore at Dagwar in Kangra district, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said. Presiding over a meeting here, Sukhu said that the milk processing plant would be set up in collaboration with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and assistance of NDDB would be taken in its operation to marketing. He said that the capacity of the Dagwar plant would range from one lakh litres to three lakh litres, in which high quality products of milk would also be prepared. Further, he said that the Congress party in its 'Pratigyapatra' had promised to buy cow's milk at Rs 80 per litre and buffalo's milk at Rs 100 per litre from the dairy farmers and the state government is moving towards fulfilling the same promise. Sukhu said the establishment of the plant at Dagwar would benefit the farmers of Kangra, Hamirpur, Una and Chamba districts, and NDDB shall conduct a survey for the milk collection system in these areas. Nitin Gadkari to inaugurate major road projects worth about Rs 3,700 crores in Sonipat today Chandigarh: Union Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate 11 flyovers on the eight-lane National Highway from Delhi to Panipat in Sonipat on Tuesday, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala said on Monday. He said that the project is 24 km long with an estimated cost of around Rs 900 crores. Gadkari will lay the foundation stone for the construction work of Karnal Green Field Six-Lane Ring Road project at village Kutail in Karnal district. The total length of this project is 35 km and it will cost about Rs. 1,700 crores. Similarly, he will lay the foundation stone of the construction work of Ambala Green Field Six Lane Ring Road project at village Jandli in Ambala district. The total length of this project is 23 km with an estimated cost of around Rs. 1,100 crores. Air travel to be started from Hisar Airport soon: Minister Chandigarh: Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Monday said that "Gurugram-Heliport" is an ambitious project of the state government, which will be started soon. Under the Central Government's "Udan" scheme, air travel will be started from Hisar Airport to various major cities of the country. Chautala who holds the portfolio of Civil Aviation Department presided over a meeting of senior officers of Civil Aviation Department and State Government and discussed various sites suggested by the officers related to Gurugram-Heliport and directed to prepare its final report at the earliest. Referring to the routes to be started from Hisar Airport under the UDAN scheme, he said that explore the possibilities of starting air flights from Hisar to Delhi, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Gorakhpur, Jaipur, Amritsar, Kullu, Jammu and other cities. Online registration for job seekers in Himachal Shimla: Job seekers in Himachal Pradesh will no longer be required to visit employment exchanges in person to get themselves registered as the state government has come up with a new online registration system, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Monday. The Department of Labour and Employment has developed a new software known as eEMIS (Employment Exchange Management Information System) which is fully operational and enables applicants to register online without any financial implications, Sukhu said. The practice of physically visiting employment exchanges for over 50 years is now being replaced with a more convenient online registration system, he said in a statement. Any person can register online or through Lok Mitra Kendra without physically visiting the employment exchange. The person can register and upload all the requisite documents online and would also be able to download the proof of registration online. Previously, even after registering online, individuals were required to visit the employment exchanges along with their original documents. However, the state government has recognized the potential of technology in simplifying the process and has taken steps to incorporate the same. Hry to organise State level programme of Intl Yoga Day in Panipat Chandigarh: Haryana Home, Health and AYUSH Minister Anil Vij on Monday said that the state-level programme of International Yoga Day will be organised in Panipat while district-level programmes will be held in 21 districts and block-level programmes organised in 121 blocks. The theme of this year is "Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" and the tagline is "Har Ghar-Aangan Yoga". Vij was presiding over the meeting of all the Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police of the State to review the arrangements of International Yoga Day programmes through video conferencing here. He said that this time the tagline of Yoga Day is Har Ghar Aangan Yoga, according to which the state government is also setting up yogashalas in the state. Till now about 600 Yogashalas have been established. He said that about 900 Yoga Assistants have been appointed so far. 15 special students of GRIID get campus placement Chandigarh: A total of 15 students of the Government Rehabilitation Institute for Intellectual Disabilities (GRIID), Chandigarh got campus placement in a multinational company on Monday. GRIID is a premier institute in North India, which is providing comprehensive health and educational facilities to more than 450 special children with intellectual disability, autism, cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities. In a statement, an official said that with the coordinated efforts of Anisha, Special Educator (DMR/DVTE-MR) and Gurpreet Kaur, HR Head, 15 Special Students of GRIID Chandigarh, got a placement with Swaraj Engines Limited, Mohali. This is the first time that such a big number of students got Industrial placement. Presently they are undergoing an on-the-job training programme for 21 days. Initially, they shall be paid Rs 8,800 per month in hand with benefits like food with intermediate snacks, transportation, uniform, safety shoes, caps etc. along with benefits of EPF, ESI and Medical Insurance coverage. To provide better irrigation facilities to the farmers of the Morni area of Panchkula situated on the Shivalik mountain ranges, the Haryana Government has decided to set up a major micro-irrigation project in Morni. The project, which would come up at a cost of Rs 20 crore is expected to cover approximately 1280 acres of land. A decision to this effect was taken in the High Powered Purchase Committee (HPPC) meeting held here in Chandigarh under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Apart from this, purchases and contracts worth more than Rs 87 crore were also approved in the meeting. A total of 4 agendas of Irrigation, Public Health Engineering Department and MICADA were taken up in the meeting and were approved. An amount of Rs. 1.41 crore has been saved after negotiations with various companies. The Chief Minister said that the implementation of the Solar Powered Integrated Micro Irrigation Project for villages Tapariya, Kandaiwala, Kaimbwala, Kherwali Parwala and Lashkariwala in the Morni area will not only provide irrigation facilities but also help in increasing agriculture produce in the area. After the success of this pilot project, such projects will be set up at other places in the state, he said. In the meeting, the project for the revival of the Indori River from the village of Bass Padamka to Siwari in the Gurugram district was also approved. The project will cost about Rs. 20.80 crore. Besides approval was also accorded to a project of the Irrigation Department worth more than Rs. 10 crore. Under this, V.R. bridges on the Lakhan Majra link drain will be reconstructed. In the meeting, along with the construction of two intermediate pumping stations in Adampur, the project for setting up a sewerage network system was also approved. The project will cost about Rs 34.5 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US is going to be ground breaking in so many ways. This will add a new dimension in our bilateral relation which will have far reaching consequences to the geopolitics of the world and Asia in particular. The Indo-Chinese relationship will not be the same again. China imposed enemity upon India by making an unwarranted aggression in 1962 and usurping a large Indian territory and thereafter declaring a one sided Line of Actual Control which is continuously shifting inside the Indian territory because of the Chinese policy of salami slicing. India contested this policy this time with an iron hand and hence a standoff with China for the last three years. No wonder, China is monitoring this visit with crossed fingers. China is a very important character on the chessboard of American politics. Naturally, the Indo-US bonhomie will be crucial. If the two democracies of the world come together on equal footing, it would be bad news for China. The way the US state and defence department are working overtime to strike big defence deals with India with the provision of technology transfer would bring about a sort of diplomatic coup. And America would walk an extra mile to achieve this objective as India is indispensable to deal with China effectively. India, too, should grab this opportunity as India and China can never be friends. As a matter of fact, the Chinese incursion in the Galwan Valley and the subsequent events have made India revisit its strategic position. The matter was further expedited by the Russia Ukraine conflict which has greatly diminished the Russian capacity to supply new arms and ammunition and spare parts for our defence systems. In such a situation, India needs to diversify its defence procurement. America understands this Indian weakness and will make most of it. The left liberal lobby in America, which is hugely funded by China, will do their best to derail this Indo-US friendship. This friendship is beneficial for both the countries. A closer tie with India will lift the morale of the sagging American economy. Its dependence on China will be reduced. The labour cost in China has gone very high because of a phenomenal increase in their per capita income. Making India a manufacturing hub for the American and western needs is a profitable proposition at least for a couple of decades. We, too, need it for the employment of our young skilled and unskilled population. India needs a superlative diplomatic and political skill to achieve it which we have. In Modi, we have a wise and pragmatic political leader. S. Jaishankar is not only a trained diplomat but a bold and practical negotiator who can swim like a fish in the whirlpool of politics, if you allow me the liberty to draw a parallel with the mercurial Austrian Chancellor Metternich. Besides the NSA, Ajit Doval has his own class.He is simply matchless. Therefore, India is likely to sign mega defence deals with America which will lead to close cooperation between the two countries in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The provision of technology transfer would bolster Atmanirbhar Bharat in the field of defence requirements and logistic support. The Department of Defence and the State Department of America appear to be at loggerheads as DoD wants close cooperation with India while the State Department talks of defeating Modi in 2024 through its tools like Equity Lab and George Soros. Both of them are serving American interests. India is indispensable for America to protect its interests in the Indo-Pacific region and DoD knows it. The State Department is building up an anti-India narrative to force India to leave its strategic autonomy and join as a dependent ally. The Indian leadership is sharp enough to negotiate this difficult situation successfully. The writer is a noted academician and political commentator. Views expressed in the article are personal. Parents of Nikhil Chauhan, who was stabbed to death outside a Delhi University (DU) college, are still in shock and trying to make sense of the untimely demise of the young who had big dreams to make a career in showbiz. The inconsolable parents of the 19-year-old were seen waiting outside the Safdarjung Hospital mortuary for the hospital authorities to hand over their sons body to them after post-mortem. In a video that has surfaced on social media, the victims father, Sanjay Chauhan, is seen breaking into tears outside a police station and crying for help, following which he is taken inside by a policemen. Chauhan said his son was an aspiring model. I was sleeping at home on Sunday when I received a call around 12 noon from Nikhils friends, who took him to the hospital. I rushed to the hospital where doctors informed me about his death. I got to know that Nikhils friend Bunty had a scuffle with some people on June 11. Nikhil had intervened and the matter was sorted. However, when he went to attend classes on Sunday, he was stabbed, he said. The victims mother, Sonia Chauhan, was seen sitting on a bench, with her relatives trying to console her. My son was an aspiring model and had featured in two video albums. He recently got a call from Mumbai for a shoot, but could not go due to his college exams. He was fond of travelling and we had gone to Kedarnath around 10-12 days ago, Sanjay Chauhan said. Nikhil is survived by his mother, father and two brothers. His elder brother is married while the younger one, Nakul, is a Class-12 student. Nakul said Nikhil always told him if he was involved in a scuffle, but did not say anything about the recent incident. He was passionate about modelling. He used to tell me even about any minor scuffle, but did not say anything about the incident that took place last Sunday. We visit Shirdi every year and had a plan to go there on June 23 as Nikhil had his exams from June 16 to 22, he said. The already-dented relationship between the Punjab Government and Governor Banwarilal Purohit is all set to take another direct hit. The ruling party has decided to introduce a Bill in the ongoing session of the Vidhan Sabha to replace him by the Chief Minister as the Chancellor of the state-run universities. The Bill, which received the Cabinets nod on Monday, is all set to be placed before the 117-member House on Tuesday during the two-day special session that began on Monday. Interestingly, the Bill will go to the Governor himself for the final nod, once passed by the Assembly. The Government, for this purpose, is drawing support from the West Bengal pattern. Mann said that the Bill being brought before the Vidhan Sabha in the session on Tuesday was a replica of the West Bengal Governments Bill. After it was passed, the Chief Minister would be the Chancellor of state-run universities. The development assumes significance in the backdrop of the unrelenting slugfest between Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann over several issues, including the appointment of the Vice-Chancellors of state-run Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) and Punjab Agricultural University (PAU). Notably, Purohit had turned down the appointment of noted cardiologist and the founder of Ludhianas Hero Heart Institute Dr Gurpreet Wander as BFUHS Vice-Chancellor pointing out that the State Government failed to send a panel of three candidates, of which he had to select one name. Purohit had also sought the removal of Dr Satbir Singh Gosal as PAU VC while terming it illegal. A new Bill will be tabled in the Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday through which the Governor would no longer be the Chancellor of state-run universities. The proposed Bill will have the provision that the Chief Minister will be the Chancellor of all state universities, instead of Governor, a senior government official said, adding that the Bill will amend the Acts of all 13 state-run universities. The West Bengal Government had, in June 2022, had passed a similar Bill ceasing the Governor to be the Chancellor of the state-run universities, while appointing the Chief Minister as the Chancellor. Except Panjab University in Chandigarh, all other universities in Punjab are run by the state, including Punjabi University, Patiala; Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar; Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana; IK Gujral Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar; Baba Farid University of Health Sciences in Faridkot; Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana; Guru Ravidas Ayurveda University, Hoshiarpur. The move came at a time when the states constitutional head Purohit and the democratically-elected head Mann are at loggerheads on one issue after another related to governance. The development came days after Purohit reminded Mann of the dereliction of constitutional duty while citing the Supreme Court judgment. Purohit, in a letter to Mann, had accused the Aam Aadmi Party-led State Government of indifference in furnishing the information sought by him through his various letters. Quoting the relevant portion of the Supreme Courts orders, dated February 28, 2023, passed on the State Governments plea, the Governor had reminded the Chief Minister that the information sought by him through his various letters is yet to be furnished. This is dereliction of Constitutional duty as observed by the Honble Supreme Court of India, he had said, in a letter to CM written on June 13. The Supreme Court order had made it clear that the Governor and the State Government have to listen to each other in the matters of convening sessions and providing information. The judgment by the Bench, headed by the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, had also sent out a strong message to both the Governor Purohit and the Chief Minister Mann, who were at loggerheads with one another since months over a slew of issues making it clear that the Governor was duty-bound to summon the assembly session once the State Cabinet recommends it, and so is the Chief Minister to furnish information sought by the Governor. With the Apex Courts order, it was expected that the tug of war that has been going on between the two, having larger political ramifications would come to an end, leading to smooth functioning in the state. However, the situation remained unchanged. The two continue to be at loggerheads over one issue after another. Till date, the State Government has not replied to the issues and queries raised by the Governor despite the Supreme Court orders. The Governor, in the past, had sought clarification on the State Governments several decisions, including principals training in Singapore, SC scholarship, appointment of IPS Kuldeep Singh Chahal, Punjab Infotech chairman, and Punjab Agriculture University Vice-Chancellor, among others. Only recently, the Governor had written to the Chief Minister, for the third time, asking what action has been initiated against the Cabinet Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak, facing allegations of sexual misconduct but there was no response by the Government. Governor congratulates Municipal Corporation Chandigarh performance in the National Water Awards Chandigarh: Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit on Monday congratulated the team of Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh for being judged the Best Urban Local Body in the prestigious 4th National Water Awards, organized at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Prestige Institute of Management and Research (PIMR), Indore and the Computer Society of India (CSI), one of India's largest associations of IT professionals, have partnered to establish a CSI Chapter in Indore. PIMR has been granted institutional membership for a three-year period, effective until March 2026. This collaboration aims to provide PIMR students with new learning opportunities and expand their horizons in the fields of management and computer education. By leveraging CSI's resources and expertise, PIMR plans to enhance its curriculum, offer access to industry-leading knowledge and practices, and empower students to excel in the dynamic world of information technology. PIMR's expertise in high-value management education combined with cutting-edge technology aligns with CSI's mission of integrating scientific and technological knowledge with computer science and information technology. This partnership will enable PIMR students to remain at the forefront of advancements in management and computer education, said Dr. Davish Jain, Chancellor of Prestige University and Chairman of Prestige Education Foundation, Indore. Dr. S Raman Iyer, Director of PIMR (UG), while hailing the collaboration between the PIMR and the CSI, said the institutional membership will create fresh learning opportunities for students, fostering their professional development in the evolving field of information technology. By capitalizing on CSI's resources and expertise, PIMR aims to enrich its curriculum, offer industry-relevant knowledge, and equip students with the necessary skills to thrive in the rapidly changing IT landscape, Dr Iyer added. The institutional membership was bestowed upon PIMR in the presence of former CSI President Prof (Dr.) AK Nayak, Dr. Davish Jain, Dr. Saurabh Gupta (Joint Secretary, Government of India), Dr. S Raman Iyer (Director of UG Campus), Dr. AR Subramanian (Registrar, Prestige University), and Convener Dr. Nitin Girdharwal. A beneficiary conference of the assembly level assembly was organized by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Town Hall under the chairmanship of BJP District President Manir Oraon here on Monday. Lohardaga Lok Sabha MP Sudarshan Bhagat and chief speaker former MLA co-BJP ST Morcha president Shivshankar Oraon, district in-charge Manoj Mishra attended the program. On the occasion, MP Sudarshan Bhagat said that the BJP is a development-oriented party, its proof has been given by the general public. For the last 9 years, under the leadership of Modi ji, the Bharatiya Janata Party government has benefited the poor, farmers, agriculture, health, education, road, security, social, economic, women, youth, old people and the last person living in remote areas. He said that today, five lakh insurance for every poor person, women's name houses, ration cards, toilets, self-help groups, tribal areas and tribal women were connected with small industries to empower them. The biggest example of the same is ragi laddus from our own region which is going to make its mark in the global trade today. Eklavya Vidyalaya has been arranged in every block for the education of the children of our tribal areas, in which arrangements have been made for the children to stay and eat, which has not happened in the last 70 years. The MP said that the network of roads has reached remote areas. In the past, when the previous government of Jharkhand was of BJP, it had implemented many such schemes which were directly empowering the common man, farmer and women, but the present government stopped it. It is clear from this that the Jharkhand government's working style regarding the people of Jharkhand is not satisfactory. Today sand is moving out of Jharkhand through middlemen. The government has all this information but it does not want to take action, the government is supplying food in the name of action. Shivshankar Oraon said that Narendra Modi knows the pain of poverty, that is why at present, after independence, work is being done on the ground with the resolution of making and executing schemes for everyone's support, everyone's development and everyone's effort. A citizen is getting the benefit amount of each scheme directly in his account and corruption free middlemen are getting eliminated. But the people of the opposition are not tolerating the same fairness. Omprakash Singh District President Manir Oraon on the occasion Manoj Mishra, Brajbihari Prasad, Rajkishore Mahato also addressed. The program was conducted by District Vice President Suraj Mohan Sahu and the vote of thanks was given by District Vice President Samela Bhagat. Former Mati Kala Board President Srichand Prajapati, District President Manirauran, participated in the programme. India, with its vast history and cultural diversity, is home to numerous ancient sites and heritage monuments that are of immense significance. The government of India has acknowledged the importance of preserving the nations timeless and rich cultural heritage. The governments effort has been led from the front by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the slogan he gave- Vikas Bhi Virasat Bhi. The Prime Minister has accorded pivotal importance to protecting and promoting Indian knowledge systems, traditions and cultural ethos, both nationally and internationally. One of the notable accomplishments is the redevelopment of neglected sites of civilisational significance. As of May 2023, a total number of 45 projects at a cost of Rs 1584.42 crore covering pilgrimage sites across the country have been approved under PRASAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive) scheme by the government as part of its commitment to safeguarding India's ancient civilisational heritage. After decades of neglect, various sites with Indias long civilisational history etched on them have been revived through conservation, restoration and development projects. The Kashi Vishwanath corridor and various other projects in Varanasi have transformed the bylanes, ghats and temple complexes in the city. Similarly, projects like the Mahakaal Lok project in Ujjain and the Ma Kamakhya corridor in Guwahati are expected to enrich the experience of pilgrims visiting the temple, provide them with world-class amenities, as well as boost tourism and the local economy. In a historic moment, Bhoomipujan for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was held in August 2020 and construction of a grand temple is in full swing. Another remarkable endeavour is the 825 kilometre long Char Dham road project, providing seamless all-weather road connectivity to the four holy shrines. The Prime Minister had earlier laid the foundation stones for reconstruction and development projects in Kedarnath in 2017 including Adi Shankaracharya's Samadhi which was devastated in the catastrophic flash floods of 2013. In November 2021, the Prime Minister inaugurated the statue of Adi Shankaracharya Samadhi at Kedarnath. Additionally, two ropeway projects connecting Gaurikund to Kedarnath and Govindghat to Hemkund Sahib are set to further enhance accessibility and facilitate the spiritual journey of the devotees. In yet another instance of dedication to preserving cultural heritage, PM Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for several projects in Somnath, Gujarat, including the Somnath promenade, Somnath exhibition centre and the reconstructed temple precinct of Old (Juna) Somnath. Similarly, the opening of the Kartarpur corridor and Integrated Check Post was a momentous occasion, enabling easier access for devotees to pay their respects at the revered Gurudwara Kartapur Sahib in Pakistan. Preservation of the Himalayan and Buddhist cultural heritage also holds a special place in the government's efforts. As part of the Swadesh Darshan scheme, the government has initiated 76 projects aimed at developing thematic circuits that showcase the diverse cultural heritage of India. The focus extends to the development of world-class infrastructure for the Buddhist circuit, thereby enhancing the spiritual experience for devotees. In 2021, the Kushinagar international airport was inaugurated, facilitating easy access to the Mahaparinirvana temple. The Ministry of Tourism is actively developing destinations under the Buddhist circuit in various states including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. In addition, the foundation stone for the technologically advanced India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage in Lumbini, Nepal, was laid in May 2022 by PM Modi, further highlighting the government's commitment to the preservation and promotion of Buddhist heritage and Indias cultural diversity. India's cultural heritage also received a significant boost through the repatriation of antiquities. As on April 24, 2023, 251 invaluable antiquities of Indian origin had been retrieved back from different countries, out of which 238 have been brought back since 2014. These repatriations stand as a testament to the government's commitment to safeguarding and reclaiming India's cultural treasures. The development of 12 heritage cities under the HRIDAY (Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana) scheme showcases the commitment of the government to establish itself as a custodian of an extraordinary heritage. India boasts of an impressive 40 world heritage sites, out of which 32 are cultural, seven are natural and one is under the mixed category, showcasing the diversity and richness of India's heritage. In the last nine years alone, 10 new sites have been added to the world heritage list. Additionally, India's tentative list has expanded from 15 sites in 2014 to 52 in 2022, indicating global recognition of Indias cultural heritage and its potential to attract a large number of foreign travellers. The cultural richness of India was also exhibited through the month-long Kashi Tamil Sangamam organised in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, with the objective to celebrate, reaffirm and rediscover the age-old links between Tamil Nadu and Kashi two of the countrys most important and ancient seats of learning. Through such programmes, the government emphatically promotes the idea of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, which aims to celebrate the culture of the country. Recently, the decision to celebrate Statehood Days by all the Raj Bhawans of all the States across the country also highlights the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat. Through all these ambitious projects and initiatives, the Government of India, guided by the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has taken significant strides to promote and preserve India's cultural heritage. They reflect a deep awareness of the nation's rich culture and a steadfast commitment to preserving its heritage. By safeguarding and promoting India's cultural and spiritual treasures, the government aims to enrich the present and future generations understanding of Indian history and culture. With the potential to attract a growing number of international tourists and ongoing efforts to revitalise the heritage sites, India's ancient civilisation and cultural traditions will continue to shine on the global stage. (Bhasin is additional director general and Kataria is assistant director in the Press Information Bureau. Views expressed are personal) Student leader Jairam Mahto has formed a new political party on Sunday. The name of this party is Jharkhandi Bhasha Khatian Sangharsh Samiti (JBKSS) while the symbol of the party has been kept as tiger as Jairam is famously called as Tiger by his friends and supporters. At a function held at Baliapur 30kms from Coal Capital (Dhanbad), a large number of people attended the convention despite scornful heat and humidity. Jairam was appointed as president of the new political party. After the announcement of a new party, Jairam made his intention clear and announced to jump into electoral politics saying that his party will contest all Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in next year general election and state assembly election. The 28 year old youth also dared that until the Khatian of 1932 is implemented, his party will not sit quietly. On Sunday, a unanimous decision was taken to form JBKSS at the state level convention at the airstrip ground in Baliapur. The JBKSS party was unanimously formed to contest all the seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhansabha elections. Addressing the convention, student leader-turned-politician Jairam Mahto said that the Jharkhand of the dreams of the martyrs has not been built. Jharkhandis made sacrifices for Jharkhand. Outsiders are ruling here. To whom he entrusted the administration considering himself as his own, he is disappointing the people of Jharkhand. The people of Jharkhand are being tricked through communalism and capitalism. Until the Khatian of 1932 is implemented, JBKSS will not sit quietly. Without naming any politician directly he said that our land has been lost and planning is being done by the people of other states. The MPs here are elected by the votes of the people of the village and remain silent at the time of getting their rights. The public will continue the agitation for their rights. It is said that in the whole of Jharkhand, the land of the people here has been taken at one-fourth price. People have been fooled. There are many people who sell their land and are forced to beg at stations and markets. He said that there is a need to save Jal Jungle Zameen (water, forest and land). Jairam Mahto, said, Due to lack of provision guaranteeing the rights of local residents, the other people coming from outside the state are taking away their land, jobs, produce and plundering the resources of the state. Go to states like Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and there is provision for protection of local languages there but in our state there is no such provision, added Mahto. Sources said that more than 4000 four wheelers, 10,000 to 15000 bike riders, along with more than 50000 people even in 44 degree Celsius were at the convention. The enthusiasm of the people was such that even in the scorching heat people from different areas of Dhanbad and Bokaro attended the rally. With the aim to introduce new technology in the agriculture sector and make agricultural products globally competitive, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed setting up of a tissue culture laboratory at Acharya Narendra Dev University of Agriculture and Technology in Ayodhya. The objective of the tissue culture technology is to make quality planting material and planting of quality disease-free horticulture crops. The laboratory will be spread on a spacious 3-hectare campus. UP Rajya Krishi Utpadan Mandi Parishad will finance the project. Yogi Adityanath on Monday presided over the 168th meeting of the Board of Directors of the UP Rajya Krishi Utpadan Mandi Parishad. He issued several directives for ensuring protection of the interest of the farmers. The chief minister said the efforts being made by the Mandi Parishad in the interests of the farmers were commendable. He said there was no impact on the income of the agricultural mandis even after reduction of the mandi fee on several agricultural crops. Against an income of Rs 614 crore in the financial year 2021-22, Mandi Parishad garnered revenue of Rs 1,520.95 crore in 2022-23. Besides, Rs 251.61 crore revenue has already been collected in the first two months of the current financial year 2023-24. The increase in revenue collection from mandis is commendable, even though the mandi fee is minimal. Yogi Adityanath said the CM Farmers Scholarship Scheme was proving very useful. Presently Rs 3,000 monthly scholarship is being provided to the students of agriculture and home science in five universities and 23 colleges. Agriculture and Technology University, Banda, Aligarh Muslim University, Rani Lakshmibai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi and Bundelkhand University, Jhansi and 37 other colleges should also be included in this so that more youths get the benefit of the scheme, he said. The chief minister said that outlets of organic and natural products were currently established at the divisional headquarters and they need to be extended up to the district headquarters. Outlets should also be opened in agriculture produce market committees. Set up an organic/natural market. Lab testing is essential for the verification, branding of organic/natural products of our farmers. Although laboratories are operated by the Food Safety and Drug Administration in Lucknow, Meerut, Varanasi and Jhansi, no lab is operated in the agricultural universities of the state. Therefore, testing labs should be set up by the Mandi Parishad in all the four state agricultural universities of Uttar Pradesh, he said.. Keeping in view the convenience of the farmers, the state government has constructed a large number of rural haats and modern farmers markets. New Haat Paiths and Kisan Mandis should be built in accordance with the local needs. Keep them well-maintained and there should be space for street vendors there, he said. The chief minister said there should be proper arrangement of lighting in the mandis and measures to prevent water-logging should be taken. Farmers convenience should be given top priority, and effective measures should be taken to protect crops. Make adequate arrangements for toilets/drinking water, he said. The chief minister said that it was encouraging that hostels were being constructed in agricultural universities with the help of Mandi Parishad. He said the construction of these hostels should be completed in a time-bound manner, keeping in view the quality and these under-construction hostels should be inspected by the agriculture minister. The chief minister said that the buildings of the Agricultural Produce Market Committees were in bad shape and unusable in various districts. He said a comprehensive action plan should be prepared for the systematic use of this land/building. He said the strengthening of the existing infrastructure of agriculture mandis would add to their income. Yogi Adityanath said several policy initiatives were being taken by the state government to promote agriculture and food processing. He said planned work was also being done to encourage natural farming. An Agri Mall is being set up in Lucknow to ensure that the farmers get a fair price for their produce, branding of the product, and proper market, he said. The chief minister directed the Mandi Parishad officials to expedite action in this regard. He said farmers would be able to sell their fruits and vegetables directly in Agri Mall. The chief minister said to make the office block established by Mandi Parishad at Navi Mumbai in 2006 for export promotion more useful, it should be linked with the MSME department. On 18th June 2023, Sunday, on the occasion of the ninth International Day of Yoga, Yogoda Satsanga Society of Indias (YSS) Ranchi ashram hosted over 550 persons including many first-time visitors in a special programme introducing the basics of yoga meditation. Speaking on the theme Discover Inner Tranquillity Through Yoga-Meditation, senior YSS sannyasi Swami Ishwarananda Giri encouraged truth-seekers to explore the inner tranquillity that resides within each of us. Drawing many truth-seekers to this serene ashram on a warm Sunday morning, this International Day of Yoga programme began with an introduction to Paramahansa Yogananda the founder of YSS and author of the best-selling Autobiography of a Yogi. Swami Ishwaranandaji shared about this book: The life-story of Yoganandaji has touched the hearts and minds of millions around the globe, and has introduced countless readers to Indias ancient science of Yoga and to the scientific methods for attaining God-realization that are Indias unique and lasting contribution to world civilization. Speaking about Yoganandajis contribution to the spread of the how-to-live Kriya Yoga teachings worldwide, Swamiji said: With a deep understanding of human conditions and challenges faced by mankind, Paramahansa Yoganandaji had deep sympathy for the suffering mankind in his heart, adding, He gave to the world a practical method by which spiritual aspirants from all walks of life could experience peace and achieve the ultimate goal of self-realization. Swami Ishwaranandaji invited truth-seekers to explore these teachings of Kriya Yoga as offered on the YSS path through home-study lessons on the YSS website. Offering the newcomers a taste of the peace that can be experienced through yoga, Swamiji led them into a guided meditation session in Hindi which included the practice of the correct posture, preliminary breathing exercises, an affirmation, and a visualization. Around 2,500 persons also joined the live-stream of this programme via YouTube from across the countrywide ashrams, kendras and mandalis of the spiritual organization. Swamiji clarified the true meaning of yoga to the audience: Most people think of yoga as limited to Hatha Yoga. However, the real meaning of yoga is the union of the soul with God. The Kriya Yoga path of meditation as taught by Yoganandaji leads the human consciousness to this state of inner union. And the foundation of this path is the regular practice of scientific meditation. For further info.: yssofindia.org Union minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday said even the world believes that 160 countries could get anti-coronavirus vaccines because of India, while Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray was "scared" and stayed at home throughout the pandemic. Thakur's comment came in response to Thackeray's barb over BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis purportedly giving credit for the vaccine development to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Uddhav ji was scared of the COVID-19 pandemic and remained at home. Modi ji offered leadership to society and encouragement to the scientists and vaccine-makers," Thakur said, replying to reporters' questions here. "Not just the country, but the world believes that 160 countries received the vaccine against COVID-19 through the vaccine-Maitri programme of our country, the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting added. A person who did not leave his home for two and a half years due to the fear of COVID-19 was ousted from power by his own party workers and people, Thakur further said, referring to Thackeray whose government in Maharashtra collapsed last June following Eknath Shinde's rebellion. Earlier, Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had said that Modi made the vaccine and provided it to the world. Thackeray, in a speech at a party event on Monday, seized on the first line of Fadnavis's statement and asked, If Modi ji made the vaccine, what were the scientists doing? Were they (merely) plucking grass? Thakur, meanwhile, also said that Thackeray was bound to lose power after he joined hands with the ideology (of the Congress and NCP) that late Bal Thackeray had always opposed, and there was no point in nursing regret. "At least he should face the reality now, Thakur added. Prime minister Modi provided 220 crore vials of anti-coronavirus vaccines to the country's people, he said, adding "because of his efforts, funds were raised and every state received vaccine stock." "Uddhav ji, on the other hand, was scared and confined himself to his residence. He had forgotten the people of Mumbai and Maharashtra during the period," Thakur said. Modi saved people from starvation as well as from the pandemic while ensuring that the Indian economy rose to the top five in the world, the minister further said. Respect for India has grown across the world and the country has become "more secure from external attacks, he said. Without naming the Congress-led UPA regime, Thakur said, Uddhav ji joined hands with the parties which were mere spectators during such attacks. They were in silent mode. The Modi government carries out surgical strike. But Uddhav ji joins hands with those who doubt the bravery of our armed forces. Uddhav ji joined hands with those who could not give bulletproof jackets (to soldiers) despite being in power for ten years. About Thackeray criticising the Modi government over the ongoing violence in Manipur, Thakur said, I was in Palghar district (of Maharashtra) two days ago. During Uddhav ji's regime two years back, religious leaders were attacked and killed in Palghar. He should be ashamed of such incidents. Ashtead Group (LON:AHT Get Rating) had its price objective increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from GBX 6,500 ($83.17) to GBX 6,700 ($85.73) in a research report report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on AHT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a hold rating and set a GBX 4,460 ($57.07) price objective on shares of Ashtead Group in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a buy rating and issued a GBX 7,000 ($89.57) price objective on shares of Ashtead Group in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Ashtead Group from GBX 5,450 ($69.74) to GBX 5,500 ($70.38) and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, June 15th. Peel Hunt restated a buy rating and issued a GBX 5,200 ($66.54) target price on shares of Ashtead Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an overweight rating and set a GBX 6,300 ($80.61) price objective on shares of Ashtead Group in a research report on Monday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of GBX 6,022.86 ($77.07). Get Ashtead Group alerts: Ashtead Group Price Performance Shares of LON:AHT opened at GBX 5,374 ($68.77) on Friday. The businesss fifty day moving average price is GBX 4,859.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 5,040.99. The stock has a market cap of 23.56 billion, a PE ratio of 1,872.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 154.56, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.22. Ashtead Group has a one year low of GBX 3,269 ($41.83) and a one year high of GBX 6,012 ($76.93). Ashtead Group Increases Dividend About Ashtead Group The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 10th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.26%. This is a positive change from Ashtead Groups previous dividend of $0.15. Ashtead Groups dividend payout ratio is currently 2,404.18%. (Get Rating) Ashtead Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the construction, industrial, and general equipment rental business in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It provides pumps, power generation, heating, cooling, scaffolding, traffic management, temporary flooring, trench shoring, and lifting services. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Ashtead Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ashtead Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Caledonia Mining Co. Plc (CAL.TO) (TSE:CAL Get Rating) shot up 3.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$23.17 and last traded at C$22.87. 20,380 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 134% from the average session volume of 8,717 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$22.13. Caledonia Mining Co. Plc (CAL.TO) Stock Up 3.3 % The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market capitalization of C$263.49 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of C$22.87. About Caledonia Mining Co. Plc (CAL.TO) (Get Rating) Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc primarily engages in the exploration and development of gold properties. The company also explores for precious metals. It primarily holds a 49% interest in the Blanket Mine, a gold mine located in Zimbabwe. The company was formerly known as Caledonia Mining Corporation and changed its name to Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc in March 2016. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Caledonia Mining Co. Plc (CAL.TO) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Caledonia Mining Co. Plc (CAL.TO) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. AGF Management (OTCMKTS:AGFMF Get Rating) had its price target lowered by CIBC from C$9.00 to C$8.50 in a report published on Friday, The Fly reports. Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on AGF Management from C$9.50 to C$8.50 in a report on Thursday, March 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on AGF Management from C$9.50 to C$9.00 in a report on Thursday, March 23rd. Desjardins lowered their target price on AGF Management from C$10.25 to C$9.75 in a report on Monday, June 12th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on AGF Management from C$9.50 to C$9.25 in a report on Thursday, March 23rd. Get AGF Management alerts: AGF Management Price Performance AGFMF stock opened at $5.56 on Friday. AGF Management has a twelve month low of $4.23 and a twelve month high of $6.97. The businesss fifty day moving average is $5.53 and its 200-day moving average is $5.78. AGF Management Company Profile AGF Management Ltd. is a diversified global asset management firm. It offers investment solutions to a wide range of clients, from individual investors and financial advisors to institutions, including pension plans, corporate plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, and foundations. The firm provides investment management with operations and investments in North America, Europe, and Asia. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for AGF Management Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AGF Management and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,010,000 shares, an increase of 9.1% from the May 15th total of 14,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,870,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 2.5% of the companys shares are sold short. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of analysts have recently issued reports on DVN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Devon Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lowered their target price for the company from $63.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 13th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $71.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, May 19th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $82.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Friday, March 17th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Devon Energy from $80.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Devon Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $67.39. Get Devon Energy alerts: Devon Energy Stock Up 0.4 % DVN traded up $0.20 on Monday, hitting $49.80. The company had a trading volume of 16,259,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,362,248. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.16 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $50.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.41. Devon Energy has a 12-month low of $44.03 and a 12-month high of $78.82. Devon Energy Cuts Dividend Devon Energy ( NYSE:DVN Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 8th. The energy company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. Devon Energy had a net margin of 31.39% and a return on equity of 47.42%. The firm had revenue of $3.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Devon Energy will post 6.14 EPS for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.78%. Devon Energys dividend payout ratio is presently 8.72%. Insider Activity In related news, EVP Dennis C. Cameron sold 8,292 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.97, for a total transaction of $414,351.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 218,418 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,914,347.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.63% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Devon Energy by 7.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,814,521 shares of the energy companys stock worth $2,574,437,000 after acquiring an additional 2,902,180 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Devon Energy by 96.4% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,608,577 shares of the energy companys stock worth $344,984,000 after purchasing an additional 2,752,752 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its position in Devon Energy by 90.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 5,386,490 shares of the energy companys stock worth $331,323,000 after purchasing an additional 2,562,584 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Devon Energy by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,173,489 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $4,640,442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Devon Energy in the first quarter worth $77,126,000. 78.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Devon Energy Company Profile (Get Rating) Devon Energy Corporation, an independent energy company, explores for, develops, and produces oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. It operates in Delaware, Anadarko, Williston, Eagle Ford, and Powder River Basin. The company was incorporated in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Devon Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Devon Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Douglas Emmett (NYSE:DEI Get Rating) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday. Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on DEI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Douglas Emmett from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Douglas Emmett from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 16th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Douglas Emmett from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Douglas Emmett from $17.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Monday, March 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Douglas Emmett from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and upped their price target for the company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $15.78. Get Douglas Emmett alerts: Douglas Emmett Stock Down 0.2 % Shares of NYSE DEI opened at $12.76 on Friday. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $11.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.76. The company has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 2.54, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Douglas Emmett has a 12-month low of $10.09 and a 12-month high of $23.85. Douglas Emmett Announces Dividend Insider Buying and Selling The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 29th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.96%. Douglas Emmetts payout ratio is 149.02%. In other Douglas Emmett news, Director William E. Simon, Jr. bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.42 per share, with a total value of $124,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 91,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,130,220. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 13.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Douglas Emmett Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ellevest Inc. boosted its position in Douglas Emmett by 103.8% during the 1st quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 2,981 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in Douglas Emmett by 1,128.4% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,506 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Douglas Emmett during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in Douglas Emmett by 94.7% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Douglas Emmett by 65.1% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,908 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.37% of the companys stock. Douglas Emmett Company Profile (Get Rating) Douglas Emmett, Inc (DEI) is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT), and one of the largest owners and operators of high-quality office and multifamily properties located in the premier coastal submarkets of Los Angeles and Honolulu. Douglas Emmett focuses on owning and acquiring a substantial share of top-tier office properties and premier multifamily communities in neighborhoods that possess significant supply constraints, high-end executive housing and key lifestyle amenities. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Douglas Emmett Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Douglas Emmett and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Dycom Industries (NYSE:DY Get Rating) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday. A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on DY. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Dycom Industries from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Dycom Industries from $124.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on Dycom Industries from $110.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Dycom Industries in a research note on Wednesday, May 31st. They issued an outperform rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a buy rating on shares of Dycom Industries in a research note on Wednesday, May 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $127.33. Get Dycom Industries alerts: Dycom Industries Stock Performance Shares of NYSE DY traded up $1.30 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $105.69. 592,100 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 497,557. The companys 50-day moving average price is $98.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.28. Dycom Industries has a 1-year low of $77.33 and a 1-year high of $122.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.16 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 3.43 and a quick ratio of 3.16. Insiders Place Their Bets Dycom Industries ( NYSE:DY Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 24th. The construction company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $1.03. Dycom Industries had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 19.99%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $940.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Dycom Industries will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. In other Dycom Industries news, VP Ryan F. Urness sold 3,300 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.90, for a total transaction of $313,170.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 26,242 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,490,365.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO H Andrew Deferrari sold 10,282 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.11, for a total transaction of $967,639.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 148,425 shares of the companys stock, valued at $13,968,276.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Ryan F. Urness sold 3,300 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.90, for a total transaction of $313,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 26,242 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,490,365.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.32% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dycom Industries Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Dycom Industries by 35.2% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 430 shares of the construction companys stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Dycom Industries by 114.0% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 490 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Dycom Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at $54,000. Gyon Technologies Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Dycom Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Dycom Industries by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,126 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. 97.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Dycom Industries Company Profile (Get Rating) Dycom Industries, Inc provides specialty contracting services to the telecommunications infrastructure and utility industries in the United States. The company offers engineering services to telecommunications providers, including the planning and design of aerial, underground, and buried fiber optic, copper, and coaxial cable systems; wireless networks in connection with the deployment of macro cell and new small cell sites; and program and project management and inspection personnel. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Dycom Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dycom Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:JKD Get Rating)s stock price traded up 0.1% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $222.64 and last traded at $221.91. 11,100 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 49% from the average session volume of 7,442 shares. The stock had previously closed at $221.74. iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF Stock Up 0.1 % The stock has a 50-day moving average of $221.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13 and a beta of 1.01. About iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF (Get Rating) iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares Morningstar Large Core Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Morningstar Large Core Index (the Core Index). The Core Index measures the performance of stocks issued by large-capitalization companies that have exhibited average growth and value characteristics as determined by Morningstars index methodology. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Kingswood Holdings Limited (LON:KWG Get Rating) rose 4.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as GBX 21.50 ($0.28) and last traded at GBX 21.50 ($0.28). Approximately 10,000 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 210,009 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 20.50 ($0.26). Analysts Set New Price Targets Separately, Shore Capital restated a buy rating on shares of Kingswood in a research report on Wednesday, May 24th. Get Kingswood alerts: Kingswood Price Performance The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 38.77, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of 46.64 million, a PE ratio of -537.50 and a beta of -0.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 21.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 23.23. Kingswood Company Profile Kingswood Holdings Limited engages in the investment management and financial planning business in the United Kingdom and the United States. It operates through three segments: Investment Management, Wealth Planning, and US Operations. The company provides wealth planning, advice process, pensions and retirement planning, inheritance tax and estate planning, tax planning, succession planning, protection advisory, cash management, and foreign exchange services. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Kingswood Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kingswood and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. MNC Media Investment Ltd (OTCMKTS:LTONY Get Rating)s stock price traded down 42.2% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $0.15 and last traded at $0.15. 113,100 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 1,408% from the average session volume of 7,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.26. MNC Media Investment Trading Down 42.2 % The companys fifty day moving average is $0.15. About MNC Media Investment (Get Rating) MNC Media Investment Ltd (MMIL), formerly Linktone Ltd., is a provider of services and content to a range of traditional and new media consumers and enterprises. The Companys segments include China VAS, mobile game and PC game; Indonesia Digital Media, Media Content and Investment; Indonesia Digital Media; Media content, and Investment. Read More Receive News & Ratings for MNC Media Investment Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for MNC Media Investment and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Mogo Inc. (TSE:MOGO Get Rating) traded up 7.7% on Monday . The company traded as high as C$0.98 and last traded at C$0.98. 50,167 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 86,112 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.91. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Mogo from C$2.25 to C$1.50 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Eight Capital lifted their price objective on Mogo from C$2.25 to C$3.00 in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Get Mogo alerts: Mogo Trading Up 7.7 % The stock has a fifty day moving average of C$0.97 and a 200 day moving average of C$0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 81.73, a quick ratio of 3.99 and a current ratio of 4.05. The company has a market capitalization of C$73.47 million, a PE ratio of -0.49 and a beta of 3.54. Mogo Company Profile Mogo Inc operates as a digital finance company in Canada, Europe, and internationally. The company provides digital solutions to the consumers to improve their financial health. It offers Mogo Trade, a digital wealth platform for investments; Moka app, a round-up-and-save app that allows users to save and invest with no investment knowledge by rounding up everyday purchases and investing the spare change into a fully managed investment portfolio; MogoCard that is designed to help members learn to spend less than they earn; MogoProtect, a mobile-first identity fraud protection product; MogoMoney that provides access to personal loans; and MogoMortgage, a digital mortgage product, as well as free credit score monitoring service. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Mogo Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Mogo and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ntt Docomo, Inc. (OTCMKTS:DCMYY Get Rating)s share price shot up 0% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $36.17 and last traded at $36.13. 3,300 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 29,309 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.12. Ntt Docomo Trading Up 0.0 % The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $36.13. Ntt Docomo Company Profile (Get Rating) NTT DOCOMO, INC., a telecommunications company, provides various mobile services in Japan and internationally. It operates through three segments: Telecommunications Business, Smart Life Business, and Other Businesses. The company offers iPhone, iPad, smartphone, tablet, and feature phone products and services under the docomo name, as well as d POINT CLUB, a point program. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Ntt Docomo Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ntt Docomo and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB Get Rating) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,420 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLCs holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 5.2% during the first quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 6,934 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $651,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC bought a new position in LyondellBasell Industries during the 1st quarter worth $219,000. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 71.2% during the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 7,455 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $700,000 after buying an additional 3,101 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 5.6% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,283 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $684,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 11.8% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 160,433 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $15,063,000 after buying an additional 16,935 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.58% of the companys stock. Get LyondellBasell Industries alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several brokerages have weighed in on LYB. StockNews.com started coverage on LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Tuesday, June 13th. They set a neutral rating and a $89.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $102.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $98.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered LyondellBasell Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $113.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, April 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, LyondellBasell Industries presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $98.28. LyondellBasell Industries Price Performance Shares of NYSE LYB traded down $3.65 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $88.59. The companys stock had a trading volume of 181,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,019,274. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $91.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.85. LyondellBasell Industries has a 1-year low of $71.46 and a 1-year high of $101.30. LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.70. The business had revenue of $10.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $10.80 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 28.95%. The companys quarterly revenue was down 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that LyondellBasell Industries will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year. LyondellBasell Industries Increases Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 30th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from LyondellBasell Industriess previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 26th. LyondellBasell Industriess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.11%. LyondellBasell Industries Profile (Get Rating) LyondellBasell Industries N.V. operates as a chemical company in the United States, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Poland, France, Japan, China, the Netherlands, and internationally. The company operates in six segments: Olefins and PolyolefinsAmericas; Olefins and PolyolefinsEurope, Asia, International; Intermediates and Derivatives; Advanced Polymer Solutions; Refining; and Technology. See Also Receive News & Ratings for LyondellBasell Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for LyondellBasell Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its holdings in AmerisourceBergen Co. (NYSE:ABC Get Rating) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 69,958 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 1,413 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLCs holdings in AmerisourceBergen were worth $11,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABC. United Bank increased its stake in AmerisourceBergen by 16.6% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 3,632 shares of the companys stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 29.9% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,193 shares of the companys stock valued at $803,000 after acquiring an additional 1,194 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 123.4% in the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,301 shares of the companys stock valued at $975,000 after acquiring an additional 3,480 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 22.5% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,767 shares of the companys stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 12.4% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 8,124 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. 92.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get AmerisourceBergen alerts: AmerisourceBergen Price Performance ABC traded up $1.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $184.41. 412,711 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,282,702. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $171.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.13, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.52 and a beta of 0.53. AmerisourceBergen Co. has a 1-year low of $135.14 and a 1-year high of $184.84. AmerisourceBergen Announces Dividend AmerisourceBergen ( NYSE:ABC Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $63.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.40 billion. AmerisourceBergen had a net margin of 0.65% and a return on equity of 809.53%. The companys revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AmerisourceBergen Co. will post 11.87 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 12th were given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 11th. AmerisourceBergens dividend payout ratio is presently 24.94%. Insider Activity In related news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 292,792 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.77, for a total transaction of $50,000,089.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,366,388 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,697,978,078.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 292,792 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.77, for a total transaction of $50,000,089.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,366,388 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,697,978,078.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,499 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.52, for a total transaction of $1,779,790.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,967 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $43,730,565.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 600,273 shares of company stock valued at $105,410,246 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 20.10% of the companys stock. Analysts Set New Price Targets ABC has been the topic of several analyst reports. 888 reaffirmed a maintains rating on shares of AmerisourceBergen in a report on Friday, May 26th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of AmerisourceBergen in a report on Friday, March 31st. They issued a buy rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of AmerisourceBergen from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of AmerisourceBergen in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of AmerisourceBergen from $174.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $184.00. AmerisourceBergen Company Profile (Get Rating) AmerisourceBergen Corp. engages in the provision of pharmaceutical products and business solutions that improve access to care. It operates through the Pharmaceutical Distribution Services and Other segments. The Pharmaceutical Distribution Services segment distributes an offering of brand-name, specialty brand-name and generic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to healthcare providers, including acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, and long-term care and alternate site pharmacies. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ABC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for AmerisourceBergen Co. (NYSE:ABC Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for AmerisourceBergen Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AmerisourceBergen and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Crane NXT (NYSE:CXT Get Rating) and Crane (NYSE:CR Get Rating) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations. Earnings & Valuation This table compares Crane NXT and Cranes gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Get Crane NXT alerts: Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Crane NXT $3.35 billion 0.93 $401.10 million $6.50 8.47 Crane $3.35 billion 1.37 $401.10 million $7.55 10.72 Crane NXT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Crane, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. Institutional & Insider Ownership Volatility and Risk 70.8% of Crane NXT shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.8% of Crane shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Crane NXT shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.4% of Crane shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term. Crane NXT has a beta of 1.49, indicating that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Crane has a beta of 1.49, indicating that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Profitability This table compares Crane NXT and Cranes net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Crane NXT 13.12% 20.86% 9.01% Crane 13.10% 24.45% 10.14% Analyst Recommendations This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Crane NXT and Crane, as provided by MarketBeat. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Crane NXT 0 0 2 0 3.00 Crane 0 1 3 0 2.75 Crane NXT presently has a consensus target price of $71.00, suggesting a potential upside of 28.95%. Crane has a consensus target price of $106.00, suggesting a potential upside of 30.98%. Given Cranes higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Crane is more favorable than Crane NXT. Dividends Crane NXT pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Crane pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Crane NXT pays out 8.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Crane pays out 9.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Crane NXT is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio. Summary Crane beats Crane NXT on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks. About Crane NXT (Get Rating) Crane NXT, Co. focuses on payment and merchandising technologies. It indents to offer electronic equipment and associated software leveraging extensive, and proprietary core capabilities, including payment verification and authentication, as well as automation solutions, field service solutions, remote diagnostics, and productivity enhancing software solutions. The company is based in Stamford, Connecticut. About Crane (Get Rating) Crane Holdings Co. engages in the management of a subsidiary, which manufacture aerospace equipment, electronics systems, and flow control systems. The company was founded on December 2, 2021 and is headquartered in Stamford, CT. Receive News & Ratings for Crane NXT Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Crane NXT and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP Get Rating) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 29,218 shares of the energy producers stock, valued at approximately $2,899,000. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Denver Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Denver Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,630 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 668 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. PFG Advisors boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 3,639 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Orleans Capital Management Corp LA boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Orleans Capital Management Corp LA now owns 35,295 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $3,612,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Tiedemann Advisors LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Tiedemann Advisors LLC now owns 6,938 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.20% of the companys stock. Get ConocoPhillips alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Caroline Maury Devine sold 1,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.08, for a total value of $102,080.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,665.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the companys stock. ConocoPhillips Price Performance COP traded down $3.21 on Tuesday, reaching $101.71. The stock had a trading volume of 2,420,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,371,747. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $78.30 and a fifty-two week high of $138.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $102.47 and a 200-day moving average of $107.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $123.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.31. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The energy producer reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.36. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 32.75% and a net margin of 20.21%. The firm had revenue of $15.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.27 EPS. The businesss revenue was down 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 9.7 EPS for the current year. ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 16th were given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 26th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. ConocoPhillipss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.32%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research firms recently issued reports on COP. Raymond James boosted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 27th. Barclays dropped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $160.00 to $141.00 in a report on Thursday, March 23rd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. Finally, Societe Generale raised ConocoPhillips from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $136.32. ConocoPhillips Profile (Get Rating) ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; various LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects. Read More Receive News & Ratings for ConocoPhillips Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ConocoPhillips and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV Get Rating) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 13,063 shares of the insurance providers stock, valued at approximately $2,239,000. A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TRV. Summit Global Investments increased its holdings in Travelers Companies by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,365 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,074 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Evermay Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 4,332 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $664,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Donald L. Hagan LLC boosted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC now owns 4,254 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $798,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. 81.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Travelers Companies alerts: Insider Transactions at Travelers Companies In other Travelers Companies news, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 37,316 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.08, for a total value of $6,682,549.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,095,773.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Andy F. Bessette sold 11,572 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.14, for a total transaction of $2,061,436.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,361 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,092,688.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 37,316 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.08, for a total transaction of $6,682,549.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,703 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,095,773.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,134 shares of company stock worth $10,617,466 over the last quarter. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Travelers Companies Stock Performance NYSE TRV traded down $0.65 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $176.10. 209,184 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,388,783. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $177.43 and a 200 day moving average of $180.80. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.65 and a 12-month high of $194.51. The company has a market cap of $40.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 19th. The insurance provider reported $4.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $9.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.98 billion. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 13.41% and a net margin of 7.41%. Travelers Companiess revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 14.24 earnings per share for the current year. Travelers Companies announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 19th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 12.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the companys leadership believes its shares are undervalued. Travelers Companies Increases Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 9th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 8th. This is an increase from Travelers Companiess previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. Travelers Companiess payout ratio is 34.10%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on TRV shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $181.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, March 31st. Roth Capital reiterated a buy rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Friday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Travelers Companies in a report on Tuesday. They issued an equal weight rating and a $185.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Travelers Companies from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Travelers Companies currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $192.93. Travelers Companies Profile (Get Rating) The Travelers Companies, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of commercial and personal property, and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Business Insurance, Bond & Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Travelers Companies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Travelers Companies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY Get Rating) by 5.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,093 shares of the oil and gas producers stock after buying an additional 789 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NAs holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 11.9% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 14,886 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $954,000 after buying an additional 1,584 shares during the period. Dfpg Investments LLC grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 20.2% in the first quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 111,464 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $6,959,000 after purchasing an additional 18,710 shares during the period. Avaii Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 4.7% in the first quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,958 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 1,223.5% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,072 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares during the period. Finally, Chemistry Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 13.9% in the first quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,837 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 1,810 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Occidental Petroleum alerts: Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:OXY traded down $0.93 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.22. 2,872,387 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,375,382. The company has a market cap of $51.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.09. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $54.30 and a one year high of $77.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $59.97 and a 200 day moving average of $61.69. Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend Occidental Petroleum ( NYSE:OXY Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.21). Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 27.06% and a return on equity of 45.10%. The business had revenue of $7.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 9th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 8th. Occidental Petroleums dividend payout ratio is 8.25%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several brokerages recently weighed in on OXY. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $85.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 6th. TD Cowen raised Occidental Petroleum from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their price target for the stock from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $61.00 to $62.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, April 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $70.82. Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 1,789,529 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.32 per share, with a total value of $106,154,860.28. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 211,707,119 shares in the company, valued at $12,558,466,299.08. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 9,236,967 shares of company stock valued at $541,262,534. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders. About Occidental Petroleum (Get Rating) Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding OXY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Occidental Petroleum Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Occidental Petroleum and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA decreased its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Get Rating) by 5.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,926 shares of the companys stock after selling 1,553 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NAs holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $2,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 1.1% in the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 26,141 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,456,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 35.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,939 shares of the companys stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 24.7% in the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,065 shares of the companys stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 54.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 525 shares of the companys stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 14.7% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 8,987 shares of the companys stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.43% of the companys stock. Get Philip Morris International alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets PM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $109.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 30th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Citigroup upgraded Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $109.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $116.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. They set a buy rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $111.40. Philip Morris International Stock Performance Philip Morris International stock traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $95.57. 1,059,034 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,428,481. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $82.85 and a 52 week high of $105.62. The firm has a market cap of $148.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.68. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $95.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.31. Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 128.55% and a net margin of 10.80%. The business had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. Philip Morris Internationals quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current year. Philip Morris International Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.27 per share. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 22nd. Philip Morris Internationals dividend payout ratio is presently 90.88%. Philip Morris International Company Profile (Get Rating) Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products that are sold in markets outside the United States. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Philip Morris International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Philip Morris International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Banco Itau Chile (NYSE:ITCL Get Rating) and Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores (NYSE:AVAL Get Rating) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends and analyst recommendations. Dividends Banco Itau Chile pays an annual dividend of $0.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.8%. Banco Itau Chile pays out 24.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores pays out 64.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Get Banco Itau Chile alerts: Earnings and Valuation This table compares Banco Itau Chile and Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Banco Itau Chile $2.94 billion 0.78 $487.62 million $0.70 5.07 Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores $6.60 billion 0.42 $496.58 million $0.25 9.40 Profitability Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores has higher revenue and earnings than Banco Itau Chile. Banco Itau Chile is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. This table compares Banco Itau Chile and Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Banco Itau Chile 11.23% 12.85% 1.04% Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores 4.63% 6.99% 0.74% Analyst Ratings This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Banco Itau Chile and Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores, as reported by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Banco Itau Chile 0 0 0 0 N/A Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores 0 0 0 0 N/A Insider and Institutional Ownership 0.2% of Banco Itau Chile shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.3% of Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth. Volatility & Risk Banco Itau Chile has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. About Banco Itau Chile (Get Rating) Banco Itau Chile engages in the provision of banking and financial services. It specializes in banking products such as financing, leasing, loans, insurance and credit cards. It operates through the following geographical segments: Chile and Colombia. The Chile segment consists of commercial and corporate banking, real estate and construction, large companies, retail banking, personal banking, small business, retail companies, Banco Condell consumer banking, international and treasury and other financial services. The Colombia segment offers commercial and retail banking and treasury and international business operations. The company was founded in 1871 and is headquartered in Las Condes, Chile. About Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores (Get Rating) Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores S.A. provides a range of financial services and products to public and private sector customers in Colombia and Central America. It offers traditional deposit services and products, including checking accounts, savings accounts, time deposits, and other deposits. The company also provides commercial loans comprising general purpose loans, working capital loans, leases, loans funded by development banks, corporate credit cards, and overdraft loans; consumer loans, such as payroll loans, personal loans, automobile and other vehicle loans, credit cards, overdrafts, leases, and general purpose loans; and microcredit and mortgage loans. In addition, the company offers pension and severance fund management services; investment banking, including services relating to capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and project finance transactions; mobile and online banking services; and bancassurance, insurance, trust, bonded warehousing and brokerage transactions, real estate escrow services, merchandise and document storage and deposit, customs agency, cargo management, surety bond and merchandise distribution services, and payment and collection services. Further, it is involved in equity investments in various sectors, including infrastructure, energy and gas, agribusiness, and hospitality; and treasury operations. The company was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Bogota, Colombia. Receive News & Ratings for Banco Itau Chile Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Banco Itau Chile and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (OTCMKTS:FQVLF Get Rating) has been given a consensus rating of Hold by the twelve research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $32.29. FQVLF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on First Quantum Minerals from C$30.00 to C$32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Barclays raised their price target on First Quantum Minerals from C$22.00 to C$27.00 in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on First Quantum Minerals from C$33.00 to C$35.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. National Bank Financial raised First Quantum Minerals from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on First Quantum Minerals from C$40.00 to C$41.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Get First Quantum Minerals alerts: First Quantum Minerals Stock Performance OTCMKTS FQVLF opened at $25.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.45 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a P/E/G ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 1.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.24. First Quantum Minerals has a 1-year low of $14.48 and a 1-year high of $27.09. First Quantum Minerals Cuts Dividend First Quantum Minerals ( OTCMKTS:FQVLF Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter. First Quantum Minerals had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 10.31%. On average, research analysts predict that First Quantum Minerals will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 17th were issued a $0.0969 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.89%. First Quantum Mineralss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.27%. First Quantum Minerals Company Profile (Get Rating First Quantum Minerals Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineral properties. It primarily explores for copper, nickel, pyrite, gold, silver, and zinc ores, as well as produces acid. The company has operating mines located in Zambia, Panama, Finland, Turkey, Spain, Australia, and Mauritania, as well as a development project in Zambia. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for First Quantum Minerals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for First Quantum Minerals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (NYSE:GOL Get Rating) was the target of a large drop in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,020,000 shares, a drop of 8.5% from the May 15th total of 3,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several analysts have weighed in on GOL shares. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a buy rating on the stock. UBS Group upgraded Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report on Monday, March 20th. Bank of America began coverage on Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes in a report on Wednesday, March 15th. They issued an underperform rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes from $5.60 to $4.80 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $5.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $4.43. Get Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes alerts: Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOL. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes by 253.0% in the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 325,726 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 233,440 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes in the first quarter valued at about $70,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes during the first quarter worth about $173,000. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes during the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes by 535.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 10,051 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 0.55% of the companys stock. Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes Price Performance Shares of NYSE GOL opened at $4.80 on Tuesday. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $3.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.88. Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes has a fifty-two week low of $2.00 and a fifty-two week high of $4.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.46 and a beta of 1.19. Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes (NYSE:GOL Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The transportation company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $947.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $957.08 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes will post 0.26 EPS for the current fiscal year. Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes Company Profile (Get Rating) GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA provides scheduled and non-scheduled air transportation services for passengers and cargo; and maintenance services for aircrafts and components in Brazil and internationally. The company offers Smiles, a frequent-flyer programs to approximately 20.5 million members, allowing clients to accumulate and redeem miles. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV Get Rating) by 17.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,479 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc.s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thrive Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 761 shares of the companys stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Plancorp LLC lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the companys stock valued at $705,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 518 shares of the companys stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 650 shares of the companys stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the companys stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.30% of the companys stock. Get Elevance Health alerts: Elevance Health Trading Down 1.7 % Shares of NYSE:ELV traded down $7.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $435.74. 917,566 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,173,859. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $461.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $477.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $103.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.85. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $428.87 and a fifty-two week high of $549.52. Elevance Health Announces Dividend Elevance Health ( NYSE:ELV Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 19th. The company reported $9.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $9.26 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $41.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.93 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 3.86%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 32.78 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 8th. Elevance Healths dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.04%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades ELV has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Elevance Health from $577.00 to $564.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Elevance Health in a report on Thursday, April 20th. They issued an overweight rating and a $547.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Elevance Health in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a strong-buy rating on the stock. 22nd Century Group restated an upgrade rating on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Elevance Health from $597.00 to $561.00 in a report on Monday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $569.27. Insider Activity at Elevance Health In related news, EVP Gloria M. Mccarthy sold 15,098 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.76, for a total transaction of $6,714,986.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,876,230.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Elevance Health Profile (Get Rating) Elevance Health, Inc operates as a health company, which engages in improving lives and communities, and making healthcare simpler. It operates through the following segments: Commercial and Specialty Business, Government Business, CarelonRx, and Other. The Commercial and Specialty Business segment provides insurance products and services such as stop loss, dental, vision, life, disability and supplemental health insurance. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ELV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Elevance Health Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Elevance Health and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. iShares North American Natural Resources ETF (BATS:IGE Get Rating) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $38.14 and last traded at $37.66, with a volume of 75017 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.46. iShares North American Natural Resources ETF Stock Down 2.1 % The company has a market cap of $747.55 million, a P/E ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 1.25. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $38.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.74. Get iShares North American Natural Resources ETF alerts: Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares North American Natural Resources ETF Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in iShares North American Natural Resources ETF by 1,801.7% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,328 shares of the companys stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 3,153 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in iShares North American Natural Resources ETF during the second quarter worth $219,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in iShares North American Natural Resources ETF during the third quarter worth $31,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in iShares North American Natural Resources ETF by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,718 shares of the companys stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 1,637 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in iShares North American Natural Resources ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at $960,000. iShares North American Natural Resources ETF Company Profile iShares North American Natural Resources ETF, formerly iShares S&P North American Natural Resources Sector Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of U.S.-traded natural resource-related stocks as represented by the S&P North American Natural Resources Sector Index (the Index). Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for iShares North American Natural Resources ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares North American Natural Resources ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. KRS Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Ford Motor (NYSE:F Get Rating) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,720 shares of the auto manufacturers stock after selling 970 shares during the period. KRS Capital Management LLCs holdings in Ford Motor were worth $261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ford Motor by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 332,380,925 shares of the auto manufacturers stock worth $3,722,666,000 after acquiring an additional 4,518,888 shares in the last quarter. Snider Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 100,345.2% during the 1st quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 219,805,167 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $3,717,000 after acquiring an additional 219,586,336 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 69,911,885 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $811,452,000 after acquiring an additional 196,752 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,333 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $554,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,689,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ford Motor during the 4th quarter valued at $419,237,000. 53.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Ford Motor alerts: Ford Motor Stock Performance F traded down $0.37 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $14.05. The stock had a trading volume of 22,558,833 shares, compared to its average volume of 65,108,633. Ford Motor has a 12 month low of $10.61 and a 12 month high of $16.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The firm has a market cap of $56.21 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.44. Ford Motor Dividend Announcement Ford Motor ( NYSE:F Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The auto manufacturer reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.27. Ford Motor had a return on equity of 19.99% and a net margin of 1.75%. The company had revenue of $39.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $37.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. Ford Motors revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ford Motor will post 1.74 EPS for the current year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 26th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 25th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. Ford Motors dividend payout ratio is 84.51%. Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities analysts have recently commented on F shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Ford Motor in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a hold rating on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Ford Motor from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Ford Motor from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $12.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ford Motor from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $14.78. Ford Motor Company Profile (Get Rating) Ford Motor Company develops, delivers, and services a range of Ford trucks, commercial cars and vans, sport utility vehicles, and Lincoln luxury vehicles worldwide. It operates through Ford Blue, Ford Model e, and Ford Pro; Ford Next; and Ford Credit segments. The company sells Ford and Lincoln vehicles, service parts, and accessories through distributors and dealers, as well as through dealerships to commercial fleet customers, daily rental car companies, and governments. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding F? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ford Motor (NYSE:F Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Ford Motor Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ford Motor and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Lennar (NYSE:LEN Get Rating) had its price objective raised by UBS Group from $127.00 to $150.00 in a research report report published on Friday, The Fly reports. A number of other analysts have also recently commented on LEN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Lennar in a report on Wednesday, May 31st. They set a sell rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Credit Suisse Group upped their price target on shares of Lennar from $88.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Lennar from $115.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Lennar from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $121.53. Get Lennar alerts: Lennar Stock Up 0.2 % Shares of LEN stock opened at $120.02 on Friday. Lennar has a 12 month low of $62.54 and a 12 month high of $121.95. The stock has a market cap of $34.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 7.09, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.60. Lennar Announces Dividend Insider Activity at Lennar The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 26th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 25th. Lennars payout ratio is 10.24%. In other news, CFO Diane J. Bessette sold 9,289 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value of $958,253.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.53% of the stock is owned by insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar in the first quarter valued at $103,000. Golden State Equity Partners purchased a new position in Lennar in the 1st quarter worth about $226,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lennar by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 36,959 shares of the construction companys stock worth $3,885,000 after buying an additional 5,743 shares during the period. Toroso Investments LLC increased its stake in Lennar by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 7,869 shares of the construction companys stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Lennar by 31.2% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 11,601 shares of the construction companys stock worth $1,219,000 after buying an additional 2,758 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.68% of the companys stock. About Lennar (Get Rating) Lennar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a homebuilder primarily under the Lennar brand in the United States. It operates through Homebuilding East, Homebuilding Central, Homebuilding Texas, Homebuilding West, Financial Services, Multifamily, and Lennar Other segments. The company's homebuilding operations include the construction and sale of single-family attached and detached homes, as well as the purchase, development, and sale of residential land; and development, construction, and management of multifamily rental properties. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Lennar Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lennar and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Get Rating) by 28.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,125 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 2,435 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLCs holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 5.6% in the first quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 86,290 shares of the companys stock valued at $8,392,000 after purchasing an additional 4,541 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.4% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 36,709 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 47.9% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,960 shares of the companys stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,255 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the first quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Finally, Stolper Co increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.8% during the first quarter. Stolper Co now owns 16,245 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,580,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.43% of the companys stock. Get Philip Morris International alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth PM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, April 13th. They set a buy rating and a $114.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $116.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Citigroup raised shares of Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $109.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $109.00 to $116.00 in a report on Thursday, March 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $111.40. Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.3 % Shares of NYSE:PM traded up $0.28 on Tuesday, reaching $95.17. The company had a trading volume of 1,575,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,434,353. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $95.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.31. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.85 and a twelve month high of $105.62. Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.04. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 128.55% and a net margin of 10.80%. The business had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. Philip Morris Internationals quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Philip Morris International Announces Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 23rd will be paid a $1.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 22nd. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.34%. Philip Morris Internationals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.88%. About Philip Morris International (Get Rating) Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products that are sold in markets outside the United States. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Philip Morris International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Philip Morris International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Abcam (OTCMKTS:ABCZF Get Rating) is one of 350 publicly-traded companies in the Biotechnology industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Abcam to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability and earnings. Insider and Institutional Ownership 43.6% of Abcam shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.6% of shares of all Biotechnology companies are owned by institutional investors. 26.7% of shares of all Biotechnology companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. Get Abcam alerts: Valuation and Earnings This table compares Abcam and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Abcam N/A N/A 117.51 Abcam Competitors $128.73 million -$2.23 million 52.51 Analyst Recommendations Abcams peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Abcam. Abcam is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry. This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Abcam and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Abcam 0 0 0 0 N/A Abcam Competitors 543 1673 4159 43 2.58 As a group, Biotechnology companies have a potential upside of 87.07%. Given Abcams peers higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Abcam has less favorable growth aspects than its peers. Profitability This table compares Abcam and its peers net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Abcam N/A N/A N/A Abcam Competitors -596.52% -60.32% -21.28% Dividends Abcam pays an annual dividend of C$0.07 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Abcam pays out 42.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, Biotechnology companies pay a dividend yield of 2.7% and pay out 12,180.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Summary Abcam beats its peers on 6 of the 10 factors compared. About Abcam (Get Rating) Abcam plc, a life science company, focuses on identifying, developing, and distributing reagents and tools for scientific research, diagnostics, and drug discovery. The company's principal products include primary and secondary antibodies; conjugated antibodies and conjugation kits; singleplex immunoassays; proteins and peptides that include cytokines; edited cell lines and lysates; and various other products, including cellular activity kits, biochemicals, and cell signaling pathway tools. It serves scientists and researchers in academic institutions and research institutes, as well as in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and diagnostics companies. The company has operations in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, China, Japan, and rest of the Asia Pacific. It sells its products online. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom. Receive News & Ratings for Abcam Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Abcam and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Stolper Co lowered its holdings in shares of General American Investors Company, Inc. (NYSE:GAM Get Rating) by 11.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,628 shares of the investment management companys stock after selling 741 shares during the period. Stolper Cos holdings in General American Investors were worth $219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GAM. Almitas Capital LLC grew its stake in General American Investors by 185.8% in the 4th quarter. Almitas Capital LLC now owns 83,198 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $3,008,000 after buying an additional 54,088 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its stake in General American Investors by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 39,208 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $1,417,000 after buying an additional 3,326 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General American Investors in the 4th quarter valued at $588,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in General American Investors by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 40,251 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $1,455,000 after buying an additional 1,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in General American Investors by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 45,385 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $1,640,000 after buying an additional 2,574 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 29.24% of the companys stock. Get General American Investors alerts: General American Investors Trading Down 0.5 % NYSE:GAM opened at $41.22 on Tuesday. General American Investors Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.23 and a 1 year high of $41.48. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $39.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.42. About General American Investors General American Investors Company, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm invests in the public equity markets of United States. It invests in growth stocks of companies. It makes investments in Information Technology, Financials, Consumer Staples, Consumer Discretionary, Retailing, Communication Services, Industrials, Health Care, Energy and Materials. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GAM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for General American Investors Company, Inc. (NYSE:GAM Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for General American Investors Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for General American Investors and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG Get Rating) has been given a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $6.98. A number of analysts have commented on RIG shares. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Transocean from $7.50 to $12.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Clarkson Capital raised Transocean from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $7.50 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. Susquehanna upped their price target on Transocean from $6.00 to $6.50 in a report on Monday, April 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Transocean from $5.50 to $6.50 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 22nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Transocean from $7.00 to $6.00 in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Get Transocean alerts: Transocean Stock Performance Shares of Transocean stock opened at $6.23 on Tuesday. The companys 50 day moving average price is $6.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.94 and a beta of 2.91. Transocean has a fifty-two week low of $2.32 and a fifty-two week high of $7.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.56. Insider Transactions at Transocean Transocean ( NYSE:RIG Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 1st. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($0.16). Transocean had a negative return on equity of 6.80% and a negative net margin of 34.53%. The business had revenue of $649.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.28) earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Transocean will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. In other news, CAO David A. Tonnel sold 12,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.53, for a total value of $78,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 476,802 shares in the company, valued at $3,113,517.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 13.16% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Transocean Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Transocean by 4,396.4% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,463,189 shares of the offshore drilling services providers stock valued at $22,026,000 after acquiring an additional 3,386,167 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in Transocean by 25.5% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,874,398 shares of the offshore drilling services providers stock valued at $11,921,000 after purchasing an additional 380,634 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Transocean by 536.0% during the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,900 shares of the offshore drilling services providers stock valued at $2,500,000 after buying an additional 13,400 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Transocean in the 1st quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC boosted its stake in shares of Transocean by 46.8% in the first quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 3,197,416 shares of the offshore drilling services providers stock worth $20,466,000 after buying an additional 1,019,912 shares during the last quarter. 68.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Transocean (Get Rating Transocean Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells worldwide. It contracts its mobile offshore drilling rigs, related equipment, and work crews to drill oil and gas wells. It serves integrated energy companies, government-owned or government-controlled energy companies, and other independent energy companies. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Transocean Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Transocean and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN Get Rating) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,152,850 shares of the closed-end funds stock after selling 39,667 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.23% of Franklin Resources worth $31,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 7.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,909,926 shares of the closed-end funds stock valued at $761,187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,384,798 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 202.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,126,650 shares of the closed-end funds stock worth $59,377,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,044 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,072,606 shares of the closed-end funds stock worth $951,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390,583 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,423,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 30.9% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,507,038 shares of the closed-end funds stock worth $153,758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,729 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.70% of the companys stock. Get Franklin Resources alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc acquired 2,465,483 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.14 per share, for a total transaction of $24,999,997.62. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 4,955,483 shares of the companys stock, valued at $50,248,597.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 23.40% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Franklin Resources Price Performance Several research firms have recently issued reports on BEN. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $24.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $20.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $24.55. Shares of NYSE BEN traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.52. 962,412 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,501,692. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $25.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.49. The company has a market cap of $13.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25 and a beta of 1.26. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.24 and a 12-month high of $34.37. Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.80 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year. Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 14th. Investors of record on Friday, June 30th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 29th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.52%. Franklin Resourcess dividend payout ratio is presently 72.29%. Franklin Resources Profile (Get Rating) Franklin Resources, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and multi-asset mutual funds through its subsidiaries. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Franklin Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Franklin Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy addressing at the inaugural session of the fourth G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Goa. (Twitter) Panaji: The number of foreign tourists who arrived in India this year during January-April is 166 per cent more than the figures for the corresponding period in 2022, Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Tuesday. He said this in his address at the inaugural session of the fourth G20 Tourism Working Group (TWG) meeting here. Reddy also said that after the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign tourist arrivals in India have increased. "The number of foreign tourists who arrived in India this year during January-April is 166 per cent higher than the figures for the corresponding period in 2022," Reddy said. "India's inbound travel is expected to reach to pre-pandemic level in 2023," he asserted. Later at a press conference here, Reddy said it was a "matter of happiness" that the concluding meeting of the TWG is taking place in Goa. Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao will visit Kollur on city outskirts on June 22 to inaugurate 2BHK Towers comprising 15,690 flats and formally launch the distribution programmes. (File image: DC) Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao will continue his tours of districts after the conclusion of celebrations of the Tenth State Formation Day on June 22. He will visit districts to distribute podu land pattas to tribals. He will also lay special focus on the long-pending distribution of 2BHK houses to poor in districts besides HMDA limits. BRS sources said that the Chief Minister will visit Asifabad on June 24 and launch the distribution of podu land pattas to tribals. Tribals in possession of forest lands and doing agriculture for decades have been demanding pattas (ownership rights) for long. The BRS government had promised to give pattas during 2014 and 2018 elections but could not be fulfilled so far due to legal and procedural issues. The government invited applications from tribals seeking pattas. Applications were received from 26 districts with a tribal population. In the first phase, officials identified 1.50 lakh tribals in possession of 4.05 lakh acres for whom pattas will be distributed now. The Chief Minister will visit Kollur on city outskirts on June 22 to inaugurate 2BHK Towers comprising 15,690 flats and formally launch the distribution programmes. Since the final list of beneficiaries is yet to be approved, the CM will distribute six flats to six beneficiaries from six constituencies under HMDA limits, which matches the CM's lucky number 'six'. Officials will continue distribution of flats to remaining beneficiaries in a phased manner after the final selection list is released. The Chief Minister is expected to visit a few more districts to distribute 2BHK units in July and August. Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Photo: PTI) NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a much higher, deeper and wider profile for India at the United Nations and other international organisations, blaming many of the worlds problems on a failure of global institutions to adapt to a changing world.. "Look at the membership of key institutionsdoes it truly represent the voice of democratic values?" he said. "A place like Africa does it have a voice? India has such a huge population and is a bright spot in the global economy, but is it present?" Modi said during a rare interview that he gave to American financial newspaper Wall Street Journal. "India deserves a much higher, deeper and wider profile and a role," said Modi. Linking many of the worlds problems, such as terrorism, proxy wars and expansionism, to a failure of global institutions created during the Cold War to adapt, the Prime Minister said smaller and regional groupings have emerged in the vacuum and global institutions such as the U.N. must change. "There has to be an evaluation of the current membership of the (UN Security) council and the world should be asked if it wants India to be there," Modi said, citing Indias role as a contributor of troops for peacekeeping operations around the world. Portraying India as the leader of the global south, the 72-year-old leader called for making the United Nations and other international organisations more broadly representative of the worlds less-affluent nations and their priorities, from the consequences of climate change to debt reduction. During the interview, which comes ahead of his state visit to the United States, Modi pointed out that there is an unprecedented trust" between the leaders of India and the United States/ Modi, who called the growing defence cooperation between the two countries as an important pillar of our partnership, is expected to finalise deals to manufacture jet-fighter engines in India to power the countrys Tejas advanced light combat aircraft and to purchase high-altitude armed Predator drones from the US to boost surveillance efforts over the Indian Ocean and the land border with China. Rejecting criticism of India from some quarters about the treatment of minorities in the country, Modi said that India not only tolerates but celebrates its diversity. "For thousands of years, India has been the land where people of all faiths and beliefs have found the freedom to coexist peacefully and prosper," he said in a statement. "You will find people of every faith in the world living in harmony in India." On the economic front, Modi has been trying to attract major global corporations to manufacturing in India as companies seek to diversify its supply chain after the Covid-related disruptions in China affected their production. "Let me be clear that we do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world... The world today is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. To create resilience, there should be more diversification in supply chains," the Prime Minister said. According to the Wall Street Journal, "Trade between the two countries reached a record $191 billion in 2022, making the US Indias largest trading partner. The US is Indias third-biggest source of foreign direct investment, and one of the top five destinations for investment from India." Apart from the economic ties, India and the United States also share their frosty relationship with China. While the US seeks to contain an aggressive China, which seeks to challenge Americas global supremacy, Beijing believes that India needs to accept the Communist nation as the undisputed leader in Asia. India blamed China for violating border agreements, and the two countries have held 18 rounds of military talks since 2020 to restore peace on the disputed border or the Line of Actual Control (LAC). "For normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential We have a core belief in respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, observing the rule of law and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. At the same time, India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity," Modi explained. In spite of the cooperation between India and the US on China, New Delhi does not endorse Washingtons stance on Russias invasion of Ukraine. India has abstained from UN votes condemning the invasion as Russia is the major supplier of its weapons. "I think Indias position is well known and well understood in the entire world. The world has full confidence that Indias topmost priority is peace Some people say that we are neutral. But we are not neutral. We are on the side of peace All countries should respect international law and the sovereignty of countries and disputes should be resolved with diplomacy and dialogue, not war," Modi said. He said India will do whatever it can and support all genuine efforts to bring an end to the conflict and ensure enduring peace and stability. Seeking to reclaim Indias historic civilisational legacy in the world, Modi said, "I am the first prime minister to be born in free India. And thats why my thought process, my conduct, what I say and do, is inspired and influenced by my countrys attributes and traditions. I derive my strength from it. I present my country to the world as my country is, and myself, as I am." File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi practicing yoga on International Yoga Day. Every June 21 since 2015, the photos of people in yoga asanas (postures) are splashed across all newspapers in India, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in sitting a yogic asana (posture) occupying prominent space on the front pages of most newspapers. All these years, this scenario was taken granted. But tomorrow, something different is going to happen: Prime Minister Modi will sit in yogic posture not in New Delhi, but at the nerve centre of global diplomacy the United Nations' lawn in New York. "The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations invites you to a celebration of the 9th annual International Yoga Day on 21 June 2023, from 8:00-9:00 AM EST (6 pm to 6.30 pm) at the North Lawn of UN Headquarters in New York," a message posted on the United Nations website said. The spectacle of a large gathering of people, who include top diplomats, sitting in yoga asanas at the centre of bustling global business hub will have greater effect on the minds of people across the world, than the annual observation of the yoga day in New Delhi could boast of. On the recommendation of the Prime Minister, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on December 11, 2014, to declare June 21 of every year as the International Day of Yoga. India recommended June 21 for the Yoga Day because it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. What is yoga Yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual practice which originated in ancient India. It is believed to embody the unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and well-being. Yoga offers many health benefits, including reducing chronic pain, stabilising blood pressure and stress relief. Furthermore, it can improve strength, flexibility, breathing, balance, spine and mental health, and blood flow. While there are 84 basic asanas through which one can elevate his consciousness, yoga proliferated across the world with several nomenclatures and brand names. There are some exercises that billed as yoga in the West, which make traditional yoga gurus seethe in anger. Yoga Day When the UN declared June 21 as the International Yoga Day, the Western media speculated that the move was aimed at reclaiming India's cultural legacy over yoga, which was fast becoming a fad among wealthy individuals in the United States and Europe. In 2015, the United Kingdom's The Week stated that the government of India's purpose in holding International Days of Yoga was to have yoga recognized around the world as "India's cultural property", and cited India's then minister of yoga Shripad Yesso Naik comments that the Indian government was "trying to establish to the world that it (yoga) is ours." Contrary of doubts expressed initially, Narendra Modi appears to have successfully convinced the world yoga is indeed an Indian practice. Now he is all set to take his efforts to the next level in New York, when the whole American media's focus would be on him as he is the country's state guest. US President Joe Biden, right, meets with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Quad leaders summit at Kantei Palace, in May 2022 (AP file image) Modi US Visit: Prime Minister Narendra Modis State visit to the United States assumes much importance as he will be the only Indian PM to address a joint session of the US Congress for the second time. Modi will also become the third Indian leader to make a State visit to the US. The State visit means it is the highest level in terms of honour. Only a few people have been given this honour. During the visit, US President Biden will host Modi at a state dinner on June 22. That same day, Modi will address a joint session of the US Congress. The invitation to deliver such a historic speech was extended by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, demonstrating bipartisan support and respect for Prime Minister Modi in the United States. It was in 2016 that PM Modi addressed the US Congress. Indian diaspora in the US is eagerly awaiting PM Modi's arrival. An 'India Unity March' has been organised in 20 different cities in the US on June 18 to welcome PM Modi. Highlighting India's growth and development in the past nine years, a grand cultural event will be organised in front of the White House on June 21. The visit of PM Modi to the US is nothing short of historic. It will propel the two nations to forge greater cooperation in a world that is witnessing great geopolitical flux, growth of traditional and non-traditional threats, and issues of common concern. The invitation is an overture by the US acknowledging India's growing global stature and the critical role India is placed to play in world affairs. Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao obtained reports from all constituencies on the participation of MLAs and ministers. Besides, he also roped in independent survey agencies to not only assess the performance of MLAs and ministers, but also get feedback from people on these celebrations. (File Image: Twitter) Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao will assess the performance of MLAs and ministers in the 21-day decennial Telangana state formation celebrations, which will end on June 22, to decide the candidates for the upcoming state Assembly polls, according to BRS sources. The move comes after Rao, prior to the start of the celebrations, directed ministers and MLAs to actively take part in the celebrations, reach out to voters in their respective constituencies and explain to them the achievements of the BRS government in the past nine years. Added to this, reports of 30 MLAs faring badly in previous surveys are already causing apprehension among those named of not being allotted tickets to contest the upcoming Assembly polls. According to the list circulated in BRS circles, the poor performers were identified as Durgam Chinnaiah, N. Diwakar Rao, Atram Sakku, Jajala Surender, Gampa Govardhan, Rasamayi Balakishan, Chennamaneni Ramesh, K. Manik Rao, Methuku Anand, Nomula Bhagat, Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy, Chirumarthi Lingaiah, Muthireddy Yadagiri Reddy, T. Rajaiah, Nannapuneni Narender, Vanama Venkateshwar Rao, K. Upender Reddy, V. Abhraham, Beeram Harshavardhan Reddy, Muta Gopal, Bethi Subhash Reddy, Patnam Narender Reddy and Sunke Ravi Shankar, among others. BRS sources said that the decennial celebrations were devised in a manner to highlight the governments performances in important sectors, including irrigation, health, education, IT and industries, at the district and constituency-wise levels. However, the BRS top brass noticed that a few MLAs and ministers did not take the celebrations seriously and despite taking part in events, it was only eyewash as only a few days were celebrated, instead of holding programmes every day for the 21-day period. Party sources said that the Chief Minister obtained reports from all constituencies on the participation of MLAs and ministers. Besides, he also roped in independent survey agencies to not only assess the performance of MLAs and ministers, but also get feedback from people on these celebrations. They said that the surveys will also look into the availability of MLAs and ministers to people of their respective constituencies. As part of this, MLAs will be assessed if they were confined to Hyderabad for most of the time or if they were staying in their constituencies and making efforts to hear public grievances and resolve them. The Chief Minister is expected to receive these reports a week after the conclusion of the decennial celebrations. Telangana High Court. (Image: DC) Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday expressed its anguish over what it called "the callous exercise of the exceptional power of preventive detention" by the detaining authorities and the Telangana state government. A division bench of Justice K. Lakshman and Justice P. Sree Sudha instructed authorities who initiate detention proceedings and confirmation authorities to be sensible while invoking the PD Act. The bench made the remarks while dealing with a batch of five habeas corpus filed individually by women, challenging the detention of their family members. B. Mohana Reddy, counsel for the petitioners, contended that detention orders were passed against five detenues by the Mahabubnagar district administration office and a GO was issued, confirming the detentions. Crimes were registered against the five in a land dispute between the detenues and the complainant and her relatives in Allipur village of Mahbubnagar Rural mandal. Reddy, stating that detenues were alleged to have sold open plots on forged documents, questioned how detention orders could be passed based on solitary incidents. After perusing the details, Justice Lakshman expressed anguish over the issuance of detention orders in a routine and mechanical manner. The bench questioned authorities if they were that the PD Act could be invoked only in circumstances of public disorder, whereas the said crime against the detenues would affect can be dealt with by the criminal justice system. The judge also recalled the Supreme Court`s observations while quashing the detention orders under the Telangana Act of 1986, for inter alia incorrectly applying the standard for maintenance of public order and relying on stale materials while passing detention orders. At least 10 such orders were set aside by the apex court in the past year, the Justice observed. Justice Lakshman said that these numbers evince the insensitiveness of the authorities and said that invoking such a law adversely affects the fundamental right of personal liberty, which is guaranteed and protected by Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Directing detaining authorities to consider the nature of the offence and question if public order was disrupted, the bench set aside the levy of the PD Act against the five detenues. China's oil imports from Russia jumped to a record high in May, Chinese government data showed on Tuesday, as private refiners continue to snap up sanctioned ESPO and Urals crude shipments at discounts. Arrivals from Russia totalled 9.71 million metric tons in May, or 2.29 million barrels per day (bpd). Shipments were up 15.3 per cent from 1.50 million bpd in the same month last year, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. This represented the highest level on record, and a 32.4 per cent increase on April's figure of 1.73 million bpd. Also Read: Oil slips as China benchmark rate cuts less aggressive than expected Imports of Saudi crude totalled 7.32 million tons in May, equivalent to 1.72 million bpd, down 16.0 per cent from last month's 2.05 million bpd. Saudi Arabia had been China's largest source of crude in April. In early April, Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ members announced surprise further output cuts of 1.16 million bpd, to take effect from May. Saudi Arabia cut 430,000 bpd of output in May, according to a Reuters survey published at the end of the month. Much of the uptick in demand for Russian crude has come from China's private refiners, including major players such as Hengli Petrochemical. Hengli's 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery in northeast Dalian received its first Urals shipment of 730,000 barrels in early May, alongside a total of 3.71 million barrels of ESPO over the month, according to shiptracking data. Smaller private refiners in coastal Shandong province, known as teapots, also saw their margins enhanced by buying sanctioned cargoes from Russia, Iran and Venezuela. Chinese refiners use intermediary traders to handle shipping and insurance of Russian crude to avoid violating Western sanctions. Customs data also showed that imports from Malaysia were 1.34 million bpd in May, up 158.6 per cent from the same period last year. Malaysia is often used as an intermediary point for sanctioned cargoes from Iran and Venezuela. Imports from the United States more than tripled year-on-year to 2.22 million tons despite deepening geopolitical tensions, due to a brief pricing advantage over OPEC producers following the OPEC+ supply cuts. As many as 75 members of the United States Congress urged President Joe Biden to convey to Prime Minister Narendra Modi concerns over the reports about growing religious intolerance, shrinking of political space, curbs on freedom of the press and erosion of human rights in India. Two members of the American House of Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar also took to Twitter to announce their decision to boycott the prime ministers address to the US Congress on Thursday. With Modi embarking on his visit to New York and Washington DC on Tuesday, 18 US Senators and 57 members of the House of Representatives all from the ruling Democratic Party wrote a letter to Biden, drawing his attention to reports reflecting troubling signs in India. A Democrat A series of independent, credible reports reflect troubling signs in India toward the shrinking of political space, the rise of religious intolerance, the targeting of civil society organizations and journalists, and growing restrictions on press freedoms and internet access, the lawmakers, led by Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representative Pramila Jayapal, wrote in the letter to the US president. Also Read | Elon Musk to Neil deGrasse Tyson: Eminent personalities PM Modi will meet during US visit Its shameful that Modi has been given a platform at our nations capitalhis long history of human rights abuses, anti-democratic actions, targeting Muslims & (and) religious minorities, and censoring journalists is unacceptable, tweeted Tlaib, a Democrat Congresswoman, adding: I will be boycotting Modis joint address to Congress. Its shameful that Modi has been given a platform at our nations capitalhis long history of human rights abuses, anti-democratic actions, targeting Muslims & religious minorities, and censoring journalists is unacceptable. I will be boycotting Modis joint address to Congress. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) June 20, 2023 Prime Minister Modis government has repressed religious minorities, emboldened violent Hindu nationalist groups, and targeted journalists/human rights advocates with impunity. I will NOT be attending Modis speech, Ilhan Omar, another Democrat Congresswoman, tweeted. She added that she would hold a briefing with human rights groups to discuss the prime ministers record of repression and violence. Modi, however, said in a statement issued before his departure from New Delhi that Bidens special invitation to him for the state visit to Washington DC was a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between India and the US, the two democratic nations. Though Modi travelled to the US several times after taking over as the prime minister, this is going to be his first official state visit. He will lead the International Yoga Day event in New York on Wednesday. He will fly to Washington DC later in the day. Biden and his wife Jill Biden are expected to host a private dinner for him at the White House in the evening. The prime minister and the US president will hold formal talks on Thursday. The 75 US lawmakers extended support to a close and warm relationship between the people of India and the US and noted that friendship between the two nations should be based on shared values. They also pointed out that friends could and should discuss differences in an honest and forthright way. That is why we respectfully request that in addition to the many areas of shared interests between India and the US you also raise directly with Prime Minister Modi areas of concern, they wrote to Biden. Several human rights organisations planned protests during the prime ministers visit to the US, both in New York and Washington DC. They have been urging Biden to convey to Modi the concerns in the US over the alleged erosion of human rights and religious freedom and the backsliding of democracy in India. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch planned a screening of the BBC documentary on Modis role as the chief minister of Gujarat during the 2002 communal clashes. New Delhi, however, dismissed the purported plans for protests by the human rights organisations, with Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra highlighting the deep and widespread positive interests in the US to take the ties with India to a new level during the Modi-Biden meeting in Washington DC. The Biden Administration has been conveying to the Modi Government in New Delhi its concerns over the perception in the US about the backsliding of democracy in India. The US State Departments 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom referred to attacks against religious minority communities, including Muslims and Christians, as well as the Dalit Hindus in India. The earlier reports of the US State Department on religious freedom have also been referring to the alleged incidents of atrocities and violence against the minority communities in India. Bidens Secretary of State Antony Blinken had on April 12 last year said that the US was monitoring some recent concerning developments in India, including a rise in human rights abuses by some government, police, and prison officials. He had followed it up on June 2 that year stating that India, the worlds largest democracy and home to a great diversity of faiths, had seen rising attacks on people and places of worship. The US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) too in its reports released in Washington D.C. recommended the Biden Administration to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern in view of the drastic downward turn in the religious freedom in the South Asian nation. Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar would be escorting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his historic joint address to the US Congress on June 22. The first-time Democratic Congressman, who represents the 13th Congressional District of Michigan, has also been invited by President Joe Biden for the White House State Dinner hosted in honour of Prime Minister Modi on the same day. It is the second time that Prime Minister Modi is addressing the joint session of the US Congress, a first for any Indian prime minister. The prime minister had earlier addressed the US Congress in 2016. Also Read | 'Unprecedented trust' between leaders of US, India: PM Modi "(Spouse) Shashi (Thanedar) and I are looking forward to the Prime Minister's visit to the United States; this is a historic event for the Prime Minister. I hope to stress upon the Prime Minister the need for stronger US-India ties," Thanedar, 68, said. Thanedar, a Democrat, said he and his wife are honoured to accept President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden's invitation to the State Dinner on June 22. This invitation serves as a testament to their commitment to public service and their dedication to fostering international cooperation, he said. The Congressman said he has been entrusted with the distinct pleasure of escorting the Indian Prime Minister to his joint address to Congress, as requested by United States Congressional leadership. This role holds special significance for Congressman Thanedar, who recognises the importance of the United States as a diverse nation built by immigrants, a land of opportunity, and a symbol of democracy. Reflecting on his personal journey, he said, "I grew up in poverty and only came to America with a dream, stated Congressman Thanedar. I was fortunate to achieve my American Dream; The United States is a country of immigrants, a land of opportunity, and this diversity makes our country strong." Moving forward, Thanedar reaffirmed his commitment to advocating for stronger ties between the United States and India. He will focus on crucial areas such as education, defence, space, technology, medicine, and other pressing issues that impact both nations. By nurturing the relationship between the world's strongest democracy and the largest democracy, Thanedar aims to address shared challenges and harness mutual opportunities for growth and progress. Cash-strapped Pakistan has constituted a negotiation committee to finalise a deal with the UAE for handing over its Karachi port terminals as it seeks to raise an emergency fund amid uncertainty over the revival of a stalled loan from the IMF, according to a media report on Tuesday. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday chaired the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions. The meeting decided to set up a committee to negotiate a commercial agreement between the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and the UAE government, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. Also Read | Won't make any deal with Pakistan government even if jailed, says ex-PM Imran Khan It quoted the decision of the meeting that the negotiation committee has also been permitted to finalise a draft operation, maintenance, investment, and development agreement under the government-to-government arrangements with a nominated agency of the UAE for handing over the Karachi port terminals. The negotiation committee set up to finalise a framework agreement will be headed by the Minister for Maritime Affairs, Faisal Sabzwari. The committee members include the additional secretaries of Finance and Foreign Affairs, the special assistant to PM Jehanzeb Khan, the Chairman of the Karachi Port Terminal (KPT), and the general managers of the KPT. The UAE government had shown interest in acquiring the Karachi port terminals that were under the administrative control of the Pakistan International Containers Terminals (PICT) last year. This move to constitute the negotiation committee may lead to the first intergovernmental transaction under a law enacted last year to raise emergency funds. Last year, Pakistan's coalition government enacted the Intergovernmental Commercial Transactions Act, aimed at selling state assets on a fast-track basis to raise funds. The country is in dire need of additional money amid uncertainty over the revival of the $6.5 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which was initially signed in 2019 and is set to expire by the end of this month. Sources indicate that the government needs to be extra careful when finalising a deal with the UAE, as it will be the first transaction of its kind, and the outgoing operator is also posing some challenges, the report said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting with the ambassadors of key countries to get support for the revival of the stalled IMF deal. The government is making a last-ditch effort to get the unpaid portion of the $6.5 billion packages, which was signed in 2019 and would terminate on June 30. The Express Tribune newspaper reported that the government on Monday invited the ambassadors of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the European Union, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The prime minister apprised the foreign ambassadors about the efforts that Finance Minister Dar and he personally made during the past many months, a participant of the meeting told on condition of anonymity. The prime minister again stressed that the government was keen to get at least the $1.2 billion IMF loan tranche out of the remaining $2.6 billion, which is attached with the completion of the pending 9th review of the program, said the sources. Some ambassadors sought clarifications from the government but assured that they would communicate Pakistans position to their capitals, according to another participant of the meeting. The ambassadors are also in touch with the IMF staff, reported the paper. The government has not issued any official statement after the meeting. Under attack from various quarters over the fake certificate charges, the Students' Federation of India (SFI), on Tuesday expelled its leader Nikhil Thomas from the primary membership of the outfit. SFI is the students' wing of the ruling CPI (M). The expulsion was formerly announced by SFI state secretary P A Arsho. Thomas had done something which should never be done by an SFI worker, he said in a statement. Also Read | Kerala higher education inching towards collapse, says Governor Arif Mohammed Khan A former leader of the Left student outfit in Kayamkulam-based MSM college, Thomas has been facing charges of submitting a fake certificate to get admission to the institution. The Kerala Students' Union (KSU) has been alleging that Thomas had obtained an M Com seat in the same college after submitting a "fake degree certificate". The KSU, the student organisation of the Congress has been claiming that Thomas failed in the B Com degree course at MSM college but during M Com admission, he provided a certificate from Kalinga University in Chhattisgarh. Meanwhile, the Opposition Congress and the BJP today continued their attack against the ruling CPI (M) and SFI over the fake marklist and certificate controversy and accused them of completely destroying the higher education sector of the southern state. The Left government is humiliating the state in front of the world and the present situation in Kerala is that anyone can study any course in any college if he or she has forged documents, the BJP alleged. Stepping up the attack against the CPI (M) over the raging row, BJP state chief K Surendran said the college and university authorities could not take action in any such cases of complaint due to the undue interference by the ruling party. Even the college managements said that they were forced to give admission to the SFI leaders due to the recommendations by the Marxist Party leadership, he further said. Surendran was referring to the controversial revelation by the manager of MSM college that Nikhil Thomas was given admission under the recommendation of a CPI(M) leader. Putting the ruling party in a dock, P A Hilal Babu, the college manager, told reporters today that he could not reveal the name of the leader as it would spoil his political career. Pointing out the issues, the BJP chief further said his party would conduct statewide protests against such practises. "The BJP will give a lead to the struggles to protect the higher education sector beyond politics. We will approach the Union Education Ministry with available evidence in this regard," he said. The party would continue it's fight through the legal channels as well, Surendran added. Meanwhile, the Congress leadership also made scathing attacks against the Marxist party and the state government over the fake certificate and marklist row. Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, V D Satheesan said more exam related malpractices happening in colleges and universities in the state would come out in the coming days. The ruling CPI(M) is encouraging the SFI leaders who have maligned and destroyed the credibility of the higher education sector, he alleged. However, police had registered cases against journalists and innocent KSU activists in a case lodged by such fraudsters, the LoP said referring to the recent Maharaja's College marklist controversy involved by SFI state secretary P M Arsho. "The police are with the criminals. Innocent people are being hunted down by them. This is a disgrace to the state itself," he added. After the fake experience and marklist allegations cropped up against some present and former leaders of the SFI, Nikhil Thomas faced charges of submitting a fake certificate to get admission. Kerala University Vice Chancellor Mohanan Kunnummal on Monday said the allegation that the SFI leader has submitted a fake certificate to secure his admission for an M Com course is a serious one and the varsity will approach the police to investigate the incident. MSM College manager Hilal Babu today said Thomas has been suspended from the institution. Meanwhile, a police team, which is investigating the case, visited the college and recorded the statement of the principal in this regard. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Tuesday on the first leg of his maiden state visit to the US during which he will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters and hold bilateral talks with President Joe Biden in Washington. VIDEO | PM Modi begins his historic State visit to the USA, greets people with 'namaste' at New York's JFK Airport. #PMModiUSVisit pic.twitter.com/Jjsq85Y8SC Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 20, 2023 Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, who will host him at a state dinner on June 22. The visit includes an address by the prime minister to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. In his departure statement, Modi said this "special invitation" from President Biden and the First Lady for a state visit is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between the democracies. "I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community," the prime minister said. Also Read | Meeting with Elon Musk among PM Modi's first engagements in United States "I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported India's proposal in December 2014 to recognise an International Day of Yoga," he said. Nine years after Prime Minister Modi first proposed from the United Nations General Assembly podium to mark International Yoga Day as an annual commemoration, the Indian leader will for the first time be at the UN Headquarters to lead the yoga session in a historic commemoration of the day. From New York, Modi will travel to Washington D.C. where he will hold talks with President Biden. The prime minister noted that President Biden and he have had the opportunity to meet several times since his last official visit to the US in September 2021. "This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership," Modi said. Modi said his discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders will provide an opportunity to consolidate bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity). The prime minister said he will also join President Biden and the First Lady for the state banquet along with a number of dignitaries. Noting that the US Congress has always provided strong bi-partisan support to India-US ties, Modi said that during his visit, he will address a joint session of the US Congress at the invitation of the Congressional leadership. "Strong people-to-people linkages have been instrumental in developing the trust between our countries. I look forward to meeting the vibrant Indian-American community that represents the best of our societies," he said. "I will also meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating our trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains," Modi said. Modi will also meet business leaders, interact with the Indian community and meet thought leaders from different walks of life. "We seek to deepen India-USA ties in key sectors like trade, commerce, innovation, technology and other such areas," he said. The US is India's largest trade partner in goods and services, and the two countries collaborate closely in the fields of science and technology, education, health, defence and security, the prime minister said. The initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration in defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, artificial intelligence and biotech sectors, he added. "Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific," he said. Modi expressed confidence that his visit to the US will reinforce ties between the two countries based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. "Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges," Modi said in his statement. From the US, Modi will travel to Egypt at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said ties between India and the US are stronger and deeper than ever, and asserted that there is an "unprecedented trust" between the leaders of the two countries. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal ahead of his first state visit to the US, Modi, while talking about global politics, also said, "India deserves a much higher, deeper and wider profile and role." Talking about the India-China relationship, Modi said peace and tranquillity in the border areas are essential for normal bilateral ties. Also Read | Congress slams PM Modi for not meeting people in strife-torn Manipur before US visit "We have a core belief in respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, observing the rule of law and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. At the same time, India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity," Modi told the US newspaper. He said ties between New Delhi and Washington are stronger and deeper than ever. There is an "unprecedented trust" between the leaders of the US and India, Modi said. On the Ukraine conflict, Modi said, "Some people say that we are neutral. But we are not neutral. We are on the side of peace." "All countries should respect international law and the sovereignty of countries," he said. Disputes should be resolved with diplomacy and dialogue, not war, he added. Modi said he has spoken several times to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Also Read | Defence, critical tech on agenda as PM Narendra Modi heads to US for landmark visit He said he recently spoke to Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan in May. "India will do whatever it can" and supports "all genuine efforts to bring an end to the conflict and ensure enduring peace and stability", he said. In his interview, Modi said global institutions such as the UN must change. He said, "Look at the membership of key institutions -- does it truly represent the voice of democratic values?" "A place like Africa -- does it have a voice? India has such a huge population and is a bright spot in the global economy, but is it present?" On India's desire to be part of the UN Security Council, the prime minister pointed to the country's role as a contributor of troops to peacekeeping operations around the world. There has to be an evaluation of the current membership of the council and the world should be asked if it wants India to be there, he said. The US Daily said the Indian government has invested enormously in education and infrastructure, and it is poised to gain as multinationals look to diversify manufacturing and supply chains in an era of geopolitical tension. "Let me be clear that we do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world," Modi told the newspaper. "The world today is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. To create resilience, there should be more diversification in supply chains," he said. In his interview, Modi also pointed out that he is the first prime minister to be born in free India. "And that's why my thought process, my conduct, what I say and do, is inspired and influenced by my country's attributes and traditions. I derive my strength from it," he said. "I present my country to the world as my country is, and myself as I am," he said. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his visit to the US when Manipur is burning. "Violence in Manipur is not stopping. PM is going to America," AAP tweeted with a sixteen-second video of the Manipur violence. AAP has raised questions about the PM's foreign tour, indicating that he should not have gone abroad when Manipur has been hit by violence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on his two-nation tour of the US and Egypt on Tuesday, calling his invitation to the US by President Joe Biden "a reflection of the vigor and vitality of the partnership between our democracies." "I am travelling to the United States of America on a state visit at the invitation of President Joseph Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. This special invitation is a reflection of the vigor and vitality of the partnership between our democracies," he said in a statement while departing for the two-nation tour. "I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community. I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported India's proposal in December 2014 to recognize an International Day of Yoga," he said while giving details of his state visit to the US. The BJP on Tuesday launched a fresh attack on the Congress over its remarks on Gita Press being awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize and said it is proof of the party's contempt for India, Hindu religion and the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi. Jairam Ramesh, the Congress general secretary in charge of communications, on Sunday alleged that the decision to honour Gita Press with the Gandhi Peace Prize is a 'travesty' and 'it's like awarding Savarkar and Godse'. Sudhanshu Trivedi, the BJP's national spokesperson, said in response, "The kind of undesirable and objectionable comment that the Congress party has made over the awarding of the Gandhi Peace Prize to Gita Press, we condemn it." Also Read | Gita Press declines Rs 1 crore cash reward for Gandhi Peace Prize Trivedi was addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters. The Congress' remarks are not just against Gita Press but the Bhagavad Gita itself, he claimed. "Congress leaders do not miss any chance to express their contempt for anything associated with this country's traditions, culture, Indianness and Hindu religion. This is their mindset," Trivedi alleged. The BJP spokesperson said Mahatma Gandhi had written to Gita Press, commending its work and had suggested it not to take any advertisements. "And accepting as principle Gandhi ji's suggestion, Gita Press has neither taken any advertisements so far nor has it expressed its own opinion on any issue (It) just published literature," Trivedi said. Trivedi claimed Gandhi had also told Gita Press not to take any donations from outside. Following Gandhi's principles, Gita Press has said that it is proud of being honoured with the Gandhi Peace Prize but it will not accept the prize amount of Rs 1 crore, he said. "The kind of character that the Congress has shown in the Gita Press matter, it is clear proof of its contempt for India, Indianness, Indian culture, Hindu religion and the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi," the BJP spokesperson said. A war of words has broken out between the opposition Congress and ruling BJP after a picture surfaced of some government officials attending a function of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Madhya Pradesh's Satna district. While a Congress parliamentarian demanded that such officials be kept away from preparations of the MP Assembly polls due this year-end, a state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said this only shows the Congress's "hatred" for the RSS. The picture shows Satna District Collector Anurag Verma and Satna Municipal Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Shahi participating in a prayer during a programme of the RSS organised on June 11. State Congress media department chairman KK Mishra, who tweeted the picture, told PTI on Tuesday that the Satna district collector and the city civic body commissioner took part in the programme of the RSS and saluted its flag. It can't be expected that such officials will perform their duty without any bias in the Assembly polls, which are due later this year. Their behaviour is against the conduct meant for civil servants," Mishra claimed. "We are going to make a complaint to the Centre's Department of Personnel and Training, he added. Congress Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha demanded that the Election Commission of India keep such leaders away from preparations of the Assembly polls. However, BJP state secretary Rajneesh Agrawal told PTI that there was no violation of the code of conduct by the officials. Taking part in an RSS event is not illegal or unconstitutional and doesn't violate the code of conduct. The RSS, which works under constitutional arrangements, is a democratic, social and cultural organisation. It is the fault of the Congress if it sees any organisation with hatred, and not the officials, Agrawal said. There is no basis of action (as sought by the Congress) against these officials under law, he said. This is purely a Congress agenda of hatred. Several professionals, bureaucrats and people associated with the judiciary work with the RSS, Agrawal said. The picture was of a function of the Sangh Shiksha Varg organised on June 11. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) vice president Achchhelal Kushwaha was the chief guest at the programme. Satna Collector Verma earlier said he was present at the programme as per the protocol because several dignitaries, including ministers, were present at the event. Eleven labourers engaged in well digging work and kept chained by contractors to prevent them from escaping have been rescued by police in Maharashtra's Osmanabad district, an official said on Tuesday. After being freed on Saturday, the labourers narrated their ordeal saying they were made to work 12 hours daily, not paid any money for the work, provided food just once a day and forced to answer nature's call in the well itself where they worked, he said. The police have so far arrested four persons, including two contractors, in this connection, the official said. The labourers were deployed by contractors two-three months back for well digging work in Khamaswadi and Wakharwadi villages under Dhoki police station limits in Osmanabad where they were wrongfully confined and tortured, assistant police inspector Jagdish Raut told PTI. Also Read | Engineering college teachers accused of torturing suicide victim in Kerala One of the labourers had managed to escape and reached his native place in Hingoli district where he informed local police about the torture, he said. The Hingoli police contacted their counterparts at Dhoki in Osmanabad on Saturday and teams were formed to conduct checks at the specified site. "When a police team reached Wakharwadi village, it found five labourers working in a well. When they were questioned, they informed that they were made to work for 12 hours every day and tied with chains during night so that they don't escape," Raut said. The five labourers were subsequently rescued, he said. They informed that six more labourers were working in the nearby Khamaswadi village and they were also in a similar situation, he said. The six labourers in Khamaswadi were also later rescued, he said. "When we questioned the labourers, they said they were given food just once a day and forced to answer nature's call in the well itself. Later, the human waste was sent up on the surface in a basket. The labourers were sent into the well at around 7 am every day and taken out after 12 hours of work," Raut said. All the 11 rescued labourers were provided medical treatment and a procedure was underway to send them home, he said. "We are now looking at the human trafficking angle into this and two police teams are working on it. We have come to know about a few more agents who have been selling such labourers to contractors," the official said. "The contractors did not pay a single rupee to the labourers and harassed them mentally. After making a labourer work under such conditions for four-five months, he used to be released. The labourer would then run away without asking for the money to escape the torture," the official said. The police on Sunday arrested four persons, including contractors Santosh Jadhav and Krushna Shinde, he said. A case has been registered against the accused under Indian Penal Code Sections 370 (trafficking of persons), 367 (kidnapping or abducting in order to subject person to grievous hurt, slavery, etc), 346 (wrongful confinement in secret) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), he added. Hailing India as the "mother of democracy" and ancient land of spirituality, Union minister G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday urged the global community to work together to build a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient tourism sector. In his address at the inaugural session of the fourth G20 Tourism Working Group (TWG) Meeting here, he said after the Covid-19 pandemic, foreign tourist arrivals in India have increased. "India's inbound travel is expected to reach to pre-pandemic level in 2023," he asserted. Also Read | G20 tourism meet: Delegates visit Portuguese-era Fort Aguada, experience Goan heritage Reddy hailed India as the "mother of democracy" and a land blessed with ancient cultural heritage and spirituality, with more than 50 Shakti Peethas that worship feminine divinity. India is currently chairing the G20, and "mother of democracy" and "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam", are also one of the key taglines used by the central government in its posters and other visuals means of communication on it. "For ages, people have been travelling to India on a journey of spirituality and self-discovery. The spiritual experience of India is being conveyed to the world through a large number of spiritual organisations like ISKCON, Art of Living Foundation, Isha Foundation and Brahma Kumaris," he said. Reddy also underlined that India is the birthplace of Sikhism that espouses brotherhood and equality, as also its spiritual centres like the Golden Temple in Amritsar. India is also the birthplace of Jainism and Buddhism and its centres tell people globally the principles they espoused, he added. At the end of the fourth Tourism Working Group Meeting and the G20 Tourism Ministerial Meeting, a Goa Roadmap and Action Plan and a ministerial communique endorsing the roadmap will be issued. The minister said from the last three Tourism Working Group meetings, "insightful discussions, thought-provoking and positive decisions" have emerged, which will be deliberated upon in the fourth and final meeting in Goa. Reddy said the outcomes of the two meetings aim to lend support towards building a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient tourism sector. The Roadmap and the communique are in line with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of 2030. "Friends, let us work together in bridging the gap between public and private leaders and building a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient tourism sector in future," he said. Tourism ministry officials reiterated that these two documents will be key deliverables after the Goa meeting. "At the end of our working group meeting and the ministerial meeting, we are going to declare a Goa Roadmap and Action Plan for tourism as a vehicle for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs)," a senior official said. Under India's G20 Tourism Track, the TWG is working on five inter-connected priority areas green tourism, digitisation, skills, tourism MSMEs and destination. These priorities are key building blocks for accelerating the transition of the tourism sector and achieving the targets for 2030 SDGs. Also, a "ministerial communique" will be released at the end of the tourism working group and other deliberations that will endorse the Goa roadmap. The first Tourism Working Group Meeting of the G20 was held at Runn of Kutch in Gujarat followed by the second one at Siliguri and Darjeeling in West Bengal, and the third one was hosted in Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. In what would be a challenge to the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis-led Shiv Sena-BJP dispensation, Uddhav Thackerays Shiv Sena (UBT) would stage a massive show of strength outside the headquarters of Mumbais civic body on July 1. This would be a test for him in the run-up to the polls to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), one of the biggest and the richest civic body in India. We would hold a viraat morcha outside BMC headquarters on July 1 against the irregularities, Thackeray told reporters on Tuesday. Also Read Maharashtra govt sets up SIT to probe into irregularities in BMC The five-year term of the BMCs 227-member general body, elected in 2017, ended on March 7, 2022. The elections are due for more than a year, however, the Shiv Sena split in June 2022. The BMC is being run by Municipal Commissioner Dr Iqbal Singh Chahal, who was appointed the Administrator. Incidentally, Shinde, the Chief Minister, holds the Urban Development portfolio. Thackerays announcement comes a day after the Shinde-Fadnavis government appointed a Special Investigation Team headed by the Mumbai Police Commissioner to probe the alleged irregularities in various departments of the BMC as pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The Shinde-Fadnavis duo assumed office on June 30, 2022 and months after that on October 31, 2022, the Urban Development Department formally requested the CAG for a special audit of 76 identified works, costing Rs 12,023.88 crore, as executed by nine departments of the BMC. The audit covered the period between November 28, 2019 till June 29, 2022, when Thackeray was the Chief Minister. The special audit report was tabled during the Budget Session of the Maharashtra Legislature. The CAG report had pointed out several irregularities. The Shiv Sena founded by Balasaheb Thackeray has controlled the BMC for a quarter of a century. Thackeray said that BMCs money is being used in the name of events like G20 meetings and road concretisation. He said when Shiv Sena took charge of the BMC in 1997, the civic bodys revenue was in deficit, but in 25 years, its fixed deposits rose to Rs 92,000 crore. Rs 7,000-9,000 crore have been spent from these FDs, he alleged. "Someone has to question BMC because this is peoples money. We will take out a morcha against irregularities in the BMC," he said, adding that Sena leaders including his son Aaditya will lead the morcha. It is not yet known whether the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies - the NCP and Congress - will join the morcha. The politics over supply of rice to Karnataka heated up on Tuesday with the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP staging demonstrations in various parts of the state. The Congress staged protests in all district headquarters of the state against the BJP led Centre for allegedly denying rice for the Karnataka government's Anna Bhagya scheme. On the other hand, several BJP leaders including former CM Basavaraj Bommai were detained while holding protests in some parts of the state against the Congress government's alleged failure to provide 10 kg rice to each member of the BPL family. In the state capital, the Congress leaders staged demonstration amid heavy downpour. #WATCH | Karnataka police detain BJP workers protesting against the state government in Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/CiZ43IoEfM ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 Addressing a gathering, Deputy Chief Minister and Congress state president D K Shivakumar said though the BJP-led NDA government was trying to 'disrupt' the Anna Bhagya scheme, the state government will fulfill its election promise. He accused the Centre of being 'anti-poor' and said it was creating obstacles in the implementation of the scheme to provide rice to the weaker section. The Congress has promised to increase the rice quantity to the families of the economically weaker section from five to 10 kg per person per household. Also Read | Karnataka govt still exploring options to get rice for Anna Bhagya However, the state was able to provide only five kg rice to each member of the BPL families so far, which is being supplied by the Centre. The Centre said it cannot provide the additional five kg though Karnataka said it was ready to buy it from the central institutions such as Food Corporation of India, Central Warehousing Corporation and NAFED. Recently, the union government discontinued the sale of rice and wheat from the central pool under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to state governments. Also Read | Why is Kempanna silent after Congress came to power?: Bommai According to an order issued by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the sale of wheat and rice under the OMSS (domestic) for state governments is discontinued. However, the sale of rice under the OMSS will be continued for northeastern states, hilly states and states facing law and order situations, natural calamities at an existing rate of Rs 3,400 per quintal, it said. The move comes amid the slow progress of the monsoon and rising prices of rice and wheat. Rice prices have increased by up to 10 per cent in the last one year at the mandi level and by 8 per cent in the last one month, as per official data. According to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the state required 2.28 lakh metric tonnes of rice. The FCI had agreed on June 12 to provide the required quantity of rice but two days later, it backtracked, he alleged. Addressing reporters after the protests, Siddaramaiah said the Centre declining to supply additional rice to Karnataka raises doubts whether they have concern for the economically weaker section. We will pay for the rice. We will bear the expenses for supplying extra five kg per person from BPL, Siddaramaiah said. Regarding the Aam Aadmi Partys proposal to help the government procure rice from Punjab, the CM said Punjab was far away and the transportation cost will be high. The AAP's state unit had on Monday written to Siddaramaiah, saying the Punjab government, led by Bhagwant Mann was willing to help Karnataka by providing rice required to implement the free rice scheme. Merck & Co., Inc. is a US-based multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company. It was officially founded in 1891 as the US arm of Merck Group, headquartered in Germany. Merck Group was founded in 1668 when Friedrick Jacob Merck purchased a pharmacy in Darmstadt, Germany. The company transformed from a pharmacy into a drug manufacturer in 1827 with the commercialization of morphine and the perfection of the manufacturing process. The company will later gain recognition for isolating and commercializing the manufacture of cocaine as well. Merck Group sent Theodore Weicker to New York as its representative in 1889 and he quickly began to set up operations. The original investment of $200,000 resulted in a facility in lower Manhattan and the addition of Merck family member George Merck to the project. They began operations in 1891 and were in business as the US branch of Merck Group until 1917 and the onset of World War I. World War I brought about the Trading With The Enemy Act of 1917 and the nationalization of Merck Groups US operations. Those operations were repurchased at a government auction only 2 years later with the help of Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, but the split was done. The company retained rights to the Merck name in the US but remained independent. One of many noteworthy achievements in the post-War period is the discovery of streptomycin, which was revolutionary in treating tuberculosis. In 1953 the company merged with Sharp& Dohme to form the then 2nd largest US drug manufacturer. The merger brought smallpox vaccines to the portfolio and opened a new avenue of research for the business. Since then, advancements in vaccine technology include treatments for mumps and chickenpox. Other notable advancements include the discovery of statins as a cholesterol inhibitor and work in veterinary medicine. Today, Merck & Co operates through 2 segments and under 2 different names with a headquarters in Kenilworth, NJ. The company operates as Merck & Co in the US and as Merck Sharp & Dohme outside the US and Canada. The 2 segments are Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. Revenue topped $49 billion in 2022 and employed more than 68,000 people. The company has 8 research facilities near major university systems, including 7 in the US and 1 in the UK. As of 2022, the company had 82 pipeline products in Phase 2 trials, 30 in Phase 3 trials and 3 under review. The Pharmaceutical segment researches discover and commercializes human health products in several areas of medicine. These include but are not limited to oncology, acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes. This segment has 6 blockbuster drugs as of late 2022, with each generating more than $1 billion in revenue. The leading treatments are Keytruda for treating cancer-related immune conditions, Gardisil which is a vaccine for HPV and Januvia for treating Type-II diabetes. The Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets veterinary healthcare products and services. Both segments sell to healthcare facilities and distributors. Chevron Corporation, through a network of subsidiaries, engages in integrated energy and chemicals operations worldwide. The company is the 7th largest integrated oil company worldwide, the 2nd largest in the US, and has been in operation since 1879. Chevron was part of the original Standard Oil Company and is one of the 34 successor companies that were formed when it was broken up. Today, the company brings in roughly $160 billion in annual revenues and is the last remaining oil and gas component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Originally called Standard Oil Of California the company grew quickly via mergers and acquisitions. It was hailed as one of the Seven Sisters to dominate the US and global production throughout the mid-20th century and became even bigger in 1985 when it merged with Gulf Oil. The merger with Gulf Oil resulted in the rebranding from Standard Oil Of California to Chevron (a brand used by the company outside its California jurisdiction) and then ChevronTexaco Corporation in 2005 when that merger took place. The company rebranded again in 2005 to what we know today as Chevron Corporation. Chevron Corporation is now based in San Ramone, California, and has operations in 180 countries. The company employs more than 42,500 people who operate 5 refineries and 8,000+ Texaco, Chevron, and Standard Oil service stations in the US alone. The company's Exploration and Drilling operations produced a record 3.1 million barrels per day and its US refineries process more than 1 million barrels per day. At the end of 2021, the company has more than 11.3 billion barrels of proven oil and liquid-equivalent reserves and boasted a 112% reserve replacement rate. The company operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment explores new reserves, develops known reserves, produces petroleum and gas products as needed, transports, processes, pipes, stores, and markets petroleum worldwide. The Downstream segment refines and markets the full line of petroleum-based products including but not limited to fuels such as gas, diesel, and aviation fuel, as well as lubricants, petrochemicals, and plastics. The company transports products via pipeline, rail, marine vessels, and truck. Chevron recognizes the need to lower the worlds carbon output and is working toward that end. The companys strategy is two-pronged and includes reducing its own carbon output while investing in green and lower-carbon technologies. The companys goal is to invest $10 billion or more into lower carbon energy sources and technologies by 2028. Chevron is a Dividend Aristocrat. The company has been paying a dividend since 1989 and it has raised it every year since its inception. Altria Group, Inc. is a US-based tobacco company and one of the Big-3 tobacco companies internationally. The company was formerly known as Phillip Morris International but emerged with its new name in 2003. The rebranding was intended to help the company improve its image while it shifted away from the smokeable tobacco segments of the business. It is a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500. The company was a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average for many years but fell from that position due to declining tobacco sales and the divestiture of businesses. The company operates through a network of subsidiaries that include Phillip Morris USA. Phillip Morris USA is the core segment of business and includes the Marlboro line of cigarette brands. German immigrant Phillip Morris originally founded Phillip Morris in London in 1822. In 1844 the company began making its first line of machine-rolled cigarettes called English Ovals. The English Ovals remained in production in limited quantities until 2017. By 1902 the company had moved to New York City, where it was incorporated. Operations continued uninterrupted until 1919, when it changed ownership, and then, in 1929, manufacturing operations were moved to Richmond, Virginia and closer to the tobacco fields. Philip Morris made headlines again in 1933 when it integrated its manufacturing operations. This was done more than 30 years ahead of federal regulations and a ground-breaking move for the industry and America. After another multi-decade run of uninterrupted operations, the company began a series of acquisitions that included Miller Brewing, Kraft Foods and General Mills. Those acquisitions led to eventual mergers and spin-offs that resulted in SABMiller and Kraft General Mills. Altria Group operates through a network of subsidiaries manufacturing and selling smokeable, smokeless and oral tobacco products. Subsidiaries include but not are limited to Philip Morris USA, John Middleton Inc. and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company. Brands include Marlboro, Marlboro Lights, Black & Mild, Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Sky and Husky. The company's principal customers are wholesalers and large retailers. The company maintains a number of strategic partnerships as part of its efforts to shift away from smokeable tobacco. These include a 35% stake in JUUL smokeless tobacco products, a 45% stake in Canadian integrated cannabis company Cronos Group and a near-10% stake in ABInbev. These partnerships are intended to capitalize on smokeless tobacco and the legalization of cannabis at the US federal level. Altria brought in more than $21 billion in 2021. The company employs more than 6,000 people and has paid more than $6.5 billion in cumulative dividends. The companys operations help support more than 1,200 US farmers and are sold in over 300,000 US retail establishments. Altria continues to be a leader in workforce quality and has received numerous awards, including a spot on the National Business Consortiums Best of the Best List for 2022. Derry Anti War Coalition (DAWC) will mark UN World Refugee Day with a vigil for the victims of the shipwreck off the coast of Greece where it is feared hundreds of people may have drowned. The event will take place at the Famine Statues on the Quay by Sainsbury's car park on Tuesday, June 20, at Tuesday 5.30pm. It will then move to the Peace Bridge, where activists will drop flowers into the water to remember all those refugees who have lost their lives at sea. DAWC spokesperson, Davy McAuley laid the blame for the tragedy on the policies of the European Union. He said: The world should be furious about the tragedy that took the lives of potentially hundreds off the coast of Greece on June 14. This is one of Europes deadliest disasters in recent years and is a stain on the migration policy EU Member States and international partners have led in the past decade. At a time when barriers should be torn down the barbed wire to keep refugees out gets higher. Desperate people are being forced to take desperate measures to escape war. It is an absolute shame on the UK, US and EU that in 2023 there are still 'coffin ships' sailing into disaster. We need to establish safe passage for refugees. These poor people cannot be left to the mercy of people traffickers and unsafe boats. Derry City and Strabane councillors will experience what it's like to be visually impaired in the city this World Sight Day. The Royal National Institute of Blind People and North West Regional College will host two events for World Sight Day on October 12. In the first event, Seeing Derry Differently, Derry's representatives and media will be blindfolded and led around the city. Rory McCartney, visual awareness trainer, and events coordinator for RNIB said he hopes the event will be informative and fun. The event during the day is going to be great because it'll give the councillors and invited guests an eye opener for what it's like to navigate the city blind or visually impaired, he said. We're going to take all the counsellors and invited media on a guided tour right in the city centre wearing blindfolds to give them an idea of what it's like to be blind and visually impaired in the city. Mr McCartney has previously overseen events for World Sight Day but it is a first for the second event, Dining in the Dark. I was trying to think of something outside the box to mark world health day and I actually saw this on YouTube. They're going to have a full four course meal in the Flying Clipper wearing blindfolds. It will be a dark-night restaurant. At the end of the day from my perspective all I want to do is get the message out there about what it's like to be blind and visually impaired for world sight day, he added. Mr McCarntney says this year's programming is a step up. Last year we did a smaller version of Seeing Derry Differently but this year we're trying to keep up the momentum, he said. I brought a motion to Derry City and Strabane Council in March and the mayor who actually I never knew has a visual impairment brought it to the council making us the first Visually Aware City in Ireland and the UK so going on from that we're trying everything possible this year that we can squeeze in." Derry's Ulster University Magee campus is expected to receive close to 40 million pounds in Irish government funding to help boost student numbers. The project is one of a number of cross-border projects set to have funding approved by the Irish Government today. As part of the Shared Island initiative, 45m will be allocated to build a new teaching and student services building. The building is part of Ulster Universitys plan to increase student numbers in Derry to more than 6,500. It will underpin teaching and research between Ulster University and Atlantic Technological University Donegal, which has campuses in Letterkenny and Killybegs, and promote cross-border education in the region. The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tanaiste Micheal Martin, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris, and Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderick OGorman and Professor Paul Bartholomew, Ulster University Vice Chancellor on Shared Island Funding, made the announcement in Dublin on Tuesday. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: This investment in Ulster University marks a step-change in higher education in the North West. It will help to transform education in the region, and in the medium term will foster new jobs and economic growth. "The new teaching and student services building will help to grow student numbers and enhance higher education. It also fulfils our commitment under the New Decade, New Approach agreement to invest in the Derry campus. "I am also excited about the new Youth Forum which starts in September as part of the Shared Island initiative. This aims to harness the experience for young people of growing up in an era of peace, with the goal of helping them relate to and understand each other unburdened by divisions of the past. We hope their vision and values for how we share this island across all communities will inspire us all. The Government is keen to work with a new Executive, once formed, and with the UK Government to fund other investments that will benefit the North West and border regions, and the island as a whole. Tanaiste Micheal Martin TD, said: The investment decisions made today under the Shared Island Initiative will further deepen the people to people links across this island, including in such important areas as health and education things which impact so much on the day to day lives of us all. The Shared Island Initiative is forward looking and optimistic for the future of this island. I am ambitious for the island and for the Initiative, and look forward to continued investment in building a connected, prosperous and sustainable island, a great place for all the communities who call it home. Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD, said: The announcement today is not just about capital investment in the University of Ulsters campus, but a signal of our commitment to all-island education. We have made incredible progress with colleagues in Northern Ireland to deliver medical and nursing education on an all-island basis. Today is a major step forward. This is something long sought after but today we are reporting invaluable progress under New Decade, New Approach. Professor Paul Bartholomew said: We are delighted to receive confirmation of this investment by the Irish Government. "The funding announced will make a very significant contribution in preparing the campus for significant growth and is part of a larger investment package that comprises our own investment, City Deal funding, Inclusive Futures funding, and Department for the Economy capital grant monies. "With our partners, we have an ambitious vision to continue to expand student numbers on our Derry campus and to grow our economic and social impact in the whole of the northwest of the island. Foyle MP Colum Eastwood welcomed a 45m investment to grow student numbers at the campus. He said: This is a great day for Magee and the people of Derry. This significant investment from the Irish Government will be transformational, allowing us to grow student numbers in our city by providing additional courses and resources that will make Magee an even more attractive place to study." He added: "I secured the commitment for 10,000 student places at Magee during the New Decade, New Approach negotiations and this investment brings us a significant step closer to reaching that minimum target. Growing Magee into a properly resourced university that serves the whole North West region has been one of the defining goals in my political career. It has the potential to deliver so much for our city, boosting our economy, attracting jobs and investment, allowing us to keep more of our young people and finally delivering on a key objective of the civil rights movement. Though this investment is hugely welcome, it cannot be the end of our plans to grow Magee. This must be the beginning of the work that finally sees the long-held vision to turn it into a major university on this island become a reality and the SDLP will keep working until we achieve that goal." Speaking after the announcement that 44.5m has been allocated to Ulster Universitys Magee campus, Londonderry Chamber President Selina Horshi said: This is a very positive announcement from the Department of the Taoiseach. The Chamber warmly welcomed the creation of the Shared Island Fund and Shared Island Initiative and made the case strongly that these funds should be used to address long-standing regional disparities and inequalities in Derry and the North West. "This is a significant capital investment which will support Ulster University in its ambitions to grow student numbers in our city. "More students means greater investment, jobs, productivity, wealth and ultimately prosperity in our region. By expanding upon and upgrading Magees already excellent estate of labs, libraries, and study spaces, the campus will become an even more attractive option for prospective students who will come and study and live in our city. "We look forward to construction beginning as soon as possible at the campus as we collectively seek to promote Derry and the North West as a place to invest, do business, work, and live. The National Lottery Community Fund has today announced grants of 1,434,835 to 33 organisations in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area. Projects being supported include activity to improve mental health by reducing isolation and helping children and young people get the best start in life. Bogside and Brandywell Health Forum, in partnership with the Old Library Trust in Derry/Londonderry, are using a 499,028 grant to provide support for older people. Mary Breslin, Older Peoples Programme Manager at Bogside and Brandywell Health Forum said: Thanks to this National Lottery grant, we are rolling out programmes to improve the overall health and well-being of older people and integrate them into their area. Classes such as DIY, lantern painting and woodwork are a big hit so far and we already see it having a positive impact on the local community." The announcement comes in the same month as The National Lottery Community Fund unveiled its new strategy It starts with community, which outlines its funding priorities from now to 2030 https://www.tnlcommunityfund. org.uk/about/our-strategy. Foyle Womens Aid in Derry is using a 562,055 grant to support young people who have experienced or witnessed domestic violence. Marie Brown, CEO of Foyle Womens Aid said: Over five years, the project will design and build a specialised Camp Hope facility that will complement our Teenlink service by providing yearly summer camps that have been designed to engage young people in physical activities, mentoring and support programmes, helping them address the difficult emotional and physiological impacts of domestic abuse to promote healing, recovery and hope for the future. Thanks to this innovative National Lottery project, we have been afforded a brilliant opportunity to create this unique Camp Hope facility to bring young people together for six-day residentials within Camp Hope, which will help them connect and learn from each other, and then follow up with long-term support at a time when they need it the most. Foyle Friends of Ukraine are using 9,580 grant to support newly arrived Ukrainians in the North West area. Carrie McCafferty, Project Manager from Foyle Friends of Ukraine said: This National Lottery support has been vital, giving us an opportunity for Ukrainians to come together, get support and share their experiences of life in NI. This grant not only helps us see Ukrainians safe and settled but have the ability to integrate into the local community, adapt better to a new life and culture through peer-to-peer experiences, and to find a sense of self and contribution whilst in NI. Stanislav, aged 10 who received support from the group said: I want to thank you for opening the kids club. I really like it there, it's fun and very interesting. I also made a lot of friends." The Gemma Mc Hale Foundation, based in Castlederg, is using a 9,000 grant to set up a Bereavement Support Group for people to meet, share stories and enjoy activities together. The project includes holistic therapies, cookery classes, creative art workshops, and day trips. Over 300 grants ranging from 600 to over 500,000 are going to every Council area across NI. For more information see table of all grants awarded attached. Paul Sweeney, NI Chair of The National Lottery Community Fund said: We fund projects that matter to communities, and Im delighted to see such a wide range of groups awarded, each making such a difference across Northern Ireland. We want to get behind communities and help them make the difference on the ground. Our existing grant programmes remain open, so if we can be of assistance, please contact us. These funded projects demonstrate how positive change starts with community, which is at the heart of our new strategy. We look forward to talking to those who receive or need funding as we develop our future programmes. Thanks to National Lottery players, during the last financial year, The National Lottery Community Fund awarded 663 new grants totalling 27.9 million to support local communities in NI. For more information on National Lottery funding visit www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/ funding/northern-ireland. Members of the House of Lords have been urged to reject the Governments Bill aimed at addressing Northern Irelands troubled past. The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill proposes an effective offer of immunity from prosecution for perpetrators of crimes during the Troubles who co-operate with a truth-recovery body. It would also halt future civil cases and inquests linked to killings during the conflict. While the Government introduced a number of amendments to the Bill earlier this month, the Stormont parties, Irish government and victims group remain opposed to it. The Bill has also prompted concerns from the US Congress, the UN high commissioner on human rights, UN special rapporteurs, the Council of Europe commissioner on human rights and the committee of ministers. As the Bill and recent amendments enter report stage in the House of Lords on Wednesday, Amnesty International has urged peers to reject it. Grainne Teggart, Amnesty International UKs Northern Ireland deputy director, said the UK government should abandon the deeply damaging Bill. For a bill so widely condemned both at home and on the international stage, it is staggering that the Government are intent on inflicting it on victims and perpetuating their trauma, she said. To add insult to injury, the UK Governments trailed game-changing amendments have only served to worsen the situation for victims. No number of amendments will save this Bill. Peers must continue to reject the Governments path to impunity and injustice. Victims deserve better, their rights must be protected. Michael OHare, whose 12-year-old sister Majella OHare was shot dead by a British soldier in Co Armagh 45 years ago, said the Bill fails victims. When a crime is committed, usually the victim is prioritised, but it is clear the UK Government arent prioritising us, he said. Their amendments change nothing: they are still protecting perpetrators who carried out serious acts of wrongdoing. We appreciate the strong opposition to date from peers to this bill and it is vital that continues. At every stage, Government should be hearing that this disgraceful bill fails victims. Legacy processes should be victim-centred, instead were being shamefully let down. The Council of Europes Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic said the UK Government had ignored warnings that the legislation would violate international obligations. She said: I have repeatedly warned that the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill would undermine the human rights of victims, as well as truth seeking, reconciliation and justice efforts. Despite this, the UK Government has decided to go ahead with the Bill in a way that does not recognise Northern Irelands violent past or honour the suffering of victims. While the Government has recently published amendments, these leave the fundamental problems with the Bill intact, such as the conditional immunity scheme that would result in impunity for serious human rights violations, the unilateral shutting down of avenues to justice for victims, and questions about the ability of the Independent Commission for Information Recovery to deliver outcomes that would meet human rights standards. In a recent letter to US congress members, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris defended the Bill, stating that current mechanisms for dealing with legacy cases in Northern Ireland are providing outcomes to a very small number of those affected. He said: The UK Governments Bill will establish an Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (Icrir) to conduct reviews into Troubles-related deaths and serious injuries, with the primary objective of providing information to families, victims and survivors who request it. The Northern Ireland Secretary added: In support of its investigative processes, and to help facilitate the provision of information, the independent Commission will be able to offer immunity from prosecution to individuals who cooperate with the Icrirs inquiries. To be absolutely clear, this is not a blanket amnesty for Troubles-related offences. Sourceability uses big data to help customers navigate channels for electronic components and business opportunities Cloud service platforms form part of the key strategy for emerging semiconductor distributors to succeed with new business models. Sourceability, relying on its Sourcengine platform and Quotengine software system, assists customers in completing the procurement process for electronic components and helps them get a handle on dynamic information on such things as price, inventory, and product specifications for key components. It also helps customers get the most favorable procurement cost in the midst of here-today-gone-tomorrow business opportunities and thus expand their chances of success in the market. Sourceability's effectiveness has allowed it to build up high-paced revenue growth over the past few years and gradually gain a firm foothold in the market. Through its expansion in the Asia-Pacific market, it is expected to assist local customers and supply chains achieve digital transformation and innovation in electronic component procurement. Founded in the United States in 2015, Sourceability is an emerging distributing company that built an e-commerce marketplace platform focusing on electronic parts and components. Mr. Yashar Shahabi, Sourceability's Senior VP of Digital Solutions, said in an exclusive interview that Sourceability built its marketplace Sourcengine, through a digital platform system. It greatly enables industry by establishing a business model that can span global semiconductor channels and markets through navigation of data-driven technology. Thanks to big data analysis technologies, it helps customers start an automated system, from the collection of a large amount of transaction and market data. With the key technologies needed to process huge amounts of data, it has built a global e-commerce platform for semiconductor channels and supply chains to allow customers to get a handle of the rhythm of rapid market shifts. Shahabi cited two very successful examples in dealing with change by using the Sourceability e-commerce platform as proof of its effectiveness. The first, it is crucial support at critical times when the shortage of passive components puts the business world in dire straits, and that it solves subsequent operational risks in long and short materials caused by supply-and-demand imbalances. The other is the large shortage of automotive chips that is still fresh in everyone's mind, a shortage that led to the breaking of the automotive supply chain. At both junctures, Sourceability clients saw the benefits of sharing transparent information across digital platform tools, and that, in turn, allowed them to become digital transformation success stories. Innovation solves customers' issues of data optimization in electronics procurement With Sourceability's software tool Quotengine, the client can submit the BOM of electronic products, and then, after using the Excel file to import hundreds of materials in batches, the cloud platform can immediately analyze the manufacturer material numbers, quantity, demand, and other data. The big data analysis function of Sourceability allow customers to search through more than 1 billion chips and electronic components of various types and functions, get quotes, quantities, and delivery dates by category, and get analysis reports within minutes, assisting the supply chain to complete batch order procurement and a full range of other services. Mr. Kevin Wang, Sourceability's Managing Director for APAC, pointed out that major European and American electronics manufacturers have run into the various risks, such as rush order effect, supply chain disruption, and interruption of international logistics and transportation caused by the pandemic. In particular, he noted irrational behaviors, such as repeated orders from a large number of electronic component buyers. But by using the analytic tools provided by Sourceability, material procurement and drafting of a rapid response plan are completed quickly and with extremely pared-down manpower, usually in observation intervals of minutes or hours. This allows the customer to stay up to date on market changes, greatly improving their procurement decisions for key components. Furthermore, using Sourceability's Sourcengine platform to launch countermeasures that can assist in the hunt for replacement parts and products will also generate quick benefits. The automobile industry is already well aware of the major crises and risks in the industry overall caused by supply-and-demand imbalances for semiconductor products. Using the data insights of component specifications and functions on the Sourcengine platform, assists the upstream product design end to start sharing data, creating a supply-chain ecology where supply and demand are regulated. In fact, some mainstream European and American chip manufacturers, considering the trend of the gradual decline in the value of agents, have also tried to expand their sales channels of chips by breaking through regional agency rights. Therefore, the Marketplace also has the opportunity to shine like other consumer products on the e-commerce platform. Once the trend of information transparency and real-time transactions matures, online business opportunities will have more chances for success. Whether certain channels can make money depends entirely on the value of their providing differentiated services. The value of data is the most important driving force for Sourceability's insistence on its business model of the digitally transformed online marketplace and for its continued expansion in the Asian market. Sourceability will continue to develop its technology platform backed by big data analysis to provide customers in Taiwan and Asia with multi-channel price and market integrated information services. Along with considerate services, such as logistics, warehousing, and financing, Sourceability strives to bring the good experience in digital channels that European and American customers have had to the Asia-Pacific market. At present, Sourceability has three distribution warehouses: in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Miami, USA. It has established offices and branches in many cities and regions in Taiwan and China. In 2023, it will continue setting up branches in such markets as South Korea, Japan, Vietnam to continue to expand its business in Asia. See the official website to learn more about the services provided by Sourceability. Sourceability's supply chain digitalized tools: Sourcengine - online marketplace, Quotengine - quoting & BOM management tool and Datalynq - market intelligence solution MediaTek, TSMC try to lure female students into semiconductor industry Talent shortages have become a universal issue in the semiconductor industry worldwide. In Taiwan's ecosystem, the gender ratio imbalance is severe. Leading semiconductor companies and academia are trying to encourage more women, especially students, to join the industry. MediaTek Foundation has started the Girls! TECH Action project and recently invited 40 Taiwanese female college students to its headquarters in Hsinchu. The students had lunch with MediaTek's chairman Ming-Kai Tsai and talked to Tsai about career path choices, according to the organization. Sherry Lin, MediaTek's senior vice president and chief human resources officer, said close to 40% of the students majored in literature, law or business management. Many have taught themselves programming or taken classes about it. She said the female students were ambitious in exploring jobs in the technology field and were not limited by their majors. Tsai has said publicly multiple times that the IC design segment requires much human intelligence, offering a better working environment and pay than labor-intensive jobs. He also said young female talents are welcome to join the industry. On the other hand, TSMC is said to target several top all-girl senior high schools in Taiwan to lure more female students into the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Scholars have said women boast several qualities essential to technology development. The qualities include attention to detail, greater empathy, and better handling complicated tasks. The bottlenecks and restrictions that Taiwan's technology industry faces will likely be mitigated after more female talents join the industry. More women working in the semiconductor industry will increase the talent pool and help the gender ratio balance. In addition, gender equality is a critical item in evaluating an enterprise's ESG efforts. The constitution is not a block on the Oireachtas legislating over assisted dying, a Dail committee has been told. Members of the Joint Committee on Assisted Dying were told by two academics that whichever way the legislature chose to proceed on the issue, it has the right to do so. However, a third academic disagreed and said he did not believe the Oireachtas has the legislative competency to change the ban on assisted suicide or euthanasia. The special Oireachtas committee was set up to look at the area of assisted dying and to make recommendations for legislative and policy change relating to a statutory right to assist a person to end his or her life and a statutory right to receive such assistance. The constitution places a duty on the State to protect the sanctity of all human life. Dr Tom Hickey, a constitutional law expert from Dublin City University, said it was up to the legislature to decide an approach. He said: The constitution is not a bar or a block on the legislature from legislating as it sees fit in the public matter on this issue. If you, as a body of legislators, form the view that it is in the public interest to retain the blanket ban on assisted suicide, that is absolutely something you are constitutionally entitled to do. Equally, and for the same constitutional reasons, if you as a body of legislators form the view that it is in the public interest to loosen the ban, to allow for assisted suicide under limited circumstances, that is something you are perfectly entitled to do. Whichever course of action you take, if there is a challenge in five years or 10 years, somebody goes to the High Court and seeks a declaration of unconstitutionality, it is very unlikely in my view that that litigant would win. He added: You are the legislators, you are the Oireachtas, you get to make the call on what is in the public interest. Dr Andrea Mulligan, assistant professor of law at Trinity College Dublin, agreed with that assessment. She said: Almost everything about how to and whether to regulate for assisted dying is complex, except for the primary constitutional question which is is the Oireachtas entitled to legislate for assisted dying? It absolutely is. She added: The absence of a right to die does not mean the Oireachtas isnt entitled to legislate for it. During the hearing on Tuesday, frequent references were made to the case of Marie Fleming, who in 2013 lost a landmark Supreme Court right-to-die challenge. Ms Fleming, who had multiple sclerosis, unsuccessfully sought an order declaring a section of the law that bans assisted suicide to be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. Dr Conor Casey, senior lecturer in public Law at the University of Surrey, said in the Fleming ruling, the Supreme Court had left unresolved the question of whether the Oireachtas has legislative competence to permit assisted suicide or voluntary euthanasia by a statutory regime. He continued: I think that in the absence of a determinative judgment of the superior court, the most persuasive interpretation of the constitution open to us is that the Oireachtas is not competent to introduce a legislative regime that would permit either a statutory right to assisted suicide or to voluntary euthanasia. Fine Gael Senator Mary Seery Kearney said she objected to the use of the word killing eight times by Dr Casey in his written submissions to the committee. Louth TD, Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick, and the Regional Group of TDs have published their motion to be debated in the Dail this Wednesday morning, calling on the Government to take immediate action, devise and implement a comprehensive plan to address the impending challenges posed by the steadily increasing population of individuals aged 65 years and over in the coming years. The motion highlights the critical state of home care and home help services, says Deputy Fitzpatrick. "It reveals that there is a severe shortage of carers, leaving vulnerable individuals without the necessary support. "As a result, many are confined to their beds and unable to access the funded homecare packages they desperately require. The waiting list for home support care at the end of March 2023 reached an alarming 6,432 individuals." Deputy Fitzpatrick highlights that, considering our ageing population, home support services are crucial in assisting older people and individuals with disabilities who wish to continue living at home or require support after hospital stays. However, without swift intervention from the Government, these essential services are at serious risk. "As a direct result of the chronic shortage of home help hours, there is significant delays in discharging patients from hospitals; particularly vulnerable older individuals; which is exacerbating the chaos within some healthcare facilities. Census statistics reveal that nearly 300,000 people currently provide unpaid care, with 86,000 individuals dedicating 43 hours or more per week to caregiving. Deputy Fitzpatrick says that regular breaks are essential for carers' well-being, and the absence of respite services denies them the opportunity to prioritise their mental and physical health. Deputy Fitzpatrick and the Regional Group TDs have issued a series of recommendations to the Government, urging them to: Establish, through legislation, that every family carer is entitled to a minimum number of days of respite care per year. Enable families to access direct funding for help and care outside regular hours, eliminating restrictions on private providers. Amend the eligibility rules for Jobseeker's Allowance so that the total amount of paid work in hours is considered rather than days, as the current system disincentivises engagement in part-time employment. Increase the means test limits for the Carer's Allowance and establish a high-level group to scope out and develop a roadmap for delivering a non-means tested participation income for family carers. Increase the financial threshold for people on State benefits so that they can work and earn more money working in the homecare sector, and this helps with staff shortages while at the same time helping people gain more and have a better standard of living without being penalised by the State. Ensure that all training for people engaging in the care industry is paid for by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to assist private providers in replacing staff who have moved to jobs within the HSE. Ensure that remuneration for time spent travelling, motor travel expenses and pay when clients are in hospital is standardised for all healthcare employees. Make industry and public sector travel expenses available to home care providers who offer services to older and vulnerable individuals in rural areas, promoting a balanced approach. Deputy Fitzpatrick and his colleagues in the Regional Group of TDs have expressed their disappointment with the Government's "continued failure to address the needs of older people, individuals with disabilities, their families, and caregivers, evidenced by its persistent delays in taking action". ABOVE: Charis Christodoulidou, Cypriot ambassador to Ireland; Professor Fergal McCaffery; Paddy Malone; President of the Cypriot House of Representatives, Annita Demetriou; Dr Diarmuid OCallaghan; Deputy Ruairi O Murchu and Lynda McQuaid at Leinster House. Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) took centre stage last week during a visit organised by Sinn Fein TD Ruairi O Murchu to Leinster House, from a high level Cypriot political delegation, DkIT president Dr Diarmuid OCallaghan, and other DkIT staff. The Dundalk deputy, who chairs the Oireachtas Ireland-Cyprus Friendship Group, facilitated the meeting between Dr OCallaghan, DkIT governing body chair, Paddy Malone; Professor Fergal McCaffery, Head of School of Informatics and Creative Arts; Lynda McQuaid, DkITs marketing and communications manager and the President of the Cypriot House of Representatives, Annita Demetriou. Deputy O Murchu said Ms Demetrious background in third level education was evident during the very successful meeting and the possibility of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Dundalk IT and the University of Nicosia was discussed. Deputy O Murchu said: "Last weeks meeting in Leinster House was a follow up to the trip to Cyprus last year, instigated by Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail, where there were discussions about links with universities from the point of view of Cypriot students attending here, which has arisen since Brexit. "The Cypriot delegation had been in Ireland for a number of days attending political meetings and events as part of a return invitation issued by the Ceann Comhairle. "There was also interest in research and business incubation and obviously, DkIT is supreme in these sectors and that was made absolutely clear during the meeting. A determination was made that there would be a follow-up meeting and a possible MOU between DkIT and the University of Nicosia. "Speaker Demetriou will be back in Ireland in September and would like to visit DkIT and possibly meet some of the students. She said she would love to play a part in getting the MOU formalised. "It was a really successful meeting and Dr OCallaghan outlined the overall situation with DkIT, while Professor McCaffery and Mr Malone spoke about the specific research projects at the college and the business incubation facilities, in particular some examples of med tech companies success, such as STATSports and Nova Leah. "Of course, they also dealt with the fact that DkIT is making its journey and is going in the right direction as regards TU status. And there was discussion about the issue of the later than optimum timeline for Leaving Cert results which makes it trickier to attract students from the North while the A level results are earlier, the UCAS places are offered and students know they have a place and can organise accommodation. "It was a really positive meeting from which I hope good things will come for Dundalk IT." Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) academic Ronan Bree recently contributed to a National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education which recently received a prestigious International UNESCO Prize. This Forum was recently announced as a Laureate of the revered UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICT in Education. The prestigious award recognises the National Forums initiative, Supporting Open Education: Irelands Model for Supporting the Use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Educational Practices (OEP) for Teaching and Learning, implemented via its National Resource Hub and Open Courses for those who teach. In 2020, DkITs Dr. Ronan Bree of the Life and Health Sciences Department joined the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education on full-time secondment. During his time with the Forum, Ronan was fortunate to work across a suite of national initiatives, one of which was in the space of digital and open education. Here, and working with certain members of the Forum team (Dr. Terry Maguire, Dr. Catherine Cronin and Colin Lowry), the primary focus of his secondment centred around the design and development of the National Resource Hub, a platform to support the use of, and engagement with, open educational resources (OER) for teaching and learning across the sector. Dr Ronan Bree noted: The National Resource Hub was designed and developed following extensive consultation across the sector, engaging with students and colleagues at all levels to ensure both a user-friendly, considered, and functionality-focused, platform. We ensured the design of the hub offers opportunities for anyone to submit and access open educational resources (OER) for teaching and learning - in any form, and in any media format. In fact, there is even scope to submit multiple media formats, for example text transcript files for videos etc., to improve accessibility. "Submitted resources become immediately searchable and browsable, meaning users can identify OER relevant to their needs, or respective field of work, quite quickly. With the National Resource Hub now established and promoted across the sector, everyone can easily identify OER which, depending on the type of open licence applied, can be re-used, adapted, remixed, and so on, for their own context. The platform provides a meaningful way for all members of the sector to engage with OER and open educational practice (OEP) while continuing to create and access high quality resources - and ultimately to support each other across multiple levels. Ronan added: To pause and reflect that a platform developed by the National Forum to support the Irish Higher Education has been acknowledged on a global level by UNESCO is an incredible feat for the Irish HE sector. Many congratulations to everyone associated with the National Resource Hub. Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD, expressing his congratulations, emphasised the initiatives alignment of the National Resource Hub with Irelands broader higher education strategy. Digital technology and innovation is a key enabler to deliver transformative education. The National Resource Hub is a pioneering platform, democratising access to educational resources, enhancing teaching quality, and facilitating lifelong learning. It is an integral part of our ambitious vision for a more innovative, inclusive, and sustainable higher education system and supports our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals. Dr Alan Wall, CEO of the HEA, highlighted the initiatives alignment with education for sustainable development objectives in Ireland. This initiative, recognised by the prestigious UNESCO ICT in Education Prize, underlines Irelands dedication to these principles. Its not just about fostering critical thinking and empowerment; its about creating active contributors to a more sustainable and inclusive future. The National Resource Hub does this by ensuring equitable, open access to quality education resources, not only in Ireland, but across the globe. The internationalisation of higher education is a key pillar of the HEAs strategy, and the National Forums initiative contributes significantly to this aim. Dr Wall added: The recognition from UNESCO validates our efforts towards internationalising Irish higher education. It not only enhances our global standing but also encourages international collaboration in open education. 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. Home Credit Philippines, a recognized leader in diversity, equity, and inclusion and an equal opportunity employer, formally announces the formation of its Pride Club, a group of employees who identify as LGBTQ+ and who are tasked with leading the organizations efforts to promote workplace inclusiveness. For the LGBTQ+ community in the Philippines, June is a significant month because it marks the beginning of Pride Month festivities. Every year, various civil society organizations, advocacy groups, and organizations host Pride celebrations that typically end with a pride march. Companies participate in these celebrations by making public declarations of support, hosting their own pride activities, or all three. Leading consumer credit provider in the nation, Home Credit Philippines, has been a steadfast supporter of this cause. In 2022, the company participated in the Pride PH: Alab for Love celebration in Quezon City, Philippines, sending almost 200 of its employees to the join the Pride March. It also supported the Iloilo Pride Team, organizers of the Iloilo Pride March, during the Pride Pyesta event in Iloilo City in November 2023. Beyond the companys public pride participation, Home Credit Philippines, has also been recognized for its diversity, equity, and inclusion practices. Among its recognitions are Asia CEO Awards- Circle of Excellence Diversity Company of the Year, United Nations Women Empowerment Principles (UN WEPs) Awards 2022 for Transparency and Reporting, and 2023 Gold Stevie for Diversity and Inclusion. DEI is also a focus of the companys Environmental, Social, and Governance programs. Highlighting it diverse workforce made up of 14,000 plus employees, 52% of which are female. Its board also consist of 5 women executives. Home Credit has been proactively collaborating with advocacy partners to strengthen its DEI policies and programs. In 2022, the company joined the Philippine Coalition for Women Empowerment (PBCWE) and the Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce (PLCC) to further cement its commitment to workplace inclusion. Last year, the company went through the Gender Equality Assessment Results and Strategies (GEARS), in partnership with PBCWE to understand gaps, opportunities and strengths of its strategies in relation to workplace gender equality. #PrideAtHomeCreditPhilippines This 2023, Home Credit Philippines renews this commitment with the establishment of the companys Pride Club, an Employee Resource Group that will lead and champion DEI and workplace inclusion initiatives in the organization. At Home Credit Philippines, DEI and workplace inclusion is important for us. We have always championed these causes as integral for how we take care of our people and build safe spaces where our employees can be themselves and thrive, said Alpha Omega Aquino, Chief People Officer of Home Credit Philippines. Through its people, culture and development team, Home Credit Philippines organized the opening of the Pride Club in 2022. The establishment of our Home Credit Pride team signals a more collaborative approach in creating equitable and inclusive policies and practices for our organization. This also allows our employees to be more empowered in advocating for causes that matter to them. Alpha added. Meet the Home Credit PH Pride Club Team With 200 and counting members across the Philippines, the Home Credit Pride Club is positioned to lead the companys Pride at Home Credit Philippines activities. Last June 14, the club launched a manifesto video #AtHomeKaDito, which featured the officers of the club sharing how Home Credit is an equal opportunity employer and encouraging job seekers to join the company. We wanted to represent the LGBTQ+ employees of Home Credit and share how the company supports and empowers us. Our pride video is a glimpse of how diverse our employees are in terms of SOGIE and how we are celebrated for our contributions regardless of our gender orientation and identity. As a proud trans woman, I have always felt at home in my 5 years of being a Home Credit employee, said Janna De Castro, Collections Project Specialist and President of the HCPH Pride Club. As an equal opportunity employer, Home Credit Philippines has offered equitable benefits for its LGBTQ+ employees to include Wellness Leaves, gender-neutral restrooms, and HMO for domestic partners among others. Our goal as a club is to become a reliable partner for our company when it comes to strengthening our DEI policies and programs. Eventually, we hope to become an institutionalized employee resource group who can co-create initiatives and programs that will benefit and add value, not just the members of our club our employees, but likewise for the communities we serve, said Russel Patina, Public Relations Manager and Vice-President of the HC Pride Club. Through its brand and business, Home Credit Philippines has empowered almost 10 million Filipinos since it opened its doors in 2013. Now approaching a new decade, the company is expected to continue to grow and empower more Filipinos with access to more credit opportunities. Alongside this growth, it continues to champion the backbone of its success its people; building a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone can be their best and feel at home. A ceremony was held in a Cork primary school on Friday, June 16 to mark the awarding of two flags to the national school in Innishannon. Scoil Eoin National School marked the flag-raising ceremony in style as they received the Green Flag for the seventh time in their history and also received their first Pieta Amber Flag. The Green Schools Flag was awarded to the Innishannon national school for the Global Citizenship Energy movement. This focused on the importance of reducing energy consumption in the local environment and spreading awareness among the school community of the best ways to achieve this. Actions included litter picking, global awareness surveys, a low carbon day and a sustainable picnic. A variety of workshops reinforced the message. Pupils at the raising of the seventh Green Schools Flag and the Pieta Amber Flag ceremony at Scoil Eoin, Innishannon. A Green School committee was also established and they worked tirelessly with the whole school and local community to achieve their goals. The previous themes, which included litter and waste, biodiversity, travel, water, and energy, were all revised. A new initiative, called The Pieta Amber Flag, was also started in Scoil Eoin during the academic year. This recognises individual efforts to create healthy and inclusive environments that support mental wellbeing. It involved the whole school community coming together to create a safe, positive, and healthy attitude to mental health and wellbeing. Ambitious targets included the setting up of an amber flag notice board. This notice board displayed information on the themes, such as the hosting of a wellbeing week and organising a fun accessories and colourful hoody fundraiser for Pieta. The wellbeing committee was comprised of a cross section of the school community included both pupils and staff who helped to steer the initiative. A large crowd including pupils, staff members and members of the board of management and parents association gathered on the school grounds on Friday, June 16 to celebrate and to acknowledge the combined efforts of all within the school community. Clodagh Creedon, Green Schools Coordinator and Carol OSullivan, Wellbeing Coordinator as well as pupils from both committees spoke about the processes and the journey they had to undertake to successfully achieve these flags. An ice-cream van which proved very popular with both young and old was also on hand to mark the occasion. CORK County Council has appointed contractor Martin OCallaghan Ltd to carry out significant upgrade works on the Glasslyn Road, Bandon between the N71 roundabout at Kevin OLearys and St Finbarrs Place. The upgrade works represent Phase 3 of the implementation of Bandon Transport Public Realm Enhancement Plan (TPREP) which was granted planning in 2021. Works are already underway on Phase 1 Ballymodan and works on North Main street were completed last month. This contract, valued at 2.5m, will include the introduction of cycle lanes in both directions, upgraded footpaths, provision of universally accessible bus stops, carriageway resurfacing, landscaping and ancillary works. Over the past number of years, significant works have been carried out by Cork County Council with the aid of National Transport Authority funding to improve pedestrian connectivity on nearly all approaches to Bandon with new and enhanced footpaths and installation of upgraded pedestrian crossing points, including the safe route to schools programme. Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Danny Collins welcomed the signing of this contract. The vision for Bandon in the county development plan is to provide a new focus on the compact growth of the town through consolidation of the town centre and the continued expansion of Bandons residential and employment base in a manner that promotes sustainable travel modes and contributes to the towns unique sense of place and special architectural character, he said. The recently completed N71 upgrade on the eastern approach to Bandon, Implementation of Bandon TPREP and the signing of this contract today is another step in the fulfilment of this vision. Works will commence on Glasslyn Road in August and take nine months to complete. A Whitegate farm, used by Teagasc as a flagship property for farm safety, was the location for a tragic accident with devastating consequences. 73-year-old farmer Liam Day pleaded guilty to a charge in respect of a fatal health and safety incident before Cork Circuit Criminal Court following the death of Laurence Costello on the farm more than three years ago. Both men were working on the preparation of a trailer for re-painting when the tailgate, which was propped by timbers, fell when Mr Costello was working on it, causing immediate fatal injuries. Judge Colin Daly imposed a fine of 3,000 on Mr Day and ordered the payment of 1,500 costs to the Health and Safety Authority. HSA inspector David Barry said Mr Day was fully co-operative with the investigation. Mr Day and the late Mr Costello both assessed how they would approach the sanding and painting of the trailer and how the tailgate would be supported. They had been working on the trailer for two-and-a-half days and the sanding was almost complete when Mr Costello was working on the tailgate itself. It appears that for whatever reason he displaced the props and the tailgate came in on top of him and caught his head. The tailgate had a weight of 250kg to 400kg, Insp Barry said. Commenting on the manner in which the work was undertaken, HSA inspector David Barry said: It was decided to prop the tailgate with two timber props between the flange of the door and lugs at the rear of the door It was inherently dangerous. Unfortunately, it is not an unusual (way to approach such work) but inherently dangerous. VICITIM IMPACT STATEMENT Mary Theresa Costello said that her husband had a heart of gold and she said in her victim impact statement: I lost my soul mate, life companion and best friend due to a tragic accident. I miss his company and I feel very lonely at times. I miss our spins we used to take and having endless conversations about everything and nothing. I am lost without him I have great neighbours and friends who call and help me through. I hold no blame or resentment towards Liam (Mr Day). Unfortunately, what happened that day was a tragic accident. Liam and his family have been nothing but kind and supportive to me since it happened and were good friends of mine and Larrys well before this accident. I take solace in the fact that Lar was killed instantly and did not suffer. Liam Day pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to provide a safe place of work at the farm premises at Ard na Bourkey, Whitegate, County Cork, on January 22 2020. The charge further stated that the defendant failed to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, that the place of work specifically a Thorpe Steel grain trailer was safe and without risk to health and in particular, access and egress to the trailer was gained through the tailgate which was propped open by wooden props that were unstable and collapsed and as a consequence Laurence Costello suffered personal injury and died. Defence barrister Paula McCarthy described it as a tragic accident with devastating consequences and said that not alone did Mr Day have no previous convictions but that his farm had been used by Teagasc as a flagship farm in relation to campaigns for farm safety over the years. Ms McCarthy said the Day family remained supportive of the deceaseds family. Judge Daly extended his sympathies to the Costello family. Convicted killer and rapist, Ian Horgan, was jailed for eight and a half years for a hammer attack on a 29-year-old man and also assaulting the mans 66-year-old mother, after which he sent a mocking video of the bloody aftermath with 'Lovely Day' playing in the background. Detective Superintendent Michael Comyns described how Horgan, of no fixed address and formerly of The Hermitage, Macroom, Co Cork, left his home in Macroom that Saturday afternoon, got the bus to Cork city, walked to a derelict shed near the crime scene, changed his shoes and clothes and walked to the house where he carried out the attack. The 29-year-old victims mother said Ian Horgan only left when she said that her son was dead. Horgan then sent texts mocking the injured man to his partner, who had previously been in a relationship with the injured man, Hassan Baker. Sitting in Fitzgerald Park, he also sent videos of the seriously injured man to his girlfriend and the contrasting scene in the park. He told her his knuckles were f***ed again and that he was washing blood off himself, as the song Lovely Day played. Ian Horgan texted his girlfriend that afternoon, saying: I destroyed him. He wont be acting the hard man, let me tell you. He is a cheeky c***. LOL. Det Supt Comyns said 39-year-old Horgan received a 12-year prison term at the Court of Criminal Appeal for the rape and manslaughter of Rachel Kiely in Ballincollig on October 26, 2000. Hammer Attack On Saturday afternoon, March 26, 2022, as he approached the victims home at MacCurtain Villas, off Bandon Road, neighbours were suspicious of him as it was a hot day and he was wearing a hood up and had a snood covering his face. He knocked on the door, pushed past Mary OCallaghan and ran at Hassan Baker, who tried to disarm him of the hammer. Horgan struck him with the claw of the hammer into the shoulder causing him to fall. Det Supt Comyns said: Ian Horgan grabbed him around the neck for 20 to 30 seconds, causing Mr Baker to collapse unconscious by the fireplace. He struck him on the left side of the head with the hammer, fracturing his skull and cheekbone. He was shouting in a Dublin accent pretending it was a drug debt. Mrs OCallaghan intervened. He assaulted her with a hammer fracturing her right wrist. He video-recorded Hassan Baker and Mary OCallaghan in extreme distress and in a disoriented state. Mr Horgan walked calmly out, returned to the shed and changed his clothing. He discarded the clothing and hammer within the shed and walked through the grounds of UCC to Fitzgerald Park. There he shared videos of the crime scene with his then girlfriend, who was previously in a relationship with Mr Baker. Horgan returned to Macroom that day but soon left the country with his girlfriend. They fell out, she returned to Cork and he followed, some four months after he had left the country. He was arrested and questioned and made no comment in the course of six interviews. Before a trial could take place, Horgan did plead guilty to the count of assault causing serious harm to the victim and assault causing harm to the injured partys mother. Guilty Plea Defence senior counsel, James OMahony, said Horgan spared the state a lengthy trial by pleading guilty, he wrote letters of apology to the two victims and he was trying to put his time in prison to good use. Det Supt Comyns said his own opinion was the recent letters of apology to the victims were too little too late. Judge Helen Boyle said the accused man also wrote a letter to her expressing his remorse. The judge said the premeditation was an aggravating factor as were the facts that he armed himself with a hammer and directed the blows to Mr Bakers head causing fractures to his skull, jaw and orbital bone around his eye socket. The judge said the injured man was left with significant physical difficulties, a stammer, headaches, nightmares, seizures and extensive scarring. Hassan Baker said in his victim impact statement: Ian Horgan entered our home with a hammer in his hand and he held me in an arm lock. When I fell to the ground, I was then beaten with a hammer using full force to the side of my head by Ian Horgan. He also caught me on the shoulder with the claw of the hammer. I was knocked to the ground with the impact and blood flowed massively from my head. I had tried to protect my mother while I struggled to defend myself but I was helpless. The blows of the hammer knocked me out completely. It was a nightmare scene. Since I was assaulted, I have felt devastated, scared and I live in a paranoid state, looking out the window and over my shoulder every single day. I am always on alert in case something sudden happens. I have constant nightmares and night terrors. I wake screaming in the night a lot. My life has changed dramatically. I worry about the long term effect this will have on me as my short term memory has not been the same since. I never even spoke to Ian Horgan before this and yet he came to our house with the intention of causing serious harm to me, equipped with a hammer. I dont ever want to see him again. Mary OCallaghan, who is 66, said: I was always very happy in this house until the man I now know to be Ian Horgan barged into my home at 2.30pm on March 26, 2022. He was swinging a hammer when he came in. I did not know this man. My son, Hassan, rushed to my aid and this man put him in an arm lock and started to pound him. There was blood everywhere. It was like being part of a horror movie but unfortunately it was real. He kept on pounding Hassans head with the hammer. At this stage Hassan was unconscious and I thought he was dead. I managed to get in between them and I shouted that he is dead. I didnt realise at this stage but he had also broken my wrist with a blow of the hammer. After I said to him that Hassan was dead, he then left. I really felt my son Hassan was dead as the place was like a blood bath. What Ian Horgan did on that day will never leave my mind. I was never afraid in my home but since this serious assault I feel terrified, scared and physically it seems I cant wake up from this nightmare. When I look at the marks on my sons head, I can see the imprint of the hammer on the side of his skull. I know I am lucky he is alive. I would like to sincerely thank the gardai for everything they have done for us, protecting us and keeping us informed. Speaking outside the court after today's sentencing, Ms O'Callaghan said: "I only hope he serves every day of the sentence he got for my son's sake. He is where he should be and he should never get out. "He (Horgan) stood in that court and didn't have the guts to look at us. "I'm just so glad he is locked up and I hope - if I had my way - he would never get out. "(I am) just so happy he got what he deserved and that he is locked up and I got some justice for my son. My son never deserved what he did to him. He is an animal and if I had my way, he wouldn't see the light of day until he was an old man." A Carrigaline teenager was knocked unconscious when he was the victim of a frenzied attack by a large group of young people who punched and kicked him more than 100 times in little more than a minute, a court heard yesterday. Judge Helen Boyle said: This young man was kicked and punched on the ground. It was a completely disproportionate and unwarranted response to a rumour that turned out to be false and even if it was not false, there was no excuse. You are all lucky this did not end in serious injury or death. It was a cowardly assault. You should all be thoroughly ashamed of your cowardly actions on the night. In the second incident, a significant number of young people interfered with gardai performing their duties. It is shocking the lack of respect shown to members of An Garda Siochana. Six young people faced sentencing by Judge Helen Boyle at Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday for their part in this violent incident and a follow-up incident half an hour later. They were either given suspended sentences or put on probation bonds. Sentencing A 16-year-old who kicked the victim in the face the particular assault which rendered him unconscious was put on a two-year bond to abide by all directions of the Probation Service for the next two years. He admitted assault causing harm, two counts of violent disorder, and stealing a baton from the hand of a garda. A 17-year-old was ordered to remain under the supervision of the Probation Service for 18 months for violent disorder at Owenbue car park and escaping from a garda car while handcuffed. This youth, who was 15 at the time, presented himself at Togher Garda Station later that night with his handcuffs still on him. Jordan Deasy, aged 19, of 41 Ravensdale, Herons Wood, Carrigaline, Co Cork, admitted assault causing harm and engaging in a violent disorder at Carrigaline Community Park. He punched the victim in the face twice. Prior to his intervention, the injured party was on his feet. He kicked his head and upper body five or six times. He was given a two-year suspended sentence. Jay Condon, aged 19, with an address at Drakes Point, Crosshaven, Co Cork, was, the judge said, the most violent in the community park incident, kicking the victim 20 times when he was on the ground, pushing others out of the way to get a clear line of attack on the prone victim, but he also called eventually for the attack to stop, saying of the injured party: he is f***ed up. Judge Boyle further noted he was shouting: Carrigaline on top during the second incident, and the judge said another aggravating factor in his case was posting video footage of the incidents online. He also received a two-year suspended sentence for engaging in violent disorder during both incidents and assisting an arrested person to escape from custody. Adam MacIlwaine, aged 20, of Kingswood, Waterpark, Carrigaline, admitted violent disorder and assault causing harm in the community park. Judge Boyle noted that he kicked the victim when he was on the ground, and once or twice in the head, and posted footage of the incident online, which showed no respect for the victim. He also obstructed another youths arrest in the second incident, and again recorded this. An 18-month suspended sentence was imposed on him. Ryan McCarthy, aged 20, from Clevedon, Lower Kilmoney Rd, Carrigaline, admitted enabling another person to escape from custody in the garda car during the second incident. He was not involved in the first incident at the community park. When others called gardai rats, he was heard saying: Dont call them rats. He was given a 12-month suspended sentence. Rumour Sergeant Leonard OSullivan said that the reason for the attack was that the main instigator previously before the court got the others to believe a completely untrue rumour that the victim had attacked a young girl. Both incidents occurred on December 18, 2021. The victim did not make a victim impact statement, but there was an extensive investigation when he was found unconscious in the community park. Judge Boyle said the attack, which involved teenagers turning on one of their own based on a completely false claim was, in effect, a pile-on, where many people surround the victim and punched and kicked him repeatedly. A joyous flashmob occurred on Tuesday morning, raising hearts, raising funds, and raising awareness, as over 200 pupils from Cork Educate Together National School cut loose in Cork city centre. It was just after 11.30am when they came streaming around the corner from Maylor Street, ribbons of yellow, red, orange, blue and green trailing behind them, dancing to the beat of Kenny Loggins 1984 Footloose, a song at least three decades older than most of them. The students of Cork Educate Together NS on Grattan Street all gathered to sing and dance at the top of Winthrop Street, raising awareness of the Cork charity My Canine Companion and having a great time while they were at it. St Patricks Street was a riot of colour on Tuesday as Students of Educate Together NS exploded onto the street for an energetic flashmob in aid of My Canine Companion. Picture Credit: Chani Anderson Everyone in the school had a starring role in the flashmob but if there was a scene to be stolen, it was probably robbed by the youngest children, who all ran out for the very end to sing the Everybody cut, everybody cut footloose bit, to cheers from everyone in the audience. Luke Meehan (12) is a sixth class student in Cork Educate Together, and he helped to collect money for the fundraiser. Im pretty excited about raising money for the charity, but we wont get to see the results of it, as were going into first year now, so Im a bit disappointed about that, he said. Having said that, he predicted that this years sixth class would be able to visit their old school and see the results of their work. Pictured: Illia Katser, Laura Pinto Da Costa, Isaac Ramirez Garcia and fellow students of Educate Together NS. Picture Credit: Chani Anderson Asha Kearney OToole, who is also 12 and from sixth class, said she was delighted with the flashmob. I thought it would be a bit embarrassing, but it wasnt really, it was fun, she said. Annie OBrien (12) thought the event had gone really well, and her classmate Jack Flanagan said it had been an amazing experience. Their friend Finn ODonoghue said that while a lot of money had been donated by relatives of the students, much had been donated by passersby too. Principal Maura O'Riordan and teacher Elizabeth Kenny pictured in Patrick's Street during Educate Together NS's exciting Flashmob in aid of My Canine Companion. Photo Credit: Chani Anderson Teachers Katie Hickson and Elizabeth Kenny said they has both been delighted to take part in the flashmob, and they thanked colleague Lia Doolin for co-ordinating the fundraising. The flashmob was a roaring success. "We were all a little bit nervous about bringing the whole school out onto Patricks Street, but it was absolutely fantastic, and we were so delighted that some of the dogs from My Canine Companion could come along, it was just wonderful, Ms Hickson said. The children just showed up and gave it so much energy, I think the ploy of having the dogs here just made it more meaningful for them. Ms Kenny said it had meant a lot to all in the school to be part of the event. Were hoping to get our own school assistance dog from My Canine Companion, so part of the process involves a little bit of fundraising for them, she said. 'Treats Please!' - Rua Scannell from Educate Together NS Junior Infants pictured with Eugene the dog. Picture Credit: Chani Anderson Nicole Duggan of My Canine Companion said the Blackpool charity is Irelands largest provider of service dogs, accounting for 60% of the countrys dogs every year. This June we launched the Big Walk Home campaign, so from the 1 to 7 June we had a team who walked from Dublin to Cork for the charity, we did it over seven days and we have a goal of 100,000 for a new, forever home for our charity, so we can in turn help more families, she said. We had a separate schools challenge which was sponsored by Currys, so we asked schools around the country to organise challenges to support the team that was walking, so its the Big Walk Home schools challenge, so thats what today is about. Sophia Rybalka, Ruby O'Sullivan, Freya Flanaghan & fellow classmates of Educate Together NS pictured during their energetic flashmob on Patrick's Street in aid of My Canine Companion. Photo Credit: Chani Anderson The Cork Educate Together NS Big Walk Home fundraiser is on idonate.ie. Olivia Kelleher Irish shoppers have been warned that there will be a shortage of home-grown fruit and vegetables for the rest of the year. Dr Richard Hackett, a consultant with the agriculture and food development agency Teagasc, said heavy rain earlier in the year followed by a spell of hot weather has impacted on growth levels. However, Dr Hackett told The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk that the weather is only part of the problem facing farmers. "The weather is not playing ball with us, but that's not really the problem. The big problem is that the farmers vegetable and potato growers are not in a position to take on the pressures that weather comes with in the present time. "We'd a very dry February starting off, then we had a very wet March and April, and then we got very dry. "Overall our rainfall is probably normal enough, but it's coming in bursts... and crops don't really like that". Soil moisture Dr Hackett said that during the summer months we normally have soil moisture reserves that would make the crops grow. "The crops are designed to work in the temperate climate that we have. They take this long day length with the heat and moisture, and they grow very rapidly. "If one is missing if it's very cold or it's very dry one of the ingredients are missing, so the crops don't grow the way they should. "What happened this year, during the very wet March and April, we just couldn't plant the crops; the crops are sitting in boxes and seed bags where they shouldn't be. "Then when the weather stopped raining, the moisture deficit meant that the crops couldn't establish [themselves]". Dr Hackett warned that importing the shortfall from Spain or Britain could be more difficult this year as yield is down all over Europe. "They've had a very difficult time too, much more so [in] structural problems.In Spain, for instance, they use aquifers for their irrigation and that's not available. "They've labour issues, and they have poor returns from growers too - so there isn't the stuff there in Europe. "There isn't the stuff from the UK [because] Brexit had a severe impact on our supply chain. The growers in the UK are under severe pressure as well; the number of growers in the UK is collapsing. They had worse weather than we had." Alison O'Riordan Former Sinn Fein councillor and convicted torturer Jonathan Dowdall, who was jailed for facilitating the murder of Kinahan Cartel member David Byrne, was "duped" and put in the "firing line" for the Regency Hotel attack, his lawyers have told the Court of Appeal. Appealing the severity of his four-year sentence for facilitating the Regency attack, Michael O'Higgins SC, for Dowdall, told the three-judge court that while the State may say the hotel room was part of the "launching pad" for the murder of Mr Byrne, he would submit it was the "launching pad for a contrived event plan of disinformation, which was put together in a way where my client was left front and centre". During the investigation, gardai established the person using the room in the Regency Hotel was Kevin Murray, who had known paramilitary connections with the IRA. Murray was very visible over the course of the day on CCTV footage and walked around the hotel freely, while during the attack he was seen on CCTV footage with a handgun held aloft. During Dowdall's sentence hearing, Mr O'Higgins submitted that Murray was there to attract attention on the basis that investigating gardai would be misdirected in a paramilitary direction. Range of options Court of Appeal president Mr Justice George Birmingham said that when he first read the appellant's submissions, his first reaction was that Dowdall had done "extraordinarily well" and asked should he as a judge be drawing attention "to the range of options open". The judge pointed out that there were "elements of unreality" about some of the arguments advanced in the submissions. "This is a person who pleaded guilty to an offence and someone who came before the court having been convicted of a very serious offence in the past and had served a substantial sentence, could he have had any expectation of doing better than he did?" asked the judge. Mr Justice Birmingham went on to remark that a major issue was that the decisions taken by the appellant were going to have an effect not only on himself but also his family and that the sentencing court had been very conscious of that by making "unusual discounts and additional discounts". Other grounds of appeal included that Dowdall wasn't "a time waster or a tyre kicker", was subjected to up to 10 days of cross-examination by counsel during the murder trial of Gerard 'the Monk' Hutch and to his credit "went through that process". "A person who wants to cross that Rubicon should be aware that court's recognise the huge and significant life changes that flow from that," he added. Mr O'Higgins argued that the Special Criminal Court had weighed the consequences of how Dowdall's life was going to change on becoming State's witness "with a blindfold", that the sentencing court didn't hear the specifics and did not know what the future held for his client. Guilty plea Counsel also noted that Dowdall should have been entitled to a 30 per cent discount for his guilty plea instead of a 25 per cent one and that a headline sentence of six years was appropriate rather than an eight year one. "The headline sentence was too high, the discount for his plea [too low] and insufficient weight was given to his psychological and medical reports, with part reference to upending and the change to his life," submitted Mr O'Higgins. The lawyer also pointed out that "it shouldn't be lost in sight that there had been a previous history of booking hotel rooms [by his client for the Hutches] for credit purposes". Mr O'Higgins said there were circumstances where the Court of Appeal had justification to hear new evidence and told the three-judge court that he wanted to call Dowdall's wife to give evidence, so she could explain the "difficulties" that they as a family have. However, counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Sean Gillane SC, said he could not consent to the application and that it was "patently unnecessary" as the sentencing court had accepted the "dire consequences" of Dowdall. After rising for a few moments, Mr Justice Birmingham said the court was not prepared to admit additional evidence from Dowdall's spouse as the Special Criminal Court was "to a significant extent" focused on the decisions made by the appellant, "not just on his life but his family's life". Opposing the appeal on Tuesday, Mr Gillane said the central point in the State's submissions was that the four-year sentence handed down to Dowdall could be regarded as generous in terms of the overall nature of the case". The hotel room booked at the Regency Hotel, counsel said, was the "launchpad" for the murder of Kinahan Cartel member David Byrne; "that was the facilitation of a criminal organisation". "It was not just the credit card being used to reserve a room but it also involved the bringing of a hotel key to the leading member of that criminal organisation," he submitted. Dowdall's sentencing hearing was told that Room 2104 in the Regency Hotel was booked in the name of Jonathan's father Patrick Dowdall on February 4th 2016, one day before Mr Byrne's murder. Patrick Dowdall's mobile phone number was also on the hotel's system, while a credit card connected to a family member of the Dowdalls had been used to secure the booking over the phone. A man wearing a flat cap identified as the now deceased Kevin Murray was observed on CCTV entering the hotel and spent the night in the room. Mr Murray, who cooperated with the "tactical team" that raided the Regency Hotel, died from motor neurone disease in 2017 before he could be brought to trial. The State's barrister said the four-year sentence received by Dowdall was "indeed a generous" one and reflected the sentencing court giving as much measure as possible to the appellant, given the circumstances he had found himself in. "Was it fair? Unequivocally yes," stated Mr Gillane, adding that the headline sentence of eight years was in the midrange, "unimpeachable" and that two separate discounts were applied thereafter totalling a 50 per cent reduction from the headline sentence. 'Duped' In reply, Mr O'Higgins said Dowdall was "duped" and put in a set of circumstances where once the garda investigation began then his client was in the firing line. "There was no loyalty to him, he was front and centre", he concluded. Mr Justice Birmingham, sitting with Ms Justice Una Ni Raifeartaigh, and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, reserved judgement in the sentence appeal. On September 28th last year, Dowdall (44) a married father of four with an address at Navan Road, Cabra, Dublin 7 pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court to making a room available to the Hutch gang at the Regency Hotel, Swords Road, north Dublin, where the notorious murder of Kinahan Cartel member David Byrne (34) occurred in February 2016. The appellant had been originally charged with the murder of Byrne in April 2021 but the State dropped that charge after Dowdall admitted to the lesser charge of facilitating the Hutch gang by making a hotel room available for use by the perpetrators the night before the attack. On October 17th 2022, Dowdall was sentenced by the Special Criminal Court to four years imprisonment for facilitating the Hutch gang in the murder of Byrne, as part of the first convictions in the long-running investigation into the Regency Hotel shooting. In December of last year, Dowdall launched his appeal against his four-year jail-term for facilitating the murder. Sentence hearing At Dowdall's sentence hearing last October, Mr O'Higgins said his client was not aware of the purpose or the significance for which the room in the Regency was to be used and that Jonathan had not used the hotel room. Counsel also told the court that due to the exceptional circumstances of the case, all forms of sentencing were available, including the imposition of a suspended sentence. "He has made himself available as a witness which means his life is over. No injustice is done by giving him a suspended sentence," counsel said. Mr O'Higgins, for Dowdall, said the decision for Jonathan Dowdall to give a statement to gardai had placed a "very, very heavy burden" on Dowdall and his family, that his client was facing a "pretty grim" future and that he would never again live in Ireland. "In effect, it's like taking your life and standing it on its head," he added. The lawyer also said his clients agreement to testify had "very dark consequences" for the Dowdalls and that his life was "effectively over". Mr O'Higgins added that his client would be living in "permanent exile" and have to spend his life looking over his shoulder. When sentencing Dowdall at the Special Criminal Court last October, presiding judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt noted that the former electrician knew that he was assisting "a serious criminal organisation" and that he had received and followed instructions to obtain the hotel room at the Regency Hotel. "He gave a key card to another member of the criminal organisation and made a room available to a leading gang member. The consequences of the assistance were particularly grave," said the judge. Mr Justice Hunt said Dowdall was "complicit in the crime" despite maintaining that he was not aware of the purpose or the significance for which the room in the Regency was to be used. Referring to a submission by counsel for Dowdall that no "injustice" would be done by giving his client a suspended sentence due to exceptional circumstances of the case, Mr Justice Hunt said that "regrettably" the court could not accept this. The offer of assistance to the prosecution, he emphasised, did not justify a wholly suspended sentence. The non-jury court set the headline sentence at eight years' imprisonment. Mr Justice Hunt said Dowdall had previously committed "serious crimes of violence" and that he was not a person of previous good character. Both Jonathan and his father, Patrick Dowdall (65), of the same address, have previous convictions for false imprisonment, threatening to kill and causing serious harm from January 2015. The judge said the appropriate deduction from the headline sentence to take into account Dowdall's guilty plea was 25 per cent, resulting in a sentence of six years imprisonment. The non-jury court also accepted that Dowdall's service of the custodial sentence would "undoubtedly create difficulties" for his partner and family but Mr Justice Hunt said that this was part of the consequences of the crime. The judge said that the "extraordinary additional factor" was Jonathan Dowdall's decision to make a formal statement to gardai and give evidence against others. He added: "It is not part of our function to assess the relevance of this. Given the gravity of the crime and the consequences of that crime, we do not consider that additional mitigation arises below the custodial threshold". The three-judge court accepted that "the immediate and lasting effect of assistance to the authorities" had placed Dowdall and his family "in significant peril, something which will continue after his release from prison". Mr Justice Hunt also pointed out that due to the defendant's life being "upended" and made "more onerous and dangerous", Dowdall was entitled to a further significant reduction of two years from the six-year sentence. Mr Justice Hunt sentenced Jonathan Dowdall - who previously served as an elected Sinn Fein councillor in the north inner city ward in May 2014 and resigned less than one year later - to four years imprisonment, which he said was a total discount of 50 percent from the headline sentence. The sentence was not backdated. Patrick Dowdall was jailed for two years for his facilitation role in the Regency murder by the Special Criminal Court. Jonathan Dowdall was being assessed for the Witness Protection Programme when he gave evidence for the State against his former friend and one-time co-accused, Mr Hutch, who denied the murder of Mr Byrne. PAEDIATRICIANS have warned vaping is fast becoming an epidemic among children and are calling for disposable vapes to be banned. Many parents may be concerned about their own childs health if theyre vaping. In May, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH ) warned there had been a 50% rise in the proportion of children vaping from 7.7% of 11 to 17-year-olds trying e-cigarettes last year to 11.6% this year. And because vapes havent been around long (theyve only been on sale in the UK since 2007) there havent been any long-term studies on the effect on health, and particularly on young lungs, hearts and brains. However, responding to a current UK Government consultation on e-cigarettes, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has warned e-cigarettes are not a risk-free product and can be just as addictive, if not more so than traditional cigarettes. The RCPCHs vice president for policy and paediatric respiratory consultant, Dr Mike McKean, says: Without a doubt, disposable e-cigarettes should be banned. Youth vaping is fast becoming an epidemic among children, and I fear that if action is not taken, we will find ourselves sleepwalking into a crisis. But its a crisis many parents are ill-informed about so heres what the experts think parents should know What are vapes? Hazel Cheeseman, deputy chief executive at ASH, describes vapes also known as electronic cigarettes as a battery-powered heating element which heats a liquid generally containing nicotine and other ingredients thats then inhaled as a vapour by users. Some vapes are single -use and come in bright packaging, with exotic flavours and enticing, sweetie-type names like strawberry ice cream, cotton candy and cherry cola, others are rechargeable. There has been a rise in the number of children vaping. Picture: Alamy/PA Can children buy vapes? The Irish government is making moves to ban the sale of vaping products to people under the age of 18. A new law that will ban the sale of e-cigarettes to those under 18 is expected to be enacted before the Dails summer recess. In the UK it is already illegal to sell vapes to under 18s - however, youngsters are clearly still getting their hands on them. McKean, who practises in the north-east of England, says hes concerned to hear theres been an increase in unregulated e-cigarettes hitting the UK market recently. He points out that in the north-east alone, more than 1.4 tonnes of illegal e-cigarettes which Trading Standards said were often indistinguishable from regulated products were seized from shops in the second half of last year. Its impossible to know what these products contain or how they might impact young peoples health. The thought that these products are ending up in the hands of children is terrifying. What do they contain? The crucial thing for parents to know is that they contain nicotine, which is harmful and addictive. Gurch Randhawa, professor of diversity in public health and director of the Institute for Health Research at the University of Bedfordshire, says: E-cigarettes do not burn tobacco and do not produce tar or carbon monoxide, the most harmful aspects of smoking cigarettes. E-cigarettes typically contain nicotine, propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, and flavourings. Are they addictive? Yes. McKean warns: Vaping is far from risk-free, and in many cases can be very addictive. Cheeseman adds: It appears likely that people who have not smoked can become addicted to nicotine through vaping. What are the health impacts long-term? Randhawa says that because vapes are a relatively new product, evidence on their health impacts isnt clear. Experts are concerned though especially because people under the age of 18 are still developing. Nicotine is known to cause an increase in blood pressure, heart rate, flow of blood to the heart and a narrowing of the arteries. Cheeseman says: We dont know what the health implications will be long-term. It seems likely there will be some, but until we have a population of people who have exclusively vaped without smoking for many decades it will be difficult to fully assess the impact. Decades ago, no one knew about the devastating health impacts of smoking either. How can parents help children quit? Ensure your child has all the correct information and risks associated with vaping. Rather than setting strict punishments, try to be understanding and have a gentle discussion about peer pressure and having the confidence to say no. Cheeseman says nicotine replacement therapy can be used for children as young as 12. Randhawa points out that e-cigarettes should only be used to help people stop smoking. If you havent smoked, you should not use e-cigarettes, as they contain nicotine, which is addictive. "This message needs to be understood and articulated across society and schools to support children to not take up vaping." 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 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is being sued for unlawfully reapproving toxic herbicides used to grow food that contain 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), an active ingredient used in the chemical weapon Agent Orange. The Center for Food Safety (CFS), Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) and Alianza Nacional De Campesinas, Inc., are suing the EPA for approving Enlist One and Enlist Duo, both of which contain 2,4-D and are sprayed on soybeans, corn and cotton that have genetically engineered (GE) resistance to the herbicides, Food Safety Magazine reported. EPA unlawfully ignored the environmental and public health risks of Enlist herbicides, said Kristina Sinclair, CFS attorney and counsel for the plaintiffs, in a press release from the Center for Food Safety. And by failing to address Enlists adverse effects, EPA is jeopardizing hundreds of endangered species across the country. The EPA was aware that renewing the registrations of Enlist herbicides in January of 2022 would cause harm to wildlife and rural communities, according to the lawsuit, by significantly increasing the amount of glyphosate and 2,4-D in the environment, polluting waterways, damaging crops and native plants and destroying the habitats of endangered and threatened species, reported Food Safety Magazine. [The herbicides] are highly toxic and have devastating impacts on wildlife and rural communities that live near sprayed fields, said Sinclair, as The Guardian reported. The plaintiffs claim that the registration decisions by the EPA violated the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) by not properly considering the adverse health and environmental effects of the herbicides before approving them for an additional seven years, reported Food Safety Magazine. Plaintiffs also claim that, because of the potential harmful effects of the chemicals on hundreds of endangered and threatened species across the rural U.S., the EPA violated the Endangered Species Act. The herbicides were re-registered by the EPA without full consideration of the risks or consultation with wildlife agencies the experts as the Endangered Species Act requires. In addition, the EPA failed to examine its own proposed impact mitigation measures. EPAs analysis does not reflect actual use of these products in real-world agriculture. Some crops, such as lettuce and onions, are highly susceptible to damage. Growers who wish to plant alternative and non-GE crops are unable to do so without risking significant loss. The court must reverse this approval to protect all farmers, said Rob Faux, Iowa farmer, Communications Manager for Pesticide Action Network and plaintiff, in the press release. Prior to the current lawsuit, two others led by CFS were filed against the EPA for improper authorization of the herbicides by Enlist, Food Safety Magazine reported. The chemical 2,4-D had not been sprayed over crops before the initial approval of Enlist and GE crops that were resistant to it. EPAs original approval of Enlist Duo in 2014 was challenged by CFS and PANNA. The Ninth Circuit Court held in 2020 that EPAs prior registrations of the herbicide were in violation of FIFRA due to an underestimation of risks to monarch butterflies and milkweed plants. EPA revoked Enlist Duos registration in 2015 after the agency recognized that the chemical had the potential to be more harmful and toxic than had initially been believed. Using 2,4-D has been associated with a greater risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The chemical has been classified by the World Health Organizations International Agency for Research on Cancer as a possible carcinogen to humans, while glyphosate has been classified as one that is probably carcinogenic. Farmworkers and rural communities are experiencing significant health effects from Enlist herbicides. EPAs registration decision shows an utter disregard for public health. We cannot continue to permit the use of these dangerous herbicides without necessary evaluations or methods to protect affected communities, said Mily Trevino-Sauceda, executive director of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Inc., in the press release. Pig association concerned about UK's preparedness for potential ASF outbreak The National Pig Association (NPA) has raised concerns in the UK Parliament over the United Kingdom's lack of preparedness for an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in terms of the impact on the vital pork export market. The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Eggs, Pigs and Poultry recently held a panel event in the UK Parliament on "Disease Preparedness: Safeguarding the UK's Food Security." The event was hosted by the APPG chair Jim Shannon and chaired by NFU deputy president Tom Bradshaw. They were joined on the panel by Gordon Hickman, head of exotic disease control at Defra, as well as other industry representatives. Defra Minister for Biosecurity and Borders Lord Benyon delivered the opening speech, reaffirming the UK government's commitment to preventing biosecurity disasters. Other points of discussion included the barriers to vaccines, trade implications and practical implications for farmers, according to NPA senior policy adviser Charlie Dewhirst, who attended the event. "I raised concerns about the potential trade impact of an ASF outbreak in the UK," he said. "I was pleased to have the opportunity to highlight the NPA's fears about what an ASF outbreak would mean for UK pork exports. "I stressed that we should be following the example of other countries, like Spain, and discussing the practicalities of an outbreak with our trading partners in anticipation of the disease reaching the UK. We shouldn't be waiting until the horse has bolted and we will continue to raise our concerns with the government." - Pig World Philippines ASF outbreak: First case confirmed in Barangay Caticlan, Malay, Aklan province Veterinarians in Malay town, Aklan province, the Philippines, have reported the first case of African swine fever (ASF) in Barangay Caticlan. As ASF infection in Aklan province climbed to cover nine of 17 towns, the local government and the private organisation of hog raisers urged a temporary shift to poultry production. However, the move would require financial and technical aid for at least 341 affected households. Provincial Agriculture Chief Alexys Apolonio said his office is currently coordinating with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Western Visayas and other national government agencies. "Governor Jose Enrique Miraflores has already talked with the DSWD-Western Visayas and national government agencies for support. We are waiting for such now," Apolonio said during the Kapihan sa Aklan Forum on June 17. Dr. Maria Cyrosa Leen Mabel Sinel, head of the Office of the Veterinarian (OPVET), said the province has culled at least 2,290 hogs. The shift to poultry production could give local governments space and time to adopt the best practices in rolling back ASF while ensuring farmers still have income. The provincial board declared the state of calamity on May 19. It approved the use of monies from a 'calamity fund' to support the campaign against ASF. Provincial board bember Nemesio Neron, chair of the committee of agriculture, at the same forum said that 3 million (US$53,802) will be used by the province for administrative costs in the campaign against ASF. "The remaining 7 million (US$125,538) will be used as financial assistance for the hog raisers affected," he added. The towns with ASF are Balete, Batan, New Washington, Makato, Tangalan, Numancia, Lezo, Ibajay and Malay. "We are looking at the best practice of Balete, Aklan in combat against the ASF," Sinel said. "They were the first one who had been infested, but they immediately prevented its spread. Other towns in Aklan have several affected barangays and are still spreading." In Balete, Sinel said the two towns that reported ASF cases implemented 24-hour lockdowns for entry and exit of hogs. "Other barangays in Aklan failed to secure their areas at night time; the in and out of hogs at night has been reported contributing to the outbreak," the provincial veterinarian pointed out. Jun Agravante, head of the Aklan Hog Raisers Association, said the association is encouraging hog raisers to shift to poultry raising while the province struggles to end the ASF outbreak. Agravante said farmers can choose two types of poultry. One is ready-to-lay (RTL) hens, those that are mature enough from 16 weeks to 20 weeks old to lay eggs, with peak production in the first two years. There is also the option of conventional raising of poultry for meat, a cycle that on the average involves eight weeks. Providing financial aid for the shift is crucial, Agravante said, as culling cuts deep into farmers' income. Rappler Purdue University: Drone imagery analysis to help increase soybean yield in wake of climate change Professors from Purdue University have worked in recent years to predict soybean biomass from drone imagery in Indiana, the United States. "We're now expanding that capability to all the public soybean breeding programmes in the region," said Katy Rainey, professor of agronomy, who also directs the Purdue Soybean Center. Soon, she and Keith Cherkauer, professor of agricultural and biological engineering, will begin receiving drone imagery collected on a panel of 1,200 soybean varieties that breeders have planted in 11 US states across the country's north-central region. "Here at Purdue, we'll do all the processing and modification of the images to predict biomass," Rainey said. The effort is part of the SOYGEN3 (Science Optimized Yield Gains across ENvironments) project. Consisting of eight universities, including Purdue, SOYGEN3 has more than US$900,000 in funding from the North Central Soybean Research Program. "The overarching goal in this experiment is to develop methods and models for selecting soybeans that will be high yielding in future extreme environments under climate-change scenarios," Rainey said. "We know that the future environments we're going to grow soybean in are different from the ones we have now because climate is changing. We're getting more extreme weather as well from climate change." The project exploits software, called Plot Phenix, which rapidly converts aerial crop photographs into useful information for plant breeding, crop modeling and precision agriculture. Rainey, Cherkauer and Purdue PhD alumnus Anthony Hearst, who is also chief executive officer of Progeny Drone Inc., patented Plot Phenix in 2022. "I'm interested in water use, the effects of environments and the ability to measure and simulate soybean across large areas," said Cherkauer, who also directs the Indiana Water Resources Research Center. "Having locations that are farther apart increases the likelihood that we will have a range of environmental conditions." Minnesota soybean breeders and farmers plant different genetic stock than those in Indiana, for example, which requires more heat-resistant varieties. But even areas that share the same annual average precipitation could experience dramatically different years. "We could have drought here in Indiana, and eastern Kansas could be having a normal year," Cherkauer said. "Having access to so many locations that could be experiencing average weather conditions and drier conditions allows us to stretch the image analysis and the models we're building beyond what we do right now." Eastern Kansas gets about the same precipitation as Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. But western Kansas receives about half as much precipitation. It resembles central-western Nebraska, the Dakotas and western Minnesota in that regard. "Indiana is almost entirely rain-fed except for seed production and production in the sandy soils. Illinois is going to be similar. As you get into Iowa, they're starting to see a bit more irrigation," Cherkauer explained. Cherkauer is a co-founder of GRYFN, a Purdue-affiliated company that has provided a new drone for the project with funding from the departments of Agronomy and Agricultural and Biological Engineering and the College of Agriculture. Calibration flights for the new platform have already begun at Purdue's Agronomy Center for Research and Education, a 1,600-acre farm facility located seven miles northwest of campus. The SOYGEN3 collaboration will fly drones that collect imagery in red, green and blue (RGB, or true color, the type captured by regular cameras). "SOYGEN3 is about starting with relatively inexpensive cameras and hardware systems at a variety of locations," Cherkauer said. But the Purdue drone also will carry multispectral and thermal cameras, yielding better data sets that could lead to recommendations for their SOYGEN3 partners. Such data could help the US maintain its position as the world's leading soybean producer. Revenues in 2022 topped US$66 billion. This includes more than US$34 billion in exports, according to the United States Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service. "It's a unique crop because it is very important to future protein food security," said Rainey. Yet soybean uses are mostly industrial, meaning that people consume only a small percentage of its production. "You might occasionally eat a traditional soy food like tofu or edamame. But for the most part, 95% of soybeans globally are fed to chickens and pigs and are the basis of that food chain." To maintain soybean's burgeoning production, researchers will need a more finessed understanding of how weather and climate affect yield in a range of environments involving genetic variation. Breeders would then be able to select soybean varieties more strategically. "The genetic variation is key because the most obvious way that breeders or breeding organisations in the private sector would use the data that we produce would be in what's known as genomic prediction," Rainey explained. Given enough data over the entire soybean genome, genomic prediction allows breeders to create a statistical model that predicts yield for 10,000 untested lines. "But the genomic prediction models need to be calibrated to environments and have more information in them than what's currently in there," Rainey said. Also needed is a model that includes biomass predictions. Such models are based on drone imagery and genetics. "In my lab, we work on combining that information. We're just about the only ones to do that across the public and the private sector in soybean," she said. - Purdue University Shrimp farming company first in Malaysia to receive Aquaculture Stewardship Council certification Sankina Aquaculture Sdn Bhd, a shrimp farming company located on Sabah state, has become the first in Malaysia to be awarded the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification, a globally recognised eco-label, The Star reported. The certification was granted after Sankina Aquaculture collaborated with WWF Malaysia to implement the Aquaculture Improvement Project (AIP) in 2019. Supported by Marina Bay Sands and WWF-Singapore, the AIP aimed to assist aquaculture farms in obtaining ASC certification and advancing their sustainability practices. Sankina Aquaculture actively participated in the program, undertaking restoration and preservation initiatives for the mangrove areas within and adjacent to their farm site. They also implemented rigorous protocols for wastewater treatment to effectively manage pollution and established systems to improve workers' welfare. The positive impact of their mangrove preservation efforts is evident as there has been an increase in sightings of migratory birds surrounding the farm, as stated in a WWF Malaysia statement on Monday. Recognising these commendable efforts, the Sabah Fisheries Department provided crucial support, paving the way for Sankina Aquaculture to become the first shrimp farm in Malaysia to receive the esteemed ASC certification. Jenny Ou, the managing director of Sankina Aquaculture, said that the recognition serves as a testament to their dedication to preserving the planet and securing a brighter future for generations to come. Ou described the ASC certification as a significant milestone in their sustainability journey. Roy van Daatselaar, Global Lead of the ASC Improver Programme, expressed hope that Sankina Aquaculture's certification would inspire other farms to follow a similar "improvement pathway" in their pursuit of sustainable practices. Sophia Lim, the CEO of WWF Malaysia, said that aquaculture development can thrive without harming the environment when managed carefully, particularly in vulnerable mangrove areas in Malaysia. - The Star Tynwald asked to endorse two new funding models for care The way nursing, residential and home care is accessed and paid for on Island will change, as Tynwald are asked to support further research on two models of funding for care. The new models aim to make the system fairer and more suitable for those who use it, as well as their families. Both of the two preferred models would overhaul the current system on the Isle of Man. Originally six models were considered, and work has been undertaken to review existing arrangements, the challenges, opportunities and best practice from other jurisdictions before completing financial modelling to understand the feasibility of introducing the new models and how each model would financially impact upon the Government and individuals. The Health and Care Transformation Team are now asking Tynwald to support two preferred models the Free Personal Care model, and the Mixed model, to be further explored. A free personal care model would be similar to the current system in Scotland, where personal care is provided to people at no charge, regardless of their income or assets. This would cover any care of a personal nature given at home or in a residential or nursing care home, including tasks relating to hygiene, medication, feeding, bathing and dressing. The mixed model would be similar to the system in Jersey, based on a threshold and cap scheme, designed to protect the family home. This model would introduce a new benefit that covers care costs for those needing care, once costs have been paid up to a cap. Both models require people to meet their own accommodation and living costs, with means tested support available to those who would struggle with those costs. Minister for Health and Social Care, Lawrie Hooper MHK, said: It was recognised in 2018 that our current model of social care isnt fair, and isnt sustainable. I made a clear commitment in my manifesto to start reforming this unfair system. The Health and Care Transformation Team have been working hard to bring forward proposals to understand how the models would work on the Island, and with the support of Tynwald will be able to focus on producing in-depth models. Over the coming years I expect that nursing, residential and home care funding and access on the Island will look fundamentally different to how it does today. I am hopeful that one of these models will bring a fairer and more accessible system to the Island. If Tynwald members endorse proceeding with further investigation of the two models that are presented, public engagement will take place in the autumn. Cruise launches an Android app for its self-driving taxis It will come with all the updates the iOS app has gotten since it launched. Cruise has finally launched an Android app for ridehailing, giving potential customers in San Francisco the option to call one of its robotaxis even if they're not iPhone users. The self-driving car company told Engadget that 20 percent of its waitlisters are on Android, and an app for the platform is one of people's most-requested updates on social media. Cruise's new Android app will come with all the upgrades the iOS app has received since it launched, including the ability to drop a moveable pin on the map by long pressing on the screen. Cruise The company recently started operating in all areas of San Francisco 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Employees have been able to hail robotaxi rides from across the city at all hours for months, but Cruise opened daytime rides to public "power users" in specific portions of the city back in April. To note, when Cruise secured the first ever driverless deployment permit issued by the California Public Utilities Commission last year, it was only given permission to operate in select areas of San Francisco from 10PM to 6AM. Passengers with Android phones who become power users, or customers who sign up to test beta features and to send feedback to Cruise for free rides, will be able to hail daytime rides. A spokesperson also told us that Cruise is continuing to expand the availability of daytime rides in San Francisco, so even paying customers will eventually be able to use the service. When the company announced its 24/7 operations, Kyle Vogt, its CEO, said that we'll soon see Cruise "open up full operations in other cities." He said "operating robotaxis in SF has become a litmus test for business viability," and that if the technology can work there, "there's little doubt it can work just about everywhere." The Pixel Tablet is like an emotionally unstable partner. On good days, its reliable and helpful, always ready to listen and support me. Every now and then, though, I feel gaslit and annoyed by its inconsistencies and mixed messages. This might be because Googles latest tablet/smart-display hybrid straddles two product categories: one at which it excels and another where its just adequate. As a smart display, the Pixel Tablet mostly shines. It has a useful dashboard, an easy-to-read interface and impressive audio quality. As a tablet, its decent, but doesnt blow me away. Throw in the case that Google made though, and it immediately becomes more versatile. At $500 with an included charging speaker base, the Pixel Tablet is a compelling marriage of two products with a reasonable price. Hardware and design If we do the math, since you can buy additional speaker docks for $120 each, this means the tablet basically costs $380. But it certainly doesnt feel like a sub-$400 device. While the nano-ceramic coating isnt remarkable, it lends a glass-like sensation to the back that makes it feel more expensive. Impressively, the Pixel Tablet manages to weigh just 1.09 pounds (493 grams), making it lighter than the Galaxy Tab S8 and the OnePlus Pad. That said, its still heavier than the iPad Air. Google Google Google Pixel Tablet SCORE 85 Engadget 85 Critics - Not yet scored N/A Users - Not yet scored N/A Pros Useful charging speaker dock Clever concept Good smart home features and controls Cons Awkward camera angle for video calls Some software quirks The review unit Google sent was the Rose color option, which is pleasant and inoffensive. Its the most exciting out of the three colors (black and white being the other two, so thats not saying much), and it blends (or blands) well with my living space. I prefer the green hue of the OnePlus Pad, but its worth noting that when I handed the Pixel Tablet to my colleague Nathan Ingraham, who recently reviewed the $480 OnePlus Pad, he thought Googles device felt more premium. What really sets the Pixel Tablet apart from other recent Android slates is the fact that its designed to attach to a charging speaker base and double as a smart display. Now, lets not forget other devices do this, primarily numerous Amazon and Lenovo tablets with a Show mode that turns them into Alexa-enabled screens. But its a first for the Google ecosystem. Before I get to how the Pixel Tablet works as a smart display, though, a quick word on its appearance. If youve seen one Google Home product, youve basically seen them all. The Pixel Tablet, when docked on the speaker, looks almost exactly like the Nest Hub Max. It has the same rounded rectangle shape, white bezel surrounding the 11-inch screen and the base has a similar mesh fabric covering to the rest of the companys smart home products. Again, its inoffensive and pleasant but doesnt stir my heart the way a West Elm or Article ornament does. (I know, Im basic.) As a smart display I was excited to stick the Pixel Tablet on the chest of drawers (from Article) in my bedroom so I could watch shows on it instead of having to buy a second TV or play them on my phone. Google cautioned against having multiple Assistant-enabled devices in one room, and I should have disconnected the Nest Mini speaker I already had on my nightstand. But it didnt create too many problems during the few days I had them both in there; when I said Hey Google while standing nearer the small speaker, the volume of the video playing on the Pixel Tablet dipped so I could be heard more clearly. After a week, I can now confidently remove the Nest Mini. Not only is the Pixel Tablet adept at hearing my commands, it also offers much better audio quality and is simply more useful. Thats kind of an obvious statement; obviously, a display would be more versatile than a speaker alone. But Im surprised at the improvement in sound from the speaker dock, since its not much bigger than the Mini. It provided ample bass in my endless binging of The Weeknd and Jay Chou playlists, while trebles and voices sounded crisp. Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget Im not the sort of person to hover in front of a smart display to fiddle with my connected home controls, nor do I have people over often enough that I need some kind of guest-friendly interface to turn on my lights. For those who do, though, the Pixel Tablets Hub Mode is likely very useful. Tapping on the house icon at the bottom left of the lock screen brings up a dashboard showing all devices in your home, and youll be able to monitor your camera feeds, switch lamps on and more. Guests will also be able to ask the Assistant to set timers, alarms, play music and more without needing to unlock your tablet, as long as youve set the permissions properly. Lack of visitors aside, its easy to see things on the Pixel Tablets screen whenever I set foot in my room, no matter how dark or bright it is. At night, the display goes into a dim mode that shows the time in large font but isnt so bright that it burns your retinas. Since my dresser is in the furthest corner away from the door, its nice not to have to squint to see info like the time, countdowns or the temperature. And like a true narcissist, I also set the Pixel Tablet to show a rotating stream of photos of my favorite people (mostly me). Not that any of this is unique to the Pixel Tablet, by the way. The Nest Hub Max has similarly larger fonts for timers and other info, and the photo frame feature is basically a staple of any smart display. Back to the main thing I wanted to use this tablet for, though: as a TV substitute. Since its the first tablet to be a Chromecast receiver, the Pixel Tablet can be controlled remotely with your phone as it streams from apps like YouTube, Disney+, Hulu and more. Of course, other larger smart displays like the Nest Hub Max can also do this, and since this doesnt work on the Pixel Tablet when its not docked, its not really a tablet you can cast to. Were getting really technical with definitions here, but in practical use, it means you cant cast to the Pixel Tablet when you have it hanging or propped up elsewhere in your home, for example. Its not a problem, but it limits the versatility of this feature. Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget Interestingly, Netflix doesnt support Chromecasting to the tablet, unlike the other apps. Its all the more strange considering it works on Googles other larger smart displays. I also encountered a bug where YouTube refused to cast videos from a specific channel, saying they werent allowed when I was in Restricted mode. But none of the devices I was logged into had that setting enabled. Other reviewers I spoke to didnt have this issue, so this might be a bug specific to my setup. It did infuriate me, though, because its easier to Chromecast my favorite commentary videos since I can skip ads or add more titles without having to drag myself out of bed. Sadly, I had to do just that since I ended up playing them via the native YouTube app. My hatred for this bug grew each time I had to get out and hit Skip ads on the screen. (No, you wont convince me to get YouTube Premium.) This small bug aside, however, Chromecasting is a nice touch on the Pixel Tablet, even if it isnt unique. I have multiple Google Home products in my apartment, and some of my issues with the Pixel Tablet as a smart display are ecosystem-wide instead of specific to the device. For instance, when I set up an Automation through the Home app, I wanted it so that saying Im home would start a playlist on the pair of Nest Audios in my living room. However, at the moment only the device that heard you can be the one playing the music. You cant decide which of your connected speakers does the action. Depending on the way your home is set up, like if you have a Mini in your entryway and prefer your beefier living room system to be the output, this might be frustrating. Luckily for me, the correct devices heard me most of the time, and I almost always got my desired outcome. Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget Thats more of a complaint about Googles smart home system instead of just the Pixel Tablet, which frankly I am pretty happy with. Not only is it a good connected display, but its also useful as a second screen when sat next to my laptop. Since it runs full Android, I can have apps like Solitaire or Slack open on it while I work on a review. You can also take video calls through Meet, Zoom, Teams or more, using the 8-megapixel webcam. The angle at which the speaker dock props up the tablet makes for a very unflattering shot, though. To mitigate that, Google built in an auto-framing feature that kicks in whenever you take a Meet call while connected to the base. It only works with Meet, though, so youll have to rely on third-party apps to provide their own solutions. I found that removing the tablet and propping it up with the kickstand on Googles case made for the best view. In fact, Im pretty much in love with this accessory. Earlier this year, Panasonic launched the S5 II and S5 IIX full-frame cameras, finally embracing phase-detect autofocus that puts it on par with rivals. Ive already tested the S5 II and found it to be one of the companys best cameras yet for content creators. Now, were looking at what I think is the more interesting model, the S5 IIX. It has an identical design and shares many of the same features as its sibling, like the new autofocus system and highly effective in-body stabilization. However, it adds a key function: the ability to record high-quality, easy-to-edit ProRes video internally onto SSDs via the USB-C port. With a bit of rigging, you can record hours of 4K or even 6K video to a relatively inexpensive drive. Panasonic Panasonic S5 IIX SCORE 92 Engadget 92 Critics - Not yet scored N/A Users - Not yet scored N/A Pros Good autofocus 6K ProRes and RAW video SSD capture Powerful stabilization Solid handling Cons Noticeable rolling shutter Not the best photo camera Whats surprising is that the S5 IIX only costs $200 more than S5 II. ProRes RAW is also included for free, whereas its a $200 upgrade on the S5 II. To see if its worth that, I shot photos and videos in Paris, Brittany and elsewhere around France. Body and Handling Ive already looked at the S5 IIs body and controls, and the S5 IIX has an identical layout but its worth revisiting them briefly particularly in the context of video and content creation. One key difference is the general appearance. The S5 IIX has a distinctive dark design, with a black logo and subtle gray graphics on the controls. The only dash of color to be found is the red record button. Quite a number of bystanders have oohed and aahed over the black-on-black look. Like the S5 II, the X model is a nice handling camera. The grip is large and uses relatively tactile materials, and features a ridge at the ring finger so it wont slip out of your hands. The controls are spot on, with the record button in an easy-to-find location on top. That said, it wouldve been nice to have another one on the front like the GH6. The menus are also among the best among camera companies (and nearly the same as the GH6), with most settings easy to find. It weighs 714 grams, a bit more than Sonys A7 IV and the Canon EOS R6 II. An external SSD can also add 100 grams or more, making it a bit heavy if youre holding it out at the end of your arm while vlogging. The screen fully articulates for self-shooting and has a sharp 1.84-million-dot display. It features a 3.69-million dot electronic viewfinder with resolution thats comparable to rivals and easily enough to check focus when shooting on a bright day. It has a full-sized HDMI port thats key for a camera with RAW video output, and USB-C for capturing internal video. Gallery: Panasonic S5 IIX review: Power and value in one vlogging package | 29 Photos /29 Gallery: Panasonic S5 IIX review: Power and value in one vlogging package | 29 Photos /29 The S5 IIX also includes dual UHS-II SD card slots, headphone and mic ports, plus the same battery as the original S5, GH6 and other models. You can get about 370 shots on a charge by CIPA stands, fewer than most of its rivals. For video, you can shoot for about 45 minutes at 4K 60p, again, a touch less than rivals. If youre planning to rig the S5 IIX to use SSDs, many folks are using the SmallRig universal holder with a hotshoe mount, though any clamping type device will work (Im using a smartphone tripod mount from Joby). If you need to use a shotgun microphone along with the SSD, you may need to mount it elsewhere on the camera, though, or use a cage. As for SSDs, Panasonic lists models from Samsung and SanDisk compatible with the GH6 (which has the same USB-C feature) and those should work for the S5 IIX as well. Other high-speed models should work as well. Video Yes, the S5 IIX is a hybrid camera, but video is the main attraction. With high-quality ProRes capture to an SSD, plus RAW video over the HDMI port, it offers a lot of capability for the price. First, lets look at capture via the USB-C port. It supports internal 10-bit ProRes capture to supported SSDs, which is a huge benefit to videographers. Media is relatively cheap, and theres no need to transcode or even transfer footage you can just hook up an external drive to a PC or Mac and start editing. Image by Steve Dent for Engadget In ProRes USB-C mode, theres a strange mix of recording formats. It captures 5.8K 17:9 30p footage in either ProRes HQ (1.6Gbps) or regular ProRes (1.1Gbps), but not at 16:9. It can only capture 17:9 C4K at 60p with a crop, or 30p supersampled video without a crop. But again, not 16:9 Ultra HD. The 17:9 part isnt a huge deal as you can crop the edges, but its odd considering most vloggers shoot 16:9 UltraHD. Perhaps thats something Panasonic can address in a future update. Luckily, you can capture 16:9 5.9K 25p footage and 4K 60p and 30p at 16:9 in the .MOV format. The latter supports All-I with data rates up to 800Kbps when capturing to USB-C, which is nearly as good as ProRes quality-wise though a bit slower for editing. On top of that, you can record 12-bit ProRes RAW or Blackmagic RAW files to Atomos or Blackmagic recorders via HDMI. It supports recording up to 5.9K 30p at 16:9 and not 17:9, or the rather odd 4.1K 4,128 x 2,176 17:9 format. Again, not a huge issue as you can crop the sides, but also a bit weird. Image by Steve Dent for Engadget As with other Panasonic models, you can capture open gate 6K 3:2 footage that uses every pixel on the sensor. That allows content creators to easily output both horizontal and vertical formats, but also to capture anamorphic video with supported lenses. Finally, you can record to regular old SD UHS-II cards. Where the S5 II is limited to recording longGOP files that arent very easy to edit, the S5 IIX can do most formats using an All-I codec at up to 600Mbps. So how is the quality of all the video? Mostly excellent, depending on the format. 4K 30p video is supersampled, so its extremely sharp. Panasonics colors are accurate, quite natural and easier to work with than Sonys files, I find. Skin tones arent as flattering as Canon offers, though. 4K 60p video is cropped to an APS-C size which isnt ideal, considering Canons like-priced R6 II has uncropped 4K 60p. Sharpness also drops a hair, as its pixel-for-pixel instead of supersampled. 5.9K video is also captured on a pixel for pixel basis, but I like that format as it allows for a lot of cropping options. Compared to other mirrorless cameras with the same resolution, it has good low-light capability. The Dual ISO system does a good job keeping noise down at ISOs as high as 12,800 or even 25,600. Image by Steve Dent for Engadget Panasonics V-Log delivers extra dynamic range, particularly with ProRes. Of course the best option, quality-wise, is V-Log RAW video. That lets you edit video just as you would with RAW photos, with a lot of room to recover highlights and shadow details. With those things together, the S5 IIX delivers results in line with expensive, professional video cameras. Pros will also appreciate the new hybrid phase-detect autofocus. Its designed to eliminate the wobble inherent in Panasonics past contrast-detect AF camera, and it does that very effectively. The S5 IIX offers continuous AF modes along with subject tracking, for both humans and animals. Its not quite up to Sony and Canon models like the A7 IV and R6 II, as subject tracking isnt quite as fast or reliable. However, its as good or better than Nikon and Fujifilms latest models. Image by Steve Dent for Engadget The S5 II has updated in-body stabilization borrowed from the GH6, and its powerful and impressive the best on any camera on the market for video. It cant match a gimbal, of course, but the electronic mode smooths out steps much better than the S5, despite some side-to-side sway. It also has a Boost IS for handheld video with no movement, keeping shots locked off like the cameras on a tripod. One cool feature not seen on too many other cameras is full stabilization support for anamorphic lenses (most types) via a setting. And finally, it supports high audio quality either through the mic port or an XLR adapter that attaches to the hotshoe. Photography Gallery: Panasonic S5IIX review: Power and value in one vlogging package | 20 Photos /20 Gallery: Panasonic S5IIX review: Power and value in one vlogging package | 20 Photos /20 If you need to use the S5 IIX for photography from time to time, its not bad at all. You can shoot at up to 7 fps with the mechanical shutter or 30 fps in electronic mode. The buffer is quite impressive, as it allows for 200 shots in RAW before throttling. Oddly though, a USB-C drive doesnt improve that number much compared to an SD card. The autofocus can keep up as well, but as with video, its not quite as fast or smart as the AF on recent Sony cameras. Its particularly noticeable when using the AI subject modes for example, it can lose a subjects eyes if they turn their heads. Tracking is also a bit more limited than Sony and Canon models. Still, for vlogging and most types of content creation, it performs well. The stabilization system is rock solid for photos. And photo quality is outstanding, with dynamic range comparable to Sony and Nikons latest models. You also get natural looking colors and skin tones. It also shines in low light situations thanks to the stabilization, dual ISO system and relatively large pixels. Wrap-up Image by Steve Dent for Engadget When I reviewed the S5 II earlier this year, I said that its biggest competition would be the X version, and now Im sure of that. Simply put, this is a $2,200 near-professional camera with the image quality and most of the features a content creator needs. The new autofocus is good but not quite up to the Sony A7 IV, and it lacks full-frame 4K 60p video like the Canon R6 II. Its far better for video than both of those models, though, thanks to the ProRes and other features nowhere to be found in either rival model. And the AF is as good or better than youll find on like-priced Nikon and Fujifilm models, with the focus wobble of past models a thing of the past. One thing that might give you pause is the L-Mount lens choice and value. However, Panasonic recently lowered the prices on key lenses, including this 24-70m f/2.8 model. It now has 14 of its own lenses, on top of 31 from Sigma. All told, if I was looking for a new camera system for around $2,000, I wouldnt hesitate to grab the S5 IIX. While lawmakers in the House (and soon, the Senate) call for a "blue-ribbon commission" to study the potential impacts of AI on American society, President Biden on Tuesday met with leaders in the emerging field to discuss and debate the issue directly. The President met with Tristan Harris, executive director of the Center for Human Technology; Fei-Fei Li, Co-Director of Stanfords Human-Centered AI Institute; and Jennifer Doudna, Professor of Chemistry at UC Berkeley, among others, at the Fairmont hotel in San Francisco. Staying atop the growing swell of AI technology advancements in recent months and years, specifically the emergence of generative AI systems, has become a focal point for the Biden administration. Generative AI systems hold the promise to revolutionize many sectors of the economy and drastically reimagine the nature of modern office work. However, those same systems could just as likely wipe out entire professions, as the fields of digital art and journalism are now experiencing. The White House announced a $140 million investment in May to establish seven new National AI Research Institutes and has begun investigating the technology's use in business. As the White House chief of staff's office told AP, top White House staff meet regularly on the subject, two to three times each week. Biden himself has reportedly met with multiple subject matter experts and technical advisors on the subject to discuss, "the importance of protecting rights and safety to ensure responsible innovation and appropriate safeguards." Rivian owners will be able to use Tesla Superchargers starting in 2024 The automaker will adopt NACS charge ports as standard in R1 and R2 vehicles. Rivian is joining GM and Ford in gaining access to Tesla's Supercharger network. The automaker will offer R1T and R1S owners an adapter to connect their EVs to Supercharger stations as soon as spring of next year. Rivian will also adopt North American Charging Standard (NACS) charge ports as standard in R1 vehicles starting in 2025, as well as in the upcoming R2 platform. The move means that Rivian owners will soon be able to top up their vehicle's battery at more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers across the US and Canada . Rivian plans to keep expanding its Adventure Network of DC fast chargers too. Today we signed an agreement with @Tesla to adopt the North American Charging Standard. This opens charging for Rivian vehicles on Tesla's Supercharger network across the United States and Canada. Access starts as soon as Spring 2024. https://t.co/Z5SBOFytgy pic.twitter.com/fWOMNtpkYs Rivian (@Rivian) June 20, 2023 "The adoption of the North American Charging Standard will enable our existing and future customers to leverage Teslas expansive Supercharger network while we continue to build out our Rivian Adventure Network," Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in a statement . "We look forward to continuing to find new ways to accelerate EV adoption. Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon is wanted in South Korea and the US for a scheme that lost investors $40 billion when the company's cryptocurrency plummeted last year but, for now, he will sit in a Montenegrin prison. Kwon has been found guilty on charges of forging official documents and sentenced to four months in jail after a late March arrest while trying to board a flight to Dubai from Podgorica Airport with fake Costa Rican passports, local newspaper Vijesti reported. Han Chang-joon, Terraform Labs' former finance officer, was also charged and sentenced on the same count. The pair were also found to have forged Belgian passports in their luggage, as well as computers sought by both the South Korean and US authorities. Kwon and his associates marketed TerraUSD and Luna as stablecoins pegged to the US dollar, purportedly giving them more, well, stability. They collapsed in May 2022 and took many of their investors' life savings along with them, with these individuals subsequently filing complaints that Kwon had run a Ponzi scheme. South Korea first announced an arrest warrant against Kwon and five associates last September, but he, his family and some of Terraform Labs' finance employees had already fled to Singapore, where the company had registered. Interpol soon put Kwon on the "red notice" list at the request of Korean authorities, signaling law enforcement worldwide to arrest him. Montenegrin authorities cited this as another reason for arresting Kwon. The US Securities and Exchange Commission charged Kwon in February with failing to "provide the public with full, fair, and truthful disclosure as required for a host of crypto asset securities, most notably for LUNA and Terra USD. We also allege that they committed fraud by repeating false and misleading statements to build trust before causing devastating losses for investors." The US District Court in Manhattan publicly released an indictment against Kwon with eight counts, including securities fraud and conspiracy, following his arrest. Though Montenegro doesn't have extradition treaties with the US or South Korea, the idea is still on the table. The four-month jail sentence comes shortly after Montenegrin authorities increased their custody stay by six months while determining if and how to proceed with the two nation's extradition requests. A US Senate committee is investigating Amazons warehouse safety practices. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, sent a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy today, initiating the probe. Sanders urged Jassy to address health and safety issues at the companys warehouses and requested additional information about its response to various safety issues. In a statement to Engadget, Amazon said, Weve reviewed the letter and strongly disagree with Senator Sanders assertions, while adding that it has extended an invitation for the Senator to tour one of its facilities. Sanders nearly 2,400-word letter takes the retailer to task for reported injuries and unsafe practices at its warehouses. The companys quest for profits at all costs has led to unsafe physical environments, intense pressure to work at unsustainable rates, and inadequate medical attention for tens of thousands of Amazon workers every year, Sanders wrote. At every turn from warehouse design and workstation setup, to pace of work requirements, to medical care for injuries and subsequent pressure to return to work Amazon makes decisions that actively harm workers in the name of its bottom line. The letter contrasts Amazons history of warehouse injuries and safety complaints with its $1.3 trillion market value, founder Jeff Bezos net worth of nearly $150 billion and Jassys $289 million in compensation over the last two years. It cites figures from the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), a coalition of North American labor unions, that paint the companys patterns as uniquely dangerous. In 2022 alone, Amazon warehouse workers suffered nearly 39,000 injuries, 95 percent of which were so serious that they required workers to either lose time at work or switch to modified duty, Sanders wrote. Amazons rate of serious injuries at its warehouses, at 6.6 injuries per 100 workers, was more than double the rate at non-Amazon warehouses. And despite constituting only a little more than a third of the warehouse workers in the country, Amazon workers suffered more serious injuries than all of the other warehouse workers in the United States combined. In an email to Engadget, Amazon disputed SOCs data. There will always be ways for our critics to splice data to suit their narrative, but the fact is, weve made progress and our numbers clearly show it. Since 2019, weve reduced our rate of recordable injuries across our global network by more than 23%, and weve reduced our Lost Time Incident Rate by 53%. This is easily verifiable by examining the data we report to OSHA. In addition, the company highlighted a report detailing its meaningful and measurable progress, while pointing us to a blog post regarding its efforts to help combat the effects of summer heat. ASSOCIATED PRESS Sanders letter asks Jassy to explain why Amazons injury rates are significantly higher than the warehouse industry average despite regulators repeatedly identifying measures Amazon could take to improve safety. It also asks the company to address why Amazons claims of robotics improving safety dont align with data that says its robotic facilities have 28 percent higher injury rates than non-robotic ones. Finally, it asks for communications about a connection between workers pace of work and the prevalence of injuries. In addition to his letter, the Senator created a website for current and former Amazon workers to submit stories about their experiences with the company. Sanders asked Jassy to respond by July 5th. This is far from the first complaint about Amazons safety practices. A company warehouse collapsed in December 2021, spurring Congressional action that described Amazons response as disappointing and part of a wholly inadequate safety culture. In response to the collapse, Amazon tweaked its severe-weather strategy but refused to build storm shelters at its warehouses. In addition, federal prosecutors and the US Department of Labor announced an investigation last year over the companys workplace conditions a move that included OSHA inspections. In April, the SOC said Amazon was responsible for 53 percent of all severe warehouse injuries in the US despite employing around one-third of the countrys warehouse workers. When faced with worker injuries, Amazon provides minimal medical care while hiding those injuries from regulators and workers compensation programs, said Sanders. This system forces workers to endure immeasurable long-term pain and disabilities while Amazon makes incredible profits from their labor. That cannot be allowed to continue. Two weeks after a dam breach caused massive flooding in south Ukraine, a village in the Mykolaiv region bore evidence of the scale of the destruction. One local says it's now impossible to live there. Wavemaker has announced a series of key strategic changes to its leadership team to continue its dominant position in the industry and boost growth. Premjeet Sodhi, Chief Strategy Officer will be soon taking on the role of Global Head of Measurement & Analytics. In his new role, Premjeet will be part of Wavemakers Global Consultancy team which supports clients in adopting future-proofed marketing practices to advance transformative growth, protecting outcomes in the near-term, and creating disproportionate advantage in the long-term. Premjeet will report into Anna Hickey, Global Consultancy Lead and will be based out of New York. A media veteran with over 25 years of rich experience, Premjeet joined Wavemaker in 2020 as Chief Growth Officer before taking on the role of Chief Strategy Officer. Taking on the baton from Premjeet Sodhi, Mansi Datta will transition into Chief Strategy Officer. Mansi, a proficient leader has been heading North & East region operations at Wavemaker since 2020. Mansi joined Wavemaker as General Manager in 2015. During her stint, Mansi has built great client partnerships, bolstered agency operations, and built an incredible team. Shekhar Banerjee, Chief Client Officer & Office Head West, will be taking on the additional responsibility of managing North & East for Wavemaker India. Shekhar joined Wavemaker in 2018 to lead operations for the West region and has built an incredibly strong business. He has built a world class team that has delivered an exceptional product to our clients. Under Shekhars leadership, Wavemaker West has grown from strength to strength, doing great work, winning awards, and consistently winning new business. Speaking on these leadership changes, Ajay Gupte, CEO South Asia, Wavemaker said, It makes me extremely happy and satisfied to see our leaders stepping into larger & diverse roles within the ecosystem. I firmly believe, Wavemaker provides a vast stimulating platform for our people to grow. With these changes, I am confident we will make a massive difference to our clients and people. I wish Premjeet, Mansi & Shekhar all the best in their new roles and I am confident we will continue to create more positive disruptions in the industry. In their new roles, Mansi and Shekhar will report into Ajay. Do Authors Need a Pen Name? Book Publicist Scott Lorenz Discusses Pros and Cons Plymouth, MIA rich tradition has existed for hundreds of years for fiction writers to use pen names. You may be surprised to learn that some authors have more than 10 pen names, and many authors believe their name affects how their audience sees them and even their book sales. Pen names have been used throughout history, and Scott Lorenz provides examples: "One of the most famous pen names was Samuel Clemens who wrote under the name Mark Twain. Another well-known pen name was Lewis Carroll, used by Alice in Wonderland's author, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. He gained a considerable reputation as a mathematician and didn't want to create confusion by writing fiction under his real name." "Whether you call it a pen name, pseudonym, non de plume, alias or AKA, you are creating a new persona that'll need care and feeding!" Lorenz says. Authors have a variety of reasons for using pen names. Lorenz discusses one client: "One of my book marketing clients served as a Navy Seal in the Iraq War and then returned to write a book about his war experiences. To protect his personal safety and maintain security for his family, he used the pen name Chuck Bravedy. The author was concerned that extremists living in America would be offended and angered by his controversial book and come after him or his family. The fact that Chuck Bravedy was not listed as a Navy Seal caused The Pentagon to call me. They explained they wanted to keep phonies from impersonating military officials. I gladly connected them both!" Other clients of Lorenz's include a former CIA station chief who was concerned about the impact a pen name would have on promoting his book. After discussing the pros and cons, he decided to use his real name. Lorenz also represented two Medical Doctors who both wrote serious erotica. Neither wanted their hospitals to know about their 'other' life so they both chose pen names and donned disguises for their headshots. From a marketing standpoint, there's no need for a pen name if your work and your business are connected. But if you have success, and don't want that success threatened by pursuing writing, then a pen name may be necessary. Pen names may create marketing challenges, so the marketing implications need to be examined before publishing. So, let's discuss the main pros and cons, as quoted by Lorenz: Reasons to use a pen name include: To avoid embarrassment For personal safety or security If you write under more than one genre If your name is hard to pronounce or spell If your name is not marketable If your name conflicts with the name of another author To hide gender (a male writing in predominantly female genre) To avoid confusing readers if you are well known in another field Reasons to use your real name: If you are not trying to hide from anyone. To brand yourself and promote your name for speaking gigs or consulting assignments If you are planning to write a series of books So people can find your published works Your face behind your name builds trust and confidence with readers Because long-term loyalty with readers is easier to build with real name It can be difficult to come up with a pen name, so check out some of these name generators linked on Scott Lorenz's blog, available here, for inspiration. The Bottom Line: A Pen Name is an author's useful tool for the right reasons. About Book Publicist Scott Lorenz Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it's their first book or their 15th book. He's handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers, and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman's World, & Howard Stern to name a few. Learn more about Westwind Book Marketing at https://www.WestwindBookMarketing.com or contact Lorenz at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or 734-667-2090 or fill out the form below. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist. Want help titling a book? Check out Scott Lorenz's new award winning, bestselling book: Book Title Generator- A Proven System in Naming Your Book Tuesday, June 20, 2023 CNN, which usually reports the news about crises, is going through a crisis itself. "Chris Licht, the embattled chief executive and chairman of CNN, whose brief one-year tenure at the network was stained by a series of severe missteps, departed the company on Wednesday," the news organization reported earlier this month. "I met with Chris, and he will be leaving CNN," David Zaslav, the chief executive of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, told CNN employees at the start of the network's daily editorial meeting," according to the network. Licht's brief and rocky tenure at the news outlet provides several lessons for corporate leaders about avoiding and responding to a crisis. Don't Make Yourself The Story "As Licht said in his response to the Atlantic article, a leader should never make himself the story. Unfortunately, that's what he did," Debra Caruso Marrone , president of DJC Communications, said via email. "Having read the entire Atlantic article (as long as it was), Licht poured his heart out to reporter Tim Alberta and allowed Alberta too much access to his private thoughts and even his close relationships with people like his personal trainer," Marrone observed. Apologize Quickly After the article was published, Licht apologized for creating a distraction for his company and its journalists, saying, "CNN is not about me. I should not be in the news unless it's taking arrows for you." Followership Is Necessary For Leadership "Perhaps Licht did not do enough to build internal followers and supporters," Laurie R. Barkman, an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, observed via email. "Unlike former CNN president Jeffrey Zucker, who [had] an office on a CNN newsroom floor, Licht separated himself from the network's journalists. "Was this foreshadowing for the figurative separation Licht would experience with key journalists? Anchor Christiane Amanpour, among others, voiced discontent in some of Licht's programming decisions. It is common practice for new CEOs to hire executives with whom they have worked previously. These are trusted, tested relationships that can add value to a new leadership team," she noted. "The challenge is if you don't invest enough in the troops who you need to follow you into battle," Barkman warned. Take Time To Make Changes For any "new leader, particularly one succeeding a popular predecessorbecome a member of a tribe before you try to lead it," Ephraim Schachter, president of Schachter Consulting, said via email. "Rather than building rapport, trust and relationship capital with his new company, Licht is reported to have criticized their work, telling them that CNN had lost its way. He physically separated himself, having little contact with staff, even moving offices to a separate floor. This is a recipe for inviting contempt, not building loyalty," Schachter observed. When Everything Is Changing, You Can't Change Everything Licht "entered the company with a mandate for change. In his first six months, he conducted a company-wide business review that led to a series of sweeping changes," Carnegie Mellon University's Barkman said. "Many changes were met with skepticism and challenges, such as shuttering the CNN+ streaming service (originally hailed as a future growth platform for the company). He also fired key CNN journalists, including Brian Stelter, the network's chief media correspondent and anchor of Reliable Sources. While many of these changes may have helped the financials, they likely created a foundational shift in the psyche of the staff," she pointed out. Don't Let A Crisis Simmer A crisis can only get worse over time, not better. Once they know there is a problem or that a problem is being caused by an employee or top executivethe board of directors or other appropriate corporate leaders should not wait to take decisive action. "Warner Bros, Discovery has followed the crisis communication playbook to the letter by trying to move fast and get ahead of the story," Andy Barr, CEO and founder of the 10 Yetis Digital marketing agency, said in a statement from his company. "Licht could have been left to limp on through his tenure as CEO of CNN, and the story would have dragged out. This would have attracted advertiser and shareholder unrest and eventually led to a share price fall, but the fast-paced nature of the decision should now give investors greater faith in the future direction of the company," he noted. "This is a great example of decisive leadership by Warner Bros Discovery, but also another reason why CEOs need to remember that the truth always comes out, especially around emotive subjects such as politics. It will inevitably come out faster if you lose the faith of the workforce in your first few activities, actions and statements," Barr concluded. Take Responsibility "For a number of reasons, things didn't work out, and that's unfortunate," Zaslav told CNN staffers Wednesday, according to Darcy. "It's really unfortunate. And ultimately, that's on me. And I take full responsibility for that," Forbes reported. An Apology May Not Be Enough Saying that you are sorry for what you did or said that caused a crisis may not always be sufficient. That certainly proved to be the case with Licht, whose departure from the network was announced. (The Center Square) President Joe Biden held an event in California Tuesday to discuss the future of artificial intelligence and what regulations may be enacted to rein it in. Biden hosted the meeting with federal officials, AI experts and governors to discuss AIs enormous promise and its risks. As Ive said before, we will see more technological change in the next 10 years than weve seen in the last 50 years, and maybe even beyond that, Biden told reporters at the event at a San Francisco hotel. AI is already driving that change in every part of American life, often in ways that we dont notice, Biden said. AI is already making it easier to search the internet, helping us drive to our destinations while avoiding traffic in real time. Biden gave a nod to the risks to our society, our economy and our national security. In October of last year, Biden released an AI Bill of Rights. He also signed an executive order earlier this year to fight bias in the design of AI. While advanced AI has the ability to operate independently from its designers once it is set up, those designers can build certain biases or political slants into how the AI processes information and responds to requests. Biden pointed to this as an opportunity for spreading misinformation. After giving his remarks, he asked media to leave the room for the official meeting. Biden held the event after the release of ChatGPT, a new technology where users can interact with artificial intelligence in a more significant way. The technology was considered a major breakthrough for AI and spread quickly in popularity in part because of its ability to apparently think creatively and do things like write entire elaborate poems in just seconds. The breakthrough has resurfaced concerns that AI could be used for an array of harmful purposes, ranging from malicious use from foreign powers or companies to indirect consequences like lost jobs. Experts say AI could also begin acting in interests contrary to its creators and humans in general, even without its creators being aware of it. Billionaire Elon Musk, who helped found the company that later created ChatGPT after his exit, has called for a pause in the development of AI until regulations are enacted. He echoed that sentiment during a Twitter Spaces event as part of a Viva Technology conference last week. We could have a potentially catastrophic outcome," Musk said, adding that while AIs impact will likely be positive, we need to minimize the possibility that something could go wrong with digital superintelligence. Last month, Biden met with Alphabet, Anthropic, Microsoft, and OpenAI, the company that developed ChatGPT. The White House said in a statement that the meeting was to underscore this responsibility and emphasize the importance of driving responsible, trustworthy, and ethical innovation with safeguards that mitigate risks and potential harms to individuals and our society. Last month's meeting coincided with the White Houses announcement of $140 million in AI research and development funding to be made available through the National Science Foundation. Plaintiffs' attorney Phil Gregory asks questions of state expert witness Phil Gregor in the Held v. Montana trial on Monday, June 19, 2023. (Photo by Blair Miller, Daily Montanan) Attorneys for the state of Montana rested their case Monday in the youth climate trial after calling the Department of Environmental Quality director and one of its division directors to the stand, along with a lone expert witness who presented data on greenhouse gas emissions that the plaintiffs attorneys deemed to be incorrect. Along with a few procedural matters regarding what evidence can be submitted for Judge Kathy Seeleys consideration, attorneys for the state as well as the 16 Montana youth who sued are expected to deliver their closing remarks in the Held v. Montana trial on Tuesday. The plaintiffs attorneys said they might call a witness or two back to the stand to rebut testimony made by the states witnesses and will submit a witness deposition. After attorneys for the 16 youth plaintiffs called many of the plaintiffs themselves as well as expert witnesses on climate change, renewable energies, energy policy in Montana, and childrens physical and mental health to testify in the case last week, the states attorneys called only three witnesses Monday before resting their case. The plaintiffs allege the state is violating their constitutional rights to a clean and healthful environment for current and future generations by explicitly putting into law that the state cannot consider greenhouse gas emissions and climate effects when conducting environmental reviews on energy and mining projects and when considering whether to issue permits. They are asking Seeley to deem what they call the limitation to the Montana Environmental Policy Act the part of the law that says the state cannot consider greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts to be unconstitutional. Most of the questions posed to DEQ Director Chris Dorrington and Sonja Nowakowski, the director of the Air, Energy and Mining Division within DEQ, by attorneys for the state surrounded the states ongoing claim that MEPA is procedural and that underlying permitting statutes the Clean Air Act of Montana and the Strip and Underground Mine Siting Act among them are what speak to the provisions of the state constitution that guarantee a right to a clean and healthful environment. Dorrington has been the director of DEQ since the Gianforte administration took office in January 2021. He previously held the job Nowakowski currently holds, starting as division administrator in June 2016, he said, after 10 prior years with the Department of Transportation. He told the court that it is the underlying permits that guide the agency and provide requirements when it comes to issuing permits and that the changes to the MEPA limitation the legislature made in May when it passed, and Gov. Greg Gianforte signed, House Bill 971 leave the department with no choice but to follow the law. He cited statute that outlines the purpose of MEPA, highlighting a passage that says agencies may not withhold, deny, or impose conditions on any permit and another that says the statute only provides DEQ with authority as stated in existing statute, to back up his claim. The state continues to allege, as it has throughout the case and in hearings and filings over the past two months, that since lawmakers changed the MEPA limitation, the only redress the plaintiffs could have would be to challenge actual permitting decisions, though few have been made since the new law took effect. The plaintiffs originally filed the lawsuit in March 2020, when the former version of the MEPA limitation, added to law in 2011, was on the books, along with a state energy policy that lawmakers also repealed this session ahead of the trial. That forced the dismissal of the claims in the case involving the energy policy. Both Dorrington and Nowakowski said they had never before the trial heard the law referred to as the MEPA limitation, but Nowakowski acknowledged there certainly is a limitation on MEPA. Dorrington also told the plaintiffs attorneys he was not deeply familiar with the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, whose reports on climate change have been the basis of the testimony of most of the scientific experts who testified for the plaintiffs. Nowakowski, who for 15 years before taking the division administrator job worked as a research analyst on energy and environmental policy in the legislatures environmental policy office and as the research director for the Office of Research and Policy, similarly testified that DEQ simply follows the law when issuing permits. She also said since the current MEPA limitation does not allow the state to analyze greenhouse gas and climate impacts, the departments hands are tied. Witnesses for the plaintiffs last week showed that the department used to consider greenhouse gas impacts for projects in the 2000s, after which several proposals were shut down because of opposition from the public, as Montana Environmental Information Center policy and legislative affairs director Anne Hedges testified. Nowakowski drafted the 2011 MEPA limitation for a senator, which said that the state could not analyze emissions to outside of Montana when considering permitting projects, and which lawmakers amended this spring in response to a Yellowstone County judges ruling that said the state failed to look into greenhouse gas emissions projections for a NorthWestern Energy power plant in Laurel. She discussed data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that showed Montana had a gross fossil fuel emissions drop in 2020, though lawyers for the plaintiffs pointed out that was the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, when emissions generally dropped nationwide because of the pause in transportation, among other things. She said if the state lost the case, she believes it could potentially change what happens under environmental reviews involving MEPA, but that the agency still could not consider greenhouse gas or climate impacts because of the newly amended law. Its procedural. Its doesnt provide us with the authority to condition or modify, or approve or deny, a permit. That lies solely within the individual (permitting) acts, Nowakowski said. But she also added that those permitting statutes are also mostly silent when it comes to greenhouse gas and climate impacts, which she said she believes means those still could not be analyzed under the law even if the limitation is struck down. When plaintiffs attorney Barbara Chillcott asked Nowakowski if greenhouse gas emissions harm the environmental life support system and degrade Montanas natural resources, she on both occasions answered that she is not a scientist. But she said that while she believes the burning of fossil fuels are indeed the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, she does not believe that is something DEQ can look at when considering permits. I believe there is no authority to regulate climate change or greenhouse gases in those statutes, she told the court. Chillcott closed her cross-examination of Nowakowski by reading from her deposition, asking her if it was true she said she staked her career on having an opinion on climate change that fossil fuels contributed to global warming and climate change. Thats what I said in my deposition, she said. Before the state called its last witness of the trial, Assistant Attorney General Michael Russell motioned to essentially remove Gianforte, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, and the Public Service Commission from facing the court order in the case, arguing the plaintiffs had not presented evidence against them as defendants. Seeley denied their request and another similar one, saying they had gone through most of the case and that she would consider all of the evidence presented with the defendants at hand. Were far enough along here; we might as well finish up, she said. The final witness the state called was Terry Anderson, a fellow at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution and professor at Montana State University who proclaims himself to be a founder of so-called free market environmentalism and identifies himself as a climate economist. The attorneys for the plaintiffs almost immediately objected to his testimony, which involved him presenting data about Montanas greenhouse gas emissions, arguing that he is an economist and not a climate scientist. Seeley allowed the state to continue their questioning of Anderson since he was reading data purportedly off the Energy Information Administrations website. Anderson argued global greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 were 34.8 gigatons, while they were 36.8 gigatons in 2022, citing the EIA data. He then said that Montanas emissions which he narrowed to the location where carbon is consumed were 0.0262 gigatons in 2020 and 0.036 gigatons in 2022, which he provided as seven hundredths of one percent and eight hundredths of one percent of global emissions those years, respectively. But his testimony was almost immediately flipped on its head. Plaintiffs attorney Phil Gregory pointed out the numbers that Anderson originally submitted in a report last October contained data that was incorrect, which Anderson said had latter been corrected before he was deposed in the case. Gregory told Anderson he had changed the metric between his two submissions, from million metric tons of CO2 to gigatons of CO2, which make the numbers appear smaller compared to global emissions. He further changed one of the data points for 2022, Gregory said, which Anderson confirmed. Anderson said he was being paid $500 an hour by the state to be an expert witness in the case. When asked how many billable hours he had already accrued, he said he didnt know, but assumed it was at least 25 hours, for a bill of at least $12,500. After Gregory pressed on about the changing data Anderson presented, Seeley asked him where he was headed with the questioning and if he was going to show the court Andersons numbers were incorrect. Yes, Your Honor, he replied emphatically. Absolutely 100% wrong. Gregory put up slides on the monitor in the courtroom comparing the data Anderson had submitted in the case. The initial set stated that it showed Montanas carbon dioxide emissions, while the updated submission for Anderson stated the data came from the Mountain West region. But the numbers on each were the same. From the Mountain region estimates, I made a projection of Montana emissions. . I made a calculation of the rate at which Montana emissions would decline based on the projections I made. Its not what I testified about, but I have done that, Anderson told Seeley. Gregory then pushed Anderson about his claim Montanas emissions were going down having him admit the data for 2022 shows higher emissions than the 2020 data. Clearly, the second number is larger than the first number, Anderson said. There was little further discussion in the courtroom afterward, as the two sides and Seeley settled on a schedule for Tuesday in which the sides will square up their evidence submissions, read one more plaintiff witness deposition into the record, and conclude the trial with 10 minutes each of closing arguments. After the hearing, Our Childrens Trust attorneys Julia Olson and Mat dos Santos said they were pleased with how the trial played out. Olson said she did not expect Seeley to issue a ruling in the case for at least a month, but both said they were feeling positive about the anticipated ruling. Yeah, I think were expecting to win this one, dos Santos said. The post DEQ employees, climate economist, testify for state in Montana climate change trial appeared first on Daily Montanan. Working the bison at the American Prairie Reserve (Photo courtesy of the American Prairie Reserve). The American Buffalo, the most recent series by renowned historian and documentarian Ken Burns, will premiere this fall on PBS with footage and experts from Montana and it recently earned a warm welcome from a Montana audience. Earlier this month in Missoula, Burns and his collaborators, producer Julie Dunfey and writer Dayton Duncan, plus researcher and historian Rosalyn LaPier, talked about the series after a 50-minute preview to a packed audience at the Wilma. The two-part, four-hour series tells the 10,000-year history of bison in North America, the continents most magnificent species. It traces the species relationship with Indigenous people and Europeans, its near extinction to fewer than 1,000, and its return from the brink of demise. The story of the buffalo connects to the history of the United States, but the series also had to be centered on experiences of Indigenous people, Burns said. They had a relationship with the animal before the European discovery, he said, and for thousands of years. In the early 1800s, 30 million buffalo lived on the landscape, and in a little over a decade, the population collapsed, according to the series. Burns said one question that drives at the heart of the story was spoken in the film by elder George Horse Capture, Jr., Aaniiih, of Fort Belknap. Why do you have to destroy the things you love? How to watch The American Buffalo will air Oct. 16 and 17, at 6 p.m.-8 p.m. MT (check local listings) on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS App. The series will be available to stream for free on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS App, available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. PBS station members can view the documentary via PBS Passport as part of a full collection of Ken Burns films. For more information about PBS Passport, visit the PBS Passport FAQ website. Source: PBS At the event, panelist LaPier, an Indigenous scholar and ethnobotanist who is Blackfeet of Montana and Metis, talked about one element she wanted to be sure the series included in response to a question from moderator John Twiggs of Montana PBS. LaPier, author of a book called Invisible Reality: Storytellers, Storytakers and the Supernatural World of the Blackfeet, said she was interested in particular to explore for her book the transition to reservation life after the loss of bison at the turn of the century. I thought I was going to find a lot of stories of hardship, said LaPier, a former faculty member at the University of Montana. The series does share some of the hardships, like how Native Americans didnt have enough to eat after white people decimated the buffalo population. But LaPier, history professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said she found instead in her research stories about peoples relationship to the natural world. I couldnt find any stories of hardship, LaPier said. I found all of these amazing stories of how people view their world through a rich religious lens, and how they develop relationships with lots of different animal species, plant species, and how that was the most important thing for them to tell and to leave behind. So LaPier wanted to be sure the story about bison, tagged spirit of a people, a story of resilience, conveyed the idea that bison are a sacred animal, and that their significance was common across the plains. The series contains footage from Montana, including landscapes in eastern Montana and the Bison Range in the west, information from the C.M. Russell Museum, Mansfield Library at the University of Montana, and family collections, among other archives. It includes interviews with Montana authors Steven Rinella and Michael Punke, expert LaPier and elder Horse Capture, and other experts from the state or with connections to it. At the preview, Burns received a standing ovation, and the Montana audience also erupted in applause when Dunfey, the producer, explained the reason the time was ripe for the topic. Writer Duncan noted the team drew up the proposal after talking about it for roughly a decade, and Dunfey said they knew about the buffalo being saved from their work on The National Parks: Americas Best Idea. They also knew the tale of the Dust Bowl from their work, an ecological, environmental morality tale, Dunfey said. That documentary told the story of the ecological disaster humans inflicted on the plains and the exodus of people that ensued, and Dunfey said the story of the buffalo is similar. She said the timing was right in part because she and Duncan both talked about retiring. Also, to applause, she said the buffalo story is also an ecological morality tale, but its one that hasnt ended yet. It speaks to us. It speaks to, We can make choices to go in a different direction, to reverse that, Dunfey said. The line to get into the screening wrapped around part of a downtown block in Missoula. Discover Montana puts seating capacity at the Wilma at 850, and the theater was full for the viewing and panel discussion. Given the location of the screening, in a state where the animals are a topic of debate, Twiggs also asked the panelists about their choice in naming the series: Buffalo? Bison? Bison? Buffalo? Burns said the filmmakers nailed down the title pretty early. People use the terms fairly interchangeably, he said, but one is a scientific designation, bison, and the other is the application of a name, a designation made by cultures around the world. He said the series wasnt going to parse the difference, and the team wanted to simply make sure people werent uneasy about it in the story. To laughter, Duncan, the writer, said they thought about changing the posters to Bison Bills Wild West show, and thought about how the names of cities and towns in the U.S. would be different, such as Bison, New York. I actually get a little frustrated by it, to be very honest, Duncan said. He said people argue buffalo arent the same species as the water buffalo or cape buffalo, for example, but he said prairie dogs aint dogs. As a writer, he said he wants to communicate clearly, and theres no confusion around the identity of the animal in the title. Are they bison? Or are they buffalo? The answer is, yes, and yes, and lets just sleep well tonight, Duncan said. So what happens next, after the series? Plugging her fellow panelists, LaPier said a companion book is also being released, Blood Memory: The Tragic Decline and Improbable Resurrection of the American Buffalo, by Duncan and Burns. She said it offers expanded interviews, information that couldnt fit in the series. Moving forward, LaPier also said a conversation needs to take place about restoration of bison as a free species, not one thats behind fences. She said tapping into knowledge of Indigenous people in wildlife biology, anthropology and other topics will be critical. I think that we just really need to take time to allow Indigenous people to be able to be the ones that take the lead, LaPier said. Duncan, who said he had an excuse to be a little weepy during the conversation since hes heading toward his professional sunset, hopes people understand their history a little better than they do now after seeing the film both the tragedy of peoples relationship to the bison but also the hopeful elements, the ones in place for their restoration. In the future, Dunfey said she wants to see a regional and national conversation, not a binary argument where people are entrenched, but a deep dialogue about what it would take to restore the ecosystem for the animals and all the benefits that would return to the ecosystem as a result. We can talk about this. We can solve this problem, Dunfey said. Leaders, sponsors The American Buffalo is a production of Florentine Films and WETA Washington, D.C. Directed by Ken Burns. Written by Dayton Duncan. Produced by Julie Dunfey and Ken Burns, and co-produced by Susan Shumaker. Emily Mosher served as associate producer and Julianna Brannum as consulting producer. Edited by Craig Mellish, ACE; Alex Cucchi, assistant editor. Principal cinematography by Buddy Squires. Narrated by Peter Coyote. The executive in charge for WETA is John F. Wilson. Executive producer is Ken Burns. Corporate funding for The American Buffalo was provided by Bank of America. Major funding was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and by The Better Angels Society and its following members: The Margaret A. Cargill Foundation at the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation; Diane and Hal Brierley; The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment; John and Catherine Debs; Kissick Family Foundation; Fred and Donna Seigel; Jacqueline Mars; John and Leslie McQuown; and Mr. and Mrs. Paul Tudor Jones. Funding was also provided by The Volgenau Foundation. Source: PBS The post The American Buffalo by Ken Burns welcomed in Montana, will premiere Oct. 16, 17 appeared first on Daily Montanan. Last month, the economist Jeffrey Sachs appeared on the Substack podcast Nonzero, hosted by the writer Robert Wright, to discuss American foreign policy failures in the post-Cold War world. Wright asked Sachs if he felt American journalism is in decline. Sachswho, as the head of multiple UN nonprofits and director of Columbias Center for Sustainable Development, is one of the most institutionally recognized figures in public intellectual lifesaid that it absolutely had, and then shared an anecdote. I had a chat with a longtime friend of minea senior reporter at one of the most important newspapers, he said, and I said to him, When I was young, I turned to your paper because of Watergate, the Pentagon Papers, and I loved it. According to Sachs, this nameless friend, who in a later appearance Sachs would identify as a senior New York Times reporter, replied, That paper is so dead and gone, Jeff. You have to understand that. Sachs spoke with the reporter last September. The issue that provoked the reporters comments was the recent bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines and its subsequent coverage in the media. In the days and weeks after the attack, a flurry of conjecture about who was responsible dominated mainstream outlets, with CNN and the New York Times echoing U.S. and European government allegations that Russia had sabotaged its own piece of critical infrastructure in a dramatic bid to turn European favor against Ukraine. Sachs, who worked closely with Mikhail Gorbachev and knows his way around U.S.-Russia relations, read these reports and called his friend: The U.S did it! he said. Why is your paper saying today that Russia did it? The reporter responded, Of course the U.S did it. Who else? But come on, Jeff. The editor isnt interested in that. In relating these stories, Sachs expressed a view shared by a coalescing group of anti-establishment thinkers, journalists, pundits, and academics: that the mainstream media in the United States has been corrupted beyond repair and is so deeply beholden to U.S. intelligence and security interests as to be of little journalistic value. Sachs has been increasingly vocal about this over the last year, as the war in Ukrainethe fault for which he places squarely at the feet of the United States and its decades of NATO bellicosity, even blaming specific State Department operatives for the 2014 ouster of Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovychescalates shockingly, with little mainstream media attention given to potential American culpability in provoking and prolonging the bloodshed. Sachs is not the most vociferous critic of the Biden administration, the American foreign policy establishment, or the corporate media. Where commentators like Glenn Greenwald, Michael Tracey, Tucker Carlson, and Noam Chomsky are quick to make strong claims about deep-state conspiracy and propaganda, Sachs often demurs. I know all the theories [for the degradation of American journalism], he said in a recent appearance on Greenwalds System Update news show. Money, advertising, power. But why, I dont fully understand. Greenwald routinely takes a harder line. He would go on in that conversation to say that [the New York Times] is in another universe now in terms of their willingness to write down whatever the CIA wants them to say, even when they know its false. What distinguishes Sachs among this burgeoning anti-establishment cohort is the extent of his establishment bona fides: UN appointments, Covid-19 commission assignments, World Bank and IMF advising, and innumerable plaudits as one of his generations top economic minds. Vanity Fair included him in their 2008 list of the 100 members of the New Establishment. This has leant a whistleblowing-like quality to his criticisms of the United States and its behavior both at home and abroad. Having been instrumental to some of the most consequential diplomatic and economic negotiations of the last 40 years, including the structural transition from communist central planning to market economies in numerous post-Soviet bloc countries and Latin America, Sachs is a man whom people listen to when he says that the U.S. is lying or acting in bad faith. While Sachss new role as the establishments contrarian inner critic was solidified by the war in Ukraine, it was birthed during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. In spring 2020, just months after the outbreak began, Sachs was tapped by Lancet editor Richard Horton to serve as chair of the medical journals committee investigating the origin of the virus. At the time, it was uncontroversial in both Washington and the mainstream media to entertain the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 had leaked from a high-security lab or research institution. Sachs had strongly opposed this theory (and then-President Trumps flirtation with it), but he accepted the position with an open mind and went on to staff the committee, appointing his colleague at Columbia, Peter Daszak, to head the task force. The group was to produce a report on the various theories of Covid originzoonosis and lab-leak, primarilyand assess their validity. By the summer of that year, Sachs was reevaluating his position on the lab-leak theory. In his telling, he had been alerted by a few top scientists to certain biological signatures of the virus that indicated potential laboratory manipulation; he had also been made aware of an NIH grant to the New York nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance that was used to perform so-called gain-of-function viral experiments on mice in Wuhan. Daszak was, and remains, president of the EcoHealth Alliance. When Sachs asked the new Covid-19 Commission task force leader to disclose the precise nature of the work he had funded in Wuhan, Daszak refused, on advice from his lawyer. Reports differ here. Sachs claims to have fired Daszak immediately, while Daszak claims to have stepped down. Either way, in June 2021, Daszak was no longer leading the origins task force, and Sachs was thoroughly convinced that the conflicts of interest (such as those meticulously documented by Nicholas Wade in a May 2021 essay) at play in the search for the origin of the virus ran so deep that the Commission was functionally compromised; he shut it down in September 2021, and he is now one of the leading voices against the censorship and stigmatization of the lab-leak story. To many people skeptical of our public health officials response to Covid, this was one of the most meaningful public breaks from the institutional narrative solidifying at the time. Since the Lancet debacle, Daszak has become the face of a catastrophically mishandled pandemic response. One way to characterize Sachss commitments to government accountability and freedom of speech is that they are rooted in a deep institutional memory. On the war in Ukraine, he seems animated by the blatant and well-documented attempts at regime change and invasion executed by the U.S. governmentin Vietnam, Iraq, and Syriaas well as the countless broken promises made to Russia in the wake of the Cold War (promises that Sachs was instrumental in negotiating). Few deny, with the benefit of hindsight, the disastrous claims made about Saddam Husseins connection to Al-Qaeda and the presence of WMDs in Iraq that the media sold to the American public before the invasion in 2003. However uneasy some may feel hearing criticism of continued U.S. aid to Ukraine as that country continues to suffer in a brutal invasion, Sachs is attempting to hold America accountable for the mistakes it has made in the recent past. These mistakes were enabled in large part by a complicit press, overeager to parrot government narratives. For his trouble, Sachs has swiftly been branded a conspiracist, a Putin stooge, and a useful idiot. Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who Sachs and Greenwald remind us, was one of the loudest champions for the invasion of Iraq, recently published an essay deeming Sachs intellectually bankrupt. Its a tactic that has become almost banal at this point: when an erstwhile ally drifts too far outside of the acceptable window of discourse, declare him no longer worth listening to. I grew up in the Vietnam War era, in the Kennedy assassination era, in Watergate. Governments lie for a living, Sachs said to New York magazine in March of this year. Thats not conspiracy theory; that is how governments operate because they deal in power. They dont deal in truth. Sachs may sometimes speak with undue certainty on matters still unsettled, but he is playing the role of a principled if nagging inner conscience, and we need more public figures to do the same. The increasing pace of change to farm support has highlighted the need for many sheep farmers to seek out professional advice, the sector says. The removal of the BPS in all four UK nations will mean change for every sheep farming business, be that adapting existing systems, diversifying or applying for new schemes. Because of this, it can be challenging for sheep farmers to know which direction to take their business in. The Register of Sheep Advisers (RoSA), established in 2021 by the National Sheep Association (NSA) and BASIS Registration, is a network of professional advisers working in the sector to help with such changes. The online initiative directs farmers to advisers with specialisms including business management, electronic reading systems, animal health, nutrition and breeding. An area of advice especially useful during the next year is guidance to adapt sheep farming business during and beyond the transition from the BPS, including ways to be involved in agri-environment and other new funding streams. Phil Stocker, NSA chief executive, says that changes regarding land use and farm support, driven by global issues of food security and environmental challenge, could test the sheep farming sector. "The answer may be the use of a professional livestock farm adviser such as one of the experienced members of the Register of Sheep Advisers (RoSA). If sheep farmers are going to adapt and succeed, its likely more will want and need advice. Therefore, its important there is a network of well-informed, trusted sheep specific advisers and this was the reason for the formation of this register. "Taking advice, whether that is on policy change or practical sheep farming matters, should not be judged as a cost but by what benefits it will bring to the farm business." James Oliver, a sheep farmer from Northumberland, says that now is a pivotal time when farmers need to embrace change rather than be scared of it. He explains: The RoSA network is critical in these ever-changing times with significant shifts in payments and how the government is issuing support. Many sheep farmers are already doing a lot of the work needed for support options so they should be rewarded for these practices and easily tap into these stewardships schemes. "With increasing capital costs in farming, these can help with infrastructure such as fencing and hedging. Mr Oliver believes the appointment of an adviser who understands sheep farming could help to ensure farmers know what is available. He continues: There are a lot of good advisers out there with practical sheep experience who can relate to their clients and help them to increase their resilience." The level of bovine TB in Northern Ireland has "escalated out of control" as the devolved government is blamed for failing to implement its strategy. The Department of Agriculture (DAERA) recently set out a revised TB strategy, but the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) said it had failed to fully implement it. The union also blamed "decades of inaction" by previous governments in Northern Ireland. The most recent government figures show that Northern Ireland has a TB incidence rate of just over 10.5%. But the UFU said DAERA was now in a difficult financial position to tackle the disease, as it had a reduced budget for 2023-2024. In a recent budget briefing involving the union, officials urged the government not to reduce stock valuation regarding TB reactor cattle. UFU president, David Brown said: "We made it perfectly clear that there are to be no cuts to the value of livestock removed from farms that have gone down with TB, in an attempt to make up for this shortfall. "When a herd is infected with TB farmers are already suffering a significant loss of income coupled with mental stress, and to hit them when they are already down is absolutely unacceptable and unjust. "We reminded DAERA that stock valuations are not compensation and that the cattle are not being removed by choice, but because there is no other alternative." DAERA outlined in the meeting that they wished to maintain the direction of travel set by the previous Minister regarding NI's revised strategy to reduce TB incidence. But the UFU said it would "continue to keep the pressure" on officials to "eradicate the disease once and for all." We also raised the vital need to maintain front-of-office staff in DAERA direct offices," Mr Brown added. "This is a valuable face-to-face service for the more elderly members of the farming community and it needs to be maintained. Rural campaigners have demanded Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to reject new restrictions on shooting or risk the livelihoods of people in the countryside. NRW issued a 12-week consultation in March outlining its intention to add pheasant and red legged partridge to schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, thus putting them on par with invasive non-native species. As part of the move, shooters would need to get a General Licence to release gamebirds and a specific licence to release them within 500m of protected sites, such as SSSIs. Releasing gamebirds without the necessary licences would become an offence in Wales, which campaigners fear would in turn damage the rural economy. The Countryside Alliance warned that NRW's proposal "amounts to a ban on the release of gamebirds through the back door". The system would mean that it would only be possible to release gamebirds subject to the co-operation of the Welsh government and NRW. Campaigners fear that the system of licencing would mean licences could be suspended at any time, which could disrupt a whole seasons shooting and make planning a season uncertain. Over the last few months, campaign groups including the Countryside Alliance have highlighted the consequences the proposed licensing system would have on conservation and Wales' rural economy. Over 12,600 people have signed and completed the group's e-campaign, which has been sent on to NRW. Rachel Evans, director of Countryside Alliance Wales, said the Welsh government had "underestimated" how many communities benefited from game shooting. "Welsh government have offered no plausible explanation as to why it wants to introduce draconian regulation to a sector which is only positive for rural communities, conservation, and the economy. "This is an activity that takes place in rural areas but is also undertaken and appreciated by those living in urban areas, as has been shown by the large volume of responses from people living in towns and cities." She added: "Once again there is a significant risk of reputational damage for Natural Resources Wales should they decide not to align with the substantial evidence provided. "There is a lot at stake here for everyone, from politicians wanting to retain their seats to NRW and of course, the livelihoods of people across Wales." NFU Cymru will be launching a report in the Senedd outlining young Welsh farmers policy priorities as Welsh Farming Week gets underway. The union's Farming the Future report will be outlined at the Senedd on Tuesday (20 June), which is part of the annual Welsh food and farming celebratory week. The timing of initiative this year is particularly significant given that the Agriculture (Wales) Bill is currently making its way through the legislative process. Once passed, the Act will establish the framework for future agricultural policy and will define farming in Wales for a generation or more. But NFU Cymru said that the next generation of farmers wanted to capitalise on opportunities to grow the industry. Its new report looks at the contribution of young farmers in Wales and features key recommendations as to how Welsh government can issue more support. These include exploring opportunities to make it easier for new and young entrants to access finance, as well as prioritising home-produced food and public procurement. Local authorities must also recognise the importance of the council farm network, and ensure that Welsh farming is portrayed accurately in the school curriculum. To illustrate some of the issues affecting Wales young farmers, the report features case study profiles of four members of NFU Cymrus Next Generation Group. As well as showcasing each farmers story and progression through the industry, the report also seeks to shine a light on the challenges they have faced. Speaking at the event later today, NFU Cymru president Aled Jones will say: Our next generation of farmers want to capitalise on opportunities to grow our sector. It is vital that the future policy landscape works for the next generation of farmers and that means it must be accessible and achievable by all, regardless of farm type, tenure, system or location. "If our future farm policy is to deliver for our next generation of farmers and the people of Wales, it must be underpinned by long term financial frameworks." He will add: Farmers are the heart of our rural communities, ensuring the next generation of farmers see a viable future in our industry is critical. I remain optimistic that if Welsh government and the industry work together in genuine partnership we can design and implement policies that ensure Welsh farming can thrive for generations to come." What does the report call for? NFU Cymru's asks include: Specific asks from the future Sustainable Farming Scheme in relation to supporting the active farmer, smooth transition and the use of capital grants Exploring opportunities to make it easier for new and young entrants to access finance Prioritising home-produced food and public procurement Local authorities recognising the importance of the council farm network Ensuring Welsh farming is portrayed accurately in the school curriculum and that children are given the opportunity to experience where their food comes from. Ant sex cut off the internet in a German village. Ant sex broke the internet in Germany The randy insects caused chaos as they made a love nest in a distribution box from the local telecommunications provider in the village near Waldenburg in western Germany. As the ants romped, they left behind a wafer-thin acid trail that corroded the cables and circuit boards - meaning residents had to cope for a whole week without making calls or browsing the web. Resident Manfred Worl told the newspaper Tag24: "This was a catastrophe! The whole area was hit in one swoop." Insect expert Matthias Nuss argues that the love-making ants mistook the distribution box for a cave. He said: "The young ant colony settled in the distribution box because they think it is a cave." The ant orgy was eventually dealt with by exterminators but the solution may only be temporary as five failures due to ant infestations have been registered this year alone by the distribution company Telekom. Don Lemon has declared he is still a journalist. Don Lemon has declared he is still a journalist The ousted CNN host, 57, who was fired from the network in April following a 17-year stint at the network as part of an apparent shake-up of its image as a liberal station, made the statement as he presented the 7th annual Native Son Awards at the IAC building in New York. Don, who came out as gay in his 2011 memoir Transparent, told the crowd of black gay and queer men on Friday (16.06.23): I may not be on CNN, but Im still a journalist. He then addressed legislative bills targeting the LGBTQ community, hitting out: In 2023, there have already been over 520 anti-LGBTQ+ pieces of legislation introduced in state legislatures across the country, he said. Nearly half of those bills target our transgender and non-binary siblings. Don also attacked corporations he said lacked the courage to stand up against extremist demands to discriminate against us that are removing Pride gear and decorations from their stores. He said: And to think they pair those actions with some type of empty statement claiming they still respect our communities. Don also used his time as host to highlight he was one of the first Native Son Awards recipients back in 2016, adding: I dont have a job now, so as soon as Im done here, Im going to have many drinks and were going to celebrate. Among the nights honorees were Jordan E Cooper, Chester Algernal Gordon, Elegance Bratton, James Cole Jr, Nicco Annan, Bishop O C Allen, Rashad Burgess, Jason Bolden and Adair Curtis, with the Native Son Awards aiming to highlight the achievements of Black gay and queer men who are leaders in their respective industries. Since he was ousted from CNN, Don has maintained a relatively low profile, and told Page Six he was planning to enjoy my summer, spend it on the beach and have a great time thats it! Dons ousting was widely seen as part of a move by network boss Chris Lichts campaign to shake up the networks liberal-leaning image and reinvent it as a down-the-middle and facts-first news organisation. It has been reported Dons tensions with Chris, 51, dated back at least to last autumn, when the outlet said a wardrobe dispute erupted during a rehearsal. The Atlantic said in early November, during a final rehearsal before the launch of CNN This Morning, Lemon baffled producers by arriving back on set from a break wearing a white jacket with fur collar over a turtleneck. Chris is said to have asked in the control room: What the f*** is he wearing?, according to a first-hand account from Atlantic staff writer Tim Alberta, who was there working on a lengthy profile of the boss. A junior producer was said to have reluctantly relayed Chris concern through Dons earpiece, which apparently provoked a miffed look from the CNN host as he was allegedly told: Don, uhh, were not too crazy about the jacket in here. Hayley Atwell feels inspired by Tom Cruise. Hayley Atwell feels inspired by Tom Cruise The 41-year-old actress has worked with Tom, 60, on the 'Mission: Impossible' film franchise, and Hayley has been wowed by his work ethic, describing her co-star as "deeply inspiring". The brunette beauty told 'ET Canada': "Hes a one-man studio. There is nothing this man doesnt know about movie-making and the cinematic experience for the audience. "Its deeply inspiring to find someone who is so committed to something, whose work ethic extends to so many different departments. For me, he remains a real inspiration as a professional, dedicated, enthusiastic guy, whose own success has never been his demise." Hayley believes Tom is a unique character in the movie business. The London-born star - who was previously rumoured to have dated Tom - said: "Hes always hungry, always searching, and has kind of a childlike wonder about movies Theres never been anyone like him and never will be." Earlier this year, Tom revealed that he watches his own movies at the cinema. The actor - who is one of the most bankable stars in the business - revealed that he likes to watch his own films on the weekend they open. He said on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!': "I go opening weekend. I love seeing movies that are made for the screen on the big screen." The Hollywood star is ultimately determined to make entertaining and engaging movies for his fans. Tom also described his work as a "pleasure". The actor - who starred in the first 'Mission: Impossible' movie back in 1996 - shared: "When they really enjoy it, that's what I want. I make my movies for audiences, for you all. So it's a pleasure. I just want to entertain you." Fathers Day is right around the corner and if you still havent decided what present you want to gift your dad, weve got a few last-minute ideas that might help. Have a look:If youre looking to buy your dad some leather accessories, then check out Brune & Bareskin. The collection features a wide range of hand-crafted styles and a variety of products including luxurious leather shoes, wallets, phone covers, etc, designed to appeal to fathers of all ages and tastes. John Jacobs recently launched its retro-inspired JJ Rhapsody collection that shines the spotlight on the absolutely smashing duo of music and fashion. The collection features some seriously cool sunglasses that make for excellent gifting options. Our top pick? This brown number which can easily pair well with most of your dads outfits! Next Story : These Brides of India Are Showing the Way With Beautiful Bridal Jewellery If your dad is constantly on-the-go, how about getting him a functional luggage piece in a delicious hue? Mokobara has some incredible luggage options that make travel easier. We love their cabin luggage in particular as it fits in the overhead bin of most major airlines, and works great even for train and car trips. Coupled with the USB charging socket, this case is perfect to stay on top of things while on the move. (colour variants are available).Gift your dad an assurance of the closest and smoothest shave, with Bombay Shaving Companys 6-in-1 Premium Shaving Kit. This is the perfect assortment of top-notch products that redefine a traditional shave. Engineered to ensure crisp and precise shaves, the metal razor, guided by gravity-assisted glide action makes shaving easier and safer for him. The razor comes equipped with double-edged Japanese stainless-steel blades for the closest shave and can be personalised by getting a short message engraved for him. The pre-shave scrub deeply exfoliates the skin and gets rid of all dead skin cells, dirt, and excess oil. Along with giving your dads skin its desired dose of hydration and nutrition, the shaving cream hydrates their skin, and the post-shave balm assists in eliminating any post-shave irritation or burning sensation.The Italian luxury brand, Corneliani, proffers a wide range of suave gifting options for men including accessories ranging from ties, bow ties, cufflinks, pocket squares, belts, wallets, and cardholders in a multitude of styles and patterns.These accessories are assured to add a dash of class to your dads persona making him feel extra special. Cornelianis gifting range ensures that these will be a part of his fond memories forever.Numero UNO has come up with the greatest men's denim looks for your dad this Father's Day! Your father would adore receiving a pair of stylish, comfortable pants with shirts that are just the right combination of playful and formal, making them perfect for a relaxed boardroom meeting. Numero UNOs collection is a blend of usability, comfort, and design.The Braun MGK5 is a 9 in 1 trimmer and body groomer that is the perfect tool to give your dad, this Fathers Day. Not only is all-in-one trimmer sharper and faster, but it also has a broader trimmer head which allows cutting more hair in one stroke. With advanced German technology, this body groomer and beard trimmer has lifetime sharp blades for easy, even, and efficient hair clipping and allows manscaping at any length. It comes with a precision comb that provides an effortless trim for every beard style.Looking for something fun and affordable to get your dad? How about some really cool ice-cream? Meemees is distinguished by its full-bodied flavours and adventurous formats such as Toasties and Tubsters. A Toastie is essentially a bite-sized waffle ice cream sandwich or taco in appearance. Each mini treat is packed with Meemees signature flavours and topped with chocolate and other crunchy bits. With Tubsters Meemees tugs at the imagination again by layering signature scoops with delicious textured treats and other delectable surprises into a single-serve container. These flavours recall popular and familiar desserts, but in a completely new and unexpected frozen 300ml tub format.They also have Meemees iconic Ice Cream cakes, which are the perfect stand-in for regular cake with its alternating layers of rich Meemees ice creams, ganache and cake in flavours such as Belgian chocolate and classic vanilla.How about gifting your dad this super cool smartwatch from Gizmore? The Gizmore GIZFIT Glow Z is a feature-packed smartwatch with an extra-large 1.78 Curved AMOLED display with 600 NITS Super Brightness. The smartwatch is available on both Flipkart and Gizmore's official websites. Featuring a 15-day marathon battery life, this cutting-edge wearable is tailor-made for power users who lead active lifestyles and need a reliable wearable that can effortlessly match their constant on-the-go demands.The Gizfit Glow Z is also one of the most affordable smartwatch with an Always-on Amoled display. The Glow Z features a 1.78 inch (4.52 cm) 2.5D Curved HD AMOLED screen with a resolution of 368 x 448 PX, and best-in-class 600 NITS Super Brightness. Cambodia's apparel exports to Japan reached $403.998 million in the first four months of the current year, managing to maintain growth in the face of slower global demand. In comparison, the country's apparel exports for the same period in the previous year amounted to $1,201.698 million. From January to March 2023, Cambodia exported $334.185 million worth of apparel, compared to $280.554 million in October-December 2022 and $237.491 million in January-March 2022. In the latter half of 2022, the exports were valued at $380.611 million in July-September and $237.491 million in April-June, as per data from Fibre2Fashion's market insight tool TexPro. Earlier, outbound shipments were reported at $1,105.338 million in 2021, $1,043.171 million in 2020, and $1,147.483 million in 2019. Despite slower global demand, Cambodia's apparel exports to Japan grew to $403.998 million in the first four months of 2023, slightly up from $398.021 million in the same period last year. Japan was the second-largest market for Cambodian apparel exports, while the US was the largest, contributing to Cambodia's total export value of $2,807.546 million. Japan was the second-largest market for Cambodia's apparel exports during January-April 2023, accounting for 14.39% of the total export value. The largest market was the US, receiving 26.50% of Cambodia's apparel exports. Overall, the total value of Cambodia's apparel exports during the reviewed period was $2,807.546 million, as per TexPro. Despite the current global economic challenges, Cambodia has succeeded in maintaining its export growth to Japan. In the first four months of the year, exports slightly increased to $403.998 million, compared to $398.021 million during the same period in the previous year. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL) The UK has announced that it will radically simplify trading rules and cut tariffs on products from developing countries, saving UK businesses and consumers millions of pounds a year. The countrys new post-Brexit Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) covers 65 countries that are home to over 3.3 billion people, and over half are in Africa. The DCTS removes or reduces tariffs and simplifies trading rules so that more products qualify for the scheme, making it more generous than the EU scheme the UK was previously a member of. It will benefit developing countries looking to diversify and increase exports, driving their prosperity and reducing their need for aid, the UKs department for business and trade said in a press release. The UK has launched the post-Brexit Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), simplifying trade rules and reducing tariffs on products from 65 developing nations. The DCTS aims to increase exports and foster prosperity in developing countries. The scheme will save UK businesses over 770 million annually by slashing tariffs on over 9 billion of imports. The scheme will save UK businesses over 770 million per year by removing or cutting tariffs on over 9 billion of importsincreasing choice for UK consumers and potentially reducing prices on a wide variety of items including clothes as well as creating opportunities for UK businesses to trade internationally and grow the UK economy. Over time, were developing countries to increase trade with the UK under the scheme, businesses could save millions more on import costs. Minister for international trade Nigel Huddleston launched the scheme while on a visit to Ethiopias largest industrial business park, Bole Lemi. Ethiopia, which already has a trading relationship with the UK worth 838 million, pays zero tariffs on 100 per cent of goods exported to the UK. Under the new scheme, Ethiopia and 46 other countries will be able to produce goods using components from many more countries, growing their opportunities to trade with the UK. The UKs new trading scheme for 65 developing countries, DCTS, shows how we can use trade to deliver development. It will benefit traders around the world, including small and women-owned businesses which we are supporting through the UK Trade Partnership programme, said foreign, commonwealth, and development office minister for Africa, Andrew Mitchell. While in Addis Ababa, Ethiopias capital city and home to many international corporations, minister Huddleston will meet with UK and Ethiopian companies to discuss how they will benefit from the DCTS and new ways they can work with local businesses and other governments to grow trade. The scheme benefits businesses all over the world and British companies that trade with these countries in everyday products. The revised rules of origin under the DCTS will be hugely beneficial for Least Developed Countries and companies who are sourcing products from them. Under the previous regime, many articles were precluded from benefitting from 0 per cent duties due to the complexity of the rules of origin, said Ben Price, head of international logistics and trade compliance at Halfords. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB) Bigg Boss OTT Pooja Bhatt: Apart from his exceptional movies, Bollywood director and producer Mahesh Bhatt has always been involved in controversy for his bold statements and questionable way of leading life. The Bhatt family has been the centre of gossip in Tinseltown. One such controversy that broke loose was when Mahesh Bhatt shared a lip kiss with his daughter Pooja Bhatt for a magazine cover. The father-daughter duo back in the 80s appeared for a magazine cover shoot, where both shared a lip-lock moment when India was still not a progressive society. Mahesh Bhatt and Pooja Bhatt's lip-kiss controversy Let us tell you that Pooja Bhatt is the daughter of Mahesh and his first wife, Kiran. Pooja's life is no less controversial. Her choice of clothes and bold films used to raise eyebrows back in the day. But it was her lip kiss with her father, Mahesh Bhatt, that caused an uproar and grabbed eyeballs. The magazine shoot in question is from the 80s when Pooja, who was in her early twenties, appeared on a leading magazine cover page with her dad and shared a lip-lock. In the photo, Pooja is seen sitting on Mahesh's lap and kissing each other on the lips. Pooja Bedi Recalls Dreadful Moment When Fan Broke Into Her House Saying, 'If Not Her, I Could Hug Her Bikini!' When the magazine was published, the father-daughter duo left everyone in shock, and their bold attempt invited a lot of hatred from the public. After much furor in the media, Mahesh Bhatt had to call a press conference to address the issue. However, his bold statement further aggravated the situation by saying: "If Pooja had not been my daughter, I would have married her." Speaking of Pooja Bhatt, she is currently seen on Bigg Boss OTT. She made her digital debut with the 2021 Netflix series Bombay Begums and was last seen in Chup: Revenge Of The Artist. Pooja made her Bollywood debut with Daddy in 1989. Kide Makode: Bigg Boss OTT 2's Puneet Superstar Abuses MC Stan, Bigg Boss 16 Fans TROLL Him AICWA Seeks Ban On Adipurush: Om Raut's latest offering, Adipurush has been mired in controversies since the day of its release. Touted as modern-day Ramayana, the film is said to have Hindu sentiments through the 'distorted depiction of Lord Ram' and it's 'cringe-worthy' dialogues. While 'Ban Adipurush' trended a big time on social media, the AICWA has now written an open letter to PM Narendra Modi to issue an immediate order to stop the screening of the film. Sharing the letter, ANI wrote on Twitter, "All India Cine Workers Association have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to "stop screening the movie and immediately order a ban of Adipurush screening in the theatres and OTT platforms in the future." The letter by AICWA also states, "We need FIR against Director Om Raut, dialogue writer Manoj Muntashir Shukla and the producers of the film..." Through the letter, AICWA accused Adipurush of defaming the image of Lord Ram with its screenplay and dialogues. The letter reads, "Adipurush Movie is Hurting religious Sentiment's of Hindus and Sanatan Dharma. Prabhu Shri Ram is a God for everyone in India not matter what religious faith one comes from, this movie depicts Lord Ram and even Ravan who looks like a character of a video game, with dialogues hurting every Indian in the country and across the globe. Actor Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, and Saif Ali Khan shouldn't have been part of such a disgraceful movie ever made in the history of Indian Cinema, Adipurush is a complete disaster of our faith in Shri Ram and Ramayan." All India Cine Workers Association write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to "stop screening the movie and immediately order a ban of #Adipurush screening in the theatres and OTT platforms in the future. "We need FIR against Director Om Raut, dialogue writer pic.twitter.com/jYq3yfv05c ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 Helmed by Om Raut, Adipurush stars Prabhas as Raghav, Kriti Sanon as Janaki, Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh, and Sunny Singh as Laxman. The pan-India film was released in theatres on June 16. Talking about the film's box-office collection, Adipurush, which was made on a budget of around 500 crores, raked in around 340 crores over the first weekend and added an additional 20 crores on its crucial Monday. Nawazuddin Siddiqui Aveent Kaur: Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui's pairing with 21-year-old actress Avneet Kaur in the upcoming romantic drama Tiku Weds Sheru recently met with severe backlash. After the trailer for the film was released, many on the internet were left aghast at the huge age gap between the two actors. Many called out the actor and makers of the film, including the producer Kangana Ranaut, for the kissing scenes filmed between the stars, as Avneet is 28 years younger than Nawazuddin. And now, amid the backlash, the Gangs of Wasseypur actor has reacted to the criticism. Addressing the issue, Nawazuddin said that "romance is ageless" and that the young generation doesn't know about romance. Nawazuddin Siddiqui reacts to backlash over kissing Avneet Kaur In a recent interview with India Today, Nawazuddin defended his pairing with Aveent and also responded to the backlash over the questionable scenes between the two. Kaash Yeh Mujhe Pehle.: Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Ex-Wife Aaliya Opens Up On Her New Relationship, Reveals Details He said, "Why will there be a problem? Romance is ageless. The problem is that the young men have no romance left. We are from the times when romance was something else. We would be in love and be in 'ishq' for years." He then cited Shah Rukh Khan's example and added, "Romance is ageless. The problem is that the young men have no romance left. We are from the times when romance was something else. We would be in love and be in 'ishq' for years." He continued, saying, "Today, Shah Rukh Khan continues to do romantic roles because the young generation is 'nalli' (useless). They don't know romance." Meanwhile, Tiku Weds Sheru has been produced under Kangana Ranaut's first production banner, Manikarnika Films. The romantic comedy film is helmed by Sai Kabir. The movie also stars Zakir Hussain, Vipin Sharma, and Mukesh S Bhatt in supporting roles. Tiku Weds Sheru will directly stream on Amazon Prime Video on June 23. Tiku Weds Sheru Producer Kangana Ranaut On Her Production Debut: I Am An Accidental Producer Pakistani Actress Hania Aamir: Remember Pakistani actress Hania Aamir, whose energetic dance video on RRR's Naatu Naatu went insanely viral on the internet a few months ago? Wearing a sharara with sneakers, Hania doing Naatu Naatu's hook-step at producer Umer Mukhtar's wedding was immensely loved and appreciated. The actress is again in the limelight, but for all the wrong reasons. The Mere Humsafar star recently posted some of her pictures on social media, which have received severe backlash from Pakistani netizens. Hania Aamir shares happy pool pictures A day before, Hania Aamir took to her Instagram account and dropped a series of photos taken in a swimming pool. Quite popular on social media, she keeps delighting her fans with her cute photos and glimpses from her daily life. She is seen having a good, loud laugh while wearing a white tank top and a pair of black pants. However, her photos didn't sit well with the Pakistani netizens, who criticised her for posting such types of photographs online. Pakistani Actress Hania Aamir Dances To RRR Naacho Naacho At Wedding, Called 'Mardana', Gets Badly TROLLED Pakistani netizens troll Hania Aamir for pool pictures Despite being decent, Hania's pool pictures were brutally trolled, and she was also called "besharam." Many took to the comment section and slammed her for sharing her private photos as a Muslim. One netizen's committed read, "These vulgar girls have forgotten the teachings of Islam", while another wrote, "[Hania] you have crossed all limits for fame." One said, "Haya ki jagah tum Murtasim se shadi karlo." Another person said, "swimming nahi aati toh dobna toh aata hai na." One commented, "sharaam nhi aati apni body dikha rahi ho lanat hai tum per. its unfollow time." "na swimming ati hai na sharam ati hai," said one. Hania Aamir on the work front 25-year-old Hania Aamir enjoys immense popularity in Pakistan. The young actress is known for working in popular serials such as Ishqiya, Mere Humsafar, Dilruba, Titli, and Anaa. The actress is currently seen in the hit drama series Mujhe Pyaar Hua Tha. Story Less Video Game: Pakistani Actor Yasir Hussain Mocks Shah Rukh Khans Hit Film Pathaan DISCLAIMER: The particular article is a compilation of thoughts shared by social media users on the subject. Ideas expressed do not reflect the view of Filmibeat. Speculation and Debate Surround Rinosh's Absence from Bigg Boss: In recent days, social media platforms have been abuzz with discussions regarding Rinosh George's departure from Bigg Boss Malayalam season 5. Rinosh, who took time off for medical treatment, has yet to return to the Bigg Boss house, prompting intense speculation and debate among viewers. Rinosh's health issues came to light following the car task in the Ticket to Finale segment. During the episode, Rinosh openly shared his struggles with skin allergies on camera. Subsequently, Rinosh was blindfolded and escorted away, with Bigg Boss informing the audience about his ongoing treatment. However, Rinosh's absence from the show for the past three days has fueled rumours and conjecture. Earlier, Akhil Marar also sought treatment due to health problems but returned to the house on the second day. Fans are now questioning whether Rinosh made a personal decision to leave the show after an extended absence. Adding to fans' concerns, an audio message is circulating on social media, suggesting that Rinosh is leaving the show due to a 'viral fungal'* infection. The audio states, "It is said to be a viral fungus; Rinosh is interested in continuing, but due to the possibility of contagion, there is no possibility of Rinosh continuing in the show; a decision has been taken. Now it's an update from the hospital, what to do; it's a matter of health." Responding to the circulating audio, season four contestant Shalini Nair acknowledged its existence, urging caution while not completely ruling it out. Rinosh's brother Aarosh had previously assured everyone that Rinosh was not facing any problems. Nevertheless, Rinosh's three-day absence from the show has left fans hopeful for his return. Shalini remarked, "What if Rinosh bro could not come back due to bad luck? Let's wait for our beloved star with optimism." Friends Respond to Controversial 'Contagious Disease' Claim Meanwhile, Rinosh's friends took to his official Instagram page, issuing a statement requesting support and dismissing fake news and propaganda claiming Rinosh quit Bigg Boss. The note reads, "Dear Ones, Thank you once again for all the love and care you all give to Rinosh. Sorry, we have not been able to directly respond to many of your queries as many calls and messages have flowed incessantly for 3 days with love for Rinosh. Rinosh is fine and recovering from his illness. We once again request that you not believe the fake news and propaganda spread by YouTube channels suggesting Rinosh's exit. Rinosh is still a part of the Bigg Boss show. Some individuals are intentionally perpetuating this false narrative to create suspicion among the audience and gain votes for other contestants. The official status of each contestant will always be officially announced by the Bigg Boss team itself. Currently, Rinosh is on this week's weekly eviction list. Let's all show our support and love for Rinosh by voting for him on Hotstar," the post stated. *The term 'viral fungal' is not scientifically accurate. Viruses and fungi are two distinct types of organisms. It is assumed that the intention of the audio clip was to convey that Rinosh has an illness that can be transmitted from person to person. However, this has not yet been confirmed by Bigg Boss or the medical team. Thandatti First Review: A special media premiere was organized yesterday for the film Tamil Thandatti in Chennai. People who watched the film are celebrating the performances of Pasupathy and Rohini in the film. Thandatti movie is produced by Prince Pictures, co-produced by Venkatesha and directed by Ram Sangaiah. Pasupathy is the hero of the story, Rohini, Vivek Prasanna, Ammu Abhirami, Deepa, Semmalar Annam, Poovitha and many others have played prominent roles in the film. Cinematography by Mahesh Muthuswamy, this film will release on June 23rd. Pasupathy's Next After Sarpatta Parambarai Talking about the film, Pasupathy said, "After the film Sarpatta Parambarai, I thought that if different stories come up, I can act. It was then that Ram Sangaiah told this story. I like it. I dare say this is a good movie. A 'Thandatti' disappears in the house of death. I play a constable who goes to find out. The film is set in a rural locality. My character is satisfactory. I have seen the film. Recently, films with such stories are becoming successful," he said. Director Ram Sangaiah says, "Producer JSK Satish Kumar had complained that the story of Andaava Kanom was similar to this one. We screened the film for him. After watching, he said that his film is different from ours. This 2-hour film has got a U certificate," he said. Amazing Performances "Thandatti is a beautifully written and made film in which Rohini and Pasupathy shine with their amazing performances. Kudos to the team for their efforts. Go watch it in theatres" says PR Riaz K Ahmed from his official Twitter handle. Actress Rohini shared an exclusive image of her look from the film Thandatti on her Facebook page. She also captioned it saying, "Thandatti Thangaponnu is an important character in my screen life. Thanks to director Ram Sangaiah." Many who watched the film in the special premiere shared their opinion on Twitter. Most of them said it is a feel good fun entertainer with a lot of emotional connection with extraordinary climax. Ram Charan & Upasana About Pregnancy Photo Credit: Gallery Ram Charan & Upasana welcome their first bundle of joy, a baby girl: Ram Charan, the global star who now enjoys a worldwide fanbase welcomed his first child, a baby girl with his wife Upasana Kamineni, on June 20. The ecstatic parents, grandparents, relatives, and fans are overjoyed with the arrival of mega princess. The news has gone viral on the internet with a trending hashtag #megaprincess. Ram Charan & Upasana Reach Hospital On June 19 The news of the pregnant couple reaching the hospital surfaced on the internet on the night of June 19, where Upasana, Ram Charan, Ram Charan's mother Surekha, and others were spotted entering the Apollo hospital in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. According to a medical bulletin that is circulating all over the internet today (June 20) given by Apollo Hospitals, "Ms. Upasana Kamineni Konidela and Mr. Ram Charan Konidela had a baby girl on 20th June 2023, at Apollo Hospital Jubilee Hills- Hyderabad. The baby and mother are doing well." Fans Of Ram Charan & His Wife Upasana In Japan Celebrate The Arrival Of Baby Girl Meanwhile, Japanese fans of the RRR actor have taken to their social media handles to congratulate the couple on their new phase of life. Ram Charan along with this co-star Jr NTR and their respective wives had flown to Japan to promote the Japanese version of RRR extensively at the end of 2022. The movie went on to become the highest-grosser in Japan under the non-Japanese films category by registering the highest-footfalls as well. In a recent interaction with the media personnel at the G20 Summit, Ram Charan opened up about their pregnancy and told, "All the magic happened in Japan when we are promoting RRR. Our baby has a special connection with Japan, which also is a remarkable matter for us." Ram Charan & Upasana Celebrate 11th Wedding Anniversary Ram Charan & Upasana have been married for 11 years and recently celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary. The duo announced pregnancy sometime in December 2022. Upasana Kamineni and Ram Charan had several baby shower events to celebrate this happiest phase of their lives. Congratulatory messages and best wishes are pouring in from all over Tollywood, fans, and the world for the new parents in town. VANCOUVER, BC, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hello Pal International Inc. ("Hello Pal" or the "Company") (CSE:HP Frankfurt:27H OTC:HLLPF), a provider of international live-streaming, language learning and social-crypto platform, is pleased to announce that it has filed its audited annual financial statements and management discussion and analysis for the period ended February 28, 2022 on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Highlights: Total revenue increased to $38,395,840 in 2022 (comprised of $36,471,718 for livestreaming and net revenue of $1,924,122 for cryptocurrency) being an 80% increase from $21,290,903 in 2021. Gross profit increased to $4,124,692 in 2022 (comprised of $1,924,122 for crypto currency mining and $2,200,570 for livestreaming) being a 77.5% increase from $2,323,184 in 2021. Transitioned all cryptocurrency mining operations to Tier 1 jurisdictions (United States and Australia). Strong registered user base of 7 million. "We thank our shareholders and other stakeholders for their patience in the finalization and filing of our audited financial statements for fiscal 2022. Our 80% increase in revenues over 2021 is a testament to the extensive use of the Hello Pal ecosystem across Asia and the Middle East. We are diligently working on our outstanding management prepared interim financial statements and are targeting to file them as soon as possible." Live Streaming Operations In fiscal 2022, the Company's livestreaming services generated revenues of $36,471,718 or 95% of total revenue of the Company. Although all revenues were generated from livestreaming, the Company's ecosystem that features Hello Pal moments, user matching and 1 on 1 video chats has led to a continual stream of users. Crypto Mining Operations The Company's cryptocurrency mining operations generated 2022 revenues of $1,924,122, which included downtime for moving operations from China to United States and Australia. Currently, the cryptocurrency mining rigs are operating at an average of 75% capacity, and averaging an efficiency of 100.25% as well as mining Dogecoin and Litecoin. Restatement on Financial Information for 2021 Year End The Company announces that it has restated its audited annual financial statements for the year ended 2021 (the "Restated Financial Information"). The Company determined that there were deficiencies in historical financial information in relation to the Company's live streaming business, where the revenue and direct costs were understated. These adjustments also resulted in an increase in accounts receivable and accounts payable and accrued liabilities. This was mainly due to the deficiencies in the records of international revenue in China, Middle East and Southeast Asia. The key adjustments to the previously filed financial information includes: Increase in revenue from $15,962,345 to $21,290,903. Increase in gross profit from $1,558,616 to $2,323,184. Increase in net loss from $3,599,916 to $4,910,205. Further details of the restatement are set forth in amended and restated audited financial statements and amended management discussion and analysis for the year ended February 28, 2021 filed on www.sedar.com. To download Hello Pal, Language Pal, Travel Pal or the proprietary Phrasebooks please visit the IOS or Android store. For information with respect to the Company or the contents of this news release, please contact the Company, KL Wong, CEO, at (604) 683-0911 or visit the website at hellopal.com. Email inquiries can be directed to: investors@hellopal.com. About the Hello Pal Platform The Hello Pal Platform is a proprietary suite of mobile applications built on a user-friendly messaging interface that focus on social interaction, language learning and travel. Hello Pal, has been designed from the ground up to be easy to use and enables users' the freedom to speak in their own language regardless of the other person's language they are speaking to. Hello Pal's overriding mission is to bring the world closer together through social interaction, language learning and travel. By creating a platform where it is easy to instantly interact with others around the world and giving them the tools to communicate with each other in a joyful and fun way, we hope to do our part (however small) in fostering understanding and tolerance between all citizens of the world. Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. Hello Pal cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Hello Pal's control. Such risks and uncertainties are described in Hello Pal's annual and interim financial statements available on www.sedar.com. Although Hello Pal is currently generating revenues, Hello Pal remains in the growth stage and such revenues are yet to be profitable. Accordingly, actual, and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Hello Pal undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information. THE CSE HAS NEITHER APPROVED NOR DISAPPROVED THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE Hello Pal International Inc. Telephone: 604-683-0911 Email: investors@hellopal.com Website: www.hellopal.com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/hello-pal-announces-record-annual-revenues-for-2022-year-end-and-restates-2021-year-end-financial-information-301854761.html Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 19, 2023) - Tenet Fintech Group Inc. (CSE: PKK) (OTC Pink: PKKFF) ("Tenet" or the "Company"), a fintech technology and data services provider and operator of the Cubeler Business Hub, today announces that it was made aware of certain statements provided to some of the Company's shareholders. The special committee of the board of directors of Tenet (the "Special Committee") believes it needs to address these allegations in light of Tenet's upcoming annual general meeting to be held on Tuesday, June 27th, 2023 at 10:00 am ET (the "AGM"). Proposed Financing Assistance The Company has always been open to receiving tangible financing proposals, as long as it is done through proper channels and in full compliance with applicable securities laws and regulations. No financing of this kind was ever brought to the Special Committee by Mr. Joseph. October Interview The October interview that Mr. Joseph participated in was prevented from being released by Tenet's board of directors on the advice of legal counsel, as it was viewed as being unsupported forward looking financial information. Nor did the Company authorize its subsequent release in recent weeks. Outstanding Promissory Note Upon Mr. Joseph's termination from the Company, his immediate repayment of his loan and accrued interest was requested as standard employment policy. He has not repaid the promissory note, nor has he entered into any repayment plan or agreement. Approximately $75,000 remains outstanding. The Company's Business Plans for Canada The recent business plan described in the Company's news release dated Thursday, June 15, 2023 is based on the work of the Special Committee and certain members of management. This endeavour looks to develop capabilities the Company has not previously focused on for small and medium-size businesses ("SMEs") with a prudent approach to developing the path forward in a cost-effective manner. The Company plans to share more information at the upcoming AGM. Assistance is Available for Shareholders Who Look to Vote Before the AGM Deadline Tenet reminds the Company's shareholders that the deadline to vote is prior to 10:00 am ET on Friday, June 23, 2023. For any questions or more information with respect to the AGM please contact TMX Investor Solutions at 1-800-549-6746 toll free in North America or 1-201-806-7301 outside of Canada and the United States, or by email at INFO_TMXIS@TMX.com. Forward-looking information Certain statements included in this presentation constitute "forward-looking statements" under Canadian securities law, including statements based on management's assessment and assumptions and publicly available information with respect to the Company. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company cautions that its assumptions may not materialize and that current economic conditions render such assumptions, although reasonable at the time they were made, subject to greater uncertainty. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of terminology such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "assumes," "outlook," "plans," "targets", or other similar words. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from the outlook or any future results, performance or achievements implied by such statements. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Important risk factors that could affect the forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, holding company with significant operations in China; general economic and business conditions, including factors impacting the Company's business in China such as pandemics (ex.: COVID-19); legislative and/or regulatory developments; Global Financial conditions, repatriation of profits or transfer of funds from China to Canada, operations in foreign jurisdictions and possible exposure to corruption, bribery or civil unrest; actions by regulators; uncertainties of investigations, proceedings or other types of claims and litigation; timing and completion of capital programs; liquidity and capital resources, negative operating cash flow and additional funding, dilution from further financing; financial performance and timing of capital; and other risks detailed from time to time in reports filed by the Company with securities regulators in Canada, the United States or other jurisdictions. We refer potential investors to the "Risks and Uncertainties" section of the Company's MD&A. The reader is cautioned to consider these and other risks and uncertainties carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements reflect information as of the date on which they are made. The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect future events, changes in circumstances, or changes in beliefs, unless required by applicable securities laws. In the event the Company does update any forward-looking statement, no inference should be made that the Company will make additional updates with respect to that statement, related matters, or any other forward-looking statement. All amounts are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated. About Tenet Fintech Group Inc.: Tenet Fintech Group Inc. is the parent company of a group of innovative financial technology (Fintech) companies. All references to Tenet in this news release, unless explicitly specified, includes Tenet and all its subsidiaries. Tenet's subsidiaries provide various analytics and data-based services to businesses and financial institutions through the Business Hub, a global ecosystem where analytics and data are used to create opportunities and facilitate B2B transactions among its members. Please visit our website at: http://www.tenetfintech.com For more information, please contact: Tenet Fintech Group Inc. Christina Boyd, Director, Investor Relations 416-428-9954 cboyd@tenetfintech.com Follow Tenet Fintech Group Inc. on social media: Twitter: @Tenet_Fintech Facebook: @Tenet LinkedIn: Tenet YouTube: Tenet Fintech To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170649 MUMBAI, INDIA, June 20, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - SMEStreet is excited to Welcome Mr Deepak Maheshwari as the chairperson of 2023's MSME & Startups - Finance & Growth Committee of SMEStreet League of Mentors (https://smestreet.in/smestreet-league-of-mentors/smestreet-league-of-mentors/). Mr Maheshwari will also be the permanent Mentor of the SMEStreet League of Mentors which aims to ensure easy access of expertise for MSMEs and Startups."Finance for MSMEs and scaling of Startups are very crucial areas requiring serious attention for the growth of our country. The subject holds critical importance for MSME entrepreneurs in India, especially at a time when enormous opportunities are getting generated that require strong and timely execution. Through this engagement, we wish to bring our team's expertise accessible for any entrepreneur from the startup or MSME sector," says Mr Deepak Maheshwari (www.linkedin.com/in/deepak-maheshwari-0605b86/), Co-Founder Jindagi Live Group and Dealplexus.com.Mr Deepak Maheshwari is an accomplished professional with over 27+ years of leadership experience across diverse businesses. He has led large and diverse teams with GE and IFCI with hands-on mentorship approach. He has well-rounded experience in start-up, growth and business optimization cycles and has facilitated multi-million dollar strategic investments in multiple businesses. He is a qualified CA, CS, CFA and Cost Accountant.On this announcement, Dr Faiz Askari, Founder and Chief Editor of SMEStreet welcomed Mr Maheshwari and stated, "This is indeed a great milestone to have the knowledge support of Mr Maheshwari's experience accessible for MSMEs and Startups. Mr Maheshwari holds a great understanding of today's financial landscape for credit management and strategic growth for the business. His support and engagement in SMEStreet League of Mentors shall open a great horizon of opportunities for the vast Indian MSME and Startup sector."SMEStreet League of Mentors is a joint initiative of SMEStreet Foundation and Vertical Business Media's that started in 2020.SMEStreet League of Mentors is an initiative designed to bring much-needed expertise closer to MSMEs which is needed for their business growth. Mentors at SMEStreet League of Mentors will not only motivate the entrepreneurs but also bring clarity in business vision. We at SMEtreet have spent years in interacting and understanding the common and specific pain points of MSMEs. One of the most common pains that almost every startup and MSME entrepreneur faces is the limitation of seeking the best possible guidance. Limited knowledge and filtered information make business life difficult, so in order to make the entrepreneur's life easier and smart and in other words, in our endeavour to contribute in the direction of ease of doing business, we would like to bring you closer to SMEStreet's League of Mentors.About SMEStreet League of MentorsClick Here (https://smestreet.in/smestreet-league-of-mentors/smestreet-league-of-mentors/)For more information, contact:Tabinda Hverticalbusinessmedia@gmail.comSource: SMEStreet FoundationCopyright 2023 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. Conceptual image of exhibition booth TOKYO, June 20, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director & CEO: Koichiro Tanaka), which develops the manufacturing business of TANAKA Precious Metals, announced that it will exhibit at SEMICON China 2023, an international semiconductor exhibition to be held in Shanghai, China on June 29 to July 1, 2023. At this exhibition, we will exhibit panels showing precious metal products related to semiconductors - such as various types of plating solutions, bonding wires, and precious metal pastes - for which demand is expected to continue to grow in China's semiconductor market. We will also be exhibiting for the first time TK-FS, a new alloy for probe pins that was announced in April 2023.For plating solutions, which have high demand in China, TANAKA Precious Metals contributes to the manufacturing of compound semiconductors by providing the environmentally friendly non-cyanide gold plating process instead of the cyanide gold plating process. In the past, products imported from Japan were offered in China, but now, the same products can be produced and supplied locally by group company Metalor Technologies (Suzhou) Limited using precious metal materials from China.In addition, TK-FS - which is being exhibited for the first time - is a product that allows the same material to be used in a wide range of probe pins for semiconductor test equipment. With the spread of the IoT today, semiconductors are becoming necessary not only in electronic devices but also in a broad range of fields, such as automobiles and home appliances. In particular, the demand for power semiconductors is expected to grow.TANAKA Precious Metals engages in business globally as a manufacturer specializing in precious metals and, above all, boasts the world's highest market shares for bonding wires. In China, TANAKA Precious Metals has earned trust as a precious metal professional group by supplying products of high reliability that were made in Japan.TANAKA Precious Metals aims to contribute toward the growth of China's semiconductor market - which is expected to continue to expand in the future - by continuing the technological development of precious metal materials for semiconductor devices.SEMICON China 2023 Exhibition Outline- Exhibition Title: SEMICON China 2023- Dates: Thursday, June 29-Saturday, July 1, 2023, 9:00-17:00 *China local time (until 16:00 on July 1)- Venue: Shanghai New International Expo Centre (Suzhou, China)- Official Site: https://www.semiconchina.org/ *Only English and simplified Chinese sites are available- Exhibitor: TANAKA Kikinzoku International (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (A TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. overseas office) and Metalor Technologies (Suzhou) Limited.- Booth Number: E2152- Main Products Shown on Panels: Products for semiconductors, such as various types of plating solutions, TK-FS, bonding wires, and precious metal pastesProduct Name: Various types of plating solutionsOutline: Various types of plating solutions are offered according to the application, including the MICROFAB series of non-cyanide gold plating processes excellent for fine pattern formation on wafers, the PRECIOUSFAB series of corrosion-resistant platinum plating solutions, and the GALVANOMEISTER gold-tin alloy plating which can be expected to reduce costs as a replacement for lead-free solder. For equipment, panels will introduce the RAD-Plater experimental equipment and the fully automated POSFER.Product Name: TK-FSOutline: This is a material that can be used in a wide range of types of probe pins besides pogo-pin types, such as cantilever-type or vertical-type for wafer testing (pre-processing) probe cards. With three unique attributes - a Vickers hardness of at least 500, specific resistance of at most 7.0 micro ohm-cm, and durability that can withstand 10 or more times of repeated bending - this material can be used in various types of probe pins.Product Name: Bonding wiresOutline: These are precious metal products essential for electrically connecting electronic components - such as integrated circuits, transistors, semiconductors, and printed circuit boards - used in electronic devices. The full lineup will be introduced at this exhibition, centering on gold bonding wires for flash memory and aluminum wires, ribbons, etc. for power devices.Product Name: Precious metal pastesOutline: Precious metal pastes, powders, and conductive adhesives are widely used in various applications, such as circuitry and semiconductor die bonding. In particular, due to the rising demand for pastes with high thermal cooling in the markets for lead-free products, automotive power devices, and optical devices for LEDs, the lineup of various silver pastes will be introduced.TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.Headquarters: 22F, Tokyo Building, 2-7-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, TokyoRepresentative: Koichiro Tanaka, Representative Director & CEOFounded: 1885Incorporated: 1918Capital: 500 million yenEmployees: 2,429 (including overseas subsidiaries) (March 31, 2022)Sales: 389,646,820,000 yen* (FY2021)Main businesses: Manufacture, sales, import and export of precious metals (platinum, gold, silver, and others) and various types of industrial precious metals products.* Due to the adoption of the Accounting Standard for Revenue Recognition from FY2021, the net amount is given for the net sales of some transactions.About TANAKA Precious MetalsSince its foundation in 1885, TANAKA Precious Metals has built a portfolio of products to support a diversified range of business uses focused on precious metals. TANAKA is a leader in Japan regarding the volumes of precious metals handled. Over the course of many years, TANAKA has not only manufactured and sold precious metal products for industry but also provided precious metals in such forms as jewelry and assets. As precious metals specialists, all Group companies in Japan and around the world collaborate and cooperate on manufacturing, sales, and technology development to offer a full range of products and services. With 5,225 employees, the Group's consolidated net sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, were 787.7 billion yen.**From the current consolidated fiscal year, the amounts of sales for some transactions are indicated as net values due to the application of the Accounting Standard for Revenue Recognition.Global industrial business websitehttps://tanaka-preciousmetals.com/en/Product inquiriesTANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.https://tanaka-preciousmetals.com/en/inquiries-on-industrial-products/Press inquiriesTANAKA Holdings Co., Ltd.https://tanaka-preciousmetals.com/en/inquiries-for-media/This press release in PDF: http://www.acnnewswire.com/docs/files/20230620_EN.pdfSource: Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd.Copyright 2023 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. HONG KONG, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- eSurfing Cloud, the world's largest telco cloud service provider, successfully held "eSurfing Cloud Global Launch Event" and announced the official expansion of its global footprint, starting exclusively with its cloud service offerings available in Hong Kong. Following the theme of "Embracing the Future of Cloud and Network towards Digitalisation", more than 300 government officials, business leaders, and industry experts participated in the event, witnessing the unveiling of eSurfing Cloud's global expansion plan. As its first overseas conference, the discussion shed light on the core capabilities of eSurfing Cloud namely cloud and network integration, independent R&D, and extensive industry experience. The conference also elaborated on how enterprises can seize market opportunities when entering the Chinese market, as well as how Chinese companies can expand overseas by overcoming their digital challenges with emerging technologies. During this special occasion, Mr. Wong Chi Kwong, Tony, JP, Government Chief Information Officer, and Mr. Zeng Shendian, Vice President of the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association delivered their opening remarks. Mr. Tony Wong introduced the implementation of the Smart Hong Kong digital initiatives and outlines how Hong Kong can tackle the challenges of city management with cloud solutions. He expressed his gratitude to eSurfing Cloud for strategically selecting Hong Kong as its first expansion point for global footprint development. The Hong Kong government is seeking further forward-looking opportunities to pursue deeper collaborations with eSurfing Cloud, continually enhancing the development of Hong Kong's digital economy. Mr. Zeng also expressed his excitement for the future and trust in eSurfing Cloud capabilities. Expressing his belief that the expansion will help create a competitive edge for Chinese enterprises looking to expand globally. Mr. Yin Jin, CEO of China Telecom Global Limited delivered welcome speeches at the event respectively. Mr. Yin Jin highlighted, "The AI revolution has paved the arrival of the next industrial revolution, reshaping the future of the economy and society at large. As the world's leading service provider, China Telecom is dedicated to serving our customers with forward looking solutions centered around a customer-first mindset for over a decade. Throughout this journey, we became the first to bring to life the concept of 'Cloud Network Integration'. Today, I am honoured to announce that eSurfing Cloud is launching in Hong Kong, marking the first step in our global expansion journey. In addition, we are also making further investments to build the largest data centre in Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong. We strive to play a major role in contributing to the smart city infrastructure in Hong Kong, building a solid foundation that fast tracks the development of finance, trading, logistics, and industrial and commercial industries in the city. We look forward to working with our partners to support Hong Kong's goal of building an International Innovation and Technology Hub." Mr. Hu Zhiqiang, Chairman of the Board and General Manager of China Telecom Cloud Technology Co., Limited further elaborated, "Over the past ten years, the global digital economy has been developing rapidly, we have observed computing capabilities play a critical role in boosting economic growth. eSurfing Cloud is seizing major opportunities for development stemming from a rapidly growing economy, continuously investing in research and development. We have begun our ascent into the 4.0 cloud architecture through extensive development of our core capabilities in cloud and other key technologies. Leveraging our independent platforms, cloud-network integration capabilities and a sustainable mindset, eSurfing Cloud is expanding globally to unleash the power of digital transformation and connect our enterprise customers to a world of business opportunities." The event was held with an innovative activation feature to announce the launch of eSurfing Cloud global expansion plan. The officiating guests were invited on stage to join the launch ceremony, signalling that eSurfing Cloud has officially embarked on its journey for global expansion. Accelerate Digital Transformation Journey for All Industries through "Cloud Network Integration" During the sharing session, Mr. Wu Xiaolei, Executive Vice President of China Telecom Global Limited explains how eSurfing Cloud adequately supports digital leaders as they embark on their digital transformation journey made possible with "Cloud-Network Integration" technology, extensive digital resources, and extensive R&D capabilities. eSurfing Cloud adheres to the cloud-network integration strategy of China Telecom: "Cloud central, Network around, Network adaptive to cloud, Cloud and Network as one", eSurfing Cloud has evolved up to stage 3.0 of "Cloud-Network Integration" and will continue to explore new models to advance the potential of cloud. Leveraging the global network resources of China Telecom, eSurfing Cloud have been providing a variety of cloud products to more than 3.35 million enterprise consumers, including SD-WAN, Cloud Exchange, iStack or ctStack, Cloud Laptop, and Cloud Disaster Recovery services. In addition, we have launched eSurfing Cloud International Site that is specifically designed for all global enterprise consumers to enjoy a one-stop management service, while offering solutions that suit for different business scenarios. Through the global expansion of eSurfing Cloud, a number of clients and industry partners expressed their interest in its future development. Mr. Shan Jinxiao, Director of Technology Division of Digital Center of China Merchants Group expressed, "We are honoured to witness the global expansion of eSurfing Cloud, as well as its continued success in delivering cutting-edge cloud services to a diverse suite of industries, accelerating industrial digitalisation outcomes. The China Merchants Group over time has built a strong collaborative relationship with China Telecom. Relying on their advanced abilities in cloud-network integration and edge computing, we have established a solid foundation for a fully digitalised future of China Merchants Group in 2025. Moving forward, we will closely partner with eSurfing Cloud to unlock leading competitiveness in the global digital economy through the usage of AI technologies. As a long-term partner of eSurfing Cloud, Mr. Hans P. Chuang, Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Communications Group, GM, PRC CoSP Business Consumption of Intel pointed out, "As the world's leading semiconductor manufacturer, Intel provides a broad product portfolio that addresses the technological needs of our enterprise partners in an ever-evolving data-centric world. Supporting the ambitions of eSurfing Cloud in enhancing market competitiveness and innovation capabilities has been an ongoing and vital mission for us. We are continuously coming up with new technologies and solutions tailored to help the brand expand its global businesses through the enormous opportunities that digitalisation provides." Through collaboration with over hundreds of global industry partners across different professional aspects, eSurfing Cloud will be strengthening its cloud service capabilities to meet customer needs across the realms of Data, Computing Abilities, Algorithm, and Network Requirements, joining hands with our customers to build a mutually beneficial cloud ecosystem. The launch showcased the diversified product portfolio of eSurfing Cloud, especially its rich global resources and cloud services, as well as its industry-leading solutions to guests and partners. An exclusive interactive booth showcased "Ling Ze", the Data Service platform, and "Yun Xiao", its Intelligent Computing Platform, as well as the Cloud Disaster Recovery and Smart Building solutions to the global markets for the first time. eSurfing Cloud acts as a pillar of robust foundation that empowers all industries in their respective digital transformation journey. Moving forward, eSurfing Cloud will continue to provide robust and reliable cloud-network infrastructure to different industries, offering competitive advantages to customers through rich global cloud-network resources and diversified technologies. Together, we've built a competitive digital ecosystem and accelerated sustainable development for the wider society and economy. About eSurfing Cloud eSurfing Cloud is a technology-based, platform-based and service-oriented company under China Telecom. It provides customers with solutions ranging from public cloud, private cloud, exclusive cloud, hybrid cloud, edge cloud to full-stack cloud services based on six core corporate values, including "Innovation, Self-developed, Safe and Reliable, Cloud-network Integration, Collaborative Ecosystem, and Low carbon emission". With a variety of solutions, eSurfing Cloud empowers government agencies and large and medium-sized enterprises to be future-proof and meet the digital transformation needs. eSurfing Cloud has grown into the world's largest telco cloud service provider and ranks the third in public cloud service providers. As the world's leading cloud service provider, eSurfing Cloud is committed to becoming the powerhouse of the digital economy and provides users with safe and inclusive cloud services. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105014/Photo__Guests_Leadership_China_Telecom_Global_attended_eSurfing_Cloud_Global.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105015/Mr_Yin_Jin_CEO_China_Telecom_Global_Limited_delivered_a.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105016/Mr_Hu_Zhiqiang_Chairman_Board_General_Manager_China_Telecom_Cloud.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/esurfing-cloud-announces-to-embark-on-global-expansion-301854841.html CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from European markets overnight, as traders remained cautious after China's central bank did not introduce further stimulus as speculated to prop up its flagging economic recovery. Meanwhile, the central bank cut some of its key lending rates for the first time in 10 months. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday. Traders also looked ahead to US Fed Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimonies on Wednesday and Thursday for clues on the monetary policy ahead. They also looked ahead to the Bank of England's monetary policy later in the week. The Australian stock market is significantly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous six sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,300 level, despite the broadly negative cues from European markets overnight, with gains in mining and energy stocks amid higher commodity prices. Traders also await the release of the minutes of the latest Reserve Bank of Australia policy meeting which could provide fresh insight on the path for domestic monetary policy. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 53.00 points or 0.73 percent to 7,347.90, after touching a high of 7,349.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 48.10 points or 0.64 percent to 7,537.30. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Monday. Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is edging down 0.2 percent. Fortescue Metals is flat. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Beach energy is edging up 0.4 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.4 percent. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Appen is gaining more than 1 percent, Xero is edging up 0.2 percent and Zip is adding almost 1 percent. Gold miners are mostly lower. Gold Road Resources and Northern Star resources are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each. Resolute Mining is losing more than 2 percent. Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging down 0.5 percent is flat. In other news, shares in Lake Resources continued to plung more than 17 percent after the lithium developer reported on Monday disappointing operational update for its Kachi brine project in Argentina amid higher operational costs. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.680 on Tuesday. The Japanese stock market is notably lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 33,200 level, following the broadly negative cues from European markets overnight, as traders also continued to book profits after the recent rally that pushed the markets to fresh 33-year highs. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 33,161.94, down 208.48 points or 0.62 percent, after hitting a low of 33,089.02 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Monday. Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.3 percent and Toyota is flat. In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 2 percent, Screen Holdings is adding almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is advancing almost 1 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial are down more than 1 percent. The major exporters are mostly lower. Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 1 percent, while Sony and Panasonic are down almost 1 percent each. Canon is gaining almost 2 percent. Among the other major losers, Sompo Holdings and Tokio Marine Holdings are losing almost 5 percent each, while MS&AD Insurance Group is declining more than 4 percent. Rakuten Group is down almost 3 percent. Conversely, Mitsubishi is gaining more than 4 percent and OKUMA is adding almost 4 percent, while Mitsui & Co. and Marubeni are advancing almost 3 percent each. In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 141 yen-range on Tuesday. Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is down 1.4 percent, while New Zealand, China, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each. The Wall Street was closed on account of Juneteenth on Monday. The shares closed lower on Friday. The major European markets moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.71 percent, Germany's DAX ended 0.96 percent lower, and France's CAC 40 shed 1.0 percent. Crude oil prices edged down Monday, with the West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July down $0.16 or 0.2 percent at $71.31 a barrel. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Mega-Chance Cyber Security Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. Hier klicken First phase of launch to provide connectivity to major ECNs for spot FX trading on TT platform CHICAGO and LONDON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Trading Technologies International, Inc. (TT), a global capital markets technology platform provider, today announced that the firm has established a new foreign exchange (FX) business unit, TT FX, and appointed industry veteran Tomo Tokuyama to lead it. Tokuyama has an extensive FX trading track record on the buy side and sell side, most recently as Head of Trading at a multi-billion dollar quantitative fund manager. TT made the announcement at the start of the FIA International Derivatives Expo (IDX) in London. TT FX represents the firm's latest expansion into new asset classes, following its acquisition in March of AxeTrading, a leading global provider of fixed income trading solutions. Tokuyama will manage the new business line with initial focus on the hiring of other key talented FX industry product and technology experts, connectivity to major electronic communication networks (ECNs) and liquidity providers, and the delivery of advanced FX trading capabilities through TT's execution management system (EMS). The first phase of implementation for TT FX, slated for late 2023, will enable TT buy-side clients to trade spot FX through a choice of curated ECNs. In early 2024, TT will extend the offering to include liquidity from major banks and expand the product set to include forwards, non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) and swaps. TT CEO Keith Todd said: "We have more than 6,000 buy-side users alone on the TT platform - including hedge funds, CTAs, proprietary traders and commodity trading firms - who already trade a huge amount of FX on other systems and platforms. Following many months of outreach and research with our clients, we've heard significant positive feedback and strong demand to consolidate this activity on TT's EMS. TT FX will leverage the unparalleled global distribution capabilities of our platform, the award-winning functionality of our EMS and the widest possible choice of liquidity providers to deliver a truly best-in-class solution. We are delighted to have Tomo on board to lead this initiative for TT. He brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in this space from both the sell-side and buy-side perspectives." Tokuyama said: "I have long believed that technology will continue to advance and shape the future of FX trading through greater focus on automation and data. I'm pleased to join a firm that not only shares that view but listens carefully to clients to deliver innovative tools and access to markets that traders and firms actually want. FX is in high demand by TT clients, and I'm excited about the opportunity to further shape the FX strategy and deliver a product that TT clients will be proud to use." For more than a decade, Tokuyama was at Los Angeles-based First Quadrant, LLC, a quantitative fund that at its peak managed over $25 billion in assets. As Head of Trading, he transformed the firm's FX trading from 98% voice execution to 95% electronic, and positioned First Quadrant at the forefront of FX algorithms and automation. He was responsible for managing the trading team and overseeing all trading activity at the firm including FX, equities, commodities, futures, listed options and total return swaps. He, along with the head of Portfolio Construction, managed day-to-day implementation of the firm's portfolio strategies and analyzed new ways to improve trading efficiencies, which included vetting all of the latest Fintech offerings. Prior to joining First Quadrant, Tokuyama worked at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo and Hong Kong, where he was a member of the Macro Asset Sales team specializing in electronic FX, responsible for distributing the Goldman Sachs electronic FX offering across Asia. He was instrumental in launching both electronic NDFs and first-generation FX algorithms. Tokuyama is a frequent speaker at FX and financial services industry events and has served on numerous advisory boards, including for Best X, FX Connect, FX Hive and the TradeTech FX conferences. He earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree in management from Toronto Metropolitan University. About Trading Technologies Trading Technologies (www.tradingtechnologies.com) is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology platform provider to the global capital markets industry. The company's award-winning TT platform connects to the world's major international exchanges and liquidity venues in listed derivatives alongside a growing number of asset classes, including fixed income and cryptocurrencies. The TT platform delivers advanced tools for trade execution and order management, market data solutions, analytics, trade surveillance, risk management and infrastructure services to the world's leading sell-side institutions, buy-side firms and exchanges. The company's blue-chip client base includes the Tier 1 banks as well as brokers, money managers, hedge funds, proprietary traders, Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs), commercial hedgers and risk managers. These firms rely on the TT ecosystem to manage their end-to-end trading operations. In addition, exchanges utilize TT's technology to deliver innovative solutions to their market participants. TT also strategically partners with technology companies to make their complementary offerings available to Trading Technologies' global client base through the TT ecosystem. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1672454/Trading_Technologies_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/trading-technologies-establishes-new-fx-business-line-tt-fx-appointing-industry-veteran-tomo-tokuyama-to-lead-initiative-301854721.html Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. (BABA) announced Tuesday that Eddie Yongming Wu, currently Chairman of subsidiary Taobao and Tmall Group, will succeed Daniel Zhang as Chief Executive Officer. He will replace Zhang on the company's board of directors. Further, Joseph Tsai, currently Executive Vice Chairman, will succeed Zhang as Chairman of the company. Both appointments will become effective on September 10. Wu, who in addition to taking on the role of CEO, will continue to serve as Chairman of Taobao and Tmall. Following the transition, Zhang will continue to lead Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Zhang, who joined the company in 2007, has been Alibaba Group CEO over the past eight years and Chairman over the past four years. The company noted that Wu is one of its co-founders, a member of the Alibaba Partnership and chairman of Taobao and Tmall Group since May 2023. Wu was technology director of Alibaba at the company's inception in 1999. He served as chief technology officer of Alipay from December 2004, among various other roles. 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. Elliptic Labs (OSE: ELABS), a global AI software company and the world leader in AI Virtual Smart Sensors currently deployed in over 500 million devices today, announced today that it has named Nilesh Shah as the Senior VP of Client AI Architecture. Mr. Shah joins the team at Elliptic Labs, bringing his expertise in computer architecture, System-on-Chip (SOC) hardware/software engineering, and delivering industry-first technologies. Mr. Shah's career is highlighted by his extensive experience establishing and growing partnerships with C-suite executives and large OEM customers. From these relationships, Mr. Shah has devised joint technology strategies with ecosystem partners and customers. These partnerships have also led to creating key industry technology standards. His ability to identify innovative and disruptive ideas has led to successful technology investments and acquisitions. Previously, Mr. Shah served as Sr. Director of Platform Architecture at Intel Corporation (INTC). Mr. Shah has more than 25+ patents and several technical publications in the areas of AI, autonomous machines, virtual reality, computer graphics, media, audio/speech, sensors and power management. He holds a B.S. in Electronics Engineering from University of Bombay, and a M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Wisconsin Madison. "Nilesh Shah is a tremendous addition to our leadership team," said Laila Danielsen, Elliptic Labs CEO. "Our deep bench of technology and business executives just became deeper and stronger with Nilesh joining. We are excited to continue to grow and meet our ambitious goals with Nilesh's unique combination of business and tech savvy, large and influential industry network, and deep insights into where the market is trending." "Being a part of a solid and established executive team driving industry transforming innovation is both humbling and invigorating," said Nilesh Shah. "The singularity of Elliptic Labs' value proposition to behemoth markets like the smartphone and PC/laptop industries means that there is a tremendous opportunity ahead of us. I am excited to be an integral part of such a great team to execute on the potential of Elliptic Labs' AI Virtual Smart Sensor Platform and drive game changing AI technology based products." About Elliptic Labs Elliptic Labs is a global enterprise targeting the smartphone, laptop, IoT, and automotive markets. Founded in 2006 as a research spin-off from Norway's Oslo University, the company's patented software uses AI, ultrasound and sensor fusion to deliver intuitive 3D gesture, proximity-, presence-, breathing- and heartbeat-detection experiences. Its scalable AI Virtual Smart Sensor Platform creates software-only sensors that are sustainable, human-friendly and already deployed in hundreds of millions of devices around the world. Elliptic Labs is the only software company that has delivered detection capabilities using AI software, ultrasound, and sensor fusion deployed at scale. The company joined the Oslo Brs main listing in March 2022. Elliptic Labs is headquartered in Norway with presence in the USA, China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. Its technology and IP are developed in Norway and are solely owned by the company. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619649204/en/ Contacts: PR Contacts: Patrick Tsui pr@ellipticlabs.com Investor Relations: Lars Holmy Lars.Holmoy@ellipticlabs.com NMD Pharma ReportsResults from the ESTABLISH Study - an International Observational Study of Neuromuscular Function in Charcot-Marie-Tooth Type 1 and 2 Results from the study establish, for the first time,neuromuscular junction (NMJ)transmissiondeficitas a new disease characteristic in patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) type 1 and 2 The level of NMJ transmission deficitin patients with CMT was associated with disease severity assessed througha range of clinical measurements of muscle strength and function The ESTABLISH study provides reliability and tolerability estimates for a range of electrophysiological and clinical outcomes which will be key to selecting outcome measures for future clinical trials in CMT Aarhus, Denmark, 20June2023 - NMD Pharma A/S, a clinical stage biotech company developing first-in-class, small molecule ClC-1 inhibitors for neuromuscular disorders, presented the results from ESTABLISH1, an observational study of neuromuscular function in patients with the inherited neurological conditions CMT types 1 and 2 in a poster presentation yesterday at the Peripheral Nerve Society Annual Meeting(PNS) being held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Results from the study establish, for the first time, neuromuscular junction (NMJ) transmission deficit as a new disease characteristic in patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) type 1 and 2. The level of NMJ transmission deficit in patients with CMT was associated with disease severity assessed through a range of clinical measurements of muscle strength and function. The study also provides important information on tolerability and reliability of clinical and electrophysiological outcomes which will aid the selection of relevant outcomes in future clinical trials. The study compared electrophysiological assessments Prof. Dr. Henning Andersen, Department of Neurology at Aarhus University Hospital commented: "CMT is a highly debilitating disease with no approved treatments to provide a cure or alleviate symptoms in patients.Here we show that patients with CMT are characterized by deficitsof the neuromuscular junction to effectively transmit signals from nerves to muscles and that the level of transmission failure correlates with the functional capabilities of the patients. This opens the door for pharmacologically targetingthe transmission failure to improve symptoms in patients with CMT." Dr. William David Arnold, Executive Director atNextGen Precision Health, University of Missouri added: "We are excited to report the identification of an aspect of the disease that could represent a breakthrough in the identification of novel treatments for CMT." Jorge A. Quiroz, Chief Medical Officer of NMD Pharma, said: "With no currently approved treatments or therapies for this debilitating disease, uncovering NMJ transmission failure as a new disease mechanism in CMT represents a significant milestone for the development of new therapies including our novel ClC-1 inhibitor treatment approach. I would like to thank the Aarhus and Ohio teams for their great contributions to making this studya success and, most importantly, thepatients and families participating in the Establish study." NMD Pharma plans to publish the full set of study results in a peer reviewed journal. NMD Pharma is developing NMD670, a first-in-class small molecule inhibitor of the muscle specific chloride ion channel, the ClC-1 ion channel. NMD Pharma has pre-clinically demonstrated that ClC-1 inhibition can enhance neuromuscular transmission and, ultimately, skeletal muscle function and NMD670 has already demonstrated positive results in a Phase I and proof of mechanism study in patients with myasthenia gravis confirming safety, tolerability and initial efficacy data in subjects suffering from neuromuscular disorders. 1 Exploring SynapTic ABnormaLitIeS in Hereditary neuropathies *At the time of conducting the Study Dr. William David Arnold was professor at Department of Neurology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. In September 2022, Dr. Arnold was appointed Executive Director of the University of Missouri System NextGen Precision Health Initiative and Professor at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. -END- Contacts NMD Pharma A/S Thomas Holm Pedersen, CEO E-mail: contact@nmdpharma.com Consilium Strategic Communications Mary-Jane Elliott / Ashley Tapp / Lindsey Neville E-mail: NMDPharma@consilium-comms.com Tel: +44 (0)20 3709 5700 About NMD Pharma NMD Pharma A/S, is a private biotech company leading in the development of novel first-in-class therapies for severe neuromuscular disorders. The Company was incorporated as a spin-off from Aarhus University, Denmark in 2015 and was founded on more than 15 years of muscle physiology research with a focus on regulation of skeletal muscle excitability under physical activity. NMD Pharma has built a world-leading muscle electrophysiology platform leveraging the in-depth know-how of muscle physiology and muscular disorders, small molecule modulators, enabling technologies and tools as well as in vivo pharmacology models for discovering and developing proprietary modulators of neuromuscular function. NMD Pharma received initial seed financing in 2016 and have since raised ~80 million from investors including Novo Holdings, Lundbeckfonden BioCapital, INKEF Capital, Roche Venture Fund, and Jeito Capital. Find out more about us online at http://www.nmdpharma.com/. About the Department of Clinical Medicine: Aarhus, Denmark Department of Clinical Medicine is Denmark's largest health science institute conducting research in almost all medical specialities and hosting a large number of research centres. Most of our staff are employed part-time at the department and part-time as clinical staff at Aarhus University Hospital or one of the four regional hospitals in Central Denmark Region. The close collaboration between Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital ensures fast implementation of research results in clinical practice to the benefit of patients. Department of Clinical Medicine is located at Aarhus University Hospital, which has been awarded Denmark's best hospital 13 times in a row. About The Ohio State University The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, based in Columbus, Ohio, USA, is a proud part of one of America's largest and most comprehensive universities. On the university's main Columbus campus, more than 56,000 students are able to choose from 14 colleges, 175 undergraduate majors and 240 master's, doctoral and professional degree programs. Ohio State is consistently ranked as Ohio's best and one of the nation's top-20 public universities. The university's research innovations have attained world-class status, particularly in critical areas such as global climate change, cancer, infectious disease, neurosciences, advanced materials and ag-bio products that feed and fuel the world. About Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease CMT encompasses a group of hereditary sensory and motor neuropathies that cause damage to peripheral nerves. Damage caused by CMT worsens over time and can result in the loss or alteration of sensation and atrophy of muscles in the legs, feet, arms and hands. There are several types of CMT which are differentiated by their effects on neurons and inheritance patterns caused by mutations on the X chromosome - both result in either abnormalities in myelination, axonal degeneration, or both. CMT affects approximately 2.6 million individuals worldwide with symptoms appearing typically at adolescence or early adulthood, however onset of the disease can occur at any age. U.K.'s Royal Air Force and National Security Strategic Investment Fund look to U.S. based Company Red 6 to Advance Airborne Synthetic Training Ecosystem ORLANDO, Fla., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Red 6, a revolutionary Augmented Reality (AR) technology firm at the forefront of synthetic air combat training and augmented reality applications, is proud to announce a strategic agreement with the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force (RAF), and the National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF), the UK Government's corporate venturing arm for dual-use advanced technologies. Both parties seek to work collaboratively with Red 6 to supply Augmented Reality technologies in support of the U.K. military flying training ecosystem, known as UKMFTS.?NSSIF also participated as an investor in Red 6's recent $70 million Series B capital raising round. "This agreement marks the beginning of a paradigm shift in training for U.K. fighter pilots, and I'm delighted that both the RAF and NSSIF recognize the role Red 6's technology will play in delivering this capability. Having served with both the RAF and the USAF, I'm passionate about aligning both services on the early adoption of this technology. It is essential that we can interoperate seamlessly if we are to prevail in the high-end fight and the first step to achieving this is to be able to train together. I envision a future in which all warfighters, across all domains, can train together in a joint augmented training environment," said Daniel Robinson, Founder and CEO of Red 6. NSSIF makes investments that help accelerate the adoption of the U.K. government's future national security and defense capabilities, while developing the country's dual-use technology ecosystem. Through this investment, NSSIF will also support Red 6 with its integration into BAE Systems Ltd (BAEs) Hawk aircraft. The RAF collaborates with government, military, and civilian partners in the U.K. and overseas to promote U.K. security, prosperity, and national interests around the world. The adoption of advanced technologies is vital if it is to remain at the forefront of global security. Air Vice Marshal Ian Townsend, Air Officer Commanding No. 22 Group, Royal Air Force stated, "Exploitation of novel technologies is an essential part of ensuring that the RAF can sustain its combat edge and succeed on operations against a constantly evolving adversary. Our collaboration with Red 6 is a core part of ensuring we are seeking innovative ways to improve the way in which we train, allowing us to generate the very best combat pilots possible. Augmented Reality presents an exciting opportunity, and I look forward to developing the capability alongside our industry partners." Red 6 has developed the Advanced Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS). ATARS is a multi-node, all-domain AR system that delivers a complete outdoor synthetic training environment for multiple users. It allows pilots to experience the cognitive loads of physically flying airplanes for real but captures the value of synthetics by enabling them to enter realistic, scalable, simulated training environments, outdoors.? "The Red 6 team and I are focused on delivering a?synthetic?training environment that will provide real life, near-peer threat training that enhances cognitive skills and learning.?ATARS will directly address the pilot production shortfall, improve readiness and lethality, and greatly decrease the overextension of resources in a quicker, cheaper, safer, and cleaner way," stated Robinson. About Red 6? Red 6, founded in 2018, is the creator of Advanced Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS), and Augmented Reality Command and Analytic Data Environment (ARCADE). Red 6 systems are the first wide field-of-view, full color demonstrably proven outdoor augmented reality solution that operates in dynamic outdoor environments. Together, they bring virtual and constructive assets into the real-world by allowing pilots and ground operators to see synthetic threats in real-time, outdoors, and critically, in high-speed environments.?? View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/red-6-signs-strategic-agreement-with-raf-and-nssif-for-augmented-reality-technology-301854756.html Regulatory News: Latecoere (Paris:LAT), a leading aerospace tier one, announced today that it has won contracts with Boeing for the supply of wiring systems for the 737 and 767 programs, both for military and commercial variants. Manufacturing will begin in Q3 2023. Latecoere's Interconnection Systems Division will supply electrical wire bundles and junction boxes for the Boeing 737 program; and rack assemblies for the Boeing 767 program, a first in the cooperation history between both partners. The contracts signed in January 2023 address both commercial and military variants for the Boeing 737 (737 MAX and P-8 Multi-Mission Maritime Patrol Aircraft) and for the Boeing 767 (767-300 Freighter). The 737 MAX's wiring systems meet a high level of variability in order to meet the specific needs of airlines. Latecoere's expertise will be particularly useful in order to lead the successful industrialization of these complex references. Manufacturing will be operated at Latecoere's Hermosillo facility in Mexico from Q3 2023. The Group capitalizes on its North American footprint to address the needs of the local market with upper efficiency. Latecoere's Hermosillo operations is a rational choice for US based aerospace and defense firms looking for world class near-shore options. Greg Huttner, Latecoere Group Deputy CEO and Interconnection Systems Division CEO, stated: "Capitalizing on our growing North American presence and building on our first EWIS (Electrical Wiring Interconnection Systems) cooperation for the 777X, Latecoere Interconnection Systems strengthens its business relationship with Boeing and further positions itself as a strategic EWIS partner for the future. More on the wiring systems: Electrical wire bundles are designed to deliver power and data to various systems throughout the aircraft. They are critical components that must meet rigorous safety and reliability standards to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the aircraft. Junction boxes are used to connect multiple wires together and provide a secure and reliable electrical connection. Rack assemblies are used to house and organize electronic equipment and other components in the aircraft. ________________________________________________________ About Latecoere Tier 1 to the world's leading industry manufacturers (Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, Bombardier, Dassault Aviation, Embraer, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, Thales), Latecoere serves aerospace with innovative solutions for a sustainable world. The Group operates in all segments of the aerospace industry (commercial, regional, business, defense and space) in two business areas: Aerostructures (55% of sales): doors, fuselage, wings and empennage, struts rods and customer services; Interconnection Systems (45% of sales): wiring, avionic racks, onboard equipment, electronic systems and customer services. As of December 31, 2022, the Group employed 5,918 people in 14 countries. Latecoere is listed on Euronext Paris Compartment B, ISIN Code: FR0000032278 Reuters: AEP.PA Bloomberg: AT.FP View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619809236/en/ Contacts: Thierry Mahe Media Relations +33 (0)6 60 69 63 85 LatecoereGroupCommunication@latecoere.aero RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Zamil Trade and Services, Knowliom and Chargeurs Museum Studio have joined forces to create Knowliom-CMS, a joint venture limited liability company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Knowliom-CMS aims to revolutionise tourism and culture by providing comprehensive services that encompass advisory, creative, and delivery solutions for museums, exhibitions and cultural assets. The announcement of the joint venture took place during a signing ceremony at the French-Saudi Investment Forum held on June 19, 2023, in Paris, France. The forum was led by His Excellency Eng. Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Falih, the Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia, and brought together esteemed chairpersons from all three companies: Nasser AlZamil, Riyadh AlZamil, and Michael Fribourg. The forum showcased the thriving private sector investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia and featured high-level panel discussions. During one such panel, Michael Fribourg emphasized the significant economic growth potential of the Knowliom-CMS joint venture in driving tourism and positioning Saudi Arabia as a cultural hub. Distinguished leaders from the tourism and cultural sectors, including Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority; Jerry Inzerillo, CEO of Diriyah Gate Development Authority; and Fahad AlObailan, Chief Tourism Officer of AlMosafer, part of Seera Group, were also present, further emphasising the importance of the collaboration. Abdulaziz AlSulaim, CEO of the new entity, stated, "Knowliom-CMS stands at the forefront of Saudi Arabia's cultural renaissance. With immense honour, our dedicated team in Riyadh endeavors to support our clients in creating unforgettable cultural experiences for both residents and visitors throughout the Kingdom. We aim to provide an entire supply chain of services that will showcase the rich mosaic of Saudi Arabian traditions, catapulting the nation into a transformative era of enriching guest interactions." Knowliom-CMS will become part of the renowned Chargeurs Museum Studio group, the world's largest studio dedicated to comprehensive cultural services for museums, arts, brands, real estate, and experience markets. This integration allows the Chargeurs Museum Studio group to extend its global presence and incorporate local and regional knowledge within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The partnership with Knowliom-CMS will play a significant role in fostering the development of cultural experiences within institutions, museums, and guest experience activities throughout the country. "We envisage a future where Saudi Arabia emerges as a prominent global hub for culture and attractions, enchanting visitors, fostering talent, and igniting sustainable growth. With the collaborative efforts of Knowliom-CMS, we are pooling resources to create immersive experiences that exalt the distinctive heritage, traditions, and narratives of Saudi Arabia, captivating audiences from every corner of the world," expressed Delphine de Canecaude, CEO of Chargeurs Museum Studio. The establishment of Knowliom-CMS underscores the commitment of Zamil Trade and Services, Knowliom and Chargeurs Museum Studio to contribute to the development and preservation of cultural assets in Saudi Arabia. The joint venture represents a significant step towards elevating Saudi Arabia's global standing in the museum and cultural asset sectors, fostering cultural exchange, and creating immersive experiences that resonate with audiences worldwide. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105578/Knowliom_CMS_1.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105579/Knowliom_CMS_2.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105580/Knowliom_CMS_3.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105581/Knowliom_CMS_4.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/transforming-saudi-arabias-cultural-landscape-a-joint-venture-by-zamil-trade-and-services-knowliom-and-chargeurs-museum-studio-announced-at-the-french-saudi-investment-forum-301854657.html Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Sanofi (SNYNF, SNY) announced that in an International Chamber of Commerce dispute, the tribunal dismissed Boehringer Ingelheim's indemnification claim against the company. The tribunal also confirmed that Sanofi shall not be liable to indemnify BI for any potential losses in relation to the ongoing Zantac litigation in the U.S. Sanofi stated that it remains confident that the defense of the underlying U.S. Zantac litigation is very strong. The company noted that, in December 2022, a U.S. federal court ruled that plaintiffs had no reliable scientific evidence that ranitidine can cause any of the plaintiffs' alleged injuries. For More Such Health News, visit rttnews.com. 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. Research reveals 35% of CIOs believe global growth ambitions are constrained by legacy systems and fast growth economies are lower priority due to perceived complexity New research of global CIOs launched today from Expereo reveals that large global enterprises are moving 'Faster to the Future' with an increased focus on technology investment to fuel growth through global expansion. The research of over 650 CIOs in global enterprises across Europe, US and APAC shows that half of global CIOs (51%) have secured increased technology budgets specifically to deliver growth and overcome existing challenges. Positive news for over a third (35%) who claim that their global business ambitions are constrained by legacy connectivity and management systems. It also identifies that organisations may be missing growth opportunities by failing to prioritise regions with some of the world's fastest growing economies, due to perceived complexity and challenges to market entry. Ben Elms, Chief Revenue Officer at Expereo comments; "As organisations focus on driving growth through global expansion, there are clearly complexities and challenges to overcome. The business-critical nature of connectivity in today's world combined with an increasingly complex landscape from security, regulation, skills and often challenging physical and geo-political infrastructure mean it's no easy task. However, it is achievable. Those that find a way to simplify, automate and scale their operations will be in the best position to reap the rewards and growth that this can deliver." The future is bright According to the research, global CIOs describe their organisations' attitudes to growth as optimistic (34%) and nearly a third (30%) as ambitious for the next 12 months. Over half (51%) of respondents claim global boards have already increased technology budgets to help drive this. Security (61%), automation and analytics (59%), and 5G (58%) were identified as the top three areas set for increased tech investments globally in the next four months, closely followed by public/hybrid cloud (55%), Edge computing and IoT (both 54%), SD-WAN (45%) and SASE (51%). CIOs claim that this investment will drive global growth by ensuring prioritisation of increased innovation (50%), increased automation (47%) and expansion into new markets (45%). More markets, more problems Almost half (46%) of CIOs claimed that establishing and managing connectivity in new markets is the single most critical factor in ensuring successful global expansion, and 42% said that their board views global connectivity as a business asset critical to growth, but there are challenges that need to be overcome. In fact, when asked specifically about the biggest challenge to delivering global growth in new regions, 37% said that effectively establishing connectivity in new regions is one of the major challenges in their role, 37% a major challenge for their organisation and 35% that their organisations' business ambitions are constrained by legacy connectivity. Additional challenges identified were security environments (35%), skills and resource retention (35%), complicated physical and geopolitical infrastructure (33%), regulation and compliance (32%), and legacy systems and local knowledge (both 31%). Perceived complexity an obstacle to global growth Responses indicated that global enterprises may be failing to prioritise the fastest growing economies due to perceived complexities. When asked about where their organisation saw the biggest opportunity for growth, North America and Europe dominated the top five. North America (37%) took the throne, followed by Western Europe (32%), Eastern Europe (26%), Northern Europe (25%) and South America (25%). Although South America appears in the top five, it also ranks as the most technologically challenging region to do business in regarding the local knowledge of providers (29%), agility (28%), robust connectivity (28%), scalability (27%), and performance visibility (28%). Interestingly it is also seen as a more challenging security environment than China 27% compared to China's 26%. Given that the IMF's most recent World Economic Outlook Report showed that growth projections in advanced economies was 1.4% for 2024, while emerging and developing markets was 4.2%, it is surprising that neither the Greater China Area or Central South Asia appear in the top five priority regions for growth. Each includes two of the fastest growing economies in the world China and India. Perhaps this is due to both appearing consistently in the top five most challenging regions in terms of local technology provider knowledge (25% and 22% respectively), agility (26% and 24%), robust connectivity (25% and 23%), security (26% and 25%) and performance visibility (both 25%). Ben Elms continues; "Realising the growth opportunities that global expansion can deliver will be critical to the world economy in these challenging times. CIOs need to completely focus on supercharging this strategic growth wherever they are doing business in the world; not grappling with unnecessary logistical and connectivity challenges. That's what Expereo is here for. We simplify and automate this, allowing our customers to get on with business." For the full report please visit: https://www.expereo.com/enterprise-horizons About Expereo Expereo is a leading global provider of managed network solutions including, Global Internet, SD-WAN/SASE, and Enhanced Internet. With an extensive global reach, Expereo is the trusted partner of 30% of Fortune 500 companies. It powers enterprise and government sites in more than 190 countries, helping customers improve productivity and empowering their networks and cloud services with the agility, flexibility and value of the Internet, with optimal network performance. Expereo was acquired in Feb 2021, by Vitruvian Partners. The international growth capital and buyout firm, acquired a majority shareholding from leading European private equity firm, Seven2. www.expereo.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620248520/en/ Contacts: Scarlett King +44 7534252295 CorWave raised 61 million euros to fund its first industrial deployment and entry into clinical trials. SPI fund, managed by Bpifrance on behalf of the French Government as part of France 2030, and leading family controlled entrepreneurial groups were the main investors of this second closing. Founded in 2012, CorWave's mission is to help healthcare professionals save heart failure patients and give them an active life. CorWave's ambition is to become a world-class medtech company. The company has developed a next-generation heart pump based on a breakthrough technology, the wave membrane pump. The "Societe de Projets Industriels" (SPI) fund, managed by Bpifrance, is making a major contribution to this capital increase, with an investment of 15 million. European investors and entrepreneurs with strong industrial backgrounds are investing 11 million, including Exor Ventures, controlled by the Agnelli family (Ferrari, Stellantis), and Vlerick Group (textile and metal engineering). The investment will enable CorWave to finance the next stages of its development. The high-tech medical devices company has already begun its industrial transformation and will soon be inaugurating its manufacturing facility on the banks of the Seine in Clichy. Magali Joessel, Managing Director of the SPI fund, said: "We were particularly impressed by CorWave's value proposition. Its wave membrane heart pump will provide a new solution to a major public health issue: heart failure. Supporting CorWave's industrialization project is fully in line with the SPI fund's raison d'etre, being a partner to industrial start-ups manufacturing high value-added products in France." Louis de Lillers, Chief Executive Officer of CorWave, commented: "We are delighted to welcome new reference shareholders with an in-depth understanding of the industrial world. The SPI fund has financed about 20 major industrial projects since 2015. Exor Ventures and Vlerick Group were started by major industrial families. These investments are the result of demanding selection processes that demonstrate the relevance of our disruptive product and the seriousness of the work carried out by our teams. These funds will enable us to pursue our mission with the aim of improving the lives of advanced heart failure patients around the world At the first closing of Round C, the company raised 35 million from returning investors (Sofinnova Partners, Seventure Partners, Bpifrance, Novo Holdings and Ysios Capital) and new investors (EIC Fund, Arbevel, M&L Healthcare). This was a landmark transaction, being the first direct equity investment by the European Commission since its creation through the EIC Fund. About CorWave CorWave is a French company developing innovative cardiac assist devices. CorWave's wave membrane is a breakthrough technology that differs from today's commercially available left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) by its physiological operation, designed to mimic a pulse and blood flow rates similar to those of a healthy heart. Ultimately, CorWave's membrane pump technology is expected to reduce the complications associated with current devices and improve the management of heart failure patients. CorWave was founded in 2012 by start-up studio MD Start and is funded by renowned investors including Bpifrance, EIC Fund, Financiere Arbevel, M&L Healthcare, Novo Holdings, Seventure Partners, Sofinnova Partners and Ysios Capital. The company has secured 80 million in equity and employs over seventy people. For more information: www.corwave.com www.linkedin.com/company/corwave https://twitter.com/corwave About Bpifrance and the SPI 2 fund Bpifrance finances companies at every stage of their development with credit, guarantees and equity. Bpifrance supports them in their innovation and international development projects. Bpifrance also supports their export activities through a wide range of products. Consulting, university, networking and acceleration programs for startups, SMEs and ETIs are also part of the services offered to entrepreneurs. Thanks to Bpifrance and its 50 regional offices, entrepreneurs benefit from a single, close and efficient contact to help them meet their challenges. The SPI ("Societes de Projets Industriels") 2 fund, managed by Bpifrance on behalf of the French government as part of the France 2030 program, is designed to support the development of industrial projects that offer the greatest potential for business and job creation in industrial sectors. It acts as a prudent equity investor in project companies carrying out industrialization projects selected on the basis of their growth potential, the industry's current positioning and their contribution to the ecological and energy transition. It is thus one of the financial levers of the New Industrial France initiative. For more information: www.Bpifrance.fr https://presse.bpifrance.fr/ Follow us on Twitter: @Bpifrance @BpifrancePresse About the France 2030 investment plan The plan reflects a dual ambition: to transform key sectors of the French economy (healthcare, energy, automotive, aeronautics and space) through technological innovation, and to position France not just as a player, but as a leader in the world of tomorrow. From fundamental research, to the emergence of an idea, to the production of a new product or service, France 2030 supports the entire life cycle of innovation, right through to industrialization. The scale of the program is unprecedented: 54 billion will be invested so that French companies, universities and research organizations can successfully make the transition to these strategic sectors. The aim is to enable them to respond competitively to the ecological and attractiveness challenges of the world to come, and to nurture the future leaders of our sectors of excellence. France 2030 is defined by two cross-functional objectives: to devote 50% of its spending to decarbonizing the economy, and 50% to emerging, innovative players, without spending money that is detrimental to the environment (in line with the Do No Significant Harm principle). The plan will be implemented collectively: designed and deployed in consultation with economic, academic, local and European players to determine the strategic orientations and flagship actions. Project leaders are invited to submit their applications via open, demanding and selective procedures, in order to benefit from government support. Is it led by the General Secretariat for Investment on behalf of the Prime Minister, and implemented by the Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME), the National Research Agency (ANR), Bpifrance and the "Banque des Territoires". For more information: france2030.gouv.fr @SGPI_avenir This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 954151. The SPI fund's investment in CorWave is part of the France 2030 program. CorWave's R&D program is supported by the French government through the "Programme d'Investissements d'Avenir" (PIA). CorWave's industrialization program is supported by the Paris Region through the call for projects "Relance Industrie". View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620886811/en/ Contacts: Press: Taddeo Agency Camille Duchiron +33 6 50 52 44 43 camille.duchiron@taddeo.fr Bpifrance Pierre Cejka +33 6 63 78 64 21 pierre.cejka@bpifrance.fr PARIS, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin, Korea Aerospace Industries and Red 6 today announced they have begun developing engineering solutions and a technology roadmap to establish an implementation path for Red 6's Advanced Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS), into the T-50 platform and associated ground-based training systems. Initial technology integration includes a T-50 demonstrator and the Red 6 ATARS technology that is electronically networked with the Lockheed Martin Prepar3D software simulation suite. This early engineering solution provides Lockheed Martin and Red 6 additional experience in integrating simulations which could eventually comprise embedded training for the T-50 program and ground-based training systems. "ATARS addresses the critical training inefficiencies in today's training platforms. There has never been a training environment in which you can combine virtual assets being visually represented in the real outdoor world, and the opportunity to overlay this training into ground-based training, until now," says Daniel Robinson, founder and CEO at Red 6. ATARS is a multi-node, all-domain augmented reality (AR) system that delivers a complete outdoor synthetic training environment for multiple users. Red 6 technology allows pilots to experience the cognitive loads of physically flying airplanes while capturing the value of synthetics by enabling them to enter realistic, scalable in range and ratio, secure, simulated training environments while airborne in the most dynamic of outdoor environments. "Our vision is to help our customers leverage emerging technologies to seamlessly and securely connect all assets for joint missions, and enable fast and decisive action," said Aimee Burnett, vice president, Business Development for the Integrated Fighter Group at Lockheed Martin. "Lockheed Martin has made significant advances in digital engineering and built strategic partnerships that are enabling us to accelerate development across our platforms. "One such example is continued integration with Red 6 as we look to build advanced 21st Century Security capabilities that support our customers' needs," Burnett continued. Burnett added the T-50 program remains in demand around the world. Lockheed Martin recently submitted the TF-50A variant for the U.S. Air Force's trainer program to serve three near-term missions including tactical training, adversary air support and tactical fighter surrogate. The TF-50A is configured as a light attack fighter/trainer with additional enhancements to include radar, electronic warfare system, tactical data link and other capabilities to meet Air Combat Command requirements. Lockheed Martin also submitted the TF-50N variant for the U.S. Navy's trainer program. The TF-50N is uniquely configured to meet multiple U.S. Navy missions including pilot landing qualification, adversary air, training/chase and tactical surrogate. While the ATARS system is initially targeted for the T-50 program, it could eventually be applied to operational Lockheed Martin platforms such as the F-16, F-22 and F-35. Red 6 is a Lockheed Martin Ventures portfolio company. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin Corporation is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 116,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. Please follow @LMNews on Twitter for the latest announcements and news across the corporation. About Red 6 Red 6, founded in 2018, is the creator of Advanced Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS), and Augmented Reality Command and Analytic Data Environment (ARCADE). Red 6 systems are the first wide field-of-view, full color demonstrably proven outdoor augmented reality solution that operates in dynamic outdoor environments. Together, they bring virtual and constructive assets into the real-world by allowing pilots and ground operators to see synthetic threats in real-time, outdoors, and critically, in high-speed environments. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1954774/Lockheed_Martin_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/lockheed-martin-korea-aerospace-industries--red-6-announce-initial-augmented-reality-integration-work-for-t-50-platform-301854866.html Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. 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. Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. About Midaxo Midaxo is the leading software platform for corporate dealmaking. Digitally transforming the dealmaking process, Midaxo leverages automation, AI, and machine learning to deliver breakthrough productivity gains while decreasing deal risk. The modular Midaxo SaaS platform can be configured for each customer to enable corporate development and M&A leaders at large and medium-sized enterprises and private equity firms to find, evaluate, and deliver value from new deals with unprecedented speed and accuracy. The CRM module makes it easy to identify and manage 5x more targets. The due diligence module foster collaboration and reduces diligence time 50% compared to traditional approaches. The integration module provides structure for post-merger integrations, accelerating time to value up to 40%. The platform functions as the system of record while reducing risk throughout the acquisition process. Midaxo customers include Ascensus, Banner Health, Cognizant, Daimler AG, Professional Services Co., and United Site Services. For more information, visit Midaxo.com. Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Commerce Resources Corp. (TSXv:CCE)(FSE:D7H0)(OTCQX:CMRZF) (the "Company" or "Commerce") is pleased to announce it has signed an agreement with Zimtu Capital Corp. (TSXv: ZC; FSE: ZCT1) ("Zimtu") whereas Zimtu shall provide Commerce Resources services under the ZimtuADVANTAGE program. ZimtuADVANTAGE is a program designed to provide opportunities, guidance, cost savings and assistance to clients covering multiple aspects of being a public company. The services of this program include the following: Zoom with Zimtu; Zimtu Connect - all major news/events/important updates sent to email distribution list, Lead Generation campaigns; Blog Posts; Digital Awareness campaigns; Influencer Marketing; Social Media Distribution of company news/important updates through Zimtu accounts including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube & Instagram; Rockstone Reports & Distribution; Video News Releases - major news releases will be translated to video format, which will be distributed on all social media platforms and to Zimtu Connect subscribers; and Zimtu Question Period. The agreement is considered to include investor relations services under TSX Venture Exchange policy 3.4. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company will pay Zimtu $12,500 (plus GST) per month for a period of twelve months amounting to an aggregate of $150,000 (plus GST) for the duration of the one-year term. The agreement is being filed with the TSX Venture Exchange. About Commerce Resources Corp. Commerce Resources Corp. is a junior mineral resource company focused on the development of the Ashram Rare Earth and Fluorspar Deposit located in Quebec, Canada. The Company is positioning to be one of the lowest cost rare earth producers globally, with a specific focus on being a long-term supplier of mixed rare earth carbonate and/or NdPr oxide to the global market. The Ashram Deposit is characterized by simple rare earth (monazite, bastnaesite, xenotime) and gangue (carbonates) mineralogy, a large tonnage resource at favourable grade, and has demonstrated the production of high-grade (>45% REO) mineral concentrates at high recovery (>70%) in line with active global producers. In addition to being one of the largest rare earth deposits globally, Ashram is also one of the largest fluorspar deposits globally and has the potential to be a long-term supplier to the met-spar and acid-spar markets. For more information, please visit the corporate website at www.commerceresources.com or email info@commerceresources.com. About Zimtu Capital Corp. Zimtu Capital Corp. is a public investment issuer that invests with the objective of achieving long-term capital appreciation for its shareholders. Zimtu Capital companies may operate in the fields of mineral exploration, mining, technology, life sciences or investment. The Company trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "ZC" and Frankfurt under symbol "ZCT1". For more information visit http://www.zimtu.com. On Behalf of the Board of Directors COMMERCE RESOURCES CORP. "Chris Grove" Chris Grove President and Director Tel: 604.484.2700 Email: cgrove@commerceresources.com Web: http://www.commerceresources.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Commerce Resources Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762216/Commerce-Resources-Corp-Announces-Contract-with-Zimtu-Capital-Corp Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Air France KLM (AFRAF.PK) issued details of share buyback program authorized by the shareholders meeting of June 7, 2023. Under the program, maximum amount of the share capital that may be acquired by the company is 5%. Maximum purchase price per share will be 4 euros, excluding fees or, in the event of the implementation of a reverse share split, 40 euros, excluding fees. It has a duration of 18 months. The company said the share buyback allows an investment firm to coordinate stock liquidity within the framework of a liquidity contract in compliance with the Compliance Charter recognized by the AMF. It also allows to allocate shares upon exercise of the rights to shares attached to securities issued by the company or by companies in which it holds, either directly or indirectly, more than half of the share capital and that grant the right to the allocation of company shares via conversion, exercise, repayment, exchange, presentation of a warrant or any other means. 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. Dr. Favre brings extensive experience in gene therapy, immunology and drug development Appointment comes at a pivotal time of Company growth as it prepares for clinical development and expands its pipeline into other gene therapies BARCELONA,Spain, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SpliceBio, a genetic medicines company exploiting its proprietary Protein Splicing platform to develop next generation gene therapies, is pleased to announce the appointment of David Favre, D.V.M., Ph.D., as Chief Development Officer (CDO). Dr. Favre brings more than 25 years of experience in gene therapy, immunology and drug development throughout academia and the biopharma industry. He joins SpliceBio from Innoskel, where he served as Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to that, Dr. Favre was Vice President of Translational Medicine at Asklepios Biopharmaceutical (AskBio), where he led the platforms and program resources to marshal preclinical, INDs and early clinical programs, particularly focusing on the immunogenicity and adjunctive immunotherapy of AAV gene therapy and metabolic diseases. Previously Dr. Favre was the Director of HIV Biology at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), where he spearheaded their portfolio of immunotherapy drugs. Dr. Favre has also served as Adjunct Associate Professor at the University North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Miquel Vila-Perello, CEO and co-founder of SpliceBio, said: "I am excited to welcome David to the SpliceBio leadership team at an exciting time of platform expansion as we begin preparations for clinical development. His extensive knowledge in gene therapy, immunology and drug development will be invaluable as he takes the lead on development of the Company's therapeutic candidates from preclinical research to the clinic. David will focus on advancing the company's lead AAV gene therapy program for Stargardt disease towards clinical development and expanding the company's Protein Splicing platform and pipeline to other genes that exceed the packaging capacity of AAV vectors." David Favre, CDO of SpliceBio, commented: "SpliceBio has built an impressive gene therapy platform that addresses one of the most fundamental challenges facing the gene therapy field today: the limited packaging capacity of AAV vectors. I am thrilled to join the SpliceBio leadership team to lead the development of several novel programs aimed at diseases that have been elusive to gene therapy until today." David's appointment follows an oversubscribed Series A financing in February 2022 which is the largest Series A round for a Spanish biotech company. The company was also awarded a Private-Public Partnership Grant ("Colaboracion Publico-Privada") from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation in January 2023. Dr. Favre earned a D.V.M. from the Veterinary School of Nantes, France, and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Paris, which focused on the immunology of AAV gene therapy and preclinical assessment in non-human primates. He completed his post-doctoral studies in immunology at the Gladstone Institutes and at UCSF in San Francisco, US. About SpliceBio SpliceBio is a genetic medicines company exploiting its proprietary Protein Splicing platform to develop the next generation of gene therapies. The Company's platform enables efficient delivery of large genes with adeno-associated vectors (AAV), overcoming the most fundamental challenge in the quest to curing a broad range of genetic diseases. SpliceBio's platform is based on technology developed in the Muir Lab at Princeton University after more than 20 years of pioneering intein and protein engineering research. For additional information, please visit www.splice.bio. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/splicebio-appoints-david-favre-dvm-phd-as-chief-development-officer-to-accelerate-development-of-its-lead-aav-gene-therapy-program-301854934.html DUBAI, UAE, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Around two-thirds of young Arabs (60%) say that relations between Iran and Israel and the West will deteriorate into military conflict. Many expect the Iranian regime to become even more authoritarian in the future, with nearly a third saying Iran will experience more civil unrest and possibly a coup. The findings this year also highlight the shifting geopolitical allegiances in the Arab world, with the region's youth saying they view Turkey and China as stronger allies of their country than traditional powers such as the United States and Russia. These are some of the key insights from the landmark 15th annual ASDA'A BCW Arab Youth Survey, unveiled today by ASDA'A BCW, the Middle East & North Africa's leading communications consultancy. The survey is the largest study of its kind of MENA's largest demographic, its 200 million plus youth. This year's findings show young Arab men and women 'Living a New Reality', the overarching theme of the 2023 survey. ASDA'A BCW commissioned SixthFactor Consulting, a leading research company, to conduct face-to-face interviews with 3,600 Arab citizens aged 18 to 24 in their home nations from March 27 to April 12, 2023. The largest sample in the survey's history was equally divided between men and women in 53 cities across a total of 18 Arab states, including for the first time South Sudan. The 75-year Palestinian-Israeli conflict won't be resolved soon Arab youth are pessimistic about the prospects for peace in the Palestinian Territories, with most surveyed saying the 75-year conflict between Palestinians and Israelis won't be resolved within the next five years. Moreover, nearly four in 10 (39%) young Arabs overall believe that with rising national priorities, the conflict does not receive adequate attention from the Arab world, rising to more than half (51%) in the Levant region, which includes the Palestinian Territories. A divergence of views on closer ties with Israel When young Arabs were asked whether they supported or would endorse their government's decision to normalise diplomatic ties with Israel, three-quarters (75%) in the UAE, a signatory of the Abraham Accords, said they supported normalisation. A third in Bahrain, the first country to sign the agreement, said the same. In Sudan, however, the fourth Arab nation to establish full diplomatic ties with Israel, 94% oppose it. Shifting geopolitical allegiances Among non-Arab nations, 82% of Arab youth named Turkey as a 'strong ally' or 'somewhat of an ally of their country', followed by China (80%), the United Kingdom (79%), Germany (78%) and France (74%). The US ranked seventh, with 72% votes, just below India at 73%. Russia, a top-three ally in last year's study, now ranks in ninth place, rated as an ally by 63% of respondents, below Pakistan (69%). At the same time, they say the US continues to exert the most influence in the Arab world. However, most would like the US to be less involved in Middle Eastern affairs, with nearly two-thirds saying they 'strongly or somewhat support' US disengagement from the region. Views on 'model nations' For the 12th consecutive year since young Arabs were asked to name the countries they consider 'model nations', they have said the UAE is the country they would most like to live in and the one they would most like their own to emulate. Nearly one in four Arab youth (24%) named the UAE as the country they would most like to live in, followed by the US (19%), Canada (19%), Qatar (14%) and the UK (13%). The UAE was also named the country most Arab youth want their own to emulate, again for the 12th straight year. The UAE was identified by 22% of young Arab men and women overall, ahead of the US (19%), Canada (16%), Qatar (15%) and Saudi Arabia and the UK in joint fifth place (11%). Sunil John, President, MENA, BCW and Founder of ASDA'A BCW, who has led the survey over the past 15 years, said: "The annual ASDA'A BCW Arab Youth Survey has proven to be an indispensable resource for global decision makers in government and business seeking a clearer understanding of a region that is increasingly influential in world affairs, yet still an enigma for many. Once again, the study sheds new light on the Arab world's changing geopolitical landscape." In the coming weeks, ASDA'A BCW will publish insights under the other five themes covered in the study: My Politics, My Livelihood, My Identity, My Aspirations, and My Lifestyle. To know more about the findings, log on to arabyouthsurvey.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105568/ASDA_A_BCW_Arab_Youth_Survey.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105571/ASDA_A_BCW_Arab_Youth_Survey.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/nearly-two-thirds-of-young-arabs-say-the-tensions-between-iran-and-israel-and-the-west-will-lead-to-military-conflict-15th-annual-asdaa-bcw-arab-youth-survey-301854655.html Two-thirds say the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will not be resolved soon, while 4 in 10 (39%) say it does not get attention it deserves from the Arab world Reflecting shifting geopolitical allegiances, Arab youth say Turkey and China are the top non-Arab allies of their country but the US still dominates Middle Eastern affairs Most Arab youth oppose normalisation of ties with Israel but a majority in the UAE, Egypt and Morocco favour closer diplomatic relations with the country DUBAI, UAE, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Around two-thirds of young Arabs (60%) say that relations between Iran and Israel and the West will deteriorate into military conflict. Many expect the Iranian regime to become even more authoritarian in the future, with nearly a third saying Iran will experience more civil unrest and possibly a coup. The findings this year also highlight the shifting geopolitical allegiances in the Arab world, with the region's youth saying they view Turkey and China as stronger allies of their country than traditional powers such as the United States and Russia. These are some of the key insights from the landmark 15th annual ASDA'A BCW Arab Youth Survey, unveiled today by ASDA'A BCW, the Middle East & North Africa's leading communications consultancy. The survey is the largest study of its kind of MENA's largest demographic, its 200 million plus youth. This year's findings show young Arab men and women 'Living a New Reality', the overarching theme of the 2023 survey. ASDA'A BCW commissioned SixthFactor Consulting, a leading research company, to conduct face-to-face interviews with 3,600 Arab citizens aged 18 to 24 in their home nations from March 27 to April 12, 2023. The largest sample in the survey's history was equally divided between men and women in 53 cities across a total of 18 Arab states, including for the first time South Sudan. The interviews were deliberately conducted face to face rather than online to maximise the accuracy of the research and to reflect the nuances of Arab youth opinion across the region as much as possible. The 75-year Palestinian-Israeli conflict won't be resolved soon Arab youth are also pessimistic about the prospects for peace in the Palestinian Territories, with most surveyed saying the 75-year conflict between Palestinians and Israelis won't be resolved within the next five years. Although a majority (60%) of GCC citizens said a positive resolution is 'likely', over two-thirds (69%) in Levant, and more than half (57%) in North Africa, say it is 'very unlikely' or 'somewhat unlikely' that the conflict will be resolved soon. Moreover, nearly four in 10 (39%) young Arabs overall believe that with rising national priorities, the conflict does not receive adequate attention from the Arab world, rising to more than half (51%) in the Levant region, which includes the Palestinian Territories. A divergence of views on closer ties with Israel Most Arab youth oppose the normalisation of ties between Arab countries and Israel but a majority in United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Morocco favour closer diplomatic relations with the country. When young Arabs were asked whether they supported or would endorse their government's decision to normalise diplomatic ties with Israel, three-quarters (75%) in the UAE, a signatory of the Abraham Accords, said they supported normalisation. A third in Bahrain, the first country to sign the agreement, said the same. In Sudan, however, the fourth Arab nation to establish full diplomatic ties with Israel, 94% oppose it. Despite the Abraham Accords signalling a thaw in relations between Israel and several Arab countries, 86% of Arab youth overall say they view Israel as a 'strong enemy or somewhat of an enemy', while 57% say the same about Iran. Shifting geopolitical allegiances Among non-Arab nations, 82% of Arab youth named Turkey as a 'strong ally' or 'somewhat of an ally of their country', followed by China (80%), the United Kingdom (79%), Germany (78%) and France (74%). The US ranked seventh, with 72% votes, just below India at 73%. The US and UK, however, continue to be seen as a 'strong ally' by more than half of those surveyed, while two-thirds (66%) said America would be a stronger ally of their nation than Russia or China in the next five years. Russia, a top-three ally in last year's study, now ranks in ninth place, rated as an ally by 63% of respondents, below Pakistan (69%). At the same time, they say the US continues to exert the most influence in the Arab world. Compared to only 3% naming Turkey as having the most influence, and 4% identifying China, a third of young Arabs (33%) say the US is the most influential, followed by the UAE (11%), Saudi Arabia and Israel (both on 10%), and Russia (8%). However, most would like the US to be less involved in Middle Eastern affairs, with nearly two-thirds across the GCC, North Africa and the Levant countries saying they 'strongly or somewhat support' US disengagement from the region. Views on 'model nations' For the 12th consecutive year since young Arabs were asked to name the countries they consider 'model nations', they have said the United Arab Emirates is the country they would most like to live in and the one they would most like their own to be like. The United States and Canada were ranked second and third, respectively, for the third year running. Significantly, three GCC nations, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, appear in Arab youth's top-five list of model nations for the first time in nine years. Young Arab men and women now say they would rather live in Qatar than the United Kingdom, while Saudi Arabia ranks joint-fifth with the UK in their list of countries they most want their own to emulate. Nearly one in four Arab youth (24%) named the UAE as the country they would most like to live in, followed by the US (19%), Canada (19%), Qatar (14%) and the United Kingdom (13%). The UAE was also named the country most Arab youth want their own to emulate, again for the 12th straight year. The UAE was identified by 22% of young Arab men and women overall, ahead of the US (19%), Canada (16%), Qatar (15%) and Saudi Arabia and the UK in joint fifth place (11%). As in previous surveys, a variety of factors account for the UAE's favoured-nation status. According to Arab youth in the 18 states surveyed this year, its top-five attributes are its safety and security (41%), growing economy (28%), effective and 'visionary' leadership (24%), clean environment (22%), and ease of starting a business (20%). Sunil John, President, MENA, BCW and Founder of ASDA'A BCW, who has led the survey over the past 15 years, said: "The annual ASDA'A BCW Arab Youth Survey has proven to be an indispensable resource for global decision makers in government and business seeking a clearer understanding of a region that is increasingly influential in world affairs, yet still an enigma for many. Once again, the study sheds new light on the Arab world's changing geopolitical landscape." "While several conflicts in the region, such as in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen are ebbing, the longest-standing concern - the Palestinian-Israeli issue - continues to be in a deadlock. This is further exacerbated by the engagement of Iran in the region, in addition to the recent civil unrest in Sudan," said John. "But the overall de-escalation of conflicts points to the fact that countries across the Middle East are overcoming their differences through dialogue. This will help unlock the true potential of the region, a strong economic bloc of over 400 million people." In the coming weeks, ASDA'A BCW will publish insights under the other five themes covered in the study: My Politics, revealing what young Arab say about the performance of their government; My Livelihood, detailing their views on education, jobs, and their finances; My Identity, covering religion and issues of personal identity; My Aspirations, the hopes of young Arabs for the future; and My Lifestyle, highlighting their habits, pastimes, and the media they consume. Findings on climate change, mental health and gender rights will also be disclosed, making this year's study the most extensive in the survey's history. The overall theme of the 15th edition of the ASDA'A BCW Arab Youth Survey is 'Living a New Reality'. To know more about the findings, log on to arabyouthsurvey.com Notes to Editors: About the ASDA'A BCW Arab Youth Survey The annual ASDA'A BCW Arab Youth Survey, now in its 15th year, is the largest study of its kind of the Arab world's largest demographic, its over 200 million youth. The survey fills a vital gap in critical data and insights on this very important demographic segment. The evidence-based insights inform governments, the private sector, multilateral institutions and academics on policymaking and business strategy. The 15th annual ASDA'A BCW Arab Youth Survey explores the hopes, fears and aspirations of young Arabs in 53 cities in 18 states in the Middle East and North Africa region. The face-to-face interviews were conducted by professional interviewers from March 27 to April 12, 2023, covering 3,600 young Arabs aged 18 to 24. The cohort was split equally between men and women. The survey covered five Gulf Cooperation Council states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE), North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and South Sudan - newly added this year), and the Levant region (Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Syria) and Yemen. www.arabyouthsurvey.com Follow, like, share on Facebook; Twitter; Instagram; YouTube, LinkedIn and TikTok About ASDA'A BCW ASDA'A was founded in 2000 as an independent communications firm by Sunil John, who leads the agency in its 24th year. In 2008, WPP (NYSE: WPP) acquired a majority stake in ASDA'A and merged it with BCW, one of the world's top three communications firms. The agency has a team of nearly 200 professionals across its seven wholly owned offices. With an additional 11 affiliates, ASDA'A BCW covers 16 countries across the Middle East and North Africa. The agency serves over 100 retained clients and is the leading PR consultancy in the MENA market. www.asdaa-bcw.com Follow, like, share on Facebook, Twitter; Instagram; YouTube and LinkedIn. About BCW BCW, a leading global communications agency, is in the business of moving people on behalf of clients. BCW partners with clients in the B2B, consumer, corporate, crisis management, healthcare, public affairs, purpose and technology sectors to set strategic direction for all communications and create powerful and unexpected ideas that earn attention. Through an Earned-Plus offer - earned media plus paid media, creative technology, data, AI and an expanding suite of innovative capabilities - BCW moves people with power and precision to move its clients forward. BCW is a part of WPP (NYSE: WPP), a creative transformation company. www.bcw-global.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105568/ASDA_A_BCW_Arab_Youth_Survey.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105571/ASDA_A_BCW_Arab_Youth_Survey.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/nearly-two-thirds-of-young-arabs-say-the-tensions-between-iran-and-israel-and-the-west-will-lead-to-military-conflict-15th-annual-asdaa-bcw-arab-youth-survey-301854675.html Dassault Aviation will use Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud to develop its next-generation fighter, a key project in the Future Combat Air System The 3DEXPERIENCE platform operated on OUTSCALE provides a dedicated sovereign defense cloud with the highest level of security and continuous software developments This next step in their long-term collaboration is a key driver of a European sovereign cloud that can influence other sectors such as health care and public services Dassault Systemes (Euronext Paris: FR0014003TT8, DSY.PA) and Dassault Aviation (Euronext Paris FR0014004L86, AM.PA) today announced at the Paris Air Show, the next step in their long-term collaboration aimed at bringing the highest levels of security, sovereignty and collaboration on the cloud to major defense programs. Dassault Aviation will use Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud to develop its next-generation fighter, a key project in the Future Combat Air System industrial collaboration to ensure the future of European autonomy and sovereignty in defense and security. This cloud environment will be localized in Dassault Aviation premises and operated by Dassault Systemes through its OUTSCALE brand, whose SecNumCloud qualification is the highest security recognition given by the National Cybersecurity Agency of France. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform provides a dedicated sovereign defense cloud in which Dassault Aviation and its partners can develop the fighter with greater agility in a highly secured and scalable environment. Users will benefit from continuous software developments by Dassault Systemes that deliver the latest capabilities in systems engineering, program management, design, simulation and other disciplines. "France and Europe need to build up a sovereign Cloud capability, so that they can develop collaborative defense programs with the best possible functionality. Initiatives are already in place outside Europe. We need to stay in the race. In Europe, we are fortunate to have the world leader in digital solutions for the development of industrial products in the Cloud. For our part, we're an industrial architect, a custodian of sovereignty technologies and experienced in prime contracting for major military programs, both in France and in multinational cooperation. This partnership between Dassault Aviation and Dassault Systemes provides the first collaborative engineering solution adapted to the cyber regulations required for defense programs, and evolving at the speed of the Cloud," said Eric Trappier, Chairman and CEO, Dassault Aviation. As part of Dassault Aviation's ongoing digital transformation, Dassault Systemes will also extend this infrastructure to all of Dassault Aviation's new programs, to provide a consistent, secure environment for seamless, compliant programs. "Society today is faced with profound challenges requiring defense programs that can ensure a safer future for citizens. In this context, industry innovators working with highly sensitive data must transform their programs and how they work with their ecosystems to secure every phase of development," said Bernard Charles, Chairman and CEO, Dassault Systemes. "Today, our ongoing partnership with Dassault Aviation is reaching new heights positioning us as key actors in the emergence of a European sovereign cloud with the highest level of security. As the strategic, sovereign cloud partner for governments and companies, we can bring the same security in defense to other industries such as health care and public services." Dassault Aviation will rely on the "Winning Concept," "Program Excellence," "Co-Design to Target" and "Ready for Rate" industry solution experiences based on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, which simplify and streamline the development of highly complex systems and programs to meet budget, schedule and performance targets. Social media: Connect with Dassault Systemes on Twitter Facebook LinkedIn YouTube For more information: Dassault Systemes' industry solution experiences for Aerospace and Defense: https://www.3ds.com/industries/aerospace-defense/aerospace-defense-solutions Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE platform, 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions: http://www.3ds.com About Dassault Systemes Dassault Systemes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, is a catalyst for human progress. We provide business and people with collaborative virtual environments to imagine sustainable innovations. By creating virtual twin experiences of the real world with our 3DEXPERIENCE platform and applications, our customers can redefine the creation, production and life-cycle-management processes of their offer and thus have a meaningful impact to make the world more sustainable. The beauty of the Experience Economy is that it is a human-centered economy for the benefit of all -consumers, patients and citizens. Dassault Systemes brings value to more than 300,000 customers of all sizes, in all industries, in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit www.3ds.com Dassault Systemes. All rights reserved. 3DEXPERIENCE, the 3DS logo, the Compass icon, IFWE, 3DEXCITE, 3DVIA, BIOVIA, CATIA, CENTRIC PLM, DELMIA, ENOVIA, GEOVIA, MEDIDATA, NETVIBES, OUTSCALE, SIMULIA and SOLIDWORKS are commercial trademarks or registered trademarks of Dassault Systemes, a European company (Societas Europaea) incorporated under French law, and registered with the Versailles trade and companies registry under number 322 306 440, or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. About Dassault Aviation With over 10,000 military and civil aircraft (including 2,700 Falcons) delivered in more than 90 countries over the last century, Dassault Aviation has built up expertise recognized worldwide in the design, development, sale and support of all types of aircraft, ranging from the Rafale fighter, to the high-end Falcon family of business jets, military drones and space systems. In 2022, Dassault Aviation reported revenues of 6.9 billion. The company has 12,700 employees. www.dassault-aviation.com twitter.com/dassault_onair linkedin.com/company/dassault-aviation facebook.com/dassaultaviation HD photos: mediaprophoto.dassault-aviation.com HD videos: mediaprovideo.dassault-aviation.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620937818/en/ Contacts: Dassault Systemes Press Contacts Corporate France Arnaud MALHERBE arnaud.malherbe@3ds.com +33 (0)1 61 62 87 73 North America Natasha LEVANTI natasha.levanti@3ds.com +1 (508) 449 8097 EMEA Virginie BLINDENBERG virginie.blindenberg@3ds.com +33 (0) 1 61 62 84 21 China Grace MU grace.mu@3ds.com +86 10 6536 2288 India Kriti ASHOK kriti.ashok@3ds.com +91 9741310607 Japan Misae HASHIDA misae.hashida@3ds.com +81 3 4321 3418 Korea Jeemin JEONG jeemin.jeong@3ds.com +82 2 3271 6653 AP South Minming CHEN minming.chen@3ds.com +65 6511 7931 Dassault Aviation Press Contacts Corporate/France: Stephane Fort Tel.: +33 (0)1 47 11 86 90 stephane.fort@dassault-aviation.com Mathieu Durand Tel.: +33 (0)1 47 11 85 88 mathieu.durand@dassault-aviation.com Dassault Aviation will use Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud to develop its next-generation fighter, a key project in the Future Combat Air System The 3DEXPERIENCE platform operated on OUTSCALE provides a dedicated sovereign defense cloud with the highest level of security and continuous software developments This next step in their long-term collaboration is a key driver of a European sovereign cloud that can influence other sectors such as health care and public services Le Bourget, France, June 20, 2023 - Dassault Systemes (Euronext Paris: FR0014003TT8, DSY.PA) and Dassault Aviation (Euronext Paris FR0014004L86, AM.PA) today announced at the Paris Air Show, the next step in their long-term collaboration aimed at bringing the highest levels of security, sovereignty and collaboration on the cloud to major defense programs. Dassault Aviation will use Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud to develop its next-generation fighter, a key project in the Future Combat Air System industrial collaboration to ensure the future of European autonomy and sovereignty in defense and security. This cloud environment will be localized in Dassault Aviation premises and operated by Dassault Systemes through its OUTSCALE brand, whose SecNumCloud qualification is the highest security recognition given by the National Cybersecurity Agency of France. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform provides a dedicated sovereign defense cloud in which Dassault Aviation and its partners can develop the fighter with greater agility in a highly secured and scalable environment. Users will benefit from continuous software developments by Dassault Systemes that deliver the latest capabilities in systems engineering, program management, design, simulation and other disciplines. "France and Europe need to build up a sovereign Cloud capability, so that they can develop collaborative defense programs with the best possible functionality. Initiatives are already in place outside Europe. We need to stay in the race. In Europe, we are fortunate to have the world leader in digital solutions for the development of industrial products in the Cloud. For our part, we're an industrial architect, a custodian of sovereignty technologies and experienced in prime contracting for major military programs, both in France and in multinational cooperation. This partnership between Dassault Aviation and Dassault Systemes provides the first collaborative engineering solution adapted to the cyber regulations required for defense programs, and evolving at the speed of the Cloud," said Eric Trappier, Chairman and CEO, Dassault Aviation. As part of Dassault Aviation's ongoing digital transformation, Dassault Systemes will also extend this infrastructure to all of Dassault Aviation's new programs, to provide a consistent, secure environment for seamless, compliant programs. "Society today is faced with profound challenges requiring defense programs that can ensure a safer future for citizens. In this context, industry innovators working with highly sensitive data must transform their programs - and how they work with their ecosystems - to secure every phase of development," said Bernard Charles, Chairman and CEO, Dassault Systemes. "Today, our ongoing partnership with Dassault Aviation is reaching new heights - positioning us as key actors in the emergence of a European sovereign cloud with the highest level of security. As the strategic, sovereign cloud partner for governments and companies, we can bring the same security in defense to other industries such as health care and public services." Dassault Aviation will rely on the "Winning Concept," "Program Excellence," "Co-Design to Target" and "Ready for Rate" industry solution experiences based on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, which simplify and streamline the development of highly complex systems and programs to meet budget, schedule and performance targets. Social media: Connect with Dassault Systemes on Twitter Facebook LinkedIn YouTube For more information: Dassault Systemes' industry solution experiences for Aerospace and Defense: https://www.3ds.com/industries/aerospace-defense/aerospace-defense-solutions Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE platform, 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions: http://www.3ds.com ### About Dassault Systemes Dassault Systemes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, is a catalyst for human progress. We provide business and people with collaborative virtual environments to imagine sustainable innovations. By creating virtual twin experiences of the real world with our 3DEXPERIENCE platform and applications, our customers can redefine the creation, production and life-cycle-management processes of their offer and thus have a meaningful impact to make the world more sustainable. The beauty of the Experience Economy is that it is a human-centered economy for the benefit of all -consumers, patients and citizens. Dassault Systemes brings value to more than 300,000 customers of all sizes, in all industries, in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit www.3ds.com Dassault Systemes. All rights reserved. 3DEXPERIENCE, the 3DS logo, the Compass icon, IFWE, 3DEXCITE, 3DVIA, BIOVIA, CATIA, CENTRIC PLM, DELMIA, ENOVIA, GEOVIA, MEDIDATA, NETVIBES, OUTSCALE, SIMULIA and SOLIDWORKS are commercial trademarks or registered trademarks of Dassault Systemes, a European company (Societas Europaea) incorporated under French law, and registered with the Versailles trade and companies registry under number 322 306 440, or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. About Dassault Aviation With over 10,000 military and civil aircraft (including 2,700 Falcons) delivered in more than 90 countries over the last century, Dassault Aviation has built up expertise recognized worldwide in the design, development, sale and support of all types of aircraft, ranging from the Rafale fighter, to the high-end Falcon family of business jets, military drones and space systems. In 2022, Dassault Aviation reported revenues of 6.9 billion. The company has 12,700 employees. www.dassault-aviation.com twitter.com/dassault_onair linkedin.com/company/dassault-aviation facebook.com/dassaultaviation Dassault Systemes Press Contacts Corporate / France Arnaud MALHERBE arnaud.malherbe@3ds.com +33 (0)1 61 62 87 73 North America Natasha LEVANTI natasha.levanti@3ds.com +1 (508) 449 8097 EMEA Virginie BLINDENBERG virginie.blindenberg@3ds.com +33 (0) 1 61 62 84 21 China Grace MU grace.mu@3ds.com +86 10 6536 2288 India Kriti ASHOK kriti.ashok@3ds.com +91 9741310607 Japan Misae HASHIDA misae.hashida@3ds.com +81 3 4321 3418 Korea Jeemin JEONG jeemin.jeong@3ds.com +82 2 3271 6653 AP South Minming CHEN minming.chen@3ds.com +65 6511 7931 Dassault Aviation Press Contacts Corporate/France: Stephane Fort - Tel.: +33 (0)1 47 11 86 90 - stephane.fort@dassault-aviation.com Mathieu Durand - Tel.: +33 (0)1 47 11 85 88 - mathieu.durand@dassault-aviation.com HD photos: mediaprophoto.dassault-aviation.com HD videos: mediaprovideo.dassault-aviation.com DUBAI, UAE, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today marks the conclusion of the third edition of the A.R.M. Holding Children's Programme. This cultural education programme is the largest of its kind in the UAE, aimed at inspiring the next generation of creative minds and cultivating a passion for art and culture. The 2023 edition grew 64%, reaching more than 9000 students across the country. The first-of-its-kind programme is developed by private investment firm A.R.M. Holding, in partnership with Art Dubai. The initiative seeks to empower the new generation with an understanding of the arts, reinforcing Dubai's position as a global capital of culture and innovation. With creative programming conceived by international artists, each edition is designed to inspire the UAE's young minds by offering specially curated workshops at Art Dubai every spring, followed by bespoke classroom experiences. His Excellency Mohammad Saeed Al Shehhi, CEO of A.R.M. Holding, said: "In a diverse community of over 200 nationalities, art is a bridge that can connect us on a deeper level, fostering communication, understanding, and empathy. By integrating the arts both in and out of the classroom, we can equip students with the tools they need to think innovatively and solve problems creatively. Our programme has grown tremendously, increasing this year's outreach to 64% compared to 2022. Over the years, we have engaged 1,800 children from 70 schools in the first edition, 5,500 students in 80 schools in the second edition, to over 9,000 students from 90 schools this year. We sincerely hope this programme can be extended further, serving as an integral component of the UAE curriculum." Each year, the programme themes the workshops complementary to the UAE priorities. In its inaugural edition in 2021, design duo Studio Sain tested innovative ideas on constructing a sustainable community in outer space and had the children create an alternative living habitat on a fictional version of the moon through the 'Noom Project.' This was in line with the UAE's space mission to Mars as the first Emirati embarks on space travel. As the UAE leads the way in sustainable development, Kenyan artist Cyrus Kabiru conducted 'Art of Recycle' workshops in 2022. Designed to challenge perspectives and demonstrate how everyday objects can be given a new lease of life, the children repurposed everyday materials from their homes and schools creatively. In 2023, the A.R.M. Holding Children's Programme's third edition selected Swedish visual artist Jacob Dahlgren. Drawing inspiration from his Signs of Abstraction project, he developed a series of workshops designed for children aged from 5 to 17. The aim was to foster teamwork skills while promoting creative and abstract thinking about their environments. The children created collages from everyday materials, pieced together to form colourful tapestries and flags. The programme culminates with an exhibition of the children's artwork at schools, demonstrating the potential of abstract engagement with our surroundings and the power of collaboration towards a common goal. Mona Mahmood, Art Teacher at Al Sadiq Islamic English School Dubai, said: "The workshop provided our students with a unique platform to explore their creativity and reflect upon the significance of flags as symbols of identity, unity, and diversity. The program has not only enriched their academic pursuits but also fostered a sense of confidence, self-expression, and appreciation for different cultures. We extend our sincerest appreciation to A.R.M. Holding and Art Dubai for spearheading this initiative and providing a transformative experience for our students. The Flag Project has become an integral part of our school's artistic endeavours, and we eagerly look forward to future collaborations and opportunities to further empower our students through art education. We wholeheartedly endorse this programme and its commitment to nurturing young artistic minds." Benedetta Ghione, Executive Director of Art Dubai, said: "We are humbled by the growth of the A.R.M. Holding Children's Programme, which has been successfully incorporated into Art Dubai's education programme. The positive response has enabled us to continue engaging with the community beyond the fair. It is exciting to see the immense creativity that young minds can unleash through their art." Schools may express their interest in participating in the next edition through education@artdubai.ae. Media Contacts - Art Dubai UAE / MENA: Sheila Tobias | sheila@startpr.co | +971 55 567 4158 Full press kit, with high-res images, is available to view/download here: http://bitly.ws/Io2z About A.R.M. Holding A.R.M. Holding is a private investment firm and multi-focused economic enabler that creates synergies and opportunities through local, regional and global investments. At the core of the company's business strategy is its commitment to impactful investments, actively employing its resources to advance society and empower its players to pursue innovative solutions and inspire a better future. It collaborates with like-minded organizations and leverages its network and partnerships to create meaningful relationships and growth opportunities. A.R.M. Holding's investments are focused on tech-enabled industries and sophisticated technologies around the world that demonstrate strong potential for long-term positive social impact. It also holds equity stakes in some of Dubai's foremost companies in a variety of sectors including Banking, Telecom, FMCG, Real Estate, and Hospitality. A.R.M. Holding has contributed to society with significant investments in numerous industries and versatile projects. In 2021, it became the first corporate patron of the Dubai Collection, the first institutional art collection in the emirate of Dubai. To learn more about A.R.M. Holding, please visit: www.armholding.ae About Art Dubai Founded in 2007, Art Dubai is the premier platform to see and buy modern and contemporary art from the Global South. Across its Contemporary, Modern and Digital gallery sections, annual artist commissions and year-round collector and education programmes, Art Dubai champions art and artists from across the Global South, providing a relevant and increasingly important alternative to mainstream, largely Western-led narratives. The preeminent international art fair in the Middle East, Art Dubai has established itself as a regional cultural hub and an increasingly important meeting point for the Global South's art world. The city has experienced unprecedented growth over the last 10 years and the fair welcomes top collecting and institutional audiences from the UAE, the region and internationally. Art Dubai has an extensive year-round education and commissioning year-round programme, carried out in collaboration with local and regional partners and delivering ambitious cultural programming across the city. A core component of this is its flagship initiative, Campus Art Dubai (CAD), now on its 10th edition. CAD was the first programme of its kind in the region, developed to provide existing and aspiring members of the region's cultural and creative community with educational and professional opportunities. The annual programme offers a special curriculum that provides UAE-based talents with a platform to develop their artistic skills. During the fair, Art Dubai organises extensive school tours, enabling children to visit and participate in a carefully curated trail. Art Dubai is held in partnership with A.R.M. Holding. The fair is sponsored by Swiss Wealth Management Group Julius Baer. Culturally rich developer HUNA is a partner of Art Dubai. The Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) is the fair's strategic partner. Madinat Jumeirah is the home of Art Dubai. artdubai.ae Facebook | Instagram | Twitter ArtDubai ArtDubai2024 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2101928/Art_Dubai.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/arm-holding-childrens-programme-sees-64-growth-in-2023-reaching-more-than-9000-students-across-the-uae-301855070.html ~ Capitalizes on export opportunities in the Europe, Middle-East, and U.S. regions MUMBAI, India, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Godrej Aerospace, a business unit of Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the leading Indian conglomerate Godrej Group, foresees a remarkable growth exceeding 100% in the civil aviation segment within the next three years. The company's focus on innovation and exports in the Europe region is expected to fuel this exponential growth, solidifying its position as a key global player. To explore partnerships with international players, Godrej Aerospace will actively participate in the prestigious Paris Air Show between June 19th and June 25th 2023 at Paris Le Bourget Exhibition Centre. Considering the growing opportunities in the civil aviation and space sector, Godrej Aerospace is actively capitalizing on international market trends. The industry's upward trajectory, particularly the demand for single-aisle aircraft and their engines, presents a favourable market environment. In FY23, Godrej Aerospace reported Euro 10 million revenue in the civil aviation segment. Godrej Aerospace has secured significant new orders, particularly in sheet metal brackets, complex fabrications, tubings, and ducting, which will serve as the foundation for its growth trajectory. These orders present tremendous opportunities to expand its customer base and strengthen its foothold in the civil aviation sector internationally. Maneck Behramkamdin, AVP & Business Head, Godrej Aerospace, said, "The aviation sector, working towards recovering from a severe economic crisis, is now exhibiting indications of confidence. Global OEMs are opening avenues for partnering with Indian manufacturers. Considering the recent economic recovery, we are projecting 100% growth in the next three years in the civil aviation segment and expect this to revive further as exports grow in key markets." The company's commitment to technological excellence and customer satisfaction has set it apart from global competitors. In addition to its growth projections, Godrej Aerospace is excited to announce the establishment of a new Centre of Excellence for Tubes & Ducts in 2023, alongside its existing Centre of Excellence for Brackets. This strategic initiative reflects the company's dedication to innovation and self-reliance, empowering it to develop cutting-edge solutions indigenously for civil aviation and export. To learn more visit: www.godrej.com For further information, please contact: Zainab Najmi zainab.najmi@adfactorspr.com +91-7710877863 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1876608/Godrej_and_Boyce_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/godrej-aerospace-expects-100-growth-in-civil-aviation-over-the-next-3-years-301854271.html LEICESTER, England, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Jadu, a leading web experience management software company, has partnered with Global IT and business consulting services firm CGI and the City of Edinburgh Council to develop 'Jadu Central Gateway', a new Intranet publishing platform that provides secure access to the Council's Intranet to frontline workers. The platform addresses an issue faced by frontline employees who don't have regular access to the Council's Intranet, which limits their ability to access important internal communications, policies, guidance, and support, as well as information on pay, benefits, and wellbeing initiatives. Cammie Day, Council Leader of The City of Edinburgh Council, said: "This platform will provide access to a host of support documentation and guidance to all of our previously digitally excluded frontline employees. By creating a secure gateway to the intranet, Jadu Central Gateway ensures that all colleagues have access to the same information at the same time and is a significant step in our digital and accessibility ambitions. The platform reinforces our commitments to engagement and empowerment of colleagues, and to continue transforming services." The Jadu Central Gateway platform also supports the Scottish government's " A changing nation: how Scotland will thrive in a digital world " strategy, including the "No-one Left Behind" theme, focusing on digital inclusion, accessibility and participation. Tara McGeehan, President, CGI in the UK and Australia said: "This is an important project that will allow us to provide all frontline workers with secure access to important information and services. Jadu Central Gateway will provide employees with access to information they need to do their jobs more effectively and is a great example of how Edinburgh is leading digital innovation that can support their employees." Suraj Kika, CEO of Jadu, expressed the company's excitement about the partnership, adding: "We're solving a real problem for large organisations with a distributed workforce. What happens when frontline workers, contractors and remote teams cannot access internal policies and digital services, because they do not have a corporate email address? Jadu Central Gateway solves this by enabling secure access to important content and digital services critical to supporting these roles. We're thrilled to be partnering with CGI to deliver this important initiative for the City of Edinburgh Council." Lindsay McGranaghan, Senior Vice President and Business Unit Leader for CGI in Scotland, said: "The Jadu Central Gateway will be a valuable tool for large organisations with a dispersed workforce like City of Edinburgh Council, and we're excited to help them improve their inclusivity, productivity and efficiency with this innovative platform." The outcomes of the partnership between Jadu, CGI, and the City of Edinburgh Council represents a significant step forward for large organisations with a remote workforce and the new Gateway Intranet system will be available from Jadu to organisations in the UK, US and Australia from July 2023 as a secure, subscription-based service. About Jadu Jadu has over 20 years' experience digitally transforming hundreds of government, education and private sector organisations around the world. With offices in the UK, North America and Australia, Jadu is a leading global provider of accessible web experiences, specialising in low code, CRM, accessible websites (CMS) and online forms, customer case management for the enterprise and expert digital design services. Millions of users use Jadu to access important digital services every day. Jadu focuses on using technology to connect communities and empower effective self-service. Learn more: jadu.net Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105555/Edinburgh_City.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105556/Jadu_Edinburgh_CGI.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/jadu-partners-with-cgi-to-develop-gateway-intranet-platform-that-provides-city-of-edinburgh-council-employees-with-secure-access-to-important-information-301854665.html Stormzy leads an international roster of stars in an electrifying digital concert series to celebrate the launch of Rockstar's new global 'Press Play' platform. DUBLIN, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Rockstar Energy Drink today announces a revolutionary digital in-app concert experience in collaboration with an international line-up of chart-topping musical talent. The globally renowned artist, Stormzy, will headline the main stage, performing his biggest hits from his latest #1 album, 'This is What I Mean', with local stars taking the stage in France, Poland and Germany. This extraordinary digital in-app concert experience will premiere live on Spotify at 5pm GMT on July 21st, kicking off the weekend for audiences around the world. Each of the Rockstar 'Press Play' Concert headliners will transport viewers to five distinct digital worlds, thoughtfully crafted to capture the essence of 'Play'. These worlds, encompassing gaming and nightlife themes, create vibrant atmospheres that align with each artist's unique concept of play. This innovative experience embodies Rockstar's new brand platform, 'Press Play', which empowers fans with the energy and motivation they need to embrace their passions. By simply clicking the 'Press Play' icon during the concert, viewers can navigate between the immersive worlds, empowering them to curate their own unforgettable experience and seamlessly transition from work to play before the weekend begins. Rockstar is committed to making energy accessible to everyone, enabling them to be at their best for those highly anticipated moments of play. The brand is embodying this commitment through 'Press Play' by offering the launch of this in-app digital concert experience free for all music fans to enjoy*, as well as releasing a British Sign Language (BSL) edit of the Stormzy performance available on YouTube, featuring an energetic interpretation by Chris Fonseca, a deaf choreographer and dancer. Exciting out-of-home viewing experiences will also be available in select regional UK locations. Stormzy played an instrumental role in the concert creation process, combining his incredible vocals and high-energy performances with innovative technology. By utilising motion capture sensory tracking, these captivating performances promise a one-of-a-kind experience that has never been seen before. Global artist and Rockstar 'Press Play' performer Stormzy comments:"I'm really excited to be a part of this legendary digital in-app concert experience with Rockstar Energy. My favourite part has been performing in a mo-cap suit to take my music into different realms. The idea blew my mind because it isn't something I've done before, so I hope the Rockstar 'Press Play' digital in-app concert experience blows my fans' minds too and gives them the energy they need to embrace the things they love, the same way I do with music." As part of the partnership with Stormzy, there will be an exclusive gig later in the year, giving UK based fans the opportunity to attend. To win a chance to be part of this event, fans can purchase Rockstar Energy Drink cans from all retailers as well as enter online via the Rockstar website. Bart LaCount, Vice President of International Beverages Marketing at PepsiCo, expressed his excitement about the launch of the platform, commenting: "The in-app digital concert experience is explosive and truly captures the essence of the brand - helping to energise fans and facilitate their transition from work to play. Stormzy's dynamic performance and lively persona perfectly embody the 'Press Play' attitude. In keeping with our brand's commitment to inclusivity, we placed an emphasis on accessibility when developing the platform. Consequently, we are delighted to offer a BSL interpreted version of the concert, considering the diverse needs of the deaf community and the hearing impaired. By doing so, we ensure that all music lovers receive the boost they need to engage in the activities they love." The Rockstar in-app digital concert experience starring Stormzy, will go live at 5pm BST on Friday July 21st and will be available to stream across Spotify until August 4th. Additional versions without the ability to move between worlds will be available on YouTube. For fans who are hard of hearing the concert will also feature a BSL translation of Stormzy's invigorating set-list, on YouTube. Fans in Poland, Germany and France will also be able to stream the Rockstar 'Press Play' Concert at the same time in their local time zone to view performances by renowned local artists who will be announced at a later date. For more information on the upcoming Rockstar 'Press Play' Concert series, and how to win your way into Stormzy's upcoming gig, follow @RockstarEnergyUK on Instagram, or visit https://www.rockstarenergy.co.uk/ *The 'Press Play' in-app experience is available via Spotify Free, in addition to its subscription option. For further information, please contact: pepsicomediarelations@pepsico.com NOTES TO EDITOR About Rockstar Energy Rockstar, founded in 2001, produces beverages that aim to fuel those who need and love to do-it-all. With over 20 Rockstar Energy products available at convenience and grocery outlets in more than 30 countries globally, Rockstar gives you a bold refreshing boost, full of benefits and loaded with flavours. PepsiCo purchased the energy beverage leader in March 2020. In addition to Rockstar, PepsiCo owns the Sting and Adrenaline Rush brands, as well as GameFuel and AMP. About PepsiCo PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $86 billion in net revenue in 2022, driven by a complimentary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales. Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with pep+ (PepsiCo Positive). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability and human capital at the centre of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for the planet and people. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com , and follow on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @PepsiCo. About Stormzy Stormzy is a multi-award-winning musician who hails from South London, England. His three albums to date; 'Gang Signs & Prayer', 'Heavy Is The Head' and 'This Is What I Mean' all finished at #1 in the UK album chart, with the former two subsequently being nominated for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize. His remarkable ascent has been accompanied by his honest and relatable character; a true spokesman of black empowerment and social activism, Stormzy is one of the UK's most inspiring figureheads who has consistently stood up for people from all areas of life. In July 2018, he announced Merky Books, an imprint within Penguin Random House UK, dedicated to publishing the best new fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and in August 2018 he announced 'The Stormzy Scholarship', an annual studentship to fund black British students to go to the University of Cambridge. In June 2020, he announced the launch of his charity, Merky Foundation, to which he pledged 10 million, over 10 years, to organisations, charities and movements that are committed to fighting racial inequality, justice reform and black empowerment within the UK. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105594/Rockstar_x_Stormzy.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/global-superstar-stormzy-set-to-dominate-the-virtual-stage-with-rockstar-energy-drink-301855102.html The natural gas markets went crazy in 2022 as a result of the Ukraine war. The shares of Tourmaline Oil also benefited from this. The Canadians are one of the largest gas producers in North America. The stock offers a lot of dividends and a low valuation. On top of that, the chances of higher gas prices seem to have increased. Natural gas: From the fringe to the center For years and decades, natural gas was uninteresting from an investor's perspective. It was cheap and abundant; in North America, the price often barely covered the cost of production. The Ukraine war and the West's Russia sanctions radically changed the situation. Suddenly, this commodity was a scarce resource, and the price multiplied in 2022 - bad for consumers, extremely lucrative for gas producers and their shareholders. However, oil and gas came down significantly since the fall of 2022 from the record highs reached last year and marked a low a few weeks ago. As a result, the share prices of companies active in this sector also fell. It is being discussed whether or when it is worthwhile to re-enter the market. After all, according to key figures such as P/E ratio, price/NAV and dividend yield, this sector is attractive. Tourmaline Oil, Canada's largest and North America's fifth largest natural gas producer, is worth considering. Mike Rose: An impressive success story Tourmaline Oil (62,25 C$ | TSX: TOU) is not a stock that every investor knows. But the company has an interesting history that is associated with one name: Michael "Mike" L. Rose. Now 65, he founded Tourmaline Oil, is president, CEO and chairman, and was awarded the Canada Lifetime Achievement Award last year in recognition of his life's work. Successful management exit strategy With decades of professional experience and some spectacular successes, Mike Rose is one of the legendary veterans of the North American oil and gas industry. After graduating in 1979, he worked for Shell Canada, where he gained deep insights into the natural gas fields of Alberta and British Columbia. In 1993, he left Shell to found Berkeley Petroleum. In 2001, he sold the company to Anadarko for 1.5 billion Canadian dollars. That same year, he founded Duvernay Oil and then sold that company to his former employer in 2008 for CAD 5.9 billion. In August 2008, Mike Rose, together with the proven management team of Berkeley Petroleum and Duvernay Oil, founded his third company, Tourmaline Oil. As seed capital, Tourmaline's management ... Den vollstandigen Artikel lesen ... MECCA, Saudi Arabia, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With the clock of the annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage already ticking, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah released on Monday a cinematic video to welcome its guest pilgrims. The Minister of Hajj Tawfiq Al Rabiah opened the video with Talbiyah, a Muslim prayer cited by pilgrims as a declaration that they intend to perform Hajj only for the glory of God. "In Just a matter of days, millions of Muslims from every corner of the globe will raise their voices to recite the powerful Talbiyah chant," Al Rabiah said. "As Hajj draws near, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia prepares to welcome pilgrims from all walks of life. With great pride and honor, we invite pilgrims to join us in the largest Islamic gathering in history," Al Rabiah added. "Here, over two million pilgrims from over 160 countries will come together," the Minister stated. Al Rabiah expressed gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, for their constant follow-up on the services provided to the pilgrims, so that they can embark on their journey of faith within an atmosphere of peace and comfort. He explained that airline bookings by those arriving to the Kingdom reached the 1.7 million mark, while noting that more than 32,000 healthcare practitioners, both male and female, will be on site to provide their services to the devotees. Al Rabiah also shed light on the transportation network at the holy sites, stating "With a well-connected road and train network, shuttle bus services, and integrated infrastructure, pilgrims are guaranteed a seamless travel experience, regardless of their language or unique needs." The eco-friendly Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro line comes at the forefront of said networks, consisting of 17 trains distributed among 9 stations with an estimated operating capacity of 72,000 passengers per hour. Al Rabiah pointed out that it is with the help of skilled Saudi cadres, an advanced system has been implemented, especially in Mina, which boasts the world's largest tent city, hosting 2,192,000 pilgrims. The Minister concluded the video by stating that said achievements are not coincidental, but rather a result of an extensive effort exerted over the past years. Video: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105969/Ministry_of_Hajj.mp4 View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/saudi-hajj-ministry-welcomes-more-than-2-million-pilgrims-301855146.html China will further boost the building of a high-quality charging infrastructure network to meet the rapid development of the country's new energy vehicles (NEVs), according to a guideline. By 2030, a high-quality charging infrastructure network with extensive coverage, moderate scale, sound structure, and full function will basically be in place, capable of supporting the development of NEVs and people's charging needs, said the guideline released by the General Office of the State Council. The document stressed the need for efforts to build a well-structured charging network in urban areas, focusing on the coverage of charging piles in residential and business areas, as well as commercial, industrial, and leisure centers. In rural areas, a charging network with effective coverage will also be built, the guideline said, urging the need to create demonstration counties and towns for charging infrastructure construction and application. Efforts will be made to improve the service operation and encourage diversified investment in the sector, according to the guideline. The country will also promote the application of intelligent charging infrastructure, as well as the intelligent transformation of power distribution networks, it added. STOCKHOLM, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Taggr, a leading Swedish intelligent assets company, has successfully completed its Spring 2023 financing round, securing 1.2 million from venture capital firms Polar Structure and Capelin Ventures. This funding propels Taggr closer to its vision of becoming a global leader in intelligent assets across a range of key industries such as construction, transportation, logistics, and mining and quarrying. Recognizing the transformative potential of intelligent assets technology and sharing risk with customers through its unique business model of selling information instead of a technical device, system, or service, Taggr has devised an unprecedented offer. This approach minimizes barriers to adoption, enabling customers and partners to deploy these advanced capabilities rapidly. With the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) soon to come into effect, Taggr's unique approach to measuring and reporting CO2e emissions will become indispensable for companies and cities seeking to be compliant with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). Both combustion-based and electrified equipment can benefit from capabilities that allow tracing back when, where, and how much energy was consumed. According to reports within the construction equipment industry, Taggr's capabilities will be instrumental in achieving up to a 50% reduction in the carbon footprint of construction equipment. This latest funding round signifies a vote of confidence from the investor community in Taggr's innovative approach and market potential. Polar Structure's investment is not just a financial endorsement but also a vital part of a strategic alliance to catalyze Taggr's growth trajectory. The capital injection will be utilized to advance product development, scale operations, and broaden customer outreach. As Taggr navigates the emerging intelligent assets landscape, the backing of Polar Structure and Capelin Ventures will be invaluable. Their support will aid Taggr in capitalizing on this technology's immense potential and shaping a future where digital intelligent assets become an integral part of multiple industry verticals. "Polar Structure invests holistically to contribute to transforming cities and communities to make them sustainable and more efficient. Our investment in Taggr exemplifies this commitment, as it enables precise monitoring of equipment and goods, forming the foundation for optimizing utilization and logistics - both of which are crucial factors in achieving net-zero goals," says Tobias Emanuelsson, Founder and CEO of Polar Structure. For more information, please visit - www.taggr.se CONTACT: Andreas Eriksson, +4670-555 61 65, andreas.eriksson@taggr.se The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/22535/3790552/2141258.pdf Press release (PDF) View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/correction-taggr-raises-1-2m-for-its-intelligent-asset-service-an-essential-component-in-achieving-net-zero-goals-301855298.html Fernando Aguirre, Vice Chairman of DHS Ventures & Holdings, to spearhead dynamic and innovative transformative changes to the World Bank WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / The Executive Council of Directors of the World Bank today selected Fernando Aguirre, Vice Chairman of DHS Ventures & Holdings as Economic Advisor of the World Bank for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2023. Fernando Aguirre at the World Bank Conference Fernando Aguirre, DHS Ventures & Holdings Vice Chairman Fernando Aguirre most recently served as Vice Chairman at DHS Oil & Energy. Previously, he was Vice President DHS Dubai Gas, a global organization with nearly 24,000 employees. Under his leadership, DHS Ventures & Holdings launched the Center for Inclusive Growth, which advances equitable and sustainable economic growth and financial inclusion around the world. He was Honorary Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce. He became an advisor to General Atlantic's climate-focused fund, BeyondNetZero, at its inception in 2021. Aguirre served as Co-Chair of the Partnership for Central America, a coalition of private organizations that works to advance economic opportunity across underserved populations in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. He was previously on the Boards of the American Red Cross, Kraft Foods, and Dow Inc. "Economic growth is the engine of each developing country and the energy that propels change." - Fernando Aguirre Fernando Aguirre is a co-founder of The Cyber Readiness Institute and was Vice Chair of the Economic Club of New York. He was awarded the Foreign Policy Association Medal in 2012. The Executive Council of Directors followed the selection process agreed by shareholders in 2011. The process included an open, merit-based, and transparent nomination where any national of the Bank's membership could be proposed by any Executive Director or Governor through an Executive Director. The Board looks forward to working with Mr. Aguirre on the World Bank Group Evolution process, as discussed at the April 2023 Spring Meetings, and on all the World Bank Group's ambitions and efforts aimed at tackling the toughest development challenges facing developing countries. Contact Information Kali Ferrati Vice President of Communications k.ferrati@dhsventures.com 202-719-0398 Steven Palmer Senior Vice President of Communications s.palmer@dhsventures.com 202-719-0398 SOURCE: DHS Ventures & Holdings View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/761930/Fernando-Aguirre-DHS-Ventures-Holdings-Vice-Chairman-Named-World-Bank-Economic-Advisor Huawei launched the 2023 Tech Arena competitions in Europe at Viva Technology, one of Europe's biggest tech summits, on Friday. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619325644/en/ Dr. Jose R. Calvo gives a keynote address on competitions' role in industry-academia cooperation (Photo: Business Wire) Tech Arena competitions are sponsored and designed by Huawei's worldwide labs in partnership with top universities to give students from around the world more opportunities to experience and learn how to solve real-world problems. Liu Shaowei, President of Huawei's European Research Institute, explained that the company plans to host 10 Tech Arena competitions for over 1,000 students during the 2023-2024 school year. These competitions will be hosted in several countries, including France, the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland, and Israel. Liu also emphasized that Huawei's sharing of the results of past Tech Arena competitions was evidence of Huawei's determination to invest in young talent. By the end of 2022, there were more than 5,400 students from over 52 universities who had participated in Tech Arena. Also to date, Huawei has offered more than 3 million dollars to make this competition platform available to global students. "The results showed that more and more young people truly are improving from Tech Arena; this is aligned with the company's intention to help build stronger talent pools for local communities," Liu added. Liu also released the themes of some Tech Arena competitions; other competitions will reveal theirs later in the year. Tech Arena Ireland: Build a reliable and trustworthy data assistant using ModelArts' cloud power to co-pilot in the data lakes Tech Arena France: Optical network expansion by adding fiber Tech Arena Switzerland: RAW burst image super-resolution Contestants in Tech Arena will have the opportunity to test their skills involving coding, algorithms, mathematics, and engineering to solve real-world industry problems. The competitions will hand out awards to multiple winners. Dr. Jose R. Calvo, President of the Institute of International Relations at the Royal European Academy of Doctors, noted: "These competitions such as Tech Arena not only prepare students for future careers in these in-demand fields but also empower them to contribute to solving some of our most significant global challenges." Huawei currently operates a network of R&D research centers in Europe, mainly staffed with local researchers. The centers currently partner with over 300 universities and 900 research institutes around the world for international talent cultivation and research. For more information on 2023 Tech Arena competitions, please visit us at: https://www.huawei.com/en/seeds-for-the-future/competitions View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619325644/en/ Contacts: corporate.comms@huawei.com TurnKey Internet, a Colohouse Company, opens a hosting and bare metal location in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. TurnKey Internet, a Colohouse Company and leading provider of colocation, cloud, bare metal and managed services, debuts its first European location to better service customer needs. The company's carrier-neutral Amsterdam location is connected to over 115 networks and peering exchanges, including AMS-IX. TurnKey Internet launched its latest enterprise servers featuring the 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, adding cloud VPS. This allows for the expanded workload of applications and a new dedicated server product line designed to exceed the current and future demands of the company's fast-paced customer base. "Our European-based customers are creating agile and mission critical environments that require 24/7 multi-cloud and multi-geolocation. With the combined resources of TurnKey Internet and Colohouse, we were able to launch our new anchor site in the Netherlands," said Kyle Verzello, Chief Operating Officer at TurnKey Internet, a Colohouse Company. "We know location matters regarding customer servers and data. Our enterprise series servers are built on a solid bare metal foundation to provide best-in-class features in multiple state-of-the-art data centers across the United States and now in Europe." "Deploying our cloud and bare metal server product line in Amsterdam allows lower latency connectivity to customers in the EU along with multi-continent redundancy and disaster recovery services to our existing customers in the US. This is a huge step forward in our company's continued growth and expansion under Colohouse," said Joe Schoonbeck, VP of Hosting at Colohouse. "The TurnKey Internet team puts its customers first and this expansion to Amsterdam is no exception. Our customers hosted in Amsterdam can expect the same level of industry-leading service, automation, and uptime as our US-based customers have come to expect and experience. Combined with the powerhouse performance and efficiency of the new R650xs, this new location provides a true TurnKey all-in-one platform." TurnKey Internet plans to continue its expansion efforts in Europe and Asia throughout 2023 and beyond with new product plans on the horizon. To learn more about TurnKey Internet's services or to configure servers in Amsterdam, please visit wwww.turnkeyinternet.net/datacenters/Amsterdam. About TurnKey Internet Founded in 1999, TurnKey Internet is a full-service IT Hosting Solutions provider specializing in Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) to clients in more than 150 countries. Services offered include Cloud Hosting, Dedicated Bare Metal Servers, Backup Disaster Recovery, Online Storage, Web Hosting, Managed Hosting, and Hybrid Solutions. Headquartered in New York's Tech Valley Region, TurnKey Internet takes pride in its customer focused 5-star experience that exceeds expectations by delivering outstanding quality, reliability, and value. TurnKey Internet always puts the customer experience first. TurnKey Internet is a Colohouse Company. For more information, please call (518) 618-0999 or visit www.turnkeyinternet.net. About Colohouse Colohouse provides a digital foundation that connects our customers with impactful technology solutions and services. Our managed data center and cloud infrastructure paired with key edge locations and reliable connectivity allow our customers to confidently scale their applications and data while optimizing for cost, performance, and security. For more information about Colohouse, please visit www.colohouse.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620275856/en/ Contacts: iMiller Public Relations Tel: 1.914.315.6424 Email: pr@imillerpr.com Nicole Rossato VP of Marketing nrossato@colohouse.com Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Carolina Rush Corporation (TSXV: RUSH) (OTCQB: PUCCF) ("Carolina Rush" or the "Company") is pleased to report that it successfully held its annual and special shareholder meeting (the "Meeting") on June 19, 2023 (see below for results), which marked the last day of service on the Board of Directors for two long-term directors, advisors, shareholders and tireless supporters of the Company: Mr. Laurence Curtis, PhD, and Mr. David Mosher. Outgoing independent chairman Mosher, together with previous independent chairman Mr. Don Whalen, co-founded the Company in 2007. Carolina Rush President and CEO, Layton Croft, stated: "On behalf of the Board and Management, we sincerely thank Dave Mosher and Laurie Curtis for their many years of consistency and devotion to governing and advising this Company. We thank them each for the significant financial investments they have made over the years in purchasing, and never yet selling, shares of the Company. And we thank them for their steadfast, ongoing belief in the Company's purpose and people who work to create shareholder value. Dave and Laurie have been instrumental in securing the immense value potential Carolina Rush now has across its three past-producing gold and copper projects in South Carolina and North Carolina, especially at our flagship Brewer gold-copper project where we intend to resume drilling soon. Dave and Laurie will each remain active as strategic advisors to the Company for the forseeable future, and I am personally grateful to each of them for their respective wisdom, guidance and solidarity over the past 8 years I have known and worked with them." The Company is pleased to welcome Mr. Gordon Babcock, P. Eng., as an independent director of Carolina Rush. Gordon is a mining executive and professional engineer with more than 42 years of experience. He has worked in mine management in both underground and open pit operations, project development, engineering, exploration, and mine consulting in precious, base metals and aggregate operations across the Americas. Currently a consultant, Gordon conducts due diligence reviews on mining assets and holds advisory roles with Latin America-based mining companies. He has been involved with new operations, asset optimizations and strategies for stakeholder engagement in Peru, Chile, Brazil, Honduras, Spain, Bolivia, Argentina, the U.S. and Canada. Gordon is a graduate of Queen's University and is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers Ontario. Carolina Rush President and CEO, Layton Croft, stated: "We are very happy that Mr. Gordon Babcock has joined our Board as an independent director. He brings a wealth of executive-level mine building and mine operations expertise, which is timely and relevant given our vision to advance our Sawyer and New Sawyer gold projects in North Carolina towards development. Having a seasoned mining engineer on the Board further strengthens our capabilities to create shareholder value. We are grateful to Gordon for his belief in our Carolina Rush vision and his commitment to ensuring continued good governance and supporting strong business performance." Results of AGM All matters presented for approval at the Meeting were duly authorized and approved, as follows: each of the following nominees was elected as a director of the Company. The results of the shares voted in person or by proxy in respect of the election of each director are: Nominee Votes For Votes Withheld Thomas Layton Croft 4,370,987 (76.481%) 1,344,154 (23.519%) David Petroff 4,383,414 (76.698%) 1,331,727 (23.302%) Gordon Babcock 5,702,341 (99.776%) 12,800 (0.224%) the appointment of Jones & O'Connell LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants as the Company's auditor until the next annual meeting of shareholders and the board of directors were authorized to fix the remuneration of the auditor. the approval and confirmation of the Company's stock option plan. About Carolina Rush Carolina Rush Corporation (TSXV: RUSH) (OTCQB: PUCCF) is exploring the Carolina Terrane in the southeastern USA. Its flagship project is the past-producing Brewer Gold Mine, located in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, 17 kilometers along trend from the producing Haile Gold Mine. Carolina Rush's 100%-owned, 648 hectare Jefferson Gold Project is continuous with and mostly surrounds the 389 hectare Brewer property. In January 2023, the Company signed exclusive mineral exploration lease and purchase option agreements for both the 246.6 hectare New Sawyer Gold Mine Property and the 54.6 hectare Sawyer Gold Mine Property, both located on the Sawyer Gold Trend and in Randolph County, North Carolina. For further information, please contact: Jeanny So, Corporate Communciations Manager E: info@thecarolinarush.com T: +1.647.202.0994 For additional information please visit our new website at http://www.TheCarolinaRush.com/ and our Twitter feed: @TheCarolinaRush. 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 forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information is characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, including those risks set out in the Company's management's discussion and analysis as filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including that all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals will be received as and when expected. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170568 Exquisite Timepieces is a collection of the world's finest and luxury timepieces Naples, Florida--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Exquisite Timepieces, a leading luxury watch retailer, today announced the opening of its new retail location in Naples, Florida. The new location is located at 4380 Gulf Shore Blvd North, Suite 800, and is right next to the company's original location. Exquisite Timepieces Opens a Contemporary Pre-Owned Watch Retail Location in Naples, Florida To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/170673_785295b374f06b1d_001full.jpg The new location boasts one of the world's largest selections of pre-owned watches available to watch enthusiasts, with over 800 pre-owned watches to choose from. The massive collection has pieces from over 70 luxury watch brands. The watches are all in great to excellent condition and have been carefully inspected by Exquisite Timepieces' team of experts. "We are excited to open our new retail location in Naples, Florida" said Tim Richardson, owner of Exquisite Timepieces. "We have been in business for over 20 years, since 1998, and have a wide selection of luxury watches to choose from. Our new location will allow us to showcase our vast pre-owned watch collection in a more spacious and inviting environment for our customers." To achieve and maintain this extensive selection, Exquisite Timepieces accepts trade-ins on luxury watches. In addition to its wide selection of pre-owned watches, Exquisite Timepieces is authorized dealers for over 60 luxury watch brands. They also will buy watches from consumers, accept trade-ins, and repair watches. "We are committed to providing our customers with the best possible experience," said Richardson. "We offer a wide selection of luxury watches and a team of experienced and knowledgeable professionals. We are confident that our new retail location will be a success." With over 500 google reviews and a pristine average of 4.9 stars, it's no doubt the company provides the best service in the watch industry. To shop Exquisite Timepieces and it's extensive pre-owned watches selection, visit https://www.exquisitetimepieces.com/. Exquisite Timepieces is open Monday - Saturday from 10am-5pm. To get in touch, please email team@exquisitetimepieces.com or call 239-227-2932. Contact Info: Name: Tim Richardson Email: team@exquisitetimepieces.com Organization: Exquisite Timepieces Phone: 239-227-2932 Website: https://www.exquisitetimepieces.com/ To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170673 Sudbury, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Magna Mining Inc. (TSXV: NICU) ("Magna" or the "Company") is pleased to release additional assay results from a series of short, near surface drillholes immediately beneath the surface exposure of the 109 Footwall ("FW") Zone. The surface expression of this high grade PGM zone has been identified as a potential site for an exploration bulk sample in late 2023, which could be processed through a third-party mill in Sudbury. The technical assessments necessary for such a third-party milling agreement are already underway and are expected to conclude in Q3 2023. Additionally, Magna is pleased to provide an update on the progress of the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) that was initiated in Q4 2022. Highlights from the new assay results include: MCB-23-018: 0.2% Ni, 0.1 % Cu, 5.4 g/t Pt + Pd + Au over 27.0 metres, including 0.2 % Ni, 0.1% Cu and 11.2 g/t Pt + Pd + Au over 3.9 metres, and 0.4 % Ni, 0.2% Cu and 11.1 g/t Pt + Pd + Au over 5.7 metres MCB-23-021: 0.2% Ni, 0.5 % Cu, 7.3 g/t Pt + Pd + Au over 16.9 metres including 0.4 % Ni, 5.3% Cu and 11.0 g/t Pt + Pd + Au over 0.3 metres, and 1.2 % Ni, 7.7% Cu and 12.3 g/t Pt + Pd + Au over 0.3 metres Jason Jessup, CEO of Magna, stated, "Activities at Crean Hill are progressing on schedule. The additional 109 FW Zone assay results reported today are part of a definition drilling program to improve our understanding of the near surface mineralization in this area. The near surface location of this high-grade mineralization, along with the proximity to third-party mills in Sudbury, will allow for a low-cost bulk sampling program and we expect to be able to fund the surface bulk sample from our existing cash balance. The surface bulk sample is expected to be completed before the end of the year, and it will be a significant step towards our goal of producing from near surface underground zones of the Crean Hill deposit via ramp access in in early 2024." The 109 FW Zone is considered a low sulphide, high-grade platinum, palladium and gold mineralized zone, hosted within a breccia system extending southwest from the historically mined Main Zone contact nickel /copper orebody. Results reported today from the near surface portion of the 109 FW Zone are in addition to the initial assay results reported earlier this month (See news release dated June 7, 2023). Drilling continues to intersect near surface, high grade precious metal mineralization, and improve the understanding of the distribution of mineralization within the footwall breccia. The location of the 109 FW Zone diamond drilling is illustrated in Figures 1-2, assay results are summarized in Table 1, and drillhole coordinates in Table 2. PEA Update Magna is also pleased to provide an update on the progress of the ongoing Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA"), which is nearing completion, and expected to be released in late July. The PEA base-case will consider Crean Hill as a stand-alone operation, with mineralization processed through one of the third-party mills in Sudbury. In Section 24 of the PEA, an alternative processing scenario will be evaluated, where Crean Hill material is processed through a future mill at Magna's Shakespeare Project. Dave King, SVP Technical Services, added, "The drilling that Magna has completed since releasing the Mineral Resource Estimate for Crean Hill has been quite positive and has greatly enhanced our understanding of the footwall zones at the deposit. We now believe that with more detailed wireframing and block modeling, there may be improvements to the grade of both the 101 and 109 FW Zones. After internal discussions, the decision has been made to not include any of Magna's drilling in the PEA, in order to have the PEA completed and released in Q3. These results, along with the remaining 7000-8000 metres of drilling yet to be completed in 2023, will be included in the next technical study." Table 1: Summary of Assay Results Drillhole Zone From (m) To (m) Length (m) Ni % Cu % Co % Pt g/t Pd g/t Au g/t TPM g/t NiEq MCB-23-001* 109 FW 4.00 5.00 1.00 0.06 0.14 0.01 3.92 1.35 0.53 5.80 1.02 and 14.00 14.90 0.90 0.08 0.07 0.01 2.98 1.61 0.55 5.14 0.97 and 18.18 21.00 2.82 0.05 0.06 0.00 1.28 0.92 0.44 2.64 0.54 MCB-23-002* 109 FW 3.50 7.00 3.50 0.05 0.10 0.01 0.93 0.51 0.33 1.78 0.40 and 14.00 14.83 0.83 0.12 0.18 0.01 4.52 3.08 1.44 9.04 1.75 and 21.00 22.91 1.91 0.10 0.35 0.01 3.56 2.11 1.16 6.83 1.40 MCB-23-003* 109 FW 8.95 39.95 31.00 0.74 0.58 0.02 3.25 3.27 2.17 8.70 2.60 including 25.76 28.94 3.18 5.89 1.99 0.10 2.33 7.19 2.82 12.35 9.40 MCB-23-004* 109 FW 14.32 15.22 0.90 0.10 0.12 0.01 2.66 2.22 1.10 5.98 1.22 and 19.00 20.12 1.12 0.11 0.12 0.01 1.02 0.65 0.41 2.08 0.53 MCB-23-005* 109 FW 14.98 17.00 2.02 0.10 0.16 0.01 1.34 2.08 0.61 4.04 0.94 MCB-23-006* 109 FW 1.85 20.00 18.15 0.12 0.21 0.01 2.42 0.93 0.85 4.19 0.89 including 16.14 20.00 3.86 0.18 0.24 0.01 4.53 2.26 1.71 8.50 1.71 MCB-23-007* 109 FW 3.00 24.00 21.00 0.25 0.80 0.01 6.65 1.41 0.89 8.95 1.90 including 22.12 24.00 1.88 1.51 6.82 0.03 45.87 1.27 1.92 49.06 10.56 MCB-23-008* 109 FW 13.01 19.43 6.42 0.13 0.24 0.01 3.47 1.07 0.66 5.20 1.03 MCB-23-009* 109 FW 3.00 22.00 19.00 0.23 0.23 0.01 5.52 4.30 2.56 12.38 2.52 MCB-23-010* 109 FW 9.03 12.00 2.97 0.12 0.07 0.01 2.49 1.79 0.92 5.20 1.06 and 14.95 16.99 2.04 0.08 0.17 0.01 3.15 0.85 0.58 4.58 0.85 MCB-23-011* 109 FW 8.95 17.00 8.05 0.13 0.31 0.00 2.87 1.57 0.96 5.40 1.17 MCB-23-012* 109 FW 8.04 21.00 12.96 0.36 0.56 0.04 2.12 15.17 1.58 18.88 4.77 Including 15.00 19.94 4.94 0.80 1.07 0.10 3.00 38.50 3.41 44.91 11.43 MCB-23-013* 109 FW 11.72 12.40 0.68 0.05 0.47 0.01 0.06 0.17 0.10 0.33 0.33 MCB-23-014* 109 FW 44.37 50.00 5.63 0.13 0.38 0.01 3.30 1.84 1.56 6.70 1.44 MCB-23-015* 109 FW 15.00 26.00 11.00 0.07 0.46 0.01 0.60 0.44 0.38 1.43 0.53 including 18.17 18.49 0.32 0.48 8.04 0.04 2.73 5.60 3.95 12.28 6.36 MCB-23-016* 109 FW No Significant Values MCB-23-017 109 FW 10.50 11.00 0.50 0.06 0.03 0.01 3.34 1.22 0.71 5.27 0.91 MCB-23-018 109 FW 20.98 48.00 27.02 0.15 0.12 0.01 2.67 1.73 0.99 5.38 1.13 including 20.98 24.87 3.89 0.18 0.11 0.01 5.11 3.98 2.09 11.19 2.20 including 32.00 37.65 5.65 0.36 0.17 0.01 5.48 3.60 2.06 11.14 2.35 MCB-23-019 109 FW 14.00 17.98 3.98 0.09 0.07 0.01 3.46 2.59 1.25 7.30 1.40 and 28.00 29.00 1.00 0.09 0.08 0.01 11.50 2.33 1.68 15.51 2.38 MCB-23-020 109 FW No Significant Values MCB-23-021 109 FW 32.06 49.00 16.94 0.15 0.45 0.01 3.32 2.55 1.41 7.28 1.63 including 37.82 38.12 0.30 0.41 5.34 0.01 3.74 4.07 3.17 10.98 4.71 and 42.88 43.19 0.31 1.23 7.65 0.05 2.21 7.30 2.81 12.32 7.06 MCB-23-022 109 FW No Significant Values MCB-23-023 109 FW Assays Pending MCB-23-024 109 FW Assays Pending MCB-23-025 109 FW Assays Pending MCB-23-026 109 FW Assays Pending *Previously Reported All lengths are downhole length. NiEq % = ( (Ni% x 2204 x Ni Price $/lb) + (Cu% x 96% Recovery x 2204 x Cu Price $/lb) + (Co% x 56% Recovery x 2204 x Co Price $/lb) + (Pt gpt x 69% Recovery / 31.1035 x Pt $/oz) +(Pd gpt x 68% Recovery / 31.1035 x Pd $/oz) + (Au gpt x 68% Recovery / 31.1035 x Au $/oz))/2204 x Ni $/lb Figure 1: Plan View of the Crean Hill Property Showing the Location of the 109 FW Zone To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8002/170571_47ac84c4342beb0b_002full.jpg Figure 2: Plan View of the 109 FW Zone, Showing the Location of Drillholes To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8002/170571_47ac84c4342beb0b_003full.jpg Table 2: Drillhole Collar Coordinates BHID Easting Northing Elevation Azimuth Dip Depth MCB-23-001 473053 5141781 293 116 38 25 MCB-23-002 473052 5141781 294 89 39 50 MCB-23-003 473052 5141781 294 89 77 50 MCB-23-004 473052 5141781 294 160 38 26 MCB-23-005 473051 5141787 292 91 38 44 MCB-23-006 473051 5141787 292 61 38 38 MCB-23-007 473051 5141787 292 61 60 24 MCB-23-008 473051 5141787 292 32 38 20 MCB-23-009 473046 5141792 292 53 38 22 MCB-23-010 473046 5141792 292 7 63 17 MCB-23-011 473046 5141792 292 335 39 17 MCB-23-012 473037 5141805 288 90 38 22 MCB-23-013 473037 5141805 288 46 38 21 MCB-23-014 473028 5141821 288 120 38 50 MCB-23-015 473027 5141821 288 80 38 26 MCB-23-016 473027 5141821 288 10 38 17 MCB-23-017 473079 5141769 297 340 38 35 MCB-23-018 473079 5141769 297 303 39 50 MCB-23-019 473079 5141769 297 270 38 29 MCB-23-020 473079 5141769 297 270 55 18 MCB-23-021 473080 5141770 297 320 47 51 MCB-23-022 473070 5141754 294 350 42 25 MCB-23-023 473070 5141754 294 310 38 36 MCB-23-024 473061 5141726 293 252 42 80 MCB-23-025 473061 5141726 293 305 38 51 MCB-23-026 473048 5141780 292 265 38 30 *Drillhole Coordinates are in coordinate system NAD 83 Zone 17 Qualified Person The technical information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by David King, M.Sc., P.Geo. Mr. King is the Senior Vice President, Technical Services for Magna Mining Inc. and is a qualified person under Canadian National Instrument 43-101. QA/QC Sample QA/QC procedures for Magna have been designed to meet or exceed industry standards. Drill core is collected from the diamond drill and placed in sealed core trays for transport to Magna's core facilities. The core is then logged, with samples marked in intervals of up to 1.5m. Samples are then whole core sampled, bagged in plastic bags with 10 bagged samples being placed into rice bags for transport to AGAT Laboratories in Mississauga Ontario via Gardewine Transport. Designated holes have been split with a core saw to retain representative samples. Samples are submitted in batches of 50 with 5 QA/QC samples including 2 certified reference material standards, 2 samples of blank material and 1 lab duplicate. About Magna Mining Inc. Magna Mining is an exploration and development company focused on nickel, copper and PGM projects in the Sudbury Region of Ontario, Canada. The Company's flagship assets are the past producing Shakespeare and Crean Hill Mines. The Shakespeare Mine is a feasibility stage project which has major permits for the construction of a 4,500 tonne per day open pit mine, processing plant and tailings storage facility and is surrounded by a contiguous 180km2 prospective land package. Crean Hill is a past producing nickel, copper and PGM mine with a technical report dated August 2022. Additional information about the Company is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and on the Company's website (www.magnamining.com). For further information, please contact: Jason Jessup Chief Executive Officer or Paul Fowler, CFA Senior Vice President Email: info@magnamining.com Cautionary Statement This press release contains certain forward-looking information or forward-looking statements as defined in applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts and are subject to several risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control, including statements regarding the production at the Shakespeare and Crean HIll Mines, the economic and operational potential of the Shakespeare and Crean Hill Mines, potential acquisitions, plans to complete exploration programs, potential mineralization, exploration results and statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions of the Company. Resource exploration and development is highly speculative, characterized by several significant risks, which even a combination of careful evaluation, experience and knowledge may not eliminate. All forward-looking statements herein are qualified by this cautionary statement. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information or future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170571 SAN FRANCISCO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The global virtual fitting room market size is expected to reach USD 20.63 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 24.1% from 2023 to 2030, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. The prevalence of high-tech simulations to mimic face-to-face buying behavior with the help of advanced 3D technologies is expected to drive the market growth. Furthermore, the intervention of digital transformation technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR), is projected to create numerous growth opportunities for virtual fitting rooms over the forecast period. Virtual try-on technology is proving to be highly advantageous for retailers and is experiencing a surge in consumer adoption and preference in the current market landscape. Key Industry Insights & Findings from the report: Based on the component segment, the service segment is expected to record the highest CAGR over the forecast period, owing to the market participants as they emphasize delivering consulting services that ensure the effective operation. Based on the application segment, the beauty and cosmetic application segment is expected to register the highest growth rate over the forecast period, owing to the rising popularity of e-marketplaces. Based on end-use segment, the virtual stores segment recorded a significant revenue share in 2022. This is attributed to the inclination of users towards the ease of e-commerce websites. The European region contributed the largest revenue share in 2022 to the market. This strong growth is attributed to the presence of several notable fashion brands in the region. Read 150-page market research report, "Virtual Fitting Room Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By End-use (Physical Store, Virtual Store), By Component (Hardware, Software), By Application (Apparel, Eyewear), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030", published by Grand View Research. Virtual Fitting Room Market Growth & Trends The virtual fitting room technology has been efficiently enabling consumers to try and reject products before ordering, thereby converting one-time buyers into repeat customers. For instance, in August 2022, be Retail Social, a virtual try-on and virtual fitting room platform, launched its first customer product called Get Cutie. This category sells vintage-inspired handmade garments and is the first fashion retailer to use accelerator and extension services, which is helping customers to virtually try-on the garments with the help of an avatar and make the buying decision accordingly. This, in turn, is expected to boost the market demand over the forecast period. Furthermore, companies are developing advancements to enhance the sensory experience, including tactile, fabric, and texture perception, for consumers making online purchases. This aims to decrease return rates and foster brand loyalty. In addition, the virtual fitting room technology gathers extensive data, enabling the marketing analytics team to enhance customer experience and bolster brand recognition. This breakthrough in the retail industry leverages purchase data to inform future business strategies, thereby driving growth in the market over the forecast period. Virtual Fitting Room Market Segmentation Grand View Research has segmented the global virtual fitting room market based on component, application, end-use, and region Virtual Fitting Room Market - Component Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030) Hardware Software On-premise Cloud Services Installation Support & Maintenance Consulting Virtual Fitting Room Market - Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030) Apparel Beauty & Cosmetic Eyewear Footwear Others Virtual Fitting Room Market - End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030) Physical Store Virtual Store Virtual Fitting Room Market - Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030) North America U.S. Canada Europe UK Germany France Spain Italy Russia Asia Pacific China Australia Japan South Korea Latin America Brazil Mexico Middle East & Africa (MEA) UAE Saudi Arabia List of Key Players in Virtual Fitting Room Market Autumn Rock Ltd. (AstraFit) ELSE Corp. FXGear Inc. Metail Fit Analytics Zugara Inc. Sizebay Magic Mirror Fision AG MemoMi Labs Inc. SenseMI triMirror Virtusize Co. Ltd. Visualook Reactive Reality AG Check out more related studies published by Grand View Research: Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality In Manufacturing Market - The global augmented reality & virtual reality in manufacturing market size is anticipated to reach USD 62.71 billion by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 29.3% from 2022 to 2030, according to the latest report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to witness substantial growth over the next eight years as more manufacturing industries have incorporated Augmented Reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in their production processes. AR and VR technologies in manufacturing are used for training the workforce, safety testing, error detection, and quality assurance, among others. The advancements in 3D technology and the combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with VR offer growth prospects to the market, especially in the automation and manufacturing businesses. Therefore, all these factors positively impact the growth of the market. The global augmented reality & virtual reality in manufacturing market size is anticipated to reach USD 62.71 billion by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 29.3% from 2022 to 2030, according to the latest report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to witness substantial growth over the next eight years as more manufacturing industries have incorporated Augmented Reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in their production processes. AR and VR technologies in manufacturing are used for training the workforce, safety testing, error detection, and quality assurance, among others. The advancements in 3D technology and the combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with VR offer growth prospects to the market, especially in the automation and manufacturing businesses. Therefore, all these factors positively impact the growth of the market. Virtual Cards Market - The global virtual cards market size is expected to reach USD 60.06 billion by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 20.9% from 2023 to 2030, according to a new study conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. The increasing usage of digital payment platforms is creating the demand for virtual cards worldwide, which is anticipated to drive the growth of the market. In addition, various types of virtual cards offer the consumer a particular set of benefits, such as efficiency and convenience, which also bodes well for the growth of the market. - The global virtual cards market size is expected to reach USD 60.06 billion by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 20.9% from 2023 to 2030, according to a new study conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. The increasing usage of digital payment platforms is creating the demand for virtual cards worldwide, which is anticipated to drive the growth of the market. In addition, various types of virtual cards offer the consumer a particular set of benefits, such as efficiency and convenience, which also bodes well for the growth of the market. Virtual Events Market - The global virtual events market size is estimated to reach USD 657.64 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 21.4% from 2022 to 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The development of the market can be attributed to the growing preference for convening virtual events, such as video calls, live chats, video conferences, and online meetings, as part of the day-to-day business activities to share data in real-time. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the resultant lockdowns & restrictions on the movement of people imposed by various governments to arrest the spread of the coronavirus, and the subsequent need to facilitate remote working are some of the significant factors that are anticipated to drive the market growth over the forecast period. 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: 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/virtual-fitting-room-market-to-hit-20-63-billion-by-2030-grand-view-research-inc-301855082.html Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. CHICAGO (dpa-AFX) - Aerospace Company Boeing (BA), announced on Tuesday that flight carrier Air Algerie confirmed an order of eight fuel-efficient Boeing 737-9 jets at the Paris Air Show. Air Algerie has also signed a memorandum of understanding for two 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighters or BCF to meet increasing cargo demand. Air Algerie already operates single fleet of more than 30 737-500, 737-600 and 737-800 jets. The new Boeing jets are designed to serve 193 passengers in a two-class configuration and has a range of 3300 nautical miles. The 737-800 Boeing carriers carry more payload, up to 23.9 tons and offers more range, 2,025 nautical miles compared to previous standard body freighters. In premarket activity, shares of Boeing are trading at $220.46, up 0.21% or $0.47 on the New York Stock Exchange. 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. Milestone payment triggered by first commercial sale of HEMGENIX in U.S. by CSL Behring LEXINGTON, Mass. and AMSTERDAM, June 20, 2023N.V.(ASX: CSL). HEMGENIX (etranacogene dezaparvovec) is a one-time administered gene therapy for the treatment of adults with hemophilia B who currently use factor IX prophylaxis therapy, or have current or historical life-threatening hemorrhage or have repeated, serious spontaneous bleeding episodes. "The first commercial sale in the U.S. is a major milestone for uniQure as it marks the fulfillment of our promise to deliver genetic medicines that have the potential to transform people's lives," said Matt Kapusta, chief executive officer of uniQure. "uniQure's successful development of HEMGENIX further validates our AAV platform built on the back of 25 years of scientific leadership and innovation in the field of gene therapy. We look forward to our continued collaboration with CSL Behring as they work to bring this important treatment to those living with hemophilia B." uniQure conducted the multi-year research and clinical development program for HEMGENIX, which included three clinical trials across 34 global sites and involved 67 adults with hemophilia B. In May 2021, uniQure and CSL completed a licensing transaction providing CSL Behring with exclusive rights to commercialize and continue clinical development of HEMGENIX globally. uniQure is responsible for the global manufacturing of the product at its licensed facility in Lexington, Massachusetts. Under the agreement with CSL Behring, the milestone payment is due within 30 days after achievement of the milestone. HEMGENIX is the first approved gene therapy for hemophilia B in the United States, European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA), and the UK. Hemophilia Bis a rare, lifelong bleeding disorder caused by a single gene defect, resulting in insufficient production of factor IX, a protein primarily produced by the liver that helps blood clots form. Treatments for moderate to severe hemophilia B include prophylactic infusions of factor IX replacement therapy to temporarily replace or supplement low levels of blood-clotting factor and, while these therapies are effective, those with hemophilia B must adhere to strict, lifelong infusion schedules. They may also still experience spontaneous bleeding episodes as well as limited mobility, joint damage or severe pain as a result of the disease. For appropriate patients, HEMGENIX has been shown in clinical trials to allow people living with hemophilia B to produce their own factor IX, which can lower the risk of bleeding. About HEMGENIX HEMGENIX is a gene therapy that reduces the rate of abnormal bleeding in eligible people with hemophilia B by enabling the body to continuously produce factor IX, the deficient protein in hemophilia B. It uses AAV5, a non-infectious viral vector, called an adeno-associated virus (AAV). The AAV5 vector carries the Padua gene variant of Factor IX (FIX-Padua) to the target cells in the liver, generating factor IX proteins that are 5x-8x more active than normal. These genetic instructions remain in the target cells, but generally do not become a part of a person's own DNA. Once delivered, the new genetic instructions allow the cellular machinery to produce stable levels of factor IX. HEMGENIX is a registered trademark of CSL Behring. Important Safety Information (ISI) What is HEMGENIX? HEMGENIX, etranacogene dezaparvovec-drlb, is a one-time gene therapy for the treatment of adults with hemophilia B who: Currently use Factor IX prophylaxis therapy, or Have current or historical life-threatening bleeding, or Have repeated, serious spontaneous bleeding episodes. HEMGENIX is administered as a single intravenous infusion and can be administered only once. What medical testing can I expect to be given before and after administration of HEMGENIX? To determine your eligibility to receive HEMGENIX, you will be tested for Factor IX inhibitors. If this test result is positive, a retest will be performed 2 weeks later. If both tests are positive for Factor IX inhibitors, your doctor will not administer HEMGENIX to you. If, after administration of HEMGENIX, increased Factor IX activity is not achieved, or bleeding is not controlled, a post-dose test for Factor IX inhibitors will be performed. HEMGENIX may lead to elevations of liver enzymes in the blood; therefore, ultrasound and other testing will be performed to check on liver health before HEMGENIX can be administered. Following administration of HEMGENIX, your doctor will monitor your liver enzyme levels weekly for at least 3 months. If you have preexisting risk factors for liver cancer, regular liver health testing will continue for 5 years post-administration. Treatment for elevated liver enzymes could include corticosteroids. What were the most common side effects of HEMGENIX in clinical trials? In clinical trials for HEMGENIX, the most common side effects reported in more than 5% of patients were liver enzyme elevations, headache, elevated levels of a certain blood enzyme, flu-like symptoms, infusion-related reactions, fatigue, nausea, and feeling unwell. These are not the only side effects possible. Tell your healthcare provider about any side effect you may experience. What should I watch for during infusion with HEMGENIX? Your doctor will monitor you for infusion-related reactions during administration of HEMGENIX, as well as for at least 3 hours after the infusion is complete. Symptoms may include chest tightness, headaches, abdominal pain, lightheadedness, flu-like symptoms, shivering, flushing, rash, and elevated blood pressure. If an infusion-related reaction occurs, the doctor may slow or stop the HEMGENIX infusion, resuming at a lower infusion rate once symptoms resolve. What should I avoid after receiving HEMGENIX? Small amounts of HEMGENIX may be present in your blood, semen, and other excreted/secreted materials, and it is not known how long this continues. You should not donate blood, organs, tissues, or cells for transplantation after receiving HEMGENIX. Please see full prescribing information for HEMGENIX. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088. You can also report side effects to CSL Behring's Pharmacovigilance Department at 1-866-915-6958. About uniQure uniQure is delivering on the promise of gene therapy - single treatments with potentially curative results. The recent approval of our gene therapy for hemophilia B - an historic achievement based on more than a decade of research and clinical development - represents a major milestone in the field of genomic medicine and ushers in a new treatment approach for patients living with hemophilia. We are now leveraging our modular and validated technology platform to advance a pipelineof proprietary gene therapies for the treatment of patients with Huntington's disease, refractory temporal lobe epilepsy, ALS, Fabry disease, and other severe diseases. www.uniQure.com uniQure Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, which are often indicated by terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "establish," "estimate," "expect," "goal," "intend," "look forward to", "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "seek," "should," "will," "would" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and on information available to management only as of the date of this press release. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about whether we are able to bring AMT-061 to people living with hemophilia B and whether the treatment will be transformational. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements for many reasons, including, without limitation, risks associated with the impact of the postponement in our clinical trial for Huntington's disease, the impact of financial and geopolitical events on our Company and the wider economy and health care system, our Commercialization and License Agreement with CSL Behring, our clinical development activities, clinical results, collaboration arrangements, regulatory oversight, product commercialization and intellectual property claims, as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's periodic securities filings, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K filed February 28, 2023. Given these risks, uncertainties and other factors, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, and the Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Ready to support Indian Telecom operators for their mandatory Optical testing Indigenous, NABL and TEC-certified labs in Maharashtra and Silvassa LONDON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- STL (NSE: STLTECH), a leading optical and digital solutions company , announced its readiness to offer testing of optical fibre and cable products, in accordance with the guidelines of the Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecom Equipment (MTCTE), a taskforce set by the Department of Telecommunications. These products will be tested in STL's testing labs which have been accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and Telecommunications Engineering Centre (TEC). With 5G, FTTx and Data Centre deployments picking up, India needs to ensure high-quality and secure deployments as this digital infrastructure will shape India's journey for the next 20-30 years. The latest MTCTE guidelines, which are likely to be rolled out from July 1, 2023, stipulate that all types of telecom equipment listed under phases III and IV be tested and approved by local testing laboratories before they are installed in the network infrastructure. Considering the operators' aggressive network rollout plans, the availability of such labs, and the speed and cost of testing will be of utmost importance. STL's certified labs in Aurangabad and Silvassa are capable of handling the tests specified under 'Essential Requirements' of single-mode optical fibres and optical fibre cables. STL's labs are the first in India to have been recognised as high-quality by TEC's Conformity Assessment Body and NABL in accordance with the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 standards. They are equipped with top-quality measurement instruments and simulation software, testing products on three broad parameters - transmission (attenuation, dispersion, bend sensitivity), mechanical (tensile strength, fatigue, impact, crush) and environmental (extreme temperature, water tolerance and humidity) including testing of certain raw materials used in the cable manufacturing process like HDPE, PBTP, Nylon, Jelly, ARP, FRP and more. The company has also outlined a transparent pricing framework to further align with the operators' Go-to-Market plans. This pricing framework has been meticulously determined considering factors such as scope, duration, and level of expertise required for testing and evaluation. Commenting on STL's readiness for telecom equipment testing, Ankit Agarwal, Managing Director, STL, said: "Ensuring top quality and highly secure network build is the need of the hour. We want to enable telecom operators with credible, fast and efficient ways to comply with the MTCTE regulations. Our testing labs are well equipped to ensure world-class Optical Fibre product testing for building a robust digital infrastructure for the country." About STL - Sterlite Technologies Ltd: STL is a leading global optical and digital solutions company providing advanced offerings to build 5G, Rural, FTTx, Enterprise and Data Centre networks. Read more, Contact us, stl.tech | Twitter | LinkedIn| YouTube Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2106165/MTCTE_Testing.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/876464/Sterlite_Technologies_STL_New_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/stl-prepared-for-cost-efficient-mtcte-testing-of-optical-fibre-products-301855229.html ProsperOps' Cost Optimization Platform for Amazon Web Services (AWS) is Now Available Through the Coupa Advantage Program AUSTIN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / ProsperOps, a leading FinOps automation platform for AWS, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Coupa, a leader in Business Spend Management (BSM), to join the Coupa Advantage program. Coupa's cloud-based platform empowers organizations around the world to maximize value and operationalize purpose through their business spend. Through the Coupa platform and the Coupa Advantage program, ProsperOps offers Coupa customers a way to manage and reduce their cloud spend, which alleviates one of the top challenges for organizations. ProsperOps - Hands-free AWS Cost Optimization Automatically reduce AWS compute costs with zero ongoing effort. Coupa Advantage harnesses the power of more than $4 trillion of Coupa community spend for optimized procurement and strategic sourcing strategies across a trusted network of vetted suppliers. The program connects customers and suppliers to simplify the buying, selling, and sourcing processes. It leverages the scale of the Coupa community and their collective buying power to offer customers greater discounts, preferred terms, and streamlined supplier onboarding. In addition, a percentage of every dollar spent is donated to nonprofits around the world through Coupa's social impact program, Coupa Cares. ProsperOps manages and optimizes highly complex AWS discount commitments, such as Savings Plans and Reserved Instances, to generate additional savings, unlock flexibility, and reduce risks. Using algorithms and AI, ProsperOps maximizes Effective Savings Rates (ESR) - the core metric to understand the effectiveness of a rate optimization strategy. With their automated service, companies can see AWS compute costs reduced by more than 50 percent, placing ProsperOps in the top two percent of AWS cost optimizers. "Cloud computing is foundational for every digital business, but managing the cloud and associated costs is highly complex," says Prashanth Ravishankar, Vice President, Coupa Advantage at Coupa. "We're excited to add the ProsperOps platform to the Coupa Advantage program, which will help our customers save time, money, and mitigate risk by automating the management of AWS discount instruments." "We're excited to deliver ProsperOps through Coupa Advantage," said Steven Hays, ProsperOps Head of Sales. "ProsperOps gives Coupa customers an easy yet impactful way to reduce their cloud spend without any operational or upfront costs. Coupa customers can quickly enable our service, then get back to building their business." For more information on ProsperOps, visit our Coupa Advantage profile at www.coupaadvantageportal.com/suppliers/prosperops. Coupa, Coupa Advantage, and all Coupa logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Coupa Software, Inc. All rights reserved. ProsperOps ProsperOps is the leading FinOps automation platform for AWS, providing an intuitive, autonomous cloud cost optimization experience that automatically manages discount instruments to maximize compute savings and minimize commitment risk. ProsperOps is a founding and Premier member of the FinOps Foundation and a FinOps Certified Solution, AWS Cloud Management Tool Competency & ISV-Accelerate Partner, and 2021 Gartner Cool Vendor in Cloud Computing. The company was founded in 2018 and is backed by H.I.G. Capital. Learn more and get started at www.prosperops.com. Contact Information Ross Clurman Head of Marketing pr@prosperops.com Jennifer Lankford jennifer@lankfordpr.com SOURCE: ProsperOps View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762136/Automated-FinOps-Platform-ProsperOps-Joins-Coupa-Advantage Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Sabre Gold Mines Corp. (TSX: SGLD) (OTCQB: SGLDF) ("Sabre Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") on the 100% owned Copperstone Mine ("Copperstone" or "Project") in Arizona, USA. The study has resulted in robust post-tax economics which, due to pre-existing infrastructure on surface and underground, result in both low initial capital and an overall low capital intensity ratio on a per ounce basis. The project benefits from its significant tax assets and recently reduced royalty encumbrance while also having potential for resource expansion and further exploration success. The Preliminary Economic Assessment supports a high-grade gold underground mining operation at Copperstone producing an average of 40,765 payable oz gold per year for just over a 5-and-a-half-year mine life. Sabre Gold's management worked with Hard Rock Consulting, LLC ("HRC") to complete the PEA, which included comprehensive reviews of the construction, operations and costs, to provide confidence for potential project commencement and completion within budget and schedule. Trade off studies will continue on initial capital items and initial earthworks will commence as soon as the Company moves towards a formal construction decision. The Company will also continue to have discussions with potential providers of initial construction capital. In accordance with National Instrument 43-101, the Company has engaged HRC to complete a technical report in support of the PEA, which will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of this news release. The Company notes that mineral resources are not mineral reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability. The Company notes that a preliminary economic assessment is preliminary in nature, it includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic consideration applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized. The PEA base case assumes a gold price of $1,800 per oz and the PEA also presents project sensitivities using a range of spot gold prices between $1,600 to $2,000 per oz. All currency references herein are in US$. Highlights from the Preliminary Economic Assessment Consistent Production - Models an underground mine operation that will process 198,000 tonnes of ore at 544 tonnes per day ("tpd") over the 5.6-year mine life ("LOM"). Models an underground mine operation that will process 198,000 tonnes of ore at 544 tonnes per day ("tpd") over the 5.6-year mine life ("LOM"). Excellent Payback Period - The mine plan sequences the high-grade portions of the resource in early years to optimize grade and cash flow resulting in a payback period of less than 2 years and generating nearly $90m in after-tax cumulative undiscounted cash flow. - The mine plan sequences the high-grade portions of the resource in early years to optimize grade and cash flow resulting in a payback period of less than 2 years and generating nearly $90m in after-tax cumulative undiscounted cash flow. Low Initial Capital - Significant site infrastructure, such as pre-existing tailings and processing facilities, surface buildings and rehabilitated underground development allow for reduced upfront construction cost and low initial capital per payable gold ounce produced over the LOM. - Significant site infrastructure, such as pre-existing tailings and processing facilities, surface buildings and rehabilitated underground development allow for reduced upfront construction cost and low initial capital per payable gold ounce produced over the LOM. Fully Licensed and Permitted - Permits are in place for initial construction and subsequent operation of the project as well as the necessary water and surface rights. Minor modifications required for the revised mine plan and flow sheet as a result of the PEA will be addressed as required in the coming months by the Company. - Permits are in place for initial construction and subsequent operation of the project as well as the necessary water and surface rights. Minor modifications required for the revised mine plan and flow sheet as a result of the PEA will be addressed as required in the coming months by the Company. Base Case Financial Results: Base Case $1800/oz Au Valuation Sensitivity at $2,000/oz Au After- tax NPV (5%) $61.2 million $88.7 After-tax IRR 50.3% 71.0% Payback Period 1.8 years 1.3 years Initial Capital $36.3 million $36.3 million Sustaining Capital $52.1 million $52.1 million LOM Cash Cost per oz gold payable $1,016 $1,036 LOM All-in sustaining per oz gold payable ("AISC") $1,290 $1,310 Pre-tax cumulative undiscounted free cash flow(1) $88.8 million $130.1 million After-tax cumulative undiscounted free cash flow (1) $85.9 million $120.8 million Abbreviations include: NPV = net present value, IRR = internal rate of return, LOM = life of mine, AISC = all-in sustaining cost. "With the completion of the Preliminary Economic Assessment, the Copperstone project is now advancing towards detailed engineering, financing and a final construction decision. The results published today support the construction of our first mine. We believe there are further opportunities to optimize the project economics through possible capital reductions and to also increase the mineral resource. It is our belief that with the restart of drilling at the Project, there is potential to add significant ounces to the mine design and mine life at Copperstone," commented Andrew Elinesky, CEO & President. "There are very few gold projects that are fully permitted and licensed to commence construction and operations while also being located in a favourable jurisdiction such as the Copperstone Project. The Preliminary Economic Assessment reflects a tremendous amount of rigour and work required to move the project towards financial due diligence. We are very pleased to deliver this important milestone for our shareholders, employees, the local communities, and other stakeholders. We believe the Preliminary Economic Assessment provides a well-designed, comprehensive plan." Location, Access, Physiography, Infrastructure The Copperstone property is located 125 miles west of Phoenix, Arizona and is accessed via Interstate I-10 to the town of Quartzsite, Arizona. The site access road is located about 9 miles north of Quartzsite along US Highway 95. The access road is a well-maintained gravel road, Cyprus Mine Road, that travels west for 5.5 miles to the project site. The Project is situated on the flat, sandy desert terrain of the La Posa Plain, at the northeastern end of the Dome Rock Mountains, and is surrounded by a natural desert scrub environment. Major supply centres and ample skilled and unskilled labour is available locally, in Phoenix and in Yuma. Access to the Sante Fe rail line is available nearby, and international air service and railway access are both available in Phoenix. Property, History, Geology, Mineralization The Copperstone Project encompasses approximately 13.8 square miles of surface area and mineral rights in La Paz County, County, Arizona. The Project is wholly owned by Sabre Gold, which controls the 546 federal unpatented mining claims and two Arizona state mineral leases which together comprise the Copperstone Project area. Prior production at Copperstone included open pit mining with a 2,500 tpd carbon-in-pulp heap leach from 1987 to 1993 with reported production of 514,000 oz of gold from 5,600,000 tons of ore grading 0.089 oz/t (2.8 g/t) of gold. In 2011, a 450 tpd floatation mill was built on site and in 2012 underground mining commenced from two declines that were previously developed in the bottom of the open pit. Operations took place from January 2012 to July 2013 with reported production of approximately 16,900 oz of gold from 163,000 tons of ore grading 0.104 oz/t (3.2g/t) of gold. Sabre Gold owns 100% of the Copperstone Project which is situated at the northern tip of the Moon Mountains in west-central Arizona, regionally within the Basin and Range geo-physiographic province, and within the westernmost extent of the Whipple-Buckskin-Rawhide detachment system. Mid-Tertiary low-angle normal faults (detachment faults) are recognized as significant regional structures in this portion of the Basin and Range, where major detachment faults are associated with mylonitization of lower-plate rocks and brittle faulting and rotation of upper-plate rocks. Mineral Resources The Preliminary Economic Assessment provides a revised mine plan from the previously completed studies, including revised resource estimates, mining methods, mining dilution and recovery assumptions. The revised resource estimate uses high yield restriction methodology to ensure that the influence of the high-grade samples did not extend beyond their observed range of continuity. 2023 Copperstone Resource Estimate Tonnes Au (g/t) Au (koz) Measured 750,000 8.12 196,000 Indicated 457,000 7.09 104,000 Measured & Indicated 1,207,000 7.74 300,000 Inferred 970,000 6.30 197,000 Mineral Resources have an effective date of February 15, 2023. The Qualified Person responsible for the Mineral Resource estimate is Mr. Richard A. Schwering, P.G., SME-RM, an employee of Hard Rock Consulting, LLC. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Inferred mineral resources are that part of a mineral resource for which the grade or quality are estimated on the basis of limited geological evidence and sampling. Inferred mineral resources do not have demonstrated economic viability and may not be converted to a mineral reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of Inferred mineral resources could be upgraded to Indicated mineral resources with continued exploration. The mineral resource is reported at an underground mining cut-off of 0.092 oz/ton (3.15 g/t) Au beneath the historic open pit and within coherent wireframe models, and for estimated blocks which meet the criteria of a minable shape. The cut-off is based on the following assumptions: a gold price of $1,800/oz; assumed mining cost of $90/ton ($99.21/tonne), process costs of $47/ton ($51.81/tonne), general and administrative and property/severance tax costs of $15.00/ton ($16.53/tonne), refining and shipping costs of $12.00/oz, a metallurgical recovery for gold of 95%, and a 3.0% gross royalty. Rounding may result in apparent differences when summing tonnes, grade and contained metal content. Tonnage and grade measurements are in Metric units. Contained metal is reported as troy ounces. Initial and Sustaining Capital The initial capital cost of the project is $36.3 million, to be incurred over a 14-month period including construction and ramp up to full production. Initial capital intensity is quite low when compared to the gold ounces produced during the life of mine and is calculated as $158 per payable gold ounce produced. Cumulative sustaining capital(1) is estimated at $52.1 million with over 60% spent in operating years 1-3 for the underground mine development and tailings management facilities. Metric ($ million) Initial Sustaining Total LOM Underground Mine Development $9.2 $24.4 $33.6 Tailings Management Facility - $4.4 $4.4 Mineral Processing Plant $11.6 - $11.6 On-site Infrastructure $8.9 $17.7 $26.6 Total Direct Costs $29.7 $46.5 $76.2 Owner Costs and Reclamation $0.6 $1.2 $1.8 Project Indirect Costs $1.7 - $1.7 Contingency $4.3 $4.4 $8.7 Total Indirect Costs $6.6 $5.6 $12.2 TOTAL $36.3 $52.1 $88.4 Operating, Cash and All-in Sustaining Costs Operating Costs $/oz Au $/t Ore Mining $512.88 $105.58 Processing $253.69 $52.23 Site G&A $85.05 $17.52 Transportation & Refining $12.84 $2.65 CASH OPERATING COSTS $864.46 $177.98 Royalties and Stream $143.10 $29.46 Production Taxes $8.76 $1.81 TOTAL CASH COSTS $1,016.32 $209.25 Reclamation $5.26 $1.08 Sustaining Capital $268.65 $55.30 ALL-IN SUSTAINING COSTS $1,290.33 $265.63 Free Cash Flow The average annual after-tax free cash flow is $15.3 million and the cumulative LOM after-tax free cash flow are estimated at $85.9 million. The Company has a large tax asset base which significantly reduces the tax impacts on cash flow. Project Sensitivities At base case prices and a 5% discount rate, the after tax NPV and IRR are most sensitive to gold prices and to a much lesser extent capital ("CapEx") and operating expenditures ("OpEx"). Sensitivity Table Gold Price After Tax NPV (millions) After Tax IRR $1,500 $14.9 16.5% $1,600 $31.06 28.4% $1,700 $47.2 39.8% $1,800 (Base Case) $61.2 50.3% $1,900 $75.0 60.8% $2,000 $88.7 71.0% $2,100 $102.4 81.2% Sensitivity Table Movement OPEX NPV (millions) OPEX IRR Initial CAPEX NPV (millions) Initial CAPEX IRR -20% $84.3 65.5% $74.5 76.3% -10% $73.0 58.1% $68.0 61.8% Base Case $61.2 50.3% $61.2 50.3% 10% $49.4 42.3% $54.4 41.2% 20% $35.9 33.2% $47.8 33.8% Mining Operations Due to historic underground mining that has taken place on the property in 2012 and 2013 and an exploration drift established in 2017, there is currently approximately 4,000 meters of underground access development, most of which was rehabilitated in the fall of 2021. Copperstone will be a mechanized ramp access, underground mine, producing a designed average of 544 tonnes (600 tons) per day. The mine plan is for Cut and Fill mining using Rock Fill ("RF") and Cemented Rock Fill ("CRF"). The mine design is based on a cut-off grade 3.34 grams per tonne (0.107 opt) with 28.9% internal dilution, 10% external dilution and an ore recovery of 95% and is composed of 46% Measured, 18% Indicated, and 36% Inferred Mineral Resources. Plant Flowsheet The plant flowsheet is for a 544 tonne per day capacity, consisting of two-stage crushing and grinding, followed by whole ore leaching with Merrill Crowe recovery to produce dore bars. Surface Infrastructure Existing infrastructure at the Copperstone Project includes office facilities, warehouse, equipment maintenance shop and assay laboratory buildings, a change house, 10 trailer house hook-ups, a septic system, and a variety of shipping containers which provide for secure core storage. Incoming commercial 69 kV overhead electrical power is delivered to an on-site power substation. Water is currently delivered from three water wells to a 375,000-gallon storage tank in the mineral processing area. Potable water is delivered by truck. Mine communications are supported by cellular and satellite phone and internet service. Government Permits All major permits for operations for the State of Arizona are in place with minor modifications required for the revised mine plan and flow sheet, Aquifer Protection Permit, Air Quality Permit and Storm Water Multi Sector General Permit. The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) permit, Mine Plan of Operation (MPO) is in place but requires modifications to mainly remove equipment from the existing permitted flow sheet process plant. The right to extract and use groundwater from the aquifer within the La Posa Plain is authorized by the Arizona Department of Water Resources pursuant to A.R.S. Section 45-514. Existing surface rights and right of ways are sufficient for all proposed exploration, mining, and processing activities, including tailings and waste storage and disposal areas. The Reclamation Plan has been approved by the State of Arizona and no amendments are expected to be required. Sabre Gold is required by the Aggregate Mine Land Reclamation Act to obtain an Inspector's approval of the MPO amendment addressing new infrastructure and disposal facilities and plans for post-mining reclamation of those facilities. Project Schedule and Next Steps Management has been working with a number of groups to arrange debt financing and will continue to evaluate all available options to raise the required initial capital. Management will continue to work on potential optimizations of plant and equipment including the potential sourcing of used plant and equipment. The Company will also continue to incorporate any site development activities alongside site maintenance currently being performed on the Project. The Copperstone Project will take approximately 14 months for construction and ramp up to full production. These timeframes do not take into account possible further disruptions to the labour market and global supply chain interruptions due to current supply chain markets. The Project Management team has significant construction and operating experience in underground mines within the Americas. Opportunities to Enhance Value Management has identified several opportunities to enhance value for the Copperstone Project that will be further evaluated during the development phase. Management is considering various engineering, procurement, construction and management approaches including hybrid models to incorporate internal expertise and capabilities that provide an efficient transition from development to operations. Further opportunities include: Expand Resources - The two priority areas for expansion would focus on additional drilling along the down dip plunge of the C and D zones within the main Copperstone shear, the South Zone and the Footwall zone. The second area of priority would follow up drilling between the A and B zones where previous drilling encountered high grade mineralization but has not been investigated further. - The two priority areas for expansion would focus on additional drilling along the down dip plunge of the C and D zones within the main Copperstone shear, the South Zone and the Footwall zone. The second area of priority would follow up drilling between the A and B zones where previous drilling encountered high grade mineralization but has not been investigated further. Mining - Will further investigate if marginal grade material can be added to the stopes if the stope access cost is excluded due to the stope already being developed. Continue to look at the optimization of the mine design including the number of access points, internal raises to improve ventilation, stope height and width. - Will further investigate if marginal grade material can be added to the stopes if the stope access cost is excluded due to the stope already being developed. Continue to look at the optimization of the mine design including the number of access points, internal raises to improve ventilation, stope height and width. Process Plant - The Company will evaluate opportunities for increasing plant throughput to the extent mining rates can be increased from the current mine plan and potential resource expansion. - The Company will evaluate opportunities for increasing plant throughput to the extent mining rates can be increased from the current mine plan and potential resource expansion. Used Equipment - Evaluate options for used equipment to reduce initial cost and lead time. Exploration Potential Several identified opportunities remain to enhance the value of the Copperstone Project and will be further evaluated during the construction phase. Drill test for the presence of the footwall zone at depth and underneath the D zone. Historic drill hole CS-266 intercepted gold mineralization (3.4 grams/tonne over 3.0 metres) approximately 200 meters southwest of the Copperstone pit and has not been followed up. Continued drilling to define and expand the southwest zone which is 760 meters southwest of the Copperstone pit. Historic drill hole 06CS-20 intercepted gold mineralization (20.5 grams/tonne over 1.5 metres), approximately 900m southwest of the Copperstone pit and has been neither been followed up on nor has there been any drilling within 150m of the drill hole. Qualified Persons and QA/QC Mike Maslowski, CPG Vice President Chief Operating Officer of Sabre Gold, is the Qualified Person ("QP") who reviewed and approved this news release. The Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) team includes HRC QPs, Richard A. Schwering, P.G., SME-RM, Jeffery W. Choquette, P.E., Jennifer J. Brown P.G., and Dr. Deepak Malhotra, Ph.D. who are the Independent Qualified Persons for the 2023 PEA and who have prepared the scientific and technical information on the Copperstone project and reviewed the information that is summarized in this press release. The qualified persons preparing the PEA report have followed industry accepted practices for verifying that the data used in the study is suitable for the purposes used. Site visits by three of the qualified persons (including Mike Maslowski from Sabre Gold and Richard A. Schwering, Jennifer J. Brown, and Jeffery Choquette from HRC) is part of the data verification procedures. A more detailed description of data verification undertaken by the qualified persons will be included in the relevant sections of the technical report that will be filed within 45 days of this press release. (1) Non-IFRS Financial Measures The Company has included certain non-IFRS measures in this document as discussed below. The Company believes that these measures, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, provide investors an improved ability to evaluate the underlying performance of the Company. The non-IFRS measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. These measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS, and therefore may not be comparable to other issuers. Cash cost ("Cash cost") per ounce Cash cost per ounce is a non-IFRS measure. In the gold mining industry, this metric is a common performance measure that does not have a standardized meaning under IFRS. Cash costs include direct costs (including smelting, refining, transportation and selling costs), royalties and production taxes, general and administration costs and changes in finished goods inventory. All-in sustaining costs ("AISC") per ounce AISC per ounce are non-IFRS measures. These measures are intended to assist readers in evaluating the total cost of producing gold from operations. While there is no standardized meaning across the industry for AISC measures, the Company's definition conforms to the definition of AISC as set out by the World Gold Council. The Company defines AISC as the cash operating costs (as defined above), reclamation cost accretion, mine site expensed exploration, and sustaining capital expenditures. For the purpose of the PEA, AISC does not include corporate general and administration costs or mine site expensed exploration. Free cash flow In the mining industry, free cash flow is a common performance measure with no standardized meaning. The Company calculates free cash flow by deducting cash capital spending (capital expenditures, net of expenditures paid through finance leases) from net cash provided by operating activities. The Company discloses free cash flow as it believes the measure provides valuable assistance to inventors and analysts in evaluating the Company's ability to generate cash flow after capital investments and build the cash resources of the Company. Initial and sustaining capital Initial and sustaining capital are non-IFRS measures. Initial capital is defined as capital required to develop and construct to bring the mine to commercial production and sustaining capital is defined as the capital required to maintain operations at existing levels. Both measurements are used by management to assess the effectiveness of an investment program. About Sabre Gold Mines Corp. Sabre Gold is a diversified, multi-asset near-term gold producer in North America which holds 100-per-cent ownership of both the fully licensed and permitted Copperstone gold mine located in Arizona, United States, and the Brewery Creek gold mine located in Yukon, Canada, both of which are former producers. Management intends to restart production at Copperstone followed by Brewery Creek in the near term. Sabre Gold also holds other investments and projects at varying stages of development. Sabre Gold's two advanced projects have approximately 1.5 million ounces of gold in the Measured and Indicated categories, and approximately 1.2 million ounces of gold in the Inferred category. Additionally, both Copperstone and Brewery Creek have considerable exploration upside with a combined land package of over 230 square kilometers that will be further drill tested with high-priority targets currently identified. Sabre Gold is led by an experienced team of mining professionals with backgrounds in exploration, mine building and operations. For further information please visit the Sabre Gold Mines Corp. website: (www.sabre.gold). Andrew Elinesky CEO and President 416-904-2725 Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking information under Canadian securities legislation including statements concerning the Company's expectations with respect to the proposed optimization work and other value enhancing activities and their impact on the economics of Copperstone; the potential that resources at Copperstone can be expanded through additional exploration drilling, expectations regarding a construction decision and the timing thereof, the construction timeline of Copperstone, the potential to obtain the necessary financing to bring Copperstone into production and the ability to obtain the necessary amendments to the permits for the Copperstone project. These forward-looking statements entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations, are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such statements. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to: the assumptions used in the preparation of the PEA for the Copperstone project, basing a construction decision on the results of a PEA and not on a feasibility study of mineral reserves, demonstrating economic and technical viability; the price of gold; operational, funding, and liquidity risks; reliance on third parties, exploration risk, failure to upgrade resources, the degree to which mineral resource and reserve estimates are reflective of actual mineral resources and reserves; the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are present, and the risks and hazards associated with underground operations and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry. Risks and uncertainties about Sabre Gold's business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure materials, including its annual information form and MD&A, filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and available at www.sedar.com and readers are urged to read these materials. Sabre Gold assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such statements unless required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170647 HONG KONG, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ITE Hong Kong 2023, its third live edition since pandemic, was held successfully from June 15 to 18 in Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) with two trade and two public days. 59 participating countries and regions in and outside Asia! 499 exhibitors with 90% from abroad! Both its scale (14,000 SQM) and total number of visitors (62,000) doubled last year and back to around 80% pre-pandemic, reflecting pent-up demand strong but will it be sustainable? With over 2,100 replies largely from ITE public visitors, a public survey in end April gave a positive answer! Held jointly by ITE organizer and Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, it found respondents will in the coming year: take 3 or more outbound holidays (40%); have no traveling planning (6%); and over two third spend more on traveling. More value destination attractiveness (86%) over price (77%)! In fact, Hong Kong outbound travel has been rebounding strongly since this year, as residents made some 2.55 million departures between April 1 and 9, up 1.5 time that of January and 15 times over September last year. Hong Kong, which often ranked World's 11th or 12th and Asia's 3rd or 4th largest source market by total spending on international travel, spent US$26.9 billion on outbound in pre-pandemic 2019. It is the hub of The Greater Bay Area (the Bay) which also include Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The Bay would have ranked World's 12th largest economy by GDP in 2018. Regional visitors are back! ITE2023 drew 5,932 buyers and trade visitors, which doubled last year. Among them, 75% from Hong Kong, 16.4% from China (mainland) and 8.6% from overseas. By sectors, 40% from travel agents and 26% from MICE and corporations. Also, travel associations in several cities in the Bay sent visiting delegations. Public visitors totaled 55,925, up 80% over last year, with majority premium FIT. Organized by TKS Exhibition Services Ltd., ITE is strongly supported by Ministry of Culture & Tourism of China with Hong Kong Tourism Board etc. as Supporters. Held annually, ITE is Hong Kong's only travel fair. ITE Hong Kong 2024 will be held from June 13 to June 16, 2024 at Halls 1 of HKCEC with two trade days and two public days. For exhibiting, advertising and visiting enquiry: Tel: +852 3155-0600 | email: travel@tkshk.com / web: www.itehk.com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/ite-hong-kong-2023-boosts-sustainable-recovery-with-record-attendances-301855237.html Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Lithium One Metals Inc. (TSXV: LONE) (FSE: H490) (OTCQB: LOMEF) (the "Company" or "LONE") is pleased to announce it is in position to begin exploration activity on its five Quebec properties as soon as restrictions issued by the Ministere des Ressources naturelles et des Foretst (Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests) are lifted. A top priority target for the company is the Taycan Lithium Project in the James Bay region of Quebec (Figure 1). The project is adjacent to Patriot Battery Metals Corvette lithium discovery and falls within the CV Lithium Trend, a growing spodumene bearing pegmatite region. Multiple mapped pegmatites are documented at the Taycan Lithium Project where it is transected by the "CV Lithium Trend" (Figure 2). This area has been identified as a top priority target for the Company's planned exploration program in Quebec. Highlights Highly Prospective Properties. All five properties in Quebec hold significant lithium potential. Of particular note, the Taycan property is on trend with Patriot Battery Metals' Corvette lithium discovery, while the Cyr-Kapiwak project is adjacent to the recently approved James Bay Lithium Mine, which has an estimated resource of 40.3 Mt at 1.4% Li2O1. Aggressive Exploration to Generate & Prioritize Drill Targets. Five properties spanning 19,100 ha will be mapped, prospected and channel sampled. The technical team will assess field observations and laboratory results as the program progresses, enabling the Company to proceed with outcrop stripping of viable targets and prioritize drilling in key areas. Pending Field Crew Mobilization. Lithium One has temporarily halted the planned exploration activities in Quebec as a result of the latest emergency order issued by the Ministere des Ressources naturelles et des Forets (Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests) on June 18, 2023. Figure 1. Lithium One's top priority targets at the Taycan Lithium Project, showing the Ferrari Project, Norris Lithium's Highway Project and the "CV Lithium Trend" identified by Patriot Battery Metals. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8381/170573_d5b4116984297a9f_001full.jpg Figure 2. Satellite view of Lithium One's Taycan Lithium Project showing documented pegmatite with Patriot Battery Metals' Corvette lithium project. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8381/170573_d5b4116984297a9f_002full.jpg Quebec Exploration Program Lithium One holds five properties in Quebec, encompassing 19,100 ha of their total 45,000 ha land package. Field crews are systematically exploring each property for pegmatite outcrop and collecting mapping, prospecting and channel sampling data aided by handheld Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for in the field lithium analysis. Samples are being submitted to AGAT Laboratories for geochemical analysis. Based on compilation of government and industry data, as well as outcrop detection, highly prospective zones have been identified at multiple properties for immediate field verification. Among the most prospective properties are the Taycan property (Figure 1) which is contiguous to the Patriot Battery Metals Corvette Lithium Discovery and falls within the 50 km "CV Lithium Trend," a growing spodumene pegmatite district. The Project also includes the standalone "Lac Astrid" claim, which is enveloped by Patriot's Corvette property. The Cyr-Kapiwak project is located next to the recently approved James Bay Lithium Mine with a resource estimate of 40.3 Mt at 1.4% Li2O1. Mapping has revealed spodumene-bearing pegmatite boulders which run up to 2.9% Li2O on the northernmost property2. The bedrock source of the lithium bearing boulders has not yet been determined. The goal of the work program is to rapidly build up a geological understanding of Lithium One's properties and identify the highest priority target areas for Phase 2 work such as outcrop stripping and drilling. The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Carl Ginn, P.Geo., a director of the Company and a Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101. Galaxy Lithium Preliminary Economic Assessment, NI 43-101 Technical Report: James Bay Lithium Project Ontario, Canada, March 15, 2021 2 Rock Teck Resources Kapiwak Project Property Visit Report GM65863, October 6, 2009 About Lithium One Lithium One Metals is a Canadian exploration company specializing in the acquisition and development of high-potential lithium properties in Ontario and Quebec. Our team of experienced geologists and prospectors are at the forefront of the search for the next generation of lithium deposits. On behalf of Lithium One Metals Inc. Nav Dhaliwal, Chief Executive Officer For more information, please visit the Company's website at https://lithiumonemetals.com or contact: Nav Dhaliwal Tel: +1-604-678-5308 Email: info@lithiumonemetals.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. WARNING: The Company relies upon litigation protection for "forward-looking" statements. The information in this release may contain forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. This forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking information. Factors that may cause actual results to vary materially include, but are not limited to, inaccurate assumptions concerning the exploration for and development of mineral deposits, currency fluctuations, unanticipated operational or technical difficulties, changes in laws or regulations, failure to obtain regulatory, exchange or shareholder approval, the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits, changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets and the inability to raise additional financing. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update this forward-looking information after the date of this release or to revise such information to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170573 Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - VF Corp. (VFC), a leading portfolio of lifestyle brands, announced Tuesday that its Board of Directors has appointed Bracken Darrell as President and CEO, effective July 17, 2023. Darrell will join VF from Logitech International S.A., where he served as President and CEO since 2013. In connection with Darrell's appointment, Benno Dorer, who has served as VF's Interim President and CEO since December 5, 2022, and a member of VF's Board since 2017, will remain a VF Board member. Richard Carucci, a VF Board member since 2009 and Interim Chair of the Board during VF's recent leadership transition period, has been named Chair of the Board of VF. Prior to Logitech, Darrell held international leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Procter & Gamble where he was President of Braun globally, the Whirlpool Corp. where he was President of EMEA, and General Electric. Early in his career, upon graduating business school, Darrell held brand management roles with Procter & Gamble and is credited with leading the turnaround of the Old Spice brand. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Skeena Resources Limited (TSX:SKE)(NYSE:SKE) ("Skeena" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an updated Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for the 100% owned Eskay Creek gold-silver Project ("Eskay Creek" or the "Project") located in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia. Effective June 20, 2023, the updated MRE incorporates an additional 278 drillholes totaling 67,885 metres, enhancements to the resource estimation methods, and updated metallurgical process recoveries. 2023 Eskay Creek MRE Highlights: Total pit constrained Measured and Indicated Resource of 5.6 million ounces ("Moz") at 3.47 g/t gold equivalent 1 ("AuEq") including 4.1 Moz at 2.57 g/t Au and 102.5 Moz Ag at 63.63 g/t Ag The pit constrained Measured and Indicated Resource has increased by 0.43 Moz AuEq 1 , representing a growth of 8% Measured Category AuEq 1 Resource increased by 23% and now accounts for 73% of the total pit constrained MRE, up from 63% in the previous estimate MRE reported using conservative commodity prices of US$1,700/oz Au and US$23/oz Ag Metallurgical process recoveries applied to Resource are 84% Au and 88% Ag Table 1: 2023 Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Pit Constrained Resource Reported at a 0.7 g/t AuEq1 Cut-off Grade Category Tonnes (000) AuEq1 (g/t) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq1 Ounces (000) Au Ounces (000) Ag Ounces (000) Measured 27,881 4.60 3.34 88.91 4,126 2,997 79,701 Indicated 22,229 2.05 1.60 31.91 1,465 1,142 22,803 Total M+I 50,109 3.47 2.57 63.63 5,591 4,138 102,504 Inferred 643 1.92 1.46 32.33 40 30 668 Table 2: 2023 Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Underground Constrained Resource Reported at a 3.2 g/t AuEq1 Cut-off grade Assuming Drift and Fill Mining Methods Category Tonnes (000) AuEq1 (g/t) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq1 Ounces (000) Au Ounces (000) Ag Ounces (000) Measured 838 7.31 5.29 142.59 197 142 3,842 Indicated 989 4.91 4.12 55.68 156 131 1,771 Total M+I 1,827 6.01 4.66 95.54 353 274 5,613 Inferred 272 4.57 4.21 25.37 40 37 222 Skeena's Senior Vice President of Exploration & Resource Development, Paul Geddes, commented "Considerable analysis was undertaken during this MRE, which includes a new methodology for restricting the influence of high-grade mineralization proximal to formerly mined areas, optimization of block sizes for mining selectivity, and added conservatism with process recoveries derived from the 2022 FS. The exploratory and delineation drilling performed in 2022 surrounding the new 23 and 21A West Zones has resulted in a positive return on investment." Randy Reichert, Skeena's President & CEO, goes on to comment "With the outcome of an additional 432,000 gold equivalent ounces, we are very pleased with the continued Resource growth at Eskay Creek. We successfully converted a significant amount of Indicated Resources to the Measured category, increasing our confidence in the deposit. Given most of the Resources included in this update are within the Measured and Indicated categories we expect a large percentage to convert to Reserves, potentially adding a year or more of mine life to the Q4 2023 Definitive Feasibility Study." Table 3: 2022-2023 Pit Constrained Resource Comparison 2023 Pit Constrained Resource Category Tonnes (000) AuEq1 (g/t) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq1 Ounces (000) Au Ounces (000) Ag Ounces (000) Measured 27,881 4.60 3.34 88.91 4,126 2,997 79,701 Indicated 22,229 2.05 1.60 31.91 1,465 1,142 22,803 Total M+I 50,109 3.47 2.57 63.63 5,591 4,138 102,504 Inferred 643 1.92 1.46 32.33 40 30 668 2022 Pit Constrained Resource Category Tonnes (000) AuEq1 (g/t) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq2 Ounces (000) Au Ounces (000) Ag Ounces (000) Measured 21,784 4.80 3.50 92.40 3,355 2,481 64,679 Indicated 24,724 2.30 1.80 37.60 1,804 1,400 29,896 Total M+I 46,508 3.50 2.60 63.20 5,159 3,881 94,575 Inferred 3,420 1.50 1.30 20.20 170 140 2,222 2022 - 2023 Pit Constrained Resource Comparison Category Tonnes (000) AuEq1,2 (g/t) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq1,2 Ounces (000) Au Ounces (000) Ag Ounces (000) Measured +28% -4% -4% -4% +23% +21% +23% Indicated -10% -11% -11% -15% -19% -18% -24% Category Tonnes (000) AuEq1,2 (g/t) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq1,2 Ounces (000) Au Ounces (000) Ag Ounces (000) Total M+I +8% -1% -1% +1% +8% +7% +8% Inferred -81% +28% +12% +60% -77% -78% -70% Pit Constrained Resource Discussion The 2023 MRE pit parameters used to determine Resources with reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction are analogous to those used for the 2022 MRE apart from the updated metallurgical process recoveries of 84% gold and 88% silver which informed the 2022 Feasibility Study. The differential in assumed process recoveries resulted in the shallowing of the Resource reporting pit in certain areas relative to the 2022 MRE. Conversely, the 2022 drilling programs in the 23 and 21A West Zones generated new resources which resulted in pit expansions. Table 4: Pit Constrained Scenario Assumptions for Determining Cut-off Grade with Reasonable Prospects of Eventual Economic Extraction Input Parameters 2022 Value 2023 Value Unit Pit Wall Angles 45 45 Degrees Reference Mining Cost 3.00 3.00 US Dollars per Tonne Mined Mining Recovery 95 95 Percent Mining Dilution 5 5 Percent Processing Cost 15.50 15.50 US Dollars per Tonne Processed General and Administration 6.00 6.00 US Dollars per Tonne Generalized Process Recovery Au 90 84 Percent Process Recovery Ag 80 88 Percent Gold Price 1700 1700 US Dollars per Ounce Silver Price 23 23 US Dollars per Ounce Transportation/ Refining Costs Au 25.00 18.50 US Dollars per Ounce Transportation/ Refining Costs Ag - 7 US Dollars per Ounce Strip Ratio 7.55:1 7.14:1 Waste:Ore Underground Constrained Resource No material change has occurred in the reported underground Resources. Variation in remnant tonnages relative to the 2022 MRE is largely due to the new 2023 pit geometry and the 1 metre geotechnical buffer around the underground workings being removed due to the selective nature of the drift and fill mining method. The current MRE for underground Resources are proximal to the planned pit. The Company's 2022 drilling in the Eskay Deeps Discovery has not yet affected the underground constrained resource due to the widely spaced nature of the two drillholes. Table 5: Underground Scenario Assumptions for Determining Cut-off Grades with Reasonable Prospects of Economic Extraction Assuming Drift and Fill Mining Methods Input Parameters Value Unit Reference Mining Cost 100.00 US Dollars per Tonne Mined Processing Cost 25.00 US Dollars per Tonne Processed General and Administration 12.00 US Dollars per Tonne Generalized Process Recovery Au 84 Percent Process Recovery Ag 88 Percent Gold Price 1700 US Dollars per Ounce Silver Price 23 US Dollars per Ounce Transportation/ Refining Costs Au 18.50 US Dollars per Ounce Transportation/ Refining Costs Ag 7.00 US Dollars per Ounce Modification to Block Size The 2023 MRE now applies a regular block size of 5 x 5 x 2.5 metres (XYZ), to better inform future economic analyses that will contemplate more selective mining. This will also be incorporated into the Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") with 10 metre benches split with three dig flitches per bench and smaller backhoe excavators. The 2022 pit constrained MRE utilized 10 x 10 x 5 metre parent blocks with 5 x 5 x 2.5 metre subblocks which are not as well suited for engineering the more selective mining. High-Grade Restriction Buffer Surrounding Historical Stopes In the 2022 MRE, a 1 metre buffer enveloping the underground stopes was used to constrain and restrict the influence of the previously mined extremely high-grade drill hole samples. The 2023 model now applies 15 g/t AuEq1 cut-off grade shells modelled in the orientation of the Contact Mudstone to constrain and restrict the influence of the extremely high grades. This methodology forms a more geologically based domain, as opposed to only utilizing the historical underground excavations. Application of Dynamic Anisotropy The NEX and HW Zones were estimated in Skeena's 2022 model using the single-search ellipsoid of the variogram. In the updated 2023 model, dynamic anisotropy, which adjusts for the folded orientation of the search ellipse on a block-by-block basis was employed using the orientation of the Contact Mudstone as a guide. When compared to the 2022 MRE, the use of dynamic anisotropy results in a more robust estimation. Resource Model Reconciliation As a test to determine the accuracy of the new model, an internal reconciliation study of the historically mined portion of the 2023 MRE demonstrates that with the updated resource methodology, the grades more closely resemble the gold and silver grades of the reported historical mine production relative to the 2022 model. This improved reconciliation adds additional confidence to the methodologies and optimizations applied to the 2023 MRE. Table 6: 2023 Eskay Creek Consolidated Pit Constrained Resources (0.7 g/t AuEq1 cut-off grade) and Underground Resources (3.2 g/t AuEq1 cut-off grade) Category Tonnes (000) AuEq1 (g/t) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq1 Ounces (000) Au Ounces (000) Ag Ounces (000) Measured Pit 27,881 4.60 3.34 88.91 4,126 2,997 79,701 Measured UG 838 7.31 5.29 142.59 197 142 3,842 Total Measured 28,719 4.68 3.40 90.48 4,323 3,139 83,542 Indicated Pit 22,229 2.05 1.60 31.91 1,465 1,142 22,803 Indicated UG 989 4.91 4.12 55.68 156 131 1,771 Total Indicated 23,218 2.17 1.71 32.92 1,621 1,273 24,574 M+I Pit 50,109 3.47 2.57 63.63 5,591 4,138 102,504 M+I UG 1,827 6.01 4.66 95.54 353 274 5,613 Total M+I 51,937 3.56 2.64 64.75 5,944 4,412 108,117 Inferred Pit 643 1.92 1.46 32.33 40 30 668 Inferred UG 272 4.57 4.21 25.37 40 37 222 Total Inferred 915 2.71 2.28 30.26 80 67 890 Eskay Creek 2023 MRE Notes: The mineral Resources disclosed in this press release were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") standards on mineral Resources and Reserves definitions, and guidelines prepared by the CIM standing committee on reserve definition and adopted by the CIM council. Mineral Resources are not mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that any or any part of the mineral Resources estimated will be converted into mineral Reserves. As defined by 43-101, the Independent and Qualified Person for the Eskay Creek MRE is Ms. Terre Lane MMSA QP, a registered member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration. Dr. Hamad Samari MMSA QP, also a registered member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, is the Independent and Qualified Person for the Eskay Creek Geology. The effective date of the MRE is June 20, 2023. The Resources are reported within a pit shell for the pit constrained Resources, and within drift and fill stope optimized shapes with 5% ore loss for the underground Resources: both are considered to have reasonable prospects for economic extraction. In accordance with 43-101 recommendations, the number of metric tonnes was rounded to the nearest thousand. Any discrepancies in the totals are due to rounding effects. Metallurgical recoveries reflective of test work that averages 84% Au and 88% Ag were utilized in the determination of cut-off grades and the AuEq 1 calculation for the open pit and underground Resources. calculation for the open pit and underground Resources. Metal prices used are US$1,700/oz Au, and US$23/oz Ag. Cut-off grades are based on metal prices of US$1,700/oz Au, US$23/oz Ag, gold recoveries of 84%, silver recoveries of 88% and without considering revenues from other metals. AuEq = ((Au(g/t)*1700*0.84) + (Ag(g/t)*23*0.88)) / (1700*0.84). The calculated pit constrained cut-off grade was determined to be 0.47 g/t AuEq 1 , whereas the underground cut-off grade for the drift and fill mining method was calculated to be 3.2 g/t AuEq 1 . A pit constrained cut-off grade of 0.7 g/t AuEq 1 was selected for the MRE. Cut-off grades must be re-evaluated considering prevailing market conditions (including gold prices, exchange rates and costs). , whereas the underground cut-off grade for the drift and fill mining method was calculated to be 3.2 g/t AuEq . A pit constrained cut-off grade of 0.7 g/t AuEq was selected for the MRE. Cut-off grades must be re-evaluated considering prevailing market conditions (including gold prices, exchange rates and costs). A regular model was created using 5 x 5 x 2.5 meter block sizes. An additional 278 holes for 67,885 m of drilling has been included in this estimate since the 2022 FS MRE database close out of September 11, 2021. Block tonnes were estimated using average specific gravity measurements using lithology and mineralization domains. Specific gravity was coded into the block model and ranges from 2.6 g/cm 3 to 3.1 g/cm 3 . to 3.1 g/cm . The geological model was updated to include seven intrusive bodies on the property. One hundred and one (101) mineralization domains were created in Leapfrog GeoTM (Seequent) and two (2) mineralization domains were created using Maptek Vulcan. Overall, fourteen (14) high-grade domains and eighty-nine (89) lower-grade domains were created. The mineralization domains were separated into major fault block and historical mining zones. The high-grade domains were created using an Indicator RBF Interpolation using a cut-off grade of 15 g/t AuEq 1 and dynamic anisotropy along the orientation of the Contact Mudstone. and dynamic anisotropy along the orientation of the Contact Mudstone. The lower grade domains were created using three methods: (1) an Indicator RBF Interpolation using a nominal cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t AuEq 1 and a probability of 50% in the Contact Mudstone, (2) the Interval Selection tool using a cut-off grade of ~ 0.5 g/t AuEq 1 in the remaining lithologies and (3) two small, manually created wireframes in Vulcan. and a probability of 50% in the Contact Mudstone, (2) the Interval Selection tool using a cut-off grade of ~ 0.5 g/t AuEq in the remaining lithologies and (3) two small, manually created wireframes in Vulcan. All one hundred and three (103) mineralization domains were estimated and those blocks that were captured within the optimized pit shell at a 0.7 g/t AuEq 1 cut-off were reported as pit constrained Resources. The portion of the mineralization domains which fell below the level of the optimized pit were reported within underground stope optimized shapes. cut-off were reported as pit constrained Resources. The portion of the mineralization domains which fell below the level of the optimized pit were reported within underground stope optimized shapes. Grade capping was performed on assays prior to compositing. Gold capping ranged from 115 g/t to 1700 g/t in the high-grade domains and 2.4 g/t to 350 g/t in the lower grade domains. Silver capping ranged from 200 g/t to 60,000 g/t in the high-grade domains and 30 g/t to 22,000 g/t in the lower grade domains. Assays were composited to 1 meter lengths honoring the domain boundaries. Composites were distributed equally in length. Gold and silver variograms were used to determine the spatial relationship of composites over distance. 1 meter composites established the primary orientation, nugget, sills and ranges by zone. Variograms were created for the main individual lithology separated zone. Where there were too few samples in a zone, the variogram from the most similar zone was used. Ordinary Kriging was used for the estimation of gold and silver in all domains, except for two small zones in the Water Tower which were estimated by Inverse Distance. Resources were estimated using Maptek Vulcan TM (Version 2022.4.1). Search orientations were modified with Dynamic Anisotropy using a surface that mimicked the local lithological unit. Dynamic Anisotropy was used in the 21A, 21B, 21C, 21Be, NEX, HW and LP Zones. Remining zones used an orientation defined by the variogram. Hard boundaries were honoured between all zones. The mineral Resources were estimated using three passes with increasing search radii based on variogram ranges. Pass 1 equaled the variogram range, Pass 2 equaled 2 times the variogram range and Pass 3 equaled four times the variogram range. Pass 3 was only used for global statistic reporting and was not used in Classification. Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources were classified according to the following scheme: The Measured category is defined by blocks interpolated during Pass 1 only, using a minimum of 4 drill holes, a kriging variance of less than 0.4 and an average distance of less than 18 m to the gold composites; The Indicated category is defined by blocks interpolated during Pass 1 only, using a minimum of 3 drill holes; The Inferred category is defined by blocks interpolated during Pass 1 and 2 only, using a minimum of 2 drill holes and an average distance less than 100 meters to gold composites. An offset of 0.2 meters surrounds the underground workings. Any mineralization that occurs within this buffer is not included in the MRE. Estimates use metric units (metres, tonnes and g/t). Metal contents are presented in troy ounces (metric tonne x grade / 31.10348) Neither the company, nor GRE, is aware of any known environmental, permitting, legal, title-related, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other relevant issue that could materially effect this mineral resource. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred mineral Resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to redefine the Inferred mineral Resources as Indicated mineral Resources. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to the indicated mineral Resources category. The Company does not consider the growth and conversion of Resources to be sufficiently material to warrant the issuance of a new technical report for this MRE update. However, the Company does plan to file a new technical report in conjunction with the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), expected in Q4 2023. 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 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. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Skeena Resources Limited, Walter Coles 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 Terre Lane, (MMSA QP), Principal Mining Engineer for Global Resource Engineering Ltd., is an independent Qualified Person as defined by 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. Ms. Lane is responsible for the 2023 Mineral Resource Estimate for the Eskay Creek Deposit. In accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, Paul Geddes, P.Geo. Senior Vice President Exploration and Resource Development, is the Qualified Person for the Company and has 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 press 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, 2022, its most recently filed interim MD&A, and the Company's Annual Information Form ("AIF") dated March 22, 2023. 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, 2022, its most recently filed interim MD&A, the AIF dated March 22, 2023, the Company's short form base shelf prospectus dated January 31, 2023, 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. Cautionary note to U.S. Investors concerning estimates of mineral Reserves and mineral Resources Skeena's mineral Reserves and mineral Resources included or incorporated by reference herein have been estimated in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") as required by Canadian securities regulatory authorities, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. The terms "mineral reserve", "proven mineral reserve", "probable mineral reserve", "mineral resource", "measured mineral resource", "indicated mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource" are Canadian mining terms as defined in accordance with NI 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") "CIM Definition Standards - For Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves" adopted by the CIM Council (as amended, the "CIM Definition Standards"). These standards differ significantly from the mineral property disclosure requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Regulation S-K Subpart 1300 (the "SEC Modernization Rules"). Skeena is not currently subject to the SEC Modernization Rules. Accordingly, Skeena's disclosure of mineralization and other technical information may differ significantly from the information that would be disclosed had Skeena prepared the information under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules. In addition, investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of Skeena's mineral Resources constitute or will be converted into Reserves. These terms have a great amount of uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. Accordingly, investors are cautioned not to assume that any "measured", "indicated", or "inferred" mineral Resources that Skeena reports are or will be economically or legally mineable. Further, "inferred mineral Resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an "inferred mineral resource" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of "inferred mineral Resources" may not form the basis of feasibility or prefeasibility studies, except in rare cases where permitted under NI 43-101. For these reasons, the mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates and related information presented herein may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements under the U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. 1 All references to AuEq in this disclosure for the 2023 MRE have factored metallurgical recoveries as per the calculation: AuEq = ((Au (g/t)*1700*0.84) + (Ag (g/t)*23*0.88)) / (1700*0.84). US$1,700/oz Au, US$23/oz Ag, 84% gold recovery and 88% silver recovery. Detailed notes regarding the 2023 estimation are presented at the end of this release. 2 All references to AuEq in this disclosure for the 2022 MRE have not factored in metallurgical recoveries: AuEq = Au(g/t) + [Ag (g/t)/74]. US$1,700/oz Au, US$23/oz Ag. SOURCE: Skeena Resources Limited View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762151/Skeena-Increases-Eskay-Creek-Resource-to-59-Moz-AuEq-in-Measured-and-Indicated-Categories TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Global Public Affairs (Global), one of Canada's largest public affairs and communications firms, and White Tuque , a leading cybersecurity start-up, have announced a strategic partnership aimed at offering clients a full suite of protective, resolution and crisis communications services from the always present and evolving cyber threats. The agreement between Global and White Tuque brings together their respective expertise and resources to address the growing need for robust cybersecurity solutions. By combining forces, the firms will support and guide clients on how to defend against, respond to, and recover from cyberattacks. Strengthening overall business resilience while reducing financial, operational, legal, and reputational risk. They aim to deliver a full suite of tailored services to a broad range of clients, with a particular focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Canadian municipalities, and government agencies. Global's extensive experience in public affairs and crisis communications along with its strong presence in the Canadian market from coast-to-coast make it an ideal partner for White Tuque. With a commitment to safeguarding clients' interests, Global has a deep understanding of the regulatory and policy landscape, as well as vast crisis communications experience and capabilities. "The partnership between Global Public Affairs and White Tuque is a significant step towards meeting the increasing demand for comprehensive cybersecurity services," said Randy Pettipas, CEO of Global Public Affairs. "By combining our crisis communications expertise, we will be able to provide clients with a full suite of tailored solutions that address the unique challenges they face in today's rapidly evolving cyber landscape." White Tuque's team are battle-tested, crisis-proven experts in cyber defence. Their specialists have decades of combined experience in all aspects of cybersecurity - from policy planning and risk identification through solution implementation and management. "The threat of a cyberattack on Canadian SMEs is real. Worldwide, 43% of cyberattacks are aimed at small businesses, but only 14% of these businesses are prepared to defend themselves. What's worse, 66% of global SMEs report experiencing a cyberattack in the past 12 months," said Robert D. Stewart, CEO of White Tuque. "By bringing together Global's expertise in public affairs and our industry-tested cybersecurity professionals, we will deliver comprehensive solutions that address the unique cybersecurity challenges faced by organizations today." Leveraging its participation in Toronto Metropolitan University's DMZ via DMZ Innisfil, White Tuque continues to expand its operations, establishing offices in Ontario and Chicago. This expansion allows White Tuque to offer its specialized cybersecurity services to a broader clientele, helping organizations enhance their cyber defences and protect sensitive data. "DMZ has had the honour of supporting White Tuque as they expand and elevate their business from the town of Innisfil to a thriving operation spanning North America," said Andrea Richardson, Director of Strategic Partnerships at DMZ. "A proud moment for DMZ, their partnership with Global Public Affairs is a testament to White Tuque's global mindset and steadfast dedication to empowering organizations to mitigate their cyber risk and defend themselves from cyberattacks." According to a 2022 McKinsey report, at the current rate of growth, damages from cyberattacks will amount to about $10.5 trillion annually by 2025-a 300 percent increase from 2015 levels. These alarming statistics highlight the urgent need for organizations of all sizes to invest in robust cybersecurity measures, but even more urgent for SME's where the vast majority see cybersecurity incidents that can cost more than half-a-million dollars. Through a holistic approach, Global and White Tuque will assist clients in identifying potential vulnerabilities, implementing proactive measures, and develop robust incident response plans. Their shared goal is to empower organizations to effectively mitigate cyber risks and respond swiftly and confidently in the event of a cyber incident. For more information, please contact: Global Public Affairs: Rick Roth Vice President, rroth@globalpublic.com White Tuque: Robert D. Stewart CEO rob@whitetuque.com About Global Public Affairs Global Public Affairs is Canada's leading privately held strategic communications and government advocacy consultancy. With offices across Canada, we represent the largest corporate sector organizations in the country, touching on all facets of the national economy. We are a team of experienced consultants who work seamlessly across jurisdictions, guiding organizations through complex public policy challenges. We draw on our expertise as senior leaders in government, media, private and non-profit sectors to provide first-hand knowledge of Canada's unique public policy and administrative framework. We build a tailored approach for each client - strategies that are mindful of the end goal and balance the particular commercial objectives and culture of our clients and their organizations. About White Tuque White Tuque's mission is to give companies a trusted partner and a framework of best practices for cyber defence. We are a boutique team with expertise in cyber risk, cyber protection and intelligence. Partnership with White Tuque gives all companies access to a battle-tested and crisis-proven team of Canada's leading cyber-security experts. We make this level of protection affordable by condensing simple and repeatable tactics into a digestible and scalable format for all organizations. These tactics are the backbone of what protects businesses of all sizes, including Fortune 500 companies and financial institutions. At White Tuque our mandate is to make these available to organizations of all sizes. SOURCE: White Tuque View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762254/Global-Public-Affairs-and-White-Tuque-Join-Forces-To-Strengthen-Cybersecurity-Offering Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Psyched Wellness Ltd. (CSE: PSYC) (OTCQB: PSYCF) (FSE: 5U9) (the "Company" or "Psyched Wellness"), a life sciences company focused on the production and distribution of health and wellness products derived from the Amanita Muscaria mushroom announces today that Amanda Galbraith has resigned as a director of the Company effective June 19, 2023. The Company would like to thank Amanda for her services as a director of the Company and wishes her all the best in her future endeavors. The Company is pleased to announce that Harrison Aaron has been appointed as director effective June 19, 2023. Harrison Aaron Mr. Aaron is a Principal at Santa Monica based investment firm Gotham Green Partners, LLC ("Gotham Green") having joined the firm in early 2019. During his time at Gotham Green, in addition to helping lead the firm's broader investment efforts, he co-founded cannabis e-commerce retail and delivery business Amuse.com (currently serving Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and Sacramento), as well as co-founding Sandland Sleep (SandlandSleep.com), nationwide seller of highly-effective natural sleep aids, and is currently serving on the boards of both companies, as well as serving on the boards of VIOLA Brands and Engin Sciences. Prior to his time at Gotham Green, from 2013 to 2019, he covered the consumer sector as a senior analyst on the investment team at NYC-based JANA Partners, a multi-billion-dollar hedge fund investing in companies undergoing, or with the potential to undergo, value-unlocking changes. Mr. Aaron began his career on Goldman Sachs' Hedge Fund Strategies and Cross Asset Sales teams from 2009-2013, after graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Colgate University, with high honors in Mathematical Economics. For further information, please contact: Jeffrey Stevens Chief Executive Officer Psyched Wellness Ltd. Tel: 647-400-8494 Email: jstevens@psyched-wellness.com Website: http://www.psyched-wellness.com About Psyched Wellness: Psyched Wellness is a Canadian-based health supplements company dedicated to the distribution of mushroom-derived products and associated consumer packaged goods. The Company's objective is to create premium mushroom-derived products that have the potential to become a leading North American brand in the emerging functional food category. The Company is in the process of developing a line of Amanita muscaria-derived water-based extracts, teas and capsules designed to help with three health objectives: promote stress relief, relaxation and assist with restful sleeping. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170624 PERTH, Australia, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Andrew and Nicola Forrest have given nearly A$5 billion more to their philanthropic foundation Minderoo, through a donation of 220 million Fortescue shares - one fifth of their shareholding. This brings the Foundation's endowment to about A$7.6 billion and enables the substantial investment to be deployed for greater public benefit. It continues the Forrests' pledge to donate their material wealth - creating lasting change and the greatest possible good. Minderoo Foundation will continue to grow its philanthropic work and be sustained for many decades to come, to help meet the huge challenges which society and humanity face. Minderoo's soon to be announced 2030 Strategy will enable the Foundation to deepen its focus and make a greater impact in the face of looming global challenges such as climate change and economic disruption. 'As our world faces enormous challenges, we have elected to continue to use our material wealth to help humanity and the environment meet these existential risks," Dr Andrew Forrest AO said. "Accumulating wealth should only be a small part of a person. Their contribution to their family and society is way more important. Other skills such as carpentry, farming, the arts, working in construction, or for government are equally as important. If you happen to be good at accumulating wealth, then I believe in using that skill for the greater good. "This is why we will continue to donate our wealth to causes where we can make a sustainable difference." Nicola Forrest AO said the latest donation will directly result in real change for Minderoo's beneficiaries. "These are tough times for many Australians, and of course for many people right around the world. I believe we all need to do what we can with what we have, so I am pleased that the transfer of these shares will escalate our efforts to help those who need it most," Mrs Forrest said. "From the outset and over the past 22 years, we have remained focused on supporting families to ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential - as children are our future. "This donation is a further expression of our unwavering passion to help and in conjunction with our new strategy, will see Minderoo provide more significant support in a focused manner, empower our partners to deliver change and ignite collective and purposeful action including for vulnerable communities, our oceans and gender equality." In 2013, the Forrests' were the first Australians to sign the Giving Pledge, committing to give away the vast majority of their wealth in their lifetimes. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/andrew-and-nicola-forrest-donate-one-fifth-of-fortescue-shareholding-to-philanthropy-301855275.html FRANKFURT, Germany, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HiPhi, the best-selling premium EV brand in China, today announces European pricing for its groundbreaking X and Z models, signifying another major step forward in its global expansion plan. The HiPhi X and the HiPhi Z are now available to order in Germany and Norway and the first vehicles are already registered for road use, following inspection by TUV SUD. Customers will soon be able to experience the dual flagship models at Europe's first HiPhi Hub showroom, located at Munich Airport. Product information is available at the new global HiPhi website (www.hiphi.com). Further European markets will be announced later in the year. The HiPhi X is an all-electric luxury super SUV which features a number of world and industry firsts, blending cutting-edge technology with luxury and advanced design, including no-touch automatic wing-opening doors. Its powertrain combines 220kW dual motors at the front and rear, allowing for 0-62mph (100km/h) in 3.9 seconds, while a 97kWh battery pack provides a potential range of 460km under Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) conditions. Four and six-seat configurations will be offered. Prices in Germany and Norway are: Germany HiPhi X six-seater 109,000 HiPhi X four-seater 123,000 Norway HiPhi X six-seater 1,164,000 Kr HiPhi X four-seater 1,326,000 Kr The HiPhi Z is a groundbreaking all-electric luxury GT which first begun production in China during 2022. It delivers a maximum output of 494kW via dual electric motors, to provide acceleration from 0-62mph (100km/h) in 3.8 seconds. The 120kWh battery offers a potential 555km range under WLTP conditions. The model showcases a host of innovations, including the world-first HiPhi Bot, a robotic, multi-axis arm infotainment system with four degrees of freedom and eight-direction high-speed motion that can rotate between portrait and landscape modes. Germany HiPhi Z five-seater 105,000 HiPhi Z four-seater 107,000 Norway HiPhi Z five-seater 1,110,000 Kr HiPhi Z four-seater 1,143,000 Kr The first customers will receive their cars within the third quarter of 2023. HiPhi CTO and co-founder Mark Stanton said: "The HiPhi X established itself as the best-selling luxury EV in China, and the HiPhi Z has also been extremely well received. Now comes the opportunity for European customers to find out why the cars have made such an impact. Their unique combination of luxury and advanced technologies brings buyers in Germany and Norway an entirely new driving experience. And this two-market start forms a perfect launchpad for us." The HiPhi X and the HiPhi Z will be followed by the HiPhi Y, which was recently revealed at the Shanghai Auto Show, with first customer orders taken in 2023. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105418/HiPhi_X.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105417/HiPhi_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/hiphi-reveals-european-pricing-for-hiphi-x-and-hiphi-z-with-first-hiphi-hub-to-open-at-munich-airport-soon-301854463.html North Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Lion One Metals Limited (TSXV: LIO) (OTCQX: LOMLF) (ASX: LLO) ("Lion One" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed a CSAMT (Controlled Source Audio-frequency Magnetotellurics) survey at its 100% owned Tuvatu Alkaline Gold Project in Fiji. Highlights: 14 new CSAMT survey lines were completed, including 7 across the main Tuvatu deposit area. 3 lines from the 2019 CSAMT survey were extended. Station density has doubled from 100 m in the 2019 survey to 50 m in the 2022-23 survey. Line spacing has halved from an average of 560 m in 2019 to an average of 300 m in 2023. A total of approximately 33 line-kms were surveyed (11 km in 2022 and 22 km in 2023). CSAMT processing and interpretation is expected to be complete in July; increased resolution of the CSAMT data will be used to generate high quality drill targets across the Navilawa caldera. Lion One Chairman and CEO Walter Berukoff commented: "We're thrilled to have completed our CSAMT survey and we eagerly await the results of the survey, which we hope to have available later in July. The 2019 survey was invaluable in helping us to discover the feeder zone underlying Tuvatu and led us directly to the 500 Zone, where we intersected 75.9 m of 20.86 g/t Au.1 The 2022-2023 survey will complement the 2019 survey and will dramatically improve survey resolution across the property, where we have already identified numerous exciting and untested prospects. The CSAMT data will help us to identify and refine drill targets underlying those prospects and we look forward to drill testing select targets later in 2023." Figure 1. Location of 2022-2023 CSAMT Survey Lines. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2178/170646_a5b62d02c4482a0c_001full.jpg CSAMT Overview CSAMT is a ground geophysical method used for obtaining information about subsurface resistivity in a survey area. It measures the electrical resistivity of rocks down to depths of approximately 1.2 to 1.5 km, which is much deeper than alternative resistivity techniques. The survey identifies areas of bedrock with contrasting electrical properties, often due to variations in lithology, porosity, or alteration. Abrupt changes in resistivity occur when two rock types with differing resistivity characteristics are juxtaposed against one another, or when an area is highly fractured and allows groundwater to penetrate resistive rocks thereby producing an area of lower resistivity. CSAMT surveys are highly beneficial in identifying subsurface structures, such as lithological contact zones, faults, and fracture systems, especially if these are deep-rooted structures. In alkaline gold deposits such as Tuvatu, it is these deep-rooted structures that provide the conduits for fluid flow to rise up in the earth's crust and in which gold is deposited. When interpreting CSAMT data, the main focus is on steep resistivity gradients that may indicate the presence of such structures. CSAMT surveys are the pre-eminent geophysical tool in identifying mineralized structures and drill targets in alkaline gold deposits. 2022-2023 Survey Lion One's 2022-2023 CSAMT survey was designed to complement the 2019 survey by adding infill and extension lines to the previous survey area. The 2019 survey was moderate to widely spaced, with line spacing ranging from 300 m to 800 m, and station spacing every 100 m. Line and station spacing has improved significantly across the Navilawa Caldera following the 2022-2023 CSAMT survey, with line spacing ranging from 100 m to 400 m, and station spacing only 50 m apart on all new lines (Figure 1). The increased line and station density will provide greater resolution across the property and will assist in refining and generating new drill targets in the caldera. The 2022-2023 CSAMT survey was conducted by Zonge Engineering and Research Organization of Adelaide, Australia. The 2022 portion of the survey was completed on October 8th, 2022 and the 2023 portion was completed on June 10th, 2023. A total of 33 line-km were surveyed, with 11 km completed in 2022 and 22 km completed in 2023. In addition to the 22.5 line-km surveyed in 2019, Lion One has now surveyed a total of 55.5 line-km of CSAMT across the Navilawa Caldera. Notably, the 2022-2023 survey included 5 survey lines oriented north-south across the main Tuvatu deposit, providing a high-density grid of coverage across the Tuvatu area. This will provide high-quality resistivity data for the Tuvatu deposit and all near-mine exploration targets, such as the West Zone. Lion One has also identified numerous regional prospects throughout the Navilawa Caldera, with multiple surface samples returning grades of over 100 g/t Au (Figure 2). One of the goals of the 2022-2023 CSAMT survey was to improve coverage and understanding of the structural architecture underlying these prospects, some of which are located on the edge of the 2019 survey lines where results can be less reliable. The 2022-2023 infill and extension lines will dramatically improve survey resolution and reliability in these areas and will help refine drill targets underlying those prospects. The 2022-2023 CSAMT survey was originally planned for 2021 but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022-2023 survey was completed under budget. Figure 2. Select Regional Prospects. Select regional prospects covered by the CSAMT survey area. The goal of the CSAMT survey is to define high resolution structures underlying these prospects and to thereby identify high priority drill targets. All grades shown are peak results from surface samples, either rock chips or channel samples. Refer to the November 15th, 2022 news release and the April 22nd, 2022 technical report for full contextualization of data. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2178/170646_a5b62d02c4482a0c_002full.jpg Figure 3. Example 2019 CSAMT Interpretation, West Zone. The 2019 CSAMT survey identified several resistivity gradients in the area of the West Zone which may indicate a potential new feeder zone. The 2022-2023 CSAMT infill and extension lines in this area will increase resolution and help to refine drill targets in the West Zone. Warm colors indicate areas of high resistivity, cool colors indicate areas of low resistivity. Inset map shows the location of this interpretation section in relation to the Navilawa caldera, with the D-D' line highlighted in yellow and the main Tuvatu deposit indicated by the star. The 2019 survey, including this figure, is the subject of a news release dated February 5, 2020 . To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2178/170646_a5b62d02c4482a0c_003full.jpg About Tuvatu The Tuvatu Alkaline Gold Project is located on the island of Viti Levu in Fiji. The January 2018 mineral resource for Tuvatu as disclosed in the technical report "Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Tuvatu Gold Project, Republic of Fiji", dated September 25, 2020, and prepared by Mining Associates Pty Ltd of Brisbane Qld, comprises 1,007,000 tonnes indicated at 8.50 g/t Au (274,600 oz. Au) and 1,325,000 tonnes inferred at 9.0 g/t Au (384,000 oz. Au) at a cut-off grade of 3.0 g/t Au. The technical report is available on the Lion One website at www.liononemetals.com and on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. Qualified Person In accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43- 101"), Sergio Cattalani, P.Geo, Senior Vice President Exploration, is the Qualified Person for the Company and has reviewed and is responsible for the technical and scientific content of this news release. About Lion One Metals Limited Lion One's flagship asset is 100% owned, fully permitted high grade Tuvatu Alkaline Gold Project, located on the island of Viti Levu in Fiji. Lion One envisions a low-cost high-grade underground gold mining operation at Tuvatu coupled with exciting exploration upside inside its tenements covering the entire Navilawa Caldera, an underexplored yet highly prospective 7km diameter alkaline gold system. Lion One's CEO Walter Berukoff leads an experienced team of explorers and mine builders and has owned or operated over 20 mines in 7 countries. As the founder and former CEO of Miramar Mines, Northern Orion, and La Mancha Resources, Walter is credited with building over $3 billion of value for shareholders. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Lion One Metals Limited "Walter Berukoff", Chairman and CEO Contact Investor Relations Toll Free (North America) Tel: 1-855-805-1250 Email: info@liononemetals.com Website: www.liononemetals.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release This press release may contain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "proposed", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. This forward-looking information reflects Lion One Metals Limited's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Lion One Metals Limited and on assumptions Lion One Metals Limited believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to, the actual results of exploration projects being equivalent to or better than estimated results in technical reports, assessment reports, and other geological reports or prior exploration results. 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 Lion One Metals Limited or its subsidiaries to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the stage development of Lion One Metals Limited, general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the actual results of current research and development or operational activities; competition; uncertainty as to patent applications and intellectual property rights; product liability and lack of insurance; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation, affecting mining, timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; not realizing on the potential benefits of technology; conclusions of economic evaluations; and lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals. Although Lion One Metals Limited 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. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Lion One Metals Limited does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. 1Refer Company news release dated 6 June 2022. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170646 Peru is a country with outstanding natural landscapes, incredible history, incomparable gastronomy, and a rich cultural mix. All these elements make it an essential tourist destination. Today, it has an offering that goes even further, since it has also become an ideal destination for hosting large international events and meetings. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619112997/en/ Peru combines modernity and first-class infrastructure with a rich history, to give you an unforgettable experience (Photo: Business Wire) According to PROMPERU, Peru's economic growth, modernity, and first-class infrastructure, complementing all the elements that have always marked out the country and that make it unique, now ensure memorable meetings and business trips. The attention to detail offered by Peru takes center stage and is a fundamental element of the enriching experience it provides. In addition, it highlights its special geographical location, facilitating connections to all the key destinations in America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. In recent years, the country's strategy of developing the MICE segment or business tourism within the tourism sector has encouraged investment in hotels in the country's main cities, especially by international chains. Thus, Lima (the country's capital), Arequipa, Cusco, and Paracas (beach resort) are ideal cities that are fully equipped to host congresses, meetings, and incentive trips. In this context, the Spanish Confederation of Travel Agencies (CEAV) has chosen the imperial city of Cusco as the location for its next board of directors meeting. This will take place on Tuesday, June 20, as part of a trip from June 15 to 21 to be carried out by 15 members of the CEAV board and two representatives of Iberia, thanks to an invitation from Peru's Commission for Promotion of Export and Tourism (PROMPERU). The visitors will meet with Peruvian business leaders with the aim of strengthening relations and business between both countries. Activities will include a tour of cultural attractions in Lima and Cusco, and showcasing of the robust offer in the MICE segment. Other upcoming global meetings to be held in Peru include the 8th World Forum on Energy Regulation (WFER), the 12th Congress on Business in the Digital Age (NED 2023), the 15th International Gold, Silver Copper Symposium, and the MinPro trade fair. For more information, see: https://meetings.peru.travel/en The original source-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the source-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619112997/en/ Contacts: eyanez@promperuext.pe NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / McDonald's Corporation Advocating for LGBTQ+ Rights For years, McDonald's PRIDE Network has been instrumental in advocating for LGBTQ+ rights inside and outside of the workplace. McDonald's first expanded its benefits to include domestic partners in 2005. In 2015, days before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled all same-sex couples in the U.S. have the right to marry, McDonald's decided to provide tax equalization for same-sex couples who participated in McDonald's insurance. Still, the PRIDE Network realized there was more that could be done. McDonald's current LGBTQ-focused health care benefits are far-reaching, due in no small part to the efforts of those in the network. These include a $100,000 lifetime limit toward gender reassignment surgery; prescription coverage for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention and a variety of gender reassignment medications; adoption leave for the primary adoptive parent, regardless of gender; and fertility treatment benefits. Recently, several McDonald's employees have taken advantage of these benefits to affirm their gender, protect their physical health and grow their families. McDonald's PRIDE Network's Positive Impact The positive impact of McDonald's PRIDE Network extends far beyond employee health and wellness benefits, according to longtime member Bill Russell. Bill joined the McDonald's PRIDE Network as an ally in 2017. Soon, he became a reliable presence at all sorts of PRIDE Network events, including that year's AIDS Run & Walk Chicago. By 2020, Bill had taken on the role of Project Manager and Strategy Chair for the network. He's managed McDonald's presence in the Chicago Pride Parade, run webcasts and much more. As an ally to the LGBTQ+ community, his membership in the PRIDE Network has been rewarding, revealing and a "no brainer." "The people in the network have taught me so much, including the importance of being resilient and accepting things I don't understand," Bill says. Because of what he's learned, he's also become a trusted resource to others at McDonald's. "I have a colleague who has a trans son," Bill says. "When he found out I was a member of the PRIDE Network, he felt comfortable coming to me and sharing more about his family." Overall, McDonald's PRIDE Network "pulls the best from everybody," he adds. "It's humbling and empowering to learn from the people in the network every day." View original content here View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from McDonald's Corporation on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: McDonald's Corporation Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/mcdonalds-corporation Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: McDonald's Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762264/McDonalds-PRIDE-Network-Is-a-Force-for-Good-Year-Round Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Silver Dollar Resources Inc. (CSE: SLV) (OTCQX: SLVDF) (FSE: 4YW) ("Silver Dollar" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has entered into a formal surface rights agreement with the local Ejido Pena, who collectively own the land covering the area of the high-grade Nora silver-gold property (the "Property") in the state of Durango, Mexico. The agreement allows for surface exploration and drilling on the Property. Figure 1: Location of Nora property and other mines and deposits in the region. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://silverdollarresources.com/images/Nora/MX-Map-Nora-LR.jpg "Engaging local stakeholders is always our priority, and we look forward to working with the Pena community to advance the Nora project responsibly and respectfully," said Michael Romanik, president of Silver Dollar. "Our team has visited the Property on four occasions since acquiring it in late April, and we have commenced the drill permitting process now that the surface rights agreement is in place." Silver Dollar can acquire a 100% interest in the Nora property under the option agreement with Canasil Resources Inc. Located in the Eastern Sierra Madre sub-province in the transition to the high plateau of Mexico, the Property lies centrally within the "Silver Trend" that runs from the northwest to the southeast through Durango State. Significant deposits in the region include Endeavour Silver's Guanacevi mine and Fresnillo's San Julian mine on-trend to the northwest, with Endeavour Silver's Pitarrilla Project approximately 50 kilometres (km) to the east. Pitarrilla is one of the largest undeveloped silver deposits in the world and was discovered by Perry Durning and Frank (Bud) Hillemeyer, Silver Dollar's technical advisors. Figure 2: Nora property looking north at the main outcrop of the Candy vein structure. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://silverdollarresources.com/images/Nora/Nora-Tour_052023.jpg The geological setting is a Tertiary-aged volcanic flow-dome complex. Gold-silver mineralization is hosted within two structurally-controlled epithermal veins, Candy and Nora. Drilling by Canasil in 2020 and 2021 was the first on the Property, with 3,296 metres drilled over 13 holes to test the Candy vein structure. All 13 drill holes cut the mineralized vein structure, returning wider high-grade gold and silver intercepts within the central 200-metre zone tested. Only 500 m of the potential 3-km strike of the Candy vein structure has been drill tested, and only to a depth of 250 m below surface. The consistently high gold and silver grades and relatively low base metal values, confirm the upper levels of a robust gold-silver mineralized system within the Candy structure, which is open for significant expansion along strike and to depth where grade and thickness appear to be increasing. See Silver Dollar's news release of May 24, 2023, for selected highlights of drill results and additional information on the exploration targets on the Property. Mike Kilbourne, P.Geo., an independent Qualified Person (QP) as defined in NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release on behalf of the Company. The QP and the Company have not completed sufficient work to verify the information on the Nora Property, particularly regarding historical exploration, neighbouring companies, and government geological work. About Silver Dollar Resources Inc. Silver Dollar is a mineral exploration company that completed its initial public offering in May 2020 and is fully funded for its 2023 exploration plans with approximately $5 million in the treasury. The Company's primary projects lie within the prolific Durango-Zacatecas silver-gold belt and include the advanced exploration stage La Joya Silver Property and the recently discovered Nora Silver-Gold Property, both located in the state of Durango, Mexico. The Company has an aggressive growth strategy and is actively reviewing potential acquisitions with a focus on drill-ready projects in mining-friendly jurisdictions. For additional information, you can download our latest presentation by clicking here and you can follow us on Twitter by clicking here. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Signed "Michael Romanik" Michael Romanik, President, CEO & Director Silver Dollar Resources Inc. Direct line: (204) 724-0613 Email: mike@silverdollarresources.com 179 - 2945 Jacklin Road, Suite 416 Victoria, BC, V9B 6J9 Forward-Looking Statements: This news release may contain "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this news release 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. The Canadian Securities Exchange (operated by CNSX Markets Inc.) has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170557 Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. BETHESDA (dpa-AFX) - Marriott International Inc. (MAR) announced Tuesday its plans to hire more than 1,500 refugees throughout its European region by 2026. The company said it has already hired over 970 refugees across dozens of its hotels in the European region. The latest announcement follows the company's plans to hire over 1,500 refugees by 2025 in the United States. Marriott President and CEO Anthony Capuano made the announcement during the Tent Partnership for Refugees European Business Summit this week. Marriott said it continues its longstanding efforts with the International Rescue Committee or IRC, to train and hire refugees. Capuano said, 'At Marriott International, we believe in being a force for good and making a positive and sustainable impact in the communities where we do business. Across Europe, this has included support for refugees from Ukraine since the start of the war. ... Marriott's goal to hire an additional 1,500 refugees in Europe builds on the work we're doing to promote opportunities for refugees in the U.S.' Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Eastern Platinum Limited (TSX: ELR) (JSE: EPS) ("Eastplats" or the "Company") announces that, further to its news releases dated April 24, 2023 and May 12, 2023, it has formed a special committee (the "Committee") consisting of two independent directors, George Graham Dorin and Xin (Alex) Guan. The Committee has commenced, together with independent special counsel retained by the Committee, an investigation and review of certain unproven whistleblower allegations, including allegations of undisclosed related party transactions pertaining to the sale of chrome concentrate at discounted prices. The Committee's investigation is well underway with information and documents obtained from management and interviews conducted with the CEO and CFO, respectively. Further, the Committee is engaging an e-discovery specialist to conduct a document discovery of the Company's servers to ensure that the Committee may review all relevant documents. Once this process is in place, the Committee will assess next steps. About Eastern Platinum Limited Eastplats owns directly and indirectly a number of PGM and chrome assets in the Republic of South Africa. All of the Company's properties are situated on the western limb (Crocodile River Mine) and eastern limb (Kennedy's Vale, Spitzkop Mareesburg) of the Bushveld Complex, the geological environment that hosts approximately 80% of the world's PGM-bearing ore. Operations at the Crocodile River Mine currently include re-mining and processing its tailings resource to produce PGM and chrome concentrates from the Barplats Zandfontein tailings dam. For further information, please contact: EASTERN PLATINUM LIMITED Wylie Hui, Chief Financial Officer & Corporate Secretary whui@eastplats.com (email) (604) 800-8200 (phone) Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This press release contains "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the investigation of the Committee and the engagement of an expert to conduct a document discovery. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "will," "plan," "intends," "may," "could," "expects," "anticipates" and similar expressions. Further disclosure of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and other forward-looking statements are discussed in the Company's Annual Information Form and Management's Discussion and Analysis which are available under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com. All forward-looking statements in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, the "Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information" section contained in the Company's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis available under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date they are given and, except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation, and does not undertake, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR THROUGH U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170657 OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - US and Canadian search and rescue teams are racing against time to find a tourist submarine expedition that went missing during a dive to the deep sea to explore the Titanic shipwreck. Five people on board OceanGate's submersible include its chief executive Stockton Rush, veteran French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet, Dubai-based British explorer and businessman Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, reports say. The expedition started from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada, on Sunday, and contact with the small underwater vessel was lost about an hour and 45 minutes into the sea. The crew members have only three days-worth of oxygen left at the most, according to the US Coast Guard. 'The vehicles designed for navy submarine rescue certainly can't get down to anywhere near the depth of the Titanic,' BBC quoted submarine expert Prof Alistair Greig from University College London as saying. The tour operator said in a statement that its entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families. 'We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible'. The remains of the Titanic, which sank in 1912, are located at the bottom of the Atlantic about 600 kilometers off the coast of Newfoundland. OceanGate charges $250,000 per seat to take tourists on board the submarine capable of diving 4000 metres down the ocean. In an Instagram post ahead of the expedition, Hamish Harding wrote, 'I am proud to finally announce that I joined @oceangateexped for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic'. He added, 'Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. We started steaming from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do'. Some of the passengers on the deep sea missoin, such as Stockton Rush and Nargeolet, have the experience of making more than 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Mega-Chance Cyber Security Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. Hier klicken LONDON and SHANGHAI, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kigen, a global leader in eSIM (eUICC) technology, and Tongxin Microelectronics Co., Ltd. (TMC), an industry-leading semiconductor solution provider, today announced a GSMA-certified consumer eSIM solution for affordable customer premise equipment (CPE) solutions. CPE devices bridge the "last mile" in delivering 5G networks for businesses or households that lack connectivity or networks in motion. This solution allows OEMs to support the demand for greater diversity in 4G/5G CPE devices addressing the next billion connections. Operator demand for 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is driving the need for a multitude of CPE form factors. This includes indoor, rooftop, wall-mounted, or portable and battery-operated CPE devices. 5G FWA has arrived in populous countries such as India, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, and South Africa. "Global 5G FWA CPE cumulative revenues are expected to reach over $100 billion between 2020-2030," said Neil Shah, VP of Research at Counterpoint Technology and Research, "Bringing down the total cost of 5G FWA CPE is integral to 5G broadband adoption, scale and return on investment for all stakeholders in this price sensitive segment." The joint solution is based on Kigen's Consumer eSIM OS, the world's most compact size eSIM OS, on TMC's THD89 series eSIM chipset, available as a smaller WLCSP package and using Kigen Remote SIM provisioning platform for IoT devices. This combines Kigen's highly efficient eSIM proposition and TMC's robust security IC expertise for: Easy installation: Simple field setup workflow to onboard new devices with profile download via an accompanying app. Simple field setup workflow to onboard new devices with profile download via an accompanying app. CPE management: Better IT or admin experience through digital profile downloads for activation or switching profiles. Better IT or admin experience through digital profile downloads for activation or switching profiles. Driving innovation: OEMs can focus on value-added services through streamlined fleet management. This joint solution is sampling with customers addressing Retail Point of Sale (POS), smart metering, and logistics eSIM applications with CPE devices. "CPE devices are a catalyst for much larger, global deployments of the 5G roll-out and an absolutely critical requirement to ensure a great return on the 5G investment," said Vincent Korstanje, CEO of Kigen. "Kigen's focus on energy efficient security OS for IoT now extends to the consumer market and brings time-to-market advantage in combination with TMC's chip expertise to scale fast." "We are excited to partner with Kigen to deliver an eSIM solution to our customers," said John Zou, Vice GM of TMC. "The eSIM solution will enable device makers to provide their customers with global connectivity without the need for changing physical SIM cards. This will make it easier for device makers to sell products in multiple countries." This CPE solution is available now, and interested OEMs can see it during MWC Shanghai 2023 during 28-30 June 2023. For more information, please visit https://kigen.com/esim/ or https://www.tsinghuaic.com/ About Kigen At Kigen, we are integrating security to better lives with eSIM (eUICC) and iSIM technology across all connected products and data. Our industry-leading SIM OS products enable over 2 billion SIMs. Our GSMA-certified remote SIM provisioning and eSIM services drive this momentum, further recognizing us as one of the global eSIM enablement leaders. As an Arm-founded company, we bring an ecosystem approach to driving innovation and collaboration. For more information, visit kigen.com or speak to us on LinkedIn about futureofSIM. About TMC TONGXIN MICRO, TSINGTENG MICRO, CHIPOWER TECH, ICIN TECHNOLOGY are the principal enterprises of automotive electronics and smart chips in the Tsinghua Group, whose business area covers smart cards, consumer electronics, automotive electronics, MCU, memory, and devices. We have accumulated industry-leading chip R&D technology and wafer testing capabilities, won the First Prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award, CC EAL6+, GSMA SAS-UP, AEC-Q100 Grade1, ISO 26262 ASIL-D, and other awards and certifications. We have nearly 300 authorized patents and have developed into an industry-leading semiconductor solution provider. Contacts Bee Hayes-Thakore Erin McMohan Kigen Publitek press@kigen.com kigen@publitek.com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/kigen-and-tmc-collaborate-to-drive-esim-innovation-in-customer-premise-equipment-cpe-solutions-301853421.html New capabilities address the growing challenge of data sprawl and how to uncover & analyze dark data BOSTON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Starburst, today, unveiled its data lake analytics platform vision by introducing a series of groundbreaking capabilities on the first day of Starburst Galaxy Launch Week - a four-day event dedicated to shipping new features in Starburst Galaxy. With today's announcements, Starburst is empowering teams to modernize their data lake strategy by providing a single point of access for teams to discover, govern, and analyze the data in and around their data lake. The sheer volume of data being produced by companies means data lakes will and should become the center of gravity for any data-driven organization. However, some level of decentralization is inevitable as organizations continue to grow. According to a recent BCG report , more than 50% of the data that some organizations store today is considered "dark data" which means it's not used to derive insights or for decision making. Starburst's fully-managed data lake analytics platform is uniquely designed to enable organizations to illuminate the dark data in and around their lake. Key pillars and new features of the platform include: Simplicity through a unified access and governance layer : With the public preview of Gravity, Starburst Galaxy now provides a centralized access and governance solution for all your connected data sources, with capabilities like Galaxy's metastore, automated data catalogs, search, attribute-based access control (ABAC), as well as the ability to create and share data products. : With the public preview of Gravity, Starburst Galaxy now provides a centralized access and governance solution for all your connected data sources, with capabilities like Galaxy's metastore, automated data catalogs, search, attribute-based access control (ABAC), as well as the ability to create and share data products. Access to the all data in and around your lake : Whereas other vendors prefer ingestion before access, with the announcement of cross-cloud querying in Starburst Galaxy, you can now explore all your data - across clouds, regions, and data sources - before moving it, so you can be intentional about the data you move into your lake or warehouse. : Whereas other vendors prefer ingestion before access, with the announcement of cross-cloud querying in Starburst Galaxy, you can now explore all your data - across clouds, regions, and data sources - before moving it, so you can be intentional about the data you move into your lake or warehouse. Optionality that works with any architecture : Starburst truly separates storage from compute by allowing you to connect your own pre-existing storage to Galaxy. For access and governance, the new Gravity layer treats any data store like a first-class entity, so your teams can choose the format and tools that are right for their workload without the burden of being locked into a central format. And the addition of Partner Connect makes it easy for you to quickly connect to the data, BI & Visualization, and ML tools you use today - directly within the platform. : Starburst truly separates storage from compute by allowing you to connect your own pre-existing storage to Galaxy. For access and governance, the new Gravity layer treats any data store like a first-class entity, so your teams can choose the format and tools that are right for their workload without the burden of being locked into a central format. And the addition of Partner Connect makes it easy for you to quickly connect to the data, BI & Visualization, and ML tools you use today - directly within the platform. Scalability for any workload: With features like cluster sizing, autoscaling, and cluster types, you can easily match your infrastructure to the needs of your workload in just a few clicks. And now, with the addition of Warp Speed in Starburst Galaxy, you get access to the fastest way to run interactive analytics on your data lake. Early customer testing indicates the patented indexing technology increases query speeds by an average of 40% against the data lake, unlocking new use cases for Starburst Galaxy including embedded analytics. Galaxy will scale not only with your growing data volume, but also as more users access your products and data apps, with the ability to to handle ad-hoc queries, and long-running batch workloads. Regarding how Starburst Galaxy is delivering value to customers, Simon Thelin, Lead Data Engineer at 7Bridges said, "Starburst Galaxy's speed and agility has been crucial to helping us scale up our operations. In our BI workloads, we've seen queries that used to take 45 minutes execute in under a minute. And, for our data science and data analyst teams that want to get their hands on the data, it's very easy to attach individual compute resources to those workloads without a bunch of manual tuning." This platform announcement also comes on the heels of new connectors between dbt Cloud , Tabular and Starburst Galaxy that allow dbt Cloud and Tabular users to easily build modern open data lake architectures and data pipelines spanning multiple data sources on one central plane. Starburst Galaxy is now generally available and can be implemented in just a few clicks. "Data teams are bogged down with complexity, often dealing with data silos within their organizations, forced to jump through multiple solutions just to understand what data they have and where it is located before they can even begin to think about its value," said Justin Borgman, Co-founder & CEO, Starburst. "We believe Starburst Galaxy can act as an architectural centerpiece for modern data lakes that combines low cost commodity infrastructure with open formats and global federated access." To learn more about Launch Week, or to start your free trial of Starburst Galaxy, please visit our website: https://www.starburst.io/launch-week . About Starburst For data-driven companies, Starburst offers a full-featured data lake analytics platform, built on open source Trino. Our platform includes the capabilities needed to discover, organize, and consume data without the need for time-consuming and costly migrations. We believe the lake should be the center of gravity, and be the starting point for querying disparate data. With Starburst, teams can access more complete data, lower the cost of infrastructure, use the tools best suited to their specific needs, and avoid vendor lock-in. Trusted by companies like Comcast, Grubhub, and Priceline, Starburst helps companies make better decisions faster on all their data. For more information, press only: Tucker Hallowell Inkhouse starburst@inkhouse.com 339-368-2290 View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/starburst-unveils-data-lake-analytics-platform-at-galaxy-launch-week-2023-301853462.html South Sudan President and ECW Executive Director call on donors to scale up funding JUBA, South Sudan and YIROL, South Sudan, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The children of South Sudan face severe risks as the result of conflict, forced displacement, poverty and climate change. To address these interconnected crises through the transformative power of education, the President of South Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit and Education Cannot Wait's (ECW) Executive Director Yasmine Sherif announced today US$40 million in catalytic grant funding to extend ECW's Multi-Year Resilience Programme in South Sudan for another three years. The total ECW funding in South Sudan now tops US$72 million. "The Government of South Sudan is fully committed to ensuring that all children are able to obtain a quality education. Education Cannot Wait's top-up investment will provide life-saving educational opportunities for tens of thousands of crisis-affected girls and boys across the country. To advance this work, we are calling on world leaders to step up funding for ECW and its in-country partners. This is a critical investment in sustainable development, peace and prosperity for the people of South Sudan and for crisis-impacted children worldwide," said President Salva Kiir Mayardit. The three-year programme will be delivered by Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Finn Church Aid, in close conjunction with the Ministry of General Education and Instruction and others partners. It will reach at least 135,000 crisis-affected children with holistic education supports that improve access to school, ensure quality learning, enhance inclusivity for girls and children with disabilities, and build resilience to future shocks. "Years of conflict and forced displacement, compounded by climate-induced disasters, have taken a heavy toll on South Sudan's next generation. Now is the time to turn the tide and provide the most vulnerable girls and boys with the protection and hope that only a quality education offers. This is the single best investment we can make for the future of this young country and the entire region," said ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif. "After years of war prevented generations of people from going to school, education in South Sudan remains an urgent priority with just 27% of the population able to read or write, and less than half of children enrolled in school," said Pornpun Jib Rabiltossaporn, Save the Children Country Director. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2104322/ECW_South_Sudan_Children.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/education-cannot-wait-announces-extended-us40-million-multi-year-education-response-in-south-sudan-total-ecw-funding-in-south-sudan-tops-us72-million-301853693.html 19 holes completed at Killick Zone - Rig 2 testing the Hydra Cesium Dyke ST. JOHN'S, NL / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Sokoman Minerals Corp. (TSXV:SIC)(OTCQB:SICNF) ("Sokoman") and Benton Resources Inc. (TSXV: BEX) ("Benton") together, (the "Alliance") are pleased to announce that approximately 3,500 m in 19 holes have been completed on the 50-50 Golden Hope Joint Venture (GHJV) targeting lithium and other associated critical metals. Drilling has focused on the Killick zone, where 2022 drilling returned up to 1.04% Li2O over 15.23 m, including 4.18 m of 1.48% Li2O, and 2.98 m of 1.23% Li2O in GH-22-27 and, 9.50 m of 1.08% Li2O in GH-22-26. Drilling continues to intersect spodumene-bearing dykes ranging from less than a metre to >20m thick. The Alliance is pleased to report that assays have been received for 11 of the 19 drill holes completed at the Killick Zone with results up to 1.22% Li2O over 13.37 m in GH-23-45 and separate intervals of 0.81% Li2O over 21.00 m and 0.99% Li2O over 10.16 m in GH-23-46. Holes 45 and 46 were drilled 30 m south along strike of holes 25 and 26 where multiple spodumene-bearing dykes were intersected (see February 16, 2023 news release). The Killick Zone remains open along strike in both directions and to depth. A summary of results received to date is presented below: Table 1 - Summary of Drill Results - Phase 4 Drilling DDH # Target From To Length (m) Li2O % GH-23-36 Killick Zone 85.50 93.00 7.50 0.49 incl. 86.10 87.10 1.00 1.41 GH-23-37 Killick Zone 42.00 44.69 2.69 0.62 incl. 42.00 43.00 1.00 1.04 GH-23-38 Killick Zone 90.09 95.10 5.01 0.69 incl. 91.00 92.00 1.00 1.20 and 93.00 93.80 0.80 1.05 GH-23-39 Killick Zone 56.34 58.60 2.26 0.80 incl. 57.00 57.80 0.80 1.03 and 79.82 83.47 3.65 0.75 incl. 81.21 82.00 0.79 1.09 GH-23-40 Killick Zone 111.75 116.52 4.77 0.31 GH-23-41 Killick Zone 27.10 28.00 0.90 0.69 GH-23-42 Killick Zone 29.61 38.00 8.39 0.67 incl. 34.00 38.00 4.00 1.08 and 34.00 35.00 1.00 1.16 and 35.00 36.00 1.00 1.55 GH-23-43 Killick Zone 127.00 134.00 7.00 0.52 incl. 127.00 128.00 1.00 1.11 and 130.78 131.44 0.66 1.21 GH-23-44 Killick Zone 48.00 49.00 1.00 0.51 and 53.20 53.40 0.20 1.08 and 54.55 55.10 0.55 0.67 GH-23-45 Killick Zone 78.00 84.10 6.10 0.82 incl. 78.00 80.00 2.00 1.37 and 116.16 132.86 16.70 1.06 incl. 116.93 130.30 13.37 1.22 and 119.75 120.35 0.60 2.07 and 124.4 125.20 0.80 2.26 GH-23-46 Killick Zone 130.00 151.00 21.00 0.81 incl. 130.25 133.00 2.75 1.23 and 137.00 138.00 1.00 1.12 and 145.27 151.00 5.73 1.05 and 155.21 165.37 10.16 0.99 Figure 1 - Drill Core GH-23-45 Drilling will continue to test the Killick dyke area plus any new dykes discovered in the ongoing soil geochemical/trenching program 4 km along strike to the east of the Kraken Pegmatite Field, where lithium-in-soil geochemical anomalies of similar strength to the Kraken Discovery Dyke area are located. The Alliance is also pleased to announce that it has mobilized a second diamond drill to test the Hydra (cesium/lithium/tantalum) target 10 km northeast of the Killick zone. Trenching is ongoing to expose the dyke and help plan the drilling. The Hydra dyke is host to high-grade cesium mineralization in pollucite, as well as significant lithium, tantalum, and rubidium values with a 1.2 m channel sample from 2022 grading 8.76% Cs2O, 0.41% Li2O, 0.025% Ta2O5, and 0.33% Rb2O (see news release December 1, 2022). Figure 2 - Drill at Hydra The Alliance is also continuing with its regional-scale prospecting/sampling program using 200 m to 500 m spaced lines over the favourable dyke-bearing corridor, covering the 10 km gap between the Killick and Hydra dyke fields, and also extending the survey 20 km to the NE. 1,430 B-Horizon soil samples have been collected in 2023 and submitted to Eastern Analytical Ltd. in Springdale NL for lithium analysis. QA/QC Protocols Rock and core samples are submitted to SGS Canada Inc. in Grand Falls-Windsor, NL for preparation and then sent to the SGS Canada Inc. analytical laboratory in Burnaby, BC for analysis. All samples were acquired by hand (rocks) or saw-cut (channels/drill core) and delivered, by Benton/Sokoman personnel, in sealed bags, to the Grand Falls-Windsor prep lab of SGS, which is an accredited assay lab conforming to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025. Samples are analyzed using SGS's GS_IMS91A50 method that delivers a 56-element package utilizing sodium peroxide fusion, ICP-AES, and ICP-MS analytical techniques. All reported assays are uncut. Soil samples were collected by Benton/Sokoman personnel utilizing a Dutch-auger, collecting B-Horizon soil, where possible or if B was not present, the soil horizon type was noted. The samples were sent to Eastern Analytical Ltd., in Springdale, NL, for Li, Ta, Sn, and Nb analyses by four-acid digestion, then analyzed by ICP-OES. Eastern Analytical Ltd. achieved ISO 17025 accreditation in February 2014 (for more details on the scope of accreditation visit the CALA website). QP This news release has been reviewed and approved by, Timothy Froude, P.Geo., President and CEO of Sokoman Minerals Corp., and Stephen House, P.Geo., VP Exploration for Benton Resources Inc., both 'Qualified Persons' under National Instrument 43-101. About Sokoman Minerals Corp. Sokoman Minerals Corp. is a discovery-oriented company with projects in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The company's primary focus is its portfolio of gold projects: flagship, 100%-owned Moosehead, Crippleback Lake (available for option) and East Alder (optioned to Canterra Minerals Corporation) along the Central Newfoundland Gold Belt, and the district-scale Fleur de Lys project near Baie Verte in northwestern Newfoundland, that is targeting Dalradian-type orogenic gold mineralization similar to the Curraghinalt and Cavanacaw deposits in Northern Ireland, and Cononish in Scotland. The company also entered into a strategic alliance with Benton Resources Inc. through three large-scale joint-venture properties including Grey River Gold, Golden Hope, and Kepenkeck in Newfoundland. Sokoman now controls independently and through the Benton alliance over 150,000 hectares (>6,000 claims - 1,500 sq. km), making it one of the largest landholders in Newfoundland, Canada's newest and rapidly-emerging gold districts. The company also retains an interest in an early-stage antimony/gold project (Startrek) in Newfoundland, optioned to Thunder Gold Corp (formerly White Metal Resources Inc.), and in Labrador, the Company has a 100% interest in the Iron Horse (Fe) project that has Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) potential. About Benton Resources Inc. Benton Resources Inc. is a well-funded mineral exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol BEX. Following a project generation business model, Benton has a diversified, highly-prospective property portfolio of Gold, Silver, Nickel, Copper, Platinum Group Elements, and most recently Lithium and Cesium assets. In addition, it currently holds large equity positions in other mining companies that are advancing high-quality assets. Whenever possible, BEX retains net smelter return (NSR) royalties with potential long-term cash flow. In 2022 Benton entered into a 50/50 strategic alliance with Sokoman Minerals Inc. (TSXV: SIC) through three large-scale joint-venture properties including Grey River Gold, Golden Hope, and Kepenkeck in Newfoundland that are being explored. For further information, please contact: Sokoman Minerals Corp. Timothy Froude, P.Geo., President & CEO Phone: 709-765-1726 Email: tim@sokomanmineralscorp.com Benton Resources Inc. Stephen Stares, President & CEO Phone: 807-475-7474 Email: sstares@bentonresources.ca CHF Capital Markets Cathy Hume, CEO Phone: 416-868-1079 ext 251 Email: cathy@chfir.com Website: www.sokomanmineralscorp.com, www.bentonresources.ca Twitter: @SokomanMinerals , @BentonResources Facebook: @SokomanMinerals , @BentonResourcesBEX LinkedIn: @SokomanMinerals, @BentonResources THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Alliance's expectations; risks related to gold price and other commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Alliance's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Alliance's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Alliance does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Alliance's expectations or projections. SOURCE: Sokoman Minerals Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762174/Sokoman-and-Benton-Intersect-122-Li-2O-over-1337-m-at-the-Killick-Zone-and-Mobilize-Second-Drill-to-Golden-Hope-JV--Southwest-Newfoundland Secure Trust Bank (STB), an award-winning UK retail bank, has selected EXUS Software UK, the global leader in debt collections and recovery technology, to optimise its collections operations, through a data driven, zero customisations approach. EXUS' long-term experience from working with banking and finance institutions across 4 continents, coupled with its award-winning debt collections software platform, made them the ideal strategic partner for Secure Trust Bank. Using a single platform, the bank managed to reduce the complexity of business processes, streamline all communications with customers and gain full visibility of the complete customer journey in collections. The system's high flexibility and ease of use allowed business users to configure business rules, workflows, I&E forms and Repayment Plans through an intuitive graphical user interface. STB Director of Strategic Delivery, Nikki Tyler, explained their choice of supplier saying "We selected EXUS as the collections system provider for vehicle finance due to their intuitive configurable system, EFS (EXUS Financial Suite). EXUS were able to meet all of our requirements as part of our RFP process which is now allowing us to manage our day-to-day collections capability in a more data driven flexible way. Throughout the implementation, EXUS worked in partnership with us to ensure we delivered a solution that worked." EXUS Deputy CEO, Chris Maranis, commented, "Our journey together with STB went through some pretty hard times, as the pandemic broke out just as we were starting the project. However, although most of the project took place remotely, the two teams managed to come close and have an excellent collaboration, which was based on the premise of co-owning the end result and overcoming any challenge along the way. During the project both teams challenged each other, always questioning how EXUS' debt collections technology could be best utilized to achieve STB's expected business results. Going live signals the start of a much longer journey, to which we are looking forward." About Secure Trust Bank Secure Trust Bank is an established, well-funded and capitalised UK retail bank with a 70-year trading track record. Secure Trust Bank operates principally from its head office in Solihull, West Midlands, and had 855 employees (full-time equivalent) as at 31 December 2022. The Group's diversified lending portfolio currently focuses on two sectors: (i) Business finance through its Real Estate Finance and Commercial Finance divisions, and (ii) Consumer finance through its Vehicle Finance and Retail Finance divisions. Secure Trust Bank PLC is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Secure Trust Bank PLC, One Arleston Way, Solihull, B90 4LH. About EXUS Financial Suite (EFS) Through a presence in more than 40 countries, EXUS helps creditors improve their debt collections results through state-of-the-art technology and business expertise. EXUS is offering a debt collections and recovery software that manages credit risk along the whole lifecycle of accounts, from the moment of disbursement until write-off or debt sale, with fast and easy integrations in weeks. Learn more at: www.exus.co.uk View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620505109/en/ Contacts: For more information: EXUS Press Office Romina Tsouni, Head of Marketing, EXUS M: +447429477389 T: +442081237407 r.tsouni@exus.co.uk MONTREAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Critical Elements Lithium Corporation (TSXV:CRE)(OTCQX:CRECF)(FSE:F12) ("Critical Elements" or the "Corporation") is pleased to report results from the winter drill program completed on the Lemare Project in the James Bay region, Eeyou Istchee, Quebec. During winter 2023, the Corporation completed a 5,554-meter drill program, encompassing thirty-one drillholes to test the known lithium bearing zone on the East-West extension, as well at depth. The best intercepts are presented in Table 1 and Figure 2. Selected drill intersection highlights include: LE-23-32: 1.04% Li2O and 67.91 ppm Ta2O5 over 33.85 m, including 1.42% Li2O and 74.24 ppm Ta2O5 over 18.8 m LE-23-33: 0.88% Li2O and 113.92 ppm Ta2O5 over 12.90 m LE-23-35: 1.63% Li2O and 104.30 ppm Ta2O5 over 5.25 m LE-23-44: 1.51% Li2O and 54.15 ppm Ta2O5 over 4.95 m LE-23-48: 0.89% Li2O and 48.89 ppm Ta2O5 over 7.10 m LE-23-49: 0.97% Li2O and 64.43 ppm Ta2O5 over 8.85 m, including 1.59% Li2O and 61.34 ppm Ta2O5 over 2.40 m. Critical Elements controls one of the largest hard rock lithium exploration land positions in North America, totalling 1,050 square kilometres specifically assembled for their geological setting and proximity to roads and Quebec's 100% renewable energy grid. For example, its land position includes the Corporation's advanced Rose lithium-tantalum project ("Rose") and covers the extrapolated northeast and southwest structural extensions of the Nemaska Belt, which hosts the Whabouchi mine being developed by Nemaska Lithium. Critical Elements has outlined its exploration plans in several news releases, most recently on February 1, May 16, and May 31. In addition to demonstrating the value inherent in the Corporation's exploration land package, there are three goals: Extend the life of the primary Rose project; Advance the Lemare project toward an initial resource estimate and technical studies if warranted; and Demonstrate the potential of new targets highlighted via machine learning, or artificial intelligence. Table 1: Lemare project - Summary of the significant lithium results from the winter drilling program Hole # UTM NAD 83 ZN18 Length Azimuth Dip Number From To Interval* Li2O T a2O5 Easting Northing (m) () () of samples (m) (m) (m) (%) (ppm) LE-23-32 471182 5734263 150.00 155 -70 32 25.10 58.95 33.85 1.04 67.91 including 30.30 58.15 27.85 1.23 70.99 including 30.30 49.10 18.80 1.42 74.24 LE-23-33 471143 5734249 150.00 160 -70 56 41.40 54.30 12.90 0.88 113.92 including 50.60 53.80 3.20 1.65 186.93 56.10 60.15 4.05 0.18 135.91 75.70 77.20 1.50 0.56 71.43 89.95 90.45 0.50 0.43 48.60 91.95 93.20 1.25 0.21 192.32 102.05 102.55 0.50 0.14 100.86 106.00 106.70 0.70 0.14 129.44 139.10 139.60 0.50 0.11 131.88 LE-23-34 471103 5734237 150 155 -60 64 46.00 60.15 14.15 1.12 78.80 including 48.25 52.25 4.00 1.99 63.53 68.00 69.50 1.50 0.39 727.78 69.80 70.35 0.55 1.97 4249.43 77.50 79.00 1.50 0.85 159.96 83.00 83.40 0.40 0.71 74.61 116.20 118.30 2.10 0.23 74.58 LE-23-35 471063 5734209 150 155 -70 54 70.10 71.85 1.75 1.09 38.70 91.00 92.20 1.20 0.46 192.32 93.65 98.90 5.25 1.63 104.30 LE-23-36 470993 5734175 253 155 -50 122 63.40 67.95 4.55 0.44 138.38 85.50 86.05 0.55 0.27 111.85 103.85 104.70 0.85 0.12 120.89 214.15 219.80 5.65 0.16 66.00 LE-23-37 470972 5734101 222 155 -50 88 2.10 2.65 0.55 0.10 337.02 35.30 35.85 0.55 0.12 307.72 53.10 56.40 3.30 0.83 141.66 144.9 149.50 4.60 0.11 83.60 LE-23-38 470923 5734095 286 155 -60 139 89.00 90.40 1.40 0.18 250.33 102.75 103.05 0.30 0.14 145.31 LE-23-39 470937 5733931 186 155 -50 68 No significant value LE-23-40 470942 5733934 147 335 -50 33 81.45 81.90 0.45 0.11 119.42 LE-23-41 471062 5734018 150 155 -50 60 No significant value LE-23-42 471490 5734606 300 155 -50 64 No significant value LE-23-43 471412 5734532 276 155 -50 110 173.95 175.20 1.25 0.13 42.13 LE-23-44A 471344 5734464 18 155 -50 0 Abandoned hole LE-23-44 471344 5734464 282 155 -50 72 113.50 136.25 22.75 0.44 87.41 including 130.50 135.45 4.95 1.51 54.15 LE-23-45 471344 5734464 234 155 -65 57 No significant value LE-23-46 471339 5734460 207 200 -50 51 No significant value LE-23-47 471263 5734428 201 155 -50 16 No significant value LE-23-48 471177 5734368 225 155 -50 47 144.80 147.00 2.20 0.23 133.66 161.00 165.50 4.50 0.47 68.02 172.10 179.20 7.10 0.89 48.89 186.90 188.00 1.10 0.11 172.79 LE-23-49 471129 5734342 203.2 155 -50 51 181.75 190.60 8.85 0.97 64.43 including 181.75 184.15 2.40 1.59 61.34 including 187.50 190.60 3.10 1.13 79.87 LE-23-50A 471085 5734320 30 155 -55 0 Abandoned hole LE-23-50 471085 5734320 213 155 -55 28 185.60 188.10 2.50 1.08 51.01 LE-23-51 470558 5733806 207 155 -50 45 No significant value LE-23-52 470377 5733697 204 155 -50 124 No significant value LE-23-53 471905 5734613 168 150 -50 41 37.20 45.00 7.80 0.13 35.24 77.20 88.35 11.15 0.12 37.47 LE-23-54 471947 5734638 165 155 -50 34 38.15 42.80 4.65 0.10 51.95 49.10 57.40 8.30 0.11 28.51 LE-23-55 472144 5734688 171 150 -50 9 No significant value LE-23-56 472144 5734688 84 330 -45 47 No significant value LE-23-57 472200 5734777 105 155 -50 28 No significant value LE-23-58 472200 5734777 102 330 -45 78 No significant value LE-23-59 472305 5734821 135 330 -50 75 No significant value LE-23-60 472305 5734821 180 330 -63 123 No significant value *Length along drill core. The Corporation does not have enough information at this stage to estimate the true width. Figure 1: Location of the Lemare spodumene project in the James Bay region in Quebec Figure 2: Drill results from the Lemare Property The winter 2023 drilling program on the Lemare spodumene project confirmed the 400-metre extension to the southwest and the 500-metre extension to the northeast of the main known spodumene-bearing pegmatite with variable width and spodumene content. At least two different types of sub-parallel pegmatites were intersected by the drilling. The main spodumene-bearing pegmatite features coarse quartz-feldspar-muscovite, while the second pegmatite is aphanitic quartzo-feldspathic, is generally lower grade, and is only sporadically mineralized. The main spodumene-bearing pegmatite is controlled by a northeast-southwest structure that is recut by at least two north-south oriented faults. The information collected during the winter drilling program will be useful to better define the 3D model and better understand the pinch-and-swell character of the pegmatites at Lemare. The confirmed spodumene-prospective pegmatite strike length at Lemare now exceeds 2.2 kilometres. However, based on Goldspot Discoveries' machine learning methodology and surface sampling results, the LCT pegmatite trend on the Lemare property has been estimated to extend for over 5 kilometres. Critical Elements intends to pursue further work on Lemare over the summer with surface mapping and a sampling program followed by incremental drilling. Lemare is well-situated within 3 kilometres of road access and is an excellent candidate for initial technical studies. At the moment, the Corporation has temporarily suspended exploration activities on the Nemaska Belt projects in the Eeyou Istchee-James Bay region of Quebec in accordance with a directive from the Ministere des Ressources Naturelles et des Forets, which has banned forest access on Crown land and closed roads to help combat forest fires across the province. Quality assurance/quality control Quality assurance and quality control procedures have been implemented to ensure best practices in sampling and analysis of the core samples. The drill core was logged and then split, with one-half sent for assay and the other retained in the core box as a witness sample. Duplicates, standards and blanks were regularly inserted into the sample stream. The core samples were delivered, in secure tagged bags, directly to the ALS Minerals laboratory facility in Val-d'Or, Quebec. The samples are weighed and identified prior to sample preparation. The samples are crushed to 70% minus 2 mm, then separated and pulverized to 85% passing 75 m. All samples are analyzed using sodium peroxide fusion ME-MS-89L, with full analysis for 52 elements. Value over 25,000 ppm Li were re-assays using Li-ICP-82b and value over 2,500 ppm Ta2O5 were re-assays using Ta-XRF10. Qualified persons Paul Bonneville, Eng, is the qualified persons that have reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release on behalf of the Corporation. About Critical Elements Lithium Corporation Critical Elements aspires to become a large, responsible supplier of lithium to the flourishing electric vehicle and energy storage system industries. To this end, Critical Elements is advancing the wholly owned, high purity Rose lithium project in Quebec, the Corporation's first lithium project to be advanced within a land portfolio of over 1,050 square kilometers. On June 13th, 2022, the Corporation announced results of a feasibility study on Rose for the production of spodumene concentrate. The after-tax internal rate of return for the Project is estimated at 82.4%, with an estimated after-tax net present value of US$1.9 B at an 8% discount rate. In the Corporation's view, Quebec is strategically well-positioned for US and EU markets and boasts good infrastructure including a low-cost, low-carbon power grid featuring 94% hydroelectricity. The project has received approval from the Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change on the recommendation of the Joint Assessment Committee, comprised of representatives from the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada and the Cree Nation Government and also received the Certificate of Authorization pursuant to section 164 of Quebec's Environment Quality Act from the Quebec Minister of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks. For further information, please contact: Patrick Laperriere Director of Investor Relations and Corporate Development 514-817-1119 plaperriere@cecorp.ca www.cecorp.ca Jean-Sebastien Lavallee, P. Geo. Chief Executive Officer 819-354-5146 jslavallee@cecorp.ca www.cecorp.ca Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is described in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary statement concerning forward-looking statements This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian Securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "scheduled", "anticipates", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "scheduled", "targeted", 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 contained herein include, without limitation, statements relating to the results and completion of the 2023 exploration program, the permitting process, the results and outcome of the Front-End Engineering Design Study, eligibility of equipment required for the Rose Project to the 30% investment tax credit (ITC) announced by the Federal government in its last budget, as well as the outcome of the formal process launched by the Corporation in connection with the Project financing. Forward-looking information is based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Although Critical Elements 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. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expected results described in forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: final and complete results of the Corporation's 2023 exploration program, the final outcome of the permitting process and the Corporation's ability to meet all conditions imposed thereunder, the final results of the Front-End Engineering Design Study and its effects on the development of the Rose Project, the formal process launched in connection with the Project financing not producing the anticipated and expected results, the criteria for eligibility to the 30% investment tax credit (ITC) announced in the last federal budget not being those expected, as well as those risk factors set out in the Corporation's Management Discussion and Analysis for its most recent quarter ended February 28, 2023 and other disclosure documents available under the Corporation's SEDAR profile. Forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this news release and Critical Elements disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. SOURCE: Critical Elements Lithium Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762280/Critical-Elements-Lithium-Intercepts-104-Li2O-Over-3385-Meters-in-Drilling-at-Lemare NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Sappi North America This year, Sappi has further developed our portfolio of products to provide our customers with dynamic papers, packaging and textiles without a steep environmental cost. We pride ourselves on our ability to raise the bar with innovation. From biodegradable kitchen tools to high-quality brochures, we strive to forge new paths in a variety of industries. For Sappi, advancing our customer base helps make every day more sustainable. Spectro and Proto shine in new samples Sappi's Spectro is a paperboard that features enhanced optics and the most consistent side-to-side printing surface in its category. Proto is an SBS paperboard certified for direct food contact and offers the durability and superior convertibility customers can count on. A range of samples were created to showcase the printing versatility of these paperboards and the many verticals with which they are capable of engaging. This includes beauty, luxury foods and houseware packaging. These packaging samples were very well received at conferences such as Pack Expo International, and we are excited to continue venturing into new markets. Holiday kit shows care with McCoy, Spectro and LusterCote Each holiday kit we send out highlights Sappi's paper capabilities while serving as a reminder for customers that striking, memorable gift packaging can be sustainable. This kit featured cards, gift tags and gift boxes for any occasion printed on Spectro, and a sheet of metallic envelope seal stickers printed using McCoy, all packaged in a box lined with LusterCote C1S for recipients to enjoy with their loved ones. Each component featured embossed imagery, metallic accents and several box closures, demonstrating the durability and flexibility of our paper offerings. Brochures for health and beauty verticals Sappi North America took another step into the health and beauty industries with new marketing materials printed on Spectro C2S paper. These brochures offer information about our paperboard offerings, which can benefit brands looking to meet consumers' preferences for renewable solutions. As global innovators, we are uniquely positioned to detail the benefits of our products while showing their quality through tactile experiences. Swedish dish towels make every day more sustainable Our biodegradable dish towels are made using dissolving pulp to offer an alternative to paper towels, sponges and traditional, plastic-based dish cloths. Customers may be surprised to discover that, unlike disposable paper towels, there is a reusable product that is also made using the power of trees. This product further displays Sappi's versatility in various markets that service everything from large-scale operations to a spill in the kitchen. A calendar that leaves a lasting impression Printed on McCoy Silk and Spectro C1S, this calendar allows recipients to experience the Sappi difference firsthand. These foldable wall calendars were created to meet the needs of customers who have extensive work schedules and need to plan several months at a time. Our premium line of McCoy products touts unrivaled luminosity, allowing for bolder contrasts and vivid imagery. Each calendar demonstrates that it is possible to have beautifully designed paper products that are also mindful of the environment. Spring/Summer 2023 Texture & Trend Kit Our seasonal texture and trend forecast showcases Sappi's textile offerings in a variety of colors and finishes. It is geared toward development, design, sourcing and production teams eager to ensure that their upcoming product lines are on target for consumers and brands around the world. These swatch collections keep Sappi on the pulse of the fashion and textile industries, further positioning us as global leaders across verticals. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Sappi North America on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Sappi North America Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/sappi-north-america Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Sappi North America View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762281/Sappi-Elevates-the-Customer-Experience VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / CMC Metals Ltd. (TSX-V:CMB)(Frankfurt:ZM5P)(OTCQB:CMCXF) ("CMC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that is has received the exploration permit for the Silverknife Property in north-central British Columbia. The permit will allow the company to proceed with its planned 3,000-meter drill program that is targeting high grade silver-lead-zinc carbonate replacement deposits ('CRD's). The company is targeting an area in the northernmost portion of the property that has coincident gravity and electromagnetic anomalies. The project area is in close proximity to Coeur Mining Inc. Silvertip Mine, one of the highest-grade underground silver-lead-zinc CRD deposits in the world, in an area that has been deemed to have high potential to host additional CRD deposits. Mr. John Bossio, Chairman noted "Securing this permit is a key milestone as we are especially excited about the potential of Silverknife in the Rancheria Silver District. We have been looking at this project for a couple of years and it is a very exciting prospect." Mr. Kevin Brewer, President and CEO noted, "Our team worked hard to secure this permit in time to commence our operations on schedule. We are currently mobilizing crews and establishing a new industrial camp to support exploration efforts. I wish to personally thank the efforts of the Tahltan Central Government, other stakeholders, the permitting team in the Smithers office of the BC Ministry of Energy and Mines, and Mr. Nelson Deborgorski who were all great to work with on this permitting effort. I look forward to advancing this new project which we feel has great potential to result in a significant discovery." Qualified Person Kevin Brewer, a registered professional geoscientist, is the Company's President and CEO, and Qualified Person (as defined by National Instrument 43-101). He is directly supervising in the field the 2023 exploration program, sampling efforts, quality assurance and quality controls, on all of the Company projects. The Company is committed to meeting the highest standards of integrity, transparency and consistency in reporting technical content, including geological reporting. About CMC Metals Ltd. CMC Metals Ltd. is a growth stage exploration company focused on opportunities for high grade polymetallic deposits in Yukon, British Columbia and Newfoundland. Our polymetallic silver-lead-zinc CRD prospects in the Rancheria Silver District include the Silverknife project (British Columbia), the Silver Hart Deposit and Blue Heaven claims (Yukon), and Amy claims located 7km west of the Silverknife claims (British Columbia). Our polymetallic projects with potential for copper-silver-gold and other metals include Bridal Veil, Terra Nova (optioned to Highbank Mining Inc., TSX-V: HBK), and Rodney Pond (central Newfoundland) and Logjam (Yukon). On behalf of the Board: "John Bossio" John Bossio, Chairman CMC METALS LTD. For Further Information and Investor Inquiries: Kevin Brewer, P. Geo., MBA, B.Sc.(Hons), Dip. Mine Eng. President, CEO and Director Tel: (+52) 669 198 8503 kbrewer80@hotmail.com Suite 1000-409 Granville St., Vancouver, BC, V6C 1T2 To be added to CMC's news distribution list, please send an email to info@cmcmetals.ca or contact Mr. Kevin Brewer directly. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. "This news release may contain certain statements that constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law, including without limitation, statements that address the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles and exploitation activities and developments. In this release disclosure regarding the potential to undertake future exploration work comprise forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions. While such estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable by the management of the Company, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and regulatory uncertainties and risks, including the ability of the Company to raise the funds necessary to fund its projects, to carry out the work and, accordingly, may not occur as described herein or at all. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, the timing and receipt of government and regulatory approvals, the impact of the constantly evolving COVID-19 pandemic crisis and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Readers are referred to the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulators for information on these and other risk factors, available at www.sedar.com. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation." SOURCE: CMC Metals Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762238/CMC-Metals-Ltd-Announces-Receipt-of-The-Exploration-Permit-for-the-Silverknife-Property-North-Central-British-Columbia NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / BCM One, a leading provider of NextGen Communications and Managed Services for IT leaders and resellers, announced today that Andrew Ramos has joined the sales leadership team as Senior Director, Global Sales. Ramos will be responsible for leading the global sales team that provides businesses worldwide with enterprise voice solutions including Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex and Zoom, sold via channel partners or directly to IT leaders of large international companies. Ramos has 27 years of domestic and global sales, sales leadership, and business development experience in the telecom industry, with particular expertise in UCaaS, CCaaS, networking, data center, and SIP/PSTN. Most recently, as Vice President of Global Channel Sales at OneStream, and subsequently at CallTower following the 2022 acquisition, Ramos was responsible for the build-out and strategic growth of the company's channel-focused sales organization, as well as go-to-market planning and scalable expansion of direct channel and distribution programs. Prior to that, he worked at Masergy as the go-to-market specialist for Cisco and other key system integrators and channel partnerships. "Andy will play an instrumental role in leading our global sales efforts and integration of the talented Pure IP sales operations group, the international voice provider that BCM One recently announced a definitive agreement to acquire," stated Meghan Neilan, Senior Vice President, Revenue for BCM One. "In addition to leading the Pure IP sales team, Andy will enable the entire BCM One sales force to sell Pure IP enterprise voice solutions." For more information about BCM One, visit www.bcmone.com. ### ABOUT BCM ONE Founded in 1992, BCM One is the leading NextGen Communications and Managed Services provider. Serving over 20,000 customers worldwide and 5,000+ channel partners, BCM One offers telecom solutions supporting the critical network infrastructure of global businesses, including: Enterprise Teams, Global Managed Connectivity, UCaaS, SIP Trunking, Managed SD-WAN, Security-as-a Service and Technology Expense Optimization. BCM One prides itself on its long-standing client relationships backed by their mission statement, "To Provide a World-Class Experience with Every Human Interaction." To learn more about BCM One, visit www.bcmone.com. Contact Information Paula Como Kauth Chief Marketing Officer pckauth@bcmone.com 212-906-7255 SOURCE: BCM One View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/761864/BCM-One-Expands-Sales-Leadership-Team-to-Drive-Global-Growth Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - InZinc Mining Ltd. (TSXV: IZN) ("InZinc" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the commencement of Phase 1 of a two-phased, 2023 exploration program at the Indy project (100% interest) ("Indy" or the "Project") located 100 kilometres (km) southeast of Prince George in central British Columbia. The fully funded program will explore multiple, new nickel-cobalt-copper targets highlighted as a result of the Keel Red (nickel-cobalt-copper) discovery in 2022 and continue to advance large zinc targets identified by previous geochemical and geophysical surveys. 2023 Priority Exploration Targets The Phase 1 program consists of detailed groundwork to evaluate multiple new nickel-cobalt-copper targets and advance two large zinc targets in the northern area of the 7 km Main Trend (Figure 1). Groundwork includes detailed geological mapping, soil profiling, sampling and access determinations to prioritize the targets for drill testing in Phase 2. The Company has signed a contract for reverse circulation drilling services and expects to commence Phase 2 (drilling) in August. Keel Red Target (nickel-cobalt-copper) In 2022, drill hole IB22-020 (news release January 25, 2023) intersected 27.1 m of buried oxide material starting at 47.3 m downhole and averaging 0.67% zinc and 0.13% nickel. The upper part of the core interval (from 47.3 m to 55.0 m) also returned 0.11% copper over 7.8 m. Additionally, the 27.1 m interval returned cobalt content averaging 163 ppm with values up to 962 ppm (0.10%) over a 1 m core length. Phase 1 will evaluate proximal geochemical and geophysical responses and potential primary sources of the nickel-cobalt-copper mineralization intersected at Keel Red. TJ Target (nickel-cobalt-copper) The new TJ target, located 425 m west of Keel Red, comprises a 500 m long, high contrast (>95 percentile), coincident nickel-cobalt-copper in soil signal. Delta Ni Target (nickel-cobalt-copper) The new Delta Ni target, located 100 m east of the Delta Horizon, comprises a 600 m length of high contrast (>95 percentile), coincident nickel-cobalt-copper in soil signal. Echo Target (zinc) The 1.9 km long Echo target is a continuous high contrast, multi-element (Zn, Pb, Ba, +/- As and Cu signatures) soil geochemical anomaly discovered in 2021. Delta Horizon Target (zinc) The 1.5 km long Delta Horizon target, a high contrast, multi-element soil geochemical anomaly defined by distinctive Sedex pathfinder elements and rock exposures, was discovered in 2019. Figure 1: Indy Project - Nickel-Cobalt-Copper and Zinc Targets To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6480/170645_94967da9740d3b32_001full.jpg About InZinc InZinc is an active explorer and, through its Indy project (100% interest), equity and royalty interests, is exposed to a diverse portfolio of active North American base metals and precious metals projects. Since the 2018 discovery of high grade, near surface mineralization at the Indy project, InZinc has outlined over 10 km of high quality exploration base and precious metals targets and has expanded its mineral tenure to 200 km2 in a new and unexplored mineral region of central British Columbia, Canada. In late 2021, a Canadian subsidiary of South32 (ASX, LSE, JSE) became a major tenure holder in the belt by staking approximately 200 km2 of adjacent claims. InZinc has a significant equity investment in American West Metals (ASX) which is advancing multiple North American base metals projects. In addition, InZinc has a production royalty and will receive 50% of the revenue (NSR) from the sale of indium mined from American West's West Desert project. InZinc Mining Ltd. Wayne Hubert ____________ Chief Executive Officer Phone: 604.687.7211 Website: www.inzincmining.com For further information contact : Joyce Musial Vice President, Corporate Affairs Phone: 604.317.2728 Email: joyce@inzincmining.com Qualified Person Brian McGrath, B.Sc., P.Geo. a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has approved the technical content of this news release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information includes, but are not limited to, statements that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "design", "postulate" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results, performance, or actions and that actual results and actions may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, those risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the three months ended March 31, 2023 filed with certain securities commissions in Canada and other information released by the Company and filed with the appropriate regulatory agencies. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170645 BEIJING, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2023 World New Energy Expo (WNEE) kicked off on Monday in Changzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, aiming to show the dynamic trend of the development of new energy industry and explore the direction of future energy innovation. The opening ceremony of the expo has gathered 15 scientists in the field of new energy, domestic and foreign merchants from foreign delegations and associations like Shenzhen Battery Industry Association, and nearly 200 representatives from enterprises. Relying on Changzhou's solid industrial foundation, in recent years, the city has promoted the continuous development of the new energy industry and built itself into a leading city in new energy sector, said Chen Jinhu, Secretary of the CPC Changzhou Municipal Committee. According to Chen, Changzhou's rapid development in the field of new energy stems from a deep understanding and comprehensive layout of the industry, and its industrial closed-loop chain includes four major areas of production, storage, distribution and application. Holding the World New Energy Expo in Changzhou aims to build a platform for the great development of the global new energy industry and the realization of the future scenarios. At the same time, Changzhou is also committed to realizing the city's further development of the new energy industry and achieving both its scale and market value of the new energy sector in the capital market exceeding trillion yuan, said Chen. In the future, Changzhou will continue to build the test field for global new energy development, and welcome enterprises from all over the world to Changzhou for layout, innovation and entrepreneurship, covering new racetracks such as new generation battery materials and intelligent connected vehicles. It's expected to build a more open, collaborative and shared industrial ecosystem in Changzhou, Chen added. According to a report released by Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman of Hurun Report, during the opening ceremony, Changzhou's new energy industry has witnessed strong growth, with the industrial agglomeration level ranking fourth in China and the investment heat evaluation ranking first in China. https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/334684.html Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2106116/c9fff79d6812441b894c9a003d05417a.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/xinhua-silk-road-2023-world-new-energy-expo-kicks-off-in-e-chinas-changzhou-301855435.html MA, Ph.D and post-doc candidates at US universities to be supported with 1 million USD Applications on www.dompefoundation.org Deadline December 31st, 2023 The Dompe Foundation has announced it doubled to 1 million dollars its support to MA, PhD and post-doc candidates from United States-based universities for 2023. This funding opportunity, which honors the legacy of the only female Italian Nobel laureate in Medicine, is intended for students of any nationality that have already been admitted to a MA, PhD or post-doc program in Neuroscience and Neurobiology at a US university. As with former grants, the Foundation will offer scholarships and fellowships to the most promising candidates. Applications will soon be online on the Foundation's website. Deadline is December 31st,2023. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619240012/en/ Silvia Penati, winner of the 2021/2022 edition of the Call for applications in memory of Rita Levi Montalcini (Photo: Dompe) The fellows of previous editions will be gathering to meet Sergio Dompe, Executive President of Dompe farmaceutici and members of the Board on June 20, 2023 at the Public Library in Washington D.C. for the Embrace the Challenge in Science event, attended by Mariangela Zappia, Ambassador of Italy to the United States. "Investment in young researchers is a guarantee of success in terms of scientific discoveries and economic progress," Ambassador Zappia pointed out in expressing appreciation for the opportunities provided by the Dompe Foundation. The US fellows present in Washington D.C. on June 20 are attending graduate programs at Stanford University, Georgetown University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Johns Hopkins University. The Rita Levi Montalcini Scholarships and Fellowships are part of a more extensive program to support the higher education of young talents in STEM fields, which has seen the Dompe Foundation award over 70 scholarships and invest more than 6 million euros in the last 3 years (half of which for 2023/24 fellows). Established in 2020 by Sergio Dompe, the Foundation aims to break down the barriers to higher education for promising students with a low income while contributing to the development of the careers of the future, especially within the Life Sciences industry. The degree programs sponsored by the Foundation provide students with a multidisciplinary education, a strong grounding in new technologies and innovation principles, and the opportunity to access an international network: these ingredients are key for those who intend to be at the forefront of innovation and research today. To-date, the Dompe Foundation has involved 21 top universities in US and Europe: Stanford University, Georgetown University, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Pittsburgh, Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, University of Chicago, Yale, and Weill Cornell Medicine in the US; Queen Mary University of London, Bocconi University, and other universities in Italy. The Foundation's commitment to the progress of scientific knowledge is part of Dompe farmaceutici's long lasting investments in R&D and innovative startups. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619240012/en/ Contacts: Media contacts Guido Romeo Head Corporate Communications Dompe farmaceutici Mob. +39 349 4154010 guido.romeo@dompe.com AMSTERDAM, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Plintron was awarded the IoT Connectivity Solution of the Year at the MVNOs Awards 2023. The awards were presented at the MVNO Awards ceremony during the MVNO World Congress 2023 held in Amsterdam on June 6th. This award recognises a solution provider that has successfully partnered with MVNOs to deliver an enterprise IoT solution. Plintron was awarded for the in-house development of an enhanced Integrated IoT Connectivity Management Platform (CMP). It was developed based on existing customer feedback, especially from the Automotive, Logistics, Manufacturing, and other verticals. Customers needed a single pane of glass/dashboard to view deployments & manage their IoT inventory including activations, suspension & ability to fire APIs from existing applications. The solution needed to be compatible with GSMA & regulatory requirements while being agnostic to SIM form factors or types of networks. Many brands were interested in reselling services using a white-labelled MVNO model being an integrated platform, this comes pre-built and is not a standalone portal but is integrated with local connectivity profiles after integration with MNOs. Further having its own OSS, NSS, BSS, OCS, API, and gateways enables Plintron to customize plans. Thus, it enables any IoT company to become an MVNO and offer a more segmented approach. This is a simple, smart & secure solution with ease of operation that aids customers in their faster adoption and controls operating costs, improves customer experience, and generates new revenue streams for various industry domains. The CMP was a success and 200,000 active customer profiles were on-boarded in the first 6 months in India alone and major MNOs wanted to use the platform to offer IoT MVNO services. The CMP is now being implemented worldwide. Subhashree Radhakrishnan, Vice Chairman and Co-Founder of Plintron said "Being awarded the IoT Connectivity Solution of the Year Award showcases Plintron's innovativeness and reliability in the IoT Connectivity space." About Plintron Plintron is a digital communications technology company enabling brands to acquire and engage customers. It is the World's largest multi-Country end-to-end MVNA / MVNE with a client base in 6 continents. With mobile network services in over 31 countries spanning 6 continents supported by 1000+ telecom professionals, Plintron has launched 143+ MVNOs / OMVs and over 165 million mobile subscribers. Plintron has won many global industry awards. www.plintron.com Contact Shamik Biswas marketing@plintron.com Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1839055/Plintron_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/plintron-wins-iot-connectivity-solution-of-the-year-award-301852975.html AUSTIN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Xtra Energy Corp. (OTC PINK:XTPT) is pleased to announce the XRF results for mineralization intercepted from three individual stringers (veinlets) located inside the Arrance Antimony Prospect 4th level. The Arrance Antimony Prospect as described by Lawrence, Edmond, in "Antimony Deposits of Nevada"; nbmg bull. 61 is on the south side of Bernice Canyon, 1.7 miles from its mouth, and about 40 feet above the canyon floor. Production of Antimony totaled less than half a ton but its composition is very similar to that found at the Antimony King Mines, the principal antimony producer of the district. Stibnite occurs as veinlets up to three-fourths of an inch wide along fractures in the sill. Sample ID# Sb % Ag (ppm) Rh (ppm) V (ppm) Mg % #48 23.61 ND 599 200 4.12 #49 (in video) 13.95 20 325 ND 2.14 #50 (in video) 32.05 ND 875 207 6.08 *Note: The XRF data is taken as point values and will not represent the true grade of the samples assayed. The elemental data is highly dependent on the location of which the beam intersects the rock. The device used to take the data points is a SciAps X-505 handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer and produces a beam designed to achieve laboratory-quality results in the field and provides rapid and accurate elemental analysis and testing. Mac J. Shahsavar, P.Eng., Chairman of Xtra Energy, commented, "We are very pleased to see the continuation and consistency of the results in the Arrance. On every test, we successfully intercepted high-grade antimony and, much to our surprise, very high-grade rhodium. With the size of the American Antimony Project, if the mineralized zone continues at depth, it could add up to significant tonnage. Please view and enjoy the attached video for a detailed walkthrough of the XRF testing conducted. We are very excited to continue with this exploration program." Viewing of the video can be found at the link provided: CLICK HERE *Sample ID #48 Sample ID #50 Contact & Learn More: Xtra Energy Corporation Phone: 512-412-3636 Corporate Website: https://americanantimony.com/ Corporate Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/xtra-energy-corp/ Corporate Twitter: https://twitter.com/xtra_corp Corporate Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xtraenergycorp/ Corporate Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093057374695 About Xtra Energy Corp. Xtra Energy Corp. is an antimony exploration company focused on developing its flagship project "American Antimony", approximately 31 miles northeast of Eastgate, Nevada. Xtra Energy Corp. holds a 100% ownership in a 79 lode claim, 1632 acre antimony project surrounding the historically documented Antimony King Mine and covering all other documented antimony producers of the Bernice Mining District. The Company is seeking to develop this expanding portfolio of antimony-rich assets to become a major supplier of antimony based products. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined within Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements relate to future events, including our ability to raise capital, or to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause materially different results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. We assume no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please see our filings with the OTC Markets Group Inc. Our public filings with the OTC Markets Group Inc are available from commercial document retrieval services and at the website maintained by the OTC Markets at https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/XTPT/disclosure SOURCE: Xtra Energy Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762162/Xtra-Energy-Corp-Announces-XRF-High-Grade-Results-Up-to-3205-Antimony-and-875-ppm-Rhodium-From-The-Historic-Arrance-Antimony-Prospect-Bernice-Canyon-Nevada-Video-Attached Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. DALLAS (dpa-AFX) - AT&T Inc. (T), a telecom holding company, said on Tuesday that it expects an adjusted EBITDA growth of 3 percent, for full year 2023. This is mainly in-line capital investment and lower handset payments, for the year. The company noted that it continues to focus to boost high-value customer base for both 5G and fiber. For the second-quarter, in wireless, the company is tracking slightly above 300,000 postpaid phone net additions, with fiber net additions in the mid-200,000 range. In addition, the telecom firm anticipates deploying midband 5G spectrum to 200 million people by year-end 2023. The company expects to pass over 30 million consumer and business locations in its traditional service area with its fiber network by the end of 2025. 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. NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / FedEx Corporation: FedEx Cares is committed to building connections between people and opportunities. Our Citizenship Report features our global community engagement program throughout calendar year 2022. It highlights our progress in the key areas of Delivering for Good, Global Entrepreneurship, and Sustainable Logistics, along with our organization-wide endeavors in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Employee Engagement. The report also showcases the significant achievements made through our FedEx Cares 50 by 50 initiative. Together in 2022, we transported $2.3 million in aid to Ukraine and helped feed 1,500 people per day in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. We invested over $4 million in small businesses and trained 3,000 entrepreneurs in e-commerce. We invested in new ways to capture carbon and scale electric vehicles. We sent first generation students to college and helped connect women of color to jobs and economic mobility. Our team members volunteered their time and skills to advise nonprofit and city leaders all over the world. Read more about these efforts and achievements in the 2022 FedEx Cares Report. Our FedEx Cares team members and nonprofit partners inspire us every day with their unwavering commitment to delivering critical services to communities in need across the globe. We are continually inspired by their dedication and passion. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from FedEx Corporation on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: FedEx Corporation Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/fedex-corporation Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: FedEx Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762310/Announcing-the-2022-FedEx-Cares-Report WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Rivian Automotive, Inc. (RIVN) has announced a significant partnership with Tesla(TSLA), granting Rivian drivers access to Tesla's extensive Supercharger network throughout the United States and Canada. This collaboration is a crucial step for Rivian as it strives to electrify and decarbonize transportation, while also continuing to expand its own charging infrastructure, known as the Rivian Adventure Network. To facilitate seamless charging for Rivian's award-winning R1T and R1S vehicles, an adapter will be made available by spring 2024. This adapter will enable Rivian drivers to utilize Tesla's Supercharger network, enhancing the accessibility of charging options for Rivian owners. Additionally, Rivian plans to incorporate the North American Charging Standard (NACS) charge ports as a standard feature in its future R1 vehicles from 2025 onwards, as well as in the upcoming R2 platform. The transportation sector is responsible for over a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, underscoring the urgent need to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and promote sustainability. By expanding charging opportunities through collaborations like this, Rivian and Tesla aim to drive EV adoption and contribute to the ongoing transition towards a greener transportation industry. Rebecca Tinucci, Tesla's Senior Director of Charging Infrastructure, expressed enthusiasm for the industry's alignment around the North American Charging Standard. Tinucci emphasized the importance of ensuring all EV drivers have access to reliable and user-friendly charging hardware. Tesla warmly welcomes Rivian owners to utilize thousands of Superchargers across North America, providing them with greater convenience and flexibility in their charging experience. RJ Scaringe, Founder and CEO of Rivian, shared his excitement about the collaboration with Tesla and its contribution to advancing the world towards carbon neutrality. Scaringe acknowledged the significance of adopting the North American Charging Standard, as it enables Rivian's current and future customers to leverage Tesla's extensive Supercharger network. Simultaneously, Rivian remains committed to developing its Rivian Adventure Network, ensuring that Rivian drivers have an expanding network of charging stations. Scaringe expressed optimism about discovering further opportunities to accelerate EV adoption and drive the transition to a sustainable future. The partnership between Rivian and Tesla marks a significant milestone in the electric vehicle industry, as major players join forces to facilitate widespread EV adoption and establish a robust charging infrastructure. The collaboration aligns with Rivian's and Tesla's shared vision of sustainable transportation and underscores the importance of cooperation and innovation in the pursuit of a carbon-neutral future. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Mega-Chance Cyber Security Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. Hier klicken NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / This World Refugee Day, discover Gildan's refugee program activated at some of its yarn-spinning facilities in North Carolina. This program supports individuals from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Egypt, Syria, Iran, Uganda, Congo, Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Morocco, and Guyana, who have left their homes due to challenging conditions and are building their lives in a new place. Launched in 2022, this employee-initiated program was first mobilized by the Human Resources team in Salisbury in search of new talent. Given the refugee community in the region and individuals' interest in finding employment, Gildan turned to this group through partnerships with local organizations and NGOs and began recruiting interested candidates. "Within a short span of time, what began as a recruitment strategy grew into an initiative that strengthens our workforce locally," says Jim Powers, Director, Human Resources at Gildan. "More importantly, it allows us to meaningfully support and guide this group of individuals as they settle into their new lives in the U.S." As part of this program, interested applicants are invited to Gildan's facilities to fill out job applications, participate in an interview, and tour the yarn-spinning facility. If hired, individuals then undergo Gildan's regular employee onboarding, accompanied by rigorous health and safety trainings. Individuals leading this initiative locally are also given cultural sensitivity training to ensure that respect for different backgrounds is upheld and inclusivity is fostered in the workplace. In partnerships with NGOs and several regional organizations, Gildan also lends a hand to these individuals beyond work to help smoothen their transition to a new country. For instance, Gildan assists in securing housing, a valuable support in cases where individuals don't have an existing credit history. Another offering is increased access to English language courses. By far, one of the most beneficial aids the Company provides to this group of employees, as well as to those who may have migrated from other countries, is transportation assistance, increasing their ability to commute long distances, because acquiring a drivers' license in a foreign country can often pose a barrier. Finally, Gildan helps this group of employees with other areas of life, including providing food vouchers, and partnering with local banks to improve employees' access to financial services in the U.S. "I am incredibly proud of my HR team for bringing this initiative to life that has made a positive impact on both our organization and the individuals hired through it," continues Jim. "Navigating one's way through a foreign country is difficult, and we are glad that this program can help our employees feel both welcome and supported as they go through this big life change." Find out more about Gildan's respect for people here. Discover Gildan's Refugee Program on World Refugee Day View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Gildan Activewear on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Gildan Activewear Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/gildan-activewear Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Gildan Activewear View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762321/Discover-Gildans-Refugee-Program-on-World-Refugee-Day WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday showed new residential construction in the U.S. unexpectedly skyrocketed in the month of May. The Commerce Department said housing starts soared by 21.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.631 million in May after tumbling by 2.9 percent to a revised rate of 1.340 million in April. Economists had expected housing starts to edge down to a rate of 1.400 million from the 1.401 million originally reported for the previous month. With the substantial increase, housing starts spiked to their highest annual rate since hitting 1.803 million in April 2022. The report showed single-family housing starts shot up by 18.5 percent to a rate of 997,000, while multi-family housing starts skyrocketed by 27.1 percent to 634,000. The Commerce Department said building permits also surged by 5.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.491 million in May after slumping by 1.4 percent to a revised rate of 1.417 million in April. Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to rise to a rate of 1.423 million from the 1.416 million originally reported for the previous month. Single-family building permits jumped by 4.8 percent to a rate of 897,000, while multi-family building permits surged by 5.9 percent to a rate of 594,000. 'Our baseline forecast assumes housing starts will dip back below 1.40mn later in the year as the economy enters a recession,' said Nancy Vanden Houten, U.S. Lead Economist at Oxford Economics. 'Tighter lending standards are expected to weigh on construction, particularly in the multi-family sector,' she added. 'However, the May report, along with a rebound in homebuilder sentiment, points to an upside risk to that forecast.' The National Association of Home Builders released a separate report on Monday showing homebuilder confidence in the U.S. has improved by much more than expected in the month of June. The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index jumped to 55 in June from 50 in May. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 51. The housing market index increased for the sixth straight month, climbing above the midpoint of 50 for the first time since July 2022. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Mega-Chance Cyber Security Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. Hier klicken Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Geneva will host the inaugural Global Congress on the implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. During the three-day event, which kicks off on Tuesday, delegates from around 130 countries will discuss and share knowledge and strategies to end the unethical marketing of breast-milk substitutes. The Global Congress is co-hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Formula milk manufacturing companies continue to violate the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, established four decades ago, placng commercial interests before children's and families' health, WHO says. Subsequent WHA resolutions have repeatedly called upon national governments to enact, monitor and enforce the provisions of the Code. The response to calls to action launched by WHO and UNICEF has been inadequate and further underscore the need for stronger government regulations. Dr Francesco Branca, Director of Nutrition and Food Safety at WHO, said only 70 percent of Member States have enacted legislation that puts in place at least some of the provisions of the Code. 'But industries are still expanding to push an ever-increasing range of formula milk products on families, using insidious tactics to access their networks and influence their choices. Parents have the right to impartial information on infant feeding, which is actively undermined by exploitative industry marketing,' he added. Most countries do not have active systems to monitor marketing practices, and enforcement provisions are typically weak. During the three-day Congress, countries will share their experiences on the challenges they face in fully implementing the Code; develop national work plans to strengthen legislation, monitoring and enforcement relating to its provisions; and build regional networks to share information and support national action. 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. Thousand Oaks, California--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (FP: CGE), a leading provider of communications, cloud and networking solutions tailored to customers' industries, has announced the move of its American headquarters from Calabasas, CA, to Thousand Oaks, CA. The relocation to 2000 Corporate Center Drive in Thousand Oaks was finalized on the 17th of April. The modern offices are designed to support ALE's hybrid work model and enable team members to collaborate seamlessly whether they are onsite or working remotely. The carefully considered employee areas design aims to enhance teamwork and facilitate collaboration. Portfolio strategy, R&D facilities, new testing labs and manufacturing process engineering are located onsite, creating an innovation and production hub for the global market. By consolidating several labs, ALE has increased the automation and agility of its test environment, enhanced testing capabilities and ensured the highest levels of quality control. A new state-of-the-art Executive Briefing Center (EBC) will be inaugurated in the second half of 2023 to showcase ALE's solutions and services to the company's partners and customers. The new facility's focus on the customer experience goes even further with the layout of the building, including a larger customer area for the EBC and the ability to organize visits that offer full transparency of how ALE teams work in the office and the labs. In alignment with its environmental sustainability commitment, ALE has used the move to optimize the energy needed for powering and cooling down its technology labs by more than 20%. The new facility features state-of-the-art power distribution systems, as well as new highly efficient cooling units with variable speed compressors. An opening ceremony and ribbon cutting is planned for July 12th at the new building. ALE executives and associates will be joined at the celebration by Thousand Oaks Mayor, the honorable Kevin McNamee. "After a year of preparation, the move was successfully carried out over a two-month period while ensuring minimum downtime, a seamless transition for customer support and the continuous availability of our labs," says Stephan Robineau, EVP, Network Business Division and President of ALE USA at Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise. "At Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise's new home in the US, we look forward to boosting innovation and teamwork to deliver continued excellence in customer satisfaction." To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8407/170525_fc668215d45b08c2_003full.jpg To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8407/170525_fc668215d45b08c2_001full.jpg To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8407/170525_fc668215d45b08c2_002full.jpg About Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise delivers the customised technology experiences enterprises need to make everything connect. ALE provides digital-age networking, communications and cloud solutions with services tailored to ensure customers' success, with flexible business models in the cloud, on premises, and hybrid. All solutions have built-in security and limited environmental impact. Over 100 years of innovation have made Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise a trusted advisor to more than a million customers all over the world. With headquarters in France and 3,400 business partners worldwide, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise achieves an effective global reach with a local focus. al-enterprise.com | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram Press contacts Director of Marketing, Americas Sara Brunswick sara.brunswick@al-enterprise.com Global press Carine Bowen press@al-enterprise.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170525 Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Rio Tinto said Tuesday that it will invest in its Kennecott operation near Salt Lake City, Utah, to strengthen its supply of copper in the United States. The company noted that $498 million of funding has been approved to deliver underground development and infrastructure for an area known as the North Rim Skarn or NRS. Production from the NRS will commence in 2024 and is expected to ramp up over two years, to deliver around 250 thousand tonnes of additional mined copper over the next 10 years alongside open cut operations. 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. BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust Plc - Result of AGM PR Newswire London, June 20 BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust plc (LEI: 549300MS535KC2WH4082) Results of AGM BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust plc announces that, at the Annual General Meeting held today, all 15 resolutions were duly passed on a poll. The full text of the resolutions can be found in the Notice of Annual General Meeting set out in the Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 28 February 2023, which has previously been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and is available for inspection at: https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism The results of the poll were as follows: Votes For & Discretionary % Votes Against % Votes Total % of Available voting rights* Votes Withheld Resolution 1 21,788,496 93.33 1,556,615 6.67 23,345,111 48.03 0 Resolution 2 23,274,181 99.87 29,714 0.13 23,303,895 47.94 41,216 Resolution 3 23,262,005 99.78 51,196 0.22 23,313,201 47.96 31,910 Resolution 4 23,343,583 99.99 1,528 0.01 23,345,111 48.03 0 Resolution 5 23,058,704 98.80 280,599 1.20 23,339,303 48.01 5,808 Resolution 6 22,636,346 96.99 702,698 3.01 23,339,044 48.01 6,067 Resolution 7 23,032,559 98.69 306,744 1.31 23,339,303 48.01 5,808 Resolution 8 23,057,974 98.79 281,329 1.21 23,339,303 48.01 5,808 Resolution 9 20,613,857 88.32 2,725,445 11.68 23,339,302 48.01 5,809 Resolution 10 21,775,460 93.28 1,568,456 6.72 23,343,916 48.02 1,195 Resolution 11 23,339,041 99.98 4,869 0.02 23,343,910 48.02 1,201 Resolution 12 23,222,173 99.57 99,311 0.43 23,321,484 47.98 22,327 Resolution 13 23,327,713 99.93 17,018 0.07 23,344,731 48.02 380 Resolution 14 23,312,368 99.86 31,558 0.14 23,343,926 48.02 1,185 Resolution 15 21,772,499 93.27 1,571,069 6.73 23,343,568 48.02 1,543 *Available Voting Rights (exc. Treasury) equals 48,609,792 20 June 2023 Team PoliMOVE wins first-ever road course time trial competition The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) today announced that team PoliMOVE won the first-ever autonomous driving road course time trial competition, held at the Monza "Temple of Speed." The historic feat took place as part of the Milan Monza Motor Show (MIMO), which ran from June 16-18, 2023, at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620711764/en/ Team PoliMOVE won the first-ever autonomous driving road course time trial competition, held at the Monza "Temple of Speed." The fact that a "hometown" team representing Politecnico di Milano won resulted in a historic celebration on the Monza Winner's Podium. (Photo: Business Wire) In January, the IAC announced it would expand its challenges to include road courses and formed a two-year partnership with the Milan Monza Motor Show to run competitions at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on the famed F1 circuit. IAC teams were tasked with programming their AI drivers to pilot identical Dallara AV-21 racecars in the first IAC exhibition ever held on a road course and the first run outside the United States. "Once again, the Indy Autonomous Challenge is pushing the boundaries of high-speed automation with a historic time trial race on the iconic Monza F1 circuit," said Paul Mitchell president, IAC. "It was an honor for the IAC to have our competition approved by the Automobile Club d'Italia (ACI Sport) and watch the fans cheer on the winning hometown team PoliMOVE. We can't wait to come back next year and attempt some head-to-head racing." The IAC brought six autonomous racecars and five university teams to MIMO to compete in six sessions over three days, totaling more than 1,300 miles of testing where the cars consistently reached increasing speeds, running progressively faster lap times. The autonomous driving software was programmed by students and researchers from some of the most advanced universities and research centers in the world, and included teams from: KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) MIT-PITT-RW (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pittsburgh, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Waterloo) PoliMOVE (Politecnico di Milano, University of Alabama) TII UNIMORE Racing (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia) TUM Autonomous Motorsport (Technische Universitat Munchen) TII UNIMORE Racing, TUM Autonomous Motorsport, and PoliMOVE entered the final round of competition on Sunday afternoon separated by only three seconds. In a thrilling ending, team PoliMOVE finished its final lap in a blistering 2:05.87 on the 5.79 kilometer 3.6-mile-long track, with 11 turns, reaching a top speed of 273.4 KPH 169.8 MPH. Beating the odds, PoliMOVE's AI driver was piloting a backup AV-21 racecar due to a wreck of its original car during practice earlier in the week. TUM Autonomous Motorsport took second place with a lap time of 2:08.66 (269.9 KPH/167.7 MPH top speed) and TII UNIMORE Racing finished third with a final lap time of 2:11.24 (250.8 KPH 155.8 MPH top speed). More than 10,000 spectators filled the stands to witness a first-of-its-kind spectacle of fully autonomous racecars competing on an F1 circuit. The fact that a "hometown" team representing Politecnico di Milano won resulted in a historic celebration on the Monza Winner's Podium. Each of the five university teams participating received an official driving license to participate in the competition, issued by ACI Milano. Although the license is granted to the team leader, it represents a first-of-its-kind motorsport license for an "AI driver." To gain approval from ACI Sport, the IAC and each university team had to submit historical data and demonstrate track tests at Monza to validate the ability and safe operations of an autonomous racecar. The IAC will continue to collaborate with ACI Sport and the Autodromo Nazionale Monza to advance the rules and regulations guiding autonomous racing competitions with the goal to hold the first multicar head-to-head racing competition during MIMO 2024. In addition to track activities, the IAC exhibited alongside Premier Sponsors, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) and Luminar, all week in Pit Boxes 37-39. The exhibition allowed spectators to learn about IAC's base of operations in Indiana where it is partnering with the IEDC to develop a global hub for high speed automation. Media Resources: General IAC photos and videos can be found on the IAC Media Page Follow @IndyAChallenge and IAC2023 on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram YouTube. and on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram YouTube. Media Contact: Allison Fried, (IAC@onemorevolley.com) IAC stakeholders are available for interview, reach out to schedule. About IAC: The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) organizes racing competitions among university affiliated teams from around the world to program fully autonomous racecars and compete in a series of history-making events at iconic tracks. Based in Indiana, the IAC is working to establish a hub for performance automation in the state and is harnessing the power of innovative competitions to attract the best and the brightest minds from around the globe to further state-of the-art technology in safety and performance of automated vehicles. The IAC started as a $1 million prize competition with 31 university teams signing up to compete more than two years ago, representing top engineering and technology universities from 11 countries including 15 U.S. states. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620711764/en/ Contacts: Allison Fried Indy Autonomous Challenge Director of Communications IAC@OneMoreVolley.com The Business Research Company's global market reports are now updated with the latest market sizing information for the year 2023 and forecasted to 2032 LONDON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As per The Business Research Company's Restaurants And Mobile Food Services Global Market Report 2023, the global restaurants and mobile food services market size will grow from $2854.8 billion in 2022 to $3025.5 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6%. The restaurants and mobile food services market is then expected to grow to $3790.2 billion in 2027 at a CAGR of more than 5%. Increasing demand for online food delivery services is expected to propel the restaurants and mobile food services market growth going forward. According to data presented by TradingPlatforms, a UK-based online education and comparison platform for online traders, in 2023, around 2.85 billion people are expected to use online food delivery services, up from 350 million in 2022. Therefore, increasing demand for online food delivery services will drive the growth of the restaurants and mobile food services market. Learn More On The Restaurants And Mobile Food Services Market Report - https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/restaurants-and-mobile-food-services-global-market-report Companies in the restaurants and mobile food services market are focusing on the internet of things (IoT) for seamless interoperability with third-party sensing devices and enterprise management systems, allowing food service companies to successfully leverage their existing tech stacks for task management, asset monitoring, menu management and food safety. For example, in May 2023, BobNet Group, a Romanian company specializing in automation solutions for the retail and hospitality sectors, launched Bob Bistro, a dining service for the office. This service ensures the seamless delivery of freshly prepared, nutritious menus directly to the workplace, leveraging IoT technology. In addition, restaurants and mobile food services companies are focusing on using cloud technology to enhance operational efficiencies. Cloud technology allows for real-time access to data, enabling better decision-making and resource allocation. It also enables efficient online ordering and delivery systems, providing customers with a seamless and convenient experience. For example, in September 2022, Lightspeed Commerce, a Canadian point-of-sale (POS) software provider, launched the Lightspeed Restaurant platform in Australia. The company claims that the new unified hospitality commerce and POS platform will support the revival of the Australian restaurant industry. The cloud-based platform integrates analytics, contactless integrated payments, online ordering and an advanced inventory to help restaurant operators. Request A Free Sample Of The Restaurants And Mobile Food Services Market Report - https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/sample.aspx?id=5479&type=smp The global restaurants and mobile food services market is segmented - 1) By Type: Full-Service Restaurants, Limited-Service Restaurants, Cafeterias, Grill Buffets, And Buffets, Mobile Food Services 2) By Ownership: Chain Market, Standalone Market 3) By Pricing: High-End, Economy 4) By Service Type: Online Booking, Offline Booking As per restaurants and mobile food services market analysis, the top growth potential in the restaurants and mobile food services market by ownership will arise in the standalone market segment, which will gain $487.38 billion of global annual sales by 2027. Asia Pacific was the largest region in the restaurants and mobile food services market, accounting for 51.0% of the total in 2022. It was followed by North America, and then the other regions. View More Similar Market Reports: Online Food Delivery Services Global Market Report 2023 https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/online-food-delivery-services-global-market-report Restaurant Point Of Sale Terminal Global Market Report 2023 https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/restaurant-point-of-sale-terminal-global-market-report Fast Food And Quick Service Restaurant Global Market Report 2023 https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/fast-food-and-quick-service-restaurant-global-market-report Interested to know more about The Business Research Company? The Business Research Company has published over 3000+ detailed industry reports, spanning over 3000+ market segments and 60 geographies. The reports draw on 1,500,000 datasets, extensive secondary research, and exclusive insights from interviews with industry leaders. 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Contact Information The Business Research Company Europe: +44 207 1930 708 Asia: +91 8897263534 Americas: +1 315 623 0293 Email: info@tbrc.info Follow Us On: LinkedIn:https://in.linkedin.com/company/the-business-research-company Twitter:https://twitter.com/tbrc_info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBusinessResearchCompany YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC24_fI0rV8cR5DxlCpgmyFQ Blog:https://blog.tbrc.info/ Healthcare Blog:https://healthcareresearchreports.com/ Global Market Model: https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/global-market-model Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1751581/tbrc_logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/the-restaurants-and-mobile-food-services-market-is-expected-to-grow-at-a-rate-of-5-due-to-increasing-demand-for-online-food-delivery-services--by-the-business-research-company-301855048.html A 1.5 million funding from "Bpifrance Direction Regionale de Nantes" as part of an "R&D Innovation Loan" program. Development of a companion diagnostic test to identify HLA-A2 positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients eligible for treatment with Tedopi in the next pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial under preparation. Regulatory News: OSE Immunotherapeutics SA (ISIN: FR0012127173; Mnemo: OSE) today announced that the Company has received 1.5 million in non-dilutive funding from Bpifrance Direction Regionale de Nantes. The "R&D Innovation Loan" program aims at supporting the development of a companion diagnostic for the pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of Tedopi in NSCLC second line treatment. The funding from Bpifrance aims at accelerating the development of an innovative companion diagnostic test based on a simple blood sample. The companion diagnostic is a unique test for a predictive immunological biomarker to identify patients with HLA-A2 genotype who are biological responders to Tedopi. The companion diagnostic will be used for the enrolment of the patient subpopulation in the upcoming registration pivotal Phase 3 of Tedopi. The objective of this final clinical development stage is to confirm the efficacy and safety of Tedopi in second line treatment post-immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) failure in HLA-A2 positive NSCLC patients. NSCLC accounts for 85% of all lung cancers and the HLA-A2 phenotype represents about 45% of the population. Based on selection of patients after ICI failure data, the targeted population for Tedopi in second line is hence considered as rare with high unmet medical needs. Up to 100,000 patients per year are estimated to potentially benefit from Tedopi in 7 major markets across the US, Europe, China and Japan. Tedopi has obtained an orphan drug status designation in the United States and is considered as a precision medicine in Europe for HLA-A2 positive patients. Nicolas Poirier, Chief Executive Officer of OSE Immunotherapeutics, comments: "We warmly thank Bpifrance Direction Regionale de Nantes for funding the development of this unique companion diagnostic test to accelerate the final clinical development phase of our cancer vaccine Tedopi in preparation to support the regulatory registration in advanced NSCLC for the HLA-A2 patient subpopulation". ABOUT OSE Immunotherapeutics OSE Immunotherapeutics is a biotech company dedicated to developing first-in-class assets in immuno-oncology and immuno-inflammation. The Company's current well-balanced first-in-class clinical pipeline includes: Tedopi (immunotherapy activating tumor specific T-cells, off-the-shelf, neoepitope-based): this cancer vaccine is the Company's most advanced product; positive results from the Phase 3 trial (Atalante 1) in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer patients in secondary resistance after checkpoint inhibitor failure. Other Phase 2 trials, sponsored by clinical oncology groups, of Tedopi in combination are ongoing in solid tumors. (immunotherapy activating tumor specific T-cells, off-the-shelf, neoepitope-based): this cancer vaccine is the Company's most advanced product; positive results from the Phase 3 trial (Atalante 1) in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer patients in secondary resistance after checkpoint inhibitor failure. Other Phase 2 trials, sponsored by clinical oncology groups, of Tedopi in combination are ongoing in solid tumors. OSE-279 (anti-PD1): ongoing Phase 1/2 in solid tumors or lymphomas (first patient included). OSE-279 is the backbone therapy of the BiCKI platform. OSE-127 lusvertikimab (humanized monoclonal antibody antagonist of IL-7 receptor); ongoing Phase 2 in Ulcerative Colitis (sponsor OSE Immunotherapeutics); ongoing preclinical research in leukemia (OSE Immunotherapeutics). (humanized monoclonal antibody antagonist of IL-7 receptor); ongoing Phase 2 in Ulcerative Colitis (sponsor OSE Immunotherapeutics); ongoing preclinical research in leukemia (OSE Immunotherapeutics). FR-104/VEL-101 (anti-CD28 monoclonal antibody): developed in partnership with Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in transplantation; ongoing Phase 1/2 in renal transplant (sponsor Nantes University Hospital); Phase 1 ongoing in the US (sponsor Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.). OSE-172/BI 765063 (anti-SIRPa monoclonal antibody on CD47/SIRPa pathway) developed in partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim in advanced solid tumors; positive Phase 1 dose escalation results in monotherapy and in combination, in particular with anti-PD-1 antibody ezabenlimab; international Phase 1b ongoing clinical trial in combination with ezabenlimab alone or with other drugs in patients with recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). OSE Immunotherapeutics expects to generate further significant value from its two proprietary drug discovery platforms, which are central to its ambitious goal to deliver next-generation first-in-class immunotherapeutics: BiCKI platform focused on immuno-oncology (IO) is a bispecific fusion protein platform built on the key backbone component of anti-PD1 combined with a new immunotherapy target to increase anti-tumor efficacy. BiCKI-IL-7 is the most advanced BiCKI candidate targeting anti-PD1xIL-7. focused on immuno-oncology (IO) is a bispecific fusion protein platform built on the key backbone component of anti-PD1 combined with a new immunotherapy target to increase anti-tumor efficacy. BiCKI-IL-7 is the most advanced BiCKI candidate targeting anti-PD1xIL-7. Myeloid platform focused on optimizing the therapeutic potential of myeloid cells in IO and immuno-inflammation (I&I). OSE-230 (ChemR23 agonist mAb) is the most advanced candidate generated by the platform, with the potential to resolve chronic inflammation by driving affected tissues to tissue integrity. Additional information about OSE Immunotherapeutics assets is available on the Company's website: www.ose-immuno.com Click and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn Forward-looking statements This press release contains express or implied information and statements that might be deemed forward-looking information and statements in respect of OSE Immunotherapeutics. They do not constitute historical facts. These information and statements include financial projections that are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by OSE Immunotherapeutics' management in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. These forward-looking statements include statements typically using conditional and containing verbs such as "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "target", "plan", or "estimate", their declensions and conjugations and words of similar import. Although the OSE Immunotherapeutics management believes that the forward-looking statements and information are reasonable, the OSE Immunotherapeutics' shareholders and other investors are cautioned that the completion of such expectations is by nature subject to various risks, known or not, and uncertainties which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of OSE Immunotherapeutics. These risks could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in or implied or projected by the forward-looking statements. These risks include those discussed or identified in the public filings made by OSE Immunotherapeutics with the AMF. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. This press release includes only summary information and should be read with the OSE Immunotherapeutics Universal Registration Document filed with the AMF on May 2, 2023, including the annual financial report for the fiscal year 2022, available on the OSE Immunotherapeutics' website. Other than as required by applicable law, OSE Immunotherapeutics issues this press release at the date hereof and does not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information or statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620511491/en/ Contacts: OSE Immunotherapeutics Sylvie Detry sylvie.detry@ose-immuno.com +33 1 53 198 757 Nicolas Poirier Chief Executive Officer nicolas.poirier@ose-immuno.com French Media: FP2COM Florence Portejoie fportejoie@fp2com.fr +33 6 07 768 283 NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / U.S. Bank: Photo: Tamika Perry, Dallas Hope Charity's CEO, pictured with U.S. Bank representatives Doug Whittemore, Conor O'Hagan and Jennifer Palmberg Originally published on U.S. Bank company blog Doors recently opened to an unprecedented home serving a population of young people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area who may have had the doors closed on them at home. Earlier this year, the nonprofit Dallas Hope Charities debuted a newly refurbished home for LGBTQ+ ages 18-24, aiming to provide a safe place and sense of community. The eight-bed home, called Dallas Hope Center, provides residents with a 12-month program that provides a secure, welcoming environment where they can learn important life skills necessary to successfully lead independent lives. LGBTQIA+ youth are overrepresented among young people experiencing homelessness in the U.S., according to a 2022 report by The Trevor Project . Some 28% of LGBTQIA+ youth reported experiencing homelessness or housing instability in their lives, and those who did had two to four times the odds of reporting mental health challenges such as depression, self-harm or attempting suicide compared to those with stable housing. About 16% of LGBTQIA+ youth reported they ran away from home, with the majority saying they ran away because of mistreatment due to their identity, and another 14% reported they were kicked out or abandoned by their parents or caregivers. "The consequences of homelessness for LGBTQIA+ youth are devastating," said Doug Whittemore, senior vice president, head of consumer & mortgage default operations at U.S. Bank. "This program is designed to help young people who are often forced to leave their homes due to rejection, discrimination and abuse from their families and communities. They are left without a support system, without a safe and stable place to call home." U.S. Bank provided the funding to rehabilitate the fixer-upper home Dallas Hope Charities purchased in 2020, partnering with other companies including property services company MCS and landscaping company SHINEscapes for home renovations that ranged from stabilizing the foundation to installing new appliances. The transformation was perfected with design and personalization of the interior living spaces from Dwell with Dignity and Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA. Telling the stories of how people spoke up and the positive impact it makes is important. So that's one of the projects we're working on with that team. U.S. Bank has further teamed up with Dallas Hope Charities to offer internships to Hope Center residents during their journey through the 12-month program. The internships will provide the opportunity to practice the crucial life and soft skills required for a successful career. Interns will have the potential for permanent employment. U.S. Bank over the past decade has completed over 100 donations to military families, including 24 mortgage-free homes through Housing Opportunities after Military Engagement , and the partnership with Dallas Hope Charities, a first of its kind for the bank, likely won't be the last, Whittemore said. The need for this kind of transitional housing is tremendous: there are currently more than 300 young adults on the waitlist seeking housing through Dallas Hope Charities. "We are just one organization, but we're doing everything that we can," said Tamika Perry, Dallas Hope Charity's CEO. For more information, visit here . View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from U.S. Bank on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: U.S. Bank Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/us-bank Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: U.S. Bank View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762393/Dallas-LGBTQIA-Young-Adults-Experiencing-Homelessness-Find-a-Community New investment partnership between Clariane Group and Banque des Territoires, taking 49% equity stake Financing the development of healthcare facilities in France to meet increasing needs for local care of chronic diseases and post-acute A first tranche of c. 150 m of investment over 4 years, enabling to finance 5 projects Regulatory News: Clariane (Paris:CLARI), the leading European community in care, healthcare and hospitality in times of vulnerability, has signed a new development partnership with the Banque des Territoires in France to accompany the development of its healthcare network in France. In France, Clariane operates 110 healthcare facilities under the brand Inicea and 272 nursing homes under the brand Korian. The Group, in partnership with the local players, will continue to adapt and develop its network to respond to the needs of the population, in a context of increase of chronic diseases prevalence. The partnership with the Banque des Territoires will be structured with 49% equity stake for the bank and Clariane retaining 51%. There will be a lock up of 8 years for the two parties. 5 projects of greenfield or brownfield (to extend and transform existing facilities) have already been identified for a first tranche, representing a targeted investment of approximately 150 million over a 4-year period. On the back of its engagement in elderly care, the Banque de Territoires brings its real estate expertise and deep knowledge of the French regions to the partnership, as well as enabling Clariane to simultaneously support the growing needs for care in France, whilst deleveraging its balance sheet. The bank is already a partner in Clariane's Ages Vie real estate development partnership since 2019. Olivier Sichel, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Caisse des Depots and Director of the Banque de Territoires, stated "The development of healthcare infrastructure in all regions across France is a key priority for us and we are pleased to continue work with Clariane as the leader in care across Europe, in order to develop new solutions for care in France. Frederic Durousseau, Clariane Chief Real Estate and Development Officer, declared "We are delighted to receive the continued support and confidence of the Banques des Territoires to provide real estate solutions to the Inicea and Korian teams and help develop best in class care solutions in French regions. Forthcoming events 27 July 2023 Half-year 2023 revenue and results About Clariane Clariane is the leading European community for care in times of vulnerability. It has operations in seven countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. Relying on their diverse expertise, each year, the Group's 67,000 professionals provide services to over 800,000 patients and residents in three main areas of activity: long-term care nursing home (Korian, Seniors Residencias, Berkley, etc.), healthcare facilities and services (Inicea, Ita, Grupo 5, Lebenswert, etc.), and alternative living solutions (Petits-fils, Les essentiels, Ages et Vie, etc.). In June 2023, Clariane became a purpose-driven company and added to its bylaws a new corporate purpose, common to all its activities: "To take care of each person's humanity in times of vulnerability". Clariane has been listed on Euronext Paris Section A since November 2006 and is included in the following indices: SBF 120, CAC Health Care, CAC Mid 60, CAC Mid Small and MSCI Global Small Cap Euronext ticker: CLARI ISIN: FR0010386334 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620869415/en/ Contacts: Investor relations Sarah Mingham VP Investor Relations Financing +33 1 55 37 53 55 sarah.mingham@korian.com Charles Rungeard Investor relations +33 6 86 75 29 51 charles.rungeard@korian.com Press contacts Matthieu Desplats Press relations Director +33 6 58 09 01 61 Matthieu.desplats@korian.com Julie Mary Press relations manager +33 6 59 72 50 69 julie.mary@korian.com Florian Bachelet Press relations manager +33 6 79 86 78 23 florian.bachelet@korian.com Millicom (Tigo) to hold the third edition of the Regional Congress of its flagship program Maestr@s Conectad@s The event, which aims at enhancing the digital skills of educators in Latin America will take place virtually on June 29th, featuring five international speakers. Luxembourg, June 20th, 2023 - Millicom (Tigo) holds the Third Congress of Maestr@s Conectad@s, an initiative focused on enhancing teachers' and educators' digital skillsets and educational capabilities. Some topics on the meeting's agenda include Innovation and creativity in the classrooms; resources for transitioning between in-person, virtual, and hybrid education; and understanding and managing students' fleeting attention in the classrooms. The Congress is free of charge and will feature the presence of international experts: Ramon Barrera and Fernando Botella from Spain, Tecayehuatzin Mancilla from Mexico, and Lucrecia Prat and Jorge Dubatti from Argentina. "Since 2020, through this program we have trained over 400,000 teachers in Latin America, equipping them with practical tools and skills training to adapt to the demands of virtual teaching," said Karim Lesina, Executive Vice President, Chief External Affairs Officer at Millicom. "The third edition of Maestr@s Conectad@s Congress reaffirms our commitment to communities and the importance of strengthening digital education because transformation begins in the classrooms." Maestr@s Conectad@s is being implemented in the nine countries where Millicom operates and represents a transformative program focused on digital learning for both teachers and students. The Maestr@s Conectad@s Congress fosters the exchange of knowledge and experiences that will support educators in the challenges and opportunities of digital education. For this edition of the congress, Millicom continues its collaboration with AHYU, an organization focused on developing educational content. The program, launched in June 2022, also has a free digital platform that offers 20 courses. The courses include digital tools, PowerPoint, Canva, Zoom, educational innovation, storytelling, gamification, the use of social networks, digital tools for the classroom, and neuroeducation. The Congress will take place at 5:30 p.m. for Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala; 6:30 p.m. for Colombia and Panama, and 7:30 p.m. for Bolivia and Paraguay. Participants will be able to access the congress through the link http://www.maestrosconectados.com/congreso . Attendees will receive a certificate of participation. -END- For further information, please contact Press: Sofia Corral, Director Corporate Communications press@millicom.com (mailto:press@millicom.com) Investors: Michel Morin, VP Investor Relations Sarah Inmon, Director Investor Relations investors@millicom.com (mailto:investors@millicom.com) About Millicom Millicom. Connect with Millicom on Twitter , Instagram , Facebook, and LinkedIn . Attachment WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Minneapolis' iconic gay bar The Saloon has made a bold move ahead of the upcoming Twin Cities Pride celebration by removing Anheuser-Busch products from its offerings and replacing them with a selection of locally brewed beers. The decision was driven by a sense of disappointment in Anheuser-Busch's lack of support for marginalized communities, according to John Moore, the owner of The Saloon. In a statement, Moore expressed his belief that Anheuser-Busch had the opportunity to stand with a marginalized community in a way that few other corporations have attempted, but ultimately chose to abandon that path. This decision was deemed unacceptable by The Saloon and its management. The decision to part ways with Anheuser-Busch follows the company's recent termination of its campaign featuring actress and influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who is celebrating her first year as an openly transgender woman. The move by Anheuser-Busch appears to have been the catalyst for The Saloon's decision to sever ties with the brewing giant. As a result, The Saloon will no longer offer popular Anheuser-Busch products such as Bud Light, Michelob Golden Light, and Michelob Ultra. Instead, patrons will have the opportunity to enjoy a variety of beers from local breweries, including Modist Brewing Co. and Bauhaus Brew Labs. Robby Palmer, the general manager of The Saloon, expressed enthusiasm for the new offerings, stating that Modist and Bauhaus breweries share the bar's passion for both beer and their communities. The Saloon sees this shift as an exciting opportunity to support local businesses and foster a sense of community while maintaining its reputation as one of Minneapolis' premier party destinations. The decision to replace Anheuser-Busch products with local beer selections reflects The Saloon's commitment to celebrating the existence of the queer community and creating a welcoming space for all. As preparations for the Twin Cities Pride celebration continue, The Saloon aims to send a powerful message by aligning its offerings with its values and supporting local breweries that are deeply rooted in their communities. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Mega-Chance Cyber Security Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. Hier klicken LONGMONT, Colo., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), a private, non-profit oceanographic research center, is working with 3D at Depth, the global leader in commercial subsea LiDAR laser technology, to deliver a new design for a next generation Subsea Lidar customized for marine science applications. If successful, fabrication of the next generation system will begin later this year. MBARI began testing 3D at Depth's technology with the first-generation subsea LiDAR system (the SL1) in 2013 and incorporated the sensor into the institute's Low-Altitude Survey System (LASS) that can be attached to MBARI's remotely operated vehicles to map and image the deep ocean floor. In 2017, 3D at Depth delivered a 4000m depth rated Wide Swath Subsea LiDAR (WiSSL) to meet the custom requirements for MBARI's seabed mapping work. Starting in 2018, MBARI's Seafloor Mapping Lab has used the WiSSL and LASS to map a variety of seafloor features and habitats at centimeter scale, including methane gas seeps, faults, submarine canyons, deep-sea coral and sponge communities, octopus brooding sites, and high-temperature hydrothermal vents. MBARI's mission is to advance marine science and engineering to understand a changing ocean. Visualizing the structure of the seafloor is critical to understanding the biology and ecology of the ocean. The success of the WiSSL and LASS has allowed MBARI and 3D at Depth to demonstrate the benefits of efficient 1-cm-scale swath mapping in the deep ocean. Ultimately, MBARI plans to incorporate the low-altitude survey capability on autonomous platforms to achieve efficient centimeter-scale surveys of the deep ocean floor. To this effort, MBARI is collaborating with 3D at Depth to develop the next generation system that provides enhanced capabilities in a smaller package capable of AUV deployments. Dave Caress, Principal Investigator for MBARI's Seafloor Mapping Lab, states, "Our desire to achieve 1-cm-scale surveys of areas with complex and rugged terrain requires generating precise bathymetry over altitudes from 2-m to 10-m, while our need for efficient use of expensive platforms requires a scan rate and a field of view comparable to other swath mapping sensors. Achieving this performance with a LiDAR that is smaller, lighter, and uses less power will enable us to integrate the system into smaller subsea vehicles, and ultimately to make fundamental new observations in the deep ocean in support of our benthic ecology and marine geology research programs." Carl Embry, CEO of 3D at Depth, states, "We are excited that a research organization such as MBARI continues to use and invest in our technology to meet one of their strategic goals. These projects are truly a win-win for both organizations as it provides MBARI with a tool to meet their scientific goals and this helps us accelerate the development of our next generation Subsea LiDAR (SL) systems for moving AUVs and ROVs." Usage guidelines: Image may only be used for media coverage of 3D at Depth's press release (MBARI Collaborates with 3D at Depth on a New Detailed Design of the Next Generation Subsea Lidar Customized for Scientific Research). Image may not be added to any stock library and any additional use requires MBARI permission. Questions may be referred to pressroom@mbari.org. Issued on behalf of 3D at Depth by HHE Business. For more information, please contact Martine Watker media@3datdepth.com / martine@hhebusiness.co.uk or +44 7828828216 Notes to Editors 3D at Depth is the world's foremost commercial leader in advanced subsea LiDAR laser technology. Its advanced Subsea LiDAR laser (SL) systems and subsea survey services enable clients to extract more value from underwater 3D data. Through advanced data collection, processing, visualization, and analysis, 3D at Depth provides accurate, repeatable, millimetric 3D point clouds to help measure, map, and evaluate underwater assets and environments. The firm supports customer survey operations globally from its bases in Europe and the United States. To learn more and gain insight into the range of solutions and services provided by 3D at Depth, visit www.3datdepth.com, LinkedIn, and 3D at Depth on Twitter and Instagram. For more information visit: https://www.3datdepth.com PR & Marketing contact: 3D at Depth - Martine Watker, Marketing Communications at 3D at Depth / HHE Business +44 7828 828216 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2106475/3D_at_Depth_MBARI_LASS_lidar_sled.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/mbari-collaborates-with-3d-at-depth-on-a-new-detailed-design-of-the-next-generation-subsea-lidar-customized-for-scientific-research-301855725.html Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Berlin to entice major chunk of investment. CHICAGO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Arizton's latest research report, the Germany data center market will grow at a CAGR of 2.89% from 2022 to 2028. To Know More, Download the Free Sample Report: https://www.arizton.com/request-sample/3885 Around $2.18 billion will be invested in core & shell development across Germany between 2023 and 2028. In Germany, the automotive industry is the top contributor to GDP. This will increase digital infrastructure. The government is focusing on increasing digitalization and setting up robust digital infrastructure to drive investments in data centers in Germany. Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Berlin are some of Germany's most attractive investment locations due to the increasing demand for colocation from operators maintaining data centers in those cities. Around 6.33 million square feet of data center space will be added across Germany between 2023 and 2028. Germany Data Center Market Report Scope Report Attributes Details Market Size (Investment) USD 7.58 Billion (2028) Market Size (Area) 1.13 million sq. Feet (2028) Market Size (Power Capacity) 230 MW (2028) CAGR Investment (2022-2028) 2.89 % Colocation Market Size (Revenue) USD 2.1 Billion (2028) Historic Year 2021-2022 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023-2028 Looking for More Information? Download the Free Sample Report Now: https://www.arizton.com/request-sample/3885 The adoption of advanced technologies such as cloud, IoT, big data, and AI by enterprises will lead to higher adoption of high-performance computing infrastructure in the upcoming years. The rise in digital transformation strategies and enterprises' adoption of cloud computing are likely to increase cloud server adoption in Germany. Broadcom, Cisco System, Dell Technologies, HPE, IBM, and Lenovo are some of the major server vendors in the country. For instance, Airbus Helicopters has installed Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI), Enterprise Routing, Enterprise Switching, SD- Access, Wireless, which is operated by Cisco DNA Center SD-WAN. Investment Opportunities In October 2022, STACK Infrastructure to develop an 80 MW data center campus in a former Coca-Cola bottling plant in the Liederbach area, Germany. In September 2022, OVHcloud was building its data center in Limburg, Germany. The company announced its first facility in Limburg in 2016. In September 2022, the maincubes was acquired by investment management firm Digital Transformation Capital Partners (DTCP). In September 2022, Bechtle, a German technology and service company, launched the new data center in the PFALZKOM facility in Mutterstadt, Germany. In July 2022, a European real estate company, P3 Logistics Park, was planning to construct a data center campus in Hanau, Germany, with a power capacity of 180 MW. In June 2022, the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) selected German research institution Forschungszentrum Julich for hosting supercomputing in Germany. This supercomputer is Europe's first Exascale supercomputer. In March 2022, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) invested by acquiring two data centers of AKQUINET in Hamburg. Also, the company plans to launch a new DACH data center operator with an investment of around $5.5 million, which is expected to expand its footprint in the country. Germany is also witnessing data center investments by new entrants such as VIRTUS Data Centres, Damac Data Centres, DATA CASTLE, NewTelco, NDC-GARBE Data Centers, and Yondr. For instance, VIRTUS Data Centres, a UK-based colocation service provider, announced to expand of its footprint into Germany. The company is involved in developing a new data center VIRTUS BERLIN1 in Berlin, which is expected to be operational by 2026. Why Should You Buy This Research? Market size available in the investment, area, power capacity, and Germany colocation market revenue. An assessment of the data center investment in Germany by colocation, hyperscale, and enterprise operators. Investments in the area (square feet) and power capacity (MW) across states in the country. A detailed study of the existing Germany data center market landscape, an in-depth market analysis, and insightful predictions about industry size during the forecast period. Snapshot of existing and upcoming third-party data center facilities in Germany Facilities Covered (Existing): 140 Facilities Identified (Upcoming): 17 Coverage: 25+ Cities Existing vs. Upcoming (Area) Existing vs. Upcoming (IT Load Capacity) Data center colocation market in Germany Market Revenue & Forecast (2022-2028) Retail Colocation Pricing The Germany market investments are classified into IT, power, cooling, and general construction services with sizing and forecast. A comprehensive analysis of the latest trends, growth rate, potential opportunities, growth restraints, and prospects for the market. Business overview and product offerings of prominent IT infrastructure providers, construction contractors, support infrastructure providers, and investors operating in the market. A transparent research methodology and the analysis of the demand and supply aspects of the market. The Report Includes the Investment in the Following Areas: IT Infrastructure Servers Storage Systems Network Infrastructure Electrical Infrastructure UPS Systems Generators Switches & Switchgears PDUs Other Electrical Infrastructure Mechanical Infrastructure Cooling Systems Racks Other Mechanical Infrastructure Cooling Systems CRAC & CRAH Units Chiller Units Cooling Towers, Condensers & Dry Coolers Economizers & Evaporative Coolers Other Cooling Units General Construction Core & Shell Development Installation & Commissioning Services Engineering & Building Design Fire Detection & Suppression Physical Security Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) Tier Standard Tier I & Tier II Tier III Tier IV Vendor Landscape IT Infrastructure Providers Atos Broadcom Cisco Systems Dell Technologies Fujitsu Hewlett Packard Enterprise Huawei Technologies IBM Juniper Networks Lenovo NetApp Data Center Construction Contractors & Sub-Contractors AECOM Arup Collen Construction DPR Construction ICT Facilities KLEINUNDARCHITEKTEN Lupp Group Max Bogl Mercury Engineering M+W Group (Exyte) Royal HaskoningDHV STS Group SPIE Winthrop Engineering Zech Group Support Infrastructure Providers ABB Airedale International Air Conditioning Caterpillar Cummins Delta Electronics Eaton KOHLER-SDMO Legrand Mitsubishi Electric Piller Power Systems Riello UPS Rittal Rolls Royce Schneider Electric Siemens Socomec STULZ Vertiv Data Center Investors China Mobile International Colt Data Centre Services CyrusOne Datacenter One Digital Realty Equinix Global Switch Hetzner Online Iron Mountain ITENOS Lumen Technologies Maincubes noris network NDC-GARBE Data Centers NTT Global Data Centers Penta Infra Telehouse Vantage Data Centers New Entrants NewTelco Damac Data Centres Data Castle Yondr Table of Content Chapter 1: Existing & Upcoming Third-Party Data Centers in Germany Historical Market Scenario 135+ Unique Data Center Properties Data Center IT Load Capacity Data Center White Floor Area Existing Vs Upcoming Data Center Capacity by Locations Locations Covered Frankfurt Berlin Hamburg Munich Nuremberg Dusseldorf Other Cities List of Upcoming Data Center Facilities Chapter 2: Investment Opportunities in Germany Microeconomic and Macroeconomic Factors of Germany Market Investment Opportunities in Germany Investment by Area Investment by Power Capacity Chapter 3: Data Center Colocation Market in Germany Colocation Services Market in the Germany Data Center Demand across Industries in Germany Retail vs Wholesale Data Center Colocation Colocation Pricing (Quarter Rack, Half Rack, Full Rack) & Add-ons Chapter 4: Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Trends Market Restraints Chapter 5: Market Segmentation IT Infrastructure: Market Size & Forecast Electrical Infrastructure: Market Size & Forecast Mechanical Infrastructure: Market Size & Forecast General Construction Services: Market Size & Forecast Chapter 6: Tier Standard Investment Tier I & II Tier III Tier IV Chapter 6: Geography Frankfurt Other Cities Chapter 7: Key Market Participants IT Infrastructure Providers Construction Contractors Support Infrastructure Providers Data Center Investors New Entrants Chapter 8: Appendix Market Derivation Quantitative Summary Check Out Some of the Top-Selling Research Reports:??? United Kingdom Data Center Market - Investment Analysis & Growth Opportunities 2023-2028: The UK data center market size will witness investments of USD 10.18 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 2.75% during the forecast period. Spain Data Center Market - Investment Analysis & Growth Opportunities 2023-2028: The Spain data center market size will witness investments of USD 2.67 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 8.73% during the forecast period Belgium Data Center Market - Investment Analysis & Growth Opportunities 2023-2028: The Belgium data center market size will witness investments of USD 2.81 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 5.31%. Portugal Data Center Market - Investment Analysis & Growth Opportunities 2022-2027: Portugal data center market to reach USD 1.3 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 6.02% during 2022-2027. 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.???? CONTACT US?????? Call: +1-312-235-2040????? ????????? +1 302 469 0707???? Mail:?enquiry@arizton.com?????? Contact Us:?https://www.arizton.com/contact-us?????? Blog:?https://www.arizton.com/blog?????? Website:?https://www.arizton.com/?????? Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2106168/Germany_Data_Center_Market.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/818553/Arizton_Logo.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/germany-data-center-market-investment-analysis--growth-opportunity-2023-2028--the-industry-to-grab-investment-of-over-7-5-billion-in-2028---arizton-301855300.html NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Submittable It's easy for anyone to get stuck in old habits, but grantmakers are particularly susceptible to "that's the way we've always done it" reasoning. There often aren't outside markets forces or broader power structures to force change. For grantmaking organizations, the inspiration and drive to evolve must come from within. Though finding the time and resources to innovate can be tough, it's worth doing. Grantmakers need to continue to evolve if they want to improve equity, center the communities they serve, build programs for the long term, and make a lasting impact. This work takes intention, strategy, and a willingness to transform when necessary. For some inspiration, we've highlighted six examples of how some funders have reimagined what it means to be a grantmaker. Let's dig in. 1. Seeking community feedback to set priorities When Brenda Solorzano and her team at the Headwaters Foundation in Western Montana looked to set direction for the organization, they went a different route than many funders usually go. Often foundations will hire a consultant to scan the landscape and complete an assessment to determine community needs. If community members are involved, it's usually at the end of the process, to give feedback on a narrow set of options. For the most part, the foundation leadership and staff have the final say. However, Solorzano and her team wanted to center the community perspective right from the beginning. They skipped hiring a consultant and instead went straight to community members themselves. What did this look like in practice? The foundation team went out into the community. "We talked to everyone from high schoolers to hospital CEOs and everybody in between," Solorzano says. At the end of each conversation, they asked who else they should talk to. In the end, they chatted with almost 600 people. We talked to everyone from high schoolers to hospital CEOs and everybody in between. Brenda Solorzano, CEO of Headwaters Foundation Through these conversations, the foundation staff started to see some consistent themes. To narrow their focus, they decided to seek another round of community feedback. They hosted meetings in every county they serve. The meetings were open to the public and everyone was encouraged to attend. Here, the foundation staff presented their findings from the conversations they'd had. Then they turned it over to the community members to determine which were the highest priority issues. In almost every community meeting, the consensus was early childhood development. "People said that's the greatest opportunity for this foundation to have a long-term impact on communities across Western Montana," Solorzano says. "So that became what we focused on." 2. Building a listening practice Because of the inherent power imbalances in the funder/grantee relationship, it's essential for funders to formalize channels for community feedback. Without that structure, it's easy for the conversation to become very one-sided. "Our approach at Brooklyn Community Foundation always starts with listening," Marcella Tillett explains. "Not only does this develop an open line of communication with our communities, it creates the space for more people to enter the conversation." Brooklyn Community Foundation formalized their listening practice in 2014, launching Brooklyn Insights. This allows the foundation to set priorities based on community members' lived experiences instead of outside values or inaccurate assumptions. For the foundation team, the work doesn't stop at listening. "We're not just listening to hear, but listening to take direction," Tillett says. These conversations direct how BCF prioritizes resources for grantmaking, as well as determines how they engage with the media, what issues they highlight, and how they shape their capacity-building strategies. We're not just listening to hear, but listening to take direction. Marcella Tillett, VP of Programs and Partnerships at Brooklyn Community Foundation Brooklyn Community Foundation applies a racial justice lens to its work. This shapes who they seek feedback from. It's not about trying to listen to everyone. "We want to hear from people experiencing harm as a result of systemic injustice and oppression," Tillett explains. 3. Understanding community ecosystems For funders, it's important to understand communities on their own terms. If you are making assumptions and imposing your values, you're probably not building your programs around what the community really needs. Lori Pourier of First Peoples Fund recommends making an effort to learn about the communities you serve. She calls it "a process of letting go of what you think you know." History is a huge component of this work. You want to know what experiences and forces have shaped the community, from an inside perspective. You also want to have a sense of what their past relationships with institutions have been like. If many community members have had negative experiences with institutions like yours, you'll likely need to address that in order to build trust. Part of this education is recognizing the ecosystems that already exist within the community. Don't overlook informal economies and relationships. Rather than just focusing on the problems within a community, identify the good things already happening and seek to support them. In her role, Pourier has worked to invite people into tribal communities so they can understand those positive forces that are at play. "We take time to bring the folks who are interested into communities to look at the good things that are happening that might not be connected to federal support systems-those pockets of good things that people would never know or hear about," she says. We take time to bring the folks who are interested into communities to look at the good things that are happening that might not be connected to federal support systems. Lori Pourier, President and CEO of First Peoples Fund Doing this work allows you to honor the full identities of the people you serve. You get a clearer understanding of how their needs intersect and you can shape your support around their lived experiences. 4. Providing rest and rejuvenation to nonprofit leaders It's no secret that nonprofit staff are often asked to do too much. Many are underpaid and under-resourced. Unfortunately this has become an accepted way of doing things for a lot of nonprofits, but it's not good for the people, the organization, or the community at large. Carrie Avery of the Durfee Foundation is working to reframe this approach. "To work at a nonprofit doesn't mean you have to work until you burn out-that isn't sustainable," she says. Dedicating resources to give nonprofit leaders time for rest and rejuvenation is good for everyone. Not only does it help retain good leaders, but it also gives others a chance to develop new skills, and provides an opportunity to reimagine processes and responsibilities. In short, it's a great investment. But what does it look like in practice? For the Durfee Foundation it's a sabbatical program for organization leaders. "It's building in a culture of care and a normalization that people need rest and renewal," Avery says. It's building a culture of care and a normalization that people need rest and renewal. Carrie Avery, President of the Durfee Foundation Through its sabbatical program, the Durfee Foundation offers organizations $60,000 to support an extended break for an accomplished leader. Interim leadership for the organization must come from within, which means that other nonprofit staff members spend the sabbatical developing their leadership skills. This model has had incredible outcomes. It allows leaders to avoid burnout-they return to their positions refreshed and with energy to innovate and think long term. Plus the break helps the whole organization acknowledge that rest has value, creating healthier work culture and making it easier to attract and retain talented people. 5. Acknowledging harm For funders, it can sometimes be difficult to understand that even with good intentions, funder/grantee relationships can have negative impacts on individuals and the community. There are inherent power imbalances and opposing perspectives, but leaning into those hard truths helps make the space for repair. Marcella Tillett of the Brooklyn Community Foundation explains: "In these relationships, harm happens-we're going to acknowledge that." In these relationships, harm happens-we're going to acknowledge that. Marcella Tillet, VP of Programs and Partnerships at Brooklyn Community Foundation It's important to build an honest relationship with grantees and give them the chance to share their perspectives freely. One way the team at the Brooklyn Community Foundation has done this, is they ask, "In what ways do we show up that are harmful?" Notice that it's not "Do we show up in ways that are harmful?" There is inherent pressure in that question for grantees to respond positively. But when a funder acknowledges that harm happens, it opens up the door for honest discussion. "It's a way to shift power because you're asking the person or organization you're in a relationship with to actively continue to create what the bounds of that relationship are," Tillett says. For example, open and honest conversations with the community helped Brooklyn Community Foundation formalize their participatory grantmaking. Community members are involved in setting priorities and deciding how resources are distributed. "We really try to be a partnership of equals," Tillett says. 6. Reducing the red tape If you have a complex and time-consuming grant application, you're likely burdening your grantees and pulling them away from their community work. Finding ways to cut down the red tape can help them fulfill their missions and do more good. What does this look like in action? For the Headwaters Foundation team, it meant reimagining the grant approval process. Rather than a long, drawn-out application and then weeks or months for review, the team streamlined their work as much as possible Instead of looking for reasons to not support an organization, the foundation team treats the application process as a quick way to check if missions align. "If you're mission-aligned, we should be supporting you," Brenda Solorzano says. You can also look for ways to shift some of the burden from your grantees to your own staff. At the Headwaters Foundation, rather than having grantees fill out the application, the team has the option to meet with a nonprofit and then fill out the application for them. Rather than doing the work, the grantee can just provide approval or make changes to the grant agreement the foundation team has created. The stories we've collected of the work that's being done with this grant money-it's transformational in many of these communities. Brenda Solorzano, CEO of Headwaters Foundation Taking the administrative burden off of grantees not only frees them up to do more work in the community, but it ensures that as a funder, you're supporting more equitable outcomes. If your application process is long and complex, only the nonprofits with enough resources and personnel to dedicate to those processes will be able to apply. The Headwaters Foundation has seen this play out in their work. "The stories we've collected of the work that's being done with this grant money-it's transformational in many of these communities," Solorzano says. "And these are communities that don't have big infrastructure, don't have large nonprofits, don't have development people. They're the kind of people who wouldn't be as competitive in a traditional application process." The right tools to support your evolution As you look to adapt your practices to better meet community needs, you want to leverage tools that will help you advance equity, build relationships, and understand the impact of your work. Submittable is a social impact platform designed to help you launch, manage, and measure your grantmaking program. Find out more today. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Submittable on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Submittable Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/submittable Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Submittable View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762459/Grantmakers-Embracing-Change-6-Real-Life-Examples NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Enbridge In the heart of Houston, where diversity thrives, the Montrose Center stands as a beacon of hope and support for the LGBTQ community. Established in 1978 under the name Montrose Counseling Center, the facility's service and program offerings have expanded far beyond counselling and therapy over the years. "The center was first created to provide a safe space for our LGBTQ community through culturally competent mental health services," says Alex Torres, Volunteer Manager at the Montrose Center. "As the community has grown and changed in the past years, we've come to encompass different services." The center and its team of trained clinicians, therapists and volunteers provide support to the community through substance use treatment, senior and youth services, rehousing services, and an anti-violence program that serves survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual assault, and hate crimes, to name a few. Hatch Youth Services is one of four key initiatives run by the Montrose Center. The youth group is for LGBTQ youth, ages 13 to 20, through which the center offer plenty of resources, including a tri-weekly drop-in session that incorporates educational seminars with social events. "Providing a safe space for our youth is really going to help them develop in their future years," says Torres. "In addition to the educational programming, it's important for these kids to have a place to just blow off some steam and hang out with their friends." "Speaking from personal experience, I would have loved something like this growing up," says Torres. "I feel like it would have shaped me a little bit better and given me a more positive outlook on the world." Enbridge's Fueling Futures corporate citizenship program supports safe, vibrant and sustainable communities. In 2023, a Fueling Futures grant of $10,000 to the Montrose Center has directly supported programming within Hatch Youth Services such as educational sessions, mental health counseling, rehousing services, and social events. In 2021, 62% of clients were making less than $20,000 per year, 52% were uninsured for health and 70% were people of color. People can support not only the Montrose Center but the 2SLGBTQ+ community at large by finding their local community center and supporting through donations, volunteering, or simply spreading awareness so others know about their presence and support available. "We're here for to empower LGBTQ Houston," says Torres. "This is a safe, affirming place where you can be you." View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Enbridge on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Enbridge Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/enbridge Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Enbridge View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762484/Providing-Safe-Spaces-and-Empowerment-to-LGBTQ-Youth TAMPA, FL / ACCESSWIRE / June 13, 2023 / Full Alliance Group, Inc. (OTC PINK:FAGI) ("FAGI" or the "Company") has announced today the appointment of Dr. Richard Goldfarb to their medical advisory board. He brings with him over 30 years of experience as a board-certified surgeon and a valuable aesthetics background that will inform and advance the rejuvenative healthcare efforts of the Company, overseeing the clinical studies of its new line of supplements, Natural Powers, and supporting its work on EBO2 protocol. Dr. Goldfarb's extensive clinical experience and research in cosmetics, aesthetics, and surgery will bring a new perspective and innovative ideas to the Company's preventative healthcare technology and nutritional product offerings. FAGI is excited about his input on quality supplement formulas and the aesthetic expertise he will add to acquisition efforts. His long history as a medical director, in addition to his cutting-edge approaches to health enhancement techniques, will provide the Company with a distinct advantage. Dr. Goldfarb will be instrumental in the Company's launch of its Natural Powers ("NP") brand. All supplements and topicals in the NP brand will have clinical studies and will be published in prestigious journals. The initial products in the NP brand will be sleep, immunity, focus, weight loss, and pain. Dr. Goldfarb will be working closely with Steve Kusher, the Company's master formulator, on the formulation of these products. The Company is expecting the first clinical study to begin in Q3 2023, with the first product being Natural Powers - Sleep. "I have been working closely with Steve on the formulation, and we have prepared the guidelines for the study. We are eager to conduct the study and launch our first product, Natural Powers - Sleep." Steve added, "Sleep is a chronic problem for a large percentage of the population and is essential for overall health and wellness. The formula relies on several natural compounds that promote the body's own ability to increase transmitters that help the entire experience of better sleep. In addition, none of these compounds have any side effects or create dependency. Rather when used regularly, they create a cumulative benefit." This formula includes no melatonin. Bill Heneghan, FAGI's Chief Operation Officer, commented, "We are excited to have Dr. Goldfarb on our team. His impact will be felt immediately, and his expertise will allow us to produce some of the highest-quality supplements available on the market, all supported by clinical studies." Dr. Goldfarb graduated from the Chicago Medical School with top honors in surgery and completed surgical training at Northeastern Ohio College of Medicine, a Division of the Cleveland Clinic. He received specialized cosmetic surgery training from the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Plastic Surgery and Yale University. He also holds certifications in Advanced Cardiac Life Support Aesthetic Advancements, a certificate from the American Academy of Cosmetic Physicians, and is a long-time Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, among several other accreditations. Currently, Dr. Goldfarb is the medical director for major companies, Benev, and Selphyl.Past Medical Director for The Silhouette Lift, and Viora. He is also a scientific advisory board member and lecturer for The Aesthetics Show and holds prominent professional society memberships with The American Society of Lasers in Medicine, the American Academy of Liposuction Surgery, the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, and many more. Major recognitions that Dr. Goldfarb has garnered include an EmSculpt Ambassador Award from BTL Aesthetics and is currently on the Medical Advisory Board, an award from the Philippine Academy of Aesthetic and Age Management, a recipient of "The Best Surgical Body Shaping" award, and numerous others throughout his long career. He is also the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Progressive Men's Health and is a founding board member, faculty member, and lecturer for the National Society of Cosmetic Physicians, for which he chaired an annual meeting hosting hundreds of physicians from around the globe. FAGI is excited to collaborate with the experienced and highly accredited Dr. Goldfarb, who will help inform and contribute to its preventative healthcare and overall wellness initiatives as a medical advisory board member. His in-depth practice of surgical and non-surgical cosmetic techniques and comprehensive understanding of the modern technologies advancing aesthetic practices are expected to bring valuable insight and advantages to the Company's acquisition efforts and overall growth of operations. About Full Alliance Group, Inc. Full Alliance Group, Inc. is a public health and wellness holding company which has two wholly owned subsidiaries Bio Lab Naturals and DYNAMAXX. FAGI's wholly owned subsidiary, Bio Lab Naturals, Inc., founded in 2000, through its FDA-registered wholly owned subsidiary Pure Solutions, Inc., was built on the simple principles of using the highest quality ingredients, producing products with the greatest possible efficacy, and providing its partners with unsurpassed customer service all at a fair price. From day one, the Company has specialized in custom product development and FDA-compliant contract manufacturing, with a passion for cutting-edge formulations and innovative product selection. Now housed in a state-of-the-art 25,000 square foot facility in Tampa, Pure Solutions remains committed to its founding principles and is ready to expand its operations through joint ventures, partnerships, exclusive manufacturing and distribution agreements and by adding diversity to its in-house product line. FAGI's other wholly owned subsidiary DYNAMAXX International Ltd. is in the health and supplement space using the direct selling channel as its sales force with its main operations in the United States and Canada. DYNAMAXX was founded in 2009 and has expanded globally since that time with two leading products LIGHTS ON and LIGHTS OFF. In addition to having a world class supplement product line, DYNAMAXX has a cost-effective way for individuals to participate in the ever-growing GIG economy by offering an aggressive compensation program to those that refer customers who purchase products or customers who want to start their own business. The company offers training and support to their distributors and has a strong focus on helping people achieve financial freedom through their business opportunities. Full Alliance Group Inc. Investor Relations Contact: Ryan Gresham, CEO, or Bill Heneghan, COO, Full Alliance Group, Inc. Email: ir@fullalliance-group.com Phone: (800) 895-4415 Forward-Looking Statements This shareholder update may contain forward-looking statements. Words and variations of words such as: "expect," "goals," "could," "plans," "believe," "continue," "may," "will," and similar expressions are intended to identify our forward-looking statements, including but not limited to our expectation for growth, benefits from brand-building, cost savings, and margins. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated in our forward-looking statements. Such factors include but are not limited to continued volatility of and sharp increase in costs/pricing actions, increased competition, ability to raise sufficient operating capital, risks from operating internationally, consumer weakness, weakness in economic conditions, and tax law changes. SOURCE: Full Alliance Group, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762486/Full-Alliance-Group-Inc-Announces-Appointment-of-Nationally-Recognized-Surgeon-Dr-Richard-Marc-Goldfarb-to-Medical-Advisory-Board VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / The Power Play by The Market Herald has announced the release of new interviews with Norris Lithium and Thesis 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. Lithium One (TSXV:LONE) and Norris Lithium (CSE:CHCK) to merge to expand land position in James Bay, Quebec Lithium One Metals Inc. and Norris Lithium Inc. have entered into a definitive arrangement agreement dated June 19, 2023 pursuant to which Lithium One will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Norris Lithiumon the basis of 0.672 common shares of Lithium One for each share of Norris Lithium held, by way of a plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act. For the full interview with Dale Ginn and to learn about Norris Lithium, click here. Thesis Gold Inc. (TSXV:TAU) (WKN:A2QQ0Y) (OTCQX:THSGF) and Benchmark Metals announce merger to create premier precious metals project Benchmark Metals Inc. and Thesis Gold Inc. are pleased to announce that they have entered into a definitive arrangement agreement, pursuant to which Benchmark will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Thesis by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act. For the full interview with Ewan Webster and to learn about Thesis 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/762515/The-Power-Play-by-The-Market-Herald-Releases-New-Interviews-with-Norris-Lithium-and-Thesis-Gold-Discussing-Their-Latest-News WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After showing a lack of direction early in the session, treasuries moved to the upside over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. Bond prices climbed firmly into positive territory after initially bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 4.0 basis points to 3.729 percent. The strength that emerged among treasuries came as traders looked ahead to congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Powell is due to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday and the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. Traders are likely to pay close attention to Powell's remarks, looking for additional clues about the outlook for rates after the Fed signaled further rate hikes last week. Comments by a number of other Fed officials are also likely to attract attention in the coming days along with reports on weekly jobless claims and existing home sales. On the U.S. economic front, a report released by the Commerce Department showed new residential construction in the U.S. unexpectedly skyrocketed in the month of May. The Commerce Department said housing starts soared by 21.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.631 million in May after tumbling by 2.9 percent to a revised rate of 1.340 million in April. Economists had expected housing starts to edge down to a rate of 1.400 million from the 1.401 million originally reported for the previous month. The report said building permits also surged by 5.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.491 million in May after slumping by 1.4 percent to a revised rate of 1.417 million in April. Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to rise to a rate of 1.423 million from the 1.416 million originally reported for the previous month. Powell's congressional testimony is likely to be in the spotlight on Wednesday, while remarks by several other Fed officials may also attract attention. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Mega-Chance Cyber Security Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. Hier klicken NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / CNH Industrial In the aftermath of Cyclone Gabriele that caused significant damage to farming communities on New Zealand's east coast, an inspiring initiative called "Commence the Re-Fence" has been launched to provide support to the most affected farmers in rebuilding their fencing. This collaborative effort brings together CNH Industrial brands Case IH and New Holland, who have generously donated two tractors to facilitate the reconstruction process. Over the next five months, the Federated Farmers "Farmy Army" volunteers, under the leadership of Terry Copeland, CEO of Federated Farmers, will work alongside the donated tractors to rebuild fencing on 100 farms that Cyclone Gabriele severely impacted. Federated Farmers has a strong track record of uniting volunteers and providing invaluable assistance to rural communities during times of crisis. Stevenson Taylor, represented by Robby Smith, General Manager, will provide essential post rammers to ensure efficient and effective fence installations. The primary objective of the Re-Fence initiative is to restore critical infrastructure, enabling affected farmers to resume their agricultural activities and rebuild their lives. To support the materials required for the fencing reconstruction, a dedicated donation page has been set up. This platform allows individuals, businesses, and organizations to contribute and make a meaningful impact on recovery efforts by providing much-needed resources. At the end of the five-month initiative, Case IH and New Holland will demonstrate their commitment to the farming communities by gifting the two tractors to two farmers in the most heavily affected areas. This gesture recognizes the resilience and determination displayed by the affected farmers and aims to provide long-term support for their agricultural endeavors. "We are deeply moved by the challenges faced by the farmers affected by Cyclone Gabriele," said Aaron Bett, Case IH Australia/New Zealand General Manager. "By donating our tractors and actively participating in the Re-Fence initiative, we aim to assist the farmers in rebuilding their fencing infrastructure and restoring their farms. It is an honor to contribute to their recovery and provide them with the necessary tools for future success." Bruce Healy, New Holland Agriculture Australia/New Zealand General Manager, expressed solidarity with the affected farmers. "New Holland has always been committed to supporting farmers in times of need. We recognize the vital role that fencing plays in protecting livestock and securing farmland. Through our donation of tractors, we hope to contribute to the recovery efforts and support the farmers as they rebuild their lives," he said. The "Commence the Re-Fence" initiative invites individuals, businesses, and organizations to join in supporting the recovery of Cyclone Gabriele-affected farmers. Contributions to the donation page, whether financial or in-kind, will make a significant difference in rebuilding the fencing infrastructure and helping farmers reclaim their livelihoods. "Commence the Re-Fence": CNH Industrial is supporting Cyclone Gabriele recovery initiative View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from CNH Industrial on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: CNH Industrial Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/cnh-industrial Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: CNH Industrial View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762542/Commence-the-Re-Fence-CNH-Industrial-Is-Supporting-Cyclone-Gabriele-Recovery-Initiative Die KI-Revolution ist in vollem Gange und vor allem ein Bereich wird stark betroffen sein: Cyber-Security. Die Experten sind sich sicher: Mit steigender Entwicklung von KI-Technologien nehmen auch KI-gestutzte Cyber-Attacken zu. Wir zeigen hier, welche Aktien profitieren konnen. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Hackers from the BlackCat ransomware gang, also known as ALPHV, have threatened to leak 80 gigabytes of confidential data stolen from Reddit during a breach in February, according to a post on the dark web. In the post, the hackers disclosed that they initially requested a payment of $4.5 million in April in exchange for deleting the data and maintaining their silence. However, after receiving no response, they followed up on Friday with an additional demand: Reddit should withdraw its controversial new pricing policy that has sparked protests from influential users of the platform. Reddit's Chief Technology Officer, Chris Slowe, previously acknowledged a security incident in early February, stating that the company's systems were hacked due to a sophisticated and targeted phishing attack. The hackers managed to access internal documents, code, and some internal business systems. However, Slowe clarified that no user data was breached or compromised. A spokesperson from Reddit confirmed that BlackCat's post on the dark web is related to the February incident and reiterated that no user data was accessed. The spokesperson declined to comment further. Last Monday, over 6,000 Reddit forums went offline as part of a planned two-day protest against the company's decision to implement high fees for certain third-party apps to access its platform. As of now, more than 3,500 forums remain dark. While the ransom note seems to support the protestors' cause, some experts remain skeptical about BlackCat's true motives. Brett Callow, a threat analyst at cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, believes that ALPHV may not actually care about the API pricing but rather aims to demonstrate the ongoing harm they can cause to pressure victims into paying the ransom. In response, BlackCat stated that they do not expect Reddit to meet their demands and expressed confidence that they will leak the data as planned. 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. Durham, North Carolina--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - The International Society of Automation (ISA) - the leading professional society for automation and industrial cybersecurity - has announced its new podcast, "Podomation." The podcast will address all things automation and industrial cybersecurity, with its inaugural episode on the importance of software bills of materials (SBOM) to supply chain security available now. Listeners can find Podomation and subscribe wherever they listen to podcasts, or can visit www.isa.org/podcast to stream from the main ISA site. Guests on the first episode of Podomation include: Cheri Caddy, Deputy Assistant National Cyber Director at ONCD/the White House Chris Blask, Vice President of Strategy, Cybeats Steve Mustard, Digital Security and Risk Consultant, BP, and ISA Treasurer Future episodes of Podomation will feature guests who are subject matter experts from throughout the automation community. Topics to be covered will include industry 4.0, digital transformation, manufacturing and machine control, connectivity and cybersecurity for operational technology, and continuous and batch processing. Some episodes will be live from ISA events, and others recorded in studio. The first episode was recorded live at the ISA OT Cybersecurity Summit, held earlier this month in Aberdeen, Scotland, with future live episodes slated for two more ISA events: the Automation and Leadership Conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Digital Transformation - Asia Pacific in Perth, Australia. "I am proud to announce the launch of Podomation and to increase the ways we present ISA content and thought leadership to our audience," said Claire Fallon, ISA Executive Director. "ISA is fortunate to draw from a very deep well of content and subject matter experts working in so many different areas of automation. We will always have something new and interesting to learn from one another, and I am excited to see how the conversations presented during Podomation take shape. No matter the topic, we will always focus on the critical role that automation plays in making the world a better place, and all the ways our community is making a difference." About ISA The International Society of Automation (ISA) is a non-profit professional association founded in 1945 to create a better world through automation. ISA's mission is to empower the global automation community through standards and knowledge sharing. ISA develops widely used global standards and conformity assessment programs; certifies professionals; provides education and training; publishes books and technical articles; hosts conferences and exhibits; and provides networking and career development programs for its members and customers around the world. Learn more at www.isa.org. Media contact: Morgan Foor, mfoor@isa.org To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170713 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Hillcrest Energy Technologies (CSE: HEAT) (OTCQB: HLRTD) (FSE: 7HI) ("Hillcrest" or the "Company"), an innovative clean technology company revolutionizing power conversion technologies and advanced control system solutions, is pleased to announce the results of voting at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held Wednesday, June 20, 2023. Shareholders overwhelmingly voted in favour of all items put forward by the Board of Directors ("the Board") and Management. Hillcrest's current seven (7) member Board, consisting of David Farrell, Donald J. Currie, Michael Moskowitz, Kylie Dickson, Mike Krzus, Robert Lambert and Thomas G. Milne, have all been re-elected. Shareholders also voted in favour of: (i) receiving and considering the consolidated audited financial statements of the Company for the financial year ended December 31, 2022; (ii) setting the number of Directors at seven; (iii) electing Directors for the ensuing year as noted above; (iv) appointing DeVisser Gray LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants as auditor of the Company. Upon conclusion of this year's AGM, the Board re-elected David Farrell as the Independent Chair. Other Corporate Updates The Board of Company has approved the issuance of 500,000 common shares of the Company ("Shares") at a price of $0.56 per Share to Venture Liquidity Providers Inc., as consideration for the provision of various business development and corporate services over the next 12 months. Shares will vest as services are completed and are subject to a hold period of four months from the date of issuance pursuant to the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange. Hillcrest would also like to correct previously announced information contained in its June 14, 2023 news release. Hillcrest granted 261,651 incentive stock options to certain employees of the Company. This total reflects 26,315 fewer incentive stock options than originally reported. All other provisions relating to the grants remain unchanged. In addition, the Company granted 3,359,283 restricted stock units (RSUs) to certain employees, officers, directors and consultants of the Company. This total reflects 8,157 more RSUs than originally reported. 1,445,553 of the RSUs vest immediately, 210,527 vest on July 3, 2023, and the remaining 1,705,203 vest over a 3-year period. All other provisions relating to the grant remain unchanged. About Hillcrest Energy Technologies Hillcrest Energy Technologies is a clean technology company delivering high-value, high-performance power conversion technologies and digital control systems for next-generation powertrains and grid-connected renewable energy systems. From concept to commercialization, Hillcrest is investing in the development of energy solutions that will power a more sustainable and electrified future. Hillcrest is publicly traded on the CSE under the symbol "HEAT," on the OTCQB Venture Market as "HLRTF" and on the Frankfurt Exchange as "7HIA.F". For more information, please visit: https://hillcrestenergy.tech/. CONTACT INFORMATION Investor Relations Don Currie info@hillcrestenergy.tech O: +1 604-609-0006 Toll-free: 1-855-609-0006 Or Walter Frank/Jennifer Belodeau IMS Investor Relations hillcrest@imsinvestorrelations.com O: +1 203-972-9200 Public Relations Jamie L. Hogue jhogue@hillcrestenergy.tech O: +1 602-793-9481 NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER HAS REVIEWED OR ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information Some of the statements contained in this news release are forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as "expects," "intends," "is expected," "potential," "suggests" or variations of such words or phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may," "could," "should," "would," "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. This forward-looking information is provided as of the date of this news release. The forward-looking information reflects our current expectations and assumptions and is subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. No assurance can be given that these assumptions will prove correct. Forward-looking statements and information are not historical facts and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control. Investors are advised to consider the risk factors under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's MD&A for the year ended Dec. 31, 2022, available at www.sedar.com for a discussion of the factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance and achievements to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law. # # # To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170729 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Faraday Copper Corp. (" Faraday " or the " Company ") (TSX:FDY)(OTCQX:CPPKF) is pleased to announce that each of the eight nominee directors listed in the Notice of Meeting and Management Information Circular dated May 16, 2023 was elected as director of the Company at its Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders (the " Meeting ") held virtually earlier today. All other matters put forward to shareholders at the Meeting were also approved, including (i) setting the number of directors at eight, (ii) the appointment of the Company's auditors, (iii) the approval of the Company's amended and restated long-term incentive plan, and (iv) the approval of amendments to the Company's Articles, to remove the ability to appoint alternate directors. At the Meeting, 100,526,866 shares were voted, representing 57.31% of the Company's issued and outstanding common shares. Detailed results of the Meeting are set out below and filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The voting results for number and election of Directors are set out below: Votes For % Votes For Votes Against % Votes Against Number of Directors 100,447,166 99.98% 16,200 0.02% Name Votes For % Votes For Votes Withheld % Votes Withheld Russell Ball 99,782,497 100.00% 3,656 0.00% Paul Harbidge 99,785,622 100.00% 531 0.00% Randy Engel 99,785,622 100.00% 531 0.00% Robert Doyle 99,785,622 100.00% 531 0.00% Audra Walsh 98,864,123 99.08% 922,030 0.92% Katherine Arnold 99,776,438 99.99% 9,715 0.01% Alan Wilson 99,778,337 99.99% 7,816 0.01% Arndt Brettschneider 99,769,450 99.98% 16,703 0.02% The voting results for each additional resolution are set out below: Votes For % Votes For Votes Withheld % Votes Withheld Appointment of Auditors 100,450,118 99.99% 13,248 0.01% Votes For % Votes For Votes Against % Votes Against Approval of Amended and Restated Long-Term Incentive Plan 70,020,774 70.17% 29,765,379 29.83% Approval of Amendments to Articles 99,782,366 100.00% 3,787 0.00% About Faraday Copper Faraday Copper is a Canadian exploration company focused on advancing its flagship copper project in The United States of America. The Copper Creek Project, located in Arizona, is one of the largest undeveloped copper projects in North America with open pit and bulk underground mining potential. The Company is well-funded to deliver on its key milestones and benefits from a management team and board of directors with senior mining company experience and expertise. Faraday trades on the TSX under the symbol "FDY". For additional information please contact: Stacey Pavlova, CFA Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications Faraday Copper Corp. E-mail: info@faradaycopper.com Website: www.faradaycopper.com To receive news releases by e-mail, please register using the Faraday website at www.faradaycopper.com . SOURCE: Faraday Copper Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/762517/Faraday-Copper-Announces-Annual-General-and-Special-Meeting-Voting-Results Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Advance United Holdings Inc. (CSE: AUHI) (OTCQB: AUHIF) (FSE: 9I0) (the "Company" or "Advance United") announces that further to its press releases of July 26, 2022 and September 28, 2022, it has entered into an amending agreement (the "Amending Agreement") with Patrick Culhane (the "Optionor") to amend certain payment deadlines of the original option agreement (the "Option Agreement") dated June 21, 2021 to acquire a 75% legal and beneficial interest in certain mineral claims located in Melba Township in the Kirkland Lake Area of Ontario (the "Property"). The Amending Agreement extends the terms of the due date for option payments of $100,000 and 500,000 common shares ("Common Shares") under the Option Agreement from June 21, 2023 to December 21, 2023. In consideration for entering into the Amending Agreement, the Company will issue 500,000 Common Shares in the capital of the Company at a deemed value of $0.07 per Common Share. All securities issued in connection with the Amending Agreement will be subject to a hold period of four months plus a day from the date of issuance and the resale rules of applicable securities legislation. The completion of the transaction remains subject to all regulatory and other approvals, including the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. About Advance United Holdings Advance United brings an entirely different approach to the mining industry. We don't mine. Rather, we've acquired a portfolio of undervalued gold properties and are increasing their value through the application of modern technology. We have a growing pipeline of similar properties that we are looking to acquire. And now we've launched the Au Marketplace. A first of its kind digital platform that connects owners of mineral commodities and deposits with developers and producers. We are involved exclusively in the acquisition and advancement of past projects - with no intent to bring them back into production or to mine them ourselves. Our expertise is in identifying and acquiring undervalued properties with significant historical work, which were uneconomic at the time, but we believe have economic value at today's prices. We fund the development of re-working historic data and applying modern technology to underwrite new qualified reports, document quantifiable resources and reserves to current standards, thereby recognizing the current value. Our purpose is to bring immediate and long-term value to our partners and shareholders while seeking to eliminate exploration risk, so that we can all advance united in the shortest possible time frame. For additional information about us, our projects, or to find out how you can list your project in the Au Marketplace, visit www.advanceunited.ca. Contact Information James Atkinson, P. Geo., CEO Email: jim.atkinson@advanceunited.ca Tel: (647) 278-7502 Qualified Person James Atkinson M.Sc., P. Geo., a Qualified Person ("QP") as such term is defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the geological information reported in this news release. The Qualified Person has not completed sufficient work to verify all historic information on the Property, particularly with regards to historical sampling, drill results, and technical work provided by Noranda and others. The Qualified Person assumes that sampling and analytical results were completed to industry standard practices. The information provides an indication of the exploration potential of the Property but may not be representative of expected results. Forward-Looking Information and Cautionary Statements This news release may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to the trading of the Company's securities and the focus of the Company's business. Any such forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "contemplates", "believes", "projects", "plans" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding the Company's ability to increase the value of its current and future mineral exploration properties and, in connection therewith, any long-term shareholder value, the Company's ability to mitigate or eliminate exploration risk, and the Company's intention to develop a portfolio of historic gold properties. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. 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 implied by such statements. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that the Company will continue its business as described above. Readers are encouraged to refer to the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis and other periodic filings made by the Company with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances or actual results unless required by applicable law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170733 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Michael Griffiths (the "Acquiror") announces the acquisition of 15,000,000 common shares in the capital of Currie Rose Resources Inc. (the "Company") pursuant to the share exchange agreement ("Share Exchange Agreement") entered on March 21, 2023 between the Company, WA Hydrogen Pty Ltd. ("Kotai Energy") and the shareholders of Kotai Energy pursuant to which the Company acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of Kotai Energy, in consideration for the issuance of 50 million common shares of the Issuer at $0.05 per share and a 5% royalty on future production (the "Transaction"). Immediately prior to the acquisition, the Acquiror held 7,047,894 Common Shares representing approximately 4.04% of the outstanding issued and outstanding Common Shares on undiluted basis. As a result of the acquisition of 15,000,000 Common Shares, the Acquiror owns, beneficial ownership of, or control and direction over 22,047,894 common shares, representing approximately 12.63% of the Issuer's issued and outstanding common shares on undiluted basis or 11.13% on a partially diluted basis (assuming exercise of 547,894 warrants and 2,760,000 stock options held by the Acquiror). A copy of the early warning report to be filed by Mr. Griffiths in connection with the Private Placement described above will be available on SEDAR under the Company's profile. For further information, please contact: Michael Griffiths 2704, 401 Bay Street, Toronto M5H 2Y4 Ontario Tel: 416 642-1807 mike@currierose.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170737 NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As per Facts and Factors study, the global speech and voice recognition market size was nearly $17.18 billion in 2022 and is predicted to surge to about $54.70 billion by 2030 along with recording the highest CAGR of 14.10% from 2023 to 2030. Report Link with All Related Graphs & Charts: https://www.fnfresearch.com/speech-and-voice-recognition-market Speech and Voice Recognition Market: Overview Speech and voice recognition applications encompass voice user interfaces including appliance control, voice dialing, call routing, keyword searching, and data entry. Apart from this, speech and voice recognition systems are used in determining speaker characteristics, preparing structured documents, and speech-to-text processing. Moreover, voice recognition is referred to as recognizing the speaker which will help in simplifying the task of converting speech in the systems trained on a particular person's voice. Get a Free Sample Report with All Related Graphs & Charts (with COVID 19 Impact Analysis): https://www.fnfresearch.com/sample/speech-and-voice-recognition-market Key Insights: As per the analysis shared by our research analyst, the global speech and voice recognition market is projected to expand annually at an annual growth rate of around 14.10% over the forecast timespan (2023-2030) In terms of revenue, the global speech and voice recognition market size was evaluated at nearly $17.18 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $54.70 billion by 2030. The global speech and voice recognition market is anticipated to record massive growth over the forecast period owing to the surging application of speech & voice recognition systems for multi-factor authentication. Based on the function, the speech recognition segment is predicted to contribute majorly toward the global market share over the forecast timeline. In terms of technology, the artificial intelligence-based segment is projected to dominate the global market size over 2023-2030. On the basis of the vertical, the healthcare segment is projected to account for a major share of the global market in 2023-2030. Region-wise, the Asia-Pacific speech and voice recognition market is projected to register the fastest CAGR during the assessment period. Facts and Factors published the latest report titled "Speech and Voice Recognition Market Size, Share, Growth Analysis Report By Function (Speech Recognition and Voice Recognition), By Technology (Artificial Intelligence-Based and Non-Artificial Intelligence-Based), By Vertical (Automotive, BFSI, Healthcare, Retail, Government, Military, Legal, and Education), and By Region - Global and Regional Industry Insights, Overview, Comprehensive Analysis, Trends, Statistical Research, Market Intelligence, Historical Data and Forecast 2023 - 2030" into their research database. Industry Dynamics: Global Speech and Voice Recognition Market: Growth Drivers Rise in the demand for speech & voice recognition systems to boost the global market trends. The growing demand for speech and voice recognition software in the healthcare sector will boost the speech and voice recognition market trends globally. In addition to this, the rise in AI and ML trends is likely to pave a new growth phase for the global market. An increase in the acceptance of deep neural engines and networks has translated into humongous demand for speech and voice recognition systems, thereby driving the expansion of the global market. Escalating demand for audio-visual speech recognition systems, speaker adaption, word recognition, and digital speaker recognition will steer the growth of the market across the globe. Nonetheless, lack of fluency, accent, punctuation, and background noise has posed a threat to the expansion of the global speech and voice recognition industry. However, the growing demand for online shopping and AI trends will open new growth opportunities for the global industry. This will nullify the negative impact of hindrances on global industry expansion. Directly Purchase a Copy of the Report @ https://www.fnfresearch.com/buynow/su/speech-and-voice-recognition-market Global Speech and Voice Recognition Market: Segmentation The global speech and voice recognition market is segregated into function, technology, vertical, and region. The function segment of the speech and voice recognition market is subdivided into speech recognition and voice recognition segments. Furthermore, the speech recognition segment, which contributed to about 66% of the global market share in 2022, is predicted to establish its segmental dominance in the forthcoming years. The growth of the segment in the years ahead can be attributed to an increase in the penetration of speech & voice recognition in the automotive and smartphone industries. On the basis of technology, the speech and voice recognition industry across the globe is divided into artificial intelligence-based and non-artificial intelligence-based segments. The artificial intelligence-based technology segment, which held nearly three-fourths of the global industry share in 2022, is set to register the highest CAGR in the years to come. The segmental expansion in the analysis period can be subject to the ability of artificial intelligence-based systems in translating speech into well-structured algorithms in various stages. Moreover, a prominent rise in machine learning activities and a surge in the natural language processing capacity of the speech & voice recognition systems will scale up the growth of the segment in the forecast timeline. In terms of vertical, the speech and voice recognition market across the globe is segmented into automotive, BFSI, healthcare, retail, government, military, legal, and education segments. Furthermore, the healthcare segment, which led the segmental expansion in 2022, is anticipated to record the fastest CAGR during the forecast period of 2023-2030. The segmental growth over the forecast timeline can be due to the increase in the demand for speech and voice recognition tools in electronic health record systems. In addition to this, speech and voice recognition technologies find a slew of applications in healthcare domains such as emergency medicine, radiology, and pathology. Recent Developments: In the second half of 2021, Scribetech, a key firm in the voice-AI-based technology services industry, introduced Augnito, an AI-driven secured, and portable speech recognition tool. For the record, the solution provided an effective way of gathering data on any equipment encompassing Windows, smartphones, and Mac with aptness. The move is likely to boost the expansion of the speech and recognition industry across the globe. Scribetech, a key firm in the voice-AI-based technology services industry, introduced Augnito, an AI-driven secured, and portable speech recognition tool. For the record, the solution provided an effective way of gathering data on any equipment encompassing Windows, smartphones, and Mac with aptness. The move is likely to boost the expansion of the speech and recognition industry across the globe. In the third quarter of 2021 , LumenVox, a key provider of speech and voice technology, launched a next-generation automatic speech recognition engine with transcription. The new engine is based on AI and ML tools and helps in providing apt speech and voice-enabled experiences to its customers. This move will expand the scope of the market growth in the years ahead. , LumenVox, a key provider of speech and voice technology, launched a next-generation automatic speech recognition engine with transcription. The new engine is based on AI and ML tools and helps in providing apt speech and voice-enabled experiences to its customers. This move will expand the scope of the market growth in the years ahead. In November 2021, Slang Labs, a voice assistant as-a-service firm, introduced its speech recognition engine. The voice assistant with a new speech recognition engine can be easily embedded in smartphone and web applications. The strategic move will spearhead the expansion of the speech and voice recognition market across the globe. Get More Insight before Buying@: https://www.fnfresearch.com/inquiry/speech-and-voice-recognition-market List of Key Players in Speech and Voice Recognition Market: Nuance Communications Inc. Amazon.Com Inc. Verint Systems Inc. Apple Inc. Baidu Inc. Dolbey Systems Inc. Google LLC IBM Corporation SESTEK iFlytek Microsoft Corporation LumenVox Sensory Inc. Speechmatics Assembly AI Inc Others Key questions answered in this report: What are the growth rate forecast and market size for Speech and Voice Recognition Market? What are the key driving factors propelling the Speech and Voice Recognition Market forward? What are the most important companies in the Speech and Voice Recognition Market Industry? What segments does the Speech and Voice Recognition Market cover? How can I receive a free copy of the Speech and Voice Recognition Market sample report and company profiles? Report Scope: Report Attribute Details Market size value in 2022 USD 17.18 Billion Revenue forecast in 2030 USD 54.70 Billion Growth Rate CAGR of almost 14.10% 2023-2030 Base Year 2022 Historic Years 2016 - 2021 Forecast Years 2023-2030 Segments Covered By Function, Technology, Vertical, and Region Forecast Units Value (USD Billion), and Volume (Units) Quantitative Units Revenue in USD million/billion and CAGR from 2023 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 Nuance Communications Inc., Amazon.Com Inc., Verint Systems Inc., Apple Inc., Baidu Inc., Dolbey Systems Inc., Google LLC, IBM Corporation, SESTEK, iFlytek, Microsoft Corporation, LumenVox, Sensory Inc., Speechmatics, Assembly AI Inc., and others. 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.fnfresearch.com/customization/speech-and-voice-recognition-market Free Brochure: https://www.fnfresearch.com/ask-to-analyst/speech-and-voice-recognition-market Regional Dominance: North America to contribute a major revenue share to the global Speech and Voice Recognition market in the coming years. Moreover, North America, which contributed the highest share towards the global speech and voice recognition industry in 2022, is slated to continue its dominance in the projected years. The regional market surge in the forecasting years can be owing to the presence of giant industry participants such as Microsoft Corporation, Amazon, Inc., Google LLC, and IBM Corporation in the countries such as the U.S. Furthermore, the blending of smart home equipment with voice assistants will foster the expansion of the industry in the North American region. Moreover, the growing demand for voice assistants in the countries such as Canada and the U.S. will spike the expansion of the industry in the sub-continent. Global Speech and Voice Recognition Market is segmented as follows: Speech and Voice Recognition Market: By Function Outlook (2023-2030) Speech Recognition Voice Recognition Speech and Voice Recognition Market: By Technology Outlook (2023-2030) Artificial Intelligence-Based Non-Artificial Intelligence-Based Speech and Voice Recognition Market: By Vertical Outlook (2023-2030) Automotive BFSI Healthcare Retail Government Military Legal Education Speech and Voice Recognition Market: By Region Outlook (2023-2030) 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: https://www.fnfresearch.com/news/global-speech-and-voice-recognition-market Browse Other Related Research Reports from Facts and Factors Mobile Gaming Market : According to the report published by Facts & Factors, the global mobile gaming market size was worth around USD 108.15 billion in 2022 and is predicted to grow to around USD 339.45 billion by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 13.55% between 2023 and 2030. 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According to the report published by Facts & Factors, the global near field communication (NFC) market size was evaluated at $21.1 billion in 2022 and is slated to hit $33.1 billion by the end of 2030 with a CAGR of nearly 14.4% between 2023 and 2030. Gamification Market: According to the report published by Facts & Factors, the global gamification market size was valued at around USD 15.86 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to USD 95.87 billion by 2030 with an increasing CAGR of 26.5% during the forecast period. Browse through Facts and Factors's coverage of the Global Technology & Media Industry Follow Us on: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook About Us Facts and Factors is an obligated company. We create futuristic, cutting-edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, and company reports to country reports. 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Contact Us: Facts and Factors Tel: +1 347 690-0211 USA/Canada Toll-Free No. +44 2032 894158 Email: sales@fnfresearch.com Website: https://www.fnfresearch.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1981423/FnF_Research_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/strategic-analysis-of-global-speech-and-voice-recognition-market-size-projected-to-reach-usd-54-70-billion-by-2030-with-a-cagr-of-nearly-14-10-between-2023-and-2030--predicts-facts--factors-301855501.html Central in Lima is named The World's Best Restaurant 2023, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna in Lima is named The World's Best Restaurant 2023, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna Announced this evening at an awards ceremony in Valencia, the 2023 list includes restaurants from 24 territories in five continents worldwide and introduces 12 restaurants making their debut Pia Salazar of Nuema, Quito, receives The World's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Sosa of Nuema, Quito, receives The World's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Sosa The Beronia World's Best Sommelier Award is presented to Miguel Angel Millan of Diverxo, Madrid of Diverxo, Madrid Fyn in Cape Town wins the Flor de Cana Sustainable Restaurant Award in Cape Town wins the Flor de Cana Sustainable Restaurant Award Table by Bruno Verjus (No.10) in Paris takes homes the Highest New Entry Award, sponsored by Aspire Lifestyles (No.10) in Paris takes homes the Highest New Entry Award, sponsored by Aspire Lifestyles Atomix (No.8) is awarded the Villa Massa Highest Climber Award, as the New York restaurant climbs 25 places from the 2022 list (No.8) is awarded the Villa Massa Highest Climber Award, as the New York restaurant climbs 25 places from the 2022 list Alchemist (No.5) in Copenhagen wins the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award (No.5) in Copenhagen wins the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award goes to Julien Royer of Odette, Singapore VALENCIA, Spain, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The world of gastronomy came together in Valencia, Spain, tonight to celebrate The World's 50 Best Restaurants awards 2023, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, with Lima's Central named The World's Best Restaurant 2023, as well as The Best Restaurant in South America 2023. The awards ceremony, held at the city's Les Arts Opera House, honours the pinnacle of gastronomic talent from 24 territories across five continents. For the full 1-50 list, please see the attached graphic or see the bottom of this release. Central, the flagship Lima restaurant of chefs Virgilio Martinez and Pia Leon, is crowned in the No.1 position, taking over from the 2022 winner, Geranium, Copenhagen, which is now elevated to the Best of the Best hall of fame. Placed at No.2 in the 2022 list, Central is an ode to Peru, with a menu that celebrates the unique biodiversity of the country's indigenous ingredients - guided by its research arm, Mater Iniciativa - along with its traditions and history, whilst championing sustainability. Central is followed by Disfrutar (No.2) in Barcelona and Diverxo (No.3) in Madrid. William Drew, Director of Content for The World's 50 Best Restaurants, comments: "It gives me great pleasure to share the list of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2023 and celebrate the fantastic achievement of Central as the new No.1. Virgilio Martinez, Pia Leon and the whole Central team have truly paved the way in celebrating indigenous ingredients through their innovative dishes and warm hospitality. Their commitment to research, respect for their country's heritage and promotion of Peru's unique biodiversity is unmatched, and we're honoured to name Central as The World's Best Restaurant, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. This year's list continues to show the breadth of culinary talent across the globe, and we look forward to seeing how it evolves even further in 2024 and beyond." South America further strengthens its position in global gastronomy, with the continent boasting nine restaurants overall including two new entries: Pia Leon's Kjolle, (No.28) in Lima and El Chato (No.33) in Bogota. Asia follows with seven restaurants on the list, including Singapore's Odette named The Best Restaurant in Asia (No.14) along with new entries Le Du (No.15) and Gaggan Anand (No.17) in Bangkok and Sezanne, Tokyo (No.37). Two Dubai restaurants make the list for the very first time, with Tresind Studio (No.11) named The Best Restaurant in Middle East & Africa, ahead of Orfali Bros Bistro (No.46). The Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award is presented to Copenhagen's Alchemist (No.5). An almost mystical dining experience in a remote, industrial corner of the city, an evening here is divided into several 'acts' where guests of head chef Rasmus Munk and his team are led through different locations, types of art and storytelling moments, alongside exquisite food born from Munk's obsessive search for the finest ingredients. Pia Salazar of Nuema, Quito, is the recipient of The World's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Sosa. Already crowned Latin America's Best Pastry Chef 2022, the Cuenca-born chef is helping put Ecuador on the culinary map with her experimental creations, turning fruit and vegetables into sweet masterpieces, like coconut with umami-rich yeast and black garlic, or leek and vanilla with cedron, a herb resembling lemon verbena. In its second year, the Beronia World's Best Sommelier Award is presented to Miguel Angel Millan, sommelier of Madrid's Diverxo. He expertly curates pairings to match chef Dabiz Munoz's ever-changing menu and takes the restaurant's beverage programme to an exceptionally high level, establishing himself as one of the most important sommeliers on the international restaurant scene. The winner of the Highest New Entry Award, sponsored by Aspire Lifestyles, is Table by Bruno Verjus (No.10). The self-taught French chef serves simple, seasonal, no-fuss cuisine at this Paris restaurant, which has developed a loyal following among the city's gourmands and is rapidly becoming an international dining destination. Atomix (No.8) is awarded the Villa Massa Highest Climber Award and named The Best Restaurant in North America, after the New York favourite climbed 25 places from its position in last year's ranking. The intimate 14-seat tasting menu restaurant from husband-and-wife team Junghyun 'JP' and Ellia Park won the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award as part of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2022 and its progressive and distinctive Korean food has been widely acclaimed. Julien Royer of Odette (No.14) in Singapore wins the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award. Voted for the world's leading chefs, this special prize is awarded to a chef who has had a significant positive influence on the culinary community. Royer's restaurant, Odette, in the city's National Gallery, is also named The Best Restaurant in Asia 2023. The Flor de Cana Sustainable Restaurant Award is this year bestowed on Cape Town's Fyn (No.75), where founding chef Peter Tempelhoff's mission is to blur boundaries by interpreting South Africa through techniques largely rooted in Japanese cooking. This award is independently audited by the Sustainable Restaurant Association, which rates establishments based on a wide range of criteria, including environmental and social responsibility, community involvement and staff welfare. The evening also celebrated those honoured with pre-announced special awards, including the Champions of Change winners Nora Fitzgerald Belahcen, founder of Moroccan social enterprise Amal, and Othon Nolasco and Damian Diaz, the duo behind food-security project No Us Without You LA. Elena Reygadas, winner of The World's Best Female Chef Award, Andoni Luis Aduriz of Mugaritz, winner of the Icon Award, and New York restaurant Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi, winner of the Resy One To Watch Award, were presented with their trophies on stage. The World's 50 Best Restaurants awards 2023, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, held at Valencia's Les Arts Opera House, marks the 21st year of the prestigious global gastronomic ranking. The Voting Process The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2023 list is voted for by 1,080 international restaurant industry experts and well-travelled gourmets who make up The World's 50 Best Restaurants Academy. The gender-balanced Academy comprises 27 separate regions around the world, each of which has 40 members including a chairperson. No sponsor from the event has any influence over the voting process. Professional services consultancy Deloitte independently adjudicates The World's 50 Best Restaurants list, including the ranking from 51-100. This adjudication ensures that the integrity and authenticity of the voting process and the resulting lists are protected. Best of the Best Those in the elite group of No.1 ranked restaurants (listed below) have more than proved their worth and will now be forever honoured as iconic dining destinations in the Best of the Best hall of fame. The chefs and restaurateurs who have led their restaurants to the pinnacle of the list have expressed their desire to invest in the future of the sector and 'give back' to the food world through new projects and initiatives. The following restaurants have been named No.1 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants since the list's inception and were therefore not eligible for voting in 2023 and beyond: El Bulli (2002, 2006-2009) The French Laundry (2003-2004) The Fat Duck (2005) Noma - original location (2010-2012, 2014) El Celler de Can Roca (2013, 2015) Osteria Francescana (2016, 2018) Eleven Madison Park (2017) Mirazur (2019) Noma - current location (2021) Geranium (2022) EDITOR'S NOTES: The World's 50 Best Restaurants: Position Restaurant Location 1 Central Lima 2 Disfrutar Barcelona 3 Diverxo Madrid 4 Asador Etxebarri Atxondo 5 Alchemist Copenhagen 6 Maido Lima 7 Lido 84 Gardone Riviera 8 Atomix New York 9 Quintonil Mexico City 10 Table by Bruno Verjus Paris 11 Tresind Studio Dubai 12 A Casa do Porco Sao Paulo 13 Pujol Mexico City 14 Odette Singapore 15 Le Du Bangkok 16 Reale Castel di Sangro 17 Gaggan Anand Bangkok 18 Steirereck Vienna 19 Don Julio Buenos Aires 20 Quique Dacosta Denia 21 Den Tokyo 22 Elkano Getaria 23 Kol London 24 Septime Paris 25 Belcanto Lisbon 26 Schloss Schauenstein Furstenau 27 Florilege Tokyo 28 Kjolle Lima 29 Borago Santiago 30 Frantzen Stockholm 31 Mugaritz San Sebastian 32 Hisa Franko Kobarid 33 El Chato Bogota 34 Uliassi Senigallia 35 Ikoyi London 36 Plenitude Paris 37 Sezanne Tokyo 38 The Clove Club London 39 The Jane Antwerp 40 Restaurant Tim Raue Berlin 41 Le Calandre Rubano 42 Piazza Duomo Alba 43 Leo Bogota 44 Le Bernardin New York 45 Nobelhart & Schmutzig Berlin 46 Orfali Bros Bistro Dubai 47 Mayta Lima 48 La Grenouillere La Madeleine-sous-Montreuil 49 Rosetta Mexico City 50 The Chairman Hong Kong For media centre access, please visit: https://mediacentre.theworlds50best.com 50 Best Social Media Follow on Instagram: @TheWorlds50Best Worlds50Best @TheWorlds50Best Worlds50Best Follow on Twitter: @TheWorlds50Best @TheWorlds50Best Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/50BestRestaurants https://www.facebook.com/50BestRestaurants Subscribe to the YouTube channel: 50 Best Restaurants TV About The World's 50 Best Restaurants Since 2002, The World's 50 Best Restaurants has reflected the diversity of the world's culinary landscape. The annual list of the world's most prestigious restaurants provides a snapshot of some of the best destinations for unique culinary experiences, in addition to being a barometer for and a pioneer of global gastronomic trends. The 50 Best family also includes Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, Middle East & North Africa's 50 Best Restaurants, The World's 50 Best Hotels, The World's 50 Best Bars, Asia's 50 Best Bars, North America's 50 Best Bars, 50 Best Discovery and the #50BestTalks series, all of which are owned and run by William Reed. 50 Best aims to bring together communities across the hospitality sector to foster collaboration, inclusivity, diversity and discovery and help drive positive change. About the host destination: Visit Valencia Valencia is the third largest city in Spain with more than 800,000 inhabitants. Bathed by the waters of the Mediterranean, it is clean and green, thanks to multiple urban parks, and boasts more than 300 days of sunshine a year. Its rich Mediterranean cuisine is based on local produce from the orchard that surround the city and nourish its markets, bars and restaurants. In addition, Valencia is the birthplace of the most international Spanish dish: paella. It is a perfect city to enjoy at any time of the year thanks to all its Unesco Heritage attractions such as: the Lonja de la Seda, the Tribunal de las Aguas or the Fallas. Valencia is at the forefront of sustainable projects that have earned it several international awards such as European Smart City 2022, as well as European Green Capital 2024. About the main sponsor: S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna are the main partners of The World's 50 Best Restaurants and 50 Best for Recovery. S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna are the leading natural mineral waters in the fine dining world. Together they interpret Italian style worldwide as a synthesis of excellence, pleasure and well-being. Our partners: Visit Valencia - Official Host Destination Partner S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna - Main Partner & Official Water Partner; sponsor of The World's Best Restaurant Estrella Damm - Official Beer Partner; sponsor of the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award American Express Resy - Official Credit Card & Booking Platform Partner (Resy); sponsor of the Resy One To Watch Award Gin Mare - Official Gin Partner; sponsor of the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award Flor de Cana - Official Rum Partner; sponsor of the Flor de Cana Sustainable Restaurant Award Sosa - Official Ingredients Partner; sponsor of The World's Best Pastry Chef Award Beronia - Official Wine Partner; sponsor of the Beronia World's Best Sommelier Award Aspire Lifestyles - Official Concierge Partner; sponsor of the Highest New Entry Award Dassai Sake - Official Sake Partner Tequila Ocho - Official Tequila Partner illycaffe - Official Coffee Partner The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. - Official Whiskey of the World Partner Techlam - Official Premium Worktop Partner Cinco Jotas - Official Iberico Ham Partner Nude Glassware - Official Glassware Partner Kaviari - Official Caviar Partner Fundador Brandy - Official Brandy Partner Villa Massa - Official Limoncello and Amaretto Partner; sponsor of Villa Massa Highest Climber Award Culinary Roots Castilla la Mancha - Official Partner Asturias - Official Partner Jaen Seleccion - Official Olive Oil Partner Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2106991/50_Best.jpg PDF - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2106992/World_Best_Restaurant_2023.pdf Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2076144/World_50Best_Rest_2023_Logo.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/central-in-lima-is-named-no1-in-the-list-of-the-worlds-50-best-restaurants-2023-301856013.html CorWave, a Clichy, France-based company developing cardiac assist devices, raised 26M in second closing of Series C funding. The round, which brought the total amount to 61M, was led by Bpifrance, with an investment of 15M. European investors and entrepreneurs are investing 11M, including Exor Ventures, controlled by the Agnelli family (Ferrari, Stellantis), and Vlerick Group (textile and metal engineering). At the first closing of Round C, the company raised 35M from returning investors (Sofinnova Partners, Seventure Partners, Bpifrance, Novo Holdings and Ysios Capital) and new investors (EIC Fund, Arbevel, M&L Healthcare). The company intends to use the funds to finance the next stages of its development. Founded in 2021 and led by CEO Louis de Lillers, CorWave is developing cardiac assist devices by leveraging wave membrane technology, which differs from todays commercially available left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) by its physiological operation, designed to mimic a pulse and blood flow rates similar to those of a healthy heart. FinSMEs 20/06/2023 Deeploy, an Utrecht, The Netherlands-based provider of a platform that monitors AI on behalf of companies in the financial and healthcare sectors, raised EUR2.5M in funding. The round was led by SI3 Fund, with participation from Curiosity VC, Bonsai Partners, Emilia Capital, and Anton Loeffen. The company intends to use the funds to expand its platform to follow the new requirements of the upcoming EU AI Act and to expand its team to support a European roll-out. Led by CEO Maarten Stolk, Deeploy uses proprietary software to make AI explainable and transparent for companies in the financial and healthcare industry, their customers, and regulators. The company currently has 20 employees, half of whom work primarily on the product, and the other half focus on implementation, sales, and marketing. Customers include PGGM, Independer, Brand New Day, bunq, and the mental-healthcare platform NiceDay. FinSMEs 20/06/2023 Mesh, a Dublin, Ireland-based provider of email security solutions, raised 1.55M in Seed funding. The round was led by Elkstone, and backed by Enterprise Ireland. The company intends to use the funds to further develop its email security platform and expand its global presence, with the creation of 40 new jobs over the next four years, and extend its research and development, efforts. Founded in 2020 by Brian Byrne, Ralph Casey and Daimhin Kavanagh, Mesh is a provider of an email security platform built exclusively for managed service providers, enabling them to deploy, protect and manage their customers more efficiently. With a focus on innovation, detection techniques, and customer service, the company works with MSPs to ensure email security for its customers. Mesh protects organisations against the full spectrum of email threats, including business email compromise, ransomware, and spear-phishing. FinSMEs 20/06/2023 UFX is a globally recognized forex broker, established in 2007, known for trading currency pairs, CFDs, and ETFs. Regulated by both CySEC and VFSC, it has won over 20 global awards. In addition to these accolades, UFX stands out for its customer-centric approach, having offices worldwide to cater to traders diverse needs and preferences. When the Traders Union answered what is UFX, they emphasized its focus on active trading with fixed spreads and high leverage, but passive strategies are also supported. Traders can emulate successful trades and use expert advisors for automation. UFX pros and cons Traders Union, in its comprehensive review, delineated a variety of advantages and disadvantages associated with using UFX for cryptocurrency trading. Pros: Possession of licenses from two globally recognized regulators, VFSC and CySEC. Broad spectrum of trading assets, including currency pairs, CFDs, and ETFs. Extensive selection of payment systems for both deposits and withdrawals. Generous affiliate commissions for new client referrals. Option to trade on various account types such as cent, standard, and professional with substantial leverage. Ability to open an Islamic account, permitting refusal of swap charges for position transfer to the subsequent trading day. Inclusion of traders within the CySEC jurisdiction in the Investor Compensation Fund, offering coverage up to 20,000 per individual. Cons: The firm maintains high fixed spreads, starting from 2 pips on major currency pairs. Traders from the US or the UK are currently not accepted by the broker. Presently, Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency available for trading. Expert review of UFX TU experts highlight that UFX is a regulated STP broker designed purely for trade execution. This means that while the companys specialists do not provide trading advice, they do offer comprehensive support, including: Self-guided strategy development for traders. Access to training and market analysis. 24/7 online support with an average response time of two minutes. UFX offers a range of account types with fixed spreads and up to 1:400 leverage. Notably: Deposits and withdrawals are facilitated via bank transfers, credit cards, and digital payment systems. UFX does not charge non-trading commissions, meaning users dont pay for payment operations, account maintenance, or terminal provision. It utilizes SSL encryption for the protection of personal and payment data. Minimum deposit requirements vary: Cent accounts can be opened with a deposit of $100. Standard lots require a minimum deposit of $500. An Islamic Account necessitates an initial deposit of $10,000. Access to trading via MT5 is exclusive to deposits of $5,000 or more. Analysis of the main features of this crypto exchange According to Traders Union, as per detailed analysis, the evaluation of UFX was executed considering the subsequent benchmarks: Total Score: 3.44 Order Execution: Scored 3.23 out of 10 Investment Instruments: Rated 3.65 out of 10 Speed of Withdrawal: Achieved a score of 3.29 out of 10 Customer Support: Evaluated at 3.59 out of 10 Diversity of Instruments: Garnered a score of 3.07 out of 10 Trading Platform: Received a rating of 3.81 out of 10 Trading conditions for UFX users According to Traders Union, those selecting UFX as their Forex broker gain access to over 400 financial instruments. Leverage size is dependent on both the type of asset and the traders country of residence. UFX offers a variety of STP accounts, including cent, standard, premium, and Islamic, with the option of a demo account as well. Traders can close an open trade as quickly as within one minute. Comparison of UFX with other brokers Traders Union delivers a comparative evaluation of UFX in relation to other brokers in the cryptocurrency trading sphere. RoboForex : While RoboForex offers advanced trading tools like algorithmic trading, UFX specializes in a wider range of financial instruments. : While RoboForex offers advanced trading tools like algorithmic trading, UFX specializes in a wider range of financial instruments. Pocket Option : Pocket Option is popular for binary options trading, but UFX provides more traditional forex trading with more assets. : Pocket Option is popular for binary options trading, but UFX provides more traditional forex trading with more assets. Tickmill : Tickmill offers lower spreads compared to UFX, but UFX offers a broader selection of tradeable assets and account types. : Tickmill offers lower spreads compared to UFX, but UFX offers a broader selection of tradeable assets and account types. Exness : Exness offers more flexible leverage and faster withdrawals, but UFX stands out with its comprehensive customer support and training. : Exness offers more flexible leverage and faster withdrawals, but UFX stands out with its comprehensive customer support and training. AMarkets: AMarkets has a greater focus on low-commission trading, whereas UFX prioritizes offering a wide selection of assets and high-leverage trading. In the ever-expanding world of forex trading, platforms like Fidelcrest are emerging as key players. The Fidelcrest trading platform distinguishes itself through its robust features and innovative solutions, promising traders an enhanced trading experience. However, it stands in stark contrast to UFX, which has a more traditional approach, providing a wide array of assets and a focus on high-leverage trading, thereby appealing to a diverse range of traders. Conclusion In conclusion, UFX, with its extensive financial instruments and global recognition, is a compelling choice for traders. While each platform like RoboForex, Pocket Option, Tickmill, Exness, AMarkets, and Fidelcrest has unique strengths, UFXs blend of comprehensive support, wide asset selection, and high-leverage trading is appealing to a broad spectrum of traders. For more information, visit the Traders Union website. Ramayans Arun Govil bashes Prabhas Adipurush, calls it Hollywood ki cartoon film Social media is flooded with negative comments against Adipurush. Veteran television and film actor Arun Govil, who garnered nationwide popularity for his portrayal of Lord Rama in Ramanand Sagars iconic serial Ramayan, has expressed his disappointment with director Om Rauts latest release Adipurush, which is also the adaptation of Ramayana. Netizens have been slamming Manoj for writing dialogues like bua ka bagicha hain kya and jalegi tere baap ki. The audience is highly disappointed in the makers for making a bad film. They have been slamming makers for poor VFX and dialogues. Post getting trolled on social media, the writer asked for protection claiming a threat to his life. According to PTI reports, he has been provided with security. A police official said, We have received an application from Manoj Shukla and we are considering providing him with security following a threat to his life. The cops are currently investigating the matter. Amid massive backlash, writer Manoj Muntashir, who claimed a threat to his life, has received protection from Mumbai Police. Ramanand Sagars son Prem Sagar also expressed his displeasure with Adipurush and told Live Hindustan, Om Raut has tried to make a Marvel film. Papaji (Ramanand Sagar) did take some creative liberties while making Ramayana but he understood Lord Ram. He read various scriptures and then made a few changes but never messed around with facts. Om Rauts Adipurush, which is bankrolled by T-Series and Retrophiles, also stars Saif Ali Khan, Kriti Sanon, Vatsal Sheth, Sunny Singh, Devdatta Nage, Sonal Chauhan, Tejaswini Pandit, Bijay Anand and others in prominent roles. On the other hand Manoj wrote on Twitter and mentioned that the makers of Adipurush have decided to revise and make changes in some of the dialogues that have hurt sentiments of the Indian audiences. He wrote, It is possible that in a three-hour film, I have written something different from your imagination for three minutes, but I could not know why you were in such a hurry to write eternal traitor on my forehead. Have you not heard the Jai Shri Ram song, didnt you hear Shivoham or Ram Siya Ram? These praises of sanatan in Adipurush are also written by me. I have also written Teri Mitti and Desh Mere. I have no complaint with you, you were, are and will be my own. If we stand against each other, sanatan will lose. We have made Adipurush for sanatan seva, which you are seeing in large numbers and I am sure you will see in future as well. (With added inputs from PTI) Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Three Khalistani terrorists have died suddenly over the past two months. Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead at a gurdwara in British Columbia on Monday. The development comes after prominent pro-Khalistani activist Avtar Singh Khanda passed away at a Birmingham hospital last week and Khalistani terrorist Paramjit Singh Panjwar died in May at the hands of unidentified gunmen. Lets take a closer look at how the Khalistani terrorists met their end: Hardeep Singh Nijjar According to The Print, Nijjar was shot dead by two unidentified assailants on the premises of a gurudwara in Surrey. Nijjar, the head of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, was killed in the western Canadian province around 6 am IST Monday. As per The Hindu, the assailants fired on Nijjar, who was in his car, from close range and fled the scene. Nijjar was running the gurudwara himself for the past four years giving rise to speculation that funds from the shrine were being embezzled for funding terror activities in Punjab. Nijjar was designated a terrorist by India under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020 and his property in the country was attached by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September 2020. Interpol Red Corner Notice was also issued against him in 2016. The local police of Surrey had also put Nijjar under house arrest temporarily in 2018 on suspicion of his terror involvement but he was released later. According to India Today, the World Sikh Organisation of Canada has accused Indias intelligence agencies of having a hand in Nijjars death. The group demanded that Canada fully investigate the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, including the role of foreign interference, specifically from India and claimed that Nijjar was worried he would be targeted by Indian intelligence agencies. Nijjar, a native of village Bhar Singh Pura in Jalandhar, Punjab, had a long tryst with Khalistan militancy since migrating to Canada in 1995. Initially, an operative of Babbar Khalsa, he was involved in some of the most high-profile terror cases of the first decade of the millennium including the Shingar Cinema bomb blast (Ludhiana, 2007) and the assassination of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat President Rulda Singh (Patiala, 2009). He was introduced to Pakistan-based fugitive KTF supremo Jagtar Singh Tara, now incarcerated in India, in 2011 and switched to the newly formed KTF. He kept on meeting Tara in Pakistan in the annual jathas, during which he was allegedly trained in the fabrication of IEDs and handling of high-end guns. Nijjar also funded Tara handsomely from Canada and financed his shifting of base from Pakistan to Thailand in 2014, officials said. When Tara was facing deportation from Thailand in late 2014, Nijjar made frantic efforts to stop it, making multiple rounds of Thailand and Pakistan. The next year, Nijjar trained three Sikh youths in handling AK-47 and Russian sniper guns in the hilly terrain of Mission City, British Columbia before sending them to India for targeting some senior police officials and popular Dera leaders, officials alleged. After a hiatus of about half a decade, Nijjar again made headlines with the surfacing of his name in multiple terror cases in quick succession including the killing of Dera follower Manohar Lal Arora (November 2020) and former Sarpanch of village Udhampur (Ropar) Avtar Singh (December 2021) and attempted killing of Bhar Singh Pura village priest Pragya Gyan Muni (January 2021). Nijjar was learnt to have formed an alliance with fellow Surrey-based Punjabi gangster Arshdeep Singh Gill alias Arsh Dala and off late delved into organised financial crimes both in Punjab and in Canada in order to finance his terror plans, they said. This latest venture had reportedly made Nijjar a target of the warring criminal gangs operational in Surrey-Delta area. Since early 2019, Nijar was roped in by the US-based Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) leadership to steer its so-called Referendum 2020 campaign in Canada. Since then, Nijjar had remained a constant face in the SFJ-sponsored demonstrations and car rallies in the Surrey-Vancouver area. He was often seen desecrating the Indian national flag outside the Indian Consulate of Vancouver on days of national significance to India. Nijjar also played a prominent role in the Referendum voting in Brampton and Mississauga (Ontario) last year, they said. When his body was being moved from the scene by the Canadian police, a group of Sikhs raised pro-Khalistan and anti-India slogans, according to the officials. Paramjit Singh Panjwar In May, Panjwar was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen while he was out for a morning walk near his residence in Lahore, the provincial capital of Pakistans Punjab province. According to The Hindu, Panjwar was being escorted by two guards in Sunflower Housing Society in Lahores Johar on 6 May when the gunmen on a motorcycle shot him in the head and drove away. Panjwar, 63, was heading the Khalistan Commando Force-Panjwar group. He was also designated as a terrorist by India under the UAPA in July 2020. As per Indian Express, Panjwar was born in 1960 in Tarn Tarans Panjwar village. Panjwar had been operating out of Lahore. According to India Today, Panjwar was attempting to revive the Sikh insurgency through murder, drug and weapons smuggling. Avtar Singh Khanda Khanda, a prominent pro-Khalistani activist, died at a hospital in the city of Birmingham last week after a prolonged illness. Khanda, who was involved in the attack on the Indian High Commission in London, was also the mentor of Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh. Khanda was in contact with Singh while he was on the run and had helped him evade authorities for 37 days, as per The Print. The Sikh Federation UK said Avtar Singh was terminally ill with blood cancer. But according to Indian Express, some reports claimed Khanda had been suffering from food poisoning. As per Hindustan Times, some reporters of Khanda had claimed he was poisoned and have pointed the finger at Indian security agencies. Wanted in connection with the conspiracy to kill Sukhbir Singh Badal, president of Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and senior advocate Rajwinder Singh Bains, Khanda was allegedly involved in terrorist activities in the UK and had joined the banned Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) remnants active in Britain and other countries. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Alexei Navalny is probably the person the Kremlin dislikes the most. In a span of a decade, he has gone from the Kremlins biggest foe to Russias most prominent political prisoner. Already serving two convictions that have landed him in prison for at least nine years, he faces a new trial that could keep him behind for two more decades. The first court hearing occurred Monday in Penal Colony No 6, where Navalny is being held, in the town of Melekhovo, about 230 kilometres (over 140 miles) east of Moscow. If hes found guilty, he could stay in jail for 30 more years. The new trial accuses him of creating an extremist group, making calls for and financing extremism, creating a nonprofit organisation that violates citizens rights and rehabilitating Nazism. Declaring the new charges against him absurd, he also informed that he might also face a separate military trial on terrorism charges that could potentially carry a life sentence. We look at Navalnys life, political activism and the charges he has faced through the years: 4 June 1976 Alexei Anatolievich Navalny is born in a western part of the Moscow region. 1997 Graduates from Russias RUDN university, where he majored in law; earns a degree in economics in 2001 while working as a lawyer. 2004 Forms a movement against rampant overdevelopment in Moscow, according to his campaign website. 2008 Gains notoriety for alleging corruption in state-run corporations, such as gas giant Gazprom and oil behemoth Rosneft, through his blogs and other posts. 2010 Founds RosPil, an anti-corruption project run by a team of lawyers that analyses spending of state agencies and companies, exposing violations and contesting them in court. 2011 Establishes the Foundation for Fighting Corruption, which will become his teams main platform for exposing alleged graft among Russias top political ranks. December 2011 Participates in mass protests sparked by reports of widespread rigging of Russias parliamentary election, and is arrested and jailed for 15 days for defying a government official. March 2012 Following President Vladimir Putins reelection and inauguration, mass protests break out in Moscow and elsewhere. Navalny accuses key figures, including then-Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and Chechnyas strongman leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, of corruption. July 2012 Russias Investigative Committee charges Navalny with embezzlement involving Kirovles, a state-owned timber company in the Kirov region, while acting as an adviser to the local governor. Navalny rejects the allegations as politically motivated. December 2012 The Investigative Committee launches another probe into alleged embezzlement at a Navalny-linked Russian subsidiary of Yves Rocher, a French cosmetics company. Navalny again says the allegations are politically motivated. 2013 Navalny runs for mayor in Moscow a move the authorities not only allow but encourage in an attempt to put a veneer of democracy on the race that is designed to boost the profile of the incumbent, Sergei Sobyanin. July 2013 A court in Kirov convicts Navalny of embezzlement in the Kirovles case, sentencing him to five years in prison. The prosecution petitions to release Navalny from custody pending his appeal, and he resumes his campaign. September 2013 Official results show Navalny finishes second in the mayors race behind Sobyanin, with 27 per cent of the vote, after a successful electoral and fundraising campaign collecting an unprecedented 97.3 million rubles ($2.9 million or Rs 23.77 crore) from individual supporters. October 2013 A court hands Navalny a suspended sentence in the Kirovles case. February 2014 Navalny is placed under house arrest in connection with the Yves Rocher case and banned from using the internet. His blog continues to be updated regularly, presumably by his team, detailing alleged corruption by various Russian officials. December 2014 Navalny and his brother, Oleg, are found guilty of fraud in the Yves Rocher case. Navalny receives a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence, while his brother is handed a prison term. Both appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. December 2015 Navalnys Foundation for Fighting Corruption releases its first long-form video a YouTube documentary called Chaika, which means seagull in Russian but is also the last name of then-Prosecutor General Yury Chaika. The 44-minute video accuses him of corruption and alleged ties to a notorious criminal group and has piled up 26 million views on YouTube. Chaika and other Russian officials deny the accusations. February 2016 The European Court of Human Rights rules that Russia violated Navalnys right to a fair trial in the Kirovles case, ordering the government to pay his legal costs and damages. November 2016 Russias Supreme Court overturns Navalnys sentence and sends the case back to the original court in the city of Kirov for review. December 2016 Navalny announces he will run in Russias 2018 presidential election. February 2017 The Kirov court retries Navalny and upholds his five-year suspended sentence from 2013. March 2017 Navalny releases a YouTube documentary accusing then-Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of corruption, getting over seven million views in its first week. A series of anti-graft protests across Russia draw tens of thousands and there are mass arrests. Navalny tours the country to open campaign offices, holds big rallies and is jailed repeatedly for unauthorised demonstrations. 27 April 2017 Unidentified assailants throw a green disinfectant in his face, damaging his right eye. He blames the attack on the Kremlin. October 2017 The European Court of Human Rights finds Navalnys fraud conviction in the Yves Rocher case to be arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable. December 2017 Russias Central Electoral Commission bars him from running for president over his conviction in the Kirovles case, a move condemned by the EU as casting serious doubt on the election. July 2019 Members of Navalnys team, along with other opposition activists, are barred from running for Moscow city council, sparking protests that are violently dispersed, with thousands arrested. Navalnys team responds by promoting the Smart Voting strategy, encouraging the election of any candidate except those from the Kremlins United Russia party. The strategy works, with the party losing its majority. 2020 Navalny seeks to deploy the Smart Voting strategy during regional elections in September and tours Siberia as part of the effort. 20 August, 2020 On a flight from the city of Tomsk, where he was working with local activists, Navalny falls ill and the plane makes an emergency landing in nearby Omsk. Hospitalised in a coma, Navalnys team suspects he was poisoned. 22 August 2020 A comatose Navalny is flown to a hospital in Berlin. 24 August 2020 German authorities confirm Navalny was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent. After he recovers, he blames the Kremlin, an accusation denied by Russian officials. 17 January 2021 Following five months in Germany, Navalny is arrested upon his return to Russia, with authorities alleging his recuperation abroad violated the terms of his suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher case. His arrest triggers some of the biggest protests in Russia in years. Thousands are arrested. 2 February 2021 A Moscow court orders Navalny to serve two-and-a-half years in prison for his parole violation. While in prison, Navalny stages a three-week hunger strike to protest a lack of medical treatment and sleep deprivation. June 2021 A Moscow court outlaws Navalnys Foundation for Fighting Corruption and about 40 regional offices as extremist, shutting down his political network. Close associates and team members face prosecution and leave Russia under pressure. Navalny maintains contact with his lawyers and team from prison, and they update his social media accounts. 24 February 2022 Russia invades Ukraine. Navalny condemns the war in social media posts from prison and during his court appearances. 22 March, 2022 Navalny is sentenced to an additional nine-year term for embezzlement and contempt of court in a case his supporters rejected as fabricated. He is transferred to a maximum-security prison in Russias western Vladimir region. July 2022 Navalnys team announces the relaunch of the Anti-Corruption Foundation as an international organisation with an advisory board including Francis Fukuayama, Anne Applebaum, and the European Parliament member and former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt. Navalny continues to file lawsuits in prison and tries to form a labour union in the facility. In response, penitentiary officials start regularly placing him in solitary confinement over purported disciplinary violations such as failing to properly button his garment or to wash his face at a specified time. 2023 Over 400 Russian doctors sign an open letter to Putin, urging an end to abusing Navalny, following reports that he was denied basic medication after getting the flu. His team expresses concern about his health, saying in April he had acute stomach pain and suspected he was being slowly poisoned. 12 March 2023 Navalny, a film about the attempt on the Opposition leaders life, wins the Oscar for best documentary feature. 26 April 2023 Appearing on a videolink from prison during a hearing, Navalny said he was facing new extremism and terrorism charges that could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life. He added sardonically that the charges imply that Im conducting terror attacks while sitting in prison. A hearing was set for 6 June. With inputs from AP Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is facing accusations of abusing political power and misusing the media. He also risks being banned from running for office for eight years. The latest case against him stems from his attacks on the Brazils voting system, which he made in a meeting in July last year. The former president gathered with ambassadors at the Alvorada presidential palace criticising the countries electronic voting system. Jair Bolsonaro, who goes on trial before Brazils top electoral court Thursday for his allegedly baseless claims of fraud in the voting system, faces legal trouble on various fronts. Here is an overview of the cases against Bolsonaro, who denies wrongdoing. Supreme Court cases Bolsonaro faces five Supreme Court investigations that could send him to prison four for alleged crimes during his 2019-2022 term, and one over accusations he incited a riot by supporters who invaded the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court on 8 January, protesting his election loss. Also Read: Guess Whos Back: What Jair Bolsonaros return means for Brazil politics The first investigation was opened in 2020, when Bolsonaros former justice minister Sergio Moro accused him of interfering in federal police investigations to shield family members from corruption charges. Bolsonaro is also under investigation for two cases of spreading disinformation: one, about COVID-19; the other, about Brazils electronic voting system. In December 2021, Brazils Supreme Court opened an investigation into Jair Bolsonaros false claims that COVID-19 may raise the risk of contracting AIDS. He also accused two members of the Supreme court of taking sides in the election and favouring left-wing leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in January 2022. The final Supreme Court investigation is for leaking classified information about a police investigation of a hacker attack on Brazils electoral authority. If convicted and sentenced to the maximum term, he would face around 40 years in prison. Saudi jewels Bolsonaro also faces investigations by federal police, including over allegations he tried to illegally import and keep an estimated $3.2 million (Rs 26.26 crore) in diamond jewellery given as a gift to first lady Michelle Bolsonaro by Saudi Arabia in 2021. Brazilian law bars public officials from keeping expensive gifts. Also Read: Explained: The Brazilian scandal involving Jair Bolsonaro and jewels from Saudi Arabia The scandal broke in February, when newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo reported customs officials had seized a set of jewels from a government aide who tried to bring them into the country undeclared in his backpack in 2021. It later emerged Bolsonaro had kept another set of jewels that made it through customs undetected. Both sets came from Swiss luxury house Chopard. Bolsonaro has since handed them over to the authorities. Police questioned him over the case in April. Fake vaccination certificate Bolsonaro also faced questioning by federal police in May over accusations an aide faked a COVID-19 immunisation certificate for him and other high-ranking administration officials. False vaccine certificates are said to have issued for Bolsonaro, his 12-year-old daughter, Laura, and other top officials in his administration. Police raided Bolsonaros home in Brasilia and seized his cell phone as part of their investigation. The former president, who defied expert advice on managing COVID-19, has repeatedly questioned the vaccines and said he was not vaccinated himself. During a three-hour testimony, the right-wing former leader denied any involvement in what police have described as a plot to produce fake COVID-19 vaccination documents for international travel. With inputs from AFP Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray and the Eknath Shinde-led Sena are at each others throats again this time over Gaddar Divas. But what is Gaddar Divas? And why are the two outfits trading barbs again? Lets take a closer look: Thackeray slams Shinde Sena As per Deccan Chronicle, Uddhav on Sunday at the Maharashtra-level plenary of the Shiv Sena (UBT) called for 20 June to be marked as Gaddar Divas. On 19 June, we would celebrate the Shiv Sena vardhapan din (foundation day)on 20 June its World Traitors Day, Uddhav said. The Bal Thackeray-founded Shiv Sena, which came into existence on 19 June, 1966, made the pride of `Marathi manoos (Marathi speakers in Mumbai) the core plank of its politics and later added Hindutva to its ideology to expand support base. Recall it was on 20th June 2022 that Shinde and some Sena MLAs reached a hotel in Surat just hours after Maharashtra Legislative Council polls saw the BJP winning a fifth seat despite not having enough numbers in the Assembly. After the Council poll results, Shinde went incommunicado. It later came to light that he was camping in the hotel along with some party MLAs. The number later swelled and MLAs loyal to Shinde were flown to Guwahati. Shinde and other MLAs returned to Mumbai on 29 June after Uddhav resigned as the chief minister without facing the floor test. It emerged later that Shinde has the support of 39 out of 56 MLAs of Shiv Sena headed by Uddhav. Shinde eventually took oath as the chief minister with Devendra Fadnavis of BJP as his deputy on 30 June. Both factions have since been trying to claim the mantle of the true inheritor of Bal Thackerays legacy ahead of the next years Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections as well as the long-due civic polls in Mumbai. Aaditya on Sunday said, Today (June 18) is Fathers Daybut here are some people who steal fathersthey are gaddars. Meanwhile, UBT leader Sanjay Raut said he would write to the United Nations to urge it to declare 20 June as World Traitors Day. When our party comes to power we shall make a beginning June 19 shall be celebrated as Loyalists Day and 20 June as the Traitors Day We shall make a bonfire of all these gaddars (traitors) as it is done for the demon King Ravana, Raut added, as per Deccan Chronicle. Shinde hits back Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Monday claimed Uddhav discarded party founder Bal Thackerays ideology to join hands with the NCP and the Congress. Speaking at an event organised here to mark the 57th foundation day of the party, Shinde launched a scathing attack on Uddhav Thackeray, who heads Shiv Sena (UBT) faction, and said Bal Thackerays ideology was compromised for the chief ministers chair. The event was organised at the NESCO ground in Goregaon in northwest Mumbai. You discarded the principles of Balasaheb for power, for the sake of chair. Balasaheb once said he would not allow the Shiv Sena to become like the Congress and if that happens, he will shut his shop. But today, you (Uddhav) went with the NCP and the Congress. This is a betrayal on your side and that truth you spoke yesterday (Sunday), he said referring to a speech delivered by Uddhav Thackeray during the Shiv Sena (UBT) plenary. In your speech, you asked the party workers to celebrate June 20 as the gaddar divas (traitors day). You fumbled when you said our betrayal is completing one year. But you immediately corrected yourself and blamed those leaders who left the party last year. It is you who is a traitor but you forgot the date, the CM added. Shinde said the allegation of being traitors levelled against him and other MLAs of his camp after the last years rebellion will not help Uddhav Thackeray gain public sympathy. You will not get the sympathy of people as you have abandoned Balasahebs principles for power, he added. Shinde said Uddhav Thackerays speech on Sunday was repetitive and advised his predecessor to change his scriptwriter. Same taunts, same cassette all repetitive. Ask him to change the scriptwriter. But we will give answer to these allegations (of traitors) by our work and this is what Balasaheb taught us, the CM said. He said one year ago, they did revolt against the then-Shiv Sena leadership and the world took cognizance of the rebellion which brought down the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. We managed to form a Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government and that is why this foundation day today is historic and a matter of pride, Shinde added. Referring to the rebellion, the CM said, if he had taken a wrong decision, then he would not have garnered wide-ranging support from Shiv Sena MLAs, MPs and other party leaders. Had we taken a wrong decision, these 50 MLAs, MPs and other party leaders would not have come with us. They refer to those who leave them as kachara (trash) but mind you, one day you will turn into trash, he said, hitting out at the rival Shiv Sena (UBT). Shinde hit out at Uddhav Thackeray for using names like Abdali, Hitler and Afzal Khan to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Yesterday, you (Uddhav) asked Prime Minister to go to (violence-hit) Manipur. What Manipur, Modiji had even conducted a surgical strike in Pakistan. Why are you asking him to go to Manipur? You (as chief minister) did not even show the courage of going from Varsha (official residence of CM in Mumbai) to Mantralaya (state secretariat), Shinde said. Without taking the name of Uddhav Thackeray, who underwent a spine surgery in November 2021, Shinde said post-resignation in June 2022, his belt around the neck disappeared and he started walking. This miracle was done by Dr Eknath Shinde, he quipped. Uddhav slams Modi Speaking almost at the same time at an event organised by his faction on the Sena foundation day at Shanmukhanand Hall in Sion in central Mumbai, Uddhav Thackeray said if PM Modis supporters think he is like the Sun, then why is he not shining over violence-battered Manipur and questioned his visit to the US at a time when the north-eastern state is in the grip of ethnic clashes. The Shiv Sena (UBT) president said the double engine government has got derailed in the BJP-ruled Manipur, and also took on his former ally over the issue of Hindutva. Manipur is burning but Modi is going to America, Uddhav Thackeray said ahead of the PMs visit to the US from June 21-24. When I asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not visiting the burning Manipur, but is keen on going to the US, I was countered with arguments like one should spit at the Sun. If your guru is like the Sun, then why he is not shining over Manipur? he asked. Uddhav Thackeray also took a swipe at BJPs pitch for double engine governments, saying in Manipur it seems to have derailed. Where is the double engine government (in Manipur)? It seems it has got derailed. Only one engine (a reference to Union Home Minister Amit Shah) visited Manipur, where is the other one, he asked, taking a dig at Modi. The term double engine is used by BJP leaders to refer to the party being in power at the Centre as well as in a state. A large number of houses were burnt and more than 100 people have lost their lives in the ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki community people in Manipur that broke out over a month ago. Army and paramilitary forces have been deployed to restore peace in the north-eastern state. Uddhav Thackeray said attacks on Hindus show failure of BJPs Hindutva ideology. Our Hindutva did not tell us to be happy when BJP leaders are getting attacked in Manipur. Be it Kashmir or Manipur, if Hindus are getting attacked, then BJPs Hindutva ideology has failed, the former CM said. He ridiculed the claim by Maharashtras deputy CM and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis that Modi developed anti-coronavirus vaccine. Raut on Tuesday tweeted a letter to UN chief Antonio Guterres demanding that 20 June be declared World Traitors Day. Our prime minister, home minister and central government are promoting traitorship. PM Modi is going to the US. He should tell United Nations about June 20 when 40 of our MLAs left the party. And ask the UN to announce World Traitors Day, Raut was quoted as saying by ANI. BJP leaders join fray BJP MLA Nitesh Rane claimed that 27 July the birthday of Uddhav should be declared as international traitors day as there is no bigger traitor than him. Uddhav Thackeray celebrates his birthday on 27th July. There is no bigger traitor than him. He is one such traitor who betrayed his fathers ideology, betrayed Hindutva, betrayed Marathis, Devendra Fadnavis and BJPThat is why, 27th July should be declared International pic.twitter.com/Q9awZ9Mjht ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 According to Indian Express, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday accused Uddhav of being a traitor. Addressing a public rally in Kalyan, Fadnavis said, What right do they have to call others gaddar (betrayer). If anybody has done gaddari first it was Uddhav Thackeray. NCP holds protests Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders and workers observed gaddar din (traitors day) on Tuesday in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. Led by NCP working president and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule, the party workers in Mumbai shouted slogans and carried symbolic khoke (cartons) to claim the rebel legislators took money to come to power in the state. On Tuesday, the NCP workers along with Sule gathered at their party office in south Mumbai to stage a protest. Sule and others shouted slogans like Pannas (50) Khoke, Ekdum Ok, to allege that the rebel legislators had taken Rs 50 crore each as bribe. In neighbouring Thane, which is also the hometown of Shinde, NCP leader and former minister Jitendra Awhad led a similar protest. The NCP workers piled up several cartons with Pannas Khoke, Ekdum Ok stickers on them at a spot and later burnt them as a mark of protest. In Nagpur, the NCP workers staged a demonstration at the Variety Square in Nagpur and shouted slogans like Khoke sarkar murdabad, gaddar aamdar murdabad against legislators of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. In Pune, NCP city president Prashant Jagtap held a protest in in Balgandharva Rangmandir Chowk, as per Pune Mirror. The outlet quoted Jagtap as saying that Indians have witnessed many political events over the past 75 years, but they will never forget Shindes munity. Jagtap added that the Shinde group will be taught a lesson by the public. Maharashtra NCP president Jayant Patil last week asked the party cadres to protest against the rebel Shiv Sena legislators. NCP workers should organise protests in the nook and corner of the state by displaying symbolic khoke (boxes of money) based on which the Eknath Shinde government has come to power, he said on Saturday. Patil appealed to NCP workers to tell people that the temporary happiness of the Shinde camp, which was recognised by the Election Commission as real Shiv Sena, is on the wane and their days in government are numbered. The Supreme Court has ruled that then Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari was not justified in calling upon then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove a majority in the Assembly on 30 June, 2022. A constitutional bench had also observed that it cannot restore the Thackeray government as he resigned without facing a floor test. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Lord Jagannath is all set to commence on a nine-day Rath Yatra with his siblings Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra in Odishas Puri today (20 June). This annual Rath Yatra is a famous Hindu festival, attracting numerous devotees from across the globe. Gujarats Ahmedabad, which also celebrates the procession on a large scale, is marking its 146th year of the Yatra. As Hindu devotees observe the auspicious festival, lets take a look at its history and significance. History of Puri Rath Yatra The Puri Rath Yatra, also known as Gundicha Yatra or the Festival Of Chariots, dates back to 1558. Citing Bhaskar Mishra, a researcher of Jagannath culture, ThePrint reported that the Yatra was not held 32 times between 1558 and 1735 because of Mughal invasions. Presently, besides Odisha, the Jagannath Rath Yatra is also celebrated in parts of other states and even countries including the United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Australia and the United States. What happens during Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra? The annual Rath Yatra celebrates the sibling deities Lord Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Jagannath embarking on a three-kilometre journey from the 12th-Century Jagannath Temple in Puri to visit their aunts residence at the Gundicha Temple. For the Yatra, the deities are installed in three massive chariots which are pulled by devotees with the help of 250-foot-long ropes of coconut fibres, according to Indian Express. The procession from the Jagannath temple to the Gundicha temple is called pahandi. Every year, the Yatra begins on the second day of the Odia month of Ashadh Shukla Tithi. The deities embark on their journey amid devotional songs and sounds of cymbals, plates, and drums. This year, the sibling will set out on their journey to the Gundicha Temple at 10:04 pm today (20 June). The Rath Yatra, which is expected to draw in lakhs of devotees to participate in the festival, will come to an end at 7:09 pm the next day. #WATCH | A large number of devotees gather in Odishas Puri for the #JagannathRathYatra_2023 pic.twitter.com/CzRrc3hZHI ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 Lord Balabhadras chariot Taladhwaja Rath, Goddess Subhadras Darpadalan Rath and the Nandighosa Rath for Lord Jagannath each have different heights, colours, guardian deities as well as charioteers, as per the Indian Express report. The three chariots, made of wood from local trees such as fasi, dhaura, simili and asana, are more than 40 feet tall and have at least 12 wheels each, the report added. New raths are built every year with preparations starting two to three months in advance of the procession. After the Yatra ends, parts of the chariots are sold by Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) wheels for Rs 50,000 and axles for Rs 15,000 per piece, reported Indian Express. The remaining unsold wood is used as fuel in temple kitchens. Significance of the Yatra It is believed that the three deities spend at least seven days at their aunts house, enjoying delicacies prepared by her. On the ninth day, they return to the Jagannath Temple, a journey known as the Bahuda Jatra or the Jagannath Yatra. Hindu mythology offers varying accounts of the reason behind the siblings journey to Gudincha. As per a belief, Lord Jagannath, considered an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, decided to visit Gundicha Temple along with his elder brother Lord Balabhadra and sister Devi Subhadra. Thus, the day the trio began their journey is commemorated every year. Another legend says that the siblings travel to meet Gudincha, the queen of King Indrayumna, who is presumed to have established the temple, according to ThePrint. As per legend, on the fourth day of the Rath Yatra, Goddess Lakshmi, Lord Jagannaths wife visits the Gundicha temple to meet her husband. The festival is significant for Hindu devotees as they gather to seek Lord Jagannaths blessings and pull the chariots of the three deities, which is seen as an auspicious act. Ahmedabad Rath Yatra Legend says that the site of Jagannath temple in Ahmedabad was a forest on the east bank of the Sabarmati river more than 400 years ago. An ascetic named Hanumandasji came to this forest area and installed an idol of Lord Hanuman. His successor, Sarangdasji, a devotee of Lord Jagannath, was the one who founded the Jagannath temple and installed the idols of the three siblings in Ahmedabad, according to the Indian Express report. In 1878, Mahant Narsinhdasji, the fourth successor of Hanumandasji, started the tradition of the Rath Yatra similar to that of Puri, the report added. #WATCH | Gujarat: Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra 2023 to begin from Jagannath temple in Ahmedabad. Idols of lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra being installed on the chariot pic.twitter.com/DsDhyNDx1U ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 However, the two Yatras have some differences. Unlike Puri, the Yatra in Ahmedabad passes mostly from Muslim-dominated areas. In Ahmedabad, the idols of the three siblings are blindfolded ahead of the procession day, as part of the netrotsav ceremony, noted Indian Express. Moreover, in Ahmedabad, the siblings return from their maternal aunts residence the same evening instead of staying for days. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I am confident that my visit to the United States will reinforce our ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he departed for his significant and all-important state visit to Washington on the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. #WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves from Delhi for his first official State visit to the United States. He will attend Yoga Day celebrations at the UN HQ in New York and hold talks with US President Joe Biden & address to the Joint Session of the US Congress in pic.twitter.com/y6avSoPpkd ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 Modi will be in the US from 21 June he will lead the Yoga Day celebrations at the United Nations headquarters until 24 June, holding talks with the US president as well as important members of US society, including addressing a joint session of the US Congress. From Washington, Modi will fly to Cairo until 25 June, where he will reinforce New Delhis ties with Egypt. And Washington is rolling out the red carpet for Prime Minister Modi. Theres a state dinner, the Biden administrations third such visit after welcoming French president Emmanuel Macron and South Koreas Yoon Suk-yeol within the past year. Its not just pomp and symbolism, however. The visit is significant for both countries the US wants to bring India deeper into its manufacturing and defence orbit, with the added benefit of countering Chinas growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region. On the other hand, Modis visit to Washington will probably also reap big benefits for New Delhi in defence as well as other sectors like space and technology, and even education. Heres a deeper, better look at how Modis state visit to the US will benefit India. The big defence deals There are two very big defence deals which are likely to be announced when Prime Minister Modi is in Washington with President Joe Biden. First, is the whopping $3 billion deal for outright purchase of 30 MQ-9 Reaper or Predator B drones. These drones have the ability of carrying sensors and laser-guided bombs besides air-to-ground missiles. It has an endurance of over 27 hours and can operate up to 50,000 ft with a 3,850 pound (1,746 kg payload capacity that includes 3,000 pounds (1,361 kg) of external stores. Additionally, the Predator B drones are capable of carrying multiple mission payloads, making them dangerous and versatile. As per the US Air Force, the Reaper is capable of employing eight laser-guided missiles, air-to-ground missile-114 Hellfire, which possess highly accurate, low-collateral damage, anti-armour and anti-personnel engagement capabilities. This drone deal is important for India as it will enhance the Intelligence-Surveillance-Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of Indias armed forces. These drones can facilitate long-range surveillance and strike capabilities both in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and on the land borders. An India Today report citing military experts said that the drones would help Indian forces to launch remote-controlled operations and surgical strikes, such as on terrorist hideouts in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and engage targets on the Himalayan borders with China. Apart from this, theres also the jet engine deal that is likely to be inked between American company General Electric (GE) and Indias Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to co-produce the GE-F414 INS6 engine for Indias indigenous Tejas Mk 2. This deal is noteworthy as transfer of technology in this sphere is rare. In fact, only four countries across the globe that have mastered this technology for the production of combat jet engines the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Russia. Even China for all its advancements and military prowess, struggles to develop its jet engines for military jets and relies on Russia. According to a report in The Indian Express, India will get at least 11 major manufacturing technologies as part of the GE-HAL fighter jet engine deal, which are not readily available in India. These technologies include: special coatings for corrosion, erosion and thermal barrier for hot end; machining and coating for single crystal turbine blades; machining and coating of nozzle guide vanes and other hot end parts; blisk machining; machining of powder metallurgy discs for turbine; machining thin-walled titanium casing; friction/inertia welding for fan & afterburner; PMC (polymer matrix composites) for bypass duct; machining & coating of CMC (ceramic matrix composites) for nozzle; laser drilling technology for combustor; and bottle boring of shafts, sources told Indian Express. Catch our full coverage of PM Modi in US Yoga, meal with the Bidens, meet with CEOs: PM Modis packed days during US visit Modi in US: Why PM's sixth visit to the US is even more significant than past trips Explained: How Pakistans ISI is plotting to disrupt PM Modis historic state visit to the US Deals on drones and jets: How India-US defence ties are flourishing under PM Modi Rattled by Prime Minister Modis US visit, western media pulls out its template of lies Visas for Indians Another big boon for India that may come out of Modis US visit is the matter of visas for Indians. There are talks that the visa wait time issue that has seen Indians facing a waiting period of up to 600 days for the process will be resolved and an announcement on the same would be made during the state visit. Indias Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, in an exclusive interview with Business Today said during that Prime Minister Narendra Modis maiden state visit to America, there will be discussions on ease of waiting period of visas for Indians and a number of initiatives will also be taken to make the process more seamless. Incidentally, just days before Modis visit, the Biden administration eased norms by releasing policy guidance on the eligibility criteria for those waiting for green cards to work and stay in America. Boost to trade The US is also likely to ask India to join the trade pillar under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) during Modis visit. For the unaware, the IPEF was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on 23 May in Tokyo. The framework is structured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy, and fair economy. India has joined all the pillars except the trade one. Space ties to get deeper Modis US visit will also most likely see a deepening of space-related collaboration. According to some media reports, there will be deeper collaboration on astronaut training, crew rescue, and other activities in human space flight. This would greatly benefit Indias Gaganyaan mission. The mission aims at launching a crew of three members to an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission which is scheduled for 2025. Theres also the possibility of New Delhis participation in the Artemis Accords a multilateral exploration programme led by the US, with the participation of 24 other countries, that establishes a framework for civil cooperation and peaceful use of the moon, Mars and other astronomical objects. Change in US-India ties The bonhomie between Modi and Biden is reflective of the growing ties between India and the US. However, this wasnt always the case between the two countries. Earlier during the Cold War era, India was more closely aligned with Russia due to US distrust and estrangement over Indias nuclear program, , while the Washington had a stronger partnership with Indias rival, Pakistan. As former US Ambassador, Dennis Kux, stated that the two countries remained estranged democracies, until the early 1990s. However, since the early 2000s, US administrations from Bill Clinton to Donald Trump have worked to build a strong relationship with India, recognising its potential to be a strategic partner in ensuring the security of the Indo-Pacific region. M R Rangaswami, the founder of Indiaspora, among the most influential global Indian diaspora organisations, was quoted as telling Hindustan Times that equations have changed over the years and now is the time that the US is equally excited to work with India and both sides are keen to achieve substantive outcomes. Initially, India wanted to do more with the US and there were a lot of expectations on the Indian side. The equation has altered where the US side is equally excited and wants to do stuff. Both sides want to make things happen. Given President Joe Bidens commitment and the number of ministerial meetings that have happened, its clear that both sides want to make stuff happen, he said. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Prime Minister Narendra Modis state visit to the US is shining a light on Indian-Americans. The community, which consists of over four million Americans of Indian heritage, comprises around 1.3 per cent of the US population. Modi, after being accorded a grand welcome at the White House, hailed the Indian-American community. Members of the Indian diaspora are increasing the stature of the country in America with their talent, hard work and allegiance. You are the real strength of our (India-US) relations, Modi said, as per Indian Express. It is for the first time that the gates of the White House have been opened for Indian-Americans in such large numbers, Modi added. As per The Times of India, Modi told President Joe Biden, I express my gratitude towards you for opening the doors of the White House for the Indian-American diaspora. People of the Indian community are enhancing Indias glory in the US through their hard work and dedication. You are the real strength of our relationship. I thank President Biden and Dr Jill Biden for giving this honour to them, Modi added. Biden, welcoming PModi at the White House, said the bond between two nations was defined y three word: We The People. Two proud nations bond by the three words We The People, Biden said. Biden described the relationship between the US and India as one of the most defining relationships in the 21st Century. Biden added that the Indian diaspora remains a bridge between the two nations. Biden said India and US are working closely in expanding healthcare, climate change and issues arising out of Russias aggression against Ukraine. Lets take a closer look at why Indian-Americans, the third-largest Asian ethnic group in the US, are so influential: Growing political clout The Indian-American community has emerged as a force to reckon with in the US presidential elections. According to Time Magazine, Indian-Americans voted in record numbers in the 2020 election. Indian-Americans are a key constituency and a key vote in a number of swing states, Sara Sadhwani, an assistant professor of politics at Pomona College told the outlet. According to AAPI Data, around 74 per cent of Indian-Americans voted for Joe Biden in 2020. Only 15 per cent of Indian-Americans voted for Trump. While Indian-Americans have largely voted Democratic over the years, both parties initiated several measures to woo the approximately 1.8 million members of the community who have emerged as a critical voting bloc in the battleground states of Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas. In a time when the country has elections decided by four states and a margin of a few percent or less, every community really matters, Neil Makhija, the president of Indian American Impact advocacy group told Time Magazine. Ours really showed up in a significant way for [Biden] in Georgia, in Pennsylvania, in Arizona. BBC quoted a 2019 study showing that Indian-Americans, compared to other Asian-American groups, favoured giving to Democratic candidates especially when it comes to individual donations. But Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia Program at Carnegie, told Time Magazine that Republicans see Indian-Americans as a natural partner. They are well-off, and theyre business oriented. They care about low taxes, low regulation, and entrepreneurship, and theyre socially conservative. So I dont think its a group that the Democratic Party is going to take for granted. Little wonder that the 2024 candidates themselves are making a play for the community. Biden, Trump vie for Indian-American support Biden, the incumbent president, has appointed more than 130 Indian-Americans to key positions in his administration thus far shattering the record of his predecessor Donald Trump, who had appointed more than 80 Indian-Americans as well as Barack Obama who appointed over 60 Indian-Americans to key positions during his two terms. As per NDTV, Biden appointed Ashish Jha of Brown University as the coordinator of White Houses COVID-19 efforts. Biden has maintained a close relationship with the community since his days in the Senate. In 2020, Biden made history in by selecting Indian-origin Kamala Harris as his running mate. Bidens major fundraisers, which include Indian-Americans, had helped raise at least $100,000 for his 2020 campaign. To name a few, a likely list includes prominent Indian-American community organisations and leaders like Ajay Bhutoria, Frank Islam, Raj Shah, Ramesh Kapoor, Indian-American Impact, Indiaspora and AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) Victory Fund. Trump, meanwhile, had won over Indian supporters with events like Howdy Modi and for his open support and friendship for India in the past. During his re-election campaign in 2020, he had launched four new coalitions Indian Voices for Trump, Hindu Voices for Trump, Sikhs for Trump and Muslim Voices for Trump to amass support from these communities. This year, Shalabh Shalli Kumar, a fierce Trump supporter, has been appointed the national chairman of a new Republican Hindu and Indian American coalition, according to a Republican National Committee announcement. The two coalitions, apart from building and mobilising Hindu and Indian American communities across the US, will assist the indicted leader in his 2024 campaign. An official word is awaited, though. Apart from Chicago-based industrialist Kumar, who was also the financial backer and chair of the 2016 Indian Americans for Trump Campaign, loyalist Kash Patel, who joined the Trump administration in 2019, continues to serve as a key political advisor to Trump. Patels staunch loyalty towards Trump scored brownie points from former advisor Roger Stone who remarked that the former president named his dog Kash as an homage to Patel. Since Trump formally announced his re-election bid in November, Patel has been reportedly mentioned on right-wing media as a potential contender for attorney general or CIA director, according to ABC News. If Trumps back in, Im back in, Patel, a former federal prosecutor and senior intelligence official, had said in a December interview. Other top Trump supporters include, Danny Gaekwad, who has raised funds for all Republican presidential candidates since George W Bush, Sridhar Chityala, who is on the advisory board of Indian voice for Trump Coalition, Rick Desai, Dr Sampat Shivangi, Shridhar Chityala, and Prem Parameswaran to name a few. Indian-Americans in Congress More than 40 Indian-Americans have been elected at various state and federal levels including four mayors. Of these, five are in the House of Representatives Dr Ami Bera, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Pramila Jayapal and Shri Thanedar. Thanedar, an entrepreneur-turned-politician, became the fifth Indian-American to be elected to the US House of Representatives in November. These representatives and Harris make up the Samosa Caucus. This is an informal grouping of Indian-American lawmakers in Congress. The term was coined by Congressman Krishnamoorthi to give credence to the growing number of desi lawmakers in the US Congress. According to Deccan Herald, Krishnamoorthi in jest explained that the nomenclature was meant to signify the fact that they were small but spicy. The first Asian-American and Indian-American Member of Congress was Dalip Singh Saund, who served in the US House of Representatives from 1957 to 1963. Interestingly all five members of the House are Democrats. In the 66 years between Representative Saunds election and the 2012 election of Bera, Piyush Bobby Jindal was the only other member of Indian American descent elected to the legislative branch of the federal government. Following the 2016 election, Harris made history as the first Indian-American to be sworn into the United States Senate. Candidates for president Since 2016, at least one Indian-American has run for US president. This time two Indian-Americans have announced their candidacy. The first, Nikki Haley is one of the Republican Partys prominent faces. Haley, born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa to Punjabi Sikh parents who migrated from Punjab to Canada and then to the US in the 1960s. Haley is the two-term Governor of South Carolina and the former US Ambassador to the United Nations. Haley in February became the first Republican to challenge former US President Donald Trump in his 2024 bid for the White House. Jindal previously ran for president in 2016 and Vice-President Kamala Harris made a similar bid in 2020. Also running for president in the Republican primary in 2024 is Indian-American tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Ramaswamys parents migrated to the United States from Kerala and worked at a General Electric plant in Ohio. The 37-year-old made the announcement during on Fox News in February. A second-generation Indian American, Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences in 2014 and led the largest biotech IPOs of 2015 and 2016, eventually culminating in successful clinical trials in multiple disease areas that led to FDA-approved products, according to his bio. He has founded other successful healthcare and technology companies, and in 2022, he launched Strive Asset Management, a new firm focused on restoring the voices of everyday citizens in the American economy by leading companies to focus on excellence over politics. Contributions to the economy According to BBC, Indian-Americans have the highest median income of all immigrant communities. The Times of India quoted a study from think-tank Migration Policy Institute (MPI) as saying that Indian-American households had an income of $150,000. Thats more than double of other immigrant and US households which is at $70,000. The same study estimated that around 49% of Indian immigrant adults held a graduate or professional degree. Thats leagues higher than the 15 per cent of foreign born and 13 per cent of native adults who hold such degrees. According to the 2010 census, 70 per cent of Indian Americans over the age of 25 had college degrees, 2.5 times higher than the national average. The nearly 200,000 Indian students in the United States contribute $7.7 billion annually to the US economy. It accounted for 23 per cent of total remittances in 2020-21. More than 20 Indian-Americans are also heading up top US companies including Sundar Pichai of Google and Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Shantanu Narayen of Adobe, Vivek Lall of General Atomics, Punit Renjen of Deloitte, Raj Subramaniam of FedEx, Arvind Krishna of IMB and Ajay Banga of Mastercard. Interestingly, since 1999, 73 per cent of the US National Spelling Bee winners have been Indian-Americans as per NDTV. Paying taxes Meanwhile, top American lawmaker Rich McCormick heaped praise on Indian-Americans noting that the community which constitutes about one per cent of the US population pay about six per cent of the taxes. In his first speech in the US House of Representatives, the Congressman from Georgia urged for a streamlined immigration process. He also paid special tribute to Swati Vijay Kulkarni who is set to return to India after serving as the third consul general in Atlanta. I rise to this occasion to just appreciate my constituents, especially those who have immigrated from India. We have a very large portion of my community thats made up of almost 100,000 People who have immigrated directly from India. One out of every five doctors in my community is from India. They represent some of the best citizens we have in America, we should make sure that we streamline the immigration process for those who come here to obey the law and pay their taxes. McCormick, who represents the 6th Congressional District of Georgia, further said that although the Indian-American community makes up only 1 per cent of American society, they pay about 6 per cent of the taxes. He lauded the community for their productiveness and for being the law-abiding citizens of the country. Although they make up about 1 per cent of American society, they pay about 6 per cent of the taxes. They are amongst the top producers, and they do not cause problems. They follow laws. They dont have the problems that we see other people have when they come to the emergency room for overdoses and depression anxiety because theyre the most productive, most family oriented and the best of what represents American citizens. God bless my Indian constituents, said the US Congressman. McCormick, a physician by profession, also stated he looked forward to meeting with Dr Swati Vijay Kulkarni, Consul General of India in Atlanta as her term ends. We look forward to meeting with Ambassador and God bless Dr Kulkarni and as she finishes her appointment as Indian consulate general to Atlanta, he said. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. A top official in United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has urged India to join the Artemis Accords. Speaking to news agency PTI, Bhavya Lal, the associate administrator for technology, policy and strategy within the office of the NASA Administrator, said New Delhi needs to be a part of the Artemis team, which brings together like-minded countries for civil space activities. I think signing Artemis Accords should be a priority (for India). I mean, NASA feels pretty strongly that India, its a global power; its one of the few countries with independent access to space, has a thriving launch industry, has been to the moon, and has been to Mars, it needs to be part of the Artemis team, she said. Her statements came days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi set out for a state visit to Washington where the two countries are expected to sign major defence and trade deals. What are the Artemis Accords and what are the concerns about them? Lets take a closer look. Whats the Artemis Accords? The Artemis Accords are a set of principles, guidelines, and best practices to guide the safe exploration of the Moon and eventually Mars. According to NASA, these accords are intended to establish a set of principles to increase the safety of operations, reduce uncertainty, and promote the sustainable and beneficial use of space for all humankind. Under its Artemis programme, NASA aims to return humans to the Moon by 2024 and eventually expand space exploration to Mars and beyond. To advance this programme, international partnerships with numerous countries and private companies are vital to the success of the US space agency, as per Space.com. As the US does not seek to embark on the journey to the lunar surface and beyond alone, it introduced Artemis Accords in 2020. These principles were founded by NASA, in collaboration with the US Department of State, and seven other nations. Artemis will be the broadest and most diverse international human space exploration programme in history, and the Artemis Accords are the vehicle that will establish this singular global coalition, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine had said at the time. Through these non-binding bilateral agreements called Artemis Accords, NASA wants to affirm the importance of the countries adhering to the United Nations 1967 Outer Space Treaty, as per Space.com report. The Artemis Accords are signed at a national level and not organisational level. As of May 2023, there are 25 signatories to the Artemis Accords, including the US, the United Kingdom, Japan, Italy, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Bahrain, Columbia, Czech Republic, France, Israel, Luxemburg, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, Nigeria, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Key principles of the Artemis Accords Peaceful purposes: All nations would conduct activities under the Artemis programme exclusively for peaceful purposes and abiding by the relevant international law. Transparency: The signatories are expected to be transparent about their national space policies and space exploration plans. They should also share scientific information with the public and the international scientific community on a good-faith basis, as per the Accords. Interoperability: NASA states that the countries should recognise that the development of interoperable and common exploration infrastructure and standards, including but not limited to fuel storage and delivery systems, landing structures, communications systems, and power systems, will enhance space-based exploration, scientific discovery, and commercial utilisation. Emergency assistance: The countries signing the Accords will have to commit to providing assistance to astronauts and personnel in outer space who are in distress. Registration of Space Objects: The signatories can decide which of them should register any relevant space object in accordance with the Registration Convention. Preserving Heritage: The Accords call for member nations to preserve historically significant human or robotic landing sites, artifacts, spacecraft, and other evidence of activity on celestial bodies in accordance with mutually developed standards and practices. Space Resources: The partner countries have to affirm extraction and utilisation of space resources, including any recovery from the surface or subsurface of the Moon, Mars, comets, or asteroids will be in accordance with the Outer Space Treaty. As per the Outer Space Treaty, countries cannot claim ownership of objects extracted from space. Deconfliction of Activities: The Accords state that countries carrying out Moon exploration should set up a safety zone to avoid harmful interference with the activities of other nations. Orbital Debris: The member countries will have to pledge to safe, timely, and efficient disposal of spacecraft at the end of their missions. They also have to commit to limiting the generation of new long-lived or harmful debris. ALSO READ: Mighty Discovery: The alien planet that is 13 times more massive than Jupiter What are the concerns regarding the Artemis Accords? As per PTI, richer countries will gain the most from space exploration. The news agency noted that the Artemis Accords do not lay down a regulatory framework determining who has access to space resources and under what circumstances. This means the Artemis Accords promotes the use of space resources on a first come, first served basis. As a result, states with the financial and technological means to get there first will gain the most. Less developed or emerging spacefaring states will not profit from space resource utilisation, at least not directly, reported PTI. As per the news agency, the creation of safety zones is also controversial as it could lead to de facto appropriation of an area of the Moon. However, the Accords call for multilateral efforts to develop international practices and rules applicable to preserving outer space heritage. Guoyu Wang, associate professor and dean of the Academy of Air, Space Policy and Law at the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), argued in The Space Review (TSR) that the Accords may trigger a new Moon race. The Accords highlight cooperation, as well as actively promotes commercial utilisation of space resources. This is bound to initiate a new round of competition about exploitation and utilisation of the resources on the Moon and other celestial bodies among states and private entities. Exploitation of the resources on the Moon and other celestial bodies could become the spotlight of a new round of the space race and a new battlefield among space powers, Dr Wang wrote for the online publication in 2020. Russia has also taken objection to the US stand on utilising space resources. Attacking the US and comparing its stance on using space resources to colonialism, the director of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, had previously stated that the principle of invasion is the same, whether it be the Moon or Iraq. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The Titanic, they say, was doomed from the start. It met a tragic end. And now in an eerie coincidence, a submarine exploring the wreckage of the worlds most infamous ship has gone missing. A massive search and rescue operation is underway in the North Atlantic to find the submersible with five people on board. Called Titan, the watercraft lost contact one hour and 45 minutes into its dive on Sunday, according to the United States Coast Guard. However, all hope is not lost. The sub is likely to have at least 70 hours of emergency oxygen left. Heres what we know about the missing vessel and what is likely to have happened. What is the Titanic submersible, Titan? Titan is a research and survey submersible that can accommodate five people. These include a pilot, and crew, which could be archaeologists or marine biologists. However, it also carries tourists who can afford a seat it costs $250,000 (Rs 2.02 crore) for an eight-day trip to the Titanic wreck. Titan is a Cyclops-class manned submersible, which takes people to the depths of 13,123 feet for site survey and inspection, research and data collection, film and media production, and deep sea testing of hardware and software, according to OceanGate Expeditions, a private company that deploys vessels for deep-sea explorations. Made of carbon fibre and titanium, the craft is 22 feet in length and weighs about 10,432 kilos and has a speed of 3 knots. It uses four electric thrusters to move around and has a battery of cameras, lights and scanners to explore its environment, according to a report in The Guardian. Titan is equipped with an integrated platform which the submarine launches from and returns to before and after each dive. According to OceanGate, it is the largest of any deep-diving submersible with a technology that provides an unrivalled view of the deep ocean. The vessel has a 96-hour bottled oxygen supply and it can last until Thursday morning. OceanGate calls the trip to see the Titanic wreckage a chance to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary. According to its website, apart from the ongoing expedition, it has two more have been planned for June 2024. Who is on board the vessel? British billionaire and explorer Hamish Harding had joined the latest expedition to the Titanic. He wrote in a post on social media that the trip was likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic this year due to the harsh weather conditions. The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s including PH Nargeolet, he said. Nargeolet is a French explorer and a pre-eminent expert on the Titanic, who led several expeditions to the ships wreckage. Stockton Rush, the CEO and founder of OceanGate Expeditions, which operated the trip, is also feared to be on board, reports Sky News. According to a CNN report, a Pakistani father and son were also on the vessel. A statement released by the family Tuesday named Shahzada Dawood and his son, Sulaiman Dawood, as being on the journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. Shahzada Dawood is a trustee of the SETI Institute in California and the vice chairman of Dawood Hercules Corporation, part of the Dawood Group. Where and how did Titan go missing? The Titan was on the tour of the Titanic wreck, which lies 700 km south of St Johns, Newfoundland in Canada. The research vessel Polar Prince, which is used to transport Titan to the wreckage site, lost contact with the crew of the sub an hour and 45 minutes into its dive on Sunday. The missing craft was last thought to be approximately 1,450 km off the coast of Cape Cod, a peninsula of the US state of Massachusetts. It is early to predict what could have gone amiss with Titan. Several possibilities have been offered by experts like a power failure or issue with the vessels communication system. Some say the sub could have gotten tangled in the wreckage of the Titanic, according to a report in The Guardian. The ocean floor where the Titanic lies is surrounded by debris from the sinking of the ship more than a century ago. There are parts of it all over the place. Its dangerous, Frank Owen OAM, a retired Royal Australian Navy official and submarine escape and rescue project director told the publication. But if Titan got stuck or suffered a power outage, it is equipped with drop weights, which can be released in case of an emergency. This will help it create enough buoyancy to take it to the surface, the report says. What do we know of the rescue ops? The Boston Coast Guard is leading the rescue operations. The US Coast Guard has sent two C-130 Hercules aircraft to search for the submersible on the surface of the water. It has been joined by a Canadian C-13 and a P8 aircraft equipped with underwater sonar capability, according to a report by the BBC. The US Coast Guards Rear Admiral John Mauger said on Monday that it is a challenge to conduct a search in such a remote area. The rescue teams were taking this personally and were doing everything they could to bring those on board home safe. OceanGate Expeditions says it is taking every step possible to return the five crew members onboard the missing submersible. For some time, we have been unable to establish communications with one of our submersible exploration vehicles which is currently visiting the wreck site of the Titanic We are deeply grateful for the urgent and extensive assistance we are receiving from multiple government agencies and deep-sea companies as we seek to reestablish contact with the submersible, it said in a statement. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Rescue operations are underway to locate a submersible that has disappeared during a dive to explore the wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic. As per reports, five people are aboard the 21-foot tourist craft named Titan, including a British Pakistani businessman and his son. There has been no sign of the tourist submersible yet which lost contact with the research vessel Polar Prince about one hour and 45 minutes into its dive in the mid-Atlantic on Sunday morning (18 June), Sky News reported. Who are the five people missing on the Titanic tourist submersible? Lets take a closer look. Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Shahzada Dawood, vice chair of Engro Corporation one of Pakistans largest conglomerates, is on board the missing vessel with his son, Suleman. Both are British citizens, reported BBC. As per AFP, Engro is headquartered in Karachi and has a variety of investments in energy, agriculture, petrochemicals and telecommunications. According to SETI Institute, a research organisation in California of which Shahzada is a trustee, he lives in Britain with his wife Christine, and his children, Suleman and Alina. Shazada has a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Buckingham in the UK and a Master of Science degree in Global Textile Marketing from the United States Philadelphia University Shazadas father Hussain Dawood is often listed among Pakistans richest people by the local press, reported AFP. Shahzada, 48, also serves on the Global Advisory Board for Prince Charles Charity, Princes Trust International. In a statement on Tuesday (20 June), the Dawood family in Pakistan confirmed the duo had set out on a journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available, the statement read. A rescue effort that is being jointly led by multiple government agencies and deep-sea companies is underway to reestablish contact with the submersible and bring them back safely, it added. We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety. Hamish Harding He is a well-known explorer with three Guinness World Records under his belt. The 58-year-old British businessman is the chairman of aircraft firm Action Aviation, a sales and operations company providing an array of services in the business aviation industry. Harding spent five years in Karnatakas Bangalore, serving as managing director of a logistics company, before establishing Action Aviation in 2004, reported AFP. He has travelled to the South Pole several times, including once with former US astronaut Buzz Aldrin, as per the BBC report. Harding holds the world record for the longest time spent at full ocean depth during a dive to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, the report added. Harding bagged the Guinness world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth by an aircraft via the North and South Poles in 2019, as per Sky News. Last year, he flew to space on board Blue Origins fifth human space flight. Harding, who is based in Dubai, had posted on social media ahead of his journey that he was joining OceanGate Expeditions the company that provided the submersible as a mission specialist. RMS TITANIC EXPEDITION I am proud to finally announce that I joined @OceanGateExped for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic.@ExplorersClub @actionaviation @One_More_Orbit #PolarPrince Full story at:https://t.co/7UWUrKGyTQ Hamish Harding (@ActionAviation0) June 17, 2023 As per BBC, Hardings stepson Brian Szasz in a now-deleted post on Facebook confirmed earlier the businessman was on the sub: He has gone missing on (the) submarine. ALSO READ: Whats the Titanic sub, which charges Rs 2.02 cr for expedition, that has vanished? Paul-Henry Nargeolet Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a former French Navy diver, is also on the missing Titanic sub. During his 25-year-long service in the French Navy, he became the captain of the deep submergence group, reported Sky News. The 77-year-old is the director of underwater research at a company that owns the rights to the Titanic wreck, according to BBC. As per Al Jazeera, in an interview with France Bleu radio in 2020, Gargeolet had opened up about the dangers of deep diving, saying: I am not afraid to die, I think it will happen one day. Mathieu Johann, a spokesperson of Nargeolet told ABC News that the French explorer is indeed on board. He further said that Nargeolets wife dwells in the US and she awaits him patiently. Stockton Rush Stockton Rush, the chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions, is also reportedly on the missing sub. OceanGate organises this eight-day trip to the wreck of the Titanic which is located 600km off the coast of Newfoundland. The expedition, costing $250,000 (195,600) per person, starts in St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada. According to Rushs profile on OceanGates website, he became the youngest jet transport rated pilot globally in 1981 at the age of 19. In an interview with Sky News back in February this year, Rush had talked about visiting the Titanic wreck earlier. What really strikes you is how beautiful it is, he said. You dont normally see that on a shipwreck. It is an amazingly beautiful wreck, he added. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Indias low-cost carrier IndiGo is soaring high and it has every reason to be. On Monday, the airlines parent company, Interglobe Aviation, inked a deal with Airbus for 500 A320 planes the largest order in the history of commercial aviation. The announcement of the deal came on Monday, the opening day of the Paris Air Show the worlds largest event focusing on aviation and space industry. Neither side disclosed how much the order was worth, but it would likely amount to tens of billions of dollars. The no-frills airline said in a statement, IndiGo is further defining its long-term future, well into the next decade, by placing a firm order for 500 Airbus A320 Family aircraft. This will provide IndiGo a further steady stream of deliveries between 2030 and 2035. IndiGo CEO Peter Elbers also hailed the deal, calling it an enormous milestone. No one has ever ordered an order of this magnitude. And it speaks to the potential of Indian aviation and the ambitions which IndiGo is having, he said at a press conference. What does this deal entail? What does it mean for IndiGo? Is this deal significant to Indias aviation sector? We break it all down and give you the answers. The IndiGo-Airbus deal IndiGo has placed an order to buy 500 narrow-body planes from Airbus, the French aerospace giant. The order comprises of 500 of the Airbus A320 Family aircraft a mix of A320NEO, A321NEO and A321XLR aircraft which is to be delivered between 2030 and 2035. This deal, signed on Monday, is the largest-ever aircraft order placed by any airline with Airbus. The historic agreement was signed by Rahul Bhatia, promoter and managing director of IndiGo, Dr Venkataramani Sumantran, chairman and non-executive independent director of IndiGo, Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo, Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO, and Christian Scherer, Airbus chief commercial officer and head of international, at the Paris Air Show 2023. But why choose the Airbus A320 aircraft? Worldwide, the A320 aircraft is the undisputed leader in the single-aisle aircraft category. It boasts of the widest single-aisle cabin, incorporating the latest technologies. The aircraft is also fuel-efficient and reliable. In fact, the A320neo family is the aircraft of choice for airlines across the world having more than 8,700 orders from over 130 customers. While financial details of the deal werent disclosed, some believe that it is estimated to be worth some $50 billion at the most recently published Airbus list prices. However, as The Economic Times reported, the actual cost of the order is expected to be significantly lower, as substantial discounts are typically applied to such big acquisitions. Also read: Why Delhi-Mumbai airfares are among the costliest globally Significance of the deal There are two reasons why this deal is so important and significant. Firstly, it is the biggest biggest-ever aircraft order in the history of commercial aviation. It surpasses the order that was made five months ago by Air India when it inked a deal for 470 aircraft with Airbus and Boeing. Secondly, it ensures that IndiGo has an uninterrupted supply of new aircraft for the next decade, fortifying its fleet expansion plans. This deal comes at a time when the airline is yet to receive nearly 480 jets from its existing order of 830 Airbus A320-family planes. The company, since its inception in 2006, has been purchasing A320-family planes, ordering a total of 1,330 aircraft from the French aerospace giant. Its first order with Airbus was in 2005 for 100 A320 planes. Then in 2011 for 180 A320 Family, including the NEO. In 2014, IndiGo placed another order for Airbus jets and the last order came in 2019 for 300 A320neo planes. These orders took the total to 830 A320 family aircraft. Today, the airline has a combination of aircraft, which includes the A320 (180 seats), the A320neo (186 seats), the A321neo with two configurations (222 seats and 232 seats), and the ATR 72-600 turboprop aircraft. The deal is a reflection of IndiGos economic health and also shows its planning for the future. It gives them a robust fleet of planes to continue their dominance of the Indian skies and fend off competition from Tata-owned Air India. As Elbers said in the press conference that the deal gives IndiGo time to elaborately plan our domestic, and international network and also our pilot requirements going forward. Indias aviation sector flies high The deal will enable IndiGo to maintain its status as the leader of the domestic Indian market. Moreover, it is also a reflection of the growth potential of the Indian aviation market. Countrys aviation regulator, Directorate General Civil Aviation, revealed that the domestic air passenger traffic registered an annual growth of 36.10 per cent during January May 2023 period compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. Indias domestic airlines carried close to 6.36 crore passengers as against 4.67 crore passengers during the corresponding period of the previous year. Additionally, for April 2023, international passenger traffic for Indian carriers stood at 21.8 lakh, higher than the pre-COVID (April 2019) levels of 18.3 lakh by 20 per cent. According to some reports, as of 2023, India already has the third-largest domestic aviation sector globally, overtaking Japan. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has predicted that India will overtake the UK to become the third-largest aviation market by 2026. This still leaves it behind the US and China. China will displace the US as the worlds largest aviation market (defined by traffic to, from and within the country) around 2029. India will displace the UK for the third place in 2026, while Indonesia enters the top ten at the expense of Italy. However, Indias aviation sector has faced turbulence in the recent past. Go First has filed for bankruptcy after being compelled to ground half of its 50-strong Airbus A320neo aircraft fleet. SpiceJet is also in deep financial trouble; its net worth at the end of March 2022 was a negative Rs 4,340 crore and the losses before tax in the four years to March 2022 were more than Rs 3,870 crore. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In the wake of rising crime cases in New Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter to the Lieutenant Governor bringing his attention to the situation in the national capital and proposing a meeting with the cabinet. In the recent past, Delhi has witnessed an increase in crime rate with the most shocking case emerging from Rohinis Shahbad Dairy area where a 20-year-old man Sahil Khan stabbed a 16-year-old girl Sakshi repeatedly. My letter to Honble LG on deteriorating law and order situation in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/2gvbZvN7zZ Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 20, 2023 In the letter, Kejriwal said that the rise of crime has shaken the national capital while no substantial action has been taken by LG & MHA to fix the situation, a press release said. I am writing this letter to draw the urgent attention of your good self towards an alarming spurt in serious crimes in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. The seriousness of the situation can be gauged from a heart-rending fact that four murders have taken place during the last 24 hours in different parts of Delhi, the letter read. Mentioning the statistics provided by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the chief minister highlighted that Delhi alone accounts for 32.20 percent of total crimes against women among 19 metropolitan cities in India. Given such alarming figures, urgent preventive steps on crimes against women were required, but unfortunately for the reasons best known to the MHA and your goodself, nothing changed on the ground, he added. He also expressed his governments willingness to collaborate with the central government in ensuring the rule of law and safeguarding the interests of the people in the NCT of Delhi. The CM also expressed disappointment over the lack of urgency displayed by central government authorities. He said, I am constrained to state that the kind of urgency required for prevention of crimes in Delhi is completely missing on the part of decision-makers responsible for the maintenance of law and order here. Kejriwal suggests new measures to fight crime In the letter, the chief minister also suggested some ways that can be applied to fight crime in Delhi. He said that there is a growing need to implement measures like enhanced police patrolling during night hours to prevent crimes during night time. He also called for an open dialogue with the residents of Delhi to seek their input on improving the law and order situation. A revival of Thana-level committees, which previously served as platforms for regular and active engagement between the police, the public, and elected representatives, has also been recommended. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Ahmedabad: A young couple from Naroda area in Gujarats Ahmedabad city who planned to enter the US illegally has been held hostage in Iran by a Pakistani agent who has sought money for their release, police said. A process was on to register an FIR in this connection at Krushnanagar Police Station in Naroda area and the Ahmedabad city crime branch has started an investigation into the matter, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Chaitanya Mandlik said on Monday. Since the incident has taken place outside the country, the crime branch will approach the Indian Embassy in Iran with all details to secure the release of the couple, identified as Pankaj Patel and his wife Nisha Patel, both aged 29, the official said. As per details shared with Krushnanagar police by the couples family, the two wanted to enter the US illegally and came in contact with a Hyderabad-based agent who arranged for their air tickets. As per the agents plan, the couple was supposed to land at Tehran in Iran and then proceed further as per instructions, police said. However, after they landed at Tehran airport a few days back, a Pakistani agent took them to a hotel and held them hostage for ransom, officials said. The Pakistani agent and his accomplices thrashed Pankaj Patel and sent a video to his kin and sought a huge amount of money to release the couple, they added. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In May, India achieved a significant milestone with iPhone exports reaching a record 10,000 crore, contributing to a total of 12,000 crore in smartphone shipments from the country. During the first two months of the current fiscal year (April and May), smartphone exports exceeded 20,000 crore, more than double the amount of 9,066 crore recorded in the same period last year, as reported by the India Cellular and Electronics Association, as cited by The Economic Times. Apple played a crucial role in driving this growth. According to the report, Indian officials are optimistic that Apples increasing involvement in the country can serve as a model to encourage other US companies, including Tesla, to relocate their supply chains to India. The majority share of smartphone exports from India, accounting for 80 per cent, consists of iPhones, with Samsung phones from South Korea and some local brands making up the remaining portion. Prime Minister Narendra Modis upcoming visit to the US from June 21 to 24 is expected to enhance partnerships with other US brands. The government aims to persuade these companies to shift their supply chains to India, with a focus on semiconductors, electric vehicles, and other sectors. Meanwhile, there are indications of a potential improvement in US-China relations as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting China. The US official met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and plans to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping as well. However, Apple has been gradually diversifying its supply chains away from China, and India is among the primary options being considered by the Cupertino giant. Geopolitical tensions between the US and China, combined with Indias smartphone production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, have influenced Apples shift in focus towards India. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In order to provide security cover to foreign dignitaries on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, the central government has decided to rope in officers repatriated from the elite Special Protection Group (SPG) and National Security Guard (NSG). The decision was taken after several countries shared with the government the perception of a detailed threat to their dignitaries. According to reports, these officers are currently serving in different forces and police, and are deployed in different parts of the country. The government has asked all the forces to be prepared to depute the officers who have served in the two most elite security units, News18 reported. After receiving all the officers, we will get them re-trained and deployed with different VVIPs. These officers will also be responsible for protocol procedures and will be equipped with the most advanced and sophisticated weapons. They will be tasked with the safe cavalcade movements from the venue to different places. This would be the first time when repatriated officers from SPG and NSG will be roped in for security, a senior government official told News18. The SPG has been providing security for the Prime Minister of India and their immediate family members for more than 25 years. It was established under the SPG Act that was introduced in 1985. While the NSG is a zero-error force and has a dedicated security wing, often called black cat commandos. Both are Indias most well-trained commandos with the most sophisticated and advanced weapons. As per media reports, all forces have been briefed about the requirement of officers repatriated from NSG and SPG in an official communication. The services of such officers, who have past experience in performing VVIP security duties, are required during the G20 summit, it added. These officers may be kept ready for a further move to Delhi on short notice, it further said. This would be the first time when the government is deploying such highly trained officers, who have earlier served in these two security groups, for an event. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will celebrate International Yoga Day with Indian Navy personnel on board INS Vikrant on Wednesday. Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar, his wife and President of Naval Welfare and Wellness Association Kala Hari Kumar, and other senior officers of the Navy and the Ministry of Defence will be present during the event, ministry officials said on Tuesday. The event will also be participated by army personnel including Agniveers to embrace the spirit of unity and well-being, the ministrys statement read. Singh will address the gathering after the event. The Navy will also stream an exclusive video on its outreach activities emphasising the theme Ocean Ring of Yoga, while its units deployed in the Indian Ocean Region will visit various ports of friendly countries to spread the message of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which is also the theme for the International Yoga Day this year, according to the statement. The defence minister will later inaugurate the Integrated Simulator Complex (ISC) Dhruv in Kochis Souther Navy Command. ISC Dhruv hosts indigenously built modern simulators which will significantly enhance practical training in the Indian Navy. International Yoga Day is celebrated on June 21 every year. This year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead Yoga Day celebrations with over 180 nations at the UN headquarters in New York. Yoga unites millions of people across the globe, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday ahead of International Yoga Day. Yoga unites. It unites body and mind, humanity and nature, and millions of people across the globe, for whom it is a source of strength, harmony, and peace. In a dangerous and divided world, the benefits of this ancient practice are particularly precious, Guterres said. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani announced a donation of Rs 315 crore to his alma mater, IIT-Bombay, on Tuesday to mark 50 years of his association with the institution. Nilekani joined the institute in 1973 to pursue a bachelors degree in electrical engineering. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Bengaluru by IIT Bombay Director Professor Subhasis Chaudhuri and Nilekani. To mark 50 years of my association with @iitbombay, I am donating 315 crores to my alma mater. I am grateful to be able to do this, Nilekani tweeted. To mark 50 years of my association with @iitbombay, I am donating 315 crores to my alma mater. I am grateful to be able to do this Full release: https://t.co/q6rvuMf2jn pic.twitter.com/f8OEfZ1UTq Nandan Nilekani (@NandanNilekani) June 20, 2023 According to the official statement, the donation is intended to foster world-class infrastructure, nurture a deep tech startup ecosystem and stimulate research in emerging areas of engineering and technology, at IIT Bombay. It is one of the largest donations made by an alumnus in India. IIT-Bombay has been a cornerstone in my life, shaping my formative years and laying the foundation for my journey. As I celebrate 50 years of my association with this esteemed Institution, I am grateful to give forward and contribute to its future, the release quoted Nilekani as saying. Professor Chaudhuri stated the donation will significantly accelerate the growth of IIT Bombay and catalyse contributions towards advancing research and development in Indian universities. We are extremely delighted to see our illustrious alumnus Nandan Nilekani continuing his foundational & pioneering contributions to the Institute. This historic donation will significantly accelerate the growth of IIT Bombay and will firmly set it on a path of global leadership, Professor Chaudhari said. Nilekani has been associated with the institute in multiple roles over the last 50 years. He has served the Board of the IIT Bombay Heritage Foundation between 1999 and 2009, and has been with the Board of Governors from 2005 to 2011. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In an attempt to checkmate an ever-aggressive China and to ensure a rather freer Indo-Pacific and South China Sea, India has gifted Vietnam with a missile-equipped indigenously-built warship. Corvette INS Kirpan corvettes are the smallest class of warshipswas pledged to Vietnam after Indias Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had bilateral talks with his Vietnamese counterpart General Phan Van Gang. India will also enhance training of Vietnamese personnel in submarine and fighter jet operations, cyber-security and electronic warfare, among other fields. Vietnam has, of late, been one of the countries to have been harassed by Chinese vessels. Vietnam and China have been locked in a longstanding tiff over the extent of Vietnams Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Recently, a Chinese research ship and five escort vessels defied Vietnams orders to leave its EEZ. This incident happened quite close to gas blocks operated by Russian firms. Both the leaders also reviewed progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives and expressed satisfaction with the ongoing engagements. Both Ministers identified means to enhance existing areas of collaboration, especially in the field of defence industry cooperation, maritime security and multinational cooperation, an official release by the Ministry of Defence said after the meeting. Vietnamese defence minister also visited DRDO headquarters and discussed ways to enhance defence industrial capabilities by cooperation in defence research and joint production. India and Vietnam had inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in June 2022 on mutual logistics support. The defence ministers of both the countries signed the Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam defence partnership towards 2030, which the Ministry had said would significantly enhance the scope and scale of existing defence cooperation. INS Kirpans formidable arsenal includes four surface to surface missiles, a medium range gun, anti aircraft shoulder launched missiles and close in weapon system. The aviation element includes an operational capability for carrying a Chetak helicopter. According to the Indian Navy, INS Kirpan, a Khukri class missile corvette, was commissioned into the Navy on January 12, 1991. The ship has displacement of 1,460 tonnes, a length of 91 metres, a beam of 11 metres, and is capable of speed in excess of 25 knots. The ship is manned by a crew of 10 officers and 116 sailors. The ship is entirely indigenous in concept, design and construction. INS Kirpan is named after the traditional weapon used by Sikh warriors. The ships crest depicts a Kirpan superimposed over a typical shield of the Sikhs on a Red background. The ship lives up to her motto Bravest of the Brave. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. India not only remains the fastest growing economy in the world amid recession and slowdown across most of the advanced economies, but the net non-performing assets of its banks, private and public, have also dropped to a 15-year low in FY23. According to India Ratings and Research, an affiliate of the Fitch group, Banks are seeing the best-ever asset quality in the past 10 years. A collation of the banks FY23 data indicates that their asset quality has improved substantially in line with the agencys articulation in its various credit outlooks in the past two-three years. At a system level, the gross non-performing advances (GNPAs) and net non-performing advances (NNPAs) are at 4.0% and 1.0%, respectively. The last time NNPAs were at 1.0% was back in 2008. Public sector banks (PSBs) GNPA declined to 5.0% in FY23 from a peak of 14.1% in FY18, while that for private banks (Pvt Banks) reduced to 2.3% from 6.3%, the report said. NNPAs for the categories at 1.23% and 0.6%, respectively, were lower than the FY23 credit cost. Likewise, net slippages (gross slippages less recoveries and upgrades) have trended lower: below 0.5% for both PSBs and Pvt Banks. Both categories of banks are also seeing a convergence in their asset quality and credit cost related parameters, the report added. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar hailed the development, also taking potshots at Congress for having wrecked the banking and financial sector during its successive regimes. During Indias lost decade under Congress, Indias banking system was wrecked with sky high NPAs by crony lending to friends and families, Chandrasekhar tweeted. Under PM Narendra Modi ji, Indias banking and financial sector have been cleaned up, rebuilt and is strongest ever-and this strong financial and banking sector has played a big role in Indias post-Covid economic performance as worlds fastest growing economy, the Union Minister added. (With inputs from agencies) Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Anhui takes further measures to support the new energy vehicle industry. On June 19, the Anhui Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Anhui Provincial Energy Bureau issued a statement requiring the improvement of the province's charging and battery-swapping infrastructure for electric vehicles. The statement explicitly states that the proportion of parking spaces equipped with charging infrastructure in newly built residential communities in urban areas should not be less than 30%, and that newly built residential communities and public parking lots should have installation conditions reserved for 100% of the parking spaces. Anhui will conduct a comprehensive survey and expedite the formulation of construction plans. The statement requires cities to meet the requirements of achieving "county-wide coverage" of charging stations and "town-wide coverage" of charging piles in areas suitable for the use of NEVs. This includes conducting in-depth surveys of the existing charging and battery-swapping infrastructure, establishing a basic information database categorized by regions, scenarios, and users, and providing decision-making support for accelerating the construction of charging and battery-swapping infrastructure. Based on the survey results, cities should scientifically predict the scale of NEV development and charging and swapping demand, and determine key indicators such as the layout scale, construction timeline, land requirements, and charging capacity of various charging and swapping facilities from 2023 to 2027. The plans will be developed or revised at the county level as the basic unit. Efforts will be intensified to incorporate charging infrastructure into public areas. Anhui specifies that the proportion of newly constructed parking spaces equipped with charging infrastructure in residential communities in urban areas should not be less than 30% and should be included in the planning and acceptance criteria for real estate projects. Public parking lots should have a proportion of charging infrastructure not less than 35%. Necessary charging and swapping facilities must be included in the construction of newly built highway service areas, and their operation will be evaluated as part of the service area assessment. Government agencies and enterprises should accelerate the construction of charging infrastructure in their internal parking lots or reserve installation conditions to meet the charging needs. Concerning the challenges of charging in old residential communities for NEVs, the statement pays special attention to improving the charging conditions in residential areas. It requires cities to implement the requirements for the construction of charging infrastructure in newly built residential communities, where 100% of the parking spaces in residential areas and public parking lots should have installation conditions reserved (including power load equipments and pipeline embedment to the parking space). Property service companies should cooperate with NEV users who own property or long-term leased parking spaces to install charging facilities. If installation is not possible due to safety, fire, or power capacity reasons, the property service company should provide relevant explanatory documents issued by the competent authorities and provide explanations. For residential communities with a small number of existing charging facilities and difficulties in increasing power capacity but with charging demand, public charging and swapping facilities should be scientifically planned within a reasonable range. Third-party charging operators should be allowed to "jointly construct and operate" charging facilities in public parking spaces within residential communities. The Anhui Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Provincial Energy Bureau require cities to innovate and guide the promotion of shared charging models such as "shared parking spaces," "time-based parking spaces sharing," and "multiple vehicles sharing one charging pile" in communities. At the same time, make efforts to achieve full coverage of public charging infrastructure in towns and villages. Priority will be given to the construction of charging infrastructure in public areas such as town government locations, markets, health clinics, village committees (party and community service centers), as well as relocation and resettlement areas, key rural tourism villages, and locations along highways with the necessary conditions for charging pile construction. The statement emphasizes the establishment of a construction model guided by the government, driven by the market, and coordinated by society. It supports the participation of various market entities in the construction of charging and battery-swapping infrastructure, further enhancing the intelligence and convenience of the province's "interconnected charging and swapping network." Accelerating the construction of charging and swapping infrastructure is seen as a strong support for the province's efforts to develop a NEV industry with international competitiveness, ensuring that the infrastructure can be built, managed, and capable of continuous operation. Source: Anhui Business Daily Reported by Liu Yuanyuan Edited and translated by Zheng Chen Indians are turning to EVs much faster than the EV industry can provide public charging stations. For most new EV buyers, the attraction of a running cost of just Rs 2 per kilometre or less, is rather offset by the near absence of charging infrastructure. In such a scenario it is quite wishful to expect a mass shift from ICE to EVs. Not enough EV charging stations As of February 2023, India had about 20.65 lakh registered EVs, most of these two and three-wheelers, followed by four-wheelers, and then commercial and government vehicles. For all of that, we had about 5,250 public charging stations in India, as per data from the Vahan Dashboard of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and the Ministry of Power. Cut to March of 2023 the number of registered EVs rose to 21.7 lakh, as per Minister of State (MoS) for Heavy Industries Krishan Pal Gurjar. The Vahan portal, however, showed that India has 6,586 public charging stations in March. Effectively, one charging station is available for almost 350 EVs. As of March, Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of registered EVs at 4.65 lakh, followed by Maharashtra at 2.26 Lakh, Delhi at 2.03 lakh, and Karnataka at 1.83 lakh. Vahan also shows that Delhi had the most number of PCS or Public Charging Stations at 1,845. If we take a look at the ratios of EVs to PCS, we will see that India is woefully ill-equipped when it comes to charging stations. A white paper published in July 2022 by Alvarez and Marsal, a renowned global professional services firm, states that the optimal ratio of electric vehicles (EVs) to public chargers worldwide ranges from 6 to 20 EVs per charger. In Uttar Pradesh, the state with the most number of registered EVs, the situation is much worse. Uttar Pradesh only had 406 public charging Stations as of January 2023. In the same month, it had 4.5 lakh EVs. Thats about 1,103 EVs per charging station. All of this is assuming that the chargers themselves are in working conditions. Firstpost conducted a survey of 50 charging stations picked randomly across Delhi-NCR that had at least 4 charging bays, we found that in 24 of them, at least one of the charging bays was not usable. More important is whether a users EV is compatible with the charging bay. Absence of standard ports While most modern EV four-wheelers being sold in India are using the CCS-2 charging port, there are a few older (and by older, we mean 4-5 years old) EVs that use the CCS-1 port. Then there are a few others that use CHAdeMO port, which is most commonly used in Japan, and also a few other Asian countries. Tesla has always enjoyed the first movers advantage when it comes to most technologies related to EVs. It is because of their wide network of Tesla Superchargers that they developed and deployed on their own. Ford, GM and others have adopted Teslas charging standard. Every major player all over the world is thinking about developing their own charging port, a source working with a major South Korean car manufacturer operating in India told Firstpost. The companies who have decided to adopt Teslas charging port are making a mistake. While it may be cost-effective for them to adopt Teslas port in the short term, in the long run, they will be paying through their nose for the license to use the port, the source added. Moreover, Tesla doesnt have superchargers all over the world. What are they planning to do in Asian and European markets? The cost of homologation will again be high, he added. The director of Integrated Transport, Electric Mobility & Hydrogen at World Resources Institute (WRI) India, Pawan Mulukutla, believes otherwise. We dont need one OEM to take charge of public charging systems, what we need is standardisation, we need uniformity and interoperability. That will come only when we standardise. Standardisation is needed not only for the port but also for other aspects of EV infrastructure if we want to ensure a more rapid adoption on EVs. We will need BIS standards and specifications at some point. As much as manufacturers want to develop their own standards and ports, thats not happening. Standardisation is required because manufacturers cannot trust each others charging tech and the kind of batteries and the quality of cells their competitors use, said Mulukutla. Moreover, it will be extremely difficult for a manufacturer to develop and deploy their own charging standard and port, no matter how lucrative it may seem in theory. In India, four-wheeler EV makers automatically moved to the CCS-2 port. Coming up with a new charging protocol and setting up the infrastructure to deploy it, will be very difficult and capital intensive, Amit Bhatt, Managing Director of International Council on Clean Transportation, told Firstpost. We either need to standardise the port or the socket on the car, or the plug that goes into the car. Plus, while some may argue that standardisation may kill innovation, it will be beneficial for manufacturers as well. If BIS comes up with a standard, it will make scaling up much easier and quicker for manufacturers, Bhatt added. India needs destination charging, not fast charging Teslas Supercharger network, although a perfect fit for the US, may not be that good a fit for India. The traffic and mobility profiles in India and the US are completely different, says Bhatt. Here, we travel much shorter distances and have different fleet utilisation. In the US, youre travelling longer distances, and therefore need fast chargers, he adds. Moreover, the existing fast chargers that we have in India are not actually fast. In India, 25kW DC is fast for us, and so is 50kW DC. In Europe and the US, these are relatively slow, he adds. And yet, our standard of fast charging seems to working just fine for us. Most EVs that are operational in India, can be charged to up to 80 per cent or a range of about 250 kilometres in 30-45 minutes. Destination charging is when a user charges his or her EV at set destinations, like their homes or offices. And usually, it has been observed that this is how most EV users are going about things. A report by Tata found that 95 per cent of their EV owners charged their EVs at home and would top it up at their offices, says Bhatt. What we need is destination charging or charging our EVs at set destinations, such as homes and workplaces. Most EV buyers, especially 4-wheeler EV buyers, live in high-rise apartments. Although some RWAs are enthusiastic about having a charging station, most RWAs are averse to it, he added. Some RWAs have even sent notices to residents for getting a small, home-based charging station in their parking for their EVs. This seems to be a conundrum that will continue until EVs become more prevalent. Up until then, EV makers will have to rely on PCS or Public Charging Stations. However, they have their own issues. And whats to stop them from charging a premium or a substantial markup over the prevalent rate of electricity per unit, especially in areas where EV stations are few, but where people have a lot of EVs? Basic demand and supply, says Mulukutla. As more and more people adopt EVs, the density and distribution of EV charging stations will also increase. Yes, in the short run, charging solution providers may charge a premium or may increase their markups. In the long run, however, prices will come down. It will eventually become a matter of who can accommodate more EVs in their stations, he says. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. International Yoga Day is marked each year on 21 June. The day serves as a platform to promote yogas holistic approach to physical, mental, and spiritual well-being and raise awareness about its many benefits. Recognising its universal appeal, the United Nations (UN) announced 21 June as the International Yoga Day. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also encouraged its member countries to reduce physical inactivity, a leading cause of death worldwide. In the spirit of One World-One Family, this years theme is Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, that is, yoga for the welfare of all. There will be yoga sessions across the country, emphasising yogas spirit that unites us all. Regular practice of yoga reduces stress and improves symptoms of anxiety and depression. In addition, it provides a holistic way of life. Below are some yoga poses you can practice at home to stay healthy: Sukhasana The pose of comfort, or sukhasana, is a seated posture in yoga. A simple cross-legged pose, it provides a stable and relaxing platform for meditation, breathing exercises, and light stretching. It can reduce tension and ease lower back pain, as well as improve posture and calm the mind. Anulom Vilom The alternate nostril breathing technique, or Anulom Vilom improves energy flow in the body. It improves breathing efficiency, increases oxygen intake, and eliminates toxins. Additionally, it encourages relaxation, mental clarity, and focus. Individuals with respiratory conditions such as asthma may benefit from it. Balasana Childs Pose, also known as Balasana, is a resting pose with numerous health benefits for the body and mind. In Balasana, the hips, thighs, and ankles are stretched by sitting back on the heels and putting the knees wide apart. During a yoga session, it is easy to pause, recharge, and regain energy during this pose. It relieves tightness in the hips, thighs, and ankles. Bhujangasana The cobra pose, or Bhujangasana, is an ideal pose for strengthening and stretching your spine muscles. It is a reclining back bend pose that helps increase blood flow, especially to the reproductive organs and spinal area. It allows you to connect with your breath, your body, and the sensations experienced during the pose. It is imperative to practice Bhujangasana properly and with your bodys limitations in mind. Shavasana As a result of this yoga asana, the practitioner lies flat on his or her back with arms relaxed at your sides, palms up, and legs comfortable apart. Its goal is to relax the body physically and mentally, as well as reduce stress, anxiety, and fatigue. Shavasana is designed to allow the practitioner to fully release and surrender, so allow yourself plenty of time for it. Meanwhile, preparations are underway at United Nations headquarters in New York City for International Yoga Day 2023. On 21 June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a state visit to the United States from 20-24 June, will lead celebrations of Yoga Day. International Yoga day was first marked in 2015. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut has urged the United Nations to declare 20 June as World Traitors Day to mark the desertion of his party chief Uddhav Thackeray by 40 Shiv Sena MLAs, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. In a letter addressed to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Raut said, On 20 June (last year), a group of 40 legislators from the Shiv Sena broke away from their party after being instigated by the BJP. Each of them is said to have taken Rs 50 crore to defect, said Raut in the letter, a claim rubbished by the legislators. The letter dated June 19 was tweeted by him on Tuesday. The 40 MLAs who stabbed us were led by a leading legislator Eknath Shinde (who is now the CM of Maharashtra). Along with them, 10 Independents supporting the Maha Vikas Aghadi government left us, Raut said. He said the process began on 20 June when Shinde and others left Mumbai for the neighbouring state of Gujarat. They deserted Uddhav Thackeray who was an ailing man and underwent two major surgeries on 12 November and 19 November, 2021, Raut said. Each one of them took advantage of Thackerays illness, he wrote in the letter. I am appealing to you to make June 20 as World Traitors Day just as June 21 is observed as World Yoga Day. This must be done so that the world remembers traitors, he added. The rebellion by 39 MLAs spearheaded by Shinde led to the collapse of the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government last year. While it also split the 57-year-old party, the Election Commission of India later allotted the Shiv Sena name and its bow-and-arrow symbol to the Shinde camp. Separately, Shiv Sena (UBT) party workers on Tuesday also observed 20 June as World Traitors Day in different parts of the state. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Amid continued ethnic violence in Manipur, the Army on Tuesday arrested four suspected cadres of the proscribed militant outfit United National Liberation Front (UNLF) in the Thoubal district of ethnic violence affected state. A 51 mm mortar, an anti-personnel bomb, was recovered from the four cadres. Acting on intelligence inputs, a Mobile Vehicle Check Post was established near Police Station Lilong on the night of June 19. Four suspected cadres in two separate vehicles were apprehended with one 51 mm mortar, the Army said in a tweet. The four were handed over to the police, the force said. The UNLF is one of the oldest insurgent groups in Manipur. More than 100 people have so far lost their lives in the ethnic violence that broke out a month ago between the Meitei and the Kuki communities in Manipur. Clashes first broke out in Manipur on May 3 after a Tribal Solidarity March was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei communitys demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipurs population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court amid continued ethnic violence in Manipur on Tuesday declined an urgent hearing of a petition seeking Army protection for the minority Kuki tribals and prosecution of communal groups attacking them, while conceding its a serious law and order issue which the administration should tackle. With inputs from PTI Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Amid continued ethnic violence in Manipur, the Supreme Court on Tuesday declined urgent hearing of a petition seeking Army protection for the minority Kuki tribals and prosecution of communal groups attacking them, while conceding its a serious law and order issue which the administration should tackle. A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and M M Sundresh said any interference by the court will create more problems in the state. This is serious law and order issue. Let the administration look into the issue. Can the Supreme Court order individual protection? Our interference will create more problem. It can aggravate the situation. We hope courts are not required to pass such an order that Army or central forces should be deployed, the bench observed. Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves mentioned the matter on behalf of the petitioner NGO, Manipur Tribal Forum, saying solemn assurances were given that nobody will die but despite that 70 tribals have been killed. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the State, opposed the prayer for urgent hearing, and asserted security agencies are on the ground doing their best to stem violence and restore normalcy. Similar prayer was made before (summer) vacation which was not considered. This can wait. Public interest can wait, he said, adding the main matter pertaining to the Manipur High Courts order for grant of Scheduled Tribe status to the majority Meitei community, which set off a chain of violence in the northeastern state, has been posted for hearing on July 17. Contending that tribals cannot be abandoned, Gonsalves said by then 50 more people will have been killed. From where have you got these calculations? the court asked Gonsalves and posted the matter for hearing on July 3. The Manipur Tribal Forum has alleged the central government and the chief minister of Manipur have jointly embarked on a communal agenda aimed at ethnic cleansing of Kuki tribals in the northeastern state. The NGO urged the apex court not to rely on empty assurances given by the Centre and sought Army protection for the Kukis. More than 100 people have lost their lives in bloody clashes between between Meitei and Kuki communities which first broke out on May 3 after a Tribal Solidarity March was organised in the hill districts of the state to protest against the Meitei communitys demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipurs population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribal Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts. NGO Manipur Tribal Forum, which has filed an interlocutory application in the apex court, said the assurances by the government authorities have been made in a non-serious fashion and are not intended to be implemented. The reason why this court ought not to rely anymore on the empty assurances given by UOI (Union of India) is because both the UOI and the Chief Minister of the State have embarked jointly on a communal agenda for the ethnic cleansing of the Kukis, it alleged. The NGO claimed despite assurances, 81 more Kuki people have been killed and 31,410 displaced since May 17, when the top court last heard the matter. The petition said the narrative that there is a clash between the two communities- the majority Meiteis and the tribals- is far from truth as the two have coexisted since long. Such a narrative misses the fact that the two communities have co-existed for a long time despite their sometime deep-rooted differences and, secondly, that the unique situation presently existing is of a couple of armed communal groups linked to the party in power in the State, carrying out a predesigned communal attack on the tribals. The clash narrative camouflages the presence of these two groups behind all the attacks and renders them immune from prosecution thereby emboldening them to carry on further attacks, the petition alleged. It sought constitution of an SIT headed by former Assam police chief Harekrishna Deka to go into the violence and an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 crore to the kin of each of those killed within three months. It also demanded a permanent government job to a member of the families of those slain. On May 17, the top court had directed the Manipur government to take steps to foster confidence and ensure peace and tranquillity in the state torn by ethnic violence, asserting that being the top-most court it can ensure that the political executive exercises its power and does not turn a blind eye to the situation. Taking note of the submissions on alleged provocative statements by Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, the top court had asked Mehta to advise him to exercise restraint. The state is in the throes of a bloody conflict between the Meiteis and tribal Kukis since the March 27 Manipur High Court order that asked the state government to send a recommendation to the Centre within four weeks on the demand for ST status to the majority community. The apex court is seized of a batch of pleas on the Manipur situation, including one by a ruling BJP MLA challenging the high court order on Scheduled Tribe status to the Meitei community, and a PIL by the tribal NGO for an SIT probe into the violence that has rocked the northeastern state. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Mumbai Police on Tuesday issued notices to Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), warning them not to hamper the law and order situation after leaders from the two parties appealed for celebrating 20 June as International Traitors Day and said they will take out protests in the city. Developments from this day last year led to the exit of 40 MLAs of the then Uddhav Thackeray-led by Eknath Shinde who went on to become the Maharashtra chief minister. Mumbai Police has also increased security at various sensitive places in the State. Addressing the media on Tuesday, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should tell United Nations about this day and announce it as an International Traitor Day. Meawhile, Maharashtra BJP MLA Nitish Rane said since Uddhav Thackeray celebrates his birthday on 27 June, hence that day should be declared as International Traitors Day. There no bigger traitor than Uddhav Thackeray. He betrayed his fathers ideology, betrayed Hindutva, betrayed the people of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis and the BJP, said Rane via a Twitter post adding that he hopes the United Nations will take his request under consideration. Our PM, Home Minister and Central Government are promoting traitors. On this day 40 of our MLAs left the party. It should be declared as International Traitor Day. PM is going to the USA, so he should tell United Nations about it and announce International Traitor Day, said Raut while addressing reporters earlier in the day. PM Modi is on a four-day visit from Tuesday to the United States for his first historic State visit. Raut has also written a letter to UN Secretary-General appealing to declare 20 June as International Traitor Day as on this day 40 legislators from Shiv Sena, including the current Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray and split the Shiv Sena into two factions. I am writing to you with an appeal to observe June 20 as World Traitors Day. Sir, I represent a party called Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and am a parliamentarian from the Upper House in India. My party Shiv Sena (UBT) hails from Maharashtra, a prominent state in western India. It was started by Mr Balasaheb Thackeray in 1966 who championed the cause of local youth in Mumbai. (erstwhile Bombay), Raut said in his letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that he posted on his Twitter. On June 20, a huge group of 40 legislators from our Shiv Sena left us after being instigated by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Each of them is said to have taken Rs 50 crores to defect. The BJP used all their might to ensure that the Mahavikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra led by Uddhav Thackeray fell, he said. Hence, I am appealing to you to make June 20 as World Traitors Day just as June 21 is observed as World Yoga Day. This must be done so that World remembers Traitors, he further added. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparedness in states to deal with heatwave conditions. During the meeting, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya decided to deploy teams of experts in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. A team of experts from the Union Health Ministry, ICMR, IMD and NDMA will visit the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to support them in public health response measures to address heat-related illnesses, Mandaviya said. The minister has also directed the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to find ways of minimising the effects of heat waves on health. He added, The Centre has taken timely measures ahead of the summer season to address the heat wave-related illnesses. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting to review preparedness ahead of the summer season in March while the Union Health Ministry issued a heat wave advisory in February where States were advised to review health facility preparedness in terms of essential medicines, intravenous fluids, packs, ORS, drinking water as well as dissemination of necessary IEC materials. During the meeting, Mandaviya was briefed about the prevailing heatwave conditions in parts of northern India. The ministry said that he was also apprised about daily surveillance of heat-related illness under the National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health (NPCCHH). Sensitization of masses is important, but sensitization and capacity building of medical officers, health staff, and grass-root level workers on heat-related illness, its early recognition and management is also important, Mandaviya added. The meeting was also attended by Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), Dr Rajiv Bahl, NITI Aayog, Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), along with India Meteorological Department (IMD) experts. Uttar Pradesh registers new heatwave-related deaths On Sunday, Uttar Pradesh witnessed 14 new deaths and 178 hospital admissions from the Ballia district hospital within 24 hours due to the heatwave. According to a report by Indian Express, the total death toll in UP has climbed to 68 in just four days between June 15 and June 18. Officials from Lucknow are investigating the deaths. Summer vacation extended in Madhya Pradesh In view of the rise in temperatures, the Madhya Pradesh government announced the extension of summer holidays in schools across the state. Schools will now remain closed till the end of June in Madhya Pradesh. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for changing the global perception of India and said that even people in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) want to join India and be a part of its success story. Inaugurating and laying the foundation stone of 2,339 development projects worth Rs 1,212 crore in Ambedkarnagar, the Chief Minister said, Today Kashmir is governed by Indian laws and is moving forward with a new stream of peace and development. Today there is a demand in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to make them a part of India, they also want to join India. Nobody wants to stand with Pakistan. #WATCH | Today Kashmir is governed by Indian laws and is moving forward with a new stream of peace and development. Today there is a demand in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to make them a part of India, they also want to join India. Nobody wants to stand with Pakistan: Uttar Pradesh pic.twitter.com/sVmUaDgZbb ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) June 20, 2023 All praise for PM Modi, CM Yogi said that nine years of the BJP-led government have been unique in Indian history. No one could think of abolishing Article 370 in Kashmir, but the Prime Minister made it a reality. Whether it be the development of Indias infrastructure, internal and external security, or the work of taking schemes for poor welfare to the general public, everything has been done with great sincerity, added the chief minister. The Chief Minister emphasised that todays India has changed and the world now looks to India in crisis, and the Prime Minister now serves as a Sankatmochak. Highlighting the issue of infiltration in border regions, the CM Yogi said that it does not happen anymore. Even if someone dares to do so, India today has the courage to carry out airstrikes and surgical strikes inside the enemys own stronghold in order to destroy him, he added. Nine years ago, there was terrorism, extremism, Maoism, and Naxalism in this country, which was spread out over more than 115 districts; today, it has been reduced to 3-4 districts. By eradicating Naxalism and Maoism from Indian soil, the foundation for Ram Rajya has been laid, and its vision will soon be realised, said the chief minister. The CM also highlighted that India had surpassed Britain to become the fifth-largest economy in the world and is also leading the G20 group of countries today. Taking a swipe at Pakistan, the Chief Minister further said, While India under Prime Minister Narendra Modis leadership is providing free ration to over 80 crore people, the people in the neighbouring country are struggling to get two meals a day. Pakistan is getting punished for its sins. India is embarking on a new journey, while Pakistan is starving, CM Yogi said. He asserted that Kashi Vishwanath Dham has evolved into a grand Dham in recent years and that a magnificent Ram temple is currently being constructed in Ayodhya. Keep in mind that as Ayodhya develops, Ambedkarnagar will directly benefit from it, and Ambedkarnagar will benefit the most from the Ayodhya Corridor. This is the honour of the heritage, he pointed out. Hitting out at the Congress party, the CM said, Today no one can devour money meant for the government schemes, it goes directly to the poors account, and the middlemen have disappeared. In contrast, during the time of the Congress, only 15 rupees out of every 100 sent reached the poor. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Security agencies in the US are adopting heightened measures while considering approvals for protest groups during Prime Minister Narendra Modis state visit to the country, intelligence sources told News18. These sources further emphasized that the agencies are exercising extra caution due to the incident that happened in March this year when pro-Khalistani groups held protests against the police actions taken against radical preacher Amritpal Singh in Punjab. They understand its not only about protests, but physical attacks are also involved. US authorities also understand that protests may lead to physical violence and people are not sympathetic about them, News18 quoted a source as saying. The attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco, carried out by those groups, has prompted the security agencies to be particularly vigilant. U.S. rights groups are planning protests against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis state visit to Washington over what they call Indias deteriorating human rights record, even though experts do not expect Washington to be publicly critical of New Delhi, Reuters reported. The Indian American Muslim Council, Peace Action, Veterans for Peace and Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition plan to gather near the White House on June 22 when Modi is due to meet President Joe Biden, it said. Another event is planned in New York featuring a show titled Howdy Democracy, a play on the name of the 2019 Howdy Modi! rally in Texas featuring the Prime Minister and then-US President Donald Trump, the Reuters report added. Modi departed for the US on Tuesday morning on a State Visit at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Meanwhile, Prime Minister on Tuesday said ties between India and the US are stronger and deeper than ever, and asserted that there is an unprecedented trust between the leaders of the two countries. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal before his first state visit to the United States, Modi stated, India deserves a much higher, deeper, and wider profile and role. Modis US visit is expected to give India access to critical American technologies Washington rarely shares with non-allies, strengthening a new bond that is underpinned by not just global politics but also business and economics. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. A Reddit user reported that his institution in Bengaluru has allegedly been charging students a placement fee of 2.1 per cent of their CTC after they land a job through campus placements. Screenshots of the post, which user PurpleRageX published on the Reddit group for Bangalore, has now resulted in media outrage on Twitter. This fee, which was apparently never mentioned before, is now causing distress to students like the user (@PurpleRageX), who are now entangled in a web of financial commitments. However, the name of the college has not been disclosed in the post. According to it, the college allegedly demanded payment from the student after placing the person in a company. The student added that the college has withheld the certificates, making it difficult for the person to continue working with the company. The student further said that the institution was not providing any document or a circular where such a clause had been written. They are only telling me verbally and forcing me to pay, wrote the Reddit user. The student also stated that they were made to pay this amount even though they had no income. The institute in question is New Horizon College of Engineering (NHCE), as per some Reddit users. In addition, the student claimed that people from earlier batches, who had been placed with different businesses, were charged comparable amounts by the college. The student sought advice on the best course of action. Some Reddit users suggested that they should post this on Twitter and tag the education minister. Other people mentioned that this is an outright scam and it should be reported. Sharing his experience, a user said that he graduated from the same college. I had to pay Rs 10,000 as a placement training fee, he added. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai Bommai was detained on Tuesday along with several other BJP leaders for protesting against the Congress government. The BJP staged a protest against Congress government in the state to counter its demonstration which was held against the Centre for not providing rice to the state and joined by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and many Congress workers. This is anti-democratic and the Congress government has failed, says former Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai while being detained along with other BJP leaders in Bengaluru. pic.twitter.com/AOxbkq2WoY Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 20, 2023 We are protesting against Congress government because they are telling a lie. When they announced free rice to Karnatakas poor people they didnt ask for anything because its a big project, former minister and BJP leader R Ashoka said. Accusing the BJP of hate politics, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, Food Corporation of India (FCI) wrote a letter to us saying that they have agreed to supply rice to our state. On 14th June, we got another letter stating that we cant supply rice and wheat. What does it mean? Why they have agreed if there was no stock in FCI? They are doing hate politics. This is anti-poor. The deputy chief minister of Karnataka, however, said that it does not require rice from the government as it is capable enough to buy its own. We have spoken to Punjab, Chhattisgarh and other neighbouring states. We are going to buy grain from them. I request the central government not to do politics, you are not giving your rice, it is farmers rice. We dont want free rice from anyone, the Karnataka government is capable of buying it, DK Shivakumar said. Previously, CM Siddaramaiah accused the centre of not allowing FCI to sell rice to the state in order to roll out Congress Anna Bhagya scheme. The scheme, which is one of the five poll promises made by Congress, will provide Below Poverty Line (BPL) households and Antyodaya card holders 10 kg of food grains for free starting from July 1. However, reacting to Siddaramaiahs allegations that the Centre asked FCI to stop the direct sale of rice to states after the Congress government requested for additional sale of rice from the Corporation for its ambitious Anna Bhagya programme, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya on Saturday said that the State government is lying as the Centres decision was decided four days prior. With inputs from ANI Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed pleas challenging a Calcutta High Court order directing the State Election Commission (SEC) to requisition and deploy central forces across West Bengal for the upcoming panchayat elections. A vacation bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Manoj Misra said the fact remains that the tenor of the high court order is ultimately to ensure free and fair elections in the state since it is conducting local body polls on a single day. The petitions were filed by the West Bengal government and the State Election Commission. Polls cannot be followed by violence The top court also pulled up the TMC-led state government amid violence ahead of the local body polls. We appreciate that you have a democratic setup for elections from top to bottom, but the elections cannot be followed by violence, the SC said. The high court had on 15 June directed the SEC to requisition and deploy central forces across West Bengal for the panchayat elections within 48 hours. The court had noted that no appreciable steps had been taken ever since it passed an order on June 13 to deploy central forces in sensitive areas for the poll process. The high court had directed the SEC to requisition central forces for deployment in all the districts of the state that were rocked by violence during filing of nominations for the July 8 panchayat elections. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. What would you do if you catch hold of Beyonces shades during a concert? Global Valentino, a filmmaker and content creator, who walked away with Beyonces Off-white brands sunglasses, has now decided to put this souvenir up for auction on 4 July for a whopping Rs 15 lakhs. It was a very difficult choice to make as a fan, he admitted to New York Post. The 20-year-old will sell this gift from his beloved performer to raise money for his family and career. Beyonce threw her Off-white sunglasses to fans during her Rennaissance World Tour in London. In May, Valentino posted a viral TikTok video in which he captured the moment when Queen Bey threw her black sunglasses towards his direction while she sang her song Diva. This stunt led to minor chaos with the security during which her bodyguards took away the items from her supporters. After this, Beyonce again returned to the stage and threw her glasses back to the audience. Being gifted an item twice by Beyonce will certainly remain the fondest memory of my life, Valentino gushed while interacting with the publication. However, the filmmaker has decided to prioritise his finances, due to which he is auctioning the sunglasses for USD 12,668 to USD 19,002 at Omega Auctions. He said that he is a committed filmmaker and so he has chosen to auction the glasses. Valentino added that he will be using the auction money to invest in his family and career. The young filmmaker has listed the item for $19,000 at Omega Auctions, which Valentino claims has previously sold some of the most expensive music memorabilia ever such as John Lennons home. The manager of the Omega Auctions Company, Dan Hampson while talking to the Post said that he is completely sure that they have consigned with the right person. He told that It is the very same person who caught the sunglasses in the Tiktok video. The sunglasses are advertised on the auction page as Beyonce Owned and stage-worn Off-White sunglasses. The product is described as a pair of Off-White sunglasses which was worn onstage by Beyonce during her performance at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, on 29 May. The live auction is expected to start on 4 July at 10 am (UK time) and end by 3 pm. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In a spirited display of political resurgence, Congress has recently notched up a decisive victory in Karnataka, the southern state has traditionally been a critical battleground for both political parties. For the BJP, Karnataka is a gateway to the South, for the Congress it is essential in order to keep the BJP out of South India, something they failed to do with the North East. One would have expected this Congress victory to instigate a much-needed introspection, consolidation and reinvigoration of the partys dwindling national relevance. However, the events that have unfolded in the aftermath of this election indicate otherwise. Congress seems to have decided that the time is ripe to launch a full-scale assault on entities and ideologies that they perceive to be synonymous with Hindutva and by extension Hindus, the two no matter what verbal calisthenics are applied, are perceived as one by the average voter. Hedgewar, the founding Sarsanghachalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a freedom fighter and former Congressman has emerged as one of the greatest Indians of the last century, a stature acknowledged by former president and Congress stalwart Pranab Mukherjee. However, the Congress with its ideology of only acknowledging members of the Gandhi family, has trained its guns on Hedgewar. The same applies to Veer Savarkar, leaving the partys allies like the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP red-faced on numerous occasions. The Mahatma Gandhi Peace Prize awarded to the Gita Press, the worlds largest publisher of Hindu religious texts, that makes these texts accessible as well as affordable, has angered the Congress yet again. Furthermore, repeal of the anti-conversion law in Karnataka, within days of taking office has made Hindus uncomfortable, since they are the targets of nefarious means of conversion and do not believe in proselytization themselves. All this in a matter of weeks. The speed and intensity of these attacks reveal the Congress urgency to deliver to their vote bank. This move, ostensibly, is aimed at placating the partys core support base, which they believe has been clamouring for a robust counter to the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) narrative on nationalism and Hindutva. But this approach is myopic, to say the least. In the Indian political landscape, complex and multifarious as it is, no party can hope to sustain political relevance by narrowing down its focus to just one aspect. India is a diverse country, and any political party wishing to be a significant player in the arena needs to address a range of issues including development, social justice, and economic growth. While Congress attack on what they perceive as symbols of Hindutva might appeal to a section of their base, it risks alienating a vast majority of the population who do not necessarily associate these symbols with negative connotations. KB Hedgewar and Veer Savarkar, for example, are figures who command immense respect among a large section of society for their contributions and thought leadership. Similarly, Gita Press has a hallowed place in the hearts of millions for its work in disseminating Hindu scriptures and literature. Furthermore, this confrontational approach is hardly novel. It is reminiscent of the politics of the early and mid-20th century when communal issues were central to political discourse. Such politics, sadly, led to the partition of India and widespread communal violence. One would hope that the Congress, with its long history, would realize the perils of treading this path. The Congress has been guilty of indulging in communal politics but has been hailed by its cheerleaders ignoring the impact it has on Hindus, the silent majority. The Congress having been in power for much of independent Indias history, their attitude to Hindu causes and issues, has made the BJP a reactive force in Indian politics, leading to its eventual political dominance. But the Congress is yet to understand this, and continues on its path of Hindu alienation, after just one decisive victory of a large state. This cycle of politics has led to increased polarization within Indian society, where individuals increasingly view each other through the prism of religion. The irony is that while the BJPs approach is criticized, the similar stratagem adopted by Congress is hailed as a corrective response. And has been done so for decades, giving rise and justification to BJP that speaks for Hindus and protects their interests. It is indeed ironic that Prime Minister Modi, who the Congress never fails to demonise, has made his central message one of inclusive development, a missive that the Congress is yet to counter in a significant way. Communal riots have never been at a lower point as they have been under Prime Minister Modi, the same goes for terror attacks. A journalist friend mentioned that during the UPA regime, come Friday or Saturday and the refrain in the newsroom was where the bomb blast had taken place. These are significant achievements that ordinary India irrespective of caste, faith or economic status recognises. A muscular approach to law and order, social amity and terror is what the average Indian seeks. With Congress penchant to embolden internal unrest, the country has suffered enough, will it learn its lesson? The writer is a best-selling novelist and award-winning screenwriter. Views expressed are personal. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In October 2009, then-Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi bemoaned, In absolute terms, I am the most legally persecuted man of all timesin the whole history of mankind, worldwide Wallowing in self-pity, the brash and flamboyant tycoon-turned-politician was before Milans chief prosecutor for allegedly bribing his former British lawyer David Mills to provide false testimony in another trial. The late Teflon Don, who shared his nickname with the Gambino crime familys late boss John Gotti for dodging convictions, was convicted only once in a raft of scandals and corruption casesyet he was post-war Italys longest-serving prime minister. Fast-forward to 2023. This has been going on for seven years. They cant stop because its election interference at the highest level, Donald Trump said after being indicted by the Department of Justice (DoJ) on 37 felony counts in the classified documents investigation case. The bile against his successor Joe Biden, the Democrats and the DoJ was the former Presidents game plan to snag the 2024 Republican Party nomination and design his criminal defence strategy. Twice impeached and indicted and facing a barrage of legal cases, yet the 45th President is hurtling towards nomination in his usual unabashed, self-aggrandising and vitriolic way. He is again masquerading as a victim of the Deep State and a torchbearer of the deprived and persecutednon-graduates, earning less than $50,000, small-town residents, Republican-leaning women and white Evangelicals. Indictments fail to dent Trumps voter base The latest indictment could be the PzH 2000 Howitzer Trump desperately needed to catapult him to lead a GOP riven by Trumpism and comprising mostly wobbling rivals too scared to stir up his hornets nest of core supporters. An 28 April-3 May ABC News/Washington Post survey revealed that 75% of Republicans thought Trump should not face criminal charges in the classified documents case. Even in his indictment on 34 felony counts by a grand jury over hush money payment made to porn actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign, 79 per cent of Republicans believed that the charges were politically motivated, according to an 2 April ABC News/Ipsos poll. Similarly, an 14-18 April NBC News poll showed that 68 per cent of Republican Primary voters believed that Trumps arraignment and arrest in the Daniels case was politically motivated to stop him from contesting. And 46 per cent of them picked him as their first choice for President in 2024. A March NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll showed similar support for Trump with 80 per cent saying that the Daniels case was a witch-hunt. Another NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll one week after his latest indictment showed that the unwavering support for Trump had increased76 per cent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents had a favourable opinion of him compared to 68 per cent in February. In fact, 83 per cent of Republicans thought that Trump should contest and 50%, compared to 45% in March, believed he is innocent. And 68 per cent would supported him if he remained in White House race. A CBS News poll conducted just before and after the second indictment threw up more stunning numbers with 80 per cent of Republican Primary voters saying Trump should be President even if convicted and 76 per cent terming the indictment politically motivated. Shockingly, the respondents still batted for Trump, who has been repeating the state persecution and stolen election theories ad nauseam, despite 96% preferring to hear his plans for the USA and only 39 per cent about the investigations and 32 per cent regarding the 2020 election. Trumps path to nomination becomes easier Unsurprisingly, Trumps popularity has jumped despite the two indictments and the GOPs jolting House and Senate loss in the 2018 and 2022 Midterms, respectively. The major factor in his increasing chances of getting nominated is the spinelessness of most of his Republican presidential rivals in squandering away their chances of hammering him post the indictments. In a pathetic and cringey display of support, most of Trumps presidential rivals coalesced into his defence after the second indictment. Florida governor Ron DeSantis called the indictment the weaponisation of federal law enforcement. Ironically, he had avoided Trumps unsubstantiated pile of rigged 2020 presidential election claims like a plague during last years Midterms campaign. Similarly, former Veep Mike Pence demanded that attorney general Merrick Garland explain the unprecedented indictment and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley termed it prosecutorial overreach. The worst was entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who vowed to pardon Trump if elected because the indictment selectively omitted both fact and law. Except for former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who termed the indictment damning and slammed Trump for his irresponsible conduct, and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, who didnt support accusing the DoJ without evidence, other Trump rivals only made his nomination bid smoother and the rest were mum. Most of his rivals had reacted the same way after his first indictment. DeSantis called it the weaponisation of the legal system to advance a political agenda, Pence termed it an outrage and Haley alleged that it was more about revenge than it is about justice. Do Trumps rivals defending him have any other option? NO. Their predicament: supporting him would alienate independent voters and attacking him would rile his core vote bank and GOP conservatives under the thrall of his cult status. If the rivals want to remain in the party, they have to wholeheartedly embrace Trumpism and his victimisation narrative, and continue to get gaslighted and attack the DoJ with a sledgehammerelse, they would be shown the door. The most recent example was the Republican National Committee (RNC) rejecting Hutchinsons call for amending the loyalty pledge to potentially support a convicted felon. Candidates who are complaining about this to the press should seriously reconsider their priorities and whether they should even be running, RNC senior adviser Richard Walters said in a statement. The melodrama is both idiotic and hypocriticalthe opponents are seeking votes for themselves yet defending Trump and pushing him closer to the nomination. In the process, they have reduced themselves to his sidekicks in the Trumpism saga. Hes the outsider, the messiah in the crusade against the establishment and his contenders are merely bolstering him and toeing his line. Even the Republican Party, in general, cant afford to antagonise Trumps loyal voterslike the Forza Italia party, which forged behind the scandalous Berlusconi despite a series of trials, including the Bunga orgies. Despite the plausibility of being indicted for the January 6, 2021, insurrection and trying to overturn Georgias 2020 election results, denying Trump the nomination would be akin to the GOP surrendering to the Democrats and his bete noire, the Deep State, out to persecute him. Trumps rivals aware of their slim chances Trumps contenders are aware of their slim chances of winning the nomination due to his mesmerising effect on Republican voters and his vice-like grip on the party. The CBS News poll proves it. If America votes today, 61 per cent of the respondents will vote for Trump, only 23 per cent for DeSantis, a paltry 4 per cent for South Carolina senator Tim Scott and Pence each and 3 per cent for Haley. When it comes to whom they are considering right now, 75 per cent of them supported Trump, 51 per cent DeSantis, 21 per cent Scott, 16 per cent Pence, 15 per cent Haley, 13 per cent Ramaswamy, 9 per cent radio host Larry Elder, 7 per cent Christie, 6 per cent Hutchinson and 4 per cent North Dakota governor Doug Burgum. Interestingly, the CBS News poll also revealed the overarching Trumpian influence on GOP voters with 74 per cent preferring a nominee like Trump if not him! The most revealing data was Trumps 32-plus-point lead over DeSantis among Republican voters in national surveys. According to FiveThirtyEight, Trumps support had increased from 46 per cent on 1 March to 53.5 per cent on 17 June while DeSantiss support decreased from 29.7 per cent to 20.9 per cent. An Economist/YouGov poll too showed Trump leading DeSantis by 33 per cent. Trump leads DeSantis even in his home state. An April 13-14 Florida Atlantic University/Mainstreet Research poll showed 59% of registered Republicans will vote for him in the upcoming presidential primary compared to 31 per cent who will support the governor. In a nutshell, the latest indictment, his rivals reluctance to challenge him and their fear of riling his avid supporters have immensely boosted Trumps chances of nomination. The writer is a freelance journalist with two decades of experience and comments primarily on foreign affairs. Views expressed are personal. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. China has blocked India and United States proposal to designate Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Sajid Mir who is wanted for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks as a global terrorist at the UN. Notably, Mir was the chief planner behind the deadly attacks in Mumbai in 2008, directing preparations and reconnaissance, and was one of the Pakistan-based controllers during the attacks. According to the official website of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Beginning on November 26, 2008, and continuing through November 29, 2008, ten attackers trained by the Pakistan-based foreign terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) carried out a series of coordinated attacks against multiple targets in Mumbai, including hotels, cafes, and a train station, killing approximately 170 people. Six Americans were killed during the three-day attacks. In 2022, India revealed Pakistans involvement in the 26/11 attacks in detail at the UN counter-terror meet. An audio clip of Sajid Mir was presented as evidence at the UN. In the audio clip, he is heard directing the attack on Chabad House during Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks. Playing the audio clip, India presented undeniable evidence against Pakistan. The clip was played by a senior Intelligence Bureau officer, Pankaj Thakur at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) meeting at Taj Mahal Palace. The clip revealed how Mir directed terrorists from Muzaffarabad, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir where he is giving instructions to terrorists who were at Chabad House during Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks. However, this is not the first time China has rejected to designate several terrorists based in Pakistan as global terrorists. In October last year, Beijing put on hold a proposal to list Talha Saeed, son of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed. This bid was moved by India and co-supported by the US, under the 1267 sanction regime. With inputs from ANI Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In a bizarre incident, a woman was stunned to find out that she was overcharged 300 yuan or Rs 3,433 at a pub in Eastern China. This was precisely because she and her friends were not creating a vibrant enough vibe, as per South China Morning Post. In response to the womans complaint, the staff explained that the extra charge was a punishment for the poor atmosphere surrounding their booth. It turned out that the booth given to the group was too small, but the group eventually decided to stay, according to the woman. The pub incident The report also stated that the unidentified woman had reserved the VIP booth at Boom Shake Bar, located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. After receiving the bill for 4,988 yuan or Rs 57,100, they discovered an additional bottle of wine and a mysterious charge of 300 yuan. In response, the woman confronted staff, who explained that the fee was a punishment since the atmosphere around the booth was unsatisfactory. The unidentified woman told Pear Video, a popular video streaming app that, He said we were fined as the vibe around us during the last hour there was not vibrant enough. According to her, he further said: We went there as consumers, not to work to create a vibe. Why should we be penalised? The woman added that she was also billed for an extra bottle of wine worth more than 1,000 yuan or Rs 11,444. Disagreement between customer and management A disagreement ensued between the woman and bar management over the issue, which led to the group settling their bill. The waiter relented only after repeated complaints from the woman to the bar company. Bar manager claimed that the waiter is responsible for extra charge since he worked as a subcontractor. According to the manager, the waiter, surnamed Li, worked on commission through a third-party sales company and the charge was unrelated to the bar. This is the problem of the waiter, not our company, the manager added. Later, an amount of 1,480 yuan was refunded which was charged as a vibe fine along with an extra bottle of wine that the woman did not order. Bizarre case enjoined discussion in China The strange incident baffled social media users. A discussion about consumer rights in China was also sparked by the bizarre case. According to SCMP, one user said, At first, I thought it was the worker being fined. Then I confirmed the consumer was fined, and I didnt believe it was true. What a rare case! I am lucky to see this kind of extremely incredible news, another person said on Weibo, a Chinese microblogging website. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Brussels on Tuesday asked EU member states to back a 50-billion-euro ($55 billion) package to support Ukraine over the next four years, as part of a boost to the blocs budget. This financial reserve will allow us really to calibrate our financial support according to the evolution of the situation on the ground, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said. The proposal from the European Commission, the EUs executive arm, is aimed at helping prop up Kyivs finances and covering immediate reconstruction costs caused by Russias war. The money, 33 billion euros in loans and 17 billion in grants is part of the review to plug gaps in the EUs budget for the period 2024-2027 left by the fallout of the Covid pandemic and the conflict. Ukraines Prime Minister Denys Shmygal thanked von der Leyen for such steadfast commitment to supporting Ukraine. The amount still could represent less each year than the 18 billion euros the EU has committed towards Ukraine government expenditures in 2023. Overall, the EU has already committed 30 billion euros from its budget to support the country since Russias all-out invasion in February 2022. The money for Ukraine is expected to be dependent on reforms to strengthen its judiciary and tackle corruption that is intended to spur Kyiv along the path to joining the EU. The proposal comes ahead of a major donor conference in London this week on paying for Ukraines reconstruction. The World Bank, in March, estimated Ukraines long-term reconstruction costs at over 380 billion euros. As part of its budget review, Brussels is also asking for 15 billion euros more to help manage immigration and 10 billion euros to subsidise key industries. But the demands for a fresh injection of money will face some serious headwinds from EU countries still grappling with the consequences of the pandemic and war. All 27 member countries have to agree to increase the budget. Leaders are set to kickstart the discussions at a summit next week. We are fully aware of the fact that member states were also hit by the crises and after years of large public support to their economies it is now time for them for consolidating, von der Leyen said. We come today with a very targeted and limited proposal for the absolute must. The EUs initial seven-year budget agreed in 2020 was 1.07 trillion euros. But von der Leyen insisted that the global turmoil seen since then had necessitated the new demands. We saw three years of crisis after crisis, the commission president said. So we are in a completely different world compared to 2020. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Chinas top prosecutor announced on Tuesday that Fan Yifei, a former deputy governor of the countrys central bank, has been arrested on suspicion of bribery. This arrest marks a significant development in President Xi Jinpings ongoing anti-corruption campaign, particularly within the financial sector. Fan, aged 59, holds the highest-ranking position at the Peoples Bank of China to face arrest in the past decade due to this initiative. The Supreme Peoples Procuratorate has stated that Fan will be prosecuted, and the case is currently undergoing further investigation. Regrettably, Reuters was unable to reach Fan for a comment regarding the matter. State media has reported that Fan was recently expelled from the Communist Party and dismissed from his post due to serious violations of both disciplinary and legal protocols. According to state media, the leading anti-corruption watchdog revealed that Fan had exploited his position to generate illicit profits through loan financing and accepting property in an unauthorized manner. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. New Delhi: India will be a big export economy and it needs to create a balance between safeguarding citizens and enabling companies to innovate with its framework, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said on Monday. While speaking at Google for India event, Pichai said that the company is focussing on startups from India and out of its USD 300 million for the startups, around one-fourth will be invested in entities that are led by women. He said that the technology is working at a big scale and touching lives of people around the world, which calls for framing responsible and balanced regulation. Given the scale and technology leadership it (India) will have, its important to make sure you are balancing, putting in safeguards for people. Youre creating an innovative framework, so that companies can innovate on top of a certainty in the legal framework. I think it is an important moment in time. India will also be a big export economy. It will benefit from an open and connected internet and getting that balance right will be important, Pichai said. He said sophistication of the Indian startup ecosystem is measurably improving and Indian startups like Glance are getting noticed worldwide. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. COVID-19 LIVE Updates Covid almost endemic but we're on high alert for each new variant: Health Minister Mandaviya COVID-19 is on the verge of becoming endemic, but Indian experts are keeping a careful eye on each new version and the government will remain on high alert, according to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, emphasising that the virus has survived and will remain. In an interview, the minister stated that the situation is currently stable after more than three years of one of the world's deadliest pandemics, but that all essential precautions will be taken to protect against any variety that may be fatal. The fatal virus was discovered in late 2019 in China, and the first case in India was reported in late January 2020. Since then, about 4.5 crore positive cases have been reported in India, with over five lakh people dying in numerous waves. However, the caseload has decreased dramatically in recent months, and the number of current cases is presently under 1,800, with an overall recovery rate of close to 99 per cent and a death rate of roughly 1 per cent. Brussels: US online giant Meta breached EU antitrust rules in the online classified Marketplace section of its Facebook social network, the European Commission said Monday in a preliminary finding. The Commission takes issue with Meta tying its online classified ads service, Facebook Marketplace, to its personal social network, Facebook, it said in a statement. The Commission is also concerned that Meta is imposing unfair trading conditions on Facebook Marketplaces competitors for its own benefit. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. A man armed with an axe attacked random diners at three neighbouring Chinese restaurants in New Zealand, wounding four people, police and witnesses said. The incident occurred at approximately 9 p.m. on Monday in the Albany suburb of north Auckland. Police swiftly responded to the situation and apprehended a 24-year-old suspect at the scene. He has been formally charged with wounding, indicating an intention to cause serious harm. The suspect, identified as a Chinese national, made a brief court appearance on Tuesday. While the police have yet to determine a motive for the attack, they have stated that there is currently no evidence suggesting a racially motivated crime. Auckland City Hospital said Tuesday one patient from the attack remained there in stable condition. North Shore Hospital said it had one patient with moderate injuries and a second with minor injuries, both of whom were in stable condition, and had earlier discharged a third patient. A diner told the New Zealand Herald newspaper he was eating dinner with a friend when the man walked in and started attacking his friend, who was seriously injured. I was in shock. When I realized what was happening, he tried to target me, the man, who asked not to be named, told the Herald. I blocked his axe with my hand. He was also trying to target my head, so I blocked the axe with my hand. The diner said the man with the axe chased them out of the restaurant and then turned around and walked into another restaurant. The Herald posted an image of what appeared to be a wood-splitter-style of axe lying on the sidewalk. Surveillance footage posted by the news website Stuff showed people fleeing from one of the restaurants, including one person who ran out backwards holding a chair as a barricade followed closely by another person holding a weapon. Police said they expect to file more charges against the man, who they believe acted alone. Police increased their presence in the area around the restaurants Tuesday. We acknowledge how frightening this incident was for those involved, and for the wider community, and we are ensuring there is support in place for both the victims and their friends and family, Inspector Stefan Sagar said in a statement. During his court appearance, the defendant was helped by a Chinese-language interpreter. He was not required to enter a plea. He was granted temporary name suppression, a common outcome in New Zealands legal system. The restaurants the man entered were Yues Dumpling Kitchen, Zhangliang Malatang and Maya Hotpot. They are among a cluster of restaurants on the street that aim to give diners low-cost options reminiscent of Chinese street food offerings. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Chinas top military body has released a new set of regulations governing the social activities of serving as well as retired senior officers of the Peoples Liberation Army, according to a report. According to a South China Morning Post report, the new rules were recently approved by the Central Military Commission chaired by President Xi Jinping in an effort to further tighten control. The new rules were jointly promulgated by the political and disciplinary departments of the PLA. Citing a front page story of PLA Daily on Monday, the report said the rules included specific requirements and concrete demands in eight areas without giving further details. The rules set out a code of conduct for dealing with Communist Party officials, government bodies and state-owned enterprises, social organisations, the media, academic and research bodies, ethnic minority and religious groups, foreign institutions and family members as well as people they meet online, according to the report. Political and disciplinary bodies will carry out their supervisory responsibilities, look out for and correct any problems that are in violation of the rules or the law, the report said citingthe PLA Daily. (They will) hold any of the leading cadres who have been found responsible for dereliction of duty and instil a strong sense of party spirit among them and encourage them to practice self-discipline so that [the leading cadres] will live a clean social life publicly, and among their families and friends, it said. (The goal) is that their social life is principled, has boundaries and is based upon rules. Reacting to the development, Ni Lexiong, a professor of political science at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said this was an unprecedented move (for the PLA). This is an unprecedented move (for the PLA) to have a set of codes on social life for the senior cadres, South China Morning Post report quoted Ni Lexiong as saying. This has not been done even in Mao Zedongs times, Ni added. Ni explained that the rules were needed to keep up with changing times since engagement between PLA generals and retired officers with local party and government leaders, businesses and social bodies was inevitable and the influence of social media and the online world had grown significantly. For example, the consumption of heavy liquor was a tradition among some senior officers although it was banned after Xi became the head of the Central Military Commission in 2012, he said. I believe it will be spelled out in the new rules again that this is not allowed, Ni was quoted as saying in the report. Citing a PLA source, the report said that the new rules, which target leading cadres of the military, would also be applied to retired generals, who are known to wield considerable influence over the younger leaders. Many retired generals are active in religious and cultural groups, and their presence in these bodies can sometimes be used by others for profiteering, creating very bad social effects, the report quoted the source as saying. Zhou Chenming, a researcher with the Beijing-based Yuan Wang military science and technology think tank, told South China Morning Post that the new rules were likely aimed at eradicating the legacy of two disgraced former CMC vice-chairmen and generals, Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou. Guo and Xu are the most senior PLA leaders purged by Xi in an anti-corruption campaign that started in 2013. The pair were accused of accepting bribes from other officers in return for promotions. Guo is serving a life sentence for corruption and Xu died in 2015 when he was under investigation. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Amid political instability in Pakistan, key leaders of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) are holding meetings to sort out their disagreement over budget amid rumours of intensifying discord between the two major parties of the coalition government ahead of the general election. The attempt by the PML-N and PPP to sort out their differences made some headway but remained inconclusive on Monday, with both sides likely to sit together again on Tuesday, Dawn reported. At Mondays meeting, the PML-N side was represented by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Economic Affairs Minister Ayaz Sadiq, while the PPP delegation consisted of Syed Khursheed Shah, Naveed Qamar and Sherry Rehman. Sources in both parties told Dawn that a meeting was held at the Prime Ministers House, but Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif did not take part. The report said the PPP delegation laid some of its reservations before the PML-N members and demanded that adequate funds be provided for flood victims of Sindh. They said Prime Minister Sharif had visited flood areas and promised to allocate the required funds for the flood-affected people of the province. However, no funds were earmarked in this regard in the budget 2023-24, they added. Sources said the government side had agreed to provide Rs 25 billion for flood victims, but the decision required the consent of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. The report also said the PPP demanded the holding of general elections at their scheduled time in November this year. The current National Assembly will complete its five-year term on August 12 and the fresh general election must be conducted within 60 days as laid down in the Constitution of Pakistan. The meeting later decided that the government side will apprise the prime minister of the outcome of the meeting, while the PPP team will relay their decision to Bhutto-Zardari. Meanwhile, the PPP chairman denied the impression that there was any political difference between his party and the PML-N, hoping that the politics of both parties would be carried forward according to the Charter of Democracy. I dont see any disagreement with the PML-N in the future as well, Bilawal told media persons in Karachi. The rumours of differences between the two parties spread after Foreign Minister Bhutto-Zardari, the scion of the Bhutto dynasty, in a public gathering in Swat on Saturday accused the ruling coalition government of ignoring the provinces that bore the brunt of last years devastating floods in the proposed budget. Responding to Bilawals remarks, PML-N senior leader Ahsan Iqbal stressed that the coalition partners should sort out all issues in cabinet meetings and not in public rallies. Earlier, Bilawal had said his party will abstain from endorsing the recently-announced budget in the National Assembly unless the commitments made to the party regarding areas affected by flooding are honoured. Differences among PPP and PML-N are intensifying, Ary News reported. The PML-N is giving preference to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) over the PPP due to which the working relationship between both parties remains no longer ideal, it said quoting sources. PPP alleged that PML-N is compensating JUI-F with the record development projects and the funds in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. PPP ministers and assistants are being neglected in KP, the sources claimed. It has further emerged that the reservations have been taken up with the PML-N and JUI-F by the PPP leadership several times but they remain unaddressed. The growing tension between the PML-N and PPP may prompt Asif Zardari, the PPP Co-chairman who is currently in the UAE, to intervene and return earlier than planned, Geo news said citing sources. While this attempt at rapprochement was underway, the National Assembly saw PPP lawmakers continuing their criticism of the PML-Ns budget. (With inputs from PTI) Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Amid bankruptcy, the Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistani governments failure to ink a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would significantly increase the likelihood of default, according to a report. This comes after the global lender criticised Pakistans budget for its insufficient measures to broaden the tax base and its inclusion of a tax amnesty, Bloomberg reported. The cash-strapped countrys current foreign exchange (FX) reserves stand at $4 billion. Approximately $900 million needs to be paid this month, causing the reserves to decline by the end of June unless IMF aid is received, according to reports. Moreover, Islamabad faces the challenge of repaying an additional $4 billion between July and December. This amount cannot be rolled over. As per the report, the likelihood of default becomes highly probable if the foreign exchange reserves remain below $4 billion at the start of fiscal year 2024. Options for Pakistan to secure fresh external funding will be severely limited without an IMF programme. (With inputs from agencies) Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in New York for his three-day state visit on Tuesday. At JFK Airport in New York, the prime minister was welcomed by the Permanent Representative of India to the UN Ruchira Kamboj and other US officials. Visual of PM Modi being greeted by Indian and American diplomats at JFK Airport in New York. pic.twitter.com/jSwf60rml9 Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 20, 2023 PM Modi was invited by the US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The visit will commence in New York where the Prime Minister will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on 21 June. VIDEO | PM Modi begins his historic State visit to the USA, greets people with namaste at New Yorks JFK Airport. #PMModiUSVisit pic.twitter.com/Jjsq85Y8SC Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 20, 2023 PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on 22 June and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. Landed in New York City. Looking forward to the programmes here including interaction with thought leaders and the Yoga Day programme tomorrow, 21st June. pic.twitter.com/6V5gHglLCg Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 20, 2023 Earlier today, security was heightened around the place where the Indian prime minister is supposed to lodge. VIDEO | Security heightened around the place of PM Modis stay in New York ahead of his arrival. pic.twitter.com/PA8m0b2WOh Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 20, 2023 President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening, according to a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The PM will also address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress on 22 June. Also read: Tesla factory in India soon? PM Modi to meet Elon Musk in US The invitation to deliver such a historic speech was extended by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, demonstrating bipartisan support and respect for Prime Minister Modi in the United States. He would be the first Indian Prime Minister to address a joint session of the United States Congress twice. The invitation letter from the President and First Lady praised PM Modis last historic address seven years ago, which helped cement the connection between the two countries. Meanwhile, before Modi landed in the US, members of the Indian diaspora prepared garlands for the prime minister. VIDEO | Members of the Indian diaspora in USA prepare garlands to welcome PM Modi as he arrives for the much-awaited State visit later today. pic.twitter.com/6bjfNcaFil Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 20, 2023 The White House emphasised in its message that it was an occasion to reaffirm the two countries deep and close alliance. PM Modi expressed his thanks for the privilege and stated that he was looking forward to addressing the joint session. In his message, PM Modi reiterated the pride in having a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership with the US founded on the principles of democratic values, close people-to-people ties and a staunch commitment to global peace and prosperity. On 23 June, the Prime Minister will be jointly hosted at a luncheon by US Vice President Kamala Harris and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In addition to official engagements, the Prime Minister is scheduled to have several curated interactions with leading CEOs, professionals, and other stakeholders. He will also meet members of the Indian Diaspora. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday thanked people from all walks of life for their excitement about his planned trip to the US, especially the members of the US Congress, and said that the diverse support underlines the depth of India-US ties. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said, People from all walks of life including Members of Congress, thought leaders and others have been sharing their enthusiasm on my upcoming USA visit. I thank them for their kind words. Such diverse support underlines the depth of the India-USA relationship. People from all walks of life including Members of Congress, thought leaders and others have been sharing their enthusiasm on my upcoming USA visit. I thank them for their kind words. Such diverse support underlines the depth of the India-USA relationship. https://t.co/lNXuQxtzJs Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 19, 2023 PM Modi made his statement after receiving a warm welcome from US Congress leaders for his planned visit. In order to show their excitement for PM Modis impending visit, US senators have been posting videos on social media. Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut Susan Bysiewicz said that she hopes his visit will pave the way for a stronger and closer partnership between the two nations, as well as, between India and the state of Connecticut. The official Twitter account of the Embassy of India, Washington, DC posted her video and appreciated her message. In the video, Susan Bysiewicz welcomed PM Modi on behalf of the people of Connecticut on his state visit to the United States. The Indian diaspora has made many contributions to our state. I hope your visit is successful and I am confident that will pave the way for an even stronger and closer partnership between India and the United States and between India and the state of Connecticut, she said in the video. She also spoke about the Indian relationship with Connecticut and said that India-US shared values of diversity nurture the bond between the two countries Mike Collins, a member of the House of Representatives from the 10th Congressional District, also extended PM Modi a hearty welcome to the US in his short video address. We have a very special guest coming in to speak to both chambers on June 22 and thats Prime Minister Modi from India, the Congressman from Georgia said in the video message. He also highlighted the great relations that India and US share not just economically but also the combined efforts the two countries are putting in to counter China, which he called a big enemy. The President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Micron Technology, Sanjay Mehrotra lauded PM Modis vision for Indias technological advancement on Saturday. In a video shared by the Embassy of India in the US, the top Indian-American CEO has said that he is looking forward to the state visit of PM Modi and added that he would like to extend a warm welcome to him.We see much promise in India as part of our global footprint. Indians have made their mark in every field, be it in the private sector, academia or government enriching the cultural fabric of countries worldwide, he said. At the invitation of US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a state visit to the US from 20 June. The visit will commence in New York where the Prime Minister will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on 21 June. PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on 22 June and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening, according to a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The PM will also address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress on 22 June. On 23 June, the prime minister will be jointly hosted at a luncheon by US Vice President Kamala Harris and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In addition to official engagements, the Prime Minister is scheduled to have several curated interactions with leading CEOs, professionals, and other stakeholders. He will also meet members of the Indian Diaspora. The PM will then travel to Cairo to pay a state visit to Egypt from 24-25 June. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. At least nine people were wounded in a mass shooting in San Franciscos Mission District on Friday night The incident appeared to be targeted and isolated, the San Francisco Police Department said, adding that all of the victims were expected to survive their injuries. But a statement from the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital said one of the victims remained in critical condition as of Saturday afternoon. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the shooting happened shortly after 9 p.m. during a party hosted by a clothing store near the intersection of 24th Street and Treat Avenue. Another was said to be in serious condition, four were in fair condition and three had already been discharged. The victims were eight men and one woman ranging in age from 20 to 34, the hospital said. Police Chief William Scott called the violence unacceptable. People should feel safe to go out in San Francisco without fear of being victims of gun violence, Scott said. Our investigators are working diligently on this case, and we will have a visible police presence moving forward in the community where this occurred. Dying Breed, a clothing store located near the intersection where the shooting happened, was scheduled to celebrate its sixth anniversary Friday night with a block party, according to a post on the stores Instagram account. A person who answered the phone at the store declined to comment. The Mission District is one of San Franciscos oldest neighbourhoods, named after the Mission Dolores a Spanish mission that dates back to 1776. Historically Latino and increasingly gentrifying in recent years, the vibrant area is home to numerous restaurants and shops. Mayor London Breed said first responders were quick to react to the shooting and noted that no lives were lost. I know there are a lot of questions and concerns in the community, and people want answers, Breed said. We are still working to understand exactly what happened and why and we will share information as soon as we can. With inputs from AP. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In yet another experiment with peoples most loved biryani, a recent viral video shows the person adding strawberries to the rice dish. This slight alteration is a heavy blow to an aromatic dish made using unique flavour combinations. Earlier, Pasta-biryani, biryani stuffed in a samosa, Nutella biryani have all played their part and they dont seem to go down well with Instagram users. Now, Toronto-based content creator Pushpek Sidhu posted a video of someone preparing a healthier version by adding strawberries. Do not let the British people cook According to several reports, the chef appears to be from Britain. One of the comments on the viral post also testifies saying: Do not let the British people cook. The video shows him preparing chicken biryani using minimal spices with strawberries and potatoes. Due to his inability to handle other spices, he uses only turmeric. Then, he boils the mixture for the next 10 minutes. In the next step, he adds the cooked biryani to a white plate and eats it with a buttered slice of bread. This is NOT how you make chicken biryani, Sidhu captioned the post. In response to this culinary sacrilege, the content creator showed confusion, disbelief and evident anger. Watch the video below: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pushpek Sidhu (@pushpeksidhu_) Since it was posted two days ago, the clip has received over 4.28 lakh views and 23,000 likes. Several users commented that they were disgusted by the bizarre food combo recipe but some also displayed hilarious reactions. Check out the comments below: I almost actually cried, a user said. Another user wrote: I hate the whitification of foods and calling it a modern twist or whatever..People should be arrested for that. I feel physical pain looking at that, replied another user. That was chicken berry-ani joked one user. There have been other instances of strange food recipes stirring debates. As a result, the internet is rife with similar experiments that stretch the concept of taste, leaving the masses confused and disappointed. In the past, a food vendors experiment using pastry gained widespread attention. An experimental pastry pakoda (fritters) dish was pictured in the viral recipe. In the clip posted on Instagram, the vendor showed a pastry before he dipped it into gram flour paste, turning the delicious sweet dish into fritters. The soft, creamy layers of a dessert were soon covered with a crispy fritter. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Parents in Taiwan are protesting over reports of kindergarten students being drugged, sparking widespread concern. Teachers at a kindergarten in New Taipei City are facing accusations of administering cough syrups containing substances such as phenobarbital and benzodiazepines to sedate the young children. The motive behind these actions remains unclear, and police have been investigating the case for weeks. In response to the scandal, parents have taken to protesting outside government buildings, demanding greater transparency in the ongoing police investigation. Many criticize authorities for their lack of public disclosure regarding the incident. The gravity of the situation has led to heightened scrutiny, with a separate case emerging in Kaohsiung, involving medical practitioners found guilty of misconduct and improper use of phenobarbital on approximately 20 children. To address public concerns, Taipei City Hospital has initiated free blood tests for preschool children to check for traces of sedatives. The scandal first came to light in May when parents of children attending a private preschool in New Taipei City reported their suspicions of unknown drugs being administered to their children. Parents noted withdrawal-like symptoms, including irritability, restlessness, disturbed sleep, and leg cramps. As investigations continue, the kindergarten at the center of the controversy, affiliated with the Kid Castle Educational Institute, has been ordered to close. The schools directors have been fined, and the principal and teachers have undergone police questioning. Authorities are treating the case as a criminal investigation. While some school staff members claimed that parents had consented to a list of medicines provided by the school, questions have been raised by concerned parents regarding the medications used. Phenobarbital is typically prescribed for epilepsy treatment and surgical anesthesia, and its availability is limited. Benzodiazepines, on the other hand, are commonly prescribed for severe anxiety and are known to be highly addictive. Overdosing on these substances can result in drowsiness and respiratory difficulties. The situation continues to unfold as authorities seek to uncover the motives and bring justice to those responsible for this distressing incident. Benzodiazepines are a class of depressant drugs commonly prescribed for severe anxiety. Both drugs are highly addictive, and an overdose can result in drowsiness and respiratory difficulties. British MPs have approved a report that called for the former prime minister Boris Johnson to be punished for misleading the legislature about illegal, intoxicated parties hosted during the COVID-19 outbreak. The House of Commons voted 354 to seven on Monday to endorse the privileges committees report, which concluded that the former leader should have his parliamentary pass revoked. Had he not already quit, it would have also recommended a 90-day suspension from parliament. The vote, according to Johnsons predecessor Theresa May, would be a small but important step in restoring peoples trust in parliament. May urged her party to show that we are prepared to act when one of our own, however senior, is found wanting, in an apparent jibe at Sunak and his decision to abstain. Johnson and his dwindling supporters have portrayed the report by the committee as a witch hunt. Former minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said the committee had made a deliberate attempt to take the most unfavourable interpretation of Mr Johnsons activities. But Sunak, who has promised to restore integrity to government, said its bipartisan members had done their work thoroughly. No precedent However, Sunak declined to say how MPs should decide before the report was put to a vote. This is a matter for the House rather than the government. Thats an important distinction and that is why I wouldnt want to influence anyone in advance of that vote, he told ITV. Opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer, however, tried to keep pressure on Sunak to avoid taking sides between the reports backers and Johnsons vocal supporters in the Conservative party at large. He should show leadership. Come along! Get in the (voting) lobby and show us where he stands on this, he said on ITV, accusing Johnson of miserable misbehaviour. In a 106-page report last week, the Privileges Committee found Johnson guilty of repeated contempts (of parliament) and seeking to undermine the parliamentary process. There was no precedent for a prime minister having been found to have deliberately misled the House, it added. Even as Sunak looks to draw a line under the Partygate scandal, another video emerged on Sunday of Tory officials partying in December 2020 during one lockdown. Government minister Michael Gove apologised for the Covid rule breach, at a time when the public was banned from socialising or meeting loved ones, even if they lay dying in hospitals or care homes. He told the BBC the footage was terrible and indefensible. By-election peril Londons Metropolitan Police force confirmed it was looking into the footage from a 2020 Christmas gathering at Conservative headquarters. Two of those at the party were recognised in Johnsons controversial resignation honours list, and faced calls to withdraw their names. By pre-emptively resigning, Johnson thwarted the committees recommendation to suspend him as an MP for 90 days which could have led to him facing a daunting re-election battle. Instead, the committee could only recommend that his parliamentary pass be withdrawn, denying him one privilege normally offered to ex-members. The under-fire Sunak is now facing four potential by-elections three linked to fallout from Johnsons honours list. These promise to be punishing ordeals for Sunak and his party, with the country still in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Amid the ongoing conflict with Russia, Ukrainian forces have recaptured eight settlements from Russian forces in the south of Ukraine in the past two weeks, according to a CNN report citing Ukraines Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar. In a Telegram post, Hanna Maliar said offensive operations in the Berdiansk and Melitopol directions in the Zaporizhzhia region have liberated the communities of Novodarivka, Levadne, Storozheve, Makarivka, Blahodatne, Lobkove, Neskuchne and Piatykhatky. The status of Piatykhatky was in dispute on Sunday after the Russian government denied a report from its own installed leader in southern Ukraine and refuted his claim that Ukrainian forces had recaptured the village, CNN reported. On Monday, Hanna Maliar said the Ukrainian army had advanced 7 kilometres into Russian-occupied territory in the southern Tavria sector, recapturing an area of 113 square kilometres (44 square miles, according to CNN report. She praised the professionalism and courage of Ukrainian soldiers for the advances in the frontline. Hanna Maliar said that Russian forces in eastern Ukraine launched over 5800 attacks and used over 277,000 munitions over the past week, the report said. She said that Russian soldiers had been more active against a Ukrainian advance near Bakhmut and Lyman-Kupyansk, Avdiivka and Mariinka. Earlier on 13 June, Ukrainian forces recaptured seven villages from Russian forces in the past week, CNN reported while quoting Hanna Maliar. Hanna Maliar in a post on Telegram said the advance of the offensive troops amounted to 6.5 kilometres in Donetsk and Tavria. She further said, The area taken under control amounted to 90 square kilometres, CNN reported. Maliar said that the villages that have been recaptured including Lobkove, Levadne, Makarivka Novodarivka, Neskuchne, Storozheve and Blahodatne were liberated. Earlier on 13 June, three people were killed and thirteen others sustained injuries in a Russian missile attack on Odesa, a Black Sea port in Ukraine, Al Jazeera reported citing Ukraines military. Russia fired four cruise missiles towards the city, according to the southern military command of Ukraine. Two missiles were reportedly destroyed by the military before they could reach their objectives, reported Al Jazeera. As per the Al Jazeera report, as a result of air combat and blast waves, a business centre, an educational institution, a residential complex, food establishments and shops in the city centre were damaged, the southern command of the Ukrainian military said. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. US President Joe Biden on Monday said that he believes US-China ties are on the right trail and that Secretary of State Antony Blinkens rare trip to Beijing resulted in progress. Were on the right trail here, Reuters quoted Biden as saying of US-China relations. Asked if he felt progress had been made, he replied, Its been made. Biden also praised Blinken and said he did a hell of a job. China and the United States agreed on Monday to stabilise their intense rivalry so it doesnt veer into conflict but failed to produce any major breakthrough. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. US President Joe Bidens son Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to federal income tax charges against him, court documents revealed on Tuesday. In a deal with the US Justice Department, Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to charges that arose from an investigation by David Weiss, the US attorney in the Democratic presidents home state of Delaware who was appointed by Republican former President Donald Trump. Hunter Biden, 53, for years has been the focus of unrelenting attacks by Trump and his Republican allies who have accused him of wrongdoing relating to Ukraine and China, among other matters. Hunter Biden has worked as a lobbyist, lawyer, investment banker and artist, and has publicly detailed his struggles with substance abuse. Hunter Biden disclosed in December 2020 that Weisss office was investigating his tax affairs. According to the court documents, the US presidents son is also facing a separate gun possession charge. However, this charge will most likely be dropped if Hunter is able to meet certain conditions. The attorney representing Hunter Biden, Chris Clark, told NBC News, With the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the United States Attorneys Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved. Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement. A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward, he added. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a warm and cheerful welcome at New Yorks JFK airport. The Indian diaspora who were eagerly waiting for PM Modis arrival cheered as he greeted everyone with namaste. #WATCH | Members of the Indian community cheerfully welcome PM Modi on his arrival in New York, US pic.twitter.com/8N0rx3hrhh ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 Modi arrived in the US on Tuesday for his historic maiden state visit. PM Modi was invited by the US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The visit will commence in New York where the Prime Minister will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on 21 June. Meanwhile, members of the Indian diaspora are also waiting at Lotte New York Palace Hotel where the prime minister will lodge. VIDEO | Members of the Indian diaspora waiting for PM Modis arrival at Lotte New York Palace Hotel.#PMModiUSVisit pic.twitter.com/pQ2rl2IYNE Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 20, 2023 Modis three-day visit to the US from June 21-23 will also include an address to the Indian-American community at Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington DC. PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on 22 June and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening, according to a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The PM will also address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress on 22 June. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for the United States for his first historic State visit. #WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves from Delhi for his first official State visit to the United States. He will attend Yoga Day celebrations at the UN HQ in New York and hold talks with US President Joe Biden & address to the Joint Session of the US Congress in pic.twitter.com/y6avSoPpkd ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 Prior to leaving for the US, PM Modi tweeted, Leaving for USA, where I will attend programmes in New York City and Washington DC. These programmes include Yoga Day celebrations at the @UNHQ, talks with @POTUS @JoeBiden, address to the Joint Session of the US Congress and more. Leaving for USA, where I will attend programmes in New York City and Washington DC. These programmes include Yoga Day celebrations at the @UN HQ, talks with @POTUS @JoeBiden, address to the Joint Session of the US Congress and more. https://t.co/gRlFeZKNXR Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 20, 2023 PM Modi was invited by the US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The visit will commence in New York where the Prime Minister will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on 21 June. PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on 22 June and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening, according to a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The PM will also address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress on 22 June. The invitation to deliver such a historic speech was extended by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, demonstrating bipartisan support and respect for Prime Minister Modi in the United States. He would be the first Indian Prime Minister to address a joint session of the United States Congress twice. The invitation letter from the President and First Lady praised PM Modis last historic address seven years ago, which helped cement the connection between the two countries. The White House emphasised in its message that it was an occasion to reaffirm the two countries deep and close alliance. PM Modi expressed his thanks for the privilege and stated that he was looking forward to addressing the joint session. In his message, PM Modi reiterated the pride in having a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership with the US founded on the principles of democratic values, close people-to-people ties and a staunch commitment to global peace and prosperity. On 23 June, the Prime Minister will be jointly hosted at a luncheon by US Vice President Kamala Harris and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In addition to official engagements, the Prime Minister is scheduled to have several curated interactions with leading CEOs, professionals, and other stakeholders. He will also meet members of the Indian Diaspora. He is expected to meet business leaders of 20 top American companies here and is also expected to address a gathering of more than 1,500 diaspora and business leaders who have been invited to the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington. Top 20 business leaders of US companies including Mastercard, Accenture, the Coca-Cola Company, Adobe Systems and Visa are expected to meet with the Prime Minister, two people familiar with the event and its logistics told ANI. The business advocacy group, the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) headed by Dr Mukesh Aghi will host We The People: Celebrating the U.S.-India Partnership on Friday, 23 June, 2023, in Washington D.C. A reception at the Hall of Nations Terrace (Kennedy Center) will follow the Prime Ministers address. The event with some of the important names including Shantanu Narayen, Chief Executive Officer of Adobe Systems; Julie Sweet CEO of Accenture; Ryan McInerney CEO of Visa Inc, Michael Miebach, CEO of Mastercard; and James Quincey, CEO of Coke Cola. After this, the PM will then travel to Cairo to pay a state visit to Egypt from 24-25 June. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. A math teacher in a Florida high school has been terminated following an incident described as having racial undertones. Cary Altschuler, who taught AP statistics and precalculus at Lake Worth High School, displayed pictures of three students on the smart board with labels equating their skin tones to various coffee roasts. Extra Cream, Medium Roast, and Dark Roast. Altschuler claimed that he did this in response to two students teasing each other about being light-skinned, suggesting that they should be more creative if they were going to mock each others skin color. This incident took place in February and resulted in Altschulers dismissal by the Palm Beach County School Board, following an investigation. The principal of Lake Worth High School, Dr. Elena Villani, referred to the incident as egregiously inappropriate and issued an apology to parents, acknowledging the distressing nature of the situation. According to WPTV, Altschuler admitted to posting the students pictures on the smart board during his math class, using images obtained from the SIS software used for grading and attendance records. Some students who witnessed the incident expressed their discomfort to several teachers at the school and also shared their distressing experience on social media. It was a joke The former teacher initially claimed that he was joking with his students but later acknowledged that he had made a significant error. He admitted that it was wrong for him to engage in a discussion about skin tones. He offered his apology to Principal Elena Villani, acknowledging that he had acted inappropriately. According to reports from WPTV, Altschuler also confessed to making statements suggesting that slavery was not as terrible as it seemed, presenting a plantation owners perspective. In the investigative documents obtained by WPTV, Altschuler mentioned that he did not adhere to traditional teaching methods and that this was his second career. He stated that he taught the required material and standards to his students, but he also aimed to encourage critical thinking and independent problem-solving rather than relying solely on the teachers guidance. During the investigation, Altschuler was removed from the classroom and placed in a role where he would not have any interaction with students. As part of the investigation, his students reported feeling that he exhibited racist behavior and made uncomfortable statements during their math classes, as reported by WPTV. The former teacher, who had been employed at the high school since 2020, was officially dismissed by the Palm Beach County School Board on Wednesday. The termination will take effect on August 25. CBS12 reported that the board cited ethical violations, specifically mentioning his involvement in bullying or harassing behavior based on race. When interviewed by a news outlet, the former teacher expressed his acceptance of the consequences and stated that he would not contest the school boards decision, as reported by Fox News. Prior to working at Lake Worth High School, Altschuler had taught in Hollywood and Broward County. According to his LinkedIn profile, as of this month, Altschuler is currently employed as a freelance data analyst. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Trade, climate change, and the Ukraine conflict are among the topics on the agenda for German Chancellor Olaf Scholzs meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who is on his first international tour since assuming office. The Berlin conference is the seventh high-level government consultation between Germany and China, and it comes a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, demonstrating Beijings effort to reach out to the West and mend icy relations. Li, a former Communist Party secretary for Shanghai who took office in March as Chinas No. 2 official, met Monday with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and had dinner with Scholz at the Chancellery before the start of formal talks. Germany is keen to maintain good ties with China, its biggest trading partner, despite wariness over Beijings growing assertiveness and refusal to criticize the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Germanys recently published national security strategy describes China as a partner, competitor and systemic rival. Scholz has said he wants to avoid overreliance on Chinese trade and diversify Germanys supply of key goods an approach he called derisking while rejecting the idea of decoupling from China. The position was echoed last month by the Group of Seven leading industrial powers, most of which are heavily dependent on trade with China. Still, Germany has acknowledged that major global problems such as climate change can only be resolved together with China, and the official motto of Tuesdays meeting is Acting sustainably together. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wengbin said last week that the choice of Germany as Lis first stop fully reflects the high importance China attaches to China-Germany relations. He said China looked forward to sending positive signals to the world to strengthen dialogue and cooperation and joining to address challenges so as to promote the prosperity and development of the world economy. After visiting the European Unions biggest economy Li travels to France the second-biggest where he will attend the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, which is being held at French President Emmanuel Macrons initiative. With inputs from AP. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. IDEMIA, a global leader in identity technologies and biometric solutions, has been chosen as the technology partner by GMR Group for the DigiYatra initiative. DigiYatra, an industry-led project aligned with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modis Digital India vision, aims to digitally transform the nation and create a paperless travel experience for air passengers. The initiative was launched in three airports in December last year. Seamless and Hassle-free Travel Experience IDEMIA has collaborated closely with DIAL (Delhi International Airport Limited) for the past 18 months to develop and implement a proof of concept (POC). Following successful testing, IDEMIA has been awarded the contract. As part of the partnership, IDEMIAs facial recognition technology will be utilized at Delhi, Hyderabad, and Goa airports to verify the identity of domestic flyers. This implementation will facilitate a seamless, hassle-free, and paperless process for terminal entry and security clearance. Enhancing Convenience, Privacy, and Security IDEMIA leverages its acclaimed facial recognition and digital technologies to enhance the DigiYatra initiative. By deploying contactless biometric technologies such as fingerprint, face, and iris recognition, IDEMIA addresses hygiene concerns while ensuring passenger privacy and security. These advanced technologies identify travelers on the move, optimizing efficiency and creating a smooth passenger journey. The aim is to provide Indian passengers with a novel and digital experience, enabling smoother, faster, and more secure air travel for those who voluntarily choose to use the DigiYatra platform. A Proven Track Record With a rich history of equipping over 250 airports worldwide, IDEMIA has established itself as a leader in cutting-edge biometric and digital solutions. Notably, Singapores Changi Airport, renowned as the worlds best airport for 12 consecutive years, relies on IDEMIAs facial and fingerprint recognition technologies. Speaking on the announcement, Matthew Foxton, India Regional President, IDEMIA INDIA said, We have been working with important and new projects in India for 27 years, like JandhanYojna and Aadhaar program. We are very happy to work with GMR Group for DigiYatra, another good project of the Indian government. We are the best at making travel easier and safer for passengers. We always try to make new and better solutions to keep passengers happy and secure for future travel. Commenting on the announcement, Alok Tiwari, Sr. VP & Business Head, Public Security & Identity, IDEMIA India stated, We are very thankful to GMR Group for letting us provide solutions to make travel easier for passengers. We enjoyed working with the GMR team to make a good and new solution that meets global standards. We are sure that our work together will be very successful, and we want to keep working with GMR to make travel smooth for all passengers in India. Adding to the announcement, GMR CEO Mr. Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, said, WhatsApp, the popular messaging platform, has introduced new privacy features to emphasize the importance of private messaging. In a recent study conducted by YouGov on behalf of WhatsApp, it was found that private messages hold significant power, with 73% of women worldwide and 68% of women in India stating that they would feel comfortable sharing their struggles if approached privately by a friend. Creating Safe Spaces: Partnering with Anushka Sharma WhatsApp said that it strongly believes in providing a safe environment for communication among family and friends. To encourage women to connect with each other privately, the company has collaborated with renowned actor Anushka Sharma. Together, they have launched a unique initiative in Delhis malls, where mirrored messages are displayed in womens restrooms. Triggered Messages and Disappearing Messages: A Delicate Approach As part of this initiative, restroom mirrors display messages triggered by motion, along with a QR code. These messages urge women to reach out to each other through private WhatsApp conversations. Once the message has served its purpose, it vanishes completely, similar to the Disappearing Messages feature on WhatsApp. Silence Unknown Callers: Enhanced Call Privacy Coinciding with these updates, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of WhatsApps parent company, has announced a new privacy feature called Silence Unknown Callers. This feature assists in filtering out spam, scams, and calls from unknown sources, giving users greater control over their phone calls. Privacy Checkup: Simplified Privacy Settings Additionally, WhatsApp is rolling out a user-friendly feature called Privacy Checkup. This step-by-step guide helps users navigate and customize their privacy settings effectively. It ensures that individuals can choose the appropriate level of protection based on their preferences, all conveniently located in one place. Availability All these features will roll out starting this week. Announcing the updates, WhatsApp posted; Google is reportedly in talks with Indian suppliers to assemble its Pixel smartphones, following in the footsteps of Apples strategy to diversify beyond China. There were reports regarding Google moving some Pixel production to India back in September. The company has initiated discussions with domestic firms like Lava International and Dixon Technologies India, as well as Foxconn Technology Groups Indian unit, Bharat FIH, reports Bloomberg. These suppliers have been approved for Prime Minister Narendra Modis production-linked financial incentives (PLI), which aim to boost local manufacturing. By exploring production in India, Google aims to reduce its reliance on China and leverage the benefits of the Make in India initiative. The discussions between Google and Indian suppliers come after a meeting between Indian Minister for Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. The two reportedly discussed the possibility of manufacturing Google devices in India, aiming to bridge the gap in the companys presence in the countrys manufacturing sector. Apple expanded its supplier base and iPhone manufacture using Indias PLI initiatives. If the talks materialize, Google will join the ranks of major brands like Apple, Samsung and OPPO, who have chosen India as a manufacturing hub. It will enhance employment and Indias electronics manufacturing position. We should get more information regarding this matter in the coming weeks. Source Just a quick update -I got most of the spring hardware from Rural King - Axle U-bolts, u-bolt saddles, leaf springs, equalizers, and shackle plates. I tried to get the bolts from Rural King also. They did not have them in the store but they did have some online - link below. No where does it say what the quantity of the bolts is. They do list a weight, however. I talked to a clerk at Rural King (in the local store) when I was getting some other things and asked about the bolts. They were not able to tell me what the quantity was. Later, another day, I thought outside the box a bit. They have a spring hanging kit for a single axle trailer that uses the same size bolts. So I opened one up and weighed the bolts. By my numbers the math worked out to about 6 bolts per the weight listed for the other ones, per package. So I dropped my expectations to 4 bolts/pack and ordered 4 packs. They arrived - and they were only 2 in a pack. Since I need 14 bolts and only have 8 I am returning all of these. I found a local dealer that has the bolts in stock so I am buying theirs instead - for about $13 for a box of 4, vs. $10 for 2 from Rural King. I'll take that. Though, I am still out my shipping cost.These are the bolts I ordered that I am returning:I am ready to be done with this trailer. Its been a PITA in the shop for going on 2 weeks now. Though, once the bolts are replaced (hopefully tomorrow night) it will be road worthy again. The United States welcomes the final report by the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We condemn the violence that has left so many dead, injured ... The United States welcomes the final report by the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We condemn the violence that has left so many dead, injured, displaced, and vulnerable to violence. Those responsible for these acts must be held accountable. We call on all armed groups, including M23, CODECO, FDLR, MAPI, and others to cease hostilities and lay down their weapons. We call on foreign non-state armed groups to return to their countries of origin and domestic armed groups to join the East African Community-led Nairobi Process consultations between the DRC government and armed groups. We reiterate our call for Rwanda to immediately remove Rwanda Defense Force (RDF) troops from Congolese territory. We also call on Rwanda to immediately cease support for the UN- and U.S.-sanctioned M23 armed group, which the Group of Experts has documented committing multiple violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses, including rapes and summary executions of civilians. We also denounce the collaboration, endorsed by national military authorities, of Congolese armed forces (FARDC) elements with multiple armed groups, including the UN- and U.S.-sanctioned FDLR, and we reiterate our call for the government of the DRC to immediately stop all collaboration between these elements. The United States designated the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), also known as ISIS-DRC, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2021 and urges our partners to do the same. We condemn the attacks by ISIS-DRC. The United States welcomes the reports recommendations and continues to support African-led diplomatic efforts, including the Nairobi and Luanda processes, to promote lasting peace. Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts 1. Tlaloc, rain and fertility god to whom children were often sacrificed Answer: Aztec In Nahuatl, the name of the rain god Tlaloc means "he who makes things sprout". Like all Aztec deities, Tlaloc had both a positive and a negative side - bringing new life to nature in the form of rainfall, and destruction in the form of drought or storms. Depicted with a distinctive mask, round-eyed and long-fanged, Tlaloc was originally a deity of the tribes of central Mexico, and shared some features of Chaac, the Maya rain god. When these tribes were conquered by the Mexica (commonly referred to as Aztecs), Tlaloc was fully adopted into the Aztec pantheon, whose main deity was the sun and war god Huitzilopochtli. The right side of the monumental Templo Mayor ("Great Temple") in Tenochtitlan, painted in red and white, was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, and the blue-and-white left side to Tlaloc. Five out of the 18 months in the Aztec ritual year were also dedicated to Tlaloc. Children were sacrificed to the rain god on the first month (Atlcaualo) and the third month (Tozoztontli) to ensure that the rains needed for the growth of maize and other crops arrived on time. His consort was Chalchiuhtlicue, the goddess of lakes and streams; he also ruled over a number of other weather-related deities, collectively known as Tlaloques, associated with the four cardinal directions. Tlaloc's paradise, named Tlalocan, welcomed victims of floods, storms, and water-related diseases. The mountain where the god was believed to reside, on the eastern rim of the Valley of Mexico, still bears the name of Mount Tlaloc. 2. Oya, goddess of rainstorms, wind, and lightning, also venerated in the syncretic religions of Latin America Answer: Yoruba In Yoruba, the language spoken by the ethnic group of West Africa of the same name, the name Oya means "she tore". She is the "orisha" (a spiritual entity generally identified with a deity) of wind, storms, lightning, death and rebirth, as well as the embodiment of the mighty river Niger that flows through that part of the world. The worship of Oya and other orishas was brought to the Americas by the Atlantic slave trade. In the various African diasporic religions (such as Brazilian Umbanda and Candomble, and Cuban Santeria) practiced in South America and the Caribbean, Oya is known as Yansan or Iansa, and - like Oya's brother-husband, Shango, the orisha of thunder and lightning - often syncretized with Saint Barbara. A powerful warrior figure, Oya is associated with the colour red. In Yoruba culture, she is often depicted wearing a mask, with a sword in one hand, and a fan or whisk in the other - the former to cut through obstacles and bring about change, the latter to control the winds. Like other weather deities, she is loved as a bringer of life and renewal, or feared for her ability to wreak destruction through storms and floods. A traditional offering to Oya are bean fritters called "akara" ("acaraje" in Brazil), a popular street food on both sides of the Atlantic. 3. Raijin, god of storms who produces thunder by beating on his drums Japanese Also known as Kaminari-sama, Raiden-sama, and Narukami, Raijin ("thunder god") is usually depicted standing on a cloud, surrounded by a halo-like circle set with the traditional Japanese handheld drums called "den den daiko". The three fingers on each of his hands represent the past, the present, and the future. With his muscular, half-naked body, fiercely aggressive expression, and wild mane of spiky hair, Raijin looks much like a demon; his brother Fujin, the god of the winds, usually depicted with him, has an even more frightening appearance. Notable statues of these two powerful deities stand in the Sanjusangen-do temple in Kyoto and the Senso-ji temple in Tokyo. Like other storm deities, Raijin is an ambivalent figure, a trickster god born in the land of death from the corpse of his mother, Izanami. Although he is a warrior-protector who brings much-needed rain to the fields, he can also wreak chaos and destruction on unsuspecting humans - sometimes without a reason. Besides Fujin, he is often shown in the company of his son Raitaro (also a thunder god) and a "thunder beast" known as Raiju, a creature made of lightning. In medieval legends, Raijin and Fujin were credited with driving away the Mongol invaders on two occasions (1274 and 1281) by unleashing typhoons (the original kamikaze, or "divine wind") that destroyed the enemy fleet. Answer:Also known as Kaminari-sama, Raiden-sama, and Narukami, Raijin ("thunder god") is usually depicted standing on a cloud, surrounded by a halo-like circle set with the traditional Japanese handheld drums called "den den daiko". The three fingers on each of his hands represent the past, the present, and the future. With his muscular, half-naked body, fiercely aggressive expression, and wild mane of spiky hair, Raijin looks much like a demon; his brother Fujin, the god of the winds, usually depicted with him, has an even more frightening appearance. Notable statues of these two powerful deities stand in the Sanjusangen-do temple in Kyoto and the Senso-ji temple in Tokyo.Like other storm deities, Raijin is an ambivalent figure, a trickster god born in the land of death from the corpse of his mother, Izanami. Although he is a warrior-protector who brings much-needed rain to the fields, he can also wreak chaos and destruction on unsuspecting humans - sometimes without a reason. Besides Fujin, he is often shown in the company of his son Raitaro (also a thunder god) and a "thunder beast" known as Raiju, a creature made of lightning. In medieval legends, Raijin and Fujin were credited with driving away the Mongol invaders on two occasions (1274 and 1281) by unleashing typhoons (the original kamikaze, or "divine wind") that destroyed the enemy fleet. 4. Boreas, winged god of the north wind, bringer of winter Answer: Greek One of the four chief Anemoi ("winds", the Greek gods of the winds and their corresponding seasons), Boreas was the personification of the north wind, associated with winter. According to Hesiod's "Theogony", the Anemoi were the sons of the dawn goddess Eos and her husband Astraeus, god of the stars and planets; their master was Aeolus, the ruler of all winds. Boreas was usually depicted as a bearded man, either winged or wearing a billowing cloak, and holding a conch shell. The harshest of the four winds, chilling the air with his breath, Boreas was known for having carried off an Athenian princess, Orithyia ("mountain gale"), and made her his consort. The two sons born of this union, the Boreads Calais and Zetes, were part of the expedition of the Argonauts, while one of their daughters, Chione, was the goddess of snow. Because of his marriage to a woman from Athens, the Athenians often prayed to Boreas, who was believed to have destroyed the Persian fleet in 480 BC - like the Japanese gods Raijin and Fujin were believed to have done to the Mongol fleet. In fact, Greek depictions of Boreas are thought to have influenced the iconography of the wind god Fujin through the cultural and commercial exchanges of the Silk Road. The other three Anemoi were Zephyros (the west wind - spring), Notos (the south wind - summer), and Euros (the east wind - autumn): the latter, however, is not mentioned by Hesiod, because at his time only three seasons were recognized. The "bora", a cold katabatic wind of the Adriatic region, is named after Boreas. 5. Hadad, god of rain and storms, often identified with Ba'al Answer: Canaanite Living in a region often plagued by droughts, the people of Canaan placed special emphasis on weather deities. In earlier times, the chief deities of the Canaanite pantheon were the supreme god El and his consort, Asherah - who were later supplanted by Ba'al ("Lord"), a god that presided over fertility and the weather. Though the name was also used for other gods, in his capacity as god of rain and thunder, Ba'al was identified with Hadad, a god who was also worshiped in Mesopotamia as Adad. In Canaanite religious texts, Hadad is said to be the son of Dagon (the Canaanite god of agriculture), or of El himself. As the lord of the sky, he governs rainfall and the growth of plants necessary for life; his absence, on the other hand, causes chaos, starvation and death. He is often depicted holding a thunderbolt, and wearing a helmet decorated with bull horns. Though Hadad is not mentioned in the Bible by this name, there are numerous mentions of Ba'al and the "baals" - portrayed as rivals of Yahweh (God). Some scholars believe that hymns such as Psalm 29 - with its references to God unleashing thunder and lightning - may have originally been hymns to Hadad adapted to the worship of Yahweh. The practice of child sacrifice in Phoenicia and Carthage is attested in many sources. In times of great difficulty and danger, children were sacrificed to a god named Moloch in the Bible. In a famous episode of Gustave Flaubert's 1862 novel "Salammbo", set in Carthage during the Mercenary Revolt of 241-237 BC, the sacrifice of dozens of children to the terrifying Moloch brings rain to the city exhausted by drought and a long siege. 6. Tempestas, goddess of storms and sudden weather Answer: Roman Not all Roman deities had their counterparts in Greek mythology. Many of the deities included in the vast Roman pantheon were personifications of natural objects and phenomena. One of them was Tempestas (also referred to in the plural "Tempestates"), the goddess of storms and abrupt weather. Her name, which later became synonymous with "storm" (as in the English word "tempest"), is related to "tempus" ("time"), and originally meant "season". Various mentions of this deity and her cult can be found in the works of eminent Roman writers: in his treatise "On the Nature of the Gods", Cicero remarks that storms, like other natural phenomena, had been deified by the Roman people. He also adds that captains used to offer sacrifice to the waves before embarking on a voyage. In his "Fasti", a poem dedicated to Roman festivals, Roman poet Ovid mentions a temple dedicated to Tempestas, built on the Appian Way in 259 BC by consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio to fulfill a vow made to the goddess, who had saved his fleet from a fierce storm off the coast of Corsica. The festival of Tempestas was celebrated on 1 June, and a black sheep was sacrificed to her in her temple. Sailors were frequent visitors to the temple, either to pray for protection before a voyage, or to bring thanks to the goddess for having saved their life. 7. Perun, god of thunder, wind and storms, associated with eagles, oaks, and axes Answer: Slavic Although not much is known about the religion of the ancient Baltic and Slavic populations of Eastern Europe, a number of deities and their respective attributes are mentioned in various sources. One of these deities, worshiped as the king of the gods, lord of thunder and lightning, appears in many of these early medieval sources with the name of Perun or Perkunas ("striker" or "lord of oaks"). References to Perun are present in the Russian Primary Chronicle, the 12-century chronicle detailing the early history of Kievan Rus'. A large shrine dedicated to Perun (whose remains were discovered in the 1950s) was founded in the late 10th century near the Russian city of Novgorod - a few years before Christianization brutally eradicated the cult of Slavic pagan deities, destroying most of their images. Perun was often symbolized by an eagle sitting on the highest branch of a tall oak tree, the sacred tree of the world: both the eagle and the oak are also attributes of Zeus/Jupiter. Perun's enemy was Veles, the god of earth and the underworld, who often took the shape of a huge serpent or dragon. Another of Perun's attributes was the battle axe, in whose shape amulets were made (and are still made by adepts of Slavic neopaganism). Stylized symbols known as "thunder marks" were also engraved on the roof beams or entrances of houses and villages to protect them from lightning. The iris, whose shape is reminiscent of the god's weapon, was also associated with Perun: in Serbo-Croatian, the word for iris is "perunika". 8. Enlil, god of air and wind, who caused the great flood Sumerian In Sumerian mythology, Enlil (a name often interpreted as "Lord Wind" or "Lord Storm") was regarded as the chief deity. He was the son of Anu, the god of the heavens, and Ki, the goddess of the earth; the wind was the breath that came out of Enlil's mouth. The main centre of Enlil's worship was the temple complex at Nippur known as Ekur ("mountain house"), believed to have been built by the god himself, the "mooring rope" of heaven and earth. In the Sumerian creation myth (found on a single tablet in Nippur, though missing some parts), Enlil created the world and the people who would inhabit it, but later sent a flood to destroy humankind - though not before warning Ziusudra, the king of Shuruppak, to build a large boat. In the later version of the flood myth that appears in the "Epic of Gilgamesh", Enlil caused the flood in order to annihilate humans, whose noise prevented him from sleeping. Another religious text found in the temple library at Nippur, known as "Hymn to Enlil", describes at length the god's greatness and power, also mentioning his role in producing rain and ensuring the fruitfulness of the earth. Enlil's worship was later adopted by other Mesopotamian peoples, such as the Babylonians. During the reign of Hammurabi, however, he was supplanted as king of the gods by Marduk, who was also regarded as a storm deity. Answer:In Sumerian mythology, Enlil (a name often interpreted as "Lord Wind" or "Lord Storm") was regarded as the chief deity. He was the son of Anu, the god of the heavens, and Ki, the goddess of the earth; the wind was the breath that came out of Enlil's mouth. The main centre of Enlil's worship was the temple complex at Nippur known as Ekur ("mountain house"), believed to have been built by the god himself, the "mooring rope" of heaven and earth. In the Sumerian creation myth (found on a single tablet in Nippur, though missing some parts), Enlil created the world and the people who would inhabit it, but later sent a flood to destroy humankind - though not before warning Ziusudra, the king of Shuruppak, to build a large boat. In the later version of the flood myth that appears in the "Epic of Gilgamesh", Enlil caused the flood in order to annihilate humans, whose noise prevented him from sleeping.Another religious text found in the temple library at Nippur, known as "Hymn to Enlil", describes at length the god's greatness and power, also mentioning his role in producing rain and ensuring the fruitfulness of the earth. Enlil's worship was later adopted by other Mesopotamian peoples, such as the Babylonians. During the reign of Hammurabi, however, he was supplanted as king of the gods by Marduk, who was also regarded as a storm deity. 9. Tefnut, lioness-headed goddess of moisture, dew, and rain Answer: Egyptian Tefnut (a name of uncertain origin, possibly onomatopoeic) was one of the Ennead (nine deities) worshiped in the ancient Egyptian capital of Heliopolis. She and her twin brother and consort Shu, god of dry air and wind, were the children of sun god Ra-Atum, born from a sneeze. Shu and Tefnut's children were the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb, who in turn were the parents of Isis, Osiris, Seth, and Nepthys. Tefnut was usually depicted as a lioness, or as a woman with the head of a lioness, bearing the solar disk. Another of her attributes was the ankh, a symbol of life - quite fitting for a goddess of water, whose rains replenished the Nile, the lifeblood of the Egyptian civilization. Shu and Tefnut were worshiped as life-giving deities, and their association with weather phenomena was a largely positive one. Shu's dry air represented peace and preservation, while Tefnut's moisture represented change and renewal. However, Tefnut also had a wrathful aspect, and by withdrawing her favour she caused droughts, heat waves, and crop failures - much feared in a country like Egypt, with its hot desert climate. As a water goddess, Tefnut was also associated with purification. There were important sanctuaries dedicated to the goddess in Heliopolis and Leontopolis ("city of lions") in the Nile Delta; in the latter city, Tefnut was worshiped alongside other lioness deities such as Sekhmet and Bast. 10. Ukko, god of the sky, thunder, and weather in general Answer: Finnish Also known as Ajia, Ukko ("old man" or "grandfather" in Finnish) is the chief god of the Finnish pantheon, who presides over weather phenomena; his parallel in the mythology of neighbouring Estonia is named Uku. The Finnish word for "thunder" is "ukkonen", the diminutive form of the god's name. According to some scholars, Ukko as both a weather god and the supreme Finnish deity was influenced by Indo-European patriarchal deities such as Zeus/Jupiter and the Balto-Slavic Perkunas/Perun: in fact, the common Finnish curse word "perkele" (meaning "devil" or "evil spirit") was originally one of the names for Ukko, who was equated with a demon after the country's Christianization. Like the Norse thunder god Thor, Ukko had a hammer-like weapon (known as "Ukonvasara", "Ukko's hammer"), which he used to produce thunder and lightning. He also caused storms by driving his chariot across the sky, or having marital relations with his spouse, Akka ("old woman"), goddess of fertility. The Midsummer festival, now called "Juhannus" and associated with the feast of St John the Baptist, was originally dedicated to Ukko, as was the May festival known as "Vakkajuhlat" ("bushel festival"), during which food and beverages (and sometimes animal sacrifice) were offered to the god. Various plants and animals, such as the ladybird (ladybug) and the rowan tree, were associated with Ukko's worship. Ukko is also prominently featured in the "Kalevala", the Finnish national epic, where he is referred to as the Creator. Source: Author LadyNym This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ponycargirl before going online.Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system. felicilin at 20-06-2023 08:29 AM (4 weeks ago) (f) The United Kingdom, UK, government has significantly simplified trading rules for Nigeria, and 65 other African countries. The United Kingdom, UK, government has significantly simplified trading rules for Nigeria, and 65 other African countries. Under the new rules the UK will remove duties on cocoa, tomatoes and other products. The move under its new post-Brexit Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) scheme, which commenced yesterday, will help the countries businesses and consumers save millions of British Pounds annually. The development means that Nigeria will receive enhanced preferential access for almost 3,000 products, with the removal of 4.5 percent duties on cocoa paste, 26.5 percent on fruit juices, 14 percent on prepared tomatoes, amongst others. Speaking during the scheme launch, UKs Minister for International Trade, Nigel Huddleston, stated that the new scheme will be more generous than the EU scheme. He said: The scheme will benefit developing countries looking to diversify and increase exports, driving their prosperity and creating jobs. This DCTS scheme is a brilliant example of the UK taking advantage of its status as an independent trading nation and I am excited to see it implemented today. It will create opportunities for businesses around the world, supporting livelihoods, creating jobs and diversifying local and international supply chains. It will also benefit UK businesses and consumers by lowering import costs on a whole range of products. On his part, UKs Deputy British High Commissioner in Lagos, Ben Llewellyn-Jones, said: Under the new rules the UK will remove duties on cocoa, tomatoes and other products.The move under its new post-Brexit Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) scheme, which commenced yesterday, will help the countries businesses and consumers save millions of British Pounds annually.The development means that Nigeria will receive enhanced preferential access for almost 3,000 products, with the removal of 4.5 percent duties on cocoa paste, 26.5 percent on fruit juices, 14 percent on prepared tomatoes, amongst others.Speaking during the scheme launch, UKs Minister for International Trade, Nigel Huddleston, stated that the new scheme will be more generous than the EU scheme.He said:On his part, UKs Deputy British High Commissioner in Lagos, Ben Llewellyn-Jones, said: Quote Nigeria is one of the UKs most important partners in Africa and the UK Government is committed to working with Nigerian businesses and exporters to boost trade between our two great nations. The UKs developing countries trading scheme, harnesses the power of trade to help Nigeria and other emerging economies grow and prosper. One major benefit of this new UK trading scheme is that it abolishes tariffs on over 3000 everyday products that Nigeria currently exports including cocoa, cotton, plantain, flowers, fertilizers, tomatoes, frozen shrimps and sesame. The overarching aim of the new scheme is to grow trade with developing countries, boosting the economy and supporting jobs in those countries, as well as in ours. it was gathered that a number of key products have been identified which Nigeria already exports to the world but not to the UK. These include, Cocoa which tariffs removed for cocoa butter (2.5%) and paste (4.5%). Cocoa remains duty free. Nigerian global exports of around 40million (butter) and 10m (paste) a year. UK imports of around 250m of cocoa butter annually of which Nigeria currently accounts for less than 2%. UK imports of cocoa paste around 40m annually with none from Nigeria. This is as identified by Nigerian Export Promotion it was gathered that a number of key products have been identified which Nigeria already exports to the world but not to the UK.These include, Cocoa which tariffs removed for cocoa butter (2.5%) and paste (4.5%). Cocoa remains duty free. Nigerian global exports of around 40million (butter) and 10m (paste) a year. UK imports of around 250m of cocoa butter annually of which Nigeria currently accounts for less than 2%. UK imports of cocoa paste around 40m annually with none from Nigeria. This is as identified by Nigerian Export Promotion Post Reply Posted: at 20-06-2023 08:29 AM (4 weeks ago) | Addicted Hero International Yoga Day 2023: Embrace Fitness with These 5 Must-Have Apps Features oi -Kabir Jain International Yoga Day is a global celebration of the practice of yoga. It serves as a platform to raise awareness about the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of yoga. On this day, people come together to participate in yoga sessions, workshops, and various events that promote overall well-being. Now, let's explore five exceptional fitness applications that you can download to maintain your fitness. These apps are designed to cater to different fitness objectives and offer convenient solutions for individuals who want to enhance their health through technology. 1. Asana Rebel For those who have some yoga experience and wish to focus on specific body goals such as building six-pack abs, improving sleep, or enhancing overall fitness, Asana Rebel is an excellent advanced yoga application to consider. Available for free on Android and iOS platforms, Asana Rebel provides a wide selection of over 100 expert-designed workouts that cater to various requirements and goals. 2. Cult.fit Cult.fit is a popular fitness application that offers a comprehensive range of workout programs and fitness classes. It provides users with convenient access to various exercise routines, including yoga, strength training, cardio, dance, and more. The application aims to make fitness accessible to everyone, regardless of their fitness level or experience. 3. UrbanYogi The UrbanYogi application is a wellness and meditation app that aims to help individuals incorporate mindfulness and relaxation into their daily lives. This app offers a wide range of features and resources to support mental well-being and promote a balanced lifestyle. With UrbanYogi, users can access guided meditation sessions led by experienced instructors. These sessions are designed to help individuals relax, reduce stress, improve focus, and enhance overall mental clarity. The app offers a variety of meditation techniques, including mindfulness, breathing exercises, and visualization, catering to different preferences and needs. 4. Yoga International The Yoga International app is a comprehensive platform that provides a wide range of yoga resources and teachings to support individuals on their yoga journey. This app offers a diverse collection of yoga classes, tutorials, articles, and community features to help users deepen their practice and enhance their well-being. With the Yoga International app, users can access an extensive library of on-demand yoga classes led by experienced instructors. These classes cater to all levels, from beginner to advanced, and cover various styles such as Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin, and more. Users have the flexibility to choose classes based on their preferred duration, focus areas, or specific intentions. 5. Minute Yoga The 5 Minute Yoga app is a convenient and time-efficient tool that provides quick and accessible yoga routines for individuals with busy schedules. This app is designed to help users incorporate short but effective yoga sessions into their daily lives, offering a convenient solution for those seeking the benefits of yoga in a short amount of time. With the 5 Minute Yoga app, users can access a variety of concise yoga routines specifically designed to fit within a five-minute timeframe. These routines are carefully crafted to target different areas of the body, promote relaxation, increase flexibility, and provide a quick energy boost. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Google Ordered To Break Its Ad-Tech Business: EU Probe Observes Monopolistic Hold Over Online Advertising Tech Biz oi -Alap Naik Desai Google may soon have to break apart its behemoth advertising business, at least in the European Union (EU). A two-year investigation has concluded that the search giant has a monopolistic hold over the online advertising business in the EU. The EU has effectively ordered Google to divest parts of its advertising business. The ruling is based on the competition commission's accusations of Google monopolizing its ad-tech business. Let's look at the latest developments which might have a significant impact on Google. EU Competition Commission Concludes Google Abused Its Dominant Position The EU competition commission stated the issue lies "with Google favoring its own online display advertising technology services to the detriment of competing providers of advertising technology services, advertisers and online publishers." The commission essentially concluded Google abused its dominant position by effectively carving a monopoly in the advertising business. The commission opinioned Google unlawfully favored its ad exchange in ad auctions. Further, the commission believes the only solution to address competition is to force Google to divest parts of its ad business. As part of the ruling, European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, said: "Google is present at almost all levels of the so-called ad tech supply chain. Our preliminary concern is that Google may have used its market position to favor its own intermediation services. Not only did this possibly harm Google's competitors but also publishers' interests, while also increasing advertisers' costs." Google To Divest Its Ad-Tech Business In The EU? As expected, Google can and will fight this ruling. The search giant can respond to the EU's allegations and would soon begin, what could be an extensively long-drawn legal battle to protect its ad-tech business in the EU. Vice President of Google Ads, Dan Taylor, publicly responded to the ruling: Our advertising technology tools help websites and apps fund their content, and enable businesses of all sizes to effectively reach new customers. Google remains committed to creating value for our publisher and advertiser partners in this highly competitive sector." "The commission's investigation focuses on a narrow aspect of our advertising business and is not new. We disagree with the EC's view and we will respond accordingly." Simply put, Google will use all legal options and ways to try and prove that its ad-tech business maintains healthy competition. One thing is amply clear Google isn't rushing to look for a divestment partner. Incidentally, even the AMERICA Act bill that was recently proposed in the United States has a similar approach and attitude toward big tech giants. Hence, other large ad tech platforms too would be closely watching this drama unfold. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications US Judge Orders Trump Lawyers Not to Release Any Materials in Classified Documents Probe Sputnik News 20230619 WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - A US judge has ordered the lawyers of former President Donald Trump not to release any materials in the ongoing classified documents probe to the media or members of the public, a court order showed on Monday. "The Discovery Materials, along with any information derived therefrom, shall not be disclosed to the public or the news media, or disseminated on any news or social media platform, without prior notice to and consent of the United States or approval of the Court," US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart said in a court order. The order emphasizes that the discovery materials include "all non-classified" documents. It also stipulates that none of the materials can be copied or reproduced or shared with any witnesses testifying in the case. Moreover, within 90 days of the conclusion of the case, all documents must either be destroyed or returned to the US government, according to the order. Prosecutors in the case have charged Trump with 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of withholding a document or record, one count of corruptly concealing a document or record, one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheming to conceal, and making false statements and representation. Trump has pleaded 'not guilty' to the 37 criminal charges he faces. According to the indictment, the classified documents Trump stored in boxes at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida included information about defense and weapons capabilities of both the US and foreign countries, US nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities of the US and its allies to military attack, and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack. 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Canada provides new funding to respond to humanitarian needs in Sudan and neighbouring countries Global Affairs Canada News release June 19, 2023 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada Canada is deeply concerned by the rapid increase in humanitarian needs arising from the conflict in Sudan, which has displaced more than 1.4 million people within the country and forced another 470,000 to flee to neighbouring countries since mid-April. Today, the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, announced that Canada is providing $40 million in additional international assistance funding, including $34 million in humanitarian assistance funding to address urgent needs in Sudan and neighbouring Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan. Canada's humanitarian assistance funding will help provide emergency health services, food and nutrition assistance, protection services and essential life-saving support such as shelter, water and sanitation. The funding announced today also includes $6 million in development funding to support critical, complementary programming in areas such as education in emergencies and sexual and gender-based violence prevention and response. Quotes "With the funding announced today, Canada's partners will be able to scale up their efforts and provide assistance to people in Sudan and in countries hosting the increasing number of Sudanese refugees. We continue to call for an end to the violence in Sudan and for safe and unrestricted humanitarian access to be allowed throughout the country." - Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada Quick facts This announcement brings total Canadian humanitarian assistance funding for Sudan and neighbouring countries Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan to over $165 million in 2023. The Government of Canada recently announced that it will match donations to the Humanitarian Coalitiona coalition of Canadian aid organizationsin response to conflict, climate and hunger in East Africa. Every donation made by individuals to the Humanitarian Coalition and its members from May 1 to June 30, 2023, will be matched to a maximum of $5 million. In the 2021 to 2022 fiscal year, Canada's bilateral development assistance in Sudan totalled approximately $16 million in funding and was delivered through multilateral organizations active in Sudan and Canadian civil society partners working with local NGOs. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address World Refugee Day: Joint Statement by the European Commission and the High Representative European Commission Statement 19 June 2023 Brussels "Today, more than 110 million people are forcibly displaced around the world. On the occasion of World Refugee Day, we reiterate the EU's commitment to continue being a leading humanitarian and development donor and to step up our efforts to ensure that the EU remains a place where refugees find protection and safety. Globally, the EU is working to help improve the situation of millions of refugees and forcibly displaced persons caught up in conflicts or major humanitarian crises such as those in Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, Myanmar, Yemen, South Sudan, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burkina Faso. We deliver life-saving aid including food, shelter, education, health care, as well as livelihood support. While the vast majority of those forcibly displaced are outside the EU, we also support significant numbers of refugees in Member States.* In particular, with Russia's war against Ukraine, today Member States are hosting around 4 million people from Ukraine under temporary protection, with more than half being women and children. The EU also provides protection and humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons in Ukraine, and we support refugees from Ukraine in the Republic of Moldova. The journeys of refugees are often full of hardship and danger, with thousands risking their lives across deserts and seas in the hope of a better future. The EU is committed to work on comprehensive action to prevent the loss of life and provide orderly and safe pathways. We are working with EU Member States and international partners on resettlement and complementary pathways that can help scale-up admission places, from priority regions. The EU resettlement and humanitarian admission scheme was launched by the European Commission on 10 May 2023, kicking off the new pledging exercise for 2024-2025. The EU welcomes the upcoming Global Refugee Forum in December 2023 as an important opportunity to better share global responsibility: to be truly effective we must all step up our efforts and work in partnership to address the multiple complex challenges created by forced displacement." Background The EU reiterates that the right to seek and enjoy asylum and the principle of non-refoulement, as enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, must be respected at all times. The EU and its Member States also make an important contribution to global resettlement efforts. Since 2015, EU resettlement schemes have helped more than 115,000 vulnerable refugees find a safe haven in EU Member States. In addition, almost 45,000 Afghans at risk were admitted to the EU since 2021. EU Member States have until mid-September 2023 to submit their pledges for the 2023-2024 pledging exercise. A sustainable approach to migration management requires partnerships among countries and a balance between solidarity and responsibility. The European Commission has been tirelessly working to support Member States both with operational and legislative instruments. Through the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, the EU will strengthen the management of asylum applications in the EU, protecting refugees and people in need of international protection, as well as and supporting refugee-host countries. The European Commission is supporting co-legislators to finalise negotiations on the Pact by February 2024, in line with the Joint Roadmap. *Modified on 19/06/2023 at 18:43. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Sudan: EU commits 190 million in additional humanitarian and development aid European Commission Press release 19 June 2023 Brussels With the conflict in Sudan causing untold suffering to the country and forcing millions to flee their homes in search of safety, the Commission has pledged today a total of 190 million in humanitarian and development assistance. It comes as Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic is co-hosting today a High-level Pledging Event to support the Humanitarian Response in Sudan and the Region. Out of the total new EU aid package, 52 million is allocated in humanitarian assistance in Sudan to support the most vulnerable caught up in the crisis. A further 8 million is dedicated to supporting Sudan's neighbours to deal with the arrival of those fleeing Sudan. In addition, 130 million in development cooperation will support food security, resilience and health for the most vulnerable people. Convened by the EU, the United Nations, Egypt, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the Africa Union, the pledging event held in Geneva aims at exploring ways to help not only the people of Sudan, but also supporting neighbouring countries hosting thousands of returnees and Sudanese refugees. The new humanitarian funding is in addition to the 73 million already allocated to Sudan in 2023 in humanitarian assistance and to 1.15 million allocated for the immediate relief and first aid assistance to populations in Sudan itself, and to refugees and returnees in neighbouring countries. The EU also launched Humanitarian Air Bridge flights earlier this year to deliver essential supplies and EU humanitarian aid experts were rapidly deployed along the border regions in countries bordering Sudan (Ethiopia, South Sudan, Chad and Egypt), to rapidly assess the emerging humanitarian needs on the ground. Background Violent armed clashes broke out in Sudan on 15 April between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). This development comes following a prolonged political gridlock after the 2021 military coup. Prior to the outbreak of violence, the political, security and economic instability, combined with a poor harvest, led to the worst humanitarian crisis in a decade. The EU had stepped up its humanitarian aid to support the most vulnerable. More than 2.1 million people have been displaced since the conflict began on 15 April 2023 and have fled to safer locations inside and outside the country. According to the revised Humanitarian Response Plan for Sudan, the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance has increased from 15.8 million, estimated in November 2022, to 24.7 million in May 2023, representing now half of the country's population. The EU has strongly urged all parties for a full compliance with international humanitarian law, including protection of civilians and humanitarian space. Safe, timely, and unhindered access for humanitarian operations should be guaranteed by all stakeholders, including in conflict-affected areas and in areas hosting refugees and returnees from Sudan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Annual report on export of defence materiel 2022 published Finnish Ministry of Defence 19.06.2023 In 2022, the Ministry of Defence granted 269 licences for permanent exports and for transfers of defence materiel to 47 countries. A total of 342 licences were granted, 63 of which concerned, for example, intro-ductory, warranty and service exports. The total value of the permanent export and transfer licences granted was EUR 119 million. Examined by region, most licences were granted for exports to European countries, and when examined by country, the highest numbers of licences were granted to Sweden, the United States and France. As to Sweden, most transfer licences were granted for ammunition for official use. Most licences were granted in the category of precision rifles and their accessories (approx. 29 per cent of the total value of licences granted). The value of actual exports was EUR 125 million in 2022, an increase by 70 per cent from the previous year. The three largest export countries were Latvia, Norway and Estonia. Exports to Latvia comprised mainly the ground vehicle category. Examined by region, the vast majority of exports took place in the European Union and nearly 90 per cent of all exports took place in Europe. The annual report on exports of defence materiel applies to commercial exports and, therefore, it does not contain information on defence materiel assistance provided by Finland to Ukraine as part of international assistance. Fourteen licences were granted for commercial exports to Ukraine. When considering a licence application, a case-by-case overall consideration is applied, based on national legislation and international commitments binding on Finland. The Council of the European Union's common position on defining common rules for the control of exports of military technology and equip-ment (2008/944/CFSP) and the Arms Trade Treaty play a key role. Licence applications are processed in a cross-sectoral export working group where the Ministry for Foreign Affairs is responsible for the foreign and security policy assessment. The entire annual report on the export of defence materiel in 2022 is available on the website of the Ministry of Defence (in Finnish). In the near future, it will also be taken to the Government's joint publication archive Valto. Inquiries: Ministerial Adviser Riikka Pitkanen, Ministry of Defence, tel. +358 295 140 054. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NORDEFCO ministerial meeting in Reykjavik Finnish Ministry of Defence 19.06.2023 Director General, MoD, Janne Kuusela is representing the Defence Minister at a ministerial meeting on Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO) in Reykjavik on 20 to 21 June. At the upcoming meeting, the long-term development of Nordic defence cooperation will be discussed. The worsening security situation in Europe and the decision of Finland and Sweden to join NATO has paved the way for closer Nordic defence cooperation. Current NATO matters and the security situation in the neighbouring areas will also be on the agenda. Inquiries: Anton Staffans, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Defence, tel. +358 295 140 053, and Kristian Vakkuri, Head of Communications for communications matters related to the meeting, tel. +358 295 140 123. The Swedish Defence Commission submits its report on Sweden's Security Policy to Minister for Defence Pal Jonson Government Offices of Sweden - Ministry of Defence 19 June 2023 On 19 June 2023, the Swedish Defence Commission submitted its report on Sweden's Security Policy to Minister for Defence Pal Jonson. The Defence Commission concludes that the world is at a crossroads. The rules-based international order is being challenged by autocratic states such as Russia and China. A large-scale war in Europe is a reality, and Russia has set a course for a long-term conflict with the West. An aggressive Russia should form the basis for the long-term development of Swedish total defence. Sweden must have the capability to defend its territory against an armed attack as a part of NATO's collective defence. In the report, the Swedish Defence Commission presents its assessment of the global security environment and consequences for Sweden's defence and security policy. The Commission also outlines priorities regarding Sweden's upcoming NATO membership. The Defence Commission concludes that the rules-based international order established after the Second World War and the end of the Cold War is under threat. Several states are challenging international norms and aspects of the rules-based order. Multilateral cooperation and institutions are increasingly being undermined. Russia and China are the driving forces behind these developments. They are pushing for a multipolar world order and aim to weaken the influence of the West and the United States globally. Democracy, human rights, and the rule of law are regarded as existential threats by autocratic and revisionist states like Russia and China. They view these core principles as threats to the survival of their regimes. A large-scale war rages in Europe due to Russia's aggression against Ukraine. The impacts of the war are not limited to Ukraine. Russia has long considered itself in conflict with the entire Western world. The Defence Commission sees Russia as the most serious long-term threat to Europe's and Sweden's security. The report states that China does not pose a direct military threat to Sweden. However, China's actions and increasing geopolitical competition are creating a more vulnerable situation for small and medium-sized states. The rapidly changing security situation in the Indo-Pacific region is of great importance to relations between international powers and global stability. A major war in the region cannot be ruled out. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent acceleration of cooperation between China and Russia have further highlighted the link between Europe's and Asia's security. The increasing geopolitical power competition is making it more difficult to deal with global threats such as climate change, pandemics, attacks on strategic infrastructure, terrorism, violent extremism, and organised crime. Russia's aggression against Ukraine, violations of international law, disregard for the European security order and opposition to free, open, and democratic societies have significantly deteriorated the security situation in Sweden's immediate neighbourhood and the rest of Europe. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and China's increased territorial claims show that conflicts over territory by military means are once again a reality. As a result, Swedish security policy is undergoing a profound change. Sweden's forthcoming NATO membership is the biggest change in Swedish defence and security policy in over 200 years. According to the Defence Commission, it is in Sweden's vital national security interests to defend Sweden's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. We are ultimately prepared to use armed force to defend our country, our people, our democracy, our freedom, and our way of life. Swedish membership in NATO will enhance Sweden's security. It will also contribute to strengthening the security and stability in our immediate neighbourhood and the Euro-Atlantic region as a whole. As a future NATO member, Sweden will work to uphold the European security order and international law, based on the UN Charter. As an Ally, Sweden will actively work to maintain cohesion within the alliance. NATO membership will strengthen Swedish defence capabilities through additional opportunities to cooperate with Allies in times of peace, crisis and war. Sweden's defence capability will be part of NATO's collective defence, and Sweden will contribute to NATO by strengthening the Alliance's overall defence capability. We must have the capability to defend ourselves against an armed attack and defend our territory within the framework of NATO's collective defence. This also includes defence measures that may not be directly requested by the Alliance but are important for the overall credibility and capability of Sweden's national defence. The Swedish Defence Commission's work is still in progress. In a final report due on 26 April 2024, the Commission will present proposals on the direction and development of Sweden's total defence, covering both military and civil defence, for the next Defence Bill period. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Canada announces the deployment of Leopard 2 tanks to Latvia during the NATO Defence Ministers meeting in Brussels Republic of Latvia - Ministry of Defence 06/19/2023 In Latvia NATO International cooperation Information prepared by Media Relations Section On Friday, 16 June, during the NATO Defence Ministers meeting in Brussels, Canada's Minister of National Defence, Anita Anand, announced deployment of Leopard 2 tanks to Latvia. Canada plans to send 15 of its Leopard 2 tanks to Latvia in the coming months. Arrival of tank squadron, which also includes personnel and equipment, is another step towards upgrading NATO's enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group Latvia to a brigade-size formation, confirming Canada's commitment to the region. 'Latvia and Canada are close partners. Together we implement NATO Madrid Summit Declaration and make sure Latvian battle group evolves into a brigade-size combat unit. Canada's decision to permanently relocate some of its tanks to Latvia is a strong evidence of Canada's commitment to development of battle group. Latvia is thankful to Canada for its efforts as the framework nation to strengthen security, as well as defence capabilities, of Latvia and the whole eastern flank of NATO and achieve steady progress towards brigade-size battle group,' stressed Defence Minister Inara Murniece. Defence Minister paid a working visit to Brussels (Belgium) on 15-16 June to attend the meeting of NATO Defence Ministers, which focused on further political and military support to Ukraine, boosting of Alliance's deterrence and defence capabilities and other issues leading up to the NATO Vilnius Summit. Agenda of the NATO Defence Ministers meeting included a working session of NATO-Ukraine Commission, which is comprised of, inter alia, Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine's Defence Minister, and Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Commission discussed further NATO and European Union's support to Ukraine and Ukraine's NATO membership perspective. 'We all support the need to continue providing all immediate military support to Ukraine. However, Ukraine's counterattack to regain control over its territory is not our only focus. We must also make sure Ukraine receives all necessary military and humanitarian assistance in the long run. Ukraine is undeniably a member of Euro-Atlantic community. NATO Vilnius Summit this summer must become a turning point in securing tangible long-term support to Ukraine, showing political resolve of NATO member states to offer Ukraine a clear road map to NATO membership as soon as possible,' Minister Murniece said. Defence Minister also told her NATO colleagues that Latvian government has decided to contribute 2 million euros a year for NATO's Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine this year and in 2024 and 2025. Package is a non-lethal assistance programme for Ukrainian Armed Forces, which changes depending on how warfare develops over time. Minister Murniece also took part in US-led Ukraine Defence Contact Group (also known as the Ramstein group) meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on 15 June. Ministers of Rammstein group discussed current security situation in Ukraine and long-term military support to Ukraine required to enhance country's military capabilities and secure its victory against Russia. Latvia will continue to train Ukrainian troops, also through joint Canadian-Latvian Junior Officer leadership development training for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Latvia, which has turned out to be highly successful, Minister told her colleagues. Latvia is open to other partners joining the training of Ukrainian officers to maximise the output of this initiative, asserted Minister Murniece. As for the forthcoming NATO Vilnius Summit, NATO defence ministers spent a great deal of time discussing the need to boost Alliance's deterrence and defence capabilities. In her intervention, Defence Minister of Latvia urged colleagues to use Vilnius summit as a platform for sending a clear and unwavering signal that NATO will stand by its commitments. Better defence and deterrence capabilities require huge defence investments from NATO member states. That is why Latvia has decided to commit around 2.3% of its GDP this year for the defence needs and continue to grow defence spending to reach 3% of GDP in 2027. 'When we talk about commitment to Alliance's security, we must clearly and fully understand that there can be no excuses or compromises when it comes to Europe's security in current geopolitical environment. We must act and do so quickly,' Minister Murniece said. During her working visit to Brussels on 15 June, Minister also met with Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for Internal Market, to discuss EU support for development of Latvia's military industry. Europe must seek to build a geographically balanced military industry to make sure its supply chains are secure and aligned with various scenarios, including security threat scenarios. On Friday, 16 June, Defence Minister Inara Murniece also attended NATO Nuclear Policy Planning Group meeting, which took place in Brussels and focused on Alliance's nuclear deterrence policy aimed at preventing aggressions and securing lasting peace. Contact information: Roberts Skraucs Head of the Media Relations Section Military Public Affairs Department Tel.: 67335393 E-mail: roberts.skraucs@mod.gov.lv NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Data on interceptions of aircraft completed near the Baltic States' borders on June 12-18, 2023 Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence 2023-06-19 International cooperation On June 12-18 fighter aircraft conducting the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states were scrambled 4 times to identify and escort aircraft of the Russian Federation flying in violation of flight rules in international airspace over the Baltic Sea. On June 13 fighter aircraft of the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission Detachment intercepted one AN-30 flying from Kaliningrad and back via international airspace, its onboard transponder was on, the crew had no pre-filed flight plan and were not maintain radio communication with the regional air traffic control centre. While on the same scramble, NATO fighter aircraft intercepted one TU-134UBL heading for mainland Russian from Kaliningrad through international airspace. It had no pre-filed flight plan, the crew kept radio communication and the onboard transponder on. In the course of the scramble NATO fighter jets also intercepted one IL-20 that flew into international airspace from Kaliningrad and then returned. It had no flight plan, the onboard transponder was off and the crew was maintaining radio communication. On June 13 NATO fighter aircraft were intercepted one IL-78 flying from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad via international airspace without a pre-filed flight plan, with its onboard transponder on and maintaining radio communication with the regional air traffic control centre. In the course of the same scramble the Air Policing fighter jets intercepted one AN-72 on its way from the mainland of the Russian Federation to Kaliningrad without a pre-filed flight plan, with its onboard transponder on and maintaining radio communication. On June 14 NATO fighter aircraft were scrambled to intercepted two SU-27 that flew into international airspace from Kaliningrad and then returned. The aircraft had not flight plan, their onboard transponders were off and the crews were not maintaining radio communication. While on the same scrabble, NATO fighter jets also intercepted one IL-20 flying from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia via international airspace without a pre-filed flight plan, its onboard transponders off, though maintaining radio communication with the regional air traffic control centre. On June 18 NATO Air Policing fighter aircraft intercepted one IL-76 flying from the mainland of the Russian Federation to Kaliningrad. It had not per-filed flight plan, the crew kept the onboard transponder switched on and maintained radio communication. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary General praises Germany's contributions to NATO NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 19 Jun. 2023 NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Monday (19 June 2023), in order to prepare for the Alliance's upcoming Vilnius Summit. The two leaders discussed support to Ukraine as it pursues a counteroffensive against Russia's occupying forces. "The more land the Ukrainians are able to liberate, the stronger their hand will eventually be at the negotiating table," Mr. Stoltenberg said, adding: "we all want this war to end, but a just peace cannot mean freezing the conflict and accepting a deal dictated by Russia." He further commended Germany for its leading role in providing military, financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and the recent decision to deliver more Patriot missiles. The Secretary General said that Allies would address Ukraine's membership aspirations at the Vilnius Summit, noting that Allies are working on a multi-year package of assistance for Ukraine, and are working to establish a new NATO-Ukraine Council to jointly consult on security issues of mutual concern. Secretary General Stoltenberg and Chancellor Scholz also addressed bolstering NATO's deterrence and defence. "We are now putting in place new regional plans, with assigned forces and capabilities, and high levels of readiness," the Secretary General said, welcoming that Germany will play a major role in this effort. Mr Stoltenberg also welcomed Germany's first-ever national security strategy, which confirms strong commitment to NATO, and Berlin's leadership in establishing a new NATO Maritime Centre for the Security of Critical Undersea Infrastructure. On defence investment, the Secretary General said: "at the NATO Summit in Vilnius, we will agree on a more ambitious defence investment pledge, with 2 percent of GDP as a floor, not a ceiling. I strongly welcome Germany's historic commitment to reach 2 percent in 2024." The Secretary General and the Chancellor also discussed the situation in Kosovo. "NATO's commitment to our United Nations mandate is unwavering. KFOR will continue to take all necessary measures to ensure a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all communities in Kosovo... We call on all parties to stop any further escalatory steps and to return immediately to the dialogue facilitated by the European Union," said Mr Stoltenberg. The Secretary General also met Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, and is taking part in the Federation of German Industries (BDI)'s Day of Industry. On Tuesday, Mr Stoltenberg will travel to Jagel Air Base with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius to visit exercise Air Defender 2023, the largest air deployment exercise in NATO's history. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO Deputy Secretary General addresses European Air and Missile Defence Conference NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 19 Jun. 2023 Addressing the European Air and Missile Defence Conference at the Paris Air Show on Monday (19 June 2023), NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said that further developing air and missile defence in Europe was "a crucial part" of NATO's work to bolster deterrence and defence. "Integrated Air and Missile Defence will allow us to maintain air superiority in a conflict and better protect our forces, people and critical infrastructure," he said. NATO is actively working to enhance cooperation with industry and accelerate innovation in new technologies, Mr Geoana added, pointing to NATO's Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA). "We are innovating together for our collective security, because security is a shared responsibility," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO's innovation accelerator becomes operational and launches first challenges NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 19 Jun. 2023 On Monday (19 June 2023), NATO's Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) became operational and launched its first call for proposals to solve critical defence and security challenges. DIANA brings together governments, industry and academia to work with start-ups and other innovators to help their ideas and businesses succeed. This year, DIANA will support the best and brightest to develop dual-use technologies to solve problems in three areas: energy resilience, sensing and surveillance, and secure information sharing. "This is a big moment for DIANA and for NATO", said Professor Deeph Chana, DIANA's Managing Director. "Identifying, developing and deploying dual-use technologies are going to be crucial as we tackle the many challenges we face. Participants in DIANA's unique programme will get significant early-stage funding, commercial advice and the opportunity to test their ideas at some of the world's leading facilities." DIANA expects to work with around 30 start-ups this year. They will be awarded 100,000 euros each in the form of a non-dilutive grant, with the opportunity to get up to 300,000 euros later in DIANA's accelerator programme. DIANA has a regional office in the United Kingdom, another planned in Canada, and a hub will open in Estonia. It also has a network of around 100 accelerator sites and test centres in innovation clusters across the Alliance. DIANA is complemented by the NATO Innovation Fund, the world's first multi-sovereign venture capital fund, which will invest 1 billion euros in start-ups developing technologies for defence and security. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Yemeni warring parties conclude 3-day prisoner swap talks with "positive" results People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 08:56, June 19, 2023 ADEN, Yemen, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The Yemeni government and Houthi rebels on Sunday concluded the three-day UN-sponsored talks in Jordan on the prisoner swap with "positive" outcomes. Majed Fadayel, spokesman for the Yemeni government delegation, told Xinhua that the talks focused on securing the release of thousands of prisoners and detainees held by both sides and concluded successfully. Fadayel revealed that the Houthis have agreed to release Mohamed Qahtan, a politican who has been held since 2015, in the upcoming prisoner exchange. Other proposals were offered by both sides during the talks and will be submitted to their leaderships for approval before another round of talks expected in early July, according to Fadayel. Meanwhile, the UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg welcomed the "positive conclusion" of the talks in Jordan's capital Amman. "The two parties agreed to continue consultations on the proposals and ideas discussed and to consult with their leadership, in order to agree on a detailed proposal that includes priorities identified by the parties for this round and a mechanism for implementation," he said. Qahtan, a prominent Yemeni politician of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islah party, was abducted by the Houthis eight years ago in the capital Sanaa. The Houthis have remained unresponsive to repeated appeals from the United Nations, local and international human rights groups, as well as the politician's family for access to Qahtan, according to the government. UN-sponsored negotiations between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels in March successfully led to the release of nearly 900 prisoners in April, marking the second largest prisoner exchange between the warring sides since a civil war broke out more than eight years ago. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN 'deeply concerned' by Israel's unrelenting settlement expansion Iran Press TV Monday, 19 June 2023 6:20 PM The United Nations has voiced deep concern about Israel's plan to approve the construction of a significant number of new settler units in the occupied West Bank. The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland said on Monday he was "deeply concerned" that Israel had decided to "alter settlement planning procedures that have been in place since 1996, which is expected to expedite settlement expansion." "I am also alarmed by the anticipated advancement next week of over 4,000 settlement housing units by Israeli planning authorities." Media reports quoting Israeli sources said on Sunday authorities had tabled plans to approve the construction of 4,560 settler units in various areas of the West Bank. The plans were included on the agenda of an Israeli planning council that meets next week. "I reiterate that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East al-Quds, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law," Wennesland said, urging Israel "to halt and reverse such decisions, which are a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace." "At a time of increased violence and fragility on the ground, the prolonged absence of a political process, and concerted international and regional efforts to support constructive dialogue between the parties, such steps only push Israelis and Palestinians further apart and risk destabilizing an already highly tense situation on the ground." The Israeli regime has already authorized new settlement outposts and pledged to construct new units in the West Bank. Since taking office in January, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved the promotion of more than 7,000 new settler units. It also amended a law to clear the way for settlers to return to four settlements that had previously been evacuated. Emboldened by former President Donald Trump of the United States and his all-out support, Israel stepped up its settlement expansion in defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which pronounced settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds "a flagrant violation under international law." The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has called on the international community and the UN to take serious and urgent steps to stop Israel's Judaization and colonial projects in the occupied territories. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Qatar, UAE resume diplomatic relations, reopen embassies Iran Press TV Monday, 19 June 2023 4:10 PM Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have resumed relations after a six-year break, reopening their respective embassies. The two countries said in statements on Monday the Qatari Embassy in Abu Dhabi and a consulate in Dubai, as well as the UAE Embassy in Doha had resumed operations. The Qatari Foreign Ministry said the restoration of ties "represents the will of both countries' leaders to strengthen joint Arab collaboration and achieve the aspirations of both peoples." The UAE's Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani spoke on the phone to congratulate one another on the reopening of the diplomatic missions. The diplomats hailed the resumption of relations as heralding a "new stage of cooperation and partnership," according to a statement on Emirates News Agency (WAM). In 2017, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain cut all ties with Qatar and enforced a boycott following disagreements over foreign policy and regional influence. The boycott was officially lifted in January 2021. Saudi Arabia and Egypt were the first to reappoint ambassadors to Doha in 2021 after a Saudi-led deal to end the feud. Relations between Qatar and the UAE have improved since February 2022, when Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met with the UAE ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of an event in Beijing for the first time since the blockade ended. The restoration of ties comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity across the Persian Gulf region as countries engage in dialogue to enhance relations. The diplomatic drive in West Asian has gained momentum since the rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced on April 6 the official restoration of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia after top diplomats from the two countries held a landmark meeting in the Chinese capital city of Beijing. Observers believe the rapprochement can be influential in enhancing the security and stability in the region. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PA cancels summit with Israel over settlement plans Iran Press TV Monday, 19 June 2023 8:39 AM The Palestinian Authority has boycotted a planned economic meeting with Israel over a pair of controversial measures by the occupying regime that ease illegal settlement construction activities in the West Bank. In a tweet on Sunday, Palestinian Authority Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh canceled Monday's meeting of the Joint Economic Committee that was expected to bring together Israeli and Palestinian officials. After Israel's decision to "accelerate the stages of settlement growth in the West Bank, and to authorize its minister of finance, Smotrich, to ratify this, we decided to boycott the meeting of the Higher Economic Committee between the two parties." he wrote. He added that they will "study" other measures and decisions to implement regarding their relationship with Israel. The announcement came after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet passed a resolution that gives practically all control over planning approval for construction in the West Bank settlements to far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich. Under the resolution, which changed a system that has been in effect for the last 27 years, the numerous stages of authorization needed for Palestinian land theft will be reduced to just one required approval. Also on Sunday, Smotrich himself said that the Higher Planning Committee of the Civil Administration, under his authority, is set to hold deliberations next week on the approval of 4,560 new settler units in the West Bank. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesman of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, warned that Tel Aviv's behavior will fuel tensions. Israel is playing with fire, whether in the al-Quds file or the settlement file, which are all considered the Palestinian, Arab and international red lines, he said. Abu Rudeineh further held the US administration responsible for Israel's actions, saying the regime "cannot build a single stone without an American decision." "Settlements in the West Bank will all be dismantled, just as they were dismantled in the Gaza Strip, because they are illegal, and are built in violation of international laws," he added. US 'deeply troubled' by Israeli settlement plans On Sunday, Washington issued a statement expressing concern over Israel's latest move to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement that the US is "deeply troubled" by Israel's plans "to advance over 4,000 new settlement units in the West Bank and the changes to its planning system that may expedite approvals." "As has been longstanding policy, the US opposes such unilateral actions that make a two-state solution more difficult to achieve and are an obstacle to peace," the statement read. Meanwhile, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli settlement projects as a "flagrant violation of international law." A spokesman for the ministry urged the international community to "take immediate action to stop unilateral Israeli measures" that are impeding the so-called two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In late March, a report by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said 700,000 Israelis are living in 279 settlements across the occupied West Bank, including 14 settlements in occupied East al-Quds. The international community regards the settlements - hundreds of which have been built across the West Bank since Tel Aviv's occupation of the territory in 1967 - as illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions given that they have been constructed on the occupied territories. The UN Security Council has condemned Israel's settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli forces kill 5 Palestinians, injure dozens in Jenin shootout Iran Press TV Monday, 19 June 2023 7:43 AM Israeli special forces have killed at least five Palestinians and wounded dozens of others during heavy clashes that broke out between resistance fighters and the regime's troops after the latter carried out a raid in the occupied northern West Bank city of Jenin. At least 66 Palestinians were wounded with live ammunition and several were listed in serious and critical condition, health officials said. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the Palestinian victims as Khaled Asa'sah, 21, Ahmad Saqer, 15, Qassam Abu Siryie, 29, Ahmed Khaled Fayez Daraghmeh, 19, and 21-year-old Qais Jabareen. According to local sources, violent clashes erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen in the Jenin refugee camp and the al-Jabriyat neighborhood, with resistance fighters detonating homemade explosives as Israeli military vehicles passed by. Several vehicles were damaged and set on fire as a result. Footage shared by Palestinian media outlets showed Israeli army vehicles engulfed in smoke after apparently being hit by homemade explosive devices. Another clip showed the Israeli military vehicles coming under fire. Gunfire and explosions could be heard across the city in other clips shared online. TV7 Israel News television station reported that at least six Israeli troops were wounded as a result of an explosion that struck their military jeep. The channel added that an explosive device hit the jeep and penetrated it. The wounded soldiers were transferred under gunfire to Gilboa (al-Jalama) crossing and from there to near hospitals onboard helicopters. Clips published by Palestinian media also showed an Israeli Apache helicopter launching a missile at a target and deploying flares over the city. Footage showed an area close to a building being struck several times by helicopter missiles, in what marks the first airstrike in the West Bank in years. The Jenin Brigades, a local wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance group, announced in a statement that its members had detonated explosive devices near Israeli military vehicles and then targeted them with gunfire. Tensions have been running high in the occupied West Bank over the past year, with the Israeli military conducting violent raids under the pretext of detaining what it calls "wanted" Palestinians. As a result of these attacks, nearly 160 Palestinians, including 28 children, have lost their lives and many others have been arrested in 2023. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Controversial Bulgarian Top Prosecutor Is Out, But It's Not A Victory For Judicial Independence By RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service, Todd Prince June 19, 2023 SOFIA -- Ever since Ivan Geshev, then the only candidate, was chosen in 2019 to become Bulgaria's next prosecutor-general, critics at home and abroad have been demanding his dismissal, citing what they called his checkered record before and during his tenure as the nation's top law enforcer. Their wish was finally fulfilled last week when Bulgarian President Rumen Radev signed off on the Supreme Justice Council's (VSS) decision to fire the controversial 52-year-old prosecutor halfway through his seven-year term. But the council's rushed vote, triggered by a crude remark Geshev made about parliamentarians rather than his actions as prosecutor, was anything but a victory for Bulgarian judicial independence and reform, experts said. It reeked of political intrigue, which has been at the heart of the judiciary's -- and the country's -- problems. "Even though there are numerous objective reasons to remove Geshev, the current vote is not an indication of judicial reform or strengthened independence of the judicial system. Rather it confirms the long-standing critique of a highly politicized judiciary," Emilia Zankina, the dean of Temple University Rome and a Bulgaria expert, told RFE/RL. Geshev had in recent months come under renewed Western pressure for his failure to tackle high-profile corruption and back judicial reform. He had allegedly become too much of a liability for his political backers, who were looking for an excuse to cut ties with him. During a May 15 press conference in Sofia to address parties' demands for his dismissal, Geshev called members of parliament "political garbage" that should be "swept away." The remarks were outrageous, but not entirely surprising given the rough-and-tumble nature of Bulgarian politics. Yet, the VSS -- which had long turned a blind eye to criticism of Geshev -- suddenly sprung into action, concluding that the prosecutor-general's comments undermined the prestige of the judiciary. The council voted earlier this month to dismiss him, a decision the president subsequently approved. Geshev's rapid downfall coincided with the formation of a new coalition government between rivals GERB, a center-right party that has dominated Bulgarian politics for much of the past 15 years, and We Continue the Change- Democratic Bulgaria, a pro-Western reformist bloc that had made the his dismissal its top priority. Days before Geshev's May 15 outburst, GERB's Maria Gabriel, who was tapped to form a new government after the party's first-place finish in April parliamentary elections, said she would ask the new justice minister to pursue the ouster of the prosecutor-general. It was a sign, experts say, that Boyko Borisov, the former long-serving prime minister and powerbroker who reportedly calls the shots at GERB, was ready to sacrifice Geshev to maintain power via the coalition. "The political loyalty of a good number of the members of the VSS to Borisov is no secret, hence, the current vote only confirms the fallout between Geshev and Borisov," Zankina said. Geshev had successfully staved off prior attempts to fire him for more serious reasons because of Borisov's backing, experts say. Geshev and his predecessor, Sotir Tsatsarov, were repeatedly accused by critics of stalling and obstructing investigations into a series of mysterious blasts in Bulgarian arm depots, which some evidence suggested was due to Russian sabotage. Justice Minister Nadezhda Yordanova last year presented to the VSS nine cases that she said demonstrated Geshev's lack of professionalism. But the VSS, the only body with the power to remove the prosecutor-general, voted to keep him on. In 2021, the VSS didn't even accept a request by Yordanova's interim predecessor, Ynaki Stoilov, to hold a hearing on Geshev's possible dismissal. Amid the backdrop of growing Western frustration with his work, Geshev claimed on May 1 that a bomb exploded along a road as his car passed, describing the alleged event as a terrorist act. Critics called it a staged incident to strengthen his image as a crime fighter who is under attack by organized crime. Geshev's narrative quickly unraveled, turning him into a liability even for his supporters. "Borisov no longer can afford to support Geshev without losing political capital. The moment that Geshev has become too much of a liability for Borisov's reputation, Borisov is ready to dispose of him," Zankina said. Endemic Corruption Bulgaria has long been considered one of the most corrupt European Union members, a dubious honor connected to the judiciary's lack of independence. The Prosecutor-General's Office has long been viewed by both domestic and international critics as a blunt tool of the ruling elite to block investigations into their own members and target their opponents. Washington and Brussels have for years been leaning on Bulgaria, which is also a NATO member, to reform the judiciary, including trimming the prosecutor-general's sweeping powers, and strengthening the office's independence. The Bulgarian prosecutor-general has more power than counterparts in the EU, holding the final say on whether to initiate, prolong, or end an investigation. Critics say it is very hard to hold the prosecutor-general accountable for any wrongdoing. Bulgaria's constitution calls for an independent prosecutor-general to be chosen -- and dismissed if necessary -- by the 25-member VSS on the basis of professional qualifications. However, experts say the VSS -- a body of legal experts chosen by parliament members, lawyers, and judges -- has been a fig leaf for control by Borisov. There is some evidence to back up that claim. In 2013, a recording was published of a conversation supposedly between Borisov, the former city prosecutor of Sofia, Nikolay Kokinov, and former Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naidenov. When the topic of the conversation turned to then-Prosecutor-General Tsatsarov, whom the VSS had just elected, the man thought to be Kokinov is heard saying to Borisov "you chose him." Borisov seemed to confirm his significant influence over the Prosecutor-General's Office shortly after Geshev's appointment, rhetorically asking during a 2019 television interview: "Whom should I appoint?" Borisov also said in the interview that he had held discussions about other possible candidates but determined "there is no one better [than Geshev], only lazier ones." Critics say Geshev was beholden to Borisov and Delyan Peevski, a media tycoon and influential powerbroker who controls the centrist Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), among the top four parties in the country. Geshev's term was marked by the protection of GERB and DPS officials and attacks against their opponents. He did not win a conviction in any high-profile case during his 3 1/2 years at the helm and he repeatedly demonstrated consensus with GERB and DPS, all jointly opposing the closure of a notorious specialized prosecutor's office that he once ran. In a rare rebuke of a NATO member, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee issued a statement in 2021 expressing concern about democracy and the rule of law in Bulgaria. It directly cited the judiciary as a problem. A few months later, the United States placed sanctions on Peevski, his alleged right-hand man Ilko Zhelyazkov, and gambling tycoon Vasil Bozhkov for corruption, a move some experts said was meant as a signal for Geshev to go after high-profile graft. In its statement announcing the sanctions, the U.S. Treasury claimed that Zhelyazkov threatened to have the Prosecutor-General's Office open a case against a candidate for a ministerial position if that individual did not offer assistance upon taking office. In December 2022, prior to the most recent designations, U.S. Representative Warren Davidson (Republican-Ohio), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, blasting Geshev's failure to investigate those on the U.S. sanctions list. A new round of U.S. sanctions against several members of the Bulgarian elite followed in February with speculation that another round could come later this year if no progress was made. Ivan Bregov, an analyst at the Sofia-based Institute for Market Economics, said the VSS's decision to dismiss Geshev for his comment rather than serious prosecutorial breaches and systematic nonperformance of official duties "undermines and dilutes the entire democratic procedure itself." He also said that removing Geshev is not enough and that his election by the SJC should be investigated, adding it was "already clear then that he was unfit" for the job. "If reforms [to the judiciary] are to be made, this needs to be investigated. The removal of Geshev cannot be the end. The knot needs to be untangled, and it must have political implications," he said. Bilyana Gyaurova-Vegertseder, the director of the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives, agreed that Geshev's departure is no silver bullet. She said the country has struggled to build an independent judiciary since shedding one-party communist rule more than 30 years ago and that Geshev's dismissal won't "magically solve the problem." Parliament has been discussing judicial reform for years with little progress. However, there has been more momentum lately, including support from the likes of GERB, DPS, and even Peevski personally. Gyaurova-Vegertseder remains skeptical, however. She said that no Bulgarian government has shown a real interest in guaranteeing judicial independence since the collapse of communism three decades earlier. "This rush at the moment, combined with the surprising desire of the DPS and other forces to amend the constitution, raises questions for me, rather than reassuring me," Gyaurova said. Geshev, however, is unlikely to disappear from Bulgarian political life. In a YouTube statement on June 19, he said he had resigned as prosecutor-general and hinted that he would enter politics. "Today I speak to Bulgarians in Bulgaria, as I promised, with the clear understanding that political problems are solved by political means. Today I promise you one thing: to continue the fight for truth and justice in our fatherland," he said. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria-prosecutor- geshev-fired-analysis-judicial-independence/32466120.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Wider Europe Briefing: How Georgia Could Still Squeak Into The EU By Rikard Jozwiak June 19, 2023 Brief #1: Why Georgia Could Still Get EU Candidate Status This Year What You Need To Know: This week, the European Commission will give an "oral update" on how Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova are faring on their respective EU membership paths. This update will first be given to ambassadors of the 27 EU member states in Brussels on June 21, and then in Stockholm when the European affairs ministers from all the bloc's capitals meet for an informal EU general affairs council. Don't expect this update to be very detailed; it is essentially a midterm review of the proper EU enlargement package that the European Commission will present in the second half of October. That package will give a thorough assessment and, crucially, recommendations on how to proceed with the trio -- recommendations that the member states later in December, via unanimity, will either endorse or reject. The smart money, according to several officials I have spoken to on background who are familiar with the matter, is that there will be a green light by the end of the year for Moldova and Ukraine to start EU accession negotiations. The reasoning is that they are progressing well on the various conditions that were given to them in 2022 when they became official EU candidate countries. Deep Background: The picture is less clear, though, when it comes to Georgia. Unlike Chisinau and Kyiv, Tbilisi did not get candidate status last year but currently sits one rung below the pair as a potential candidate country. The Georgian government says they are hoping for a candidate status recommendation from the European Commission and EU member states this year and that they are well on their way to fulfill all 12 recommendations given to them last year by Brussels, apart from one: the need to address the issue of political polarization in the country, which the government claims has not been possible due to a noncooperative opposition. EU officials I spoke with are less enthusiastic about Georgia's progress, though, with some even questioning whether Tbilisi is really interested in closer EU ties at the moment. They point to recent events such as the attempt to enact a foreign agent law and the resumption of flights to Russia as recent examples. Yet despite all that, there is still very much a chance that the European Commission could recommend candidate status for Georgia in October and, by the end of the year, EU member states would be agreeable. After speaking with various EU officials, there are roughly four reasons that this may happen, even though Tbilisi is considered a long way from achieving all, or even most, of the dozen recommendations set out in the summer of 2022. Drilling Down: The first reason is the sense that the EU, as harsh as it might sound, has "devalued" what it means to be a candidate country by awarding this status to Bosnia-Herzegovina at the end of 2022. The status was given despite Sarajevo hardly meeting any of the 14 conditions or "key priorities," as they were called, that Brussels set out in 2019. In fact, the assessment that the European Commission gave Bosnia in the most recent enlargement report was scathing. An EU official described it to me as "the worst report on a country ever given by Brussels." Yet a few months later all was forgotten as Bosnia became a candidate country. Why? Partly because Moldova and Ukraine got candidate status earlier that year and some EU member states, notably Slovenia and Austria, were pushing for Sarajevo to be included as well as it looked to them like the Western Balkans, in the EU queue for so long, was being bypassed. Essentially all European countries that now want to join the EU are candidate countries -- the exception being Kosovo, which isn't recognized as an independent state by five EU member states and Georgia. So, the argument goes, it really wouldn't "cost" anything to let Bosnia in; it's seen by many EU officials and diplomats as low-hanging fruit. The second reason has to do with political momentum. Suddenly, EU enlargement is alive again after being moribund for a decade. As I describe in my second brief this week, EU member state officials are now actively talking about how an enlarged bloc would actually function. This momentum risks dying out as soon as next year as the EU, in 2024, will be entirely absorbed by the European Parliament elections in June and the subsequent jockeying among EU member states, political factions, and politicians to secure top positions such as the EU foreign policy chief, European Council and Commission presidents, and other important commission portfolios. There are no guarantees the potential changing of the guard in Brussels institutions will be friendly to enlargement. That has brought a sense of urgency to the proceedings and there is now a feeling that the time to make decisions on Georgia (as well as Moldova and Ukraine) is now, in order to "clear the decks" before a likely period of stagnation -- and some navel-gazing -- starts. A third argument that has been made to recommend giving Georgia candidate status is that it makes sense simply because Kyiv and Chisinau will get the green light this year to start accession talks. If that pair moves ahead and Georgia doesn't, there will be too much of a separation among the trio. Moldova and Ukraine are already one step ahead of Georgia, and there is a feeling in Brussels that their grouping should be maintained. So how to solve all of this? This leads us to the fourth reason Georgia still might get candidate status -- and it would be a classic "Brussels fudge" that I have come to understand is still on the table. It would mean Tbilisi gets candidate status but, at the same time, Brussels would add even more conditions for the country to comply with in order to reach the next stage -- opening accession talks. Brussels has a knack of being creative when inventing new conditions, and it would not be too much of a surprise if they added some more, possibly on the need to quickly align with EU foreign policy measures, for example. Brief #2: How An Enlarged EU Could Function What You Need To Know: The debate about how an enlarged EU should work is slowly gathering pace in various European capitals. Already last month, state secretaries for European affairs broached the topic and will do so again when they meet in Stockholm on June 21-22. EU leaders might also touch upon it when they gather in Brussels the following week. A French-German working group on EU institutional reform, consisting of a dozen nongovernmental experts, was set up at the beginning of the year and is set to deliver its preliminary report in September. That might all sound very bureaucratic, but it is significant that the EU's two biggest member states are now openly and seriously considering enlarging the club, especially France, which for a long time has been quite skeptical about adding new members from the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe. As one eastern EU official recently told me on background: "It is clear that we are no longer talking about 'if' when it comes to enlargement but rather 'how' and 'when.'" Of course, no one can offer any firm timelines: Ultimately that depends on how quickly countries that want to join can reform, as well as how great the desire is in all 27 current members to welcome them to the bloc. But already by December, there is hope among EU officials I have spoken to that a clear path for EU reform should be ready and that this will be a key issue on which the European Parliament elections in June 2024 will be fought. Deep Background: Ahead of the meeting in Stockholm this week, the Swedish European Union Affairs Minister Jessika Roswall sent a letter to her counterparts in other EU member states titled Getting Ready For The Future -- A Discussion On Policy Orientation In View Of A Future Enlargement. Seen by RFE/RL, the letter offers few concrete details about what sort of changes the bloc will need going forward, but there are some outlines with Roswall noting that "importantly, to have a fruitful discussion of substance, the starting point should not be the issue of treaty reforms. Since initiating such a process at this point would be both divisive and cumbersome, it should be embarked upon only with a broadly shared view of what we need to change." Treaty reform has long been a difficult issue in the EU considering that it tends to lead to time-consuming referendums in various member states, so the question will be how to avoid it if the EU is to expand to include large countries like Ukraine or all six Western Balkan states. The Swedish minister noted that a working dinner on EU reforms will take place on June 21 together with former Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb and Italian political scientist Nathalie Tocci joining the ministers, followed by more discussions the next day on three broad themes that she describes as "the union's general policy objectives, budgetary and financial issues, and the institutional setup." Drilling Down: The most obvious challenge is likely to be the budget. It is not only that there would need to be more net contributors -- currently there are only five western EU states that pay more than they take out from the EU budget. It is likely that the budget will have to be bigger. The current seven-year EU budget stands at 1.8 trillion euros (around $2 trillion), and it took four days and nights for EU leaders to agree on it. Should the budget be agreed by unanimity and every seven years, or should there be a longer budget perspective agreed in a smoother way? The question of moving away from decisions taken via unanimity to qualified majority voting, meaning 55 percent of member states representing at least 65 percent of the EU population voting in favor, is always a hot potato. One idea is to start using it when agreeing on human rights statements in foreign policy or approving EU civil missions. The trick to accomplishing this without the need to change EU treaties does already exist within current EU laws. So-called passerelle clauses would allow the move from unanimity to consensus in some policy areas. But that move would, of course, require unanimity. Another idea is to use "constructive abstention," which means that instead of vetoing, you just don't vote. This, for example, has allowed military neutral countries such as Austria to wave through EU money for arms to Ukraine. A lot of these clauses could also pertain to the enlargement process. Currently there are over 80 possibilities to veto progress of a candidate country. That could perhaps be reduced to just a few, such as a vote to start accession talks, and then a final vote to approve membership once the talks are concluded. There is also talk of "staged accession" -- something that might appeal to the six Western Balkans hopefuls that, for nearly two decades, have been sitting in the EU waiting room. This concept could offer "carrots" such as a gradual participation in various policy fields, increased access to EU financing, and also partial participation in EU institutions. There are various ways of doing it, but such measures might mean certain countries wouldn't have veto powers, or the right to have their own European commissioner, or be able to nominate judges to the European Court of Justice. Looking Ahead After his trip to the United States last week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will make his way to another key alliance member, Germany, on June 19. While there, he will meet with the chancellor as well as the foreign and defense ministers. The upcoming July summit in Vilnius and what Ukraine could be offered both in terms of potential future membership and more immediate military aid will be high on the agenda. The leaders will also witness Air Defender 23, NATO's largest-ever air drill, involving 25 countries. With Serbia and Kosovo once again on the brink, the EU is scrambling to come up with a diplomatic response. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is hoping to host both Serbian President Alexander Vucic and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti in Brussels this week for what he is calling a "crisis management meeting." No date has been set, but it is clear it won't be a regular Brussels dialogue meeting between Belgrade and Pristina in which the EU, for over a decade, has attempted to normalize relations between the pair. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/wider-europe-briefing-georgia- eu/32465526.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Moldova's Consitutional Court Bans Pro-Russian Shor Party By RFE/RL's Moldovan Service June 19, 2023 Moldova's Constitutional Court has declared the pro-Russian Shor party "unconstitutional" and has dissolved it amid moves by the impoverished former Soviet republic to escape Moscow's orbit. "The Ministry of Justice will appoint a commission for the liquidation of the Shor Party, which will undertake all the necessary measures for the liquidation and deletion of this party from the state register of legal entities," the president of the Constitutional Court, Nicolae Rosca, said in handing down its ruling on June 19. He added that representatives of the party in parliament will continue to exercise their mandates, but as independent deputies without the right to affiliate with other parliamentary factions. Party leader Ilan Shor in an interview with Russian television station Rossia-24 called the ruling a "slap in the face" for Moldovans who had voted for his party. "We will do the necessary legal procedures. We will find a formula with which we are counting on the Shor Party winning a majority in parliament at the next election," Shor said. Further announcements on the party's next move will be made within 48 hours of consultations with lawyers, he said. Party representative Marina Tauber called the ruling "shameful and unprecedented." Shor, a fugitive Moldovan oligarch implicated in a $1 billion bank fraud and other illicit schemes, has organized months of anti-government protests with the aim of toppling President Maia Sandu and a newly appointed Western-leaning government earlier this year. Tensions between Chisinau and Moscow have ramped up since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, with fears that Russia could expand the war to Moldova, where up to 1,500 Russian troops are based in the breakaway pro-Moscow Transdniester region. The Moldovan government has been critical of Russian aggression in Ukraine, with Sandu saying in May 2022 that Crimea, the Donbas, and Kyiv are all part of Ukraine. Moldova was granted EU candidate status in June 2022 and while the country currently is not aiming to join the NATO military alliance, as neutrality is enshrined in its constitution, Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said in November 2022 that that didn't have to translate into self-isolation, demilitarization, or indifference toward world affairs. In February, Sandu announced that the Kremlin was planning a coup in her country, claiming that Ukrainian intelligence had flagged details of an alleged plot, accusations that the Kremlin denied. Earlier this month, the United States imposed sanctions on seven members of a group linked to Shor for their role in Moscow's campaign to destabilize Moldova and instigate an insurrection. An appeals court in Chisinau on April 14 rejected an appeal by Shor in his case and instead doubled his original sentence to 15 years. Shor, who fled the country while under house arrest pending the appeal, currently lives in Israel. With reporting by Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova-shor- party-banned/32465941.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO Chief Urges De-Escalation As Serbia, Kosovo Leaders Downplay Crisis Talks By RFE/RL's Balkan Service June 19, 2023 NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has urged a de-escalation between Balkan neighbors Serbia and its former province Kosovo as tensions simmer over ethnically divisive mayoral appointments and three Kosovar police officers detained last week by Serbian authorities. Neither side in the recent eruption into violence in Serb-majority north Kosovo has appeared eager to meet face-to-face at an emergency meeting called for this week by Brussels, with neither the Serbian nor Kosovar leadership bowing to international pressure and EU-mediated talks toward normalization seemingly stalled. "Our forces, the KFOR, will continue to take all necessary measures to ensure a safe and secure environment," Stoltenberg told journalists in Berlin after a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on June 18 that "technically I will appear at the meeting" but added that he won't meet directly with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti. Kurti has not yet confirmed his participation. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced plans for the urgent meeting this week on June 15, one day after the three Kosovar police officers went missing during a patrol aimed at preventing smuggling. Kosovar Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla accused Serbia of "entering the territory of Kosovo and kidnapping" the three policemen. Belgrade said the officers were arrested "deep inside" Serbian territory. KFOR, the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, said in an initial statement that it was unclear where the police officers were at the time of their arrest. On June 17, the United States urged Vucic to order the immediate and unconditional release of the Kosovar police officers under what Washington described as bogus charges. It said "their arrest and ongoing detention on spurious charges has exacerbated an already tense situation," the U.S. State Department added. Vucic told reporters in Belgrade on June 18 that "I consider it pointless to talk to a person who is not ready to talk." Belgrade does not recognize the independence of its former province, and tensions have crept back up since Borrell and another EU envoy claimed a breakthrough via an oral agreement during mediated talks in March. Late last month, violent clashes between KFOR peacekeepers and protesting Serbs in northern Kosovo injured dozens after Pristina ignored Western pleas to avoid escalation and instead tried to forcibly seat ethnic Albanian mayors after boycotted elections in the mostly Serb north. U.S. and EU officials have encouraged a quick return to implement a three-point plan outlined by the EU aimed at normalizing relations that have kept Kosovo out of international institutions and stoked ethnic resentments decades after bloody conflicts marked by ethnic cleansing. On June 16, the U.S. envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said the likely scenario was that the three police officers were abducted from inside Kosovo or "inadvertently crossed the boundary." The prosecutor's office in the southwestern Serbian city of Kraljevo on June 16 ordered an investigation of the three Kosovo men and said they were being investigated on charges of unauthorized production, possession, carrying, and trafficking of weapons and explosive substances. On June 17, Kosovo police told RFE/RL that two shock bombs exploded late on June 16 in North Mitrovica, causing no damages or injuries but raising tensions in the already nervous region near the Serbian border. With additional reporting by Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/serbia-kosovo-eu- crisis-talks-police-detentions/32465407.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Macron's 'NATO Plot': France Pushes UK to 'Stay Out of Western European Affairs' Sputnik News 20230619 Oleg Burunov Macron looks to "appease" France's national interests when taking steps that indicate an apparent challenge to the US, including his alleged "no" to Ben Wallace as the new NATO chief, Paolo Raffone, a strategic analyst and director of the CIPI Foundation in Brussels, told Sputnik. French President Emmanuel Macron is plotting to block British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace from becoming NATO's next chief "because the UK left the EU," media reports have claimed. According to a UK newspaper, unnamed French government sources informed NATO officials of their will to see a new NATO figurehead from the EU in a move to make the alliance militarily independent. "France remarks that it is time that the UK stay out of Western European affairs," Raffone said. He also referred to "UK overexposure in Eastern Europe" as well as in Nordic states, which is "hitching, and somehow conflicting with the French and Western European national interests." "The German political weakness cannot express any credible policy. Mr. Macron is speaking for the Germans too," Raffone said. As another possible reason for Macron's unwillingness to see Wallace as the new NATO boss, the analyst singled out the US strategy to build a "global NATO" based around Poland and Japan. Due to this strategy, Raffone said, "it is evident that a [potential] UK NATO leadership would impose the total marginalization of Western European NATO allies." "Moreover, it would imply that the Mediterranean Sea would be a pass-through for the US/UK to connect the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific Sea regions, impeding European policy towards the Mediterranean Sea and the North African region. France cannot accept it. The others, including Italy, think the same but cannot say it," the analyst pointed out. When asked why Macron seeks to defy the US by supporting closer relations with China and BRICS, Raffone argued that "Despite a small political minority supporting him, the French president holds the presidency swinging between European, Atlantic and glory dreaming policies." The expert claimed that in a bid to remain in power, Macron "must appease the typical French nationalist interests, i.e. foreign and security policies in line with the French national interests that are deeply common in the armed forces and the security apparatus." According to the analyst, Macron is aware of "the German huge internal difficulties and of the waning EU leadership relevance," which is why he is "trying to signal his leadership in the Western continental Europe, spelling out the others' undeclared dissatisfaction with US and EU policies towards China and BRICS." At the same time, the analyst went on, France "would need the support of Italy and Spain" for Macron's leadership "to gain pace." "Spain will soon go through a critical election and Italy is, until now, locked in the Atlantic narrative and policies. Macron's hope is that by the EU [parliamentary] elections in 2024, a new political majority is shaped, possibly marginalizing the socialists and social democrats and paving the way for a core group of France, Italy and Spain giving direction to the EU to reassert and defend national interests. If this hope becomes true, together with a change in US leadership, Macron's hope may become real," Raffone argued. Matthew Gordon-Banks, a former British conservative MP and senior research fellow at the UK Defence Academy, has, meanwhile told Sputnik that he doesn't think Macron is directly "blocking" the candidature of Wallace for the post of NATO secretary general. "I believe he is raising the idea of the successor to Stoltenberg coming from an EU country. It remains to be seen who is eventually agreed upon," Gordon-Banks added. Dwelling on Macron's reported defiance regarding the US, the expert noted that the French president "considers his country's interests at an early stage on any issue, which is reasonable given he is the president of France." The ex-British MP recalled that Macron does not need to face another election as he is in his final term as president, which is why Gordon-Banks said Macron "wishes to do what he sees as the right thing and that means not always appearing to blindly follow the United States." Separately, Gordon-Banks urged Wallace not to criticize the French president as the UK defense secretary did last year, when Macron stated that "he would not make first use of nuclear weapons against Russia, a self-evident and sensible approach mirroring that of the policy adopted by [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin against the West." Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Spain to Host Europe's First Joint Military Drills in Fall Sputnik News 20230619 MADRID (Sputnik) - Spain will host Europe's first joint military exercises this fall to coincide with the country's presidency of the Council of the European Union, which begins July 1, Spanish newspaper reported on Monday. Some 1,600 troops from 18 countries will train in the waters of the Gulf of Cadiz and at the Sierra del Retino military training base in the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia in an unprecedented military exercise involving naval, land and air units, the report said. In March 2022, the leaders of the 27 EU member states approved the bloc's first common defense and security strategy for the next five to 10 years, dubbed the Strategic Compass. The document emphasizes that the EU must be able to respond to emerging crises both independently and together with partners. In this regard, the Strategic Compass framework provides for the formation of a European rapid reaction force, consisting of 5,000 corps. According to the new defense strategy, EU countries must also conduct regular joint exercises at sea and on land, increase military mobility, and strengthen civilian and military missions under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). For the fifth time, Madrid assumes the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU from July 1 until December 31. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address No Signs of Preparations for Direct Attack on Transnistria - Republic's Head Sputnik News 20230619 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - There are no signs of preparations for a direct attack on Transnistria, but the risk of new provocations is not excluded, the breakaway republic's head, Vadim Krasnoselsky, told Sputnik. "There are no signs of preparations for a direct attack on Transnistria right now. But that doesn't mean we're not in danger. Unfortunately, the risk of new provocations is not ruled out, so in May I signed a decree extending the yellow level of terrorist threat for two months, until July 18," Krasnoselsky said. He added that, at the moment, there is a consensus that the unfreezing of the conflict is a catastrophic scenario that needs to be avoided. "The competent authorities are vigilantly monitoring the situation on the borders with Ukraine and Moldova, as well as within Transnistria, in order to exclude any attempts of sabotage and terrorist acts," said Krasnoselsky, adding "We remain open to the joint investigation [of the terrorist attacks] with international representatives. The main idea that we are transmitting to the world community is the need to comprehensively analyze the situation, draw conclusions and make common efforts to prevent repeated terrorist attacks against peaceful Transnistria." Transnistria, 60% of whose population are Russians and Ukrainians, sought to secede from Moldova even before the collapse of the Soviet Union, fearing that Moldova would join Romania on a wave of nationalism. In 1992, after an unsuccessful attempt by the Moldovan authorities to resolve the problem by force, Transnistria became a territory virtually outside the control of Kishinev. After the start of Russia's special military operation in neighboring Ukraine in February 2022, tensions in Transnistria escalated. On March 9 this year, the ministry of state security of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) said that a terrorist attack against the PMR's officials had been prevented in the city of Tiraspol and that the attack had been prepared under the instructions of the Security Service of Ukraine. Anatoly Guretsky, Prosecutor of the PMR, said that the investigation established the preparation of another terrorist attack against an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) delegation on February 14. The Security Service of Ukraine has refuted the allegations and called them provocation. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Final Report by UN Group of Experts US Department of State Press Statement Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson June 19, 2023 The United States welcomes the final report by the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We condemn the violence that has left so many dead, injured, displaced, and vulnerable to violence. Those responsible for these acts must be held accountable. We call on all armed groups, including M23, CODECO, FDLR, MAPI, and others to cease hostilities and lay down their weapons. We call on foreign non-state armed groups to return to their countries of origin and domestic armed groups to join the East African Community-led Nairobi Process consultations between the DRC government and armed groups. We reiterate our call for Rwanda to immediately remove Rwanda Defense Force (RDF) troops from Congolese territory. We also call on Rwanda to immediately cease support for the UN- and U.S.-sanctioned M23 armed group, which the Group of Experts has documented committing multiple violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses, including rapes and summary executions of civilians. We also denounce the collaboration, endorsed by national military authorities, of Congolese armed forces (FARDC) elements with multiple armed groups, including the UN- and U.S.-sanctioned FDLR, and we reiterate our call for the government of the DRC to immediately stop all collaboration between these elements. The United States designated the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), also known as ISIS-DRC, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2021 and urges our partners to do the same. We condemn the attacks by ISIS-DRC. The United States welcomes the report's recommendations and continues to support African-led diplomatic efforts, including the Nairobi and Luanda processes, to promote lasting peace. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN HRC53: Statement on High Commissioner's report on Sudan. Statement on the report of the High Commissioner on human rights situation in Sudan, as delivered by Simon Manley, UK Ambassador to the WTO and UN in Geneva. 19 June 2023 Thank you Mr President, This statement is on behalf of the Core Group on Sudan - Germany, Norway, the United States and the UK. We condemn the Sudanese authorities' move to declare SRSG Volker Perthes persona non grata. We continue to support him, and urge Sudan to cooperate fully with his mandate. The human rights and humanitarian situation in Sudan as a result of this conflict has deteriorated even further since the recent Special Session. Every day there are new allegations of human rights violations and abuses, and violations of international humanitarian law, by both parties to the conflict, that have driven mass displacement within and out of Sudan. We are particularly horrified at reports of increasing ethnic-related violence, and sexual and gender-based violence, in parts of Darfur. Mr President, We stand in solidarity with the Sudanese people, and condemn this conflict and the violations and abuses it has led to. We call again for an immediate, complete and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire. As Ministers meet today to pledge their support for the humanitarian response in Sudan and neighbouring countries, we urgently call for full, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access, protection of civilians and full respect for humanitarian principles. Sudan must return to peace, stability, and transition to civilian government through an inclusive political process. Anything less is a betrayal of the Sudanese people. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO welcomes innovators to help tackle security challenges Applications have today opened for world-class innovators from the UK and across NATO with novel ideas to help solve critical defence and security problems. 19 June 2023 Applications open for world-class innovators to help solve security challenges Work to take place with leading innovators and entrepreneurs - from early-stage start-ups to more mature companies. NATO has selected accelerators for the 2023 pilot challenge programme. NATO's Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) aims to support the best and brightest innovators to develop innovative technologies which could have defence and security benefits. Staffed by experts in innovation, working with universities, industry and governments across NATO's 31 member countries, DIANA will work to deter and defend against future threats. The first pilot challenge call, which will run until late August, focuses on three areas: Energy resilience - providing resilient power in disaster or conflict Sensing and surveillance - gathering information from underwater Secure information sharing - providing trusted data anywhere In the face of continually evolving threats across the globe and rapid technological development, NATO has recognised that the Alliance must work hard to understand and keep pace with this changing environment. DIANA will identify, develop and support the adoption of the dual-use emerging and disruptive technologies (EDTs), such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing. In line with the Prime Minister's priority to grow the economy, the DIANA programme aims to support the foundation, growth and success of start-ups working to drive innovation and forward-thinking in Defence. Minister for Defence Procurement, James Cartlidge, said: We cannot underestimate the importance of prioritising technological innovation to tackle global security challenges. The launch of the DIANA work is a key step for NATO and will help harness the expertise that can be found across the Alliance. The UK is proud to be working closely with our Estonian counterparts and other NATO Allies. The European Regional Office is based at Imperial College London and will work in lock-step with our Estonian partners, based in Tallinn, who will soon open a regional hub. In May, President of Estonia, Alar Karis, joined Minister for Defence Procurement, James Cartlidge, on a visit to the White City site to see how it had become home to some of the world's most innovative organisations. A regional office for North America will open in Halifax, Canada. Having achieved initial operating capability today, and expected to be fully operational by 2025, DIANA has access to NATO resources including grant funding, accelerator programming, and pathways for innovators to adapt their solutions for defence and security needs. DIANA will work very closely with the NATO Innovation Fund, a separate body, which will invest in start-ups developing dual-use technologies. The NATO Innovation Fund is the world's first multi-sovereign venture capital fund, backed by 23 NATO Allies and 1 billion. NATO has selected five accelerators, in the US, Estonia, Italy, and Denmark, to take part in the pilot challenge, with the UK supporting our partners in Estonia. These accelerators will help equip businesses with the skills and knowledge to navigate the world of deep tech and dual-use innovation. Background DIANA's regional offices will be in London and Halifax, along with a regional hub in Tallinn. DIANA will oversee a transatlantic network of nearly 100 accelerator sites and test centres that will continue to evolve and grow in the coming years. For the 2023 challenge call, DIANA will initially work with five accelerator sites located in Tallinn, Estonia; Turin, Italy; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Boston and Seattle in the United States. More information on DIANA can be found here. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address As humanitarian needs skyrocket in Sudan and the region, UN-backed event raises nearly US$1.5 billion UNOCHA - United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 19 Jun 2023 (Geneva, 19 June 2023) -- As the conflict in Sudan fuels a humanitarian catastrophe in the country and a refugee crisis beyond its borders, donors at a United Nations-backed event today announced nearly US$1.5 billion to fund life-saving relief efforts in Sudan and the region and called on parties in Sudan to immediately end the fighting. Today's ministerial-level pledging event in Geneva was organized by the United Nations and the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Republic of Germany, the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the African Union and the European Union. Inside Sudan, roughly half of the population - 24.7 million people, more than half of them children - need humanitarian aid and protection. Nearly 1.7 million people have been uprooted within Sudan, while about half a million refugees, asylum-seekers and refugee returnees have sought safety in neighbouring countries amid the violence, which includes worrying reports of ethnic killings in West Darfur. Aid operations are ramping up across Sudan, but they remain hampered by looting, violence and bureaucratic impediments. In the face of the insecurity, humanitarians are staying and delivering. The organizers of today's event stressed the need for all parties in Sudan to adhere to the "Declaration of Commitment to protect civilians and facilitate and respect humanitarian action in Sudan," signed in Jeddah on 11 May, including to prioritize discussions to achieve a durable ceasefire and permanent cessation of hostilities, ensure safe and unimpeded humanitarian access, and abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law (IHL). The organizers also reaffirmed their commitment to scale up principled and needs-based humanitarian assistance to address the most critical needs of people in Sudan and those forced to flee to neighbouring countries. To ensure the swift and effective delivery of aid, participants to the conference emphasized the importance of removing bureaucratic impediments in Sudan - including visa and movement restrictions - without delay. The parties in Sudan should also ensure the movement of humanitarian supplies and personnel from other parts of Sudan and from neighbouring countries to all parts of Sudan - including Darfur, where nearly 9 million people need assistance - and allow people to move freely to seek safety. The funds announced today will support the provision of principled and needs-based humanitarian assistance to the people of Sudan and the countries hosting those fleeing the fighting. More than 80 Governments and other donors, international humanitarian organizations and aid officials took part in today's event, which also underscored the need for long-term support to build the resilience of Sudanese communities and hosting communities in neighbouring countries. The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, said: "Each day the crisis in Sudan continues, the humanitarian situation grows ever more desperate. Despite the raging violence, humanitarian workers - including our heroic local partners operating on the front lines - are pressing ahead with their efforts to deliver aid to people in need. The funding announced today - including an additional $22 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund, bringing total funding through CERF and the Sudan Humanitarian Fund to $102 million - will be a lifeline for millions of people living in the world's most dangerous and difficult conditions." The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said: "Since mid-April, we have seen senseless, brutal fighting and attacks in Sudan, forcing millions to flee for their lives to wherever they can find safety. The commitment shown today by donors to those affected comes just in time, as our resources for the situation are dwindling. The pledges will save lives and help alleviate some hardship. Ultimately, of course, only a durable peace will allow the Sudanese to restart their lives." H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Qatar, said: "The State of Qatar fully supports the integrity, sovereignty and stability of Sudan, evident in its good offices that ended the Darfur crisis by signing the Doha Agreement in July 2011 after years of devastating war. Since the beginning of the ongoing fighting in Sudan, the State of Qatar has provided 301 tons of food and medical assistance to the brotherly Sudanese people and has also evacuated 1,784 Qatari residency holders. We reiterate that our support for Sudan continues, and we look forward to ending the current crisis through dialogue and peaceful means. We also hope that this Conference will establish practical solidarity with the Sudanese people in facing the challenges ahead." H.H. Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said: "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to standing with the Sudanese people, and continuing its quest to find a political solution to the crisis. In addition, the Government and people of the Kingdom have spared no effort in supporting the Sudanese people since the beginning of the crisis, announcing the provision of humanitarian assistance worth $100 million through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, the operation of an air bridge of 13 aircraft, as well as a sea bridge carrying food, health, shelter and other assistance on board, besides launching a national donation campaign. The Kingdom also initiated the implementation of the first maritime evacuations of citizens and nationals of other countries in Sudan, which contributed to the evacuation of 8,455 people from 110 countries." H.E. Mr. Sameh Shoukry, Foreign Minister of Egypt, said: "The stability and security of Sudan is essential and is integral to Egypt's national stability and security and that of the whole region. We express our solidarity with the People of Sudan and will spare no effort to support and empower them to achieve a dignified life that they deserve in a safe and stable country. A sustainable cease fire has to be achieved to end the bloodshed and to preserve the State of Sudan and its institutions. Since the beginning of hostilities, Egypt has hosted 250,000 Sudanese which represents 60 per cent of all those fleeing the conflict in Sudan. This number will continue to rise as long as hostilities persist, increasing the pressure on host communities. We urge the international community to provide urgent humanitarian assistance and the necessary financial support to host communities in neighbouring countries to promote their resilience and ensure peaceful coexistence and social cohesion." H.E. Ms. Katja Keul, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, said: "The hostilities must end immediately. Humanitarian access must be ensured. Humanitarian workers must be able to provide lifesaving assistance without fearing for their own lives. Assistance to vulnerable communities within Sudan and to neighbouring countries must be scaled up. In this spirit, Germany pledges 200 million euros of humanitarian assistance to Sudan and the region till 2024, 100 million of which are new commitments. We need to join forces to save lives. We encourage others to contribute what they can in response to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and the region. Germany will continue to stand by the people of Sudan in their aspirations for freedom, peace and justice, and for a democratic Sudan." H.E. Prof. Julio Rakotonirina, Director of Health and Humanitarian Affairs at the African Union Commission, said: "The humanitarian impact of the ongoing conflict in Sudan, with growing numbers of people displaced by the fighting, is very worrying. Sudan's neighbours have shown tremendous generosity in providing refuge to those who have fled, particularly in the face of limited resources and with some countries already hosting large refugee populations. We welcome all partners' much-needed contributions during today's conference and in the days to come." H.E. Mr. Janez Lenarcic, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, stressed: "The humanitarian consequences of the conflict in Sudan are enormous, both on the country itself and on its neighbours. The EU has been working resolutely to alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable, and we welcome this High-Level Pledging Event. Yet, humanitarian assistance can only be effective if safe, unimpeded and uninterrupted access to the entire territory and population is guaranteed and effective. I reiterate my call to all parties to the conflict to allow immediate access for humanitarian operations and to respect IHL." It is essential that donors continue to contribute to the revised Humanitarian Response Plan* and the Refugee Response Plan,** which together require more than $3 billion this year to provide life-saving multisectoral assistance and protection services to more than 18 million people inside Sudan, and to more than 1 million refugees, returnees, third-country nationals and host communities in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan. Given the ongoing fighting, growing humanitarian needs and the rising cost of operations, funds announced at today's conference should be made available without delay. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary-General's remarks to the High-Level Pledging Event on Sudan and the Region United Nations Secretary-General 19 June 2023 Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you for coming together today in support of the people of Sudan. The scale and speed of Sudan's descent into death and destruction is unprecedented. Without strong international support, Sudan could quickly become a locus of lawlessness, radiating insecurity across the region. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and many thousands more injured. These numbers grow by the day. The situation in Darfur and Khartoum is catastrophic. Fighting is raging with people attacked in their homes and on the street. Entire neighborhoods have no running water and limited electricity supplies, and more than two-thirds of hospitals near areas of conflict cannot function. I am particularly concerned by reports of gender-based and sexual violence, and by the ethnic dimension of the violence in Geneina. Targeted attacks against civilians based on their ethnic identities could amount to crimes against humanity. In little more than two months, two million people have been forced from their homes, seeking refuge in safer parts of Sudan or across borders. Close to half a million people have already crossed borders into neighbouring countries. I thank these countries for their hospitality and urge them to do everything possible to keep their borders open to people fleeing the fierce fighting in Sudan. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Before this conflict erupted, Sudan was already grappling with a humanitarian crisis. This has now escalated into a catastrophe affecting more than half the country's people. Deadly violence against aid workers and the looting of humanitarian property and supplies have made aid operations even more difficult and dangerous. Despite the challenges, United Nations agencies and our partners reached 1.8 million people with lifesaving aid in April and May. Convoys of trucks have delivered food, water, healthcare and education supplies across frontlines in eight states, including Khartoum. We are making significant efforts to scale up our operations. I urge the Parties to the conflict to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, to protect civilians and enable humanitarian action. Violence against aid workers, and attacks on civilian infrastructure and humanitarian supplies must stop. I appeal to the Parties to the conflict and the governments of neighboring countries to do everything possible to enable humanitarian aid workers to reach all people in need, both within Sudan and across borders. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, The people of Sudan and those of neighboring countries are shouldering the burden of this terrible crisis. We must do everything we can to support them. This is not only our duty as members of the international community - it is crucial to preventing the situation from deteriorating even further. Our humanitarian agencies and their partners on the ground are ready to step up their efforts. But funding for the Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan and the Regional Refugee Response Plan do not meet the scale of this emergency. Of the $3 billion needed, less than 17 per cent has been funded so far. I appeal to you all today to provide funding to deliver lifesaving humanitarian aid and support to people living in the most difficult and dangerous conditions. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, The only way to end this crisis is through a return to peace and the restoration of civilian rule through the transition to democracy. The Sudanese people have made their wishes very clear. I am a true advocate for African initiatives. The United Nations is fully committed to support the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in their joint efforts to restore hope for a peaceful solution to this crisis. As High Commissioner for Refugees, I witnessed the enormous generosity of the Sudanese people towards hundreds of thousands of Eritreans, South Sudanese and others seeking refuge in Sudan. And I was always deeply impressed by the resilience of the Sudanese refugees I met in Chad. The United Nations stands with the courageous Sudanese people and their wishes and hopes for a better future. Thank you. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Aid Group: World Failing Afghanistan During Major Locust Outbreak By Ayaz Gul June 19, 2023 A global aid agency warned Monday that a large-scale plague of locusts is ravaging northern Afghanistan and could destroy 1.2 million metric tons of wheat, almost one-quarter of the country's annual harvest. "The escalating situation threatens to plunge millions of people into worsening levels of hunger," the nongovernmental aid group Save the Children said in a statement. The locust outbreak comes as funding shortfalls have cut off food aid for 8 million people in Afghanistan in the past two months, the group said. It urged the international community to increase humanitarian aid and resume development assistance to help prevent the impoverished country from spiraling into "famine-like conditions." Save the Children said that the Moroccan locust, one of the world's most damaging plant pests, is sweeping across eight of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, the country's wheat basket. The agency said the outbreak has come at the worst possible time for Afghanistan, where more than 15 million people one-third of the population are projected to face crisis levels of hunger over the next five months, including 3.2 million children. Aid organizations face a $2.2 billion shortfall in humanitarian funding to support Afghanistan's most vulnerable children and families, especially women and girls. Arshad Malik, the Save the Children country director, said that millions of children would suffer unless humanitarian aid is immediately increased. "However, humanitarian aid alone is not a quick fix. The underlying drivers of hunger, including resuming development aid and support to the country's ailing economy, will also need to be addressed." Since the Taliban regained control of the conflict-torn South Asian nation in August 2021, the international community has suspended development assistance and imposed financial sanctions. The United Nations says the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, stemming from years of war and prolonged drought, has worsened since the Taliban took control of the country. U.N. officials say that the Taliban's discriminatory policies against Afghan women have caused the humanitarian and economic situation in the country to deteriorate. The hardline group has barred Afghan women from working for the United Nations and other aid agencies. The Taliban have suspended girls' education beyond the sixth grade and banned many women government employees from workplaces. The restrictions on Afghan women, and other human rights concerns, have deterred foreign governments from recognizing the Taliban as legitimate rulers of the country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN Chief Calls for Talks Amid 'Catastrophic' Situation in Parts of Sudan By Margaret Besheer June 19, 2023 The international community pledged $1.5 billion Monday toward tackling the massive humanitarian crisis in Sudan, as fighting between forces led by rival generals has only been punctuated by brief truces and no political solution appears close at hand. "The scale and speed of Sudan's descent into death and destruction is unprecedented," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the conference. "Without strong international support, Sudan could quickly become a locus of lawlessness, radiating insecurity across the region." Since fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted on April 15, thousands of civilians have been killed and injured and 2.1 million people have fled the fighting. Nearly half a million have crossed into neighboring countries. "The situation in Darfur and Khartoum is catastrophic," Guterres added. "Fighting is raging with people attacked in their homes and on the street." He said the only way to end the crisis is through a return to peace and the restoration of civilian rule through the transition to democracy. But until a meaningful dialogue is opened and a sustainable cease-fire is achieved, humanitarians are trying to assist the nearly 25 million people in need in Sudan and in neighboring countries. They are hampered by insecurity on the ground, bureaucracy holding up visas and travel permits, and perhaps most importantly, a lack of cash. U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said aid workers are having "extraordinary difficulties" reaching the 8.6 million people in Darfur who need humanitarian aid and protection. "To expand access to people in all areas and to increase the flow of aid, we are actively exploring all modalities - including cross-border operations," he told donors. He also warned that the coming planting season is in jeopardy if seeds from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization do not reach farmers. He said this could further complicate the food security situation. Malnutrition is already on the rise in Darfur. Separately, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned that only about 20% of the medical facilities in the capital, Khartoum, are still functioning, and Sudan's other essential services are under tremendous strain. Despite these obstacles, the U.N. and its partners have reached 1.8 million people with aid since the fighting started. The pledging conference in Geneva was co-hosted by the United Nations with Egypt, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the African Union and the European Union; more than 80 governments and organizations participated. Until Monday, of the $3 billion needed, less than 17% had been received. Griffiths said the $1.5 billion pledged would be "a lifeline for millions of people living in the world's most dangerous and difficult conditions." Some of the $1.5 billion total includes funds pledged before Monday's donor event, however, several significant new pledges were made, including $171 million in new contributions from the United States, bringing to $550 million its overall contributions this fiscal year to the situation. Germany announced $219 million, and Qatar announced $15 million on top of the $100 million it has already contributed. The United Nations announced an additional $22 million from its own emergency fund. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Latest Sudan Cease-Fire Appears to Be Holding By Michael Atit June 19, 2023 Some residents of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, say they have not heard any gunshots since a 72-hour cease-fire began Sunday morning. Residents say even though the cease-fire appears to be holding, they still worry about a shortage of basic commodities in local markets. A cautious calm came over Khartoum Monday, a day after the 72-hour cease-fire agreement came into effect. The quiet gave hope to many civilians in the city after the recent wave of violence. Some residents of the capital Khartoum, and El Obeid area of North Kordofan state, say the truce seems to be holding. Speaking to VOA Monday from the Omdurman neighborhood in Khartoum, Tariq Abdallah says he has not heard any gunshots or heavy shelling for hours. Abdallah says even though the two warring parties seem to be observing the cease-fire this time around, harassment and intimidation of civilians along the checkpoints and within residential areas continue to take place. "The war machines have stopped mostly in Khartoum, the two sides are observing a cease-fire, they have stopped fighting each other," said Abdallah. "But violations against civilians never stopped." Abdallah notes that as civilians remain cautiously optimistic about the cease-fire, it remains difficult for many families to access basic services. He says people are still finding challenges in getting water, electricity and other basic grocery items for daily consumption. "Most of the things that the people are in dire need of; especially children's food and medicines for those who are suffering from this kind of disease," Abdallah said. "These things either are not available or you need to search in many places in order to get this stuff." Amira Saleh, who resides in the Soba neighborhood south of Khartoum, says she could not hear any gunshots this morning in her area. Saleh also told VOA that her family is running out of food and is not able to access nearby markets due to many roadblocks set up by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, which is locked in a power struggle with the military. "We are finding difficulties in accessing the central market," she said. "This is where some shops have some remaining food commodities. This is the main challenge that is facing us nowadays. But we don't have much to do; only we surrender our lives to God." While in El Obeid town of North Kordofan state, residents there reported that there has been some calm in and around the area since Sunday morning. Speaking to VOA, El Obeid resident Cliff Akile said the town is cautiously hopeful as both the military and the RSF are maintaining their positions. Akile describes the situation as normal. "The situation today is normal; there are no gunshots or fighting in and around the town," said Akile. "This may be due to the cease-fire that began on Sunday. In the past weeks, we used to hear a lot of fighting in and around El Obeid here. We have been living in fear that any time our area can be attacked." Clashes between the army and the RSF, which began on April 15th, displaced about 2.2 million individuals, including one million children. In a report released on Thursday, UNICEF says the ongoing fighting in Sudan has left more than 13 million children in dire need of humanitarian assistance. The report said more than 330 children were killed and 1,900 others injured during the first week of June. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 43 Al-Shabab Fighters Killed in Airstrike in Somalia By Mohamed Olad Hassan June 19, 2023 Somalia's government says 43 al-Shabab militants, including two senior commanders, were killed by Somali National Army forces during a weekend airstrike about 14 kilometers from the Jamame District in the Lower Juba region. "The airstrike successfully eliminated key al-Shabab leaders Aden Abdirahman Aden and Idris Abdirahim Nur, who was of Kenyan national origin, and a total of 43 al-Shabab fighters," the Somali National News Agency (SONNA) reported on Monday. SONNA said the attack, carried out by "Somalia's international partners," happened Friday as militants and their commanders gathered to plan attacks against government soldiers at the Barsanguni military base, which is home to the Somali National Army and local forces. The statement did not specify the foreign partner that conducted the airstrike, but often, U.S Africa Command drones carry out attacks on Somali militant targets. "The successful disruption of this planned attack demonstrates the effectiveness of the ongoing efforts to combat al-Shabaab and protect the people of Somalia," the statement added. The news comes as Somalia's Council of Ministers nominated Brigadier General Ibrahim Sheikh Muhyadin Addow as the new commander of the Somali National Army. A spokesman for the Somali Defense Ministry said the appointment follows a proposal to remove General Odawa Yusuf, who has held the position since March 2019. "General Addow brings a wealth of experience to his new role. He has previously held various military positions, including Commander of the National Presidential Guard Brigade," the nomination statement said. These military developments come at a time when the army, with the help of forces from neighboring countries, is up for the second phase of an offensive against al-Shabab. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Three Kenyan Soldiers Killed in Suspected Al-Shabab Attack By Ahmed Hussein June 19, 2023 Three Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) soldiers were killed, and more than 10 others injured when their vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device Sunday in coastal Lamu County. The incident comes a few days after eight KDF soldiers were killed in a similar attack in Garissa County in Kenya's northeast. Security officials in Kenya suspect that al-Shabab militants were behind the IED attack Sunday along the Pandaguo route, near the vast Boni forest. The KDF soldiers had been sent to rescue police officers who were conducting routine patrols when their own vehicle ran over an explosive. Over a dozen KDF and police were injured in that attack. Security officials declined to respond to VOA's request for a comment. Nairobi-based security analyst Peter Tuya said the increase in attacks is al-Shabab's response to Kenya's plan to official reopen the border with Somalia. "The objective here is to make sure the government does not open up those areas for development," said security analyst Peter Tuya, "because it will be cutting out the supply line to them, because for a long time they have been using the issue of marginalization to recruit people to their networks." The incident comes few days an IED explosion killed eight KDF soldiers in Garissa County in Kenya's northeast. Al-Shabab is suspected in that attack as well. Tuya told VOA via phone that the militant group is targeting security officers to instill fear and force the public to join them. "As they are targeting the security personnel, they want to create fear in the minds of the public, that ... 'If we have the capacity to target the security personnel, what about you?'" Tuya said. "So that they create the environment of fear and make the people there helpless and to subscribe to their ideology." The attacks come at a time when Kenya's Security Minister Kithure Kindiki made a visit to Lamu and met with area leaders and top security operatives. Speaking to journalists, Kindiki assured Kenyans that they will flush out terrorists from the region. "We will make sure that we get and bring down the last terrorist," Kindiki said. Kenya closed the crossing points along its border with Somalia more than a decade ago but announced the crossings will reopen after talks with Somali officials last month. The border points to be reopened include the Lamu, Garissa and Mandera border crossings. Al-Shabab has carried out frequent attacks in Kenya since the government began contributing troops to the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia in 2011. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Cameroon Overwhelmed With Refugees, Aid Funding Shortages By Moki Edwin Kindzeka June 19, 2023 Ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20, humanitarian agencies are distributing aid to the nearly 500,000 refugees who live in Cameroon. The U.N. refugee agency says another 400 Nigerians arrive every month in the country, which in addition to the refugees houses a million internally displaced persons. Despite the staggering numbers, UNHCR says it has received only 30% of the funds needed to help the refugees. According to UNHCR, the number of refugees in Cameroon has increased to 479,000, up slightly from 2022. Humanitarian agencies and aid groups have been distributing food aid and planting seeds for the refugees ahead of World Refugee Day on Tuesday. About three-fourths of the refugees in Cameroon are from the Central African Republic, a country that has been rocked by violence since 2013, when a rebel group ousted then-President Francois Bozize, prompting reprisals. Most of the other refugees in Cameroon are Nigerians displaced by Boko Haram militant attacks, with the majority living in the Minawao camp in northern Cameroon. The refugees in Minawao elected Isaac Luka as their spokesperson. Luka fled Nigeria's Borno state in June 2014 after Boko Haram extremists killed more than 20 people in his village. Luka said it has not been easy for the United Nations and donor agencies to provide for the increasing number of refugees in Minawao. "At first, UNHCR gave some subvention to take care of the health of the refugees," he said. "The European Union gives us some money also to complete the unavailable medication in the hospital. Education is free in the camp, but 200 children in a classroom is not easy. Each refugee will have a card that you will go to any hospital in the country without paying." Cameroon's government says Minawao lies in an area where desertification is prevalent and water, food and natural resources are scarce. Camp resident Esther Bongha from Nigeria said refugees at times run into conflicts with their host community members over scarce natural resources. "I am managing to feed my children with the support of the World Food Program and UNHCR," she said. "When we go to find firewood in the forest, the host community pursues us, and when we don't go to find firewood we are in problem (trouble)." UNHCR says Minawao was built for 15,000 refugees but is now home to about 70,000. Olivier Guillaume Beer, the UNHCR representative in Cameroon, said a majority of CAR and Nigerian refugees who fled to Cameroon lost everything in their countries of origin and need help. But Beer said UNHCR received only about 30% of the $150 million it needed to take care of the refugees' humanitarian needs in 2022. "We know that there are problems with refugees from Ukraine, that we have to meet the request of refugees from Afghanistan, from Sudan, but we would like to call on the donors to not forget Cameroon and to support Cameroon to support refugees," he said. "When refugees are willing to repatriate, we will facilitate their return. What we are praying for is to have full peace so that all refugees will repatriate home." Beer spoke on Cameroon state broadcaster CRTV on Monday. Cameroon says a majority of the refugees it hosts do not want to return to the CAR or Nigeria. However, last year, more than 4,000 Nigerians agreed to voluntarily return. Within the past 18 months about a thousand CAR refugees have returned to their country in a voluntary repatriation effort supervised by UNHCR. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 20 Suspected ADF Collaborators Arrested in Uganda By Halima Athumani June 19, 2023 Ugandan police say they have arrested 20 suspected collaborators of the rebel Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, who killed 42 people in a school Friday night. Addressing journalists at the Naguru Police Headquarters in Kampala, police spokesperson Fred Enanga revealed security personnel had arrested 20 suspected collaborators of the Allied Democratic Forces rebels. The ADF are militants with ties to the Islamic State group. This comes as Uganda's armed forces continue to pursue the rebels in the areas of the Rwenzururu mountains and into the Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga National Park. "We also have the head teacher and the director of school as part of our inquiries. They need to give us answers to certain questions," said Enanga. The suspected ADF rebels attacked the Lhubiriha secondary school in Mpondwe Kasese district Friday night, killing 42 people, including 37 students. According to the police, the attackers set fire to the boys' dormitory and attacked the girls with machetes. The burned bodies of 17 male students were recovered. Six people survived with injuries and are being treated in different hospitals in the country. Even though 25 bodies have so far been examined and identified, only 23 have been handed over to families for burial. The student victims ranged in age from 12 to 25. The Allied Democratic Forces rebels have previously carried out attacks in Uganda. This was the first ADF attack on a school in 25 years. In June 1998, the ADF attacked Kichwamba National Technical Institute in the Kabarole district, killing 58 students. At the time, students had locked themselves in a dormitory to avoid being abducted and the rebels retaliated by setting the dormitory on fire. Nearly 100 students were abducted. The Allied Democratic Forces, whose founder Jamil Mukulu has been imprisoned since 2015, operate in the Rwenzururu mountains in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The group has been fighting the Ugandan government since 1996. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel Raids West Bank Refugee Camp, Killing 5 Palestinians, Wounding 91 By VOA News June 19, 2023 The Israeli military killed five Palestinians and wounded 91 others on Monday as it deployed helicopter gunships in a raid on a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jenin. The violence marked a rare use of Israeli airpower in the Israeli-occupied territory. The Israeli military said seven members of its paramilitary border police and the army suffered light and moderate wounds during 10 hours of fighting. The Israeli military said its troops came under fire during an arrest raid in Jenin, the latest violence in the West Bank that has lasted more than a year. The Israeli media reported it was the first such use of a helicopter gunship in the occupied West Bank since the second Palestinian uprising about two decades ago. Palestinian militants targeted Israeli military vehicles with a powerful roadside bomb, disabling five armored vehicles, according to an Israeli military spokesman. Israeli troops were trapped inside the mangled vehicles for hours, the spokesman said, adding that the army flooded the camp with troops and heavy vehicles in order to evacuate them. Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Palestinian official, accused Israel of waging "a fierce and open war" against the Palestinian people and said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would make "unprecedented decisions" in an upcoming emergency meeting. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed at least 20 people this year, while 124 Palestinians have been killed. Some material in this report came from The Associated Press. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address OHCHR Chief: Human Rights in Perilous State as Fundamental Values Disregarded By Lisa Schlein June 19, 2023 Volker Turk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, says that human rights around the world are in a perilous state as countries are failing to honor the fundamental rights and freedoms of all peoples as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The U.N. rights chief, who spoke Monday at the opening of the U.N. Human Rights Council's four-week session, told a packed chamber that human rights, the cornerstone of the United Nations, are now "at a critical juncture" due to what he said are the self-serving interests of repressive governments, which in his view are taking precedence over international cooperation to advance human rights. In a sweeping global review of the human rights situation in dozens of countries, Turk highlighted the many atrocities and crimes being committed in all regions of the world. In a report that spared few governments, he lambasted the human rights record of Honduras, expressing concern about land-related conflicts and "attacks against human rights and environmental defenders." He castigated Nicaraguan authorities for undermining the human rights of its people "with extremely harsh repression of civil society and a drastically reduced civic space." Turning to the war in Ukraine, Turk called on Russia to grant his colleagues access to both Ukrainian territory occupied by the Russian Federation, and to the Russian Federation itself "not least, to visit civilian detainees, prisoners of war and Ukrainian children and people with disabilities who have been taken to these areas." The High Commissioner singled out what he considers egregious cases of abuse and discrimination in sub-Saharan Africa, such as in Uganda, which recently adopted legislation criminalizing homosexuality. He criticized Mali's request for the withdrawal of MINUSMA, the U.N.'s peacekeeping mission, saying "human rights must always be above the fray of politics." He deplored worsening conditions in South Sudan where violent incidents affecting civilians rose by 12 percent in the first three months of this year. "There has been little action by the authorities to hold perpetrators to account," he said, "while senior government officials allegedly implicated in serious crimes remain in office." Turk slammed Eritrea for its ongoing refusal to engage with the full spectrum of human rights bodies, noting that Burundi also has not granted access to or cooperated with the Council's Commission of Inquiry or other investigative bodies since 2016. On the other hand, he said Ethiopia has cooperated with his office, enabling him to send international human rights monitors to the north, where a war in the Tigray region ended last November. The Commission report on Ethiopia is due to be presented to the Council in September. Turk said he was deeply worried about the deteriorating human rights situation in Afghanistan where "the Taliban de facto authorities have dismantled the most fundamental principles of human rights, particularly for women and girls." At a comprehensive examination of the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan that took place later in the day, human rights experts accused the Taliban of practicing a form of "gender apartheid." Dorothy Estrada-Tanck, chair of the working group on discrimination against women and girls, said that they were being "erased" in Afghanistan. She said, "women and girls are systematically discriminated against in every aspect of their lives...Women are wholly excluded from participation in political and public life." Since the Taliban took power in August 2021, she said the de facto authorities have relentlessly issued edict after edict, "of which the vast majority restrict the rights of women and girls, including their rights to education, work, health, access to justice and freedom of movement, attire, and behavior." In his presentation to the Council, Turk expressed concern about widespread human rights violations in Iran including "the massive recent increase in executions, as well as continuing discrimination against women." He said he was extremely worried by the deteriorating situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory where he said, "excessive use of force and unlawful killings of Palestinians by the Israeli Security Forces have increased, including apparent extrajudicial executions." There were no immediate responses from any of the countries Turk mentioned. Ending on a more positive note after an otherwise withering look at the worsening human rights situation around the world, Turk said his office's support of Mauritania's efforts to end discrimination, notably the persistent issue of slavery, was bearing fruit. He said, "at least 38 cases of slavery have been brought to court, with 10 judgements made in the first two months of this year." He commended the authorities' cooperation "with the special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery during his visit last year." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Malawi Controls Deadliest Cholera Outbreak in History By Lameck Masina June 19, 2023 Malawi is emerging victorious in its battle against the deadliest cholera outbreak in the country's history, which has killed nearly 2,000 people since its onset in March of last year. Health authorities say the country has seen a steady decline in the death rate, with no new cases or hospitalizations for the past two weeks. A cholera report, which Malawi's health ministry released Sunday, shows that the outbreak has been fully controlled in 21 districts. These include Chitipa, Dowa, Kasungu, Likoma, Mzimba South, Mzimba North, Mwanza, Nkhata Bay, Ntchisi, Phalombe and Lilongwe, which reported most of the cases. Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said in a statement that a few areas are still reporting cases. These areas include Balaka, Blantyre, Chikwawa, Machinga, Nsanje, Ntcheu, Salima and Zomba. George Mbotwa, spokesperson of the health office in Nsanje district, said the district is recording an average of one or two cases per day, but that number is lower than the average of about 30 daily cases during the peak of the outbreak. "We have continued to record cases because about 50 percent of Nsanje is bordered by Mozambique. And these cases are coming from across the borders," he said. "We still have some local transmission but very minimal. And this is coming in because the adoption of hygiene behavior has been very slow." Mbotwa said the cross-border cases largely happen because most Mozambican nationals stay away from their country's health facilities and seek medical assistance at Malawian hospitals. He said, however, that efforts are being made to contain the cross-border cholera infections. "We have done coordination meetings with Mozambican officials recently. ... That's the only activity that we have done but we find it very important because we are able to share prevention measures that we are implementing as countries," Mbotwa said. Malawi registered the first cholera case in March of last year. Statistics from the Public Health Institute of Malawi show that the country has recorded 58,870 cumulative confirmed cases and 1,761 deaths. Malawi, however, has now seen a steady decline in the death rate, with no new cases or hospitalizations in most districts for the past two weeks. Health authorities attribute the success story to various anti-cholera interventions, including the nationwide vaccination campaign the government and World Health Organization rolled out in May of last year. Also this past February, President Lazarus Chakwera launched a national campaign against cholera which saw authorities ban the sale of already cooked foods in open places. Health experts, however, have warned Malawians against relaxing the prevention measures. "We should remember that we have had cholera cases throughout dry season. Which should be a reason that we can have cholera cases any time not only during the rainy season. Therefore, we encourage Malawians to continue observing prevention measures," said George Jobe, executive director for the Malawi Health Equity Network. Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection caused by ingesting food or water contaminated with bacteria. The disease affects both children and adults and, if untreated, can kill within hours. The health ministry has advised people with signs and symptoms of cholera to promptly go to the nearest treatment unit. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address WFP and the Government of Egypt establish a humanitarian corridor between Egypt and Sudan providing critical support to thousands of people trapped by conflict World Food Programme 19 June 2023 CAIRO -- The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Egypt, working closely with the Egyptian Government, has opened a humanitarian corridor between Aswan in Upper Egypt, and Wadi Halfa in Sudan, to address the urgent needs of people affected by the ongoing conflict. The first cross-border movement took place on 16 June carrying 50 metric tons of essential food assistance from Egypt to Sudan. The assistance will help to alleviate the suffering of thousands of people who have become highly vulnerable due to the conflict. The establishment of the humanitarian corridor is led by WFP, in partnership with Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The corridor acts as a passageway for WFP, UN agencies, development organizations, and humanitarian partners. "While WFP continues to provide support to those arriving in Egypt through food and cash assistance, we are also committed to assisting people inside Sudan. This humanitarian corridor is the result of the great partnerships that the Egyptian Government has with development partners. We are now able to take our aid where it is most needed," said WFP Representative and Country Director in Egypt Praveen Agrawal. To date, WFP has dispatched over 80 metric tons of fortified emergency food assistance to the Egyptian borders, including enhanced nutritional ready-to-eat items, in collaboration with the Government of Egypt and the Egyptian Red Crescent. In addition, WFP has launched an emergency cash assistance programme through its pre-established cash delivery platform, reaching over 130,000 Sudanese people since the start of the crisis. This platform has, as well as the Humanitarian Corridor, been made available to sister UN agencies, enabling a swift response to numerous humanitarian needs arising from the crisis. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that approximately 800,000 people may flee Sudan to neighbouring countries as a result of the ongoing crisis. WFP remains committed to providing assistance to meet the needs of the most vulnerable individuals seeking refuge. # # # The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address WFP reaches over one million people in Sudan with life-saving food assistance despite insecurity and access challenges World Food Programme 19 June 2023 PORT SUDAN -- The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has delivered emergency food assistance to more than one million people in Sudan in the six weeks since operations resumed on 3 May. WFP briefly paused operations when the conflict broke out but has since rapidly scaled up food distributions, delivering life-saving assistance to people in 14 of 18 States as fighting continues and the humanitarian situation deteriorates. "The humanitarian needs have reached record levels in Sudan and there is still no sign of an end to the conflict," says Eddie Rowe, WFP's Country Director in Sudan. "WFP is doing everything possible to deliver life-saving assistance to millions of people in Sudan and thousands more who have fled to neighbouring countries, but we cannot do it alone. The world must now come together to provide the resources to support the people of Sudan in their hour of need." An update from Sudan where WFP is rapidly expanding the distribution of emergency food assistance across the country: WFP is expanding its operation to support 5.9 million conflict-affected people across Sudan over the next six months. WFP urgently requires $US409 million for this scale up. On 9 June in Wad Madani (Gezira State), WFP provided nutrition supplements and emergency food assistance to nearly 300 orphaned young children and teenagers and their caregivers who were evacuated from the Mygoma Orphanage in Khartoum, where dozens of children tragically died in the early weeks of the conflict. In Khartoum State, last week WFP delivered food assistance to 24,000 residents in Karrari locality, north-east of Omdurman. A total of 50,000 people who are trapped by the fighting in the Khartoum metropolitan area have so far received support. WFP plans to support 500,000 people in Khartoum State, as and when security permits. WFP has established food distributions in the areas receiving the largest numbers of people fleeing from Khartoum. WFP completed emergency food distributions for 32,000 people in Shendi in River Nile State and for 8,000 people in Wadi Halfa in Northern State on the Egyptian border. Distributions in Atbara, Elmatama, and Berber in River Nile State, and Gezira State are ongoing. Plans to provide food assistance in Merowe and Dongola, Northern State are underway. In the Darfurs, WFP has provided food assistance and nutrition supplements to over 375,000 people in South, North, Central and East Darfur. There have been some breakthroughs in access, particularly in North Darfur where around 16,500 people in hard-to-reach areas in Shangil Tobiya and Shedad received emergency food rations. The first cross-line aid deliveries in the Darfurs took place on 10 June between areas controlled by different parties to the conflict. The first cross-border movement of commodities from Egypt to Sudan took place on 16 June. The border crossing between Egypt and Sudan will be a humanitarian corridor for all humanitarian partners. WFP has operations to support refugees from Sudan in all neighbouring countries: Chad, Central African Republic (CAR), Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. More than 500,000 people have fled Sudan since the conflict began and WFP has delivered assistance to over 248,000 people across all five countries. The start of the rainy season in Chad and Central African Republic is creating new obstacles for WFP's support to new arrivals from Sudan as road access becomes increasingly challenging due to the rains. In Chad, WFP is speeding up food procurement and prepositioning food at the borders and setting up a major logistics hub in Farchana, Chad near the border with Sudan, to support the response. In CAR, the security situation along the border with Sudan is volatile and deteriorating. The coordinated humanitarian response for arrivals from Sudan, led by UNHCR and the government, is supporting refugees and returnees to relocate from the border to Birao, around 65 km away. However, Birao will soon only be accessible by air due to the rains, significantly increasing operational costs. WFP is prepositioning food and supporting emergency cargo flights to Birao. # # # The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russo-Ukraine War - 19 June 2023 - Day 481 Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos. On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace. "To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal] The UK Ministry of Defence reported that over the last ten days, Russia has highly likely started relocating elements of its Dnipro Group of Forces (DGF) from the eastern bank of the Dnipro River to reinforce the Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut sectors. This potentially involves several thousand troops from the 49th Army, including its 34th Separate Motorised Brigade, as well as Airborne Forces (VDV) and Naval Infantry units. The DGF redeployment likely reflects Russia's perception that a major Ukrainian attack across the Dnipro is now less likely following the collapse of Kakhovka Dam and the resulting flooding. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of June 19, the Russian occupiers launched another air and missile attack on the territory of Ukraine, using 4x Caliber cruise missiles and 4x Iranian strike UAVs "Shahed-136/131". All 8x air targets were destroyed by Ukrainian Air Defense and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In addition, Russian forces carried out 32 airstrikes, carried out about 40 attacks from rocket salvo systems on the positions of Ukrainian troops and populated areas. Peaceful people suffered. The threat of missile and air strikes remains high across Ukraine. Russia continues to focus its main efforts on the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Mar'inka axes, and heavy fighting continues. 39x combat clashes took place during the day. Volyn' and Polissya axes: the operational situation has not changed significantly. There are no signs of the formation of offensive groupings. On the training grounds of the Republic of Belarus, combat training and coordination of units of the Russian troops are underway after which they are sent to the frontlines on the territory of Ukraine. Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: Russian forces maintain an enhanced presence in the Ukrainian border. Shelled with mortars and artillery shelling of Gremyach settlements of Chernihiv Oblast; Seredyna-Buda, Chuykivka, Basivka, Turya of the Sumy Oblast, as well as Huryiv Kozachok, Udy, Chervona Zorya, Kozacha Lopan', Hlyboke, Oliynikovo, Lyptsi, Ternova, Staritsa, Ohirtsevo, Hatyshche, Vovchans'k, Zybine, Okhrimivka, Varvarivka , Nesterne, Budarky, Krasny Yar in Kharkiv Oblast. Kup'yans'k axis: the Russian occupiers carried out an airstrike at Kislivka, Kharkiv Oblast. Krasne Pershe, Novomlyns'k, Dvorichna, Zapadne, Kislivka, Berestov of the Kharkiv Oblast were shelled by Russian artillery and mortars. Lyman axis: Russian forces carried out offensive operations in the vicinities of Yampolivka, Torsky, west of Dibrova, Hryhorivka and Spirnyi of the Donetsk Oblast, albeit without success. They launched an airstrike on the village of Spirne in the Donetsk Oblast. Stelmakhivka, Nevs'ke, Belogorivka of the Luhansk Oblast and Tors'ke, Serebryanka, Verkhn'okam'ians'ke, Rozdolivka of the Donetsk Oblast were shelled by artillery. Bakhmut axis: russian forces carried out unsuccessful offensives in the vicinities of Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Donetsk Oblast. They shelled the settlements of Severny and Toretsk. Vasyukivka, Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Bohdanivka, Kalynivka, Chasiv Yar, Ivanivs'ke, Ozaryanivka, Bila Hora, Kostyantynivka, Druzhba, Pivnichne of Donetsk Oblast were under Russian artillery shelling. Avdiivka axis: Russian forces carried out unsuccessful offensives in the Avdiivka area. They shelled the areas of Orlivka, Avdiivka, Karlivka, Pervomais'ke, Nevels'ke settlements of the Donetsk Oblast. Mar'inka axis: Ukrainian defenders repelled all Russian attacks near Krasnohorivka, Mar'inka and Pobieda. Russian forces launched an air strike near Mar'inka. At the same time, they shelled Krasnohorivka, Georgiivka, Mar'inka, and Pobyeda of the Donetsk Oblast. Shakhtars'k axis: Russian forces carried out offensive actions in the axis of Novomykhailivka. They carried out an air strike in the area of Zolotoi Niva. They shelled the settlements of Paraskoviivka, Kostyantynivka, Novomykhailivka, Vodyane, and Vugledar in the Donetsk Oblast. Zaporizhzhia and Kherson axes: Russian forces are on the defensive. Russian forces carried out airstrikes at Levadny, Zelene Pole and Novodarivka of Zaporizhzhya Oblast. They shelled the settlements of Blagodatne, Makarivka, Storozheve, Vremivka, Vilne Pole, Zelene Pole, Novopil' of the Donetsk Oblast; Temyrivka, Levadne, Olgivs'ke, Chervone, Hulyaipole, Zaliznychne, Charivne, Novoandriivka, Shcherbaki, Stepove, Pyatikhatky, Lobkovo, Kam'ians'ke of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast; Beryslav, Tomarine, Kozats'ke, Burgunka, Ivanivka, Antonivka, Kherson, Dniprovs'ke, Kizomys, Sofiivka of the Kherson Oblast. The Russian occupying forces continue to suffer heavy losses on the battlefield. As a result, Russia continues to convert civilian facilities in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine into medical facilities. Thus, the Russian occupiers turned the secondary school in the village of Rozhivka, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, into a military hospital. An operating room was placed in the attached dining room, and wards for the wounded were arranged in the classrooms. At the same time, this military hospital is used as a logistics hub for the redistribution of wounded and dead Russian servicemen. Heavily wounded soldiers and sergeants are being transported to medical facilities in Donetsk, Mariupol and Berdyansk by road transport. Wounded officers are transported to the russian federation by air. Ukrainian Air Force conducted 15x airstrikes on the concentrations of Russian troops. Ukrainian missile and artillery units attacked 3x command posts, 6x concentrations of Russian troops, weapons and military equipment, 2x ammunition depots, 1x warehouse of fuel and lubricating materials, 14x artillery systems at firing positions, 3x anti-air defense systems and 2x others critical military objects. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that the Russian Armed Forces launched a long-range sea-based high-precision weapons strike against foreign-manufactured military hardware storage sites. All the assigned targets have been neutralised. The goal of the attack has been reached. During the day, the most active AFU offensive attempts were in South Donetsk and Donetsk directions. In South Donetsk direction, as a result of competent and self-sacrificing actions of the Vostok Group of Forces units, aviation and artillery, three attacks by AFU combined units have been repelled close to Vremevka salient. The enemy losses were one tank, 12 armoured fighting vehicles, as well as a foreign-manufactured combat engineer vehicle. In addition, two enemy attacks have been repelled, during which two tanks, 10 infantry fighting vehicles and two armoured fighting vehicles have been hit near Malaya Tokmachka (Zaporozhye region). The enemy losses were over 100 Ukrainian servicemen, three tanks, 10 infantry fighting vehicles, 14 armoured fighting vehicles, four motor vehicles, two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems, and D-20, Msta-B and D-30 howitzers. In Donetsk direction, active actions of the Yug Group of Forces have successfully repelled four enemy attacks close to Pervomayskoye, Petrovskoye and Staromikhailovka (Donetsk People's Republic). The enemy losses were over 340 Ukrainian servicemen, two armoured fighting vehicles, five motor vehicles, one Polish-manufactured Krab self-propelled artillery system, as well as D-20 and Msta-B howitzers. One ordnance depot of the AFU 5th Assault Brigade has been destroyed near Ivanovskoye (Donetsk People's Republic). In Kupyansk direction, as a result of the strikes, launched by Army Aviation, artillery and the units of the Zapad Group of Forces, the actions of two Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups have been prevented close to Timkovka (Kharkov region). The enemy losses were up to 45 Ukrainian servicemen, three armoured fighting vehicles, four motor vehicles, and one Polish-manufactured Krab self-propelled artillery system. In Krasny Liman direction, aviation and artillery of the Tsentr Group of Forces have hit enemy units near Kuzmino, Makeevka (Lugansk People's Republic), and Serebryansky forestry. The activities of three Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups have been disrupted close to Yampolovka (Donetsk People's Republic), Chervonaya Dibrova and Kremennaya (Lugansk People's Republic). The enemy losses were up to 105 Ukrainian servicemen, two infantry fighting vehicles, two armoured fighting vehicles, two pickup trucks, two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems, as well as D-20 and D-30 howitzers. In Kherson direction, the enemy losses were over 40 Ukrainian servicemen, four motor vehicles and one U.S.-manufactured M777 artillery system. Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have neutralised 93 AFU artillery units at their firing positions, manpower and hardware in 102 areas. Two artillery depots have been hit: the AFU 1513th artillery ammunition depot and the 65th Mechanised Brigade close to Zaporozhye. Air defence facilities have shot down one Mi-8 helicopter of Ukrainian Air Force near Orekhov (Zaporozhye region). 5 HIMARS multiple-launch rocket system projectiles have been also intercepted. In addition, 14 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles have been shot down close to Mikhailovka, Pyatikhatka, Pologi (Zaporozhye region), Kirillovka (Donetsk People's Republic), Nikolayevka, Zmiyovka (Lugansk People's Republic), Staraya Zburyovka (Kherson region) and Velikiy Vyselok (Kharkov region). In total, 444 airplanes, 240 helicopters, 4,700 unmanned aerial vehicles, 426 air defence missile systems, 10,192 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,125 fighting vehicles equipped with MLRS, 5,163 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 11,047 special military motor vehicles have been destroyed during the special military operation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Readout of Chief of the Defence Staff General Wayne Eyre's Engagements in the Indo-Pacific National Defence Readout June 19, 2023 - Ottawa, Ontario - National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces Chief of the Defence Staff General Wayne Eyre recently concluded a series of productive engagements in the Indo-Pacific, starting with the Shangri-La Dialogue on 2-4 June in Singapore and in support of Minister of National Defence Anita Anand's program at Asia's leading defence and security summit. To discuss Canada's contributions to regional peace and security in line with Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy, General Eyre met with several counterparts and representatives from Australia, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, United Kingdom, and the United States. Discussions centred around the historic role of the Canadian Armed Forces in promoting regional stability, upcoming deployments, and multilateral exercises in the Indo-Pacific, and how Canada can further demonstrate its ongoing commitment to allies and partners. General Eyre also held key engagements in Japan and the Republic of Korea to build important relationships with like-minded nations. In Japan, General Eyre received briefings from members of the Japan Self Defense Forces on multinational operations in the region, as well as on the latest efforts by the Japan Peacekeeping Training and Research Center. He met with the Chairman of the Japanese Joint Staff, General Yoshihide Yoshida and State Minister of Defense, Mr. Toshiro Ino to discuss how Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy and Japan's National Security Strategy can align military efforts and expand further cooperation and coordination between Japan and Canada. During the meetings, they expressed mutual appreciation for the collaboration and assistance in evacuating Japanese and Canadian citizens from Sudan. While in Okinawa, General Eyre met with United States Marine Corps Commanding General III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF), Lieutenant General James Bierman and Commanding General 3rd Marine Division, Major General Jay Bargeron, to share perspectives on the Indo-Pacific and how the Canadian Armed Forces and III MEF can work together in the region going forward. During his visit to Tokyo, General Eyre held a security discussion with United States Navy Vice Admiral Karl Thomas, Commander US 7th Fleet, and took the time to meet with Canadian and multi-national staff serving in the Enforcement Coordination Cell and received an update on the cell's activities and achievements in the region. In the Republic of Korea, General Eyre met with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Kim Seung-kyum, and the Minister of National Defense Mr. Lee Jong-sup, where they discussed Canada and the Republic of Korea's shared values of freedom, rule of law and human rights, the similarities between the two countries' Indo-Pacific Strategies and how Canada and the Republic of Korea can maintain their close military cooperation on the Korean Peninsula, in the Indo-Pacific, and beyond. While in Seoul, General Eyre was honoured to be greeted by the President of the War Memorial of Korea, Baek Seung-joo, and to lay a wreath with two Canadian Officer Cadets on exchange alongside two of their Korean classmates. He also met with the President of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seok-Jin Yoon to discuss advancing technologies and how Canada and the Republic of Korea can share insights and ideas. He also met with United Nations Command (UNC) Deputy Commander, Lieutenant General Andrew Harrison, and Canadian staff for an update on UNC structure and future priorities in the Korean Peninsula. General Eyre also visited with Combined Forces Command Deputy Commander, General Ahn Byung-seok, participating in various discussions reaffirming shared values, priorities, and relationships between allies on the Korean Peninsula. As a Pacific nation, Canada will expand its defence presence in the Indo-Pacific in line with the progressive implementation of Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy. This expansion requires strengthening existing partnerships and creating new relationships with like-minded partners in the region. General Eyre's engagements continue to demonstrate progress towards increased collaboration and participation with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China's top diplomat urges US not to project its hegemonic image onto China Global Times By Global Times Published: Jun 19, 2023 02:07 PM China's top diplomat Wang Yi met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing on Monday, during which Wang asked the US to stop hyping the "China threat" narrative, lift illegal unilateral sanctions on China, stop pressuring China's technology and developments and stop willfully interfering in China's internal affairs. On Sunday, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang held a nearly six-hour candid, in-depth and constructive talk concerning overall China-US relations. During the Monday meeting, Wang, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said that Blinken's trip to Beijing this time comes at a critical juncture in China-US relations, and it is necessary to make a choice between dialogue or confrontation, cooperation or conflict. History always moves forward, and China-US relations will eventually move forward. There is no way out to turn back the wheel of history, and it is even less advisable to start over. "With an attitude of being responsible to the people, history, and the world, we must reverse the downward spiral of China-US relations, push it back to a healthy and stable track, and work together to find a correct way for China and the United States to get along in the new era," Wang said. Wang emphasized that the current low ebb of China--US relations roots in the US's erroneous perception of China, which leads to wrong policies towards China. Bilateral relations have experienced turbulence, and it is necessary for the US to reflect deeply, work with China to jointly manage difference, and avoid strategic accident. In order for China-US relations to stop falling and stabilize, the top priority is to truly implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state. To make bilateral relations move forward steadily, the most important thing is to follow the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. By explaining in depth the historical logic and inevitable trend of China's development and revitalization, Wang urged the US not to project its hegemonic image onto China and think a strong country must seek hegemony, not to use Western countries' history to misjudge China is the key to whether the U.S. policy toward China can truly return to objectivity and rationality. Wang asked the US to stop hyping up the "China threat" theory, lift illegal unilateral sanctions against China, stop suppressing China's technological development, and refrain from willfully interfering in China's internal affairs. The Chinese top diplomat also analyzed the essence of the Taiwan question, emphasizing that safeguarding national unification will always be the core of China's core interests, it concerns the fate of all Chinese people, and it is the unswerving historical mission of the CPC. On the Taiwan question, China has no room for compromise and concession. The US side must truly adhere to the one-China principle set out in the three China-US joint communiquAs, respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and clearly oppose "Taiwan independence," Wang noted. Blinken said that the US is committed to returning to the agenda set by the two heads of state in Bali, and looks forward to strengthening communication with China, responsible management and control of differences, and cooperation in areas of common interest. The two sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues of shared concern. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Chinese premier's Germany visit to cement friendship and push for new devt in ties Global Times Berlin seeks balance despite US pressure: expert By Fan Anqi Published: Jun 19, 2023 10:36 PM Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in Berlin, capital of Germany, on Sunday local time for an official visit, a trip that he believes will cement the two countries' traditional friendship and push for new development in bilateral ties. Experts said Li's first overseas trip since he became Chinese premier will allow Germany to face the future of bilateral ties more rationally based on the interests of both countries, and to avoid ideologizing all issues or compromising its strategic autonomy. Upon his arrival, Li said that in recent years, the China-Germany relationship has seen steady progress, and bilateral cooperation has been continuously deepened and expanded, with new achievements being made in areas such as economy and trade, technologies, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, as well as green development. China is ready to engage in frank and in-depth exchanges with Germany based on the principles of mutual respect, seeking common ground while reserving differences, and achieving mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, to further explore cooperation potential, properly handle differences, and enrich their all-round strategic partnership, Li said. Li met with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the presidential palace on Monday, and said China always attaches great importance to China-Germany relations, and that his visit to Germany and co-chairing the seventh China-Germany inter-governmental consultation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz aim to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, continuously increase trust and clear doubts, explore new opportunities for bilateral cooperation, enrich the connotation of China-Germany all-round strategic partnership, and contribute to the development of both countries and global economic recovery. Noting that there is no fundamental conflict of interests between China and Germany, and the two countries have a solid foundation for cooperation and a strong momentum for development, Li said China is full of confidence in the prospect of bilateral cooperation. For his part, Steinmeier asked Li to convey his sincere regards to President Xi, saying that Germany is willing to be a trusted partner of China to jointly safeguard trade liberalization and meet challenges such as climate change. He said that Germany opposes decoupling and any form of camp confrontation, and is willing to strengthen communication with China to make joint efforts to promote world peace and development. Experts noted that Li's visit carries significant meaning upon the continuation of the high-level exchanges. It reflects the stability of bilateral relations and indicates strong mutual need as evidenced by such a quick resumption of communication in various fields after the COVID-19 pandemic. Scholz was the first European leader to visit China after the 20th CPC National Congress, and Li's return trip illustrates China's high regard for this relationship. "It shows that cooperation and communication remain the fundamental aspects of the China-Germany relationship," Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Monday. The Chinese premier will also hold the seventh China-Germany inter-governmental consultation during the visit, which will be the first time the newly formed governments of the two countries communicate with each other in such an all-around fashion, Li said upon his arrival. According to Reuters, the meeting will take place on Tuesday in the chancellery before Li and the Chinese ministers for trade and reform attend the China-Germany forum for economic and technological cooperation. The consultation was postponed in previous years due to COVID-19, and this round of consultation will send a clear signal to the outside world that China-Germany high-level government exchanges are back to normal, and that the willingness from both sides to communicate remains strong, despite changes in the German government and pressure from the US, experts noted. Li noted that the world today has entered a new period of turbulence and changes, and the more chaos and changes this world witnesses, the stronger the need should be advocated for the people of the two countries to carry forward their traditional friendship, enhance exchanges and cooperation, pool their wisdom, overcome challenges, and seize opportunities. The meeting with China comes as Germany faces a "tricky balancing act" as it seeks to maintain good ties with its largest trading partner while also adhering to the Group of Seven (G7)'s commitment to "de-risk" from Beijing, Reuters reported on Thursday. On Wednesday, Germany unveiled its first comprehensive national security strategy, which, although containing strong rhetoric against China, advocated cooperation and stressed that Germany is not seeking "decoupling" with the country, showing that Berlin is being pragmatic and cautious in dealing with China when faced with pressure from the US, analysts noted. "Germany is seeking a delicate position between its own development interests, the benefits brought by partnership with China and the pressure exerted by the US; between its political stance and economic and trade needs; and lastly, between the interests of different parties and departments within the government," Cui explained. But ultimately, experts believe Berlin will base its choices on its own interests, even if it sometimes has to appease the US and make concessions in terms of politics and values. The Chinese premier's trip this time will also convey some important messages to Germany. "We will tell Berlin loud and clear that China is not a threat, as perceived by some, but a partner for seeking common cooperation, and our cooperation is based on mutual benefit and does not cater to one-sided interests," Sun Keqin, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Monday. "Furthermore, we must think through whether the world should move toward peace or a new cold war. Germany, as a country that relies heavily on international trade, will certainly not gain from the latter," Sun noted. The two sides are likely to discuss deepening cooperation in green development as climate change is at the core of the two countries' development strategy, as well as new potential in seeking cooperation projects in Africa and Latin America, as these regions generally have closer ties with Beijing than with the West, the expert added. "With the US intensifying its efforts to woo Europe, Li's trip allows both sides to face reality and the future more rationally and base that on the interests of the two countries," Sun said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address CYLC national congress calls for youth to dedicate to historic tasks Global Times Chinese youth stand at forefront of times bursting with commitment: offfcial By GT staff reporters Published: Jun 19, 2023 11:11 PM The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) started its 19th national congress in Beijing on Monday with the attendance of nearly 1,500 delegates who carry the trust of 73 million league members across the country. Leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the state, including Xi Jinping, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi attended the opening session. Cai Qi delivered a speech on behalf of the CPC Central Committee. President Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, as well as other leaders were greeted by applause when they arrived ahead of the opening. The CYLC national congress is being held at a time when the nation has embarked on a new journey to build a modern socialist country at all fronts and as it marches toward the second centenary goal, and also the first national congress for the CYLC after the 20th CPC National Congress. The speech of Cai and the CYLC national congress, serve as a loud bugle call that mobilizes young people and unite them closely around the CPC Central Committee, encourages them to devote to the historic missions of building China into a modern socialist country and advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts, analysts said. Bugle call In his address, Cai said under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee, the CYLC has taken Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as its guide since the 18th CYLC national congress. The CYLC has strengthened its political consciousness, advanced nature and ability to represent the people, and enhanced its leadership, organization, and services. Realizing China's Second Centenary Goal of building it into a great modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization are the central task of the CPC and also the theme of the Chinese youth movement and the youth work in the new era, Cai said. Cai urged the youth in China to strive to be the new era's great young generation with ideals, a sense of responsibility, grit, and dedication. Continued efforts should be made to deliver new results that are worthy of the times and history, and true to the expectations of the people, Cai added. Cai called on the CYLC to further unite the country's young people and lead them in forging ahead on the new journey and making still greater contributions in the new era. Delegates to the congress shared their excitement and inspiration from the speech with the Global Times. "It was my honor to attend the congress, which reflected the CPC Central Committee's deep care for youth's development and ardent expectations for our contributions," Song Biao, a Technician School teacher and May 4 medalist, told the Global Times. Technicians can shine as long as they keep refining their skills. From the smallest screw, to the C919 aircraft, China's road from a manufacturing giant to a manufacturing power need more young people to join hands, Song said. Li Yanbo, a material scientist from Jiangsu delegation, told the Global Times he is propelled to keep enhancing research abilities and innovation. Li vowed to better apply artificial intelligence in chemical and material research, tackle key problems and contribute national technological breakthroughs with solid research results. Call of the time With a global vision, Chinese youth stand at the forefront of the times bursting with commitment: young people commit to pursuing lofty ideals with a firm belief in Marxism, communism and socialism with Chinese characteristics, read China's first white paper on its youth, which was released in 2022 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CYLC. As of 2023, more than 3.7 million young people have received training and instructions through the Young Marxist program. The CYLC issued a management rule in February to optimize the selection of trainees and mentors, and the operation of the program. Zhang Yiwu, a Peking University professor with expertise on cultural studies, told the Global Times that Chinese youth share weal and woe with the country and the people and they display the sterling quality of living up to responsibilities. Since the 18th national congress of the CYLC in 2018, more than 500,000 youth vanguard teams have been formed and 9 million youth mobilized in various missions serving the most urgent needs of the nation, China Youth Daily reported on Sunday. In the battle against COVID-19, the youth fought at the front line. Among the 28,600 nurses who aided Hubei Province in early days of the outbreak, 90 percent were post-80s and post-90s, according to official data. More than 5.5 million youth in 320,000 task groups worked on the front lines of the fight against the virus - providing medical care, transporting supplies, and building facilities. At China's remote borderland, young soldiers devoted their blood and life to safeguard every inch of national territories; in the blue sky, generation Z can pilot the country's most advanced utility aircraft to chase their dream; on the internet, young content creators break the boundary of states and introduce a true, vivid China to the world. According to Zhang, Chinese youth have combined their striving for "personal goal" with the Party and the nation's "big blueprint." Each year, Xi delivers his wishes and expectations for young people around the May 4, China's Youth Day, in tribute to the patriotic legacy of the May 4th Movement that took place in 1919. This year, Xi encouraged young students to make greater contributions to rural revitalization when he replied to students at the China Agricultural University (CAU) who participated in a program called "science and technology backyards." The program trains high-level agricultural talent, and serve rural and agricultural modernization. Yan Tianqi, a rural revitalization volunteer, was inspired by pioneers and the Monday speech. "I will follow the Party's leadership and dedicate myself to rural revitalization through volunteering, building villages into a modern, green and culture-rich countryside,'' Yan told the Global Times on Monday. In the report Xi delivered at the crucial 20th National Congress of the CPC in October 2022, Xi noted a nation will prosper only when its young people thrive.?He called on the youth to steadfastly follow the Party and its guidance, aim high but stay grounded, and dare to think big and take action but make sure to be productive. "As you endeavor to build China into a modern socialist country in all respects, your youth and vitality will bloom in full splendor," Xi said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China's anti-graft chief stresses boosting disciplinary inspection, supervision People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 11:16, June 19, 2023 KUNMING, June 17 (Xinhua) -- China's top anti-graft official Li Xi has asked disciplinary inspection and supervisory agencies to accomplish the high-quality development of disciplinary inspection and supervision work. Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said that disciplinary inspection and supervisory agencies should focus their work on advancing Chinese modernization and make significant progress in exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance, improving the conduct and integrity of the Party, and combating corruption. He made the comments during an inspection trip in southwest China's Yunnan Province from Wednesday to Saturday. Li was briefed on the progress of a Party-wide education campaign at the provincial disciplinary inspection and supervision agency of Yunnan. He called for efforts to improve the systems for exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance, step up political oversight, advocate a pragmatic, upright and frugal style, foster a rigorous awareness of abiding by rules and laws, and win the tough and protracted battle against corruption. He asked the agencies to carefully examine themselves during the education campaign, identify weak links and correct problems. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address President Xi Jinping Meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China 2023-06-19 18:40 On the afternoon of June 19, President Xi Jinping met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing. President Xi pointed out that the world is developing and the times are changing. The world needs a generally stable China-U.S. relationship. Whether the two countries can find the right way to get along bears on the future and destiny of humanity. Planet Earth is big enough to accommodate the respective development and common prosperity of China and the United States. The Chinese, like the Americans, are dignified, confident and self-reliant people. They both have the right to pursue a better life. The common interests of the two countries should be valued, and their respective success is an opportunity instead of a threat to each other. The international community is generally concerned about the current state of China-U.S. relations. It does not want to see conflict or confrontation between China and the United States or choose sides between the two countries. It expects the two countries to coexist in peace and have friendly and cooperative relations. The two countries should act with a sense of responsibility for history, for the people and for the world, and handle China-U.S. relations properly. In this way, they may contribute to global peace and development, and help make the world, which is changing and turbulent, more stable, certain and constructive. President Xi stressed that major-country competition does not represent the trend of the times, still less can it solve America's own problems or the challenges facing the world. China respects U.S. interests and does not seek to challenge or displace the United States. In the same vein, the United States needs to respect China and must not hurt China's legitimate rights and interests. Neither side should try to shape the other side by its own will, still less deprive the other side of its legitimate right to development. China always hopes to see a sound and steady China-U.S. relationship and believes that the two major countries can overcome various difficulties and find the right way to get along based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. He called on the U.S. side to adopt a rational and pragmatic attitude, and work with China in the same direction. President Xi pointed out that the two sides need to remain committed to the common understandings he and President Biden had reached in Bali, and translate the positive statements into actions so as to stabilize and improve China-U.S. relations. Secretary Blinken conveyed President Biden's greetings to President Xi. He said President Biden believes that the United States and China have an obligation to responsibly manage their relations. This is in the interest of the United States, China and the world. The United States is committed to returning to the agenda set by the two presidents in Bali. The United States stands by the commitments made by President Biden, namely the United States does not seek a new Cold War, it does not seek to change China's system, its alliances are not directed at China, it does not support "Taiwan independence", and it does not seek conflict with China. The U.S. side looks forward to having high-level engagement with the Chinese side, keeping open lines of communication, responsibly managing differences, and pursuing dialogue, exchanges and cooperation. President Xi asked Secretary Blinken to convey his regards to President Biden. Wang Yi and Qin Gang, among others, were present at the meeting. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning's Regular Press Conference on June 19, 2023 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China Xinhua News Agency: Recently, the Chinese government donated grain and prefabricated houses to Syria. President of Syrian Arab Red Crescent Khaled Hboubati and Syrian government officials attended the handover ceremonies held in Damascus and extended heartfelt thanks for China's kind assistance. Could you offer more information? Mao Ning: After the powerful earthquakes hit Syria in early February this year, China immediately activated its emergency humanitarian assistance mechanism and provided Syria with supplies and cash aid worth a total of RMB 30 million. To support Syria's post-quake reconstruction efforts, China accelerated the delivery of emergency food aid programs and provided 225 additional prefabricated houses worth RMB 10 million. Going forward, we will continue to work with the international community to support and assist the Syrian people in overcoming difficulties, recovering from the disaster and advancing post-quake reconstruction. CNR: It is reported that the Ugandan police said on June 17 that anti-government group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attacked a school in Uganda on June 16, killing 41 people. The Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack. What's China's comment? Mao Ning: China strongly condemns violent attacks against civilians, especially students. We mourn for the innocent victims and offer our heartfelt sympathy to the injured and the families who have lost loved ones. China opposes all acts of violence and terror and will continue to firmly support Uganda's efforts to uphold national security and social stability. Reuters: New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has said that he will lead a trade delegation to China on a visit during June 25 to 30 and that he'll be meeting President Xi as well as Premier Li Qiang. What are China's hopes for this visit by the New Zealand Prime Minister? What kind of trade partner is New Zealand for China? And also, is China keen to increase trade with New Zealand? Mao Ning: I do not have anything to share on the specific visit you mentioned. Let me say broadly that China values the relations with New Zealand and looks to enhance cooperation with New Zealand in trade and other fields. AFP: Will US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping today? Mao Ning: About Secretary Blinken's meetings and talks while he's in China, we will release information in due course. AFP: What do you think of Secretary Blinken's visit to China so far? Has it been constructive or somewhat disappointing?a Mao Ning: Since Secretary Blinken arrived in China, he has held talks with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and met with Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi. We have released detailed readouts on both events. You may refer to them. Reuters: US President Biden has said he hopes to meet President Xi in the next several months. Are there any plans to arrange this meeting over the coming months? And if so, will the plans materialize this year? Mao Ning: I have nothing to offer.a CCTV: Reports say that Japanese police recently arrested a researcher of Chinese nationality. What's China's comment? Mao Ning: China noted relevant reports and is paying serious attention to the arrest. We have expressed serious concerns to the Japanese side via diplomatic channel and asked Japan to duly protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese nationals. We hope that Japan will respect the rule of law and the principles of market economy and fair competition and foster a favorable environment for China-Japan scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation.a RIA Novosti: Russian President Vladimir Putin showed the initialed draft Istanbul agreement on resolving the Ukraine issue to leaders and representatives of several African countries at their meeting in St. Petersburg on Saturday. The draft agreement listed China, the US, the UK, TArkiye, France and Belarus as Ukraine's security guarantors. Has China agreed to be a security guarantor for Ukraine? Mao Ning: China's position on the Ukraine issue is consistent and clear. We are committed to promoting talks for peace and facilitating a political settlement of the crisis in our own way. RIA Novosti: Premier Li Qiang is on a visit in Germany today. Last week, the German side noted that some of China's practices don't serve Germany's interest. What message will Premier Li Qiang send to the German side? Mao Ning: About Premier Li Qiang's visit to Germany, we have made an announcement and shared our expectation for the visit. Information about his visit will be released in a timely way. Please check back for updates.a Bloomberg: Do you think Secretary Blinken's visit will encourage others to come and visit their counterparts in China and increase bilateral interaction? Mao Ning: China and the US are in touch about dialogue and exchange at various levels. I do not have anything to share on your specific question. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Make a choice between 'dialogue and confrontation': China tells US Iran Press TV Monday, 19 June 2023 11:09 AM China's top diplomat Wang Yi has warned US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Washington must choose between "dialogue and confrontation" in its relations with Beijing, further reiterating that Taiwan meddling remains a red line for China. "It is necessary to make a choice between dialogue and confrontation, cooperation or conflict," said Wang, who as the director of the office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission in the Chinese Communist Party ranks above the foreign minister, during a 3-hour meeting with Blinken on Monday as quoted in local media outlets. "We must reverse the downward spiral of China-US relations, push for a return to a healthy and stable track, and work together to find a correct way for China and the United States to get along," he added. The remarks came as Beijing's relationship with Washington stands at its lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two governments due to persisting differences ranging from trade and technology to regional security and territorial disputes. "We must reverse the downward spiral of China-US relations, push for a return to a healthy and stable track, and work together to find a correct way for China and the United States to get along," Wang further pointed out. Wrong US perception root cause of China-US tensions China's top diplomat cited US misconceptions and miscalculations by the Americans about the Chinese nation, as well as Washington's wrong perception of Beijing officials as the root cause of growing tensions between the two countries. He further called on Washington to avoid misjudgments and rather adopt a responsible position in efforts to alleviate the deteriorating ties between the world's two largest economies. "We must take a responsible attitude toward the people, history and the world, and reverse the downward spiral of US-China relations," Wang said, according to a statement released by the Chinese foreign ministry. 'No room to compromise' on Chinese Taipei China's top diplomat once again warned his visiting American counterpart that the self-ruled island territory of Taiwan remains a red line for Beijing and that the US may "truly adhere" to its One China commitment. "On this issue, China has no room to compromise or concede," CCTV said. "The United States must truly adhere to the One China principle confirmed in the three joint US-China communiquAs, respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and clearly oppose 'Taiwan independence'." Prior to his visit to Beijing, Blinken cited failure to communicate with the Chinese as a risk factor that could lead to miscalculations in their relationship. He proclaimed that the objective of his China visit was to restore channels of communication with Chinese officials in an effort to avoid miscalculations by the two sides turning into an all-out military confrontation. The top US diplomat further asserted that in order to avoid a conflict with China we should start with "communicating." He is the highest-ranking American official visiting China since current US President Joe Biden took office in 2021. China's top military officials have refused to hold talks with their US counterparts in recent months due to American sanctions imposed against them. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China's president meets top US diplomat in Beijing Despite low expectations, Xi and Blinken's last-minute meeting suggests a thawing in relations. By Paul Eckhert and Chris Taylor for RFA 2023.06.19 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square in Beijing late Monday afternoon in a climax of high-stakes diplomacy. Xi said he hoped the U.S. diplomat's visit would stabilize ties, adding that state-to-state interactions should be based on mutual respect, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, who was present in the meeting, wrote in a tweet. Blinken had earlier met with China's top foreign policy official Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Qin Gang. Achieving a meeting with Xi, who is also China's General Party Secretary, was widely perceived as the key measure of the success of Blinken's visit as the two nations' relations plumbed depths not seen since the countries diplomatically recognized each other in 1978. President Joe Biden said he hoped to see Xi in several months. Blinken is the first secretary of state to visit China in five years, amid China's strict COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and strains over China's claims on the self-governing island of Taiwan, Russia's war in Ukraine, Beijing's human rights record, assertive Chinese military moves in the South China Sea and technology trade. "This visit was basically a means of re-establishing the normal process of contacts between the U.S. and China that was supposed to follow the Bali Xi-Biden meeting but then got derailed by the spy balloon," Andrew Small, a senior transatlantic fellow with the U.S. German Marshall Fund's Indo-Pacific Program told RFA. "It is intended to pave the way for other visits to China ... and ultimately an expected visit from Xi Jinping for the APEC meeting in San Francisco." The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit will be held in the Californian city on November 12 this year. Small described China-U.S. relations as essentially "frozen" prior to the trip, adding, "aaThe US side anticipated that, assuming meetings with Wang Yi and Qin Gang proceeded according to plan, Blinken would see Xi Jinping, and it was understood to be important that various messages could be delivered directly to him." 'Candid, substantive, and constructive' On Sunday Blinken began the two days of meetings with 7A hours of direct talks and a dinner meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, discussing a host of topics and agreeing to work together on increasing the number of flights between the U.S. and China, a senior state department official said. Blinken invited Qin to continue the discussions in the U.S, and the spokesperson said the pair agreed to schedule a visit at a "mutually suitable time." A senior State Department official said, under the condition of anonymity, that the meeting between Blinken and Qin was not about reading talking points to one another, describing the exchange of views as a substantive conversation. The PRC readout on the meeting said, "China is committed to building a stable, predictable and constructive China-U.S. relationship," which Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the German Marshall Fund's Indo-Pacific program and nonresident fellow with the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia, described in a tweet thread as "important." Blinken's talks with Qin were "candid, substantive, and constructive," said State department spokesperson Matthew Miller. "The Secretary emphasized the importance of diplomacy and maintaining open channels of communication across the full range of issues to reduce the risk of misperception and miscalculation," Miller said in a written statement late Sunday. Blinken, the spokesperson added, "raised a number of issues of concern, as well as opportunities to explore cooperation on shared transnational issues with the PRC where our interests align." Chinese state media described the talks as "candid, in-depth and constructive communication on the overall relationship between China and the United States and related important issues." A report by China's foreign ministry quoted Qin as saying that "Sino-US relations are at the lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic relations. This does not conform to the fundamental interests of the two peoples, nor does it meet the common expectations of the international community." 'Crucial juncture' On Monday morning, amid much suspense as to whether Xi would agree to meet him, Blinken met with China's top foreign policy official Wang Yi to discuss re-forging diplomatic channels of communication between the powers. Observers in Beijing described the meeting as "frosty" but free of acrimony, unlike their last meeting, in Munich in March this year, when the two traded barbs in their first meeting since the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon on February 4. The Chinese readout described the meeting as coming at a "crucial juncture" in U.S.-China relations and that choices needed to be made between dialog or confrontation, cooperation or conflict, while blaming the downturn in relations on the "U.S. sides erroneous understanding of China." Wang asked the U.S. to stop "hyping up the China threat," lift its "illegal sanctions," stop hindering China's technological progress and said that on the subject of Taiwan, which he described as "core of China's core interests," there was "no room for compromise." Little progress on key issues The two sides appeared to have made no progress on key issues such as Taiwan, trade, human rights and stemming the flow of chemicals used in the production of the synthetic opioid fentanyl. "Despite very low expectations for any breakthroughs made during Blinken's visit to China, there is still hope that both sides can maintain their 'bottom line' in the relationship," state tabloid Global Times said in an editorial on Monday. It added, "It is normal for any country to have low expectations after being continuously suppressed by the US." Derek Grossman, a former daily intelligence briefer to the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and to the assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, said "China's not really in the mood or prepared at all to offer any types of concessions "What to do about the status of Taiwan? What to do about China's expansive claims over the South China Sea, threatening its neighbors throughout the Indo-Pacific, human rights violations? There's no real kind of negotiating out of those things." 'Legitimate Differences' President Joe Biden told White House reporters Saturday he was "hoping that over the next several months, I'll be meeting with Xi again and talking about legitimate differences we have, but also how ... to get along." U.S. defense officials say Chinese officials have refused phone calls since Blinken canceled a planned trip to Beijing in February due to the Chinese spy balloon. Beijing asserts it was a weather balloon. Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu also declined to meet with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore earlier at the start of the month, with Li instead using the forum to accuse the United States of "double standards." There have been recent high-level contacts, including a trip to China by CIA chief William Burns in May, a visit to the U.S. by China's commerce minister, and a meeting in Vienna Austria between Wang and Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Reuters news agency quoted a senior State Department official as telling reporters during a refueling stop in Tokyo that Washington and Beijing understood they needed to communicate more. "There's a recognition on both sides that we do need to have senior-level channels of communication," the official said. "That we are at an important point in the relationship where I think reducing the risk of miscalculation, or as our Chinese friends often say, stopping the downward spiral in the relationship, is something that's important," the official said. "Hope this meeting can help steer China-U.S. relations back to what the two Presidents agreed upon in Bali," tweeted Chinese assistant foreign minister Hua Chunying. Biden and Xi met face-to-face on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of 20 major economies in November and agreed to try to restore dialogue despite sharp differences. The two leaders have opportunities to meet later this year, including at the G20 leaders' gathering in September in New Delhi and at the APEC summit in November in San Francisco. Edited by Mike Firn. Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content June not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Biden: US-China Relations on 'Right Trail' After Blinken Visit to Beijing Sputnik News 20230619 WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - President Joe Biden said the relationship between the United States and China is on the "right trail" after Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing and spoke with Chinese leaders, according to the White House press pool. "He did a hell of a job," Biden said on Monday. "We're on the right trail here." The US president said he has been receiving updates of Blinken's meeting with Chinese leaders through White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Over the weekend, Blinken made a long-awaited trip to Beijing to meet with senior Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping, in an attempt to improve relations that had spiraled to new lows over a number of issues, including a possible confrontation over Taiwan. Although Blinken described the talks as constructive, he noted China did not agree to restore military-to-military channels for managing crisis communications. The US government has enraged Beijing by repeatedly sending military aid to Taiwan. Beijing opposes any official contacts of foreign states with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island to be indisputable. Blinken reiterated during his trip that the United States does not support the independence of Taiwan, but voiced concerns to China about its alleged proactive actions. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Blinken Claims US Not Seeking New Cold War Nor to Change Chinese System Sputnik News 20230619 BEIJING (Sputnik) - The United States does not seek a new cold war and does not want to change the Chinese system, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Monday. During a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the US official said that the US is committed to returning to the agenda set by the leaders of the two countries at the 2022 G20 summit in Bali. He noted that Washington remains committed to the commitments made by President Joe Biden that the US does not seek a new cold war, does not seek to change the Chinese system, and does not seek to resist China by strengthening its allied relations, as quoted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Additionally, the official said that the US does not support the independence of Taiwan, nor it plans to enter into conflict with China. However, the top US diplomat voiced concern to the Chinese side on "provocative" actions in the Taiwan Strait. Blinken highlighted that during his visit to Beijing he had "candid [and] in-depth" conversations with senior Chinese officials. Speaking about a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping Blinken noted that "We both agreed on the need to stabilize our relationship." Blinken also said that it is essential to maintain communications between the US and Chinese military. "It is absolutely vital that we have this kind of communications, military and military, that imperative I think was only underscored by recent incidents that we saw in the air and on the seas," Blinken told reporters as he was wrapping up his two-day visit to China. The American diplomat admitted that the US would welcome China playing a constructive role in the Ukrainian peace effort. Blinken told a news conference that he had come to China to strengthen high-level channels of communication by holding talks with President Xi Jinping, China's top diplomat Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Qin Gang. "During those meetings, we had a robust conversation about regional and global challenges," Blinken said, adding that included the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. "I reiterated that we would welcome China playing a constructive role, along with other nations, to work toward a just peace based on the principles of the United Nations charter," he told reporters. China has provided assurance that it will not provide lethal weapons to Russia not only to the US, but to other countries, Blinken told reporters. "With regard to assurances on providing lethal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine, this is not new today, this is something that China has said in recent weeks and has repeatedly said not only to us but to many other countries that raised this concern that they are not [providing] and will not provide lethal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine," Blinken said. The US State Secretary also underlined that he had discussed food security with the Chinese side and stressed the importance of extending the grain deal. "On food security, we believe China can play a key role in alleviating global food insecurity. I underscore the importance of supporting a long-term expansion of the Black Sea grain initiative, which is facilitated the export of almost 32 million tonnes of grain from Ukraine, with approximately 18 million tonnes going to developing countries," Blinken said during a press conference after the meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, China's Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing. The grain deal was brokered by the UN and Turkey in July 2022 to facilitate the export of agricultural products from ports in the Black Sea during hostilities in Ukraine. The package agreement also included a memorandum of understanding between Russia and the UN to unblock Russian grain and fertilizer exports via the Black Sea. In mid-May, the grain deal was extended until July 17 without any changes. The Russian Foreign Ministry warned that Moscow would block the extension of the deal if its concerns about the implementation of clauses on Russian agricultural exports were not addressed. Xi: Future of Mankind Depends on China, US Being Able to Coexist in Right Way The Chinese leader in turn said that the future and the fate of humanity depend on whether China and the United States will find a right way to coexist. "The future and destiny of mankind depends on whether the United States and China can find the right path to coexistence," Xi said during the meeting with Antony Blinken in Beijing. The Chinese leader stressed that the common interests of the two nations should be valued and that the success of one of the countries is an opportunity, not a threat to another one. Beijing respects Washington's interests and will not challenge or try to replace them, Xi said, adding that the US should likewise respect China and not prejudice its legitimate rights and interests. Xi pointed out that the international community is concerned about the state of relations between Washington and Beijing. "Now the international community is concerned about the relationship between China and the United States, it does not want to see confrontations between the two countries, does not want to choose one of the parties, hopes for peaceful coexistence, friendship and cooperation between China and the United States," Xi was quoted as saying a Chinese broadcaster. Beijing hopes Washington will take a rational and pragmatic stance towards China, the president said at the meeting. President Xi also expressed hope that relations between China and the United States can overcome all difficulties. "China hopes that China-US relations will be healthy and stable, and believes that the two major powers can overcome all difficulties and find the right way to get along with each other on the basis of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation," Xi said. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Blinken's Visit to the People's Republic of China (PRC) US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson June 19, 2023 The following is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken traveled to Beijing, the People's Republic of China for meetings with President Xi Jinping, Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Office Wang Yi, and State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang from June 18-19. The two sides had candid, substantive, and constructive discussions on key priorities in the bilateral relationship and on a range of global and regional issues. The Secretary emphasized the importance of maintaining open channels of communication across the full range of issues to reduce the risk of miscalculation. He made clear that while we will compete vigorously, the United States will responsibly manage that competition so that the relationship does not veer into conflict. The Secretary stressed that the United States would continue to use diplomacy to raise areas of concern as well as areas of potential cooperation where our interests align. The two sides agreed to continue discussions on developing principles to guide the bilateral relationship, as discussed by President Biden and President Xi in Bali. They also welcomed ongoing efforts to address specific issues in the bilateral relationship, and encouraged further progress, including through the joint Working Groups. Noting the importance of ties between the people of the United States and the PRC, both sides welcomed strengthening people-to-people exchanges between students, scholars, and business. This includes a commitment to working to increase the number of direct flights between the two countries. Secretary Blinken emphasized that it remains a priority for the United States to resolve the cases of American citizens who are wrongfully detained or subject to exit bans in China. He underscored the importance of working together to disrupt the global flow of synthetic drugs and their precursor chemicals into the United States, which fuels the fentanyl crisis. The Secretary addressed the PRC's unfair and nonmarket economic practices and recent actions against U.S. firms. He discussed U.S. de-risking policies and the historic domestic investments the Administration has made. The Secretary raised concerns about PRC human rights violations in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, as well as individual cases of concern. He emphasized that the United States will always stand up for our values. The Secretary underscored the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and reiterated there has been no change to the U.S. one China policy, based on the Taiwan Relations Act, the three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances. The two sides discussed a range of global and regional security issues, including Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the DPRK's provocative actions, and U.S. concerns with PRC intelligence activities in Cuba. The Secretary made clear that the United States will work with its allies and partners to advance our vision for a world that is free, open, and upholds the rules-based international order. The two sides underscored that the United States and China should work together to address shared transnational challenges, such as climate change, global macroeconomic stability, food security, public health, and counter-narcotics. The Secretary encouraged further interaction between our governments on these and other areas, which is what the world expects of us. Both sides agreed on follow-on senior engagements in Washington and Beijing to continue open lines of communication. The Secretary invited State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin to Washington to continue the discussions, and they agreed to schedule a reciprocal visit at a mutually suitable time. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Blinken's Meeting with Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Office Wang Yi US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson June 19, 2023 The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Office Wang Yi today in Beijing. In a candid and productive discussion, they addressed a range of bilateral and global issues that affect people in the United States, the People's Republic of China (PRC), and around the world. The Secretary underscored the importance of responsibly managing the competition between the United States and the PRC through open channels of communication to ensure competition does not veer into conflict. The Secretary reiterated that the United States will continue to use diplomacy to raise areas of concern and stand up for the interests and values of the American people. The Secretary and Director Wang also discussed opportunities to explore cooperation on shared transnational challenges. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Blinken Highlights Need for Direct Engagement in US, China Talks By Nike Ching June 19, 2023 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday the United States and China have an obligation to manage their relationship responsibly, and that he told Chinese leaders during meetings in Beijing that direct engagement is the best way to ensure disagreements do not turn into conflict. Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Blinken said he had candid and substantive discussions Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi. "I would expect additional visits by senior U.S. officials to China over the coming weeks," Blinken said during a news conference. He added that Washington welcomes further visits by Chinese officials to the United States. Chinese president Xi Jinping called on the U.S. side to adopt a rational and pragmatic attitude, and work with China in the same direction, according to a statement issued by the Chinese government. While both sides agreed on the need to stabilize communication, Blinken will not return to Washington with an agreement from the Chinese side to set up military-to-military communication channels. "At this moment, China has not agreed to move forward with that," Blinken said. Washington says military communication lines should remain open in the event of a crisis. Ali Wyne, a senior analyst with Eurasia Group's Global Macro-Geopolitics practice, said in an email to VOA that while it is concerning that China did not accept Blinken's proposal to establish military communication channels, Xi's decision to meet with Blinken "suggests that China, not just the United States, appreciates the importance of slowing the deterioration of U.S.-China ties." "The trip will not a and was not a expected to change the fundamentally and intensely competitive nature of U.S.-China relations, but it will give the two countries an opportunity to increase the frequency and broaden the scope of high-level dialogues," he said. Blinken said he raised U.S. concerns about provocative Chinese actions in the Taiwan Strait. He said he reiterated that the United States does not support Taiwan independence and that it continues to expect the peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences. For decades, the U.S. has been clear that its decision to establish diplomatic relations with China in 1979 rested on the expectation that "the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means," as stipulated in the Taiwan Relations Act. Moritz Rudolf, a research scholar at Yale Law School's Paul Tsai China Center, told VOA's Mandarin Service in a phone interview that Blinken's comments on Taiwan were "key for the Chinese side" to hear. He said that while expectations were low for Blinken's visit and there were no major breakthroughs, the talks did not go "as bad as some people might have anticipated." "I think it went fairly well because ... this visit laid the foundation for more visits and more exchanges in the future," he said. Blinken told reporters he also raised human rights issues, including international concerns about the treatment of people in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, as well as the wrongful detention of U.S. citizens in China. Blinken also said the United States is ready to cooperate with China on issues of mutual interest. He said those include climate change, macroeconomic stability, public health, food security and counter-narcotics efforts. The United States and China have also agreed to set up "a working group" of joint efforts to address the illicit flow of fentanyl, according to Blinken. Blinken, who arrived in Beijing Sunday, is the highest-level U.S. official to visit China since 2018. His trip was rescheduled from February after a Chinese surveillance balloon flew through U.S. airspace and was shot down. Americans wrongfully detained in China Children of Americans who the U.S. considers wrongfully detained by Chinese authorities had asked Blinken to raise their fathers' cases with his Chinese counterparts. "Behind every hostage is a family suffering every day," the Bring Our Families Home Campaign said in a tweet on Sunday. "This Sunday will be the 7th time I've missed Father's Day with my dad," said Harrison Li. "Releasing my dad is one of the easiest things that the Chinese government can do to show they are serious about normalizing relations." Harrison Li's father, Kai Li, is an American citizen who has been detained in China since September 2016. He was later sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage, a charge his family rejects. Alice Lin is the daughter of American pastor David Lin, who was detained under unclear circumstances in 2006 and later sentenced to life in prison on charges of contract fraud. Lin's family staunchly maintains his innocence. Lin's sentence was later reduced, and he is expected to be released in 2029. "Secretary Blinken, we miss my dad. Please do everything possible to bring him home," Lin told VOA. Taiwan Washington has said China's military escalation in the Taiwan Strait was "a global concern." A senior State Department official told VOA it is an "abiding interest" of the U.S. to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. China is seen as ramping up economic coercion targeting Taiwan ahead of its presidential election. In May, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told senators that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could halt the world's largest advanced semiconductor production, wiping out up to $1 trillion per year. "I will say this number is way too small," because it only costs about 6% of China's gross domestic product, said Chen-Yu Li, chief economist of Taishin Financial Holdings in Taiwan. Li said a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait will affect other Asian economies such as Japan and South Korea, whose GDP totals at least $5 trillion. He also cited the market value of tech giants such as Apple, Nvidia and AMD, which Li estimates is at least $3 trillion. "If Taiwan is under attack, the stock market in the U.S. may vanish $3 trillion," Li said during a May 12 event hosted by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). "If I am Xi Jinping, I'll be very happy to attack Taiwan. It's just 6%," Li said. Some information for this story came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb and Si Yang of VOA's Mandarin Service contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Blinken, Chinese President Xi Meet in Beijing By Nike Ching June 19, 2023 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on the second and final day of a visit aimed at stabilizing relations between the two powers. The session held at the Great Hall of the People was the source of speculation ahead of Blinken's trip and only publicly confirmed about an hour before it took place. It lasted for about 35 minutes. "President Biden asked me to travel to Beijing because he believes that the United States and China have an obligation and responsibility to manage our relationship," Blinken told Xi. "The United States is committed to doing that. It's in the interest of the United States, in the interests of China, and in the interest of the world." Blinken is the highest level U.S. official to visit China since 2018. His trip was rescheduled from February after a Chinese surveillance balloon flew through U.S. airspace. Blinken met earlier Monday with China's top diplomat Wang Yi for a three-hour discussion that the State Department described as "candid and productive." State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement that the Blinken and Wang "addressed a range of bilateral and global issues" as well as "opportunities to explore cooperation on shared transnational challenges." "The secretary underscored the importance of responsibly managing the competition between the United States and the PRC through open channels of communication to ensure competition does not veer into conflict," Miller said. "The secretary reiterated that the United States will continue to use diplomacy to raise areas of concern and stand up for the interests and values of the American people." China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Wang told Blinken the meeting came at a critical time in U.S.-China relations, and that it is necessary to "reverse the downward spiral." Wang said the most important factor in stabilizing relations between the two countries is mutual respect. Regarding Taiwan, Wang said the United States must oppose Taiwanese independence and that China has no room to compromise on the issue. On Sunday, Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang held "candid" and "direct" talks in Beijing, the State Department said. During the seven-and-a-half hour meeting, Qin accepted an invitation to come to the United States. Agreement was also reached on more flights between the two countries. In addition, both sides will continue to work on several issues "at a working level," said a senior State Department official. Americans wrongfully detained in China Children of Americans who the U.S. considers wrongfully detained by Chinese authorities asked Blinken to raise their fathers' cases with his Chinese counterparts. "Behind every hostage is a family suffering every day," said "Bring Our Families Home Campaign" in a tweet Sunday. "This Sunday will be the 7th time I've missed Father's Day with my dad," said Harrison Li. "Releasing my dad is one of the easiest things that the Chinese government can do to show they are serious about normalizing relations." Harrison Li's dad, Kai Li, is an American citizen detained in China since September 2016. He was later sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage, a charge that his family rejects. Alice Lin is the daughter of American pastor David Lin, who was detained under unclear circumstances in 2006 and later sentenced to life in prison on charges of contract fraud. Lin's family staunchly maintains his innocence. Lin's sentence was later reduced, and he is expected to be released in 2029. "Secretary Blinken, we miss my dad. Please do everything possible to bring him home," Lin told VOA. Taiwan Washington has said China's military escalation in the Taiwan Strait was "a global concern." A senior State Department official told VOA it is an "abiding interest" of the U.S. to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. China is seen as ramping up economic coercion targeting Taiwan ahead of its presidential election. In May, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told senators that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could halt the world's largest advanced semiconductor production, wiping out up to $1 trillion per year. "I will say this number is way too small" because it only costs about 6% of China's gross domestic product, said Chen-Yu Li who is the chief economist of Taishin Financial Holdings in Taiwan. Li said a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait will affect other Asian economies such as Japan and South Korea, whose GDP totals at least $5 trillion. He also cited the market value of tech giants such as Apple, Nvidia, AMD which Li estimates is at least $3 trillion. "If Taiwan is under attack, the stock market in the U.S. may vanish $3 trillion," Li said during a May 12 event hosted by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "If I am Xi Jinping, I'll be very happy to attack Taiwan. It's just 6%." NGOs push for human rights In a signed letter to Blinken, 42 nongovernmental organizations urged the top U.S. diplomat to hold the Chinese government accountable for its human rights abuses, citing repression against ordinary people who participated in peaceful protests. "Hong Kong police detained over 20 people for commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre after banning the annual Victoria Park candlelight vigil," said the letter. Some information for this story came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Netherlands Soon to Announce Controls on IT Exports to China By Natalie Liu June 19, 2023 The Dutch government is soon to join the United States and Japan in rolling out new semiconductor export control measures aimed at keeping sensitive technology away from China due to concern for potential misuse, the country's economic affairs minister told reporters on a visit to Washington. The measures are likely to further restrict sales to China by Netherlands-based ASML, maker of the world's most advanced chip-printing machines, which last year disclosed the "unauthorized misappropriation of data" by a now former employee in China. The United States in October 2022 announced its own export control measures affecting advanced computing integrated circuits and certain semiconductor manufacturing items. The U.S. said the measures were aimed at items that "could provide direct contributions to advancing military decision making" such as "designing and testing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), producing semiconductors for use in advanced military systems, and developing advanced surveillance systems that can be used for military applications and human rights abuses." The U.S. subsequently asked allies including Japan and the Netherlands, which play key roles in the semiconductor supply chain, to introduce similar measures. "The main concern is [the chip-making technology] will be used in military products," Micky Adriaansens, Netherlands' minister of economic affairs and climate, told a group of journalists on June 8 at the Dutch Embassy in Washington. Adriaansens acknowledged that the negotiations with Washington have not been easy. "To be honest, the conversation has been intense, and is still intense," she said. "But we agreed already upon the main issues, with a good [mutual] understanding of what is the right thing to do." Adriaansens said those understandings still have to be translated into regulations but that her country understands the importance of the measures. "We realize that we, the U.S., the Netherlands, Japan and Korea, are very strong in the semicon[ductor] value chain, supply chain, and we have a responsibility there," the minister said, echoing a statement made by Japan's trade minister in March. Japan also takes steps Tokyo announced its own measures on March 31, saying that beginning in July, Japan will restrict 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment from being exported to China. "We are fulfilling our responsibility as a technological nation to contribute to international peace and stability," Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters. At the center of the Netherlands' semiconductor export control deliberations is ASML, a Dutch company with its headquarters in Veldhoven, about an hour and a half's drive southeast of Amsterdam. The company was known as Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography in its early years but is now known as ASML. Europe's biggest high-tech firm by market capitalization, ASML is the world's largest supplier of photolithography machines, which are used to produce computer chips. Its flagship products are the EUV, or extreme ultraviolet, and DUV, or deep ultraviolet, lithography machines that use advanced light technology to shrink and then print tiny patterns down to the nanometer level on silicon wafers, a critical and essential component of the semiconductor manufacturing process. Since 2019, ASML's world-exclusive EUV machines have been on the Netherlands' export control list, meaning they cannot be sold to China without government approval. In a statement issued in March, the company said it understood that the new export controls could be applied to its less-advanced DUV machines and other products as well. While Taiwan is its top customer, ASML has more than 1,000 employees working in 12 office buildings in major Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Last year, sales to China made up 14% of the company's total net systems sales. In its 2022 annual report, released on February 15 this year, the company disclosed that it had experienced "unauthorized misappropriation of data relating to proprietary technology by a (now) former employee in China." The incident may have led to the violation of certain export control regulations, the report said. The company said a comprehensive internal review has since been launched, but the nature and extent of the data that was misappropriated has not been publicly disclosed. Report mentions possible leak Another possible leak of the company's proprietary information that happened in China was disclosed in the previous year's annual report. "Early in 2021, we became aware of reports that a company associated with XTAL, Inc., against which ASML had obtained a damage award for trade secret misappropriation in 2019 in the USA, was actively marketing products in China that could potentially infringe on ASML's IP rights," said the 2021 report. The second company was identified as Beijing-based DongFang JingYuan Electron, which was established in 2014 at about the same time as XTAL and controlled by the same people. ASML's annual report said the company had shared its concerns with the Chinese authorities and was monitoring the situation closely. In its case against XTAL, ASML told the court that a former Chinese employee working at an ASML subsidiary in the United States had stolen 2 million lines of source code for critical software. It said the theft was conducted on behalf of both XTAL and DongFang. ASML's representatives told the court that it took XTAL only two years to replicate a technology that ASML had spent $100 million and a decade developing, as first reported by Bloomberg. XTAL, which ASML's attorneys described in court proceedings as essentially the same as DongFang JingYuan, then tried to sell the technology to South Korea-based Samsung, a longtime client of ASML. In late March, ASML CEO Peter Wennink met with China's newly installed minister of commerce in Beijing. China is "firmly committed to high-level openness, willing to create favorable conditions for multinationals such as ASML to do business in China," Wang Wentao, the newly minted commerce minister, told the visiting CEO. "We hope ASML will affirm and strengthen its confidence in trading and investing in China and make proactive contributions to Sino-Dutch collaboration in trade and economics," Wang continued. It isn't clear whether the two sides discussed the intellectual property infringement issues described in ASML's 2021 and 2022 annual reports or if they did, what remedies Beijing may have proposed. 'Relentless pursuit' Asked how the company plans to fend off future attempts to steal its trade secrets, a company spokesperson told VOA that ASML is committed to "relentless pursuit of individuals or entities that violate or threaten to violate our [intellectual property] in any way." While less well known for semiconductor manufacturing than Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. or U.S.-based Intel, ASML is often viewed as Europe's most valuable high-tech company, likely key to the Netherlands' winning the bid to be the seat of NATO's newly established Innovation Fund. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Payment of Russian crude oil in yuan in line with Pakistan's economic partnership with China, based on mutual trust: ambassador Global Times By Xie Wenting Published: Jun 20, 2023 01:52 AM The transaction of Pakistan's first government-to-government import of discounted Russian crude oil in Chinese yuan is in line with Pakistan's practical and broad-based economic partnership with China and is based on our strong mutual trust and win-win cooperation, Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque told the Global Times in an exclusive interview on Monday. Ambassador Haque told the Global Times that with growing economic ties and the new projects being launched under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), China and Pakistan have agreed to the use of the Chinese yuan and Pakistani rupees for financial transactions. The first cargo of discounted Russian crude oil arrived in Karachi on June 11. In an interview with Reuters, Pakistan's Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik revealed that the "payment (was) made in RMB." Analysts pointed out that this transaction of oil in Chinese yuan marks a significant shift away from the traditional use of the US dollar for international transactions. The move is also viewed by observers as a way for Pakistan to reduce its reliance on the US dollar and strengthen its ties with China and Russia. It is also expected to boost trade among the three countries. "The first ever shipment of Russian oil recently arrived in Pakistan after undergoing a prudent process of procurement. This transaction is aimed to bring benefits to the people of Pakistan amid rising fuel prices all over the world, as well as Pakistan's difficult economic situation, energy shortages, and dependence on expensive imported petroleum," Haque told the Global Times. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Twitter on June 11 when the crude oil cargo arrived in the country that "today is a transformative day. We are moving one step at a time toward prosperity, economic growth, and energy security and affordability." "This is the first ever [consignment of] Russian oil cargo to Pakistan and the beginning of a new relationship between Pakistan and the Russian Federation. I commend all those who remained part of this national endeavor and contributed to translating the promise of a Russian oil import into reality," he said. Pakistan's first government-to-government deal with Russia consisted of 100,000-ton crude oil consignment, according to media reports. Ambassador Haque noted to the Global Times that this transaction in Chinese yuan is based on win-win cooperation and Pakistan's broad-based economic partnership with China. According to the Pakistani diplomat, China is Pakistan's largest trading partner and one of the biggest sources of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow into Pakistan. The economic and financial ties between China and Pakistan have been further fortified since the inception of CPEC in 2013 which became the mainstay of the bilateral economic relationship. Pakistan is also a priority partner for developmental cooperation under the Global Development Initiative (GDI). "China and Pakistan have a currency swap agreement to facilitate trade in local currencies. As bilateral trade between the two countries grows and new projects are launched under the CPEC, the two countries have agreed to the use of yuan and Pakistani rupees for financial transactions," he said. In a previous interview with the Global Times, Ambassador Haque said that CPEC is a flagship project and a major corridor under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Fully aligned with the national development agenda of Pakistan, CPEC has been the key to the countries' socio-economic development. In its first phase, CPEC aimed to develop major transport infrastructure and address the country's essential energy needs. In the next phase, CPEC will focus more on socio-economic development, agricultural cooperation, and industrialization. The use of the Chinese yuan in international transactions has increased in recent years. Pakistan is among a list of countries that now settle trade with China in Chinese yuan. Iraq's Central Bank announced in February that it plans to use Chinese yuan to improve its access to foreign currency. In March, the China National Offshore Oil Corp and France's TotalEnergies completed China's first yuan-settled liquefied natural gas trade using cross-border yuan settlement, according to the Xinhua News Agency. Meanwhile, a de-dollarization trend has been gaining momentum in the world in recent years as more countries seek to reduce their dependence on the US dollar and diversify their foreign exchange reserves. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US urged to avoid misjudgement based on traditional trajectory of Western powers: Chinese FM Global Times By Global Times Published: Jun 20, 2023 02:11 AM The US should have an objective and rational understanding of China, work with China to maintain the political foundation of China-US relations, handle contingencies calmly, professionally and rationally, and jointly manage differences, Yang Tao, director-general of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs said on Monday as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken just ended his trip to China. As agreed by China and the US, Blinken visited China from Sunday to Monday. On the afternoon of Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping had a courtesy meeting with Blinken. During the visit, Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee met with Blinken, and State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang held talks with Blinken as well. Yang stated that the meetings and talks during Blinken's visit were candid, in-depth, and constructive. China expressed that the current state of China-US relations is at its lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic ties. This situation is not in line with the fundamental interests of both nations' peoples or the expectations of the international community. The root cause of the deterioration in China-US relations is the US's incorrect understanding of China and its formulation of misguided policies towards China. Yang summarized that China and the US should adopt a responsible attitude towards their respective people, history, and the world. They should strive to reverse the downward spiral of China-US relations and bring them back to a path of stability and mutual benefit in the new era. It is crucial for both sides to find a correct way to coexist. Moreover, it is pressing for both China and the US to genuinely implement the consensus reached at the Bali meeting between the two heads of state. This entails adhering to the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation, as proposed by President Xi. These principles should serve as the guiding spirit, bottom line, and goal for both countries. During the talks, the Chinese side urged the US not to compare China with the template of a strong country that necessarily becomes hegemonic. They also emphasized that China should not be misjudged based on the trajectory followed by traditional Western powers. The Chinese side clarified its solemn stance on issues such as Taiwan question, human rights, democratic systems, and suppression of technology, and put forward clear requirements during the talks. China urged the US to adhere to the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques. Additionally, they called for respect for China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as a clear opposition to "Taiwan independence." The US was also urged to refrain from promoting the "China threat theory," to lift illegal unilateral sanctions against China, to abandon measures suppressing China's technological development, and to refrain from arbitrary interference in China's internal affairs. Furthermore, Yang mentioned that some positive consensus and results were achieved during this visit between China and the US. The most important outcome is the agreement to implement the consensus established by the heads of state of both countries at the Bali meeting and to resume discussions based on the agenda set during that meeting. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address North Korea vows to launch another surveillance satellite after failed attempt Iran Press TV Monday, 19 June 2023 8:05 AM Top North Korean officials have vowed to press forward with launching another surveillance satellite into space following the recent failure of the first try. The Political Bureau of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee described the country's first launch last month "the most serious" shortcoming in the first half of the year in a report presented to its 8th Enlarged Plenary Meeting held from June 16 to 18, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Monday. Top North Korean officials pointed out during the meeting, attended by leader Kim Jong-un, that "the development of military reconnaissance satellite is of very great significance" in the prospective advancement of the country's army and "in making full combat preparations" for the armed forces of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea]," according to the report. The report further cited the top officials as emphasizing that due to the significance attached to the issue, it "cannot be overlooked" and North Korean scientists and engineers must find ways to overcome the shortcoming. North Korea's first attempt to launch the satellite ended in its crashing due to a malfunction in the engine and fuel system. The "Chollima-1" rocket crashed into the West Sea of Korea on May 31, 2023. Fighting US bid for global supremacy The WPK Political Bureau also called on the nation's defense forces to strengthen their military relations with other countries. It called on the national defense field to consistently adhere to the "important tasks" for strengthening solidarity with countries that are "opposed to the US brigandish strategy for world supremacy," KCNA added. Pyongyang has pushed to boost relations with Russia, giving its approval to Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine. Pyongyang adheres to the principle that Moscow is defending itself against US-led NATO's expansionist "hegemonic policy." North Korea has also sought to build on its ties with China, its closest ally and neighboring economic powerhouse that acts as its lifeline, fending the nation against US-led international sanctions. Both Russia and China are veto-holding permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and have repeatedly blocked attempts by the Americans and others in the Western bloc to toughen UN sanctions against North Korea over its rocket, missile and nuclear weapons development program to defend itself against persisting launch of massive war games by US and South Korean armed forces near its territorial waters. The Political Bureau also discussed ways to improve North Korea's struggling economy, which experts say has been under pressure due to the sanctions slapped on the country. Despite the brutal US-led sanctions, North Korea has achieved considerable progress in boosting agricultural output and reviving production in metal and chemical industries, KCNA reported. It also cited notable progress in the construction field, citing a project to build tens of thousands of new homes in the capital, Pyongyang. North Korea has been very open about its rocket development program, insisting that it is aimed at defending the nation against US aggression exemplified in its continuous war games in the region and the recent deployment of nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Transcript of Special briefing by Foreign Secretary on Prime Minister's visit to USA and Egypt (June 19, 2023) India - Ministry of External Affairs June 19, 2023 Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Very good afternoon to all of you. Thank you for joining us for this special media briefing on the occasion of the forthcoming visit of Honorable Prime Minister to the United States of America and Egypt that commences from tomorrow. To give us a sense of the visit, we have with us Foreign Secretary Sir, Shri Vinay Kwatra. Also joining us on the dais is Dr. Ausaf Sayeed, Secretary (CPV and OIA) in the Ministry of External Affairs as well as Dr. Pradeep Rajpurohit, Joint Secretary looking after West Asia and North Africa Division in the Ministry. Sir, may I hand over the floor to you. Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary: Thank you very much and good afternoon to all of you, friends or present here this afternoon for the special briefing of Honorable Prime Minister's upcoming visit to the United States and to the Arab Republic of Egypt. First, about the United States. Prime Minister is visiting US on 21st through 23rd of June at the invitation of His Excellency President Biden and the First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden. What I would do is give you a brief run, overall structure of the program outline, try to sketch a bit of context, key elements which currently resonate in the relationship and then go on to speak about, very briefly about, the program in Egypt. Firstly, this will be Prime Minister's first Official State Visit to the United States. PM has earlier visited US roughly six times, both in bilateral capacities as also for multilateral events. First about the program, the first leg of his program in the US is in New York, which starts on the morning of the 21st with celebration of the International Day of Yoga at the UN headquarters in the morning of the 21st. You would recall that United Nations General Assembly had adopted a resolution proclaiming June 21st as the International Day of Yoga. While in New York, Honorable Prime Minister will also meet a cross section of prominent personalities and leaders. From there, he departs for Washington on 21st itself where his program for the Washington leg commences. On the first day of his arrival in Washington DC on 21st, the first key engagement would be an event that is focused on skilling, skilling for future, which essentially would try to bring out the key complementarities and the objectives that both systems seek to promote and achieve in the field of skilling and capacity building. On the same day, on 21st, there is expected to be...there will be a private engagement between President Biden and Prime Minister. On 22nd June, which is the second day of the program in Washington, that's the day of formal bilateral meetings, essentially would have four or five key components. The first component being the ceremonial welcome at the White House. Second component being a set of bilateral meetings between the two leaders as also the accompanying delegations. The third component is Honorable Prime Minister's scheduled address to the US Congress and the congressional reception thereafter. And the concluding component for June 22nd would be the ceremonial state dinner hosted by the Honorable President and the First Lady in honor of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi. The day three of the Washington leg, which is June 23rd, Prime Minister's program again would have four or five key components. The first being his interaction, one to one interaction with select CEOs spread throughout the day. Thereafter, Prime Minister will also be hosted by the US Vice President and Secretary of State, Antony Blinken at the State Luncheon, which is part of the Official State Visit. Prime Minister will then interact with prominent professional personalities as also leaders from cross-section of the society at an event at the Kennedy Center. Prime Minister's last engagement in Washington DC will be an interaction with the community leaders immediately after the Kennedy Center event. Thereafter, the Prime Minister will depart for Egypt. In terms of a substantive context of the US visit, if I could just take a minute to highlight some of the key components on which we will continue to speak to you in coming days as the visit unfolds and depending on Honorable Prime Minister's interaction day to day during his visit to the US. The first is a milestone in our relationship between the two countries. You heard Honorable External Affairs Minister say yesterday, it's a very significant visit, very important visit, a visit on which there is a genuine and widespread deep interest in the United States. Two, the visit is very rich in both form and in substance. Three key component would be the leadership connect during the visit between the two countries. Four, naturally an important element of the visit will also be discussion on the bilateral relationships, the line of effort, the objectives that we set for ourselves in terms of looking at next series of transformative agenda items in years ahead. And in that, I guess the effort would also be to build a network in which these new domains of partnership could be properly positioned. I must mention here that Honorable Shri Narendra Modi ji would be among the rare few leaders, world leaders to have been accorded the honor to address the US Congress more than once. Clearly, another key context which has always continued is a strong and widespread degree of bipartisan support in the US Congress to the strengthening of this relationship. In terms of key elements of the relationship, many of which would feature very prominently during this visit. One, of course, as I said, is the political connect at the leadership level, a high level of and very intense level of political exchanges has been one of the key features of our relationship. Just within this month, we have had three very high profile visits from US to India, including of most recently, which is the National Security Advisor of the US, Jake Sullivan. Prior to that, Defense Secretary, the US, Excellency Lloyd Austin. And we also had the privilege of hosting Secretary of State Blinken earlier this year. The second key component, which has been a very strong pillar of our relationship has been strong trade and investment partnership. Whether you look at the quantum of bilateral trade, touching close to $200 billion, or the strong flow of capital on both sides. Three, the technology component...and technology component interfaces with many other domains. So technology itself interfaces in the telecom area, in the space area, in the manufacturing domain. Also, a lot of it as a triangulation of technology manufacturing and investment...a lot of this translates into that. Within the technology realm, the critical and emerging technologies has been the most recent area of focus, an area which presents itself with really very exciting opportunities for bilateral engagement in months and years ahead. The next key component, which will also be showcased prominently during the visit is the bilateral defense cooperation. It has been a critical pillar of our engagement. And within that, a new element this year, we expect this, during this visit we expect is the progress on defense industrial cooperation roadmap, which essentially takes us on the path of how the defense industries on both sides can partner closely, both in not just in the field of co-production, co-development, but also do it in a manner that the supply chains on both sides in this field...the industrial ecosystem, broadly speaking, in the field of defense could talk to each other, could cooperate with each other far more intensely. Another key component, always a very vibrant, robust and dynamic component of our relationship, in many ways a strong driver of the relationship is also the Diaspora, Prime Minister's interface with Diaspora. We have close to 5 million strong Indian Diaspora in the US, which contributes enormously and very richly to the growth, the substance and the strength of the relationship. Another key element, part of it I referred to early on in my remarks is the whole domain of skilling and mobility, in some cases independent, in some cases linked. Those would be the broad outlined contours of Honorable Prime Minister's visit to the US in terms of the program, the context in which visit is taking place, key elements not just of the relationship, but also which will feature prominently during the Prime Minister's visit. Moving on to the second leg of Honorable Prime Minister's visit, this would be to Egypt at the invitation of His Excellency Abdul Fattah el-Sisi, the President of Arab Republic of Egypt. The State Visit to Egypt will be on June 24-25. It is worth mentioning here that this will be Honorable Prime Minister's first visit to Egypt and I might also mention that this would be the first official bilateral visit of the Indian Prime Minister to Egypt since 1997. There have been visits in between but they have mostly been for the multilateral or plurilateral events. You would all recall that most recently the Egyptian President had paid a State Visit to India when he graced our Republic Day earlier in the year as the chief guest. At this stage the Prime Minister is expected to reach Cairo in the afternoon of June 24, where his first interaction will be with the India unit. This unit is a select unit of high-level ministers which the Honorable President of Egypt had constituted after his return from India. I think it was in March sometime that it was constituted, so Prime Minister's first interaction will be with this unit. I must mention here that over the last several months since the visit of the President of Egypt, we have seen an intense level of Ministerial-level political exchanges between the two countries. External Affairs Minister himself, Honorable Rakhsha Mantri ji and Minister of Environment have travelled to Egypt. We have had similarly at least three to four Ministers from the Egyptian government who have visited India. Even as we speak, a Ministerial-level delegation led by the Chairperson of the Suez Canal Authority is in India. Clearly shows you the extent of very sharp focus that both India and Egypt are placing on strengthening all aspects of their relationship. After that interaction with the India unit, Prime Minister will have interaction with the small Indian community that is there in Egypt and will likely also meet some of the prominent personalities in Egypt. His next day will begin with a visit to Al-Hakim Mosque. It is the 11th century mosque which was refurbished, renovated by the Bohra community and the visit to Al-Hakim Mosque will be followed by a visit to the Heliopolis War Grave Cemetery to pay tribute to the Indian soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice fighting for Egypt during the First World War. Prime Minister will have official engagement at the Presidency of Egypt, including bilateral talks with President of Egypt and signing of various MOUs and agreements on that day. Thereafter, Prime Minister would return to India. Just a brief few words on the key elements of substance. I just referred to the intense level of political exchanges. I must also add that most recently the Grand Mufti of Egypt was in India on a very successful visit. As you all know, Egypt has also been invited as a special guest during India's G20 Presidency. This is a very quick, reciprocal visit coming just within six months of President Sisi's visit to India. We do expect and are confident that the visit of Honorable Prime Minister of Egypt will not just ensure continuing momentum to the relationship between our two countries, but will also help it expand to new areas of trade and economic engagement between our two countries. I would stop here and if there are any questions, we'll try to take them. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Thank you. Thank you very much. So, the ground rules, please introduce yourself and the organization that you represent. I know there'll be a lot of interest, so we'll try to also limit the number of questions because Foreign Secretary has other engagements. Let me try to start with you there. Rishab: Secretary, good morning. Rishab from Times Now. Sir, two questions. One, there are reports that Indian Prime Minister has written to G20 counterparts regarding African Union. I'm coming to this topic only. African Union, will that be discussed in US? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: What will be discussed in the US? Rishab: African Union, permanent membership to G20, that Prime Minister has written. And, sir, if we can have some details of CEOs who will be meeting Prime Minister in the United States. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: CEOs who is meeting? Rishab: Prime Minister is holding meetings, with the CEOs. Vinit Dixit: Vinit Dixit from News Gate. Sir, I'm interested to know, will there be an agreement on LCA Mark 2 engine manufacturing, core manufacturing here in India? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: The GE-1? Is that the GE-1 that you are talking about? Vinit Dixit: Will that be part of the bilateral defense cooperation production in the long run? And is there a quid pro quo from Americans to us to join NATO as one of the partners in Quad has already done? Mujib Mashal: I'm Mujib Mashal from the New York Times. Foreign Secretary, just a question of clarification on the Prime Minister's June 23 schedule. The last two events, the Kennedy Center event is not the diaspora event. The diaspora event is the community leaders event that comes after that. And can you tell us a little bit about the sort of the scale of the diaspora event? Is it going to be similar to the one during the Prime Minister's last visit or is this a more selective interaction? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Yeah, please. Vijayalakshmi: Sir, Vijayalakshmi hu India TV se. Aapne apne vaktavya mai bilateral defense cooperation ki baat ki hain aur critical pillar hum dono ke rishton mai bataya hain toh kin kin defense masaudon par is visit ke dauran charcha ya hastakshar ho sakta hain? [Question in Hindi: Approximate translation] Sir, I'm Vijayalakshmi from India TV. You have mentioned bilateral defense cooperation in your speech and highlighted it as a critical pillar in our relationship. So, which defense issues will be discussed or signed during this visit? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Outcomes? Last hand, yeah. Smita Sharma: Hi, Smita Sharma. I work independently. Foreign Secretary, A, we are hearing reports that some members of the US Congress, including Democrat lawmakers, will possibly issue statements on issues of human rights and there are some protests that are being planned during the visit. Has India taken this up with the other side? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Sorry, sorry. I didn't get your question. What? What is your question? There are reports that people will write letters, we should take it up in advance. That doesn't make sense. Please have a specific question. Smita Sharma: There could be a moment of embarrassment if there are protests planned and it happens. Is the Indian side taking that into account at all? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: What is your question? Smita Sharma: There are planned protests during the Prime Minister's visit on issues of human rights, including some Democrat lawmakers who have suggested there will be issued statements. Does India have a view of this? And on the Myanmar's civil war situation which seems to be worsening, because that's one area where India and US definitely do seem to have a different position. Is that something that's going to come up at all? Vedika Sood: Vedika Sood from CNN. My question is, is the Indian government hoping, or is the Prime Minister hoping, to sign any weapon deals that might reduce India's reliance on Russian arms? Thank you. Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary: Thank you very much. Let me just bunch up the set of questions relating to defense. LCA Mark 2, Raksha Sahyog, weapon deal, and put it in a context in which the defense relationship between India and US is placed. Look, if you look at the complete matrix of India-US defense engagement, defense partnership, you will find that it is very robust, it is very dynamic, it has all the significant elements that make it so important. We conduct a large number of bilateral military exercises, both bilateral as also regional in nature. Our armed forces of the two countries have all kinds of staff-to-staff engagement that takes place between the two sides. India also is an important deployer of the US equipment and platforms. Some of it are used by India. We also have significantly an important objective and an effort and an ongoing component of it in terms of what the two defense and industrial system can do, which focuses on research, collaboration and production opportunities and production cooperation, mainly also under the Prime Minister's Made in India campaign. So if you look at the defense partnership, and I mentioned it in my remarks, that the defense industrial production roadmap that the two countries have been discussing for some time and which would hopefully be one of the very key outcomes during this visit, essentially focuses on all aspects of defense co-production, co-development. And what is important is it also talks about how the defense industrial ecosystems of the two countries could co-operate much better, how the supply lines in the field of the defense industries could also interface with each other much better. So I don't think it would be appropriate to really single out individual elements and link it to a certain sort of pre-defined objective in that sense. I think it is important to position each element of the defense relationship very correctly in the overall network of defense relationship and also the way defense relationship is positioned in the larger overall relationship. So that's the element of defense which is coming out from the questions. Times now, and I think Yeshi, your... thik hain. dekhiye jo maine abhi sakshipt mai yahin kahan ki jahan tak Bharat America ke raksha sahyog ka prashn hain usko ek simit dristi se, ek particular equipment platform ke najariye se dekhne ke bajay uska framework jismai hamain use dekhna chahiye, woh ye hain ki Bharat US ke raksha sahyog kafi vyapak hain, kafi comprehensive hain, uske kai mahatvapurna bhag hain. Us pure har bhag ko aap dekhenge toh usmai jo naya bhag jispe hum kafi jor se kendrit hain woh hai ki kis prakar Bharat tatha US ke raksha udyogi ke se jude hue jo companies hain woh kis prakar se ek dusre ke sath apna dwipakshiy sahyog, apna dwipakshiy sahkary badha sakte hain. Dusra raksha ke keshtra mai jo dono deshon ke bich mai jo industrial supply line linkages hain, industrial production ecosystems hain woh kis parkar se ek dusre se baat kar sakte hain aur uska mukhya uddesh, mukhya tatparya yahin hain ki kis prakar se Bharat US raksha sahyog ek industrial production ecosystem ki taraf badhe jisse na kewal dono deshon ke raksha sahyogon ko bal milega apitu jo vaishvik paripeksya hain usmai bhi dono deshon ke raksha samband ek acchi pragati kar sakte hain. mukhya roop se raksha ko lekar ye prashn hain. [Answer in Hindi: Approximate translation] OK. See, what I briefly mentioned earlier is that when it comes to India-US defense cooperation, instead of looking at it from a limited perspective that focuses on a particular equipment platform, we should look at its framework. The framework is that India-US defense cooperation is extensive and comprehensive, with many significant components. When you look at each component, the new aspect that we are emphasizing is how the defense industries of both countries can enhance their bilateral cooperation and collaboration. Another aspect in the field of defense is how the industrial supply line linkages and industrial production ecosystems between the two countries can communicate with each other. The main objective and purpose is to promote India-US defense cooperation towards an industrial production ecosystem. This will not only strengthen the defence cooperation between the two countries but also make good progress in the defence relations between the two countries in the global context. This primarily pertains to the question of defense. The question from Times Now and I think you also had similar question which is the G20 and the CEOs meeting. Prime Minister, as I mentioned in my remarks will interact with the prominent cross section of personalities while he is in US, both in New York and in Washington DC. This would include some prominent CEOs also. These meetings will be in multiple settings. As and when these meetings take place, the substantive discussions of those meetings, what exactly is achieved and sought to be achieved during this meeting, we would share with you as we go along. On the G20, India's Presidency in the G20 has already been quite remarkable and unique. I may be factually slightly off the mark here, but to my recollection, this would perhaps be the first Presidency which has taken G20 out really from the capitals to all over the country. I mean, we have had already roughly 140 odd meetings spread pretty much all over India. The number of venues in the cities and places in the country that we have used just shows the extent of commitment that India has to ensure that G20 travels far and wide within the country. Naturally, when the Honorable Prime Minister meets with the U.S. leadership, President Biden, the focus on what India is trying to do in its G20 presidency, especially with regard to priorities, interests and concerns of the countries of the Global South, that large chunk of Global South that actually remains unrepresented in the G20, for which the Honorable prime minister also held, if you would all remember, the Voice of Global South Summit in January this year. The idea is to put that on the table...and put that on the table with the importance that it deserves, in terms of being included onto the G20 agenda. Naturally, in that, the interest of the African countries, which represents a large section of the Global South, are important and they would feature in the discussions...discussions between the Honorable Prime Minister and the President. Smita, if I could just come to your question on the U.S. Congress, planned protests...Myanmar and the situation in Myanmar. Look, when Honorable Prime Minister travels abroad, all aspects of his visit, including those that pertain to safety, security and other administrative arrangements, are made duly by the appropriate agencies and I'm sure they will do what is required to be done. We don't comment on those aspects of the arrangements of the Honorable Prime Minister. You talked about...you referred to some planned communications that, according to your information, might come. I would position this slightly differently. I would say that we look at this visit from a very different frame of reference. I mentioned in my remarks that we sense deep and widespread positive interest in the US on the visit. We are aware, evidence-based...aware of the positive things we have done in the relationship. Three, we are determined and targeted to move to the new domains of strategic partnership, which are crucial not just for partnership between our two societies, two countries, two systems, but which would also be net positive contributors to the developments in the world. Five, the extent of enthusiasm across the various cross-sections of the US system is palpable. I don't write the media news. You guys write. You can well see that spread over the pages of the media for yourself and determine what is the frame of reference in which the two systems are looking at the relationship. So we look at the relationship from that frame, not from any other frame. The Myanmar question, I really cannot...it's not correct for me to prejudge what the two Leaders will speak in their discussions, but it would be natural to expect that the regional and the global situation will come up for discussion. During that, as I said again, it is not correct for us to frame the agenda of discussions between the two Leaders in that sense, but on Myanmar, I think our position has always been very clear, and the US side appreciates that position. Let's not forget that we have a large border with Myanmar. Myanmar is our neighbour. The kind of framework in which we deal with our relationship in Myanmar is very different. We have continued with our extensive humanitarian assistance and development cooperation with Myanmar, even during the times that Myanmar was troubled, so to speak. So from our perspective, our position on Myanmar has always been very clear. Being a neighbour, we always try, we wish, and we make an effort in that direction that the country remains peaceful and stable. But Myanmar is our neighbor, and we as a result, have continued with our...as I said, humanitarian assistance, development partnership, capacity-building programs, etc. with Myanmar. The event at the Kennedy Center is organized and supported by many organizations. It includes a cross-section of Associations in the US that are working to ensure that the Kennedy Center event is successful. To my understanding, that particular event would include business leaders from across the different sections of the society, young entrepreneurs...that's an important segment of our partnership, think-tank members from across the United States, the young Indian-Americans, Indian-American leaders. So it's a more cross-section of the participants that would be in that Kennedy Center event. Reagan Center event, which you referred to, is organized by the community. Let me just add a word which I had a chance to share with some of the friends from the media that, you know...and I mentioned it in my remarks...the Indian community, Indian diaspora in the United States is really one of the strongest anchors of the relationship, if you were to say. And also drives it, gives it that crucial positive substance and momentum of the relationship. And as a result, you would have noticed that Honorable Prime Minister have always given it top importance to interface with the community leaders. The settings have kept changing. The parts of the U.S. have kept changing. But the enthusiasm, the energy, the dynamism of the community is something which is very dear and is a top priority for the Honorable Prime Minister. And he makes it a point to connect with that critical segment of our relationship, which is what he would do at the Reagan Center also. On the NATO question, which was kind of...I think our External Affairs Minister has already sort of clarified our position on this. And I think he has said this is not a template that suits us. So I don't want to add anything more to that. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Thank you, sir. Kallol. One second. I'll come back to you. Kallol Bhattacherjee: Sir, Kallol Bhattacherjee from The Hindu. My question is regarding the Global South. When you held the Global South Summit earlier this year, the impression that we got was that India is the leader of the Global South. Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary: When you held means? Kallol Bhattacherjee: I mean, when you means the Government of India, that is. Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary: All right. I thought when you said we to you quickly, I was a little surprised. Kallol Bhattacherjee: The Government of India organized the Global South meeting. We got the impression that India is the leader of the Global South. Now that you are pitching for the leadership and the inclusion of the African Union in G20 and also saying that the Global South is not represented at G20, are you indicating that you don't want to shoulder the responsibility of the Global South and that you want to divide the responsibility of leading the Global South with other members? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Okay. Hold on. Sorry. I normally don't interrupt the question, but this one sounds more towards a thesis question. It has to be specific to Prime Minister's visit to the U.S. Maybe we'll have one response indirectly, but I'm not sure what you meant. I couldn't understand it. Parikshit. Parikshit: Sir, on the question -- Sir Parikshit from CNBC, on the question of critical and emerging technologies, there's been some very intense negotiations between India and U.S. on semiconductors. Even the U.S. NSA had said that there will be a big announcement on chips. So could you give us a sense of one? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Pause. U.S. NSA said that, You're asking us. You're not asking him. Which way is this conversation? Parikshit: I just want to ask if there is a private sector investment that will be announced and if there is a collaboration between India and U.S. on semiconductors between the industry and government, what will that entail, sir? Abhishek Kapoor: Sir, Abhishek Kapoor from Republic TV. U.S. NSA in fact in Tokyo mentioned that in some ways the India-U.S. relationship is now more important than the U.S.-China relationship. A week before that we had Kurt Campbell, advisor on Indo-Pacific saying that the India-U.S. relationship is going to take an escape velocity. What kind of orbit we are looking at. I just wanted to understand the New Delhi view, these kind of words coming in from the U.S. establishment. Really the red carpet. How does India see the trajectory going? Is there a 10-year plan, 20-year plan? Neeraj: Sir, Neeraj hoon News18 India se. Pradhan Mantri ke daure ke dauran Americi Rashtrapati se china aur pakistan ke sandarbh mai kin kin maslon pe charcha hogi? [Question in Hindi: Approximate translation] Sir, I am Neeraj from News18 India. During the Prime Minister's visit, what issues will be discussed in relation to China and Pakistan with the American President? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Its general question. Anyway. Srinjoy, although TimesNow had a question but anyway I will give it to you. Srinjoy Chowdhury: Sir, very specifically, will the Indo-Pacific, particularly the increasing American deployment in the South China Sea area and also in the IOR and also cross border terrorism, will those issues come up in the three meetings PM is having with President Biden? John: Yeah, thank you for the briefing. I'm not sure I'm going to get anywhere with this but if it was possible to get the names of some of the companies whose CEOs the Prime Minister will be meeting with, that would be amazing. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: I think, Foreign Secretary has answered that question, we'll share that with you closer to the date. It's still a few days ago but I'll let Foreign Secretary to answer. Sir, I can hand over it to you. Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary: Thank you. First of all, to the question from Kallol. I think we organized. There is no you or me in this. We organized. Prime Minister hosted the Voice of Global South Summit. Look, I'll just repeat what Arindam said. I mentioned about the Global South in the G20 context and what I said was that the priorities, concerns and interests of the Global South. Prime Minister, if this issue comes up for discussion, we'll speak about those. We have spoken about those and we have spoken very extensively about those. We have tried to include as much of those priorities as we can into the G20 agenda. Naturally, we, as part of the G20 Presidency, we focus on priorities that are essentially development oriented, that fit in well with the ecosystem of developmental priorities of other countries. But having said that, we do realize that countries of the Global South have their individual concerns, interests and priorities. And it is only fair to include at least those priorities, interests and concerns where membership may not be represented in the G20 setting. That's the reference I was making to in response to the question that came up. Parikshit, to your question on the semiconductors and what exactly it entails. Look, I will position what India and US are trying to do in the field of semiconductors, in the field of telecommunications, in the field of entire set of technologies that fall in the rubric of critical and emerging technologies, and sometimes these are not just technologies per se, they are associated services, there are associated technology templates that move with it. The entire rubric of those discussions naturally focuses on what the industry on both sides, what some of the research institutions on both sides can collaborate on. The options are extensive, the discussions are again wide and deep, and what comes out of these discussions in terms of specific achievements, as I said we will share with you as the programme of Honorable Prime Minister's visit unfolds. But one thing is very clear that the technology relationship between India and the US is a very rich segment of our partnership, and that is a segment on which we are looking to make substantial progress in months and years ahead, including focusing on some of the technologies that you mentioned, there are others also which are there, there was a tangent to the defense industrial related technologies also, which feeds into the same matrix. Abhishek, your question on what the US NSA said, what Kurt Campbell said, what does it mean, etc. Look, it means what I said in my remarks, there is a deep and widespread interest in the Honorable Prime Minister's visit to the US, there is an extensive government-wide effort on both sides to enrich the relationship further by including some of the key areas of cooperation, technology obviously from the set of questions is featuring very prominently in that. That's what it means...it is intent, objective, interest...all comes together in a visit on which everybody is very excited. Neeraj jaise maine pahle bhi kaha ke manniya pradhan mantri ji aur US ke rashtrapati aapas mai varta ka kya agenda rakhte hain ye toh kehna hamare liye sambhav nahi hoga, magar kshtriya aur vaishvik har woh mudda jo mahtavpurna hain dono deshon ke paripeksha mai us har mudde pe samay ki upladbhi ke unichit batchit hogi, lekin kis specific vishay pe baat hogi, ya nahi hogi woh kehna jo hain mere khayal se mushkil hoga. [Answer in Hindi: Approximate translation] Neeraj, as I mentioned earlier, it would not be possible for me to say what specific agenda the Honorable Prime Minister and the President of the United States have for their discussions. However, issues of regional and global importance relevant to both countries will be given due attention and discussed, in accordance with the availability of time. It would be difficult for me to say whether there will be discussions on specific topics or not. Srinjoy, your question...I will partly link to what Neeraj also asked, which is the Indo-Pacific...you referred to the cross-border terrorism issue. There are other challenges which feature in the larger safety and security domain. I would say that, as I said, when the two Leaders meet, they would obviously focus on things which are of larger strategic importance to them, whether they are in the regional context or in the global context, but that's for the leaders to decide and for them to discuss. The question from the Financial Times, as I just mentioned earlier on also, specific meetings that the Honorable Prime Minister would have with individual CEOs and the cross-section of prominent personalities, we will share with them as they happen and what happens in those meetings. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: So we are running out of time, we will just take few last questions. Siddhant: Hi, sir. I'm Siddhant from CNN News 18. Sir, we have seen that when cases of separatist groups were increasing in Australia, Prime Minister had intervened and perhaps that has, you know, made the Government to act against those groups. Can we expect Prime Minister to flag off the issue of separatist groups in USA because our own Consulate was attacked and there was a temple attack in Texas. So can we have this issue being raised by the Prime Minister? Thank you. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Yeah. Next, please. Manish Jha: Sir main Manish Jha hoon TV9 Bharat Varsh se. ek taraf jahan hum log dekh rahain hain ki America ki dono party ke jo congress persons hain woh khul kar Pradhan Mantri ke aane ko lekar welcome statement jari kar rahain hain. Wahin dusri taraf dekha ja raha hain ki ISI ke toolkit ke tahat khalistani protest ho sakte hain, uski taiyariya chal rahi hain, jisse PM ki security ko lekar bhi concern hain, aur Indian-American community ke sath unka clash bhi ho sakta hain, toh kya aap logon isko lekar cognizance liya hain? [Question in Hindi: Approximate translation] Sir, I am Manish Jha from TV9 Bharat Varsh. On one hand, we are witnessing Congress members from both parties in the United States openly issuing welcome statements regarding the Prime Minister's visit. On the other hand, it is being observed that preparations are underway for potential Khalistani protests under the guise of an ISI toolkit, which raises concerns not only for the Prime Minister's security but also the possibility of clashes with the Indian-American community. Have you taken cognizance of this situation? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Foreign Secretary has already answered it, for security issues. Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary: Jo mujhe yaad padta hain Smita ji ke prahsn ke uttar mai is particular mudde pe maine mere khayal se uchit uttar de diya hain. [Answer in Hindi: Approximate translation] From what I remember, in response to Smita ji's question, I have given, what I believe to be an appropriate answer on this particular issue. Shailesh: Sir, I am Shaliesh from National Defense. Sir, as Foreign Secretary I want to know your view about PM Modi's visit to US, how it could help balancing Indo-Pacific, particularly in view of the statement made by Mr. Mike Collins that China is a big enemy, and State Secretary visiting China. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: I do think we answered the question in detail, you're not adding anything new. Okay, Huma, please. Huma Siddiqui: Sir, I'm Huma Siddiqui from the Financial Express. Just wanted to understand how many agreements will be aimed in Egypt, and if there is any, would there be any announcement related to space and defense cooperation in the Egypt? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: I can tell you in advance, we will not tell you right now. So, please, sir, the floor is yours for the remaining questions. Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary: Okay. Now to your question on the...what you referred to, you know, in your question. I have in some ways touched upon this when I answered the question from Times Now and from Neeraj, that when the two Leaders meet, the issues of importance by them would naturally be raised and discussed. Now, on the particular question of attack on temples, attack on the Indian Consulate, Honorable Prime Minister, and indeed, pretty much the entire operators of Government of India, has very strongly taken this up already with the concerned organizations in the countries where it took place. You referred to Australia. I can tell you that we have done that in other countries also. But I think the larger nature of challenge that underwrites such manifestations, I think that's a question which is, which the two Leaders, which will probably be among the things on the topmost minds of the two Leaders, but what two Leaders discuss, I think I would leave it to them. But the underlying intent and the goal of such attacks is something which, on which we are concerned, and we have shared those concerns very actively and very completely with the organizations of those countries, which are involved. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Thank you very much, sir. Thank you also, Dr. Ausaf Sayeed, as well as to Dr. Pradeep Rajpurohit. Thank you all for joining the special briefing. We will continue with our briefings as the visit unfolds. Thank you very much. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Raksha Mantri & Minister of National Defence of Vietnam hold talks in New Delhi to carry forward bilateral defence cooperation India - Press Information Bureau Ministry of Defence Focus on enhancing cooperation between defence industries of both countries & maritime security India gifts indigenously-built in-service Missile Corvette INS Kirpan to Vietnam to enhance its Naval capabilities Posted On: 19 JUN 2023 3:22PM by PIB Delhi Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh held talks with Minister of National Defence of Vietnam General Phan Van Gang in New Delhi on June 19, 2023. Progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives was reviewed during the meeting, with both sides expressing satisfaction at the ongoing engagements. Both Ministers identified means to enhance existing areas of collaboration, especially in the field of defence industry cooperation, maritime security and multinational cooperation. The Raksha Mantri also announced the gifting of indigenously-built in-service Missile Corvette INS Kirpan which will be a milestone in enhancing the capabilities of Vietnam People's Navy. As part of his engagements, the Defence Minister of Vietnam also visited DRDO headquarters and discussed ways to enhance defence industrial capabilities by cooperation in defence research and joint production. Earlier in the day, General Phan Van Gang laid a wreath at the National War Memorial and paid homage to the fallen heroes. The visiting dignitary arrived in India on June 18 on a two-day visit. Vietnam is an important partner in India's Act East Policy and the Indo-Pacific region. ****** ABB/Savvy (Release ID: 1933401) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Biden Rolls Out White House Red Carpet for Modi By Patsy Widakuswara June 20, 2023 In a clear sign that India is increasingly crucial for the United States, the White House will be rolling out its full pageantry on Thursday for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official state visit and state dinner. President Joe Biden has only twice previously extended such an invitation, the highest-ranking and most prestigious of White House visits, to French President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, leaders of U.S. treaty allies. Even the term "official state visit" is distinctive. As heads of government, prime ministers are usually invited on an "official visit" instead of a "state visit," which is given to heads of state such as monarchs, as well as presidents of countries where he or she is also the head of government. The White House has not responded to queries about why Modi is given this exception. Protocol-wise, it will be a step up compared to his previous White House visits in 2014, 2016 and 2017, which were a "working visit," "working lunch," and "official working visit," respectively. Key partner For more than two decades, U.S. administrations have treated India as a key partner. Successive American presidents from Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump have made the 15-hour flight to New Delhi. Trump even campaigned for Modi, heaping praise on the Indian leader in front of tens of thousands of Indian Americans at a "Howdy, Modi!" 2019 rally in Texas. Modi reciprocated by hosting the "Namaste Trump" 2020 event where Trump was cheered on by a crowd of more than 100,000 in Ahmedabad, Modi's political homeland. But no American president has granted Modi what Biden will this week a maximum display of White House respect and hospitality, including a full honor guard arrival and departure ceremony, lavish dinner reception and accommodation at Blair House, the official guest house located across the street from the White House. It will be the same full-on pomp that Obama rolled out in 2009 for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Modi also will be invited to speak to a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday, his second time speaking to American lawmakers following his speech in 2016. His predecessors, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Singh, delivered addresses in 2000 and 2005. Geostrategic interests Biden has at least two reasons to roll out the red carpet for Modi: to bolster India's role in the region to counterbalance China and to wean it off Russian arms. India is the only country that has engaged in open conflict with China in the past decades. From Washington's perspective, a robust partnership with New Delhi is critical to realizing the U.S. vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, said Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, at a recent event at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank working on defense and national security policies. "A stronger India that can defend its own interest, and its sovereignty is good for the United States," he said. Clashes have erupted between Chinese and Indian soldiers along the two countries' 3,400-kilometer-long contested border, the last one in December 2022. Both sides are ramping up militarization, increasing the potential for escalation between the two nuclear-armed powers. The U.S. administration is supporting New Delhi's military modernization, said Ratner, and is working to further integrate it into the U.S. defense industrial base and those of other allies, including Japan, Australia and the Philippines. Earlier this month, Washington and New Delhi signed a defense cooperation road map for the next few years, a move that will bolster India's weapons manufacturing ambitions. "A stronger India that can contribute to regional security out of U.S. co-production, co-development with India a there is an aspiration to see India as an exporter of security in the region a that's good for the United States," Ratner added. Local media have reported that during his visit, Modi will sign a $3 billion deal to purchase more than two dozen armed Predator drones for surveillance along India's border with China and Pakistan. Another potential deliverable a a technology transfer by American company General Electric for state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to produce engines for Tejas military fighter jets at its facility in Bengaluru. "India is also seeking sensitive, critical and emerging technologies that the U.S. is often loath to share," said Donald Camp, chair in U.S.-India policy studies at the Center of Strategic and International Studies during a recent briefing at the nonprofit research organization. "So, they will be talking about cooperation in artificial intelligence and quantum computing." Micron Technology Inc. is reportedly close to committing at least $1 billion toward setting up a semiconductor packaging plant in India a a deal blessed by the administration as it seeks to diversify the supply chain of chips away from China. Russian weaponry Tensions with China and Pakistan have long driven India to become the world's largest arms importer. From 2018 to 2022, it purchased 11% of the world's weapons, almost half of it from Russia, according to the international arms transfer report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. It's one of the reasons why India has been reluctant to condemn Moscow's invasion, said Aparna Pande, director of the Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia at the Hudson Institute. The war on Ukraine, she told VOA, has provided the Biden administration a "once in a lifetime opportunity" to wean India away from its dependence on Moscow. "Because the equipment is not as easily available, spare parts are not coming through, and it's not really performing that well." Russia was also the largest supplier of arms to India from 2013 to 2017, accounting for 64% of total Indian arms imports. It fell to 45% during the period from 2018 to 2022 due to increased domestic Indian arms production, and since 2022, constraints related to its invasion of Ukraine. Global South This year, India holds the presidency of the G20, a group of 20 developing and developed economies, including the G7, the world's seven richest democracies. It will host the G20 summit later this year, with an agenda heavy on the interests of the so-called Global South, shorthand for low- and middle-income countries. Biden is expected to consult with Modi on the G7's outreach to the Global South, which is partly based on concerns about China's heavy footprint across the developing world, which is creating unsustainable levels of infrastructure debt in some countries, as well as Beijing's clout over supply chains and critical minerals. A proposal is being pushed by Modi to give the African Union permanent membership at the G20. The move could be strategic to regain ground lost to China and Russia a countries that have taken a head start in forging relations with the group's 55-member nations, Beijing with its infrastructure loans and Moscow with its arms export. Modi will also likely discuss with Biden the awkward task of finalizing the G20 guest list a whether to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country is a member. Amid threats of G7 leaders' boycott, last year's G20 president, Indonesia, navigated the diplomatic headache by convincing Putin to send his foreign minister and inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to attend virtually as an observer. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Canada sanctions judges of Iran's Revolutionary Courts for human rights violations Global Affairs Canada News release June 19, 2023 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada The Honourable MAlanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that Canada is imposing additional sanctions under the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations. This is the 12th package of sanctions imposed by Canada against the Iranian regime since October 2022, and it builds on Canada's efforts to align with designations announced by the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. Today's sanctions list 7 individuals for their role in gross and systematic human rights violations in Iran's criminal justice system, notably Iran's Revolutionary Courts. As an institution closely tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Ministry of Intelligence, the Revolutionary Courts are notorious for issuing death sentences and harsh prison terms following sham trials and based on evidence gathered under torture. The list of those sanctioned includes: Morteza Barati, Judge, Esfahan Revolutionary Court Hadi Mansouri, Judge, Mashhad Revolutionary Court Musa Asif Al Hosseini, Judge, Karaj Revolutionary Court Seyed Mahmoud Sadati, Judge, Shiraz Revolutionary Court Mehrdad Tahamtan, Shiraz Advisory Judge of the Criminal Court Mohammad Moghiseh, Judge, Supreme Court - Tehran Revolutionary Court Heidar Asiyabi, Judge, Gorgan Revolutionary Court Today's measures prohibit dealings with these listed individuals, effectively freezing any assets they may hold in Canada. Individuals listed in response to gross and systematic violations of human rights are also inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Canada unequivocally opposes the use of the death penalty in all cases, everywhere. It is a form of punishment that is incompatible with human rights and human dignity. We will continue pressing the Iranian regime to address the legitimate grievances of its people, including respecting their human rights and freedoms and their ability to live and prosper in a society free from state-sponsored fear, suppression, intimidation and violence. Quotes "More than six months ago, the Iranian people demanded change. They issued a call that was heard around the world and asked the Iranian regime to respect their human rights and freedom. Yet, the regime has yet to respond and, instead, is increasing its use of execution, suppression and intimidation. Canada will continue to support the Iranian people and we will use the tools at our disposal to respond to Iran's egregious actions." - MAlanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs Quick facts On October 7, 2022, Canada announced its intention to implement several new measures to respond to Iran's ongoing human rights violations and the threats Iran poses to international peace and security, including: listing members of the Iranian regime, including the IRGC and its top leadersamore than 10,000 senior officialsaas inadmissible to Canada because of their engagement in terrorism and in systematic and gross human rights violations by enacting a designation under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act adopting new sanctions against members of the IRGC and the Iranian regime, as well as those associated with these, in addition to introducing a new, tailored regulation to ensure that no sanctioned individual connected to the IRGC can enter Canada, pending the passage of Bill S-8 investing $76 million to strengthen Canada's capacity to implement sanctions and ensure the government can move more quickly to freeze and seize the assets of sanctioned individuals, including through a dedicated bureau at Global Affairs Canada and giving additional support to the RCMP to investigate and identify assets and to gather evidence pursuing all the tools at the Government of Canada's disposal, including the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, which enables restrictive financial and property measures to be taken against foreign nationals responsible for gross violations of human rights As of today, Canada has sanctioned 163 Iranian individuals and 192 Iranian entities, including the IRGC and key members of the regime's security intelligence and economic apparatus. In 2012, Canada designated Iran as a state supporter of terrorism under the State Immunity Act. In concert with the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, this listing allows victims to bring civil action against Iran for losses or damages from an act of terrorism with links to Iran committed anywhere in the world. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address '20 foreign intelligence services played active role in Iran riots' IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Jun 19, 2023 Tehran, IRNA -- Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)'s Intelligence Organization has revealed that as many as 20 foreign intelligence services played an active role in recent riots in Iran. In remarks published on Monday, Brigadier General Mohammad Kazemi revealed details about the involvement of intelligence services from nearly 20 countries in the violent riots that swept Iran last fall. "Among the countries that have been active in these areas are the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Canada, Belgium, Austria, Albania, Australia, Iceland, Italy, Kosovo, Norway, Bahrain, New Zealand, as well as the occupying Zionist regime," he said, according to excerpts of his interview with Khameni.Ir. The following are the highlights of the interview: -- Movements by French diplomats in Tehran to gather field information on the riots and the state of Iran's security and law enforcement apparatus and exchanging the information with an intelligence officer of a European country's embassy. -- Attempts by the Zionist regime of Israel to create a fund to support rioters and protesters through the initiative and financing of the United States and other countries. -- A meeting of the ambassadors of 28 European countries at the compound of a European embassy to discuss the possibility of closing European embassies, with a focus on Germany. -- The use of non-European nationals (Afghans, Pakistanis, Iraqis) and the presence of European nationals to gather information on the riots, which led to the arrest of 40 individuals from one neighboring country, a French-Irish national in Khorasan Razavi province, and a German national in Ardabil province. -- Intensification of activities and support by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in creating necessary cyberspace platforms for disseminating news of the riots, including efforts to send technical equipment, escape tools, and lifting sanctions on mobile communication devices. -- A request by the CIA to establish a joint team with the Israeli regime's Mossad and Britain's MI6 to reactivate the project of assassinating Iranian scientists, especially in the nuclear, space, and military fields towards the end of the riots. -- Joint periodic meetings of the intelligence services of the UAE and the Zionist regime in an Arab country to support the riots in Iran. The unrest followed the death of a young Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, who died in hospital on September 16 last year, days after she collapsed at a police station in Tehran. Iran's Legal Medicine Organization issued a report, saying Amini's death was caused by prior illness rather than alleged blows to her head. The protests were peaceful at first, but soon turned violent. Steered by foreign intelligence services and their hostile media outlets, rioters began fatally attacking security forces and indulging in vandalism acts against public property in several cities. **2050**4261 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Raisi: Normalizations with Zionists will go nowhere IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Jun 19, 2023 Tehran, IRNA -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has stressed that the normalization of the relations between the Zionist regime and the Islamic and Arab governments will bear no fruit, saying that the Zionists are seeking to dash the hopes of Palestinian youth for liberation of their occupied lands through engaging in such normalization pacts with other countries. Speaking in a meeting with visiting secretary general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Ziad al-Nakhala late on Sunday, Raisi said that today the Palestinian nation is more united than ever. On the other hand, Zionist society is more divided compared to any time in its history, he said. Meanwhile, al-Nakhala said in the meeting that the Palestinian nation appreciates Iran's support. Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran is an important country in regional and international interactions, he added. He said that President Raisi's recent tour of Latin America showed that Iran has been able to completely defeat the US sanctions. He presented a detailed report of the recent 5-day war with the Zionist regime and elaborated on the performance and achievements of the Resistance forces and the weaknesses of the Zionist regime. Nakhala said that the Zionist regime was once in the habit of announcing ceasefires in wars in Palestine with the Egyptian government but it was forced to reach an agreement with Resistance forces the end of the latest round of conflicts in the Gaza Strip. 9376**7129**4261 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 20 foreign intelligence agencies played 'active' role in last year riots: IRGC intel chief Iran Press TV Monday, 19 June 2023 7:29 PM The head of the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has revealed that as many as 20 foreign intelligence agencies played an active role in last year's Western-backed riots in Iran. Brigadier General Mohammad Kazemi made the statement in an exclusive interview with the official website of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei published on Monday as he expounded on the various aspects of the violent riots triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September last year. Kazemi said the riots broke out after American authorities realized that their foreign policies towards Iran had failed after President Joe Biden took office, and that they needed to ramp up the Trump-era's so-called pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic. "After the Biden administration came to power, the Americans reached this strategic conclusion that they had faced failure in many foreign cases, and the reason for that was the actions of Iran and the management of its Leader; these failures had caused America's international position to be overshadowed; so, Iran must pay the price," Kazemi said in the interview. "Therefore, they moved towards rewriting Trump's version of maximum pressure ... under the strategy of containing and limiting the Islamic Republic," he added. Kazemi said US officials devised three steps in order for the riots to continue, which included the creation of an emotional atmosphere after Amini's death, changing protest into unrest through daily strikes and turning the atmosphere of unrest into an armed movement by activating armed groups. He added that investigations by the IRGC's Intelligence Organization exposed the role and involvement of the intelligence services of nearly 20 countries in the last year riots. He named more than a dozen countries that have been active in this regard, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Canada and Bahrain. He also noted that the occupying Zionist regime was also involved. The head of the IRGC's Intelligence Organization also provided a list of some of the activities undertaken by foreign intelligence services during the riots. 1. Movements by French diplomats in Tehran to gather field information on the riots and the state of Iran's security and law enforcement apparatus and exchanging the information with an intelligence officer of a European country's embassy. 2. Attempts by the Zionist regime of Israel to raise a fund to support rioters and protesters through the initiative and financing by the United States and other countries. 3. A meeting of the ambassadors of 28 European countries at the site of a European embassy to discuss the possibility of closing European embassies, with a focus on Germany. 4. The use of non-European nationals (Afghans, Pakistanis, Iraqis) and the presence of European nationals to gather information on the riots, which led to the arrest of 40 individuals from one neighboring country, a French-Irish national in Khorasan Razavi Province, and a German national in Ardabil Province. 5. Intensification of activities and support by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in creating necessary cyberspace platforms for disseminating news of the riots, including efforts to send technical equipment, escape tools, and lifting sanctions on mobile communication devices. 6. A request by the CIA to establish a joint team with the Israeli regime's Mossad and Britain's MI6 to reactivate the project of assassinating Iranian scientists, especially in the nuclear, space, and military fields towards the end of the riots. 7. Joint periodic meetings of the intelligence services of the United Arab Emirates and the Zionist regime in an Arab country to support the riots in Iran. Kazemi also stressed in his interview that the enemy sought to stoke mistrust among Iranian people from various social strata and political inclinations by such ploys as inducing discrimination and violation of women's rights, as well as the collapse of the Islamic Republic and the end of the Islamic Revolution. Foreign-backed riots broke out in Iran in mid-September after the death of the 22-year-old Iranian woman of Kurdish descent. She fainted at a police station in the capital Tehran and was pronounced dead three days later at the hospital. An official report by Iran's Legal Medicine Organization concluded that Amini's death was caused by illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs. Iran's intelligence community said several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, had used their spy and propaganda apparatuses to provoke violent riots in the country. Rioters went on a rampage, brutally attacking security officers and causing massive damage to public property. On February 5, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution pardoned or commuted the sentences of a large number of Iranian prisoners who had been arrested during the riots. Ayatollah Khamenei issued the amnesty on the occasion of the 44th anniversary of the glorious victory of the Islamic Revolution, which put an end to the ruling of the US-backed Pahlavi regime in the country in 1979, and the birthday anniversary of the first Shia Imam, Imam Ali (AS). The Leader's amnesty covered all but murderers and terrorists. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Resistance brings Palestinians closer to victory over Israeli regime: Raeisi Iran Press TV Monday, 19 June 2023 9:56 AM Iran's President Ebrahim Raeisi insists that acts of resistance by brave Palestinians have brought them ever closer to triumph over the occupying Israeli regime. "With Jihad and resistance, we will approach victory day by day," the Iranian president further emphasize on Sunday in a meeting with visiting Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement, Ziad al-Nakhaleh, and his accompanying delegation. During the meeting, President Raeisi also hailed the persisting struggle of the Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian resistance movements fighting the growing atrocities of Israeli forces across occupied Palestine. The president reiterated the Islamic Republic's support for the oppressed Palestinian nation and their "just cause," which he said "remains the cause of all Muslims." He went on to call for more unity among the entire forces of different resistance factions. Earlier this week, Nakhaleh met with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who lauded the latest victory of Islamic Jihad forces against the Israeli regime while reiterating that the growing power of Palestinian resistance groups is the key to forcing the occupying regime to its knees. On Sunday, Nakhaleh also met Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who, for his part, praised the great achievements made by the Islamic Jihad in confronting the Israeli occupation forces during its five-day aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip. The Israeli aggression claimed the lives of more than 30 Palestinian civilians, including women and children, and ended on May 13 following an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire deal. Amir-Abdollahian also underlined the significance to maintain unity among all Palestinian factions while warning against persisting Israeli plots to sow discord among them. He also stressed that the "racist" Israeli regime is the "main source of insecurity and instability in the region," calling on Muslim nations to take "a coordinated and effective action to stop crimes against humanity committed by Israel against the oppressed people of Palestine and to defend the Islamic sanctuaries in al-Quds." For his part, Nakhaleh briefed Iran's top diplomat on the latest developments across occupied Palestine, particularly the May battle dubbed "Revenge of the Free People." He further expressed his appreciation for Iran's unwavering support for the Palestinian people and resistance forces. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran, Russia-led EAEU likely to sign free trade pact by year-end: Moscow Iran Press TV Monday, 19 June 2023 6:16 AM Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk says Iran and the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) are expected to sign a free trade zone agreement by the end of the year. In an interview with Russia's TASS news agency on Monday, Overchuk reported "progress" in talks between Iran and the EAEU, which also include Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, saying they are in their final stages. "We very much hope that such an agreement can be signed by the end of the year." The agreement would replace and expand an interim accord that already provides a reduction in customs duties on hundreds of categories of goods. Russia has sought to deepen its economic and trade ties with Iran since February 2022 when it came under an inclusive regime of Western sanctions because of the war in Ukraine. Iran and Russia have signed major deals in recent months to expand their cooperation in areas of energy and manufacturing as the two countries aim to unite in their efforts to offset the impacts of foreign sanctions on their economies. Overchuk also said that negotiations are underway between the EAEU and several more states on a number of free trade zone agreements. "[We are in talks with] Egypt, India, Indonesia, and the UAE. All these countries are friendly to us, they are growing markets, so respectively the economic center of the new multipolar world is moving in their direction," Overchuk said. He added that such negotiations are "very difficult, and they take years." "Negotiators need to take into account a lot of different interests. In our case, the interests of all five EAEU member states, their businesses and consumers are involved here. All this should be taken into account by our negotiators. This is a complex process," the Russian official said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address More Iranian Teachers Summoned Amid Government Clampdown By RFE/RL's Radio Farda June 19, 2023 Five more teachers who supported anti-government protests in Iran have been summoned to the Revolutionary Court, the latest in a series of similar moves, including trials, of teachers in other cities across the country. The Iranian Teachers' Union's Coordination Council has confirmed the collective summons of teachers and cultural rights activists in the central Iranian city of Yazd. Three of the teachers, Ahmad Changizi, Mehdi Kalantari, and Hamideh Zare, were previously arrested following a nationwide teachers' rally in May 2022, which coincided with Teacher's Day in Yazd. The other two are Mansor Mirzaei and Mohammad Fakhralhosseini. The charges levelled against the five teachers are similar to those brought against teachers and cultural rights activists during the collective trials in Shiraz and Ahvaz. The offenses include "membership in groups with the aim of disrupting the country's security" and "assembly and collusion with the intention of disrupting internal security," due to their presence at a teachers' protest rally. Eight teachers were tried in the Shiraz Revolutionary Court on June 10 and a week later found guilty and handed prison sentences ranging from between two years and five years. One the teachers in Shiraz, Asghar Amirzadegan, was called to the Firozabad City Court of Justice before his sentence was issued by the Shiraz Revolutionary Court, so a suspended sentence he was previously issued due to his labor union activities could be executed. The Iranian Teachers' Union's Coordination Council said in a statement that since May 2022, security institutions had "unsheathed the sword of repression against associations and trade unions of educators and are trying in every way and with any kind of false accusations to extinguish the bright sun of teachers' demands." Unrest -- including several protests by teachers -- has rattled Iran since last summer in response to declining living standards, wage arrears, and a lack of welfare support. Labor law in Iran does not recognize the right of workers to form independent unions. The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody in September for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly breathed new life into the unrest, which officials across the country have tried to quell with harsh -- and sometimes deadly -- measures. The activist HRANA news agency says that more than 500 people have been killed during the unrest, including 71 minors, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent. Thousands have been arrested in the clampdown, with the judiciary handing down harsh sentences -- including the death penalty -- to protesters. Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-teachers-strikes- clampdown/32466300.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Senior Iranian official says Tehran supports security, stability in Iraq Iran Press TV Monday, 19 June 2023 4:01 PM A senior Iranian official says the Islamic Republic supports promotion of security and stability in Iraq, welcoming the expansion of relations between the two neighboring countries. Kamal Kharrazi, the head of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, made the remarks in a meeting with Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid in Baghdad on Monday. He hailed the Iraqi president's contribution to the development of relations between Tehran and Baghdad and said both sides are determined to expand ties. Kharrazi said Iraq connects Tehran to Arab countries and lauded Baghdad's efforts to bring the views of Iran and Saudi Arabia closer to each other. Iraq hosted several rounds of negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia over the past two years. The two countries' ties were severed in 2016 after the kingdom executed top Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, sparking an attack on its Tehran embassy by angry protesters. Tehran and Riyadh clinched a reconciliation deal and finally restored ties in March after several days of intensive negotiations hosted by Beijing. The Iraqi president, for his part, stressed the importance of bolstering his country's ties with Iran. Rashid underlined the need for development of Iraqi provinces and cities in the light of enhanced stability and security. He added that social, geographical, historical and religious commonalities as well as economic interests are connecting the two neighboring countries. Leading a high-ranking delegation, the Iraqi president visited Tehran late in June in response to an official invitation by his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raeisi. Speaking in a meeting between high-ranking delegations of Iran and Iraq, Raeisi said at the time enemies are not pleased with the improvement of mutual relations but enhanced ties will serve the interests of the two nations and the entire region. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The political process must move forward to deliver the stability and security the people of Libya want and deserve: UK statement at the Security Council Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the UN Security Council meeting on Libya. 19 June 2023 President, I would like to start by thanking SRSG Bathily, Ambassador Ishikane, and Ms Imneina, for their briefings today. I visited Libya earlier this month, to meet the SRSG and the UNSMIL team. I want to thank them for their engagement and tireless efforts to support Libya on its path to peace and stability. During my visit, I also met Libyan people to hear and understand their concerns. The clear and consistent message was the urgency of moving the political process forward and for political leadership to deliver the stability and security the people of Libya want and deserve as we have heard so clearly from the SRSG. But this is not just an abstract point about politics and governance. I visited a World Health Organisation health centre project, to which the UK has contributed over two and a half million dollars of funding. I want to thank the WHO for facilitating my visit and for their work to bring physical and mental health support into primary healthcare services in Libya. This is important work but the point is that the political impasse directly impacts the healthcare system, and Libyans who need healthcare, antenatal checks, dental treatment, primary care and so on. Hospital services, healthcare provision and long-term investment, which Libya can well afford, are stalled because of the political impasse. President, I therefore return from my visit with clarity about the importance of Council Members and the international community supporting SRSG Bathily in his work to facilitate an effective political process for positive change, through a clear roadmap to successful elections and beyond. In this context, the UK takes note of the 6+6 Committee's hard work to agree draft electoral laws. However, the reception to their announcement demonstrates the need for broader political agreement between Libyan power-holders and we welcome the SRSG's commitment to convene stakeholders to reach agreement to make the draft law implementable. Only in this way can we overcome the issues preventing elections and then make progress towards long-term stability. President during my visit, Libyan people told me they want to engage actively, freely and safely in the political sphere. They want to exercise their democratic right to vote, to work towards a better future, and move beyond, as the SRSG said, slogans which prolong the status quo and are detrimental to Libya people. The UK will continue our work to ensure these aspirations are fulfilled - including through our support to the SRSG and his efforts towards peace and stability. Thank you. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Myanmar's ousted president receives medical treatment in prison A doctor was brought in to treat Win Myint for an unspecified disease. By RFA Burmese 2023.06.19 -- Myanmar's ousted president is being treated for an unspecified disease at Bago region's Taungoo Prison, sources close to Win Myint and the prison told RFA on Monday. Win Myint was arrested shortly after the Feb. 1, 2021 coup and has been sentenced to 12 years in prison in connection with eight cases brought against him by the junta regime. A source close to the former president said a doctor was called in this month and fitted a urinary catheter. "We don't know what the cause of the disease is. We only know that a doctor from an outside hospital came to the cell where he is being held and inserted [a catheter]," said the person, who declined to be named for safety reasons. Another source, who also requested anonymity, confirmed the doctor's visit and said that Win Myint was "recovering" although he didn't specify the illness. The date of the doctor's visit is also unclear due to problems receiving information on prisoners, although reports emerged on June 17. RFA contacted Deputy Director General of the Prisons Department Naing Win but nobody responded to phone calls and emails. Win Myint, 72, is a lawyer, and a member of the now-dissolved National League for Democracy since the party's formation in 1988. He won three seats for the party in the 1990, 2012 and 2015 elections and served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2016 to 2018. On March 28, 2018 he received the most votes in parliament's presidential election and became the tenth president of Myanmar until his arrest. He still serves as president of the shadow National Unity Government, although the NUG's acting president is Duwa Lashi La. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn. Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content June not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address CURTAIN RAISER : Fifth Round of Pakistan-Russia Bilateral Political Consultations Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan and the Russian Federation will hold the 5th round of Bilateral Political Consultations on 20 June 2023 in Islamabad. The Russian delegation will be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko who will visit Islamabad on 20-21 June 2023. Foreign Secretary Dr. Asad Majeed Khan will lead the Pakistan delegation. The two sides will review the state of bilateral relations, identify areas of mutual interest for further cooperation, and exchange views on important regional and global developments. Pakistan and Russia enjoy friendly relations marked by mutual respect, trust and understanding. The two countries are commemorating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year. Islamabad 19 June 2023 119/2023 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 12th round of Bilateral Political Consultations between Pakistan and Iran Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs The 12th round of Pakistan-Iran Bilateral Political Consultations (BPC) was held in Tehran on 17-18 June 2023. Foreign Secretary Dr. Asad Majeed Khan and Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, Mr. Ali Bagheri Kani, led the respective sides. Ambassador of Pakistan Rahim Hayat Qureshi and other senior officials from both sides also attended the meeting. The two sides held discussions covering the entire range of bilateral relations and reviewed the status of implementation of decisions of the last BPC. It was agreed to enhance and diversify bilateral trade and expand cooperation in energy, transport connectivity, education and people-to-people exchanges. The two sides had a comprehensive exchange of views on the regional situation. Both sides underscored the significance of regular convening of various institutional mechanisms, including Joint Economic Commission (JEC) and Joint Trade Committee (JTC) to forge closer cooperation in areas of mutual interest. The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to continue cooperation at multilateral fora, including the UN, OIC and ECO and strengthen dialogue on global and regional issues of common concern. The Foreign Secretary welcomed the normalization of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. He briefed his Iranian counterpart about the situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) marked by grave human rights violations, and appreciated Iran's steadfast support for the Kashmir cause. The Foreign Secretary called on Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. They agreed to maintain the current momentum of high-level bilateral exchanges and strengthen mutually-beneficial cooperation in diverse fields. In a separate meeting with Member Parliament/ Chairman Pakistan-Iran Parliamentary Friendship Group, Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani both sides emphasized the importance of enhancing Parliamentary exchanges. Foreign Secretary Dr. Asad Majeed Khan held a meeting with Secretary General Khosrav Noziri of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and reaffirmed Pakistan's support to the organization. He also highlighted the importance of intra-regional connectivity and trade promotion among ECO member states. In Tehran, the Foreign Secretary also interacted with the Iranian intelligentsia and scholars at the leading Iranian think tank, Institute of Peace and International Studies (IPIS) where he highlighted Pakistan's role toward promotion of peace and development in the region. Islamabad 19 June 2023 118/2023 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's answer to a question from the Moscow. Kremlin. Putin programme, June 18, 2023 18 June 2023 13:01 1194-18-06-2023 Question: Berlin has adopted a new National Security Strategy, which states that Moscow is now the number one threat. Is it possible for a country that participated in the unification of Germany to be that? Sergey Lavrov: I find it hard to comment on the actions, statements, or documents adopted by today's German politicians. They are not based either on logic or on the interests of Germany and the German people. Some time ago, responding to a criticism of Olaf Scholz cabinet's policy which had led to a major increase in the cost of living and worsening of the socioeconomic situation in the country, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said her voters were impacted, but the government had to do so for the sake of Ukraine. Berlin keeps saying that it is upholding European values in Ukraine. If Germany believes that returning to Nazism that is now flourishing in Ukraine is a value, then it's a very sad and dangerous turn of events. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Navalny Faces Additional 30 Years As New Trial Opens Behind Closed Doors In Russian Prison By RFE/RL's Russian Service June 19, 2023 Jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny faces an additional three decades in prison in a new trial on extremism charges that the Moscow City Court decided on June 19 will be held behind closed doors. Navalny, appearing in a makeshift courtroom at his prison in the Vladimir region some 260 kilometers east of Moscow, said he was defending himself in the case, though he also had a legal team present. The trial is seen as yet another attempt by the Kremlin to silence one of its most prominent critics amid a nationwide crackdown on civil society during the unprovoked war against Ukraine. "Some people collect stamps. Some collect coins. And I have a growing collection of amazing court trials," Navalny said on June 19 on Twitter. The closed trial in a maximum-security prison is like a "confession" by the Russian authorities, he added. "In a sense, this is the new sincerity. They now say openly: we are afraid of you. We are afraid of what you will say. We are afraid of the truth," he tweeted. He encouraged Russians to "spread the truth," which he said "is the most powerful weapon against this regime of liars, thieves, and hypocrites." The staff of the court traveled to the Correctional Colony No. 6 for the trial, which journalists initially could observe from a separate room over a video link with barely audible sound. Navalny's parents, Anatoly and Lyudmila Navalny, were allowed to be present at the trial. As the proceedings got under way, Navalny's legal team and his co-defendant Daniel Kholodny, who is the technical director of the Navalny Live YouTube channel, requested the recusal of Judge Andrei Suvorov, saying the trial should be held in Moscow as they both are officially registered as residents of the Russian capital and the trial is about allegations related to Moscow. "I believe that, taking into account the current circumstances, and of criminal law, you should withdraw," Navalny, dressed in his black prison uniform, told the court. Suvorov quickly rejected the motion. Navalny and Kholodny face charges of creating an extremist group, making calls for extremism, creating a nonprofit organization that violates citizens' rights, financing extremism, involving a minor in criminal activities, and rehabilitating Nazism. Shortly into the hearing, the audio feed to journalists was cut off. The representative of the press service of the court, Vadim Polezhaev, confirmed that the court had decided to hold the trial behind closed doors. "No shame, no conscience, no honor," Navalny's father said of the court as he left the venue. When first making public the new case in April, Navalny called the charges "absurd." Navalny also said another case charging him with propagating terrorism and Nazism was launched in October over his self-exiled associates' statements on the Popular Politics YouTube channel. The comments criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government and condemned Moscow's unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed in April that Navalny's associates, along with Ukraine's secret services, were involved in the assassination of pro-Kremlin journalist and propagandist Vladlen Tatarsky in Russia's second-largest city, St. Petersburg. Navalny has been in prison since February 2021 after he was arrested a month earlier upon his return to Russia from Germany -- where he had been undergoing treatment for a near-fatal poisoning with a Novichok-type nerve agent that he says was ordered by Putin. He is serving sentences totaling 11 1/2 years. The Kremlin has denied any role in Navalny's poisoning, even though experts say only state actors have access to the military-grade nerve agent. On June 6, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, ordered Russia to pay 40,000 euros ($42,800) to Navalny for refusing to investigate his poisoning. With reporting by Mediazona Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/navalny-new-trial-prison-camp- russia/32465327.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Defence Ministry briefing on US military and biological activity 19.06.2023 Russian Defence Ministry briefing on US military and biological activity Russian Defence Ministry continues to analyse US and its allies military and biological activity in Ukraine and other regions of the world. We briefed the audience on US Walter Reed Army Institute of Research activity before. We demonstrated the institute's role during UP-1 and UP-2 biological programs, during which samples of Ukrainian citizens and Armed Forces of Ukraine servicemen biological material were gathered from 2014 to 2020. Today, I would like to brief you on the same institute office activity in Thailand. Walter Reed Army Institute of Research has four branches all over the world, every one of them has a high-containment laboratory and a network of departments, which gather samples and transport strains. The branches' staff numbering around 500 employees indicates the scale of efforts on dangerous pathogens research. That particular branch has offices in Nepal, Cambodia, and the Philippines, which in turn cooperate with 12 more Southeast Asia states In addition to the US Army Institute, the US Naval Medical Research Center has a network of overseas branches. Its subordinate laboratories (NAMRU) work on pathogens in North Africa, the Middle East, and South America. Such a comprehensive approach all around the world allows the Pentagon to have access to different strains of contagious pathogens, which can be used as biological weapons chemical agents. These include Marburg and Ebola fevers, malaria, and Rift Valley fever. Documents acquired during the special military operation prove the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research connection to the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency and its key contractor - the Metabiota company. Acquired financial and research documentation reflect the company's activity in Africa, namely in Kenia, Uganda, and the Republic of South Africa. Along with the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the US National Security Agency, and the Department of State are listed as clients from the American government. The documents describe flexible methods of the Metabiota activity, which allow to conceal the American government involvement with international programs and resolve bureaucratic issues at the expense of local officials. At the same time, due to world community's growing concerns, the Pentagon is forced to change its tactics, when engaging in dual-purpose projects. We briefed the audience on illegal samples gathering and illegal transportation of the material by the company's employees during Ebola Fever outbreak in 2014 in West Africa. In 2022, the U.S. President's administration officially ceased the Metabiota company's activity in Africa as its illegal methods raised too much concern of the aforementioned states' governments. A Cameroon's non-profit organisation assumed the company's functions and made a statement about Metabiota's office purchase as a subsidiary company. In company's press release dated 14 October 2022. it is stated, that 'the HEADA non-profit organisation assumes Metabiota programs in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sierra Leone. The US Department of Defense, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Agency for International Development sponsor the company's activity...'. According to Nathan Wolfe, the Metabiota founder, 'the company assumes functions as the American government sees local capacity localisation and strengthening efforts'. Such an undercover activity allows to draw concerns from main clients and contractors of military biological programmes. In recent years, the number of laboratories with BSL-3+ and BSL-4 containment levels in the US themselves has increased significantly. We stated that at the moment 25 laboratories conduct research and three are under construction. Over the course of few next years, the US plans to establish 18 more BSL-4 containment laboratories, most of which will be located beyond the national jurisdiction. I would like to brief you on American BSL-3+ laboratories' activity. On the US soil, there are 18 such laboratories, and unlike BSL-4 research facilities, there is no written demand to declare any results of activity in confidence building measures of the Biological Weapons Convention. Notably, only 40 per cent of BSL-4 laboratories are property of the US government. There is almost no control of private laboratories, even though dangerous pathogens are being studied there. One of the most recurrent pathogen at BSL-3+ laboratories is high pathogenic avian influenza virus, which according to experts, can cause the next global outbreak. In this regard, I would like to inform the audience once again about Kharkov-based Institute of Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine involvement in American UP-8 and P-444 programs. This involved studying the migration routes of migratory birds and selecting and transmitting strains of avian influenza virus with high epidemic potential and capable of crossing the interspecies barrier abroad. The consequences of such programmes for epizootic in the territory of the Russian Federation are yet to be evaluated. In the result of infected birds migration from Ukraine to Russia, avian influenza morbidity rate has increased significantly. While no cases were recorded in 2015, since the beginning of 2023, 45 outbreaks have been detected, and 21 regions have been declared contaminated. Moreover, Natural reservoirs and permanent epizootic foci of the disease have been formed on the Russian territory due to the transmission of the pathogen to marine mammals and nonmigratory birds, such as gulls. We have already drawn your attention to the mass death of birds in Askania Nova Nature Reserve in the Kherson region, caused by a negligent attitude to biosafety requirements. We continue to analyse an investigation file of incidents at American high-containment laboratories, gathered by the Intercept nonprofit organization. Only at the University of North Carolina, where genetic engineering research of dangerous pathogen is conducted, from 2015 to 2022, 28 laboratory incidents involving the spread of microbial aerosols, spills of biomaterial, and bites of laboratory animals have been recorded. For example, in October and November 2015, at least five lab employees were exposed to an aerosol of a modified coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome during two incidents. In April 2020, as a result of a bite from a laboratory animal infected with a chimeric strain of the COVID-19 pathogen, an employee was quarantined for two weeks. The materials of the investigation stated that the laboratory's activities caused a risk of infecting personnel and further spread of genetically modified viral fever pathogens, severe acute respiratory syndrome, highly pathogenic avian influenza, and a number of other infections. The unacceptably high risk of accidents in U.S. biolaboratories is one of the reasons for their withdrawal from national jurisdiction and transfer to the territory of third countries, including Ukraine and other states. This explains the deterioration of the epidemic situation in their locations, the emergence of diseases that are not typical of these regions and their vectors. We have already pointed out the skeptical reaction of so-called experts who receive funding in the form of foreign grants and who question the thesis of the influence of insect vectors on the epidemiological situation. According to WHO's official information, the last major outbreak of yellow fever in Africa in 2013 was associated with a sharp increase in the number of mosquitoes, which caused a sudden severe inflection of 170,000 people, of which 60,000 died. In this regard, no wonder that U.S. customers are interested in vector-borne infections. More than 100 studies on the main species of mosquitoes and ticks that carry epidemically significant infections - Rift Valley, West Nile, dengue and Zika - have been published in the open press by research organisations of the U.S. Department of Defense alone. Many of the diseases being studied, such as Crimean-Congo fever, tick-borne and Japanese encephalitis, do not occur within the United States and pose no threat to the North American continent. The Pentagon continues efforts to obtain vector populations whose pathogens they do not naturally spread, such as Ebola, hepatitis B, AIDS, and severe acute respiratory syndrome. Mosquito cultures infected with hepatitis B virus have already been obtained. To enhance the action of arboviruses, U.S. military specialists actively use pathogens of parasitic infections, such as microfilariae. Five dedicated DOD organisations within the United States and six overseas affiliates conduct vector research efforts. This makes it possible to maintain and infect 89 species of mosquitoes and 12 species of ticks with arboviruses under laboratory conditions. At the same time, software is developed to predict the spread of vector-borne infections (for Rift Valley fever, the forecast is built for 47 species of insect vectors). Vector research in the United States is of a distinctly military in nature, searching for the optimal conditions under which infected blood-sucking insects and ticks are most effective. At the same time, the U.S. seeks to use the territory of other countries as a testing ground for possible scenarios. The flooding of Kherson region territories planned by the Kiev regime can worsen the situation and cause arbovirus infections. After the fall of the water level, site of disease may occur, primarily West Nile fever is possible. The Pentagon's high level of technical readiness to use infected vectors is evidenced by the patent for an unmanned aerial vehicle designed to spread airborne infected mosquitoes, which we discussed earlier. According to the description, the drone is supposed to deliver a container of insects to a given area and release them. When bitten, mosquitoes are capable of infecting servicemen with a dangerous infection, such as malaria. The patent description emphasizes that an infected soldier is incapable of performing his tasks and notes that '...such a method of infecting the enemy militarily would have considerable effect...' I would like to mention that the United States reserves the right to conduct dual-purpose research and manage the biological environment for its own benefit under approved bioproduction and counter-biological threat policy documents. With active support of such activities, the UK declared its own interests in the biological field by adopting a national biological security strategy on 12 June 2023. One of the document's stated goals is 'to be a world leader in innovation...'. Funding for activities under the strategy will amount to one and a half billion pounds annually. Thus, the United States, with the support of its allies, are conducting large-scale military-biological research aimed at finding effective methods of using infectious disease agents. The implementation of such plans makes it possible to form artificial foci of especially dangerous infectious diseases. We see this as another argument in favour of an international investigation of U.S. military and biological activities. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Uzbekistan Signs 2-Year Contract With Gazprom to Purchase Russian Gas Sputnik News 20230619 TASHKENT (Sputnik) - Uzbekistan has signed a two-year contract with Russian energy giant Gazprom to purchase natural gas, with deliveries to begin on October 1, the Uzbek Energy Ministry said on Monday. The deal was signed on Friday by Uzbek Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamahmudov and Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). "Under the agreement, it is planned to start importing 9 million cubic meters of natural gas per day from October 1 this year. The annual volume will be about 2 billion 800 million cubic meters," the ministry said on Telegram. The contract is designed on full commercial terms and is one of the measures aimed at partially satisfying the annually growing demand of Uzbek consumers for natural gas, the ministry added. The Uzbek energy minister said in December that Uzbekistan intended to import gas and electricity from neighboring countries on the basis of commercial contracts, not through any alliance or union. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pentagon Has Access to Potential Agents of Biological Weapons - Russian MoD Sputnik News 20230619 The Pentagon's biological and military projects around the world allow the United States access to potential bioweapon agents, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the head of the radiation, chemical and biological defense troops of the Russian armed forces, said on Monday. Last month, Kirillov said that the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research supervised the U-Pi-1 and U-Pi-2 military biological projects, during which an active collection of biomaterials from the population of Ukraine was carried out. The documents obtained by the Russian Defense Ministry confirm the participation of the Reed institute in the study of the antibiotic resistance of microorganisms isolated from the Ukrainian military during the hostilities in Donbas from 2014 to 2020. The institute has a network of foreign branches. "[Branches] around around the world, allow the US military to gain access to epidemically significant variants of pathogens that are potential agents of biological weapons. These include Marburg and Ebola fevers, malaria, and Rift Valley fever," Kirillov told reporters. The Pentagon is forced to change tactics when organizing dual-purpose work in biology due to the concern of the world community, Kirillov added. "At the same time, due to the growing concern of the world community, the Pentagon is forced to change its tactics when organizing dual-purpose work," he told reporters. Transfer to Third Countries The unacceptably high risk of accidents in US biological laboratories is one of the reasons for their transfer to the territory of third countries, including Ukraine, he stressed. "The unacceptably high risk of accidents in US biological laboratories is one of the reasons for their withdrawal from national jurisdiction and transfer to the territory of third countries, including Ukraine, and other states. This explains the worsening of the epidemic situation in their locations, the emergence of diseases and their vectors that are unusual for these regions," Kirillov told reporters. The incidence of bird flu has increased significantly in Russia due to the migration of infected birds from Ukraine, he stressed. "As a result of the migration of influenza-infected migratory birds from the territory of Ukraine, the incidence rate in Russia has increased significantly," Kirillov told reporters. Dual-Use Biological Research Buildup The UK will spend 1.5 billion pounds ($1.92 billion) on dual-use biological research, supporting the US's policy in the area, Igor Kirillov said on Monday. According to the approved strategic documents in the field of bioproduction and combating biothreats, the United States reserves the right to conduct dual-use research and manage the biological situation in its own interests, the official said, adding that London declared its own interests in the biological field, adopting a national biosecurity strategy on June 12, supporting the US's activity. "The amount of funding for activities within the framework of the strategy will amount to 1.5 billion pounds annually," Kirillov told reporters. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address New legislation allows Russian sanctions to remain until compensation is paid to Kyiv The UK government is taking powers to maintain Russian sanctions until compensation is paid to Ukraine. 19 June 2023 UK introduces new legislation enabling sanctions on Russia to be maintained until Moscow pays compensation to Ukraine Package also announces new route to allow sanctioned individuals to donate frozen funds to Ukrainian reconstruction New measures come as the UK hosts major Ukraine Recovery Conference this week The Government is taking powers to maintain Russian sanctions until compensation is paid to Ukraine and is introducing a route for frozen Russian assets to be donated for Ukrainian reconstruction, under new legislation announced by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly today. We will also mandate that persons and entities in the UK, or UK persons and entities overseas, who are designated under the Russia financial sanctions regime, must disclose assets they hold in the UK. It comes as the UK prepares to legislate to require those holding assets in the UK on behalf of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), Russian Ministry of Finance (MOF) or Russian National Wealth Fund (NWF) to disclose them to the Treasury. These new measures mark a major strengthening in the UK's sanctions approach against Russia as Putin and his cronies continue their illegal war and as Ukraine embarks its counter-offensive. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: As Ukraine continues to defend itself against Russia's invasion, the terrible impacts of Putin's war are clear. Ukraine's reconstruction needs are - and will be - immense. Through our new measures today, we're strengthening the UK's sanctions approach, affirming that the UK is prepared to use sanctions to ensure Russia pays to repair the country it has so recklessly attacked. We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes to recover from Russia's war of aggression and lay the groundwork for a prosperous nation. Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said: Putin's Russia must take financial responsibility for the wanton devastation it has wrought on Ukraine. These new measures - on top of our largest ever sanctions package - show the UK is ready and able to clear new paths to ensure Russian money reaches Ukrainian people. Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: Ukraine is fighting for the same freedom we enjoy here in the United Kingdom, and we cannot let them face an uncertain future alone. We have long said that we want to strengthen our sanctions regime to help the Ukrainian people rebuild. Our proposal to force sanctioned individuals to disclose UK assets will bring in greater transparency and leaves less room to hide. It is a clear sign that the UK stands by its pledge. This package enables the government to keep sanctions in place by amending the purposes of the UK's Russia sanctions. It will now state that sanctions can also be used for the express purpose of promoting the payment of compensation by Russia. It also delivers on the commitment by the Prime Minister and G7 leaders last month that sovereign assets will remain immobilised until Russia pays for damage it has caused to Ukraine. Sanctioned Russians who say they support Ukraine, will now also have a way to do the right thing - via a route to donate their frozen funds for Ukrainian reconstruction. This will be a voluntary process whereby sanctioned individuals may apply for funds to be released for the express purpose of supporting Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction. There will be no coercion of individuals to encourage them to transfer funds, nor any offer of sanctions relief in return for making a donation. The precise mechanics of the fund which will disburse these donations will be announced in due course. The new reporting obligations on people and entities designated through the Russia regime is another step in strengthening transparency of assets - taking us further than the current reporting obligations which exist for relevant firms. This new responsibility builds on the UK's existing compliance tool kit and tightens the net on those hiding assets in the UK. The failure to disclose assets may lead to the imposition of further financial penalties or confiscation of assets. Finally, the reporting of CBR, MOF and NWF assets in the UK will help ensure the government has a comprehensive picture of their value and nature. This will assist the Treasury in monitoring compliance with, and detecting evasion of, financial sanctions. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address No: 150, 19 June 2023, Press Release Regarding High Level Meeting on Syria in Astana Format and Technical Meeting of Quadripartite Process Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs The 20th round of High Level Meeting on Syria in Astana format will be held on 20-21 June 2023 in Astana. The second technical meeting of the Quadripartite Process between the Foreign Ministries of TArkiye, Iran, Russia, and Syria will also take place in Astana on this occasion. TArkiye will participate in these meetings with an inter-agency delegation headed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Burak AkAapar. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address To attract TSMC, countries should seek cwan floser ties with Taiwan: FM Wu ROC Central News Agency 06/19/2023 05:10 PM Brussels, June 18 (CNA) Countries looking to attract investment by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) should consider the broader picture of their relations with Taiwan, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu () said recently. Responding to reporters' questions during his current trip to Europe, Wu said Taiwan had not set any specific conditions regarding TSMC's overseas investments, and that if Europe provided attractive incentives to the chipmaker, Taiwan's government would not stand in the way. There is, however, a "philosophical issue," Wu said, when asked what Taipei would "expect" in return for approving TSMC's plans to build a new plant in Germany. If other countries want Taiwan's help with semiconductors, they should also consider the broader picture of their relations with Taiwan, he told reporters from CNA and other media outlets. "I think that is something for us to think about," he said in English. "Even though we are not selfish in stopping TSMC from making investment in other countries, we certainly hope that other countries who want to attract TSMC ... can also think about the situation Taiwan is in." He said Taiwan's relations with Europe had developed "tremendously" in recent years, citing the large number of visits parliamentary delegations and statements by senior European Union officials on the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. At the same time, however, there has been no official EU acknowledgement of Wu's visit, and a recent survey of residents of 11 EU member states found that 62 percent wanted their countries to remain neutral in the event of a conflict between China and the United States over Taiwan. Regarding that apparent discrepancy, Wu said many European countries had long tried to maintain "strategic neutrality" in international affairs, but that might now be changing, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has pushed them to take sides. The same logic can also be applied to the situation between the U.S. and China, he argued. "If China initiated any aggression against other countries [and began] killing innocent people, violating international laws, causing atrocities ... and the United States was trying to help, I don't think the European countries [would remain neutral]," Wu said. He said some people in Taiwan have also been calling for their own country to adopt a more neutral stance on the U.S.-China rivalry, but that is a misguided view, since "China is threatening Taiwan, and the U.S. is providing support." "I think that kind of [neutral] position invites China to initiate aggression against Taiwan," he said. When asked what role Europe can play in deterring China, Wu said he hoped it would continue to warn against any unilateral change of the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. The EU can also make clear that China would face economic sanctions for any acts of aggression against Taiwan, while individual nations can help by continuing to conduct freedom of navigation exercises in the region, Wu said. In terms of the overall European policy toward China, which will be discussed by the bloc's leaders at a summit later this month, Wu said many countries have begun talking about "de-risking" their economic ties with Beijing. Given that Taiwan has been dealing for years with the threat of China weaponizing trade relations, "we will be happy to share our experience" with the EU or any European countries that may want to discuss how to mitigate such risks, Wu said. (By Tien Hsi-ju and Matthew Mazzetta) Enditem/pc/ls NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address H-6K bombers conduct nighttime Taiwan island encirclement flights Global Times By Liu Xuanzun Published: Jun 19, 2023 09:07 PM H-6K bombers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force have carried out nighttime sorties encircling the island of Taiwan, a move experts said on Monday will become routine and will send a warning to everyone who attempts to separate the island from China. The second air group under an aviation regiment of the PLA Air Force was the first unit to conduct nighttime Taiwan island encirclement flights since the commissioning of the H-6K bomber, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday. "We have the capability to sortie at any time and anywhere, be it at day, at night, or before dawn," Wei Xiaogang, an instructor at the air group, said in the CCTV report. It is a rare occasion that the public is informed about nighttime encirclement flights around the island of Taiwan by H-6K bombers. In May 2018, the defense authority on the island of Taiwan said it had for the first time spotted such a PLA operation, but there was little information afterward, observers said. Such nighttime PLA activities around the island of Taiwan are expected to become routine, Fu Qianshao, a Chinese mainland military aviation expert, told the Global Times on Monday. The H-6K's nighttime Taiwan island encirclement flights demonstrated the bomber's increasing all-weather, round-the-clock capabilities, Fu said. Provocations by "Taiwan independence" secessionists and external interference forces could also take place at night, Fu said, citing then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi's evening landing on the island of Taiwan in August 2022. "That is why the PLA must be ready to complete alert patrols and combat missions no matter the time," Fu said. While a nighttime sortie is more challenging to pilots, it also applies significantly more pressure to adversaries, because the latter would have to remain on high alert passively all the time, analysts said. It showed the PLA's capabilities in safeguarding national sovereignty and unity, and sent a warning to those who conduct secessionist activities, Fu said. In addition to encircling the island of Taiwan at night, the bomber air group also set many records when its H-6Ks broke the first island chain and carried out far sea exercises over the Pacific Ocean more than 100 times, conducted combat patrols in the South China Sea, and integrated with forces on land, at sea, in the air and in space, CCTV reported. "We don't recognize the so-called island chain. To us, [those missions] are just far sea sorties," Mutefa Aili, a squadron leader at the air group who has experience dealing with close-in disturbances by foreign aircraft during missions, said. Also, in a joint naval and air exercise in 2018, the unit's H-6K for the first time hit a genuine warship target with a new type of missile. In 2022, the unit developed a bomb trajectory calculation software that reduced the time required by 80 percent and raised accuracy by 20 percent, the report said. The H-6K bomber is capable of carrying a wide variety of munitions including the KD-20 land attack missile, the YJ-12 supersonic anti-ship missile and the YJ-21 hypersonic missile, according to publicly available information. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Beijing Says No Compromise on Taiwan, US Must Stick to One-China Principle Sputnik News 20230619 BEIJING (Sputnik) - Chinese Central Foreign Affairs Office Director Wang Yi said at a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Beijing will not compromise on the issue of Taiwan, and Washington must respect China's sovereignty, a Chinese broadcaster reported on Monday. During the meeting, Yi focused on analyzing the essence of the Taiwan issue, emphasizing that there is no room for any compromise for China on this matter, the broadcaster said. The US must genuinely adhere to the one-China principle established in the three joint US-China communiques, respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and clearly oppose Taiwan independence, the top official added. Seven members of the US House of Representatives have addressed Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging him to include a stopover in Taiwan on his visit to China this week, calling the breakaway island "friends and allies." Despite the rhetoric, the US does not officially recognize Taiwan in order to keep economic and diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. During a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Wang Yi said that the United States should make a choice between dialogue and confrontation, cooperation and conflict. "The secretary of state's trip to Beijing comes at a critical time in Sino-US relations, a choice must be made between dialogue and confrontation, cooperation and conflict," Wang was quoted as saying by the China Central Television broadcaster (CCTV) on Monday. He also said that as history moves forward, Sino-US relations should move forward as well. "We must show responsibility to the people, history, the world, reverse the downward trend in China-US relations, and work together to find ways for the US and China to get along in a new era," Wang said. Earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed the hope at a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the latter's visit will contribute to the stabilization of the relations between the countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Monday. "President Xi said state-to-state interactions should always be based on mutual respect and sincerity. Hope this visit by Secretary Blinken could make positive contributions to stabilizing relations," Hua tweeted. Later in the day, Xi Jinping stated that China and the United States have reached progress and agreements on a number of issues during the visit of the US Secretary of State. "The Chinese side stated its position, and both sides agreed to jointly implement the consensus reached by me and US President Joe Biden in Bali [on the sidelines of the G20 summit in 2022]. The parties have also made progress and reached agreements on some specific issues, which is very good," Xi said at a meeting with Blinken. Blinken is paying a visit to China from June 18-19. On Sunday, he met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. It is Blinken's first visit to China in his current role and the first US Secretary of State visit to Beijing since 2018. It took the US administration almost six months to put this visit back on the schedule after the initial visit was postponed over the balloon accident in February. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Mainland's Taiwan affairs official meets KMT vice chairman People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 14:36, June 19, 2023 XIAMEN, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Song Tao, head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, on Sunday met with Andrew Hsia, vice chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party, in the eastern city of Xiamen. Song called for advancing exchanges and cooperation as well as the integrated development across the Taiwan Strait, and promised utmost efforts to meet the needs of Taiwan compatriots and help them overcome difficulties. On the common political foundation of adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposing "Taiwan independence," the mainland is willing to strengthen exchanges and mutual trust with the KMT to promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and reunification of the motherland, Song said. Hsia, who is here to attend the 15th Straits Forum, said adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposing "Taiwan independence" has been the KMT's long-held position. He expressed the hope that the CPC and the KMT will continue to strengthen cooperation, benefit more people at the primary level with cross-Strait exchanges, and jointly contribute to the sound development of cross-Strait relations and the peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PM call with EU Commission President Von der Leyen: 19 June 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, this morning. 19 June 2023 The Prime Minister spoke to the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, this morning. He looked forward to welcoming President Von Der Leyen to London for the Ukraine Recovery Conference this week, and they discussed efforts to galvanise international support for Ukraine and drive long-term public and private investment. The leaders also reflected on the tragic shipwreck in Greece last week and the brutal business model of people-smuggling gangs. They reiterated their commitment to continue working closely together to break the criminal enterprises driving illegal migration, including UK cooperation with the EU border agency Frontex. Following his visit to the US last week, the Prime Minister updated on the UK's work on artificial intelligence and the leaders discussed the challenges and opportunities of this burgeoning technology. President Von Der Leyen welcomed plans for a UK-hosted global summit on AI later this year and highlighted EU initiatives in this area, and they agreed to cooperate on a shared approach. The Prime Minister also noted opportunities for the UK and EU to further develop our joint work on science and technology, including to meet our shared green ambitions. He hoped to see progress in discussions on the UK's possible participation in the Horizon Europe programme, and for the UK and EU to reach a pragmatic agreement on electric vehicle battery manufacturing to support car makers across the continent. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Norway to provide NOK 250 million for nuclear safety and security in Ukraine Government of Norway Press release | Date: 19/06/2023 Norway is increasing its support for nuclear safety and security in Ukraine in 2023 by NOK 250 million. Russia's illegal war poses a threat to nuclear safety and security in Ukraine. A nuclear accident in Ukraine would have consequences not only for Ukraine itself, but also beyond the country's borders. Norway will provide NOK 100 million in support to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This will help to ensure that IAEA experts can maintain a presence in Ukraine. Today, IAEA experts are present at the Chornobyl site, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently occupied by Russia, and at Ukraine's three other operational nuclear power plants. 'IAEA experts provide the international community with independent, credible assessments of the state of nuclear facilities in Ukraine. It is vital for us to have access to this kind of independent information. The IAEA is also providing technical support and assistance to prevent a nuclear accident from occurring,' said Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt. In addition, Norway is increasing its funding for nuclear safety and security cooperation with Ukraine by NOK 150 million. This funding will be administered by the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA), and will be used to reduce the risk of accidents and incidents involving the release of radioactive substances, and to reduce the risk of radioactive material falling into the wrong hands. 'Norway is doing its part to enhance nuclear safety and security. We will support efforts aimed at enabling the Ukrainian authorities to resume the safe and secure operation of facilities and sites that are directly affected by the hostilities. Repairing infrastructure and restoring regulatory control at the Chornobyl facility will be key priorities,' Ms Huitfeldt said. Norway was one of the first countries to deliver equipment to Ukraine to enhance nuclear safety and security following the full-scale invasion in February 2022. As early on as March 2022, Norway provided equipment to the Ukrainian border control authorities and to the Rivne nuclear power plant. 'We have been developing close cooperation on nuclear safety and security with various Ukrainian authorities and stakeholders for many years. Our bilateral cooperation on concrete projects has helped to enhance nuclear safety and security in the country,' said Director General of DSA Per Strand. 'Norway's experience and established networks are also proving useful to other international actors seeking to assist Ukraine in the current situation. Under the Nansen Support Programme for Ukraine, we are building further on our existing cooperation and increasing our support, to the benefit of Ukraine and the rest of Europe,' Ms Huitfeldt said. The overall objectives of Norway's efforts relating to nuclear safety and security in Ukraine are to: reduce the risk of accidents and incidents that could lead to the release of radioactive substances; prevent nuclear and other radioactive material from falling into the wrong hands; support efforts to restore regulatory control of facilities and sites directly affected by the hostilities; support the rehabilitation of facilities and sites, where possible, and continue to do so after the war is over; provide information to the public, the authorities and the media on nuclear safety and security and potential contamination risks in Ukraine. As of 2023, our efforts in Ukraine will also seek to: strengthen Norway's role in promoting global support for Ukraine's peace plan; realise the aims of the Nansen Support Programme for Ukraine. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The trilateral Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian Brigade has adapted to the status quo: Ukrainian units receive training in line with NATO standards Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence 2023-06-19 International cooperation On June 18-20 military personnel assigned to the joint military unit of Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, Great Hetman Konstantyn Ostrozky Brigade (LITPOLUKRBRIG), are on a visit in Lithuania. According to Minister of National Defence Arvydas AnuAauskas, the Brigade is a significant support to the Ukrainians in the face of the Russian brutality. "We are delighted that the war did not end the project. The Brigade has adapted to the new reality and continues training the units to meet NATO standards, thus facilitating the Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine," says A. AnuAauskas. At the request of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the LITPOLUKRBRIG launched the Operation United for Peace to assist the 11th Division of Poland in training the Ukrainian military personnel, coordinate the logistics of assistance to Ukraine, conduct operational monitoring of the situation in Ukraine and coordinate border crossing. Five Lithuanian officers assigned to the brigade headquarters contribute in this effort. The trilateral Lithuania-Polish-Ukrainian Brigade was established by signing the foundation treaty in Warsaw in 2014. It comprises an international headquarters staff, battalions assigned by Lithuania, Ukraine and Poland, as well as specialized units. More about the LITPOLUKRBRIG: https://litpolukrbrig.wp.mil.pl/en/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian official says Ukraine's nuclear activities could signal making 'dirty bomb' Iran Press TV Monday, 19 June 2023 1:29 PM The head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service says Ukraine's nuclear activities could be a signal of working on a "dirty bomb." Sergei Naryshkin said in a statement on Monday the service had information that a batch of "irradiated fuel" had secretly been sent from the Rivne nuclear plant in western Ukraine for disposal at a spent fuel storage facility in Chernobyl. The action, Naryshkin said, was suspicious and could only be explained by Kiev intending to create that kind of bomb. The spy chief said he hoped the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Union would look into Ukraine's nuclear activity. The so-called dirty bombs are explosives laced with radioactive, biological, or chemical materials, which spread in an explosion. Also known as a radiological dispersal device (RDD), it involves mixing explosives, such as dynamite, with radioactive powder or pellets. When such a device explodes, it sends radioactive material over a wide area. In a letter to UN Security Council members, Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said in 2022 that Ukraine's nuclear research facility and mining company had "received direct orders from (President Volodymyr) Zelensky's regime to develop such a dirty bomb." Shortly after, President Vladimir Putin called for the IAEA to inspect Ukraine's nuclear sites "as fast as possible." And IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said back then that the inspections had "begun - and would soon complete verification activities at two locations in Ukraine." In a separate letter to the UN secretary-general in October 2022, Russia pointed to another "heinous scenario" it believed was plotted by Kiev to sabotage a nuclear power plant under its control or shell the Zaporizhzhia plant, which is under Russian control. Kiev and its Western allies dismissed the remarks, and accused Russia of preparing an attack of this kind. Russia said earlier in June that Ukraine had launched an unsuccessful attack against Europe's largest nuclear power plant - Zaporizhzhia. The Soviet-era facility has been in Russia's hands since March 2022, a month after Moscow launched its military campaign against Ukraine. Ever since Russia's capture of the Zaporizhzhia plant, both sides of the conflict have been blaming the other for attacks against the facility, which raises the risk of generating nuclear contamination in the region. Moscow has described Kiev's attacks against the facility as "nuclear terrorism." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ukrainian Military Reports Intense Battles In Donetsk Region; Russia Cites Fresh Cross-Border Shelling By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service June 19, 2023 Intense battles continued on June 19 as Russian forces focused on Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region and as Kyiv tried to dislodge Russian troops from southern areas, the Ukrainian military's General Staff said. Russian forces continued to focus on the areas of Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, and Maryinka in the Donetsk region. There were 39 combat clashes, according to the General Staff's evening summary on June 19. According to the military, during the day the Russian Army carried out 32 air strikes and about 40 attacks from rocket-salvo systems on Ukrainian positions and on populated areas. The Ukrainian Air Force made 15 strikes on areas where enemy personnel were concentrated, the General Staff said. Ukrainian officials confirmed earlier that they have retaken their first village in the Zaporizhzhya region that hosts a major nuclear power plant. The confirmation that Ukrainian troops retook the village of Pyatykhatky came hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed in his regular nightly video address that his country would retake all its territory as Kyiv continues its "de-occupation steps." A family of six, including two children, was evacuated from Pyatykhatky, said Yuriy Malashko, head of the Zaporizhzhya military administration. Malashko said about 20 civilians remain in the village. Moscow has not mentioned Pyatykhatky, but it said Russian forces had repelled numerous assaults. It also released a video of what it said was a French-made tank seized in eastern Donetsk. Valeriy Zaluzhniy, commander in chief of Ukrainian forces, said Russian occupiers in southern Ukraine were being met with "fierce resistance." The Ukrainians' advance has been hampered by fortifications, minefields, and a "large number of reserves," but the operation will remain on schedule, he said on Telegram on June 19. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar confirmed earlier on June 19 that Ukrainian armed forces had retaken their first village in the Zaporizhzhya region since Kyiv recently started its counteroffensive. The day before, the Russian-installed governor of Ukraine' s Zaporizhzhya region, Vladimir Rogov, and Kremlin-backed reporters said Russian forces had left the village of Pyatykhatky, while the Russian Defense Ministry said attacks by Ukrainian forces in the village had been repelled. Malyar said Ukrainian troops liberated 113 square kilometers in two weeks. Kyiv said there had been 59 air strikes over the previous 24 hours. It also suggested Ukrainian offensives were continuing in the southern areas of Zaporizhzhya and Kherson, citing Russian "defensive actions" there. The head of a local people's council under Odesa's regional military administration, Serhiy Bratchuk, said Russian Black Sea submarines had attacked that region with four Kalibr missiles overnight but that all four were "destroyed" thanks to Ukrainian air-defense forces. In Russia, the governor of the border region of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said via Telegram on June 19 that seven civilians were hurt overnight when the town of Valuyki was shelled. Reuters quoted him as saying one of the nine buildings that had been damaged was on fire. Russia exercises tight censorship to control reporting on the conflict, and RFE/RL could not immediately confirm the Belgorod report's authenticity. Ukrainian forces have generally avoided taking responsibility for any attacks inside Russian territory since the invasion began. Individuals claiming to be disaffected Russian saboteurs have said they are behind some of the attacks in Russia that have become frequent in recent weeks. RFE/RL cannot confirm reports of battlefield developments by either side in areas of the heaviest fighting. With reporting by dpa Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kyiv-deoccupation-russia- righting-cross-border-shelling/32465392.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ukraine's Defense Chief Points To Support From European Partners, Hopes To Liberate Crimea By Current Time June 19, 2023 Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov in an interview with Current Time on June 19 provided few details about Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive but stressed the importance of the military support Kyiv is receiving from European countries and his hopes to celebrate his 58th birthday next year in Crimea. Reznikov highlighted in the interview that the Netherlands and Denmark have agreed to train Ukrainian military pilots, engineers, mechanics, and technicians to make it possible for Ukraine to get F-16 fighter jets from the West. According to Reznikov, Ukrainian pilots need four-to-six weeks to get trained to operate F-16s. He also noted a tank agreement with Lithuania and Poland that calls for establishing a maintenance hub in Poland for Leopard tanks that have been supplied to Ukraine. In addition, Estonia and Luxemburg have supported the proposal to create an IT coalition to assist Ukraine to conduct its counteroffensive against occupying Russian armed forces, he said. In excerpts released ahead of the publication of the full interview, Reznikov said Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive was facing more difficulties than last year's push to liberate the Kharkiv region and parts of the Kherson region due to a different landscape and weather conditions. The Ukrainian armed forces have suffered losses, he said without providing specifics. But he said Ukrainian officials do everything they can to avoid losses and "cherish every soldier's life," while the Russians do not care about losses and send their troops to "the meat grinder." Reznikov also reflected on the day that Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, saying that within hours on February 24, 2022, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktar Khrenin called him and offered on behalf of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to sign an agreement on capitulation. Reznikov said he responded immediately, thanking Khrenin for his attempt to mediate and telling him that the only capitulation he would sign would be Russia's. Referring to more recent calls by some politicians and activists to start talks with Russia to stop the war, Reznikov said that "all attempts to reach some agreements have been destroyed by the Russians." Many have lined up to try to "reconcile us," and it has turned into a trend, Reznikov said. "That means it is what Russians want. Why? Because they feel that they are losing what they call a 'special military operation,' they need a pause, to get rested, to lick up their wounds, and come to us with a new war, after which they will launch a war against Europe, I have no doubts about it," Reznikov said. Reznikov also expressed confidence during the interview that Russian-occupied Crimea will be liberated along with other Ukrainian territories currently held by Russia. He said that when U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said goodbye to him at the recent Ramstein talks, Austin congratulated him on his upcoming birthday (June 18) and told him that all the defense ministers in the Ramstein group wished him all the best but added that he must invite all of them for dinner. Reznikov agreed and predicted his next birthday will be celebrated in liberated Crimea. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-reznikov- interview-offensive-free-crimea/32466224.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address West Touting Kiev's Offensive to Justify Arms Supplies - Russian Intelligence Sputnik News 20230619 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Western countries deliberately pushed the topic of Kiev's offensive in the media to justify the supply of weapons and ensure unity among NATO member states, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergei Naryshkin said on Monday. "It was important for the Westerners to promote the topic of the upcoming Ukrainian counteroffensive in the global information space. The obviously overestimated importance attached to it is an element of mental attack before the battle. In addition, the constant exaggeration of this topic allowed the Euro-Atlantic totalitarian liberal elite to justify the supply of weapons to Kiev and ensure the unity of NATO countries, many of which are already pretty tired of Ukraine and its president," Naryshkin said. Naryshkin added that many Western military analysts expressed doubts about the success of the Ukrainian offensive and assessed the tasks announced by Kiev as "unachievable." Ukraine has touted its coming offensive since late 2022. It was first scheduled for the spring, then rescheduled to the summer. The Ukrainian government said the postponement was due to a shortage of weapons, all while pushing its Western donors to supply progressively heavier arms, including tanks, drones and fighter jets. Ukrainian troops launched a large-scale offensive in five sectors of the South Donetsk direction on June 4 but failed to achieve their goals, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Since then, the Ukrainian military has been trying to break through the defense lines of the Russian armed forces in the Donetsk and Zaporozhye regions, but their attempts have been unsuccessful and Ukraine has suffered heavy losses in armored equipment and manpower. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Requests UNSC Meeting on Collective West's Weapons Supplies to Ukraine Sputnik News 20230619 UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - Russia has requested a meeting of the UN Security Council on the weapons supplies by the collective West to Ukraine, First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitriy Polyanskiy said on Monday. "Today, we requested a meeting over the supplies of Western weapons to Ukraine and the consequences to the diplomatic efforts," Polyanskiy said on his Telegram channel. The Russian diplomat said there will be interesting witnesses on the issue during the meeting. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Lockheed Martin Says Ready to Train Ukrainians to Pilot F-16s Once NATO Reaches Agreement Sputnik News 20230619 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Pentagon contractor Lockheed Martin is ready to train Ukrainians to fly and maintain F-16s, if NATO allies agree to send the jets to Kiev, Frank St. John, the defense manufacturer's chief operations officer, said on Monday. "We are standing by, ready to not only backfill need as it arises with new F-16 builds but also any modifications to F-16s as well as training, equipment and systems," St. John was quoted by the British newspaper as saying ahead of the Paris Air Show, adding that a decision on this would be made only after discussions between Ukraine, the US and its NATO allies. Lockheed Martin may also consider establishing a base in Ukraine or near its territory after conflict is over, the company official said. "When these hostilities end, there will have to be a sustaining presence for training and maintenance and then the logical place would be for that to be in and around Ukraine," St. John added. Last week, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the timing of the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine would depend on progress in the training of Ukrainian pilots. Earlier in the month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a European Political Community press conference in Kishinev that a number of countries were ready to provide Ukraine with F-16s, the fighter jet of its choice. Russia has slammed the possible delivery of F-16s to Ukraine, warning that the jets will become a legitimate military target for Russian forces. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that the delivery of F-16 fighters to Ukraine will be a further escalation because the jets have a modification that makes them nuclear-capable. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Launches Missile Attack on Storage of Ukraine's Foreign-Made Equipment Sputnik News 20230619 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian armed forces launched a missile attack on the locations of storage of foreign-made equipment of the Ukrainian army in the night from Sunday to Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said. "Tonight, the Russian armed forces carried out a group strike using sea-based long-range precision weapons at locations where foreign-made military equipment is stored," the ministry said. The ministry added that all designated targets had been hit and the goal of the strike had been achieved. Russian forces also successfully repelled four attacks by Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk direction and three attacks in the South Donetsk direction over the past 24 hours, with the attacks being the most active part of Kiev's offensive actions. "In the Donetsk direction, ... [Russian] troops successfully repelled four enemy attacks in the areas of the villages of Pervomaiskoye, Stepovoye and Staromykhailovka of the Donetsk People's Republic ... In the South Donetsk direction, .... three attacks of the consolidated units of Ukrainian armed forces were repelled during the past 24 hours," the Russian Defense Ministry said. As a result of the hostilities, the Ukrainian army lost more than 340 military personnel, 10 pieces of equipment, including one Polish-made Krab gun-howitzer, as well as an ammunition depot in the Donetsk direction and over 100 troops, one tank, 12 armored fighting vehicles, as well as a foreign-made obstacle fighting vehicle in the South Donetsk direction, the ministry added. In the Zaporozhye Region, Russian forces successfully repelled two attacks by Ukrainian troops in the area of the village of Malaya Tokmachka over the past 24 hours. "Two enemy attacks were repelled near the village of Malaya Tokmachka, Zaporozhye Region, during which two tanks, 10 infantry fighting vehicles and two armored fighting vehicles were hit," the ministry said. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia's FSB Thwarts Kiev Terrorist Attacks Against Zaporozhye Region Authorities Sputnik News 20230619 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Monday it had foiled an attempt by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry to organize terrorist attacks against the leaders of the Zaporozhye region administration and Russian law enforcement officers. "The Russian Federal Security Service in the course of an operational game foiled an attempt by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry to commit a series of sabotage and terrorist acts against the heads of the military and civil administration of the Zaporozhye Region and Russian law enforcement officers," the FSB said in a statement. An employee of the Ukrainian secret service, who directed the activities of accomplices he recruited from among the residents of the Zaporozhye Region, was identified, the statement read. The FSB received comprehensive information about the operations carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), identified the direct executor and detained the accomplice, according to the statement. In addition, the means of committing crimes were confiscated and the accomplice's communication channels and methods of financing were identified. The accomplice was charged under the articles of terrorist attack and illegal purchase and sale of explosives and explosive devices. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. Russia has considered the Zaporozhye Region to be part of its territory since September 30, 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the region signed an agreement on its incorporation into country, following a referendum. Around 70% of the region is currently controlled by Russia but Ukrainian troops are still holding the region's capital and biggest city, Zaporozhye. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Repair of Kakhovka Plant to Start Once Ukrainian Forces Pushed Back - Kherson Governor Sputnik News 20230619 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The restoration of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant (HPP) can only start once Ukrainian troops are pushed away to a safe distance, but there are no specific plans yet, Acting Kherson Governor Vladimir Saldo told Sputnik. "Of course, after achieving the goals of the special military operation, or even earlier, when we drive the enemy to a safe distance, we will begin to restore the Kakhovka HPP. There is no other way - the ecology and economy of the left bank of the Kherson region and northern Crimea are strongly tied to it. This is a fundamental issue. However, it is clear that specific plans and projects will be drawn up later," Saldo said. On Sunday, the head of the Kherson regional government, Andrey Alekseyenko, said that the death toll from the flooding of Kherson Region after the Kakhovka HPP damage had gone up to 35. The upper part of the Kakhovka power plant on the Dnepro River was damaged overnight from June 5 to June 6. It was not destroyed completely, but its crumbling caused an uncontrollable outflow of water to towns on the Russian-controlled eastern bank of the river and the Ukrainian-held western bank. Moscow and Kiev have blamed each other for the dam's destruction. Authorities in some of the affected areas have evacuated the population. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam: UK statement to OSCE committee Justin Addison (UK Delegation to the OSCE) tells the OSCE's Economic and Environmental Committee that intentionally attacking exclusively civilian infrastructure is a war crime. 19 June 2023 The UK Delegation would like to thank the Austrian Chair of the Economic and Environmental Committee for convening a special meeting on the consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. The dam was the region's main hydroelectric infrastructure and provided cities, towns, and villages across Southern Ukraine with much of their water supply. The loss of this water supply, as well as the direct impact of widespread flooding, will result in environmental, economic, humanitarian and development consequences that will be felt well into the future. The extent of damage to the environment will likely take two years to fully understand. But we know that significant contaminants have been released into the water and may spread into soil, rivers, and the Black Sea. The affected region may also revert to desertification without the benefit of irrigation. The UK has commissioned a team of experts at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and Hydraulics Research Station Wallingford to conduct a rapid environmental impact assessment into the scale and nature of impacts, using available data. This will help future, more detailed environmental assessments and eventually the area's reconstruction. The destruction of the dam is a major catastrophe, and we would not be in this position if it was not for Russia's barbaric invasion of Ukraine. As my Foreign Secretary said recently, intentionally attacking exclusively civilian infrastructure is a war crime. Those responsible for such acts must be held accountable. On Thursday an emergency convoy of lorries carrying donated flood equipment, including pumps and temporary barriers, left the UK for Ukraine. Equipment donated by the UK's Environment Agency will offer a significant capability to pump water out of flooded areas and protect from further flooding. Mr Chair, providing assistance is well within the OSCE's mandate and responsibility, and we thank the organisation for its continued support to Ukraine on this issue. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PM call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine: 19 June 2023 The Prime Minister spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this morning (19 June 2023). 19 June 2023 The Prime Minister spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this morning. The Prime Minister paid tribute to the bravery of the Ukrainian soldiers on the front line of the counteroffensive and said it was clear they were making good progress. He told President Zelenskyy that the UK was firmly behind Ukraine as it continued to push back invading Russian forces. Small steps forward would bring success, the Prime Minister added. The Prime Minister updated on his recent visit to the US and his meeting with President Biden, and said it was clear the US and UK were in lockstep in their unwavering support for Ukraine. Both the Prime Minister and President Zelenskyy looked forward to speaking at the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which is being hosted in London this week. It was a unique opportunity to underline the strong public and private sector support for Ukraine, and demonstrate the country's transformation and ongoing reform, the leaders agreed. Looking ahead to the NATO summit next month, the Prime Minister told President Zelenskyy that he believed NATO members would demonstrate a strong signal of support for Ukraine at the Vilnius meeting. The leaders looked forward to speaking again soon. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The evil state has no such fortifications or reserves that will stop Ukraine - address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy President of Ukraine 19 June 2023 - 22:16 Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians! A report on this day. The Staff. First of all, the frontline, specific issues of the offensive. There were reports from senior commanders and commanders directly from the battlefields. There was also a report by the Commander-in-Chief, the Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate. Separately and in detail, we considered the preparation and provision of equipment for the new brigades of the National Guard and our border guards - those who are waiting for their time to engage in combat operations. In some areas our warriors are moving forward, in some areas they are defending their positions and resisting the occupiers' assaults and intensified attacks. We have no lost positions. Only liberated ones. They have only losses. In general, it is a situation of pressure, our pressure, which allows us to pave the way for our flag. Blue and yellow colors will be all over our south and all over our east. And the evil state has no such fortifications or reserves that will stop Ukraine. Because we are on our own land, and this gives us the greatest strength. I thank all of our warriors - every soldier, every sergeant, every officer and every general who are involved in our active offensive and defensive actions now. I thank you for each liberated and each defended position! Today, in a conversation with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, I outlined our current defense needs and thanked him for the defense support provided. For example, the British Storm Shadow long-range missiles are doing a very useful and accurate job at the front. As well as many other weapons supplied by the British. And this cooperation will have a significant continuation. Of course, we discussed with Rishi, with Mr. Prime Minister, the preparations for the NATO Summit in Vilnius and the content of this meeting of the Alliance. Today, there is also a significant political decision by the UK regarding sanctions - to maintain sanctions against Russia until the aggressor compensates for all the damage done to our people and our country. And it is very important that the assets of the aggressor state and all those associated with it, associated with the system of domination that the Kremlin has built on the territory of Russia, are used to compensate for the damage caused by the Russian war and terror. This will be fair, and I am grateful to all British people who support us on the path to justice. We also discussed with Rishi the preparations for the conference on Ukraine's reconstruction in London. It will take place in the coming days, and we expect it to consolidate various international efforts, including those of big business, to support our recovery. A recovery that should demonstrate to the world that freedom is invincible. I discussed the conference, financial cooperation, and our movement towards the EU with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. This week we are expecting an interim verbal assessment of our work on the European Commission's recommendations. We discussed sanctions issues in detail, in particular the 11th sanctions package against Russia for the war. Today I also spoke with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte and Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen. As always, we paid attention to the frontline and our joint defense efforts, and I thanked them for their support and willingness to develop our cooperation for security. I informed them about the talks with African leaders and representatives who visited Ukraine last week and then visited the terrorist state. Each such international step only convinces again and again that the world should work more actively with the Peace Formula. Because this is the only Formula that responds comprehensively enough to every aspect of Russian madness. And one more thing. The World Bank. I spoke with the President of the Bank today. And not only about cooperation now, but also about the post-war transformation of Ukraine. About the decisions and steps, about the new doctrine of a new Ukraine, a victorious Ukraine, steps that we will prepare and implement. All together. Just as we are now overcoming this aggression together. I am grateful to everyone who is now in combat, at combat posts, in combat positions! Today I would like to highlight the Artan assault unit of the Main Intelligence Directorate and its commander, Major Torkotiuk. Thank you! And also our Special Operations Forces. Viktor, all the guys - thank you very much! Thank you to everyone who is fighting and working for Ukraine! Glory to Ukraine! NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Latest in Ukraine: No NATO Invite for Now, Says Stoltenberg By VOA News June 19, 2023 Latest developments: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday he asked the Chinese government to be very vigilant about Chinese firms providing Russia with technology that it can use in the war in Ukraine. The European Union is stepping up efforts to deliver arms and ammunition to Ukraine, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said Sunday in an interview with French daily Le Parisien. "We are preparing for the war to last several more months, or even longer," he said. Denmark's military support to Ukraine will be increased to 21.9 billion kroner ($3.21 billion) during 2023-2028, the Danish Defense Ministry said in a statement Monday. There are no ongoing discussions about Ukraine joining NATO in the upcoming July summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, said NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg during a news conference Monday in Berlin. Stoltenberg said there would not be a formal invite of Ukraine into the North Atlantic Alliance, but that there will be active discussions during July's summit on "how to move Ukraine closer to NATO." He said the focus of the summit will be on how to help Ukraine successfully defend itself against Russia and added, "Unless Ukraine prevails, there is no issue to be discussed at all related to the membership." Stoltenberg affirmed that there is consensus among NATO members that one day Ukraine will join the alliance, remarking that Russia has no veto power over that decision. Ukraine's ambition of joining NATO predates both Russia's invasion last year and its annexation of Crimea in 2014. U.S. President Joe Biden said Saturday his administration would not "make it easy" for Ukraine to join NATO, noting the war-ravaged nation must fulfill the same criteria as other member states. According to NATO's Membership Action Plan, candidate nations must make military and democratic reforms before they are considered for NATO membership. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pressed NATO leadership and the European Union for a timeline on Ukraine's accession. Ukraine military gains In his nightly video address Monday, Zelenskyy touted Ukrainian advances against Russian forces. "We have no lost positions. Only liberated ones," he said. "In some areas our warriors are moving forward, in some areas they are defending their positions and resisting the occupiers' assaults and intensified attacks," he added. "We are on our own land, and this gives us the greatest strength," Zelenskyy said. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said earlier Monday that Ukraine's forces have retaken eight settlements during the past two weeks, including Piatykhatky in the Zaporizhzhia region. Since the start of Ukraine's counteroffensive aimed at reclaiming control of areas seized by Russian forces, Maliar said Ukraine had freed 113 square kilometers of territory. Ukrainian soldiers held up yellow and blue national flags in a video posted on social media, saying they were inside Piatykhatky. The settlement is close to one of the most heavily fortified Russian positions in the south. Separately, the Russian-backed head of part of Ukraine's Donetsk region controlled by Moscow's forces, Denis Pushilin, said Monday that Ukrainian shelling killed a six-year-old girl and injured 20 civilians in the town of Volnovakha. The Reuters news agency could not verify his assertions, and there was no immediate comment from Ukraine on Pushilin's allegations. Ukraine reconstruction Ukraine is seeking $40 billion in funding for the first phase of a "Green Marshall Plan" to repair its economy. During a two-day meeting in London starting Wednesday, politicians and investors will discuss Ukraine's short-term and long-term economic reconstruction which includes developing a coal-free iron and steel industry. The deputy head of Zelenskyy's office, Rostyslav Shurma, told Reuters, "If you have to rebuild, it is logical to rebuild green in line with new technologies. ... Our vision is to build a 50 million tons green steel industry in Ukraine," he said. Doing so could allow the country to become the world's cheapest supplier of so-called "green" steel a made without the use of fossil fuels a and a major support to Europe's efforts to decarbonize, driven by an investment push in new wind, solar, nuclear and hydro power, Reuters reports. According to the World Bank, Ukraine's reconstruction will cost upward of $400 billion, three times the country's gross domestic product. Since Russia's invasion in February 2022, external backers have poured $59 billion into Ukraine to support it during the war. One of the issues expected to be discussed during the two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference is whether the estimated $300 billion of frozen Russian central bank reserves will go to Ukraine. Britain on Monday introduced legislation that will allow it to keep sanctions against Russia in place until Moscow pays compensation for the cost of its invasion on Ukraine. "Ukraine's reconstruction needs are - and will be - immense," British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said. "Through our new measures today, we're strengthening the U.K.'s sanctions approach, affirming that the U.K. is prepared to use sanctions to ensure Russia pays to repair the country it has so recklessly attacked." U.S. lawmakers from both the Republican and the Democratic parties introduced a bill Thursday that would make it easier for Ukraine to fund its fight against Russia by using seized and frozen Russian assets. Kakhovka dam The Kremlin said Monday that Russia's decision to decline U.N. help in areas of Russian-held Ukraine flooded by the Kakhovka dam breach was because of security concerns. "There is constant shelling there, constant provocations, civilian objects and people are being shelled, people are dying," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. The United Nations confirmed Sunday that Moscow declined its requests to help residents of Russian-controlled areas of southern Ukraine affected by the Kakhovka dam collapse and pledged to continue seeking access. "We urge the Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law," the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said Sunday in a statement. More than a dozen people have died while 31 are still missing after floods caused by the dam's destruction, according to Ukraine's interior ministry. Almost 900 homes remain underwater and more than 3,600 people have been evacuated. Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Westford, USA, June 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to SkyQuest, the Chinese government has outlined plans to upgrade the country's transportation infrastructure through various initiatives, including the national high-speed railway and the National Trunk Highway System also known as the 7918 Network. These projects are expected to drive significant growth in the rail infrastructure sector, making it the fastest-growing segment in Heavy Construction Equipment market. The market comprises various regions, each with its economic growth trajectory and response to climate change. According to analysts, Northwest China is projected to experience the most rapid growth, partly due to the government's "Western Development Strategy" initiative, which is expected to result in substantial regional infrastructure spending. Get a sample copy of this report: https://www.skyquestt.com/sample-request/heavy-construction-equipment-market Browse in-depth TOC on "Heavy Construction Equipment Market" Pages - 242 Tables - 93 Figures 76 Heavy construction equipment or machinery are used for heavy operations such as material handling, excavation and lifting. Commercial, residential and industrial sectors and increased publicprivate partnerships and global economic growth drive the heavy construction equipment market. While selecting a heavy construction equipment, companies consider factors such as material, quality, project complexity, and safety. Prominent Players in Heavy Construction Equipment Market CNH Caterpillar Inc Hyundai Heavy Industries Komatsu Ltd. Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. Ltd. Volvo Construction Equipment AB Liebherr Group Terex Corporation Doosan Group JCB Limited SANY Group Co. Ltd. Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co., Ltd. XCMG Group Manitowoc Company, Inc. KOBELCO Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. Wacker Neuson SE John Deere & Company Atlas Copco AB Tadano Ltd. Yanmar Holdings Co., Ltd. Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC): https://www.skyquestt.com/report/heavy-construction-equipment-market Infrastructure Segment is Anticipated to Grow Due to the Rising Need for Better Transportation Networks The infrastructure segment is expected to exhibit a higher growth rate, building on its dominant position in the market during the forecast period. This growth is driven by a global need for better transportation networks as populations increase worldwide. As countries develop strategies to address these needs, the demand for infrastructure is expected to rise rapidly throughout the forecast period. The market is expected to see significant growth from nations such as China and India, which will significantly impact overall market growth. North America plays a crucial role in the global heavy construction equipment market. The region is mainly driven by the United States, which has a vast construction industry and high demand for heavy equipment. Canada is also a significant market, with strong demand for equipment in the mining and forestry sectors. The region's leading market players continuously introduce advanced equipment to meet industry demands. Besides, government initiatives aimed at enhancing infrastructure and increasing investment in construction are expected to drive demand for heavy construction equipment in the region during the forecast period. Earthmoving Machinery Segment is Dominating the Market Due to the Construction of High-Rise Buildings Earthmoving machinery is expected to remain the dominant segment of the market, primarily driven by demand from developing countries such as India, Malaysia and Indonesia. These countries have invested in constructing transportation infrastructure to promote economic growth, with earthmoving equipment playing a crucial role in these efforts. Material handling equipment is also anticipated to be in high demand due to the construction of high-rise buildings, which often require cranes, dumpers, forklifts and telescopic handlers. Other machinery, such as asphalt pavers, rollers, and transit mixers, are used in the transportation and handling of concrete and the construction of roads. As a result, infrastructure projects are expected to be this product line's primary driver of growth. Asia-Pacific was valued at $64.7 billion and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7%. The growth of the market is primarily driven by the economic development of countries such as China, India, and Japan, as well as significant government investment in the construction sector. A comprehensive analysis of the major players in the heavy construction equipment market has been recently conducted in a report. The report encompasses various aspects, including collaborations, mergers, innovative business policies, and strategies, providing valuable insights into key trends and breakthroughs in the market. Furthermore, the report scrutinizes the market share of the top segments and presents a detailed geographic analysis. Lastly, the report highlights the major players in the industry and their endeavours to develop innovative solutions to cater to the growing demand. Speak to Analyst for your custom requirements: https://www.skyquestt.com/speak-with-analyst/heavy-construction-equipment-market Key Developments in Heavy Construction Equipment Market The World RX and Volvo Construction Equipment collaborated for developing the next generation of rallycross tracks in 2022. After being appointed as the Official Construction Equipment Supplier to WORLD RX, Volvo CE expanded its commitment by becoming the Series' Official Track Build Partner. This partnership is expected to create innovative, state-of-the-art rallycross tracks that will enhance the racing experience for fans and participants alike. Another recent partnership in the mining industry was established in 2022 between Komatsu and Anglo-American Minas-Rio in Brazil. The two companies signed a memorandum of agreement to develop a comprehensive ICT mining bulldozer remote control system. The trial of a sizable ICT mining bulldozer with remote control functionality will be carried out through Komatsu Brazil International Ltd, to create a new solution that enhances the efficiency and safety of mine sites. The companies aim to develop innovative technology that can improve the operations of mines, making them safer and more efficient. Key Questions Answered in Heavy Construction Equipment Market Report What specific growth drivers are projected to impact the market during the forecast period? List the top companies in the market and explain how they have achieved their positions of influence? In what ways do regional trends and patterns differ within the global market, and how these differences shape the market's future growth? Related Reports in SkyQuests Library: Global Tower Crane Market Global Fireproof Insulation Market Global Structural Insulated Panels Market Global Modular Construction Market Global Underfloor Heating Market About Us: SkyQuest Technology is leading growth consulting firm providing market intelligence, commercialization and technology services. It has 450+ happy clients globally. Address: 1 Apache Way, Westford, Massachusetts 01886 Phone: USA (+1) 617-230-0741 Email: sales@skyquestt.com NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAW CALGARY, Alberta, June 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- High Arctic Energy Services Inc. (TSX: HWO) High Arctic or the Corporation has entered into an asset purchase agreement with a private Canadian energy services company to sell its Canadian nitrogen pumping assets for gross proceeds of $1.35 million in cash, before transaction costs (the Nitrogen Transaction). The Nitrogen Transaction results in the transfer of High Arctics dedicated nitrogen assets and support employees to the Buyer. High Arctic retains associated working capital and estimates a modest gain on sale over equipment net asset carrying value. Mike Maguire, High Arctic CEO, commented, The Nitrogen Transaction builds on our strategy to free up capital employed in service lines where shareholder returns have proven substandard. Our nitrogen service line has a small market presence and service industry consolidation carries merit for all stakeholders. We believe the Nitrogen Transaction sets our employees up for success as they transition to a larger team wherein their safety, service acumen and operational skill set them up for career success. Post-closing, High Arctics investment in Canada is comprised of its 42% equity investment in Team Snubbing, its equipment rental business and certain industrial real estate holdings. The rentals business is primarily focused on pressure control equipment and marketed under the HAES Rental Services branding. The high margin, low operating cost rentals business provides a platform to grow to scale and positions the Corporation to utilize its substantive $130 million non-capital tax loss carryforwards. High Arctics Board of Directors and Management acknowledge the robust team of employees affected and thank them for their dedicated service and commitment to operational excellence at High Arctic. The Nitrogen Transaction is subject to customary commercial closing conditions and is expected to close on July 21, 2023. The net proceeds will increase liquidity as the Corporation furthers its recently announced intention to undertake a return of capital to shareholders and reorganize. About High Arctic High Arctic is an energy services provider. High Arctic is a market leader in Papua New Guinea providing drilling and specialized well completion services and supplies rental equipment including rig matting, camps, material handling and drilling support equipment. In western Canada High Arctic provides pressure control equipment on a rental basis to exploration and production companies. For further information, please contact: Mike Maguire Chief Executive Officer 1.587.318.3826 1.800.668.7143 High Arctic Energy Services Inc. Suite 2350, 3305th Avenue SW Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 0L4 website: www.haes.ca Email: info@haes.ca Pune, india, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global DC contactor market size was valued at USD 400.08 million in the year 2022 and is forecast to grow from USD 441.00 million in 2023 to USD 827.15 million by the end of the year 2030, and the market is estimated to exhibit a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.40% during the forecast period 2023-2030. A DC contactor is an electrically controlled device that regulates current in DC circuits by simultaneously turning power on and off and closing and opening internal contacts. The driving power needed to seal the contacts is provided by the electromagnet. Fortune Business Insights presents this information in their report titled "Global DC Contactor Market, 20232030." Key Industry Development: January 2022 - Schaltbau announced that it is going to launch the C310 series contactors. Schaltbau offers an alternative to gas-filled devices and has been widely used to date. Due to the new technology, the C310 contactors work without insulating gas. Request a Free Sample of the Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/dc-contactor-market-106379 DC Contactor Market Market Scope: Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2022-2030 Forecast Period 2022 to 2030 CAGR 9.40 % 2030 Value Projection USD 827.15 million Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 USD 400.08 million Historical Data for 2019-2021 No. of Pages 180 Segments covered By Type, End-User, and Region Growth Drivers Rising HVAC System Installations to Propel Market Growth Rising Energy Demand to Augment Market Growth Drivers & Restraints: Growing Installations of HVAC Systems to Drive Market Growth HVAC systems are being installed more frequently as a result of consumers' growing need for comfort. In order to satisfy consumer demand, numerous businesses are creating items that offer a variety of advantages. The HVAC system also warns customers about system faults, maintenance schedules, and odd behavior to cut down on repair expenses. The development of HVAC systems in the commercial and residential sectors is also being fueled by abrupt climate change. Since, these contactors are primarily employed in HVAC systems to regulate the voltage provided to the loads, the expanding HVAC system stimulates the development of these devices. These factors are anticipated to increase the DC contactor market share during the forecast period. However, high cost of these contactors is leading consumers to choose relays and solenoids which may stifle the global DC contactor market growth. COVID-19 Impact: DC Contactor Market's Growth has Been Significantly Affected by COVID The market's expansion has been limited by the COVID outbreak. The global sales of electric vehicles in 2020 are also a two-act play. Lockdown procedures in 2020 froze consumer demand as well as manufacturing facilities and supply chains on the one hand. It was widely anticipated that EV market share would likely be more resilient than the larger vehicle sector as the pandemic started to intensify in early 2020. Even though the predicted fall in EV sales was expected to be less than that of overall auto sales. To get to know more about the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 on this market, please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/dc-contactor-market-106379 Segments: Acceptance of Definite Purpose of the Product in HVAC Sector Dominates the Segment Depending on the type, the market is segmented into general-purpose and definite-purpose DC contactors. Global market trends in 2020 were dominated by general-purpose contactors because of their widespread use in the HVAC sector. The end users of motors, power switching, process automation, and voltage fluctuation prevention all require general-purpose DC contactors. Growing Adoption of Electric Vehicle Segment Retains Majority Market Share By end users, the market is segmented into electric vehicles, renewable energy & storage, aerospace & defense, industrial machinery, etc. Due to growing demand for low carbon emissions, the electric vehicle market segment has dominated global market demand. Regional Insights Asia Pacific Dominates the Market due to Presence of Influential Economies in this Region Japan and China are regarded as the world's two biggest markets for electric vehicles in the Asia-Pacific area. These contractors are used to connect and disconnect the power supplies in these EVs and HEVs. Furthermore, North America is anticipated to expand gradually, with the U.S. dominating the market there. Increased EV sales and renewable energy initiatives are anticipated to rule the market. Quick Buy - DC Contactor Market Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/106379 Competitive Landscape: Large Corporations Concentrate on Creating High-Performance Products to Sustain their Positions With several competitors active at the national, regional, and international levels, the global market is highly fragmented. For the purpose of securing their position within the industry, the key companies are concentrating on the research and development of high-performance motor systems with enhanced operational features. Due to its increased focus on providing these contactors for a range of applications, Schaltbau Group is anticipated to generate a sizeable market share. The company has developed a strong brand as well. This is primarily due to the wide selection of cutting-edge, highly effective DC contactors it offers with optional customized delivery. List of Key Players Mentioned in the Report: Omron Corp. (Japan) Siemens AG (Germany) Rockwell Automation (U.S.) ABB (Switzerland) TE Connectivity (Switzerland) Mitsubishi Electric (Japan) Sensata Technologies Inc. (U.S.) Ametec Switch (U.S.) Hotson International Ltd. (China) Trombetta Inc. (U.S.) Schaltbau Company (Germany) Cotronics BV (Netherlands) Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/dc-contactor-market-106379 Table of Content: 1. Introduction 1.1. Research Scope 1.2. Market Segmentation 1.3. Research Methodology 1.4. Definitions & Assumptions 2. Executive Summary 3. Market Dynamics 3.1. Market Drivers 3.2. Market Restraints 3.3. Market Opportunities 4. Key Insights 4.1. Key Emerging Trends For Major Countries 4.2. Latest Technological Advancement 4.3. Insight on Regulatory Landscape 4.4. Porters Five Forces Analysis 4.5. Impact of COVID-19 on the DC Contactor Market 5. Global DC Contactor Market (USD Million) Analysis, Insights, and Forecast, 2019-2030 5.1. Key Findings 5.2. Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Type 5.2.1. Definite-Purpose DC Contactors 5.2.2. General Purpose DC Contactors 5.3. Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By End-user 5.3.1. Electric Vehicles 5.3.1.1.Passenger vehicles 5.3.1.2.Commercial vehicles 5.3.1.3.Buses 5.3.2. Renewable Energy and Storage 5.3.3. Aerospace and Defense 5.3.4. Industrial Machineries 5.3.5. Others 5.4. Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Region 5.4.1. North America 5.4.2. Europe 5.4.3. Asia Pacific 5.4.4. Latin America 5.4.5. Middle East & Africa 6. Competitive Analysis 6.1. Company Market Share Analysis, 2022 6.2. Company Profile 6.2.1.1.Business Overview 6.2.1.2.Product & Services 6.2.1.3.Recent Developments 6.2.1.4.Financials (Based on Availability) Continued Get your Customized Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/ask-for-customization/dc-contactor-market-106379 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 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 Dublin, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Tourniquet Systems Market 2023-2028 by Component, Applications, End-User, and Geography, Competitive Analysis, Impact of Covid-19 and Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global Tourniquet Systems Market is estimated to be USD 685.32 Mn in 2023 and is expected to reach USD 1002.31 Mn by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 7.9%. Tourniquet systems are devices that are to use surgical procedures to achieve and maintain a bloodless field in the upper and lower extremities. Tourniquet systems have a wide range of applications owing to their advantages that are helpful in various emergencies and life-threatening limb hemorrhages with multiple bleeding points, reconstructive procedures, and cosmetic, and orthopedic surgeries. The increasing number of trauma and accident cases is one of the key drivers. Trauma and accidents result in significant bleeding, and tourniquets are essential in controlling and halting bleeding in such cases. The increasing number of traumatic injuries and accidents around the world necessitates the use of tourniquet systems to provide immediate and effective hemorrhage control. Because of technological improvements in this industry, the tourniquet systems market offers potential. Integration of electronic sensors, pneumatic designs, and automated pressure control mechanisms improve tourniquet system accuracy, safety, and convenience of use. These technology developments improve overall performance and patient experience, hence creating the opportunity for market growth. The potential transfer of infectious diseases connected with the increased usage of reusable cuffs is one of the market limitations for tourniquet devices. If not properly sterilized, reusable cuffs constitute a source of infection transmission. To reduce the danger of infection transmission, strict sterilization techniques and the development of disposable or single-use cuff solutions are required. The shortage of competent experts is a serious barrier in the tourniquet systems market. To provide optimal outcomes and minimize potential consequences, tourniquet systems must be applied and used correctly. Proper training and competence are necessary. The scarcity of competent individuals, such as healthcare practitioners and emergency responders, can restrict the proper use of tourniquet systems, stifling market expansion. Competitive Quadrant The report includes a Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc. Ansoff Analysis The report presents a detailed Ansoff matrix analysis for the Global Tourniquet Systems Market. Ansoff Matrix, also known as Product/Market Expansion Grid, is a strategic tool used to design strategies for the growth of the company. The matrix can be used to evaluate approaches in four strategies viz. Market Development, Market Penetration, Product Development and Diversification. The matrix is also used for risk analysis to understand the risk involved with each approach. The analyst analyses the Global Tourniquet Systems Market using the Ansoff Matrix to provide the best approaches a company can take to improve its market position. Based on the SWOT analysis conducted on the industry and industry players, The analyst has devised suitable strategies for market growth. Why buy this report? The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Tourniquet Systems Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies. The research report also provides a detailed market size analysis and projections in volume and value terms. The projections are calculated using verified research methodologies. Excel data sheet for the market size will also be provided with the report. The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry. The report includes an in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 forces model, PESTLE Analysis, and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, the impact of COVID-19 on the market is also featured in the report. The report includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies. The report includes Self-Assessment Form, which helps customers evaluate their position in the market compared to their competitors. The report offers customized research - tailored uniquely to our customers with a quick turnaround time. We offer a 15% customization option at no extra charge to all our clients for any of our syndicated reports. Key Attributes: Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 126 Forecast Period 2023 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $685.32 Million Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $1002.31 Million Compound Annual Growth Rate 7.9% Regions Covered Global Market Dynamics Drivers Rise in Geriatric Population Increasing Number of Trauma and Accident Cases Rising Number of Joint Replacement Surgeries Restraints Transmission of Infectious Diseases Associated with Increasing Use of Reusable Cuffs Opportunities Growing Technological Advancements in Tourniquet Systems Increasing Prevalence of Degenerative Bone Disorders & Musculoskeletal Disease Challenges Lack of Skilled Professionals Companies Mentioned Anetic Aid Ltd. C.A.T Resources, LLC Changzhou Yanling Electronic Equipment Co., Ltd. Clarion UX Combat Ready Medical Delfi Medical Innovations, Inc. Dessillons & Dutrillaux Hammarplast Medical AB Huaxin Medical Equipment Factory OHK Medical Devices Pyng Medical Recon Medical Rudolf Riester GmbH Sam Medical Stryker Corp. Tacmed Solutions TacMedUSA Tourniquet Systems LLC Ulrich GmbH & Co. KG VBM Medizintechnik GmbH Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. Market Segmentations The Global Tourniquet Systems Market is segmented based on Component, Application, End-User, and Geography. By Component, the market is classified into Tourniquet Instruments, Tourniquet Cuffs, and Tourniquet Accessories. Tourniquet cuffs hold the largest share of the market Because of their rising applications in orthopedics, trauma, and emergencies. Tourniquet cuffs are also available in a variety of sizes, allowing them to be employed in a variety of orthopedic operations. By Application, the market is classified into Upper Limb and Lower Limb. The lower limb accounted for a major market share. The rising prevalence of orthopedic operations is expected to boost product demand. According to NCBI, over 2.6 million people worldwide will get knee replacement surgery in 2021. This incidence rate is expected to rise because of factors such as an aging population, degenerative bone disease, and an increase in trauma cases, among others. By End-User, the market is classified into Hospitals, Surgical Care Centers, and Non-institutional Use. The hospital segment accounted for more revenue share. Tourniquet systems are widely utilized as an important technique in the therapy of life-threatening external hemorrhage caused by lower limb injuries. By Geography, the market is classified into the Americas, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Americas dominated the tourniquet industry with the largest revenue share. This region's supremacy is mostly due to variables such as a well-established healthcare infrastructure, a huge target population, and a high acceptance rate of technologically advanced solutions. For instance, according to the World Health Organization, about 28-35% of people aged 65 and over fall each year increasing to 32-42% for those over 70 years of age resulting in higher demand for the tourniquet systems fueling the market in the region. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/pxftpm 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, Ireland, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Euro-Center , one of the world's leading companies in the fields of medical assistance, travel assistance and insurance claims handling, has formed a strategic alliance with DIDWW , a global telecoms operator offering premium quality VoIP communications and SIP trunking services. By leveraging DIDWW two-way SIP trunking solution, this partnership ensures high quality voice services throughout Euro-Centers medical assistance and travel insurance business. With their global presence, it was crucial for Euro-Center to find a comprehensive cloud solution as opposed to relying on local PBX systems in each of their 11 regional offices. Consequently, the company chose to partner with Genesys Cloud and collaborate with DIDWW to meet the goals of Business Continuity Planning (BCP). Euro-Center selected DIDWW due to the operators unique coverage in countries not typically covered by other global SIP providers, such as South Africa, Thailand, Brazil, and Turkey. As Euro-Center has its second-largest office in Thailand, securing premium quality VoIP services in the country is particularly important for the company. Additionally, with DIDWW offering virtual phone numbers in 81 countries, Euro-Center can further expand its ability to provide comprehensive medical assistance and travel insurance services to customers all over the world. Kevin Terret, Operations Manager at Euro-Center, said, This strategic alliance with DIDWW allows us to enhance our global presence in key regions and secure premium voice services for our travel and medical assistance business. Artur Kopcik, Strategic Client Relations Manager at DIDWW, added, We are proud to partner with Euro-Center to extend their global reach and help them provide customers with high-quality medical assistance and travel insurance services. As our coverage is constantly expanding, we are excited to work closely with Euro-Center to support their growth and success. About DIDWW DIDWW is a platform for telecommunication professionals with full self-service access and real-time provisioning, APIs and all the necessary building blocks for achieving the ultimate control over Voice and SMS services. The company offers the largest fully compliant international coverage of local, national, mobile, toll-free voice and SMS-enabled virtual phone numbers, two-way local and global SIP trunks, access to local emergency services, flexible capacity options, free global number portability, a number selection tool, and more. DIDWW delivers premium quality services to thousands of operators worldwide through a private and fully geo-redundant network with mission-critical reliability and guaranteed SLAs. Their customers enjoy advanced solutions coupled with a unique service experience and superior value, all driven by a highly motivated team of professionals. To learn more about DIDWW, please visit https://www.didww.com/ . About Euro-Center Euro-Center is one of the worlds leading companies in the fields of medical assistance, travel assistance, and insurance claims handling. As part of the premier Munich Reinsurance Company, a multinational insurance group, Euro-Center has built a network of 75,000 medical facilities worldwide, with its 11 regional offices and 24/7 medical assistance hubs covering all countries and territories. Euro-Centers assistance experts speak over 40 languages and are backed up by in-house nurses and doctors. Euro-Centers worldwide provide a local access point for advice, case management support, and claims handling services to insured members (IPMI/expatriate, leisure) and self-insured corporates, with an extensive network of cashless service providers. Euro-Center delivers extensive reporting tools to clients, online portals, as well as AI-driven services for policyholders. Niche outsourcing solutions for travel claims and related customer services are offered from its location in Cape Town. To learn more about Euro-Center, please visit www.euro-center.com . Press Contact: Vilija Simkiene Marketing Department vilija.s@didww.com +1 (212) 461 1854 www.didww.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a29cdc3a-15f4-40ca-9f3f-59d9975497f3 Newark, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Brainy Insights estimates that the U.S. hospice market will grow from USD 33.06 Billion in 2022 to USD 80.96 Billion by 2032. The ageing population and rising frequency of chronic and age-related illnesses are expected to lead the market to grow faster than usual. The growing number of Americans aged 65 and over is expected to rise. The market is expected to grow due to the rising incidence of cancer, dementia, kidney, respiratory, and cardiovascular illnesses among the senior population. For Right Perspective and Competitive Insights, Get Sample Report at: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/sample-request/13520 Key Insight of the Hospice Market The continuous home care segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 11.83% during the forecast period. The type segment is divided into continuous home care, general inpatient care, routine home care, and inpatient respite care. During the projection period, the continuous home care segment is projected to expand at the highest CAGR of 11.83%. Continuous home care is a short-term service offered at home when symptoms can't be controlled. Additionally, because the primary goal of CHC is to handle acute symptom emergencies at home, it substantially lowers hospital admissions. Hospice CHC lowers the risk of hospitalisation and disenrollment. It offers complete end-of-life care as a result. These aspects are expected to fuel the segment's expansion. The home hospice care segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 12.62% during the forecast period. The location segment is divided into hospital, skilled nursing facility, hospice center, and home hospice care. During the projection period, the home hospice care segment is projected to expand at the highest CAGR of 12.62%. The need for respite care is growing as more people want to provide their primary carer some personal time. During the projected period, it is anticipated that the market for home hospice care will rise significantly. The increase in demand for home hospice care among patients and their families, which provides a more pleasant atmosphere for the patient and freedom for visitors, is credited with the segment's boost. Additionally, it avoids the cost of travel for family members to visit the patient. Compared to extended hospital stays, it is a more affordable option. Get a detailed analysis on the U.S. Hospice Market: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/report/us-hospice-market-13520 Market Dynamics Driver: A rise in the frequency of terminal illnesses The number of Americans dying each year is on the rise, primarily due to the ageing population and the increase in chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease. The demand for hospice care is predicted to increase as more people experience terminal illnesses and pass away. Patients, families, and carers are increasingly knowledgeable of hospice care and its benefits. Hospice care is believed to be more caring and comprehensive than other types of medical treatment. Hospice care helps patients manage the mental and spiritual side effects of their illness and provides them with emotional and physical support. The U.S. government heavily funds hospice care through the Medicare and Medicaid programmes. Hospice care costs are also mostly covered by the Medicaid programme. There are more nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the U.S. due to the ageing population. These hospitals are increasingly preferring hospice care for their patients. Home-based care is becoming increasingly popular with both patients and carers. Home-based care has been considered to be more efficient and pleasing than hospital-based care. The patient can get hospice care at home, where they can be surrounded by things and individuals they are acquainted with. Challenge: Insufficient hospice providers The number of Americans living with Alzheimer's is projected to double. It will increase pressure on the hospice market because people with dementia are more likely to require higher levels of care. In the U.S., hospice providers are limited. Even if this number is projected to increase in the coming years, it still won't be enough to meet the growing number of patients requiring hospice care. There is a persistent need for hospice nurses in the U.S. Over the following years; this shortage is expected to worsen as demand for hospice care increases. The cost of providing hospice care is also rising. This is due to several factors, including an increased number of dementia patients and a shortage of hospice nurses. Interested in Procure Data? Visit: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/buy-now/13520/single Some of the major players operating in the hospice market are: Amedisys Brookdale Senior Living, Inc. Crossroads Hospice Accentcare, Inc. Oklahoma Palliative & Hospice Care Kindred Healthcare Inc. Chemed Corp. Heart to Heart Hospice LHC Group, Inc. Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care Key Segments Cover in the Market: By Type: Continuous Home Care General Inpatient Care Routine Home Care Inpatient Respite Care By Location: Hospital Skilled Nursing Facility Hospice Center Home Hospice Care About the report: The market is analyzed based on value (USD Billion). All the segments have been analyzed on a country basis. The report analyzes driving factors, opportunities, restraints, and challenges to gain critical market insight. The study includes Porter's five forces model, attractiveness analysis, product analysis, supply, and demand analysis, competitor position grid analysis, distribution, and marketing channels analysis. Avail access to The Brainy Insights and our exceptional market research database. About The Brainy Insights: The Brainy Insights is a market research company, aimed at providing actionable insights through data analytics to companies to improve their business acumen. We have a robust forecasting and estimation model to meet the clients' objectives of high-quality output within a short span of time. We provide both customized (clients' specific) and syndicate reports. Our repository of syndicate reports is diverse across all the categories and sub-categories across domains. Our customized solutions are tailored to meet the clients' requirement whether they are looking to expand or planning to launch a new product in the global market. Contact Us Avinash D Head of Business Development Phone: +1-315-215-1633 Email: sales@thebrainyinsights.com Web: http://www.thebrainyinsights.com Dublin, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report 2023 - 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global drug discovery outsourcing market size is expected to reach USD 6.2 billion by 2030 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7.3% from 2023 to 2030. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought pharmaceutical companies in limelight. Drug discovery is a costly and lengthy process. This has urged pharmaceutical and biotech companies to opt for outsourcing their research activities to academic and private Contract Research Organizations (CROs). Rising partnerships between public or private entities accelerate drug discovery processes, which, in turn, increase the global demand for outsourcing services for drug discovery. This scenario is expected to sustain post-Covid implications as well. A rise in cases of chronic diseases has urged companies to develop medicines that extend life expectancy. According to the United Nations, people aged 65 years between 2015 and 2020 are expected to live an additional 17 years. Some of the key therapeutic areas where companies are actively involved in outsourcing include oncology, cardiovascular, and anti-infectives. In November 2020, AstraZeneca collaborated with 9 of the foremost oncology medical centers to expedite research in some of the hardest-to-treat cancers. The company will be funding clinical and non-clinical research proposals from members of this network. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the value of drug discovery and development. People across the world are waiting for a vaccine while several companies are proactively involved in developing an effective vaccine to combat COVID-19. Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE received first approval for the vaccine following a worldwide Phase 3 trial of a potential strain to combat the virus. As for clinical trials, many of them are halted, while some are functional by adopting remote monitoring technologies. Thus, the pandemic has brought the pharmaceutical industry to center stage with drug discovery outsourcing becoming a key aspect to develop effective treatments against the virus. This is expected to boost the market revenue for the next 2 years i.e. a short-term boom, after which it shall regain its original growth curve. Companies Mentioned Albany Molecular Research Inc. EVOTEC Laboratory Corporation of American Holdings GenScript Pharmaceutical Product Development LLC Charles River Laboratory Wuxi AppTec Merck & Co. Inc. Thermos Fisher Scientific Inc. Dalton Pharma Services Oncodesign Jubilant Biosys DiscoverX. Corp. QIAGEN Eurofins SE Syngene International Limited Dr. Reddy Laboratories Ltd. Pharmaron Beijing Co., Ltd. TCG Lifesciences Pvt Ltd. Domainex Ltd. Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market Report Highlights In 2022, the lead identification & candidate optimization segment dominated the market. It is one of the most critical processes in drug discovery. Oncology and anti-infective are projected to be among the fastest-growing segments during the forecast period. Small molecules dominated the market in 2022. The segment is also projected to register a high CAGR during the forecast period. This, however, may change in the short term with higher emphasis on biologics. Asia Pacific is projected to be the fastest-growing regional market during the forecast period. The growth can be attributed to the government initiatives to forge alliances with U.S. pharmaceutical companies. Key Attributes: Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 187 Forecast Period 2022 - 2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2022 $3.5 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $6.2 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 7.3% Regions Covered Global Key Topics Covered: Chapter 1. Methodology and Scope Chapter 2. Executive Summary Chapter 3. Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market Variables, Trends & Scope 3.1. Market Lineage Outlook 3.1.1. Parent market outlook 3.1.2. Related/ancillary market outlook 3.2. Penetration & Growth Prospect Mapping 3.3. Market Dynamics 3.3.1. Market driver analysis 3.3.2. Market restraint analysis 3.3.3. Industry challenges 3.4. Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market Analysis Tools Chapter 4. Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market: Workflow Estimates & Trend Analysis 4.1. Definitions and Scope 4.1.1. Target Identification & Screening 4.1.2. Target Validation & Functional Informatics 4.1.3. Lead Identification & Candidate Optimization 4.1.4. Preclinical Development 4.1.5. Other Associate Workflow 4.2. Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market Share, 2022 & 2030 4.3. Segment Dashboard 4.4. Global Drug Discovery Market by Workflow Outlook 4.5. Market Size & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2018 to 2030 for the following 4.5.1. Target Identification & Screening 4.5.1.1. Target Identification & Screening market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 4.5.2. Target Validation & Functional Informatics 4.5.2.1. Target Validation & Functional Informatics Market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 4.5.3. Lead Identification & Candidate Optimization 4.5.3.1. Lead Identification & Candidate Optimization Market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 4.5.4. Preclinical Development 4.5.4.1. Preclinical Development Market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 4.5.5. Other Associate Workflow 4.5.5.1. Other Associate Workflow Market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) Chapter 5. Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market: Therapeutic Area Estimates & Trend Analysis 5.1. Definitions and Scope 5.1.1. Respiratory System 5.1.2. Pain and Anesthesia 5.1.3. Oncology 5.1.4. Ophthalmology 5.1.5. Hematology 5.1.6. Cardiovascular 5.1.7. Endocrine 5.1.8. Gastrointestinal 5.1.9. Immunomodulation 5.1.10. Anti-infective 5.1.11. Central Nervous System 5.1.12. Dermatology 5.1.13. Genitourinary System 5.2. Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market Share, 2022 & 2030 5.3. Segment Dashboard 5.4. Global Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market by Drug Type Outlook 5.5. Market Size & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2018 to 2030 for the following 5.5.1. Respiratory System 5.5.1.1. Respiratory System market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 5.5.2. Pain and Anesthesia 5.5.2.1. Pain and Anesthesia market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 5.5.3. Oncology 5.5.3.1. Oncology market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 5.5.4. Ophthalmology 5.5.4.1. Ophthalmology market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 5.5.5. Hematology 5.5.5.1. Hematology market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 5.5.6. Cardiovascular 5.5.6.1. Cardiovascular market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 5.5.7. Endocrine 5.5.7.1. Endocrine market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 5.5.8. Gastrointestinal 5.5.8.1. Gastrointestinal market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 5.5.9. Immunomodulation 5.5.9.1. Immunomodulation market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 5.5.10. Anti-infective 5.5.10.1. Anti-infective market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 5.5.11. Central Nervous System 5.5.11.1. Central Nervous System market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 5.5.12. Dermatology 5.5.12.1. Dermatology market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 5.5.13. Genitourinary System 5.5.13.1. Genitourinary System market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) Chapter 6. Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market: Drug Type Estimates & Trend Analysis 6.1. Definitions and Scope 6.1.1. Chemistry Services 6.1.2. Biology Services 6.2. Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market Share, 2022 & 2030 6.3. Segment Dashboard 6.4. Global Drug Discovery Market by Drug Type Outlook 6.5. Market Size & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2018 to 2030 for the following 6.5.1. Small Molecule 6.5.1.1. Small Molecule Market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 6.5.2. Large Molecule 6.5.2.1. Large Molecule Market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) Chapter 7. Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market: Service Type Estimates & Trend Analysis 7.1. Definitions and Scope 7.1.1. Chemistry Services 7.1.2. Biology Services 7.2. Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market Share, 2022 & 2030 7.3. Segment Dashboard 7.4. Global Drug Discovery Market by Type Outlook 7.5. Market Size & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2018 to 2030 for the following 7.5.1. Chemistry Services 7.5.1.1. Chemistry Services market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 7.5.2. Biology Services 7.5.2.1. Biology Services Market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) Chapter 8. Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market: End-user Estimates & Trend Analysis 8.1. Definitions and Scope 8.1.1. Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies 8.1.2. Academic Institutes 8.1.3. Others 8.2. Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market Share, 2022 & 2030 8.3. Segment Dashboard 8.4. Global Drug Discovery Market by End-user Outlook 8.5. Market Size & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2018 to 2030 for the following 8.5.1. Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies 8.5.1.1. Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 8.5.2. Academic Institutes 8.5.2.1. Academic Institutes Market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) 8.5.3. Others 8.5.3.1. Others Market estimates and forecast 2018 to 2030 (USD Million) Chapter 9. Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market: Regional Estimates & Trend Analysis Chapter 10. Competitive Landscape For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/g2rqzn 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 Chicago, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Delvens has published a latest market research report on Global Patient Registry Software Market. The global report is prepared in collaboration with the leading industry experts and dedicated research analyst team to provide an enterprise with in-depth market insights and help them to take crucial business decisions. This report covers current market trends, opportunities, challenges, and detailed competitive analysis of the industry players in the market. Global Patient Registry Software Market by Type of Registry (Diabetes, Cancer, Rare Disease, Asthma, Kidney), Software (Integrated and Standalone), Delivery (On-Premise and Cloud), Pricing Model, Database, End User, Region, Supply & Demand Side Analysis, and Segment Forecasts, 2023-2030. The global market for patient registry software is expected to reach $3.7 billion by 2030 from $1.9 billion in 2022, registering impressive expansion at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.3%. Some of the major players are IBM Corporation, IQVIA Holdings, OpenText Corporation, Optum, Premier, Inc., ArborMetrix, FIGmd, McKesson Corporation, Syneos Health, Dacima Software, IFA Systems AG, Medstreaming- M2S, ImageTrend, Evado Clinical, and WIRB Copernicus Group among others. Get Free Sample Report: https://www.delvens.com/get-free-sample/patient-registry-software-market-trends-forecast-till-2028 To enhance the provision of healthcare services, regulatory authorities in developed economies are concentrating on the wider use of EHR systems in their healthcare practices. Healthcare providers in Europe are predicted to have spent 32.0% more on patient registry software in 2018 than they did five years prior. The demand for patient registry software is being further fueled by the strict regulations required to establish electronic patient records. For instance, the German Health Minister drafted laws for digital health solutions in Germany in May 2019. The deployment of the electronic register, the telemedicine infrastructure, and the patient healthcare record will all benefit. Most biotech and pharmaceutical businesses anticipate seeing growth and untapped potential as they increase their investment in clinical trials. Data from patient registries are useful for tracking clinical trial participants. Furthermore, the data can be used to identify the areas affected by any particular form of sickness. The numerous patient registries can be quite helpful to pharmaceutical and medical device companies for post-marketing tracking of drugs and medical devices. Patient registries lower the price of post-market research and assist in the generation and use of real-world evidence. Patient Registry Software Market Report Scope Report Feature Descriptions Growth Rate CAGR of 15.3% during the forecasting period, 2023-2030 Historical Data 2019-2021 Forecast Years 2023-2030 Base Year 2022 Units Considered Revenue in USD billion and CAGR from 2023 to 2030 Report Segmentation Types of Registry, Pricing model, End-User, and Region. Report Attribute Market Revenue Sizing (Global, Regional and Country Level) Company Share Analysis, Market Dynamics, Company Profiling Regional Level Scope North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, and Middle East and Africa Country Level Scope U.S., Japan, Germany, U.K., China, India, Brazil, UAE, South Africa (50+ Countries Across the Globe) Companies Profiled IBM Corporation, IQVIA Holdings, OpenText Corporation, Optum, Premier, Inc., ArborMetrix, FIGmd, McKesson Corporation, Syneos Health, Dacima Software, IFA Systems AG, Medstreaming- M2S, ImageTrend, Evado Clinical and WIRB Copernicus Group, Global Vision Technologies, Conduent, Inc., Elekta AB, Cedaron, Lumdex, Armus, Phamax AG, and Versaform Systems Corp, ESO Solutions and Ordinal Data Inc. among others. Available Customization In addition to the market data for the Patient Registry Software Market, Delvens offers client-centric reports customized according to the companys specific demand and requirements. Inquire Before Buying: https://www.delvens.com/Inquire-before-buying/patient-registry-software-market-trends-forecast-till-2028 Patient Registry Software Market Overview The market's growth is anticipated to be significantly impacted by COVID-19. The COVID-19 patient registry was used to record patient symptoms, the effects of vaccination studies, post-marketing approval of vaccines, and additional research and development activities for novel vaccines. Additionally, IQVIA debuted its COVID Active Research Experience (CARE) Project at helpstopcovid19.com in August 2020. The IQVIA CARE Project is an opt-in registry open to everyone to improve understanding of COVID-19 through the exchange of data on the prevalence, progression, and effectiveness of treatments. Patient registries-supported data science breakthroughs may fill in the gaps necessary to support COVID-19 activities. As a result, COVID-19 is anticipated to have an impact on market expansion throughout the forecast period. Market players throughout the world are searching for creative and economical ways to deliver technology-enabled, patient-centered healthcare solutions both within and outside hospital walls due to better outcomes and quality of care in the 21st century. Government sources have begun to pay attention to electronic health records because of their many applications, both clinical and non-clinical. The governments of rich and developing nations alike are launching several federal policies, initiatives, and programs to advance healthcare services. For patients with congenital myasthenic syndrome (CMS), the Canadian Neuromuscular Disease Register introduced a new register in February 2022. This registry intends to expand the Canadian CMS cohort for upcoming research and provide access to diagnosis and treatment. Thus, government programs encouraging the use of patient registries will spur market expansion. Patient Registry Software Market Segmentation Analysis The Integrated Software segment is expected to hold a major market share in the patient registry software market Applications that are integrated offer numerous modules that offer a wide variety of functionality often seen in stand-alone applications. a piece of business software that allows data exchange between all or the majority of its components. These products often combine word processing, database management, spreadsheets, graphics, and communications. In hospital settings, where several registers must be kept in various departments and cross-sharing of this data across departments is essential, integrated software is being used more frequently. Based on product, the market for patient registry software is segmented into disease, health service, and product registry. The disease registry is further sub-segmented into cardiovascular, diabetes, cancer, rare disease, asthma, and others. In 2019, the patient registry software market was dominated by the disease registry sector. The segment is being driven by the rising demand for healthcare system integration and illness burden reduction. These registries are useful for monitoring patients participating in clinical trials for the development of novel medications. Based on end-use, the market for patient registry software is segmented into government and third parties, hospitals and medical practices, private payers, pharma and medical device companies, and research organizations. The sector with the highest revenue share in 2019 was the government and third-party sector. Throughout the forecast period, it is projected that the government will install this software in both developed and developing nations to reduce the burden of disease. Regional Insights Regional Insights In terms of revenue share, North America controls the world market for patient registry software in 2019. The market in this region is expanding as a result of an expanding target population, an increase in the occurrence of illnesses, and a growing demand for population-based registries. Businesses always strive to provide more user-interactive software to make patient registry software more interactive for users and supportive of clinical research. For instance, IQVIA introduced a new web-based tool for the enrolment of clinical trial data in August 2019. During the anticipated period, Asia Pacific is anticipated to see profitable growth. Over the past few years, electronic medical records have become more widely used. Major drivers driving the market in the region include increasing demand to reduce medical errors, frequent hospital visits, increased diagnostic errors coupled with rising prevalence of co-morbidities, and an aging population. Additionally, encouraging government measures, particularly in Japan, China, and South Korea, are promoting the expansion of the patient registry software market. Patient Registry Software Market Outlook Driver: Government initiatives to build patient registries Government organizations all around the world are taking steps to digitize and integrate healthcare systems, including the creation of computerized illness registries, in response to the rising demand for population health management and health information exchange. The development of patient registries is a priority for several state agencies as well as federal organizations in the US, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centres for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Opportunity: High adoption rate of the subscription model The subscription model has a modest initial investment requirement and places less stress on healthcare facilities because no IT staff is required. Productivity and cost-efficiency consequently rise. This strategy also enables suppliers to develop fresh and creative licensing agreements to engage prospects and consumers in new ways. Healthcare providers are increasingly using subscription-based software since it offers a quicker time to value any new features that are offered, and they can even use it temporarily depending on their needs. Since it offers a better chance to build trust and understand the demands of healthcare providers, several market players are currently in favor of the subscription model (which would then help to boost customer satisfaction). These benefits are predicted to offer market participants potential growth chances during the anticipated timeframe. Restraint: Privacy and data security-related concerns Concerns regarding data privacy and security are preventing healthcare organizations from implementing patient registry solutions because a data breach might reveal the private information of many patients. In recent years, there have been a lot more breaches of healthcare data. About one-third of data breaches in the healthcare sector result in medical identity theft, and this is mostly due to lax internal controls over patient information, outdated policies and procedures or a failure to follow them, and inadequate staff training. In its list of 2019 breaches, the Identity Theft Resource Centre in the US recorded 1,473 breaches, an increase of 17% from all breaches reported in 2018. Only the healthcare sector was responsible for 35.5% of the breaches that were tracked. Such risk factors may inadvertently harm the market. Challenge: Lack of awareness Many people involved in the healthcare industry, especially in developing and underdeveloped countries, are currently ignorant about patient registers and the tools that can be utilized to build comprehensive patient registries. In wealthy countries with advanced healthcare infrastructure and high EHR solution adoption, the effects of this challenge are minimal. As HCIT adoption is still in its infancy in many developing and underdeveloped countries, many healthcare providers, payers, and government and non-government organizations are unaware of the market's HCIT solutions, such as patient registration software. This problem can be solved with the use of programs like seminars, symposiums, workshops, and training sessions that highlight increasing awareness of the potential of patient registry software and developing a qualified workforce with the essential skills to properly use these solutions. Key Companies & Market Share Insights Some of the key players operating in the global Patient Registry Software market are IBM Corporation, IQVIA Holdings, OpenText Corporation, Optum, Premier, Inc., ArborMetrix, FIGmd, McKesson Corporation, Syneos Health, Dacima Software, IFA Systems AG, Medstreaming- M2S, ImageTrend, Evado Clinical and WIRB Copernicus Group, Global Vision Technologies, Conduent, Inc., Elekta AB, Cedaron, Lumdex, Armus, Phamax AG, and Versaform Systems Corp, ESO Solutions and Ordinal Data Inc among others. Recent Developments A partnership between ESO Solutions (US) and Virginia EMS Systems (US) was formed in March 2021 to offer a state-wide trauma registry and EMS data repository for the collecting and analysis of data to identify important trends and insights. The most recent National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) Data Dictionary will be accessible in the Patient Registry on January 1, 2021, according to an announcement made by ImageTrend, Inc. (US) in December 2020. To improve the health, development, and well-being of all children, ArborMetrix, Inc. (US) and the American Academy of Paediatrics partnered in November 2020 to create and expand a clinical registry. Purchase This Report: https://www.delvens.com/checkout/patient-registry-software-market-trends-forecast-till-2028 Global Patient Registry Software Market Table of Contents Types of Registry Outlook Disease Registry Diabetes Registries Cardiovascular Registries Cancer Registries Rare Disease Registries Asthma Registries Chronic Kidney Registries Orthopedic Registries Other Disease Registries Health Service Registries Product Registries Medical Device Registries Drug Registries Pricing Model Outlook Subscription Model Ownership Model Deployment Model outlook On-Premise Model Cloud-Based Model Type of Database outlook Commercial Database Public Database Functionality outlook Population Health Management Patient Care Management Medical Research & Clinical Studies Health Information Exchange Point-of-Care Product Outcome Evaluation End user outlook Government Organizations and Third-Party Administrators; Hospitals & Medical Practices Private Payers Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, and Medical Device Companies Research Centers Regional Outlook Europe Germany U.K. France Italy Spain Sweden Austria Finland Belgium Turkey Russia Poland Hungary Czech Republic Switzerland Netherlands Rest of Europe North America U.S. Canada Mexico Asia-Pacific Japan China India Australia South Korea Vietnam New Zealand Philippines Thailand Malaysia Hong Kong Taiwan Singapore Indonesia Sri Lanka Rest of Asia-Pacific South America Brazil Argentina Chile Colombia Rest of South America Middle East And Africa South Africa U.A.E. Saudi Arabia Oman Qatar Iran Egypt Rest of Middle East and Africa Browse More Healthcare Industry Reports: https://www.delvens.com/industry/healthcare Explore Related Reports: Nerve Repair & Regeneration Market : The global Nerve Repair & Regeneration Market size is projected to reach a CAGR of 6.5% from 2023-2030. Multiplex Assays Market: The global Multiplex Assays Market size is projected to reach a CAGR of 10.3% from 2023-2030. Medical Image Analysis Software Market: The global Medical Image Analysis Software Market size is projected to reach a CAGR of 7.8% from 2023-2030. Medical Device Reprocessing Market: The global Medical Device Reprocessing Market size is projected to reach a CAGR of 13.7%from 2023-2030. Interactive Patient Care Market: The global Interactive Patient Care market size is projected to reach a CAGR of 15.5% from 2023-2030. Infusion Therapy Market: The global Infusion Therapy Market size is projected to reach a CAGR of 7% from 2023-2030. 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With such a great response, the Company is doubling down on development efforts and expansion plans. --- Anonymous Intelligence Company CEO, Lucas Russell The early acceptance and interest in the Companys entry into the epic wave of Artificial Intelligence means that they could be at a precipice, a moment not so far ahead that may indeed prove to be its tipping point. About The Emerging Markets Report: The Emerging Markets Report is owned and operated by Emerging Markets Consulting (EMC), a syndicate of investor relations consultants representing decades of experience. Our network consists of stockbrokers, investment bankers, fund managers, and institutions that actively seek opportunities in the micro and small-cap equity markets. 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EMC does not independently verify any of the content linked-to from this editorial. Please read our full disclaimer. Irving, TX, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StrataTech Education Group (StrataTech), a leading operator of skilled trade schools, announced today the launch of a new lineworker program for students seeking training in the field of utility power distribution, construction, maintenance, troubleshooting and repair. Students can now enroll in the 15-week program at the new Tulsa Welding School Dallas Metro campus, located in Irving, Texas. The new program comes as StrataTech continues to expand its footprint nationwide by adding new campuses and new programs to its lineup. Tulsa Welding School is a trusted name in skilled trades education, providing students with hands-on training guided by expert instructors for more than 70 years. Dallas Metro is the fourth Tulsa Welding School campus and the fifth trade school for StrataTech (which also includes The Refrigeration School, Inc. in Phoenix ). The electrical lineworker program is a first-of-its-kind within StrataTechs portfolio of schools. Students will receive certifications in pole climbing, overhead and underground construction, system design and operation, national electric safety code, AC and DC circuits and electric power preparing students for environments, scenarios and safety standards they may encounter in the industry. The curriculum is consistent with the national standards for electrical power generation, distribution and transmission industry as described in the United States Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The program also offers an option for students to receive their required OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health) 10-Hour certification card that is intended for entry level workers and required by most employers. At StrataTech, we always strive to seek out new ways to expand our offerings and elevate the level of opportunities we provide for students pursuing a career in the skilled trades, said Mary Kelly, President and CEO of StrataTech. Our new (Electrical) Lineworker program will allow us to graduate more students who can help meet the growing demand for skilled powerline installers and repairers and better power our nation. TWS Dallas Metros Electrical Lineworker program will be led by industry veteran Zachary Taylor. Taylor has more than 20 years of experience with primary voltage of overhead and underground distribution systems and has spent the past four years as the lead instructor at Southeast Lineman Training Center in Trenton, GA. Taylors career has given him the opportunity to work on major projects around the country, including jobs with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), which provides natural gas and electric service to approximately 16 million people in California, and assisting with critical hurricane damage repairs along the East Coast and in Puerto Rico. StrataTech is launching its Electrical Lineworker program at a time when employment of electrical power-line installers and repairers is expected to grow, largely on account of increasing electrical grid needs around the country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Texas, for example, has the highest employment level among electrical power-line installers and repairers compared to all other states, with an annual mean salary of $71,190 in the Dallas area. Texas is booming with opportunity for anyone pursuing a fulfilling career in a skilled trade, no matter their background, said James Cooper, Campus President at TWS Dallas Metro. Were excited we can further diversify our curriculum and offer our students a pathway toward a lucrative and sustainable career they can take with them, no matter their location. The first cohort for the new Electrical Lineworker program begins this summerat TWS Dallas Metro, located in the Irving, Texas suburb. TWS Dallas Metro will host two open house events on June 21 and 24 for prospective students to tour the campus, meet faculty and learn more about the program. Those interested in enrolling in the Electrical Lineworker program must be at least 18 years old and have received their high school diploma or GED. They must also be eligible to obtain a Class A commercial drivers license and pass a physical exam. TWS Dallas Metro will also expand their course offerings with training programs in welding, refrigeration and electrical technologies. For more information visit tws.edu/dallas. About StrataTech Education Group StrataTech Education Group focuses on the education, growth and development of specialized career education schools, particularly skilled-trade programs designed to address the nations growing infrastructure needs. Holding an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau, StrataTech Education Groups portfolio includes The Refrigeration School, Inc. (RSI) (Phoenix), Tulsa Welding School (TWS) (Tulsa, OK), Tulsa Welding School (Jacksonville, FL), Tulsa Welding School & Technology Center (Houston, TX) and Tulsa Welding School (near Dallas, TX). For more information, visit StrataTech.com. About Tulsa Welding School Tulsa Welding School (TWS) was founded in 1949 in Tulsa, Oklahoma and has trained thousands of individuals to become entry level professionals in the skilled trades for more than 70 years. Students learn hands-on, technical competencies and skills through labs, virtual reality and classroom instruction, with a curriculum designed to meet employers needs. TWS offers welding, HVAC/R and electrical programs. There are four TWS campuses across the country including Tulsa Welding School in Tulsa, Tulsa Welding School in Jacksonville, Tulsa Welding School & Technology Center in Houston, and Tulsa Welding School serving the Dallas /Ft. Worth metro. Accredited Schools, ACCSC. Licensed by OBPVS, approved and regulated by TWC, and licensed by Florida CIE (License #2331). For more information, visit www.tws.edu or follow along on Facebook and Twitter. Attachments Initiating a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) to validate Project economics and evaluate opportunities to add value. Conducting metallurgical test program to validate and optimize tungsten recovery and assess the recoveries of by-products gold and copper. An environmental and socioeconomic assessment for the Project was completed in 2014, allowing for licensing processes to proceed. Planning additional environmental studies and field investigation programs in 2023 to bolster understanding of key project components. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FIREWEED METALS CORP. (Fireweed or the Company) (TSXV: FWZ; OTCQB: FWEDF) is pleased to provide an update on the near-term plans for the Mactung Project, following release of the Resource Estimate that establishes Mactung as the worlds largest, high-grade tungsten deposit** (see news release dated June 13, 2023*). CEO Statement Brandon Macdonald, CEO, stated Fireweeds recent Resource Statement on Mactung has reaffirmed the projects status as one of the worlds preeminent tungsten development stories. Building on that resource our team now looks to advance the project to construction readiness through modern metallurgical studies, value engineering, and by working with Indigenous groups through the regulatory processes. This coming year will establish Mactung as not just a great resource but also a credible near-term supplier for the critical mineral tungsten. Preliminary Economic Assessment The upcoming Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) will establish preliminary project economics using current pricing and cost data, modern estimation, metallurgical, and engineering methodologies, and will consider other opportunities for project optimization. The PEA will build on work commissioned by North American Tungsten Corporation (NATC) in their 2009 Feasibility Study. The new study is planned to kick-off this quarter and conclude prior to the end of the year. Metallurgical Test Program In 2022 and early 2023, Fireweed conducted a comprehensive resampling and re-assaying program on historic drill core, which has provided a larger geochemical dataset to assist with lithogeochemical domaining and achieving representative sample variability throughout the deposit. Fireweed recently initiated a metallurgical test program with Base Metallurgical Laboratories Ltd. to confirm results from earlier work by previous owners (NATC), optimize the flowsheet and evaluate the potential recoverability and payability of gold and copper. Preliminary tailings test work will also be included in this work. Results from this program are expected in Q4 2023. Assessment and Regulatory Processes The Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board issued a positive screening report for the Mactung Project in mid-2014 and recommended it proceed without review, subject to terms and conditions. The federal and Yukon governments subsequently varied certain terms and conditions, as documented in each respective Decision Document, which provided direction to advance license applications. Fireweed intends to complete field programs this summer at Mactung to strengthen the environmental database and confirm distribution of discontinuous permafrost to validate geochemical analysis of ore and waste, and to identify and qualify borrow material for construction. The results of these programs will inform collaborative working groups discussions with Indigenous groups to allow Fireweed to develop robust applications and management plans to mitigate any potential effects arising from future potential project development. Grant of Options The Company announces that it is granting, pursuant to its stock option plan, stock options exercisable into 4,544,000 common shares in the Company to certain directors, officers, employees, and consultants of the Company. The stock options are exercisable at C$1.01 per share with a five-year term, and 20% will vest on each of the following six-month anniversary dates of the grant, being fully vested after 30 months. Qualified Person Statement Technical information in this news release has been approved by Fireweed Metals Vice President, Studies, Kelly Bateman, P.Geo. (BC), a Qualified Person as defined under Canadian National Instrument 43-101. About Fireweed Metals Corp. (TSXV: FWZ; OTCQB: FWEDF; FSE:20F): Fireweed Metals is a public mineral exploration company on the leading edge of Critical Minerals project development. Fireweed is well-funded, with a current cash position of over C$30,000,000 and is well-positioned to carry out the large 2023 exploration program. The Company has three projects located in Canada: Macmillan Pass Project (Zinc-Lead-Silver): Fireweed owns 100% of the district-scale 940 km 2 Macmillan Pass project in Yukon, Canada, which is host to one of the largest undeveloped zinc resources in the world* where the Tom and Jason zinc-lead-silver deposits have current Mineral Resources 1 (11.21 Mt Indicated Resource at 6.59% zinc, 2.48% lead, and 21.33 g/t silver; and 39.47 Mt Inferred Resource at 5.84% zinc, 3.14% lead, and 38.15 g/t silver) and a Preliminary Economic Assessment 2 (PEA). In addition, Boundary Main, Boundary West, Tom North and End Zone have significant zinc-lead-silver mineralization drilled but not yet classified as mineral resources. The project also includes large blocks of adjacent claims with known showings and significant upside exploration potential. Fireweed owns 100% of the district-scale 940 km Macmillan Pass project in Yukon, Canada, which is host to one of the largest undeveloped zinc resources in the world* where the Tom and Jason zinc-lead-silver deposits have current Mineral Resources (11.21 Mt Indicated Resource at 6.59% zinc, 2.48% lead, and 21.33 g/t silver; and 39.47 Mt Inferred Resource at 5.84% zinc, 3.14% lead, and 38.15 g/t silver) and a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA). In addition, Boundary Main, Boundary West, Tom North and End Zone have significant zinc-lead-silver mineralization drilled but not yet classified as mineral resources. The project also includes large blocks of adjacent claims with known showings and significant upside exploration potential. Mactung Project (Tungsten): The Company recently acquired 100% interest in the 37.6 km 2 Mactung Project located adjacent to the Macmillan Pass Project. Recently announced new mineral resources for Mactung (41.5 Mt Indicated Resource at 0.73% WO 3 and 12.2 Mt Inferred Resource at 0.59% WO 3 )* make it one of the largest and highest-grade undeveloped resources in the world of the Critical Mineral tungsten**. Located in Canada, it is one of the rare large tungsten resources outside of China. The Company recently acquired 100% interest in the 37.6 km Mactung Project located adjacent to the Macmillan Pass Project. Recently announced new mineral resources for Mactung (41.5 Mt Indicated Resource at 0.73% WO and 12.2 Mt Inferred Resource at 0.59% WO )* make it one of the largest and highest-grade undeveloped resources in the world of the Critical Mineral tungsten**. Located in Canada, it is one of the rare large tungsten resources outside of China. Gayna River Project (Zinc-Lead-Gallium-Germanium): Fireweed has 100% of the 128.75 km2 Gayna River project located 180 km north of the Macmillan Pass project. It is host to extensive mineralization including Critical Minerals zinc, gallium and germanium as well as lead and silver, outlined by 28,000 m of historic drilling and significant upside potential. Additional information about Fireweed and its projects can be found on the Companys website at FireweedMetals.com and at www.sedar.com. ON BEHALF OF FIREWEED METALS CORP. Brandon Macdonald CEO & Director 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 Statements Forward Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and information (forward-looking statements). All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included herein, including, without limitation, statements relating to mineral resource estimates based on interpretation of drill results, upside exploration potential, future work plans, the use of funds, and the potential of the Companys projects, are forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects, "anticipates, "believes, "intends, "estimates, "potential, "possible, and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will, "may, "could, or "should occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of Company management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to Company management and reflect the beliefs, opinions, and projections on the date the statements are made. Forward-looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties and accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. 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 but are not limited to, exploration and development risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses, expenditure and financing requirements, general economic conditions, changes in financial markets, the ability to properly and efficiently staff the Companys operations, the sufficiency of working capital and funding for continued operations, title matters, First Nations relations, operating hazards, political and economic factors, competitive factors, metal prices, relationships with vendors and strategic partners, governmental regulations and oversight, permitting, seasonality and weather, technological change, industry practices, uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results and laboratory tests, and one-time events. The Company assumes no obligation to update forwardlooking statements or beliefs, opinions, projections or other factors, except as required by law. Footnotes and References *See Fireweed news release dated June 13, 2023 Fireweed Metals Announces Mineral Resources for the Mactung Project: the Largest High-Grade Tungsten Deposit in the World. The associated technical report will be filed on www.SEDAR.com available on or before July 28, 2023. ** References to relative size and grade of the Mactung resources and Macmillan Pass resources in comparison to other tungsten and zinc deposits elsewhere in the world, respectively, are based on review of the Standard & Poors Global Market Intelligence Capital IQ database. 1: Fireweed Technical Report titled NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Macmillan Pass Zinc-Lead-Silver Project, Watson Lake and Mayo Mining Districts Yukon Territory, Canada filed on www.SEDAR.com on February 23, 2018, and Fireweed News Release dated January 10, 2018. 2: Fireweed Technical Report titled NI 43-101 Technical Report Macmillan Pass Project Yukon Territory Canada filed on www.SEDAR.com on July 9, 2018, and Fireweed News Release dated May 23, 2018. This Technical Report contains a Preliminary Economic Analysis disclosing an economic analysis of mineral resources that is preliminary in nature and does not include any mineral reserves. It is equally emphasized that the mineral resources disclosed within this Technical Report are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. Contact: Brandon Macdonald Phone: (604) 646-8361 Email: info@fireweedmetals.com Map 1: Macmillan Pass Project and Mactung Project locations. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/87618a82-6242-45cc-94c5-7b46a7e202ea New York, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Market - A Global and Regional Analysis: Focus on Offering, Company, Throughput, Technology Type, Sequencing, Application, End User, and Country Analysis - Analysis and Forecast, 2023-2033" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06469606/?utm_source=GNW Market Lifecycle Stage The global NGS market is highly consolidated.This market still holds significant potential for growth as technological developments in NGS platforms and initiatives to integrate genomics in healthcare are ongoing. The opportunity for growth of the global NGS market lies in the development of economical and portable technologies. Impact of COVID-19 NGS has played a crucial role in the genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19.Sequencing the viral genome has helped in tracking the spread of different variants and understanding their genetic characteristics, which has been essential for public health efforts, vaccine development, and treatment strategies. NGS has been employed in studies investigating the genetic susceptibility to COVID-19 and its severity. By sequencing the genomes of affected individuals, researchers have sought to identify genetic variations associated with the risk of infection, disease progression, and response to treatment. However, while NGS testing shot up in the research laboratories studying the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, NGS testing in the clinical setting witnessed a significant drop.The global supply chain for NGS instruments, consumables, and reagents experienced severe disruptions due to the pandemic. Manufacturing and shipping delays impacted the availability of NGS products and tests, especially in developing regions such as the Middle East, Africa, or Rest-of-the-World. Market Segmentation: Segmentation 1: by Offering Consumables o Library Preparation Kits o Sequencing Kits Equipment Services The global NGS market (by offering) is expected to be dominated by the consumables segment. Segmentation 2: by Company Illumina, Inc. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Pacific BioSciences of California, Inc. Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc. Other Companies The global NGS market (by company) is expected to be dominated by Illumina, Inc. Segmentation 3: by Throughput High- and Ultra-High-Throughput Medium-Throughput Low-Throughput The global NGS market (by throughput) is expected to be dominated by the high- and ultra-high throughput segment. Segmentation 4: by Technology Type Sequencing by Synthesis In Torrent Semiconductor Sequencing Single Molecule Real-Time Sequencing Nanopore Sequencing Technology Other Technologies The global NGS market (by technology type) is expected to be dominated by the sequencing by synthesis segment. Segmentation 5: by Sequencing Whole Genome Sequencing Whole Exome Sequencing Targeted Sequencing The global NGS market (by sequencing) is expected to be dominated by the targeted sequencing segment. Segmentation 6: by Application Clinical Diagnostics o Oncology o Non-Oncology Research o Oncology o Non-Oncology The global NGS market (by application) is expected to be dominated by the research segment. Within further sub-segmentation, the market is expected to be dominated by the oncology segment. Segmentation 7: by End User Academic and Research Institutes Clinical Laboratories Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Companies Other End Users The global NGS market (by end user) is expected to be dominated by the academic and research insitutes segment. Segmentation 8: by Country North America - U.S., Canada Europe - Germany, U.K., France, Italy, Spain, and Rest-of-Europe Asia-Pacific - Japan, India, China, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, and Rest-of-Asia-Pacific Middle East - U.A.E., K.S.A., Israel, Rest-of-Middle East Rest-of-the-World - Latin America, Rest-of-Rest-of-the-World *Note: Each country is further segmented by offering, equipment (units), and company. Recent Developments in the Global NGS Market In April 2023, NGeneBio signed a business agreement with Agilent Technologies, Inc.s Korea-based subsidiary, to expand the NGS precision diagnosis in South Korea and abroad. In March 2023, Sophia Genetics partnered with Agilent Technologies Inc. to integrate its Sophia DDM Platform with Agilent Technologies Inc.s research-use-only SureSelect Cancer Comprehensive Genomic Profiling (CGP) assay kit. In March 2023, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. collaborated with Pfizer to expand access to NGS-based lung and breast cancer testing in more than 30 countries. In January 2023, Qiagen N.V. completed the acquisition of Verogen, Inc. in order to deploy next-generation biometrics for forensic and molecular testing. In October 2022, Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. introduced two new sequencing systems, namely, Revio and Onso. In September 2022, Illumina, Inc. introduced the first FDA-registered and CE-marked in vitro diagnostic (IVD) high-throughput sequencer, the NovaSeq 6000 Dx. The NovaSeq 6000 Dx is a versatile platform that provides the greatest levels of compliance while also delivering useful insights for patient care. Demand - Drivers and Limitations The following are the drivers for the global NGS market: Decreasing Cost of Genome Sequencing Potential of NGS in the Field of Oncology Research and as a Companion Diagnostic for Oncology in Clinical Settings Growing Number of Population-Wide Sequencing Studies and Government Initiatives to Integrate NGS in Healthcare Advantages of NGS Technology Over Other Technologies The market is expected to face some limitations as well due to the following challenges: Concerns Surrounding Privacy of Patient Genomic Data Lack of Complete Reimbursement Coverage for NGS Testing How can this report add value to an organization? Type: The global NGS market has been extensively segmented on the basis of various categories, such as offerings, throughput, and platform, among others. This can help readers get a clear overview of which segments account for the largest share and which ones are well-positioned to grow in the coming years. Growth/Marketing Strategy: Synergistic activities and product launches/approvals accounted for the maximum number of key developments, i.e., nearly 85% of the total developments in the global NGS market. Competitive Strategy: The global NGS market is highly consolidated, with around six key players accounting for a vast majority of the market share. Key players in the global NGS market analyzed and profiled in the study involve established players that offer various kinds of NGS platforms, consumables, and services. Key Companies Profiled BGI Group Illumina, Inc. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc. Agilent Technologies, Inc. Qiagen N.V. Pillar Biosciences Burning Rock Biotech Limited Singular Genomics Systems, Inc. DANAHER CORPORATION F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd Twist Bioscience Corporation Revvity, Inc. Centogene N.V. Element Biosciences Ultima Genomics Genes2me LifeStrands Genomics Pte. Ltd. Alithea Genomics Real Seq Biosciences Countries Covered North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany Italy France U.K. Spain Rest-of-Europe Asia-Pacific China Japan India South Korea Australia Singapore New Zealand Rest-of-Asia-Pacific Middle East U.A.E. K.S.A. Egypt Israel Rest-of-Middle East Rest-of-the-World Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06469606/?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. __________________________ COLUMBIA FALLS, Me., and TULSA, Ok., June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, national nonprofit Wreaths Across America (WAA) is proud to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Patriot Guard Riders (PGR) in an effort to build a stronger awareness for each groups common missions, while supporting events throughout the nation. Founded in 2007, and headquartered in Columbia Falls, Maine, WAA is best known for its annual wreath-laying ceremonies each December. The organizations yearlong mission is to Remember the fallen, Honor those who serve, and Teach the next generation the value of freedom. Now in nearly 4,000 communities across the country, WAA volunteers are committed to sharing the mission through education and stories of service and success. Founded as a national nonprofit in 2005 to shield families of fallen heroes from those that would disrupt the services of their loved ones, the Patriot Guard Riders has grown to include thousands of members across all 50 states. As the organizations membership has grown, so has the scope of its mission. PGR also honors first responders as well as military veterans. Additionally, the organization has an active Help on The Homefront (HOTH) program, which aids our veterans and their families. The signed MOU between the two groups focuses on engagement with PGR members and WAA volunteers to create opportunities for joint community service activities that bring awareness to both groups missions. PGR will expand its participation in the WAA Group Sponsorship Program there are already more than 120 PGR groups participating nationwide which raises awareness and sponsorships to place wreaths and support programming while offering PGR an option for fundraising for the important work they do in their communities year-round. Since WAA was founded, Patriot Guard Riders have been involved in the mission and its members play an important part in ensuring respect for our veterans and their families, said Karen Worcester, executive director of WAA. Our combined efforts will no doubt help to shape and inform the next generation of patriots. National President of PGR, Bob Dorey said, Our membership is very supportive of the families of the fallen, as is Wreaths Across America! We are looking forward to working more collaboratively as we support these families and remember and honor their loved ones. This year, National Wreaths Across America Day will take place on Saturday, December 16, 2023, at over 3,700 participating locations nationwide. The experience of placing a wreath at the final resting place of one of our nations veterans and understanding the healing that this simple gesture has for so many families and the opportunity it provides to share the stories of these heroes, makes this an important partnership, Bob concluded. # # # About Wreaths Across America Wreaths Across America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery begun by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester in 1992. The organizations mission Remember, Honor, Teach is carried out in part each year by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies in December at Arlington, as well as at thousands of veterans cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond. For more information or to sponsor a wreath please visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org. About the Patriot Guard Riders. Founded in 2005 to shield families of fallen heroes from those that would disrupt the services of their loved ones, the Patriot Guard Riders has grown to include thousands of members across all 50 states in the US. We are a 100% volunteer 501(c)(3) organization. To learn more, please visit https://www.patriotguard.org/ NOTE TO MEDIA AND PRESS MATERIALS: Interviews are available upon request. WAA Media Resource Page Attachment TopLine is honored to be named a top workplace MAPLE GROVE, Minn., June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Local member-owned financial services cooperative TopLine Financial Credit Union has been named one of the Top Workplaces in Minnesota by the Star Tribune. A complete list of those selected is available online at Star Tribune Top Workplace 2023 and will be published in the Star Tribune Top Workplaces special section on Sunday, June 18. Produced by the same team that compiles the 32-year-old Star Tribune 100 report of the best-performing public companies in Minnesota, Top Workplaces recognizes the most progressive companies in Minnesota based on employee opinions measuring engagement, organizational health and satisfaction. The analysis included responses from 124,719 employees at Minnesota public, private and nonprofit organizations. The results of the Star Tribune Top Workplaces are based on survey information collected by Energage, an independent company specializing in employee engagement and retention. To qualify for the Star Tribune Top Workplaces, a company must have more than 50 employees in Minnesota. Over 5,000 companies were invited to participate. Rankings were composite scores calculated purely on the basis of employee responses. We are honored to be recognized as a 2023 Star Tribune National Standard Top Workplace among the many hundreds of companies that participated in the survey, especially since our judges were our very own TopLine employees, said Mick Olson, President and CEO, TopLine Financial Credit Union. We achieved this remarkable designation based on the commitment, collaboration and enthusiasm of our TopLine family of employees who support our culture of being passionate about helping people. Star Tribune CEO and Publisher Steve Grove said, The companies in the Star Tribune Top Workplaces deserve high praise for creating the very best work environments in the state of Minnesota. My congratulations to each of these exceptional companies. TopLine Financial Credit Union, a Twin Cities-based credit union, is Minnesotas 11th largest, with assets of more than $775 million and serves over 50,000 members. Established in 1935, the not-for-profit cooperative offers a complete line of financial services from its five branch locations in Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove, Plymouth and in St. Pauls Como Park as well as by phone, mobile app and online at www.TopLinecu.com. Membership is available to anyone who lives, works, worships, attends school or volunteers in Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne, Washington and Wright counties in Minnesota and their immediate family members. Visit us on our Facebook or Instagram. To learn more about the credit unions foundation, visit www.TopLinecu.com/Foundation. CONTACT: Vicki Roscoe Erickson Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer TopLine Financial Credit Union verickson@toplinecu.com 763.391.0872 A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/03ad9663-39fb-4a43-b762-5074f6a232a8 New York, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Agriculture Software Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2023 - 2028)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06469600/?utm_source=GNW The key driving factors contributing to the adoption of agriculture software are the increasing awareness of technology among the young generation and environmental awareness to maximize the farm operational capacity, among others. Key Highlights The growth in the agriculture sector, alongside the integration of advanced technologies such as AI, IoT, and cloud, among others, is analyzed to boost the market during the forecast period. Agriculture software covers various software types that provide agribusinesses business management and tracking solutions. Agriculture software can help farmers, ranchers, and growers with different operations, such as irrigation, inventory, crop planning, connected agriculture, crop management, and farm management. The growing population is creating significant demand for food, thereby impacting the adoption of advanced technologies such as agriculture software solutions to maximize productivity. As the global population increases significantly, food production must double between 2014 and 2050 (source: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)). The United Nations estimates that the worlds population will reach 9.6 billion by 2050. As a result, farmers will face intense pressure to increase crop production, either by making land arable for growing crops or by implementing new techniques like smart greenhouses and vertical farming. Rapid urbanization, climate change, a growing worldwide population, and increased food demand contribute to steady market revenue growth. The growing understanding of farmers about the benefits of automatic monitoring and control of the greenhouse environment has resulted in a recent increase in the adoption of smarter greenhouse automation systems and approaches. In both wealthy and developing countries, the scarcity of arable land is driving the deployment of smart greenhouses to boost agricultural yields and satisfy rising food demand. With the growing demand for sustainable agriculture, precision farming is analyzed to grow at a significant rate owing to the real-time data availability of the field conditions that lead to efficient monitoring, controlling, and decision-making, thereby significantly driving the market. The major macroeconomic trends in the agriculture market are the growing population, climate change, Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the trend of digitalization. Solutions such as precision farming and smart greenhouse technologies could aid these trends and significantly boost the market growth rate during the forecast period. Agriculture Software Market Trends Platform as a Service (PaaS) to Witness the Market Growth Agriculture software in the smart greenhouse helps farmers and growers monitor and control the smart greenhouses environmental conditions and crop growth. A smart greenhouse is a greenhouse that uses various sensors, actuators, and devices to create an optimal microclimate for plants and to automate the growing process. Agriculture software in smart greenhouses can help with multiple aspects of smart greenhouse management, such as data collection and analysis, data visualization and management, predictive modeling and planning, and monitoring and control, thereby significantly driving the market growth rate. Agriculture software in smart greenhouses can monitor the environmental conditions and crop growth in real-time using various sensors and devices. The software can also control the environmental conditions and crop growth by sending commands to multiple actuators and devices, such as fans, heaters, coolers, vents, shades, lights, sprinklers, pumps, valves, or robots. The software can also provide alerts and recommendations for any issues or anomalies detected in the smart greenhouse, thereby contributing to the demand across several regions. A system for monitoring the crop field with sensors (light, humidity, temperature, soil moisture) is constructed in IOT-based smart greenhouse farming, making the irrigation system more automated. The farmers can keep an eye on the state of the fields from any location. Compared to the standard method, smart greenhouse farming that is IOT-based is highly productive. For instance, in December 2022, Astrocast, a nanosatellite IoT network administrator, and Avirtech, a supplier of farmer control frameworks that screen site conditions to reduce functional expenses and increase yields, reported a smart farming partnership. Astrocast provides Avirtech with Satellite IoT (SatIoT) network answers for its BIOTA keen homestead control framework. Avirtechs Avirlink will incorporate its technology as part of this. Further, the growing investments in smart agriculture solutions by several governments, such as India and the United States, are analyzed to bolster the market growth rate during the forecast period. North America to Hold Major Share in the Market North America is analyzed to hold the highest share of 52.46% in the previous year. The United States contributes significantly to the smart agriculture practices analyzed to bolster the market growth rate during the forecast period significantly. For instance, in May 2023, The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) spent USD 8 million in four collaborations to promote and increase soil carbon measurement and monitoring on working agricultural lands and evaluate how climate-smart practices affect carbon sequestration. On regional soil organic carbon stock monitoring programs, the USDAs Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will collaborate with Iowa State University, Michigan State University, American Climate Partners, and the University of Texas at El Paso. Additionally, in April 2023, U.S. agricultural exports reached USD 196.4 billion in 2022, according to the data published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which shows the development of agricultural production in the country and creates an opportunity for agricultural software market vendors in the United States. The application of agriculture software in precision farming is fueling the countrys market growth. It is becoming increasingly popular among farmers, who are employing information gathered by GPS, satellite images, internet-connected devices, and other technology to do farming more effectively. The agriculture software market in Canada is primarily driven by increasing government efforts and investments to boost precision farming coupled with the growing trend of transitioning towards sustainable practices in the country. Further, precision farming is witnessing significant adoption as farmers in the country are able to monitor and manage their operations with high precision with the help of sophisticated analytics. Cloud-based agriculture software is expected to witness growth in the coming years. This is primarily due to enhanced reliability through cloud-based technology solutions offered in a cloud deployment. In addition, ease of use, flexibility, and scalability are a few of the factors that may help to increase the cloud-based deployment of agriculture software in large agribusiness companies as well as small and medium farmers. Overall, the Canadian market for agriculture software is expected to witness substantial growth owing to increasing government initiatives towards sustainable practices and the use of technologies in the agriculture sector coupled with various ongoing and past investments by the government to accelerate precision farming in the country. In addition, easy-to-use and sophisticated agricultural software launches will further proliferate the growth of agriculture software in Canada over the forecast period. Agriculture Software Industry Overview The Agriculture Software Market is fragmented, and various companies compete on a regional scale to gain market share. Vendors in the market are expected to compete intensely to gain large-scale projects, but smaller vendors are expected to hold prominence over the market in local space.? Major vendors that offer integrated products are expected to command a higher share of the adoption for their solutions due to the spread of their presence over the value chain and the ability to mitigate the risk. January 2023 - The Deere & Company announced the launch of ExactShot, a new sensor- and robotics-based system for applying fertilizer. Farmers can minimize the amount of starting fertilizer used during planting by more than 60%. Instead of administering a continuous flow of fertilizer to the whole row of seeds, the system employs sensors and robots to accurately distribute starting fertilizer onto the seeds as they are planted in the soil. December 2022 - Raven Industries Inc. launched its driverless tillage and driver assist harvest solutions at CNH Industrial NVs Tech Day. The system is designed to support multiple stages of the cash-crop production cycle and make autonomy more accessible to farmers across seasons. Additional Benefits: The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format 3 months of analyst support Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06469600/?utm_source=GNW About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ New York, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Rail Asset Management Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2023 - 2028)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06469596/?utm_source=GNW Key Highlights The world population is predicted to reach 9.8 billion by 2050, with cities accommodating 75% of the people. As a result, it has become critical for public institutions to ensure that the transportation sector, particularly the rail network, is prepared to fulfill expanding connectivity requirements. Furthermore, the growing trend of smart cities is propelling the growth of the rail asset management system market. The railway sector significantly impacts a countrys economic and financial status. It provides transport service to billions of passengers, freights daily, and earns enormous income. Because of the simplicity and comfort of transportation, the reliance on trains for passengers and products is rapidly increasing, which requires a Rail Asset management system to maintain rail infrastructure, resulting in market growth. Governments across the globe are investing in Rail projects to expand their connectivity and improve the infrastructre facilities expected to drive demand for the rail asset management market. For example, According to the International Railway Journal (IRJ), the Norwegian government has set aside USD 3.51 billion for railway infrastructure development, operations, and maintenance in 2021, a 20% increase over the previous year. Moreover, The Indian government has proposed two significant measures to attract private investment: running passenger trains on the Indian Railways network by private operators and rebuilding railway stations around the country. According to Indian Railways, these projects have the potential to generate approximately USD 7.5 billion in investment over the next five years. Furthermore, the Federation of Indian Industry (FII) reports that Indian Railways intends to invest USD 4 billion in world-class private passenger trains. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the automotive and transportation industries are among the hardest afflicted vertical industries, suffering massive losses due to global lockdowns, resulting in low growth until the industry recovers. Rail Asset Management Market Trends Increase in Government Initiatives and Public-Private Partnership Model Most countries invest in rail infrastructure to give their citizens a seamless experience via railways. Railways also assist governments in lowering the cost of transferring passengers and goods due to the massive carrying capacity they provide in a single run. The expanding dependence on trains puts further strain on the current rail system. As a result of system wear and tear, breakdowns, damages, and repair demands, this causes a slew of unplanned and unscheduled maintenance for both rolling stock and infrastructure. Rising government investments in rail infrastructure and digitization initiatives worldwide are expected to drive the rail asset management market demand. The growth of rail services demands the optimization of existing passenger and freight schedules to achieve higher output. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) assists the Turkish government in financing infrastructure for Tomorrow (i4t) projects that aim to improve rail transport safety, passenger and freight capacity, and speed between Turkey and the European Union. The AIIB has approved a EUR 300 million loan for the Ispartakule-Cerkezkoy Railway Project to support rail transport construction. Additionally, in 2021, Deutsche Bahn, the federal and state governments announced that they would invest EUR 12.7 billion in Germanys rail network, which covers 1,900km of track, more than 2,000 points, around 140 bridges, and roughly 670 stations. Moreover, in January 2021, OBB planned to invest EUR 2.13 billion in infrastructure rail projects in the Vienna region, Burgenland, Lower Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Salzburg, and Upper Austria. Asia-Pacific is Expected to Witness Strong Growth in the Rail Asset Management Market As a result of growing urbanization in countries such as India, Asia Pacific is predicted to be the dominating region in the global rail asset management market, contributing significantly to the areas growth. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to account for the highest growth due to the growing adoption of new technologies and increased investment in digital transformation. Furthermore, GDP growth in Australia, Singapore, China, Korea, Hong Kong, and India stimulates market expansion. According to Railway Technology, Eight of the top 10 most expensive rail construction projects for 2021 are in Asia, demonstrating the continents appetite for rail megaprojects. High-speed rail is included in half of the top 10 most expensive rail megaprojects in 2021, all situated in Asia. Some of the mega projects taking place in Asia include the Chengdu-Chongqing Railway Passenger Dedicated Line Co., which is constructing a 292km railway line with a designed speed of 350kmph, an investment of USD 10.7 billion, and the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Corridor project, India, which accounts for USD 17 billion, the China-Nepal Railway, China, which accounts for USD 29 billion, and the Chennai Metro Rail Phase II, India, which accounts for USD 8.4 billion. Moreover, Chongqing Rail Transit Co. is building a 71.53km metro rail line from Cengjia Station West to Liangjiang Film and Television City Station in Chongqing, China, with a USD 7.6 billion investment. The project intends to expand the regions existing urban rail systems and reduce travel time. The Chongqing Metro Line 15 development project entails building 25 stations, control rooms, and parking facilities. Safety and lighting systems, as well as electrical equipment, will be installed. Rail Asset Management Industry Overview The global rail asset management market is moderately competitive and consists of many major players. In terms of market share, a few major players dominate the market. However, with the advancement in network connectivity, strategic partnerships, mergers & acquisitions, and advanced technological growth, most companies are expanding their market presence across emerging markets. March 2022 - Hitachi Rail has announced that its state-of-the-art USD 70 million factories in Washington County, Maryland, will be the site of the new fleet of 8000-series railcars for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro). The new factory will build modern railcars for the Washington DC region and will have the capacity to serve the larger North American railway market, representing a significant expansion of Hitachi Rails presence in the US. September 2021 - Siemens Mobility, along with consortium partners Orascom Construction and The Arab Contractors, has signed a contract with the Egyptian National Authority for Tunnels (NAT), a governmental authority under Egypts Ministry of Transport, to create the worlds sixth-largest high-speed rail system. The Siemens Mobility portion of the combined contract is 8.1 billion EUR, including the 2.7 billion EUR initial contract. Additional Benefits: The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format 3 months of analyst support Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06469596/?utm_source=GNW About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ New York, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Zero-Emission Aircraft Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2023 - 2028)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06469593/?utm_source=GNW The zero-emission aircraft market is anticipated to register a CAGR of over 8% during the forecast period (2021 - 2035). The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the commercial and general aviation market due to travel restrictions. It also had an impact on the economy and resulted in several aerospace companies to pause funds towards innovative projects. Such decisions have temporarily impacted the growth of the zero-emission aircraft market. However, as aircraft operators looking to reduce their operational costs and carbon emission, there will be significant growth in investment, testing, and adoption of all-electric aircraft during the forecast period. Increasing stringency on the emission regulations has made manufacturers shift towards zero-emission concept. Engine manufacturers will play a vital role for the aviation industry to move towards the new concept. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is also an important part of the aviation roadmap to reduce the industrys CO2 emissions as companies like Airbus and Boeing are targeting flights on 100% SAF. Beyond technology challenges, the aviation industrys transition will require the regulatory and infrastructure ecosystems to change. Cross-industry collaboration will be required to drive down infrastructure and production costs, which will be mutually beneficial and help speed up development of the zero-emission aircraft. Electric aircraft has penetrated the general aviation market. However, its adoption in long-haul commercial aviation is still far away from becoming reality soon with major developments expected in the later half of the forecast period. Zero-Emission Aircraft Market Trends Evolving Emissions Regulations Driving the Pace of Development In 2015, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that the greenhouse gas emissions from certain classes of engines used in aircraft contribute to air pollution and endanger public health and welfare. In 2016, the ICAO finalized a global emissions-reduction scheme applicable to passenger and cargo flights in the member countries of the UN. It was decided that the global aviation emission in 2020 will be used as a benchmark, and around 80% of the emission levels in 2020 will be offset by the airlines until 2035. Such a landmark decision paved the way for the development of electric aircraft as manufacturers sought to resort to sustainable ways of reducing carbon footprint. The market players started investing in electric aircraft technologies and have already been successful in the form of successful prototypes and commercialization of light aircraft. With new technology coming into the foray, regulations are being framed to improve their commercial feasibility. Regulations, such as CS-23, reestablish the objectives and design independent requirements of an aircraft. This has opened various avenues of opportunities in the development of all-electric and hybrid propulsion. The focus has shifted from fulfilling design requirements to improving consumer safety and automation in aircraft. This has enabled the designers to focus on redesigning the total aircraft from scratch and make necessary modifications that were otherwise impossible due to design restrictions. North America and Europe will Dominate the Market During the Forecast Period North America and Europe have a matured aviation market. Several aerospace companies are in these regions due to their proximity to major aircraft OEMs. The presence of aerospace giants like NASA, Airbus, Boeing, and Rolls Royce among others will support the growth of the zero-emission aircraft market. Over 90% of the companies currently working on the zero-emission concept are based in the US and Europe. In September 2020, Airbus revealed three concepts for zero-emission commercial aircraft which could enter service by 2035. All of these concepts rely on hydrogen as a primary power source. Rolls-Royce recently announced its plan to invest 80 million in energy storage systems over the next decade. The company is developing energy storage systems (ESS) that will enable aircraft to undertake zero-emission flights of over 100 miles on a single charge. Aerospace-certified ESS solutions from Rolls-Royce will power electric and hybrid-electric propulsion systems for eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing) in the urban air mobility market and fixed-wing aircraft, with up to 19 seats, in the commuter market. Earlier in December 2020, Hydrogen-electric aircraft developer ZeroAvia secured USD 21.4 million of backing from a raft of major investors, including Amazon and Shell, as the company completed its first fundraising round in support of plans to run its first commercial zero emission planes from 2023. The company has also partnered with British Airways to explore the development of zero emission aircraft for use in the airlines fleet. It also received approval of USD 16.3 million of U.K. government funding via the Aerospace Technology Institute (ARI). Such developments are anticipated to drive the market growth in the North America and Europe region during the forecast period. Zero-Emission Aircraft Industry Overview The market is rapidly becoming fragmented as several new companies are venturing into this market. Start-ups are designing prototypes and are at various stages of aircraft development. These companies are dependent on series funding from major aerospace companies and investment firms. Several new collaborations have been observed in the recent past as companies look to expand capabilities, efficiency, and propel the development cycle. For instance, Rolls Royce has recently partnered with aerospace manufacturer Tecnam and Scandinavias largest regional airline, Wideroe, to produce a new battery-powered aircraft. The partners aim to launch an all-electric passenger aircraft for commuters in Norway by 2026, building on previous work by Rolls Royce and Tecnam on an all-electric aircraft called the P-Volt. This partnership demonstrates Rolls-Royces ambitions to be the leading supplier of all-electric and hybrid-electric propulsion and power systems across multiple aviation markets. Several other aerospace manufacturers have plans for battery-powered aircraft, including Airbus with the CityAirbus and Boeings eVTOL. Most are short-range aircraft designed to ferry people between cities or from airports to city centers. Some of the other prominent players in the market are PIPISTREL d.o.o., Bye Aerospace, Aurora Flight Sciences, Eviation, Joby Aviation, NASA, Lilium GmbH, and ZeroAvia, Inc. among others. Additional Benefits: The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format 3 months of analyst support Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06469593/?utm_source=GNW About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) of Teleperformance SE (OTC: TLPFY) between July 29, 2020 and November 9, 2022, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), of the important June 20, 2023 lead plaintiff deadline. SO WHAT: If you purchased Teleperformance ADRs during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Teleperformance class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=15278 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than June 20, 2023. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs Bar. Many of the firms attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers. DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Teleperformances growth in Core Services had been achieved, in part, by requiring its content moderators to engage in inappropriate, traumatic, abusive, and potentially criminal activities; (2) certain Teleperformance social content moderators had been trained with materials which included illicit images of child sexual exploitation; (3) contraband images had been included in Teleperformance Daily Required Reading reports for its content moderation staff; (4) Teleperformance had failed to safeguard child sexual abuse material and had potentially violated strict rules governing the handling of such materials, including rules relating to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children; (5) Teleperformance had failed to provide adequate training or emotional and psychological support to content moderators exposed to egregious materials, including those exposed to extreme graphic violence and sexual images; (6) Teleperformance had imposed unreasonable time and performance targets that compounded the occupational trauma suffered by its content moderators; (7) Teleperformance had failed to implement or maintain the working conditions represented to investors, including by subjecting the Companys content moderation workers to widespread occupational trauma without psychological support, and with paltry pay, punitive salary deductions, extensive surveillance, and aggressive union-busting tactics; and (8) as a result of the foregoing, Teleperformance was subject to a material, undisclosed risk of legal, regulatory, business, and reputational harm if the truth regarding the Companys content moderation services, treatment of its content moderation workers, and handling of contraband materials was ever publicly revealed. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. To join the Teleperformance class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=15278 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investors ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 lrosen@rosenlegal.com pkim@rosenlegal.com cases@rosenlegal.com www.rosenlegal.com Washington, D.C., June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Chertoff Group announced today the appointment of Scott Gibson as senior director for Security Risk & Resilience in its Strategic Advisory Services practice area. A proven security leader and strategist with a background in both the public and private sectors, he will focus on execution of commercial security risk management engagements. We are proud of our alumni who have risen to play senior security roles in government and the corporate world. We are equally proud when we have an opportunity for them to return to the Firm with that invaluable experience to help advise our clients. We are excited to welcome Scott back to the Firm as a key leader in our Security Risk & Resilience practice. Scotts experience and expertise from Uber, the State of New Jersey and Lucid, will add tremendous practical value to our clients and significantly contribute to the growth of the Firm, said Chertoff Group CEO Chad Sweet. Prior to leading global security and business resiliency at Lucid Motors as the chief security officer, Scott served as the chief of staff and head of strategy & planning for Global Security at Uber, and as deputy chief of preparedness for the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. Earlier, he was a national security fellow for the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the U.S. House of Representatives. Scott previously worked for The Chertoff Group in 2018-2019. Scott currently serves as a senior fellow of the McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security. He is a member of ASIS Internationals CSO Center, and member of the Governor of New Jerseys Infrastructure Advisory Committee. He holds a masters degree in global security studies from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelors degree in psychology, sociology, and anthropology from Washington and Lee University. The Chertoff Group is an advisory firm of highly qualified experts that uses proven frameworks to help organizations achieve their business and security objectives in a complex risk environment. Our team helps organizations manage cyber, physical and geopolitical risks; navigate evolving regulatory and compliance requirements; and discover opportunities to win business and create value. Through our investment banking subsidiary Chertoff Capital, the firm provides M&A advisory services to companies in the defense technology, national security and cybersecurity markets. Together, we enable a more secure world. For more information, visit www.chertoffgroup.com. Attachment New York, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Market Size, Share & Industry Trends Analysis Report By Procedure, By Method, By End-use, By Regional Outlook and Forecast, 2023 - 2029" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06469105/?utm_source=GNW Coronary heart disease, one of the main causes of death worldwide, is frequently treated by CABG. A "Global action plan for the control and prevention of NCDs 2013-2020" was one of several international strategies adopted in 2013 by WHO Member States to lessen the burden of preventable NCDs. By 2025, this plan hopes to achieve nine voluntary, worldwide targets that will lower the number of early deaths caused by NCDs by 25%. Two of the goals are specifically geared toward preventing and managing CVDs. Some of the factors impacting the market are rising applications of CABG, growing incidence of cardiac disorders, and dearth of skilled professionals. Restoring blood flow to the heart is part of a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). If a persons arteries start to block, surgery is a viable option. A CABG procedure could lower the risk of having a heart attack. The most frequent type of heart surgery performed is a CABG. In addition, the market is expanding due to the growing number of applications for CABG. The World Health Organization estimates that 17.9 million people globally die from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), making them the leading cause of mortality. Heart attacks and strokes account for more than four out of every five CVD-related fatalities, with people under 70 accounting for a third of these untimely demises. Therefore, the primary driver driving market expansion is the rapidly rising prevalence of cardiac issues, such as heart blockage, particularly among elderly individuals. However, according to data from 194 Member States, 65 million people are expected to work in global health by 2020, up 29% since the Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030 in 2016. According to the WHO, 10 million workers in the health industry will be needed by 2030, largely in low- or lower-middle-income countries. As a result, it is anticipated that market expansion may be hindered in the years that follow due to the current global shortage of skilled personnel. The worlds economy has been adversely impacted by the outspread of COVID-19. During the initial few months, most industries in every nation have experienced losses. This can be ascribed to major interruptions in their individual supply chains and manufacturing processes brought on by precautionary lockdowns and other limitations imposed by governments worldwide. As a result, the market also witnessed the negative impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Method Outlook Based on method, the market is segmented into off-pump, on-pump, and minimally invasive direct. The on-pump segment covered a considerable revenue share in the market in 2022. This can be the result of the advantages of using this method rather than off-pump bypass surgery. According to studies, off-pump bypass procedures may raise mortality rates and the prevalence of recurrent angina. Therefore, this element is generally boosting the segments market growth. Procedure Outlook On the basis of procedure, the market is fragmented into single CABG surgery, double CABG surgery, triple CABG surgery, and quadruple CABG surgery. In 2022, the single CABG surgery segment witnessed the largest revenue share in the market. A single CABG procedure is used when a surgeon just needs to bypass one blocked artery. In general, drugs are used to address most heart conditions; however, in minor ones like artery blockage, a single CABG operation may be advised. The coronary arteries supply the heart and have trouble getting enough blood, oxygen, and nutrients to the heart muscle. End-use Outlook By end-use, the market is categorized into hospitals, cardiology centers, and others. In 2022, the hospitals segment dominated the market with the maximum revenue share. This is due to technology developments that help hospitals address complex medical diseases. Hospitals have access to a variety of diagnostic tools that help treat chronic diseases. Consequently, this element is assisting in the segments expansion. Hospitals also provide patients with complex coronary artery problems a wide range of diagnostic & therapeutic options, which is anticipated to fuel the segments revenue growth. Regional Outlook Region wise, the market is analysed across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and LAMEA. In 2022, the North America region led the market by generating the highest revenue share. The high incidence of cardiovascular disorders in the area and the availability of off-pump and on-pump bypass treatments due to technical developments are two factors that contribute to this growth. In addition, numerous for-profit organizations and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also provide reimbursement coverage for medical procedures and devices. These all contribute to the market expansion in the region. The market research report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include Medtronic PLC, Terumo Corporation, Karl Storz SE & Co. KG, Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Johnson & Johnson (Ethicon, Inc.), Boston Scientific Corporation, Stryker Corporation, LivaNova PLC, Genesee BioMedical, Inc., and Vitalitec International Medizintechnik GmbH (Peters Surgical). Recent Strategies Deployed in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Market Mergers and Acquisitions: Aug-2022: Medtronic completed the acquisition of Affera, a US-based developer of medical devices. The acquisition of Affera broadens the acquiring companys cardiac ablation platform. Feb-2022: Boston Scientific completed the acquisition of Baylis Medical Company, a Canada-based developer of medical devices. This acquisition enables the acquiring company to incorporate Baylis platforms within its existing electrophysiology and structural heart offerings, thereby reinforcing its market position. Feb-2021: Terumo signed an agreement to take over Health Outcomes Sciences (HOS), a US-based developer of medical platforms. The addition of Health Outcomes Sciences and the ePRISM platform broadens the acquiring companys market presence and further enables Terumo to offer innovative solutions. Partnerships, Collaborations and Agreements: Jan-2023: Terumo collaborated with Siemens Healthineers, a medical technology company. The collaboration focuses on reinforcing cardiac care in India. This collaboration aims at making better heart care available to more people. Jul-2022: Medtronic came into partnership with CathWorks, an Israel-based primarily into developing diagnoses and treatments for coronary artery diseases. The agreement includes investment by Medtronic of up to $75 million in the Israel Based company, and co-promotion of CathWorks FFRangio System in the US, Japan, and Europe. Feb-2022: Terumo Health Outcomes, a part of Terumo Medical Corporation signed an agreement with Corazon, a provider of consulting, interim management, and recruitment services intended for vascular, neuroscience, and heart specialty programs. The partnership consolidates the companys position in the digital healthcare market. Sep-2021: Terumo came into collaboration with Etiometry, a US-based provider of clinic decision-support software. The collaboration involves introducing clinical decision support to cardiac surgery patients. Integrating Etiometrys platform with the surgical devices companys devices would provide clinicians with an in-depth understanding of the patients condition. Geographical Expansions: Dec-2022: Stryker established a new Neurovascular (NV) lab in Haryana, India. The new R&D lab is equipped with advanced technology and aims at advancing stroke care innovation in the Asia-Pacific region. Sep-2022: Terumo opened a new manufacturing plant in Costa Rica. The new facility would manufacture the companys complete range of custom perfusion circuits, which are used in cardiovascular surgery. Mar-2022: Boston Scientific expanded its global footprint by setting up a new R&D center in Maharashtra, India. The expansion intends to leverage the countrys R&D expertise. Further, the new center would provide knowledge to each of the companys therapy areas. Scope of the Study Market Segments covered in the Report: By Procedure Single CABG Surgery Double CABG Surgery Triple CABG Surgery Quadruple CABG Surgery By Method Off-pump On-pump Minimally Invasive Direct By End-use Hospitals Cardiology Centers Others By Geography North America o US o Canada o Mexico o Rest of North America Europe o Germany o UK o France o Russia o Spain o Italy o Rest of Europe Asia Pacific o China o Japan o India o South Korea o Singapore o Malaysia o Rest of Asia Pacific LAMEA o Brazil o Argentina o UAE o Saudi Arabia o South Africa o Nigeria o Rest of LAMEA Companies Profiled Medtronic PLC Terumo Corporation Karl Storz SE & Co. KG Edwards Lifesciences Corporation Johnson & Johnson (Ethicon, Inc.) Boston Scientific Corporation Stryker Corporation LivaNova PLC Genesee BioMedical, Inc. Vitalitec International Medizintechnik GmbH (Peters Surgical) Unique Offerings Exhaustive coverage Highest number of market tables and figures Subscription based model available Guaranteed best price Assured post sales research support with 10% customization free Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06469105/?utm_source=GNW About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ New York, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Application Integration Market Size, Share & Industry Trends Analysis Report By Integration Type, By Application, By Offering, By Vertica, By Regional Outlook and Forecast, 2023 - 2029" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06469087/?utm_source=GNW Hence, it captured $2,057.4 million revenue in the market in 2022. Each connection the user makes is intended to help them with a specific business issue. It eliminates the need for investing in expensive integration middleware or platforms, reducing both upfront and ongoing costs. Moreover, application integration is a beneficial application for Human resources, as it can help to streamline HR processes by eliminating manual data entry and reducing the number of disparate systems that HR professionals have to navigate. Integrating HR applications can help to increase efficiency by automating routine tasks and allowing HR professionals to focus on more strategic initiatives. Thereby, the Human Resources Management System is anticipated to generate approximately 1/5th share of the market by 2029. The major strategies followed by the market participants are Partnerships as the key developmental strategy to keep pace with the changing demands of end users. For instance, In April, 2023, Oracle joined hands with Zoom and focuses on expanding access to virtual care, and delivering streamlined telehealth services, through integrating Oracle Cerner Millennium and Zoom. Additionally, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) came into partnership with VAST Data in April, 2023, to handle unstructured data in a more efficient manner. Based on the Analysis presented in the KBV Cardinal matrix; Microsoft Corporation is the forerunner in the Market. In April, 2023, Microsoft extended its collaboration with Epic Systems, a US-based developer of healthcare software. The collaboration involves designing and integrating generative AI into healthcare by uniting Azures OpenAi service 1 and Epics electronic health record software. Through this collaboration agreement, the companies intend to support providers in delivering noteworthy business and clinical results. Companies such as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company, IBM Corporation, and Oracle Corporation Amazon.com, Inc. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sony Corporation are some of the key innovators in Market. Market Growth Factors Growing need to break down data silos and boost productivity A data silo is a group of data that is inaccessible to all levels of a companys structure. Data silos are a costly and time-consuming issue for businesses. They must therefore be resolved. Application integration services enable effective data utilization by removing data silos and the costs that go along with them. In addition, cost-cutting initiatives may encourage businesses to use their data more to obtain a competitive advantage, improve operational efficiencies, and create new business prospects. Access to information throughout the entire company is essential in achieving this. Therefore, the demand is anticipated to increase as a result, which in turn, is accelerating the growth of the market. Rising focus on digital transformation throughout industries Digital evolution is a non-linear process that transitions between phases of quick change and slower consolidation dependent on external and internal needs. To maintain pace throughout this transformation, however, the adaptability of digital operations is essential. Most firms have made direct or indirect investments in B2B connectivity driven by Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). In a similar vein, a lot of people have invested in application integration. As more businesses adopt digital transformation strategies, businesses are expected to continuously adapt their practices to increase productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction. Therefore, as the pace of digitalization increases, it will propel the demand. Market Restraining Factors High cost of investments and availability of open-source software The two main alternatives for integrating enterprise applications are open-source and proprietary software. However, applying application integration could be expensive and a long-term strategic decision. An API Manager, an ESB, a portal, and a data management platform are just a few integration platform stack solutions businesses may need to purchase. The recent growth of cloud computing coincides with the advent of open-source groups and approaches for developing new technology. Therefore, the market growth is anticipated to be hampered by such elements. Offering Outlook Based on offering, the market is characterized into platforms and services. The platforms segment garnered the highest revenue share in the market in 2022. Integration platforms can help ensure that data is accurately and consistently integrated across different systems. This has the potential to increase the quality of the data that is utilized in decision-making while also reducing the number of errors. Integration platforms can provide organizations with greater visibility into their data and processes. Vertical Outlook Based on vertical, the market is segmented into BFSI, retail & eCommerce, manufacturing, healthcare & life sciences, energy & utilities, automotive, transportation & logistics, government & public sector, and others. The retail and eCommerce segment procured a considerable growth rate in the market in 2022. Application integration can help businesses provide a better customer experience by enabling them to offer personalized and seamless interactions across different channels. Integration Type Outlook On the basis of integration type, the market is classified into point-to-point integration, enterprise application integration, enterprise service bus, integration platform as a service, and hybrid integration. The integration platform as a service segment witnessed the maximum revenue share in the market in 2022. Building and deploying connections between on-premise and cloud apps and data is made possible by iPaaS. It doesnt require installing or administering any hardware or middleware and instead takes an API-led approach. Application Outlook By application, the market is divided into customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, human resource management system, supply chain management & business intelligence, electronic health record management, and others. The customer relationship management segment recorded a substantial revenue share in the market in 2022. By integrating various applications within a CRM system, customer data can be consolidated, providing a comprehensive view of customer interactions and preferences. This can help organizations tailor their offerings and improve the overall customer experience. Regional Outlook Region wise, the market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and LAMEA. The North America segment witnessed the maximum revenue share in the in 2022. The market is dominated by the US. The diversification of services offered and the shift from SaaS to cloud-based services for platforms and infrastructure are two factors influencing the widespread use of application integration in this region. The market research report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include Fujitsu Limited, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company, IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Salesforce, Inc. (MuleSoft), Oracle Corporation, SAP SE, Software AG, Tibco Software, Inc. (Vista Equity Partners) and Itransition Group. Recent Strategies Deployed in Application Integration Market Partnerships, Collaborations and Agreements: Apr-2023: Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) came into partnership with VAST Data, a US-based developer of data platforms. The partnership involves integrating VASTs file software platform with HPEs GreenLake. This integration enables corporate clients to handle unstructured data in a more efficient manner. Apr-2023: Oracle joined hands with Zoom, a US-based provider of communication software. The collaboration focuses on expanding access to virtual care, and delivering streamlined telehealth services, through integrating Oracle Cerner Millennium and Zoom. Apr-2023: Microsoft extended its collaboration with Epic Systems, a US-based developer of healthcare software. The collaboration involves designing and integrating generative AI into healthcare by uniting Azures OpenAi service 1 and Epics electronic health record software. Through this collaboration agreement, the companies intend to support providers in delivering noteworthy business and clinical results. Mar-2023: Microsoft collaborated with Cognizant, a US-based provider of IT services. The collaboration involves introducing Microsoft cloud-based technology solutions to the healthcare market and working on the development of an integration roadmap between Microsoft Cloud and Cognizants TriZetto healthcare products intended for the healthcare industry. Feb-2023: IBM came into collaboration with Juniper Networks, a US-based networking hardware company. The collaboration focuses on integrating IBMs network automation with Junipers RAN optimization and Open RAN technology. Nov-2022: SAP collaborated with Schneider Electric, a France-based provider of electrical equipment. The collaboration involves accelerating industrial digitalization through shopfloor OT/IT integration. The collaboration with Schneider Electric reflects the software companys support for the industry 4.0 ecosystem. Jul-2022: Oracle partnered with Microsoft, a US-based technology corporation. The partnership focuses on providing Azure customers to get direct and smooth access to Oracle databases on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). May-2022: SAP SE teamed up with Google Cloud, a suite of cloud computing services. The collaboration focuses on introducing new integrations between SAPs ERP, SAP S/4HANA cloud, and Google Workspace. This integration benefits the users, allowing them to connect SAP software with the collaborative capabilities of Google Sheets and Docs. Feb-2022: Microsoft came into partnership with Teradata, a US-based provider of analytic data products and related services. The partnership involves integrating Microsoft Azure with Teradats Vantage data platform. This integration supports teams across various professions and industries to make better and more informed decisions based on data. Feb-2021: IBM entered into a partnership with Palantir Technologies, a software company, that specializes in big data analytics. Through this partnership, the company aimed to help organizations put AI to work and become data-driven in every part of their operations. Jan-2021: Microsoft extended its partnership with SAP, a Germany-based software company. The extended partnership focuses on integrating Microsoft Teams and SAPs intelligent solutions. This integration enables companies to support organizations in making the best use of the cloud to rapidly adapt and innovate. Acquisitions and Mergers: Mar-2023: Hewlett Packard Enterprise signed an agreement to take over OpsRamp, a US-based developer of the operations management platform. This acquisition would support clients in dealing with sophisticated multi-vendor IT systems and further enable them to manage IT investments in an efficient way. Mar-2023: Hewlett Packard Enterprise agreed to acquire Axis Security, a provider of cloud security. The addition of Axis Security expands the acquiring companys cloud security capabilities and further enables the company to cater to the evolving demand for integrated security and networking solutions. Jan-2023: Hewlett Packard Enterprise completed the acquisition of Pachyderm, a US-based operator of data engineering platform. The acquiring company intends to integrate Pachyderms software with its supercomputing and AI solutions. The integrated solution advances a customers journey from POC to production and equips the client with maximum efficiency and reduced costs. Jul-2022: IBM took over Databand, a leader in data observability software. Through this acquisition, the company intends to strengthen its software portfolio through automation, data, and AI to address the full spectrum of observability. Feb-2022: IBM completed the acquisition of Neudesic, a foremost U.S. cloud services consultancy. This acquisition would significantly expand IBMs offering of hybrid multi-cloud services and further enhance the companys hybrid cloud and AI strategy. Moreover, Neudesic brings deep Azure data engineering, cloud, and data analytics expertise to boost customers hybrid cloud journeys. Feb-2022: Software AG took over StreamSets, a US-based developer of data integration platform. The addition of StreamSets technology perfectly complements the acquiring companys hybrid integration offerings, and further expands Software AGs market presence in the North American region. Jan-2021: TIBCO completed the acquisition of Information Builders, a US-based developer of business intelligence and integration software. This acquisition equips the acquiring company with a comprehensive suite of analytics and technology, thereby significantly enhancing its potential to support organizations in deciphering data problems. Scope of the Study Market Segments covered in the Report: By Integration Type Integration Platform as a Service Enterprise Application Integration Point-To-Point Integration Hybrid Integration Enterprise Service Bus By Application Enterprise Resource Planning Customer Relationship Management Human Resource Management System Supply Chain Management & Business Intelligence Electronic Health Record Management & Others By Offering Platforms Services By Vertical BFSI Retail & eCommerce Manufacturing Healthcare & Life Sciences Energy & Utilities Automotive Transportation & Logistics Government & Public Sector Others By Geography North America o US o Canada o Mexico o Rest of North America Europe o Germany o UK o France o Russia o Spain o Italy o Rest of Europe Asia Pacific o China o Japan o India o South Korea o Singapore o Malaysia o Rest of Asia Pacific LAMEA o Brazil o Argentina o UAE o Saudi Arabia o South Africa o Nigeria o Rest of LAMEA Companies Profiled Fujitsu Limited Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company IBM Corporation Microsoft Corporation Salesforce, Inc. (MuleSoft) Oracle Corporation SAP SE Software AG Tibco Software, Inc. (Vista Equity Partners) Itransition Group Unique Offerings Exhaustive coverage Highest number of market tables and figures Subscription based model available Guaranteed best price Assured post sales research support with 10% customization free Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06469087/?utm_source=GNW About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ English French Recognizing Outstanding Leadership for Wildlife and Habitat OTTAWA, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) is pleased to announce the recipients of the Canadian Conservation Achievement Awards. The following individuals and organizations were honoured at a ceremony in Whitehorse, Yukon on June 17. They are also featured in the July/August issue of Canadian Wildlife and Biosphere magazines. Roland Michener Conservation Award: TWO RECIPIENTS Alexandra Morton of North Vancouver Island, B.C. is a field biologist who has done groundbreaking research on the damaging impact of ocean-based salmon farming on the coast of British Columbia. She has co-authored more than 20 scientific papers on the impact of salmon farming on migratory salmon, founded the Salmon Coast Research Station, and has been key to many calls to action. It is true that one person cannot affect change by themselves but if what you are saying can reach others, and allow them to see the damage being done, you might be able to right terrible wrongs, she says. Kimberly Titchener of Edmonton, Alta. has dedicated nearly 20 years of her life to developing and delivering wildlife safety and conservation programs. Kim is committed to reducing human-wildlife conflict, and in turn, keeping wildlife on the landscape. Over the years, she has delivered wildlife safety and practical bear spray training programs to more than 25,000 participants. I would also like to thank Grizzly Bear #66 and her family for showing grace to humans in Banff National Park. The many hours I spent monitoring her and her cubs has gifted me with an incredible amount of love and respect for her species, she says. R obert Bateman Award for Conservation in the Art s Nadine Pequeneza of Toronto, Ont. directed the critically acclaimed documentary Last of the Right Whales. The film brings a message of hope about the most at-risk great whale on the planet. As founder of HitPlay Productions, Nadine specializes in character-driven films with critical calls to action. I have always considered myself an artist and an activist, and so the impact that my films have on the world is an important measure of success for me, she says. My advice - if you want to change the world, tell a story. Storytelling is probably the most powerful gift that sapiens possess. We can use it to better the world. directed the critically acclaimed documentary Last of the Right Whales. The film brings a message of hope about the most at-risk great whale on the planet. As founder of HitPlay Productions, Nadine specializes in character-driven films with critical calls to action. I have always considered myself an artist and an activist, and so the impact that my films have on the world is an important measure of success for me, she says. My advice - if you want to change the world, tell a story. Storytelling is probably the most powerful gift that sapiens possess. We can use it to better the world. Doug Clarke Memorial Award for Best Affiliate Project The Advancing Women in Conservation Summit was presented by the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation (SWF) in November 2022. The summit was the first of its kind in Canada. Delegates addressed challenges, discussed solutions, enhanced leadership skills and nurtured community in a field where women have experienced barriers. This has inspired a second summit to be held in New Brunswick in October of 2023. Take the risk, and get involved, says Courtney Devins, director of communications and marketing for the SWF. Initiating change can be difficult, but equally rewarding. was presented by the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation (SWF) in November 2022. The summit was the first of its kind in Canada. Delegates addressed challenges, discussed solutions, enhanced leadership skills and nurtured community in a field where women have experienced barriers. This has inspired a second summit to be held in New Brunswick in October of 2023. Take the risk, and get involved, says Courtney Devins, director of communications and marketing for the SWF. Initiating change can be difficult, but equally rewarding. Youth Mentor Award Ecole Jean Gauthier of Alma, Que. has been delivering a Wildlife Resources Education Program for 16 years. This program has provided 1,700 secondary students with a wide range of outdoor skills and connections to nature. Graduation rates have improved, and youth have helped many species of ducks, swallows and bats. The programs message is: Follow your calling. Dont be discouraged by obstacles, just take your path one step at a time. Every positive action is another step forward. What is important is the journey, not the end, says Jean Gaudreault, Science teacher and coordinator of the Wildlife Resources Program. has been delivering a Wildlife Resources Education Program for 16 years. This program has provided 1,700 secondary students with a wide range of outdoor skills and connections to nature. Graduation rates have improved, and youth have helped many species of ducks, swallows and bats. The programs message is: Follow your calling. Dont be discouraged by obstacles, just take your path one step at a time. Every positive action is another step forward. What is important is the journey, not the end, says Jean Gaudreault, Science teacher and coordinator of the Wildlife Resources Program. Past Presidents Canadian Legislator Award MLA Mike Morris of Prince George, B.C. is described as a champion for science-based conservation and sustainable stewardship and a voice for wildlife and the people who care for them. First elected in 2013 as MLA for Prince George-Mackenzie, he has served in many positions. He conducted a comprehensive review of wildlife habitat which led to a 2015 report called Getting the Balance Right. In 2020 he published a forest policy paper based on five decades of land use analysis. I remain optimistic the efforts of many like-minded folks can keep BCs unique biodiversity from ecological collapse, he says. is described as a champion for science-based conservation and sustainable stewardship and a voice for wildlife and the people who care for them. First elected in 2013 as MLA for Prince George-Mackenzie, he has served in many positions. He conducted a comprehensive review of wildlife habitat which led to a 2015 report called Getting the Balance Right. In 2020 he published a forest policy paper based on five decades of land use analysis. I remain optimistic the efforts of many like-minded folks can keep BCs unique biodiversity from ecological collapse, he says. WILD Educator of the Year Award Patricia Fraser of Pembroke, Ont. and the Renfrew County School Board have inspired and informed many strategies and approaches within CWF when it comes to the WILD Education program. Their willingness to share lessons learned, provide insights into teacher perspectives and challenges, and support program development has gone a long way in helping strengthen the curriculum and ensure that it meets the changing needs of educators. I found that educators were being trapped by the four walls that the classroom occupies, Fraser says. Do not let the physical structure you live in determine the limits of your minds curiosity. and the Renfrew County School Board have inspired and informed many strategies and approaches within CWF when it comes to the WILD Education program. Their willingness to share lessons learned, provide insights into teacher perspectives and challenges, and support program development has gone a long way in helping strengthen the curriculum and ensure that it meets the changing needs of educators. I found that educators were being trapped by the four walls that the classroom occupies, Fraser says. Do not let the physical structure you live in determine the limits of your minds curiosity. Stan Hodgkiss Outdoorsperson of the Year Award Mark S. Boyce of Sherwood Park, Alta. has been a professor of Ecology at the University of Alberta and Alberta Conservation Association Chair in Fisheries and Wildlife since 1999. His research focuses on many species and habitats including carbon sequestration and storage in grassland ecosystems. His expertise and leadership is both personally and professionally driven. There is no lifestyle that is more rewarding than a career in wildlife conservation, he says. I spend much of my time outdoors doing things that make me very happy, and contributing to conservation gives meaning to life. has been a professor of Ecology at the University of Alberta and Alberta Conservation Association Chair in Fisheries and Wildlife since 1999. His research focuses on many species and habitats including carbon sequestration and storage in grassland ecosystems. His expertise and leadership is both personally and professionally driven. There is no lifestyle that is more rewarding than a career in wildlife conservation, he says. I spend much of my time outdoors doing things that make me very happy, and contributing to conservation gives meaning to life. Wade Luzny Youth Conservation Award Natalie McIntosh of London, Ont. is the creator of a unique movement called NauticalWaters.com. The teenager turns abandoned fishing gear into baskets, coasters, door mats and other fundraising products, helping to raise awareness and prevent marine mammal entanglement. She was first inspired by a school project, which has led to partnerships with marine conservation organizations on the east and west coasts of Canada. Everything about the ocean brings me joy, she says. I knew I had to make a difference and in the process created Nautical Waters. CWF thanks all the nominees and nominators. Applications for the Canadian Conservation Achievement Awards are accepted from November 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024. These awards highlight some of the outstanding achievements of conservation leaders across Canada, said Rick Bates, CEO of CWF. The nine recipients, and all the nominees, provide incredible support for a diversity of wildlife and habitats across the country. CWF applauds the many individuals and organizations who help ensure a brighter future for Canadas wildlife. For more information, visit CanadianWildlifeFederation.ca/Awards. About the Canadian Wildlife Federation The Canadian Wildlife Federation is a national, not-for-profit charitable organization dedicated to conserving Canadas wildlife and habitats for the use and enjoyment of all. By spreading knowledge of human impacts on wildlife and the environment, carrying out actions to conserve and restore species and habitats, developing and delivering conservation education programs, advocating for changes to government policy and programs, and co-operating with like-minded partners, CWF encourages a future in which Canadians can live in harmony with nature. For more information, visit CanadianWildlifeFederation.ca. Contacts: Heather Robison Media and Community Relations Officer heatherr@cwf-fcf.org 613-599-9594 x 212 or media@cwf-fcf.org A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8ca6edb7-0b67-473e-882f-f8cd884871eb Attachments YERINGTON, Nev., June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nevada Copper (TSX: NCU) (OTC: NEVDF) (FSE: ZYTA) (Nevada Copper or the Company) provides the results from its 2023 Annual General and Special Meeting of shareholders (the Meeting), held today in Toronto. Shareholders holding a total of 419,941,084 common shares of the Company (Common Shares) were represented by proxy at the Meeting, representing approximately 58.04% of the total 723,508,700 Common Shares outstanding as of the record date. Shareholders voted in favour of all items of business before the Meeting. Voting Details The following eight nominees were elected as directors of the Company until the next annual shareholder meeting of the Company or until their successors are elected or appointed, with the detailed voting results as follows: Nominee Votes For % For Votes Withheld % Withheld Tom Albanese 405,053,990 99.64% 1,461,605 0.36% Michael Brown 404,802,022 99.58% 1,713,573 0.42% Randy Buffington 404,007,547 99.38% 2,508,048 0.62% Guillaume de Dardel 403,883,029 99.35% 2,632,566 0.65% Raffaele (Lucio) Genovese 403,618,252 99.29% 2,897,343 0.71% Stephen Gill 403,990,216 99.38% 2,525,379 0.62% Evgenij Iorich 404,002,058 99.38% 2,513,537 0.62% G. Ernest (Ernie) Nutter 404,360,920 99.47% 2,154,675 0.53% At the Meeting, the shareholders of the Company also (i) fixed the number of directors at eight for the ensuing year, (ii) voted to appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Companys auditor and authorized the directors to fix their remuneration, and (iii) approved the omnibus equity incentive plan of the Company. A report on all matters voted on at the meeting has been filed on SEDAR. About Nevada Copper Nevada Copper (TSX: NCU) is the owner of the Pumpkin Hollow copper project located in Nevada, USA with substantial mineral reserves and resources including copper, gold and silver. Its two permitted projects include the higher-grade Underground Mine and processing facility, which is undergoing a restart of operations, and a large-scale open pit PFS stage project. Randy Buffington President & CEO For more information, please see the Companys website at www.nevadacopper.com, or contact: Tracey Thom | Vice President, IR and Community Relations tthom@nevadacopper.com | +1-775-391-9029 Detroit, MI, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Michigan based Savvy Sliders announced today that Bryon Stephens will be its Chief Development Officer. Stephens brings 35 years of industry knowledge to the Savvy Sliders brand. With 35 stores open today, and another 30 in development, Stephens will guide the three-year old brand to a growth trajectory of more than 500 stores over the next 48 months. Weve created a concept that reimagines what a slider means to consumers by providing them with More 2 Love in our products and services, and by giving back in the communities we do business in through our More 2 Love foundation, said Happy Asker, Founder-CEO of Savvy Sliders. With Bryons leadership and knowledge, this unique partnership will lead us to explosive growth throughout the world. While at A&W Restaurants, Bryon spearheaded the development efforts that saw the evolution of co-branding, putting two great brands together under one roof. The initiative drove A&Ws acquisition of Long John Silvers and Tricon Global Restaurants subsequent purchase of Yorkshire Global Restaurants, forming YUM! Brands the worlds largest restaurant company with more than 32,000 restaurants worldwide. Stephens has opened more than 2,000 franchise outlets while at Yorkshire & YUM! and is credited with developing more than 3,000 different franchise outlets over several brands throughout his career. What Happy and the team have created here at Savvy Sliders is unique and well positioned to attract consumers looking for a better QSR experience, said Stephens. The branding, the service, the technology, and the incredible food all culminate in creating fans of Savvy Sliders. This will drive the results of our units, and our Franchisees will benefit from all-of-this working together. I look forward to bringing this opportunity to the Franchise market! The Stephens announcement follows Savvy Sliders recent recognition as one of The Top 150 New and Emerging Franchise Brands of 2023 by Entrepreneur Magazine and one of the Fastest Growing Five Operators by Technomic. About Bryon Stephens: Hailing from Logansport, Indiana, Bryon Stephens experience in franchising across multiple verticals has positioned him as an industry leader in brand development. Bryon believes the key to achieving strong growth results lies in a companys culture. By operating within a set of self-determined cultural beliefs, the company establishes tangible guidelines that each of its constituents can follow, no matter how large the business grows. With that wisdom, Bryon joined Marcos Pizza in 2004. As Vice President of Development and later, Chief Operating Officer his innovative approach to systemwide expansion led to the companys rapid, award-winning growth. After being named President of Marcos Pizza in 2014, Bryon focused on the strategic alignment of operations, marketing, supply chain, finance, information technology and restaurant development to accomplish bold sales and growth goals, while maintaining high benchmarks for product quality and guest satisfaction. Under his leadership, Marcos grew from 115 units to over 800 by the end of 2018. Unit profitability increased significantly and systemwide sales increased to over $500 million annually. While at Marcos Pizza, Bryon was featured on the hit CBS series, Undercover Boss. In 2018, Bryon served as CEO of the Extreme Leadership Institute, which follows the teachings of Extreme Leaderships Chairman Steve Farber, and educated business leaders and teams on how to become extreme leaders and drive radical results. In addition to his C-suite roles, he has worked with a-number-of entrepreneurs to launch successful start-up restaurant concepts as a business consultant, focusing on marketing, branding, growth, operational systems and execution. About Savvy Sliders: Founder-CEO, Happy Asker, started with a dream and a strong vision to reimagine what a slider should be and in2018 he opened his first Savvy Sliders location in Commerce Township, MI. Today, Savvy Sliders has 35 locations in Metro Detroit with 30 more in development in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Florida, and Texas. The growth of the company has made it the fastest growing slider brand in America. Savvy Sliders uses only the freshest ingredients and a variety of featured options including its certified Angus beef that is never frozen, hand breaded chicken fingers and hand spun custard shakes. Savvy Sliders is committed to a QSR experience that is bigger, better and bolder anchored by its duo combo box which includes two famous sliders (mix and match), seasoned fries along with a beverage or hand spun custard shake. With its Savvy Sliders University, its primary objective is to provide unprecedented commitment, advancement, and ownership opportunities across the country to potential franchisees. Savvy Sliders has been recognized as one of the top new emerging franchises in the country and in early August will launch a groundbreaking marketing campaign promoting its More 2 Love promise to consumers. Savvy Sliders Brand Mission: To be the worlds fastest growing slider company with products and services that deliver consumers a world-class, high-quality customer experience. Savvy Sliders promises a More 2 Love relationship both in-store and throughout the communities we do business in. For more information and Franchise opportunities, please visit: www.savvysliders.com Follow Savvy Sliders on social: Facebook: @SavvySliders Instagram: @SavvySliders Twitter: @Savvy_Sliders For IMAGES, please click here: Click this link for images For B-ROLL, please click here: Click this link for footage ### Attachments DANBURY, Conn., June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On June 23, Ethan Allen will hold its 7th annual Ethan Allen Day celebration at the companys headquarters in Danbury, in addition to local events at Design Centers and manufacturing plants around North America. Weve celebrated this important milestone since 2016, when the state of Vermont declared June 23 to be Ethan Allen Day, said Farooq Kathwari, Chairman, President and CEO. We are proud to honor the pioneering spirit of our namesake and to celebrate our 91-year heritage as a proud American brand. Ethan Allen was founded in 1932 and opened its first sawmill in Beecher Falls, Vt., in 1936. To this day, 75% of the furniture is made in Ethan Allen workshops in North America. When other businesses took their manufacturing overseas, we strengthened our commitment to manufacturing in North America, Kathwari noted. Even though our vision of American style continues to evolve, remaining close to home empowers us to offer an incredible array of styles and customization options to our clients, and to maintain our strong reputation for quality and personal service. In addition, many Ethan Allen Design Centers will partner with local charities, collecting nonperishable goods for community members in need. Those who wish to participate can contact their nearest Design Center for more information from now through July 31. ABOUT ETHAN ALLEN Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (NYSE: ETD) is a leading interior design company, manufacturer, and retailer in the home furnishings marketplace. The company is a global luxury home fashion brand that is vertically integrated from product design through home delivery, which offers its customers stylish product offerings, artisanal quality, and personalized service. The company provides complimentary interior design service to its clients and sells a full range of home furnishings through a retail network of design centers located throughout the United States and abroad, as well as online at ethanallen.com. Ethan Allen owns and operates ten manufacturing facilities in the United States, Mexico, and Honduras, including one sawmill, one rough mill and a lumberyard. Approximately 75% of its products are manufactured or assembled in these North American facilities. CONTACT: Stephen Patrizzi VP, Education & Marketing Services 203.743.8549 stephen.patrizzi@ethanallen.com Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a46ce746-3df1-4d11-adce-3cb7ef41f351 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fdcc5d16-9d22-4be5-9c96-a7f6476695b6 English French NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE U.S.A. OR OVER U.S. WIRE SERVICES MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KP Tissue Inc. (KPT) (TSX: KPT) held its Annual Meeting of shareholders today. All candidates proposed as directors were duly elected to the Board of Directors of KPT by a majority of the votes cast by shareholders present or represented by proxy at the Meeting, as follows: Name Votes For % Votes For Votes Against % Votes Against Francois Vimard 2,898,982 99.220 22,796 0.780 James Hardy 2,894,210 99.056 27,568 0.944 Louise Denys Wendling 2,897,156 99.157 24,622 0.843 John Jay Wright 2,896,279 99.127 25,499 0.873 Shareholders present or represented by proxy at the Meeting also approved the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as auditors of KPT (99.83 of votes in favour). About KP Tissue Inc. (KPT) KPT was created to acquire, and its business is limited to holding, a limited equity interest in Kruger Products, which is accounted for as an investment on the equity basis. KPT currently holds a 13.5% interest in Kruger Products. For more information visit www.kptissueinc.com . About Kruger Products Kruger Products is Canada's leading manufacturer of quality tissue products for household, industrial and commercial use. Kruger Products serves the Canadian consumer market with such well-known brands as Cashmere, Purex, SpongeTowels, Scotties, White Swan and BonterraTM. In the U.S., Kruger Products manufactures the White Cloud brand, as well as many private label products. The Away-From-Home division manufactures and distributes high-quality, cost-effective product solutions to a wide range of commercial and public entities. Kruger Products has approximately 2,700 employees and operates nine FSC COC-certified (FSC C-104904) production facilities in North America. For more information visit www.krugerproducts.ca . INFORMATION: Francois Paroyan General Counsel and Corporate Secretary KP Tissue Inc. Tel.: 905.812.6936 francois.paroyan@krugerproducts.ca INVESTORS: Mike Baldesarra Director of Investor Relations KP Tissue Inc. Tel.: 905.812.6962 IR@KPTissueinc.com English French SUDBURY, Ontario, June 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, College Boreal proudly presents its new website and brand image to all the partners and francophone communities it serves in Ontario and internationally. This redesign coincides with a significant evolution in the institutions mission in recent years, aligning with the needs of the Franco-Ontarian population and organizations consulted during the development of its 2020-2025 Strategic Plan. A college of applied arts and technology and one of Canada's Top 50 research colleges, Boreal offers close to 80 post-secondary programs up to the bachelor's level, as well as a wide range of apprenticeship, upgrading, academic upgrading, continuing education and corporate training programs. It also offers important services to newcomers to Canada, such as settlement services, language courses, socio-economic integration support and other immigration-related programs. In addition, Boreal provides employment services in many regions of Ontario under the banner of Employment Options. New brand image Featuring a streamlined, more contemporary logo, College Boreals new brand image revives the visual identity of the schools beginnings. With its gradient of colours symbolizing constant evolution, the new logo evokes the Northern lights, the three rays representing the educational, cultural and community crossroads that Boreal embodies. It also enhances recognition of the institution, bringing together under one banner all the services offered by College Boreal across the province and providing a unified brand image to all individuals, staff members and companies it collaborates with, regardless of the communication platforms used. New website Eighteen months in the making, College Boreals new website offers a simplified, user-friendly experience thanks to a contemporary interface design that responds more effectively to the browsing needs of the schools students and partners. Showcasing Boreals various campuses, this new site places the Boreal experience and its wide range of services at the forefront, becoming more than ever a one-stop shop designed to optimize services for its diverse clientele. Quote College Boreals new brand image, both modern and close to our roots, reflects our institutions major evolution since its creation. Today, Boreal is proud to serve one of the richest and most multicultural Franco-Ontarian communities, assuming more than ever a leadership role as reflected in its new visual, universal and unifying signature. Daniel Giroux President of College Boreal Quick facts College Boreal has over 5,000 students across 37 sites, including 7 campuses province-wide (post-secondary, apprenticeship, academic upgrading, and continuing education). Over 5,700 people used Boreal immigration services in 2022-23. Boreal has the highest graduation and graduate satisfaction rates of Ontarios 24 colleges (20th and 17th, respectively, in 23 years). Information Benoit Clement Manager Communications and Media Relations 705-560-6673, ext. 2722 benoit.clement@collegeboreal.ca Photos accompanying this announcement are available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7e7d0188-e88c-437f-ac7e-fde2e039e601 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c867b413-285b-45bf-992e-e71f1a1320eb English Norwegian Frya, 20 June 2023 Reference is made to the announcement on 5 June 2023 regarding the agreement (the Transaction Agreement) entered into by Falcon Bidco AS (the Offeror), a company indirectly wholly owned by infrastructure funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, with NTS AS (NTS), a wholly owned subsidiary of SalMar ASA (SalMar) (OSE ticker: SALM), and Fry ASA (Fry or the Company) (OSE ticker: FROY), whereby the Offeror, on certain terms and conditions, agreed to acquire NTS entire ownership stake in Fry, representing approximately 72.11% of the shares in Fry (the Share Sale), and following completion of the Share Sale make an unconditional mandatory cash offer to acquire all other shares in Fry (the Mandatory Offer, and together with the Share Sale, the Transaction). As announced, completion of the Share Sale is subject only to: receipt of applicable approvals from competition authorities in Norway and Ukraine, and the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries having granted an exemption with respect to the nationality requirements for NOR registration in the Norwegian Maritime Code applicable to the vessels owned by the Company; no relevant authority having taken any form of legal action (whether temporary, preliminary or permanent) that prohibits the consummation of the Share Sale or in connection with the Share Sale having imposed material conditions upon the Offeror, the Company or any of their respective affiliates; and the Transaction Agreement not having been terminated in accordance with its terms. The Offeror has confirmed that the Norwegian Competition Authority has approved the Share Sale. Further, the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries has granted an exemption with respect to the nationality requirements for NOR registration in the Norwegian Maritime Code applicable to the vessels owned by the Company. Completion of the Share Sale remains subject to receipt of the applicable approval from the competition authorities in Ukraine, as well as the other remaining conditions noted above. It is expected that the Share Sale will be completed during the third quarter of 2023. DNB Markets, a part of DNB Bank ASA, is acting as financial advisor and Advokatfirmaet BAHR AS is acting as legal advisor to NTS and the Company. Goldman Sachs International, Nordea Corporate Finance, part of Nordea Bank Abp, filial i Norge and RBC Capital Markets are acting as financial advisors, Advokatfirmaet Thommessen AS and Linklaters LLP are acting as legal advisors, and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is acting as antitrust and FDI advisor, to the Offeror. Contacts Fry: Tonje Foss, CEO Sondre Vevstad, CFO Tel: +47 996 10 116 +47 936 54 555 Email: tonje.foss@froygruppen.no sondre.vevstad@froygruppen.no Falcon Bidco / Goldman Sachs Asset Management: Joseph Stein Tel: +44 20 7774 1000 SalMar: Frode Arntsen, CEO Tel: +47 482 06 665 Email: frode.arntsen@salmar.no *** This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. About Fry Fry is a leading integrated provider of aqua services to Norwegian salmon farmers. With a team of more than 900 aqua service specialists and a modern fleet of 80 vessels, Fry offers a wide range of infrastructure solutions to salmon farmers. The service offering includes transport of fish, sorting, counting, cleaning of nets, treatment for diseases and lice, inspection, installation and maintenance of salmon farming sites. Falcon Bidco in brief Falcon Bidco is a private limited company (registration number 930 936 936) incorporated under the laws of Norway with its registered office at c/o Advokatfirmaet Thommessen AS, Ruselkkveien 38, 0251 Oslo, Norway. Falcon Bidco was formed on 20 February 2023 and registered with the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises on 2 March 2023. Falcon Bidco is indirectly wholly-owned by infrastructure funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Falcon Bidco has never conducted and at present does not conduct any form of business, and its sole business purpose is to implement the Transaction. About the Goldman Sachs Asset Management Infrastructure business Bringing together traditional and alternative investments, Goldman Sachs Asset Management provides clients around the world with a dedicated partnership and focus on long-term performance. As the primary investing area within Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), we deliver investment and advisory services for the worlds leading institutions, financial advisors and individuals, drawing from our deeply connected global network and tailored expert insights, across every region and marketoverseeing $2.67 trillion in assets under supervision worldwide as of 31 March 2023. Driven by a passion for our clients performance, we seek to build long-term relationships based on conviction, sustainable outcomes, and shared success over time. Goldman Sachs Asset Management invests in the full spectrum of alternatives, including private equity, growth equity, private credit, real estate and infrastructure. Established in 2006, the Infrastructure business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management has consistently navigated the evolving infrastructure asset class, having invested approximately $15 billion in infrastructure assets across market cycles since its inception. We partner with experienced operators and management teams across multiple sectors, including digital infrastructure, energy transition, transportation & logistics and essential services. About SalMar SalMar is one of the world's largest and most efficient producers of salmon. The Group has farming operations in Central Norway, Northern Norway and Iceland, as well as substantial harvesting and secondary processing operations. In addition, the company is operating within offshore aquaculture through the company SalMar Aker Ocean and SalMar owns 50% of the shares in Scottish Sea Farms Ltd. *** The Mandatory Offer and the distribution of this announcement and other information in connection with the Mandatory Offer and the Transaction may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. When published, the offer document for the Mandatory Offer (the "Offer Document") and related acceptance forms will not and may not be distributed, forwarded or transmitted into or within any jurisdiction where prohibited by applicable law, including, without limitation, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong and Japan. The Offeror does not assume any responsibility in the event there is a violation by any person of such restrictions. Persons into whose possession this announcement or such other information should come are required to inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions. This announcement is not a tender offer document and, as such, does not constitute an offer or the solicitation of an offer to acquire shares in Fry. Investors may accept the Mandatory Offer only on the basis of the information provided in the Offer Document. Offers will not be made directly or indirectly in any jurisdiction where either an offer or participation therein is prohibited by applicable law or where any tender offer document or registration or other requirements would apply in addition to those undertaken in Norway. Notice to U.S. Holders U.S. Holders (as defined below) are advised that the shares of the Company are not listed on a U.S. securities exchange and that the Company is not subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the U.S. Exchange Act), and is not required to, and does not, file any reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) thereunder. The Mandatory Offer will be made in reliance on the exemption from certain requirements of Regulation 14E of the U.S. Exchange Act provided by Rule 14d-1(c) thereunder, and otherwise in accordance with the requirements of Norwegian law. Accordingly, the Mandatory Offer will be subject to disclosure and other procedural requirements, including with respect to the offer timetable, withdrawal rights, settlement procedures and timing of payments, that are different from those that would be applicable under U.S. domestic tender offer procedures and law. The Mandatory Offer will be made in the United States by the Offeror and no one else. The Mandatory Offer will be made to holders of shares of the Company resident in the United States (U.S. Holders) on the same terms and conditions as those made to all other holders of shares of the Company to whom an offer is made. Any information documents, including the Offer Document, will be disseminated to U.S. Holders on a basis comparable to the method that such documents are provided to the Companys other shareholders to whom an offer is made. The receipt of cash pursuant to the Mandatory Offer by a U.S. Holder of the shares of the Company may be a taxable transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes and under applicable state and local, as well as foreign and other tax laws. Each holder of shares of the Company is urged to consult his independent professional advisor immediately regarding the tax consequences of acceptance of the Mandatory Offer. It may be difficult for U.S. Holders of shares of the Company to enforce their rights and any claim arising out of the U.S. federal securities laws, since the Offeror, NTS, SalMar and the Company are located in and organized under the laws of countries other than the United States, and some or all of their officers and directors may be residents of a country other than the United States, and their respective assets are located primarily outside the United States. U.S. Holders of shares of the Company may not be able to sue a non-U.S. company or its officers or directors in a non-U.S. court for violations of the U.S. securities laws. Further, although U.S. Holders of shares of the Company are not waiving their rights under U.S. federal laws by accepting the Mandatory Offer, it may be difficult to compel a non-U.S. company and its affiliates to subject themselves to a U.S. court's judgement. As used herein, the United States or the U.S. means the United States of America, its territories and possessions, any state of the United States of America, and the District of Columbia. Pursuant to an exemption from Rule 14e-5 under the U.S. Exchange Act, the Offeror and its affiliates or brokers (acting as agents for the Offeror or its affiliates, as applicable) may from time to time, and other than pursuant to the Mandatory Offer, directly or indirectly, purchase or arrange to purchase, shares of the Company or any securities that are convertible into, exchangeable for or exercisable for such shares outside the United States during the period in which the Mandatory Offer remains open for acceptance, so long as those acquisitions or arrangements comply with applicable Norwegian law and practice and the provisions of such exemption. To the extent information about such purchases or arrangements to purchase is made public in Norway, such information will be disclosed by means of an English language press release via an electronically operated information distribution system in the United States or other means reasonably calculated to inform U.S. Holders of such information. In addition, the financial advisors to the Offeror may also engage in ordinary course trading activities in securities of the Company, which may include purchases or arrangements to purchase such securities. Neither the SEC nor any U.S. state securities commission has approved or disapproved or will approve or disapprove the Mandatory Offer, passed or will pass upon its fairness or passed or will pass upon the fairness, adequacy or completeness of this document or any documentation relating to the Mandatory Offer. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offence in the United States. Goldman Sachs International, which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority in the United Kingdom, is acting exclusively for the Offeror and no one else in connection with the Transaction, the Mandatory Offer and the matters set out in this announcement. Neither Goldman Sachs International nor its affiliates, nor their respective partners, directors, officers, employees or agents are responsible to anyone other than the Offeror for providing the protections afforded to clients of Goldman Sachs International, or for giving advice in connection with the Mandatory Offer or any matter or arrangement referred to in this announcement. Nordea Bank Abp, which is under the supervision of the European Central Bank together with the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority, is acting (through its Norwegian branch, Nordea Bank Abp, filial i Norge) as financial adviser to the Offeror and no one else in connection with the Transaction, the Mandatory Offer and the matters set out in this announcement. Neither Nordea Bank Abp nor its affiliates will regard any other person as its client in relation to the Offer and the matters set out in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Mandatory Offeror for providing the protection afforded to clients of Nordea Bank Abp, nor for providing advice in relation to the Mandatory Offer or the other matters referred to in this announcement. Any securities activities in the United States by Nordea Bank Abp will be intermediated by its U.S. registered broker-dealer affiliate, Nordea Securities LLC, and such activities will be effected only to the extent permitted by Rule 15a-6 under the U.S. Exchange Act. RBC Europe Limited (trading as RBC Capital Markets), which is authorised by the PRA and regulated by the FCA and the PRA in the United Kingdom, is acting exclusively for the Offeror and for no one else in connection with the subject matter of this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Offeror for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in connection with the subject matter of this announcement. Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) announced the suspension of operations at the Casa Berardi mine again due to the forest fires in the Abitibi and Eeyou-Istchee region of the James Bay area. This suspension follows the directives of Quebec's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests to close certain forest lands and access roads. All mine personnel are safe, and the infrastructure has not been impacted. Operations at Casa Berardi were suspended earlier in the month due to forest fires, with the mine re-starting operations on June 15th. The Company is complying with the directives of the Ministry and is in close contact with the authorities. ABOUT HECLA Founded in 1891, Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL) is the largest silver producer in the United States. In addition to operating mines in Alaska, Idaho, and Quebec, Canada, the Company is developing a mine in the Yukon, Canada, and owns several exploration and pre-development projects in world-class silver and gold mining districts throughout North America. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620272459/en/ Contact Anvita M. Patil, Vice President - Investor Relations and Treasurer Cheryl Turner, Communications Coordinator 800-HECLA91 (800-432-5291) Investor Relations Email: hmc-info@hecla-mining.com Website: www.hecla.com VANCOUVER, June 20, 2023 - Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX), (OTCQB:RFLXF), (FSE:HF2) ("Reflex" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce the successful completion of a TDEM and magnetic helicopter survey on its Ruby Graphite property (the, "Project") located in Montana, USA. The TDEM survey has been completed via helicopter by Prospectair, who is an industry leader in technological innovation for airborne geophysical survey mapping, interpretation and analysis. The survey was conducted to identify potential graphite mineralization targets and gather valuable geophysical data to further enhance the Company's understanding of the Project's geological characteristics. Time-domain electromagnetic (TDEM) surveys are renowned for effectiveness in delineating conductive mineralization, such as graphite deposits, and to map subsurface conductivity variations across the Project. This high-resolution electromagnetic survey covered the entirety of the Property, providing a comprehensive and detailed assessment of potential mineralized zones. The survey was carried out with traverse lines oriented N00 to properly map the dominant magnetic/geological strike with a 50 m line spacing. Control lines were flown perpendicular to traverse lines and at 500 m line spacing. The total survey distance came to 1051 line-km. The Prospectair heliborne "ProspecTEM" system employs a transient or time-domain electromagnetic transmitter that drives an alternating current through an insulated electrical coil system with a diameter of 5.6 m. The towing bridle is constructed from a Kevlar rope and multi-paired shielded cables. The system uses a 4 KW generator and a large condenser to transmit alternating 2.75-ms half sine pulses with intervening off-times of 13.916 ms electric pulse, 60 pulses per second. It is a powerful light-weight system adapted for small size helicopters and easy maneuverability enabling the system to be flown as close to the ground as safely possible and ensuring maximum data resolution. Advanced signal processing techniques and a full processing package was developed in house by Prospectair to optimize the ProspecTEM data. The heliborne survey also measured the magnetic field of the property. The "Geometrics G-822A" magnetometer uses a non-oriented (strap-down), optically-pumped Cesium split-beam sensor. These magnetometers have a sensitivity of 0.005 nT and a range of 15,000 to 100,000 nT with a sensor noise of less than 0.02 nT. The heliborne sensor is mounted in a bird made of non-magnetic material located 25 m below the helicopter when flying. Total magnetic field measurements are recorded at 10 Hz in the aircraft. Preliminary results from the TDEM and magnetic survey have demonstrated promising anomalies, indicating the presence of conductive structures and potential graphite mineral deposits within the Ruby Graphite property. The survey data will be integrated with existing geological data and other exploration data to prioritize target areas for future drilling and further exploration efforts. Preliminary results indicate that several new conductive anomalies were detected by the survey, and these will be investigated further to confirm the presence of graphite in those areas. Paul Gorman, CEO at Reflex Advanced Materials, commented, "The completion of the TDEM helicopter survey is an important step in our exploration program for the Ruby Graphite property before commencing our planned Summer 2023 drill program. The survey has provided us with a wealth of valuable geophysical information, allowing us to refine our understanding of the subsurface geological features and priority areas that have high graphite mineralization potential. These results will guide our future exploration activities as we work towards unlocking the property's full potential." The Company also announces that it has extended its agreement with i2i Marketing Group LLC ("i2i") (email: contact@i2illc.com; address: 1233 Chesapeake Drive, Odessa, Florida, 33556; phone: 312.725.3843) for marketing services to be provided by i2i beginning June 20th, 2023 for approximately one month or until budget exhaustion. i2i will utilize their online programs with the aim of increasing investor awareness and interest in the Company through various online platforms and methods of engagement in consideration for the payment to i2i of $200,000 USD. The promotional activity will occur by email, and the Google, Bing and Yahoo display ad network. i2i does not have any prior relationship with the Company (other than with respect to prior, arm's-length marketing engagements), and will not receive any securities of the Company as compensation for its marketing services. The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Greg Bell, P.Eng., General Manager of the Ruby Graphite Project, who is not independent of the issuer and is a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. About Reflex Advanced Materials Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. is a mineral exploration company based in British Columbia. Its objective is to locate and, if warranted, develop economic mineral properties in the strategic metals and advanced materials space. It is focused on improving domestic specialty mineral infrastructure efficiencies to meet surging national demand by North American manufacturers. The Company is working to advance its Ruby Graphite Project, located in Beaverhead County, Montana, and ZigZag Lake Lithium Property, located in Thunder Bay Mining Division, Crescent Lake Area, Ontario. For more information on Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. and its mineral projects, please visit the Company's website at www.reflexmaterials.com. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, Paul Gorman CEO & Director Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. info@reflexmaterials.com Tel. (778-837-7191) Suite 915-700 West Pender Street Vancouver, BC V6C 1G8 Canada Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, including statements regarding the VTEM survey and the Company's intentions regarding the Ruby Graphite Project are "forward looking statements." These forward-looking statements reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company, including (without limitation) expectations and assumptions concerning the business plan of the Company, the successful integration of the Ruby Graphite project into the Company's operations, exploration and development of the Company's assets, the application of regulatory and licensing requirements, and the availability of capital, labour and services. By their nature, such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause the actual results and expectations to differ materially from the anticipated results and expectations expressed. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in commodity prices, changes in industry regulations and political landscape in Canada and the United States, stock market volatility, and those risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this press release, and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Vancouver, June 20, 2023 - Equity Metals Corp. (TSXV: EQTY) ("Equity") reports today that crews have mobilized and drilling has resumed on it's 100% owned Silver Queen Ag-Au project, located in central British Columbia. This is the second phase of drilling on the property in 2023 and will focus on the initial delineation of two new targets located to the northeast of, and not included in, the earlier 2022 updated Mineral Resource estimate on the property. Up to 4,000 metres is planned in the Company's initial test of the Cole and George Lake veins systems (Figure 1) which have been partially tested by historical drilling. At the George Lake target historic drilling identified several veins over a 120 metre strike-length and up to 200 metres below surface. The veins remain open laterally to the northwest-southeast and at depth for further delineation and extension during this phase of work. Similarly, historical drilling on the Cole Lake target has identified multiple vein intercepts over a 700 metre strike length and to depths of over 400 metres below surface. Mineralization at both targets remains strongly gold- and silver-enriched, often with significant concentrations of base metals. Mineralized veins at the George Lake target were historically drilled and accessed from underground via the Bulkley Cross-cut which is part of the over 9000 metres of historical workings that were largely developed on the property through the 1970s and 1980s. This Phase II program follows the Spring 2023 drilling program which successfully extended veins along strike and at depth in the Camp Deposit (see NR-9-23, dated June 6th, 2023) and filled a significant drilling gap in the Sveinson vein system. Nine holes totalling 4,038 metres were completed with assays currently reported from only two of the holes. Additional assays from the remaining seven drill holes are anticipated to be released in the coming weeks. President, Joe Kizis, commented, "The Summer 2023 program marks our expansion to test two high-priority targets that have encouraging drill intercepts from historic drilling. George Lake mineralization could be particularly significant as historic underground access exists, potentially providing a source of increased mill feed. Though currently flooded, that access could be dewatered for inexpensive access to another mineralized vein system." Figure 1: Plan Map of targets on the Silver Queen vein system, BC To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5566/170583_02b4d658248e99be_002full.jpg About Silver Queen Project The Silver Queen Project is a premier gold-silver property with over 100 years of historic exploration and development and is located adjacent to power, roads and rail with significant mining infrastructure that was developed under previous operators Bradina JV (Bralorne Mines) and Houston Metals Corp. (a Hunt Brothers company). The property contains an historic decline into the No. 3 Vein, camp infrastructure, and a maintained Tailings Facility. The Silver Queen Property consists of 45 mineral claims, 17 crown grants, and two surface crown grants totalling 18,852ha with no underlying royalties. Mineralization is hosted by a series of epithermal veins distributed over a 6 sq km area. An updated NI43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate with effective date December 1st, 2022 was detailed in a News Release issued on Jan 16, 2023, which can be found by clicking here and the full Technical Report can be found on SEDAR and the Company's website. More than 20 different veins have been identified on the property, forming an extensive network of zoned Cretaceous- to Tertiary-age epithermal veins. The property remains largely under explored. About Equity Metals Corporation Equity Metals Corp. is a Malaspina-Manex Group Company. The Company owns 100% interest, with no underlying royalty, in the Silver Queen project, located along the Skeena Arch in the Omineca Mining Division, British Columbia. The property hosts high-grade, precious- and base-metal veins related to a buried porphyry system, which has been only partially delineated. The Company also has a controlling JV interest (57.49%) in the Monument Diamond project, NWT, strategically located in the Lac De Gras district within 40 km of both the Ekati and Diavik diamond mines. The Company also has royalty and working interests in other Canadian properties, which are being evaluated further to determine their value to the Company. Robert Macdonald, MSc. P.Geo, is VP Exploration of Equity Metals Corp. and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. He is responsible for the supervision of the exploration on the Silver Queen project and for the preparation of the technical information in this disclosure. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Joseph Anthony Kizis, Jr." Joseph Anthony Kizis, Jr., P.Geo President, Director, Equity Metals Corp. For further information, visit the website at https://www.equitymetalscorporation.com; or contact us at 604.641.2759 or by email at ir@mnxltd.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. This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the timing and receipt of government and regulatory approvals, and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Equity Metals Corp. does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170583 TSXV: GMIN OTCQX: GMINF All amounts are in USD unless stated otherwise BROSSARD, June 20, 2023 - G Mining Ventures Corp. ("GMIN" or the "Corporation") (TSXV: GMIN) (OTCQX: GMINF) is proud to announce the publication of its inaugural Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") Report. The ESG Report provides transparency and outlines progress on the Corporation's key ESG performance in 2022, and goals and key initiatives for the coming years. 2022 was a transformational year for GMIN, which saw the commencement of construction activities at the Corporation's flagship Tocantinzinho Gold Project ("TZ" or the "Project") in the State of Para, Brazil. As a result, data used in this ESG report are from TZ, from January 1 to December 31, 2022. In conjunction with the release of the ESG Report, GMIN is pleased to announce the internal promotion of Eduardo Leao to Vice President, Sustainability. Louis-Pierre Gignac, President & Chief Executive Officer, commented: "I am excited to present our inaugural ESG Report and welcome Eduardo Leao in his new role as Vice President, Sustainability for G Mining Ventures. Our commitment to sustainable mining practices is unwavering. Our inaugural ESG Report showcases the progress we have made so far and provides direction on planned initiatives for the future. With Eduardo's appointment, we are further strengthening our sustainability efforts, ensuring that environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and strong governance practices are integral to our business. I am proud of our team's efforts as we continue to challenge ourselves to be a leader in responsible mining." Publication of Inaugural Environmental, Social and Governance Report for GMIN GMIN's 2022 ESG Report highlights the significant progress achieved by the Corporation during calendar 2022, including: Environmental: Biodiversity: Flora collection and fauna rescue-relocation operations are conducted to minimize the impact of vegetation suppression; Powerline Construction: Construction of a 190 km powerline started in 2022 to connect TZ to the national grid, which is primarily supplied by clean renewable energy sources. It will lower CO? emissions associated with gold production from TZ; and Tailings and Water Management: The design of tailings dams adheres to both Brazilian and Canadian regulations, among the most stringent in the world. A comprehensive water management plan has been implemented to prioritize reuse of water and minimize consumption from rivers. Social: Health and Safety: 666,644 person-hours worked and 0 lost time incidents (LTI) in 2022; Diversity and Inclusion: At the end of 2022, female representation stood at 40%, 22% and 14% in executive positions, at the board level and in the total workforce, respectively; Community Relations: Contributions to community social programs totaled $375,000; and Social and Economic Development: 61% of the workforce came from local communities; 25% of the project spending was within the state of Para. Governance: Business Ethic and Transparency: Establishment of a robust governance framework to promote ethical conduct and responsible decision-making. Emphasis on transparency, compliance, and risk management across all levels of the organization; Compliance and Regulation: Receipt and/or renewal of all required licenses and permits for construction commencement. Zero non-compliance with laws and regulations; and Implementation of GOAT Risk: a dedicated risk management software. Management Update In conjunction with the release of the ESG Report, GMIN is pleased to announce the internal promotion of Eduardo Leao to Vice President, Sustainability. Mr. Leao initially joined the Corporation as Manager, Sustainability in 2022, and has been instrumental in advancing the permitting efforts required to progress the Project into construction. With an extensive background in sustainable development and a deep understanding of the mining industry, Mr. Leao will play a pivotal role in driving GMIN's corporate sustainability strategy forward. As a highly respected expert in the field, he will oversee the implementation of sustainable practices, stakeholder engagement, and the integration of ESG considerations across the Corporation's operations. Mr. Leao holds a Master's in Geology and Earth Sciences from Federal University of Para and an MBA from Dom Cabral Foundation (Brazil). Mr. Leao has over 15 years of experience in mining, environmental management, strategic planning, risk and crisis analysis, environmental projects and local development. Mr. Leao has extensive experience in Brazil, in both the public and private sectors, having previously held the position as Director of the National Mining Agency (ANM), Executive Secretary of Economic Development, Mining and Energy of the State of Para, and progressively senior positions at Vale and various consultancies. About G Mining Ventures Corp. G Mining Ventures Corp. (TSXV: GMIN) (OTCQX: GMINF) is a mining company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of precious metal projects, to capitalize on the value uplift from successful mine development. GMIN is well-positioned to grow into the next mid-tier precious metals producer by leveraging strong access to capital and proven development expertise. GMIN is currently anchored by its flagship Tocantinzinho Gold Project in mining friendly and prospective State of Para, Brazil. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of certain securities laws and are based on expectations and projections as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, without limitation, those related to (i) the successful implementation of sustainable practices and the integration of ESG considerations in operations, (ii) the minimization pf water consumption and of vegetation suppression impacts as well as the lowering of CO 2 emissions from gold production, and (iii) the value Mr. Leao will continue to create in his new role and, more generally, the contents of the above section entitled "About G Mining Ventures Corp.". Forward-looking statements are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the time of this press release. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Corporation as of the time of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. These estimates and assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Such assumptions include, without limitation, those underlying the items listed in the above section entitled "About G Mining Ventures Corp.". Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can directly or indirectly affect, and could cause, actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that, notably but without limitation, (i) the Corporation will achieve all its ESG objectives as outlined in this release, (ii) the Corporation will bring the Tocantinzinho Project into commercial production, and (iii) the Corporation will use TZ as the flagship asset to grow GMIN into the next mid-tier precious metals producer, as future events could differ materially from what is currently anticipated by the Corporation. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions do not reflect future experience. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important risk factors and future events could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates, assumptions and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those made in the Corporation's other filings with the securities regulators of Canada including, but not limited to, the cautionary statements made in the relevant sections of the Corporation's (i) Annual Information Form dated April 28, 2023, for the financial year ended December 31, 2022, and (ii) Management Discussion & Analysis. The Corporation cautions that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive, and new, unforeseeable risks may arise from time to time. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/g-mining-ventures-publishes-the-inaugural-esg-report-and-appoints-vice-president-of-sustainability-301855644.html SOURCE G Mining Ventures Corp. Must Reads At a time when states across the country are turning to private health plans to provide Medicaid managed care, Connecticut is taking a different approach. This year, the state ended private insurer participation in the state Medicaid program. Mark Schaefer, Connecticut's Medicaid director, told Kaiser Health News that "there has been a diminishing confidence in the value of what they are providing." Instead, the state is taking responsibility for managing care for some half a million parents and children directly, using an administrative services organization (ASO) model. Heading the effort is Department of Social Services (DSS) Commissioner Roderick Bremby.Bremby's career has run the gamut of state and local government. A former assistant city manager in Lawrence, Kan., he headed the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, under then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who now serves as secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As Connecticut's commissioner, he has sought to modernize and coordinate the state's health and human services operation, while also executing the state's closely-watched move away from private Medicaid managed care. I spoke to him about the state's plans in this edited transcript.Roderick Bremby: The first thing is that we're not demonizing private insurance companies as we move forward to acquire better health care for our clients. It's just that we've used a model here in Connecticut for 15 years, and we believe it's time to try something different. We hope to achieve greater transparency and accountability for the 600,000 people in our system, as well as cost savings through less administration.We spent about $860 million dollars on Medicaid managed care. It was primarily for our Medicaid program for children and their parents. We employed three plans to manage that program for us.What the administration of Gov. Dannel Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman decided to do in this new construct is not only to bring our Medicaid program for kids and parents to the ASO model, but also our Medicaid for the aged, blind and disabled, and low-income, childless adults. Also included are the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the state-sponsored Charter Oak Health Plan for uninsured adults.A primary goal is to bring people into this new arrangement who have not had intensive case management previously. In Connecticut, four percent of our population drives about 49 percent of our costs. Put another way, there are 28,000 people in the program that consume $2.3 billion of medical care every year. Trying to identify that four percent, those 28,000 people, across three capitated managed-care plans was not easily done. By aggregating everyone in a group or pool, we'll be able to identify them. We'll be able to assure that they get the continuity and type of service that they need at the right time.Our model permitted us to go out into the marketplace and contract with a provider to be our ASO for medical services. [So the] new structural organization, if you will, is the state of Connecticut, DSS, interfacing with the ASO and our network of providers.Yes. Oklahoma has been in this space for quite some time and has had pretty good outcomes. Oklahoma does this, though, through a different governing structure. They have an authority that runs their Medicaid program. But the model, the provision of care, is clearly one that's been in operation for some time, and has had some success.By and large, it got a great many things right. There are unique opportunities to drive down costs and improve health outcomes. There's also a huge, historic allocation of money for prevention. The ACA also tied in with the [American Recovery and Reinvestment Act] legislation to provide the technical support for electronic health records and exchanges. There's a major investment in developing and improving information systems that I believe is really essential to any real, meaningful improvement in health outcomes.In Kansas, we worked on Web services, as well as trying to align systems such as county immunization registries. We also had a claims database that was available to apply analytics to the health-care experience.Moving that forward here in Connecticut is a major goal. Our department has had a lack of investment over 20 years in the systems needed to support efficient and effective operations. At DSS, we receive 890,000 phone calls and process 3.7 million pieces of paper every month. Our regional offices are overwhelmed by the amount of work and effort that it takes to perform work manually.We now have a modernization effort underway. We call it the ConneCT initiative. It will enable us to come up to current technological service standards. We're going to move beyond that critical deployment and seek to replace the integrated eligibility management system, which is 22 years old. It's fairly stable day to day, but any changes in the system create significant challenges. We're working on those solutions internally. Lastly, we are planning to link our human services eligibility determination systems with the health insurance exchange eligibility platform. Those are the three fundamental areas of technology that we're bringing resources to improve and modernize operations at DSS.No. Time is of the essence. States have to move, and they have to move quickly to take advantage of the opportunity that is out there. This is an unprecedented opportunity, fiscally as well as organizationally, to partner with the federal government to bring about change that we've all been talking about for a very long time. If states wait or are delayed in their deployment considerations, they may have difficulty finding the private-sector market solutions in a timely manner. We're having no difficulties finding very capable and forward-leaning organizations to assist us in bringing solutions to bear. But you have to move, and you have to move fairly quickly.States may want to look to partner with each other. Those are solutions that we really haven't seriously entertained in the past. But given the requirements of the ACA and the opportunity for funding that's available, it's a great time to be creative.I think that people may forget that the health-delivery system that we have today continues to evolve. It's based on a system of care that is outdated. These innovations, by their very nature, are experimental. We're trying to find the right model to solve this problem. I'm hopeful that we will find one or more successful care delivery models in the near term. But the very fact that the effort is being made, and the investment is being made, is essential to us getting there. The result is that it takes more than what we have been doing in the past.We've focused almost exclusively on the medical intervention, and we haven't been focused on all of those other life experiences that help maintain or restore health. We have to focus on the continuity of care in a much broader construct. We know that environmental factors drive a lot of the physical manifestations of health. We know that dental health is connected with cardiovascular health. We're beginning to look at many relationships to determine better models to take care of the whole person. The long term potential is enormous.Governing-- The success of health reform may depend on whether the United States can add enough primary care doctors to cover the uninsured, writes the Washington Post's Sarah Kliff . However, Jonathan Zasloff says policymakers are ignoring an obvious fix -- primary care providers other than doctors, like nurse practitioners, can also fill the gap.-- What would happen to the Affordable Care Act if President Obama is not reelected, asks University of Chicago professor Harold Pollack. His answer: It's toast -- Health policy experts continue to debate the decision made by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to give states discretion to define essential health benefits , with some applauding the department's commitment to federalism and others warning of inequities -- Finally, the Urban Institute and the Association for Community Affiliated Plans make a strong argument that states should pay closer attention to the "little-known" Basic Health Program During one Christmas break when he was in college, Rick Cole and a friend decided to see Los Angeles by city bus. They bought a couple of student transit passes and spent 10 days crisscrossing the region, from Watts to Malibu, bunking down at night with professors, on the beach and, once, in a movie theater. Coles friend, who grew up near Denver, announced afterward that hed never again live in a city like Los Angeles. Cole, who grew up in Pasadena, declared that he could never live anywhere else.What hed gotten over the course of his travels was a quick lesson in the lush diversity of the urban landscape. Cole has been paying close attention to how communities look and function ever since, first as a journalist, then as a city council member and mayor and finally as a city manager. His chosen venues a trio of Los Angeles suburbs have not been especially large, but that hasnt kept Coles strong views on what it takes for cities to thrive from having an impact on the planning community in California and nationwide.Cole, 53, is perhaps best known as a strong believer in compact, even dense, development, but he is equally dedicated to strong civic engagement and effective, accountable government. Those three strands, he says, are inextricably intertwined in a healthy and successful city. You go to New Orleans or Newark, and you can see perfectly good urban fabric that New Urbanists would cry over, but the cities are a catastrophe. So, obviously, form doesnt trump everything else. Without the civic activism, you dont have the buy-in of the community and the mobilization of private-sector and third-sector resources. And, of course, if you dont have a government that can issue permits in less than three years or the ability to keep a park safe, then building houses above a park wont work. You have to put these three things together to have any of them be a success.As mayor of Pasadena during the early 1990s, he took a populace that had been deadlocked between pro- and anti-growth forces and focused it on developing a vision for the city as a whole. The result was one of the most attractive and attention-getting downtowns in the region. The idea that you could rally thousands of Pasadenans to get interested in a general plan, and to make planning seem like something the average person could get his or her hands around, showed his brilliance, says Larry Wilson, editor of the Pasadena Star-News. To this day, its quite a legacy.Cole, who as a student activist and as a politician had developed a reputation for a no-holds-barred rhetorical style, eventually left elective politics to become city manager in Azusa, a down-on-its luck town that, as the Los Angeles Times dryly noted, had a commercial core so bleak that an AM/PM convenience store ranks among the citys top sales tax generators. Cole spent six years there, plunging into the seemingly mundane mechanics needed for revitalizing a city and its government replacing an aging library, overseeing the creation of Azusas first general plan in two decades, helping 1,500 new homes get built.Now, in Ventura, which recently topped 100,000 residents, he is working on a larger canvas but with an equally intense focus on the details that add up to a vital city. He helped the city council breach a six-year deadlock over its general plan and has been adamant about making developers and Wal-Mart stick to the vision of a pedestrian-friendly downtown, mixed-use developments and interesting neighborhoods. He led the city in moving a homeless encampment that had annoyed citizens and then assisted its residents in setting up a self-governing permanent campground. And he is now helping to shepherd a sales-tax increase to boost public-safety staffing.Cities, Cole argues, can create their own destinies. You cant give up on them and say, Oh, theres poverty and racism and we need a Marshall Plan for the cities, he says. You have to roll up your sleeves and make our schools and streets and local governments work, so that people can use their energy and their passion in their family and business life to bring life back to older towns and older cities. It can be done, and theres no excuse for not doing it. Belgian GP boss confident after Montreal meeting The future of the Belgian GP at the fabled Spa-Francorchamps circuit is now looking more secure, promoter Vanessa Maes admits. Lewis Hamilton, Belgian GP 2022 Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. The future of the Belgian GP at the fabled Spa-Francorchamps circuit is now looking more secure, promoter Vanessa Maes admits. She recently met in London with Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali to discuss the race's expiring contract, amid rumours Spa could be the next victim of the Liberty Media-fuelled push into new markets. But the London meeting reportedly went well, and Maes subsequently travelled to Canada for more talks with Domenicali over the Montreal race weekend. "The appointment was positive," Maes told the Belgian broadcaster RTBF. "He is now open to discussions with us. "We're not getting carried away - we haven't signed anything yet. But things seem to be heading in the right direction." However, Maes also seemed to confirm that the contract under discussion is only for a single race - 2024. Beyond that, there are strong rumours that an annual 'Benelux GP' will be rotated between Spa and Zandvoort in the Netherlands. "We don't know yet what will happen after 2025," Maes admits. "We know that Liberty Media wants a future with Spa-Francorchamps, when two years ago it was looking very difficult. They told us clearly that they no longer wanted to come to Belgium. "But we worked a lot and that allowed us to be where we are now - that we can say that our country deserves to be on the calendar. We are a historic circuit but one that is looking to the future." As for the rumours of a Spa-Zandvoort annual alternation, she added: "We don't know about that. "What is important is to secure 2024. I hope we'll be on the schedule, but in any case we are led to believe that there are possibilities. "We'll see what happens next but we are confident now." (GMM) De Vries could be ousted by home Dutch GP Nyck de Vries' Formula 1 career is still under a very dark cloud. Nyck de Vries, Canadian GP 2023 Red Bull Nyck de Vries' Formula 1 career is still under a very dark cloud. That is the admission of two of his well-known Dutch compatriots, even if the 28-year-old rookie showed signs of improving recently after a warning from Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko. Dutch racing driver Tom Coronel, however, admitted to the Dutch publication Formule 1 that it is clear de Vries is "not yet worth the investment" to Red Bull and Alpha Tauri. De Vries' shaky place on the F1 grid only looked even shakier after his failed wheel-to-wheel battle with Kevin Magnussen in Canada. "He never made room for Magnussen," said Dutch GP boss and former F1 driver Jan Lammers. "Then Magnussen had to leave the circuit to prevent them from hitting each other," he told NOS. "It got worse after that, because at the next corner, I think he was disoriented because it's not a corner you can normally overtake at. Nyck braked too late, Magnussen braked on time, but he couldn't turn in because Nyck was there. "The race management I think was lenient with Nyck." Lammers says it's a gift to Zandvoort that there will be two Dutch drivers at the Dutch GP this year, but he also admits that de Vries' short career could be over by then. When asked if the Alpha Tauri driver will still be in the cockpit after the summer break, Lammers said: "I don't want to participate in that. "I wish the best for everyone, including Nyck. But Red Bull is merciless so he has to perform." Lammers says de Vries' situation is similar to that of Alex Albon in the past - when Red Bull ousted him out of F1 and into the German touring car series DTM. "Albon was in the same situation as Nyck," he said. "He got a new chance and now he is driver of the day - who would have thought that? "But to achieve something like Albon, de Vries needs more time. Will he finish the year? I don't dare to say that." F1 correspondent Louis Dekker thinks de Vries' obvious successor is already waiting in the wings. "Liam Lawson can jump in right away," he said. "So the mistakes (of de Vries) have to stop. Time is really ticking. "As soon as a driver costs millions and he doesn't score any points, it's over quickly. Zandvoort is the first race after the summer holidays and it's in the summer that the teams will be looking at what they will do next year." Lammers commented: "With Albon, the bad things were bad, but the good things were better. Nyck needs that too. "A good race must therefore be a very good one, but it is up to him to do it." (GMM) Hulkenberg cautiously keen on another year at Haas Nico Hulkenberg sounds keen on securing another year at Haas. Nico Hulkenberg, Canadian GP 2023 Haas F1 Team / LAT Nico Hulkenberg sounds keen on securing another year at Haas. The 35-year-old has impressed at the team this year after Haas ousted the underperforming Mick Schumacher - with boss Gunther Steiner hinting in Montreal last weekend that Hulkenberg will once again join Kevin Magnussen in the garage in 2024. "Sounds good," the German smiled to Sport1 when asked about Steiner's words. "That gives hope for more. "But I think it's from both sides. It's fun, I'm happy to be back and I'm enjoying it." However, he also admitted that qualifying so well in Canada before sliding down the field with extreme tyre degradation "obviously hurt". "But the journey is the reward and I have hope that we can get a handle on that and improve over the course of the year and for next year," said Hulkenberg. Steiner said the team is working on it. "It's very clear to see," he said. "If we don't have a clear path and we start fighting, the tyres simply wear out. At least we know what to look for, and we will. "We are putting our heads together to try to find a solution instead of hiding behind good qualifying results." According to regular Haas critic Ralf Schumacher, uncle to the axed Mick, Haas needs to think about more than simply working to fix the tyre wear issue. "They've gotten to a point where they have to think about what needs to change and restructure," he told Sky Deutschland. "Haas is currently the absolute bottom of the field and that cannot be a situation for the long run." And so, according to fellow German Schumacher, Hulkenberg perhaps needs to think about whether he wants to recommit to Haas for 2024 - or start pushing for a top seat. "The question is what can Haas offer him?" Ralf said. "If I were him, I would be asking what steps are being taken to improve the situation. Because one thing is clear - If everything stays the way it is, also in terms of personnel, then not much will change." Some are even beginning to suggest that Hulkenberg could be an ideal replacement at Red Bull for the struggling Sergio Perez. "I don't think that's up for debate at the moment," said Ralf Schumacher. "The question is what Red Bull wants. "They still have (Yuki) Tsunoda, who they have been preparing for a long time and now has experience. Red Bull tends to fall back on their own squad. "But it (Hulkenberg) would definitely work in terms of performance." As for Hulkenberg himself, he acknowledges that Haas has some fundamental questions to be asking itself. "I think mechanically maybe it's the suspension design and the way it's all designed isn't ideal," he said. "Our car feels brutally hard and the bumps in the car are extreme. "I've never driven such a hard car in my career, it really bothers me," he added. "It makes it nervous and restless, and puts even more strain on the tyres." (GMM) Marko scoffs at Wolff over Verstappen claim Dr Helmut Marko has scoffed at Mercedes boss Toto Wolff for failing to recognise Max Verstappen's talent as a youngster. Max Verstappen, Canadian GP 2023 Red Bull Dr Helmut Marko has scoffed at Mercedes boss Toto Wolff for failing to recognise Max Verstappen's talent as a youngster. When Red Bull snapped up the then teenaged Dutchman in the earliest moments of his move from karts to single seaters, there were rumours Wolff also held talks with the Verstappen camp. But now, Wolff claims that it was actually a young Esteban Ocon who was making bigger waves, while it "wasn't clear" that Verstappen would go on to be so successful in Formula 1. Red Bull's Marko scoffs and those claims. "His talent wasn't visible enough in Formula 3?" the 80-year-old Austrian told Algemeen Dagblad newspaper. "Then I don't know exactly what Toto was looking at. "When I saw Max at the Norisring, it was already completely clear to me that he had something special." Marko is referring to a wet F3 race in which Verstappen, then just 16, was up to 2 seconds a lap superior to any other driver. Almost a decade later, Verstappen has now matched Ayrton Senna's tally of 41 grand prix victories - even if Max insists that he is not motivated or even very knowledgeable about such statistics. "He knows it all," Marko smiled. "Max knows all those figures." And now, he thinks the 25-year-old could ultimately match and surpass the 91 and 103 career grand prix victory tallies of the great Michael Schumacher and fellow seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton respectively. "When Schumacher retired, I thought 'Wow, his record will stand forever'," Marko said. "Then came the incredible performance from Mercedes and Lewis." Verstappen, on the other hand, has secured an incredible 31 of his victories since 2021 alone. "Without getting overconfident, I think anything is possible," said Marko when asked if Max could ultimately become the most successful driver in F1 history. "The regulations are relatively stable through 2025, and in 2026 we will have our own engine project which looks really promising," he added. "We have very good people and a good factory, and we have Max, who is under contract with us until 2028 and still not at his limit. He is still developing. "He does everything with such ease, as if there is no pressure at all for him. Let's see how far we can get together." (GMM) Tyre choice debacle was Leclerc's fault says Ralf It's not fair for Charles Leclerc to point the finger of blame so squarely on Ferrari for the spate of recent strategy mistakes. Charles Leclerc, Canadian GP 2023 Ferrari It's not fair for Charles Leclerc to point the finger of blame so squarely on Ferrari for the spate of recent strategy mistakes. That is the view of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, after Leclerc so publicly chided the Maranello based team for the latest tyre compound blunder in Montreal qualifying. "Ferrari was obviously not so good in terms of the timing," he told Sky Deutschland. "But Charles was off the track too often again, so you have to wonder why. "A typical Ferrari Saturday, I would say," the German added. Schumacher said it is unfair for Leclerc to have lost his temper with Ferrari both on the radio and when speaking with the media afterwards. "As a driver, something like this would not have happened to me," said Ralf. "As a driver, I made the decision about when to come in for tyres. "Only the driver can really see how wet or dry it is. So it's Leclerc's fault, especially as both the Ferrari drivers are making too many mistakes. "I also don't like the way Leclerc and (Carlos) Sainz are often yelling on the radio. It gives the impression that the drivers and the engineers are at odds. Ferrari needs to change that," Schumacher added. However, the good news for Ferrari in Canada is that the race pace - normally Ferrari's Achilles heel - was so much better than qualifying. In fact, Dr Helmut Marko thinks the Maranello team was even faster than Red Bull in race conditions. "We can take a lot of positive things with us from Canada," said Leclerc. "But it has also become clear that we still lack the ability to be at the very top." As for his Saturday outbursts, Leclerc is understood to have apologised to Ferrari both privately and publicly. "We will have a discussion but it remains inside the team," he told Canal Plus. "I let myself go a little because of the passion and the desire to do well." Team boss Frederic Vasseur agreed: "No regrets, but we have to try to correct the mistakes. "We'll discuss it at home on Tuesday," said the Frenchman. "We have to concentrate on the next race, where we will bring updates and try to put everything together." Spaniard Sainz, however, cautions that Ferrari always predicted that Canada would be a much better weekend after the misery of Barcelona. "When we say it, it is because we know it," he said. "We know the weak and strong points of our car and we will see it in each race." (GMM) Wolff plays down Mick Schumacher-Williams rumours Toto Wolff has played down new reports linking Mick Schumacher with an imminent return to the grid. Mick Schumacher, Bahrain GP 2022 Haas F1 Team / LAT Toto Wolff has played down new reports linking Mick Schumacher with an imminent return to the grid. Rumours in Montreal suggested the 24-year-old axed Haas driver is now being recommended by his new boss, Mercedes' Wolff, as a replacement for struggling rookie Logan Sargeant at Mercedes-powered Williams. "I think whoever wants him would get a good driver," Wolff said of Schumacher, who was signed as Mercedes' official reserve driver for 2023. "But, ultimately, the other teams have to decide for themselves which drivers they want. I can't tell the teams we have contracts with to take our reserve driver," he is quoted by Speed Week. "But yes, I think they're missing out on something." However, Wolff says keeping Schumacher at Mercedes is a boost to the German team as it works to return to the very front of the grid. "We have another mature, successful and experienced Formula 1 driver on the team to support us," he said. "Both in the simulator and with his feedback. "At some of the European races, it is a huge advantage if you have someone like that sitting in the simulator on Friday evening and working through the data for Saturday. "Besides, if one of our drivers ever has fish poisoning - or avocado poisoning in Lewis' case - we know we've got a great guy in the car who can drive well. "But as much as I like this situation from the point of view of our team, I would like Mick to be able to race himself." However, he admits that Schumacher's situation is now politically complex, explaining: "Honestly, I think he was burned last year." He is referring not only to the high-profile Haas ousting, but rumours of subsequently failed negotiations between Mercedes and Red Bull. "I never talked to Red Bull management about whether Mick can get a place in their team," Wolff insisted, according to motorsport-total.com. "It would be a waste of time." (GMM) External debt negotiations: Experts worried about slow pace Emmanuel Bruce Business News Jun - 20 - 2023 , 02:22 Economists and experts have raised issues over what they describe as the slow speed of the countrys external debt negotiations. They believe this could derail the objectives of the three year Extended Credit Facility (ECF programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The government is targeting an external debt relief of US$10.5 billion between 2023-2026 as it engages its external creditors for debt restructuring. The external creditors include both bilateral and commercial creditors. The government announced a suspension of debt service on external commercial obligations on December 19, 2022 and has since then been engaging with them on a debt restructuring. The government is also seeking to restructure debts totalling $14 billion, out of which $13 billion are in bonds with its external commercial creditors. Following the formation of the Creditor Committee, the government is also expected to begin debt restructuring negotiations with its bilateral creditors in the coming days in a bid to restructure debts totalling $5.4 billion. Under the IMF programme, the country is expected to reduce its debt to GDP ratio from the current 93.5 per cent to 55 per cent. Slow speed of negotiations In an interview with the Graphic Business on the sidelines of Institute of Fiscal Studies assessment of the IMF programme, Senior Research Fellow, Dr Said Boakye said the restructuring of the external debt component of the countrys debt had not been given the urgency that it deserved. He said even though the underlying ECF-supported programme has been given approval by the Executive Board of the IMF, details of the negotiations were not yet known. As we stated in our review of the 2023 budget statement and the debt restructuring programme, given that the external debt component has serious exchange rate implications, the main trigger of the current macroeconomic instability, we expected the government and its partners to pay greater attention to the external debt, he explained. He said the IFS did not understand why the restructuring of the external debt had been made contingent on the completion of success of the domestic debt restructuring. It Is clearly visible from the approved programme that the external debt restructuring is critical to help the country meet its large fiscal and external financing needs, he stated. He said the government must therefore seek a speedy and impactful debt relief by negotiating for permanent debt service savings in addition to rescheduling of obligations. Timely restructuring agreements The IMF at the end of its recent visit reiterated that the timely restructuring agreements with creditors were essential to secure the expected benefits of the Fund-supported programme. The IMF staff team led by Stephane Roudet visited Ghana during June 8-15 as part of its regular engagement with the Ghanaian authorities and other stakeholders. The discussions focused on recent economic developments and implementation of the Fund-supported programme approved on May 17, 2023. MoU with Creditor Committee Giving an update on the economy last Sunday, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta, said the government had successfully worked with the Paris Club (PC) and other creditors to determine the parameters of the countrys official debt restructuring under the G20 Common Framework for Debt treatment. He said in the coming weeks, the government would seek to complete the MoU with the Official Credit Committee on the terms of bilateral debt treatment. Government will sustain engagements with private creditors on external debt to reach agreement with the private creditors in the shortest possible time, he stated. On what terms the government was proposing, he said these discussions were very sensitive and there was a limit to what one could say when they were ongoing. He said the government was going through the process to determine the MoU and the actual terms that would emanate from it. But truly, with the kind of good will that we have in our engagements with them, we are confident that we will come up with an MoU that is acceptable and serves the objectives of the IMF programme, he stated. Domestic debt On the domestic side, the minister said despite the considerable progress, there remained key outstanding operations. He said the government was at an advanced stage of completing the domestic debt exchange programme in relation to the cocoa bills and the US$ denominated local bonds. We have also rolled out a programme to engage Independent Power Producers (IPPs), he stated. Consistent with the MOU signed with Organised Labour in December 2022 on the exemption of pension Funds, he said they continued to be exempted. He said the government was, however, currently engaging Organised Labour and Pension Fund Corporate Trustees, in line with the MOU, to explore mutually beneficial options within debt sustainability limits and to promote macroeconomic stability and economic recovery in the spirit of social partnership. NPRA seeks support from development partners As SECO project comes to an end Emmanuel Bruce Business News Jun - 20 - 2023 , 04:35 The National Pensions and Regulatory Authority (NPRA) is asking for support from the World Bank and other development partners for continuous technical training for the effective operationalisation of its Risk Based Supervision (RBS) System. The RBS systems which was developed in 2019 through the help of the Swiss State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO) is aimed at streamlining the supervisory and regulatory mandate of the authority. It was also designed to help the authority to stay abreast with the emerging pensions regulatory practice and also ensure efficient and effective pensions industry. Speaking at the end of SECO Project event in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer of NPRA, Hayford Attah Krufi, said the move towards RBS was transitional and would be undertaken gradually, as the authority develops the necessary expertise. He said this would mean the authority would be needing continued support from its development partners. Once technology is dynamic, we will have to continuously provide training for staff and upgrade our technical infrastructure. We will have to explain what is expected of stakeholders. A lot more needs to be done after today, he stated He said the end of the SECO project signalled a new beginning of hard work, commitment and dedication which required the support from development partners. SECO Project In 2008, Ghana through the enactment of the National Pensions Act 2008 (Act 766) reformed the pension system by the introduction of the contributory 3-Tier Pension Scheme. The act also established the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) to oversee the implementation of the new act. As a new and young regulatory institution in the financial sector the NPRA needed the necessary technical expertise and knowledge to regulate the industry. In 2014, the Swiss Government came to the aid of the Authority with a grant of 2.4 million Swiss Francs under the SECO-sponsored project. The first phase of the project was aimed at improving the regulatory functions and internal functioning of NPRA. Through this project support, the long-standing legacy problem associated with the transfer of Temporary Pension Funds Account (TPFA) was resolved. After the successful implementation and completion of Phase I of the project, the Swiss Government initiated Phase II of the Project to continue the support to the NPRA in helping to ensure retirement income security for the Ghanaian worker. The key objective of Phase II was expected to help improve the Authoritys internal capacity and external oversight to enforce compliance of service providers in the industry. Pension supervision In a speech that was read on his behalf, Deputy Minister of Employment, Labour Relations and Pensions, Bright Wireko Brobby, said pension supervision across the globe required among other things, a dedicated focus on protecting the interests of pension fund members and beneficiaries. He said this could be done by promoting the stability, security and good governance of pension funds. He mentioned that pension supervision, therefore, involved the strict oversight of pension institutions such as corporate trustees, fund managers and Custodians as well as scheme operators. He noted that the SECO project sought to help enhance the operations of the NPRA to meet such supervision and regulatory goals. Mr Brobbey said achieving stability within the pension sector was an important part of securing the stability of the financial system as a whole, as investments made by pension funds have a major impact on the real economy in many countries. He pointed out that pension supervision included the monitoring of the activities of pension schemes and funds to ensure that they remain within the requirements of the regulatory framework. It is my prayer that the solid foundation laid for effective and efficient regulation of pensions in Ghana through this project will bear fruit to not only grow the pension industry in the country but also importantly sustain and build a formidable economy through our pensions system. As we are all aware, the provision of pensions is of fundamental economic and social importance to the citizenry, to ensure the successful delivery of adequate retirement income, he stated. Sarkodie made the best decision rejecting Yvonnes pregnancy -A Plus Gifty Owusu-Amoah Showbiz News Jun - 20 - 2023 , 10:09 Controversial Ghanaian musician and social activist, Kwame Asare Obeng widely known as A Plus is applauding award winning rapper, Sarkodie for rejecting a pregnancy from Yvonne Nelson. In a Facebook post this morning, June 20, the musician/social activist said he has no doubts that Sarkodie could probably not be the father of the child considering how deceitful Yvonnes mother had been in the revelation of the identity of her own father as told in her (Yvonnes) new book, I am not Yvonne Nelson launched on Sunday, June 18. A Plus wrote, Yvonne Nelson made us believe that her mother was a superwoman, she even celebrated her mother on Father's Day. Her mother did everything to make her believe that her father was the most useless man on earth. On his sick bed, the man told his part of the story, revealing to her that he is not her father. She therefore had a DNA test and it was confirmed, according to her that yes, the "Satan" was not her father. Her real father was Peter Adjetey, the former speaker of Parliament. That one too the DNA machine was "faulty" so :the real was not realing." Na asm bn koraa ni? And you expected Sarkodie, a young up-and-coming guy to accept a pregnancy from someone who was showing some of her mother's characteristics? Sark, you made the best decision!!! If you had accepted that pregnancy, the book today would have read, "Sarkodee is not my son/daughter's father. The real father is Inyanya" or one of her many boyfriends. Her mother played the victim to make an innocent man look bad even when she knew the real father of her daughter. This is exactly who these daughters of Eve are(sic). Related articles I aborted pregnancy for Sarkodie - Yvonne Nelson Yvonne Nelson on why she made revelations in the 'I am not Yvonne Nelson' book [VIDEO] Yvonne Nelson's memoir exposes dramatic marriage proposal from Duncan-Williams son GraphicOnline Showbiz News Jun - 20 - 2023 , 15:04 In her newly released memoir titled "I am not Yvonne Nelson," Ghanaian actress Yvonne Nelson has revealed an intriguing encounter with Joel Duncan-Williams, the son of renowned Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams. Yvonne discloses the unconventional manner in which Joel approached her with a marriage proposal, which ultimately led to the end of their friendship. The incident took place in 2009 while Yvonne was on set shooting the movie "The Prince's." Per Yvonne's account in the book, Joel, accompanied by an impressive entourage of security guards, visited the set, initially intending to see someone else. However, during his visit, Yvonne captured his attention, and she soon became more significant to him than the person he had initially come to meet. Yvonne describes Joel's imposing presence and the subsequent days and weeks of his persistent affection. He would buy her lunch and visit her on set, accompanied by his security detail. She couldn't help but wonder about the level of threat he faced that necessitated such extensive protection. Despite being unsure of her feelings towards Joel, she soon discovered that he had already advanced plans for marriage. However, an unexpected turn of events abruptly terminated their friendship before it had a chance to develop further. One evening, Joel arrived at Yvonne's residence with his customary princely entourage, creating a spectacle that attracted the attention of the entire neighborhood. During the visit, he divulged his plans for their marriage. However, he stipulated that Yvonne had to undergo a prayer session with his father to rid her and her family of any perceived demonic influences. Yvonne found this request perplexing and even raised the question of whether Joel considered the need for his own spiritual cleansing. She highlighted that being the son of Archbishop Duncan-Williams did not automatically signify possession by the Holy Spirit or divine protection. Yvonne also questioned the assumption that her career as an actress made her a carrier of malevolent spirits. Yvonne emphasizes that spirituality held a significant place in her household, with her mother's deep sense of religious devotion influencing their daily lives. Moreover, she personally maintained a habit of praying before commencing any acting role. While Yvonne acknowledges her belief in God and the power of prayer, she found it amusing that someone seeking her hand in marriage believed she required spiritual purification even before her consent was secured. The idea of one-sided cleansing struck her as imbalanced and revealed a mindset prevalent among many men, particularly in Ghana and Nigeria. Yvonne describes this mindset as an entitlement, perpetuating the notion of a male-dominated society where women are expected to be subservient and conform to the wishes and demands of men. It reflects an unwritten rule that prioritizes a man's ambitions over a woman's own priorities and emotions. In Joel Duncan-Williams' case, it became evident that he only considered his perspective and interests, failing to recognize the importance of mutual understanding and respect. Yvonne further highlights that this entitlement mindset extends to the forceful assertion of control over women's bodies, an issue she became more aware of during her time in the movie industry. Yvonne's memoir offers a candid and thought-provoking reflection on societal expectations, gender dynamics, and the need for mutual respect in relationships. Pulling down the veil on governments involvement in the galamsey menace Jerry Kweku Quainoo Opinion Jun - 20 - 2023 , 18:36 It is an undeniable fact that illegal or self-styled mining for precious minerals such as gold has become a national canker that is destroying our dear nation Ghana. You may all be aware that galamsey is the term generally used to refer to illegal small-scale mining. Upon the assumption of office, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo pledged to fight the illegal mining menace. Unfortunately, years down the line the effects of what he pledged to fight with his presidency are not only devastating but far-reaching to the extent that some individuals within the ruling party are purported to be involved in the illegal mining of the precious mineral, gold. Galamsey is destroying our forests, polluting our aquatic ecosystem, and causing soil degradation. These activities have adverse effects on our health, wildlife, and the environment as a whole. As a result of galamsey, many communities in Ghana have lost their sources of livelihood, and many people have lost their lives due to the harmful chemicals used in these activities. On January 27, 2020, the then Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation of Ghana, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, revealed that about 500 excavators that were seized from illegal miners by a task force set up by the President of Ghana had gone missing. These excavators that were kept at the various offices of Government later disappeared like a fart in the wind. Do we call this a fight? How can we win the fight when Ministers of State leading the fight are encouraging or agreeing with party supporters to engage in galamsey. Worse of all, the so called Operation Vangaurd which is supposed to be a joint military and police task force set up to protect the affected areas or sites are now protecting the interest of Government officials as well as party executives engaged in galamsey. In a recent report published by Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng suggested that the Presidents nephew Gabby Otchere Darko affectionately known as the de - facto Prime Minister defended and shielded a foreign company which was actively destroying our environment, specifically River Offin in Apaprama and Kobro forest. The poignant back backstory of all is that, after all the failed attempts to stop the menace, a presidential Staffer appointed secretary of the committee to fight against galamsey is also mentioned and is currently under investigations for corruption by the Special Prosecutor. To address the galamsey problem, it is imperative that we work together, both the Government, political parties and the people. The Government needs to put in place laws and regulations that will prevent illegal mining activities and enforce these laws strictly with zero tolerance. The Government should also collaborate with foreign entities and international organizations to curb the importation of chemicals used in galamsey and prevent the exportation of illegally mined minerals. Eradicating galamsey is not only the responsibility of the Government the citizenry must also play their part. We must stop patronizing illegally mined minerals and report any suspicious mining activities in our communities to the authorities. We must also educate ourselves and our communities about the dangers of galamsey and the importance of protecting our environment. To support the youth, we must provide them with alternative sources of livelihood. The Government and other organizations can provide vocational and entrepreneurial training programs to help them acquire skills that will enable them to be self-sufficient. The youth can also be encouraged to take up farming, which is a viable alternative to galamsey. In conclusion, galamsey is a menace that must be dealt with urgently. We must all come together to eradicate this problem to protect our environment and ensure a sustainable future for generations to come. Let us work hand in hand with the government to put an end to galamsey in Ghana. Jerry Kweku Quainoo Agona Swedru. 6,481 fail teacher licensure exam Severious Kale-Dery Education Jun - 20 - 2023 , 06:10 Out of 7,728 prospective teachers who sat again for the Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination (GTLE) last month, 1,277 passed. The figure represents 16.5 per cent of the candidates who sat again for the examination, introduced to license teaching practitioners. A pre-release interview with the Registrar of GTLE, Dr Christian Addai-Poku, indicated that all the candidates had sat for the exam at least twice, with some sitting for as many as nine times. The results of the examination, which was written last month, will be released at noon today. Subject-based Dr Addai-Poku, who expressed concern about the high failure rate, explained that those affected had one more chance to re-write the exam at the latter part of the year before its format and content changed. He told tGraphic Online's Severious Kale-Dery that those who would fail again would have to go for the revised GTLE, known as the Subject-based GTLE, which would take off later this year. It would start with fresh teacher trainees, who would be writing the examination for the first time. Dr Addai-Poku explained that candidates who would fail at their last chance and would want to continue to resit the exam, would be those with first degree, saying those with diploma will be required to upgrade themselves to acquire a first degree before they can resit the exam. We are reforming and restructuring the examination and we will start it this year with those who have qualified to write it for the first time, he added. He said unlike the current examination where the candidates were examined in numeracy, literacy and professional skills, this time around, they would have to be examined in the specific area of speciality. Dr Addai-Poku further explained that a candidate who aspired to teach geography must, in addition to the three areas, be examined in geography. Licensure exam The NTC is mandated by Section 9 of the Education Act, 2008 (Act 778) to improve the professional standing and status of teachers, license and register teachers in Ghana. The first-ever teacher licensure examination was written in September 2018. The purpose of the examination is to enable qualified teachers to acquire a professional licence and also attract excellent young graduates from the universities and colleges of education who have the required professional knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to deliver effectively in schools. Ahmadi missionaries graduate from university Francisca Eshun Education Jun - 20 - 2023 , 10:11 Seventeen missionaries from nine countries have graduated with Shahid degrees at the 7th convocation of the Jamia Ahmadiyya Islamic University of Theology and Scholastic Sciences International at Mankessim in the Central Region. The graduates were from Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, the Gambia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Kazakhstan and Jordan. The Jamia Institute is an international Islamic seminary across the world with campuses in Pakistan, United Kingdom, India, Ghana, Canada, Germany, Nigeria, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Tanzania. Propagate peace The Vice-Principal of the university, Mirza Khali Ahmad Baig, said the basic aim of training the students was to teach them the peaceful and beautiful teachings of Islam to equip them to serve as ambassadors of peace in the world and therefore called on them to propagate peace. He explained that according to the prophecies of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, the true and right picture of Islam could only be presented through the Promised Messiah, and for that reason, the students were taught the Holy Quran, which was related to teachings of other religions and how to bring harmony among them. He further said the graduates had received practical training alongside their education by answering questions asked during a weekly programme broadcast on GTV and various programmes on Muslims Television Ahmadiyya. He congratulated the graduates and advised them to be humble and to lead others to the right path. Responsibilities In a speech delivered on his behalf by the Ameer and Missionary in charge of Ahmadiyya Muslims Mission Ghana, Alhaji Maulvi Noor Muhammad Bin Saleh, the Supreme Head of the World Wide Ahmadiyya Muslims Community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, urged the graduates to always be conscious of their increased responsibilities and strive hard to achieve their goals. He, however, urged them to constantly self introspect and adopt values of reformation and improvement where needed. He advised them to be selfless, courageous, employ wisdom and show compassion to the people around them. He also urged them to avoid narcissism and to improve their administrative skills to achieve the task ahead for the jamaat in the future. Hazrat Masroor entreated them to become righteous models who would bring about revolution in the world. Exhibit values In a speech delivered on his behalf by the Director of Religious Affairs at the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Richard Obeng Boafo, the Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Stephen Asamoah Boateng, entreated the graduands to exhibit certainty, initiative, perseverance, humility and passion for the kingdom, lifelong learning and to be resilient to achieve their vision and mission. He added that the ministry would work to encourage and facilitate inter and intra faith dialogues aimed at fostering peace and religious tolerance. Again, he said, the ministry was also working on a religious policy and would distribute the draft to religious organisations for their inputs, comments, suggestions and recommendations. Target youth The Queenmother of the Mankessim Traditional Area, Nana Ama Amissah III, said the missionaries had a lot of tasks and roles to play, and asked them to focus on putting the youth on the right path. For her part, the Member of Parliament for Mfantseman, Ophelia Mensah Hayford, congratulated the missionaries and urged them to live exemplary lives. The Ameer and Missionary in charge of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, Ghana, Alhaji Maulvi Noor Muhammad Bin Saleh, distributed the certificates to the Shahid graduates. Prempeh College honours Kufuor, Dr Prempeh, Arthur Emmanuel Baah Education Jun - 20 - 2023 , 09:00 Prempeh College in Kumasi has honoured two of its former students and a former headmaster for their illustrious contributions to the development of the country. They are former President John Agyekum Kufuor and the Minister of Energy, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who were honoured for contributions made towards the development of the school. While the 1,500-seater assembly hall of the college was named after the former President and known as the J. A. Kufuor Auditorium, a dormitory, formerly called House 11, is now to be known as the Mathew Opoku Prempeh House. Arthur Clark, the former headmaster of the college from 1961 to 1963, also has a hall of residence, House 10, named after him known as the Arthur Clark House. A grand durbar was held at the schools premises last Saturday to celebrate them for their astute contributions to the development of the college. Present at the ceremony were a brother of the former President, Dr Addo Kufuor, who is also a former Defence Minister; the Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Dr William Amankwa Appiah, old students, some family members and friends of the three old students. Former President Kufuor (seated) applauding after unveiling a plaque to reveal the new J.A. Kufuor Auditorium. Looking on include Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh (right), Energy Minister Exemplary lives In a keynote address, the Chairman of the outgoing Interim Management Committee of the college, Nana Dr Awuah Abedimisa II, said it took the IMC several deliberations to arrive at the personalities to be selected for the honour. You have lived exemplary lives. Your contributions to the college is unparalleled, he told the three distinguished old students, adding that the school would forever be proud of them. Nana Abedimisa extended the IMCs gratitude for the exceptional leadership qualities and unwavering support of former President Kufuor. He acknowledged that the two-year tenure of Dr Prempeh as Education Minister contributed to the enormous infrastructural projects in the school. The JA Kufuor Auditorium will serve as a vibrant hub of creativity, where ideas will be exchanged, performances will dazzle, and where the collective voice of the Prempeh College will echo with pride and unity, the Konongohene stressed. We are building not just physical structures, but also the foundation for future generation of leaders, thinkers and change makers, Nana Abedimisa emphasised. Acknowledgement President Kufuor, in a short remark, commended his alma mater for taking notice of his contribution and that of the other celebrants towards the development of the college. He advised the students to see the honour done them as a foundation stone for them to build on and raise the flag of the college higher. For his part, the Director of Urban Roads of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Nana Poku Agyemang, donated GH10,000 cash as seed money to help maintain the JA Kufuor Auditorium. For his part, Dr Prempeh, who is also the Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, expressed gladness for being honoured alongside his paternal grand uncle and mentor, former President Kufuor. I want to reiterate my firm belief in making an impact in the society I find myself. After all, that is the essence of leadership; to be able to positively affect lives, he added. The Manhyia South MP, who was the Minister of Education, added that everything he had done and continue to do for Prempeh College is also in honour of my grandfather, Otumfuo Nana Sir Osei Tutu Agyeman Prempeh II, whose true intention for establishing the college was to promote education not only in the Asante Kingdom but in the entire country. I cannot depart from this sacred duty, Dr Prempeh stressed. Ato Forson trial: Judge warns accused person over disrespectful conduct Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson Jun - 20 - 2023 , 16:26 One of the accused persons standing trial with the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, made an outburst in the courtroom at the Accra High Court today. This, did not go down well with Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, a Justice of the Court of Appeal, sitting as a High Court judge. The court therefore descended heavily on Richard Jakpa, for disrespecting the court. Jakpa, a businessman is on trial with Dr Forson and another, for allegedly causing financial loss of 2.37 million to the state over some ambulance purchase, Graphic Online's Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson reports that in court on Tuesday [June 20, 2023], Justice AsareBotwe warned the accused person not to ever act in such a manner again for she would not hesitate to invoke the powers of contempt. How dare you speak to the court like that? This should be the very last time you will show disrespect to the court, if you do, I will fully use my powers. Mr Jakpa, this is the last time you will be in contempt of court and go home. What you have done is contemptuous and disrespectful, Justice Asare-Botwe warned. Disrespect for the court The presiding judge said some people had chosen to malign the courts in the media, a situation which had created a fester ground for others to disrespect the court The kind of commentary people do in the press is responsible for this disrespect. People get up and say whatever they like regarding the court, she said. Justice Asare-Botwe said she would continue to give accused persons and patrons of her court the freedoms to fully access justice, but she would not countenance any form of disrespect. Counsel for Japka, Thomas Aubyn, apologised for his clients action, while Japka himself later apologised saying My Lady, I am sorry. What happened? The Head of Litigation of Stanbic Bank, Henry Myles Miles, the first witness requested by Dr Forson, was testifying regarding the terms of a loan agreement between the bank and the Government of Ghana for the purchase of some 200 ambulances. Midway through the proceedings, Jakpa asked permission to go and urinate outside, which Justice Asare Botwe initially refused but shortly said he (accused person) should rather go and urinate in a washroom within the courtroom which had been created for accused persons. Jakpa grudgingly left his seat, looked at the judge with disdain and entered the washroom, obviously angry. The accused person kept so long in the washroom that his lawyer had to go inside and find out what was happening. Both the accused person and the lawyer shortly came out of the washroom. As Jakpa was about to sit down, Justice Asare Botwe, in a friendly manner, said that she had instructed her court clerk to get him a hand sanitizer because she was told that there was no soap in the washroom. Jakpa went into a frenzy and shouted but you did not even want me to go and urinate, why are you offering me a sanitizer. This led to uproar in the courtroom with people surprised at the outburst of the accused person. Background Dr Forson, a former Deputy Minister of Finance, and the two others are standing trial for allegedly causing financial loss of 2.37 million to the state in a deal to purchase some 200 ambulances for the country between 2014 and 2016. The other accused persons are Sylvester Anemana, a former Chief Director of the Ministry of Health and Jakpa, a businessman. The accused persons have pleaded not guilty to five counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the state, abetment to wilfully cause financial loss to the state, contravention of the Public Procurement Act and intentionally misapplying public property. Facts Per the A-Gs facts accompanying the charge sheet, in 2009, during the state of the nations address, the then President John Evans Atta Mills, indicated that new ambulances would be purchased to expand the services of the National Ambulance Service to many parts of the country. It said following the state of the nation address, Jakpa, who is a local representative of Big Sea General Trading Limited, a company based on Dubai, approached the Ministry of Health with a proposal that he had arranged for finance from Stanbic Bank for the supply of 200 ambulances to the government. By a joint memorandum dated 30th April, 2012, the Minister of Finance, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, and the Minister of Health, Alban S.K Bagbin, applied for parliamentary approval for the supply of 200 ambulances at a price of 15,800,000 to be paid out of credit arrangement between Stanbic Bank and the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Finance. This memorandum to Parliament did not make reference to any role to be played by either Big Sea General Trading Limited or agents for Big Sea. It also did not refer to the terms under which the ambulances would be procured or the terms under which the company will be involved in the transaction, the facts added. Parliament, it said, approved the financing agreement between the government and Stanbic Bank. According to the facts, Graphic Online's Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson reports that on November 19, 2012, Anemana wrote to the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) seeking approval to engage Big Sea through single sourcing for the supply of 200 ambulances. By an agreement dated December 19, 2012, the Ministry of Health, formally contracted Big Sea General Trading, based in Dubai, for the supply of 200 Mercedes Benz ambulances. The contract sum was 15.8million at a unit price of 79,000) The terms of the delivery, as per the agreement, were that the first assignment of 25 vehicles should be delivered within 120 days of the execution of the agreement. The outstanding 175 vehicles were to be delivered in batches of 25 every 30 days, the facts said. It said per the terms of the agreement, advance payment was prohibited, but rather the payment was to be done through the raising of letters of credit by the government of Ghana to the suppliers of the ambulances. Alleged defects The facts added that on August 7, 2014, Dr Forson, who was the Deputy Minister of Finance, wrote to the Bank of Ghana for letters of credit of 3,950,000 for the supply of 50 ambulances in favour of Big Sea. The letters of credit, the facts added were accordingly released to Big Sea. A consignment of 10 ambulances which was shipped from Dubai on October 22, 2014, arrived on December 16, 2014. A post-delivery inspection of the first batch of 10 ambulances revealed that some were without any medical equipment in them. Other fundamental defects included defects on the body of the vehicles and the patient compartment of the ambulances. The third batch of 10 vehicles were shipped on February 12, 2015. By this time, the second batch had already arrived at the Tema Port. All the 20 ambulances had the same fundamental defects. A total amount of 2,370,000 was paid for the 30 vehicles, the facts added. It said in a letter dated January 20, 2016, the then Minister of Health, Mr Alex Segbefia, told Big Sea that the vehicles did not meet ambulances specifications and were not fit for purpose. Bahamas, Princess Town sign sister-city agreement to boost development Kester Aburam Korankye Jun - 20 - 2023 , 15:56 The Ahanta area in the Western region is set for a boost in business and development after signing a sister-city agreement with the Caribbean Island of Bahamas. The agreement, according to officials from both sides, would pave the way for Ahanta and the Bahamas to exchange culture, education, and trade to promote peace and unity. The agreement was between the Ahanta town of Princess also known as Pokesu and the Bahamian capital of Nassau. Bahamas, the gateway country to the Caribbean, is looking to strengthen its relationship with Africa. Through years of research, the country has established that the majority of the slave ships that first berthed in the Bahamas were from Princess Town in Ahanta and by extension, it has also established that a lot of the indigenes of Bahamas came from Ghana- specifically Princess Town. The agreement signing ceremony was graced by a Cabinet Minister from the Bahamas, Ginger Moxey, the Minster for the Western Region, Kobby Okyere Darko-Mensah and the Municipal Chief Executive of Ahanta West, John Agyare. This pact will strengthen the ties between the Bahamas and Ahanta and allow for a symbiotic relationship to strengthen both communities, said Madam Ginger Moxey. Economic growth It is the goal of this agreement to assist in the development of cultural exchanges, educational exchanges, economic growth, and development along with the humanitarian related activities between both communities she added. The agreement was facilitated by Sister City Africa, a body that was set up 68 years ago by the 34th United States President Dwight Eisenhower immediately after World War II. The idea behind it was to connect communities across the world to bring about accelerated growth especially in less developed countries while ensuring the strategic movement of talent and technical support across borders for the betterment of the world. The President of the Global Sister Cities Africa, Prince Kwame Kludjeson noted the importance of the agreement, acknowledging the event as one of its kind worldwide and advised the people to brace themselves and also to make good use of this opportunity. If we follow the historical event of why we are coming to sign this agreement following the research of Nana Safohene Gyan Kwa the Second, you will see that God never makes mistakes. Todays agreement is extraordinary. Ghana, we are moving ahead of the Africa city region, he said. Gratitude Mr Okyere Darko Mensah, in addressing the audience, expressed his gratitude thanking the Bahamas for their dedication towards Ahanta, endorsing that culture exchange transcends geographical boundaries. This is a strong proof that regardless of where we find ourselves in the device of the world, we share strong connections which should bring us together and propel our commitment towards mutual support and growth leveraging on the resources at our disposal he stated. He alluded to the Ghanaian adage that Blood is thicker than water, in saying that nothing in the world could separate people from their roots hence the coming home of the people of Bahamas to Ahanta was in order. I am optimistic that this partnership will serve as a catalyst for economic growth-attracting investments, and creating employment opportunities for our communities by innovative ideas for me and now means creating technologies together and selling it to the rest of the world to create prosperity for our people he believed. Nana Safohene Gyan Kwa II, whose findings in his recently launched book, Black Rinse, showed evidence that the majority of the people of Bahamas had been taken away from the Ahanta area, urged the youth to keep up with their zeal towards their beliefs, and to value their cultural heritage because people fought and died for it to reach their generation. He gave his word that he will see to it that their bond was never weakened. The world is watching us, the Bahamas are approaching their jubilee, and the Ahantas are approaching an important crossroad. For 300 years the people from this region have set an example for the entire African diaspora to follow, and this important crossroad; we must unify and move ahead in the right direction Nana Safohene Gyan Kwa II indicated. The Ahanta West Municipality, where Princess Town is located, is in the Western Region of Ghana, with a population of 153,140 according to the 2021 population census, with a land size of the 591-kilometre square. Agona Nkwanta is its capital. The Municipality has abundant natural resources, making it economically significant in terms of the development of the country. It ranks among the biggest oil palm and rubber producers in the country. Oil, gold, and quarry stones are just a few of the many minerals that are currently being explored and it is also known for its Kumdum and Ankos festivals, in which people from all walks of life participate. The Bahamas is the gateway to the Caribbean and one of the biggest tourism destinations in the world with its pristine beaches and many islands which are a hotbed for vacation for many across the world. Background Mr. Christopher Davis who is the son of the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, and is now Nana Safohene Gyan Kwa the Second of the Princess Town, traced his roots back to Ghana through the famous Junkanoo festival celebrated by the Bahamas and most countries in the Caribbean, which bares a lot of similarity with the popular Western Regional fancy dressing festival known as Ankos. During his research, their root was traced to Princess Town formally known as Pokesu, which is located in the Ahanta West Municipal Assembly. Mr. Davis, now Safohene Gyan Kwa II wanted to clear the notion that Africans are responsible for their own genocide which he saw as lies and believed that Africans are great people with rich culture and natural resources. This reason also motivated his research. Mr. Christopher Davis, after his research, was crowned as Nana Safohene Gyan Kwa the Second meaning Chief Commander of the Army to the great King Nana Baidoo Bonsoe who according to the history of the Ahantas fought the slave trade until his final breath. The coronation of Nana Safohene Gyan Kwa II took place in 2022 in Busua, the traditional capital of Ahanta. Daily hearing of criminal case: Court to hear Quaysons review motion on June 21 Justice Agbenorsi Jun - 20 - 2023 , 13:50 The High Court in Accra hearing the perjury and forgery case against James Gyakye Quayson has fixed Wednesday June 21, 2023 to hear a motion seeking to vary its decision to hear the case on day-to-day basis. In court today, (June 20), lawyer for Quayson, Tsatsu Tsikata, notified the court about the motion. However, a Deputy-Attorney-General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah told the court that his office had not received the motion and would need up to tomorrow June 21 to peruse the document and respond to it, reports Graphic Online's Justice Agbenorsi who was in the courtroom. He, therefore, prayed the Court to allow lawyers for the accused person to continue the cross-examination of the first prosecution witness in the matter as agreed by the court. Mr Tsikata, who did not agree with the Deputy A-G, said the matters raised in the motion for variation preceded the proceedings, hence continuing with the trial would be an injustice to his client. The Court, presided over by Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh, adjourned the case to Wednesday June 21, to enable the prosecution to respond to the matter for a ruling to be delivered. Dozens of sympathizers of the accused person were at the forecourt of the High Court. Background On June 16, 2023, the court ruled that it would hear the case on day-to-day basis beginning today (June 20). That was after the court had turned down a prayer by Quaysons lawyer, which sought to have the trial continued after the Assin North by-election slated for June 27, 2023. But lawyers for Quayson filed the motion for the court to review its decision to hear the case on day-to-day basis. Present in court were some big wigs of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) including former Attorney-General, Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong. Ghana and Zimbabwe sign cooperation agreement to strengthen relations Kweku Zurek Jun - 20 - 2023 , 13:22 Ghana and Zimbabwe have recently signed a groundbreaking general cooperation agreement, marking a significant step towards establishing a formal framework for political and socio-economic relations between the two nations. The agreement was signed yesterday in Accra in the presence of Zimbabwean President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa. The signing ceremony was attended by Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube and Ghana's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong. The event took place on the sidelines of the ongoing 30th Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank. The signing was also witnessed by Zimbabwe's Ambassador to Ghana, Kufa Chinoza, and Ghana's envoy to Harare, Ambassador Grant Ntrakwa. Following the signing ceremony, Deputy Minister Sarpong emphasized the historic nature of the event. He noted that although Zimbabwe and Ghana have maintained relations for over 60 years, no formal agreements have been in place to enhance cooperation until now. Deputy Minister Sarpong highlighted the significance of formalizing the relations between the two countries, allowing for a more focused approach to cooperation. Priority areas such as agriculture, tourism, and aviation will be explored for collaboration. He emphasized the need for diligent implementation to elevate the bilateral relations between Ghana and Zimbabwe. Ambassador Chinoza, speaking to the media after the signing ceremony, regarded the agreement as a crucial starting point. He expressed the hope that it would eventually evolve into a comprehensive joint permanent and bi-national cooperation agreement. Ambassador Chinoza emphasized the importance of further enhancing cooperation between the two countries. The historical connection between Zimbabwe and Ghana traces back to their founding Presidents, Robert Mugabe and Kwame Nkrumah, both driven by the pan-Africanist ideology. The shared history includes Mugabe marrying in Nkrumah's country. Zimbabwe has been actively seeking to strengthen cooperation with various countries as part of its Second Republic's engagement and re-engagement initiative. This pursuit of collaboration comes after years of isolation resulting from sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union, which aimed to isolate Zimbabwe from the international community due to its implementation of the Fast Track Land Reform program. The program aimed to rectify colonial injustices related to land ownership and ensure equitable access to land for indigenous Zimbabweans. President Mnangagwa returned to Zimbabwe following the signing ceremony, concluding his visit to Ghana. Ban on ruminants to be lifted - After 70 per cent vaccination coverage Gilbert Mawuli Agbey Jun - 20 - 2023 , 07:45 The Upper East Regional Minister, Stephen Yakubu, has stated that the current ban on the movement of ruminants will be lifted after 70 per cent of animals have been vaccinated in the region. Per the advice of experts and scientists, if we are able to attain the 70 per cent vaccination coverage, then it will be safe for the ban to be lifted for people to return to their normal lives, he stressed. Already, we have the systems and structures in place and that we have scaled up the ongoing vaccination exercise across the region so as to achieve the expected target in the coming days, he indicated. Interview Mr Yakubu, who was speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic last Friday, said the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) was concerned as it had temporarily deprived the source of livelihood of some of the people. The interview was to find out the progress made so far in terms of the vaccination exercise and when the ban on ruminants would be lifted in the region. He noted that so far, more than 30,000 ruminants have been vaccinated in the entire region and that they were hopeful that the number of vaccinated animals would increase to pave the way for the ban to be lifted. More vaccines coming He stated that luckily, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Ghana Refugee Board (GRB) have promised to donate more than 105,000 vaccines to help improve the vaccination exercise. He added that the GRB came on board to support the exercise with vaccines due to the fact that many nationals of Burkina Faso currently seeking refuge in Ghana entered the country with ruminants since they were herdsmen. With these additional vaccines coming in, there is no doubt that if they are administered, we will be able to achieve the expected target for the ban to be lifted, he indicated. Upcoming Eid celebration He stated that the RCC was deeply concerned about upcoming Eid-ul Adha festival celebrated by Muslims and that they were doing everything possible to ensure that the ban was lifted prior to the celebration of the event. He stressed we announced the ban with a heavy heart and that we are putting out a lot of structures to be able to allow our Muslim brother and sisters to have access to cattle and other ruminants to use for the festival. He urged the residents to bear with them since all measures put in place after the region recorded the first case in one district which has now spread to 11 districts was to make the animals safe for consumption after the vaccination exercise. The regional minister said the good news is that we are not recording new cases of the disease which meant that the measures taken were yielding positive results, adding that fortunately, it has equally helped to prevent the disease from spreading to the North-East and Upper West regions. Background On June 2, 2023, one person reportedly died of anthrax disease after consuming the carcass of a dead cow in Bansi in the Binduri District in the Upper East Region. Currently, 11 out of 15 Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) in the region have confirmed animal deaths with anthrax cases recorded in three districts. To swiftly deal with the situation, the Regional Public Health Emergency Management Committee initially placed a ban on the movement of ruminants in the eastern part of the region but later extended across the entire region. Also, there is a ban on the slaughtering, sale and consumption of ruminants as well as an ongoing mass vaccination exercise to control the spread of the disease in the region. Court dismisses suit against Association International School Justice Agbenorsi Jun - 20 - 2023 , 06:15 The Human Rights Division of the High Court in Accra has dismissed an application filed by two former students of Association International School (AIS) over the schools decision to withhold their transcripts until they settle their outstanding fees. In a judgment, the court presided over by Justice Barbara Tetteh-Charway, held that the school did not violate the students right to education when it withheld their transcripts over the arrears. The court held that while the 1992 Constitution allowed individuals to enjoy their right to education, private schools such as AIS running the International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes and offering several opportunities to its students needed the relatively higher fees to remain in business. Therefore, parents who choose to access such high-end educational facilities for their children with the aim of facilitating their smooth transition into tertiary institutions abroad to continue their education, must be prepared to pay the requisite fees for the services rendered. This is because, it is the relatively high fees paid by students in such schools that enable the school to pay its teachers and provide the kind of atmosphere and experience that students in some public schools can hardly imagine, Justice Tetteh-Charway said. In the suit filed through their mother, Nana Akua Hayford Avle, in January this year to endorse their right to education, the students Sewenam Avle and Selikem Avle alleged that after paying GH100,000 out of GH141,560 as school fees, when they were ready to pay the rest, the school informed them that the balance of GH41,560, equivalent to $8,593 at the time of first payment, had shot up to GH111,709 due to depreciation of the Ghana cedi at the time of paying the second instalment. When they disagreed with the school on the outstanding amount, they alleged that the AIS directed them to stay at home due to their inability to pay the remaining fees, as communicated by the school. As a result of the disagreement, the students mother sought a different school for them and needed their transcripts as part of the admission requirements. Upon request for the transcripts, the students averred in their arguments to support the suit that AIS refused the request to release their transcripts covering the academic years that they paid their school fees in full. As part of their reliefs, the two students wanted the court to declare as a violation of their fundamental human rights the schools refusal to release their transcripts. Aside from that, they also wanted the court to order AIS to release their transcripts and results and a declaration that there is no lawful basis for AIS to interfere with the applicants right to education based on fees owed the school. Defence In its defence, counsel for AIS, Samuel Narh, contended that as a private liability company, it had no constitutional mandate and obligation to provide the students with an avenue to realise their rights of education unless the applicants could meet the terms and conditions agreed upon by both parties regarding the payment of fees. The school added that as part of its policy, once a student leaves the school with outstanding school fees, the student and his or her parents access to the platform is blocked until payment of the school fees in full. It said until the students paid all their outstanding financial obligations to the school, particularly when they had terminated their contract of enrolment on their own accord, it could not be compelled to release their transcripts to them. In her judgment, Justice Tetteh-Charway, noted that the mere fact that the two students had at some point fully paid their fees did not entitle them to refuse to pay the arrears. It added that the Association International School exercised a right to lien, when it decided to withhold the transcript until the outstanding arrears were settled, given that the students had already benefited from the services of the school. The right to lien is a right to keep possession of property belonging to another person until a debt owed by the person is discharged. This court finds that AIS has a right to exercise a lien over the students transcript until the arrears of the tuition is paid, Justice Tetteh-Charway ruled. She added that the directive to the two students to stay home because they owed fees was not applied discriminatorily to the two students alone but all students who had not paid their fees, hence there was no basis for the students to allege that their right to education had been violated. In the court's perspective, this is a purely contractual issue between the students' mother and AIS which has been couched as a human rights violation to stoke the embers of judicial sympathy, Justice Tetteh-Charway said of the case which was determined within five months. Vindication Reacting to the judgement, Head of AlS, Audrey Doryumu, said the school had been vindicated, adding: "This is not just a victory for AlS but all international schools in the country." She urged parents to abide by their contracts with international schools and desist from tarnishing the school's image under the guise of court processes and human rights violations. Mrs Doryumu indicated that the school would go after the plaintiff to ensure that the fees owed the school was paid in full. Developing African economies: Build strong financial institutions Donald Ato Dapatem Jun - 20 - 2023 , 07:25 President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that without Africas own strong financial institutions, the development of the continent will remain a mirage because relying on foreign capital is both risky and costly. He said the reliance would also lead to huge financial leakages through the high cost of default-driven borrowing and interest payments and undermine the growth of African financial institutions domestic resource mobilisation and private sector development through cost of fund. President Akufo-Addo, who is the African Union (AU) Champion of Financial Institutions, stated this when he opened the 30th anniversary and the Annual Meeting of the Afreximbank in Accra yesterday. On the theme: Delivering the Vision, Building Prosperity for Africans, the five-day meeting has attracted over two dozens of sitting and former Presidents and Prime Ministers of Africa and the Caribbean as well as leaders of global financial and other institutions. Ownership The ownership of our financial institutions should be strengthened over time to enhance continuously their development and relevance, President Akufo-Addo said and suggested that some key interventions were important to strengthen the development impact and financial wherewithal of such development financial institutions. He suggested capital and effective coordination with the AU as two main points and touching on capital, he said, despite consistent efforts made by many African governments, including during extremely difficult macroeconomics in global operating environments, Africas development finance institutions remained highly undercapitalised. Providing examples, President Akufo-Addo mentioned the Japan Bank for International Cooperation as having a share capital of $19 billion, China EXIM with capital of $54 billion, whereas Afreximbank had a capital of $6 billion which excluded recent contribution by countries supporting the ongoing general capital increase. He called for an evaluation to determine whether the $6 billion was sufficient to play that catalytic role of accelerating the creation of the market with the potential combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $3.4 trillion for Africa. Strategy He implored the management of the bank to implement a strategy to upgrade its current credit rating from Triple D to A, a move that would require continued strengthening of its governance and management structure as well as personnel. Ratings President Akufo-Addo recounted the reckless behaviour of rating agencies that resorted to procyclical downgrades that shut countries such as Ghana out of capital markets and turned liquidity crisis into a solvency one. He said Afreximbank provided timely support that helped Ghana to navigate the macroeconomic management challenges worsened by Russia's war with Ukraine in an orderly manner when suddenly we realise we were alone. The President said Ghana was the favourite child of bondholders and had gone to the capital market at the height of the pre-COVID-19 downturn but was suddenly shut out of the international capital markets. Support President Akufo-Addo recounted how the Afreximbank quickly put together a counter-cyclical trade liquidly facility to help member countries brace the trade financing gap as a result of the adverse commodity terms of trade shocks. That intervention, he explained, averted the cascading effect of trade payment defaults which could have turned liquidity crisis into a longer lasting solvency and banking crisis. PAPSS The President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Afreximbank, Professor Benedict Oramah, indicated that the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which was being implemented, would save the continent $5 billion in intra-African transfers, expedite, and enable payments for intra-African trade in African currencies. With PAPSS, it is now possible for a Gambian to buy Nigerian urea fertilisers using Gambian Dalasi to purchase Naira; for a young Ghanaian to pay for holidays in Seychelles in Ghana Cedis, and for a small farmer in rural Zambia to stream her favourite Nollywood movie paying in Zambian Kwacha. He added that soon it would domesticate all intra-African payments and extend same to the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), where just a few days ago, the Association of CARICOM Central Banks adopted PAPSS as its preferred payment infrastructure for a pilot project. That had put the continent closer to a full integration of African and CARICOM economies, Prof. Orama added. With PAPSS, every African currency will become convertible within Africa. Afreximbank backs the clearing and settlements with an amount of $3 billion, he said. With this level of financial commitment to start up the initiative, you can now understand why for 60 years it never saw the light of day; you can now appreciate why we need our own institutions if we hope to attain our development aspirations, Prof. Orama added. Ken The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, dwelling on the 30th anniversary of Afreximbank, said it was time to celebrate and reflect on the milestone, adding that in the Holy Bible, 30 years symbolised when those chosen by God manifested their destiny. He gave the examples that Jesus Christ started his ministry at age 30, David became king at 30, John the Baptist came out of the wilderness at 30 and Joseph was 30 years when he became the second in command to Pharaoh in Egypt. Afreximbank milestones The African Export-Import Bank is the trade finance and facilitation vehicle of the African Union. The 30-year-old bank has come up with many subsidiaries and policy interventions, including a procurement platform known as Africa Trade Exchange (ATEX), the Trade Finance Facility (AFTRAF), organising biennial Intra-African Trade Fairs, MANSA repository platform, the Pan African Payments and Settlements Systems (PAPSS), and the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) and Trade Impact Mitigation Facility platform. Ga Manye was model of traditional dignity President Akufo-Addo Donald Ato Dapatem Jun - 20 - 2023 , 06:40 President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday signed a book of condolence opened in honour of the late Ga Manye, Naa Dedei Omaedru III, in Accra. With his green pen, he wrote: A faithful, hardworking, long-serving member of the Ga State. She was a model of traditional dignity and elegance. A great friend of mine. I, like many others, will miss her and wish her safe repose in the bosom of the Almighty until we meet at the last day of the resurrection. We shall all meet again. In a short message, he assured the chiefs and elders that he and the government would help to give the late Ga Manye, who reigned for 59 years, a befitting burial because she helped and worked for the Ga State and Ghana in general. In February this year, a delegation from the Ga State, led by a member of the Council of State, Nii Adjiri Blankson, called on the President at the Jubilee House in Accra to inform him of the passing of the queenmother. The delegation, which included chiefs, elders of the traditional set-up and children of the deceased, presented the President with assorted drinks and a full piece of red cloth in consonance with tradition. President Akufo-Addo gave an assurance that he would be at the funeral because it was a family bereavement for him. Naa Omaedru, 88, was known in private life as Naa Dedei Ablah. She was installed a Ga Manye in 1963 when she was 29. She passed away at her Dansoman residence, surrounded by her loved ones, on December 26, 2022. Credits During her reign, Naa Omaedru was credited for selflessly devoting her life to public and voluntary service and championing important issues crucial to peace, education and opportunities for young people, especially the girl-child. These included seeking the welfare of the girl-child and women to safeguard their future, setting a remarkable example of leadership to queenmothers in the Ga State. She also stood for peace and unity and promoted these not only among the people of the Ga State, but also all Ghanaians, and advocated a united approach to the meaningful development of her people. Charity Naa Omaedru was also known for her charity work, and in 2004, she donated items worth $12 million to the Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled at the Ghana National Rehabilitation Centre in Accra. Only two countries in Africa do not import oil Dangote Ghanabusinessnews.com Jun - 20 - 2023 , 07:12 There are 54 countries in Africa. More than 20 produce oil, and five of these countries are part of the worlds 30 oil-producing countries. However, only two countries in Africa do not import oil. In 2019 Africa accounted for more than 7.9 million barrels per day, which is about 9.6 per cent of global output. Between 2005 and 2010, however, oil production in Africa rose to nearly 10 million barrels per day. Speaking on Sunday [June 18, 2023] at the opening of the 30th Anniversary of the Afreximbank Annual Meetings in Accra, the businessman, Aliko Dangote, pointed out that even though there are oil producing countries on the continent, only two countries, Algeria and Libya, do not import oil. Dangote who was speaking about the importance of free movement and intra-Africa trade, said: We are importing poverty and exporting jobs. He said that in relation to the fact that African countries continue to export raw materials. He also expressed concern about the difficulty in travelling around the continent. He said he has the African passport, and should be able to travel around, but there are two countries that for some reasons do not recognise the African passport. According to Dangote, Nigeria produces about six million tons of urea and therefore, Africa should not be seeking to import fertilizer from outside the continent. credit: Ghanabusinessnews.com Police Inspector pleads not guilty to murder of girlfriend in court GraphicOnline Jun - 20 - 2023 , 14:23 Ahmed Twumasi, the police inspector accused of the murder of his girlfriend, Victoria Dapaah, has pleaded not guilty during the committal proceedings held at the court. During the court proceedings, the state attorney presented a summary of the case, to which Inspector Twumasi responded by entering a plea of not guilty to the charge of murder. Twumasi declined to answer any further questions without the presence of his lawyer but expressed his intention to call witnesses as necessary. As part of the committal process, the state attorney presented evidence, including the alleged murder weapon, a service pistol, and CCTV footage capturing the scene, outlining Twumasi's purported involvement in the crime. Bruce Dapaah, the father of the deceased, reiterated the family's demand for justice to be served in this matter. Given the tense situation surrounding the case, there was heightened security at the court to prevent any potential assault on the suspect. Family members of the deceased made another attempt to physically attack Twumasi, resulting in chaos. Police called for reinforcement to restore order. Some angry family members of the deceased even threw stones at the police vehicle as the suspect was being whisked away from the court premises. The Asokore Mampong district court has committed the suspect to stand trial at the high court, starting on July 13, 2023, at 10 am. From that date forward, the high court will assume full responsibility for the trial proceedings. Victoria Dapaah, also known as Maa Adwoa, a 26-year-old, was allegedly killed by her boyfriend, Inspector Ahmed Twumasi, on April 20, 2023, near her residence in Adum. The suspect was arrested and subsequently remanded into prison custody. He remains in custody pending the trial. Why do ingredients in hair care products truly matter? Aretha Forson Health Jun - 20 - 2023 , 18:46 For centuries, the textured hair community has heavily relied on international hair care brands for products and knowledge. However, it's time we face the truth: hair texture varies across ethnicities and races, making it essential to consider this diversity when developing hair care products. Unfortunately, this crucial factor was often overlooked. Over a decade ago, a cautionary tale emerged, exposing the detrimental effects of certain ingredients, such as silicones, parabens, and sulfates, commonly found in leading hair care brands worldwide. Shockingly, the beauty industry is filled with tens and hundreds of ingredients that can disrupt our overall health, potentially leading to cancer, infertility, hair loss, chest pain, and other serious issues. This eye-opening revelation ignited an ongoing conversation between producers, scientists, and consumers, paving the way for small beauty businesses to thrive. Existing eco-friendly brands seized the opportunity to expand their reach and capitalise on this new knowledge, creating hair care products specifically tailored to the needs of the textured hair community. The solution has been within our grasp all along, as we discovered the power of ancient beauty ingredients such as nut, plant, and seed oils, Shea butter, castor oil, and Ayurvedic hair treatments. These natural wonders have revolutionized the hair care industry, particularly in West Africa, proving that textured hair can flourish and thrive. So, what is the fundamental science behind caring for textured hair? Individuals with kinky, curly, coiled, wavy, locs, and relaxed hair often struggles with dry strands, requiring emulsions and formulations rich in nut, seed, and plant-based oils to moisturize and promote healthy growth while minimizing breakage. It's crystal clear: ingredients do matter. In West Africa, particularly Ghana, many individuals have had to reach adulthood without a proper understanding of hair care, depriving them of essential knowledge and access to the right products. Although the alarm has been sounded for consumers to make informed choices, we must increase awareness about what we put in our hair. Anas: I'll shake Ghana's foundation before 2024 elections with corruption expose Graphic.com.gh Politics Jun - 20 - 2023 , 09:44 Investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas says he will soon release an investigative piece on some politicians in Ghana. In a televised interview with DW Africa, he said he has not released any piece on Ghana for a couple of months now because of the work that is going into the upcoming expose. The interview with DW Africa touched on whether Anas was a 'terrorist' was recently said by a High Court judge. Anas defended his methods and talked about corruption in Africa. He said the work that I am doing now might be the last before we get into the [2024] elections. But already the signs are very clear and I can tell you that the foundation would be shaken once again." There are a couple of international ones that are about to be released. But this one, talking to you as a Ghanaian, I mean the foundation of Ghana would be shaken, he said. He added that he is being thorough with the upcoming documentary so that it can have an effect just like the last one which led to the removal of the former Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Charles Adu Boahen. Anas Aremeyaw Anas has recently been drawing criticisms from a section of the public following the failed defamation suit he filed against the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong. Watch the DW Africa interview below If Prez Akufo-Addo cannot govern Ghana with 40 ministers, he should step down - Prof Bokpin Graphic.com.gh Politics Jun - 20 - 2023 , 09:17 Renowned economic professor, Professor Godfred Alufar Bokpin says if President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo cannot govern Ghana with 40 ministers of state as the country is going through economic challenges, then he should step down. He was speaking at the #GraphicBusinessStanbicBankBreakfastMeeting in Accra on Tuesday morning. He was discussing the need for the government to discontinue living large. Another panelist, the Executive Director at the Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Benjamin Boakye on his part said government cannot delay accountability in this "very harsh economic times. more to follow... Watch the video below Dave Lotz is a vocal advocate for protecting Guams unique heritage, a knowledgeable and long-time hiking enthusiast and environmental advocate, and critic of inept government. He has been a resident of Guam since 1970 and retired from the Guam Department of Parks and Recreation, Andersen AFB Environmental Flight and the National Park Service. Haiti - Politic : The PM is committed to forming a government of national unity Yesterday Monday in a message posted on his Twitter account, Prime Minister a.i. Ariel Henry, after 23 months in power reiterated his will to : - restore a safe environment - seek ways to strengthen our security forces - set up a CEP that inspires confidence and announced its commitment to : - launch with the High Council for the Transition (HCT) the process of revising the Constitution - to form a government of national unity; And - to work with the partners of the Consensus of December 21, 2022, with a view to expanding the composition of the HCT to include other compatriots "I would like to reiterate my unshakeable will to do everything possible to restore a secure environment, to seek ways to strengthen our security forces, to set up a CEP that inspires confidence, in order to give the Haitian people a voice to elect its leaders freely. I pledge to launch with the HCT the process of revising the Constitution, to form a government of national unity and to work with the partners of the Consensus of December 21, 2022, with a view to expanding the composition of the HCT to include other compatriots," Acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry said. However, the Prime Minister did not specify in what time frame he intended to achieve these 6 points. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Human rights : First Mission in Haiti of the new independent expert William O'Neill, the new independent expert of the United Nations on human rights in Haiti began Monday, June 19 an official visit to Haiti which will last until Thursday, June 29. This is O'Neill's first official visit to Haiti since he was designated as the UN Expert on Human Rights in Haiti on 12 April by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, following a request from the UN Human Rights Council https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39291-haiti-justice-william-o-neill-new-independent-human-rights-expert-in-haiti.html During his visit, O'Neill is scheduled to meet the Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, as well as other high-level officials, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean Victor Geneus, and the Minister of Justice, Emmelie C. Prophete. The Expert will hold meetings with the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Haiti, Maria Isabel Salvador, and delegates of other UN entities, as well as representatives of the diplomatic community. During his visit, O'Neill will meet victims and human rights organizations. He will also travel to Cap Haitien, in northern Haiti, where he will meet regional officials and representatives of civil society organizations. The Expert will hold a news conference in Port-au-Prince at the end of his mission, on Wednesday 28 June at 15h local time HL/ HaitiLibre Published on 2023/06/19 | Source Actors Ji Chang-wook and Shin Hye-sun will harmonize in romance. Advertisement JTBC's "Welcome to Samdal-ri" is a story about a dragon named Jo Sam-dal (Shin Hye-sun), who left the creeks and ascended to heaven unlike Jo Yong-pil who's always been the protector of the creeks, losing everything and returning to her hometown to catch her breath. Yong-pil and Sam-dal are partners born and raised in Samdal-ri, Jeju Island. Yong-pil becomes a forecaster after losing his mother, a haenyeo, due to weather misinformation. He is a troublemaker who can't be controlled by the Jeju Meteorological Administration. He presents a counterargument to the weather forecast issued by the main office and engages in a war of words with the head of the Korea Meteorological Administration. Sam-dal is a famous photographer. She is active under her stage name Jo Eun-hye. From an early age, she dreamed of 'growing up and leaving the island quickly', and as soon as she escaped to Seoul, she endured eight years as an assistant and became the top. She collapses at one moment due to an event and returns to the stream. "Welcome to Samdal-ri" is directed by Cha Yeong-hoon of "When the Camellia Blooms" (2019) and writer Kwon Hye-joo of "Go Back Couple" (2017). It will be broadcast in the second half of the year. The Finnish paper and packaging materials company revealed last week it is considering the permanent closure of its pulp mill in Kotka, Finland, a containerboard plant in the Netherlands, one of the production lines at its plant in Poland and a sawmill in Estonia. STORA ENSO is mulling over a series of structural changes that could result in the termination of more than 1,000 jobs in Finland, Estonia, Poland and the Netherlands. The measures would result in the termination of 600 jobs, including 250 at the Sunila site in Kotka. The company stated that it will additionally launch consultative negotiations within its group functions with a view to making about 300 office employees redundant. The consultative negotiations in its packaging materials division, meanwhile, have been mostly completed and are set to result in a reduction of around 250 managerial and support positions. The restructuring measures are expected to reduce annual sales by roughly 380 million euros and consolidate operational earnings by 110 million euros. Annica Bresky, the CEO of Stora Enso, on Thursday said in a press release that the measures are naturally very difficult and would not be proposed unless they were absolutely necessary for the companys long-term competitiveness. We are at a critical juncture in our strategy advancement, and to advance our market position an increased focus on capital allocation and decentralised empowerment is needed, she argued. This sadly means that assets suffering from challenged profitability would need to be closed, in combination with a more streamlined headquarter organisation. The Sunila mill has an annual production capacity of 375,000 tonnes of long-fibre pulp, accounting for 13 per cent of the annual market pulp capacity of Stora Enso. The cost-competitiveness of the mill has eroded in a domestic market environment characterised by increased competition for pulp wood following the discontinuation of imports from Russia. Stora Enso also said it has made no changed to its strategy for developing biomaterial innovations, meaning that its pilot facility for hard carbon-based battery material will continue to operate at Sunila. Aleksi Teivainen HT President Sauli Niinisto delivered a speech at the Presidential Palace on June 20, 2023, congratulating the newly appointed Prime Minister and the members of the 77th Government of Finland. Addressing the challenges that lie ahead, President Niinisto emphasized the need for unity, cooperation, and decisive action in navigating the current global landscape. The speech highlighted key issues, including the war in Ukraine, national defense, economic revival, environmental concerns, and the importance of preserving Finland's status as a leading nation. President Niinisto acknowledged that the new Government assumes office during a particularly challenging period. The war in Ukraine has intensified, posing a threat to the future and security of Europe. Finland, as a member of the NATO alliance, must continue supporting Ukraine while ensuring the nation's own defense and integrating its defense efforts with collective NATO defense and deterrence. Additionally, the Finnish economy faces weakness, requiring the Government to seek new growth opportunities and keep pace with technological advancements. The President emphasized the significance of knowledge and unrestricted access to global markets for a small nation like Finland. Furthermore, urgent action is needed to address climate change and biodiversity loss, calling for decisive global decisions to be made without hesitation. President Niinisto reminded the Government that Finland is a country of excellence, often regarded as a global leader in various domains. It is crucial to work collectively to safeguard the nation's prosperity for future generations. The President emphasized the importance of unity and mutual trust within the Government, as collegial decision-making and shared responsibility will be essential during difficult times. Highlighting the significance of unity and cooperation, President Niinisto stressed the need for close collaboration in foreign and security policy. The President expressed readiness to continue the established practice of meeting with the parliamentary committees during the Government's term, underscoring the importance of dialogue and coordination in shaping Finland's foreign policy. In his address to the new Finnish Government, President Sauli Niinisto emphasized the gravity of the challenges facing the nation. The speech called for unity, cooperation, and collective responsibility to overcome the difficulties at hand. President Niinisto highlighted the importance of supporting Ukraine, integrating defense efforts with NATO, reviving the economy, addressing climate change, and preserving Finland's standing as a global leader. The President's words served as a rallying call to action, urging the Government to work together and make decisive decisions for the benefit of Finland and its citizens. HT The Bank of Finland on Saturday argued in a letter addressed to Petteri Orpo (NCP), the leader of the government formation negotiations, that the entries are problematic from the perspective of central bank independence, a principle that is guaranteed unequivocally under both Finnish and EU law. THE ENTRIES on central banks in the newly published government programme are in violation of existing laws, views the board of the Bank of Finland. Section 9.1 of the government programme states that the government will seek to manage the financial risk posed to it through the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of Finland. Finland, it also declares, will promote the implementation of the no-bailout clause, including at the level of the European Central Bank, and promote measures that limit systemic risks from the Eurosystem. The Bank of Finlands board examined the text at an extraordinary meeting on Saturday, concluding that the entries are problematic and clash with Finnish and EU law, Olli Rehn, the governor of the Bank of Finland, told Helsingin Sanomat. I emphasise that this isnt a political but a constitutional question, he added. The board reminded in its rare letter that the principle of central bank independence is stated unequivocally in both the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Act on the Bank of Finland. A key element of the principle is that the central bank shall take no instructions from any quarter when carrying out its duties. By approving the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Statute of the European System of Central Banks, the governments of member states have committed to respecting the principle and refraining from attempting to influence members of the decision-making bodies of national central banks and the ECB, highlighted the board. The Act on the Bank of Finland states that, when performing duties related to the European System of Central Banks, the central bank or a member of its decision-making body shall neither request or receive orders related to their duties from any quarters except the ECB. EU and Finnish law guarantee absolutely unequivocally the principle of central bank independence, Rehn said to Helsingin Sanomat. A key element of this is the prohibition to receive any instructions related to the performance of duties from any outsider. The entries in the government programme are likely an occupational accident at least I hope so. Legal experts similarly described the entries as potentially problematic. The entry in the government programme and the actions it requires may be legally problematic. In EU law, the independence of central banks is protected strongly specifically against political influence attempts, Janne Salminen, a professor emeritus of public law at the University of Turku, said to Helsingin Sanomat. Orpo commented briefly on the entries at a press conference on Sunday. Our starting point is naturally that the government programme must line up with treaties. If theres a mistake, itll of course have to be fixed. Consisting of the National Coalition, Finns Party, Swedish Peoples Party and Christian Democrats, the new government is to be sworn in today, on 20 June 2023. Aleksi Teivainen HT The number of young men calling MIELI ry's Crisis Helpline with concrete suicide plans has more than doubled this spring compared to early 2020. Additionally, thoughts of self-harm, anxiety, depression, and fears have also increased among this group. Mental health organization MIELI ry has observed a growing sense of distress among young men, which is a cause for concern. During the first few months of this year, the number of young men with concrete suicide plans has more than doubled compared to spring 2020. From January to May of this year, 37 young men who reached out to the Crisis Helpline had specific suicide plans, compared to 17 individuals three years ago. Additionally, this group reported an increase in self-harming thoughts, depression, anxiety, and fears. "It is concerning that many young men reaching out to the Crisis Helpline often lack hope for the future and the belief that they can bring about change in their challenges. Many feel that everything is hopeless and that nothing can be done. It is positive to see that young men are seeking conversation-based support," says Susanna Winter, Head of Phone and Online Crisis Services. Previously, young women made more calls to the Crisis Helpline. However, the contacts from young women have decreased by a quarter compared to last year. The most common reasons for young individuals to call the helpline are feelings of distress, relationship issues, and self-harm. Winter points out that many young men face a range of challenges, including educational difficulties, unemployment, substance abuse, mental health issues, and financial problems. These challenges can be accompanied by relationship breakdowns or a complete lack of intimate partnerships. Moreover, the male callers to the Crisis Helpline often experience feelings of loneliness, exclusion, or even gambling problems. Some may have experienced bullying, parental divorce, or a lack of parental support. "More often than women, young male callers feel that they lack a social network to provide support in difficult situations. Additionally, the threshold for discussing life challenges with loved ones and seeking help is higher for men, regardless of age," Winter explains. The number of calls made by individuals under 30 to MIELI ry's Crisis Helpline surged at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Young people continue to reach out, with over 10,000 annual calls, accounting for approximately 15% of all conversations. However, this spring, the number of young people's calls has decreased, by more than a quarter for women and eight percent for men. The total number of calls received continues to rise. From January to May 2023, the Crisis Helpline received a total of 167,094 attempted calls, with over 35,300 calls answered. Winter emphasizes that the majority of callers feel heard, understood, and experience an improvement in their well-being after a conversation. This year, approximately 770 individuals have stated that they do not intend to commit suicide or harm themselves. "In difficult situations, it is crucial to receive prompt conversation-based support. That is why the Crisis Helpline is available throughout the summer. Thanks to donations, we have been able to hire additional crisis workers to answer more calls at the Crisis Helpline," Winter states. MIELI ry's Crisis Helpline can be reached in Finnish 24/7 at 09 2525 0111. The helpline also offers conversation support in six languages: Swedish, English, Arabic, Russian, and Ukrainian. Language lines are available for 20 hours per week. Additionally, the Solmussa chat operates normally throughout the summer, from Monday to Wednesday, 3-7 PM, and on Thursdays from 3-9 PM. HT Laurel Park embarks on six-year road improvement program Laurel Park Town Council member George Banta addresses residents concerns about the towns 2023-2024 budget ahead of Tuesdays vote. Laurel Parks Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approved a $7.38 million budget that will fund a large paving project in town that council members said was long overdue. We should be ahead of the curve by 2029, Mayor Carey OCain told a room full of Laurel Park residents who came to Town Hall for the morning meeting. Our roads will be back in acceptable shape by 2029. Immediately after the vote to approve the budget, the council again voted unanimously to award Tarheel Paving $1,160,738.95 to pave the roads in Laurel Park. Although the budget lowers the tax rate to 39.5 cents per $100 of property valuation 4 cents lower than the current rate the new levy is 8.5 cents above the revenue neutral rate of 31. This years countywide reappraisal of property values raised real property values countywide by an average of 48 percent. The 2023-2024 budget is 22 percent higher than the towns current budget of $6 million and reflects the towns commitment to improving the roads it maintains. The budget the council approved Tuesday carries forward the towns streets project from 2023. The budget includes $1,672,720 for roadwork in Laurel Park and will be funded through previous appropriations, 6 cents of the property tax rate and $200,000 from the towns reserves, according to Town Manager Alex Carmichael. Carmichael said after the meeting that after the initial amount awarded to Tarheel Paving on Tuesday for the paving project, more of the $1,672,720 set aside for roads will go toward other roads the town identifies as needing to be repaved. The spending plan also appropriates $742,565 in American Rescue Plan money that the town has not yet used, funding culvert and stormwater infrastructure repair. Fire protection in Laurel Park will also cost more in the coming year even though Valley Hill Fire and Rescue is to be funded at a lower rate of 9 cents of the proposed 39.5 cents tax rate. Under the current budget, 10 cents of the tax rate fund the towns fire protection contract with Valley Hill. Tuesdays vote came after a few of the about 15 Laurel Park residents who attended the meeting asked the council to reconsider the budget and cut how much the town is setting aside for roads. Council members said the 2023-2024 budget amounts to three years of budgeting for roads combined into one years budget. Our $1.6 million is three years of paving rolled into one, council member George Banta said. We get the biggest bang for our buck for doing it. Council members also noted that the they began working on the budget in January and February but only began hearing concerns from residents about the plan shortly before Tuesdays vote. Please come earlier, council member Paul Hansen said. Film explores how Cherokees make nature their partner Mask maker Davy Arch, a Cherokee elder and story teller, is featured in 'Natures Wisdom Thru Native Eyes.' What happens when storytelling, native wisdom and natures intelligence converge? A new film by award-winning documentary filmmaker David Weintraub and the Center for Cultural Preservation explores the answer in "Natures Wisdom Thru Native Eyes," which premieres this week. We were trying to stay connected to the natural world because we realized that everything that was connected to it thrived, so we understood that if we would stay connected to it, we would be prosperous as well, said Cherokee elder, storyteller and mask-maker Davy Arch, one of several native elders featured in the film discussing how for more than 10,000 years storytelling connected the tribe to nature and to one another, the use of medicinal plants and how the native approach that focuses on finding connections can help all of us heal our broken relationship with the living world. Weintraub elaborates that what struck him most of all while working with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and half a dozen other native tribes is their sophisticated approach in seeing the connections between history, culture and nature. In the western tradition, humans are considered to be at the top of the hierarchy, with animals and plants far below," he said. "But native people instead believe that since humans were the last to come and have the least experience on how to live, they must turn to plants and animals as their teachers. By looking at the living world that way, it transforms us and how we view the living world. Instead of nature being our conquest, it becomes our partner. Scientists participating in the film include Carl Safina, a New York Times bestselling author and nationally recognized wildlife ecologist as well as local botanists Steve Pettis and Dave Coyle, who discuss the importance of learning from native wisdom and how it is an important way to reconnect ourselves to the living world. Native people understood that all the knowledge needed to survive and thrive was contained in the land and that their role was not to change it or control it but to learn from it, Safina said. What does film director Weintraub hope will be taken from his new film? When we reestablish our relationship with the land as a sustaining force, as our grocery store, pharmacy and as our connection to both the past and the future, we truly become the stewards of creation that we were meant to be, connected to the wisdom of our ancestors who understood that history, culture, nature were all connected, he said. The film is made possible by the Community Foundation of Henderson County, Prestige Subaru, the Arts Council of Henderson County and North Carolina Humanities. The Center for Cultural Preservation is a cultural nonprofit organization dedicated to working for mountain heritage continuity through oral history, documentary film, education and public programs. For more information all 828-692-8062 or visit saveculture.org * * * * * The film will be shown Thursday, June 29, at the Orange Peel in Asheville and Saturday, July 1, at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville. Starting time at both venues is 7:30 p.m. For tickets visit www.saveculture.org or call 828-692-8062. Ticketbuyers get $5 off the price of the DVD if they buy it in advance. MIXED gender public toilets in Henley have been branded sexist. Residents reacted angrily on social media after a picture of the Kings Road car park toilets was posted with signage showing there is no women-only cubicle. There is a men-only stall with a urinal, a disabled cubicle and three others with a toilet that can be used by either men or women. South Oxfordshire District Council, which is responsible for the toilets, says the arrangement has been in place since 2008. But Nora Scanlon, a member of the Henley Societys committee, said: I find it strange that a man can use any of these five toilets but a woman cant. Maybe its old-fashioned but I think that women are being discriminated against in this particular situation. Geoff Luckett, who is chairman of the society, wrote to council leader David Rouane after more of the societys 600 members complained. He wrote: The Henley Society has received a number of comments regarding the public conveniences in the Kings Road car park. In particular there is a concern that while there is a men-only room provided there is no separate room for ladies only. Is this something that can be rectified please, in particular since this public convenience is the nearest one to Waitrose supermarket, a store predominantly used by ladies? Councillor Rouane replied that he wouldnt be asking for a change as there does not appear to be any great need or demand for this. The issue was raised again by members of the public at a meeting of the town council on Tuesday last week. Mrs Scanlons daughter Anne Marie, who has lived in Henley for 17 years, said the district council had opened itself to being found guilty of sex discrimination. She said there was no evidence of the council having consulted residents prior to the installation of the unisex toilets. Deputy Mayor Kellie Hinton said that when the district council refurbished the toilets in the Greys Road car park last June it had considered having unisex cubicles but backed down when she and her fellow district councillors Ken Arlett and Stefan Gawrysiak protested. She said: I have two 12-year-old daughters, one of whom has kidney troubles and has been hospitalised because of kidney infections. When she needs to go, she needs to go and she needs to go safely. Its a massive concern for me. We championed it with the Greys Road toilets and we got exactly what we wanted, which was a female-only toilet. We will do the same for the other toilets and if it doesnt happen, we will be right behind you kicking off. Councillor Gawrysiak said: Youve drawn it to our attention and we will immediately raise it with the district council. A district council spokesman said: Council staff currently responsible for the management of public conveniences have no records of the signs ever having been changed and the current configuration is the same as it has been for many years. It is only in the last week during a social media debate that it has been raised with us as a matter of any particular concern. Nevertheless, were currently developing and reviewing the equality impact assessments for all of our publicly accessible properties, including our public conveniences, so will be assessing subjects raised in relation to Kings Road as part of that process. POLLUTION of the River Thames could put Henley Royal Regatta at risk, it has been claimed. James Wallace, chief executive of environmental charity River Action, said people were being made ill and the freshwater emergency needed tackling as a matter of urgency. He was speaking at a public meeting at Henley town hall organised by the Henley Mermaids, a group of open water swimmers who are campaigning against sewage dumping in the river. The meeting on Wednesday last week was attended by more than 70 people from boating clubs, charities and people affected by pollution, including the mothers of several boys who became sick after swimming in the river, as reported by the Henley Standard earlier this month. Mr Wallace said the main culprit was sewage. People are getting ill, he said. We have got to act quickly. England has the worst river health in Europe and only 14 per cent of our rivers are ecologically in reasonable condition. All of them have a chemical cocktail, one way or another, of sewage, agricultural pollution and other chemical pollution, including plastics and micro-plastics. Mr Wallace said he was not interested in apportioning blame but in accountability and action. He continued: As far as were concerned, executive salaries as high as they are and shareholder dividends are wholly inappropriate. The Environment Agency, whose job it is to police the river, have had 70 per cent of their funding cuts in the past 12 years. They dont monitor and they dont have any form of regulatory power really beyond the law, which is not enforced, so we have a systemic issue. Wed like to encourage you tonight, when you feel a sense of outrage or disappointment or despair, to perhaps to try to feel empowered by the knowledge that were in it together. Because of this lack of investment in the river and our infrastructure, were now in a pretty shocking state where, genuinely, I believe that the regatta is at risk. Not right now but in time. If we dont sort out this problem, is it right for rowers, the competitors, to go out on the water? Anyone here who rows will know you wipe down your blades when you get out so that you dont get ill. Now, if youre a competitor, the days are gone where you jump in the river to celebrate. Its not safe. This not to say the Henley Mermaids, for example, get sick every time they swim but it does happen sometimes. You would have heard about children [being ill] reported by the Standard. This should not be happening and its all resolvable with a bit of investment. Mr Wallace revealed that on May 9, 12 hours of untreated sewage was released into the river in Henley. I just cant get my head around that, he said. Whether thats against the law or not isnt the point. Its wrong. It is wrong for sewage pollution to be released into the course that is going to be in use. Its not just human health we should be thinking about, its also the wildlife upon which we all require their resilience to be able to sustain us too. Kingfishers and herons and swans are now vanishing by the dozens. We want to see commitments from government and from industry and we want to see deadlines and we want to see money, not sound bites. We will take this story to the corridors of power. We will make sure that Anna Lovell, head of the Environment Agency, and Secretary of State Therese Coffey hear about this and respond. Weve written a charter for rivers to encourage all voters, wherever you live and whatever your political persuasion, to consider putting rivers as the top priority, alongside education, policing and so on. We believe theres nothing more important than water. Because there is a freshwater emergency. We will take the story to the Prime Minister as well. Were doing a petition called Rescue our Rivers. Were doing a hand-in in September. We will write to Thames Water very shortly and encourage it to work with us to create a plan for Henley specifically one that we are happy with and if were not happy with it, we will be letting them know. In the meantime, well be using the media. Were going to be making sure that the Thames and Henley specifically is right at the top of the list that we can help. What that means is that we and our partners between us will be able to give you support when it comes to funding citizen science, even legal advice. But we do rely on you to provide us with photographs and data anything you can see that you dont think is good, send it to us and well keep it. Four of the five Mermaids were at the meeting Laura Reineke, Jo Robb, Joan Fennelly and Fiona Print. Ms Reineke said: We first became aware of the sewage scandal in 2020 when Jo was appointed the River Thames champion for South Oxfordshire by the district council and started linking up other organisations, working to understand the scale of illegal sewage dumping in the river. Swimmers, anglers and ordinary people who love our rivers led this campaign against sewage dumping. Without a grassroots campaign, the scale of illegality and regulatory failure would never have been exposed. Were proud of our small role in this campaign and hope that the people of Henley are behind us in it. In our years of swimming in the Thames, weve seen evidence of sewage pollution. Weve seen wet wipes, sanitary pads, sewage foam. Weve even seen poo tide marks around swans. Weve seen stoma bags, tampons. Were quite literally sick of it. I have been sick three times in six years. Considering I swim almost every day and at the moment sometimes nine times a week in the Thames, that isnt a huge amount. However, it is proper poorly. Henley is the international home of rowing and the home of major swimming events, including all four Henley Swim events. Its an outrage that this untreated sewage is being dumped directly into the regatta course that we all know and love well. The river in Henley is our livelihood. Thousands of people enjoy rowing, paddling, swimming and walking by the river and Henley is one of the most beautiful places in the country. But raw s*** is being dumped into our river in the worlds fifth largest economy. It defies belief. The meeting ended with a question and answer session where members of the audience raised issues such as why more action hadnt been taken, the possibility of nationalising water companies and how people could volunteer as citizen scientists. Councillor Robb said: Eight per cent of Thames Water is owned by China. About five per cent is owned by Abu Dhabi. About six per cent is owned by the state of Queensland and Australia. Other countries think its worth investing in and owning our water industry. We seem to be the only country that doesnt want to touch it with a barge pole. I think that bringing these companies back into public ownership eventually has to happen. We bailed out the banks in 2010 they were financially unfit for purpose. I think the water companies are in a similar situation. Theyre so highly leveraged and extremely financially vulnerable and the time will come when we will be asked as taxpayers to start bailing some of these guys out. When that time comes, I think its time for us to take them back into public ownership. After the meeting, Ms Reineke said: It has been brilliant. People were fired up. Others who were represented included Thames21, which works with communities to restore rivers to full health, and campaign group Windrush Against Sewage Pollution. Noted sociologist Imtiaz Ahmad (1940 -2023) died on June 19 in New Delhi and was laid to rest at the Panch Peeran Qabristan at Hazrat Nizamuddin in the city. Among other things, he will be remembered for his pioneering work on caste among Indian Muslims. The relevance of his research has acquired new significance in the changing context of Indian politics, particularly owing to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)s new enthusiasm to help address the backwardness of Pasmanda Muslims. No one knows how serious the ruling party is in its intentions, but conversations and controversies are bound to follow. And for any serious conversation on the subject, Professor Ahmads work has to be a talking point. PREMIUM Imtiaz Ahmad (Courtesy the subjects Facebook page) His four-volume opus on the subject of caste among Indian Muslims will remain a foundational text. The idea to undertake research on caste among Muslims started with a conversation he had with McKim Marriot at the University of Chicago in 1967-68. At the time, Ahmad was a Fulbright Fellow at its department of anthropology. The subject of caste in India has puzzled sociologists and anthropologists from India and abroad. While scholars such as MN Srinivas and Louis Dumont have made substantive contributions in the study of caste among Hindus, the study of its presence among Muslims has eluded scholarship. That caste exists among Indian Muslims was recognized even by Ambedkar, though he did clarify that the difference between caste among Hindus and Muslims is that it does not have religious sanction in the latter group. This was why Ambedkar urged Dalits to leave Hinduism for any religion including Islam. To make sense of the significance of Ahmads research, it is useful to have an idea of the history of research on caste. French scholar, Louis Dumont, after completing his classic Homo Hierarchicus (1966) based mainly on his work in south India had further developed a research proposal to study caste in north India. His new proposal, unfortunately, did not take off owing to the Indian governments unwillingness to give him permission to undertake fieldwork. Had he pursued his research on caste in north India, we would have learnt how it plays out among Muslims much earlier. The gaping void was filled up by Imtiaz Ahmads effort, which resulted in four major volumes: Caste and Social Stratification Among Muslims in India; Family, Kinship, Marriage Among Muslims in India; Ritual and Religion Among Muslims in India, and Modernization and Social Change Among Muslims in India. It is true that in his Muslim Caste in Uttar Pradesh; A Study of Culture Contact (1960), scholar Ghaus Ansari (1929-2012) argued, deploying the evidence of decennial censuses, that there are three categories of castes among Muslims: Ashraf (noble born), Ajlaf(mean and lowly) and Arzal (excluded). But this required empirical support, which is what Imtiaz Ahmads work provided. Caste and Social Stratification Among Muslims in India; 459pp, Rs995; Aakar Books Ahmad was very ambitious when he undertook this research. He was not interested in studying castes or social stratification only among Indian Muslims, but wanted to also study it in neighbouring countries, particularly in Pakistan and what is now Bangladesh. However, his effort did not bear fruit. He invited six scholars, who had done fieldwork in those areas, but received a positive response only from Saghir Ahmad of Simon Fraser University, who contributed a paper based on his fieldwork in a village in West Punjab. Unfortunately, Saghir died in 1971. Imtiaz Ahmad then decided to confine the volume only to Indian Muslims. He, however, dedicated Caste and Social Stratification Among Indian Muslims to Saghir Ahmad. Thats how a volume on Indian Muslims came to be dedicated to a Pakistani scholar! In 2018, Ahmad wrote a fresh prologue to Caste and Social Stratification Among Indian Muslims entitled Is There Caste Among Muslims? It addressed numerous questions and concerns that scholars have raised over the years and also looked at how Indian politics has thrown up new puzzles about castes among Muslims. Not surprisingly, this new chapter contains rich insights into the ongoing debate over caste. A large part of Ahmads academic life was spent teaching at the Centre for Political Studies (CPS) of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. He was a sociologist but he was part of the Political Science Department because of JNUs commitment to multidisciplinarity in the social sciences. An extremely popular teacher, and his concern for his students was not confined only to the classroom. He also had some major run-ins with the JNU administration, which lasted for more than 10 years. Many of his students went on to teach at Jamia Millia Islamia, to which I am attached. He made himself available for any academic engagement at the Jamia campus and was often found enthusiastically discussing matters with students after attending conferences. It isnt an exaggeration to say that he earned new admirers each time he was on campus. Unlike many other scholars, he was not particularly interested in building relationships with political elites or in seeking patronage. Perhaps thats why, despite his enormous contributions to the study of Indian Muslims, he was not considered for a place on the Sachar Committee, though he should have been one of the first names. A scholar in the classical sense, he was a teacher who believed in keeping a respectable distance from the State. Indeed, he often enjoyed taking a dig at the political class. A colleague recently told me how, at a conference, he had poked fun at the idea of Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas in the presence of a central minister. I remember spending a few days with him at a conference hosted by the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), a few years ago. He took part in every session with great enthusiasm, and raised his hand during the question-and-answer sessions that followed like an early-career PhD student. At one session, I recall him raising his hand but time constraints meant the chair didnt take his question. Professor Ahmad took it in his stride and made no fuss; it was an expression of humility that is rare among senior academics. Warm, unpretentious and witty, Imtiaz Sahib was a charming conversationalist. Every ordinary chat with him was full of light-hearted remarks laced with serious research questions. As a result, many who were not his direct students also revered him. With his passing, India has lost a gentleman scholar and the world has lost a South Asianist, who broke new intellectual ground. Professor Imtiaz Ahmads work will remain a key reference point for scholars and journalists alike as the never-ending debate over caste and religion in Indian politics continues. His pioneering work has definitely made him immortal in footnotes always a dream for researchers anywhere in the world. Shaikh Mujibur Rehman is a member of the faculty at Jamia Millia Central University, New Delhi. He is the author of Shikwa-e-Hind: The Political Future of Indian Muslims. Enjoy unlimited digital access with HT Premium Subscribe Now to continue reading Start 14 Days Free Trial Already Subscribed? Sign In Gurugram, - The Department of Optometry at GD Goenka University is pleased to host a Faculty Development Program (FDP) on Ophthalmic Dispensing. This unique initiative conceptualised by Optician India is in line with the New Education Policy 2020 guidelines and is designed to empower optometry faculty from all over India with the latest knowledge and teaching methodologies in the rapidly evolving field of ophthalmic dispensing. The FDP aims to address the existing gap between the curriculum and the ever-changing industry landscape, which is heavily influenced by major optical industries that primarily rely on training job seekers rather than educators. By attending this program, faculty members will have the opportunity to revise their curriculum and teaching methods, ensuring their students are equipped with the most up-to-date skills and knowledge, thus enhancing their employability and career prospects. The FDP will be conducted over a period of five days, utilizing a hybrid mode of learning. The program will consist of four days of online sessions from July 10th to July 13th, followed by a final day of hands-on training on-campus at Gurgaon on July 17th. This unique combination of online and on-campus training will provide participants with a comprehensive learning experience, allowing them to explore both theoretical concepts and practical applications in ophthalmic dispensing. To facilitate the participation of faculty members from outside the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), travel and stay allowances will be provided, supported by generous contributions from various industry sponsors. The Brand Knowledge partners are EssilorLuxottica, Zeiss, Hoya, Nikon, O2 Lenses, Learn Beyond Vision, VisionSpring and EyeTools and the program is supported by India International OpticsFAIR and SMAVS. Prof. Monica Chaudhary, Director MCVI, LBV and member of editorial board at Optician India expressed her gratitude to the sponsors, stating, This support demonstrates the industry's commitment to fostering excellence in ophthalmic dispensing education and empowering faculty members with the necessary resources to enhance their teaching capabilities. Dr. Rakesh Nanjappa, Head of the Department of Optometry at GD Goenka University, expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming program, stating, We are thrilled to host this Faculty Development Program and provide a platform for ophthalmic dispensing educators to enhance their skills and knowledge. By incorporating the latest advancements in the field, we can ensure that our students receive a high-quality education and are well-prepared to meet the demands of the industry. The FDP on Ophthalmic Dispensing is set to be a milestone event in the field of optometry education, bringing together experts, educators, and industry professionals to collectively contribute towards shaping a more industry-oriented curriculum. For registration go to the link https://opticianindia.net/fdp and for more information contact Dr. Rakesh Nanjappa at 9663990886 or fdp.optometry@gdgu.org About Optician India Optician India has revolutionized the Indian Optical trade with customized content, latest trends and relevant information besides garnering the pole position in terms of readership from the trade, general public and partnering with brands. The Magazine is involved in conceptualizing and promoting multiple and high visibility social awareness campaigns for raising awareness on the need for regular eye exams, sessions on education of eye care practitioners, debates with experts from diverse fields and generating path breaking content for addressing the churn being experienced across the board in all sectors including the eye care industry. Magazine Website: https://opticianindia.com About GD Goenka University GD Goenka University is a leading educational institution committed to providing world-class education in a wide range of disciplines. With a focus on holistic development and industry-relevant programs, the university strives to nurture professionals who are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to excel in their chosen fields. University Website: https://www.gdgoenkauniversity.com/ Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Business Wire India Henkels Adhesive Technologies plant in Chennai, India, has achieved carbon neutrality, marking a significant milestone in the companys ambitions to become climate positive across its global operations by 2030. The Adhesive Technologies factory in Tuzla, Turkey and the Chennai production site are the first two Henkel facilities across the India, Middle East and Africa region to be carbon neutral. The switch to zero carbon footprint was achieved at the Chennai plant by drawing electricity from on- and offsite renewable energy sources, along with the deployment of energy efficient solutions such as LED lighting, smart motion sensors and natural lighting. By achieving carbon neutrality at its Chennai site, Henkel covers scope 1 and 2 of the Greenhouse Gas (GhG) protocol, the world's most widely used greenhouse gas accounting standards. Henkel will transform all of its production sites in India into carbon neutral sites by 2030, sourcing 100 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources, and reducing the use of fossil carbon sources through state-of-the-art technologies. Simon Ulmann, VP Operations & Supply Chain IMEA said, By achieving carbon neutrality in Chennai, we have made a clear and tangible commitment towards our global sustainability goals. We recognise the urgent need to reduce our environmental impact and are taking significant steps towards achieving a more sustainable future. Our 2030+ Sustainability Ambition Framework sets out our three long-term ambitions to support regenerating the planet; help communities to survive, and to be a trusted partner. Achieving carbon neutrality in Chennai and also Tuzla is a significant benchmark in our journey towards these goals. To be amongst the first Henkel operations in the IMEA region to achieve carbon neutrality is a great achievement, and we hope to inspire our customers, partners and stakeholders to join us in our efforts to reduce carbon emissions and the impact of climate change. Suneel Aggarwal, Plant Manager, Henkel Chennai, added, It is important that we reduce our environmental impact and we are proud to have achieved carbon neutrality at the Chennai plant. We analysed all areas of the business, and upgraded the fossil fuel heater to an electrical temperature control unit; replaced the conventional boiler with an upgraded electrical version; and by installing on-site PV Rooftop Solar, Power Purchase Agreements & iRECs we provide the plant with electricity from renewable energy sources. Henkel is pursuing ambitious goals to make its production processes climate positive by 2030 as part of its global strategy for a more sustainable tomorrow. By 2025, the company aims to reduce the carbon footprint at its production sites worldwide by 65 percent compared to the base year 2010 and to date, this has already been reduced by 55 percent per ton of product. By 2030, Henkel is working to generate 100 percent of electricity required from renewable sources. Today, the share of renewable electricity at Henkel is already 68 percent. In addition, the company aims to replace the last remaining fossil fuels in production with climate-neutral alternatives, such as biogas. To become climate-positive, Henkel will also supply surplus CO2-neutral energy not required for its own purposes to third parties. About Henkels Chennai plant Located in the south of India in Tamil Nadu state, Henkel opened its Chennai operations in 2006. The plant currently produces Thermosets, Rubber & Plastisols (RP), besides sealants and coatings for the automotive industry. About Henkel With its brands, innovations and technologies, Henkel holds leading market positions worldwide in the industrial and consumer businesses. The business unit Adhesive Technologies is global leader in the market of adhesives, sealants and functional coatings. With Consumer Brands, the company holds leading positions especially in hair care and laundry & home care in many markets and categories around the world. The company's three strongest brands are Loctite, Persil and Schwarzkopf. In fiscal 2022, Henkel reported sales of more than 22 billion euros and adjusted operating profit of around 2.3 billion euros. Henkels preferred shares are listed in the German stock index DAX. Sustainability has a long tradition at Henkel, and the company has a clear sustainability strategy with specific targets. Henkel was founded in 1876 and today employs a diverse team of more than 50,000 people worldwide united by a strong corporate culture, shared values and a common purpose: "Pioneers at heart for the good of generations. More information at www.henkel.com About Henkel India Henkel in India operates in two business areas: Henkel Adhesive Technologies and Consumer Brands. It has two legal entities in the country: namely, Henkel Adhesives Technologies India Private Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Henkel) and Henkel Anand India Private Limited (a joint venture company of Henkel and Anand Group). Headquartered in Navi Mumbai, currently, Henkel in India has a footprint comprising five manufacturing sites, two innovation/product development centers, a customer experience center, a flexible packaging academy and five Schwarzkopf Professional academies. It employs approximately 1,000 employees across these sites. Brings together sophistication, convenience, and technological advancement in the heart of Lucknow The architectural marvel in Lucknow, offers spacious 4BHK+ Study + Servant Quarted apartments Shalimar Corp, one of Lucknow's most trusted real-estate brands, proudly announces the launch of their latest architectural marvel, Valencia Towers. This premium residential project, situated within the esteemed OneWorld township in Gomti Nagar Extension, is set to redefine luxury living in the city. Valencia Towers stands tall as a 33-floor residential masterpiece, offering premium 4BHK+ Study + Servant Quarted apartments. With its strategic location at the heart of OneWorld, along the prestigious Shaheed Path in Gomti Nagar Extension, residents will enjoy unparalleled connectivity and convenience. Highlighting the key features of Valencia Towers, Khalid Masood, the Whole Time Director at Shalimar Corp, stated, Step into the world of distinction at Valencia Towers. We are proud to present the tallest residential tower in Lucknow, designed to provide an exquisite living experience for our esteemed residents. These spacious apartments are meticulously crafted to offer the perfect blend of luxury, comfort, and functionality. Masood further added, Valencia Towers is a testament to our commitment to providing our residents with the best-in-class living spaces that elevate their lifestyles. We invite discerning homebuyers to explore this prestigious address and indulge in the privileges it offers. Valencia Towers offers a range of remarkable amenities to enhance the living experience of its residents. With round-the-clock safety and security measures, residents can enjoy peace of mind and a secure environment for their families. The smart neighborhood concept ensures a technologically advanced living experience, where residents can seamlessly connect with their surroundings. The towers also boasts hand-picked amenities that cater to the diverse needs of its residents. From state-of-the-art fitness centers to recreational spaces and lush green landscapes, Valencia Towers offers a holistic and enriching lifestyle. One of the standout features of Valencia Towers is its strategic location. Situated in the heart of the well-planned and thriving city of Lucknow, residents will have easy access to renowned educational institutions, premier shopping malls, top-tier hospitals, and luxury hotels. Everything that enriches one's lifestyle is just a stone's throw away. Shalimar Corp has elevated the concept of luxury living in Lucknow with their remarkable project, Valencia Towers. This prestigious establishment is redefining the architectural excellence, unparalleled quality and exceptional customer service. For individuals seeking to embrace an extravagant lifestyle, Valencia Towers emerges as the ultimate destination. Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. IndiGo's agreement with Airbus to procure 500 A320 aircraft has been hailed as a significant milestone for India by civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. The Narendra Modi government's minister on Tuesday expressed confidence that this investment will yield fruitful outcomes in terms of employment opportunities within India. Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia (PTI) India has set another landmark with this largest-ever recorded order by a carrier with any aircraft manufacturer in the world, Scindia told ANI news agency. 'Every direct job in civil aviation results in 6.1 indirect jobs in the sector' Expressing optimism for the employment prospects associated with the deal, the minister added, Every dollar invested in civil aviation yields $3.1 in terms of new growth, as well as the employment multiplier. Every direct job in civil aviation results in 6.1 indirect jobs in the sector. And therefore, there are tremendous dividends that accrue from the ever-expanding civil aviation sector. IndiGo, the country's largest airline, on Monday, inked a 500 A320 planes deal with Airbus in what is reported to be the largest order in the history of commercial aviation. (ALSO READ: IndiGO's Airbus order: These are other mega commercial aviation deals) It is difficult to overstate the significance of IndiGos new historic order for 500 Airbus A320 Family aircraft. An order book now of almost 1,000 aircraft well into the next decade, enables IndiGo to fulfil its mission to continue to boost economic growth, social cohesion and mobility in India", Pieter Elbers, IndiGo CEO said in a statement. This order strongly reaffirms IndiGos belief in the growth of India, in the A320 Family and in our strategic partnership with Airbus, he added. IndiGo expanding its fleet At present, IndiGo manages a fleet of more than 300 aircraft, with an existing 480 aircraft order that is scheduled for delivery by 2030. Adding to this, the recently confirmed order of 500 aircraft for the period of 2030-2035 brings IndiGo's total order book to nearly 1,000 aircraft. IndiGo's order book includes a combination of A320NEO, A321NEO, and A321XLR aircraft. Around 1,700 planes placed on order by Indian airlines Currently, the country has roughly 700 commercial aircraft. While Air India, IndiGo, Akasa Air, Go First, and Vistara have each ordered a total of around 1,700 planes. (ALSO READ: Air India inks massive deals for Airbus, Boeing aircraft) BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BRICS CCI) has appointed Ruby Sinha as the president of BRICS CCI WE, the womens vertical of the body, for three years. Ruby Sinha is the founder of SheAtWork(SheAtWork) An entrepreneur herself, Ruby Sinha is the founder of SheAtWork, a knowledge hub for women entrepreneurs, and Kommune Brand Communications. BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industry works towards promoting active trade, commerce and entrepreneurship between the BRICS and other friendly nations. Announcing the appointment, Dr. B.B.L. Madhukar, Director-General- BRICS CCI said, We firmly believe that Ruby Sinhas vision, strategic acumen, and dedication will elevate the womens vertical to new heights of success and significantly contribute to the overall objective of the Chamber. Sinha takes over from Shabana Nasim, who has become the Executive Director of BRICS CCI and Chief Patron of BRICS CCI WE. "It is an honour for me to come at the helm of affairs of the womens vertical of BRICS CCI at a time when the G20s focus on gender-based digital inclusivity and skilling along with our PMs vision of this decade being a Techade is a prime focus," she said. BRICS CCI is a parent organisation that promotes commerce and industry in the BRICS and other friendly nations. The chamber, founded in 2012, is a not-for-profit and non-governmental organisation. BRICS CCI is a registered body under the Societies Registration 'Act 1860, Government of India and empanelled with Niti Aayog. The Women Vertical of BRICS CCI has been created with a prime focus on women empowerment initiatives and policies across geographies. The objective of the womens wing is to create an enabling support system for women entrepreneurs and professionals across geographies. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT News Desk Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times' newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we've got you covered. ...view detail As negotiations continue to structure the India and UK free trade agreement (FTA), the technology sector will take a lead role for both countries in the coming years. The Indian economic landscape is red hot, which will help UKs aspirations to develop London as the global tech capital, said Lord Dominic Johnson, UKs minister of state in the department for business and trade. Lord Dominic Johnson, UK Minister of State for Business and Trade. (Vishal Mathur/ HT Photo) In a conversation with HT, Johnson says the human element in both countries knows either market very well. That is part of the three advantages India has, including the changing economic landscape, new concepts such as the scale of implantation such as UPI or unified payments interface, and deeply sophisticated industries. The scope is much wider, across manufacturing, research and developments, across verticals including technology, artificial intelligence (AI), automotive manufacturing and sustainable tech. According to Nasscoms data from earlier this year, India has become the third largest tech start up ecosystem in the world, after the US and China. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has already outlined plans for regulation of artificial intelligence (AI), becoming the first country to do so, amidst increased focus on sectors such as fintech, clean tech, technology research and automotive manufacturing. Theres a fundamental national endeavour to integrate the economy in the world, Lord Johnson adds perspective, to UKs increased global tech outreach. Earlier on Monday, there was confirmation that round 10 of the trade negotiations between India and the UK have concluded, covering 10 policy areas. Trade between India and the UK has been on a consistent upward curve. UK companies invested 19 billion in 2021, and at the same time, Indian businesses invested 9.3 billion in the UK. According to official figures, UK services exports to India were 6.7 billion in 2022, an increase of 46% (2 billion) from 2021. I believe India has reached an economic escape velocity, and its just red hot and very exciting. Indias got a burgeoning, very well-educated middle class and a number of structural governmental benefits that are probably to the fore, says Lord Johnson. Considering London is called the fintech capital of the world, Indias implementation and scale of the UPI digital payments system, has created considerable excitement. According to latest numbers by National Payments Corporation of Indias (NPCI), India clocked its highest-ever number of transactions in May, at 9.41 billion valued at 14.30 trillion. This is a 58 per cent increase in transactions, year on year in terms of volume, as well as a 37 per cent increase in value of transactions. The importance of Indian investments in the UK, which will have a bearing on the FTA as it is being drawn up, are highlighted by Lord Johnson. I look at fintech and edtech as two very important points. The relationship with companies such as Mphasis, Tata Consulting, and some other Indian outsourcing companies have really helped power the UK economy, he says. The really important elements of the trade deal revolve around investment and the opportunity to have a sort of clean structure around investment between both countries to enable companies to invest in the UK and very importantly, for the UK to access that funnel point for global capital into India, says Lord Johnson. Londons best placed to do that, he adds. Mphasis and the Tata Group have significant investments and presence in the UK. For the latter, the Jaguar-Land Rover partnership provides an importance backdrop. One of the greatest companies in the UK, Jaguar Land Rover is owned by the Tata Group, with huge research and innovation presence in this country, he says. The very essence of what works is to have phenomenal intellectual capital, creativity and design capability. India has enormous manufacturing and advanced manufacturing capability. What were seeing is designed in the UK and then being implemented in a sort of a making India program, which is very important, says Lord Johnson. This is becoming a street well-travelled. Popular motorcycle brand Royal Enfield, will be manufacturing new electric motorcycles in the UK. Thats very attractive for us to have advanced manufacturing here but also design with major manufacturing in India, he adds. Last week, the UK announced the Unicorn Kingdom Pathfinder Awards for 2023 thatll open later this year, which competitive Indian start-ups are expected to take advantage of as part of a global competition. In the last decade, the UK created 134 tech unicorns, and India added 23 unicorns in just 2022. In start-up parlance, a unicorn is one thats valued at more than $1 billion. According to data by Venture Intelligence, some Indian unicorns include ed-tech platform Byjus, food and grocery delivery app Swiggy, logistics company Delhivery, fintech Cred, and online gaming platform Dream11. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Representatives of battery maker International Battery Company (IBC), which is considering setting up a proprietary Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt prismatic cell manufacturing industry in Karnataka by investing 8,000 crore, on Monday called on large and medium industries minister M B Patil. Representatives of battery maker International Battery Company (IBC) on Monday called on large and medium industries minister M B Patil. The delegates briefed the minister about the specifics of the company and discussed the steps forward, a statement issued by the ministers office said. The company plans to set up a non-captive gigafactory involving a substantial investment of approximately 8,000 crore. The investment will be made on land, plant and machinery and building, it added. READ | iPhone maker Foxconn buys 13 million sq ft land in Bengaluru A gigafactory is a generic term that describes a facility in which equipment, parts and other products related to electrification and decarbonisation technologies are manufactured. "Given the scope for growth of the electric vehicle sector in the country, there is a need to scale up the lithium cell battery production. The company has asked the government to provide 100 acres of land at the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) at Devanahalli on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The decision on providing land and extending incentives will be taken after discussing with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah," Patil was quoted as saying. READ | Karnataka gives nod to 59 industrial projects worth 3,455.39 crore Venkatesh Valluri, President, IBC India said that India will need lithium cell batteries in the range of about 150 gigawatts of capacity by 2030. Currently, there is a production of lithium cells totalling around 1.5 gigawatts capacity in the country and there is a huge gap between the demand and supply. If the proposed plant is set up, the state will get about 12,300 crore in the form of taxes in the next 20 years, he explained. Valluri said the founders of IBC are of Indian origin who are highly qualified and graduated from top institutions. Light to moderate rainfall with thunderstorms lashed Bengaluru on Tuesday, throwing normal life out of gear as commuters faced traffic snarls in several areas. Bengaluru witnesses long traffic jams due to waterlogging of several roads following rainfall. (PTI) According to the city traffic police, commuters experienced long traffic jams in several central business areas, including Majestic, Shanti Nagar, Corporation Circle, Shivajinagar, Mysuru Road, KR Market, Magadi Road and Vijaya Nagar; while heavy showers left many arterial roads inundated. Outer Ring Road (ORR) from BEL Circle to Kuvempu Circle to Hebbal Flyover and areas near Anil Kumble Circle and Queen Statue was heavily waterlogged, the Bengaluru traffic police said. The traffic police alerted commuters on Twitter about the traffic jams and blocked roads, and urged them to drive slow. Le Meridian underpass has been closed due to waterlogging... slow moving traffic in Ecospace and Bellandur ring road, due to heavy rain. Advised drive safely. Slow moving traffic on Hebbal Flyover towards International Airport due to waterlogging, the city traffic police said in a series of tweets. Traffic towards the Kempegowda International Airport was also affected, while metro stations were packed with crowds who were trying to avoid the roads, officials said. Bellandur down ramp running water due to rain cleared with the help of BBMP Mahadevapura RI team. It improves traffic movement from Bellandur to Ecospace junction, Bengaluru traffic police further tweeted. The city police also tweeted that the traffic from Bellandur to Ecospace junction improved after waterlogged Bellandur was cleared with the help of BBMP Mahadevapura RI team. Sadashivanagar traffic police also requested motorists to drive their two-wheelers slowly and use low-visibility headlights. According to the India Meterological Department (IMD), Bengaluru city is expected to see a generally cloudy sky with spells of rain or thundershowers till Saturday, June 24. The maximum and minimum temperatures in Bengaluru are expected to hover around 27-28 degrees and 20 degrees Celsius, respectively. The met department has also predicted heavy rains in as many as 15 districts in the state in the coming days. Rain or thundershowers are very likely to occur at many places over Coastal Karnataka, South Interior Karnataka and at isolated places over North Interior Karnataka till Thursday, the department said in its daily bulletin. The IMD said, thunderstorms with lightning accompanied with gusty winds are likely to occur at isolated places, with wind speed reaching 30 to 40 kmph over interior parts of Karnataka. Thunderstorm with lightning is likely to occur at isolated places over coastal Karnataka over the next 48 hours as well, it added. Maximum temperatures are likely to be above normal by four to five degrees Celsius at isolated places over Interior Karnataka and above normal by three to four degrees Celsius at a few places over coastal Karnataka till Thursday, the IMD said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON To tackle the infamous traffic congestions across Bengaluru, the police are all set to use drone cameras at eight junctions, reported Money Control. These drone cameras will be used to find out the cause of congestion and help traffic police to clear it for the free flow of vehicles. Drones to be deployed at 8 junctions for monitoring Bengaluru traffic: Report Also Read - Karnataka minister sets a deadline for better traffic management in Bengaluru According to the report, the drone cameras will be set up at Hebbal, Central Silk Board, Ibballur, Marathahalli, KR Puram, Guruguntapalya, Sarakki and Banshankari bus stand. These drone cameras will be used to track the primary reasons of a congestion such as vehicle breakdowns and accidents. The traffic police on the ground can immediately resolve the issue, even if it is on flyovers. The aerial visuals will give the accurate situation from the spot and help to make decisions, said Bengalurus traffic JCP to the publication. A couple of drone cameras have already been set up at Hebbal junction and the department will soon deploy these cameras at other areas as well. On Saturday, Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara gave a three-month deadline to the police department for better management of traffic in Bengaluru. He also directed the top officials to present on the ground for at least three hours and monitor the congestion in bottlenecks. He then said, In next three months, the traffic management in the city must be enhanced with a better plan in place. All the traffic DCPs must be on the ground during peak hours to clear the congestions at bottlenecks. We must act on priority to decongest Bengaluru. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT News Desk Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times' newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we've got you covered. ...view detail The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Tuesday filed a complaint against former BJP MLA Nandiesh Reddy, for his alleged unruly behaviour with a driver of an earthmover vehicle engaged in encroachment removal on Monday, BBMP commissioner Tushar Girinath said. The commissioner alleged that Reddy climbed atop the vehicle and snatched the keys from the driver. The civic body began its demolition drive in Bengaluru to clear encroachments of storm water drains (SWD) before the monsoon begins. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner Tushar Girinath said he has instructed filing of a criminal case against anyone who obstructs the demolition operation of the civic body. (HT Archives) Talking to the media on Tuesday, BBMP Commissioner Tushar Girinath said he has instructed to file a criminal case against anyone who obstructs the demolition operation of the civic body. A complaint has been filed against Nandiesh Reddy at Mahadevapura police station, who obstructed the work of BBMP officers during the BBMP Rajkaluve encroachment clearance operation. Local zonal authorities have been instructed to file a complaint, a BBMP official said. On Monday, the BBMP officials demolished parts of an SWD encroached on by a residential property called Ferns City in Doddanekundi. Residents of Ferns City protested against the demolition, alleging that their homes were being targeted while the bigger complexes and offices such as Bagmane Tech Park were being spared from the demolitions. Reddy, who also joined the protest, allegedly climbed atop the earthmover vehicle and snatched the keys, asking officials to stop the demolition drive. Reddy allegedly returned the keys after several media persons at the spot raised objections. Demolishing homes and properties in Fern City will push people onto the streets, he told mediapersons, adding that the BBMP should first remove stormwater drain obstructions. BJP has a lot of support here and Congress might have instructed to demolish buildings in such areas. All we are saying is that they follow proper procedure. We agree that you have to demolish places where the rajakaluves are, Nandiesh told reporters. BBMP had identified a compound wall, clubhouse building, swimming pool, STP, and the compound wall within Fern City, illegally constituted on 200 metres of the stormwater drain. However, following the drive, owners of Fern City held up a Court stay order to block further encroachment drives and the construction of stormwater drains. Meanwhile, the civic body has halted its drive to remove encroachments on stormwater drains following the rains on Tuesday, BBMP officials said. The BBMP was scheduled to remove encroachments in Doddanekundi and Panathur on Tuesday. The anti-encroachment drive began after heavy rains hit the silicon city in August and September last year, bringing Bengaluru to its knees. Encroachments on storm water drains in several areas were seen as the key reason for the flooding. The demolition drive was halted earlier this year due to the Assembly elections. On June 15, BBMP chief commissioner Tushar Girinath set a 15-day deadline to remove the encroachments where orders were passed by the tehsildar. Several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, were detained while protesting against the Karnataka government in Bengaluru on Tuesday to counter the Congress' demonstration. Ex Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai.(HT_PRINT) The BJP staged a protest against Congress government in the state to counter its demonstration which was held against the Centre for not "providing" rice to the state and joined by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and many Congress workers. Also Read - Congress and BJP spar over rice supply, stage demo in Karnataka "We are protesting against Congress government because they are telling a lie. When they announced free rice to Karnataka's poor people they didn't ask for anything because it's a big project," former minister and BJP leader R Ashoka said. The war over the supply of rice in Karnataka continued with protests from the ruling and opposition parties. Speaking to the media, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accused the Central government of doing "hate politics". "Food Corporation of India (FCI) wrote a letter to us saying that they have agreed to supply rice to our state. On 14th June, we got another letter stating that we can't supply rice and wheat. What does it mean? Why they have agreed if there was no stock in FCI? They are doing hate politics. This is anti-poor," he said. However, Deputy CM of the state DK Shivakumar said that the Karnataka government doesn't need free rice as it is capable to buy. "We have spoken to Punjab, Chhattisgarh and other neighbouring states. We are going to buy grain from them. I request the central government not to do politics, you are not giving your rice, it is farmers' rice. We don't want free rice from anyone, the Karnataka government is capable of buying it," Shivakumar said. Earlier too, Siddaramaiah had alleged that the Union Government was not allowing the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to sell rice to the state to roll out its "Anna Bhagya" scheme which envisages giving Below Poverty Line household and Antyodaya card holders 10 kg of food grains for free starting from July 1. The "Anna Bhagya" scheme is one of the five election promises made by Congress ahead of the Karnataka assembly election. In the State Five kg of rice is already being given to members of BPL households. Now through this scheme, Congress wants to enhance the free grain to 10 kg. However, reacting to Siddaramaiah's allegations that the Centre asked FCI to stop the direct sale of rice to states after the Congress government requested for additional sale of rice from the Corporation for its ambitious Anna Bhagya programme, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya on Saturday said that the State government is lying as the Centre's decision was decided four days prior. In a tweet, the BJP MP shared the minutes of the Inter-ministerial committee meeting and said that the meeting suggested the decision of changing the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) policy full four days before Karnataka requested the regional Food Corporation of India. "Sri Siddaramaiah is trying to mislead people of Karnataka blatantly that Union Govt deliberately changed OMSS policy AFTER Karnataka Govt requested for additional sale of rice. But these minutes of the Inter-ministerial committee meeting dated 8th June, i.e, full 4 days BEFORE State Govt requested regional FCI, show that the change in OMSS policy was already suggested in view of the increase in price of wheat & rice across the country. It also very clearly shows that the process to reconsider this policy had started way back in early May by inter ministerial committee, much before even the Karnataka elections were held," Surya said in his tweet. After Punjab offered to provide rice to Karnataka to fulfil its Anna Bhagya welfare scheme, chief minister Siddaramaiah held a meeting with Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, where it was decided that a Karnataka team lead by an additional chief secretary will go to Punjab to work out the details, including pricing, officials said. A team led by additional chief secretary is set to leave for Punjab to work out the details of the rice deal. (HT archives) They have been asked to study the proposal from the Punjab government and submit a report on the feasibility of procuring rice from the state, an official of the chief ministers office said, wishing to remain unnamed. The Karnataka government is looking to buy rice at 34 a kilo plus freight of 2.6 per kilo, which is the cost at which it had bought rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI). Procuring rice from local farmers was not feasible since rice grown in Raichur is being sold at 55 per kilo, which is beyond the states budget, officials said. The government also plans to ask for quotations from the National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India and Kendriya Bhandar to compare prices. Siddaramaiah on Monday said that 10,092 crore a year is required to implement the welfare scheme that aims to provide 10kg of rice a month to each member of below poverty line families at a subsidised rate. The recent decision by the FCI to discontinue the sale of rice and wheat from the central pool under the open market sale scheme to state governments after Karnataka announced the Anna Bhagya scheme has led to a political storm. Siddaamaiah reiterated that on June 9 the state government had written to the FCI about the states requirement of rice. On June 12, the FCI responded favourably, saying it had adequate rice to meet Karnatakas demand. However, two days later, it turned down Karnatakas request, Siddaramaiah alleged. While the government is looking for alternative procurement methods, the state Congress unit on Tuesday staged a protest at all district headquarters and at Freedom Park in Bengaluru against the central government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party for allegedly refusing to provide rice to the state. The Congress accused the Centre of stopping FCI from supplying rice to Karnataka. The protest in Bengaluru was led by DK Shivakumar, president of the Karnataka Congress unit. Initially, the Centre assured us of providing rice, but now they claim they cannot fulfil their commitment. We are protesting against the Centres actions, fighting to eliminate hunger in Karnataka, he said. We are actively engaging with rice-producing states to secure rice supplies, and we have also received offers for maize and ragi. Meanwhile, BJP leaders also staged protests against the Congress-led government, accusing them of deceiving the people by withholding the promised 10kg of rice. Their protest was short-lived, as police detained and subsequently released them at High Grounds Police Station in Bengaluru. Among the detained leaders were former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and former minister R Ashoka. Bommai criticised the state government on the issue. Instead of delivering on their promises of free rice, they choose to protest. Is this why the people elected them? This government is being led by deceitful individuals who shamelessly lie and cheat the public, he said. Where is their sense of responsibility? This government is irresponsible. Bommai highlighted other grievances, including the recent hike in electricity bills, which he claimed burdened both citizens and industrialists. He warned that bus services could soon come to a halt, citing protests from the public, including school children, due to the cancellation of scheduled bus routes. The central government has always assisted the state during times of crisis, be it during the Covid-19 pandemic or floods. The Centre is indeed providing the 5kg of rice distributed to the poor. You (Congress) are spreading falsehoods about the centre not supplying rice, the former chief minister said. Did you not consider the necessary preparations before announcing such a scheme? And now you blame the Centre? SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Three people died on the spot and two others sustained severe injuries after two cars rammed into each other on the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway near Maddur in Mandya district on Tuesday, the police said. Three people died, two were injured in a collision between two cars on the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway. (Representational image) According to the police officials the deceased have been identified as Niraj Kumar (50), his wife Selvi (47) from Uttar Pradesh and car driver Niranjan (35) from Mandya. As per the investigation, a Tata Hexa, struggling to navigate in the incessant rain, skid and hit a divider, and later rammed into Niraj Kumars Marui Swift Dzire. The collision resulted in on spot death of the three in the swift car. Niraj was travelling from Bengaluru to Mysuru with his wife. Meanwhile, occupants in Tata Hexa, a couple from Mysuru were rushed to Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital and are said to be out of danger. A complaint has been lodged at Maddur Traffic station. Concerns have been raised about the increasing number of accidents on the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway, particularly related to overspeeding. Since the expressway provides a free right of way, unlike the old highway, many drivers have met with accidents due to overspeeding. A case has been registered at Maddur traffic police station under section 279 (rash driving), 338 (causing grevious hurt by negligent driving), 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and investigation is on, Mandya SP Yetish Kumar told HT. He said 99% of accidents on the expressway occur due to overspeeding. The increased number of accidents has reignited the debate on banning two-wheelers and slow-moving vehicles from the main carriageway of the expressway that Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated on March 12. The menace of overspeeding is increasing on the expressway designed to cut travel time between Bengaluru and Mysuru to just 75 minutes. While the speed limit for vehicles on the expressway ranges from 80 to 100 kmph, vehicle users routinely drive at 100 -120 km and higher, Traffic expert M N Sreehari told HT. He said that the main reason behind the accidents is that the motorists tend to speed on the highway. Unfortunately, some stretches of the Expressway suffer from unscientific construction and incorrect alignment, which have contributed to fatal accidents. He said the highway does not have adequate sign boards too. Other than inadequate signboards, the other bigger problem is that there is no one to check on people who overspeed. The police should restrict the speed limit to 80km per hour like Hyderabad expressway, Sreehari said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Bhaderwah in the foothills of middle Himalayas of Doda district, which once was a hotbed of terrorism, has emerged as lavender valley of Jammu and Kashmir. About 2,500 farmers in Bhaderwah have given up conventional farming of growing maize to embrace profitable lavender cultivation. (HT Photo) The successful purple revolution in the scenic valley surrounded by snow clad peaks has not only brought it the title of Indias lavender capital but also attracted states like Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. Now, they, too, want to adopt lavender cultivation. The cultivation of lavender has become possible because of the initiatives of the government and some progressive farmers led by 34-year-old Touqeer Bagban. About 2,500 farmers in Bhaderwah have given up conventional farming of growing maize to embrace profitable lavender cultivation. Bagban was instrumental in changing the fortunes of 2500 poor farmers of Chenab region by motivating and encouraging them to switch over to aromatic and medicinal plants from traditional crops like maize and paddy. I belong to a farmers family and own a cedar wood extraction oil unit but I always nourished a dream to utilise local available natural resources to create jobs and provide profitable livelihood avenues to the small and marginal farmers, he said. Touqeers 74-year-old father Abdul Gaffar Bagban, a man with vast knowledge of medical and aromatic plants that grow in the Himalayas, encouraged him to think out of the box and do something unique. Motivated by my father, I not only converted 10 kanals of paddy farm into a lavender field but also encouraged other farmers to switch over to it, he said. Initially, I found no takers of my ideas but I kept my resolve and traveled extensively across the Chenab valley to convince farmers about lavender cultivation. I even assured them to bear all their losses, in case they dont find aromatic and medicinal plants a profitable business compared to traditional crops, he said. Touqeers missionary zeal got a shot in the arm when in 2016, ministry of sciences and technology through Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM) started aroma mission. This initiative gave much needed impetus and as a result 2500 families are today successfully growing exotic lavender and Bhadarwah has become the leading producer of it in India, he said. The success story of the farmers has brought Bhaderwah on the map of India and it is now called Indias lavender capital, he added. Last year, lavender was named as One District one product for Doda district. To further boost the farmers, Union minister for science and technology Dr Jitendra Singh took personal interest and installed 11 lavender distillation units in Bhaderwah. Today, Touqeerthe face of purple revolution in Bhaderwah provides logistical help to fellow farmers and a market to sell their produce. It has increased their income four times compared to traditional crops. The deputy magistrate of Doda, Vishesh Pal Mahajan said, Bhaderwah in Doda district is the birthplace of Indias purple revolution. Lavender is an avenue of employment generation and research opening many paradigms of development. The lavender cultivation has changed the lives of many farmers and it was heartening to note that Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in the 99th edition of Mann ki Baat, mentioned the name of Bhaderwah and appreciated the farmers of this area for lavender cultivation, which is an example of AtamNirbhar Bharat. Mahajan informed that approximately 300 hectares of area was under lavender cultivation in Doda district. In coming years, the area shall expand manifold as farmers are propagating plant material in Doda district. The net annual income of farmers who switched from maize to lavender cultivation has increased manifold from around 40,000 to 60,000 per hectare to 3.50 lakh to 6 lakh per hectare. The deputy magistrate informed that the farmers of Doda district produced 300, 500, 800, and 1500 litres of lavender oil in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, respectively. They earned over 5-crore from 2018 to 2022 by selling dry flowers, lavender plants and lavender oil, he said. Lavender plantation was actually started in 2010 in Lehrote village of Doda district after CSIR IIIM Jammu provided planting material to two to three farmers. Later in 2013-14 department of floriculture provided 1.75 lakh quality planting material procured from IIM Kashmir to 36 farmers of Doda. Due to awareness to farmers by the floriculture department, lavender cultivation expanded to Tipri and surrounding areas. Almost 70 percent of lavender is grown in Bhalla and Bhaderwah blocks of the district.. Beside this, lavender cultivation is being spread to temperate areas of Marmat, Khillani, Bhagwah, Dali Udyanpur, Bharat Bhagla, Gandoh Bhalessa, he said. In 2018- 19 two progressive farmers ---Bharat Bhushan and Kunj Lal were motivated to develop lavender nurseries, for which incentive under plantation infrastructure development (small lavender nursery) was provided by floriculture department to them. As on date near about 50 small lavender nurseries are raised by the farmers and nearly 45 lakh planting material shall be available in November this year for plantation. As a result 250 hectares of area shall be covered under lanvender cultivation, said Mahajan. He also informed that women were primarily employed in the lavender fields for harvesting and processing the flower, which has increased also given livelihood to the fair gender. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ravi Krishnan Khajuria A principal correspondent, Ravi Krishnan Khajuria is the bureau chief at Jammu. He covers politics, defence, crime, health and civic issues for Jammu city. ...view detail The Punjab and Haryana high court has allowed six days of interim bail to IAS officer Sanjay Popli to attend his sons death anniversary. The high court bench of Justice Pankaj Jain passed the order on the plea from Sanjay Popli in which it was submitted that on humanitarian grounds he be allowed to meet his wife on the first death anniversary of his son. (HT File Photo) The high court bench of Justice Pankaj Jain passed the order on the plea from Popli in which it was submitted that on humanitarian grounds he be allowed to meet his wife on the first death anniversary of his son. The wife is facing disorientation and psychological distress and is under treatment, he had submitted. The states counsel had submitted that he was facing serious allegations in the disproportionate assets case. Being an IAS officer, Popli is an influential person and there is an apprehension that he may abuse his liberty. The court disposed of the plea and ordered that he be allowed to go out from June 23 to June 28. He would surrender back on June 29 and has been ordered to submit his mobile phone number to the police and would not travel out of the city, the court said. Popli, a 2008-batch IAS officer, was arrested by the state vigilance bureau on June 20 last year in a case, pertaining to the allotment of tenders, when he was posted as the chief executive officer of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board. As per police, his son Kartik Popli had shot himself in the head at their Sector-11 house, when the vigilance team was reportedly at Poplis house to affect some recoveries in connection with the corruption case. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Indian army jawan Desai Mohan, who is accused of killing four jawans in the Bathinda military station, will undergo a polygraph test as even after two months, the investigators are still trying to ascertain the reason behind the crime. On April 12, four soldiers Sagar Banne, Kamlesh R, Santosh Nagaral, and Yogeshkumar J were shot dead as they slept in their rooms near the officers mess in Bathinda military station in Punjab. (PTI File) Bathinda superintendent of police (investigation) Ajay Gandhi, who headed the probe, said the test will be held at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), New Delhi, soon. Gandhi said the lie detection test may help investigators connect the missing links in the crime. Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gulneet Khurana said on Tuesday that the accused Mohan, who is in judicial custody, has given his consent to undergo the forensic test. Khurana said that the police probe has been inconclusive as the reason for the killing has not been established yet. Commenting on earlier media reports that the accused Mohan was allegedly subjected to physical abuse by his colleagues, the SSP reiterated that the police still have no evidence of it. Police sources said a medical examination of the accused was initiated to ascertain claims of physical abuse. The samples were sent to the forensic science laboratory in SAS Nagar, and the report is still awaited. There is no scientific evidence to corroborate the charge of physical abuse, said an official privy to the probe. Our team secured a go-ahead from the trial court recently to conduct a test on Mohan. We are awaiting the date of the test by the laboratory, the SSP added. On April 12, four soldiers Sagar Banne, Kamlesh R, Santosh Nagaral, and Yogeshkumar J were shot dead as they slept in their rooms near the officers mess. Five days after the crime, the district police arrested Mohan for allegedly murdering his colleagues. In a joint press conference held in Bathinda on April 16, Bathinda SSP and Colonel Animesh Sharan from the Bathinda military station said that the accused confessed to turning the gun on his colleagues to avenge humiliation and harassment meted out to him by them. As per the police, it was a premeditated targeted killing and Mohan stole an INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) rifle with 20 cartridges and eight bullets of a light machine gun (LMG) on April 10 to eliminate four gunners from an artillery unit. According to the first information report (FIR), lodged at the cantonment police station on April 12, the accused Mohan was the sole witness to the crime. The case was registered on the complaint of Major Ashutosh Shukla of 80 Medium Regiment, who quoted Mohans information that one of the assailants was carrying an INSAS rifle and the other an axe. Mohan had claimed that he had spotted two masked men in white kurta-pyjama near the crime scene. But after a police investigation, Mohan turned out to be the perpetrator of the crime, and the police recovered the weapon and ammunition from the military base. The Akal Takhts newly-appointed jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh on Tuesday appealed to Punjab government and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to find an amicable solution of the issue related to gurbani being telecast from Darbar Sahib. Akal Takhts newly-appointed jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh. (HT File) The row had erupted after chief minister Bhagwant Mann announced the addition of the clause to the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, to prevent exclusive telecast rights to PTC channel. In a video message, the jathedar said, The decisions being taken by the Punjab government regarding the SGPC is creating confusion among the Sikhs. The matter of gurbani being telecast is related to maryada of Sachkhand Sri Harmandar Sahib, though gurbani telecast is not maryada itself. If we keep gurbani telecast open for all, the maryada could not be followed. Punjab governments move of meddling into the affairs of the SGPC is very unfortunate. The government should not do it. Today, a resolution is being introduced in Punjab Vidhan Sabha. It will be a direct act of the Punjab government to weaken the Sikh organisations, he added. Highlighting the edict by Panj Singh Sahiban (five Sikh clergymen) issued to SGPC, the jathedar said SGPC should try to implement it and submit a progress report of the work done in its compliance. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Northern Army Commander lieutenant general Upendra Dwivedi reviewed the ongoing preparations for the Yatra 2023, said a defence spokesperson here. The Army Commander inspected the arrangements on Pahalgam and Baltal routes, where he was briefed on the multi-tiered security arrangements to include night domination through night vision devices, snipers, drone systems, bomb disposal squads, dog squads, counter IED equipments, vehicle repair and recovery teams to ensure smooth movement of convoys, and synergy with civil agencies being under taken to make the Yatra incident free, said defence spokesperson Lt Col Devender Anand. Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Army Commander Northern Command had also reviewed the security and operational preparedness for Amarnath Yatra along the Northern and Southern Routes on Sunday. (ANI File Photo) He was also shown the arrangements made by BRO, Indian Air Force and Teams from High Altitude Warfare School, added the spokesperson. The twin tracks to holy cave shrine are almost clear for induction of pilgrims. In coordination with civil administration, NGOs and other agencies, Army is establishing multiple medical detachments with special arrangements of oxygen cylinders and control rooms at various points along both the routes for humanitarian aid that will be operational round the clock, said Colonel Anand. Various civil aviation agencies have been incorporated for providing air travel facilities to the devotees. Army has established helipads at multiple locations for medical emergencies and to cater for other air lift requirements. Army has also established a number of Yatri camps with adequate tentage facility along with special winter clothing arrangement to provide habitat and comfort during the Yatra, he added. Based on the experiences of the cloud burst during the Amarnath Yatra last year, civil rescue teams and avalanche rescue teams will also be deployed enroute systematically to mitigate any kind of disaster. Earth movers will also be placed at the holy cave and multiple locations enroute for emergencies, he said. At least 15 pilgrims were killed in the cloudburst on July 8 last year. Northern Army commander appreciated the good work of all agencies and the synergy between them. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Punjab assembly on Tuesday passed Punjab Police Amendment Bill, 2023, thus paving the way for the state to appoint director general of police (DGP). Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann arriving at the Punjab assembly House on Tuesday. (Ravi Kumar?HT ) Following the amendment, the state government has decided to put in place a parallel mechanism to circumvent the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) procedure, laid down by the Supreme Court (SC). As per the procedure, after vacancy of the DGP is announced, the state would send the names of all eligible officers to UPSC that would in turn appoint a three-member panel to pick the candidate for the top job. However, the latest amendments brought in by the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government says the panel of three officials would be constituted by a seven-member committee set to feature a retired chief justice or a retired judge from the Punjab and Haryana high court as its chairperson. The chief secretary, a nominee of the UPSC, a nominee of Punjab Public Service Commission, administrative secretary of home department, a nominee of Union ministry of external affairs and a retired DGP of Punjab Police constitute the other six members. The amendment also states that the committee shall prepare a panel of three senior officers from the pool of eligible names based on the selection criteria, which would include the length of service, work record and range of experience. Selection will be made on merit from a pool of eligible officers as per zone of consideration, the bill states. The DGP appointed following the amendments will have a minimum tenure of three years. In case of vacancy for the post of DGP, the state government may give the additional charge to any officer of an equivalent rank. Another important section of the bill states: The provisions of this section (section 6) shall prevail notwithstanding anything contained in any judgement, order or decree of any court. The amendment says public order and police appear in the state list under the seventh schedule of the Constitution of India 1950; and, are thus matters falling in the exclusive domain of states. It adds that the Constitutional framework envisions a federal structure, wherein the states are exclusively empowered through its legislature to enact laws concerning public order and police. It is necessary to put in place a proper mechanism for selection/appointment and removal of DGP which takes into consideration the peculiar challenges faced by the states of Punjab by virtue of being a border state. In order to achieve this objective it is proposed to amend Section 6 of the Punjab Police Act, 2007, the bill reads. Notably, ever since the SC laid down procedures for appointment of the DGP through UPSC in its judgement in the case of Parkash Singh and others vs Union of India, the Punjab government had been crying hoarse over the issue, citing that law and order was a state subject. After the SC judgement in the Parkash Singh case, an amendment in this regard was also brought during the Captain Amarinder Singh-led government in which Section-6 of Punjab Police Act was amended. This amendment said the state government shall select the DGP from a panel of at least six eligible officers provided that such a panel shall be prepared by a committee comprising chief secretary, principal secretary home and outgoing DGP or an expert in internal security matters as may be set up by the state government. After these amendments, the Punjab government had even moved to the apex court with a plea to amend its earlier judgement and allow the state to appoint a DGP through amended procedure, however, the court on January 16, 2019, dismissed the plea. The amendment bill came in the backdrop of the Bhagwant Mann-led government has been lagging in recommending a panel of officers to the UPSC for the DGPs post, resulting in the state continuing with Gaurav Yadav as the acting DGP for 11 months now. Yadav had replaced Viresh Kumar Bhawra, who was appointed the DGP according to the UPSC procedure during the Charanjit Singh Channi-led Congress government. Bhawra served on the post for merely six months. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Punjab assembly passed the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, amid opposition from Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) legislators. Punjab assembly on Tuesday passed the Sikh Gurdwara Amendment Bill 2023. (HT File) Notably, the Bill aimed to make broadcast and telecast of gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) free for all. The rights up until this point lay with the PTC channel. Opening discussions on the same, Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) Budh Ram, as per amendment, it was the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committees (SGPC) duty of the board to propagate gurbani. Highlighting the importance of the mukh waak, he said the same should be telecast across the globe. Giving a singular channel the rights for telecast, he said, makes widespread distribution impossible. He added that the state government did not intend to usurp anyones rights to telecast gurbani and the crux of the amendment, under new section 125A, was to allow all channels free broadcast rights. Taking part in the discussion, chief minister Bhagwant Mann said gurbani was sarab sanjhi, but a single channel the rights to broadcast it had been restricted to a single channel for 11 years. I am not saying that gurbani telecast rights should be given to anyone close to me, he said, adding that the gurbani telecast by PTC was not free to air and the channel held intellectual rights over it. SADs Manpreet Singh Ayali, meanwhile, said SGPC should run its own channel to broadcast gurbani. Opposing the amendment, he said the government should not interfere in the affairs of SGPC, an elected body. Notably, former Akal Takht acting jathedar Harpreet Singh had issued an edict suggesting that the SGPC run its own channel. Ayali suggested discussions with the SGPC and SAD on the issue, saying never the former never said that gurbani should be controlled by a singular entity, but had an issue with the state interfering in the affairs of an elected body. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Tuesday rejected the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and called a special session of its general House on June 26 to counter it. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami said this day will go down as a black day in the 103-year-long history of SGPC, when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of Punjab passed an unconstitutional bill by directly interfering with the gurdwara managements. (HT File) Reacting to the legislation, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said, This day will go down as a black day in the 103-year-long history of SGPC, when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of Punjab passed an unconstitutional bill by directly interfering with the gurdwara managements. This will not be allowed to be implemented at any cost. This anti-Sikh move by the Punjab government led by Bhagwant Mann will be answered at all levels, for which, a special general session of the SGPC has been convened at Teja Singh Samundari Hall on June 26 to decide the outline, he said at a press conference here. Dhami further said, Even at the time of establishment of SGPC, the British government had set up a government committee, which the Sikhs rejected and set up their own committee. Now, the Punjab government led by Bhagwant Singh is walking on the same path. He further said the state government cannot make any amendment in the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, on its own, as it can only be done with the recommendations of the SGPCs general house. The SGPC president said the Punjab government is weakening the Sikh organisation by making Gurbani broadcast an issue. He said the SGPC is already working through a sub-committee in the matter of Gurbani broadcast while the Bhagwant Mann government is deliberately adding confusion to the issue to gain popularity. SGPC should have started own channel: Jagir Kaur Jalandhar Former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur termed the amendment a forceful and dictatorial move, stating that it is AAPs conspiracy to weaken the Sikh community. She said had the SGPC started its own YouTube channel, this would not have happened. Last year, Giani Harpreet Singh had directed the SGPC to start its own YouTube channel for live telecast. I batted for these directions then and stand by it even now. The SGPC should have its own channel instead of giving rights to one particular channel or several others, she said. Accusing the state government of trying to weaken the SGPC, she said, The formulation of a separate Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and now this amendment are testimony to the direct attack on Sikh community and SGPC. Mann govts move unethical, Sukhbir to be equally blamed: Dhindsa Chandigarh Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) leader and former finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa on Tuesday accused chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann of taking an unethical decision regarding the broadcast of Gurbani from Golden Temple and making an amendment in the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925. He said Sukhbir Singh Badal is also equally responsible for this decision as gave all rights to telecast the Gurbani to only one channel. If he had accepted the suggestion of former acting jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Harpreet Singh, regrading SGPC having its independent channel, the Mann government would not have had the courage to interfere in Sikh issues, said Dhindsa. Students and teachers of Rohtaks Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) and Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences on Tuesday took out a protest march from their campuses to the office of the deputy commissioner to protest against the state governments decision to generate their economic resources at university-level itself for sustenance of the universities. Students and teachers of Rohtaks Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) and Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences are protesting against the state governments decision to generate their economic resources at university-level itself for sustenance of the universities. (Getty Images/iStockphoto) They raised slogans against the government. Rohtak SDM Rakesh Kumar received a memorandum from protesters. A minor scuffle also took place between the protesters and police when the cops closed the gate near the secretariat. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Delhi lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Tuesday hit back at chief minister Arvind Kejriwal over the latter's letter in wake of rising crimes in the national capital. Responding to the CM's letter, Saxena said,"Reviewing and monitoring the Delhi Police on a regular basis. Politicising crime has almost become a habit these days and this provides no solution at all. You and your Council of Ministers are indeed welcome to meet me for a meaningful discussion that leads to solutions rather than creating political opportunities for you and your party to exploit the Media gallery". Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and lieutenant governor VK Saxena.(PTI) The L-G assured Kejriwal that required steps are being taken and no stone whatsoever will be left unturned by me as also the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India as far as proper policing of the national capital is concerned. Earlier in the day, Kejriwal had written a letter to the lieutenant governor over the rising incidents of crime in Delhi. Such serious crimes have shaken Delhi. It is high time that those entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of lives of residents of Delhi should not be seen as failing time and again in their mandatory duty, the letter had read. Kejriwal's letter comes in wake of the gruesome murder incidents which have shaken Delhi. On Sunday, a 19-year-old Delhi University student was allegedly stabbed to death outside Aryabhatta College in South Campus. In another incident, two sisters were allegedly shot dead in front of their family and neighbours near south Delhis RK Puram in the early hours of Sunday. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Delhi Police on Tuesday said that it cracked down on those involved in the trade of narcotics, carrying out 182 raids at 64 drug hot spots across the Capital and arresting 64 suspects. PREMIUM The raids, conducted largely against street-level drug traffickers between Monday and Tuesday, led to the recovery of around 30kg marijuana, 345g smack, and 140g amphetamine, said officials. (AFP) These raids were carried out as part of a fortnight-long campaign to mark the International Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking Day on June 26. Yadav said the campaign will end on June 26, when the seized drugs will be destroyed. The raids, conducted largely against street-level drug traffickers between Monday and Tuesday, led to the recovery of around 30kg marijuana, 345g smack, and 140g amphetamine, said Ravindra Yadav, special commissioner of police (crime branch). Over 1,200 police personnel from across Delhi were involved in the operations, the officers said. This was just the latest crackdown on narcotic syndicates operating in the Capital lieutenant governor VK Saxena in April had asked Delhi Police and other concerned agencies to seal properties and buildings being used to peddle drugs, and to explore legal ways to take demolition action against them. A list of properties from which the drug traffickers operate is being shared with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for further necessary action in this regard, said Yadav. In March, an internal survey carried out by the anti-narcotics task force (ANTF) of the Delhi Police led to the identification of 64 hot spots across the Capital for the peddling of narcotics, which included neighbourhoods such as Jama Masjid, Chhatarpur, Nizamuddin and Majnu Ka Tila. The survey had also revealed that heroin and cannabis are the most common narcotic substances that are peddled in and around the Capital, assistant commissioners of police (ANTF) Anil Sharma said. Read: Delhi Police to conduct survey to identify drug sources in city The number of hot spots in the March survey was a substantial increase from the 15 such hot spots found in a similar survey conducted in May 2021 by the anti-narcotics wing of the crime branch, which was then called the narcotics cell, based on the trend of seizures of the contraband and the arrest of peddlers. Last week, the office of the lieutenant governor had ordered the sealing of 25 buildings where suspects were found to be trafficking drugs. Following a crackdown by Delhi Police against drug mafia in the city, 25 properties across Delhi were identified that were used for peddling either through the property owners or other occupants. Subsequently, the properties were sealed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on recommendation of the Delhi Police, said an officer of the LG secretariat, asking not to be named. Earlier, on May 13, a joint operation of crime branch and district units of Delhi Police Operation Kawach was launched across the national capital to tackle the menace of drug abuse. On that day too, more than 100 locations had been raided across Delhi, and 31 drug traffickers and 12 bootleggers were arrested. The latest coordinated raids carried out at 64 alleged drug hotspots, which include neighbourhoods like Jahangirpuri, Sangam Vihar, Jama Masjid, Majnu Ka Tila, Shahbad Dairy and Uttam Nagar. Simultaneous raids were carried out at these potential targets. We went after the traffickers and raided their hideouts to seize the large quantities of narcotics substances. The raids were carried out after identifying the street players. Our aim is to go after the big players by interrogating the peddlers, said a senior police officer involved in the raids. Yadav, meanwhile, said, Our raids have revealed that the drug traffickers are on the run and trying to shift their bases out of Delhi. On Monday, the Delhi Police had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Xavier School of Management (XLRI), Jamshedpur to carry out a survey to identify the source and supply points of drugs in the Capital and prepare an action plan to deal with the issue, officers aware of the development said, adding that they also plan to start an awareness campaign against the use of narcotics. XLRIs nodal officer Sanjeev Varshney said, Well do a ground survey and prepare the content as per the issues identified for different groups. XLRI will also provide input for the media campaign and suggest improvements for CSR opportunities to run the campaign. Last year, the Delhi Police revamped their anti-narcotics cell, renaming it the anti-narcotics task force (ANTF). The objective of this new force is to keep a vigil on smuggling, the supply and sale of narcotics drugs, and to take action against peddlers active across the city. The manpower of the cell was also increased from 60 to 90, giving it ample strength to carry out operations against drug peddling and peddlers not only within the city, but to also neutralize networks fanning across other states. His three children are go-getters. Abhiraj, in Class 11, is focusing on becoming an engineer. Suraj, in Class 10, wants to become an IAS officer. Rakhi, in Class 9, wants to be a doctor. Subhash started his career in the megapolis two decades ago as an auto rickshaw driver. Yet, sometimes it is all looks so difficult, murmurs Subhash Yadav. But if my children are really prepared to work hard, he trails off. Next moment, he keeps his hand on his heart. See, I have worked hard. Subhash started his career in the megapolis two decades ago as an auto rickshaw driver. He initially set his base in Gurugram for a few years, before moving towards the other extremity of Delhi-NCR Burari. By now, he says, he has reached a point in life where I thrive in the city, and I also thrive in my village. He explains that he owns a few acres of ancestral land at his home in Jharkhand. That inheritance, along with a pair of cows, help him earn not only as an auto walla but also as a kisan. All through the year, Subhash commutes between the village and the city. He goes to Jharkhand after every two-three months, either to prepare the land for the next batch of crops, or to harvest the standing crop. He doesnt let his family help him in the farming. No agriculture for my children. He pauses. I never let Parmila (his wife) work in the fields either she looks after our home. In Burari, Subhash shares a single room with two other auto drivers. The village life is far simpler, he agrees, but he is dismissive of that simplicity. He feels it is borne out from a lack of opportunities. Besides, my monthly earning as an auto driver in Dilli is equal to my two-month earnings as a farmer in the village. Naturally, he foresees his childrens future in the city, not in the village. Next month, with the start of the rainy season, Subhash will again board the Puroshottam Express, for home, and Ill stay in the village for 10-12 days, preparing the land for dhaan (crop). Suddenly a phone tune interrupts the chat: He takes out the mobile from his pocket. It is one of those handphones that were in wide use before the arrival of smart phones. The caller is his daughter. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mayank Austen Soofi Mayank Austen Soofi is a writer-snapper trying to capture Delhi by heart. ...view detail A call to the police control room (PCR) about a woman in a car crying out for help in the early hours of Monday led to multiple PCR vans undertaking a high-speed car chase on the streets of south Delhi. However, the car that the officers were chasing managed to give them the slip, and by Monday evening, the police were yet to gather any concrete clues about the case. Police said that the dramatic events unfolded in South Extension Part 1 at around 12.35am. (Representative Image) The absence of any complaint of any woman missing or kidnapped in such circumstances has led the police to believe that it could be a case of dispute between known people. Police said that the dramatic events unfolded in South Extension Part 1 at around 12.35am, when a group of NEET aspirants spotted a grey Hyundai i20 car with two men and two women. Officers, quoting the students, said that one man was behind the wheel, and a woman was seated next to him on the front seat. The backseat was occupied by another man and woman. The woman at the back was trying to get out of the car, but the man next to her was preventing her from alighting. The woman on the front seat was shouting for help, deputy commissioner of police (south) Chandan Chowdhary said, quoting the eyewitnesses. The DCP said that the students unsuccessfully tried to stop the car, which then sped away towards INA. She said they managed to note down a Delhi registration number, which they later shared with police at around 1.15am. Read: Law and order situation in Delhi needs immediate action: Swati Maliwal on recent killings in national capital We did not find records of any car by this number, said the DCP. Police said a PCR car in the area managed to note down the number of a similar car a Haryana registration number and sent out an alert on the police radio scanner. Receiving the alert, three PCR vans in the area spotted a car with a similar description and began a high-speed chase from INA towards Safdarjung at around 1am. However, the car managed to give police the slip by taking the Barapullah flyover, a senior officer aware of the case, declining to be named, said. Meanwhile, officers at the Kotla Mubarakpur police station checked CCTV footage around the spot from where the students first spotted the car, and the footage seemed to confirm what the students had reported. A camera showed a car, possibly a Maruti Celerio or a Hyundai i10, at the spot around 12.35am. Its front door was open and it appeared that a woman was calling out for help, said a second police officer. The CCTV, however, had failed to capture the cars number plate. The Haryana registration number that the first PCR car shared was a dead-end police said the number was registered to a two-wheeler. Thus, police focused their attention to CCTVs along the route which the car was suspected to have taken. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras which issue automatic speeding challans are present on the Barapullah flyover at Sewa Nagar and at the DND Flyover. We expected the car to have passed these camera locations at a high-speed between 12.45am and 1.30am, said DCP Chowdhary. However, the ANPR cameras did not capture the car. The police also alerted their counterparts in Noida, where the car was suspected to be driven to, but the tip-off went fruitless. To be sure, police suspect that the car at South Extension and the car that the PCR vans chased are the same, but there is no concrete evidence. We suspect that the students who first reported the matter to us were not able to note down the number correctly. That is why there is the discrepancy in the registration numbers, said an investigator, who is not authorised to speak to the media. Read: Two women shot dead in Delhi's RK Puram, Kejriwal slams Centre By Monday evening, police concluded that the events were likely a dispute between known people. The investigator quoted above said, We have reached out to hostels and paying guest accommodations in the area to know if any woman has gone missing, but for now it looks like that it was a personal issue rather than a case of kidnapping. Chowdhary, meanwhile, said, Efforts are still on to verify and trace the unknown (woman) It seems that the possibility of it being a case of kidnapping is unlikely. It could probably be a matter of some dispute between known persons. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said he will raise during a June 23 meeting of Opposition parties the issue of a central ordinance that gave control of the citys bureaucracy to the lieutenant governor (LG), and discuss how the Union government may replicate it in other states to strip them of their autonomy. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal during a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday. (HT PHOTO) Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Kejriwal added that he hopes the Congress is asked to clear its stand on the ordinance during the meeting, convened by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in Patna. Read: Opposition parties unlikely to ink common minimum programme at Patna meet Opposition parties are expected to explore at the meeting the possibility of a common ground to put up a united fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 general elections. I will explain to leaders of other parties that the Centre has promulgated the ordinance in Delhi not just because it is a semi-state. I will tell them it can be brought in any state...Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab, Kejriwal said. Through the ordinance, the Centre can take away any state governments autonomy to legislate on a topic mentioned in the concurrent list, he added. The Union government on May 19 promulgated an ordinance that effectively nullified a May 11 order of the Supreme Court that reinforced that the authority of the elected government in controlling bureaucrats in all but three domains in Delhi. The ordinance reopened a battle that seemed to have been settled by the Supreme Courts ruling. The ordinance also provided for creating a National Capital Civil Service Authority and Public Service Commission for transfers and postings of officers. Over the past month, Kejriwal has met several Opposition leaders to garner support against the ordinance. His campaigns are also aimed at halting any move by the Centre to turn its ordinance into a full-fledged law in Parliament, particularly in the Rajya Sabha. The Congress is yet to take a stand on the ordinance, and the partys state-level leaders, especially in Delhi and Punjab, have implored the senior leadership against supporting the AAP. I hope the ordinance will be the first topic of discussion in the meeting and other parties will ask the Congress to make its stand clear on the ordinance, Kejriwal said. The Congress is keeping its cards close to its chest but two Rajya Sabha leaders maintained that there is no question of supporting any ordinance of the Narendra Modi government. Read: Rise above party line to oppose ordinance: Kejriwal to Congress We will discuss the issue with our state unit. But one thing is clear, the Congress party will not support the ordinance. We might not support AAP in Parliament and take an independent stand. The party is yet to decide how it will approach the ordinance issue in Parliament. With the possibility of supporting the ordinance virtually nil, the Congress might decide to attack both AAP and the BJP during the discussion on the related bill. We might also think of abstaining and not voting on the bill. We have many options in hand, said a second leader. Several opposition parties including Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Trinamool Congress, CPI(M), and Bharat Rashtra Samiti have lent the AAP support in their pushback against the ordinance. Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor, meanwhile, said that after failing to get any concrete assurance from most opposition parties including Congress over ordinance, Kejriwal is now trying to create fear in the minds of opposition leaders. After the June 23 meeting of opposition parties Kejriwal will realise that he is a unwelcome entry in the event as most opposition parties consider him to be threat as hops around the country with Prime Ministerial ambition, Kapoor said. The ordinance cast a bundle of new provisions in the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act, 1991 and handed back control of Delhis administrative machinery to the LG. The Supreme Courts May 11 judgment found no justification in a 2015 notification of the Centre putting services as found in Entry 41 of List II (State List) of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India beyond the ambit of the legislative and executive power of the elected government in the national capital. A Delhi court on Tuesday sent to five days police custody the two accused arrested in the killing of a 19-year-old Delhi University student. The deceased, Nikhil Chauhan. (HT PHOTO) Offence alleged is serious in nature as it has been stated that the accused persons were involved in the murder of the victim/deceased and some of the co-accused are yet to be apprehended, said duty metropolitan magistrate Anamika in the order. The two accused Mohammad Haroon alias Anas, 19, and Rahul allegedly stabbed Nikhil Chauhan to death on Sunday outside DUs Aryabhatta college over an old altercation. Anas was nabbed hours after the incident, while Rahul was apprehended on Monday. The investigation officer (IO) sought a five-day custody in order to recover the murder weapon, arrest other accused in the case, and conduct further investigation, officials said. The court after perusing the documents and hearing the submissions sent Anas and Rahul to police custody. They will now be produced before the court on June 25. A family court in Jaipur allowed a man to pay maintenance worth 55,000 through one and two rupees coins to his wife after defaulting on his dues for the past 11 months. Dashrath Kumawat's family brought seven sacks of the amount to the court after he was arrested on June 17 over non-payment of dues. His wife Seema's counsel Ramprakash Kumawat dubbed the act as mental harassment, PTI reported. Coins brought by the man to pay for maintenance during divorce proceeding. (Twitter) Also Read| Law does not recognise live-in relationship as marriage, says Kerala high court: Report The court allowed the payment but asked Dashrath to count the coins in court and make packets of 1,000 each and hand them over to his estranged wife at the next hearing on June 26. During the divorce case hearing, the court had directed Kumawat to pay the maintenance amount of 5,000 to his estranged wife but he had not paid it for the last 11 months. As a result, he was arrested after the court issued a recovery warrant against him. His lawyer told PTI that the man was arrested after refusing to pay maintenance. Due to holidays, the family court was closed and he was produced in the link court of Additional District Judge (ADG)-number 8. The lawyer of his wife objected after the family members arrived in court with coins worth 55,000 which were in denominations of Re 1 and 2. Dashrath Kumawat's lawyer argued that the coins are legal tender and nobody can refuse to accept them. While allowing the arrested husband to give the coins to his wife after counting them in the next hearing, the judge said coins will remain in the court's custody. Governor CV Ananda Bose went ahead with the commemoration of West Bengals foundation day on Tuesday even as chief minister Mamata Banerjee called for cancelling the programmes to mark it as it would rekindle bitter memories of the states creation after partition. West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose at West Bengal foundation day celebrations in Kolkata. (PTI) Banerjee pointed out the state was not founded on any particular day, least of all on June 20, and that it was formed through the infamous Radcliffe Award, referring to the demarcation of IndiaPakistan and what is now India-Bangladeshfrontier. In a two-page letter to Bose on Monday, she requested him to cancel the celebrations. I am stunned and shocked to know that you have decided to organise a programme...at Raj Bhavan, Kolkata, commemorating what you have peculiarly chosen to describe as the State Foundation of West Bengal, Banerjee wrote. She cited a telephonic discussion earlier in the day and said Bose admitted that a unilateral and non-consultative decision to declare the states foundation day is unwarranted. Banerjee pointed out West Bengal was carved out through a painful and traumatic process. The partition left tens of thousands dead and millions displaced. Banerjee wrote they have since independence, never rejoiced, commemorated, or celebrated any day as the foundation day of West Bengal. Rather, we have seen the Partition as a result of unleashing of communal forces that could not be resisted at that point in time, she said. Bose went ahead with the flagging off a peace run of National Cadet Corps cadets in the first of a series of programmes scheduled on Tuesday as a part of the state foundation day celebrations. This comes days after Bose told the media that he has an excellent working relationship with the Banerjee-led administration despite disagreements. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) government was earlier at loggerheads with Boses predecessor, Jagdeep Dhankhar, who has since become the vice president. In December 2020, TMC wrote to then-President Ram Nath Kovind demanding Dhankhars removal. Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) backed Bose over the state foundation day celebrations. Sukanta Majumdar, the state BJP chief, said Banerjee should observe the day. It was on June 20, 1947, that the legislative assembly of Bengal met and took a decision on the partition of Bengal. This is history. We cannot deny it. The governor is observing this day. The BJP will participate if she [Banerjee] celebrates this day. The state BJP was also expected to observe the state foundation day in Kolkata on Tuesday. Ahead of the opposition parties meeting in Patna on June 23, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has called a meeting of her party leaders and office bearers in the state unit office in Lucknow on Wednesday (June 21). Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati. (HT file photo) In a tweet on Tuesday, Mayawati said, In view of the rapidly changing political situation in Uttar Pradesh and the country, an important strategic meeting of BSP Uttar Pradesh state unit has been summoned in Lucknow tomorrow (Wednesday). All divisional and district level senior office bearers will be present there to discuss special political developments and equations related to the political situation as well as the preparations for the upcoming general elections etc. Mayawatis decision to hold a meeting before opposition parties Patna meeting has sparked speculations in the political circle that she may make some announcement over her partys strategy or alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Janata Dal (United) that is hosting opposition parties meeting in Patna has not extended invitation to the BSP while rivals Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary have been invited to the meeting. Senior Janata Dal (U) leader KC Tyagi said, The BSP has not been invited as it has not opposed the Modi government. BSP MP from Bijnor Lok Sabha seat, Malook Nagar said, The opposition parties alliance will not be successful without the BSP. The BSP polled around 13% vote in the 2022 assembly election in Uttar Pradesh. It has a strong support base in Uttar Pradesh to challenge the might of the BJP in the Lok Sabha election. Though the BSP has not been invited to the opposition meeting, the party chief will take a decision over the pre-poll alliance with other political parties for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, he said. Even as Mayawati has announced to go solo in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, senior party leaders have urged her to opt for alliance with smaller political parties that enjoy influence in various regions and caste groups. Mahan Dal led by Keshav Dev Maurya that enjoys influence over the other backward castes Shakya, Saini, Kushwaha and Maurya communities in central UP has extended unconditional support to the BSP in the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Mahan Dal was an alliance partner of the SP in the 2022 assembly election. Maurya said, The BSP has the support of the Dalit community voters. The support of OBC and Muslim voters will not only assist it in regaining its lost ground but also in winning seats in west and central Uttar Pradesh that was once the stronghold of the BSP. Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar had also offered to join hands with the BSP after ending alliance with the Samajwadi Party. If the opposition parties plan to challenge the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh, they cannot ignore the BSP, he said. All India Majlis-e- Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by Asaduddin Owaisi had also offered alliance with the BSP in the 2022 assembly election. Though the BSP rejected the alliance offer the AIMIM leaders are in contact with the BSP senior leaders to stitch an alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The AIMIM joined the Grand United Secular Front with the BSP, SBSP, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, Samajwadi Janata Dal Democratic and Janvadi Party Socialist to contest the 2020 Bihar assembly election. The AIMIM secured victory on five seats while the BSP bagged one seat. Senior BSP leader and MLC Bhimrao Ambedkar said, BSP is a national political party that has base in several states. Party chief Mayawati became chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for four terms. Rather than projecting a leader of another political party as PM, the BSP will project Mayawati as PM candidate. The BSP will welcome the like-minded parties that will support our PM candidate, he said. The BSP contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election in alliance with SP in Uttar Pradesh. It polled 19.43% vote and bagged 10 seats while SP won 5 seats. In the 2022 U.P. assembly election, the BSP polled 12.88% vote and bagged merely one seat. The party is working on Dalit-OBC-Muslim alliance to regain its lost ground in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON For Nikash Harapanahalli from the US state of Texas, the opportunity to learn Urdu in Lucknow is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This city is one of the most dynamic, refined and sophisticated in India, he said. US students met V-C Prof AK Rai during their visit to LU on Tuesday (HT Photo) Nikash and nine other American students arrived at the University of Lucknow on Tuesday to learn Urdu and Persian during their eight-week stay in the city. Not only will the university hold classes for them twice a week, but it will also acquaint them with Indian culture and ethos. These students already have a knowledge of these two languages and have come here to hone their skills and diction. This development is a result of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the University of Lucknow and the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS), New Delhi. In line with this collaboration, Lucknow University is offering a short-term course spanning eight weeks to teach Urdu and Persian to American students, said Prof RP Singh, director, international collaboration and ISA. Julia Norman from Los Angeles says they are fortunate to have been given the opportunity to study Urdu in Lucknow. Julia hopes to develop language skills here at LU. This citys rich culture and vibrant history makes this an ideal place, she said. Meredith Church from the University of Colorado says they are fascinated by the history and confluence of culture in Lucknow. Honoured to have the opportunity to learn Urdu at such a special place, she said. Elena Deegan-Krause from Williams College says they are enjoying the opportunity to learn Urdu and its interesting etymology, especially in such a beautiful city with welcoming professors and hosts. The MoU aims to foster mutual academic collaboration, particularly in the faculties of science, arts, social science, commerce and management, and studies in Indian civilization, Indian culture, languages, and social sciences, he added. An induction meeting was organised by the office for international affairs, which saw the participation of the American scholars: Meredith Church, Elena Deegan-Krause, Kathryn Delgado, Nikash Harapanahalli, Nathalie Martinez, Julia Norman, Quinn Kanner, Hiba Siddiqui, Thomas Zugell, and Arivumani Srivastava. Professor John Caldwell, residential director from the US, accompanied the students during the meeting. LU vice-chancellor Prof Alok Kumar Rai stated that the American students will have an opportunity to learn the sublime ideals of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family) on the campus. The scholars are eager to delve into the study of Indian culture, history, philosophy, and the Indian milieu, in addition to their language training, said Prof Poonam Tandon, dean, academics, LU. Prof Syed Ghulam Nabi Ahmad, head of the Persian department guided the students on a campus visit, acquainting them with the universitys facilities and surroundings. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON BARABANKI Its a two-front battle for patients in different wards of Barabanki district hospital they are struggling against ailment and also hot-n-humid weather. As the ceiling fan runs at snails pace, attendants in emergency ward-3 here have no choice but to use hand fans to provide relief to the patients! An attendant uses a hand fan to comfort a patient at the Barabanki district hospital. (Deepak GuptaHT Photo) There is no other way out since we got Shanu, 30, admitted here for his liver problem. Doctors have advised medicine, but the heat in the ward is unbearable, said his sister even as heavy rains lashed Lucknow district around 12 pm on Tuesday, leading to increased humidity. A status check revealed that the heat is compounding the woes of patients as health facilities in the periphery of the state capital grapple with poor infrastructure. At least 68 people, who were admitted to UPs Ballia district hospital in a serious condition, have died of different ailments over the past few days, with the state reeling under a sweltering heat wave. One or two coolers are ineffective in one ward of this Barabanki hospital. Not just patients, even the paramedical staff has to bear with coolers running without water while the air conditioner installed in the burn ward is also not cool enough. However, senior officials claim that the issue will be resolved soon. We have bought coolers and a few air conditioners. We are sending a proposal for air conditioning of the entire complex comprising several wards, said Dr Brajesh Kumar, chief medical superintendent, Barabanki district hospital that gets an average 1,500 patients every day in the OPD. Patients at the Barabanki hospital are luckier than their counterparts at the nearby Jatha Barauli community health centre (CHC), which gets power supply only for about three hours during the day. The inverter powers the tube lights and fans for another hour. For the rest of the time, we use gamchha (cotton towel) as fan, said a CHC staff. A solar light is installed but it illuminates only the courtyard. Locals say there are hardly any emergency cases here as people prefer not to drive through the potholed road to access this facility. People can quickly reach a hospital in Lucknow instead of coming to this place, said Shiv Shankar, a villager. The daily average count of patients in the OPD is 60 as compared to 120 in the Satrikh community health centre, just 7 kms from Jatha Barauli. Dr Kuldeep Maurya, heading this health centre, said: For the past two years, we have not been provided funds for fuel to run the generator. We are dependent on power stored in the battery. At the Satrikh CHC, it is all dust along the corridor, doctors chambers and even the emergency wing is partly blocked with paint cans while the staff is busy the cleaning the campus in anticipation of an inspection. Patients who came till 9.30am had no choice but to wait. I came to see a gynecologist. I have got the OPD slip, but the doctor is yet to arrive, said a pregnant Sarita, who came at 9.15am from a nearby village and kept sitting on the bench in the lobby. The emergency ward had just one staff busy cleaning the room. Doctors claim they have enough stock of medicines, but this isnt benefiting many due to poor patient inflow in majority of the health centres because of poor infrastructure facilities. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON LUCKNOW A woman sub-inspector in Bareilly, who applied for marriage with a Muslim man under the Special Marriage Act, was transferred to Sambhal district on Monday, police officials said on Tuesday. The Special Marriage Act allows two people from different religions to tie the knot without changing their faith. (Pic for representation) The Special Marriage Act allows two people from different religions to tie the knot without changing their faith. But the controversy erupted when the S-Is family, who are from Meerut, accused the Muslim man of forcibly making her embrace Islam. The family had requested authorities to transfer her to another district closer to their native place Meerut so that she could be brought out of the influence of the man. A senior police official said the woman S-I had almost completed her maximum time period of seven years in Bareilly district and her transfer was already pending. He, however, added that the request made by her family was also considered, following which she was transferred to Sambhal, which is closer to Meerut. The official said the S-I did not turn up before senior authorities when asked about her viewpoint. Another police official said that the sub-inspector was absent from duty since Thursday without informing her seniors. Bareilly city magistrate N Ram, who is in-charge of the Sadar sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) in the absence of SDM Pratush Pandey, confirmed that the sub-inspector had applied to get married to the Muslim man under the Special Marriage Act. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath appealed to the people of the state to adopt yoga on the eve of International Yoga Day on Tuesday. The CM made the appeal in a video message on his official Twitter handle. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. (HT file photo) The practice of yoga never goes in vain and removes all sorrows. Hearty congratulations and best wishes to all of you on the 9th International Yoga Day. Yoga keeps both body and mind healthy. It is the medium of health, happiness, peace, harmony. Yoga has been an integral part of our eternal tradition since the beginning. Yoga is an invaluable gift of Indian saints, which has been presented to the world at large by Prime Minister Modi for the well-being of people, Yogi wrote. Accepting the importance of the yoga, most of the countries of the world expressed their gratitude towards the tradition of India. This year, its theme has been kept Har Aangan Yoga by the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India. Its aim is to achieve wellness and health benefits by connecting every family with yoga. Yoga Day is being organised widely in the state. Thats why you must adopt yoga. Be healthy, be happy, the CM said. Yogi, ministers to take part in events across state On the occasion of International Yoga Day, CM Yogi will do yoga with people at Gorakhnath temple complex in Gorakhpur. Governor Anandiben Patel will take part in a yoga session on the Raj Bhavan premises in Lucknow. Finance minister Suresh Khanna will attend one such event at Residency and Union minister of state for housing and urban affairs Kaushal Kishore will practise yoga with people at Kakori Shaheed Smarak in Lucknow. Minister of state for minority welfare Danish Azad Ansari will join a yoga session in Madrasa Darul Uloom Warsia, in Vishal Khand Ujariaon. Moreover, all 150 affiliated and 111 non-affiliated madrasas of state capital will also organise yoga sessions. All 17,500 recognised madrasas of Uttar Pradesh will organise Yoga sessions on Wednesday morning, said Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, chairman, Uttar Pradesh State Madrasa Education Board. The University of Lucknow will celebrate the occasion in the presence of vice chancellor Prof Alok Kumar Rai. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday questioned Sanville, alias Sam DSouza, about his alleged role in the conspiracy to extort 25 crore from actor Shah Rukh Khan in exchange for not booking his son Aryan in the 2021 Cordellia cruise drugs bust case. Mumbai, India - January 04, 2022: Cordelia Empress cruise ship arrives from Goa at Mumbai International Cruise Terminal after more than 2,000 passengers aboard the ship are stuck on the vessel as 66 people tested positive for COVID, in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, January 04, 2021. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/ HT Photo) (HT PHOTO) Agency officials said DSouza arrived at the CBI headquarters in Delhi along with his lawyers around 10.30 am and was grilled for around nine hours. He was asked about the chain of events related to the alleged extortion bid, about the alleged role another accused K P Gosavi played, and whether three then Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officers, including its former Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, were part of the conspiracy, the officials said. DSouza was also asked about the allegations made by a deceased witness, Prabhakar Sail, that a bribe of 50 lakh was obtained from the actors family, of which 38 lakh was then sent to him by Gosavi via Sail. However, CBI sources said, DSouza denied the allegations. DSouza left the CBI office around 7.30 pm. His lawyer Pankaj Jadhav said the questioning would continue on Wednesday. DSouza told the investigators what he had already mentioned in his court submissions. He will cooperate in the probe. If the allegations against him were true then Aryan or his family would have filed a complaint, but they did not. The CBI on May 11 booked five people Wankhede, Vishwa Vijay Singh, then superintendent, NCB, Ashish Ranjan, then intelligence officer of the NCBs Mumbai zonal unit, Gosavi and DSouza in connection with the Cordelia cruise drugs bust case. The CBIs case was based on the findings recorded by the NCBs special enquiry team. CBI officials said their probe is looking at the FIRs three components related to allegations linked to the bribery conspiracy, misconduct, and disproportionate assets. A team of the NCBs Mumbai zonal unit had on October 2, 2021, carried out searches at the Goa-bound cruise and arrested Aryan and several others, including two women. It claimed that it had seized some narcotic substance as well. A special investigation team of the NCB in May 2022 gave a clean chit to Aryan and five others. KALYAN: Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis left no stone while slamming Shivsena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray while addressing a public rally at Kalyans Phadke ground on Monday, marking the completion of nine years of Narendra Modi as Prime minister of India Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at Kalyans Phadke Ground while addressing a public meeting to mark nine years of Modi government on Monday, June 19, 2023 (Pramod Tambe/HT PHOTO) Speaking to party workers and residents, he said,You are the real cheater who cheated the voters for power and position. The 2.5 years in power is like Kumbhakaran in power. During the elections BJP and Shivsena asked for votes together. However, Uddhav Thackeray changed his intentions for power, backstabbed the BJP and cheated us, said Fadnavis. Eknath Shinde remained with the same people from whom he sought votes. He did not cheat. Hence you are the real cheater, he added. The public meet was also attended by Panchayati Raj minister Kapil Patil, BJP minister Ravindra Chavan, BJPs other MLAs and party workers. Fadnavis wished Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Shiv Senas anniversary. Shiv Sena has two programs today for its anniversary. One program is being held under the leadership of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who saved the Shiv Sena, and the second under Uddhav Thackeray, who drowned the ideas of the Shiv Sena leaders, he said. Our prime minister is the one who celebrated Diwali with our jawan at the border. While Uddhav Thackeray does not even meet his sainiks at Worli, he said. Fadnavis highlighted the appointment of Special investigating Team (SIT) by Eknath Shinde against the 12,500 scams in Brihanmumbai municipal corporation. With the help of SIT, Fadnavis assured to bring back the money. During the public address, Fadnavis also threw light on the various works undertaken by PM Narendra Modi worth crores of rupees under various schemes. He also urged people to vote for Narendra Modi for the upcoming elections promising developments. Can they tell me a single project they did for Mumbai Metropolitan Region during their tenure, he said, claiming no works were undertaken by Uddhav Thackeray in MMR. Mumbai: A special MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act) court has ordered a departmental inquiry against the superintendent of Banda central jail, Uttar Pradesh, for releasing three persons who were booked in an extortion case in the city and failing to communicate about their release to the special court. HT Image The trio Mohamed Salman Qureshi, Sanjay Salunkhe and Wajid Shah was arrested in Maharashtra and sent to UP for the trial of a cheating case that was registered there. They were released in June and July last year after a local court granted them bail in the cheating case. The three were arrested in an extortion case in Mumbai followed by the Nasik arms haul case in December 2017. The special court said that the superintendent of the Central Prison at Banda was continuously directed to produce the accused before the MCOCA court either physically or through video conferencing. However, the accused were not produced before the court and therefore, a show-cause notice was also issued to him on June 12, 2023, as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him. After the notice, the prison authorities produced the fourth accused before the special court with a report that the other three accused were granted bail last year and have been released from prison. In its report, the authority claimed that the superintendent had sent a radiogram to the MCOCA court on January 28 which showed that Qureshi, Salunkhe and Shah had been released from the jail on July 29, June 2 and June 22 in 2022, respectively. The court fumed with the reply and noted, It is serious misconduct on the part of the superintendent, central prison, Banda, Uttar Pradesh. Hence, departmental proceedings are required to be initiated against him by the competent authority. In December 2017, the Nashik rural police seized 25 rifles, one machine gun, 19 revolvers and 4,166 live cartridges, near Chandwad toll plaza on the Mumbai-Agra highway. The police had arrested Baduddin Juman Badshah, alias Sumit alias Suka, and Amir Rashid Shaikh in connection with the arms haul. It was claimed that Suka, a Sewri resident wanted to start his own gang in the city and had gone to UP to buy firearms. In UP, when the shopkeeper refused to give them the arms and ammunition, they looted the entire shop and ran with weapons. However, the police nabbed them in Maharashtra. After the arrest, Sukas father approached a Chembur-based businessman for money and blamed him for Badshahs arrest. The complainant claimed that after the accused threatened to kill him, the businessman lodged a formal complaint with the RAK Marg police in December 2017 based on which an extortion case was registered and the trio were arrested along with Suka and Shaikh. Mumbai: A case has been registered against the producer Asit Kumarr Modi, operations head Sohail Ramani and executive producer Jatin Bajaj of the popular television show Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah for allegedly sexually harassing one of the female actors during the shooting. When contacted, the PR team of the producers said, We deny all allegations and have given a statement to the police. In any case, the matter is under investigation, hence, no further comments. (Getty Images) In her complaint, the actor claimed that ever since she started shooting for the show in 2008, Modi had been asking her to come and drink with him. He also allegedly made several other comments and gestures which she ignored at the time. Ramani and Bajaj, she alleged, used inappropriate language with her multiple times and would also make her work longer hours even when she asked for personal time off. In the FIR, the actor said that she made a complaint against the three accused with the National Womens Commission on April 8 and made a written complaint to the Powai police on May 24. In her complaint, she also said that the set of the show was not safe for women. The complainant said that her refusal to comply with Modis offer to drink together would lead to him finding fault with her work. He would also pinch my cheeks, say inappropriate things about my appearance and say he would have hugged me if we were together while talking over the phone, she said in her statement to the police. The actor went on to say that she had confided in some of her co-stars about Modis advances which made her feel uncomfortable. The male actor, who played her husband, then started protecting her from unpleasant scenarios after that, she said in the complaint. Another female actor, who was told about the situation, also jokingly asked Modi why he always only made drinking plans with the complainant, according to her statement to the police. She added that this put a stop to Modi taking liberties with her. Ramani, she said, used abusive language with her over the phone when she asked for some time off. On asking him how he could speak that way with a woman, he threatened me with consequences. After that, he would make it difficult for me to take time off and would often stop my fees from being paid in time, she claimed in her statement to the police. On March 6 this year, she claimed that things took an ugly turn and she decided to rush off from the sets while Ramani and Bajaj spoke rudely to her and threatened to replace her. The trio has been booked under sections 354A (sexual harassment), 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. When contacted, the PR team of the producers said, We deny all allegations and have given a statement to the police. In any case, the matter is under investigation, hence, no further comments. The Ghaziabad municipal commissioner has ordered an inquiry and sought a detailed report about the civic bodys waste management sites or garbage factories at Ret Mandi and Sihani after mayor Sunita Dayal discovered several irregularities at the Ret Mandi site during a surprise visit on Tuesday and asked for a full investigation. The Ret Mandi waste management site in Ghaziabad on Tuesday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo) I found several issues during a visit to the garbage factory at Ret Mandi. It just seemed like a huge waste dump, with no actual waste segregation. The machines at the site were removed three months ago. The workers didnt even have basic protection gear like masks or gloves, mayor Dayal said, adding that the facilities meant for the workers children were locked. The two waste management sites were set up in 2022 to collect, sort and send residual waste to the civic bodys processing site in Morta. One site, Ret Mandi, handles daily solid waste from the Ghaziabad municipal corporations (GMC) city area, while the other one in Sihani handles waste from the Kavi Nagar area. Each site can segregate 250-300 metric tonnes of daily solid waste. GMC built them because it has no facility to scientifically dispose of the 1,400 metric tonnes of waste it generates daily. There has been a proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in Galand for the past several years, but no construction has begun due to local residents opposition. During a visit to the Ret Mandi site on August 27, 2022, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath checked the waste handling, and interacted with the workers children at the playschool inside the garbage management site. Municipal commissioner Nitin Gaur directed officials to launch an investigation, and sought a report in two days. If problems are found, we will fix them immediately. Ive talked with officials about the mayors visit and the state of the site. They told me that a company has been hired to install a conveyor belt at the site but it has not been built. Waste is being manually sorted, but even that has been stopped due to rains in the last couple of days. The additional municipal commissioner will hold the inquiry, Gaur said, adding that GMC will correct any mistakes once the report is ready. Explaining the waste handling process at the two sites, Ghaziabad municipal health officer Mithilesh Kumar said, The garbage collected from homes is brought to these sites. Until now, sorting was done by hand, but a machine is being set up to do it. A company will turn wet waste into manure, while dry waste will be sorted, and the leftovers will be sent to Morta for further processing. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A 32-year-old man from Kashipur in Uttarakhand was arrested in Ghaziabads Loni for rape and attempting to convert a 35-year-old widow, police officers familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. According to the police, they filed a first information report against the suspect under Indian Penal Code sections 376 (rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), and the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act. The FIR was registered at Ankur Vihar police station. (Representational Image) According to the police, the woman, who is also the mother of three children, met the suspect, Salman, who goes by his first name, about a year ago. They added that as per the womans complaint, Salman introduced himself as Ankit Gurjar and became friends with her. Later, he began to pay frequent visits to her house and to stay with her, said officers associated with the case. In the meantime, the woman learned about the suspects religious practices and discovered that he follows a different faith. This resulted in a disagreement between them, after which the suspect began pressuring her to convert to his faith and wear specific clothing. He also assaulted her several times. The woman eventually approached us and filed a complaint, said Vivek Singh, assistant commissioner of police (Ankur Vihar). According to the police, they filed a first information report against the suspect under Indian Penal Code sections 376 (rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), and the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act. The FIR was registered at Ankur Vihar police station. Salman was arrested on Tuesday. During questioning, he said he is married and introduced himself under a different name to get close to the woman. Salman remained with his wife while beginning a live-in relationship with the complainant. He was forcing the woman to convert to his religion, and when she refused, he assaulted her, said ACP Singh. The police said the woman was also taken to the hospital for a medical examination. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Tejasvi Surya and president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) on Monday hit out at the Congress government over the alleged scam in states public service commission. He said public service commissions in states are known for the transparent selection process. (Tejasvi Surya | Twitter) Surya alleged that the Congress government has turned the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission into a money collection company. Surya was in Raipur where a protest was organised to gherao the official residence of the chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. Surya said the issue will be probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) if the BJP comes to power in the state in the upcoming polls. Also Read: Tejasvi Surya on Karnataka govts move to repeal anti-conversion law: PFI agenda The Chhattisgarh assembly elections are scheduled to be held at the end of this year. The PSC in states is known for its transparent selection process but viewing the selection of candidates in the last 3-4 years in Chhattisgarh, I can say CGPSC is the worst and most corrupt commission in the country. The irregularities and corruption in the CGPSC show the commission raj of the collection master, Surya alleged. Also Watch: Autocratic: Tejasvi Surya vs Gehlot govt showdown over Karauli violence | Key points Calling out Surya for his statements, Congress said the allegations are completely baseless. Surya is a lawyer, and he can go to court if he has any evidence. The allegations are totally baseless, and the BJP has no single evidence against the PSC, said Congress spokesperson RP Singh. LUCKNOW The management of the citys Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport (CCSIA) has deployed bird chasers, scarecrows, zon guns, thunder bombs, and a six-shot launcher to shoo away birds getting close to the aircraft. To avoid the risk of birds hitting any aircraft, the airport management also conducted Wildlife Hazard and Height Restriction (WHHR) awareness workshops in Chillawan and Sarojini Nagar villages located near the airport. Zon gun at Lucknow airport. (HT Photo) Sharing further details, the CCSI Airport Spokesperson said, Inside the airport boundary, the CCSIA has undertaken several measures like deploying bird chasers, scarecrows, zon guns, thunder bombs, and a six-shot launcher to keep birds away. Recently, the airport also acquired two vehicle-mounted devices to keep the birds away, Speaking on the awareness campaign, the spokesperson added, The Lucknow Airport continuously employs various measures to ensure the safety of passengers and aircraft. The airport informed villagers of Chillawan and Sarojini Nagar about the benefits of maintaining cleanliness for the safety of passengers flying from Lucknow Airport. Information regarding risks associated with wildlife or bird activity around the aerodrome was also given to villagers. The airport officials also advised the villagers to cover the waste bins that will keep the birds and other animals away. Recently, the Lucknow Airport officials had an Airport Environment Management Committee meeting with the district administration for safe flight operations. Issues such as the disposal of garbage that attracts birds and wildlife close to the airport, and the accumulation of water, among others were discussed during it. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) in Meghalaya lost the floor test when KHADC chief executive member (CEM) Titosstarwell Chyne lost the no-confidence motion moved by NPP MDC Bajop Pyngrope on the first day of the monsoon session of the council on Monday. KHADC chief executive member Titosstarwell Chyne lost the no-confidence motion moved by NPP MDC Bajop Pyngrope. (Titos Chyne | Twitter) After this development, the path has been cleared for the election of a new executive committee (EC), the election of which will take place on Tuesday. Informing that 17 MDCs (member of district council) out of the house of 29 councillors have reinforced the motion with their full support, KHADC chairman Lamphrang Blah said, The Executive Committee-led by Titos has lost the floor test. The election for the CEM will be held on June 20 at 11am. Of the 29-member house, UDP has 9, NPP 12, Congress 6, HSPDP 1 and an independent Latiplang Kharkongor. Also Read:High time for state to review reservation policy: Meghalaya Congress secretary Reacting on the developments, Chyne said, I thought the politics of betrayal is a thing of the past but today I realised that it is very much alive in KHADC. I was stabbed in the back by my own friends. Speaking to media persons, Chyne said the NC was moved merely for convenience of politics, even as he wondered why the MDCs did not specify or pinpoint what decisions were taken by Chyne alone. When asked if the NPP had a role in his ouster, since Pyngrope is from the NPP, Chyne refused to comment saying he was not interested in the inter party relationship at the state level. He did, however, reveal that a meeting of the UDA happened last week in which some executive members were not present. Former CEM and current NPP councilor Pyniaid Sing Syiem is expected to be elected as the new chief of the KHADC on Tuesday. The new EC consisting of 12 NPP and 6 Congress MDCs will be christened Khasi Hills Democratic Front (KHDF). Despite him being elected unopposed, Syiem did file his nomination for the CEM post. He announced that the alliance will be led by him as chairman while councillor Teibor Pathaw is expected to be the secretary, Defending the Congress move to support the NPP even as it sits in opposition in the assembly, Congress leader of opposition and current MDC in the council Ronnie V Lyngdoh clarified that it was a collective party decision. If we do not support the NPP, then I fear in all likelihood governors rule might be imposed, he told media persons even as he asserted that the mandate of the council which is to protect, preserve the customary practice of the indigenous people, must be preserved. Meanwhile, UDP (United Democratic Party) president Metbah Lyngdoh has expressed displeasure at The political turn of events. UDP, the second largest party in the assembly, is an integral part of the MDA 2.0 coalition government in the state. Lyngdoh said he will speak with the chief minister on the issue. I will talk to the chief minister on the matter as grievances, if any, should have been discussed and addressed and instead, the NC was brought in the eleventh hour, he said. LUCKNOW Despite strict directives from chief minister Yogi Adityanath and several visits from energy minister AK Sharma, the occurrences of prolonged power outages continue to irk residents across the state. Protests reported in Thakurganj, Rajajipuram, and other areas as well. (HT File) In Utrethia, the situation went a little out of hand in the wee hours of Monday when locals gathered outside the power substation with rods and sticks to beat up the staff present there. While most of the staff members managed to flee the spot, the mob caught hold of the power operator and thrashed him. For three hours, the people, who were frustrated with frequent outages, even kept the operator as a hostage. The development came after the power supply of more than 12,000 houses was snapped for more than 12 hours due to a cable fault. Notably, Utrethias old substation gets supply through underground cables from the Sarojini Nagar Transmission Centre and it took a long time for the LESA engineers to detect the fault in the cable. The fault, which occurred on Sunday noon, was repaired only on Monday. On the same night, locals barged inside the Azad Nagar substation in Thakurganj. The whole locality had plunged into darkness at 12:15 am. When the power supply was not restored till 1:30 am, the area residents lost patience and went inside the switch yard, demanding closure of all feeders. Taking cognisance, SSO Jagdish Tiwari reached the spot and tried to pacify the raging crowd. However, taking advantage of the kerfuffle, someone snatched the SSOs official mobile. On Monday night demonstrations were also reported from 12 other substations of the city, reflecting the poor condition of power supply in the state capital. People affected by the power cuts created a ruckus at the Ambedkar University substation. The mob there even beat up the power staff. As soon as the information was received, a police team reached the spot and pacified locals. In yet another incident, irritated residents gheraoed the Pal Tiraha sub-station of Rajajipuram. When asked about the incidents, Sanjay Jain, chief engineer, Cis-Gomti, LESA, said, The incidents of staff being manhandled by locals have been taken seriously. They were performing their duties when some people attacked them. We urge residents to remain calm as the staff is trying its best to repair faults. 34 transformers damaged across Lucknow Around 34 transformers were damaged in different parts of city on Monday. The residents of Kharika have complained that even after 15 hours of the transformer getting damaged, it has not been changed. Damage to transformer was reported from Asiamau near Pal Trisection in Rajajipuram; from the City Hospital in Alambagh; and from the Jagat Narain Road as well. MD Madhyanchal Bhawani Singh Khangarot has directed the officials to replace damaged transformers immediately. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON LUCKNOW In the wake of a power operator being thrashed by locals infuriated over power cuts in Utrethia, the chairman of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL), M Devraj, made a surprise visit to the Utrethia power substation on Tuesday. During his visit, the senior official gave ears to the problems being faced by the consumers and the power staff. The chairman also inspected the damaged transformer and burnt Aerial Bunch cable in Gandhi Nagar. (HT File) The UPPCL chief also asked power staffers to explain why the feeders had to be shut down again and again and why was issue of overloaded transformers and lines not solved earlier. Devraj also directed power officials to be transparent with consumers. Whatever work has to be done in the area should be completed without delay. If the supply is interrupted due to a major fault, consumers must be informed about the real situation. They should be told how much time it will take for the repair, said Devraj. Meanwhile, the officials of the substation informed the chairman that there is a sudden increase in load between 12 am and 4 am in some areas. In order to stop power theft, 1,500 FIRs have been lodged so far and 2.5 crore revenue has been recovered. The chairman also spoke to the senior superintendent of police over the phone and asked him to take immediate action on the FIRs lodged. The chairman also inspected the damaged transformer and burnt Aerial Bunch cable in Gandhi Nagar. He directed that continuous combing should be done to prevent theft on feeders where overloading was reported between 12 to 4 am. Transformers and lines should also be changed as per the requirement but the problem of distribution in the area must end. In each section, 10 transformers with maximum load should be identified and their capacity should be increased without any delay, he further said. Additionally, the chairman took detailed information regarding the arrangements for restoration of the supply system by rectifying the local fault in the least possible time period. He also asked about the arrangement of the trolley transformer and the necessary material required for the repair of faults. Boosting the morale of the officers and employees, he said that the work of power supply is always challenging but the department will always stand with its staff. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Pune: As the ILS (Indian Law Society) Law College Pune enters its centenary year, its officiating principal professor Deepa Paturkar shares the future plans taken by the authorities for the institute. We will launch courses in areas like artificial intelligence (AI) and the challenges before the law, machine learning (ML) and law, said Prof Dr. Deepa Paturkar Principle of ILS college. (KALPESH NUKTE/ HT PHOTO) Any new courses and programmes to be run by ILS? We are planning to introduce additional bridge courses, apart from the present remedial, diploma and certificate courses. We will launch courses in areas like artificial intelligence (AI) and the challenges before the law, machine learning (ML) and law. These new courses would be open for undergraduate and postgraduate students. The literacy in AI and ML and its interface with the law will help students understand and address challenges in this field. What are the public outreach programmes at the institute? We are holding extensive activities with our legal aid centre established in 1976. The centre provided legal aid to the marginalised class in Maharashtra free of cost. Imparting education was the basic purpose of the institute, but common people need legal awareness about their rights and duties. ILS Legal Aid Centre is driven by students and faculty and we are working towards making people aware about their constitutional and basic rights. Any new changes, developments coming up at the campus? We have recently renovated our playground and are planning to upgrade the boys hostel. As we enter the centenary year, the management will take steps to upgrade infrastructure and curricula. The 4th Education Working Group meeting (EdWG) commenced on Tuesday in Pune to final outcome documents to be presented at the Education Ministers meeting on June 22, 2023. G20 delegates visit Shaniwar wada during Heritage walk on Tuesday. (HT PHOTO) The meeting was chaired by G-20 India Chair and Secretary, Department of Higher Education K Sanjay Murthy, with the Secretary of, the Department of School Education and Literacy, Sanjay Kumar, and Secretary, of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Atul Kumar Tiwari as Alternate Chairs. Deliberations with the G20 delegates on the draft ministerial declaration took place on day one of the 4th EdWG meetings. The International Organisations (IOs) UNICEF, OECD and UNESCO presented the education working group report. G20 members and invited countries appreciated the sustained efforts of the Indian Presidency and IOs for having put together the education policies and programs by setting a common agenda for the group in a comprehensive manner through the EdWG Report and Compendium. Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Chief Coordinator, of Indias G20 Presidency said, India, as the worlds largest democracy, is being considered a source of solutions for global and local challenges. He highlighted the valuable exchange of best practices in the previous three EdWG meetings held in Chennai, Amritsar, and Bhubaneswar, focusing on tech-enabled learning, research and collaboration, and the future of work. The Fourth and final meeting will address the theme of Foundational Literacy & Numeracy (FLN). He further added that India is focused in driving towards an inclusive international order that works together despite ideological differences for sustainable global good, K Sanjay Murthy extended a warm welcome to all the delegates attending the 4th EdWG meeting. The exchange of experiences and best practices witnessed during the EdWG meetings will pave way for targeted actions aimed at ensuring fundamental literacy for every child, he said. He also highlighted the importance of the previous three meetings and expressed appreciation towards the G20 delegates for the enthusiastic participation witnessed in all past EdWG events. G20 Delegates also participated in a Heritage Walk of Pune City which included visit to Shaniwar Wada, Lal Mahal and Nana Wada to experience the rich cultural heritage of Maharashtra. In addition, International Day of Yoga celebrations will be arranged to give G20 delegates, an opportunity to do Yoga. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Karnataka 2nd PUC Supplementary Result 2023: Result of Karnataka PUC II Supplementary exam will be declared today. Karnataka Pre University Education Department will announce it through karresult.nic.in. Students can use the direct link given below to check their marks. Karnataka 2nd PUC Supplementary result 2023 live updates. Karnataka PUC 2 Supplementary result 2023 soon on karresults.nic.in (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Students are also advised to check the board website, pue.karnataka.gov.in for information related to PUC 2 results. To check marks online, students have to use their registration numbers and choose the subject combination in the login window. Direct link to check Karnataka PUC 2 Supply results 2023 Steps to check Karnataka 2nd PUC Supplementary result 2023 Go to karresults.nic.in. Now, go to the II PUC Supplementary exam result page. Enter your registration number and select the subject combination. Check and download your result. The board had announced PUC 2 annual exam results on April 21. A total of 7,02,067 candidates wrote the written exam and of them 5,24,209 qualified. The application process for the Short Service Commission Technical course in Indian Army commenced today, June 20. Eligible unmarried Male and unmarried Female Graduates and also Widows of Indian Armed Forces Defence Personnel who died in harness can apply for the course through the official website of the Indian Army at joinindianarmy.nic.in. The last date for the submission of the application form is July 19. Indian Army recruitment 2023: Apply for 194 SSC technical course Indian Army recruitment 2023 vacancy details: This recruitment drive is being conducted to fill 196 vacancies of which 175 vacancies are for the SSC(Tech) Male and 19 vacancies are for the SSC(Tech) Women. Indian Army recruitment 2023 age limit: The candidate's age should be between the age of 20 to 27 years as on April 1, 2024. Indian Army recruitment 2023 eligibility criteria: Candidates who have completed or are enrolled in their final year of the engineering degree programme are eligible to apply. Direct link to apply Indian Army recruitment 2023: Know how to apply Visit the official website at joinindianarmy.nic.in Click on Officer Entry' Register and proceed with the application Submit the form and take the print for future reference. Actor Sayani Gupta feels glad to see that Indian audience has evolved over the years and started negating the stigma around LGBTQIA+ content in films and shows. However, she is quick to mention that she didnt not care about the acceptance of the audience when she played actor Kalki Koechlins love interest in Margarita With A Straw (2013). Sayani Gupta on playing a homosexual character I did it because its a good part and a great script. I know a lot of people said no to that role because they were scared. I never saw any merit to that thought at all, because it depends on who you are, and what you believe in. It shouldnt be a stigma for anybody. I dont think it makes any sense to even think about these things, she continues, As an actor, your job is to find a good part and then do it truthfully, to the best of your ability. Not doing a part like this is pure dumb, is what I feel. On whether she did any additional research or preparation to play a homosexual character, Sayani reveals, I went to New York and I used to go and sit in gay bars every day. I did it for two weeks and it was very weird. It was very eye opening for me and a bit of a new thing. There were things that I was seeing and learning for the first time. It was extremely educational, not just in terms of what is possible, but how free the world can be. We as people have to be empathetic and mindful of becoming more and more inclusive. Looking back, the actor is somewhat happy to see things in the last one decade since her film released. Nowadays, the younger as well as the older generation is becoming much more aware, open, and inclusive. People have become way more acceptable in the last 10 years. We are walking in the right direction, we havent started running yet. But walking is important so you can run, the actor shares metaphorically. Having spent enough years in the industry, Sayani says she has often come across actors who are gay or bisexual, but havent come out yet. As far as that is concerned, nobody can tell you when to come out, because its a very personal choice and decision. But, I also understand that in India, a lot of people are scared to come out because that would affect their following, especially their fans from the other gender. Thats very unfortunate. And its not on them. Its on us to make a safe and secure environment, as people, as film goers and as a society to give them that space to come out and be their real selves. The Four More Shots Please! actor refers to the ongoing case of legalisation of homosexual marriages, and asserts that its about ones basic human rights. And if the government cant provide that to each and every citizen irrespective of their gender, or sexual orientation, its extremely disgusting. We have to all come together and create that safe space for our peers, our fellow members of the LGBTQIA+ community, she ends. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After facing criticism over its dialogues and VFX, Adipurush has yet again come under the scanner. On Tuesday, All India Cine Workers Association President Suresh Shyam Lal Gupta wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding an immediate ban on the film for 'hurting religious sentiments'. He also demanded an FIR against Adipurush director Om Raut, co-writer Manoj Muntasir and the producers of the film. (Also Read | Internet reacts to Adipurush's Manoj Muntashir claiming 'Hanuman bhagwaan nahi hai') Prabhas and Kriti Sanon played the lead in Adipurush. Adipurush has been facing criticism From critics to reviewers, several people from across the country have expressed disappointment over certain dialogues in the film. These include 'marega bete', 'bua ka bagicha hain kya' and 'jalegi tere baap ki'. In the wake of such criticism, the team of Adipurush have decided to revise the dialogues in the film. All India Cine Workers Association's note As cited by news agency ANI, the letter read, "All Indian Cine Workers Association demands ban on screening the movie Adipurush. This movie's screenplay and dialogues are clearly defaming the image of Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman. Adipurush movie is hurting religious sentiments of Hindus and Sanatan Dharma. Prabhu Shri Ram is a God for everyone in India not matter what religious faith one comes from, this movie depicts Lord Ram and even Ravan who looks like a character of a video game, with dialogues hurting every Indian in the country and across the globe. We request Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji order to stop screening this movie and immediately order a ban of Adipurush screening in the theatres and OT platforms in the future." The letter also stated, "We need FIR against the director (Om Raut), writer (Manoj Muntashir) & the producers of the movie who have hurt the Hindu Sentiments and Save the Image of our Bhagwan Shri Ram, Maa Sita & Ramsevak Bhagwan Hanuman. Actor Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali Khan shouldn't have been part of such a disgraceful movie ever made in the history of Indian Cinema, Adipurush is a complete disaster of our faith in Shri Ram and Ramayan." About Adipurush Produced by T-Series, Adipurush released in theatres last week in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil. The film stars Kriti Sanon as Janaki (Sita), Prabhas as Raghav (Ram), and Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh (Raavan). SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a podcast with YouTuber Varun Duggi, Rajeev recalled how it was a task every year to bring all the actors together for an evening to conduct the Bollywood Actors Roundtable. And the issues started cropping up right from the first one in 2012. Irrfan was pissed Nawaz was shooting in Wai at that time for Ketan Mehta's film (Manjhi: The Mountain Man) so the only time we could shoot the roundtable was at midnight. He'd get free from the shoot at 8, drive for four hours to Mumbai for our shoot and then go back to Wai for the shoot next day. So everything worked out except one hour before the shoot, I got a call saying that Irrfan won't be able to make it. He was shooting for a YRF (Yash Raj Films) film (Gunday) and that had gone on. I couldn't reach Irrfan because his phone was off. So I had to start calling other directors and producers to put in a word. Nikkhil Advani had just worked with him and he put in a good word. Irrfan came, very pissed off because he was pulled out of a set for this. We shot it till 3 am, and the roundtable really took off, Rajeev said in the podcast. When Akshaye Khanna would just not speak up Rajeev recalled another incident where he invited Akshaye Khanna in the last Bollywood Actors roundtable he hosted, but the actor would just not speak up. On the other end of the spectrum, there was Ranveer Singh, who is always on some 200 Redbulls. The rest of them had gotten into it. They were also trying to get Akshaye to open up, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. No Actresses Roundtable in first year Rajeev confessed that the reason he didn't have a Bollywood Actresses Roundtable in the first year was because he wrongly assumed that actresses would just not get along. But he tried it next year, and to his surprise, the actresses roundtable really took off because all the actors genuinely encouraged each other. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON While Kangana has already turned director with Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, that was produced by Zee Studios, Tiku Weds Sheru marks the first time she's officially producing. The romantic comedy is directed by Sai Kabir, who previously collaborated with Kangana on Revolver Rani (2014). Kangana on turning producer "Our heroes like Shah Rukh, Ajay, Akshay, they all are very involved as producers in the films they're acting in. But when a woman does it, people feel it's very new. My directors have always asked me to collaborate with them. They look forward to my opinion, because obviously I choose to work with only the people who're collaborative," Kangana said in an interview to Punjab Kesari. On dividing creative duties "I've done three drafts of Tiku Weds Sheru myself. Sai has done five drafts. Even when we were collaborating on the music, I'd write three lines and he'd write three. When we went on floors, of course he's a very equipped director since he's done Revolver Rani in the past, but since I've been an actor on this film, I'd already conceptualised some sceens. And since Avneet is a new actor, I thought she won't be able to do the very emotionally layered scenes. And as a man, Sai won't be able to guide her in the best way. So that's when I came on set and helped her out," Kangana said in the same interview. Past controversies Kangana has often been accused of interfering in the films she's acting in. The most infamous instance is of her replacing director Krish on Manikarnika, a biopic of Rani Lakshmibai, where she played the titular role. She was also credited with 'Additional Story, Screenplay and Dialogues' for Hansal Mehta's 2017 directorial Simran, that original writer Apurva Asrani objected to. Upcoming directorial Kangana will be seen directing and producing Emergency, a period political drama based on the 1975 Emergency imposed by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. While she will also essay the titular role, the ensemble cast also consists of Anupam Kher, Satish Kaushik, Shreyas Talpade and Mahima Chaudhary among others. Tiku Weds Sheru The film based on the love story of a Mumbai junior artist and a small-town aspiring actor originally starred Kangana and Irrfan Khan in the lead roles. Once the project got stalled eight years ago and was revived by Kangana in 2020, she signed Nawazuddin Siddiqui and newcomer Avneet Kaur as the leads. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Om Raut's Adipurush has been mired in controversies ever since it was released on Friday. From criticism of its 'cringeworthy' dialogues to Nepal's ban on Bollywood films until an 'objectionable' line is deleted from Adipurush, the film's cast and crew has not had its easy. However, amid the backlash, Kriti Sanon, who plays Janaki in the film that is inspired by the Hindu epic Ramayana, shared a post about focusing on the 'cheers and claps' the film is receiving. Also read: Dipika Chikhlia shares video as Sita; fans say she's 'better than Kriti Sanon' Kriti Sanon plays Janaki in Adipurush. Kriti Sanon's post The Ramayana depicts the victory of Lord Ram over the demon king Ravana after latter kidnaps his wife, Sita. In Adipurush, the main characters are Prabhas' Raghav, Saif Ali Khan's Lankesh and Kriti's Janaki. On Monday, Kriti shared a series of videos of the audience's reaction to Adipurush via an Instagram post. The clips from inside theatres showed people cheering and clapping as they watched Kriti, Prabhas and Saif on the big screen. In her accompanying caption, Kriti wrote, Focusing on the cheers and claps! (heart and folded hands emojis) Jai Siya Ram (Glory to Sita and Ram). Reactions to her post Many took to the comments section of Kriti's post to voice their disappointment with the film. A person also questioned the genuineness of Kriti's post, and wrote, "Don't worry guys ye inhi ke log hai (the ones clapping and cheering inside the theatres are their own people)." A person also joked, "Achhi tarah suno, vo taliyaan nahi galiyaan hai (Listen carefully, they are not applauses, they are abuses)." Another one wrote, "Where is the dislike button?" A person also asked, "Who all want to boycott Adipurush movie?" One more said, "Animated Ramayana is better than this." Adipurush controversy The film started making headlines months ago in October, when its teaser was released. Viewers mocked its cartoon-like graphics. Since its release last week, there have also been reports of sporadic protests against the film, challenging the depiction of its characters. Some in Nepal have also criticised a line from Adipurush that calls Janaki 'India's daughter'. Balendra Shah, mayor of Kathmandu, said in a Facebook post on Sunday that he had asked theatres in the city to stop screening all Bollywood films. He added that he had asked the makers of Adipurush to remove the dialogue. News agency ANI reported that Dhanraj Acharya, the mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan City, had also asked theatres to stop screening the movie. Adipurush opened to mixed to negative reviews on Friday. Several viewers criticised its visual effects as well as some dialogues that they said trivialised the characters of the much-revered epic, Ramayana. Calls to ban the movie are trending on social media since Friday. Recently, Adipurush's co-writer Manoj Muntashir said that some dialogues would be re-written and inserted again into the movie as they had hurt viewers, but it's not clear if he was referring to people in India or Nepal. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT Entertainment Desk Dedicated professionals who write about cinema and television in all their vibrancy. Expect views, reviews and news. ...view detail Kubbra Sait, who will celebrate International Day of Yoga with absolute strangers at a camp in Delhi, feels its important to drive more conversations towards embracing the ancient practice. The actor hopes it will help shun the preconceived notion that yoga is boring. Kubbra Sait got leaned towards yoga during the pandemic Its such a nice feeling to be spending my early morning with a friend and having fun with strangers. The camp is organised by one of my closest friend and guru, Sarvesh Shashi, who has been motivational and kind towards me during my journey of embracing yoga, says Sait. The 39-year-old asserts that one doesnt have to be 100% right or look graceful while doing yoga. For instance, I see (actor) Alaya Fs videos who looks so good and graceful while doing yoga, when I am seething during my poses. One day I would like to be graceful with my practice. Im sure its happening, she quips. Sait embarked on her yoga journey after coming back from the shoot of her international web series Foundation during the peak of pandemic. I felt I had nothing to do but to actually throw in a new routine for myself, which was yoga. My faith came when I saw my body changing. During that time, my hand got injured and was in a cast, but I didnt stop doing yoga. That got me closer to the practice as I saw the lower body of mine getting stronger, and my mind getting peaceful. I leaned into yoga, and now Im about two and a half year old yoga baby, shares the Farzi actor. Through her own experience with the practice, the actor wants encourage more and more people to start their journey with an open mind. Everybody I spoke to about starting yoga expressed that they find it boring, maybe because it isnt any kind of a competition. I can say yoga is anything, but boring. In reality, it is submission and clarity of mind. When I started out, my posterior was not comforting during the childs pose. Now, I can see tiny changes in my body. It takes time. Thats when the perception towards the journey with yoga changes, asserts the actor. Talking about the importance of a day dedicated to yoga, she notes, For the longest time, our country was perceived as a country of snake charmers. It is time for us to take this perception out of the world and show the world who we are. Thats literally the reason why its important for us to celebrate International Yoga Day. It doesnt mean you have to do big and challenging stretches. It literally means showing up on your mat, and even doing breathing exercises, she wraps up, with a message for everyone, Be happy, be bendy and be comfortable in your skin and body. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prem Sagar, whose father Ramanand Sagar helmed the iconic television serial Ramayan (1987), has questioned how Manoj Muntashir 'conceived such dialogues' in Adipurush. In a new interview, Prem asked the Adipurush team to 'make it a fantasy film'. He added that if Ramayan is being made, then 'you cannot hurt the sentiments'. He also said that he doesn't want to watch Adipurush. (Also Read | Order ban of Adipurush screening: All India Cine Workers' body writes to PM, demands FIR against Om Raut-Manoj Muntashir) Adipurush released in theatres on Friday last week. Row over Adipurush lines and VFX Since its release last week, Adipurush has been facing criticism over controversial lines including 'marega bete', 'bua ka bagicha hain kya' and 'jalegi tere baap ki'. The film also faced backlash over poor VFX. Adipurush, which is a dramatic retelling of Ramayana, has been directed by Om Raut. Prem Sagar on Manoj Muntashir Speaking with news agency ANI, Prem Sagar said, Manoj Muntashir is well-informed about Hinduism. I don't understand how he even conceived such dialogues in the film. It might be a misjudgement that the younger generation would like it. But you can't do this with the audience. Don't say it is based on Valmiki Ramayan, give it any other name. Make it a fantasy film. But if you're making Ramayan then you cannot hurt the sentiments. People watch this with devotion. Prem Sagar on Adipurush He also added, "I have seen the clips of the movie and had a lot of interaction with people like Sunil Lehri (who played Laxman in Ramanand Sagar's 'Ramayan'), so some problem is there. I don't even want to watch the film. Ravan was very knowledgeable and you are blackening the golden Lanka (sone ki Lanka), and his look with 5 heads up and 5 heads down. But I am so happy that they've realized their mistake and realisation is itself a very big thing...I don't know what happened this time. It may be that sometimes nature makes such a thing happen that it distracts the intellect." Manoj Muntashir on film's lines Earlier, writer Manoj Muntashir told ANI, "Our aim was to present the true heroes of Sanatan to our younger generation. There is an objection to 5 dialogues and they will be changed. If people are not liking some parts, then it's our responsibility to fix them." He also tweeted that a few lines in the film will be revised and the new version will be added within this week. Adipurush stars Prabhas as Raghava (Lord Ram), Kriti Sanon as Janaki (Goddess Sita), Sunny Singh as Sesh (Laxman) and Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh (Ravan). SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The trailer for another film based on a Marvel Comics character has dropped. Aaron Taylor-Johnson will be seen playing the titular character in Kraven the Hunter. It traces the villain's origin story, much before his feud with Spider-Man. (Also Read: Spider-Man producer reveals whether Peter Parker and Miles Morales would team up) Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Kraven the Hunter About Kraven the Hunter Kraven got his superpowers, of strength and agility along with communicating with and controlling animals, after a lion bite. In the trailer, it's shown that when he's a kid, he's thrown into a conflict with the lion by his own father, who wants to toughen him up. Aaron has described his role as a conservationist or a lover of animals. He sees Kraven as a positive character who's pushed into the corner by the likes of his father, thus justifying the film's tagline, "Villains aren't born, they're made." About Aaron Taylor-Johnson Aaron is best known for playing the titular role in the 2010 action flick Kick-Ass. He recently appeared as Ives in Christopher Nolan's 2020 sci-fi action thriller Tenet and as Tangerine in David Leitch's action thriller Bullet Train, co-starring Brad Pitt, last year. While Kravin the Hunter is part of Sony Pictures' Spider-Man Universe, Aaron has previously appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Pietro Maxmioff, who has lightening fast speed as his superpower, in Joss Whedon's 2015 film Avengers: The Age of Ultron. He played the brother of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and gets killed in that film. Kraven the Hunter cast Among the supporting cast of Kraven the Hunter, Ariana DeBose plays Calypso, the love interest of Kravin and his fellow future villain of Spider-Man. Russell Crowe plays Kravin's father. Interestingly, he's also previously appeared in the MCU as Zeus, the God of Thunder, in Taika Waititi's Thor: Love and Thunder last year. Other Marvel projects Marvel's latest series Secret Invasion, starring Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Emilia Clarke and Olivia Colman, will premiere this week on June 21 on Disney+ Hotstar. Season 2 of Loki, starring Tom Hiddleston as the titular character and Owen Wilson, will premiere on the platform on October 6, the same day when Kraven the Hunter releases in cinemas. And finally, The Marvels, starring Brie Larson as Captain Marvel and Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel, will release in cinemas on November 10. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a shocking turn of events, a major family feud involving Russell Simmons has erupted just a day after Father's Day. Simmons family. (Image Credit: JEMAL COUNTESS) The Def Jam Recordings executive took to Instagram to share a cryptic message seemingly directed at his ex-wife, Kimora Lee Simmons. "Stop telling fathers they should have fought harder to see their children & start asking mothers why he had to fight at all," The post read. Kimora, in response, used her own Instagram Story to shed light on the tension within the family and made serious allegations against Russell, the father of their two children, Ming Lee and Aoki Lee. She expressed deep concern, stating, "I'm so sorry to have to do this. But this man has been threatening my kids' lives. I'm hearing so much more now. We won't be bullied, threatened, or afraid." Kimora also emphasized that she wouldn't tolerate attacks on her and her children, challenging the narrative that places blame on her as the sole caregiver. Leave my kids alone. The model accused Russell of being "abusive" to women in his life, highlighting a pattern of threats, lies, and intimidation. This is how maneuver with the women all around you. Your threats and lies and intimidation maneuvers and tactics are sad. Stop it please. Your own flesh and blood? Enough is enough, she shared. The Insta story from Kimora Lee Simmons. (Image Credit: Kimora Lee Simmons/Instagram) It's important to note that Russell Simmons has previously faced allegations of sexual misconduct by eighteen women, which he vehemently denies. Aoki Lee, who recently graduated from Harvard, publicly supported her mother by posting a video on her Instagram page. The video showed Russell seemingly yelling at Aoki during a FaceTime conversation. Aoki captioned the video, "This is not someone who will accept help. This is just one screen recording, sorry I don't always remember to press 'record' when he calls my friends, my boyfriend, anyone, to get a chance to threaten and curse and go crazy." ALSO READ| Amber Heard's film premiere ignites controversy at prestigious film festival. Whose side is Hollywood on? She also shared screenshots of text messages exchanged between her and her father, where she expressed concern about his harassing behavior towards her boyfriend and friends if she blocked him or asked for space. In response to an allegation made by the American entrepreneur accusing Kimora of stealing his money, Aoki staunchly defended her mother, asserting, "I'll never speak to you until you DIE. Don't ever say that again." The situation further unraveled as Aoki shared additional text messages, supposedly from Russell, insinuating that Kimora had stolen money and the love of their children. Aoki passionately defended her mother against these claims, emphasizing her unwavering support. In a heartfelt message to her father, the 20-year-old expressed her distress over the aggressive and hostile tone of their conversations. She pleaded with him, explaining that she cannot be the target of his anger and blaming, stating, "You were putting so much anger and rage on me every phone call... It got to the point I could not hear your voice without having an anxiety attack." Aoki also touched upon the possibility of mental illness, suggesting that some family members believe Russell may be experiencing something like dementia or other mental health issues. She described the drastic change in his behavior, recalling how he used to be the best dad and a great co-parent before his publicized troubles. Aoki expressed the fear and sadness of witnessing this terrifying transformation. ALSO READ| Marvel star's courtroom showdown! Jonathan Majors's trial date set amid assault and harassment charges As of now, there has been no official response from Kimora Lee Simmons' representative regarding the allegations and family dispute. The situation continues to unfold, leaving many concerned about the well-being of all parties involved. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker, the power couple known for their high-profile romance, recently set the internet ablaze with a joint pregnancy announcement on social media and now Kourtney took to her Instagram to share photos of her and Travis sharing a wholesome moment with their future baby. Kourtney Kardashian showed her baby bump for the first time on Instagram. In the images Travis is seen playing the drumsticks on Kourtneys reveal of her baby bump, and the entire play of the night where the big reveal took place is highlighted on the same. In the next image he goes on to kiss the bump and then Kourtney. Then Kourtney is shown sitting with a placard saying - I'm pregnant, that she was holding at the concert where she revealed her pregnancy in front of the crowd. Overwhelmed with gratitude and joy for Gods blessing and plan, Kourtney captioned her post. The 44-year-old actress and social media influencer has managed to keep her pregnancy under wraps for several months, skillfully dodging rumours and speculation. However, she orchestrated an elaborate plan to make the announcement, which showcased her creativity and attention to detail. The pregnancy reveal took place during a show where American Music sensation Travis Baker performed at Blink-182's Los Angeles concert. The highlight of the event was Travis sighting of the sign board, on which he read, "Travis, Im pregnant." In the aftermath of the revelation, Kardashin took to her social media accounts to thank her fans for their overwhelming support and to share behind-the-scenes glimpses of the planning process. By choosing a charity event as the backdrop for her reveal, she managed to blend philanthropy with personal joy, creating an unforgettable moment that helped her make her way through her fans' hearts. As the excitement surrounding Kourtney Kardashian's pregnancy continues to grow, fans eagerly anticipate updates and further glimpses into her journey towards motherhood. One thing is certain Karadashin's pregnancy reveal was a carefully orchestrated plan that showcased her remarkable ability to surprise and inspire in equal measure. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT Entertainment Desk Dedicated professionals who write about cinema and television in all their vibrancy. Expect views, reviews and news. ...view detail Tom Cruise is back with the seventh part of Mission Impossible. On Monday, at Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One's world premiere in Rome, the Hollywood actor turned emotional, while speaking to media about his film. He talked about his films and said cinema 'bridges walls, it breaks them down and allows people to be able to share an experience'. Also read: Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One first reactions are here Tom Cruise puts on his sunglasses as he poses ahead of the premiere of Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One in Rome. (AFP) Tom Cruise said he was 'very grateful' to be attending Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One's world premiere in Rome. The event took place on the Spanish Steps of the Italian capital, where much of the latest franchise installment takes place. Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One will be out in theatres in India on July 12. On filming for Mission Impossible 7 Tom Cruise said in a red carpet interview with Deadline, Believe me, every day I was dealing and working with this community of governments and the people in my crew, to make it so that we could all have this and be here today, and it would not have happened at enough in film and enough in Venice, Norway, Abu Dhabi, everyone and the whole industry to be able to support it make this happen. So this is a moment this is very exciting. Tom Cruise poses during the red carpet premiere of Mission Impossible 7 in Rome. (AFP) Tom talks about cinema's power The actor further said that to study the industry he insists not just on attending studio premieres in a country, but also on going to their theatres and watching their movies. Tom said, "I brought my movies and I watched my movies with them to understand the universality of humanity, the things that bring us together. And that's why it's not just a cinema experience it is about all of us together from all walks of life, and being there together in the theatre and having a common experience. And that is what cinema does. It bridges walls, it breaks them down and allows people to be able to share that kind of commonality and experience... And I used to go meet with the students. I'd be like, we need theatres. You know, I want to I want to push you know, we need theaters in this country. We need theatres in that country." About Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One Mission Impossible 7 sees Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt and his Impossible Missions Force (IMF) team embark on their most dangerous mission yet. Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Vanessa Kirby, Henry Czerny, Pom Klementieff, Esai Morales, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Cary Elwes, Frederick Schmidt and Mariela Garriga also star in the film directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who also co-wrote the film alongside Erik Jendresen. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who also co-wrote the film with Erik Jendresen, Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One also stars Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby and Henry Czerny. The film had its world premiere at Rome on Monday evening, with the stars arriving at a packed gala screening in the Auditorium della Conciliazione. Part One follows the events of the 2018 release Fallout, where Tom Cruises Ethan Hunt and his crew of secret agents had saved the world from a nuclear apocalypse. Strong positive reactions The first reactions to the film received positive reactions, focused mainly on the jaw-dropping stunts. Comparisons were also drawn to the previous films of the franchise and whether the new film tops it off. Screen Rant's Joe Deckelmeier called it his new favourite from the franchise and lavished praise on newcomer Hayley Atwell, "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning' this phenomenal! Hayley Atwell STEALS ever scene shes in. This is now my favorite 'Mission: Impossible' film. With the AI being the villain, this feels like a cautionary tale. The action had my heart rate elevated. That train scene is mind blowing!" he said. Meanwhile Perri Nemiroff from Collider called the film a winner and said, Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One is another winner for the franchise. Yet again, the production value is THROUGH THE ROOF with some of the most well-defined and exhilarating set pieces photographed in ways that truly make you feel like youre in the middle of the action. The emphasis on capturing things in camera makes a HUGE difference, and you can feel it. Also really dug the mission this time around and how the technology theyre after factors into the characters' individual arcs. Fandango's Erik Davis also praised the film and said, I had the absolute best time watching Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One - an impeccably made action film that does not stop entertaining. Each action sequence is long, crazy and intense. The story is big & sprawling, but I like how it both felt complete and left you dying for what comes next. Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One release date Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One will be released on July 10 in the UK and July 12 in the US and India. Dead Reckoning Part Two, which is set to be released next year on June 28, 2024 and is expected to be Toms final chapter as Ethan Hunt. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Renowned musician Ricky Kej is basking in a year of extraordinary accomplishments. With an illustrious career already under his belt, the three-time Grammy Award winner continues to add to his list of accolades. Recently, Kej received a prestigious invitation to attend the arrival ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House, Washington DC, on June 22. Kej expressed his super excitement for this remarkable opportunity. Musician Ricky Kej Additionally, the artiste, who hails from Bengaluru, was honoured as the Global Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations (UN) for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Being a Global Goodwill Ambassador comes with added responsibilities, as Kej explains. Every ambassador has his or her own way of spreading the message. For me, its always been my music. This honour has only pushed me to do more than what Ive already been doing. Ive been committed to addressing issues such as land restoration, climate change, etc. PM Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Get ready for a weekly dose of Trevor Noah's razor-sharp wit and thought-provoking conversations, as the comedian embarks on his latest venture with audio giant Spotify. Set to launch later this year, Noah's yet-to-be-named podcast promises to be a powerhouse of timely commentary and captivating discussions with influential figures from across the globe. Trevor Noah attends the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in September 2022.(Jae C. Hong/Invision/AP) In an exciting move, the podcast will be a Spotify Original, produced under the umbrella of Spotify Studios, which recently merged with podcast powerhouses Gimlet and Parcast. But here's the twist: unlike previous exclusive deals, Noah's podcast will be available on all major platforms, ensuring that fans can tune in from wherever they prefer to get their audio fix. "It's really exciting to be joining Spotify on a fun new adventure where we'll engage in interesting and meaningful conversations with some of the world's most fascinating people," shared Noah, hinting at the exciting content to come. Noah, who bid farewell to his hosting duties on The Daily Show last year, is no stranger to charting new paths. Explaining his decision to move on, he stated, "Maybe this comes with not being raised in America, but I believe that everything should end... I think it's healthy for things to end when they're still in a good place. I want to leave before I'm burnt out because there are many other things I'd like to do." Since his departure, Noah has been busy expanding his horizons, securing a book deal, hosting the Grammys, and embarking on a successful tour. Joining Spotify's impressive roster of podcast talent, which includes the likes of Alex Cooper from Call Her Daddy, Emma Chamberlain from Anything Goes, and Joe Rogan from The Joe Rogan Experience, Noah is entering the scene at a pivotal moment. Spotify is reevaluating its podcasting strategy, moving away from costly star deals and focusing on wider distribution models. While shedding some exclusive partnerships, including the Obamas' Higher Ground and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Archewell, the audio giant aims to provide captivating content to its 100 million-plus podcast listeners worldwide. Also read | Meghan Markle's Spotify podcast won't be renewed for a second season "Spotify is the ultimate audio destination, and partnering with Trevor Noah, one of the world's most brilliant and distinctive voices, will make for captivating storytelling that will delight our more than 100 million podcast listeners around the world," expressed Julie McNamara, Spotify's VP and Head of Global Podcast Studios. "We are excited to collaborate with Trevor to create an original podcast that seamlessly combines his unique humor, insightful commentary, and consummate interview skills on a global scale." Kelly Osbourne, daughter of rock star Ozzy Osbourne and outspoken critic Sharon Osbourne, didn't hold back in her recent appearance on the I've Had It podcast. In a clip shared on social media, Osbourne launched a scathing attack on Prince Harry, calling him a "f*cking twat" and bringing up his controversial past. Kelly Osbourne,didn't hold back in her recent appearance on the I've Had It podcast. Referring to Harry's infamous 2005 costume party scandal where he dressed as a Nazi, Osbourne didn't mince her words. "He's a whining, whingeing, complaining, 'woe is me, I'm the only one that's ever had mental problems'... 'my life was so hard'... Everybody's f*cking life is hard! You were the prince of a god damn country, who dressed up as a f*cking Nazi, and now you're trying to come back as the pope? Suck it." The episode trailer, captioned "Kelly Osbourne has had it with Prince Harry," quickly went viral on TikTok, amassing over 100,000 views, 15,000 likes, and 500 comments. While Osbourne rarely shares her opinions on the royal family, her mother, Sharon Osbourne, has been a regular commentator on British television. Sharon herself left the CBS panel show The Talk in 2021 after defending Piers Morgan's controversial comments about Meghan Markle's interview with Oprah Winfrey. Facing accusations of racism on-air, Sharon eventually parted ways with CBS. Speaking in 2022, she remarked, "The situation is you either love [Harry and Meghan] or you don't. There's no in between with those two." Kelly Osbourne's candid remarks on the podcast generated mixed responses from viewers. Some found it surprising considering her own struggles, while others agreed with her sentiments. Meanwhile, Harry's recently published memoir, "Spare," received heavy criticism for his candid revelations about his family, including his strained relationship with his brother Prince William and stepmother Queen Camilla. Also read | Royal revelations! Here's what Prince William has to say about his feud with Prince Harry Despite the book's record-breaking sales, Harry's popularity has taken a hit, both in the United States and the United Kingdom. Critics have accused him of attacking the monarchy and breaching privacy boundaries. In response, Harry clarified in an interview with Anderson Cooper that his intentions were never to hurt his family, expressing his desire to rebuild relationships with his father and other family members. Ram Charan and Upasana Konidela became parents to a baby girl on June 20. On Tuesday, Ram's father, veteran actor Chiranjeevi, welcomed Ram and Upasana's baby girl with a cute nickname. Taking to Twitter, Chiranjeevi expressed his joy at the arrival of his granddaughter. In a press statement, the actor reportedly also shared details about the baby's birth and 'amazing horoscope'. Also read: Ram Charan, Upasana Konidela welcome baby girl Chiranjeevi with his son Ram Charan and daughter-in-law Upasana. (File Photo) Chiranjeevi on Ram Charan-Upasana's daughter Hours after Chiranjeevi and wife Surekha were spotted at Hyderabad's Apollo Hospital after they met their granddaughter for the first time, the actor tweeted, "Welcome Little Mega Princess!! You have spread cheer among the Mega Family of millions on your arrival as much as you have made the blessed parents @AlwaysRamCharan and @upasanakonidela and us grandparents. Happy and Proud!!" Chiranjeevi also spoke to the media in Hyderabad about Ram and Upasana's baby. He reportedly also shared the finer details of his granddaughter's birth. As per a Mirchi9 report, he said, "The baby was born at 1:49 am. Happy to have a baby on our favourite Tuesday. It is said that she was born in auspicious time and the babys horoscope is also amazing. That effect can be seen in our family from the beginning. Charans (Ram Charan) career growth, Varuns (Varun Tej) engagement, everything is going well in our family." Varun Tej is the son of actor-producer Nagendra Babu. He is the nephew of Chiranjeevi and Pawan Kalyan. He got engaged to Lavanya Tripathi earlier this month. Ram Charan and Upasana's baby announcement Ram Charan and Upasana Kamineni welcomed their first child on Tuesday. Confirming the news, a medical bulletin released by Apollo Hospital read, Miss Upasana Kamineni and Ram Charan Konidela had a baby girl on 20th June 2023, at Apollo hospital Jubilee Hills Hyderabad. The baby and mother are doing well. Upasana and Ram's relationship Ram and Upasana tied the knot on June 14, 2012. The two announced her pregnancy in December 2022. With the blessings of Shri Hanuman ji, we are delighted to share that Upasana and Ram Charan are expecting their first child. With love and gratitude Surekha and Chiranjeevi Konideli, Shobana and Anil Kamineni, the couple and family said in the pregnancy announcement. Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan's recent projects Chiranjeevi was last seen in the Telugu film Waltair Veerayya directed by Bobby Kolli. In the coming months, he will be seen Bholaa Shankar. Directed by Meher Ramesh, the film also features Tamannaah Bhatia in the lead role. Ram Charan, on the other hand, will be seen in director Shankar's upcoming action film Game Changer opposite actor Kiara Advani. It will release in three languages Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. The film also stars SJ Suryah, Jayaram, Anjali, and Srikanth. The official release date of the film is still awaited. ott:10 SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Actor Ram Charan and his wife Upasana Konidela have welcomed their first child, a baby girl. The actor and his wife were spotted at a hospital in Hyderabad on Monday evening. On early Tuesday morning, the news of their child's birth was shared by the hospital in a bulletin. (Also read: Ram Charan's wife Upasana reveals his reaction when he was told she's pregnant) Ram Charan and Upasana Konidela have become parents to a baby girl. News from the hospital The bulletin read, Miss Upasana Kamineni and Ram Charan Konidela had a baby girl on 20th June 2023, at Apollo hospital Jubilee Hills Hyderabad. The baby and mother are doing well. The pregnancy announcement Ram Charan and his wife Upasana announced their pregnancy in December 2022. "With the blessings of Shri Hanuman Ji, we are delighted to share that Upasana & Ram Charan are expecting their first child. With love & gratitude Surekha & Chiranjeevi Konideli, Shobana & Anil Kamineni (sic)," the couple announced. The news of them expecting their first child was also shared by the family, including Ram's father, veteran actor Chiranjeevi, in December last year. Since then, the couple has had multiple baby showers in Hyderabad and Dubai and also travelled to the US for Oscars 2023 and a 'babymoon'. Excited for the baby About Ram's reaction to the pregnancy news, Upasana had recently revealed to Etimes, When I told him that I think I am pregnant, he said, Dont get too excited, calm down. Once we repeated the tests and we knew that all the tests were fine, thats when he celebrated. That is what I admire the most about Ram, hes the calming factor in my life, while I am the more excited one. I love to express my feelings; he does it calmly in his own way. About her baby's arrival, she said, "We are all very excited, nervous and a bit anxious too. Ram is my go-to man, when I am hyper or having anxiety attacks. He calmly sits me down and says, Okay, lets figure it out. I am sure Ram will take an active part in parenting." Ram Charan will be seen in director Shankar's upcoming action film 'Game Changer' opposite actor Kiara Advani. Game Changer will release in three languages - Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. Apart from Ram Charan and Kiara Advani, the film also stars SJ Suryah, Jayaram, Anjali, and Srikanth. The film is slated to release this year. ott:10 SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT Entertainment Desk Dedicated professionals who write about cinema and television in all their vibrancy. Expect views, reviews and news. ...view detail Complaint raised against Asit Modi The First Information Report (FIR) has been registered under Sections 354 and 509 (Assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). However, the police have not made any arrests yet. Actor's comments The actor had filed a complaint against the producer Asit Kumarr Modi and two other members of the crew last month. Talking to ETimes, Jennifer Mistry has now said, He has accused me of fighting with other members of the show in an inebriated state. I would indulge in fights that would go out of control and it would happen mostly on outdoor shoots. He also accused me of behaving in an inappropriate manner with the male members of the cast and crew thereby creating a hostile environment on the sets The allegations are untrue and they took so much time I feel to fabricate things against me. He has replied to his own committee ICC and sent the letter to collector, DCP, and senior inspector (Powai). I will prove each and everything in court because I have all the proofs recordings. I am waiting to hear from the cops but there is no movement in the case all this while. "Powai Police recorded the statement of the actor in connection with her sexual harassment allegations against Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah's producer Asit Kumarr Modi and two other members of the crew. The Police will also summon Asit Kumarr Modi soon for his statement," Mumbai Police had earlier said. However, Asit Modi has denied the allegations. "We will take legal action as she is trying to defame me and the show both. Since we terminated her services, she is making these baseless allegations," he said in a statement. Sohail and Jatin also refuted the allegations. In a statement, they said, "She (the actor) regularly misbehaved with the entire team on the show. While moving out from the shoot, she rashly drove her car out at very high speed not caring for people in her way. She even damaged the set property. We had to terminate her contract because of her bad behaviour and indiscipline during the shoot. During this incident, Asit ji was in the USA. She is now trying to defame us and the show by making baseless allegations. We have already filed our complaint against these baseless allegations with the concerned authorities," (ANI) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT Entertainment Desk Dedicated professionals who write about cinema and television in all their vibrancy. Expect views, reviews and news. ...view detail One of Indias finest Prime Ministers (PMs) Atal Bihari Vajpayee is remembered for his leadership in shaping Indias engagements with the Southeast Asia. Several path-breaking decisions taken by him laid a solid foundation for Asean-India relations. Two of such initiatives are worth noting. ASEAN Flags First, it is PM Vajpayee who convinced us that the building relation with Asean was irreversible. He co-chaired the first Asean-India Summit in 2002 in Phnom Penh. In this manner PM Vajpayee carried forward the work of another great Prime Minister of India, PV Narsimha Rao who initiated Indias Look East Policy in 1992. Strategic relations have to be underpinned by strong economic ties. This was the reason why India decided to sign the Framework Agreement of the Asean-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in the following year. Second, PM Vajpayee attended the second Asean-India Summit, held at Bali in 2003, where India signed the Framework Agreement of the Asean-India FTA in goods. In 2004, Dr Manmohan Singh assumed office as PM. Due to a lack of experience and dilly-dallying on the part of Asean and India, it took almost seven years to conclude negotiations on the Asean-India FTA. Finally, the Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement was signed and entered into force on January 1, 2010. A new era of the Asean-India partnership had commenced. Asean-India trade took over a decade to double the value of trade. The bilateral trade was $ 57 billion in 2010-11, when the FTA came into effect, and rose to $ 131 billion only in 2022-23. While Indias exports to Asean increased from $ 25.63 billion in 2010-11 to $ 43.51 billion in 2022-23, its imports also increased from $ 30.61 billion to $ 87.59 billion in the same period. Indias trade balance with ASEAN has deteriorated after the implementation of the FTA. With Vietnam, the surplus in trade balance in 2010 changed to a deficit in 2020, standing at $ 1068.6 million. After the implementation of the Asean-India FTA, surplus in trade balance has been recorded with Cambodia, Lao PDR, the Philippines and Myanmar. This indicates that Asean has gained a trade surplus on the current account, and India has witnessed a trade deficit. Increasing asymmetry in the balance of trade for India has raised concerns. Therefore, it is worth examining the trends in bilateral trade between Asean and India and the trade linkages. This is one of the vital factors to reassess Indias trade share with Asean and make a comparison with global trade. This may help the participating countries to strategise and formulate the future course of action. This is no denying that the global headwinds in the past had slowed down Asesan-India trade. Indias trade increased significantly with rest of the world and also with Asean, and the trends show an almost similar cycle and movement. Studies show that both of their trade with the world had faced three major shocks since 2010-11: (i) collapse in oil prices during 2014 to 2016, (ii) the US-China trade war starting at 2016, and (iii) the Covid-19 induced pandemic. These events triggered the plunge of trade and resulted in slowing down the economic growth in India as well as Asean. Both India and Asean witnessed V-shaped recovery in their respective global trade in the post-pandemic period. Today, Asean and India are all set to review the FTA in goods. The outline of the review has been agreed upon by both the parties. Indias interests would be to strengthen the production linkages, besides improving the market access in strategic trade areas. Aseans interests would be to continue the expansion of export directed towards the Indian market. Reaching higher trade equilibrium with rising Indian merchandise export to Asean is possible provided both of them agree to reduce barriers to trade, particularly non-tariff barriers, and improve the digital and physical connectivity. Some important recommendations highlighted in the recent study by De et al. (2023), which are worth noting. First, trade in non-oil and/or non-mineral better represents the quality of trade integration. India's non-oil and non-mineral export to Asean continued to increase. This is a good sign for India. India's imports from Asean have been dominated by non-oil and non-mineral products in the post-FTA phase, which include textiles, electronic goods, chemicals, and machinery. These products are vital to Indias manufacturing and services sectors, and the significant increase in their imports in 2021 suggests the growing demand for these products in India. Second, Indias trade with Asean has transformed from trade in agricultural raw materials and food to trade in manufactured goods. The export of manufactured goods has increased from 35.29% in 2010 to 39.53% in 2020, whereas their imports have climbed from 32.12% in 2010 to 38.57% in 2020. This shift in export composition is driven by transport equipment, chemicals and textiles. Interestingly, imports of transport equipment from Asean are increasing at a higher rate than their exports. The most striking feature is that Indias export and import of fuels to and from Asean are declining over time. The fall in share of imports of minerals, mineral fuels, and oils from Asean countries indicates that India has been diversifying its energy sources and reducing its dependence on imports of these products from Asean. Declining shares of exports and imports of minerals, mineral fuels and oils in the post-FTA indicate that trade between Asean and India has diversified into non-oil non-mineral sectors, suggesting higher value addition of these products, which is one of the primary objectives of the Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement. Third, the review of the FTA should also involve an assessment of the exclusion lists products, which may have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the FTA in promoting trade. In a total of 12,169 tariff lines between Asean and India, around 75% of the tariff lines are governed by the normal track commitments. Among the 1297 tariff lines put under the exclusion list by India, a prominent proportion of the commodities in the agricultural sector are excluded for any reduction or elimination in tariffs. Around 17% of the tariff lines in the exclusion list tend to come from tariff lines in the textile and apparel industry. Asean countries have varying numbers of products in their exclusion lists, ranging from 150 to 2,057. Among the Asean countries, Vietnam has the highest number of products in its exclusion list (2057 products), followed by Myanmar (1,613 products). With Vietnam, the number of tariff lines in imports has increased from 1,306 to 1,963. Ideally, items placed in the exclusion list must not see an increase in their imports as they are kept out of the ambit of any tariff reduction/elimination. However, in the case of Indias imports from Asean, traction in the opposite direction could be seen. In a substantial number of exclusion list items, the import has gone up after the implementation of the AIFTA. Most of the exclusion list items of the machinery category saw a rise in imports from Asean, regardless of no tariff reduction offered by India. Fourth, India has witnessed mixed performance in comparative advantage with the Asean. Indias revealed comparative advantage increased in products such as other vegetable textile fibres, paper yarn and woven fabrics of paper yarn and cereal between 2010 and 2020. In a decade, Indias comparative advantage in ships, boats and floating structures has strengthened considerably. The RCA index has doubled in export of ships, boats and floating structures between 2010 and 2020 with the Asean. Indias exports of lead and articles to Asean were not highly specialised in 2010; however, they have grown to gain revealed comparative advantage in 2020. Similarly, Indias specialisation in exports of zinc and articles to Asean was apparent before the FTA as well as after the FTA. The RCA index score for organic chemicals has also increased, however, marginally. Fifth, Asean and India should be doing is to streamline NTMs through harmonisation of standards and regulations, mutual recognition of conformity assessment and reduction of border procedures. Making equivalence of standards between Asean and India is the way forward. Asean and India should identify the potential products that are of interest and should build cooperation to work in areas where there are difficulties in recognising or validating certificates of testing and inspections and strengthen the use of international standards, mandatory documentation of equivalence procedure and adopting Codex consignment rejection guidelines, standards in English language and agreement on self-certification. Indian accreditation authorities should enter into mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) with similar agencies in Asean countries. Only then can any regional trade agreements effectively promote trade and investment activities. Sixth, while renegotiating the agreement, Indias interests should be to gain higher market access in Asean and the rest of the world in those products which offer the GVC interests, both forward and backward linkages, and the products gaining comparative advantage. A new study at the product-level may be undertaken by India to design the trade strategy at greater details. To conclude, PM Vajpayee in his remarks at the 2nd Asean-India Summit in 2003 said: Framework Agreement is a major breakthrough in Indo-Asean relations and should contribute significantly to an increasing integration over the coming years. Today, although the Asean-India trade has turned lopsided, India-Asean relations have gained and have been transformed into a long-lasting friendship, value of which is beyond a mere trade deficit. This article is authored by Prabir De, professor, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modis letter last week to G20 leaders proposing that the African Union (AU) be invited to join G20 as a member is a shot in the arm for the AUs campaign. It has boosted the morale of African leaders and friends of Africa around the world. The effort gains momentum just weeks before the G20 summit. Will the AU be elevated from its present status of a guest to a full member at the Delhi Summit? India's foreign minister S Jaishankar, South Africa's foreign minister Naledi Pandor and Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Cape Town on June 1 (REUTERS) A clinical look at the present state of play offers some insight. For several years, African governments and the AU, the pan-African grouping of 55 member-States, have been striving to achieve this goal. A major milestone was crossed in February 2023 when the AU Summit adopted a formal decision to be part of the G20 after considering a report by Macky Sall, President of Senegal and the then AU chairperson. The summit reaffirmed the need for Africa to be more fully involved in the decision-making processes on global governance issues because they affect Africa as much as the rest of the world. Striking a realistic and clever note, the AU expressed deep appreciation of those G20 members that supported AUs entry, and it called on all other G20 members to support such a bid. Soon thereafter, President Sall wrote to G20 leaders. PM Modis recent communication confirmed India's whole-hearted support of the AUs eminently reasonable request. Heres how the support for AU entry into the G20 stacks up: Of all G20 members, say African sources, 13 expressed public support for the AU the United States, China, Russia, India, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, Japan, and the European Union. The list of 7 countries that are either opposed or fence-sitters is important: Australia, Canada, Argentina, Mexico, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye. The case for and against the AU becoming a full-fledged member of G20 has long been debated among officials and scholars. Those in favour maintain that the AUs entry will make the G20 more representative, inclusive, and, therefore, more influential. Instead of representing only 65% of the world population, it will then speak for about 80% of the planets people. This will enhance the groups moral credibility, advancing the cause of fairness and justice. As Development Reimagined, a women-led African consultancy, pointed out recently, The G20 needs AU for two reasons: Enhance African representation and AUs contribution to economic growth. On a visit to Africa in January 2023, Janet Yellen, US treasury secretary, observed that African communities are disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of global challenges. Any serious solution requires African leadership and voices. That is the reason why the US (and other nations) support the AU. African countries firmly belong at the table. The advantages to Africa are obvious. As the worlds premier forum on international economic and other cooperation, the G20 has been deeply involved in shaping solutions to global challenges such as economic growth, the climate crisis, energy transition, sustainable development, debt burdens, women empowerment, and the digital economy. With a seat at the main G20 table, Africa will, at last, have a direct say in all deliberations and decisions. The AU has already made it clear that it will be represented by its current chairperson who will be assisted by the chairperson of the AU Commission. Those silent on or opposed to the AUs admission may have been caught up in a web of self-created fears. First, the purists among them may apprehend that Africa's entry would open the floodgates of G20s expansion, thus reducing its effectiveness. Second, a few nations belonging to East Asia, West Asia, and Latin America may want a similar status for their regional groupings. Third, some scholars have wondered patronisingly if Africa has the capability to ensure its meaningful participation in the G20. Fourth, those opposing the concept of reformed multilateralism may be concerned that the AUs entry could set a bad precedent globally. These are unjustified arguments to maintain the status quo. Their proponents appear oblivious to Africa's economic potential, mineral wealth, expanding demography, growing economic integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and increasing influence in world affairs. As Africanists say, Its time for Africa! Its arrival can be delayed but cannot be prevented. Some critics feel that the Indian presidency has lost valuable time in proposing Africas invitation to the G20. India has spent time laying the groundwork for this moment. Now New Delhi should step up its diplomatic game by using diverse tools available in its armoury. For instance, ambassadors of the non-committed nations should be invited for frank conversations. Second, PM Modi should be advised to send a special envoy to a few select capitals and persuade a sign-on. Third, his powerful telephone diplomacy can also be deployed, where needed. Finally, if one or two governments are still reluctant when the summit opens on September 9, the collective will of G20 should assert itself to produce a consensus formulation supporting the AUs request. It is appropriate that Africa be brought in as a member of the G20 during the Indian presidency. Why leave any stone unturned to secure a goal that will benefit humankind? Those loyal to the name and brand recognition of G20 need to have no apprehension. The nomenclature can remain unchanged. There is a strong precedent: Even with 134 developing countries in it, the G77 did not change its name. This article is authored by Rajiv Bhatia, Distinguished Fellow, Gateway House and former High Commissioner to Kenya and South Africa. Dehradun: The Uttarakhand Police on Tuesday booked 50-60 unidentified people for allegedly ransacking shops of Muslims in Nainital and tonsuring a man from the minority community accused of bestiality, officers said, even as no arrest has been made in connection with anti-Muslim posters that surfaced in Uttarkashis Purola town. Purola in Uttarkashi has remained tense since an abduction attempt on a minor girl on May 26. (ANI) On June 14, some residents of Lamachaur village in Haldwani claimed to having caught a 25-year-old Muslim man, identified as Hafiz, while having sex with a cow. Following the incident, members of some Hindu right-wing outfits shaved the head of the accused and forced Muslim traders in the area to shut their shops. The same day, the police arrested Hafiz and booked him under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act on the basis of a complaint lodged by one Mahesh Chand, a resident of Lamachaur. HT has seen a copy of the complaint registered at the Mukhani police station. On Tuesday, a case was registered against 56-60 unidentified people at the Mukhani police station for vandalising shops of Muslims under sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 355 (assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour person), and 427 (mischief) of the Indian Penal Code, a senior officer said. We have registered a case and identification of the accused is underway, Mukhani police sub-inspector Preeti, who goes by the single name, said. The incident in Nainital has come on the heels of communal tensions in the hilly town of Purola in Uttarkashi where shops run by Muslim men were attacked during protests by Hindu right-wing organisations, forcing many from the minority community to leave the town. Purola has been tensed since the alleged abduction attempt on a 14-year-old girl on May 26. A day later, two accused including a Muslim man were arrested in connection with the case. On May 29, at least 30 shops owned or rented by Muslims were ransacked and attacked during a protest rally by right-wing organisations, who claimed the abduction bid was an attempt at love jihad a term popularised by radical Hindu groups to describe what they believe is an organised conspiracy by Muslim men to force or trick Hindu women into conversion and marriage. The minor girls uncle, who is also a complainant in the case, has denied the love jihad claim while talking to HT. On June 3, shops and houses belonging to Muslims were again targeted during another protest by right-wing outfits in Barkot. A day later, posters asking Muslim traders to vacate their shops in Purola before a proposed mahapanchayat which was not allowed by authorities on June 15 came up at various places. On June 5, the police registered a first information report (FIR) against unidentified people under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, etc.), 505 (statements conducing public mischief), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC for putting up anti-Muslim posters. However, no arrest has been made in connection with the case yet. We have not arrested anyone for hooliganism in the town thus far, Uttarkashi superintendent of police Arpan Yadhuvanshi said last week. Even after three weeks, no FIR has been registered by the police in connection with attack on Muslim shops during protests on May 29 and June 3. Our probe into the incident is underway. We will soon file an FIR, the SP said on Tuesday. On June 8, Barkot circle officer SS Bhandari had said: We have not been able to identify anyone who attacked Muslim shops [during the protests] or those who put up posters asking Muslim traders to leave by June 15. Due to low visibility at that time nobody could be seen putting up the posters. We are also checking CCTV footage of hotels to find out the culprits. Meanwhile, shops owned by Muslim traders in Purola reopened for the first time in nearly 20 days, in a first sign of normalcy returning to the town gradually. According to people aware of the details, the market roughly consists of 650-700 shops and of these, around 30-40 are run by Muslims. Around half of them left the town amid violence, locals said. A person was killed and five others were injured after a balcony of a dilapidated house on the route of the annual Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra collapsed in Dariapur locality of Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Video shared by news agency PTI showed chaos on the streets following the balcony's collapse. Dariapur police station's inspector JS Chaudhary told PTI that some of the injured people were standing on the second-storey balcony and watching the chariot procession while some were standing underneath. Police personnel standing at the spot where the balcony collapsed in Ahmedabad's Dariapur area. (Twitter/PTI) A 36-year-old person named Mehul Panchal died during treatment while the condition of five others were stable. Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia called for an impartial probe into the mishap. The incident of balcony collapse in Ahmedabad during Rath Yatra is saddening. I pray for the speedy recovery of those injured. It is a case of grave negligence, and should be probed impartially, he tweeted. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON No word has harmed the country and its Muslim population more than 'secular', BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said here on Monday. BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain.(HT) Addressing a public meeting at Karchhana, 30 km from the district headquarters, he said the Opposition has used this word as "fevicol" to keep its vote bank glued. "They have been scaring Muslims for the last 75 years and made them a vote bank. The shop of secularism in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is about to shut now," the BJP spokesperson said. "If any word has harmed this country and Muslims the most, it is the word secular," he said. Taking a jibe at Opposition parties over their June 23 meeting to forge unity for the 2024 polls, he said, "These people will come to Bihar, have international litti chokha, raise their hands for 35 seconds and go their own ways." Hussain had come to attend the programme to popularise the achievements of the Modi government. State cabinet minister Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi, Lok Sabha MP from Allahabad Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Karchana MLA Piyush Ranjan Nishad also addressed the programme. Welcome to hindustantimes.com updates platform where you can find breaking news from India and across the world. Find fast updates about the latest news as it breaks. Get latest news, breaking news, latest updates, live news, top headlines, breaking business news and top news of the hour. China on Tuesday blocked a proposal by India and the US at the United Nations to designate Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Sajid Mir, wanted for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, as a global terrorist. Sajid Mir is one of India's most wanted terrorists and has a bounty of USD 5 million placed on his head by the US for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.(HT File) Beijing blocked the proposal that had been moved by the US and co-designated by India to blacklist Mir under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council as a global terrorist and subject him to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. In September last year, it was learnt that China had put a hold on the proposal to designate Mir at the UN. Beijing has now blocked the proposal. Mir is one of India's most wanted terrorists and has a bounty of USD 5 million placed on his head by the US for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. In June, Mir was jailed for over 15 years in a terror-financing case by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan. Pakistani authorities had in the past claimed Mir had died, but Western countries remained unconvinced and demanded proof of his death. This issue became a major sticking point in FATF's assessment of Pakistan's progress on the action plan late last year. Mir is a senior member of the Pakistan-based LeT and is wanted for his involvement in the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. "Mir was LeTs operations manager for the attacks, playing a leading role in their planning, preparation, and execution, the US State Department has said. Beijing, an all-weather friend of Islamabad, has repeatedly put holds on listings to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorists under the sanctions committee of the UN Security Council. China on Tuesday blocked a move at the UN Security Council by India and the US to designate Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative Sajid Mir, wanted in connection with the 2008 Mumbai attacks, as a global terrorist, people familiar with the matter said. Sajid Mir was indicted in a US district court in Chicago in April 2011 and charged with conspiracy against the property of a foreign government, providing material support to terrorists, killing an American citizen outside the US and aiding and abetting the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. (Sourced) The US and India had sought the listing of Mir under the 1267 al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee so that he would be subjected to an assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. The block by China follows its use of a technical hold to stymie a similar move by India and the US last year, the people cited above said. Mir has already been designated a terrorist under the laws of India and the US. The US treasury department designated Mir as a specially designated global terrorist in 2012 and a reward of $5 million was offered for him under the US Rewards for Justice programme. There was no official word on the development from Indian officials. Last year, Western countries had backed Indias call at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for the investigation and prosecution of 30 key terrorist leaders, including LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and Mir, who allegedly directed a 10-member terrorist team involved in the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. Over the past few years, China has repeatedly blocked efforts by India and its partners, such as France and the US, to designate Pakistan-based terrorists. Among the terrorists whose listing has been held up by China are Mir, Shahid Mahmood and Talha Saeed of LeT and Abdul Rauf Asghar of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). India had made the listing of Pakistan-based terrorists a top priority for its tenure as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council during 2021-22. In the face of intense pressure from Western countries at the FATF to act against Mir, Pakistani authorities informed Western interlocutors that the top LeT operative had been arrested and given an eight-year prison term in 2022. The development marked a turnaround from the Pakistani establishments earlier claim that Mir, alias Sajid Majid, had died sometime ago. The new information on Mir emerged after Western countries mounted pressure on Pakistan to present proof of his alleged death. According to the US Rewards for Justice programme, Mir has been a senior member of LeT since 2001. During 2006-11, Mir was in-charge of LeTs external operations and planned and directed several terrorist attacks. Mir was LeTs operations manager for the Mumbai attacks, playing a leading role in their planning, preparation, and execution. Jaipur: Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday approved a proposal of 62.30 crore to provide financial assistance to around 6,000 research scholars in the state, the CMs office said in a release. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot (PTI) About 2200 research scholars of government colleges and universities receiving financial aid from the state government will be given a fellowship of 20,000 per month, the release said, adding that a proposal of 52.80 crore was approved by Gehlot for the same. In addition, 3,800 research scholars of government colleges and universities will get financial assistance of up to 25,000 for participation in internships, seminars, workshops, conferences in prestigious higher educational institutions and research institutes of the country. The chief minister has approved 9.50 crore for this, the release added. The fellowship will be given for a maximum period of two years and the college education department will be its nodal department. Assistance of these research scholars can be sought in the implementation of public welfare schemes of the state government, the CMO release said. Researchers of medical education universities and those receiving any other kind of fellowship will not be eligible for this financial grant. The announcement in this regard was made by the chief minister in the 2023-24 budget, it added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday asserted that India will never bargain on the quality of medicines, and emphasised that the authorities are always vigilant to prevent any fatalities caused by spurious drugs. Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya.(PTI) The minister's remark came as the World Health Organisation (WHO) flagged seven Indian-made products in its investigation into alleged deaths linked to contaminated cough syrups. As part of its probe, the global health body flagged a total of twenty toxic medicines, the use of which led to over 200 alleged death across the world. The rest of the medicines belonged to Indonesia, WHO officials told NDTV. The minister said that there is 'zero tolerance on spurious medicines and that 71 companies have been issued show-cause notices and 18 linked shops have been asked to shut. We have conducted risk-based analysis at more than 125 companies and our squads have visited their facilities. Of these, 71 companies have been served show-cause notices and 18 have been given closure notices, he told PTI. "We are the pharmacy of the world and we want to assure everyone that we are the 'quality pharmacy of the world'," the minister added. The row over India-made cough syrup was sparked after they were allegedly linked to a spate of child deaths in Gambia and Uzbekistan, respectively, last year. India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally. It caters to about 50 per cent of global demand for various vaccines. In 2022-23, India witnessed an increase in the export value of cough syrups, reaching USD 17.6 billion compared to USD 17 billion in the previous year, 2021-22. Following the reports of cough syrup-related alleged deaths in Uzbekistan, the World Health Organisation had flagged two India-made cough syrups for children as substandard medical products in January. Both syrups were produced by Noida-based Marion Biotech. Mandaviya said that on the questions are raised about Indian medicines, facts must be factored in. in Gambia, they said 49 children have diedwe wrote to them asking what the facts are. No one got back to us with the facts, the health minister said. "We checked the samples of one company. We tried to find out the cause of death and we found that the child had diarrhoea. If a child had diarrhoea, who recommended cough syrup for that child? he questioned. As of June 1, a new regulation has been implemented in India, making it mandatory for cough syrup exporters to conduct tests before exporting their products. According to a notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) last month, exporters are required to provide a certificate of analysis issued by a government laboratory for the cough syrups before they can be exported. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Narendra Modi is headed for the United States with positivity overtaking the past legacy of negativity, hurdles, and restraint in bilateral ties. While PM Modi and US President Joe Biden have worked together to build a strong relationship between two natural allies, it is the wolf warrior diplomacy of the Middle Kingdom that really has acted as a super catalyst in bringing the two biggest democracies together. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the seniormost leader in Quad and has a personal connect with US President Joe Biden. Although the US and China are now talking at the highest level to avoid any untoward accident, it is other conversations in Asia that may have caused concern to Chinese President Xi Jinping and his band of wolf warriors. The Vietnamese Defence Minister Gen Phan Van Giang is in New Delhi and held a meeting with Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday. Last week, National Security Advisors of Japan, the Philippines and the US hunkered down in Tokyo to chart out a new trilateral defence partnership including naval exercises to counter the Chinese challenge in the South China Sea. While India and Vietnam are the two countries that have fought wars with China and have unsettled territorial disputes, Japan and the Philippines also have unresolved territorial claims with China apart from facing existential dispute over the future of Taiwan. Even though India and Vietnam have huge trade with China, the two countries are wary of the Middle Kingdom with the PLA sitting aggressively all along the Line of Actual Control with India, particularly in Western and Eastern sectors. Even today, the Indian Army and the PLA have deployed over 50,000 men on both sides of the LAC in East Ladakh as the Chinese belligerence that began in May 2020 continues. Fact is that the Chinese aggression in East Ladakh unravelled its larger political strategy to keep India away from the US by pumping New Delhis ego in the name of strategic autonomy and independent thinking. The Chinese supporters in India and the Leftist parties always conjured up images of USS Enterprise in Bay of Bengal in the 1971 Indo-Pak war to drive home the message that the US cannot be trusted and that India should go it alone. A flawed strategy that definitely not helped India but worked in favour of the Communist Party of China even as Beijing expanded its area of influence in the Indo-Pacific while growing industrially at the expense of the US. After China bared its teeth in the Indo-Pacific, the era of free lunches for Chinese wolf warriors was over as the world started looking at Beijing most suspiciously. India under PM Narendra Modi had to shed the past Indian baggage of mistrust with the US after the present Pakistan leadership made it amply evident that China, not the US , was their ultimate strategic partner. Faced with a double whammy from China and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir, and in Ladakh and with Beijing holding an economic guillotine over neighbours Sri Lanka and Myanmar, the Indian strategic options were very limited. The Chinese string of pearls had started to choke India in its own backyard as Beijing's push was being felt on the land and maritime frontiers. The no limits ally relationship that has developed between China and Russia also skewed the Indian equation particularly after the Ukraine war as New Delhi realized that its hardware dependency on Russia may lead to grief, particularly at a time when the PLA was amassed in East Ladakh. The China-Russia joint exercises in and over the Sea of Japan on the other hand raised alarm bells in Tokyo and Seoul just as Chinas security pact with Solomon Islands raised the hackles of Australia in the Far Pacific. The revival of Quad and the growing trilateral partnerships minus China in SouthEast Asia are all indications that the wolf warriors have overplayed their hand with uncalled-for aggression. The decision has already been taken as far as New Delhi is concerned. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON GUWAHATI/New Delhi Rumblings against the N Biren Singh government grew louder in Manipur and New Delhi on Tuesday, with even lawmakers from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies expressing dissatisfaction with the volatile situation in the northeastern state that has been grappling with ethnic strife. Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh addresses a press conference, appealing to the people for peace in the strife ridden state, at the Chief Ministers Secretariat in Imphal on June 12. (ANI) Differences have emerged among BJP legislators on Singhs handling of the issue and some of them want him to quit to ensure an early resolution of the crisis. Speaking on condition of anonymity, senior leaders in the Capital said that there were concerns within the party that the continued violence may hit the BJPs double-engine government plank and hamper their electoral prospects in the states scheduled to go to the polls this year, including Mizoram. Manipur has been on the boil since May 3 witnessing widespread ethnic clashes between the Meitei community, who are dominant in Imphal valley, and the Kuki community, who are in majority in the hill districts. The violence has claimed at least 115 lives, injured over 300 and displaced as many as 40,000 people from both communities. Singh, who is a Meitei, has been blamed by Kuki groups for taking sides. Ten Kuki MLAs, including seven from the BJP, have gone public with their opposition to the chief minister. Though theres no open and vocal opposition among other BJP MLAs, there are some of us who are unhappy with how he has handled the crisis in Manipur till date and want some changes so that there is an early resolution, a BJP MLA from Manipur said on Tuesday, seeking anonymity. Read: Manipur violence: Opposition parties submit signed memorandum to PM Narendra Modi Nine state legislators, including eight from the BJP and an independent who supports the state government, submitted a memorandum to the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) in New Delhi on Monday that said there was complete breakdown of law and order in the state. At present, there is no trust and confidence in the government and administration. Public have lost complete faith in the present state government, the memorandum said. Some special measures for proper administration and function of the government by following rule of law may kindly be resorted to so that the trust and confidence of the general public is restored. The present crisis is going on for long and people are unhappy with the way its being handled. Thats why we want the Centre to intervene and find some solution to it. Hence, we went to the PMO and submitted the memorandum, BJP MLA Yumnam Radheyshyam said on Tuesday. Radheyshyam was among the nine MLAs who went to the PMO and among 30 odd lawmakers from the BJP and its allies in Manipur who on Monday met Union defence minister Rajnath Singh. Later, 23 of them met finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The legislators apprised both central ministers about the situation in the border state. The National Peoples Party (NPP), the second largest party in the 60-member assembly with seven MLAs, and an ally of the BJP, has threatened to withdraw support if the situation doesnt improve within the next few days. Things have gone out of hand for more than a month now. It cant remain the way it is, or else the people wont forgive us, Yumnam Joykumar, former deputy chief minister and national vice president of NPP, said on Tuesday. We will watch the situation for the next three days. If it doesnt improve, we will seriously reconsider our support to the state government. If they (the central government) fail to address the situation, they should either impose Presidents rule in Manipur or remove the head of government,added Joykumar, who was police chief in Manipur before joining politics. Read: What sparked the ethnic strife in Manipur? Know history of Kuki-Meiti clashes On May 3, ethnic violence erupted in Manipur between numerically dominant Meitei community which forms 53% of the state population and tribal communities, especially Kukis, who live primarily in the hill districts. Violent clashes broke out after a Tribal Solidarity March was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei communitys demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. According to a senior party leader, there is a growing concern that the BJPs image of a decisive, decision-making government could be tarnished if the violence persists. The party stands to lose the gains that it made after 2014 by forming governments in some of the North Eastern states, either on its own or with allies. There is a growing apprehension among party leaders on the ground about this..., the leader speaking on condition of anonymity said. A group of state legislators who met several senior party leaders, including BJP national general secretary (organisation) on Tuesday have urged the government to ensure smooth delivery of relief materials, restoration of peace and highlighted the political consequences of the violence that the party might to face in Manipur and the North-east. Read: Amid violence in Manipur, Twitter handle of major tribal leaders' forum blocked They [the legislators] have cautioned that the the partys allies in the state and in the other states as well could be forced to keep a distance from the BJP if the situation is not controlled soon enough, a second BJP functionary said. The partys ideological fount, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), also sounded the alarm over the impact the prolonged conflict could have on the ties between the two communities. The RSS in its statement issued on Sunday spoke about the need to address the trust deficit between the two communities, asked the government to take immediate steps to stem the violence and made a plea to civil society to do its bit to bring peace. The RSS has worked for years building bridges with people in the North East who have diverse customs, languages and food habits and being close to the borders, are vulnerable to external influences. They are concerned by the attempts being made to sow seeds of distrust among communities and want the government to be take swift action, said a senior Sangh functionary. State BJP leaders, however, tried to play down the differences in the party and among alliance partner Theres no official confirmation of any BJP MLA having problems with CM Singh, said Chidananda Singh, vice-president of BJPs Manipur unit. There could be some differences of opinion, which is nothing new. But theres no threat to our government in Manipur. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Utpal Parashar Utpal is a Senior Assistant Editor based in Guwahati. He covers seven states of North-East India and heads the editorial team for the region. He was previously based in Kathmandu, Dehradun and Delhi with Hindustan Times. ...view detail ABOUT THE AUTHOR Smriti Kak Ramachandran Smriti covers an intersection of politics and governance. Having spent over a decade in journalism, she combines old fashioned leg work with modern story telling tools. ...view detail Indias drugs regulator is in touch with its counterparts of all countries from where cases of serious adverse events have been reported allegedly from the consumption of India-made drugs, according to people familiar with the matter. Cough syrups manufactured at Sonepats Maiden Pharma unit have been linked to 70 deaths of children in The Gambia. (PTI) The people added that joint teams of central and state regulators have been conducting surprise inspections of pharmaceutical manufacturing units across the country to ensure quality of medicines is not compromised. Of the World Health Organisations medical product alert against 20 pharmaceutical products, mainly syrups against fever and cough, linked to around 300 deaths globally, seven are from India. While India has hinted that some of these reports are motivated by a desire to target Indias standing as the worlds pharmacy (especially for the manufacture of generics or off-patent drugs), one of the people cited above admitted that in some cases there have been lapses by Indian manufacturers. Special squads have been constituted of the central and state regulators, to conduct surprise checks. At least 70 companies so far have been issued show-cause notice, of which 18 have had their licences suspended because of the lapses found in manufacturing and other relevant processes, said a senior government functionary, requesting anonymity. To be sure, the nature of these lapses isnt known, and it isnt clear whether the manufacturers involved make any of the drugs listed by WHO. The 20 States where joint inspections have been carried out are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarkhand, and West Bengal. Over 200 companies will be inspected in all. In the first phase, inspection was conducted of 76 pharma companies. This special inspection drive by the drugs regulators will continue in coming weeks, added the official cited above. According to the people, the joint inspections are a part of heightened pharma surveillance measures that the government has put in place a few adverse incidents involving India-made drugs were reported globally in the past six months. In February, the Tamil Nadu-based Global Pharma Healthcare recalled its entire lot of eye drop allegedly linked to vision loss in the US. In Uzbekistan, 18 deaths of children were linked to a syrup manufactured by a Noida-based drugs manufacturerMarion Biotechin December. And in October last year, WHO issued an alert on four cough syrups Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, and Magrip N Cold Syrup manufactured and exported by Indias Maiden Pharmaceuticals that could have possibly linked to 70 deaths of children in The Gambia. More recently, there are reports of serious adverse events in at least 12 people in Sri Lanka allegedly due to use of anaesthetic and ophthalmic drugs. All the complaints are being looked into, said another official, requesting anonymity. As a precautionary measure, WHO, earlier this year, issued an advisory for all manufactures, and suppliers and distributors of medical products. Meanwhile, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Tuesday announced that it has launched a surveillance drive to curb the menace of spurious drugs manufactured by nutraceutical companies operating across the country. As part of this initiative, the regulatory authority has initiated its first set of drives in Himachal Pradesh, directing its regional office, North, to take immediate action against the defaulting Food Business Operators involved in the production of spurious drugs. As part of this drive, 21 facilities operating in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh were inspected and 111 samples have been lifted during 7th to 9th June,2023. Further, 25-30 percent of the nutraceuticals manufacturing facilities in Himachal Pradesh will be inspected by the end of June 2023. To address this issue, the CEO, FSSAI convened a meeting with major manufacturers of health supplements and nutraceuticals of Baddi..., the FSSAI statement said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A couple from Naroda area in Gujarats Ahmedabad city who had planned to enter the US illegally has been held hostage in Iran by a Pakistani agent who has sought money for their release, police said. The two wanted to enter the US illegally and came in contact with a Hyderabad-based agent. (Representative file image) A process was under way to register an FIR in this connection at Krushnanagar police station in Naroda area and the Ahmedabad city crime branch has started an investigation into the matter, deputy commissioner of police (Crime) Chaitanya Mandlik said on Monday. Since the incident has taken place outside the country, the crime branch, also investigating the matter, will approach the Indian Embassy in Iran with all details to secure the couples release, identified as Pankaj Patel and his wife Nisha Patel, both aged 29, the official said. Also Read: Trader, son kidnapped in Bihar for 3 cr ransom; case registered: Police According to details shared with Krushnanagar police by the couples family, the two wanted to enter the US illegally and came in contact with a Hyderabad-based agent who arranged for their air tickets. As per the agents plan, the couple was supposed to land at Tehran in Iran and then proceed further per instructions, police said. However, after they landed at Tehran airport a few days back, a Pakistani agent took them to a hotel and held them hostage for ransom, officials said. Patel was assaulted up by the Pakistani agent and his accomplices, who sent a video to his family demanding a ransom for the release of the couple, the official added. With PTI inputs SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Mansukh Mandaviya-headed ministry of chemicals and fertilizers will soon present before the cabinet a plan to roll out PM-Pranam, a scheme to hand out cash incentives to states that can cut their consumption of chemical soil nutrients, said a person aware of the development. Food and fertiliser subsidies accounted for about an eighth of Indias budget worth nearly 39 lakh crore (2022-23). India, the worlds third-largest fertilizer buyer, relies on imports to meet domestic demand. (Raminder Pal Singh) The programme, announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her 2023-24 budget speech in February, is part of a broader policy push to limit fertilizer subsidies, and promote natural and organic farming, which will save the government an estimated 19,000 crore in subsidies. It is also about making agriculture more sustainable, the official said, declining to be named. Apart from PM-Pranam, a scheme named liberalised market development assistance and another one to introduce sulphur-coated urea is likely to come up before the cabinet following their finalisation. The government was in the process of finalising the PM-Pranam schemes operational guidelines, HT reported on April 3. Food and fertiliser subsidies accounted for about an eighth of Indias budget worth nearly 39 lakh crore (2022-23). India, the worlds third-largest fertilizer buyer, relies on imports to meet domestic demand. The countrys food security is closely linked to availability of fertilisers, whose prices hit a multi-year peak in 2022 due to the Ukraine conflict and knock-on effects of the pandemic on supply chains. The governments spending on crop-nutrient subsidies for 2022-23 leapt to a record 2.25 lakh crore. Fertilisers are sold by manufacturers at a discount to millions of farmers, who are then reimbursed by the Centre. For the current fiscal year, the budgeted fertilizer subsidy is 1.75 lakh crore. Under PM-Pranam, 50% of fertilizer subsidies saved by a state will be given back to it as a grant, which states can put to any use, such as building infrastructure, according to a draft scheme, the person cited above said. In other words, if a state saves 3,000 crore, then it will get back 1,500 crore, the person said. The incentive will be calculated at 50% of fertilizer subsidy savings by way of reduced consumption for a given year based on a baseline average consumption of the past three years, according to the methodology fixed. The market development assistance scheme, which promotes urban composting, will broaden its scope to cover organic waste and include rural areas. Composting is the process of decaying plant material so it can be added to soil as manure. The sulphur-coated urea scheme, being called Urea Gold, is also likely to be approved by the cabinet. Liquid nano urea and sulphur-coated urea have higher efficiency and are cheaper than conventional urea. PM Program for Restoration, Awareness, Nourishment and Amelioration of Mother Earth (PM-Pranam) will be launched to incentivise states and Union territories to promote alternative fertilisers and balanced use of chemical fertilisers, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in her budget speech on February 1. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Manipur high court on Tuesday admitted a review petition seeking to modify its March 27 order that directed the state government to recommend inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list, sparking a wave of violence that continues to roil the northeastern state, and setting off an exodus of the states two largest communities to their traditional strongholds. Police personnel keep vigil at the Irengbam village of Bishnupur district in Manipur. (AFP) Based on the petition, the court on Monday issued notices to the Union and state governments, seeking their response. A senior Union government official said on condition of anonymity that both would likely recommend that the Meitei community not be included as a ST, although this person added that this would likely disappoint the community and spark another round of protests. Read: Manipur violence: Opposition parties submit signed memorandum to PM Narendra Modi The review petition by the Meitei Tribes Union (MTU) was admitted for hearing by a bench of acting chief justice MV Muralidharan, who also authored the controversial March 27 order. In the order, justice Muralidharan directed the Manipur government to reply to the Union tribal affairs ministry on a file related to the request for inclusion of the Meiteis on the ST list. The high court noted that the Meiteis had submitted several requests for ST status to the Centre from 2013 onwards that had, in turn, been forwarded to the state government for a formal recommendation. But the state government never acted on it, the high court said, directing it to respond to the Union government. In addition to this direction, the HC also said, The first respondent shall consider the case of the petitioners for inclusion of the Meetei/Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe list, expeditiously, preferably within a period four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order This particular bit of the order has been challenged in the petition. Read: Manipur violence: SC refuses urgent hearing of plea for armed forces deployment It is this part of the order that we have sought a modification of. There is a Supreme Court judgment that says inclusion or exclusion of any community is the prerogative of the Parliament and the President. So, this direction does not comply with that, MTUs advocate Ajoy Pebam said. We have simply asked them to revise the Single Bench order, he added. We want the Manipur government to respond to the letter since it is not authorised to grant ST status. The high court has listed the review petition for July 5. About 115 people have lost their lives in the violence between Meitei and Kuki communities that broke out on May 3 after a Tribal Solidarity March was organised in the hill districts to protest against the high court order asking the government to consider tribal status to dominant Meitei community. Meiteis account for about 53% of Manipurs population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40% of the population and reside in the hill districts. In another order, the Manipur high court on Friday directed the state government to provide limited internet services at designated places. The order issued by Jjustices Ahanthem Bimol Singh and A Guneshwar Sharma was put up on Tuesday. An internet ban has been on in the state since May 3. The court also asked telecom service providers to file affidavits explaining the feasibility of providing limited internet services to the public by blocking social media websites. The bench will hear this matter next on June 23. Despite the HC order on resumption of limited internet services in the state, the Manipur government on Tuesday extended the ban for five more days till 3pm of June 25 to prevent further disturbance of peace and public order in the state. The order, issued by commissioner (home) T Ranjit Singh stated that the ban will continue to be applicable for all except for those who have been specifically exempted by the government and may be exempted subsequently and Internet Lease Line (ILL) on a case-to-case basis as permitted by competent authority. Meanwhile, personnel from Assam Rifles arrested four suspected cadres of United National Liberation Front (UNLF), a Meitei insurgent group in Manipur, at Lilong in Thoubal district on Monday night. Acting on intelligence inputs, mobile vehicle check post was established near police station Lilong on the night of June 19. Four suspected (UNLF) cadres in two separate vehicles were apprehended with one 51 mm mortal and handed over to police, Spear Corps division of Indian Army posted on Twitter. Residents of the area reportedly tried to storm the Lilong police station in protest against the arrests. But they were dispersed by the state police and Assam Rifles personnel. (with agency inputs) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday shared a video message ahead of International Yoga Day wherein he highlighted the ancient practice's unifying force and termed it as a source of strength, harmony, and peace. In his speech titled Yoga unites, he said that the benefits of this practice are particularly precious in a dangerous and divided world. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.(AP) Yoga offers a haven of calm. It can reduce anxiety and promote mental wellbeing. It helps us to develop discipline and patience. It connects us to our planet, which so badly needs our protection. And it reveals our common humanity helping us to understand that despite our differences, we are one, said Guterres. On this International Day of Yoga, let us embrace the spirit of unity, and resolve to build a better, more harmonious world for people, planet, and ourselves, he concluded. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on his first state visit to the US, will lead the 9th International Yoga Day celebrations at the UN headquarters in New York. Many high-profile officials including president of the UN General Assembly Csaba Korosi, diplomatic representatives of almost the entire UN membership of over 190 countries, the mayor of New York Eric Adams, other political leaders from New York, and top Indian-American diaspora figures in various domains are expected to join the prime minister on the north lawns of the UN complex on the morning of June 21. The International Day of Yoga has been celebrated worldwide annually on June 21 since 2015, following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014. In his 2014 UN address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested the date of June 21, as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and shares a special significance in many parts of the world. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has proposed a Cabinet meeting with lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on the law and order situation in view of recent murders in the national capital. In a scathing letter addressed to Saxena, Kejriwal expressed deep concern and highlighted the need for immediate and effective measures to restore the faith of Delhi's residents in their safety and security. Delhi L-G VK Saxena and CM Arvind Kejriwal.(ANI) Delhi Police, which is controlled by the Union home ministry, is responsible for law enforcement in the national capital. Referring to the recent murders that have sent shockwaves through the city, the chief minister stressed that the repeated occurrence of such serious crimes has eroded public confidence and called for a swift response to fulfil the obligations entrusted to those responsible for maintaining law and order. Though I am of the firm opinion that the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report which was made public last year, should have served as an eye-opener for the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Hon'ble Lieutenant Governor, both of whom are directly responsible for maintenance of law and order here, but unfortunately that did not happen, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief said. Citing the NCRB data, Kejriwal said Delhi alone accounted for 32.20 per cent of the total crimes against women in 19 cities. He alleged that nothing changed on the ground despite the need for urgent preventive steps on crimes against women. The chief minister called for effective police patrolling during night hours and engagement with the residents of Delhi on the issue of law and order. Kejriwal requested the meeting days after two sisters were gunned down in RK Purams Ambedkar Basti. Pinky and Jyoti were shot dead reportedly while trying to prevent their brother Lalit from being kidnapped around 4am on Sunday. Police said the group wanted to exact revenge after Lalit allegedly abused one of the suspects, Dev, on Saturday night for not returning 10,000 he lent him. Due to lack of Delhi Police personnel in the field for reasons best known to your goodself, residents are being forced to engage private guards in large numbers in their respective areas in desperate situation for the safety of their lives and properties, Kejriwal said. He further stated, I am constrained to state that the kind of urgency required for prevention of crimes in Delhi is completely missing on the part of decision makers responsible for the maintenance of law and order here. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT News Desk Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times' newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we've got you covered. ...view detail Amid the ongoing crisis in Manipur, opposition leaders from ten like minded political parties including the Congress, AAP (Aam Aadmi Party), AITC (All India Trinamool Congress), NCP (Nationalist Congress Party), CPI(M) (Communist Party of India (Marxist)), Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) among others, submitted a signed memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who left for the United States, on Tuesday. The Supreme Court on Tuesday said violence in Manipur is purely an issue of law-and-order. (ANI file image) The memorandum opposed the demand of a separate administration for Manipur further urging for immediate cessation of firing in the northeastern state. Also Read: Manipur violence: SC refuses urgent hearing of plea for armed forces deployment The memorandum, a copy of which HT has seen, read that the ten political parties urged for assurance of strict adherence to ground rules of Suspension of Operation by Kuki militants along with heightened security vigil in the same along with, a realistic re-consideration of the relief package (of sum 101.75 crore) for the people of Manipur which the parties jointly acknowledged was inadequate. Demanding the opening of the National Highway Number 2 which links Imphal to Dimapur, the memorandum copy read, NH-2 has been blocked by some Kuki organisations living along the highway since May 3, 2023. Movement of essential commodities, other goods required for the people and economy and passengers has been completely disrupted resulting in their non availability and hike in prices. Government of India may ensure the opening of the highway. While addressing a press conference in the backdrop of the same, senior Manipur Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh wanted PM Modi to have a discussion on Manipur. Manipurs issue should be considered a national issue. CM Biren Singh openly accepts in public that this unfortunate incident happened due to complete failure of law and order and let the central government decide what should be done about it. If the government had determination, a situation like this can be controlled in 3-4 days or latest by one week, he said. Republican Party of India (A) Nimai Chand Luwang who was also at the press conference and among the leaders of the ten parties who submitted the memorandum, hit out at Manipur CM Singh. People of Manipur do not like to see Biren Singhs face, so he must be held responsible for everything.We demand he must go and once he goes, I assure you violence will cease within one hour, Luwang said. Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader K Santa while calling for normalcy in Manipur said that the situation had turned into a civil war while reiterating the demand for the resignation of the Manipur CM. The Supreme Court on Tuesday said violence in Manipur is purely an issue of law-and-order, as it refused to urgently hear a plea for the deployment of armed forces in the state to protect the Kukis and order prosecution of those attacking the tribal community. A rally by a tribal Kuki group to protest against a controversial high court order for considering the inclusion of the dominant and politically stronger Meitei community to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list sparked a wave of violence between the two communities in May. The violence has left over 310 injured and 40,000 displaced. On March 27, a single-judge bench of the high court directed the state government to consider sending within four weeks a recommendation to the Union government on the demand for ST status by the Meitei community. New Delhi The Narendra Modi government has embarked on an effort to accelerate coverage of its flagship welfare programmes, with ministries pushing to utilise their budgets for 2023-24 as soon as possible so as to avoid a crowding of the budgets in the run-up to March 2024, the end of the financial year, people familiar with the matter said. Analysts believe that there could be another motive for this as well -- the 2024 elections. The government is looking to expand risk coverage under the 13,625-crore Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana to 70 million farmers (HT photo) Among the efforts underway is a drive by the health ministry to add another 70 million families to its 100 million-strong flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat in the next four months; the agriculture ministrys move to add 33.4 million eligible beneficiaries in the 60,000 crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) and expand risk coverage under the 13,625-crore Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana to 70 million farmers; and the water and sanitation ministrys focus on providing 300,000 villages with a solid waste management system, and providing functional piped water connections to 40 million more households. Besides outlays for individual schemes, ministries and other implementing agencies have been given measurable outputs and outcomes for accountability, three officials said requesting anonymity. It is the basis for judging the performance of individual ministries, one of them said. While outlay means the budget allocated to a scheme in 2023-24, output is the measurable product, and the outcome is the ultimate result or qualitative improvement, this person added. This year, 2023-24 is the last full financial year for the second term of the Modi government before the crucial general elections by May next year. Four large states also go to polls later this year. Prime Minister Modi has often spoken of saturation coverage of his governments welfare schemes, and his Bharatiya Janata Party has effectively combined welfarism and Hindutva into a winning election platform. In an interview ahead of the Karnataka elections, home minister Amit Shah said the Modi governments policies have created a new caste in the country -- that of beneficiaries. The cabinet secretary on Saturday chaired a chintan shivir organised by the Union finance ministry that deliberated implementation of projects, flagship programmes, large schemes and other major budget announcements. The objective of the chintan shivir was to share insights and learnings on successful implementation of projects and schemes, discuss challenges and help ministries draw up a roadmap for timely and effective delivery on-ground, it said in a tweet on Monday. The list [of schemes] is long, as the government is monitoring performance of 148 major schemes, the first official said, adding that funds will not be a constraint for any welfare programme and if required more money could be given at the revised estimate (RE) stage. The Ayushman Bharat scheme , the governments health coverprogramme , provides medical insurance up to 5 lakh per family per year to over 100 million poor families (approximately 500 million beneficiaries). The plan is to register 70 million additional families in the next four months, the second official said. The distribution of 7 crore (70 million) cards mostly in Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh ad Rajasthan means an additional 350 million people will be covered under the worlds largest universal health care scheme, he said. Officials involved in the planning maintained that a number of key schemes and projects with a large public outreach in six to seven ministries will see a further push and early deadlines. The officials said good governance and welfare of the poor are the two key principles driving the Modi governments political and economic developments, which was particularly evident during the pandemic period that hit India in March 2020. Free food to 800 million poor people, direct cash assistance to underprivileged and measured economic stimulus not only saved lives and livelihoods but also protected our MSMEs, a second official said. The governments strict monitoring of capital expenditure and welfare programmes during that period saw front-loading of budgeted expenditure and the same approach has continued, he added. The official attributed Indias strong economic recovery post-pandemic, growing by 7.2% in 2022-23 (provisional estimates), to this approach. Much of the economys growth is powered by government spending. On June 4, 2021, while reviewing the capital expenditure performance of various ministries and central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) under them, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that enhanced capex will play a critical role in revitalising the economy post-pandemic and encouraged ministries to front-load their capital expenditure. That year (2021-22), the Union budget provided a capital outlay of 5.54 lakh crore, a sharp 34.5% jump over the budget estimate of 2020-21. In 2023-24, the budget has provided a capital outlay of 13.70 lakh crore, including grants-in-aid to states. The third official said the governments focus on front-loading capex is guided purely by economic considerations. However, it had a multiplier effect. It helped in creating demand, providing jobs, and eventually generating resources for welfare work. The government made significant announcements in Budget 2023-24, both for social and economic development, and all ministries are expected to spend the budgeted amount according to a monthly expenditure plan (MEP) and quarterly expenditure plan (QEP) for proper implementation of schemes and to avoid last-minute rush, he said. This is a prudent and efficient expenditure policy followed for several years to get the best value out of public money. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Ahead of his state visit to the United States, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the special invitation by US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies. Prime Minister Narendra Modi emplanes for US visit. I am confident that my visit to the US will reinforce our ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges, he said in a blog post. Prime Minister Modi emplaned on Tuesday for a historic state visit to the US where he will hold extensive talks with US President Joe Biden and address a joint session of the US Congress for a second time, a first for any Indian prime minister. But before that, he will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. During the visit, Prime Minister Modi will address the Indian American community from across the country at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington on June 23. He will also hold discussions with business leaders on opportunities for elevating the trade and investment relationship between the two countries and for building resilient global supply chains. I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported Indias proposal in December 2014 to recognize an International Day of Yoga, he said. Earlier on Monday, PM Modi noted that people from all walks of life, including members of the US Congress, have been sharing their enthusiasm on his upcoming visit to that country, and said such diverse support underlines the depth of the India-US relationship. Modi tagged the Twitter account of the Indian Embassy in the US on which there were videos of several people, including members of the US Congress, business leaders, Indian-Americans and others, expressing excitement over the visit and welcoming Modi. "People from all walks of life including Members of Congress, thought leaders and others have been sharing their enthusiasm on my upcoming USA visit," Modi said in a tweet. "I thank them for their kind words. Such diverse support underlines the depth of the India-USA relationship," he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The main objective of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States is to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the US and India, with a focus on enhancing cooperation and collaboration and has nothing to do about China or Russia, John Kirby, White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets supporters as he arrives on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)(AP) During a press conference, Kirby stated that this visit is not about convincing PM Modi or the Indian Government to do something different. Follow PM Modi in US LIVE updates "This state visit is also not about Russia. And what we're trying to do with our bilateral relationship with India is improve the bilateral relationship for its own sake and on its own foundation, because it's that important to us. It's not about forcing or coercing or trying to convince Prime Minister Modi or the Indian government to do something different. It's about focusing on where we are in this relationship and making it more important, more robust, more cooperative going forward," said Kirby. The NSC Coordinator also said that the US supported "India's emergence as a great power" and was looking to improve and deepen the defence cooperation between India and US. "This is a big week here at the White House. This visit will affirm the strong ties between our two countries (US and India) and elevate our strategic partnership. We want to improve and deepen the defence cooperation between India and the USA. We support India's emergence as a great power," Kirby said. Speaking about defence cooperation, he said that cooperation between the two countries has improved and the US is looking to deepen that, to broaden and to find opportunities to improve that defence cooperation. "I won't speak for Prime Minister Modi or the Indian government and where and how they see their defence cooperation going forward. All I can tell you is what I said earlier that we have seen in recent years, particularly since the beginning of the Biden administration, that defence cooperation between our two countries has improved. And we're looking and you'll see quite a focus on it this week in particular, we're looking to deepen that, to broaden and to find opportunities to improve that defence cooperation between India and the United States," said Kirby. The White House official said PM Modi's visit will strengthen the shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific. "With Indians, we believe in a safe, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, so it makes sense to look for ways to improve our defence cooperation," Kirby said. He further said that when leaders will summarise their meeting at the end, the discussion will be more on the focus of the future and on the future of the Indo-Pacific. "We have a shared interest and a shared common goal of a free, open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific. India is a major exporter of security in the Indo-Pacific region, and they certainly have equities of their own to speak to. So we're looking forward to where this is going," he added. Speaking on the price cap on Russian oil, Kirby said, "The price cap is working and proven effective. It's working and we are gratified to see that. It is up to India to decide and we hope that India will continue to buy oil in keeping within the price cap." In December last year, the United States and its allies went after Russia's all-important oil revenues after a European ban and price cap on Russian oil. Europe, along with the United States and other major economies, like the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, and Australia, has agreed to a maximum of USD 60 per barrel on Russian seaborne oil, which means anyone who still wants to buy Russian oil has to pay that price or less if it wants to ship cargo through operators or insurers based in the EU or other countries who signed on to this price cap. Replying to a question on if India could be a mediator in the Russia-Ukraine war, Kirby said, "It would be on Prime Minister Modi to take an assertive role. We would welcome a constructive role by any third party. It is a question that only PM Modi can answer." Kirby further said that India has been a tremendous contributor to humanitarian assistance and said, "We welcome the humanitarian assistance given by India to Ukraine." He said that PM Modi's visit concerns not just the red carpet and a terrific meal. It is about anchoring the relationship. "A state visit is not just about the red carpet and a terrific meal. It is about anchoring the relationship. Take a look at the region, in which the bilateral relationship has improved and is going to go in 10-15 years from now. All these are a reason enough to have a meeting with India to see the future ahead. The full scope of the agenda, sitting down with Modi and his team. India has a vibrant democracy and they too work on it. No democracy reaches perfection. The idea is to become more perfect. We are going to work on this bilateral relationship," said Kirby. He also informed that Vice President Kamala Harris will be hosting a lunch for PM Modi where several Indian-Americans will also be present. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in New York for his first historic state visit to the United States. PM Modi was invited by the US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Prime Minister will also lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21. During his visit to New York, PM Modi will meet CEOs, Nobel laureates, economists, artists, scientists, scholars, entrepreneurs, academicians, and health sector experts. PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22 and meet Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. The invitation to deliver such a historic speech was extended by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, demonstrating bipartisan support and respect for Prime Minister Modi in the United States. He would be the first Indian Prime Minister to address a joint session of the United States Congress twice. Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani announced on Tuesday he was donating 315 crore to IIT-Bombay, which he joined in 1973, obtaining a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. Nandan Nilekani (File Photo/Reuters) The reason? The completion of 50 years of his association with the institute, first as a student, and then in various roles, including being on its Board of Governors from 2011-2015, and more. In a press statement, IIT-Bombay noted that including a previous contribution of 85 crore, Nilekani has donated total 400 crore to the institute. This initial contribution, IIT-B said, was instrumental in construction of new hostels, co-financing the School of Information Technology, and establishing the country's maiden university incubator. What will IIT-Bombay do with the latest contribution? Laying out its future plans, IIT-Bombay said it will need a fundraising of $500 million ( 4,106 crore) over the next five years. Nilekani's donation, which amounts to $38.5 million, will, therefore, act as an anchor contribution and help the institute kick-start plans to achieve its stated objectives. Nilekani, IIT-Bombay statements The former UIDAI chairman described IIT-Bombay as a cornerstone in my life. I am grateful to give forward and contribute to its future. This donation is more than just a financial contribution; it is a tribute to the place that has given me so much and a commitment to the students who will shape our world tomorrow, he said. Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director, IIT-B, remarked this was the beginning of a new era in the institute's history. We are extremely delighted to see our illustrious alumnus Nandan Nilekani, continuing his foundational and pioneering contributions to the institute. The historic donation will significantly acclerate the growth of IIT-Bombay and and firmly set it on a path of global leadership, said Prof. Chaudhuri. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT News Desk Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times' newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we've got you covered. ...view detail Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for his historic state visit to the United States. This will be his sixth US visit since coming to power in May 2014, but his first official state visit to the country. The trip will commence on June 20 and conclude on June 24, after which the prime minister will leave for another maiden state visit, to Egypt. Prime Minister Narendra Modi(REUTERS) What is a state visit? It is a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country. When a leader undertakes a state visit, the head of state of the destination country acts as the former's official host throughout the duration of the trip. Such a visit always includes a state reception by the host for the guest. US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, too, will host PM Modi for a state dinner. Also, a state visit is usually reserved only for closest friends and allies. It, therefore, signifies the highest expression of friendly bilateral ties between two sovereign nations. How is a state visit different from an official visit? The latter involves much less pomp and show than the former. An official visit, also sometimes known as official working visit or working visit, may include an official dinner, which, however, is nowhere near as glittering as a state dinner. Also, a state visit is usually undertaken by a head of state, and not the head of government. Modi's trip, therefore, is significant as the President is the head of state in India, and the prime minister, the head of government. The US President is both the head of state and government. Indian leaders and state visits to the US Before Modi, only 2 Indian leaders have been hosted by the United States as an official state guest: President S Radhakrishnan in June 1963, and PM Manmohan Singh in November 2009. Overall, as many as 9 Indian PMs have undertaken visits to the US: Jawaharlal Nehru and Atal Bihari Vajpayee (4 trips each), Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi (3 each), PV Narasimha Rao (2), and Morarji Desai and IK Gujral (1 each). Singh, on the other hand, went there 8 times as India's premier. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on an official state visit to the United States from June 21 to 24. The visit will see him participate in events such as Yoga Day celebrations at the United Nations headquarters lawns, a state dinner hosted by US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, an address to a joint session of the US Congress, an interaction with members of the Indian diaspora, etc. PM Modi, US President Biden interact during November 2022's G20 Summit in Bali. (Twitter/PMO) Here are 5 things you must know about PM Modi's state visit to the United States: (1.) Though he has been prime minister for 9 years, this is his first state visit to the US. This will also be his sixth trip to the country as India's PM. (2.) Before Modi, the only Indian leaders to make a state visit to the United States were his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh (Nov 23-25, 2009) and President S Radhakrishnan (June 3-5,1963). Besides Modi and Singh (8 trips), 7 Indian prime ministers have undertaken US visits: Jawaharlal Nehru (4), Atal Bihari Vajpayee (4), Indira Gandhi (3), Rajiv Gandhi (3), PV Narasimha Rao (2), and Morarji Desai and IK Gujral (1 each). (3.) Joe Biden is the third US President Modi will meet during a United States visit. He previously met Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the latter being Biden's immediate predecessor. (4.) PM Modi's speech in the US Congress, his second (the first came in June 2016), will make him the only Indian leader to do so, and the fourth world leader to address the Congress at least twice. (5.) On June 21, he will lead the International Day of Yoga 2023 celebrations at the UN headquarters lawns; for the first time, Yoga Day's main ceremony will be hosted abroad. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar cancelled his visit to Tamil Nadu on Tuesday at the last minute even as his deputy, Tejashwi Yadav, and party colleague and minister Sanjay Jha left for Chennai to attend a function to mark the birth centenary celebrations of late Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader M Karunanidhi. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and his Tamil Nadu counterpart, MK Stalin. (ANI/File) Kumar was scheduled to inaugurate a memorial to Karunanidhi in Tiruvarur and return to Patna on Wednesday two days before the meeting of non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parties he has convened on Friday to prepare a common ground ahead of the 2024 national polls. The meeting is likely to be held at Kumars residence to ensure confidentiality. No official reason was given for the cancellation. The visit was given much importance against the backdrop of efforts to forge unity among non-BJP parties. DMK, the ruling party of Tamil Nadu that sends the fifth-highest (39) lawmakers to parliament, is among the key parties involved in the unity efforts. HT on Monday reported that no breakthrough was expected at the Patna meeting and that it will be more of a warm-up for subsequent rounds of engagement. Efforts were on to make a declaration of intent at the meeting to address why the non-BJP parties are keen to join hands and why the meeting in Patna is important. The participants at the meeting were expected to speak of securing the character of a secular and democratic India and to highlight how the supremacy of the Constitution has been assaulted. A proposal to put up common candidates for at least 400-450 seats against the BJP will also be discussed at another meeting. Many of the non-BJP parties have been fighting the Congress in some states. Kumar has been reaching out to non-BJP parties even as Jitan Ram Manjhis Hindustani Awam Morcha was on the verge of leaving his ruling alliance in Bihar. Bharat Rashtra Samithi has also decided against attending the Patna meeting even as its leader and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has been one of the key interlocutors for the unity. The meeting was earlier scheduled for June 12 but it was cancelled to ensure that the parties involved sorted out their differences and were willing to make sacrifices and adjustments. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON New Delhi: The meeting of opposition parties in Patna scheduled on June 23 will try to identify common issues and prepare a joint statement on the purpose of their unity, but a formal common minimum programme (CMP) might not happen anytime soon, functionaries of various political outfits said. The meeting of opposition parties called by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in Patna on June 23 is being seen as a precursor to several similar gatherings ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. (ANI) Some key opposition parties are not comfortable with the idea of a CMP at this stage, when there are no formal seat pacts or alliances between the opposition constituents at the national level. Also, three leaders argued that a CMP is usually inked after an election. Media reports suggested that Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar might be asked to draft a CMP. We have decided on three things. The date, the venue and that heads of the opposition parties will attend the meeting. We will decide the date and venue of the next meeting on June 23. Beyond this, if anyone wants to jump the gun, it will not be advisable, said Trinamool Congress partys Rajya Sabha leader Derek OBrien. The Congress, TMC and the Left Parties are not comfortable with the idea of a CMP at this stage, opposition functionaries said, declining to be named. In 2004, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and the Left parties negotiated on a CMP after the results were declared. Common issues can be identified to fight against the BJP government, a Left leader said. But a formal CMP will not be acceptable to many at this stage. We will find common ground and pick up pro-people issues in the Patna meeting for a national-level unity, a Congress strategist said. But a CMP has never been made before an election. The opposition parties are discussing a declaration of intent, which can come in the shape of a joint statement of the participants, which will incorporate key issues such as federalism, misuse of investigating agencies, alleged assault on constitution, the Delhi ordinance curbing the power of the elected government and price rise, among other issues. This statement will form the basis of the opposition unity. The issues might lead to formation of a CMP when the time comes, said a second non-Congress leader. In the Patna meeting, the parties will also decide the date and the venue of the next meeting. The next meeting is likely to be held either in Shimla or Chennai, another leader said. We are discussing a declaration of intent by all the participants that will speak of securing the character of a secular and democratic India, another senior leader said. We also want to highlight how the supremacy of Indian Constitution have been mercilessly assaulted and why we have to stand in defence of India and all its people. The first leader claimed that contentious issues such as the proposal to put up a common opposition candidate in at least 400-450 seats against the Bharatiya Janata Party will be discussed in another meeting. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Saubhadra Chatterji Saubhadra Chatterji is Deputy Political Editor at the Hindustan Times. He writes on both politics and policies. ...view detail PB Abdul Jebbar migrated from Kerala's Thrissur to Dubai in 1990 to earn a better living. He learnt the tricks of the trade very quickly and gained expertise in managing business. And there was no looking back. Today, he heads Hotback Global, a leading packaging company which has its presence in 16 countries including Middle East, United States, United Kingdom and Australia. With the help of his uncle who arranged a visa for him, Jebbar came to Dubai to work in 1990.(LinkedIn/Abdul Jebbar) Jebbar told Gulf News that he did not know that the Gulf would one day make him a successful businessman. Here are ten things you know about this Kerala-born entrepreneur. 1. Jebbar grew up in Chamakkala in Thrissur district of Kerala. Having lost his father at a very young age due to an accident, he and his brothers were raised by their mother. 2. As a teen, he was involved in trading jobs which required him to procure foreign goods from people who came from the Gulf. He used the money earned to pay for his education and support his family. 3. With the help of his uncle who arranged a visa for him, Jebbar came to Dubai to work in Al Ras area for an indenting company in 1990. If you are unaware, indent is basically a document which states the requirements of good with the quantity along with its specification. The indent is sent to the store department which procures the items and sends it back to the department. 4. According to the Gulf News report, Jebbar started Majed Plastics in 1995, his own venture in packaging industry. The tycoon told the website about the small company which had a warehouse and office in Deira. His company procured superior quality secure packaging to sell. Within two years, he was able to open a company branch in Abu Dhabi. 5. In 2000, Jebbar founded Hotpack Packaging Industries. Five years later, the company set up its first manufacturing unit. 6. At present, Hotpack Global is present in 16 countries across the Middle East, Australia, US, UK, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Malaysia and Spain. The company also runs a chain of manufacturing and sales network in the Middle East and North African regions. 7. According to report, Hotpack Global boasts of 15 manufacturing facilities, 29 branches and 49 sales centres. It has over 3,500 employees and 25,000 international brands as clients from across 31 nations. The company also exports to over 100 countries across the globe. 8. Jebbar's Hotpack Global has developed more than 3,500 products which range from disposable paper cups to cling film. It is the largest manufacturer of disposable food packaging products in the Gulf Cooperation Council. 9. Jebbar has also set up a new company called Envirogreen Carry Bags (India) Private Ltd, in his home district Thrissur. This company makes environment-friendly paper products creating many new job opportunities for the people living there. He is also the director of Daya Hospital in Kozhikode/ Thrissur and Universal Engineering College at Mathilakam. 10. Jebbar's brothers Zainudeen and Anwar serve as Hotpacks Co-founder and Executive Director and Group Technical Director, respectively. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT News Desk Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times' newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we've got you covered. ...view detail Dozens of U.S. President Joe Biden's fellow Democrats urged him on Tuesday to raise human rights issues with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Washington this week, according to a letter sent to Biden. FILE - President Joe Biden meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office of the White House, Sept. 24, 2021, in Washington.(AP) Modi left for Washington on Tuesday for a visit projected as a milestone in ties between the two countries. The U.S. lawmakers said they were concerned about religious intolerance, press freedoms, internet access and the targeting of civil society groups. "We do not endorse any particular Indian leader or political party that is the decision of the people of India but we do stand in support of the important principles that should be a core part of American foreign policy," said the letter, led by Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representative Pramila Jayapal. A total of 75 Democratic senators and members of the House of Representatives signed the letter, sent to the White House on Tuesday and first reported by Reuters. "And we ask that, during your meeting with Prime Minister Modi, you discuss the full range of issues important to a successful, strong, and long-term relationship between our two great countries," the letter said. Modi has been to the United States five times since becoming prime minister in 2014, but the trip will be his first with the full diplomatic status of a state visit, despite concerns over what is seen as a deteriorating human rights situation under his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Washington hopes for closer ties with the world's largest democracy, which it sees as a counterweight to China, but rights advocates worry that geopolitics will overshadow human rights issues. Several U.S. rights groups plan protests during Modi's visit. The State Department's annual report on human rights practices released in March listed "significant human rights issues" and abuses in India. Modi will address a joint meeting of the House and Senate on Thursday, one of the highest honors Washington affords to foreign dignitaries. "A series of independent, credible reports reflect troubling signs in India toward the shrinking of political space, the rise of religious intolerance, the targeting of civil society organizations and journalists, and growing restrictions on press freedoms and internet access," the lawmakers said in the letter. They said they joined Biden in welcoming Modi to the United States, and want a "close and warm relationship" between the people of the two countries, saying that friendship should be based on shared values and "friends can and should discuss their differences in an honest and forthright way." "That is why we respectfully request that in addition to the many areas of shared interests between India and the U.S. you also raise directly with Prime Minister Modi areas of concern," the letter said. Speaking to reporters before Modi arrived in Washington, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby declined comment on whether Biden would raise the issue, but that it is "commonplace" for Biden to raise concerns about human rights. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday embarked on his first State visit to the United States at the invitation from President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. In his departure statement, Prime Minister Modi said his visit to the US will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of the Indo-US partnership and asserted that together the two countries stand stronger in meeting shared global challenges. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to supporters as he arrives at the Lotte hotel in New York City, New York, US(REUTERS) PM Modi will celebrate International Yoga Day at the United Nations headquarters in New York on the first day of his State visit. On the second day, the prime minister will address the US Congress, the first Indian leader to do it twice. During Modi's visit, the prime minister will join President Biden and the First Lady for the state banquet along with a number of dignitaries. Prime Minister Modi is also scheduled to address the vibrant Indian-American community and hold discussions with business leaders. As thousands of devotees congregated in Puri for the annual Ratha Jatra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted people, saying may the divine journey of Lord Jagannath fill everyone's lives with health, happiness and spiritual enrichment. President Droupadi Murmu also extended greetings on the occasion and prayed for happiness, peace and prosperity in everyone's life. (Click here for Jagannath Rath Yatra 2023 Live updates) Devotees attend the 146th annual Rath Yatra (chariot procession) of Lord Jagannath, in Ahmedabad, Tuesday, June 20, 2023.(PTI) "On the occasion of the commencement of the Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, I extend my heartiest congratulations and best wishes to all the countrymen, especially the devotees of Lord Jagannath. I pray to Mahaprabhu Jagannath that this festival of devotion and dedication brings happiness, peace and prosperity in everyone's life. Jai Jagannath," Murmu tweeted in Hindi and Odia. Rath Yatra, one of the famous Hindu festivals celebrated across the world, is associated with Lord Jagannath at Shri Kshetra Puri Dham in Odisha. During the three-day yatra, the three majestic chariots are pulled by lakhs of devotees from in front of the Singha Dwar of Jagannath Temple towards the Gundicha Temple. As a part of elaborate arrangements for Rath Yatra, the Odisha government has deployed 180 platoons (1 platoon comprises 30 personnel) of security forces in the seaside pilgrim town. A total of 125 special trains will travel to Puri during the festival and a large number of CCTV cameras assisted by drone cameras will function during the Rath Yatra, reported PTI quoting an official. Similar yatras are also taken out in other parts of the country. The 146th Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath commenced on Tuesday morning in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city amid tight security. Union home minister Amit Shah performed 'mangla aarti' (auspicious ritual to pay obeisance to the deity) in the temple early Tuesday morning. As thousands of devotees thronged the route of the yatra to catch a glimpse of the deity, members of the Muslim community also welcomed the yatra in the city. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking Indian culture and traditions to the global stage with the help of International Yoga Day, celebrated across the world on June 21, union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said PM Modi had elevated Indian culture. Shah said that in the last nine years, PM Narendra Modi has brought radical change to the country. (ANI photo) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has elevated Indian culture, tradition, and heritage in the whole world, and Yoga Day is an example of that, he said adding that the PM has taken Yoga from global platform to a mass movement. Shah emphasised that through this endeavour, PM Modi has effectively disseminated Indian culture to every corner of the world. Also Read:Confident that my visit to US will reinforce our bilateral ties: PM Narendra Modi He further added that Modi will be the first world leader to lead the Yoga Day celebrations at the United Nations. Through Yoga Day, PM Modi took Indian culture and traditions to the entire world. The entire world has embraced Yoga, and it is celebrated in 170 countries on June 21, stated Shah. The union minister was addressing a public gathering in Ahmedabad. Shah said that in the last nine years, the prime minister has brought radical change to the country through his visionary and citizen-centric approach in different sectors including security, economy, manufacturing, welfare, foreign relations, education, skill development, R & D, agriculture, infrastructure, and inclusive development. Today, development has reached the remotest people including those living in border villages of the country. With the timely implementation of various public welfare schemes, the common man today is getting the necessities of daily life very easily, Shah said. Our ancient research proved that we will not need medicines if we perform Yoga regularly. Narendrabhai turned this ancient knowledge into a public movement and inspired people to embrace this lifestyle. This practice has changed the lives of many people, he added. Shah, on a day-long visit to his home state on Tuesday, took part in the 146th Rath Yatra of Ahmedabad. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet billionaire investor and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in New York during his State visit to the United States. In an attempt to enhance people-to-people connect, the prime minister will also meet over two dozen thought leaders from various walks of life today in New York, including Nobel laureates, economists, artists, scientists, scholars, entrepreneurs, academicians, and health sector experts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The meetings will be aimed at achieving better synergy, understanding the developments in the US, and inviting people to collaborate with India, according to people aware of the matter. Modi will be meeting Elon Musk for the first time since the tech billionaire took over Twitter Inc. last year and introduced sweeping changes in the platform as well as the company's content policies. The top thought leaders who will be holding discussions with the prime minister include renowned American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, senior World Bank official Paul Romer, Lebanese-American essayist Nassim Nicholas Taleb, investor Ray Dalio, and American singer Falu Shah. The other eminent personalities are Jeff Smith, an author and research fellow in Heritage's Asian Studies Center, focusing on South Asia; Michael Froman, former US trade representative, former US diplomat Daniel Russel; Bureaucrat Elbridge A. Colby; celebrated American physician Peter Agre, a Nobel laureate; and musical artist Chandrika Tandon. In 2003, Agre received Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of aquaporin water channels. Prime Minister Modi is visiting the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. They will host Modi at a state dinner on June 22. The visit also includes an address to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. During the historic State visit, Prime Minister Modi will address a joint session of the US Congress for the second time. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime minister Narendra Modi left Tuesday morning on a State visit to the United States his first and a trip billed a turning point for ties between India and the US with deeper defence cooperation and improved trade ties the focus of talks with president Joe Biden. The significance of the June 21-25 foreign trip was underlined by foreign minister S Jaishankar, who pointed out this will be the second time Modi addresses the US Congress; "No Indian prime minister has addressed it twice. World over also, very few people have done that" Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US President Joe Biden in Oval Office, at White House in Washington,on September 24, 2021. (Reuters) Before he left for Washington, D.C., prime minister Modi issued a statement that said the formal invitation by Biden reflected 'the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies'. READ | PM Modi leaves for historic US visit: 'Together we stand stronger' "I am confident my visit to the US will reinforce our ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenge," the prime minister said before embarking on the trip. The diplomatic highlight of the prime minister Modi's trip to the United States will undoubtedly be the formal dinner hosted by president Biden and his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, that will feature a specially designed vegetarian menu. This will be Biden's third State dinner so far; the first two were for France president Emmanuel Macron in December and South Korea's Suk-Yeol in April. How is the United States preparing for Modi's visit? Preparations for Modi's arrival include hiring Nina Curtis, a plant-based chef from California, to design the menu and Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell to provide music for the evening. CNN said that Jill Biden had selected Chef Curtis for her 'experience with plant-based cuisine'. READ | Modi in the US: 5 things you must know about the PM's State visit According to US broadcaster CNN, Chef Curtis will work with White House executive chef Cris Comerford and the White House's pastry chef, Susie Morrison, to develop the dinner menu. The Bidens will host Modi for dinner on Thursday and the Indian prime minister will spend the night in the White House as their guest. READ | PM Modi's historic US trip: All you need to know about 'State visit' Significantly, Modi is expected to be welcomed to the White House not just by president Biden but a crowd of thousands of Indian Americans who are expected to gather outside the gates of the American leader's formal residence. What is the importance of this visit for India? The visit is expected to give India access to advanced technologies the US rarely shares with non-allies. The transfer signifies a new bond between the two nations - one underpinned by not just global politics but also business and economics as the US enlist India's aid in efforts to push back against China's growing global influence. And India's purchase of 31 armed, high altitude, long endurance MQ-9B Sea and Sky Guardian drones has been seen as a key step forward in that context. READ | India to acquire MQ-9B drones in first part of deal, weapons in second Hindustan Times reported this week the landmark $3 billion purchase will be a phased exercise involving initial absorption of technology. The first batch will consist of 10 drones and that the deal will be sealed during Modi's visit. READ | India to acquire F-414 engines and deterrence with MQ-9B drones Cooperation in semiconductors, cyberspace, aerospace, strategic infrastructure and communication, commercial space projects, quantum computing and the use of artificial intelligence will also be discussed, a senior Indian official said. With input from Reuters SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday thanked people from all walks of life, including the members of the US Congress for sharing enthusiasm on his upcoming visit to the US. Prime Minister Narendra Modi(REUTERS) He stated that the diverse support underlines the depth of ties between India and the US. Taking to his official Twitter handle, PM Modi stated, "People from all walks of life including Members of Congress, thought leaders and others have been sharing their enthusiasm on my upcoming USA visit. I thank them for their kind words. Such diverse support underlines the depth of the India-USA relationship." PM Modi's statement comes after US Congress leaders extended a warm welcome to him for his upcoming visit. US lawmakers have been sharing videos to express their excitement over the upcoming visit of PM Modi. Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut Susan Bysiewicz said that she hopes his visit will pave the way for a stronger and closer partnership between the two nations, as well as, between India and the state of Connecticut. The official Twitter account of the Embassy of India, Washington, DC posted her video and appreciated her message. In the video, Susan Bysiewicz welcomed PM Modi on behalf of the people of Connecticut on his state visit to the United States. "The Indian diaspora has made many contributions to our state. I hope your visit is successful and I am confident that will pave the way for an even stronger and closer partnership between India and the United States and between India and the state of Connecticut," she said in the video. She also spoke about the Indian relationship with Connecticut and said that India-US shared values of diversity nurture the bond between the two countries Mike Collins, a member of the House of Representatives from the 10th Congressional District, also extended PM Modi a hearty welcome to the US in his short video address."We have a very special guest coming in to speak to both chambers on June 22 and that's Prime Minister Modi from India," the Congressman from Georgia said in the video message. He also highlighted the "great relations" that India and US share not just economically but also the combined efforts the two countries are putting in to counter China, which he called a "big enemy." The President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Micron Technology, Sanjay Mehrotra lauded PM Modi's vision for India's technological advancement on Saturday. In a video shared by the Embassy of India in the US, the top Indian-American CEO has said that he is looking forward to the state visit of PM Modi and added that he would like to extend a warm welcome to him."We see much promise in India as part of our global footprint. Indians have made their mark in every field, be it in the private sector, academia or government enriching the cultural fabric of countries worldwide," he said. At the invitation of US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a state visit to the US from June 20. The visit will commence in New York where the Prime Minister will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21. PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22 and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening, according to a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The PM will also address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress on June 22. On June 23, the prime minister will be jointly hosted at a luncheon by US Vice President Kamala Harris and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In addition to official engagements, the Prime Minister is scheduled to have several curated interactions with leading CEOs, professionals, and other stakeholders. He will also meet members of the Indian Diaspora. The PM will then travel to Cairo to pay a state visit to Egypt from June 24-25. All eyes will be on the reinforcement of ties, particularly in the defence sector, between India and the United States as Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for his landmark State visit. New Delhi is expected to complete its deals on the procurement of armed Predator drones as well as the permit to manufacture engines for advanced light combat aircraft in India during the visit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi(ANI) Before leaving for the States, PM Modi gave an interview to the US-based Wall Street Journal and talked on a range of topics including India's foreign policy along with the country's effort to further develop modern and sustainable economy. Here are the top quotes from PM Modi's recent interview to the daily: I am the first prime minister to be born in free India, And thats why my thought process, my conduct, what I say and do, is inspired and influenced by my countrys attributes and traditions. I derive my strength from it. I present my country to the world as my country is, and myself, as I am. There is an unprecedented trust between the leaders of the U.S. and India. India deserves a much higher, deeper and wider profile and a role. The growing defence cooperation between two countries is an important pillar of our partnership which also extends to trade, technology and energy. We do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world. The world today is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. To create resilience, there should be more diversification in supply chains. For normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquility in the border areas is essential. All countries should respect international law and the sovereignty of countries. Disputes should be resolved with diplomacy and dialogue, not war. We have a core belief in respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, observing the rule of law and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. At the same time, India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity. Some people say that we are neutral. But we are not neutral. We are on the side of peace. The world has full confidence that Indias topmost priority is peace. India will do whatever it can and supports all genuine efforts to bring an end to the conflict and ensure enduring peace and stability. There has to be an evaluation of the current membership of the council and the world should be asked if it wants India to be there. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON There will be discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden on meaningful, tangible, deliverables in several different categories, including the development of people-to-people ties that will guide the relationship of the two countries in future, White House spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday. PM Modi is on a state visit to the US and is expected to hold talks on various issues with President Biden. (File)(AFP) PM Modi is on a state visit to the US and is expected to hold talks on various issues with President Biden. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, the US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications said, "You can expect to see meaningful, tangible, deliverables in several different categories. One would be global health. We cooperated very very strongly with India to address Covid 19. You will see them talking about deliverables in the realm of the climate crisis, and addressing climate change". "You will certainly hear them talk about defence cooperation. You will hear some discussions on deliverables with respect to emerging technologies," he added. Kirby further said that the two leaders will also focus on strengthening and deepening people-to-people ties, adding that this factor will be guiding the relationship between the two countries in future. "And lastly, also people-to-people ties and you will hear both leaders talk about ways in which we can make more enriching people-to-people, cultural, educational exchanges, that we already have, deepening them, making them more meaningful, because that really is the root of the strength of the bilateral relationship, 10-15 years out," Kirby further said. He added, "In the future, it would be the young people who would be the leaders of both countries. So, we want to make sure that we are investing properly in their growth, development, mutual understanding, in the relationship that they are going to take forward in the future". During his visit to New York, PM Modi will meet CEOs, Nobel laureates, economists, artists, scientists, scholars, entrepreneurs, academicians, and health sector experts today. He will attend Yoga Day celebrations at the UN headquarters on June 21. PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC and will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22. US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening. The Prime Minister will also address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress on the same day. On June 23, the Prime Minister will be jointly hosted at a luncheon by US Vice President Kamala Harris and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In addition to official engagements, the Prime Minister is scheduled to have several interactions with leading CEOs, professionals, and other stakeholders. He will also meet members of the Indian diaspora. On Tuesday morning, prime minister Narendra Modi left for the United States on his maiden state visit to the country after being invited by US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. This is only the third state visit by an Indian leader to the US, the first two coming in June 1963 (President S Radhakrishnan) and November 2009 (PM Manmohan Singh). Prime Minister Narendra Modi emplanes for the USA visit, on Tuesday. He will be attending programmes in New York City and Washington DC. (ANI Photo) Modi, however, has undertaken several visits to US as India's PM. Here is a look back at his previous visits to the United States (as listed on the US State Department's website): Visit No. Year Dates Visit purpose US President 1. 2014 September 29-30 Working visit Barack Obama 2. 2016 March 31-April 1 To attend the Nuclear Security Summit Barack Obama 3. 2016 June 7 Working Lunch Barack Obama 4. 2017 June 25-26 Official Working Lunch Donald Trump 5. 2019 September 22 Participated in a rally in Houston, Texas Donald Trump He went there in September 2021 as well; that trip, however, is not listed on the State Department's website. Indian PMs in United States As many as 9 Indian prime ministers, including Modi and his predecessor Singh, have undertaken official visits to the United States. While Singh went there 8 times, Jawaharlal Nehru, the country's first PM, made as many as 4 visits, the same number as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who preceded Singh in the office. Others are Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi (3 each), PV Narasimha Rao (2), and Morarji Desai and IK Gujral (1 each). SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to embark on his first State visit to the United States from June 21 to 24, and the US lawmakers are delighted to receive their special guest. US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host Modi at a State dinner, followed with a Joint Session address of the Congress on June 22. U.S. President Joe Biden, seated with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.(REUTERS) US Congresspersons are looking forward to the momentous special occasion. PM Modi will hold a number of meetings with several representatives. Let's find out which Congressperson said what on PM Modi's US visit: Ami Bera Representative for California sees PM Modi's State visit as an opportunity to work on trade ties between the US and India. "I think it's an important visit at this moment in time. You're seeing the US-India relationship grow, obviously, there are geopolitical challenges within Asia and so forth, and then India is also a rising economic power. So I think there's an opportunity to work on the US-India trade relationship. We're talking a lot about supply chains and coming out of the pandemic. I think there's a real opportunity for the two countries to grow together," he told news agency ANI. Todd Young Member of the US Senate Todd Young underlined PM Modi's visit as an important point in the relationship between the United States and India. Our two countries must continue to work together to build on our partnerships in science and technology, and I look forward to working with our counterparts in India to ensure our shared prosperity, he told news agency PTI Matt Cartwright The representative from Norteastern Pennsylvania Matt Cartwright said that he is delighted that the US is receiving a 'historic visit by PM Modi'. This cherished relationship between India and the USA is stronger than ever and really one of the most consequential relationships of the 21st century, Cartwright said in a video message. John Cornyn Senator and co-chair of the Senate India Caucus John Cornyn hopes that the State visit will see an acceleration of India-US realigning. "We have talked about history and you can't go back and do a redo of history. But we can recognise that the current threats are real," he said. Mark Warner The Senator from Virginia said Indian officials have pointed out to him that China has more troops based provocatively on the Indian border than Russia has troops invading Ukraine. So, it's not a Taiwan problem, it is a China problem. The Indians recognise that. I hope we will hear from the Prime Minister because he is so popular, a recommitment to rule of law, a recommitment to a political process that remains open, Warner said. Juan Ciscomani The representative for Arizona has welcomed Modi's historic visit in a video message and said that the Prime Minister has earned respect of both nations. I, along with my colleagues, are eager to hear Prime Minister Modis vision for this relationship and what the future holds forward. I am excited to join Prime Minister Modi in this joint congressional session next week as he addresses our country, he said. (With agency inputs) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday targeted Rahul Gandhi for his alleged mysterious abroad trips after reports suggested that the former Congress chief would be returning to India late in the evening following his recent visit to the United States. Rahul Gandhi went to the US late last month for a six-day visit during which he interacted with the Indian diaspora, venture capitalists, tech executives and students. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses Indian diaspora at an event in New York. (PTI) Gandhi is scheduled to return to India late evening, reported ANI citing sources in the Congress party, almost 21 days after he arrived in the US. Why does Rahul Gandhi spend so much time abroad, especially with a large part of his trips being shrouded in mystery? BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya said in a tweet. He added, Several reports on his clandestine meetings with foreign agencies and groups inimical to Indias interest raise further questions on the purpose of these visits Rahul Gandhi is returning to India ahead of a key Opposition meeting in Patna on June 23, in which leaders from different non-BJP political parties will participate. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Gandhi are all set to attend the meeting convened by chief minister Nitish Kumar as a part of his efforts to forge a united Opposition ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Almost all key opposition leaders barring Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekhar Rao are likely to attend the meeting. A senior leader of KCR's Bharat Rashtra Samithi the party will continue with its equidistance from both the BJP and the Congress, a stance likely prompted by coming assembly elections in the state where the two national rivals will take on the regional party. The Opposition leaders who are expected to attend the meeting include West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal, Left leaders, Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, and Shiv Sena (UBT) group president Uddhav Thackeray among other key personalities. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Rain and thunderstorms are likely to occur in parts of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, India Meteorological Department said. Taking to Twitter, IMD in Tamil Nadu tweeted, In the next 3 hours, there is a chance of light rain over Solingar. Heavy rainfall was recorded across Chennai last night. (PTI file) There is a possibility of light rain in Arakkonam and Walajapet areas within the next 3 hours, it said in yet another tweet. The Met Department issued a heavy rainfall warning for the next three hours for Chennai, Thiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Chengalpattu districts. Schools have also been closed in some districts of the state owing to the rains. In view of the heavy rainfall warning in some districts in the state, schools in Thirupathur and Thiruvannamalai will remain closed on Tuesday, the district administration said. READ | Several states brace for heavy rainfall as monsoon advances: IMD updates The IMD office in Tamil Nadu issued a yellow alert for some districts in the state from 3 am to 10 am today. "Rainfall is expected at isolated places over Ariyalur, Myladutivarai, Cuddalore, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Vellore, Tirupattur, Tiruvannamalai, Ranipet, Tiruvallur, Chennai, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Villupuram districts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry", it said. Here's what the IMD said about the weather in Tamil Nadu in detail: Light to moderate scattered rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning is expected over South India in the next five days. There is a likelihood of isolated heavy rainfall over Tamil Nadu on June 20. Light rain likely to occur over Walajabad, Maduranthakam, Tiruvallur, Uttaramerur in next 3 hours. There is a possibility of light rain in Cheyyur and Tiruttani areas within the next 3 hours. "Convective cells over Chennai, Chengalpattu. Kanchipuram and Thituvallur districts during the past two hours have caused intense thunderstorms with moderate rain in any areas of these districts," the IMD said. In the next 3 hours, there is a chance of light rain over Solingar. (With inputs from agencies) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut wrote to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres Tuesday demanding June 20 be declared 'World Traitors Day' since it was on this day last year that around 40 lawmakers in a political coup widely seen as being backed and funded by the Bharatiya Janata Party brought down Maharashtra's ruling Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress government. Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut addresses media after the Supreme Court verdict on the disqualification of rebel MLAs. (ANI Photo) Over the course of a dramatic 10 days, which included the rebel MLAs camping out in a luxury hotel in BJP-ruled Assam, the 40 politicians split from the (then unified) Sena, allied with rebel leader Eknath Shinde and forced then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to quit. Shinde was then installed as the new chief minister and the BJP's Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister in the previous government and expected to return, was persuaded to become his deputy. Claiming the BJP paid each rebel 50 crore, Raut wrote, " I am appealing to you to make June 20 as World Traitors Day just as June 21 is observed as World Yoga Day. This must be done so (the) world remembers traitors." "On June 20, a huge group of 40 legislators from our Shiv Sena left us after being instigated by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Each of them is said to have taken 50 crores to defect. The BJP used all their might to ensure that (the) Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra fell." READ | PM Modi's historic US trip: What you must know about the State visit "The 40 MLAs who stabbed us were led by a leading legislator Mr Eknath Shinde (who is now the CM of Maharashtra) with them 10 more independent (MLAs) supporting (the) MVA government (also) left us," Raut wrote. READ | 'Am first PM born in free India': Modi's top quotes before US trip Raut also rips into the rebels for having 'deserted Thackeray, who was an ailing man and underwent two surgeries each took advantage of his illness'. 'PM promoting traitorship' Speaking to reporters earlier today, Raut also criticised Modi, union home minister Amit Shah and the central government of 'promoting' traitors. "Our PM, home minister and central government are promoting traitorship. On this day 40 of our MLAs left the party. It should be declared as 'International Traitor Day'. PM is going to the United States so he should tell United Nations and announce 'International Traitor Day'" Raut was quoted by news agency ANI. BJP's response Maharashtra BJP MLA Nitesh Rane attacked Thackeray in response, declaring 'there is no bigger traitor' than the former chief minister. "Uddhav Thackeray celebrates his birthday on July 27. There is no bigger traitor than him betrayed his father's ideology, betrayed Hindutva, betrayed Marathis, Devendra Fadnavis and BJP," he tweeted. "That is why, July 27 should be declared 'International Traitors Day'. I hope the United Nations will take my request under consideration" PM Modi's big US trip The letter was tweeted by Raut shortly after prime minister Narendra Modi left for his five-day State visit to the United States and Egypt. The landmark visit by Modi will include a formal dinner hosted by US president Joe Biden. READ | PM Modi leaves for historic US visit, says 'Together we stand stronger' Modi's trip has been billed a turning point for India-US ties, with deeper defence cooperation and improved trade ties the focus of talks with president Joe Biden. One of the highlights is a defence deal - the purchase of 31 armed, high altitude, long endurance MQ-9B Sea and Sky Guardian drones - that gives India access to advanced technologies the US rarely shares with non-allies. READ | Special 'plant-based' dinner for Modi, award-winning violinist to play With input from ANI SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A 63-year-old self-styled godman was arrested for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl repeatedly for two years and keeping her chained in his bedroom at an ashram in Andhra Pradeshs Visakhapatnam, police said on Tuesday. Swami Poornananda was arrested for raping a minor, police said. The accused was identified as Swami Poornananda, who runs Swami Gnanananda Ashram, which also operates an orphanage and an old-age home at the Venkojipalem area in the city, assistant commissioner of police (ACP) of the Disha police station, Visakhapatnam, Ch Vivekananda said. The ACP said that Poornananda was arrested on Monday night following a complaint lodged by the victim at Vijayawada. In her complaint, the minor has alleged that she was chained in a room, tortured and raped repeatedly by the accused for the last two years, he said. The case was transferred from Vijayawada to Visakhapatnam. We have booked a case against the [self-styled] godman under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), besides Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offices (POCSO) Act, the ACP said. The victim is currently undergoing medical examination at Vijayawada government hospital. According to the police, the victim, who hailed from Rajamahendravaram, lost her parents at an early age. Her relatives admitted her in the orphanage associated with the Gnanananda Ashram in Visakhapatnam two years ago, after she completed her fifth class. She complained to the police that there were 12 orphaned children, including four girls, at the ashram, who were made to work at a goshala [cow shed]. Some of them had fled the ashram, unable to bear the torture inflicted on them, the ACP said, quoting from the complaint. In her complaint, the minor has alleged that Poornananda used to take her to his bedroom every night and rape her. For the last one year, the girl was chained in the bedroom, the senior officer said. The girl told the police that she used to get small quantity of food and not enough water for bathing. On June 13, the girl escaped from the ashram with the help of a maid and took a train to Vijayawada. During the journey, she narrated her ordeal to a fellow woman passenger. The woman tried to admit her in a hostel on the outskirts of Vijayawada, but the hostel authorities asked her to first lodge a complaint with the police. With the help of the local child welfare committee, she lodged a complaint with the police, the ACP said. Poornananda also lodged a missing complaint of the girl with the Visakhapatnam police on June 15. After ascertaining the facts, the Vijayawada police transferred the case to Visakhapatnam police, who immediately arrested the [self-styled] godman, the officer added. While being taken into custody on Monday night, Poornananda told reporters that the complaint against him was baseless. Some people, who have been trying to grab the ashram land, have conspired against me, he claimed, without elaborating who the alleged conspirators were. This is not the first time Poornananda has been arrested for rape of a minor. In 2012, he was arrested in connection with the rape of a 13-year-old girl, the ACP said, adding, He is still facing trial in that case. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Srinivasa Rao Apparasu Srinivasa Rao is Senior Assistant Editor based out of Hyderabad covering developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . He has over three decades of reporting experience. ...view detail Washington: Senator Mark Warner, the co-chair of the India caucus, has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modis State visit to the US is a moment to cement India-America ties into a full-fledged partnership, stressed that Indias time has arrived, and announced that he will introduce a legislation this week to include India in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato)+5 arrangement to boost defence ties between the two countries and overcome bureaucratic obstacles. Senator Mark Warner is the co-chair of the India caucus Read: Ahead of PM Modi's visit, US House panel suggests Nato Plus status for India Warner, who is also the chair of the Senate intelligence committee, making him one of the most influential figures on the Hill, said that China posed a challenge to both India and the US in a variety of ways and Delhi and Washington DC needed to find more common ground. He added that he was also looking forward to having conversations with Modi on the initiative on critical and emerging technologies (iCET) and expanding India-US ties in the fields of telecom and wireless technologies, semiconductors, synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, and more. In a briefing for a select group of reporters, Warner, who was a part of a high-powered Congressional delegation that visited India this February led by Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, said that he was struck by the confidence in India, among government officials, businesses, and even the poor. Indias time has arrived as a great nation, as truly one of the greatest nations in the world, he said. On defence ties, Warner said, Along with Senator John Cornyn, my co-chair at the Indian Caucus, I will be introducing this week both as a standalone bill and as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act an effort to upgrade India-US defense ties. What we propose is adding India to the so-called Nato-plus-five arrangement, where the US is able to transfer with this little bureaucratic interference as possible defence equipment in a very strong way. Pointing out that the US and Nato had this arrangement with only a select group of countries, Warner said adding India would strengthen incredibly important defence ties, particularly as we both grapple with challenges in particular around China. Read: Defence, technology on agenda as PM Modi begins key US visit When asked about Indias unwillingness to enter a Nato-type template, Warner said during his recent visit to India in February, he had noted Indian officials seeking improved defence ties. The defence relationship had improved in the past few administrations and had come to full fruition under President Joe Biden. I think our chances of being successful, this year get a little better in light of the Prime Ministers visit. He said that there are more Chinese troops at the India-China border than Russian troops invading Ukraine and he had repeatedly heard the need for improved defence trade ties. Closer ties were the in the long term best interest of India, and longer term best interest of the United States. We need India to have a strong, vibrant defence to stand up for its own interest in South Asia, and also be willing to pushback against some of the adventurism of China in the region. Read: Modi's US visit to boost bilateral ties, not about China, Russia: White House While acknowledging that he, along with others, were disappointed with Indias stance on Russias invasion of Ukraine, Warner said he understood the history of India-Russia ties. The more we can advance our defence ties, the more India can rely upon the US as a stable, consistent defence partner, I think that will allow India, more freedom to move away from Russia. Suggesting that the issue was also generational, Warner said that a majority of younger Indians understood that their long-term self interest was in closer ties with the US. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The well-marked low-pressure area over parts of Rajasthan further weakened in the last 24 hours which is expected to bring bouts of heavy to very heavy rainfall over East Rajasthan on June 20 and heavy rain the next day, according to the Indian Meteorological Department. The northern parts of Madhya Pradesh are expected to witness light to moderate rainfall at most places with isolated heavy rain over adjoining areas today and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in parts of Northwest Madhya Pradesh. Commuters ply along the flooded street amid heavy rainfall, in Chennai on Monday. (ANI) Light to moderate rainfall is expected to continue in most areas, with isolated heavy to very heavy falls over Northeast India and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim during the next five days. There is a possibility of isolated extremely heavy rainfall over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim and Assam and Meghalaya on June 20. Isolated heavy rainfall is expected over Bihar and Jharkhand on June 21-22, Gangetic West Bengal on June 21-22, and Odisha on June 21-23. Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand will experience light to moderate scattered rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, while the plains of Northwest India will see isolated to scattered rainfall during the next five days. There is a possibility of isolated heavy rainfall over Uttarakhand on June 22-23. Light to moderate scattered rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning is expected over the South India region in the next five days. There is a likelihood of isolated heavy rainfall over Tamil Nadu on June 20, and Coastal Andhra Pradesh for the next two days. The Met department issued a heavy rainfall warning for the next three hours for Chennai, Thiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Chengalpattu districts. According to IMD, moderate thunderstorms and lightning with moderate rain are likely to occur at isolated places over Thiravallur, Claennai, Kancheepurani, and Chengalpattu districts during the three hours. "Convective cells over Chennai, Chengalpattu. Kanchipuram and Thituvallur districts during the past two hours have caused intense thunderstorms with moderate rain in any areas of these districts," the IMD said. The local meteorological station has issued a yellow warning for thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places on June 20 and 21 in Himachal Pradesh and thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds with speed reaching up to 30-40 kmph at isolated places on June 22 and 23. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT News Desk Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times' newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we've got you covered. ...view detail Elections cannot be a license to commit violence, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday as it approved of deployment of central forces for July 8 West Bengal panchayat polls and junked the state government and the state election commissions pleas against a Calcutta high court order in this regard. The court emphasised that free and fair elections are a hallmark of grassroots democracy. (Shutterstock) The tenor of the high court order is to ensure that free and fair elections are conducted in the state since the state is conducting polls for all the booths on the same day. The order of the high court does not call for any interference. We are not interfering with any other direction of the high court too. All the appeals stand dismissed, said a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Manoj Mishra. The bench emphasised that free and fair elections are a hallmark of grassroots democracy and that deployment of central forces across all districts will ensure decorum not only at sensitive but at all the polling booths. Elections cannot be accompanied by violence. If the candidates are unable to file nomination or if they are finished off while they are going to file it then where is the free and fair election? The court noted both the state government as well as the state election commission were of the view that additional forces were required for proper elections but they resisted the high court order for requisitioning the central forces. Even according to you, the police forces are inadequate to deal with the situation and the 75,000 booths that you have in the state. Thats why you have requisitioned the police force from half a dozen neighbouring states...the high court must have thought why half a dozen states? Let central forces be brought in, the bench told senior counsel Siddharth Bhatnagar, who appeared for the West Bengal government. Bhatnagar pointed out that it may not be conducive for the state to have the central forces until July 8 when the voting takes place. The bench said that both the state and central forces will have to eventually operate in tandem for the purposes of a free and fair election. The bottom line is that additional forces will be required. You want it from neighbouring states but see the practicality of it...to have forces from 5-6 states instead of getting it from one source... Ultimately, the forces are only for the conduct of elections. Its not that they will be across the length and breadth of the entire state. There will have to be coordination between the state and the central forces. Thats a matter to be considered as and when situations emerge. Its not for the court to comment on this today. Senior counsel Meenakshi Arora, representing the state election commission, said the June 15 high court directive to the polling body for requisitioning the central forces was beyond the ambit of their jurisdiction. Our task is to make an assessment and submit our requisition to the state government. It is then completely on the state government to choose whether they want forces from other states or from the Centre. The bench expressed dismay at the state election commissions appeal. Ultimately, its for you to conduct a free and fair election. The question is how are you aggrieved by this order? You yourself have asked for additional forces. Where do the forces come from, how are you bothered? How is your petition maintainable? The high court order is in fact in aid to discharging your responsibility...whether you have state forces or central forces or from other states, you cannot have any concern. Arora responded that her concerns were confined to the issue of jurisdiction. But the bench remained unimpressed. You can in fact be rest assured that there will be free and fair election not only at sensitive booths but also at all other booths. ...having regard to the history of violence and past incidents, the high court entertained the petition and decided to pass these orders. You dont have a reason to be aggrieved. The high court on June 13 directed the state election commission to immediately requisition central forces and deploy them, especially in constituencies that the polling body has declared sensitive. On June 15, it pulled up the commission for dragging its feet in requisitioning paramilitary forces from the central government. It directed the poll body to immediately send a requisition to the Union home ministry for all the districts in the state. It gave the state election commission 48 hours to comply with its directive. The order was passed on Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikaris petition. Senior counsel Harish Salve, who appeared for Adhikari in the top court, questioned the partisan approach of the state election commission and the mindset of the state government. If the state of West Bengal thinks that the presence of Union forces is invading the state, that mindset is something completely different. The state is either not ready to hold elections or doesnt want it in a free and fair manner...the state election commission had no reason to rush to this court when the high court order is meant to facilitate polls in a free and fair manner. Senior counsel Maninder Singh appeared for one of the writ petitioners before the Calcutta high court. Senior counsel Vivek Tankha represented state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Both supported the high court order. Hearing Adhikari and Chowdhurys petitions, the high court on June 15 refused to extend the time for candidates to file their nomination papers. But it allowed the plea for the deployment of central forces amid complaints of violence. At least six people have died in a series of incidents in West Bengal since panchayat polls were announced on June 9. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Conduct of elections cannot be a license to commit violence, the Supreme Court observed on Tuesday, as it approved of deployment of central forces for the upcoming panchayat polls in West Bengal and junked the petitions filed by the state government and the state election commission (SEC) against a Calcutta high court order in this regard. Security personnel patrol an area, during the nomination process, in West Bengals South 24 Parganas on June 15. (ANI) The tenor of the high court order is to ensure that free and fair elections are conducted in the state since the state is conducting polls for all the booths on the same day. The order of the high court does not call for any interference. We are not interfering with any other direction of the high court too. All the appeals stand dismissed, recorded a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Manoj Mishra in its order. While hearing the appeals filed by the Mamata Banerjee-led government and SEC, the bench emphasised that free and fair elections are a hallmark of grassroots democracy and that deployment of central forces across all districts of the state will ascertain decorum not only at sensitive booths but at all the booths in the state. Holding elections cannot be a license to commit violence. Elections cannot be accompanied with violence. If the candidates are unable to file nomination or if they are finished off while they are going to file it, then where is the free and fair election? the bench asked the state government and the election commission. The court also took note of the fact that both the state government as well as SEC were of the view that additional forces were required for proper elections in the state, but they resisted the high court order for requisitioning the central forces. Even according to you the police forces are inadequate to deal with the situation and the 75,000 booths that you have in the state. Thats why you have requisitioned the police force from half a dozen neighbouring states the high court must have thought why half a dozen states? Let central forces be brought in, it told senior counsel Siddharth Bhatnagar, who appeared for the Bengal government. While Bhatnagar sought to point out that it may not be conducive for the state to come under the central forces until July 8, when voting has to take place, the bench said that both the state and central forces will have to eventually operate in tandem for the purposes of a free and fair election. The bottom line is that additional forces will be required. You want it from neighbouring states but see the practicality of it to have forces from 5-6 states instead of getting it from one source... Ultimately, the forces are only for the conduct of elections. Its not that they will be across the length and breadth of the entire state. There will have to be coordination between the state and the central forces. Thats a matter to be considered as and when situations emerge. Its not for the court to comment on this today, it added. On her part, senior counsel Meenakshi Arora, representing SEC, rued that the June 15 high court directive to the polling body for requisitioning the central forces was beyond the ambit of their jurisdiction. Our task is to make an assessment and submit our requisition to the state government. It is then completely on the state government to choose whether they want forces from other states or from the Centre, she argued. The bench, however, expressed dismay at the poll commissions appeal. Ultimately, its for you to conduct a free and fair election. The question is how are you aggrieved by this order? You yourself have asked for additional forces. Where do the forces come from, how are you bothered? How is your petition maintainable? The high court order is in fact in aid to discharging your responsibility whether you have state forces, or central forces or from other states, you cannot have any concern, it told Arora. Arora responded that her concerns were confined to the issue of jurisdiction, but the bench remained unimpressed. You can in fact be rest assured that there will be free and fair elections not only at sensitive booths but also at all other booths. Conduct of elections cannot be a license to violence. However, having regard to the history of violence and past incidents, the high court entertained the petition, and decided to pass these orders. You dont have a reason to be aggrieved, it retorted. The Calcutta high court had on June 13 directed that the state election commission immediately requisition central forces and deploy them especially in constituencies that the polling body has already declared to be sensitive. Later, on June 15, it pulled up the commission for dragging its feet in requisitioning paramilitary forces from the central government and directed the poll body to immediately send a requisition to the Union ministry of home affairs for all the districts in the state. It gave SEC 48 hours to comply with its directive. The order was passed on a petition filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari. Senior counsel Harish Salve appeared for Adhikari in the top court, questioning the partisan approach of SEC and the mindset of the state government. If the state of West Bengal thinks that presence of Union forces is invading the state, that mindset is something completely different. The state is either not ready to hold elections or doesnt want it in a free and fair manner the state election commission had no reason to rush to this court when the high court order is meant to facilitate polls in a free and fair manner, he submitted. Welcoming the top courts order, Adhikari tweeted: The Honble Supreme Court of India realised the vile and sinister design of the State Election Commission acting in connivance with the State Government in ensuring that Panchayat Elections are reduced to a mockery of Democracy and skirmishI am grateful to the Honble Apex Court and welcome the orders passed today in aid of restoring Democracy in West Bengal. Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said he is confident that the ruling party will win the elections. Why just central forces, even if the Centre deploys the military, TMC will defeat the Opposition with the peoples support. They should deploy central forces in such large numbers that the Opposition will not be able to give any excuse after losing the polls, he said. Senior counsel Maninder Singh also appeared for one of the writ petitioners before the high court while senior counsel Vivek Tankha represented state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Both supported the high court order. Hearing the petitions filed by Adhikari and Chowdhury, the high court had on June 15 refused to extend the time for candidates to file their nomination papers in the upcoming panchayat elections, but it allowed the plea for deployment of central forces in the wake of complaints against violence in the state. There has been a series of violent incidents in West Bengal ever since panchayat polls were announced in the state on June 9, taking the toll to at least six in the last nine days. Voting is scheduled for July 8. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Utkarsh Anand Utkarsh Anand is Legal Editor at the Hindustan Times. He writes on law, judiciary and governance. ...view detail Violence in Manipur is purely an issue of law-and-order, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday as it refused to urgently hear a plea for the deployment of armed forces in the state to protect the Kukis and order prosecution of those attacking the tribal community. Security personnel patrol a violence-hit area in Bishnupur. (PTI) We hope courts are not required to pass orders that the army needs to be deployed. Its a purely law-and-order problem, said a bench of justices Surya Kant and MM Sundresh, turning down the request for an immediate hearing of an application moved in a bunch of matters relating to the ethnic violence in the state between the Meities and the Kukis. The violent clashes between the two communities that started in the first week of May have so far left at least 115 people dead. Representing NGO Manipur Tribal Forum, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves mentioned the matter before the bench, pressing for a hearing this week. He claimed that 70 tribals were killed after the May 17 hearing in the court. We have taken out an urgent application for the protection of the tribals and the prosecution of those attacking them. 70 tribals have been killed despite the assurance given by the state to this court last month, said Gonsalves. Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Manipur government, opposed the submissions. Security agencies are already on the ground, and they are doing their best. My friends public interest can certainly wait. Besides, this is the second time such an application has been made before this court. It was mentioned earlier too, and the court refused to entertain it at that time. Now, the court has listed this matter after the summer vacation. Gonsalves said the court has listed the matter on July 17 and 50 more people will be killed by then. The bench questioned what was the basis of the calculation. Its a serious issue of law and order. You can aggravate the problem by making such submissions. The moment you say they are not doing it properly, you can create more problems. Gonsalves then pressed for a listing on Wednesday. But the bench replied: We are not listing it tomorrow. We will list the case on July 3 and not before that. Following a six-week-long summer break, the Supreme Court reopens on July 3. During the break, vacation benches sit in the top court to take up the cases that require urgent intervention and some old cases where both sides agree to argue the case for final disposal. A rally by a tribal Kuki group to protest against a controversial high court order for considering the inclusion of the dominant and politically stronger Meitei community to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list sparked a wave of violence between the two communities in May. The violence has left over 310 injured and 40,000 displaced. On March 27, a single-judge bench of the high court directed the state government to consider sending within four weeks a recommendation to the Union government on the demand for ST status by the Meitei community. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Utkarsh Anand Utkarsh Anand is Legal Editor at the Hindustan Times. He writes on law, judiciary and governance. ...view detail Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said his party supports Uniform Civil Code but cautioned it will also cause problems for Hindus. We support Uniform Civil Code, but those who are bringing it should not think that it will only cause problems for Muslims, but it will also cause problems for Hindus and many questions will arise... Ban cow slaughter from Kashmir to Kanyakumari as there is no ban on cow slaughter. Former Goa CM Manohar Parrikar himself used to say that if there is a shortage of cows in the state, we will import them, the Shiv Sena UBT faction chief was quoted by ANI as saying. On Sunday, Thackeray had said,"We welcome the Uniform Civil Code for all but would it adversely affect Hindus? If they (BJP) could not implement the ban on cow slaughter in the entire country, how can the UCC be implemented?" Last week, the Law Commission of India asked for ideas from public and religious bodies on Uniform Civil Code, again bringing back the contentious issue in election year. While the Bharatiya Janata Party has defended the move, the Congress and other opposition parties have dubbed it as the Centre's desperation to continue with polarisation agenda. ALSO READ: Won't take to the streets against Uniform Civil Code because...: Jamiat chief Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray.(ANI) In a statement, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said, "No reasons have been given by the Law Commission on why the subject is being revisited except for vague references to "the relevance and importance of the subject and also, various court orders". This latest attempt represents the Modi government's desperation for a legitimate justification of its continuing agenda of polarisation and diversion from its glaring failures, he added. BJP's former ally Janata Dal (United) had said the Uniform Civil Code is not a political instrumentality to be hurriedly imposed. On Monday, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar evaded reporters on the question, citing sweltering heatwave gripping the state. The Trinamool Congress accused the Centre of fanning divisive politics out of desperation. "When you cannot deliver on jobs. When you cannot control price rise. When you rip the social fabric. When you fail to keep every promise made. All you can do, in your desperation, is to fan the flame with your deeply divisive politics before 2024. Uniform Civil Code", TMC MP Derek O'Brien was quoted by PTI as saying. (With PTI inputs) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON New Delhi: Union health minister, Mansukh Mandaviya, on Tuesday chaired a high level meeting to review situation related to heat wave conditions in some states, and directed that a team of experts to be sent to Uttar Pradesh and Bihartwo of the worst affected states, to support them in public health response measures to address heat related illnesses. Heatwaves across swathes of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have killed over 100 people. (AP) A team of experts from the Union health ministry, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India Meteorological Department (IMD) and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will visit the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to support them in public health response measures to address the heat related illnesses. This was directed by Union health & family welfare minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya today as he chaired a high level meeting related to public health preparedness for heat wave management across the country, the health ministry said in a statement after the meeting. Heatwaves across swathes of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have killed over 100 people (till Tuesday evening) and incapacitated hundreds more with the delay in the onset of the southwest monsoon exacerbating the situation. Underscoring the importance of timely preparedness through awareness and early actions, the health minister also directed ICMR to conduct research on how to minimise effects of heat wave on health, with specific short, medium and long term action plans. The minister said in the meeting that the Union government did its bit ahead of the summer season to address the risk of heat wave related illnesses. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting to review preparedness ahead of the summer season in March , while the Union health ministry issued a heat wave advisory in February where States were advised to review health facility preparedness in terms of essential medicines, intravenous fluids, packs, Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS), drinking water as well as dissemination of necessary Information Education Communication (IEC)materials. The National Action Plan on Heat Related Illnesses was also shared with all states, said Mandaviya. The February meeting may have been prompted by that month being the warmest February in India since 1877. March, April, and May have however been cooler than normal. The National Action Plan on Heat related Illness that was prepared by the health ministry was released in July 2021 outlines Standard Operating Procedures for surveillance of heat stroke cases and deaths with preparedness plan before and during summer season. The plan also provides special emphasis on heat related illness in elderly, infants and children, pregnant women, outdoor and manual workers, and other vulnerable sections. Under this plan, states are advised to increase resiliency to extreme heat at health facilities level by arranging uninterrupted electric supply, installation of solar panels and adopting measures to reduce indoor heat through measures of cool and green roof, window shading, outside shades etc. Sensitization of masses is important, but sensitization and capacity building of medical officers, health staff, and grass-root level workers on heat related illness, its early recognition and management is also important, said the health minister. States and central agencies should enhance awareness among people regarding the preventive measures through multimedia campaigns, he added. Mandaviya also directed the meteorology department to issue daily weather forecasts in a manner that can be easily interpreted and disseminated. This was basically a stocktaking exercise and also looked at loopholes that needed to be plugged. There is a well-oiled machinery in place and states have been asked to scale it up, said a senior official present in the meeting, requesting anonymity. To be sure, the deaths are evidence that the machinery likely isnt as well-oiled as the official believes. Dr RK Singhal, head of department (internal medicine) at the BLK-Max Hospital, advised people to ensure proper hydration and avoid strenuous activities. The most important thing is to identify signs of dehydration such as dry mouth and lips, low urine output, headache etc, to avoid falling sick. Keep yourself well-hydrated if you must step out in the sun. Avoid strenuous activities during peak sun hours and see a doctor if you feel dizziness, disorientation etc, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Every year as the famed Rath Yatra commences in Odisha's Puri, a man in Vadodara for the past nine years has been taking out a chariot procession of his own to commemorate the occasion. Makwana says that he got the idea nine years ago, prompted by the fact that every year, in Jagannath Puri, a new chariot is made from fresh wood. The environment-conscious and nature-loving Jai created a robot-driven chariot considering this problem.(ANI) Unlike the ancient Rath Yatras in Puri and the one in Gujarat's Ahmedabad where majestic chariots on which the deities of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra are pulled by a large number of devotees, the one organised by Jai Makwana uses a robot to power a motor chariot that carries an idol of Lord Jagannath. For Makwana's 'Robo Rath Yatra' the chariot is operated through a remote control. This year, he took another step forward by making the chariot motor solar-powered. Makwana says that he got the idea nine years ago, prompted by the fact that every year, in Jagannath Puri, a new chariot is made from fresh wood. The environment-conscious and nature-loving Jai created a robot-driven chariot considering this problem. In this remote-operated chariot, a robotic motor is made, and the structure of the chariot is fitted on it. Jagannath Rath Yatra 2023: Thousands participate in the annual Hindu festival This year Jai has gone above and beyond by using solar-charged batteries in the robotic motor. Solar panels have also been fitted on the top of the chariot which seats the Sudarshan Chakra. Jai insists that if science is used without humility, it can lead to destruction. "That's why we set out on this kind of Robo Rath Yatra to spread the message of discretion in science," he says. The Rath Yatra is celebrated on the second day of the two-week-long Ashadha month of the Hindu calendar, and this year, it takes place on June 20. It is one of the famous Hindu festivals celebrated across the world. The Yatra is associated with Lord Jagannath at Shri Kshetra Puri Dham in Odisha. At Puri, idols of Lord Jagannath and his two siblings- elder brother Lord Balabhadra and younger sister Devi Subhadra installed on majestic chariots give darshan to the public and visit the Gundicha Temple. The three majestic chariots are pulled by lakhs of devotees from in front of the Singha Dwar of Jagannath Temple towards the Gundicha Temple. The Yatra's history is also depicted in Hindu scriptures like Brahma Purana, Padma Purana, Skanda Purana and Kapila Samhita. Apart from Jai's place in Vadodara, the Rath Yatra is also celebrated in other parts of Gujarat. The Ahemdabad Rath Yatra is considered the second-biggest Rath Yatra in the country after the Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra in Odisha. The 146th Rath Yatra in Ahmedabad commenced early Tuesday morning from the Jagannathji Temple in Ahmedabad. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is on a day-long visit to Gujarat, took part in the 'Mangla Aarti' (part of worship) at Jagannath temple in the Jamalpur area of the city. A more recent tradition of holding it in Rajkot (Gujarat) has been practised for the last 16 years. This year the Saurashtra region is observing its longest-yet Rath Yatra in Rajkot, with a route of 23 kilometres. At least one person was injured after violence broke out in some parts of West Bengal on Tuesday, on the last day of withdrawing nominations for the crucial panchayat elections on July 8, people aware of the developments said. Security personnel patrol an area, during the nomination process, in West Bengals South 24 Parganas on June 15. (ANI) TMC worker Benoy Barman sustained grievous injuries after he was attacked with sharp weapons by unidentified men at Dinhata in Cooch Behar. He was rushed to a hospital and is undergoing treatment, one of the persons cited above said, seeking anonymity. At Burdwan in Murshidabad district, TMC and Congress workers clashed with one another outside the block development office (BDO). The Congress alleged that their candidates were attacked by TMC workers. Our candidates were attacked. Is there any administration in the state? We are staging a demonstration to protest, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said. The TMC, however, alleged Congress workers clashed among themselves over refusal of tickets to some of its members, the person cited above said. At Gangarampur in South Dinajpur, BJP candidate Rupali Roy was allegedly threatened by TMC workers, seeking withdrawal of her nomination. In South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts, the houses of CPI(M) candidates were allegedly attacked by TMC workers, a second person aware of the details said. At least seven people have died in political violence ever since the poll date was announced on June 8. West Bengals ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has accused governor C V Ananda Bose of running a parallel administration over his move to set up a 24-hour helpline for reporting pre-panchayat poll violence. West Bengal governor C V Ananda Bose at the control room set up ahead of the panchayat election. (PTI) The governor has no jurisdiction to run a parallel administration. The filing of nomination [between June 9 and 15] was largely peaceful. But the governor will not say a word on that. He is encouraging the opposition parties, said TMC leader Kunal Ghosh on Monday. TMC workers have been among seven people who died across four districts in the run-up to the polls on July 8. Opposition parties have complained that their candidates were pressured to withdraw from the polls. The deadline for withdrawing the nominations ends on Tuesday. Bose visited violence-hit Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district on June 16 before setting up the helpline called Peace Room on Monday. A section of the media visited the Peace Room. An officer on special duty to Bose has been deputed to oversee the helpline. Seven people are manning the helpline that received 500 calls until Monday afternoon. The complaints are being forwarded to the government and the state election commission, Bose said. He maintained violence is a reality. Certain statements coming from survivors of the violence are a fact. There are complaints that many people were not allowed to file nominations. We want to establish peace so that the common man can go to the polls without fear. He said the Peace Room was set up because miscreants have opened war rooms. Once peace is established and people are convinced that there is no need for the Peace Room, it will be shut. He evaded a question as hypothetical on whether he will submit a report to the President or the Union government over the complaints being received. He responded to the TMCs allegation that he is biased, saying he was so towards the people. I do not want filtered information. That is why I go to the people and listen to them. I want to be a ground-zero governor. Retired Supreme Court judge Asok Kumar Ganguly said the Constitution does not permit a governor to run a parallel administration but the situation has left Bose with no alternative. The administration is run by an elected government. Since this government has failed to maintain peace, the governor is making some effort to help the people. Does TMC, which questions the governors constitutional rights, follow the Constitution which says it is the governments job to safeguard peoples right to franchise? He referred to murders and intimidation during the filing of nominations and said the high court ordered the state to deploy central paramilitary forces but it approached the Supreme Court to challenge the order. State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Sukanta Majumdar, who took over two dozen people candidates to the governors house on Monday, said these people were assaulted and driven out of their homes because they dared to defy the TMC and file nominations. On Monday TMC leader Arabul Islam, his son, Hakimul, and 18 others were booked on the complaint of the family of an Indian Secular Front (ISF) worker killed in Bhangar on June 15. No arrest was made until Monday evening. Two TMC workers were also killed at Bhangar on June 15. Police said seven people were arrested in this case. Nawsad Siddique, the ISF legislator from Bhangar who has blamed TMC for the violence, said he is willing to ask his candidates to withdraw if chief minister Mamata Banerjee approaches him. Establishing peace is of paramount importance. Families of those who died are ravaged. If the chief minister asks me, I will talk to my candidates. I will ask them to withdraw for the sake of peace, Siddique said BJP, Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), workers have also been among those killed. But the Congress and CPI(M) also questioned the utility of the helpline. If the governor is so concerned then why is he not convening a meeting with the government? asked CPI(M) leader Md Salim. State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the helpline will serve no purpose. If the governor wants to establish the rule of law, he should talk to either the Union government or the state. West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose on Tuesday commemorated the states foundation day, despite strong objections raised by chief minister Mamata Banerjee. West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose during the celebration of State Foundation Day, in Kolkata on Tuesday (ANI) The advisory for the commemoration of foundation day of states was communicated by the Centre on May 11. The advisory proposed observing the foundation days of various states and UTs by all Raj Bhavans. Till now..., Raj Bhavan has already observed five state foundation days and the celebration of West Bengal Foundation Day was in the sequence suggested by the advisory, the Raj Bhavan said. Banerjee pointed out the state was not founded on any particular day, least of all on June 20, and that it was formed through the infamous Radcliffe award, referring to the demarcation of India-Pakistan and what is now the India-Bangladesh frontier. In a letter to Bose on Monday, she said: I am stunned and shocked to know that you have decided to organise a programme... commemorating what you have peculiarly chosen to describe as the State Foundation of West Bengal. She cited a telephonic discussion and said Bose admitted that a unilateral and non-consultative decision to declare the states foundation day is unwarranted. Political parties which are celebrating... are doing so with a set narrative and agenda. We have spent our entire life in Bengal but never heard about any state foundation day. I believe one should not play politics with chair of the governor, she said. State BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar said: It was on June 20, 1947, that the legislative assembly of Bengal met and took a decision on the Bengal partition. This is history. We cannot deny it. Supreme Court on Tuesday has approved the Calcutta high court's order to deploy central forces in West Bengal for the panchayat election which is scheduled for next month. It rejected the plea filed by the West Bengal state election commission (WBSEC) against the high court order and urging that the requisition of forces should be left to the state government to decide. Supreme Court(HT_PRINT) While upholding the high court hearing, the top court remarked 'holding election can't be a license to commit violence' and that 'elections can't be accompanied with violence'. Earlier, the Calcutta high court ordered the deployment of central paramilitary forces in seven sensitive districts along with other areas of the state to conduct free and fair panchayat elections, after witnessing law-and-order problems. The order came after reports of sporadic violence in several districts over filing of nominations that started on June 9 which continued till June 15. The panchayat elections are scheduled be held on July 8. Following the Calcutta HC order, the WBSEC moved the apex court on Saturday challenging it. The state election commission's move is contrary to the remarks Rajiva Sinha, newly-appointed state election commissioner, made about following the high court order. Earlier, chief minister Mamata Banerjee questioned the decision to deploy central forces in the state and argued that such forces had been sent to Manipur and violence has still not ended there. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Monday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting the strife-torn Manipur as he took on the Bharatiya Janata Party during an event in Mumbai to mark the 57th foundation day of the Shiv Sena. Thackeray said the "double engine" government a term often used by BJP to refer to the party being in power at the Centre as well as in a state has got "derailed" in Manipur but the prime minister is going to America. Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray during a celebration of the 57th anniversary of Shiv Sena at Sanmukthanand Hall, in Mumbai on Monday.(ANI) When I asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not visiting the burning Manipur, but is keen on going to the US, I was countered with arguments like 'one should not spit at the Sun'. If your 'guru' is like the Sun, then why he is not shining over Manipur?" he asked. Manipur has been in the grip of ethnic clashes since May 3 over a court-proposed tweak to the states reservation matrix, granting scheduled tribe (ST) status to the former. Army and paramilitary forces have been deployed to restore peace in the northeastern state. The state government has imposed a curfew in 11 districts and banned internet access in a bid to stop the spread of rumours in the state. Where is the double-engine government (in Manipur)? It seems it has got derailed. Only one engine (a reference to Union home minister Amit Shah) visited Manipur, where is the other one, he asked, taking a dig at Modi. Thackeray also took on the former ally over its ideology saying the attacks on Hindus show the failure of BJP's Hindutva. Our Hindutva did not tell us to be happy when BJP leaders are getting attacked in Manipur. Be it Kashmir or Manipur, if Hindus are getting attacked, then BJP's Hindutva ideology has failed, the former Maharashtra chief minister said. Thackeray referred to a social media post by Lt Gen L Nishikanta Singh (retired) from Manipur, who compared the northeastern state's current situation with Libya, Lebanon, Nigeria and Syria. "According to Singh, the state is now stateless. His fear is not my Mann ki Baat, but Manipur ki Baat," Thackeray said in a swipe at the PM and his Sunday radio broadcast. "We are not happy when a BJP state minister's home (RK Ranjan Sigh) is torched. This is not the teaching of our Hindutva. Our Hindutva is that if a region of the country is burning, no BJP supporter should face the heat of it," the ShivSena (UBT) chief asserted. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Russia will continue meeting Indias energy needs as long as there is demand, and the two sides are working on arrangements to make energy supplies sustainable and to address the imbalance in trade, Russian ambassador Denis Alipov has said. Denis Alipov (ANI) Alipov described efforts by the two sides to put in place a payments system in the face of Western sanctions as a work in progress, and said in an interview the success achieved on this track will show other countries how to establish sustainable alternative cross-border financial relations. Responding to a question on whether Russias growing engagement with China can have implications for the countrys relations with India, Alipov said instead of crying over the growing Chinese economic footprint in Russia, Indian commentators would do better to encourage greater Indian expansion in the Russian market. Watch: India & China Turn Saviours For Russia, Purchase 80% Of Russian Oil In May Asked if the level of India-Russia oil trade is sustainable, Alipov replied: As long as there is demand, there is supply. Oil supplies helped us reach the record high bilateral trade turnover at $44.4 billion in fiscal 2022-23, covering more than one-third of Indian oil imports and making Russia the largest contributor to Indian energy security. We are interested in long-term arrangements so that this trend is indeed sustainable. He added the oil demand for the fastest growing Indian economy is going to increase. The basic idea, however, is quite opposite, and that is the diversification of trade instead of putting all eggs in one basket. Indias purchase of Russian crude increased from less than 2% of all imports in 2021-22 to almost 20% at present. Russia has eclipsed traditional suppliers such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq, providing 7.94 million tonnes of crude in April, or more than seven times the 1.11 million tonnes in the same period last year. The surge in oil imports has, however, created a trade imbalance. Read: India-Russia oil trade: Lessons from Iran Asked about Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrovs comments on billions of rupees accumulating in Indian banks, Alipov said using Russias SBFS system and mutually recognising digital payment systems is a work in progress. He added, Our financial regulators and banks maintain dialogue on that to ensure bilateral transactions are smooth and seamless. We have been quite successful on this track and this sends an encouraging message for the rest of the world, showing the way... to establish sustainable alternative cross-border financial relations. In the context of Moscow-Beijing relations, Alipov said there is absolutely no way Russia will become dependent on any one country as it contradicts our national interests. He added, Expanding economic cooperation with China or with any other country for that matter does not have a chance to become a political tool of influence...We have excellent relations with India and China and are determined to expand mutually beneficial and honest ties with both our partners without hidden agenda as stipulated by the recently updated Russian Foreign Policy Concept. Russia supports normalisation of a constructive dialogue between India and China to promote stability in Eurasia. And so I suggest that instead of crying over the growing Chinese economic footprint in Russia, Indian commentators would do better to encourage greater Indian expansion in the Russian market, as I believe India does not plan to reduce its largely imaginary dependency on Russia only to become dependent on someone else..., he said. Read: On EU official call against India over Russian oil, Jaishankars blunt response Alipov also said Russia appreciates Indias position on a peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis through dialogue and diplomacy. Such a position reflects New Delhis status as a responsible global power. Russia never rejected any mediatory proposals from those who are sincerely interested in establishing peace, he said. Indias trade deficit with Russia between April 2022 and January 2023 reached $34.79 billion, according to figures from the department of commerce. This marked a sevenfold increase over the figure for the same period in the previous fiscal, and made the deficit with Russia second only to China ($71.58 billion). SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rezaul H Laskar Rezaul H Laskar is the Foreign Affairs Editor at Hindustan Times. His interests include movies and music. ...view detail The Peace Prize of the German Book Trade for 2023 has been awarded to British-American author Salman Rushdie, "for his indomitable spirit, for his affirmation of life and for enriching our world with his love of storytelling," the award's Board of Trustees said in a statement on Monday in Frankfurt am Main. Salman Rushdie, the author of The Satanic Verses, has been recognized with the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade.(Timothy A. Clary/AFP) "From the moment his masterpiece Midnight's Children was published in 1981, Salman Rushdie has awed us with his interpretations of migration and global politics. In his novels and nonfiction, he melds narrative foresight with unfailing literary innovation, humour and wisdom. His work chronicles the force used by oppressive regimes to destroy entire societies while also celebrating the indestructible spirit of resistance displayed by individual human beings," the prize's board added. (Also Read | Sharjah and Seoul unite to explore centuries of history on a remarkable voyage) Survivor of several assassination attempts Born on June 19, 1947, in Bombay (now Mumbai), Ahmed Salman Rushdie's name is best known worldwide for his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, which caused widespread uproar in the Muslim world for its story inspired by the life of Islamic Prophet Muhammad. It also prompted Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to declare a fatwa against the author. The sentence led to several failed assassination attempts on the author, including an attack in August 2022, shortly before the publication of Rushdie's most recent novel, Victory City. The 76-year-old writer was severely injured in the stabbing. He is still wrestling with the attack's physical and psychological consequences, including the loss of sight in one eye. 'Words are the winner' Rushdie served as the president of the PEN American Center from 2004 to 2006, and then as chairman of the PEN World Voices International Literary Festival for 10 years. The author recently announced that he is planning to write a book on the 2022 stabbing. "It's not the easiest book in the world to write, but it's something I need to get past in order to do anything else," he said at the Hay Festival, a literary event in the UK, earlier this month. "That's the thing that writers can do: They can outlast the thing that opposes them." Rushdie has repeatedly emphasized the power of storytelling in his works, which have been translated into over 40 languages. Victory City, which deals with political intrigue and religious bigotry through the tale of the rise and fall of a feminist utopia, ends with the sentence: "Words are the winner." A prestigious list of recipients The Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, endowed with 25,000 ($27,300), will be handed out in a ceremony in October during the Frankfurt Book Fair. The prize, created in 1950, recognizes a personality committed to serving international understanding between nations and cultures through their work. "I am deeply honoured by, and grateful for this very important award. I can only thank the jury for its generosity. I know how significant this prize is, and I'm a little overawed by the list of previous recipients, to whom my name will now be added. I'm truly delighted," said Rushdie in a statement published on the website of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. Last year, the award went to Ukrainian author Serhiy Zhadan. Previous recipients include, among others, Margaret Atwood, Orhan Pamuk, Susan Sontag, Amos Oz, Vaclav Havel . On June 9, Australian airline Qantas decided to relax gender-based uniform rules, allowing male employees to wear makeup and have long hair. The new style guide also allows female employees to skip makeup and heels while on duty and wear comfortable flats. In yet another progressive move, in March, Indian airline Akasa Air also prioritised comfort of its crew by letting them wear sneakers instead of heels. In January, British Airways had a first uniform change in two decades and included jumpsuits and hijabs for its crew. In 2019, Air New Zealand ended a ban on staff having visible tattoos, allowing them to express cultural diversity. In January, British Airways had a first uniform change in two decades and included jumpsuits and hijabs for its crew Crew members back home applaud such initiatives and believe that the shift in dress code policy is a welcome move. Prini Kaur Chadha, former cabin crew, says, Around 10 years ago, when I was working with an airline, our uniforms were too tight. We were expected to look like divas. Crew members were fired if they didnt meet the expectations. But now, its heartening to see that airlines are reworking such rigid and impractical policies. Prerna Sethi Dangi, flight attendant, says, Making the uniform comfortable and allowing flat footwear is a welcome step. We stand for really long hours. So, wearing heels becomes taxing. Our job earlier was to just look good, but now people have realised that passengers safety is our primary job. A cabin crew trainer, Surabhi Kalia, shares, I am all for comfortable uniforms and the freedom to showcase individuality as long as they look presentable. Earlier, flying was associated with luxury, so a strict dress code added to the feel. Now, with so many affordable airlines, the focus is on making the crew look more relatable. Frequent flyers too share their opinions. Nachiket Barve, fashion designer, says, Its heartening that airlines are reworking guidelines according to the times we are living in. The crews job is to ensure safety and comfort and not look a certain way. To this, model and former air hostess Sonalika Sahay adds, When a uniform is designed, emergency landing is hardly a consideration. Uniforms should be apt for distress situations. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Hajj is the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Kaaba, the "House of God", in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia as it is considered one of the five pillars of Islam and is an obligation for all able-bodied and financially capable Muslims to perform at least once in their lifetime. The Hajj pilgrimage takes place during the Islamic month of Dhul Hijjah, specifically from the 8th to the 12th of that month. Muslim pilgrims perform prayers around the Kaaba, Islam's holy shrine, at the Grand Mosque in the Saudi holy city of Mecca ahead of the Hajj pilgrimage. Hajj 2023: Date, history, significance and Ihram to Eid-ul-Adha rituals of Muslims pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia (Photo by Abdel Ghani BASHIR / AFP) During Hajj, millions of Muslims from around the world gather in Mecca to fulfill religious rituals that commemorate the actions of the Prophet Muhammad and the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham). The pilgrimage holds deep spiritual significance and serves as a time of reflection, repentance and unity among Muslims. Date: This year, Hajj will begin on Monday, June 26, 2023 and will be followed by Day of Arafah on June 27 while Eid-ul-Adha will be celebrated in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, June 28. History: A visit to the holy shrine of Kaaba in Mecca has a remarkable history. Muslims believe that Prophet Ibrahim or Abraham, the dearest friend of God and father of prophets, was instructed by God to leave his wife Hajar and son Ismail in the desert of Mecca. Ibrahim left the family well-flourished but in due course of time, it all diminished and his wife Hajar and son Ismail faced lots of trouble. On one occasion, Hajar travelled seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah but was unable to find any source of water. However, when her little son Ismail rubbed the ground with his foot, a water fountain sprang up at the spot. This spot was then marked sacred and God ordered Ibrahim to build Kaaba at that place and to invite people to perform pilgrimage there. Prophet Ibrahim AS (also known as Prophet Abraham AS) and his family when Ibrahim AS and his son Ismail (Ishmael) AS were commanded by God to build the Kaaba, a sacred house of worship in Mecca. Hence, the Kaaba is considered the holiest site in Islam and serves as the focal point for the Hajj pilgrimage. The origins of Hajj are closely tied to the story of Ibrahim's unwavering faith and his willingness to submit to God's commands. It is believed that Ibrahim, along with Ismail, constructed the foundations of the Kaaba as a place for people to worship the one true God, Allah. Ibrahim and Ismail did as instructed and the Quran even narrates how the archangel, Gabriel, brought the Black Stone (which was originally white but has become black by absorbing the sins of the thousands of pilgrims who have kissed and touched it) from heaven to be attached to the Kaaba. Over time, the pilgrimage to the Kaaba became a significant annual gathering for the Arab tribes of the Arabian Peninsula however, the rituals associated with Hajj were reformed and revitalised by Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century CE as during Muhammad's time, the pagan practices and idol worship that had become associated with the pre-Islamic Hajj were eliminated and the pilgrimage was restored to its original monotheistic purpose. In pre-Islamic Arabia time of jahiliyyah, some pagan idols were placed around the Kaaba but in 630 CE, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) led the believers from Medina to Mecca and cleansed the Kaaba by destroying all the pagan idols. He was another messiah and the last prophet considered in Islam and after cleansing the Kaaba, he reconsecrated the building to Allah. Muhammad performed the Hajj pilgrimage in the year 632 CE, delivering his famous farewell sermon to thousands of Muslims gathered in the plain of Arafah and that is how Hajj became one of the five pillars of Islam. Following Muhammad's example, the rites and rituals of Hajj were standardised and it became an obligatory act of worship for all Muslims. Significance: Hajj facilitates and tends to bring together Muslims across the world in a spirit of unity and brotherhood without any discrimination based on caste, culture and colour, an unmitigated representation of equality. It is believed that whoever performs the Hajj rites truly and with purity, returns home washing off all their lifelong sins. This annual pilgrimage not only ensures equality but it also rewards pilgrims heaven after death, if the obligations are performed righteously. It symbolises kindness, positivity and is the highest form of honour earned as it is a re-enactment of the sacrifices and obedience of Prophet Abraham to God almighty, following the instructions laid down by Prophet Muhammad. The pilgrimage involves a series of prescribed acts and rituals that symbolise various aspects of faith, devotion and unity. Throughout history, the Hajj pilgrimage has seen fluctuations in the number of pilgrims and the level of organisation. The expansion of Islam beyond the Arabian Peninsula led to an increasing number of Muslims participating in Hajj from various regions around the world and today, millions of Muslims from diverse backgrounds and countries undertake the Hajj pilgrimage every year. The Saudi Arabian government, in collaboration with religious authorities, manages and facilitates the logistics of the pilgrimage to ensure the safety, comfort and well-being of the pilgrims. Hajj remains a significant spiritual journey for Muslims, fostering a sense of unity, humility and devotion to God. It serves as a profound reminder of the shared heritage and the common bond that Muslims have with the Prophet Ibrahim and their commitment to the principles of Islam. Rituals: The rituals of Hajj include - Ihram: Pilgrims enter a state of consecration called ihram. They dress in simple white garments, symbolising equality and the renunciation of worldly possessions. Pilgrims enter a state of consecration called ihram. They dress in simple white garments, symbolising equality and the renunciation of worldly possessions. Tawaf: Pilgrims perform a series of circumambulations around the Kaaba, the sacred black cube located in the center of the Masjid al-Haram. This act signifies the unity of Muslims and their devotion to God. Pilgrims perform a series of circumambulations around the Kaaba, the sacred black cube located in the center of the Masjid al-Haram. This act signifies the unity of Muslims and their devotion to God. Sa'i: Pilgrims walk between the hills of Safa and Marwa, following the path of Hajar (Hagar), the wife of Ibrahim, who searched for water for her son Ismail (Ishmael). It symbolises perseverance and trust in God's provisions. Pilgrims walk between the hills of Safa and Marwa, following the path of Hajar (Hagar), the wife of Ibrahim, who searched for water for her son Ismail (Ishmael). It symbolises perseverance and trust in God's provisions. Arafah: Pilgrims gather on the plain of Arafah, where they engage in prayer, supplication, and contemplation. It is considered the most crucial day of Hajj, known as the Day of Arafah. Pilgrims gather on the plain of Arafah, where they engage in prayer, supplication, and contemplation. It is considered the most crucial day of Hajj, known as the Day of Arafah. Muzdalifah and Mina: Pilgrims spend the night in Muzdalifah, collecting pebbles for the next ritual. They then proceed to Mina, where they perform the symbolic stoning of the devil by casting pebbles at three stone pillars. Pilgrims spend the night in Muzdalifah, collecting pebbles for the next ritual. They then proceed to Mina, where they perform the symbolic stoning of the devil by casting pebbles at three stone pillars. Eid al-Adha: The culmination of Hajj is marked by the celebration of Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice. Pilgrims sacrifice an animal, typically a sheep or a goat, symbolising Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son. Hajj is a profound spiritual journey that unites Muslims from diverse backgrounds, cultures and languages. It reinforces the principles of equality, humility and devotion to God as through Hajj, pilgrims seek forgiveness, spiritual purification and a deeper connection with their faith and it is an experience of a lifetime that leaves a lasting impact on the hearts and minds of those who undertake it. Yoga has long been recognised for its positive impact on mental health as the practice of Yoga encompasses physical postures (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama) and meditation, all of which contribute to improving mental well-being. It offers a powerful and holistic approach to promoting mental health and well-being as through its combination of physical postures, breathwork and meditation, Yoga provides a multifaceted toolkit for managing and improving mental well-being and regular practice of Yoga has been shown to reduce stress, anxiety and depression while enhancing overall emotional resilience and self-awareness. International Yoga Day 2023: 5 Yoga exercises you should try from today for optimal mental health (Photo by Yayan Sopian on Unsplash) Watch: Relaxing Yoga for Better Mental Health | Yoga For The Soul | Hindustan Times The mindful and meditative aspects of Yoga help calm the mind, improve focus and promote a sense of inner peace. Yoga also encourages self-care and self-compassion, fostering a positive relationship with oneself hence, by incorporating Yoga into our lives, individuals can cultivate a healthier mind-body connection, finding balance, serenity and improved mental health. However, it is important to note that while Yoga can be beneficial for mental health, it is not a substitute for professional mental health treatment. It is recommended to consult with a healthcare provider or mental health professional for personalized guidance and support. In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Pritika Singh, CEO at Prayag Hospitals Group, shared, Stress, anxiety and other mental health issues have become increasingly common these days. To enhance their mental well-being, many individuals are seeking holistic approaches which includes adapting a healthy lifestyle backed by exercise, walking and more. However, apart from these, practising Yoga also offers a powerful solution. With its combination of physical postures, breathing exercises and meditation, Yoga can be a transformative practice for mental health. According to her, following are five Yoga practices that are particularly beneficial for promoting mental well-being - Savasana (Corpse Pose): Savasana (Shutterstock ) The simplest yet most profound yoga practice for mental health is Savasana, also known as the Corpse Pose. As the name suggests, it simply involves lying down on your back, completely relaxed, with arms by your side and eyes closed. Savasana helps calm the mind, reduce stress, and induce a state of deep relaxation. This pose promotes a sense of inner peace and rejuvenation, reducing anxiety and improving sleep quality. Pranayama (Breathing Exercises): Pranayama (Ivan Samkov) Another one is Pranayama which is the practice of controlling the breath. It is considered to be the cornerstone of yoga that significantly impacts mental well-being. It includes techniques such as deep abdominal breathing, alternate nostril breathing, and the victorious breath (Ujjayi Pranayama) that help regulate the nervous system and bring about a sense of calmness and mental clarity. By focusing on the breath, pranayama cultivates mindfulness, reduces stress levels, and promotes emotional stability, making it an excellent practice for anxiety and depression management. Yoga Nidra (Yogic Sleep): Yoga nidra (Shutterstock) Yoga Nidra, also known as yogic sleep, is a guided meditation practice that facilitates deep relaxation and heightened self-awareness. Yoga Nidra induces a state of conscious deep sleep, allowing you to access the subconscious mind and release mental and emotional blockages. It involves lying down in a comfortable position while listening to a guided meditation that takes you through different stages of relaxation. Regular practice can ease out symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), insomnia, and anxiety, while enhancing overall mental resilience. Siddhasana (Accomplished Pose): Siddhasana(istockphoto) Siddhasana, also known as the Accomplished Pose, is a classical seated posture used in yoga and meditation practices. It is considered one of the most effective and powerful sitting poses for spiritual and energetic purposes. The term "Siddhasana" is derived from two Sanskrit words: "Siddha," meaning "accomplished" or "perfected," and "asana," meaning "pose" or "posture." This pose is often used for meditation due to its ability to create a calm and focused state of mind. The seated position and the alignment of the spine in Siddhasana promote mental focus and concentration, making it easier to engage in contemplative practices. Siddhasana is said to awaken and direct the flow of prana (life force energy) in the body, leading to increased vitality and improved overall health. Balasana (Childs Pose): Balasana or Child's Pose or Child's Resting Pose of Yoga(Instagram/mindfulbyminna) Another Yoga practice that is useful to tackle mental health issues is Balasana, also known as Child's Pose. It is a popular yoga posture and involves a gentle, kneeling pose, providing a sense of comfort, calmness, grounding and several other benefits. This yoga posture gently stretches the hips, thighs, and ankles, while also releasing tension in the lower back and shoulders. The pose helps to calm the mind, reduce stress, and promote relaxation. It can also be used as a resting position during a yoga practice or as a counterpose to more vigorous postures. However, Balasana may not be suitable for everyone. If someone has knee or ankle injuries, it's advisable to use props like a bolster or folded blanket to support your body and make the pose more accessible. It's always a good idea to listen to your body and modify the pose as needed to ensure your comfort and safety. Pritika Singh concluded, As with any Yoga pose, it's important to listen to your body and modify the pose as needed. If you have any specific health concerns or injuries, always consult a qualified yoga instructor first. Overall, the ancient practice of Yoga offers a holistic approach to mental health and well-being. The beauty of yoga lies in its versatility, making it accessible to individuals of all ages and physical abilities. The above-mentioned Yoga practices provide invaluable tools to navigate life's challenges, manage stress, and nurture a profound connection between the mind, body, and spirit. So, whether you're a beginner or an experienced practitioner, incorporating these Yoga practices into your daily routine can contribute to optimal mental health and a more balanced and fulfilling life. The Australian airline Qantas Airways Limited may have just found ways to reduce jet lag and reset your body's clock while travelling onboard long-haul flights. According to a year-long study - conducted by Qantas Airways to find ways to reduce jet lag on its upcoming ultra-long-haul non-stop 'Sunrise' flights from New York and London to Sydney - adjusted lighting, tailored sleep, dining schedules, and meals with specific ingredients helped significantly improve passengers' jet lag. Scroll ahead to know what the study revealed. Qantas conducts a study to find ways to reduce jet lag. (Qantas Airways) Qantas Airways' study to reduce jet lag on long-haul flights The airline operated three Project Sunrise research flights from New York and London to Sydney in 2019 in partnership with Australian researchers to collect real-world passenger data. Researchers travelled with 23 volunteer customers, who wore biometric monitors, and monitored them as they followed a specially designed menu, lighting, sleep and movement sequences. Additionally, the study included tailored cabin lighting schedules to facilitate adaption to the destination time zone, integrating simple stretch and movement activities, and timing meal services to align with the body clock. The meals included items like fish and chicken paired with fast-acting carbohydrates and comfort foods like soups and milk-based desserts. The aim was to promote the brain's production of the amino acid tryptophan (Tryp) to help passengers drift off easily, the airline revealed in a statement. Peter Cistulli, professor of sleep medicine at the University of Sydney, said in a statement, "The early findings have given us optimism that we can make a real difference to the health and wellbeing of international travellers, thanks to this partnership with Qantas." They added, "We have a multi-disciplinary team of more than 10 researchers from medicine, science, and engineering backgrounds working together on this project. This includes sleep researchers, circadian experts, and nutrition and movement experts. No airline has ever done this kind of research before." The study findings The study's initial findings showed passengers reported less severe jet lag, better inflight sleep quality, and better cognitive performance in the two days after the flight. The airline is also researching the crew's well-being on ultra-long-haul flights. Qantas' record-breaking New York to Sidney flight Qantas Airways will launch its first non-stop commercial airline flight from New York and London to Sydney in late 2025. The ultra-long-haul flight will be 20 hours long. According to Qantas, the specially designed Airbus A350s will include an onboard Wellbeing Zone where passengers can take time out to stretch and do simple exercises onboard, guided by video screens. In Madhya Pradesh (MP), the Congress has its ducks in a row and is some distance removed from an intra-party detente in Rajasthan, the other Hindi belt state headed for polls by the year-end. PREMIUM Short of a formal announcement, former Chief Minister Kamal Nath is the Congresss face in MP(Mujeeb Faruqui / HT Archive) A lot has been said on the lack of chemistry between chief minister Ashok Gehlot and the man-in-perpetual-waiting, Sachin Pilot in the desert state. But there hasnt been enough focus on the amicable settlement of the vexed leadership question in MP. Short of a formal announcement, former chief minister Kamal Nath is the Congresss face here. Doubts, if any, on that score were quelled by Priyanka Gandhi Vadras inaugural June 12 election meeting in Jabalpur. The catbird seat there was for Nath, while another party veteran and one-time contender, Digvijay Singh kept an extraordinarily low profile. So understated was the latters presence that he wasnt among those listed to address the gathering besides Nath and Vadra. The consensus on Naths stewardship in the partys bid for power was reached at a meeting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi had on May 29 in Delhi with senior leaders from MP. Among those present besides Nath, who currently heads the Pradesh Congress Committee, and Singh were all former state unit and legislature party chiefs. Not only did Singh, himself a two-term CM, propose Naths name for the leadership position, he volunteered to restrict his role in the upcoming polls to the 68 seats that the Congress hasnt won for the past two decades. Nath was agreeable to the task Singh chose for himself. Singhs mellowing is explained by party insiders as payback for the support he received (from Nath) during his 1993-2003 stint as CM. The other more expedient reason behind his conciliatory approach is his desire to promote his son, Jaivardhan, who served as a minister under Nath in the truncated 2018-20 Congress government. Does the early resolution of the leadership question in MP mean the party is better placed than it was in Karnataka to take on its principal rival, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)? The parallel seems far-fetched, as the states are politically poles apart, even after discounting their similarly bipolar polity and the palpable anti-incumbency and organisational atrophy that had hurt the BJP in Karnataka. The crucial difference between Karnataka and MP-Rajasthan combine is that the latter are Hindi belt states where the BJP bats better on the strength of its leaderships communication flair that has a relatively faint reach and appeal in southern India. In that limited sense, the Congresss match in the Hindi heartland will mostly be with Narendra Modis oratorical skills, his personal charisma and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs cadre-entrenchment. If factionalism continues to fester, Gehlots overdrive on directly transferring benefits to the electorate might fall short of its objectives in Rajasthan. Being in power, the party there has its share of anti-incumbency accentuated by the hiatus that separates its two prominent faces. The peace formula envisaging Pilot as chairman of the Congresss campaign committee is in the works. A final word on it is yet to be heard for a lack of common ground on probing corruption cases dating back to the BJPs Vasundhara Rajes tenure as CM. The Modi magic that brought the BJP big victories in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, had not worked in 2018 in Rajasthan and MP. While Gehlot, an amateur jadugar survived Pilots concomitant 2020 rebellion, Nath got ousted the same year when several legislators led by Jyotiraditya Scindia deserted the Congress to join the BJP. In fact, the setback in MP strengthened Gehlot in the internal Congress power-play. Loath as it was to losing power in another state, the party high command considered it imprudent to disturb a CM who could keep his flock of MLAs together. A senior party official had at that time told this writer: We cannot afford the tag of being a party that cannot retain talent; that wins elections but loses its legislators midway through.... Its anybodys guess whether history will repeat itself in 2023. For starters, the Congress, while relying heavily on welfarism in Rajasthan, has loaded its MP campaign with the arsenal of religion that has been the BJPs USP. The Bajrang Bali leitmotif the party appropriated in Karnataka was in full display at Jabalpur where Nath, the self-professed Hanuman bhakt, was presented with a mace identified with the deity. Not just that. Before assembling for the public meeting, the leaders including Vadra offered prayers on the banks of Narmada. The revered river was a theme as much in the 2018 polls when Digvijay Singh undertook its 3,300 km parikrama (circumambulation) on foot. The deity, so to speak, comes with doles. The giveaway mix of faith and freebies is completed by the Congresss five promises entailing monthly cash transfers to women, cheap gas cylinders, free electricity, farm loan waivers and implementation of the old pension scheme. Regardless of the outcome, the strategy to play on the BJPs turf isnt new. It was first seen in Gujarat-2017 when the Congress came close to giving the incumbent party a real scare. The additional element this time is the partys attempt to develop its own constituency of labharthis (beneficiaries) which Amit Shah described in Karnataka as the new caste created by Modis welfarism. The falling apart in a thunderstorm of Saptrishi statues in the Mahakaal temple corridor inaugurated by the PM in Ujjain last year, lends force to the Congresss charge of the BJP having beguiled people in the name of religion. In the over 90 per cent Hindu MP, its game plan could be worth a try and explained in terms of stalling the Hindutva partys 18-year-long free run of the majoritarian space. HTs veteran political editor, Vinod Sharma, brings together his four-decade-long experience of closely tracking Indian politics, his intimate knowledge of the actors who dominate the political theatre, and his keen eye which can juxtapose the past and the present in his weekly column, Distantly Close vinodsharma@hindustasntimes.com The views expressed are personal In the buzz surrounding ChatGPT and other services, startups may feel the heat to integrate AI in their operations. They must think about AI washing before they do so. PREMIUM It seems like everyones new favourite word in 2023 is Artificial Intelligence (AI). (Freepik) It seems like everyones new favourite word in 2023 is Artificial Intelligence (AI). Its not like AI was just invented, but OpenAIs release of ChatGPT in November 2023 to public accolade and doomsday predictions in equal measure came at a time when startups were facing a funding crunch, macroeconomic headwinds, and lay-offs. The funding winter meant that these ventures had to think of innovative ways to attract substantial funding. So, why not go the AI route? After all, its the only thing everyones talking about, whether in a positive or a negative manner. What if AI wasnt needed in a startups core operations? Maybe, in a last desperate move, it might be claimed that AI can be integrated into your company, even if its not exactly true or if the connection is tenuous. Let's call this phenomenon AI washing, similar to greenwashing. Just as companies deceptively tell stakeholders that the company is environmentally sound, sustainable and green, enterprises embellish their use of AI. Or its like cloud-washing, where enterprises say their products and services are cloud-based, when theyre not capitalizing on the hype of cloud computing without actually integrating it into the company. AI washing would be when a company is pretending to be powered by artificial intelligence when it actually isn't. But, why are startups AI washing? Securing funding can be a major reason to help navigate the current challenging funding winter. There may be a desire to attract investors who appear to be more than ebullient towards investing in AI-driven companies, seeing as how other people are talking about AI and Generative AI. The current investment landscape is marked by euphoria and excitement around AI technology. With investors valuing AI companies, startups may be motivated to tap into this enthusiasm to increase their valuation and secure funding. Or perhaps, it could be all about brand visibility and media attention. By marketing themselves as future-ready and at the forefront of innovation, startups think they can gain a competitive advantage and attract customers and partners alike who prioritise AI-driven solutions which can attract current and existing investors to open doors to new opportunities. It could also be all about the talent. Even if AI isnt central to a startups core operations, it could be a way to acquire talent, especially in the form of skilled AI experts who can build and maintain real AI systems, strengthening technical expertise and making a venture more appealing to potential clients and investors. Of course, these motivations can seem compelling. As a startup founder, you may think that the benefits outweigh the risks. But, do you know the risks? There could be legal repercussions and your startups reputation could be affected in the long run. According to a 2019 report by London venture capital firm MMC Ventures, around 40% of 2,830 European companies, that claimed to be AI start-ups, used virtually no AI at all. In 2019, Engineer.ai, a mobile app developer startup, was accused of lying about claiming to be AI-based, when it wasnt. The Indian startup crafted the narrative that AI was central to their product offerings, which may have led to them raising close to $30 million from the likes of Softbank, Lakestar and Jungle Ventures. But, instead, it was using the natural intelligence of its human software engineers. Engineer.ai management clarified its stance was always about using human-assisted AI. Flagging caution over AI, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced in February 2023 that enterprises ought not to make exaggerated claims about the use of AI. Stating that overusing and abusing 'hot marketing terms' was not the right way to go, the FTC asserted that false and unsubstantiated claims about a products efficacy are their bread and butter. The FTC also said that exaggerating what an AI product could do would still be an issue, if claims lack scientific support or if they dont apply to all users. What if the existing tech is obsolete? I remember talking to some founders about how AI was penetrating their companies. One of them runs a travel company and he tells me that venture capitalists (VC) are pressuring him to incorporate more AI, even though he feels it is not necessary. This founder believes that his products and services need personalised customer interactions to provide warm travel experiences, so a human touch would serve the company better in the long run than a cold, lifeless and emotionless AI. This founder is trying to resist the use of AI, as he feels it undermines the core vision and direction of his startup. Another founder Ive spoken to uses machine learning (ML) for language localisation in India. In this case, AI could be helpful to break down the languages and help other companies talk to people in different regions of India. But, going beyond this, could AI and ML be used for learning dialects? Like, if a user goes to a city in India, there could be different sub-dialects that vary from place to place. AI could be trained to understand these sub-dialects. Could this be a case of ramping up the use of AI in ones startup? Keep in mind that global VC funding is experiencing a dry spell, falling more than 50% year over year in Q1 2023. This is keeping in mind Microsoft's reportedly $13 billion investment in OpenAI this year. Stripe, a payments processing company which has adopted GPT-4 to streamline its user experience, has raised new funding this year that values it at about $50 billion. Sure, its not as great as its valuation of $95 billion in 2021, but it's performing its best in tough times. The current landscape seems to scream how deal flow and funding are down. Investor confidence is low and theres even a failure in established institutions like Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank. So, if youre not going to be using AI when its not applicable to you, how can you raise funding in such a challenging market environment? There are some commandments that founders could abide by to increase their chances of success, as outlined by VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. As a founder, if youre burning cash and running out of money, swallow your pride, keep your feet grounded and raise money even if it hurts by being flexible on structures. You should also avoid anchoring around price expectations or your last round valuation, for you run the risk of not receiving a term sheet if your expectation is a high price. All it takes is one yes to get the ball rolling and build additional term sheets. Also, you could optimise for size, not dilution, though the standard approach has been the latter, but in this environment, maybe optimising for round size could be the way to go. Another piece of advice is to stress-test one's burn multiple, which is to see how much cash you're burning to generate every incremental dollar or rupee of revenue. This lets you know where your largest burn is happening and whether theres substantial justification for the same. Doing more with less could be attractive to investors. The blitzscaling strategy, where the goal is to grow really quickly to build out your company and prioritize growth over efficiency or profitability, may have prominence for startups right now. The AI revolution is often compared to the PC revolution, owing to both of their transformative impact across society. Both would revolutionise how people work, communicate and access information, enabling better productivity, efficiency and access to information. The impact of AI is still to unfold. So, there could be serious temptations to embrace AI as a startup founder, even when its not necessary for your core operations. The AI adoption trend ought to be driven by genuine operational needs, not just fundraising purposes. AI or no AI, can your startup adapt and align in a way thats sustainable in the long run? Shrija Agrawal is a business journalist who has covered startups and private capital markets before it was considered cool in India The views expressed are personal A strange contradiction is being seen in the streets of Delhi these days. While posters announced that the Mother of Democracy welcomed G20 delegates, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) filled political corridors with arguments against having a democratically-elected, representative state government for Delhi. When these arguments are dissected along administrative, legal and historical lines, they are just another device in the BJPs toolkit for capturing power when denied so by the people electorally. PREMIUM Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal at the Delhi Secretariat. He has opposed the ordinance passed by the Centre, according certain powers to the Lieutenant Governor, calling it "unconstitutional". (HT photo) To begin with, one must distinguish the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area which houses the Central Government offices, the Supreme Court, and the diplomatic avenue from the rest of Delhi. NDMC comprises only about 1.8% of the population and 3% of the land in Delhi. The present question is about the remaining 97% of the 20 million people of Delhi, who rightly deserve to be governed by a state government that was elected by them and is, thus mindful of the needs of the constituents and can be held accountable. As two landmark Supreme Court (SC) judgements from 2018 and 2023 have held, the elected government in Delhi has the sole authority to administer Delhi on all matters falling in the State and Concurrent Lists except three police, law and public order. The 2023 Constitution Bench judgment of the Supreme Court further noted, The principles of democracy and federalism are essential features of our Constitution and form a part of the basic structure. Federalism in a multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic country like India ensures the representation of diverse interests. The Constitutions vision of a federal set up has stood the test of time, enfranchising people through state governments that are closer to them, represent their needs, and are responsible to the electorate. Over the decades, several erstwhile Union Territories have been converted into full-fledged states. This is testimony to the value of a representative form of government as well as the wisdom of our parliamentarians. Constitutional mandate It is this promise of representation made by democracy that was sought to be fulfilled when the 69th Amendment to the Constitution was passed in 1991, granting a legislature and a popularly-elected state government to the people of Delhi. In an era when decentralisation of power has been a plank for empowering people at the grassroots level the world over, it is perverse that the BJP is now seeking to turn back the clock by engaging in a political discourse on the abolition of state government altogether. The pitch against an empowered state government for Delhi also betrays ignorance of a comparative perspective. When we study the governance structures of national capitals in countries across the world, it becomes clear that India has the most regressive form of governance for its national capital. For example, it is the local city government in London (UK), Berlin (Germany), Mexico City (Mexico), Ottawa (Canada) and Washington DC (USA) that exercises control over police, land and city planning, housing, traffic and transport planning, and appointment and transfer of officials; the Delhi government doesn't. In comparison, Delhi, with far fewer powers, stands out as an anomaly. Not only does the current governance setup create everyday hurdles in the delivery of basic public services to the people of Delhi, it is also a blot on the core ideals of democracy that India prides itself on. The undeniable conclusion is that cities thrive when their people find a voice, through an elected legislature and a popular government, and when the legislature and the government are adequately empowered. A long history of this demand Indeed, all major political parties, including the BJP and Congress, have consistently demanded full statehood for Delhi since 1951. We may do well to remember BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayees and Lal Krishna Advanis protests in the streets demanding full statehood for Delhi way back in the 1980s; or the words of former Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana of BJP, who after winning the first Vidhan Sabha elections said that the House appeared like a body without a soul; or BJPs Sahib Singh Vermas remark in the late '90s that he was a powerless Chief Minister. We must also recall the bill introduced in the Parliament by Advani, when he was Union home minister in 2003, seeking full statehood for Delhi. The BJP has now made a U-turn, resigned to the fact that the popularity of CM Arvind Kejriwal and the transformational work of the AAP government in education, health, and the water and power sectors will ensure that the BJP stays out of power in the national capital for the foreseeable future. The attack on the powers of the Delhi government, therefore, only reflects the ideological bankruptcy, lack of pragmatic long-term vision, repress-the-Constitution policy, and opportunistic politics of the Centre and the BJP. The Delhi Ordinance is only the most recent attempt in BJPs political ploy to wrest power away from a popularly elected government to avenge an electoral defeat. In 2021, the Central government amended the GNCTD Act to undo the effect of the 2018 Supreme Court verdict, and last month, it brought out the Delhi Services Ordinance to nullify another five-judge SC verdict. In the midst of this, it also amended the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act last year to disproportionately give powers to the Central Government over Delhis municipal body. It has become clear that the unrest in BJP is only because it cannot control Delhi by constitutional means. Democracy rests on the pillars of constitutionalism, representation, inclusivity, empowerment, and equitable development. To question the need for a state government for Delhi is to question the very value of representative democracy. The mother of democracy should lead the path it should indeed be a Vishwaguru for cooperative federalism, decentralization and democratic form of government in letter and spirit. Not a polity going backwards, undoing the hard-fought gains of the people of India. Jasmine Shah is an AAP leader. Views expressed are personal. In this summer of 2023, the National Capital is experiencing a smog of misinformation being spread by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. Since 2015, being dissatisfied with the limited role and powers granted to the government of NCT under Article 239 AA of the Constitution, the Kejriwal government has been at loggerheads with the Central government. The latest flash point seems to be the promulgation of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023, which gives the Lieutenant Governor executive control over matters concerning transfer posting, vigilance and other incidental service-related matters of the bureaucrats in the government of New Delhi. PREMIUM On May 19, the Central government promulgated an ordinance giving the Lieutenant Governor (pictured above, Delhi LG VK Saxena) administrative powers in relation to the services of the officers of the NCT government. (HT File ) The Aam Aadmi Party has launched a media and political campaign declaring the said ordinance as contrary to constitutional principles as well as in violation of the judgment of the Supreme Court of India. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, during one of his press conferences said that the ordinance is in contempt of the Supreme Court of India in an attempt to pit the Central government against the apex court. As a student of law and an advocate practising before the Supreme Court, I feel it is my duty to clear this smog of misinformation and shine some light on the legality and necessity of the ordinance. Is the ordinance legal? Yes, it is. Since independence, Delhi has never been accorded full statehood under the provisions of the Constitution. Delhi, being the Capital, belongs to all the people of India. The Honble Chief Justice of India, while delivering the Constitutional bench judgment observed, It (NCT) embodies, in its character as a Capital city the political symbolism underlying national governance. The circumstances pertaining to the governance of the NCT may have a direct and immediate impact upon the collective welfare of the nation. Keeping in mind the significance of the Capital, not only in the domestic sphere but also in international relations, Delhi has always been accorded a hybrid or a quasi-state status, where the Central Government has overriding powers in managing affairs. Article 239AA was introduced into the Constitution by way of the 69th Amendment and came into force on 1.2.1992. It granted special status to the National Capital Territory of Delhi under Part VIII of the Constitution. While its inclusion in Part VIII indicates that NCT is identified as a Union Territory, Article 239 AA provides it special status in the form of its own Assembly, direct elections, Council of Ministers and a local government with legislative and executive powers. A perusal of the provisions of Article 239 AA would show that the Central Government has been granted supremacy over the affairs of the NCT of Delhi. Under Article 239 AA (3), Parliament has been granted full powers to make laws on all subjects without any restriction. It further clarifies, that if there is any conflict between the law passed by the Assembly and the law passed by the Parliament, then the latter shall prevail. Even in the areas of functioning of the NCT government, the Lieutenant Governor has been granted special powers. Under Article 239 AA (4), the Lieutenant Governor has the power to expressly disagree with the decision of the NCT government. In case of such a disagreement, the matter has to be decided by the President acting on the aid and advise of the Central government. Under the Constitution, such kind of power to disagree with the Council of Ministers or the Chief Minister, is specially provided only to the Lieutenant Governor of NCT of Delhi, and the same has not been granted to any Governor under Article 163 nor to the President of India under Article 74. This legal position has been upheld by the Supreme Court in two of its Constitutional bench judgments delivered on July 4, 2018 and on again on May 11, 2023. In its latest judgements delivered on May 11, 2023, the Supreme Court concluded that the executive powers of NCT of Delhi shall be subject to the executive power expressly conferred upon the Union by the Constitution or by a law enacted by Parliament. Such being the position of law, as affirmed by the Supreme Court, the Central government is well within its powers to pass any law to regulate the working of the Delhi Government, as and when necessary. Such exercise of power is neither unconstitutional nor against the judgment or in contempt of the apex court. Why was the ordinance necessary? Having now clarified the legal position, I must highlight the necessity for the Central government to pass the ordinance. The Aam Aadmi Party which came into existence out of an anti-corruption movement, is today embroiled in several high-profile corruption cases. Despite promises and claims of eradicating corruption, the fact of the matter is that several leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, including cabinet ministers, have been arrested in connection with corruption cases. Several other matters involving irregularities of the Kejriwal government were being investigated by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption department of the NCT government. The Directorate of Vigilance is operated under the supervision and control of the Chief Secretary, who is also the Chief Vigilance Officer for the NCT government. The important documents and files, which were part of the ongoing sensitive investigation, were kept in the custody of Mr. Rajasekhar, IAS, Special Secretary (Vigilance). On May 11, the Supreme Court passed its judgment granting administrative control over the services of NCT government officials to the Kejriwal government, on grounds that there is no legislation passed by the Parliament on this issue. Immediately, on the same day, the Kejriwal government removed the Secretary with unprecedent promptness. Thereafter, on May 13, Mr Saurabh Bharadwaj, cabinet minister in the Kejriwal government, directed withdrawal of all work from Mr Rajasekhar and transferred it to other officers. Further, during the intervening night of May 15 and 16, the office of Mr. Rajasekhar was illegally accessed and sensitive files and records relating to various corruption investigation were removed. Thus, there appears to be a clear intention of the Kejriwal government to interfere with and compromise the investigations that are ongoing against various leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party. The power to administer services was being deliberately misused to shield the corrupt and destroy sensitive evidence. In fact, on June 2, the Delhi Police lodged an FIR, on a complaint filed by Mr. Rajasekhar, in relation to this illegal removal of sensitive files and records from his office. Keeping in mind the significant and unique status of the National Capital, the Central government on May 19, promulgated the said ordinance, thereby giving the Lieutenant Governor, the administrative powers in relation to the services of the officers of the NCT government. The objects and reasoning of the ordinance clearly record that any event in the capital of the nation not only affects the residents of the national capital but also the rest of the country and at the same time has the potential of putting the national reputation, image, credibility and prestige at stake in the international global spectrum. As explained, the Central government has the Constitutional power to pass any law in relation to the administration of the NCT government. Since Parliament was not in session during the relevant period, the Central government passed the ordinance to deal with the pressing situation prevailing in NCT of Delhi. Perhaps, the current actions of the chief ministers of NCT Delhi and Punjab, can shed some light on Aam Aadmi Partys true intentions. The two were on a national tour to garner support against the ordinance. Surprisingly, Mr. Kejriwal is seeking support from leaders of the parties, who Mr. Kejriwal himself had once accused of being tainted with corruption. Only Mr. Kejriwal can answer, why he is seeking support from such leaders. This shift in rhetoric is astonishing, especially for a party that sought support from the electorate on the plank of anti-corruption. The Central government had to notify the ordinance to ensure that the members and ministers of the Aam Aadmi Party, accused in corruption cases are not protected through destruction of evidence. It seems that the intoxication of power has led to a tectonic shift in the ideology of the Aam Aadmi Party that is now trying to shield its khas aadmis! Bansuri Swaraj, is the co-convener Delhi BJP Legal Cell. The views expressed are personal. Sophia Celentano, a 21-year-old intern at Ogilvy Health, flies to her office every week. The reason behind this choice is that flight tickets turned out to be cheaper than renting a house in New Jersey. US woman travels to internship via plane.(REUTERS) Celentano compared the cost of renting an apartment in Parsippany or New York for the summer to living with her parents and taking a weekly low-cost flight when she received her internship offer. According to information from Apartments.com and Renthop, the average rent for a studio in Parsippany is roughly $1,730 per month, while in New York it is closer to $3,500. Utility costs, food costs, petrol costs, and other expenses are not included in this, reports CNBC. Also Read: US woman marries chatbot she created using AI Celentano also took to LinkedIn to share about her commute. She wrote, "On the first day of my internship I posted a TikTok where I shared what a morning looks like for me on days when I commute by plane from South Carolina to the office in New Jersey. I explained in the video that my commute provides me with significant financial benefits. Rather than spending paying $3400+ a month for rent (the new average for leases in Manhattan), I book a $100 round trip flight from SC to NJ on the one day a week I work in person. Plus, my untraditional commute provides me with more lifestyle freedom, and I genuinely look forward to my weekly adventures." Take a look at her full post below: This post was shared just a few days ago. Since being posted, it has been liked over 2300 times. Many have also shared comments on the post. Check out a few reactions below: An individual wrote, "In the world, were in, you have to create your own opportunities! I dont even know you but what a rockstar Sophia Celentano!" Another posted, "Amazing!!! The things we do for our dream job." "Just goes to show anythings possible! Thanks for sharing," expressed a third. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Bangladesh has sought Indias assistance to tide over a rough patch in its relations with the US, especially over the conduct of elections in the neighbouring country, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasinas party has been in power for 15 years but is facing pressure due to an economic crisis. (File photo) The Bangladeshi side has raised the matter with the Indian leadership in recent weeks in the hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will discuss it with US President Joe Biden at their upcoming meeting in Washington, the people said. The matter is understood to have figured when Bangladesh foreign minister AK Abdul Momen met external affairs minister S Jaishankar on the margins of a G20 development ministers meeting in Varanasi on June 12. Also Read:Confident that my visit to US will reinforce our bilateral ties: PM Narendra Modi It has also been taken up by Bangladeshi officials at other levels with the Indian side, the people said. Bangladesh-US relations have been bumpy in recent months, with the American envoy in Dhaka, Peter Haas, repeatedly calling for the holding of a free and transparent general election and meeting the chief election commissioner to discuss the matter. The Bangladesh government was irked after the US administration unveiled a new policy in May on denying visas to Bangladeshis who undermine the democratic election process. In their discussions with the Indian side, Dhakas interlocutors have pointed to the importance of Bangladesh in efforts to ensure a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific. They have also highlighted that US actions have the potential for pushing Bangladesh closer to China, the people said. Parliamentary elections in Bangladesh are due by January 2024. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas Awami League party has been in power for 15 years but is facing increasing pressure because of an economic crisis and mobilisation by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Publicly, Bangladeshi leaders have dismissed the US calls for free and fair elections, with deputy foreign minister Shahriar Alam saying recently that the new US visa policy does not bother his government. However, the people cited above said the Bangladesh government doesnt want the opposition to cash in on the stand taken by the US. Asked about the matter during an interaction at the Foreign Correspondents Club last week, Bangladesh high commissioner Mustafizur Rahman said the US visa policy should be seen in the broader context of our governments unequivocal commitment to holding a free and fair election for upholding the democratic process. It is entirely up to the people of Bangladesh to sustain the hard-earned democratic process, political stability and developmental gains in the country, Rahman said, adding that the world community, including the US, is standing by the Bangladesh government to ensure that elections are free and fair. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rezaul H Laskar Rezaul H Laskar is the Foreign Affairs Editor at Hindustan Times. His interests include movies and music. ...view detail Estonia's parliament approved on Tuesday a law to legalise same-sex marriage, making it the first central European country to do so. Gay people in Estonia tend to remain discreet about their identity, and half have experienced harassment recently, according to government.(AFP/ Representative image) Same-sex marriage is legal in much of western Europe but not in central European countries which were once under communist rule and members of the Moscow-led Warsaw Pact alliance but now members of NATO and, largely, the EU. "It's like the state is finally accepting me," said Annely Lepamaa, 46, a lesbian. "Until now, I needed to fight for everything. I had to go to court to adopt my own children, which is like, why?" she added. "Now, I'm a human with rights." The bill received 55 votes in the 101-seat parliament, from the coalition of liberal and social democratic parties which Kallas has assembled following her strong win in the 2023 election. "My message (to central Europe) is that it's a difficult fight, but marriage and love is something that you have to promote," Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told Reuters after the vote. "We have developed a lot in those 30 years, since we have freed ourselves from the (Soviet) occupation. We are equals among same-value countries," she added. The law will come into effect from 2024. In the largely secular Baltic country of 1.3 million, 53% of the population supported same-sex marriage in a 2023 poll by the Centre for Human Rights. A decade ago the number was 34%. However, 38% of Estonians still consider homosexuality to be unacceptable. Same-sex marriage is opposed by the ethnic-Russian minority, which constitutes a quarter of the country, with only 40% of them supporting it. Gay people in Estonia tend to remain discreet about their identity, and half have experienced harassment recently, according to government. "This was a good opportunity for the government, because the public opinion on same-sex marriage has turned to positive, and after this year's election it has the numbers to overcome the conservative opposition," said Tomas Jermalavicius, Head of Studies at the International Centre for Defence and Security. Latvia and Lithuania, the other two Baltic countries which were previously annexed by the Soviet Union, have same-sex partnership bills stuck in their parliaments. Speaking to Reuters after the vote, Annely's partner of six years Eeva Koplimets, 36, proposed they should get married. "Yeah, we are switching (to marriage)! We made our decision on TV!,", she said. Finland's parliament on Tuesday elected conservative Petteri Orpo as prime minister at the head of a four-party coalition including the far-right Finns Party which plans a major crackdown on immigration. Finland's National Coalition Party Chair Petteri Orpo holds his press conference at the Finnish Parliament after the parliament elected him as the new prime minister, in Helsinki, Finland.(REUTERS) Parliament voted in favour of Orpo, who won April elections and has been in thorny negotiations to build a coalition since then, by 107 in favour, 81 opposed and 11 absent. Orpo was to be formally appointed as prime minister later Tuesday by President Sauli Niinisto, taking over from Sanna Marin, whose Social Democrats finished third in the election behind Orpo's National Coalition Party (NCP) and the Finns Party. In addition to the NCP and the Finns Party, the new coalition is made up of the smaller Swedish People's Party (RKP) and the Christian Democrats. READ | Finland's right-wing party claims big win, PM Marin concedes defeat in elections Orpo campaigned on an austerity ticket, vowing to cut spending by six billion euros over four years. The new coalition presented last week also announced a "paradigm shift" on immigration. It said it aimed to halve the number of refugees the Nordic country receives through the UN refugee agency from 1,050 a year to 500. It also aims to establish separate social security benefit systems for immigrants and permanent residents, which experts say could violate the constitution. Conditions for obtaining permanent residency and citizenship will also be tightened, Finns Party leader Riikka Purra added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a bold move aimed at reshaping the future of the Republican Party, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida took center stage at the annual Basque Fry fundraiser in Nevada. Sporting a "ranch casual" attire of black boots, jeans, and an untucked shirt, DeSantis addressed a crowd of about 2,500 conservative supporters, aiming to convince them that the party's winning formula needed an overhaul. FILE - Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, speaks during a campaign event, June 2, 2023, in Lexington, S.C.(AP) While not directly mentioning his rival and former ally, Donald J. Trump, who leads in the polls for the 2024 presidential nomination, DeSantis subtly distinguished himself from the former president. Referring to the party's culture of losing and disappointment in recent elections, DeSantis highlighted his own resounding victory in the 2022 Florida gubernatorial race, where he secured a remarkable 1.2 million-vote margin. The Basque Fry, known for drawing Republican presidential candidates, provided DeSantis with an opportunity to appeal to rank-and-file conservatives in Nevada, a key battleground state. Speaking for nearly an hour, he emphasized his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which garnered praise from attendees who hailed from a state heavily affected by economic closures. DeSantis' handling of the pandemic in Florida, which involved keeping businesses and schools open and not mandating masks, resonated with the crowd. He positioned himself as the candidate who stood up for individual freedoms and protected livelihoods during a time when the nation grappled with lockdowns and restrictions. The governor's wife, Casey DeSantis, and their three children joined him on the campaign trail, making appearances at the Basque Fry, the Reno Rodeo, and a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. The support of his family symbolized the unity and commitment DeSantis brings to his campaign. Also Read | Ron DeSantis fares better against Joe Biden than Donald Trump in 2024 contest for White House, poll shows While DeSantis gained traction with his COVID message, many attendees remained skeptical, expressing loyalty to Trump. However, there was an undercurrent of fatigue surrounding the former president, with some attendees voicing concerns about his divisiveness and inability to exercise restraint. DeSantis refrained from directly mentioning Trump's recent federal indictment and instead focused on criticizing the Biden administration. He slammed the "leftist government" for its handling of energy, spending, and border policies, urging Americans to restore sanity and reverse the decline he claimed the country was experiencing. As the Basque Fry came to a close, it remained to be seen whether DeSantis's bold challenge to Trump's legacy would resonate with Republican voters nationwide. With his strong presence, resilience, and notable record in Florida, DeSantis proved that he was a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming Republican primaries and potentially beyond. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Greek chef Agapi Micheli (L) and Dianne Priscille Ndzouatchoua, a guest chef from Cameroon, prepare dishes at a fast food restaurant in Athens, Greece, on June 19, 2023. Refugee and Greek chefs have teamed up in four Athens restaurants this week to cook their national dishes and send a message of unity and hope on World Refugee Day. Along with local partners, the Greek chapter of the United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR has organized a festival called "Cooking #WithRefugees," which runs from June 18 to 22. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) ATHENS, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Refugee and Greek chefs have teamed up in four Athens restaurants this week to cook their national dishes and send a message of unity and hope on World Refugee Day. Along with local partners, the Greek chapter of the United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR has organized a festival called "Cooking #WithRefugees," which runs from June 18 to 22. The aim of the event is to shine a spotlight on the skills and talents of refugees, and demonstrate the power of integration in helping them to restart their lives and contribute to their host communities, UNHCR Greece said. Dianne Priscille Ndzouatchoua, a guest chef from Cameroon at "Lontza tis Geitonias" (The Neighborhood Lodge) restaurant in the center of Athens, said participating in the festival has helped her to feel she is working towards a better future. She said she had been made to feel welcome in the kitchen, where she has been sharing her knowledge with Greek chef Agapi Micheli. The experience has also helped her to feel like a valuable member of a team and of society, she added. "It is very nice for me to cook and share with people, and when people have told me the food is very nice, I am very happy," she told Xinhua. Ndzouatchoua has been preparing traditional Cameroonian dishes, which were served along with the Greek fare cooked by Micheli. Ndzouatchoua told Xinhua that her mother began teaching her how to cook when she was seven years old. She graduated from a culinary school in Cameroon and worked in her home country before becoming a refugee. She has now lived in Greece for five years and often cooks for families. She has also learned to cook Greek dishes, and her dream is to work as a chef in a large hotel restaurant. Meanwhile, Micheli said that by working with Ndzouatchoua, she has discovered new delicious recipes. She told Xinhua that the Cooking with Refugees Festival is "an opportunity for people to get closer to another culture, and to realize that we have a lot in common and we are all human beings." As diners enjoyed the international fare at the restaurant, Greek national news agency AMNA reported that the Hellenic Coast Guard had recovered the bodies of two more passengers from a fishing boat that sank off Greece's southwestern coast last Wednesday. The death toll from the accident has now reached 80. Greek authorities have so far rescued 104 people, but it remains unclear how many refugees were on board the overcrowded boat when it sank. "In the wake of the shocking shipwreck off Pylos (town), which continues to fill us with sadness, we cannot help but mark this World Refugee Day by turning our gaze to the refugees who live with us, who struggle for their lives and find hope working," said Popi Dionysopoulou from UNHCR Greece. Greek chef Agapi Micheli (R) and Dianne Priscille Ndzouatchoua, a guest chef from Cameroon, pose for a photo at a fast food restaurant in Athens, Greece, on June 19, 2023. Refugee and Greek chefs have teamed up in four Athens restaurants this week to cook their national dishes and send a message of unity and hope on World Refugee Day. Along with local partners, the Greek chapter of the United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR has organized a festival called "Cooking #WithRefugees," which runs from June 18 to 22. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) Greek chef Agapi Micheli (R) and Dianne Priscille Ndzouatchoua, a guest chef from Cameroon, show a dish at a fast food restaurant in Athens, Greece, on June 19, 2023. Refugee and Greek chefs have teamed up in four Athens restaurants this week to cook their national dishes and send a message of unity and hope on World Refugee Day. Along with local partners, the Greek chapter of the United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR has organized a festival called "Cooking #WithRefugees," which runs from June 18 to 22. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) Greek chef Agapi Micheli (L) and Dianne Priscille Ndzouatchoua, a guest chef from Cameroon, pose for a photo at a fast food restaurant in Athens, Greece, on June 19, 2023. Refugee and Greek chefs have teamed up in four Athens restaurants this week to cook their national dishes and send a message of unity and hope on World Refugee Day. Along with local partners, the Greek chapter of the United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR has organized a festival called "Cooking #WithRefugees," which runs from June 18 to 22. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) Greek chef Agapi Micheli (L) and Dianne Priscille Ndzouatchoua, a guest chef from Cameroon, prepare dishes at a fast food restaurant in Athens, Greece, on June 19, 2023. Refugee and Greek chefs have teamed up in four Athens restaurants this week to cook their national dishes and send a message of unity and hope on World Refugee Day. Along with local partners, the Greek chapter of the United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR has organized a festival called "Cooking #WithRefugees," which runs from June 18 to 22. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) Indian Americans are reportedly excited to welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United States from June 21 to June 24. Narendra is set to visit the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Narendra will be welcomed by Joe and Jill amidst a 21-gun salute on the South Lawns of the White House on June 22 (ANI Photo) A group of Indian Americans are already planning to go to Andrews Air Force Base when Narendras Air India One lands on the afternoon of June 21. Another group is planning to gather together at Freedom Plaza in front of the Willard Intercontinental in Washington. This is located near the White House where Narendra is set to stay during his visit. Adapa Prasad, President of Overseas Friends of BJP-USA, has reportedly claimed that the group at the Freedom Plaza is planning to hold cultural events representing India. It is Indias diverse cultural show and growth story. We have roughly 25 programs representing Kashmir to Kerala and Maharashtra to the northeast with 160 artists participating, Adapa said, according to The Indian Eye. The Indian American community feels that they are part of this historic story. Theyre proud that this momentous occasion is happening. That too when India became the fifth largest economy and the third largest, so the community itself is very proud about their country of origin, he added. Narendra will be welcomed by Joe and Jill amidst a 21-gun salute on the South Lawns of the White House on June 22. It has been reported that over 7,000 Indian Americans are planning to gather there. Registration for people attending the welcome ceremony will soon be closed by the White House. India was known as an underdeveloped country. All that has changed in the last ten years. Thanks a lot to Shri Modiji who has transformed India not only with the IT generation but by rising high above all the expectations of people in terms of infrastructure development, in terms of financial independence given to all the markets, said Premkumar Swaminathan, who is from Tamil Nadu in India. Narendra is set to become the first Indian Prime Minister to address the Joint Meeting of the US Congress for the second time. I think it is crucial for us to understand kind of the importance of Modiji speaking on the stage. A lot of global leaders have spoken separately in the Union House of Representatives. They have spoken for state dinners and all of that. But, somebody addressing the state of the joint session is something very very unusual. So, that tells how geopolitics has come around, that tells how much Modiji has made an influence in the entire geopolitical world, Srilkeha Reddy, a resident of Virginia, told ANI. Mohan Sapru, a member of the Kashmiri Hindu diaspora in Washington, said, I just want to express our gratitude to the Prime Minister for the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A in Kashmir. And Im sure together we will be working together with Modiji for resolving all the issues with regard to Kashmiri Hindus resettlement safely back in Kashmir. Narendra is also set to address the chairman and CEOs of top US companies at John F Kennedy Centre in Washington. He will be addressing the Indian diaspora at Ronald Reagan Center in DC too. United Arab Emirates government slapped a fine of Dh100,000 (approximately 22,34,946) on a private company for allegedly evading Emiratisation targets through fraudulent means, Gulf news reported. The company has been given the to meet its target by July 7, the semi-annual Emiratisation targets for private sector companies. A view of the Burj Al Arab hotel and Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.(Reuters) Our systems have detected the companys attempt to evade Emiratisation targets by cancelling work permits for some of its employees and issuing new permits for them under another company belonging to the same employer in order to reduce the total number of staff to less than 50, which would make it exempt from achieving Emiratisation targets, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. What is Emiratisation targets? The move is a bid to increase the number of UAE citizens in the country's workforce, currently representing less than ten per cent of it. The UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) demands that private sector organisation with at least 50 employees are required to increase Emirati employees in skilled jobs by 1 per cent every six months. Ultimately, the companies should have 2% Emirati employees by the end of this year, which is in line with government's goal to have Emiratisation of 10 percent by the end of 2026. Beginning July 8, the companies violating this condition, will attract a penalty of Dh42,000 fine for each Emirati they have not employed, the government rules say. For a repeat offence, there will be a fine of Dh300,000 and a fine of Dh500,000 for the third violation. Jolt to expats While the government's policy is meant to support locals - part of its national objectives, the move is set to hurt the jobs of the expatriates population and the companies, experts warned. The emirates are home to about 3.5 million Indians, one of the largest concentrations of expatriates in the region, and a crucial part of the UAE's workforce and economy. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nisha Anand Trainee Content Producer for Hindustan Times Digital Streams. I read about feminism, late modern history, and globalisation of Korean music. ...view detail Rescuers from United States and Canada have been working for three days in a massive search operation which was launched after a submersible, carrying five wealthy people to show them the site of the Titanic wreckage off Canada coast, went missing in the North Atlantic Ocean. On Monday, June 19, 2023, a rescue operation was underway deep in the Atlantic Ocean in search of the technologically advanced submersible vessel carrying five people to document the wreckage of the Titanic. (AP) The submersible, which went missing three days ago, was owned by the company OceanGate and is named the Titan. It began its journey on Sunday morning, June 18. About one hour and 45 minutes into its descent, the vessel lost contact with the Polar Prince, the support ship that transported it to the site. OceanGate says that the Titan is a 23,000-pound submersible made of carbon fibre and titanium. The vessel uses a proprietary real-time hull health monitoring (RTM) system, and any time an issue is detected, an early warning would be sent to the pilot, to leave enough time to safely return to the surface. Here are top updates about the missing submersible: 1) The missing submersible charged $250,000 per person (about 2,05,22,625). Tuesday marks the third day since the submersible which belonged to a private firm OceanGate Expeditions has gone missing. 2) The submersible was carrying five people. One pilot and four passengers were aboard. As a frantic search operation to relocate the submersible continues, the United States Coast Guard said currently it was unclear if it had resurfaced but was unable to communicate. 3) It has a life-support system and could stay underwater for up to 96 hours. 4) Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood with his son Suleman and British billionaire Hamish Harding were among the five people that were onboard the submersible. Founder and CEO of operating company OceanGate Stockton Rush was also reportedly onboard. The fourth passenger is said to be 77-year-old French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet. 5) British businessman Hamish Harding is known for his exploratory expeditions across the globe and also has a unique India connection. According to a PTI report, he had collaborated with the Modi government to reintroduce eight wild cheetahs from Namibia to India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released those eight cheetahs in the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on his birthday last year. 6) Reuters reported that United States Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said in a television interview on Tuesday that the rescuers were searching overnight and had expanded their search into deeper waters. He told NBC News that authorities were focusing on the area where the vessel was operating. He told CNN, As we continue on with this search ... we've been working through the night with a broad group of partners to bring all capabilities to bear looking on both the surface and now expanding to a subsurface in the area. 7) OceanGate said in a media brief, We are exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely. Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families. We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible. We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers. 8) United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that his thoughts were with the families of those involved in the missing submarine. He said, The families involved will be deeply concerned and his thoughts are with them and the Foreign Office is providing support. He also thanked those who were responding to the situation. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Industry sources have accused Meghan Markle of faking various interviews for her Archetypes podcast. They have alleged that she made her staff conduct interviews and then get audio of her voice edited into the final episodes. Meghan Markle arrives at the Invictus Games venue in The Hague (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)(AP) The allegations were reported by podcast-focused outlet Podnews, which said several sources have claimed that some interviews on the show were done by other staffers, with [audio of 41-year-old Meghan's] questions edited-in afterwards. None of these episodes were specifically highlighted. The podcast is described on Spotify as a podcast where we investigate, dissect, and subvert the labels that try to hold women back. It features interviews with famous women, but Meghan has also revealed a lot about herself. She discussed the concept of ambition with Serena Williams during the inaugural episode of the podcast. She also opened up about her struggles while living with the royal family. Meghans Archetypes podcast has been at the centre of a few controversies, including spreading misinformation on Covid-19 vaccine. The show was also accused of making antisemitic comments and using racial slurs. Earlier reports claimed that Spotify paid Prince Harry and Meghan $25 million for singing for a lucrative audio deal. These allegations come days after it was reported that Meghans Spotify podcast will not be renewed for a second season. Insiders close to Spotify have claimed the royal couple failed to meet the productivity benchmark that was needed to receive the full payout, according to Wall Street Journal. Meghan, however, is reportedly planning to create more podcasts. After the end of the first season, Spotify was reportedly planning to release a second season. Sources close to Meghan and Harry have claimed the couple would stop making Netflix documentaries, publishing memoirs and appear for interviews that do not speak well of the Royal Family. The axing of the show comes after it was reported that Spotify may slash 200 more jobs after Meghan and Harrys podcasts failure. Spotify laid off about 6% of its 6,600 workforce back in January. Redundancies are now said to be reaching 2% of the streaming platforms workforce, according to New York Post. Meghan Markle is not signing a mega-bucks deal with Dior, new reports have claimed. The Daily Mail on Sunday, June 18, reported that Meghan may be on the brink of signing a major deal with French couture house Dior to make her a face of the company. However, Page Six Style has now learned that no such contract is in the works. Meghan Markle is not signing a mega-bucks deal with Dior, new reports have claimed (sussexroyal/Instagram) A spokesperson for the Sussexes told the Telegraph that these claims were not true, and a Dior source claimed the houses team was nonplussed as to how the story came about. The Daily Mails article was published days after Spotify decided to axe Meghans Archetypes podcast. There have been rumors for weeks that [Markles] about to sign a deal with Dior which has put the gossip mill into overdrive, a prominent Beverly Hills socialite told the outlet. If she pulls that off, then no one will remember that her silly little podcast got cancelled after one season. Meghans podcast will not be renewed for a second season. Insiders close to Spotify have claimed the royal couple failed to meet the productivity benchmark that was needed to receive the full payout, according to Wall Street Journal. Meghan, however, is reportedly planning to create more podcasts. After the end of the first season, Spotify was reportedly planning to release a second season. Sources close to Meghan and Harry have claimed the couple would stop making Netflix documentaries, publishing memoirs and appear for interviews that do not speak well of the Royal Family. The axing of the show comes after it was reported that Spotify may slash 200 more jobs after Meghan and Harrys podcasts failure. Spotify laid off about 6% of its 6,600 workforce back in January. Redundancies are now said to be reaching 2% of the streaming platforms workforce, according to New York Post. Rescue operations are underway to locate the tourist submersible which went missing near the wreck of the Titanic. The 21-feet submersible operated by OceanGate Expeditions had begun its descent to the wreck but eventually lost contact with the surface less than two hours later. British billionaire Hamish Harding, who is said to be among the passengers onboard the submarine that went missing on trip to the Titanic wreckage.(Reuters) US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger was quoted by AFP as saying that there was 70 or more hours of oxygen still remaining for the five people stranded underwater. ALSO READ: Titanic tourist submersible, which went missing, charged 2 crore per person British businessman Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, OceanGate Expeditions founder Stockton Rush, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman are among those stranded. Harding is known for his exploratory expeditions across the globe and also has a unique India connection. Here's everything you need to know about him. 1. Harding is the chairperson of aviation consultancy Action Aviation. Before his expedition to the Titanic wreckage, the Dubai-based tycoon had posted on social media that he was proud to head there as a mission specialist. 2. According to a PTI report, he had collaborated with the Modi government to reintroduce eight wild cheetahs from Namibia to India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released those eight cheetahs in the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on his birthday last year. 3. According to report, Harding had worked on a project with a company named White Desert for a regular business jet service to the Antarctic. He is said to have visited South Pole multiple times in the past. In 2016, he had accompanied famed former astronaut Buzz Aldrin to the South Pole, when the latter became the oldest person ever to reach the Antarctic region, at 86, a Reuters report said. 4. Hamish Harding had also flown into space last year on board Blue Origin's fifth human-crewed flight. 5. He is known for having set three world records - including the longest time spent at full ocean depth during a dive to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Aryan Prakash Multimedia journalist with over nine years of experience in print, television and digital media. Books, politics and cinema are an inseparable part of life. ...view detail One of NASAs spacecraft caught a strange and surreal lightning glow inside a swirling vortex on Jupiter. On 16th June, NASA shared the photo of the mysterious green lightning bolt that have been captured in several vortices that accumulate near Jupiter's north pole. Juno Spacecraft captured a strange green lightning on Jupiter(NASA's official site screenshot ) Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Scientists are trying to unravel and understand facets of it, for instance, its aggressive storms and how lightning-like events unfold in the gas giant. On Earth, lightning bolts emerge from water clouds and most of them hail near the equator. Whereas on Jupiter, the stickers originate from clouds that are the outcome of ammonia and water and emerge frequently near the poles. In 2016, the Juno spacecraft was dispatched to observe Jupiter and its moons, capturing its 31st close flyby of the gas giant on 30th December 2020. The spacecraft took pictures of the cloud tops from approximately 19,900 miles away. The final images were developed in 2022 by citizen scientist Kevin M. Gill. he used raw data from the JunoCam instrument of the spacecraft. Junos ongoing investigation will aid the scientist in precisely grasping a greater understanding of the planet and its unidentified characteristics. Juno's orbit around Jupiter is edging closer to the planet, to ensure that the spacecraft passes its nightside in subsequent months. This will enhance the possibility to capture lightning on the gas giant. Matthew Johnson, project manager for the Juno mission at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, stated that As well as continuously changing our orbit to allow new perspectives of Jupiter and flying low over the nightside of the planet, the spacecraft will also be threading the needle between some of Jupiters rings to learn more about their origin and composition. Juno is well equipped with several instruments that can generate detections underneath the thick cloud blanket in Jupiter to gather data on the planets weather phenomena, atmosphere and origin. More than 50 flybys have been conducted by the spacecraft on Jupiter and made close passes by three of its largest moons, including the icy ocean worlds of Europa and Ganymede, and Io, the most volcanically active location in our solar system. the Juno principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Scott Bolton, asserted that Our upcoming flybys in July and October will bring us even closer, leading up to our twin flyby encounters with Io in December of this year and February of next year when we fly within 1,500 kilometers of its surface. All of these flybys are providing spectacular views of the volcanic activity of this amazing moon. The data should be amazing. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Netherlands and Denmark will help create a $1 billion green hydrogen fund for investment in South African projects, according to the chief executive officer of the Development Bank of Southern Africa. Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen arrive for the opening remarks for their official talks about green hydrogen, renewable energy and just energy transition at the Sefako M Makgatho Presidential Guesthouse in Pretoria, South Africa, June 20.(REUTERS) The fund, a first for South Africa, will also receive contributions from the DBSA and the Industrial Development Corp. of South Africa Ltd., which are both state finance institutions, Sanlam Ltd., and the Hague-based Climate Fund Managers BV, Boitumelo Mosako said in an interview in Pretoria on Tuesday. South Africas abundant wind and solar resources and industrial capacity have positioned it to potentially become a key producer of the green fuel, which is expected to ultimately replace natural gas. This is a first and others will follow, Mosako said, adding that it would add a blended finance facility, intended to catalyze more private-sector investment in the industry. The planned fund comes as South Africa prepares to implement an $8.5 billion climate finance pact with some of the worlds richest countries as it seeks to transition away from the use of coal. Denmark and the Netherlands are in talks to join the so-called Just Energy Transition Partnership between South Africa, the UK, US, France, Germany and the European Union, three people familiar with the matter said earlier this month. Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, and Mette Frederiksen, the leader of Denmark, will address a conference in the South African capital later on Tuesday. Four people were hospitalized in New Zealand after a man armed with an axe began attacking diners at random at three neighboring Chinese restaurants, according to police and witnesses. Police tape cordons off a restaurant in Auckland, New Zealand, Tuesday, June 20, 2023, after an axe attack late Monday. (AP) Police said the man began the attack at about 9 p.m. Monday in the north Auckland suburb of Albany. They said they arrested a 24-year-old suspect at the scene and had charged him with wounding and intending to cause grievous bodily harm. Police did not immediately offer a motive for the attack. Auckland City Hospital said Tuesday one patient from the attack remained there in a stable condition. North Shore Hospital said it had one patient with moderate injuries and a second with minor injuries, both of whom were in a stable condition, and had earlier discharged a third patient. A diner told the New Zealand Herald newspaper he was eating dinner with a friend when the man walked in and started attacking his friend, who was seriously injured. I was in shock. When I realized what was happening, he tried to target me," the man, who asked not to be named, told the Herald. I blocked his axe with my hand. He was also trying to target my head, so I blocked the axe with my hand. The diner said the man with the axe chased them out of the restaurant and then turned around and walked into another restaurant. The Herald posted an image of what appeared to be a wood-splitter style of axe lying on the sidewalk. Acting Detective Inspector Timothy Williams said they werent seeking anybody else in the incident, meaning they believe the man acted alone. Williams said police expect to file more charges. The suspect was due to make his first court appearance Tuesday. The restaurants the man entered were Yues Dumpling Kitchen, Zhangliang Malatang and Maya Hotpot. They are among a cluster of restaurants on the street that aim to give diners low-cost options reminiscent of Chinese street food offerings. Indian-American United States Congressman Shri Thanedar, speaking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's State visit to the US, said on Tuesday that he hoped that the prime minister would speak against the aggression by China and Russia. Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday left for his State visit to the United States. This will be his sixth US visit since coming to power in May 2014, but his first official State visit to the country. (ANI) Thanedar, who represents the 13th District of Michigan, speaking to news agency PTI, said, I expect him (PM Modi) to propose collaboration in defence, space, businesses and technology. I hope that Prime Minister Modi stresses on the importance of strong relationship between United States and India and we need to have a trusting relationship, so that we can fight the aggression of China. I hope he speaks about Chinese aggression and Russian aggression against a sovereign democratic country like Ukraine. On China and its relations with the US and India, Thanedar told news agency ANI, China is perhaps the single-most important reason why the United States and India need to join hands and become closest allies. China has, as we know, been aggressive militarily on the northern border of India. China has been aggressive on the United States in its unfair trade practices, its unfair labour practices, incorrect environmental policies. So it is important that we stop this. He further added, Now China also has close relationship with Russia. So it is aligning itself with dictatorial Russia and it is important for United States and India the two largest and oldest democracies to come together, join hands and stop this aggression by China. Thanedar to escort PM Modi Thanedar will be escorting Prime Minister Modi to his joint address to the US Congress, which is set to be held on June 22. He is a first-time Democratic Congressman and has been invited by US President Joe Biden to the White House on Thursday for the dinner to be hosted in honour of PM Modi. Thanedar said, [My spouse] Shashi and I are looking forward to the Prime Minister's visit to the United States; this is a historic event for the Prime Minister. I hope to stress upon the Prime Minister the need for stronger US-India ties. PM Modi's State visit Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday left for his State visit to the United States. This will be his sixth US visit since coming to power in May 2014, but his first official State visit to the country. The visit, which commenced on Tuesday will be concluding on June 24, after which the PM will leave for another maiden State visit, to Egypt. However, this will be the second time that Modi will be addressing a joint session at the US Congress. He had earlier addressed the US Congress in 2016. PM Modi will be celebrating the International Yoga Day at the United Nations headquarters in New York on the first day of his visit. During his visit, the prime minister will also join President Biden and the First Lady for the state banquet along with a number of dignitaries. Prime Minister Modi is also scheduled to address the vibrant Indian-American community and hold discussions with business leaders. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Kyiv: Russia launched a widespread overnight air attack on Ukraine on Tuesday, targeting military and infrastructure facilities in Kyiv and other cities, officials said on Tuesday. A cloud of smoke after a night drone strike in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Tuesday. (AFP) Ukraine said it had shot down 32 out of 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched from Russias Bryansk region and the Azov Sea. There was no mention of any casualties in the latest airstrikes launched by Moscow since Kyiv began a counteroffensive in which it says it has recaptured 113 square km of land from Russian forces. Also Watch: Russia's Onslaught Triggers Major Blame-Game The air force said on the Telegram messaging app that air defences had been in action in most regions of Ukraine. However, the main direction of attack by Iranian drones was the Kyiv region. More than two dozen Shaheds were destroyed here, its said on the Telegram messaging app. Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv military administration, said the air alert in the capital lasted over three hours. He gave no details of any damage. An unspecified critical infrastructure facility was hit in Lviv, around 70km from the border with NATO member Poland, and some tram routes were altered during the morning rush hour, officials said. They hit a critically important facility. There were three hits, said regional governor Maksym Kozytskiy. The air force said Russia had also hit the southeastern industrial city of Zaporizhzhia with Iskander and S-300 missiles. Yuriy Malashko, head of the military administration of the Zaporizhzhia region, said Russia had targeted telecommunication infrastructure and agriculture and farming properties. Ukraines military said that, according to preliminary information, Russia had fired seven missiles at Zaporizhzhia. Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Russia. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A massive search operation has been launched after a submersible carrying five people went missing in the North Atlantic Ocean. United States and Canadian authorities are on the lookout for the submersible and the people who were in it, on a journey to see the remains of theTitanic at the bottom of the ocean. The missing Titan submersible is owned by the company OceanGate. OceanGate says that the Titan is a 23,000-pound submersible made of carbon fibre and titanium (Hamish Harding/Facebook) The submersible began its journey on Sunday morning, June 18. About one hour and 45 minutes into its descent, the vessel lost contact with the Polar Prince, the support ship that transported it to the site. OceanGate says that the Titan is a 23,000-pound submersible made of carbon fibre and titanium. The vessel uses a proprietary real-time hull health monitoring (RTM) system, and any time an issue is detected, an early warning would be sent to the pilot, to leave enough time to safely return to the surface. As a search is currently underway, here is a 10-point update on the case: 1) The missing submersible was using Elon Musk's Starlink satellites for its communications at sea OceanGate Expeditions reportedly uses Elon Musks Starlink to communicate while in the ocean. The company tweeted on June 1, Despite being in the middle of the North Atlantic, we have the internet connection we need to make our #Titanic dive operations a success - thank you@Starlink! 2) Massive search underway An extensive search is underway for the vessel and the five people who are missing.Lieutenant Jordan Hart of the US Coast Guard in Boston told CBS News that a search and rescue operation is underway off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Assisting the search are the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a Canadian military aircraft and a Canadian Coast Guard vessel. 3) Inventor Stockton Rushs assurance CBS journalist David Pogue claimed that the Titans investor, Stockton Rush, told him the vessel was rock solid. It is one of a kind submersible with five-inch thick carbon fibre, David said. I have to admit I had some qualms getting on that thing. A lot of the components were off the shelf, improvised. For example, you steer this sub with a game controller. He added, The chief executive and inventor of the sub, Stockton Rush, reassured me that all the stuff may be improvised but the part you care about the capsule, the container that contains people and oxygen, was codesigned with Nasa and the University of Washington and it is rock solid. 4) British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding believed to be among the missing Hamish Harding, a British billionaire explorer who has previously travelled on the Challenger Deep to the bottom of the ocean, is feared to be among the five people who were in the submersible. On June 18, Hamish, 58, wrote on Facebook, I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic. Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. We started steaming from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do. He added, The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s including PH Nargeolet. 5) They should have surfaced a few hours ago,Hamish Hardings friend says Hamish Hardings friend Jannicke Mikkelsen has opened up after the vessel went missing. Every single expedition is dangerous and that is something Hamish taught me. It is why I started the expedition, she told NewsNation. Every expedition has a possibility of death, she added. I know Hamish would be calm and they would work together. Every single expedition would have a checklist of options. My fear is that... they should have surfaced a few hours ago but they didnt. That is scary. 6) French mariner Paul-Henri Nargeolet believed to be among the missing had issued eerie warning French mariner Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 73, who is believed to be among the missing, specialises in deep-diving and piloting submersibles. He has previously spent a lot of time at the Titanic wreck. In 2019, Paul-Henri spoke to the Irish Examiner about the risks of underage voyages. "If you are 11 metres or 11 kilometres down, if something bad happens, the result is the same," the former French Naval captain had said. "When you're in very deep water, you're dead before you realise that something is wrong, so it's just not a problem." 7) OceanGate working toward the safe return of the crewmembers OceanGate has said it is working toward the safe return of the crewmembers. The company charges up to $250,000 to take guests to the site of the Titanic. The company has offered tours to tourists since 2021. 8) Titan submersible only had 96 hours of air An adviser to OceanGate, David Concannon, had said the vessel had a 96-hour oxygen supply starting at roughly 6 am on the day it took off. He told Associated Press that although he was supposed to be on the dive, another client matter held him back. 9) The last communication from the Titan submersible was sent out fromabove Titanic wreckage The Titan reportedlysends a ping to the Polar Prince every 15 minutes. The last ping was received while the vessel floated above the Titanic wreckage at about 3 pm local time. 10) Former British Navy officer says timescale of missing Titan is worrying Former British Navy officer Chris Parry told Sky News that the vessel may have fallen foul of a catastrophic failure. He said the Titan may have even become tangled up in the debris of the Titanic wreck. Its very concerning indeed, he said. Having listened to the timescale its very worrying. Ukraine is in negotiations with Western arms manufacturers to boost production of weapons, including drones, and could sign contracts in coming months, a Ukrainian minister told Reuters. A Ukrainian serviceman prepares a remote controller for an AN/TWQ-1 Avenger mobile air defence missile system during his combat shift, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine.(Reuters) Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year Ukraine has been scrambling to secure weapons ranging from munitions to rocket launchers to missiles. It has received support from countries such as the United States, Germany and Britain and Sergiy Boyev, deputy minister for Strategic Industries in Ukraine, said Kyiv was in talks with manufacturers from Germany, Italy, France and eastern Europe about them producing weapons in Ukraine itself. "We are in very detailed discussions with them. And we are certain that we will have the contracts agreements signed within the next few months," Boyev told Reuters on the sidelines of the Paris Airshow. In May, Ukraine's President Volodomyr Zelenskiy said the country was working with British defence company BAE Systems to set up a Ukrainian base to both produce and repair weapons from tanks to artillery. No deal has been signed yet. Germany's Rheinmetall said last month it had set up a joint venture with Ukrainian state-owned conglomerate Ukroboronprom to build and repair tanks in Ukraine. Operations were expected to begin from mid-July. Read Here: Russia attacks Ukrainian cities in overnight air strikes "Ukraine needs this because vehicles get damaged, they need to get repaired, they come under fire," CEO Armin Papperger told Reuters last week. "We aim to help Ukraine so they can do the maintenance on their vehicles and produce spare parts themselves." In encouraging foreign defence firms to produce arms in Ukraine, Kyiv could more efficiently meet its own needs while also building up its defence industry to target global customers at a time when it's looking to create jobs for Ukrainians. "The future deterrence of aggression will require a strong defence industry in Ukraine, a strong Ukrainian armed forces," Boyev said. "That's why we think international partners coming to Ukraine, setting up production and making Ukraine part of the security framework for the free world is so essential." But former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of current President Vladimir Putin, has said Russia would retaliate by hitting any facility Rheinmetall set up in Ukraine. "The decision should be greeted with salvos of Kalibr (cruise missiles) and other Russian pyrotechnic devices," he said on his official channel on the Telegram messaging app in March after the first media reports of the investment. DRONES At the Paris Airshow on Monday, Boyev was courting dronemakers in particular, ranging from major international defence firms to small suppliers. He declined to say which companies he met with. "We are discussing different levels of cooperation. And some of the companies say that they are willing to come and invest and produce drones," he said. Read Here | Ukraine meets 2 out of 7 conditions to start membership negotiations: EU sources Turkish defence company Baykar said late last year that it still planned to complete construction of a manufacturing plant in Ukraine in two years. Baykar had announced plans to build the plant shortly before the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Drones have been used extensively by both Moscow and Kyiv's forces during the war. Kyiv says it is expanding its drone programme for both reconnaissance and attacking enemy targets over an increasing range. Turkey, Norway and the United States are among the countries that have been supplying Ukraine with drones, but as the war intensifies more are needed. Negotiations on producing drones could take longer, but Boyev said production in Ukraine could be an effective way to capitalise on the country's existing drone expertise and create jobs in western and central Ukraine. A senior European defence industry source, who did not wish to be identified, said that European rules and standards around drone testing could make it hard for companies to agree to produce and test drones in Ukraine. But Boyev is hopeful that the country can attract foreign drone makers and said the Ukraine government could offer substantial support. "We think that it's just a matter of actually getting things done," he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON President Joe Bidens son Hunter has been charged with failing to pay federal income tax and illegally possessing a weapon and has reached an agreement with the Justice Department, according to a letter filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware. President Joe Biden attends his granddaughter Maisy Biden's commencement ceremony with first lady Jill Biden and children Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, May 15.(AP) As part of the agreement, made public Tuesday, Hunter Biden will plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses and is expected to reach an agreement with prosecutors on the felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user. It is somewhat unusual to resolve a federal criminal case at the same time the charges are filed in court, though it is not totally unheard of. Also Read| Hunter Biden questioned under oath in Arkansas child support case as mother of his daughter attends The deal ends a long-running Justice Department investigation into Bidens second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden. It also averts a trial that would have generated days or weeks or distracting headlines for a White House that has strenuously sought to keep its distance from the Justice Department. The news comes as congressional Republicans pursue their own investigations into nearly every facet of Hunter Bidens business dealings, including examining foreign payments and other aspects of his finances. It also comes days after a 37-count indictment came down against former President Donald Trump for mishandling classified documents on his Florida estate, another case with even more dramatic political implications. Joe Biden has also faced questions about his sons business dealings and drug addiction. The Indian diaspora in the United States chanted Modi, Modi slogans on Tuesday outside New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport waiting for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is visiting the US for his first State visit. PM Modi arrived at the JFK Airport on Tuesday evening (IST). Members of the Indian diaspora in Washington. (PTI) Several members of the Indian community were also seen carrying posters of PM Modi. Heavy security was witnessed outside the JFK Airport before Modi's arrival. A man of the Indian Diaspora Minesh C Patel wore a jacket with PM Narendra Modi's image printed on it. He told news agency ANI, This jacket was made in 2015 during Gujarat Day... We have 26 of this (jackets) and out of these 26 (jackets) four of them are here today. Numerous Indian Americans were also present around and inside Lotte New York Palace Hotel, where the Indian Prime Minister will be staying. Many of them were seen carrying Indian and American flags. A young Indian-American, waiting for PM Modi along with her parents, told PTI, I came here to meet PM Modi and I am very excited. PM Modi's State visit This will be his sixth US visit since coming to power in May 2014, but his first official State visit to the country. The visit, which commenced on Tuesday will be concluding on June 24, after which the PM will leave for another maiden State visit, to Egypt. However, this will be the second time that Modi will be addressing a joint session at the US Congress. He had earlier addressed the US Congress in 2016. PM Modi will be celebrating the International Yoga Day at the United Nations headquarters in New York on the first day of his visit. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a stunning revelation, President Biden's peculiar and archaic expressions have managed to confound even his own staff members at the White House. According to a recent report, the president's frequent use of odd remarks during public speeches has left his aides scratching their heads, struggling to decipher the true meaning behind his words. U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about his administration's actions to battle climate change and protect the environment during a visit to Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center and Preserve, in Palo Alto, California, U.S.,(REUTERS) The most recent example of Biden's bewildering utterances took place during a speech on gun control at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. As he concluded his address, the 80-year-old president proclaimed, "God save the Queen, man," leaving journalists and White House staffers utterly perplexed. The baffling statement left everyone wondering about its intended message, and the White House has yet to provide any explanation regarding the president's peculiar choice of words. Interestingly, this is not the first instance where Biden has used the phrase. Back in January 2017, when he served as vice president and certified the results of the 2016 presidential election, he muttered, "God save the queen," into the microphone as he adjourned Congress. Axios reported that current and former Biden aides have given different interpretations of the phrase, with some speculating that it could be used sarcastically, considering the president's Irish ancestry. The true meaning behind these enigmatic words remains a mystery. Another eyebrow-raising moment occurred during Biden's State of the Union message to Republican lawmakers. He quipped, "Lots of luck in your senior year," leaving many wondering about the intended message behind the seemingly cryptic remark. Some of Biden's allies suggested that it was his way of saying, "Good luck with that," while other administration officials admitted to being uncertain about the comment's true meaning. The White House declined to provide any clarification when asked by the New York Times at the time. During his recent speech, Biden once again added to the collection of perplexing phrases that have left many scratching their heads. Referring to an impending storm, he asked the crowd, "They tell me there's a storm coming in. Is that right? Is that still the deal?" The audience responded with a resounding "no." However, Biden didn't stop there. He continued, "That's the truth, now? Don't make a lie there's that scene in the John Wayne movie, 'Don't make me a dog-face lying pony soldier.'" This statement harkened back to the time when he called a New Hampshire voter a "lying, dog-faced pony soldier" during the 2020 campaign, claiming it was a line from a John Wayne film. However, it seems that no such combination of words exists in the legendary actor's movies, adding another layer of mystery to Biden's linguistic repertoire. Also read | Interview or a roast! Fox News host Bret Baier candid questions ruffle Trump's feathers, former president loses cool As the president's unusual expressions continue to baffle both his staff and the public, the true meaning behind these enigmatic phrases remains elusive. Whether Biden intentionally uses archaic references or these instances are simply a result of his unique style, one thing is certain: his words continue to leave everyone guessing and his staff members in a perpetual state of bewilderment. The linguistic riddles of President Biden persist, and the search for their meaning continues. (Source: New York Post) Singapore topped the list of the most expensive city in the world for luxury living, according to a report by Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer Group Ltd. The city-state, which ranked 5th last year, topped the chart for the first time as it looks to become a leading global centre for the rich. After Singapore, the next two places in the list are also Asian, the global financial hub Shanghai in China and its special administrative region Hong Kong. People gather next to the Merlion Statue at Marina Bay in Singapore.(AFP) Singapore, among the first to reopen its borders during the pandemic, has seen a surge in high net worth individuals. By 2022, the number of family offices in Singapore reached approximately 1,500, marking a twofold increase compared to the previous year, the report said. High living standards and ballooning demands on local infrastructure mean life here does not come cheap, the report released Tuesday stated. While this is the fourth straight year when Asia remained the most costly region for luxury living, other places in the top ten list also included London, New York, Dubai. Here's the list of top ten priciest cities for high class in 2023: City Singapore Shanghai Hong Kong London New York Monaco Dubai Taipei Sao Paolo Miami The study analysed various factors such as residential property, cars, business class flights, business school, and other luxuries to conclude the report. The US financial capital New York, which ranked 11th last year, bagged a fifth spot this time on account of a strengthening dollar and a rebound from the pandemic. London was ranked second last time and has been places fourth this year. The slip is a result of Brexit and its ensuing turmoil that continue to dent the UKs reputation, the report said. London, however, is not alone as the report also concluded that the trend showed European cities have been dropping in rankings. Dubai vaulted into the top 10 for the first time at seventh place and has been labelled as a star performer in this years index. The survey studied high-net-worth individuals with bankable household assets of $1 million or more between February to March 2023 to conclude the report. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Ruby Group, led by CEO and founder Michael Struck, continues to expand its presence in Ireland: after Ruby Molly, which will open in Q3 / 2024 on the Emerald Isle, Ruby has now secured its second project in Dublin. In addition to Germany, Austria, the UK, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy and France, Ireland is the eighth brand entry in Europe, with two leases signed in Ireland within a year. The second Ruby Hotel will be a new building with 257 rooms that will feature a rooftop bar as well as prominent space in the entrance area. Thanks to its central location on Middle Abbey Street in Dublin's city centre, not far from the main shopping street Henry Street, all cultural and tourist highlights as well as the lively Temple Bar district are within easy reach. The airport can be reached in 35 minutes by public transport. For the realization of the project, the Munich-based hotel group has teamed up with Dublin-based company Fitzwilliam Real Estate as a competent partner. The conception of the interior design in the sense of Ruby's Lean Luxury philosophy is carried out by Ruby's own design team. Hotel website Minor Hotels, a hotel owner, operator, and investor, currently with a portfolio of 530 hotels and resorts in 56 countries across Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, the Americas, Africa and the Indian Ocean, announces the debut of its Tivoli Hotels & Resorts brand in Italy, with the addition of a property in Portopiccolo, near Trieste, in northern Italy. The five-star 58-key Tivoli Portopiccolo Sistiana Resort will launch later this month. Located in the beautiful Duino Cliffs Nature Reserve on the Gulf of Trieste, the property is within 20 minutes' drive of Trieste Airport and features 58 guest rooms and 73 branded apartments. The mixed-use development of Portopiccolo overlooks the Adriatic Sea, with its beautiful turquoise waters and a luxury marina, allowing access to multiple ocean adventures. In addition to several accommodation options, the Portopiccolo complex offers hotel guests a great variety of elegant facilities including four restaurants and two bars with many dining options, six swimming pools, a beach club with three different areas, an in-hotel wellness and fitness centre, and a 3,600 sqm spa. The impressive spa facilities include 8 spacious treatment rooms, including a panoramic couple's spa suite, an outdoor and an indoor pool, saunas and steam rooms. Tivoli Portopiccolo also offers 1,200 sqm of meeting space, with state-of-the-art technology and spread between the hotel premises and the Pavillion, located near the beach. With this upcoming debut in Italy, Tivoli Hotels & Resorts continues its expansion in Europe where it has recently added a property in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, an all-inclusive resort in Alvor in the Algarve, south of Portugal, and will soon launch in Tenerife in Spain. In addition, the brand made its Asia debut in 2022 with the launch of Tivoli Chengdu at Cultural Heritage Park in China and is expanding its footprint in the Middle East, where Minor Hotels currently operates three Tivoli properties in Qatar, with two further new-build properties under development in Bahrain to launch in 2025 and in Muscat, Oman, slated to open in 2026. Tivoli Portopiccolo Sistiana Resort, a former member of the Marriott Luxury Collection, is part of the Portopiccolo complex owned by the "Porto Piccolo Fund", managed by Investire SGR (Group Banca Finnat), a leading independent Italian asset management company. With a history that dates back to 1933 in Lisbon, Portugal, and celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, Tivoli Hotels & Resorts stands out for its cultural heritage and authentic connection to each destination. The brand has expanded from Portugal to Brazil and from Qatar to China and the Netherlands, currently with a portfolio of 16 properties. Hotel website As Japanese upscale-lifestyle hotel brand, Zentis, forays into the international market for the first time since pandemic restrictions put a damper on its July 2020 debut, seasoned hospitality professional Mikio Akiyama has stepped up as general manager of the brand's inaugural property, Zentis Osaka. Akiyama brings with him more than 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry, including a decade with owning company Palace Hotel Co., Ltd. His arrival at Zentis marks a homecoming for the Kansai native, who began his career at Hyatt Regency Osaka in 1998. The next decade saw him in various sales positions outside of Japan, including four years with Accor in Singapore and Thailand followed by three years with Hyatt in China before returning to Bangkok to work for IHG. "Akiyama's global perspective and wealth of experience with international brands throughout Asia will prove invaluable as we introduce Zentis to overseas travelers," said Daisuke Yoshihara, president of Palace Hotel Co., Ltd. Akiyama joined the Forbes Five-Star Palace Hotel Tokyo in 2013 as one of its associate directors of global sales, spearheading the team responsible for outreach in Asia and the Middle East and handling the high-profile clientele originating from those markets. Four years later, he transitioned to an associate director of operations role before being promoted to director of rooms, a three-year stint during which he assisted the luxury property with steering its way through the pandemic. Three years since its launch in the domestic market, the Zentis brand has now flung its doors wide open to international guests as Osaka experiences a renewal in inbound travel from overseas, following Japan's lifting of all border restrictions at the beginning of May. As Palace Hotel Tokyo continues to draw acclaim for its full-service embrace of discerning luxury travelers, Zentis is charting its own course with its upscale, select-service lifestyle concept aimed at savvy wanderers seeking comfort and design at accessible price points. Park Hyatt New York today announced the appointment of Denise Florio as Director of Sales & Marketing of the 210-room luxury, five-star urban resort located on West 57th Street in the heart of bustling Midtown Manhattan. Florio joins the iconic, award-winning property with nearly 20 years of Hyatt experience earned at numerous properties prior to joining Park Hyatt New York. As Director of Sales & Marketing, Florio oversees the hotel's sales, marketing, and events team, as well as assisting in dedicated efforts to drive the property's overall revenue through market analysis and strategic planning. Florio will focus on maximizing hotel revenues through guestroom sales, meetings, and on-property experiences and partnerships, working closely with General Manager Laurent Ebzant to usher in an exciting new chapter for the storied high-end hotel. Before joining the team at Park Hyatt New York, Florio served as Director of Sales & Marketing at Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort Spa and Casino. Hailing originally from White Plains, New York, Florio earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She later launched her career in 2005 with Hyatt as a Sales Coordinator at Grand Hyatt New York, where she held various roles for eight years en route to becoming Associate Director of Sales. In 2013, she joined Andaz 5th Avenue as Director of Sales and was later appointed Director of Sales, Marketing, and Events for Hyatt Regency Greenwich in Connecticut. Florio also served as Corporate Director of L&D for Hyatt Hotels Corporation where she was responsible for growing and developing talent for the company by creating and delivering learning opportunities for sales, marketing, events, and revenue management leaders among 245 full-service hotels across all Hyatt brands. Cambodia, the Maldives and Indonesia have become the newest signatories to UNWTO's International Code for the Protection of Tourists. At the same time, UNWTO's Member States across the Asia and Pacific region have adopted the Phnom Penh Declaration on the Code, promoting its dissemination and implementation across the region as a fundamental tool to ensure clear, transparent and efficient frameworks to protect tourists as consumers to foster confidence in travel. A landmark for tourists' protection The International Code for the Protection of Tourists is the first ever legal instrument designed to create internationally recognized standards for the protection of tourists at the international level. The Code was created by UNWTO with the active participation of more than 100 countries, international organizations, tourism experts and private sector stakeholders. with the active participation of more than 100 countries, international organizations, tourism experts and private sector stakeholders. It was formally adopted at the 24th UNWTO General Assembly (December 2021). Member States were invited to apply it at the national level. at the 24th UNWTO General Assembly (December 2021). Member States were invited to apply it at the national level. The Code provides greater legal clarity to States through a common and harmonized framework on how to assist tourists in emergency situations and help them develop laws, regulations and policies for the protection of tourists as consumers. New Signatories Member States of both UNWTO and the United Nations are encouraged to adhere to the Code: Cambodia, the Maldives and Indonesia are the latest national-level signatories. They join Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Moldova, Myanmar, Paraguay, Portugal and Uruguay. People want to feel safe and protected when they travel and UNWTO has led the way in creating the first legal tool that will help restore trust in travel. The number of countries joining this initiative to incorporate it into national legislations keeps growing and we are proud to welcome Cambodia, the Maldives and Indonesia as the newest signatories. UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili Sharing Best Practices Within the framework of the 35th Joint Meeting of the Regional Commission for East Asia and the Pacific and the Commission for South Asia (Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 15-17 June), a conference on the International Code provided a platform for regional tourism leaders to share insights, best practices and lessons learnt on how this legal tool supports tourism recovery and trust after the severe crisis caused by the pandemic. The Conference Counted on unprecedented high-level participation of delegations from Asia and the Pacific countries, including the Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia, Ministers of Tourism from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives and the Philippines and Vice Ministers of Tourism of China and Iran of delegations from Asia and the Pacific countries, including the Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia, Ministers of Tourism from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives and the Philippines and Vice Ministers of Tourism of China and Iran Benefitted from the participation of Uruguay as "Champion of the Code" and a leader in the assistance to tourists in emergency situations. and a leader in the assistance to tourists in emergency situations. Offered expert insights on how the Code closes existing gaps in legal frameworks and contributes to greater international harmonization. and contributes to greater international harmonization. Underscored the need to promote closer public-private links to better coordinate responsibilities when assisting tourists and protecting consumer rights. Phnom Penh Declaration The "Phnom Penh Declaration on the International Code for the Protection of Tourists" was adopted by the Member States of the Asia and the Pacific region before the conference and officially launched under the high patronage of the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia. The Declaration: Reaffirms the commitment of the Asia and the Pacific region to strengthen cooperation to improve the assistance available to international tourists in emergency situations. the commitment of the Asia and the Pacific region to to improve the assistance available to international tourists in emergency situations. Underlines the need to promote closer linkages between governments, tourism service providers and other tourism stakeholders for a better protection of tourists as consumers. The Declaration reflects Cambodia's commitment to assist tourists in emergency situations, as shown in February 2020 when rescuing more than 1,000 passengers stranded at sea on the MS Westerdam cruise ship. RELATED LINKS: About The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations specialized agency fostering tourism as a vehicle for equal, inclusive and sustainable development. Working with its Member States, international organizations and the private sector, UNWTO promotes safe and seamless travel for all. UNWTO also works to make tourism the foundation of trust and international cooperation and a central pillar of recovery. As part of the wider UN system, UNWTO is at the forefront of global efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including through its ability to create decent jobs, promote equality and preserve natural and cultural heritage. Follow UNWTO on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin. UNWTO Communications Department +34 91 567 8100 UNWTO Platforms like Airbnb, GetYourGuide, Viator, and Tours by Locals have empowered ordinary citizens with knowledge of a cityor with a specific activity to offer within itto become travel vendors. Through these marketplaces, anyone can sell their travel services, which has increased the already overwhelming amount of content available for travelers, and further complicates their decision-making process. Now, if someone is looking to visit Rome, they not only have hotels to choose from, they can rent a room in somebodys flat, or book an old villa that has been listed up to offer an authentic Italian experience. Similarly, the same group of people visiting Italys capital, instead of booking the traditional, mass-marketed tour of the citys core, can now opt to have an independent guide who can give them a tailored experience instead. Due to this excessive content offering, countless hotels and tour operators are competing for users attention, and the amount of travel offerings is expected to keep growing. So, the problem remains, how to cut through the noise and find those offerings that work for us? Conventionally, the way of finding the right option was filtration. Travelers would adjust their preferences by filling a variety of forms, or by choosing selections from predetermined filters. Providers, then, would attempt to match those preferences as best as possible. However, with the skyrocketing number of options available, the filtration interface does not work anymore. The interface becomes a bottleneck, since the infinite number of choices make it too complicated to navigate. However, there is a solution to this problem, and it is called Generative AI. The New York Times has reported on how travel advisors in the United States are already using ChatGPTGenerative AIs most widely-adopted toolto weed out myriad activities and enlist those that could be most relevant to a particular client. While ChatGPT has firmly embedded itself in other industries, its applications to the travel sector are still in an exploratory phase. However, if something is clear, it is that it has enormous potential to improve a travelers journey and to substantially enhance the customer experience. Since ChatGPT has the ability to generate an infinite number of ideas based on analyzed information, it can serve as the processing tool for the abundant content resources available and serve as a new generation interface between providers and travelers, saving a considerable amount of hours that otherwise would be devoted to sorting through dispersed information resources. The way ChatGPT works is this: you can write, in simple language, your search parameters, preferences, and wishes, and you can receive a tailored result in return. This means that as a traveler, instead of being overwhelmed by a multitude of options and having to use numerous input forms, selectors, and filters to navigate through them, you can now send a list of requirements for your trip to ChatGPT and refine it until you receive a perfectly customized offer that meets all your needs. This is why generative AI is turning the travel industry upside down. While before, the industry relied on machine learning and predictive analytics, these technologies are turned obsolete by the growing volumes of data. For example, Netflix and Spotify give us a recommendation for a movie, or for a song, based on the songs we just listened to or the films we just watched. But generative AI is different. While predictive analytics is an anticipatory reactive approachattempting to anticipate a behavior based on the pastgenerative AI responds to the present, maximizing the chances of satisfying the user and delivering what we are looking for. After that, we can combine generative AI with machine learning and predictive analytics, and significantly increase the accuracy of the predictions, as GenAi will be generating the perfect offers not only based on the available information online and user's "list of requirements", but also on the user data collected by machine learning and predictions made based on the user's tastes and choices. Implementing this solution is the best way in which technology companies can deal with the heightened amounts of data. Through generative AI, the search interface becomes more human, and the search process becomes more tailored to what the user needs. As stated, by implementing ChatGPT, these companies can take an even further step, since generative AI could assist them in asking questions to determine the travelers needs, which would simplify the selection process and ensure that the choices provided to the customer are highly relevant to their interests. Personalizing the customer experience and developing a better recommendation system is paramount on the agenda of most companies, especially those that are tech-driven or that consider technological innovation a key aspect of their competitive advantage. However, something else that needs to be considered is the user interface. Especially as technology companies gear towards massive user adoption, developing a friendly interface will be key in order to ensure that the end user can use it properly and efficiently. Hence, reinventing the user interface has become a priority for technology companies, including those in the travel sector. Recently, Google showed what a search engine that successfully integrates generative AI will look like, and as Airbnb announced that they would be implementing ChatGPT on their platform, many people are wondering: How will their redefined search engine look like? What other players in the industry will follow suit? A way in which companies are attempting to reinvent the user interface is by repackaging categories and labeling them strategically from a marketing standpoint. For example, they can label a category as Find Your Inspiration, or create a specific category or interest that their algorithm tells them a user is likely to be interested in. The impact of this can be maximized through generative AI. Besides deciding which products to sell, generative AI can also improve the travelers experience by smoothing the planning process. CNBC reported that the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has adopted AI to help its customers make smarter decisions if they are flying through there. For example, generative AI tools can help them to map their journey on their day of departure, including providing them with updated security-clearance times, places to eat near their gate, and even ordering a coffee or meal in advance so that it is ready for them once they clear through the airports checkpoint. Airlines are equally nimble when it comes to finding ways to utilize AI to improve their operations and customer service. A remarkable example of a company that has done it on both endssales-wise and operationallyis Air France. Through generative AI, Air France was able to create tailored advertising campaigns, crafted to lure individual customers based on their unique preferences. Over 2,000 adseach geared towards a particular customerwere created as a result, and according to a report, Air France registered a 50% increase in click-through rates. There is something that needs to be kept in mind. While generative AI and Chat GPT can completely redefine the customer experience, they do not deter, as many critics say, the human touch. In fact, they enhance it. For a travel planner who is helping a couple design their dream honeymoon trip in Italy, generative AI can make a list of suggestions way faster than any human can. The travel planner can then rely on this information, and add their touch to elevate their customers experience even more. Similarly, implementing generative AI to handle time-consuming tasks and free up the time of personnelfor example, at hotelsto spend more time interacting with customers, creating a win-win situation. The potential is clear. Successful implementation of Generative AI and its poster child ChatGPT can provide enormous benefits to the travel industry. Players that are able to integrate it with the much-needed human touch and keep in mind factors like the user interface and the overall customer journey, are likely to be the winners and capitalize on an opportunity that Skift estimates could be worth over $28 billion, and that, as the industry evolves, could be worth much more. www.voyagu.com Recently, I was staying at an independent hotel in NYC that was utilizing self-service kiosks in their lobby. When I arrived, the hotel was extremely busy, but the front desk agent was free to move around and interact with people because most of the guests opted for self-check-in at the kiosk. When I asked the agent if there was a business center I could use to take a private call, she took the time to personally walk me to the space since it would have been difficult for me to find on my own. While we were walking, she struck up a conversation and recommended a couple of cozy restaurants in the area that I could visit for lunch. I ended up going to an Italian restaurant across the street from the hotel and had some of the best penne pasta and best tiramisu Ive ever had in my life. Overall, it was a very pleasant experience, and I walked away feeling like this was the essence of what great hospitality was meant to be. I share this experience with such detail because it highlights how hotels can use high technology and warm human interactions to elevate service and promote customer loyalty. Dr. Barbara Frederickson, a psychologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, coined the term "micro-moments" to describe small instances of shared positive emotions with others, especially with strangers and acquaintances. Although the concept of "micro-moments" has wide applications in the fields of psychology and sociology, it can also be used to show how one-time guests can be turned into lifelong customers and passionate advocates for your brand. In this article, we will discuss three ways mobile technology can support and enhance micro-moments in the guest experience. These methods include empowering staff, promoting engagement, and creating smooth and seamless guest experiences. Give Staff the Bandwidth They Need to Forge Genuine Connections with Guests Nobody goes into hospitality to do paperwork, and no one can deliver exceptional service if they are buried in their screens or administrative forms. Conversely, the front desk agent in my recent story was able to deliver exceptional service because she didnt have to take the time to manually check in dozens of impatient customers. By investing in a PMS with a guest-facing kiosk that could largely automate check-in, the hotel was able to provide a fast and seamless welcome experience for guests while giving staff the bandwidth to truly engage with their guests.Of course, a modern PMS can automate much more than just check-in: Mobile PMS platforms offer powerful automation capabilities, effectively managing repetitive administrative tasks, while mobile communication facilitates seamless coordination between the front and back of the house, providing real-time updates on room availability and customized task lists and work orders for housekeeping and maintenance. To further streamline operations, hotels can integrate with a mobile guest messaging system, enabling staff to handle inquiries and requests from multiple guests via their preferred messaging app. By incorporating AI chatbots, hotels can optimize staff availability by delegating simpler or routine queries to automated assistants. This leaves staff members free to focus on delivering the types of micro-moments that will drive guest loyalty. Avoid Technology That Restricts Hospitality Unfortunately, the limitations of traditional on-site PMS platforms hinder staff from effectively fostering micro-moments. These legacy systems confine staff behind a formidable front desk, creating a literal physical barrier between them and their guests. Furthermore, the complex and convoluted interfaces of traditional PMS platforms often overwhelm staff, forcing them to be absorbed in their screens, making it arduous to exhibit the necessary empathy and responsiveness required for micro-moments. In contrast, mobile and flexible PMS platforms are designed to empower staff and encourage greater engagement with guests. By running on tablets, mobile PMS platforms liberate staff to freely move around the lobby, meeting guests where they are instead of expecting guests to come to them. These modern mobile interfaces incorporate psychological principles to promote intuitive and user-friendly experiences. Rather than cramming an excessive number of features into cluttered screens filled with perplexing jargon and abbreviations, modern mobile platforms adopt clear interface designs and plain language, enabling users to effortlessly accomplish their tasks and objectives. By significantly reducing employee training time, these contemporary user interfaces allow staff to devote more attention to their guests and less time to their screens. Strive for a Frictionless and Personalized Guest Experience The fundamental principle of sales and marketing, "know thy customer," has always emphasized the importance of hotel staff being highly attuned to the habits and preferences of each guest. This level of understanding enables staff to anticipate guest needs even before they are explicitly expressed. We now have the opportunity to harness technology to uncover insights about our guests that were previously untapped. By blending the power of human connection with technological advancements, we can create a profound understanding of our guests, fostering micro-moments that exceed their expectations and leave a lasting positive impression. As the "heart" and "memory" of the hotel technology ecosystem, a mobile PMS stores comprehensive guest profiles encompassing stay data, purchase history, housekeeping information, and specific preferences. This data can be integrated with other platforms, such as a CRM, to add more nuanced information like loyalty status and travel preferences. Leveraging this wealth of data allows for targeted messaging and personalized offers and gives your staff the ability to anticipate guest needs before they have to express them.Integrating with a comprehensive payment facilitation solution can further personalize the guest journey while eliminating much of the friction surrounding purchasing. Modern unified commerce payment services streamline transactions by allowing guests to pay how and where they want, including by credit, local currency, digital wallet, or tap-to-pay. Modern payment systems also leverage Merchant Initiated Transactions (MITs) and tokenization to eliminate the need to repeatedly enter payment information, allowing guests to make payments with a single click. Tokenization can also contribute to a highly detailed guest profile that spans devices, properties, and touchpoints. Combining a mobile PMS with tokenized payment facilitates an increasingly hyper-personalized experience throughout the guest journey, fostering exceptional micro-moments. Conclusion: Leverage Micro-Moments to Earn Lifetime Customers and Advocates By crafting exceptional experiences throughout the guest journey, you can foster a strong emotional connection that drives customer loyalty and advocacy. When guests feel genuinely cared for and their needs are anticipated before they even express them, they develop a deep sense of satisfaction and loyalty. Satisfied guests are more likely to become passionate advocates, sharing their positive experiences through reviews, social media posts, and word-of-mouth recommendations. These micro-moments, driven by genuine care and attention to detail, lead to an increase in customer loyalty, which, in turn, attracts new travelers seeking similar remarkable experiences. This virtuous cycle creates a strong brand reputation, higher occupancy rates, and increased revenue per room, ultimately contributing to the long-term success of your hotel. About Stayntouch Stayntouch delivers a cloud-native and guest-centric hotel property management system (PMS) with a comprehensive library of over 1,100 integrations. Stayntouch's cloud-native PMS empowers independent hotels, hotel groups, and management companies to drive revenue, reduce costs, enhance service, and captivate their guests. In 2022, Stayntouch launched Stayntouch 2.0, a fully integrated technology suite featuring its core cloud-native PMS and guest kiosk solution, a comprehensive chain management module, a seamless booking engine (Stayntouch Booking), a robust payment processing platform (Stayntouch Pay), and a powerful channel manager. Stayntouch 2.0 enables hotels to streamline their operations, maximize and diversify their revenue streams, and deliver an even more enhanced guest experience with the innovation and support of one trusted technology partner. Stayntouch is supported by a team of professionals with deep roots in the hospitality industry and is a trusted partner to industry-leading management companies including Sage Hospitality, HEI Hotels & Resorts, and EOS Hospitality, innovative independent brands such as Village Hotels, Pod Hotels, and First Hotels, and iconic flagship properties such as the TWA Hotel, Showboat Hotel Atlantic City, and Zoku Amsterdam. For more information, visit www.stayntouch.com. Frewoini Golla Director of Marketing Stayntouch View source Independent hoteliers say the new check-in/-out via SMS feature is a big hit and messaging over SMS is enabling them to compete more effectively with the big brands; Visit Maestro PMS in Booth 1225 at HITEC Toronto June 27 to 29 Next week at HITEC Toronto, Maestro PMS will showcase a NEW suite of features to its innovative mobile engagement and feedback tool, GuestXMS. The enhancements are enabling operators to gain enhanced insight into guests needs and expectations. Powered in collaboration with Fetch, GuestXMS gives independent hoteliers access to two-way SMS, case-management capabilities, and real-time integration to a guests profile providing instant access to guest feedback or insights into their travel preferences. Using this system, hoteliers are able to actively track guest sentiment before, during, and after their stay, enabling operators to respond instantly to negative reviews or address traveler concerns as they emerge. The NEW GuestXMS features were designed to address the many challenges impacting the hotel industry, from staff shortages to the need for improved on-property communication. Enhancements to be demonstrated at the industrys premier hotel technology event include: SMS-Based Check-In and Check-Out: GuestXMS now enables hoteliers to provide links for pre-registration, mobile check-in, and mobile check-out directly to guests over SMS. Documents are generated directly by Maestro and allow hotels already using the system to implement contactless tools quickly and seamlessly. Text Broadcasts: Hotels can now schedule SMS-based information blasts or broadcasts to hotel workers and guests. These messages can include marketing promotions, emergency announcements, operational alerts, and more, and can be targeted as broadly or specifically as necessary. Updated Online Review Management: GuestXMS now allows hotels to add competitive set comparisons when looking at online reviews, and even respond to reviews from directly inside the application. Maestro users can now also track their hotels online reputation across all leading review sites and easily compare it to their competitors. Team Chat: GuestXMS now comes with a built-in messenger designed to simplify staff communications. All messages are sent in real-time and contain a log for future reference. Image Support: Maestro users can now attach images to any ticket, allowing maintenance and housekeeping to provide greater context when submitting work orders in a fraction of the time. 360 Room Analysis: Maestros GuestXMS dashboard now includes all created ticket data and survey data, providing operators with a complete view of the rooms entire logged activity. Scheduled Tickets: Maestro users can now schedule any tickets to be created and set at a future established date and time. Check-in/Out a Big Hit Nivi Shroff, Director of Quality Assurance at Myrtle Beach Seaside Resorts, said she is thoroughly impressed with the new additions to GuestXMS capabilities, particularly the ability to check guests in and out using SMS. GuestXMS has improved our response time to guest concerns and reviews and has even allowed us to create helpful notes behind the scenes to follow up with guests easily, Shroff said. The best part is that all of these features are in one place, putting all the necessary information to improve the guest experience right at our fingertips. Warren Dehan, President of Maestro PMS, said limited labor and rising guest expectations have made it necessary for operators to understand the full context and positioning of their property and its individual rooms, without the time to pour over complicated reports and forecasts. As a result, independent operators are relying on GuestXMS and its 360 Room Analysis dashboard to understand room activity. Hoteliers today, particularly independents, cannot operate effectively using incomplete information, Dehan said. The newest iteration of GuestXMS is designed to capture data on both guest engagement and room ticketing activity taking place on the back end. This provides a complete history of a guestroom in one location. Using this, in addition to GuestXMS expanded communications tools such as team chat and image support, allow operators to have a greater understanding of their property than ever before, at a moments notice. Russell Silver, Founder and CEO of Fetch, said coming into the busy season, many hotel teams have expressed concern about being able to adequately handle the check-in and check-out rushes without major lines forming. Since adding SMS-Based Check-In and Check-Out to GuestXMS, we have noticed a huge uptick in hotels adopting the mobile check-in and checkout tools, Silver said. Since launching the ability to deliver these touchpoints via SMS, we have seen literally 10-times stronger engagement between hoteliers and guests. GuestXMS will continually be enhanced to respond to economic factors and industry demand, such as the ongoing labor crisis and the need for greater operational efficiency, Silver said. When we first introduced the upgrades, more than 90 percent of users began uploading images to service tickets. In the near future, we plan to expand GuestXMS image capabilities to include enhanced searchability using AI. Independent hoteliers need access to some of the more refined communications tools which have emerged over the past few year, and together Fetch and Maestro are delivering on those needs with GuestXMS. For more information on GuestXMS, visit Maestro PMS Booth #1225 at HITEC Toronto, or visit www.maestropms.com. About Maestro Maestro is the preferred cloud hosted or on-premise All-In-One Web PMS solution for independent hotels, luxury resorts, conference centers, vacation rentals, and multi-property groups. Maestros PCI certified and EMV ready enterprise system offers 20+ integrated modules on a single database including touchless and mobile apps to increase engagement, drive direct bookings, centralize operations; all while enabling a unified & seamless guest journey from booking to checkout and everything in between. For over 45 years Maestros Diamond Plus Service has provided unparalleled 24/7 support and education services to keep hospitality groups thriving and productive. Click here for more information on Maestro PMS. Click here to get your free PMS Buying guide. JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge The signing of JW Marriott Serengeti Lodge marks the brands first luxury safari lodge in Tanzania Marriott International, Inc. today announced that it has signed an agreement with Delaware Investment Limited to open its first JW Marriott luxury safari lodge in the Serengeti, Tanzania. Expected to open in 2026, the lodge will be situated within the Serengeti National Park, a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most renowned safari destinations in Africa, home to endless plains, the incredible Great Migration and some of the largest herds on the planet. JW Marriott Serengeti Lodge is expected to offer 30 private suites, including two presidential suites, all of which will benefit from their own swimming pool and deck area. Additionally, extensive food, beverage and meeting facilities are planned. JW Marriott Serengeti Lodge will sit between the Grumeti and Mbalageti rivers, benefitting from the abundant wildlife that accesses the rivers to the north and south alongside stunning views of the plains surrounding the lodge. The Serengeti National Park is an important wildlife conservation and wilderness area in sub-Saharan Africa spanning 5,700 miles. It is the starting point of one of Africa's greatest wildlife spectacles - the Great Migration, which involves millions of animals travelling a distance of 1,800 miles from Serengeti into the neighbouring Masai Mara between June and September. The "Big Five", including lion, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros and African elephant can also be found in Serengeti. "We are delighted to partner with Delaware Investment Limited for this landmark project in the Serengeti, an exciting new destination for the brand which also signifies our growing commitment to offering enriching experiences for our guests." said Jenni Benzaquen, SVP, Brand Portfolio Europe, Middle East and Africa at Marriott International. Serengeti is located approximately 660 kilometres north-west of Dodoma in Tanzania, sharing a border with Kenya. The closest and easiest way to reach the camp is from the Grumeti airstrip, located a 25-minute drive from the site. International visitors can access the lodge from Kilimanjaro International Airport followed by a domestic flight to an airstrip in Serengeti or an eight-hour drive with scenic views of the vast savannas and wildlife along the route. "It's a very exciting moment for us to be able to collaborate with Marriott International to debut such a prestigious brand in one of the most iconic wildlife destinations in the world," said Rishen Patel, Owner of Delaware Investment Limited. JW Marriott Serengeti Lodge will mark the brand's second luxury safari lodge in Africa, following the opening of JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge earlier this year in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Marriott International currently operates more than 120 properties in Africa across its portfolio. MMGY Global expands European operations with Brussels-based research company MMGY Global announced today that it has acquired TCI Research, a data intelligence group specializing in the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors. Now known as MMGY TCI Research, the organization further enhances MMGY Globals travel intelligence capabilities while strategically expanding its European footprint with offices in Brussels and Paris. Founded in 2010 by industry veteran Olivier Henry-Biabaud, TCI Research now touts 1.2 million euros in annual net revenue as well as an international client roster of more than 150 travel organizations, ranging from destinations such as France, London and Aruba to well-known attractions like Disneyland Paris. Its popular and proprietary research products include three separate TRAVELSAT Solutions that benchmark tourism competition, monitor live and historical social reputation data, and measure resident sentiment through both conventional surveys and the integration of curated big data. TCI Research also provides the data and insights that power industry dashboards and reports for leading European destination management organizations (DMOs), including a Long-Haul Travel Barometer for the European Travel Commission and reputation analytics for the City Destinations Alliance (City DNA). Better serving the needs of our global clients has always been the true north in continuing to build our company platform, said MMGY Global CEO Katie Briscoe. Never before has the need for research, data and insights to build a solid foundation in marketing and communication strategies been greater. With the addition of MMGY TCI Research, we can increasingly do this on a global scale. The addition of MMGY TCI Research brings the total number of MMGY Global employees to more than 550 worldwide and expands its office count to 12; Brussels and Paris join existing locations in Austin, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City, London, Los Angeles, Montreal, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Whistler. Both offering more than 20 years of experience in the field, Olivier Henry-Biabaud and long-time partner Emmanuel Meunier will remain integral to the MMGY TCI Research brand. Henry-Biabaud will serve as Partner & Managing Director, and Meunier as Senior Vice President, Europe. We are absolutely thrilled to join the MMGY Global family, said Henry-Biabaud. While opportunities and complexities faced by the visitor economy accelerate the need for agile and holistic data intelligence, we are excited to continue working for the most competitive and sustainable destinations and travel brands. Through the MMGY Global investment in TCI Research, we bring our clients unrivaled research solutions that can connect the dots for their data-driven decision-making. It is also a great fit for a boutique company made of international talents passionate about travel and data to team up with a large and respected global marketing firm that has always had data in its DNA. An active member of both the Travel and Tourism Research Association and the Pacific Asia Travel Association, TCIs industry-leading research programs have received international honors, including a Global Business Insight Award and the prestigious Ulysses Award for Innovation from UNWTO. MMGY TCI Research will work in collaboration with MMGY Travel Intelligence, MMGY Globals existing research brand, which recently opened an office in London. By partnering with TCI Research, were aligning with a leading brand that is synonymous with data integrity while also expanding MMGY Globals presence and capabilities throughout Europe, said Chris Davidson, Executive Vice President of MMGY Travel Intelligence. In addition, our existing clients within and outside Europe will now have access to TCIs proprietary research offerings for a more global and holistic point of view. We are very excited to work with Olivier, Emmanuel and their team to do great things on behalf of our clients. Following two newly acquired brands in 2022 Origin and Wagstaff Marketing TCI Research is the 10th acquisition by MMGY Global in the seven years since private equity firm Peninsula Capital Partners made a significant equity investment in the company, propelling its global growth trajectory. MMGY Global was advised on the transaction by Moore Corporate Finance on financial matters, as well as by Dentons Europe, LLP on Belgian/French legal matters and Foley & Lardner, LLP on U.S. legal matters. TCI Research was advised on the transaction by Guilmot & Bassine on legal matters and by Alerion Avocats on French tax matters. The Most Popular City Destinations This Summer According to ForwardKeys Based on flight search data, ForwardKeys, the leading travel analytics firm, has revealed the most popular city destinations this summer (1st July 31st August). ForwardKeys Flight Search data, which is the most comprehensive source available, covers billions of searches per year, via an extensive selection of online travel agencies, airlines and metasearch companies including Google Flights, Kayak, Kiwi.com, Skyscanner, Wego, and more. It is much sought after by tourism organisations and DMOs seeking to quantify travel intent. Top of the most popular city list this Summer is Bangkok, far ahead of the second most searched destination, Paris. As over 1.1 billion searches were analysed for the report, to make the list more digestible, ForwardKeys has produced the ranking indexed on the basis that Bangkok is 100. The top twenty, in order, with their index values are Paris, 73, London, 72; Denpasar, 69; Barcelona, 68; New York, 61; Lisbon, 54; Istanbul, 52, Madrid, 52; Athens, 51; Palma Mallorca, 48; Singapore, 46; Tokyo, 45; Kuala Lumpur, 45; Amsterdam, 44; Copenhagen, 42; Los Angeles, 42; Rome, 39; Manilla, 34 and Frankfurt, 34. Positions 21 100 also include Antalya, Berlin, Cancun, Cairo, Delhi, Dubai, Dublin, Ho Chi Minh City, Malaga, Marrakech, Miami, Milan, Punta Cana, San Francisco, Seoul, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Warsaw, Valetta, and Vienna. The search rankings are also compared to last year, giving a rise and fall in relative popularity. Bangkok is up three places, pushing Paris off the top spot. London holds its position, in 3rd place. In capturing 4th position, Balis capital, Denpasar, rose six places, pushing down Barcelona to 5th, Lisbon to 7th, Istanbul to 8th, Madrid to 9th and Palma Mallorca to 11th. A new entrant in the top ten was Athens, up one place from 11th, while New York rose two places from 8th in 2022 to 6th this year. Impressive risers that charged into the top twenty were Tokyo, up 53 places to 13th, Kuala Lumpur, up 24 places to 14th, Singapore, up 14 places to 12th and Manilla, up 8 places to 19th. Their rise is principally explained by the late relaxation of COVID-19 travel restrictions, which triggered a surge in interest. The top ten list of highest climbers are dominated by Asian and Australasian cities, which, last summer, were still subject to some of the strictest pandemic travel regulations. The highest climber is Taipei, up 161 places to 56th. It is followed by Hong Kong, up 129 places to 39th, Seoul, up 56 places to 35th, Tokyo, up 53 places to 13th, Hanoi, up 41 places to 76th, Auckland, up 41 places to 103rd, Melbourne, up 31 places to 75th, Ho Chi Minh City, up 30 places to 52nd, Kuala Lumpur, up 24 places to 14th and Phuket, up 24 places to 57th. Olivier Ponti, VP of Insights, ForwardKeys, said: Congratulations to Bangkok on becoming this summers top of the travel pops. Its popularity is a clear sign that with the reopening of the Asian markets, we are about to see the first normal summer since the pandemic, with 19 mainstream Asian cities listed in the top 100. The Caribbean also deserves congratulations because it has managed to maintain its popularity in the face of greater competition from numerous other destinations which are now open again. Analysis of ForwardKeys air ticketing database reveals some interesting current trends. Throughout the pandemic and at the start of the recovery, leisure travel to beach destinations has been in the lead. However, that is now starting to change. Compared to this time last year (2022), summer flight bookings to beach destinations are 22% ahead; however, urban destinations are 42% ahead, nature destinations are 45% ahead and shopping destinations are the most ahead, up by 53%. Learn more about the changes in top source markets; flight searches versus bookings and read the full city destination index. Weekly Hotel Industry Asia Pacific News Roundup from HVS Aloft Hotel to Open in Singapore in Q3 2023 Singapore-based Hiap Hoe Limited has signed an agreement with US-based Marriot International through HH Properties Pte. Ltd. To bring the design-forward Aloft Hotels brand to Singapore. The 785-room hotel expects to open in Q3 2023, and it will be the largest Aloft hotel in the world. Aloft Singapore Novena will be a mix-used development comprising of 2 towers. It is located in Zhongshan Park, in the cultural district of Balestier. This area is renowned for its rich heritage and is situated along the Balestier Heritage Trail, surrounded by an array of famous local eateries and linked to the integrated dynamic healthcare precinct, Healthcity Novena. Within the hotel, guests can enjoy meals from a modern Chinese and local seafood restaurant or a Halal-certified buffet restaurant. The property also includes a range of facilities including an outdoor pool, a gym and meeting and event spaces. World's First Frozen-Themed Land Set To Open in 2H2023 Hong Kong Disneyland Resort (HKDL) has announced the launch of their new attractions and experiences by 2H2023. HKDL will be the home to the world's first Frozen-themed land The World of Frozen. Modelled after the hit movie Frozen the new attraction will feature the movie characters' hometown, along with three Frozen-themed rides. The resort's Ocean Park will also feature two multimedia shows Soul of the Ocean and Visions of Hong Kong to cater to the expected increase of visitors. In addition, Ocean Park is set to have pet-friendly programs and the debut of Explorer K, a kid-friendly technology experience hub, offering fresh experiences to its visitors. Cambodia's First Smart Airport in Siem Reap Cambodia Angkor Air has partnered with China-based Trip.com Group on the development of Cambodia's first smart airport in Siem Reap. The new Angkor International Airport is expected to open in October 2023, with a projected annual passenger count of seven million people, that will increase to ten million people per year by 2030. By utilizing Trip.com Group's digital and intelligent services, the new airport is poised to become a key smart airport in the region. Under this partnership, the two entities will also work towards developing tourism talent training programs and promoting Cambodia as a global destination. Chinese Aviation Authority Approves Kunming's USD3 Billion International Airport Expansion Plans The Chinese Aviation Authority has given approval to expand the 10-year-old Kunming Changshui International Airport ("KCIA"). The CNY20.7 billion (USD3 billion) project marks a step towards transforming the capital city of the Yunnan province into a major aviation hub. With two new runways, the annual passenger of KCIA would increase to 95 million people roughly two times more than what was recorded in 2019. As one of China's top ten airports, the infrastructure development would further increase the maximum cargo throughput and, number of take-offs and landings in the city. About HVS HVS is the world's leading consulting and valuation services organization focused on the hotel, restaurant, shared ownership, gaming, and leisure industries. Established in 1980, the company performs more than 4,500 assignments per year for virtually every major industry participant. HVS principals are regarded as the leading professionals in their respective regions of the globe. Through a worldwide network of over 50 offices staffed by 300 experienced industry professionals, HVS provides an unparalleled range of complementary services for the hospitality industry. For further information regarding our expertise and specifics about our services, please visit www.hvs.com. HEI Hotels & Resorts today announced the company has named Catlin Ptak general manager and Mina Gagraj director of sales of the 110-room Hyatt Place Albany in New York. The under-construction hotel is expected to open August 31, 2023. As HEI expands its New York reach with its eighth hotel in the state, we want to ensure that our latest property benefits from superior leadership, and Catlin and Mina are the embodiment of what a successful team looks like, said Rachel Moniz, COO, HEI. With a combined total of more than 25 years of hospitality experience, both have spent numerous years at multiple property-level positions, giving them the first-hand experience necessary to thrive in their new roles. They quickly will lead the hotel to its rightful place as the lodging destination of choice for the greater Albany area. Catlin Ptak With 16 years of hospitality experience, Ptak began her career in the hospitality industry as night auditor at the Holiday Inn, Middletown, NY. Since then, she has risen steadily within the ranks, including night manager at the Hilton Albany and most recently the New England area manager with Visions Hotels. While there, she oversaw diverse teams at multiple hotels, during concurrent renovations, focusing on elevating the guest experience through exceptional service. Catlin has been previously involved with volunteering and contributing to various LGBTQ+ organizations. She received her associate degree in liberal arts/mathematics from SUNY Orange. I am thrilled to bring my 16 years of hotel leadership to this new role and for our guests to experience Albany's first Hyatt brand hotel, Ptak said. I can't wait for Hyatt Place Albany to become an active member of downtown Albany, one that embodies an elevated guest experience and that actively volunteers in our community." Mina Gagraj A 12-year hospitality veteran, Gagraj most recently was area director of sales with Marriott at Residence Inn and Courtyard in the Albany and Kingston market, where she oversaw both hotels and increased year-over-year revenue growth with increased sales by 10%. She has held multiple property level positions over the years, including marketing and catering sales manager with the Double Tree by Hilton in Schenectady NY. Gagraj is part a member at Discovery Albany and the Albany Chamber of Commerce. She received her degree in hospitality from Cornell University. "I'm excited to start this next chapter in my career at Hyatt Place Albany and look forward to building a strong sales team with a proven track record that will help secure HPA's position as a market leader," said Gagraj. How to Get Buy-In for a New Hotel Property Management System 9 steps to boost your chances of successfully gaining approval for a new PMS that can increase revenue, generate cost savings, and drive efficiency In today's fast-paced hospitality industry, staying ahead of the competition requires efficient and scalable management systems that streamline operations, enhance the guest experience, and maximize revenue. Implementing a new hotel property management system (PMS) can be a game-changer for any property, but getting approval for such an investment is often a challenging task. You have done some initial due diligence, been through some demonstrations, and found an exceptional hotel property management system that can boost revenue, generate cost savings, and enable your team to accomplish more with fewer resources. Now, the important task at hand is persuading someone within the organization to allocate the necessary budget and give the green light for the purchase. Gaining stakeholders' support is crucial when investing in technology applications, especially considering the increasing number of requests from different departments within the business. Operating with the latest technology is becoming a must in the hotel industry. With staff shortages, budget cuts, COVID delays, supply chain issues, and stretched resources, operators need to employ technology solutions that directly alleviate pain points impacting guest service, revenue, costs, and operational efficiencies. By understanding the needs of your hotel, showcasing the benefits of an advanced system, and building a solid business case, you can increase your chances of gaining approval for this important purchase. 1: Understanding Your Property's Unique Needs Before making a case for a new hotel property management system, it is crucial to thoroughly understand the needs and pain points of your organization. Conduct a comprehensive assessment of your current system, considering factors such as operational efficiency, guest satisfaction, revenue management, and staff productivity. Identify the limitations and challenges that a new system could address, and gather data and feedback from relevant stakeholders to support your case. 2: Researching a New and Innovative PMS Once you have a clear understanding of your organization's needs, it is time to explore the market for modern hotel property management systems. Look for solutions that offer comprehensive features such as property management, reservations, guest services, accounting, and reporting. Consider cloud-based systems that provide real-time access to data and offer scalability to accommodate future growth. Research and compare different vendors, their reputations, customer reviews, and their ability to provide ongoing support and updates. 3: Demonstrating the Benefits of a New PMS When seeking approval for a new hotel property management system, it is essential to clearly communicate the benefits it will bring to the organization. Highlight how the system will improve operational efficiency, streamline processes, and enhance guest experiences. Emphasize the system's ability to automate tasks, reduce manual errors, and provide real-time data for better decision-making. Discuss how the system will enable staff to deliver personalized services and build stronger relationships with guests, leading to increased loyalty and positive reviews. 4: Building a Business Case To gain approval for a new hotel property management system, a strong business case is crucial. Start by outlining the financial implications of the investment, including the initial cost, ongoing maintenance, and potential return on investment. Calculate the potential savings and revenue increases that can be achieved through improved efficiency, increased bookings, and higher guest satisfaction. Present a timeline for implementation and highlight any risks or challenges along the way. Additionally, provide examples and case studies from other properties that have successfully implemented similar systems, showcasing their positive outcomes. 5: Engaging Stakeholders When seeking approval for a new hotel property management system, it is important to involve key stakeholders throughout the process. Engage with department heads, executives, and decision-makers to understand their concerns and expectations. Address any doubts or reservations they may have by providing relevant information and conducting demonstrations or trials of the proposed system. Create a sense of collaboration and involve stakeholders in the decision-making process, ensuring their buy-in and support. 6: Anticipating and Addressing Objections During the approval process, you may encounter objections and concerns from stakeholders. Anticipate these objections and proactively address them. Common objections may include budget constraints, integration challenges, and resistance to change. Prepare well-reasoned responses that highlight the long-term benefits, cost savings, and the support provided by the vendor during implementation and integration. Provide reassurance that the proposed system is scalable and can adapt to future needs. 7: Presenting a Compelling Proposal When presenting your proposal for a new hotel property management system, it is crucial to create a compelling and visually appealing presentation. Use clear and concise language, and support your arguments with data, graphs, and visuals that demonstrate the potential benefits. Tailor the presentation to the needs and priorities of your audience, focusing on the aspects that are most relevant to them. Be confident, enthusiastic, and well-prepared to address any questions or concerns that may arise. 8: Seeking Support from Industry Experts To further strengthen your case, consider seeking support from industry experts or consultants. Their insights and recommendations can lend credibility to your proposal. Engage with trusted advisors with experience implementing hotel property management systems and can provide testimonials or references. Demonstrating that industry experts endorse the chosen system can instill confidence and help overcome skepticism. 9: Overcoming Resistance to Change Implementing a new hotel property management system often involves changing processes and workflows, which can trigger resistance among staff members. To overcome this resistance, it is important to communicate the benefits of the new system to the employees. Provide training and support to ensure a smooth transition, and involve staff in the implementation process. Address their concerns and gather feedback to continually improve the system and make it more user-friendly. Follow these guidelines to help present a powerful case; it can be the difference between an impactful, approved project and one that is passed over for others that are considered more urgent and compelling. Remember to communicate the positive impact the system will have on operational efficiency, guest experiences, and revenue growth. To learn more or take a live demo tour of the Skwyare property management system, reach out to Jan Murza, Director of Sales at 877-759-9329 option3. About Bob Palloni As the Chief Operating Officer of Skyware Hospitality Systems, Bob is responsible for leading the company in corporate strategy, business development, product innovation, and market profitability. An accomplished tech developer and visionary entrepreneur, he has decades of progressive experience in all phases of lifecycle software development. Bobs strength as a strategic planner focuses on networking and application evolution, assuring continued knowledge of trends and vendor partnerships. Prior to forming Skyware, Bob was a senior developer for Visual One/Agilysys and assisted support engineers in troubleshooting customer issues for resolving database performance and networking problems. Previously, Bob also launched an IT development company, KASS Systems, providing integrated technologies to meet the business requirements for small-to medium-sized businesses. About Skyware Hospitality Solutions Skyware Hospitality Solutions is the industrys most innovative all-in-one hospitality technology platform trusted by leading independent hotels, resorts, RV parks, and multi-property groups. The company has reimagined the fragmented, complex legacy landscape into a visionary universe of modern, integrated solutions with limitless possibilities. With more than 30 years of hospitality technology experience, Skywares solutions are carefully curated to fit the unique needs of each property and built to respond flexibly to the demanding requirements of a fast-changing industry. Built from the ground up to centralize and simplify operations, the end-to-end cloud-based PMS suite includes Online Booking Engine, POS, Sales and Catering, and Activity/Spa Scheduling. The easy-to-use system is up and running quickly and seamlessly, delivering a scalable, cost-effective solution that can work with or replace existing hotel systems and technology investments. With deep industry knowledge and top-rated North American-based support, Skywares patented technology accelerates its customers' ambitions, whether to grow and transform or simply become more efficient, productive, and profitable. Currently, over 200 unique hotel customers in over 5 countries look to Skyware for tools, technology, and world-class expert support. Founded in 2009, the privately held company is headquartered in Crestview, Florida. For more information, please visit skywaresystems.com. Wine glasses ATM on-site Electric kettle Kid-friendly Executive lounge access Family rooms Cribs available Fire extinguisher Gift shop Laundry facilities Ironing service Flat-screen TV Free toiletries Shops (on site) Room service Smoke alarms Physical distancing in dining areas Physical distancing rules Property is cleaned by professional cleaning companies Process in place to check health of guests Child pool Outdoor pool Key card access CCTV in common areas CCTV outside property Kitchenware Restaurant Bar/Lounge Landmark view Hand sanitizer in guest accommodation and key areas Lockers Screens or physical barriers placed between staff and guests in appropriate areas Cable or satellite TV Use of cleaning chemicals that are effective against coronavirus Air-conditioned Guest accommodation is disinfected between stays Guest accommodation sealed after cleaning All plates, cutlery, glasses and other tableware have been sanitized Delivered food is securely covered Pants press Food can be delivered to guest accommodation Guests can opt-out of accommodation cleaning Free parking Staff follow all safety protocols as directed by local authorities Disinfection of high-touch surfaces Coffee shop Bathrobe Private bathroom Kitchen 24hr front desk Designated smoking area Kitchenette Steam room Night club Storage available Private parking Quiet street view Spa and wellness center Non-smoking rooms available Safety deposit box Seating area Shampoo Jacuzzi Shower Dishwasher Iron and ironing board Shower cap Oven Adapter Slippers First-aid kit Microwave Socket near the bed Additional toilet Sofa Balcony Bathtub Stovetop Body soap Bottle of water Tea/coffee maker Telephone Toaster Refrigerator Toilet Toilet paper Thermometers for guests provided by property Safe Sauna Toothbrush City view Trash cans Tablet Coffee machine Smartphone dock Conditioner Valet parking Desk Dining area Dining table Wardrobe or closet Washing machine Chicago, IL (60637) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy. Low near 65F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. 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. Dalton Fills Vacant Town Planner Position DALTON, Mass. After a long search and salary revision, the town has filled the vacant town planner position. The post has been vacant since last October and town meeting voted to increase its salary by 11.26 percent to $58,335 when it failed to attract candidates. The Select Board during its meeting last week approved the appointment of the new Janko Tomasic, who is expected to start on July 10. Tomasic has lived in Western Massachusetts for most of his life and earned his master's degree from the University of Massachusetts' Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning. One thing that stood out in Tomasic's resume is the fact that he went to a community college and then went to UMass, which is great, Select Board member Marc Strout said. "I have nothing but gratitude and good things to say about the MassTransfer system for community college to UMass, great program," Tomasic said. He interned in the Worcester County town of Athol. He said he had looked for a position in a rural community because he grew up in one and it seemed like a step forward that he can build on. When he came across the position in the Berkshires, he found that not only does it have a natural beauty but the people here are wonderful, he said. "When you start small you can make a big impact and this is a community that seems like things can get done and I would like to help things get done here," Tomasic said. "My role is to serve you guys and facilitate and help out as best as I can getting this community what it needs, when it needs it, and how it needs it." Greylock fourth-grade teacher Melissa Boyer is joined by family and friends at Friday's surprise gathering. Greylock Teacher Named North Adams' Teacher of the Year Melissa Boyer is presented with the Marion B. Kelly Teacher of the Year certificate by Superintendent Barbara Malkas. Boyer is retiring after 28 years at Greylock School. NORTH ADAMS, Mass. This year's recipient of the Marion B. Kelley Teacher of the Year award is Melissa Boyer. Boyer was recognized by Superintendent Barbara Malkas during an assembly at Greylock Elementary School attended by students, staff and Boyer's family and friends. She was presented with a commemorative certificate and a gift certificate for $100 for school classroom supplies. This award, named in honor of the late Marion B. Kelley, a former North Adams teacher and principal, is presented to teachers in recognition of their dedicated, skillful teaching, understanding of children, and exemplification of the "ideal" teacher. Kelley taught in the North Adams school system from 1929 until 1936 when she married and had to leave because state law prohibited married women from teaching. She rejoined the school system as a teacher in 1945 and retired in 1978 as principal of Haskins and Johnson schools. Boyer has been a part of the Greylock Elementary family since 1987 when she was hired as a tutor and then as a teacher assistant. In September 1994, Boyer began her career as an elementary schoolteacher and has been teaching for more than 28 years. Boyer is a graduate of Drury High School's class of 1982. She earned her bachelor's degree in education from Framingham State College in December 1989 and her master's degree in education in May 1999 from Cambridge College. In addition to being a classroom teacher, Boyer has held other roles within the district, including a member of the Elementary Instructional Leadership Team; an instructor in the After-School Enrichment Program; and as a Teach to Learn cooperating teacher and science teacher leader. She's also known for hikes to Stoney Ledge, the fourth-grade campouts at Windsor Lake, yearly pumpkin carving projects and Magic Tree House dioramas. Boyer has touched the lives of the students who have been in her class and all who have had the pleasure of working with her. She will be retiring at the end of this school year. Malkas shared these additional thoughts from a few of Boyer's colleagues: "During my time teaching with Melissa, I have witnessed one of the hardest-working individuals have a dramatic effect on the lives of children. She designs lessons that are engaging and challenging for her children. And that's exactly what they are, 'Her Children.' They are never a name on a list or just one of her students Melissa goes out of her way to make each of them feel successful, a part of the classroom community, and a learner." "Missy takes the extra time to learn about both the academic and personal aspects of her students. She has conversations with them and asks them about their interests outside of school. Missy's professionalism is profound. She works together with her grade-level team to create engaging, differentiated lessons and build off each other's strengths." "I've worked with her. I've seen her teach. I've seen how she cares about her students, and I see how much they admire and respect her. I see the magic that happens in her classroom. I have seen the steadfast dedication through the years, not only in the classroom, but in every event she attends. I have learned from her example." "It has been an absolute pleasure working with Melissa Boyer over the years. She has a strong passion for her work and her students adore her. She has helped me grow as a teacher." "Similar to Mrs. [Marion] Kelley, Ms. Boyer makes learning enjoyable for all students in a loving, caring manner. They both share the belief of educating the whole child." "Her dream was to work in the same neighborhood school that her mother worked at and the one she attended along with her brothers and sisters." "When I think about Melissa Boyer, I think back to my first year of teaching at Greylock School 22 years ago. During my first year as a fourth grade teacher, she served as my mentor. Not only did she offer up some great teaching strategies, but she took time to speak with me on the phone almost nightly when I had questions." iciHaiti - Bank : The BRH communicates on the problem SPIH and PRONAP The process of taking over SPIH and PRONAP is progressing satisfactorily since the recent dysfunctions. In a press release dated June 19, the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) informs that "the Haitian Interbank Payment System (SPIH) and the National Payment Processor (PRONAP), are experiencing a reassuring evolution since the recent malfunctions. It is important to note that this dysfunction poses no risk to the savings of depositors in the financial system. However, the availability of funds linked to account deposits by check will have a new temporary clearing delay: 5 working days in the metropolitan area; 10 working days in provincial towns. On the other hand, the payment service by check at the counters of the BRH remains operational as usual and the website (www.brh.ht) of the institution is functional. The BRH recalls that international transactions (transfer order from abroad to Haiti and vice versa) via the SWFT system are executed without any interruption. The BRH reaffirms its determination to work towards the normal resumption of banking operations, and will keep the public informed of any new developments. " IH/ iciHaiti The new generation of workers in the Philippines values their time. So, when companies introduced hybrid and remote working arrangements, Filipinos realized how they could be more efficient and productive in this setup. The same scenario can be seen for workers in Cebu and Davao. The growing number of Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in both cities now offer hybrid and remote work arrangements, making jobs more bearable for employees. According to the Cebu Salary Report 2023, Cebuanos experience better levels of happiness and engagement at work when companies offer remote work. Meanwhile, hybrid setups are expected to not go away soon, as well in Davao City as its IT-BPM industry eyes to double its workforce by 2028. For Jason Lim, Country Manager, Vertiv Philippines, reality poses new challenges for SMEs. "With the growing demand to cater to the new generation of workers that enjoys remote and hybrid working arrangements, SMEs should be able to improve their infrastructure, ensure uptime and business continuity, and invest in adequate infrastructure to establish seamless communication, collaboration, and productivity," Lim noted. To help SMEs as they start embracing flexibility and driving productivity by supporting innovation and new technologies, Vertiv shared these key factors that businesses can consider as part of their strategies: Improve IT infrastructure and ensure uptime. Since hybrid and remote working setups mostly happen between the time and space of the employee, they usually work on their own. The danger with this is that there is no assurance that the household where they reside can support the day-to-day operations. That is why it is better to safeguard this by equipping them with Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) that can ensure business operation uptime. Its primary purpose is to provide backup power during unprecedented service electrical outages, which protects critical systems from downtime, data loss, and equipment damage. The wide array of UPS solutions Vertiv offers is perfect even for SMEs. Like the Vertiv Liebert GXE UPS that is compact yet has a high output power factor that enables more connected loads, which saves space and costs. Embrace technological advancements that can enhance work processes. Hybrid and remote working arrangements might be similar, but the former has more demands that companies must address. Hybrid means employees must still report to the office with flexible weekly schedules. Even if the employees still utilize their equipment at home, businesses, even if part of SMEs, should be able to sustain an adequate infrastructure to live up to the dynamic needs of on-site employees. To do this, Vertiv offers SmartCabinet, which provides all the supporting infrastructure needed to successfully deploy a business's distributed IT equipment. Using the SmartCabinet solution, companies can quickly establish a standardized rack system that simplifies deployment, integrates essential infrastructure, maximizes uptime, and protects assets. Ensure seamless communication and collaboration to drive productivity. Lastly, companies should promote active communication and cooperation among team members. Addressing the challenges with virtual communication, team collaboration, and fostering a sense of belonging between remote and hybrid teams is crucial. Companies can do this by streamlining all schedules in one calendar and utilizing messaging tools. And to ensure that communication lines will always be open between the management and the team members, the company must be ready to provide infrastructure solutions to ensure uptime, which a UPS can deliver. UPS doesn't always have to be significant in scale because Vertiv has comprehensive options, varying on what's best for the employees and the company. Indeed, the global workforce has experienced a significant transformation that changed their working behavior. The convergence of technological advancements, changing employee expectations, and the need for business continuity have accelerated the shift towards flexible work models and urged companies, even SMEs, to adapt. And as this is bound to stay, Vertiv is here to assist businesses in supporting the new challenges brought by the new working arrangements. The company provides solutions for the organization's application by pre-engineering, pre-configuring, pre-testing, and pre-validating against its unique requirements. It also offers cutting-edge, sustainable, and innovative solutions that support businesses in the country by accelerating innovationthrough their solutionsto drive economic growth. To learn more about how Vertiv supports the continuity of today's vital business, visit Vertiv.com. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Search efforts for British actor Julian Sands have resumed five months after he went missing during a hike in the California, the San Bernardino Sheriffs Department said Monday (19 June). Sands, best known for his breakout film A Room With a View (1985), was reported missing in the Mount Baldy area of the San Gabriel mountains on 13 January of this year. Efforts to find the 65-year-old slowed around mid-February, after rescue teams were repeatedly hampered by adverse weather conditions. However, the sheriffs department said in a new release: On Saturday, June 17, 2023, the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department continued ongoing search efforts in the Mount Baldy wilderness for missing hiker Julian Sands. Unfortunately, Mr Sands was not located. Over 80 volunteers, deputies, and staff contributed to the search, it added, including the support of two helicopters and drone crews. Despite warmer climes, portions of the mountain remain inaccessible due to extreme alpine conditions, the release said. Multiple areas include steep terrain and ravines, which still have 10-plus feet of ice and snow. Julian Sands (Getty Images) Since Sandss disappearance, the sheriffs department has conducted eight searches and expended more than 500 hours of combined search time. The release concluded by saying that the missing person case for Sands remains open and that search efforts will continue in a limited capacity. The actors family previously praised the heroic efforts of Californian authorities involved in the searches, and were deeply touched by the support they had received. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 6.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 6.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Back in February, the sheriffs department vowed to bring closure to Sands family. Sands was known as an avid and experienced hiker. Fellow actor Kevin Ryan told The Independent that Sands was the most advanced hiker I know and would not go on a hike unprepared. His phone last pinged on 15 January, suggesting that the device had died a short time later. The downtown Los Angeles skyline with Mt Baldy and San Gabriel Mountains behind (Getty) His brother, Nick Sands, told the Craven Herald in late January: He has not yet been declared missing, presumed dead, but I know in my heart that he has gone. Julian, who is the middle of five brothers, returned to England three times a year and had been due to visit his hometown of Craven, on 30 January, Nick said. Julian liked to say I have never had a holiday but I do rest occasionally well hes resting now in a place he would truly approve of, he added. Anyone with additional information about Sands is asked to call Detective B Meelker on +1 (909) 356-6710. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Samuel L Jackson has shared support for Brie Larson after the Captain America star was the victim of an online abuse campaign, and spoken of how they first bonded over Donald Trumps presidential election win in 2016. Larson, 33, has appeared alongside Jackson in films such as Kong: Skull Island (2017), Unicorn Store (2017) and Captain Marvel (2019). After being cast as Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, in the popular Marvel superhero franchise, Larson was targeted by online trolls. Speaking to Rolling Stone in a new interview, Jackson condemned the abuse Larson received from incel dudes who hate strong women. Bries a stronger person than people give her credit for, he said. We had done Kong together, which was not the most wonderful experience for either of us. We became great friends during that particular experience because we were having such a hard time. He recalled that the duo had bonded when Trump was controversially elected to the office of US president. She was broken and I was like, Dont let em break you. You have to be strong now, Jackson recalled. Then, when she got Captain Marvel, she called me and was like, They want me in the Marvel Universe. Should I do it? And I was like, Hell yeah! Lets do it! But shes not going to let any of that stuff [online abuse] destroy her, Jackson continued. These incel dudes who hate strong women, or the fact that shes a feminist who has an opinion and expressed it? Everybody wants people to be who they want them to be. She is who she is, and shes genuinely that. Jackson has played the character of Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for more than a decade. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 6.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 6.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Jackson as Nick Fury (Marvel Studios) He is set to front the characters own serialised spin-off, Secret Invasion, which arrives on Disney+ this week. Elsewhere in the interview, Jackson weighed in on the prospect of his image being digitally re-created in films using CGI technology after his death. Ever since Ive been in the Marvel Universe, every time you change costumes in a Marvel movie, they scan you, he revealed. Ever since I did Captain Marvel, and they did the Lola project where they de-aged me and everything else, its like, Well, I guess they can do this anytime they want to do it if they really want to! In Captain Marvel, Jackson was de-aged by three decades to approximate his appearance in the 1990s. It could be something to worry about, the Pulp Fiction star continued. Future actors should do what I always do when I get a contract and it has the words in perpetuity and known and unknown on it: I cross that s*** out. Its my way of saying, No, I do not approve of this. Secret Invasion premieres on Disney+ on 21 June 2023. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The administration in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh demolished properties belonging to three individuals accused of abuse and religious coercion. The direction from the authorities came after a 48-second video clip went viral on social media in which the accused could be heard asking the victim, identified as Vijay Ramchandani, to become a dog and apologise to them. They allegedly tied a leash around the 24-year-old mans neck and forced him to bark like a dog. The states home minister Narottam Mishra condemned the behaviour and ordered the police commissioner to probe the incident. I have instructed the Bhopal Police Commissioner to probe and take action within 24 hours Within 4-5 hours, three of the accused were arrested; [bulldozers] will be used on illegal encroachments, Mr Mishra said. This kind of mentality will be completely stamped out, he added. The police rounded up three of the six accused, while also invoking charges of forced conversion and kidnapping against the perpetrators. The preliminary chargesheet named Sajid, Bilal Tila, Faizan Lala, Sahil Bachha, Mohammad Sameer Tila, and Mufeed Khan, with the latter three already in police custody. Mr Ramchandani said he circulated the video after the accused attempted to extort him by threatening to share the clip of his assault. He said that he shared the video to highlight his ordeal as he expressed his frustration with the polices perceived lack of action, citing previous conflicts with the accused. In his complaint, Mr Ramchandani further alleged that the accused abducted and assaulted him, coerced him to consume beef, and threatened his family members, reported NDTV. Mr Mishra told the Press Trust of India: We will take such an action in Bhopal that it will send a message across the state. However, The Indian Express also reported that the families of the accused claimed to have received no prior notice of the property demolition, raising concerns about procedural fairness. The model of justice by bulldozer has spread to other Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states, including the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, Assam, as well as the MCD in Delhi, being hailed by supporters as a sign of the authorities taking tough action on crime. Bulldozers first came to public attention when the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath who has earned the nickname Bulldozer Baba deployed the machines to enforce law and order, using them to destroy property belonging to those accused of crime. They have since become a symbol of Mr Adityanaths political might, and have even taken pride of place in his election speeches. However, protests have also erupted in many Indian cities to condemn the demolition of homes and businesses belonging to Muslims, in what critics called a growing pattern aimed at punishing activists from the minority group. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Narendra Modi and Joe Biden must address grave human rights issues in both their nations, Amnesty International has said as Indias prime minister heads to the United States. Under Modi, India has borne witness to increasing violence against religious minorities, shrinking civil society space and criminalisation of dissent as he presided over a period of rapid deterioration of human rights protections, the organisation said. Modis first state visit comes almost two decades after the US revoked his visa over the 2002 riots in Indias Gujarat, where he was then the states chief minister. Back then, the US cited concerns that Modi had done nothing to stop anti-Muslim violence that left more than 1,000 dead. While he was absolved of the charges by Indias Supreme Court and the US reinstated his visa, concerns around his alleged involvement remain in the wake of rising crimes against Muslims in India. Amnesty also said Mr Bidens presidential tenure was concurrent to a devastating period of backsliding on reproductive rights and a spike in vitriolic anti-LGBT+ attacks at the state level. Calling on the leaders to address respective rights issues, Amnests top India official Aakar Patel said that with the world watching, their [Mr Modi and Mr Bidens] silence will be felt by the people in India and the US whose rights are most at risk of abuse. Amnesty said growing human rights concerns are not fringe issues and the Indian administration has placed dangerous constraints on civil society. Mr Patel, Amnesty International Indias board chair, has asked the two leaders to hold each other to account rather than sweep human rights issues in their respective nations under the rug. While the red carpet has been rolled out for Prime Minister Modi, people in India continue to experience grave human rights abuses. India and the US are important partners and allies in various world forums, including the G20 and Quad, he said in a statement. In a rare interview, Modi told The Wall Street Journal that India celebrates diversity. For thousands of years, India has been the land where people of all faiths and beliefs have found the freedom to coexist peacefully and prosper, he said. You will find people of every faith in the world living in harmony in India. India has seen arbitrary arrests and detentions of academicians, journalists, lawyers, political opponents and peaceful protestors documented by Amnesty in Mr Modis near-decade-long regime. Rising attacks on minority communities, especially Muslims and less-privileged social castes like Dalits, have had an uptick as well. Under his administration, financial and investigative agencies of the government were alleged to have been weaponised to harass, silence, and criminalise independent critical voices, Amnesty said on the day Mr Modi left for the US. Amnesty cited action against media organisations such as the BBC and other prominent non-profits such as Greenpeace India, Oxfam India, Independent and Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF), and the Centre for Policy Research, as well as its own India branch. According to the US Commission on International Religious Freedoms recommendation for the fourth year, India should be added to a list of countries perpetuating systemic and egregious violations of the right to freedom of religion. Mr Biden should not ignore his own administrations findings and must call on Mr Modi to end his governments alleged abuse of laws to target civil society and free speech, officials at Amnesty said. Domestically, the US presidents administration has the critical authority to support access to abortion which has seen a devastating backslide after June last year. President Biden has taken some executive action but has the power to do more, including to declare a national health emergency to protect abortion access in the United States, Amnesty said. Modi will meet Mr Biden at the Oval Office and address a joint meeting of Congress, followed by a lavish White House dinner. He will also attend a state department lunch on Friday hosted by vice-president Kamala Harris and the US secretary of state Antony Blinken. Mr Modi will address members of the Indian diaspora before departing Washington. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A Chinese tourist has alleged that authorities in the Maldives were trying to cover up an incident of sexual assault after she was raped by a hotel staff member while on vacation there. Xu Yitong, 26, a student in Australia who agreed to waive her right to anonymity as an alleged victim of sexual assault, told The Independent that she received no official statement from the Maldives government or its law enforcement agencies despite filing a police complaint. She claimed the authorities were trying to cover up the incident an accusation the Maldives police have denied. On Sunday, Ms Xu detailed her harrowing experience during her stay at The Ritz-Carlton Maldives Fari Islands resort in a Twitter thread to demand action. Ms Xu, who is a student of economics at the University of Sydney, said she arrived at the tropical island in South Asia for a holiday on 6 June but decided to extend her stay after four days and checked into the Ritz-Carlton on 10 June. She said she was assigned a member of staff upon her arrival at the resort and he was sent to her room after she asked for help from the front desk because her phone was not working. I was concerned (I) didnt know how to contact my family so I asked the front desk to help me and they sent him. He came and he let me use my sim in his phone and speak to my mother. He then sat on the bed and started chatting with me. Why did you come alone, where do you live etc, she wrote. She said he started asking questions about what she was doing last night and briefly left the room only to return as her mother had sent her a WeChat message on his phone. A view of a room at The Ritz-Carlton Maldives Fari Islands resort (Supplied by Xu Yitong) She said she felt numb and went blank when he asked her if she wanted to kiss him and forced himself on her after she denied his advances. Ms Xu said he sexually assaulted her before he left. The tourist said she informed the resort staff and called the police who took her statement but did not arrest the accused staff member. I was raped in your hotel and you did nothing. You told me I did this to get a free stay. I paid the full amount to the hotel. Im a Chinese living in Australia, my family is well reputed and rich, she said in a tweet. Ms Xu told The Independent that she has been only contacted by the Chinese embassy in Male so far. The email, seen by The Independent, said the embassy got in touch with the hotel, the deputy minister of tourism, and the police, asking them to take the report seriously and find out the truth. All three sides said they attach great importance to the case and urge the police to investigate it seriously, it said. Ms Xu said: I want justice. Nothing else. I want the perpetrator to be arrested. Till now (I have received) no official statement from Maldives government or tourism ministry or police, she told The Independent. I believe the authorities in Maldives specially the police are trying to cover up the incident, she added. Ms Xu shared the pictures of the bruises from the alleged incident in her Twitter thread. The Ritz-Carlton Maldives Fari Islands said the matter was currently being investigated by police. We take such allegations seriously and this matter is currently with the police. The safety and well-being of our guests and associates are of the utmost importance. We continue to cooperate with the authorities, and are in regular communication with the guest, it said in response to Ms Xus Twitter thread. In a statement to The Independent, the Maldives Police Service denied allegations of a cover-up and said investigations were ongoing. The Maldives Police Service takes all reports of sexual assault very seriously and assures that a thorough investigation is being carried out. The Maldives Police Service would like to strongly deny any allegation of a cover-up or any dereliction of duty in the investigation of the case, it said. Maldives police spokesperson Yoonus Sobah clarified that they were investigating the case on the complaint of sexual assault and not rape. The police said they attended to the incident with forensic teams and collected necessary forensic samples after receiving the complaint. They were now awaiting the results of the analysis of the samples taken from both the victim and the suspect. No person has been arrested so far regarding the incident however we would like to assure you that all necessary investigative actions are being taken by the police for a complete investigation, the statement said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Scores of parents in Taiwan have raised alarm over reports that teachers of a school have been drugging kindergarten students. Local authorities have launched a criminal investigation into claims that teachers at a kindergarten school in Taipei were giving students cough syrups like phenobarbital and benzodiazepines. On Sunday, more than 1,000 parents held a protest at the Civic Plaza outside New Taipei City Hall and demanded transparency. The demonstrating parents said they wanted stricter punishments for child abusers and more comprehensive protection mechanisms at preschools. Reports said the police have not yet ascertained why children were allegedly fed the sedative and often addictive syrups. The kindergarten school at the centre of the controversy, affiliated with the Kid Castle Educational Institute, has been asked by authorities to shut shop. The schools principal and five teachers were arrested and questioned by police, but have since been released on bail, reports said. The directors of the institute have been fined $4,872. Local reports said parents have been protesting outside government buildings demanding transparency into the kindergarten drugs probe. The case first came to light in April and May, when some parents became suspicious that teachers were administering drugs to their children. Parents have since taken their children to hospitals for check-ups and reports said dozens of students tested positive for the drugs. Officials have not revealed the exact number of cases, with some reports saying eight pupils were allegedly drugged, while others said they numbered as many as 20. Taipei Times reported that teachers at the kindergarten centre in New Taipei Citys Banciao district allegedly gave children phenobarbital to make them more compliant. Taipei General Hospital last week said it was adding inspections for phenobarbital and benzodiazepine to standard checks for preschool children. The government has been accused of delaying the investigation into the matter and of having taken more than three weeks after it first received reports of the sedated children. Taiwan Childrens Rights Association director-general Wang Wei-chun organised a Do not drug and harm our children rally over the weekend and demanded transparency from the government. Claire Wang, a local politician from the New Power Party, demanded the city government provide on-campus drug testing and hold consultations with parents. Drugs containing phenobarbital are used to control seizures. Phenobarbital is used to relieve anxiety and works by slowing activity in the brain. According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drugs Addiction, benzodiazepines are widely used in medicine to treat anxiety and insomnia. They act as depressants of the central nervous system. In a separate case on Monday, four doctors in Taiwan were fined for improperly prescribing a barbiturate drug to treat ailments like the common cold, including in infants. If youve seen Black Mirror, youll know it has a thing for twists. Charlie Brookers satirical sci-fi series has established itself as this centurys answer to Tales of the Unexpected: each episode doles out 40 to 90 minutes of grim techno-parable before blam! pulling the rug from beneath you. But even those familiar with Brookers penchant for narrative curveballs will have likely found themselves stumped by Mazey Day, the third episode in an uneven sixth season of Black Mirror, released on Netflix last week. In case the obvious needs stating: spoilers follow. Mazey Day follows Bo (Zazie Beetz), a ruthless paparazzo who decides to quit the trade after the suicide of a celebrity of whom she had sold compromising pictures. After initially putting the sordid racket behind her, Bo is lured back by the promise of one last big scoop: photographs of buzzy young actor Mazey Day (Clara Rugaard), who has disappeared from a film set in the Czech Republic, prompting whispers of scandal and substance abuse. (There are shades of Britney Spears in the presss relentless hounding.) After a tortuous hunt, Bo and a trio of other, even less scrupulous paps, find her at a secluded rehab facility. Coming face to face with the thespian shut away, it is revealed that she is not, in fact, an addict, but a werewolf. An actual, Hammer-horror-style, grab-your-pitchforks-and-silver-bullets werewolf. Who saw that coming? We get a few scenes of B-movie carnage, then, finally, the beast is taken down. Now human and cognisant again, lying in a pool of her own blood, Mazey Day resigns to shoot herself in the head, while Bo stands astride her, capturing everything through the lens. The episode is a tonal and generic departure for Black Mirror, which usually traffics in horrors of an altogether more technological bent. Its also perhaps not unrelatedly one of the series weakest satires. (The moral depravity of paparazzi culture was skewered with far greater insight and invention in the 2014 Jake Gyllenhaal film Nightcrawler.) In the past, Black Mirror has reflected and even anticipated news headlines; here, the story of a media feeding frenzy leading to a celebrity suicide inevitably brings to mind real-life tragedies such as the death of Love Island presenter Caroline Flack. But Black Mirror has nothing substantial to say about cases like these, where 21st-century technology and social media exacerbates the damage of personal struggles. Celebrities, like everyone else, deserve privacy yes. The press can be predatory true. Societys appetite for expose is unhealthy duh. What else is new? Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Dwayne The Rock Johnson has reflected on his complicated relationship" with his late father, professional wrestling champion Rocky Johnson. On Monday (20 June), the actor and WWE star shared a video on Instagram as he explained that there was something he had missed from his Fathers Day post the day prior. In the original post shared on Sunday, Johnson shared a story about the pride he felt when he held his three daughters for the first time. Hours later, Johnson shared a new, more emotional post addressing his relationship with his late father. The Black Adam actor, 51, sympathised with fathers who, like him, do not have the privilege anymore of wishing our own dads happy Fathers Day. Johnson added that the annual day can be tricky to deal with, especially for people who have had difficult relationships with their fathers. Especially if theres a lot of guys out there, like me, who had a tough love, complicated relationship with our fathers, he said. Johnson continued: I had that with my old man, I know a lot of you guys did as well. So its tricky, because theyre not here now and we wish they were. His own father, who was a Canadian pro wrestler and the first African-American WWE tag team champsion, died suddenly aged 75 on 15 January 2020. At the time of his fathers death, Johnson had fallen out with his father and was not speaking to him following the biggest fight during Christmas in 2019. I got in the biggest fight with my old man during Christmas 2019, the biggest fight I ever got in with him in my life, his as well with me. We fought, he explained. We werent talking, or I wasnt talking, and three weeks later he dropped dead, and that was it. I never had a chance to say goodbye and I never even had a chance to reconcile what we were going through. I got goosebumps right now. Johnson then urged his fans to try and reconcile similar relationships and to try and bring it back together. He continued: Do your best to reconcile because the alternative is something could happen and all of a sudden youre writing the eulogy for your dads funeral, like I found myself. "I woke up one day and he was gone, and I had to write that eulogy and deliver it. I dont want that for you guys. After Rocky Johnson retired in 1991, Dwayne continued his wrestling legacy which is where he got his nickname The Rock before becoming an actor. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Love Island star Jessie Wynter has revealed that she was recently rushed to the hospital after her drink was spiked. The 26-year-old took to Instagram on Tuesday to share pictures of herself in the hospital, as she revealed in the caption that she required medical attention after consuming a drink that had been tampered with. As noted by Boston University, drink spiking refers to the placing of drugs in someones beverage without them knowing with the intent of rendering them temporarily incapacited. I wasnt sure if I should post this as I felt so embarrassed but the other night I was unfortunately rushed to hospital after my drink was spiked, Wynter wrote. She went on to express her gratitude for her partner, Will Young, who she met on Love Island, as he looked after [her] throughout the whole time. In the candid post, Wynter also reflected on the scary experience while sending a message to her followers about keeping an eye on their drinks. It was such an awful and scary situation to be in and it breaks my heart that this is something people need to look out for, she wrote. If youre out drinking please always make sure youre with someone who you trust and please be careful when setting your drinks down or accepting drinks off others. Its so sad that this even has to be a reminder but unfortunately its the harsh reality. Wynter, who was on season nine of Love Island UK and season two of Love Island AU, then reflected on her time in the hospital, with the reality star claiming others were also hospitalised in the exact same condition at the same time as her. Im so grateful to have been around so many supportive people who got me safely to hospital, she continued. It was so scary, in the hospital there were other girls arriving in the exact same condition I was in and the nurses said we had all tested with the same thing in our system. In the candid post, Wynter also revealed that shed initally been embarrassed about the experience, before realising that she didnt have anything to feel ashamed of. She also sent a message to others in similar situations whove felt like its their fault. I felt so embarrassed that this had happened to me and felt like this was all my fault and I can imagine others who have been in the same position may feel the same, but this is your reminder that this is not at all your fault and its nothing to be embarrassed about, she wrote. The people that should feel embarrassed and ashamed are the awful people who choose to spike other peoples drinks, not the victim. She concluded her message by thanking her fans and loved ones, writing: Thanks for all the lovely messages and I pray that this doesnt happen to any of you out there. I also send love to anyone else who has been put in the same or worse situations. In response to Wynters post, fellow reality stars and fans have taken to the comments to send messages of support. Please dont feel embarrassed, its not your fault! reality star Sharon Gaffka wrote. The only person who should feel embarrassed is the person who did this to you! Sending you a big hug and Im always here if you need me. Nothing to be embarrassed about Jessie, its happened to me before & its extremely scary! Sending you love, Love Island season nine star Zara Deniz added. Wynters boyfriend wrote: I love you so much!! Nothing to be embarrassed or scared to speak up about - I got you xx. In January 2023, Sharon Gaffka, who also appeared on Love Island UK, published an essay in Glamour UK detailing how shed lost consciousness and required hospitalisation after her drink was spiked. In the essay, she revealed that there were things she couldnt remember from before shed woken up in the hospital, and that shed realised her drink had been spiked after a conversation with a friend. When I was discharged, one of my friends in the waiting room was hysterical - no one had told her where I was or what had happened, she wrote. It wasnt until the next morning, over breakfast, when my friend described witnessing my body lying on the bathroom floor, eyes rolling into the back of my head, struggling to breathe, that I knew I had been spiked. She said that the aftermath of the experience, which occurred in July 2020, was horrible. I didnt want to go out, and I didnt want to talk to anyone. When I did speak to a friend or family member, I felt like I was being interrogated. Did you take a drink from a stranger? Where were you? - as if somehow that wouldve made it my fault. I know it came from a place of concern, but subconsciously I felt like I was being judged, she wrote. Gaffka, who has led campaigns about the dangers of drink spiking, also hit back at some of the assumptions people made about her during nights out. She then sent a reminder to women whose drinks have been spiked that they are not at fault. We all bear some individual responsibility to ensure that we are safe when we are out. But why do women always have to defend themselves? It makes me sad to know that the conversation is still What were you wearing? and Did you cover your drink? she wrote. Despite the trolling and the shaming I face daily as a result of being a spokesperson for victims, I know that it is not my fault, and it will never be my fault. I just wish that I had realised sooner. Studies have been conducted to examine the prevalence of drink spiking in the United States. In a 2016 study, a research team led by Suzanne C Swan, a professor at the University of South Carolina, looked at survey data from 6,064 students at three universities and found that 462 students reported 539 incidents in which they said they had been drugged, while 83 students said either they had drugged someone, or they knew someone who had drugged another person. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not about to sign a mega-bucks deal with Dior, it has been reported. A spokesperson for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has told The Telegraph that rumours regarding a potential partnership with the French luxury fashion house are not true. The publication also quotes a source at Dior as saying that the reports, which dub Meghan the Duchess of Dior, have left the brand nonplussed as to how the story came about. It comes after the Mail on Sunday reported that Meghan is in talks about taking on a deal with Dior, days after streaming giant Spotify ended its US$25m deal with the royal couple. According to the Wall Street Journal, Harry and Meghan did not meet the productivity benchmarks required to receive the full payout from the deal. Under the three-year contract, which was signed in 2020, Meghan only delivered one series of her podcast, Archetypes, consisting of 12 episodes. Archewell Audio, the Sussexes audio production company, announced the companies have mutually agreed to part ways. But Spotify executive Bill Simmons, who hosts The Ringer podcast on the platform, lashed out at Harry and Meghan after the three-year deal came to an end and branded the pair f***ing grifters. Simmons, who is Spotifys Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetisation, is a vocal critic of the Sussexes and previously slammed Harry for whining about s***. A source told the Mail on Sunday that rumours about a deal between Meghan and Dior have been swirling for weeks and have put the gossip mill into overdrive. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attends as members of the Royal Family attend events to mark the centenary of the RAF on July 10, 2018 (Getty Images) Although both Dior and the Sussexes representative have now denied the speculation, a deal between them would not come as a surprise. Both Harry and Meghan are fans of the label and frequently wear Dior designs when attending events. Most recently, Harry wore a bespoke Dior suit to the coronation of his father, King Charles III, in early May, which some critics said was a controversial decision, as a number of other royals opted to wear British designers. Last September, while attending the late Queen Elizabeth IIs funeral, Meghan wore a black hat designed by Stephen Jones for Dior. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attends the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey on May 6, 2023 (Getty Images) According to The Telegraph, a source said that the duke inherited his long-existing relationship with the house from his mother and he likes working with Dior and wearing their clothes. Diana, Princess of Wales, had a close relationship with the label, particularly after her separation from Charles in 1992. The classic Lady Dior bag was named for Dianas title before her marriage into the royal family Lady Diana Spencer. The Independent has contacted representatives for Meghan, Harry and LVMH for comment. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} King Charles III and Queen Camilla heralded a new era for Royal Ascot when they attended the sporting event for the first time in their new roles, wishing racegoers luck. The royal couple swept on to the Berkshire course in the traditional carriage procession, and in a joint foreword for the official programme paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth IIs lifelong interest in Royal Ascot. The couple, both fans of racing, waved to the crowds who filled the grandstand on the first of five days of racing and were joined by the Duke and Duchess of Wellington in their carriage. Behind them travelled the Princess Royal with Camillas younger sister Annabel Elliot, the Queens nephew Sir Ben Elliot, former co-chair of the Conservative Party knighted in Boris Johnsons resignation honours list, and his wife Lady Elliot, daughter of musician Steve Winwood. Charles wore a traditional grey morning suit and a double-breasted waistcoat, as well as a pastel pink tie and a blue patterned pocket square. Meanwhile, Camilla wore an all-white outfit, including a cream coat dress, matching hat and gloves. The late Queen was a passionate racehorse breeder and had more than 20 Royal Ascot winners during her 70-year reign, and in memory of her commitment to the event the Platinum Jubilee Stakes has been renamed the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee stakes. Before the carriage rides possession footage from the Queens most memorable Royal Ascot moments was played on the big screens and was applauded by the crowds at the end. Charles and his wife, who have taken on the late monarchs thoroughbreds, will be carrying on her tradition and have entered a string of horses over the next five days. The official programme featured Charles and Camillas intertwined cyphers on the cover and in their joint foreword said: We are happy in the knowledge that this historic race meeting continues to be a key influence on the global racing and breeding industries. The royal meeting always played a central role in her late majesty Queen Elizabeths calendar and the naming of the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes will be a most appropriate way to mark this lifelong interest. Queen Camilla attends day one of Royal Ascot 2023 at Ascot Racecourse on June 20, 2023 (Chris Jackson/Getty Images) A photographic exhibition in the Grandstand will also celebrate the late Queens close association with Royal Ascot, including images of some of her 24 winners. We are sure that this exhibition will prompt many happy memories. They went on to say: Finally, we wish the very best of good fortune to all the owners, breeders, trainers, jockeys and hardworking stable staff with runners this week. It is a huge and rare achievement to have a runner at Royal Ascot and we very much hope that you all enjoy the experience. Royal Ascot starts today (Tuesday 20 June) and will run until Ladies Day on Friday (23 June). An estimated 300,000 people are expected to attend the event, including British and foreign royals, as well as celebrities. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could be taking on a new role with Dior, only days after Spotify ended its deal with the California-based royal couple. It was reported this week that Duchess of Sussex is in talks about taking on a new partnership with the luxury fashion brand. The Mail on Sunday asked if she was about to become the mega-bucks Duchess of Dior. However, a spokesperson for the Sussexes has told The Telegraph that the rumours are not true. A source at Dior was also quoted by the publication as saying that the French fashion house is nonplussed as to how the story came about. It comes after Archewell Audio announced that Spotify and Archewell Audio have mutually agreed to part ways, after producing the first season of Meghans podcast, Archetypes. Rumours that Meghan could becoming the face of the French couture house have been swirling around LA, the Mail reported. There have been rumours for weeks that shes about to sign a deal with Dior which has put the gossip mill into overdrive, a source told the publication, adding that if Meghan pulls that off, then no one will remember her podcast being cancelled. Meghans team at her talent agency, William Morris Endeavor (WME), knew the Spotify announcement was coming, it reported. It might be a shock to everyone else but weve been working on rebranding Meghan for weeks, the source claimed, before adding that the chief of the talent agency, Ari Emanuel, is the best in the business when it comes to managing corporate deals. Hes excited to be representing Meghan and has thrown all this energy into it, the source from WME claimed, before alleging that offers have been pouring in from other podcast platforms to sign with Meghan. On Twitter, many people have criticised the possible partnership between Dior and Meghan. Some claimed that the brand should stick with the ambassadors they already have, while others questioned the timing of this alleged deal, since the couple just ended their partnership with Spotfiy. And why, oh why, would you sign Harry and Meghan when you already have Grace Kellys grandson Pierre Casiraghi and his wife, who is an Italian aristocracy, Beatrice Borromeo already serving as ambassadors, one wrote. She looks divine in Dior!! The #Dior thing is a PR tactic to distract from their getting booted, cancelled, fired from Spotify, another claimed. And to distract from the fact they were promptly called out for exactly what they are. F***ing grifters. However, other people defended the fashion house and duke and duchess, with claims that the pair could help boost sales. Dior deals in facts. They saw the trend, if Meghan wears an item, then it immediately sells out, one wrote. Haters deal in lies and not facts because they dont live in reality. Meghan and Harry are good people that have a mob of people hating them based on nothing but jealousy. Both classy and naturally beautiful people inside and out. They just keep climbing the ladder, another added. Funny thing is. The haters comment so much about them wearing Dior has put Dior on top. The more they talk the more Meghan keeps moving up. After Spotify split with Harry and Meghan, ending their $20m deal, a leading Spotify figure didnt hesitate to lash out at the couple. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive at the United Nations Headquarters on July 18, 2022 in New York City (Getty Images) On Friday, Bill Simmons, who sold The Ringer to Spotify for $200m in 2020 and is now an influential executive there, slammed the Sussexes on his own podcast. The f***ing grifters. Thats the podcast we shoulda launched with them, he said. I gotta get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea, he added. Its one of my best stories. Regarding why the couple ended the deal with Spotify, the Wall Street Journal also reported on Friday that they havent met the productivity benchmarks required to receive the full payout from the deal, citing insiders familiar with the matter. Under the terms of the 2020 deal, Harry and Meghan were signed on to produce and host programming that uplifts and entertains audiences around the world in the form of podcasts that championed diverse voices. Meghan only delivered 12 episodes of Archetypes since she and Harry partnered with Spotify. Meanwhile, the couple have shown their support for Dior on multiple occasions. At King Charles IIIs coronation in May, Harry wore a bespoke suit designed by the fashion house. At the time, the brand tweeted that it had dressed the duke in a custom design by celebrity favourite British-born Kim Jones, saying to do so was an honour. Back in 2021, Meghan attended the Global Citizen Concert in New York City with a black Lady D-Lite purse by Dior in her hand. The Dior Lady D-Lite Bag, which is the sister bag of the Lady Dior handbag, was also named after Prince William and Harrys late mother, Diana. Meghans outing with the purse also appeared to boost sales. At the time, royal expert Omid Scobie noted that hours after it was posted, the Medium Lady D-Lite Bag, which retails for $4,900, had sold out on Diors website . The Independent has contacted representatives for Meghan, Harry, and LVMH, the owner of the Dior, for comment. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} This is a bit intimate, perhaps, but between you and me: a few months ago, out of the blue, I started having problems climaxing during sex. It wasnt bugging me particularly, but everyone likes a nice conclusive ending to things. I was living healthily and my head seemed happy and uncluttered with no obvious signs of stress or anxiety. So I googled around the subject (Im having problems coming during sex, why cant I ejaculate?) for about 10 minutes one evening, and then got distracted, moved on and went to bed. From the next day onwards, I was under siege. I started getting repeated adverts for testosterone-checking kits and testosterone supplements on social media and elsewhere online. I initially tittered at the overdramatic stock pictures used to get my attention, often of a man cradling his head in a despairing, woe-is-me pose (its treatable, chill dude). But very quickly the adverts seemed to gain momentum. It felt like they were aggressively competing for my attention ironic, given that testosterone is regarded as a hormone that exists to encourage cisgender men like me to procreate, by being competitive and aggressive to love rivals. Taken as a treatment (either injections or a gel, which can cost up to around 30 a month), its said to help with things beyond sex, such as fatigue. Actor and TV personality Ayda Field revealed in 2018 that her husband Robbie Williams had the testosterone levels of an 80-year-old man, and that injections had freed him from depression. Testosterone exists in small amounts in most women, just as oestrogen exists in small amounts in most men. High levels of oestrogen in men can also cause related sexual issues, but of course I didnt get any adverts for oestrogen-checking kits. Ultimately, this is about retail, and testosterone has quite an incredible, all-conquering brand a fact referenced in the title of philosopher and science writer Cordelia Fines 2017 book Testosterone Rex. Its the Marlboro Red of hormones. I definitely didnt feel like I had a waning libido, but I couldnt provide hard data. So, I caved. For the first time ever (OK, second damn those irresistible sunset lamps of 2021), an advert on social media something cravenly tailored to my intimate needs through a nefarious system of data brokers groomed me into being an obedient chump of capitalism. I splashed out around 30 on a testing kit that measured my testosterone levels. It was a simple blood test, much like an STI testing kit. Easy peasy, once you ace how to milk the blood from a fingerprick into a 450mm microtainer. One reason I folded was out of an almost grudging respect for the adverts tenacity. The sheer force of these ads made me appreciate a very modern truth: someone had gone to great lengths to try to monetise my inability to ejaculate. I dont know why I was surprised: female friends have told me for ages about being trapped in a loop of adverts for fertility checkers or collagen products. But I also got it done because I was interested in apologies for the lofty language having a conversation with my testosterone, the way a lot of my peers currently do. No, not men. By and large, men seldom have to think about testosterone even during puberty, when testosterone rates shoot up about 30 times higher than previously (and we tend to get 30 times smellier). No, in my head were the small handful of people in my life transitioning from female to male, for whom testosterone arguably means a whole lot more. In the past few years, Ive casually dated a few people who are transitioning from female to male. I was lucky enough to see small parts of very big journeys, happening to people who were lucky enough to be taking a life-affirming hormone that despite the often short supplies worked for them really well. T, as its colloquially known, is a wonder drug. Seeing someone delight in growing hairs in new places, vocal tones lowering even sexual behaviours changing really exposes you to the power of T. Yes, it can slowly transform a body (it can make fat sit in different places around the body, even in the face) but it can also transform a persons spirit and soul too. Remember the woe-is-me man from the online adverts gender dysphoria tends to create a despair that I suspect that guy could barely conceive of. I initially tittered at the overdramatic stock pictures used to get my attention, often of a man cradling his head in a despairing, woe-is-me pose (iStock) Anyway, with a rather delicious irony, my test result came back and it was quite literally an anticlimax. It turns out I actually have quite a high level of testosterone, thank you very much. Im absolutely jacked up to the eyeballs with the stuff. Its a miracle I dont secrete a natural ooze of testosterone whenever I walk, like a passing slug. Lovely. But what does it mean? And what does it matter? In the realm of malehood, it provokes a rather poised question: does my high testosterone define me as a manly man, even if I was struggling to do the archetypical manly deed? The problem went away, by the way upon closer introspection, I realised looking back that I was broke, tired, had family problems and was worried about 77 tiny things that seemed to loom way larger than Id realised. Having gone through the testing malarkey, I realised how little I care about the idea of testosterone. Nobody should feel anxiety or shame that they sit low or high on a scale of anything, which is the appeal of these adverts. Were each just our own unique mix of hormones. The ads I was getting feel pernicious to me today, because they prey on a monetisable insecurity of men, using a framework we all maybe naively buy into. Good mental health clearly trumps having a high testosterone count, and that should have been my priority all along. Im just glad Im not doing anything too anxiety-inducing anymore like telling a load of strangers about my sexual... Oh. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A senator invited the International Criminal Court to investigate what Australian military commanders knew about war crime allegations in Afghanistan in a bid pressure Australia into launching its own review. Sen. Jacqui Lambie, an influential independent legislator, sent an Article 15 Communication to the Hague-based court Tuesday because she argues military commanders have not been held accountable for their soldiers alleged war crimes. The government is, no doubt, hoping this will all just go away. Theyre hoping that Australians will forget that when alleged war crimes in Afghanistan were investigated, our senior commanders got a free pass, while our Diggers were thrown under the bus, Lambie told Senate. Digger is a colloquialism for Australian soldier. There is a culture of cover-up at the highest levels of the Australian Defense Force. It is the ultimate boys club, added Lambie, a former army corporal. The ICC has an obligation to prosecute war crimes committed by Rome Statute signatories, including Australia, when such a state is unwilling or unable to prosecute, according to the Australian government. Australia has avoided ICC involvement so far by launching its own war crime investigation under Maj. Gen. Paul Brereton, a judge and army reservist. Breretons report, released in 2020 after a four-year investigation, found evidence that Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and civilians. The report recommended 19 current and former elite soldiers face criminal investigation. The first criminal charge for an alleged illegal killing in Afghanistan was laid in March. Former Special Air Service Regiment trooper Oliver Schulz, 41, was charged with the war crime of murder in the death of an Afghan who was shot in 2012 in a wheat field in Uruzgan province. Ben Roberts-Smith, Australias most highly decorated member of the armed services when he left the SAS in 2013, is also under police investigation. The 44-year-old former corporal, who was awarded the Victoria Cross and the Medal for Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan, lost a defamation case June 1 when the Federal Court found war crime allegations against him published in newspapers, including four unlawful killings, were true. Lambies lawyer, Glenn Kolomeitz, said there was a place for an ICC investigation because Brereton had not investigated the role of commanding officers in the alleged war crimes. The ICC could find that commanding officers knew or should have known of illegal conduct, Kolomeitz said. Kolomeitz hoped the ICC involvement would prompt Australia to extend its own war crime investigation to commanders. The onus will then be on the Australian government to give some serious consideration as to why Australia has not investigated command responsibility aspects of the Afghanistan allegations and what were going to do about it, Kolomeitz told reporters. He said Australian officers being tried in The Hague was an unlikely outcome, unless the government prolonged its inaction and the ICC found it necessary. Our intent is to get us, Australia, to properly investigate allegations of criminality, he added. Defense Minister Richard Marles said whether the ICC launched its own investigation was a question for the ICC. Ultimately thats a matter for the ICC. What I can tell you is what the Australian government is doing. We regard this very seriously. We will seek to implement the Brereton report to the fullest possible extent, Marles told reporters Brereton made several recommendations about command accountability in his report. Defense Force Chief Angus Campbell also made recommendations about officer accountability, which reached Marles desk. Marles said he was seeking advice before implementing those recommendations. Allegations that are at the heart of this are very serious and very grave, but through the recommendations of the Brereton report our government will ensure that we make this right, Marles said. More than 39,000 Australian military personnel served in Afghanistan during the 20 years until the 2021 withdrawal, and 41 were killed there. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Misogynist influencer Andrew Tate and his brother have been charged in Romania with human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. The pair are accused, along with two Romanian women, of tricking seven alleged victims with false declarations of love and transporting them to take part in pornography. The women were allegedly controlled by intimidation, constant surveillance and claims they were in debt, prosecutors said. Prosecutors accuse Andrew Tate, 36, of raping one of the alleged victims, while Tristan, 34, is charged with instigating others to violence. The brothers so far vehemently deny the accusations. Andrew and Tristan Tate have been charged with human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women (EPA) Under Romanian law, a judge has up to 60 days to assess the files in the case before defendants are sent to trial. Mateea Petrescu, a spokesperson for the brothers, said they were prepared to demonstrate their innocence and vindicate their reputation at a hearing in Bucharest on Wednesday morning. Tates legal team are prepared to cooperate fully with the appropriate authorities, presenting all necessary evidence to exonerate the brothers and expose any misinterpretations or false accusations, Petrescu said. Prosecutors ordered the confiscation of the Tate brothers assets, including 15 luxury cars, luxury watches and about $3m in cryptocurrency. Several women in Britain also are pursuing civil claims to obtain damages from Tate, alleging they were victims of sexual violence. In a recent interview with the BBC, Tate denied spreading a culture of misogyny and accusations that he manipulated women for financial gain. The former kickboxers, who have US and British nationality with millions of online followers, are the highest profile suspects to be sent to trial in Romania for human trafficking. Andrew Tate was also a contestant on the UK reality show Big Brother and gained notoriety for misogynistic remarks and hate speech. His views got him banned from all major social media platforms, although his Twitter account became active again in November after Elon Musk acquired the platform and has grown an audience of more than 4.5 million followers. Campaigners told The Independent the influencer is a legitimising force for misogynistic ideas. It comes as YouGov data seen by The Independent reveals that 26 per cent of men in the UK aged between 18 and 29 who had heard of Tate agreed with his opinions on women. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Britain's foreign secretary James Cleverly and US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, held a press conference in London to discuss the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The pair discussed rallying international support to help Ukraine recover from the severe impact of the Russian invasion. Mr Blinken travelled to London on Tuesday, 20 June, from Beijing, where he is due to meet with his British and Ukrainian counterparts ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference. After bilateral talks with his counterpart, Mr Blinken will also meet with Ukrainian's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba. For World Refugee Day, both officials toured a centre in London set up to help Ukrainians who fled the war adapt to life in Britain. Secretary Blinken recently returned from a visit to China to speak with President Xi Jinping. Britain and Ukraine are co-hosting the conference taking place between Wednesday and Thursday. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Lockdown parties in Downing Street were exceptionally disappointing and the leadership in No 10 set the tone for behaviour, a former official responsible for civil service staff during the pandemic has told MPs. Rupert McNeil, who was government chief people officer until April 2022, was questioned on lockdown parties in Downing Street following the Privileges Committees finding that Boris Johnson lied to Parliament over the gatherings. Appearing before the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, he said: That whole episode is exceptionally disappointing about what happened in a very small part of our service that does not reflect the incredible hard work that was happening in many other parts of it. It is absolutely clear that in any organisation the tone is set from the very top, whether thats the political leadership or the management leadership. The fortunate thing now is that at the permanent secretary level in Government you have a group of leaders who are among the best in the world. He also addressed criticisms of the civil service as a blob, a term which has been used by supporters of Mr Johnson who claim it was responsible for the former prime ministers downfall. Mr McNeil said perceptions that the civil service is a malevolent force which hinders policy delivery and reform are a symptom of the Government machinery failing to adapt to the challenges of the 21st century. Mr McNeil suggested frustration among ministers is caused by their struggle to exert control over the complex system covering Whitehall and beyond. He also highlighted the failure of functions in No 10 to effectively coordinate activity across departments as a root cause of friction. He said: One of the sources of frustration is particularly the extent to which from the Cabinet, and as a minister around the Cabinet table, you can then exert control onto this very distributed and complex system. If I were to say there was one area in government that needs a good look, it is what happens at the very centre at No 10 and the secretariats and the way in which they operate because they are the programme management office of government. Mr McNeil added that Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic necessitated stronger coordination across the civil service and political leadership. But he suggested since then centrifugal forces had reasserted themselves to loosen central control, giving rise to accusations that the civil service is stifling policy implementation. We still don't have what is needed to deal with, frankly, the horrendous challenges of the 21st century. Rupert McNeil Although we made great progress during the Brexit and Covid periods in improving capability, we still dont have what is needed to deal with, frankly, the horrendous challenges of the 21st century. [The system] is not responsive enough, he added. When pressed by the committees Conservative chair William Wragg on whether he believes the blob is a myth, Mr McNeil said: The extent that one thought there was a blob it is a symptom of other issues and symptoms which are not surprising in such a large, complex system. Identifying what else is lacking in the Whitehall system, Mr McNeil said the Governments risk management function is too focused on national security and defence rather than domestic issues. He added: The minister is responsible for that area and who would be responsible for risk management day-to-day, but then the second line of defence is the people who challenge that. That is a function that is currently missing. Questioned on high-profile examples of ministers being found to have bullied staff, most recently former deputy prime minister Dominic Raab, Mr McNeil played down the scale of the problem. He said: I think it is an overstated issue. I think if you have people who are confident in their roles and able to assert their position and say that behaviour is unacceptable, you quite quickly see the type of culture you want. Mr McNeil added that the distinction between bullying and abrasive behaviour is an important distinction. He said: I think one of the problems that occurs is that, in many cases, you have people in senior positions civil servants and ministers going into these roles who perhaps havent had the line management training and experience that they should have done. That would have made them realise that that behaviour is counterproductive. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will pledge to stand with Ukraine as long as it takes as he announces three billion US dollars (2.35 billion) in bank loan guarantees to bolster Kyivs rebuild. Opening a major conference in London focused on Ukraines recovery after Russias invasion, Mr Sunak will hail the countrys defiance as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskys troops use a counter-offensive to push back the Kremlins forces. He will announce a financial package that includes World Bank loan guarantees worth three billion US dollars over three years. Downing Street said the guarantees amount to the first bilateral package of multi-year fiscal assistance to be set out by a G7 country. Well stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes as they continue to win this war Prime Minister Rishi Sunak The funding is expected to support public services, including the cost of running schools and hospitals. To mark the two-day summit, hundreds of companies, including British venture Virgin and US bank Citi, have signed up to back Ukraines recovery and reconstruction. In pre-briefed comments, Mr Sunak will tell the Ukraine Recovery Conference on Wednesday: As weve seen in Bakhmut and Mariupol, what Russia cannot take it will seek to destroy. They want to do the same to Ukraines economy. The scale of the challenge is real. The war brought a 29% fall in Ukraines GDP last year, but just look at the streets of Kyiv, despite the threat of attack, people are getting on with their lives and getting on with business. President Zelenskys government is determined to drive reforms to become more open, more transparent and ready for investment. This is a vibrant, dynamic, creative, European country that refuses to be subdued. So, together with our allies we will maintain our support for Ukraines defence and for the counter-offensive, and well stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes as they continue to win this war. With this support, we will keep delivering and help Ukrainians imagine a life after the war Ajay Banga, World Bank Group president Im proud that today were announcing a multiyear commitment to support Ukraines economy, and over the next three years, we will provide loan guarantees worth three billion dollars. Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank Group, said: The UK Governments generous guarantees to the World Bank Group will support the people of Ukraine at a critical moment. The World Bank Group is designed to do hard things like helping people rebuild their lives after devastation. With this support, we will keep delivering on that mission and help Ukrainians imagine a life after the war. On top of the loan guarantees, Mr Sunak will also announce a commitment of up to 250 million of new capital for British International Investment, the UKs development finance institution. No 10 said the money will support private sector investment in major infrastructure projects, energy markets, financial services and agriculture across Ukraine. World businesses are also involved in recovery efforts, with more than 400 companies from 38 countries, with a combined annual revenue said to be more than 1.6 trillion dollars (1.25 trillion), pledging to back Ukraines rebuild as part of the summit. Major conglomerates, international corporations and retail chains are among those who have signed up to the Ukraine Business Compact, with Virgin, Sanofi, Philips, Hyundai Engineering and Citi among those involved. The Prime Minister will also use the summit to announce the London Conference Framework for War Risk Insurance, which is set to receive G7 backing. As part of its plan to deliver on the framework, the UK is releasing up to 20 million of funding for the Multilateral Investment Guarantees Agency to provide guarantees and insurance for reconstruction projects while the conflict is still going on. Britains funding efforts are in addition to a 240 million boost in UK aid for Ukraine this year, No 10 said. Addressing the conference, Mr Sunak is expected to add: Well stand with Ukraine as they win the peace and harness all their ingenuity and defiance to build the future they deserve. The question for us today is what can we do to support this to fast-track recovery and help Ukraine unleash its potential? We must bring to bear a partnership of governments, international financial institutions and business leaders, all of us here today, to make this happen. The British Government will continue to play its full part. Mr Zelensky is scheduled to address the conference virtually on Wednesday, while Ukraines prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, will give a keynote speech. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A paranoid schizophrenic who killed three elderly men but was acquitted of murder by reason of insanity is embroiled in a compensation fight. Former scaffolder Alexander Lewis-Ranwell, from Croyde, Devon, battered Anthony Payne, 80, with a hammer, and bludgeoned 84-year-old twins Dick and Roger Carter with a shovel, in Exeter, Devon, in February 2019. He was cleared of murder after a trial at Exeter Crown Court in November 2019. Lewis-Ranwell, who was 28 at the time of the Exeter Crown Court trial, has sued G4S Health Services (UK), Devon & Cornwall Police, Devon Partnership NHS Trust and Devon County Council alleging that all four were negligent in their treatment of him. G4S, the trust and the council asked a High Court judge to strike out common law claims made against them but Mr Justice Garnham refused their applications. Lawyers representing the three organisations on Tuesday challenged Mr Justice Garnhams decision at a Court of Appeal hearing in London. Appeal judges Dame Victoria Sharp, Lord Justice Underhill, and Lady Justice Andrews are scheduled to consider legal arguments over two days. Mrs Justice May, the judge who oversaw Lewis-Ranwells trial at Exeter Crown Court, had made a hospital order. She said Lewis-Ranwell would be cared for in hospital with a restriction order and would not be allowed into the community until the agencies were absolutely content that it was safe for him to be released. Lawyers told appeal judges that Lewis-Ranwell had been ordered to be detained at Broadmoor Hospital, in Crowthorne Berkshire, under the terms of mental health legislation. Police at the scene in Exeter Barrister Andrew Warnock KC, who is leading the councils legal team, told appeal judges that Lewis-Ranwell had brought proceedings at common law and under human rights legislation. He said Lewis-Ranwell alleged that the four organisations were liable to compensate him for the consequences of the killing on the grounds that they had been negligent in their treatment of him. Mr Warnock said G4S, the trust and the council had made applications to strike out the common law claims. He told appeal judges, in a written argument, that the litigation raised an issue of wider public importance and added: It raises an important question of whether those who have killed others but are not guilty by reason of insanity may sue mental health authorities for the consequences of the killings by reason of deficiencies in the care they received. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A paranoid schizophrenic who killed three elderly men but was cleared of murder by reason of insanity has taken legal action after trial jurors raised concern about failings in care, appeal judges have been told. Former scaffolder Alexander Lewis-Ranwell, 32, from Croyde, Devon, was acquitted of murder after a trial at Exeter Crown Court in November 2019. Jurors heard how he had battered Anthony Payne, 80, with a hammer, and bludgeoned 84-year-old twins Dick and Roger Carter with a shovel, in Exeter, Devon, in February 2019. Lewis-Ranwell, who is detained in a specialist hospital, has sued G4S Health Services (UK), Devon & Cornwall Police, Devon Partnership NHS Trust and Devon County Council, alleging that all four were negligent in their treatment of him. All four organisations dispute his claim, and three appeal judges are considering the latest stage of the litigation at a Court of Appeal hearing in London. G4S, the trust and the council had asked a High Court judge to strike out common law claims made against them but Mr Justice Garnham had refused their applications. Lawyers representing those three organisations are challenging Mr Justice Garnhams decision at the appeal hearing. A barrister leading Lewis-Ranwells legal team on Tuesday told appeal judges Dame Victoria Sharp, Lord Justice Underhill, and Lady Justice Andrews that jurors had raised concern at the end of the Exeter Crown Court trial. Selena Plowden KC explained, in a written case outline, how jurors had given a note to trial judge Mrs Justice May referring to failings in care. The judge read the note in open court, which stated: We the jury have been concerned about the state of psychiatric provision in our county of Devon. Can we be assured that the failings in care for ALR (Lewis-Ranwell) will be appropriately addressed following this trial? said Ms Plowden. The claimant brought claims against the defendants concerning those failings. Ms Plowden said claims involved allegations of inadequate provision of mental health services in police custody between February 8 and 10 2019. She told appeal judges: As a consequence of the alleged systematic and individual failings, the claimant was not assessed under the Mental Health Act and, despite warnings that he posed a risk to the safety of others, he was released from custody (twice) and, within hours, went on to kill three innocent men while acting under delusions. Barrister Andrew Warnock KC, who is leading the councils legal team, told appeal judges that Lewis-Ranwell alleged that all four organisations were liable to compensate him for the consequences of the killing on the grounds that they had been negligent in their treatment of him. He said, in a written argument, that the litigation raised an issue of wider public importance and added: It raises an important question of whether those who have killed others but are not guilty by reason of insanity may sue mental health authorities for the consequences of the killings by reason of deficiencies in the care they received. Lord Justice Underhill suggested that Lewis-Ranwells compensation claim could continue, under human rights legislation, even if the appeal was successful. Lawyers said, outside court, that the human rights aspect of the claim could continue even if the common law claims were blocked. The appeal hearing is due to end on Wednesday. Mrs Justice May had made a hospital order after the Exeter Crown Court trial. She said Lewis-Ranwell would be cared for in hospital with a restriction order and would not be allowed into the community until the agencies were absolutely content that it was safe for him to be released. Lawyers told appeal judges that Lewis-Ranwell had been ordered to be detained at Broadmoor Hospital, in Crowthorne, Berkshire, under the terms of mental health legislation. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A mother who killed her newborn son by smothering him with cling film has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail. Ineta Dzinguviene, 38, was sentenced by Lady Poole at the High Court in Glasgow on Tuesday after she pleaded guilty to culpable homicide on the basis of diminished responsibility at an earlier hearing in Edinburgh. Paulius was just hours old when Dzinguviene placed a piece of cling film over his mouth and smothered him to death at her home in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, in April 2010. She had previously been convicted of murdering him following trial and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 15 years in jail in 2011, but this conviction was quashed in March by the appeal court. The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission had referred her case to the appeal court after fresh evidence was obtained about her mental state at the time of her sons death, which showed she suffered from complex post-traumatic stress disorder after suffering years of domestic and sexual abuse. She has now effectively served her sentence, which was backdated to when she was first remanded in custody on April 15, 2010. Although your culpability at the time of your offending was diminished by your mental state, the harm you caused was extreme. Killing a defenceless baby is behaviour which society cannot tolerate Lady Poole However, she faces a 15-year prison sentence in her native Lithuania for killing her newborn daughter Paulina in 2009 by wrapping her in a plastic bag and placing her in a cupboard. At the sentencing on Tuesday, Lady Poole told the court: You had an upbringing characterised by neglect, and then a troubled marriage. The judge said she had taken into account a criminal justice social work report and everything said in Dzinguvienes defence. Lady Poole continued: You have had a very difficult life. In particular, your treatment at the hands of others prior to being imprisoned makes difficult reading. You have various issues with your health. You have been in custody since 15 April 2010. In prison you have engaged well, including with programmes offered to you. Although your culpability at the time of your offending was diminished by your mental state, the harm you caused was extreme. You took the life of your son Paulius. He was a newborn baby. You deprived your son of his life and all he could have been. After you killed Paulius, you hid his body in a bag amongst rubbish in the common stairway where you lived. Killing a defenceless baby is behaviour which society cannot tolerate. You must be punished for what you did. Close Police at the scene in Bedfont, Hounslow where a three-year-old boy and a girl, 11, are among four people who have been found dead in a flat in west London For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A murder investigation has been launched after the bodies of a family of four were discovered at a home in Hounslow. A post-mortem examination gave Monika Wlodarczyks cause of death as multiple sharp force injuries. Her body was found alongside her husband and two children after police forced entry when concerns were raised for their welfare. The Met Police were contacted by 11-year-old Majas school at 3.12pm on Friday, June 16, after she failed to attend school for four days and family members failed to respond to messages. She was found dead alongside her younger brother Dawid, three, and parents, Michal Wlodarczyk, 39, and Monika, 35, with the date of their deaths unknown. Michals cause of death as sharp force injuries to his neck, while post-mortem examinations into the deaths of Maja and Dawid are due to be held on Wedensday. Tributes have poured in over the weekend to the family while police have confirmed they are not currently seeking anybody else in connection with the deaths. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A victim of the Nottingham attacks who was left fighting for life after being hit by a van does not recognise his own family yet, his brother has revealed. Wayne Birkett, 60, suffered severe head injuries and broke multiple bones when he was struck by a van in the town centre. The Leeds United fan had been travelling to work when he was mowed down at around 5.30am on June 13. He is now awake and speaking but is struggling to remember his loved ones, with his son Jordan keeping a constant vigil at his bedside. Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live, his brother Shaun Birkett said: "Since the first night I went down, he looks 99 per cent better. But the only problem is that theyre worried about his head. "It broke his pelvis, his collarbone and some ribs but they can only X-ray him tomorrow. Hes awake and conscious but sometimes we dont know what hes talking about. Forensics officers searched a white van on the corner of Maples Street that was allegedly used in the attacks (PA Wire) "He doesnt know us, he doesnt know his dad or his little brother, but Im sure hell get better, thats what theyre saying. Weve just got to keep talking to him and reminding him of things. "But Im okay, Ive had my cries, from seeing him from the first time to now, Ive seen the improvements so Im feeling more positive myself. Im just praying there are no long [term] effects." Mr Birkett was one of three pedestrians struck by the van on Milton Street during the attacks which left three others dead. Triple murder suspect Valdo Calocane a former University of Nottingham student - appeared in court on Saturday over the knife and van attacks. The 31-year-old is accused of murdering first-year students Grace OMalley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber and school caretaker Ian Coates in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Calocane is also alleged to have attempted to murder three pedestrians, Mr Birkett, Marcin Gawronski and Sharon Miller, after Mr Coates van was used to drive at people in Milton Street and Upper Parliament Street. Ms Miller and Mr Garwonski also suffered injuries but have since been released from hospital. Valdo Calocane at an earlier court appearance (Elizabeth Cook/PA) (PA Wire) Mr Birketts brother added: Ive never been through this, I dont know how hes going to survive if he gets out and if hes going to be alright. Weve just got to keep our fingers crossed, I suppose. Weve had some good support. A relative has now launched a GoFundMe page to help raise money to support his recovery. In a statement under the GoFundMe post, Jennifer Crowden wrote: We as a family are asking for support and help for Wayne Birkett who was hit by the van in the Nottingham disaster, as you can appreciate Wayne is going to need a lot of help in his recovery and he could be off work for months or even if he will be able to return to work, with the cost of living and how things are these days any help and support would be greatly appreciated. Calocane, who gave his name as Adam Mendes, appeared in the dock at Nottingham Magistrates Court on Saturday wearing a grey T-shirt and grey jogging bottoms, and flanked by three security officers. The defendant, who remained calm throughout the hearing, spoke only to confirm his name as Adam Mendes, his date of birth and that he was of no fixed abode, and was not required to enter any pleas to the charges. Close David Cameron tells Covid Inquiry his government spent more time on pandemic flu Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Austerity had a positive effect on the UKs ability to withstand the Covid-19 pandemic, former chancellor George Osborne has claimed. In his witness statement submitted to the Covid inquiry, Mr Osborne said austerity had a positive effect because it meant public finances recovered. Reducing the deficit and placing debt as a percentage of GDP on a downward path was also essential to rebuild fiscal space to provide scope to respond to future economic shocks, Mr Osborne said. I have no doubt that taking those steps to repair the UKs public finances in the years following the financial crisis of 2008/09 had a material and positive effect on the UKs ability to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, he continued. George Osborne is giving evidence to the Covid inquiry today after a doctors union said the former chancellor must be taken to task over austerity-era decisions that left us so unprepared for the pandemic. It comes after David Cameron said he is desperately sorry for the loss of life during the pandemic on Monday. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Predatory sexual behaviour and casual sexism is tolerated in the UKs National Crime Agency (NCA), a watchdog has found. The body, sometimes described as Britains FBI, is responsible for the fight against organised crime and also leads large-scale investigations into grooming gangs and international paedophile rings. Probing the NCAs record on vetting and corruption for the first time since a wave of horrific criminal cases and damning reports into British policing, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary found examples of senior officers with multiple allegations against them being allowed to remain. A report published on Thursday warned that toxic male cultures were being tolerated because women are outnumbered and fear the stigma and repercussions of speaking out. The watchdog found that cases of proven sexual misconduct did not always result in sackings, adding: We found examples of first written warnings being given for predatory sexual behaviour. We dont support the rationale for this leniency. In other cases, men received written warnings for misconduct and then were allowed to return to the same team. The report said that while junior NCA officers were usually suspended immediately if suspected of sexual misconduct, senior officers were not. We found examples of officers more senior than their victims, with multiple allegations against them, being moved to other departments, it added. This might, in part, explain the results of the staff and culture surveys and our interviews, all of which reveal a lack of confidence in reporting issues to senior managers. The report said that an undisclosed NCA unit had an old boys network where a member of staff alleged that if one of their boys was accused of improper behaviour, it would be brushed under the carpet. A staff survey showed that women didnt feel they would be protected if they reported prejudicial or improper behaviour, and 34 per cent of victims felt they had been punished for reporting. More widely, the inspectorate found that casual sexism was still tolerated in the NCA, with women sometimes being given certain roles on operations because of their gender. The report said women were still subject to sexist comments in the office and on informal WhatsApp groups, including some containing senior leaders. Worryingly, these individuals arent only failing to challenge poor behaviour in some cases, they join in with it, the watchdog warned. David Carrick: Rishi Sunak says police 'must address failings' to protect women There are pockets of bad behaviour across the organisation that are known to leaders and staff but havent been tackled. The teams and units where this poor behaviour occurs have been revealed in previous misconduct investigations, referred to in the culture and staff surveys, and are widely discussed among staff. HM Inspectorate of Constabulary made 19 recommendations on sexism, corruption and wider vetting issues, and called for action on concerning examples of prejudicial and improper behaviour in some units and teams. It warned: In many of the recent high-profile cases involving police officers, there has been an underlying tolerance of unacceptable behaviour, often badged as just banter. The agency must make sure that behaviours like these arent tolerated in its own ranks. The NCA said its own checks had found only one incident where a written warning had been issued for predatory sexual behaviour, rather than the multiple cases suggested by the inspectorate, and said steps were being taken to ensure it could not happen again. It said guidance had been issued on messaging, and that a confidential reporting tool for staff to report concerns about colleagues would be created. Graeme Biggar, director of the NCA, said: The report finds that most of our officers are professional and our culture is generally positive and inclusive. But it also identifies pockets of bad behaviour and casual sexism, and that we have not provided the leadership to ensure they are tackled. These findings cause me deep discomfort, and I apologise to officers, particularly female officers, that we have let down, through the conduct of their colleagues, through our leadership, or through inconsistencies in our disciplinary outcomes. Mr Biggar, the former director for national security at the Home Office, said he was determined to set high standards and root out unacceptable behaviour. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The new police probe into further potential breaches of Covid laws at Downing Street, Chequers, inside parliament and the Conservative Party headquarters is likely to cause Rishi Sunak a headache for some time. It includes more gatherings attended by Boris Johnson while he was prime minister, and a Christmas party where Tory staffers were invited to jingle and mingle. The investigation is likely to be ongoing when by-elections triggered by Mr Johnsons resignation take place, with voters going to the polls in Uxbridge and South Ruislip on 20 July. On the same day, there will be a by-election in the North Yorkshire seat of Tory MP Nigel Adams, who resigned in support of the former prime minister. Metropolitan Police officers are assessing whether new evidence crosses the threshold for a full investigation, and will then decide if to send attendees questionnaires. Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley suggested that the process would take several weeks, if not months, saying he would not rush to an answer when its so contentious. We should be fair and systematic and get to the right answer, he told the News Agents podcast. The fact theres been an initial investigation previously means that if were going to reopen it one would want to look at [previous] material. Dont expect news in a couple of days time that weve sent out X numbers of fixed penalty notices, its going take a bit longer than that. Metropolitan Police conclude Partygate inquiry with 126 people fined What is the new investigation looking at? Officers are assessing material passed by the Cabinet Office regarding potential breaches of the regulations between June 2020 and May 2021 at Downing Street and Chequers. The evidence is understood to have come from official diary entries that were being reviewed ahead of the Covid public inquiry, and were passed to police in May in a move attacked by Mr Johnsons allies. At the time, a statement from the former prime ministers office said his lawyers had written to police to explain in detail why the Cabinet Office is entirely wrong in its assertions. The Metropolitan Police said it was also assessing media reporting of alleged breaches in parliament, which is believed to relate to allegations Conservative MP attended a birthday party in parliament during December 2020. Police are looking at previously unseen footage of a Christmas gathering at the Conservative Partys campaign headquarters on 14 December 2020. A video published by the Sunday Mirror showed staff dancing and joking about Covid restrictions, and people walking around wearing paper crowns and clutching alcoholic drinks. An invitation to the event obtained by BBC News read: JINGLE AND MINGLE: Save the date - Monday December 14th at 6pm for the Shaun Bailey for London holiday party. Scotland Yard initially launched an investigation after the Daily Mirror published a picture of the gathering, but concluded that the photo by itself was not sufficient evidence to find an offence had been committed. ( ) How will the investigation work? Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said police were initially assessing whether new evidence received from the Cabinet Office and other sources passed the threshold for a new investigation. He said that in the case of the Conservative Party headquarters jingle and mingle party, there was an extra step of comparing the new footage to what was previously said in questionnaires. I think we can all see the colourful nature of the video and how much it tells a story way beyond the original photo, Sir Mark added. I need to let a team work through that but I think we can all guess which way it will go. The commissioner said the probe would be governed by the same procedures and principles as the first Partygate investigation, where officers look at whether there has been a breach of Covid laws, and then decide if a sanction is proportionate. Were not routinely opening every minor historic allegation, he explained. If you phoned up about your neighbour from three years ago, were not going to reopen that. But clearly, cases that are particularly serious, particularly concerning, we will do. One aggravating feature that can trigger investigations is when the attendees of illegal gatherings were involved in setting coronavirus laws and lockdown policies, as was the case with Mr Johnson and his team. The initial Partygate investigation ran for four months (Cabinet Office/PA) Will politicians be interviewed by the police? Sir Mark said that if officers wanted to question attendees they would again use written questionnaires, which previously had a seven-day deadline for responses. The process was introduced under his predecessor Dame Cressida Dick, but he said it seems to me a very sensible way of doing things. Its possible well issue questionnaires again if we think the initial facts justify that degree of investigation, the commissioner added. He said the probe would be steady and diligent, and to some degree a bit boring. How did the law work? A set of laws called the Health Protection Regulations were changed throughout the pandemic to enforce different restrictions, including national lockdowns. They set the legal limits on gatherings but also provided defences and exemptions. At all times, a defence of reasonable excuse was built into the law and lists of examples given in legislation were not exhaustive. The wording of the laws in place during a series of Christmas parties in December 2020, for example, read: A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse [they] contravene a restriction. It means that police had discretion to decide whether someone had broken the law, or had a legal defence for doing something that appeared to be a Covid breach on the face of it. Boris Johnson updated the public on changes to the law through televised press conferences in 2020 and 2021 (Reuters) What laws may have been broken? Because different gatherings happened at different stages of restrictions, the Metropolitan Police will be looking at whether to fine people for different offences. At the earlier stage of the pandemic in 2020, the key test was being outside of the place they were living without reasonable excuse, but as restrictions eased rapidly-changing laws restricted gatherings of different sizes types. At points there was a flexible reasonable excuse defence, meaning police had to consider individual reasons for apparent breaches on a case-by-case basis. There was also a broad exemption on gatherings that were reasonably necessary for work purposes, or essential for work purposes. That is likely to be the core defence argued by many attendees at Downing Street gatherings, many of which followed the end of the working day. What is the threshold for giving a fine? The Met Police said its threshold was first a reasonable belief that the individual had committed an offence under the regulations, and that a defence did not apply. They are applying the same test from the first Partygate probe, which is that a person knew or ought to have known they were committing an offence, and failing to investigate it would significantly undermine the legitimacy of the law. Last May, the Met said officers took great care to ensure that for each referral we had the necessary evidence to prosecute the FPN at court, were it not paid. That was controversially a higher bar than applied to normal members of the public, who are still being prosecuted for Covid breaches in secret courts without the chance to give evidence in their defence. How long did the first Partygate investigation take? The initial Partygate investigation, codenamed Operation Hillman, ran for four months last year and covered gatherings on eight dates. It was triggered by information passed to the Met by the Cabinet Office and was launched on 25 January 2022. The force said a team of 12 detectives worked through 345 documents, including emails, door logs, diary entries and witness statements, 510 photographs and CCTV images and 204 questionnaires as part of the careful and thorough enquiry. Each line of inquiry looked at the date, the circumstances behind each event, and the actions of the individual, benchmarked against the legislation at that time, to establish whether their behaviour met the threshold for a fine. The results were announced on 19 May 2022, with 83 people including Mr Johnson and his successor Rishi Sunak being given a total of 126 fines. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The boss of JD Wetherspoons has said pints could possibly cost as much as 10 due to the cost of living crisis. Tim Martin, the founder of one of the UKs biggest pub chains, also said he had no regrets over his well-known backing of Brexit despite concerns over the impact it has had on the economy. Mr Martin told Andrew Marr on LBC, its a bad idea for pubs to start making their beers weaker in an effort to save costs. The Wetherspoons founder said that pints could quite possibly reach 8 (newsteam,co.uk) We are going to try and avoid doing it [but] we might have to, he said. Brewers have jumped on the bandwagon [because] they cant resist the 25p tax break. When asked about the prospect of an 8 pint, he replied: There are certainly some pubs that do that and its gone up more than you would imagine. Around the country - I go around the country visiting pubs and talking to our pub managers - whereas its not a fiver in our pubs, its a fiver in a lot of pubs from Penzance to Wick at the moment. So yeah, the price has gone up a hell of a lot. Will it go to eight quid? Quite probably, if things go on as they are. Questioned about the possibility one day of the price reaching 10, he responded: Andrew there is no limits. Mr Martin made headlines when he famously pledged to reduce the price of alcohol in his pubs to an unbelievably low price if former Prime Minister Boris Johnson successfully managed to leave the European Union by October 2019. When quizzed about his pro-Brexit views, he responded: "Im amazed the depth of emotion," he says. "But I dont think many people have changed their minds. "Have I regrets? No, I think, for humanity to survive, I think we need democracy. We need democracy in China. We need democracy in Russia, especially in the nuclear age - and my bones to pick with the EU is you dont elect the president by universal suffrage and MEPs cant initiate legislation and the ECJ, the court, isnt accountable to Parliament. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} James Cleverly said he is looking at the options for a potential visit to China as he highlighted the importance of face-to-face engagement with Beijing. The confirmation came after speculation over a trip drew criticism from MPs with a more hawkish stance towards the Asian superpower. The Foreign Secretary has argued against isolating China, despite wariness in the West over the countrys growing assertiveness and refusal to criticise Russias invasion of Ukraine. I'm looking at the options of a potential visit, but there are no details at this stage James Cleverly Speaking alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a press conference in London on Tuesday, Mr Cleverly reiterated the three pillars of UK foreign policy towards China: Building strong friendships and alliances in the Indo-Pacific region, strengthening national security protections whenever Beijing poses a threat, and engaging directly with China. The Foreign Secretary said: A big part of engagement is of course face to face. Ive had face-to-face meetings with Chinese officials. And of course, Im looking at the options of a potential visit, but there are no details at this stage. Mr Cleverly held talks with his US counterpart a day after Mr Blinken met Chinese president Xi Jinping in an effort to improve frosty relations. Both countries see the importance of trying to bring more stability to the relationship, the USs top diplomat told the press conference. He said he could not agree more with Mr Cleverlys comments on the imperative of engagement with Beijing. In fact, it would be irresponsible not to engage. Irresponsible because it makes more likely the possibility of misunderstandings, miscalculations and thus conflict. It makes it virtually impossible for us to work to advance many of the interests that we have, Mr Blinken said. Political discourse surrounding China has grown heated in recent months amid disputes over the right approach to an increasingly assertive Beijing. The Foreign Secretary has adopted a less hawkish stance towards the country than some in his party would like. Some senior Tories including former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith have called on ministers to go further in distancing the UK from China and want the Government to be more outspoken in criticising the Far Eastern countrys leadership. Last week, Mr Cleverly was accused of being a Chinese stooge by a Labour MP for refusing to take MPs sanctioned to Beijing with him on his possible trip. It came after security minister Tom Tugendhat was banned from entering the country in 2021. But Mr Cleverly said I dont take ministers on visits with me as he called on Labours Sir Chris Bryant to withdraw the discourteous and inaccurate comment during an angry exchange before a Commons select committee. China was at the forefront of the agenda on Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks trip to Washington earlier this month, when he agreed a new partnership with US president Joe Biden to bolster economic security in response to the countrys growing influence. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Ukrainian refugees who are part of an Oxford-based childrens choir have spoken of how music has helped to heal their souls and make them feel as though they are not alone. Cherwell College Oxford, a family-run independent co-educational boarding and day school for students between the ages of 12 and 18, set up The Cherwell Choir in January 2023 to unite Ukrainian refugee children arriving in the UK because of the full-scale Russian invasion. The choir which has one-hour sessions on Wednesdays from 5.30pm sing a mix of Ukrainian and English songs and practice vocal techniques, guided by musician Yevheniia Diachenko, who is herself a Ukrainian refugee. [Music helps them] feel more relaxed and when I see these kids, they sing, they dance, they forget about everything like the bad things, the 41-year-old who is based in Oxford told the PA news agency on June 20, which marks World Refugee Day. When they sing, they show their emotions and sometimes they even cry, but in a good way. They miss their families, they miss their dads who stay in Ukraine, but they feel support from each other and music helps to heal their souls. Mrs Diachenko used to have her own private vocal school in Kyiv and said she wanted to continue teaching singing lessons when she arrived in Oxford on July 27, 2022 with her nine-year-old daughter Katrin and their pet cat, so organised for the choir to be set up alongside other mothers of Ukrainian children and staff at Cherwell College. We wanted the children to feel more at home, to speak with each other and play together, she added. Reflecting on the day she fled her home in Kyiv, she said: All of those emotions have come back to me. It was a horrible day for every Ukrainian. I was at home and I woke up because I heard some explosions and I was scared and frustrated because I didnt know what to do. After five days, my husband said to me that I needed to leave with my daughter and it all happened really fast. Katrin told PA: It was a really sad time, especially the first time we left. I was really sad and I missed my dad. Despite still missing her home and family back in Ukraine, she said that the choir has helped her to navigate her new life and connected her with her mother. I think art helped me when I came here and I thought that because my mummy is a singing teacher, I can do some singing too to help her, she said. The choir is really nice, I have really good friends here and I like singing. I think [singing] Shum is my favourite and I like Stefania [by Kalush Orchestra]. When PA attended one of the choir sessions, the group sang Katrins favourite songs while moving their hands and swaying from side-to-side, as well as pop ballads including Katy Perrys Firework and Adam Youngs Fireflies. Katrin added that it is really cool to have her mother as her singing teacher, and it prevents her from worrying about her as she is there with her. For 10-year-old Alisa Klauning, the choir has helped her to feel as though she is not alone. I feel quite safe in this community and I feel that I can talk with anybody about whats happened in Ukraine and they will say, I remember that, she told PA. The hardest thing in school is probably just communicating with people because you dont really know English as much as they do. And I really like music and my life has somehow been connected with music since I was really really little. Alisa escaped from her home in Kyiv with her sister Yeva, 15, and her mother Nataly who works at Cherwell College Oxford as a communications officer on March 5, 2022. They reached their host family in Long Hanborough in Oxfordshire on March 29, 2022 and then moved to Oxford in April 2023. The first time they said we have to leave Ukraine, I just didnt believe it, she said. And then we were on a train and going away just like that. But I just felt like my mum knew what she was doing and so I just gave myself to her and said, do anything. Helen Clarke, who is Ukrainian and runs Cherwell College alongside her husband Stephen, said that when the invasion happened, naturally the college wanted to help dislocated children go through the transition in the easiest way possible. They have performed in St Michaels Church on May 20. It was a wonderful performance and we look forward to supporting them to perform many more concerts in the future, the Vice Principal added. The College has also supported dislocated Ukrainians through culture weeks from October of last year, which have showcased Ukrainian art and music. Mr Clarke, who is the Colleges Principal, told PA: As well as helping Ukrainians, we also want to remind people what theyre going though. These people have been torn away from their country, from their families, from their husbands and sons who arent allowed to leave the country and losing people because of the conflict. The former diplomat who was the First Secretary at the British Embassy in Kyiv from 2000 to 2003 added: It is also important for people to understand what Putins mission is his mission is Europe, he believes Russia is Europe, and we have to try and stop him, its as simple as that. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Reducing the size of the army beggars belief and the lack of properly functioning reserve forces is a national embarrassment, a former head of the UK armed forces has said. Lord Nick Houghton, who was chief of the defence staff between 2013 and 2016, criticised the decision to cut regular troop numbers during an appearance before the House of Commons Defence Committee on Tuesday. He said: It beggars belief to me that we have a reduced size of army. We have witnessed the first real formalised warfare above the threshold of war in Ukraine and Russia and within weeks both sides have sort of run out of troops. They have mobilised their nations, they have had to call on reserves and yet we as a nation have no strategic methodology for mobilising the reserves. We dont have a properly functioning reserve. To me its a national embarrassment but they dont appear to want to do anything about it. The size of the British Army has been a source of political argument in recent months, with Labour calling for a halt to the cuts announced in the last defence command paper, published in 2021. In the past decade, the number of regular soldiers has fallen from 97,000 to 76,000 and is set to fall to 73,000. Lord Houghton, who spent 40 years in the army and served in Northern Ireland and Iraq, said the UKs military capability had not been eroded to the point where we should worry, but acknowledged there were problems, including with recruitment and equipment. He said: Theres no doubt about it that the Royal Navy is undergoing a maritime renaissance, but its shortage of available vessels is deeply disturbing. The amount of things that actually work in the Royal Navy is quite disturbing. In August 2022, the navys new 3 billion aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales broke down off the Isle of Wight and the ship remains under repair. Lord Houghton added that the RAF was suffering from a pilot shortage while the armed forces in general were struggling in the global battle for talent. The committee, which is conducting an inquiry into armed forces readiness, also heard that stocks held for major warfare had been impacted by austerity in 2010 and, although Lord Houghton had warned about the potential for war with Russia in 2013, little had been done. He said: One of the ways in which we were able to cope with less money was to take a risk against the warfighting consumables or stocks that we held for major warfighting. Now, arguably, you could say that at the time 2010 that was a fair risk to take. Clearly, in the judgement of the government of the day, it was a fair risk to take. By the time I was writing my first letter to the prime minister on arrival (as chief of the defence staff), from memory, I was warning him then that the threats of the possibility that we might be called upon to cross the threshold of formalised warfare against an aggressive Russia were no longer latent but patent and they were acknowledged. Was anything done about it? Not really. He said one of the reasons was that the British defence industry was not run as an cooperative enterprise but on the basis of fixed contracts, meaning companies did not maintain the capacity to produce more stocks at short notice. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Nicola Sturgeon maintained she has done nothing wrong as she appeared at the Scottish Parliament for the first time since being arrested. Speaking about the difficult situation, the former first minister said: The thing that sustains me right now is the certainty that I have done nothing wrong. Her comments came after she became the third high-profile SNP member to be arrested by Police Scotland as part of its investigation into what happened to about 600,000 raised by the party for independence campaigning. Ms Sturgeon returned to Holyrood on Tuesday, nine days after being questioned by police and later released without charge. Speaking to journalists, she insisted: I believe to my very, very core that I have done nothing wrong. Her husband, former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, has also been arrested as part of the Operation Branchform, as well as the then SNP treasurer Colin Beattie. Both men were also released without charge pending further investigation after questioning. With calls having been made for Ms Sturgeon to be suspended from the party while the police probe continues, the former first minister said she had considered what is in the best interests of the SNP. I am also an individual that is entitled to assert what I believe to my very, very core, that I have done nothing wrong Nicola Sturgeon She told how the party had been her life, describing members as her extended family. She added: But I am also an individual that is entitled to assert what I believe to my very, very core, that I have done nothing wrong. I respect the process that is under way but I will continue to maintain that very clear position. Ms Sturgeon added that if she stood aside from the party, that could compromise my ability and my right to assert the position I hold absolutely which is that I have done nothing wrong. However she refused to speak about her husbands position although she insisted people should not read anything into that one way or the other. The Glasgow Southside MSP said: In a situation like this I can only speak for myself, and I am only speaking for myself. There is also a difference between me and my husband, I am an elected politician and a public servant, and there is an expectation, I think a legitimate expectation, that I make a statement and to the best of my ability answer questions. Obviously Peter is not in that position. While calls have been made from both the SNPs opponents and some within the party for Ms Sturgeon to be suspended, her successor First Minister Humza Yousaf has refused to do so, saying he believes in natural justice. Ms Sturgeon praised her successor, saying: Humza is doing a fantastic job as First Minister. When he was elected as First Minister I expected him to do a good job, I wish he hadnt faced some of the circumstances he has. But I am incredibly proud of the job he is doing, I think he is getting on with that on behalf of the people of Scotland. Asked about her position within the party, she said: It wont surprise anybody to hear that I search my soul on these questions on an ongoing basis. I have dedicated most of my life to the SNP. I dont say that to make it sound like a sacrifice, it has not been a sacrifice, the opportunities and experiences I have had in return have been immense. But the interests of the SNP are as close to my heart as is possible for anything to be. She said she would consider on an ongoing basis at all times what is in the best interests of the SNP. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Rishi Sunak considers the scandal over Boris Johnsons Partygate lies to parliament to be over after last nights vote to punish the former prime minister, Downing Street has said. No 10 said the prime minister who did not vote on Monday as MPs backed the findings of the scathing report into Mr Johnsons conduct respects the decision of the House. Mr Sunak blamed a diary clash for his absence and has declined to give his opinion on the vote to back the privileges committees decision to theoretically suspend Mr Johnson for 90 days and strip him of his parliamentary pass. Asked whether Mr Sunak believes Mr Johnson did mislead the House, the PMs official spokesman said: He respects the decision the House has come to, this follows extensive work by the committee. Asked whether Mr Sunak thought the saga was now closed, the spokesman said: Yes. The government is desperate to draw a line under the row, which has seen Johnson loyalists warning that Tory MPs could face deselection by their local associations if they backed the finding that he lied to parliament. Work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said the caravan has got to move on after the vote which saw MPs overwhelmingly endorse the committees report though he said he had abstained because he was quite uncomfortable with the 90-day suspension. My hope is that Boris Johnson, the current cabinet... that we can all row together now and focus on what people really care about, Mr Stride added. But a row continues over Mr Johnsons resignation honours list after a video emerged of a mid-lockdown party at Conservative Campaign Headquarters attended by Tory politician Shaun Bailey. Boris Johnsons decision to gove Shaun Bailey peerage still under scrutiny (Getty) Senior Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood said the former London mayoral candidate should reconsider the peerage handed to him by the former PM. The former minister told BBC Radio 4s Today that there are big questions surrounding it, adding: Absolutely he needs to consider that, if Im frank. Mr Stride suggested there could be a way to remove Mr Baileys peerage if the Metropolitan Police come to a damning conclusion about the event in December 2020. There are then mechanisms involving the Forfeiture Committee that can lead to changes to honours that have been given in the past. But I dont want to start pre-judging that process, he told Today. Mr Sunak was accused of a cowardly cop-out by the Liberal Democrats for avoiding the vote, and accused by Labour of being too weak to stand up to his predecessor. Only seven MPs voted against the report, with even some of Mr Johnsons staunchest allies abstaining. But the vote has deepened the tensions with the Tory party, which have seen the former prime minister openly criticising Mr Sunak. Much of the government payroll did not take part in the vote but some cabinet ministers including Commons leader Penny Mordaunt and justice secretary Alex Chalk chose to support it. Close Moment MPs vote in favour of Partygate report finding Johnson misled parliament Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Tory civil war has grown more fractious as Zac Goldsmith hit out at misleading No 10 briefing over his scathing resignation, insisting that Rishi Sunak was wrong to claim he had refused to apologise over his Partygate comments. The outgoing environment minister claimed he was happy to apologise for remarks labelled disturbing by the privileges committee in their report alleging interference from 10 Tories during their investigation which found that Boris Johnson repeatedly lied to parliament. As he sought to get back on the front foot at a No 10 briefing outlining his plans for NHS reforms, Mr Sunak insisted the Tory peer had resigned after taking a different course when asked to apologise for his incompatible remarks despite No 10 insisting just hours earlier that he had the PMs confidence. But Lord Goldsmith opened up a new front of criticism for Mr Sunak as he countered the PMs claims of his refusal to apologise on Friday, insisting the Sunak governments lethargy on climate meant his resignation had been a long time coming. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A senior Conservative has called on former Tory London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey to hand back the peerage given to him by Boris Johnson. Video and new details of the December 2020 Christmas party organised by Mr Baileys team Tory headquarters has sparked renewed anger over the Partygate scandal. The Metropolitan Police announced on Monday that it was launching a new investigation into the CCHQ event where Tory staffers were filmed dancing and joking about bending Covid rules. Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the defence select committee, said there are now big questions around Mr Baileys peerage. Absolutely he needs to consider that, if Im frank, Mr Ellwood told BBC Radio 4s Today programme when asked if he should hand back the honour. The senior Tory MP said that Rishi Sunak should grasp the issue of peerages, adding: You cant simply have prime ministers stuffing the Lords with their friends. He added: If theres anything to come of this, I really encourage Mr Sunak to now draw a line under Boris Johnsons tenure and indeed influence over the parliamentary party. It emerged on Monday that the Tory activists were formally invited to a jingle and mingle party while the rest of London remained under strict tier 2 curbs on socialising. An invitation to the event obtained by BBC News read: JINGLE AND MINGLE: Save the date Monday December 14th at 6pm for the Shaun Bailey for London holiday party. Tory staff dancing at CCHQ party (Daily Mirror) Sir Mark Rowley, Metropolitan police commissioner, appeared to confirm the investigation into the CCHQ party would be formally reopened. I need to let a team work through that, but I think we can all guess which way it will go, the commissioner told the News Agents podcast. Sir Mark said: Its very obvious a video tells a much richer, clearer story than a photo. Mr Bailey apologised unreservedly after the video emerged in the Mirror of his staff partying despite lockdown restrictions but said it was for others to decide what happens to his peerage. Asked whether he should give up his going, he replied: That will be for others to decide for me, it has been a great privilege and I would like to keep doing work for the rest of the country and London as well. It added to the pressure on Mr Sunak to strip the failed mayoral candidate Mr Bailey of the peerage he was given in Mr Johnsons honours list, and the OBE given to aide Ben Mallet, also visible in the video. Penny Mordaunt condemned debasement of our honours system (PA Wire) But No 10 said there were no plans for Mr Sunak to strip honours from two Tories who were at the party at CCHQ. His official spokesman said the PM had followed the process of leaving resignation honours to the Lords authorities. Work and pensions secretary Mel Stride struggled the answer questions about the peerage. The cabinet minister, when asked if Mr Baileys peerage was in question, said he did not want to prejudge the police investigation. He told BBC Radio 4 that Scotland Yard will no doubt come to their conclusions and then there are mechanisms involving the forfeiture committee that can lead to changes to honours that have been given in the past. Commons leader Penny Mordaunt appeared to criticise Mr Johnsons honours list. The cabinet minister, who voted against the former PM and backed the privileges committee report in the Commons, said it raised wider issues such as the debasement of our honours system. Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: While the Conservatives jingled and mingled, the British public followed the rules and did the right thing, adding: Sunak should personally intervene and urge those implicated to give up their honours. Meanwhile, Scotland Yard announced that it was assessing information and new material over events in 2020 and 2021, including material passed by the Cabinet Office about gatherings at No 10 and Chequers while Mr Johnson was in charge. The force said it was also assessing media reporting of alleged breaches in parliament and looking at previously unseen video footage of a Christmas gathering at Tory headquarters in December 2020. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} For over a decade, Shaun Bailey has tried and failed to get into parliament. Last week it looked like he might have finally made it only for one last obstacle to be put in his way. New footage emerged showing dancing at a lockdown-breaking Christmas Party organised for his team at Tory HQ, prompting the Met to investigate. Mr Bailey says he is very upset and had not seen the footage. The release of the footage, which dates from 2020, comes at a poor time for for the politician. Just days earlier he had been nominated for a life peerage in the House of Lords by Boris Johnson an honour which he is now being urged by critics to reconsider. Turning down the peerage would be another blow for Mr Bailey in a string of political defeats stretching back to the time of David Cameron. In 2010 he stood in the marginal seat of Hammersmith, but lost out by just 3,549 votes after the Tories failed to win a majority at the general election. He tried again in 2017 in Lewisham and Penge, but lost again, this time by over 23,000 votes a gap buoyed by an expectedly strong Labour showing. Not undeterred, Mr Bailey, who was born in North Kensington, became the Tory London mayoral candidate at the 2021 election losing to Sadiq Khan. In some ways, Mr Bailey has been unlucky. As a born-and-bred Londoner who has always stood for election in the capital, he has suffered for the waning of Tory fortunes in the city. He was also closely associated with the liberal conservatism of David Cameron, whose star in the party has faded in favour of a different brand of Tory. Had others remained in charge, he might have found a more winnable seat than Lewisham. Mr Bailey has been a Conservative member of the London Assembly since 2016, where he previously chaired the police and crime committee. He stepped down from that particular responsibility after the lockdown allegations emerged. But the lockdown antics would not be the first time he has had a brush with the law. In 2018, while appearing on an episode of the BBC Radio 4 series The House I Grew Up In, Mr Bailey admitted to having been a burglar in his youth. "I had a particular group of friends who indulged in a burglary. I had done it with them," he told the programme. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 / 50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 3 July 2023 A cigar smoked by Winston Churchill, which is expected to fetch 600-800 is pictured on his statue in Westerham, Kent PA UK news in pictures 2 July 2023 Englands Ben Stokes hits a six off the bowling of Australias Josh Hazlewood during the last day of the second Ashes test at Lords Cricket Ground in London Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 1 July 2023 Pata Yamaha Prometeon rider Toprak Razgatiloglu followed by Aruba.It Racing - Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista (right) during the World SBK race 1 on day two of the FIM Superbike World Championship 2023 at Donington Park, Derby PA UK news in pictures 30 June 2023 Rembrandt Harmenszs Portrait of Jan Willemsz, van der Pluym and Jaapgen Carels is held by gallery staff, during a photo call for highlights from the forthcoming Classic Week Sales, at Christies, London. PA UK news in pictures 29 June 2023 A visitor walks through a part of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusamas installation You, Me and The Balloons during a preview ahead of the start of the Manchester International Festival Reuters UK news in pictures 28 June 2023 England player Jonny Bairstow carries a Just Stop Oil pitch invader during day one of the second Ashes Test at Lords Cricket Ground Getty UK news in pictures 27 June 2023 A Dolly Parton impersonator banned from Facebook protests outside the offices of parent company Meta in Kings Cross, London, as part of their Stop Banning Us appeal Lucy North/PA UK news in pictures 26 June 2023 Glastonbury site clean-up operation in progress PA UK news in pictures 25 June 2023 Lil Nas X performs on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 24 June 2023 Chemical Brothers perform beneath the Arcadia spider in the very early morning at the Glastonbury Festival PA UK news in pictures 23 June 2023 A performer entertains festivalgoers in the circus field at Glastonbury festival AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 June 2023 Ladies Day at Royal Ascot Racecourse AP UK news in pictures 21 June 2023 Katherine Jenkinson from Carlisle with her jersey calf in the wash bay at the Royal Highland Centre in Ingliston, Edinburgh, ahead of the Royal Highland Show PA UK news in pictures 20 June 2023 The sunrises at 04.25am at St Marys Lighthouse in Whitley Bay, on the North East coast of England, the day before Summer Solstice the longest day of the year PA UK news in pictures 19 June 2023 The King and Queen depart the annual Order of the Garter Service PA UK news in pictures 17 June 2023 Typhoon fighter jets fly over The Mall after the Royal family attended the Trooping the Colour ceremony at Horse Guards Parade, central London, as King Charles III celebrates his first official birthday since becoming sovereign. PA UK news in pictures 16 June 2023 A peregrine falcon nesting at Malham Cove, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park PA UK news in pictures 15 June 2023 Newborn alpaca Sir Steveo, who has been named after one of his keepers, ventures outside in the Pets Farm area of Blair Drummond Safari Park near Stirling PA UK news in pictures 14 June 2023 Grace Kumars father and Barnaby Webbers brother, Charlie, embrace ahead of a vigil at the University of Nottingham after they and Ian Coates were killed and another three hurt in connected attacks on 13 June PA UK news in pictures 13 June 2023 Police forensics officers on Ilkeston Road PA UK news in pictures 12 June 2023 People relax in a suspended swimming pool as hot weather continues, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 11 June 2023 Usain Bolt and teammates celebrate with the trophy after winning Soccer Aid 2023 Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 10 June 2023 A cyclist trains in the early morning, as hot weather continues, in Richmond Park, London Reuters UK news in pictures 9 June 2023 A performer walks on a tightrope at Covent Garden during a sunny day in London AP UK news in pictures 8 June 2023 A women rides her horse through the river during the Appleby Horse Fair PA UK news in pictures 7 June 2023 The Princess of Wales during a game of walking rugby during her visit to meet local and national male rugby players at Maidenhead Rugby Club PA UK news in pictures 6 June 2023 An aerial view shows the dry bed of Woodhead Reservoir, revealed by a falling water level after a prolonged period of dry weather, near Glossop, northern England AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 5 June 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak onboard Border Agency cutter HMC Seeker during a visit to Dover PA UK news in pictures 4 June 2023 A hot air balloon rises into the sky above Ragley Hall, Alcester, south of Birmingham in central England AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 June 2023 Skaters use the mini ramp at the Wavelength Spring Classic festival in Woolacombe Bay in Devon PA UK news in pictures 1 June 2023 The And Beyond installation, during a photo call for the London Design Biennale at Somerset House in London PA UK news in pictures 31 May 2023 Emergency services attending to a blaze at a derelict listed building in Samuel Street, Belfast PA UK news in pictures 30 May 2023 A robot named Stella interacts with visitors during the International Conference on Robotics and Automation ICRA in London AP UK news in pictures 29 May 2023 Dave Hackett and his daughter Daisy, five, explore the laburnum arch in the grounds of Preston Tower, East Lothian, in the warm Spring Bank Holiday weather PA UK news in pictures 28 May 2023 Great Britains Nick Bandurak scores their sides third goal of the game during the FIH Hockey Pro League mens match at Lee Valley, London PA UK news in pictures 27 May 2023 People enjoy the sunny weather at a park in London AP UK news in pictures 26 May 2023 People drink coffee inside Daleks during MCM Comic Con at the ExCel London in east London PA UK news in pictures 25 May 2023 King Charles III and Queen Camilla during a visit to Enniskillen Castle, Co Fermanagh as part of a two day visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 24 May 2023 Horses enjoy the sunny weather on Middleham Gallops in North Yorkshire PA UK news in pictures 23 May 2023 An aerial view of a yellow rapeseed field in Hemel Hempstead, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 22 May 2023 Manoj Malde and Clive Gillmor kiss after getting married, the first wedding ever at the Chelsea Flower Show AP UK news in pictures 21 May 2023 People enjoy the warm weather as they take punt tours along the River Cam in Cambridge PA UK news in pictures 20 May 2023 Protesters emerge from the sea as Surfers Against Sewage hold a UK-wide paddle-out protest at Brighton West Pier in East Sussex PA UK news in pictures 19 May 2023 Good Karma ridden by Daniel Muscutt (right) wins the Earl & The Pharaoh Novice Stakes at Newbury Racecourse, Berkshire PA UK news in pictures 18 May 2023 Choristers from the Choir of St Johns College at the University of Cambridge look out from the top of the Chapel Tower before performing the Ascension Day carol - a custom dating back to 1902. PA UK news in pictures 17 May 2023 Oxfam activists wearing 'big heads' of G7 leaders during a demonstration in Trafalgar Square, London, highlighting their lack of action to tackle the East Africa hunger crisis ahead of the start of the G7 summit in Japan PA UK news in pictures 16 May 2023 Part of a childs jacket during a photo call for the Chinas hidden century exhibition, which opens at the British Museum PA UK news in pictures 15 May 2023 Viewing assistant and History of Art student Emma Scarr Hall takes a closer look at @Pink Roses (1923) by Scottish Colourist artist Leslie Hunter which is estimated at 60,000-80,000 in the forthcoming Bonhams Scottish Art Sale in Edinburgh PA UK news in pictures 14 May 2023 Eva Birthistle, Sarah Greene, Sharon Horgan and Anne-Marie Duff, with the award for Drama Series, for Bad Sisters at the 2023 BAFTA TV Awards in London EPA UK news in pictures 13 May 2023 Singer Loreen performing on behalf of Sweden celebrates with the trophy after winning the final of the Eurovision Song contest 2023 AFP/Getty In an ironic twist one of the candidate's mayoral campaign pledges was to give pensioners free burglar alarms and to set up an anti-burglary flying squad. Mr Bailey, who has a 2:2 degree in computer aided engineering from London South Bank University, has done his fair share of work outside politics. Before becoming a politician he did jobs including working as a security guard at Wembley Stadium, sweeping factory floors, and delivering beer. In 2006 he co-founded a charity called MyGeneration, which promised to address social problems affecting struggling young people. The organisation's establishment was timely in 2010 then Tory leader David Cameron was to make "the Big Society" one of his key political themes, and Mr Bailey found himself as one of the most recognisable faces of the idea. But the charity ultimately closed in 2012 due to financial problems, and the Big Society as a concept was itself memory-holed not long after. Has Mr Bailey finally found his way into parliament, or could it be snatched from his grasp once again? We will find out in the coming weeks. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Prince of Wales will turn 41 on Wednesday 21 June, days after committing to building social housing on the Duchy of Cornwalls land. Prince William will be celebrating his first birthday since his father, King Charles III, appointed him to the title following the Queens death last year. In an interview with The Sunday Times, William revealed his plans for social housing on the 130,000-acre estate he now controls. The prince also said he wants to make it his mission to end homelessness in the UK and plans to launch a really big project to take on the issue. However, the details of the five-year project are being kept secret until the end of the month. William has previous experience tackling homelessness. He is the patron of Centrepoint, a charity which helps homeless young people. Last week, he officially opened Reuben House, a block of 33 studio properties in south London where rents are set at a third of a residents income, on behalf of the charity. Ahead of his 40th birthday last year, he pledged to continue shining a light on the solvable issue of homelessness and to introduce his children to charities supporting rough sleepers. Diana with William and Harry in 1992 (Martin Keene/PA) (PA Archive) Diana, Princess of Wales, took William to a homeless shelter when he was 11 to broaden the future kings horizons. At the weekend, William was pictured smiling with his three children in a photograph released by Kensington Palace to mark Fathers Day. It shows Princess Charlotte and Prince George on either side of their father, smiling up at him, with the youngest sibling, Prince Louis, hugging Williams shoulders from behind. The Prince of Wales with his children Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Prince George on Fathers Day (Millie Pilkington/Kensington Pal) Prince William Arthur Philip Louis of Wales was born second in line to the throne at St Marys Hospital, Paddington, at 9.03pm on 21 June 1982. He weighed 7lb 1 1/2oz and was the first-born son of the Prince and the Princess of Wales. At just nine months old, he accompanied his parents on a six-week official visit to Australia and New Zealand, which was a break from royal tradition. His mother Diana, who separated from Charles in 1992, died in a car crash in Paris in 1997. William was just 15 and his brother Prince Harry was 12 when they lost their mother. The boys walked behind the princesss coffin during a funeral procession through London. William met Kate Middleton at St Andrews University in Fife, Scotland, and the pair married in 2011 after dating for more than eight years. Kate and William (Leon Neal/PA) (PA Wire) He was made the Duke of Cambridge by his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, on the morning of his wedding. The couples first child, George also a future king was born in 2013, followed by Charlotte in 2015 and Louis in 2018. After the death of the Queen last September, William and Kate became the new Prince and Princess of Wales, with the King announcing their titles in his historic address to the nation. The title Prince of Wales has long been used for heirs to the throne as William is now, but it is not an automatic right, and is the choice of the sovereign to award it. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Scotlands first-ever recall petition for a sitting MP is opening on Tuesday, following the suspension of Margaret Ferrier from the House of Commons. From 9am, voters in Rutherglen and Hamilton West will have the chance to sign a petition to recall their MP from Westminster. If 10% of the electorate choose to do so some 8,113 people out of 81,124 then a by-election will be triggered. Despite pressure to resign from her seat since breaching coronavirus rules, Ms Ferrier remains the MP, now sitting as an independent. She urged voters not to sign the petition, saying her constituents are her top priority. Earlier this month, she was suspended from the House of Commons for 30 days, beginning the recall petition process. Any by-election would be closely contested between Labour and the SNP, both of which have chosen prospective candidates for the seat. Ms Ferrier travelled from Scotland to Westminster after testing for Covid in September 2020 and went on to speak in the House of Commons while waiting for the results. Later, after the test confirmed she was positive for the virus, she took the train back to Scotland. In a statement on her website, Ms Ferrier said: I made a mistake for which I continue to apologise and have faced severe punishment. It has not deterred me from doing right by constituents and continuing to fight on their behalf. I hope that my constituents will recognise this. It is ultimately up to the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West to decide what happens next - not Westminster, not Holyrood, and certainly not any political party HQs Margaret Ferrier As an independent MP, my constituents are my top priority and always have been. The most important thing is that they are able to access the right support when they need it, and can be confident that their views are represented. My record speaks for itself in this respect. I do not have any desire or need to play into party politics, which inevitably distracts from constituency issues and the needs of local residents. While parties have already spent months arguing about their candidates for a by-election that has not even been confirmed, they have disregarded the very real issues faced by many in our community. She said some of her constituents believe the instructions from the local authority on the recall petition are unclear, adding: If you wish to see me continue as your MP, then do not sign the petition paper. It is ultimately up to the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West to decide what happens next not Westminster, not Holyrood, and certainly not any political party HQs. Labours candidate Michael Shanks has said people in the area deserve so much better than a rule-breaking MP. The SNPs candidate will be councillor Katy Loudon. Ahead of the petition opening, she said: Constituents in Rutherglen and Hamilton West have the opportunity to hold a by-election and elect an SNP MP who will stand up for them against this rotten Tory government. The first step in that process will be to sign the recall petition. In the face of Tory economic incompetence and a Labour Party looking more and more like a Tory tribute act, the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West need a strong SNP voice to stand up for them. South Lanarkshire Council has organised the recall petition in line with statutory requirements. There will be seven signing places across the constituency. Monday July 31 will be the last day on which they are open, with the petition closing at 5pm. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A student in Uganda said he smeared himself with the blood of his dead colleagues to survive a night-time attack on his school dormitory that lasted for many hours. At least 37 pupils and three adults were killed in the assault at Lhubiriha Secondary School in the town of Mpondwe in western Uganda last Friday that was allegedly carried out by Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group with ties to Isis. Six people were abducted, said authorities. Julius Isingoma was among the six who managed to survive the massacre that lasted for several hours. I smeared the blood of my dead colleagues in my mouth, ears and on my head so that the attackers would think I was dead, he told BBC News. The incident took place around 10pm local time. The students, on realising they were in danger, locked the door of the boys dormitory. When they couldnt open the door they hurled a bomb inside the dormitory and then used hammers and axes to break down the door, he said. Several of those inside were soon gunned down and hacked to death. Mr Isingoma, who managed to remove some planks of the ceiling and jumped inside, saw his colleagues being murdered and their mattresses set on fire. I was overwhelmed by the smoke and dropped back down into the dormitory with a thud, he said. The sound made the assailants return to the room. Uganda security forces are seen at the premises of an attack in Mpondwe, Uganda, on 18 June 2023 at the Mpondwe Lhubiriha Secondary School (AFP via Getty Images) I lay next to the bloodied bodies of my friends and thought very fast. Then I smeared a lot of blood into my ears, mouth and on my head and when the militants came, they checked my hand for a pulse and left, he told the British broadcaster. While Ugandan authorities blamed the attack on five members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), the group has so far not issued any statement or claimed responsibility. The group was designated a terrorist organisation by the US in 2021 and the UN sanctioned it in 2014. Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni described the attack as criminal, desperate, terrorist and futile in a statement on Sunday. Condolences on the death of the 37 students of Nyabugaando Peter Hunter Secondary School at the hands of the terrorists of ADF, possibly working with other criminals, because I hear that school had some wrangles about it, he tweeted. I extend condolences to the families and the whole country. This new atrocity by the elements of the ADF is criminal, desperate, terrorist and futile. It will not save them. He also said he is deploying more troops to the western part of the country, across Ugandas border with Congo, to pursue the arrest. Local police have arrested 20 people for allegedly helping the Isis-linked group, authorities told CNN. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} All five passengers on the Titan submersible that vanished during a mission to explore the Titanic wreckage were killed when the vessel endured a catastophic implosion deep in the ocean. British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, UK citizens Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet and OceanGate Expeditions chief executive Stockton Rush had sadly been lost, the company announced on 22 June when debris from the sub was foud on the sea floor. The US Coast Guard offered its deepest condolences to the families after the tail cone of the vessel was found around 1,600ft from the bow of the Titanic wreck. There was a catastrophic implosion of the Titans pressure chamber, the expeditions company said. It added: These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the worlds oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew. On 28 June, the US Coast Guard announced that a search had since recovered presumed human remains from the sea floor. This what is known about the five people on board: Hamish Harding Hamish Harding posted about his plans to see the Titanic wreckage two days before the sub went missing (Facebook/Hamish Harding) Hamish Harding, 58, chairman of private plane firm Action Aviation, had posted on social media that he was proud to be heading to the Titanic as a mission specialist, adding: Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. He had previously travelled to the bottom of the ocean on the Challenger Deep and into space on Jeff Bezos Blue Origin. The father of two was a seasoned explorer and held three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. He dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench in March 2021. Dubai-based Mr Harding was also on board the 2019 One More Orbit flight mission that set a record for the fastest circumnavigation of Earth by aircraft over both geographic poles. He doesnt stand still. If hes not working hard, hes exploring hard, said Jannicke Mikkelsen, an explorer and friend. Paul-Henri Nargeolet French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet was described by OceanGate as the Titanics greatest explorer (Getty) French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, was director of underwater research at a company that owns the rights to the Titanic wreck and recovers artifacts. A former commander in the French navy, he was both a deep diver and a mine-sweeper. After retiring from the navy, he led the first recovery expedition to the Titanic in 1987 and several more, becoming a leading authority on the wreck site. OceanGate described Mr Nargeolet as the Titanics greatest explorer. The former naval officer was born in Chamonix, France, but spent his early years in Africa with his parents. He was married to American newsreader Michelle Marsh until she died in 2017. He completed 35 dives in the submersible. In a 2020 interview, he spoke of the dangers of deep diving, saying: I am not afraid to die, I think it will happen one day. Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman Dawood, 19, were UK citizens, believed to have lived in a Surrey mansion with Mr Dawoods wife Christine and daughter Alina. Shahzada Dawood has been named as one of the people on the submersible in a family statement (WEF) Shahzada Dawood was vice-chairman of one of Pakistans largest conglomerates, Engro Corporation, with investments in fertilisers, vehicle manufacturing, energy and digital technologies. His interests included wildlife photography, gardening and exploring natural habitats, while Suleman was a fan of science fiction literature, according to a statement from the Dawood Group. He studied at the University of Strathclyde. Stockton Rush OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush (OceanGate) Stockton Rush, 61, chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions, told Sky News earlier this year the Titanic was an amazingly beautiful wreck. His company, which provides crewed submersible services for researchers and explorers to travel deep into the ocean, operated the doomed Titan submersible. Mr Rush began his career as a pilot at 19 after qualifying from the United Airlines Jet Training Institute. He was the youngest jet transport-rated pilot in the world. According to Mr Rushs biography on his companys website, he graduated from Princeton University with a BSE in aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 1984. He then joined the McDonnell Douglas Corporation as a flight test engineer, and spent two years at Edwards Air Force Base. He served on the Museum of Flights Board of Trustees, the board of enterprise software company Entomo and as chairman of Remote Control Technology. In 2012, Mr Rush also founded the non-profit OceanGate Foundation while sitting on the board of BlueView Technologies, a manufacturer of high-frequency sonar systems. The company behind the doomed venture OceanGate Expeditions offers eight-day tourist missions to see the Titanic wreckage at a cost of $250,000 a person. An OceanGate submersible like the one missing (OceanGate/YouTube) It says it uses next-generation crewed submersibles and launch platforms to increase deep ocean access as far as 4,000 metres. OceanGate has successfully completed over 14 expeditions and over 200 dives in the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, its website says. Following every mission, the team evaluates and updates the procedures as part as a continued commitment to evolve and ensure operational safety. Its submersibles were launched from a mother ship which then recovered them at the end of the missions. Titanic wreckage at the bottom of the ocean (Atlantic Productions/Magellan) The Titanic, operated by the White Star Line, sank on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean back in 1912. The ship, the largest vessel at the time, set sail from Southampton on 10 April 1912, with more than 2,200 passengers and crew on board, heading for New York City. Five days into its voyage, the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the ocean. More than 1,500 people died. The wreck lay undiscovered, until in 1985 it was found around 12,500ft at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, around 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. In recent years, trips to visit it have become increasingly popular. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A former British Navy officer has warned that the timescale of the missing Titanic submersible is very concerning as it emerged that there has been no sign of life from the vessel for the past seven hours. Former Rear Admiral Chris Parry told Sky News that the OceanGate Expeditions vessel could have fallen foul of a catastrophic failure or even have become tangled up in the debris of the famed shipwreck. "Its very concerning indeed, he said. Having listened to the timescale its very worrying. He went on to describe the possible optimistic and catastrophic circumstances that could have taken place hundreds or even thousands of feet below the surface of the water. Theres an optimistic option and thats that its either lost an umbilical communication with the surface or indeed theres been a malfunction and the submarine continues to operate but obviously out of contact with its mother ship, he said. Obviously on the other end of the scale there could have been an accident. It could have become entangled in the wreckage of the Titanic. It could indeed have had a catastrophic failure. The answer is we dont know just yet. What we do know of course is the wreck site is off the grand banks, its a long way from anywhere and the nearest rescue facility will be on the East Coast of the United States. OceanGate Expeditions, a company offering eight-day tourist missions to see the Titanic wreckage at a cost of $250,000 per person, confirmed on Monday that its submarine was lost at sea with crew members on board. The company said in a statement to CBS News that it is exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely. Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families, it said, adding that it is deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible. The exact number of people missing remains unclear but the companys submersibles can carry up to five people at a time. An OceanGate Expeditions submersible like the one missing in the Atlantic Ocean (OceanGate/YouTube) It is also unclear if they are all crew members or if some are paying tourists. There has been no communication from the sub for more than seven hours, according to Sky News. It usually sends signals to its mother ship every 15 minutes. The submersible operates by being launched from a mother ship which then later recovers it at the end of its mission. A search and rescue operation led by the Boston Coast Guard is currently under way in the Atlantic Ocean. The Titanic wreckage at the bottom of the ocean (Gamma-Rapho/Getty) The rescue mission will be very difficult, said Mr Parry pointing to the undulating sea bed, the fact the Titanic lies in a trench on the sea floor and that the debris of the shipwreck will make it challenging to locate the sub using sonar. The only hope I think one has is that the mother ship will have a standby craft that will be able to go down and investigate immediately what is going on, he said. When asked how quickly this could happen, he said that any responsible organisation would have another submersible ready to go down at an hours notice. If the company doesnt, he said it could take up to a couple of days for search teams to send such a craft from the east coast. The Independents attempts to contact OceanGate were unsuccessful at the time of publishing. The company last posted on Twitter on 15 June, detailing its latest Titanic expeditions. Its been an incredibly busy two weeks! Thank you to all of our dive teams whove joined us - heres a look at our Mission 3 and Mission 4 crew, the company said. The Titanic, operated by the White Star Line, sank on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1912. The ship the largest vessel at the time set sail from Southampton, UK, on 10 April 1912, with more than 2,200 passengers and crew on board headed for New York City. View more Five days into its voyage, the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the ocean. More than 1,500 people died. In recent years, people have taken trips to visit the wreckage which now lies around 12,500 feet at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The US Coast Guard has admitted that it doesnt know if search teams will be able to rescue the Titanic sub from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean even if they do manage to find it within the 96-hour deadline as its estimated that the five missing passengers have just 40 hours of oxygen supply left inside the vessel. US Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick confirmed at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon that there is still no sign of OceanGate Expeditions Titan submersible, which has now been missing for more than two days. Follow our live blog for updates on the Titanic sub rescue mission Even if the vessel is located under the surface of the ocean, concerns are mounting that the huge multi-agency, international search and rescue operation will be helpless to actually retrieve it and save the five men inside. When asked if a rescue will be possible if found, Cpt Frederick admitted that he couldnt give the answer to that. I dont know the answer to that question but we will do everything in our power to affect the rescue, he said. When pressed about any plans to rescue the sub if it is successfully located, Cpt Frederick continued to skirt around the question insisting that they were focused first on finding the vessel. All efforts are on finding the sub... we have the nations best experts... if we get to that point, he said, later adding that if the sub is located, the team will decide the best course of action to recover it. The US Coast Guard official gave the damning estimate that those on board the 21-foot submersible now have just 40 hours of oxygen supply left inside the sub. While he hammered home that it is an estimate, Cpt Frederick said that were approximately 40 to 41 hours left. Titan submersible on the surface of the ocean (OceanGate) Before OceanGate Expeditions Titan sub set off on its doomed expedition on Sunday morning, it was equipped with enough oxygen to last the five men on board for four days 96 hours in the event of an emergency situation. The Titan submersible left its mother ship Polar Prince at around 8am ET (1pm GMT) on Sunday morning to delve 13,000 feet below the surface to the Titanic wreckage, according to Miawpukek Maritime Horizon Services, which co-owns the Polar Prince. Just one hour and 45 minutes later at 10.47am ET the sub made its last contact with the mother ship. When the sub failed to resurface at its scheduled time of 5.10pm ET, OceanGate contacted US authorities to launch a rescue operation. A major search and rescue operation was launched, headed up by the US Coast Guard in Boston and involving multiple agencies, sonar technology and military-style aircrafts. Two days into the search, there is still no signs of the vessel. Based on the oxygen supply on board, the rescue teams have until around 5.30am ET (10.30am GMT) on Thursday morning to find the sub and save its passengers before all chances of survival come to an end. But, based on the comments by the US Coast Guard and the equipment and crafts known to be available finding it is only one part of the problem. The OceanGate Expeditions submersible vessel named Titan (PA Media) Cpt Frederick said that the search is complex and challenging due to the remote location 900 miles from Cape Cod, the vast search area the size of Connecticut and the lack of knowledge as to whether the submersible is on the surface of the ocean or deep underwater. A unified team including the US Coast Guard, US Navy, Canadian Armed Forces, Canadian Coast Guard and OceanGate Expeditions are all working together to try to find the missing vessel. Three C-130 aircarafts have been searching by air for signs of the submersible and an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) is diving into the water at the vessels last known position above the Titanic wreckage. Radar has also been used to search beneath the surface and several boats are searching by water, with additional Canadian coast guard vessels on route. Hamish Harding posted about his plans to travel to see the Titanic wreckage two days before the sub went missing (Facebook/Hamish Harding) In the past two days, the search and rescue operation has canvassed a 76 square mile area larger than the state of Connecticut, said the US Coast Guard. Cpt Frederick dismissed a report that the UK had offered its assistance but had been turned down, saying he didnt know about that. Our crew are working around the clock to ensure we are doing everything possible to locate the Titan and five crew members, he said. Despite the growing fears, the desperate family and friends of the five passengers on board are holding onto hope that they will be found alive and in time. On board the sub is prominent billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, who has previously travelled on the Challenger Deep to the bottom of the ocean and on Jeff Bezos Blue Origin into space. Mr Harding, a father-of-two, had taken to Facebook on Saturday speaking of his excitement that he was joining OceanGate Expeditions for its Titanic mission. I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic. Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023, Mr Harding wrote, alongside an image of him signing a card reading Titanic Mission V. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. We started steaming from St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do. Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are on board the missing vessel (Family handout) The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s including PH Nargeolet. More expedition updates to follow IF the weather holds! Mr Hardings stepson Brian Szasz later confirmed on Monday that his stepfather was on board the vessel when it went missing. French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet described by OceanGate as the Titanics greatest explorer who has done 35 dives in the submersible was also confirmed to be on board the vessel by a friend and fellow explorer. They were joined by Shahzada Dawood, a 48-year-old businessman and one of the richest people in Pakistan, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19. The fifth person is believed to be OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Photographs of a couple camping on top of an iceberg in Twillingate, Newfoundland have left a rural town in Canada mystified. The pictures were taken by local resident and nurse Sarah Rice, who was tipped off about reportedly strange objects on a nearby iceberg. A co-worker came into work saying she thinks she sees something on the iceberg and I said Ill get my camera and go see what I can see, Rice wrote on Facebook. From the vantage point of a causeway between Twillingate and New World Island, Rice zoomed in on the chunk of ice, and photographed what appeared to be two people with kayaks and a camping tent on it. She told CBC News: It looked like someone had staged a camping scene. Rice also expressed her disbelief that someone had been able to scale the iceberg, which would be several feet over your head if your boat was in the water. Im all for thrill-seekers, she added, [but] after seeing icebergs that have foundered and flipped within seconds, [its] very unsafe for sure. The campers have not been located or identified yet. According to the local coast guard, they have not returned to the dangerous campsite since Rice photographed them on 15 June. Commenting on Ms Rices original Facebook post, one user wrote: Ummm these people have to be tourists.. theres no way someone who grew up with these massive beautiful ice sculptures would ever do something that stupid lol. Another comment read: Maybe they had no idea of the dangers of an iceberg. Someone must have warned them about the dangers and how reckless they were being. As the interest in Ms Rices sighting increased, she updated her post with an appeal. While it was cool to see and no doubt a thrill for these people, please dont climb up on icebergs. Stay safe and remember to spread love & kindness, she wrote. The coastline of Twillingate, which is home to 2,200 people, is interspersed with icebergs during the summer months, according to National Post. The town is therefore nicknamed the Iceberg Capital of the World. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Paramedics in Baja California Sur who responded to the report of an American couple deceased in their hotel room said they felt symptoms consistent with carbon monoxide poisoning when they entered the room. Fernando Valencia and his partner were called to the Hotel Rancho Pescadero in El Pescadero around 9pm on Tuesday (13 June) after receiving reports that two Americans were unconscious. Upon arriving, Mr Valencia said he and his partner felt dizzy when they entered the room where they found 28-year-old Abby Lutz and 41-year-old John Heathco dead. We went out of the room as soon as possible I was afraid for my partner because my first thought in my mind was are we going to die? Mr Valencia told Good Morning America. Lutz and Heathco were on a vacation in Mexico when they began to experience what Lutzs family said are symptoms consistent with food poisoning. The two went to the hospital to seek treatment and by Monday (12 June) were feeling better. Between the time that Lutz texted her father on Monday and Tuesday evening, the couple died of intoxication by an unknown substance, according to the Baja California Sur attorney generals office. Lutzs family said they were told the couples deaths were due to improper venting of the resort with the possibility that it could be carbon monoxide poisoning. Mr Valencia called walking into the room one of the worst experiences of his life. He was especially worried for his and his partners health because he was working with his sister. John Heathco was found dead in a Mexico hotel room with Abby Lutz (LinkedIn) The Baja California Sur attorney generals office said in a statement that Lutz and Heathco had been dead between 10 and 11 hours by the time paramedics arrived. There were no signs of physical violence. In a statement provided to The Independent, Henar Gil, the general manager of Rancho Pescadero a Hyatt property said: We are truly heartbroken by this terrible tragedy. Our hearts are with the impacted families and loved ones during this unimaginable loss. Abby Lutz was found dead in a hotel room in Mexico with her partner John Heathco (Family handout) Local authorities are still actively investigating the situation, and the safety and security of our guests and colleagues remains a top priority, as always. We can confirm there was no evidence of violence related to this situation, and we are not aware of any threat to guests safety or wellbeing, Ms Gil said. She added We are working to care for those who have been impacted and we are working closely with authorities as they conduct their investigation to understand the cause of death. Further inquiries should be directed to local authorities. US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said they are closely monitoring the investigation into Lutz and Heathcos deaths in a news conference on Thursday (15 June). We stand ready to provide any consular any appropriate consular assistance, Mr Miller added. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The FBI thwarted a mans plan to carry out a mass shooting at a synagogue in Michigan, court documents revealed. Federal authorities seized at least six firearms and several tactical gear items from the home of 19-year-old Seann Patrick Pietila, of Pickford, on Friday. Investigators said they tracked down neo-nazi social media linked to Mr Pietila, which he allegedly used to discuss and plot the massacre at Shaaey Zedel Congregation in East Lansing. Mr Pietila has allegedly admitted to the damning messages he exchanged with a 16-year-old in New Zealand. He told authorities he didnt plan to follow through with the plans, but FBI investigators noted in an affidavit that Mr Pietila had planned to carry out the attack on 15 March 2024, the fifth anniversary of two Islamophobic mass shootings in New Zealand that left 51 people dead. Authorities seized Nazi paraphernalia from Mr Pietilas home and reviewed several messages in which he wrote, Heil Hitler!, and expressed relief that Michigan thankfully doesnt have that many ki***. Mr Pietila allegedly stated his plans were prompted by a recent romantic breakup. Me and Limey. Equipment: hand-made pipe bombs, molotovs, Two Stag15-s 12 gauge shotgun and two back up Glock 18s AND a Akm full auto conversion, a note found in Mr Pietilas iPhone, which also mentioned the date and target of the attack, read. Good morning sweetheart, I hope you slept well. Do you still hate me? Mr Pietila has been charged with transmitting a communication containing a threat to injure another, according to the Associated Press. Seann Pietila allegedly planned to carry out a mass shooting at a MIcihigan synagogue on 15 March 2024, the fifth anniversary of two Islamophobic mass shootings in New Zealand that left 51 people dead (FBI) He reportedly told investigators that he planned to kill himself with one of the firearms seized on Friday. In addition to the cache of weapons, the FBI also seized magazines, knives, gas masks, tactical vests and a red and white Nazi flag from his home. Brittnay Stob, Mr Pietilas mother, told investigators the weapons belonged to her and her husband, who live at a different residence. She said in an interview with ABC News that Mr Pietila had started consuming antisemitic content during the COVID-19 pandemic and didnt have access to mental health. I wont be taken alive, one of the messages included in the affidavit and allegedly sent by Mr Pietila read. Ill make sure of that. Remember Heil Hitler! Another text read: Starting to think plan B is the only option I got left ... Because f*** this generation for dating to marry. Mr Pietila has been charged with transmitting a communication containing a threat to injure another (FBI ) While discussing a breakup, Mr Pietila allegedly wrote: ... Shes been ignoring me constantly and just been being a dry texter. But yeah Im just done at this point. Fuck this world and everything in it. Im gonna start making plans soon, just gotta buy a few more things. The Rabbi at Shaarey Zedek said in an interview with The Detroit News that he had informed his congregations of the arrest. We wanted our congregation to know that federal, state and local authorities are aware of the situation that didnt happen because our law enforcement was on top of things, which we are thankful for, Mr Bigman said. Mr Pietilas arrest on Friday came on the same day that a man was convicted in Pennsylvania for the deadliest attack against the Jewish community in the US. He is currently being held without bond pending a court hearing on 22 June. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The American man police suspect shoved two US tourists into a ravine at a German castle allegedly lured them to the spot by promising to show them a romantic view. Eva Liu, 21, died after she and her friend, Kelsey Chang, 22, were shoved into a ravine on Wednesday, allegedly by a man from Michigan. Ms Chang survived the fall and was discharged from the hospital on Saturday. The suspect travelled to Germany in June and appears to have met the women during an excursion organised to visit the castle. He reportedly offered to take the women to a spot he knew of with beautiful views where tourists often take selfies. The pair ended up on a narrow path overlooking the Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria. Once there, the 30-year-old suspect allegedly tried to attack Ms Liu. Ms Chang tried to stop him, but he allegedly shoved her down the ravine. He is then said to have tried to sexually assault the 21-year-old before he threw her into the ravine as well. Ms Liu was airlifted to a hospital where she died that night. The women both fell approximately 165 feet. Ms Chang's fall was broken by a tree branch, which likely saved her life. A view of Neuschwanstein Castle from the Marienbruecke bridge (EPA) The man so far only indentified as Troy B has been arrested and charged with murder, attempted murder, and one charge of sexual assault. The suspect reportedly fled the scene but was later caught by police in the nearby town of Fuessen. The arrest was captured on video; in one clip the suspect can be seen being led away by police. His face was reportedly covered in scratches, according to Eric Abneri, another American who was at the scene and who spoke to the Associated Press. Suspect is led away by police He did not say a single word. He didnt open his mouth; he didnt mumble, Mr Abneri said. He just walked with the police and that was it. The suspect has reportedly refused to speak with investigators, but has been brought before a judge in a closed-door hearing in accordance with German law. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A man has appeared in court for the first time on four murder charges as hes accused of shooting and killing a family with whom he shared a duplex in Kellogg, Idaho. Majorjon Kaylor, 31, appeared in Shoshone County Magistrate court in an orange jumpsuit on Tuesday morning, according to The Spokesman-Review. Mr Kaylor is facing allegations that he killed Kenneth and Kenna Guardipee, in addition to Devin Smith and a teenage boy who in the courtroom was referred to as AS. The family lived below the suspect and his family in a duplex at 515 W Brown Ave in Kellogg. Police arrived at the house after reports of a shooting at around 7.20pm on Sunday. Police found the family killed by gunfire in the home. Mr Kaylor has also been charged with burglary for entering the home. He acknowledged the five charges as they were read out by Shoshone County Municipal Court Judge Keisha Oxendine, responding Yes. Prosecutor Benjamin Allen said that the suspect confessed to the allegations when he was questioned by police. Admissions were ultimately made to the offences charged, Mr Allen said. The prosecutor said that a witness saw Mr Kaylor shoot and kill at least two of the four members of the family. Mr Allen said the killings were done in a horrific manner but the prosecutor declined to go into further detail. He added that Mr Kaylor has a sparse and sporadic criminal history, including a number of misdemeanour driving violations and a drug possession charge. Majorjon Kaylor appeared in court on Tuesday 20 June (Screenshot / KHQ) The prosecutor said that Mr Kaylor works at a mine in the area and that hes married, Mr Allen added. According to Mr Kaylors public defender, he has spent his entire life in Shoshone County and his criminal history doesnt include previous violent offences. The judge remanded the suspect into custody without bail. After the hearing, Mr Kaylor was taken across the street by deputies to Shoshone County Jail. According to The Spokesman-Review, Mr Kaylor has the word savage tattoed above one of his eyebrows. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 3 July at 1.30pm. Following the shooting, Idaho State Police Lt Paul Berger told the paper that This is a tragic situation that will affect the Kellogg community, before adding that Detectives continue working to establish a timeline and what led to the shooting. Mary Jane McShane, 80, was in her backyard in the area when the shooting took place on Sunday evening. She told the paper that she didnt hear anything. She added that she didnt know anything had happened until she got a call from her brother asking her if she was okay. Its normally very calm, very quiet, the retired nurse told the paper. Its shocking and sad. Describing the town of Kellogg as small and close-knit, she said that she never expected something like this to happen. Ms McShane spends part of the year abroad, telling the paper that she has always been concerned about the gun culture in the northern parts of the state. Shes now concerned that her Irish friends will hesitate to come visit because of the shootings. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The parents of children killed in a March mass shooting at a Nashville, Tennessee, grade school are arguing in a lawsuit that written material by the shooter shouldnt be released. Allowing news organisations and others who have sought the records to see the writings would cause unfathomable trauma and give the gunman in the shooting, which killed six people, immortality, mother Erin Kinney wrote in a filing obtained by CNN. Ms Kinney, whose son William, 9, died in the shooting, said she hoped to spare survivors and their families from the unfathomable trauma of encountering sensitive material about the deaths of their siblings, friends, teachers; and most certainly to protect them from ever encountering the hateful, diseased words of the monster who slaughtered six human beings in their school. Katy and Michael Dieckhaus, whose daughter Evelyn, 9, was also killed, said they hoped the records wouldnt be made public as well. As one of the families going through such deep grieving of losing their loved one after simply dropping her off at school, we hope a more respectful, clear view can truly start to occur to help make a change that does not include releasing volumes of leverage for others planning similar devastation in this nation, the family said in a court declaration. Multiple, since-consolidated lawsuits, including one by the Nashville Tennessean newspaper, have sought to compel the Nashville police department to release the materials. The paper argued in its complaint that it is seeking to bring to light additional facts regarding this incident, societal and mental health issues, and issues regarding firearms more broadly, which have not yet been revealed through other means. They added that their access to the materials should be protected by the First Amendment and the state constitution, and argued that the parents dont have standing. The police department has denied previous requests to release the writings, claiming theyre related to an ongoing criminal investigation and could also jeopardise public safety. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for 12 July. The Nashville shooter, a former student at the Covenant Christian grade school where the massacre took place, was killed by police. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter and SpaceX, has broken his silence about the disappearance of a research submarine visiting the remains of the Titanic. The company operating the sub, OceanGate Expeditions, previously tweeted their appreciation for Mr Musk's Starlink service provided through SpaceX which allowed them to access the internet while adventuring in the North Atlantic Ocean. Despite being in the middle of the North Atlantic, we have the internet connection we need to make our #Titanic dive operations a success - thank you @Starlink! the company tweeted earlier this month. Follow our live blog for updates on the Titanic sub rescue mission Mr Musk responded to a tweet made by Snopes post pointing out that he is the CEO of SpaceX, which provides the Starlink service. He suggested the connection between Starlink and the sub was a psyop. You cant even run a good psy op, Mr Musk wrote. Reports arose on Monday that OceanGate Expeditions had lost contact with the sub and its passengers, sparking a frenzied search effort to locate the vehicle before its life support runs out. Tourists can pay $250,000 for the opportunity to board the sub which is an "experimental" craft and visit the remains of the Titanic, which sunk in 1912. There is no evidence currently suggesting Starlink played any role in the vessel's disappearance. Defenders of Mr Musk were quick to point out that Starlink could not possibly be used to communicate with the sub due to the depths involved in the vessels operation. There is no such thing as internet service several miles underneath the f****** ocean. snopes is as viciously partisan and fake as any conspiracy subreddit ive ever encountered, one verified Twitter user, a self-proclaimed disinformation researcher Mike Solana wrote. However, OceanGate Expeditions never claimed it was using the internet to communicate with the sub; it also operates surface vessels in support roles during its expeditions that previous reporting confirms does rely on internet connection. Despite his response, it is unclear if Mr Musk is denying that OceanGate Expeditions uses internet provided by Starlink. The Independent has reached out to Mr Musk and SpaceX for comment. David Pogue, who toured the sub and produced a feature story on the vessel for CBS News prior to its voyage, revealed on Monday that the ship actually was lost for approximately five hours while he was reporting the story. Mr Pogue said he was on board the command vessel at the time of the disappearance, and said that the crew were capable of sending texts to the support staff during the five-hour period. "To be clear, I was not on the sub that dayI was on the ship at the surface, in the control room. They could still send short texts to the sub, but did not know where it was," he wrote on Twitter. It's unclear why the sub's occupants cannot text the command vessel during this voyage. He said the company shut off internet access to the journalists on the command ship to stop them from publicising the fact that the sub was lost. "It was quiet and very tense, and they shut off the ships internet to prevent us from tweeting," he wrote. When commenters pressed him for why he did not report that OceanGate allegedly cut their access to the internet, Mr Pogue said the company told them they needed all channels clear for emergencies. He also noted that the subs misadventure prompted discussions about installing a locator beacon similar to those used by airplanes, though it is unclear if such measures were ever taken. British billionaire, businessman and explorer Hamish Harding is among the individuals missing on the sub. He shared in a social media post that he was brought on as a mission specialist to assist in the subs voyage to the wreckage. Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French maritime expert, is also one of the missing. He has taken more than dives to visit the Titanics wreckage. He serves as the director of underwater research for RMS Titanic, Inc, a US company that owns the salvage rights to the wreck. British businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood are also known to be on the sub, according to a statement made by Engro Corporation. Mr Dawood is the vice chair of the company. The Dawoods hail from one of Pakistans wealthiest families. Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, is also on the vessel, according to the company. The US Coast Guard said in a statement Tuesday that there is less than 40 hours worth of air left in the vessel, narrowing the time frame for a successful rescue of the missing crew. Coast Guard and US Navy vessels have continued to search for the vessel since it was reported missing by OceanGate Expeditions. David Lochridge, a pilot who helped test the sub, claims he was fired after he warned that the vessel may not be able to withstand the pressure of the deep ocean, according to The New Republic. He claims that when he raised concerns that the company might be putting its clients at risk, he was given 10 minutes to immediately clear out his desk. The Independent has requested comment from OceanGate Expeditions. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} One the night of Saturday 17 June, billionaire explorer Hamish Harding took to Instagram to reveal he was among the crew of a submersible vessel on their way to explore the Titanic wreckage. I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic, Mr Harding wrote. Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. Mr Harding said the five-member crew, which included French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, had set sail from St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada, on Friday. They were planning to start their 4,000m descent to the most famous shipwreck in the world at 4am on Sunday morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do, he said. About 105 minutes into the trip, the Tital submersible stopped communicating with its mothership. But just five days later, it would be confirmed that the submarine suffered a catastrophic implosion and all five people on board were confirmed to have died. Hamish Harding posted about his plans to travel to see the Titanic wreckage two days before the sub went missing (Facebook/Hamish Harding) Heres a timeline of the horror ordeal: Sunday (18 June) The Polar Prince icebreaker sailed around 900 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, where it set anchor. The five-person crew was dropped into the ocean in their 22-foot long submersible vessel, the Titan, around 8am EST the submersible was launched, according to the US Coast Guard One hour and 45 minutes later, the vessel lost contact with the Polar Prince. The vessel was programmed to send out a ping every 15 minutes to indicate its location. The final signal was sent at around 10am ET, according to The Times. The Titan typically takes around two hours to reach the Titanic wreckage, located about 4,000m beneath the ocean. The OceanGate Expeditions submersible vessel named Titan used to visit the wreckage site of the Titanic (PA Media) According to the Coast Guard, the sub was meant to surface at 3pm EST. When it failed to resurface, the crew raised the alarm with authorities at 5.40pm EST. At a press conference in Boston, Captain Jamie Frederick, of the US Coast Guard, said: On Sunday, the co-ordination command centre in Boston received a report from the Canadian expedition vessel Polar Prince of an overdue 21 foot submarine, Titan, with five people on board. The Titan was attempting to dive on the wreck of the Titanic, approximately 900 miles east of Cape Cod and 400 miles south of St Johns, Newfoundland. Approximately one hour and 45 minutes into the scheduled dive, the Polar Prince lost all communication with the Titan, Polar Prince conducted an initial search and then requested Coast Guard assistance. The US Coast Guard in Boston assumed the responsibility of search-and-rescue mission coordinator and immediately launched search assets. Since Sunday, the Coast Guard has coordinated search efforts with the US and Canadian Coast Guard, Air National Guard aircraft and the Polar Prince (the Titans mother ship), which has searched a combined 7,600 square miles, an area larger than the state of Connecticut. The vessel was carrying enough oxygen for the crew for 96 hours making the rescue mission a race against time to reach the vessel. The divers failed to return from a 4,000m deep dive to the Titanic wreckage (Atlantic Productions, PA) (PA Media) Monday (19 June) On Monday morning, authorities revealed the Titan was missing and a large-scale search operation had been launched. The US Coast Guard revealed they had begun a sweeping search of a 5,000sqm area about 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The Canadian Coast Guard said it too is taking part in the effort with fixed-wing aircraft and a ship. At 1.30pm, the US Coastguards Northeast tweeted that a C-130 Hercules reconnaissance aircraft had been dispatched to search for the Titan. P8 Poseidon aircraft with underwater sonar capabilities joined the search on Monday afternoon. A US Navy Curv-21, an unmanned submersible vessel that can reach a depth of 20,000 feet, is being used in the search for the missing Titanic wreck vessel (US Navy) It is a remote area and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area but we are deploying all available assets to make sure we can locate the craft and rescue the people onboard, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters during a briefing at 4.30pm EST on Monday. Submersible craft including an unmanned US Navy Curv-21, which can reach a depth of 4,000m, also joined the search. The Polar Prince and 106 Rescue Wing continued to conduct surface searches throughout Monday evening. Tuesday (20 June) On Tuesday afternoon, OceanGate confirmed that its chief executive and founder Stockton Rush is aboard the submersible as a member of the crew. A Canadian Aircraft P3 Aurora joined the effort, as the search area expanded to 10,000sqm. During the press conference on Tuesday, Captain Frederick said there were around 40 to 41 hours of oxygen left on the submersible. He said that a unified command of multiple agencies had been formed to tackle the very complex problem of finding the vessel but so far this had not yielded any results. Captain Frederick said: Since Sunday, the Coast Guard has coordinated search efforts with the US and Canadian Coast Guard, Air National Guard aircraft and the Polar Prince (the Titans mother ship), which has searched a combined 7,600 square miles, an area larger than the state of Connecticut. These search efforts have focused on both surface, with C-130 aircraft searching by sight and with radar, and subsurface, with P-3 aircraft were able to drop and monitor sonar buoys. Captain Jamie Frederick told reporters that the complex search had not yet yielded any results (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) To date, those search efforts have not yielded any results. Captain Frederick was non-committal however when asked if there is any way to retrieve the submersible and save the five on board if it can be located. So, right now all of our efforts are focused on finding the sub, he said. What I will tell you is we have a group of our nations best experts in the unified command and if we get to that point, those experts will be looking at what the next course of action is. It is understood the King was being kept informed of the search efforts, as Shahzada Dawood was a long-time supporter of The Princes Trust International and The British Asian Trust, both of which are charities founded by Charles It was also reported that a Canadian aircraft had detected banging noises within the search area over the course of 30-minute intervals. Wednesday (21 June) According to internal e-mail updates sent to Department of Homeland Security leadership, the Canadian aircraft detected banging noises every 30 minutes. RCC Halifax launched a P8, Poseidon, which has underwater detection capabilities from the air, the e-mails read. Banging noises have been detected leading to renewed hope of finding the five passengers aboard the submersible (Reuters/Getty/WEF/OceanGate) The P8 deployed sonobuoys, which reported a contact in a position close to the distress position. The P8 heard banging sounds in the area every 30 minutes. Four hours later additional sonar was deployed and banging was still heard. The US Coast Guard on Wednesday morning said: Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises in the search area. As a result, ROV (remote operating vehicles) operations were relocated in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises. Those ROV searches have yielded negative results but continue. Additionally, the data from the P-3 aircraft has been shared with our U.S. Navy experts for further analysis which will be considered in future search plans. In an upbeat statement, President Richard Garriot de Cayeux of The Explorers Club said: There is cause for hope, that based on data from the field, we understand that likely signs of life have been detected at the site. They precisely understand the experienced personnel and tech we can help deploy We believe they are doing everything possible with all the resources they have. Mr Garriot de Cayeux said they were ready to provide the UK-based Magellans remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that is certified to travel as deep as 6,000 metres. In a press conference on Wednesday (21 June) afternoon, Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard assured people that authorities were doing everything possible to locate the missing vessel as the search intensified with more technology. Mr Frederick confirmed that the vessel had less than 24 hours of oxygen supply left. He also acknowledged that officials do not know if crews will be able to rescue the people on board even if they do manage to find the sub before the oxygen runs out. The first photo emerged of the Deep Energy rescue ship, which carries two remote-operated vehicles (ROVs) capable of operating to a depth of 3,000m, arriving at the search site on Wednesday. The John Cabot, which has side-scanning sonar capabilities, the Skandi Vinland and the Atlantic Merlin also arrived at the search site on Wednesday morning, the US Coast Guard said in a Twitter post. The Royal Canadian Navy also deployed HMCS Glace Bay, which carries a medical team specialising in dive medicine. Onboard the ship is a six-person mobile hyperbaric recompression chamber that can be used to treat or prevent decompression sickness. However, the French ship Atalante carrying the Victor 6,000 underwater (ROV) and winch the only one capable of reaching the Titanic wreck 4,000m under the ocean surface had a narrow window of time to conduct rescue operations as it only reached the search site on Wednesday night. Thursday (22 June) The air supply on the missing Titanic tourist submarine came down to its last hours, as rescue workers continued their increasingly desperate search for the five stranded passengers. A US Coast Guard spokesperson told The Independent they expect the vessel, named Titan, would run out of oxygen at 8am EDT, which is 1pm UK time, on Thursday. This estimated time is based on the number of hours of oxygen the craft had for the five people on board - 96 - and the time it submerged - 8am EDT, which is 1pm UK time, on Sunday. Soon after that deadline passed, officials announced a debris field had been found in the search area. Five crew members were later confirmed to have died after the Titanic tourist submarine suffered a catastrophic explosion. The US Coast Guard offered its deepest condolences to the families after the tail cone of the vessel was found around 1,600ft from the bow of the Titanic wreck. In a press conference, Rear Admiral John Mauger said further debris was consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber. In a statement, OceanGate Expeditions said: These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the worlds oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew. Asked what the prospects of recovering crew members were, Rear Admiral Mauger said: This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the sea floor and the debris is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel. And so well continue to work and continue to search the area down there, but I dont have an answer for prospects at this time. Rear Admiral Mauger also said there did not appear to be any connection between the underwater noises detected during the search and rescue mission and the location of the debris on the seafloor. This was a catastrophic implosion of the vessel which would have generated a significant broadband sound down there that the sonar buoys would have picked up, he said. 28 June The search for what remains of the Titan submersible and its passengers concluded, as human remains were found on the sea floor and debris from the vessel returned to dry land in Canada. Large pieces of wreckage from the Titan was seen being transported to St Johns harbour in Newfoundland on Wednesday by the Horizon Arctic ship, where they were unloaded by a crane. The Coast Guard announced just hours later that presumed human remains had been found on the sea floor. They will now be formally analysed. While the search has ended, investigations will continue for some time into what caused the catastrophic implosion of the sub, killing all five passengers on board. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} It was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, travelling to the ocean floor with a chance to view what few people have the 111-year-old wreck of the Titanic. By all accounts the British billionaire explorer, Pakistani-British father and son, French diver and OceanGate Expeditions chief executive boarded the submersible, named the Titan, with a sense of adventure and excitement. But in a chilling echo of the doomed vessel, the expedition quickly took a tragic turn. An hour and 45 minutes into the voyage, the submersible lost contact with the surface ship, around 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. For four days a frantic search-and-rescue mission was carried out to determine whether the sub and its five-man crew had survived. There was a glimmer of hope as Canadian aircraft searching for the missing sub detected intermittent banging noises from the vicinity where it was last located. The crew heard banging sounds every 30 minutes on 20 June and again four hours later, after additional sonar devices were deployed. But the rescue mission ended in tragedy: The five crew members had died in a catastrophic implosion, the US Coast Guard announced on 22 June. On 28 June, officials confirmed that presumed human remains had been recovered from the sea floor. Five things we know about the missing Titanic submersible Officials are continuing to investigate the debris site although the bodies of the five may never be recovered. Heres what is known about the tragedy: What happened? On 18 June at 9am Atlantic Daytime Time (8am EDT), the Titan, a submersible owned by OceanGate Expeditions, set off on its excursion to the Titanics underwater grave with research vessel, the Polar Prince. The expedition began with a 400 nautical mile journey out into the Atlantic Ocean about 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The submersible was released from the Polar Prince and began its descent 13,000 feet below the waters surface to the wreckage. The Titan was supposed to transmit a signal back to the Polar Prince every 15 minutes but it lost contact around 10.47am EDT, one hour and 45 minutes into the journey. The OceanGate Expeditions submersible vessel named Titan (PA Media) Exactly what happened to the sub remains a mystery but the US Coast Guard said that debris consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber had been found. Rear Admiral John Mauger said there did not appear to be a connection between the underwater noises detected during the search-and-rescue mission and the location of the debris on the seafloor. The bodies of the five passengers may never be recovered from the ocean, the US Coast Guard said. This was a catastrophic implosion of the vessel, which would have generated a significant broadband sound down there that the sonar buoys would have picked up, Mauger said. OceanGate Expeditions alerted the US Coast Guard around 5.40pm EDT after the missing sub failed to surface at the expected time. Immediately, a search effort began. Where did it go missing? The US Coast Guard searched 900 miles east of Cape Cod, where the Titanic shipwreck lies. The Titanic sits approximately 12,500 below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, roughly 380 nautical miles south of Newfoundland, Canada and 1,240 nautical miles east of New York City. The shipwrecks coordinates are 414332N, 495649W. Rescue teams from several countries spent days searching thousands of square miles of open ocean with planes and ships for any sign of the 22-foot (6.7-meter) Titan. The US Coast Guard said that it was searching in depths of roughly 13,000 feet. Rear Admiral Mauger said the area where the submersible went missing was remote, making the search challenging. He also said it was too early to tell when the vessels failure occurred. The search operation had sonar buoys in the water for more than three days and had not detected any loud explosive noise during the period. The buoys picked up some sounds which temporarily offered hope that the crew on the Titan were alive and banging on the hull. But officials said analysis of the sound was inconclusive and that the noises might not have emanated from the Titan at all. The worlds deepest search-and-rescue mission Multiple agencies and countries, and both private and public organisations, desperately worked to find and rescue the five people onboard the Titan. The search became the largest underwater search-and-rescue mission at those depths ever. Efforts were led by the US Coast Guard in Boston, and also involved the Canadian Coast Guard, Canadian Armed Forces, and US Navy among others. The UK sent RAF planes. A US Navy Curv-21, an unmanned submersible vessel that can reach a depth of 20,000 feet, is being used in the search for the missing Titanic wreck vessel (US Navy) The US Coast Guard deployed two C-130 aircrafts, the New York Air National Guard deployed another C-130, the Canadian Coast Guard deployed one C-130 and one P-8 aircraft. In addition, several Canadian Coast Guard ships, a French research vessel LAtalante and commercial vessels were used in the search. The Royal Canadian Navy also deployed HMCS Glace Bay with a medical team specialising in dive medicine. Onboard was a six-person mobile hyperbaric recompression chamber used to treat or prevent decompression sickness. The Deep Energy rescue ship carried two remote-operated vehicles (ROVs) capable of operating to a depth of 3,000m. The John Cabot, which has side-scanning sonar capabilities, the Skandi Vinland and the Atlantic Merlin also joined the search on Wednesday, the US Coast Guard said on Twitter. Despite the multi-agency mission, David Concannon, an attorney and explorer who pulled out of the Titanic expedition at the last minute, claimed that the rescue efforts were hampered by red tape, bureaucracy and a lack of urgency by the US government. British company Magellan Limited had a deep-sea submersible craft ready to support the mission, with the ability to reach depths of 6,000 metres and experience of visiting the Titanic wreckage. But the US First Coast Guard District told The Independent it had not requested assistance from the firm as the vessel was too far away. Banging noises overheard A Canadian P-8 aircraft reportedly detected intermittent banging noises from the area the submersible disappeared. The US Coast Guard tweeted that it had detected underwater noises in the search area. As a result, operations were relocated in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises. Internal email updates sent to Department of Homeland Security leadership read: The P-8 deployed sonobuoys, which reported a contact in a position close to the distress position. The P8 heard banging sounds in the area every 30 minutes. Four hours later additional sonar was deployed and banging was still heard. On 22 June, Rear Admiral John Mauger said there did not appear to be any connection between the underwater noises and the location of the debris on the seafloor. He said: So throughout the search efforts, we reacted to the information that we had available to us and while we continue to send it off for deeper analysis, again really complex operating environment for us to work in, let me check with the experts, but there doesnt appear to be any connection between the noises and the location on the seafloor. Asked about the timing of the implosion, and whether it happened right at the moment the vessel lost contact, Rear Admiral Mauger said it was too early to tell, but added that the sonar buoys had not picked up any catastrophic events during the last 72 hours they had been in the water. Who are the five who died? World-record-holding, British explorer and billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, had travelled on the Challenger Deep to the bottom of the ocean and on Jeff Bezos Blue Origin into space. Before the trip, he posted on Facebook: I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic. Hamish Harding (Jannicke Mikkelsen via REUTERS) Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. The father-of-two was a seasoned explorer and held three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel when in March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. Paul Henri Nargeolet (Getty) In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origins New Shepard rocket. Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, led the first recovery expedition to the Titanic in 1987 and several more, becoming a leading authority on the wreck site. Mr Nargeolet, described by OceanGate as the Titanics greatest explorer, had done 35 dives in the submersible. Shahzada and Suleman Dawood (Family handout) Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman Dawood, 19, were UK citizens. Shahzada Dawood was vice-chairman of one of Pakistans largest conglomerates, Engro Corporation, and Suleman studied at the University of Strathclyde. OceanGate Expeditions chief executive Stockton Rush, 61, began his career as a pilot, becoming the youngest jet transport-rated pilot in the world at the age of 19. Stockton Rush (OceanGate) He served on the Museum of Flights Board of Trustees, the board of enterprise software company Entomo and as chairman of Remote Control Technology and founded OceanGate in 2009. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A catastrophic implosion on board the Titan submersible vessel claimed the lives of five crew members shortly after its launch on Sunday, the US Coast Guard confirmed on Thursday. The OceanGate Expeditions vessel was reported missing about 435 miles (700 kilometres) off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada on Sunday night. A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) located pieces of debris from the Titan on the seabed about 500m from the bow of the Titanic wreck on Thursday morning Rear Admiral John Mauger, the First Coast Guard District commander, told a press briefing. Oceangate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, British billionaire Hamish Harding, and French adventurer Paul-Henri Nargeolet were confirmed to have died in the implosion. The company, which charges up to $250,000 to take guests to the Titanic site, said that the five crew members had sadly been lost in a statement to The Independent. These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the worlds oceans, the spokesperson said. The Titan, pictured, is a tourist sub operated by OceanGate (OceanGate/YouTube) The five-person Titan vessel vanished 105 minutes after launching from the Polar Prince icebreaker research ship about 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod on Sunday morning. The Titans twin communication systems texts and electronic pings suddenly stopped communicating with the support vessel, and no further sign of life was detected until Thursdays grim discovery. The Coast Guard has since revealed that the US Navy detected sounds consistent with an implosion sometime after the Titan lost contact with its mothership. The information was immediately shared with the Incident Commander, and once it had been considered with all of the acoustic data that had been compiled, the decision was made to continue our mission as a search and rescue because the noise was not definitive at the point, a spokesperson with the US Coast Guard told The Independent. Billionaire explorer Hamish Harding French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood are now believed to be dead, the Coast Guard and OceanGate have confirmed. What is OceanGate Expeditions? OceanGate Expeditions was founded in Washington state in 2009 by US adventurer and former investment banker Stockton Rush. The trained aerospace engineer began offering underwater tours in specially designed submersible vessels that were developed with NASA. (AFP via Getty Images) In an interview with The Independent in 2017, he said he had originally wanted to become an astronaut but was later drawn to underwater exploration. In the vacuum of space, by definition there is nothing. That means a great view, but the final frontier for new life forms and discovery is undersea for the next 200-300 years at least. Mr Rush had personally piloted many of the Titans 13 previous trips to the famed shipwreck and had insisted the submersible was safe in interviews. The RMS Titanic has been lying 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada in the North Atlantic Ocean since it sank in 1912, killing about 1,500 people on board. The wreck was discovered in 1985, and was named a UNESCO cultural heritage site in 2012. Its been a subject of fascination with deep-sea exploration teams ever since. Voyaging to the Titanic wreck In 2021, the company launched its first tour of the North Atlantic wreck site in the Titan, a five-person vessel made of carbon fibre and titanium that can reach depths of 4,000m. The voyages depart from St Johns, in Newfoundland, Canada, on chartered ocean-faring ships. For their latest expedition, OceanGate hired the Polar Prince, a medium duty icebreaker that was formerly operated by the Canadian Coast Guard, to ferry dozens of passengers and crew and the submersible craft to the wreck site. The trip had been scheduled to depart in late May and finish up in late June, according to documents obtained by the AP from the US District Court in Virginia, which presides over the wreck site. Titans viewport is the largest of any deep diving submersible and its technology provides an unrivaled view of the deep ocean. The Titan can withstand the enormous pressures of the deep ocean, OceanGate said in the court documents. The Titans first voyages to the Titanic wreck gave passengers an up-close glimpse of the worlds most famous shipwreck in its final stages of decay. This map shows the approximate position of the wreck of the RMS Titanic (Google Maps) Footage captured from one expedition showed the famed bathtub in the captains quarters that was thought to have been lost to decay was, in fact, still intact. It showed the ships disintegration continued due to salt corrosion, ocean undercurrents, and bacteria that was steadily devouring the shell. The 2022 expedition featured five missions, each over several days and several dives that could last up to ten hours each. Each of the dives included at least one scientist or content expert on each submersible to gather archaeological and biological data with the goal of understanding behaviour and rarity of life at such a depth while helping to predict the rate of decay of deeply submerged vessels, according to the OceanGate site. Renata Rojas, who was one of the passengers onboard the 2022 expedition, told The Independent in an interview that seeing the Titanic up close was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream. The Polar Prince ship is seen while moored in Vancouver, British Columbia (AP) Youre feeling overwhelmed the entire time, not only because [of] just the fact that you were there ... [but] as we were approaching the wreck, I was wowed. That was the feeling, she said. Ms Rojas is currently on the Polar Prince. Oceangates 2023 expedition was the third year the company had been taking tourists to the Titanic wreck site. Along with taking visitors to the wreck, OceanGate Expeditions is conducting a longitudinal study of the Titanics rate of decay, through images, videos, laser and sonar data. Given the massive scale of the wreck and the debris field, multiple missions performed over several years will be required to fully document and model the wreck site, OceanGate says on its website. Mr Rush told The Independent in 2017 that the underwater tours were not for everyone. Hamish Harding posted about his plans to travel to see the Titanic wreckage two days before the sub went missing (Facebook/Hamish Harding) Its not a chocolate-on-the-pillow job youre part of the crew, he said. If theres an electric charge that needs moving in the middle of the night, well grab you. Prior to launching the Titanic expeditions, Mr Rush said he had taken former Everest climbers, moviemakers and nautical archaeologists on underwater tours. His oldest passenger was 92, and his youngest 12 in the four- or five-person vessels. The OceanGate team have scientists, historians and mission specialists who can pay to visit the site (YouTube/OceanGate Expeditions) French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who was on board the fated vessel, told the Irish Examiner in a 2019 interview that the families of some victims of the Titanic were opposed to expeditions to the wreck. The bodies of around 340 of the estimated 1,500 who lost their lives were recovered after it sank in 1912. He said that those lost at sea would have likely decomposed a long time ago, and he had never seen bodies in the wreckages debris field. He told the news site that exploration of the wreck was about balancing the scientific interest with respect for the dead. In a chilling foreshadowing of the 2023 disaster, the New York resident made a warning about the dangers of underwater exploration. If you are 11m or 11km down, if something bad happens, the result is the same, Mr Nargeolet said. When youre in very deep water, youre dead before you realise that something is happening, so its just not a problem. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A veteran diver has revealed he almost joined the Titanic tourist expedition that is now missing southwest of Newfoundland, Canada. Idaho attorney David Concannon credited his lucky escape to a last-minute decision to skip the $250,000-a-ticket expedition in order to tend to another urgent client matter, according to a Facebook post he shared on Monday. Mr Concannon owns an expedition consulting firm and is a consultant for OceanGate Expeditions, the company that operated the submersible. Mr Concannon who has gone on three deep-water expeditions to the RMS Titanic himself, said that he is assisting the US Coast Guard and government officials as they race against time to find the five passengers aboard the Oceangate Titanic submarine. As I posted last week I was supposed to be on this expedition and, indeed, on this dive, but I had to cancel to attend to another urgent client matter, Mr Concannon wrote. I was called and asked to provide whatever assistance I could to ensure the safe return of everyone in the sub. Of course, I immediately agreed. Mr Concannon pleaded with relatives of the passengers and members of the media to stop reaching out to officials during this critical time, saying those interactions could interfere with more important communications. We are working this problem HARD!!! We have solutions and we are trying extremely hard to implement them, Mr Concannon wrote in a separate post on Monday night. I hope to get a few hours of sleep, wake up and see very positive responses from the US Government in my Inbox. The veteran diver vowed to tell the whole world the names of the people who did not do their jobs. Mr Concannon told NewsNation on Monday night that critical equipment that could help recover the missing Titan vessel is currently thousands of miles away in the Guernsey Channel Islands. The equipment is ready and waiting to be sent to the Atlantic Ocean to help locate the submersible, but cant go anywhere until the US government authorises it. This equipment has been on the tarmac for hours. When I communicate with the US government, I get out of office replies, not from everyone, but from key people that have a signoff on this, he said. Thats unacceptable. I dont want to discourage the government officials that are helping because theyre doing their jobs, but we need to do it quicker. With the clock ticking, concerns continue to grow for the British billionaire explorer, renowned French diver, Pakistani father and son, and the OceanGate CEO stuck on board the vessel at sea. The Titan vessel left its mother ship on Sunday morning and lost contact just 1 hour and 45 minutes later. There has been no contact with the vessel since then. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} An OceanGate Expeditions adviser has slammed the US government for allegedly holding up efforts to rescue the five passengers on board the missing Titanic tourist sub because of bureaucracy around official paperwork. David Concannon, an attorney and explorer who had a lucky escape when he pulled out of the adventure at the last minute, told NewsNation on Monday night that critical equipment that could help recover the missing Titan vessel is currently thousands of miles away in the Guernsey Channel Islands. Follow updates on the missing Titanic sub in our live blog here The equipment is ready and waiting to be sent to the Atlantic Ocean to help locate the submersible, but cant go anywhere until the US government authorises it. (They are) the same group, the experts, that did the advanced survey of the Titanic last year, he said. They are mobilised. Theyre sitting on the tarmac, ready to go. We have a ship off Newfoundland that is ready to take them to the site. While the five people on board are in a race for their lives, he said that the officials needed to sign off the rescue equipment arent showing the same level of urgency. This equipment has been on the tarmac for hours. When I communicate with the U.S. government, I get out of office replies, not from everyone, but from key people that have a signoff on this, he said. Thats unacceptable. I dont want to discourage the government officials that are helping because theyre doing their jobs, but we need to do it quicker. With the clock ticking until the vessel runs out of oxygen, Mr Concannon hammered home that there isnt the time to waste. We need to move. We do not have minutes or hours. We need to move now, he said. Generic image inside the OceanGate submersible (PA) He added: We have people whose lives are at stake. You have to move. We have assets that are ready to go and theyre sitting and waiting. With the clock ticking, concerns continue to grow for the British billionaire explorer, renowned French diver, Pakistani father and son, and the OceanGate CEO stuck on board the vessel at sea. The Titan vessel left its mother ship on Sunday morning and lost contact just 1 hour and 45 minutes later. There has been no contact with the vessel since then. Titan is equipped with enough oxygen to last five people for four days. On Monday afternoon, Rear Adm John Mauger of the US Coast Guard told reporters that there was believed to be between 70 and the full 96 hours left of oxygen supply at that point. Desperate friends and family members confirmed their loved ones were on board the vessel as the deepest under sea rescue operation in world history unfolded in the Atlantic Ocean. The submersible, Titan, is missing (PA Media) Hamish Harding, who has previously travelled on the Challenger Deep to the bottom of the ocean and on Jeff Bezos Blue Origin into space, had taken to Facebook on Saturday to announce that he was joining OceanGate Expeditions for its Titanic mission this week. I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic. Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023, Mr Harding wrote, alongside an image of him signing a card reading Titanic Mission V. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. We started steaming from St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do. The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s including PH Nargeolet. More expedition updates to follow IF the weather holds! He has not posted online since. On Monday as news of the missing submersible broke Mr Hardings stepson Brian Szasz confirmed that his stepfather was on board the vessel when it went missing. Hamish Harding, my step father, has gone missing on submarine. Thoughts and prayers, he wrote on Facebook, sharing family photos and articles. Hamish Harding is on board the sub (Jannicke Mikkelsen) Thoughts and prayers for my Mom and Hamish Harding, he added. In a follow-up post, he added: Thoughts and prayers for my stepfather Hamish Harding as his submarine has gone missing exploring Titanic. Search and rescue mission is underway. A friend and fellow Titanic expert Larry Daley confirmed to CBC that French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet was also on the vessel. Mr Nargeolet is described by OceanGate as the Titanics greatest explorer and has done 35 dives in the submersible. Shahzada Dawood, a 48-year-old businessman and one of the richest people in Pakistan, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, were also on board the vessel to visit the wreckage of the Titanic. The Dawood family released a statement about the father and son saying: We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety. The fifth person has not been confirmed but is believed to be OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush. OceanGate Expeditions, which offers eight-day tourist missions to see the Titanic wreckage at a cost of $250,000 per person, said in a statement on Monday that it is exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely. Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families, it said, adding that it is deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible. The Titanic, operated by the White Star Line, sank on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean back in 1912. The ship the largest vessel at the time set sail from Southampton, UK, on 10 April 1912, with more than 2,200 passengers and crew on board headed for New York City. Five days into its voyage, the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the ocean. More than 1,500 people died. In recent years, people have taken trips to visit the wreckage which now lies around 12,500 feet at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A renowned vaccine scientist said he was stalked outside his home by anti-vaxxers on Sunday after Joe Rogan, Elon Musk, and many others challenged him to debate Robert F Kennedy Jr. Houston-based scientist Peter Hotez, 65, tweeted: I just was stalked in front of my home by a couple of anti-vaxxers taunting me to debate RFKJr. It all started when Mr Hotez tweeted on Saturday in support of an article that criticised Spotifys handling of vaccine misinformation. The Vice article was titled Spotify has stopped even sort of trying to stem Joe Rogans vaccine misinformation. The author of the article wrote: The conversation was an orgy of unchecked vaccine misinformation, some conspiracy-mongering about 5G technology and wifi, and, of course, Rogan once again praising ivermectin, an ineffective faux Covid treatment. Mr Hotez retweeted it and commented: Its really true adding that it was just awful. He continued: And from all the online attacks Im receiving after this absurd podcast, its clear many actually believe this nonsense. The article targeted a recent three-hour-long conversation by podcaster Joe Rogan on Spotify with Robert F Kennedy Jr, the anti-vaxxer himself and a presidential candidate. After Mr Hotez commented on the article, Joe Rogan responded by saying: Peter, if you claim what RFKJr is saying is misinformation I am offering you $100,000.00 to the charity of your choice if youre willing to debate him on my show with no time limit. Mr Kennedy Jr has been an anti-vaccine advocate who has peddled false claims linking vaccines to autism. Soon, billionaires claimed theyd give more money, emboldening vaccine sceptics. Elon Musk tweeted that Mr Hotez was afraid of a public debate because he knows hes wrong. He told the Washington Post that he and his wife were returning with a cake for Fathers Day when two people accosted me when we were walking into the house. He shoved a cellphone camera in my face and asked if I would debate RFK on Rogan. They were clearly lying in wait. Its very sad. All we were trying to do is get a cake for Fathers Day. He added, The anti-vaccine attacks usually come in waves of aggression, and this one is about as bad as its been in the last 20 years. In January last year, a group of more than 270 medical professionals urged Spotify to stop enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance. Though Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, the company presently has no misinformation policy. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Joe Rogan has repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine, the letter read. The Independent has reached out to Spotify for comment. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A search effort has been called off for a US free diver last seen in the Bahamas near the Bimini Barge Wreck. The US Coast Guard and the Royal Bahamas Defense Force ended their search on Sunday after former East Hartford officer Ryan Proulx, 31, was last spotted on Friday, the Coast Guard said. Mr Proulx went missing about 1.5 miles west of the Bimini Inlet, located east of Miami, Florida. Aircraft searched more than 673 square miles before the end of the search on Sunday afternoon. Coast Guard Lt Cmdr Matt Spado said on Twitter: We offer our deepest condolences to the Proulx family. The decision to suspend the active search efforts pending further development is one we never take lightly. Mr Proulx arrived in the Bahamas from Palm Beach, Florida, last Thursday, his friend Steve Diffenbacher told WBPF. The former officer had plenty of diving experience and was a licensed captain. Mr Diffenbacher told the local TV station that Mr Proulx would often travel down the East Coast for clients who wanted to have their vessels transported. Two helicopters and a search plane were deployed to help the Bahamian authorities. The Coast Guard said Mr Proulx was last spotted wearing a green shirt and red fins while free diving at the wreck of the barge off the coast of Bimini, according to ABC News. The barge is almost 75 feet below the surface and is in an area with strong currents. The barge has now developed into an artificial reef which draws large game fish. They gather near the wreck and a drop-off in the area, Scuba Schools International state. Previously, Mr Proulx served in the East Hartford Police and Monroe Police Departments, a statement from the East Hartford department said. The 31-year-old, from Connecticut, travelled to the Bahamas with his wife and a group of others. They left the Palm Beach County Marina last Thursday. Mr Diffenbacher is asking those travelling to Florida to keep an eye out for Mr Proulx, WBPF noted. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, one of five crew members onboard the companys missing submersible Titan, was sued for fraud by a Florida couple who claimed their planned deep-sea voyage to the Titanic was repeatedly cancelled and attempts to secure a refund were ignored. Marc and Sharon Hagle filed a lawsuit in Orange County in February that accused CEO Stockton Rush of defrauding them of $210,258 which they paid to secure two berths on a 2018 trip to the famed North Atlantic shipwreck. The Hagles allege that they signed a contract and paid deposits in November 2016 to become one of the first of OceanGates paying customers soon after the Titanic expeditions were first publicised. Explaining his motivation in an interview with Reuters in 2017, Mr Hagle said: One of our personal goals in life is to not be sitting around in a rocking chair when we are 100 years old saying, I wish I had done that. In mid-2017, the Hagles became suspicious that the submersible vessel, then known as the Cyclops 2, was not going to be ready by the planned departure date, according to the lawsuit. The court filing states that the Hagles wanted to pull out of the expedition, and requested a refund of their $20,000 deposits. They claim that Mr Rush visited them at their Florida home in September 2017 to convince them the trip would be going ahead as planned. A Florida couple allege OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush misled them about a planned Titanic expedition (OceanGate) Mr Rush described what could be expected during the adventure, they claimed. He allegedly said passengers would be free to move around inside the submersible and take turns at the viewing portal. Rush knew that if Plaintiffs requested a refund of their Deposit and withdrew from the Expedition others may follow, the lawsuit states. The Cyclops 2 was undertaking deep dive testing in the Bahamas at the time, and the Hagles allege they were invited to join Mr Rush on an excursion. Marc and Sharon Hagle claimed in a lawsuit that they were promised by Mr Rush that the OceanGate Expeditions submersible vessel Titan would be ready to visit the Titanic wreck site in 2018 (PA Media) The Hagles further stated that Mr Rush made false representations that the vessel would be ready to dive to the Titanic by June 2018, and convinced them to sign a second contract pay the full $105,129 per-person fee. The promised trip to the Titanic wreck in 2018 was later cancelled as OceanGate had not had sufficient time to certify the Titan to travel to the 4,000m depth, the Hagles said. A subsequent trip in 2019 was also cancelled after a support vessel pulled out. Then in late 2019, the rescheduled 2020 expedition was abruptly cancelled, the Hagles claim. The couple said their repeated efforts to get a refund were denied, and they were later told that if they refused to go on the 2021 expedition they would lose their money. The case has not had any activity since it was filed in February. An OceanGate Expeditions spokesperson told The Independent they had no comment about the lawsuit. When reached for comment by the Daily Beast, Mr Hagle said: My thoughts go out to the owners of OceanGate, the people that are on the submersible, both the crew and the guests. And were hoping for a miracle and that everybody comes home safely. I think the pleadings speak for themselves. Mr Rush, British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman Dawood, are missing aboard the Titan, which lost contact with a support vessel on Sunday morning. An extensive search and rescue effort has so far failed to find any sign of the submersible vessel. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Stockton Rush, the CEO and founder of OceanGate Expeditions, was aboard his companys Titan submarine that imploded after going missing on Sunday en route to the wreck of HMS Titanic around 370 miles east of the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The US Coast Guard announced during a Thursday press conference that the missing Titans pressure chamber was found among other debris, approximately 1600 feet from the bow of the Titanic on the sea floor by an ROV (remote-operated vehicle). In a statement to The Independent, OceanGate the private company that offers the $250,000-a-seat expedition confirmed that the five passengers aboard the vessel are now believed dead. The Titan was a cramped 22-feet long cylinder with an aerospace-grade carbon fibre hull capped with titanium hemispheres at each end, boasting a massive viewport window and 4K cameras to relay the marine environment outside back to those within but is otherwise sparse indeed. Follow the latest updates on the missing Titanic submarine here. Astonishingly, the craft was controlled by a generic video games controller specifically a Logitech F710 Wireless PC Gamepad from 2011, according to gaming expert Matthew Ruddle and, rather than using a GPS for navigation, it communicated with a tracking team aboard a surface ship, in this case the Canadian icebreaker the Polar Prince, via text messages. (OceanGate) According to Mr Rushs biography on his companys website, he graduated from Princeton University with a BSE in aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 1984 and later from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business with an MBA in 1989. He began his career as a pilot, qualifying from the United Airlines Jet Training Institute in 1981 at the age of 19 and serving as a DC-8 first officer on flights to Europe and the Middle East during his summers between college. In the year he left Princeton, Mr Rush joined the McDonnell Douglas Corporation as a flight test engineer on its F-15 program, spending two years at Edwards Air Force Base on its APG-63 radar test and anti-missile programs. In the year he left UC Berkeley, he personally built a Glasair III experimental aircraft, which he still owns and flies, and subsequently constructed a heavily-modified Kittredge K-350 two-man submarine, in which he has conducted more than 30 dives. The OceanGate Expeditions submersible Titan (American Photo Archive/Alamy/PA) Between 2003 and 2007 he served on the Museum of Flights Board of Trustees in Seattle, Washington, also chairing the institutions Development Committee for a year during his tenure. He founded OceanGate Expeditions in 2009 the company based in Everett, Washington and the non-profit OceanGate Foundation in 2012 while also sitting on the board of BlueView Technologies, a manufacturer of high-frequency sonar systems that acquired subsea tech developer Teledyne in 2012. Mr Rush also served on the board of enterprise software company Entomo and as chairman of Remote Control Technology, whose clients include Exxon, Conoco-Philips and Boeing. He was interviewed about his Titan sub on a CBS Sunday Morning featurette last November and cheerily emphasised its homemade aspects, also pointing out handles affixed to the ceiling of the craft that he said he had bought from Camper World but denied that the vessel has been MacGyvered or jerry-rigged. I dont know if Id use that description of it. But, there are certain things that you want to be buttoned down, Mr Rush told reporter David Pogue. The pressure vessel is not MacGyver at all, because thats where we worked with Boeing and Nasa and the University of Washington. Everything else can fail, your thrusters can go, your lights can go. Youre still going to be safe. Mr Rush was also interviewed by Mr Pogue for the latters Unsung Science podcast that same month on which he was asked what he worried about at the depths of the ocean and answered: What I worry about most are things that will stop me from being able to get to the surface. Overhangs, fish nets, entanglement hazards. The interior of the Titan (PA) On the safety of his missions more generally, he said: I dont think its very dangerous. If you look at submersible activity over the last three decades, there hasnt even been a major injury, let alone a fatality. What worries us is not once youre underwater. What worries me is when Im getting you there, when youre on the ship in icy states with big doors that can crush your hands and people who may not have the best balance who fall down, bang their head. Thats, to me, the dangerous part. Perhaps most revealingly of all, he added: You know, at some point, safety just is pure waste. I mean, if you just want to be safe, dont get out of bed. Dont get in your car. Dont do anything. Mr Rush also spoke to the BBC last year to promote his lucrative Titanic tours venture, which costs customers $250,000 (195,000) per trip, telling viewers that deep sea travel is amazing. Its just such a different experience. Its a totally different emotion. Explaining the appeal of pursuing the ghostly wreck of the doomed liner in particular, he said simply: I read an article that said there are three words in the English language which are known throughout the planet. Thats Coca-Cola, God and Titanic. On Tuesday 20 June, it emerged that Mr Rush had been sued for fraud by a Florida couple who claimed their planned deep-sea voyage to the Titanic was repeatedly cancelled and attempts to secure a refund were ignored. Marc and Sharon Hagle filed a lawsuit in Orange County in February that accused CEO Stockton Rush of defrauding them of $210,258 which they paid to secure two berths on a 2018 trip to the famed North Atlantic shipwreck. The Hagles allege that they signed a contract and paid deposits in November 2016 to become one of the first of OceanGates paying customers soon after the Titanic expeditions were first publicised. The Hagles further stated that Mr Rush made false representations that the vessel would be ready to dive to the Titanic by June 2018, and convinced them to sign a second contract pay the full $105,129 per-person fee. The promised trip to the Titanic wreck in 2018 was later cancelled as OceanGate had not had sufficient time to certify the Titan to travel to the 4,000m depth, the Hagles said. In addition to Mr Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, renowned French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman were also on board the Titan. All five passengers are presumed dead following the discovery of debris on Thursday. The Coast Guard says that ROVs will remain in place but that it will begin to pull back equipment over the next 48 hours. This is an incredibly unforgiving environment out there on the sea floor. The debris is consistent with the catastrophic implosion of the vessel. We will continue to work and search the area down there but I dont have an answer on prospects at this time, said Rear Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard. The Rear Admiral said that sonar buoys had been in the water for the past 72 hours and that they had not picked up any evidence of an implosion, suggesting that it had happened early on in the dive. Close Titan submersible wreckage brought ashore after fatal implosion Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} OceanGate Expeditions, the company that launched the doomed Titan submersible trip to the wreckage of the Titanic, has ceased operations. A small message in the top-left corner of OceanGates website reads: OceanGate has suspended all exploration and commercial operations. The announcement comes a full two weeks after the submersible imploded while carrying five people, sparking an international search, rescue and recovery operation. OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his teenage son Suleman Dawood all died in the implosion. The company has come under scrutiny in the weeks following the tragic accident as former employees, former passengers and experts in the industry have criticised OceanGate for embarking on a potentially dangerous trip in the questionably designed submersible. OceanGates decision to cease operations comes just after the companys former finance director claimed she quit after CEO Stockton Rush asked her to captain the Titan once he fired the crafts original chief pilot David Lochridge. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A social studies teacher in Massachusetts has resigned after he was allegedly tormented by a 12-year-old student who made a series of anti-Semitic comments. Morrison Robblee, now a former teacher at Nessacus Regional Middle School, said he wore his kippah a cap worn by some observant Jews to school, and that the anti-Semitic abuse kicked off after he wore the religious garment. He claims one of his sixth-graders began making hateful comments toward him in February, but that the commentary became anti-Semitic during Passover in April. Mr Robblee decided to write up the student up for detention, according to the Berkshire Eagle. The child allegedly "apologised" a few days later by handing his teacher a drawing of Adolf Hitler standing over a dead Jewish person alongside the phrase "Sorry, Jew". He really wanted to get his point home, Mr Robblee told the Berkshire Eagle. Other instances of harassment reportedly invoked the Holocaust, gas chambers, and other Nazi imagery. The student was eventually suspended and removed from Mr Robblee's classroom, but it reportedly did not stop the harassment. The student reportedly took opportunities to insult Mr Robblee in the halls and send him harassing emails. School officials eventually suspended the student and removed him from Mr Robblee's class. The student was eventually allowed back, but Mr Robblee expressed concerns that the school had not done enough to address the student's hateful attitude. I am not bothered by the ignorant comments of a child, Mr Robblee told the school in a written statement after the student was reinstated after their suspension. I am bothered that, without proper intervention, this hate will continue to fester. The student returned and so did the harassment. It eventually wore Mr Robblee down. During one hallway exchange, Mr Robblee made a face at the student a fact he admits to. He was reported to the school's administration, who called him in and placed him on administrative leave. Mr Robblee said he made the face out of frustration. He has denied other allegations that he was badmouthing students to others at the school. He complained that the school dismissed his concerns and resigned after being put on administrative leave. The school told him he could return to the classroom after accepting a verbal reprimand for making faces at the student. Instead, Mr Robblee walked. I slid my keys across the table and said theres absolutely no way Im coming back to work in this school, he told the paper. Leslie Blake-Davis, the districts superintendent, could not provide detailed comment due to confidentiality policies, but did note that the school has an established policy for dealing with hateful students. That policy includes the emergency removal of a student from a classroom. The student is facing a misdemeanour charge of criminal harassment related to the incident. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The families of five people missing in a submarine that vanished near the wreck of the Titanic have been handed a grim deadline of 10am on Thursday for rescuers to find their lost loved ones alive in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. A frantic search for the OceanGate Expeditions submarine became an increasingly desperate race against time as it entered its second day on Tuesday, as officials said those on board would have already used more than half of their 96-hour oxygen supply. Despite US, Canadian and French authorities having expanded what is the deepest undersea rescue operation in history to cover some 10,000 square miles of ocean, an adviser to the submarine firm warned that the extraordinary mission had been hampered by red tape, bureaucracy, and a lack of urgency on the part of US officials. The 6.5 metre Titan sub is the largest carbon fibre structure that we know of, OceanGates founder said in 2021 (AP) The identities of those thought to be on board the vessel which lost contact just 105 minutes into its journey were revealed to include British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, renowned French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and OceanGate founder Stockton Rush, along with Surrey-based businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman Dawood. While some on board the five-person submersible have previously carried out dozens of dives to the wreck of the Titanic, which lies beyond the reach of light at 3,810 metres below sea level, in an eerie message prior to departure Mr Harding wrote on Saturday that this would likely be the first and only manned mission to the wreck this year because of the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years. The tourist expedition, which costs $250,000 (196,000) per person, set off on Sunday morning, with the 6.5 metre sub departing from its mother ship, the research icebreaker Polar Prince, around 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It is supposed to transmit a signal back to the boat every 15 minutes. Jannicke Mikkelsen, a close friend and mentee of Mr Harding, said she had been told by rescuers that they were working under the assumption that the maximum life support is Thursday 22 June at 11.30am (BST). The US Coast Guard later estimated that breathable air may run out shortly after 10am UK time (5am ET). Warning that most scenarios are bleak for survival at this point, Ms Mikkelsen also expressed fears that those on board could currently be dealing with hypothermia if the vessel has lost power. Hamish Harding went into space with Jeff Bezoss Blue Origin company last year (Jannicke Mikkelsen) French mariner and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet has completed more than 30 dives in the submersible (Getty) The 37-year-old explorer told The Independent that her only hope of finding her friend who has been into space, taken Buzz Aldrin to the South Pole, and holds three Guinness world records lies in the possibility that the vessel has become stuck on something attached to the Titanic, such as a fishing net, enabling rescuers to locate and free it. US Coast Guard captain Jamie Frederick told a press conference at 6pm UK time on Tuesday that a remotely operated underwater pipe-laying vessel had met with the Polar Prince and was undertaking a dive at the approximate position of the Titanic, with other private vessels preparing to join the search. A full descent to the Titanic and return to the surface is reported typically to take eight hours on the manned submarine, which began its dive at 9am local time on Sunday and was due to resurface at 6.10pm. While it lost contact prior to midday, the Polar Princes owner said authorities were not alerted until 6.35pm. Questioned by a BBC reporter who asked whether the apparent delay was concerning, Captain Frederick said: As soon as we received the report on Sunday evening, we immediately launched search efforts. We flew assets that evening and weve continued constant surface and air asset searches since that point. Jamie Frederick says the US Coast Guard believes there is only enough oxygen to last until around 10am on Thursday (AFP via Getty) A Canadian Boeing P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft and two US Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft are among the vehicles involved in the search, with Ottawas military also dropping sonar buoys and France pledging to dispatch a ship carrying an autonomous robot capable of descending to a depth of 6,000 metres. But David Concannon, an explorer who pulled out of the expedition at the last minute, warned on Monday night that potentially critical equipment was sitting on the tarmac thousands of miles away on Guernsey in the Channel Islands, allegedly waiting for US government authorisation. We need to move. We do not have minutes or hours, he told broadcaster NewsNation. We have assets that are ready to go and theyre sitting and waiting. Shahzada Dawood, who is reported to serve on the board of Princes Trust International and lives in a Surrey mansion, and his son Sulaiman are on board (Family handout) OceanGate founder Stockton Rush became the youngest jet-transport-rated pilot in the world in his youth (OceanGate) Downing Street said Rishi Sunaks thoughts were with the families of those on board and that the Foreign Office was providing support, but said it was not aware of a request from Mr Hardings family for help with the unusual rescue operation. The expedition was OceanGates third annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of the Titanic, whose wreckage was discovered in 1985, decades after it was sunk by an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912. Just 700 survived among the 2,200 on board. Journalist David Pogue, who took part in a similar expedition last year, said the loss of communication suggested that either they lost all power or the ship developed a hull breach and it imploded instantly, telling CBC News: Both of those [scenarios] are devastatingly hopeless. However, the sub has seven back-up systems that allow it to return to the surface, including one that is designed to work even if everyone on board is unconscious, Mr Pogue said. Recalling his own expedition, the journalist told CBS: Theres no GPS underwater, so the surface ship is supposed to guide the sub to the shipwreck by sending text messages ... But on this dive, communications somehow broke down. The sub never found the wreck. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Rescuers are in a race against time to reach a deep-sea submarine that disappeared carrying a pilot and four crew on a tour to the Titanic wreckage. The OceanGate Expeditions tourist and research vessel Titan lost communications with the research vessel the Polar Prince one hour and 45 minutes into its 3,000m deep dive early on Sunday morning (18 June). Rescuers say the vessel will run out of oxygen on Thursday (22 June) and are searching an area of the North Atlantic Ocean about the size of Connecticut, 900 miles (1450kms) off the coast of Cape Cod. British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush and French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet known as Mr Titanic are onboard, along with Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood. Rescuers are yet to find any trace of the vessel or its crew members. We have to remain optimistic and hopeful, Captain Jamie Frederick, the response coordinator for the First Coast Guard District, said during a press briefing on Wednesday (21 June). With the search now in its third day, experts say the chances of finding anyone alive are dwindling. Waning oxygen reserves and extreme cold are counting against the rescue mission, while no light reaches the depth of the Titanic, hampering a visual search of the wreck. Five additional rescue vessels will arrive in the next 24-48 hours, after the estimated time when the Titans oxygen reserves will have been exhausted. Five other vessels have already searched a 10,000sqm area for any sign of the OceanGate Expeditions submersible. Sonar leading the blind search The US and Canadian Coast Guards have launched long-distance reconnaissance aircraft including two C-130 Hercules and a Boeing P-8 to conduct radar and visual search. Sonar buoys and a sonar ship have also been deployed to scan for any sign of the Titan. Rear Admiral Mauger said the sonar devices have a listening depth of 13,000 feet (4,000m), the same depth as the Titanic wreckage. The crushing pressure of the ocean at that extreme depth means that an unmanned vehicle such as a US Navys Curv-21 would realistically be the only vessel that could reach the missing submersible. A US Navy Curv-21, an unmanned submersible vessel that can reach a depth of 20,000 feet, is being used in the search for the missing Titanic wreck vessel (US Navy) The Curv-21 can reach a depth of 20,000 feet and relays video, navigation and sonar data back to operators on the ocean surface via its fibre-optic umbilical cord, according to the US Navy. In an interview with Good Morning America on Tuesday, Rear Admiral Mauger said the US Coast Guard had flown multiple aircraft over an area about the size of Connecticut. C-130 Hercules reconnaissance aircraft are searching for the missing Titan submersible across an area of the North Atlantic about the size of Connecticut (386th Air Expeditionary Wing Pub) A commercial vessel that operates unmanned vehicles joined the mission on Monday night, he added. Folks have been working around the clock to mobilise gear to get it to the site and to participate in the search for this submersible, he said. Youre dead before you realise The pilot and crew, known as mission specialists, would have received extensive training in the event of complications onboard. They included Mr Nargeolet, 77, a former French Navy diver who has visited the wreckage more than 35 times. In a 2019 interview with the Irish Examiner, the New York resident issued a chilling warning about the dangers of submerging to such extreme depths. Paul-Henri Nargeolet has visited the Titanic wreckage 35 times more than any other person (Getty) If you are 11m or 11km down, if something bad happens, the result is the same, Mr Nargeolet said. When youre in very deep water, youre dead before you realise that something is happening, so its just not a problem. Mr Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, who is also onboard, is another experienced underwater explorer. OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush was the second person to solo pilot a submersible vessel to 4,000m (OceanGate) He has piloted the Titan to a depth of 4,000m alone, only the second person after filmmaker James Cameron to carry out a solo submersible dive deeper than 3,000m, according to a profile on the OceanGate website. In a presentation at the GeekWire summit in 2022, Mr Rush said the Titan had visited the wreck site 13 times in 2021 and 2022 without incident. Hamish Harding, an experienced explorer, also onboard, would have been calm and collected in an emergency, his friend and fellow explorer Jannicke Mikkelsen told CNN. Hamish is larger than life. He lives exploration. He is an explorer to the core of his soul, Ms Mikkelson said. He has been to the bottom of planet Earth in the Mariana Trench hes even been in space. We circumnavigated the planet together, she added. Missing Titanic submarine: What happened to the Titan tourist submersible? Record-breaking rescue bid At 4,000m (13,120ft), the potential depth of the Titan makes it one of the deepest ocean rescue missions in history. In 2022, the Curv-21 was deployed to recover the wreckage of an F-35 fight jet from the South China Sea at a depth of approximately 3780m (12,400 ft). The Curv-21 attached a hoist to the wreckage to allow it to be pulled back to the ocean surface, according to the US Navy. In 1973, two British sailors were rescued from a depth of 487m (1,600 ft) after becoming stranded in a six-foot steel ball. The survivors had 12 minutes of oxygen remaining when they were finally pulled from the sea, according to the BBC. Bleak outlook Former British Navy Rear Admiral Chris Parry said the lack of contact with the Titan over the past 48 hours was very concerning. Mr Parry said the submersible could have become caught up in the Titanic wreckage or suffered a catastrophic mechanical failure onboard. The OceanGate Expeditions submersible vessel Titan has been missing for more than 48 hours (PA Media) The 22-foot-long Titan takes around two hours to reach the ocean bed, where the Titanic sank in 1912 causing the deaths of 1,500 crew and passengers. This means the vessel was likely close to the wreck site when it lost contact with support crews. Having listened to the timescale its very worrying, Mr Parry told Sky News. Theres an optimistic option and thats that its either lost an umbilical communication with the surface or indeed theres been a malfunction and the submarine continues to operate but obviously out of contact with its mother ship, he said. Obviously on the other end of the scale there could have been an accident. It could have become entangled in the wreckage of the Titanic. It could indeed have had a catastrophic failure. Though on Wednesday (21 June), a Canadian P-8 aircraft detected underwater noises described as tapping sounds. Follow-up surveillance did not turn up the missing sub. Crucial ship wont arrive until after oxygen deadline Captain Frederick admitted that the search teams had no idea what the sounds were, and searches around the areas they came from had failed to yield any trace of the missing sub. The sounds were being analysed by US Navy specialists. He also said two underwater remote operated vehicle (ROVs) had also been deployed in the search zone. In addition, two Canadian P-3 aircraft were flying back-to-back missions, and two C-130 aircraft would continue to fly through the day and into the evening. On Wednesday, the first photo emerged of the Deep Energy rescue ship, which carries two remote operated vehicles (ROVs) capable of operating to a depth of 3,000m, arriving at the search site. The John Cabot, which has side scanning sonar capabilities, the Skandi Vinland and the Atlantic Merlin also arrived at the search site on Wednesday morning, the US Coast Guard said in a Twitter post. However, the French ship Atalante carrying the Victor 6,000 underwater (ROV) and winch the only one capable of reaching the Titanic wreck 4,000m under the ocean surface will have a narrow window of time to conduct rescue operations as it is only expected to reach the search site on Wednesday night. Finger-pointing at the US An adviser to OceanGate Expeditions who pulled out of the tour at the last minute has claimed that US officials were slow to react after the Titan was reported missing on Sunday. David Concannon told NewsNation on Monday that vital rescue equipment that could help locate the Titan is currently thousands of miles away in the Guernsey Channel Islands. The equipment and crew were ready and waiting to be sent to the Atlantic Ocean to help locate the submersible, but had been held up due to US government bureaucracy, he said. They are mobilised. Theyre sitting on the tarmac, ready to go. We have a ship off Newfoundland that is ready to take them to the site, he told NewsNation. This equipment has been on the tarmac for hours. When I communicate with the US government, I get out of office replies, not from everyone, but from key people that have a signoff on this, he said. Thats unacceptable. I dont want to discourage the government officials that are helping because theyre doing their jobs, but we need to do it quicker. The US Coast Guard rejected an offer by British company Magellan Limited to send a deep-sea submersible craft that may have been able to reach the Titanic wreckage site, which lies 4,000m under the ocean surface. The US First Coast Guard District said it turned down the offer after careful consideration because of the length of time it would take to reach the search site. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A British billionaire who died on board the missing Titanic tourist submarine wrote a last post warning about temperamental weather conditions ahead of the mission. Billionaire Hamish Harding, who has previously travelled on the Challenger Deep to the bottom of the ocean and on Jeff Bezos Blue Origin into space, posted on Instagram on Sunday to announce he was joining OceanGate Expeditions for their Titanic mission. Follow the latest updates on the missing Titanic submarine here. That was the last time he posted before news broke that the submersible is missing somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. He, along with OceanGate Expeditions founder and CEO Stockton Rush, renowned French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman, have now been confirmed dead after the submarine suffered a catastrophic explosion. In his eerie last post before the mission, Mr Harding said it would be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. The British aviator said this was because of the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years but the opening of a weather window led to the mission attempting a dive on Monday. Hamish Harding is feared missing on board the Titanic tourist submarine (Facebook/Hamish Harding) He signed off by saying: More expedition updates to follow IF the weather holds! His stepson, Brian Szasz, confirmed his stepfather was on board the vessel when it went missing. Hamish Harding, my step father, has gone missing on submarine. Thoughts and prayers, he wrote on Facebook, sharing family photos and articles. Thoughts and prayers for my Mom and Hamish Harding, he added. In a follow-up post, he added: Thoughts and prayers for my stepfather Hamish Harding as his submarine has gone missing exploring Titanic. Search and rescue mission is underway. British billionaire Hamish Harding posted on social media of his excitement at visiting the Titanic wreckage (Action Aviation Chairman) In a statement shortly after the rescue mission was launched, a spokesperson for the UKs Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: We are in contact with the family of a British man following reports of a missing submarine off the coast of North America. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trumps tempestuous views aside, Manhattan prosecutors say neither the former president nor his lawyers have shown any evidence to support their claims that the judge in his hush-money criminal case has an anti-Trump bias. They urged him to reject defense demands that he step aside from the case. In court papers made public Tuesday, the Manhattan district attorneys office defended Judge Juan Manuel Merchan against Trump's claims that he's a Trump-hating judge," amplifying a court ethics panels recent opinion that a judge in his situation wouldnt have to recuse himself. The opinion, issued May 4 by the states Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, suggests Merchan may have sought the panels input as he wrestled with the gravity of his role in the case and nagging concerns that he could be seen as having a bias or conflict of interest. The opinion doesnt list names, but the details match, with the inquiring judge described as presiding in a criminal case involving "a former public official. Trumps lawyers contend Merchan, a state court judge in Manhattan, is biased because his daughter is a political consultant whose firm has worked for some of Trumps Democratic rivals, and that some of his rulings in two prior Trump-related cases have shown a pro-prosecution bent. The Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, in its opinion, concluded that a judge in that precise situation may continue to preside in the matter provided the judge believes he/she can be fair and impartial. Matthew Colangelo, a senior counsel to District Attorney Alvin Bragg, agreed that neither issue was grounds for Merchan to step aside. He painted Trumps recusal motion as the latest in his prolific history of baselessly accusing state and federal judges around the country of bias. The decision on recusal is up to Merchan himself. He previously rejected a similar request when Trumps company, the Trump Organization, was on trial. Separately, Trumps lawyers are seeking to move the case to federal court, which would also eliminate Merchan from the judicial equation. A federal judge has scheduled a June 27 hearing on that request. A message seeking comment was left with Merchan. Court spokesperson Lucian Chalfen said: As this case remains a pending matter before Judge Merchan, we have no further comment. Trump pleaded not guilty in April to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The charges relate to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign to bury allegations that Trump had extramarital sexual encounters. He has denied wrongdoing. The New York case is one of two criminal cases against Trump. Last week in federal court in Miami, he pleaded not guilty to 37 felony counts of mishandling classified material and taking steps to hide records and impede investigators. He is the first president to be charged with a federal crime. In defending Merchan, Colangelo wrote that recusal is only required by state law when theres a direct, personal, substantial or pecuniary interest in reaching a particular conclusion," Colangelo wrote. That provision doesnt extend to Merchans daughter working for Trumps political foes, he argued. Merchans daughter, Loren, is a political consultant whose firm has worked on campaigns for prominent Democrats including Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. In an affirmation included with Tuesdays filing, Braggs political consultant disclosed that he had discussions with Loren Merchans firm last fall regarding potential campaign work. The firm wasn't hired and Braggs consultant said he wasn't informed of Loren Merchans connection to the judge until around the time of Trumps arraignment. Trump, the leading contender for the Republican nomination in 2024, could face Biden again as he seeks a return to the White House. He and his allies have seized on Merchans political ties in portraying his prosecution as part of a Democrat-led witch hunt. Colangelo also took issue with the central point of Trumps argument for recusal: that Merchan acted inappropriately by involving himself in plea negotiations last year for Trumps longtime finance chief. Merchan signed off on a deal that required ex-CFO Allen Weisselberg testify against Trumps company in exchange for a five-month jail sentence. That testimony ultimately helped prosecutors convict the Trump Organization of tax fraud, but the way Trump's lawyers described Merchans involvement in the negotiations was "factually incorrect." At no point did the Court seek to induce Mr. Weisselberg to cooperate against defendant, or condition any provision of the sentence on such cooperation, Colangelo wrote, citing a sworn statement from a prosecutor involved in the plea negotiations. Trumps lawyers, Susan Necheles and Todd Blanche, had also asked Merchan to explain three political donations totaling $35 that were made to Democratic causes in his name during the 2020 election cycle. Merchan has yet to respond to that request, nor has he responded to inquiries from The Associated Press asking him to confirm or deny if hes the person who made the donations, which include $15 for President Joe Bidens campaign against Trump, according to federal campaign finance records. The Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics opinion suggested that, if a judge like Merchan made such small-dollar contributions even to a defendants political opponent hed still be able to stay on the case. These modest political contributions made more than two years ago cannot reasonably create an impression of bias or favoritism in the case before the judge," the panel wrote. Trumps case ended up in Merchans courtroom because of a rotation in which judges assigned to oversee grand juries handle any cases that arise from them, according to the court system. Merchan also often handles financial cases and runs Manhattans mental health court, where some defendants get a chance to resolve their cases with treatment and supervision. __ Follow Michael Sisak on Twitter at twitter.com/mikesisak and send confidential tips by visiting https://www.ap.org/tips/. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Judge Aileen Cannon has set a date for the trial in the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump. The Trump-appointed judge has signed a court order listing the trial as starting on 14 August of this year in Fort Pierce, Florida. This case is hereby set for a Criminal Jury Trial during the two-week period commencing August 14, 2023, or as soon thereafter as the case may be called, the court order states. Any change of plea must be taken prior to 5:00 p.m. on the last business day before trial is scheduled to begin, it adds. The court order is likely to be challenged as motions are filed, including requests for the trial to be delayed. All pre-trial motions and motions in limine must be filed by July 24, 2023, the court order states. Scott MacFarlane of CBS News noted that This timeline seems quite aspirational. Not likely to hold. Judge Cannon appears to have created whats called a rocket docket seemingly in an attempt to push the trial through the judicial system. Most federal trials take as long as a year to commence as both parties prepare for the proceedings, The Daily Beast noted. Legal experts have previously indicated that Judge Cannon can be unpredictable and that she has ruled in favour of Mr Trump in the past after he appointed her shortly before leaving the White House. While overseeing Mr Trumps challenge to the raid of his Mar-a-Lago estate last year, she added more red tape, slowing down the FBI probe. Former federal prosecutor Brandon Van Grack told The New York Times that the proposed trial date probably wont stand as the discovery process of handing over classified evidence to the defence legal team hasnt started yet. Recommended Nearly 100 letters containing white powder sent to Trump and senior Republicans But he said that the date signals that the court is at least trying to do everything it can to move the case along and that its important that the case proceed quickly. Even though its unlikely to hold, its at least a positive signal positive in the sense that all parties and the public should want this case to proceed as quickly as possible, he added. As Mr Trump struggles to retain lawyers to represent him, its unclear if the defence wants the case to move quickly and for the case to be resolved ahead of the 2024 election or if there will be attempts to delay it until after the election. But Mr Trump has for decades attempted to delay legal cases, and this case is likely to be given the same treatment. If the trial goes beyond the 2024 election and Mr Trump is elected, he may theoretically attempt to pardon himself. He may also order his attorney general to drop the charges against him, The Times notes. Following Mr Trumps indictment in Miami, Special Counsel Jack Smith indicated that he wanted a speedy trial. Recommended Hunter Biden reaches deal with Justice Department to plead guilty to three federal charges Judge Cannon wrote in the court order that the trial is set to take place at her home courthouse in Fort Pierce, a small town in the north of the Southern District of Florida. Considering the number of things that have to happen before the case can go on trial, the August date is highly unlikely to remain in place since Mr Trumps legal team has started a process of getting security clearances to be able to view the evidence in the case. The clearance process usually takes months. Mr Trumps legal team is also not set for trial following a number of recent departures. Stanley Woodward Jr, the lawyer representing Trump aide Walt Nauta who was also indicted in the case, is looking for Florida lawyers to help him, The Times noted. Mr Nauta is set to be arraigned next week. As Mr Trump stands accused of unlawfully retaining 31 national defence documents, many with top secret classifications, both sides are set to engage in proceedings behind closed doors to decide how to handle the classified information. Large parts of that legal wrangling will be conducted under the guidance of the Classified Information Procedures Act and if the federal prosecutors are unhappy with any of the future rulings by Judge Cannon in connection to that legislation, they may halt the pretrial proceedings to file an appeal with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Meanwhile, the defence would have to hold off until after a possible conviction to appeal any evidentiary problems according to that legislation. Mr Trumps legal team is expected to file a number of motions ahead of the trial, including arguments that hes being singled out while other high-profile officials investigated for allegedly mishandling classified files werent charged. They may also argue that prosecutors are guilty of misconduct, in addition to attempting to stop the use of audio notes made by one of his attorneys that the government got ahold of ahead of the filing of the indictment. Recommended Trump rants on Truth Social over poll showing him losing to Biden Mr Trumps legal woes are expected to further affect his campaign to return to the White House, as the former president has used his 2024 efforts to claim that the charges against him are a politically motivated attempt to take him out of contention. While the trial has been scheduled for 14 August, the first Republican primary debate has been scheduled for 23 August in Milwaukee. But Mr Trump hasnt confirmed his attendance and he has signalled that he may not take part in the first two debates. Additional legal problems for Mr Trump include the hush money indictment in the Southern District of New York and the second defamation trial brought by writer E Jean Carroll set for January. In the previous trial this year, Mr Trump was found liable for sexually assaulting Ms Carroll in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. Georgia prosecutors in Fulton County may also bring charges in connection to Mr Trumps attempts to overturn the 2020 elections results in the state. Mr Smith is also overseeing a second probe on the federal level into Mr Trumps attempts to remain in office despite losing the election. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A Fox News host confronted Donald Trump in a heated interview with a long list of former staffers he appointed and later went against. Mr Trump was challenged on his hiring choices during his tenure, with Fox News anchor Bret Baier reminding him of his 2016 statement that he was "going to surround myself with only the best and most serious people. "Well, I did do that," Mr Trump responded. "Thats tremendous. Look, we had the best economy weve ever had, the world has ever seen." Baier then read out a long list of his former allies who are now running against him in the 2024 presidential elections. He said his former vice president Mike Pence and his former ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley are running against him while his former secretary of state Mike Pompeo is not supporting him. You mentioned national security adviser John Bolton. Hes not supporting you either. You mentioned attorney general Bill Barr. Says you shouldnt be president again. Calls you the consummate narcissist and troubled man. You recently called Barr a gutless pig, he said as Mr Trump watched. Your second defence secretary is not supporting you. Called you irresponsible. This week, you called your White House chief of staff John Kelly weak and ineffective and born with a very small brain. You called your acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney a born loser, he added. "So, why did you hire all of them in the first place?" Baier asked, after adding more references to his aides and officials. Mr Trump said he had phenomenal people without naming anyone and praised his administration for defeating ISIS. We had phenomenal people in the military. Im not a fan of Milley and Im not a fan of certain of the television people. But I knocked out ISIS, I defeated ISIS. They said, Mattis, it will take three years and I dont think we can do it. I did it in a period of like four weeks, Mr Trump said, referring to chair of the US joint chiefs of staff Mark Milley and former defence secretary James Mattis. "Theres a lot of people who praise you for your policies," Baier responded. "I just said that." "Thats true. Well, I mean, you just went through a list. But dont forget, for every one you say, I had 10 that love us," Mr Trump said. Because I hired ten to one that were fantastic... We had a great economy. We had phenomenal people in charge of the economy. Mr Trump sat down for an interview for the first time since 2018 with Fox Newss Baier, who also challenged the former presidents election fraud claims during his coverage of the 2020 elections. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} California Gov. Gavin Newsom says there's no chance on God's green earth he's running for president in 2024, but he wants to make clear that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running, is weak and undisciplined and will be crushed by Donald Trump." DeSantis, meanwhile, likes to mock Newsom's apparent fixation on Florida while insisting that the Democratic governor's leftist government" is destroying California. Welcome to one of the fiercest rivalries in U.S. politics, featuring dueling term-limited governors who represent opposite ends of the ideological spectrum and lead two of the nation's largest and most influential states. Newsom and DeSantis will not face each other on any ballot in 2024, but in many ways, they are defining the debate from their corners of America as the presidential primary season gets underway. Newsom addressed his contempt for DeSantis and his loyalty to President Joe Biden in a recent interview just as the Florida governor launched a two-day fundraising trek spanning at least five stops across California. The Golden State has become one of DeSantis' favorite punching bags as he tries to avoid a direct confrontation with his chief Republican presidential rival, Trump, and the former president's escalating legal challenges. He's taking his eye off the ball," Newsom said of DeSantis' escalating attacks against him. And that's not inconsistent with my own assessment of him, which is he is a weak candidate, and he is undisciplined and will be crushed by Donald Trump, and will soon be in third or fourth in national polls. Representatives for DeSantis did not make the governor available for an interview. Beneath the war of words, however, strategists in both parties suggest there may be a mutually beneficial dynamic at play. As they jab at each other's policies and personalities through comments in the press and on social media, the governors are scoring points with their respective political bases, raising money and expanding their national brands. Both men issued fundraising appeals Monday going after the other by name. But it's not all helpful. Newsom, in particular, is facing nagging questions about his presidential ambitions less than a week after DeSantis dared him to stop pussyfooting around and launch a primary challenge against Biden. The California governor, whose second and final term concludes at the end of 2026, has seen his national profile grow since he easily beat back a recall attempt in 2021 and cruised to reelection last fall. He finished the midterm campaign with roughly $16 million in the bank. And in March, he channeled $10 million to a new political action committee he's calling the Campaign for Democracy. All the while, Newsom's team has been moving deliberately to avoid the perception that he's running a shadow presidential campaign just as Biden ramps up his political activities. For example, Newsom's new PAC is initially focusing on challenging Republican leaders in deep-red states that are largely irrelevant in the 2024 presidential race. He campaigned in Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi in April on his first trip associated with the PAC. Newsom is expected to avoid battleground states or key presidential primary states for the foreseeable future, his allies say. At the same time, the California governor and his team have been in regular contact with Biden and his top aides, including Jen O'Malley Dillon, who managed the president's 2020 campaign and serves as deputy White House chief of staff. A Biden campaign official said the president's team coordinates closely with Newsom. Newsom is not going to run against Joe Biden and never would. But life is long, and Newsom is one of the prominent national Democrats. Its part of that role to have these big national battles, longtime Newsom adviser and friend Nathan Ballard said of the feud with DeSantis. There is the 2024 election, and then there is a 2028 election, Ballard added. Indeed, veteran Democratic consultant Roy Behr, whose clients included former California Sen. Barbara Boxer, said the two governors are engaged in what could become an early preview of the 2028 presidential contest. Its not inconceivable that four years from now, these two guys could be their respective parties nominees, he said. In tangling with DeSantis, who is 44, the 55-year-old Newsom is building his national brand and visibility and is certainly trying to create opportunities for himself. Sacramento-based Democratic consultant Andrew Acosta said he expected the ongoing rivalry to continue given that its beneficial for both politicians with their core supporters. He described Newsom and DeSantis as frenemies." "They both get points off it, Acosta said. There is a hard core of voters on both sides who think this is great. While polling shows that many Democrats dont want the 80-year-old Biden to seek a second term, Newsom said there are no circumstances in which he would challenge the sitting president of his own party. Not on Gods green earth, as the phrase goes, Newsom said in the weekend interview, adding that he would be with Biden on Monday and hosting a fundraiser for him Tuesday. "I have been pretty consistently including recently on Fox News making the case for his candidacy. DeSantis did not plan to make any public appearances during his California fundraising tour, which included stops in Sacramento and the Bay Area on Monday and continues Tuesday with events planned for San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles. Over the weekend in Nevada, DeSantis noted that he's seen a surge of disgruntled Californians moving to Florida. Why would you leave like a San Diego to come to say, Jacksonville, Florida? I see people doing that, DeSantis told thousands of conservative activists at a weekend gathering close to the California border. Its because leftist government is destroying that state. Leftist government is destroying cities all over our country. Its destroying other states. Former Nevada attorney general Adam Laxalt, who hosted the weekend event and leads the pro-DeSantis super PAC, said the policy contrast between the leaders of Florida and California is a debate that our whole country needs to have. California has been the model for many leftist policies. I would take the contrast between Floridas policies and its results led by Gov. DeSantis and the California policies, any day of the week," Laxalt said in an interview. We can already see what leftist policies do. Both DeSantis and Newsom took office in 2019 and won reelection for their second and final terms in 2022. While in office, both have been buoyed by multiple billion-dollar budget surpluses and the help of statehouses controlled by their own party that supercharged their agendas. In California, Newsom expanded the states Medicaid program to cover all eligible adults, regardless of their immigration status. He signed a raft of legislation to make it easier to get an abortion, including authorizing $20 million in state spending to help people from other states travel to California. When the U.S. Supreme Court declined to strike down an abortion law in Texas that was enforced by private lawsuits, Newsom signed a similar law in California only he made it about guns. And earlier this month, he proposed amending the U.S. Constitution to institute what he called a reasonable waiting period for all gun purchases, a ban on so-called assault rifles, universal background checks and raising the minimum age to buy a firearm to 21. I think Gavin Newsom is a very useful foil for Ron DeSantis, quite frankly, said Lanhee Chen, a California Republican who attended one of DeSantis five California fundraisers this week. The more kinds of crazy things that Newsom does at least, crazy in the in the eyes of Republican voters the more I think Ron DeSantis frankly benefits as somebody who seen as a counterweight to that. In Florida, DeSantis has leaned into cultural conservative issues in what he calls his war on woke. Earlier this month, his administration flew groups of migrants from Texas to Sacramento to draw attention to the influx of Latin American immigrants trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. He did the same last fall, sending dozens of immigrants from Texas to Marthas Vineyard, which he often highlights during his stump speeches. DeSantis also signed and then expanded the Parental Rights in Education bill known by critics as the Dont Say Gay law, which bans instruction or classroom discussion of LGBTQ+ issues in Florida public schools for all grades. He seized control of Disney Worlds governing body after the company publicly opposed the law. The Florida governor this year also signed a law banning abortions at six weeks, which is before most women realize theyre pregnant. And he took control of a liberal arts college that he believed was indoctrinating students with leftist ideology. While DeSantis does not have the legal entanglements that Trump faces, Newsom said Democrats may be wrong to assume the former president would be an easier candidate to defeat in the 2024 general election. I see deep weakness I refer to it often weakness with DeSantis masquerading as strength," Newsom said. "I think hed be a more favored candidate. But Ill leave that judgment to more objective minds. ___ Associated Press writers Adam Beam in Sacramento and Michelle Price in New York contributed. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} California Gov. Gavin Newsom says theres no chance on Gods green earth hes running for president in 2024, but he wants to make clear that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running, is weak and undisciplined and will be crushed by Donald Trump. DeSantis, meanwhile, likes to mock Newsoms apparent fixation on Florida while insisting that the Democratic governors leftist government is destroying California. Welcome to one of the fiercest rivalries in U.S. politics, featuring dueling term-limited governors who represent opposite ends of the ideological spectrum from two of the nations largest and most influential states. Newsom and DeSantis will not face each other on any ballot in 2024, but in many ways, they are defining the debate from their corners of America as the presidential primary season gets underway. Newsom addressed his contempt for DeSantis and his loyalty to President Joe Biden in a recent interview just as the Florida governor launched a two-day fundraising trek across California. The Golden State has become one of DeSantis favorite punching bags as he tries to avoid a direct confrontation with his chief Republican presidential rival, Trump, and his escalating legal challenges. Hes taking his eye off the ball, Newsom said of DeSantis escalating attacks against him. And thats not inconsistent with my own assessment of him, which is he is a weak candidate, and he is undisciplined and will be crushed by Donald Trump, and will soon be in third or fourth in national polls. Representatives for DeSantis did not make the governor available for an interview. Beneath the war of words, however, strategists in both parties suggest there may be a mutually beneficial dynamic at play. As they jab at each others policies and personalities through comments in the press and on social media, the governors are scoring points with their respective political bases, raising money and expanding their national brands. But its not all helpful. Newsom, in particular, is facing nagging questions about his presidential ambitions less than a week after DeSantis dared him to stop pussyfooting around and launch a primary challenge against Biden. Newsom, whose second and final term concludes at the end of 2026, has seen his national profile grow since he easily beat back a recall attempt in 2021 and cruised to reelection last fall. He finished the midterm campaign with roughly $16 million in the bank. And in March, he channeled $10 million to a new political action committee hes calling the Campaign for Democracy. All the while, Newsoms team has been moving deliberately to avoid the perception that hes running a shadow presidential campaign just as Biden ramps up his political activities. For example, Newsoms new PAC is initially focusing on challenging Republican leaders in deep-red states that are largely irrelevant in the 2024 presidential race. He campaigned in Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi in April on his first trip associated with the PAC. Newsom will avoid battleground states or key presidential primary states for the foreseeable future, his allies say. At the same time, the California governor and his team have been in regular contact with Biden and his top aides, including Jen OMalley Dillon, who managed the presidents 2020 campaign and serves as deputy White House chief of staff. A Biden campaign official said that the presidents team coordinates closely with Newsom. Newsom is not going to run against Joe Biden and never would. But life is long, and Newsom is one of the prominent national Democrats. Its part of that role to have these big national battles, longtime Newsom adviser and friend Nathan Ballard said of the feud with DeSantis. There is the 2024 election, and then there is a 2028 election, Ballard added. Indeed, veteran Democratic consultant Roy Behr, whose clients included former California Sen. Barbara Boxer, said the two governors are engaged in what could become an early preview of the 2028 presidential contest. Its not inconceivable that four years from now, these two guys could be their respective parties nominees, he said. In tangling with DeSantis, who is 44, the 55-year-old Newsom is building his national brand and visibility and is certainly trying to create opportunities for himself. DeSantis did not plan to make any public appearances during his California fundraising tour, which included stops in Sacramento and the Bay Area on Monday and continues Tuesday with events planned for San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles. Over the weekend in Nevada, DeSantis noted that hes seen a surge of disgruntled Californians moving to Florida. Why would you leave like a San Diego to come to say, Jacksonville, Florida? I see people doing that, DeSantis told thousands of conservative activists at a weekend gathering close to the California border. Its because leftist government is destroying that state. Leftist government is destroying cities all over our country. Its destroying other states. Former Nevada attorney general Adam Laxalt, who hosted the weekend event and leads the pro-DeSantis super PAC, said the policy contrast between the leaders of Florida and California is a debate that our whole country needs to have. California has been the model for many leftist policies. I would take the contrast between Floridas policies and its results led by Gov. DeSantis and the California policies, any day of the week, Laxalt said in an interview. We can already see what leftist policies do. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} President Joe Biden said he was proud of his son Hunter Biden, after the younger Mr Biden reached a plea deal with the Department of Justice, agreeing to plead guilty to federal charges following an investigation into his taxes. The president responded to shouted questions from reporters in San Francisco, who asked if he had spoken to his son. Im very proud of my son, he said. He did not respond to a question about if he encouraged his son to take a guilty plea. The presidents son will plead guilty to two federal charges, the Justice Department said in a court filing on Tuesday morning. Mr Biden has been the subject of not only the ongoing federal investigation but a focus of Republicans probe into the Biden administration. A court filing from David Weiss, the US Attorney for District of Delaware, said that the presidents only living son will plea guilty to two federal charges of willful failure to pay federal income tax one charge of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user or addicted to a controlled substance. At the time, Mr Biden, the sole surviving son of the presidents first marriage, was actively addicted to drugs. The parties jointly request that the Court schedule a consolidated Initial Appearance on the firearm Inform and an Initial Appearance and Change of Plea Hearing on the tax charges, the filing said. Mr Weiss was appointed by former president Donald Trump and has been in charge of the probe into Mr Biden. The case says that in 2017, Mr Biden had received taxable income in excess of $1.5m, with an excess of $100,000 that was taxable to the federal government, but he failed the pay it to the Internal Revenue Service by 17 April 2018. He reportedly failed to do the same the following year. Mr Biden also agreed to a pretrial diversion agreement to regarding the firearm charge. According to the legal filing, Mr Biden knew he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance and possessed a Colt Cobra 38SPL firearm, which was shipped through interstate commerce. White House Spokesman Iam Sams put out a statement after the charges were made public. The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life, he said. We will have no further comment. Mr Bidens attorney Christopher Clark said in a statement that the announcement of the two agreements meant that the investigation that began five years ago was concluded. Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement, he said. A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. But a statement from Mr Weiss to Fox News said The investigation is ongoing. The charges come days after former president Donald Trumps indictment and arraigment related to his alleged mishandling of documents related to national security. The former president criticised Mr Bidens agreement with the federal government. "Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere 'traffic ticket,' Mr Trump posted on Truth Social. Our system is BROKEN! Mr Trump attacked the younger Mr Biden for his addictions in his debate with his father in September of 2020. Mr Biden has discussed his addictions in the past and his father addressed them in that debate. My son like a lot of people, like a lot of people we know at home had a drug problem, the then-Democratic nominee for president said. Hes overtaken it. Hes, hes fixed it. Hes worked on it. And Im proud of him. Im proud of my son. Mr Biden is the sole surviving son of the presidents first marriage to Nelia Hunter Biden. Shortly after his fathers election to the Senate in 1972, his mother and his sister Naomi were killed in a car crash that left him and his elder brother Beau severely injured. Beau Biden, who later served as attorney general of Delaware, died of brain cancer in 2015. The elder Mr Biden later remarried Jill Biden, the current first lady, and the two had a daughter Ashley Biden. Since taking back the House majority in November, Republicans have made Mr Biden the chief focus of many of their investigations and have attempted to show a link between his business dealings and his fathers work as vice president. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer intimated that this would not deter the committee. Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery, he said. Rep Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top Democrat on the committee, said that the charges were a sign of an equal justice system. This development reflects the Justice Departments continued institutional independence in following the evidence of actual crimes and enforcing the rule of law even in the face of constant criticism and heckling by my GOP colleagues who think that the system of justice should only follow their partisan wishes, he said. Oversight Committee Republicans have advanced debunked conspiracy theories about President Biden and are now, again, wailing about the work of a Trump appointed U.S. Attorney. Meanwhile, our colleagues have refused to investigate Jared Kushner and Donald Trumps receipt of billions of dollars from autocratic regimes after handing them a string of outrageous policy favors and concessions. So far, the House Oversight Committee has not been able to produce clear evidence of a link between Mr Bidens actions and his fathers work as either vice president or president. -Andrew Feinberg and John Bowden contributed to this report Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} President Joe Bidens son Hunter has agreed to plead guilty to deliberately failing to pay income taxes under a deal that means he will avoid charges of gun possession, sparing him a probable prison sentence. The 52-year-old will plead guilty to the tax offences as part of an agreement with prosecutors made public on Tuesday. It ends a long-running investigation into Bidens second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother, Beau. It also averts a trial that would have generated days or weeks of distracting headlines for the Biden White House, and avoids prosecution on a felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user. Nonetheless, Donald Trump and other Republicans are likely to continue to try to use the case to shine an unflattering spotlight on President Biden and his family business dealings and to raise questions about the independence of the Justice Department. Mr Trump, in a post on his social media platform, likened the Hunter Biden deal to a mere traffic ticket, adding, Our system is BROKEN! President Biden has two surviving children Hunter and daughter Ashley Biden. Beau Biden died in 2015 of cancer while Naomi Biden died as an infant after a car accident that also killed Joe Bidens first wife Neilia. Hunter Biden described in a 2021 memoir dealing with substance abuse issues in his life, including crack cocaine use and alcoholism. He was discharged from the US Navy Reserve in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine, sources said at the time. President Biden has long expressed support and pride in his son for overcoming his addiction. The White House said in a statement that the president and first lady Jill Biden love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. Two sources familiar with the investigation said the Justice Department would recommend probation for the tax charges, meaning Hunter Biden will not face time behind bars. But the decision to go along with any deal is up to the judge. He is to plead guilty to failing to pay more than $100,000 in taxes on over $1.5m of income in both 2017 and 2018. The gun charge states that Hunter Biden possessed a handgun, a Colt Cobra .38 Special, for 11 days in October 2018 despite knowing he was a drug user. The count carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, but the Justice Department said Hunter Biden had reached a pretrial agreement. This likely means as long as he adheres to the terms of the agreement, the case will be wiped from his record. Christopher Clark, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, said in a statement: I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. The agreement comes as the Justice Department pursues perhaps the most consequential case in its history against the first former president to face federal criminal charges. The resolution of Hunter Bidens case comes just days after a 37-count indictment against Mr Trump in relation to accusations of mishandling classified documents on his Florida estate, a case with even more significant political implications. That indictment has brought an onslaught of Republican criticism of the politicisation of the Justice Department and a renewed crescendo of questions about Hunter Bidens business dealings. Meanwhile, congressional Republicans continue to pursue their own investigations into nearly every facet of Hunter Bidens business dealings, including examining foreign payments. Republicans called the deal an example of a two-tiered justice system. California governor Gavin Newsom reaffirmed his support for Joe Bidens re-election, saying once again he would not launch a primary challenge for the 2024 race. Hunter changes nothing, Mr Newsom said. Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} President Joe Biden will convene a group of technology leaders on Tuesday to debate artificial intelligence. The Biden administration is seeking to figure out how to regulate the emergent field of AI, looking for ways to nurture its potential for economic growth and national security and protect against its potential dangers. Biden plans to meet with eight experts from academia and advocacy groups. The sudden emergence of AI chatbot ChatGPT and other tools has jumpstarted investment in the sector. AI tools are able to craft human-like text, music, images and computer code. This form of automation could increase the productivity of workers, but experts warn of numerous harms. The technology could be used to replace workers, causing layoffs. It's already being deployed in false images and videos, becoming a vehicle of disinformation that could undermine democratic elections. In May, Biden's administration brought together tech CEOs at the White House to discuss these issues, with the Democratic president telling them, What youre doing has enormous potential and enormous danger. White House chief of staff Jeff Zients' office is developing a set of actions the federal government can take over the coming weeks regarding AI, according to the White House. Top officials are meeting two to three times each week on this issue, in addition to the daily work of federal agencies. The administration wants commitments from private companies to address the possible risks from AI. Biden is meeting on Tuesday at the Fairmont hotel in San Francisco with Tristan Harris, executive director of the Center for Human Technology; Jim Steyer, the CEO of Common Sense Media; and Joy Buolamwin, founder of the Algorithmic Justice League, among others. Biden is also in the San Francisco area to raise money for this 2024 reelection campaign. He plans to hold two fundraising events on Tuesday, after holding two on Monday. One of Biden's Monday fundraisers was hosted by Kevin Scott, the chief technology officer and executive vice president for AI at Microsoft. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is, on many counts, a curious choice for President Joe Biden to honor with a state visit. Since Russia's Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine 16 months ago, India has boosted its economy by purchasing increasing quantities of cheap Russian oil. Human rights groups and political opponents have accused Modi of stifling dissent and introducing divisive policies that discriminate against Muslims and other minorities. And Indias foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, has espoused a worldview in which there are no allies or friends, only frenemies. But Biden, who will welcome Modi to the White House on Thursday for a state visit, has made clear he sees U.S. ties to India the world's biggest democracy and one of its fastest growing economies as a defining relationship. New Delhi, as Biden sees it, will be essential to addressing some of the most difficult global challenges in coming years, including climate change, disruptions related to artificial intelligence, and Chinas growing power in the Indo-Pacific. Now, we know that India and the United States are big, complicated countries, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the U.S.-India Business Council in Washington ahead of Modi's visit. We certainly have work to do to advance transparency, to promote market access, to strengthen our democracies, to unleash the full potential of our people. But the trajectory of this partnership is unmistakable, and it is filled with promise. Much is at stake for both sides in the Indian leader's three-day visit to the U.S., which begins Wednesday with a stop in New York, where Modi will lead an international yoga day event at the United Nations. Biden wants to bring India closer to the United States as the administration tilts its foreign policy toward Asia and looks to build partnerships in the region in the face of an ascendant China. Modi, for his part, is trying to usher in a more prosperous era for his nation of 1.4 billion, delivering on a promise he made when he swept into office more than nine years ago. The Indian prime minister hopes to strengthen U.S.-India economic and military ties. He also has his own worries about Chinese military activities, along the Himalayan border and in the Indian Ocean. India has been locked in a long-running standoff with China in the rugged mountainous area of Ladakh, where each side has stationed tens of thousands of military personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets. As China has risen, India and the U.S. both need one another and the U.S. needs more partners in the Indo-Pacific, said Jitendra Nath Misra, a professor of diplomatic practice at the O.P. Jindal Global University and a former Indian ambassador. They cant do it alone anymore because China is catching up with the U.S., and the Chinese economy is significantly larger than Indias. So, there is a congruence of geopolitical interests here. There are plenty of signs that the relationship already has taken a leap forward. Trade between the U.S. and India in 2022 climbed to a record $191 billion. The Indian diaspora i n the U.S. stands at nearly 5 million and has become an economic, cultural and political powerhouse. Biden has sought to reinvigorate the Quad, an international partnership of the U.S., Australia, India and Japan. And U.S. defense sales to India have risen from near zero in 2008 to over $20 billion in 2020. Still, the state visit comes with some problematic aspects for Biden, who as a presidential candidate pledged that human rights would be a driving force in his foreign policy. Elaine Pearson, Asia director for the group Human Rights Watch, urged Biden in a letter not to shy away from confronting Modi on India's worsening human rights situation. Her organization plans a Tuesday screening in Washington of a BBC documentary critical of Modi that was banned by the Indian government. The documentary delves into Modi's oversight as chief minister of Gujrat during the deadly 2002 anti-Muslim riots that left more than 1,000 dead. In 2005, the U.S. revoked Modi's visa to the U.S., citing concerns that he did not act to stop the communal violence. An investigation approved by the Indian Supreme Court later absolved Modi, but the stain of the dark moment has lingered. More recently, Modi has faced criticism over legislation amending the countrys citizenship law that fast-tracks naturalization for some migrants but excludes Muslims, a rise in violence against Muslims and other religious minorities by Hindu nationalists, and the recent conviction of Indias top opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, for mocking Modi's surname. Modis government has also demonstrated blatant bias in protecting BJP supporters and affiliates accused in a range of crimes, including murder, assault, corruption, and sexual violence, Pearson wrote, using the initials for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. At the international level, Modis government has often proven unwilling to stand with other governments on key human rights crises, abstaining or refraining from condemning grave human rights violations elsewhere. The Indian government has continually defended its human rights record and insisted that Indias democratic principles remain robust. Modi has offered only limited criticism of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, urging Putin during a meeting last September to move onto a path of peace. The New Delhi-Moscow relationship dates back decades, with Moscow offering key cooperation on defense, nuclear energy and other issues. The Biden White House has privately pressed India to cut its reliance on Russian oil, but has largely avoided publicly criticizing New Delhis stance. In 2021, Russian oil accounted for just 2% of Indias annual crude imports. That figure now stands at more than 19%. Biden is expected to again raise India's reliance on Russian oil as well as human rights in his private talks with Modi, according to a senior Biden administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss preparations for the visit. The White House sees indications that Modi's government has been moving away from Russia since the start of the war, noting a subtle shift in tone in Modi's public comments about Ukraine, a growing desire by India to diversify its sources of military hardware, and an increasing awareness by the Indian government about China and Russia's tightening relationship and what it could mean for India. Richard Rossow, chair of U.S.-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the Biden White House has made the calculation to keep its "powder dry despite its disappointment with India's ballooning oil purchases. We dont want to risk severing the relationship with India, Rossow said of the administration's careful approach. Find small and modest ways to nudge, but dont make that a deciding factor. The official state visit portion of Modi's trip starts Thursday and includes an Oval Office meeting with Biden, an address to a joint meeting of Congress and a lavish White House dinner hosted by Biden and first lady Jill Biden. Modi also is to be honored at a State Department luncheon on Friday hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris and Blinken, and he is scheduled to address members of the Indian diaspora before departing Washington. Biden and Modi are expected to make announcements on cooperation in higher education, space and more. High on the agenda is deepening defense cooperation. India has sought to reduce its reliance on Russian military hardware by buying from the U.S., France, Germany and other countries. But it will likely take decades or more for India to completely wean itself off Russian military hardware, said Rudra Chaudhuri, director of Carnegie India, the New Delhi arm of the international think tank. Keep in mind that 65% of Indias defense kit is still Russian," Chaudhuri said. Lets say India reduces purchases from Russia to one third over 25 years, thats still a big part of your defense ecosystem." ___ Pathi reported from New Delhi. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} North Carolinas House speaker has been accused of trading group sex for political favours in a lawsuit filed by a former Apex City councilman. The lawsuit accuses Speaker Tim Moore of being involved in group sex activities with individuals seeking to earn his political favour and was brought by former councilman Scott Riley Lassiter, who also claims Mr Moore had an affair with his estranged wife. Mr Lassiter is suing Mr Moore and an unnamed defendant for alienation of affections and civil conspiracy, according to WSOC. Mr Lassiter is suing for damages. According to documents seen by Channel 9, Mr Lassiter claims that Mr Moore used his position as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives to initiate contact and develop a personal relationship with Mrs. Lassiter, despite knowing that she was married to Plaintiff. Mr Moore and an unnamed defendant are being sued by Mr Lassiter, who said he became aware of his wife having an affair with Mr Moore after rumours spread around state government where his wife works as executive director of the North Carolina Conference of Clerks of Superior Court. In the legal filing, Mr Lassiter argues that Moore used his position as one of the most powerful elected officials in North Carolina to entice Plaintiffs wife, (Liles Lassiter), a mid-level employee of the state government, to participate in an illicit relationship with him. Having heard the rumours, Mr Lassiter surveilled his wife Jamie Liles Lassiter on 21 December and took pictures of them outside a steakhouse. She had allegedly said that she was going to see a movie with a friend but her husband found out that she instead went for dinner with Mr Moore in Raleigh, according to the lawsuit. The legal filing states that Mr Lassiter discovered that his spouse and Mr Moore went to the speakers home in the city, where they spent hours. The lawsuit included an image of the two outside the steakhouse. In the lawsuit, Mr Lassiter claims that his wife confessed to the affair on 22 December last year and that she had engaged in sexual activity with Defendant Tim Moore (including group sex with other individuals seeking Tim Moores political favor), and that she feared ending the relationship with [Moore] would result in losing her job. Mr Lassiter also claims that when he confronted Mr Moore about the allegation, meeting with him at a Raleigh Biscuitville on 26 December, where Mr Moore allegedly admitted that the affair had gone on for several years. At the end of that meeting, Mr Moore allegedly asked, if there was anything he could do for Plaintiff, implying that he could use the power he held as Speaker in some way to benefit Plaintiff. The lawsuit states that Mr and Ms Lassiter attempted counselling but they went separate ways because Ms Lassiter was unwilling to stop seeing Mr Moore. Both Mr Moore and Ms Lassiter deny the allegations, while Ms Lassiter also told WRAL that her former husband was lashing out. Scott Lassiter has serious mental health and substance abuse issues, which I can only assume led him to file this outrageous and defamatory suit, Ms Lassiter said. The claims are not only false but impossible as weve been separated with a signed separation document for years, she added. To be clear, Im a strong professional woman, and the only person who has ever abused me or threatened my career was my soon to be ex-husband. Our marriage was a nightmare, and since I left him it has gotten worse. We are reaching the end of our divorce process and this is how hes lashing out. Mr Lassiters lawyer said in a statement to WRAL: The complaint speaks for itself. There is irrefutable evidence to support Mr. Lassiters claims. The legal filing alleges that an unnamed man put up a camera on the Lassiter property to record footage. Mr Lassiter asserts that Moore, either personally or through an agent authorized to act on his behalf, requested that Defendant John Doe unlawfully enter upon [Lassiters] real property and place a motion-activated camera ... to capture photos and videos of [Lassiter] that [Moore] could use to persuade [Lassiter] not to pursue any of the valid legal claims against him. An attorney for Mr Moore told WRAL, I look forward to meeting Mr. Lassiter in the courtroom. We are confident the Speaker will be vindicated. North Carolina is just one of six states where a lawsuit for alienation of affection is possible. Sodoma Law senior attorney David Simmons told WSOC that this case, in particular, is quite fascinating. The firm isnt involved in the case but often handles similar cases. You would look to prove you have a marriage with genuine love and affection, he added. It doesnt have to be perfect but just a marriage with love and affection, the love and affection was destroyed and it was destroyed because of the malicious acts of a third party. The lawyer said that even if a separation document was signed, it might still not affect the case. As far as proving the acts of a third party have caused that marriage to no longer exist, you are still going to have those questions even if the separation agreement has been executed, he said. Rosen Law Group attorney Lindsay Willis told WRAL that the defendants have 30 days to respond to the lawsuit. Right now, we only get to see the plaintiff side of things, she said, adding that most cases regarding affairs are settled out of court. Its explosive to file this knowing you are going to have so many eyes on it, she said. For the most part, people dont take it this far. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Senator Ted Cruz was called out for making a Father's Day post celebrating the fact that his father fled Cuba and came to the US as a refugee. Larry Huynh, a Democratic messaging strategist, pointed out that modern Republicans would consider Mr Cruz's father an "illegal" if he fled to the US today, and asked "should we deport your Dad?" "He fled oppression. He gave up everything to give his family a good life. He overstayed his visa. Yet the US granted him asylum," he wrote in a post. "Just like all the other 'illegals' you bash." Mr Huynh continued, saying the elder Cruz's only "real crime was bringing you here." The post was a response to Mr Cruz's Father's Day post. "My dad, Rafael, is my hero. He fled Cuba after being imprisoned and suffering beatings at the hands of Batista's thugs," Mr Cruz wrote. "He came to America with $100 sewn into his underwear and didn't speak a lick of English." The post continued to praise the elder Cruz and celebrate his accomplishments, rising from a poor migrant to a man whose son became a US senator. Mr Huynh said the elder Cruz's "work ethic represented the best in America," before saying the senator "represented the worst." "You demonise asylum seekers like him. You even wrote a bill to ship immigrants to Martha's Vineyard," he wrote. He then shared his own father's story, saying like Mr Cruz's father that his also escaped his home country and fled to the US. "We love him for it, and repay him by helping build this nation of immigrants to be the best it can be for everyone," he wrote. "You, on the other hand, repay your Dad by treating your fellow immigrants as pawns in your sick game including HIM... on FATHER'S DAY." He then accused Mr Cruz of helping Donald Trump "lead a coup to overthrow the country your father fought to stay in" before saying that "most of America is not as cruel as you." "I'll give you $100 to put in your underwear, and then pay to ship you from our home state of Texas, and out to any place that will take you. Cuba? Canada?" he wrote. "Cancun?" Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Former president Donald Trump denied that he ever possessed a secret document about attacking Iran despite the fact a recording exists that had him discussing a document he kept from his presidency. Mr Trump spoke in an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier at his property in Bedminster, New Jersey less than a week after he pleaded not guilty to 37 charges in a federal court in Miami for his arraignment in Miami. A federal grand jury had indicted him for allegedly willfully mishandling of classified documents, obstruction of justice and making false statements. Late last month, CNN reported that federal prosecutors had obtained audio of a recording in the summer of 2021 where Mr Trump acknowledged that he had held onto a classified document from the Pentagon detailing a potential attack on Iran. But Mr Trump denied there was a document. I had lots of paper, I had copies of newspaper articles, I had copies of magazines, he said. Baier responded by reading back from the indictment wherein Mr Trump reportedly said that the plan to attack Iran was highly confidential and secret, and that as president, I could have declassified it. The ex-president was then supposedly recorded adding: Now I cant, you know, but its still a secret. When confronted with the supposed recording which is apparently matched by testimony from people in the room at the time Mr Trump told Baier: When I said I couldnt declassify it now, thats because I wasnt president, Ive never made any bones about that. When Im not president, I cant declassify. Mr Trump denied that such a document even existed. That was a massive amount of papers and everything else talking about Iran and other things, he said. And it may have been held up or it may not but that was not a document. I did not have a document per se. Baier responded by saying he was reading what the indictment said about a recording, as well as from people in the room who testified about Mr Trumps. These people are very dishonest people, he said. Theyre thugs. If you look at what theyve done, to other people and overturned in the US Supreme Court, these are thugs. The unsealed indictment said that Mr Trump met with a writer and a publisher of his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows book. Upon the meeting, the indictment says, Mr Trump said Look what I found and showed an unnamed military officials plan of attack on Iran. The official was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley. At the time, neither the writer nor the publisher had security clearances. Baier said that the suggestion was Mr Trump had requested the documents because there was evidence that the US military and Gen Milley had pre-emptively sent him plans on an attack on Iran and that Mr Trump did not order such an attack to occur. But Mr Trump denied that he had done so, and proceeded to attack Gen Milley. Milley, frankly, was incompetent, he said. The last one Id want to attack with as my leader would be Milley. The instance Baier discussed was one of allegedly two where Mr Trump supposedly showed classified information to people who were not authorised to see them. On the second occasion in August or September 2021, also in Bedminster, Mr Trump commented on a military operation that was not going well and reportedly showed a representative from his political action committee a classified map of the country, before saying he should not be showing it. The interview is Mr Trumps first interview with Fox News, a network with which he has regularly feuded since leaving office. Mr Trump has maintained his innocence. Mr Trump also explained to Baier why he failed to return documents to the National Archives and Records Administration. The only way NARA could ever get this stuff, this back, would be please, please, please, could we have it back? he said. He also said that many of the documents were interspersed with personal effects. I want to go through the boxes and get all my personal things out. I dont want to hand that over to (National Archives) yet. And I was very busy, as youve sort of seen, he said. Bevan Hurley contributed to this report Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Former president Donald Trump reacted angrily when Fox News host Bret Baier confronted him and told him directly that he had lost the 2020 presidential election. Baier asked the former president in a sit-down interview how he would win back independent suburban female voters who had drifted from the Republican Party. The twice-indicted and twice-impeached former president responded by repeating the lie that he did not lose the 2020 presidential election. First of all, I won in 2020, he said. Lets get that straight. I won in 2020. However, Baier interrupted Mr Trumps tirade to try and correct him even as the former president continued speaking, repeating long-debunked lies about footage that allegedly shows people stuffing ballot boxes. You lost the 2020 election, Baier said. There were lawsuits, more than 50 of them, by your lawyers, some of them in front of judges, judges that you appointed that came up with no evidence. Mr Trump repeated his claims throughout the interview and falsely claimed that the state of Wisconsin practically admitted it was rigged. Baier countered that investigations did no show widespread voter fraud. They found fewer than 475 cases, he said. They were counting ballots, not the authenticity of the ballot, Mr Trump said. The ballots were fake ballots. This was a very rigged election. Baier then tried to circle back to his original question and ask Mr Trump if this is how he would make a case to the aforementioned independent suburban female voter. Were off to winning an election, and I think were winning very well, he said. Baiers challenge to Mr Trumps claims about the election being stolen came after Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems settled a lawsuit that the company which makes voting machines had filed against the cable news giant for $787.5m. Dominion had filed the lawsuit and claimed that the network defamed the company by giving a platform to conspiracy theorists who spread lies that Dominion engaged in widespread voter fraud and that Fox failed to challenge the lies about the company. Shortly after the settlement, the cable news giant parted ways with Tucker Carlson, one of its most-watched hosts. Carlson had repeatedly parroted lies about the 2020 presidential election. Mr Trump is also currently facing an investigation led by the district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, for his attempts to overturn the election in that state in 2020. Mr Tumps interview with Baier was the first one that he conducted with the Rupert Murdoch-owned network since his arraignment in a federal court in Miami. Mr Trump pleaded not guilty to the 37 charges that an indictment that a grand jury supervised by Special Counsel Jack Smith handed down. Mr Smith is also in charge of investigating Mr Trumps attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, including his actions on and leading up to the January 6 riot wherein supporters of Mr Trump broke into the US Capitol to prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election results. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Republicans were unimpressed and fumed at the Department of Justice on Tuesday after the agency announced that President Joe Bidens son Hunter would be charged with firearm and tax offences. The reactions poured in on social media through comments to reporters just minutes after the indictment was announced, with none other than former President Donald Trump leading the charge. The twice-indicted ex-president, himself facing more than 60 criminal charges across two prosecutions, raged that the Department of Justice was supposedly giving Mr Biden a traffic ticket though the DoJs statement indicated that Mr Biden would be forced to report to a probation officer for up to two years. "Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere 'traffic ticket.' Our system is BROKEN!" wrote Mr Trump on his Truth Social platform. He added: People are going wild over the Hunter Biden Scam with the DOJ! James Comer, the GOP chair of the House Oversight Committee, reacted similarly. Mr Comers committee is heading up the Republican House majoritys efforts to investigate the Biden family on longstanding allegations that have circulated on the right about the president and his familys supposed influence peddling in China and Ukraine. Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery, wrote the congressman. Others aligned with Mr Trump were of a similar mind, though the reaction from the GOP establishment and, in particular, Senate Republicans was particularly muted as the news broke. Most who criticised the development seemed to fixate on the idea that the DoJ was ignoring more serious charges that the younger Biden was supposedly guilty of. But no hard evidence or witnesses have emerged to prove the existence of the influence-peddling scheme that Republicans have long alleged the Biden family participated in across the globe, in countries like Ukraine and China. Mr Comers committee has led the effort to produce such evidence, but at present the allegations largely centred around vague language that the GOP has sought to present as proof of a crime. That was evident in the comment from Byron Donalds, a freshman House representative from Florida who has ingratiated himself with the pro-Trump right. When does evading millions in federal income taxes get a slap on the wrist? asked Mr Donalds. @POTUS, where is YOUR $5M from Burisma? The plea agreement too is likely to cause consternations in pro-Trump circles, as the ex-presidents allies have routinely insisted that there should have been no difference between how Mr Trump and the presidents son were treated, despite the former president facing the unique accusation of obstructing investigators. There was already evidence of that line of thinking from Donald Trump Jr., the former presidents eldest son, who complained that the deal reeks of favoritism. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Former president Donald Trump reacted angrily on Monday after Fox News highlighted a Quinnipiac University poll showing him as trailing President Joe Biden by a four-point margin. Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social website that the respected polling organisation had released a bad poll and accused Quinnipiac of using too few Republican voters in the sample of Americans who were surveyed. Mr Trump argued that the poll actually showed that he was in the lead over Mr Biden. It under samples Republicans by 10 points, which means, instead of being down 4 points, I am up 6 points, he said. Other Polls show me much higher than that, but FoxNews will always attempt, as they did in 2016, to only show negatives on MAGA & TRUMP. Were winning BIG, they dont like it, the RINOS dont like it, the Democrats dont like it but, most of all, the Marxists & Communists dont like it! Mr Trumps unsubstantiated claim echoes grievances that GOP figures aired in the run-up to the 2012 election, in which they alleged that reputable, mainstream polls were somehow skewed against Republicans and therefore were inaccurately showing that then-GOP nominee Mitt Romney was trailing then-president Obama, who was running for re-election at the time. Mr Obama, of course, ended up winning the 2012 election handily. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A man wielding an axe went on a Monday night rampage after entering several Chinese restaurants in New Zealand and injuring multiple people. A 24-year-old identified by police entered three Chinese restaurants in the Auckland suburb of Albany and attacked customers with a weapon. Police said the suspect was taken into custody and that they have launched an investigation into the incident. One injured victim was discharged from the hospital, while three others are in a stable condition, North Shore and Auckland hospital spokespeople were quoted as saying by The New Zealand Herald. The axe-wielding man reportedly entered Zhangliang Malatang, Yues Dumpling Kitchen and Maya Hotpot all Chinese restaurants and started randomly attacking people at around 9pm on Monday. Radio New Zealand quoted an unidentified eyewitness as saying that she was eating at Maya Hotpot with a friend when a man came at her friend with an axe. According to her, people in the restaurant started shouting what are you going to do? Why are you doing it? before he hit her friend once again. I was in shock. When I realised what was happening, he tried to target me. I blocked his axe with my hand. He was also trying to target my head so I blocked the axe with my hand, another eyewitness told The New Zealand Herald. When he realised he cant catch us, he just turned around and went into another restaurant and kept attacking. Local police said the suspect was due to appear in court on Tuesday and has been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Further charges are expected, acting detective inspector Timothy Williams told reporters. The suspect was later identified as a Chinese national. Waitemata East area commander Stefan Sagar acknowledged how frightening this was for those involved. He said police believe it was an isolated incident, adding that there is no evidence to suggest this is a racially-motivated attack. Labour MP Naisi Chen spoke to the media after visiting the restaurants. Im really disturbed by this attack and I know its been really hard for the community. The community needs a lot of support... I know it will take a bit of time before it recovers. On Tuesday morning, local reports said business owners of several eateries on Corinthian Dr in Albany were waiting as police had cordoned off the area after the attacks. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Rome has decided to open to the public the ancient square where Julius Caesar was supposedly stabbed to death. It was reported that authorities in Rome are opening a new walkway on the ancient site on Tuesday in a historic decision. The remains of ancient structures including the one where Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC have been opened to tourists. Julius Caesar was assassinated by about 40 Roman senators on the Ides of March, or 15 March, in 44 BC. The stabbing was immortalised in Shakespeares play Julius Caesar, in which the Roman dictators famous last words were Et tu, Brute? (You too, Brutus?) after he saw his friend Brutus among his murderers. The real life Caesar died in the capitals central Largo Argentina square, which houses the remains of four temples dating as far back as the third century BC. These four ancient temples stand in the middle of one of the modern citys busiest crossroads. But now authorities are throwing open the sacred area on the edge of the site where Julius Caeser was assassinated to tourists and history buffs. Visitors will be able to move through the site at ground level on the walkway and see the structures up close from Tuesday, reported Reuters. With help of funding from Italian luxury jeweller Bulgari, the grouping of temples can now be visited by the public. The ancient temples were first discovered and excavated during the demolition of medieval-era buildings in the late 1920s as part of dictator Benito Mussolinis campaign to remake the urban landscape. According to local media, the tourist attraction will now be open every day except Monday and during some major holidays. (Additional reporting by agencies) For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Nine Egyptians accused of belonging to a people-smuggling ring behind one of the worst-ever migrant boat disasters appeared in court on Tuesday as efforts continued to recover victims bodies from the Mediterranean Sea. The men face multiple charges over last weeks sinking of a dilapidated fishing trawler, which was carrying up to 750 migrants from Libya to Italy. More than 500 are still missing; 81 bodies have been recovered and 104 migrants all men were rescued from the waters. The suspects appeared in a court in Kalamata, southern Greece, as World Refugee Day was marked across the globe. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the EU should help African countries such as Tunisia and Libya to stabilise their economies, and finalise a long-awaited reform of the blocs asylum rules. It is horrible, what happened, and the more urgent thing is that we act, she said. Syrian and Pakistani survivors reportedly identified the suspects over the weekend as having been involved in sailing the ship. Five other suspects were arrested in Pakistan, where police launched a crackdown this week on human smuggling after 12 Pakistani nationals were identified among the survivors. Egyptian survivor Atia Al Said, 22 is reunited with his uncle Mohamed El Sayed El-Dadamony Radwan, 54, at a Greek migrant facility (Reuters) Relatives of at least 124 Pakistanis have contacted authorities to ask about missing loved ones believed to be on the trawler. The boat is thought to have set off with passengers from the Libyan coastal city of Tobruk on 10 June. Greek authorities say the vessel, which they had monitored for about 15 hours after being alerted by Italy, flipped and capsized about 25 minutes after its engine stalled in the early hours of 14 June. Authorities said the vessel repeatedly refused Greek help, saying it wanted to go to Italy. Alarm Phone, an advocacy group that was in communication with the vessel, said that on at least two occasions people on board pleaded for help. The group said it alerted Greek authorities and aid agencies hours before the disaster unfolded. Greek authorities also denied reports the vessel was stationary for hours, saying that it had sailed a distance of about 30 nautical miles from its detection to its sinking. Over a 15-hour period, that would suggest the boat going at a crawl. Some survivors have said the trawler had been under tow by another vessel just before it sank. Greek officials have insisted the coast guard did not tow the migrant ship at any point, and only briefly had a line attached to it hours before it capsized and sank in international waters. Mohammed Saleh, father of 18-year-old Yahia Saleh, holds a phone with a photo of his son, who is one of dozens from the village feared to have drowned (AP) Full details remain unclear; photos and videos taken hours before the sinking show people crammed on all available open spaces of the trawler. Survivors have said the ships hold was also packed with people, including many women and children. One survivor, Ali Sheikhi from Kobani, Syria, told Kurdish news channel Rudaw that he and other relatives agreed to pay smugglers $4,000 each for the trip; his younger brother drowned. He said the smugglers didnt allow anyone to bring life jackets and threw whatever food the passengers had into the sea. Yahia Saleh, 18, who is one of dozens from one Egyptian village feared to have drowned (AP) By the time the ship sank, they had been at sea for five days. Water ran out after a day and a half, and he said some passengers resorted to drinking seawater. Crucially, Sheikhi said the trawler went down after its engine broke down and another vessel tried to tow it. In the pulling, [the trawler] sank, he said. We dont know who it belonged to. Similar claims have been made by other survivors in accounts posted on social media. Most survivors have been transported to a migration holding facility north of Athens. The body of a pregnant woman is taken ashore in Lanzarote, the Canaries on Tuesday (EPA) Separately, a pregnant woman died trying to reach Spains Canary Islands, the countrys coastguard said after her body was found on a dinghy carrying around 50 migrants near the Atlantic coast of Lanzarote. A fishing boat had spotted the migrants near Lanzarotes Los Cocoteros beach. The womans body was found in the dinghy with 42 men, seven women and three children on board. At least 5,914 people reached the Canary Islands between 1 January and 15 June this year, according to Spanish government figures, a 31.5 per cent drop compared with the same period in 2022. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} President Joe Biden has said the threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is real, days after denouncing Russias deployment of such weapons in Belarus. Biden called Putins announcement that Russia had deployed its first tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus absolutely irresponsible. When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado river drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy, Biden told a group of donors in California on Monday. They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. Its real, Biden said. Last week, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country has started taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, some of which he said were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Lukashenko and Putin (SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images) The deployment is Russias first move of such warheads - shorter-range, less powerful nuclear weapons that could be used on the battlefield - outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. The United States has said it has no intention of altering its stance on strategic nuclear weapons in response to the deployment and has not seen any signs that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon. In May, Russia dismissed Bidens criticism of its plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, saying the U.S. had for decades deployed such nuclear weapons in Europe. The Russian deployment is being watched closely by the United States and its allies as well as by China, which has repeatedly cautioned against the use of nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine. A new military strategy Earlier this year A Russian defence ministry journal said Moscow was developing a new type of military strategy using nuclear weapons to protect against possible US aggression. It was the latest in a series of combative remarks by Russian politicians and commentators after the invasion of Ukraine. Russian RS-24 Yars ballistic missiles roll in Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) The article published in the Voennaya Mysl (Military Thought) magazine suggested Moscow would, if necessary, be prepared to deploy its vast nuclear arsenal. Putin pulled out of nuclear arms treaty Vladimir Putin suspended a landmark nuclear arms control treaty, announced new strategic systems had been put on combat duty, and threatened to resume nuclear tests. Although Moscow says it would only use nuclear weapons in case Russias territorial integrity were threatened, Putin allies have regularly suggested calamity could be close. Medvedev and Putin (Getty Images) Former Russian president Dmitri Medvedev said the Wests continued supply of weaponry to Kyiv risked a global catastrophe, repeating a threat of nuclear war over Ukraine. Upon last weeks suspension, the US criticised Russia for pulling out of the treaty. Russia is once again showing the world that it is not a responsible nuclear power, Bonnie Jenkins, the US undersecretary of state for arms control said. Putins previous sympathy towards nucelar options Putin has emphasised that Moscow was not withdrawing from the pact altogether, and the Russian Foreign Ministry said the country would respect the caps on nuclear weapons. However, it does further show Putins favour for nuclear options which has been expressed at times throughout the Ukraine conflict. FILE - In this file photo taken from a video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, on Dec. 9, 2020, a rocket launches from missile system as part of a ground-based intercontinental ballistic missile test launched from the Plesetsk facility in northwestern Russia (AP) In March 2022, Russia released an expanded list of countries who were said to be taking unfriendly actions against the country amid the invasion - with the United Kingdom featuring. Putin repeated the phrase in July when he did not congratulate Joe Biden on the US independence day. The list has been expanded now to 49 states, including all of the European Union and Japan. No specific nuclear threat was made but it did continue the hostility towards the West. Putin claims West will use nuclear weapons on Russia Later in May, Putin was on the defensive saying that the West was looking to invade the Crimea and could use nucelar weapons to help. In Kyiv, they were saying they might get nuclear weapons and Nato started exploring the lands close to us, and that became an obvious threat to us and our borders, a baseless statement read. He doubled down on this line in a statement in September when he claimed Western leaders were engaging in nuclear blackmail against Moscow. What nuclear weapons does Russia have? The Russian president reportedly has access to the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. As of 2023, Russia has about 5,977 nuclear warheads, an estimated 1,500 awaiting dismantling, 2,565 deployed strategic warheads and 466 Intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Ukraine also inherited a large number of nuclear weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 but the country decided to fully de-nuclearise under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A startup in China is set to begin production of ultra-efficient solar panels that are made from the so-called miracle material perovskite. The next-generation solar cells will be manufactured at half the cost of traditional silicon cells, with 50 per cent greater efficiency, according to researchers from Nanjing University who made the design breakthrough that made mass production possible. The raw materials for making perovskite cells are cheap and abundant, making the production costs of these cells just one 20th of traditional solar cells, Professor Tan Hairen from Nanjing University, told state media. Moreover, they are easier to produce and can be made in a single factory. Even with other items added, the overall cost of production is only half of that of traditional silicon cells. Professor Tan has created a startup called Renshine Solar to move forward with commercialisation of the technology, and has already signed a government deal to build a production line in Jiangsu province this summer. Recommended Scientists break world record for solar power window material The factory is expected to achieve a capacity of 150 megawatts by September, according to the South China Morning Post, with the perovskite solar panels built for use on roofs, walls, or placed on electric cars to improve their range. The perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are capable of retaining over 90 per cent of their initial performance after 600 hours of continuous operation, the team noted, making them suitable for commercial use. The researchers said the next-generation solar cells could also be used in applications ranging from building-integrated panels to space-based electricity generation. With their lower fabrication cost, low-temperature solution processability, roll-to-roll manufacturing, and wide-bandgap tunability, PSCs have the potential to become the candidate of choice for high-efficiency tandem solar cells, they wrote in a study detailing the new design that will enter production. Considering the rapid progress in photovoltaic performance, PSCs have been considered to be ideal candidates for integrating with other systems to realise new innovative technologies. The study, titled Next-generation applications for integrated perovskite solar cells, was published in the scientific journal Nature. Its publication comes just one month after a South Korean firm announced that it was aiming to commercialise tandem perovskite solar cells following a $100 million investment to fund a pilot production line next year. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} WhatsApp has launched a new feature that could finally protect people from spam and scam callers. The new tool, called Silence Unknown Callers, does exactly what it sounds like: stops people ringing you unless they are already in your contacts. The feature is intended to give you more privacy and control of your incoming calls, WhatsApp said in its announcement. It pointed to spam and scams but also generally keeping people safe from unknown peoples calls. Those calls will still be visible within the contact list, in case someone important does call. But they will not ring as normal phone calls, and so will not interrupt your day. WhatsApp has also launched a new tool called Privacy Checkup, which allows people to run through a step-by-step guide to the security features on WhatsApp. That includes the new call screening feature, which otherwise can be turned on from within the settings. When the checkup is launched, users are taken through a list of privacy settings including their visibility, and options for who can contact them and encouraged to change them if they wish. That will help strengthen security of your messages, calls, and personal information, WhatsApp said. WhatsApp has in recent months looked to stress the privacy of its chat app. It has recently launched a range of other features aimed at keeping private information secure, including really disappearing messages and more control over who can see when you are online. With the launch of the new features, WhatsApp will launch a new privacy campaign that both highlights its security features and encourages people to reach out to others using the app. WhatsApp is also fighting against the Online Safety Bill, which it says could compromise the privacy of UK citizens, whether or not they use WhatsApp. The new regulations pose an unprecedented threat to the privacy, safety and security of every UK citizen and the people with whom they communicate around the world, it has said. From fleeing conflict and persecution to finding a new home and learning a new language, asylum seekers and refugees living in Solihull are sharing their struggles, hopes and dreams in a new exhibition. Almost 100 male asylum seekers and refugees, including those from the LGBTQ+ community, contributed to the artwork documenting why they left their homeland and their lives in the UK. The Migration Blankets exhibition, created together with international award-winning Artist Salma Zulfiqar, will headline at the Solihull Welcomes Week starting 19 June, marking World Refugee Day. TikTok prankster Mizzy has filmed himself appearing to walk into a strangers house after his arrest for similar pranks. Footage shows the 18-year-old and two other people entering the property as residents sit on a balcony. The group accidentally make a noise which alerts a large dog and chases the group into a corridor. Residents appeared unaware of the group in the video. It is not clear if the clip was a prank or if the residents were strangers. In May, Mizzy - real name Bacari-Bronze OGarro - was issued a two-year criminal behaviour order which means he must not publish content on social media without the consent of people featured. The Met Police said they are aware of the footage and enquiries are ongoing. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The fact is, [former president Donald Trump] is a consummate narcissist...He will always put his own interests and gratifying his own ego ahead of the countrys interests. Reading that comment initially, youd assume it was made by a Democrat. But in fact the speaker there is Bill Barr, Trumps own former Attorney General, who roasted Trump on CBS Face the Nation this weekend. Barr also explicitly pushed back against Republican claims that the prosecution of Trump was unfair or politically motivated. This is not a circumstance where hes the victim or this is government overreach, he said. He provoked this whole problem himself. Certain Democrats expressed their astonishment at Barrs condemnation of his former boss. On social media you could see the former AG being praised for his forthrightness, or condemned as a hypocrite sometimes both. Barrs flip isnt really that surprising though, if you recognize that hes a committed partisan with few principles and a singular goal to advance the Republican party agenda. What is unusual is that, despite Trumps obvious threat to the GOP, few in the party seem willing to take him on. Trump hired Barr because he felt he could count on Barrs loyalty. Trumps previous attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was an extremely conservative Republican and enthusiastic Trump supporter himself. But Sessions, under pressure, had appointed special prosecutor Robert Mueller to investigate whether Trumps 2016 campaign had solicited or received aid from Russia. Trump fired Sessions in 2018, in a move widely seen as an effort to interfere with the investigation. Barr was brought on because Trump thought he would be even more cravenly loyal than Sessions. And sure enough, when the Mueller report was released, Barr made misleading public statements to spin its findings in favor of Trump, according to a federal judge, and wrongly withheld part of the report injurious to Trump. Barr now says Trump puts his own interests above those of the country. But while AG, Barr fought to mislead the country about the extent to which Trump had entangled himself with an inimical foreign power in order to win the presidency. The about face is dramatic but is also readily explicable. During the Trump presidency, as the face of the Republican party damage to him was likely damage to the GOP as a whole. A scandal for a Republican president means the GOP fares worse in elections. It means that the president has more trouble pushing through his agenda. Barr wasnt defending Trump as a personal favor to Trump, he was defending Trump out of personal loyalty to the Republican party a loyalty that superseded Barrs loyalty to the country. Once Donald Trump left office, though, Barrs incentives changed. Trump is no longer the formal leader of the GOP. He currently holds no elected office. Yes, Trump is running for president, but so are a lot of other Republicans. Trumps numerous scandals the investigation of hush money payments in the 2016 election, the civil judgement against him for sexual assault and defamation, the investigation of egregious mishandling of classified documents those are now all Trumps problems. The GOP can disavow them by the simple expedient of nominating someone else to run in 2024. Barr has set himself the task of making sure the party chooses a less damaged candidate. Its telling that in the Face the Nation interview, Barr is most passionate when talking about how Trump endangers Republicans in particular. He constantly engages in behavior that puts his political followers at risk and the conservative and Republican agenda at risk, he says. When Robert Costa pushes him to say that Trump will put the country at risk, Barr waffles. He wont say Trump will put the country at risk, only that Trump puts his personal interests above those of the country. Barr no doubt wants wiggle room if Trump is in fact the nominee. And Trump may well be; he remains in the lead in most GOP primary polls. GOP voters invested a great deal of energy in defending and celebrating Trump when he was president. Its hard to turn that kind of partisan momentum around. Moreover, by lying about the 2020 election, Trump convinced many Republican voters that he was robbed of the presidency; a majority of the GOP base sees him as the rightful president. That puts GOP leaders in a bind. Trump, indicted on dozens of counts and facing high profile trials, is a huge risk in a general election. But his opponents in the party are afraid to alienate his followers. As a result, 2024 opponents like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence go back and forth about whether or how to criticize Trump. Sometimes they half acknowledge that keeping classified documents in your bathroom is bad. Sometimes they insist that the Justice Department is persecuting Trump unfairly. As Barr has figured out, the partisan incentives here should be to jettison Trump. But Trump has leveraged the GOPs growing authoritarianism and turned its partisanship into a personality cult. Barr isnt running for office, but GOP politicians attempting to win the presidency are terrified of alienating Trumps base, even as they worry that another Trump run for presidency will end in disaster. Its a measure of the partys moral collapse that, in the current climate, a soulless partisan hack like Bill Barr can be mistaken for a profile in courage. The joint venture was first announced in June 2021, with AIB and Irish Life-owner Great-West Lifeco investing a total of 250m in the new entity. The new company was originally expected to require a 180m investment. AIB Life will provide life protection, pensions and investment products to AIB customers across Ireland. The banks 120 financial advisers nationwide will also provide guidance to customers. Customers will also gain access to the new AIB life hub through the banks mobile banking app. AIB reported that it has invested in a new range of features that can be used on the app, including predictive tools and personalised content which are set to go live in the coming months. Following the creation of the venture, there are 100 new roles available in its Central Park office in Sandyford, Dublin, as well as in Letterkenny, Co Donegal. These positions will be focused on customer service, technology, finance, compliance, risk and actuary. More jobs are expected to be created in the next three years, the bank reported. We are delighted to have formed a strong strategic alliance that marries the product and service expertise of Great-West Lifeco with AIBs market-leading customer franchise, technology and distribution so that we can better support our customers in planning their financial lives, said AIB chief executive Colin Hunt. Great-West Lifecos Irish head Declan Bolger said the venture represents another step in growing and diversifying our business in Ireland, helping customers to plan for and secure their financial futures. Mr Bolger is also group chief executive of Irish Life. Whether [customers] are looking to prepare for retirement, put in place a safety net to protect their loved ones or their business, or looking to invest in a flexible way, we have the product offering, and the digital and in-person capability to support them, AIB Life boss Byran OConnor said. Renatus backed a management buy-in of the business by brothers David and Andrew Maxwell in 2015 Azzurri Group, the company behind Zizzi and Ask Italian, bought a controlling interest in Boojum from Renatus Capital Partners, a Dublin-based private equity firm. The deal value was not publicly disclosed. Renatus backed a management buy-in of the business by brothers David and Andrew Maxwell in 2015. The chain grew from 5 to 14 branches across the island of Ireland since then. David Maxwell, Boojums managing director, said: This announcement is a hugely exciting development for Boojum, and testament to the transformation the business has undergone since partnering with Renatus Capital Partners in 2015. Theyve been excellent partners to me and the wider management team since the start and have backed the management team at every stage. We are looking forward to continuing our journey with the Azzurri Group as we look to expand across the Irish Sea. Brendan Traynor, director of Renatus Capital Partners, said: We are delighted to have worked closely with Boojum over the past eight years as it was grown from five to 14 locations across the island of Ireland. Boojum is a trailblazing brand, and this transaction marks another exciting milestone is the companys growth trajectory. We would like to thank David Maxwell and his team for the outstanding work, drive and creativity in developing the business and culture of Boojum and wish Azzurri and Boojum every success in the future. Steve Holmes, CEO Azzurri Group, said: Boojum is a very strong business, with devoted customers and an exceptionally talented team. It is a really good fit for Azzurri as the business will add a new dimension to our portfolio given it offers a different cuisine, a different occasion and serves a younger demographic. We look forward to working with David and the team to seize the massive opportunity in the Mexican fast casual segment. The first branch of Boojum was opened by founder John Blisard in Belfast in 2007. The business was able to successfully pivot to a 100pc online model during Covid lockdowns, which helped it maintain revenues. After a loss of 1m (1.2m) in 2020, Boojum booked a profit of more than 2m the following year, helped by Covid subsidies. It earns more than half its sales in the Republic of Ireland. TV Reviews The Sixth Commandment: Hitchcock could not have come up with something this disturbing Hannah Quinn-Mulligan: If daffodils are the answer, maybe were not asking ourselves the right questions Heavy rain earlier in the year followed by the current drought is affecting the growth of fruit and vegetables. Stock picture There will be a shortage of Irish fruit and vegetables including cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, parsnips, broccoli and sprouts for the rest of the year, growers and industry specialists have warned. Heavy rain earlier in the year followed by the current drought is affecting the growth of fruit and vegetables, leaving most crops up to a month late, they said. There will be shortages because there are no longer enough growers in the country, coupled with the fact that the weather has been so unpredictable, said Dublin-based agronomist Richard Hackett. While all field vegetables will be affected, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, parsnips, broccoli and sprouts will face the biggest challenge, he said. It is crucial to get field crops established in April, May and June, but this year has been difficult. They all depend on an early summer establishment, and if you miss that, its very hard to catch up. With a very wet March and April and now little to no rain in the last five weeks, crops are weeks behind, he said. We are now depending on imported produce from Spain and from other countries, but its not coming in because theyre experiencing the same problems with the weather as we are, only theyre getting it worse. Europe in general, is running out of water to grow vegetables. The yield of most fruit and vegetables will be down this year, according to Andrew Ruiter, who grows 33ac of vegetables in Ashbourne, Meath. Spring cabbage, for example, is running out at the moment and while more should be coming on to replace it, it isnt growing because of the weather conditions weve been having this year. Growers are finding it very difficult this year because everything has been against them. People dont realise just how bad it can be. Its estimated there will be a 7pc reduction in the amount of field vegetables grown this year, according to Niall McCormack, IFA Horticulture Chair and fruit grower from Longford. Successful crops will be later to the shelves. The growing season was so late coming in this year, and even though the weather and the soil have heated up now, we are playing catch-up and everything is likely to be late harvesting. Its putting huge pressure on growers who are in an already stressful industry. Fergal Anderson, who grows 5ac of vegetables, says smaller-scale producers are usually better equipped to handle unpredictable weather conditions. We, for example, use mulch on our ground in our tunnels, which helps to keep moisture in and improves soil fertility. Its much easier for us to do this than it would be for a larger-scale producer. The next couple of years could be way more destructive than any of us think crop failures across the world will have a knock-on effect and unintended consequences. Input costs for farmers could rise further and we have no resistance to that because we are so dependent on global supply. Better supports are needed for Irish vegetable growers to avoid any more from exiting the sector and leaving the country even more dependant on imports. If we want everyone in Ireland to have locally produced food, there needs to be a support system in place to help the farmers that grow the food. Currently, there is none and when we are hit with changeable weather or other challenges outside of our control, we have no reserve and no consistent supply of Irish food because farmers and growers are not supported. Submissions from stakeholders in the dairy sector will be asked for this week around the workings of a possible dairy exit scheme. As recently revealed by the Farming Independent, up to 65,000 dairy cows may have to be removed from the national herd every year for three years at a cost of 200m if the farming sector is to meet its climate targets. At a meeting of the Dairy Food Vision Committee on Friday, it was agreed that a Q&A would be issued to stakeholders this week on the possible workings of such a scheme. ICMSA President Pat McCormack, said that it was premature to assume that any dairy exit or retirement scheme was a done deal and that much remained to be done on the terms and conditions surrounding any such scheme. Obviously as far as we are concerned this will have to be wholly voluntary that is a non-negotiable and well be looking at the terms and conditions around post-dairying usage of land." The Irish dairy sector is the jewel in our agri crown and the Government needs to focus investment on assisting farmers in reducing their overall emissions through structured supports this is the obvious option which has not been looked at to date.Macra President Elaine Houlihan said the scheme, will, if enacted, fundamentally damage dairy farming for all active farmers, make once productive farmland unproductive, and take away the opportunity for young dairy farmers to farm. "In an industry where the average age in 2020 was 57, this move, in Macras view heralds the beginning of the end for family farms in Ireland. She said the proposed exit scheme does not represent value for money for neither taxpayers nor active farmers and will be the kiss of death for generational renewal and the long-term sustainability of the dairy industry. Macra has outrightly rejected the exit/reduction measure previously contained in the Dairy Food Vision final report. The Macra President said we need to flip the approach to emission reduction on its head. A succession scheme can achieve far better results than an exit scheme, delivering value for money and greater policy cohesion in terms of generational renewal. "A culling system essentially wipes out the investments that active farmers have made in their processing industry over the last number of years. The proposed measure is an attack on every parish and community of rural Ireland. The measure will do nothing but to further inflate the land market and force further pressures on farmers. What is the value in taxpayer money for a scheme that is going to retiring farmers who wont be reinvesting in the sector as opposed to a succession scheme that will be reinvested by young farmers creating a multiplier effect through the economy. Maryna Zaretska (left) and Irina Koshelivia (right), with Mykyta (11), Kseniia (16) and Mykhalio (eight months) More than a year since the Russians invasion of their home, a Ukrainian couple now living in Ireland are looking forward to celebrating their first Pride parade as they mark Refugee Week 2023 with a sense of hope and gratitude. Maryna Zaretska (36) and her partner Irina Koshelivia (46) live in Dublin with Marynas two children from her previous marriage, daughter Kseniia (16) and son Mykyta (11). Their first child together, son Mykhalio, was born in Dublin eight months ago. We feel completely safe here because back in Ukraine, my partner and I could not tell people we were a couple. We used to say we were friends who supported each other, said Maryna. We lived together for eight years and people just assumed she was my cousin, or my friend. Ukrainian refugees describe their appreciation for the kindness of Irish people Ireland is more progressive to be gay. Everyone here knows we are partners and thats okay. It is way easier to be a queer couple here, our new friends here all know we are a family. Now we can just be together, and we dont need to explain to anyone why. Here we are just a normal couple, a normal family, Maryna said. The family arrived in Ireland a year ago, having persevered through the constant bombing of their home city of Kyiv for as long as possible. They moved to another city in Ukraine where they thought they would be safer, before finally making the decision to flee the country altogether and head to Ireland. When we realised that we couldnt return to Kyiv, we made the decision to move to Ireland. We took the bus to Poland and then flew to Ireland, Maryna said. It was very difficult to stay in Kyiv because places were being bombed all the time. It was scary because we could not sleep in fear of something happening. In Ukraine, we had a great life. Good jobs, good school. When we came here, we had to start from scratch. The family have now been living in Dublin since last August after being offered a house by an Irish family. We had fantastic support from our Irish family. They gave us a place to live, paid for my daughters and sons school fees, said Maryna. In Ukraine, my son was not very sporty and now he does rugby, and he is absolutely happy to go school every day. All the boys in school support him. They spend a fantastic time together, they play, and they study together. It is unbelievable and unexpected because he gets to live a normal life, she added. Meanwhile, Kseniia (16) plans to continue her education in Ireland after recently finishing secondary school in Ukraine. She was attending online classes in her Ukrainian school while she was a transition year student in Ireland, said Maryna. This Saturday Maryna and Irina will be marching in Dublins Pride Parade. The couple also participated in an art installation in the Photo Museum Ireland in honour of Refugee Week. The families have been waiting so long to find out what happened - is this person dead or alive? Thats very difficult - expert heading Tuam mother and baby home exhumation Dublin taxi driver caught dealing cocaine warned next time you will go to prison Richard Askin (44) of Ballynakelly Edge, Newcastle, Co. Dublin, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale or supply Richard Askin Eimear Dodd Tue 20 Jun 2023 at 21:34 The family of a Co Derry teenager who died while on holiday in Bulgaria have set up an online fundraiser to bring a beautiful soul home. Daniel Smyth (19) from Coleraine passed away on Sunday following a tragic accident in his hotel bathroom. His parents Jema and Martin have been left devastated following the sudden loss of their eldest son. Daniels death has sent shockwaves of heartbreak throughout our entire family and his circle of friends, the crowd-funding page states. "Daniel had the most cheeky, infectious smile and was kind and loving to everyone he came in contact with. "Our family will truly never be the same without him. "He was destined for the greatest things in life and we want to bring him home and give him the biggest and best send off without any pressure on his grieving parents." The family praised the whole town following an outpouring of support with many people offering the kindest words in tribute to the young man. We couldnt be more proud to know he was just a beautiful soul to everyone he ever met, the website states. "We as a family will take comfort in your kind words for days and years to come while we process to loss of our Daniel Ganky Smyth. "Forever 19. Any left over donations following the repatriation and funeral will go towards a memorial with any additional proceeds pledged to the Kevin Bell Trust charity which is helping bring Daniel home. Writing on social media on Sunday, Jema said the whole family is devastated. "I don't really know what to say but Martin J Smyth and myself want to thank all of you for your messages and thank you to our families who have been amazing, the grieving mum posted on Facebook. "There has been that many messages I can't bear to look at them, but thank you so much for all your support. "Fly high my baby boy. Love you so much." Hundreds of people have donated to the online fundraiser which has already exceeded its 5,000 goal. "I cant even begin to thank each and every one of you, the organiser said. The love, support and donations just flooded in. "Our family will be forever grateful at the kindness our community has shown us in honouring Daniel. Today's News in 90 Seconds - June 20th The Leaving Cert chemistry higher level paper was a good test of the students knowledge, understanding and analytical skills, said Mary Mullaghy, an Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) subject representative. Ms Mullaghy of Eureka Secondary School, Kells, Co Meath, said there were plenty of questions based on laboratory practical work with particular emphasis on observational skills and analytical skills. The fundamentals of chemistry were well examined, and the everyday applications of chemistry were covered throughout the paper. Graphs featured prominently which tested the students ability to analyse data, she said Ms Mullaghy added that, as always, there was very good coverage of organic chemistry, while citizen science was covered in questions on Manuka honey, water treatment and air pollution which tested the higher order thinking skills such as analysis and synthesis. Overall students who had covered the whole course should have found sufficient choice on the paper to be reasonably happy, she said. Tara Lyons, of The Institute of Education, Dublin agreed. She said students will likely have left the exam feeling confident that the expected and prepared elements appeared. Ms Lyons said students who attempted the opening question on mandatory experiments found a mostly straightforward blend of practical details, observations and stoichiometry. Elsewhere in this section, she said the examiners they veered away from rote learning to test the students ability to understand the underlying processes. She noted that Q3 modified an element of the experiment and asked them to conclude a new result, which, while a novel question, the approach was well-established within previous exams, so should not have caused any shock or upset. Ms Lyons described Section B as true to form. She said the Covid adjustments made the internal choices of questions 10 and 11, even more navigable than before. Students could thus avoid trickier or more puzzling questions. In particular, question 11s mentioning of the effect of decreasing activation energy, will puzzle many as activation energy cannot be decreased. With that being said, this was only a momentary pause in what was a broadly approachable paper. In relation to the ordinary level exam, Ms Mullaghy said students seemed pleased enough as again there was sufficient choice for those who had covered the course. Leo Varadkar urged to clarify if Government has abandoned plans to significantly reduce fees Childrens Minister Roderic OGorman will continue to push for a 25pc reduction in childcare fees, on top of the 25pc cut in fees in last year's Budget. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins Childrens Minister Roderic OGorman is to push for a further 25pc reduction in childcare fees as part of Budget 2024 talks. This is despite Taoiseach Leo Varadkar casting doubts on the Green Party commitment in an interview with the Irish Times. Mr OGorman previously committed to halving childcare fees over the course of two Budgets. Last year, fees were cut by 25pc and it was expected there would be a further 25pc reduction as part of the next Budget. Mr Varadkar said: I am not sure we can go as far 25pc in the next one, but it certainly is our intention to bring about a further meaningful reduction in the cost of childcare for families. The reduction in childcare costs was the centrepiece of last years Budget and is expected to again feature prominently in the upcoming Budget. Mr Varadkars comments come despite the state coffers being flush with cash. Backbench TDs and senators across the Coalition are also calling for a 20 increase in the weekly state pension. Despite the Taoiseachs comments casting doubt on the previously promised 25pc cut, it is understood Mr OGorman will continue to push for it. He also wants further investment in childcare and better access for children with disabilities. A Deis-type model for childcare facilities, which is currently in place for schools, is also on his wishlist. All parties in Government want to see childcare fees come down and well have to see what happens in three months time, said a Government source. This far out from a Budget, its probably difficult for him to commit his point was that wed have to see the overall envelope, which is true. As with any Budget, there will be negotiation on it. The source also stated that the Summer Economic Statement, which sets out how much money the Government has to spend in the Budget, has not yet been published. A spokesperson for Mr OGorman declined to comment on the Taoiseachs comments. Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore called on Mr Varadkar to clarify his comments and said the 50pc reduction in fees across two Budgets was a central pledge by Mr OGorman. Minister OGorman is not the only one in Government who has made this commitment, she said. Nearly every senior minister, including the Taoiseach, has cited a significant reduction in childcare costs as being a key policy objective. Ms Whitmore suggested that the Taoiseach may be preparing the public for a U-turn. If this is the case, she said he should clarify if the Government has abandoned its commitment to cut childcare fees. Online and social media platforms will soon have legally binding obligations to make the internet safer. Photo: Getty Images Online and social media platforms will soon have legally binding obligations to make the internet safer or face massive fines under Irish and EU law, the new media regulator has announced. Coimisiun na Mean, which has taken over the role of the former Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, has today set out its plans to enhance online safety and to regulate and support the Irish media sector. The coimisiun also has responsibility for regulating the many large online platforms and search engines that have an established European HQ here. For the first time, online service providers will have legally binding obligations to take steps that make the internet safer for everyone. "Harmful and illegal online content is an international problem. Our job is to regulate service providers based in Ireland, to make the internet safer for people here and across the EU. An Coimisiun will adopt a binding online safety code to address harmful content on video-sharing platforms, and we will enforce the new EU Digital Services Act in respect of a wider range of harms, Executive Chairperson Jeremy Godfrey said. We will particularly focus on keeping children safe. We will also work closely with our counterparts in other EU member States and with the European Commission, so that Irish users are protected, wherever the providers are based, he added. Mr Godfrey said that the online safety code and the Digital Services Act will have real teeth, and if service providers do not take appropriate steps to reduce online harms they face fines of up to 20m or 10pc of relevant turnover under the online safety code, whichever is the greater, or 6pc of worldwide turnover if being prosecuted under the new EU Digital Services Act. The new Coimisiun na Mean will have links to, and the backing of, similar organisations in the EU in fulfilling its roles. Online Safety Commissioner Niamh Hodnett Speaking at the launch of its work programme for the next nine months, Online Safety Commissioner Niamh Hodnett said the purpose of the coimisiuns first online safety code is to bring about a reduction in harmful content, in particular video sharing platform services. I think we've all seen that the impact on mental health, especially on the mental health of our children, by the amplification of harmful content online, such as toxic beauty, self-harm, suicide ideation, or cyber bullying where there's no respite, is indeed great. "And the impact of misogynistic content online deters women from taking on public roles. It has been seen that the impact of incitement to hatred and racism online can lead to real world physical harm. Children are accessing age-inappropriate pornographic content, and this is distorting their understanding of consent. We all can do better. The online safety code will be aimed at reducing harmful content online, she added. New regulations are also being introduced to make the complaints process in relation to online content and social media more user-friendly and transparent. Regulation in relation to broadcasting will also be extended to cover on-demand services, as well as traditional TV, reflecting significant changes in viewing habits in recent years. Viewing habits are changing rapidly. Traditional television is still an important collective national experience. But viewers are spending more of their time watching content through on-demand services. We will update and adapt the rules for traditional broadcasting so that they also apply to video-on-demand, and we will look at whether there should be rules that make public service content easier to find for those using on-demand user interfaces, Mr Godfrey said. Support for the wider media sector will be extended as part of the coimisiuns role, with funding schemes for local journalism, a review of Irish language services, and a strategy to promote gender equality and diversity, and Inclusion in the media. Minister for Media Catherine Martin has welcomed the publication of the coimisiuns work programme. The enactment of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 last December laid the foundation for a new regulatory framework for online safety. Building a safer online environment for all, but in particular for children, has been one of my priorities as minister, she said. Health Minister hits back at Sinn Fein claims that the facility needs major remedial work The new National Children's Hospital in Dublin has been plagued by delays and cost increases. Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin THE National Childrens Hospital (NCH) is back in the headlines after news that its management board ordered the main contractor, BAM, to cease work on half of its operating theatres last month. The issue has raised fresh doubts about when exactly the long-delayed hospital will finally open. Remind me what all the fuss about this hospital is? Located on the site of St Jamess Hospital campus in Dublin, the NCH is set to be the most expensive in the world once it is finally completed. Although around 85pc finished, it has been mired in controversy and beset by delays and cost overruns for years. The official price tag currently stands at around 1.7bn but there are widespread expectations that the final bill will top 2bn. It was supposed to open this year, but the Covid-19 pandemic and construction shutdown prolonged the delays. The current plan is for the hospital to be completed in March next year and open some time after that, before the end of 2024. Whats this latest issue? It has emerged that last month, the hospitals management team, the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB), wrote to the lead contractor BAM directing it to stop work on the ceilings and any services installed in or above 11 of the 22 operating theatres. Documents obtained by Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane show these theatres could require remedial work. He claims the issue relates to the ventilation system. Work includes possible modifications to installed ceilings along with changes to electrical and mechanical services. In the Dail, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said independent experts commissioned by the hospitals operators, Childrens Health Ireland (CHI), had identified major generic faults and non-compliances with the theatres over a year ago. It is understood that consultants STS reported to CHI again last November on the severity of the issues, and said: They are not snagging lists but rather indicative of the major generic faults, non-compliances, unresolved issues found during the walk-arounds. STS warned that the longer these issues take to get resolved the more expensive and time consuming they become and further warned that the systems would fail final validation. Sinn Fein believes the boards direction to Bam to stop works is indicative of these systems failing validation tests in March of this year. What could this mean? Mr Cullinane has said that based on information from a source, the problem could cost 50m to remediate, while also delaying the hospitals completion date. He has gone so far as to suggest that it could take up to 12 months to complete the changes. Do I have confidence that that date of March 2024 will be met? I dont, he told the Irish Independent. The Government has dropped the ball on this. What does the hospital board say? The NPHDB disputes much of Mr Cullinanes characterisation of the problem. This will not cost tens of millions of Euro, as is being claimed, and is not expected to have an impact on the completion date of the hospital, the board said in a statement today. It said that the works are minor and are not on the critical path. It confirmed it had been aware of it but said it is being addressed in a timely and appropriate manner. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly also downplayed the issue today, accusing Sinn Fein of catastrophising. He asked the party to identify its source. In a further statement, the NPHDB said it has instructed BAM to review the impact of moving ceiling grilles in the 11 affected operating theatres. Initial findings would indicate that the works, if instructed, would be undertaken in parallel with other works and would not impact substantial completion or hospital opening, the NPHDB said. It said that while a standard test to validate the ventilation systems had been successful, the outcome of a second non-standard test to observe the air distribution within the theatre had not been agreed between consultants STS and the hospital's design team. Does this mean everything is on track? Not quite. Perhaps more concerning is that both Mr Donnelly and the NPHDB have said that BAM has failed to provide a compliant programme of works. This would show that the hospital is going to be handed over as agreed next March. NPHDB said: This has still not been provided and therefore BAM is in breach of contract. What does BAM say about all this? Bam has denied claims made privately by some in Government that it was behind leaks to Sinn Fein. "BAMs sole focus is on delivering the Childrens Hospital. Work is progressing well and is now over 80% complete," a spokesperson for the developer said. "We are continuing to prepare the programme update as required under the contract based on the scope as currently known. We are working closely with our clients design team to support development of the revised scope of work for the operating theatres. BAM has not engaged with any third parties on any of these matters." What does all this mean in terms of when the hospital will open? The cost overruns have spiralled to such an extent that the public are unlikely to look kindly on whatever the final bill is, even if it comes in under 2bn. The NCH is the single biggest piece of health infrastructure in the countrys history but it has become a byword for the failure of the State to control costs on major capital projects. A succession of timelines and delivery dates have already fallen through. Nonetheless, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar confidently declared today that the Government anticipates the first patients will be seen there at some point in 2024. It is worth noting that, as health minister in 2016, Mr Varadkar declared that short of an asteroid hitting the planet, the NCH would be built by 2020. Historical convictions for homosexuality are to be squashed. The Cabinet today signed off on disregarding convictions prior to 1993, when homosexuality was illegal. Hundreds of men were convicted of consensual gay sex prior to 1993. Criminal records, offences and the eligibility standards should all be disregarded, according to a report from a working group set up to examine the disregard of the convictions. Minister for Equality and Integration, Roderic OGorman has further confirmed that conversion therapy will be criminalised. A total of 30,000 will also be donated on a one-off basis to HIV Ireland, and a new app developed to track the usage of HIV drug PrEP, as part of a package of measures announced by Government today to mark Pride month. Healthy Ireland will also allocate 30,000 in capital funding to HIV Ireland to landscape and refurbish facilities. A total of 233,000 in State funding will be used to the develop the app and online platform, which will help people track their PrEP treatment. People who use the drug will be able to see results and other important data online, without having to travel to clinics and freeing up space for services to take on new clients. This is based on a successful model used in Brighton in the UK, and will ensure that users will have access to their results and other information, and allow clinics to manage their capacity for treatment. The National Sexual Health Strategy will be refreshed for the first time since 2015. The new measures were announced at a meeting with LGBTQI+ groups chaired by the Taoiseach in Government Buildings today. The report from the working group contains 95 recommendations and will be published by Justice Minister Helen McEntee in the coming days. While we cannot undo the hurt inflicted on people who were discriminated against for simply being themselves, I do hope that todays report brings us closer to something that can address the harm done to generations of gay and bisexual men, said Minister McEntee. The Irish Government is committed to the promotion and protection of LGBTQI+ rights and we will work to better the lives of all in the Community, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said. I am particularly pleased that we are now moving to disregard historic convictions for consensual sexual activity between men. This was a commitment I made previously and Im really pleased this is taking a step further during Pride Week. One woman died violently for every month of last year, figures show A record number of women contacted Womens Aid in 2022, a period in which one woman died violently in Ireland for every month of the year. The domestic abuse charity said it had received its highest ever number of contacts with its frontline services, at a time when supports for survivors are creaking at the seams. In 2022, there were 31,229 contacts with Womens Aid a 16pc increase from the 26,906 contacts with national and regional support services the year before. In its annual report, released today, the domestic abuse charity said that within these contacts, 33,990 disclosures of domestic abuse were made last year including 5,412 reports of abuse of children. The overall figure was slightly higher than the 33,831 disclosures of domestic abuse against women and children recorded in 2021. The 33,990 disclosures of abuse against women and children in 2022 included 28,578 disclosures of domestic violence including coercive control against women. This included 20,851 disclosures of emotional abuse, 4,509 cases of physical abuse, more than 2,200 instances of economic abuse and 928 disclosures of sexual abuse. There were 5,412 disclosures of child abuse in the domestic violence context. Garda chief says tackling domestic violence 'a big focus' on Go Purple Day Of those who were in contact with Womens Aid last year, 84pc had been abused by a current or former male partner. More than half, 58pc of women, were abused by a current partner and a quarter had been abused by a male former partner. Ten per cent of women had been abused by a man who was not an intimate partner or ex-partner, and 6pc disclosed they had been abused by a female. Womens Aid said that while it was encouraging that survivors of abuse were coming forward and seeking help, the systems on which they rely are creaking at the seams. This includes specialist frontline services, specialist accommodation provision and the family and criminal law systems as well as the challenges posed by the housing and cost-of-living crisis. Sarah Benson, chief executive of Womens Aid, said that while the figures were shocking, they were only the tip of an enormous iceberg. She said public awareness of domestic abuse has heightened in Ireland over the last number of years, which was welcome. It means that, bit by bit, we are chipping away at the silence that imprisons women and children in very difficult situations. However, the more we talk about domestic abuse the more victims and survivors will come forward. Can we confidently say that, when they do come forward, they will get all the support and protection they need? She said the disclosures of abuse included descriptions of women being subjected to a broad and brutal pattern of abuse. Women reported assaults with weapons, constant surveillance and monitoring, relentless putdowns and humiliation, the taking and sharing of intimate images online, complete control over all family finances, sexual assault, rape, and being threatened with theirs or their childrens lives, Ms Benson said. The impacts on these women were chilling and ranged from exhaustion, isolation, and hopelessness; to being brutalised and wounded, suffering miscarriages, poverty, feeling a loss of identity and suicide ideation, hypervigilance, and homelessness. She said 2022 was a year of horrific violence against women, in their homes and on our streets, with 12 womens lives ended by violence. Since 1996, Womens Aid has been recording the number of violent deaths of women in Ireland each year as part of its Femicide Watch. Since the research started, 260 women have died violently in Ireland and 20 children have died during incidents where women have died violently. According to the charity, 12 women died violently in 2022. Their names are: Ashling Murphy, Sandra Boyd, Mary (Maura) Bergin, Ruth Lohse, Louise Mucknell, Lisa Thompson, Larisa Serban, Miriam Burns, Lisa Cash, Ioana Mihaela Pacala, Emma McCrory and Sharon Crean. Womens Aid said that so far this year five more women had lost their lives to violence. They are Bruna Fonseca, Maud Coffey, Geila Ibram, Catherine Henry and Anna Mooney. The annual report will be launched at an event in Dublin this morning, which will be attended by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Justice Minister Helen McEntee. Jason Poole, who began campaigning against domestic violence after his 24-year-old sister Jennie was murdered by her ex-partner, will also speak at the event. Mr Poole told the Irish Independent he believed Ireland was in a state of crisis regarding domestic abuse and gender-based violence. To think that 260 women have died violently since 1996 is so alarming. To think that over 60pc of women are killed in their own home, and 55pc are being killed by a current or former partner, he said. We have to be real in looking at our court system, our justice system. He has been campaigning for Ireland to legislate for a domestic violence register, which would allow the authorities to warn those who are in a relationship with someone who has an abusive past. Teachers who can afford to live in Dublin are in short supply While asking parents to accommodate their childrens teachers would not be a considered a good idea, grandparents are a step removed. Photo: Getty A Dublin school has asked grandparents of pupils to rent a room to a teacher in a desperate attempt to ensure they have enough staff in September. It reflects the struggles facing schools in and around the capital as they suffer a flight of teachers to other parts of the country because of accommodation shortages and high rents. A growing recruitment and retention divide between the greater Dublin area and other parts of the country has even led to teachers giving up secure jobs in the capital to take a temporary role elsewhere. As schools prepare to close for the summer, many principals are dealing with the prospect of returning with posts unfilled. In some cases, advertised vacancies in and around Dublin did not yield any applicants. The crisis is hitting both the post-primary and primary sectors. Paul Crone, director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), representing post-primary school leaders, said: It is very worrying for Dublin schools. John Boyle, general secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), pointed to serious gaps in staffing supply panels, which provide fixed-term cover for primary teachers and are crucial for the smooth running of schools. He said the situation regarding panel vacancies in the greater Dublin area was deeply concerning. It is disheartening to see schools in Dublin struggling to attract applicants for fixed-term vacancies. Even more distressing is the experience of schools being informed by successful interviewees that they have accepted jobs elsewhere and are no longer interested. This worrisome trend raises serious questions about the future of education in Dublin. If this continues, we risk creating a scenario where only individuals born and raised in Dublin, residing in their own family homes, will have the opportunity to teach in the area. There is ongoing engagement between the Department of Education and school and teacher bodies about ways to address the crisis, in both the short and long term. Education Minister Norma Foley has now agreed to beef up efforts to encourage Irish teachers to return home from abroad. Education Minister Norma Foley. Photo: Collins The department confirmed to the Irish Independent that it was providing additional funding to allow for the expansion of a service known as Turas Abhaile, which matches post-primary teachers interested in returning to Ireland with vacancies at home. The online recruitment portal has proved effective since it was launched on a voluntary basis in 2019, but it needed more resources to tackle the scale of problem today. Turas Abhaile is an initiative of the post-primary school management bodies, including the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools (ACCS) which manages it, and the NAPD. Other measures being considered include a continuation of the scheme that allows post-primary teachers to work overtime, and enabling teachers who are job-sharing or an career break to undertake substitute work. Schools are reluctant to go public on their staffing challenges for fear of reputational damage, but Mr Crone provided a snapshot. He referred to the school in Dublin with eight teacher vacancies that took the novel step of contacting parents of pupils to ask whether grandparents would rent a room to teachers. While asking parents to accommodate their childrens teachers would not be a considered a good idea, grandparents are a step removed. Six grandparents have signed up. Mr Crone gave examples of how schools in the Dublin area are losing out: * a Sligo school had 12 applications for a home economics vacancy, six of whom were interviewed and all six were deemed appointable. A number of the applicants already had contracts of indefinite duration (CID) effectively permanent jobs in Dublin. * a Galway school had 40 applications for a business studies vacancy, an almost unheard of level of response, said Mr Crone. They included teachers living in Dublin wanting to return to the west of Ireland, as well as teachers returning from the UK and Middle East. * a Limerick school had 40 applications for a woodwork teaching career break replacement, on less than full hours. The shortlist included a teacher prepared to give up an assistant principal post in Dublin to move back to Limerick. Two people were rescued in the early hours of this morning, after they got into difficulty in Lough Derg. Valentia Coast Guard requested Lough Derg RNLI to launch and search for the two people, who had set out from Portumna, Co Galway, for Mountshannon, Co Clare, several hours earlier, but had not arrived at their destination. At 1.39am the Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat Jean Spier launched with helm Eleanor Hooker and crew Doireann Kennedy, Chris Parker and Ciara Lynch on board. In a statement, the RNLI said it was moonless, starless night and the volunteers used local knowledge and all their electronic equipment to navigate in the dark. As the lifeboat was launching, Valentia Coast Guard requested the RNLI volunteers to begin a search at Mountshannon, at the south-western end of the lake, and to take a route north towards Portumna. Just before 2am, volunteers monitoring radar detected an object in the water, and a fleeting white outline was spotted in the dark. The crew used their search light and determined that it was the casualty vessel, which was adrift in open water close to Garrykennedy. When the lifeboat came alongside, volunteers found that both casualties were safe and unharmed. They were requested to put on their lifejackets and RNLI helm Eleanor Hooker ordered for the casualty vessel to be towed to Garrykennedy Harbour, the closest safe harbour. At 2.25am the vessel was safely tied alongside at Garrykennedy. The lifeboat crew made contact with a friend of the stranded passengers and arranged for them to be collected. Peter Kennedy, Deputy Launching Authority at Lough Derg RNLI, has urged boat users to ensure you have sufficient fuel for your journey and always carry a means of communication. Plan your route to arrive at your destination before nightfall. Should you need assistance, dial 999 or 112 and ask for the Coast Guard. On This Day In History - June 20th Lorraine Murphy and her son Caoimhin next to a New IRA flag This is the wife of the self-proclaimed New IRA chief-of-staff posing in front of a flag in support of the terror gang. Lorraine Murphy, pictured beside the flag with her son Caoimhin, was in court last week to admit to illegally recording her husband Kevin Murphys court appearances via the sight-link system. The 49-year-old from Altowen Park in Coalisland was fined 900 after pleading guilty to six counts of making an unauthorised recording of the live proceedings. But instead of being embarrassed by her legal woes republicans say unrepentant Murphy has been taking them in her stride. Lorraine doesnt give a f**k about the fine, her only regret seems to be that she was caught, a dissident source said. Lorraine Murphy and Kevin Murphy Lorraine Murphy has a long history of run-ins with the authorities and was arrested 20 years ago for allegedly smuggling a note into Maghaberry Prison while her future husband Kevin was on remand. Our source added: Lorraine is well-used to clashing with cops and courts. As far as she is concerned her husband has been on remand in jail for nearly three years on trumped-up charges. Her son Caoimhin is also facing charges of taking part in an illegal protest outside Maghaberry jail. With all that going on Lorraine really couldnt care less what a judge tells her. Her husband Kevin Barry Murphy (52), is currently facing a raft of terrorism charges linked to an MI5 sting operation involving double agent Dennis McFadden. He is accused of professing to belong to a terrorist organisation, directing terrorist activity, and being engaged in preparation for acts of terrorism by being the New IRA chief-of-staff and a member of its army council. There are nine co-accused in the case. All face similar allegations of New IRA membership and directing terrorist activity between 2018 and 2020. Kevin Murphy has regular court appearances which are broadcast online via the sight-link system, and it is these which his wife admitted illegally recording on April 6, May 4, May 18 and three times on June 8 all in 2022. Having denied all charges, Lorraine Murphy dramatically changed her plea at the last minute ahead of a contest last Monday, accepting intentionally making unauthorised recordings of proceedings. Judge Keown imposed fines of 150 on each count to a total of 900. Today's News in 90 Seconds - June 20th 'I was told to take a Panadol and go to bed, but I knew my baby was coming' what its like giving birth in emergency circumstances Virgin Galactic has sold about 800 tickets so far. But will space tourism really take off? Virgin Galactic will launch its first commercial space tourism flights before the end of June, Sir Richard Bransons company has announced. A team of specialists with the Italian Air Force and the National Research Centre of Italy will be shooting up to the edge of space to conduct microgravity research, with a launch window in the three days from 27 June. Then in August, those who have been waiting more than a decade for their ride aboard Virgin Galactics rocket-powered space plane are expected to finally get their chance. The company said the first of those flights will begin in early August, with monthly flights to follow. The final test flight was conducted in May. Virgin Galactic has sold about 800 tickets over the past decade, with the initial batch going for $200,000 (183,000) each. Tickets now cost $450,000 (411,000) per person. The company said early passengers have already received their seat assignments for their space flight. After reaching an altitude of nearly 50,000ft (15,000m), Virgin Galactics space plane is released from a carrier aircraft and drops for a moment before igniting its rocket motor. The plane shuts off once it reaches space, providing passengers with silence, weightlessness and an aerial view of Earth. The rocket ship then glides back to the runway at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert. A view from the edge of space is seen from Virgin Galactic's manned space tourism rocket plane SpaceShipTwo. Photo: Reuters This next exciting chapter for Virgin Galactic has been driven by innovation, determination and a commitment to delivering an unparalleled and truly transformative customer experience, said Michael Colglazier, Virgin Galactic chief executive. Simon Calder, travel correspondent of The Independent, said: Concern about the environmental as well as financial viability of space tourism is growing. Even so, for wealthy individuals who are looking for new options to spend large amounts of money, a brief encounter with weightlessness will no doubt prove attractive. Once the first commercial tourists return, I predict sales will rocket. As with trains and planes, though, so with space travel it evidently cuts the cost if you book well in advance, as the first people to sign up for Virgin Galactic have found. The announcement comes after Virgin Orbit, a separate space firm owned by Sir Richard, was shut down, months after a mission failed. Additional reporting by AP. Strange news reaches us from our Celtic cousins in Scotland. It is that popular support for Scottish independence is not dented by a definite drop in support for the scandal-afflicted Scottish National Party (SNP). Irish journalist/writer Sally Hayden has risked her life to bring refugees' stories from some of the most desolate spots in the world Today is World Refugee Day. It is an international day designated by the United Nations to honour refugees around the globe. It celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution. It is an occasion to build empathy and understanding for their plight and to recognise their resilience in rebuilding their lives. Members of the Ukrainian community in Ireland outside the Ukrainian embassy last August. Photo: Getty The ache for home lives in all of us. On International Refugee Day, we might remember that being torn from your roots and all you are connected to is painful for over 35.3 million refugees. Pope Francis reminded us some time back that migrants cannot be regarded as pawns on the chessboard of humanity to be moved back and forth on a whim. Recognising our commitments to do all we can to reach out to those who have been driven out of their homelands demands continual attention. So to devote a designated day once a year to acknowledge the darkness and suffering that so many have been plunged into is the least we can do. Over the past year, the frailties of our own system for managing those who come to our shores seeking help have been shamefully exposed. We are currently housing over 84,000 refugees and asylum seekers in accommodation provided by the State. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) has raised concerns about a dual standard in how we treat refugees from Ukraine, who have the benefit of the EU temporary protection directive, and people from other parts of the world, who were seeking asylum here. The discrepancy exists despite the fact they are often escaping similar dangers such as war and persecution. The hope is that we will do everything we can to treat all with dignity and respect as best as we can. IHREC has appealed for the State to develop an international protection system which is permanent and stable. After all, global instability and conflict are hardly new, yet we are continually caught on the hop. Brian Killoran, chief executive of the Immigrant Council of Ireland has decried the fact we still have a short-term or reactive response to accommodating the large number of refugees and international protection applicants arriving here, more than one year on from the war in Ukraine People have stepped up to fill gaps, but we have to be able to offer more than a scrambled 11th-hour response. The burning of tents of people whom the State failed by not giving them the protection it committed to highlights the dangers when our duty of care is not met. Where we have a voice or influence, we must use it to try to end the injustice or conflicts that force people to flee. The challenge of ending displacement is inseparable from the challenge of establishing and maintaining peace. It is a disgrace that clearer international safeguards can not be agreed to protect migrants. Where there are loopholes, we have an obligation to offer at least temporary safety. The consequences of not having recognised patrolled safe paths were catastrophically illustrated by the ferry disaster off Greece in recent days. We cannot see refugees as strangers; the separation and isolation they already feel must not be added to by inflicting further exclusion. Partygate has certainly left former British Prime Minister and Tory MP Boris Johnson with one severely painful political hangover. After a series of investigations, police have concluded that that Johnson broke the law and furthermore a Westminster committee have said that he misled parliament. Now that the House of Commons has had its say, Fionnan Sheahan is joined by former Sky News Correspondent and media consultant Enda Brady to ask if this is the end of Boris Johnsons future in politics? These are truly Happy Days for Siobhan McSweeney, the Cork actor and recent winner of a BAFTA for her star turn as Sister Michael in Derry Girls. Last week and this week the Aherla born and raised thespian who has strong links to the Muscrai Gaeltacht was starring as Winnie in Happy Days by Samuel Beckett, the Irish dramatist who spent much of his life in Paris and won a Nobel Prize for Literature for his work. To say that life for Siobhan has been hectic since her starring role in Derry Girls propelled her to global recognition as one of Irelands best loved actors is the classic understatement. She has starred in a Disney superhero series, Extraordinary and episodes, among others, of Murder In Paradise. the Graham Norton TV adaptation of Holding, Redemption, as well as being the presenter of a documentary on St. Brigid and The Great British Pottery Throwdown on Channel 4. There have also been appearances on Celebrity Catchphrase and a Christmas edition of the Great British Bake-off. Exhausting as that list seems, its not exhaustive as any casual Google search will tell you. While the role of Winnie in Happy Days doesnt see the character move from being buried up to her waist in a sandy landscape for the plays first Act and up to her neck in the second part, its a very physically demanding role. The night I saw Happy Days in the Opera House was Friday, June 16, or Bloomsday. It struck as a little rebellious that we were going to a Beckett play on the day set aside to celebrate James Joyce, the ultimate Dubliner (who had, of course, strong links to Cork as his father was a Leesider, where else would he have acquired his literary genius?). Happy Days is not the most accessible of theatrical experiences by any manner or means but it is presented strikingly. The main character - and for most of the plays two hour duration, the only character, is centre stage in a desolated landscape, buried in sand strewn with different items of rubbish. The landscape appears to be sloped towards the audience and the sky in the background is bright blue at first and changes as the day passes. Another way to tell time in the drama is the striking of a bell at the beginning, and intermittently throughout, which wakes Winnie from her slumber. Thus constrained, Winnie has to make the most of her face and, when not buried up to her neck, her arms, to communicate with the audience shes entertaining with an apparent monologue. Her husband is constrained behind her and she occasionally gets a word out of him - and when she does, its a Happy Day. If I didnt know better, Id suspect that he was distracted by a mobile phone! I cant say I understood the play but it did speak to me in a way - here was character struggling to communicate with her world and despite it being a one way dialogue, she was maintaining her spirit and good humour. A Happy Day was something to be treasured by Winnie but normality was No worse, no better, no change, no worse. I wonder what Beckett intended with his drama but it certainly asks questions. The role of Winnie is recognised by many as the female equivalent of Hamlet in the terms of the challenge it puts to the actor in the role. By any measure Siobhan McSweeney rose to the challenge and met it with style and grace. Last weeks short run was part of the Cork Midsummer Festival, by the time you read this, the stage will have shifted to Dublins Olympia where it will undoubtedly wow and puzzle audiences in equal measure. Fianna Fails longest serving member on Cork County Council to take over the chain of office on Friday THE long-serving Cork County Councillor Frank OFlynn is set to become the next Mayor of County Cork when the current incumbent, Cllr Danny Collins, relinquishes the official chain of office at the local authoritys AGM on Friday. Cllr OFlynn, who will serve as County Mayor for the next 12-months, has also poured cold water on speculation that he may not seek re-election to Cork County Council at next Mays local elections. A proud Glanworth native, Cllr OFlynn was educated at St Colmans College in Fermoy, going on to study Dairy and Food Science at UCC after which he worked as field manager for Mitchelstown Co-Op and Dairygold. The longest serving member of the Fianna Fail party member on Cork County Council, Cllr OFlynn was first elected to the authority for the Fermoy electoral area in 1999, retaining his seat at the subsequent four local elections in 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019. A politician with vast experience, he had served as chair of the Cork County Councils Northern Committee, the Fermoy Municipal District Committee, the Joint Policing Committee, the 1916 Centenary Commemorative Committee and is the current chair of the councils Economic Development Committee. Outside of the council, Cllr OFlynn is the vice-chair of Blackwater Leader Resource Development and a member of Glanworth Community Council. Steeped in the GAA tradition, he also served a five-year term as chair of Glanworth GAA Club and is a member of the Cork County Board. He will become the fourth Fianna Fail member to wear the mayoral chain during the current five-year council term under pact between the party and the Independents. The other three party members were Cllr (now Deputy) Christopher OSullivan, Cllr Ian Doyle (who held the office for a number of months following Cllr OSullivans election to the Dail in February 2020) and Cllr Gillian Coughlan. Cllr OFlynn, who has deputised for other Mayors on a number of occasions, said he is looking forward to his 12-month stint as Cork Countys First Citizen. I will be the first person from the Fermoy/Mitchelstown area to serve as Mayor since Dick Fitzgerald who held the then position of Cathoirleach in 1981. Friday will be a very proud day for me, my wife Mary and my son Francis jnr who have been great support to me over the years, said Cllr OFlynn. Serving as the Mayor of County Cork will be the highlight of my political career and I am really looking forward to taking on the challenges that lay ahead over the coming year, working hard on behalf of the people and communities across the county, he added. He said that top of his list of priorities will be addressing the ongoing housing crisis, working with officials to build more desperately needed social and affordable homes. Another key issue for me will be addressing the large number of derelict buildings and vacant sites that have become eyesores in villages and town across the county. We were able to fast-track many projects during the Covid pandemic and I see no reason why we can not something similar to bring these buildings and sites, many of which have lain idle for years, back into use, said Cllr OFlynn. Many people who own these buildings find it difficult to secure the planning permission to redevelop them, so that is an issue that also needs to be addressed. For me its a no brainer, he added. Cllr OFlynn said that he was also very conscious of the efforts of voluntary groups across the county,in making their respective communities better places to live and work in. I want to help continue the great work that Cork County Council does in conjunction with these groups through providing funding, without which many of the fantastic projects we see all across the county would not be possible, said Cllr OFlynn. Above all, I intend to represent the people of County Cork to the best of my ability across all interests during my term in office, he added. Cllr OFlynn laughed off any suggestion that he may not seek re-election to the local authority next summer. I will be contesting next years local elections and want to continue my proud record of working on behalf of the people and communities in the Fermoy/Mitchelstown area, said Cllr OFlynn. Cork County Council donates 3k, City Council 5k while Dublin City Council gives 160k to Dublin Pride Cork Pride is the only festival in the country to have charitable status but local councils are proving to be less than generous in their sponsorship of the festival. BOTH Cork County Council and the City Council have been slammed for extreme stinginess because they have contributed a total of just 8,000 for this years Cork Pride festival which is due to take place in August. According to Mick Barry, the Cork North Central Socialist Party TD, both the City Council and the County Council are being extremely un-generous in the amont of sponsorship being given to the festival which is returning to the streets of Cork between July 30 and August 6. Describing the contributions of 5,000 from Cork City Council and 3,000 from Cork County Council as very stingy, Deputy Barry said he would be raising the matter in Dail Eireann this week. Cork Pride is a hugely important event in the life of the city, said Deputy Barry, pointing out that Cork voters were among the strongest supporters of the Equal Marriage referendum in 2015. We have seen a backlash against the LGBTQ+ community this year with a rise in attacks and a campaign to censor books in our library. It is more important than ever that we have a strong and successful Pride this year. Big business clearly cant be relied upon - the public sector needs to step up to the mark and do the right thing here. While Cork Pride received commitments of 8,000 from both local authorities, Dublin Pride is granted annual funding from Dublin City Council of 160,000. Kery Mullaly, Cork Prides Business Development Manager, said that the festival was not seeking to be treated more favourably than other similar sized events but was asking that it be put on the same funding level as festivals such as the Cork Jazz, Film and Midsummer Festivals that receive up to 30,000 annually from the local authorities. We believe we should get funding that is commensurate with the festival were putting on, he said. He added that while there has been a 50% increase in funding from Cork County Council, up from 2,000 in previous years to 3,000 this year, that increase came only as a result of an indication from Cork Pride that it wouldnt accept any funding from the authority if it continued at the level of previous years. This year has seen the withdrawal of a number of corporate sponsors from supporting Cork Pride, a fact which is understood by the festival as they see that some companies are cutting back on outside sponsorship as well as reducing employment levels. This will have an impact on this years festival with the cancellation of two flagship events. However the festival will go on as Cork Pride is keen to provide a celebration of its progress over the past 30 years to a point where the festival is one of the most colourful in the city and county. While many of the festivals events are focused in the city, Cork Pride has organised events in towns around the county with a very successful Cork Pride By The Sea initiative in Youghal, Clonakilty and Kinsale last year and the countrys longest ever Pride Parade in 2021, a year which they had to limit numbers to just 50 participants because of pandemic restrictions but took the parade all over the county, bringing thousands onto the streets to cheer them on (in Covid-safe style). Kery said that he recalled the reception the parade received in Mitchelstown as one which blew me away. An elderly gentleman approached me and said he thought he would never see the day that Pride would come to Mitchelstown and while I thought he would say something negative, he said he was 73 years of age and this was the first time he had told anyone he was gay. Corporate sponsorship is still being sought for this years events. Fergal Cronin from Mallow said the challenge was 36-hours of gruelling slog, leading to a legacy of a lifetime In a new video Mallows Fergal Cronin speaks about the difference taking part in the 4-Peaks challenge made to his life and how new technology has helped him manage his Type 1 diabetes a over the past 25-years Back in 1997 Mallow teenager Fergal Cronin was one of nine young adults living with Type 1 diabetes who took on the challenge of climbing the highest peaks in each of the four Irish provinces within just 36-hours. At the time there was a generally held misconception of Type 1 diabetes of being a barrier to employment, taking part in sport and being able to participate in the full school curriculum. Perhaps more importantly, there was a very real need to address the lack of confidence among young people living with the condition, with the ultimate aim of the four-peaks challenge being to show that Type 1 diabetes should not be a barrier to achieving their dreams and ambitions. An RTE documentary team filmed the trek and 25-years on Diabetes Ireland brought some of the participants and their medical team together to celebrate the achievement by climbing Croagh Patrick and producing a reunion video. The new video details their lives with diabetes over the past quarter-of-a-century and the monumental changes they have seen over that time, such as the impact that new technology for helping to control diabetes has had on their lives. Chris Thompson, Professor of Endocrinology at Dublins Beaumont Hospital, originally mooted the idea of the 4-Peaks challenge, said the aim of the new video was to once again instil confidence in todays adolescents and young adults living with Type 1 diabetes and to raise awareness of the condition in the wider population. The achievement of completing the challenge in 36-hours was phenomenal and it has been fantastic to see many of the same participants achieving such great things in life, said Professor Thompson. To catch up with everyone at Croagh Patrick 25-years later was very special and I hope all people with diabetes will watch the video and enjoy the experience, he added. Speaking about the trek 25-years on, Fergal Cronin described it as a summer of preparation, and 36-hours of gruelling hard slog leading to a legacy of a lifetime. Only with the benefit of 25 years of hindsight have I had the opportunity to recognise the life skills the 4 Peaks gave me. Im extremely grateful to the organisers for all they did it was opportunity and experience of a lifetime, said Fergal. He went on to highlight the impact technology has had on his diabetes management, describing it as being a game changer in life and encouraged access to the life-altering technology for everyone in Ireland living with Type 1 diabetes. Fergal said that in 1997 diabetes management was cumbersome and imperfect from a science perspective, with the results not that accurate. The teenage years are an awkward time in anyones life, but having this cumbersome burden on your back probably didnt help, said Fergal. He said that the 4-peaks challenge helped instil a new confidence in himself and a belief that anything was possible. While it was billed as an educational thing, the people who benefited most were those like myself who took part in it. It was not that I had any conscious limitation of what I could or could not do, but I knew full well there was something dragging me back, said Fergal. He said the 4-Peaks challenge helped him grow into an independent adult, something he conceded may not have happened otherwise. It gave me confidence. I got to know the other guys who took part, see what they did and just leaned new life skills. Not just necessarily diabetes management skills but confidence in being able to deal with it in the normal sense, said Fergal. In recent years I have had kids and am in a very busy job. As much as you would like to, you do not always have the time to stop and test your blood. But you have this technology working 24/7, which has been a big game-changer for me, he added. The reunion video can be viewed by following the dedicated link on the Diabetes Ireland website, diabetes.ie. Peel Whillock from Killarney and originally the UK, who arrived in Ireland 50 years ago when their family boat got ship wrecked in Cork pictured at the Citizenship Ceremonies Day 2 at the INEC, Killarney on Tuesday. Peel, (called after the port on Manx Island) holds a copy of the newspaper article from the time the family arrived in Cork. Photo: Don MacMonagle The company which lost out on a new tender for search and rescue services has launched a High Court action. CHC Ireland has commenced a High Court challenge in relation to the validity of the tender process for the Irish Coast Guard Aviation Service. Upon considering the outcome of the tender process as notified to CHC, CHC is concerned that there are a number of flaws in the conduct of the competition. In view of the strict time limits in Irish law for taking steps to protect our rights we were left with no option but to initiate proceedings to challenge the outcome of the process. CHC Ireland has submitted a tender which it believes is innovative and represents the best value to the taxpayer and the best outcome for the Irish Coast Guard Helicopter Search and Rescue Service. Foremost in our thoughts are the staff who provide the service and the people who rely on it . This is consistent with our philosophy of putting people at the forefront of everything, as we have done for the past 20 plus years, said a spokesperson. The company lost out to Bristow (Ire) Ltd., who has been awarded the new Irish Coastguard search and rescue aviation (SAR) contract for the day and night-time operation of four helicopter bases including Sligo, alongside Shannon, Waterford and Dublin. The 10-year contract is worth more than 670m. Heres The Sligo Champions pick of the top ten things to do in the county this week. DAVID MCSAVAGE Get ready for a night of sidesplitting laughter with Irelands most beloved and divisive comedian at Hawks Well Theatre on Friday, June 23rd. David McSavage reflects on what it means to be Irish, the root cause of all our problems, war, and making his sons proud, kind of. Nothing is off-limits in this standout comedy show. STREET FEAST The Model will be participating in this years Street Feast on Sunday, June 25th at 3pm. The Model invites people to join and get together with The Models Sligo Global Kitchen for a Street Feast on the front lawn, to celebrate diversity, sample food from Africa, Ukraine, the Middle East and around the world. Bring your picnic blanket to enjoy this sizzling al fresco feast with friends old and new. The Mall Street Feast is an event with the whole family in mind a day of food, fun and culture. TRAD@LUNCH Week seven for the Trad@lunch 2023 series is delighted to welcome June McCormack and Michael Rooney playing at the Hawks Well on Wednesday 21st June at 1:10pm. This husband and wife duo, also known as Draiocht, have substantial musical credentials. Always highly enjoyable, and ever popular, these events are free to attend and do not require a ticket. 7KM FUN RUN/WALK The Ballinacarrow NS 7k fun run/walk will take place from school gates on Wednesday evening 21st June. Entry is 10 per adult and kids go free. Refreshments provided afterwards at the school. Registration from 5.30pm and run/walk to commence at 6.30pm. All proceeds will go towards Ballinacarrow National School. SOLVE-ALONG-A-MURDER SHE WROTE Cult hit event solve-along-a Murder, She Wrote comes to the Hawks Well on Wednesday 21st June, with an interactive screening of the classic Murder, She Wrote episode Sing a Song of Murder. Jessica Fletcher heads to London but soon gets caught up in a murder mystery only she (or you!) can solve! Tickets are priced at 21 Ages 16+. An additional 1 renovation fee will also be added to tickets. OTHERWORDLY ECHOES See Nina Ferns solo exhibition Otherworldly Echoes at the Hyde Bridge Gallery before it closes on June 24th. Nina Fern is a visual artist who grew up in Germany before moving to Ireland. Nina is undertaking practice-led research with focus on virtual performance and storytelling. Her multidisciplinary practice employs a variety of media, including extended realities (XR), moving image, and sculpture. THE BALLAD OF MOSSY FLOOD Seamus ORourke presents The Ballad of Mossy Flood at the Hawks Well Theatre on Thursday, June 22nd at 8pm. ORourkes character Mossy Flood has a knack of going the long way around a story. In so doing, he makes us laugh and examine ourselves in a way we havent done before. RUN WITH RAY This Summer, RTE Radio 1 are inviting you to go on a run with Ray. The Sligo Run with Ray takes place at Doorly Park on Tuesday, June 27th at 5.30pm. As part of signing up, you will get an exclusive Run with Ray t-shirt which you can collect on the day. Register at rte.ie/ray FRANCIE LENEHAN: GUITAR MAN Join the Hawks Well Theatre for a night of musical celebration with Francie Lenehan, featuring Chris Meehan & His Red Neck Friends, Ray Lyman and a host of local and national guests on Saturday 24th June, 8pm. This event is sold out. STRANDHILL PEOPLES MARKET The popular Strandhill Peoples Market continues every Sunday at the airport hangar. Always a great day out, with lots to offer from food, arts, crafts and lots more. The market takes place from 11am-4pm. L-R Damien Mallon, Senior Systems Engineer, Datapac; Patrick Kickham, Director, Datapac; Conor OLeary, Sophos Ireland Channel Executive, and Christine Fortune, Sales Manager ICT Services & Solutions, Datapac, pictured at the announcement that Datapac has been named Sophos Partner of the Year 2023, marking the sixth time that the company has received the award. L-R Patrick Kickham, Director, Datapac with Conor OLeary, Sophos Ireland Channel Executive, pictured at the announcement that Datapac has been named Sophos Partner of the Year 2023, marking the sixth time that Datapac has received the award. Enniscorthy based business, Datapac, Irelands leading technology solutions and services provider, has been awarded the title of Sophos Partner of the Year for 2023. Its the sixth time the business has received the prestigious award and marks the extremely high regard in which its held within the sector. Sophos is a global leader for next-generation security with over 500,000 customers worldwide. The Partner of the Year accolade was announced at the Sophos Partner Roadshow, held in Mondello Park, Naas, Co. Kildare. The annual event brings Sophos expertise in-person to its valued partners in the EMEA region while also celebrating their success in delivering peerless levels of security to their customers. The event also allows Sophos to provide insights and innovations to keep partners ahead of the curve in the fast-moving cybersecurity landscape. Datapac secured the award in recognition of its continuously strong growth in its cyber security business which further accelerated over the past 12 months. Commenting on Datapacs award, a spokesperson for Sophos said that through its deep and ever-evolving level of technical expertise, mirrored in its advanced platinum-level partner accreditation, the Enniscorthy business delivers the highest levels of protection to its customers through Sophos range of next-generation award-winning cybersecurity solutions. Those solutions include firewalls, endpoint and network protection, and full 24/7 managed threat detection and response (MDR) services. Through adopting a collaborative approach to its customers continued success, Datapac helps guide them towards best-in-class security posture through consultative strategic conversations that focus not only on the cybersecurity needs of today but also the future. The business has been advocating for cybersecurity awareness, employing multiple channels to reach its growing customer base. This concerted effort aims to educate Irish organisations about the pressing risks of cybercrime and empower them with the knowledge and tools needed to enhance their protective measures, said the Sophos spokesperson. As a global leader in the space, Sophos operates on the cutting-edge of the cybersecurity industry, protecting millions of users and over 500,000 organisations of all sizes in over 150 countries. Its also a a leader in Gartners Magic Quadrant for both endpoint and network security and has been positioned as a leader for Endpoint Protection Platforms (EPP) for 13 consecutive years. Over the past year, Datapac has continued to achieve significant growth for its security services and Sophos solutions amongst both new and existing customers. Conor OLeary, Sophos Ireland Channel Executive, said: Datapac has been an instrumental driver for the Sophos portfolio of security solutions within the Irish market for many years. He outlined how the business went from being the first Irish company to attain platinum-level partnership to now becoming the six-time recipient of the Partner of the Year award. Datapacs team have continuously demonstrated their commitment to the partnership and to Sophos solutions through exceptional credentials, expertise and their deep understanding of the value Sophos brings to their customers peace of mind, said Mr OLeary. We are delighted to recognise Datapac with the Ireland Partner of the Year award once again, he said. Meanwhile, Patrick Kickham, Director with Datapac, said: We are extremely proud to have achieved the Partner of the Year Award for the sixth time, particularly from an organisation like Sophos who are so firmly committed to looking to the future evolution of cybersecurity. Mr Kickham said Sophos pioneering spirit of innovation matches Datapacs ethos, which has seen the organisation remain at the forefront of the information technology industry in Ireland for over 40 years. Guided by this driving mantra of continual innovation, with our proactive and agile approach, and the incorporation of cutting-edge technologies and advanced capabilities into our security solutions, we are committed to empowering Irish businesses in effectively tackling the constantly evolving threat landscape, said Mr Kickham. This recognition of Datapacs achievements demonstrates the power of likeminded companies working in harmony to deliver enduring success, he added. He said the ongoing work and focus of Datapac ensures a myriad of organisations in Ireland, large and small, are protected from harm every day by the business dedicated teams of experts, enabled and empowered by Sophos insatiable appetite for excellence. Our team invests a lot of time researching emerging threats and corresponding solutions, combining Sophos world-class technologies with our local knowledge and expertise to ensure Irish organisations are equipped with best-in-class protection to tackle cybercrime, said Mr Kickham. At Farmleigh House, Dublin for Irelands Best Kept Town Competition was Mary Hurley, Department of Rural and Community Development and Doreen Muskett MBE Northern Ireland Amenity Council with Douglas Taylor, collecting the Best Kept Village award for Blackwater Co. Wexford. Photo: Julien Behal Photography Blackwater is sitting pretty this week after being named Irelands Best Kept Village. The County Wexford coastal village saw off competition from Ballyvaughan in Co Clare and Donaghmore in Co Tyrone to take the overall Best Kept Village category in this years Best Kept Town Competition. Winners were announced at an awards ceremony at Farmleigh House in Phoenix Park, Dublin on Tuesday. Carrick-on-Shannon won the overall Best Kept Town award for 2023, as well as coming out on top in the Best Kept Small Town category. Enniskillen, County Fermanagh won the Best Kept Large Town category and Antrim, County Antrim won the Best Kept Large Urban Centre category. Irelands Best Kept Town is an all-island competition in which some of the best towns in the SuperValu TidyTowns competition compete against their counterparts in Northern Irelands Best Kept competition. Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys T.D., congratulated the winners of 2023 Competition. Minister Humphreys said: I want to congratulate all of the winners and nominees in the all-island Best Kept Town competition, and in particular Carrick-On-Shannon, Co. Leitrim for winning the overall title along with the title of Best Kept Small Town and Blackwater, Co. Wexford, as winners of the Best Kept Village category. I also want to pay tribute to Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh the winner of Irelands Best Kept Large Town and Antrim, Co. Antrim, the winner of the Best Kept Large Urban Centre category. The all-island Best Kept Town Competition recognises the great pride people have in their own communities, both in Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is testament to how local volunteers take ownership of their local area and work to improve them, for both now and into the future. Being nominated for these awards represents an achievement in itself, and is recognition of the efforts made by volunteers and local communities in the SuperValu TidyTowns competition and the Best Kept competition in Northern Ireland. Sr Mary Tighe celebrated her 100th birthday on Saturday afternoon in Sallyville House Newtown Road. Sr Mary Tighe (right) with her sister Anne Kiernan Sr Mary Tighe celebrated her 100th birthday on Saturday afternoon in Sallyville House Newtown Road. Sr Mary Tighe with members of the Carroll family Sr Mary Tighe celebrated her 100th birthday on Saturday afternoon in Sallyville House Newtown Road. Back row: John, Ciaran, Francis and Paul Carroll (All nephews of Sr Mary). Front row: Anna Kiernan and Sr Mary Tighe. It has been a milestone month for St John of God nun, Sr Mary Tighe, a retired school principal, who celebrated her 100th birthday and a record-breaking 80 years of religious life with celebrations on the double at the Wexford convent in Sallyville House in Newtown Road. On her birth date of June 14, Sr Mary attended Mass celebrated by chaplin Fr Tony OConnell, followed by the planting of a tree in the convent grounds and a lunch with her fellow sisters and staff. Apart from her birthday, Sr Mary has another important anniversary to celebrate this month her Oak Jubilee, representing 80 years of religious profession as she made her first vows with the Sisters of St John of God on June 30, 1943. So, it was rightly decided to hold two celebrations and last Saturday, she was joined for a birthday and jubilee party by many more members of the order, her sister Anne Kiernan of Borris, County Carlow and extended family, friends and former colleagues. Again the day started with Mass, this time celebrated by Fr Martin Delany PP, Rathdowney, County Laois, assisted by chaplins Fr Tony OConnell and Fr Jim Curtis. Afterwards, there was lunch and a presentation of This is Your Life, meticulously researched and compiled by Annmarie Carter, manager of Sallyville House as well as music provided by Maura Duggan Rafter of the Music Academy, Kilkenny (and a past pupil of Sr Marys in London), her husband Paddy and their son Alex. A native of Erril, County Laois, Sr Mary spent most of her religious life in England having been missioned there in 1944, at the age of 21 and has vivid memories of the war years. She trained in primary school teaching and taught in Fishponds, Bristol and in Trowbridge before moving to London where the trail of destruction caused by the Second World War was still very evident. St Mary spent 40 years in the St John of God school in Tollington Park where she was a highly-respected school principal for many years She is the only the second member of the Sisters of St John in Ireland to reach the age of 100 years but she is the first to celebrate an Oak Jubilee in the order in this part of the world, which is one for the history books. As Sr Mary celebrated both milestones last weekend, her community gave thanks for her great gift to the order and in particular, her positive attitude to life, and wished her continued blessings of joy and inspiration. For the Mass, she chose a reading from the prophet Isaiah including the words Fear not...I have called you by name...you are mine which has been the basis of her faith. When things were difficult, her belief that God had called her by name, carried her through. Summers in the air and what better way to mark Midsummers Day than a mystery boat trip? And Plab sa Phluais (Plop in the Cave) is set to take friends Ginie and Feilim on an audio adventure for RTEjr Radio that the friends and their listeners will not forget. Plab sa Phluais is the second in a series of four readalong scealta codlata (bedtime stories) from Wexford and will be broadcast on RTEjr Radio at 11.30am and 4.30pm on Wednesday, June 21. The podcast will then be available via the RTEjr Podcast for six months so listeners can catch up or listen again whenever they like. Those who enjoyed the first St Patricks Day story are sure to welcome the return of characters Spideog le Feadog (Robin with the Whistle), Gabhair le Giotar (Goat with a Guitar) and lead character Ginie. And this time she is joined by best friend Feilim and her Mam as they jump aboard Baidin Fheilimi. Uilleann Piper Tigerlily Keoghan, who plays with the New Ross & District Pipe, provides the music for the story, which features the much-loved tune Baidin Fheilimi. Vocals are provided by local actor Heather Hadrill alongside performances from Ciara Murphy (Ginie), Cory O Brollachain (Feilim), Sandra Walsh (Treorai) and Alison Ni Mhairtin (Mam). Sound design, engineering and editing is provided by Jonathan Weatherill-Hunt. The series is written, directed and produced by Alison Ni Mhairtin. She said: Midsummer is a magical time of year with the longest day and this sceal plays around with the notion of a long story short: this one comes in at just under ten minutes. Ginie and Feilim are delighted to be going on a camping trip with their pals and Mam to mark La Fheile Eoin but a mystery map and the legend of a piper land them in some Midsummer mayhem. All is not lost however. Each story in the series features supplementary material downloadable from the RTEjr Radio website close to the storys launch date. This includes the story text in Irish, phonetics and English so that parents and caregivers new to the Irish language have the option to read along with their children. There is also an activity sheet and poster for younger listeners. Other project collaborators include Language Consultant Peig Ni Bhuiseir Ni Shuilleabhain and Graphic Designer Sinead Duffin. Limited hard copies of the downloadable material will also be available for free at Wexford Arts Centre and other venues in Wexford Town. Share the story with #scealtamcodlata Alison continued: We have two more stories to come after this - Halloween and Christmas and we have some very exciting tales to come. This story has been produced with support from broadcast partner RTEjr Radio, The Arts Council (Agility Award), the National Opera House, Wexford Library and Wexford Arts Centre. Alison would also like to acknowledge the self-producing support of Heather Rose (Super Paua). For further information, email alisonnimhairtin@gmail.com A coffee morning in aid of Sister Anns Mission in Haiti will take place at Cunninghams, Snugborough in Arklow on Saturday, June 24 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Mission is located in Milot, a commune in the Nord department of Haiti, 12 miles south of Cap-Haitien, and although Sister Ann can no longer be at the Mission, her work continues. She carries the people she loved so much and worked tirelessly in her heart and prayers, especially her orphans. A recent report from the local hospital illustrates how it is the lifeblood of the people. Many who are volunteers work to relieve the pain and suffering of the sick and disabled. Unfortunately, cholera has returned adding concern and extra pressure to the staff. Violence and conflict are more common outside of Milot but both are always a concern. Christian parishes and Schools in the New Jersey area of America give much hope to poor people. A Packathon project has rapidly developed. To date, over one million packages of nutritious food in the form of rice, beans and vitamins have been shipped to the area. The community effort has brought much joy to the givers and life to the receivers. A small farming project is helping to provide food for the hospital. Honey is produced for use in the hospital. In July 2022, 8,300 was sent from here to help provide Education for the children who receive food in School. They are nourished in mind and body. The efforts need your generosity and help once again to make it possible to continue the childrens education. In this way, we develop their opportunity in life. All are welcome to the coffee morning, where every cent collected will go to charity. Greystones recruitment firm Storm Recruitment has branched out into the movie extra business ahead of the opening of the Greystones Media Campus, which is scheduled for 2024. Storm Extras will be on the doorstep of the new complex, where it can take full advantage of the new venture. Once completed, the campus will be Irelands largest studio complex, with more than 670,000 square feet of studio space just outside Greystones, in Killincarrig, including 14 state-of-the-art sound stages. The first seven sound stages and associated offices, workshops and backlot spaces will be delivered in mid-2024. The development will double the film and television stage capacity in Ireland to help meet current demand, as a growing number of international and domestic productions vie for existing space. Explaining the decision to move into the movie business, Managing Director Elaine Harding, who has run Storm Recruitment since its opening in 2007, said: We will provide a full service for production companies from casting to payroll. We have staff members who have worked for decades in the film business, so we are well aware the industry doesnt operate within traditional 9-5 working hours, which is why we are prepared to support productions outside of these hours and we will work when they work. With the film industry in Ireland expected to expand at a rapid rate with new studios being developed in Greystones and Meath, we want to help provide extras for the growing number of productions coming into Ireland, she added. The new development in Greystones will be a major boost for the Irish creative economic sector, as it is expected to create up to 1,500 new jobs once it is operational. The management team at Storm Extras also includes Casting and Project Manager Fiona Deasy, who has a long-standing relationship with the film industry, having worked as a camera assistant on many feature films, commercials, and documentaries alongside John Boorman, Henry Cavill, Jackie Chan, and Richard Attenborough. She said she was looking forward to working with people from all walks of life as they launch the exciting new venture. Its a very competitive market that we are entering into and know that we are only as good as the people on our books, Fiona said. Therefore, we take that extra time to get to know all of our extras. Our reputation depends on their reputation and we want to provide the best supporting artists to make things run smoother for production companies, she added. A vasectomy expert has called for urgent action to address planned cutbacks that would severely restrict access to vasectomies to men in west Wicklow. From August 20, a national vasectomy services contract, in place since 1997, which entitles anyone holding a General Medical Services (GMS) card access to a vasectomy, will end with the retirement of vasectomy expert Dr John OKeeffe, the last of four vasectomy doctors who signed the original contract. From that date, the service will no longer be available in six counties, including Kildare, where many west Wicklow people seek medical care. Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan are also to be affected, as well as southwest and borth Dublin, both also key locations for west Wicklow patients seeking care. Dr OKeeffe, who has performed more than 20,000 vasectomies, said: With the removal of the national contract, we now have a vasectomy post code lottery, where a medical card holder in Bray can have a vasectomy on his medical card, but for a man in a similar situation in Baltinglass it wont be covered. We need a system where theres equal access to vasectomies from Baltinglass to Bray. Dr OKeeffe added: Over four decades, I have witnessed first-hand the positive impact these services have on individuals and families. It is of utmost importance that the HSE recognises the significance of maintaining the existing level of access to vasectomy services for the well-being and reproductive health of our communities. It is deeply disappointing that an essential national service is being restricted due to the retirement of a single individual. Dr OKeeffe went on to say that he has been engaging with the HSE on vasectomy access for many years without success. He said that without the supports, the cost to the taxpayer will rise from 462 to 2,000 per vasectomy. The increased cost is down to the expectation that vasectomies in affected areas would now have to take place in a hospital after a GP referral. Public hospital referrals would lead to waiting times of up to three years, making patients eligible for private hospital procedures through the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), funded by taxpayers. This incurs a cost exceeding 2,000, with waiting times extending to over 18 months. The patient would also require general anaesthetic as this procedure calls for that in a hospital setting. Those seeking to use private healthcare from the outset could pay in the region of 500 - 600 for their vasectomy. It is estimated that 10,000 vasectomies are carried out nationally annually, of which approximately 35 per cent are carried out on the medical card. Just over one third (36 per cent) of those will no longer have access to a vasectomy with the removal of the national contract. Minister Simon Harris at St Peter's Catholic Primary School, in Bray, with Tanja Calis, Senior Executive Education and Public Engagement, Science Foundation Ireland and Ciaran Seoighe, Deputy Director General, and pupils Heidi Clucas Keogh and Brooke Tobin. Photo: Jason Clarke. Pictured at St. Peter's in Bray with Minister Simon Harris TD were Tanja Calis, Senior Executive Education and Public Engagement, SFI and Ciaran Seoighe, Deputy Director General, SFI and pupils. Photo: Jason Clarke The staff and pupils of St Kieran's NS in Bray, with their Platinum Award from the Science Foundation Ireland. A primary school in Bray has been granted the highest Science Foundation Ireland Curious Minds Award, as a total of 14 Wicklow schools featured in its latest round of awards. St Kierans National School became the only Wicklow school to be granted a Platinum Award, which acknowledges schools that have previously achieved a Plaque of STEM and have also demonstrated excellence in their efforts to raise awareness of and excitement about science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Just over 40 schools in Ireland achieved the Curious Minds Platinum Award this year, with a further 11 Wicklow schools achieving the Gold Award and three just starting their journey by achieving Silver. These included Kilmacanogue National School, who were visited by Wicklow TD Simon Harris in recognition. Visiting the school on Friday, June 16, Mr Harris said: I want to congratulate all of the staff and students here in Kilmacanogue NS, who have worked together to win a silver award under Science Foundation Irelands Curious Minds Awards. It was fantastic to get to meet with many of the schools students and talk about how they and their families can take part in activities involving science and maths, and how those activities can be both educational and fun. It is great to see schools taking the initiative and engaging in extra-curricular activities and I want to thank the staff of Kilmacanogue NS for empowering their students through hands-on and practical approaches to learning about science and maths. Curious Minds is part of Science Foundation Irelands Education and Public Engagement Programme, which aims to increase interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) among students, teachers and members of the public. The award is a way to help deepen STEM engagement in schools and achieving a Silver Award is a huge win for any school looking to celebrate their STEM work. Mr Harris, who is Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, added: These awards recognise the hard work, enthusiasm, and incredible effort our local schools went to. The aim is to show science is easily accessible and something that everyone can take part and engage in. It is so important that we drive this idea home, as we look to the future, we need to make sure that we foster innovative ideals in our young people, and I am proud to see our schools in Wicklow so well represented. Minister Harris also presented St Peters in Bray with their coveted Gold award. The full list of Wicklow schools in receipt of Curious Minds awards are: Silver Award Kilmacanogue N.S. Silver Award Marino School, Bray Silver Award - St Coens National School, Rathnew Gold Award S N Padraig Naofa Gold Award Woodstock Educate Together National School, Newtown Gold Award St. Patricks National School, Wicklow Gold Award Gaelscoil Chill Mhantain Gold Award St. Catherines Special School, Newcastle Gold Award Delgany N.S Gold Award St. Peters Primary School, Bray Gold Award Greystones Community N.S. Gold Award Scoil Aodan Naofa, Carnew N.S. Gold Award Kilcoole Primary School Gold Award Moneystown N.S. Platinum Award St. Kierans National School, Bray Dame Joanna Lumley and Sir Patrick Stewart are among 10 celebrities who have signed an open letter to the British public, calling for more kindness and compassion towards refugees (PA) Dame Joanna Lumley and Sir Patrick Stewart are among the famous faces who have signed a letter calling for more kindness and compassion towards refugees. The open letter, addressed to the British public, says the group feels it is more important than ever for society to have empathy and understanding towards those who have been forced to flee their home given the humanitarian crisis around the world. The celebrities, who also include actor Stephen Fry, comedian Mel Giedroyc and Spooks star David Oyelowo, have teamed up with humanitarian aid organisation International Rescue Committee to mark World Refugee Day on Tuesday. Actor Stephen Fry is among the signatories to the letter (PA) Vera actor Kingsley Ben-Adir, Luther actress Indira Varma, Hamilton stage star Jamael Westman, YouTuber Amelia Dimoldenberg and British chef and TV personality Delia Smith are also among the signatories to the letter. It reads: This World Refugee Day we are standing together with the International Rescue Committee to call for more kindness and compassion towards those who seek sanctuary in the UK. With record levels of humanitarian need around the world, it is more important than ever for us to have empathy and understanding towards those who have been forced to flee their homes. It also refers to the recent unrest in Sudan which they say is a stark reminder of the urgency of this issue, with the United Nations reporting on Saturday that one million children have been displaced. The letter continues: We must remember that these are human beings, not dissimilar to you and me, who through no fault of their own have been forced to flee their homes under unimaginable circumstances. They have experienced profound loss leaving behind homes, families, communities, and careers and are in desperate need of protection and support. Refugees are people who bring great potential and diverse strengths, who can enrich and make great contributions to our economy and society, especially when offered welcome and the right support. If we shut the door to refugees, we are not only turning our backs on people in need, but we are depriving our society of the resilience, skills, innovation and unique perspectives that they offer. World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honour refugees around the globe. The International Rescue Committee helps people affected by humanitarian crises, including the climate crisis, to survive, recover and rebuild their lives. A funnel cloud has been spotted over Dublin Airport this afternoon as a Status Yellow thunderstorm and rain warning remains in place for most of the country. The weather alert will remain in place until 10pm for Leinster, Munster, Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, Galway, Leitrim, Roscommon and Sligo. "Thunderstorms and very heavy showers producing significant rainfall accumulations over short time periods, Met Eireann said. Possible effects include spot flooding, poor visibility and difficult travelling conditions. A Status Orange warning expired at 6pm this evening. Flash flooding ravages Dublin after heavy rain The funnel-shaped cloud is made up of condensed water droplets, associated with a rotating column of wind which hangs down from the cloud base and usually lasts for only a matter of minutes. They are usually visible as a cone-shaped or needle-like protuberance from the main cloud base. Met Eireann meteorologist Linda Hughes said a funnel cloud was very similar to a tornado, with the only difference being it didnt touch the ground or a water surface. If that would touch the water then it would be a waterspout theyre all the same principle but this one does look like a funnel cloud, she said. Its basically rotating air coming out of the base of a cloud, its normally due to a cumulonimbus cloud and thats also the type of cloud that produces thunderstorms. On the radar earlier this afternoon, there were lots of heavy showers and there were some thunderstorms around Dublin and near Dublin Airport. Theyre not very common but they do occur particularly if there are intense thunderstorms. A spokesperson for Dublin Airport said it was operating as normal this afternoon. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content A funnel cloud was also spotted over Mayo this afternoon. Ms Hughes said a number of factors would have to take place for a funnel cloud to turn into a tornado. It depends on the strength of the wind and how much moisture if picks up usually in Ireland they wouldnt be as intense as American but there have been tornados in Ireland so its not completely out of the question, but they would be very rare, she said. If they do touch the ground, the winds surrounding them are very strong but in thunderstorms in general there can be very strong gusts so they can cause some problems. Ms Hughes said there would be some heavy downpours and thunderstorms across the country over the next few hours. It comes as Dublin Fire Brigade has said its crews are responding to incidents of spot flooding across the capital, including at Dolphins Barn where a large flood was reported. "Drive through slowly, avoid a bow wave, test your brakes when you leave the water, a spokesperson for the fire service said. A number of homes and businesses have also been flooded in Listowel, Co Kerry, as heavy rains overwhelmed the storm drain system of the town and caused sewage to back up into gardens. Read more Yet another Kerry town hit by raging floods Listowel under water after torrential rain Local fire service crews backed up by colleagues from Abbeyfeale and Ballybunion raced to tackle the rising waters across town, pumping out several properties in the worst-affected areas. Met Eireann said there would be a mix of cloud and sunny spells this morning, with showers becoming widespread and turning heavy. Thunderstorms will develop for the afternoon and evening, with highest of 18C to 22C. Tonight, the heavy showers and thunderstorms will ease and become mostly confined to northern and Atlantic coastal areas, however, isolated showers may continue further inland. Temperatures tonight will not fall below 10C to 14C. Met Eireann said there would be a mix of cloud and sunny spells tomorrow, with scattered showers developing in the morning. Some showers will turn heavy or possibly thundery during the afternoon and evening. There will be a clearance to drier conditions with better sunshine gradually building from the west through the day, as the showers become mostly confined to southern and eastern counties. Highest temperatures of 18C to 22C are expected. Dublin Bus experiences flooding in Drimnagh Any lingering heavy showers in the east will clear on Wednesday night, leaving long clear spells and light showers on Atlantic coasts. Temperatures will drop back to between 8C to 13C. The forecaster said Thursday would bring spells of sunshine and well scattered showers, but the showers would not be as heavy or as widespread as previous days and there would be dry intervals in between. During the evening, cloud will build from the southwest with outbreaks of rain and drizzle following towards nightfall. Daytime temperatures will range from 19C to 23C. Thursday night will be humid with outbreaks of rain, heavy at times, extending from the southwest through the night, but parts of the northeast will stay dry until morning. Temperatures of 13C to 16C are expected. Met Eireann said Friday would be a wet day with outbreaks of rain bringing some heavy falls and the chance of localised flooding, while highest temperatures will range from 19C to 23C. Some uncertainty in the details but Saturday and Sunday will be generally unsettled with spells of rain and showers. Warmer on Saturday with temperatures getting up to the mid-twenties before returning to the high teens or low twenties for Sunday, Met Eireann said. Hundreds of people on board the migrant boat before it capsized 80km off Greece. Photo: Hellenic Coast Guard/Reuters A court in southern Greece yesterday postponed a hearing for nine Egyptian men accused of being migrant smugglers in a case involving the sinking of a fishing trawler last week that killed at least 78 people and left hundreds more missing. Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny (standing), his lawyers Olga Mikhailova and Vadim Kobzev and other participants in court yesterday. Photo: Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters Russian politician Alexei Navalny announced the start of a new mass campaign against President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine yesterday as he began his latest trial in prison, facing a potential sentence of several decades more behind bars. Meet the firm behind our content. Visit their website to see how their services can help your business succeed. Image tweeted by @NandanNilekani Mumbai: Infosys co-founder and Chairman Nandan Nilekani has made a substantial donation of Rs 315 crore (approximately $38.5 million) to his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. The donation aims to support the institute's vision of becoming a global leader in technology and engineering. Nilekani signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Professor Subhasis Chaudhuri, the Director of IIT-B, in Bengaluru to formalize the donation. #IITB receives donation of INR 315 Cr. from @NandanNilekani This donation builds upon his previous grants of INR 85 Cr. to IITB; cumulative value of support INR 400 Cr. One of the largest donations made by an alumnus in India!@RNP_Foundation pic.twitter.com/z9VShpDX5j IIT Bombay (@iitbombay) June 20, 2023 This contribution, along with his previous grants of Rs 85 crore, brings the total value of his contributions to Rs 400 crore. The initial grant of Rs 85 crore has already been used for various purposes, including the construction of new hostels, co-financing the School of Information Technology, and establishing India's first university incubator, which has played a significant role in fostering the country's startup ecosystem. The recent donation of Rs 315 crore will play a crucial role in enhancing infrastructure, promoting research in emerging areas of engineering and technology, and nurturing a thriving deep-tech startup ecosystem at IIT-B, according to the official statement. To mark 50 years of my association with @iitbombay, I am donating 315 crores to my alma mater. I am grateful to be able to do this Full release: https://t.co/q6rvuMf2jn pic.twitter.com/f8OEfZ1UTq Nandan Nilekani (@NandanNilekani) June 20, 2023 This donation marks a remarkable 50-year association between Nilekani and IIT-B, beginning when he joined the institute in 1973 to pursue a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. It is also one of the largest contributions made by an alumnus in India. Throughout the years, Nilekani has maintained strong ties with the institute, serving in multiple roles. He was a member of the Board of the IIT Bombay Heritage Foundation from 1999 to 2009 and served on the Board of Governors from 2005 to 2011. Nilekani received the prestigious Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999 and was honored with an Honorary Doctorate in 2019 during the institute's 57th convocation. PIB New Delhi/Washington: Indian PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for a five-day visit to the United States and Egypt from Delhi. Before leaving the nation, Modi said he is confident that the trip to the US will reinforce ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. He is going on a State Visit to the USA at the invitation of President Joseph Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. He said: "I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community. I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported Indias proposal in December 2014 to recognize an International Day of Yoga." Modi said: "India-US ties are multifaceted, with deepening engagements across sectors. USA is Indias largest trade partner in goods and services." He said: "We collaborate closely in science & technology, education, health, defence and security fields." "The initiative on Critical & Emerging Technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration to defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, Artificial Intelligence and biotech sectors. Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific," he said. He said: "My discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders will provide an opportunity to consolidate our bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and IPEF." During his visit to America, Modi will address a Joint Session of the US Congress at the invitation of Congressional leadership. Prime Minister @narendramodi emplanes for the USA visit. He will be attending programmes in New York City and Washington DC. pic.twitter.com/gleEHiw0AC PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 20, 2023 "I am confident that my visit to the US will reinforce our ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges," he said. Speaking on his upcoming Egypt visit, Modi said: "I will travel to Cairo from Washington D.C. at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. I am excited to pay a State Visit to a close and friendly country for the first time." Image: PIB New Delhi: Ahead of leaving for the US in his first historic state visit on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an interview to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in the context of Russia-Ukraine war said India's top priority is peace and it is on the side of peace instead of being neutral. Modi said India's position is clear to the world on the ongoing conflict. I think Indias position is well known and well understood in the entire world. The world has full confidence that Indias top-most priority is peace, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a joint session of the US Congress during his visit. Some people say that we are neutral. But we are not neutral. We are on the side of peace, Modi told WSJ. All countries should respect international law and the sovereignty of countries, he said, adding that "disputes should be resolved with diplomacy and dialogue, not war. On the question that India is not taking a firm stand against Russia (its old friend and ally) and facing criticism from powers like the US for continuing trade with them, Modi said: I dont think this type of perception is widespread in the US. Modi also stressed on the need for changes in global bodies like the United Nations to equip them for an increasingly multipolar world order, and make them representative of the worlds less-affluent countries. Prime Minister @narendramodi emplanes for the USA visit. He will be attending programmes in New York City and Washington DC. pic.twitter.com/gleEHiw0AC PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 20, 2023 On the India-US relations he said, We do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world." He said "there is an unprecedented trust between the leaders of the two countries now. He referred to the growing defence cooperation between India and the US as an important pillar of the ties besides in sectors like trade, technology and energy. On the India-China relations under the shadow of border conflicts, he said We have a core belief in respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, observing the rule of law and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. At the same time, India is also fully prepared and committed to protecting its sovereignty and dignity." All countries should respect international law and the sovereignty of countries. Disputes should be resolved with diplomacy and dialogue, not war, he added. Asked about religious tolerance in India, Modi said India not only tolerates but rather celebrates its diversity. For thousands of years, India has been the land where people of all faiths and beliefs have found the freedom to coexist peacefully and prosper. You will find people of every faith in the world living in harmony in India, he said. Indian PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for a five-day visit to the United States and Egypt from Delhi. Before leaving the nation, Modi said he is confident that the trip to the US will reinforce ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. He is going on a State Visit to the USA at the invitation of President Joseph Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. He said: "I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community. I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported Indias proposal in December 2014 to recognize an International Day of Yoga." Modi said: "India-US ties are multifaceted, with deepening engagements across sectors. USA is Indias largest trade partner in goods and services." Image: Pixabay Mainpuri: A man accused of the murder of three members of a family in the Karhal area of Mainpuri district here in Uttar Pradesh was arrested in an encounter with police on Tuesday, a police officer said here. Superintendent of Police (SP) Vinod Kumar said a tip-off was received that Rahul Yadav, who was accused of triple murder, was attempting to flee. "Acting on the tip off the Karhal and Kurra police surrounded the accused near railway underpass on which Rahul opened fire on the police party," he said. He said that in retaliatory firing Rahul sustained bullet injury and was subsequently arrested. "The accused, who has admitted his crime, has been admitted to the district hospital," he said. It may be noted that three members of a family were shot dead over a dispute related to the exit way between two houses in Karhal area. Police sources said that Kayam Singh, a resident of Nagla Atiram village, was having a dispute with his neighbour and relative Sobaran Singh over the exit way between their houses. "On Monday members of the Sobran side fired indiscriminately on Kayam Singh and his family over the issue. While Kayam (50), his father Rameshwar Singh (75) and daughter-in-law Mamata (27) were killed in the firing, Sarojini Devi sustained bullet injury," they said. Sources said that a case was lodged against 9 persons, including the main accused Rahul Yadav, in this regard. "Family members of the main accused also absconding from the village. Additional force has been deployed in Nagla Atiram village," they said. (With UNI inputs) Image: Pixabay Kendrapara: Delhi Cyber police in a joint raid with Rajnagar police station on Monday nabbed one Subrat Das, for his involvement in looting Rs 5 crores from an American through Teamviewer app. The accused with the help of his associates pretended as if the employees of the concerned software looted the money on the pretext of repairing the laptop of the American citizen online. After arrest, the Delhi cyber police produced Subrat Das, the prime accused and the mastermind in the cyber fraud before the Rajnagar JMFC court on Tuesday to take him on remand to Delhi for further interrogation. IIC of Rajnagar police station Sreekant Barik said the laptop of Jose Antonio Coderch contacted Greek software after his laptop started malfunctioning. Subrat Das, with the help of two of his associates, contacted Coderch pretending to be the employees of Greek software. They informed Copdrech that his laptop had been hacked and asked him to download the teamviewer software app. Jose Antonio Coderch downloaded the app on his laptop. Later Subrat who introduced him as Austim and his two other associates allegedly accessed MS-Dos on the laptop and the money transaction of Jose Antonio Coderch on his laptop. Jose Antonio Coderch had provided the bank details to Subrat and his associates after Subrat and his associates told him that the cybercriminal had hacked his laptop and bank account. They suggested he should deposit his money in a safe account and when Jose Antonio Coderch provided his bank account information and password the accused allegedly took 6.25 lakh dollars(around 5 crores in Indian currency) to another account and stopped responding to Coderch. Suspecting, he was cheated by cyber fraud, Jose Antonio Coderch lodged a complaint with the Delhi Cyber crime police station. During the investigation, cyber police came to know that the three cyber fraudsters switched off their mobiles. However, the Delhi cyber police came to know through mobile tracking that prime accused Subrat Das left Delhi after committing crime and staying at his father-in-laws house in Malliabuda village under Rajnagar police station. A four-member team of Delhi cyber police led by its inspector Janit Malik contacted Rajnagar police station and nabbed Subrat from Pentha beach area. (With UNI inputs) Representative image/credit: Pixabay New Delhi/IBNS: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the country's preparedness as several states continue to experience the intense heatwave. Mansukh Mandaviya said a five-member team, comprising senior officials from the Health Ministry, and Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), will visit states worst affected by heatwave conditions. He said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has also been directed to suggest steps to minimise the adverse effect of heatwave. "Arrangements will be made at every level for the protection of common life. We want to ensure no one dies of a heat stroke," Mandaviya said. He said a virtual meeting will be held with the health ministers of the states where temperatures are soaring. The weather department has predicted severe to very severe heatwave conditions in various regions such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Vidarbha, Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana among others. Over the past few days, deaths due to heat stroke have been reported from several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. In the wake of scorching heat, several states have extended their summer vacations as a response to the extreme heat. Image Credit: PIB Goa: The footfall of foreign tourists in India during the January-April period this year is 166 percent over the same period in 2022, Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Tuesday. "The number of foreign tourists who arrived in India this year during January-April is 166 percent higher than the figures for the corresponding period in 2022," Reddy said while addressing an inaugural session of the fourth G20 Tourism Working Group (TWG) meeting here. Reddy also said that after the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign tourist arrivals in India have increased. "India's inbound travel is expected to reach to pre-pandemic level in 2023," he asserted. G20 Tourism Working Group Meetings were held under Indias Presidency and it includes first meeting at Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, second at Siliguri, West Bengal, third meeting at Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir and had some insightful, thought provoking and positive discussions on different types of tourism products with experts, innovators, and leaders from, across the world. He also added that a visit to India, would be incomplete, without experiencing the beauty, greatness and richness of our spiritual strength and diversity of different places of the country. We are home to more than, 50 Shakti Peethas, where the divinity of women is worshipped. India is the birth place of Sikhism and we have the Sikh Golden Temple, Amritsar, which is a symbol of brotherhood and equality. India is the birthplace of Buddhism and Jainism and has around 80% Hindu population. The 200 large Buddhist monasteries across India remind us of the Buddhist principles of non-violence and the Jain philosophy of living in harmony with natural forms, the basis for the Governments Mission LiFE - Lifestyle For Environment. The final meeting will provide us all, action points and recommendations for national and other governments, and other tourism stakeholders, to act upon to achieve, Sustainable Development Goals. Currently our Indian government has two priorities: Sustainable infrastructure creation, to cater to the growing needs of the tourists, and raising awareness among the tourists, for responsible consumption and adoption of an environmentally conscious lifestyle and through the launch of the G20 Tourism and SDG Dashboard, a legacy has been created. The dashboard being developed will promote policies and initiatives by the G20 countries, and guest countries in building a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient sector. He also appealed to that together and build a more diverse, resilient, and sustainable tourism sector for our future generations. Image: UN Human Rights/Petre Oprea New York: A lack of strong cooperation with the international human rights system leaves States adrift, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Monday, as he addressed rights emergencies in dozens of countries including Iran, Mali and Russia. In his annual review presented to the Human Rights Council, which opened its 53rd regular session on Monday, Mr. Turk insisted that such cooperation was vital in a world plagued by conflict, climate disasters and development setbacks. Rights monitoring in the interest of all Malians Human rights must always be above the fray of politics, Mr. Turk said, following a request from Mali on Friday to the Security Council for the UN to immediately withdraw its peacekeeping mission, known as MINUSMA, from the country. When serious human rights violations or abuses occur, irrespective of the perpetrator, we need to monitor, document and report on them, in the interest of all Malians, in addition to working on prevention and delivering support to national institutions, he said, while reiterating his Offices commitment to continuing its work in Mali. Call on Russia to cooperate with Ukraine inquiry Mr. Turk called on Russia to cooperate with the Council-appointed Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine. He stressed the need for human rights monitors to have access to both Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia, and to Russia itself, not least, to visit civilian detainees, prisoners of war and Ukrainian children and people with disabilities who have been taken to these areas. Iran: surge in executions Turning to Iran, Mr. Turk expressed concern over the massive recent increase in executions of prisoners mostly for drug-related offences and a disproportionately high number representing minorities as well as continuing discrimination against women and girls. Human rights system a lifeline Countries and civil society organizations will have the opportunity to respond to the UN human rights chiefs comments during an interactive dialogue scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday. Mr. Turks statement highlighted the main points of his report to the Human Rights Council, which reviews the cooperation of Member States with the international human rights ecosystem, which includes the 10 Treaty bodies, the Council itself, with its Universal Periodic Review process, investigations and Special Procedures, as well as the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR). The High Commissioner called this ecosystem a lifeline and warned that selective cooperation weakens its force. Afghanistan: rights principles dismantled Regarding Afghanistan, Mr. Turk deplored the dismantling of the most fundamental principles of human rights, particularly for women and girls, by the countrys de facto authorities, while noting that some openings for engagement have been possible, notably by experts including the Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett. Women in the country are prohibited from attending school above sixth grade, can only be provided care by women doctors, and are barred from working for the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Gender apartheid Mr. Bennett himself took the floor on Monday to present his latest report compiled jointly with the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls. He warned that the serious deprivations of womens and girls fundamental human rights at the hands of the Taliban may constitute the crime against humanity of gender persecution. Grave, systematic and institutionalised discrimination against women and girls is at the heart of Taliban ideology and rule, which also gives rise to concerns that they may be responsible for gender apartheid, a serious human rights violation, which although not yet an explicit international crime, requires further study in our view, he said. Mr. Bennett urged the UN system to take a unified and principled approach based on human rights in Afghanistan and to maintain its commitment to the employment of Afghan women without conditions. Special Rapporteurs and other independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council serve in their individual capacity; they are not UN staff and do not receive payment for their work. Buried alive The Council also heard from women representing civil society organizations from Afghanistan, who bore witness to the dramatic crackdown on their rights. Shaharzad Akbar, an Afghan human rights activist currently in exile, who leads the NGO Rawadari, said that the Taliban have turned Afghanistan into a mass graveyard of Afghan women and girls ambitions, dreams and potential while the international community looked on. Afghan women often talk about being buried alive, breathing but not being able to do much else without facing restrictions and punishments, their lives held still while the lives of the men around them, their male children, their brothers, their husbands, move forward, she said. Sudan crisis in focus During its 53rd session, which will run until 14 July, the Human Rights Council will hold close to 30 interactive dialogues with independent human rights experts focusing on thematic and country-specific situations, as well as investigative mechanisms. On Monday afternoon, the Council was expected to focus on the crisis in Sudan, just as a high-level pledging conference was being convened in Geneva by the UN together with Egypt, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the African Union and the European Union, with the objective of stepping up support for the humanitarian response in Sudan and the region. Image: UNICEF/Vincent Tremeau New York: On the International Day for Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres demanded accountability and justice for victims of sexual violence. In his message marking the day, the Secretary-General condemned the use of sexual violence as a tactic of war, torture, and repression in the conflicts that affect hundreds of millions of people around the world. Harrowing reports from across the globe are a terrible reminder that this despicable crime persists despite international commitments to stamp it out. And many of those responsible never face justice. While stigma too often causes survivors to walk in shame, perpetrators walk free, said Mr. Guterres. Mr. Guterres also emphasised that the United Nations stands in solidarity with survivors and everyone supporting them and is committed to redoubling efforts to prevent atrocities and hold those responsible to account. Listen to survivors Antonio Guterres also called on governments to adhere to international humanitarian law, building it into military codes of conduct and training - and most importantly, commit to listening to survivors. And it means holding perpetrators to account, so that they face justice we must confront the belief that fighters can inflict horror with impunity, said Mr. Guterres. Technology and preventing harm This years International Day focuses on technology and the digital divide. Accessible technology can alert people to danger, help them to reach sanctuary and support, and enable abuses to be documented and verified, as a first step towards accountability, said Mr. Guterres. But it can also perpetuate violence, harm survivors, and inflame hate. We must ensure technology supports our efforts to prevent and end these crimes, including by increasing access and holding people to account for their actions online. Gender norms and sexual violence European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, also issued a statement, focusing on the impact conflict-related sexual violence on gender norms. They said they had joined forces to call for more decisive action to prevent and eliminate sexual violence, and to advance gender equality as a political priority. We are alarmed by the growing use of sexual violence as a cruel tactic of war, torture, terror and political repression, and threat to collective security. Double edged sword The risk of becoming a target of sexual violence today is heightened by the fact that these crimes can also be facilitated and promoted online, utilizing digital channels. At the same time, digital platforms can play an important role and be a powerful tool to improve gender equality and empower women and girls, contributing to building their resilience in times of crisis. They can also aid in the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence, and the needed response, through early warning and linking survivors with referral pathways for services, and facilitating reporting, they said. The means to prevent sexual violence online are either insufficient or non-existent, which weakens the ability to respond and equality, they added. Therefore, we call for safe digital platforms compliant with international law, so that survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and those supporting them may use these platforms to fight impunity and demand improved accountability. It is critical to foster a protective environment, both online and offline, that deters and prevents sexual violence as well as enabling safe reporting and adequate response, they said. International call The international community must be as one to confront the ever-increasing threat posed by digital technology and bridge the gender digital divide to allow survivors to access more resources and fight impunity. By addressing the gender digital divide, we can create a world where women and children can live free from fear and violence, Ms. Patten and Mr. Borrell said. Wikipedia Commons French police on Tuesday raided the offices of the Paris 2024 organizing committee in the French capital, media reports said. Paris 2024 spokersperson Jonathan Firpo told CNN that a police search is currently underway at the headquarters of the Organising Committee. Paris 2024 is cooperating fully with the investigators to facilitate their investigations, Firpo said. According to an internal email sent to committee employees seen by CNN affiliate BFMTV, French financial police are leading the search. The raids were tied to two preliminary investigations into financial improprieties with contracts and public funds, the French National Financial Prosecutors Office confirmed to CNN. Several sites were raided by police, including the Paris 2024 offices and the headquarters of SOLIDEO, the public body responsible for much of the construction and infrastructure around the Paris 2024 games, the financial prosecutors office was quoted as saying by CNN. One of the preliminary investigations was opened in 2017 by a French police anti-corruption unit into illegal conflict of interests, embezzlement of public funds, favouritism and concealment of favouritism targeting several contracts awarded by the Paris 2024 committee, the American news channel reported. Olympics is scheduled to start on July 26, 2024. The iconic games is scheduled to take place till Aug 11. Pixabay Bara: At least four police personnel and two soldiers were hurt as unidentified men attacked them in separate incidents in Bara tehsil region of Pakistan, media reports said on Tuesday. The gunmen attacked the police post in Sarki Kamar area in Bar Qambarkhel Saturday night. As a result, four police identified as Shahfiullah, Naseem Khan, Khial Zar and Zarman Gul sustained injuries, reports The News International. The police repulsed the attack while the armed men managed to escape after the firing. The injured people were shifted to hospital in Peshawar. Security forces reached the spot after the incident. No arrest has been made so far. Unsplash Pakistan Railways has failed to clear the salaries of its employees amid the ongoing financial crisis, creating distress among the people, media reports said. Pakistan Railways Employees (PREM) Union (CBA) has protested at diesel engine shed in Lahore for the delay in current month salaries payment, saying that only a few days are left until Eidul-Adha, reports The Express Tribune. Prem Union Lahore President Fiaz Ahmed Shahzad, Secretary Khizar Hayat Baig, Senior Vice President Muhammad Jameel Malik, and organizer Haji Aziz Madi have appealed to the Railways Minister Saad Rafique and CEO Arshad Salam Khattak to resolve the issue of salaries. Workers union central leader Nasir Mujtaba demanded immediate payment of salaries, otherwise, he warned, protest demonstrations would be held at stations across the country next week. Image: Pixabay Islamabad: Pakistani President Arif Alvi said that his country continued to host one of the largest refugee populations in the world, showing Pakistan's unwavering resolve and commitment to the welfare and voluntary repatriation of refugees. In his message on the occasion of World Refugee Day being observed on Tuesday, Alvi said that "on the day, we are reminded of the immense contributions of the government and people of Pakistan in hosting millions of Afghan refugees over the past four decades." Pakistan's unparalleled humanitarian efforts in providing refuge to such a large number of displaced individuals, despite limited resources, serve as a testament to the spirit of brotherhood and compassion, the president said. He said that the people and government of Pakistan opened their arms to Afghan refugees based solely on the principles of humanity and solidarity, and extended support despite the challenges. For 40 years, there has been no friction between the refugees and the host communities, exemplifying harmonious coexistence and mutual respect, he said. The president said that the policies of the government ensure refugees' access to education and healthcare, and to having their bank accounts and other opportunities. "In order to equip Afghan refugees with knowledge and skills, we have implemented comprehensive educational programs, ensuring that refugee children have access to quality schooling," he added. Alvi also expressed his country's resolve to work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian agencies to provide essential assistance and protection to refugees residing within Pakistani borders. (With UNI inputs) Pakistan is at a critical juncture. The current political turmoil that engulfs the country has far-reaching implications, including shaping its foreign relations. One vital relationship that has historically been under-researched and under-discussed is its association with the European Union (EU). Trade, as it turns out, is the crux of this relationship, a fact underscored by existing dialogues and strategic plans between Pakistan and the EU. Since 2014, Pakistan has enjoyed the EUs Generalised Scheme of Preferences+ (GSP+) status. The objective of this scheme is to boost sustainable development and global economic integration in lower-income countries by providing them with preferential tariffs for their exports. While Pakistan has utilized this to export goods to the EU without import duties on 66% of product tariff lines, the GSP+ status isnt a free passit demands the effective implementation of 27 international conventions centered around human rights, labour rights, environmental protection, and good governance. In essence, the EUs trade policy serves as a measure to incentivize improvements within beneficiary nations. The EU is Pakistans largest export partner, but this relationship has been disproportionately beneficial for Europe. While Pakistans exports to the EU have seen a consistent rise since the inception of its GSP+ status, it only contributes to a minuscule 0.3% of the EUs external trade in goods. However, as we approach December 2023, Pakistans GSP+ status hangs in the balance, and recent political upheavals have intensified the EUs scrutiny. Last year, the European Parliament made a significant move by passing a non-binding resolution with broad support, advocating a reevaluation of Pakistans GSP+ status. Concerns stemmed from issues related to blasphemy laws, religious intolerance, honor killings, and rampant exploitation within the feudal systemall of which have been exacerbated by Pakistans current political turmoil. A spectrum of human rights violations, censorship, religious extremism, oppression of minorities, and political witch hunts characterize modern-day Pakistan. Amidst this, Pakistans Deputy Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has been tirelessly advocating for positive changes within the country, trying to allay fears about its deteriorating human rights situation. But such efforts seem to be in vain as the ground reality appears to contradict the narrative. In the past, the EU has been accused of turning a blind eye to Pakistans alleged involvement in terrorism and regional instability. However, recent actions such as the removal of Pakistan from the high-risk list for money laundering and terrorism financing indicate a change in stance. Nevertheless, it is time for the EU to reassess its approach. The issue at hand isnt just about upholding the values of the EU; its about the repercussions of awarding preferential status to countries that fail to uphold basic standards of democracy, rule of law, tolerance, and human rights. By doing so, the EU inadvertently undermines its own principles and foundations. Further, it discourages other GSP+ beneficiaries like Bangladesh, which have shown commendable improvements in certain areas such as labour standards. Moreover, by extending GSP+ status, the cause of international human rights may be jeopardized and peace in South Asia could be compromised. The EU must reevaluate its position. Withdrawing GSP+ status could profoundly impact Pakistans exports, demonstrating the price of non-compliance and potentially driving Pakistan towards necessary reforms. Additionally, given the UKs exit from the EU, the absence of a strong voice supporting Pakistans GSP+ status could influence the decision. The EU has previously stated that only Pakistan can determine its challenges and pathway. However, the EUs significant leverage as Pakistans major trading partner should be recognized. With Pakistans strategic value for Washington dwindling post the U.S.s withdrawal from Afghanistan, the EUs influence over Pakistan is poised to grow. Therefore, the EU should leverage its trading relations to effect positive societal changes in Pakistan. In these critical times, the EUs reassessment of Pakistans GSP+ status isnt just an optionits an urgent call to action. (Image and text credit: Khalsavox.com) Image: Unsplash Islamabad: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Naeemur Rehman has announced his party members will protest the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) governments alleged use of force to win the Karachi mayoral election on June 23 (Friday) in front of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) office in Islamabad, media reports said. Addressing a news conference in Karachi, Rehman emphasised that the protest would be of significant magnitude, aiming to hold the commission accountable for the conduct of the elections in Karachi. He was quoted as saying by Pakistan Today: We will question the ECP about the integrity of the polls it conducted in Karachi. The ECP must acknowledge the election as invalid and rectify all errors made during the process. Tensions have risen between Jamaat and PPP following the hard-fought election of Murtaza Wahab as the mayor of Karachi last week. The PPP had forged an alliance with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), which gave them a combined strength of 173, while Jamaat enjoyed the support of 61 members from the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), resulting in an expected vote count of 192 for its candidate Rehman, the newspaper reported. In the election, Wahab managed to secure all 173 of the anticipated votes, whereas Rehman fell short with only 160 votes due to 30 union council members abstaining from the polling process. Jamaat alleged that the provincial government exerted pressure on PTI members and has rejected the legitimacy of the polls. Image: Wikimedia Commons The Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense (MND) has said it has tracked nine Chinese military aircraft and eight naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Sunday (June 18) and 6 a.m. on Monday (June 19), media reports said. Of the nine Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, two Harbin Z-9 anti-submarine warfare helicopters were monitored in the southeast corner of Taiwans air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND. No PLA aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line during that time, reports Taiwan News. In response, Taiwan sent aircraft, naval ships, and used land-based missiles to monitor PLA activity. So far this month, Beijing has sent 192 military aircraft and 91 naval ships around Taiwan. Since September 2020, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval ships operating around Taiwan, reports Taiwan News. By transitioning to directing Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi, Kangana Ranaut made a significant place for herself. She is now prepared to release Tiku Weds Sheru, her first project as a producer. Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Avneet Kaur play the key parts in the film, which is made under her Manikarnika Films production company. Kangana stated that she is turning heads as a producer since she is a woman in an interview with Punjab Kesari. instagram She emphasised that this is something that male actors in the field have been doing for years. Our heroes like Shah Rukh (Khan), Ajay (Devgn), Akshay (Kumar), they all are very involved as producers in the films theyre acting in. But when a woman does it, people feel its very new. My directors have always asked me to collaborate with them. They look forward to my opinion, because obviously I choose to work with only the people whore collaborative. poster Kangana said that she has contributed in the films writing as well. Ive done three drafts of Tiku Weds Sheru myself. Sai has done five drafts. Even when we were collaborating on the music, Id write three lines and hed write three. When we went on floors, of course hes a very equipped director since hes done Revolver Rani in the past, but since Ive been an actor on this film, Id already conceptualised some scenes. Tiku Weds Sheru Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Avneet Kaur, who have a 27-year age difference between them, appear in it together for the first time. Sai Kabir is the film's director and writer. Nawazuddin was initially introduced in the movie's posters as Shiraz Khan Afghani, also known as Sheru. On the other side, Avneet will be seen in the movie as Tasleem Khan, also known as Tiku. Tiku sees her marriage as an opportunity to move to Mumbai and fulfil her primary acting goal. Sheru, on the other hand, has put in years of hard work in the field. The drama-filled movie focuses people's issues in life and also features a lot of humour. It also features a compelling love story. In the upcoming political drama Emergency, which also stars Anupam Kher, Mahima Chaudhry, Vishak Nair, Satish Kaushik, Milind Soman, and Shreyas Talpade, Kangana will be seen as former prime minister Indira Gandhi. The actress produced and directed the film under the Manikarnika Films label. (To read more such stories related to movies and shows released on OTTs, keep reading Indiatimes BINGE) New information has emerged regarding the final communication from Hamish Harding, the British billionaire aboard the submarine that has gone missing. The search has brought to light the last known text from Hamish Harding, the British billionaire onboard the missing submarine. In addition to Mr. Harding, the passengers include a father and son, a French pilot, and the CEO of OceanGate. According to a close friend of Mr. Harding, he sent out one of his last messages before the submarine was launched. Retired NASA astronaut Colonel Terry Virts shared that Mr. Harding had messaged him the day before the voyage. Speaking on ITV's Good Morning, Colonel Virts mentioned that Mr. Harding had reached out to him, but the content of the message was not provided. "Hey, we're headed out tomorrow; it looks good; the weather's been bad, so they've been waiting for this." Colonel Virts wrote, "We don't really talk about risks; they're known. He certainly understood the risks; there's no doubt about that." "The last text I got was, Hey, we're headed out tomorrow; it looks good; the weather's been bad, so they've been waiting for this. "He went down to the deepest part of the ocean, set a few world records... at the Mariana Trench [deepest part of the ocean], and we talked quite a bit about the risks and the different things that they were going to be able to do. So he was very excited about it." Mr. Harding is a famous explorer and adventurer. He has been to space with Jeff Bezos' space program and has visited the South Pole twice. He also holds three world records. It said, "Thoughts and prayers for my Mom and Hamish Harding. Hamish Harding, my stepfather, has gone missing on submarine thoughts and prayers." Mr. Harding shared his latest update on Instagram, revealing his upcoming journey. He posted a picture of himself signing a document for the Titanic Expedition Mission V. The British explorer expressed his enthusiasm for the adventure in the post. He also mentioned the challenging weather conditions and discussed the planned route for the voyage. He said: "I am proud to announce that I finally joined @oceangateexped for their RMS Titanic Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic. Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission will likely be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened, and we will attempt a dive tomorrow. We started steaming from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, yesterday and plan to start dive operations around 4 a.m. tomorrow. Until then, we have a lot of preparation and briefings to do. The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of whom have done over 30 dives on the RMS Titanic since the 1980s, including PH Nargeolet. More expedition updates to follow IF the weather holds!" Agencies A frantic search is underway to locate the OceanGate submersible, which disappeared during its descent to the ocean floor to observe the Titanic wreckage. Concerns have escalated as contact with the submarine was lost at a depth of 4,000 meters, raising worries about the well-being of the five individuals aboard. Joining Mr. Harding on the voyage were Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son, Sulaiman Dawood, 19. They believe they paid $250,000 (approximately 195,000) to participate in the journey. Mr. Dawood is known as one of the wealthiest individuals in Pakistan and resides in a mansion in Surrey with his family. Originally from Pakistan, he came to the UK to study. Paul Henry Nargeolet, a French navy veteran and recognized authority on the Titanic, was also part of the expedition. He has visited the wreckage multiple times and previously discussed the risks of diving. The US Coast Guard is in charge of the rescue mission. They are worried that the missing submariners might run out of oxygen by Thursday afternoon. For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram. International Yoga Day is observed annually on June 21. The idea behind the day is to create awareness about yoga and its many benefits. The idea of an International Yoga Day was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 in the United Nations General Assembly Meeting. 50+ Top International Yaga Day Wishes, Quotes, Messages, Whatsapp Status And Yoga Day Posters To Share With Loved Ones | Freepik The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted The International Day of Yoga in 2014, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pressed the forum to introduce a special day for Yoga during his speech delivered on September 27, 2014. The theme for International Yoga Day in 2023 is "Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam", which represents our shared desire for One Earth, One Family, One Future." As we are celebrating International Yoga Day today, we have curated a list of Yoga Day posters, wishes, messages, quotes, images, greetings and World Yoga Day Whatsapp Status you can share with your loved ones. Top 60+ Wishes, Quotes, Messages, Whatsapp Status And Yoga Day Posters To Share With Loved Ones | Unsplash International Yaga Day Wishes 2023 1. Wishing you a peaceful and blissful International Yoga Day! May your yoga practice bring you health, happiness, and inner harmony. 2. On this International Yoga Day, let's unite in our dedication to physical and mental well-being. Keep calm and do yoga! 3. Wishing you a day filled with mindful breaths, graceful asanas, and inner peace. Happy International Yoga Day! 4. Take a deep breath, find your center, and let yoga lead you to a healthier and happier life. Happy International Yoga Day! 5. Celebrate the beauty of yoga on this International Yoga Day. May your practice bring you strength, flexibility, and serenity. 6. Sending you positive energy and good vibes on International Yoga Day. Embrace the power of yoga and let it uplift your spirit. 7. May the light of yoga guide you on a path of self-discovery and transformation. Happy International Yoga Day! 8. May the practice of yoga bring balance and serenity to your mind, body, and soul. Happy International Yoga Day! 9. Celebrate the unity of body, mind, and spirit on this International Yoga Day. Embrace the transformative power of yoga! 10. May the benefits of yoga permeate your life with peace, love, and happiness. Happy International Yoga Day! 50+ Top International Yaga Day Wishes, Quotes, Messages, Whatsapp Status And Yoga Day Posters To Share With Loved Ones | Freepik International Yoga Day 2023 Quotes | Yoga Day wishes Quotes Here are some yoga day motivational quotes: 1. Yoga is the stillness amid motion. Swami Vivekananda 2. Yoga is the fountain of youth. Its exercise, meditation, and philosophy rolled into one. Deepak Chopra 3. Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self. The Bhagavad Gita 4. True meditation is about being fully present with everything that is including discomfort and challenges. It is not an escape from life. Craig Hamilton 5. Yoga begins with listening. When we listen, we are giving space to what is. Richard Freeman 6. "The nature of yoga is to shine the light of awareness into the darkest corners of the body." - Jason Crandell 7. "Yoga is the dance of every cell with the music of every breath that creates inner serenity and harmony." - Debasish Mridha 8. "Yoga is a light that once lit will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter your flame." - B.K.S. Iyengar 9. "Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are." - Jason Crandell 10. "Yoga is the practice of quieting the mind." - Patanjali Yoga Day 2023 Wishes, Messages 1. Wishing you a day filled with yoga poses, positive energy, and a calm mind. Happy International Yoga Day! 2. Let the joy of yoga flow through you on this International Yoga Day. May you find strength, flexibility, and peace within. 3. May your yoga practice bring you clarity, strength, and a sense of inner peace. Happy International Yoga Day! 4. Celebrate the essence of yoga and embrace the journey of self-discovery. Wishing you a blissful International Yoga Day! 5. May the light within you shine brighter with each yoga practice. Happy International Yoga Day! 6. Embrace the stillness within and find your inner sanctuary through yoga. Wishing you a peaceful International Yoga Day! 7. On this International Yoga Day, let's come together to honor our bodies, nurture our minds, and connect with our souls. 8. May your yoga practice be a source of joy, healing, and empowerment. Happy International Yoga Day! 9. Sending you love and positive energy on this International Yoga Day. May your yoga journey be filled with growth and transformation. 10. Celebrate the power of yoga to heal, inspire, and uplift. Happy International Yoga Day! 50+ Top International Yaga Day Wishes, Quotes, Messages, Whatsapp Status And Yoga Day Posters To Share With Loved Ones | Freepik Yoga Day 2023 Slogans, Short Quotes 1. Yoga is the journey of the self, to the self, through the self. 2. Yoga is not about touching your toes. It's about what you learn on the way down. 3. Yoga is the fountain of youth. It's never too late to start your yoga journey. 4. Yoga is the science of well-being. It's a way to connect your body, mind, and spirit. 5. Yoga is a journey, not a destination. It's about the process, not the end result. 6. Yoga is for everyone. No matter your age, shape, or size, you can benefit from yoga. 7. Yoga can help you reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. 8. Yoga can help you improve your sleep quality. 9. Yoga can help you boost your immune system. 10. Yoga can help you lose weight and improve your overall fitness. Happy Yoga Day Thoughts in English 1. There is nothing more precious than your health and immunity, you can achieve both by doing Yoga every day. Happy Yoga Day. 2. Wishing you a very Happy Yoga Day, may Yoga help you answer all the problems you face in life and bring you happiness. Happy Yoga Day! 3. Yoga imparts you a lasting sense of peace, joy, and fulfillment. Happy International Yoga Day. 4. Wishing you a day filled with mindfulness, presence, and gratitude as you embrace the practice of yoga. Happy International Yoga Day! 5. May your yoga practice be a sanctuary of peace in a chaotic world. Happy International Yoga Day! 6. Celebrate the unity of body, mind, and spirit through the practice of yoga. Wishing you a harmonious International Yoga Day! 7. May your yoga mat be a place of solace and self-discovery. Happy International Yoga Day! 8. On this International Yoga Day, let's cultivate mindfulness and compassion, not only on the mat but in all aspects of life. 9. Embrace the transformative power of yoga and let it guide you towards physical and mental well-being. Happy International Yoga Day! 10. Wishing you strength, balance, and inner peace as you journey through the path of yoga. Happy International Yoga Day! 50+ Top International Yaga Day Wishes, Quotes, Messages, Whatsapp Status And Yoga Day Posters To Share With Loved Ones | Freepik Yoga Day Quotes for Students 1. Yoga has the potential to treat many health issues and also the power to help you build your immunity. Happy Yoga Day to all the students. 2. On this International Yoga Day, let's celebrate the power of yoga to transform our lives. Wishing you health and happiness! Happy International Yoga Day! 3. May this International Yoga Day bring you the joy of physical and mental wellness. Happy Yoga Day! 4. Sending you positive vibes and good energy on this International Yoga Day. Namaste! 5. May your practice help you connect with your inner self and find your true purpose. Let's celebrate International Yoga Day by spreading love and compassion through our yoga practice. Namaste! 6. Yoga, an ancient but perfect science, deals with the evolution of humanity. Happy Yoga Day! 7. Yoga is the dance of every cell with the music of every breath that creates inner serenity and harmony. Happy International Yoga Day! 8. You cannot always control what goes on outside, but you can always control what goes on inside! Happy Yoga Day! 9. Yoga is all about creating balance in your life. It is about balancing your senses, balancing your body, soul and mind in order to live healthy and live in peace. Happy Yoga Day! 10. Join hands with yoga to disconnect from stress, diseases and dull life Happy International Yoga Day! International Yoga Day Wishes in English 2023 1. While the outside world is sometimes beyond your control, the inside world is always under your control! Happy International Yoga Day. 2. Sun salutations can energize and warm you even on the darkest, coldest winter day. Let this Yoga Day revitalize your life all year long! Happy International Yoga Day! 3. When you breathe in, you acquire strength from God. When you exhale, it represents the service you provide to the world. Happy International Yoga Day, everyone! 4. oga is a beautiful, healthy way to live life-longer and happier. I wish you wellness on International Yoga Day with the promise that we will both take up yoga soon. Happy International Yoga Day to you!! 5. Yoga can help you enjoy good health and wellness, so I hope that today youll make a promise to yourself: no matter where life takes you or what obstacles come your way in the futuremake time for yoga! Happy International Yoga Day!! 6. Yoga will help you to grow from the inside out. Happy Yoga Day 2023 to all. 7. Yoga is Like Music. The Rhythm of the Body, The Melody of the Mind, and Harmony of the Soul Create the Symphony of Life. Happy International Yoga Day! 8. Become friends with happiness and health with yoga and meditation. A very Happy International Yoga Day. 9. Yoga is all about creating balance in your life. It is about balancing your senses, balancing your body, soul, and mind in order to live healthily and live in peace. Wishing you a peaceful and healthy life on International Yoga Day! 10. Yoga implies, Addition of Energy and subtraction of wasting energy, Strengthen the Beauty of Body, Mind, and Soul with Yoga. 50+ Top International Yaga Day Wishes, Quotes, Messages, Whatsapp Status And Yoga Day Posters To Share With Loved Ones | Freepik Happy Yoga Day Wishes 2023 in Hindi | Yoga Diwas 2023 1. , ... . Happy International Yoga Day 2023! 2. , ... ... ! 2023! 3. , . , .Happy International Yoga Day! 4. . Happy International Yoga Day 2023! 5. - , ! ! 6. , . 2023! 7. . . Happy Yoga Day Slokas in Sanskrit | Yoga Sloka in Sanskrit 1. English Translation- Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff from taking various forms. 2. English Translation- English My dear Arjun, O winner of wealth, if you can not fix your mind upon Me without deviation, then follow the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga. In this way develop a desire to attain me. 3. English Translation- Evenness of Mind is known as Yoga 4. English Translation- Be steadfast in the performance of your duty, O Arjun, abandoning attachment to success and failure. Such equanimity is called Yoga. 5. English Translation- Yoga is excellence in action. International Yoga Day Posters 2023 | Yoga Day Wishes Images #1 Happy International Yoga Day 2023: Wishes, Images, Greetings, Quotes, Messages and WhatsApp Greetings to Share with Your Loved Ones | Freepik #2 Happy International Yoga Day 2023: Best Wishes, Quotes, Images, Messages WhatsApp Status and Yoga Day Posters Greetings To Share With Loved Ones | Freepik #3 Happy International Yoga Day 2023: Best Wishes, Quotes, Images, Messages WhatsApp Status and Yoga Day Posters Greetings To Share With Loved Ones | Freepik #4 50+ Top International Yaga Day Wishes, Quotes, Messages, Whatsapp Status And Yoga Day Posters To Share With Loved Ones | Freepik #5 50+ Top International Yaga Day Wishes, Quotes, Messages, Whatsapp Status And Yoga Day Posters To Share With Loved Ones | Freepik #6 50+ Top International Yaga Day Wishes, Quotes, Messages, Whatsapp Status And Yoga Day Posters To Share With Loved Ones | Freepik Yoga is believed to have originated in India thousands of years ago and also finds mention in ancient mythological books like the Rig Veda. On 27 September 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his speech at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, proposed the idea of practicing 'Yoga Day'. In his speech, Modi termed Yoga as an 'invaluable gift of India's ancient tradition' and highlighted the importance of yoga for maintaining 'harmony between man and nature'. The draft resolution passed by India was backed by 177 nations and the first International Yoga Day was celebrated on June 21, 2015. We all suffer, and we all suffer for different reasons. The journey of navigating mental health can be challenging for anyone, but it can be particularly complex for individuals who identify as Queer. For the uninitiated, Queer is a reclaimed term that represents sexual and gender-diverse folks. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community often face unique stressors and discrimination that can impact our mental well-being. Our mundane problems can start to feel very pronounced when we begin to wonder if the courts will grant us our basic rights, or whether our parents and friends will stand by us. In professional settings, we grapple with the fear of being ostracised on account of our sexualities and the looks of disgust we often get upon 'discovery' or disclosure of our identities. To help grapple with the never-ending struggle that is being Queer in a world so overtly cishet, we developed a starter mental health toolkit specifically tailored for individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+. Unsplash Build a Supportive Network Your chosen family is extremely crucial, so find other queers and allies. Creating a network of supportive individuals is essential for mental well-being. You may seek out LGBTQIA+ support groups, community centres, and online forums where you can connect with people who understand your experiences. At the same time, it can be helpful to engage in activities that foster a sense of belonging and help build strong relationships. If you're experiencing violence, harassment, or discrimination, develop a safety plan to ensure your physical and emotional well-being. This can include identifying safe spaces, trusted contacts, and resources that can help during difficult situations. Also read: How Public Data On The LGBTQIA+ Community Is Shaped And Erased In India Educate Yourself Learn about queer history. Knowing who you are as a queer person and who your queer social ancestors were and what they did to get us where we are today could help establish a coherent narrative of your identity. The feelings of isolation that accompany when you feel like Am I the only one? could diminish with a shared sense of knowledge. In addition, educating yourself empowers you to advocate for your own well-being and enables you to educate others and combat misconceptions. Also read: Resilience And Glamour: Unveiling The Tapestry Of Indian Drag Queens Community Engagement Get moving for and with the community. Engage with the LGBTQIA+ community by attending and organising local events, joining social or advocacy groups, or participating in online forums. Building connections with others who share similar experiences and identities can provide a sense of belonging, reduce isolation, and enhance overall mental well-being. Unsplash Self-Care Practices Be nice to yourself in thoughts, words and actions! Develop a self-care routine tailored to your needs. One hour a day, if you can manage, do something that gives you JOY (big or small!) This can include activities such as exercise, meditation, journaling, engaging in hobbies, or spending time in nature. Nope, going on alcohol binges and chain smoking everyday isnt self-care. Prioritising self-care could help manage stress, reduce anxiety, and improve your overall mental health. Also read: Quest For The West: Why Does The Indian Queer Population Want To Move Out? Access LGBTQIA+ Affirmative Therapy Seeking therapy doesnt have to be the last option. Consider working with mental health professionals who are knowledgeable about LGBTQIA+ issues and can provide affirmative therapy. Affirmative care creates a supportive and validating environment that understands and respects diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. Unsplash Build Resilience Know what you are good at and capitalise it! To develop resilience, you have to focus on your strengths. With this focus, its possible to live a productive life that doesnt burden your sense of being. Become aware of what is your contextual advantage and privilege - yep, we all have it, dont let the cultural wars paint you as a forever victim. Remember that your experiences have shaped you into a strong individual who has overcome unique challenges. Some of those past and ongoing experiences have been very traumatic, but you are not a prisoner of your past. Use your present choices to charge ahead with what you have right now! Also read: How College Queer Collectives In India Are Creating Inclusive Spaces On Campus For LGBTQIA+ individuals, navigating mental well-being is possible with self-compassion, resilience, and community support. Its imperative to remember that seeking help is a sign of strength, and there are resources available to assist you in your journey toward mental health and happiness. The reasons we suffer might be different, but a part of the solution is to find, cherish and love the humanity in you! For more stories on the LGBTQIA+ community and queerness in India, keep reading Spectrum on Indiatimes. Question Everything! Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Another Act of Terror. How the Media Do PR for Biden and Zelensky Coverage of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam and Nord Stream pipelines shows a western media willing to prioritize anti-Russiy an propaganda over facts By Jonathan Cook June 19, 2023: Information Clearing House --The hypocrisy gets starker by the day. The same western media that strains to warn of the dangers of disinformation at least when it comes to rivals on social media barely bothers to conceal its own role in purveying disinformation in the Ukraine war. In fact, the propaganda peddled by the media grows more audacious by the day as two stories last week from the frontlines illustrate only too clearly. Dominating headlines has been the environmental catastrophe created by the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam under Russian control. Flood waters from the Dnipro river have ruined vast swathes of land downriver from the dam and forced many tens of thousands to flee their homes. Rightly, the wrecking of the dam is being called an act of ecological terrorism the second major one associated with the war, following last Septembers blowing up of the Nord Stream pipelines supplying Russian gas to Europe. The costs associated with keeping this war going and avoiding peace talks so that Russia can be weakened, as Biden administration officials insist is the priority , have grown much steeper than most people could have imagined. This is why a clear understanding of what is going on and what interests are being served by fueling the fighting rather than resolving the war is so vitally important. There have always been at least two narratives in Ukraine, even if western audiences are rarely exposed to the Russian one outside of mocking commentary from western reporters. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter In the immediate aftermath of the breaching of the Kakhovka dam, the BBCs Moscow correspondent, Steve Rosenberg, visibly sneered as he reported that Russian media were insisting Ukrainian terrorists were behind the destruction. Russians, he suggested, were being brainwashed by their government and media. He obviously failed to spot the irony that his own reporting, like that of colleagues, has served to reinforce the impression that the only plausible culprit in the dams ruin despite a lack of evidence so far is Moscow . Like the Russian media, Rosenberg has been hawking precisely the line his own government, and its NATO allies, want from him. Pall of fog The BBC recently launched its Verify service , ostensibly to root out disinformation. In similar vein, western media have started appending to any report of Russian assertions the warning: This claim could not be verified. Like a nervous tic, the media added just such an alert to Russian statements that large numbers of Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in what looked like the first stages of Kyivs so-called counteroffensive. But no such warnings have been attached to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskys claims that Russia blew up the dam. Instead, reporters have been quick to regurgitate, unverified, his self-serving assertions that Moscow caused the destruction , supposedly to ward off the imminent counteroffensive, and that only western help evicting Russia from the areas it has occupied can prevent further terrorist acts. As has so often been the case in this war, a thick pall of fog is likely to shroud what happened at the Kakhovka dam for the foreseeable future. Which means that, if the media is determined to recycle speculation, what it should be doing at this stage apart from keeping an open mind and investigating for itself is applying the principle of cui bono? or who profits? And if it bothered to do that properly, it might be far more reluctant to pin responsibility on Russia. Rallying support As Scott Ritter, a former US marine and United Nations weapons inspector, has noted, the chief beneficiary of the attack has been Ukraine, both militarily and politically . After all, the western media has been documenting a series of fortifications from trenches and mines to concrete spikes that the Russian army has constructed along its front lines during the long wait for the Ukrainian counteroffensive. As has often been pointed out, they are so extensive, they can easily be seen from space . And yet if it did blow up the dam, Moscow just washed away all its carefully built defenses in a key area that Ukraine has set its eyes on recapturing and just at the time Kyiv is said to be preparing for a dramatic military offensive. Further, the swollen river behind the dam was a significant obstacle to Ukrainian forces crossing the Dnipro river for many tens of miles. It will be much less of a barrier now its waters have receded as the river gushes into the Black Sea. The dam explosion punches a surprise hole in a key, natural part of Russias defensive line. Another critical concern for the Kremlin will be that the explosion poses a direct threat to water supplies to the arid Crimean peninsula the first piece of Ukrainian territory Russia annexed. After a US-backed overthrow of Ukraines government in 2014, Russia made a priority of securing Crimea, long the site of a strategic, warm-water naval base. And to top it all, Russias control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, upstream of the dam, has already come under renewed international scrutiny as questions are raised about Moscows ability to cope with a possible meltdown there as water supplies, needed for cooling, dramatically diminish. There are political advantages in the dams destruction for Kyiv too. As Ritter observes : There is a lot of Ukraine fatigue right now. The world is just tired of Ukraine, of funding Ukraine What Ukraine needs is a catastrophic event that rallies international support around Ukraine by blaming Russia for something big. The dam blast does just that. It thrusts the war back into the spotlight, it casts Moscow as a terrorist threat not just to Ukraine but to wider humanity, and it will prove a very effective tool to justify yet more weapons and aid to weaken Russia, even if Ukraines counteroffensive proves a damp squib. Reckless test strike The western media has not only largely ignored these factors, it has also drawn a veil over its own recent reporting that might implicate Ukraine as chief culprit in blowing up the dam. As the Washington Post reported back in December, the Ukrainian military had previously considered plans to destroy the Kakhovka in other words, to carry out what is universally understood now as a major act of ecological terrorism. At the time, the plan barely raised an eyebrow in the West. The preparations included what now looks like a reckless test strike with a HIMARS missile supplied courtesy of the US making three holes in the metal [of the floodgates] to see if the Dniepers water could be raised enough to stymie Russian crossings but not flood nearby villages. The test was a success, the Post reported Maj. Gen. Andriy Kovalchuk, a Ukrainian commander, saying back in December. But the step [of destroying the dam] remained a last resort. Might that test or a similar one possibly in preparation for a Ukrainian offensive have accidentally undermined the dams integrity, making it gradually crumble from the pressure of the water? Or could the dams destruction have been intentional part of Ukraines offensive spreading chaos to areas under Russian control, either to force Moscow to redirect its energies away from countering a Ukrainian attack, or deflect western public attention away from any difficulties Kyiv may have launching a credible military operation? And why, anyway, would Moscow decide to destroy the dam, forfeiting control over water flow, when it could have simply opened the gates to flood areas downstream at any time of its choosing, such as when faced with an attempt to cross the river by the Ukrainian military? These questions arent even being posed, let alone answered. James Bond mission There has been an established pattern with the media during the Ukraine war, one that may serve as a guide in understanding how the story of the breaching of the dam will unfold. The reticence of western outlets to ask basic questions, contextualize with relevant background, or pursue obvious lines of inquiry has been equally glaring in another act of ecological terrorism: the explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines back in September. They released enormous quantities of the prime global-warming gas methane. Again, the media spoke as one. First, they echoed western officials in ascribing the explosions to Moscow , without a shred of evidence and even though the blasts were a huge blow to Russia. The Kremlin lost the bountiful income stream that came from supplying Europe with natural gas. Meanwhile, diplomatically, it was stripped of its chief leverage over its biggest energy customer, Germany leverage it might have used to induce Berlin to break with the Wests sanctions policy. All of this was hard to obscure. Soon the western media simply dropped the Nord Stream story entirely. Interest surfaced again only much later, in March, when the New York Times and a German publication, Die Zeit , published separate and quite preposterous accounts, based on unnamed intelligence sources. According to these accounts, a group of six rogue Ukrainians chartered a yacht and blew up the pipelines off the coast of Denmark in a James Bond-style mission. The story was widely amplified by the western media, even though independent analysts ridiculed it as wildly implausible and technically unfeasible. Ukraine did it The problem the media has faced is that a very much more plausible account of the Nord Stream blasts had already been produced by the legendary investigative journalist Seymour Hersh in February. His unnamed intelligence source offered a far more credible and detailed account, and one that blamed the US itself . The circumstantial evidence for US responsibility or at least involvement was already substantial, even if the media again ignored it. From Joe Biden downwards, US officials either expressed a determination beforehand to stop more Russian gas from reaching Europe through Nord Stream or celebrated the pipelines destruction after the fact. The Biden administration also had a prime motive for blowing up Nord Stream: a desire to end Europes energy dependence on Russia, especially when Washington wanted to line up Moscow and Beijing as the new targets in its permanent war on terror. Hershs source argued that the explosives were placed by special US Navy divers, with Norwegian assistance, during an annual naval exercise, BALTOPS, and remotely detonated three months later. The media studiously ignored this version. When it was referenced on the odd occasion, the story was dismissed because it was attributed to a single unnamed source. None of the media, however, appeared to have similar reservations about the fantastical yacht version, also supplied by an unidentified intelligence source. Hershs account has refused to go away, gaining ever more traction on social media so long as no credible alternative emerged. And so bingo! The fantastical claim that a group of amateurs was able to locate and blow up the pipelines deep on the ocean floor has been dropped. Last week the Washington Post reported that an unnamed European intelligence service had warned the Biden administration of an impending attack on the Nord Stream pipelines three months before it took place. According to this account, a small crack team sent by the Ukrainian military carried out the covert operation again acting, it was stressed, without Zelenskys knowledge. The Post reported that officials in multiple countries confirmed that the US had received advance warning. White House lied? The story raises all kinds of deeply troubling questions none of which the media seem interested in addressing. Not least, if true, it means that the Biden administration has blatantly lied for months in promoting a fiction: that Russia carried out the attack. The White House and European capitals knowingly misled the western media and publics. If Biden officials have indeed conspired in maintaining a grand lie about such a momentous act of industrial terror one that caused untold environmental damage and is contributing to a mounting recession in Europe what other lies have they been telling? How can anything they claim about the Ukraine war, such as who is responsible for the Kakhovka dams destruction, be trusted? And yet the western media which, according to this new account, was deceived for months seems completely unconcerned. Further, if Washington knew of the impending act of terror which was directed at European energy sources as much as at a nuclear-armed Russia why did it not intervene? The medias coverage of this new version largely frames the US as impotent, incapable of stopping the Ukrainians from blowing up the pipelines. But Washington is the worlds sole superpower. Ukraine is entirely dependent on its support financially and militarily. If the US withdrew its backing, Ukraine would be forced to engage in peace talks with Russia. The idea that Washington could not have stopped the attack is no more credible than the claim a group of sailing enthusiasts blew up the pipelines. If this latest account is true, Washington had the leverage to stop the attack on Europes energy infrastructure but failed to act. By any reasonable assessment, it should be considered to have willed the pipelines destruction, despite the devastating toll on Europe and the environment. And thirdly, based on this account, Ukraine or at least its military has proven itself quite capable of committing the most heinous act of terrorism, even against its allies in Europe. Why should anyone, least of all the media, now be so dismissive of Russian claims of Ukrainian war crimes, including destroying the Kakhovka dam? Good Nazis The truth, however, is that the western media are not concerned by the implications of this latest account, any more than they are by Hershs earlier one not if it means turning the US and its allies into the bad guys. The story was reported cursorily, and will be filed away as another piece of a puzzle no one has any interest in solving. The western medias role in foreign affairs is to prop up a narrative that turns our leaders into good people doing their best in a bad world, one that forces on them difficult, sometimes morally compromised choices. But what if Biden and Zelensky arent really heroes, or even good people? What if they are just as ignoble, just as callous and inhumane, as the foreign leaders we so readily dismiss as the new Hitler? Its just that they receive far better public relations from our complicit media. Coverage of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam and Nord Stream pipelines alludes to a double problem: that western leaders and their allies may be implicated in the most terrible crimes, but we can rarely be sure because our media are so determined not to find out. This week, the New York Times finally admitted on its pages something that it and the rest of the western media once openly acknowledged but have cast as a taboo since Russias invasion: that the Ukrainian military is awash with neo-Nazi symbols . However, even as the paper of record admitted what it had previously condemned as disinformation whenever it appeared on social media, the New York Times insisted on an absurd distinction. Yes, the paper agreed that Ukrainian soldiers are proud to decorate themselves in Nazi insignia. And yes, much of wider Ukrainian society commemorates notorious Nazi figures from the Second World War such as Stepan Bandera. But no, Ukraines prolific use of Nazi symbols does not translate into any attachment to Nazi ideology. This is the argument being made by western publications that at the same time have taken seriously claims that a rock star, Roger Waters, is antisemitic for performing a track from his four-decade-old album The Wall satirizing a fascist dictator dressed as a fascist dictator . Waters real crime is that now Jeremy Corbyn has been ousted from the Labour Party, he is the most visible supporter of Palestinian rights in the western world. If the New York Times and the rest of the western media are willing to give Ukrainian Nazis a makeover, making them look good, what are they doing for Biden, Zelensky, and European leaders? One thing we know for sure: we cannot look to the western media for an answer. Jonathan Cook is the author of three books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and a winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His website and blog can be found at www.jonathan-cook.net . This originally appeared in the Middle East Eye . Views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Registration is not necessary to post comments. We ask only that you do not use obscene or offensive language. Please be respectful of others. See also RIP Daniel Ellsberg, Who Told the World the Truth About the Vietnam War The Pentagon Papers leaker risked prison to reveal that American military officials were lying to Congress and the public about Vietnam. By Eric Boehm June 19, 2023: Information Clearing House --Daniel Ellsberg was in the midst of a federal trial, facing the prospect of a long prison term, when he sat down with Reason in the summer of 1973 to talk about his decision to leak a trove of documents. Those documents, known as the Pentagon Papers , showed that top American officials, including President Lyndon Johnson, had lied constantly about the country's war in Vietnam. "The only thing that I could personally hope to achieve by my own efforts was to make these documents available to the American public for them to read and to learn from," Ellsberg told Reason. But he had a "very important secondary objective": halting what he saw as a dangerous trend of "executive secrecy" that had allowed successive presidents to "steal away so much power from the Congress and the public and to free itself from the kinds of checks and balances that were intended in the Constitution." By giving those 7,000 pages to The New York Times two years earlier, Ellsberg changed the course of a war and shifted the American public's view of the presidency. He may not have succeeded in the larger project of containing executive power, but he earned a place in the whistleblower hall of fame: one of a select few who, when entrusted with damning secrets, recognized that his patriotic duty was to tell the American people a difficult truth their leaders would rather have kept hidden. Ellsberg died Friday at his home in Kensington, California, according to multiple media reports, after a monthslong bout with inoperable pancreatic cancer. He was 92. Though the Pentagon Papers exposed a myriad of official lies about America's role in the Vietnam War, the big lie at the center of it was one that sounds all too familiar to those of us who came of political age during the post-9/11 wars: that America was winning. Privately, top military officials, including Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, knew this was not true. From his post at the RAND Corporation, Ellsberg obtained access to reports from 1967 and 1968 showing that the best-case scenario was a long-term stalematea stalemate that would eventually kill more than 58,000 Americans and more than 2 million civilians in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. It was a trip to Saigon in 1965 as one of McNamara's advisers that first suggested to Ellsberg that something was wrong. After witnessing the chaos of the war firsthand, Ellsberga Harvard graduate and former Marinetried to work within the system to change American policy. In 1970, after photocopying the secret Pentagon report that would make up the bulk of the Papers, he gave partial copies to several high-ranking senators. The effort went nowhere, leading Ellsberg to eventually leak the full report to a Times reporter, Neil Sheehan. "A system that allows some secrets has to be a limited one, because relatively few secrets can be kept from the American people if we are to remain a democracy; and it must have safeguards built in against the abuse of it," Ellsberg told Reason in that 1973 interview. "You come down to the principle that no one man, even the President, should be allowed to decide without review that certain kinds of information cannot be known to American citizens." Ellsberg was arrested for espionage, conspiracy, and other charges that could have meant a lifetime behind bars. He escaped prosecution due to some of the same executive overreach that had inspired him to leak the documents in the first place. The Nixon administration sent operativesthe same ones later implicated in the Watergate scandalto break into Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office, and the FBI illegally wiretapped his phone. When this misconduct came out, Judge William Byrne dismissed all the charges against him. Ellsberg remained an outspoken anti-war activist for the rest of his life. He warned frequently of the dangers of nuclear annihilation. Two years ago, he released another secret government study that he'd photocopied long ago: a 1958 plan for a nuclear strike against China in retaliation for shelling Taiwan. He opposed the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq"What we've done to the Middle East has been hell," he said in 2018and criticized the post-9/11 increases in executive power and secret-keeping. When Edward Snowden leaked details of the National Security Agency's domestic spying regime in 2013, Ellsberg was effusive in his praise. "In my estimation, there has not been in American history a more important leak than Edward Snowden's release of NSA materialand that definitely includes the Pentagon Papers 40 years ago. Snowden's whistleblowing gives us the possibility to roll back a key part of what has amounted to an 'executive coup' against the US Constitution," Ellsberg wrote in The Guardian. In an era of unprecedented levels of executive power and an ever-expanding national security state, America and the world could use more people like Ellsberg, who was willing to prioritize the truth over all else. In his final interview with Reason, conducted in 2017, Lucy Steigerwald asked Ellsberg to consider his legacy. Question Everything! Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Hunter Biden to plead guilty to federal tax crimes, take deal on gun charge By Dan Mangan, Kevin Breuninge Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ [Department of Justice] just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket, Trump wrote. Our system is BROKEN! June 20, 2023: Information Clearing House -- Hunter Biden , the son of President Joe Biden , has agreed to plead guilty to two federal crimes of willfully failing to pay federal income taxes , a court filing Tuesday revealed. Hunter Biden also has agreed to enter a so-called pretrial diversion agreement in connection with a charge of possession of a gun by a person who is a user or addict of illegal drugs, according to that filing by prosecutors in U.S. District Court in Delaware. Typically, such agreements call for the related criminal charge to be dismissed if a defendant complies with the conditions of the deal for a set period of time. NBC News, citing two sources familiar with Hunters plea deal, said that U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss agreed to recommend to a judge that Hunter receive a sentence of probation for the tax crimes. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Weiss was appointed to his post by then-President Donald Trump , and was allowed to remain in that position after Joe Bidens election to continue what had been an ongoing investigation of Bidens son. Weiss has filed two charging documents, known as informations, against Hunter, one for the tax crimes, and one for the firearm charge. Prosecutors routinely use an information to charge defendants who have agreed to plead guilty. A memorandum summarizing the terms of Hunters plea agreement and details of the pretrial diversion deal will be publicly filed by the time he appears in court for a plea hearing, a prosecutor in Weisss office wrote in a letter to the federal court clerk in Delaware. Hunter Biden, who for years has struggled with substance abuse, in 2022 paid federal income taxes he had failed to previously pay for 2017 and 2018. White House spokesman Ian Sams in a statement to NBC News said, The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment. Chris Clark, Hunters criminal defense lawyer, in a statement, said, With the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the United States Attorneys Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved. Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement, Clark said. A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government, he said. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. Trump, who was indicted earlier this month on more than three dozen federal charges related to his alleged illegal retention of classified documents after leaving the White House, blasted Hunters plea deal in a post on his Truth Social site. Views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Registration is not necessary to post comments. We ask only that you do not use obscene or offensive language. Please be respectful of others. See also A 71-year-old man identified as Clifford Udouko, and his son, Ekomen, were on Tuesday arraigned in an Ota Magistrates Court in Ogun State, for allegedly biting off a womans nose. The police charged the defendants, whose addresses were not provided, with assault, conspiracy and breach of peace. The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge. The Prosecution Counsel, Insp. E. O. Adaraloye, told the court that the defendants and others at large, committed the offence on June 5 at about 4.50 p.m. at Ariyo Street, Via Lafenwa, Itele, Ota. READ ALSO: Woman Jailed In Kano For Duping Husband Of N2m Adaraloye alleged that the defendants assaulted and bit off the complainant, Daramola Olawunmis nose. He said that the defendants also conducted themselves in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace by using offensive language. The prosecutor said that the offence contravened the provisions of sections 390(9), 395, and 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ogun, 2006. The Magistrate, Mrs. A. O. Adeyemi, admitted the defendants to bail in the sum of N200,000 each with one surety in like sum. Adeyemi ordered that the surety must reside within the courts jurisdiction and be gainfully employed with evidence of tax payment to Ogun Government. She adjourned the case until July 24 for a further hearing. The Federal High Court in Abuja would deliver judgment on July 20, 2023, in the suit filed by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu against the Department of State Services (DSS). It was gathered that the date was fixed by Justice Binta Nyako on Tuesday after Kanus counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) and lawyer to the DSS, A.M. Danlami, adopted their processes and presented their arguments for and against the suit. Kanu in his suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/ 2341/2022 is seeking a court order mandating the DSS to allow him unhindered access to his doctors. Recall that the court had earlier on Feb. 1, granted Kanu, the permission to apply for an order of mandamus he sought after an ex-parte motion moved by Ozekhome to the effect but in a preliminary objection filed by the DSS, the secret police urged the court to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction. At the resumed hearing, Ozekhome told the court that if Kanu dies in detention it would cause a national commotion, and therefore prayed the court to allow his client access to his doctors in the presence of the security operatives. He further argued that a defendant, based on the provisions of the law, should stand his trial and not be in a wheelchair while being prosecuted. READ MORE: You Are Putting Nnamdi Kanus Life In Danger Lawyer Slams IPOB DOS We asked if we could see his medical report and they are refusing and if he dies, this will cause national commotion, he said. Ozekhome added that the DSS has also failed to honour previous court judgenents delivered in favour of the IPOB leader. In the judgment, the court awarded the sum of N500 million damages against the respondents for illegal rendition of the defendant from Keyan to Nigeria, he argued. What will they lose to allow an independent doctor to examine him in their presence. We rely on all the processes to humbly request you to grant our omnibus prayers, he said. Ozekhome also countered the allegations that Kanu jumped bail on April 25, 2017 after the court granted him bail, arguing that his client rather escaped a military invasion at his residence, said as soon as he got to Israel, he deposed to an affidavit to the effect. We filed a counter of five paragraphs. In the instant case, there are two respondents, but in the suit they referred to, there were three respondents. So on the issue of parties, they failed. On subject matter, this suit is seeking an order of judicial review by way of mandamus but in the other suit, it was filed for the enforcement of his fundamental rights and not judicial reviews. The former suit sought 11 reliefs but ours has two reliefs, he said. However, the lawyer for the DSS, Danlami urged the court to dismiss Kanus plea for lack of jurisdiction. Samuel Ortom, former Governor of Benue state, today was interrogated at the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Information Nigeria learnt that he confidently walked into the building of the zonal office of the EFCC in Makurdi, accompanied by his media aide, Terver Akase, and Special Assistant on Special Duties, Abraham Kwanhgu. Sources privy to the development disclosed Ortom arrived at the facility at 10:08 am and at time of filing this report, had not left the premises, indicating that the interrogation was ongoing. READ ALSO: Ortom Left Me With Empty Treasury, No Official Car Benue Gov, Hyacinth Ortom is being grilled over alleged misappropriation of public funds during his time in office. Former governor Ortom is currently at our Makurdi zonal office in Benue State. He arrived at about 10 a.m. this morning, and hes still there now. He was invited over an ongoing investigation concerning alleged misappropriation of funds during his time in office, a source told Punch. Popular Nigerian Actor, Bolanle Ninalowo has apologised over the controversy that trailed his assumed role in the famous Hollywood movie Extraction 2. The movie star had previously shared a short clip from a movie set, where he was seen alongside cast and crew members with the hashtag Extraction 2, leading many to believe that he would be part of the sequel. Many were left disappointed when they realised that he did not feature in the actual movie. READ ALSO: Fans Celebrate As Bolanle Ninalowo Features In Extraction Part 2 (Video) Many fans via social media, expressed displeasure with the makers of the movie for joking with their intellect on featuring Ninalowo in their movie. Following the drama online, Bolanle Ninalowo apologised to his fans via his verified Instagram page for their misconception of his role in the movie. He revealed that he was featured in the mockumentary inspired by Extraction 2, which is titled Distraction; The Extraction of Don. He said: I AM SORRY YOU GUYS WERE DISTRACTED. You know I love you!!! Now lets see The Extraction of Don!!! A Netflix mockumentary inspired by Extraction 2. Watch video below: The Labour Party (LP) and its February 25 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, have again accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of deliberately frustrating their case at the Presidential Election Petition Court. Recall that Obi and LP are challenging the outcome of the election which produced Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Nigerias president. Jibrin Okutepa, counsel to petitioners, at the court session on Monday, disclosed to the court that INEC is holding the legal team hostage by refusing to provide the documents requested for. Narrating the experience as excruciating, Okutepa said: We are bringing this to your lordships notice because we have done everything humanly possible, including letter writing, and persuasion and it seems to us that we need to come before your lordships to come to our aid. This afternoon, we received a few copies of IREV reports for a few LGAs in Lagos state, including Agege, Mushin, Oshodi, Isolo, epe, Surulere, Eti-Osa and Alimosho. Each document was certified on May 29 but they decided to give it to us today. The same thing with Gombe. They just gave us the IREV report for just two LGAs. Those ones were also certified on May 29. We have consistently written letters, including the letter that I personally signed and delivered on May 20 to A.B Mahmoud (INEC lawyer), detailing all the documents we wanted, he continued. According to the senior lawyer, the letters were written to INEC, requesting documents to help prove their petition, noting that the letters were acknowledged by the commission. He furthered that INEC also refused to accept service of the subpoenas issued to them. READ ALSO: Youll Live With The Shame Of Your Dishonesty Kenneth Okonkwo Slams INEC Chairman It appears that INEC is deliberately frustrating us.We have nowhere to cry to except to your lordships, Okutepa said. He prayed the court to direct that a copy of the subpoena should be served on INEC through its lawyer. Meanwhile, in response, Abubakar Mahmoud, INEC counsel, described Okutepas allegations as unfounded. Mahmoud said he only received one letter from Livy Uzoukwu, petitioners lead counsel, on May 15 which he said was promptly replied to on the same day. Aside from that, I have not received any other communication from the counsel, he said. He added that Okutekpa never approached him to talk about issues. There is absolutely no reason to deny LP any documents, the INEC lawyer said. There are procedures and costs which they are fully aware of. If counsel chooses not to follow them and then just comes here and blames INEC, I dont think that is correct. Im taken aback by this complaint. It is totally unfounded and if counsel has issued a subpoena, he should follow the process. He didnt consult me about the subpoena and he never brought any issue to me on any refusal to accept any subpoena. We are happy to help in any way we can. We are taken aback and I dont think we would continue to sit here and hear lamentations that are unfounded, Mahmoud stated. However, Uzoukwu denied receiving any response to his letter. Im really shocked that my brother AB Mahmoud said he replied to my letter. It is possible that he replied maybe the letter wasnt sent to me. I can say authoritatively, that I received no letter whatsoever, he said. READ ALSO: INEC, Yakubu Ought To Be Urgently Investigated, Not Emefiele Labour Party He prayed the court to make an order against INEC to comply with the subpoena and produce the documents they are requesting. Stephen Adah, one of the justices in the five-member panel, addressing parties, said the lawyers must imbibe the spirit of cooperation. When we started these proceedings, we talked about the spirit of cooperation so its amazing when we sit down here and hear these kinds of things, he said. If the cooperation is on the table why wont you just walk to your colleague and say we are having issues with your client and get it sorted out? But you people go bureaucratic and when things dont work, you come and make complaints here. Monsurat Bolaji-Yusuf, the only female on the panel, said: This allegation is becoming a recurring issue. I think you should realise that sentiments, playing to the gallery, blackmail or whatever from anybody will not help in the determination of this case. What will help is cooperating in the interest of this nation. If truly, you are having problems accessing documents, approach your learned friends and let them know. I am sure Olanipekun, Mahmoud and other very senior counsels have the interest of this nation at heart and will not do anything that would distract the integrity and standing of this nation in the committee of nations. You dont want people outside to hear that you are being denied documents and the right to present your case. Therefore we do not want a display of an attempt to blackmail or an attempt of the other side to frustrate the case of anybody. This is a serious business and counsel on all sides should take it seriously. We do not want a repeat of this, she warned. Newly appointed Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun says he feels like a Tiger ready to chase away all the criminals in Nigeria. Egbetokun made this known in an interview shortly after he was decorated with the new rank by Vice President Kashim Shettima, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Egbetokun, added that he is feeling like a lion ready to devour all the internal enemies of Nigeria. He said; Now I have just been decorated and I am looking forward to taking over tomorrow morning (Wednesday) by 11 am. I really cant describe how I feel presently. READ MORE: President Tinubu Sacks All Service Chiefs, Names Replacements But if I have to tell you anything, I will tell you that right now I feel like a tiger inside of me ready to chase away all the criminals in Nigeria. And some other time, I fell like a lion in me ready to devour all the internal enemies of Nigeria. Thats my feeling right now. Meanwhile, the former IGP, Alkali Usman Baba, while addressing the press also reacts that, the position he left behind its on a safer hand. He said: Im happy I am handing over to somebody I know that will carry the mantle of leadership from where I have stopped. We grew up in the job, we grew up together, I was his boss at a time or even when I was IG. He worked under me twice, weve been working together and I know how he can go ahead to champion the course of the police from where I stopped. Controversial Nigeria socio-political analyst, Reno Omokri, has responded to President Bola Ahmed Tinubus approval of immediate retirement of all service chiefs and the inspector-general of police. Recall that INFORMATION NIGERIA had earlier reported that the president also approved the replacement of the comptroller-general of customs. According to a statement signed by George Akume, secretary-general of the federation, their retirement is with immediate effect. Reacting to the latest development, Reno Omokri in a post via his social media page, said Tinbu has exhibited the type of courage that has been missing in Aso Rock. According to him, such action will prompt the military and security services to sit up in their responsibilities. He, however, urged Tinubu to include the southeast in his appointment, irrespective of not getting their votes during the election. READ MORE: President Tinubu Sacks All Service Chiefs, Names Replacements He wrote: Hurricane Tinubu strikes again. In one fell swoop, he has demonstrated that he is the Commander-in-Chief. This is the type of courage that has been missing in Aso Rock. Now our military and security services will sit up. What a man! Talk about hitting the ground running. No ambiguity about who is in charge. In three weeks, he has consigned Buharis eight years into the dustbin of history. Well done! Bravo. No matter your shortcomings (and you do have them), no objective observer can deny that you have exceeded everybodys expectations. The only thing I will appeal to the President to do is to find a way to reflect the Southeast commensurately to their population, and not according to the votes they gave him, in his security architecture and government. Inclusion will reduce agitation. That aside, let me add that this is the leadership that Awolowo would have given if Nigeria had given him the chance. I doff my heart to the President. Funny enough, President Tinubu is acting the way we expected a former General to act. Unfortunately, the former General we had acted even below what we expected from an inexperienced civilian. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has confirmed the arrest of popular Baban Aisha herbal medicine manufacturer, Alhaji Salisu Sani, for operating with an expired licence and running illegal promotion of the companys products in Kaduna State. The agency also said it had commenced a crackdown on illegal herbal manufacturers and vendors to control the random use of illicit drugs. Addressing journalists in Abuja on Monday, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, said the agency had a duty to regulate the manufacture, distribution, advertisement and use of drugs, foods and chemicals to protect Nigerians. The man manufacturing Baban Aisha herbal medicine, Alhaji Salisu Sani, has been arrested and is now in custody. Again, we cannot divorce ourselves from these products. We may not use them because we are informed. What about the fate of other Nigerians who use them? she said Explaining the event that led to the arrest of Alhaji Sani, Adeyeye said the agency received concerns on the safety of Sacra Herbs oral liquid, popularly called Baban Aisha herbal medicine, following an investigative report. The professor of Pharmaceutics noted that further investigation revealed that the Kaduna manufacturer had been churning out unapproved herbal concoctions long after his licence expired. READ ALSO: NAFDAC Declares Indomie, Other Noodles Brands In Nigeria Safe for Consumption She said, The agency received an application from Sacra Multi-Links Ltd, Layin Alhaji Hamza Mai Bread, Tafa Kagarko LGA in Kaduna State for the registration of its product, Sacra Herbs oral liquid. Following regulatory protocols, we granted listing approval with NAFDAC registration number A7-2590L for the Sacra Herbs oral liquid for management of pile and associated pains. The notification of the registration of the product was granted on September 6, 2018, valid till September 12, 2019. The company on August 12, 2020, applied for renewal of its licence. But following regulatory audit of the companys production facility, compliance directives were issued to them for non-conformers observed in the facility for which it was expected to correct. Adeyeye said the company, however, did not correct the lapses observed, following which the product registration licence was not renewed. She said the Sacra herb, which its licence expired in 2019, was originally approved for the management of pile and associated pains but the agency discovered that Sanis company went beyond the prescription by adding that the companys product could treat waist pains, typhoid, ulcer, pile and toilet infection. Following an outrage on social media over the companys unethical activities, the agencys investigation and enforcement team carried out surveillance that led to the sealing of the factory and the arrest of two staff members. She said, The following day, Sacra Multi Links owner, Salisu Sani, reported to our office in Kaduna. When his vehicle was searched, the following herbal drugs were evacuated from the vehicle: Sacra Herbs oral liquid and two additional unregistered herbal preparations namely Baban Aisha manpower & delay (aphrodisiac) and others. All the products found with the managing director and others found in his company were sent to the NAFDAC laboratory for analysis. We have commenced a nationwide mop-up of the Sacra Herbs in circulation. We have also intensified crackdown on all illegal manufacturers and distributors of herbal preparation and other unregistered preparations, to bring perpetrators to book and minimise the usage of the substance. Kabiru Adamu, a security and intelligence expert, has said changing security chiefs alone will not solve the menace of insecurity in Nigeria. In reaction to the sack of the Service Chiefs by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday, the Managing Director of Beacon Consulting in a chat with Daily Post, lauded the bold step taken by Tinubus administration. However, according to him, the next thing to do is the completion of security reforms. Adamu furthered that, improvement in the public governance structure, adequate legislature and efficient utilization of budgetary allocation are mandatory things to put in place to solve the countrys insecurity challenges. The change of critical establishment in the security sector is a good development. The immediate past leadership oversaw over a period, where in my organization, weve been to document over 78,000 deaths in the space of ten years, so there is nowhere you can judge that as successful. It is not an individual thing but systemic. So just changing individuals wont solve the problem; it is just the beginning. READ ALSO: El-Rufai Turned Kaduna To Nigerias Kidnapping Hqtrs, Should Be Invited By DSS Middle Belt Forum The next thing that has to follow is the completion of the security sector reforms. Now that has been started, we introduced transparency and accountability elements within the security sector. In the military, Police and other security structures. The second is the improvement of security sector governance. The current security structure is so convoluted. Another is the role of the leadership of the parliamentchairpersons of several committees on security. Most of these security departments have old and moribund mandates, these legislatures must be reviewed. The last one is budgetary. Muhammadu Buharis administration did very well in this area, but how has this money been spent? Why is it that our military for example still uses soft-skill vehicles, is communication still a challenge for them? There has to be a way of ensuring that the budget is used for the exact purpose it is designed for. Again, the appointment is just the beginning; these other things need to be done if we are going to see the result of a functional, effective and efficient security sector that meets the aspiration of Nigerians, Adamu stated. Some Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen have reportedly killed the father of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Leader, Damian Okafor, Pa Ajah Damia Okafor in Ishiagu, Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that the gunmen also killed the INEC Assistant Electoral Officer attached to Afikpo North Local Government Area of the state, Emmanuel Igwe, and abducted his wife. Demian Okeafor, leader of Ohaneze Ndigbo youth, made this known during a telephone interview with journalists in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi State. He said, I was at home after church service when I received a call that my father had been murdered by suspected herdsmen. I tried to rush there but couldnt make it in time. Later, I went to the police station with my younger brother, who was already on-site, and it was confirmed. READ MORE: We Know Youre Targeting Igbos Ohanaeze Reacts To Proposed Property Laws By Lagos Assembly There was an attack on the Ishiagu-Mpu road, which leads to the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway. The attackers shot an INEC staff and kidnapped his wife before fleeing into the nearby bush. While in the bush, they encountered my father, who was planting yams on his farm. In order to prevent my father from disclosing their location, they brutally dismembered him. It was a horrific sight, and I was unable to drive. Today, I went to the mortuary to confirm it myself. We urgently need the governments assistance because we are helpless. The latest information we have received is that three deaths were recorded during the attack: the INEC staff, my father, and another man from the Akaeze community. According to Emmanuel Ajah, the Chairman of Ivo Local Government Area, while confirming the horrific incident, stated that he was notified when it happened. Ajah explained, After killing the INEC staff, the Fulani herders dragged his wife into the bush. While entering the bush, they encountered this elderly man on his farmland. They struck him on the head with an Indian bamboo stick and then used a knife to cut him up like a cow. The council chairman, Ajah, further mentioned that he had mobilized the military, police, and his team to comb the bush in search of the abducted INEC staff. He assured the public that they would not rest until the woman was safely rescued. He also revealed that the suspected Fulani herders, who had allegedly abducted the woman, were demanding a large ransom. He emphasized that the security agencies, along with his team, were diligently working to rescue the woman unharmed. Operatives of the Ondo State Police Command have arrested a nurse, health assistant and security guard at the Comprehensive Health Centre, Emure-IIe, Owo Local Government Area, over the mysterious disappearance of a babys placenta. The Police Commands Public Relations Officer, SP Olufunmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, made this known while speaking with the newsmen on Tuesday in Akure. Odunlami-Omisanya explained that the three persons were arrested after the 23-year-old father of the newborn baby, Tunde Ijanusi, made a complaint about the incident at Emure-Ile Police Division H. READ ALSO: Police PRO Adejobi Demands Arrest Of Popular Skit Maker Trinity Guy The police spokesperson said that the 19-year-old nursing mother gave birth to a baby girl on June 15 at the health centre and when the father of the baby asked for the placenta, the nurse and her assistant could not produce it. So, it is a case of negligence of duty and the nurse, health assistant and security were invited by the police and currently the case is being handled at the Emure-Ile division, Odunlami-Omisanya said. Speaking with the newsmen, the father of the baby, Ijanusi, said that he was worried after the health workers who took the delivery failed to give them the placenta of the newborn in line with tradition. Also speaking, the paternal grandmother of the baby, Mrs Funmilayo Ijanusi, said that the report by the hospital officials that a dog entered the facility and stole away with the placenta was unacceptable. She said that the personnel of the health center had attempted to persuade the family to let go of the matter, offering to discharge the mother of the baby without collecting any money. The importance of the placenta to the family, according to some community elders, is enormous. And the placenta tells more about the childs glory; hence, it is dangerous to be in the wrong hands. Though the joy over the newborn is tainted with sadness, the family is clinging onto hope that spirited Nigerians and government to the missing placenta and serve justice on those involved, the grandmother said. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, will close their case on Thursday, June 22. INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that during the preliminary hearing in the case, it was indicated their intention to call 100 witnesses, they called 25 as of June 19. Addressing the press, counsel to PDP, Chris Uche said they had fielded 25 witnesses and would make it a round number of 30. The 70 remaining witnesses would come in the form of tendered documents. Recall that INFORMATION NIGERIA had earlier reported that PDP decried over the difficulties encountered in getting Certified True Copies (CTCs) of documents out of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in aid of their petition challenging the declaration of President Bola Tinubu. READ MORE: INEC Withholding Requested Documents, Deliberately Frustrating Our Case LP To Petition Court Meanwhile, on Tuesday at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT), the PDPs Counsel said INEC brought the CTC of the voter register for the Federal Capital Territory, although not all, and they wished to tender them as exhibits. INEC and the All Progressives Congress (APC) including Counsel to Tinubu all objected to the admissibility of the document. The court however admitted it as evidence. Uche further expressed displeasure that they had applied for a CTC of a subpoena since May 26 and INEC had just produced it, making it difficult to work on. Media Aide to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Phrank Shaibu, says the thanksgiving of Nyesom Wike, immediate past governor of Rivers state, is not acceptable to God until he repents. Recall on Sunday, a service was held at the St. Peters Anglican Church in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers where Wike thanked God for escaping death twice during his time as the States Governor. However, in a statement on Monday, Shaibu said Wike should go for confession of how he badly governed Rivers state instead of thanking God. Governor Wike ought to be doing confessions rather than thanksgiving. READ ALSO: I Was Poisoned At PDP Secretariat, My Organs Failed, Almost Died Wike Psalm 51:17 says God does not despise a broken spirit and a contrite heart, he said. His thanksgiving cannot be acceptable to God unless there is first repentance. He added that, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and his ally, Wike, should concentrate on working for the people. Governor Makinde should, however, focus on delivering the dividends of democracy to the people of Oyo. He is the only G5 member who currently holds political office. The other four are jobless spent forces who are running helter-skelter seeking appointment and protection from the EFCC, he said. L.S. Ram, founder and CEO of Exdion, expressed his enthusiasm about Salar joining the team, stating, Im excited that Steven has joined our exceptional management team in our insurance operations, said L.S. Ram, founder and CEO of Exdion. We are experiencing significant growth, and he is the right person to lead our team. Milliman is proud to be recognized for the breadth and depth of its actuarial, risk management and technology expertise, said Stephen Conwill, Milliman principal and global practice director for life and financial services. New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! SFR Services, a Florida restoration firm made famous by its volume of claims litigation and its charges that United Property & Casualty Insurance Co. had instructed desk adjusters to alter their estimates, now finds itself in some legal trouble of its own. A circuit judge in Lee County found that SFR had intentionally concealed and misrepresented material facts during the appraisal process in a Fort Myers-area condominium claim dispute with Tower Hill Prime Insurance Co. The firm stuck with an estimate of $233,000 and failed to disclose a contract with a roofing company, which charged a fraction of that for the actual work, Judge Michael McHugh wrote in his May 9 order. SFR Services was aware that the cost of the scope of roof work was $99,000, at least as of March 20, 2020, the judge noted. Despite knowing this information, SFR Services continued to present an estimate generated by Elite Claims and continued to represent that the value of the roof replacements for the clubhouse and both gatehouses was more than $230,000 Members of an appraisal panel, assigned to resolve differences between two other estimates, said they were unaware of the lower price from Castillo Roofing when they awarded the higher amount on the claim. The judge found that SFR, as an assignee of the condominium association, had violated the concealment and misrepresentation provision of the insurance policy and was tainted by fraud. McHugh ruled in favor of Tower Hill and vacated the higher appraisal award, voided part of the coverage and agreed to Tower Hills request for a new umpire on the appraisal. SFR, based in Stuart, Florida, quickly asked Floridas 6th District Court of Appeals to review the decision. Unfortunately we are appealing this egregious ruling, SFRs principal, Ricky McGraw, said in an email to Insurance Journal. We have moved to disqualify the judge presiding over the case. Florida has made it hard for contractors that help their clients. SFRs attorney, Melissa Giasi, asked the judge to disqualify himself, arguing that he was prejudiced by his concerns about McGraws allegedly fraudulent activity; the judge did not hold a jury trial; and he adopted a final order drafted by Tower Hill that contained numerous errors. When that motion failed, Giasi asked the appeals court to step in and prohibit McHughs order. The appeals judges declined. In its answer to Tower Hills 2020 motion in Lee County, which asked the court to vacate the high-end appraisal award, the SFR attorney also argued that Tower Hill had unclean hands, had acted in bad faith and had improperly adjusted the claim amount. Judge McHugh did not see it that way. He also pointed out that the insured, Rookery Pointe Homeowners Association, did not participate in the alleged fraud. In fact, the condo association, through its former president, Debbie Kiel, testified they were so concerned with the estimate provided by SFR Services, they got their own estimates which were in line with Castillo Roofings estimate, the judge wrote. McGraw and SFR Services for years have been thorns in the sides of several insurance carriers in Florida. Court records show that the firm has filed hundreds of lawsuits against insurers over AOB claims in recent years. Most famously, in early 2022 SFR charged in a federal lawsuit that United Property & Casualty had conspired with adjuster firms to systematically deny and underpay thousands of roof claims after Hurricane Irma. The lawsuit, charging anti-racketeering law violations, purported to show copies of text messages by a desk adjuster, sent at the behest of UPC, to field adjusters directing them to avoid estimating roof damages altogether because the insurer planned to issue blanket denials. A federal judge dismissed the suit in October, noting that a federal statute leaves it to states to regulate the business of insurance, so the federal racketeering law did not apply. Florida regulators this year deemed UPC insolvent and have placed the company into liquidation, likely making claims suits against the insurer a long shot. Meanwhile, SFR has made similar allegations in state court against individuals associated with the insurer. In a suit filed in Pinellas County, SFR charges that a number of adjusters, UPC officials and UPC board members engaged in a scheme to underpay claims from Hurricane Irma. The complaint cites deposition testimony from a field adjuster who said that UPC officials demanded that he remove portions of his damage estimates. In the Lee County case, the judge said SFR was the party that engaged in misrepresentation, a judgment that has left some insurance defense attorneys with a strong sense of schadenfreude. They said that the alleged tactics by SFR have not been uncommon in the years of claims litigation against insurers, and have helped drive exorbitant defense costs. The Rookery Pointe case began in 2019, when the condo association signed an AOB agreement with SFR. SFR contracted with Elite Claims Consulting as its public adjuster on the condos. The next day, SFR contracted with Castillo Roofing to replace the three roofs for $99,000. SFR also directed Castillo Roofing to submit a permit application with a declared value of $233,525, something the judge said was intentionally misleading. Without the Castillo Roofing invoices, there was never a meaningful exchange of information, the judge noted. Topics Florida Legislation Fraud New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! The University of Delaware has agreed to pay $6.3 million to settle a lawsuit over its campus shutdown in 2020 and the halting of in-person classes because of the coronavirus pandemic. According to court papers that were filed this month and signed by the plaintiffs and university president Dennis Assanis, some 21,000 current and former students could receive cash reimbursements. While agreeing to settle the case, the university continues to deny all allegations of wrongdoing. Court records indicate that the university reached an agreement in principle in late April, less than a month after a federal judge ruled that the case could proceed as a class action on behalf of thousands of students who were enrolled and paid tuition in the spring semester of 2020, when the campus was shut down. Under the settlement, which is awaiting final court approval, the university will pay $6.3 million into an escrow account overseen by a settlement administrator. Of that amount, plaintiffs attorneys will receive $2.1 million in fees and up to $250,000 in reimbursement for expenses. The five students who were named plaintiffs in the lawsuit are entitled to payments of $5,000 each as class representatives. The remainder will be distributed equally among class members, consisting of undergraduate and graduate students who paid any tuition and fees for the spring 2020 semester and do not opt out of the settlement. Class members will automatically receive their reimbursements by check mailed to their last known mailing address. They can update their address or opt to receive payments by Venmo or PayPal by completing an election form on a settlement website that will be established. In a March ruling certifying the lawsuit as a class action, Judge Stephanos Bibas rejected the universitys argument that the plaintiffs, who accused the school of breach of contract and unjust enrichment, lacked standing to sue. The university also argued unsuccessfully that it was impossible to know who actually paid tuition because some students may have used outside sources like scholarships. Those students, no less than students who paid out of their own pockets, were parties to a contract that U. Delaware allegedly breached, wrote Bibas, who noted that the only students excluded from the class of plaintiffs would be those who received full scholarships. According to the ruling, more than 17,000 undergraduates were enrolled at the University of Delaware in spring 2020, and the university collected more than $160 million in tuition that semester. The plaintiffs argued that, before the pandemic, the school treated in-person and online classes as separate offerings and charged more for some in-person programs than it did for similar online classes. They also noted that the university charged them fees for the gym, student centers, and the health center, sometimes at higher rates than those paid by online students, and that the school kept those fees while denying them the services during the pandemic closure. Bibas previously ruled that the plaintiffs had plausibly alleged that the school implicitly promised them in-person classes, activities and services. Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits COVID-19 Education Universities A majority of Swiss citizens on Sunday voted in favor of a bill aimed at introducing new climate measures to sharply curb the rich Alpine nations greenhouse gas emissions. Final results released by public broadcaster SRF showed that 59.1% of voters were in favor of the bill, while 40.9% voted against. The referendum was sparked by a campaign by scientists and environmentalists to save Switzerlands iconic glaciers, which are melting away at an alarming rate. Campaigners initially proposed even more ambitious measures but later backed a government plan that requires Switzerland to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. It also sets aside more than 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.357 billion) to help wean companies and homeowners off fossil fuels. The nationalist Swiss Peoples Party, which demanded the popular vote, had claimed that the proposed measures would cause electricity prices to rise. Backers of the plan argued that Switzerland will be hard-hit by global warming and is already seeing the effects of rising temperatures on its famous glaciers. The supporters have reason to rejoice, Urs Bieri of the GFS Bern Institute told SRF. But by no means everyone is in favor of the law. The argument with the costs has brought many no votes. Greenpeace Switzerland welcomed the result of the referendum. This victory means that at last the goal of achieving net zero emissions will be anchored in law. That gives better security for planning ahead and allows our country to take the path toward an exit from fossil fuels, said Georg Klingler, an expert on climate and energy at Greenpeace Switzerland. The result of the vote shows that the citizens of our country are committed to the aim of limiting global warming to 1.5 Celsius in order to preserve as much as possible our glaciers, our water reserves, our agriculture and our prosperity. I am very relieved to see that the lies disseminated by the opposite camp during the campaign did not sow the seed of doubt in people, he added. Swiss glaciers experienced record melting last year, losing more than 6% of their volume and alarming scientists who say a loss of 2% would once have been considered extreme. Experts such as Matthias Huss, a glaciologist at the Swiss Institute for Technology in Zurich, have taken to posting dramatic snapshots of retreating glaciers and rockslides from melting permafrost on social media to highlight the changes taking place in the Alps. Lets act as long as we can still prevent the worst, he recently wrote on Twitter. Photo: Team members of ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) glaciologist and head of the Swiss measurement network Glamos, Matthias Huss, drill holes into the Rhone Glacier to take measurements near Goms, Switzerland, Friday, June 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! An ambiguous coverage exclusion prevents a liability insurer from dodging the cost of defending a data broker that was sued after selling the Chicago Police Department access to a facial recognition database that reportedly contained 3 billion images extracted from social media sites. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals last Thursday affirmed a lower court decision finding that a catch-all provision in the policy that excluded coverage for any violations of statutes was too broad to bar coverage for alleged violations of the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act. We agree with the district court that the facial breadth of the catch-all provision gives rise to an ambiguity in the policy, in that the catch-all provision appears to nullify coverage that the policy elsewhere purports to provide, the three-judge appellate panel said in its opinion. Wynndalco Enterprises, a Mokena, Illinois company that sells data and information technology services, sought coverage under a liability policy it bought from Citizens Insurance Co. of America after it was named as a defendant in two class-action lawsuits that alleged biometric privacy violations. The company had sold access to a facial recognition database owned by Clearview AI to another data broker, which immediately sold it to the Chicago Police Department. A lawsuit backed by the American Civil Liberties Union alleges that Clearview built the database by scraping 3 billion images from social media websites. It sells access to the images coupled with software that uses proprietary algorithms to match images loaded into its program to the photos in its database, along with personal information gleaned from social media posts. The plaintiffs are seeking the $1,000 for each negligent violation of the Biometric Information Privacy Act plus $5,000 for each willful or reckless violation. One lawsuit states total damages will exceed $5 million. Wynndalco sought coverage from Citizens under a business owners policy with limits of $2 million per occurrence and $4 million aggregate. Citizens filed a lawsuit in the federal Northern District of Illinois, seeking a declaration that the policy excluded coverage for the alleged violations. US District Court Judge John Z. Lee found ruled that the insurer owed coverage because the exclusion was so broad it could be construed to bar most if not all claims that are statutory in nature, even claims that the policy purports to cover. Citizens appealed. The 7th Circuit panel said that an insurance policy must be read in whole for proper interpretation. A policy exclusion that appears clear in isolation may not be so easy to understand if a separate policy provision grants coverage for the same type of action or injury that is ostensibly excluded. The panel said its plain-text reading of the policy finds the same ambiguity that the Judge Lee pointed out. The policy provides liability coverage for personal and advertising injuries but excludes them at the same time with a catch-all exclusion for statutory violations, making much of the promised coverage illusory. A plain-text reading of that provision would swallow a substantial portion of the coverage that the policy otherwise explicitly purports to provide in defining a covered personal or advertising injury, and arguably all of the coverage for certain categories of wrongscopyright infringement, to take one example that are entirely statutory in nature, the opinion says. The Associated Press reported that the Chicago Police Department cancelled a two-year contract to use Clearviews database in May 2020, after the lawsuits alleging privacy violations were filed. A spokeswoman for the department said it received a rebate for the time that was left on the contract. Topics Lawsuits Carriers Law Enforcement Illinois New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! Mass shootings and violence across the U.S. killed at least six people this weekend, including a Pennsylvania state trooper, and wounded dozens of people. Multiple people with guns fired shots at a holiday crowd in Missouri and bullets flew among teenagers partying in Illinois. The shootings follow a surge in homicides and other violence over the past several years that experts say accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic. They happened in suburban Chicago, Washington state, central Pennsylvania, St. Louis, Southern California and Baltimore. Theres no question theres been a spike in violence, said Daniel Nagin, a professor of public policy and statistics at Carnegie Mellon University. Some of these cases seem to be just disputes, often among adolescents, and those disputes are played out with firearms, not with fists. Researchers disagree over the cause of the increase. Theories include the possibility that violence is driven by the prevalence of guns in America, or by less aggressive police tactics or a decline in prosecutions for misdemeanor weapon offenses, Nagin said. As of Sunday evening, none of the weekend events fit the definition of a mass killing, because fewer than four people died at each location. The figure does not include the shooter. However, the number of injured in most of the cases matches the widely accepted definition for mass shootings. Heres a look at the shootings this weekend: WILLOWBROOK, ILLINOIS At least 23 people were shot, one fatally, early Sunday in a suburban Chicago parking lot where hundreds of people had gathered to celebrate Juneteenth, authorities said. The DuPage County sheriffs office described a peaceful gathering that suddenly turned violent as a number of people fired multiple shots into the crowd in Willowbrook, Illinois, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. A motive for the attack wasnt immediately known. Sheriffs spokesman Robert Carroll said authorities were interviewing persons of interest in the shooting, the Daily Herald reported. A witness, Markeshia Avery, said the celebration was meant to mark Juneteenth, Mondays federal holiday commemorating the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. We just started hearing shooting, so we dropped down until they stopped, Avery told WLS-TV. The White House issued a statement calling the violence a tragedy and saying the president was thinking of those killed and injured. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement that he was monitoring the investigation. Gathering for a holiday gathering should be a joyful occasion, not a time where gunfire erupts and families are forced to run for safety, Pritzker said. WASHINGTON STATE Two people were killed and two others were injured when a shooter began firing randomly into a crowd at a Washington state campground where many people were staying to attend a nearby music festival on Saturday night, police said. The suspect was shot in a confrontation with law enforcement officers and taken into custody, several hundred yards from the Beyond Wonderland electronic dance music festival. A public alert advised people of an active shooter in the area and advised them to run, hide or fight. The festival carried on until early Sunday morning, Grant County Sheriffs Office spokesman Kyle Foreman said. Organizers then posted a tweet saying Sundays concert was canceled. CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA One state trooper was killed and a second critically wounded just hours apart in central Pennsylvania on Saturday after a gunman attacked a state police barracks. The suspect drove his truck into the parking lot of the Lewistown barracks about 11 a.m. Saturday and opened fire with a large-caliber rifle on marked patrol cars before fleeing, authorities said Sunday. Lt. James Wagner, 45, was critically wounded when he was shot after encountering the suspect several miles away in Mifflintown. Later, Trooper Jacques Rougeau Jr. , 29, was ambushed and killed by a gunshot through the windshield of his patrol car as he drove down a road in nearby Walker Township, authorities said. The suspect was shot and killed after a fierce gunbattle, said Lt. Col. George Bivens, who went up in a helicopter to coordinate the search for the 38-year-old suspect. What I witnessed was one of the most intense, unbelievable gunfights I have ever witnessed, Bivens said, lauding troopers for launching an aggressive search despite facing a weapon that would defeat any of the body armor that they had available to them. A motive was not immediately known. ST. LOUIS An early Sunday shooting in a downtown St. Louis office building killed a 17- year-old and wounded 10 other teenagers, the citys police commissioner said. St. Louis Metropolitan Police Commissioner Robert Tracy identified the victim who was killed as 17-year-old Makao Moore. A spokesman said a minor who had a handgun was in police custody as a person of interest. Teenagers were having a party in an office space when the shooting broke out around 1 a.m. Sunday. The victims ranged from 15 to 19 years old and had injuries including multiple gunshot wounds. A 17-year-old girl was trampled as she fled, seriously injuring her spine, Tracy said. Shell casings from AR-style rifles and other firearms were scattered on the ground. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA A shooting at a pool party at a Southern California home left eight people wounded, authorities said Saturday. Authorities were dispatched shortly after midnight in Carson, California, south of Los Angeles, KABC-TV reported. The victims range in age from 16 to 24, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department said in a statement. They were taken to hospitals and two were listed in critical condition, the statement said. Authorities said they found another 16-year-old boy with a gunshot wound when they responded to a call about a vehicle that crashed into a wall nearby. BALTIMORE Six people were injured in a Friday night shooting in Baltimore. All were expected to survive. Officers heard gunshots in the north of the city just before 9 p.m. and found three men with numerous gunshot wounds. Medics took them to area hospitals for treatment. Police later learned of three additional victims who walked into area hospitals with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. The wounded ranged in age from 17 to 26, Baltimore Police Department spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge said. SAN FRANCISCO Six people were injured after a car-to-car shooting in the streets of San Francisco on Sunday evening, police said. Two victims sustained gunshot wounds, one with life-threatening injuries, in the moving shootout beginning shortly before 7 p.m., San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said at a news conference Sunday. Suspects in two cars, a black SUV and a white sedan, drove very recklessly and chased each other while engaged in gunfire near the northern waterfront, Scott said. The area includes Fishermans Wharf, one of the citys busiest tourist areas. Three victims were injured by glass shards caused by errant gunfire, Scott said, with none of the injuries considered to be life-threatening. Two girls, ages 10 and 16, were struck by one of the two vehicles while walking their bicycles across the street. The younger girl was injured and transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries while the older girl was not injured, Scott said. It appears that this was an isolated incident and these individuals were targeting each other. We dont believe this was random at all, he said. Photo: Investigators look over the scene of an overnight mass shooting at a strip mall in Willowbrook, Ill., Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Marton) Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics California USA Illinois Pennsylvania New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! What do billionaire Ken Griffin, a Hamptons fire and Cy Twomblys painting Untitled (1971) have in common? The answer: Ron Perelmans three-year dispute with a group of insurers about a portion of his extensive art collection. Perelman, 80, submitted some of the most highly valued art at his residence in New Yorks Hamptons for insurance claims in 2020 on the grounds that a fire two years earlier damaged them, adding under oath that hes never offered to sell them. Now his insurers claim a visit to the estate from Griffin is evidence Perelman lied about putting the works up for sale. And theyre seeking to amend their answer to the complaint to offer a defense of false swearing, according to a court filing. If approved, it would go to the judge and may allow them to deny Perelmans claim. The assertion hangs on Griffin, along with his art dealer, coming to the 57-acre estate in 2020 to view the Twombly painting. The insurers filed a petition asking a judge to compel the Citadel founder to testify about his time at The Creeks, which occurred a month before the claims were filed. Griffin, who ultimately purchased two of Perelmans paintings but not the Twombly, has so far resisted. Hes offered to answer questions in writing, but the insurers have inexplicably refused the offer, his spokesperson Zia Ahmed said in a statement. The amount at stake for the two Warhols, two Ruschas and the Twombly: $410 million. This is more than enough to keep a couple of firms busy and trying to find grounds for denial of coverage, said Judith Wallace, a partner at Carter Ledyard and chair of the firms art practice. It will be well worth the time to litigate whether a misstatement is material in a dispute of this size. Perelmans counsel said the bid to add the defense is the latest attempt to distract from the sole issue of whether the five pieces were damaged in the fire. The insurer group comprises certain underwriters of Lloyds of London, Great Lakes Insurance SE, Swiss Re International SE, AIG Property Casualty Co. and Federal Insurance Co. Even if the Gallery showed Mr. Griffin the Twombly and Mr. Perelman knew about the visit, or if other members of Mr. Perelmans staff made inquiries related to the possibility of selling the five artworks, that does not show that any of the five artworks was offered for sale, Perelmans lawyers said in a May 2 filing. The insurers, whose own expert found no evidence the artworks were damaged in the fire, say Griffins testimony is highly relevant. It speaks to whether Perelman treated the paintings as damaged or offered them for sale as normal and then opportunistically presented for an insurance payment based on purely financial consideration, they said in court documents. The dispute is the latest headache for Perelman, who was once considered Americas richest person. He has seen his wealth collapse from $19 billion to $2 billion after the pandemic roiled his leveraged investment empire. The most notable casualty was Revlon, for which he paid $1.74 billion in 1985. It filed for bankruptcy last year. Filings show he used his shares in the makeup company as collateral to back the debt of his investment firm, MacAndrews & Forbes. His holding company also received an unusual loan from a family foundation. All told, at least nine banks had claims against Perelmans assets, including his art collection, house in the Hamptons and various aircraft, Bloomberg reported in 2020. That year, he sold more than $100 million of art including a Twombly as well as a private jet and company stakes. A spokesperson said at the time they werent forced sales; a Perelman biographer viewed them as a sign he needs cash. The current money battle stems from a September 2018 fire that broke out in the attic of The Creeks, which damaged the residence and destroyed art and furniture. Insurers paid out $169 million in the aftermath. The five contested works, enclosed in plexiglass frames and evacuated by firefighters and staff with no initial signs of damage, werent included in 2018 claim, though staff told insurers they were being monitored, according to court filings. They were re-hung at The Creeks the following summer. But a month after Griffins 2020 visit, Perelman sued his insurers for payment on claims on four of the five artworks. He engaged an expert who found the fire had caused abrasions, paint flaking, and accelerated aging and molecular changes altering their chemical structure, according to court filings. The painting Griffin had come to view, Untitled (1971), was later added to the lawsuit. The following year, Perelman testified he never attempted to sell any of the paintings involved in the case. The pictures were never made available for sale, he said. Those pictures meant a lot to me and my family. He also said he didnt want to sell the pictures because he could have some potential liability if they had hidden damage. Perelman testified that the art hed sold in the years since the fire hadnt been at The Creeks, so damage wasnt a factor. But the two paintings Griffin purchased, Brice Mardens Letter About Rocks and River 4, were hanging at Perelmans home near the other five artworks when the fire occurred. Griffin only found out about the fire after the purchase and later had the works inspected by experts, according to court documents. Ahmed, his spokesperson, declined to comment to Bloomberg on what they found. Griffin is not a party to the litigation between Mr. Perelman and his insurance companies, Ahmed said in a statement. He has never owned any of the art involved in their dispute. Both parties have access to witnesses with far more substantive knowledge of any pertinent facts than Ken, and he is rightfully annoyed at the petty and harassing behavior of the insurers and their lawyers. The paintings were insured for many times more than their market value so that they could be replaced by art of similar quality regardless of whether a collector was planning to sell, according to testimony from a Perelman executive. Unlike many insurance policies that typically involve repairing or reimbursing for the value impact of any damage, Perelmans policies allow him to request insurers pay an items full schedule value. Warhols Campbells Soup Can was insured for $100 million despite being appraised at $12.5 million in 2018, according to a court filing. The inconvenience of being deposed may not matter in this case, Wallace said. This is a big firm, big stakes litigation with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. Photo: Staff members next to a work by Ed Ruscha entitled Standard Station 1966 at the British Museum on March 6, 2017 in London. (Bloomberg) Copyright 2023 Bloomberg. New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! Sabra Purtill has been named permanent chief financial officer of American International Group (AIG), the company said. Purtill was called on in late January to fill the role of interim CFO after the firing of former interim CFO Mark Lyons, who AIG said violated his employment terms with the insurer. Lyons, who was also executive vice president, global chief actuary, and head of portfolio management, was appointed interim CFO for just a couple of weeks for Shane Fitzsimons, who took what was then a temporary medical leave of absence. Related: AIG Fires Interim CFO Lyons Fitzsimons is now stepping down after his leave, AIG said. Shane played a critical role in the successful execution of major strategic initiatives, including AIG 200, our company-wide transformation program, the operational separation of the life and retirement business from AIG, and the Corebridge IPO, to name a few, said AIG CEO Peter Zaffino. I am personally very grateful for his partnership and the lasting contributions he made across the organization. On behalf of the AIG Board of Directors and all our colleagues, I wish Shane the very best as he focuses on his health and his family. Zaffino said Purtill will provide important continuity in the chief financial officer position. Purtill previously served as CFO of Corebridge Financial. Prior to that, she was AIGs executive vice president and chief risk officer, and deputy chief financial officer. Prior to AIG, Purtill held senior leadership roles in finance and investor relations at The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., Assured Guaranty, and ACE Limited (now Chubb). New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! A $2 million fine, sanctions by federal courts and state bar orders that prevent its partners from practicing law do not change the fact that McClenny Moseley Associates filed more lawsuits in 2022 than any other US law firm. That distinction was noted by legal analytics firm Lex Machina in its annual Insurance Litigation report, released last week. The report says MMA filed 2,766 lawsuits. That was more than double the number of the second-most active law firm, Cox Cox Filo Camel Wilson & Brown, which filed 1,047 cases. Insurance defense attorney Steve Badger, a partner with the Zelle law firm in Dallas, said no one should be surprised. The number of lawsuits filed by MMA is far beyond what any single law firm can handle, he said in an email. And, sadly, their thousands of Louisiana clients are now suffering the consequences. The lesson from this debacle is clear the mass-torts model does not work in first-party insurance litigation. New Orleans defense attorney Matthew Monson, the lawyer who is most responsible for state and federal investigations into MMAs mass filings, had this to offer: MMA ranks number one all time in the number of improperly sourced lawsuits. The Lex Machina report shows that even without MMAs help, insurance litigation surged in 2022. Lex Machina said 18,912 insurance cases were litigated in federal courts, a 30% increase from the prior year. The number of federal insurance cases has been rising steadily since 2017, when 10,006 cases were filed, the report shows. The number of federal insurance cases filed hovered near 10,000 in each of the preceding four years. MMAs handiwork shows up in the statistics in several ways. The report says that in the three-year period from 2020 to 2022, the Western District of Louisiana had the largest number of insurance lawsuits filed: 8,169. The Western Districts Judge James D. Cain Jr. presided over more insurance cases during that three-year period than any other district court judge: 6,877. At good number of those cases were filed by McClenny Moseley. It was a complaint by Monson the New Orleans defense attorney about mass filings by MMA that brought to Cains attention the fact that the Houston-based law firm had filed 1,641 lawsuits against insurers over a period of several days. An inquiry by Cain and other judges revealed that MMA had paid $3.9 million to a marketing firm called Velawcity for pre-screened client leads. The firm used robotexts and disaster-restoration websites to find people with potential hurricane damage claims and a call center to sign them on as MMA clients. MMA also filed lawsuits on behalf of restoration contractors who found clients by walking door to door in hurricane-damaged neighborhoods. The law firm represented to insurers that it represented the homeowners. Insurance Commissioner James Donelon fined the law firm $2 million for its misrepresentations. Cain and other federal judges in Louisiana sanctioned the law firm for violating rules of procedure. The Louisiana State Bar indefinitely suspended the law license William R. Huye III, managing partner of MMAs New Orleans office. The Eastern District of Texas suspended for 90 days the law licenses of MMA founding partners John Zachary Moseley and James Marshall McClenny. Federal judges in Louisiana have barred MMA from prosecuting most of the hurricane lawsuits it filed. A competing law firm, Morris Bart in New Orleans, has taken on many of MMAs former clients and filed a lawsuit against MMA to prevent it from interfering with its efforts to take over those claims. In a memorandum filed with the Eastern District of Louisiana on June 12, Morris Bart said it has retained more than 1,200 of MMAs former clients. Topics Lawsuits Louisiana The Council for the Advancement of Social Services and Education, doing business as CASSE Community Health Institute, violated federal law when it subjected a Black employee to a hostile work environment on the basis of her race and fired her after she complained about racially offensive workplace conduct, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed on June 15, 2023. According to the EEOCs lawsuit, in June 2020, a Black employee working at CASSEs clinic in Shreveport, Louisiana complained to CASSE that its dental director made racially offensive comments about racial justice protests associated with the Black Lives Matter movement. The employee alleged that the dental director proposed putting on blackface and going rioting and looting. The employee further complained that the dental director singled her out as the only Black employee in a room full of white coworkers and questioned her whether she attended the protests. After CASSEs chief executive officer learned about the employees internal complaint, she immediately placed the employee on unpaid administrative leave and terminated her. Racially harassing conduct that alters the terms and conditions of the workplace violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race. Title VII also prohibits discharging an employee because of their race or retaliating against any person who complains of or opposes racially offensive conduct in the workplace. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana (Civil Action No. 5:23-cv-00808) after first trying to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. Source: EEOC Topics Lawsuits Louisiana Medical Professional Liability New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! What happens when an insurance carrier, its underwriter, a broker and the insured all forget to make sure a sublimit endorsement on wind-driven rain losses is included in a multimillion dollar property policy? In the case of a Liberty Mutual subsidiary, the underwriter was reprimanded and stripped of some authority; the broker, J. Smith Lanier & Co., was sued by the client, RPG Hospitality LLC, owner of a DoubleTree Hotel in North Carolina; and after a storm hit, the hotel company ended up tearing down part of the damaged building and undertook millions in renovations, thinking it was covered for the work. But Liberty Mutuals excess and surplus lines unit, Ironshore Specialty Insurance Co., won a reprieve and is off the hook for a $26 million judgment against it, thanks to a favorable Georgia Court of Appeals decision handed down last week. Construing this wind-driven rain endorsement to not have any applicable sublimit would essentially render the entire wind-driven rain endorsement, a provision that the parties separately signed and agreed upon, completely meaningless, Judge Yvette Miller wrote in the June 16 opinion. The story begins in 2017, when RPG hired J. Smith Lanier to secure a commercial policy for its upscale riverfront hotel in New Bern, North Carolina. The Georgia-based Lanier, now part of MarshMcLennan, has been called one of the largest privately held insurance brokerages in the country. It found coverage for the hotel through Liberty Mutual. The next year, Liberty Mutual acquired Ironshore, and the policy was switched to Ironshore at renewal, the court opinion explained. The policy limits were for $26.2 million with a $250,000 sub-limit on wind-driven rain damage, according to the quote. RPG agreed to the terms and the broker accepted the policy on RPGs behalf. The policys section on wind-driven rain stated: Subject to the terms and conditions of the policy and the applicable sublimit of liability, this policy provides coverage for direct physical loss or damage to the interior of any building or structure, or the property inside the building or structure caused by wind-driven rain. The problem was that the actual sublimit endorsement document was never included in the policy binder provided to the hotel company. Ironshores underwriter could not remember whether he had reviewed the policy at the time it was issued, he could not recall asking any other individual to review it, and no one else at Ironshore apparently reviewed the policy, Judge Miller wrote. RPG, J. Smith Lanier, and R-T Specialty, a wholesale distributor, all reviewed the policy around the time it was issued, but none of them seemed to notice the omission. In June 2018, an audit by Ironshores senior vice president discovered that the sublimit documents were missing from the policy. But the carrier did not inform RPG and instead focused on getting it right in the future, the court noted. Three months later, Hurricane Florence slammed the North Carolina coast as a Category 4 storm, causing an estimated $24 billion in damage to the region and significant losses to the hotel property. An Ironshore adjuster visited the hotel and witnessed the repair work that was already underway. The insurer went so far as to approve the demolition of parts of the hotel, along with extensive mitigation work that cost millions of dollars, the court explained. RPGs own adjuster was the one that explained to the hospitality firm that the policy was missing certain documents. And a week after the storm, Ironshore finally sent some of those documents but still not the sublimit endorsement. Three weeks later, Ironshore attempted to add a sublimit. RPG officials refused to accept it. Ironshore refused to accept any further claims on the Double Tree Hotel property. Both sides went to court. The trial judge in Georgia concluded that the policy provided up to its limits, $26.2 million, because it did not include any sublimit endorsement. The judge also ruled against Ironshores contention that it should be allowed to re-do the policy with the endorsement. But the appellate court found some wiggle room for the insurance company. Georgias rules of contract interpretation require the court to look at the circumstances and the contract in whole: The RPG policy clearly references the sublimit endorsement, along with the statement that the most Ironshore would pay for wind-driven rain is the sublimit. Without that, the policy is manifestly incomplete, the judges said. Citing a 2002 appeals court decision, the judge wrote that the test is not what the insurer intended its words to mean, but rather what a reasonable person in the insureds position would understand them to mean. It also allowed non-contract, or verbal evidence to support Ironshores argument that all sides intended for there to be a sublimit. In the end, the court found that the facts of the case were in dispute and reversed the $26 million judgment against Ironshore. But the court also upheld the trial judges dismissal of Ironshores request to reform the policy by including the complete endorsement documentation. Its unknown if the hotel company will seek a further appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court. Attorneys for RPG, Chris Cosper and Jordan Bell of the Hull Barrett law firm in Georgia, could not be reached for comment Monday. Top photo: This enhanced satellite image shows Hurricane Florence off the eastern coast of the United States on Sept. 12, 2018. (NOAA via AP) Topics Georgia North Carolina Liberty Mutual New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! Federal safety regulators have fined a Jacksonville behavioral hospital more than $15,000 over what they called shocking findings, including almost 200 violent attacks on workers in one year. Workers at Wekiva Springs Hospital were repeatedly assaulted, bitten, punched, kicked and pinned down by patients, causing multiple broken bones, concussions and other injuries, and the hospital failed to take steps to improve conditions, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in a bulletin. Wekiva Springs Center exposed the people they hired to assist and care for their patients to an alarming rate of workplace violence. They also failed to take sufficient steps to change ineffective procedures for protecting their workers and, as a result, the dangers continued unchecked, said Scott Tisdale, OSHAs area office director. He noted that in 2022, the center had more than 180 reports of violent incidents, 70% of which required a police response. Among the incidents: A patient threw a chair at a mental health associate and three nurses in an attempt to leave the facility. A nurse was kicked in the stomach. A patient repeatedly slammed a mental health associates head into an air conditioning unit, causing a concussion. This facilitys lack of action to protect their employees safety and health is concerning, to say the least, Tisdale said in the statement. No one should ever work in fear of death, violent assault and serious injury just to earn a living. The OSHA citation letter contends that the center should have: used trained security guards to respond to aggressive patients and should have trained staff to level of security guards; ensured that physicians were on hand during the night shift to authorize emergency treatment of violent patients who did not respond to regular medications; established a comprehensive workplace violence prevention program; provided affected employees with therapists, personal alarms and communication systems; and provided stronger seclusion room doors that cant be broken open by patients; removed furniture that can be thrown around; and installed Plexiglas-type barriers for nurses stations. The facility employs about 218 workers is owned by UHS of Delaware Inc., one of the largest health care systems in the country. The corporation, a subsidiary of Universal Health Services, has a long history of OSHA violations, the government agency noted. In January of this year, an administrative law judge found that the company exposed employees at a Massachusetts hospital to workplace violence without adequate protections in 2019, particularly at times when hospital staffing was low. A judge also sanctioned UHS for destroying surveillance videos that showed workplace violence. UHS has contested the latest citation, OSHA said. The company, which operates about two dozen facilities in Florida, has seen many workers compensation claims filed against it. The Florida Office of Judges of Compensation Claims shows more than 130 contested petitions for benefits in the last 15 years, and several more involving the Wekiva Springs facility. Topics Workers' Compensation Vancouver, British Columbia - June 20, 2023 (Newsfile Corp.) (Investorideas.com Newswire) Dynasty Gold Corp. (TSXV: DYG) (FSE: D5G1) (OTC Pink: DGDCF) ("Dynasty" or the "Company") is pleased to report assay results received from new sampling of previously unsampled sections of core from holes DP22-02 and DP22-03 from the last drill program. Mineralization in DP22-03 has been extended from 51 meters to 73.5 meters at an average grade of 8.42 g/t gold, which includes 6.5 meters of 72.23 g/t gold. Additionally, the recalculated assays in DP22-02 have improved the average grade from 189 meters to 223.5 meters to 5.98 g/t gold (See Table 1 below). "We are pleased to receive these new assays from unsampled sections of the previously reported holes which significantly increase the grade and length of intersected mineralization. The Property has the geological characteristics consistent with an orogenic gold system. Historical drilling was primarily focused on near surface mineralization. Our last drilling program was designed to start testing the depth potential with our deepest holes drilled to date. We are excited to start our next drill program. This will give us a chance to expand on the known high-grade gold zones and test further at depth," states Ivy Chong, Chief Executive Officer. Drill holes DP22-02 and DP22-03 were drilled in open areas down-dip from drill hole TC07-02 that was drilled by Teck Resources Limited and returned 1.5 meters of 16 g/t gold. Mineralization generally correlates with magnetic "highs" as identified in the drone magnetic survey conducted in 2022. The 2022 drill holes demonstrate potential continuation of the high-grade gold mineralization in quartz-veined mafic metavolcanic rocks. For further details, please refer to the Company press release of January 10, 2023. The true widths of drill intercepts are not known. The 2023 drill program will be focused on testing for lateral and vertical extensions of the higher-grade gold mineralization as well as extending the Pelham zone to both the east and west. Quality Assurance & Quality Control The core was logged geologically and sample intervals selected in Dynasty's core shack in Dinorwic, Ontario. They were securely transported and diamond sawed in the presence of the Company's consulting geologist, and personally delivered to the ALS Global Geochemistry Laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Dynasty used ALS Global for Au-AA23 gold fire assays and the ME-ICP61 33 multi-elements packages for the minor element analyses. Oreas standards, blanks and duplicates were inserted into the sample stream to check on the comparative accuracy of the gold assays received. Gold fire assays and 4-acid-dissolution geochem analyses were conducted on the samples at the ALS Global Geochemistry Laboratory in Vancouver, B.C, and all gold values higher than 10 g/t were re-assayed by using Au-GRA21 gravimetric fire assays. The technical information in this release has been reviewed by Peter Holbek, P.Geo, M.Sc., an independent consultant and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. About Dynasty Gold Corp. Dynasty Gold Corp. is a Canadian exploration company currently focused on gold exploration in North America with projects located in the Manitou-Stormy Lake greenstone belt in Ontario and in the Midas gold camp in Nevada. The Company is currently advancing its Thundercloud gold resource in northwest Ontario. A NI 43-101 Independent Technical Report, September 27, 2021 can also be found on the Company and SEDAR websites. The 100% owned Golden Repeat gold project in the Midas gold camp in Elko County, Nevada, is surrounded by a number of large-scale operating mines. For more information, please visit the Company's website www.dynastygoldcorp.com. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DYNASTY GOLD CORP. "Ivy Chong" Ivy Chong, President & CEO For additional information please contact: Vancouver Office: Ivy Chong Phone: 604.633.2100. Email: ichong@dynastygoldcorp.com This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. 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That's all it takes to get an article published on Investor Ideas - Learn More Source: Streetwise Reports June 20, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) In May on Streetwise, one company announced results of an MRE that saw 614g/t silver equivalent. Another company released assay results showcasing 225.0 g/t Ag over 4.5m. Read one to see the top news in gold on Streetwise last May. In the lead-up to the summer, several companies have provided interesting updates on how they are preparing for the future. From assay results to released MREs, these companies had the best gold releases on Streetwise in May. Heliostar Metals Ltd. Heliostar Metals Ltd. (HSTR:TSX.V; HSTXF:OTC; RGG1:FRA) released the results of its initial drilling on the Ana Paula project in Mexico. This drilling program is ongoing and targets the high-grade Panel at Ana Paula, which the company believes to contain the potential to hold a high-margin, underground gold mine development opportunity. Analyst Mike Niehuser said in a research note from Roth Capital Partners, "We have focused on the Ana Paula Project as it is the most important component of this valuation assessment." The company released the results from its first two holes drilled on the property, Hole AP-23-292, and Hole AP-23-291. Hole AP-23-292 was drilled to 101.1m at 8.3g/t gold, including 53.2m at 11.0g/t gold. Hole AP-23-291 was drilled to 118.5m at 5.4g/t gold, including 44.5m at 11.0g/t gold, including 4.0m at 48.5g/t gold. In light of the results, CEO Charles Funk said, "Drill results like this are rare anywhere in the world. Ana Paula's high grade and consistently wide intervals of gold mineralization demonstrate the underground mine potential." In addition to Ana Paula, Heliostar also has the San Antonio Gold project, located in the Baja California Sur state of Mexico. Development is on hold while the company waits for an environmental permit for the project. According to Reuters, Charles Walter Funk owns 1.07% of the company with 1.58 million shares, George R. Ireland owns 0.73% with 1.08 million shares, Samuel David Anderson owns 0.13% with 0.19 million shares, and Mahesh Nalinda Liyanage owns 0.08% with 0.12 million shares. AIMS Asset Management Sdn Bhd owns 7.18% with 10.61 million shares, Euro Pacific Asset Management, LLC, owns 4.21% with 6.21 million shares, Mount Everest Finance S.A. owns 2.10% with 3.10 million shares, U.S. Global Investors, Inc. owns 0.91% with 1.35 million shares, and Konwave AG owns 0.48% with 0.70 million shares. There are 147.77 million shares outstanding, with 1.41.63 million free-float traded shares. The company has a market cap of CA$44.71 million. It trades in the 52-week period between CA$0.20 and CA$0.57. West Red Lake Gold Mines Inc. The junior gold exploration company West Red Lake Gold Mines Inc. (WRLG:TSXV;WRLGF:OTCQB) announced its findings on the Rowan Property. The company intersected 10.34g/t gold over 8.0m, 68.46g/t gold over 1.1m, and 13.21g/t gold over 5.5m. These results are from the ten holes out of 16 that have been drilled so far. The remaining six holes are pending assay results. West Red Lake reports that 90% of the holes have shown high intervals grading of not less than 5g/t gold. The company has also reported that 50% of the intersected and completed drill holes have visible gold. The findings confirmed the company's expectations regarding gold grade and confirmed the geologic model, and helped bolster the existing high-grade 827,462-ounce inferred mineral resource at the Rowan Mine. CEO Tom Meredith said of the findings, "This impressive first round of assays from the Phase 1 drilling program at the Rowan Property confirmed (our) expectations based on the numerous accounts of mineralization observed in the drill core by our geologic team." Per Reuters, Frank Giustra owns 0.82% with 0.47 million shares, Thomas W. Meredith owns 0.46% with 0.26 million shares, Shane James Williams owns 0.21% with 0.12 million shares, Jasvir Kaloti owns 0.11% with 0.06 million shares, John B. Heslop owns 0.09% with 0.05 million shares, and Susan Marie Neale owns 0.05% with 0.03 million. Accilent Capital Management Inc. owns 14.01% with 7.91 million shares, 1291308 B.C. LTD owns 13.36% with 7.54 million shares, Sestini & Co. Pension Trustees Ltd owns 2.56% with 1.45 million shares, and Modern Farmer Media Inc. owns 1.17% with 0.66 million shares. There are 56.45 million shares outstanding, with 45.79 million free float shares, and the company has a market cap of CA$26.9 million. It trades in the 52-week range between CA$0.31 and CA$0.93. Lion One Metals Ltd. Lion One Metals Ltd. (LIO:TSX.V; LOMLF:OTCQX; LLO:ASX) recently began mining high-grade gold mineralized material on the Tuvatu deposit in Fiji. According to Mike Niehuser with Roth research, the first lode was found unexpectedly near the portal of main decline, and the second found higher-than-anticipated grades. Niehuser commented," Experience exceeding expectations is consistent with our view that the Tuvatu deposit has the potential to surpass the long-lived Vatukoula mine in Fiji." He also noted that construction is already ongoing, with a December 23 due date for processing material. "Early experience in mine development suggests bespoke underground mining approach," Niehuser continued. "In our opinion, this suggests that a one-size-fits-all approach to efficiently produce low-cost results may miss gold mineralization that may be mined through a more nuanced method." The company's ability to work during Fiji's wet winter season was noted as an encouraging sign. The company has eliminated potential delays by transporting all of the essential bulk materials to the site and developing various infrastructure components. The company also released several sets of assay results from its drilling in April, further defining Tuvatu as a minable resource. Some of the highlights of the assay results are as follows: TGC-0034 - 88.07 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over 5.7m (including 1,396 g/t gold over 0.3m) TUG-056 - 27.52 g/t gold over 5.55m TGC-0003 - 20.93 g/t gold over 7.2m And from May 18: 2 g/t gold over 0.56 m 48 g/t gold over 0.19 m 99 g/t gold over 0.19 m 68 g/t gold (grab sample) According to Niehuser, " In our opinion, as Tuvatu in the Navilawa Caldera has been identified as an alkaline gold system, it has the potential to grow into a multi-million oz gold resource." Technical Analyst Clive Maund is also optimistic about the stock. In a June 14 update he wrote, "In any event, the selloff looks overdone, especially as the company is set to pour its first gold later this year, so this looks a good point to buy, especially as the Accumulation line has been creeping higher in recent days and momentum recovering. If it does break to the upside after the recent tight standoff, it is likely to be with a large white candle." About 14% of the company is held by insiders, about 6% by institutions, about 20% by other investors, and about 60% is retail. The CEO, Berukoff, owns about 11.8% or 20.9 million shares, according to Reuters. Franklin Advisers Inc. owns 4.27% or 7.56 million shares. The company has a market cap of CA$142.31 million, and trades in the 52-week range between CA$0.59 and CA$1.66. Niehuser noted Lion One currently has 206.25 million shares outstanding, CA$36.8 million in cash, and CA$25.3 million in debt. Emerita Resources Corp. Emerita Resources Corp. (EMO:TSX.V; EMOTF:OTCMKTS;LLJA:FSE) released the assay results from its drilling on the La Romanara deposit in the Iberian Belt West project. These assay results also had implications for the MRE the company was set to release. According to Joaquin Merina, "These holes are being incorporated into the block model for the forthcoming MRE . . . Assay data for the remaining few drill holes is being incorporated as they are received." Some of the highlights of the assay results were as follows: Drill Hole LR096's upper lens intersected 0.3% Cu over 5.4m at a depth of 512.6m, along with 1.5% Pb, 3.0% Zn, 1.24 g/t Au, and 80.6 g/t Ag. The lower lens intersected 0.2% Cu, 2.0% Pb, 3.4% Zn, 2.28 g/t Au, and 225.0 g/t Ag over 4.5m at a depth of 518.0m. Drill Hole LR142's upper lens intersected 0.3% Cu, 1.6% Pb, 1.5% Zn, 2.61 g/t Au, and 193.5 g/t Ag over 30.5m at a depth of 517.2m, including 0.5% Cu, 3.6% Pb, 0.4% Zn, 7.54 g/t Au, and 675.7 g/t Ag over 5.40m. The lower lens intersected 0.2% Cu, 3.1% Pb, 9.4% Zn, 1.79 g/t Au, and 141.8 g/t Ag over 7.45m at a depth of 518.6m. Drill Hole LR144's upper lens intersected 0.4% Cu, 4.1% Pb, 8.0% Zn, 2.96 g/t Au, and 149.5 g/t Ag over 1.6m at a depth of 91.4m. The lower lens intersected 0.2% Cu, 2.9% Pb, 1.0% Zn, 2.34 g/t Au, and 119.8 g/t Ag over 97.3m. Management plans to advance the Iberian Belt West with a PFS by the end of 2023. Additionally, environmental baseline studies began in April of 2022, and Emerita planned to submit an application for an exploitation permit in Q2 of 2023. An alteration zone was discovered between El Cura and La Infanta, indicating mineralization in places that had not been previously considered. In light of these results, Sadif Investment Analytics gave Emerita an Above Average rating, saying, "Emerita Resources Corp's relatively attractive valuation is due to high price attractiveness and positive market multiples." Management and insiders own 15.17% of Emerita, while institutions own 16.85%. The company has a market cap of CA$166 million, with 207.32 million shares, 8.8 million warrants, and 18.85 options. The company trades in the 52-week period between CA$0.56 and CA$1.88. Outcrop Silver & Gold Corp. Last but not least, Outcrop Silver & Gold Corp. (OCG:TSX.V; OCGSF:OTCQX; MRG1:DB) also made our Best of May list for its encouraging look at its Santa Ana project. The company released a maiden resource estimate for its flagship Santa Ana silver-gold project in Colombia, which meets other projects in terms of grade and project upside, according to Stuart McDougall. Santa Ana has a total resource of 27,000,000 ounces of silver and 140,000 ounces of gold, according to an estimate prepared by AMC Consultants. This resource includes seven veins of mineralization. Indicated resources amount to 1,230,000 tons of 446g/t Ag and 1.64g/t Au.McDougal has stated that he believes that Santa Ana is undervalued. The 530g/t high grade of Santa Ana's resource compares well to that of similar silver projects. However, despite the equivalent grade, Outcrop is trading at a 40% discount when compared to its peers. The Santa Ana resource estimate also reveals significant potential for expansion. Each of the seven veins remains open at depth and along strike, and the project contains additional veins that have been identified but are untested. However, these veins bear similar geological characteristics to the veins included in the estimate. Outcrop intends to drill test some of these new targets later in the year. These factors lead McDougall to believe that this company offers investors a significant potential return. Outcrop's share at the time of the article, CA$0.28, could increase to CA$0.75 per shares, an increase of 173%. McDougall rated Outcrop as a Speculative Buy for investors. Initial indicated resources are estimated at 1.2 million tons grading 614g/t silver equivalent, containing 24.1 million ounces of Ag eq. Initial inferred resources are estimated at 966,000 tons grading 435g/t eq., containing 13.5 Moz Ag eq. The report classified 64% of the resource as indicated, compared to 54% for Dolly Varden and 45% for Vizsla. The Outcrop MRE also had an M&I EV/ounce Ag of US$2.23 compared to US$5.35 median for its peers. According to the data, OCG's resource has the third largest number of ounces among its explorer peers with 37.6 million silver equivalent ounces after Vizsla with 201.8 million SEO and Dolly Varden with 90.9 million SEO. The MRE further supported McDougal's claim that the Santa Ana project could have the potential to increase in value. Mining financier Eric Sprott owns about 14% of Outcrop. Management and directors own about 12%, and the rest is held by high-net-worth investors and retail, the company said. Major inside shareholders include Executive Chairman of the Board Ian Slater, with about 10.1% or 20 million shares, and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Hebert, with 0.95% or 1.88 million shares, according to Reuters. Outcrop has a market cap of CA$70.11 million with 197.6 million shares outstanding and 148.5 million free-floating. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.43 and CA$0.10. All in all, May had a number of great gold releases, and we at Streetwise cannot wait to see what the rest of June has in store. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp Get Great Trading Ideas and News Alerts Guest posts and sponsored content - Got $100? That's all it takes to get an article published on Investor Ideas - Learn More Source: Streetwise Reports June 20, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) BioLargo Inc.'s pet odor control product, Pooph, is "taking the market by storm." Find out how this company is a 'Strong Buy,' according to one analyst. Cleantech company BioLargo Inc. (BLGO:OTCQB) saw its revenue increase 288% for the three months ending March 31, 2023, compared to the same period in 2022. Revenue also increased 78% compared to Q4 2022, and the company's net loss was reduced by 68% YoY in Q1 2023 to US$494,000. The jump was fueled in part by ONM Environmental, BioLargo's odor and VOC control subsidiary, which makes the pet odor control product Pooph, which is finding commercial success at Walmart stores and online, the company said. "It was launched a little over a year ago, and now it's just taking the market by storm," BioLargo President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Calvert told the Stock Day podcast. "I think it's in about 3,000 (Walmart) stores now, and featured on Chewy.com and direct to market . . . infomercials and things like that. And, of course, Amazon. But here's the thing: more big retailers are also coming on board. So, we think we're going to enjoy the fruit of that continued expansion for quite some time." The company said it expected a reduction in topline revenue in Q2 as initial Walmart stocking orders of Pooph decrease. The Catalyst: Stock a 'Strong Buy,' Analyst Says Another of BioLargo's core products addresses contamination by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are long-lasting chemicals that break very slowly over time and are persistent in people, animals, food, and the environment. DuPont and 3M are facing massive lawsuits over the substances, also known as "forever chemicals." Technical Analyst Clive Maund of CliveMaund.com wrote that the lawsuits could be a "powerful catalyst" for the company's stock. "BioLargo is in all the right areas for growth, and the continued heavy volume since 2019 coupled with the strongly up trending Accumulation line since the start of 2021 does suggest that a major bull market is incubating," he wrote. "Clearly, if even one of the defendants turns to BioLargo to address clearing up this mess, it should be a Big Deal for the company." The company's products also address advanced water and wastewater treatment, odor control, air quality, efficient and safe energy storage, and control of infectious diseases. The strong Accumulation line, which recently made new highs, is a very positive sign, as is the fact that the price is below its now flat 200-day moving average, which improves its potential for recovery, Maund wrote. "After drifting lower for several months, the price bounced off the strong support a few days ago and now looks set to ascend again, especially given the major catalyst alluded to above that could really 'light a fire under it,'" he noted. Maund said anyone holding a position on BioLargo should stay long. He rated the stock a Strong Buy, not speculative. Pooph Pet Odor Product a Standout Performer During the first quarter of 2023, the company's ONM Environmental odor and volatile organic compound (VOC) control subsidiary was the standout performer. Revenues grew 491% compared to the first quarter of 2022 to US$3.5 million. Its operating income grew 10,569% YoY to US$1.4 million, BioLargo said. Pooph, the pet odor control product, comprised 90% of ONM's revenues and 86% of BioLargo's revenues company-wide. "As the company has evolved, we've developed this incredible skill at providing full-service solutions ... that allow us to take innovation all the way through the cycle into commercial adoption," CEO Calvert said. "We've got a number of commercial initiatives that are really significantly breaking out for the company . . . (It) took a long time, a lot of money to get to this moment. And now we're really enjoying the fruits of that significant investment in technology and assets." The company says Pooph is based on its proprietary odor control technology and is marketed by Ikigai Marketing Works LLC through a national advertising campaign. It said it destroys odors instantly on a molecular level and is clear, odorless, and non-staining. PFAS Costs Are 'Astronomical' Revenues at BioLargo Engineering, Science & Technologies decreased by 45% YoY in the first quarter to US$193,000. Its operating loss increased US$368,000 from US$35,000 in Q1 2022. But Calvert said the company was "really bullish on the engineering group." There has been some delay in larger contracts, he said, and the group was involved in significant research and development. "Our confidence hasn't waned a bit," he said. Engineers have been working on expanding PFAS solutions to the point of scale and building commercial readiness, Calvert said. A recent report compiled by Swedish non-governmental organization (NGO) ChemSec figured the societal cost of using PFAS across the global economy is as high as US$17.5 trillion a year. Meanwhile, the same study found that profits for the world's largest PFAS manufacturers totaled just US$4 billion annually. The report said the "astronomical" cost of PFAS use is taken on by governments forced to clean up pollution and individuals who suffer health consequences. Ownership and Share Structure About 14.6% of BioLargo is owned by insiders and management, according to Yahoo Finance. They include Chief Science Officer Kenneth Code with 8.75%, CEO Calvert with 3.43%, and Director Jack Strommen with 1.52%, Reuters reported. About 0.04% is held by the institution First American Trust, Reuters said. The rest, about 85%, is retail. Its market cap is US$52.2 million, with about 285 million shares outstanding, about 243 million free-floating. It trades in a 52-week range of US$0.32 and US$0.155. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp Get Great Trading Ideas and News Alerts Guest posts and sponsored content - Got $100? That's all it takes to get an article published on Investor Ideas - Learn More Source: Streetwise Reports June 20, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) ATI Airtest anticipates a bright future as markets seek energy efficient technology. Read more to see how the company expects for sales to increase. ATI Airtest Technologies Inc. (AAT:TSX.V; AATGF:OTC) has released an update on its recent sales activities. The company has added additional sales agents and expects that sales in Ontario will increase in the wake of the company's recent success with specialty food stores in Toronto. Anticipating an Upturn in Sales ATI Airtest has focused on expanding sales activities since the appointment of its new President, Lorne Stewart. The company has added two new sales agents, Chris Hampson, and Todd Points, to serve in Ontario and the Western United States, respectively. The company previously announced its partnership with a Toronto-based specialty food store, and the installation has proceeded according to expectations. This installation has proved the efficacy of Airtest's IAQEye wireless CO2 sensor, and additional installations are expected to proceed in the future. The Ontario market, in particular, is expected to yield additional sales. In the last few weeks, site surveys were completed at a casino location, whose operator has over 30 locations across Canada, in the Greater Toronto Area, and a grocery store, whose operator has over 180 stores in Western Canada, in the Vancouver area. The company expects to receive financial support for these installations through Save On Energy and Enbridge, both of which it has been meeting with regarding its proprietary IAQEye. According to Ted Konyi, CEO of Airtest, "Although the most recent financials don't reflect this increased activity, I believe they soon will. In addition, cost-cutting measures and increased margins, implemented at the beginning of April, should result in a substantial improvement in profitability for the second quarter. With additional sales initiatives planned for the balance of the year, the company should show substantial improvement over previous periods." In the United States market, the company has been supplying a national system integrator with CO2 sensors for a refit of Lowe's stores. Additionally, the company has seen success on numerous projects, from parking garage ventilation control systems, and sales of the company's new unique CO sensor, which communicates digitally with all building management systems, are also growing rapidly. The company has also seen some sales activity in the United Kingdom. A Proven Technology with Big Savings Ron Struthers of Struthers' Resource Stock Report described Airtest as a "proven technology with big savings," based on its installations with Lowes, IKEA, and other stores across Canada. With Canadian tire stores in Ontario, the company's technology delivered over CA$240,000 in savings on natural gas. Based on rising energy demand, rising energy costs, and the company's use of subsidies, Struthers believes Airtest will perform well. Struthers also noted the company's low entry-level stock price for investors. Chris Temple of The National Investor said of Airtest, "If the company can keep up with what seems likely to be much more brisk demand for its offerings, it seems that the healthy quarter-over-quarter revenue that should ensue will foster a continuation in the share price rebound." The HVAC industry is expected to increase in value from US$25.6 billion in 2019 to US$35.8 billion in 2030 and has a compound annual growth rate of 9.7% from 2019 to 2025. This growth is being fueled by demand for energy-efficient utilities and an increase in construction in some areas, such as the southern United States. A Focus on Sales ATI Airtest has recently hired a new President who has experience in the HVAC industry and intends to focus on sales. Sales have started to trend upward for the company. A number of pilot installations have been planned within the next few months with large customers. The company has an energy-efficient product suite that is expected to reduce operating expenses and carbon emissions. [OWNERSHIP_CHART-10043] Ownership and Share Structure Management and insiders own approximately 15.26% of the company. Robert Bruce Mebruer owns 12.26% of the company with 27.30 million shares, George Burton Graham owns 2.55% with 5.67 million shares, and Lorne Kendall Ogden Stewart owns 0.45% with 1.00 million shares. The company reports no institutional shareholders or strategic investors. According to Airtest, it has CA$300k in the bank, with a monthly burn rate of CA$140k and a monthly profit of CA$30k. The company reports no potential negatives. Airtest does not work with any IR firms or influencers. Chris Temple with The National Investor provides analysis and news coverage of the company. There are 222.67 million shares outstanding and 188.7 million free-float traded shares. The company has a market cap of CA$3.34 million. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp Get Great Trading Ideas and News Alerts Guest posts and sponsored content - Got $100? That's all it takes to get an article published on Investor Ideas - Learn More It was during he lockdown of 2020 that a remarkable discovery was made in Paul McCartneys office. A treasure trove of almost 1,000 unseen photographs taken by McCartney on a 35mm Pentax camera that had caught his bandmates reactions to Beatlemania, the Fab Fours experiences together in cities such as Miami, as well as candid images of those closest to them. In a market flooded with Beatles tomes, 1964: Eyes of the Storm is one of the most valuable insights into the cultural shift the group spearheaded at the start of the 1960s. The publication of the book coincides with McCartneys 81st birthday. In the foreword, he explains, Here was my record of our first huge trip, a photographic journal of The Beatles in six cities beginning in Liverpool and London, followed by Paris (where John and I had been ordinary hitchhikers three years before), and then what we regarded as the big time, our first visit as a group to America. The book includes an essay by Rosie Broadley, 20th Century Collections senior curator at the National Portrait Gallery, the London venue also hosting an exhibition of the photographs. One of the self-portraits in a mirror. Paris, 1964. Picture: Paul McCartney Broadley explains: Paul has been really involved through every step of the process, he comes to London regularly and made a lot of decisions about the exhibition but he also listens to our thoughts. When you were thinking about whether or not to include an image, he would tell you a story. There was one picture which to us was just of an old man, he said: Oh thats Bill Corbett, our driver, he was a laugh. He was an Eastender who blagged his way onto the Paris trip, he told us he spoke French, which he didnt, to get the job. Broadley says, that without McCartneys memories, the exhibition wouldnt be as rich. When Paul came and had a look, for him it was the first time he was seeing these images bigger than a thumbnail. That was a really wonderful moment watching his reaction to these old faces and friends. Paul McCartney's view of the group being chased by members of the media in New York. Picture: Paul McCartney McCartneys sense of composition is aided by state-of-the-art technology for the time. Were not sure how he got the Pentax, explains Broadley, but they were possibly given one at a camera shop; it would be like Apple giving Harry Styles the latest iPhone today. In terms of cameras, they were ahead of the curve in 1963 and early adopters of those kinds of cameras and the developing technology. David Bailey who became the quintessential 1960s British photographer had acquired the 35mm SLR [single lens reflex] only two years before, so its the cutting edge of taking pictures on the move. McCartney captured the America of old blues songs when The Beatles were forced to take a train from New York to Washington due to a snowstorm. One shot of a trainyard worker catching sight of the band offers a sense of blue-collar America absorbing their arrival. McCartney was left wondering: Did he mention having seen The Beatles at the dinner table? Perhaps one of the most striking images is of photographers chasing the band around the streets of Manhattan, which also features on the books front cover. Pauls shot is from the back of a car through the window, explains Broadley. He didnt feel threatened on that trip and hadnt really had time to digest what this all might mean as well as the consequences for the rest of his life. The boys didnt know Americans, only what they had seen through films, they couldnt believe they were being chased around the street. The image is not as threatening as what we might think. George Harrison in Miami. Picture: Paul McCartney There are also casual images of personalities the band admired, such as Ronnie Spector at the Plaza Hotel, as well as close family that include George Harrisons sister Louise, who had recently moved to Illinois and dropped by for a visit when the band were on tour. One of the photographers personal favourites in the collection is of Harrison wearing dark glasses, smoking a cigarette while collecting a scotch and Coke from a girl in a dazzling yellow swimming costume". McCartney explains: The composition was deliberate, and Im glad that I didnt move farther away but kept George as the focus of the image. The evocative Miami shot suggests glamour, sexual awakening and freedom. Its a world away from the black and white images taken just a few months before in Liverpool and London. Those pictures are almost claustrophobic and speak to a post-war Britain that was epitomised in the kitchen sink film dramas of the time, says Broadley. The dressing rooms are in old cinemas which were shared with several other bands and singers. Theres no sign of anything stronger than a cup of tea in the British images, which include McCartney capturing some evocative pictures of his then-girlfriend Jane Asher. While he suggests the black and white portraits dont do her copper hair justice, from the same roll of film he has no problem capturing the spirited energy of a young and similarly flame-haired Cilla Black, also without the aid of colour film. That picture taken from the reflection of her dressing room mirror bears a resemblance to a self-portrait of McCartney in Paris. The image is almost like a still from a French New Wave film by Jean-Luc Goddard, says Broadly. Its of a confident young man who takes it all in his stride, the composed selfie is not a surprise. He was always interested in art, more academic, enjoyed art during his teenage years, and was a high achiever. John Lennon. Picture: Paul McCartney Back then, McCartney had won a prize for a drawing of St Aidan's church in the Liverpool suburb of Speke where he lived, and with the prize money bought a book about contemporary British art in the 1950s. We also find McCartney absorbing Paris with one shot of an elegantly poised sitter in the George V hotel suite, as well as images from when les Beatles shared the bill with French pop sensation Sylvie Vartan. This fresh presentation of McCartneys dynamic snaps stokes the early energy of The Beatles while offering a fly-on-the-wall view behind the scenes at recordings of the Ed Sullivan Show. Lennon is effortlessly cool in rehearsals, getting the bit between his teeth when playing his iconic black Rickenbacker 325 Capri. Broadley suggests other images of Lennon are less familiar. Theres a lot of John with his glasses, he refused to wear them for official photos at that time. Hes looking less confident, biting his nails. In others he is playing for the camera having a laugh, you see him leaping into a pool in Miami. Theres no tension at this point, they are all working towards the same goal and enjoying the fruits of it all. A previous rehearsal on the Ed Sullivan Show reveals a stand-in for George Harrison getting carried away while offering his fevered impression of a Beatle. Paul must have handed his camera to someone else; we get a view of him at rehearsals in one of the sets developed for Ed Sullivan. George had tonsillitis so Vince Calandra from the shows crew stepped in and had the time of his life. Its clear from the pictures, everyone involved with The Beatles was doing just that. WHEN Amelia Withers woke up one morning with lots of spots on her skin, her mum, Deirdre Green, thought the then four-year-old had chicken pox. It wasnt a big rash. It was loads of spots all over her body. It started small and got bigger. They were on her stomach, back, thighs and neck, recalls the mum of two, who lives in Freemount, Co Cork. Amelia, now 10, didnt have chicken pox on that February morning. She had guttate psoriasis, a form of psoriasis that comes on suddenly with the widespread appearance of small, red teardrop-shaped patches a streptococcal throat infection often precedes onset. We tried treating her with creams first. It was extremely hard to get an appointment with a dermatologist privately. Eventually, I did there had to be tears on the phone, says Green. Prescribed phototherapy a form of ultraviolet light therapy three times a week, this worked well for Amelia. It cleared her body. Her scalp was one of the worst-affected parts and when she started school that September she still had some there, but that cleared too. But the following year again in the spring Amelias psoriasis returned. With her seven-year-old son, Ronan, plagued with eczema, Green eventually got both children seen by a dermatologist in the public health system who put them on a tablet treatment that blocks inflammation-causing cells and enzymes. They had their bloods checked every few months. Then the tablets changed to a pen injection weekly, which I was able to do. It worked very well at the start. Then the dose had to be increased and they had to take folic acid supplements. Amelias condition again cleared up only to return when she was around eight. It had gone not a mark and then it came back, on her scalp first. Her scalp was coated white and Id have to scrape it off. Now on a biologic treatment, taken by injection, Amelia again hasnt a mark on her skin and is doing really well, says her mum. Aside from their skin problems, both children are never sick. Theyve very strong immunity Amelia has never been on antibiotics. She is among the 1% of children with psoriasis, a chronic, systemic inflammatory skin disorder and an autoimmune disease affecting at least 73,000 people in Ireland. Dr Cathal OConnor, clinical research fellow in paediatric dermatology at Corks South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital Knock-on effects According to the Irish Skin Foundation, skin cells normally reproduce and mature as they move from the deeper layers of the epidermis to the surface, a process that typically takes about 28 days. With psoriasis, this process accelerates, taking only about four days. This causes a build-up of dead skin cells and at the same time blood flow to the skin increases and the epidermis thickens, leading to the development of red, raised plaques. You get these scaly, silvery, thick plaques, often on elbows, knees and scalp, says Dr Cathal OConnor, clinical research fellow in paediatric dermatology at Corks South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital. Other hints can be in the belly button and in the lower back, though it can be on the whole body. With some types of psoriasis, you get it in the armpit and groin. Nail problems can also occur. OConnor explains that, because of the very extensive blood supply to the affected parts, the skin bleeds easily. Psoriasis isnt usually very itchy, though it can be and this itch can be uncomfortable. But psoriasis is not just a skin disease. People who have it are at risk of developing psoriatic arthritis, which commonly affects the joints of fingers, toes and spine, and the condition is associated with a slightly higher risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. OConnor says psoriasis varies greatly in severity with about 60% of patients presenting with a mild form, 30% with moderate, and 10% with severe. Having it in childhood might suggest worse psoriasis. Its a strongly genetic condition, especially when it presents in children and the genetics are complex. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins might have it and not just first-degree relatives. Because of the genetic element, when parents spot signs of psoriasis on their children, theyll often identify it immediately. Parental concern is usually around the cosmetic impact or that children might be bullied, get called names like Scaly at school, says OConnor. The practical fallout of the condition also has an impact. People get upset about the scaling. There could be scales all over the bed, where youd need to hoover it. And there can be bleeding on bedclothes and in the persons clothing. OConnor says children can feel self-conscious about having psoriasis. Other children might be asking, Whats wrong with your skin? Is it contagious? So we teach children to say, Oh, its psoriasis you wont catch it off me. Psoriasis is not curable, but there are treatments, which vary depending on severity and location of the disease. They include topical treatments, applied directly to the skin. Mild cases can be treated with anti-inflammatory creams, ointments, moisturisers, which help skin not to be as scaly, says OConnor. For more severe psoriasis in older children, ultraviolet light therapy, also called phototherapy, can be offered this is delivered in hospital dermatology departments. It involves coming to the hospital two to three times a week for three months. A very specific type of ultraviolet light is shone onto the affected skin in a highly specialised booth in which the child stands, says OConnor, adding that the first exposure might be just 30 seconds in duration and this gradually increases, with the longest exposure being two to three minutes. You start to see the benefits after about three weeks. Systemic medications and biologic treatments are very targeted in approach and have revolutionised the treatment of severe psoriasis, according to OConnor. There are excellent treatments now. They dont cure psoriasis but theyre extremely effective. Some children might need to take only a couple of injections a year often, severe cases can be 100% clear on treatment. But even if the condition clears, you need to keep using the treatments. Sometimes psoriasis does go into remission itself, but its uncommon to have permanent remission, though you might get a good long break from it. Practical advice The Irish Skin Foundation has the following skincare tips to teach your child: Be gentle. Dont scrub skin, or take a bath or shower in hot water use warm water only. Pat skin dry after cleansing rather than rubbing and irritating it. Keep your skin well moisturised dry skin itches, tempting you to scratch. Applying a moisturiser immediately after shower/bath helps lock in moisture. Emollients and soap substitutes are an important part of treatment. Keep nails trimmed youre less likely to scratch yourself. Wear cotton next to your skin it is much less likely to irritate skin compared with fabrics like wool. Wear sun protection. Psoriasis can benefit from sunlight but sunburn can cause psoriasis flare-ups. In Freemount, Amelia is an active girl who plays sport and loves swimming. Green recalls her daughter saying that others would ask about the marks on her face and scalp. She has a great bunch of friends. But as children get older, they become more conscious of their appearance, especially girls. Medication is what changed her life and she has no side-effects from it. I feel if I hadnt put her on it, psoriasis would have affected her emotionally. Irish Skin Foundations Ask-a-Nurse Helpline (irishskin.ie/ask-our-dermatology-nurse) operates on an appointment model people seeking support can be matched with nurse best suited to help with the skin condition/issue theyre experiencing. More information on psoriasis: irishskin.ie/psoriasis This article was first published on October 7, 2019. Paul-Henri Nargeolet is believed to be on board a submarine that has gone missing during a tour of the Titanic wreckage. Paul Henri Nargeolet is matter-of-fact - nay even jolly - when discussing the risks associated with his work. If you are 11m or 11km down, if something bad happens, the result is the same, the 73-year-old former French Naval Captain says, chuckling merrily. When youre in very deep water, youre dead before you realise that something is happening, so its just not a problem. Paul Henris mirth comes from a question that may seem silly to him, but which is completely normal for those of us unused to exploring the deepest parts of the planets oceans: Isnt he ever scared down there? The answer, obviously, is no. But that doesnt mean hes never moved by what he sees. The Frenchman, who specialises in deep-diving and piloting submersibles, has had a varied and interesting career since leaving the Navy, from exploring a possible site for the mythical city of Atlantis to last summers participation in the Five Deeps expedition, exploring the deepest parts of all five of the earths oceans, breaking the record for deepest submersible dive, at a breath-taking 10,928m below surface. But for the most part, his career has revolved around the great, ghostly hulk of the wreck of the Titanic. Paul Henri has been on many dives to the dark seabed where the ill-fated liner lies at a depth of 3,810m. But he still remembers the first time he laid eyes on the ships bow, the most intact part of the vessel whose sinking proved fatal to 1,500 men, women and children. Normally when we are working in the sub, we talk all the time, Paul Henri says. We video everything so you can play it back: this first day, when we arrived at the bow, for 10 minutes we were in absolute silence. Not a sound, from three people. "I was imagining the people on the deck, and all the things I already knew about the Titanic were going through my mind." Its a fittingly sombre response to the site, which has been subject to speculation as to the potential presence of human remains since oceanographer Robert Ballard discovered the wreck in 1985. Following the maritime disaster in April 1912, just 340 bodies were recovered from the icy North Atlantic, leaving around 1,160 souls lost at sea. Paul Henri says hes frequently asked about the possibility of bodies trapped in the wreckage, but that reports of visible remains in the so-called debris field - a 5.2sq km area surrounding the ships resting place - are inaccurate. First of all, its important to remember that during the tragedy, very few went down with the ship, he says. The passengers would have almost all made their way on deck. We havent found bodies; I saw a stupid website that said bodies have been found outside the ship but thats not possible. The sediment on the ocean floor around the ship is very acidic, around pH4. That means any organic material at all, including bone, would dissolve very fast. We never see bodies in the debris field. Inside the ship, I dont know. There could be people trapped in a room. Especially close to engine room, because the engineers were unbelievable; thats a story in itself. The engineers stayed in the engine room till the last minute and gave their life to try to save the passengers, so if anyone was trapped, it could have been them. One of the artefacts found in the the debris field around the wreck of the RMS Titanic (others are shown below), in an image captured from video, and used with permission. Paul Henri and his team video all their dives. Paul Henri lives in Connecticut, while his adult children live in Cork, where his grandson attends the city's Cork Educate Together National School. He would very much like, he says, to arrange for a touring exhibition of artefacts to be shown at Cobhs Titanic museum. Some family members of those who died aboard the Titanic want the site left untouched in memory of the dead, while others take a more grounded approach: Paul Henri recounts the tale of being approached after a talk he gave by a woman who asked him, my mother left her necklace on the sideboard in her cabin; can you get it for me? 'Salvor-in-possession' This is one controversy, which Paul Henri and the company he works for, RMS Titanic Inc, skirt by respecting the boundaries of the ship itself: they only salvage items from the debris field and not inside the wreck. But they do salvage. Following the discovery of the ships remains a strange race for her salvage, dictated by antiquated Admiralty Law, unfolded, and RMS Titanic Inc, a subsidiary of a company called Premier Exhibitions which owns museum venues in locations around the US, won the race; they were deemed salvor-in-possession and were free to take what they saw fit from the ocean floor, but not inside the wreck. Under Admiralty Law, in the US, you take some salvage from the wreck and go to a judge and say, your honour, Ive recovered this salvage and I want to be in charge of this wreck, and the judge decides to give you this statute, Paul Henri explains. Again, some families have objected, as well as people who feel profiteering is inappropriate in what is arguably the public domain of historical knowledge. In the year of the Titanics centenary, 5,000 artefacts from the ship, including personal possessions such as eyeglasses and jewellery as well as ships fittings including a cherub who once adorned the famed Grand Staircase, were auctioned by RMS Titanic in New York as a single lot, with a value of over $189 million. Paul Henri remains pragmatic about the intersection of business interests, respect for the dead and public and scientific interest. His work has not only been in salvage, he says, but in helping to map the site, and chart the course of its deterioration. These expeditions have cost $50 million, he says. Of course, the company want some return. I was in Atlanta (the companys base) a few days ago and there are 60 people working there on preserving the artefacts and preventing their degradation. That costs money. At the beginning we were scared to recover artefacts owned by passengers but then we realised we could learn a lot about the passengers. We are resurfacing the history of these families, and for me thats a good thing. Theres a microscopic reason for preserving remains of the Titanic on land instead of leaving them at sea: the ticking time-bomb of an iron-eating bacterium called H Titanicae, which is munching on the remains at the astonishing rate of 500kg per day, according to Paul Henri. That might seem a lot, but the ship is 50,000 tonnes, he says. Still, I have seen the difference myself. It is deteriorating, step by step. The decks are starting to become sandwiched, compressed. Personally, I think we should save these objects . Or we can leave everything on the bottom in the darkness forever, to disappear. Diving in to give his grandsons school a helping hand Paul Henri is hosting an Exploring the Titanic talk in Cork as a fundraiser for Cork Educate Together National School, where his grandson Matthieu is a pupil. The Grattan Street schools two portable buildings, currently used for support classes, are condemned and need to be removed from the school yard. As a result, the school urgently requires funding to produce a permanent solution: extending the school hall building to a second storey. All proceeds from Paul Henris talk will go towards funding this work. A link on the Eventbrite booking form allows an optional extra donation to the project. Where and when? Friday, October 18 at 7.30pm in UCCs Boole Lecture Theatre 4 Tickets, 15 per person eventbrite.ie/e/exploring-the-titanic-tickets-72252899367 A disability advocate who was issued with a Vat bill of over 23,000 for a modified van said she is thrilled to have forced legislative reform so it will never happen again. Finance Minister Michael McGrath on Tuesday signed regulations establishing a fourth category of reliefs under the Disabled Drivers and Passengers Scheme which financially supports people who need to adapt vehicles. This provides up to 48,000 for disabled drivers and 32,000 for disabled passengers. The change is applicable to anyone who has borne or paid Vat, vehicle registration tax (VRT) or residual VRT on or after August 1, 2022. Leigh Gath, a thalidomide sufferer, and disability advocate living in Limerick, had a van modified in England as nobody does this specialised work in Ireland. She was horrified to discover on her return that despite pre-existing funding an additional 23,372 in VAT was required. Leigh Gath holding the new legislation around supports for disabled drivers. Having campaigned for change, she met the minister again in Dublin. Im thrilled, I am absolutely thrilled, she said. It is a good win. She welcomed the backdating of reforms to last year as it means other people with disabilities hit with huge bills can benefit immediately. I just want to say I am delighted that they have recognised that there are people with disabilities whose vehicles and modifications cost more than the allocated 22,000 and that this is being addressed, she said. But there still is a way to go, in that the modifications in a vehicle should be zero-Vat rated and are not. Finance Minister Michael McGrath signed regulations establishing a fourth category of reliefs under the Disabled Drivers and Passengers Scheme. "I thank Minister McGrath for listening and hearing what I was saying and its a good start to hopefully changing up the whole scheme. Mr McGrath said: I am delighted to be in a position to sign these regulations which will provide much-needed assistance for people who have very significant and costly adaptation needs for wheelchair-accessible vehicles. I want to sincerely thank Leigh Gath, who I met back in March, for highlighting this issue and for her tireless work advocating for people living with a disability. The department also consulted with the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Disabled Drivers Association. Mr McGrath added: While the changes I am making today are to be welcomed, I do acknowledge that we must do more to provide better transport and mobility support options for people with disabilities, and the Ombudsmans report last week further highlighted this. Supporting the reforms, Minister of State for Disability, Anne Rabbitte, said she will work with the Department of Finance to bring about further reforms. Mobility is something we all can take for granted but for people with disabilities, they do not have this luxury. It is vital we provide support for people with disabilities and enable them to live independent lives, she said. Ombudsman Ger Deering said it is shameful there is no suitable government support to help people with disabilities access personal transport. Convicted killer and rapist Ian Horgan was jailed for eight and a half years for a hammer attack on a 29-year-old man and for assaulting the mans 66-year-old mother after which he sent a mocking video of the bloody aftermath with Lovely Day playing in the background. Detective Superintendent Michael Comyns described how Horgan, of no fixed address and formerly of The Hermitage, Macroom, Co Cork, left his home in Macroom that Saturday afternoon, got the bus to Cork City, walked to a derelict shed near the crime scene, changed his shoes and clothes and walked to the house where he carried out the attack. The 29-year-old victims mother said Ian Horgan only left when she said her son was dead. Mocking texts Horgan then sent texts mocking the injured man to his partner, who had previously been in a relationship with the injured man, Hassan Baker. Sitting in Fitzgeralds Park, he also sent videos of the seriously injured man to his girlfriend and the contrasting scene in the park. He told her his knuckles were f***ed again and that he was washing blood off himself, as the song Lovely Day played. Ian Horgan texted his girlfriend that afternoon, I destroyed him. He wont be acting the hard man, let me tell you. He is a cheeky c***. LOL. Det Supt Comyns said 39-year-old Horgan got a 12-year prison term at the Court of Criminal Appeal for raping and murdering a young woman in Ballincollig on October 26, 2000. On Saturday afternoon, March 26, 2022, as he approached the victims home at MacCurtain Villas, off Bandon Road, neighbours were suspicious of him as it was a hot day and he was wearing a hood up and had a snood covering his face. He knocked on the door, pushed past Mary OCallaghan and ran at Hassan Baker, who tried to disarm him of the hammer. Horgan struck him with the claw of the hammer into the shoulder, causing him to fall. Det Supt Comyns said: Ian Horgan grabbed him around the neck for 20 to 30 seconds, causing Mr Baker to collapse unconscious by the fireplace. He struck him on the left side of the head with the hammer, fracturing his skull and cheekbone. He was shouting in a Dublin accent, pretending it was a drug debt. Mrs OCallaghan intervened. He assaulted her with a hammer, fracturing her right wrist. He video-recorded Hassan Baker and Mary OCallaghan in extreme distress and in a disoriented state. Mr Horgan walked calmly out, returned to the shed and changed his clothing. He discarded the clothing and hammer within the shed and walked through the grounds of UCC to Fitzgeralds Park. There he shared videos of the crime scene with his then girlfriend, who was previously in a relationship with Mr Baker. Horgan returned to Macroom that day but soon left the country with his girlfriend. They fell out, she returned to Cork and he followed, some four months after he had left the country. He was arrested and questioned and made no comment in the course of six interviews. Guilty plea Before a trial could take place, Horgan did plead guilty to the count of assault causing serious harm to the victim and assault causing harm to the injured partys mother. Defence senior counsel James OMahony said Horgan spared the State a lengthy trial by pleaded guilty, he wrote letters of apology to the two victims and he was trying to put his time in prison to good use. Det Supt Comyns said his own opinion was the recent letters of apology to the victims were too little, too late. Judge Helen Boyle said the accused man also wrote a letter to her expressing his remorse. The judge said the premeditation was an aggravating factor as were the facts he armed himself with a hammer and directed the blows to Mr Bakers head, causing fractures to his skull, jaw and orbital bone around his eye socket. The judge said the injured man was left with significant physical difficulties, a stammer, headaches, nightmares, seizures and extensive scarring. Victim impact statement Hassan Baker said in his victim impact statement: Ian Horgan entered our home with a hammer in his hand and he held me in an arm lock. When I fell to the ground, I was then beaten with a hammer using full force to the side of my head by Ian Horgan. "He also caught me on the shoulder with the claw of the hammer. I was knocked to the ground with the impact and blood flowed massively from my head. I had tried to protect my mother while I struggled to defend myself but I was helpless. The blows of the hammer knocked me out completely. It was a nightmare scene. Since I was assaulted, I have felt devastated, scared and I live in a paranoid state, looking out the window and over my shoulder, every single day. I am always on alert in case something sudden happens. I have constant nightmares and night terrors. I wake screaming in the night a lot. My life has changed dramatically. I worry about the long-term effect this will have on me as my short-term memory has not been the same since. I never even spoke to Ian Horgan before this and yet he came to our house with the intention of causing serious harm to me, equipped with a hammer. I dont ever want to see him again. Mary OCallaghan, who is 66, said: I was always very happy in this house until the man I now know to be Ian Horgan barged into my home at 2.30pm on March 26, 2022. "He was swinging a hammer when he came in. I did not know this man. My son, Hassan rushed to my aid and this man put him in an arm lock and started to pound him. There was blood everywhere. It was like being part of a horror movie but unfortunately it was real. He kept on pounding Hassans head with the hammer. At this stage, Hassan was unconscious and I thought he was dead. I managed to get in between them and I shouted that he is dead. 'Blood bath' I didnt realise at this stage but he had also broken my wrist with a blow of the hammer. After I said to him that Hassan was dead, he then left. I really felt my son Hassan was dead as the place was like a blood bath. What Ian Horgan did on that day will never leave my mind. I was never afraid in my home but since this serious assault I feel terrified, scared and physically it seems I cant wake up from this nightmare. When I look at the marks on my sons head, I can see the imprint of the hammer on the side of his skull. I know I am lucky he is alive. I would like to sincerely thank the gardai for everything they have done for us, protecting us and keeping us informed. Ms O'Callaghan said after sentencing of Ian Horgan: "I only hope he serves every day of the sentence he got for my son's sake. He is where he should be and he should never get out. "He stood in that court and didn't have the guts to look at us. I'm just so glad he is locked up and I hope... if I had my way he would never get out. "[I am] just so happy he got what he deserved and that he is locked up and I got some justice for my son. My son never deserved what he did to him. He is an animal and if I had my way, he wouldn't see the light of day until he was an old man." A senior nurse has appeared before a fitness-to-practise inquiry over her failure to properly assess a resident of a care home who had fallen in a bathroom, which meant he went six days untreated with a broken hip. The inquiry heard the nurse, Patricia Lloyd, had also not informed the residents family, his GP and his occupational therapist as well as her own managers about the incident, in which he fell while going to the toilet. Ms Lloyd, a registered intellectual disability nurse, made admissions in relation to six allegations over her conduct while working as a clinical nurse manager at Galtee View House in Ballylanders, Co Limerick, five years ago. The centre, which is operated by St Josephs Foundation, is a 10-bed residential care unit for people with intellectual disabilities. The inquiry by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland heard Ms Lloyd had failed to carry out a full assessment of a resident who had fallen while going to the toilet on New Years Day in 2018. The NMBIs fitness to practise committee was informed the resident was a man in his 50s with Down syndrome who also suffered from dementia and severe intellectual disabilities. It heard the resident suffered a fall while in the bathroom while he was being attended by a care assistant. Counsel for the NMBI, Eoghan OSullivan BL, said other staff including Ms Lloyd, who was the nurse in charge, were alerted to the incident. Closed incident report He claimed the nurse had closed an incident report on what happened on the same day, which had the consequence of the incident not being escalated. Effectively there was very little done or recorded after the fall, said Mr OSullivan. He said some other nurses were made aware at the end of Ms Lloyds shift that day about what had happened but had not been given the expected level of detail in nursing notes. The inquiry heard although the resident had shown no obvious signs of an injury, he had spent the next six days in a wheelchair. Mr OSullivan said the resident was not able to vocalise his feelings or if he was in any pain. However, he said there was a noticeable change in the man the following day when he became more agitated and vocal and was not himself. Mr OSullivan said concern about the residents condition was raised on January 6, 2018, by a care assistant with another nurse which resulted in him being brought to hospital by ambulance where a suspected broken hip was confirmed. Although there was no official falls policy in place at Galtee View House at the time, Mr OSullivan said Ms Lloyd had still not conducted appropriate observations of the resident after his fall. 'Crying and screaming' He said this had resulted in the delay of six days in diagnosing the fracture of his hip which had caused him distress, discomfort and pain. In a statement, the care assistant who was with the man at the time of his fall said he was crying and screaming about one hour after the incident. The barrister said the nurse should have made everyone aware of the fall so that the resident could have been monitored. He said the mans family doctor who visited him on January 3, 2018, was not told about the fall. Mr OSullivan said Ms Lloyd has mistakenly attributed the mans decreased mobility and his increased distress to his dementia and low sodium levels. The inquiry heard the nurse had not regarded the fall as a significant incident because he did not seem to have any injuries. She told managers who reviewed the incident the resident did not seem distressed and was able to stand up without any assistance after the fall. Ms Lloyd also faced an allegation that she retrospectively documented the incident in the centres nursing notes without clearly identifying that they were being made retrospectively. Mr OSullivan claimed the allegations amounted to poor professional performance as well as breaches of the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives. It is not an inquiry about the fall but the management of the fall, said Mr OSullivan. He acknowledged the admissions made by Ms Lloyd, who has been a registered nurse since 2007, had removed the need for the NMBI to call 15 witnesses. 'Flawed logic' Counsel for Ms Lloyd, Matthew Jolley BL, said his client had apologised for the mistake she had made for which she would be eternally sorry. Mr Jolley said the nurse had followed a flawed logic in relation to the incident. Pleading for leniency, he said the nurse had an otherwise impeccable history of work before and after the incident. The inquiry heard she was suspended for a period of about eight months by St Josephs Foundation and ultimately resigned her position at Galtee View House. Mr Jolley said Ms Lloyd had questioned her ongoing employment as a nurse as a result of what happened and she feared the consequences of the current inquiry. The inquirys chairperson, Anne-Marie Duffy, said the committee would deliver its findings in due course. The board of the National Childrens Hospital has dismissed warnings that the new facility is facing further significant cost and time overruns, claiming any alterations are minor. In a statement, the board said there has been no material change to the design of the new hospital and the remedial work to ceilings will not impact on the completion date of the facility. On Tuesday, it had been reported that 11 operating theatres within the new National Childrens Hospital require additional work, with concerns it could lead to additional cost and further delays. That is half of the 22 operating theatres set to be within the new hospital. However, the board has since come out to say: The potential works in the 11 operating theatres are minor works they are not on the critical path. The spokesperson confirmed that the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) has been aware of the potential issue since May 2022 and the issue is being addressed in a timely and appropriate manner. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin The change, if instructed to BAM, will involve the movement of four ceiling grilles in each of the 11 theatres. This will not cost tens of millions of euro, as is being claimed, and is not expected to have an impact on the completion date of the hospital." The statement added: BAM has been instructed to continue works in accordance with the current design and this potential issue will be addressed at the appropriate time." Earlier, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly called for a sense of perspective over the concerns that some remedial works may be required within operating theatres at the National Children's Hospital. Mr Donnelly said that these changes have not yet been asked for and downplayed the potential impact on the project. I think we need to maintain a sense of perspective about this. What were talking about is potential changes that havent yet been asked for, to 11 of 5,000 rooms in the childrens hospital, Mr Donnelly said. Changes like this, discussions like this happen all the time through this project so I think we just need to maintain a sense of perspective as to what were talking about. Stephen Donnelly added that a programme of works has yet to be delivered to the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board ahead of the hospitals handover to the State next March. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie Sinn Feins health spokesperson David Cullinane told RTEs Morning Ireland that he had been informed by a source that the issue was with ventilation in the operating theatres. Mr Cullinane said that the source is at the heart of the project and that the issue could potentially add tens of millions to the cost of the childrens hospital. However, Mr Donnelly called for Mr Cullinane to clarify whether or not the source of the claims was the contractor, BAM. He said that the source could be using the issue as a negotiating strategy. Mr Donnelly added that a programme of works has yet to be delivered to the NPHDB ahead of the hospitals handover to the State next March. The contractor has committed to handing this hospital over to Childrens Health Ireland and to the State in March of next year, Mr Donnelly said. Now, I expect the contractor to meet its obligations and the very clear advice I have from the hospital development board is that they do not have a programme of works from the contractor that shows that this hospital is going to be handed over as agreed next March. They dont have a contact of works that is compliant. The statement from the National Childrens Hospital board added: There are 5,000 rooms to be completed within the hospital. BAM is being asked to progress works in all areas as quickly as possible including in the Operating Theatres. The critical issue of concern is that BAM has still not provided a compliant Programme of Works. BAM was due to provide an updated Programme in February 2023, this has still not been provided and therefore BAM is in breach of contract. As a result, the NPHDB has advised BAM that it intends to issue an Employer Claim to withhold 15% of the payments due to BAM. BAM continues to submit large volumes of claims on the new childrens hospital project 2,122 claims up to the end of May 2023. To date, of the determined claims made by the Employers Representative, less than 2% of the value of the claims submitted by BAM has been awarded in its favour. Including settled disputes this is equivalent to approx. 13m or 1.4% of the contract value. Over 1,500 derelict and vacant homes have been identified by local authorities across the country for purchase with an acquisition cost of 437m. Cabinet agreed to meet 100% of the costs for local authorities to acquire long term vacant and derelict properties under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF). This is an increase from 75% funding in previous calls. Each local authority has submitted a list of properties to the Department of Housing that it deems suitable for purchase. The intention is that properties acquired by local authorities will be offered for sale on the open market to individuals who commit to return the properties to use within agreed timelines. In total, local authorities have identified 1,546 properties. The third round of funding support through the scheme will be specifically designed to address long-term vacancy and dereliction. The fund is used to target regeneration and rejuvenation projects in Irelands five cities and other large towns. But now Housing Minister Darragh OBrien has got approval to add towns with a population of 10,000, or at least 2,500 jobs in the area, to the third funding call of the programme. It was launched as part of the last National Development Plan, with an initial investment of 2bn for the period 2018 to 2027, but this was extended to 2030. Cabinet also gave approval for the text of the energy bill the Government announced late last year it would introduce measures to address windfall gains in the energy sector, in light of the extraordinary profits being made following Russias invasion of Ukraine. The text of the bill approved by cabinet will allow for a temporary solidarity contribution in 2022 and 2023. Taxable profits which are more than 20% above the baseline period from 2018 to 2021 will be subject to a rate of 75%. It is projected to raise between 200m to 450m depending on gas prices and other factors. Meanwhile, Justice Minister Helen McEntee informed Cabinet on the annual report of the committee appointed to monitor the effectiveness of the Garda Diversion Programme for 2021. The Garda Diversion Programme provides a system of formal and informal Garda cautions for young offenders. Justice Minister Helen McEntee informed Cabinet on the annual report of the committee appointed to monitor the effectiveness of the Garda Diversion Programme for 2021. All children aged between 12 and 18 who commit an offence must be considered for admission to the programme. It found the number of children referred was 8,514 an increase of 4% on 2020. Of those, 78% of children were male, with 22% female. 8,888 children received formal or informal cautions, an increase of 51% on 2020. The overall picture in the five years 2017-2021 is that fewer than 20,000 crime incidents for children occur annually, with an average of about 9,139 children referred for consideration as part of the Garda Diversion Programme. I'm sorry, but unless our President knows something I dont know (always a possibility!), he uttered some terrible rubbish last weekend. Some of it was really unworthy of a man who is regarded (and has described himself) as a public intellectual. It pains me to say it. And I dont want that to be interpreted as a suggestion that he has no right to speak. I have always believed, and argued publicly and privately, that when a President pushes the boundaries of public discourse, as he and a couple of his predecessors have done, its a healthy and entirely appropriate thing. The last time he did this, over our housing failure, he was criticised for speaking at all. Not only did he have a right to say what he said then, but the content was absolutely right. It was embarrassing for the Government and the political system, and there was no harm in that whatsoever. He has an absolute right (in my humble opinion) to speak about international security, Irelands foreign policy, and the issue of neutrality. The Taoiseach and the Government have, after all, encouraged a national debate and, if youre having a national debate, there is no good reason why the first citizen should feel excluded from it. But sadly I have to say it again. Hes talking nonsense. In case you havent had a chance to read his interview, at least as published, he was talking about a four-day consultative forum due to be held this week in Cork, Galway, and Dublin. 'Parlour games' Parlour games he called the forum. He hinted strongly that it was about pushing us into what he called a hold my coat approach to foreign policy led by people who are strutting and chest-thumping; that our entire approach was one of drift and crawling away from the self-esteem of our foreign policy; that we were only interested in listening to people who wanted to abandon our military neutrality the admirals, the generals, the air force, the rest of it he called them. By having an open, fully reported, debate we are playing with fire. And he dismissed the credentials of the Irish woman who has been asked to chair the Forum shes an internationally respected political scientist called Louise Richardson because she has a title after her name. Dame of the British Empire, apparently DBE for short. When I looked it up I read that she was awarded it for her services to higher education, in particular broadening access to university among disadvantaged students, and for her work on the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. Its not something Id choose to sneer at myself. (Higgins has since apologised for this, which he called a throwaway remark). Look, theres a serious debate to be had here. I know, and have always known, that Michael D has a huge interest in Irelands foreign policy he was an opposition spokesperson on the subject back in the day and he was disappointed not to be offered the Foreign Ministry in the 1992 negotiations on the formation of that government. He has an absolute right to be heard on all these subjects, and no doubt whatever has important things to say. By choosing the arrogant and supercilious language he used in the weekend interview, he has, in my humble opinion, hugely devalued the contribution he could make. Were not crawling away from anything. There are no strutters or chest thumpers. Nobody is advocating a hold my coat foreign policy for Ireland whatever the hell that is. Nobody is demanding that we march in front of the band. He did say one thing I totally agree with (and Ive written it here before). The possibility that years will elapse before injustice especially the injustice to women is properly addressed in the Defence Forces is a scandal. The President has honourable and deep credentials in this area too. In that context though I have to say that I found his contemptuous dismissal of Louise Richardson as a person with a very large DBE as well beneath him. As I write this, I havent heard any formal government reaction. I suspect theyre annoyed, and I suspect theyll bite down hard on their annoyance. Paul Murphy, I imagine, is thrilled, and will co-opt the Presidents views as quickly as he can. And of course, the row will go on for days. In Article 29 of our Constitution (capable of being changed only by the people), we commit ourselves to peace and international cooperation based on principles of justice and morality. When a common defence policy was proposed in Europe, we wrote into the Constitution (same article 29): The State shall not adopt a decision taken by the European Council to establish a common defence pursuant to article 42 of the treaty on European union where that common defence would include the State. In the 1990s Michael D was part of a government that published a white paper on foreign policy. He didnt participate in its preparation to any great degree (his boss Dick Spring was the Minister whose idea it was). There was intense public consultation then too and a lively debate including from some who believed the whole excess was about undermining neutrality. That white paper was the last definitive statement of public policy in relation to the huge set of issues (not including Northern Ireland) that have to be dealt with in any discussion of our relations with the wider world and our place in the world. Its still available, I imagine, and it was both strong and direct on Irelands adherence to military neutrality. But that white paper was published a few years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent reunification of Germany. The world wide web was in its infancy and little was known about its power. The iPhone was invented years after. In the year the paper appeared, 18 people were killed as part of the Northern Ireland conflict, including two people who died in the Canary Wharf bomb that ended the first IRA ceasefire. In short, the world has moved on. The invasion of Ukraine has challenged us, in a way that cannot be ignored, to look at everything with fresh eyes. You could perhaps argue that inviting 100,000 Ukrainian refugees to come to Ireland, or condemning Vladimir Putins war, are an abandoning of neutrality a couple of hold my coat gestures, if you will. Id argue that the failure to do either of those things would be an abandonment of our humanity. When this debate happens, as I hope it does, Ill argue wherever I can that Irelands foreign policy should continue to be as independent as it has always been and as open and compassionate as it has always been, and that we should remain one of the leading militarily neutral peace-keeping nations of the world. There are very few such nations in the world and that adds huge value. Id like to think in all those senses that Im on the same side as our President. But I cant stop wishing that hed come down off his high horse and start approaching the argument with some civility for other points of view. If hes right on the principles, he has nothing to lose. Humans are exploiting nature beyond its limits, a University of Cambridge economist and expert on biodiversity has warned, as the UNs environment chief calls on governments to make good on a global deal for biodiversity, six months after it was agreed. Professor Partha Dasgupta, the author of a landmark review into the economic importance of nature, said it was a mistake to continue basing economic policies on the postwar boom that did not account for damage to the planet. Speaking to The Guardian six months after Cop15, where countries agreed on this decades targets to protect nature, Dasgupta cautioned that a headline goal to protect 30% of land and sea should not lead to the destruction of the remaining 70%. He reiterated a recommendation from his 2021 report that companies must disclose the parts of their supply chain that rely on nature, so governments can take action on halting biodiversity loss. Since the Kunming-Montreal global biodiversity framework was agreed in December 2022, there has been a deal to protect the high seas and first steps towards a legally binding UN treaty to regulate plastic waste. The first few months of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvas presidency in Brazil has seen reductions in deforestation in the Amazon, although nature has become a culture wars issue in the EU, with proposals on restoration and pesticide reduction facing fierce opposition. Plastic bottles, wooden planks, rusty barrels and other garbage clog the Drina river near the eastern Bosnian town of Visegrad, Bosnia, Thursday, May 25, 2023. Picture: AP/Eldar Emric An informal update on progress towards reaching the 23 targets and four goals included in the Montreal agreement is expected to be made at Cop28 in Dubai amid continuing scientific warnings about the health of the planet. It is a truism: if the demand for natures products and services continues to exceed its ability to supply, then there is going to be a breakdown, said Dasgupta. It is a finite resource. We know when fisheries are depleted by continuous overfishing, it leads to the destruction of a fishery. Now try to imagine that at the scale of the biosphere. This excess demand [for nature] is only about 50 years old. Theres been a great acceleration in that demand since the second world war. This experience is guiding policy and its a real mistake because it has come at a big expense to natural capital. The decline has not been recorded in statistics. It doesnt show up in national accounts, he added. As an economist, I like to look at small societies as a prototype of the world economy. Studying poorer village economies tells you a lot: they are deeply dependent on natural capital. Many such societies have fallen under. Weve seen this in Sudan with rainless areas, skinny cattle and people migrating miles and miles. It is not as if we dont know what happens when nature breaks down. Among the targets and goals agreed in Montreal by all governments, except the Vatican and the US, were aims to protect 30% of the planet for nature by the end of the decade, reform $500bn (457bn) of environmentally damaging subsidies and restore 30% of the planets degraded terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine ecosystems. The Rally to Restore Nature was organised by the Environmental Pillar, Stop Climate Chaos, the Sustainable Water Network (SWAN) and Extinction Rebellion. Picture: Mark Stedman Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN environment programme, said now is the time for action from governments and businesses to make the agreement reality. We should be very proud of what was achieved. It is words on a piece of paper. We need to make them real. Everyone needs to adjust their targets and move this beyond the environment ministry to all sectors. It needs the whole of society. Action now has to be seen, not just in words, she said. Dasguptas 2021 report, inspired by the 2006 Nicholas Stern review that transformed economic understanding of climate breakdown, found the worlds economies are being put at extreme risk by the failure to account for the state of the natural world, and called for radical reform. I know there is a target to protect 30% of the planet in the [Cop15] deal. But the trouble with that is what happens to the other 70%. If you dont have a policy for protecting the other 70%, youre going to have huge pressure on it. Its an interrelated biosphere. The 30% and the 70% are not disconnected. There are no big barriers theres not a Donald Trump wall between them, he said. As part of the Cop15 agreement, large companies around the world are required to disclose the parts of their supply chains that rely on nature and take actions to mitigate any destruction, echoing a key recommendation of the Dasgupta report. As citizens, we all want actions: what should the government do? What should the citizen do? What should the company do? What laws should be passed? We should insist on company disclosure of whats happening in their supply chain. By doing so, you are sending a signal to your investors. And if they care about the fact that youre trashing the rainforest in Brazil, theyll punish you for it. But if they never know that youre doing it, they wont, he said. The Guardian It's the season of suitcases, student visas and summery scents. The luxury Irish home fragrance company Max Benjamin was born of one of these voyages across the Atlantic 20-odd years ago. Owned run by three siblings, founder Orla Van den Bergh and her brothers, Mark and David Van den Bergh, Max Benjamin developed because of Orlas love of candle making which she believes she may not have discovered had she not spent that fateful summer in the US during her college years. Mark, Orla and David Van den Bergh. Orla duly packed this new passion with her T-shirts and other belongings when she winged her way home to Enniskerry and there, in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains, it blended with her love of nature, eventually growing into a family business, which Orla would name after her twin sons, Max and Ben. That was two decades ago, and many of us will be familiar with one or more of the signature fragrances that remind us of a particular room or living space, a person or a time in our lives. The Max Benjamin products themselves are handcrafted in a studio nestled amongst Orla, Mark and Davids own family homes. The trio say their philosophy is to uplift everyday lives through the power of evocative scent. The candles use blends of natural waxes with lead-free cotton wicks, adds Orla. Max Benjamin diffuser and three-wick candle. The essential oils are selected by hand from artisan fragrance houses and use the purest of time-honoured ingredients to help you relax and unwind. While the Max Benjamin brand has recently evolved with a refreshed identity and aesthetic, the brand ethos and commitment to creating the best possible fragrance products along with the commitment to the environment and sustainability remains the same and is central to the Max Benjamin core business and beliefs. The company has a loyal customer base, and rebranded recently to reflect changes in the market, to continue meeting their customer needs and to bring their unique brand story into the product range. MAKING SCENTS Many of the signature scents are inspired by Mark, the creative director, who particularly enjoys to travel, while David, the managing director, has grown the brand into overseas markets. The brand has organically developed its own nomadic spirit, and that is the true inspiration for the new Max Benjamin direction, he says. During the pandemic, we tried to fulfil many needs for our customers, and while this was successful, and we received a lot of gratitude from customers, now is the time for us to go back to the roots of the brand and showcase why Max Benjamin is so beloved and has stood the test of time. Max Benjamin French Linen Water three-wick candle. Mark says the new approach leans into the heritage of our brand, our family and the natural surrounds as well as to their travels, our love of exploration and our natural nomadic spirits, something that resonates with our customers. OLD FAVOURITES Customers can expect to see many of their favourite scents such as Dodici, French Linen Water and True Lavender alongside some new fragrances such as the heady Irish Leather & Oud. Max Benjamin Lemongrass & Ginger diffuser. Sustainability is another touchstone, Orla adds: The products will continue to be packaged in sustainable materials. Customers will see products such as candles and diffusers presented in luxurious matt boxes in a palette of soft colours, each one specific to a particular scent, with the refreshed Max Benjamin type in black, and the newly introduced motif. The motif was designed with a combination of two elements in mind, tiles found within the famous Florentine apothecary which gives the signature Italian Apothecary scent its name, and the gorse flower, synonymous with the surrounding Enniskerry location, making a unique geometric shape, soon to be identifiable with the Max Benjamin brand. NEW IDEAS The products themselves will be presented in a smoky glass, grey in colour to represent the granite-filled valley that Max Benjamin candles are created in. The range is now a solid 10 scents, with the team at Max Benjamin wanting to refine the offering to bring customers items that are truly beloved, as well as something new. Candles are now larger, at 210g with a 50-hour burn time and will retail at 28. Max Benjamin Acqua Viva diffuser. Those who have become accustomed to staple items need not worry, as part of the rebrand, car fragrances (10), scented cards (5) and diffuser refills (20) are all still available and now in all 10 scents. Excitingly, Max Benjamin is also soon to launch a new entry product range for those who are new to the brand or living in smaller spaces but still want to add signature Max Benjamin scents. Aptly named the Discovery range, the collection will feature five new scents in smaller vessels. Elton John has said the reaction to Phillip Schofields affair with a younger colleague is totally homophobic. In an interview with the Radio Times, the 76-year-old singer claimed a heterosexual relationship with a similar age gap would not have attracted such negative coverage. John made the comments as he denounced the status of LGBT+ rights and individuals in America, which he compared to the treatment of the former This Morning presenter. The acclaimed musician, famous for hits including Your Song and Candle In The Wind, said: Well, its all going pear-shaped in America. Theres violence, (discriminatory) laws enacted in Florida, which are disgraceful. Theres a law now that, if you visit a doctor in Florida, they can refuse to treat you if youre gay, which I find just unbelievable. We seem to be going backwards. And that spreads. Its like a virus that the LGBTQ+ movement is suffering. He added: I dont like it at all. Its a growing swell of anger and homophobia thats around America. I dont know if its around Britain because I havent been here that much. But I feel that the Phillip Schofield thing has been totally homophobic. If it was a straight guy in a fling with a young woman, it wouldnt even make the papers. Schofield resigned from ITV last month and was dropped by his talent agency YMU after admitting to an unwise but not illegal affair with a younger male runner on This Morning. During an interview with the BBCs Amol Rajan, the 61-year-old said he had lost everything after admitting to the affair, and that the fallout had had a catastrophic effect on his mind. He also alleged to the Sun that homophobia had motivated criticism towards him, contrasting responses to his affair and Leonardo DiCaprios relationships with younger women. Schofield said: Attraction is attraction. Its no different in the gay world as it is in the heterosexual world or in the lesbian world. There shouldnt be a difference. This is where homophobia comes in. We did first meet when he was 15, I visited the drama school (he attended). So, yeah, theres a difference. Its accepted by Leonardo DiCaprio, its not accepted if its in the gay world. John, who will headline the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival this month with a performance that will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC Radio 2 on June 25, joins other high-profile figures in criticising the backlash against Schofield. LGBT+ rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said earlier this month that the trashing of Schofield had more than a whiff of homophobia, in a statement shared with the PA news agency. Mr Tatchell called the public response a rank double standard, while actor Rupert Everett described media coverage as insane. The full interview is in the Radio Times, out now Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said, the latest death in a surge of violence that has wracked the region. The Palestinian Health Ministry said late on Monday that 21-year-old Zakaria al-Zaoul was shot in the head in the town of Husan, west of Bethlehem. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that he was killed during clashes with the military. The Israeli military said a suspect threw a firebomb at troops stationed along a West Bank highway near Husan. The troops responded with live fire and confirmed a hit, the army said. Palestinians take cover during clashes between Israeli forces and militants in the West Bank city of Jenin (Majdi Mohammed/AP) Israel and the Palestinians have been gripped by months of violence, focused mainly in the West Bank, where at least 126 Palestinians have been killed this year. Tuesday saw one of the fiercest days of fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants near the northern West Bank city of Jenin. At least five Palestinians were killed, including a 15-year-old boy, and more than 90 others were injured, Palestinian health officials said. Eight Israeli soldiers were also wounded, according to the army. The fighting saw Israel use helicopter gunships in the West Bank for the first time in several years, and Palestinian militants detonated a large roadside bomb under an Israeli armoured vehicle. Smoke rises during fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in the West Bank city of Jenin (Majdi Mohammed/AP) Israel has been staging near-nightly raids in the West Bank in response to a spasm of Palestinian violence early last year. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have surged during that time. Israel says most of the Palestinian dead were militants, but stone-throwing youths protesting at the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killed. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed at least 20 people this year. Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinians seek those territories for a future independent state. Trade, climate change and the war in Ukraine are on the agenda as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz holds talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who is on his first foreign trip since taking office. Tuesdays meeting in Berlin is the seventh time Germany and China have held high-level government consultations and comes a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, indicating an effort by Beijing to reach out to the West and improve frosty relations. On Monday, Mr Li, a former Communist Party secretary for Shanghai who became Chinas No 2 official in March, met German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and had dinner with Mr Scholz at the Chancellery before the start of formal talks. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, centre, awaits the arrival of Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Berlin (Markus Schreiber/AP) Germany is keen to maintain good ties with China, its biggest trading partner, despite wariness over Beijings growing assertiveness and refusal to criticise the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Germanys recently published national security strategy describes China as a partner, competitor and systemic rival. Mr Scholz has said he wants to avoid over-reliance on Chinese trade and diversify Germanys supply of key goods an approach he called de-risking while rejecting the idea of decoupling from China. The position was echoed last month by the Group of Seven leading industrial powers, most of which are heavily dependent on trade with China. Nevertheless, Germany has acknowledged that major global problems such as climate change can only be resolved together with China, and the official motto of Tuesdays meeting is Acting sustainably together. Chinese Premier Li Qiangs visit to Berlin is his first foreign trip since taking office in March (Markus Schreiber) Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wengbin said last week that the choice of Germany as Mr Lis first stop fully reflects the high importance China attaches to China-Germany relations. He said China looks forward to sending positive signals to the world to strengthen dialogue and co-operation and joining to address challenges so as to promote the prosperity and development of the world economy. After visiting the European Unions biggest economy, Mr Li will travel to France the second-biggest where he will attend the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, which is being held at French President Emmanuel Macrons initiative. Pope Francis has held talks with Cubas president, in his first full week back at the Vatican following abdominal surgery. A brief statement from the Holy See about the pontiffs private meeting with Miguel Diaz-Canel on Tuesday gave no details about what the two men discussed. But it mentioned the importance of the diplomatic relations between the Holy See, evoking among other things the historic visit of St John Paul II in 1998, during a subsequent meeting with the Vaticans Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Swiss guards march before the arrival of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel at The Vatican for a meeting with Pope Francis (Domenico Stinellis/AP) The prelate and the Cuban leader also discussed the communist-led Caribbean nations situation and the contribution that the Church offers, especially in the sphere of charity, the statement said. Cuba has been struggling through an economic crisis. Francis visited Cuba in 2015, as part of the Vaticans drive to encourage better international relations. That quest included John Paul IIs 1998 papal pilgrimage, the first-ever by a pontiff, to Cuba. Cardinal Parolin and Mr Diaz-Canel also discussed some international themes of reciprocal interest, but the Vatican did not specify which ones. The importance of continuing the commitment to always favour the common good was also stressed, the Holy See said. Doctors have urged 86-year-old Francis to pace himself as he recovers from surgery on June 7 to repair a hernia and remove painful scarring from previous operations. Heeding their advice, the Pope will not hold his traditional Wednesday morning audience with pilgrims and tourists in St Peters Square this week. The weekly appointments in past summers have been suspended for the month of July, in deference to hot weather and to give the pontiff a bit of a break. Members of the Cuban community in Italy protest at President Miguel Diaz-Canels visit to the Vatican (Domenico Stinellis/AP) At the far end of a boulevard that leads to St Peters Square, a handful of protesters demonstrated against Francis receiving the Cuban leader. They held placards demanding human rights be respected in Cuba and for the release of political prisoners there. Earlier this year, a papal envoy to Cuba pressed Cuban authorities to release Cubans who had been jailed and grant amnesty to those sentenced for participating in protests on the island in 2021. St John Paul II used his pilgrimage to Cuba to encourage the nation to open itself more fully to the world and for other nations to reciprocate. The Vatican in general expresses scepticism regarding economic sanctions, such as those applied by US administrations against Cuba. Germany pressed China to lean harder on Russia over its war in Ukraine on Tuesday, while leaders from both countries pledged to work together to combat climate change as two of the worlds biggest carbon dioxide emitters. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and about half of his Cabinet hosted a delegation led by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, making his first foreign trip since becoming Chinas No 2 official in March, as the two nations held high-level government talks for the seventh time. The meeting in Berlin came a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, indicating an effort by Beijing to reach out to the West and improve frosty relations. Chinese Premier Li Qiangs visit to Berlin is his first foreign trip since taking office in March (Markus Schreiber/AP) Germany is keen to maintain good ties with China, its biggest trading partner, despite wariness over Beijings growing assertiveness and refusal to criticise the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Germanys recently published national security strategy describes China as a partner, competitor and systemic rival. Mr Scholz called on the Chinese delegation to do more to persuade Russia to end the war in Ukraine. I appealed again to the Chinese government to exert its influence even more strongly on Russia in this war, he said, standing alongside Mr Li. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China carries a very special duty here. It is important that China continues not to deliver weapons to the aggressor, Russia. Mr Scholz added that he is thankful China continues to make clear there must be no threat to use nuclear weapons. Mr Li did not respond directly or mention Ukraine in his statement, and the two leaders took no questions. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Chinese Premier Li Qiang agreed to set up a climate and transformation dialogue (Kay Nietfeld/dpa/AP) Germany and China agreed at Tuesdays meeting to set up a climate and transformation dialogue to find ways to make industrial processes more climate-friendly and speed up the transition to renewable energy sources. Mr Scholz pointed to extreme weather events such as droughts in China and floods in Germany to illustrate the importance of action. As major emitters of CO2, Germany and China bear particular responsibility in the fight against climate change, he told reporters. We will face this responsibility together. Mr Li said that dealing with climate change should become an important field of co-operation for both sides. Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed Chinese Premier Li Qiang to Germany with full military honours (Michael Kappeler/dpa/AP) The Chinese premier emphasised trade and economic issues in his comments. Deglobalisation is flaring up again and the global economy is lacking growth dynamics, he said, according to an interpreter. He added that China places great value on the development of relations with Germany and Europe. After visiting the European Unions biggest economy, Mr Li will travel to France the second-biggest where he will attend the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, which is being held at French President Emmanuel Macrons initiative. Mr Scholz has said he wants to avoid over-reliance on Chinese trade and diversify Germanys supply of key goods an approach he calls de-risking. He said he reassured Mr Li that we have interest in an economic decoupling from China. That position was echoed last month by the Group of Seven leading industrial powers. He noted that access to the Chinese market and fair competition conditions for German and other foreign companies in China remain a challenge, on which we are pushing for concrete improvements. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and about half of his Cabinet hosted a delegation led by Chinese Premier Li Qiang (Kay Nietfeld/dpa/AP) As Mr Scholz and Mr Li met, German security officials warned of the continued danger posed by Chinese espionage. A report by the BfV domestic intelligence agency, published on Tuesday, notes that Chinas Ministry of State Security is actively trying to obtain information on areas of political, economic and scientific interest to Beijing, as well as on Chinese dissidents in Germany. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the country is also examining the potential risks from the use of telecommunications equipment made by Chinese company Huawei in Germanys 5G networks. This inquiry will be completed in the summer and then we will provide an assessment, she said, adding that this could result in Huawei equipment having to be removed. The family of missing British billionaire Hamish Harding have said they have great faith and trust in rescue teams, as the US Coast Guard expands its search for the submersible tourist vessel he is on into deeper waters. There may be as little as 54 hours of emergency oxygen left aboard the submersible, named Titan, which lost communication with tour operators on Sunday while about 435 miles south of St Johns, Newfoundland, during a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck off the coast of Canada. Rescuers are in a race against time to find Mr Harding and four other passengers on board the 6.7 metres (22ft) long OceanGate Expeditions vessel. They are UK-based businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, reportedly together with French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet and chief executive and founder of OceanGate Expeditions Stockton Rush. The statement from private plane firm Action Aviation, of which Mr Harding is chairman, said: Both the Harding family and the team at Action Aviation are very grateful for all the kind messages of concern and support from our friends and colleagues. We are thankful for the continued efforts of the authorities and companies that have stepped in to aid in the rescue efforts. We put great faith and trust in their expertise. Sky News reported that Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told CNN: As we continue on with this search weve been working through the night with a broad group of partners to bring all capabilities to bear looking on both the surface and now expanding to a subsurface in the area. The US Coast Guard, leading search efforts, tweeted that the total search area completed so far is 10,000 square miles. It added that a Canadian Aircraft P3 Aurora has arrived on the scene to conduct sonar searches while research vessels Polar Prince and Deep Energy continue their surface searches. Mr Mauger estimated there was 70 to 96 hours left to find them at a press conference held just before 5pm Boston time (10pm BST) on Monday. (PA Graphics) The search and rescue operation involves military aircraft 900 miles east of Cape Cod. The US Coast Guard said previously the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince and 106 Rescue wing will conduct surface searches alongside two US C-130 flights. Oceanologist Dr Simon Boxall, of the University of Southampton, said a distress signal from the submersible was sent out. He told the PA news agency: This is second-hand knowledge but my understanding is that they have received a signal from the submarine. (PA Graphics) You cant use radios underwater. You rely totally on pings. What they have is really limited communication. Apparently they have had, and I dont know when they have had an emergency ping saying the vessel is in distress. I dont know if that is automatically generated or generated by people on board, he said, adding he did not know when the message was transmitted. Dr Boxall said rescuers would have to first locate the submarine, which is not a trivial ask, as it could be as much as 4km (2.5 miles) deep, while the boat is beyond the reach of helicopters. Very few vessels can reach the sort of depths that may be needed to carry out a successful rescue mission, he told GB News. The Titan vessel weighs 10,432kg (23,000lbs) and is capable of diving to depths of 4,000m (13,120ft) with a comfortable safety margin, according to operator OceanGate. In a May 2021 court filing, OceanGate said the Titan had an unparalleled safety feature that assesses the integrity of the hull throughout every dive. At the time of the filing, Titan had undergone more than 50 test dives, including to the equivalent depth of the Titanic, in deep waters off the Bahamas and in a pressure chamber, the company said. During its 2022 expedition, OceanGate reported that the submersible had a battery issue on its first dive and had to be manually attached to its lifting platform, according to a November court filing. CBS journalist David Pogue, who went on the trip last year, said the liability waiver included stark safety warnings. The submersible was taking part in OceanGates third annual voyage to monitor the decay of the ships wreckage, following expeditions in 2021 and 2022. The cost of the 2023 expedition is 250,000 dollars per person, as stated on the OceanGates website. The jailed president of the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government, U Win Myint, is in bad health and on a urinary catheter, according to sources close to Taungoo Prison where the deposed president is kept. The nature of the medical condition he is suffering remains unclear, but a urinary catheter is usually used in treatment for an enlarged prostate, which is common in older men, or in other serious health conditions including stroke. The 71-year-old was jailed by the junta for 12 years and has been held in Taungoo, Bago Region since January. The health of other senior NLD members including its patron U Win Htein and vice chairman Dr. Zaw Myint Maung is also causing concern. U Win Htein, 81, needs an oxygen concentrator at night while Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, 71, is suffering from leukemia. U Win Htein, who needed the aid of a walking stick and wheelchair for his mobility even before his imprisonment, is behind bars in Mandalays Obo Prison after being sentenced to 20 years. His advanced age and lousy prison conditions coupled with health problems including high blood pressure, diabetes, and seizures mean he is at risk. Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, who was chief of the Mandalay Region government, faces 25 years in prison. The doctor is on medication for leukemia. Though he still can receive medicines from his family, the junta has imposed restrictions on his movement inside the prison, as well as restricting delivery of food and other items to him. Last month, his house in Mandalay Regions Amarapura Township was targeted by a bomb attack. Meanwhile, the NLD governments Electricity minister U Win Khaing, 72, suffered cardiac arrest on June 1 in Obo Prison, where he is serving a 28-year sentence. He survived but is still receiving treatment at Mandalay General Hospital for heart problems. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who turned 78 on Monday, does not have any apparent serious health problems. But she needs certain medicines for age-related health conditions. Though the regime has reported she is in good shape, Myanmar citizens harbor serious concerns for the civilian leader, who faces 33 years in Naypyitaw Prison. Few have any trust in the healthcare provided to her by the junta. In 2021, senior NLD member U Nyan Win, 79, died of COVID-19 in Yangon General Hospital after being referred from Insein Prison and failing to receive proper treatment in time. There are also other cases in which jailed NLD government ministers have come down with serious medical conditions requiring medical treatment outside prison. Myanmars military regime had killed 3,818 people as of May 31, according to the NLD body that documents human rights violations. Among them were 93 NLD members including two lawmakers. Some 1,200 NLD party members including 77 lawmakers remain under detention, said the body. At least seven union leaders at a Chinese-owned garment factory in Yangon that supplies global brand Zara have been sacked and five of them have been arrested after leading a protest for a pay rise of 800 kyats (38 US cents) a day earlier this month. All seven were fired from their jobs at the factory on June 10 after calling for an increase in the daily wage from 4,800 to 5,600 kyats at the factory operated by Hosheng (Myanmar) Garment Co. Ltd. in Yangons Shwe Pyi Thar Township. As previously reported, union leader Ma Thu Thu San, 28, was arrested on June 14 after she and other union leaders met with their employers representative to settle the dispute at the townships General Administration Department (GAD) office. Four more were arrested on June 14, and taken to a junta interrogation camp in Shwe Pyi Thar. Two others are in hiding, a factory worker told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity. The detainees comprise three women and two men. Family members have not been able to contact them, the factory worker said. The European Unions delegation to Myanmar responded with a statement today. It said: We are concerned about the ongoing detention and welfare of a number of workers and labor rights organizers in the garment sector who have been detained as a consequence of a labor dispute at the Hosheng Myanmar garment factory last week. Zaras owner, Spanish company Inditex, will stop buying from Hosheng (Myanmar) Garment, news agency EFE reported today. Inditex had blocked suppliers from working with this factory [and it is] working on a gradual and responsible exit from Myanmar, the Spanish news agency quoted the company as saying. The events that have occurred in this factory in recent days represent a serious breach of our Code of Conduct for manufacturers and suppliers, Inditex told EFE. The report did not specify which part of Inditexs code of conduct was violated, but the first sentence of the companys ethics statement says: People are, without question, the most essential part of our company. The ethics statement ends by asserting: In all dealings with our stakeholders, we go far beyond our legal obligations, and build relationships guided by our commitment to our ethics. On June 12 and 13, more than 600 workers a Hosheng Myanmars factory protested the firing of their unions executive committee. On June 13, officials and military officers visited the factory and told the striking workers that they could negotiate with factory management at the township GAD office. The factory, which employs more than 1,000 workers, has a well-documented history of violating the rights of its workers, labor rights activists say. One labor rights activist said: We will continue to help them in every possible way. We plan to consult with lawyers and submit a petition. It is workers who staged a protest because the labor union leaders were fired. I dont understand why the labor union leaders were arrested. Federation of Myanmar Construction and Timber Industry Trade Unions said it had reported the arrests to the International Labor Organization (ILO). Similar cases have been reported in other factories in the country, it said. Two leaders of the trade union at Sun Apparel (Myanmar) garment factory in Yangons Hlaing Tharyar Township were arrested last week after they demanded a pay increase and better working conditions. According to an ILO report in 2022, Myanmar lost 1.6 million jobs in 2021 following the coup, and over 300,000 of them were in the garment sector. Myanmar was listed among the 10 worst countries for working people by the International Trade Union Confederation in 2022. Nearly 100 people, most of them women, were arrested in Myanmar for wearing, holding, selling or buying flowers on Monday, the 78th birthday of detained civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. It was another sign of how complete the loss of human rights has been in Myanmar in less than two-and-a-half years since the coup. The regimes detention of women wearing, holding, buying or selling flowers on Monday followed a call by resistance forces to stage a nationwide flower strike on the birthday of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. She was arrested by the regime on the first day of the coup in February 2021 and is being detained in Naypyitaw prison. She has been sentenced by a military council court to a total of 33 years in prison in 19 cases. Many Myanmar people at home and abroad embraced the call for a flower strike by wearing flowers to show their support for a civilian leader who almost always wore flowers before she was jailed. About 40 women were detained by the regime for wearing flowers in the central market of Sagaing Regions Kale Town. In Yangons Kamayut Township, 15 women who wore or held flowers were arrested by the regime troops, according to the Kamayut Information group. Video footage shows armed regime troops checking pedestrians near a shopping mall in in the township and arresting two women who were holding flowers. Regime troops also arrested three flower vendors and two women wearing flowers in a market in the Township, the Kamayut Information Group said. Elderly, middle aged and young women were arrested, it said. We heard that three flower vendors were released last night, but the fate of the others is still unknown, a member of Kamayut Information Group told The Irrawaddy. The regime arrested 13 women staff at Thamardi gold shop in Yangon for wearing roses. A man from Yangons Mingaladon Township was arrested on Monday. He was accused of participating in the flower strike. About 20 women from Myit Nge Township in Mandalay Region were arrested on Monday for wearing flowers, according to local residents. Wearing flowers is not a crime, said Ma Zu Zu, a joint secretary of the Burmese Womens Union. It is an individual right and no one can ban this, she said. Almost all women wear flowers in Myanmar and it is natural. So, they take part in flower strikes, but the military is afraid of womens involvement in revolution. Therefore, they repress people with fear, Ma Zu Zu told The Irrawaddy. The juntas enthusiasts on Telegram urged it to arrest 20 people, 13 women and seven men, for participating in the flower strike. The leader of Move Forward, Pita Limjaroenrat, who won the recent Thai general election, says he is committed to ASEAN-led solutions for Myanmar and distanced himself from the outgoing governments talks with Myanmars junta this week. Thailands military government hosted informal talks with Myanmars regime on Monday, dividing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Myanmars regime has been excluded from high-level ASEAN meetings since late 2021 after the junta failed to follow the blocs five-point peace plan. Thailand invited all 10 ASEAN members to the closed meeting of foreign ministers but the current chair Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore shunned the event. Myanmars junta-appointed foreign minister, Than Swe, and representatives from Laos, Cambodia, India, China, Brunei and Vietnam attended Mondays meeting. Following the meeting, Pita said in a statement that Move Forward is closely monitoring developments in Myanmar and prioritized the issue as a top concern. He referred to divisions caused by the talks within ASEAN and reaffirmed Move Forwards commitment to the blocs five-point peace plan. As one of the founding members of ASEAN, we attach high importance to unity among ASEAN members and to upholding principles of democracy and human rights as enshrined in the ASEAN Charter, Pita stated. He said engagement must be inclusive, multi-layered and appropriate to help Myanmar stabilize. Pita said Move Forwards coalition government plans to create a Myanmar Inter-Agency Task Force controlled by the Prime Ministers Office which will coordinate efforts and seek solutions to Myanmars challenges. An anti-regime guerrilla group, the Urban Owls, claims to have shot dead Ye Khine, Yangon International Airports security chief, on Monday in Yangon. The former air force major is associated with Tun Myint Naing, the founder of the junta-linked Asia World Company, and Vice Senior General Soe Win, the regimes deputy leader, the resistance group said. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports. Pro-junta Telegram channel Kyaw Swar reported that the 46-year-old, who was also the general manager of Yangon Aerodrome Company Limited, an Asia World subsidiary, was shot dead at his house in Mingaladon Township. A photo showed Ye Khine shot in his head and neck while in his vehicle. The Urban Owls said Ye Khine detained anti-regime activists, including artists and striking government staff, while they tried to leave the country from the airport. He has been accused of extorting money from civilians, including scholars, trying to leave Myanmar. A released journalist posted on Facebook on Monday that he was interrogated by Ye Khine while he was held at the airport in late 2021 after arriving back in Yangon. The guerrilla group said the victim was involved in detentions and sending detainees to junta interrogation centers. The Urban Owls said they have lists of airport staff who arrange detentions for the junta. In March the resistance group killed a junta legal and money-laundering aide, Minn Tayzar Nyunt Tin, the founder of the Biz Law Consult Myanmar Legal Firm in Yangon. His law firm operated in Thailand, India, Vietnam, Singapore and Cambodia. The legal consultant was accused of money laundering for the junta and its generals and his companies helped buy property and land and establish companies, the Urban Owls said. Myanmar has seen the back of the sixth Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations since 1995. Noeleen Heyzer resigned her position in recent weeks, earlier than planned from her appointment in October 2021 and assuming her role in December of that year. What will be her legacy? Not much. A kind assessment could conclude she gave it the good old college try, but was reasoning with caged beasts. A realpolitik regard would argue she was doomed from the starting line, because those caged beasts cannot be reasoned with. What can we learn from Heyzers 20 months in the position? There isnt much to labor over. The military State Administration Council (SAC) wasnt interested in any form of international engagement let alone mediation, and absolutely nothing to do with conflict resolution. The efforts of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have been stuck since the signing of the Five-Point Consensus in early 2021, yet remain the lodestar of international efforts regardless of how adrift, capsized or sunk they are. Heyzer didnt have much to work with. The entire good offices position of the envoy is mired in the past, with its mandate in the UN General Assembly, not completely with the Secretary General. There hasnt been any serious reform of the role in close to 30 years, a point acknowledged by an in-depth study of the good offices mandate released by the International Peace Academy (IPI) over 10 years ago. One of the concluding points of that study from 2012 could have been written today: There is no doubt that the UN carries a legacy of resentment or disappointment among many sides within Myanmar who have felt, for different reasons, that the good offices in the past did not sufficiently consider their interests. In the international donor community, while some acknowledge the potentially important role the UN can play in Myanmar, few seem to want the world organization to actually take the lead in coordinating international assistance to the country. The failure of the UN to gain access to Cyclone Mocha-affected communities in Rakhine State, or conflict-affected displaced in Sagaing Region, poses crucially important questions on the efficacy of the UN to remain in Myanmar. With a weak and distracted Secretary General in Antonio Guterres, a dysfunctional Permanent Five members of a divided Security Council (China, Russia, the United States, Britain and France), its a wonder Heyzer got any attention let alone the level of support she needed from her first day. Early on, she was roundly criticized for suggesting a form of power sharing in a Channel News Asia interview. Whether she misspoke or considered it a serious proposal and was compelled to walk it back following the furor, the damage of an unforced error was already inflicted. Her one trip to call on Min Aung Hlaing in August 2022 was an unmitigated disaster, with the SAC releasing details of their conversation that were not completely congruent with what her post-visit statement said. Following this envoy equivalent of road-kill, she was compelled to broaden her consultations to members of the resistance including the National Unity Government (NUG) and some ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), although this was an uncommon development. From the August visit until her resignation, she was dogged by criticism from all sides, much of it perhaps unfair yet reflecting frustration at ongoing violence and the trap of diplomatic language that compelled her to express deep concern at incessant SAC mass atrocities. Heyzer met with Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang on May 1, where he stressed the need to act prudently and pragmatically to prevent the escalation of the conflict and spillover of the crisis, and expressed his hope that Madame Special Envoy will uphold an objective and fair position and play a role as a bridge. Trips were also made to India, and all around Southeast Asia. Soon after the announcement of her stepping down, she visited with NUG Foreign Minister Daw Zin Mar Aung: a photo of them hugging was both touching and, one hopes, cardiac arrest-inducing in Naypyitaw. The Global New Light of Myanmar made its position on the UN clear in its June 16 opinion piece from Kyaw Myint Tun-Paris called The Picture of Irrelevance. It was vintage vitriol. While it may have been designed to condemn the UN system and international mediation efforts, it must also be seen as a good riddance to Heyzer and a glove slap to any replacement. What breakthrough do they have to prove in recent memory? Where have they brought lasting peace? Name one! Under their watch record number of people have been forcibly displaced or stateless. So, what have they done? Is the world becoming more peaceful? These people should be given no role in finding solutions for the problems Myanmar is facing. Solutions for Myanmar will come from within and with the help, cooperation and understanding of the neighbours (sic) and friendly countries. As if to pour salt on the wound, the paper also carried a report on a meeting with acting UN Resident Coordinator Ramanathan Balakrishnan and colleagues with three SAC ministers in Sittwe, still struggling for official access to assist over a month after Cyclone Mocha. What have we learned from the near three decades of special envoys? Precious little. The first, the polished Peruvian diplomat Alvaro de Soto served from 1995 to 1999, which started optimistically with Daw Aung San Suu Kyis release before dissolving into repressive military rule deadlock. He may have visited the country six times during his tenure, but he achieved little of note apart from the concession of meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on every visit. De Sotos contribution to Myanmar may be slight, but his legacy as a UNSG special envoy is instructive for Myanmar. Resigning from his envoy role in the Middle East peace process, his frustration at being hogtied to conditions that limited engagement with key actors was reflected in his leaked End of Mission memo in May 2007 following his resignation: the UN should resist the natural temptation of almost every government and intergovernmental institution to throw a committee or a czar, or in this case, an envoy, at a problem(w)e are not in the lead, and the role we play is subsidiary at best, dangerous at worst. A similar end of mission memo from Heyzer should be encouraged. Then the reptilian Razali Ismael from Malaysia (2000-2005) served at a relatively optimistic time following the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in 2002, but any optimism was dashed with the mass killing of her supporters at Depayin in May 2003, and then the purge of his erstwhile partner, Military Intelligence chief and Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt in October 2004. He refused to renew his position in early 2006 because he had been not permitted to visit the country in two years. In a creepy two-step criticism of the then regime with pretension over his own performance, Razali said in an interview; Progress has not been made towards any reconciliation. If there used to be any, that has now snapped with [Daw Aung San Suu Kyis] continued house arrest What possibility is there of further progress? Still, there is no frustration as this was, after all, a noble effort good at dodging things and stonewalling We have been dealing with these [Myanmar military] people for a very long time now. We are familiar with their ways. This wasnt exactly an advertisement for institutional memory and adaptive engagement. Next came the former Nigerian ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Gambari. The then ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) should have recognized a kindred spirit in Gambari, after all he rebuffed the General Assembly when they condemned the execution of prominent environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogani people in late 1995. Gambari faced a genuine domestic political deadlock in 2006, then the popular protests and the brutal crackdown of September 2007, Cyclone Nargis and the desperate days of the UN seeking access to affected areas and the timely visit of Ban Ki-moon (who visited again in April, with great fanfare and no progress). The Indian diplomat Vijay Nambiar enjoyed greater success, but he operated between 2010 and 2016 when the opening afforded him access, and even some EAOs welcomed his role in the peace process. Nambiar wasnt completely astute: he asked Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to contribute Sit-Tat troops for UN peacekeeping operations in 2014 (a small number served in Liberia and South Sudan). Christine Schraner Burgener was appointed in April 2018 following the carnage of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya in Rakhine State, was told by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to stay out of the peace process and stick to Rakhine, where she could do little. Her post-2021 performance was strident in condemning the SAC, her calls with Vice Senior General Soe Win unresponsive, and her plaintive calls to visit Myanmar rebuffed by the SAC, but also over-stating her importance: Clearly, I can imagine that he [Min Aung Hlaing] would not like to see me now in Myanmar because the people know me and they would probably be very encouraged by my presence. Despite pushing a much stiffer and determined UN response for an envoy, she was also criticized in Myanmar for perceived moral equivalency in condemning violence by all sides (the trap of neutrality in vocalizing opposition to violence, even grossly asymmetric state violence and atrocity). Kyaw Myint Tun-Paris summed up the past envoys in colorful fashion. There have been appointments of those who were no longer wanted anymore close to the Ivory Tower in New York. Dump them all on Myanmar! There was one who was appointed so that frequent trips can be made to see family and relatives in a nearby country [likely Gambari]. Then, there was a lightweight who had no clues whatsoever about Myanmar [this could be any of them]. One promptly turned up at Davos soon after the appointment Whether there is a need or not, they visit the country frequently and put out press statements just to show they are working hard and justify their employment. Attempts would be made to visit the country especially when their contract is up for extension. Like carrion birds, potential replacements are circling. But any future appointment will face not just the same blend of SAC stonewalling or UN dysfunction Heyzer endured, but a witches brew of competitive engagement initiatives from predatory actors from China, India, Thailand and Japan through the Nippon Foundation, along with the frozen efforts of ASEAN, and the rumors of attempts from Switzerland, Norway, Finland and other deluded European states looking to forge a breakthrough. The competing Track 1.5 efforts of Thailand has annoyed Indonesia, received no support from the rest of ASEAN, and is but the latest data point of dysfunction. Many of these efforts have some bit-part Myanmar players who have highly questionable legitimacy and political cachet. All of this incoherence benefits the SAC, who chortle at foreigners competing for pole position to appease them. For many in the international community have adopted a stance of mee-sa-ta-phet yay-mote-ta phet (holding the flame/torch in one hand and the firehouse in the other): effectively hedging their bets on who is going to win the conflict and be the side to ingratiate. There has been a plethora of post-coup shapeshifting amongst foreign actors, who prior to February 2021 sought to engage the Myanmar deep state and its many war criminals, and whoregardless of their affected ardor for the resistance nowwill casually betray the revolution when the winds of opportunism shift. If another envoy is going to be offloaded on Myanmar, it will likely be another seasoned diplomat with similar skills sets to Heyzer. The candidates will resemble archetypes of international servants, but to the SAC a bevy of min-laung (pretender kings, or more accurately imminent kings) and their cohorts of pontificating min-sayar (kings teacher, or advisor). There will be no innovation, off-ramping, nuance, or that absolute pearl of statecraft thinking, fresh approach. Its almost certainly going to be some soiled version of what came before. But does it need to be? Is there a possibility of obviously needed reform? Ralph Waldo Emmerson wrote that foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, adored by little statesmen, which could aptly describe the current cohort of Western diplomats and donors working on Myanmar all conjoined by a dearth of clear thinking. There are four potential courses of action: in theory. In all likelihood the UN and P5 countries will shuffle on with an utter disregard for impact, progress or the interests of the people of Myanmar. But what if we entertain the potential for the self-straitjacketed global order to react differently, even with expectations on progress being as low as possible? First, consider a completely different candidate. Heyzer was deemed suitable in late 2021 because she was a consummate UN insider, who had sidled up to the generals before, and being Singaporean could read their minds more acutely. Many observers thought then as now, these qualities worked against her. The same calculation holds true. If you find merely a new Noeleen then well all be concluding similar bleak assessments of dashed expectations in three years as we are today. Six very different envoys from Africa, Southeast Asia, Switzerland and Latin America have confounded calculations on whether outsiders or Asians are most effective. No one who actually wants the job should be considered, especially if its former US ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson or disgraced British politician Boris Johnson, should they put their hands up. A UN lifer obviously has little comparative advantage other than a more acute understanding of the UNs internal defects, as Heyzer demonstrated (as did previous envoys). Former military officers elicit little respect either, as retired US general Wesley Clark found in 2010 when he co-chaired an Asia Society task force on engaging Myanmar, or most recently the lack of any discernable progress in engaging with the SAC from former Indonesian army general Agus Widjojo. Second, rewire an entirely new approach, with a new mandate directly from the Secretary General and a closer rapport with the SGs office. The need for reform has been apparent for many years, but even tinkering with structures in the UN is seen as disruptive. If Heyzers failure should spur anything, it is the necessity for a genuine reimagining of the role, and what its long-term utility could be for the UNs assistance to Myanmar. One dimension could be the total restructuring of the UNs presence in Myanmar, discarding half of the operational agencies and paring down presence and operations to address immediate humanitarian and development needs related to livelihoods, health, education and emergency relief. This would alleviate the funding gap for donors who have already invested in multi-donor funds. The current leadership under Ramanathan Balakrishan needs to be radically reconstituted, and a balance sought between operational realities and high-level mediation efforts. Third, consider a collective effort of a contact group of multiple officials, expanding the team from a bare bones operation (although one Im certain well remunerates the players regardless of their 1-0 scorecard) to multiple high-level actors. Nothing limply ineffectual like the Group of Friends of Myanmar that the UN tried before, following the 2007 demonstrations and crackdown, involving some 14 countries. However, this shouldnt be a consortium of existing envoys or point people such as the Norwegian envoy, or Igor Driesmans, the European Union envoy, but a group of higher level officials who can interact with multiple actors. These consultations must be broad and inclusive, especially the resistance actors in EAOs, the NUG and emerging political forces such as the Karenni State Interim Executive Council (IEC) and new configurations such as the Sagaing Forum. However, just the convening of such a forum within the constraints of the UN is devilishly difficult with protocol, egos and above all competing state interests. Look at one collection of Group of Friends meeting memos from 2009, which echoes the impasse of 2023, and face up to the hard facts that change in Myanmar didnt come about from outside pressure or support. Or, fourth, do nothing. Just inform the SAC that theyre not worth the trouble. Alleviate the diplomatic corps from having to expend energy on supporting labored interventions that have no chance of even minimal success. Clear the space for ASEAN to continue to fail. Stop investing in false hope in Myanmar; it might do the standing of the UN some good, but likely not. The Heyzer maneuver of early departure should be a call for reform and reengagement, to clear a clogged diplomatic passage. But it wont be. David Scott Mathieson is an independent analyst working on conflict, humanitarian and human rights on Myanmar. Tuesday, Jun 20th, 2023 (4:07 pm) - Score 2,136 The Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, Tim Farron, has once again gone to bat for UK broadband ISP B4RN after the Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency unexpectedly pulled the rug out from under one of their rural gigabit voucher based full fibre builds in Cumbria (i.e. the project for Warcop, Sandford, Coupland Beck, Bleatarn and Ormside). Much as we reported last week (details here), the planned deployment appeared to be progressing toward the start of build and had already been designated as a Voucher Priority Area (VPA) by BDUK. This is normally used to avoid voucher projects stalling when clashing with the wider Project Gigabit procurement. Both sides of the programme focus on the same sort of rural areas, so BDUK has to avoid duplicating public investment. However, at the 11th hour and for reasons that remain unclear, BDUK recently declared that the deployment was no longer designated as a VPA and instead placed the area into the initial scope of the regional supplier procurement. This reflected the deferred scope of the Regional Suppler (type B) procurement in Cumbria, which was won by commercial operator Fibrus all the way back in November 2022 (here). The good news is that a small ray of hope emerged today after Tim Farron MP managed to raise the matter in parliament during two separate, albeit roughly related, debates one on the technology sector and the other on rural volunteer groups (here and here). In one of those he even got a useful response. Tim Farron MP said: The tech sector in rural Cumbria depends on reliable broadband. Communities in Warcop, Sandford, Coupland Beck, Blea Tarn and Ormside in Westmorland have signed up to the community interest company and volunteer group B4RN to provide a gigabit connection for just 33 a month, but the communities have been suddenly designated a low priority area, which means that their vouchers have been removed, putting the whole project at risk. Will the Chancellor commit to supporting those communities, residents and businesses to ensure that they get the vouchers that they were initially promised? In response, the Chancellor of the UK government, Jeremy Hunt, has promised to happily look into what has happened We strongly support all rural areas having access to gigabyte broadband, as an important part of our policy. We have made a lot of progress on that. I will look into detail of what is happening in the hon. Gentlemans area and get back to him. We should point out that a number of other gigabit voucher projects have since informed us that they too have been impacted by a similar decision from BDUK. We should also add that this isnt the first time that Farron has lent his support to B4RN, and the last time did result in some action, which is actually how the VPA designation came into existence in the first place. This Week in Review A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more. Germanys chancellor has pressed China to lean harder on Russia over its war in Ukraine, while leaders from both countries have pledged to work together to combat climate change as two of the worlds biggest carbon dioxide emitters Reddit Email 40 Shares By Jeffrey L. Littlejohn, Sam Houston State University and Zachary Montz, Sam Houston State University | (The Conversation) The news was startling. On June 19, 1865, two months after the U.S. Civil War ended, Union Gen. Gordon Granger walked onto the balcony at Ashton Villa in Galveston, Texas, and announced to the people of the state that all slaves are free. As local plantation owners lamented the loss of their most valuable property, Black Texans celebrated Grangers Juneteenth announcement with singing, dancing and feasting. The 182,566 enslaved African Americans in Texas had finally won their freedom. One of them was Joshua Houston. He had long served as the enslaved servant of Gen. Sam Houston, the most well-known military and political leader in Texas. Joshua Houston lived about 120 miles north of Galveston when he learned of Grangers proclamation. It was read aloud at the local Methodist Church in Huntsville, Texas, by Union Gen. Edgar M. Gregory, the assistant commissioner for the Freedmens Bureau in Texas. If Juneteenth meant anything, it meant at least that Joshua Houston and his family were free. Courtesy of the Sam Houston Memorial Museum and Republic of Texas Presidential Library, Huntsville, Texas But there was more too. The promise of freedom meant that more work needed to be done. Families needed to be reunited. Land needed to be secured. Children needed to be educated. Indeed, the radical promise of Juneteenth is embodied in the community activism of Joshua Houston and the educational career of his son Samuel Walker Houston. The violent white reaction to Black political power Within a year of Grangers proclamation, Houston had established a blacksmith shop near the Huntsville town square and moved his family into a two-story house on the adjoining lot. He helped found the Union Church, the first Black-owned institution in the city, as well as a freedmens school to begin educating African American children. In 1878 and 1882, a Republican coalition of Black and white voters opposed to conservative Democratic rule elected Houston as the countys first Black county commissioner, a powerful position in local governance. Despite this dramatic turn of events, Houstons political story was hardly unique. In the two decades following emancipation, 52 Black men served in the state Legislature or the states constitutional conventions. But that number had fallen to two by 1882. Opposition to Black freedom had been a powerful force in the states political culture since emancipation. Armstead Barrett, a former slave in Huntsville, recalled in 1937 that an enraged white man had reacted to Grangers Juneteenth order by riding past a celebrating Black woman and murdering her with his sword. In 1871, the violence continued when the white citizens of Huntsville stormed the county courthouse and aided the escape of three men who had lynched freedman Sam Jenkins. Later, in the 1880s, attacks on Black elected officials, their white political allies and Black voters escalated dramatically. In the early 1900s, changes in state election laws, including the introduction of the poll tax, effectively disenfranchised most Black voters and many poor whites as well. Voter participation dropped from roughly 85% at the high tide of Texas populism in 1896 to roughly 35% when the poll tax became effective in 1904. As a result, Robert Lloyd Smith was the last Black legislator for nearly 70 years when he finished his term in 1897. That wall of white supremacy at the state Capitol would not crack again until 1966, when federal voting rights legislation and Supreme Court rulings nullified schemes to deny African Americans the ballot. These changes enabled the election of Black officials such as Barbara Jordan, the first African American woman to serve in the Texas Senate. Like father, like son On an unknown date, a few years after Juneteenth, Joshua Houstons son Samuel Walker Houston was born free in the bright light of Reconstruction. Although he spent his adulthood in some of the darkest years of Jim Crow, he continued his fathers work as an educator and community leader. Following a short stint at Atlanta University in Georgia and Howard University in Washington, D.C., Samuel Walker Houston returned to Huntsville and founded a school in the nearby Galilee community. Houstons school was named for him and served as one of the first county training schools for African Americans in Texas. It enrolled students at every level, from first grade through high school, and provided a curriculum based on Booker T. Washingtons Tuskegee model of vocational training. Young women at Houstons school received training in homemaking, sewing and cooking, while young men learned carpentry, woodworking and mathematics. By 1922, enrollment at the school had grown to 400 students, and it was recognized by contemporaries as the leading school of East Texas. In the 1930s, Houstons school was absorbed into Huntsvilles school district, and he became the director of Black education in the county. Jackson Davis Collection of African American Educational Photographs, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library Houston encouraged a practical education for Black Texans, but he also believed that young Texans of all races needed to learn an account of history that differed from the white supremacist narrative that dominated Southern history. Toward this end, he joined with Joseph Clark and Ramsey Woods, two white professors who pioneered race relations courses at Sam Houston State Teachers College. Together, the group led the Texas Commission on Interracial Cooperations effort to evaluate Texas public school textbooks during the 1930s. In an analysis of racial attitudes in state-endorsed textbooks, they found that 74% of books presented a racist view of the past and of Black Americans. Most excluded the scientific, literary and civic contributions of Black people, while mentioning their economic contributions only in the period of slavery before the Civil War. Instead, the group argued, books designed for both Black and white Texans needed to take the opportunity to do simple justice by including Black history and the struggle for the exercise of equal civil, political and legal rights. White Texans refused to adopt a textbook in the 1930s that taught the fundamental equality of the races, or portrayed Reconstruction, as it is now widely understood, as a missed opportunity to establish a more just and egalitarian Texas. But Houston and his white counterparts were motivated by the conviction that progress, both for African Americans and for Texas, required a more honest and progressive account of the state and its history. Sam Houston Memorial Museum and Republic of Texas Presidential Library, Huntsville, Texas. An ongoing battle for equality Todays legislative efforts in Texas and elsewhere to restrict the teaching of systemic racism in public schools ignore the lessons and realities represented by Joshua and Samuel Walker Houstons lives. The argument used for supporting such restrictions is that divisive concepts like the history of racism may make some students feel uncomfortable or guilty. That sort of thinking echoes the same justification provided by Texas lawmakers in 1873, when many argued that the states schools must be segregated to ensure the peace, harmony and success of the schools and the good of the whole. But the opposite is true. In reality, the prohibition on teaching the darker chapters of our past creates a segregated history. Instead, as Samuel Walker Houston recognized, young Texans must have a more honest account of the past and of one another to progress into a unified and egalitarian society. Texas history is both the story of people who dedicated their lives to the work of advancing freedom and the story of powerful people and forces that stood against it. One cannot be understood without the other. Americans cannot appreciate the accomplishments of Joshua and Samuel Walker Houston without examining the vicious realities of Jim Crow society. The lesson of their lives, and of the Juneteenth holiday, is that freedom is a precious thing that requires constant work to make real. Jeffrey L. Littlejohn, Professor of History, Sam Houston State University and Zachary Montz, Lecturer, History Department, Sam Houston State University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Featured Image: Joshua Houston leads a Juneteenth Parade in Huntsville, Texas, in a photo circa 1900. Sam Houston Memorial Museum and Republic of Texas Presidential Library Reddit Email 80 Shares ( Middle East Monitor ) Fadi, a Syrian teenager, with curly hair and an acne-covered face, has miraculously survived one of the greatest migrant boat disasters in the modern history of the Mediterranean. Only 104 people have been rescued from a boat that carried an estimated 750 refugees after it capsized on 13 June in the open sea near the coastal town of Pylos. Scores of lifeless bodies have been pulled out from the water, and many more have washed ashore. Hundreds are still missing, feared dead, many of whom are women and children, as they huddled on the lower deck of the 30-meter boat. Fadi survived. A heart-rending photo shows the young Syrian sobbing as he met his older brother, Mohammed, who rushed to the port of Kalamata, Greece, to see him. The two brothers could not embrace, as Fadi was still trapped behind metal gates in a confinement made for the survivors. The latest boat disaster tells a much bigger story than the sympathetic news headlines attempted to convey. It is a story of war, poverty, inequality and despair. Article continues after bonus IC video NBC: Brothers reunited after deadly migrant boat shipwreck in Greece The identity of those who died at sea gives us clues to the origins of the story. They were Syrians, Palestinians, Afghans and more. These refugees were seeking safety, coveting mere survival. The sad irony is that the latest episode of this seemingly endless horror took place exactly one week before the United Nations was set to celebrate World Refugee Day, held on 20 June of each year. Most references to this day by the UN, UN-related organisations and international charities around the world seem to emphasise empowerment and positivity. A statement by the UN Refugees Agency (UNHCR) spoke of honouring the refugees around the globe and referenced Refugee Day as one that celebrates the strength and courage of refugees. The contradictions of the discourses pertaining to the refugees should be too obvious to miss. But we often do. Too many lavish dinners will be catered in the name of the refugees in many Western capitals and embassies around the world. Diplomats will demand action, and well-paid intellectuals will enunciate the moral and ethical responsibilities of governments and civil societies. Many will clap and numerous business cards will be exchanged. But little will change. Over 23,000 refugees have drowned or gone missing while trying to reach European shores between 2014 and 2022. The real number is expected to be much higher as there are no official records of how many people embark on these deadly journeys in the first place. We have hundreds of records of bodies that are washed up to Mediterranean shores when we dont know of any known shipwreck, Julia Black of the International Organisation for Migration told the BBCs Today Program. The identity of the victims Syrians, Palestinians, Afghans, Sudanese should have been a major clue as to why people take such terrible risks, only to reach European countries, where they endure great hardships, including racial discrimination, just to survive. Yet, we hardly confront the real culprits behind all of this: weapon manufacturers and military interventionists, and political meddlers who provoke and/or exacerbate conflicts. These individuals and governments see the Middle East, Africa and the rest of the Global South as mere space for geopolitical rivalries, cheap raw materials and human and economic exploitation. But, when the outcome of such dreadful policies results in the least irritant to the socioeconomic fabrics of Western societies, desperate refugees become villains, to be shunned, ignored, imprisoned and deported. In reality, world refugees, estimated at over 100 million, are not celebrated, but mostly vilified. They are seen as a burden, not an opportunity to confront and fix the underlying problems, old and new, that led to their original displacement. While visiting Tunisia on 11 June, along with far-right Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, was adamant about rebranding the tragedy of refugees as something else entirely. In their joint statement, the high-ranking European politicians vowed to break the cynical business model of smuggler(s) because it is horrible to see how they (the smugglers) deliberately risk human lives for profit. Considering that the arms industry is one of Europes most thriving business models, one cannot help but pause at the irony of such remarks. No other collective experiences illustrate Western complicity as that of the Palestinian people. Thousands of them have perished while escaping for their lives from Israels horrific wars and sieges. They were dying in large numbers as soon as Zionist militants began the systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1947-48. Yet, after 75 years of such suffering and pain, western countries continue to do everything in their power to support Israel and disempower even blame Palestinians. Indeed, those who are truly interested in commemorating World Refugee Day ought to fully fathom the protracted Palestinian refugee experience to truly understand where the problem actually lies. On a recent trip to Turkiye, I met with many Palestinian refugees, mostly from Gaza, whose families were also made refugees by Israel in 1948, and again in 1967. These mostly young people are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to cross the sea into Greece, then to other European countries in search of work. Mohammed B. told me that he had attempted 9 times to reach Greece. The last time I was caught. I was severely beaten and left for dead in a dark forest, he said, but I will try again. Mohammeds uncle was killed by Israel during the First Intifada; several members of his family died due to the lack of medicine in the besieged Strip, and nearly 35 members of the family, mostly children, live in a three-bedroom house that was bombed by Israel on two separate occasions. Mohammed and millions like him are not the villains. They are the victims. For World Refugee Day to matter, it must address the root causes of such complex and ongoing problems. Only an honest and deep understanding can serve as a starting point for a meaningful conversation and, hopefully, meaningful actions. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor or Informed Comment. Via Middle East Monitor Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Moneta Gold Inc. (TSX: ME) (OTCQX: MEAUF) (FSE: MOPA) ("Moneta" or the "Company") is pleased to announce assay results from fifty-four (54) resource infill and step-out drill holes on the Westaway deposit at the Tower Gold project (the "Project"), located in the Timmins Gold Camp, Ontario. The drilling was conducted as part of an initial 76,000 metres ("m") drilling program, completed in 2022, and an additional 60,000 m drilling program that is currently underway. Both drilling programs are designed for resource upgrade and infill of the 4.5 million ("M") ounces ("oz") indicated gold ("Au") and 8.3 Moz inferred Au mineral resource estimate (see September 07, 2022 press release). Drilling Highlights: MGH23-388 intersected 42.55 m @ 4.03 grams per tonne "g/t" Au, including 19.25 m @ 6.74 g/t Au, including 4.00 m @ 12.89 g/t Au MGH22-336 intersected 29.83 m @ 2.62 g/t Au, including 19.83 m @ 3.73 g/t Au MGH23-359 intersected 29.00 m @ 2.47 g/t Au, including 9.00 m @ 5.67 g/t Au, including 3.00 m @ 11.31 g/t Au MGH23-357 intersected 27.00 m @ 1.94 g/t Au, including 10.00 m @ 2.50 g/t Au, and 5.00 m @ 5.09 g/t Au MGH23-352 intersected 26.50 m @ 1.69 g/t Au, including 5.00 m @ 4.00 g/t Au, and 3.00 m @ 2.70 g/t Au MGH23-385 intersected 23.80 m @ 1.86 g/t Au, including 1.00 m @ 7.28 g/t Au, and 6.40 m @ 3.92 g/t Au, including 3.00 m @ 6.44 g/t Au MGH23-350 intersected 4.45 m @ 9.56 g/t Au MGH23-393 intersected 10.65 m @ 3.64 g/t Au, including 1.00 m @ 18.65 g/t Au MGH23-350 intersected 14.00 m @ 2.38 g/t Au, including 8.45 m @ 3.52 g/t Au Gary O'Connor, Moneta's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "These latest assay results from infill and step-out drilling continue to confirm the continuity and extensions of gold mineralization at Westaway, on the Tower Gold project. The drilling has been focussed on the open pit portions of the mineral resources as defined in the current Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") study during the first 11 years of production. Continuity of good gold mineralization have also been intersected within the underground and outside the initial open pit areas. As we continue to grow, de-risk, and advance the Project, we look forward to completing the current resource infill and upgrade drill program in preparation of a mineral resource estimate update for planned optimization studies." A total of 10,888.0 m of drilling was completed in fifty-four (54) drill holes. Drilling is being conducted on 50 m centres as step-outs and infill of previous drill holes. All assays are now released from 2022 drilling. Additional assays from 2023 drilling are pending and will be released upon receipt of assays. Figure 1: Tower Gold Project - General Location Map Table 1: Westaway - Drill Intercepts (above 10 g/t x m Au) Hole From To Length Au (gram metres) (#) (m) (m) (m) (g/t) (g/t x m) MGH22-336 272.00 275.00 3.00 5.94 17.8 includes 272.00 274.00 2.00 8.00 16.0 MGH22-336 294.17 324.00 29.83 2.62 78.3 includes 294.17 314.00 19.83 3.73 73.9 MGH22-343 61.40 67.00 5.60 3.10 17.4 includes 61.40 65.00 3.60 4.63 16.7 MGH22-343 83.00 97.00 14.00 1.04 14.6 includes 89.00 97.00 8.00 1.42 11.4 MGH23-349 142.25 147.00 4.75 2.84 13.5 MGH23-349 157.00 163.00 6.00 2.99 17.9 includes 158.50 159.50 1.00 9.81 9.8 and 161.00 163.00 2.00 3.57 7.1 MGH23-349 272.65 275.80 3.15 4.39 13.8 MGH23-349 496.00 500.00 4.00 4.02 16.1 includes 496.00 499.20 3.20 4.89 15.6 MGH23-350 224.30 231.40 7.10 1.94 13.8 includes 229.65 231.40 1.75 3.25 5.7 MGH23-350 279.50 298.00 18.50 1.23 22.8 includes 286.00 288.00 2.00 3.07 6.1 and 296.75 298.00 1.25 2.11 2.6 MGH23-350 534.00 548.00 14.00 2.38 33.3 includes 534.00 542.45 8.45 3.52 29.8 MGH23-350 597.75 602.20 4.45 9.56 42.5 MGH23-352 195.50 199.50 4.00 5.23 20.9 includes 196.50 198.50 2.00 9.54 19.1 MGH23-352 210.50 237.00 26.50 1.69 44.8 includes 225.00 230.00 5.00 4.00 20.0 and 234.00 237.00 3.00 2.70 8.1 MGH23-352 346.50 357.50 11.00 2.68 29.5 MGH23-353 176.90 185.30 8.40 3.45 29.0 includes 176.90 179.60 2.70 5.42 14.6 and 180.40 181.30 0.90 6.78 6.1 MGH23-353 225.30 229.00 3.70 3.97 14.7 includes 226.20 229.00 2.80 5.11 14.3 includes 228.00 229.00 1.00 10.20 10.2 MGH23-357 77.00 104.00 27.00 1.94 52.5 includes 83.00 93.00 10.00 2.50 25.0 and 97.00 102.00 5.00 5.09 25.4 MGH23-359 162.00 191.00 29.00 2.47 71.8 includes 170.00 179.00 9.00 5.67 51.0 includes 173.00 176.00 3.00 11.31 33.9 MGH23-361 117.00 127.90 10.90 2.60 28.3 includes 120.00 123.40 3.40 3.25 11.1 and 125.00 127.00 2.00 4.98 10.0 MGH23-363 107.65 110.00 2.35 4.71 11.1 MGH23-365 200.55 205.00 4.45 4.60 20.5 includes 201.15 205.00 3.85 5.18 19.9 MGH23-368 131.00 135.00 4.00 4.89 19.6 includes 132.00 135.00 3.00 6.27 18.8 MGH23-369 126.00 133.00 7.00 2.21 15.5 includes 126.00 128.00 2.00 4.65 9.3 MGH23-379 104.50 107.50 3.00 4.07 12.2 includes 104.50 106.50 2.00 5.65 11.3 MGH23-385 233.00 239.70 6.70 2.36 15.8 includes 233.00 237.00 4.00 3.49 14.0 includes 235.00 237.00 2.00 5.48 11.0 MGH23-385 261.60 285.40 23.80 1.86 44.2 includes 270.00 271.00 1.00 7.28 7.3 and 278.00 284.40 6.40 3.92 25.1 includes 278.00 281.00 3.00 6.44 19.3 MGH23-388 220.00 262.55 42.55 4.03 171.5 Includes 239.40 258.65 19.25 6.74 129.8 includes 244.00 248.00 4.00 12.89 51.6 MGH23-393 261.80 272.45 10.65 3.64 38.7 includes 261.80 262.80 1.00 18.65 18.7 and 271.30 272.45 1.15 9.40 10.8 MGH23-395 69.55 88.00 18.45 0.71 13.1 includes 78.00 81.00 3.00 1.31 3.9 and 84.00 88.00 4.00 1.39 5.6 MGH23-397 63.00 76.45 13.45 1.30 17.6 includes 63.00 67.00 4.00 2.48 9.9 Note: All intercepts are calculated using a 0.30 g/t Au cut-off, a maximum of 5 m internal dilution and no top cap applied. Drill intercepts are not true widths, are reported as drill widths, and are estimated to be 75% to 95% of true width. Figure 2: Westaway - Tower Gold: Infill Drill Location Map Discussion of Drill Results The Westaway deposit currently hosts an open pit indicated resource of 0.75 million tonnes ("Mt") @ 2.20 g/t Au containing 53,000 oz gold and an inferred resource of 22.11 Mt @ 1.95 g/t Au containing 1,383,000 oz gold (see September 07, 2022 press release). The drill holes in this release focused on infill and extensions of the mineral resource within the current open pit PEA mine shells from surface to vertical depths of up to 450 m below surface. Mineralization at Westaway is associated with extensional and stockwork-type quartz veining within Timiskaming age meta-sediments, located between 2 major splays of the Destor-Porcupine Fault Zone ("DPFZ") in the Golden Highway area of the Project. The drill results confirmed the continuity and expanded the resource estimate in the central core area of the Westaway deposit, within the PEA open pit, as highlighted in drill holes MGH23-357, MGH23-359, MGH23-369, and MGH23-388. Additionally, significant intercepts at depth, below the bottom of the PEA pit indicate potential expansion opportunities as seen in drill holes MGH22-336, MGH23-385, MGH23-394, and MGH23-393. Twenty-eight (28) drill holes did not intersect mineralization above 10 "g/t Au x m"; however, gold mineralization was intersected above a 0.3 g/t Au economic cut-off in sixteen (16) of these holes. Twelve (12) drill holes did not intersect mineralization above 0.3 g/t Au cut-off, of which: MGH22-301 confirmed the location of the banded iron formation that constrains mineralization in the north; MGH23-374, MGH23-376, MGH23-382, MGH23-386, MGH23-390, MGH23-391, MGH23-392, and MGA2H-398 constrain mineralization in the south; and MGH23-364, MGH23-367, and MGH23-383 laterally constrain a vein corridor in the west-central area of the Westaway deposit. Figure 3: Westaway - Tower Gold: North Infill Drilling Cross Section "A-B" Note: Intercepts are shown and calculated using a 0.30 g/t Au cut-off, a maximum of 5m internal dilution and no top cap applied. Figure 4: Westaway - Tower Gold: North-Central Infill Drilling Cross Section "C-D" Note: Intercepts are shown and calculated using a 0.30 g/t Au cut-off, a maximum of 5m internal dilution and no top cap applied. Figure 5: Westaway - Tower Gold: South-Central Infill Drilling Cross Section "E-F" Note: Intercepts are shown and calculated using a 0.30 g/t Au cut-off, a maximum of 5m internal dilution and no top cap applied. Table 2: Westaway - Tower Gold: Resource Infill Drill Hole Details Hole Easting Northing Elevation Azimuth Inclination Depth (#) (mE) (mN) (masl) () () (m) MGH22-301 570224 5369217 327 50 -60 201.0 MGH22-336 570224 5368943 319 63 -65 336.0 MGH22-336A 570223 5368945 329 60 -65 141.0 MGH22-340 570353 5368966 321 70 -50 225.0 MGH22-341 570316 5369086 321 50 -60 225.0 MGH22-342 570357 5369143 322 50 -60 126.0 MGH22-343 570429 5369115 320 55 -60 150.0 MGH23-349 569925 5368923 320 59 -58 531.0 MGH23-350 569929 5368884 319 59 -58 606.0 MGH23-352 569744 5368791 318 59 -53 534.0 MGH23-353 570297 5369050 321 60 -51 240.0 MGH23-354 570240 5369031 320 60 -51 282.0 MGH23-355 570411 5369048 320 65 -51 198.0 MGH23-356 570560 5368978 321 60 -51 147.0 MGH23-357 570521 5369039 320 25 -50 111.0 MGH23-358 570581 5369004 321 60 -50 117.0 MGH23-359 570324 5369020 320 60 -51 252.0 MGH23-360 570534 5369048 320 45 -51 144.0 MGH23-361 570382 5369049 320 60 -51 201.0 MGH23-362 570529 5369011 320 60 -51 156.0 MGH23-363 570554 5369032 320 60 -51 129.0 MGH23-364 570275 5369013 320 60 -51 177.0 MGH23-365 570365 5369030 320 360 -76 270.0 MGH23-366 570488 5369027 320 25 -51 141.0 MGH23-367 570281 5369042 321 60 -51 147.0 MGH23-368 570326 5369096 321 60 -50 198.0 MGH23-369 570483 5369039 319 60 -74 186.0 MGH23-370 570368 5369160 321 60 -51 147.0 MGH23-372 570365 5369030 320 0 -61 225.0 MGH23-373 570451 5369000 320 60 -74 222.0 MGH23-374 570522 5368951 320 60 -51 147.0 MGH23-375 570406 5369161 321 60 -51 126.0 MGH23-376 570522 5368926 321 60 -51 147.0 MGH23-377 570349 5368989 320 60 -51 255.0 MGH23-378 570472 5369029 320 60 -51 147.0 MGH23-379 570351 5369120 321 60 -51 177.0 MGH23-380 570218 5368951 319 60 -52 345.0 MGH23-382 570492 5368907 320 60 -51 126.0 MGH23-383 570475 5369036 320 60 -73 105.0 MGH23-383A 570475 5369037 325 60 -73 81.0 MGH23-384 570399 5369128 321 60 -51 150.0 MGH23-385 570308 5368942 320 60 -60 306.0 MGH23-386 570458 5368910 320 60 -51 147.0 MGH23-387 570440 5369122 320 60 -51 138.0 MGH23-388 570241 5368985 320 60 -52 321.0 MGH23-390 570495 5368985 320 60 -51 141.0 MGH23-391 570493 5369121 320 90 -51 132.0 MGH23-392 570472 5368938 320 60 -51 126.0 MGH23-393 570318 5368949 320 60 -51 285.0 MGH23-395A 570467 5369124 331 100 -50 54.0 MGH23-395 570467 5369124 321 100 -50 108.0 MGH23-396 570478 5368962 320 60 -51 219.0 MGH23-397 570331 5368937 320 90 -75 150.0 MGH23-398 570449 5368941 320 60 -51 190.0 Quality Control Procedures NQ drill core is oriented and cut with half sent to AGAT Laboratories Inc. (AGAT) for drying and crushing to -2 mm, with a 1.00 kg split pulverized to -75 m (200#). AGAT is an ISO 17025 accredited laboratory. A 50 g charge is Fire Assayed and analyzed using an AAS finish for Gold. Samples above 10.00 g/t Au are analyzed by Fire Assay with a gravimetric finish and selected samples with visible gold or high-grade mineralization are assayed by Metallic Screen Fire Assay on a 1.00 kg sample. Moneta inserts independent certified reference material and blanks with the samples and assays routine pulp repeats and coarse reject sample duplicates, as well as completing routine third-party check assays at Bureau Veritas Commodities Ltd. Qualified Person Jason Dankowski (APEGM #35155), Vice President Technical Services & Geology for Moneta, who is a QP as defined by NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this press release. About Moneta Gold Moneta is a Canadian-based gold exploration company focused on advancing its 100% wholly owned Tower Gold project, located in the Timmins region of Northeastern Ontario, Canada's most prolific gold producing camp. The September 2022, PEA study outlined a combined open pit and underground mining and a 7.0 million tonne per annum conventional leach operation over a 24-year mine life, with 4.6 Moz of recovered gold, generating an after-tax NPV5% of $1,066M, IRR of 31.7%, and a 2.6-year payback at a gold price US$1,600/oz. Tower Gold hosts an estimated gold mineral resource of 4.5 Moz indicated and 8.3 Moz inferred. Moneta is committed to creating shareholder value through the strategic allocation of capital and a focus on the current resource upgrade drilling program, while conducting all business activities in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Gary V. O'Connor, CEO 416-357-3319 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Ardem Keshishian, VP Corporate Development 416-471-5463 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The Company's public documents may be accessed at www.sedar.com. For further information on the Company, please visit our website at www.monetagold.com or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Certain statements in this press release including certain information about Moneta's business outlook, objectives, strategies, plans, strategic priorities and results of operations, as well as other statements which are not current statements or historical facts, constitute "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (without limitation, statements regarding exploration programs, potential mineralization, future plans and objectives of the Company, updated to the mineral resources, and the timing and results thereof) are forward looking statements. Sentences and phrases containing words such as "believe", "estimate", "anticipate", "plan", "will", "intend", "predict", "outlook", "goal", "target", "forecast", "project", "scheduled", "proposed", "expect", "potential", "strategy", and the negative of any of these words, or variations of them, or comparable terminology that does not relate strictly to current or historical facts, are all indicative of forwardlooking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forwardlooking statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, and are based on several assumptions, both general and specific, which give rise to the possibility that actual results or events could differ materially from Moneta's expectations expressed in or implied by such forwardlooking statements and that Moneta's business outlook, objectives, plans and strategic priorities may not be achieved. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or events, and Moneta cautions you against relying on any of these forwardlooking statements. Forwardlooking statements are provided in this press release for the purpose of assisting investors and others in understanding Moneta's objectives, strategic priorities and business outlook, and in obtaining a better understanding of Moneta's anticipated operating environment. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Examples of forwardlooking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to: information with respect to the future performance of the business, its operations and financial performance and condition; statements relating to Moneta's plans for the Tower Gold project; the Company's drilling program and the timing and results thereof; the timing and scope and focus of the Company's prefeasibility study ("PFS"); statements regarding the environmental impact assessment and community engagement activities; the Company's financing initiatives; the completion and timing of the Offering; the terms of the Offering; the expected use of proceeds from the Offering; regulatory approvals related to the Offering; and the closing date of the Offering. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company. Important risk factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forwardlooking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to: uncertainties inherent in the business of mineral exploration and extraction; uncertainty with respect to the Company's liquidity and ability to secure additional financing; uncertainty of mineral resources; security threats to the Company's information technology systems; the current global financial condition; the market price of securities and substantial volatility in the market price of commodities; fluctuations of commodity prices; the Company's history of net losses; possible loss of interests in mineral properties; title risks; uncertainty relating to surface rights; environmental risks; risks associated with joint venture agreements; risks relating to statutory and regulatory requirements; uncertainty relating to the Company's competition with other gold exploration and development companies for materials and supplies; the Company's dependence on key management and employees; uncertainty arising from international conflict and other geopolitical tensions and events, including but to limited to Russia's invasion of Ukraine; uncertainty in respect of COVID19 and any resurgence of same; uncertainty in respect of procuring licenses and permits from various governmental authorities; the term and extension of concession contracts; uninsurable risks; obligations under option and joint venture agreements; uncertainty as to whether mergers and amalgamations will be completed successfully; the Company's relationships with the communities in which it operates; internal conflicts of interest; infrastructure risks; the Company's lack of a dividend policy; and the fact that the outstanding common shares of the Company could be subject to dilution. Readers are cautioned that the risks referred to above are not the only ones that could affect Moneta. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to Moneta or that Moneta currently deems to be immaterial may also have a material adverse effect on Moneta's financial position, financial performance, cash flows, business, or reputation. Forwardlooking statements made in this press release are based on a number of assumptions that Moneta believed were reasonable at the time it made each forwardlooking statement. The assumptions, although considered reasonable by Moneta on the day it made the forwardlooking statements, may prove to be inaccurate. Accordingly, our actual results could differ materially from our expectations. There can be no assurance that forwardlooking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, 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. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. Romana West on strike and contiguous to La Romana copper-tin discovery Initial 25-30 drill hole program underway at Romana West Drilling in-progress at the Canada Honda high-grade Cu-Au target VANCOUVER, BC, June 20, 2023 /CNW/ - Pan Global Resources Inc. ("Pan Global" or the "Company") (TSXV: PGZ) (OTCQB: PGZFF) is pleased to announce that it has commenced diamond drilling at the Romana West target at the Company's 100%-owned Escacena Project in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, southern Spain. New detailed geophysics, geochemistry and geological surveys, along with the location of historical mine workings, highlight the potential to extend the La Romana copper-tin-silver (Cu-Sn-Ag) mineralization for more than 800m to the west at the Romana West target. Drilling also continues at the high priority Canada Honda target. "We are excited to have the first drill turning on the high-priority Romana West copper target as exploration in the Escacena Project continues to accelerate. Mineralization at La Romana has already been defined over a strike of over one kilometer and has the potential to expand to more than two kilometers at the contiguous Romana West target. The first 13 drill sites have been positioned as part of an initial 25 to 30 drillhole campaign with the goal of extending the La Romana near-surface Cu-Sn-Ag mineralization. A second drill rig is expected to arrive in approximately three weeks," said Tim Moody, Pan Global's President & CEO. The Romana West target includes the westward projection of a large gravity anomaly coincident with the La Romana mineralization and potential extension to the near-surface La Romana Cu-Sn-Ag mineralization. Drilling to date at La Romana shows the mineralization extends over approximately 1.2 kilometers of strike and remains wide open to the west in the direction of the historical La Romana mine workings at the Romana West target. The mineralization also remains open down dip in several areas. The planned drill program at Romana West includes 25 to 30 drill holes (approximately 6,000m) on north-south lines approximately 100m apart to delineate the western extent of the near-surface La Romana mineralization. Ongoing geophysics and geochemistry surveys will be used to prioritize and refine drill hole locations. Initial planned drill hole locations are shown on Figure 1 below. After recently securing surface access to the Romana West target, detailed gravity, Induced Polarity (IP), soil geochemistry and geological surveys commenced and is ongoing in the surrounding area. More than 750 gravity data points, 500 soil samples analyzed by portable-XRF (pXRF) and three 200m-to-250m-spaced IP lines have been completed covering the Romana West target. Geological mapping and Lidar surveys are in progress over the historical mine workings. The new survey results highlight a prominent, 0.6mGal gravity anomaly at Romana West extending for up to 1,000m west of the La Romana drilling. The peak of the Romana West gravity anomaly coincides with the location of the historical mine workings. A pXRF soil-Cu-Sn anomaly and IP chargeability high indicate strong potential to extend the La Romana near-surface Cu-Sn-Ag mineralization in this area. Additional gravity anomalies have been identified by the new survey to the west and north of Romana West, which require further investigation. Investigation of the historical mine workings at Romana West has identified several shallow surface pits and tunnels, with secondary copper mineralization evident at surface. The historical mine workings align with the projected strike continuation of the La Romana mineralization. Drilling is also ongoing at the Canada Honda target with the second of three follow-up drill holes in-progress. Assay results are pending for approximately 20 drill holes from Zarcita and La Romana. About the Escacena Project The Escacena Project comprises a large, contiguous, 5,760-hectare land package controlled 100% by Pan Global in the east of the Iberian Pyrite Belt. Escacena is located near operating mines at Las Cruces and Riotinto and is immediately adjacent to the former Aznalcollar and Los Frailes mines where Minera Los Frailes/Grupo Mexico is in the final permitting stage with construction anticipated to start in 2023. The Escacena Project hosts the La Romana copper-tin-silver discovery and a number of other prospective targets, including Zarcita, Hornitos, La Jarosa, Romana Deep, Romana North, Romana West, Canada Honda, Bravo, Barbacena, El Pozo, and San Pablo. About Pan Global Resources Pan Global Resources Inc. is actively targeting copper-rich mineral deposits, given copper's compelling supply-demand fundamentals and outlook for strong long-term prices as a critical metal for global electrification and energy transition. The Company's flagship Escacena Project is located in the prolific Iberian Pyrite Belt in southern Spain, where infrastructure, mining and professional expertise, and support for copper as a Strategic Raw Material by the European Commission collectively define a tier-one jurisdiction for mining investment. The Pan Global team comprises proven talent in exploration, development, and mine operations - all of which are committed to operating safely and with utmost respect for the environment and our partnered communities. Qualified Persons James Royall, Vice President Exploration for Pan Global Resources and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the scientific and technical information for this news release. Mr. Royall is not independent of the Company. On behalf of the Board of Directors Forward-looking statements Statements which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. It is important to note that actual outcomes and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information included in this news release are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental, environmental and technological factors that may affect the Company's operations, markets, products and prices. Readers should refer to the risk disclosures outlined in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis of its audited financial statements filed with the British Columbia Securities Commission. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on information available to the Company as of the date of this news release. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information. 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. Adiani's deep industry experience is pivotal as IBAT readies for commercialization of its DLE technology. VANCOUVER, BC and HOUSTON, June 19, 2023 /CNW/ - International Battery Metals Ltd. (CSE: "IBAT") (OTC: IBATF) (FSE: 8RE) has appointed Rita Adiani to its advisory board. Adiani has significant experience in capital raising, M&A and resource & energy transition technology integration. She has worked for nearly two decades as a senior-level executive in the resource industry spanning roles in corporates, private equity, investment banking and corporate law. Adiani serves as Senior Vice President, for strategy & corporate development at Arizona Sonoran Copper Company (TSX listed) and continues to serve on the board of Brixton Metals of Vancouver. "We are fortunate to have someone of Rita's stature in the energy transition industry join our advisory board," said Garry Flowers, CEO of IBAT. "This is an important time of growth for our company, and Rita's seasoned knowledge will provide a guiding hand as we begin to deploy our groundbreaking direct lithium extraction units." Adiani has also served as Executive Vice President at Xiana Mining; and as Managing Director, Head of Metals and Mining at NRG Capital Partners in London. She is admitted to practice as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales (currently non-practicing). She has also served as senior Corporate Finance Manager for La Mancha Resources (an energy transition fund today). She practiced corporate law at Linklaters LLP in London and Dubai from 2002-2006 and is a law graduate from the University of Oxford and the University of Sheffield. Adiani also has a Certificate in Mining Studies Mining Engineering from the University of British Columbia and a CFA in ESG Investing from the CFA Institute UK. Adiani's appointment comes as IBAT prepares to roll out its Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) modular technology to the field. With the efficiencies needed to keep up with global lithium demand for use in batteries in products such as EVs, the company's technology greatly reduces environmental impact from lithium extraction compared to other extraction methods. About International Battery Metals (IBAT): International Battery Metals (IBAT) has developed and patented the world's fastest, scalable lithium-processing technologies and has pioneered the only patented technology able to achieve commercial-scale lithium production in just 18 months. IBAT's proprietary Modular Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology is proven to quickly and efficiently recover more lithium from brine than traditional methods, while offering safe, superior and sustainable environmental performance. By bringing more lithium to more customer-partners, IBAT is accelerating lithium production to meet the ever-increasing worldwide demand for batteries to power electric vehicles, tools and landscape equipment. Neither Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain assumptions, estimates, and other forward-looking statements regarding future events. Such forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and are subject to factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control that may cause actual results or performance to differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. 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 harbor 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. There is no assurance that the company's apparatus will be able to commercially produce lithium at the stated capacity. The purpose of the tests is to determine if it will be able to do so and successful completion of the tests cannot be assured as they are subject to risks and uncertainties associated with any new mineral processing method and characteristics of the material being processed. 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 forwardlooking statements. TORONTO, June 20, 2023 /CNW/ - Collective Mining Ltd. (TSXV: CNL) (OTCQX: CNLMF) ("Collective" or the "Company") recently commenced exploration diamond drilling on the first of six well mineralized and outcropping targets located within a 400-metre radius of the Apollo porphyry system ("Apollo"). Please refer to the press release dated April 18, 2023, for a description of the six newly generated targets. The Company presently has three diamond drill rigs on site with a fourth rig expected to arrive in the near term. Presently, one of the operating rigs has been assigned to systematic drilling of the six new targets at Apollo. The Apollo porphyry system is a high-grade, bulk tonnage copper-silver-gold system, which owes its excellent metal endowment to an older copper-silver and gold porphyry system being overprinted by younger precious metal rich, carbonate base metal vein systems (intermediate sulphidation porphyry veins) within a magmatic, hydrothermal inter-mineral breccia and diorite porphyry bodies currently measuring 435 metres x 395 metres x 915 metres and open for expansion. Details ( See Figures 1-2) The Company has previously undertaken surface mapping outlining six targets with the same styles of mineralization as the Apollo porphyry system consisting of altered porphyry with vein stockwork, hydrothermal breccia with oxides followed by sulphides in the matrix and overprinting late-stage porphyry veins ("CBM Veins"). Surface exposure in the Apollo area is very limited and all six targets have similar outcropping dimensions and gold-silver-copper grades to the original discovery outcrop at the Apollo porphyry system. Drill holes APC-54 and APC-57 were recently completed from Pad 9 on Target 1, which is located up to 200 metres to the west of the Apollo porphyry system. Visual logging of APC-54's drill core indicates potentially interesting porphyry style mineralization was encountered over two intervals along the hole. Assay results for both holes are anticipated in July 2023 . . The rig at Pad 9 was recently mobilized to Pad 5 where it will soon commence drill testing below mineralized outcrops at Target 2. Three easterly directed reconnaissance holes are planned for Target 2, which is located approximately 300 metres to the northeast of the Apollo porphyry system. Nine additional holes have been completed at Apollo and are in the lab for analysis. Assay results for deep drill holes APC-49 and APC-55, which cut more than 840 metres and 790 metres of continuous mineralization from surface respectively, are anticipated prior to the end of Q2 2023. Ari Sussman, Executive Chairman commented: "It is exciting to see that APC-54, which is our very first reconnaissance hole outside of the Apollo porphyry deposit in 2023, has intersected visual mineralization over two intervals. Given our past success in making discoveries at the Guayabales project, I am confident that if we drill with persistency, we will make a fresh new discovery in 2023." 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 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-gold Apollo porphyry system. The Company's near-term objective is to drill the shallow portion of the porphyry system while continuing to expand the overall dimensions of the system and test new targets on the property. Management, insiders and close family and friends own nearly 45% 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, soils, 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 (@Ariski73) 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 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. VANCOUVER, BC, June 20, 2023 /CNW/ - Vizsla Copper Corp. (TSXV: VCU) (OTCQB: VCUFF) (FRANKFURT: 97E0) ("Vizsla Copper" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the acquisition of a 100% interest in the 37,466 hectare Copperview project (the "Copperview Project") in the Aspen Grove area of south-central BC (the "Copperview Acquisition"). The Project is prospective for copper-gold porphyry-related mineralization. HIGHLIGHTS Potential: The Copperview Project is located less than 4 kilometres north (and along trend) of Kodiak Copper's Gate Zone discovery (best drill intersection to date is 535.1m @ 0.49% Cu, 0.29 g/t Au from 201.9m in drill hole MPD-20-04) on the MPD property ("MPD"). The Copperview Project is located less than 4 kilometres north (and along trend) of Kodiak Copper's Gate Zone discovery (best drill intersection to date is @ 0.49% Cu, 0.29 g/t Au from in drill hole MPD-20-04) on the MPD property ("MPD"). Prospective Geology: Mapping by the British Columbia Geological Survey indicates that prospective Nicola Gp. volcanic rocks extend northward from the MPD project to the Copperview Project claims where they are largely covered by a thin veneer of glacial till. Mapping by the British Columbia Geological Survey indicates that prospective Nicola Gp. volcanic rocks extend northward from the MPD project to the Copperview Project claims where they are largely covered by a thin veneer of glacial till. Producing Mines: The Copperview Project is located within a prolific copper, gold and molybdenum mining region of the southern Quesnel Terrane; 50 kilometres north of the Copper Mountain mine, 65 kilometres southeast of the Highland Valley mine, and 90 kilometres south of the New Afton mine. "This is an excellent and timely acquisition for Vizsla Copper and is a great example of our strategy of putting our foot on as much prospective copper ground as we can," commented Craig Parry, Executive Chairman. "Global electrification and a dwindling copper supply story will result in an exciting copper market going forward." "I'm very pleased to add the Copperview Project to the Vizsla Copper fold," commented Steve Blower, Vice President of Exploration. "The geology at Kodiak Copper's MPD project is interpreted to extend to the north onto the Copperview Project claims. In addition to Woodjam, where our inaugural drilling campaign is set to begin shortly, this is now also a high priority project for us and exploration will begin this year." The Copperview Project The Copperview Project consists of 37,466 hectares in 40 claims and is being acquired from Donald Rippon of Mineworks Ventures Inc. (the "Vendor") pursuant to a purchase agreement dated June 19, 2023 (the "Copperview Purchase Agreement"). A block of seven claims comprising 9,043 contiguous hectares (Figure 1) is considered the highest priority and will likely see significant exploration effort in the near term. This block is considered highly prospective for copper/gold porphyry-related mineralization due to its proximity to the Gate zone at MPD, which is on trend with and less than 4 kilometres to the south of the Copperview Project. Discovered by Kodiak Copper in 2019, drilling at the Gate zone has outlined a large 350m x 1km x 900m zone of copper/gold porphyry-related mineralization. The best drill intersection to date is 535.1m @ 0.49% Cu, 0.29 g/t Au from 201.9m in drill hole MPD-20-041. The Copperview Project claim block is interpreted to be underlain by eastern facies Upper Triassic Nicola volcanics with local coeval intrusions similar to MPD, and the Copper Mountain and New Afton mines. Terms of the Deal Pursuant to the terms of the Copperview Purchase Agreement, the Company will issue 600,000 common shares of Vizsla Copper to the Vendor (the "Consideration Shares"), grant him a 2% net smelter return royalty ("NSR") and pay $5,000 cash in exchange for a 100% interest in the Copperview Project. One half of the NSR may be bought back from the Vendor for $3 million. The Consideration Shares will be subject to a voluntary one-year release schedule such that one-third of the Consideration Shares will be released every four months after the closing date of the Copperview Acquisition. The Copperview Acquisition is subject to standard closing conditions, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"). Subject to receiving the approval of the TSXV, and the satisfaction of the remaining closing conditions, the Copperview Acquisition is expected to close in the coming weeks. Figure 1 Copperview Project Location and Geology RG Copper Acquisition Update Vizsla Copper is also pleased to provide an update on its previously announced acquisition of RG Copper Corp. ("RG Copper") pursuant to a share exchange agreement dated May 10, 2023 (the "RG Copper Acquisition"). As disclosed by the Company on May 12, 2023, RG Copper has the right to acquire up to a 70% interest in the Redgold Copper-Gold Project (the "Redgold Project") pursuant to an option agreement entered into with the owners of the Redgold Project (the "Underlying Option Agreement"). In connection with the RG Copper Acquisition, the Company, RG Copper and the owners of the Redgold Project (the "Underlying Owners") have amended the terms of the Underlying Option Agreement. Pursuant to the amended terms, RG Copper may acquire up to a 70% interest in the Redgold Project by meeting the following requirements: RG Copper must pay $500,000 ( $50,000 paid), incur eligible expenditures of $2,000,000 and issue 400,000 common shares and an additional $400,000 in common shares prior to October 1, 2026 to earn a 51% interest. ( paid), incur eligible expenditures of and issue 400,000 common shares and an additional in common shares prior to to earn a 51% interest. RG Copper has the option to increase its interest in the Redgold Project from 51% to 70% by paying an additional $500,000 , incurring an additional $2,000,000 of eligible expenditures and issuing an additional $500,000 in common shares prior to October 1, 2028 . , incurring an additional of eligible expenditures and issuing an additional in common shares prior to . RG Copper will grant the Underlying Owners a 2.5% net smelter royalty (subject to a buy down to 1.0% for $2,000,000 ), which will come into effect if and when the Underlying Owners' collective participating interest in the Redgold Project is diluted to less than or equal to 15%. Any shares issued to the Underlying Owners pursuant to the Underlying Option Agreement will be subject to a floor price of $0.17625 per share (the "Floor Price"), resulting in a maximum of 5,106,384 common shares of the Company being issued. The Company has also agreed to make maximum cash payments of $644,681 to the Underlying Vendors if the value of the Company's common shares is below the Floor Price on the relevant issuance date. The RG Copper Acquisition remains subject to standard closing conditions, including the approval of the TSXV. Subject to receiving the approval of the TSXV, and the satisfaction of the remaining closing conditions, the RG Copper Acquisition is expected to close in the coming weeks. Additional details regarding the RG Copper Acquisition and the Redgold Project are set out in the Company's news release dated May 12, 2023. Technical Information See Kodiak Copper's news release dated September 3, 2020 , which is available at www.sedar.ca About Vizsla Copper Vizsla Copper is a Cu-Au-Mo focused mineral exploration and development company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. The Company is primarily focused on its flagship Woodjam project, located within the prolific Quesnel Terrane, 55 kilometers east of the community of Williams Lake, British Columbia. It now has four additional copper exploration properties; Copperview, Redgold, Blueberry and Carruthers Pass, all well situated amongst significant infrastructure in British Columbia. The Company's growth strategy is focused on the exploration and development of its copper properties within its portfolio in addition to value accretive acquisitions. Vizsla Copper's vision is to be a responsible copper explorer and developer in the stable mining jurisdiction of British Columbia, Canada and is committed to socially responsible exploration and development, working safely, ethically and with integrity. Vizsla Copper is a spin-out of Vizsla Silver (TSX.V: VZLA) (NYSE: VZLA) and is backed by Inventa Capital Corp., a premier investment group founded in 2017 with the goal of discovering and funding opportunities in the resource sector. Additional information about the Company is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and the Company's website (www.vizslacopper.com). Qualified Person The Company's disclosure of technical or scientific information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Ian Borg, P.Geo., Senior Geologist for Vizsla Copper. Mr. Borg is a Qualified Person as defined under the terms of National Instrument 43-101. Mineralization hosted on adjacent and/or nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the Copperview Project. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS The information contained herein 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. "Forward-looking information" includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including, without limitation, planned exploration activities. Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others, statements relating to: obtaining required regulator approvals for the Copperview Acquisition and the RG Copper Acquisition; satisfying the requirements of the Underlying Option Agreement; the exploration and development of the Woodjam Project, Redgold Project and Copperview Project; and the Company's growth and business strategies. Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others, that the results of planned exploration activities are as anticipated, the anticipated cost of planned exploration activities, 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, that third party contractors, equipment and supplies and governmental and other approvals required to conduct the Company's planned exploration activities will be available on reasonable terms and in a timely manner. 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, the limited operating history of the Company, the influence of a large shareholder, aboriginal title and consultation issues, reliance on key management and other personnel, actual results of exploration activities being different than anticipated, changes in exploration programs based upon results, availability of third party contractors, availability of equipment and supplies, failure of equipment to operate as anticipated; accidents, effects of weather and other natural phenomena and other risks associated with the mineral exploration industry, environmental risks, changes in laws and regulations, community relations and delays in obtaining governmental or other approvals. 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. TORONTO, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Labrador Gold Corp. (TSX.V:LAB | OTCQX:NKOSF | FNR: 2N6) (LabGold or the Company) is pleased to announce results from recent drilling targeting the highly prospective Appleton Fault Zone. The drilling is part of the Companys ongoing 100,000 metre diamond drilling program at its 100% owned Kingsway Project. Highlights of the initial drilling at Dropkick include an intersection of 1.97g/t Au over 9.45 metres from 198.55 metres including 3.13g/t over 5.45 metres and 31.86g/t over 0.45 metres that contained visible gold in Hole K-22-228B, just the fourth hole in the target. Hole K-23-227 intersected 1.15g/t Au over 4 metres from 123 metres and 1.06g/t over 5.27 metres from 130.73 metres. Hole K-23-224 intersected 1.74g/t Au over 5.07 metres from 170.93 metres including 2.72g/t over 3.16 metres. Dropkick is located approximately 3.4 kilometres northeast of Big Vein. Ongoing drilling at Big Vein returned near surface gold values of 1.06g/t Au over 9.63 metres from 47.64 metres, including 2.28g/t over 2.26 metres in Hole K-23-225 and 3.66g/t Au over 1.04 metres from 11 metres in Hole K-23-221. We are very encouraged by the initial drilling at the new Dropkick target, especially given its distance from Big Vein. Dropkick is the fifth of six targets where drilling intersected significant gold mineralization, a testament to the highly prospective nature of the Appleton Fault Zone on the Kingsway property and the dedication of the LabGold team. said Roger Moss, President and CEO of Labrador Gold Corp. The five targets occur over a 7.3km long segment of the Appleton Fault Zone, but significant gaps still exist. We are optimistic that ongoing target development and drilling in these gaps will lead to further discoveries at Kingsway. Hole ID From (m) To (m) Width (m) Au (g/t) Target/Zone K-23-228B 198.55 208.00 9.45 1.97 DropKick including 198.55 204.00 5.45 3.13 including 198.55 199.00 0.45 31.86 K-23-227 123.00 142.00 19.00 0.88 DropKick including 130.73 136.00 5.27 1.06 and 123.00 127.00 4.00 1.15 K-23-225 47.64 57.00 9.63 1.06 Big Vein including 47.64 49.90 2.26 2.28 K-23-224 170.93 176.00 5.07 1.74 Dropkick including 170.93 174.09 3.16 2.72 K-23-223 115.75 117.05 1.30 1.35 Dropkick K-23-221 11.00 12.04 1.04 3.66 Big Vein 293.00 295.00 2.00 1.24 Table 1. Summary of assay results. All intersections are downhole length as there is insufficient Information to calculate true width. Figure 1. Plan map of Big Vein showing significant intersections. Figure 2. LabGold occurrences along the Appleton Fault Zone Almost 72,000 metres have been drilled to date out of the planned 100,000 metre program. Assays are pending for samples from approximately 4,730 metres of core. The Company has approximately $14 million in cash and is well funded to carry out the remaining 28,000 metres of the planned drill program as well as further exploration to add to the current pipeline of drill targets on the property. Hole ID Easting Northing Elevation (m) Azimuth Inclination Depth (m) K-23-228B 663349 5438348 64 140 65 254.00 K-23-228 663349 5438348 64 140 65 126.20 K-23-227 663349 5438348 64 140 45 215.00 K-23-226 661173 5434794 43 140 45 528.00 K-23-225 661623 5435460 48 145 50 275.00 K-23-224 663220 5438195 63 140 65 227.23 K-23-223 663220 5438195 63 140 45 140.00 K-23-221 661646 5435342 53 145 75 530.17 Table 2. Drill hole collar details QA/QC True widths of the reported intersections have yet to be calculated. Assays are uncut. Samples of HQ split core are securely stored prior to shipping to Eastern Analytical Laboratory in Springdale, Newfoundland for assay. Eastern Analytical is an ISO/IEC17025 accredited laboratory. Samples are routinely analyzed for gold by standard 30g fire assay with atomic absorption finish as well as by ICP-OES for an additional 34 elements. Samples containing visible gold are assayed by metallic screen/fire assay, as are any samples with fire assay results greater than 1g/t Au. The company submits blanks and certified reference standards at a rate of approximately 5% of the total samples in each batch. Qualified Person Roger Moss, PhD., P.Geo., President and CEO of LabGold, a Qualified Person in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements as set out in NI 43-101, has read and approved the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for the disclosure contained in this release. Upcoming Webinar The Company is also pleased to announce that LabGold CEO, Roger Moss, will be presenting an exploration update on the Kingsway Project in a live webinar taking place on Tuesday, June 27th at 9:30am PT / 12:30pm ET. To register for event please click the link below. Registration Link: https://event.webinarjam.com/register/207/69q31fy4 The Company gratefully acknowledges the Newfoundland and Labrador Ministry of Natural Resources Junior Exploration Assistance (JEA) Program for its financial support for exploration of the Kingsway property. About Labrador Gold Labrador Gold is a Canadian based mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and exploration of prospective gold projects in Eastern Canada. Labrador Golds flagship property is the 100% owned Kingsway project in the Gander area of Newfoundland. The three licenses comprising the Kingsway project cover approximately 12km of the Appleton Fault Zone which is associated with numerous gold occurrences in the region. Infrastructure in the area is excellent located just 18km from the town of Gander with road access to the project, nearby electricity and abundant local water. LabGold is drilling a projected 100,000 metres targeting high-grade epizonal gold mineralization along the Appleton Fault Zone with encouraging results. The Company has approximately $14 million in working capital and is well funded to carry out the planned program. The Hopedale property covers much of the Florence Lake greenstone belt that stretches over 60 km. The belt is typical of greenstone belts around the world but has been underexplored by comparison. Work to date by Labrador Gold show gold anomalies in rocks, soils and lake sediments over a 3 kilometre section of the northern portion of the Florence Lake greenstone belt in the vicinity of the known Thurber Dog gold showing where grab samples assayed up to 7.8g/t gold. In addition, anomalous gold in soil and lake sediment samples occur over approximately 40 km along the southern section of the greenstone belt (see news release dated January 25th 2018 for more details). Labrador Gold now controls approximately 40km strike length of the Florence Lake Greenstone Belt. The Company has 170,009,979 common shares issued and outstanding and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol LAB. For more information please contact: Roger Moss, President and CEO Tel: 416-704-8291 Or visit our website at: www.labradorgold.com @LabGoldCorp Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. When used in this document, the words may, would, could, will, intend, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, expect and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from the statements made, including those factors discussed in filings made by us with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties, such as actual results of current exploration programs, the general risks associated with the mining industry, the price of gold and other metals, currency and interest rate fluctuations, increased competition and general economic and market factors, occur or should assumptions underlying the forward looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, or expected. We do not intend and do not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Shareholders are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. TORONTO, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hudbay Minerals Inc. (Hudbay) (TSX, NYSE: HBM) is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced court-approved plan of arrangement with Copper Mountain Mining Corporation (Copper Mountain), pursuant to which Hudbay has acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Copper Mountain effective as of todays date (the Transaction). Copper Mountain is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hudbay and, in accordance with the terms of the Transaction, former Copper Mountain shareholders received 0.381 of a Hudbay share for each Copper Mountain share previously held. The Transaction creates a premier Americas-focused copper mining company that is well-positioned to deliver sustainable cash flows from an operating portfolio of three long-life mines, as well as compelling organic growth from a world-class pipeline of copper expansion and development projects. All assets in the combined portfolio are located in the tier-one mining-friendly jurisdictions of Canada, Peru and the United States. The combined company represents the third largest copper producer in Canada based on 2023 estimated copper productioni. Peter Kukielski, Hudbays President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, We look forward to the formal integration of Copper Mountain into our complementary portfolio of operating assets. By applying our technical expertise, we expect to unlock significant annual operating efficiencies and synergies at the mine to drive further value for shareholders. This transaction creates a larger, more resilient operating platform that enhances our copper exposure, accelerates our deleveraging efforts, and positions us to more efficiently allocate capital to prudently advance our enviable organic growth pipeline. Leadership Additions In connection with the closing of the Transaction, Hudbay has appointed Jeane Hull and Paula Rogers to its board of directors. Jeane Hull has over 35 years of operational leadership and engineering experience, most notably holding the positions of Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer of Peabody Energy Corporation and Chief Operating Officer for Kennecott Utah Copper Mine, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto plc. Paula Rogers has over 25 years of experience working for Canadian-based international public companies in the areas of corporate governance, treasury, mergers and acquisitions, financial reporting and tax. Ms. Rogers has been an officer of several public companies including Vice-President, Treasurer of Goldcorp Inc. and Treasurer of Wheaton River Minerals Ltd. The experience, skills and perspectives of each of the new directors will complement the composition of Hudbays board and provide strengthened stewardship for the combined company. Hudbay has also further bolstered the strength of its management team with the addition of Letitia Wong who will lead integration and Richard Klue as Vice President, Engineering Studies, in addition to benefiting from other members of the Copper Mountain team that are continuing with the combined company. As previously planned, Gil Clausen, Copper Mountains President and Chief Executive Officer, has retired and will transition to an advisory role for the combined company for the next year. Strengthened Position as a Result of the Transaction The combination of Hudbay and Copper Mountain is on-strategy with strong industrial logic that is expected to deliver compelling benefits, as highlighted below: Scale a larger-scale platform with three long-life operating mines with exploration and expansion upside, three large-scale development projects and one of the largest mineral resource bases among intermediate copper producers; Diversification a geographically balanced portfolio in tier-one mining jurisdictions with approximately 55% of net asset value (NAV)ii estimated to be from North American assets and 45% of NAV estimated to be from South American assets; Copper-Focused a copper-focused portfolio with expected 2023 copper production of more than 150,000 tonnes in the second quartile position on the copper cost curveiii, complemented by meaningful gold production; Efficiencies an estimated US$30 millioniv per year of operating efficiencies and corporate synergies, including approximately US$20 million per year from operating cost reductions through the application of Hudbays operating efficiency practices to the Copper Mountain mine; Deleveraging well-positioned for accelerated deleveraging in the near-term from increased diversification of cash flows and enhanced exposure to rising copper prices; Capital Allocation an ability to maximize value from a larger organic growth pipeline by more efficiently allocating capital to projects that yield the highest risk-adjusted returns; the combined companys greater cash flow generation and strong balance sheet will enhance the ability to advance brownfield expansion opportunities and prudently develop Hudbays Copper World project in Arizona, which is expected to deliver meaningful growth to the combined company; and Valuation Re-rating Potential the strategic and financial benefits from the Transaction is expected to position the combined company for a valuation re-rating. Forward-Looking Information This release contains certain forward looking statements and certain forward-looking information as defined under applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as may, will, should, expect, intend, estimate, anticipate, believe, continue, plans or similar terminology. The forward-looking information contained herein is provided for the purpose of assisting readers in understanding managements current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect Hudbays expectations or beliefs regarding future events. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the strengths, characteristics and potential of the Transaction; the impact of the Transaction on shareholders of Hudbay and other stakeholders and other anticipated benefits of the Transaction. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information is based on management of the parties reasonable assumptions, estimates, expectations, analyses and opinions, which are based on such managements experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, and other factors that management believes are relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, but which may prove to be incorrect. Such factors, among other things, include: business integration risks; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; fluctuations in spot and forward prices of copper or certain other commodities; change in national and local governments, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations pressures, cave-ins and flooding); discrepancies between actual and estimated metallurgical recoveries; inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and Indigenous populations; availability of increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development (including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities); and title to properties. Hudbay undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. Such forward-looking information represents managements best judgment based on the information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. About Hudbay Hudbay (TSX, NYSE: HBM) is a copper-focused mining company with three long-life operations and a world-class pipeline of copper growth projects in tier-one mining-friendly jurisdictions of Canada, Peru and the United States. Hudbays operating portfolio includes the Constancia mine in Cusco (Peru), the Snow Lake operations in Manitoba (Canada) and the Copper Mountain mine in British Columbia (Canada). Copper is the primary metal produced by the company, which is complemented by meaningful gold production. Hudbays growth pipeline includes the Copper World project in Arizona, the Mason project in Nevada (United States), the Llaguen project in La Libertad (Peru) and several expansion and exploration opportunities near its existing operations. The value Hudbay creates and the impact it has is embodied in its purpose statement: We care about our people, our communities and our planet. Hudbay provides the metals the world needs. We work sustainably, transform lives and create better futures for communities. Hudbays mission is to create sustainable value and strong returns by leveraging its core strengths in community relations, focused exploration, mine development and efficient operations. Further information about Hudbay can be found on www.hudbay.com. For further information, please contact: Candace Brule Vice President, Investor Relations (416) 814-4387 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ____________________________________ i Sourced from company filings and Wood Mackenzie research. ii NAV is based on analyst consensus estimates. iii Based on Wood Mackenzies 2023 by-product C1 copper cost curve (Q4 2022 dataset). iv Pre-tax annual synergies achieved over the course of 3 years. 17:23 | Valencia (Spain), Jun. 20. The awards ceremony, held at the city's Les Arts Opera House, honors the pinnacle of gastronomic talent from 24 territories across five continents. Central Central, the flagship Lima restaurant of chefs Virgilio Martinez and Pia Leon, is crowned in the No.1 position, taking over from the 2022 winner, Geranium, Copenhagen, which is now elevated to the Best of the Best hall of fame. Placed at No.2 in the 2022 list, Central is an ode to Peru, with a menu that celebrates the unique biodiversity of the country's indigenous ingredients guided by its research arm, Mater Iniciativa along with its traditions and history, whilst championing sustainability. LIVE NOW: Central in #Lima is crowned The World's Best Restaurant 2023, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, and The Best Restaurant in South America 2023! #Worlds50Best @CentralRest @VirgilioCentral @Sanpellegrino pic.twitter.com/ntpV4Xphex The World's 50 Best (@TheWorlds50Best) June 20, 2023 Central is followed by Disfrutar (No.2) in Barcelona and Diverxo (No.3) in Madrid. William Drew, Director of Content for The World's 50 Best Restaurants, comments: "It gives me great pleasure to share the list of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2023 and celebrate the fantastic achievement of Central as the new No.1. Virgilio Martinez, Pia Leon and the whole Central team have truly paved the way in celebrating indigenous ingredients through their innovative dishes and warm hospitality." "Their commitment to research, respect for their country's heritage and promotion of Peru's unique biodiversity is unmatched, and we're honored to name Central as The World's Best Restaurant, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. This year's list continues to show the breadth of culinary talent across the globe, and we look forward to seeing how it evolves even further in 2024 and beyond," he added. South America further strengthens its position in global gastronomy, with the continent boasting nine restaurants overall including two new entries: Pia Leon's Kjolle, (No.28) in Lima and El Chato (No.33) in Bogota. Asia follows with seven restaurants on the list, including Singapore's Odette named The Best Restaurant in Asia (No.14) along with new entries Le Du (No.15) and Gaggan Anand (No.17) in Bangkok and Sezanne, Tokyo (No.37). Two Dubai restaurants make the list for the very first time, with Tresind Studio (No.11) named The Best Restaurant in Middle East & Africa, ahead of Orfali Bros Bistro (No.46). The World's 50 Best Restaurants awards 2023, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, held at Valencia's Les Arts Opera House, marks the 21st year of the prestigious global gastronomic ranking. For the full 1-50 list, please click here The Voting Process The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2023 list is voted for by 1,080 international restaurant industry experts and traveled gourmets who make up The World's 50 Best Restaurants Academy. The gender-balanced Academy comprises 27 separate regions around the world, each of which has 40 members including a chairperson. No sponsor from the event has any influence over the voting process. Professional services consultancy Deloitte independently adjudicates The World's 50 Best Restaurants list, including the ranking from 51-100. This adjudication ensures that the integrity and authenticity of the voting process and the resulting lists are protected. Best of the Best Those in the elite group of No.1 ranked restaurants (listed below) have more than proved their worth and will now be forever honored as iconic dining destinations in the Best of the Best hall of fame. The chefs and restaurateurs who have led their restaurants to the pinnacle of the list have expressed their desire to invest in the future of the sector and 'give back' to the food world through new projects and initiatives. The following restaurants have been named No.1 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants since the list's inception and were therefore not eligible for voting in 2023 and beyond: El Bulli (2002, 2006-2009) The French Laundry (2003-2004) The Fat Duck (2005) Noma original location (2010-2012, 2014) El Celler de Can Roca (2013, 2015) Osteria Francescana (2016, 2018) Eleven Madison Park (2017) Mirazur (2019) Noma current location (2021) Geranium (2022) (END) NDP/RMB The world of gastronomy has recently come together in Valencia, Spain, to celebrate The World's 50 Best Restaurants awards 2023 sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna with Lima's Central named The World's Best Restaurant 2023, as well as The Best Restaurant in South America 2023.Published: 6/20/2023 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Skeena Resources Limited (TSX:SKE) (NYSE:SKE) ("Skeena" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an updated Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for the 100% owned Eskay Creek gold-silver Project ("Eskay Creek" or the "Project") located in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia. Effective June 20, 2023, the updated MRE incorporates an additional 278 drillholes totaling 67,885 metres, enhancements to the resource estimation methods, and updated metallurgical process recoveries. 2023 Eskay Creek MRE Highlights: Total pit constrained Measured and Indicated Resource of 5.6 million ounces ("Moz") at 3.47 g/t gold equivalent 1 ("AuEq") including 4.1 Moz at 2.57 g/t Au and 102.5 Moz Ag at 63.63 g/t Ag The pit constrained Measured and Indicated Resource has increased by 0.43 Moz AuEq 1 , representing a growth of 8% Measured Category AuEq 1 Resource increased by 23% and now accounts for 73% of the total pit constrained MRE, up from 63% in the previous estimate MRE reported using conservative commodity prices of US$1,700/oz Au and US$23/oz Ag Metallurgical process recoveries applied to Resource are 84% Au and 88% Ag Table 1: 2023 Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Pit Constrained Resource Reported at a 0.7 g/t AuEq1 Cut-off Grade Category Tonnes (000) AuEq1 (g/t) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq1 Ounces (000) Au Ounces (000) Ag Ounces (000) Measured 27,881 4.60 3.34 88.91 4,126 2,997 79,701 Indicated 22,229 2.05 1.60 31.91 1,465 1,142 22,803 Total M+I 50,109 3.47 2.57 63.63 5,591 4,138 102,504 Inferred 643 1.92 1.46 32.33 40 30 668 Table 2: 2023 Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Underground Constrained Resource Reported at a 3.2 g/t AuEq1 Cut-off grade Assuming Drift and Fill Mining Methods Category Tonnes (000) AuEq1 (g/t) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq1 Ounces (000) Au Ounces (000) Ag Ounces (000) Measured 838 7.31 5.29 142.59 197 142 3,842 Indicated 989 4.91 4.12 55.68 156 131 1,771 Total M+I 1,827 6.01 4.66 95.54 353 274 5,613 Inferred 272 4.57 4.21 25.37 40 37 222 Skeena's Senior Vice President of Exploration & Resource Development, Paul Geddes, commented "Considerable analysis was undertaken during this MRE, which includes a new methodology for restricting the influence of high-grade mineralization proximal to formerly mined areas, optimization of block sizes for mining selectivity, and added conservatism with process recoveries derived from the 2022 FS. The exploratory and delineation drilling performed in 2022 surrounding the new 23 and 21A West Zones has resulted in a positive return on investment." Randy Reichert, Skeena's President & CEO, goes on to comment "With the outcome of an additional 432,000 gold equivalent ounces, we are very pleased with the continued Resource growth at Eskay Creek. We successfully converted a significant amount of Indicated Resources to the Measured category, increasing our confidence in the deposit. Given most of the Resources included in this update are within the Measured and Indicated categories we expect a large percentage to convert to Reserves, potentially adding a year or more of mine life to the Q4 2023 Definitive Feasibility Study." Table 3: 2022-2023 Pit Constrained Resource Comparison 2023 Pit Constrained Resource Category Tonnes (000) AuEq1 (g/t) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq1 Ounces (000) Au Ounces (000) Ag Ounces (000) Measured 27,881 4.60 3.34 88.91 4,126 2,997 79,701 Indicated 22,229 2.05 1.60 31.91 1,465 1,142 22,803 Total M+I 50,109 3.47 2.57 63.63 5,591 4,138 102,504 Inferred 643 1.92 1.46 32.33 40 30 668 2022 Pit Constrained Resource Category Tonnes (000) AuEq1 (g/t) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq2 Ounces (000) Au Ounces (000) Ag Ounces (000) Measured 21,784 4.80 3.50 92.40 3,355 2,481 64,679 Indicated 24,724 2.30 1.80 37.60 1,804 1,400 29,896 Total M+I 46,508 3.50 2.60 63.20 5,159 3,881 94,575 Inferred 3,420 1.50 1.30 20.20 170 140 2,222 2022 - 2023 Pit Constrained Resource Comparison Category Tonnes (000) AuEq1,2 (g/t) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq1,2 Ounces (000) Au Ounces (000) Ag Ounces (000) Measured +28% -4% -4% -4% +23% +21% +23% Indicated -10% -11% -11% -15% -19% -18% -24% Category Tonnes (000) AuEq1,2 (g/t) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq1,2 Ounces (000) Au Ounces (000) Ag Ounces (000) Total M+I +8% -1% -1% +1% +8% +7% +8% Inferred -81% +28% +12% +60% -77% -78% -70% Pit Constrained Resource Discussion The 2023 MRE pit parameters used to determine Resources with reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction are analogous to those used for the 2022 MRE apart from the updated metallurgical process recoveries of 84% gold and 88% silver which informed the 2022 Feasibility Study. The differential in assumed process recoveries resulted in the shallowing of the Resource reporting pit in certain areas relative to the 2022 MRE. Conversely, the 2022 drilling programs in the 23 and 21A West Zones generated new resources which resulted in pit expansions. Table 4: Pit Constrained Scenario Assumptions for Determining Cut-off Grade with Reasonable Prospects of Eventual Economic Extraction Input Parameters 2022 Value 2023 Value Unit Pit Wall Angles 45 45 Degrees Reference Mining Cost 3.00 3.00 US Dollars per Tonne Mined Mining Recovery 95 95 Percent Mining Dilution 5 5 Percent Processing Cost 15.50 15.50 US Dollars per Tonne Processed General and Administration 6.00 6.00 US Dollars per Tonne Generalized Process Recovery Au 90 84 Percent Process Recovery Ag 80 88 Percent Gold Price 1700 1700 US Dollars per Ounce Silver Price 23 23 US Dollars per Ounce Transportation/ Refining Costs Au 25.00 18.50 US Dollars per Ounce Transportation/ Refining Costs Ag - 7 US Dollars per Ounce Strip Ratio 7.55:1 7.14:1 Waste:Ore Underground Constrained Resource No material change has occurred in the reported underground Resources. Variation in remnant tonnages relative to the 2022 MRE is largely due to the new 2023 pit geometry and the 1 metre geotechnical buffer around the underground workings being removed due to the selective nature of the drift and fill mining method. The current MRE for underground Resources are proximal to the planned pit. The Company's 2022 drilling in the Eskay Deeps Discovery has not yet affected the underground constrained resource due to the widely spaced nature of the two drillholes. Table 5: Underground Scenario Assumptions for Determining Cut-off Grades with Reasonable Prospects of Economic Extraction Assuming Drift and Fill Mining Methods Input Parameters Value Unit Reference Mining Cost 100.00 US Dollars per Tonne Mined Processing Cost 25.00 US Dollars per Tonne Processed General and Administration 12.00 US Dollars per Tonne Generalized Process Recovery Au 84 Percent Process Recovery Ag 88 Percent Gold Price 1700 US Dollars per Ounce Silver Price 23 US Dollars per Ounce Transportation/ Refining Costs Au 18.50 US Dollars per Ounce Transportation/ Refining Costs Ag 7.00 US Dollars per Ounce Modification to Block Size The 2023 MRE now applies a regular block size of 5 x 5 x 2.5 metres (XYZ), to better inform future economic analyses that will contemplate more selective mining. This will also be incorporated into the Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") with 10 metre benches split with three dig flitches per bench and smaller backhoe excavators. The 2022 pit constrained MRE utilized 10 x 10 x 5 metre parent blocks with 5 x 5 x 2.5 metre subblocks which are not as well suited for engineering the more selective mining. High-Grade Restriction Buffer Surrounding Historical Stopes In the 2022 MRE, a 1 metre buffer enveloping the underground stopes was used to constrain and restrict the influence of the previously mined extremely high-grade drill hole samples. The 2023 model now applies 15 g/t AuEq1 cut-off grade shells modelled in the orientation of the Contact Mudstone to constrain and restrict the influence of the extremely high grades. This methodology forms a more geologically based domain, as opposed to only utilizing the historical underground excavations. Application of Dynamic Anisotropy The NEX and HW Zones were estimated in Skeena's 2022 model using the single-search ellipsoid of the variogram. In the updated 2023 model, dynamic anisotropy, which adjusts for the folded orientation of the search ellipse on a block-by-block basis was employed using the orientation of the Contact Mudstone as a guide. When compared to the 2022 MRE, the use of dynamic anisotropy results in a more robust estimation. Resource Model Reconciliation As a test to determine the accuracy of the new model, an internal reconciliation study of the historically mined portion of the 2023 MRE demonstrates that with the updated resource methodology, the grades more closely resemble the gold and silver grades of the reported historical mine production relative to the 2022 model. This improved reconciliation adds additional confidence to the methodologies and optimizations applied to the 2023 MRE. Table 6: 2023 Eskay Creek Consolidated Pit Constrained Resources (0.7 g/t AuEq1 cut-off grade) and Underground Resources (3.2 g/t AuEq1 cut-off grade) Category Tonnes (000) AuEq1 (g/t) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq1 Ounces (000) Au Ounces (000) Ag Ounces (000) Measured Pit 27,881 4.60 3.34 88.91 4,126 2,997 79,701 Measured UG 838 7.31 5.29 142.59 197 142 3,842 Total Measured 28,719 4.68 3.40 90.48 4,323 3,139 83,542 Indicated Pit 22,229 2.05 1.60 31.91 1,465 1,142 22,803 Indicated UG 989 4.91 4.12 55.68 156 131 1,771 Total Indicated 23,218 2.17 1.71 32.92 1,621 1,273 24,574 M+I Pit 50,109 3.47 2.57 63.63 5,591 4,138 102,504 M+I UG 1,827 6.01 4.66 95.54 353 274 5,613 Total M+I 51,937 3.56 2.64 64.75 5,944 4,412 108,117 Inferred Pit 643 1.92 1.46 32.33 40 30 668 Inferred UG 272 4.57 4.21 25.37 40 37 222 Total Inferred 915 2.71 2.28 30.26 80 67 890 Eskay Creek 2023 MRE Notes: The mineral Resources disclosed in this press release were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") standards on mineral Resources and Reserves definitions, and guidelines prepared by the CIM standing committee on reserve definition and adopted by the CIM council. Mineral Resources are not mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that any or any part of the mineral Resources estimated will be converted into mineral Reserves. As defined by 43-101, the Independent and Qualified Person for the Eskay Creek MRE is Ms. Terre Lane MMSA QP, a registered member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration. Dr. Hamad Samari MMSA QP, also a registered member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, is the Independent and Qualified Person for the Eskay Creek Geology. The effective date of the MRE is June 20, 2023. The Resources are reported within a pit shell for the pit constrained Resources, and within drift and fill stope optimized shapes with 5% ore loss for the underground Resources: both are considered to have reasonable prospects for economic extraction. In accordance with 43-101 recommendations, the number of metric tonnes was rounded to the nearest thousand. Any discrepancies in the totals are due to rounding effects. Metallurgical recoveries reflective of test work that averages 84% Au and 88% Ag were utilized in the determination of cut-off grades and the AuEq 1 calculation for the open pit and underground Resources. calculation for the open pit and underground Resources. Metal prices used are US$1,700/oz Au, and US$23/oz Ag. Cut-off grades are based on metal prices of US$1,700/oz Au, US$23/oz Ag, gold recoveries of 84%, silver recoveries of 88% and without considering revenues from other metals. AuEq = ((Au(g/t)*1700*0.84) + (Ag(g/t)*23*0.88)) / (1700*0.84). The calculated pit constrained cut-off grade was determined to be 0.47 g/t AuEq 1 , whereas the underground cut-off grade for the drift and fill mining method was calculated to be 3.2 g/t AuEq 1 . A pit constrained cut-off grade of 0.7 g/t AuEq 1 was selected for the MRE. Cut-off grades must be re-evaluated considering prevailing market conditions (including gold prices, exchange rates and costs). , whereas the underground cut-off grade for the drift and fill mining method was calculated to be 3.2 g/t AuEq . A pit constrained cut-off grade of 0.7 g/t AuEq was selected for the MRE. Cut-off grades must be re-evaluated considering prevailing market conditions (including gold prices, exchange rates and costs). A regular model was created using 5 x 5 x 2.5 meter block sizes. An additional 278 holes for 67,885 m of drilling has been included in this estimate since the 2022 FS MRE database close out of September 11, 2021. Block tonnes were estimated using average specific gravity measurements using lithology and mineralization domains. Specific gravity was coded into the block model and ranges from 2.6 g/cm 3 to 3.1 g/cm 3 . to 3.1 g/cm . The geological model was updated to include seven intrusive bodies on the property. One hundred and one (101) mineralization domains were created in Leapfrog GeoTM (Seequent) and two (2) mineralization domains were created using Maptek Vulcan. Overall, fourteen (14) high-grade domains and eighty-nine (89) lower-grade domains were created. The mineralization domains were separated into major fault block and historical mining zones. The high-grade domains were created using an Indicator RBF Interpolation using a cut-off grade of 15 g/t AuEq 1 and dynamic anisotropy along the orientation of the Contact Mudstone. and dynamic anisotropy along the orientation of the Contact Mudstone. The lower grade domains were created using three methods: (1) an Indicator RBF Interpolation using a nominal cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t AuEq 1 and a probability of 50% in the Contact Mudstone, (2) the Interval Selection tool using a cut-off grade of ~ 0.5 g/t AuEq 1 in the remaining lithologies and (3) two small, manually created wireframes in Vulcan. and a probability of 50% in the Contact Mudstone, (2) the Interval Selection tool using a cut-off grade of ~ 0.5 g/t AuEq in the remaining lithologies and (3) two small, manually created wireframes in Vulcan. All one hundred and three (103) mineralization domains were estimated and those blocks that were captured within the optimized pit shell at a 0.7 g/t AuEq 1 cut-off were reported as pit constrained Resources. The portion of the mineralization domains which fell below the level of the optimized pit were reported within underground stope optimized shapes. cut-off were reported as pit constrained Resources. The portion of the mineralization domains which fell below the level of the optimized pit were reported within underground stope optimized shapes. Grade capping was performed on assays prior to compositing. Gold capping ranged from 115 g/t to 1700 g/t in the high-grade domains and 2.4 g/t to 350 g/t in the lower grade domains. Silver capping ranged from 200 g/t to 60,000 g/t in the high-grade domains and 30 g/t to 22,000 g/t in the lower grade domains. Assays were composited to 1 meter lengths honoring the domain boundaries. Composites were distributed equally in length. Gold and silver variograms were used to determine the spatial relationship of composites over distance. 1 meter composites established the primary orientation, nugget, sills and ranges by zone. Variograms were created for the main individual lithology separated zone. Where there were too few samples in a zone, the variogram from the most similar zone was used. Ordinary Kriging was used for the estimation of gold and silver in all domains, except for two small zones in the Water Tower which were estimated by Inverse Distance. Resources were estimated using Maptek Vulcan TM (Version 2022.4.1). Search orientations were modified with Dynamic Anisotropy using a surface that mimicked the local lithological unit. Dynamic Anisotropy was used in the 21A, 21B, 21C, 21Be, NEX, HW and LP Zones. Remining zones used an orientation defined by the variogram. Hard boundaries were honoured between all zones. The mineral Resources were estimated using three passes with increasing search radii based on variogram ranges. Pass 1 equaled the variogram range, Pass 2 equaled 2 times the variogram range and Pass 3 equaled four times the variogram range. Pass 3 was only used for global statistic reporting and was not used in Classification. Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources were classified according to the following scheme: The Measured category is defined by blocks interpolated during Pass 1 only, using a minimum of 4 drill holes, a kriging variance of less than 0.4 and an average distance of less than 18 m to the gold composites; The Indicated category is defined by blocks interpolated during Pass 1 only, using a minimum of 3 drill holes; The Inferred category is defined by blocks interpolated during Pass 1 and 2 only, using a minimum of 2 drill holes and an average distance less than 100 meters to gold composites. An offset of 0.2 meters surrounds the underground workings. Any mineralization that occurs within this buffer is not included in the MRE. Estimates use metric units (metres, tonnes and g/t). Metal contents are presented in troy ounces (metric tonne x grade / 31.10348) Neither the company, nor GRE, is aware of any known environmental, permitting, legal, title-related, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other relevant issue that could materially effect this mineral resource. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred mineral Resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to redefine the Inferred mineral Resources as Indicated mineral Resources. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to the indicated mineral Resources category. The Company does not consider the growth and conversion of Resources to be sufficiently material to warrant the issuance of a new technical report for this MRE update. However, the Company does plan to file a new technical report in conjunction with the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), expected in Q4 2023. 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 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. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Skeena Resources Limited, Walter Coles Executive Chairman Randy Reichert President & CEO Contact Information Investor Inquiries: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Office Phone: +1 604 684 8725 Company Website: www.skeenaresources.com Qualified Persons Terre Lane, (MMSA QP), Principal Mining Engineer for Global Resource Engineering Ltd., is an independent Qualified Person as defined by 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. Ms. Lane is responsible for the 2023 Mineral Resource Estimate for the Eskay Creek Deposit. In accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, Paul Geddes, P.Geo. Senior Vice President Exploration and Resource Development, is the Qualified Person for the Company and has 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 press 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, 2022, its most recently filed interim MD&A, and the Company's Annual Information Form ("AIF") dated March 22, 2023. 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, 2022, its most recently filed interim MD&A, the AIF dated March 22, 2023, the Company's short form base shelf prospectus dated January 31, 2023, 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. Cautionary note to U.S. Investors concerning estimates of mineral Reserves and mineral Resources Skeena's mineral Reserves and mineral Resources included or incorporated by reference herein have been estimated in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") as required by Canadian securities regulatory authorities, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. The terms "mineral reserve", "proven mineral reserve", "probable mineral reserve", "mineral resource", "measured mineral resource", "indicated mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource" are Canadian mining terms as defined in accordance with NI 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") "CIM Definition Standards - For Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves" adopted by the CIM Council (as amended, the "CIM Definition Standards"). These standards differ significantly from the mineral property disclosure requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Regulation S-K Subpart 1300 (the "SEC Modernization Rules"). Skeena is not currently subject to the SEC Modernization Rules. Accordingly, Skeena's disclosure of mineralization and other technical information may differ significantly from the information that would be disclosed had Skeena prepared the information under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules. In addition, investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of Skeena's mineral Resources constitute or will be converted into Reserves. These terms have a great amount of uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. Accordingly, investors are cautioned not to assume that any "measured", "indicated", or "inferred" mineral Resources that Skeena reports are or will be economically or legally mineable. Further, "inferred mineral Resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an "inferred mineral resource" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of "inferred mineral Resources" may not form the basis of feasibility or prefeasibility studies, except in rare cases where permitted under NI 43-101. For these reasons, the mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates and related information presented herein may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements under the U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. 1 All references to AuEq in this disclosure for the 2023 MRE have factored metallurgical recoveries as per the calculation: AuEq = ((Au (g/t)*1700*0.84) + (Ag (g/t)*23*0.88)) / (1700*0.84). US$1,700/oz Au, US$23/oz Ag, 84% gold recovery and 88% silver recovery. Detailed notes regarding the 2023 estimation are presented at the end of this release. 2 All references to AuEq in this disclosure for the 2022 MRE have not factored in metallurgical recoveries: AuEq = Au(g/t) + [Ag (g/t)/74]. US$1,700/oz Au, US$23/oz Ag. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ameriwest Lithium Inc. ( the Company or Ameriwest) (CSE: AWLI) today announced that it has received approval from the Supreme Court of British Columbia of the statutory plan of arrangement under section 288 of the Business... Read More Marie Ingabire was seven years old when she saw her mother cut into pieces by Interahamwe militiamen at the foot of Bwezamenyo hill. Anne-Marie Mutuyimana was 10 at the time of the genocide, and Eugene Habakubaho was 11. A dozen people who were under 15 in 1994 have testified and acted as civil parties at Philippe Hategekimana's trial. The former Rwandan gendarme who obtained French citizenship in 2005 - has been on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity since May 10 in Paris. These child victims, now aged between 30 and 40, lost most of their relatives at the roadblocks that lined the Nyanza region in southern Rwanda, in the massacres in the Nyamure and Nyabubare hills, and at the Isar Songa agricultural science institute. Hategekimana is accused of having participated in, or even led, all these attacks between April 23 and early May 1994 - a period during which he claims to have been on his way to Kigali, where he had been transferred. Some of these civil parties are the sole survivors of their families. And their testimonies - often interrupted by the pain of remembering - are tales of survival in widespread chaos, from a child's point of view. They are just as precise about landscapes and certain details that changed their lives as they are vague on faces and dates. On June 16, testifying by videoconference, Marie Ingabire recounts her mother's last words: "If you must kill me, kill me, but please spare my child. She remembers the elderly blind couple who told her to hide in the field behind their house, and the sorghum stalks she was told not to move. Anne-Marie Mutuyimana was ten in 1994. On June 12 she told how she remembers hearing her father and uncle discussing, at the start of the genocide, the best hiding places for a child, such as certain squash trees whose thick foliage would be enough to camouflage someone small. This saved her life a few days later, when she was alone and being chased by an Interahamwe armed with a machete, and she scrambled under the branches of one of these trees. Earlier, hiding below the Nyamure hill, she remembers hearing a tremendous noise, "as if the hill was falling". On this hill, where thousands of Tutsis had taken refuge, the Nyanza gendarmes - including Hategekimana - allegedly fired a mortar, according to the indictment The challenge of identification This story echoes that of Florence Nyirabarikumwe, aged nine that spring, who was at the top of the hill. "One day, in the early afternoon, I heard my mother say that it was the end of us, because this time the gendarmes were coming, she told the court. Then I heard the sound of bullets. I could hear things exploding, and I saw a piece of human flesh fall next to me." Quite often their stories drag on, as these witnesses describe in detail their chaotic journeys during those murderous days. On May 30, Eugenie Murebwariye spent nearly three hours recounting her memories, including the widespread anxiety in her family after the presidential plane was shot down on April 6, 1994; the death of the Nyanza mayor; the flight of her father and brothers to Nyabubare hill; and the refuge she eventually found in an orphanage. On two occasions, court president Jean-Marc Lavergne expressed concern that she was straying from the facts of the case. "Madame, I'm going to have to interrupt your testimony unless you have something essential to tell us about the facts before us." But she continued her story to the end. At the end of the hearing, the judge told the plaintiffs' lawyers that "it would be a good idea to warn [their] clients that there is a hearing schedule to respect" and that, however painful the memories recounted, the court could not take so much time to listen to them. "We do our best, Mr. Chairman," replied lawyer Richard Gisagara. The president would like our clients to concentrate on the facts in the indictment, but the victims can't divide up their testimonies, even less so those who were children at the time of the events," sighed his colleague Hector Bernardini. "For them, their story begins at the start of the genocide and everything follows on from it. The challenge of dates As the hours and stories stretch on, we often found ourselves forgetting the main protagonist of this trial: the accused. The defence - led for most of these hearings by attorney Margarita Duque - frequently reminded witnesses at the start of their questions that they were "very young" at the time, and demanded details they were hard pressed to provide. When the lawyer asked them for dates, even approximate ones, they couldn't always answer. I can't talk about dates and days," replied Gloriose Musengayre, who was 15 during the genocide. I was young. I could see the day coming, the night coming, but I couldn't say what day it was." Some, on the other hand, claim to be able to give a precise date. Eugene Habakubaho, 11 in the spring of 1994, recalls that the attack on Isar Songa, which he survived, took place on April 28. "How can you be sure it was April 28?" asked Judge Lavergne. "I can't forget that day," replied the witness simply. Yvette Umutoni Niyonteze, aged 10 at the time of the events, remembers perfectly that May 7, 1994, when militiamen led by two gendarmes came to search the house where she was hiding. Hidden in a false reed ceiling, she saw one of the gendarmes enter the room. She later learned from listening to the nearby militiamen that this man was the notorious "Biguma" she had been hearing about for days, who coordinated numerous attacks. "Biguma" is the nickname of the accused, Philippe Hategekimana. "If you saw him, could you describe him to us?" asked the judge. "I couldn't describe him perfectly since we weren't face to face and I could see him only through reeds." She is one of the few witnesses in this trial - and one of two who was a child at the time - to say she saw Hategekimana at the precise moment of the events. Other "child witnesses" heard the name "Biguma". Eugenie Murebwariye, for example, said she heard the militiamen at the roadblocks describe this man as a leader, asking them to "work, work", which meant kill Tutsis in the language of the genocidaires. Julienne Nyirakuru claimed to have seen him. She was nine years old when she found refuge at the top of Nyamure hill. Tutsis had gathered there to resist successive attacks by the Interahamwe, throwing stones collected by women and children. One day, after multiple attacks, as she ventured down the hill with a group of children, she saw a vehicle arrive with men in uniform. An Interahamwe spoke to one of them, calling him "Biguma". The latter allegedly exclaimed: "What are those Tutsi dogs doing here? Haven't you killed them yet? The militiamen complained that they didn't have enough weapons, so the gendarmes opened the trunk of the vehicle and handed out machetes. Julienne climbed back to the top of the hill. "I told my aunt they were going to kill us all, she recounted. Moments later, the bullets started flying. Her aunt was shot in the leg and finished off with a machete by an Interahamwe, and Julienne pretended to be dead beside her. Later, taking refuge on the hill of Karama, she again heard the name "Biguma" from an old man, who said this man had arrived to attack them, at the head of his gendarmes and numerous militiamen. Duty to remember When she appeared before the court as an expert witness on May 11, 2023, the academic Helene Dumas spoke of the "inverted world" described by those who were children at the time of the genocide: the disappearance of childhood landmarks, the transformed relationship with adults, who were incapable of protecting them or were, on the contrary, the perpetrators of the violence they had experienced. During her research, she expressed surprise at what she describes as the "hypermnesia" of victims, especially children. Children really do have scenes frozen in their memory," adds Domitille Philipart, lawyer for several civil parties. Their reference points are not the same as those of adults. The relationship with time, in particular, can be distorted. Certain moments of waiting may seem to last for hours, whereas during an escape through the bush, the hours may, on the contrary, become shorter. But some scenes are frozen in their smallest details." The shape of a squash tree, a body part, motionless sorghum stalks. You have to bear in mind that these children are talking about places they knew by heart, places they walked a lot before the events," continues the lawyer. They were rooted in the area, and therefore had a very strong memory of the place. At the same time, some faces disappear in the morass of memories. During the investigation, neither Yvette Umutoni Niyonteze nor Julienne Nyirakuru recognized Philippe Hategekimana as the famous "Biguma" on the photographs they were shown. But, like the others who had never met him, it may not be so much against him that they have come together as civil parties as for remembrance. I think that what's at stake for these former children is that their words be taken into consideration," says Philipart. During the investigation, some hearings didn't go very well, because the investigators considered that the victims were so young at the time of the events that they could surely confuse a lot of things. But some of these victims have very precise memories. So it's very important for them to come forward and testify at the hearing. And, as the lawyer points out, they are sometimes the only survivors in their family, so "they also come to testify out of a duty to remember". YEREVAN, JUNE 19, ARMENPRESS. The recent meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken was highly important because of the unstable global situation in the multipolar world order, and because the risk of the use of nuclear weapons has increased in some regions, according to expert on China Mher Sahakyan. During the meeting with Blinken, the Chinese President said that they have recorded progress and reached agreements over several concrete issues. The parties agreed to adhere to the common understanding reached during the 2022 G20 summit in Bali. At this phase, the normalization of the United States-China relations is of great importance not only for the two countries but the whole world, and if they find solutions that would help ease the tension and avoid a direct confrontation it would definitely be a positive signal for resolving the existing conflicts in international relations as well, Sahakyan told ARMENPRESS when asked to comment on the prospect of normalization between China and the United States. Sahakyan said that the recent Beijing meeting was a preparation for a future meeting between Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden to discuss global issues, including the sanctions. However, Sahakyan believes that its unlikely for the U.S. to cancel the sanctions as Washington will try to pressure Chinas technological development. Bilateral meetings are highly important as they allow easing the tensions because the parties see whats happening in the European region, particularly in Ukraine, where nuclear and strategic facilities are already being bombarded, the consequences of which will soon be felt by the residents of entire Europe, thus they will try to avoid a similar scenario in Taiwan, Sahakyan said. If a war were to erupt in Taiwan the entire international geo-economic system would be affected, especially when the global development center has long shifted to the Asia-Pacific. The expert believes that cautious policy will make the U.S. and Chinese leaders find solutions, thus a meeting between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden could be of crucial importance. China and the United States agreed on Monday to stabilize their rivalry so it does not veer into conflict, but no major breakthrough was achieved. Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed "progress" after shaking hands with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The top U.S. diplomat and Xi both stressed the importance of having a more stable relationship, as any conflict between the world's two largest economies would create global disruption. U.S. President Joe Biden said later on Monday he thinks relations between the two countries are on the right path, and indicated that progress was made during Blinken's trip. "We're on the right trail here," Biden was quoted as saying by Reuters when asked on U.S.-China relations. Asked by reporters during a trip to California whether he felt progress had been made, he replied, "I don't feel," he said. "You know it's been made." Biden said of Blinken: "He did a hell of a job." Kim Min Jae talked about his upcoming enlistment after wrapping up his K-drama "Dr. Romantic 3." The actor, who has been playing the role of nurse Par Eun Tak since season 1, also spoke about his affection for the series. Kim Min Jae Expresses Affection for 'Dr. Romantic 3' Co-Star Han Suk Kyu During his interview, the actor recalled the experience he had while filming the SBS series, as well as his working relationship with his co-stars, especially Han Suk Kyu. Along with Kim Min Jae, who is also part of the original cast of the medical K-drama, is the award-winning actor Han Suk Kyu, who plays the role of legendary doctor Kim Sa Bu. For the 26-year-old actor, it's an honor to work alongside such a renowned star. Moreover, he also described Han Suk Kyu as one of "the best," adding that he is "a really good senior and a really cool adult." He added that being in the same K-drama as Han Suk Kyu "is so touching and honorable." As mentioned, Kim Min Jae and Han Suk Kyu are among the original cast members of "Dr. Romantic," which first aired in 2016. Along with them are Jin Kyung as head nurse Oh Myung Shim, Byun Woo Min as anesthesiologist Nam Do Il, who is also a colleague of Kim Sa Bu from his former hospital, Yoon Na Moo as emergency doctor Jung In Soo, and more. Kim Min Jae Expresses Desire to Join 'Dr. Romantic' Season 4 As the actors said goodbye to the drama's third season, viewers speculate that Doldam and Kim Sa Bu will return with a sequel. It was after Seo Hyun Jin's character made a cameo during the "Dr. Romantic 3" ending. However, SBS officials are yet to confirm if the medical K-drama will have a sequel, but Kim Min Jae expressed his desire to join the fourth installment if given a chance. With this, the actor said that he wants "Dr. Romantic" season 4 to be among his first projects after completing his military service, and wishes to return to Doldam along with fellow cast members. IN CASE YOU MISSED: Kim Min Jae Cancels Fan Meet 2 Days Before the Event - Here's What Happened Speaking of enlistment, the news was accidentally revealed by Han Suk Kyu during the press conference of "Dr. Romantic 3." When asked about it, the actor expressed his honest thoughts about his co-star breaking the news to the public in an unexpected way. Kim Min Jae on Han Suk Kyu Spilling the News Regarding His Enlistment Ahead of the pilot episode of "Dr. Romantic 3," Kim Min Jae made headlines after his co-star revealed his plans for enlistment. At the time, the actor was stunned upon hearing Han Suk Kyu's revelation and even looked at his manager with a surprised reaction. However, Kim Min Jae said that the incident was "rather pleasant." As mentioned by a news portal, Kim Min Jae said that he "was the most surprised" upon hearing it. He then explained that he "felt grateful and fortunate" that it was his co-star who revealed it. "I was thinking a lot about how to tell you about joining the military," he said, adding, "Rather, it was rather pleasant that senior Han Suk Kyu talked about it." At the time, he revealed that the veteran actor apologized to him for breaking the news to the public; however, he felt grateful to the seniors whom he loves so much. For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars. KDramaStars owns this article Written by Geca Wills YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS. Nagorno Karabakh has released images showing an Azerbaijani military armored personnel carrier blocking the entrance to the Lachin Corridor on the Hakari Bridge. The Lachin Corridor the only road linking Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia has been blocked by Azerbaijan since 12 December 2022. During the blockade the Red Cross and Russian peacekeepers were able to deliver relief supplies and carry out medical evacuations, but Azerbaijan blocked this as well last week. Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) State Ministers adviser Artak Beglaryan shared the images showing the APC blocking the road. The images show how the Azerbaijani armored vehicles have blocked the only Artsakh-Armenia road near the illegal Azerbaijani checkpoint. Is this their guarantee for free movement with which they lie to the whole world, falsely claiming that there is no blockade? Beglaryan said in a statement on social media. He called on the international community to assume responsibility to prevent a security disaster and humanitarian disaster in Nagorno Karabakh. We expect the most urgent and practical steps from Armenia, Russia, the US, France, the EU, UN and all other actors, and we expect major pressure on everyone from the Diaspora-Armenians. Crime featured Holbrook charged with murder A 30-year-old Big Coppitt Key man died from a single gunshot wound to the lower back after allegedly being shot by his 33-year-old girlfriend in the early morning hours on Saturday, June 17. The victim, Tyler Nulisch, was pronounced dead at Lower Keys Regional Medical Center at 3:46 a.m. Holbrook His girlfriend, Brittany Nicole Holbrook, was taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder, according to Assistant State Attorney Joe Mansfield. Holbrook is being held without bond at the Monroe County Detention Center. Her arraignment is set for Wednesday, June 28, at 9 a.m. before Judge Mark Wilson. The Monroe County Sheriffs Office was called to a house on Avenue F on Big Coppitt Key at approximately 2:45 a.m. regarding a medical emergency, according to reports. Deputies arrived to find Nulisch with an apparent gunshot wound to his back. A 9mm handgun and a 9mm bullet casing were found nearby. Roommate Jordan Kinn made the 911 call. He is in bad shape. Hes hurt real bad, and there is a lot of blood, Kinn told dispatchers. On the 911 call recording, Kinn can be heard asking the victims girlfriend, Holbrook, where Nulisch was bleeding from. Holbrook said he was bleeding from his back. Kinn told dispatchers that Nulisch and Holbrook were in an argument. Nulisch was transported to LKMC, where he died. Mansfield said an apparent domestic argument between Nulisch and Holbrook preceded the shooting. When deputies arrived, they found Holbrook cradling Nulisch in her arms in the houses living room. Nulisch was unconscious but breathing. Deputies located a Smith & Wesson 9 mm handgun within the second-story living room area. Deputies also observed a fired cartridge casing in the living area near a dog kennel. Nulisch, who had sustained a gunshot wound to his lower left back, made a dying declaration to deputies, saying, That (expletive) shot me in the back, reports state. Nulisch and Holbrook had been dating for nearly nine months before the killing. When initially questioned, Holbrook said she didnt remember much. But as investigators pressed, she filled in the gaps. According to reports, Holbrook said she consumed several alcoholic seltzers and several beers. Late in the evening, Holbrook decided to go to bed and was followed by Nulisch. They both fell asleep. But Holbrook said she had a gap in her memory, and the next thing she knew, she was in the living room holding Nulisch, covered in blood. Kinn said Holbrooks screaming woke him up and prompted him to call 911. As the investigation continued, Holbrook said she remembered waking up with Nuslisch strangling her. She told detectives she didnt remember how she got away. The next thing she recalled was cradling Nulisch on the living room floor. Holbrook then had another revelation. She said Nulisch went to the bathroom, and when he returned, he was like a different person and began attacking her. Holbrook said he held her against the wall and squeezed her throat hard enough to restrict her breathing. Deputies noted that no marks were observed around her throat. Holbrook said she punched and scratched Nulisch. Bruising on several knuckles on her right hand was observed by officers. She told detectives she believed Nulisch was attempting to kill her. She said she couldnt remember how she got away from Nulisch, but that she had not fired a gun since moving from Stuart, Florida, more than nine months ago. The arresting officer said that based on Kinns statement the dying declaration made by Nulisch to Kinn, inconsistencies in Holbrooks statements, and her lack of injuries consistent with strangulation there was probable cause for her arrest. Neither had previous arrests for domestic violence or gun-related charges. ted.lund@keysnews.com The Finance ministry permanent secretary and secretary to the Treasury, Ramathan Ggoobi has urged medical doctors to remain patient, saying money for their allowances will be available soon. The Ministry of Finance has provided Shs22.6 billion in the next financial year budget for Senior House Officers and funds to pay interns who just concluded their internship. Over the weekend, the doctors under their umbrella body, Uganda Medical Association (UMA) welcomed the commitment but demanded that its release be expedited to ensure the speedy and urgent deployment of medical pre-interns. Speaking at a post-budget conference organized by ACODE, Ggoobi asked the medics not to pile a lot of pressure on the government. A Year to the mandatory retirement age, Supreme Court Judge Mary Stellah Arach Amoko lay quietly before a six-member panel of her colleagues. The entire Tuesday afternoon has been dedicated to remembering the 44 years of distinguished service of Justice Arach Amoko to the country, particularly in the Ministry of Justice and at the bench. This has been done through a special session convened by the Supreme Court where her fellow justices, members of the Uganda Law Society, her family, and members of the public paid tribute to the fallen judge. Her husband Amb. James Idule Amoko has spoken highly of his fallen spouse and eulogised her as a loving, faithful, cheerful, and incorruptible partner that through her, the two managed to make a peaceful home. My wife (Justice Stella Arach-Amoko) was incorruptible And because of her incorruptible character, we faced a lot of challenges. She confided in me all her work-related challenges, Ambassador Idule said. The Uganda Law Society President, Mr. Bernard Oudo, Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka, and the chairperson of the Judicial Service Commission Justice Benjamin Kabiito have all had great attributes of mentorship, professionalism, and kindness to talk about Justice Arach-Amoko. Deputy Cheif Justice Richard Buteera also eulogised the late judge as a soft-spoken judge who had an incorruptible professional span of 26 years, rising through the ranks as a High court Judge up to the highest appellate court. Buteera said despite more than 2-decade service, there has never been a disciplinary case against Justice Stellah Arach Amoko. Buteera has also represented the Chief Justice, Alfonse Owiny -Dollo who in his read speech informed conveners that he is receiving specialised treatment out of the country. Justice Dollo thanked the president of Uganda for according the fallen judge a state funeral. The body of Justice Arach will lie in the House tomorrow afternoon for Parliament to pay tribute to her before her final send-off on Friday this week at Arra Village in Adjuman district. As parliament resumes business today following a month-long recess, a section of its members has told KFM that they will press the government for answers to the many questions about the recent attack on a school in Kasese district and terrorism in the country. The Saturday attack that claimed the lives of at least 41 people, most of them students, is believed to have been carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). According to education minister Janet Museveni, the ADF rebels could have been used by people who wanted to take over the school. Shadow Minister for internal affairs Abdallah Kiwanuka says they will task the Ministry of Internal Affairs to present a thorough explanation on the matter. One of the legislators from Kasese, Atkins Katushabe, who represents Bukonzo County West also said he would raise the matter on the floor today. YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS. The draft document in 1999 envisaging Armenias surrender of Meghri in exchange of control over Nagorno Karabakh, despite not being adopted, recorded the demise of the fundamental notions of the Armenian side regarding the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said. Pashinyan told lawmakers on June 20 at the select committee probing the 2020 war that the document on exchanging territories was circulated during the 1999 Istanbul Summit. The document was far from territorial integrity and the right to self determination, Pashinyan said. On one hand it had nothing to do with self-determination, and on the other hand it wouldve violated the principle of territorial integrity of both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Pashinyan quoted the draft document as mentioning the exchange of Meghri with Nagorno Karabakh. This document actually records the demise of the Armenian fundamental notions on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict resolution. Moreover, there is an opinion, and I share this opinion, that Karen Demirchyan and Vazgen Sargsyan prevented the implementation of this document with their lives, Pashinyan said, highlighting the fact that all the developments took place in between August and November of 1999. Pashinyan added that although the document was never signed, such draft documents are developed through discussions, debates and conversations between the parties. United Nations Resident Coordinator in Uganda, Susan Namondo has thanked the government of Uganda and its people as they continue to give more than 1.5 million refugees Hope away from home. In her message to commemorate World Refugee Day, Namondo notes that despite facing difficult economic times, Uganda has in the spirit of Ubuntu welcomed a total of 31,800 individuals since the beginning of 2023 due to its open-door policy. Out of these new arrivals, 53% have arrived from South Sudan and 47% from DR Congo. She has re-committed the UN familys support for the refugee response following a robust consultative process in co-creating UNs country-level commitments on refugee inclusion to inform the UN (global) Common Pledge. According to the UN, despite an over 46 % gap in funds annually, humanitarian partners provided $2.3 billion for Ugandas refugee response between 2018 and 2022. In addition, $1.83 billion has been committed to ongoing development projects in refugee hosting districts, with $536 million delivered already. She has urged the government and the people of Uganda to continue giving refugees hope away from home. By AFP Sudan is descending into death and destruction at an unprecedented speed, UN chief Antonio Guterres said Monday as he urged donors to step in and curb the unfolding catastrophe. The scale and speed of Sudans descent into death and destruction is unprecedented, the United Nations secretary-general told a pledging conference. Without strong international support, Sudan could quickly become a locus of lawlessness, radiating insecurity across the region. The Sudanese army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has since April 15 been battling paramilitary forces commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, after the two fell out in a bitter power struggle. The United Nations has two appeals for tackling the crisis the humanitarian response within Sudan, and the refugee response outside its borders. The appeals need $3 billion this year, but are less than 17 percent funded so far. Money poured into the UNs Ukraine appeals within weeks following Russias invasion in February last year, but the international response has not been so quick for the crisis in Sudan, now more than two months in. The largely-virtual pledging conference is an attempt to breathe some life into the Sudan appeals. The situation in Darfur and Khartoum is catastrophic. Fighting is raging with people attacked in their homes and on the street, Guterres said. In little more than two months, two million people have been forced from their homes, seeking refuge in safer parts of Sudan or across borders. Close to half a million people have already crossed borders into neighbouring countries. Before this conflict erupted, Sudan was already grappling with a humanitarian crisis. This has now escalated into a catastrophe affecting more than half the countrys people, he said. It is crucial to preventing the situation from deteriorating even further. Multiple truces have been agreed and broken in the war, which has claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people and driven another two million from their homes, including at least 528,000 who fled abroad. Guterres said the only way to end the crisis was through a return to peace and the restoration of civilian rule via the transition to democracy. The pledging event is being co-organised by the UNs humanitarian and refugee agencies, alongside Egypt, Germany, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, plus the African Union and the European Union. Police in Lugazi say they have arrested a TikToker who proclaimed himself as a member of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a terrorist organization. The suspect, a one Kalenzi Resto, 25, shared a video on social media platform, TikTok claiming responsibility for the Saturday attack on Lhubiriha Secondary School in Kasese District. In the video, he threatened to kill more people at public gatherings such as concerts. The TikToker later recorded another video saying that he was joking and that he was receiving threats following the viral clip. According to a statement issued by Ssezibwa regional police spokesperson, Hellen Butoto, Kalenzi is a shop attendant and resident of Namengo village in Lugazi Municipality who is currently in custody at Lugazi Central Police Station as investigations continue. The arrest was made following the circulation of a video on TikTok, where Kalenzi Resto proudly confessed to his involvement in the brutal murder of students at Lhubirira Secondary School. This video has been widely shared and garnered significant attention on social media platforms, Butotos statement reads in part. The Lugazi Police, in coordination with relevant authorities, will conduct a thorough examination of all evidence and gather further information. We assure the public that we are committed to bringing all individuals involved in acts of terrorism and violence to justice, she added. Police have further urged the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities or information that could aid in the ongoing probe. The clip caused a storm on social media with Ugandans asking security agencies to arrest Kalenzi for recklessly sharing an insensitive video while families are still mourning their loved ones who perished in the attack. The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) has rallied the globe to join Ugandas armed forces in the fight against terrorism following the recent attack on Lhubiriha Secondary School in Kasese District Addressing journalists in Kampala, UHRC chairperson Mariam Wangadya noted that terrorism is a global threat to democracy, rule of law, economic development, human rights, stability and as such, requires a multipronged response. She has also asked security agencies in Uganda to put in more effort in ensuring safety of citizens from such incidents. Wangadya says cash from government is just Mabugo (financial support) as no money can compensate human life. I believe the Mabugo given to these families is a show of empathy by government and that there is more to come. I do not expect that the government will have to be compelled to give what you call compensation to these families. Im saying what you call compensation because honestly I do not believe there is any amount of money that can compensate a parent who has lost a child, Wangadya said. The Saturday attack that claimed the lives of at least 41 people, most of them students, is believed to have been carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). A section of Members of Parliament wants the government to explain how such a heinous attack on a school by suspected rebels could happen just 8 days after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) dropped terrorism and treason charges against Rwenzururu King, Charles Mumbere. The Saturday attack by suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels on a secondary school in Mpondwe Lhubiriha Town Council claimed the lives of at least 40 people, most of them being students. Education minister, Janet Museveni said earlier that the ADF rebels could have been used in a case of school rivalry. The army is however investigating the attack. The MPs, including Buyaga Wests Barnabas Tinkasimire and Buvuma Countys Robert Migadde, are asking for deep investigations into the attack on the Omusingas subjects. This incident is happening when they have just released their King who had been incarcerated for no reason but immediately he is released, his subjects are being killed like this. What are you trying to tell us? Do you want again to frame up the King?, Tinkasimire asked. Meanwhile, Nakasekes Luttamaguzi Ssemakula is asking the government to urgently address the welfare of security personnel to get them motivated enough to ensure total protection of citizens at all times. Earlier, some of the MPs said they would raise the matter on the floor of the House today as Parliament resumes business from a month-long recess. YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS. Yerevan and the Chinese city of Qingdao have signed a sister city agreement. The twinning agreement envisages increased partnership in trade, science and technology, as well as the humanitarian sector, connectivity and other areas of urban economy. The agreement was signed by Yerevan Acting Mayor Levon Hovhannisyan and Qingdao Mayor Zhao Haozhi. Hovhannisyan and Haozhi discussed partnership and prospects. China and Armenia have friendly relations throughout centuries, and todays agreement attests to our mutual desire to maintain and strengthen the centuries-old friendly ties, Hovhannisyan said. Haozhi said that they are ready to share their experience and skills of city management with Yerevan. The recipient of the inaugural SETU Vicky Phelan Equality Diversity and Inclusion Award 2023 was announced at a special ceremony held at SETU last week. Dr Cara Daly, a lecturer in the Department of Science at SETU's Cork Road Campus in Waterford, has been recognised as this year's recipient. Dr Daly has made significant contributions to the university community over the past 10 years, and she is responsible for the development and coordination of the BSc. in Horticulture Degree Programme. Additionally, Dr Daly played a crucial role as one of the founding members of the SETU LGBT+ staff network. The network provides a safe and supportive space for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other individuals within the university. Her commitment to inclusivity is further evident through her work and leadership in the development of SETU's recently approved Gender Identity and Expression Policy. Cara also serves as a member of the EDI committee, which provides guidance to the governing body on policy matters associated with equality, diversity, and inclusion. The award was presented to Dr Daly by SETU President, Professor Veronica Campbell, at a special ceremony, held in the presence of Vickys parents. The SETU Vicky Phelan Equality Diversity and Inclusion Award is an annual award made to the SETU staff member or student, who is judged to have made the greatest contribution to equality, diversity and inclusion in the university community through their leadership, work, involvement or engagement with EDI related projects, initiatives or organisation," said Prof Campbell. We received an incredible response across our university community to our call for nominations for this award, highlighting the amazing staff and student community we have at our university, and really reflecting the values of equality, diversity and inclusion which we hold dear, and no one more so amongst us than this years awardee, Dr Cara Daly. Cara was nominated for this award by her colleagues and chosen as the winner by the selection panel for the significant contributions she has made to equality, diversity and inclusion at SETU over the past year, and in particular, her critical contribution to LGBT+ equality across SETU. She is a visible and brave leader for LGBT+ rights in our university, inspiring staff and students alike, and highly deserving of this honour. In accepting the award, Dr Daly said it is essential to acknowledge the indomitable spirit of Vicky Phelan, whose bravery and unwavering commitment to justice have inspired countless people in Ireland and beyond. "Vickys legacy serves as a reminder that one persons courage can lead to profound systemic change," she said. I would never want to be part of an organisation that doesnt do something to help. In SETU, we help. I stand before you as a proud advocate for EDI in SETU and in the wider communities we serve. EDI is an ongoing journey one that requires continuous effort, education and empathy. "I firmly believe that together, we can build a university community where every individual is valued, regardless of any characteristic that makes them unique. We need a university community that goes beyond mere tolerance, but instead, celebrates the richness of our diversity. So, lets keep working to ensure no voice goes unheard, no talent goes untapped, no individual feels excluded. I accept this beautiful award with great humility and a renewed commitment to the ideals it represents. Tipperary-based bloodstock farmer Con Marnane was celebrating on Monday after selling a Royal Ascot runner for an incredible price of almost 1.3million. Marnane is one of a kind when it comes to spotting a cheap horse with masses of untapped potential and and his latest move has been to sell the previously unheralded Givemethebeatboys for the whopping seven figure price. After buying the two-year-old colt in November last year, Marnane, who runs Bansha House Stables in Ireland, watched him when his first two races in style. The second of which was a Group 3 win at the Curragh in Ireland last month, a victory worth 32,000. The Jessica Harrington-trained horse was then sent to Royal Ascot where he finished a respectable fourth in the Coventry under Frankie Dettori. Marnane, who was speaking after the hammer came down at the Goffs London Sale, told the Racing Post: "I can't describe how I feel at the moment. "Im just so happy. Goffs have done an incredible job. "I had no figure in my mind but I knew a lot of people wanted him. "Hes very special. You dont get horses like him going to Ascot that are not already owned by the big powerhouses. "This is a very special day. This is up there with the biggest Ive had." Marnane made clear it was his daughter Amy who originally saw the horse's untapped potential. He added: "Amy was the one who bought him for 9,500. "We tried to buy him in Doncaster [at the Premier Sale] and it didnt happen as he got a bit of a stone bruise and they took him home. "I just want to thank Jessie Harrington and all her team, and my own team at home that broke him and pre-trained him. "My daughter, Olivia, is in college in Dublin and she rides out most mornings so she rides this horse out a lot. Im just so proud of everybody." YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has said that Armenias criticism of the CSTO is justified. Lukashenko made the remarks while addressing a foreign ministerial meeting of CSTO member states in Minsk, Belarus. Lukashenko said that Armenia is making justifies claims, while another member Kyrgyzstan has been asking for a long time to support in solving the border dispute with Tajikistan. Id say there are problems, very serious problems. If we dont resolve these problems, we will constantly rebuke each other and express discontent regarding the activities of the entire organization. Problems exist to be resolved. Thus, regardless of anything, we must dive into these issues that CSTO member Armenia and CSTO members Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are solving today, Lukashenko said. Lets include these issues in the agenda and resolve them. If we help resolve the conflict on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border, if we start solving this issue, they will be grateful. People will stop dying, and these countries will always be grateful to us. The same goes for the most difficult problem of Azerbaijan and Armenia, the Belarusian leader said. Strengths Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the best performer for the week was Stacks, rising 13.25%. Rapper and entrepreneur Snoop Dogg has launched a new non-fungible token (NFT) collectible series that will evolve in utility as he goes on tour this summer. The NFT will grant holders access to behind-the-scenes content exclusive merch, art, and experiences, writes Bloomberg. Bitcoins share of the total crypto market is the highest in about 20 months, a sign of the cautious mood in digital assets and dominance of Bitcoin again, according to Bloomberg. Weaknesses Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the worst performer for the week was Polygon, down 4.07%. The native token of Binance has snapped a slide that stoked nervousness among digital-asset investors. BNB has gained about 8.5% over the past two days, whereas an index of the largest 100 coins is little changed, (but that gap is starting to narrow), writes Bloomberg. Israel-based social-trading platform eToro says it wont allow U.S. customers to open new positions in a number of crypto tokens, including Algorand, Decentraland, Dash, and Polygon effective July 12, writes Bloomberg. Opportunities Santo Spirits, the tequila company co-founded by Grammy award-winning musician Sammy Hagar and famed television chef Guy Fieri, is the latest brand to jump into Web3 to create a customer loyalty program built around NFTs, writes Bloomberg. Hong Kong regulators are planning a second meeting in less than two months to push banks to offer services to virtual-asset firms as the city seeks to become an international crypto hub. The top financial regulators have called a meeting on Monday to bring together banks, crypto platforms, and other industry participants, writes Bloomberg. Coinbases retail traders may be turning to Robinhood, according to one analyst. Mizuho securities analyst Dan Dolev argues that data from April indicates the firm may be losing market share in retail crypto transaction volume to Robinhood, writes Bloomberg. Threats Delio, a South Korean digital-asset platform, said it has suspended customer deposits and withdrawals, becoming the second site offering high yield to investors to do so this week, according to Bloomberg. Criminal hacker groups have a new favorite to bilk innocent companies out of cryptocurrency. So-called ransomware gangs are deploying fewer strains of ransomware in favor of data theft, but still demand payment, writes Bloomberg. Crypto trading platform Abra was accused of securities fraud by a Texas regulator that filed an emergency cease and desist order against the company and CEO Bill Barhydt. The Texas state securities board alleged that Abra misled investors through sales of its Abra Earn and Abra Boost crypto interest accounts, writes Bloomberg. By Frank E. Holmes Contributing to kitco.com Follow @bulldogholmes www.goldnewsletter.com Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. Get all the essential market news and expert opinions in one place with our daily newsletter. Receive a comprehensive recap of the day's top stories directly to your inbox. Sign up here! (Kitco News) - On Tuesday, Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL) announced the suspension of operations at the Casa Berardi mine again due to the forest fires in the Abitibi and Eeyou-Istchee region of the James Bay area, Quebec. The company said that this suspension follows the directives of Quebec's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests to close certain forest lands and access roads. "All mine personnel are safe, and the infrastructure has not been impacted, Hecla noted in a news release. Operations at Casa Berardi were suspended earlier in the month due to forest fires, with the mine re-starting operations on June 15th. Hecla's Casa Berardi mine is an underground/open pit gold mine located in western Quebec. In 2022, the mine produced 127,590 ounces of gold. The mine is expected to produce 110,000 to 115,000 ounces of gold in 2023. Hecla Mining is the largest silver producer in the United States. In addition to operating mines in Alaska, Idaho, and Quebec, Canada, the company is developing a mine in the Yukon, Canada, and owns several exploration and pre-development projects. Get all the essential market news and expert opinions in one place with our daily newsletter. Receive a comprehensive recap of the day's top stories directly to your inbox. Sign up here! (Kitco News) - Newmont (NYSE: NEM) (TSX: NGT) today announced it will defer the full-funds investment decision for the Yanacocha Sulfides project in Peru for at least two years to advance its portfolio optimization strategy designed to maximize returns for shareholders and create long-term value for other stakeholders. "The decision positions Newmont to prioritize other value-accretive opportunities and support its disciplined capital allocation strategy, which balances steady reinvestment in the business, maintaining financial strength and flexibility and providing leading returns to shareholders," Newmont said. According to a company statement, the deferral of the full-funds investment decision results in a reduction of development capital expenditures, including an estimated $300 million included in Newmont's outlook for 2024. "Once complete, our proposed acquisition of Newcrest will create an industry-leading portfolio of Tier 1 operations and deepen our unmatched pipeline of value-accretive projects," said President and CEO Tom Palmer. "In connection with this transaction and our strategy to create lasting value, we are targeting at least $2 billion in near-term cash flow improvements through portfolio optimization within the first two years." "The deferral of the Yanacocha Sulfides project represents the first step in delivering on this target, as we evaluate further opportunities to resequence project capital and rationalize the combined portfolio to build a more profitable and resilient future for the business," he added. The Yanacocha Sulfides project aims to develop the first phase of sulfide deposits at Yanacocha through an integrated processing circuit, including an autoclave to produce 45 percent gold, 45 percent copper and 10 percent silver. The first phase focuses on developing the Yanacocha Verde and Chaquicocha deposits to extend Yanacocha's operations beyond 2040, with second and third phases having the potential to extend the operation's life for multiple decades. Newmont is the world's leading gold company and a producer of copper, silver, zinc and lead. Newmont is the only gold producer listed in the S&P 500 Index. The company was founded in 1921 and has been publicly traded since 1925. YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Khachatryan received Natia Natsvlishvili, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program in Armenia, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Government of Armenia. Emphasizing the importance of Sustainable Development Goals within the framework of the bilateral cooperation agenda, the parties exchanged ideas on the current and prospective projects implemented in this direction. In particular, the cooperation aimed at increasing the resilience and socio-economic development of the border communities, promoting the "green" economic agenda, as well as the development of health, educational and environmental infrastructures was highlighted by both sides. During the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Khachatryan emphasized the importance of the involvement of international, including UN, agencies in Nagorno-Karabakh in order to get acquainted with the created situation and address the humanitarian problems of the population. The Resident Representative of the UNDP Armenia office, in turn, expressed concern about the created situation, expressing readiness to continue the provision of assistance aimed at the rehabilitation of border communities of Armenia. Natia Natsvlishvili reaffirmed her readiness to support Armenia's current reform agenda, highlighting the need to expand cooperation in the specified directions. YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS. On June 20, the President of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan received the delegation led by the Chair of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence of the European Parliament Nathalie Loiseau, ARMENPRESS was informed from the parliament of Armenia. Alen Simonyan welcomed the guests, noting that this visit will give an opportunity to get acquainted with the situation on the spot. He stressed that our country greatly highlights the definite position of the European Parliament on a number of the most important issues for Armenia. In this context the RA NA President mentioned the issues regarding the Nagorno Karabakh last war, the encroachments of the armed forces of Azerbaijan against the sovereign territory of Armenia, the necessity of the urgent release of Armenian prisoners of war, the blocking of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan and the humanitarian crisis caused as a consequence of it, which were reserved in a series of resolutions and reports of the European Parliament. The European Union (EU) continues remaining the primary partner supporting the agenda of the reforms underway in Armenia, and would like to reaffirm our commitment to deepening and expanding the cooperation with the European Union, including the implementation of the provisions of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA), Alen Simonyan noted. At the meeting ideas were exchanged on the decision of deploying the EU mission in Armenia, which essentially promoted the establishment of the relative stability on our eastern borders. Reference was made to the expansion of cooperation with the European Union in the fields of defence and security at the request of providing support to Armenia. Hamish Harding posted an image of the submersible to his social media accounts on Saturday. The European Union is ready to propose a financial aid package of around 50 billion ($55 billion) to support Ukraine as the country embarks on a critical counteroffensive to retake territory lost since Russias invasion more than a year ago, Bloomberg reported. June 20, 2023, 10:18 EU prepares 50 billion Ukraine aid package STEPANAKERT, JUNE 20, ARTSAKHPRESS: The proposal from the European Commission, the EUs executive arm, will help finance the Ukrainian governments current expenditures and pay for urgent reconstruction priorities, according to people familiar with the plan. The package, still subject to changes before its made public, will be announced Tuesday ahead of a conference this week in London, where donors will discuss how to rebuild the country and Ukrainian officials will seek private sector involvement. The commission wants to avoid a burdensome reconstruction instrument for a country at war and will offer the aid in the form of grants, concessional loans and guarantees, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private. The aid package comes at a pivotal time in the war, with Ukraines forces launching a long-expected spring campaign. The Ukrainian government is counting on the counteroffensive to push Russian forces from more territory and encourage allies to continue providing needed support even as some countries are pressuring Kyiv and Moscow to negotiate. Ukrainian officials last week said their troops had made some advances amid severe fighting. The proposal, part of the review of the EUs longterm budget, would cover the period from 2024-2027. It would provide less annually than the 18 billion in financial assistance the EU is offering this year. The World Bank has estimated that Ukraines reconstruction costs could amount to $411 billion. Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC Get Rating) have earned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $91.11. CNC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. They issued an overweight rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a strong-buy rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $79.00 to $71.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $103.00 to $94.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Centene from a buy rating to a hold rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $94.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. Get Centene alerts: Insider Activity In other news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 1,400 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.59, for a total transaction of $93,226.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $566,547.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.28% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene Centene Stock Performance Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in shares of Centene by 1,401.4% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 46,333 shares of the companys stock worth $3,901,000 after purchasing an additional 43,247 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Centene by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 9,734 shares of the companys stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Centene by 104.7% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 43,760 shares of the companys stock worth $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 22,382 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter worth approximately $203,000. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its position in shares of Centene by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 37,404 shares of the companys stock worth $3,149,000 after purchasing an additional 3,414 shares during the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Shares of CNC stock opened at $65.66 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $66.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.22. The company has a market cap of $36.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.56. Centene has a 12 month low of $61.34 and a 12 month high of $98.53. Centene (NYSE:CNC Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $2.23 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $38.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.09 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.61% and a net margin of 1.01%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Centene will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. About Centene (Get Rating Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. It operates in two segments, Managed Care and Specialty Services. The Managed Care segment offers health plan coverage to individuals through government subsidized programs, including Medicaid, the State children's health insurance program, long-term services and support, foster care, and medicare-medicaid plans, which cover dually eligible individuals, as well as aged, blind, or disabled programs. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Centene Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Centene and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:DFIN Get Rating) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 218,586 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Donnelley Financial Solutions makes up about 4.4% of O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc.s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. owned approximately 0.74% of Donnelley Financial Solutions worth $8,931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DFIN. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Donnelley Financial Solutions by 202.6% during the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 829 shares of the companys stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates purchased a new stake in shares of Donnelley Financial Solutions in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Donnelley Financial Solutions by 65.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,668 shares of the companys stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Donnelley Financial Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $94,000. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC raised its stake in Donnelley Financial Solutions by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 3,601 shares of the companys stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. 93.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Donnelley Financial Solutions alerts: Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, General Counsel Jennifer B. Reiners sold 1,030 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.86, for a total transaction of $46,205.80. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 47,693 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,139,507.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Jeffrey Jacobowitz sold 212,696 shares of Donnelley Financial Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $9,073,611.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,433,793 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $146,485,609.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jennifer B. Reiners sold 1,030 shares of Donnelley Financial Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.86, for a total value of $46,205.80. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 47,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,139,507.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 364,022 shares of company stock worth $15,525,431 in the last 90 days. 16.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Donnelley Financial Solutions Price Performance DFIN stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $45.02. The stock had a trading volume of 8,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 199,014. Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.48 and a 1-year high of $50.38. The companys 50 day moving average price is $44.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 1.68. Donnelley Financial Solutions (NYSE:DFIN Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.07. Donnelley Financial Solutions had a net margin of 11.19% and a return on equity of 27.53%. The company had revenue of $198.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.20 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year. About Donnelley Financial Solutions (Get Rating) Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc engages in the provision of compliance and technology solutions. It operates through the following segments: Capital Markets-Software Solutions, Capital Markets-Compliance and Communications Management, Investment Companies-Software Solutions, and Investment Companies-Compliance and Communications Management. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Donnelley Financial Solutions Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Donnelley Financial Solutions and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Eurocash (OTCMKTS:EUSHY Get Rating) is one of 61 publicly-traded companies in the Grocery Stores industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Eurocash to related businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, dividends and earnings. Earnings & Valuation This table compares Eurocash and its peers revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Get Eurocash alerts: Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Eurocash N/A N/A 3.07 Eurocash Competitors $30.47 billion $637.47 million 188.33 Eurocashs peers have higher revenue and earnings than Eurocash. Eurocash is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry. Analyst Recommendations Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Eurocash 0 1 0 0 2.00 Eurocash Competitors 1108 2753 3008 113 2.30 This is a summary of current recommendations for Eurocash and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com. As a group, Grocery Stores companies have a potential upside of 22.72%. Given Eurocashs peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Eurocash has less favorable growth aspects than its peers. Institutional and Insider Ownership 0.2% of Eurocash shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.2% of shares of all Grocery Stores companies are held by institutional investors. 22.8% of shares of all Grocery Stores companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term. Profitability This table compares Eurocash and its peers net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Eurocash N/A N/A N/A Eurocash Competitors 2.07% 14.55% 4.73% Dividends Eurocash pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.3%. Eurocash pays out 43.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, Grocery Stores companies pay a dividend yield of 3.8% and pay out 60.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Eurocash is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio. Summary Eurocash peers beat Eurocash on 11 of the 13 factors compared. Eurocash Company Profile (Get Rating) Eurocash S.A. engages in the wholesale distribution of food and other fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) in Poland. The company operates through Wholesale, Retail, and Projects segments. Its FMCG products include food products, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, and household chemicals and cosmetics. The company markets its products to traditional retail stores, including small supermarkets, grocery stores, and specialized grocery stores; and kiosks, retail outlets, and convenience stores, restaurants, gas stations, hotel and cafe chains, and catering outlets. It operates a network of Cash & Carry warehouses; Delikatesy Centrum network supermarkets; Inmedio; and franchise and partner stores of Eurocash distribution. Eurocash S.A. was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Komorniki, Poland. Receive News & Ratings for Eurocash Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eurocash and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Milestone Scientific (NYSE:MLSS Get Rating) in a research note released on Friday. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the stock. Milestone Scientific Trading Up 2.9 % Shares of Milestone Scientific stock opened at $1.08 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $0.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $0.76. Milestone Scientific has a twelve month low of $0.41 and a twelve month high of $1.27. The stock has a market cap of $75.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.82 and a beta of 1.35. Get Milestone Scientific alerts: Milestone Scientific (NYSE:MLSS Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter. Milestone Scientific had a negative return on equity of 75.26% and a negative net margin of 93.22%. The business had revenue of $2.60 million during the quarter. Institutional Trading of Milestone Scientific Milestone Scientific Company Profile A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bard Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Milestone Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $109,000. Citadel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Milestone Scientific by 599.9% during the 2nd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 156,422 shares of the companys stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 134,073 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Milestone Scientific during the 1st quarter worth approximately $86,000. Virtu Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Milestone Scientific by 370.1% during the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 67,265 shares of the companys stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 52,957 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Milestone Scientific during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. 6.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. (Get Rating) Milestone Scientific Inc, a biomedical technology research and development company, patents, designs, develops, and commercializes diagnostic and therapeutic injection technologies, and devices for medical, dental, and cosmetic use in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Dental and Medical. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Milestone Scientific Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Milestone Scientific and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has revealed the moment he realized in 2020 that the only possible option for ending hostilities was to compromise. June 20, 2023, 11:35 Fall of Shushi played crucial role in approving 9 November ceasefire agreement, says Pashinyan STEPANAKERT, JUNE 20, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: Speaking at the parliamentary select committee probing the causes and course of the 2020 Second Karabakh War, Pashinyan said that the fall of Shushi played a crucial role in signing the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement. He said what mattered was not only the symbolic but also strategic value of Shushi. After the fall of Shushi, Stepanakert would be targeted, the pressure on Martuni would unavoidably become stronger, and there would be a risk of nearly 25,000 Armenian troops being besieged. The 9 November 2020 ceasefire agreement was the fifth attempt to end the war, Pashinyan said. The first such conversation took place on October 7, when Pashinyan phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin on the latters birthday. Putin attached importance to Pashinyans willingness to compromise. Putin told Pashinyan that he wants to mediate for a swift end of hostilities. I told him that I agreed and asked under what conditions the hostilities would end. Our understanding was that hostilities had to end without preconditions, the sides had to stop at their present positions, followed by talks on which compromise the parties agree to. I said that this option was acceptable for us. I had a second phone call with the Russian President later on that day, and he said that he had talked with the Azerbaijani President, but the latter had told him that he wasnt ready to go for a ceasefire, meaning he didn't agree to establish ceasefire, Pashinyan said. The next day, Putin told Pashinyan that Azerbaijan had a precondition for a ceasefire: it expects Fizuli to be surrendered without a fight, and that Armenian forces must retreat from along the Araks River to the Khuda Aferin reservoir, so that the reservoir stays under Azerbaijani control to be able to take water for irrigation. In addition, the Azerbaijani leadership expected to repatriate Guliyev and Askerov, the two convicts that were serving prison terms in Nagorno Karabakh for kidnapping and murder, and considering the option of returning prisoners itself. Furthermore, and end to hostilities wasnt being declared for this, but simply a humanitarian ceasefire, to organize the burial of the dead, without any condition or obligation on not resuming the fighting afterwards. I said that the preconditions were unacceptable because we agreed with the Russian President that a ceasefire was to be established without preconditions. And moreover, even if I were to agree to the retreat of troops there was no guarantee that Azerbaijan wouldnt continue its offensive during the retreat. Nevertheless, I displayed some flexibility, recording that a joint use of water from the Khuda Afering reservoir was possible, meaning, I thought that NK could not obstruct Azerbaijani use of water from the reservoir, the condition on the return of Askerov and Guliyev could be discussed if Azerbaijan were to say how many Armenian captives it was ready to return with Russian mediation, the condition on surrendering Fizuli with the banks of Araks without a fight was unacceptable, while the proposal on a humanitarian ceasefire for burying the bodies of the dead was fully acceptable, Pashinyan said. Putin told Pashinyan on October 9 that Azerbaijan was ready to establish a ceasefire starting 9-10 October. The foreign ministers of the two sides were invited to Moscow for discussions, and the exchange of captives and bodies of the dead was also supposed to be discussed. Pashinyan said he agreed to the offer. The Kremlin then published a statement. A statement was then issued after the foreign ministerial meeting. After this statement, Pashinyan ordered the military to maintain the ceasefire. But after little pauses, Azerbaijan launched a more intense attack, bombarding the territory of the former NKAO, Stepanakert, Martakert and assaulting Hadrut. Of course, the troops were ordered to take every necessary action to stop the Azerbaijani attack, but simultaneously diplomatic efforts were underway in the direction of the Moscow document on establishing a ceasefire. The deployment of Russian military observers on both sides of the line of contact for monitoring the situation was being considered. But Azerbaijan was constantly avoiding going for such a solution and was intensifying its military operations, Pashinyan said. The Armenian PM said he talked with Putin in the following days several times on how to achieve a ceasefire. Analyzing the situation in our internal discussions, my conclusion was the following: Azerbaijan wont agree to a ceasefire until its advance gets thwarted. This was basically the balanced scenario of ending the hostilities. I realized that if such a scenario was impossible, while the situation on the battlefield wasnt optimistic, the only possible option was the compromised ceasefire. Other variants were not realistic because days were passing since the rather balanced ceasefire statement but it was impossible to establish a ceasefire, Pashinyan said. President Putin told Pashinyan that hed talk with the Azerbaijani President again the next day. Angola, IN (46703) Today Isolated thunderstorms in the morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 82F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low 59F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 81F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight A few passing clouds. Low 59F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Auburn, IN (46706) Today Scattered thunderstorms in the morning becoming more widespread in the afternoon. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 83F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Mainly clear early, then a few clouds later on. Low 59F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. BLACKPINK Jennie Kim has come under scrutiny by Chinese internet users for what they perceive as laziness and poor performance skills onstage. Some critics suggest that her perceived lack of effort negatively impacts BLACKPINK overall image. Growing Dissatisfaction Among Fans Many fans express growing dissatisfaction with Jennie's recent performances, questioning her dedication to the K-pop group. In Case You Missed It: BTOB Minhyuk & (G)I-DLE Miyeon's Almost Kiss Shocks Audience - What's the Real Score Between Them? One fan voiced concern about Jennie's wellbeing, suggesting, "If Jennie is truly unwell, she should take time off and recuperate. Health should always come first. There's no harm in stepping back momentarily to ensure she's in peak condition, rather than dragging down the group's reputation." Another echoed similar sentiments, mentioning, "We've witnessed Jennie's lackluster performances more than once, which wasn't the case when BLACKPINK first rose to fame two years ago. This paddling controversy has been brewing for a while, but it appears to have intensified recently." Other fans began to question if Jennie's recent hiking trip had any effect on her performance. One queried, "Did Jennie's mountain excursion the previous day leave her too exhausted for a top-notch performance?" Public Concern or Unfair Criticism? Jennie's on-stage behavior has been a hotly discussed topic in China recently, as some netizens have begun highlighting an apparent decrease in her on-stage energy and passion. In Case You Missed It: aespa 'Ugly' Pictures Becomes Controversial, Winter Bashed for Photo Editing and Enhancements One fan sarcastically commented, "I suppose her mountain climbing adventure the day before left her too fatigued to perform the next day?" An additional commenter playfully suggested, "Perhaps Jennie, you should consider leaving the group and pursue a career in sandwich biscuit commercials..." This wave of criticism follows a concert where Jennie seemed to be less than fully engaged in her performance, despite appearing healthy and energetic during a mountain climbing excursion the day prior. This contrast especially struck a nerve among fans who felt let down by Jennie's lackluster performance, especially since she was once one of their favorite members. Behind the Stardom: Getting to Know BLACKPINK Jennie While the criticisms leveled at Jennie are visible to all, it's essential to delve deeper into who Jennie Kim truly is - beyond the stage lights and the controversies. Jennie A Snapshot Jennie Kim was born on the 16th of January in 1996 in the upscale neighborhood of Cheongdam-dong. Standing at a height of 163 cm, and with a weight of 45 kg, Jennie fills the roles of the main rapper and the lead vocalist for BLACKPINK. In Case You Missed It: Why is Everyone Still Looking Forward to EXO's Comeback? Renowned for her penchant for high-end fashion, specifically brands like Chanel and Gucci, she's garnered the moniker "YG Princess" within her team, a nod to her trendsetting style. Jennie's education took an international route as she lived in Auckland, New Zealand for five years, where she attended ACG Parnell College. With a trilingual skill set, she speaks Korean, Japanese, and English with fluency. Her palate leans towards Korean food and a sweet spot for milk-flavored ice cream. But there's more to Jennie than her linguistic skills and food preferences - she is musically gifted, capable of playing the piano and the flute, and has a surprising proficiency in the culinary arts. Follow and subscribe to KpopStarz for more K-pop news and lists. Cassidy Jones wrote this. KpopStarz owns this article. These days the residents of the Sarushen community of the region of Askeran of the Artsakh Republic are engaged in mulberry harvesting. June 20, 2023, 13:02 Mulberry harvesting started in Sarushen. The results are satisfactory STEPANAKERT, JUNE 20, ARTSAKHPRESS: Karen Gasparyan,the head of the Sarushen community, told "Artsakhpress". "Our village in Artsakh is known for the production of high-quality mulberry vodka. We will make vodka and doshab from the obtained harvest," he said. 'We have planted a large amount of corn and potatoes this year. More than three dozen families received greenhouses from the International Committee of the Red Cross, which have contributed to the development of the greenhouse economy in the community," he said, adding that the village is also engaged in animal husbandry. Referring to the problems created in the community as a result of the blockade, the community leader noted that due to the suspension of construction works in the Republic, a part of the residents remained without work. Reports indicate that all members of the globally renowned K-pop group BTS are planning to enlist in the military by the end of this year. Following the enlistment of the oldest member, Jin, last year, as well as J-hope, discussions have arisen regarding how the remaining members will enlist to ensure a group reunion in 2025. According to industry insiders and a Naver report, BTS members Suga, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook are all expected to fulfill their military duties before the year concludes. The report stated, "They will fulfill their scheduled activities, such as Suga's world tour and Jungkook's solo ventures in the first half of the year. Despite being eligible for postponement, Jimin, V, and Jungkook have decided to prioritize their military service and reunite with fans sooner." Unfair Enlistment for V and Jungkook Say Fans Fans have taken to social media to express their discontent. One fan expressed their frustration, stating that it is unfair for V and Jungkook to be enlisted when there are still members in their 30s who have yet to serve. They perceive this as a decision driven by the agency's desire for financial gain and criticize both the agency and the fandom for their actions. One fan stated by tweet, Unfair !Tae n JK have years left when they have 30Year ols members still to enlist and they are forcing 25year old who is yet start their career to enlist for money ..money hungry agency n most selfish fandomkarma will be the end. Unfair !Tae n JK have years left when they have 30Year ols members still to enlist and they are forcing 25year old who is yet start their career to enlist for money ..money hungry agency n most selfish fandomkarma will be the end . JK DREAMERS (@jk_neatfreak) June 19, 2023 Some other fans have also shared the same sentiments. One fan tweeted, All the people saying that Jk wants to go at this moment might not understand what extreme pressure and guilt tripping probably was put on him to go: Age hierarchy, company grooming, fan pressure. A 2025 group CB could happen and he could leave 2 years after that. All the people saying that Jk wants to go at this moment might not understand what extreme pressure and guilt tripping probably was put on him to go: Age hierarchy, company grooming, fan pressure. A 2025 group CB could happen and he could leave 2 years after that. BTS Fan (@mklind22) June 19, 2023 Another fan joined the thread and said, that company is so weird??? talking abt enlistment when two members haven't even debuted yet. that company is so weird??? talking abt enlistment when two members haven't even debuted yet ivyia | jjk1 is coming (@jenkooworld) June 19, 2023 This fan also tweeted How unfair for Tae & JK to be given very limited time & space to promote their solo albums! Why these 2 have to suffer the most? It's ok for them to go to their ms, but looking at the sched left for the 2, they will not be able to promote properly just like the other members!. How unfair for Tae & JK to be given very limited time & space to promote their solo albums! Why these 2 have to suffer the most? It's ok for them to go to their ms, but looking at the sched left for the 2, they will not be able to promote properly just like the other members! Emmy C. Del Rosario (@emmydelrosario) June 19, 2023 IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS: BTS Jungkook Finally Reveals Truth Behind Epic Fight with Jimin Sentiments Amidst BTS Enlistment Amidst heartwarming sentiments circulating across media platforms, some fans are commenting and comforting other fans through kind comments. One fan commented, Nobody forced them, and its better if they ALL enlist now than later. It would be odd to have such a large gap between everyones enlistment times. Since Jin and Hobi have already left, and come back next year, it would be odd to wait YEARS AFTER that to enlist Tae and Jk. Nobody forced them, and its better if they ALL enlist now than later. It would be odd to have such a large gap between everyones enlistment times. Since Jin and Hobi have already left, and come back next year, it would be odd to wait YEARS AFTER that to enlist Tae and Jk char 5 STAR (@_wolfchann_) June 19, 2023 Then one fan also replied in a thread, they probably just wanna all go together because lots of groups have fallen apart when they've enlisted individually. they probably just wanna all go together because lots of groups have fallen apart when they've enlisted individually ELKI (@ELKOIDS) June 19, 2023 Another fan commented The sooner they go the faster theyll be back this is helping me stay positive BTS will be still reigning and dominating the music scene even when on a hiatus Its been almost a year already but theyre still on top because they OWN THE THEONE & NOBODY COULD EVER COMPETE. The sooner they go the faster theyll be back this is helping me stay positive BTS will be still reigning and dominating the music scene even when on a hiatus Its been almost a year already but theyre still on top because they OWN THE THEONE & NOBODY COULD EVER COMPETE - JACK IN THE BOX | PROOF | APOBANGPO (@naryaselh) June 19, 2023 Another ARMY commented As they promised us they'll be back as 7 in 2025... that's our boys! And jin and hobi will be with us on 2024 My heros fighting!. Making sure that ARMYs must feel happy knowing that their idols will be back soon. As they promised us they'll be back as 7 in 2025... that's our boys! And jin and hobi will be with us on 2024 My heros fighting! SimitaJin (@NSimita) June 19, 2023 Under South Korean law, men are obligated to serve 18 months in the military before they reach the age of 28. However, a special provision was made for BTS, allowing them to postpone their service until the age of 30. YOU MIGHT LIKE THIS: BTS' Preference: Real Names or Pseudonyms? Members' Choices Revealed! KpopStarz own this article. Written by Madison Cullen Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. The Cayuga County Community Mental Health Center in April started staffing a daytime mobile crisis team, accessible from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. The team, composed of a licensed social worker and a crisis case manager, can be accessed by calling the center at (315) 253-0341 and pressing 9. Our crisis response program is developed to maintain people safely in the community and reduce unnecessary emergency room and inpatient admissions, as well as to reduce the risk of future crises. Calls to mobile crisis can be made by several sources including individuals, family members, school staff, provider agencies, primary care doctors, law enforcement or other community organizations. Mobile crisis can be contacted when an individual is making statements about or demonstrating symptoms indicating they may be at risk of harming themselves and/or an individual is demonstrating escalating behavior and not responding to requests to redirect. Mental Health Center support staff will initially request basic demographic information. The call will then be directed to a crisis worker, who will obtain additional information and assess whether a mobile crisis response is needed. If a mobile response is in order, the team will mobilize and respond to the individual in the community. The team will assess risk, complete a safety plan with the individual, and make referrals to ongoing services. Following the call out, the team will also follow up by phone or additional visits to assist the individual in connecting with any recommended services or resources. We are very excited to work with our community partners, including law enforcement agencies, to assist with mental health assessments, while meeting people where they are in the community. Mental health-related law enforcement calls can now be put into the hands of professionals during the daytime, allowing them to assess and safety-plan while decreasing any unneeded hospital or ER presentations. We are looking forward to this ongoing work and collaboration to reduce barriers to accessing mental health services. This is another effort to help individuals in our community access resources because we know how the need continues to grow. The initial funding for this new program was provided through a partnership between the city of Auburn and Cayuga County, utilizing American Rescue Plan Act funds. The New York State Office of Mental Health has prioritized investments and resources into the crisis response system in recent years. The state has identified that responses to behavioral health crises require a response by mental health professionals and diversion from law enforcement agencies when appropriate. Over the past eight years, Cayuga County has contracted with Liberty Resources to provide after-hours mobile crisis services for county residents experiencing a behavioral health crisis. This team is available from 5 p.m. to midnight Mondays through Fridays and 6 a.m. to midnight on weekends. Mobile crisis teams provide services to children and adults who are experiencing or are at imminent risk of experiencing a behavioral health crisis. A behavioral health crisis includes instances in which a person cannot manage their primary psychiatric and/or substance use-related symptoms without deescalation or intervention. These services are designed to interrupt and/or ameliorate crisis by: Assessing the immediate crisis and facilitating resolution and de-escalation; Providing crisis services in the community where the individual is experiencing a crisis; Assisting the recipient to utilize community and family support systems with the intent of preventing the re-occurrence of similar events in the future; Engaging the recipient to identify and link to supports and follow-up services that are necessary to manage and/or prevent further BH crisis episodes; and Engaging with the recipients service provider(s) and/or identified supports, when appropriate, to coordinate care. The mission of mobile crisis providers is to deliver person-centered, trauma-informed, and culturally and linguistically competent services. These are high-quality, effective and integrated community-based behavioral health services that promote resiliency, rehabilitation and recovery. These services are available telephonically and face-to-face in the community to children and adults who are experiencing or are at imminent risk of experiencing a behavioral health crisis. These services aim to provide immediate support and offer alternatives to hospitalization when appropriate. Please note: In the event someone is in immediate danger of harming themselves or others, 911 should be contacted. Law enforcement may contact mobile crisis once they respond and ensure the setting is safe. Hunter Biden will plead guilty in a deal that likely averts time behind bars in a tax and gun case President Joe Bidens son Hunter will plead guilty to federal tax offenses and avoid a full prosecution on a separate gun charge in a deal with the Justice Department that likely spares him time behind bars SHREVEPORT, La. - Heavy winds raging at nearly 80 mph on Friday has devastated most of the ArkLaTex, leaving over 200k without power for over U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand visited central New York on Tuesday to unveil a bill that would provide $50 billion to boost rural economic development. Gillibrand, D-N.Y., has sponsored the Rebuild Rural America Act. The bill's main provision is the creation of a $50 billion block grant program to support long-term projects, including funding for child care centers, health care providers, main street revitalization and workforce development. The legislation would also establish the Rural Innovation and Partnership Administration within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The new agency would help local governments get information on federal resources and technical assistance, according to Gillibrand's office. Gillibrand's bill would also launch the Rural Future Corps to place AmeriCorps fellows in rural areas and set up new programs to help rural communities utilize technical assistance experts. Gillibrand visited the village of Hamilton in Madison County to announce her introduction of the Rebuild Rural America Act. "New York's rural communities face a variety of unique challenges, but too often, the federal government has failed to adequately support them," Gillibrand said. "My Rebuild Rural America Act will invest $50 billion into rural America to help communities build schools, expand child care access, catalyze private investment, train workers for in-demand jobs and bolster critical infrastructure." Madison County leaders endorsed Gillibrand's bill, including Hamilton Mayor RuthAnn Loveless. In a statement provided by Gillibrand's office, Loveless said she is "anxious to learn more about the federal and local partnerships planned and the ways we can work together for the betterment of our communities." Hamilton Supervisor Eve Ann Shwartz called the legislation "an important effort to bring much-needed financial and technical support to rural communities." Gillibrand is hoping to include the legislative text in the next farm bill. The current farm bill expires at the end of September. Congress is working to draft a new farm bill. BusinessWire India Mumbai (Maharashtra)/ New Delhi [India], June 20: Chrysalis Services, a consultancy dedicated to changing the landscape of the Indian social sector and bridging the gap between the privileged and underprivileged, aims to address the pressing need for Environmental Sustainability Governance (ESG) in the corporate landscape and assist companies in integrating sustainable practices into their operations. ESG encompasses the three pillars - Environmental, Social, and Governance, that measure a company's sustainability and ethical impact. Environmental factors focus on a company's impact on the environment and natural resources. Social factors evaluate the company's relationship with its employees, customers, communities, and other stakeholders. Governance factors assess the company's leadership, accountability, and transparency in decision-making processes. ESG has emerged as a critical factor in the decision-making process for investors, regulators, and stakeholders. Recognizing its significance, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has mandated Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) for the top 1000 companies from FY 2022-23. This reporting requirement has been extended to supply chain disclosures for the top 250 companies from FY 2024-25. Additionally, independent assurance on Business Responsibility Services Reporting (BRSR) Core is now mandatory for the top 250 companies from FY 2023-24. In addition to SEBI's mandates, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also taken steps to introduce sustainable finance through its regulated entities. These initiatives highlight the growing importance of ESG considerations in the corporate ecosystem and underscore the need for expert guidance in navigating this evolving landscape. Embracing ESG practices brings numerous benefits for companies. Firstly, it enhances their reputation and brand value, as stakeholders increasingly value businesses committed to sustainable and responsible practices. Secondly, it reduces operational risks by proactively managing environmental and social issues, such as resource scarcity and labour rights. Thirdly, it attracts investors seeking to align their portfolios with sustainable investments. Studies have shown that companies with strong ESG performance tend to outperform their peers in terms of financial returns and resilience. While the implementation of ESG reporting mandates brings about numerous benefits, companies often face challenges in meeting these requirements. The complexities of data collection, measurement, and reporting pose significant hurdles, especially for organisations that lack experience or internal capabilities. Moreover, ensuring the accuracy, reliability, and credibility of reported information requires specialised expertise and independent assurance. "Environmental sustainability and responsible governance are no longer optional for corporates - they have become a mandate. Organisations are grappling with the complexities of sustainability standards and the need to provide comprehensive data. Meeting sustainability requirements involves implementing environmentally friendly practices, reducing carbon footprint, and adopting ethical business practices," shares Sudhir Rao, Director, Chrysalis Services. "However, these initiatives often require significant investments and changes in operational processes, which can be challenging for companies," he adds. Chrysalis Services has taken an initiative to guide and support companies in meeting these ESG reporting obligations. It will help corporates navigate the complexities of ESG reporting, ensuring accurate and transparent disclosures. For this, Chrysalis Services is collaborating with Ramanlal G. Shah & Co., an esteemed firm. This partnership will leverage the expertise and experience of both organisations to facilitate the integration of sustainable practices into businesses, aligning them with the evolving regulatory landscape. Vivek Shah from Ramanlal G. Shah & Co. says, "As part of our collaborative efforts, we will provide guidance on ESG strategies, data collection, measurement, reporting, and supply chain disclosures. Moreover, we will facilitate independent assurance on BRSR Core, ensuring the credibility and reliability of reported information. This partnership will enable companies to enhance their ESG performance, gain competitive advantage, and contribute to sustainable development." Also Read | Reddit Protests: As Social Discussion Platform Threatens Action on Moderators, Subreddits Adopt Alternative Forms of Protest. (Disclaimer: The above press release has been provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) BusinessWire India Toronto [Canada]/ Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], June 20: Global Marketing Leader and now Debutant author Mohammed Nawaz, celebrated for his expertise in marketing and corporate storytelling, ventures into creative writing with his captivating debut novel, "That Girl." This poignant tale delves into the complexities of relationships, the pursuit of self-discovery, and the resilience of the human spirit. Nawaz's exquisite attention to detail and eloquent prose bring "That Girl" to life, immersing readers in a world of romance and drama. With unexpected plot twists and unforgettable characters, the novel explores the intricate dynamics of relationships while showcasing the indomitable power of the human heart. In discussing his transition from the marketing world to writing, Nawaz expresses his excitement and passion for this new creative venture, stating, "Writing 'That Girl' allowed me to tap into my imagination and explore the depths of human emotions. It has been a transformative experience, and I am thrilled to share this story with readers." Aruna Naidu, Founder of Author's Channel and a seasoned publisher, said, "The novel has already garnered significant attention since its release in June. We are honoured to be publishing 'That Girl' by Mohammed Nawaz. His ability to craft a captivating narrative filled with memorable characters is truly impressive. This debut novel promises to be a remarkable addition to the literary world." Details of the Book:Title: That GirlGenre: Fiction (Romantic Drama)ISBN: 978-93-92546-21-1Pages: 244 PaperbackRights: Worldwide "That Girl" was released on June 15, 2023, by Author's Channel, and is available in major bookstores, airports and online retailers. Also Read | Samsung Galaxy F54 5G Goes on Sale in India Starting June 20; Details. About Author Mohammed Nawaz is a marketing leader-turned-author, known for his debut novel, "That Girl." With a background in strategic marketing and a passion for storytelling, Nawaz weaves a tale of love, loss and self-discovery in the captivating narrative of 'That Girl'. His contribution to marketing has been widely acknowledged, with The Economic Times awarding him the 'Most Promising Tech Marketer Award' and being named the Winner of 'Marketing Mavericks', organised by the world marketing congress. In addition, Nawaz was featured in the elite list of '50 Marketing Marvels' from a list of 500 as India's Best Marketing & Communications Professional for his outstanding achievements. Nawaz has a Master's in Communications from Manipal Academy of Higher Education and a BA in Journalism from St Aloysius College and a certificate of specialisation in Strategy from Harvard Business School. Nawaz combines his academic prowess with his gift for crafting compelling narratives. Currently residing in Canada, Nawaz welcomes you to connect with him on LinkedIn and Instagram To learn more about Author's Channel and other latest releases, visit www.authorschannel.in Also Read | Jawan: Shah Rukh Khans Intro Scene Leaked From Atlees Upcoming Film? Heres The Truth About Viral Pics!. (Disclaimer: The above press release has been provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) BusinessWire India Nairobi [Kenya]/Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 20: Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KgaA Germany, in partnership with International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS) and Africa Reproductive Care Society (ARCS) conducted the Second Edition of their "World Infertility Awareness Summit (WIAS) 2023". The Summit was co-chaired by Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of "More Than a Mother" Campaign and Chairperson of Africa Reproductive Care Society (ARCS), Dr. Edgar Mocanu, President of International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS), and Prof. Oladapo Ashiru OFR, President of Africa Reproductive Care Society (ARCS), and President of The Nigerian Academy of Medicine Specialties. Also Read | Najam Sethi Pulls Out of PCB Chairmanship Race. Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej emphasized, "Our joint summit in partnership with International Federation of Fertility Societies and Africa Reproductive Care Society, has been our effort towards raising awareness about infertility, and specially male infertility, and to sensitizing communities to end the stigma associated with infertility and empower infertile women & couples through access to information, education, health and change of mindset. Together we marked the World Fertility Awareness Month. I am very proud that as part of our Merck Foundation More Than A Mother campaign in partnership with African First Ladies who are also the Ambassadors of Merck Foundation "More Than a Mother" Campaign, Ministries of Health, Academia and Fertility Societies, we provided more than 490 scholarships to young doctors from 39 countries to be the local fertility experts in their respective countries. Many of them were trained to be the first local fertility experts in their countries where they never had even a single local embryologist or fertility specialist before such as; The Gambia, Burundi, Guinea, Chad, Niger, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Malawi, and more. Also Read | HP To Launch New Gaming Laptops in India Starting Below Rs 60,000 Price Range. Together with Merck Foundation Alumni, and our partners, we are making history and reshaping the landscape of fertility care across Africa and beyond." Dr. Edgar Mocanu, President of International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS) stated, "The aim of the summit is to ensure that the voice of the infertile is heard. I know enormous efforts have been taken in Africa and organizations are working tirelessly to focus on the African continent. The whole month is an important month for all of us to work together in raising awareness for about infertility, its prevention and treatment options." Prof. Oladapo Ashiru OFR, President of Africa Reproductive Care Society (ARCS) said, "Infertility is not only a medical issue but also a social issue as it affects the psychological health of the women suffering with infertility stigma due to emotional distress and physical violence too in some cases. Infertility can be preventive by adopting various measures like switching to a healthy lifestyle, quitting smoking, reducing stress and anxiety, and ending the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). I appreciate the efforts of Merck Foundation for breaking the stigma around infertility." The objectives of the Summit were: 1. To raise awareness about infertility especially make infertility.2. To highlight preventive measure in infertility in Africa and developing countries.3. To discuss the challenges and define solutions to improve access to quality and equitable Infertility, Sexual & Reproductive Care via building healthcare capacity and raising community awareness.4. Define interventions to break infertility stigma around women and couples. The summit was conducted under Merck Foundation "More Than a Mother" Campaign, a strong movement that aims to empower women living with Infertility through access to information, education, change of mindset, and economic empowerment. This powerful campaign supports defines interventions to build quality and equitable Reproductive and Fertility Care Capacity, Break Infertility Stigma and Raise Awareness about Infertility Prevention and Male Infertility. Merck Foundation has trained more than 2200 media representatives from more than 30 countries to raise community awareness and break the stigma around infertility and infertile and childless women. Merck Foundation has also been empowering childless and infertile women through their "Empowering Berna" initiative under their "More Than a Mother" movement. This initiative helps women who cannot be treated for infertility anymore by helping them to get trained to establish small businesses so that they can be independent and rebuild their lives. Merck Foundation in partnership with African First Ladies has also launched David's Story, a children's storybook to emphasize strong family values of love and respect from a young age which will reflect on eliminating the stigma of infertility and the resulted domestic violence in the future. The storybooks have been localized for each country to have a better connect with the young readers. Read David's Story here: https://merck-foundation.com/merckfoundation/public/uploads/digital_library/1623068222_8c2d31133aeda35530d4.pdf Merck Foundation has also released about 30 songs, many of these songs have been created with the aim to break the infertility stigma, as a part of their "More Than a Mother" campaign. Listen to all "More than a Mother" songs here:https://merck-foundation.com/our-programs/Merck-Foundation-More-Than-a-Mother/Local-Songs-and-Children-Stories To address this important issue of breaking infertility stigma and also a wide range of other social issues, Merck Foundation annually launches their 'More Than a Mother' Awards in partnership with African First Ladies, for Media, Fashion, Film making, and Musicians, students, and potential talents in these fields, to create a culture shift and break the silence about one or more of the following topics: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending FGM, and/ or Stopping GBV at all levels. Entries can be submitted on submit@merck-foundation.com. Speaking about the success of their joint summit, Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and Chairperson of Africa Reproductive Care Society (ARCS) emphasized, "I am very proud that our joint Summit -WIAS 2023 was a great success. It was addressed by prominent speakers from prestigious fertility societies including FIGO, GIERAF, REDLARA, ASPIRE, Fruitful Vine Africa, and FERSOG. We had more than 500 participants including Merck Foundation partners and Alumni who are future Fertility Specialists, Reproductive and Sexual Care Specialists, and Embryologists, Healthcare Providers, Policy Makers and Media Professionals from over 50 countries in Africa and beyond, and 4500 online viewers on our social media platforms".During the Summit, Merck Foundation CEO also announced the Call for Applications for the Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit (MARS) Awards 2023. The aim of MARS Awards is to empower African young researchers & women researchers, advancing their research capacity and promote their contribution to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). "I am looking forward to the entries from young African researchers and also women researchers", emphasized Dr. Kelej. Details of Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit (MARS) Awards 2023: Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit - MARS 2023 will have scientific support from African Union Scientific-Technical and Research Commission (AU-STRC); Infectious Diseases Institute, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda; Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI); African Reproductive Care Society (ARCS), International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS); and Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE). Theme for the awards: The Role of Scientific Research in Women Health and Reproductive Care Who can apply:Abstracts are invited from final year PhD students, young investigators involved in research and Medical Doctors in Postgraduate Medical Fellowship program related to either of the following topics: 1. Women Health2. Infertility and Reproductive Health All applicants should be primarily based at African Research Institutes and Universities, although collaboration within Africa as well as outside is also welcome. Submission deadline: 30th June 2023. Other Details: - All Abstracts will be peer reviewed.- Research Awards will be dedicated for two categories: "Best Young African Researcher" and "Best African Woman Researcher".- The Winners receive a 3 months Research Training scholarship in India- One Best Abstract winner from each category will get an opportunity to present their abstract at the IFFS World Fertility Congress in Athens How to apply: Applications and abstracts can be submitted by clicking on:https://merck-foundation.com/Merck-Foundation-Africa-Research-Summit-Application-Form Entries can also be sent 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. Click here for more details. 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 (Disclaimer: The above press release has been provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) The New York Air National Guard is assisting with the search and rescue operation for a submersible carrying five tourists that went missing Sunday during a dive to view the wreckage of the Titanic. Following a request from the U.S. Coast Guard, the 106th Rescue Wing based on Long Island sent an HC-130J Combat King search and rescue aircraft on Monday. The aircraft carrying 13 Airmen, including pararescue jumpers, used infrared radar to search an area in the Atlantic Ocean, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul. The plane returned at 2 a.m. Tuesday, but deployed again to help find the missing vessel. "The women and men of New York's Air National Guard are always ready to lend a helping hand," Hochul said. "I commend the members of the 106th Rescue Wing for their efforts to assist the U.S. Coast Guard in this search and rescue operation." The U.S. military and other countries, including France, are lending support to find the submersible. The U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday that the vessel has about 40 hours of breathable air remaining. The five passengers were traveling to the wreckage of the Titanic, which is located about 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, a Canadian province. The ship, which sunk in 1912, is nearly 13,000 below the ocean's surface. This isn't the first time the 106th Rescue Wing has assisted with an emergency situation on the Atlantic Ocean. In May 2022, the Air National Guard unit delivered medical supplies to a sailboat. A sailor aboard the boat had been burned in an accident, according to Hochul's office. In 2017, the 106th Rescue Wing's pararescue jumpers jumped into the Atlantic Ocean to perform emergency surgery on two seamen aboard a cargo ship who had been injured in a fire. Now, the unit is assisting with the prominent search and rescue operation involving a Titanic tourist submersible. "When the Coast Guard called on the New York Air National Guard's 106th Rescue Wing for assistance in this search mission, our Airmen responded quickly and professionally as they have in the past when called for other missions," said Maj. Gen. Ray Shields, adjutant general of the New York National Guard. "Our men and women are always ready to respond when needed." Panaji, Jun 20 (PTI) The number of foreign tourists who arrived in India this year during January-April is 166 per cent more than the figures for the corresponding period in 2022, Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Tuesday. He said this in his address at the inaugural session of the fourth G20 Tourism Working Group (TWG) meeting here. Also Read | Telangana Government to Drop UAPA Case Against Human Rights Activist G Haragopal and Five Others. Reddy also said that after the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign tourist arrivals in India have increased. "The number of foreign tourists who arrived in India this year during January-April is 166 per cent higher than the figures for the corresponding period in 2022," Reddy said. Also Read | Anti-Corruption Bureau Arrests EPFO Officer for Taking Rs 7 Lakh Bribe in Gurugram. "India's inbound travel is expected to reach to pre-pandemic level in 2023," he asserted. Later at a press conference here, Reddy said it was a "matter of happiness" that the concluding meeting of the TWG is taking place in Goa. "India is hosting over 200 G20 meetings at 55 locations across the country. It is happening with 'janbhagidari' (people's cooperation). And, tourism sector is benefitting the most from these meetings," he said. In keeping with the philosophy of 'Atithi Devo Bhav', India is hosting G20 delegates with great warmth. "Each of these delegates... we want them to go back as ambassadors of India," the minister said. Earlier interacting with members of a Yuva Tourism Club after the opening session here, Reddy said the G20 meetings are taking place across the country "akin to a festival". During the TWG meeting on Tuesday, sustainable tourism, climate change, among other subjects were discussed. The fourth and the final meeting is discussing various challenges that tourism sector is facing globally. Hailing India as the "mother of democracy" and ancient land of spirituality, Union minister Reddy urged the global community to work together to build a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient tourism sector. India is currently chairing the G20, and "mother of democracy" and "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam", are also one of the key taglines used by the central government in its posters and other visuals means of comunication on it. The Union minister also said that currently the Indian government has two priorities: sustainable infrastructure creation, to cater to the growing needs of the tourists, and raising awareness among the tourists, for responsible consumption and adoption of an environmentally conscious lifestyle and through the launch of the "G20 Tourism and SDG Dashboard, a legacy has been created". The dashboard being developed, shall promote policies and initiatives by the G20 countries, and guest countries in building a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient sector, he said. A thematic discussion on 'Making India a Hub for Cruise Tourism' was also organised in partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was also held on Tuesday during the event. At the end of the fourth Tourism Working Group Meeting and the G20 Tourism Ministerial Meeting, a Goa Roadmap and Action Plan and a ministerial communique endorsing the roadmap will be issued. From the last three Tourism Working Group meetings, "insightful discussions, thought-provoking and positive decisions" have emerged which will be deliberated upon in the fourth and the final meeting in Goa, the minister said. Reddy said the outcomes of the two meetings, aim to lend support towards building a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient tourism sector. The Roadmap and the communique are in line with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of 2030. "Friends, let us work together in bridging the gap between public and private leaders and building a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient tourism sector in future," he said. Tourism Ministry officials reiterated that these two documents will be key deliverables after the Goa meet. "At the end of our working group meeting and the ministerial meeting, we are going to declare a Goa Roadmap and Action Plan for tourism as a vehicle for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs)," a senior official said. Under India's G20 Tourism Track, the TWG is working on five inter-connected priority areas green tourism, digitisation, skills, tourism MSMEs and destination. These priorities are key building blocks for accelerating the transition of the tourism sector and achieve the targets for 2030 SDGs. Also, there will be a "ministerial communique" that will be released at the end of the tourism working group and other deliberations which will endorse the Goa roadmap. The first Tourism Working Group Meeting of the G20 was held at Runn of Kutch in Gujarat followed by the second one at Siliguri and Darjeeling in West Bengal, and the third one was hosted in Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. (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], June 20 (ANI): A country's ability and potential for growth is determined by the size and strength of its youth population, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday. The Union Minister's remarks came during his inaugural address at the 'Health of Youth - Wealth of Nation', a G20 co-branded event organized by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in collaboration with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, Child Health (PMNCH), here today. Also Read | Ashesh Mehta Drug Case: Popular Finfluencer, His Wife Caught Running Rs 300 Crore Drug Network From Home in Goregaon, Lookout Notice Issued Against Couple. This global gathering aims to highlight the health and well-being needs of 1.8 billion adolescents and youth worldwide and foster increased attention and investment by G20 nations in the health of adolescents and youth. Addressing the gathering, Mandaviya said, "India's G20 presidency will be a leap forward to ensuring that the needs and rights of the world's 1.8 billion young people are addressed, that their voices are heard, and they have access to the resources and opportunities necessary for their optimal development." Also Read | Delhi Customs Destroy 1,289 Liquor Bottles, Over 51 Kgs Drugs. He also said that "Our Prime Minister's vision that India's G20 presidency will be 'inclusive, ambitious, decisive and action-oriented throws up hope as well as opportunities for India and the world. A prominent role in realizing his vision can be played by the youth of the country." Highlighting the Indian Government's commitment towards youth empowerment, he stated that "this co-branded event focusing on the health and well-being of adolescents and young people with the theme 'Health of Youth Wealth of Nation' underlines the Government of India's leadership in promoting investment in the human capital of adolescents and young people and we want to inspire other G20 nations to advance the development of the next generation to build stronger, greener economies and vibrant societies." He also noted that being home to about one-fourth of the world's youth demographic which is capable of leading the country to its aspiration of becoming the world's third-largest economy, "it is necessary for India to reap this demographic dividend and invest in education, skill development and health of youth". Mandaviya stated that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, India has continuously crafted and reinforced policies and programmes to suit the youth and address their health and development needs. He highlighted that "Tele-Manas, a dedicated national tele-mental health program is ensuring that the mental health concerns of the young people of our country are being heard, accepted and managed by a team of experts and professionals at zero cost". He also informed that "a comprehensive School Health and Wellness Programme has been launched by the PM which is envisaging to develop school students as health and wellness messengers, advocates and role models within their schools and communities at large". The Union Health Minister encouraged the dignitaries to deliberate on key areas of adolescent-friendly health care including mental health support and assistance, nutrition programmes and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care. He said, "We must value and create spaces for meaningful participation, which involves young people in decision-making processes that affect their lives." "To address the transnational difficulties that adolescents face, we must promote international cooperation and collaboration by sharing effective models, aligning policies, and mobilizing resources to support countries with limited capacity in fulfilling the health and well-being needs of their adolescents", he further stated. Highlighting that India is home to one of the world's largest youth populations, with a staggering 378 million adolescents and youth and 65 per cent of the nation's population under the age of 35, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar stated that "our government firmly believes in the transformative power and boundless potential of our youth. Their energy, ideas, and determination hold the key to shaping the future trajectory of our great nation". She further stated that "investing in the well-being of youth is not just a moral obligation but also a strategic decision that will determine the success and prosperity of our nation." Ms. Helen Clark, PMNCH Board Chair noted that young people today are facing a lot of challenges that are not of their making. She stated that many young girls aged 15 to 19 years are dying during childbirth while many people across the world are facing mental health challenges. Urging countries to address the challenges faced by the youth today, she said, "the call for action is urgent and the time to act is now". Deputy Health Minister of South Africa, Mr. Sibongiseni Dhlomo congratulated the Govt of India for its G20 Presidency and stated that G20 priorities are shaping up well under India's Presidency. He also shared his insights on the challenges faced by the youth and the efforts being made by his government to these challenges and improve their health and well-being. He stated that the majority of the population in Africa are young people and it is therefore important to ensure that they get the proper tools, information, education, and opportunity to become responsible stakeholders in the future. Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary said that policies and programmes that have enabled nations to advance the health and well-being of adolescents and youth in their respective countries, would go a long way in improving their socio-demographic picture so that they could become a positive force now and in the future. Mr Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator (India) emphasized that the power of youth, multilateralism, G20 and India as the leader of the Global South can help unleash tremendous opportunities and possibilities for the youth. He credited India for bringing numerous policies for adolescent health but highlighted that more needs to be done by countries across the world to make the global SDG goals a reality. "India can make sustainable goals a global reality. Saath hai to sambhav hai", he stated. Dr Julitta Onabanjo, Director of Technical Division, UNFPA Headquarters said that "it is our responsibility to recognize and capitalize on the potential of youth, allowing young people to be agents of positive change and facilitating their smooth passage into adulthood." She also congratulated the Indian Government on its outstanding G20 presence and appreciated the powerful theme of 'One Earth, One Family, One Future' of G20 under India's presidency. Ms Tuqa AlBakri, Youth Representative from Iraq highlighted that young people are the changemakers of the world as they are the generation of science and technology people, of activism, creativity and energy. She thanked the Indian Government for hosting this youth event and urged policymakers to support the enthusiasm of youth and enable them to become responsible changemakers of society. Union Health Minister along with other dignitaries released a compilation of British Medical Journal (BMJ) papers on adolescent well being -a series of analytical articles, along with the thematic paper on 'health of youth- a wealth of nation' by Union Health Ministry focusing on the centre of the theme staging Adolescent Health and Multi-Sectoral Partnership. Ashok Babu, Joint Secretary and other senior officials from the Health Ministry, officials from partner agencies like Gates Foundation, UNFPA, USAID, WHO, UNICEF and youth icons from G-20 nations were also present on the occasion. (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, June 20: A 66-year-old man was arrested for allegedly molesting a minor brother-sister duo in Vijay Vihar here, police said on Tuesday. The mother of the children filed a police complaint on Monday accusing her neighbour of molesting her eight-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son on Thursday and Saturday. The children had gone to the man's house on the first floor of their residential building to give him food as his family members were not in Delhi, a senior police officer said. Mumbai: Digital Illustrator From Bangalore Molested At 145 Bandra, Forced To Leave Pub. A case under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modest) of the Indian Penal Code and 6/10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act has been registered at Vijay Vihar police station, the officer said. A medical examination of both children was done at the BSA Hospital, police 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], June 20 (ANI): Delhi police have arrested two persons for allegedly setting a man on fire by putting petrol on him in Delhi's Usmanpur area following a dispute, a police official said on Tuesday. As per the police, the accused set the man on fire following a dispute over the repayment of a loan taken by the victim for the purchase of a car. Also Read | Free Rice: Karnataka Congress Stages Protest Against Centre at Freedom Park, BJP Hits Back. The police said that further investigation is underway into the matter. More details are awaited. (ANI) Also Read | Telangana Government to Drop UAPA Case Against Human Rights Activist G Haragopal and Five Others. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Panaji, Jun 20 (PTI) India and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) have signed an agreement to enhance cooperation and identify areas of mutual interest, on the sidelines of the two key events of the influential bloc being hosted in Goa, official said on Tuesday. Besides, nearly 15 bilateral meetings in total are planned to be held between India and various G20 member countries and international organisations on the sidelines of the these key events being held from June 19-22, official sources said. Also Read | Tom Cruise Expresses Desire To Work With Scarlett Johansson In Future, As The Mission Impossible Actor Praises Her Saying Shes amazing (Watch Video). On Monday, bilateral meetings were held with Oman and United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), a senior official said. The Ministry of Tourism on Tuesday tweeted that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Government of India and the UNWTO. Also Read | International Yoga Day 2023: PM Narendra Modi To Lead Unique Yoga Session at UNHQ on June 21. "Government of India and United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) signed a MoU to enhance cooperation and identify areas of mutual interest, in the backdrop of G20 Tourism Ministers meeting at Goa," it tweeted along with pictures of the bilateral meetings. Secretary-General World Tourism Organisation, Zurab Pololikashvili and Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy were present during the meeting. "The signatories to the MOU were Ms. V Vidyavathi, Secretary, @tourismgoi on behalf of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary General, UNWTO, on behalf of UNWTO," it said in another tweet. The MoU will see both parties collaborate on key programmatic areas related to tourism market intelligence, tourism, and rural development, tourism investment, education, and innovation, the ministry said. Nearly 15 bilateral meetings are planned to be held between India and various G20 member countries and international organisations on the sidelines of the fourth and final Tourism Working Group Meeting which concluded on Tuesday and the G20 Tourism Ministerial Meeting to held on June 21-22. Sources said the Goa Roadmap and Action Plan that came out of the discussion following two rounds of working meetings, is "nearly ready". A ministerial communique will be issued at the end of the ministerial meeting, and the final Goa Roadmap will be endorsed by it. On Monday, India also held bilateral talks with Oman. Sources said that Reddy will be part of nine bilateral talks while his deputy in the Tourism Ministry S Y Naik will lead the Indian delegation in the rest of the meetings. Bilateral talks were lined up with countries like South Africa, Germany, the UAE, the UK, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, the US, and the ILO, over June 20-21 periods, they said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Aurangabad, Jun 20 (PTI) Eleven labourers engaged in well digging work and kept chained by contractors to prevent them from escaping have been rescued by police in Maharashtra's Osmanabad district, an official said on Tuesday. After being freed on Saturday, the labourers narrated their ordeal saying they were made to work 12 hours daily, not paid any money for the work, provided food just once a day and forced to answer nature's call in the well itself where they worked, he said. Also Read | International Yoga Day 2023: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann Urges People to Make Yoga Part of Life. The police have so far arrested four persons, including two contractors, in this connection, the official said. The labourers were deployed by contractors two-three months back for well digging work in Khamaswadi and Wakharwadi villages under Dhoki police station limits in Osmanabad where they were wrongfully confined and tortured, assistant police inspector Jagdish Raut told PTI. Also Read | Ballia Alleged Heatwave Deaths: Death Toll Reaches 68 As 14 More Patients Succumb to Heat-Related Ailments in Past 24 Hours. One of the labourers had managed to escape and reached his native place in Hingoli district where he informed local police about the torture, he said. The Hingoli police contacted their counterparts at Dhoki in Osmanabad on Saturday and teams were formed to conduct checks at the specified site. "When a police team reached Wakharwadi village, it found five labourers working in a well. When they were questioned, they informed that they were made to work for 12 hours every day and tied with chains during night so that they don't escape," Raut said. The five labourers were subsequently rescued, he said. They informed that six more labourers were working in the nearby Khamaswadi village and they were also in a similar situation, he said. The six labourers in Khamaswadi were also later rescued, he said. "When we questioned the labourers, they said they were given food just once a day and forced to answer nature's call in the well itself. Later, the human waste was sent up on the surface in a basket. The labourers were sent into the well at around 7 am every day and taken out after 12 hours of work," Raut said. All the 11 rescued labourers were provided medical treatment and a procedure was underway to send them home, he said. "We are now looking at the human trafficking angle into this and two police teams are working on it. We have come to know about a few more agents who have been selling such labourers to contractors," the official said. "The contractors did not pay a single rupee to the labourers and harassed them mentally. After making a labourer work under such conditions for four-five months, he used to be released. The labourer would then run away without asking for the money to escape the torture," the official said. The police on Sunday arrested four persons, including contractors Santosh Jadhav and Krushna Shinde, he said. A case has been registered against the accused under Indian Penal Code Sections 370 (trafficking of persons), 367 (kidnapping or abducting in order to subject person to grievous hurt, slavery, etc), 346 (wrongful confinement in secret) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), he added. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, June 20: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested two Naxals, including a woman, in connection with the 2019 Tiriya encounter case of Chhattisgarh which claimed the lives of six Naxals and one civilian, the agency said on Tuesday. The duo, identified as B.Ch. Padma and Dubasi Devender, were picked up by the NIA on Sunday after extensive investigations into the case (also known as the RK Dairy case), said the NIA in a statement. The NIA has so far arrested four accused in the case. Chhattisgarh Naxal Attack: Full List of Names of DRG Personnel Who Lost Their Lives in IED Blast in Dantewada. Padma alias Modem Padma alias Lalita, who was previously active as Divisional Committee Member of CPI (Maoist) or Naxals, was currently acting as a Coordinator between Front organisations and the CPI (Maoist) as well as spreading the ideology of the banned outfit. 10 Policemen Killed in Chhattisgarh Naxal Attack: Video Showing Terrifying Moments After IED Blast in Dantewada Surfaces. However, Devender was closely associated with CPI (Maoist) cadres operating in the core area. He was also acting as a courier for CPI (Maoist) and was secretly transporting their communications (both paper-based and digital) and facilitating their anti-national activities. NIA investigations had revealed that both the accused arrested on Sunday were closely involved with the top leadership of naxals in furtherance of their anti-national activities. The agency had earlier recovered several incriminating material related to the activities of naxal cadres during searches conducted at the premises of the two accused. Six Maoists and one civilian were killed in the incident, that has come to be known as the Tiriya encounter case. Security forces were attacked by naxal operatives near Tiriya village in Chhattisgarh.The NIA had taken over the case in 2021, along with several other cases related to naxal conspiracies to carry out acts of terror and violence in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The encounter took place in July 2019, when a Joint team of the local District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had travelled to the forest area near Tiriya in PS Nagarnar area of Jagdalpur District in Chhattisgarh. They had gone there after receiving inputs that a group of naxal cadres had gathered with the intention to perpetrate a big incident on July 28, which is observed as Shaheed Diwas. Following the encounter, the Security forces had recovered arms and ammunition, as well as several incriminating handwritten documents, literature etc from the site. The case was initially registered on July 28, 2019, under various sections of the Arms Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. It was re-registered by NIA on March 18, 2021. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi [India] June 20 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined an urgent hearing of a plea filed by the Manipur Tribal Forum seeking protection of the Kuki tribe by the Indian Army. The Supreme Court has posted the matter for hearing on July 3 dismissing the plea saying, "It is purely an issue of law and order." Also Read | Junior Engineer of Bahanaga Railway Section Missing After Odisha Triple Train Accident? South Eastern Railway Says None of Its Staff Is Missing or Absconding (Watch Video). The Centre on the other hand said that security agencies are on the ground and are doing their best to control the situation. Amid the violence in Manipur, Chief Minister N Biren Singh appealed to the people to maintain peace and urged those with arms not to attack so that normalcy can be restored. "I appeal to the people who are with arms not to attack anything. Please maintain peace so that we can resource normalcy in the state....," said N Biren Singh while talking to reporters. Also Read | RRB NTPC Result 2023 Out at indianrailways.gov.in; Railway Recruitment Boards Declare NTPC Results for Various Posts, Get Direct Link to Official RRBs and Know How To Check. Earlier on Monday, CM N Biren Singh visited some relief camps in the state and said that the state government is soon going to construct pre-fabricated houses to accommodate the people temporarily. "I visited some relief camps and people are suffering. State Government is going to construct pre-fabricated houses to accommodate them temporarily," Manipur CM said. "Around 3000-4000, houses will be constructed...We are looking for the place where the construction can be done," he further stated. On the intervening night of June 18-19, an Indian Army soldier was injured after armed miscreants resorted to unprovoked firing from Kanto Sabal towards Chingmang village on which Manipur CM said he will hold a review meeting of the security, how it happened. "Now, I am going to have a review meeting of the security, how it happened and how it can be prevented in the future. These types of things have to be stopped immediately...," Manipur CM said. The soldier sustained a gunshot wound and was evacuated to Military Hospital Leimakhong and is currently stable. In a tweet, Spear Corps said, "Armed miscreants resorted to unprovoked firing from Kanto Sabal towards Chingmang village during the night of 18/19 June. Army Columns resorted to controlled retaliatory fire keeping in view the presence of villagers in the area. One Army Soldier sustained Gun Shot Wound, was evacuated to Military Hospital Leimakhong and is stable. Additional columns inducted in the area and joint operations are in progress." The Indian Army conducted a flag march in the violence-affected area in Imphal Valley on Sunday. Last week, on Wednesday, miscreants tried to burn down the official residence of Manipur minister Nemcha Kipgen in Imphal West. His home was partly burnt. Violence gripped Manipur on May 3 after clashes erupted during a rally organised by the All Tribals Students Union (ATSU) to protest the demand for the inclusion of Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Amritsar, Jun 20 (PTI) The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Tuesday rejected a bill passed by the Punjab assembly seeking to ensure free telecast of Gurbani from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. "This will not be allowed to be implemented at any cost," SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami told a press conference hours after the Vidhan Sabha cleared the Sikh Gurdwara (Amendment) Bill, 2023. Also Read | Delhi Customs Destroy 1,289 Liquor Bottles, Over 51 Kgs Drugs. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said in the House that the Bill is in no way interference in religious affairs, rather it is a simple step to ensure that Gurbani reaches every household. He said this move is not aimed at giving rights to any particular government channel or a channel owned by any single individual but the purpose is to spread the message of Gurbani across the globe. Also Read | Delhi Shocker: Minor Brother-Sister Duo Allegedly Molested by 66-Year-Old Man in Vijay Vihar, Accused Arrested. Addressing a press conference here, SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami said that "this day will be remembered (written) in black letters in the 103-year long history of SGPC, when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of Punjab passed an unconstitutional bill by directly interfering in the Gurdwara managements". He said "the Sikh community will never forget this attack on the SGPC by the Punjab government in the independent India". "This anti-Sikh move by the Punjab government led by Bhagwant Singh Mann will be answered at all levels, for which, a special general session of the SGPC has been called on June 26 at Teja Singh Samari Hall to decide the outline," he said. The SGPC president said the community has never tolerated and will not tolerate "government interference in Sikh religion and Sikh institutions". Dhami said the Punjab government is weakening the SGPC by making Gurbani broadcast an issue. He said the SGPC is already working through a sub-committee in the matter of Gurbani broadcast. In this regard, the future priorities have been determined to a large extent in two meetings of the sub-committee and this is being done as per the orders of Akal Takht, he said. On the other hand, the Shiromani Akali Dal described the amendment bill as "a provocative and brazen interference in the religious affairs of the 'Khalsa Panth' and an assault on the Sikh religious institutions.." "This will never be tolerated. The Khalsa Panth knows how to safeguard the religious sovereignty of its shrines, institutions and traditions. We will fight it at every level," senior SAD leader Prem Singh Chandumajra said in Chandigarh. He said the issue of Gurbani telecast was a mere ruse "being used by the anti-Sikh forces through this government". "Their real intent is to usurp control of Sikh shrines and dilute the religious history, heritage , traditions and narrative of the Khalsa Panth. But we accept this challenge thrown at us," he said. Senior Akali leaders including Chandumajra, Daljit Singh Cheema and Balwinder Singh Bhunder said it was surprising the chief minister "who faked religiosity over the issue of the sacred Gurbani had at the same time to defy and disrespect the strong advice of the Jathedar Sahib of Akal Takhat, Raghbir Singh ji, asking the government to stop interfering in the religious affairs of the Sikhs". They said Jathedar Sahib's strict warning was issued in the morning, well before the discussion on the govt amendment Bill started in the Punjab Assembly. Further, said the Akali leaders, the CM knew that the SGPC had already invited all the channels for deciding the next course of action on Gurbani telecast and a crucial meeting in this regard is scheduled for July 21. The SAD leaders said the party would explore all avenues including meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah as well as the National Commission for Minorities. Meanwhile, SGPC chief reiterated that the state government cannot make any amendment in the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 on its own, as it can only be done with the recommendations of the SGPC's General House. (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], June 20 (ANI): Inside the picturesque city of Srinagar, nestled in Jammu and Kashmir, an extraordinary community of Tibetan Muslims has found a thriving home. Welcomed as co-religionists in this predominantly Muslim area, approximately 1,500 Tibetan Muslims have not only preserved their unique culture and traditions but have also established deep connections with their Kashmiri neighbours. Through their vibrant restaurants and cultural endeavours, they have fostered a sense of unity and understanding, exemplifying the power of cultural integration. Also Read | What Is Titanic Tourist Submarine? Know All About the Submersible That Has Mysteriously Gone Missing With 5 Persons Including UK Billionaire Hamish Harding on Board. Unlike most Tibetan refugees who sought shelter in Dharamshala after fleeing their homeland six decades ago, these Tibetan Muslims view their arrival in Kashmir as a return to their ancestral origins. Their ancestors migrated from Kashmir to Lhasa centuries ago, where they intermarried with Tibetans, embraced the Tibetan language, and formed a distinct community. Their lives in Lhasa were marked by religious freedom and unhindered business endeavours. Also Read | Patna Jeweller Shot Dead by Unidentified Assailants in Mirchai Gali. Since settling in Kashmir, the Tibetan Muslim community has primarily found a home in Srinagar, particularly near the historic Hari Parbat Fort. The neighbourhood now thrives with Tibetan restaurants and establishments that proudly showcase the cultural roots of its inhabitants. Among them, the Lhasa Restaurant, managed by Ahmad Kamal Zarief, has become a local favourite. Tibetan dishes, such as the beloved Momos, have garnered immense popularity among younger Kashmiris, forging stronger bonds between the communities. For Zarief, the restaurant holds deep sentimental value as it allowed his father, Abdul Rehman Zarief, to reconnect with his Tibetan heritage. Through the flavours of Tibetan cuisine, Abdul found solace and cherished memories of his ancestral village. The Lhasa Restaurant not only serves as a testament to the preservation of Tibetan traditions but also as a bridge that connects Tibetan Muslims and Kashmiris through shared culinary experiences. Intercommunity marriages, though not commonplace, have occurred between Tibetan Muslims and Kashmiris, bringing the communities even closer. Nighat Qazi, who married a Tibetan man and has three children, initially faced resistance from her family. However, with time, her decision has been appreciated and embraced, as it exemplifies the potential for greater integration and understanding through inter-community unions. The younger generation of Tibetan Muslims has gradually let go of the longing for their ancestral homeland, which remains under Chinese control. As a result, they have adopted Kashmiri customs, language, and preferences, blending seamlessly with their Kashmiri friends. At the Tibetan Public School, where the revered Dalai Lama delivered a speech in 2012, most students are local Kashmiris. The influence of their Kashmiri peers is evident, as they share activities and aspirations, forming strong bonds that transcend cultural boundaries. Despite assimilating into Kashmiri culture, Tibetan Muslims have managed to preserve their national language. Within their homes, they continue to communicate in their language, honouring it as one of the finest dialects of Tibetan. Despite residing in Kashmir for over six decades, it was only in 2019, when the Indian government revoked the region's semi-autonomous status, that Tibetan Muslims received official citizenship and the right to permanently reside in the area. Throughout their time in Kashmir, they have experienced warm hospitality and acceptance from the Kashmiri people, fostering a sense of belonging and community. The thriving Tibetan Muslim community in Kashmir is a testament to the power of acceptance, cultural exchange, and integration. Through their unique journey, they have not only preserved their heritage but have also formed deep bonds with the local Kashmiri population. Embracing their present reality, Tibetan Muslims have found solace and prosperity in Kashmir, intertwining their rich traditions with the vibrant tapestry of Kashmiri culture. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) June 20, 1993 A sign stretched across a wall at the Emerson Park pavilion yesterday morning, a gentle encouragement to the 40 business and political leaders from around the county who gathered to launch "Cayuga Today and Tomorrow." Spewed out by a computer printer, the sign read, "The best way to predict the future is to create it." That's a tall order, but one that those gathered yesterday took some first steps toward filling. The formal mission of "Cayuga Today and Tomorrow"? Simple, really. To boost community pride, quality of life and economic vitality. And that'll be accomplished through business growth, infrastructure improvement, containment of government costs, respect for the environment and development of a positive community image. It may seem like the vehicles for accomplishing that are already in place. After all, there are politicians whose job can pretty much be summarized by "Cayuga Today and Tomorrow's" mission. And there's a whole slew of volunteer organizations that each work toward bettering a specific portion of the community. But as Jim Jones explains it, the vast growth of government makes it unwieldy, and volunteer groups while valuable and essential sometimes work at cross-purposes with each other. Jones co-chairs the Chamber of Commerce's Business Growth and Development committee, which is the driving force behind "Cayuga Today and Tomorrow." But, as the manager of New York State Electric and Gas Corp., he recognizes that the success of his company is, to a large degree, based on the success of the community it serves. Cayuga County, though, has no one vision. And supporters of "Cayuga Today and Tomorrow" say a single vision that everyone can buy into is necessary if the county is to reverse the downward trend of the past decades. Bishkek [Kyrgyzstan], June 20 (ANI): Afghan Refugees took out another rally in front of the United Nations (UN) building in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, and demanded to send them to Western European countries, including the USA or Canada, Khaama Press reported. They called the world community, the UN and other organizations to pay attention to their horrific situation. Most of them claimed they had been mandated refugees in the country for the last two decades with only a refugee card, as per Khaama Press. Also Read | Islamabad Court Dismisses Bail Petitions of PTI Leaders Including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in May 9 Violence. The Khaama Press News Agency is an online news service for Afghanistan. "We live in exile and without rights, without the opportunity to obtain citizenship of the country, normal access to education, medicine, the possibility of official employment. We want to have basic human rights. If Kyrgyzstan does not need us, then we see the only way out -- resettle us to third countries as soon as possible," the participants in the rally said. Also Read | Andrew Tate, His Brother Tristan Charged With Rape and Human Trafficking in Romania. In June 2022, Afghan refugees staged several demonstrations near the United States (US) Embassy and UN House buildings. They requested to either give them Kyrgyz citizenship or send them to another country, according to Khaama Press. After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, Kyrgyzstan impose restrictions on issuing visas to Afghanistan citizens. It was done in response to the regime change in the country and to prevent the refugees from mass inflow and unwelcome visitors from Afghanistan. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Brussels, Jun 20 (AP) The European Union achieved a small political breakthrough Tuesday when a majority of the 27 member states backed controversial plans for restoring nature across the continent. The 27-nation EU has long been at the forefront of fighting climate change and protecting the environment but is struggling to push the latest piece of legislation through a long-winding legal procedure. Also Read | Summer Solstice 2023 Live Streaming From Stonehenge: Watch Real-Time Sunset and Sunrise From the English Heritage. Some member states and the biggest party in the legislature, the right-wing European People's Party, turned against the proposed plans because of fear they would negatively affect the economy. It's been hard work from all parties involved, said Swedish Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari, who chaired the meeting. It is a good day for nature, she said. Also Read | Delhi Shocker: Uzbekistani Woman Found Dead at Her Home in National Capital. The plans proposed by the EU's executive commission set binding restoration targets for specific habitats and species, with the aim by 2030 to cover at least 20 per cent of the region's land and sea areas. For the next step, the file would go to the EU parliament where it would face a committee vote next Tuesday before going to the full plenary debate next month. Based on those results, the member states and legislators would seek to broker a final compromise text over the next year. At stake is the EU's role as a guiding light to climate issues. It was instrumental in pushing through global rules aimed at containing climate change over the past years. We were among those pushing a global agenda towards higher ambition, and we've managed to accomplish that, said EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius. It was an extremely important message, also to the world, that we also can deliver at home. But countries like the Netherlands objected to parts of the proposals and a one-size-fits-all approach saying that could hurt national industries like farming, or hem nations into a legal straightjacket that could force them into decisions their electorate would strongly oppose. Dutch Environment Minister Christianne van der Wal-Zeggelink called it micromanagement per square metre that would ultimately hurt nature. The nature restoration plan is part of a far bigger project for the EU to become climate neutral by 2050. It includes a wide range of measures, from reducing energy consumption to sharply cutting transport emissions and reforming the EU's trading system for greenhouse gases. The EU's executive Commission said it wanted to keep all actions interlinked for optimal impact, which is why the nature restoration plans had to remain as fully intact as possible. The European Commission says 81 per cent of natural habitats are in poor condition in Europe. Its proposal would set legally binding targets to reduce pesticide use by half by 2030 and ban the use of pesticides in public parks, playgrounds and schools. To ease the transition to alternative pest control methods, farmers would be able to use EU funds to cover the cost of the new requirements for five years. (AP) (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], June 20 (ANI): US President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden has reached a 'tentative agreement' with the federal prosecutors to plead guilty to two minor tax crimes and get the gun charge resolved, so that he remains out of jail, The Washington Post reported citing the court papers filed on Tuesday. However, any proposed plea deal would have to be approved by a federal judge. Both the prosecutors and the defence counsel have requested a court hearing at which Hunter Biden, 53, can enter his plea. Also Read | Summer Solstice 2023 Live Streaming From Stonehenge: Watch Real-Time Sunset and Sunrise From the English Heritage. The agreement pertains to an investigation that was opened in 2018 during the Trump administration, and has generated intense interest and criticism since 2020 from Republican politicians who accused the Biden administration of reluctance to pursue the case, The Washington Post reported. The terms of the proposed deal -- negotiated with Delaware US Attorney David Weiss, a holdover from President Donald Trump's administration -- are likely to face similar scrutiny. Also Read | Delhi Shocker: Uzbekistani Woman Found Dead at Her Home in National Capital. The Post stated that the papers indicate that Biden has tentatively agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanour tax charges of failure to pay in 2017 and 2018. The combined tax liability is roughly 1.2 million USD over those years, according to people familiar with the plea deal, who spoke to the Post on condition of anonymity. Prosecutors plan to recommend a sentence of probation for those counts, these people said. Biden's representatives have said he previously paid back the IRS what he owed. In a letter filed in federal court in Wilmington on Tuesday, federal prosecutors said they were filing two documents called criminal information -- typically used in cases in which a defendant has agreed to plead guilty. "The defendant has agreed to plead guilty to both counts of the tax Information," the prosecutors wrote. The second criminal information is about the gun charge. In that case, the letter states, "The defendant has agreed to enter a Pretrial Diversion Agreement with respect to the firearm Information." According to The Washington Post, if the gun charge is handled as a diversion case, it means Biden will not technically be pleading guilty to the crime. Diversion is an option typically applied to nonviolent offenders with substance abuse problems. "In all, prosecutors will recommend two years of probation and diversion conditions, these people said. If Biden successfully meets the conditions of the diversion program, the gun charge would be removed from his record at the end of that period," The Post further cited people familiar with the plea deal. "Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of failure to file tax payments when due," one of his lawyers, Chris Clark, said in a written statement. "A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward," The Post quoted the lawyer as saying. (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, Jun 20 (PTI) Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar would be escorting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his historic joint address to the US Congress on June 22. The first-time Democratic Congressman, who represents the 13th Congressional District of Michigan, has also been invited by President Joe Biden for the White House State Dinner hosted in honour of Prime Minister Modi on the same day. Also Read | PM Narendra Modi UN Visit: United Nations Dedicates Solidarity Tree Honouring Victims of Terrorism Including 26/11 Mumbai Attack. It is the second time that Prime Minister Modi is addressing the joint session of the US Congress, a first for any Indian prime minister. The prime minister had earlier addressed the US Congress in 2016. Also Read | Milwaukee Shooting Video: Six Teens Shot Outside Greater Philadelphia Church After Juneteenth Celebration Ends. "(Spouse) Shashi (Thanedar) and I are looking forward to the Prime Minister's visit to the United States; this is a historic event for the Prime Minister. I hope to stress upon the Prime Minister the need for stronger US-India ties," Thanedar, 68, said. Thanedar, a Democrat, said he and his wife are honoured to accept President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden's invitation to the State Dinner on June 22. This invitation serves as a testament to their commitment to public service and their dedication to fostering international cooperation, he said. The Congressman said he has been entrusted with the distinct pleasure of escorting the Indian Prime Minister to his joint address to Congress, as requested by United States Congressional leadership. This role holds special significance for Congressman Thanedar, who recognises the importance of the United States as a diverse nation built by immigrants, a land of opportunity, and a symbol of democracy. Reflecting on his personal journey, he said, "I grew up in poverty and only came to America with a dream, stated Congressman Thanedar. I was fortunate to achieve my American Dream; The United States is a country of immigrants, a land of opportunity, and this diversity makes our country strong." Moving forward, Thanedar reaffirmed his commitment to advocating for stronger ties between the United States and India. He will focus on crucial areas such as education, defence, space, technology, medicine, and other pressing issues that impact both nations. By nurturing the relationship between the world's strongest democracy and the largest democracy, Thanedar aims to address shared challenges and harness mutual opportunities for growth and progress. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) London, Jun 20 (PTI) An Indian-origin judge on Tuesday praised the restraint and dignity of the families of the three people, including British Indian teenager Grace O'Malley Kumar, who was stabbed to death in Nottingham, central England, last week. Justice Nirmal Shant presided over a hearing as the 31-year-old suspect, Valdo Amissao Mendes Calocane, a.k.a. Valdo Mendes, appeared at Nottingham Crown Court charged with the murder of Kumar, her University of Nottingham friend Barnaby Webber and school caretaker Ian Coates. Also Read | Delhi Shocker: Uzbekistani Woman Found Dead at Her Home in National Capital. Calocane, who has dual nationality of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa and Portugal and settled status in the UK by virtue of his Portuguese citizenship, is also charged with three counts of attempted murder over his suspected use of a stolen van to drive at three pedestrians, named as Wayne Birkett, Marcin Gawronski and Sharon Miller. Coates' family attended the court appearance. There are people in this court who are profoundly and devastatingly affected by this case, said Justice Shant. Also Read | International Yoga Day 2023 Celebrated at Trafalgar Square in London (See Pics and Video). "Can I say through you that they have shown the utmost restraint and dignity, and I thank them for it," she said, addressing the prosecutor in the case, Peter Ratliff. According to a BBC court report, Calocane was remanded in custody after no application was made for bail, and his murder trial has been set for January 12, 2024. Meanwhile, he is due to enter the pleas in the case at the same court on September 25. Kumar, a 19-year-old medical student and daughter of London-based doctors Sanjoy Kumar and Sinead O'Malley, was walking back to her university with Webber when they were attacked. Ian Coates was killed nearby, and his van is believed to have been used related to the attempted murder charges. One man hit by the van remains in a stable condition in hospital, and two others have been discharged, according to the Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) National Health Service (NHS) Trust. Thousands have attended vigils at the university and Market Square in Nottingham in memory of the victims since the attack last Tuesday. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kathmandu, Jun 20 (PTI) The Nepal government has instructed its embassy in New Delhi to ascertain facts and send a report on the mural installed in the new Indian Parliament building which has created a controversy in the Himalayan nation, the country's foreign minister said on Tuesday. Answering questions raised by lawmakers, Foreign Minister N.P. Saud during the federal parliament's International Relations Committee (IRC) meeting on Tuesday said that Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar had already made India's stance official that the map was a cultural one and did not involve any political issue. Also Read | Islamabad Court Dismisses Bail Petitions of PTI Leaders Including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in May 9 Violence. The mural installed in the newly constructed Indian parliament building depicts the expanded territory of Indian emperor Ashoka during his reign, the foreign minister told the parliamentary committee. After discussing with the Indian side, instructions have already been issued to the Nepalese Embassy to send a report on the matter," Saud said while answering questions raised in the House of Representatives IRC about the recent official visit by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda to India. Also Read | Andrew Tate, His Brother Tristan Charged With Rape and Human Trafficking in Romania. The Indian government has relayed its official position about the mural which includes Lumbini, Kapilvastu and other places, he said. The issue has drawn a huge uproar in Kathmandu. However, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" has said that during his visit to New Delhi, the Indian side had clarified that it was a cultural map and not a political one. Prachanda had made the remarks in Parliament when the opposition lawmakers slammed him for not raising the issue of the 'Akhanda Bharat' map, which, they claimed, also consists of Nepal's territory. India has downplayed the issue of a mural in the new Parliament building, describing it as an artwork that depicted the spread of the prehistoric Ashokan empire. Prachanda visited India from May 31 to June 3, his first official trip abroad since assuming office in December 2022. The ties between India and Nepal came under severe strain after Kathmandu published a new political map in 2020 that showed three Indian territories -- Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh -- as part of Nepal. India reacted sharply, calling it a "unilateral act" and cautioned Kathmandu that such "artificial enlargement" of territorial claims will not be acceptable to it. Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region, and the leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old "Roti Beti" relationship. The country shares a border of over 1,850 km with five Indian states - Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Land-locked Nepal relies heavily on India for the transportation of goods and services. The India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950 forms the bedrock of the special relations between the two countries. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Amsterdam [Netherlands], June 20 (ANI): Netherlands will soon join the United States and Japan in rolling out new semiconductor export control measures aimed at keeping sensitive technology away from China due to concern for potential misuse, the country's economic affairs minister told reporters on a visit to Washington, Voice of America (VOA) reported. As per VOA, the measures are likely to further restrict sales to China by Netherlands-based ASML, maker of the world's most advanced chip-printing machines, which last year disclosed the "unauthorized misappropriation of data" by a now former employee in China. Also Read | US Shocker: Woman Ground Worker Dies After Being Sucked Into Plane Engine at Alabama Airport, Authorities Impose USD 15,000 Fine on Piedmont Airlines. The US in October 2022, announced its own export control measures affecting advanced computing integrated circuits and certain semiconductor manufacturing items. The country said the measures were aimed at items that "could provide direct contributions to advancing military decision making" such as "designing and testing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), producing semiconductors for use in advanced military systems, and developing advanced surveillance systems that can be used for military applications and human rights abuses." Also Read | Titanic Tourist Submarine Missing: Disappeared Submersible Might Have Only 70 Hours of Oxygen Left, Says Report; Search and Rescue Operation Underway in Atlantic. Allies including Japan and the Netherlands were then asked by the US to introduce similar measures. Netherlands' minister of economic affairs and climate, Micky Adriaansens, told a group of journalists on June 8 at the Dutch Embassy in Washington: "The main concern is [the chip-making technology] will be used in military products." Adriaansens acknowledged that negotiations with Washington have not been easy. "To be honest, the conversation has been intense, and is still intense," she said. "But we agreed already upon the main issues, with a good [mutual] understanding of what is the right thing to do." Adriaansens said those understandings still have to be translated into regulations but that her country understands the importance of the measures, as per VOA. "We realize that we, the U.S., the Netherlands, Japan and Korea, are very strong in the semicon[ductor] value chain, supply chain, and we have a responsibility there," the minister said, echoing a statement made by Japan's trade minister in March. (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], June 20 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday thanked people from all walks of life, including the members of the US Congress for sharing enthusiasm on his upcoming visit to the US. He stated that the diverse support underlines the depth of ties between India and the US. Also Read | Summer Solstice 2023 Date & Time: Know Midsummer Facts and Significance of the Longest Day of the Year. Taking to his official Twitter handle, PM Modi stated, "People from all walks of life including Members of Congress, thought leaders and others have been sharing their enthusiasm on my upcoming USA visit. I thank them for their kind words. Such diverse support underlines the depth of the India-USA relationship." PM Modi's statement comes after US Congress leaders extended a warm welcome to him for his upcoming visit. US lawmakers have been sharing videos to express their excitement over the upcoming visit of PM Modi. Also Read | Pakistan Railways Employees Protest Against Salary Delay in Lahore. Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut Susan Bysiewicz said that she hopes his visit will pave the way for a stronger and closer partnership between the two nations, as well as, between India and the state of Connecticut. The official Twitter account of the Embassy of India, Washington, DC posted her video and appreciated her message. In the video, Susan Bysiewicz welcomed PM Modi on behalf of the people of Connecticut on his state visit to the United States. "The Indian diaspora has made many contributions to our state. I hope your visit is successful and I am confident that will pave the way for an even stronger and closer partnership between India and the United States and between India and the state of Connecticut," she said in the video. She also spoke about the Indian relationship with Connecticut and said that India-US shared values of diversity nurture the bond between the two countries Mike Collins, a member of the House of Representatives from the 10th Congressional District, also extended PM Modi a hearty welcome to the US in his short video address."We have a very special guest coming in to speak to both chambers on June 22 and that's Prime Minister Modi from India," the Congressman from Georgia said in the video message. He also highlighted the "great relations" that India and US share not just economically but also the combined efforts the two countries are putting in to counter China, which he called a "big enemy." The President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Micron Technology, Sanjay Mehrotra lauded PM Modi's vision for India's technological advancement on Saturday. In a video shared by the Embassy of India in the US, the top Indian-American CEO has said that he is looking forward to the state visit of PM Modi and added that he would like to extend a warm welcome to him."We see much promise in India as part of our global footprint. Indians have made their mark in every field, be it in the private sector, academia or government enriching the cultural fabric of countries worldwide," he said. At the invitation of US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a state visit to the US from June 20. The visit will commence in New York where the Prime Minister will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21. PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22 and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening, according to a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The PM will also address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress on June 22. On June 23, the prime minister will be jointly hosted at a luncheon by US Vice President Kamala Harris and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In addition to official engagements, the Prime Minister is scheduled to have several curated interactions with leading CEOs, professionals, and other stakeholders. He will also meet members of the Indian Diaspora. The PM will then travel to Cairo to pay a state visit to Egypt from June 24-25. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Bangkok, Jun 20 (AP) Two prominent Thai activists filed a lawsuit on Tuesday accusing the government of using the internationally notorious Pegasus spyware to infiltrate their mobile devices during a period of political unrest almost three years ago. Law reform advocate Yingcheep Atchanont and human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa accuse nine state agencies in the administration of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha of unlawfully violating their privacy by spying on their smartphones using the spyware produced by the Israeli-based cybersecurity company NSO Group. Also Read | Islamabad Court Dismisses Bail Petitions of PTI Leaders Including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in May 9 Violence. They requested an immediate court injunction barring the use of Pegasus against them and other citizens, and for the court to order the government to release the data on its use of Pegasus. They also demanded compensation of 2.5 million baht (USD 72,000) each. Pegasus spyware can be installed remotely onto a target's phone without the target having to click any links or download software to become infected. It can obtain any data on the devices, including contact lists and group chats, making it very useful for surveillance of political activists and groups. Also Read | Andrew Tate, His Brother Tristan Charged With Rape and Human Trafficking in Romania. NSO Group's products, including the Pegasus software, are typically licensed only to government intelligence and law enforcement agencies to investigate terrorism and serious crime, according to the company's website. Cybersecurity researchers have tracked the use of the spyware in 45 countries and claim those guidelines are not always honoured. The company has rejected accusations that its snooping software helped lead to the killing of US-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, perhaps the highest-profile accusation of its abuse so far. It maintains that its sales involve a rigorous ethical vetting process, and that Pegasus spyware is sold to governments only for security purposes. The US government has blacklisted the NSO Group, and iPhone maker Apple Inc. sued the company in 2021. Apple notified Pegasus victims and several government critics in Thailand received a warning email from Apple that they had potentially been targets of state-sponsored attackers during that time. Among the agencies named in the Thai lawsuit are the Office of the Prime Minister, the Royal Thai Police, the Digital Economy and Society Ministry and the three branches of the military. Asked about the lawsuit, the prime minister's office and the national police agency declined to comment, saying they were unaware of it. The lawsuit alleges that Yingcheep's phone was penetrated at least 10 times by the spyware, while Arnon's was attacked at least five times from late 2020 to late 2021. That's when pro-democracy protests erupted across Thailand demanding Prayut's resignation and sweeping reform of several institutions, including the monarchy, which conservative elements of Thai society consider sacrosanct.. An investigation last year by international internet watchdog groups including Canada's Citizen Lab found at least 30 individuals in Thailand, many of them activists and scholars, were targeted by government surveillance using Pegasus during that period. Yingcheep, director of non-profit Internet Law Reform Dialogue or iLaw, is a staunch critic of what many consider to be repressive laws issued under the government led by Prayuth, who as army commander in 2014 led a coup ousting an elected government. Arnon is one of the most outspoken advocates for reform of the monarchy. You can see that this is one of the legacies of Prayuth Chan-ocha, who exercises absolutism through staging a coup without any accountability," Yingcheep said. And the mechanism of checks and balances also doesn't work. Prayuth after staging the 2014 coup headed a junta that assumed near-absolute power. He became head of an elected government that began a four-year term in 2019. In 2022, the spyware became a subject of censure debates. Opposition lawmakers accused Prayuth's government of spending millions of dollars from the national budget on spyware, including Pegasus, to spy on citizens. In response, Digital Economy Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn acknowledged Pegasus had been used by state agencies he did not identify for activities related to security or narcotics. He said his ministry does not have the authority to conduct surveillance, but there are those with such authority". (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) London [UK], June 20 (ANI): The people from different communities performed yoga at Trafalgar Square in Central London to celebrate the International Day of Yoga and recounted its benefits on multiple fronts. The event was organised by the Indian High Commission in the UK and supported by the Mayor of London. Also Read | Islamabad Court Dismisses Bail Petitions of PTI Leaders Including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in May 9 Violence. The Deputy High Commissioner of India to the UK, Sujit Ghosh called the experience 'delightful' and appreciated new people starting yoga. Sujit Ghosh told ANI, "It was a delightful experience this morning. Yoga is all about harmony, harmony with the inner self and harmony with the outer world. It was a great experience people were very happy and we got many new people to commit to yoga and making it part of their normal routine". Also Read | Andrew Tate, His Brother Tristan Charged With Rape and Human Trafficking in Romania. A foreign national lady named Murailah from Finchley, north London, who is a yoga enthusiast, also came forward to teach yoga to other people. "It was a nice experience to do yoga in such beautiful surroundings. In the last 10 years, I discovered yoga and my love for yoga. I also wanted to share it with people. I came here myself to teach yoga. Yoga connects with my spirit, with my mind, with my heart," she said. An Indian national, Komal Mehta who is a yoga trainer talked about the health benefits of yoga. "We went through the Yoga protocol, issued by the AYUSH ministry. We wanted to show its benefits, there are so many health benefits. The experience was fantastic. I can't believe, so many people turned out in the rain. Everyone from children, and older people participated and did the yoga," she said. Joyce, another foreign national and yoga enthusiast, who is also connected with Sadhguru's ISHA Foundation, told how yoga guided her in choosing the right path in life. "It was a great privilege to learn about ancient tools of transformation. Yoga has helped us at various levels, at the physical, mental, emotional level and also at the spiritual level. I was looking for directions, and yoga has helped me choose the right path," she said. Inderpal Ohri Chandel, an Indian national and yoga enthusiast said that by doing yoga, people are also spiritually connected. "It was an immensely proud moment to be here, and representing yoga and our culture. While doing yoga in a group, you are not just physically connected, but also spiritually connected to roots. We are feeling refreshed," she said. Notably, this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the International Day of Yoga celebration at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. India in London in the tweet stated, "Yoga lovers from around London have gathered at the historic @trafalgar square to celebrate the International Day of Yoga, spreading positivity and tranquillity." In another tweet, the High Commission of India in London stated, "Some more glimpses of 9th #IDY2023 at the iconic Trafalgar Square, London." "Trafalgar Square London. Common Yoga Protocol in progress! The theme of this year "One Earth, One Family, One Future," the High Commission of India in London further said. The International Day of Yoga has been celebrated worldwide annually on June 21 since 2015, following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014. Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual practice that originated in ancient India. In his 2014 UN address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested the date of June 21, as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and shares a special significance in many parts of the world. After the yoga day celebration in New York, PM Modi will then travel to Washington D.C., where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22, and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. (ANI) PM Modi on Tuesday emplaned for the United States for his first historic State visit. Prior to leaving for the US, PM Modi tweeted, "Leaving for USA, where I will attend programmes in New York City and Washington DC. These programmes include Yoga Day celebrations at the @UNHQ, talks with @POTUS @JoeBiden, address to the Joint Session of the US Congress and more." PM Modi is visiting the US at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The visit will commence in New York where the Prime Minister will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) ALBANY A lucrative gaming agreement between the Seneca Nation and Gov. Kathy Hochuls administration has unraveled in recent days, capped by a statement from the Nations president accusing Hochul of utter disregard for the process. The lengthy and strident statement, released by Seneca President Rickey Armstrong Sr. late Friday, came in reaction to news that the Assembly would not take up a bill this week allowing Hochul to enter a new agreement with the Nation. On Friday, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie tweeted that as the Assembly returned to Albany this week to tackle unfinished business from the 2023 legislative session, a bill authorizing Hochul to enter a new Seneca Nation Compact which already passed the Senate would not be on the Assemblys agenda. I believe the Seneca Nation deserves a fair deal, Heastie tweeted. However, the sentiment of the Assemblys Monroe County delegation coupled with the potential loss of union jobs is concerning, and we cannot move forward with a vote on the compact at this time. Under an agreement in principle struck June 7 between the Nation and Hochul administration, a Seneca-owned casino would be allowed in the Rochester market in Monroe County. The planned Rochester casino was initially kept secret from both state lawmakers and the public. But rumor of the casino began circulating in Albany on the evening of June 9, enraging Rochester elected officials and an influential hotel and gaming union. The current gaming agreement between New York and the Nation expires Dec. 9. The Legislature must pass a bill authorizing Hochul to enter a new compact, but will likely now seek to impose many more conditions on the parties in the coming months. Union poll Opposition from Rochester lawmakers may only harden considering a poll conducted in recent days. The poll, which was shared on Monday with The News, was conducted by Tulchin Research and paid for by the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, a union that opposes a new Seneca casino in the Rochester area. The union represents nearly 1,000 workers at the del Lago Resort and Casino, about 47 miles east of downtown Rochester. The telephone poll of 500 registered votes in Monroe County had a 4.4% margin of error, according to the union. It found that 55% of respondents were aware of the Rochester casino issue. After being told publicly available information about the agreement, including that Rochester officials were not informed of it, 58% of respondents were opposed to the agreement, while 31% were in favor. Finally, respondents were asked if they would feel more or less favorable toward a public official who supported the agreement as currently proposed. Fifty-eight percent felt less favorable, while only 12% felt more favorable, according to the union. This poll confirms that the Assembly made the right decision not to bring this bill up for a vote, said Austin Shafran, a union spokesman. This is clear evidence of a high level of of voter awareness and voter opposition to a compact that includes a new casino in Monroe County, which we know would also hurt almost 1,000 good union jobs in the region. In recent conversations with opponents of a Rochester casino, Hochul officials have cited a study showing that such a casino would not undercut existing casinos in the region. The Hochul administration has declined to share a copy of the study with The News. But Hochuls office confirmed that the state has commissioned studies to help determine the value of an exclusivity agreement. There was a different state-commissioned study, released two years ago, concluding that the upstate gaming market was already oversaturated. For that study, the State Gaming Commission hired a firm called Spectrum Gaming Group. The study, released in January 2021, found there was potential for growth in the gaming market in New York City and Long Island, where the state is currently considering licensing three new casinos. But in upstate New York, according to the study, all of the methods of analysis indicate substantial over-saturation. Hochuls office says its studies are totally different from the Spectrum study, since the Spectrum study was not focused on the entry of a new Native American-owned casino into the market. Casino leak Armstrongs statement on Friday also raises new questions about the Hochul administrations explanation for why it needed to keep details of compact agreement secret. On the evening on June 9, Rochester lawmakers pressed the Hochul administration for answers. Did the agreement really include a casino in downtown Rochester? Top Hochul officials responded that they were barred from discussing the terms of the deal because of a non-disclosure agreement, but did not deny the rumor, either. On Friday, Armstrong said no such non-disclosure agreement ever existed. Armstrong said there was an agreement with Hochuls office not to leak details of the ongoing negotiations to the media, but that the confidentiality provision did not bar sharing details with the State Legislature. The Executive and the Nation agreed not to negotiate through the press or in public, but contrary to media coverage, the parties never entered into a Non-Disclosure Agreement, Armstrong said. The Nation regularly consulted our own legislative branch, and expected that the Executive was doing the same. The Executives claim that it was legally barred from communicating with other State officials is simply inaccurate. The Executive was free to communicate with local officials throughout the process, on what it was negotiating for and what it agreed to. The failure of the Executive to communicate with its own government speaks to the utter disregard the Governor had for this process. Hochuls office declined to say whether it ever had any written confidentiality agreement with the Seneca Nation, or to address whether that agreement barred the Hochul administration from speaking with members of the State Legislature. Hochuls office said it had a clear agreement with the Senecas that negotiations were confidential. They requested confidentiality, in part so that they could brief the members of their Council instead of having them read about it in the press. Whats next? Under the original compact struck between the Nation and state in 2002, the Nation has in recent years been paying 25% of revenues on slot machines in exchange for the exclusive right to offer these devices west of State Route 14. Under the deal struck with Hochuls office on June 7, the Nation agreed to pay 19.5% of gaming revenue to New York State during the final 19 years of the agreement. If the Rochester casino is not allowed by the Legislature, its likely that the Seneca Nation will seek to pay a much lower rate. Amid the opposition from Rochester, the Seneca Nation did not say whether it would now reopen negotiations. A Hochul spokeswoman said only that, Administration staff is working with the Seneca Nation of Indians and the Legislature to make sure we have an agreement that is fair, serves the interests of all parties, and addresses the needs of key stakeholders. Its also unclear whether the tone of Armstrongs lengthy statement on Friday could impact such negotiations: A lengthy portion accused Hochuls office of operating in a manner that favored Delaware North, the company where Hochuls husband is a top executive. Citing a potential conflict of interest, Hochul has recused herself from the compact negotiations, although records show she has taken at least one concrete action concerning the matter recently. In that instance, Hochuls action went against the interests of Delaware North, which competes with the Seneca Nations three casinos and publicly opposed a new Rochester casino last week. On June 9, Hochul issued message of necessity allowing the legislative fast-tracking of the bill allowing her to enter the compact agreement negotiated by her aides. Under the state constitution, bills normally must age three days before being voted upon, but Hochul bypassed the process using an exemption. That allowed a Senate vote within one day of the bills introduction in that chamber. Her office said that under the state constitution, messages of necessity cannot be delegated to staff. Kyiv [Ukraine], June 20 (ANI): Amid the ongoing conflict with Russia, Ukrainian forces have recaptured eight settlements from Russian forces in the south of Ukraine in the past two weeks, CNN reported citing Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar. In a Telegram post, Hanna Maliar said offensive operations in the Berdiansk and Melitopol directions in the Zaporizhzhia region have liberated the communities of Novodarivka, Levadne, Storozheve, Makarivka, Blahodatne, Lobkove, Neskuchne and Piatykhatky. Also Read | Summer Solstice 2023 Date & Time: Know Midsummer Facts and Significance of the Longest Day of the Year. The status of Piatykhatky was in dispute on Sunday after the Russian government denied a report from its own installed leader in southern Ukraine and refuted his claim that Ukrainian forces had recaptured the village, CNN reported. On Monday, Hanna Maliar said the Ukrainian army had advanced 7 kilometres into Russian-occupied territory in the southern Tavria sector, recapturing an area of 113 square kilometres (44 square miles, according to CNN report. She praised the "professionalism and courage" of Ukrainian soldiers for the advances in the frontline. Also Read | Pakistan Railways Employees Protest Against Salary Delay in Lahore. Hanna Maliar said that Russian forces in eastern Ukraine launched over 5800 attacks and used over 277,000 munitions over the past week, the report said. She said that Russian soldiers had been more active against a Ukrainian advance near Bakhmut and Lyman-Kupyansk, Avdiivka and Mariinka. Earlier on June 13, Ukrainian forces recaptured seven villages from Russian forces in the past week, CNN reported while quoting Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar. Hanna Maliar in a post on Telegram said the "advance of the offensive troops amounted to 6.5 kilometres" in Donetsk and Tavria. She further said, "The area taken under control amounted to 90 square kilometres," CNN reported. Maliar said that the villages that have been recaptured including Lobkove, Levadne, Makarivka Novodarivka, Neskuchne, Storozheve and Blahodatne were liberated. Earlier on June 13, three people were killed and thirteen others sustained injuries in a Russian missile attack on Odesa, a Black Sea port in Ukraine, Al Jazeera reported citing Ukraine's military. Russia fired four cruise missiles towards the city, according to the southern military command of Ukraine. Two missiles were reportedly destroyed by the military before they could reach their objectives, reported Al Jazeera. As per the Al Jazeera report, as a result of air combat and blast waves, a business centre, an educational institution, a residential complex, food establishments and shops in the city centre were damaged," the southern command of the Ukrainian military said. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mumbai, June 20: The Railway Recruitment Boards of the Indian Railway on Tuesday started issuing the NTPC (CEN 1/2019) results. The Railway Recruitment Boards announced the results at around 1.30 pm. Candidates who appeared for the various posts of RRB NTPC Recruitment 2023 can check their results by visiting the official website of Indian Railways at indianrailways.gov.in. Alternatively, candidates can also visit the official websites of their respective Railway Recruitment Boards in order to check the RRB NTPC Results 2023. As per the official announcement, candidates for the Railway Recruitment Board in Chandigarh were selected based on their performance in the CBT 1 and CBT 2 tests. Karnataka 2nd PUC Supplementary Result 2023 Declared at karresults.nic.in, Know How to Check Scorecards on Official Wesbite. How To Check RRB NTPC Results 2023: Visit the official website of the Indian Railway and Railway Recruitment Boards On the homepage, click on the result link A PDF will be displayed on the screen Check your RRB NTPC Results 2023 for the respective RRB Take a printout for future reference Besides, the candidate's selection was also based on CBAT (for station master), and the CBTST (for categories 4, 5, 10, and 11 posts). This was followed by the verification of documents and medical examination. On the other hand, candidates for RRB Ajmer were shortlisted for the document verification (DV) phase. JKBOSE Class 10th Result 2023 Declared at jkbose.nic.in; Official Website Reportedly Crashes, Students Struggle to Check Scorecards. In an official notice, the RRB Chandigarh said, "This result is provisional and does not in any way give any right to the candidates for appointment in the Railways. This RRB reserves the right to cancel/modify the results in case of any inadvertent error / typographical mistake." (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 20, 2023 04:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi will also take part in an event held to honour late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. Stalin had earlier shown some hesitation to attend the meet. Nitish and Tejashwi will return home on Wednesday. Every year, the International Day of Yoga has been celebrated across the world on June 21. The day has been marked since 2015 following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2014. In what appears to be Delhi Police's biggest crackdown on drug peddlers, the crime branch on Monday night raided more than 100 locations in the national capital. The move was carried out under 'Operation Kawach'. The main goal of Operation Kavach intendeds to protect youngsters from the dangers of drugs. Further details on the operation are awaited. Punjab: ED Recovers Arms, Contraband During Drugs-Linked Money Laundering Case Raids. Crime Branch Launches Massive Crackdown on Drug Peddlers Under 'Operation Kawach', Delhi Police Crime Branch raided more than 100 locations last night. This comes as the Police's massive crackdown on drug peddlers. More detail awaited: Delhi Police ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.) Hunter Biden is likely to plead guilty to tax crimes and admit gun offence, according to news reports. The American businessman has reportedly agreed with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to two minor tax crimes. Besides, Hunter has also agreed to admit to a gun charge under terms that would likely keep him out of jail. The US Attorney has filed papers thereby indicating that a plea agreement has been reached. Hunter Biden is also expected to agree to drug treatment and monitoring. Hunter Biden Laptop Archive Published Online! Nearly 10,000 'Unseen' Photos 'Redacted' From Laptop of Joe Biden's Son Released at bidenlaptopmedia.com. Hunter Biden To Plead Guilty To Tax Crimes? MORE - Hunter Biden has agreed with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to two minor tax crimes and admit to a gun charge under terms that would likely keep him out of jail, according to WaPo. Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) June 20, 2023 (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.) Islamabad, June 20: Cash-strapped Pakistan has constituted a negotiation committee to finalise a deal with the UAE for handing over its Karachi port terminals as it seeks to raise an emergency fund amid uncertainty over the revival of a stalled loan from the IMF, according to a media report on Tuesday. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday chaired the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions. The meeting decided to set up a committee to negotiate a commercial agreement between the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and the UAE government, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. Pakistan Supreme Court Reserves Verdict on Review Judgements Law Case. It quoted the decision of the meeting that the negotiation committee has also been permitted to finalise a draft operation, maintenance, investment, and development agreement under the government-to-government arrangements with a nominated agency of the UAE for handing over the Karachi port terminals. The negotiation committee set up to finalise a framework agreement will be headed by the Minister for Maritime Affairs, Faisal Sabzwari. The committee members include the additional secretaries of Finance and Foreign Affairs, the special assistant to PM Jehanzeb Khan, the Chairman of the Karachi Port. Terminal (KPT), and the general managers of the KPT. The UAE government had shown interest in acquiring the Karachi port terminals that were under the administrative control of the Pakistan International Containers Terminals (PICT) last year. This move to constitute the negotiation committee may lead to the first intergovernmental transaction under a law enacted last year to raise emergency funds. Last year, Pakistan's coalition government enacted the Intergovernmental Commercial Transactions Act, aimed at selling state assets on a fast-track basis to raise funds. The country is in dire need of additional money amid uncertainty over the revival of the USD 6.5 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which was initially signed in 2019 and is set to expire by the end of this month. Sources indicate that the government needs to be extra careful when finalising a deal with the UAE, as it will be the first transaction of its kind, and the outgoing operator is also posing some challenges, the report said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting with the ambassadors of key countries to get support for the revival of the stalled IMF deal. The government is making a last-ditch effort to get the unpaid portion of the USD 6.5 billion packages, which was signed in 2019 and would terminate on June 30. Pakistan: Seven Killed, 72 Injured After Heavy Rainfall Lashes Four Districts. The Express Tribune newspaper reported that the government on Monday invited the ambassadors of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the European Union, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The prime minister apprised the foreign ambassadors about the efforts that Finance Minister Dar and he personally made during the past many months, a participant of the meeting told on condition of anonymity. The prime minister again stressed that the government was keen to get at least the USD 1.2 billion IMF loan tranche out of the remaining USD 2.6 billion, which is attached with the completion of the pending 9th review of the program, said the sources. Some ambassadors sought clarifications from the government but assured that they would communicate Pakistan's position to their capitals, according to another participant of the meeting. The ambassadors are also in touch with the IMF staff, reported the paper. The government has not issued any official statement after the meeting. On 19 June Guatemalas authorities announced that 42,372 police (PNC) officials and 25,699 military officials would be deployed to provide security for the 25 June general elections. End of preview - This article contains approximately 398 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options On 19 June authorities confirmed that a student had been killed during a school shooting in Cambe municipality, Parana state, in the south of Brazil. Analysis: This latest incident marks the fifth high-profile school attack since the government led by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office in January and will renew concerns about public security. While President Lula tweeted his condolences to the victims family and school community, the justice & public security minister, Flavio Dino, used his message of condolence to call for tighter regulation of social media, which he considers a major contributor to the spread of hate speech and violence. However, he did not explicitly push for approval of the governments proposed legislation for online regulation, commonly known as the fake news bill, which is currently stalled in the lower house of congress. Paranas governor, Carlos Massa Ratinho Junior , confirmed that the shooting took place in Colegio Estadual Helena Kolody, a state school in Cambe. One student, aged 17, was killed. Another, aged 16, was wounded and has been taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Londrina. , confirmed that the shooting took place in Colegio Estadual Helena Kolody, a state school in Cambe. One student, aged 17, was killed. Another, aged 16, was wounded and has been taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Londrina. A former student at the school, the perpetrator was restrained by a teacher before state police forces arrived and is now in custody in Londrina. According to a report by the NGO Instituto Sou da Paz, there have been 46 victims killed in school attacks since 2002 while firearms accounted for 76% of the killings. This has led the director of Instituto Sou da Paz, Carolina Ricardo , to call for tighter gun control, stating that the accessibility of guns at home favours this type of crime and increases the lethality. , to call for tighter gun control, stating that the accessibility of guns at home favours this type of crime and increases the lethality. Under Brazils current gun ownership laws, the minimum age to purchase a firearm is 25, but residents in rural zones (without a police station within 50km) are allowed to own guns at age 21. Under the right-wing former president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023), gun control was relaxed, and individuals were allowed to own up to six guns. After taking office in January, President Lula signed a decree which decreased this limit to three firearms. Looking Ahead: The justice & public security ministry has said that it will continue Operation Escola Segura, launched in April, an initiative which involves monitoring online platforms for content which might encourage violence. On 19 June all of Chiles opposition parties voted to present a motion of censure against the education minister, End of preview - This article contains approximately 356 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options World's largest electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla's India launch could soon be a reality. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ongoing visit to the United States is expected to further the process as he is scheduled to meet Tesla CEO Elon Musk on the sidelines. The meeting between the two, the second time in recent years, assumed significance after a team of executives from the EV manufacturer recently met with Indian officials in an attempt to reopen talks of investment. In May, Tesla reportedly offered to set up a manufacturing facility in India, its second in Asia after China, during the recent talks. According to reports, the US-based electric car manufacturer wants to assemble its electric vehicles in India. In its efforts to reduce dependency on China, Tesla is looking for fresh avenues in Asia. A team of its executives were in New Delhi last month, reportedly offering to set up a local vendor base here. Tesla currently uses its vendor base in China, which is the EV maker's biggest market outside its home base. Tesla will require to relocate vendors if and when it decides to start manufacturing in India. Tesla also reportedly has offered to set up a manufacturing facility in India. Though there has been no official confirmation, Elon Musk had said the location of Tesla's new factory in Asia outside China is likely to be finalised before the end of this year. He had also hinted that the facility could be located in India. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar had earlier said, They are very seriously looking at India as a production and innovation base." Also check these Cars Find more Cars UPCOMING Tesla Model 3 70 - 90 Lakhs* *Expected Price View Details UPCOMING Mercedes-benz Eqe 70 - 90 Lakhs* *Expected Price View Details UPCOMING Tesla Model S 70 Lakhs - 1 Cr* *Expected Price View Details Mercedes-benz Eqb 74.5 Lakhs* *Ex-showroom price Add to compare Check latest offers UPCOMING Lexus Ux 300e 75 - 85 Lakhs* *Expected Price View Details Tesla's renewed interest in setting up business in India is seen as a departure from its stand which looked at reduced import duties. The previous talks between the EV maker and the Centre ended in a deadlock when the government refused to entertain Tesla's request to reduce import duties before it started to sell its electric cars like Model 3 and Model S in India. Centre had advised Tesla to set up a local manufacturing plant if it wanted to sell EVs here. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had said Tesla will be welcome to India if it manufactures EVs locally and not import them from China. First Published Date: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is currently facing two lawsuits over his alleged failure to comply with state Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests, according to Fox News. These requests seek information regarding potential communication between his office and the Justice Department, the White House, and Democratic lawmakers concerning Bragg's prosecution of former President Donald Trump. The charges against Trump stem from a lengthy investigation into hush money payments made during his 2016 presidential campaign. Bragg indicted Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in March. He argues that Trump falsified New York business records to hide damaging information and unlawful activities from American voters before and after the 2016 election. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, DC, has filed one of the lawsuits against Bragg. They suspect that Bragg and his office may have coordinated or communicated with the Justice Department, the White House, and Rep. Daniel Goldman, a Democrat from New York, regarding the prosecution. These alleged actions subsequently prompted investigations by several US House committees into Bragg's conduct, according to Heritage's lawsuit. READ NEXT: Alvin Bragg Sues Jim Jordan Alvin Bragg Lawsuit The first lawsuit against Alvin Bragg expressed disappointment over the lack of answers to their inquiries, The Epoch Times noted. It highlighted concerns stemming from the history of Donald Trump's political opponents allegedly coordinating their efforts to manipulate the criminal justice system against him, leading to a potential distortion of justice. The lawsuit sought to uncover requested documents and make them accessible to the public under the New York Freedom of Information Law. They also urged the court to mandate that Bragg hand over the documents. In a separate lawsuit, the conservative think tank based in Washington, DC, alleged that Bragg enlisted the assistance of prominent law firms on a pro-bono basis in connection to the Trump case. They requested the court to release the requested documents to the public and demanded Bragg's compliance. Mike Howell, the director of Heritage's Oversight Project, suspected that Bragg might have been coordinating or communicating with individuals opposing Trump. He further suggested that there are indications of Bragg being an active communicator via his phone. Howell emphasized that the need to file a lawsuit against Bragg, who claimed an inability to produce the records and lacked the necessary systems to do so, demonstrates a double standard of justice in the country. While Bragg pursued the former president on what they viewed as a dubious theory regarding document retention, the fact that the DA struggles to maintain his documents is seen as a violation of the information laws he is bound by, according to Howell. Donald Trump Lawyers Want to Move Case to Federal Court Trump's legal team is seeking to transfer the case to a federal court or have New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan recuse himself, per NTD. In a motion filed on Friday, the lawyers representing the former president argued that the alleged crimes related to the 2016 election and his campaign occurred while Trump was in office. The Manhattan District Attorney's office claims that the core of their case involves an alleged illegal scheme that primarily occurred before Trump assumed the presidency, according to Trump's filing. Trump's legal team contends that if such a scheme existed, it would only violate federal campaign finance laws, not state laws. They cite federal jurisprudence and the New York State election board to support their argument. Justice Merchan, who has faced criticisms from Trump, has set a trial date for March 25, 2024, which falls during the 2024 GOP primary campaign. A hearing in the case has been scheduled for June 27. READ MORE: Donald Trump Slams Alvin Bragg in Speech This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: 'That Was The Craziest Indictment': Trump Castigates Alvin Bragg, Letitia James In Georgia Speech - From Forbes Breaking News A powerful Brazil cyclone in the country's southern region has resulted in the loss of at least 13 lives and forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes, according to ABC. The cyclone brought heavy rain and strong winds, causing significant damage across numerous towns in Rio Grande do Sul, including the capital city Porto Alegre. This unfortunate event adds to a series of weather-related disasters impacting South America's largest country. Brazil's civil defense agency reported the discovery of two other bodies in the coastal town of Caraa Sunday, which was severely affected by the cyclone between Thursday and Friday. The town of Caraa currently has three people still reported as missing, a revised figure from the previous day when it stood at 20 missing individuals. Another heavily impacted area was the town of Tramandai, where official records indicate wind speeds of over 100 kilometers per hour were recorded during the cyclone. The destructive force of the Brazil cyclone has left communities grappling with the aftermath of the disaster. READ NEXT: Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands Need to Monitor Tropical Storm Four-Month-Old Baby, Among the Brazil Cyclone Death Toll A four-month-old baby was among the casualties caused by the cyclone in Brazil, per Al Jazeera. Survivors recounted their harrowing experiences, with one woman in Sao Leopoldo describing how the water rose to their waist inside their house. Fortunately, swift action by firefighters, who arrived quickly with boats, ensured their rescue. Many residents were grateful for the timely response, although the situation felt like a nightmare. The Brazil cyclone had a significant impact, with nearly 5,000 people facing damaged houses and approximately 84,000 people without electricity as of Sunday. Sao Leopoldo, located around a half-hour drive from Porto Alegre, experienced unprecedented rainfall. Over 246mm (9.7 inches) of rain fell in just 18 hours, a historical record for the city of 240,000 inhabitants, as Porto Alegre Mayor Ary Jose Vanazzi emphasized. Flooded streets persisted in several towns, including Novo Hamburgo, Lindolfo Collor, and Sao Leopoldo, even as the rain subsided. Soldiers could carry out rescue operations in Novo Hamburgo once the rain had stopped. Unfortunately, the situation may worsen with the forecast of further rainfall and cold temperatures in the middle of the following week, potentially exacerbating the challenges those already affected by the cyclone. Global Warming Causes Increased Tropical Cyclones The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events worldwide are escalating amidst a rapidly warming climate, CNN reports. Compared to pre-industrial times, the global temperature has risen by 1.2 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, projections suggest that the next five years could be the hottest ever recorded. The United Nations reports that the proportion of high-intensity hurricanes, also known as tropical cyclones, has risen due to the global warmer temperatures. This phenomenon can be attributed to the overall warming trend. Additionally, researchers have observed that these storms are more likely to linger and cause catastrophic rainfall and persist for more extended periods after making landfall. READ MORE: Brazil Rains Kill Dozens This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: Brazil cyclone leaves at least 12 dead, residents sheltering in southern state - From Global News Offer a personal message of sympathy... By sharing a fond memory or writing a kind tribute, you will be providing a comforting keepsake to those in mourning. If you have an existing account with this site, you may log in with that below. Otherwise, you can create an account by clicking on the Log in button below, and then register to create your account. Charges are pending against a 52-year-old Bethlehem area chiropractor accused of making child pornography. An arrest warrant was issued Friday for Bethlehem Township resident Philip OBrien, according to Bethlehem police. OBrien practices chiropractic medicine out of an office in Hanover Township, Northampton County, according to a spokeswoman for the Northampton County District Attorneys office. An email sent to OBriens office seeking comment wasnt immediately returned Tuesday. A call to his office could not be completed Tuesday. Its unclear whether OBrien has an attorney. District attorneys office spokeswoman Davin Jurgensen said OBrien is being treated at a medical facility outside Northampton County for a serious condition. The DAs office is in constant communication with the facility and his nurses in regard to when medical personnel will determine its OK to discharge OBrien. Then the active warrant will be served, Jurgensen said. Police found multiple videos and photos of a girl dating back several year to when the girl was 6, according to the news release from the district attorneys office. She was naked and subjected to inappropriate sexual conversations, the release says. OBrien faces two counts of child pornography and single counts of corruption of minors and unlawful contact with a minor. Charges were filed after a joint investigation by the Bethlehem Police Department and the Bethlehem Township Police Department. Anyone with information on other incidents involving OBrien is asked to contact the City of Bethlehem tip line at 610-691-6660 or bethlehempolice@bethlehem-pa.gov. We must go above and beyond to protect our vulnerable youth and I commend the detectives who worked tirelessly on this case, District Attorney Terence Houck said in a news release. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Beijing (Gasgoo)- DEEPAL, the new energy vehicle brand under Changan Automobile, recently announced the establishment of a new joint venture with StarPower Semiconductor. Photo credit: StarPower Semiconductor The newly formed company is named Chongqing Anda Semiconductor Co., Ltd. The collaboration aims to advance the commercial application of automotive-grade power semiconductor modules and promote the high-quality development of power semiconductors in the new energy vehicle field in China. DEEPAL focuses on the mainstream and expansive market of new energy vehicles. With a forward-looking strategic layout in production, research, supply, and demand, the company aims to provide users with reliable, technologically advanced, highly efficient, and worry-free electric mobility solutions. On the other hand, StarPower Semiconductor has long been committed to the research, production, and sales of power semiconductor chips and modules for new energy vehicles. It is one of the major suppliers of automotive-grade power modules for high-power applications in Chinas new energy vehicle industry. In 2022 alone, StarPower Semiconductor supplied over 1.2 million new energy vehicles with automotive-grade modules. The collaboration between DEEPAL and StarPower Semiconductor will bring more cutting-edge technologies and innovative achievements to the auto parts industry. The duo will pioneer the development of proprietary, secure, and controllable high-quality components, ensuring the stability of the supply chain for core technological components. UPDATE: More victims come forward in Lehigh Valley womans estate sale scam, cops say Editors note: This story has been updated with a comment provided by Amy Richline. A Hellertown woman is accused of bilking seven victims out of $25,000 after being hired to conduct estate sales, the Northampton County District Attorneys Office said. Amy Richline, 49, is facing seven felony counts each of deceptive or fraudulent business practices, theft and receiving stolen property. Authorities said the investigation into Richlines activity began when a Bethlehem Township resident reported never being paid after hiring Richlines business, Top Notch Estate Sales, to conduct a sale at his mothers home. The sale was held the weekend of April 29 and the victim never heard from Richline about the proceeds from the sales, authorities said. Authorities later learned Richline allegedly withheld funds from at least six others in the Lehigh Valley for sales dating back to 2020. Two victims claimed they hired Top Notch Estates for sales in Bethlehem; while additional victims reported hiring Richline in Coopersburg, Coplay, Bethlehem and Allentown. The Lehigh County District Attorneys Office relinquished investigations in its jurisdiction to Northampton County. The seven customers reported to authorities they never received payments, the District Attorneys Office said. All of the victims reported attempting to contact Richline through phone calls, emails and letters, along with local police and attorneys, authorities said. If Richline replied, she used the same statement: Theyre checking to see if it has been cashed, or if its been returned to their mail room. This is the first step. Because its certified funds, its not as simple as cutting another check because the funds have already been taken from my account. Richline was arraigned Friday before District Judge Roy A. Manwaring II, who set bail at 10% of $50,000. In lieu of bail, Richline was taken to Northampton County Prison. Court records Tuesday, however, indicate Richline has since posted bail. Richline is due back in court for a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled for 10:30 a.m. June 29 before District Judge Sandra L. McClure. No attorney information for Richline was listed in court records. Reached by email, Richline told lehighvalleylive.com Wednesday morning she denies the claims made by prosecutors in the investigation. The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with additional information about the case can call Bethlehem Township Police Detective Ed Fox at 610-419-9646 or email him at efox@bethlehemtwp.com. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Lehigh Valley Health Network has launched internal investigations after a resident wrote an in-depth blog about alleged racism and discrimination during his time at the hospital. The author of the lengthy online posting identifies himself as Robert Ray Jr., who is Black and a recent graduate of the LVHN emergency medicine residency program. Ray details times he felt singled out for his race, naming specific individuals within the hospital system and calling for an overhaul of leadership, policies and practices. I know that by publishing my story I am possibly ruining my career in medicine, he writes toward the end of the blog. I know that some hospitals will see me as undesirable and many will refrain from hiring me or giving me an interview. I know that there is a strong chance that despite all of this nothing will change at Lehigh Valley Health Network or in medical education. In response, LVHN on Monday Juneteenth posted a response on social media saying the network will have a third-party conduct an independent investigation in addition to its own internal probe. We condemn all forms of racism and strive to maintain a culture of respect, inclusion and equality, LVHN said in the post. We take allegations of discrimination very seriously and investigate them when brought to our attention. We condemn all forms of racism and strive to maintain a culture of respect, inclusion and equality. We take allegations... Posted by Lehigh Valley Health Network on Monday, June 19, 2023 Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Elected officials from a Slate Belt township want to see the finances of a local park foundation and are prepared to sue to do it. Upper Mount Bethel Township supervisors voted Monday, June 12, to authorize the township solicitor to use any legal means necessary to obtain the financial reports of the Upper Mount Bethel Township Community Park Foundation. A group of township residents originally formed the park foundation in 2008 to raise funds for the Community Park located on Potomac Street. For more than a year at various supervisors meetings, Supervisor Robert Teel has been asking current foundation board member Mark Mezger to provide a financial report to the township. Mezger has repeatedly stated the foundation is a private entity and Teel is not entitled to that information. Teel has argued that the foundations bylaws, which were written by township solicitor Ron Karasek, state the foundation must provide monthly financial reports to the supervisors. Records indicate that the township donated $15,000 to the foundation in 2016. Teel said he wants to see where that money is and how it has been spent. Mezger said in February that the foundation has donated $160,000 to the park since its inception. Teel said the bylaws also state any money the foundation has must be turned over to the township if the foundation dissolves. Interest in the foundation waned over the years and board members stopped participating in the organization, according to Mezger, but a new board was formed in 2021. The foundation lost its nonprofit status from the IRS but that status has been reinstated, according to Mezger. Teel with fellow Supervisors Martin Pinter and David Due voted to authorize Karasek to seek legal means to obtain the foundations financial information. Supervisors John Bermingham and David Friedman were not present for the vote. Karasek said he will contact the foundations attorney to try to settle the matter without going to court. So, we attempt to do this in a very low-key conservative approach rather than a much harsher approach, Karasek said. However, Teel reminded Karasek that he should use any legal tools needed if that approach doesnt work. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. John Best is a freelance contributor to lehighvalleylive.com. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A Laois Minister has said drug dealers are waiting outside schools to sell drugs to secondary students. Minister of State Sean Fleming urged Gardai to give drug awareness talks annually in Laois secondary schools. He made the suggestion at the latest Laois Joint Policing Committee meeting. Minister Fleming applauded Gardai for attending local primary schools to educate children on crime and drugs. He expressed his belief that it should be policy to visit secondary schools. Minimum once a year I think gardai should be in and I think concentrating on drugs because of the teenagers that are in schools, said Minister Fleming. We know outside some of the schools there are people waiting when people come out to sell drugs to some of the older students, said Minister Fleming. I would really ask you if you can formally arrange with the schools, especially the second level schools, a minimum of one or maybe more visits per annum because I think it is important at second level even more so than primary level, he said. Garda Superintendent Eamon Curley said he would take on board the Ministers comments. Our schools programme are a very big part of what our Community Policing Unit delivers. Sergeant Jason Hughes leads the challenge on that, said Supt Curley. I know you referenced drug dealers outside the schools selling to children leaving schools. Certainly it is not something I have seen. I would ask anybody who has any information in that regard to contact us. Our drug units certainly conduct many intelligence led operations and it is something that we can expand into that area, he said. Former Garda Tom Jones described a new drug awareness programme called HEED as a fantastic initiative. He said it was to be rolled out to GAA clubs in Laois. Supt Curley said the HEED programme will be initially rolled out with the GAA and is planned to be rolled out to other sporting organisations and groups after that. He said the programme was being rolled out in conjunction with the Midland Drug and Alcohol Taskforce and the National Drugs Unit. Sara Rasool told the meeting that it would be great if garda drug awareness visits became policy at schools. It is the youths that you really need to reach out to and get them involved even at upper primary level, transitioning from primary to secondary as well, she said. One group of people in Ireland have to actually pay to vote in elections, a Laois councillor has highlighted. People who are unable to get to their local voting station due to illness or incapacitation, are forced to pay, by way of getting a doctor's cert so they can vote from home. A Laois councillor has slammed the system, calling for the Government to change it, ahead of local elections in 2024. Cllr John Joe Fennelly tabled a motion to the May meeting of Laois County Council, asking the council to write to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and ask that the requirement is changed that voters seeking a postal vote due to illness or disability must include a doctor's cert with their application. He wants them to accept an alternative method of proof that will not cost money to the voter. "It's very simple. They are the only people in Ireland who actually have to pay to cast their vote. There is a charge in doctors' surgeries to sign a form. It could be done by a carer instead, or a peace commissioner. "We all know you cannot get into a doctor's surgery unless you are very sick, they are so busy. There has to be an easier solution. I don't believe it's right that anybody with an illness or disability has to pay to cast a vote," Cllr Fennelly said. Cllr Fennelly said that the process was reviewed, which he heard during a training session by the AILG. "I asked the question there and they hadn't even considered it," he said. Cllr Willie Aird seconded. "It's outdated. I ask that a letter go to the five Laois Offaly TDs as well. It's totally unfair," he said. Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley agrees. "It's very similar to a medical cert for applicants. GPs charge 160 for that. Before a letter was 20, now it's a report. I raised that to the Minister and he asked Sean Fleming to do a report on it," she said. The Cathaoirleach Cllr Thomasina Connell added that different GPs charge different amounts. Chadwicks Group colleague Gerry OBrien, based in Naas, has helped raise an impressive 60,000 for five Irish charities. The Dublin local was part of a 17 strong team of Chadwicks Group colleagues who took on the Four Peaks Challenge over the course of four days. From May 18 21, the team scaled Slieve Donard in Co. Down, Carrauntoohil in Co. Kerry, Mweelrea in Co. Mayo, and Lugnaquilla in Co. Wicklow in one weekend with 15 additional Chadwicks Group colleagues joining the challenge for the final peak in Wicklow. Supporting the fundraising efforts, a number of sponsors included Gyproc, Glennon Brothers, Irish Cement, Kilsaran, Whiteriver, Murray Timber Group, Mannok and Cedral. Patrick Atkinson, CEO of Chadwicks Group said, Were proud to announce Chadwicks Group has raised 60,000 for five deserving charities through our Four Peaks Challenge. The teams efforts were incredible, and we exceeded our fundraising targets by 10,000, which will go a long way in supporting our five chosen charities. "We have a long and proud history of working with and donating to charities who help some of the most vulnerable communities in Ireland. On behalf of Chadwicks Group, Id like to congratulate and thank all 32 employees who went above and beyond in their efforts over the weekend. The funds raised will be split between the five charities, one of which will be IWA, an organisation provides nationwide assisted living services, community centres in every county, and campaigns for equal opportunities for people with physical disabilities. The donation will go towards running its services and activities including a Disability Action Advocacy Group, School Leavers service, and support for its 59 community centres across the country. As well as Pieta House, which provides free specialised treatment programmes for people who have suicidal ideation or participate in self-harming behaviours, as well as support for families affected. Pieta will use the donation to support initiatives including its free counselling services, crisis intervention and bereavement support services, and outreach services to groups and communities such as sporting associations, schools, businesses and front-line service providers. As well as an IMNDA is the only organisation of its kind which provides care and support to people with Motor Neuron disease, their families, friends and caregivers. Funding will be used to support its services including home visits, financial assistance towards home care, specialised equipment and communication aids, and counselling and research projects. Purple House is Irelands community based cancer support centre, which provides free professional support and psycho-oncology services to those affected by cancer. Purple Houses donation will fund its Child and Family Cancer services including support services, art therapy, sensory and creative therapies, outings, and individual counselling. Funds were also raised for Mayo Autism Camp provides socially inclusive activities for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families. Funding will go towards installing a sensory regulation Cubbie and special changing facilities for families. Aidan Stacey, Commercial Director, Irish Wheelchair Association said, Irish Wheelchair Association is incredibly grateful to Chadwicks Group for their amazing donation raised through the Four Peaks Challenge as well as their ongoing support over the years. We are working to build a more inclusive society for people with disabilities across Ireland and Chadwicks Group is helping make this possible. I cannot thank them enough. People across Ireland and Leitrim celebrated Yeats Days on Tuesday, June 13. Social media users took to platforms to remember and pay tributes to the great Irish poet William Butler Yeats on his birthday by posting their favourite quotes from his memorable work. This year also marks 100 years since W.B. Yeats won the Nobel Prize for literature. Tread softly because you tread on my dreams, The Embassy of Ireland tweeted to mark the day of significance. Some other lines shared from his poetry included: I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, and a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee, And live alone in the bee-loud glade. - from The Lake Isle of Innisfree. A reference to Glencar Waterfall from his poem The Stolen Child was also among the many tributes on the day - Where the wandering water gushes From the hills above Glen-Car, In pools among the rushes That scarce could bathe a star, We seek for slumbering trout And whispering in their ears Give them unquiet dreams; Leaning softly out From ferns that drop their tears Over the young streams. Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand. Yeats was born in 1865 and passed away in 1939, aged 73. He will go down as one of Irelands best-known and beloved poets thanks to his influential writing. Yeats Day is celebrated yearly to remember one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. 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. Leapmotor hits delivery milestone of 200,000 vehicles Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) startup Leapmotor today announced via its WeChat account that it has so far delivered 200,000 vehicles. Leapmotor C11; photo credit: Leapmotor BYD announces foray into Italian passenger vehicle market On June 13, BYD, the worlds leading manufacturer of new energy vehicles (NEVs) and power batteries, announced its foray into Italian passenger vehicle market with two pure electric models, BYD ATTO 3 and BYD HAN, introduced at the same time. BYD Atto 3; photo credit: BYD Geely-backed Geener completes Series A financing Zhejiang Geener Microelectronics Co., Ltd., a power semiconductor company incubated by Geely Technology Group, has closed its second financing round (A round), which was led by the returning investor Gaorong Capital. China's luxury EV brand HiPhi announces prices of HiPhi X, HiPhi Z for European market HiPhi, Chinese luxury electric vehicle (EV) brand under Human Horizons, recently announced the prices of HiPhi X and HiPhi Z in the European market, the EV maker announced on Monday via its WeChat account. BYD-backed DENZA sees first mass-produced DENZA N7 vehicles roll off line DENZA, the premium auto brand majority-owned by BYD, has seen the first batch of the mass-produced DENZA N7 vehicles roll off the production line, Zhao Changjiang, general manager of the sales department at DENZA, said on June 20 via his personal Sina Weibo account. Leapmotor, ZF to jointly develop smart chassis products Chinese new energy vehicle startup Leapmotor today announced that it has entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with ZF to collaborate closely in the field of intelligent chassis for passenger vehicles. NIO's smartphone granted radio approval by China's MIIT NIO's smartphone has received radio approval from Chinas Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ("MIIT") on June 19, 2023, indicating the Chinese electric vehicle maker is working energetically for the future launch of its smart phone. High-precision positioning tech firm Bynav nabs funds from Bosch, GWM, Geely's investment arms On June 20, Chinese high-precision positioning technology developer Bynav announced the completion of a strategic investment which raised for the company hundreds of millions of yuan. Changan's DEEPAL sets up joint venture with StarPower Semiconductor DEEPAL, the new energy vehicle brand under Changan Automobile, recently announced the establishment of a new joint venture with StarPower Semiconductor. Chuhang Technology, NavInfo ally on intelligent driving technology advancement Millimeter-wave radar supplier Chuhang Technology announced on June 19 a strategic collaboration with Chinese automotive intelligence solution provider NavInfo. NIO Capital backs CIX Technology's A-round financing for CPU R&D NIO Capital, the investment arm of NIO, continues its support for CIX Technology, a startup specializing in universal intelligent CPU solutions, by joining in the latters Series A financing. BYD puts Champion Edition of both Song PLUS EV, DM-i onto market On June 19th, the BYD Ocean family's new product, the Song PLUS Champion Edition, was officially put onto the market. The Song PLUS DM-i Champion Edition provides four trim levels with two range choices, featuring a price range of 159,800 to 189,800 yuan. The Song PLUS EV Champion Edition also offers four variants with two driving range options, priced between 169,800 and 209,800 yuan. WeRide to deploy Robobus, Robotaxi, Robosweeper in Shenzhen's Nanshan District WeRide, a leading Chinese autonomous driving solution developer, on June 16 signed a cooperation framework agreement with the Nanshan District, Shenzhen to promote the development of intelligent connected vehicles, and facilitate the demonstration and commercialization of various autonomous driving applications. SAIC-GM's Ultium-based Buick ELECTRA E4 goes on sale, starting at 189,900 yuan On June 19th, Buick, an auto brand under SAIC General Motors (SAIC-GM), announced its new premium electric coupe SUV, the Buick ELECTRA E4, officially hit the market. The lineup includes four trim levels, including the GS version, and offers two options for driving range, with prices ranging from 189,900 yuan to 259,900 yuan. Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has welcomed the granting of citizenship to almost 4,000 new Irish citizens at ceremonies being held across two days in Killarney, Co. Kerry. A total of 13 new Irish citizens have addressed in Co. Leitrim. The Ceremonies are being held in the INEC Killarney on 19 and 20 June, and applicants from 130 countries worldwide will be conferred as Irish citizens. Minister McEntee congratulated the newest citizens at the ceremonies held on Monday, 19 June. Becoming an Irish citizen will guarantee certain fundamental rights under our Constitution. These rights are many and varied, but they will protect you, your family and your freedom, she said. I encourage each new citizen to embrace your civic duty. It is an essential aspect of life in Ireland. It will empower you to become more engaged in civil society, whether it be in your local community or at a national level; some of you may choose to run for office in the coming years. Active involvement in the community will ensure everyone has a voice and will help strengthen our democracy, added Minister McEntee. One-fifth of Irelands population now is made up of people that were born outside of the State. Minister Harris, who represented the Government at the ceremonies, said that the richness of our nation is not measured in our wealth, but in our people, in our differences, our similarities and our shared home here on this island. Since 2011, when the citizenship ceremonies were first introduced, there has been a total of 161,000 people from over 190 countries receiving their certificates of naturalisation. Emmanuel Macron with Eric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation (2nd left), in front of a Rafale model during his visit to the Paris Air Show on June 19, 2023. LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP Germany's proposed European missile defense shield "prepar[es] for tomorrow's problems," declared Emmanuel Macron. The French president criticized the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) which 17 countries, including most of Central Europe, have already joined at a conference on European air defense held in Paris on the sidelines of the International Paris Air Show outside of Paris on Monday, June 19. ESSI is based primarily on the joint acquisition of German, American and Israeli systems. Macron said, "What comes to us from non-European third parties is obviously less manageable, subject to timetables, queues, priorities, sometimes third-country authorizations and too dependent on the outside world." As a counter-measure, France announced an initiative to jointly purchase several hundred Mistral short-range surface-to-air missiles with Estonia, Hungary, Belgium and Cyprus. These missiles are manufactured by the European arms group MBDA and can reach targets up to 6 kilometers away. The president also made official Belgium's participation in the European project for a sixth-generation fighter jet, the SCAF. This massive collaborative program, launched in 2017 between France, Germany, and Spain, aims to replace Dassault Aviation's French Rafale and Airbus' Eurofighter Typhoon by 2040. At this stage, however, Belgium will only be an "observer." The Sky Shield Four months after promising it to Ukraine, Macron finally announced that the first Mamba, a medium-range ground-air defense system manufactured by France and Italy, had been delivered to Ukraine and was "operational." For a time, France had hoped to integrate this system into Germany's missile defense project, as the production of a new version was launched in February. But discussions with Berlin appear to have stalled. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes France outlines counter-offer to Germany's anti-missile defense project There's nothing to suggest that these disparate French ventures will dissuade those countries that have already expressed an interest in the ESSI. France's hope lies in the fact that, for many of them, the German Sky Shield project is only at the letter of intent stage. However, on June 14, the Bundestag approved the first phase of funding for acquiring the Israeli long-range Arrow 3 system, i.e. 560 million out of a total of 4 billion. Another race is being conducted behind the scenes between Berlin and Paris: to master the defense of the skies against hypersonic missiles, which are on the rise worldwide. After Israel unveiled its Sky Sonic project on June 15, French missile maker MBDA announced on Tuesday that it was applying for a research project, called Hydis 2, in which Germany is participating. The project has been allocated 80 million by the European Defense Fund and is to be steered by the European Armaments Cooperation Organization. The cooling towers of the Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux nuclear power plant, France, on March 30, 2023. GUILLAUME SOUVANT / AFP For months, European countries have been fighting over the fate of nuclear energy. Global warming and the end of cheap Russian gas in the wake of the war in Ukraine have convinced governments to legislate on all fronts to decarbonize the economy, strengthen energy independence, and avoid a spike in energy prices like the one seen in the summer of 2022. Bill after bill, two groups are clashing over the issue, with nuclear energy opponents on one side, led by Germany, and pro-atomists, headed by France, on the other. On Monday, June 19, energy ministers spent long hours discussing the electricity market reform again, which the European Commission has designed to contain electricity price volatility and provide investors in low-carbon energies with a clear framework, in vain. Today, households and businesses pay the kilowatt-hour price at which it is produced in the latest power station, often gas-fired, commissioned to meet demand. Since Moscow turned off the gas tap to its European customers, the countries concerned have been looking for an alternative model that allows consumers to benefit from domestically-produced energy prices without discouraging energy producers. Gift In this context, the European Commission is proposing long-term contracts between end-users and producers of decarbonized electricity or between producers and the government, as the case may be, to offer security to both parties. It is over "contracts for difference" (CFDs), whereby a government guarantees a fixed price to electricity producers, that discussions are stalling. Under this mechanism, the electricity producer has to pay back the income earned if the market price is higher than the guaranteed price, and receives compensation if it is lower. The Commission proposes that all public support for new investment in decarbonized electricity generation including nuclear be provided using this tool. For France, which would thus be able to upgrade its nuclear fleet without contravening state aid legislation, this is a fundamental point. Agnes Pannier-Runacher, the French energy transition minister, said the lack of such a mechanism would cause "major difficulties in terms of security of supply and ability to meet [the] climate objectives." Berlin and its allies refuse the idea, which, in their view, equals subsiding the French overhaul of nuclear power plants. Robert Habeck, the minister for economic affairs and climate action, fears the "market distortions" that such an advantage for the French industry would create. Claude Tumes, Luxembourgs minister for energy, spoke of a "huge gift to French nuclear power." You have 49.16% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only. This undated photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. AP Rescue teams expanded their search underwater on Tuesday, June 20, as they raced against time to find a deep-diving tourist submersible that went missing near the wreck of the Titanic with five people on board and limited oxygen. They have also detected "underwater noises" in the search area, the US Coast Guard said Wednesday. All communication was lost with the 6.5-meter Titan craft during a descent on Sunday to the Titanic, which sits at a depth of crushing pressure nearly four kilometers below the surface of the North Atlantic. The submersible reportedly carries three fee-paying passengers: British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani tycoon Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman. The United States and Canadian Coast Guards deployed ships and planes in an intensive search for the vessel equipped with just four days of oxygen. Rear Admiral John Mauger, leading the search, told ABC News that rescuers had scoured an area of about 13,000 square kilometers. He added a P-3 plane from Canada had dropped sonar buoys in the zone of the Titanic wreckage to listen for any sound from the submersible. Mauger said the search, initially restricted to the ocean's surface, was now also going underwater. IFREMER, a French oceanographic institution, said it had sent a deep-sea underwater robot to support efforts. The submersible has "about 40 hours of breathable air" left, captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard later said, adding that, so far, rescue efforts had "not yielded any results." In an Instagram message posted just before the dive, Harding said a mission window had opened after days of bad weather. Among the crew he named were Frenchman Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a veteran diver and an expert on the Titanic wreck. Unconfirmed reports said the fifth person on board was Stockton Rush, the chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions, which operates the tourist dives. According to authorities, the Titan lost contact with the surface less than two hours into its descent. "We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely. Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families," OceanGate said. Mike Reiss, an American television writer who visited the Titanic wreck on the same sub last year, told the BBC the experience was disorientating. The pressure at that depth is 400 times what it is at sea level. "The compass immediately stopped working and was just spinning around, so we had to flail around blindly at the bottom of the ocean, knowing the Titanic was somewhere there," Reiss said. Clock ticking He said everyone was aware of the dangers. "You sign a waiver before you get on, and it mentions death three different times on page one." OceanGate Expeditions charges $250,000 for a seat on the Titan. Harding, a 58-year-old aviator, space tourist, and chairman of Action Aviation, is no stranger to daredevil antics and has three Guinness world records. A year ago, he became a space tourist through Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin company. In his Instagram post, Harding said he was proud to be part of the latest mission. Shahzada and Suleman Dawood hail from one of Pakistan's wealthiest families that runs an investment and holding company headquartered in Karachi. The Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in 1912 during its maiden voyage from England to New York, with 2,224 passengers and crew on board. More than 1,500 died. The wreckage is in two main pieces off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. It was found in 1985 and remains a lure for nautical experts and underwater tourists. Without having studied the craft, Alistair Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London, suggested two possible scenarios based on images of the Titan published by the media. He said if it had an electrical or communications problem, it could have surfaced and remained floating, "waiting to be found," bearing in mind the vessel can be unlocked from the outside only. "Another scenario is the pressure hull was compromised, a leak," he said. "Then the prognosis is not good." Very few vessels can go to the depth the Titan might have traveled. "The clock is ticking, and any submariner or submersible deep divers know how unforgiving the Abyssal domain is: Going undersea is as, if not more, challenging than going into space from an engineering perspective," said University of Adelaide associate professor Eric Fusil. LIMERICK City and County Council have launched a public consultation process to gather feedback on a proposed Active Travel Scheme connecting St Paul's roundabout to Ballykeefe roundabout in Dooradoyle. The scheme aims to connect the existing cycle network in Dooradoyle to the Crescent Shopping Centre, facilitating easy and safe travel for cyclists. The project also seeks to establish convenient links to Mary Immaculate College and Limerick city centre, supporting sustainable transportation options within the region. Members of the public are invited to participate in the consultation through in-person and virtual sessions, providing their input on the proposed project. The in-person public consultation is to be held at County Hall this Wednesday, from 1pm to 3pm and 5pm to 7pm, and offers an opportunity for interested individuals to examine drawings and proposed options for the Active Travel Scheme. In addition to the in-person event, a virtual public consultation will be available from June 21 until July 5 with feedback forms. Hard copies of preliminary options and drawings for the scheme will be held in County Hall, Dooradoyle and City Hall, Merchants Quay until July 5. Senior Engineer with the Active Travel team at Limerick City and County Council, Sean McGlynn, commented: Its important that all stakeholders have an input as we continue to roll out and expand the citys Active Travel and mobility network. Great drying out. If only we could put a roof on it. Never seen rain like it. Those are some of the most common phrases we hear and weather is always a strong topic of conversation among friends, neighbours, people you meet on the street and with a taxi driver. But a survey has revealed Irelands most weather obsessed towns and Limerick people have the least interest in the forecast. Carrick-on-suir in Tipperary came out on top as the most interested in the wind, rain, hail and sunshine while Tramore, Clonroche, Derrinturn and Ennis make up the rest of the top 5. The research was carried out by Wizer Energy who gathered data through Google searches with an estimated 20,000 people entering the word weather. Checking the weather forecast constantly is something we do ourselves, it has a huge impact on how and where we work. In our line of work, were outside nearly 90% of the time installing solar panels around the country and some of the most common questions we get from clients are all weather related. "Will the Panels work when its cloudy? Or when its raining? Are they even worth it in Ireland? and the answer is always yes Obviously now in the height of summer with longer days the panels can be more effective, but they work efficiently all year around and can be used to supplement a large portion of the electrical energy needs of most households, Martin Desmond, Managing Director of Wizer Energy explained. SHANNON Airport has marked 25 years of flights to New York/Newark Service with United Airlines. Over two million passengers carried on the route since 1998 on more than 14,000 flights. United Airlines is the only US airline to offer direct flights from Shannon to the United States. Today, United operates daily nonstop seasonal services from Shannon to its hubs at New York/Newark, and since 26 May 2023, Chicago OHare. United is the only U.S. airline to offer direct flights from Shannon to the United States. Welcoming the anniversary, Mary Considine, CEO of The Shannon Airport Group said; On behalf of The Shannon Airport Group, we extend our warmest congratulations to United Airlines on celebrating 25 years of operating US services from Shannon Airport. This is a very important milestone as it marks United Airlines providing 25 years of transatlantic connectivity that support tourism and industry in this region. This anniversary celebration reflects the strength of our long-standing partnership with United. We are very proud that together we are providing our loyal passengers with key services to New York/Newark and Chicago - which launched last month and operates daily for the summer season. These services offer a gateway, directly into the Wild Atlantic Way for our transatlantic visitors. We look forward to continuing our successful collaboration and to celebrating many more years with United and our passengers. Commenting on the anniversary Martina Coogan, Head of Corporate Sales UK and Ireland, United Airlines: For a quarter of a century now, United has connected Shannon with the United States, offering our customers nonstop connections to the New York metropolis and the U.S. East Coast, as well as an unrivalled network of onward connections from our New York/Newark hub to over 60 destinations across the Americas. This milestone anniversary, as well as the recent launch of our seasonal service between Shannon and Chicago, demonstrates our ongoing commitment to this important region and to offering greater choices for travellers in the west of Ireland. HUNDREDS of dairy farmers took to the streets of Charleville this Tuesday to protest over the price Kerry are paying for milk compared to other co-ops with one saying it is the straw that broke the camels back. It is the start of a campaign to bring Kerry PLC into line with other processors on milk price - 3+ cents per litre behind others is totally unacceptable. A path needs to be mapped out for suppliers that will ensure a fair price going forward, say the organisers of the protest which was a grassroots movement. An estimated 500 met at Kerrys red brick building on the Kilmallock Road before marching peacefully to Kerrys area office on the Old Limerick Road. Many Limerick farmers participated including prominent figures Seamus Crawford, Garryspillane, Ger Quain, Creggane and Mike OFlynn, Newcastle West. Mr Crawford is a current Kerry Co-op board member while Mr Quain and Mr OFlynn are former Kerry Co-op board members. The trio were asked to deliver a letter to Kerry Ireland Dairy Management. It read: It is with regret that we have no choice but to come and protest here today before setting out eight points including your failure in honouring our contract with you, to deliver the leading milk price, the arbitration case and significant amount of money you owe us for the last number of years. The letter concluded: It is time you reflect on the above because this is only the beginning of our campaign to ensure fair play and sustainability for all of our futures. Mr Crawford said: We impressed upon them we werent there just to fix the May milk price, the 80m to 100m that is owed historically that we won in arbitration case - that is on the table as well. It is the start of the campaign. They are going to have to sit down seriously and talk to us. A number of the protestors had placards, many which referred to the leading milk price and one read: We own our milk pool - pay up or we will take it away. IFA, ICMSA and Macra all lent their support to the protest as has Minister of State Niall Collins. IFA dairy chair Stephen Arthur called on Kerry Agribusiness to close the widening gap in milk price between them and other dairy processors. An average Kerry milk supplier, milking 90 cows, received about 2,000 less for their May milk when compared with other milk processors. For many Kerry milk suppliers this is below their cost of production given the massive cost increases and the difficult spring weather they have endured, said Mr Arthur. He said Kerry is now lagging significantly on milk price compared to other processors. This needs to be rectified immediately if Kerry is going to live up to their promise to pay the leading milk price on a like for like basis. We are calling on Kerry Agribusiness to commit to addressing this widening gap with a significant supplemental payment in the June milk payments, said Mr Arthur. Noel Murphy, chairperson of the ICMSA dairy committee, said that it is totally unacceptable that Kerry suppliers are receiving a base milk price of 2-3cpl below their neighbouring co-ops for the peak production month for milk. ICMSA, based on market assessment, had already stated that it believed that there was no need for further drops in milk price for May before announcements had been made. Most of the price announcements made have concurred with that analysis. Mr Murphy said that this is what had caused such a furious reaction to Kerrys decision to cut a further 1cpl cut off their base price. He noted that they were already at the bottom for April milk price and there was no need to further cut the price as evidenced by the fact that other processors who were at a higher price to begin with had held their price. Mr Murphy said that ICMSA acknowledged that milk has been under pressure for the first months of the year, but all analysis showed that the market has stabilised and the Kerry price of 37cpl is unquestionably below what the market is returning at this time. The Kerry price is putting its suppliers at a considerable disadvantage, said Mr Murphy, who concluded by calling on Kerry Group to reflect on its decision, reverse it and bring milk price back into line with the top paying co-ops immediately. Minister Niall Collins said: There is no justifiable reason why Kerry should be paying a discounted price to their milk suppliers compared to other suppliers. A Kerry spokesperson told Limerick Live: Regarding milk prices, global dairy markets have struggled throughout the first half of 2023 and remain volatile. Kerry continues to monitor dairy market returns and is fully committed to its contractual agreement to pay a like-for-like leading milk price to suppliers. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On June 19th, Buick, an auto brand under SAIC General Motors (SAIC-GM), announced its new premium electric coupe SUV, the Buick ELECTRA E4, officially hit the market. The lineup includes four trim levels, including the GS version, and offers two options for driving range, with prices ranging from 189,900 yuan to 259,900 yuan. Photo credit: SAIC-GM As the second Buick-branded model based on the Ultium platform, following the ELECTRA E5 SUV, the new model is equipped with the all-new VCS intelligent cockpit and boasts the latest iteration of the eConnect connectivity technology. It also offers the SUPER CRUISE advanced driver-assistance system as an add-on. From now on, display vehicles have been gradually arriving at Buick's offline stores dedicated to battery electric vehicle (BEV) nationwide, with deliveries scheduled to begin in July. Photo credit: SAIC-GM The Buick ELECTRA E4 embraces the PURE Design concept inherited from the ELECTRA-X concept car. With dimensions of 4,818mm 1,912mm 1,581mm and a wheelbase of 2,954mm, the new vehicle showcases a sleek and powerful design language. Photo credit: SAIC-GM The new Buick's soaring wing front face, with its layered upper and lower sections, creates a light and dynamic stance for the ELECTRA E4. The slim and sharp dual-wing LED daytime running lights, inheriting Buick's classic family design language, together with the suspended nose wing, widen the visual perception horizontally. The deep-space meteor grille, combined with gradient horizontal lines, adds to the sporty stance and further accentuates the dynamic presence. The Buick ELECTRA E4's body features a three-dimensional and energetic design language, with contrasting light and shadow created by concave and convex surfaces, showcasing a visually striking and poised SUV coupe effect. The floating roof, hidden electric door handles, and full-surround protective panels all contribute to excellent aerodynamic performance. Photo credit: SAIC-GM At the rear of the vehicle, the floating roof and the upturned aerodynamic balance wing store ample kinetic energy. The full-width flow-wing taillights, combined with vertical decorative strips, expand the visual width. The Buick ELECTRA E4's cabin offers a comfortable and minimalist experience. The floating-style center console design is stylish and sleek. The blue-purple color gradient trim extends from the center console to the side doors, creating a futuristic ambiance. The floating center armrest opens up the space between the driver and the passenger, offering a convenient and practical open storage area. Thanks to the Ultium BEV-dedicated platform and the 2,954mm-long wheelbase, the Buick ELECTRA E4 provides spacious cabin space. Its front headroom reaches 1,013mm, while the rear headroom stands at an impressive 975mm. Combined with 116mm of knee room, the vehicle aims to a comfortable and relaxed travel experience for all occupants. Photo credit: SAIC-GM The Buick ELECTRA E4 is equipped with the all-new VCS intelligent cockpit, featuring an EYEMAX 30-inch curved 6K screen as standard across the trims. The system is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip, combined with the VIP intelligent electronic architecture, supporting simultaneous multi-mode OTA updates for the entire vehicle system. Photo credit: SAIC-GM Furthermore, the new car comes standard with iKey smartphone key, wireless Apple CarPlay, and wireless charging function, providing users with a smart, convenient, and wirelessly enjoyable driving experience. Photo credit: SAIC-GM The standard range version of the new model is equipped with a 65 kWh battery pack, with a minimum power consumption of 13.4 kWh/100 km, and achieves a range of 530 km under the CLTC test cycle. The GS long-range four-wheel-drive version adopts a front permanent magnet synchronous motor and a rear induction asynchronous motor layout, allowing the vehicle to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.2 seconds and achieve a CLTC-rated range of 620 km. Photo credit: SAIC-GM In terms of intelligent driving technology, the Buick ELECTRA E4 comes standard with the eCruise intelligent driver-assistance system, which provides practical features such as FSRACC full-speed range adaptive cruise control and HOLCA intelligent lane centering assistance. The GS long-range four-wheel-drive version can be equipped with the new-generation SUPER CRUISE super-assisted driving system, relying on high-computing chips and a perception system composed of advanced cameras, radar systems, high-precision maps, and more. STUDENTS from Limerick had a lot to celebrate as they were recognised at the annual Gaelbhratach presentation ceremony. A total of 154 students from 18 primary schools, including Nicker National School and Scoil Naisiunta na Banoige, were applauded for their exceptional efforts in promoting the Irish language. The Gaelbhratach team, who organised the initiative, expressed their delight in acknowledging the remarkable work done by these young students throughout the year, and as a token of recognition, each school received a Gaelbhratach flag, symbolizing their commitment and achievements. The ceremony itself, held at the Tullamore Court Hotel, was filled with lively activities such as bouncy castles, ceili dancing, and, of course, the use of Irish. Local celebrity Niamh Ni Chroinin, known for her role as a presenter on TG4 and Cula4, had the privilege of presenting the Gaelbhratach flags to the deserving students. Ni Chroinin expressed her excitement at being part of the event and lauded the schools for their evident passion and dedication to the Irish language. She encouraged the young learners to take immense pride in their accomplishments. Mairead, the manager of the Gaelbhratach initiative, took the stage to express her admiration for the students' inspiring efforts. She recognized that each participating school in Limerick had its unique qualities but emphasized their shared aim of promoting the Irish language. Mairead also highlighted the significance of this being the tenth year of the Gaelbhratach scheme and expressed immense pride in the achievements of the school committees throughout the past year. "Our goal has always been to normalize the speaking of Irish in schools across the country," Mairead said. She extended her gratitude to the funders of the initiative, Foras na Gaeilge and the Department of Education, for their continued support. FIRE stations across County Limerick will remain in service this Tuesday as a planned strike by retained firefighters will no longer go ahead. Following exploratory talks by the Labour Court on Monday, over 2,000 retained firefighters across the country have agreed to suspend a planned all-out strike over pay and conditions. A full hearing is due to take place on Monday, June 26. A deescalated, lower form of industrial action will continue, which will see retained firefighters at Rathkeale, Abbeyfeale, Cappamore, Foynes, Newcastle West and Kilmallock fire stations refusing to engage in training exercises Barry Naughton, a driver mechanic at Rathkeale Fire Station and a member of SIPTUs negotiating committee told Limerick Live he is happy moving forward with a full Labour court hearing and that SIPTU will attend it and flush it out and see where it leads us. I'm feeling happy about where we are at the moment, but I'd like to give this engagement a chance to do its job, he said. SIPTU retained firefighters suspend #FireStrikes to allow for Labour Court hearing next Monday Our members will not settle for anything other than an agreement which safeguards the functioning of this vital emergency service into the future.https://t.co/NNEZkQ1kOh SIPTU (@SIPTU) June 19, 2023 Retained firefighters had begun rolling work stoppages last week and had threatened to escalate the action to an all-out strike from today, before the Labour Court's announcement. SIPTU Public Administration and Community Division Organiser, Karan O Loughlin, said: Following on from exploratory discussions attended by the SIPTU retained firefighter negotiating committee and representatives of the Local Government Management Association (LGMA) today, the Labour Court has decided there is the basis for a full hearing concerning this dispute. Our members appreciate the intervention of the Court in this matter and have suspended their industrial action at its request. However, the resolution to this dispute will be complex and difficult. Our members will not settle for anything other than an agreement which safeguards the functioning of this vital emergency service into the future, she added. In a statement, the Local Government Management Agency said: Following exploratory engagement between the management side, SIPTU and the Labour Court today relating to the ongoing dispute regarding the retained fire service, the Labour Court has confirmed that it will hold a formal hearing next Monday, June 26. "Reflecting the engagement by both parties in this process, SIPTU has agreed to significantly deescalate the current industrial action, which is welcome. The extent of problem gambling in Ireland may be underestimated and there is scant detail on some aspects of the issue in an Irish context, according to new research. A review of available evidence found that due to negative societal perceptions of problem gambling, the extent of it in Ireland may be underestimated but further research is needed to assess the publics complex views of gambling. The study cited evidence that suggests social desirability bias may lead to an underestimation of problem gambling in surveys, but perhaps not gambling behaviour among the wider population. The latest estimates in Ireland indicate around 12,000 people aged over 15, or 0.3% of the overall population, are problem gamblers, but those assessed as being at low or moderate-risk of problem gambling is 10 times that number. The review also found reasonably strong evidence that an increase in gambling advertising increases gambling behaviour, and evidence that messages encouraging people to gamble responsibly are unlikely to be effective. It also cited evidence that gamblers can be lulled into spending money on complex bets based on unlikely combinations of outcomes. The review was carried out by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and was commissioned through the Department of Justice. The ESRI research concluded that many have difficulty recalling how much they have spent gambling, and that problem gambling is more prevalent among young men, people in disadvantaged communities, those with addiction issues and mental health problems. It also noted that issues affecting adolescents, such as online social casino games and loot boxes in video games in particular are also important to consider as they are largely unregulated. The research suggested limit-setting tools and personalised feedback on gambling websites, and therapeutic interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapy could help tackle problem gambling. The Governments Gambling Regulation Bill 2022 which is currently before the Oireachtas, sets out the legislative basis for an independent gambling regulator called Udaras Rialala Cearrbhachais na hEireann, Irish for the gambling regulatory authority of Ireland with powers to regulate gambling advertising, websites and apps. The bill is currently at committee stage, but it is aimed that it will pass through the Oireachtas this year. Anne Marie Caulfield, the chief executive designate of the gambling regulator, said: A critical function of the new Gambling Regulatory Authority will be to create greater awareness of problem gambling and the supports available to those that need assistance. If we are to successfully tackle problem gambling we need to know the extent of the issue and how it is impacting on peoples lives. We have commissioned the ESRI to conduct a second study focused on measuring the extent of problem gambling and we anticipate results later this year. This new research study will ensure that our policy decisions and measures are evidence-based and informed by research. Professor Pete Lunn, head of the ESRIs Behavioural Research Unit, said: Based on current evidence, we are pretty sure that the true extent of the problem is hidden from public view, along with some of the forces behind it. We are currently planning research designed to change that. MORE women than ever before contacted Womens Aid in 2022 and the figures are only the tip of an enormous iceberg. Womens Aid, a national organisation supporting victims and survivors of domestic violence, has revealed that there was a 16% rise in the number of contacts made with their support service last year. The organisation received 31,229 calls in 2022. Calls during which, support workers heard 33,990 disclosures of domestic abuse against women and children. The abuse included coercive control, emotional abuse, physical violence, sexual abuse, and economic control. According to the organisations Feminicide Watch, 12 women died violently last year. And this year, already five women have lost their lives in Ireland. Womens Aids Annual Impact Report for 2022 points out that the cost of living and housing crises exacerbate the toll on women and families. According to the organisation, the promised reforms in the governments Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence cannot come quickly enough and must be properly resourced to avoid failure. The report also stresses that while it is encouraging and important that more women are reaching for support, every system they are accessing are creaking at the seams. Womens Aid also recorded the names of 12 women who had their lives stolen in violent circumstances. Chief Executive of Womens Aid, Sarah Benson, said: Our Annual Impact Report 2022 is a harrowing reminder of the levels of violence and abuse in homes and relationships in Ireland. While our figures are shocking, we know that they are only the tip of an enormous iceberg. One if four women in Ireland are subjected to domestic abuse. We know that so many women suffer alone, in silence and without specialist support. Behind our figures released today are real women and families whose lives have been devastated by the scourge of male violence. Women who are trying to protect and keep themselves and their children safe in the face of unrelenting pressures. Ms Benson continued: Last year, women told us that their partners or ex-partners were subjecting them to a broad and brutal pattern of abuse. Women reported assaults with weapons; constant surveillance and monitoring; relentless put downs and humiliations; the taking and sharing of intimate images online, complete control over all family finances; sexual assault, rape, and being threatened with theirs or their childrens lives. According to Ms Benson, the impacts on these women were chilling and ranged from exhaustion, isolation, and hopelessness; to being brutalised and wounded, suffering miscarriages, poverty, feeling a loss of identity and suicide ideation, hypervigilance and homelessness. Ms Benson stated: Aside from the horrific and often long-lasting impacts of domestic abuse, victims/survivors often face many other challenges. The court systems, and in particular, the District courts are under pressure, creating lengthy, protracted, and traumatising delays for women involved in legal proceedings. She concluded: Rapid implementation of legislative change is needed to facilitate real and meaningful actions to support bereaved families and to establish a system of domestic violence death reviews, such as are in place in other jurisdictions, including Northern Ireland. These changes require a whole of Government approach and should not be dispersed across different departments without a coordinated plan. Government must put in place a dedicated and focused vehicle for implementation of the many recommendations in this foundational document - including required legislation - to ensure prompt and successful outcomes. You can contact the Womens Aid 24 hour National Freephone helpline via 1800 341 900 or www.womensaid.ie. And the National Male Advice Line can be contacted via 1800 816 588 or via mensnetwork.ie/mal/ South Korean auto manufacturer Hyundai Motor Co announced that it plans to invest about 109.4 trillion won ($85.41 billion) in the period through to 2032. Around 35.8 trillion won will be allocated for electric vehicles (EVs), it stated. The automaker, in a statement, also said that it plans to spend about 109 trillion won ($85 billion) to boost production and make progress in areas such as hydrogen cars. Hyundai is the worlds third-biggest carmaker. The latest announcement follows Toyota Motor Corp. which recently laid out an ambitious plan to sell 1.5 million battery EVs by 2026. Similarly, Ford Motor Co. is also pursuing a radical restructuring with ambitions to make 2 million EVs a year by 2026. With its new goal, Hyundai seeks to achieve the target of 18% of its global sales in 2026 and 34% in 2030 accounted by EVs, including luxury brand Genesis. They will make up 53% of its sales in three key markets Korea, the US and Europe - by the end of the decade. Volkswagen AG expects electric-battery vehicles to account for 20% of its global sales by 2025. The carmaker is targetting the sale of 2 million EV units annually by 2030 and aims to achieve a more than 10% profitability rate for EVs in the same year.Hyundai and Kia have sold around 109,000 EVs this year, placing them fifth in the global industry, according to BloombergNEF. Hyundai is facing pressure in the US and Europe to increase domestic production of clean cars and reduce reliance on battery minerals and components made in China. The company aims to start mass production at its EV plant being built in the state of Georgia in the second half of next year, Chief Executive Jay Chang said at an annual event for investors Tuesday. (With inputs from agencies) Making international payments is becoming even easier! We're excited to announce that Paykassma, an international payment aggregator, is now officially partnered with Bkash, the leading payment system in Bangladesh. Serving over 100 clients from various countries, Paykassma offers a range of payment solutions for your business . Now with Bkash, the most popular payment system in Bangladesh, you can even more easily expand your business into new territories. If you want to start accepting payments through Bkash, get in touch with us at Paykassma. We provide smooth integration and support at every stage of the process. Welcome to the future of international payments with Paykassma and Bkash! About Paykassma Paykassma is one of the best payment aggregators. Paykassma offers payments and withdrawals for the Asian market. The company offers a unique API-automation design to help e-commerce businesses. PayKassma has been offering its payment solutions for 4 years and operates in 16 countries across the globe. This payment aggregator has served over 100 clients providing real-time payment solutions. Although they work with several African countries, Paykassma primarily operates in India, Bangladesh, Turkey, Vietnam and Uzbekistan. The company has provided payment solutions for Forex, dating, tradings, markets. Its easy to start with Paykassma, and the company provides a safe platform for its users. Also, they are PSSI DCI compliant. Paykassma has partnered with industry regulators, so your business will be 100% compliant. We also ensure that your accounts and customers' accounts are kept safe from fraud risk. Chargebacks are close to zero, as the company disputes every chargeback. Paykassma has a team of experts who will give you real-time advice. They are also available to give you round the clock support. They offer multiple payment methods including e-Wallets. They also have country-specific payments and some of them include: PhonePe Paytm UPI Rupay Bkash Nagad Rocket Uzcard Humo You will find information on all the available payment options when you visit the official site. Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. Super Angels Summit 2023 is ready to take place on 14th & 15th September at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) in Abu Dhabi . The Summit is designed to celebrate the spirit of angel investment and to bring thousands of active and aspiring angel investors from across the world. The summit is held under the support of the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Convention and Exhibition Bureau, The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Maktoum, Emirates Angels (A non-profit organization registered in the UAE to support the angel investing ecosystem). The summit would feature a carefully curated selection of global Govt. agencies & representatives, Venture Capital Funds, Family Offices, HNIs & UHNIs, Financial Institutions, Industry Leaders, Worlds most sought after speakers & Celebrities, as well as high-potential startups from various sectors. In addition to the main conference, both active and aspiring angel investors would have an opportunity to join various masterclasses and workshops to enhance their skills as an angel investor. Super Angels Summit will also showcase a vibrant exhibition floor, where attendees can explore cutting-edge products and services from ground breaking startups and established industry players. The exhibition will serve as a hub for collaboration, fostering new partnerships that can drive innovation forward. Having participated in over 2000+ startup events worldwide and being an active part of the startup ecosystem, I was forced to confront the glaring and astounding gap in global angel investment education as Asia has only 40,000+ angel investor in comparison to 1.7 MN in the USA and That's when I realized it was time to act," said Ravi K Ranjan, the founder of Super Angels Summit, spoke on the opportunity that rest of the world has to strengthen the angel investor community. Angel investors are essential to the development of a thriving and diverse startup ecosystem. While there are many events celebrating startups and their impact, the contribution made by angel investors who provide critical support and resources to early-stage companies, deserve greater recognition and appreciation in the discourse surrounding the startup ecosystem. With a growing number of curious investors globally, there is a clear need for a global conference that brings together the best minds in angel investing" said Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, the co-founder and president of Venture Catalysts++ Khalifa Al Qubaisi, Chief Commercial Officer at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), Part of ADNEC Group said, Hosting this ground-breaking event for the first time at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre is a valuable addition to the agenda of prominent global annual events which are set to take place at the Centre. As the largest exhibition and conference Centre in the MENA region, ADNEC is committed to hosting world-class events and ensuring their success by deploying its advanced infrastructure, modern facilities, and integrated solutions that meet the requirements of event organisers. In doing so, we continue to drive Abu Dhabis leading position as the capital of business tourism in the region." The Super Angels Summit is a pivotal event in the UAE that bolsters the angel investing ecosystem. It provides a platform for networking, sharing insights, and fostering collaborations, which, in turn, promotes growth and sophistication within the region's angel investing sector. A significant stride in this field has been the partnership forged between Emirates Angels and Super Angels. Emirates Angels, a leading non-profit association in the UAE, brings a wealth of local experience and knowledge to the partnership. This collaborative effort has not only magnified the influence of both entities but also fueled innovation and entrepreneurship across the UAE," said Masaood Al Masaood, Chairman of the Board, Emirates Angels. Abu Dhabi, with its strategic location and supportive business environment, serves as an ideal host for the SuperAngels Investors Summit. Recognized as a global hub for investment and innovation, the city provides an exceptional platform for startups and investors to connect, grow, and thrive. The event is being organized by CRRE8IVE, a new age Event IP and Media company, an initiative by Venture Catalysts++. With a team of visionaries, storytellers, designers and artists, CRRE8IVE believes in the power to inspire, connect and transform communities with their mission to curate and produce extraordinary event experiences that would leave a lasting impression on the attendees while also redefining the industry standards. Attendees at Super Angels Summit can expect an impressive lineup of keynote speakers, panel discussions, and interactive workshops, all led by prominent figures in the startup and investment community. Attendees would also have an opportunity to explore and invest in high growth startups at the summit. These thought leaders will delve into a wide range of topics including angel investing strategies, emerging trends, disruptive technologies, and the future of the startup ecosystem. The insights shared at the summit are expected to shape the future of startup investing and provide attendees with a competitive edge in the market. For more information, Visit - https://www.superangels.live/ Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. The Indian cabinet has given its approval to US chipmaker Micron Technology's plan to invest $2.7 billion to set up a semiconductor testing and packaging unit in Gujarat, Reuters reported on Tuesday. The cabinet approval comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States this week. The government will provide production-linked incentives worth 11,000 crore ($1.34 billion) for the semiconductor plant, the report said. Micron's Assembly Testing Marking and Packaging will be built in Sanand, the report added citing source. The report said Micron Technology's plans come as the White House presses US chip companies to invest in India with talks ongoing about possible further investments. The Biden administration wants the US companies to decrease the risks of doing business in China while better integrating the United States economy with that of India, the report added citing US officials. This investment is expected to boost India's semiconductor industry and aligns with Prime Minister Modi's vision of making India a global hub for semiconductor production. The new facility is anticipated to create jobs and enhance India's capabilities in the sector, contributing to its digital ambitions and self-reliance in advanced technologies. NEW DELHI : Fuel storage tanks from World War II may come to life again in Sri Lankas Trincomalee, with state-run Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOCL) planning to redevelop them at a cost of around 1,500 crore. Two people aware of the development said IOCL is in talks with Sri Lankan authorities, adding the investment amount is yet to be finalized. Talks are still underway. Things will take concrete shape in the next two to three months. Options are being explored on further energy partnership with Sri Lanka," one of the two people cited above said on the condition of anonymity. Under the current plan, Lanka IOC, a subsidiary of IOCL will take a 49% stake and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation 51%. The second person said India is looking at several ways to help Sri Lanka meet its energy requirements, and that a whole range of projects is being considered. The talks come at a time when Indias southern neighbour is pulling back from a severe economic and energy crisis. Queries sent to IOCL and the petroleum ministry remained unanswered till press time. In January 2022, Sri Lanka and India agreed to jointly redevelop the oil tank farm in the island nations eastern district of Trincomalee. The project, however, met with resistance from nationalist political parties including the Janatha Vimukthi Perumuna, which portrayed it as an expansionist move by India. Despite sporadic efforts to jointly develop the farm since the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord in 1987, it never made headway. These wartime tanks were built by the British, and primarily utilized for refuelling flights and ships of the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy. The tank farm, formerly owned and operated by Ceylon Petroleum Corp., has 99 tanks, each with a capacity of 12,000 kl. Currently, only 15 of them are operational. The IOCL site says, Lanka IOC intends to develop the tankage (capacity of tanks) on need basis." During his visit to Sri Lanka in 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the project would help turn Trincomalee into a regional petroleum hub". IOCL has a significant presence in Sri Lanka through Lanka IOC, incorporated in 2003 for retail sales and bulk supplies to industrial consumers. According to the companys website, Lanka IOC holds a 35% market share in the bunkering fuels market, providing bunker fuels and lubricants at all ports of Sri Lanka, including Colombo and Trincomalee. India is a major supplier of petroleum products to Sri Lanka. In FY23, it exported petroleum products including petrol and diesel worth $1.77 billion to the island-nation, 26.11% higher than in the previous fiscal. After crisis hit Sri Lanka, India delivered around 40,000 tonnes of petrol and diesel each under a credit line to help ease an acute fuel shortage. New Delhi also extended an additional $500 million credit line last year to help the country import fuel. India is also supporting Sri Lankas debt restructuring plan at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Development projects in Sri Lanka have not progressed as anticipated. Now, with IMF support for Sri Lanka coming through, developments on the investment front are picking up," said Aditya Shivamurthy, junior fellow, Observer Research Foundation. The plan to develop the oil tank farm, he said, is an attempt to protect the countrys economy from volatility in the global energy market and other external shocks. The publisher of USA Today, Gannett has sued the largest search engine Google on Tuesday. As per Reuters report, Gannett accused Google of violating federal antitrust law by trying to monopolize the market for online advertising. Gannett filed a complaint in Manhattan federal court, The Virginia-headquartered mass media holding company said that newspaper publishers are suffering because Google and its parent Alphabet Inc monopolize tools that publishers and advertisers use to buy and sell online ads. According to Gannett, this eventually pushes publishers to sell more ad space to Google at depressed prices, which in turn would result in dramatically less revenue for publishers and Google's ad-tech rivals. On the other hand, it claimed that Google enjoys exorbitant monopoly profits. Google has not immediately responded to Reuters over their a request for comment. Since 2009, online digital advertising in the United States have climbed nearly eightfold into a $200 billion business. However, newspaper ad revenue has nosedived by 70% over that time, as per Gannett, Two weeks ago, the New York Times reported that hundreds of journalists for Gannett, walked off the job on Monday, accusing the companys chief executive of decimating its local newsrooms. This walkout would be the biggest labour action in Gannetts century-old history, the union representing the journalists said. (With inputs from Reuters). Shanghai (Gasgoo)- HiPhi, Chinese luxury electric vehicle (EV) brand under Human Horizons, recently announced the prices of HiPhi X and HiPhi Z in the European market, the EV maker announced on Monday via its WeChat account. The starting prices for the HiPhi X and the HiPhi Z in Germany are 109,000 euros and 105,000 euros respectively (approximately 851,000 yuan and 820,000 yuan), while in Norway, the starting prices are 1,164,000 Norwegian kroner and 1,110,000 Norwegian kroner (approximately 791,000 yuan and 754,000 yuan). With the price announcements, the HiPhi X and the HiPhi Z have officially begun accepting reservations in Germany and Norway, with the first batch of vehicles expected to be delivered to customers in the third quarter of this year. Prior to this, both HiPhi X and HiPhi Z received European Union certification from TUV SUD, enabling them to be registered and sold in Europe. The HiPhi exhibition hall, located at Munich International Airport in Germany, will open soon. The first HiPhi X and HiPhi Z vehicles have already been registered in Germany, allowing consumers to experience the vehicles and schedule test drives at the HiPhi exhibition hall or obtain relevant information through the global HiPhi website. HiPhi X; photo credit: HiPhi The HiPhi X is a luxurious all-electric supercar SUV. In Europe, the HiPhi X will be available in six-seater and four-seater flagship versions. Its power system consists of front and rear dual motors with a maximum combined output of 440 kW. It can zip from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.9 seconds and is equipped with a 97 kWh battery. Its maximum range can reach up to 560 kilometers under CLTC conditions. The specific prices are as follows: Germany: HiPhi X six-Seater version: 109,000 euros HiPhi X four-seater version: 123,000 euros Norway: HiPhi X six-seater version: 1,164,000 Norwegian kroner HiPhi X four-seater version: 1,326,000 Norwegian kroner The HiPhi Z is a luxury all-electric supercar with a futuristic and fashionable design. It incorporates many innovative technologies, including the world's first HiPhi Bot, a four-degree-of-freedom and eight-directionally adjustable, high-speed movable digital robot inside the vehicle that enables interactive vertical and horizontal rotation, as well as forward and backward pitching. HiPhi Z; photo credit: HiPhi In Europe, the HiPhi Z will be available in five-seater and four-seater flagship versions. It is equipped with dual motors with a maximum output power of 494 kW. It can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds and carries a 120 kWh battery. Its maximum range can reach up to 705 kilometers under CLTC conditions. The specific prices are as follows: Germany: HiPhi Z five-seater version: 105,000 euros HiPhi Z four-seater version: 107,000 euros Norway: HiPhi Z five-seater version: 1,110,000 Norwegian kroner HiPhi Z four-seater version: 1,143,000 Norwegian kroner The final configurations of the HiPhi X and HiPhi Z European versions will be announced later through official channels. HiPhi's third model, the HiPhi Y SUV, will have its global debut on July 15th, and will soon arrive in Europe and begin accepting reservations from European customers before the end of the year. Bollywood's fascination for startups is not hidden from anyone. After Sunil Shetty, Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, actor Sanjay Dutt has placed his bets on a Mumbai-based alcobev startup firm. The actor has invested in startup Cartel & Bros. The company is looking to import and retail a portfolio of liquor brands into India, executives of the newly founded company told Economic Times. One of the first product of the company will be Scotch whisky brand Glenwalk, which the company is importing from Scotland, executives of Cartel & Bros told ET. Other brands the company will bring to India include vodka, tequila and single malt, Mokksh Soni, promoter of Living Liquidz told ET. According to Zauba Corp, Cartel & Bros is a partnership firm which was registered on 28 October 2021. Its designated partners are Jitin Suresh Merani, Manish Srichand Pardasani, Rohan Niklesh Nihalani and Moksh Shrichand Pardasani. Rohan Nilani is a promoter of Morgan Beverages. The venture firm has taken a factory in Scotland on lease. The company will keep its products in reasonable range to increase its access among younger consumers, Mokksh Soni told ET. The business of alcohol beverage is a challenging field due to its complex regulation, multiple state-level taxation and price-control. Mokksh Soni expressed his belief that the startup firm would be able to convert the younger generation of the country into its consumers in the coming time. Sanjay Dutt's other investment Other than investment in alcobev startup, Sanjay Dutt holds less than 1% shares in Cyber Media (India) limited, according to Trendlyne. CyberMedia is a specialty media house and is an acclaimed magazine brand in India. The group's media runs around 12 media properties which includes Dataquest, PCQuest, Voice&Data, Global Services, DQ Channels, DQ Week (Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata). It also has twleve websites which are led by www.CIOL.com. InterGlobe Aviation Ltd is getting ready to capture the growth opportunity. Its plans to expand its fleet come at a time when there are concerns about the supply scenario in the Indian aviation market. This makes the announcement sentimentally positive for the stock, which hit a new 52-week high of 2,490 apiece on Tuesday. InterGlobe runs IndiGo airline, Indias largest by market share. The airline has placed an order for 500 aircraft with Airbus, taking IndiGos order book close to 1,000 aircraft. As on FY23-end, IndiGos fleet strength was 304. But the order does not change anything meaningfully in near-to-medium term as deliveries are scheduled between 2030 and 2035. While new aircraft order makes business future proof from a long-term perspective, right now, it is difficult to gauge how things pan out beyond 2030," said Jinesh Joshi, an analyst at Prabhudas Lilladher. View Full Image Graphic: Mint The order placed with Airbus consists of A320 planes, which are fuel efficient, which is a plus for profitability. IndiGos consistent approach to aircraft management has given it rich dividend by continuously being able to sustain cycles in terms of lowest cost structure and cash accretion," said analysts at ICICI Securities in a 20 June report. But amid the ongoing global engine crisis, fleet expansion trajectory needs closer tracking. In the March quarter (Q4FY23) earnings call, IndiGo said number of grounded aircraft is in the high 30s due to shortage of spare engines. Such issues mean higher expenses without incremental revenue. Note that faulty engines supplied by Pratt & Whitneys International Aero Engines, LLC led to Go First filing voluntary insolvency resolution process with National Company Law Tribunal. IndiGo is managing the engine crisis better than its peers," says Joshi. Engine selection for the 500 aircraft is pending. In FY24, IndiGo aims to add 40-50 planes (on a net basis). It helps that demand is still ahead of supply, which aids the yield, a measure of pricing. IndiGos yield stood at 4.9 in Q4. Currently, IndiGo finds itself in an envious position. With Go First suspending operations, other airlines gained market share in May with IndiGos touching an all-time high at 61.4%. Airfares got a boost, too. Robust demand and relatively softer aviation turbine fuel prices augur well for margins. So far in 2023, IndiGos shares have risen by a stellar 21%, factoring the brighter picture adequately. However, competitive intensity is rising and the potential stake sale by IndiGos co-founder Rakesh Gangwal is an overhang. Star Health and Allied Insurance Co. Ltd has started FY24 on a good note. So far in FY24 (2MFY24), the company reported a 20% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in gross direct premium income (GDPI) underwritten, as per the data from General Insurance Council. GDPI is one of the key metrics of growth for general insurance companies. But note that Stars GDPI growth was relatively slower in May at 16% y-o-y. In April, growth stood at 25%. View Full Image Graphic: Mint A similar trend was seen in the retail health segment, with growth in April being comparatively better than growth in May. Analysts point out that during the early months of the year the insurance business is slightly weak before it picks up in the second half of the year. Star is the market leader in the retail health segment. In terms of GDPI, its market share in retail health improved month-on-month to 32.4% in May, though it is marginally lower than 33% seen in May 2022. Avinash Singh, analyst at Emkay Global Financial Services said, Monthly fluctuations happen so there is nothing much to read (month-on-month). We will have to wait for a quarter or two for any trends for FY24 to emerge." Meanwhile, other standalone health insurance companies Niva Bupa and Care saw relatively faster retail health premium growth in May at 26% and 44% y-o-y, respectively. Madhukar Ladha, director, Nuvama Institutional Equities, said, Rise in competition is one of the main concerns for the company. Recently, with the changes in the regulation of expenses of management (EoM), there is a possibility that other insurers could have increased commission to their agents. It could increase the competition in the retail health segment going forward." Shares of Star Health are down by 4% so far in 2023 to 541 apiece. The company had fared well in FY23. Its combined ratio improved to 95.3% in FY23 from 117.9% in FY22. The agency business continues to contribute around 82% of the overall business. In FY24, the management expects benefits from the companys increasing focus on digitization and portfolio expansion to specialised products to play out in the coming quarters. In general, investors must keep a tab on renewal rates in the medium-term. Whether the company can sustain or improve its market share is a key monitorable in the long run," added Ladha The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is investigating high-value transfers and transactions that took place in Manipur over the previous six months to see if there were any connections to the recent ethnic unrest in the state, people with knowledge of the situation informed Economic Times (ET). From January 1 onward, the agency will be investigating all financial transactions totalling more than 20 lakh, according to them, said the ET news report. "All the high-value transactions in the last six months including foreign remittances, high-value donations to charitable institutions are under the scanner," an official told ET. According to an ET news report, the agency has focused on 150 "suspicious" accounts of people, including some local politicians and a few charitable organisations, that exhibit an unusual pattern of financial activities. These 150 accounts were dispersed over the surrounding states of Mizoram and Nagaland as well. According to an ET news report, the agency is also looking into the transactions of two Manipur-based businesses that have a history of money laundering. Also under investigation are five online betting and gambling. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) blacklisted two of these websites in February, according to ET report. Focus also on external links In response to suggestions from the ministry of home affairs, MeitY began the process of banning and blocking 138 betting applications and 94 money lending apps with Chinese connections in February, according to ET. "It is premature to jump to a conclusion, but we are thoroughly investigating the angle if the violence in the state is financially sponsored or supported by some vested groups," the official cited earlier said. The probe is already on, the official said, without divulging anything further, according to ET. The FIU, a department of revenue agency, is also looking into recent transactions of roughly six people who have connections to the drug trade, including a history of frequent, high-value transactions with Myanmar, one of Asia's major hubs for illegal drug manufacturing and delivery. "There were many high-value transactions in January, most of which are linked to Myanmar," the official said, as per ET report. Since May 3, there have been violent ethnic conflicts in Manipur. In Manipur, more than 120 people have already died, more than 350 have been wounded and hundreds have been evacuated. Know your inner investor Do you have the nerves of steel or do you get insomniac over your investments? Lets define your investment approach. Take the test The US has long criminalized any form of support for the Taliban. Consequently WhatsAppowned by Meta blocked several accounts operated by of Taliban hardliners. The US sanctions have hardly hit the workings of Taliban government in Afghanistan. Complaints from Taliban officials, police and soldiers of their WhatsApp accounts being banned or temporarily deactivated have become widespread in recent months, highlights how the messaging platform has become a backbone of the Talibans nascent government, New York Times reported. These interruptions underscore the far-reaching consequences of international sanctions on the Afghan government that has become among the most isolated government in the world. The United States, as part of sanctions imposed on Taliban, criminalises any form of support for the Taliban. The impact of this has been deemed selective over the years. How the ban works? WhatsApp scans group names, descriptions and group profile photos on the messaging app to identify users among the Taliban and block their accounts, reported New York Times quoting company spokesman as saying. What does it mean for Taliban The US Sanction has handicapped Taliban fighters who relied on Whatsapp voice message feature through which they could send messages and listen to the verbal instructions from their commanders with the press of a button. The feature was important considering the literacy and technological skills of several Taliban fighters. Whatsapp, the backbone of Talibans functioning Since the Taliban seized power, the popularity and accessibility of WhatsApp among the groups ranks has grown rapidly. There reliance on the messaging app has become even more far-reaching as smartphone use has proliferated and 4G networks have improved across Afghanistan. Taliban consolidated its control over the country and settled into governance, the inner bureaucratic workings of their administration become more organized with WhatsApp as central to their official communications. The government departments use WhatsApp groups to disseminate information among employees. Security forces plan and coordinate raids on Islamic State cells, criminal networks and resistance fighters from their phones on the app," the New York Times reported. WhatsApp is so important to us all my work depends on it," the NYT reported citing a police spokesman for the Taliban administration in Baghlan Province, in northern Afghanistan. If there were no WhatsApp, all our administrative and nonadministrative work would be paralyzed," the report added. Hamish Harding, a British businessman, who had helped India bring the wild cheetahs from Nambia to the country, is one of the five persons who are missing onboard the tourist submersible which dived into the Atlantic Ocean to view the wreckage of the Titanic, the iconic ocean liner. Hamish Harding had collaborated with the Indian government to reintroduce eight wild cheetahs from Namibia to India. British Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood and his son were also onboard the sub. They are yet to be located along with the other members who dived in. According to the reports, the submersible lost contact about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive in the mid-Atlantic on Sunday. The submersible, belonging to OceanGate Expeditions, had taken the eight-day-mission for USD 250,000 per person. The company has confirmed that its submersible has lost contact. The companys chief executive, Stockton Rush, previously described the craft as rock solid", is also believed to be on board. The company said in a statement that it is exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely." French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet is also onboard the submersible. Hamish Harding also worked on a project to launch a regular business jet service to the Antarctic, working with a company called White Desert, and also collaborated with the Indian government on a project to reintroduce eight wild cheetahs from Namibia to India in September last year, under the auspices of the Explorers Club. The British billionaire is known for their extraordinary feats. He visited the South Pole multiple times, ventured into space aboard Blue Origin's fifth human-crewed flight in 2022, and set three world records, including the longest dive at the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. Over the weekend, Hamish Harding said on social media that a ship had set off from the city of St John's, in Newfoundland, Canada, for the destination of the Titanic wreck. He wrote on Facebook that he was "proud to finally announce" that he would be aboard the mission to the wreck of the Titanic. In Tamil Nadu, Chennai and its suburbs are being battered with heavy rainfall which prompted the authorities to declare a holiday for schools in Tiruvannamalai and Tirupattur districts, according to a report published by the news agency PTI. The city also received heavy rainfall on Sunday, hence, the authorities closed schools in Ranipet, Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Chengalpet, and Vellore districts on Monday. Yesterday, local media reported waterlogging at several places from the heavy rainfall. The waterlogging also caused disruptions in international flight operations at the Chennai International Airport. A total of 10 incoming flights, including those from Doha and Dubai, were diverted to Bengaluru. The regional weather office said that Chennai Airport received the highest of 16 cm of rainfall during the 24-hour period ending 8.30 am on Monday. Apart from flights, trees were also uprooted in areas including Ekkatuthangal, Adyar, and Nanganallur and the city civic body was clearing them, Greater Chennai Corporation officials said. Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department has predicted more rainfall in Tamil Nadu. light to moderate spells of rainfall accompanied with Thunderstorms/gusty winds during next 3-4 hours," the weather office tweeted. Authorities have advised the public to refrain from unnecessary outings, particularly in low-lying areas, and to remain vigilant for potential mudslides and landslides. The water level in the various reservoirs meeting Chennai's drinking water requirements stood at satisfactory levels, going by official figures, PTI reported. However, the sharp showers brought relief to people from the sweltering heat that the city and its nearby districts had been witnessing over the past few days. The water level at Kannankottai-Thervoykandigai was 34.31 ft as against its full capacity of 36.31 ft. The level at Poondi was 27.66 ft as against the full capacity of 35 ft, according to a tweet uploaded on the official handle of Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB). The lakes at Chembarambakkam, Cholavaram, Red Hills and Veeranam (Cuddalore dt) also had good levels. (With PTI inputs) NEW DELHI : The successful conclusion of a deal to co-manufacture jet engines by General Electric and Indias HAL could be a significant development for the India-US partnership, said former Indian Ambassador to the US Arun Singh, given the reluctance of previous administrations to transfer such sensitive technology to India. Edited excerpts from an interview: Modis visit comes at a time of growing convergence between India and the US. How do you see this visit? The protocol, programming and the ongoing substantive preparations indicate that both sides are seeking to maximize outcomes and messaging from the visit. Modi will be only the third State-level visitor of the Biden Administration, after French President Macron in November 2022 and South Korean President Yoon in April 2023. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan visited India on 13-14 June to prepare for the visit and also discuss with his counterpart, Indian NSA Ajit Doval, on advancing cooperation between the two countries in critical and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, quantum, telecommunication, space, biotech, semiconductors and defence. If this progresses well, it will serve to deepen the trade, investment and technology partnership. There is much talk around an impending deal on jet engines by General Electric to be manufactured in India. What is the significance of this deal? If this goes through finally, it will certainly be significant since the US had earlier not allowed this level of technology transfer to India, and has authorized it very selectively so far. It will also be a signal that following the 31 January 2023 launch by NSAs of the two countries of the initiative of a partnership in critical and emerging technologies, things are finally beginning to move towards high-level technology cooperation. How has tech become a key focus for the bilateral relationship? It has, for several reasons. Trade between the two countries now stands at $191 billion. It has increased by more than 10 times in the last 20 years. However, it pales in comparison to US-China trade which stands at $750 billion. There is growing convergence of interests between US and India in the global and several regional contexts, including in the Indo- Pacific. This convergence would get a supportive ballast if there is further deepening of the trade and technology partnership. The scope for expanding trade and investment cooperation based on current patterns of production is limited. ICET will potentially enable new frameworks for cooperation, production sharing and trade. It will also enable both US and India to better withstand their respective technological and strategic challenges from China. Any sticking points to iron out during the visit? There is bound to be some discussion of the situation around the Russia-Ukraine conflict, where Indias positioning has been somewhat at variance with that of the US. India will also be watching closely the US approach to Pakistan, post the Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021, and the recent decision to allow a $450 million sustainment package for Pakistan for its F 16s which it has used against India. Some differences will, therefore, remain, but it would be useful to exchange perspectives. The two countries are also expected to pursue a deepening of the economic and trade relationship. Are there any specific demands from industry that the two leaders are likely to discuss? Although the Prime Minister is expected to have meetings with some CEOs and also a larger interaction with US business persons, I dont think specific trade proposals will be under discussion. These have been discussed in recent meetings between our Commerce Minister and his US counterparts. During the visit of the US Secretary of Commerce to India in March this year, the two countries had also finalized an MOU on semiconductor supply chains. Chinas military and economic heft has been a matter of concern for New Delhi and Washington. How will the China challenge shape the conversation between the two leaders during the summit? There are important strengths in the bilateral relationship: trade, investment, diaspora presence etc. US companies have invested more than $50 billion in the Indian economy, creating 1 million direct jobs. Similarly, Indian companies have invested more than $40 billion in the US, with direct job creation of around 425,000. The 4 million strong Indian origin community is the largest single country presence of India origin diaspora. It is now playing a prominent role in politics, administration, economy and in enabling US global leadership in innovation and technology. However, since the George W Bush administration, there is growing recognition in the US of the economic, technological and military challenge they face from China, and the value of the India relationship in dealing adequately with this challenge. From describing China as a strategic partner" till 2000, US has variously described China as a strategic competitor", and the need for pivot" or rebalance" to Asia to shape the environment around the rise of China". In 2015 US and India issued a joint statement focusing on the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. Since then they have also reactivated the Quad, including Australia and Japan, with a focus on the Indo- Pacific. Thus, respective assessments of the challenges from China, and appropriate responses are bound to figure in the conversation. Bipartisan support in the US for the India relationship, and willingness to share higher levels of technology also gets a positive impulse from the convergence of interests related to the China challenge. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will head to the United States on Monday for a state visit billed as a turning point for bilateral relations. Major announcements are expected during the trip - from a potential deal for transfer of critical jet engine technology to a joint Congress address. While Modi has made several visits to the US over the past nine years, this will be his first with the full diplomatic status of an official state visit. It is also just the third such event hosted by President Joe Biden , and the third to be attended by any Indian leader. During the three-day visit that begins in New York on June 21, Modi will be hosted by President Biden for a state dinner and a private family dinner, attend lunch with Vice-President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and address a joint session of Congress for the second time. He will also meet American CEOs and lead an International Yoga Day event at the UN headquarters. Several significant announcements are expected during this trip with a focus on deeper cooperation in the defence industry and sharing of high technology. According to a Reuters report quoting officials, cooperation in semiconductors, cyberspace, aerospace, strategic infrastructure and communication, commercial space projects, quantum computing and the use of artificial intelligence in industrial and defence fields, will also be discussed. The US is likely to approve establishment of engine manufacturing capabilities within India. General Electric may soon produce the GE-F414 jet engine for domestically produced fighter jets as part of a a multi-million-dollar deal with Hindustan Aeronautics. India is also expected to finalize the procurement of 31 armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones from General Atomics - a deal amounting to $3 billion. (With inputs from agencies) New Delhi: The third meeting of the G20 India Presidencys Framework Working Group (FWG) in Kochi discussed global economic outlook and macroprudential policies, the ministry of finance said in a statement. During the working group meeting, delegates from various member and invitee countries, as well as international organizations, discussed the evolution of the global economic outlook, fiscal sustainability, and macroprudential policies. The exchange of ideas and perspectives aimed to provide valuable insights into the current economic landscape. The ministry of finance tweeted, Session 1 at the third FWG meeting under G20India Presidency in Kochi witnessed a fruitful discussion on Global Economic Outlook. Delegates across different member and invitee countries and International Organisations deliberated upon the evolution of Global Economic Outlook, Fiscal Sustainability, and macroprudential policies." In the working group meeting, delegates were invited to share their views on the draft Food and Energy Insecurity Report and deliberate on key learnings regarding the macroeconomic implications of food and energy insecurity. This discussion aimed to address the challenges posed by these insecurities and identify strategies to mitigate their impact on the global economy. Session 2 at the third FWG meeting under G20India Presidency invited delegates to share their views on the draft Food and Energy Insecurity Report and deliberate upon key learnings towards dealing with macroeconomic implications of Food And Energy insecurity," the ministry said in an another tweet. More than 75 delegates from G20 member nations, invitee countries, and various international and regional organisations will participate in the two-day long meeting. The Second G20 FWG meeting was held in Chennai from 24 to 25 March where 87 delegates from G20 member countries, invitees, and international organisations took part. UPDATE (2:23 p.m. 6.21.23): The FSC filed a motion Tuesday morning with the Eastern District of Louisiana seeking preliminary injuctive relief from the state's age-verification law pending resolution of its case. CHATSWORTH, Calif.Adult industry trade group the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) announced Tuesday that it has filed a lawsuit in Louisiana challenging the law that went into effect there January 1 of this year requiring age-verification to access online adult content. FSC's announcement of this latest filing follows: Free Speech Coalition, the advocacy organization for the adult industry, has filed a legal challenge in Louisiana over the states unconstitutional age-verification law. The Louisiana law gives the state the power to fine sites with adult content up to $5,000 per day, a direct violation of the First Amendment. FSC filed a similar suit against the state of Utah in May. Joining Free Speech Coalition in filing the challenge are Elizabeth Hanson, a military veteran and spouse of an active-duty Coast Guard member residing in Slidell; Andrea Barrica, founder of the sex education site O.school; journalist, educator, and content creator Charyn Ryn Pfeuffer; and fan platform JustFor.Fans. The parties are represented by Jeffrey Sandman of Webb Daniel Friedlander LLP and D. Gill Sperlein of the Law Office of D. Gill Sperlein. These laws give the state the power to harass and censor legal businesses, says Alison Boden, Executive Director of Free Speech Coalition. We, of course, support keeping minors from accessing adult content, but allowing the state to suppress certain speech by requiring invasive and burdensome systems that consumers refuse to engage with is simply state censorship. Seven states have passed laws requiring sites with substantial amounts of material harmful to minors to check users government ID or other age and identity verification information in order to access content. But consumers have been reluctant to do so, with more than 90% of users abandoning sites that comply with such laws. Last year, Louisiana passed a law allowing for a private right of action against adult sites without such age-verification for consumers, and other states followed suit. In June, Governor John Bel Edwards signed a new law giving the government the power to fine sites directly as much as $1M per year. The First Amendment protects our right to freely access legal content and ideas without government interference, says Jeff Sandman, a New Orleans-based counsel for the Free Speech Coalition. Were fighting not only for adult businesses but for the right of legal adults to use the internet without government surveillance. Showing your ID in a checkout lane is simply not the same as submitting it to a government database. For decades, our industry has voluntarily and enthusiastically worked with filters that allow parents and others to easily block adult sites, says Boden. Those who wish to can do so easily, and the Supreme Court has ruled that this is preferable to government-mandated censorship. We are again asking the courts to reject these unreasonable and dangerous restrictions on a free internet. The Louisiana complaint can be found here. Taking a dig at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Raut explained why he wants 20 June to be declared as Traitors Day. He first introduced himself in the letter saying, " I represent a party called Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and am a parliamentarian from Upper House in India. My party Shiv Sena (UBT) hails from Maharashtra. It was started by Balasaheb Thackeray in 1966 who championed the clause of local youth in Mumbai". Raut added, "On 20 June, a huge group of 40 legislators from our Shiv Sena left us after being instigated by the BJP. Each of them is said to have taken 50 crore to defect. The BJP used all its might to ensure the Mahavikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra led by Uddhav Thackeray. The 40 legislators who stabbed us were led by leading legislator Eknath Shinde (who is now the CM of Maharashtra). Along them, 10 more independents supporting the MVA government left us". Raut said the betrayal with his party leader Uddhav Thackeray happened on 20 June 2022 when Shinde and others left Mumbai for Gujarat. Raut slammed Shinde and the BJP for betraying Thackeray who is unwell and has undergone two major surgeries on 12 November and 19 November 2021. " Each one of them took advantage of his illness," Raut's statement read. The letter concluded, "I am appealing to you to make 20 June World Traitors Day just as 21 June is observed as World Yoga Day. This must be done so that World remembers Traitors". West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday said she had spent her entire life in Bengal but never heard about any "State Foundation Day" and those who are celebrating the "so-called" State Foundation Day are doing so with a set political narrative and agenda. "Spent my entire life in Bengal, but never heard about any State Foundation Day," said Mamata Banerjee. The West Bengal chief minister said she has written a letter to Governor CV Ananda Bose objecting over this new practice." I am stunned and shocked to know that you have decided to organise a programme on 20.06.2023 at Raj Bhavan, Kolkata, commemorating what you have peculiarly chosen to describe as the State Foundation of West Bengal," Banerjee said in the letter. I have been born in this Bengal, just like all others. We have spent our entire life in this Bengal, but never heard about any State Foundation Day. Nothing of this sort has ever been celebrated in our history, nor has any Act ever been passed by the Cabinet," Banerjee added in the letter. The West Bengal chief minister said that during a telephonic discussion earlier in the day, Bose had admitted that a unilateral and non-consultative decision" to declare a day as the states Foundation Day is not warranted. Banerjee also pointed out that West Bengal was carved out of the undivided State of Bengal in 1947 through a most painful and traumatic process. The process involved uprooting of millions of people across the border and death and displacement of innumerable families." Since Independence, we in West Bengal have never rejoiced over, or commemorated, or celebrated, any day as the Foundation Day of West Bengal. Rather, we have seen the Partition as a result of unleashing of communal forces that could not be resisted at that point of time," she said. The state was not founded on any particular day, least of all on any 20th of June. Contrarily, the State was formed through the infamous Radcliffe Award," the letter read. Banerjee further said If BJP believes that whatever they decide to celebrate, the other parties have to agree to it, they are mistaken. I, once again, condemn this act of celebrating Foundation Day Banerjee said, The central government has objection in changing Bengals name, but is planning to celebrate our Foundation Day. What can be more ironic than this? Our petition to rename West Bengal has been pending with the central government for over six years now. We want the name changed because our officers have to wait for a long time during transfers, as alphabetically, W of West Bengal comes way down the list," she added. The Supreme Court will hear a plea challenging Calcutta High Court's order directing the State Election Commission (SEC) to deploy central forces in West Bengal for the July 8 panchayat polls. The matter will be heard by the Supreme Court's vacation bench of justices Surya Kant and MM Sundresh. In view of the violence ahead of the Panchayat polls in West Bengal, the Calcutta High Court had directed the State Election Commission (SEC) on June 13 to deploy central forces in all districts of the state. The High Court had condemned the SEC on June 15 for not requestioning the paramilitary forces from the central government and directed the body to implement the court's directives within the next 48 hours. The SEC has challenged the decision of Calcutta HC in the Supreme Court arguing that the decision to deploy central forces for the upcoming panchayat polls without giving adequate chances to the state poll panel is an over-step of the judicial powers of the High Court. The poll panel also argued that the arrangements made by the state government were sufficient and adequate. Opposition parties have routinely alleged that West Bengal is witnessing large-scale violence in the run-up to the panchayat polls and had requested the deployment of central paramilitary forces in the state to ensure fair elections. Seven people have lost their lives in West Bengal since the announcement of panchayat polls including a BJP worker who was found dead in the Cooch Behar district on Saturday. West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Monday said that the instances of poll violence in the state are a reality and the Raj Bhawan has set up a Peace Room so that the common man can exercise their franchise fearlessly. Violence here (in West Bengal) is a reality and not a fiction. We have to contain and curb it. That's what I am focusing on," the West Bengal Governor said. Google Doodle is celebrating the 93rd birthday of Polish sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz with a special doodle. The artist was born on June 20, 1930 in a Poland ruled by the Communist regime and World War II played a major part in her life. The war had a deep impact on her psyche and forced her to grow up at a young age. Also Read: Google Doodle celebrates 112th birthday of Indian biochemist Kamala Sohonie In a blog post on Tuesday Google explained the logic behind today's Doodle, the post read, Is it a tapestry or a sculpture? Magdalena Abakanowiczs figures of woven fiber broke the mold when she pioneered a new category of art known as Abakans. Todays Doodle celebrates the Polish sculptor and multi-element artist." After the Second World War ended, Abakanowicz started studying at the secondary school for plastic arts in Gdynia in 1948. She later graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1954. During the 1960s, Abakanowicz developed a soft sculpture that turned fabric into three dimensions. These new forms of installations hung from the ceiling and were called Abakans based on the last name of its creator. The out-of-the-box thinking by Magdalena Abakanowicz was appreciated at the 1965 Sao Paulo International Art Biennale where she was awarded the top prize owing to the Abakans. She went on to win many more awards in her lifetime including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sculpture Center in New Jersey, the Award for Distinction in Sculpture from the Sculpture Center in New York, and the Commander Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta in Poland In the 1970s, Abakanwicz was inspired by the sociological phenomenon of the crowd, which states that the individual loses his or her individuality in the crowd. Agora is considered her most important statement on humanity and is permanently installed in Chicago's Grant Park. Prestigious museums and exhibitions across the world have featured Abakanowiczs work. More than 100 one-person exhibitions were organized in museums and art galleries across Europe, both Americas, Japan, and Australia, day." the search giant wrote As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a state visit to the US, the White House on Tuesday said there will be discussions between Modi and US President Joe Biden on meaningful, tangible, deliverables in several different categories, including the development of people-to-people ties. You can expect to see meaningful, tangible, deliverables in several different categories. One would be global health. We cooperated very very strongly with India to address Covid 19. You will see them talking about deliverables in the realm of the climate crisis, and addressing climate change," said John Kirby, the US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications in a press conference on Tuesday. Modi is expected to hold talks on various issues with President Biden. You will certainly hear them talk about defence cooperation. You will hear some discussions on deliverables with respect to emerging technologies," Kirby said. He further said that the two leaders will also focus on strengthening and deepening people-to-people ties, adding that this factor will be guiding the relationship between the two countries in future. And lastly, also people-to-people ties and you will hear both leaders talk about ways in which we can make more enriching people-to-people, cultural, educational exchanges, that we already have, deepening them, making them more meaningful, because that really is the root of the strength of the bilateral relationship, 10-15 years out," Kirby said. He added, In the future, it would be the young people who would be the leaders of both countries. So, we want to make sure that we are investing properly in their growth, development, mutual understanding, in the relationship that they are going to take forward in the future." During his visit to New York, Modi will meet CEOs, Nobel laureates, economists, artists, scientists, scholars, entrepreneurs, academicians and health sector experts on Tuesday. US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of Modi. (With inputs from agencies) Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived New York on Tuesday on the first leg of his maiden state visit to the US. He received a rousing welcome upon his arrival with Indian-American community members cheering him and raising slogans in his favour. Landed in New York City. Looking forward to the programmes here including interaction with thought leaders and the Yoga Day programme tomorrow, 21st June," Modi tweeted. Modi was received at the airport by Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu and India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj. From the airport, Modi travelled to the Lotte New York Palace Hotel where Indian diaspora members were waiting for him since morning. In his departure statement, Modi had said this special invitation" from President Biden and the First Lady for a state visit is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between the democracies. I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community," the prime minister said. I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported India's proposal in December 2014 to recognise an International Day of Yoga," he said. Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, who will host him at a state dinner on June 22. The visit includes an address by the prime minister to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. From New York, Modi will travel to Washington D.C. where he will hold talks with President Biden. Modi noted that President Biden and he have had the opportunity to meet several times since his last official visit to the US in September 2021. This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership," he said. Modi said his discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders will provide an opportunity to consolidate bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity). (With inputs from PTI ) International Day of Yoga is celebrated on June 21 across the world every year. A large number of events take place in different countries on the Yoga Day. Union Minister of State for Culture Meenakashi Lekhi will lead a yoga session at Purana Qila in Delhi tomorrow. The Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with the Archaeological Survey of India, is organizing this special yoga session at Purana Qila, an official said as quoted by the news agency PTI. This year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the 9th International Day of Yoga session at the UN headquarters in New York from 8:00-9:00 am EST on June 21. Nepal has already started Yoga Day celebrations a day ahead. A large number of Yoga enthusiasts, along with Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava and Tourism Minister performed Yoga at Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha ahead of International Day of Yoga tomorrow. Take a look at the video below, The Theme for International Yoga Day 2023 is Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam" which represents our shared desire for One Earth, One Family, One Future" In September 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed to observe the International Day of Yoga during his address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Due to his relentless efforts, the UNGA, on 11 December 2014, proclaimed 21 June as the International Day of Yoga. Yoga has gained global popularity over time, with millions of people practicing it as a means to improve their overall well-being and health in a holistic manner. It combines physical postures, breathing exercises, and meditation which not only helps to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression but also improves flexibility, strength, balance, and endurance. Yoga sessions will be held at India's research stations in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, besides in countries falling along and near the prime meridian line to mark International Yoga Day on June 21. An official stated that yoga will be performed at Indian naval bases, ports and marine vessels in 34 countries including the USA, Russia, Portugal and Morocco. In India, the Yoga Day celebration will be led by Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. (With inputs from agencies) Dozens of US lawmakers on Tuesday wrote to US President Joe Biden to raise with Prime Minister Narendra Modi areas of concern". They also asked Biden to discuss with Modi the full range of issues important to a successful, strong, and long-term ties between India and the US. The U.S. lawmakers said they were concerned about religious intolerance, press freedoms, internet access and the targeting of civil society groups. We do not endorse any particular Indian leader or political party that is the decision of the people of India but we do stand in support of the important principles that should be a core part of American foreign policy," said the letter, led by Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representative Pramila Jayapal. As longtime supporters of a strong US-India relationship, we also believe that friends can and should discuss their differences in an honest and forthright way," said the letter signed by 75 lawmakers, including Indian-American lawmaker Pramila Jayapal. That is why we respectfully request that - in addition to the many areas of shared interests between India and the US - you also raise directly with Prime Minister Modi areas of concern," the letter said. Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, who will host him at a state dinner on June 22. Describing India as an important member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad) and a crucial partner for stability in the Indo-Pacific, the letter said that the lawmakers support the deepening strategic partnership between the two countries. You have once again made respect for human rights, press freedom, religious freedom, and pluralism core tenets of American foreign policy. Moreover, these tenets are necessary to the functioning of true democracy. In order to advance these values with credibility on the world stage, we must apply them equally to friend and foe alike, just as we work to apply these same principles here in the United States," it said. (With inputs from agencies) This week, Americans will once again be treated to the scenes of bonhomie that have come to mark visits by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US: cheering crowds of Indian-Americans, warm photo-ops with leaders of both parties, and a triumphant speech to a joint session of Congress. No doubt Modi will declare that India and the US have grown closer than ever. A few joint programs will be announced. And most casual observers will conclude that all is well with what has been breathlessly described as the most important relationship of the 21st century. All is not, in fact, well. India has been visibly unenthusiastic about condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and discontent has built up in New Delhi over expectations that it should declare itself on the Wests side" in the conflict. Meanwhile, the US foreign policy establishment has belatedly woken up to Indias unwillingness to jump on any US-led bandwagon. A series of recent essays and op-eds have questioned where the Indo-US partnership is heading. Some of the blame, according to these pieces, must be assigned to Indias democratic backsliding" under Modi, which has opened up a gulf in values between the worlds two biggest democracies. That argument has considerably intensified New Delhis resentment of US lecturing." As far as Indias foreign policy elites are concerned, values are a distraction: Mutual concern about an aggressive and coercive China has brought New Delhi and Washington together and little else is required to ensure the relationship grows ever closer. Whatever Indias attitude toward a free press or minority rights, its size and location ensure it cannot be abandoned by the US. At this point, not many US officials would disagree. In practice, however, values do matter. Having a shared set of organizing principles allows governments to trust one another and thus to make deals that last. Before Modi came to power a decade ago, both US and Indian leaders believed precisely this that common values, even more than shared interests, dictated a closer relationship. The expectation that liberal democratic principles would put us on the same page of history pushed the bilateral relationship beyond Cold War-era acrimony. The landmark deals struck by US President George W. Bush and Indias then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were not transactional in nature. Indeed, they represented a leap of faith on both sides. Choosing to strengthen ties with India despite few immediate benefits for the US represented, as one commentator said at the time, one of the few foreign policy successes" of the Bush years, as India would grow into a new role as a leader of the free world. The breakthrough came about because Indian leaders believed their nations future lay with other liberal democracies and because the US, in Bushs words, wanted to enlist Indias leadership in freedoms cause." Hope of this sort emboldens you to take long-term decisions. India opposed the Iraq war, did not send troops to Afghanistan, and was dissatisfied with continued US support for Pakistan. But that did not matter, because it seemed the arc of history would bring us together. Todays less hopeful, less trusting relationship limits the progress that the two nations can make. The Quad which also includes Japan and Australia looks less and less likely to grow into the Indo-Pacific NATO that China fears. Both the US and India see fewer benefits from trading with each other than they did a decade ago. There are areas, of course, that continue to drive the relationship forward. Defense is one, investment flows another. Yet both of these require long-term commitments, which are harder to make in an atmosphere of declining trust. While Indian decision-makers may want US arms, they balk at the possibility that their supply might one day be interrupted because of a breakdown in relations. US companies may not want to invest in Indias defense sector if, in the future, politics gets in the way of profit. And so the various deals that may be announced this week India may start co-producing GE jet engines, for example are small in comparison to Indias potential needs. Tensions over values thus impose hard constraints on the Indo-US relationship. Unfortunately, the very things we expected would bring us together, our democratic traditions, are now driving us apart. It is impossible to imagine a US president being applauded in New Delhi today for a speech about standing with reformers and dissidents and civil society organizations" because history is on their side." Yet Bush was, in 2006. Jettisoning our search for shared values would be a mistake. When Modis predecessor addressed a joint session of Congress, he put it rather well: There are partnerships based on principle and partnerships based on pragmatism. We can embark on a partnership that draws on principle as well as pragmatism." One supports and magnifies the other. Until this generation of leaders remembers that fact, the US-India partnership will continue to underperform. 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." Odisha has been witnessing frequent power outages over the past few days. The state Congress called upon people not to pay pending electricity bills till they get an uninterrupted power supply, according to a report published by PTI. When party workers staged a protest and gheraoed GRIDCO on Monday, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattnayak gave a call to people for not paying pending bills till a proper power supply. The protesters held banners and raised anti-government slogans at the GRIDCO office. They also attempted to barge into the premises by breaking the barricades. However, police personnel controlled the situation. Speaking to media persons, Pattnayak said that the state government 5,000 crore to the distribution company for infrastructure development, but now the Energy minister is saying that the power outage is due to poor infrastructure. Around 20,000 crore was earmarked for electricity infrastructure development. Where is the remaining 15,000 crore? People were suffering for no fault of theirs. We appeal to people not to pay pending electricity dues till they get uninterrupted power," he said. Congress MLA Suresh Routray also alleged that the people in the state were suffering while Odisha supplies coal to other states, as per PTI reports. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also gheraoed the Tata Power" >Tata Power Central Odisha Distribution Limited (TPCODL) office in Dhenkanal on Monday while protesting the power outage in the district. The protestors threatened to call Dhenkanal bandh if TPCODL fails to address the power outage in the district. Later on, the protest was called off after the TPCODL executive engineer assured of an uninterrupted power supply. BJP activists also staged a demonstration before the Tata Power office in Balasores Soro protesting the power outage in the area. (With PTI inputs) LOS ANGELESWicked Sensual Care, the reigning StorErotica Lubricant Company of the Year, today announced that it has received the 2023 nomination for the same product category. StorErotica will once again honor excellence within the pleasure products industry during its 16th Annual SE Awards ceremony, scheduled to take place at the ANME Founders Show on July 11. A Wicked Sensual Care representative said, "It fills us with gratitude to once again be honored with Storeroticas Lubricant Company of the Year nomination. We extend our heartfelt appreciation to our industry peers who have bestowed this recognition upon us. Their acknowledgment reaffirms our commitment to excellence and our drive to continually push boundaries within the pleasure products space. This nomination serves as a testament to the efforts and dedication of our entire team as well as our distribution and retail partners." The StorErotica awards will be hosted by the renowned "Curator of Pleasure" Kit Richardson. Richardson has experience in musical theater, international human rights, and sex education. Currently serving as the head of retail at the Museum of Sex in New York City, Richardson is a certified sexpert. Nominations for the awards were selected by the readers of StorErotica Magazine. Balloting is live and will remain active until Wednesday, June 21. Potential voters who did not receive an email ballot are encouraged to contact StorEroticas Kristofer Kay directly at [email protected]. For real-time updates, including sexual health and wellness tips from resident sex educator Jessica Drake, join the conversation on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. For more information, contact a Wicked Sensual Care sales representative, or email [email protected]. To learn more about Wicked Sensual Care, visit WickedSensualCare.com. For review samples, contact [email protected]. US President Joe Biden Tuesday said the risks of artificial intelligence (AI) to national security and the economy need to be addressed, adding that his administration would seek advice from experts on the subject. "My administration is committed to safeguarding Americans' rights and safety while protecting privacy, to addressing bias and misinformation, to making sure AI systems are safe before they are released," Reuters reported quoting Biden as saying at an event in San Francisco. Biden said he was committed to making sure AI systems are safe before they are released." The US president reiterated his calls for Congress to pass bipartisan privacy legislation. Social media has already shown us the harm that powerful technology can do without the right safeguards in place. Thats why I said in the State of Union that the Congress needs to pass bipartisan privacy legislation to impose strict limits on personal data collection, ban targeted advertising to our children, and require companies to put health and safety first," Bloomberg reported quoting Biden. The president further said Vice President Kamala Harris will next month convene civil rights and consumer protection groups to discuss AI concerns. Several governments across the globe are considering how to mitigate the dangers of the emerging technology, which has experienced a boom in investment and consumer popularity in recent months after the release of ChatGPT by OpenAI. Regulators across the globe have been gearing up to draw rules governing the use of generative AI, which can create text and images, the impact of which proponents compare to that from the arrival of the internet. The Federal Trade Commission also said it is monitoring the use of artificial intelligence tools. The US president is likely to discuss the topic with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his ongoing US visit. Recently, the US president had discussed the issue with other world leaders, including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who was on a state visit to the United States. The British government, who is organising first global summit on artificial intelligence safety later this year, agreed with the US government to work together on AI safety. "I don't think ever in the history of human endeavour has there been as fundamental potential technological change as is presented by artificial intelligence. It is staggering," Biden had added. (With inputes from agencies) Chinese vendors are capitalising on the surging demand for high-end Nvidia chips, particularly the A100 artificial intelligence (AI) chips, despite export restrictions imposed by the United States. The popular Huaqiangbei electronics area in Shenzhen, known for its wide range of electronic goods, including drones and camera parts, has become a hotspot for those seeking the sought-after chips. While the chips are not publicly advertised, discreet inquiries can lead to acquiring them. According to anonymous vendors who spoke with Reuters, the A100 chips, manufactured by the US chip designer Nvidia, are available for a staggering price of $20,000 per unitdouble the regular cost. Though it is not illegal to buy or sell high-end US chips in China, the US export restrictions have given rise to an underground market. Vendors are cautious not to attract attention from either US or Chinese authorities. Also Read: How to make the perfect Father's Day Pizza? ChatGPT answers The export restrictions were initiated by President Joe Biden's administration in an effort to impede Chinese AI and supercomputing development amid mounting political and trade tensions. However, the global AI boom, fueled by the success of OpenAI's ChatGPT, has generated an unprecedented demand for high-end chips, with Nvidia's microprocessors widely regarded as the best for machine learning tasks. While the exact volume of A100 and H100 chips entering China remains unknown, Reuters found that numerous vendors in both Hong Kong and mainland China can readily procure small quantities of A100 chips. Buyers typically include app developers, startups, researchers, and gamers. Notably, some Chinese local authorities are also among the purchasers. Nvidia, in response to the situation, stated that they do not permit exports of the A100 or H100 to China and instead offer reduced-capability substitutes that comply with US regulations. The company added that they would take appropriate action against customers found to be in violation of their agreement. Also Read: China won't send arms to Russia for Ukraine war, says Antony Blinken Chinese vendors acquire the chips through various means, such as obtaining excess stock after Nvidia ships large quantities to major US firms or importing them via companies incorporated in other locations, including India, Taiwan, and Singapore. However, these procurement methods result in limited quantities, insufficient for building sophisticated AI models from scratch. Despite the relative ease with which these chips can be obtained, analysts believe that stricter enforcement may follow if China poses a more significant threat in the future. Moreover, the current premiums commanded by Chinese vendors for A100 and H100 chips could diminish as many Chinese AI startups are expected to eventually withdraw from the market. (With Reuters inputs) New Delhi: Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and chairman of Infosys and the founding chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), on Tuesday, donated 315 crore to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay. This contribution builds upon his previous grants of 85 crore to the premier engineering school, bringing the cumulative value of his support to 400 crore. A memorandum of understanding was signed today in Bengaluru by Nilekani and Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri, director of IIT Bombay. Nilekani joined IIT Bombay in 1973 for a bachelors degree in electrical engineering. The donation marks 50 years of his association with the institute. It also stands as one of the largest donations made by an alumnus in India, IIT Bombay said in a statement. Over the past 50 years, Nilekani has stayed connected with the institute in multiple roles. He served on the board of the IIT Bombay Heritage Foundation from 1999 to 2009 and was on the board of governors from 2005 to 2011. Nilekanis initial contribution totalling up to 85 crore over the years, was instrumental in constructing new hostels, co-financing the School of Information Technology, and establishing Indias first university incubator, aimed at boosting the Indian startup ecosystem. He was awarded the prestigious Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999, followed by an Honorary Doctorate in 2019. Chaudhuri said that this donation would significantly accelerate the growth of IIT Bombay and would firmly set it on a path of global leadership. IIT Bombay is committed to building research and academic excellence that can make India a leader in scientific discovery and its translation towards solving the pressing challenges facing humankind. Nandans contribution will catalyse philanthropic contributions towards advancing research and development at universities in India," he said. According to the statement, IIT Bombays strategic plan for the coming decade includes setting up centres of excellence in areas such as AI, green energy, quantum computing, nurturing a deep tech startup ecosystem, and providing best-in-class research, living, and academic facilities to students and faculty. Flagstaff Unified School Districts (FUSD) board was presented with spring benchmark testing and ACT results at its meeting last week. Overall, the testing showed that students had made progress during the 2022-2023 school year. The district currently measures student progress using two benchmark tests administered in the fall, winter and spring of each year. Those in elementary school take AIMSWeb+, while middle schoolers take Study Island. The key difference between the two is that AIMSWeb+ is a norm-referenced test, meaning it compares to national averages in percentiles, while Study Island is criterion-referenced, using comparisons to state standards, similar to a typical classroom test. This means Study Island results cant be compared to the state or national average, said director of research and assessment Mike Vogler, who presented the results Tuesday. This is part of the reason FUSD is in the process of switching to using the AIMSWeb+ benchmark for middle schoolers as well. Switching the middle school to the same benchmarking tool used for elementary students also allows the district to make comparisons between a wider range of grade levels. Right now, I can't do that, Vogler said. I cant really give you a good sense of how our kids are doing in 7th grade compared to two years prior or even 6th grade, so we would like to be able to give our community, our students, our teachers, our principals better information and hopefully better access to intervention tools. Benchmark results For both benchmark tests, the hope is for the number of students in the average and above-average categories to increase, with a corresponding downward trend in the number of students falling in the below average and well below average categories. This means that on the graphs Vogler presented, the blue trend lines moving down between the fall, winter and spring benchmarks is good news for the district. Students throughout elementary school showed progress in both English and math at each grade level, with 1st graders showing the most improvement in both categories and second and 3rd graders showing similarly high levels of improvement in math. Strengths for kindergarten and 1st graders included phoneme segmentation, concepts and applications and nonsense word fluency in English and concepts and applications in math, while their weakest categories were naming letters and numbers, word sounds, quantity (kindergarten) and word reading (first grade). For 2nd through 5th graders, strengths included silent reading fluency, mental computation and concepts, and applications in math, while areas for improvement were reading comprehension, vocabulary and number sense fluency. Similarly, the middle school Study Island results showed improvements in all grades and subjects between the fall and spring assessments, with similar levels of growth across both grade levels and subjects. (The changes appear more drastic on the math chart because scores are shown on a range from 80-100%, rather than 0-100%.) The majority of students in 7th and 8th grade (slightly more than 85%) had no change in year-on-year ELA proficiency in the 2022-2023 school year, with roughly equal amounts of students either improving or declining in proficiency. Math scores showed similar results, with about 90% of students in both grades showing no change in proficiency. The changing proficiency levels in math had more variety between the two grades, however, with 7.47% of 7th graders showing improvements (compared to 0.8% declining), while a similar amount of 8th graders declined in proficiency (7.53%, compared to 1.6% who had improved). Sixth graders were not included in these charts, Vogler noted, because there were no previous scores to compare them to, as this was their first year taking the assessment. The highest scores for 6th through 8th graders on Study Island were in writing and language and ratios and proportions (which, Vogler noted, had been one of the categories with the lowest scores in the previous school year), with the district seeing increases in functions, geometry and statistics. Their lowest scores were in informational text and geometry. ACT scores Vogler's presentation also analyzed ACT scores for 11th graders in the district, comparing them to statewide results. (The presentation did not include scores for state standardized testing the Arizona Academic Standards Assessment, or AASA -- as he said the results had not yet been finalized across the state.) ACT scores appear to be increasing at FUSD, he noted, with science and reading scores increasing from the previous school year (from 17.6 to 18.2 for science and from 18 to 18.6 for reading) to above the state average (which for both categories was 17.8 this spring). District math results showed a continuation of a slight downward trend from the year before, while English scores decreased slightly (after rising slightly the previous year) and writing scores stayed mostly the same at FUSD. Composite scores for ACT testing showed improvement from the previous year (the districts scores had been on a downward trend since fall 2020, though the decline in last years spring testing was much slighter than the year prior), rising to just above the state average for the first time. The districts composite score was 17.7 this spring, compared to the states 17.6. Vogler noted, however, that the ACT scores over time represent different classes of students, so they arent necessarily a direct comparison. He also said the number of students taking the ACT was lower in 2020, due to the pandemic and has been increasing the years since. Areas of strength for FUSD 11th graders included language knowledge, craft and structure, data interpretation and writing overall. Among the places they needed to grow were English conventions, algebra and functions. Both this year and last year, Vogler said he reported that under 10% of FUSD students were STEM-ready, based on a cut-score created by combining math and science scores. This group of students did not take the ACT Aspire, so there was no data available to compare their progress over time. Both the class before and after them have, so this comparison will be available for next years 11th graders. Future testing focuses for FUSD include data sharing across the district and focusing on essential learning outcomes. Rather than just trying to focus on everything that could possibly be tested by focusing on a few things and having students learn those skills really well, were hoping and believing that that will increase student achievement, Vogler said of that last focus. If students are learning more, their test scores will be better. The first will be aided by the collaborative teams and professional learning communities FUSD is already prioritizing, he said. Trying to put that data more into the hands of teachers to help them have more of an awareness of information thats available and also having that kind of dialogue between not only each other, but as a district learning community talking about what we can do to help students learn more and be more successful. A recording of the presentation is available starting about 2 hours and 10 minutes into the meeting at vimeo.com/835483190. The slideshow, with graphs, can be found in the agenda. A photo of the scene taken at 7:00 p.m. by the Murray County Fire Department. By understanding how these scams work and taking precautions, you can protect yourself from falling victim to such fraudulent activities. Here are some key points to keep in mind: Its a tough time to be a parent, and for some species, its even a tough time to become a parent, thanks to light pollution. Firefly males attempting to attract mates are hindered by the high levels of light on the planet, which means entering the world of fatherhood has never been harder for them. Bioluminescence is the key to attracting female fireflies, who prefer the most conspicuous males the ones who flash most frequently, most brightly, or for the longest time. Males are trying to show off their light-producing and signaling capabilities to impress females and get them to flash back in response. This courtship with light is tricky when the lights are on, which is an issue in many urban areas. Females are most responsive to bright flashes of light, but in areas with lots of light pollution, even bright male flashes dont charm or interest females like those same flashes do in proper darkness. The fireflies who must cope with light pollution do adjust as best they can. In general, when the ambient light is more intense, males compensate by changing their flashing behavior. They produce brighter flashes of light, but generate fewer of them overall. They lower their flash frequency, measured by the number of flashes per minute. Even when males do light up in the face of light pollution, females will not respond if they can barely see the males or do not consider them sufficiently flashy. One study looked at the effect of specific wavelengths of light rather than a broad spectrum of light on the flashing behavior of fireflies. Different colors of light had different impacts on firefly courtship behavior. When exposed to light with a wavelength of 533 nanometers or less (green, blue, and violet light), males gave flashes that were extra bright but did not flash as often. When males were exposed to light with a wavelength of 597 nanometers or more (orange and red light), they did not adjust their flashing behavior at all, which makes sense since fireflies are unable to perceive light in that part of the color spectrum. That is useful information for making policy decisions related to light pollution because light of those colors may be less damaging to firefly populations. In our International Dark Sky City of Flagstaff, these insects could prosper in a way that is not possible in many other areas of the world, so its a shame we dont have fireflies in the west. Fireflies need darkness to thrive, and thats becoming increasingly rare here on the earth. If its too bright out, males dont signal at all, which is why there is no firefly courtship during the day or when the moon is full. Now fireflies are up against light pollution every night with high levels of light from streetlights, porch lights and other sources of artificial light. Whether there is light pollution in an area or not, the brightest courtship behavior attracts females, so its the flashiest males who become dads. Households living in the greater Edgeworthstown area are being advised to be on their guard for short term water supply interruptions as major upgrade works get underway this week. Irish Water announced on Monday it was progressing work to progress a significant project to replace almost 3kms of aged water mains from Bracklion to Edgeworthstown. Programme Manager, for Irish Water's National Leakage Reduction Programme, Matt Thompson is looking forward to getting crews on site. Old and damaged water mains remain a huge source of leakage and continue to impact communities right across Ireland, causing low pressure and supply disruption. Replacing these old water mains in poor condition will eliminate existing leaks and significantly reduce the amount of clean drinking water lost into the ground. We would like to thank the community in advance for their patience and cooperation during the works. We know based on previous experiences that the short-term inconvenience will be overshadowed by the lasting benefits. Where water mains are being installed along Bracklin Road traffic management will be in place, however, local and emergency access will always be maintained. The works may involve some short-term water interruptions;, however, the project team will ensure that customers are given a minimum of 48 hours notice prior to any planned water interruptions. The project is being carried out by Farrans Construction on behalf of Irish Water and is due to be completed by the end of September. A woman charged with allegedly biting a security guard at Longford's Center Parcs leisure resort has indicated her intention to fully contest the charges against her. Forty-year-old Ann Marie Roche, of Baskin Lane, Cloughran, Swords, Dublin appeared at a sitting of Longford District Court this afternoon. Ms Roche had initially appeared last month to face two assault causing harm charges following an incident on June 10 last year. On that occasion, Judge Bernadette Owens was told while no medical reports were at hand, the case centred on two separate bites to the thumb area and palm of a security guards left hand. The court was told both alleged bites punctured the skin of the alleged victim. At today's sitting of Longford District Court, defence solicitor Anthony Feeney entered a not guilty plea on behalf of his client. Asked as to how long a hearing into the case would take, Sgt Conor McShane, for the State estimated it would take in the region of two hours. This, he said, was largely based on the fact the prosecution were expected to hear evidence from up to six witnesses. Ms Roche was remanded on continuing bail to a sitting of Longford District Court on September 12 when, a date for hearing, is likely to be made. Longford Summer festival is set for a sensational return after a three year Covid induced absence. The festival returned to the streets of Longford town in 2017 and scaled rapidly to a mammoth nine day festival in 2019. Highlights from 2019 included the recently deceased Christy Dignam and the late Liam Reilly of the famed Bagatelle. Aided by grant aid from the LEADER fund, it was one of the biggest events in the Midlands that summer with a 30,000 plus attendance over the nine nights. Now the local committee have confirmed that the festival is set to return in July 13-16 for four nights. Confirming the return, Festival chairperson, Deputy Joe Flaherty, said: Unfortunately the LEADER funding isnt an option until 2024 but we didnt want to miss another year and now thanks to the support of our main sponsor Longford Municipal Council, we are able to return for four nights. Plans are already underway for 2024 and committee member, Eddie Valentine, added: There is a huge public demand to get the festival back and rather that wait on LEADER funding for 2024, we felt we should go with four nights for 2023. I want to thank the Municipal Council and also local publicans who are supporting the festivals return. The event will open on Thursday, July 13 with Johnny Brady, whilst its the turn of country sensation, Nathan Carter on the Friday night. It will be an emotional return for Bagatelle & friends on the Saturday night as they return to remember Liam Reilly, who sadly passed away in January 2021. Explained committee member, Andy Byrne Jnr: Bagatelle & friends are doing a limited number of Irish gigs to remember Liam with invited guests and specifically asked for a slot in Longford. Pride of place on a packed Sunday programme will be local band Audio Pilot, who are performing to acclaim across the country. Added Andy Byrne Jnr: The lads are selling out shows across the country and its great to be able to showcase them in their home town and its fantastic to have a local band bring the curtains down on what hopefully will be four great nights. Two survivors of childhood sexual abuse have told the Central Criminal Court how they spoke out to protect children and encourage others to come forward. The men described how they were abused by Patrick Killally (45) while one of them was aged between six and nine years old and the second boy was aged between 12 and 14 years old. One of the men described how he hoped speaking out would save more kids from this paedophile and may give others the courage to come out. The second man told Mr Justice Paul Burns: I cant let any child go through this again. Killally was a teenager when he sexually assaulted the first child and an adult when he began two years of serious sexual abuse against the second boy. Killally, of Killane Drive, Edenderry, Co Offaly, was convicted by a jury following a trial in Mullingar earlier this year of three counts of sexual assault of the first boy on a date unknown between 1992 and 1996. He was convicted of 40 counts of sexual assault, attempted anal rape, oral rape and anal rape of another boy over two years between 2005 and 2007. The court heard Killally, who has no previous convictions, does not accept the verdicts of the jury. One of the men, who was seriously abused by Killally over two years, told the court in his victim impact statement that he had lived with a weight upon his shoulders for 18 years. He told the court how beginning in 2005 a cloud came over his life, which increased in weight to become a wall and a burden. He said as a young adolescent all he had wanted to do was tell, but that his trust in people weakened and he feared people sneering or calling him names. The man said at one point his dignity and pride was so bruised and his trust so broken, he felt suicide was the only option. His plan failed but he was still too afraid to speak out. He described how after many failed relationships he met his wife and she became his rock. He said memories came flooding back when he had his own family, but this time suicide was not an option, as he had so much to live for and he felt the need to protect children. He described giving a statement to Det Gda Bradley at Edenderry Garda Station which had been the first time to tell his story and get it off his chest. He said in May 2023, at the end of Killallys trial, the wall around him began to crumble and the weight lifted off his shoulders. I dont have to keep a secret any more, he said, adding he now knew other children were safe. He said he was putting his trust and belief into the justice system to make life better and safer. The other man who was sexually assaulted by Killally as a child described how he had suffered throughout his life with anger issues and little care for his wellbeing. He said he carried the scars of the abuse but would not let it define him. He outlined how the abuse continues to affect his relationships, his family and his efforts to keep his own children safe. The man said he hoped coming forward would save more kids from this paedophile and may give others the courage to come out. Detective Garda Joseph Bradley told Desmond Dockery SC, prosecuting, that the first boy was sexually abused on one occasion when he aged between six and nine years old. Killally was aged between 14 and 18 years old at the time of this incident. The second boy was seriously abused over two years involving oral and anal rape on a regular basis by Killaly while he was aged between 12 and 14 years old. Killaly was aged 27 to 30 years old during this offending. The court heard both boys were warned by Killally not to tell what was happening to them. Mr Dockery said the Direction of Public Prosecutions' view was that the rape case was at the uppermost of the more serious category, indicating a headline sentence of ten to 15 years before mitigation. Colm Smyth SC, defending, told the court Killally maintains his innocence and submitted he had led a blameless life in the intervening years. He handed up a number of testimonials and a medical report. Mr Justice Burns remanded Killally in custody and adjourned sentencing until July 10. The High Court has approved a Personal Insolvency Arrangement allowing a sales assistant write off more than 1.1m of debt owed mainly to financial institutions. Mr Justice Alexander Owens approved a PIA which will allow 52-year-old Fergal Shine, with an address at, Waterville, Bealnamulla, Athlone, Co Roscommon to return to solvency. The court heard that Mr Shine got into financial difficulties over personal guarantees he had signed in respect of the debts of a construction he had shared with his father and brother. The company got into difficulties in 2007, resulting in Mr Shine and his relatives taking measures including selling assets they held to reinvest in the company, and they stopped taking a wage from the firm. Despite their efforts the company went into liquidations in 2008. Arising out of the guarantees several judgements were obtained against Mr Shine. Arising out of his financial difficulties Mr Shine entered into the insolvency process and obtained the services of Personal Insolvency Practioner PIP Mr Colm Arthur. The PIP put together a PIA, which the Circuit Court had refused to approve. That decision was appealed by the PIP to the High Court. Under the terms of the PIA, which is 13 months in duration, Mr Shine will retain his family home, which he shares with his wife and their three children. He had unsecured debts of just over 1m, which is owed to parties including the Bank of Ireland, and building suppliers including the Chadwicks Group and Ganleys Hardware, are to be written off in return for small dividends. Mr Shine will contribute a lump sum of 3,000 towards the PIA, with 2,100 being paid to the PIP to cover the cost of the PIA, while the remainder will be paid to his creditors. In addition, under the PIA the mortgage, where 362,000 remains due and owing to Pepper Finance, on his family home, which has an estimated value of 245,000, is to be restructured. Over 110,000 of what is owed on the mortgage is to be written off while the remainder will be repaid over the next 240 months (20 years). In order to repay his debts, the court heard that Mr Shine had sold interests he held in assets including an apartment and sites of land. The proceeds of those sales are to go to his creditors. Keith Farry Bl, for the PIP told the court that Mr Shine's creditors would do better under the proposed PIA compared to having Mr Shine adjudicated a bankrupt. Mr Justice Owens said he was satisfied that in this case all the required criteria that would allow the court to approve the PIA had been met. There were no objections to the application. Local News By Chris Boyle Published: June 19 2023 Legislation Includes New Requirements for Distribution Centers To Disclose Work Speed Data to Current and Former Employees. Governor Kathy Hochul has announced that legislation protecting warehouse workers from unreasonably demanding work quotas is now in effect. The Warehouse Worker Protection Act, signed in December, includes new requirements for distribution centers to disclose work speed data to current and former employees to inform them about their job performance and rights in the workplace. The legislation also protects workers from disciplinary action or firing exclusively because of a failure to meet undisclosed quotas or performance standards, including those that do not allow for proper breaks. "New York's warehouse workers deserve to be treated with fairness, dignity, and respect, and we are making a significant stride toward achieving that," Governor Hochul said. "I was proud to sign the Warehouse Worker Protection Act to address unreasonable work quotas and provide warehouse workers with protections from retaliation by their employers. With this legislation now in effect, we are holding firm to our commitment to ensure fairer and safer workplaces for all New Yorkers." New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said, "Our warehouse workers play a significant role in keeping our supply chain moving, and they deserve to be treated fairly and equitably. I thank Governor Hochul and the legislature for putting the Warehouse Worker Protection Act in place to ensure these workers are not taken advantage of and are given the protections they deserve." With the Warehouse Worker Protection Act now in effect, employees can request quota information at any time, and are protected from: Being forced to work through meals to make quota Limiting use of bathroom facilities to make quota Retaliation from an employer relating to requesting quota information or reporting violations related to quotas This law applies to employers and employees at warehouse distribution centers. Under the law, a warehouse distribution center is defined using the North American Industry Classification System codes for warehousing and storage (excluding farm product warehousing and storage), merchant wholesalers, electronic shopping and mail-order houses, and couriers and express delivery services. If an employee believes their employer is in violation of these protections, they can request a written description of the quota to which they are subject. They can also request a copy of the most recent 90 days of personal work speed data and a copy of the aggregate work speed data for similar employees at the same establishment during the same period. Employers are responsible for distributing this information no later than 14 calendar days after a request is made. Employers must share quotas with employees through a written description (in their preferred language) of each quota they are expected to meet. This must be done within 30 days of an employee's start date. For more information on the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, visit the NYSDOL website. To report a violation of this law, email labor.sm.warehouse.worker.claims@labor.ny.gov. Mario Cilento, President of the New York State AFL-CIO, said, "Warehouse workers suffer serious work-related injuries at a rate more than twice the average for all private industries. These workers routinely spend entire shifts speeding through tasks in an attempt to meet quotas mandated by their employers, all too often suffering musculoskeletal and repetitive stress injuries as a result. The Warehouse Worker Protection Act provides long overdue limits to protect warehouse workers from inhumane quotas, and to protect them from retaliation for asserting their rights under this law. We thank Governor Hochul for once again prioritizing critical worker protections." Stu Appelbaum, President of RWDSU, said, "By signing the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, Governor Hochul took a major step toward protecting warehouse workers across New York State. This legislation is an important step in ensuring that workers are not forced to choose between their job and their safety. We look forward to a continued partnership with Governor Hochul and the Legislature on more solutions to keep workers safe." Crime By Chris Boyle Published: June 20 2023 Terry Smith Stole Thousands of Dollars of Merchandise. Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Terry Smith, 60, of Riverhead, was sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison for burglarizing a Riverhead Lowes Home Improvement Store in 2021. Retail theft will not be tolerated in Suffolk County, said District Attorney Tierney. Suffolk County residents and business owners can rest easy knowing that justice was served for a crime with damaging effects on our quality of life and economy. It is important for the community to know that those caught burglarizing and stealing from businesses, like this defendant, will be held responsible for their actions. My Office is not only dedicated to the safety and well-being of all our communities, but also to seeking and obtaining justice and accountability for every crime. According to the investigation and the defendants admissions during his plea allocution, on November 10, 2021 and on November 25, 2021, Smith stole several items and burglarized the Lowes Home Improvement Store on Old Country Road in Riverhead. On November 10, 2021, Smith stole numerous home improvement items from the store including hedge trimmers, spray gun kits, and a chainsaw having a value in excess of $3,000. Smith was captured on surveillance video exiting the store without paying for the items, with the items in a store shopping cart. On November 25, 2021, Smith returned to the Lowes Home Improvement Store and broke in by smashing the sliding glass entry doors with a metal beam. After the glass doors were shattered, Smith entered the location and stole multiple power tools. Smith quickly escaped but was again caught on surveillance video. Following the commission of these crimes, an investigation took place and Smith was swiftly located, identified, and placed under arrest. At the time of his arrest, Smith was wearing the same pants that he was observed wearing in the surveillance video during the burglary on November 25, 2021. On May 16, 2023, Smith pleaded guilty before Acting Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Richard I. Horowitz, to Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D felony, and Burglary in the Third Degree, a Class D felony. On June 14, 2023, Judge Horowitz sentenced Smith to two and a half years to five years in prison. Smith was represented by John Halverson, Esq. This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Maria Troulakis and Alexander Bopp of the Major Crime Bureau. The Wilbur Fire near Clints Well is now at 41% containment, forest officials announced Monday. The lightning-caused wildfire is now about 7,938 acres in size as firefighters continue to work the blaze. Meanwhile, firefighters near the Grand Canyon continue to manage two lightning-caused fires as well. The Ridge Fire, about 7 miles southeast of Tusayan near Skinner Tank, is now at 611 acres and moving south. The Hull Fire, near Lower Hull Tank and Hull Cabin along the Kaibab National Forest and Grand Canyon National Park boundary, is 356 acres. Both are being used by fire officials to improve forest health and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire in a similar way to how the Coconino National Forest has utilized several fires this spring, including the Wilbur Fire. Crews on the scene of both blazes are patrolling, collecting data on fire behavior and on-the-ground conditions, and preparing roads and other natural control features by clearing any brush and burning areas to create perimeters around the fires, officials said. Smoke from the Hull and Ridge fires may be visible from various forest roads in and around the vicinity Highway 180 and State Route 64. Within Grand Canyon National Park, smoke impacts may be most significant along Desert View Drive. Wilbur Fire Over the weekend fire crews patrolled and secured the Wilbur Fires edge along Forest Road 142 and Highway 260 near FR 144. Crews conducted back burns along FR 616 to FR 149 utilizing interior forest roads and continuing west to the 2016 Corduroy Fire scar. Firefighters and the Arizona Department of Transportation road crews will continue to remain on scene overnight to monitor the fire perimeter and smoke conditions along highways and provide for public safety. Back burns were halted Monday with high winds predicted. Fire officials said work was likely to start back up early Monday evening. Officials said on Tuesday they planned to continue burning along interior forest roads between FR 149 and State Route 260 if conditions allow. Drivers in the area may encounter smoke and diminished visibility along SR 87 and SR 260, officials warned. Road delays of 15 minutes will be in effect at the junction of and along SR 87 and SR 260 on Tuesday and Wednesday. For further information, please visit https://az511.gov. The Coconino National Forest issued an area closure to protect public health and ensure firefighter safety earlier this month. The full closure order and map are available at fs.usda.gov/alerts/coconino/alerts-notices. Impacts from smoke may be visible from multiple locations including the Verde Valley and along Lake Mary Road, SR 260 and SR 87. Smoke will remain visible as operations continue into the week. As temperatures cool overnight smoke may linger in drainages and valleys until daytime winds surface. (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers among London Main Market small-caps on Tuesday. ---------- SMALL-CAP - WINNERS ---------- Lookers PLC, up 34% at 118.8 pence, 12-month range 59.7p-119.58p. The automotive retail and service group agrees to a takeover offer from Global Auto Holdings of 120 pence a share in cash, which values the firm at GBP465.4 million. The offer is a 35% premium to the closing price of 88.7p on Monday. Global Auto is a related party to Alpha Auto Group, a private Canada-headquarter operator and consolidator of auto retail dealerships across North America. The board of Lookers said they believe the offer represents a "compelling proposition" for the firm's shareholders, and will unanimously recommend the offer at an upcoming court meeting and general meeting. ---------- abrdn Diversified Income & Growth Trust PLC, up 3.1% at 87.36p, 12-month range 80.34p-101p. The Edinburgh-based investor begins a strategic review, to consider how it can "best deliver value" to its shareholders. Says review is in light of the "material discount" of its shares to its net asset value, which has persisted for a "prolonged" period, despite initiatives taken by the board such as share buybacks. "The board will immediately consult with shareholders and welcomes their views on the best strategic option for the company," ADIG says. ---------- SMALL-CAP - LOSERS ---------- Braemar PLC, down 3.1% at 278.00p, 12-month range 231.1p-347p. The shipbroker says its chief financial officer, Nick Stone, will leave the firm at the end of July. Stone joined in 2019. Taking his place is Grant Foley, who joins from credit marketplace ClearScore, where he is CFO. Foley was "instrumental" to the initial public offering of CMC Markets PLC, when he held positions as CFO & chief operating officer at the company. ---------- By Elizabeth Winter, Alliance News senior markets reporter Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved. 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. Michael Shank, a resident of Montpelier, is director of engagement at the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance and adjunct professor at New York Universitys Center for Global Affairs and George Mason Universitys Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of Vermont News & Media. A campaigner for a Sikh nation to be carved out of Indias Punjab state who was wanted by Indian authorities was shot dead in Canada, police said Monday. Federal police said in a statement that a man was found in his pickup truck in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in Surrey, British Columbia, around 8:30 pm on Sunday, suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. The man died of his injuries at the scene, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police added. Police did not initially identify the victim, but later said he was 45-year-old Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the temples president who advocated for the creation of a Sikh state known as Khalistan. The later police statement said they were releasing his identity in hopes of advancing their investigation. We understand there is a lot of speculation regarding the motive of this homicide, but we are dedicated to learning the facts and letting the evidence lead our investigation, said Timothy Pierotti of the polices Integrated Homicide Investigation Team. Nijjar was wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism offenses and conspiracy to commit murder, which he reportedly denied to Canadian media. He had been warned by Canadas spy agency about threats against him, according to the World Sikh Organization of Canada, which said that he was assassinated in a targeted shooting. It pointed to the killings or suspicious deaths of other prominent Khalistan activists in recent months: Avtar Singh Khanda, in Britain, and Paramjit Singh Panjwar, in Pakistan. Indias Punjab state which is about 58 percent Sikh and 39 percent Hindu was rocked by a violent Khalistan separatist movement in the 1980s and early 1990s, in which thousands of people died. Today, the separatist movements most vocal advocates are primarily among the Punjabi diaspora. India has often complained to foreign governments, including Ottawa, about the activities of Sikh hardliners among the Indian diaspora who, it says, are trying to revive the insurgency. In March, Indian authorities summoned Canadas top diplomat in New Delhi after Sikh protesters gathered outside Indias diplomatic mission in Canada. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. The ASEAN should not stop exerting diplomatic pressure on the Myanmar junta to return to civilian rule What can you buy with $4 billion or P224 billion? More than enough, if youre an individual with even an outrageously extravagant lifestyle. But if youre a middle-income country still trying to recover from more than three years of lockdowns and job losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, its a modest sum that nonetheless can help boost economic activity. The $4 billion will come from the deep pockets of the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the form of a grant for the national governments socio-economic agenda and infrastructure projects for this year alone. This was a commitment made by ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during their recent meeting at the ADB headquarters. The money will be spent, among others, for the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge Project, the Davao Public Transport Modernization Project, and the Integrated Flood Resilience and Adaptation Project. In fact, the ADB has increased its financing to the Philippines by fourfold reaching a total US $12.7 billion between 2018 and 2022. Part of the grant will also go to helping address the countrys vulnerability to the adverse impacts of climate change due to its exposure to severe weather events This, the ADB said, will be a core priority of our assistance going forward. During the ADBs annual meeting in September last year, the financial institution announced its US $14 billion assistance package from 2022 to 2025 to help developing member countries address food security issues. The ADB was the Philippines top source of active Official Development Assistance (ODA) among 20 development partners in 2022, accounting for 34 percent (US$10.74 billion for 31 loans and 28 grants) of the US $31.95 billion of the total active ODA. From 2010 to 2022, ADBs annual loan financing for the Philippines averaged US $1.4 billion. Three loans amounting to US $1.10 billion have been signed with ADB within the first nine months of the Marcos administration. This goes to show that the ADB, a multilateral financing institution with headquarters in Manila, trusts the national government enough to keep funding for vital infrastructure and social development projects flowing at a constant rate. ASEAN on Myanmar violence Were glad the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in their recent summit in Labuan, Indonesia, called for an end to hostilities in military-ruled Myanmar to allow inclusive dialogue and humanitarian assistance. Their communique read: We are deeply concerned with ongoing violence in Myanmar and urge the immediate cessation of all forms of violence and the use of force to create a conducive environment for the safe and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance and inclusive national dialogues. This is a case of better late than never. Myanmars security situation has been deteriorating since its military seized power in a 2021 coup and embarked on a campaign to crush its opponents. The ASEAN summit took place days after unidentified assailants shot at a convoy carrying ASEAN diplomats and aid workers delivering supplies in western Myanmar, putting into doubt the juntas willingness to end the violence and ensure safe humanitarian access. The regional bloc had urged the junta to implement a five-point peace consensus in late 2021 that includes ending all hostilities and engaging all stakeholders. It barred the generals from attending high-level meetings until progress is made. We commend Indonesia for taking a lead role in getting the Myanmar junta to implement the five-point plan. As chair of ASEAN this year, Indonesia has also been quietly engaging Myanmars military, shadow government, and armed ethnic groups to kick-start peace talks. But no doubt, the ASEAN, which espouses a policy of non-intervention in members sovereign affairs, should really take a harder stance against Myanmar. The military junta appears hell-bent on ignoring worldwide opinion and holding on to power for as long as they can. It is true keeping Myanmar away from ASEAN meetings unless they shape up and take concrete steps to end military rule makes them exempt from accountability as a full-fledged member of the regional bloc. The ASEAN should not stop exerting diplomatic pressure on the Myanmar junta to return to civilian rule and allow the duly elected National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi to take their rightful place in the countrys political system. (Email: [email protected]) Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. How Germany's Economy is Turning Ugly This economic gauge "dipped back below zero in less than a year" In November 2020, when fears were rampant over a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the president of the European Central Bank called for economic stimulus (Reuters): Facing gloomy outlook, Lagarde calls for unlocking EU aid In December of 2020, what is known as the Next Generation EU package became operational. This economic aid was massive, amounting to more than 2 trillion at current prices. But you wouldn't know it by looking at what's going on in Germany. It took just 24 months for the European Union's largest economy to resume its decline. Here's an overview from the June 2023 Global Market Perspective, a monthly Elliott Wave International publication which covers an array of financial markets: German manufacturing orders (top left) dipped back below zero in less than a year. Industrial orders (bottom left), which had already rebounded before stimulus was enacted, returned to their old growth rate within 18 months. Meanwhile, producer prices (middle column) fell to 4% yearly growth in April -- down from 46% in August 2022 -- while wholesale prices, which tend to lead the consumer-prices indexes, have dipped below zero for the first time since December 2021. ... The two ZEW surveys shown in the right column reflect sentiment among institutional investors. Their views about the economy's current situation (top) and its future growth prospects (bottom) are declining from multi-year highs. As Bloomberg reported on May 25: Europe's Economic Engine Is Breaking Down Germany is at risk of a long, slow decline -- with consequences for the whole of the EU But what about other major economies in the European Union, as well as Britain? Indeed, what does the economic picture look like in the world's two biggest economies, the U.S. and China? Our Global Market Perspective covers 50-plus financial markets as well as the world's major economies. Elliott Wave International's main way to analyze these 50 financial markets is to employ the Elliott wave model. If you'd like to get insights into Elliott wave analysis, read Frost & Prechter's Wall Street classic, Elliott Wave Principle: Key to Market Behavior. Here's a quote from the book: The Wave Principle is governed by man's social nature, and since he has such a nature, its expression generates forms. As the forms are repetitive, they have predictive value. Sometimes the market appears to reflect outside conditions and events, but at other times it is entirely detached from what most people assume are causal conditions. The reason is that the market has a law of its own. It is not propelled by the external causality to which one becomes accustomed in the everyday experiences of life. The path of prices is not a product of news. Nor is the market the cyclically rhythmic machine that some declare it to be. Its movement reflects a repetition of forms that is independent both of presumed causal events and of periodicity. The market's progression unfolds in waves. Waves are patterns of directional movement. If you'd like to read the entire online version of the book for free, you may do so once you become a member of Club EWI, the world's largest Elliott wave educational community. A Club EWI membership is also free and allows for complimentary access to a wealth of Elliott wave resources on investing and trading. Join Club EWI now by following this link: Elliott Wave Principle: Key to Market Behavior. This article was syndicated by Elliott Wave International and was originally published under the headline How Germany's Economy is Turning Ugly. EWI is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts led by Chartered Market Technician Robert Prechter provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world. 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Carlos Asencio has been found guilty of murder and first-degree assault in the killing of Amanda Dabrowski. Nearly four years after Asencio killed Dabrowski, a Worcester County jury deliberated for less than four hours before returning the verdict. Asencios defense previously admitted he killed Dabrowski at OConnors Restaurant in Worcester, on the evening of July 3, 2019. 16 1 / 16 Carlos Asencio trial Five days of testimony established the minute, brutal details in the case, from Asencio stabbing Dabrowski 58 times in 15 seconds, to the Google locator app that pinged Asencios phone when she arrived at OConnors, to the concerning items a local couple living on the streets of Worcester found after spending a few days with him. Mexican and Canadian money, bus tickets in different names, New England transit schedules and the couple, Lydia Willey and Richard Contreras, traced Asencios itinerary after he entered Canada. Asencio told mental health professionals he entered Canada after what he described as a fight at Dabrowskis home on Easter 2019. Dabrowski reported it then as a home invasion and an attack that she fought off. Asencio also admitted to reentering the United States illegally from Mexico, doctors testified. Asencios defense highlighted his self-reported mental health problems, including a psychologists testimony that Asencio reported hearing commanding voices in his head, and that he believed the only way to stop them was to do what they told him kill Dabrowski then himself. A psychiatrist testifying for the prosecution said she believed Asencio more likely suffered from borderline personality disorder, and testified he performed poorly on tests designed to determine if he was faking or exaggerating symptoms. The 14-year-old Everett teenager struck by a Mercedes Benz sedan in the parking lot of a Chelsea cannabis dispensary on Sunday is in a coma, while the suspected driver of the sedan faces charges, Channel 7 News reported. Ceserino Borelli, 44, of Watertown, will be arraigned Tuesday on criminal charges, including aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, the television station reported. On Sunday at around 8:10 p.m., the Mercedes left the road and sped into the Dunkin parking lot at 276 Beacham St. and struck multiple parked cars before it went through a metal fence surrounding the RISE parking lot next door, state police said. A witness who saw the car go airborne over their vehicle said to Channel 7 they didnt have any time to think about it. It just hit us, went over our car and as soon as it was over, I got out to see what happened and saw the woman on the ground behind us. The Mercedes sedan struck a parked, occupied Mercedes SUV before it hit the teen, who was standing in the parking lot, and left her critically injured, according to police. Chelsea police started treating the teen before the Chelsea Fire Department and Cataldo Ambulance arrived and took the teen to a Boston hospital, where she was in critical condition. Borelli went to a Boston hospital after complaining of back pain and remains hospitalized under Chelsea Police guard, police said. Teddy Tene, the girls father, told Channel 7 he ran over to his daughter and tried to resuscitate her before emergency crews took her to a hospital. Shes not doing well at all, Tene said. Her lungs are bruised, her heart is bruised, shes having a hard time feeding right now. As of Monday morning, Tene said his daughter was in a coma, the television station reported. Its the hardest time right now in our lives and were just looking for prayers, Tene told Channel 7. A Pakistani father and his son have been identified as two more of the five people aboard the missing Titanic submersible, according to a statement from the fathers company. The U.S. Coast Guard in Boston joined efforts on Monday after officials said contact was lost with those on board about 1 hour and 45 minutes into the vessels dive. The 21-foot submersible from the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince went missing about 900 miles off Cape Cod, Rear Admiral John Mauger, the commander of the Coast Guard district leading the search, said in a press conference. The water depth in the area is about 13,000 feet. Read more: A search is underway for missing submersible that takes people to see Titanic Shahzada Dawood a husband, father and British businessman from an extremely wealthy Pakistani family, according to BBC has been named by one of his companies as one of the five aboard the missing sub, along with his son, Suleman. Dawood is the vice president of conglomerate company Engro Corporation, which stated Dawood was on the research vessel sub with Suleman, when it lost contact while embarking on an expedition to view remnants of the sunken Titanic. All that we know so far is that contact was lost with their submersible craft. There is limited information available beyond this that we know, Dawoods company stated. Read more: Missing crew member on Titanic submersible warned of weather problems this season Prayers for their safety and privacy for the family are requested during this testing time. We, at Engro, remain in prayer for their swift and safe return, the statement read. According to BBC, the Dawood family lives in London and were in Canada for a month. Dawood is also the trustee of the Seth Institute, a research organization in California, according to its site, which stated he lives with his wife, Christine, and his children, Suleman and Alina. Hamish Harding, the owner and chairman of Action Aviation, is another of the five missing crew members, NBC News confirmed. He said in an Instagram post on Sunday that he was joining the expedition as a mission specialist. Harding stated on Instagram this would likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023 to the Titanic wreckage this year due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years. BBC reported Harding has a wife, Linda, and sons. Harding has visited the South Pole on several occasions, BBC said, including once with former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and that he went to space in 2022 on Blue Origins fifth human-crewed flight. Harding also holds three world records, the outlet reported, including the longest time spent at full ocean depth during a dive to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. CNN confirmed French submariner and ex-Navy officer, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77, is also among the five people missing. BBC reported Nargeolet has spent more time at the Titanic wreck than any other explorer in history, and was part of the first expedition to visit two years after it was found in 1987. Nargeolet is the director of underwater research at a company that owns the rights to the Titanic wreck, according to the outlet. Multiple outlets have also reported the founder of OceanGate Expeditions, Stockton Rush, is believed to be the fifth person on board. In 2021, OceanGate Expeditions began annual voyages to chronicle the deterioration of the iconic ocean liner that struck an iceberg and sank in 1912. The company said at the time that in addition to archaeologists and marine biologists, the expeditions also would include about 40 paid tourists who would take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible. The initial group of tourists was funding the expedition by spending anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000 apiece. A rollover crash on Route 128 in Manchester-by-the-Sea on Tuesday morning seriously injured one person, who had to be flown by helicopter to the hospital after the crash, according to Massachusetts State Police. The person had life-threatening injuries, police said. The crash was reported by MassDOT at 7:49 a.m. on the northbound side of the highway, after exit 50 and near mile marker 51. Read more: Springfield Police investigating shooting of man on State Street The highway was shut down on both the north and southbound sides to allow for a medical helicopter to land around 8 a.m. Both sides had reopened as of around 8:30 a.m., officials said. Further details on the crash were not available. Editors note: An earlier version of this article listed Jack Teixeira as a former Massachusetts Air National Guardsman, hes currently still employed with the military branch. A Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of leaking top-secret military documents to his internet friends over Discord is set to be arraigned on charges in Worcester federal court Wednesday afternoon, according to court documents. Teixeira, of North Dighton, who was stationed in Massachusetts, has been accused by prosecutors of retaining and transmitting classified national defense information on a social media chat room for gamers called Discord. On Thursday, June 15, a Boston federal grand jury indicted the 23-year-old on six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information relating to the national defense, according to the Department of Justice. Teixeira is accused of sharing top-secret documents about the war in Ukraine on Discord, a communication platform popular amongst video gamers. Officials said he accessed Discord while employed at the Otis Air National Guard Base. He was arrested and charged in April under the Espionage Act and faces up to 25 years in prison. United States District Court Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy had granted the governments motion for detention and Teixeira has remained in federal custody since. The unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified information jeopardizes our nations security. Individuals granted access to classified materials have a fundamental duty to safeguard the information for the safety of the United States, our active service members, its citizens and its allies, said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy in the press release. We are committed to ensuring that those entrusted with sensitive national security information adhere to the law. Teixeira enlisted in the U.S. Air National Guard in 2019, officials have said. Since May 2022, he held the rank of an E-3/Airman, with the title of Cyber Defense Operations Journeyman. A government memo says that starting around February 2022, Teixeira began to access hundreds of classified documents containing national defense information that had no bearing on his role as essentially an information technology (IT) support specialist. Teixeiras lawyers contend it was another social media user who disseminated the military secrets. They say Teixeira shared the material with a small, private group. Officials say Teixeira transmitted classified national defense information on Discord in two different ways in 2022. Prosecutors say he accessed classified documents containing national defense information from a classified workstation at the Otis United States Air National Guard Base, and then transcribed and transmitted the information in written paragraphs to other users on Discord. The other way officials say he sent information was by posting images of classified documents, which had classification markings such as SECRET or TOP SECRET, to Discord. At least one of the documents containing national defense information was found in digital form in a particular account associated with Teixeira, according to the report. The charges of unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information each provide for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000, officials stated. No one disputes that Carlos Asencio killed Amanda Dabrowski on the evening of July 3, 2019. No one disputes that Asencio stabbed her 58 times in OConnors Restaurant in Worcester. No one disputes that Allen Corson was injured in the struggle to subdue Asencio. The central question for the jury is whether Asencio killed Dabrowski to stop hearing the voices that plagued him, as his defense claims, or out of jealousy, anger and rage, as the prosecution claims. Asencios mental state is critical to his defense attorneys claim that Asencio is not guilty by reason of a mental disease or defect. Worcester County Superior Court Judge Janet Kenton-Walker instructed the jury that the phrase mental disease or defect is a legal term, not a medical term, meaning that the defendant lacked substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality or wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. Carlos Asencio (left) enters the courtroom at Worcester Superior Court on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 the sixth day of his murder trial for the killing of Amanda Dabrowski.Dave Thompson Assistant District Attorney Edward Karcasinas characterized Asencio in his closing statement to the jury as someone who has a clear mind throughout the circumstances leading up to and including the killing. Karcasinas walked the jury through the commonwealths evidence Asencios belief that Dabrowski ruined his life by breaking up with him, creating plans to track Dabrowski down, taping a cell phone to her car to use as a tracking device, then methodically searching the restaurant until he found her and stabbed her 58 times in 15 seconds. The minds working, Karcasinas said, calling Asencios actions purpose-driven and goal-orientated behavior all working to the eventual attack on Amanda. Karcasinas also highlighted the testimony of psychiatrist Christina Daou, who testified Asencio performed poorly on tests designed to determine if he was making up or exaggerating mental symptoms. He also referenced Daous testimony that Asencios self-reported symptoms of voices in his head abating for periods of time without medications were not consistent with schizoaffective disorder, from which a psychologist testifying for the defense said he believes Asencio suffers. Assistant District Attorney Edward Karcasinas gives the closing statement for the prosecution Tuesday, June 20, 2023 in the murder trial of Carlos Asencio.Dave Thompson Asencios defense attorney, Robert Griffin, told the jury that Asencios intelligence isnt evidence that he isnt mentally ill. Many mentally ill people are intelligent. Many mentally ill people function, and you dont know whats going on in their head, Griffin said. He pointed to Asencios apparent lack of an escape plan after the killing, as well as his behavior of giving his car to Lydia Willey and her partner, Richard Contreras. Thats what people do when they want to commit suicide, Griffin said. He pointed to psychologist Paul Zeizels assessment of Asencio as having schizoaffective disorder, as well as a previous opinion by a different medical professional that Asencio suffered from an unspecified type of schizoaffective disorder. Zeizel previously testified Asencio reported hearing commanding voices that he said he believed he had to follow. His motive was to stop hearing the voices, Griffin told the jury. In his defective mind, the only way he could do that was to do what he did. He asked the jury to assess and evaluate the evidence and to make a decision on the evidence. Not on sympathy, not on empathy, not on revulsion for the unwarranted act of violence, but to hold Asencio responsible in a nontraditional sense. Defense attorney Robert Griffin gives his closing statement in Worcester County Superior Court Tuesday, in the murder trial of Carlos Asencio.Dave Thompson The judge told the jury that, if they find Asencio not guilty, he will be placed in a mental facility or Bridgewater State Hospital, after which he will be assessed after six months, then every year after that. If he is judged to still be mentally ill and dangerous, Asencio will remain hospitalized. If medical professionals determine Asencio is not still suffering from his mental illness and is not dangerous, a judge presiding over the hearing will determine whether to release Asencio. The Massachusetts attorney general called out Target on Tuesday for pulling its Pride-related merchandise from stores last month after customers knocked down Pride displays at some stores, approached workers angrily and posted threatening videos online from inside the stores. According to a statement from Attorney General Andrea Campbells office, the Massachusetts official co-led a group of 15 state attorneys general urging Target to support inclusivity and to reject anti-LGBTQ+ hate, intimidation and discrimination, according to the statement. We can never allow violence and intimidation to set back the march for social progress and LGBTQ+ equality, but Targets decision to pull pride products from the shelves sends the message that they can, said Campbell. Pride means standing firm alongside our LGBTQ+ fellow Americans and fighting for their rights in the face of bigotry and hate. In a letter signed by the 15 attorneys general, including those from neighboring states like Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island and New York, the group of leading state prosecutors spoke on its support of the LGBTQ+ community. Our states have many resources to support Targets efforts to protect its staff and customers in the face of hate-based intimidation, harassment, threats, or attacks, the letter read. It goes without saying that any concrete threats of violence should be reported to local law enforcement. Many states also have other tools at their disposal to combat anti-LGBTQIA+ harassment, the letter continued. The attorneys general then offered examples of legislation in their individual states that specifically combat LGBTQ+ discrimination, citing both the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act and The Minnesota Human Rights Act. Target had declined to say which items it was removing from shelves, but the Associated Press reported among the ones that garnered the most attention were tuck friendly womens swimsuits that allow trans women who have not had gender-affirming operations to conceal their private parts. Designs by Abprallen, a London-based company that designs and sells occult- and satanic-themed LGBTQ+ clothing and accessories, have also created backlash, the outlet reported. While we understand the basis for this action, we are also concerned it sends a message that those who engage in hateful and disruptive conduct can cause even large corporations to succumb to their bullying, and that they have the power to determine when LGBTQIA+ consumers will feel comfortable in Target storesor anywhere in society, the attorneys general letter read. Read more: Four Rivers Charter School staff member on leave amid misconduct investigation Though we do not doubt Targets longstanding commitment to LGBTQIA+ equality, and though we laud your intention to keep your staff members and customers safe, we fear your choice to pull Pride merchandise demonstrates that intentional violence and intimidation can set back the march for social progress and LGBTQIA+ equality, the letter stated. The attorneys general added the group is prepared to assist Target in the spirit of progress, inclusivity, and equality, should the company receive more anti-LGBTQ+ harassment. Editors note: An earlier version of this article reported the person killed in the crash as a minor. State Police revised their report and clarified the person killed was a 19-year-old man from Lynn. An earlier version also listed one of the crash victims as a 26-year-old man from Florida. State Police clarified the man has a Florida address but is also believed to be living in Lynn. ________________________________________________________________ A 19-year-old man was killed and a 26-year-old man flown to a hospital with life-threatening injuries following a single-vehicle rollover crash in Manchester-by-the-Sea Tuesday morning, Massachusetts State Police confirmed. Massachusetts State Police identified the person seriously injured in the crash as a 26-year-old man from Lynn, who also has a Florida address. The 19-year-old was said to also be from Lynn, according to state police Troopers responded to the single-vehicle crash on Route 128 north near the 51-mile marker in Manchester-by-the-Sea after 7 a.m. Tuesday, officials said. Authorities said they found a 19-year-old man dead at the crash site. First responders flew the 26-year-old man off the highway via medical helicopter to a Boston hospital. An early investigation revealed the mans 2008 Honda Civic veered off the road into a wooded area. State police have not released the names of the victims in the crash. State police shut down part of the highway to investigate the crash. Parts of Route 128 were reopened at around 9 a.m. Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash. A crew member on the missing Titanic submersible warned of weather problems this season in an Instagram post before leaving. Hamish Harding, the owner and chairman of Action Aviation, is one of five missing crew members, NBC News confirmed. He said in an Instagram post on Sunday that he was joining the expedition as a mission specialist. But he also warned of bad weather. Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023, he wrote. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. He said the operations were scheduled to start at 4 a.m. Monday. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s including PH Nargeolet, he wrote. More expedition updates to follow IF the weather holds! On Monday, officials said contact was lost with those on board about 1 hour and 45 minutes into the vessels dive. The 21-foot submersible from the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince went missing about 900 miles off Cape Cod, Rear Admiral John Mauger, the commander of the Coast Guard district leading the search, said in a press conference. The water depth in the area is about 13,000 feet. Read more: Video from International Space Station shows outer space view of Cape Cod In 2021, OceanGate Expeditions began annual voyages to chronicle the deterioration of the iconic ocean liner that struck an iceberg and sank in 1912. The company said at the time that in addition to archaeologists and marine biologists, the expeditions also would include roughly 40 paid tourists who would take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible. The initial group of tourists was funding the expedition by spending anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000 apiece. Become one of the few to see the Titanic with your own eyes, the website reads. The next mission was expected to start May 9, 2024. The area they lost contact in is challenging to search, officials said. It is a remote area, Mauger said. It is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area. The Coast Guard is using aircrafts, local vessels and sonar to search for the submersible and the five people missing. They expanded their search Tuesday but the capabilities were limited on Monday. The sonar in the water, Mauger said, is being used to listen to any sounds we can detect in the water. On Tuesday, CNN reported a commercial vessel arrived on the scene, which gave them the ability to search under the water. The search area is about the size of Connecticut, the news outlet reported. During the press conference, officials said they expect the vessel to have about 70 to 96 hours of emergency oxygen available for the passengers onboard. CNN confirmed French submariner and ex-Navy officer, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, is also among the five people missing. The Associated Press contributed to this reporting. The Coast Guard in Boston is doing everything we can after five people are missing that were in a submersible that carries people to view the wreckage of the Titanic. Were working very closely at this point to make sure were doing everything we can do to locate the submersible and rescue those on board, Rear Admiral John Mauger, the commander of the Coast Guard district leading the search, said in a press conference. The 21-foot submersible from the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince went missing about 900 miles off Cape Cod, Mauger said. The water depth in the area is about 13,000 feet. In 2021, OceanGate Expeditions began annual voyages to chronicle the deterioration of the iconic ocean liner that struck an iceberg and sank in 1912. The company said at the time that in addition to archaeologists and marine biologists, the expeditions also would include roughly 40 paid tourists who would take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible. The initial group of tourists was funding the expedition by spending anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000 apiece. On Monday, officials said contact was lost with those on board about 1 hour and 45 minutes into the vessels dive. Read more: Video from International Space Station shows outer space view of Cape Cod The area they lost contact in is considered a remote area. It is a remote area, Mauger said. It is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area. The Coast Guard is using aircrafts, local vessels and sonar to search for the submersible and the five people missing. They expanded their search Tuesday but the capabilities were limited on Monday. The sonar in the water, Mauger said, is being used to listen to any sounds we can detect in the water. On Tuesday, CNN reported a commercial vessel arrived on the scene, which gave them the ability to search under the water. The search area is about the size of Connecticut, the news outlet reported. NBC News confirmed that one of the missing crew members is Hamish Harding, the owner and chairman of Action Aviation. He said in an Instagram post on Sunday that he was joining the expedition as a mission specialist. Read more: Smoke on Hyannis ferry leads to trip cancellation Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023, he wrote on Instagram. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. CNN confirmed French submariner and ex-Navy officer, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, is also among the five people missing. The Associated Press contributed to this reporting. Officials have identified what likely caused a house explosion on Cape Cod in April. At 11:15 p.m. on April 20, fire departments from across the Cape attempted to battle a massive house fire caused by an explosion in Truro. A neighbor, Kristin Perry, told NBC-10 Boston that a couple in their 70s lived in the home but were staying in a cottage behind it. She said a loud boom woke her and her dogs up. I kinda sorta went to bed and I heard a boom! So there was a couple big explosions and then one really big mushroom cloud explosion, Perry told the news station. She said she used to live in the home, and sold it to the couple decades ago. On Saturday, officials said it was most likely caused by a propane leak. Although due to the damage, multiple potential causes could not be conclusively ruled out. ... it was determined that the origin of the incident was in the basement, near the left rear corner of the residence. In this area, a water heater and furnace, both significantly damaged, were located, officials said ina a press release. The most probable sequence of events suggests that propane leaked into the basement, subsequently being ignited by either the water heater or furnace. This led to a fire and explosion, ultimately causing a 120-gallon propane tank to detonate. Due to these findings, investigators said they have found no evidence indicating foul play or an intentionally set fire. Inspectors also discovered that the propane tank was manufactured in 1989 and was overdue for a requalification examination. It had been improperly filled with 5.5 gallons of propane, a violation of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Fire Safety Code. Inspectors said they issued a notice of violation to the person responsible for filling the tank. There were no injures in the fire, officials said. It was the second explosion in a week that led to a house fire. An explosion in Berlin on Friday, April 14, led to the death of Judith Judy Christensen, age 79. Christensens daughter, was rescued from the fire after being pulled from some debris and treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. As the jury announced its verdict against Carlos Asencio guilty of first-degree murder, guilty of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon the courtroom in Worcester County Superior Court remained silent. Asencio betrayed no emotion. Family and friends of Amanda Dabrowski who had waited nearly four years for a verdict against her killer since the July 3, 2019 attack that left her dying inside OConnors Restaurant in Worcester retained decorum. But once the jury had filed out of court, Judge Janet Kenton-Walker had left the bench and Asencio was led away in handcuffs, the room gave way to sighs, tears and hugs. Following the hearing, Dabrowskis father, Ed Dabrowski, offered a brief statement from the family. Read more: Carlos Asencio found guilty of murder of Amanda Dabrowski While no verdict will ever bring Amanda back, we are relieved that a jury found this man responsible for taking her from us, he said. We know he can never harm another person again. The jury helped us find some justice today, though we know there are no real winners here. Dabrowski also thanked District Attorney Joseph Earlys office and the victim/witness advocate. We ask that you continue to keep Amanda in your thoughts. She will continue to live through her family and friends. Ed Dabrowski (right), the father of Amanda Dabrowski, joined by family, friends and state officials including District Attorney Joseph Early, gives a statement outside Worcester County Superior Court Tuesday, following the guilty verdict against Amanda Dabrowski's killer, Carlos Asencio.Dave Thompson Early thanked prosecutors Edward Karcasinas, Tiffany Scanlon and Donna Marie Haran, who tried the case, as well as police departments in Worcester, Ayer and Webster, the Department of Homeland Security, Massachusetts State Police and the state fire marshals office. No one should ever have to go through something as horrible as this. We can only hope that this verdict brings the family some justice and some sense of closure in this case, Early said. He also extended special thanks to the good Samaritans who attempted to stop Asencio and help Dabrowski. They did everything they could while trying to save Amanda. Their bravery was exemplary in what can only be called a horrific situation, he said. Carlos Asencio is led into the courtroom in Worcester Superior Court following his guilty verdict Tuesday afternoon.Dave Thompson After five days of testimony the jury took a little more than three hours to deliberate and find Asencio guilty on both counts, for the stabbing death of Dabrowski and the knife injury to Allen Corson, who helped to restrain Asencio after the attack at OConnors Restaurant in Worcester. Last weeks testimony established the minute, brutal details in the case, from Asencio stabbing Dabrowski 58 times in 15 seconds, to the Google locator app that pinged Asencios phone when she arrived at OConnors, to the concerning items a local couple living on the streets of Worcester found after spending a few days with him. Mexican and Canadian money, bus tickets in different names, New England transit schedules and the couple, Lydia Willey and Richard Contreras, traced Asencios itinerary after he entered Canada. Asencio told mental health professionals he entered Canada after what he described as a fight at Dabrowskis home on Easter 2019. Dabrowski reported it then as a home invasion and an attack that she fought off. Asencio also admitted to reentering the United States illegally from Mexico, doctors testified. Asencios defense highlighted his self-reported mental health problems, including a psychologists testimony that Asencio reported hearing commanding voices in his head, and that he believed the only way to stop them was to do what they told him kill Dabrowski then himself. A psychiatrist testifying for the prosecution said she believed Asencio more likely suffered from borderline personality disorder, and testified he performed poorly on tests designed to determine if he was faking or exaggerating symptoms. Kenton-Walker ordered Asencio held without bail until his June 29 sentencing hearing. Jacqueline Velez first met the person who would become her stepson when he was 10 years old, a neighbors son riding his scooter in Queens, New York, where they all lived. Fifteen years later, George Michael Vinas has died, and Velez, now a prominent Springfield community activist, is grieving an immeasurable loss while trying to raise money to support her stepsons unborn child her own grandchild. A GoFundMe page Velez set up for Georges funeral expenses and a fund for his child raised nearly $6,500 as of 5:30 p.m. on Monday. I remember when I got pregnant, I was scared because I had had a kid 17 years before. I was scared to give birth and be a mother again, Velez said Monday. He sensed it and he told me one time, dont worry Jackie, me and Daddy are going to help with the baby. He was trying to help me. He was 12. George Vinas with his younger brother Emmett. (Photo courtesy Jacqueline Velez) Vinas died on June 6 at the age of 25. Velez said her stepson died after a long struggle with drug addiction. She is still awaiting confirmation from his autopsy, but she fears that he died of an overdose. In recent years, he was on and off drugs, she said. He would clean himself up and fall back into it. Velez said it was hard for her because Vinas was trying to get over addiction on his own rather than seeking help. While there was one time that he checked himself into a rehabilitation program, there was another when she and Vinass father forced him into treatment. He wasnt ready to be clean, Velez said. Speaking to families and individuals affected by drug addiction, Velez had advice to give. I would say to the families not to give up on their kids, to find a way to get them the help they need, she said. As far as the people doing and engaging with drug use, I would say that there is a better life. They just have to find their way to it and not give up. George Michael Vinas with his father George Luis Vinas. (Photo courtesy Jacqueline Velez) Velez remembers her sons passions he loved animals, and he loved to rap and make rap music. Above all, he loved to ride his scooter. And that help he offered when he was 12? He made good on it, taking care of his baby brother Emmett. Despite a large different in age, they still did things together. It was adorable to watch, Velez said. Besides Velez, George Michael Vinas is survived by his father, George Luis Vinas, his grandmother Susana Vinas, his sister Alize Ortiz, his brother Emmett Vinas and his girlfriend Meghan Kennedy, along with six siblings on his biological mothers side, Velez said. A photo of George Vinas with girlfriend Meghan Kennedy. (Photo courtesy Jacqueline Velez) This past week, Velez and her family buried George in Queens. We wanted to bury him in New York because thats where he was born and raised, and he missed home, she said. The coffin was wrapped in purple his favorite color and featured two photos, a photo of him smiling and another of him riding his scooter. The image that was placed on George Vinas's coffin. (Image courtesy Jacqueline Velez) Velez has been a lead Holyoke organizer with Neighbor to Neighbor, a regional director for the re-election campaign of Sen. Ed Markey, an organizer with Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, doing work on the so-called Fair Share Amendment, and is now working for the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts. Velez had her own struggles earlier in life, landing herself in jail after cutting another woman before eventually getting involved in community organizing and returning to schooling through the Bard Microcollege program at the Care Center in Holyoke. Jacqueline Velez, photographed in 2020 as a regional organizing director for Senator Ed Markeys re-election campaign. (Douglas Hook / MassLive) Burying her son left her with overwhelming grief, but she said the support she has gotten from family, friends and community members has also been overwhelming and that she had a lot of people to thank. Velez shared a poem she wrote about Georges death: No matter what we did or how much we loved you, you felt empty inside We loved you so much If only love could have saved you, you would have never died We know there was something you were trying to find recently intensified Baby, now theres nothing for you to fear No need to shed another tear, No more hurt We miss you but No longer will you feel pain Thinking of your smile will be our sunshine after the rain We couldnt save you But oh how many things we tried Spread your wings Angel Now you can fly One day well get to hug you, touch you laugh with and be with you again, And maybe just maybe youll see how loved you were then. SPRINGFIELD The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield sold two properties this month, including a Springfield building now in the hands of a developer. In Chicopee, the diocese sold a 9,700-square-foot, 73-year-old residence at 110 Cyman Drive to Our Lady of The Angels Province, a group of Franciscan Friars based in Ellicott City, Maryland. The sales price was $600,000, according to documents filed June 2 with the Hampden County Registry of Deeds. Police arrested a teenager and an adult in connection with a large-scale drug trafficking operation based out of West Springfield. Maxwell Lacus, 18, and Kathleen Pare, 51, were arrested on narcotics and weapons charges in connection with the reported West Springfield drug ring, according to officials. An investigation headed by Massachusetts State Police and West Springfield Police led authorities to execute a search warrant at a West Springfield home at 97 Almon Ave. on June 13. During the search, police confiscated 60 pounds of marijuana, 31 pounds of psilocybin (or magic mushrooms), 700 grams of suspected cocaine, 25 grams of MDMA and a large number of edible marijuana products, officials said. Police also seized an FN Five-Seven pistol loaded with a magazine containing 20 rounds of body armor penetrating bullets, a Glock 23 pistol loaded with a round in the chamber and a 22-round magazine, a Romanian Century Arms Draco pistol loaded with a 60-round magazine, Ruger Service six revolver, a silencer for a pistol, and Glock Sear switch which converts a pistol to an automatic weapon, officials stated. Authorities also recovered an assortment of ammunition/magazines and approximately $40,000 in cash. Lacus and Pare were arrested during the search, according to officials. Lacus was arraigned on the following charges: Trafficking over 200 grams of cocaine, trafficking 50-100 pounds of marijuana, possession with intent to distribute of MDMA, Xanax and psilocybin mushroom and multiple firearm charges. Pare was arraigned on charges of possession of a Class B narcotic (MDMA) and multiple weapons offenses, including unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, possession of a large capacity feeding device, possession of a large capacity firearm, improper storage of a firearm and possession of a silencer. A teenage boy shot an MBTA operator with a BB pellet gun on Monday, according to transit police. Around 6 p.m., several teenage boys were acting disorderly on an MBTA bus in the South Bay, transit police said. Read More: No one hurt after Boston Green Line train derails with around 30 on board When the bus driver asked the teenage boys to stop their actions, one of the boys shot the driver with a BB pellet gun. After the shooting, the group of juveniles fled, transit police said. The driver declined to receive medical attention. Read more: Missing crew member on Titanic tourist sub warned of weather problems this season Transit police officers located the group of teenagers at Andrew Square Station and arrested the teen responsible, transit police said. The U.S. Coast Guard stated more help would be on the way to help find the missing Titanic submersible vessel during a press conference at 1 p.m. on Tuesday in Boston, as the fate of the five people on it remain unknown. According to First Coast Guard District Captain Jamie Frederick, the coast guard is requiring help from international professionals, including the Canadian Coast Guard and its aircraft, and other private research vessels like the missing submersible. While the US Coast Guard has assumed the role of search and rescue mission coordinator, we do not have all of the necessary expertise required and a search of this nature, stated the U.S. Coast Guard. The unified command brings that expertise and additional capability together to maximize effort and solving this very complex problem. The U.S. Coast Guard in Boston joined efforts on Monday after officials said contact was lost with those on board of the OceanGate vessel about 1 hour and 45 minutes into the vessels dive. The 21-foot submersible from the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince went missing about 900 miles off Cape Cod, Rear Admiral John Mauger, the commander of the Coast Guard district leading the search, said in a press conference Monday. The water depth in the area is about 13,000 feet. During the Tuesday afternoon conference, Frederick stated thered been a search by sight and by radar with sub surface efforts, and that monitoring sonar buoys had been dropped on Tuesday, but that those efforts had not yielded any results in the search. The Canadian Coast Guard cutter, or vessel, John Cabot, is scheduled to arrive later this evening and several other Canadian Coast Guard vessels and the Coast Guard cutter Sycamore are en route, said Frederick. Additionally, the U.S. Navy... is working with U.S. transportation command to bring additional assets to the search area, Frederick stated. There are also several private vessel research vessels, RV capabilities, that are making preparations to join the efforts. Our thoughts and prayers are with the crew and the families and their loved ones. We will provide unwavering effort as we continue to search, he said. The five people aboard the vessel have been identified as captain Hamish Harding, former U.S. Navy veteran Paul-Henry Nargeolet, billionaire Pakistani father Shahzada Dawood and son Suleman Dawood and founder of OceanGate Stockton Rush, according to multiple reports. A nearly 13,000-foot underwater voyage to tour the Titanic remains has turned dire as the submersible, with five passengers aboard, has been reported missing hundreds of miles off the coast of Cape Cod. Rescuers have been racing against the clock since Sunday as they search for the sub with a 96-hour initial oxygen supply. Based on estimates previously made by the United States Coast Guard, the vessel is expected to have run out of oxygen as of 7 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thursday. Heres what we know about the missing submersible and the passengers aboard: What was the purpose of the underwater expedition? Preparations for the 13,000-foot underwater voyage began Friday at Newfoundland Island off Canadas Atlantic coast. The expedition, headed by OceanGate Expeditions, was intended to be an eight-day research tour of the Titanic remains, according to the expedition groups website. OceanGate held successful expeditions of the Titanic remains in 2021 and 2022. The group looks to return to the Titanic wreck site annually to document the historic ship and its rate of decay, according to OceanGates website. The company said at the time that in addition to archaeologists and marine biologists, the expeditions also would include about 40 paid tourists who would take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible. The initial group of tourists would pay around $100,000 to $150,000 each to join the expedition. When and where did the Titan sub go missing? The Polar Prince, the support ship used in the subs voyage, departed Newfoundland on Friday and arrived at the Titanic wreckage dive site Saturday. The dive site is about 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod and more than 400 miles south of Newfoundland, according to OceanGate researchers. Five people boarded the 21-foot submersible named Titan and began their two-and-a-half-hour descent 13,000 feet down to the Titanic underwater wreck site on Sunday morning at around 9 a.m., the U.S. Coast Guard wrote in a statement. Polar Prince operators lost contact with the Titan submersible over an hour into its descent. The operators notified the Coast Guard of the missing sub after the Titan didnt resurface at its planned time of 6:10 p.m. Sunday. The Coast Guard in Boston said the agency is doing everything it can to find the missing submersible. Were working very closely at this point to make sure were doing everything we can do to locate the submersible and rescue those on board, Rear Admiral John Mauger, the commander of the Coast Guard district leading the search, said in a press conference. The area they lost contact in is considered a remote area, the coast guard admiral added. Every minute of rescue time is invaluable as the sub descended with 96 hours of oxygen supply when it descended Sunday morning. As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, coast guard officials said the vessel had around 40 hours of oxygen left in its tank, and by their estimates, the sub has run out of oxygen as of 7 a.m. on Thursday. Authorities said the initial search area was larger than the size of Connecticut, and the surface search area had doubled to twice that size by Wednesday with rescuers looking up to two and a half miles deep into the subsurface. Underwater noises were heard on Tuesday and Wednesday, and during a 1 p.m. press conference on Wednesday, Capt. Jamie Frederick, the First Coast Guard District response coordinator, said the search efforts were focused and continued in the area of the noises. The data collected from the plane that detected the noises was shared with U.S. Navy experts for further analysis, and will be considered in future search plans, Frederick said. Frederick added the international assistance provided by several countries in the search for the missing submersible has been paramount, and listed several operations the rescuers had been performing throughout the week. During the Wednesday afternoon conference, Frederick said there are currently five service assets searching for the Titan, and expected a total of 10 service assets to search within the next 24 to 48 hours. There were also two back-to-back flights planned, one ongoing and one for the evening, Frederick said. As a result of the noises detected on Tuesday, Frederick said ROV operations were relocated to try and find the noises origin, and although the search yielded negative results, the efforts continue in the area. A team of highly trained French ROV operators departed St. Johns last night [and] are en route to aid the search. Moreover, our Canadian partners have been providing critical leadership and significant response capabilities since the beginning of our efforts, Frederick said. Whos on the sub? A pilot, a renowned British adventurer, two members of an iconic Pakistani business family and a Titanic expert are confirmed to be aboard the ship, according to the coast guard. Hamish Harding, the owner and chairman of Action Aviation, is one of five missing crew members and joined the voyage as a mission specialist, Harding wrote in an Instagram post before the descent. In this photo provided by Blue Origin, NS-21 (New Shepard-21), astronaut Hamish Harding receives his Blue Origin astronaut pin after a successful flight to space on June 4, 2022, in Van Horn, Texas. According to Action Aviation, a company for which Harding serves as chairman, the U.K. businessman was one of the mission specialists onboard a missing submersible carrying five people to view the wreckage of the Titanic that was reported overdue late Sunday, June 18, 2023. (Felix Kunze/Blue Origin via AP)AP In his post, Harding wrote a message hours before the descent about how poor weather conditions have made the expedition difficult this year and how the weather had just provided an opening for their descent Sunday. Shahzada Dawood a husband, father and British businessman from an extremely wealthy Pakistani family, according to BBC has been named by one of his companies as one of the five aboard the missing sub, along with his son, Suleman. Dawood is the vice president of conglomerate company Engro Corporation. In a statement obtained by the BBC, the company confirmed that Dawood was on the Titanic sub with Suleman, when it lost contact with the Polar Prince support ship. Read more: Missing crew member on Titanic submersible warned of weather problems this season All that we know so far is that contact was lost with their submersible craft. There is limited information available beyond this that we know, Dawoods company stated. Prayers for their safety and privacy for the family are requested during this testing time. We, at Engro, remain in prayer for their swift and safe return, the statement read. CNN confirmed French submariner and ex-Navy officer, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77, is also among the five people missing. BBC reported Nargeolet has spent more time at the Titanic wreck than any other explorer in history, and was part of the first expedition to visit two years after it was found in 1987. Nargeolet is the director of underwater research at a company that owns the rights to the Titanic wreck, according to the outlet. Multiple outlets have also reported the founder of OceanGate Expeditions, Stockton Rush, is believed to be the fifth person on board. Editors note: This story contains a description of the abuse and death of a child and could be disturbing to some readers. _________ Before she died, Harmony Montgomery was punched by her father Adam multiple times before she was found to be dead in the backseat of the Chrysler Sebring they and their family lived in in December 2019, newly released court documents allege. Harmony had not been seen since just after Thanksgiving 2019, but it was not until late 2021 that officials became aware she was missing. She had lived in Massachusetts with her mother and in foster care before being placed in the custody of her father in New Hampshire in 2019. Her father, Adam Montgomery, is charged with second-degree murder in the girls death and also faces charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with witnesses and falsifying physical evidence. Harmonys stepmother Kayla admitted she had lied during her grand jury testimony and said she had information about her daughter, the documents read. After the family was evicted from their Manchester home on Nov. 27, 2019, they lived inside a Chrysler Sebring or in the parking lot of Colonial Village on River Road in Manchester where their friend, Anthony Bodero, lived. Bodero brought the family Thanksgiving leftovers to eat, would see Harmony and the family and wave to them, Kayla said. Kayla stated that on (Dec. 7), prior to the vehicle breaking down, Adam struck Harmony in the face/head on three separate occasions because she had a bathroom accident, the documents read. This happened while Adam was driving the vehicle; Kayla described that Harmony was in the rear seat on the passenger side, and while Adam was driving he (turned) his body and delivered sets of three-to-four blows with a closed fist to Harmonys face/head on three separate occasions over the course of a few minutes. Read more: Missing crew member on Titanic submersible warned of weather problems this season After the last hit, Kayla recalled Adam saying words to the effect of that he felt something or heard something when he hit Harmony, and, I think I really hurt her this time. I think I did something. For the next five minutes, Harmony made a moaning type noise that then stopped, court documents said. At no point did they stop and get Harmony to a hospital or receive medical attention. They were going to a Burger King before they came back to the apartment parking lot, where for about 20 minutes no one checked on Harmony, but Kayla said she did not recall exactly what the family did during that time. The Chrysler broke down between 8 and 9 a.m., not long after they left the parking lot following that 20-minute interval. This was when Kayla and Montgomery found that Harmony was not breathing in the backseat. Montgomery went to the trunk, removed clothing from an Under Armor duffle bag and put Harmonys body inside the duffle bag, court documents said. Bodero drove the family back to his apartment complex and allowed the family to continue living in his Audi, Kayla told officials. They stayed in his car for up to three days, with Harmonys body in the trunk until Montgomery occasionally left her body out on the snow to stop the decomposition of the body from happening, the court documents said. Editors note: This story contains a description of the abuse and death of a child and could be disturbing to some readers. _________ Newly unsealed court documents detail what happened to 5-year-old Harmony Montgomerys body in the time shortly after her death, as well as what efforts her father Adam tried to hide her body from view. Harmony had not been seen since just after Thanksgiving 2019, but it was not until late 2021 that officials became aware she was missing. She had lived in Massachusetts with her mother and in foster care before being placed in the custody of her father in New Hampshire in 2019. Her father, Adam Montgomery, is charged with second-degree murder in the girls death and also faces charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with witnesses and falsifying physical evidence. Read more: Unsealed documents claim Harmony Montgomery was punched in head for having accidents On Dec. 7, 2019, after accidentally wetting herself in the backseat of the familys Chrysler Sebring, Montgomery punched Harmony several times, stepmother Kayla later said according to the court documents. Not long after, she made a moaning noise and was later found not breathing after the car broke down. At no point were there any conversations about getting any type of lifesaving measures for Harmony between Montgomery and Kayla. The duffle bag Adam Montgomery placed the girls body in an Under Armor duffle bag before placing her in the trunk of an Audi belonging to family friend Anthony Bodero, who lived at the Colonial Village Apartments where the Montgomery family stayed outside in the parking lot, court documents show. Kayla later confirmed in a June 2022 interview that the family moved into her mothers apartment in Manchester. The family stayed with her mother, Christina Lubin, until Dec. 30. During that time, Adam Montgomery put Harmonys body inside a red cooler that stayed in the common hallway until the family left, Kayla Montgomery said. The red cooler authorities believe Harmony Montgomery's body was kept in at one point. (State of New Hampshire) Read more: Missing crew member on Titanic submersible warned of weather problems this season When Lubin later testified before the Grand Jury for Hillsborough County Northern District, she said that Kayla told her Harmony went to live with her birth mother Crystal Sorey at a rehabilitation facility, court documents read. She added that she did not see Adam or Kayla cry about not having Harmony. After Kaylas June 2022 interview, Lubin later allowed investigators to take the cooler from Lubin, documents said. No blood or DNA matching Harmony was found. The bedroom ceiling vent The family left Lubins apartment and moved into a Families in Transition shelter in Manchester on Dec. 30, with Harmonys body still in the duffle bag. Kayla told authorities that Montgomery placed Harmonys body in the bedrooms ceiling vent, which started to show signs of decay. The room at the Families in Transition shelter at 177 Lake Ave. #1, Manchester, New Hampshire, in which authorities say Harmony Montgomery's body was kept in the ceiling vent. (State of New Hampshire) In June 2022, detectives removed the vent to check the ceiling sheetrock, where they found a large area of staining, the court documents said. Detectives also noted that this area had a smell consistent with decomposition. Investigators found 10 fingerprints and, following analysis, matched nine of them to Montgomery, court documents said. The tenth belonged to a drywall installer who worked on the building. Labwork conducted on the stains provided inconclusive results due to the complex nature of the mixed DNA profile, and were not connected to Harmony or Montgomery. The Manchester apartment The family then moved to an apartment at 644 Union St. in Manchester, court documents said. Montgomery put Harmonys body inside a plastic bin storage container pushed on a stroller from the transition home to the Union Street address. The bin was first put in a bedroom closet before her body was placed inside a refrigerator. Read more: Jury begins deliberations in Carlos Asencio murder trial During this time, Montgomery took Harmonys body inside the bathroom and spent four to six hours inside of the bathroom ... with the shower running ... court documents said. Kayla said she noticed the smell of cleaning supplies after Montgomery was done using the bathroom. She added that Montgomery put Harmonys body inside a Catholic Medical Center maternity bag, which was smaller than the duffle bag, which was then put inside a freezer connected to a refrigerator. Kayla brought the maternity bag to Portland Pie Company upon Montgomerys request, the Manchester restaurant he worked at as a dishwasher and cook. This was the same day he placed Harmony inside the maternity bag. Kayla placed Harmonys body between her two young sons in the stroller going to the restaurant, court documents said. Then Montgomery took the body into the restaurants walk-in freezer for about a week before it was returned to the apartment when the family moved. At some point, Montgomery added lime to the bag to help with decomposition, Kayla said she witnessed. She saw the body and noticed it was still recognizable as Harmony. The final journey Harmonys body remained in the maternity bag until Spring 2020, between March and May according to Kaylas recollection to investigators. Montgomery rented a U-Haul and made an overnight drive to dispose of Harmonys body. Kayla said she did not know where he went and where Harmonys body was located, but remembered he came back between 5 and 6 a.m. that same morning. When he returned, he seemed very tired, and he said words to the effect of its done, the court document read. The Greater Springfield Campaign for Nonviolence will be hosting its Walk for Nonviolence event to continue its nine-year commitment of acknowledging violence in Springfield. The event will be held on Sunday, June 25, at 2:30 p.m. at the Shiloh Freewill Baptist Church on Burr Street in Springfield. From the church, participants will begin walking on Burr Street and pray in the neighborhood at various locations, while holding signs that have the names of those who were killed by gun violence since January. People will then march to Hennessy Park where a rally will be held, according to Reverend Lauren Holm of the Bethesda Lutheran Church, who is a member of the Greater Springfield Campaign Nonviolence. During the rally, the name of each person who was killed by gun violence will be read followed by a moment of silence. The rally will also include a discussion on how to reduce violence and explore ways that we can build a peace-filled city together, according to a press release. Read more: Springfield Police investigating shooting of man on State Street We think its a tragedy for anyone to die, said Holm. Every life is precious when we look at the people who have died its mostly young people in their 20s and 30s who have their whole life a head of them and their life is cut short.... So many lives are ruined from violence. We encourage people to resolve their differences in a peaceful manor and not turn to violence. More than a decade ago, Massachusetts voters narrowly rejected a ballot measure to allow medically assisted suicide. Ever since, lawmakers have introduced bills in the House and Senate that would allow terminally ill people to have some control over their last days. Democratic leaders of the state Legislature, facing strident opposition from Catholic leaders, have never allowed these proposals to come to a vote. They should. Since the Death with Dignity ballot measure failed in 2012, 11 more states, and the District of Columbia, have passed laws to allow people with only months to live, many in grievous pain, to opt for a physicians help in ending their suffering, after demonstrating they are of sound mind and not being coerced. In 2012, only Montana, Oregon and Washington State had such laws in the U.S. We had our doubts about medically assisted suicide before the 2012 referendum, which the Massachusetts Medical Society at the time opposed. We used this space to urge readers to vote their conscience. Still, we said that year that anyone who has watched a loved one suffer from afflictions such as Lou Gehrigs disease would want them to have the option of ending their suffering. The reality of that personal pain hasnt changed since 2012. Meantime, public support appears to have grown. A Gallup poll in 2018 found that 72% of people supported the idea of medically assisted suicide. That was a year after the Massachusetts Medical Society reversed its stance, after polling doctors in the state. About 60% of the societys member physicians told the organization they wanted it to end its opposition to medically assisted suicide. How people view this question is intensely personal and subject to change and outside influence. All but one of the states that have approved assisted suicide since 2012 did so in their legislatures where the decision belongs. When laws are shaped by ballot, they can be radically influenced by advertising. Ahead of the 2012 ballot question, polls found that roughly 64% of Massachusetts voters were in favor of the Death with Dignity measure. In the weeks before of the vote, opponents spent $5 million to defeat the question, outspending the questions backers 5-1. The 2012 proposal failed 51-49 statewide and did even worse in Hampden County, where 65% of voters said no in Springfield, 60% in West Springfield and 56% in Westfield. Many voters here may have taken the counsel of trusted voices from the Catholic community. The Massachusetts Catholic Conference has led opposition to these laws and is sure to step forward again with arguments against whats now called the Massachusetts End of Life Options Act. Sitting bishops with the Springfield diocese have been outspoken in their opposition, including the Most Rev. Mitchell T. Rozanski, now archbishop in St. Louis. Rozanski labeled the medical societys shift in 2017 a great disappointment. He termed physician-assisted suicide an affront to life and a dangerous precedent for determining end-of-life issues. Last week, supporters of the measures gathered in Nurses Hall in the State House to press their case. They watched a video message recorded by David Rempell, a board member of Massachusetts Death with Dignity, who died in March. Right now, my biggest fear is not being able to control how I will die and when I will die, Rempell said in the recording. I do not want to lie around in a coma or in great pain for many weeks or months because I have no control over bringing my life to an end. The current proposals before lawmakers - House Bill 2246 and Senate Bill 1331 are said to have 82 co-sponsors. By our tally, 11 lawmakers from the four western counties support the bills, including state Sen. Jacob R. Oliveira, vice chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health. On top of that, Gov. Maura Healey is on record as backing the concept. The new legislation adds to earlier safeguards. Approval for a physician-assisted suicide would also require an evaluation by a mental health professional. We hope this is the year Massachusetts lawmakers are allowed by Beacon Hill power brokers to vote on the question, after searching their hearts and hearing from constituents. We believe that with stringent safeguards in place, people close to death deserve end-of-life options. The first casualty of war, as many have noted, is the truth. This war is no exception. Why was it acceptable for the U.S. to give an ultimatum to the Soviet Union to remove its missiles from Cuba in 1962, thereby almost igniting a nuclear holocaust? Simply put, President Kennedy proclaimed that Cuba is part of our sphere of influence going back to the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. So why is it not OK for Russia to state that Ukraine, which is on its border, is part of its sphere of influence? The fact is we violated our 1990 commitment not to expand NATO into Russias sphere. Soviet President Gorbachev was told in 1990 by Secretary of State James Baker: There would be no extension of NATO one inch to the east. In 1997, George F. Kennan, the architect of our Cold War containment policy, warned that NATOs eastward movement would be the most fateful error of American policy in the entire post-cold war era. Nevertheless, despite our stated commitment to not expand NATO, the eastward expansion began in 1999 when Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic were admitted. NATO then added Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, and Romania in 2004. The inclusion of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia has particularly alarmed the Russians, and Moscow has made little secret of its discomfort, according to The Guardian. The concern is about possible threats to Russias own security and about the ability of the Americans the NATO parent partner to operate freely so close to Russias borders. Incredibly, Russia didnt retaliate. Could that have led the U.S. and NATO to even more violations of the Russian sphere? Also, in 2004, William Burns, ambassador to Russia, sent the following classified email to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: Ukrainian entry into NATO is the brightest of redlines for the Russian elite (not just Putin). In more than two and a half years of conversations with key Russian players, from knuckle-draggers in the dark recesses of the Kremlin to Putins sharpest liberal critics, I have yet to find anyone who views Ukraine in NATO as anything other than a direct challenge to Russian interests. (That passage is quoted in Why Are We In Ukraine, an article by Benjamin Schwarz and Christopher Layne in the June issue of Harpers Magazine.) Despite Russias vociferous fears and objections, in 2008 NATO said it would bring in Ukraine and Georgia. From 1945 to 1990, the U.S. and the Soviet Union respected one another and negotiated agreements countless times, including agreeing secretly to remove our missiles from Turkey in exchange for them taking their missiles out of Cuba and end the most dangerous nuclear war crisis until now. But after the fall of the Soviet Union, we decided that it was a unipolar world and the U.S. and NATO would write the geopolitical rules going forward. These dangerous expansions eastward, including our covert role in in deposing the duly elected President Yanukovych of Ukraine in 2014, a Russian ally, ultimately provoked Russia to invade Crimea that year and then Ukraine in 2022. U.S. and NATO actions assuredly contributed to the start of the current war. Instead of the recent decision to deploy F16 fighter planes, which will ultimately prolong the war and the incalculable suffering, it is past time to resume the diplomacy that prevented war since 1990. Assuming a ceasefire can be negotiated, which is essential, here are potential agreements, proposed by Schwarz and Layne, that could enable a path forward to stop the carnage and avoid a nuclear war, which is more at risk of occurring than at any time since 1962: Russia would need to disgorge its post-invasion gains in the Donbas and contribute significantly to an international fund to reconstruct Ukraine. For its part, Ukraine would need to accept the loss of some territory in Luhansk and Donetsk and perhaps submit to an arrangement that would grant a degree of cultural and local political autonomy to additional Russian-speaking areas of the Donbas. More painfully, Kyiv would need to concede Russias sovereignty over Crimea while ceding territory for a land bridge between the peninsula and Russia Kyiv would need to forswear membership (in NATO) and accept permanent neutrality. We urge readers to call President Biden and their representatives in Congress and ask them to negotiate a ceasefire and end this war immediately. Allen J. Davis, Ed.D., serves on the boards of the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding in Amherst and Racial Justice Rising in Greenfield and is a former Northampton resident. Author Tom Weiner, M.Ed., lives in Northampton and taught at the Smith College Campus School for 40 years. Patriots cornerback Jack Jones was arraigned at East Boston Muncipal Court Tuesday morning and pleaded not guilty to myriad weapons charges. The 25-year-old was arrested at Logan Airport Friday, June 16 after two loaded Glock 9mm guns were discovered in his carry-on luggage. Jones also had two additional magazines along with white socks and mens clothes in a black duffel bag with a tag that said his name on it, according to prosecutor. TSA agents made the discovery after Jones put the bag through the X-ray machine. He was charged with two counts of the following five charges: possession of a concealed weapon in a secure area of an airport, possession of ammunition without a Firearm Identification Card, unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a loaded firearm and possession of a large-capacity feeding device. Jones posted $30,000 in bail and is due back in court on Aug. 18. On the Patriots calendar, thats an off day before the team takes on Green Bay in their second preseason game at Lambeau Field. Speaking outside the courtroom, Jones attorney, Rosemary Scapicchio, said the cornerback was almost fired due to social media speculation, but expressed gratitude that the leaders of the Patriots didnt feed into it. As far as Mr. Jones is concerned, its the social media and the media who have turned him into a thug. Who have labeled him a thug with no evidence whatsoever, Scapicchio said. Scapicchio went on to say that she expected evidence in the case to show that Jones did not know the guns were in the bag, and that he was respectful and helpful with police. Because he is a young Black man, all of a sudden hes a thug. Thats whats happened here. Theres no evidence to that whatsoever, she said. And its disrespectful to Mr. Jones and everyone else, every other Black man in America whos young and Black to be called a thug because he happens to be Black in this situation. This is the institutional racism that, that we deal with every day in the court system. Scapicchio has represented other high-profile clients in the past, including Sean Ellis, whose wrongful conviction for the 1993 killing of a Boston Police detective was chronicled in the Netflix documentary series Trial 4. Jones didnt make a statement of his own nor did he take questions on Tuesday. Following the arrest on Friday, a Patriots team spokesperson said they knew of the situation, but they didnt have much to add beyond that. We have been notified that Jack Jones was arrested at Logan Airport, the Patriots statement read. We are in the process of gathering more information and will not be commenting further at this time. MINNEAPOLIS The Red Sox agreed to a minor league contract with veteran right-hander Kyle Barraclough, a source said Monday. Barraclough, who had been pitching in the Atlantic League, will report to Triple-A Worcester. BetMGM Massachusetts BET $10, GET $200 BONUS BETS CLAIM OFFER Promo code: MASSLIVE 21+ and present in Massachusetts. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. Barraclough, a 33-year-old veteran of 288 major league appearances since debuting in 2015, had spent the early part of his season with the unaffiliated High Point Rockers, with whom he pitched to a 1.50 ERA (2 earned runs in 18 innings) while striking out 17 batters. Despite never starting a game as a big leaguer, he made two starts for the Rockers and is stretched out as a starter or multi-inning option, so he may be inserted into the WooSox rotation. The Red Sox have had their depth tested in recent weeks with Chris Sale (shoulder) and Tanner Houck (facial fracture) both hitting the injured list and Kutter Crawford moving from the bullpen to the rotation. At the upper levels of the minors, the pool of potential depth candidates has thinned with Matt Dermody (released), Bryan Mata (injured), Chris Murphy (moved to bullpen) out of the mix. Barraclough will join Shane Drohan, Jake Faria and Rio Gomez in the Worcester rotation if the organization chooses to start him. The Red Sox also made a series of pitching promotions Tuesday, as our Chris Smith reported. Barraclough is perhaps best known for his run as a late-inning bullpen option for the Marlins in the mid-2010s. In four seasons with Miami (2015-18), the former seventh-round pick posted a 3.21 ERA and recorded 11 saves. Since being traded to the Nationals after the 2018 season, he has pitched in the majors for four other teams (Washington, San Francisco, Minnesota and the Angels). He owns a career 18-15 record, 3.61 ERA and 11.9 K/9 rate in seven seasons. While the Red Sox need a starter for Thursdays series finale against the Twins, its unlikely Barraclough would be a candidate. Manager Alex Cora said Monday that the teams choice for that game will almost certainly be someone on the 40-man roster. MINNEAPOLIS The Red Sox havent yet identified a starter for their series finale in Minneapolis on Thursday, but manager Alex Cora narrowed the field of potential candidates Monday afternoon. Cora said the Sox believe they have candidates on both their 26-man and 40-man rosters to pitch in place of the injured Tanner Houck, adding that its unlikely the club would go off the 40-man roster to add a pitcher. That means lefty prospect Shane Drohan as well as some other WooSox arms (southpaw Rio Gomez and veterans Jake Faria and Kyle Barraclough) are not candidates to pitch. BetMGM Massachusetts BET $10, GET $200 BONUS BETS CLAIM OFFER Promo code: MASSLIVE 21+ and present in Massachusetts. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. On the active roster, the Sox could once again use an opener like they did Sunday afternoon with Kaleb Ort or turn to a former starter to give them multiple innings against the Twins. Nick Pivetta and Corey Kluber remain on the roster after being demoted to the bullpen, but theres reason to think Cora and his staff will stay away from starting either. Pivetta has been dominant (2.20 ERA in 16 innings) out of the bullpen, where the club believes his pitch mix plays better, and Kluber has not shown enough to deserve even a spot start. Left-hander Chris Murphy can rejoin the team Wednesday (option rules dictate he must spend 15 days in the minors after being sent down except for in the case of a weird circumstance like Sundays doubleheader) but Cora has said the team views the rookie lefty as a relief option moving forward. Murphy could give the Sox a few innings like he did Sunday, when he tossed 2 scoreless innings. Lefty pitching prospect Brandon Walter last pitched Saturday for the WooSox, so hed be on regular rest for Thursday. He has struggled all year at Triple-A (6.28 ERA) so its unclear if the Red Sox would be comfortable promoting him for his debut. With Houck (facial fracture) and Chris Sale (shoulder), the Sox only have four healthy starters in James Paxton, Kutter Crawford (who was moved from the bullpen), Garrett Whitlock and Brayan Bello. While the hope is that Houck wont have to miss much time after being placed on the 15-day injured list Sunday (retroactive to Friday), the Sox will have to piece together their starting five in the coming weeks. Cora noted that the upcoming schedule, which includes back-to-back Monday off days (June 26 and July 3) may let the Sox be creative when it comes to their rotation. If the Sox use a spot starter Thursday and keep the other four on regular rest, they wouldnt need a fifth starter until July 1 in Toronto. Even with a minimum IL stint, Houck who will see a doctor Tuesday for more information his facial fractures is not eligible to return until July 2. Obviously, its going to be a challenge with no Tanner and what were going to do. Just looking at the schedule, we might get a break coming up..., Cora said. We can actually play with the rotation, but at the same time, Pax, Whit, Bello, even Kutter, we have to make sure, workload-wise, were very smart because were here for the long run. Obviously, theres some of these guys that have red flags. Hopefully, we can map it out and we can continue to keep pitching well. Houck remains in Boston where hes out of the hospital and resting comfortably after being hit in the face with a Kyle Higashioka comebacker Friday night. He has multiple facial fractures but the team has not yet mapped out a plan for him. Enter your email address here to receive the Fenway Rundown email newsletter in your inbox every Wednesday. Good spirits, Cora said. Happy that we played well, which is the ultimate goal. Blessed that it wasnt worse, thats the most important thing. He has been able to get some rest the last few days. It was kind of hard at the beginning. Excited, talking to doctors and all of that, that hopefully its nothing that bad that and can actually join us sooner rather than later. Taylor Swift is on her next stop during her record-breaking Eras Tour, now heading to Minneapolis, Minnesota. The tour features songs from her recent 10th studio album, Midnights, which launched back on October 21. It also will span a wide variety of her discography, including her country roots in Fearless, electropop beats from Reputation, slow ballads from sister albums Evermore and Folklore and everything in between. *New customers who purchase tickets through VividSeats can get $20 off a $200+ ticket order by using the promo code MassLive20 at checkout.* Swifts upcoming stop will be at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on June 23 and 24 as part of the 52-date, 17-state-wide tour. She will be joined by artists girl in red, OWENN, MUNA and Gracie Abrams. Those who hope to see the 12-time Grammy Award-winning artist can shop at VividSeats and StubHub for her shows in Minneapolis and the rest of the remaining tour locations. Below you can find the cheapest concert tickets for the U.S. Bank Stadium shows as of Tuesday, June 20: StubHub June 23 - U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN - Buy tickets at VividSeats StubHub June 24 - U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN - Buy tickets at VividSeats Here are the remaining tour schedules below. Find tickets to shows close to you: Worcesters Table Talk Pies has appointed a new president, the company announced Tuesday. Isaac Long, who has worked as a strategic advisor for the iconic pie maker for several months, will take over the role effective immediately, Table Talk said in a press release. Former President Harry Kokkinis, who managed the company for 20 years, will become the executive chairman of the companys board of directors. I am excited for the opportunity to lead Table Talk Pies into its next stage as a company, Long said. Table Talk has a rich history as an iconic New England brand, and it is an honor to continue to build on the successes Harry and his family have had and join the incredible culture here at Table Talk. We are in a period of growth driven by our traditional pie offerings but continue to invest in new product & flavor development. We recently won eight blue ribbons at the 2023 National Pie Council and are about to complete construction of another pie line which will be ready for the fall. It is a great way to begin with Table Talk and I am honored to work with the many great people on the Table Talk team. A native of North Dakota, Long began his career flying F/A-18s in the U.S. Navy and later became an instructor at the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapon School, popularly known as TOPGUN. He left the Navy in 2014 and went on to earn an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Long has worked at Boston Consulting Group advising private equity firms and at Boston technology company Indigo Agriculture leading an operational improvement program. He served as CEO and CFO of a family-office-owned agriculture company. More recently, Long worked at Boston venture capital and private equity firm Truck 9 Partners, where he served as operating partner. Table Talk Pies President Harry Kokkinis. (Trea Lavery, MassLive) Kokkinis will serve as an advisor to Long and will continue to have oversight responsibilities in certain areas of the company, including the new pie line installation at Table Talks Gardner Street headquarters, strategic planning and new product development. While this is a major change, I do believe it is for the good of the company. As I have grown older it has become clear to me that I need help in running the company. Just as my father needed help back in 2003 when I started working for Table Talk, now in 2023 I need help, Kokkinis said. Given his leadership skills, I believe that Isaac is the right person for the job. We have something special here at Table Talk, and we must work hard to maintain and nourish it. As a company we are not standing still, we are continuing to grow. Last year, Table Talk moved into the brand-new Gardner Street facility after nearly a century in its Kelley Square bakery. The property that once housed the former factory is currently under development to create housing and commercial space. A few months after moving into the new building, Table Talk ran into financial trouble, until the company received a significant financial investment from Worcester Railers owner Cliff Rucker, Consigli Construction owners Anthony and Matt Consigli, and Jim Chacharone of Chacharone Properties. In late 2022, with things looking up, Table Talk acquired Patisserie Gaudet, a Quebec, Canada-based pie company that had gone bankrupt earlier in the year. The company will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2024. The African Energy Chamber announced its partnership with Emirates, the worlds leading international airline, as the official international airline partner for African Energy Week (AEW) taking place 16-20 October in Cape Town. This collaboration markets a significant milestone in the airlines commitment to fostering sustainable development and promoting Africas energy sector. Demonstrating its confidence in the regions economic growth, particularly in the energy sector, Emirates returns as a travel partner for AEW, contributing to the caliber of this esteemed event. Emirates extensive global network and exceptional service makes it the ideal choice for transporting participants to AEW. With flights connecting to a multitude of destinations worldwide, Emirates provides convenient and seamless travel options for delegates from around the world to convene at AEW 2023 in full force. With its extensive global network and strong presence in Africa, Emirates is uniquely positioned to support and invest in the continents energy ambitions. In its capacity, Emirates will extend exclusive discounts to delegates attending the event, further enhancing accessibility and promoting participation. As an airline partner, Emirates will offer discounted fares on Business Class and Economy Class return tickets, making it more convenient for delegates to travel to AEW and engage in Africas premier energy event. By providing exclusive fare reductions, Emirates aims to facilitate increased participation from industry leaders, policymakers and investors, fostering robust engagement and collaboration during the event. Additionally, Emirates commitment to supporting AEW extends beyond its role as an airline partner. The airline recognizes the importance of connecting global stakeholders with Africas energy sector, and through these discounted fares, Emirates contributes to promoting knowledge exchange, facilitating business opportunities, and driving sustainable development in the African energy industry. The Chamber is thrilled to have Emirates on board as a partner for African Energy Week. This partnership not only signifies the international recognition and importance of the event but also highlights the significance of the energy sector in Africa. With Emirates support, we can further enhance the accessibility and reach of AEW, attracting key stakeholders and facilitating meaningful discussions on Africas energy future. Together, we are fostering an environment of connectivity, investment, and sustainable development for the benefit of Africa and its people, states, NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the AEC, adding that Without the attendance of stakeholders, industry leaders, energy makers and delegates at such events, the opportunity for collaborations, signed deals, and the flourishing of Africas energy sector is not possible. Thats why the partnership with Emirates is of utmost importance as it enables us to bring people to these events. Under the partnership, delegates attending AEW will have the opportunity to enjoy discounted fares on Emirates flights. The discounts are as follows: 10% off on Flex and Flex Plus online fares for Business Class and Economy Class return tickets and 5% off on Saver online fares for Business Class and Economy Class return tickets. The Mauritius Institute of Professional Accountants (MIPA), the regulatory body of the Accounting Profession in Mauritius, has announced the appointment of Mr. Kamal Raj Sadien as its new Chief Executive Officer on 15th June 2023. With his extensive experience and achievements in the field of Accounting, Auditing, Corporate Governance and Ethics, Mr. Sadien brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his new role. His visionary leadership and strategic mindset make him the ideal candidate to lead MIPA into a new era of growth and excellence. As the Chief Executive Officer of MIPA, Mr. Sadien will oversee MIPAs operations and work closely with the Board members and stakeholders to advance the profession of accountancy in Mauritius. He will be responsible for driving innovation, promoting professional ethics, and fostering the development of the accounting profession in line with international standards. Mr. Sadien holds an impressive track record, having previously served in various leadership positions within the accounting and auditing industry. His deep understanding of regulatory frameworks and his commitment to maintaining the highest professional standards make him a natural fit for MIPAs leadership. Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Sadien expressed his enthusiasm for the role, saying, I am honoured to have been chosen as the Chief Executive Officer of MIPA. I am committed to upholding the values and principles that MIPA represents, and I look forward to working closely with the team at MIPA to promote excellence, integrity, and accountability within the accounting profession. The Chairperson of MIPA, Mohammad Sallah-Ud-Din Surfraz, also expressed his confidence in Mr. Sadiens appointment, stating, We are delighted to welcome Mr. Kamal Raj Sadien as the new CEO of MIPA. His extensive experience and knowledge of the accounting industry will undoubtedly steer MIPA to new heights. Under his leadership, we are confident that MIPA will continue to strengthen its position as a trusted regulatory body, ensuring the highest standards of professionalism in the accounting sector. Mr. Sadiens appointment comes at a crucial time when the accounting profession in Mauritius is witnessing significant growth and international recognition. With his dynamic leadership, MIPA is poised to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the profession, fostering trust and confidence in the financial ecosystem of Mauritius. With a commitment to promoting green development through Belt and Road cooperation, China has made scientific advancements in desertification control over the past decades, contributing to global green progress, said a UN official. The country has established a solid barrier for ecological security, said Jia Xiaoxia, program officer at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, when attending the 3rd Taklimakan Desert Forum recently held in Korla, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The latest data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a UN body, showed drylands currently cover 46.2 percent of the global land area and are home to 3 billion people. However, these lands are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and are warming twice as fast as humid areas. Efforts in eco-restoration, protection Jia highlighted China's early efforts in ecological restoration and protection, which have enabled the country to accumulate extensive experience in this field. For example, Xinjiang, which has the largest arid area in China, has achieved remarkable success in desertification control over the past decades through such measures as precision agriculture, integrated watershed management, afforestation and reducing overgrazing. Jia mentioned that Africa's initiative of "Green Great Wall" was inspired during a visit to China by African officials and experts some 30 years ago, when they witnessed the benefits of China's massive afforestation program, the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, and its achievements in ecological restoration. Tech exchanges with Africa Apart from providing economic support, China has also dispatched researchers and experts to facilitate technological exchanges and advance the African afforestation program. Nowadays, China is engaged in technological cooperation with the regions involved in the African project by utilizing big data applications and planning, Jia said. Through satellites and other means to observe, collect, calculate and analyze data, China has also helped African countries better understand the characteristics and patterns of their land, climate and other aspects, advancing the efforts to prevent and control desertification, she added. source: CGTN The global endodontics and orthodontics market is expected to expand at a CAGR of around 5.2% over the forecast period of 2021 to 2031. As per the latest research report by Persistence Market Research, the global market was valued at over US$ 4.6 Billion in 2020. Increasing popularity of being aesthetically perfect in terms of appearance has driven the growth of the dental prosthetics and aesthetics sector over the past few years. Changing lifestyle and perception with regard to facial aesthetics have catalyzed the demand growth of endodontic and orthodontic products, wherein, dental implants present a lucrative stance for further revenue growth in the industry. Increasing incidence of periodontal diseases, dental expenditure, and rising global geriatric population, as well as increasing disposable income are prime factors driving market expansion. Get Sample Copy of this Report@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/27700 Furthermore, novel advancements and innovations with respect to developments in endodontics, growing awareness regarding dental hygiene, and rise in the number of dental practitioners in established geographies are complementing market growth. Surge in the demand for root canal treatments followed by rising investments in research & development by key healthcare companies has led to the production of newer endodontic and orthodontic products, primarily dental implants. Many key manufacturers of endodontic and orthodontic products are focusing on emerging markets due to their extensive potential for growth as well as to widen their distribution channels across the globe. Company Profiles: Dentsply sirona, Inc. 3M Align Technology, Inc DENTAURUM Gmbh & Co. KG FKG Dentaire SA Ivoclar Vivadent Inc Patterson Companies, Inc. Mani, Inc. Coltene Holdings AG Danaher Corporation (Ormco) Request for Methodology@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/27700 Key Takeaways from Market Study Endodontic products hold over two-third of the market value share, primarily because of the high prevalence of oral diseases. Dental clinics dominated the market with a share of around 72.3% in 2020, owing to rising number of dental professionals with independent clinical practices, globally. North America is the largest regional market with a value share of over 37% in 2020. It is further expected to grow 1.5X by 2031 owing to the presence of major players in the region. Rising awareness regarding oral health and advancements in root canal treatments have driven demand of endodontic and orthodontic products says an analyst of Persistence Market Research. Market Competition To increase their sales, major players in the endodontics and orthodontics market have been focused on product innovation. Manufacturers have been inventing ways to innovate their products in order to maintain their market position. For instance, key players such as Henry Schein, Inc. and Ivoclar Vivadent AG, in December 2019, announced plans for the distribution of the new PrograMill One Milling System, where companies do business together. Agreements and distribution channel expansions are other key strategies adopted by manufacturers to increase their consumer base in different geographies. Patterson Veterinary Supply, Inc., a subsidiary of Patterson Companies, Inc., announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire all of the assets of Miller Vet Holdings, LLC, a multiregional veterinary distributor, in April 2021. Prominent players in this industry include Dentsply sirona, Inc., 3M, Align Technology, Inc, DENTAURUM Gmbh & Co. KG, FKG Dentaire SA, Ivoclar Vivadent Inc, Patterson Companies, Inc., Mani, Inc., Coltene Holdings AG, and Danaher Corporation (Ormco). Access Full Report@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/27700 What Does the Report Cover? Persistence Market Research offers a unique perspective and actionable insights on the endodontics and orthodontics market in its latest study, presenting historical demand assessment of 2016 2020 and projections for 2021 2031. The research study is based on the product (endodontic products (permanent sealers, files, obturation devices, and others) and orthodontic products (dental braces, molar bands, wires, retainers, and others)) and end user (dental laboratories, dental hospitals, dental clinics, and others), across seven key regions of the world. Read More Trending PMR Exclusive Article: About Us: Persistence Market Research is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. Persistence Market Research boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs. Contact Us: Address 305 Broadway, 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007 United States U.S. Ph. +1-646-568-7751 USA-Canada Toll-free +1 800-961-0353 Sales sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Website https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Market Overview: According to the latest research report published by DataM Intelligence, the Global Biosimilars Market was valued at US$ 30.1 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach US$ 76.7 billion by 2030. The market is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 12.8% during the forecast period 2023-2030. The global biosimilars market is segmented based on product, technology, application, distribution channel and region. North America is expected to contribute significantly to the market growth because of the regions aging population, improved healthcare infrastructure, FDA clearance for biosimilar medications and increased illnesses such as cancer. Major players in the market include Amgen Inc., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Novartis AG, Pfizer Inc., Biocon, Samsung Bioepis, Mylan NV, Celltrion, Biogen and Intas Pharmaceutical Ltd among others. Biosimilars are biological products that are clinically indistinguishable from authorized reference biologics. They are expected to perform similarly to the reference product regarding effectiveness, safety and quality. Biosimilars treat rheumatology, cancer, hematology, gastrointestinal and endocrinology. Market Drivers: An increase in the number of authorized biosimilars due to improved FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) review processes and manufacturing and development methodologies is expected to boost biosimilar market growth. For example, Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical firm, stated in March 2022 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Biologics Licence Application (BLA) for filgrastim-you, a Neupogen biosimilar. The item will be offered for purchase under the RELEUKO brand. Furthermore, as manufacturers have become used to the complicated regulatory and legal frameworks connected with submitting a biosimilar application, the number of biosimilar submissions has risen. Download Free Sample: https://www.datamintelligence.com/download-sample/biosimilars-market Market Restraints: The time and expense of developing biosimilar drugs is a big barrier for the Biosimilars business, threatening the industrys growth and profitability. One of the major barriers to biosimilar pharmaceutical acceptability in impoverished and underprivileged nations is the high cost of research. According to recent research, a biosimilar takes 7 to 8 years to develop and costs between $100 million and $300 million. High biosimilar drug development costs will continue to hamper industry expansion during the forecast period. Russia-Ukraine Conflict Analysis: The Russia-Ukraine conflict may influence the Biosimilars industry since research cooperation, investment and finance may be hampered during the geopolitical upheaval and economic uncertainty. International research cooperation and information sharing are critical for advancing biosimilar development. The conflict between institutions, corporations and researchers in Russia, Ukraine and other nations may impede or limit scientific development and dissemination. Artificial Intelligence Impact Analysis: Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly being utilized in the biosimilar business to enhance many parts of the consumer experience. AI approaches like molecular docking and machine learning may help design biosimilars. These approaches allow for the prediction of protein structures, molecular interactions and binding affinities, which aids in creating better biosimilar molecules. AI systems may examine massive datasets, including clinical trial data, patient records and genetic information, to detect trends, estimate treatment results and improve dosage strategies. This may aid in demonstrating biosimilarity and evaluating the safety and efficacy of biosimilars. Recent Industry Developments: In May 2023, Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries PJSC (Julphar), one of the Middle East and Africas largest pharmaceutical producers, announced today that it had entered into a strategic licensing agreement with Sunshine Lake Pharma, a Chinese pharmaceutical firm, to become the regions first manufacturer of modern Insulin biosimilars. Biocon Biologics and Viatris Inc. launched Abevmy, a bevacizumab medication, in Canada in May 2022. Abevmy is a Roche biosimilar of Avastin licensed by Health Canada for four cancer indications. Segmentation Analysis: As per the research analysis, the global biosimilars market is segmented by product into monoclonal antibodies, recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH), insulin, anti-coagulants, erythropoietin, fusion proteins, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, follitropin and others; by technology into recombinant DNA technology (rDNA technology) and monoclonal antibodies (MAb) technology; by application into oncology, chronic and immune diseases, infectious diseases, growth hormone deficiency, blood disorders and others; and by distribution channel into hospital pharmacies, retail pharmacies and online pharmacies. In 2022, the oncology segment had the largest market share, accounting for nearly 30.7% of the biosimilar market. Biologic-based drugs account for around one-fourth of the global pharmaceutical market and treat various illnesses. Cancer patients who use biological medications have shown significant advances in cancer therapy and supportive care. The number of cancer cases in India in 2022 was computed using the predicted population and the age-specific incidence rate for each unique anatomical location of cancer, according to research published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research in 2022. The estimated number of cancer incidents in India for 2022 was discovered to be 14,61,427 (the crude rate was 100.4 per 100,000). Geographical Analysis: The global biosimilars market is segmented into North America, Europe, South America, Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa. North America Biosimilars Market: North America is expected to occupy around 38.1% of the total market share throughout the projected period. Because of the regions aging population, improved healthcare infrastructure, FDA clearance for biosimilar medications and increased illnesses such as cancer. The elements projected to drive regional development throughout the projection period include government actions to strengthen the healthcare system. For example, in January 2023, Amgen, a biopharmaceutical firm, debuted the autoimmune disease medicine Humira in the United States, providing healthcare providers and patients with illnesses such as psoriasis, arthritis and Crohns disease with a lower-cost alternative to a therapy that is now priced at roughly $90,000 per year. Competitive Landscape: The major companies contributing to the global biosimilars market growth include Amgen Inc., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Novartis AG, Pfizer Inc., Biocon, Samsung Bioepis, Mylan NV, Celltrion, Biogen and Intas Pharmaceutical Ltd among others. Related Reports: Additional Benefits Post Purchase: 1) Unlimited Analyst support for a period of 1 year. 2) Any query regarding the scope offered will be addressed within 24- 48 hours. 3) An Excel sheet with market numbers will be provided separately. The Full Report has the below insights. The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market in terms of Market Value (US$) and Y-o-Y Growth Rates (%). It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data (2020-2021) and verifiable market size projections (2022-2029). Visualize the composition of the global biosimilars market segmentation product, technology, application, distribution channel and region, highlighting the key commercial assets and players. By Product : Monoclonal antibodies, recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH), insulin, anti-coagulants, erythropoietin, fusion proteins, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, follitropin and others : Monoclonal antibodies, recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH), insulin, anti-coagulants, erythropoietin, fusion proteins, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, follitropin and others By Technology: Recombinant DNA technology (rDNA technology) and monoclonal antibodies (MAb) technology Recombinant DNA technology (rDNA technology) and monoclonal antibodies (MAb) technology By Application: Oncology, chronic and immune diseases, infectious diseases, growth hormone deficiency, blood disorders and others Oncology, chronic and immune diseases, infectious diseases, growth hormone deficiency, blood disorders and others By Distribution Channel: Hospital pharmacies, retail pharmacies and online pharmacies Hospital pharmacies, retail pharmacies and online pharmacies By Region : North America, Europe, South America, Asia-Pacific and Middle East and Africa. : North America, Europe, South America, Asia-Pacific and Middle East and Africa. Identify commercial opportunities in the global biosimilars market by analyzing trends and co-development deals. The report also covers data insights on various industry forces such as Porters five forces, regulations in each country, reimbursement scenario, technological advancements, PEST analysis and pricing analysis. Excel data sheet with thousands of the global biosimilars market-level 4/5 segmentation data points. PDF report with the most relevant analysis cogently put together after exhaustive qualitative interviews and in-depth market study. Product mapping in Excel for the key product of all major market players. The report will provide access to approximately 50+ market data tables, 40+ figures and close to 180 pages. About DataM Intelligence: DataM Intelligence 4Market Research is a Market Research firm that provides end-to-end business solutions to organizations from Research to Consulting. We, at DataM Intelligence, leverage our top trademark trends, insights and developments to emancipate swift and astute solutions to clients like you. We encompass a multitude of Syndicate Reports & Customized Reports with a robust methodology. Our research database features countless statistics and in-depth analyses across a wide range of 6300+ reports in 40+ domains creating business solutions for more than 200+ companies across 50+ countries; catering to the key business research needs that influence the growth trajectory of our vast clientele. Bubble Tea Market Overview: According to the latest research report published by DataM Intelligence, the Global Bubble Tea Market was valued at US$ 2,984 million in 2022 and is projected to reach US$ 5,322 million by 2030. The market is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 7.5% during the forecast period (2023-2030). The global bubble tea market is segmented on the basis of component, base ingredient, flavor, distribution channel and region. Asia-Pacific is expected to contribute significantly to the market growth because of the greatest sales levels. Major players in the market include The Bubble Tea Company, Bubble Tea House Company, Bobabox Limited, Cuppotee, Fokus Inc., Gong Cha, Lollicup USA, Inc., Sumos (M) Sdn Bhd, Ten Rens Tea Time, and Troika JC. The bubble tea market has expanded because of its distinct flavor and texture, which appeals to customers seeking an alternative to traditional tea or coffee drinks. Furthermore, the availability of a diverse selection of flavors and customizable choices enables users to customize their beverages to their tastes. Many customers are seeking healthier alternatives, and bubble tea companies are reacting by creating healthier versions of their drinks. This includes the use of natural sweeteners, the availability of low-fat or non-dairy choices, and the use of organic or all-natural ingredients, all of which contribute to the expansion of the bubble tea business. Customization is another aspect driving the development of the bubble tea business. Consumers are increasingly seeking individualized experiences, and bubble tea establishments are responding by providing a variety of customizable alternatives. Bubble Tea Market Drivers: Wide Product Selection Attracting Millennials to Accelerate Growth Fruit-flavored green jasmine and black tea are among the varieties available at the market. Fruit-flavored tea comes in various flavors, including sweetened fruit drinks and cream drinks with a fruit taste. Lactose-intolerant people may drink black, green jasmine, and other tea kinds. The availability of a broad range of boba tea varietals provides the customer with extra options. This marketing strategy assists in attracting more clients. Its shops are also giving new tastes and compositions to attract consumers. Millennials desire for premium tea varieties with unique taste possibilities has also led them to gravitate toward such things, adding to the industrys growth. Consumer Movement Toward Healthier Options to Support Market Growth Sugar alternatives such as stevia, agave, and honey are becoming popular among consumers due to ailments such as obesity and diabetes connected to increased sugar consumption. These natural sweeteners replace or reduce the sugar content in boba tea. Diabetics and sugar-averse persons like these natural sweeteners. Consumers like these products because of their beneficial properties, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogenic properties. Download Free Sample: https://www.datamintelligence.com/download-sample/bubble-tea-market Bubble Tea Market Restraints: Bubble tea is a popular caffeine-containing beverage, although many other caffeine-containing beverages are available, such as coffee, energy drinks, and other tea-based drinks. For example, 73.6 percent of Canadian teens and young adults (aged 12-24) surveyed have taken caffeinated energy beverages. Furthermore, some customers may prefer these alternate beverages over bubble tea due to their taste preferences or nutritional profile. For example, in 2020-2021, around 166.63 million 60-kilogram bags of coffee were used worldwide. As a result, the availability of alternative caffeinated beverages is limiting the expansion of the bubble tea business. Covid-19 Impact Analysis on Bubble Tea Market Businesses such as restaurants, farms, and factories had to shut down entirely due to the COVID-19 epidemic to maintain safety standards and implement social isolation. Due to a personnel shortage and fewer customers visiting coffee shops during the lockdown, transportation has been hampered, bringing both supply (tea plantations) and demand for consumption to a halt. According to the Indian Tea Association 2020, the lockdown in tea-growing districts has resulted in a decline in crop quantity and logistical and transportation issues, resulting in an average 25%-40% rise in tea prices. Recent Industry Developments: In January 2023, BobaBam, a beverage manufacturer in Los Angeles, announced the release of two additional flavors: Milk Tea and Taro. In April 2022, BUBLUV, Inc., a New York-based start-up on a mission to create delicious, convenient, better-for-you Asian-inspired food and beverages, announced the release of its much-anticipated BUBLUV Bubble Tea, the first ready-to-drink, better-for-you boba alternative with no added sugar, no artificial ingredients, and less than 50 calories per bottle. In May 2022, Barroco by Cafe De Bangkok provided 21 boba tea varieties, including cotton candy, Japanese sweet potato, and others. Bubble Tea Market Segmentation Analysis: As per the research analysis, the global bubble tea market is segmented by component into flavor, creamer, sweetener, tapioca balls & popping balls, and others; by base ingredient into black tea, green tea, and others; by flavor into original, fruit, chocolate, coffee, and others; and by distribution channel into supermarket/hypermarket, specialty stores, online sales, and others. The global bubble tea market has been segmented by base ingredients into black tea, green tea, and others. In 2022, black tea had the most market share. For example, in 2021, Japan drank more than 17,000 tons of black tea. This development is responsible for the actual natural taste of black tea. Furthermore, this drink lowers blood sugar and dangerous cholesterol levels and improves digestive health. It is also an excellent source of antioxidants. Bubble Tea Market Geographical Analysis: The global bubble tea market is segmented into North America, Europe, South America, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Asia-Pacific Bubble Tea Market The Asia Pacific market had the largest share, estimated at USD 0.96 billion in 2022. Vietnam and Taiwan are expected to have the greatest sales levels. Manufacturers and company owners in the bubble tea industry are building their cafes and restaurants to attract clients and boost their market share. For example, Chen Shucheng launched Meme Xpress, a new bubble milk tea franchise, in Singapore in September 2020. North America Bubble Tea Market North Americas bubble tea market share emerged as the second-largest after Asia Pacific and is expected to remain there for the rest of the forecast period. The growing popularity of tea-based drinks is causing a slight rise in the consumption of this tea in North American countries. Meanwhile, the consumption of pearl milk tea in Europe increased about the same period as in APAC countries. Bubble Tea Market Competitive Landscape: The major companies contributing to the global bubble tea market growth include The Bubble Tea Company, Bubble Tea House Company, Bobabox Limited, Cuppotee, Fokus Inc., Gong Cha, Lollicup USA, Inc., Sumos (M) Sdn Bhd, Ten Rens Tea Time, and Troika JC. View Full Report: https://www.datamintelligence.com/research-report/bubble-tea-market Additional Benefits Post Purchase: 1) Unlimited Analyst support for a period of 1 year. 2) Any query regarding the scope offered will be addressed within 24- 48 hours. 3) An Excel sheet with market numbers will be provided separately. The Full Report has the below insights. As per this new industry analysis by Persistence Market Research, the global Braces and Support Market was valued at US$ 3.2 billion in 2021 and is projected to expand at a CAGR of 5.6% over the forecast period (2023 to 2032). Sales of braces and supports are expected to reach US$ 5.8 billion by 2032. The market for braces and supports is expanding due to an increase in musculoskeletal disorders among the population. The growing geriatric population, rising hospitalizations, and increasing sports-related injuries and accidents are the main factors driving market growth. This has also had a positive impact on the market and created a need for technological advancements in braces and support systems to meet the growing populations demands and needs. Increased investments in research and development and technological advancements in braces and supports will give the market a boost over the coming years. Click Here to Get Free Sample Copy of this Report@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/33345 Leading manufacturers of braces and supports are focusing on developing products that are in line with smart technologies. Some recently launched smart technology-based braces and supports include AFO smart braces, step smart braces, smart spinal braces, and many more. Companies are focusing more on product development to gain a competitive advantage over others in the market. For instance: Rebound Post-Op Elbow Brace, a non-invasive, lightweight, adjustable brace with user-friendly design characteristics, was introduced by Ossur in July 2021. It was intended to make it simpler for patients to use while recovering from serious elbow injuries or surgical operations. Key Takeaways from Market Study The knee braces and supports segment dominated the market with 28.7% market share in 2021. In 2021, soft & elastic braces and supports accounted for 38% of the market share owing to increasing demand for braces for preventive care and also for post-operative care. By application, braces and support systems are increasingly being used in preventive care and are expected to exhibit a CAGR of 6.8% during the forecasted years. Hospitals dominated the end user category with a market share of 30% in 2021. North America led with a market share of 32.4% in 2021. Rising technological developments in manufacturing advanced braces and support systems, high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, and increasing geriatric population are key market growth drivers, according to a researcher of Persistence Market Research. Get Full Access of this Report@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/33345 Market Competition DJO Global Inc. 3M Healthcare Breg Inc. OSSUR, Otto Bock Healthcare Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc., Bauerfeind AG Alcare Company Ltd Becker Orthopedic Frank Stubbs Company Inc. Bird and Cronin Inc. DeRoyal Industries Inc. Medi GmbH & Co. KG Trulife Inc. As a result of an aging population and a rise in musculoskeletal problems, brace and support manufacturers are currently at maximum capacity. There are numerous regional, up-and-coming, and established businesses in the market for braces and supports, which is fragmented. To introduce revolutionary braces with increased efficacy, key market players have started promotional operations. In November 2021, Breg, Inc. signed an agreement with Aspen Medical Products, a leading company dealing with the designing, development, and marketing of upper and lower spinal orthotics. This was a five-year supplier agreement for increasing its efficiency to sell its innovative spinal portfolio products. What Does the Report Cover? Persistence Market Research offers a unique perspective and actionable insights on the braces and support market in its latest study, presenting a historical demand assessment of 2017 to 2021 and projections for 2023 to 2032. You Can Customize this Report As per Your Requirement Click Here@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/request-customization/33345 The research study is based on the product (knee braces and supports, ankle braces and supports, foot walkers and orthoses, hip, back, & spine braces and supports, shoulder braces and supports, neck & cervical spine braces and supports, hand & wrist braces and supports, others), (knee braces and supports, ankle braces and supports, foot walkers and orthoses, hip, back, & spine braces and supports, shoulder braces and supports, neck & cervical spine braces and supports, hand & wrist braces and supports, others), type (soft & elastic braces and supports, hinged braces and supports, hard braces and supports), (soft & elastic braces and supports, hinged braces and supports, hard braces and supports), application (preventive care, ligament injury, anterior cruciate ligament injury, lateral collateral ligament injury, post-operative rehabilitation, osteoarthritis, compression therapy), (preventive care, ligament injury, anterior cruciate ligament injury, lateral collateral ligament injury, post-operative rehabilitation, osteoarthritis, compression therapy), end user (orthopedic clinics, hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, home care settings, over-the-counter products), (orthopedic clinics, hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, home care settings, over-the-counter products), across seven key regions of the world. For additional insights on how the growth of the braces and support market will unfold over the decade, write to the analyst at media@persistencemarketresearch.com For More Related Reports https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/advanced-computed-tomography-scanners-market.asp https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/home-care-services-market.asp https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/scoliosis-management-market.asp https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/wireless-fetal-monitoring-systems-market.asp About us: Persistence Market Research is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. Persistence Market Research boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductors and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs. Contact Us: Persistence Market Research Address 305 Broadway, 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007 United States U.S. Ph. +1-646-568-7751 USA-Canada Toll-free +1 800-961-0353 Sales sales@persistencemarketresearch.com A longtime ranching family is hosting a virtual cooking class next week to fundraise for youth mental health care in rural Montana. The DeBruycker Charolais Ranch, based in Dutton, will host the inaugural Charolais Cooking Classic. The event will be held online June 25 at 4 p.m., where participants will be able to follow Bozeman-based chef Daniel Coxs instructions and tips for cooking local beef. The cost to participate in the class is $99, and people will be able to ask direct questions and learn from the world-class chef as he demonstrates how to cook the steaks. The class will also be streamed on the Debruycker Ranch Facebook Page, so people can still watch the instruction even if they dont get a beef shipment to follow along. All of the proceeds from the class will go to the Jody Alise Foundation, an organization supporting youth mental health in rural areas that Montanan Jody Dahl started last year. Dahl, the daughter of Debruyckers who started Debruycker Charolais in the 1960s said this is the first time shes done a fundraiser like this. So far, about 20 people have signed up, Dahl said Wednesday, but since the class is online theres unlimited space. Dahl founded the Jody Alise Foundation to help kids develop resilience and process past traumas so they can develop healthy coping skills for the rest of their lives. There is definitely a need for more mental health support in rural areas, and especially for children, Dahl said. Her organization is focused on supporting her home, Roundup, as well as Dutton and Choteau. Based on a study by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, over half of Montana children ages 12-17 with depression did not receive any care last year, Dahl said. Montanans are also seven times more likely to be forced out-of-network for mental health care compared to primary health care, the same study found. Extremely rural areas lack resources, like a strong tax base for services, and school trauma and guidance counselors, to support children, Dahl said. At the same time, kids are struggling with poverty, abusive home lives, and stigma associated with mental health care. When youre seeing kids kind of fall through the cracks it was starting to pull on my heartstrings, Dahl said. Theyve had some trauma in their life. But then you also see what can happen when that trauma is addressed. It just elevates them. Since its start, the foundation has donated to the Roundup Mental Health and Addiction Services Center so they can host more youth and family events that offer positive activities for residents, Dahl said. They also have a grant program to fund mental health project ideas and have put money into providing counseling services for people who dont have insurance. Money raised from the fundraiser will go to developing a youth ambassador program for mental health, Dahl said. This summer, Dahl hired six youth ambassadors to work for the foundation. The goal is to hear directly from children on what the mental health needs are and what resources would be helpful in supporting them. Its important to get youth involved directly with what matters to them. It empowers them and makes for better solutions, Dahl said. Dahl said shes tried to organize a cooking class for their Charolais meat before, but it was the fundraiser for youth mental health that finally piqued the chefs interest. Cox said hes excited to share cooking tips specific to Charolais beef, a breed of cattle known for its marbling in the meat and buttery flavor. The DeBruyckers have one of the largest Charolais herds in the country. Overall, the hope for the event is to support a good cause, share knowledge and bring people together, Dahl said. People can register and donate at https://buydcmeat.com/charolais-cooking-classic-1. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, June 20, 2023 A consumer advocacy coalition is urging President Joe Biden to support new regulations that could curb clearly harmful uses of advanced artificial intelligence. The Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue, which represents dozens of advocacy groups, says it's concerned about the serious downsides and harms that could be caused by artificial intelligence that can generate text, images and other content. Those harms could include the potential for discrimination and threats to privacy, the organization says. Generative artificial intelligence systems are incentivized to suck up as much data as possible ... leading to inclusion of personal data that may be irremovable, the watchdog says in a letter signed by Finn Lutzow-Holm Myrstad, digital policy director for the advocacy group Norwegian Consumer Council, and Calli Schroeder, senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center. (Both groups are among the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue's dozens of members.) advertisement advertisement Where training models include data that is biased or discriminatory, those biases become baked into the generative artificial intelligences outputs, creating increasingly more biased and discriminatory content that is then disseminated, the letter continues. The group is pressing for transparency, accountability, and safety in generative artificial intelligence (generative AI) and a prohibition on uses of the technology that are clearly harmful or likely to be clearly harmful. The Norwegian Consumer Council also released a report outlining current uses of generative artificial intelligence, potential problems associated with the technology, and policy recommendations. Among the potential drawbacks are violations of privacy and personal integrity and "the creation of fraud and misinformation, according to the report. It is essential that these problems are sufficiently addressed by enforcing, applying, and establishing laws and regulations that serve to protect consumers from various negative consequences, the report states. The Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue isn't the only organization expressing concerns about artificial intelligence. Earlier this year, the advocacy group Center for AI and Digital Policy petitioned the Federal Trade Commission to halt further commercial releases of OpenAI's large language model software, GPT-4, calling it biased, deceptive, and a risk to privacy and public safety. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also recently warned that artificial intelligence could harm privacy and promote bias, absent appropriate and reasonable protections. by Sarah Mahoney @mahoney_sarah, June 19, 2023 When Huntington Beach, California decided to remove the Pride flag from its city hall this year, Innoceans LGBTQ employees felt the sting. One of them came to me, deflated, and asked if we could hang a big Pride flag from the building, says Jason Sperling, the ad agencys chief creative officer. The answer was no, Sperling learned. The landlord who owns the building wouldnt allow the flag, either. The agency decided it needed to fight back against the rainbow-squashing in a way that was bigger than conservative Orange County. Pride has been so quiet among brands this year, and many are walking away from celebrating Pride and supporting that community. Brands are turning their backs on that community when they need it the most, he says. And he says its part of the larger rise in censorship, book banning, language shaming and school curriculum changes happening all over the country. advertisement advertisement We have to fight back, Sperling tells Marketing Daily. We want everyone in our community to feel represented, The team contacted the Gilbert Baker Foundation, which honors the artist who created the flag in 1978. And it learned that more than 40 cities in the U.S. have decided to take down their Pride flags. Working with the foundation and Tool of North America, it built an AR filter that allows people to plant the Pride flag where ever they want. Using a QR code on Instagram, Snap and soon, on TikTok, people can access the filter. It allows them to place the Pride flag, size it, move it and ultimately take a picture. Its encouraging people to share the images on social media, using the #SaveTheRainbowFlag hashtag. Sperling, who previously worked at Media Arts Lab, Meta Reality Labs and RPA, says the agency is still pursuing the idea of a banner on its building -- especially after learning that the landlord has accepted them in the past. We want to be positive. Of course, we dont want to put out employees in jeopardy, and we know there are serious concerns about activism. And we dont want to jeopardize our space, either. One workaround it expects to launch soon is a giant rainbow QR code. Now is not the time to play it safe, he says. We cant be silent. The real answer is to find meaningful ways to be an ally, not just for our clients but for our agency brand, too. by Richard Whitman , Columnist, June 19, 2023 In January Publicis Groupe launched a global media campaign (including a Super Bowl spot) supporting the Working With Cancer initiative that the Groupe unveiled in Davos earlier that month. Today the campaign won the Health Grand Prix For Good at the Cannes Festival of Creativity. Awards were also bestowed today in the outdoor, radio/audio and print/publishing categories. The impetus for the Working With Cancer effort was Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadouns own cancer diagnosis and treatment last year for cancer and the feedback he received that demonstrated the fear that many patients have for their lives as well as their jobs. Research from the American Cancer Society has indicated that half of cancer patients are afraid to tell their employer about their diagnosis despite 92% feeling that support at work positively impacts their health. The main goal of the campaign was to get companies to pledge to positively support their employees dealing with cancer and 600 corporations impacting 20 million employees have done so. On behalf of the 600 companies that have already pledged, I would like to sincerely thank the jury for elevating Working with Cancer to another level of global awareness, said Sadoun. The recognition, he added, further demonstrates what is possible when we come together for positive change. Mel Routhier, Jury President of Health and Wellness and CCO of VMLY&R Chicago, added: Working with Cancer stopped us in our tracks. We not only saw a brilliantly creative idea, but we also saw a globally impactful onewith scale, inclusivity and the real potential to change employee care forever. The Outdoor Grand Prix went to British Airways for its A British Original campaign that featured 515 OOH billboards across the UK, each with a different reason why people in the country travel ranging from business to showing my kids where we really come from. Each billboard was tailored to location, audience and type of outdoor media and adapted to the time of day, weather and news headlines. The media was executed by Manning Gottlieb OMD and the creative was from Uncommon Creative Studio, London. The Print/Publishing Grand Prix went to Lebanese newspaper An Nahar for its Newspapers Inside the Newspaper Edition campaign from Impact BBDO Dubai. The campaign was designed to honor the papers slain editor Gebran Tueni while promoting democracy and freedom of speech. The campaign featured multiple spreads of now defunct Middle Eastern newspapers within the pages An Nahar. Former reporters from those papers were invited to fill the spreads with their own stories without fear of censorship. The print edition of the paper sold out and online readership set a record. "If you check the health of a woman, you check the health of society." - Rebecca Milner Why is Health Screening in Men between 40 and 64 years so important? Screening tests help to diagnose diseases early when symptoms have not yet appeared. Early detection of diseases permits early treatment and prevention of complications. Some diseases like cancer can be completely cured only if detected early. Men are at their productive best between the ages of 40 and 64 years. However, this is also the period when they are exposed to high stress levels and are prone to various health issues. Regular health checkups along with screening for various diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure as well as cancers help to control or nip the problem in the bud before it is too late. Some of the diseases which can be detected in this age group include: Advertisement Diabetes, Hypertension, Hypercholesterolemia, Colorectal Cancer and Prostate cancer. Besides, individuals can also be advised to follow a healthy lifestyle during their interactions with the physician. What tests are recommended for screening men between 40 and 64 years of age? Several screening tests are recommended for men between 40 and 64 years of age. These include: Routine Examination by a Doctor A routine examination should be done every 1 to 5 years. It should include examination of the skin and testes for cancer. Individuals should be advised to do monthly testicular self examinations as well as lead a healthy lifestyle by exercising, controlling weight and avoiding smoking and alcohol. In some countries, the physician may advise vaccination against diseases like flu, pneumonia, tetanus-diphtheria and herpes zoster. Dental Examination Men are advised to undergo annual dental examinations and cleaning of teeth. Eye Testing Eye examination should be carried out every 2 years above the age of 40. Testing for glaucoma should be done every 2 years over the age of 45. Blood Pressure Blood pressure should be checked once every 2 years and more often if it is above normal level. Lipid profile A lipid profile to check cholesterol levels should be carried out once every 5 years beyond the age of 34 years. If the individual suffers from additional problems like diabetes, heart disease or kidney disease, a more frequent testing may be needed. Colon Cancer Screening Advertisement Colon cancer screening is advised for men over 50 years of age. African Americans, who are at a higher risk for colon cancer, are recommended to start screening when they are over 45 years. The tests could include a yearly stool test, a flexible sigmoidoscopy with a stool guaiac test every 5 years, a colonoscopy every 10 years or a CT colonography. People at high risk may be advised a colonoscopy more often. Prostate Cancer Screening Men should discuss with their physician about prostate cancer screening once they are 50 years of age or 45 years in case of African Americans or other individuals at high risk for developing the cancer. Digital rectal examination and blood tumor market testing for Prostate Specific Aantigen (PSA) are recommended for screening prostate cancer. Osteoporosis Screening Men can discuss with their doctor regarding osteoporosis screening between the ages of 50 and 70 years. Blood sugar Testing A fasting and postprandial blood sugar level should be done once in 3 years to check for diabetes. Hemoglobin A1C testing may also be used alternatively to detect diabetes. HIV Testing Men with multiple sexual partners or at high risk for developing HIV may need to undergo screening for the disease. The problem may occur alone or in association with other conditions such as attention deficit disorder (ADHD), speech and reading difficulties and developmental coordination disorder, a condition characterized by clumsiness, difficulty holding objects, unsteadiness while walking and losing balance and tripping. Dysgraphia or disorder of written expression is a childhood learning disorder marked by poor writing skills such as bad handwriting, multiple spelling and punctuation errors and an inability to organize thoughts properly before putting into words. Dysgraphia affects ability to write clearly, even if reading skills are normal. Types of dysgraphia identified include Type 1 - Dyslexia dysgraphia where voluntary written work is illegible but copied matter is good although spelling errors are common. A child with dyslexia dysgraphia does not necessarily suffer from dyslexia. - where voluntary written work is illegible but copied matter is good although spelling errors are common. A child with dyslexia dysgraphia does not necessarily suffer from dyslexia. Type 2 - Motor dysgraphia due to lack of fine-motor skills (such as delicate movements of hands and fingers), poor muscle tone and general clumsiness. Any form of written work is unclear and illegible, whether written by the child naturally or copied from another source. Spelling skills are not affected. - due to lack of fine-motor skills (such as delicate movements of hands and fingers), poor muscle tone and general clumsiness. Any form of written work is unclear and illegible, whether written by the child naturally or copied from another source. Spelling skills are not affected. Type 3 - Spatial dysgraphia due to difficulties in spatial awareness (inability to understand the size, shape and position of objects/written letters and their relation to one another while writing a sentence). Both naturally created written work as well as copied work are poor and illegible. Spelling skills may not be affected in this type. Advertisement Like many other conditions, the exact cause/causes of dysgraphia are poorly understood. Some of the theories put forward include the following Genetic link Possible genetic association has been suggested since dysgraphia has been found to run in families Difficulty or inability to properly organize information stored in memory while writing Issues with working memory Inability to store unfamiliar words in the memory and difficulty remembering what to write Lack of or poor fine motor skills necessary for writing (developmental coordination disorder) Associated with other learning disabilities eg reading disorder, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder The symptoms will vary according to the age of the child. For example a preschooler will report that he/she hates drawing and coloring while a school going child may have the typical grammar, spelling and punctuations described below Difficulties with Spelling and Handwriting Cannot identify if a word has been misspelled Spells correctly orally but problems with spelling while writing Spells the same word in many different ways at different times Mixing of upper- and lowercase letters Mixing of cursive (joining letters while writing) and non-cursive writing Avoiding writing Erases a lot Difficulty reading own handwriting Problems with Grammar and Punctuation Incorrect use of commas and mixing tenses Inability to write long sentences but tend to write in short sentences Sometimes sentences are extremely long with no full stops or spacing between words Advertisement Poor Organization of Written Language Unable to get to the point, and makes the same point over and over Conveys ideas better when speaking Descriptions are unclear, omitting important information or writing unnecessary points Difficulties in spatial awareness Inability to write on a line or within margins Difficulties with drawing or reproducing shapes and reading maps Inappropriate spacing and size of letters Takes unusually long time to copy text Words go in all directions and without gaps between words Difficulties with fine movements of hands and fingers (fine motor skills) Fine motor skills refers to actions that require precise and well controlled hand and fingers that involves good hand and eye coordination, for example tying shoelaces, handwriting, sewing, or fastening buttons on a dress Difficulty holding a pencil correctly, texting or typing using a keyboard Keeps hands, arms and body or even the paper in an awkward angle while writing Inability to color within the lines Cannot use scissors properly It is difficult to make a diagnosis of dysgraphia as parents may not be aware of such a condition. Early diagnosis is important to start treatment early. The condition may be recognized by the school Counselor and based on clinical suspicion of dysgraphia or similar learning difficulty the Counselor will refer the child to certified health professionals who specialize in treating learning disabilities. These professionals will conduct academic assessments and writing tests on the child which assess grammar, spelling and punctuations as well as fine motor skills. The child will be asked to write his/her own sentences as well as copy a given text. The written matter as well as the writing process will be assessed. This includes hand and arm posture, pencil grip, signs of pain and tiredness and signs of cramping of hand and arm muscles. Other tests may be employed to determine fine motor skills. The school psychologist may assess how this condition affects the child emotionally as well as the childs academic performance. Special or remedial education is the best treatment approach to manage this condition. There are no medicines to treat this condition. If group instruction is not helping, the child may need one-on-one sessions There are many ways to help a child with dysgraphia. Generally, support falls into these categories: Accommodations - Refers to employing other means of learning. These include typing on a keyboard or other electronic device instead of writing. Dictation and voice recognition software can help these children dictate notes instead of writing - Refers to employing other means of learning. These include typing on a keyboard or other electronic device instead of writing. Dictation and voice recognition software can help these children dictate notes instead of writing Modifications - Refers to minimizing the areas of difficulties and changing expectations. Examples of modifications include permitting the child to write shorter answers, giving fewer number of questions or a different set of questions than his classmates. Refers to minimizing the areas of difficulties and changing expectations. Examples of modifications include permitting the child to write shorter answers, giving fewer number of questions or a different set of questions than his classmates. Remediation - Refers to training the child to improve and master writing skills. For example, children may practice copying from books or passages, using paper with raised lines to help writing in straight lines. Exercises to improve muscle strength and fine hand and finger movements and improving hand-eye coordination may be taught by an occupational therapist. All methods of help should be considered when planning treatment. A child with dysgraphia will benefit from both specialists as well as those close to the child. Finding the ideal and best form of support is a process of trying out the different methods and exchanging thoughts and feedback on what works best in any given case. EBM is nothing more than a process of life-long, self-directed learning in which caring for patients creates the need for clinically important information about diagnosis, prognosis, therapy, and other clinical and health care issues . -- The EBM Working Group Evidence based medicine is an integration of individual clinical expertise, patients values and relevant clinical research to make the best decision for patient care. It is a systemic approach to optimize healthcare decision-making based on well-conducted clinical or research studies. These studies have properly randomised controls to show difference in the treatment outcomes. The practice of evidence-based medicine is a process of self-directed problem-based learning in which clinically relevant information about diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy is considered according to the best data available through research. The term Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) was coined in the year 1991 by Dr. Gordon Guyatt, a coordinator at McMasters University Internal Medicine residency. But, David Lawrence Sackett a clinical epidemiologist, and founding Chair of the Cochrane Collaboration is widely regarded as a pioneer and the father of evidence-based medicine. Sackett and his colleagues focused on the need to not only teach methods to understand the scientific literature but also to teach the application of new information to the physicians. It has been described as one of the most important medical advancements in the past 150 years, alongside the discovery of vaccines and antibiotics. The Cochrane Collaboration is a non-profit organization based in the UK. It comprises over 10,000 persons worldwide most of whom do not receive any payment for their work in supporting the organizations activities. The main mission of this organization is to go through and prepare systematic reviews of new research that is being published every day in various specialties based on the strongest evidence available, in order to help make informed decisions on healthcare interventions for the best possible patient outcome. These reviews are then published electronically within The Cochrane Library and are freely accessible to healthcare professionals as well as consumers in abridged versions. The Cochrane Library consists of several databases containing high-quality, independent evidence to help in making informed decisions about clinical interventions. Cochrane Reviews can be considered the topmost level of evidence based on which important treatment decisions might be made. Advertisement In order to make the best decisions for day to day patient care, valid information about prevention, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment is required. Implementing the Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) competencies in the healthcare setting improves healthcare quality and patient outcomes. Unnecessary treatment is avoided reducing costs. The need and demand for evidence based practice in healthcare is growing rapidly because of the following factors: Information overload i.e too much of information available Rising patient expectations New and advanced technologies Aging populations EBM in healthcare is an approach to optimize decision making where a clinician uses the best evidence research in consultation with the patient to decide which option provides the patient the maximum benefit. The management of health care system makes policies in order to allocate funds, purchase or manage resources. EBM covers a broad range of topics including clinical epidemiology, biomedical informatics and guidelines to perform it. Therefore,the levels of clinical evidence are an important aspect of EBM. It helps the reader to prioritize the available information. The levels of evidence were originally classified by the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination in 1979. Subsequently, the levels were further elaborated by Sackettin an article about the levels of evidence for antithrombotic agents in 1989. Interestingly, both systems placed randomized controlled trials (RCT) at the top most level and expert opinions (case reports) at the bottom. Levels of Evidence from Sackett I Large Randomised Control Trials with clear cut results II Small Randomised Control Trials with unclear results III Cohort and case-control studies IV Historical cohort or case-control studies V Case series, studies with no controls *Adapted from Sackett DL. Rules of evidence and clinical recommendations on the use of antithrombotic agents. Chest 1989;95:2S4S The grading system is an important part of evidence-based medicine and helps in clinical decision making based on the quality of available evidence. For example, a strong recommendation is given when there is level I evidence and consistent evidence is available from Level II, III and IV studies. Thus the grading system does not ignore or neglect lower level evidence when decisions on recommendations are being made, provided the results are consistent. Level 1 studies are well constructed studies and are free from any bias that might otherwise be introduced by the people involved. These are considered to be the gold standard studies for clinical practice. Various authors and organizations have used different classification systems to grade the levels of evidence and strength of recommendations. Differences and flaws in the various grading systems have resulted in confusion and miscommunication. To be useful and practical, grading systems need to be simple, clear and systematic where the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendations are concerned. The GRADE system defines the 'quality of evidence' that the clinician is using to make a judgment. Here is the overview of grading system given to the clinical evidences. GRADE System of Quality of Evidence and Explanation of the Categories Quality Rank Evidence Source High Randomized trials without serious limitations along with well performed observational studies with very large effects Moderate Randomized trials with serious limitations but with well performed observational studies with large effects Low Randomized trials with very serious limitations and Observational studies without special strengths or serious limitations Very low Randomized trials with very serious limitations and inconsistent results. Observational studies with serious limitations. Unsystematic clinical observations eg case series or case reports Advertisement In spite of the fact that RCTs (see table below) are often given the highest level of evidence quality, not all RCTs are performed as per the norms, and the results should therefore be carefully inspected. Sackett emphasized the importance of assessing the nature and types of errors and the strength of studies when interpreting results of RCTs. GRADE Quality Assessment Criteria Type of Study Quality of Evidence (Grade) Randomized trial High Observational Study Moderate to Very Low Other Type of Evidence Very low However, the grade may be lowered, for example, from high to moderate or high to low or conversely increased from moderate to high due to certain factors. Factors such as limitations in the study, inconsistencies in results and indirectness of evidence lower the quality of evidence. On the other hand occurrence of a large magnitude of effect or presence of a dose response gradient may enhance the quality of evidence and up the grade. Lower Grade If Increase Grade If Study quality Serious limitations (-1) Very serious limitations (-2) Has important inconsistency (-1) Strong association +1, no plausible confounders, consistent and direct evidence +2 very strong, no major threats to validity and direct evidence +1 evidence of a dose response gradient +1 all plausible confounders would have reduced the effect Directness Some uncertainty (-1) Major uncertainty (-2) Sparse data (-1) High probability of reporting bias (-1) Grading evidence and recommendations. Health Res Policy Syst. 2006;4:21 (with permission). EBM is a systematic approach and an on-going process. Sackett et al originally described the basic principles and the 5 steps of evidence based practice (EBP). These principles followed are very similar to those followed in the continuous quality improvement (CQI) cycle. Typically the CQI cycle starts with a specifically felt need and a desire for improving the existing quality. The next steps consist of searching for the most appropriate information to arrive at the possible solution, a careful assessment to make sure that the information/solution is correct, application of the most apt or suitable information/solution to the situation, followed by monitoring the effects of implementation practices to ensure the desired improvement or outcome has been achieved, and then lastly incorporating this solution into regular practice. Consciously applying the above principle steps in clinical practice would help to improve patient care and outcome for the patient. The five steps of EBM are as follows: 1. Asking an answerable question The first step explains the need to improve the method of collecting information from a patient. A more detailed question should be formulated so that a clear answer is found in terms of prevention, diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. 2. Acquiring best evidence High quality sources (Cochrane database etc.,) should be used for finding out the best possible answer to the question. 3. Appraising the evidence This step involves critical appraisal and thoughtful evaluation of the evidence by the doctors. It helps to identify the validity and closeness of the information to the patient and/or clinical setting. 4. Applying the evidence The fourth step is the application of the best clinically relevant information to the patient and/or clinical setting. The selected information is implemented and then observed for its effects. 5. Assessing the performance The fifth step evaluates the outcomes of the information used for a particular case. It checks the effectiveness and efficiency of the information applied and possible improvements in the clinical practice. EBP is important because it aims to provide the most effective care that is available, with the aim of improving patient outcomes . Before EBP came into force, the health professionals relied on the advice of experienced colleagues, and often used their findings or intuition for taking decisions. However, this practice was not accurate as the information provided by older colleagues can be biased, incorrect, and not appropriate for a particular patient today . So, rather than relying on previous clinical experience alone for decision making, health professionals need to use clinical experience together with clinically relevant evidence-based information. . Before EBP came into force, the health professionals relied on the advice of experienced colleagues, and often used their findings or intuition for taking decisions. However, this practice was not accurate as the . So, rather than relying on previous clinical experience alone for decision making, health professionals need to use clinical experience together with clinically relevant evidence-based information. EBP can be considered a preferred option over traditional medical training. EBP promotes an attitude of inquiry in healthcare professionals i.e. asking is there any valid evidence that can be used in support to do this in a more effective way ? ? EBP also plays an important role in ensuring that health resources are used wisely and that only the best relevant evidence is considered when decisions are made about funding health policies. It is of utmost importance for physicians while handling critical and emergency situations. Meta-analysis is the statistical procedure that combines available results and data from multiple studies. A common treatment effect (or effect size) that is consistent across many independent studies, can be identified by meta-analysis. All important medical questions or problems are usually carefully assessed or studied more than once, by different research teams at different places in the hope of finding a solution. In many instances the results of these studies may be contradictory to each other, making clinical decision confusing and difficult. Therefore, meta-analysis which tries to integrate the results of many independent studies plays a key role in evidence based medicine. In fact, in evidence based clinical practice, systematic review and meta-analysis of high quality well designed, randomized clinical trials free from bias is considered Level I evidence and placed right on top of the pyramid. The Evidence Based Practice to get level 1 evidence requires large well-constructed randomized clinical trials and these are expensive to conduct and undertake. The RCTs only represent a segment of population and what is true in one population group or segment ( depending on the race, and geographical location) may not apply in another group and may not be reproducible and representative. There can be a big lag time period between the RCTs and its application in the general population. There could be bias to the publication of RCTs by a journal. The industry could also have played a role in creating such bias. The list below is by no means exhaustive but highlights how evidence from well conducted studies can offer the best possible outcome and avoids unnecessary interventions for patients. An abortion is carried out to terminate an unwanted pregnancy . In India, an induced abortion is permitted within 20 weeks of pregnancy in cases where continuing with the pregnancy puts the life of the mother at risk, the baby is likely to be born with abnormalities that will last a lifetime, or for social causes like for a pregnancy following rape, or an unplanned pregnancy in a woman with low socio-economic status who already has other children to care for. An abortion can be induced with the help of medications and through a surgical procedure. Oral medications are used in the first trimester (up to 49 to 63 days since the last period depending on the local laws) and include mifepristone, misoprostol and sometimes methotrexate. Mifepristone blocks the effect of progesterone (the hormone that supports the pregnancy) on the uterus. It also stimulates the release of prostaglandins by the uterus and sensitizes the uterus to the effects of prostaglandins. Prostaglandins increase uterine contractions and soften the cervix, thereby promoting expulsion of the uterine contents. Methotrexate interferes with cell division and interferes with the development of the placenta. Though it is usually administered intramuscularly, it can also be given orally. Misoprostol is a prostaglandin that stimulates uterine contractions, softens the cervix and helps in the expulsion. It thus has a synergistic effect when administered with mifepristone or methotrexate. Advertisement The preferred option for abortion pills is mifepristone followed by misoprostol 36 to 48 hours later. Mifepristone is administered in a dose of 600 mg, though a lower dose of 200 mg has also been found to be effective and is often used. Misoprostol or another prostaglandin can be administered either orally as pills or can be inserted into the vagina. The intravaginal route appears to be more effective than the oral route and is also associated with lesser side effects. The combination produces a complete abortion in around 95% cases when administered within 63 days of the last period. The combination of methotrexate with misoprostol also has a good success rate. Methotrexate is administered first followed by misoprostol a week later. Several women prefer medical methods of abortion as compared to the surgical methods since they are more private and often less invasive. Every woman should, however, be informed of the possible adverse effects before undergoing a medical abortion. Side effects of abortion pills include the following: Excessive and prolonged bleeding: Bleeding to expel the products of conception is normal following the intake of abortion pills. Normal bleeding following abortion pills is usually more than what occurs during a menstrual period and may last for 9 to 16 days, and sometimes even for more than 30 days. Large clots may be present in the initial period. Excessive bleeding should be suspected if the woman soaks through 2 thick sanitary pads per hour for 2 consecutive hours. Excessive and continuous bleeding may result in dizziness and shock and should therefore be treated with medications to tighten the leaking blood vessels (vasoconstrictors), saline infusion, and curettage of the inner lining of the uterus to scrape off the inner lining of the uterus. Blood transfusion may be required in rare circumstances. To prevent excessive bleeding, mifepristone should not be used for abortion in women with previous bleeding or clotting disorders, severe anemia, or those taking blood thinners. Advertisement Infections : Bacterial infections that can be serious enough to cause septic shock have been reported in patients who have taken misoprostol. The patient may complain of high fever, abdominal or pelvic pain along with other symptoms like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or weakness. Antibiotics are required for the treatment of infections. : Bacterial infections that can be serious enough to cause septic shock have been reported in patients who have taken misoprostol. The patient may complain of high fever, abdominal or pelvic pain along with other symptoms like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or weakness. Antibiotics are required for the treatment of infections. Incomplete abortion : In some cases, some products of conception may remain in the uterus, resulting in continuous bleeding. A complete abortion can be confirmed through clinical examination, an ultrasound done one to two weeks following the intake of the medication, or the measurement of the blood levels of human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG), the level of which is high during pregnancy and falls following the abortion. A surgical procedure to completely evacuate the uterus will be required to resolve the issue. The medications methotrexate and misoprostol cause fetal malformations, and therefore, if the abortion does not take place following the oral medications, surgical abortion is a must. The absence of bleeding following the medications should prompt an immediate visit to the doctor. : In some cases, some products of conception may remain in the uterus, resulting in continuous bleeding. A complete abortion can be confirmed through clinical examination, an ultrasound done one to two weeks following the intake of the medication, or the measurement of the blood levels of human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG), the level of which is high during pregnancy and falls following the abortion. A surgical procedure to completely evacuate the uterus will be required to resolve the issue. The absence of bleeding following the medications should prompt an immediate visit to the doctor. Pain in the abdomen: Pain in the abdomen is usually due to contractions of the uterus and is more pronounced following misoprostol as compared to mifepristone. Over-the-counter painkillers can be used to reduce the pain. Aspirin should not be used, since it is a blood thinner and can cause excessive bleeding. Phobia can make even the strongest person weak. Have you ever felt anxious about being in confined spaces like inside a trial room or public toilet where it has restricted means of entry and exit? Then you may be suffering from Claustrophobia i.e., extreme fear of confined spaces. Claustrophobia is an anxiety disorder and affects 15% to 37% of people around the world. The word claustrophobia comes from the Latin word claustrum which means a shut in place and Greek word phobos meaning fear. A person with claustrophobia may experience mild to severe anxiety when in confined spaces such as an elevator or a crowded room. Even if you avoid confined spaces and limit your entry into such places, you may have claustrophobia. Claustrophobia particularly develops during childhood or teenage. There are some particular situations, which may put a person to experience claustrophobia like: Elevators or Lifts Trial room in shops Public toilets Subways Tunnels Aeroplanes Parking spaces Hotel rooms Car with auto-lock systems Crowded malls Automatic car washes Imaging devices like MRI scan A person may feel afraid to stay or enter into such places and may also experience severe panic when entered. They may fear losing oxygen and think that there will be some danger in such spaces. Advertisement Panic attacks are the first thing a person may experience at a particular place. It has two key symptoms: fear of restriction and fear of suffocation. Fear of restriction refers to the fear of being trapped in a confined space and fear of suffocation refers to the fear of losing oxygen in the confined space. Panic attack increases the anxiety levels and in turn triggers many symptoms such as: Excessive sweating Increased heart beat Breathing faster High blood pressure Difficulty in breathing Nausea Confusion Anxiety Fear of death Urge to visit the toilet Dizziness If you experience some symptoms like panic attacks or fear of being trapped inside a particular place, then you should consult your general physician regarding this. The doctor may ask you to describe the symptoms, which you experienced and also will analyse whether you have any other type of anxiety disorders. There are certain methods to diagnose claustrophobia such as: Claustrophobia Questionnaire: It was developed in 1993 and was modified in 2001. It consists of 12 items assessing three mood dimensions such as valence: good mood, bad mood; alertness: awake, tired; calmness: calm, nervous). It determines whether the patient''s anxiety is driven by a fear of suffocation or restriction. It was developed in 1993 and was modified in 2001. It consists of 12 items assessing three mood dimensions such as valence: good mood, bad mood; alertness: awake, tired; calmness: calm, nervous). It determines whether the patient''s anxiety is driven by a fear of suffocation or restriction. Claustrophobia Scale: It was developed in 1979 and consists of 20 questions that help in assessing the anxiety levels. It tends to be an effective method of diagnosing claustrophobia. For many people thinking that their phobia is irrational and needs treatment will increase their anxiety levels even further. But phobia can only be treated by overcoming their fear by dealing with it. Psychologists suggest one or more of the following methods to treat claustrophobia: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: It is a recognized therapy for most anxiety disorders. It proves to be effective for treating disorders that occur due to misconceptions. A person with claustrophobia generally fears more by imagining that lifts are dangerous but instead through this therapy the usefulness of it will be explained and this will in turn help in combating claustrophobia. In vivo Exposure: It treats people by exposing them to the fear itself, such as making them be in confined spaces. It helps in overcoming their fear by exposing them to the same fear. It is usually done in progression from lower levels to higher levels of exposure. It treats people by exposing them to the fear itself, such as making them be in confined spaces. It helps in overcoming their fear by exposing them to the same fear. It is usually done in progression from lower levels to higher levels of exposure. Interoceptive Exposure: In this method internal sensations within a patient are recreated in a controlled environment. It is a less intense form of in vivo exposure. In this method internal sensations within a patient are recreated in a controlled environment. It is a less intense form of in vivo exposure. Medications: Beta-blockers and anti-depressants are prescribed to treat claustrophobia. They relieve symptoms of accelerated heart beats during panic attacks. Alternative medicines like homeopathic medicines are also prescribed to manage panic and anxiety. Beta-blockers and anti-depressants are prescribed to treat claustrophobia. They relieve symptoms of accelerated heart beats during panic attacks. Alternative medicines like homeopathic medicines are also prescribed to manage panic and anxiety. Breathing Exercises: Taking deep breaths, meditating and doing muscle-relaxing exercises are found to be effective in dealing with negative thoughts and anxiety. Taking deep breaths, meditating and doing muscle-relaxing exercises are found to be effective in dealing with negative thoughts and anxiety. Counter-Conditioning: In this method, specific relaxation and visualization techniques are taught to a person when experiencing phobia-related anxiety. This is also known as systematic desensitization. Advertisement There are no specific methods to prevent claustrophobia. People with claustrophobia need to cope with panic attacks, which they experience in an uncomfortable situation. The panic attack usually lasts for half an hour. Therefore, one should not panic and if driving they should park the car immediately. One should not allow negative thoughts to enter their mind such as Im going to die and also should not feel that they are in danger. Instead, they have to relax and take a look at the surroundings. One must browse through the decor, look at items and talk to other people. Support from family and friends is crucial for people suffering from claustrophobia. A person getting treated to overcome a phobia may find it challenging and will need the support and care from people. Psychotherapists may ask the family members or friends to attend certain sessions to support the person seeking treatment. Health Tips These are some tips to follow if you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation: Relax yourself Focus on the surroundings Avoid deep breathing Be positive Chat with people Dont overthink Listen to music The first recorded case of this strange syndrome is that of a 55-year old woman in Netherlands, who experienced the syndrome 1.5 years after an intensive care emergency. The woman experienced several orgasms a day triggered from the foot, without being sexually aroused. The case is published in the medical journal, Journal of Sexual Medicine. Causes of Foot Orgasm Syndrome The doctor, Dr. Waldinger who treated this patient, suggested that the foot orgasms occurred as a result of signal mix up in the brain. The nerves of the foot and the vagina enter the spinal cord at the same level. Therefore, the brain is sometimes unable to differentiate between the two regions and hence considered the sensory information from the vagina and the foot to be identical. In the particular case, it is likely that the intensive care emergency the woman underwent a year and a half before the symptoms was responsible for some problem with the nerves that caused the syndrome. Diagnosis of Foot Orgasm Syndrome The diagnosis of foot orgasm syndrome can be made based on the history and physical examination of the patient. Other tests that have been used in the diagnosis include an MRI scan to rule out structural abnormalities, study of electrical activity of the involved muscle, and electrical stimulation of the nerves (TENS). The TENS test in the recorded patient produced an orgasmic sensation when the left foot was stimulated at a particular joint, and when the vagina was stimulated on the left side. The first sensation traveled from the foot towards the vagina, while the second sensation traveled from the vagina towards the foot. Doctors feel that there may be more individuals suffering from the same condition, but who do not come forward since they may find it embarrassing to talk to their doctor about it. Treatment of Foot Orgasm Syndrome The woman that was reported with the condition was treated with an injection of anesthesia into the part where the nerves of the foot enter the spinal cord, i.e. the left S1 dorsal root ganglion. The treatment caused disappearance of foot orgasms. Repeat treatments may be required if symptoms recur. A needlestick injury usually occurs when the skin has been pierced (percutaneous) by a needle or by a sharp object. It commonly occurs as an occupational hazard in those handling needles, either in medical settings or otherwise. Occupational needlestick injuries are very common in the health care community and there is a great risk of passing on blood borne diseases such as HIV/ AIDS, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. These injuries happen either when blood is drawn from a patient or while administering drugs through intravenous or intramuscular injection. Injuries may also occur while recapping the needles or if the person handling fails to put aside used needles safely in an assigned container. Needlestick injuries may also occur during surgery, when a sharp needle can pierce the glove and penetrate the skin of a surgeon or his assistant. Other sharp surgical instruments too can cause similar damage during a surgery. The patient may also be at risk of viral infections if a health personnel who attends to him carries a hepatitis or HIV infection. Despite their hazard potential, needlestick injuries have been neglected and, most of them go unreported. The Forest Service is proposing a seasonal closure along the Sublette migration route in Wyoming to minimize human disturbance to migrating mule deer in the spring and fall. The Pinedale Ranger District of the Bridger-Teton National Forest is hosting an open house meeting for the public on June 26, from 6-8 p.m. at Rendezvous Pointe in Pinedale to gather public input on the proposed seasonal recreational closure near the outlet of Fremont Lake. In collaboration with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the Pinedale Ranger District is proposing to close the area to humans from April 1 through April 30 and from Nov. 1 through Nov. 30, in a crucial area that was designated by the state wildlife agency. The proposed closure area is an important portion of the "Fremont Bottleneck" migration route, which is critical for the passage of 4,000 to 5,000 mule deer each fall and spring. It is bordered by residential development and Fremont Lake, and has high levels of human activity. Recent efforts have been implemented to eliminate non-wildlife friendly fencing as well as the acquisition of the Luke Lynch Wildlife Habitat Management area by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, which is closed to human presence from Dec. 1 - May 1 each year for the protection of wintering and migrating wildlife. Those unable to attend the meeting are invited to provide comments to rusty.kaiser@usda.gov by July 10. For more information call Rusty Kaiser, wildlife biologist, Pinedale Ranger District, at 307-231-5980. Drug addiction is a chronic and relapsing brain disease that causes a craving for drugs, in spite of harmful consequences that might occur to the addicted individual and to those around the addicted individual. Non-medical use of prescription drugs such as opioids, central nervous system depressants, stimulants can cause abuse and addiction. A painkiller addicted individual behavior is different from that of a normal person. Drug addiction is a state of physical or psychological dependence on drug and can lead to serious long-term consequences, which include problems related to physical and mental health, relationships, employment and the law. There is no single factor that can say that the person will become addicted to prescription drugs. Addiction is influenced by several factors combined, which include individual biology, social environment, and age or development stage. Biology: Genes of a person when combined with environment, influence about half of addiction vulnerability. In addition, gender, ethnicity and presence of other mental disorders may influence drug abuse and addiction. Genes of a person when combined with environment, influence about half of addiction vulnerability. In addition, gender, ethnicity and presence of other mental disorders may influence drug abuse and addiction. Environment: Factors like peer pressure, physical and sexual abuse, stress and parenting quality can also be an influencing factor. Factors like peer pressure, physical and sexual abuse, stress and parenting quality can also be an influencing factor. Development: Genetic and environmental interaction along with critical developmental stages in ones life thereby affects vulnerability to addiction. Genetic and environmental interaction along with critical developmental stages in ones life thereby affects vulnerability to addiction. Changes in Brain: Physical addiction to drugs occurs on its repeated use and the way the brain feels pleasure. The drug causes physical changes to nerve cells (neurons) in the brain. These changes remain long even after the drug is stopped. Family history Genetic association Age History of mental health disorders Use of psychiatric medication in the past History of drug abuse History of chronic pain Advertisement High Use: People taking prescription medicines over the time can become tolerant to the effects of prescribed dose. If an individual is increasing the dose over the time, it is an indication that the dose prescribed earlier no longer provides relief. People taking prescription medicines over the time can become tolerant to the effects of prescribed dose. If an individual is increasing the dose over the time, it is an indication that the dose prescribed earlier no longer provides relief. Personality Changes: Behavioral changes in a person can be a sign of dependency. As painkillers provide relief, there may shift in energy, mood and concentration and daily responsibilities may become secondary. Behavioral changes in a person can be a sign of dependency. As painkillers provide relief, there may shift in energy, mood and concentration and daily responsibilities may become secondary. Continued Usage: Ongoing use after the improvement in a medical condition can make person ask extension on the prescription. The person may describe how they still feel the pain and would require medication to be continued for a longer period to get completely well. An addicted person may also frequently complain about doctors refusing to write prescription for some or the other reason. Ongoing use after the improvement in a medical condition can make person ask extension on the prescription. The person may describe how they still feel the pain and would require medication to be continued for a longer period to get completely well. An addicted person may also frequently complain about doctors refusing to write prescription for some or the other reason. Getting Prescriptions: An addicted person will spend a considerable amount of time by driving great distances and visiting multiple doctors for obtaining drugs. An addicted person will spend a considerable amount of time by driving great distances and visiting multiple doctors for obtaining drugs. Being Defensive: In an attempt to hide drug dependency, the addicted person can become overly defensive if they feel that their secret will be revealed. They might also even react on simple request made by shouting. Avoiding Responsibilities: Addicted person may always call themselves sick for work and neglect daily household chores and bills. Addicted person may always call themselves sick for work and neglect daily household chores and bills. Forgetfulness & Darkness: Clear indication of dependence or addiction is when the person keeps on forgetting events that have taken place. Clear indication of dependence or addiction is when the person keeps on forgetting events that have taken place. Increased Sensitivity: There would be heightened sensitivity or overly stimulating towards normal sights, sounds and emotions. Hallucinations, though occurring as well may be difficult to monitor. Preventing prescription painkillers over dependence in patients depends on many levels. The following are the initiatives that need to be taken by important stakeholders: Government: Track prescription drug overdose and educate health care providers and public regarding prescription drug misuse, abuse, suicide, overdose and risks associated. Develop and evaluate programs and policies for preventing and treating prescription drug abuse and overdose, thereby making sure that patients have access to safe and effective treatment for pain. Work to improve access to mental health and substance abuse treatment Health Care Providers: Recognize the fact that large number of prescribed painkillers is being overdosed. Discuss pain treatment options, including the ones that don''t have prescription drugs. Discuss the risks and benefits associated while taking prescription painkillers. Follow guidelines for the prescription of painkillers, including screening and monitoring of abuse to any substance and mental health problems. Prescribe only the quantity that is sufficient by appropriate diagnosis. Use patient-provider agreements coupled with urine drug tests for those who will be using prescription painkillers for long. Refrain from prescribing combinations of painkillers and benzodiazepines (like Xanax and Valium), unless required for a specific medical condition. Use of prescription drug monitoring programs that track all prescriptions for controlled substances in the state for identifying patients who are improperly using prescription painkillers and other medicines. Guide patients on safe use and dispose of painkillers. States: Take steps in improvement of prescription drug monitoring programs, like real-time access to reporting data, integration with electronic health records, unsolicited reporting, incentives provider use and co-operative operability with other states. Identifying improperly prescribed painkillers and other prescription drugs through prescription drug monitoring programs and other data validation schemes. Increasing access to treating substance abuse and providing immediate access to affected individuals. Consider steps that cause a reduction in barriers to prescription drugs. Advertisement Patients: Nasal pain refers to pain in the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. Common causes of nasal pain are allergic rhinitis, sinusitis , antritis, nasal bone fracture or foreign body in the nose. Skin infections, tumors, poisoning with metal cleaners or mildew remover and nerve disorders can also cause nasal pain, which are rare to occur. Early detection of the cause for nasal pain usually restricts the transformation of acute inflammation into chronic form. Conditions in which nasal pain is a common complaint are: Allergic rhinitis It is the inflammation of the nasal mucosa in response to allergens like pollen, climatic changes, dust, animal dander or weeds. Usual presentation is with itchy nose and eyes, nasal congestion, headache, reduced sense of smell, cough, clogged ears and fatigue. History, presentation, allergy testing along with measurement of eosinophil count are helpful in identifying the case for allergy. It is the in response to allergens like pollen, climatic changes, dust, animal dander or weeds. Usual presentation is with itchy nose and eyes, nasal congestion, headache, reduced sense of smell, cough, clogged ears and fatigue. History, presentation, allergy testing along with measurement of eosinophil count are helpful in identifying the case for allergy. Sinusitis It is the inflammation of the sinuses located around the nose, cheeks and the eyes. Usually respiratory infections and allergies tend to cause sinusitis. Sinus headache is typical in its presentation. It is worse after waking up in the morning or when you bend forward or when you move from a warm environment to a cool place. Headache is often localized to the cheeks, around the eyes or the forehead. Fever, stuffy nose, yellow/green nasal discharge are also common. Along with history, X rays, CT Scan/ MRI scan of face and nasal endoscopy are required to conclude on the diagnosis. Antritis It is the inflammation of the maxillary sinuses. Causative organisms include bacteria, viruses, fungi or even allergies. Usually dental procedures, respiratory infections and nasal bleeds precede before an episode of antritis. Nasal congestion, pain over the sinuses, headache, toothache, and yellowish nasal discharge are some of the common symptoms with this condition. Physical examination, X ray of the sinuses are useful in arriving on the diagnosis. It is the Causative organisms include bacteria, viruses, fungi or even allergies. Usually dental procedures, respiratory infections and nasal bleeds precede before an episode of antritis. Nasal congestion, pain over the sinuses, headache, toothache, and yellowish nasal discharge are some of the common symptoms with this condition. Physical examination, X ray of the sinuses are useful in arriving on the diagnosis. Fracture of the nose It is the most common fracture of the face. It is a fracture of the bone or cartilage of the bridge of the nose or septum of the nose. It often occurs along with neck injuries. Depending upon the severity immediate medical help is required to drain the bleeding from the nose to avoid complications like abscess or nasal collapse. Common symptoms include pain in the nose with bleeding, difficulty breathing and deformed nose. Physical examination, X rays and CT scan of face are helpful in confirming the cause. Advertisement Foreign body in the nose Young children may attempt to put small objects like beans, small toys, erasers, crayons, buttons or pieces of cotton into their nostrils while playing. Often parents notice bleeding from nose or a foul smelling discharge, irritation in the affected nostril with difficulty in breathing. Upon examination by a doctor foreign body is detected. It is important not to attempt removing the object with cotton swabs or with any instrument, as this may push the foreign body even farther. You should ask the child to breathe through the mouth and seek immediate medical help. Poisoning with Mildew remover Household cleaners when inhaled or swallowed can be very dangerous and require immediate medical help. They contain chemicals like hydrogen peroxide, sodium perborate, sodium hypochlorite and sodium percarbonate. They affect different systems of the body. Common symptoms include burning sensation in the eyes, nose, lips, throat, difficulty breathing, vomiting, abdominal pain, and loss of consciousness, hypotension and skin burns. Immediate medical help should be taken. Household cleaners when inhaled or swallowed can be very dangerous and require immediate medical help. They contain chemicals like hydrogen peroxide, sodium perborate, sodium hypochlorite and sodium percarbonate. They affect different systems of the body. Common symptoms include burning sensation in the eyes, nose, lips, throat, difficulty breathing, vomiting, abdominal pain, and loss of consciousness, hypotension and skin burns. Immediate medical help should be taken. Nasal polyps These are soft non-cancerous growths in the nasal cavity caused due to inflammation from chronic asthma, respiratory infections, allergies or sensitivity to drugs. Common symptoms include stuffy nose, loss of smell and taste, snoring, facial pain, headache and itchy eyes. Nasal endoscopy, CT Scan/ MRI imaging and physical examination are useful in arriving on diagnosis. Steroids oral or inhalational are the first line treatment for this condition. In case of failure of response to drugs surgery is indicated. Deviated nasal septum - Nasal septum comprises of the bones and cartilages that separate the left and right side of nasal passage. A deviated nasal septum, which is very common in the population, may lead to frequent infections of the sinuses and cause nasal pain. Nasal septum comprises of the bones and cartilages that separate the left and right side of nasal passage. A deviated nasal septum, which is very common in the population, may lead to frequent infections of the sinuses and cause nasal pain. Nasal Spurs: The nasal septum may contain sharp spurs of bone that poke into the side walls of the nasal cavity. Spurs can produce sharp pain, usually one sided. The nasal septum may contain sharp spurs of bone that poke into the side walls of the nasal cavity. Spurs can produce sharp pain, usually one sided. Tumors of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses Usually patients might be asymptomatic or being treated for benign conditions like sinusitis which are difficult to treat. Common symptoms are nasal congestion/ obstruction, pain in the nose, over the teeth, face, nose bleeds, swelling of the face, reduced smell sensation, loss of vision, weight loss, fatigue, lump on the face, nose or inside the mouth. Physical examination along with X rays, endoscopy, biopsies of the tissue, CT Scan/ MRI Scan/ PET Scan/ Bone scan are useful in arriving on the diagnosis. Nasal pain is treated by treating the underlying cause for its occurrence. In case of allergic origin, avoiding the triggering agents reduces the frequency of acute episodes of allergies. During an acute attack antihistamines, decongestants and NSAIDs are useful. Injuries require immediate medical attention to evaluate the severity of the injury and decide on the mode of treatment (medical or surgical). Infections are treated with a course of antibiotics, NSAIDs, nasal irrigation and if required inhalational corticosteroids are also used. In case of chronic sinusitis endoscopic sinus surgery or balloon rhinoplasty might be suggested. Health Tips Nasal congestion can be relieved with frequent steam inhalations, using a humidifier, saline nebulizations and by taking warm liquids. Practicing yoga, meditation, breathing exercises and relaxation techniques helps in controlling muscle tension and therefore relieves from frequent headaches. If you are allergic to a particular substance, avoiding contact with that substance reduces the frequency of allergic attacks. Practicing personal hygiene in the form of using kerchiefs while sneezing or coughing, washing hands before eating reduces the spread of respiratory infections. Advertisement 1. Which doctor should you consult for nasal pain? You should consult an otolaryngologist (ENT surgeon) for nasal pain. 2. What if I have an episode of common cold with history of sinusitis? A common cold is usually of viral origin and presents with nasal congestion, throat pain, headache and increased mucus production. Sinusitis occurs when there is impaired mucus clearance and obstruction of the sinuses. This happens due to development of secondary bacterial infection. If common cold is treated effectively it does not progress to sinusitis. 3. Is balloon Rhinoplasty a permanent solution for chronic sinusitis? It depends upon the condition of your sinuses, like the extent of disease in your sinuses and other factors. Requirement of repeat procedures is unlikely, but if required it can be repeated. A Functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) is the most commonly performed procedures to treat sinusitis. 4. How to decide whether I have acute sinusitis or chronic sinusitis? If you have been suffering for more than three months with symptoms of sinusitis or have experienced more than four episodes of acute sinusitis in a year, then it is considered to be chronic sinusitis. 5. Why do I bleed from nose when I touch the inside of the nostrils? It could be due to nose picking, infection, bruising or due to incorrect use of nasal sprays. The building of an access road to support construction of a new BNSF Railway bridge across the Missouri River between Bismarck and Mandan will begin Wednesday. Railroad and state Department of Transportation officials say the work will impact traffic. Construction of the access road will begin on the Memorial Highway exit ramp and northbound Interstate 194 south of the BNSF Railway underpass in Mandan. During the work on the DOT right-of-way, a shoulder closure will be in place on the Memorial Highway exit ramp and there will be a lane closure on northbound I-194 to the underpass. A 12-foot width restriction will be in place on the exit ramp. Flaggers may be used to help direct traffic through construction, and the speed limit will be reduced through the corridor. Some minimal traffic delays are expected. The construction is expected to be completed next month. The existing Bismarck-Mandan Rail Bridge was built in 1883, with the spans replaced in 1905. BNSF says the bridge has reached the end of its lifespan, and a modern structure is needed. The U.S. Coast Guard after a nearly three-year environmental review of the BNSF plan agreed, and said the best alternative is to build a new bridge about 20 feet upstream and remove the existing bridge. The railroad expects construction of a new bridge to take 2-3 years. The existing bridge will be left in service until the new one is operational. The cost of construction and removal is estimated at more than $64 million. BNSF has all of the state and federal permits it needs to begin construction. The Friends of the Rail Bridge -- a local nonprofit citizen group advocating for preservation of the existing bridge -- has challenged two state permits in court. That case is pending. FORB has said it does not oppose a new bridge -- it just wants to keep the existing one and turn it into a pedestrian bridge tourist attraction. A 2019 feasibility study conducted by North Dakota State University estimated the cost to do that at just under $7 million. More information on the BNSF bridge project is at www.bnsfbismarckbridge.com. A Mandan man is accused of dealing fentanyl after police said they discovered $10,000 worth of illegal drugs in his Bismarck hotel room. Bismarck police officers investigated a suspicious odor coming from a room at Americas Best Value Inn & Suites last Thursday. The room was registered under 32-year-old Blake Boatwright, who consented to a search of the room, according to an affidavit. Police reportedly found 289 fentanyl pills, meth, drug paraphernalia, $5,000 in cash, two phones and a 9 mm pistol. Officers spoke with Boatwright, who allegedly admitted to selling fentanyl pills. Content on his phone supported the claim, authorities said. Boatwright also allegedly admitted to owning the gun. Boatwright faces two drug felonies, the most serious of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. He also is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Authorities say he has past convictions in North Dakota, South Carolina and Georgia. In January 2022 he was sentenced to serve 1 years in prison for drug and weapons crimes in Minot. Last month he pleaded guilty in Morton County to being a felon in possession of a firearm and to a driving offense and was sentenced to 1 years of probation. Court records do not list an attorney for him. He could enter pleas at a July 17 court hearing. A judge on Friday set his bond at $25,000 cash. He remained in the Burleigh Morton Detention Center on Monday afternoon. Three other people were in the hotel room with Boatwright, according to the affidavit. One faces drug possession charges and one faces a count of fleeing police. WASHINGTON (AP) It's a major international mystery with global consequences: Who was behind the explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year in the Baltic Sea? The answer has broad implications for European energy security but could also threaten Western unity over backing Ukraine in defending itself from Russia's invasion. Or, it might shatter Russian and Chinese attempts to fix the blame on a hypocritical West. Yet, nearly six months after the sabotage on the Russia-to-Germany pipelines, there is no accepted explanation. And a series of unconfirmed reports variously accusing Russia, the United States and Ukraine are filling an information vacuum as investigations into the blasts continue. A look at the pipelines and what's known about the explosions. WHAT ARE THE NORD STREAM PIPELINES? The pipelines, known as Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, are majority-owned by Russia's state-run energy giant Gazprom and used to transport natural gas from Russia to Europe under the Baltic to their termini in Germany. Nord Stream 1 was completed and came online in 2011. Nord Stream 2 was not finished until the fall of 2021 but never became operational due to the launch of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. WHY ARE THEY CONTROVERSIAL? Both pipelines bypass existing routes that go through Ukraine, meaning not only that Ukraine loses income from transit fees but is unable to directly use the gas they carry. Of perhaps greater concern to the West, the pipelines were seen as a move by Russia to gain further, if not almost complete, control over Europe's energy supplies. Many in the West fear that Russia will use energy as a political weapon against European countries as it has done in the past with former Soviet states. Despite those concerns and over the objections of the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, the German government under former Chancellor Angela Merkel moved ahead with the construction of the Nord Stream 2 project. The Biden administration waived sanctions against German entities involved in Nord Stream 2 after securing a pledge from Germany that it would allow backflows of gas into Ukraine and would act to shut the pipeline down should Russia try to use it to force political concessions. After Russia's Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine, Germany withdrew permission for Nord Stream 2, which had not yet come online. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PIPELINES? First, Gazprom halted gas flows through Nord Stream 1 on Sept. 2, 2022, citing issues related to European sanctions imposed against Russia over the war in Ukraine. Three weeks later, both Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 were hit by explosions that rendered them inoperable and caused significant leaks of gas that was idle in the pipelines. Some have said the blasts caused the worst release of methane in history, although the full extent of the environmental damage remains unclear. The depth of the pipeline and the complexity of using underwater explosives lent credence to the idea that only a state actor with the expertise to handle such an operation could be responsible. But no one claimed responsibility. In the immediate aftermath of the explosions, U.S. officials suggested Russia may have been to blame while Russia accused the United States and Britain of being behind them. Investigations by European nations, including Denmark, through whose waters the pipeline travels, and Germany have yet to yield conclusive results. WHAT THEORIES HAVE BEEN REPORTED? After months of few developments in the probes, American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, known for past exposes of U.S. government malfeasance, self-published a lengthy report in February alleging that President Joe Biden had ordered the sabotage, which Hersh said was carried out by the CIA with Norwegian assistance. That report, based on a single, unidentified source, has been flatly denied by the White House, the CIA and the State Department, and no other news organization has been able to corroborate it. Russia, followed by China, however, leaped on Hersh's reporting, saying it was grounds for a new and impartial investigation conducted by the United Nations. On Tuesday, though, The New York Times, The Washington Post and German media published stories citing U.S. and other officials as saying there was evidence Ukraine, or at least Ukrainians, may have been responsible. The Ukrainian government has denied involvement. Germany's Die Zeit newspaper and German public broadcasters ARD and SWR reported that investigators believed that five men and a woman used a yacht hired by a Ukrainian-owned company in Poland to carry out the attack. German federal prosecutors confirmed that a boat was searched in January but have not confirmed the reported findings. WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES FOR THOSE FOUND RESPONSIBLE? The implications of a determination that Ukraine was behind the explosions are not entirely clear. It's unlikely it would result in an immediate loss of Western support for Ukraine in the war with Russia, but it might dampen enthusiasm for future assistance if it was found that Ukraine or its agents carried out such an operation in European waters. A determination that the United States or a proxy was responsible would give Russia and China additional leverage to go after the U.S. and its allies as hypocrites in their demands for the rule of the law, sovereignty and territorial integrity to be respected. A finding that Russia was behind the explosions would lend weight to Western claims that Moscow is in flagrant breach of international law and willing to use energy as a weapon against Europe. There is no indication of when the European investigations will be complete and it seems improbable, given the animosity and mistrust surrounding the Ukraine conflict, that its findings will be universally accepted. ___ Photos: In Ukraine, searing images capture a year of war More than 1,600 current and former residents of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam have filed claims against the U.S. government for exposure to jet fuel in their drinking water, with at least another thousand expected to file before the November submission deadline. Attorneys for the military family members and civilians who lived in base housing in 2021 said Tuesday that 1,002 new claims have been filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, adding to the hundreds already signed onto the suit. The claims represent the first step in the litigation process against the U.S. Navy over a petroleum leak at its Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility that dumped roughly 5,000 gallons of jet fuel into the ground and the drinking water supply for the Hawaii military installation. Read Next: A-10s Were Saved from Retirement for Years. Congress May Not Swoop to the Rescue This Time. Kristina Baehr, an attorney with Just Well Law in Austin, Texas, said her firm is working with a team to process another thousand claims before the Nov. 20 filing deadline, the two-year anniversary of the spill that fouled the Navy's water supply. According to Baehr, the majority of her clients -- 67% -- have chronic health problems that began when they were exposed to the fuel, with more than two-thirds reporting neurological symptoms and at least half saying they have ongoing skin conditions, gastrointestinal issues and respiratory problems. "Our team is working hard to hold accountable a government that allegedly exposed its people to dangerous contaminants, failed to treat them, and told them they were not sick," Baehr said in an interview with Military.com. "These families are sick." The Federal Tort Claims Act allows civilians, including military family members, who are hurt or injured as the result of government action or negligence to file an administrative claim within two years of the event. If the claim is denied, they may proceed with a lawsuit. In the case of the Red Hill spill, the claimants would become part of a suit filed last August by Patrick Feindt, the husband of Army Maj. Mandy Feindt, who is seeking compensation for physical ailments he and his family continue to experience as a result of the exposure, as well as for emotional distress and financial hardship endured when his family requested reassignment from Hawaii. More than 93,000 people living in military housing on and around Pearl Harbor were affected by a massive spill of 20,000 gallons of fuel at the Navy's Red Hill Bulk Fuel Facility in May 2021 that eventually led to the dumping of more than 5,000 gallons into the ground and tap water in November -- the catastrophic event that exposed base residents to the fuel. The incident forced thousands from their homes and obliged those who opted to remain to use bottled water for months. Surveys conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January and February 2022 and again in September 2022 found that military personnel, their spouses and children suffered headaches, skin irritation and rashes, diarrhea, fatigue and dizziness they believe were caused by using contaminated drinking water at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. More than 80% of families surveyed in the wake of the massive spill reported ongoing health problems nearly one year after the leak, according to the surveys. Just Well Law's announcement of new claimants was made the day before a U.S. District Court judge in Hawaii is set to hear a motion by the Justice Department requesting that Navy Adm. Samuel Paparo be excused from being deposed as part of the ongoing litigation. As commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, Paparo, whose name has been floated as the service's choice for the next chief of naval operations but whose nomination has not yet been announced by the White House, was responsible for the Navy's immediate response to the spill as well as follow-on actions and the subsequent investigation. Red Hill families have launched a campaign to stop Paparo's nomination and plan to protest Wednesday outside the courthouse. They say that Paparo was responsible for notifying residents using the Navy's water system of the spill and issuing a stop-use notice but failed to do so for days after the spill. "They poisoned our kids and destroyed the lands here," said a Navy spouse who asked not to be identified to protect her active-duty husband. "Please support us." The Defense Department is currently preparing to drain the fuel from the Red Hill facility, conducting repairs and tests and rehearsing for the task, expected to begin in October and be completed by January. The complicated job is being handled by Joint Task Force Red Hill. During a town hall meeting last month, Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Michelle Link, the task force's deputy commander, said the goal is to transfer all the fuel remaining from the World War II-era tank farm without spilling a drop. "We would like to rebuild trust in a way that demonstrates confidence in our ability to execute before we begin moving fuel," Link said. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Military.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime Related: A Year After Red Hill Crisis, Navy to Open Hawaii Clinic Amid Claims of Long-Term Health Problems Lawmakers are open this year to letting the Air Force retire more A-10 Warthogs under a draft defense policy bill, a sign that past fights to keep the aging aircraft in the fleet may be starting to lose steam. A draft of the House's version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act policy bill -- which is being finalized this week -- would allow the service to reduce the number of A-10s to 218, shrinking the fleet by more than 40 aircraft from last year's number of 260. The close-support aircraft with a more than 57-foot wingspan has been flown by the military since the 1970s. The signature "brrrttt" noise echoing from its 30-mm Gatling-style guns, which protected troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the first Gulf War, helped build a passionate fan base among service members and Washington lawmakers, who have fervently protected it from retirement. Read Next: Supreme Court Turns Away Veterans Who Seek Disability Benefits over 1966 Hydrogen Bomb Accident For decades, the Air Force's efforts to send its A-10s to the boneyard have been stymied by Congress. Last year, however, in the 2023 NDAA, Congress finally allowed 21 of the planes to be retired, which marked the first retirements of that aircraft in the 21st century. Notably, the 2024 draft NDAA would double that number of retirements to 42 aircraft. The provision about A-10s in the gigantic defense bill must still be approved and possibly amended by the full House, and then reconciled with the Senate's version before eventually becoming law. The legislation isn't likely to be finalized until the fall or winter. But, if approved by Congress, there are still conditions to letting the Air Force get rid of those aircraft. If Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall wants to take the number of A-10s below 218, the service must supply a detailed report on how it will direct close-air support missions. "The secretary of the Air Force may not reduce the total inventory of the Air Force of A-10 aircraft below 218 until the date that is 180 days after the date on which the secretary submits the report," the draft NDAA states. Prior to last year, Congress had come to the rescue of the A-10 at least five times since 2014 by adding provisions in the NDAA to either prohibit the Air Force from retiring the aircraft or approving projects to keep it in the sky, according to the Project On Government Oversight, a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog group. Air Force officials have said publicly that the slow A-10, often called a tank in the sky, would not be advantageous in a more modern fight against a country such as China. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles "C.Q." Brown, who has been nominated as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Air and Space Forces Association's Air Warfare Symposium in March that he expected the service to retire all A-10s by 2028 or 2029. "I would say over the next five or six years we will probably [have] the A-10 out of our inventory," Brown told reporters. "The A-10 is a great airplane. It's a great airplane in an uncontested environment. The challenge is we're going to be in more contested environments in the future." -- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly. Related: 21 Avenger Salute: Congress Sentences a Batch of A-10s to the Boneyard for the First Time in Decades Military aircraft, salvage equipment and ships are heading to a remote part of the Atlantic Ocean to aid in rescue efforts of a private submersible craft carrying five people that was lost Sunday evening as it ventured toward the wreckage of the Titanic. Department of Defense spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters that two C-130 Hercules aircraft with U.S. Transportation Command helped with search-and-rescue efforts as recently as Tuesday, and Air National Guard, Coast Guard and Navy assets were assisting, too. "Right now, we're working with the Coast Guard; the Coast Guard is the lead on this mission," Singh said. "I believe that we are doing everything we can in terms of surveying the area, and that's been the focus of the department." Read Next: 'Horrible Idea': House Proposal Makes Uncovering Stolen Valor Harder, Researchers Say Singh said in a follow-up statement Tuesday that three C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, also from U.S. Transportation Command, were heading to the area with "commercial, rescue-related cargo and equipment." During a press briefing Tuesday, Coast Guard officials told reporters that rescue teams had searched 7,600 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean but had not found the submersible, named Titan. Inside the carbon-fiber submersible, which is part of a private mission led by OceanGate Expeditions, are a pilot, a renowned British adventurer, two members of an iconic Pakistani business family and a Titanic expert, according to The Associated Press. There was 96 hours worth of air inside the vessel when it deployed Sunday. The Canadian Polar Prince, a research icebreaker, reportedly lost contact with the vessel about an hour and 45 minutes after it submerged Sunday, the news service reported. The submersible was reported overdue about 400 miles south of St. John's, Newfoundland. Time is critical for the search efforts. In addition to the U.S. Transportation Command's C-130s, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced in a press release that an HC-130J Combat King search-and-rescue aircraft from the New York Air National Guard's 106th Rescue Wing deployed to the area Monday and was returning Tuesday as well. "When the Coast Guard called on the New York Air National Guard's 106th Rescue Wing for assistance in this search mission, our airmen responded quickly and professionally as they have in the past when called for other missions," Maj. Gen. Ray Shields said in a press release. "Our men and women are always ready to respond when needed." On Monday, a C-130 Hercules aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, as well as a Canadian P-8 aircraft equipped with underwater sonar capability, were sent to search the area, the Coast Guard said in a statement. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore and other aircraft were en route Tuesday. "We know there's about 40 hours of breathable air left,'' Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick said during Tuesday's briefing, estimating the remaining amount based on how much air was onboard the vessel when it departed. Canadian aircraft and the country's own coast guard vessels are also en route to the scene. Singh said that "conversations between the Navy and Coast Guard began this weekend." A Navy spokesman said that the sea service is sending subject matter experts and a Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System, or FADOSS, to help with search and rescue as well as any possible recovery efforts. Navy salvage experts previously described the FADOSS as "a portable motion-compensated lift system connected through the ship's crane boom" that can be used to bring objects up from the ocean floor. The spokesman said the Navy personnel and equipment were scheduled to arrive at St. John's on Tuesday night. The Navy's Supervisor of Salvage has a lot of experience in recovering sunken objects as the team has regularly been called upon to recover downed aircraft from deep on the ocean floor -- albeit perhaps not on timelines that will work for the crew of the Titan. The depth of the ocean around the wreck of the Titanic -- around 14,000 feet -- does not seem like it would pose an issue for the Navy. In 2021, the team set a salvage depth record when it recovered an MH-60S helicopter from a depth of 19,075 feet off the coast of Okinawa, Japan. More recently, in March 2022, the unit also recovered an F-35C Lightning II fighter that crashed into the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson before sliding off and sinking into the South China Sea at a depth of 12,400 feet. While the Navy has historically offered little detail on its salvage operations, data available from the recovery of the F-35C suggests it took more than a month. A naval navigation alert over salvage operations in the area of the incident was posted on Jan. 29, 2022, but the Navy announced the plane's recovery on March 3. -- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin. -- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly. Related: The Navy Wants to Talk About Deep Sea Salvage, But Not the F-35 Sitting at the Bottom of the South China Sea Uncovering when people are lying about their military service could be harder under a proposal in Congress to restrict public access to some military records, researchers of stolen valor and military history say. At issue is a provision included in the House Appropriations Committee's draft 2024 Pentagon spending bill that would bar the military from releasing basic details about someone's service record without that person's consent. "It is a horrible idea," said Doug Sterner, who curates a database of Medal of Honor recipients and championed a law that makes stolen valor a federal crime if it's for profit. "It's a horrible idea, and it flies in the face of the true history of the men and women that preserved this great nation." Read Next: A-10s Were Saved from Retirement for Years. Congress May Not Swoop to the Rescue This Time. Right now, researchers, journalists and other members of the public can quickly ask the military services for some basic information about a service member's record without filing a formal public records request that could take months or years to process. Releasable information typically includes name, rank, past and present duty assignments, awards and decorations, among other details. Under the proposed defense spending bill, a current or former service member, or their next of kin if they are dead, would have to consent to releasing that information. If the service member or their family does not consent, members of the public would have to file a formal Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the service information. But the service member or their family would still have to be notified of the request, potentially adding even more time to the infamously slow FOIA process. The House Appropriations Committee often includes partisan policy riders in initial drafts of its bills that have little chance of becoming law. The Appropriations Committee's defense panel has advanced this year's Pentagon spending bill, but the measure still needs approval from the full committee and full House, as well as to survive negotiations with the Senate. A committee aide told Military.com the provision "was in response to the unauthorized disclosure of military service records." "Nothing in the provision prevents the public from obtaining the information for stolen valor. It simply requires them to go through the FOIA process," the aide said. "At the end of the day, this is about balancing the privacy of our service members and veterans with the public's access to information within existing law." The legislation comes after Republicans fumed that the Air Force improperly released personal information of several veterans running for Congress in the 2022 elections. The released records included an Air Force veteran whose record detailed her alleged sexual assault, as well as records for two sitting congressmen. In those cases, an opposition researcher with ties to the Democratic Party allegedly requested service records using what's known as a Standard Form 180. That form can request more detailed and personal information than what is typically released publicly, but the service member or their next of kin has to provide written consent to release the records. The Air Force has acknowledged that it did not follow proper procedure in releasing the records. "They're punishing everybody for somebody not following the law," Mary Schantag, chair of the POW Network and a historian who verifies accusations of stolen valor, said of the proposal in the defense spending bill. In the 2022 election, journalists used the process being targeted by the appropriations bill to uncover that J.R. Majewski, a Republican congressional candidate in Ohio, inflated his military record. Journalists and researchers frequently ask the military services to quickly verify that veterans in the news indeed served. In recent years, researchers focused on extremism have also sought to verify military service of accused extremists. Schantag said she is contacted every day of the year by people wanting to confirm someone's service record. Right now, she has more than 300 open cases, she added. "I don't know how we will prove somebody is a liar anymore," she said of what will happen if the bill becomes law. "This is not a small, minute, minimal problem. This is an epidemic. And these guys know, they know they're gonna get away with it." In addition to confirming stolen valor, Sterner said several other reasons people request military records could be stifled by the proposal. Specifically, he said he was concerned about his work discovering lost histories of veterans too modest to discuss their heroism, as well as his wife's work housing homeless veterans. While the homeless veterans may give their consent to verify their military service, he said, that could add bureaucratic hurdles that delay an urgent need. "What we're requesting is not personal information. It's public information," Sterner said. "There is no common sense to this. What is there to be afraid of by the information that is public record? There is no personal information there. It's a totally stupid idea." -- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel. Related: Military Stolen Valor Cases on the Rise, Investigators Say Post-9/11 combat veterans who served between 2001 and 2013 have until Sept. 30 to enroll in Department of Veterans Affairs health care. The date will conclude a one-year "special enrollment period" provided by the PACT Act. This provision of the PACT Act took effect in 2022. The acts full name is the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics. It gave the potential to receive compensation to millions of veterans or their survivors who were exposed to radiation and toxic chemicals while in uniform, going back to the 1960s. The VA enrollment period for post-9/11 combat vets is meant to get those veterans deemed to have been exposed to toxins based on their deployments onto the VA's rolls and into care in which the providers are cognizant of toxic exposures, said Cory Titus, an Army infantry veteran and director with the Military Officers Association of America who led the association's PACT Act advocacy. Read Next: Supreme Court Turns Away Veterans Who Seek Disability Benefits over 1966 Hydrogen Bomb Accident The bill automatically assumes troops who served in certain locations were exposed. Once enrolled, veterans' individual circumstances will dictate how much care they'll actually be eligible to receive. "Part of the challenge with toxic exposures is, there's such a delayed onset with all these different conditions. So, the reason for expanding the health care in the way we did is, we wanted to make sure that they were in the VA system and then had access to the different health-care resources," Titus explained. "So, if something came up, on top of being ill, they weren't necessarily trying to deal with their private health-care insurance, he said. Most health-care providers in America aren't thinking about, 'Oh, and you were around burning trash, and that might be something that's contributing.' So getting them in the VA system and really just relying on the expertise there was an important part of this." To qualify, veterans who have never before enrolled in VA health care must have served on active duty "in a theater of combat operations during a period of war after the Persian Gulf War," according to the VA, and they must have been "discharged or released" between Sept. 11, 2001, and Oct. 1, 2013. Veterans who served "in combat against a hostile force during a period of hostilities" after Nov. 11, 1998, may also enroll during the special period. In passing the PACT Act, Congress also expanded the enrollment window for post-9/11 combat veterans who exited service on or after Oct. 1, 2013. Instead of the one-year special period, however, they'll have up to 10 years after their military separation date. How to Apply for VA Health Care Veterans may apply for VA health care: Online at https://www.va.gov/health-care/apply/application/introduction. By calling 877-222-8387. By mail. Send VA Form 10-10EZ to Health Eligibility Center, 2957 Clairmont Road, Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30329. In person at a VA medical center or clinic. -- Amanda Miller can be reached at amanda.miller@military.com. About 3,000 people gathered at a shipyard in Groton on Saturday to celebrate the christening of the newest Virginia-class submarine, USS Iowa (SSN 797). The 377-foot nuclear attack submarine is set to be the first U.S. Navy submarine named in recognition of the Hawkeye State and one of the two attack-class submarines designed to accommodate female crew members, a milestone first achieved by battleships, according to the Des Moines Register. Ship Sponsor Christie Vilsack broke a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow to christen the vessel, with her granddaughter, Caroline, General Dynamics Electric Boat President Kevin Graney and Undersecretary of the Navy Erik Raven standing next to her. "I'm proud it was the first submarine built to accommodate women," said Vilsack, an Iowa educator and wife of the state's secretary of agriculture, Tom Vilsack, as reported by the Des Moines Register. Women began serving aboard submarines in 2010, according to the U.S. Navy. The crowd at General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard consisted of shipbuilders, the ship's crew members, U.S. Navy personnel and government officials. Connecticut legislators Sen. Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Rep Joe Courtney, D-2, were among the officials speaking at the ceremony. The Iowa is the 24th Virginia-class submarine and cost an estimated $3 billion, according to The Day of New London. Electric Boat president Kevin Graney said the Iowa is 94 percent completed and employees worked during the COVID-19 pandemic to build it, the paper reported. Electric Boat, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, and the Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia oversee the construction of Virginia-class submarines. The nuclear-powered attack submarines are designed for surveillance, reconnaissance, anti-surface ship warfare and other missions, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The crest for the submarine is marked by symbols honoring the state. It features 47 silver stars representing the 47 sailors who lost their lives from a 16-inch gun turret explosion on April 19, 1989, the USS Iowa Commissioning Committee website states. A wreath with a clover in the center depicts the location of Waterloo, Iowa, and is a tribute to the five Sullivan brothers who died in World War II when their ship USS Juneau was sunk during the Battle of Guadalcanal in November 1942. Among the ceremony attendees on Saturday were members of the Royal Australian Navy. The U.S., Australia and the United Kingdom signed the trilateral agreement AUKUS to provide Australia a nuclear-powered submarine. Under the pact, Electric Boat will contribute a fleet of three to five submarines for the Australian navy. ___ (c)2023 the New Haven Register (New Haven, Conn.) Visit the New Haven Register (New Haven, Conn.) at www.nhregister.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Over the weekend, Pacific Shipyards International wrapped up its biggest maintenance project yet at its Honolulu Harbor facility, where shipyard workers over 90 days put the Coast Guard's CGC Kimball, one of the service's large national security cutters, through its first dry dock maintenance period. "This is the longest ship we've docked here, " said Iain Wood, president and CEO of PSI. Commissioned in 2019, the Kimball is the Coast Guard's seventh national security cutter and, along with the CGC Midgett, is one of two home-ported in Honolulu. The two vessels belong to one of the Coast Guard's largest class of vessels at 418 feet long, 54 feet wide, with a water displacement of 4, 500 long tons and an operating range of 12, 000 nautical miles. Getting the contract to work on them required PSI to set up a new dry dock. "PSI invested in the new dry dock to support Hawaii's commercial and (military ) maritime community, " Wood said. "In anticipation of the national security cutter's arrival in Hawaii, we purposefully designed the dry dock and specialty docking towers to safely support the cutter, so it is very gratifying to have successfully completed its repair and maintenance in our dry dock." The Kimball has already made multiple deployments in the Pacific. Most recently, the vessel and its crew performed a 42-day, 10, 000-nautical-mile western Pacific patrol, making its way to Japan to train with the Japanese coast guard before returning to Honolulu in March. Service at sea can take a heavy toll on vessels as they navigate sometimes stormy weather, while the salty water and air corrode the metal ships. "We went through about 3, 000 gallons of paint, " said PSI vice president Troy Keipper. "Sometimes, when ships dry-dock, they'll only paint certain portions of it because they only want to stay out of service for so long. This was an entire packet, we painted the underwater hull, the freeboard, the superstructure and the mast." The Coast Guard is playing an increasingly central role in U.S. Pacific policy. As it steps up operations, maintenance needs come with it. In Hawaii, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard is the state's single-largest industrial employer and is always busy, but the Coast Guard is largely reliant on privately owned facilities in Honolulu Harbor. "We generally can't use Pearl Harbor, " said retired Adm. Paul Zukunft, a former Coast Guard commandant. "We have to factor in the cost of the gate guards, the yard maintenance and so it becomes cost prohibitive to use Pearl Harbor." That means more work for PSI, but it's a demanding job. "That 90-day schedule seems like a lot of time, but it's not a lot, " Wood said. He said that lately crews had put in more seven-day workweeks than usual, "which is not always great for workers or to actually maintain a schedule ; it's pretty tough." Coast Guard District 14, which is headquartered in Honolulu, is the Coast Guard's largest area of operations. It is tasked with operations across Oceania and into the western Pacific with just 10 vessels. It conducts a wide range of missions, including search and rescue, and often is called upon by island nations that lack their own resources to help mariners in distress. Lately, fishery enforcement has become a top priority. In 2020, the service reported that it now ranked illegal fishing above high-seas piracy as the No. 1 maritime global security threat as fish stocks rapidly deplete, threatening the food security and economies of coastal communities that depend on them and fueling confrontations over fishing rights in dwindling fisheries. The Coast Guard has increasingly partnered with countries throughout the Pacific to track fishing activity. But for senior policymakers, the increased interest in tracking fishing boats isn't just about fish. The world's largest fishing fleet is China's state-subsidized fleet. In 2020, the leaders of the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard wrote that China "deploys a multilayered fleet " that includes "naval auxiliaries disguised as civilian vessels." These so-called maritime militias have been used to conduct surveillance missions in support of China's conventional navy and to stake out disputed territories in the South China Sea. ___ (c)2023 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser Visit The Honolulu Star-Advertiser at www.staradvertiser.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada Postal Code North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley says he will not immediately be investigating the investors in a planned regional carbon dioxide pipeline because the request from state lawmakers doesn't meet the necessary requirements. News of his decision comes as Burleigh County commissioners are considering a resolution preventing the recording of easements in the county for companies under investigation by the state Attorney General's Office. The county proposal arose after concerns recently surfaced that some of the investment in Summit Carbon Solutions' Midwest Carbon Express pipeline comes from foreign countries, including China. Burleigh Planning Director Mitch Flanagan said the proposal is "not singling out any particular company," but he showed a map of the pipeline's route through the county Monday night while briefly discussing the resolution. That discussion came just a short time after Wrigley released a letter he wrote notifying state Sen. Jeff Magrum, R-Hazelton, that his office will not be meeting the request last month of Magrum and 30 other lawmakers for a probe into the investors in Summit's CO2 pipeline. Wrigley did not rule out a future investigation, however, and Magrum told the Tribune that supporters of a probe aren't deterred. County move The planned $4.5 billion, 2,000-mile-long Midwest Carbon Express is to move climate-warming CO2 emissions from more than 30 ethanol plants in five states to North Dakota's Oliver County for permanent storage underground. Summit hopes to have it operational next year. The project has sparked opposition from some landowners -- including some in northern Burleigh County -- and others who have concerns about property values, stymied growth, insurance problems and personal safety. Some county governments including Burleigh's have passed ordinances to regulate the pipeline within their borders. The city of Bismarck and Bismarck Public Schools have passed resolutions opposing the proposed pipeline route. Summit touts the overall safety record of the thousands of miles of CO2 pipelines that have operated in the U.S. for decades. The company also points to support for its project. Summit has signed easement agreements accounting for about 250 miles of the proposed 320 miles of pipeline in North Dakota, according to spokesperson Courtney Ryan. Flanagan on Monday unveiled a proposed resolution to "temporarily cease the recordation of any easements made by companies that are under current investigation by the ND Attorney General of ownership by a foreign adversary until such a time as is prudent, that would allow the recording of those easements." Flanagan told commissioners that "The question is do we have the authority under (state law) to do this? We haven't found that out yet." He requested that commissioners table the matter until the next meeting to give State's Attorney Julie Lawyer time to research the issue. The commission agreed. Commissioners hadn't been made aware of Wrigley's decision before their meeting commenced, according to his office. County Recorder Missy Hanson was not available Monday and did not speak at the commission meeting. Former County Recorder Debbie Kroshus told the Tribune that the resolution would not stop Summit from obtaining easements. It would just cloud the title record, she said. Investor questions Summit has submitted a list of five investors to the state Public Service Commission that included TPG Rise and SK Group. The Silk Road Fund -- an investment fund backed by the Chinese government -- is an investor in TPG Rise. The SK Group is a South Korean company. Summit spokesman Jesse Harris has said that Summit is "proud to have the support of both TPG Rise Climate and SK Group." He did not provide a list of other investors to the Tribune. Ryan told the Tribune on Monday that the company "is in compliance with North Dakota law." Magrum and the other legislators in their request to Wrigley said that the proposed pipeline violates Senate Bill 2371 and House Bill 1135 -- which were passed earlier this year and go into effect Aug. 1. Wrigley in his letter said "Until those bills take effect, law enforcement and this office do not have legal authority to investigate the matter." He also stated other issues with the request. House Bill 1135 prohibits foreign governmental interests from purchasing, acquiring or holding ownership interest in North Dakota agricultural land, Wrigley wrote in his letter. "The law is clear, however, that the new language is effective only for land purchased or acquired by a foreign government after July 1, 2023," Wrigley wrote. "This office has not received information indicating a foreign government has purchased or acquired agricultural land nor has this office received information indicating such a purchase or acquisition is set to occur after July 1, 2023." Because of that, he said, "there is not a legal violation to be investigated at this time." Senate Bill 2371 prohibits foreign adversaries of the U.S. and foreign adversary-related business entities from owning property in North Dakota. Wrigley said the bill "authorizes my office to perform a civil review of the qualifications of a foreign adversary business entity acquiring real property only when a request for the investigation is made by a city council or commission, county commission, or a title agent. To date, my office has not received such a request." Wrigley did not rule out an investigation in the future. "Once the law is effective, upon receipt of a request that meets statutory requirements, my office will perform a civil review of the matter as required by law," he wrote. Magrum told the Tribune on Monday night that he had not yet received the letter. When informed of its contents he said that both the Emmons and Burleigh county commissions were prepared to make a request to Wrigley for an investigation, and that "If he can't start on it until after Aug. 1, then we'll just have to wait." An interim legislative committee is studying issues related to foreign adversaries, and Magrum said he is glad Wrigley "is bringing all of these things up" so that lawmakers can look into them. "If he can't do the investigation, hopefully we can find another avenue," Magrum said. He did not immediately have examples of what those avenues might be. The man who kidnapped, raped and killed University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin in 2003 has been moved from death row in Indiana to a prison in Florida, where he presumably will be housed until he dies a natural death. Alfonso Rodriguez, 70, is now at Coleman II, a high-security penitentiary in Sumterville, Florida, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records. Rodriguez in 2007 was sentenced to death in the case, and he had been on death row at a maximum-security penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, awaiting execution. His attorneys filed numerous appeals on his behalf through the years. His death sentence was overturned in September 2021, when then-U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson ruled that misleading testimony from the coroner, the failure of lawyers to outline the possibility of an insanity defense, and evidence of severe post-traumatic stress disorder had violated Rodriguezs constitutional rights. Rodriguez was to be resentenced. Federal prosecutors this past March announced they would not seek the death penalty again. His sentence was reduced last month to life in prison without parole. Sjodin was 22 when she was abducted from a Grand Forks mall parking lot in November 2003. Rodriguez, a sex offender, was arrested the next month. Sjodins body was found the following April near Crookston, Minnesota. Rodriguez was convicted by a federal jury in Fargo in 2006. Sjodins death led to a dramatic shift in the way Minnesota handles sex offenders, with a drastic increase in the number who were committed indefinitely for treatment even after their prison sentences had run their course. The national sex offender public registry, intended to give the public information on the whereabouts of registered sex offenders, was renamed for Sjodin. Veteran infielder Jose Iglesias has opted out of his minor league deal with the Padres, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). Assuming San Diego doesnt add him to the MLB roster, hell return to free agency. Its familiar territory for Iglesias. He followed a similar path with the Marlins a few months ago, opting out after signing a minor league pact in Spring Training. He caught on with the Padres, triggered an opt-out a month later, then re-signed on a new minor league deal with San Diego. Iglesias is still searching for his first MLB call of the year. He got to the highest level in 11 of the 12 seasons between 2011-22. Iglesias carved out a lengthy career as a regular thanks to excellent shortstop defense and a high-contact bat that allowed him to run strong batting averages. His public defensive marks have dropped over the past two seasons, though, contributing to his struggles to find an MLB look thus far in 2023. To his credit, the 33-year-old had a nice offensive showing in Triple-A. He appeared in 28 games for San Diegos highest affiliate in El Paso and hit .317/.356/.537 with four home runs over 135 trips to the plate. The power is probably inflated by the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League setting Iglesias hit only three homers in 467 plate appearances for the Rockies last season but he has continued to put the ball in play at a high rate. He went down on strikes in only 16.3% of his trips with El Paso. Iglesias has played almost exclusively shortstop at the big league level, logging over 8000 career innings there. He spent most of his time there in Triple-A but logged a few starts at both second and third base as well. Hes no longer the defender he was at his peak, but he can cover any infield position and still hits for a high enough average he should at least find another minor league deal elsewhere. The Rays announced last week theyve re-signed reliever Chris Muller to a minor league contract. According to the transactions log at MLB.com, he was assigned to the teams Florida complex. Muller is back with the only organization for which hes ever played. The Rays took him in the 17th round of the 2017 draft. He spent six years in the minor league system and earned his initial MLB call last month. Unfortunately, the club didnt get him into a game before designating him for assignment a couple weeks later. Tampa Bay released Muller after his DFA. While itd seem counterintuitive to release a player just to re-sign him within a few weeks, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times explained the decision earlier this month. According to Topkin, Muller had suffered an elbow injury before his DFA. MLB rules prohibit teams from placing an injured player on outright waivers. Once the Rays took Muller off the 40-man roster, they had to either trade him or release him. That proves largely immaterial, since the 27-year-old agreed to return to the organization after hitting free agency. Hell go to the complex to build back into game shape and presumably will head back to Triple-A Durham at some point. Muller had tossed 20 innings for the Bulls earlier this year, posting a 4.95 ERA with a solid 24.2% strikeout rate but a lofty 12.2% walk percentage. The Reds announced today that first baseman/outfielder Wil Myers has been reinstated from the injured list and designated for assignment. Signed to a one-year, $7.5MM deal over the winter, Myers joined the Reds with the hope that he could rebound at the plate and develop into a serviceable trade chip at this years deadline. Things havent panned out as hoped, however. Prior to being placed on the injured list due to a bout with kidney stones, Myers appeared in 37 games and hit .189/.257/.283 with a jarring 34% strikeout rate in 141 trips to the plate. He managed to connect on three homers and added in a pair of steals, but Myers was nowhere close to his peak levels of performance. Myers placement on the injured list was one of multiple injuries that paved the way for the Reds to go with a youth movement in the infield one that has thus far reaped immense dividends. Spencer Steer, Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz have all impressed this season, and 2021 NL Rookie of the Year Jonathan India has enjoyed a fine rebound season at second base. With Cincinnati activating stalwart first baseman Joey Votto to join that group just yesterday Votto homered in his return Myers path back to a spot on the active roster was cloudy, at best. The Reds couldve tried to find Myers some playing time in the outfield, but each of Will Benson, TJ Friedl, Jake Fraley and Nick Senzel have outperformed the veteran Myers. Given the teams current nine-game winning streak, its understandable that the Reds didnt want to disrupt the lineup beyond Vottos return. The 2023 season has been the worst of Myers career. The former top prospect and 2013 AL Rookie of the Year seemed destined for stardom a decade ago, but hes settled in more as a steadily productive regular with an offensive ceiling thats well shy of All-Star status. His eight-year tenure with the Padres was a roller coaster in terms of performance, but the end result was a .254/.330/.451 batting line and 134 homers in 3415 plate appearances. Myers was one of MLBs best hitters in the shortened 2020 campaign, hitting .288/.353/.606 with a whopping 15 dingers in just 218 trips to the plate, but that proved to be an outlier rather than a breakout. The Reds will now have a week to trade Myers, pass him through outright waivers, or release him. Myers is still owed $3.34MM of this years $6MM salary, plus the full $1.5MM buyout on next years mutual option. Given that $4.84MM left on his contract, theres no chance another team would claim him at this point. In the likely event that the Reds cant find a trade partner which would surely require them either paying down the bulk, if not the entirety of the contract, or taking another bad contract back in return Myers will pass through waivers unclaimed. Myers has enough service time to reject an outright assignment without forfeiting the remainder of his salary, so the likeliest outcome is that hell become a free agent. Any new team that signs him would only be responsible for paying Myers the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster. That sum would be subtracted from what Cincinnati owes him, but either way the Reds will be on the hook for the vast majority of his contract. Nothing will be cut out of this podcast and nothing is off limits. Dave Coulier has announced he will host a Full House tell all, behind-the-scenes podcast. Coulier, who is from Michigan, played Uncle Joey on the long-running sitcom in the 80s and 90s and recently reprised his roll for the Netflix series, Fuller House. The new podcast will be called Full House Rewind with David Coulier. The series from PodCo is set to begin in about a month and Coulier took to his Twitter page to make the big announcement. Every Friday it will be TGIF all over again as I bring you exclusive behind the scenes stories that your 80s and 90s hearts will love, Coulier said. Is there anything youve been dying to know all these years later? Any stories about the cast or the making of the show that you want to hear? Coulier is asking fans to comment with any questions they have about the show on the Full House Rewind Twitter page. He says the podcast will have a variety show feel with recurring segments and bits which explore different family dynamics and relationships and how deeply the show impacted their own. He also promises very special guests. The comedian and actor was born and raised in St. Clair Shores in Metro Detroit and recently moved back to the area. MORE FROM MLIVE: 12-year old magician ventriloquist from Michigan shocks with AGT audition How Nickelbacks Mike Kroeger became a die-hard Detroit Red Wings fan Michigans only launch water slides are fast, steep and give mad airtime BERLIN (AP) Police in southern Germany said Monday that an American tourist who was pushed into a ravine during an attack near Neuschwanstein castle in which her 21-year-old friend was killed has been released from the hospital. The 22-year-old woman had tried to stop a 30-year-old Michigan man from allegedly assaulting her friend after luring them onto a trail leading to a viewpoint overlooking the famous castle, which draws more than a million tourists every year. The older woman fell nearly 50 meters (165 feet) down a steep slope but was able to leave the hospital Friday, police spokesperson Holger Stabik said. Tourists stand on the Marienbr'cke bridge, near the Neuschwanstein castle, in Schwangau, Germany, Thursday, June 15, 2023. Authorities say an American man has been arrested in Germany after allegedly assaulting two tourists he met near Neuschwanstein castle. The attack, which occurred on Wednesday, left one of the women dead. Police said Thursday that the 30-year-old man met the two women on a hiking path and lured them onto a trail. They said the man then physically attacked the younger woman. (Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa via AP)AP Both women were recovered by mountain rescuers shortly after the attack Wednesday, but the younger victim later died of her injuries in the hospital. The suspect, whose name like those of the victims wasnt released due to German privacy rules, was arrested shortly after the incident. He is being held on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and attempted sexual assault. Stabik said police have received about two dozen photos and videos on a specially created website and are appealing for anyone with additional images of the suspect and victims to come forward. Prosecutors said the women did not know the man until the incident. A spokesperson for the prosecutors office in Kempten, Thomas Hormann, said the investigation into the incident is continuing but it may be three or four months before authorities decide on an indictment. A Grosse Pointe Woods woman has been charged in the death of a Roseville man who was killed last week while changing a tire on the shoulder of I-94. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced charges against 25-year-old Brooke Lynn-Denise Charles in connection with the death of 23-year-old Connor McMahon. Charles is accused of driving under the influence when she hit McMahon and his car on eastbound I-94 near 8 Mile Road and Vernier on June 13. Prosecutors allege that Charles left the roadway and struck McMahons car before she fled the scene on foot. Harper Woods Police eventually caught up with Charles and attempted to arrest her, but she fought with officers before being detained. The summer solstice, marking the longest day of the year in terms of daylight, has been a celebratory occasion throughout human history but this year theres an extra special treat to this celestial event. The solstice will occur on Wednesday, June 21, kicking off the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Later in the evening, stargazers can look to the western skies to see a slim crescent moon joined by the brilliant planet Venus and the more faint yet distinctly reddish planet Mars, according to EarthSky.org. The official time of the summer solstice this year is 10:58 a.m. ET on the 21st. Thats the moment when the North Pole is at its maximum tilt toward the sun, causing short shadows and late sunsets in the Northern Hemisphere. After the summer solstice, the North Pole begins to slowly tilt back away from the sun, causing daylight to wane until we reach the December winter solstice, the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The two solstices each year are a bit like opposite swings of Mother Natures pendulum, signaling the pause when one cycle ends and another begins, occurring every six months. The Latin root of the word solstice hints at this natural rhythm, as the word is a combination of sol meaning sun and sistere, which means to stand still, Merriam-Webster says. Throughout human history the sun has played an important role in timekeeping, spiritual traditions, and agricultural practices, which is why many cultures have held celebrations in honor of both solstices. According to the Old Farmers Almanac, one of the most famous annual celebrations of the summer solstice takes place at Stonehenge, a prehistoric stone monument in Wiltshire, England, where thousands gather for a multi-day festival each year. RELATED: Summer lunar spectacles include 4 supermoons, rare blue moon How to look for Leland Blue stone, a Michigan rock hunting treasure 8 Michigan islands where you can camp overnight Mount Bohemia to host summer wellness retreats with yoga, paddleboarding ANN ARBOR, MI -- An Ann Arbor man stands accused of fracturing another mans skull during a parking lot altercation. Ryan Osborn, 37, was charged with assault with intent to murder and arraigned in the 15th District Court on Sunday, June 18. Ann Arbor police were called to the 300 block of S. Maple Road around 11 p.m. on Friday, June 16 for report of a man in a parking lot. When they arrived, officers found a 38-year-old man alone in the parking lot with significant injuries to his head. Surveillance video showed an altercation between two men, with Osborn intentionally throwing a large rock at the victims head while he was on the ground. Osborn was arrested at the University of Michigan Hospital and arraigned from his hospital bed. The victim, a 38-year-old Ann Arbor man, was taken to the University of Michigan Hospital. He remains in critical condition, according to police. The incident is not believed to be random, police said. Read more from The Ann Arbor News: Ann Arbors State Street District is searching for new executive director Michigan woman charged in death of teacher who was killed while changing tire on I-94 Man fatally shot in suspected domestic incident in Jackson County home WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI -- An Ypsilanti man is pushing back against his felony charges, saying he has been unfairly targeted by the Washtenaw County justice system. A group of people gathered outside the 22nd Washtenaw County Circuit Court house on Tuesday, June 13, to support Shihab Jackson, who says his felony firearm charges have been unfairly brought against him. Jackson was scheduled to go to a pre-trial hearing that same day. Jackson was charged with one count each of a felon in possession of a firearm, felon in possession of ammunition, carrying a concealed weapon and two felony counts of a resisting a police officer in the 14B District Court in March 2023. His case was bound over to the circuit court in April. Jackson claims he was charged after police stopped him in a pretext stop, or an unwarranted traffic stop used to search for criminal activity. It must be repeated that my case involves no violence, Jackson said at the rally. No victim, no death, no damage to property, no harm to society at all. My only offense is being an unlicensed Black man with a gun for self-protection. The 34-year-old Ypsilanti man said he carries the firearm because he has been robbed at gunpoint. He maintains the charges are both an abuse of the criminal justice system and a walking back of campaign promises made by Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit. Read more: Reformist candidate launches campaign for Washtenaw County prosecutor Im fighting for my life here, Jackson said. My case entirely hinges on the discretion of the prosecutor, who thus far demonstrated an absolute unwillingness to adhere to the compassionate platform he ran on. The prosecutors office said in an email that its pretext-stop policy was followed in Jacksons case and declined to comment further. The offices policy says contraband offenses such as being in possession of controlled substances or unregistered firearms will only be prosecuted if there was probable cause or a legal justification to justify a search. Deputies from the Washtenaw County Sheriffs Office pulled over Jackson on Saturday, March 11, after seeing him fail to signal before making a righthand turn in Ypsilanti Township, according to police testimony from a preliminary examination in April. Jacksons vehicle also had a brake light out, deputies said. When the officer requested Jacksons drivers license, he didnt have one or any other identification, according to testimony. Due to that being a misdemeanor, I had him step out of the vehicle so that I could detain him until we could identify who he was, said Kevin Van Dussen, a deputy with Washtenaw County Sheriffs Office, during the hearing. Once Jackson stepped out of the vehicle, he allegedly attempted to run, prompting Dussen and his partner to wrestle him to the ground and arrest him. During a search of his person, they found a loaded firearm, according to testimony. When reached, a member of Defend Affordable Ypsi, which hosted the rally, said the incident is a bait and switch situation, arguing Savits practices go back on campaign promises. Now hes reneging by using a very narrow definition of what a pretext stop is, said Amber Fellows, a member of DAY. Jackson could not be reached for further comment. Jackson, who noted during a speech at the rally that his gun is unlicensed, has a 2018 felony firearm conviction, which bars him from owning a gun. Jacksons pre-trial hearing was adjourned to Tuesday, July 11. Friends, our justice system is broken, and were all suffering because of it, Jackson said at the rally. In Washtenaw County, we can do better. Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter. Read more from The Ann Arbor News: Man arrested in connection with sexual assaults near University of Michigan campus This is why an Ypsilanti bakery is on Yelps list of top 100 doughnut shops in Michigan Ann Arbor police lieutenant fired for claiming she was too drunk to remember incident with subordinate FLINT, MI Hundreds of community members celebrated Juneteenth with music, food, and more Monday, June 19, at Max Brandon Park in Flint. The event provided Flint residents with a space to celebrate Juneteenth while enjoying music, food trucks, inflatables for kids and an opportunity to connect with community groups providing local resources. Supporters of eliminating property taxes in North Dakota are making another effort to bring the matter to voters. A 25-member sponsoring committee led by Rick Becker, a Bismarck plastic surgeon and former Republican state representative, on Monday submitted a proposed constitutional initiative to Secretary of State Michael Howe for review. Becker maintains that perpetually rising property taxes are the No. 1 concern for North Dakotans. The proposal is for prohibiting all political subdivisions from levying any tax on real or personal property except for bonded indebtedness until paid. State revenues would replace local property taxes. Its the latest of several attempts this century, all of which have failed amid opposition that views the idea as a threat to local control. We have seen this kind of attempt before to eliminate property taxes, North Dakota Association of Counties Executive Director Aaron Birst said. We are not convinced there is a workable solution that is equitable for funding the services the counties in North Dakota provide to serve the people who live and work in the county. The proposed measures wording is the same as a proposal that Becker spearheaded in 2020. That effort was derailed mainly by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March of that year, he said. When we are making grassroots efforts to get signatures and then were looking at not being able to things were closing down that seemed to make the task that much less likely to succeed, Becker said. Its hard enough to get that amount of signatures when youre not paying an organization to get them for you. Becker in 2020 also cited low oil prices, which have since rebounded. West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. oil pricing benchmark, was at about $70 per barrel on Tuesday, compared with about $35 at this time three years ago. The states economy is heavily dependent on the energy sector. If anything at this point that situation in 2020 only makes our argument stronger in 2023, Becker said. The newly proposed measure would change the state constitution if it goes to voters and is approved. Howe has until June 28 to draft a petition title and get it approved by Attorney General Drew Wrigley. The petition title is a short statement to be included on the petition that sums up the proposed measure. Once the measure is approved for circulation, supporters will have a year to gather 31,164 valid signatures to get it on either the June 2024 primary ballot or the November 2024 general election ballot. To get the measure on the primary ballot they would need to submit the signatures by Feb. 12. Some recent petition drives in the state have been marred by alleged irregularities or fraud. Becker said he hopes to avoid the use of paid signature-gatherers to head off such problems. At this time Im planning on only doing grassroots, volunteer signature-gathering, he said. Past history North Dakotans in 2012 defeated a similar measure, with more than 76% of voters rejecting it. Critics said it would take power away from local political subdivisions, questioned how the revenue would be replaced, and cited concerns about potential increases in sales and income taxes. They also said it could prompt the need for a full-time Legislature to handle budget requests from thousands of political subdivisions. Becker argues times have changed, and that voters were given a promise that the Legislature would do something, and even though they tried, they failed. Becker served a decade in the state House, where he founded and led the ultraconservative Bastiat Caucus. He did not seek reelection in 2022, and instead mounted an unsuccessful campaign as an independent to unseat Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. John Hoeven. Becker during the 2021 Legislature sponsored a property tax elimination constitutional measure, but the resolution died in the House on a 27-63 vote. Last October he proposed a similar resolution for the 2023 Legislature even though he would not be serving; it was introduced by other lawmakers earlier this year and failed in the House on an 18-75 vote. The North Dakota Association of Counties opposed both of those resolutions. The association has repeatedly testified against proposals to abolish property taxes, as our members feel this will threaten local control in responding and addressing local needs at the levels citizens desire, Birst said Tuesday. Lawmakers instead this year overwhelmingly approved and Gov. Doug Burgum signed a $515 million tax cut package addressing both income and property taxes. It effectively eliminates state income tax for lower earners and reduces income tax rates for higher brackets. It makes homeowners eligible for $500-a-year property tax credits beginning next year and expands eligibility for a property tax credit for older homeowners. House Bill 1158 passed the House 84-6 and the Senate 45-2, and was lauded by Republican and Democratic lawmakers. Burgum called the bills passage a historic achievement for the state. Becker believes the property tax relief the Legislature passed amounts to a buydown that doesnt address the root causes of rising property taxes, and that lawmakers approved the package to placate people. He believes property tax revenue can be replaced with state revenue through means such as using budget surpluses; reducing corporate welfare; dipping into earnings of the Legacy Fund, the states oil tax savings accounts; or through future state revenue arising from as-of-yet undeveloped or unforeseen industries such as rare earth minerals. GENESEE COUNTY, MI A new womens collective giving organization is looking for members and sponsors to begin donating to local nonprofits. Impact100 Genesee County aims to bring together a diverse group of women who are passionate about philanthropy and want to make a significant impact in their community. Members will donate $1,000 or more annually to get involved. Their contributions will then be pooled together to fund high-impact grants for local nonprofits specializing in arts and culture, education, environment, family and health and wellness, according to a press release from the organization. President of the Impact 100 Genesee County Katie Kool-Wray said the countys chapter is part of Impact100 Global. There are currently 60 chapters across the United States and world. Genesee Countys chapter will be the fifth in Michigan. Were thrilled to be launching Impact100 Genesee County and to be part of a growing movement of womens collective giving organizations, Kool-Wray said in the press release. By pooling our resources and working together, we can make a real difference in our community and support the organizations that are doing life-changing work. Group organizers expect to give one $100,000 grant to a nonprofit agency in Genesee County each year. Kool-Wray said three other members currently sit on the board with her, but the organization is seeking new members and sponsors to join its efforts. As of now, the group is working on adding more members and will start the grant process next year. Membership is open to women, regardless of whether they live in Genesee County. However, the organization will focus its donations to nonprofits in the county. Annual membership enrollment ends Jan. 31, 2024. The organizers will reveal all new members and announced the amount of grant money for the year, about a month later, on Feb. 29. Kool-Wray said although the organization is intended for women, men and businesses can still provide support as sponsors. In the future, the organization hopes to offer scholarships as well, Kool-Wray said. If there are women who cant pay a full $1,000, we could have people that sponsor them or give a scholarship such that they can have a vote, Kool-Wray said. Because your membership gives you a vote as to who will get the grants hopefully multiple at the end of the year. Beginning in 2024, Kool-Wray said members will meet with local nonprofits eligible for the annual grant. Then, the group will select a winner. Theres an annual meeting every year where the finalists will come, and they will present and well have our vote, Kool-Wray said. Impact100 Genesee County will also provide members with opportunities to volunteer and engage with local nonprofits. What data shows from the other chapters is any nonprofit that participates sees an increase in the awareness and in the giving from the community, Kool-Wray said. So, we want to create those venues where were helping a lot of nonprofits, not just the ones who win the grant. Those interested in learning more about Impact100 Genesee County or becoming a member can visit the groups website. Read more at The Flint Journal: 5 things to do in Flint, Genesee County this weekend (June 15-18) Ruth Mott Foundation distributes $5M to Flint impact investments New Grand Blanc outdoor Fitness Court promotes wellness in community Admission free to Flint Childrens Museum with EBT, WIC during June Want more Flint-area news? Bookmark the local Flint news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Flint daily newsletter. GRAND RAPIDS, MI A young mother was talking with an acquaintance on the phone the moment she was allegedly shot and killed by her childs father, court records show. That father, Luis Fabian Bernal-Sosa, made his first appearance in a Grand Rapids courtroom over the weekend and was charged with open murder in connection to the death of 22-year-old Leah Marie Gomez. Investigators found Gomez shot to death on May 31 in a parking lot at 333 Commerce Ave. She was in a car with her 21-month-old daughter that she and Bernal-Sosa, 27, have in common in the backseat. The child was not injured in the shooting. Gomez was on the phone with an acquaintance during the duration of the shooting, Grand Rapids police wrote in a probable cause affidavit. After the shooting, police interviewed the acquaintance who said Gomez was concerned about Bernal-Sosa that day when she was dropping their daughter off at Bernal-Sosas apartment. Gomez asked her friend to stay on the phone with her while she was in contact with Bernal-Sosa. When Gomez later returned to pick up her daughter, Bernal-Sosa found out she was on the phone with her friend and hung up on him. She called him back and the next thing the friend heard was Gomez saying to Bernal-Sosa, Is that an AR-15? You need to get out of my car, the affidavit states. The acquaintance told police he heard 5-6 gunshots and then the phone went silent. Bernal-Sosa was on the loose for more than a week before he was arrested June 9 in Cook County, Illinois. In addition to the open murder charge, Bernal-Sosa faces charges of carrying a concealed weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Bond was denied and he remains lodged in the Kent County Jail. Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter. Read more on MLive: Boy with gun at school told teacher it was his moms, testimony reveals A labor of love: The growing success of a Michigan lavender farm Parents of man who vanished from Electric Forest in 2018 keep hope alive with billboard PORT HURON, MI Joyriders and lovers of Michigans lakes alike may enjoy a 140-mile trek outlined by a state visitors bureau for the eastern coast of Michigans Thumb. Port Huron-based Blue Water Visitors Bureau posted the recommended trip on its Facebook page recently, with a link to a Google Maps page that details the expedition and nearly 70 stops along the way, from as far south as the Detroit region to as far north as Caseville. LANSING, MI More Michiganders will be eligible for federal food assistance money if the governor signs a bill that got final approval Tuesday. The House voted along party lines, 56-53, to send Senate Bill 35 to Gov. Gretchen Whitmers desk. With her signature, the state health department would no longer use a familys assets to determine eligibility for SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Sponsoring Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, said upon the bills introduction in February that it deletes an additional level of bureaucracy. SNAP helps low-income families afford healthy food. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services currently uses income, assets and expenses of all household members to judge eligibility for the program. Assets can include a familys cash on hand, checking and savings accounts, investments and property. Michigans asset test was first established in 2012 and says a family isnt eligible for SNAP if its assets are above $15,000. SNAP provides food assistance to 1,369,000 Michiganders, MDHHS told MLive in February. Thats around 14% of the population. Between Dec. 1, 2019, and Sept. 30, 2022, MDHHS denied 9,731 SNAP applications. I dont see this policy as significantly changing the number of individuals that become eligible for the program, Lewis Roubal, MDHHS chief deputy director of opportunity, said in February. I believe it will allow us to determine those who would have otherwise been determined eligible in just a more efficient manner. SB 35 would likely have no impact on state finances, according to the House Fiscal Agencys analysis. Arguments for the bill include giving families better financial stability and reducing paperwork for health department case workers so they can give greater attention to folks receiving assistance. But House Republicans pushed back on the bill Tuesday. The asset test is a critical safeguard against abuse and fraud of SNAP benefits, argued Rep. Donni Steele, R-Orion. We must remember that every dollar allocated to a person who does not genuinely need assistance is a dollar that could have been invested in other crucial areas, such as education, health care or infrastructure, like our roads, Steele said. A spokesperson for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer did not respond to MLives request for comment on whether she will sign the bill. Irwins bill was co-sponsored by 14 Democrats and GOP Sen. John Damoose, R-Harbor Springs. Four other Republicans joined Damoose in voting it through the Senate in March. Michigan would be the 37th state to not have an asset test for SNAP benefits. A less restrictive federal asset test will still be in place. Households are ineligible if: A senior or disabled member has a total gross income over 200% of the federal poverty line. A household member is disqualified for an Intentional Program Violation or employment-related activity. They reapply after their cases close due to lottery winnings of $4,250 or higher. Households exempt from the federal asset test are those already helped by the temporary assistance for needy families program (TANF) or family independence program (FIP); state disability assistance; supplemental security income (SSI); or whose gross income is less than 200% of the federal poverty line. Read more from MLive: Michigan schools could soon start before Labor Day without waiver Are LGBT book bans discriminatory? Michigans civil rights agency wants AG opinion. Whitmer seeks disaster declaration to aid UP areas hit by flooding Strong storms, lacking Lake Michigan ice worsen sand shoaling, erosion Former and current employees of an Upper Peninsula prison were charged Tuesday, June 20 with felony counts in connection with the 2019 death of inmate Jonathan Lancaster, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced. Those charged are four nurses who attended to Lancaster in the days leading to his death, two corrections officers present at his time of death, and both the former Acting Warden Scott Sprader and Assistant Deputy Warden Benny Mercier. An investigation by the Michigan State Police found Lancaster allegedly stopped eating and drinking while incarcerated at Alger Correctional Facility in Munising. He was placed in an observation cell in restraints, where he remained until he died three days later. The attorney generals office said Lancaster lost an excess of fifty pounds in fifteen days. Despite widespread knowledge of his deteriorating state and corrections policies, he received no medical attention until his death. This death was a preventable tragedy that played out over days and under the defendants supervision, Nessel said in a statement. These are serious, and numerous, charges that reflect the broad culpability the defendants shoulder in the death of Johnathan Lancaster. The eight defendants had a responsibility for the care and well-being of those in their custody, and my office will continue to rigorously pursue accountability when that is not met. Last December, Lancasters older sister, Danielle Dunn, led a rally seeking justice for her brother in front of the attorney generals office. She told MLive at the time that it was traumatizing trying to deal with the horrific details of his death. The neglect was blatant, Dunn said. This should have never have happened. It went way too far. RELATED: Charges against prison staff for Michigan inmates death is just the beginning, sister says Those being charged are: Former Acting Warden Scott Sprader- one count of involuntary manslaughter, a 15-year felony; Former Assistant Deputy Warden Benny Mercier- one count of involuntary manslaughter, a 15-year felony; Former prison nurse, Paul Zelenak- one count of involuntary manslaughter, a 15-year felony; Former prison nurse, Nathan Moser- one count of involuntary manslaughter, a 15-year felony; Former prison nurse, Barbara Bedient- one count of involuntary manslaughter, a 15-year felony; Former prison nurse, John Crane- one count of involuntary manslaughter, a 15-year felony; Former prison sergeant, Jason Denman- one count of misconduct in office, a 5-year felony; Current prison officer Shawn Brinkman- one count of misconduct in office, a 5-year felony. Read more from MLive: Whitmer seeks disaster declaration to aid UP areas hit by flooding Are LGBT book bans discriminatory? Michigans civil rights agency wants AG opinion. Juneteenth another step in journey to equity for Black businesses Braids, dreadlocks, twists and afros: hair discrimination now illegal in Michigan GRAND HAVEN, MI There is a lot of dredging work to be done in Lake Michigan harbors after an uptick in severe storms and a drop in shoreline ice during winter. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers currently is overseeing 24-hour dredging in Grand Haven when weather is favorable to remove sand shoaling that blocks the harbor from commercial vessels. Workers are doing overtime because unusually windy and wavy conditions delayed prior dredging in Holland. Unprecedented shoaling when sand moves into a channel led to additional dredging needed in Holland, where contractors moved 90,000 cubic yards of material before shoving off for Grand Haven. Now the goal is by mid-July to clear 141,000 cubic yards of sand from the channel in Grand Haven, as commercial docks there are struggling to receive shipments because of the shoaling. Were dredging later than planned but looking forward to the safe opening of the harbor to commercial shipping very soon, said Elizabeth Newell Wilkinson, the Corps Grand Haven resident engineer. Yet Grand Haven and Holland arent the only Lake Michigan shoreline communities struggling with the issue of sand movement beneath the waves. The same freighter grounded twice on sandy sentiment near the Muskegon pier, both in April this year and April last year. The Corps sped-up plans to dredge the Muskegon harbor after the second grounding. Passenger ferry service to both North and South Manitou islands was suspended in 2020 because of needed dredging near docks at both remote islands within Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. And none of these examples are surprising to those who study coastal dynamics on the Great Lakes. It makes sense that more than one recent winter with low ice conditions would lead to a lot of sand movement in the near-shore areas, said Mark Breederland, a sustainable shoreline expert with nonprofit Michigan Sea Grant. With no shore ice out there, Im sure that there could have been longer wave action kind of moving that sand through the mouth of the harbors, he said. It is common sense when we have no shore ice, theres more shore erosion, theres more sand that gets into the system, and then the sand can move is always moving. We call the Great Lakes the rivers of sand, especially here on our Lake Michigan side where we dont have the rock like they have on the Lake Huron side. Related: Not just a one off: Ice cover on Great Lakes hits record lows Breederland said its an important question whether the expectation of warming temperatures and less Great Lakes ice cover combined with stronger storms fueled by climate change will lead to more erosion and sand shoaling problems. Nearshore hydrodynamics expert and Michigan Technological University Professor Guy Meadows it almost certainly will. We know for a fact that storm intensity increases and waves increase and that moves more sediment around, so its not a big surprise that the Corps of Engineers is behind in their dredging, Meadows said. We see lots of sediment in motion now coming off of the high water we just experienced in Lake Michigan and all the shoreline changes that occurred as a result of that. All of that contributed more sediment to the near shores. The scientist also said the lack of winter ice has a tremendous effect on moving sand and sediments in waves. Meadows also said this isnt just a problem for the commercial shipping industry; these conditions also can lead to dangerous nearshore currents called rip currents, which can develop quickly with deadly consequences. Additionally, Corps officials said beachgoers in Grand Haven should stay behind the safety cones and avoid getting too close to the dredging pipeline at the discharge point. Sand and water are pumped through the pipeline and create an almost quicksand-like condition directly around the pipe outfall. A bulldozer will regularly grade the deposited sand. Sign up to receive MLive's free new environment and climate newsletter, "Lake Effect." Enter your email below: Related articles: As climate warms, Michigan can expect more smoke and unsafe air Michigan law shields wetlands from Supreme Court decision impacts If trees had feet: Tree migration brings resiliency to Michigan forests Ghanaian actor and politician John Dumelo has heaped praises on his colleague and friend, Yvonne Nelson for refusing a plot against his political career. In actress Yvonne Nelsons explosive memoir I Am Not Yvonne Nelson, she revealed receiving an offer from President Akufo-Addos camp to contest the Ayawaso West Wuogon parliamentary seat on the ticket of the NPP ahead of the 2020 elections. However, she turned down the offer due to her long-standing friendship with John Dumelo, who was contesting the seat on the ticket of the NDC. In her memoir, the actress wrote, Prior to the 2020 polls, an influential man in the Akufo-Addo circles came to see me and proposed to sponsor me to contest the Ayawaso West Wuogon parliamentary seat on the ticket of the NPP. However, she told the messenger she was not interested, saying, Even if I was interested in going to parliament, who told him I wanted to do that on the ticket of the NPP? What if I wanted to go as an independent candidate? And was I going to allow myself to be someones political puppet? She said she suspected the NPP wanted to use her due to her influence in leading the #DumsorMustStop protests against the former Mahama government. They also wanted her to defeat John Dumelo, her friend and fellow actor who was contesting for the NDC, she said. Apart from the fact that they probably saw a formidable political personality in me as a result of the #DumsorMustStop protest, the other reason the NPPs gods wanted me to contest was not difficult to discern. My colleague actor and friend, John Dumelo, was contesting that constituency on the ticket of the opposition NDC and they feared he could unseat the NPP candidate with his celebrity status, She wrote. John Dumelo confirmed the YN Production CEOs account, tweeting, I remember Yvonne Nelson called me sometime back before the 2020 elections to tell me someone extremely close to the current president had asked her to contest in Ayawaso West on the ticket of NPP. These were her words to me 'John, I cant do that to you, I told them no, I cant throw away our many years of friendship because of politics'. Her memoir provides insight into the behind-the-scenes challenges she faced in her pursuit to make a name for herself. James Paa Nii Okine is making waves in the fashion industry with his unique and innovative clothing design line, Westcoast Clothing Line. With a fresh perspective and a bold aesthetic, he is quickly becoming one of the most talked-about designers of his generation. In this article, we'll take a closer look at his work, his inspirations, and what sets him apart from the crowd. James Paa Nii Okine, the CEO of WCL grew up with a passion for fashion, and always knew he wanted to be a designer. After studying fashion design at BENASH School of Fashion and Modeling, he gained experience working for the firm as the Director for Modeling and Director of Fashion in charge Marketing and Public a Relationship before launching his own label. His unique approach to design quickly caught the attention of fashion critics and industry insiders, and is now considered one of the most promising new talents in the industry. James Paa Nii Okine believes that fashion should be about self-expression and individuality. His designs are bold, playful, and often incorporate unexpected elements that challenge traditional notions of what clothing should look like. He is particularly interested in exploring the intersection of fashion and technology, and often incorporate cutting-edge materials and techniques into their work. Jamess most recent collection, which debuted at Glitz Fashion Week, 2020. Ghana Music Awards red carpet, 2022-2023. Retro Fest Pop-up, (Art, Fashion, Music and Culture), 2023 etc. was a triumph of color, texture, and shape. The collection featured a range of innovative designs, from oversized jackets made from recycled materials to flowing, diaphanous dresses with intricate beading and embroidery. The use of unexpected materials and bold, bright colors was a hallmark of the collection, and it received rave reviews from critics and fashion fans alike. James has already received significant recognition for his work, including coverage in major fashion publications and invitations to show at prestigious fashion events. James is already hard at work on his next collection, which promises to be just as innovative and exciting as his previous work. He is also collaborating with several major fashion brands and music artists on special projects, including a line of eco-friendly clothing and a collection of cutting-edge accessories. With so much on the horizon, it's clear that James is a designer to watch in the coming years. With his bold aesthetic, innovative approach to design, and already-impressive list of accomplishments, James is poised to become one of the most influential designers of his generation. His unique perspective and willingness to push boundaries are exactly what the fashion industry needs, and we can't wait to see what helll do next. [email protected] +233 275363769/ +233 244174363 IG: Westcoastgh 20.06.2023 LISTEN The Banyamulenge people in the diaspora have denied any involvement in the funding of militias in South Kivu, DR. Congo . This is the response to a publication by Afrique Intelligence Media which accused the Banyamulenge diaspora community of backing "militias" instead of providing humanitarian assistance. According to Felix Nyirazo Rubogora, Chairperson of Gakondo, Banyamulenge mutualities umbrella, the accusation is malicious and borne out of anti-Banyamulenge bias with incalculably dangerous consequences for a targeted community. "In this response, we will demonstrate that the central claims in the article are false and tendentious, that the unsubstantiated accusations therein are malicious, and that the overall orientation of the article is unquestionably a product of anti-Banyamulenge bias with incalculably dangerous consequences for a targeted community sacrificed at the altar of your news organization's self-promotion," Felix Nyirazo Rubogora said in a letter to Afrique Intelligence Media after the publication. Felix Nyirazo Rubogora in the letter explained that for many years and especially since 2017, the Banyamulenge community has been under siege from a coalition of local armed groups including Mai-Mai Biloze Bishambuke, Yakutumba, Ebuela, Rene, etc. He indicated that the militias have formed alliances with foreign armed groups such as Red-Tabara from Burundi. Numerous reports have also documented how members of the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) supply arms and ammunition but also operate jointly with these groups. He revealed that attacks targeting the Banyamulenge have followed a systematic pattern: the militia groups have destroyed and burned to the ground over 85% of Banyamulenge settlements, looted about 500,000 heads of cattle, tortured and killed around two thousand people, and pushed several thousands of surviving victims into either settlement for the internally displaced (around Minembwe and very few other areas) or exile to neighboring countries such as Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya as well as around the world. Next to physical attacks, Felix Nyirazo Rubogora raises concerns over how members of the Banyamulenge community have consistently been targeted by hate speech and online campaigns intending to dehumanize them. This, according to Felix Nyirazo Rubogora, is widely documented in numerous reports from many prominent international organizations, including the United Nations. He said for a community that has historically been largely self-sustaining through cattle breeding, farming, and a system of community solidarity, the destruction of their traditional livelihood and the consequent mass displacement have consigned members of the community to a desperate and precarious existence. He added that the people are now isolated within a remote environment where they have not benefited from any meaningful humanitarian assistance, adding that they have been forced to rely almost exclusively on assistance from members of the Banyamulenge diaspora across the world organized within Gakondo, including Mahoro Peace Association and other Banyamulenge mutualities. In the letter, Felix said Banyamulenge Diaspora is, therefore, scandalized that Olivier Liffran and Antoine Rolland could author an article titled From Texas to South Kivu's highlands, Mahoro Peace Association's complex channels finance militia accusing its people of pumping thousands of dollars into financing the war effort in South Kivu. The Africa Intelligence article makes several false and misleading statements about MPA, Gakondo and Shikama Mutualities. Additionally, it formulates false and even slanderous statements about individual members of the Banyamulenge community in the United States, the DRC, and elsewhere. While a few of the named individuals were contacted by the authors, most were not, Felix Nyirazo Rubogora said in a letter sent to Afrique Intelligence Media. He continued, Moreover, allegations are made against some individuals while others are simply mentioned without any specific claims in ways that suggest that they are guilty of either being allegedly related to, or associated with, other named individuals. Finally, it makes several factually inaccurate statements on the overall situation of conflicts in the high plateaus of South Kivu/DRC. Felix Nyirazo Rubogora added that given the article's false statements and allegations carrying damaging consequences for the security and reputation of the Banyamulenge community around the world, it strongly demands the retraction of the article from Afrique Intelligence Media. Gakondo also wants its letter sent to Afrique Intelligence Media telling its side of the story to be published by the latter Media. Below is a copy of the letter: Mr. Paul Deutchman Editor-in-Chief, Africa Intelligence 142 rue Montmartre 7600 Paris, France 16 February 2023 RE : Response to the article entitled Du Texas aux hauts plateaux, le FBI sur la trace du financement des milices du Sud-Kivu" Dear Mr. Deutchman, We are writing to express our deepest concern over the above-mentioned article by Olivier Liffran and Antoine Rolland published in Africa Intelligence on January 16, 2023, in which MPA, Gakondo, and Shikama associations and named individual members of the Banyamulenge community are accused of funding militias in South-Kivu. In this response, we will demonstrate that the central claims in the article are false and tendentious, that the unsubstantiated accusations therein are malicious, and that the overall orientation of the article is unquestionably a product of anti-Banyamulenge bias with incalculably dangerous consequences for a targeted community sacrificed at the altar of your news organization's self-promotion. In the current context of fashionable hate speech and demonization of the Banyamulenge and other Congolese Tutsi within the DRC, proliferation of this disinformation lends ammunition to the ongoing genocidal killings and ethnic cleansing targeting the Banyamulenge and the Tutsi in the DRC. We will demonstrate how, by echoing anti-Banyamulenge narratives through false and tendentious allegations against named individuals who live in, or who have family members living in, a conflict environment, the article achieves nothing more than putting them in further jeopardy. The authors contacted Mahoro Peace Association (MPA), Honorable Moise Nyarugabo and Professor Freddy Kaniki, and all responded in a transparent manner to their questions. However, we were surprised to see that the two journalists have completely ignored the information provided to them by the three contacted individuals, relying instead on disinformation clearly provided by the Congolese intelligence services, namely l'agence nationale de renseignement (ANR) and le renseignement militaire, which are regularly listed by the United Nations and other organizations as violators of human rights. May we remind you that these same Congolese intelligence services have arrested and incarcerated dozens of Banyamulenge throughout the country without any formal charges or fair hearings. Before addressing the false claims in the article specifically, it is important to establish the historical context. For many years and especially since 2017, the Banyamulenge community has been under siege from a coalition of local armed groups including Mai-Mai Biloze Bishambuke, Yakutumba, Ebuela, and Rene. These militias have formed alliances with foreign armed groups such as Red-Tabara from Burundi. Numerous reports have also documented how members of the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) supply arms and ammunition but also operate jointly with these groups. Attacks targeting the Banyamulenge have followed a systematic pattern: the militia groups have destroyed and burned to the ground over 85% of Banyamulenge settlements, looted about 500,000 heads of cattle, tortured and killed around two thousand people, and pushed several thousands of surviving victims into either settlements for the internally displaced (around Minembwe and very few other areas) or exile to neighboring countries such as Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya as well as around the world. This reality is widely documented in numerous reports from many prominent international organizations, including the United Nations. For a community that has historically been largely self-sustaining through cattle breeding, farming, and a system of community solidarity, the destruction of their traditional livelihood and the consequent mass displacement have consigned members of this community to a desperate and precarious existence. Isolated within a remote environment where they have not benefited from any meaningful humanitarian assistance, they have been forced to rely almost exclusively on assistance from members of the Banyamulenge diaspora across the world, including Gakondo and MPA. This assistance has been provided with full transparency. During the last six years, the Congolese government, the UN humanitarian actors as well as the international NGOs have completely abandoned the Banyamulenge population to its miserable fate. One can recall that in July 2019, when the Congolese government allocated $555,580 for internally displaced people in Minembwe, this money was immediately embezzled by the accountant of the ministere de la solidarite nationale et actions humanitaires (https://www.mediacongo.net/article-actualite55436_detournement_de_fonds_d_assistance_des_sinistres_de_minembwe_l_arbre_qui_cache_la_foret.html). And since then, nothing has been done. Faced with this dire emergency, the Banyamulenge diaspora, including Gakondo and MPA, took responsibility for providing the urgent humanitarian assistance to the victims of these atrocities so desperately needed. Using member contributions and volunteer labor and operating with complete transparency, we undertook several project including providing food and healthcare supplies to the displaced people of Bibokoboko and Rurambo subsequent to the destruction of their villages and in support of their efforts to return home and rebuild their villages. All of this is well documented and visible on the ground to any observers. Unfortunately, however, the authors of this article, repeating the disinformation disseminated by the Congolese intelligence services, made unfounded accusation that we are funding militias of South-Kivu. The Africa Intelligence article makes several false and misleading statements about MPA, Gakondo and Shikama Mutualities. Additionally, it formulates false and even slanderous statements about individual members of the Banyamulenge community in the United States, the DRC, and elsewhere. While a few of the named individuals were contacted by the authors, most were not. Moreover, allegations are made against some individuals while others are simply mentioned without any specific claims in ways that suggest that they are guilty of either being allegedly related to, or associated with, other named individuals. Finally, it makes several factually inaccurate statements on the overall situation of conflicts in the high plateaus of South Kivu/DRC. Below are some examples: o In the title as well as in the content, the article makes the claim that MPA is coordinated from Dallas, Texas. A minimum of journalistic investigation and due diligence would have revealed that this claim is false. MPA is neither primarily registered in Texas nor coordinated from the city of Dallas. Neither member of the organization's executive committee, including Adele Kibasumba and Jean de Dieu Ndaruhuye Irankunda mentioned in the article, live in Dallas. The article also alleges that the current Gakondo leader, falsely accused of coordinating the financing of armed groups, is Belgian. He neither is nor has ever been Belgian, nor has he ever lived in Belgium. Alexis Nkurunziza is falsely accused of being an ex-Rwandan Patriotic Front intelligence officer; David Munyamahoro Banoge is presented as a former treasurer of MPA's Executive Committee, when in fact he has never been a member of the executive committee nor the treasurer of MPA. He is also falsely accused of committing atrocities without any specific allegation of what he may have personally done. o There are misleading discrepancies between the title and the content of the article. In the title, the authors refer to funding of militias of South-Kivu, while in the content they refer to the Banyamulenge community militias and Banyamulenge militias Twirwaneho, which makes no logical sense. According to several publicly available sources, Twirwaneho is a single local self-defense group made up by Banyamulenge civilians in South-Kivu to resist the ongoing ethnic cleansing targeting them since 2017. This is well detailed in the statement made by the Twirwaneho representative during the first round of the Nairobi process in April 2022 (https://fr.educationforpeaceincongo.org/2022/05/06/discours-twirwaneho-aux-assises-de-nairobi-2022/) and then reiterated in subsequent forums. o The authors falsely state that they have checked the MPA financial books (records). This is not true since MPA has never shared these documents with them. o Doctor (Professor) Lazare Sebitereko, who is indeed the Rector of the Eben-Ezer University in besieged Minembwe, is presented without any substantiating evidence as a founding member of a Banyamulenge armed group FRF and as involved in a network of money transfers. This false allegation is also made against John Mukiza. Neither was contacted by the authors prior to the article's publication. o The article mentions the Former Vice-President Azarias Ruberwa, Member of Parliament Moise Nyarugabo, Freddy Kaniki, and General Charles Bisengimana without any specific allegation in what can only be interpreted as a slanderous inclusion in the article intended to put them in harm's way. Mr. Ruberwa is mentioned here as the direct uncle of Prof. Freddy Kaniki, which is false. Mr. Nyarugabo is falsely presented as a godfather of MPA and sympathetic to the aims of the Twirwaneho, while Bisengimana is simply named as a relative of John Mukiza. Freddy Kaniki is falsely referred to as a MPA strategist with strong connections to the Great Lakes region of Africa. o The article also claims that since the beginning of this year, Burundian forces have been operating in South Kivu under the East Africa Community mandate, while it is widely documented that they have been covertly deployed since December 2021, hence long before the EAC decision to intervene, following a secret agreement between the Congolese and Burundian presidents. o The article further includes a vague paragraph alleging the existence of a shadow network called Abarwandashyaka uniting former combatants whose members are suspected of collecting contributions to fund Twirwaneho. Since no evidence is presented to back the claim, it is not clear who does the suspecting since the authors acknowledge that they did not speak with the FBI. From the examples presented above, one can clearly note the following: o For an investigation purporting to have consulted MPA financial records, it is very surprising that the authors did not present any physical evidence beyond hiding behind completely anonymous informants. Moreover, the article states in the final paragraph that the FBI was contacted but refused to comment. This suggests that the only side of the story the authors tell is that propagated by the Congolese intelligence services. How the authors managed to discover what the FBI has found, as stated in the opening paragraph of the article, without communicating with the FBI is left unexplained? o The authors display a very limited knowledge of the Banyamulenge organizations and individuals they are falsely accusing in this article, as well as a lack of understanding of the dynamics of armed conflicts in the Highlands of South-Kivu. Any expert on this region knows very well that the community solidarity and local self-defense mechanism are not new concepts or new practices for Banyamulenge society. Indeed, thanks to the two actions, our community was able to survive the deadly attacks by mulele rebellion in the Highlands of South-Kivu in the 1960s. o This slanderous and libelous article does not remotely contribute to peace. The biased and manufactured allegations presented appear to come entirely from Congolese intelligence agents. o Factually inaccurate statements undermine the seriousness of the investigation conducted by the authors of the article. o The caricature-like description in the article of the composition, structure, and activities of, and alleged disagreements between, MPA, Gakondo, and other Banyamulenge-related organizations and their characterization as a shadow network give a grossly misleading impression, manipulated to fit the author's narrative. o The article tries unsuccessfully to cook up some conspiracy theories to establish political and military connections between Banyamulenge individuals and organizations and the three neighboring countries, namely Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. Firstly, these are presented as a precious rear guard for Twirwaneho, and secondly, establishment of a link with M23. o It is not clear in the article whether being somehow related to someone constitutes a crime warranting a mention in the article. This guilty-by-family-relations logic is beyond comprehension and would be a cheap allegation if it did not carry dangerous consequences for the security of the named individuals. o Failure to contact the individuals falsely accused in this article raises serious questions about the professional journalistic standards of the authors, as well as their shadow agenda. In addition, these deeply irresponsible accusations endanger innocent people in the DRC and the region as whole. o To mask a clear lack of evidence, the authors use hyperbolic language with words such as serious suspicions vis-a-vis the work of MPA, characterized as an organization structured in a sophisticated manner. o Overall, the intended objective of the article, whose content is provided by Congolese intelligence services (ANR and renseignement militaire), is to silence the very strong and credible voice of the Banyamulenge diaspora, by attempting to criminalize its highly humanitarian actions in the Highlands of South-Kivu. MPA, Gakondo, and other Banyamulenge organizations referenced in the article as well as individually named leaders of these organizations categorically deny any involvement in funding armed groups and also confirm that they have never been contacted by FBI on this issue. In addition to filling a void in providing humanitarian assistance to besieged Banyamulenge and members of other communities living with them, these organizations have constantly tried to raise awareness of this situation and frequently plead for peaceful cohabitation with all communities of the Kivu and the DRC. And it's in this specific context that MPA and other Banyamulenge representatives met on several occasions with Congolese authorities, including President Tshisekedi, and other relevant regional and global leaders, to communicate to them the urgency of solving the crisis in the high plateaus area and promoting peaceful cohabitation among the affected communities. Given the article's false statements and allegations carrying damaging consequences for the security and reputation of the Banyamulenge community around the world, we strongly demand the retraction of this article from your website, and publication of this letter. Finally, we hope this statement will inspire your media organization to act with more diligence to avoid any future exercise in self-promotion that knowingly inflicts great damage on thousands of innocent people. 75% of todays organizations agree that information chaos is a large problem for them, and with major growth in content, new regulatory demands, and more, its clear to see why theyre struggling. However, its necessary for companies to fully understand information governance, as well as the best ways to do it. Access this guide to discover the top 6 challenges business professionals are facing with information governance, as well as how you can combat them, including: Manual management of records High volume growth of records Files spread across various systems And 3 more South Africa's president, in Russia as part of a delegation pushing for peace between Kyiv and Moscow, told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Saturday that the fighting had to stop. His delegation put forward a set of principles that the Kremlin deemed "very difficult to implement", a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ruled out talks with Moscow. The delegation brought the voice of a continent that has badly suffered from repercussions of the Ukraine conflict, particularly with rising grain prices. "This war must be settled... through negotiations and through diplomatic means," South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa said after talks in the suburbs of Saint Petersburg. Russian authorities have effectively banned the word "war" to describe their military operation in Ukraine. Locations recaptured by Ukraine in its eastern counter-offensive. By Sabrina BLANCHARD, Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA (AFP) Ramaphosa added that his delegation, which has leaders and senior officials from seven African countries, "would like this war to be ended". Ramaphosa listed 10 principles, which included de-escalation, the recognition of countries' sovereignty, security guarantees for all countries, unimpeded grain exports through the Black Sea and sending prisoners of war and children back to their countries of origin. The mission included the presidents of South Africa, Senegal, Comoros and Zambia, as well as top officials from Uganda, Egypt and Congo-Brazzaville. 'Difficult to implement' "Any initiative is very difficult to implement," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the state-run agency RIA Novosti. "But President Putin has shown interest in considering it," Peskov said after the leaders held a meeting behind closed doors. The delegation on Friday met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. By Sergei SUPINSKY (AFP) Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the plan was "not formulated on paper". Putin had praised the delegation's "balanced" approach and said he was "open to a constructive dialogue with all those who want to implement peace based on the principles of justice and respect for the parties' legitimate interests". Moscow has in the past repeated that any negotiations would need to take into account "new territorial realities". Zelensky, speaking on Friday after Ramaphosa called for de-escalation following their talks in Kyiv, repeated his position that Ukraine must recover territories lost to Russia to achieve peace. When an air raid siren sounded in Kyiv shortly after the delegation's arrival earlier on Friday, forcing it to take shelter, Zelensky said it showed that Putin either did not control his army or was "irrational". Focus on the battlefield African countries have been divided over their response to the fighting. While some have sided with Ukraine, others have remained neutral or gravitated towards Moscow. Efforts to secure peace appear increasingly perilous, analysts told AFP, with both Kyiv and Moscow convinced they can win on the battlefield. A Ukrainian serviceman in the recently recaptured village of Blagodatne, Donetsk region. By Anatolii Stepanov (AFP) Ukraine launched a long-awaited counteroffensive earlier this month. Russian officials -- including Putin -- have insisted the counteroffensive is failing despite Kyiv claiming some gains. Kyiv said Friday evening that its units were having "tactical success" in nearly all areas where they were fighting in the south. The Russian army, meanwhile, said it had repelled all assaults from Ukraine. 'Negative impact' on Africa If analysts doubted the African mission could secure a concrete peace, there had been hope it would achieve some concessions. Securing the future viability of a deal allowing grain from Ukraine to reach the global market would be one potential goal of the delegation. "This war is having a negative impact on the African continent and indeed on many other countries around the world," Ramaphosa said ahead of formal talks with the Russian president. Putin said "the crisis on the global food market is by no means a consequence" of the Ukraine conflict. Putin met with delegations of African leaders at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, outside Saint Petersburg. By Pavel Bednyakov (RIA NOVOSTI/AFP) Russia accuses the West of blocking its exports of fertilisers and threatens to pull out of a deal -- due to expire on July 17 -- that has allowed vital Ukrainian grain exports to resume through the Black Sea. "We do not believe that shipments of Ukrainian grain supplies can solve the problems of poverty and hunger," Putin said during the meeting. Zelensky had asked the African leaders to "please, let them release our political prisoners. I think this will be an important result of your mission." Referring to prisoners of war, Putin said on Saturday: "We are ready to continue this process." In Ukraine, Russian and Ukrainian officials in the area devastated by flooding from the destruction of a Russian-held dam announced revised death tolls Saturday. The toll in Russian-held areas had risen to 29, officials there said. Kyiv said the number killed in its territory had risen to 16, with 31 still missing, and warned that the threat of air strikes "remains high across Ukraine". "The enemy continues to focus its main efforts on the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Maryinka axes and heavy battles continue," the defence ministry said in a statement. In Washington, US President Joe Biden warned that the United States would not make special arrangements for Ukraine to join the NATO military alliance. "They've got to meet the same standards," he told reporters. "So we're not going to make it easy." Next week, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will call on investors and businesses at a two-day summit in London to match Ukraine's "bravery on the battlefield" with support to get the country back on its feet. 20.06.2023 LISTEN After publications for a viral load machine for the testing and treatment of hepatitis B in Effutu and its environs in February 2023, Mumbies Foundation will soon get relief. The Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo Markin has assured to secure a viral load machine for the NGO to aid in their quest to fight hepatitis B. People in the area have to travel long distances to Accra or Cape Coast to test for the disease and further seek medication, a situation that has discouraged and inconvenienced people for a very long time. The emergence of Mumbies Foundation and support from the lawmaker who doubles as Deputy Majority Leader over the past years has become a major relief to the people who had to travel long distances to seek medical support. The foundation has organised many health screenings with support from partners for the people in Effutu to have easy access to testing and other medical assistance as far as hepatitis B is concerned. However, the absence of the viral load machine has been a major setback in the work of the foundation despite its commitment to helping deal with the disease. It is, however, refreshing to note that the MP for the area has agreed to purchase the machine for Mumbies Foundation to enable it continue the fight against hepatitis B within Effutu and its environs. Mr. Israel Adorbley, Project Manager for Mumbies Foundation has expressed gratitude to Hon. Alexander Afenyo Markin for his immense contributions over the years and also commended him for his preparedness to purchase the machine for them to help in their activities. The machine is expected to cost $25,000 dollars. Private legal practitioner, Lawyer Nana Obiri Boahen has said the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, refuting reports in the media that he said the next president of Ghana will come from the northern part of the country is needless. According to Obiri Boahen, the Speaker stated an obvious fact hence, needless for him to come out with a denial statement. "Speaker Bagbin stated facts and reality. Whether we like it or otherwise, the next general election is between NPP and NDC. In the likely event that Bawumia becomes NPP's flag bearer, we're going to have a President from the north. "and if I were Bagbin, I'd have stood on what I said instead of denying the realities. After all, you've stated your mind, and it is not a crime," the NPP leading member said when he appeared on Wontumi TV. According to the Office of the Speaker of Parliament, a statement he made at Damongo in the Savannah Region, when he called on the Yagbonwura as part of the 30th-anniversary celebrations of uninterrupted parliamentary democracy in Ghana, is being misconstrued to mean that he was saying the next president of Ghana will either be Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia or former President John Dramani Mahama. In the statement issued on June 15, 2023, the Speakers office explained that Alban Bagbin was only saying that northerners should take pride in being represented by their own at higher offices. We wish to place on record that although the Speaker referred to the two politicians at the said event, it was not an exercise in prediction. He suggested that what should be of interest to the people in northern Ghana, in which context he was speaking, is that they will be well represented at the apex of Ghanas political structure, and that should be a source of pride to them," the statement added. The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta has reiterated that Ghanas problem has not ended after securing a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Executive Board of the IMF approved a $3 billion Extended Credit Facility (EFC) for Ghana in May after negotiations for 10 months. Engaging the media on the IMF programme and growth agenda on Sunday, June 18, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta explained that while securing the IMF deal has not ended the challenges facing the country, it has paved the way for the implementation of ambitious reforms that will help the recovery of the economy. Let me state clearly that securing the IMF programme is not an end to our current challenges. Though it has significantly paved the way for the implementation of an ambitious and well thought out programme of reform for our economy and country, Ken Ofori-Atta said. During his meet the press, the Finance Minister assured that government is keen on restoring the economic fortunes of the country in the shortest possible time. He said government will do this through front-loaded fiscal adjustment and structural reforms. "Government is committed to restoring Ghana's economic fortunes within the shortest possible time through a combination of front-loaded fiscal adjustment and structural reforms while creating the conditions for private sector-led growth, Ken Ofori-Atta said. Ghana after receiving $600 million from the IMF as the first tranche of the $3 billion must comply with the arrangements of the deal to trigger the release of the second tranche after six months. 20.06.2023 LISTEN Mr. Novihoho Afaglo, the Chief Executive Officer of Marrer Ghana Limited, Susatgad Boat Building, and Fishing Industries has urged Ghanaians to put their trust in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the upcoming 2024 elections. Mr. Afaglo has called on Ghanaians to carefully evaluate the track records and policies of the two major political parties in order to determine which one truly has the interests of the people at heart. "It is clear now among the two parties who have them at heart in terms of policies and programs towards their socioeconomic development," Afaglo asserted, urging voters to critically analyze the performance of the current NPP government. According to him, the hopes and expectations that were placed on President Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP administration to propel the country forward and improve the lives of its citizens have been severely disappointing. Mr. Afaglo pointed out that rather than fulfilling their promises, the NPP government has led the country into accumulating debts and seeking assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "You trusted the NPP regime to move this country forward and better the lives of its citizens, but they failed woefully," Mr Afaglo stated, expressing his disappointment in the NPP's governance. To address these concerns, Afaglo urged Ghanaians to reject the NPP in the next election. He called on voters to actively join the NDC and work together to build the Ghana they desire. "It is time to reject the NPP and trust the NDC by joining the party so that together we can build the Ghana we want," Mr. Afaglo passionately declared. 20.06.2023 LISTEN The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has expressed his disappointment with the low representation of women in Ghana's parliament, describing it as a "foul cry" and "disappointing." During a public forum held in Tamale to commemorate 30 years of the Fourth Republican Constitution, the Speaker called for more inclusive governance and greater efforts to achieve gender parity in politics. Statistics reveal that only 14.5 percent of parliamentary seats in Ghana are held by women. While this represents an increase from 8.3 percent in 2011, it still places Ghana at the bottom of the rankings on the Gender Inequality Index. The Speaker highlighted that this falls short of the target set to achieve a 30 percent representation of women in parliament by 2020. He said, The number of colleagues has surpassed the 30 percent that we all signed to achieve by 2020, and we are lagging behind and so with 40 women MPs in the House of 275 MPs is a foul cry in the newly emerging democracies in the world. Speaker Bagbin also expressed concern about the underrepresentation of persons with disabilities and the youth in parliament. The representation of persons with disabilities is even worse. The highest of 5.5 percent in the Sixth Parliament is what this country has achieved so far, he stated. He continued, The representation of the youth in Parliament is also still very low and one can confidently say the response to the call for participatory governance is encouraging, but the response to inclusive governance is poor. Rwanda has the highest percentage of female political participation in Africa, with 60% of its national parliament seats held by women. With more women in lower house leadership positions than any other country, it also placed first internationally. 19.06.2023 LISTEN The President of Breast Cancer International (BCI), Dr Mrs Beatrice Wiafe Addai, has encouraged women to boldly report any unusual signs in their breasts to the hospitals early. She said women are dying needlessly from breast cancer. She indicated that most women are shy of reporting it and secretly resort to unorthodox medication. "The unorthodox medication includes spending time at the prayer camps, applying herbal medicines and drinking concoctions which have no scientific remedy to the disease," she stated. Dr Wiafe Addai, who is also the CEO of Peace and Love Hospitals in Ghana, posited that it delays the treatment and management of the disease, putting them in danger. She noted most women are of the belief that the disease is caused by demons and therefore must be treated spiritually. She advised women that the disease is detectable, curable and preventable if reported to the hospitals early. Dr Mrs Beatrice Wiafe Addai said this during free breast cancer screening and education for the congregation of the Maakro branch of Assemblies of God Church Ghana in Kumasi on Sunday. Some women feel shy of reporting the disease out of shyness because of the stigma associated with it and thus resort to unscientific treatment. This delays and makes treatment complicated, she said. The disease is curable if detected and treated early, so please dont feel shy, be bold and report to the hospital if you find anything unusual in the breasts, she made an appeal. The congregants were taken through Self-Breast Examination (SBE); the process of examining the breasts to check for any anomalies. The Head Pastor of the Assemblies of God Church Ghana at Maakro in Kumasi, Rev Peter Kingsley Ablordey, on behalf of the church expressed gratitude to Dr Wiafe Addai and her medical team for the education. He was of the belief that education will go a long way to inform their knowledge about breast cancer disease, especially Breast-Self Education (BSE) to know their status. Corporate Club Ghana (CCG), a social empowerment Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), has held career guidance and counselling session for students of the Northern Star Senior High School in Wa in the Upper West Region. The session aimed at providing insights and guidance in career paths that could help the students to make informed choices regarding the lines of occupation to pursue as they go after their life and academic goals. It was also to provide counselling to help the students smoothly navigate the rough and bumpy road of life as adolescents, a life stage that is filled with lots of challenges, in order to smoothly transition into responsible adulthood. The Career Guidance and Counselling Session, held on June 16, 2023 had over thirty career professionals in attendance and a number of them sharing life's experiences with the students. Madam Salma Mohammed, a Clinical Psychologist and member of the CCG, identified stress as one of the conditions that often caused people to give up on their life's pursuits and ambitions. She advised the students to beware of stress and how to manage it. She intimated that stress was fleeting and usually induced by external factors which when identified and dealt with, goes into nonexistence. "Stress is subjective. It depends on your interpretation of what you're looking at. So most of the time when it comes to stress, we try to work with people to look at what it is that you called stress and why is it stress to you. "And stress is external. And how we can look for coping resources to actually help you overcome that stress, once that stressor is gone, it's no longer stress," she said. She thus admonished the students to be good managers of their time as she noted that proper planning and time management were important to managing stress. "Know yourself, know what you can handle, seek help when you have to, and join groups that are empowering. "If you know yourself, you know where you want to go and how to get there. Speak to the right people so that they can sort of direct you to where you are supposed to go," Madam Salma added. Madam Flora Eledi Deonuba, a House Mistress of the school, said the session was timely and appropriate to augment the efforts of teachers and management of the school in shaping the lives of the students. She, however, lamented the rising incidences of adolescent pregnancies among student girls in the school. "The rate at which our girls get pregnant is becoming alarming so much so they have to miss classes. Some we don't see them the remainder of Form One, Form Two and at the eleventh hour to WASSCE, they are there," she lamented. Madam Flora attributed this phenomenon to the fact that the school is not a boarding institution were students could be monitored. "We come here to conduct a roll call and about 30 percent of the girls are home, you try to follow up at home and unfortunately they are not home," she added. She appealed to the government and other education-focused organizations to come to the aid of the school with boarding facilities to enhance teaching and learning as well as the wellbeing of the students. Master Douglas Sibiri, a student of the school who participated in the session, said it was very useful to him and that his life was impacted by the talks given by the speakers. "I have learned a lot. When we have such programs as this one, I'll say this one was exceptional. That we should manage our time well as students, that we would not fear failure, a lot," he said. In a call to action at the closing ceremony of the International Conference on Social Research and Innovation (ICSRI), Vice President Faisal Naseem of the Maldives stressed the importance of aligning scientific research and policy development with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to drive meaningful progress. The annual event, organised by the Institute for Research and Innovation (IRI) of Villa College, promotes dialogue and networking among academics, researchers, and industry experts. Addressing the conference theme "Breakthrough to Excellence: Achieving a Networked Community", Vice President Naseem advocated for international collaboration to tackle the pressing social challenges of today, such as climate change, poverty, and inequality. The Vice President highlighted the crucial need for a culture that promotes the sharing of knowledge and expertise to innovate solutions for these complex issues. The Vice President emphasised the particular vulnerability of the Maldives to climate change effects, with sea-level rise, extreme weather events, and coral bleaching presenting significant risks. Reaffirming the administration's commitment to addressing these challenges, he outlined measures to invest in renewable energy, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and bolster coastal protection. Vice President Naseem also took the opportunity to shed light on several key initiatives undertaken by the administration. These include the Greater Male Waste to Energy Project aimed at converting waste into electricity, efforts to elevate education and human capital development through free degree programmes, and the expansion of junior colleges and technical and vocational training centres across the nation. Turning his attention to gender equality, Vice President Naseem discussed the administrations Gender Equality Action Plan. The plan seeks to encourage equality across all sectors, including education, employment, and health, and represents a strategic alignment with the SDGs. Wrapping up his remarks, the Vice President urged the youth to take decisive action now to safeguard the planet and their future. Member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) legal team, Edudzi Tamakloe has blamed the economic hardship faced by Ghanaians on the recklessness of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government. According to the lawyer, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta is responsible since he failed to resolve the fundamental issues when the signs were clear. He should be living that office because you see the pain, the suffering that you are going through today is as a result of his recklessness. The signs were on the wall and because we were not Joseph in the Bible to interpret dreams, he never listened. Look if as a government, you come to office in 2017 and by April you had already reached out to Franklin Templeton for 2.25 billion dollars, by 2018 you were doing another 2 million, by 2019 you were doing almost 3 billion Eurobond, by 2020 Covid year you did 2billion, by 2021 again. The only time you didnt do Eurobond is 2022 simply because of downgrades, Lawyer Edudzi Tamakloe stated during a discussion on TV3 Morning Show on June 19. He argues that until the fundamental issues are rectified, the support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will go in vain. Because these are the fundamental issues, the cause is there, the fundamentals, so until you reach out and resolve the fundamental issues, nothing will happen, Lawyer Edudzi Tamakloe argued. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta over the weekend emphasized that despite reaching an agreement with the IMF, it does not mean an end to the challenges facing the country. He said it has, however, paved the way for the implementation of ambitious reforms that will aid in the economy's recovery. Techno-nationalism is a concept that ties technology and technological innovation to national identity, security, economic prosperity and social stability. It describes the way different countries approach technology governance and how the countries use technology to influence power in the global market. Also known as neo-mercantilism or multilocalism, techno-nationalism contrasts against techno-globalism. In techno-nationalism, national governments may seek to protect their own interests by developing and promoting their own technologies and restricting the use of foreign technologies. Nations do this to maintain their own political, social and economic advantages. States may also view technologies developed by citizens of their country or promoted in their country as uniquely theirs. What is causing techno-nationalism? While the evolution of social media also plays a role in the proliferation of techno-nationalism, it ultimately breaks down into three parts: Governments pass policies, and regulations follow. Many global governments have a desire for digital sovereignty to keep their technology and data separate from other nations'. Information technology diverges due to a lack of interoperability and market protectionism. Business and commercial practices surrounding technology change to adapt to the new technology landscape. With real-world trends, like the Fourth Industrial Revolution, advances in AI, big data and biomedical technology, contributing to governments' increased reliance on technology and as countries move further in their digital transformation, technology influences national economic, political and social standing more powerfully. These technological powers may enforce and empower different standards around censorship, data privacy, digital money, intellectual property and surveillance. For example, an authoritarian government might rely on national champions, single companies given a dominant position by governmental policy, to run the economy. At Davos 2019, Gen. John Allen, former president of the Brookings Institution, said: "As our digital entities, our techno-entities, gain economic capacity, increased markets and more capacity for investment, they begin to become almost statelike entities unto themselves -- given the population of the world they could influence at any given moment. We use the term 'digital citizen' because there are people in the world that feel more aligned moment to moment with a digital entity than the sovereign government 500 miles away that just preys on them." How does techno-nationalism affect the economy? Techno-nationalism is a trend in global technology ecosystems that sees economies becoming increasingly local, causing an increase in digital sovereignty regulations and a decoupling of technology stacks. Countries may begin to claim certain technologies as their own. In theory, nations can use techno-nationalism to maintain an advantage over other nations, resulting in an increase in domestic production, job creation, increased investment and economic growth. It may also increase exports as other countries begin to rely on the nation for technology. If multiple nations adopt techno-nationalism, there could be an increase in global competition, decrease in trade and rising international tensions if they find their national interests to conflict with one another. Economic disruption may increase as supply chains adjust to new techno-nationalist policies. After the disruption comes gradual business ecosystem redesign followed by growth of multiple local economies. Gartner projected a basic pattern of economic disruption over the next decade as it relates to techno-nationalism. Techno-nationalism and data sovereignty Technological sovereignty, digital sovereignty and data sovereignty drive techno-nationalism through policy and regulation. Data sovereignty pertains to country-specific regulations that data residing in that country must abide by. Foreign companies that do business in these countries are subject to data protection regulations. Business leaders need to understand where their data resides, as well as the laws of that country, to ensure proper compliance. Data sovereignty affects both cloud providers that may have data centers in several countries and the customers who use their services. Businesses that use a cloud provider should not solely rely on their provider's governance, and these businesses should have their own policies to ensure data is both safe and compliant. Countries may view data as a competitive advantage and enact policies to protect it. For example, a country may ban a foreign-made application because it views that application as a security threat. Countries may also aim to create entirely sovereign internets, separate from the larger global internet. 20.06.2023 LISTEN The Economic Advisor and Spokesperson for Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Dr Gideon Boako has described his boss as a ripe mango tree. If you see a group of children under a mango tree and all of them are directing their stones at a particular direction, it means that is where the ripe mango is found, he said. Dr Boako made these remarks on Peace FMs Kokroko Morning Show programme on Monday in reaction to the claims that government appointees have been coerced to support the candidature of the Vice President against their will. In contesting this claim, he went on to list a number of current government appointees who are supporting Mr Alan Kwadwo Kyerementeng. To this end, he mentioned the current Minister of Railways Development, Hon John-Peter Amewu, Deputy Minister of Finance, Hon Abena Osei-Asare, Sylvester Tetteh amongst others as examples of those government appointees supporting the former Trade Minister. Having said this, he emphasized that Dr Bawumia is enjoying the support of many bigwigs of the party because they believe in him as the best person to deliver victory to them in the 2024 elections. He argued that there are several other Members of Parliament who have not gotten any appointment but have chosen to support the Veep. Dr Boako gave some punch lines when the host, Mr Kwame Sefa Kayi, asked for his thoughts on those claiming Dr Bawumia is part of those who led the government to fail and therefore has no message. On this, he said the government has not failed. He also argued that if some people think the current Akufo-Addo led administration has failed, then the party should not contest the general elections at all. That, he said, whoever emerges as the partys flagbearer will campaign on the achievements of the current government so it is not proper to suggest that the NPP government has failed. 20.06.2023 LISTEN A Deputy Minister of Energy, Andrew Egyapa Mercer has stated that deposed Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson is bound for jail. The Member of Parliament for Sekondi Constituency is of the view that the Mr Gyakye Quayson has allowed himself to abused by the NDC party ahead of the Assin North by-election. According to him, James Gyakye Quayson is brazenly contesting the by-election knowing very well he will be eventually jailed. It is important that they retain the NPP Parliamentary candidate to Parliament. In any event, this gentleman who is talking, I dont know but the NDC is abusing him, he is willingly the Gyakye Quayson man, he is willingly participating in that abuse. I am clear in my mind that he is headed for jail, based on Adamu Sakandes precedent that was said that if you make a declaration which intends to be false, you have committed a crime. I believe in section 180 of the criminal offences Act. He will be incarcerated, Egyapa Mercer shared in an interview with TV3. The Deputy Minister of Energy further argued, I expect that he will go to jail because, but of course at the time that you were standing, at the time that he declared that, he owed no allegiance to any country, he presented the argument that the man had tended his application to the Canadian authorities really? You apply for admission to the University of Ghana (UG), Roland you have applied to UG, you havent gotten admission you say you have started lectures because you have applied, where is that ever said? Can you begin lectures without an application lecture? In the past, former Member of Parliament for Bawku Central in the Upper East Region, Adamu Daramani Sakande was sentenced to two years in prison for holding a dual citizenship case by an Accra Fast Track High Court on July 28, 2012. The court presided over by Lawyer Justice Charles Quist had found him guilty on charges of false declaration of office or voting, perjury and deceiving a public officer. Sudan is descending into death and destruction at an unprecedented speed, UN chief Antonio Guterres said Monday as he urged donors to step in and curb the unfolding catastrophe. The pledging conference comes mid-way through a three-day ceasefire which appeared to have brought calm to the capital Khartoum, after the failure of earlier truces to ensure secure aid corridors. More than two months into the fighting, the United Nations is worried that the crisis could spill over and destabilise neighbouring African states. "The scale and speed of Sudan's descent into death and destruction is unprecedented," UN Secretary-General Guterres told the conference. "Without strong international support, Sudan could quickly become a locus of lawlessness, radiating insecurity across the region." Since April 15, the army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been battling the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, after the two fell out in a power struggle. Sudan conflict: Over $3 billion needed for aid, fleeing refugees. By Gal ROMA, Laurence SAUBADU (AFP) The death toll has topped 2,000, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project said. Hundreds of kilometres west of Khartoum, up to 1,100 have been killed in the West Darfur state capital El Geneina alone, according to the US State Department, blaming "primarily" the RSF. A record 25 million people -- more than half Sudan's population -- are in need of aid, according to the UN. Roughly 2.5 million people have been uprooted across Sudan by the war, which has forced around 550,000 to seek refuge in neighbouring countries, according to UN figures. Around $3 billion needed The UN has two appeals for tackling the crisis -- the humanitarian response within Sudan, which needs $2.6 billion this year, and the regional refugee response, which needs $470 million. However, both are less than 17 percent funded. With electricity out and medical services severely disrupted, people use the flashlights on their phones to assist a woman stitching a man's head in Khartoum's twin city Omdurman. By - (AFP) "The situation in Darfur and Khartoum is catastrophic," Guterres said. "Sudan was already grappling with a humanitarian crisis. This has now escalated into a catastrophe affecting more than half the country's people," he said. Qatar's prime minister told the conference there was "no military solution" to the conflict, as he pledged $50 million. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani urged the warring parties to "put the aspirations of the Sudanese people in the forefront". Germany doubled its existing donation to 200 million euros ($218 million), while the European Union pledged 190 million euros in humanitarian and development assistance. Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said the conflict risks a humanitarian crisis that could spill over the borders. He said the security and stability of Sudan "is our own stability and security". 'Powder keg' UN refugees chief Filippo Grandi said he had seen for himself the "dire state" in which many Sudanese refugees were arriving in Egypt, and urged countries to keep their borders open. UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said the conflict was causing "unbearable suffering" which was also "gutting the economy and sending the prices of basic goods soaring". "We are in a race against time to pre-position supplies before the onset of the rainy season," he added. One of the roughly 550,000 people forced to flee Sudan's war for various countries -- he arrived in Baghdad. By Murtaja LATEEF (AFP) Indeed, with farm fields left fallow because of fuel and other shortages during the war, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said earlier Monday that hunger was set to increase substantially as the country heads into the June-September lean season. FAO wants to take advantage of the relatively calm conditions in rural Sudan and the current planting season to rapidly increase local food production, providing seeds, equipment and livestock. Down the corridor from the conference in the UN's Palais des Nations in Geneva, UN human rights chief Volker Turk called the Sudan crisis a "powder keg" and a "reckless, senseless conflict taking place in a context of total impunity", with "utter indifference for human life and dignity" at its heart. The temporary ceasefire was a chance to end the "sea of suffering", he told the UN Human Rights Council. Relative calm in Khartoum Several Khartoum residents told AFP they heard no air strikes, artillery or other fighting on Monday, a rare respite for the war-weary suffering shortages of medical care, electricity, water and other essentials. The UN, African Union and east African regional bloc IGAD, in a joint statement ahead of the donors' meeting, expressed particular concern about "the rapidly deteriorating situation in Darfur. They said the conflict had taken on an ethnic dimension in Darfur, resulting in targeted attacks based on people's identities and subsequent displacement of communities". With their 72-hour ceasefire both the RSF and army "agreed to allow the unimpeded movement and delivery of humanitarian assistance throughout the country", US and Saudi mediators said on Saturday. rjm-burs/nl/rox 20.06.2023 LISTEN Dr. Gideon Boako, the spokesperson for Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has strongly denied claims that the Akufo-Addo-led government has failed Ghanaians. He indicated that though not all promises made by the President have been fulfilled, Dr. Boako asserted that the current administration has outperformed its political opponents and implemented transformative policies that have positively impacted Ghana's economy. During an interview on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' morning show monitored by ModernGhana News, Dr. Boako stated, "I admit that President Akufo-Addo and the NPP government haven't done everything we promised to do and we haven't also brought Heaven to Ghana, but we have performed far better than our political opponents." He debunked the notion that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has failed in managing the economy, stating, "I do not accept that false narrative that the NPP has failed... If the economy has failed, then we, the NPP, don't have to even go into the elections in 2024... the economy has not failed." Dr. Gideon Boako urged NPP delegates to support Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia to win the flagbearer race in the upcoming primaries. He appealed to all Ghanaian voters to elect Dr Bawumia as the President of Ghana in the next general elections. Vice President of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who is aspiring to lead the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2024 general elections, has emphasized his commitment to caring for everyone in the country, regardless of their social status. In a tweet on Monday, June 19, the Vice President expressed his concern for the vulnerable and the excluded in society, including lepers, the sick, cancer patients, the disabled, street children, and the unemployed, among others. He noted that addressing the challenges faced by the weakest in society is the true essence of life and a positive step towards improving the country. "I care about the vulnerable and the excluded. I care about the Lepers, I care about the sick, the sickle cell sufferers and cancer patients, I care about the disabled, I care about the Kayayei, I care about street children, and I care about the unemployed amongst others. This is the true essence of life; to address the problems of the weakest among us and to help them lift themselves up," Dr. Bawumia tweeted. Dr. Bawumia is among over eleven aspirants seeking to lead the NPP in the 2024 elections. The party is set to choose its flagbearer during a congress scheduled for November 4, 2023. Dr. Bawumia is widely regarded as a strong contender for the party's flagbearer position, given his role as Vice President and his extensive experience in the public and private sectors. He has been a key figure in the NPP's government since 2017, leading several initiatives, including the digitization of the economy and his roles in the implementation of the government's flagship programs such as the Free Senior High School policy and the One District One Factory programme. Joyce Bawa Mogtari, an Aide to former President John Mahama has taken a swipe at Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. She says anyone who lies to gain power should be disqualified from pursuing further ambitions. In a tweet on June 18th, Mrs Mogtari said "Anyone who told lies, whose lies propelled his party to power, whose lies have now been exposed, and whose lies have so failed to deliver anything useful, but monumental failure should never be given a chance to govern this beautiful country." Though she did not specifically mention any name, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been accusing the Vice President of spreading falsehoods and peddling lies over the years. She has been pointing to several unfulfilled promises, among which are the one district one factory and cutting import duties as examples of the Dr Bawumia's lies. President Nana Akufo-Addo will join the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for a final campaign rally ahead of the Assin North constituency by-election scheduled for June 27. The ruling party is seeking to snatch the seat after the Supreme Court stripped incumbent NDC MP James Quayson naked of possessing dual citizenship. The NPP has lined up its national organizer Henry Nana Boakye, affectionately known as Nana B, to provide organizational support and President Akufo-Addo to energize supporters. In a Facebook post on Monday, June 19, Nana B announced that the President will be the "Special Guest of Honour" at the "Massive Charles Opoku Victory Rally" slated for June 25 at Assin Breku Methodist Park. He added that "Charles Opoku is No.1 on the ballot. NPP: We have taken over Assin North." He also used the hashtags "#MassiveWin4CharlesOpoku" and " #Mpuntuowura #AssinNorthBoafo) #Assinnorthbeyeyie. The president's presence is expected to boost support for the NPP candidate Charles Opoku. Margaret Ansei, a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) communication team has kicked against the candidature of Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in the flagbearer race of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). According to her, the Vice President is an internationally acclaimed liar who has no business running to become president of the country. She said the Vice President has failed to fulfil the numerous promises he made to Ghanaians. These economies you are talking about and I am surprised that the NPP is allowing such a person, such a person when Nana Addo and his cohorts wrote a letter to Al-Jazeera to retract whatever, I was expecting Dr. Bawumias office to also write a letter to Google because Annie if I give my phone to my little girl to google who the biggest liar is in Ghana, the Internationally acclaimed Vice President is the liar of this country. That is what Google say. Our vice president is qualified as an internationally acclaimed liar in this country and this man has the guts to go and pick a form to contest to become a president of this country. He has no respect for us, Margaret Ansei fumed on Metro TV. Vice President Dr. Bawumia is one of 11 aspirants who have picked forms to contest the NPP flagbearer election. The election would be held on November 4 later this year. Ugandan police said Monday that 20 people had been arrested for suspected collaboration with the notorious militia group blamed for last week's grisly attack on a school near the border with Democratic Republic of Congo. "Twenty arrests have been made of suspected collaborators, suspected ADF collaborators," police spokesman Fred Enanga told a press conference, referring to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) based in the DRC. He said in a separate statement that those arrested included the head teacher and the director of the Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe, western Uganda, that came under attack late on Friday. Enanga said the death toll was now 42, including 37 students. The oldest among the victims so far identified was a 95-year-old woman and the youngest a 12-year-old girl. Another six people were injured and remain in hospital, he said, while adding that there were conflicting reports on the number abducted by the assailants, ranging between five and seven. "An attack on innocent children is barbaric, is inhumane and of course constitutes crimes against humanity," Enanga said. The youngsters were hacked with machetes, shot and burned to death in their dormitories in horrific killings that have drawn global condemnation. "As a country, we continue to stand by each other in the fight against terrorism. No matter how heinous the attack or how brutal or inhumane the methods used, the ADF will not be able to succeed in demolishing the solidarity of Ugandans in the fight against terrorism and extremism," Enanga added. Grief-stricken Ugandans were on Monday burying more victims, while other families were still desperately hunting for news of their loved ones or facing an agonising wait for DNA tests on some of the students who were burnt beyond recognition. A total of 37 students have been confirmed killed in the school attack, along with five other people. By - (AFP/File) The authorities have said 15 people from the community, including five girls, were still missing. Joseph Masika, a guardian of one of the missing students, recounted heart-wrenching visits to mortuaries and hospitals. "We are not sure our children are among those abducted or burnt beyond recognition. We are distressed, maybe the government will give us an answer soon and we are praying," the 48-year-old businessman told AFP. "It's a painful situation no parent would want to go through, but we are keeping hope that they are alive wherever they are." 'Cowardly, terrorist action' Ugandan authorities are pursuing the assailants who fled back towards the porous DRC border with their abductees. "Their action -- the desperate, cowardly, terrorist action -- will not save them," President Yoweri Museveni said Sunday in his first statement on the attack, vowing to hunt the militants "into extinction." Joe Walusimbi, the Resident District Commissioner of Kesese, the area where the school was located, said most of the identified victims were buried on Sunday but that there were more funerals on Monday. Map of Uganda locating Mpondwe. By Aude GENET (AFP/File) "We are almost complete with the burial of the dead already identified and waiting for the DNA tests of those students who were burnt beyond recognition," he told AFP. It was the deadliest attack in Uganda since twin bombings in Kampala in 2010 killed 76 people in a strike claimed by the Somalia-based Al-Shabaab group. The ADF, an armed group historically linked to predominantly Muslim Ugandan rebels opposed to Museveni, has been blamed for thousands of civilian deaths in the DRC since the 1990s. In a report due to be published this week, UN experts said the Islamic State group has provided financial support to the ADF since at least 2019. The IS describes the ADF as its regional affiliate, the Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP). In March 2021, the United States placed the ADF on its list of "terrorist groups" affiliated with IS. 20.06.2023 LISTEN UK Prime Minister was host to his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, at Downing Street, underlining the long-standing friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two nations spanning defence, security, trade, and technology sectors. In a significant development, the Swedish Prime Minister shared updates on Sweden's ongoing NATO accession process. Offering total backing from the UK, the Prime Minister reiterated his full support for Sweden's membership in the Alliance, a move that signifies further consolidation of European security. The two leaders turned their attention to the situation in Ukraine, acknowledging evident progress in the region. The UK's Prime Minister expressed his gratitude to Kristersson for Sweden's continued backing of Ukraine, highlighting the collaborative spirit of international diplomacy. As discussions expanded to encompass broader global challenges, both leaders concurred on the inseparable nature of Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security. They deliberated on the criticality of augmenting cooperation with the Indo-Pacific region, indicating a strategic shift towards the geopolitical dynamism of the East. The meeting also addressed the complex issue of illegal migration, particularly in light of the recent tragedy in Greece. The UK Prime Minister emphasised the severity of the problem and the immense human suffering it engenders. He underscored the necessity to deter migrants from resorting to unsafe and illegal routes, thus indicating a need for comprehensive migration policy reforms. The two leaders agreed to maintain open lines of communication, reinforcing the depth of the UK-Sweden partnership and their joint commitment to tackling shared challenges on the global stage. NATO Wants Global War | Q&A Nr. 1 With Jeffrey Sachs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-C9Un-uHD0&ab_channel= June 12, 2023 Neutrality Studies 26,955 2023620 This is the first of two Q&A sessions with Professor Jeffrey Sachs, recorded on June 12, 2023 at a peace event in Vienna. Dr. Sachs explains why NATO did not allow neutrality to become a solution for Ukraine and why the alliance is seeking to expand into the Indo-Pacific region. The warmongering of western institutions continues. They are preparing for global war. <<<<<<>>>>>> NATO is a defensive alliance of 31 countries from Europe and North America. https://www.nato.int/nato-welcome/index.html NATO exists to defend its member countries and their one billion citizens. It does this by bringing together the governments and the armed forces of the 31 Allies, and by providing a security guarantee that an attack on one of them is an attack on all of them. A POLITICAL AND MILITARY ALLIANCE 19.06.2023 LISTEN Democratic governance in Africa is facing severe headwinds, particularly at the level of supply, Afrobarometer board chair E. Gyimah-Boadi warned Thursday at a conference in Accra organised by the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Themed "African governance futures: Strengthening democratic resilience amid disruption, the conference brought together more than 80 governance experts from across the African continent to discuss the latest developments in the governance sector. Speaking on The future Africans want, Gyimah-Boadi shed light on the aspirations of African citizens as well as challenges and their implications for democratic governance on the continent. Sharing insights from the latest Afrobarometer data, based on surveys in 36 African countries in 2021/2022, he noted that a majority of Africans prefer democracy over any other system of government and endorse democratic norms, institutions, and practices such as multiparty competition, constitutional limits on presidential tenure, and free media. However, while the desire to live under governments that are democratic and accountable remains fairly strong among Africans, some worrying trends have emerged as popular subscription to democratic norms and institutions has waned in several countries. Between 2014/2015 and 2021/2022, support for democracy has steeply dropped in several countries: Mali, Burkina Faso, South Africa, and Guinea, respectively by 36, 26, 21, and 15 percentage points, Gyimah-Boadi said. He also highlighted a softening stance toward the role of the military in national politics. While a solid majority still reject military rule, the level of opposition has declined significantly over the past decade. Only three of the 30 countries surveyed consistently between 2014 and 2022 show increases in popular rejection of military rule, and a slim majority (53%) are willing to countenance military intervention if elected officials abuse their power. Tolerance for military intervention is higher among young people (56% of those aged 18-36 years) than among older citizens (46% of those aged 56 years and above). Distressingly, this pro-military-intervention sentiment is a clear majority opinion in 22 out of the 36 countries surveyed, and this view is highly pronounced in Mali, Tunisia, Guinea, Tanzania, Cote dIvoire, he said. Given their numerical superiority across the continent, it must be deeply concerning that younger Africans are more likely than their elders to express their readiness for military intervention if need be. Highlighting the disparity between citizen aspirations and the supply of democratic governance, Gyimah-Boadi stressed that levels of satisfaction with the functioning of democracy have declined drastically in many countries. He emphasised the urgent need for governments to bridge this gap, deliver accountable governance, and address the concerns of their citizens. "The wind of democratic decline appears to be gathering momentum across Africa," he warned. "The ability of governments to deliver democracy and accountable governance continues to lag behind the expectations of their citizens, setting the scene for confrontations between ordinary Africans and their domestic political authorities in the coming years. It is crucial for governments to prioritise democratic values, strengthen institutions, and meet the expectations of their people." Former President, John Dramani Mahama has campaigned to throw his weight behind James Gyakye Quayson in the upcoming by-election in the Assin North Constituency. The leader of the NDC stormed Assin North over the weekend and engaged in a number of community durbars to campaign on behalf of the partys parliamentary candidate. In a post on Facebook, John Dramani Mahama has urged electorates in Assin North to choose James Gyakye Quayson. According to him, a vote for the NDC candidate is not only a vote for justice but a vote to demand better governance and improved quality of life. I want to sincerely thank all the communities I visited in the Assin North constituency over the last two days. I witnessed your overwhelming resolve to vote for James Gyakye Quayson once again. Voting for the NDC and James Gyakye Quayson is a vote for Justice, to right the wrongs and for development. Above all, voting for Gyakye Quayson demonstrates the Assin North Constituency's resolve to demand better governance and improved quality of life, John Dramani Mahama shared on Facebook. The Assin North by-election is scheduled to be held on June 27. It is understood that President Akufo-Addo will be in Assin North to also campaign for the parliamentary candidate of the NPP, Charles Opoku before the election. The New Patriotic Party is questioning if former President John Dramni Mahama indeed he has learnt his lessons considering his utterances and posture in his speeches. The former President told Ghanaians that he has learnt his bitter lessons and would be a better leader if given another mandate to rule as President. Reacting to his comment on Net 2 TV "The Seat" show with Ohene Amoako, NPP Communication Team member Padmore Baffour Agyapong described the former president as a failure who does not deserve another opportunity to rule the country. According to him, Mr Mahama failed to manage the economy and even run to the IMF for support at the time there were no global crises. Mr Baffour Agyapong emphasised the former President signed a lot of bad agreements that have cost the country a lot making reference to the energy sector deals costing Ghana $1bn dollars yearly. "Mahama and the NDC government went to IMF at a time everyone country was doing well with positive indicators, where there was no COVID and Russia-Ukraine war. What does it mean? This is total mismanagement of the economy under his time as the president of the republic," the Communicator told the host. Alhaji Janfaru Saeed Kasim on his part challenged Mr. Mahama to publicly confess and apologise to Ghanaians for the reckless 'do or die' comments he has been making on political platforms as it does not protect the peace of the country. He stressed that agriculture in Ghana was recording negative figures under former Minister Fiifi Kwetey who is now the General Secretary of the party. Franklin Cudjoe[left] and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia 20.06.2023 LISTEN Franklin Cudjoe, the founding President of IMANI Africa has reacted to Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia's claim of having a different vision for Ghana. On Friday, after filing his NPP flagbearer nomination forms, the Veep noted in his address, "I have a different vision for Ghana...I want to transform the economy to the next level." However, this has sparked a lot of debate, with many questioning whether Dr. Bawumia believes in or even supports the policies of the government in which he plays an integral role. In a social media post on Monday, June 19, the policy advisor told Ghanaians not to ridicle it because the claim may be true. He, however, told citizens to wait and examine the said different vision of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia with a special eye. Ghanaians koraa which part of "I have my own vision" as asserted by our Vice-President do you not understand? Certainly, he wasn't just used by Nana Addo to help him 'finish his course'? So wait for the vision but U need special eyes, the post, sighted by ModernGhana News, read. Meanwhile, the ruling NPP is set to choose its flagbearer in a national congress on November 4, 2023. According to several polls and comments from political commentators, the race is between the Veep and Mr. John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, the former Trade and Industry Minister. 20.06.2023 LISTEN Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said he will defeat former President John Mahama in the northern part of Ghana should the two of them face off in the 2024 polls. Dr Bawumia, who is running for the flag bearer race of the governing New Patriotic Party, told delegates in the Tema West constituency in the Greater Accra Region: "They know we will break the 8, and they know that John Mahama cannot take me on in the North, and they know that I will beat him in the North and this is why they dont want me to be the flag bearer. A few weeks ago, Dr Bawumia said he will win the flag bearer race set for November 2023. He said after scaling that first hurdle, he would go on to win the 2024 presidential election and then become the next president of Ghana after his boss Nana Akufo-Addo. At a meeting with NPP supporters in Hohoe at the weekend, Dr Bawumia said: "I want you to know that I appreciate your support". "We are going to break the 8", he said. "First of all, we are going to file for the flagbearership [race], which I'm going to do, win the flagbearership, break the 8, and go to Jubilee House". "That is what Im going to do", Dr Bawumia said. Apart from Dr Bawumia, the other aspirants are former trades minister Alan Kyerematen, Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong, Essikado-Ketan MP Joe Ghartey and the partys former general secretary Kwabena Agyepong. The rest are former energy minister Boakye Agyarko, former minister of agriculture Owusu Afriyie Akoto, former minister of regional cooperation and NEPAD Kofi Konadu Apraku and former Mampong MP Francis Addai-Nimoh. -Classfmonline Ms Damtien L. Tchintchibidja, the Vice President of Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS), has called for effective collaboration to deal with the security threats in the West African sub-region. She said fostering effective collaboration and cooperation were key components which played a crucial role in promoting peace and security in the sub-region. It is great to have a partner like KAIPTC who create room for effective and sustained collaboration, the ECOWAS Vice President said when the Executive Management of KAIPTC led by the Commandant of the Centre, Major General Richard Addo Gyane paid a courtesy call on her in Abuja, Nigeria. The visit to Nigeria forms part of the strategic efforts of KAIPTC to foster collaborations with critical partners, including the ECOWAS Commission. It afforded the Centre to officially introduce Maj Gen Gyane as the new Commandant of the Centre to key partners, after his assumption of office in November 2022. We are all family and interconnected within the sub-region, so whatever happens in one country affects the other. So, collaboration is key considering the security challenges and realities in the sub-region. Ms Tchintchibidja stated. She noted that issues of migration in the sub-region were worrying, and there was an urgent need to find solutions to the phenomenon that was seriously affecting women and the younger population. The ECOWAS Vice President said women, peace, and security and gender issues were high on the agenda of ECOWAS and that it was important to collaborate effectively in addressing the gaps in terms of inclusion and participation of women in all aspects of preventing and recovering from conflicts and peacebuilding. Maj Gen Gyane said as a Centre of Excellence in the sub-region, KAIPTC had over the years collaborated with ECOWAS in ensuring peace and security, adding that for a strengthened security architecture in West Africa, there was a strong need for effective collaboration and cooperation at all levels. He said, among other thematic areas, the KAIPTCs next five-year Strategic Plan would focus on women and youth empowerment through the Centres soon-to-be upgraded Institute for Women, Youth, Peace and Security (WYPS). The Commandant said women and the youth were mostly affected by the issues of security threats and that such vulnerable groups were at the heart of the Centre's operations hence the institute. The Commandant was accompanied by Col Anorph Barnabas Akanbong, Director of Training; Col Robert Adwini (Rtd), Director of Administration; Ms. Horname Noagbesenu- Director, Policy Planning Monitoring and Evaluation (PPMED); Prof. Kwesi Aning, Director, Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research (FAAR); Mr. Lawrence Bediako, Chief Financial Officer; Ms. Amma Addo-Fening, Senior Stakeholder Engagement Officer and Ms. Ayesha Nkrumah from the Corporate Affairs Unit at the Centre. GNA Dr. Gideon Boako, the spokesperson for Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has dismissed claims that Dr. Bawumia is not a formidable opponent for former President John Dramani Mahama in the upcoming 2024 elections. During an interview on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show on Monday, June 19, 2023, Bawumias spokesperson expressed shock at the claims. He indicated that Dr. Bawumia is the best candidate to compete Mahama in the presidential race. He highlighted Dr. Bawumia's significant impact on the 2020 elections, particularly in the Northern Region, which is considered a stronghold of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). He pointed out that Dr. Bawumia's influence helped the New Patriotic Party (NPP) secure more parliamentary seats in the region. According to Dr. Boako, Dr. Bawumia's political acumen will enable the NPP to garner more votes from the NDC strongholds in the northern sector of the country. "Bawumia over the years has demonstrated through his impact on the political scene that he can win more votes for us," Dr. Boako stated confidently. "In the 2020 elections, the NPP won seventeen (17) seats from the NDC in Ghana. Out of the 17 seats we won from the NDC, 15 of them came from the Northern Region. So, this means Bawumia's influence penetrated the NDC that even as the Running Mate, his effect is so significant that if we leave him head to head with Mahama, it will be very dangerous for the NDC in the North," Dr. Boako explained to host Kwami Sefa Kayi. Twitter will respect an upcoming European law intended to crack down on misinformation and hate speech, billionaire owner Elon Musk said in an interview broadcast on French public television Monday evening. "Twitter will follow the law. If a law is enacted, Twitter commits to comply with it," Musk said in response to a question about the European Union's new content moderation rules, known as the Digital Services Act (DSA), which are due to come into effect on 25 August. Musk was speaking to presenter Anne-Sophie Lapix in a rare media interview recorded at the VivaTech convention in Paris last week, broadcast on Monday evening on France 2 public television. The DSA will require platforms to promptly remove illicit content, and imposes fines of up to six percent of global profits. Letter of the law Musk said that Twitter will follow the law, but not go any further. Musk is a proponent of absolute freedom of expression, and he insisted that the definition of hate speech should not be too broad or it could lead to censorship. Musk said hate speech on Twitter had dropped by 20 to 40 percent since he took over, despite pushback from Lapix, who showed him statistics showing the opposite, including a March 2023 study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue that found a 105 percent increase in antisemitic posts. When she showed him tweets about last week's migrant boat disaster off Greece saying the fish would be happy to eat the bodies, Musk called them distasteful but not illegal. At the end of May, Twitter pulled out of the EU's voluntary code of practice against disinformation a move criticised by European Commission vice-president Vera Jourova, who said Musk had chosen confrontation over the issue. French digital transformation minister Jean-Noel Barrot threatened to ban Twitter from the EU. Tesla moves While there is tension over Twitter, Musk's electric car company Tesla is being courted heavily by France. In the interview Musk it is very likely that Tesla will do something very important in France in the years to come. He stopped short of confirming the location of a battery factory, which President Emmanuel Macron has been hoping will be built in France. France, Spain and Italy are competing to host Tesla's second European factory. Musk said he is interested in local production because "importing cars consumes vast amounts of energy". (with wires) Mr. Rocky Tettedzie, a Physician Assistant at the Pleasant Medical Centre in Ashaiman-Middle East, has advised the general population to carefully wash their veggies in order to reduce their risk of contracting typhoid fever. He continued by saying that due to a lack of irrigation infrastructure, some vegetable growers have started planting next to drains and watering their crops with drain water, which exposes consumers to a range of diseases. While speaking on the weekly "Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility! An initiative of the Ghana News Agency's Tema Regional Office designed to promote health-related communication and establish a venue for the dissemination of health information to influence people's individual health decisions. The Tema Regional Office of the Ghana News Agency developed the public health advocacy platform "Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility" to examine the components of four different health communication strategies: informing, instructing, convincing, and advocating. The physician assistant at Pleasant Medical Centre responded to a query about how to handle such vegetables to avoid consuming potentially contaminated vegetables that could result in typhoid by explaining that the bacteria that cause typhoid would mostly dwell on the vegetable, which effect could be reduced through proper washing before consumption. He said that the vegetables must first be washed with clean water and that the person doing the washing must wash their hands with soap and water before touching the vegetables. In order to obtain a thorough wash, he continued, salt or vinegar should also be applied. By doing this, he said, the bacteria would be destroyed and typhoid fever wouldn't be spread to the person eating the vegetable. Furthermore, Mr. Tettedzie recommended clients to be mindful of where they get their lunches, adding they should feel comfortable doing so or, if practical, prepare it at home and bring it to work. Mr. Tettedzie talked about typhoid, a potentially lethal bacterial disease that can be spread either directly by coming into contact with human carriers or inadvertently by consuming tainted food or water. He went on to say that the illness has symptoms similar to those of malaria and other infections and has an incubation period of seven to twenty-one days, yet due to the number of germs in some persons, they may start showing symptoms as soon as three days after exposure. The public was advised by the physician assistant to always visit the hospital for medical exams before starting any medication. The medical assistant emphasised that only such testing, which can involve blood and stool cultures, could reliably identify an illness like typhoid. Mr. Aaron Mensah, operations manager at The Pleasant Medical Centre, promoted the safe handling and disposal of medical waste. Francis Ameyibor, Regional Manager of Ghana News Agency in Tema, made a call for health awareness, emphasizing the importance of what "we eat, drink, and source; we must be conscious of unhealthy lifestyles and their implications and avoid them." A caution was also issued by Mr. Ameyibor regarding the rise in sedentary habits and inactivity that is associated with our contemporary way of life. We appear to be less active, according to new modes of transportation, sedentary work conditions, and other advancements. -CDA Consult || Contributor President Nana Akufo-Addo has said that consistent downgrades of Ghana's economy by credit rating agencies have contributed to the country's current economic woes. Akufo-Addo said that such reckless downgrades are not in the best interests of developing countries like Ghana. Speaking at the 30th-anniversary celebration of the African Export-Import Bank in Accra, Akufo-Addo said that such ratings put undue pressure on African economies. Stressing the impacts of the ratings, president Akufo-Addo said being the AU champion for African financial institutions and leader of a country that recently had to deal with one of the most difficult periods in his post-independent history, difficulties that were exacerbated by the reckless behaviour of rating agencies that engaged in pro-cyclical downgrades that shut Ghana out of the capital market and turned a liquidity crisis into a solvency crisis. Akufo-Addo also highlighted the risks and costs associated with African nations relying on foreign capital markets. In his keynote address, the president said that it is important for Africans to build their own indigenous financial institutions in order to achieve economic growth through domestic resource mobilization and private sector development. He explained the drawbacks of depending on foreign capital, citing financial leakages, high borrowing rates, and interest payments as key issues. According to him, such reliance undermines the growth of domestic financial institutions and hampers the development of African economies. He ended his speech by proposing some interventions that African leaders should embrace to overcome the current economic challenges. He emphasized the importance of capitalization and effective coordination with the African Union. Unless we have strong financial institutions, we are not going to develop. We have learnt over the decades that relying on foreign capital is both risky and costly. It has resulted in huge financial leakages to a high cost of default-driven borrowing rates and interest payments and undermines the growth of our financial institution's domestic resource mobilization and private sector development. This is no fish tale but a bitter reality. At the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in North Carolina on Sunday, a whopper of a 619-pound** blue marlin was disqualified, causing the crew of the boat Sensation to miss out on a cool $3.5 million prize. The crew had initially netted not just the tournament's first marlin to crack the 500-pound mark, but also a potential victoryuntil officials spotted bite marks on the fish's side and decided it had been "mutilated" before being landed. "It's the final hour, the final day and we fought with him for six hours," Sensation captain Greg McCoy told The Washington Post. "It's a tough pill to swallow." Tournament officials released a statement on Sunday: "It was deemed that the fish was mutilated before it was landed or boated and therefore it was disqualified." The International Game Fish Association says a fish is ineligible to win if is suffers damage "prior to landing or boating the catch, caused by sharks, other fish, mammals, or propellers that remove or penetrate the flesh." The coveted tournament title and its accompanying $2.77 million cash prize was instead awarded to the team aboard the Sushi, whose marlin weighed in at a still-impressive 484.5 pounds. **that's nearly 281 kilograms for you metric system aficionados. The Bono East Region of Ghana is home to several historically and culturally significant tourist sites that have the potential to captivate visitors from around the world. However, during a recent visit to the region by renowned blogger Jullie Jay-Kanz who shared excerpts via her youtube channel and social media pages, it has become evident that these invaluable attractions are suffering from neglect and a lack of proper management. Jullie Jay-Kanz visited tourist sites including the Bono Manso Slave Site, Tano Sacred Grove, Mysterious Silver Basin site at Bono Manso, and Dr. Martin Luther King Ceremonial Site, throwing light on the urgent need for the Ghana Tourism Authority to intervene and revitalize these abandoned treasures. The Bono Manso Slave Site holds great historical significance as a former slave market. However, the lack of preservation efforts has become disheartening. The absence of informative signage and tour guides makes it challenging for visitors to grasp the site's importance and fully comprehend its historical context. '' I had to roam across the town for more than 30 minutes before I could get someone to lead me to the site. These were just young people who didn't know much about the history of the slave site. I managed it like that '': She Said. The site requires restoration, interpretation, proper roads and the presence of knowledgeable guides to offer a comprehensive experience to tourists. The Tano Sacred Grove, with its rich biodiversity and cultural heritage, deserves attention. The grove doesn't appear neglected. However, it is difficult to find a tour guide to take you through the journey. '' If you're fortunate to find a native of the town to help you with the tour, he charges any amount of money he prefers. I paid 40 cedis per head for myself and the team," she revealed. The Mysterious Silver Basin at Bono Manso is an enchanting natural wonder. History reveals that the silver basin descended from the skies just like the golden stool and performs miracles as well. However, its potential as a tourist attraction remains untapped due to neglect. The lack of maintenance, proper access pose challenges for visitors interested in exploring this unique geological formation.' The Dr. Martin Luther King Ceremonial Site , designed to honor the renowned civil rights leader, stands in a state of abandonment. The lack of informative displays or exhibits undermines the significance of this site. A lost opportunity to educate visitors about Dr. King's impact on the world, restoration efforts should prioritize the installation of engaging exhibits and interactive elements that commemorate his powerful legacy. The Bono East Region boasts a remarkable array of tourist sites that possess historical, cultural, and natural significance. The current state of these attractions reveals a distressing lack of attention and management. It is imperative that the Ghana Tourism Authority takes immediate action to restore and preserve these sites, introducing proper infrastructure, informative signage, trained guides, and educational programs. By doing so, there can be a revitalization of these neglected treasures, providing enriching experiences for both domestic and international tourists, while honoring Ghana's rich heritage The Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority, (NHIA) Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye has warned that hospitals refusing to accept the NHIA cards will soon be decredentialed. In his view, it is important for hospitals to provide healthcare to all persons including people with NHIA cards. According to Dr Okoe-Boye, the refusal of hospitals to accept NHIA cards contradicts the principles upon which the authority was established and undermines the goal of achieving universal healthcare coverage and leaves vulnerable individuals without proper medical assistance. Before the end of the year, some hospitals are going to be decredentialed by us, decredentialed means that they are going to lose their credentials. Any hospital that is decredentialed, I would not be surprised would go and bring Chiefs to come and beg because 80 per cent of all hospitals in Ghana, survive with NHIA so when we withdraw the license they cannot operate. The IGF of 80 per cent of all hospitals in Ghana, as for government hospitals it is 90 per cent, they survive only because Health Insurance continues to pay them every month, Dr Okoe-Boye said on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, June 20. Dr. Okoe-Boye also expressed his frustration with the constant negative portrayal of the NHIA and its services. He believes that such criticism only serves to tarnish the reputation of an institution that has made significant strides in improving healthcare access for all citizens. The former Deputy Health Minister acknowledged that there is always room for improvement within any organization, including the NHIA, however, he believes that continuous bashing and negative portrayals hinder progress and do not contribute to the betterment of the healthcare system. He called for a change in the narrative and encouraged stakeholders to engage in constructive dialogue with the NHIA to address any concerns and improve the delivery of healthcare services. -Citinewsroom Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, a flagbearer hopeful of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), has urged Party delegates to give him the chance to lead the Party into the 2024 general elections. According to him, the country was at a crossroads and required a leader that could take difficult decisions with his choices reflecting hopes, not fears. Dr Apraku said he was that rescuer the country needed to get out of its current economic conundrum and achieve prosperity. I have done it in President Kufuor's era and am ready to transform this country with a clear sense of direction and a shared vision of the future, the Economist said. Dr Apraku said this when he filed his nomination form on Monday, at the Party's headquarters at Asylum Down, Accra, to contest the presidential primary come November 4, 2023. Dr Apraku, earlier after visiting the Party's headquarters on Monday, June 19, 2023, to submit his forms was instructed to complete his documents and re-submit same to the elections committee of the Party. Accompanied by members of his campaign team, he successfully filed his nomination forms by close of the day. Dr Apraku said, the grassroots man, diplomat and practical economist is here to deliver the Real Positive Change that will 'heal' the economy and make the people prosperous. The NPP has slated August 26 for its Super Delegates Congress as well as November 4, for the National Congress to elect a flagbearer for the 2024 general election. GNA Arnold Ekpe, Chairman of BCA and former CEO of Ecobank, presents the Pan-African Business of the Year award to Ethiopian Airlines 20.06.2023 LISTEN 19th of June 2023, Accra, Ghana At a Gala Dinner attended by leading dignitaries, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), which this year celebrates its 30th anniversary, hosted the inaugural Pan-African Business and Development Awards in association with the Business Council for Africa, in Accra, Ghana. The Pan-African Business and Development Awards were designed to celebrate and recognise the excellence of outstanding organisations and individuals within the African business and finance sectors. The evening recognised some leaders in African business, and Aliko Dangote (GCON) won the Afreximbank Founder of the Year in recognition of his extraordinary achievements building one of Africas leading industrial groups with a truly pan-African footprint. This comes on the back of the recent official opening of his $19bn petrochemicals plant and Africas largest refinery, which received substantial support from Afreximbank. Two other greats of industry, the Zimbabwean Strive Masiyiwa and the Togolese Koffi Gervais Djondo were also recognised for their outstanding contributions to African business and industry. Masiyiwa is the founder of Liquid Intelligent Technologies, which has the largest network of fibre optic cables on the continent, Cassava Technologies, and Econet, the largest telecoms and mobile payment operator in Zimbabwe. Djondo helped found Ecobank, the leading African group in terms of footprint, as well as regional airline Asky. The Pan-African Business of the year went to Ethiopian Airlines which has had phenomenal success and showcases the best of Africa: a profitable and well run airlinethat rose up to the challenge of Covid, working alongside Afreximbank and the Africa CDC to distribute critical medical equipment and vaccines across the continent. Telecoms operator MTN and Egyptian business ElSewedy were also given Special Recognitions in this category. MTN was recognised for transforming the Africa telecoms sector and ElSewedy for its role in the Africa infrastructure sector. ElSewedy and Afreximbank have built a strong relationship that has seen its group become a true continental champion and part of a consortium of African banks and private sector companies that are building the multi-billion dollar Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project in Tanzania. Three banks were recognised in the Financial Institutions of the Year category. National Bank of Egypt, First Bank of Nigeria and Coris Bank, an important regional player in West Africa that started off in Burkina Faso, were chosen based on their volume of trade finance facilities they have utilised. Eight recognition awards were also handed to some staff members of Afreximbank to acknowledge their long service at the Bank, including Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board, who has been at the Bank for over 29 years. Commenting on the Awards ceremony, he said: Tonight we are recognising so many outstanding leaders. Having joined the Bank in 1994, I have been fortunate to have worked with so many of them, and to have seen them grow. We have supported them during this journey and they have helped make the Bank what it is today. These are the mutually beneficial partnerships that will help transform the continent we so love. At Afreximbank, contributing to Africas development is a lifetime vocation, as I know it is for all those that we have recognised tonight. In recognising these leaders and institutions, Arnold Ekpe, chair of the BCA and former Group CEO of Ecobank, said: Too often our business leaders do not get the praise they deserve. Succeeding in business on the continent is not always easy, but it is rewarding and more importantly it is possible to build strong, profitable businesses that are globally competitive. Our winners tonight have demonstrated this. The Awards were launched by Afreximbank in association the BCA, and this years Awards were organised in collaboration with IC Publications and Brand Communications. They were launched to recognise those organisations and leaders that epitomise the Pan-African spirit by leading the way in building substantive and transformational cross border businesses. WINNERS Pan-African Business of the Year Winner: Ethiopian Airlines Special Recognition: ElSewedy Electricals MTN Group Afreximbank Founder of the Year Winner: Aliko Dangote [GCON], Chairman & CEO, Dangote Group Special Recognition: Koffi Gervais Djondo, Founder, Ecobank, Founder, Asky Airlines Strive Masiyiwa, Founder Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Founder, Econet Global and Econet Media, Founder, Cassava Technologies Financial Institutions of the Year National Bank of Egypt First Bank of Nigeria Coris Bank Afreximbank: Afreximbank is a pan-African supranational multilateral financial institution created in 1993 under the auspices of the African Development Bank. It is a financial provider to African governments and private businesses in support of African trade. Business Council for Africa: The Business Council for Africa is a prominent organisation dedicated to fostering economic growth, trade, and investment in Africa, with a focus on promoting business excellence and collaboration. For more information about the BCA, please visit www.bcafrica.org Ahmed Twumasi, the police inspector accused of murdering his girlfriend, Victoria Dapaah, has entered a plea of not guilty during the committal proceedings. The state attorney read out the brief facts of the case in court, to which Twumasi responded with his plea of not guilty to the charge of murder. While Twumasi refused to answer any other questions without his lawyer present, he stated that he would call witnesses as needed. The state attorney presented evidence, including the service pistol allegedly used in the crime and CCTV footage capturing the scene, as part of the committal process, outlining Twumasis alleged involvement in the crime. Bruce Dapaah, the father of the deceased, reiterated the familys demand for justice to be served in the matter. There was heightened security at the court to prevent any assault on the suspect as family members of the deceased yet again made an attempt to physically attack the suspect. Family members and friends who became furious about the pronouncement of the suspect caused chaos causing police to call for reinforcement. Some of the angry family members of the deceased pelted stones at the police vehicle after they whisked the suspect from the court. The suspect has been committed by the Asokore Mampong district court to stand trial at the high court starting 13th July 2023 at 10 am. The high court will from the 13th of July take full charge of the trial. 26-year-old Victoria Dapaah, also known as Maa Adwoa was allegedly killed by her boyfriend, Inspector Ahmed Twumasi on 20th April, 2023 at Adum, a few meters away from her house. The suspect was arrested and subsequently remanded into prison custody. He is still on remand pending trial. -Citi Newsroom Professor Godfred Bokpin, an economist and lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), has called for the resignation of President Nana Akufo-Addo, citing his inability to effectively govern with a cabinet of up to 40 ministers. Professor Bokpin argues that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Program secured by the country is not a definitive solution to the economic crisis and that additional measures must be implemented to complement the IMF's recommendations. In Professor Bokpin's view, the government should reduce the number of ministers and dissolve unnecessary agencies in order to address the dire economic situation. He suggests merging certain ministries to cut down on government expenditure and urges the president to take action accordingly. The professor believes that it is unnecessary to seek perfect individuals to govern the country, as perfection is unattainable. Instead, he emphasizes the need for effective governance with fewer ministers and a reduced budget, even suggesting the sale of luxury vehicles. Professor Bokpin made these statements during a speaking engagement at the Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank Business Meeting, where the theme was "The Current Economic Situation and You." He also expressed skepticism regarding the IMF's role in transforming economies, stating that the organization lacks a single case study demonstrating successful economic transformation. He points out that Ghana, despite previously being praised for its IMF interventions, is currently struggling. In light of these concerns, Professor Bokpin emphasizes the importance of Ghana deciding on specific interventions and strategies to achieve the broad fiscal policy framework prescribed by the IMF. He believes that relying solely on the IMF will not lead to the desired economic transformation and calls for proactive measures to be taken by the government. -Classfmonline.com It is presidential primary season again and in usual expectation, NPP has the men with humongous ambition to lead the party. There is a smorgasbord of candidates in the fraya few with good reasons to be in the contest but many others, with no business being in the race. In the crowded field, we have the charismatic Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumiaa man who has built organic support within the party, endeared himself with a large following among the current party system and equally within those aggrieved with the current administration who see him as one who can bring change and unity. His rise and attempt at the presidency seem divine. Alan Kyerematen, former trade minister who will be making his fourth attempt at the flagbearership. Alan's candidature carries the burden of mostly disgruntled former appointees of Akufo-Addo and some remnant front men of the Kufuor era who want a political comeback. Kennedy Agyapong's candidature is a barking challenge not grounded in empirical or substantive data on Ghanaians not wanting a Muslim president in Bawumia. In a Trumpist style however, he has succeeded in building respectable momentum. Afriyie Akoto is making a challenge in an attempt to cement a family heritage for proper historical recognition; Konadu Apraku has become a perennial candidate in an attempt to fulfil a fading childhood ambition; Joe Ghartey is trying something, whose outcome the jury is yet to ascertain; Kwabena Agyapong is pissing-in for all the injustices he believes he has suffered from the NPP; Boakye Agyarko, has held a long presidential ambition and its part of the process for him; Addai Nimo for some reason, has developed a penchant to contest presidential primaries and Kwadwo Poku is a little known newcomer. The large number of candidates has set the stage for a long winding acrimonious primary process a super delegate process to prune down the number to 5, before the larger electoral college will vote on the top 5 to elect a flagbearer who will square-off with John Mahama of the NDC in December 2024. Given this context, we will look at the issues that will determine the election outcomes. What should the NPP do with Bawumia In 2008, a 44-year unknown banker was pushed into political limelight as the running mate to Akufo-Addo. In between that time and now, he has contested on the ticket of the NPP on 5 presidential elections (if you add the 2008 run-off) and served as vice president for two presidential terms. Bawumia is Muslim and a Northerner but by family background, education, training, and competencea quintessential NPP flagbearer candidate and presents a conundrum for party delegates. The NPP over the years has been tagged as an Akan party that only entertains northerners as vice presidents for political expediency. For the first time in its history, the party has a leading candidate who will neutralize that negative reputation. In Bawumia, the party has a candidate who fits-the-part but for religion and ethnicity as vehemently being argued by some party fanatics. The dilemma for NPP is to dare if they do go with Bawumia or dare if they don't. The fundamental question is, why not Bawumia? How can the party explain that to the doubters of the NPP (including John Mahama) that the NPP is an inclusive and broad-based party but not an Akan hegemony. Yes, there are many other reasons why the party could choose an equally qualified candidate to lead, but until the opponents of Bawumia can make the case besides religion and ethnicity, we will wait for the reasons. What does Bawumia bring to the table? In Bawumia the NPP has a candidate who possesses demonstrated presidential quality, experience, and an unrivaled ability to take the NDC head-on while in opposition and currently in government. He is an experienced campaign juggernaut with measurable delivery in 2012, 2016 and 2020. This is an asset none of the other candidates possess. To add to this, he has a wife who also has a demonstrated campaigning record, a strong asset none of the other candidates or spouses can compare. Bawumia brings to the race a proven constituency yes, he has brought the Northern Region to the NPP. From 4 out of 20 parliamentary seats in the region in 2008, through his hard work and that of others, the NPP has 16 against the NDC's 15 in the traditional northern region (Northern, Northeast and Savanna). Over the last few elections, the Northern Region has become a battle ground for the NDC from the long days when it was the NDC support region in the path to the presidency. Among the candidates, none has a clearly defined constituency to offer. As Vice President, he has demonstrated his competence by championing and delivering on numerous government projects. Notably, he has led Ghana's digitalization agenda with visible outcomes recognized not only in Ghana but across the world. He has not been an armchair vice president but one that has put shoulder to the wheel. He has shown over the years that, the when given the mantle as the top man, he will be a solutions-driven leader who will think outside-the-box and proffer solutions that will spur Ghana's economic transformation. Plainly, Bawumia is competent and incorruptible, an attribute that will be significant in determining the 2024 election outcomes. 20.06.2023 LISTEN Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, Member of Parliament (MP) for Takoradi Constituency, has indicated that Ghanas economic fortunes were improving after setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. He said promises made to Ghanaians during the 2020 election campaign were carefully pursued by President Akufo-Addo and his capable teams through innovation, hard work, and good policies. He said it was evidenced by the numerous projects such as Hospitals, roads, and factories that have sprouted across the country. Mr Darko-Mensah who doubles as the Western Regional Minister said this during a community engagement at the Amanful Electoral Area to discuss the current economic conditions in the country. He indicated the Western Region was benefiting from many roads being built across the region, citing the Tarkwa-Agona Ahanta road and the Sekondi-Takoradi roads as examples. Mr Emmanuel Avevor, an NPP communicator, said President Akufo Addos government was committed to providing the Western Region with the needed resources to enhance development in the Region. He mentioned that the Region was benefitting from eleven (11) Hospitals which he noted were at various stages of completion. Mr Prince Arthur, Assembly Member for the Area, praised the MP for his unwavering support for the residents of Amanful. The event was the fifth in a series, as communities like New Takoradi, Essikafo-Ambantem No. 2, and Zenith Electoral Areas have already been visited by the MP. GNA Hon. Kennedy Osei Nyarko, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Akim Swedru in the Eastern Region has pleaded with NPP delegates preparing for its presidential elections to choose Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to lead the party in election 2024. He asserted that in the midst of the world economic crisis, the Vice President had shamed his detractors, stabilized the economy, and given many Ghanaians newfound hope. He made the appeal when Dr Bawumia met some of the delegates in the Greater Accra Region on Monday. The lawmaker stated that election 2024 remained vital and the NPPs attempt to break the countrys eight-year political cycle with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) would not be simple. The Veep, according to Hon. Kennedy Osei Nyarko, is not only the NPPs best candidate in the upcoming general elections, but also the right President Ghana needs in the midst of the terrible economic situation across the globe. The Veep has stood up to the test of time and is well aware of the current state of the economy in this country. We must all embrace and allow Alhaji Dr. Bawumia to lead us to election victory in 2024 if we do not want to continually re-direct the economic progress of the nation," he stated. The Vice Presidents endorsement by the delegates would be in the best interests of the party, he said, even though all the individuals who had expressed interest in running for the NPPs flagbearership position were all good presidential materials with well-established records in the national political sphere. This is because Dr. Bawumia has not only promoted himself but also shown Ghanaians that he is the key to the countrys economic rebuilding. The skilled economic management team led by Dr. Bawumia, he said, is currently helping Ghanas economy grow. "We must also be reminded that the party needs a presidential candidate who can guide it toward maintaining or increasing its share of the NPPs support in the Northern area. We all understand how the North votes, so we shouldnt try to ignore these issues. Elections are based on numbers, so we must pick a candidate who can close the Northern voting deficit," said Hon. Kennedy Osei Nyarko. 20.06.2023 LISTEN The Spokesperson of Vice President Dr. Mahamadu Bawumias camp, Kofi Tontoh has responded to a claim by flagbearer hopeful Owusu Afriyie that his supporters who showed up for the Vice President's filing of nomination forms were not genuine. According to Kofi Tontoh, the hundreds of supporters who came out in their numbers did so out of their love for the vision of Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia. If somebody comes to me and says Kofi, I want to bus you to an event, I would ask what the event is, what the agenda is? Who the person leading the agenda is? If I dont believe in that agenda will I go? For example, former President Mahama went to an election, he gave each delegate forty cedis, your transportation, now are you saying that the delegates wouldnt have gone to vote for him? Or the delegates went to vote for him because of forty cedis no, they believed in the candidate so providing transportation for them was neither here nor there. "Now if its the case of busing people, why didnt he bus people? If it is as simple as busing people, why didnt Alan people bus people? He could have also bused people. Look, my point is, if his argument is, you can simply bus people to an event and it doesnt take the person believing in you and believing in the course, he could have equally bused thousands of people to the venue, so he should know that it goes beyond busing people or giving people transportation, people have to believe in the course, Kofi Tontoh revealed during a discussion on TV3. This comes after flagbearer hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto stated You cant see any fake bus or any fake commercial vehicle bringing in people to come and support. People have come on their own condition and their very tight conviction that my candidature for the flagbearer of this country will be good for the New Patriotic Party and will be good for the people of Ghana for which I am very very grateful." Over 17,000 Australians have signed a petition asking their government to ban Donald Trump Jr from visiting. I would gather that a US-based petition asking our government to revoke his right to re-entry would also be very popular, but I think instead, we've relegated him to Newsmax and OAN. Crooks and Liars: "Trump Jr is a prominent far-right spokesperson, famous for his aggressive racist and transphobic campaigning," he added. "He was an instrumental part of his father's 2016 presidential run, and has since been part of attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including the violence on January 6. We're protesting him to stand against white supremacy, transphobia, and misogyny." Trump is known for his attacks on the transgender community. He has said that there are "9,276 genders. I can't list them all." And he called transgender women a "disservice" to sports. Trump Junior plans to visit the down under, where beer does flow, and men chunder. As part of a Turning Point Australia rally, a group affiliated with the despicable hate group "TurningPointUSA." To further confirm this rally will be filled with the worst of humanity, it was planned that Junior would be joined at the event by Brexit mastermind Nigel Farage. "Turning Point USA has fought to push through bans on abortions and attacks on trans rights across the US," Hill explained. "We will not let them get a foothold in Australia. Donald Trump Junior and Nigel Farage have said they're coming to Australia to fight 'woke' culture. We plan to show them that there is a serious, large left movement here willing to stand up to bigotry in all its forms." "It's disgraceful that the Liberal party is allowing one of their senators to speak alongside a well-known white supremacist, transphobe, and conspiracy theorist," Hill remarked. "Alex Antic should be immediately sacked. Aussies want Junior visa's denied. They'll protest if he shows up. Paul-Henri Nargeolet, said to be the world's leading authority on the Titanic wreck site, is one of five people on board the submersible vessel that went missing on Sunday on its descent to the bottom of the Atlantic. Nargeolet, 77, is the director of underwater research at Premier Exhibitions, RMS Titanic, the company that owns the rights to the Titanic wreck site off the coast of Canada, in the deep ocean, 3,843 metres underwater. Nargeolet's family confirmed to French media that he was on board the vessel, Titan, along with Stockton Rush, founder and CEO of the vessel's US-based operating company OceanGate. They were accompanying three tourists British billionaire Hamish Harding and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood with his son Suleman who paid $250,000 ( 228,630 ) each to visit the Titanic wreck. The vessel went missing on Sunday, about two hours after it started its mission. The US Coast Guard said the vessel could stay underwater for up to 96 hours. Mr Titanic Dubbed "Mr Titanic" in a 2022 Le Monde profile when his book Dans les Profonnders du Titanic (In the Depths of the Titanic) came out, Nargeolet is considered the world's leading authority on the Titanic wreck site. A former commander in the French Navy, Nargeolet was both a deep diver and a mine sweeper. After a 25-year career, in his retirement Nargeolet pursued his love for the Titanic, the ocean liner that sank on its maiden voyage on 15 April 1921 after colliding with an iceberg on its way from Southampton, England, to New York City. Nargeolet led the first recovery expedition on board the Nautile in 1987, two years after the wreck was discovered by an autonomous sub. He has done about 30 deep-sea dives to the wreck on eight expeditions, and has supervised the extraction of 5,000 objects. He was well aware of the dangers of the deep-sea exploration. When you're in very deep water, you're dead before you realise that something is happening, so it's just not a problem, he told the Irish Examiner in 2019. (with wires) The head of the UN's refugee agency on Tuesday urged Sudan's neighbours to keep their borders open despite security worries as the number of people fleeing the conflict topped 500,000, while those internally displaced climbed to two million. Filippo Grandi warned in an interview with AFP that the two-month-old war threatened to spread insecurity in the "fragile" nations that border Sudan. "My appeal to all the neighbouring countries is to say I understand your security concerns, but please keep your borders open because these people are really fleeing for their lives," he said during a visit to Nairobi to mark World Refugee Day. Sudan has been riven by conflict since April 15, with the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan battling the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. "It is a worrying situation. Many of these neighbouring countries are very fragile and there is also an element of insecurity that risks spreading," Grandi said. The death toll in Sudan has risen above 2,000, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project's latest figures. At an earlier press conference in the Kenyan capital, Grandi said that half a million refugees had fled Sudan since the beginning of the conflict, and another two million were internally displaced. "If we don't silence those guns, the exodus of Sudanese people will continue," said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 'More of an effort' UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi warned that if the Sudan conflict did not end, the exodus would continue. By Fabrice COFFRINI (AFP/File) He was speaking a day after donors at a UN conference pledged close to $1.5 billion to combat the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and help its neighbours host those fleeing the fighting -- including Chad, South Sudan and Egypt. That figure was however less than half of what humanitarians have said is required this year and Grandi appealed to the international community to dig deeper, saying donations were a fraction of defence spending by rich nations. "I'm not saying that military spending isn't necessary, that's not my field and I understand the logic, but humanitarian aid is a tiny, tiny fraction of all that. "I can't believe that we can't make a bit more of an effort," he said, urging Gulf states in particular to do more. A record 25 million people -- more than half of Sudan's population -- now depend on humanitarian aid, the United Nations says. A 72-hour ceasefire agreed by the warring sides took effect on Sunday to allow access to aid, although a number of previous truces have collapsed. "We are unfortunately gradually seeing the destruction of this country," Grandi told AFP, echoing remarks made by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at Monday's donor conference. "It is a worrying situation because we have not seen much progress, if any, in the negotiations between the two generals who are fighting in the country," Grandi said. "This must stop because it risks having incalculable consequences in the region and beyond." Fulgence Kayishema, one of the last fugitives sought over the 1994 Rwanda genocide, will apply for asylum in South Africa, where he has been living for two decades, his lawyer said Tuesday. Kayishema, one of four remaining fugitives sought by UN investigators for their role in the genocide, was arrested last month in the town of Paarl in South Africa's Cape Winelands region. He allegedly took part in one of the genocide's bloodiest episodes, when thousands of men, women and children who had sought shelter in a church were slaughtered. "My instructions are to apply for asylum in the Republic of South Africa which will indeed be attended to before close of play today," lawyer Juan Smuts told AFP after Kayishema appeared in court in Cape Town. Smuts said his client "fears for his life, if and when extradited". The asylum application is likely to delay Kayishema's trial and "will suspend his extradition as envisaged," said the lawyer. There have not been any formal extradition requests so far. South Africa's National Prosecution Authority (NPA) confirmed in a statement that Kayishema "has abandoned his bail application and will instead launch an asylum application today". More charges The 62-year-old, who used many aliases and false documents during 22 years on the run, faces 54 fraud and immigration-related charges in South Africa. But state advocate Nathan Adriaanse said in court that new evidence has emerged which will result in new charges being added. Kayishema is described by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (MICT) -- the successor to the UN court that prosecuted scores of major suspects -- as "one of the world's most wanted genocide fugitives." He is expected back in the Cape Town court on August 18 for what the NPA said was for "further investigation". The former Rwandan police inspector was arrested on May 24 in the small town of Paarl, 60 kilometres (35 miles) north of Cape Town. The hunt for Kayishema spanned countries across Africa, according to the MICT. The United States had offered up to $5 million reward for information leading to Kayishema's arrest, transfer or conviction, but there have been no details as to whether this played a role in the capture. The MICT in 2015 took over the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), set up by the UN after the genocide. Before handing over the reins, the ICTR sentenced 62 people, including a 30-year term handed to former minister Augustin Ngirabatware, and acquitted 14. Rwanda started trying genocide suspects in 1996, and on a single day in April 1998 had 22 of them executed by firing squad. It abolished the death penalty in 2007, lifting the main obstacle for the ICTR to extradite genocide suspects to Rwanda for trial. Between 2005 and 2012, more than 12,000 community-based courts put nearly two million people on trial and convicted 65 percent, sending most to prison. Around 800,000 Rwandans, most of them ethnic Tutsis, were slaughtered over 100 days at the hands of Hutu extremists. Kayishema and others allegedly murdered more than 2,000 men, women and children who had taken refuge in a Catholic church in Nyange in Kivumu district. 20.06.2023 LISTEN An Accra High Court has ordered Galamsey Queen En Huang aka Aisha Huang to open her defence to charges of illegal mining. The Court presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo held that a prima facie case had been made against her by the State. Ms Huang is currently facing three counts of undertaking a mining operation without a licence, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation and the illegal employment of foreigners. The accused person on May 3, 2023, changed her plea of entering Ghana while she had been prohibited from re-entry and had since been convicted on that charge with her sentencing deferred to the end of the trial of the remaining charges. The Prosecution on May 3 closed their case after calling 11 witnesses. The court said, on the face of the charges, it was clear that illegal mining activities had taken place at Bepotenten in the Amansie West District in Ashanti Region. It also ruled that the said illegal mining activities were done without license or authority from the sector minister. The court had directed Ms Huang to file her witness statements by July 3, 2023 GNA 20.06.2023 LISTEN Investigations into attempted exports of five containers of Rosewood species in June and July 2021 are yet to be concluded, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, has said. In June 2021, five containers loaded with Rosewood were impounded at the Tema Port. Following reports of the arrest, a team from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resource, led by Mr Benito Owusu-Bio, a Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, inspected the containers and after going through all required processes, the containers were evacuated to the Forestry Commission Depot in Achimota, and the Rosewood subsequently were allegedly donated to the National Cathedral Project. Meanwhile, giving an answer to a question on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday by Mr Suhuyini Alhassan Sayibu, a National Democratic Congress (NDC), Member of Parliament (MP), for Tamale North, Mr Jinapor said he was informed that investigations were ongoing. Mr Governs Kwame Agbodza, the Minority Chief Whip, who asked the question on behalf of Mr Sayibu, inquired about the outcome of investigations into attempted exports of five containers of Rosewood species in June and July of 2021. Mr Speaker, apart from this specific investigation of the five containers, on 30th August 2021, I wrote to the Minister for National Security requesting full-scale investigations into the cartels involved in this Rosewood business, and I am informed that this investigation is also ongoing, he said. Mr Jinapor, also a New Patriotic Party (NPP), MP for Damango, emphasised that the matters of investigations and law enforcement were within the remit of the various security agencies established by law. According to him, the Ministry continued to provide these agencies with the needed support and cooperation to execute their mandate and to ensure that all those found culpable were made to face the full rigours of the law. Mr Jinapor further told the House that a ban on the harvesting, trading, exporting and importing of Rosewood, as well as the issuance of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), permits for the export of Rosewood, remained in full force. And Mr Speaker, we have, largely, come to grips with legalities associated with Rosewood. We will continue to work with all stakeholders to protect, preserve and conserve this precious endangered species, he said. GNA Former National Chairman of the People's National Convention (PNDC) Bernard Mornah has urged President Akufo-Addo to take responsibility for his failure to competently manage the economy rather than blaming rating agencies. According to the former PNC chairman, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration's "reckless" policy decisions informed the rating agencies to downgrade Ghana to junk status. Speaking to TV3, Bernard Mornah bemoaned how President Akufo-Addo has blamed everything from Covid-19 pandemic to the Russia-Ukraine war for the woes of the country. Yesterday again, President Akufo-Addo took the opportunity to lament, to lambast and lampoon rating agencies and blame Russia-Ukraine and blame Covid-19 for the economic mess that we are faced with. Secondly, this is a president that is living in a different world because he failed to blame his own reckless economic policies and policy decisions that have landed our nation where we are and so when you have a government that is failing to look at the immediate causes, the homegrown causes that put us in the kind of difficulty that we have. If we didnt run our economy that low, the rating agencies will not be emboldened to run us or to rate us the way they have or to run rough on us and so I find it a bit strange that we have a President who simply says that look, dont blame me for anything just blame other people, other institutions, other agencies for the mess that we have, Bernard Mornah stated. Speaking at the 30th African Export-Import Bank meeting held in Accra, the President described as reckless the consistent downgrades of Ghanas economy by credit rating agencies. He argues that their actions have contributed to the countrys current economic woes. I can comfortably and convincingly say this as the AU champion for African financial institutions and leader of a country, which recently had to deal with one of the most difficult periods in his post-independence history, difficulties which were exacerbated by the reckless behaviour of rating agencies that engaged in pro-cyclical downgrades shutting Ghana out of capital markets and turning it liquidity crisis into a solvency crisis, President Akufo-Addo said. ASA Savings and Loans Limited on Friday, June 16, embarked on a tree-planting exercise at the Methodist Technical Institute at Baakoniaba in Sunyani in the Bono Region. At the end of the exercise, the Savings and Loans company with the help of the Forestry Commission in the region and officials of the school succeeded in planting 250 trees. Speaking on the tree planting exercise, the Area Manager of ASA Savings and Loans in Sunyani, Mr. Isaac Agyapong disclosed that it is part of his outfits Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. He said planting trees is important to increase wildlife biodiversity, restore environment and reduce the greenhouse effect by removing carbon dioxide from the air and releasing oxygen The company used to do health screenings and borehole drilling but we are doing tree planting in addition to the other programs this year and subsequent ones purposely to improve their health and wellbeing. To also serve as shelter and food, Mr. Isaac Agyapong said. While disclosing that watering cans have been provided to the schools to water the seedlings, the ASA Savings and Loans Area Manager for Sunyani called on students to take good care of the planted trees. Fencing has been done around the planted trees to also prevent animals from grazing. Giving some remarks during the tree planting exercise at Methodist Technical Institute, Forestry Commission representative Mr. Daniel Amoaning Okai applauded ASA Savings and Loans for investing in tree planting. He admonished students to at all times protect the tree, adding that when the last tree dies the last man also dies. On his part, the Assistant Principal of Methodist Technical Institute, Mr. Abraham Okatakyie thanked ASA Savings and Loans for their good work and asked for more. 20.06.2023 LISTEN The Director of Elections at the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Serebour Quaicoe has defended the Commission's decision to use the Ghana Card as the sole document for the voter's register, despite Parliament's directive to include the guarantor system and open more registration centers. However, constitutional expert Prof. Alidu Seidu has said both Parliament and private entities have the right to challenge the EC's actions through legal means. In an interview with TV3 monitored by ModernGhana News, Prof. Alidu Seidu said, If the EC refuses to accept the recommendations made by Parliament, Parliament can also reject the EC's proposals during the voting process. As the EC's budget must be approved by Parliament in the lead-up to an election year, Parliament has the power to reduce or reject the budget if the EC disregards its recommendations. Prof. Alidu Seidu further explained that Parliament has the constitutional authority to take the EC to court to seek clarification on its actions and whether they align with the country's laws. Similarly, private citizens or political parties can also initiate legal action against the EC if they believe its decisions are not in the best interest of the country or if they infringe upon constitutional provisions, such as the right to vote and be voted for. While highlighting the importance of consensus-building, Prof. Alidu Seidu expressed concern that a confrontational relationship between the EC and Parliament would be detrimental to Ghana's democracy. He stressed that the EC must collaborate with political parties and consider the concerns raised by all stakeholders when introducing new reforms. He said, Itll not be healthy for our democracy if the Electoral Commission and the parliament of Ghana is on a collision course, especially the EC in particular, needs the legislature more. The EC must work with political parties and bring the concerns of all political parties on board moving forward. And some of these new reforms that they want to introduce. Senegalese President Macky Sall on Tuesday vowed to strengthen "democracy and freedom" in his country, in his first public reaction to deadly unrest sparked by the conviction of a popular opposition leader. "We will pursue our march towards economic development and the strengthening of democracy and freedom in Senegal, with respect of course for the state of law," Sall said on a state visit to Portugal. "I will make sure that Senegal adheres to the most important democratic standards," he said after a meeting with President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. Senegal is still reeling from violence between June 1-3 that caused at least 16 deaths, according to the authorities. Amnesty International puts the toll at 23, and the opposition at 26. The bloodshed has shaken the West African state's image for stability, in a region notorious for coups and turmoil. Protests were triggered by the conviction and sentencing of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko to two years in jail on charges of "corrupting" a young beauty salon worker -- a conviction that will make him ineligible for the 2024 presidential elections. Sonko is Sall's fiercest critic, accusing him of sitting at the top of a corrupt elite and nurturing plans to install a dictatorship. Sall was elected in 2012, when the presidential term was seven years, and re-elected in 2019 after the term was reduced to five years under a constitutional change. Presidents cannot serve for more than two "consecutive" terms -- but Sall's supporters say the clock has been reset after the constitution was revised in 2016. Sall, in Lisbon, also promised to ensure "that our country is not destabilised, whatever the source of this will to destabilise. We will monitor this very closely," he said. "Our economic profile has become very attractive. This year we are going to start extracting oil and gas. That may also be the reason for all this frenzy," he suggested. In an effort to recognize, encourage and celebrate the exceptional achievements of communication students, Sky Infinity Group is set to host its prestigious 4th Annual Communication Students Awards (CSA) on Saturday, June 24. The much-anticipated event which will take place at Pentecost University in Accra aims to bridge the gap between current industry leaders and the next generation of communication professionals. "Communication students need first-hand experience from the industry players so as to merge their ethics and passion for the job, and that is what Communication Students Awards stands for," said Lawrence Adoku (LAW KAY), Communications Manager for CSA, in an interview with ModernGhana News, a media sponsor for the event. Adoku further emphasized the importance of fostering connections between current and future industry professionals, stating, "We look at not just rewarding hard work but bridging the future and today's industry players for a great future of Ghana's communications." The evening will kick off with a red carpet event at 6pm, followed by the main awards ceremony at 7pm. It will bring together distinguished figures from the media, education and organizational sectors, as well as the talented communication students being honored. Voting for the awards is open to the public and will conclude on Thursday, June 22. To cast a vote for your favorite nominee, simply dial *800*456#*. For those interested in bulk voting, the Mobile Money Number is 0246754080, with the nominee code as reference and the Account Name is Infinity Foundation. Assistance is available by calling the same number in case of any difficulties, according to the organizers. Table reservations for the event are ongoing, with single tickets priced at GHS30, double tickets at GHS55, and a three-person package at GHS80. Nominees will receive free admission to the event. The CSA ceremony is expected to be graced by several influential figures in the communication space, including ModernGhana's Editor, Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri. Baltic state Estonia legalized same-sex unions on Tuesday, making it the first of the ex-Soviet republics to do so. The right for adults to marry "regardless of their gender" will come into force on January 1, 2024, and extends adoption rights to them. "Everyone should have the right to marry the person they love and want to commit to," Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said. "With this decision we are finally stepping among other Nordic countries as well as all the rest of the democratic countries in the world where marriage equality has been granted. "This is a decision that does not take anything away from anyone but gives something important to many," she continued. "It also shows that our society is caring and respectful towards each other. I am proud of Estonia." If it seems the usual suspects are madder about it than usual, it's partially because they're pushing back on gay rights in general and partially because they take it as an intentional insult to their new boyfriend, Russia. Fellow Citizens, Chapter 23 of Exodus in the Holy Bible teaches on ethical matters, so it warns us at Exodus 23.1 that Thou shall not raise a misinformation or false report and at Exodus 23.2 warns that You must not follow the multitude to do evil by twisting the truth. This among others indicates that we should not lie to alter history or the truth, just to please the emotion or opinion of a majority on a prevailing matter or opinion. It also reveals that the opinion of the majority does not necessarily mean that it is a true opinion. The meaning of the last assertion is that we should not always accept a cause for an event or issue, hook, line and sinker because it is championed by a multitude. So, folks, based on the above two decrees of the Holy Bible, I have sworn to be very truthful, honest, bold and say it as it is, that Is nothing but the truth. So, the canker of this great nation especially in the Mining Sector due to the twisting of the truth by ignorant or corrupt or incompetent persons or lazy thinkers otherwise propagandists. So, Fellow Citizens, we need to consider our Country, Ghana First, so the submission herein is the gospel truth based on my wide experiences in the Military and the Mining Sector, hence ability to identify a real enemy or a disaster and consequently, able to make effective recommendations and actions to combat the real enemy of Ghana, So I want to declare to you, the good people of this great Country called Ghana, that our nemesis, in the mining sector is Small Scale Mining. Folks, Small Scale Mining in the form of artisanal mining which is synonymous with Galamsey was in existence before the British established the Gold Coast Colony by 1901. For whatever good reason(s), the Colonial Masters banned Small Scale Mining in 1902 and restricted Mining to only Underground Mining. A critical thinking on the ban matter or common sense will tell that it was to protect the environment among other good reasons. Despite the ban of Small Scale Mining, it persisted up to the independence era that saw the birth of Ghana. So in the post-independence era, Dr Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana also banned Small Scale Mining by the Mining Act 1962, which also vested all minerals in Ghana in the President. So with his Nationalization policy by the Mining Act 1965 he bought the private Underground Mines established by the European Companies especially at Prestea, Obuasi and Bibiani and established the State Gold Mining Corporation with the Underground Mines at Prestea, Obuasi as operational subsidiaries. Despite the ban of Small Scale Mining it persisted up to 1986, the regime of the PNDC which with the support of the IMF/World Bank, as part of both the Structural Adjustment Program and the Economy Recovery Program in order to attract Foreign Direct Investment, established the Minerals Commission in 1986 and came out with the Minerals and Mining Act 1986 (PNDCL153), In the first history of Ghana, artisanal mining which is synonymous with Galamsey was legalized with Section 77 of Minerals and Mining Act 1986 (PNDCL153). Google for Minerals and Mining Act 1986 (PNDCL153) and read Section 77 and common sense will tell that it was basically a Galamsey Law coined as Small Scale Mining Operation contingent on if and only if it is in the interest of the community that the Minerals Commission may recommend to the PNDC Secretary for Mines to permit Small Scale Mining Operation. The Small Scale Mining Operation per the law must be conducted with strict restriction of no usage of substantial investment and no use of sophisticated equipment hence a Galamsey Law. As part of the Legalization and formalization of Galamsey to wit Small Scale Mining, the PNDC enacted the Small Scale Gold Mining Law1989 (PNDCL218), this law tells it all. So, beside with the same conditionalities like contingent on if and only if it is in the interest of the community that the Minerals Commission may recommend to the PNDC Secretary for Mines to permit Small Scale Mining Operation which must be conducted with strict restriction of no usage of substantial investment and no use of sophisticated equipment, the PNDCL218 made it clear at section 21 at page 6 on what should constitute Small Scale Mining Operation which it defined or interpreted Small Scale Mining as a method of mining which must not involve substantial expenditure and no use of sophisticated equipment or Technology hence no use of excavators or Chanfan machines etc hence a Galamsey Law. Folks these special conditionalities for the establishment of Small Scale Mining Operation imply that the PNDC and the World Bank in 1986 took cognizant of why Small Scale Mining was banned in Gold Coast by the Colonial Administration and President Nkrumah in the post-independence era as well as the definition of Small Scale Mining by the World Bank (please Google for the definition of Small Scale Mining by the World Bank and it will be clear that Small Scale Mining is the same as Galamsey an entrenched traditional tested Mining operation for survival or livelihood and not necessary for wealth creation which persisted since the days of Prophet Abraham and the World. Folks, from the special conditionalities for the operation of Small Scale Mining, it is very clear that before the lifting of the a ban on Small Scale Mining which started in 1902 in Gold Coast and was fortified in 1962 in Modern Ghana by the first President of Ghana, Dr Nkrumah, the original framers of the Small Scale Mining Law in 1989 also had the same fears of Small Scale Mining but took risk in coming out with the Small Scale Mining, hence the caveats placed on Small Scale Mining by the original framers of the Small Scale Mining in 1989 speaks volume that Small Scale Mining if not properly handled can cause a very serious disaster in the Country. So, folks, the current situation in the Small Scale Mining Sector proofed the Colonial Masters and President Dr Nkrumah had very good foresight thus they were 100% right in banning Small Scale Mining in 1902 and 1962 respectively. It also proofed the regime of the PNDC had very good foresight thus they were 100% right in their PAMSCAD bid for the mitigation of the suffering of rural folks/win-win Solution and thus placed the strict limitation for the operation of Small Scale Mining. Let me remind you that this was based on the definition of Small Scale Mining (nemesis of countries with minerals and in Ghana hence it persisted despite the ban since 1902 till the time for the consideration of the lifting of the ban in 1986). Hmm folks, Cry the Beloved Country, Why, repeat why the likely risks associated with Small Scale Mining eluded the thinking or minds of the regime of President Kofour thus made regime failure to conduct risk assessment on Small Scale Mining so that they will be informed to maintain the Small Scale Gold Mining Law1989 (PNDCL218) with the clear restrictions at section 21 at page 6 on what should constitute Small Scale Mining Operation which it defined or interpreted Small Scale Mining as a method of mining which must not involve substantial expenditure and no use of sophisticated equipment or Technology hence no use of excavators or Chanfan machines etc when the Regime was compiling the Mining Laws to come out with the Minerals and Mining 2006 (Act 703) Folks, the situation is regarded as very serious when the Regime of President Kofour sent over 300 Ghanaians to China between 2006 and 2008 to be trained in Mining and were warned by the accompanied BNI Officers including my brother the late justice Tsar who became the Boss of Serious Fraud Office in the Regime of President Mahama about the collusion of the Ghanaians with some Chinese namely Aisha Hung, Monica and others. The Presidencies, Ministry of Land Natural Resources, the Minerals Commission and National Security Council between 2007 and 2012 woefully failed this Country because Knowing very well that a Ghanaian is very greedy and so ready to Kill his or her mother to win an election or acquire wealth otherwise front for a foreigner to do a business, firstly not taking action on the intelligence from the accompanied BNI Officers in China about the collusion of the Ghanaians with some Chinese namely Aisha Hung, Monica and others, secondly not creating a separate sector in the Mining Sector as Medium Scale Mining Sector to contain an obvious looming disaster in the Mining Sector due to the collusion of the Ghanaians with some Chinese whilst in China. Thirdly, when the Ghanaians returned to Ghana with their Chinese accomplices, fourthly when the Chinese brought 1000 of excavators into Ghana. Hmm, Cry the Beloved Country, the final Kill of Ghana took place in 2012 when at the blind side of President Mahama, the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources and the Minerals Commission, in the Regime of President Mahama added salt to an injury rather removed Ghana from the frying pan and placed Ghana straight into the fire when they hurriedly enacted Minerals and Mining Regulations on Support Services 2012 (LI2174) and thus gave Aisha Hung and others the almighty blessings to deploy their 1000 of excavators in the field to support their Ghanaian accomplices in the name of Support Services they rest is history. Hence, let me say that it is unfortunate that the Ghanaian Journalists, Politicians and a few Intelligentsias or Academics are either not bold persons or lazy thinkers or are corrupt persons otherwise incompetent hence their failure to portray the exact disaster in the Mining Sector as Small Scale Mining so that Ghana will adopt the right measures as recommended by me since 2017 to reduce the risks associated with Small Scale Mining. Thanks to both Professor Crawford of University of Leeds, Google for Professor Crawford and others research work entitled Impact of Chinese involvement in Small Scale Mining published in 2016 and an article by Chinese investigative Journalist by name Yang Meng. Google for his masterpiece article Sweltering Heat, Golden Dreams; Chinese Galamsey in Ghana published in the Bloomberg Business Edition, January 2015 after an initial publication in China on 09 January 2014. Both the reports of these persons and others are referred for confirmation of my identification of Ghanas enemy in the Mining Sector as Small Scale Mining which is characterized among others as informal which suggest unofficial. Folks, special thanks should go to Mr Johnson Akuamoah Aseidu, the current Acting Auditor General for being the first professional in Ghana especially an Auditor General of Ghana to conduct a proper audit (investigation) into activities of some licensed Small Scale Mining Companies because of the associated risks with Small Scale Mining which have been causing headache in the Nation. The Acting Auditor Generals Report on the Performance Audit on the Regulating and reclamation activities at Sites of some licensed Small Scale Mining Companies as reflected in his good audit report for 2020 speaks volume of relevant matters of public interest especially the abandonment of mined out areas without restoration or without posting or availability of sufficient Reclamation Bond. Fellow Citizens, from this audit report, even a JSS pupil can tell that either acts of incompetency or negligence by the Regulators namely Minerals Commission and EPA by their supervisory Ministries namely Ministry of Lands/Natural Resources and, Ministry of Environment respectively, otherwise acts of corruption coalition between staffs of EPA/ Minerals Commission and the so called Licensed Small Scale Mining Companies in Ghana which operated in the past., Hence, this is a confirmation that Small Scale Mining operation is s till characterized as informal since 1999 thus confirming my position that Ghanas nemesis as Small Scale Mining. The affected Mining Companies and the Regulators failed to adhere to the Environmental Assessment Regulation 1999 (LI1652) which required the provision of mining operation plan/Reclamation Plan and the posting of Reclamation Bond for the restoration of mined out areas to almost to the original state. This was/is a mandatory requirement before the issuance of the operations permit. Hitherto Small Scale Miners were required to pay about 2 to 5% of their gold sales to Precious Minerals Marketing Company against their partial cost recovery or profit margin and against the backfilling of their mined out pits but these became a problem and was cancelled. The State should revisit this arrangement for the backfilling of Small Scale Mining pits to reduce the associated risk of degradation of land and minimize safety hazards due to abandonment of dangerous pits which poses a safety hazard. So, Folks our enemy or nemesis is Small Scale Mining because it is characterized by Illegal mining and is causing serious damaging effect to the national economy. Besides damaging the environment, some rivers with potential for mini-hydropower stations, the Agric and the Fishery sectors as well as the high cost of treating water, Illegal mining is making the nation not to get effective gains from the Minerals both from the Precious Minerals especially gold and Industrial minerals like salt reportedly White Gold. This is so, notwithstanding that clause 6 of Article 257 of the 1992 Constitution vested the minerals in the President on behalf of and in trust for the people of Ghana. It is reported that over 2 Billion dollars of Gold is smuggled yearly. Authentic report by CIA, Reuters, and the administrations in United Arab Emirates had it that over 3 Billion Dollars were smuggled from Ghana to United Arab Emirates. This was so because Bank of Ghana was able to account for only about 4.5 Billion Dollars worth of Gold exported by the Large Scale Mining Companies but the total Gold receipt from Ghana in the United Arab Emirates was 7 Billion Dollars between 2013 in 2016. Google for Gold smuggled from Ghana in 2016 or Missing Gold -How Ghana lost over 6 Billion Dollars in Gold export. Hence over 3 Billion Dollars was definitely by smuggling by the Small Scale Miners, hence Ghanas problem is Small Scale Mining. Paradoxically Ghana is wooing the IMF for about 3.5 Billion Dollars bail out to be released in bit for over three year and this even contingent on a Conditionalities Fellow Citizens, as stated Ghanas debacle in the Mining Sector is Small Scale Mining, so there no good reason to allow tycoons to operate in this sector if our authorities really understand the enemy since Small Scale Mining is globally regarded as the nemesis (a dangerous enemy who or which is very difficult to defeat). It should also be noted that if matters of Small Scale Mining are not handled with empathy or wisely it may cause the operators to destroy properties/rivers, forest or the downfall of a society, a nation, a person or an embarrassment to a leader. So President Nana Addo did not know much about the enemy in the Mining Sector as Small Scale Mining so he put his Presidency on the line. So, in spite of the Supreme Executive Powers vested in the President of Ghana (herein President Nana Addo) who doubles as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ghana hence clothed with sovereign power and can draw Emergency Powers as stipulated at Article 31 of the 1992 Constitution to deal with any enemy (serious problem) of the Country within a short time, the debacle (disaster) in the mining sector persisted in his tour of duty, some say it rather got worst under the regime of President Nana Addo . This according them is due to the level of activities of Small Scale Miners and issue of corruption and missing items reportedly recorded in his regime. Hence some Officers of the Inter Ministerial committee which President Nana Addo set up to deal with the debacle in the Mining Sector are under investigation by the Special Prosecutor for alleged acts of corruption and corrupt related matters. Thus indicative that Small Scale Mining is an enemy difficult to defeat. . So President Nana Addos problem in the Mining Sector was the failure of the Nation to properly identify the debacle (disaster) in the mining sector as Small Scale Mining, so that Ghana will do proper Tactical Appreciation or risk assessment, so that we are armed with the characteristics of Small Scale Mining which include nomadic, over millions in number mostly poor Folks, use of simple tools, irresponsible etc and come out with a combination of tools and measures especially through legal tools and all sort measures including (a). Politically (come out with a Medium Scale Mining Sector with almost the same regulations for Large Scale Mining Companies for Ghanaians tycoons or city dwellers who want to mine for gold and salt for wealth creation and not for livelihood or poverty alleviation as pertaining in the Small Scale Mining sector as done by poor rural folks). Folks, if the Government accepts the recommendation for the creation of Medium Scale Mining Sector then a wedge or clear separation will be created between the rich and poor, these will reduce greediness and thus prevents Ghanaian tycoons who can afford to buy food at expensive restaurants or mansions etc from participating in Small Scale Mining and thus damaging massive land with massive investment for huge returns or interest to their investments due to their appetite for excessive wealth but with absent or no sufficient Reclamation Bond in the Small Scale Mining Sector. The recommended Medium Scale Mining Sector must demand the Reclamation Bond to be paid in dollars in order to store the value of the cash for restoration of the land to be damaged. The recommended Medium Scale Mining Sector should allow the elites or tycoons to collaborate with Foreigners since mining is capital intensive. It should be noted almost all Ghanaians tycoons colluded with Foreigners in the Small Scale Mining despite the law against the involvement Foreigners which has been the situation since 2006, under the Political measures, there should be the establishment of Cooperative or Community Mining etc in the Small Scale Mining with leaders to control them who can be held responsible for wrong act). (b). Economically (through Alternative Livelihood Projects, supporting them with skills to establish other ventures which they should or will virtually settle in that is after obtaining the needed capital thus by the application of the principle of Sustainability in Mining etc). Furthermore interventions are by (c) Militarily (orderly conduct let me give a personal example which paid a lot. That is, whilst in Bogoso Mine I used to apply various deceptive tactical plans in dealing with Galamsey Operators including the deployment or the citing of a spoilt Military Steyr Truck in a static role near Galamsey active Mining areas under the protection of private security guards to create fear of God in some of the operators whilst the Military patrol dominates the area once in while with mobile patrols). Next measure (d). socially through scholarship for needed persons, the idea of free SHS is a very commendable one, Community Social Responsibilities by Corporate institutions. (e). Psychologically and (f). Religiously and (g). Environmentally consciousness (awareness) these should be by education by relevant institutions especially the media on the need to conduct activities in a responsible manner to ensure the safety of others, (h). Control by Traditional Leadership - Opinion Leaders should help in the protection of the land by getting them to operate in a very responsible manner either by direct control or through report to the DCE or Security Agencies. , The fight to reduce the associated risk in the Small Scale Mining to barest minimum level can be done politically by effective process of Legalization and Formalization of Small Scale Mining coined locally before the birth of Ghana as Galamsey. So criminalizing Galamsey a time tested activity like prostitution shows lack of the idea what is Small Scale Mining and that Small Mining is Galamsey and Galamsey is Small Mining which is simply a method of mining with rudimentary tools or done manually with no or little capital. So Small Scale Mining is basically informal in character by millions of people in a nomadic way. So, like the Legalization and Formalization of a prostitution in some countries or the Legalization and Formalization of informal settlements or slums say as was done in Lagos in Nigeria some time ago , Galamsey or Small Scale Mining was legalized in Ghana with an attempt to fully formalized it through process of Legalization/Regulation and Formalization as initiated in 1986, jointly by the World Bank/IMF and PNDC during the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) and Economy Recovery Program (ERP) in the 1980s especially between 1986 and 1989 in the privatization of the Mining Sector to attract Foreign Direct Investment. . Folks, in the Military we are taught or we say that to defeat the enemy you must know the history of the enemy, hence the characteristics of the enemy. The characteristics of the enemy can be obtained after well-coordinated activities through Tactical Appreciation (Risk Assessment) starting with reconnaissance or research for every details about the enemy for Battle Order based on the master principle of war or the principle of objective also known as the principle for business success, This Principle is Selection and Maintenance of the Aim using the other Principles of war namely the Objective, Economy of Force, Unit of Command, Maneuver,, surprise etc. Fellow Citizens, understanding the historical background of the Economy Sector especially the Mining Sector of Ghana before 1993 that is the coming of the Fourth Republic which is anchored by the 1992 Constitution should be the requirement and hallmark of a competent President or Politician of Ghana, if Ghana is to succeed in attaining economy independence by effective macroeconomic stability and then inclusive growth for her development Agenda. Note that one ounce of gold about the weight of blade is worth about Two Thousand USA Dollars ($2,000.00) this can buy about 44 of the 50kg bags Rice. So the gold for oil deal is a good one if it is properly done as recommended by His Excellency Ex-President Mahama. The lack of a very good knowledge or understanding of the state of affairs in the Mining Sector before 1986 and thereafter in the Fourth Republic which periods or regimes are characterized with acts of incompetency and massive acts of corruption (looting schemes) in all the Regimes in the Fourth Republic with the exception of the NDC regime under President JJ Rawlings and NDC regime under President Mills. These bad acts have made it very difficult in the fight against the irresponsible mining which is the characteristics of Small Scale Mining. Incidentally this sad situation has deluded and may continue to deceiving our Political Leaders, some intelligentsia or academics and the local media, for failing or are refusing to appreciate that Small Scale Mining is Galamsey Operations and Galamsey Operations is Small Scale Mining since a decorated Donkey is still a Donkey. So Vice President Aliu Mahama was 100 percent right when he declared in 2004 during his campaign in Prestea that Prestea is Galamsey and Galamsey is Prestea after receiving briefing from Bogoso mines through my security brief. Fellow Citizens Small Scale Mining despite her associated risk but due to the state of poverty especially in the affected areas of mineral deposits led to the definition of Small Scale Mining by some seasoned experts, the World Bank as poverty alleviation program since the days of Prophet Abraham which is conducted by millions of people including women who in the past found minerals especially at the areas of river banks or seashores after heavy rains as God gift for them to escape from their poverty misery. Thus Small Scale Mining must be regarded by every sensible Company or Nation as poverty alleviation program being pursued for livelihood and not necessary for wealth creation so that bearing this in mind that their objective is for livelihood and not for wealth creation, will thus inform the Company or Nation to find win-win solutions/interventions to contain the operators. So, the criminalization of rural folks operators of Small Scale Mining is grossly senseless and marks a sense of incompetency since the operators rather need empathy, hence Governmental Intervention. Folks, as stated the very poor understanding of the state of affairs in the Mining Sector deceived a whole President of Ghana to put his Presidency on the line and he was nearly defeated in the 2020 Presidential Election due to his very poor knowledge of Galamsey Operations. President Nana Addo failed to understand why some people in the areas of precious minerals like Gold like as in Prestea and Industrial Minerals like Salt as at Ada, Prampram etc are sympathizers of the NDC (or PNDC minus P) and normally vote massively in an election for the Candidate who meets or may meet their interest , hence people matter. The Political and Economy History of Ghana will reveal the answers. History of Small Scale Mining It must be noted clearly that artisanal mining or Galamsey operation developed from the days of Abraham and Galamsey was in operation in Ghana before the establishment of the Britishs Gold Cost Colony by 1901. That was after the good work of George Ekem Ferguson by 1897 when he as a Surveyor, Cartographer and negotiator brought the Northern Territories as part of the British Protectorate by 1897. And after the Ashantis were conquered in 1900 in the Yaa Asantewaa War in 1900, the Ashanti kingdom and the Northern Territory were combined with the Coastal Territories to form the Gold Coast Colony by 1901. So as part of the good work of the Colonial Administration especially in preservation of the land, Small Scale Mining was banned in 1902, and further in 1933 by the Colonial Administration. So, they restricted Mining to Underground Mining which was conducted by the European Companies and the locals were restricted to farming etc so as to consolidate their authority in the Gold Coast Colony, Fellow Citizens, despite the ban of Small Scale Mining by the Colonial masters, Small Scale Mining persisted up to the post-independence era of Dr Nkrumahs Ghana. So the CPP of Dr Nkrumah enacted the Minerals Act 1962 and vested all minerals in the President for the people of Ghana. Dr Nkrumah as part of Nationalization program, he bought the Underground Mines in Tarkwa and Prestea European Companies and established the State Gold Mining Corporation through the Minerals Act 1965 and further outlawed Small Scale Mining or branded Small Scale Mining as illegal. It must be noted that with development or civilization, Galamsey was/ is globally acknowledged as a simple method of mining in the economy sector for works of goldsmiths or simply for livelihood and thus in the economic sector Galamsey falls within the Small Scale Mining Sector or bracket or universal set as mainly an informal economy activity involving million operators . So Galamsey as a method of mining, can take place in a legally granted concession which was the state of affairs since 1986 when Galamsey was legalized by the PNDC as part of the process for the legalization and formalization of Small Scale Mining effective 1986 with the inclusion of section 77 of the Minerals and Mining Law 1986 (PNDCL153). Please Google for Minerals and Mining Law 1986 (PNDCL153) for section 77 and Small Scale Mining Gold Mining Law 1989 (PNDCL218) and read at section 21 at page 6 and common sense will tell that PNDC saw Galamsey as a disaster area which must be contained by Legalization and Formalization and legalized Galamsey with the Small Scale Mining Gold Mining Law 1989 (PNDCL218) as Ghanas Small Scale Mining law was/is Galamsey law pending formalization which is purely pursued. So the answer also lies on proper formalization. Folks to confirm the legalization of Galamsey in 1989, let me add that the PNDC in 1989 also legalized another informal sector which was Banker to Banker Lotto operations by the passage of the District Lotto Law 1989 (PNDCL223) as intervention to save the jobs of over thousand operators who were harassed by the National Lottery Authority . Furthermore as part of win-win solutions PNDC legalized in 1992 mall Scale Mining or Galamsey salt mining operation in Ada-Songor Lagoon by Act 1992 (PNDCL287). Google for We demand the implementation of Ada-Songor Lagoon Act 1992 (PNDC287).for salt development in Ada. The attention of the affected Chief and his people to be drawn to section 6 of Article 257 of the 1992 Constitution which vested all minerals (gold, bauxite, manganese, iron, salt, limestone, and sand for construction) in the President. So since PNDCL287 is inferior to the Constitutional provision, the people do not have a case. But my good friend the CEO of McDan Group of Companies and the Government should jointly provide Alternative Livelihood Projects, employment etc to the affected persons, since the salt belong the whole people of Ghana and Salt is white gold, the large scale production of salt by ElectroChem Ghana Ltd will be a very great beneficial to the economy of the nation at this time and future and the people also stand to gain more through Royalties, developments, jobs, scholarships. More education by the Media through the support of ElectroChem Ghana Ltd will help win the support of the people for the operations of ElectroChem Ghana Ltd. Further proof on the Galamsey Law, was the legalization and formalization in 1996 of the Obuasi Galamsey village, Kejetia Galamsey village and Bataman Galamsey village established in 1995 in Gbane in the Talensi District in the Upper Region by people from the Ashanti Region which were later on found Minerals Commission in 1996 and they got these Galamsey villages legalized by the then PNDC Secretary for Mines based on the recommendations of the Minerals Commission. Similar to the Legalization and Formalization of Slums. The legalization of the Obuasi Galamsey Village and the others involved the granting of Mining Licenses or Rights to the indigene land owners who then partitioned their Concessions and use their Mining Rights to legalize and formalize the operations of the immigrants at the Obuasi Galamsey Village, Kejetia Galamsey Village and Bataman Galamsey Village and shared returns through the tributary (percentage sharing) system. This model of Galamsey Villages established Gbane was part of the Policy of Live and Let us, Live when in 2004, I recommended to the Management of Bogoso Mine for the establishment of Galamsey Village in Prestea which was approved and made me through the then DCE of the area namely Mr Ayensu and the then Hon MP of the area namely Hon Mr Aubbin with the support of then Chairman of the Western Regional Security Council now of COCOBOD, the formation of the Prestea Mining Group to operate under the auspices of the Company and under my control was one of the success story of the committee established by Bogoso Mine which enable mining operation in Prestea. Furthermore, in conjunction with AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine, the Bogoso Mine in 2005 made an attempt to acquire a concession at Ayanfuri to settle over 5,000 Galamsey operators from Prestea and Obuasi but due to technical reasons I aborted the idea. You may read this in the email below. At this juncture let me categorically and boldly state that the Regimes of President Kofour and President Mahama may be blamable for the involvement of the Chinese in worsening of the debacle in the Small Scale Mining as narrated by the Chinese Journalist as mentioned above. The Regime of President Nana Addo also shares the blame because due to both incompetency and massive corruption, it is finding it difficult to bring the risk in the Small Scale Mining sector to the barest minimum within the six years of his regime despite clothed with enormous powers. Having conquered her 21 years deadline, Regina Atatsi is among the millions of people around the world living with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). Her dream of becoming an athlete has been aborted because of the severe chest pains she suffers anytime she tries running. Battling the disease for 30 years, Ms Atatsi, who discovered her ailment at an early age, has had to live on folic acids and multivitamins until recently when she was also put on hydroxyurea, a medicine used to treat SCD. Her ordeal began at age nine when she fell ill, was rushed to a private hospital and immediately referred to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, where she was diagnosed with the disease. According to her, the disease is the worse pain anyone could ever experience. When I have sickle cell crisis, there is nothing I can do on my own and this makes it even more painful because you have to depend on relatives, friends and nurses to help you get around, she said. Ms Atatsi had her own fair share of disapprovals and discriminations including death predictions as a result of her condition but her faith factor has kept her going. Despite these pressures and her ordeal, she is a SCD warrior, married with two kids (both AS) and has plans to begin her own business soon. Ms Atatsi also firmly believes that SCD is not a death sentence as dreams could still be achieved, just persevere. EXPERT Dr Mary Ansong, Founder, International Sickle Cell Centre (ISCC) happens to be a carrier of the sickle cell trait and has lost two loved ones, a relative and a friend from SCD. Speaking in an interview with this reporter last Wednesday in Accra, she explained that SCD is an inherited blood disorder that one is born with, adding that everyone inherits two sets of hemoglobin genes, one from the mother and another from the father and that gave the red blood cells (RBCs) the ability to carry oxygen to different parts of the body. However, in SCD, Dr Ansong said the RBCs, which normally have a round, flexible, doughnut shape become banana shaped. The sickle-shaped red blood cells are therefore hard and sticky, and this blocks blood flow in tiny blood vessels. She stated that this results in pain (which can be very severe) as well as other complications like stroke, visual disturbances or even blindness, and damage to affected body organs like the spleen, liver, heart, lungs and kidney. Dr Ansong also noted that SCD is caused by a slight change, called a point-mutation, in the beta-globin gene which is found in hemoglobin. According to Verywell Health, a health propagation brand, the most common form of SCD is called hemoglobin SS. The other major types are: hemoglobin SC, sickle beta zero thalassemia, and sickle beta plus thalassemia. Hemoglobin SS and sickle beta zero thalassemia are the most severe forms of sickle-cell disease and are sometimes referred to as sickle cell anemia. Hemoglobin SC disease is considered moderate and in general, sickle beta plus thalassemia is the mildest form of sickle-cell disease. Signs of SCD include pain, fatigue, infection and stroke while treatment includes blood transfusions, penicillin, hydroxyurea, bone marrow transplantation and immunisations. FIGURES The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that SCD affects approximately 100,000 Americans. It says that SCD occurs among about one out of every 365 Black or African-American births and occurs among about one out of every 16,300 Hispanic-American births. Also, about one in 13 Black or African-American babies is born with sickle cell trait (SCT). SCD is a major public health problem with over 200,000 babies born per year with the disease in Africa. Approximately 80 per cent of all children born with SCD are in sub-Saharan Africa. In Ghana, the United States National Library of Medicine states that SCD is a significant public health burden with two per cent (about 15,000) of newborns affected by SCD; one in three Ghanaians has the hemoglobin S and/or C gene. The Sickle Cell World Assessment Survey (SWAY) surveyed patients on the impact of the disease on their daily lives. A total of 2,145 patients from 16 countries completed the survey from April 3 to October 4, 2019. The survey included patients from high-income (HI) and low-middle-income (LMI) countries, and used a seven-point Likert scale, with scores of five, six, or seven indicating high impact or high severity. Of the participants surveyed, the majority indicated that SCD affected their emotional wellbeing (60%). Many patients also reported feeling frustrated with putting up with symptoms (58%), and worries about worsening disease (58%). In addition, the majority of patients reported avoidance of intense physical activity (62%). A total of 53% of patients felt that SCD limited them to certain careers, 44% reported that SCD has prevented them from attending work, and 46% reported that SCD reduced attendance at school. Fatigue, bone aches, and headaches were the three most commonly reported symptoms (41%, 38%, and 25%, respectively). Patients who experienced these symptoms were more likely to respond that the disease had a high impact on their lives or wellbeing. Fatigue was the most common symptom in patients before the survey (65%). ADVICE Dr Ansong indicated that SCD is prevalent in the country, with one in three Ghanaians being carriers of the AS or AC genotype and 18,000 children born this year with the disease. Unfortunately, she said many parents only discovered their sickle cell genotype after the birth of a precious child with the condition. Nonetheless, SCD is not a death sentence. With early diagnosis, treatment, education and a supportive community, people living with the condition can enjoy full and healthy lives, she added. As such, Dr Ansong advised that having Hb electrophoresis test done was the first step in knowing one's sickle cell genotype. The second step is to seek genetic counselling to provide you the needed information about the various reproductive choices you can make to protect the health of your future children. She emphasised that one could achieve his or her dreams and aspirations once they understood the disease, the triggers of pain episodes and how their body handles certain stressors. This helps you put the necessary checks in place to avoid the triggers of a sickle cell pain episode. Having a supportive community that love you and are equally knowledgeable about the condition also helps a lot. Dr Ansong emphasised that unlike before the 1990s, early diagnosis and the right medical care now allowed people living with SCD to survive into adulthood, adding that the oldest patient she knew in the country living with the disease was 98 years old, other patients are in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. She underscored that healthcare disparities and a lack of education led to the death of her relative and friend from SCD, as such, she encouraged all Ghanaians to educate themselves on the condition. Dr Ansong also used the opportunity to appeal to well-meaning individuals and organisations to pay more attention to SCD to help the millions of lives that are affected directly and indirectly by the condition. More than 2.5 million people have been uprooted by Sudan's conflict, the UN said Tuesday, but in the western Darfur region the bodies of those who couldn't escape lie face down in the dirt. A three-day ceasefire due to end Wednesday at dawn brought a brief respite to the capital Khartoum, gripped by the war that erupted on April 15 between two rival generals. But as the relatively-respected 72-hour truce drew to a close, a huge fire erupted at the intelligence headquarters in Khartoum. An army source, in comments to AFP, charged that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had "bombarded the building and caused the fire", while a paramilitary source countered that "an army drone bombed the building, where RSF fighters had gathered". Fighting has killed more than 2,000 people nationwide, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project said. The conflict sees the army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, battle the RSF commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. According to the US State Department, up to 1,100 have been killed in the city of El Geneina alone, the capital of West Darfur state in a region wracked by some of the bloodiest violence. The UN has spoken of possible "crimes against humanity" in Darfur, where the conflict has "taken an ethnic dimension", the world body said in a statement with the African Union and east African regional bloc IGAD. Bodies have remained on the streets of El Geneina, where months of unrest have left shops either vacant or gutted by looters. One lay covered on the asphalt, in front of an armoured vehicle. A dead man was partially curled up outside a house. Several others appeared to be lying face down together on a dirt road. 'Atrocities' A child carries bread in Khartoum, where the war has broad shortages of essential goods. By - (AFP) Residents have fled the city en masse, grabbing whatever they could to escape to the border with Chad. Some described being shot at by fighters and subject to searches during the perilous journey. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller has attributed the West Darfur "atrocities" primarily to the RSF, and the UN's Sudan mission chief, Volker Perthes, referred to reports of attacks "allegedly committed by Arab militias and some armed men" in RSF uniform. In an audio recording Tuesday, Daglo denounced "a tribal conflict" in El Geneina, claiming to have ordered his men "not to intervene" and accusing the army of "creating sedition by distributing weapons" to civilians. The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity, which has said it is being overwhelmed by the wounded flowing over the border to Chad, on Monday reported "almost 900 wounded and 15,000 Sudanese refugees" from the El Geneina area had reached the Chadian town of Adre in the last four days. At least 150,000 people have fled Darfur into Chad since the start of fighting, according to the UN. The number uprooted from their homes by the conflict has topped 2.5 million, including about 550,000 who have fled abroad, according to the International Organization for Migration. 'Lawlessness' Filippo Grandi, the head of the UN's refugee agency, on Tuesday said in an interview with AFP that there is "an element of insecurity that risks spreading," but he appealed to neighbouring countries to "please keep your borders open because these people are really fleeing for their lives." Sudan conflict: Over $3 billion needed for aid, fleeing refugees. By Gal ROMA, Laurence SAUBADU (AFP) Donors gathered Monday at a conference in Geneva where they pledged almost $1.5 billion -- only half of the estimated needs to combat the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and help its neighbours host those fleeing the fighting. More than half of Sudan's population, 25 million, require aid, the UN says. "The humanitarian needs have reached record levels in Sudan and there is still no sign of an end to the conflict," said Eddie Rowe, the World Food Programme's Sudan director. Alexander Kjaerum of the Danish Refugee Council described as "absolutely shameful" the funding levels for the conflict, comparing it to the outpouring of support received at the start of the war in Ukraine. The latest in a series of truces that have all been systematically violated began Sunday and is due to end at 6:00 am (0400 GMT) Wednesday. Although it brought a relative respite, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday said it was "not respected". An operation it carried out to transfer wounded soldiers to a hospital "had to be aborted after gunshots sounded in the immediate proximity of our convoy", the agency said. UN chief Antonio Guterres on Monday warned that "the scale and speed of Sudan's descent into death and destruction is unprecedented". "Without strong international support, Sudan could quickly become a locus of lawlessness, radiating insecurity across the region," he said. An Accra Circuit Court has granted a GHS900,000.00 bail with two sureties to a businessman over an alleged multiple sales of land. One of Benjamin Ransford Tettehs sureties should be justified at half of the amount of the bail sum. He was ordered by the Court presided over by Mrs Naa Quarshie to report to the Police twice in a month until the final determination of the case. Tettey, who is accused of selling the land to Mr Samuel Odametey Mensah, at 38,580 Euros and Joseph Okpoti Anang at GHS350,000.00, has denied the offence. He will make his next appearance in Court on July 5, 2023. Detective Chief Inspector Isaac Anquandah told the Court that Mr Mensah, the first complainant is a teacher whilst Anang, the second complainant, an aluminium fabricator, all residents of Teshie in the Greater Accra Region. He said Tetteh, the accused person is 61, a businessman and a resident of Teshie. Detective Chief Inspector Anquandah said in November 2021, one Hanna Osabutey, 82, a neighbour, approached Tetteh on behalf of the first complainant in respect of a parcel of land behind his residence, being offered for sale. After bargaining, a price of GHS350,000.00 was agreed upon of which a cash sum of 38,580 Euros was paid to the accused as part payment. After the said payment was made, the accused person ran away, the Court heard. The prosecution said after several efforts were made to locate the accused person failed, the first complainant lost interest in the said land and demanded a refund of his money. He said the accused person agreed and promised to refund the cash should he find a new buyer. Detective Chief Inspector Anquandah said in December 2022, the second complainant also approached the accused person in respect of the same parcel of land at GHC600,000.00 of which an initial payment of GHS350,000.00 was made to the accused person yet upon receipt of the cash, he failed to refund the first complainants money. He however went ahead to prevent the second complainant from developing the said parcel of land with reasons that he had not finished payment. He said when a report was made to the Police, efforts made to reach or trace the accused person proved futile. A warrant of arrest was obtained from the court and circulated which in effect led to the arrest of the accused person, Prosecution said. He said the accused person admitted in his investigation cautioned-statement to having taken monies from both complainants in respect of the said parcel of land. GNA A businessman has been granted a GHS 10,000.00 bail with two sureties by an Accra Circuit Court for issuing a false cheque. The accused person, Mr Richmond Worgbah, was said to have issued a false cheque of GHS 100,000.00 to the complainant, Madam Barbara Franklin Torsoo. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge. The court presided over by Mrs Evelyn Asamoah adjourned the case to July 17, 2023. The prosecution told the court that the complainant, Madam Torsoo, is a civil servant and a resident of McCarthy Hill, a suburb of Accra. It said the accused on the other hand is a businessman and a resident of the same place. The prosecution said, on May.16, 2022, the accused agreed with the complainant for her shop at McCarthy Hill. Both parties arrived at a cost of Ghc42.000.00 for a three-year lease. It said the accused made an upfront payment of Ghc32,000.00 with an outstanding balance of GHc10,000.00 to be paid in January 2023. All efforts made by the complainant to redeem the outstanding amount from the accused after the due time proved futile. The prosecution said the accused after renting the facility converted it into a pub which was actively patronized. It said the accused reached out to one Cecilia Franklin Torsoo, the younger sister of the complainant and a witness, in this case, to intercede for him. The accused later wrote a promissory note dated March 6, 2023, through the witness to the complainant pledging to pay the remaining amount by April 6, 2023. The prosecution said the accused on April 17, 2023, issued and signed an open cheque with a face value of GhS10,000.00 bearing the name of KINGS & QUEENS SPA & GROOMING through Cecilia Franklin Torsoo to be handed over to the complainant to settle the debt. It said the accused assured the complainant that she or any of her suppliers or clients could present the cheque on April 18, 2023. The complainant who owed a supplier by name, Mathilda Amissah- Nyarko, released the cheque to the said supplier to cash the amount on April 18, 2023, but the cheque was dishonoured by Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited North Industrial Area Branch. The prosecution said the accused was informed about the development and he asked them to present it the next day. The cheque was subsequently presented on April 20 and April 25, 2023, at the same Bank and Branch and again dishonoured on all occasions on the grounds that, the accused did not have adequate funds in the account. The prosecution said the complainant reported the accused to the Police and after investigations he was charged to appear before the court. -GNA An Accra Circuit Court has granted varied bail sums and conditions to three cashiers accused of stealing GHS 541,643.03 from Fairway Super Market, their employers. Priscilla Ocran Azadegbe, Blessed Dogbe and Esther Baba have denied the theft. The Court presided over by Mr Joojo Amoah Hagan admitted Priscilla to a bail of GHS200,000.00 with a surety to be justified, Blessed to GHS150,000.00 with a surety to be justified and Esther to a bail sum of GHS40,000.00, also with a surety to be justified. Priscilla has been accused of stealing GHS183,778.06, Blessed GHS118,791.55 and Esther GHS33,685.05 from their employers. They will make their next appearance on July 6, 2023. Police Inspector Dzigbordi Nego giving the facts said Mr Prince Nii Tackie, the complainant, is the Human Resource Manager of Fairway Supermarket whilst Priscilla, Esther and Blessed are cashiers of the same supermarket. They reside at Teshie, La Adzeman and La Bone, in that order, all in Accra. He said on May 10, 2023, the complainant accompanied by counsel of the supermarket reported to the Police that as part of the company's procedure, management took stock from August 2022 to April 2023 and detected a loss of over GHS 1,000,000 which was unusual. They, therefore, viewed the CCTV (Close Circuit Television) cameras at the supermarket to ascertain the cause of those losses. The CCTV camera captured the accused persons stealing various sums of money on a daily basis and this led to the arrest of the accused persons. They admitted stealing some of the money but denied the total sum mentioned by the complainant and they were granted police enquiry bail whilst investigations continued. The prosecution said investigations also revealed that the accused persons deleted invoices on the POS machine [Point of Sale] they are working on and stole those amounts of money that corresponded with the invoices deleted to cover up the theft. Inspector Nego said it was also detected that in January 2023, invoices with a face value of GHS139,575.03 were deleted from their various POS machines, in February 2023, invoices with a face value of GHS 84,576 were deleted from their POS machines and between March and April 2023 also recorded loss of GHS 158,026 and GHS159,466, respectively all to the tune of GHS 541,643.03 which invoices were deleted and those monies could not be accounted for by the accused persons. He said investigations also revealed that Priscilla during the month of January to April 2023 stole GHS183, 778.06 whilst Blessed and Esther also stole an amount of GHS118,791.55 and GHS33,685.05 respectively. The accused persons deposited some of those amounts in their mobile money wallets and bank accounts, the Court heard. He said efforts were underway to retrieve the rest of the money. GNA Opposition Member of Parliament for Tamale North, Alhassan Suhuyini has criticized Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia over his recent comments that he has a different vision for Ghana. He said Dr. Bawumia's comment suggests that he has a far bigger vision than his boss, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. According to Hon. Suhuyini, Dr. Bawumia's statements amount to insubordination and warrant his dismissal from the government. Speaking in an interview, Suhuyini remarked, "If I were Nana Akufo Addo, I would have fired him [Bawumia] the next day. He continued, It's of much wickedness that for six years, he's been sitting in the vice president's office with ideas that can transform this country, but the only time he will share with us is after enjoying the office of the vice president for eight years." Suhuyini further accused Dr. Bawumia of taking advantage of his position in the government to promote his own ambitions, rather than working to restore the economic crisis. "He thinks we are yoyos, we are so stupid that after he enjoys the Vice President's office with his brilliant ideas about how to transform Ghana for eight years, we will now make him president for him to come with those ideas," he said, describing the Veep as "Wicked!" The lawmaker also lamented the state of Ghana's economy which he described as a mess. "Almost every sector is on its knees in this country," he said, citing what he called the 'three Es': environmental, educational and economic mess. He asserted that aspiring NPP flagbearers comments were ill-timed and insensitive, given the challenges facing the country. Dr. Bawumia after filing his nomination forms for the New Patriotic Party's presidential primaries on Friday, June 16 said "I have a different vision for Ghana." He added, "I want to transform the economy to the next level." The Vice President's remarks have stirred a heated debate, with many questioning whether he truly believes in or supports the policies of the Akufo-Addo government, in which he plays a key role. 20.06.2023 LISTEN Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, the Majority Chief Whip, has boldly stated that his support for Vice President Dr Mahamadu Bawumia in the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) presidential primary will not waver. He is challenging the National Council of the party to strip him of his title if they deem his endorsement inappropriate for his position. Ghana goes to the polls in 2024 to elect a new president. Despite the NPP's guidelines directing members to refrain from openly endorsing any flagbearer aspirants, Annoh-Dompreh believes in Bawumia's competence as a key factor in his endorsement. The Majority Chief Whip believes that Bawumia's competence is evident, as he has the ability to counter the National Democratic Congress's (NDC) support in the Zongo communities and strengthen the party's backing in the northern regions. Mr Annoh-Dompreh remains resolute, asserting that his support for Bawumia will persist, even if others claim he is no longer aligned with the NPP. Mr Annoh-Dompreh confidently states that Bawumia is the only candidate capable of defeating John Dramani Mahama in the northern regions. He, thus, does not shy away from revealing that out of the 138 Members of Parliament (MPs) on the majority side, 120 are in support of Bawumia's candidacy. During an interview on Accra 100.5 FM's mid-day news on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, Annoh-Dompreh, who represents the Nsawam-Adoagyiri Constituency in the Eastern Region, openly challenged the National Council of the party. This took place following the grounding-breaking ceremony for the construction of a modern toilet facility for students of Old Tieku M.A Basic School in the Nsawam Municipality on Monday, June 19, 2023. Mr Annoh-Dompreh also highlighted the historical significance of the NPP, being founded by S.D. Dombo, and asserted that Bawumia represents the Dombo tradition within the party. Also, Mr Annoh-Dompreh suggested that it is time for the NPP to demonstrate its departure from being perceived as an Akan-centric party by having Bawumia as its leader. -classfmonline.com The Ghana Hajj Board has clarified that the reported death of Ghanaian citizen Zulfawu Isahaku during her pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia is not within their jurisdiction. The board stated in a press release issued today that they learned about the incident through a section of the media, but the deceased is not a registered Ghanaian pilgrim for this years Hajj. The circumstances surrounding Zulfawu Isahakus death remain unclear, but sources from 3news.com have attributed it to the hardship of her journey. The 68-year-old woman is said to be from Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It has been revealed that she was on a visiting visa, which is not permitted by Saudi authorities for the purpose of pilgrimage. These individuals allegedly infiltrate the Ghanaian pilgrim camp every year to observe the Hajj at the expense of government-registered pilgrims. The Ghana Hajj Board had previously issued a warning to potential pilgrims, cautioning them against attempting to travel to Saudi Arabia on such visas as it would result in arrest and handover to the authorities. In fact, over the weekend, three individuals who had attempted this were taken into custody. Zulfawu Isahaku had reportedly traveled to Mecca during the Umrah season with the intention of staying over to perform the Hajj with the official pilgrims. Regrettably, she faced difficult circumstances during her stay, which led to a deterioration in her health and ultimately resulted in her demise. The Ghana Consulate has been informed of the situation, and steps are being taken to arrange for her burial. The Ghana Hajj Board has refrained from issuing any further comments on the matter, emphasizing that it is the responsibility of the Ghana Embassy in Saudi Arabia. With this statement, the board aims to clarify its position and distance itself from the incident. -DGN online Chiefs and people of Doryumu in the Shai-Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region on Tuesday demonstrated against the deplorable state of road networks in the area. The residents, who came out in their numbers, clad in red and black to depict their sadness about the situation, danced, sang, and displayed placards to back their demand. Some of the placards read: CE, Stop Using Quarry Waste to Fill our Roads, We are Tired of Buying Spare Parts All the Time, Enough is Enough', The Dust is Killing Us, and We Breathe Dust, among others. Nene Anorbaah Sasraku II, a sub-chief of Doryumu, addressing the media, said the road issue was serious, questioning why the district that housed more than half of the country's quarry sites, where road materials were carted from, had been left with such deplorable roads. Nene Sasraku said they supplied almost half of the needed granite stones, which they used for road construction, and therefore called on the government to fix their roads for them to make movement and trading easy for residents and commuters. He said when boarding a vehicle from Doryumu to Ashaiman, drivers tell them that because of the poor nature of their roads, they increased the fare, a situation he said was beyond the financial capabilities of the ordinary residents. Asafoatse Nartey Otsifu IV, a traditional leader at Doryumu, also reiterated the need to fix the roads for them as he narrated how drivers' alight passengers at Agormeda when commuting from Koforidua in the Eastern Region to the town with the excuse that the road was too bad. He said, From here to town, when it rains, Ashaiman drivers refuse to load to Doryumu; the quarry sites are on our land, so what's the issue. He pleaded with the government that just as they see what had been done for other parts of the country, their plights should also be considered. GNA When one screws over large numbers of people at once, one should anticipate a lot of angry people. It would appear the self-declared "Imperator of Mars" and noted Pedo Guy, Elon Musk, miscalculated and does not have the legal resources to handle the multitude of labor violations he has committed. This seems odd to me as Musk seems to enjoy the company of lawyers, and adventuring in the US legal system. Having purchased Twitter with less due diligence than I afford, the nutritional information on a bag of chips, Musk failed to read any of the fine print and created one thousand nine hundred and eighty-six arbitration claims out of thin air! Arbitration claims have to be handled individually and are a real headache for a company struggling to finance its debt. TechDirt: Bancolombia S.A. (NYSE:CIB Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,130,000 shares, an increase of 8.7% from the May 15th total of 1,040,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 379,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 1.0% of the companys stock are short sold. Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Bancolombia from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Friday, April 14th. Bank of America cut shares of Bancolombia from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $31.00. Get Bancolombia alerts: Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bancolombia A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CIB. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new position in Bancolombia in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $21,404,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Bancolombia by 25.1% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,227,183 shares of the banks stock valued at $95,011,000 after buying an additional 446,778 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Bancolombia in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,165,000. Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new position in Bancolombia in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,641,000. Finally, Vontobel Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Bancolombia by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,521,737 shares of the banks stock valued at $71,485,000 after buying an additional 271,288 shares in the last quarter. Bancolombia Trading Down 2.6 % Shares of Bancolombia stock traded down $0.73 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $27.46. 319,400 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 361,151. Bancolombia has a 12 month low of $21.55 and a 12 month high of $38.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Bancolombia (NYSE:CIB Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 10th. The bank reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.41 billion. Bancolombia had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 17.92%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bancolombia will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Bancolombia Cuts Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 14th. Investors of record on Friday, June 30th will be issued a $0.6959 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 29th. This represents a $2.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.14%. Bancolombias dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.69%. About Bancolombia (Get Rating) Bancolombia SA provides various banking products and services to individual, corporate, and government customers in Colombia, Latin America, and the Caribbean region. It operates through following operating segments: Banking Colombia, Banking Panama, Banking El Salvador, Banking Guatemala, Trust, Investment banking, Brokerage, Off Shore and Others. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Bancolombia Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bancolombia and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Baillie Gifford China Growth Trust PLC (LON:BGCG Get Rating) declared a dividend on Wednesday, April 5th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Investors of record on Thursday, June 22nd will be given a dividend of GBX 1.70 ($0.02) per share on Wednesday, July 26th. This represents a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 22nd. The official announcement can be seen at this link. Baillie Gifford China Growth Trust Stock Performance LON:BGCG opened at GBX 222.36 ($2.85) on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.16. Baillie Gifford China Growth Trust has a fifty-two week low of GBX 204.53 ($2.62) and a fifty-two week high of GBX 348 ($4.45). The firm has a market cap of 137.88 million, a PE ratio of -1,130.00 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 231.96 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 263.11. Get Baillie Gifford China Growth Trust alerts: About Baillie Gifford China Growth Trust (Get Rating) Featured Articles Baillie Gifford China Growth Trust PLC is an open-end equity mutual fund launched by Witan Investment Services Limited. It is co-managed by Dalton Investments LLC;Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited;Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.;Matthews International Capital Management, LLC. It invests in public equity markets of Asia / Pacific region. Receive News & Ratings for Baillie Gifford China Growth Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Baillie Gifford China Growth Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Biotricity, Inc. (OTCMKTS:BTCY Get Rating)s stock price fell 7.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $0.65 and last traded at $0.65. 21,600 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 170,970 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.70. Biotricity Trading Down 7.7 % The businesss fifty day moving average is $0.63 and its 200 day moving average is $0.66. The company has a market cap of $34.13 million, a P/E ratio of -1.62 and a beta of 2.39. Get Biotricity alerts: Institutional Investors Weigh In On Biotricity A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTCY. Susquehanna International Group LLP boosted its position in Biotricity by 53.7% during the first quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 57,305 shares of the companys stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 20,024 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Biotricity in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Biotricity in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $50,000. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Biotricity by 199.6% during the 1st quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 150,100 shares of the companys stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Biotricity during the 1st quarter valued at $77,000. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. About Biotricity Biotricity, Inc, a medical technology company, provides biometric data monitoring solutions primarily in the United States. The company focuses on delivery of remote monitoring solutions to medical, healthcare, and consumer markets, including diagnostic and post-diagnostic solutions for lifestyle and chronic illnesses. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Biotricity Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Biotricity and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. B&M European Value Retail S.A. (OTCMKTS:BMRRY Get Rating)s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $28.92 and last traded at $28.87, with a volume of 10147 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.44. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research firms have recently commented on BMRRY. Royal Bank of Canada raised B&M European Value Retail from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report on Monday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised B&M European Value Retail from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $472.50. Get B&M European Value Retail alerts: B&M European Value Retail Trading Up 1.5 % The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.11. B&M European Value Retail Company Profile B&M European Value Retail SA operates general merchandise and grocery stores. The company operates a chain of 701 stores under the B&M brand, and 311 stores under the Heron Foods and B&M Express brands in the United Kingdom; and 107 stores under the B&M brand in France. It also provides employment and property management services. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for B&M European Value Retail Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for B&M European Value Retail and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Aareal Bank (OTCMKTS:AAALF Get Rating) is one of 184 public companies in the BanksRegional industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Aareal Bank to related companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, profitability, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership. Profitability This table compares Aareal Bank and its rivals net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Get Aareal Bank alerts: Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Aareal Bank N/A N/A N/A Aareal Bank Competitors 23.66% 11.67% 1.05% Insider and Institutional Ownership 40.3% of Aareal Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.7% of shares of all BanksRegional companies are owned by institutional investors. 11.4% of shares of all BanksRegional companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth. Dividends Analyst Ratings Aareal Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Aareal Bank pays out 10.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, BanksRegional companies pay a dividend yield of 10.6% and pay out 15.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Aareal Bank and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Aareal Bank 0 0 0 0 N/A Aareal Bank Competitors 1166 3601 3423 54 2.29 As a group, BanksRegional companies have a potential upside of 46.84%. Given Aareal Banks rivals higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Aareal Bank has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals. Valuation and Earnings This table compares Aareal Bank and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Aareal Bank N/A N/A 6.22 Aareal Bank Competitors $1.95 billion $501.86 million 391.45 Aareal Banks rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Aareal Bank. Aareal Bank is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry. Summary Aareal Bank rivals beat Aareal Bank on 9 of the 10 factors compared. Aareal Bank Company Profile (Get Rating) Aareal Bank AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides financing, software products, digital solutions, and payment transaction applications for the property sector and related industries in Germany, North America, Asia Pacific, and rest of Europe. It operates through three segments: Structured Property Financing, Banking & Digital solutions, and Aareon. The Structured Property Financing segment offers property financing and refinancing solutions for office buildings, hotels, and shopping centers, as well as retail, logistics, residential properties, and student housing. This segment also provides deposits, registered and bearer Pfandbriefe, promissory note loans, medium-term notes, debt securities, private placements, other bonds and subordinated issues, mortgage Pfandbriefe, and public sector Pfandbriefe. The Banking & Digital solutions segment offers various services and products for the residential and commercial property, and energy and waste disposal industries. Its services include specialized banking, payment systems, and optimized business processes. The Aareon segment provides IT systems consultancy and related advisory services, enterprise resource planning systems, software solutions, hosting and software as a service, and in-house services. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany. Receive News & Ratings for Aareal Bank Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Aareal Bank and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. SpareBank 1 SMN (OTCMKTS:SRMGF Get Rating) is one of 195 publicly-traded companies in the BanksRegional industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare SpareBank 1 SMN to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends and analyst recommendations. Profitability This table compares SpareBank 1 SMN and its peers net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Get SpareBank 1 SMN alerts: Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets SpareBank 1 SMN N/A N/A N/A SpareBank 1 SMN Competitors 34.12% 9.92% 0.80% Analyst Ratings This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for SpareBank 1 SMN and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score SpareBank 1 SMN 0 0 0 0 N/A SpareBank 1 SMN Competitors 955 2736 2822 18 2.29 Earnings & Valuation As a group, BanksRegional companies have a potential upside of 48.97%. Given SpareBank 1 SMNs peers higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe SpareBank 1 SMN has less favorable growth aspects than its peers. This table compares SpareBank 1 SMN and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio SpareBank 1 SMN N/A N/A 1.31 SpareBank 1 SMN Competitors $2.88 billion $674.01 million 369.36 SpareBank 1 SMNs peers have higher revenue and earnings than SpareBank 1 SMN. SpareBank 1 SMN is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry. Dividends SpareBank 1 SMN pays an annual dividend of $1.31 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.4%. SpareBank 1 SMN pays out 15.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, BanksRegional companies pay a dividend yield of 11.6% and pay out 15.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Insider and Institutional Ownership 33.8% of SpareBank 1 SMN shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 31.7% of shares of all BanksRegional companies are held by institutional investors. 14.8% of shares of all BanksRegional companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term. Summary SpareBank 1 SMN peers beat SpareBank 1 SMN on 8 of the 10 factors compared. About SpareBank 1 SMN (Get Rating) SpareBank 1 SMN, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking, accounting, and real estate products and services to private individuals and companies in Norway and internationally. The company offers mortgage, car, boat, other vehicles, and consumer loans; refinancing; and current, savings, billing, business, group, tax deduction, currency, and deposit accounts. It also provides BSU house savings for young people; fixed interest deposits; stocks and investments; cash services; and payments. In addition, the company offers vehicle, housing and travel, person, animal, and valuables insurance services; property buying and selling advisory services; and mobile and online banking, and various cards. Further, it offers loans and financing, including bank guarantees, business and construction loans, operating credit for agriculture, factoring, guarantees, leasing, and overdrafts; various pension products; and business and personal insurance products. Additionally, the company provides document collection, letter of credit, future business, and currency option services; and services, including accounting and payroll, HR, taxes and duties, and transfer of ownership, as well as IT solutions. It offers real estate agency, advisory, and external and equity financing services. SpareBank 1 SMN was founded in 1823 and is headquartered in Trondheim, Norway. Receive News & Ratings for SpareBank 1 SMN Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for SpareBank 1 SMN and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Credit Suisse FI Large Cap Growth Enhanced ETN (NYSEARCA:FLGE Get Rating) shares dropped 1.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $809.53 and last traded at $809.53. Approximately 3,100 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 352% from the average daily volume of 686 shares. The stock had previously closed at $818.83. Credit Suisse FI Large Cap Growth Enhanced ETN Stock Down 1.1 % The companys 50 day moving average price is $809.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $809.53. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Credit Suisse FI Large Cap Growth Enhanced ETN Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Credit Suisse FI Large Cap Growth Enhanced ETN and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crown (NYSE:CCK Get Rating) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday. CCK has been the topic of several other research reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Crown from $103.00 to $108.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Crown from $86.00 to $79.00 in a report on Monday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Crown from $103.00 to $104.00 in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Crown has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $97.60. Get Crown alerts: Crown Price Performance NYSE CCK opened at $88.81 on Friday. Crown has a 12 month low of $66.00 and a 12 month high of $102.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.06. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $81.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.01. Crown Dividend Announcement Crown ( NYSE:CCK Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Crown had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 31.41%. The companys revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Crown will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. Crowns payout ratio is 18.90%. Insider Activity at Crown In related news, Director James H. Miller sold 9,300 shares of Crown stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.86, for a total transaction of $789,198.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,801 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,680,312.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aurora Investment Counsel raised its stake in Crown by 18.2% in the first quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 13,915 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Crown by 0.7% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 94,978 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $7,856,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Crown by 9.5% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 261,321 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $21,615,000 after purchasing an additional 22,656 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Crown by 18.6% during the first quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 12,557 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 1,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Colony Group LLC grew its position in Crown by 3.0% during the first quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 6,798 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the companys stock. About Crown (Get Rating) Crown Holdings, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of packaging products and equipment for consumer goods. The firm offers aerosol cans, beverage, promotional, and transit packaging, closures and capping, and food cans. It operates through the following segments: Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Transit Packaging. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Crown Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Crown and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Delphi Energy Corp. (DEE.TO) (TSE:DEE Get Rating) shares fell 7.9% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as C$0.33 and last traded at C$0.35. 29,072 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 40,712 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.38. Delphi Energy Corp. (DEE.TO) Price Performance The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$0.35. The company has a market capitalization of C$8.41 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 140.95, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.01. About Delphi Energy Corp. (DEE.TO) (Get Rating) Delphi Energy Corp., an oil and natural gas company, explores for, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in Western Canada. The company primarily holds interests in the Bigstone Montney property located in the Deep Basin of Northwest Alberta. It distributes natural gas through Alliance pipeline system in Chicago. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Delphi Energy Corp. (DEE.TO) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Delphi Energy Corp. (DEE.TO) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund (NYSEAMERICAN:EIM Get Rating) announced a monthly dividend on Monday, June 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.0354 per share on Friday, June 30th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 21st. Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund Price Performance EIM stock opened at $9.93 on Tuesday. Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund has a twelve month low of $9.38 and a twelve month high of $11.24. Get Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund alerts: Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund during the first quarter worth approximately $243,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund by 8.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 22,080 shares of the companys stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund by 19.1% in the first quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 20,185 shares of the companys stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 3,240 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund in the first quarter valued at $189,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund by 15.1% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 15,252 shares of the companys stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. About Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund is a closed-ended investment fund. It has an objective of providing current income exempt from federal income tax including alternate minimum tax. The company was founded on August 30, 2002 and is headquartered in Boston, MA. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Brad Terminis proposal for a high-tech cannabis cultivation and manufacturing facility got the green light from the city almost two years ago to start building in South Buffalo. But that was before Terminis California-based company realized it needs to widen its driveway and entrance so it can accommodate big semi trucks. Sign up for the Buffalo Next free newsletter The News' Buffalo Next team covers the changing Buffalo Niagara economy. Get the news in your inbox 5 days a week. Terminis Zephyr Partners is constructing a sprawling complex for marijuana cultivation and manufacturing, using 72.4 acres of vacant land in the Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park, just off Tifft Street, east of Route 5. Plans ultimately call for creating more than 1.38 million square feet of building space to grow marijuana plants, make a variety of products and conduct medical research including on the potential benefits for cancer patients. But the developer and its partner, Toronto-based RIV Capital and U.S. subsidiary Etain LLC, will start small at first, focusing initially on 10.8 acres of land at 310 Ship Canal Parkway of which only 5.3 acres can be used and another 4.9 acres at 15 Laborers Way. Both sites are north of the Union Ship Canal. Zephyr is constructing a 68,275-square-foot manufacturing facility and a 7,076-square-foot office building, both single-story structures. The larger facility reduced from the original plan of 136,000-square feet on two floors will cultivate and process the cannabis into products that will be shipped throughout the state. But to receive materials and distribute its products, it needs to accommodate large containers and trucks. So, Zephyr is asking the citys Zoning Board of Appeals for approval to exceed the Green Codes maximum driveway width by 6 feet to 30 feet, while more than doubling the maximum curb cut to 50 feet. Without a larger curb cut and driveway, large semi trucks would not be able to access the facility, which ultimately would have a devastating effect on the tenants ability to conduct business, according to the application, submitted by owners representative Benjamin Siegel of Wendel Companies. There is no other way to safely receive vendor trucks on the property without enlarging the curb cut and driveway. Larkinville Derek Sullivans Anchor Property Development of Elma, an affiliate of Buffalo Bungalow, is proposing to construct six two-story commercial buildings, using a vacant and narrow triangular site near the eastern end of Exchange Street in Larkinville. Those would be targeted toward boutique shopping and services, according to a zoning variance application. Located at 935-945 Seneca St., with additional land on Exchange, the properties are on the south side of Seneca, north of Exchange, where both meet Smith Street. They total 0.6 acres of undeveloped green space. The identical buildings would be 1,008 square feet each, with a full first floor and a partial mezzanine, for a total of 6,888 square feet. Four buildings would be perpendicular to Seneca, while two would be parallel, closer to the Smith intersection. The project would also include driveways from both Seneca and Exchange between the two building clusters, plus 15 onsite parking spaces, utilities, stormwater management and landscaping. The developer is asking the ZBA for eight variances for the project, which also requires a combination of the properties and minor administrative site plan approval from the city Planning Department. Meanwhile, the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority is asking the Zoning Board of Appeals for four variances for its plan to fix, mill and repave the parking lot at the 132-unit Holling Homes complex at 2613 Delaware Ave. The new lot will have 79 parking spaces, down by five to accommodate two new handicapped-accessible spaces for the aging population, without displacing parkers onto the neighborhood streets. As part of the project, the agency is moving the drive-aisle and some of the parking, while adding landscaping. EnerSys (NYSE:ENS Get Rating) had its target price lifted by Oppenheimer from $110.00 to $119.00 in a report released on Friday, The Fly reports. Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of EnerSys in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a strong-buy rating for the company. Get EnerSys alerts: EnerSys Stock Performance ENS stock opened at $104.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.35. EnerSys has a 12 month low of $55.60 and a 12 month high of $107.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $90.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.74. EnerSys Dividend Announcement EnerSys ( NYSE:ENS Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $990.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $953.05 million. EnerSys had a net margin of 4.74% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that EnerSys will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 15th. EnerSyss dividend payout ratio is currently 16.43%. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, insider Andrew M. Zogby sold 10,537 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.21, for a total transaction of $1,098,060.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,495 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,135,783.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.78% of the stock is owned by insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On EnerSys Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ENS. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of EnerSys in the 1st quarter valued at $60,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of EnerSys by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 850 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of EnerSys by 58.2% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 930 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EnerSys during the 1st quarter worth about $87,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EnerSys during the 1st quarter worth about $97,000. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. EnerSys Company Profile (Get Rating) EnerSys provides various stored energy solutions for industrial applications worldwide. It operates in three segments: Energy Systems, Motive Power, and Specialty. The company offers uninterruptible power systems applications for computer and computer-controlled systems, as well as telecommunications systems; switchgear and electrical control systems used in industrial facilities and electric utilities, large-scale energy storage, and energy pipelines; integrated power solutions and services to broadband, telecom, renewable, and industrial customers; and thermally managed cabinets and enclosures for electronic equipment and batteries. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for EnerSys Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for EnerSys and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. GenWealth Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of iShares S&P 500 Value ETF (NYSEARCA:IVE Get Rating) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,350 shares of the companys stock after selling 96 shares during the period. iShares S&P 500 Value ETF accounts for 0.9% of GenWealth Group Inc.s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. GenWealth Group Inc.s holdings in iShares S&P 500 Value ETF were worth $2,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA lifted its position in shares of iShares S&P 500 Value ETF by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 8,388 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,217,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of iShares S&P 500 Value ETF by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 2,754 shares of the companys stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. NorthLanding Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares S&P 500 Value ETF by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. NorthLanding Financial Partners LLC now owns 17,850 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,590,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. First Manhattan Co. lifted its position in shares of iShares S&P 500 Value ETF by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 15,916 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,478,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares S&P 500 Value ETF by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,017 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,018,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Get iShares S&P 500 Value ETF alerts: iShares S&P 500 Value ETF Stock Down 0.8 % Shares of NYSEARCA:IVE traded down $1.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $158.82. 180,925 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 780,305. iShares S&P 500 Value ETF has a 12 month low of $127.33 and a 12 month high of $161.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85 and a beta of 0.94. The firms fifty day moving average price is $153.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.18. iShares S&P 500 Value ETF Profile iShares S&P 500 Value ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares S&P 500 Value Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P 500 Value Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the large-capitalization value sector of the United States equity market and consists of those stocks in the S&P 500 exhibiting the strongest value characteristics. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IVE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares S&P 500 Value ETF (NYSEARCA:IVE Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for iShares S&P 500 Value ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares S&P 500 Value ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ithaca Energy Inc (OTCMKTS:IACAF Get Rating) shares traded up 1.6% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $1.45 and last traded at $1.45. 4,100 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 51,886 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.43. Ithaca Energy Price Performance The firms 50-day moving average price is $1.45. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Ithaca Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ithaca Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH Get Rating) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 166,124 shares of the medical research companys stock after purchasing an additional 2,696 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.19% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $38,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,436,397 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $2,342,288,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,859,128 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $2,863,118,000 after acquiring an additional 106,063 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 532.2% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,530,675 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $360,441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288,574 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,317,815 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $310,319,000 after acquiring an additional 218,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 1,217,674 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $249,392,000 after acquiring an additional 12,157 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Laboratory Co. of America alerts: Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 1.7 % LH traded down $3.99 on Tuesday, reaching $230.28. 158,913 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 605,915. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The company has a market cap of $20.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.26 and a beta of 1.04. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $200.32 and a 52-week high of $263.13. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $223.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $232.58. Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend Laboratory Co. of America ( NYSE:LH Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 6.78%. The businesss revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.11 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.83 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 17th. Laboratory Co. of Americas payout ratio is currently 26.13%. Insider Activity In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CEO Paul R. Kirchgraber sold 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.91, for a total transaction of $932,713.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,946 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,808,116.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Paul R. Kirchgraber sold 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.91, for a total value of $932,713.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,808,116.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 1,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.77, for a total transaction of $325,155.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,687 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,449,540.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,697 shares of company stock worth $2,137,850. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of research firms have commented on LH. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $304.00 to $288.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 12th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $235.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $265.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $315.00 to $290.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $273.50. About Laboratory Co. of America (Get Rating) Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as a life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients make clear and confident decisions. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics and Labcorp Drug Development. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Laboratory Co. of America Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Laboratory Co. of America and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Lennar (NYSE:LEN Get Rating) had its price objective increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $130.00 to $145.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, The Fly reports. A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on LEN. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Lennar from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Friday, March 17th. JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on Lennar from $120.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Lennar from $103.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on Lennar from $94.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $121.53. Get Lennar alerts: Lennar Stock Up 0.2 % Shares of NYSE LEN opened at $120.02 on Friday. Lennar has a 52 week low of $62.54 and a 52 week high of $121.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 7.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $34.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.44. Lennar Dividend Announcement Insiders Place Their Bets The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 26th were paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 25th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. Lennars dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.24%. In other news, CFO Diane J. Bessette sold 9,289 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $958,253.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.53% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEN. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 10.7% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 12,184 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $989,000 after buying an additional 1,173 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lennar by 6.8% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 9,499 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Lennar by 172.1% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 14,925 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 9,440 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,711,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the first quarter valued at approximately $200,000. 82.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Lennar Company Profile (Get Rating) Lennar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a homebuilder primarily under the Lennar brand in the United States. It operates through Homebuilding East, Homebuilding Central, Homebuilding Texas, Homebuilding West, Financial Services, Multifamily, and Lennar Other segments. The company's homebuilding operations include the construction and sale of single-family attached and detached homes, as well as the purchase, development, and sale of residential land; and development, construction, and management of multifamily rental properties. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Lennar Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lennar and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Masonite International (NYSE:DOOR Get Rating) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday. A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Masonite International from $102.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Masonite International from $110.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Masonite International from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Wednesday, May 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $106.43. Get Masonite International alerts: Masonite International Stock Performance DOOR traded down $2.21 during trading on Monday, hitting $98.71. 276,100 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 134,794. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. Masonite International has a 1-year low of $65.71 and a 1-year high of $104.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $93.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.08. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. Insider Buying and Selling Masonite International ( NYSE:DOOR Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 8th. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $726.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.20 million. Masonite International had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 6.40%. The firms revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Masonite International will post 7.91 earnings per share for the current year. In related news, CAO Catherine Anne Shellabarger sold 803 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total value of $75,080.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $352,401.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Catherine Anne Shellabarger sold 803 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total value of $75,080.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,769 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $352,401.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alexander Albert Legall sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.01, for a total value of $156,417.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $299,676.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.21% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Masonite International Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Masonite International by 421.9% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 381 shares of the companys stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Masonite International by 3,100.0% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 416 shares of the companys stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Masonite International in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Masonite International by 55.0% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 513 shares of the companys stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Masonite International in the first quarter worth approximately $46,000. About Masonite International (Get Rating) Masonite International Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes interior and exterior doors for the new construction and repair, renovation, and remodeling sectors of the residential and non-residential building construction markets worldwide. It offers molded panel, flush, stile and rail, steel, and fiberglass residential doors, as well as medium-density fiberboard (MDF) and architectural interior doors. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Masonite International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Masonite International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA Get Rating) by 10.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,782 shares of the credit services providers stock after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLCs holdings in Mastercard were worth $648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. Bornite Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $21,442,000. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 34.5% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 6,007 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 30.1% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 272,358 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $97,335,000 after acquiring an additional 63,040 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $1,168,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $12,926,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.33% of the companys stock. Get Mastercard alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several brokerages recently weighed in on MA. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $414.00 to $442.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $405.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $472.00 to $476.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $392.00 to $404.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $438.00 to $440.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $417.27. Mastercard Stock Performance MA traded down $1.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $375.16. The companys stock had a trading volume of 937,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,828,603. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $276.87 and a fifty-two week high of $392.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $355.60 billion, a PE ratio of 37.62, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $375.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $365.29. Mastercard (NYSE:MA Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The credit services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.64 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 169.12% and a net margin of 42.33%. The firms revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.25 EPS for the current year. Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard In other Mastercard news, insider Timothy H. Murphy sold 27,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.49, for a total transaction of $10,267,392.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,263 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $14,703,600.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 5,164 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total transaction of $1,927,411.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,164 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,166,851.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy H. Murphy sold 27,417 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.49, for a total value of $10,267,392.33. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,263 shares of the companys stock, valued at $14,703,600.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 547,243 shares of company stock valued at $209,102,122. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Mastercard Company Profile (Get Rating) Mastercard, Inc is a technology company, which engages in the payments industry that connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments, and business. It offers payment solutions for the development and implementation of credit, debit, prepaid, commercial, and payment programs. The company was founded in November 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, NY. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Mastercard Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Mastercard and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com lowered shares of United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC Get Rating) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning. Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup upgraded United Microelectronics from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. HSBC downgraded United Microelectronics from a hold rating to a reduce rating and decreased their price target for the company from $6.80 to $6.46 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $6.46. Get United Microelectronics alerts: United Microelectronics Price Performance Shares of UMC stock opened at $8.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.29. United Microelectronics has a 52 week low of $5.36 and a 52 week high of $8.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.88 billion, a PE ratio of 7.88, a PEG ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.30. The stocks fifty day moving average is $8.23 and its 200-day moving average is $7.98. United Microelectronics Increases Dividend United Microelectronics ( NYSE:UMC Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 25.80% and a net margin of 30.96%. The business had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Equities research analysts expect that United Microelectronics will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.453 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 26th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.36%. This is a boost from United Microelectronicss previous annual dividend of $0.29. United Microelectronicss payout ratio is 40.54%. Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Microelectronics A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 117.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,604,207 shares of the semiconductor companys stock valued at $14,631,000 after buying an additional 865,977 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 210.9% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 289,563 shares of the semiconductor companys stock valued at $2,641,000 after buying an additional 196,429 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 12.5% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 56,596 shares of the semiconductor companys stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 6,274 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 5.7% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 41,532 shares of the semiconductor companys stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 2,233 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 26.4% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 68,427 shares of the semiconductor companys stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 14,293 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.35% of the companys stock. United Microelectronics Company Profile (Get Rating) United Microelectronics Corp. is engaged in the semiconductor foundry business, which offers complementary metal-oxide semiconductor logic wafers, mixed signal wafers, radio frequency complementary metal-oxide semiconductor wafers, embedded memory products, high voltage integrated circuits, and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor image sensors. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for United Microelectronics Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for United Microelectronics and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE:OHI Get Rating) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday. OHI has been the topic of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Omega Healthcare Investors from $36.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Omega Healthcare Investors from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Credit Suisse Group reiterated an underperform rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Omega Healthcare Investors in a report on Friday, March 31st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Omega Healthcare Investors in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. They issued an overweight rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Omega Healthcare Investors from $32.00 to $31.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Omega Healthcare Investors currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $30.40. Get Omega Healthcare Investors alerts: Omega Healthcare Investors Trading Down 0.4 % Shares of NYSE OHI opened at $31.06 on Friday. The firms 50 day moving average price is $28.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.31. Omega Healthcare Investors has a 52-week low of $25.61 and a 52-week high of $33.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 4.76 and a current ratio of 4.76. The company has a market cap of $7.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.01 and a beta of 1.00. Omega Healthcare Investors Increases Dividend Institutional Investors Weigh In On Omega Healthcare Investors The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 1st were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.63%. This is a positive change from Omega Healthcare Investorss previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 28th. Omega Healthcare Investorss dividend payout ratio is 233.05%. Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OHI. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Omega Healthcare Investors by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 20,517 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $639,000 after acquiring an additional 1,270 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its stake in Omega Healthcare Investors by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 326,488 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $10,510,000 after buying an additional 17,447 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Omega Healthcare Investors by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 67,846 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $2,114,000 after buying an additional 7,873 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. purchased a new stake in Omega Healthcare Investors in the 1st quarter worth $248,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Omega Healthcare Investors by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 184,776 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $5,758,000 after buying an additional 9,270 shares in the last quarter. 66.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Omega Healthcare Investors Company Profile (Get Rating) Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc engages in the provision of financing and capital to the long-term healthcare industry with a particular focus on skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, independent living facilities, rehabilitation and acute care facilities, and medical office buildings. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Omega Healthcare Investors Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Omega Healthcare Investors and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE Get Rating) by 18.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,433 shares of the conglomerates stock after purchasing an additional 1,605 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capitals holdings in General Electric were worth $984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First National Trust Co grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 3,655 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. TFO TDC LLC purchased a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in General Electric by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in General Electric by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,297 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Investors Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 25,569 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $2,142,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. 74.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get General Electric alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on General Electric from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised General Electric from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on General Electric from $115.00 to $125.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on General Electric from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Electric has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $103.87. General Electric Price Performance General Electric stock opened at $105.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 7.48 and a beta of 1.27. General Electric has a 12-month low of $46.55 and a 12-month high of $108.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firms 50-day moving average is $101.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.39. General Electric (NYSE:GE Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The conglomerate reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $14.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.46 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 11.85% and a return on equity of 9.45%. General Electrics revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that General Electric will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year. Insider Activity In other news, VP Thomas S. Timko sold 7,254 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.82, for a total transaction of $731,348.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,953 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,112,481.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 58,292 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.68, for a total transaction of $6,102,006.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 70,537 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,383,813.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas S. Timko sold 7,254 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.82, for a total value of $731,348.28. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,953 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,112,481.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 239,419 shares of company stock valued at $24,144,151 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.67% of the companys stock. General Electric Profile (Get Rating) General Electric Co engages in the provision of commercial and military aircraft engines and systems, wind, and other renewable energy generation equipment and grid solutions, and gas, steam, nuclear, and other power generation equipment. It operates through the following segments: Aviation, Healthcare, Renewable Energy, and Power. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for General Electric Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for General Electric and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Environmentalists are stepping up their opposition to Digihosts cryptocurrency mining operation in North Tonawanda. The opponents are calling for Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Department of Environmental Conservation to deny renewal of an air permit for the Fortistar plant at 1070 Erie Ave. that Digihost bought earlier this year. Judge dismisses lawsuit against North Tonawanda crypto plant, but calls on owners to keep noise down State Supreme Court Justice Frank A. Sedita III ruled that the plaintiffs the Sierra Club and three North Tonawanda residents didn't have standing to sue, and even if they did, the lawsuit was filed well after a deadline set in state law. Digihost, a Canadian company, already runs bitcoin mining operations inside shipping container-sized structures located on the property. Those operations have generated complaints from residents about noise pollution. The opponents claim Digihost wants to increase the Fortistar natural gas burning plants output to full power. It would be a dramatic shift for a facility that previously served as a peaker plant, operating only in times of high energy demand, and at very low output. Environmentalists say Digihosts plan will ramp up the plants carbon emissions, running counter to the states aggressive push to fight the effects of climate change. It is insane that we have to be playing whack-a-mole with these facilities when we are the state with a nation-leading climate law on the books, said Liz Moran, New York policy advocate with Earthjustice. Environmentalists say Fortistars request was filed over two years ago, and called for state officials to act. They see a parallel with Greenidge Generation, a cryptomining operation in Dresden, along Seneca Lake. The DEC last year denied Greenidges air permit renewal application, finding the plant inconsistent with the states climate law. It is the exact same situation, so we should see the exact same outcome, said Assemblywoman Anna Kelles, D-Ithaca. We have an air permit that was denied for Greenidge for the same reasons. The DEC said it has not yet determined Fortistar's renewal application to be complete. The agency said it issued a notice of incomplete application to Fortistar on June 13 "and will await any further submissions from the applicant to continue its review." Once an application is deemed complete, the DEC would release a draft air permit for public review and comment. After that public comment period ends, the DEC would make its decision on the permit. Digihost did not respond to a request to comment Tuesday. The company previously told state officials that it plans to convert the Fortistar plant to renewable natural gas, and then to other renewable sources of energy. Cryptocurrency firms search for WNY sites amid concerns of their economic development worth Cryptocurrency companies already have a footprint in Western New York which some would like to enlarge. The Digihost operation in North Tonawanda has been an ongoing source of controversy. Environmentalists previously sought to overturn the citys approval of the cryptocurrency plant, but a judge dismissed that lawsuit. Opponents of cryptocurrency mining say that the data mining process uses massive amounts of electricity, leading to increased emissions of greenhouse gases from power plants, along with noise pollution. Deb Gondek, a resident of North Tonawanda for 38 years, said the Digihosts cryptocurrency mining operations have generated noise that creates a health hazard for nearby residents. The noise can be heard inside homes, with all windows and doors closed, Gondek said. Western New York has attracted the interest of cryptocurrency operations, with vacant manufacturing plants equipped with the electrical infrastructure those operations require. Hochul last year signed a two-year moratorium on some types of cryptocurrency mining operations in the state. Digihosts operation in North Tonawanda was not covered by that moratorium, since its project was already underway. The run-up to the assembly election in Madhya Pradesh, due in November, is witnessing an intriguing scenario. While the BJP is, predictably enough, steadfast on Hindutva, its core ideology, the Congress seems to be hunting with the hound and running with the hare on two unbridgeable ideologies, Hindutva and secularism. The hunter is PCC chief Kamal Nath and the runner is former chief minister Digvijaya Singh. Their camaraderie and seemingly opposite ideological position has left political observers wondering whether this is a reflection of confusion in the party or a deliberate obfuscation in the bid to woo the electorate across the political spectrum. One Ploughs A Lonely Furrow A recent tweet from Digvijaya Singh illustrates the apparently conflicting views of the two tallest Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh. In the tweet the Congress veteran sought to educate fraud Babas and ignoramus right-wing volunteers the true meaning of jihad. He argued that jihad is an Arabic word which means, among other things, struggle to protect moral values. Known for his diatribes against the Sangh Parivar for decades, Digvijaya Singhs main target in the tweet was well-known preacher Pt Pradeep Mishra who had a day before exhorted Hindu girls to arm themselves against love jihad overtures from Muslim boys, at his discourse in Bhopal. Mishra is one of the two most sought after religious preachers the other being Bagheshwar Dhams Baba Dhirendra Shastri in the BJP circles ahead of the assembly elections in the state. A large gathering for his five-day Katha was organised in Bhopal by local MLA and minister Vishvas Sarang. Unsurprisingly, the BJP strongly objected to Digvijaya Singhs oblique reference to Pradeep Mishra and dubbed his tweet as an insult to Sanatan Dharma. The Congress did not react but many in the party, off the record, termed the veteran Congress leaders tweet uncalled for. The Other Flaunts Pragmatism The Congresss silence is being interpreted by political observers as manifestation of the partys dilemma whether to follow Digvijaya Singhs line of no-holds-barred attack on the RSS and its sympathisers including assorted Babas or go with Kamal Naths strategy of competing with the BJP by leveraging Hindu symbolism for electoral ends. The dilemma is all the more acute because a few months ago Kamal Nath had genuflected before Pt Pradeep Mishra and Dhirendra Shastri. Also, many Congress leaders have organised Kathas by the famous, if controversial, preachers in their respective constituencies, not unmindful of the fact that their worldview perfectly aligns with that of the RSS. The coming assembly election is proving so tricky that the Congress feels the need for both Digvijaya Singhs aggression and Kamal Naths soft-pedalling vis-a-vis BJPs hard Hindutva. The PCC chief is pragmatic and ideology-neutral. He is essentially an industrialist and his corporate-style of politics does not brook rigidity of any kind. On the other hand, Digvijaya Singh is an avowed secularist who openly cherishes left-of-Centre ideology. Nonetheless, their apparent companionship has raised hopes for the Congress of victory in the coming election. A Rare Tango In Politics While Kamal Nath is trying hard to poach the BJPs vote base of devout Hindus, Digvijaya Singh is seeking to disabuse the liberals and Muslims of the misgivings these strong anti-BJP sections might harbour over the PCC presidents dalliance with hard Hindutva. Although a deeply religious man, Digvijaya Singh refrained from showing off his religiosity all through the Madhya Pradesh tour that concluded last month. Kamal Nath had entrusted him with the task of energising party workers in 66 out of 230 assembly segments where the Congress has not won in the last three decades. Soon after completion of the Bharat Jodo Yatra of which he was a key organiser, Digvijaya Singh undertook travel of the BJPs strong bastions in February. All through his travels across the state, the veteran leader focused his attacks on the BJP governments alleged corruption and also pointed out a sense of insecurity among the Muslims due to alleged hooliganism of hot-headed elements in the saffron fraternity. At none of the press conferences during the tour did he betray the partys inclination to flaunt religious symbolism with an eye on Hindu votes. He submitted the report of his review meetings in these constituencies to Kamal Nath. The report sounds very optimistic of the Congress prospects in the 66 previously weak seats, this time round. Although his political career has had more lows than highs since he led Congress to a crushing defeat in the 2003 assembly election, the former chief minister has remained the most popular leader among liberals and Muslims owing to his unflinching commitment to secularism. Having regained the trust of Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Digvijaya Singh has reemerged as the most powerful Congress leader in the state. His current powerful stature is a far cry from the campaigning for the 2018 assembly election when Digvijaya Singh would not be allowed to take the centrestage lest his presence reminded the people of the dark period when he was the chief minister. Rakesh Dixit is a senior journalist based in Bhopal. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication. Bank Holiday in July 2023: Banks across the country will be closed for nearly 15 days, including second and fourth Saturdays and Sundays in July 2023. Both private and public sector banks remain open on the first and third Saturdays every month. According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, banks will be closed on all public holidays and some regional holidays are state-specific. Regional holidays are, however, decided by respective state governments. Plus, the banking regulator has made it mandatory for banks to remain shut on Sundays. The central bank generally notifies the holidays for lenders every year under three brackets the Negotiable Instruments Act, Holiday, Real Time Gross Settlement Holiday, and Banks Closing of Accounts. Julys the first holiday starts from Guru Hargobind Ji's Birthday on July 5 and other holidays like Muharram on July 29. These holidays are applicable to all banks in India, except in some states. Notably, people will not face any inconvenience with bank-related work as holidays are not at short intervals. Also, ATMs, cash deposits, online banking and mobile banking will continue to function as usual. People should keep a tab on bank holidays in July before planning to visit their local branch. Further, it is also crucial as the RBI has issued an order to replace the Rs 2,000 currency notes. The deadline for exchanging these notes is set for September 30. Bank Holidays in July 2023: Full list 4 July 2023: Sunday 5 July 2023: Guru Hargobind Singh Jayanti (Jammu, Srinagar) 6 July 2023: MHIP Day (Mizoram) 8 July 2023: Second Saturday 9 July 2023: Sunday 11 July 2023: Ker Puja (Tripura) 13 July 2023: Bhanu Jayanti (Sikkim) 16 July 2023: Sunday 17 July 2023: U Tirot Sing Day (Meghalaya) 22 July 2023: Fourth Saturday 23 July 2023: Sunday 29 July 2023: Muharram (In almost all states) 30 July 2023: Sunday 31 July 2023: Martyrdom Day (Haryana and Punjab) USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on June 20 said a compromise settlement with wilful defaulters is not new and has been there for more than 15 years. The central bank had on June 8 issued a circular framework for compromise settlements and technical write-offs. "The said provision enabling banks to enter into compromise settlement in respect of borrowers categorised as fraud or wilful defaulter is not a new regulatory instruction and has been the settled regulatory stance for more than 15 years," the RBI said in a release on FAQs on the framework. The banking regulator said a compromise settlement with borrowers aim to enable multiple avenues to lenders to recover the money in default without much delay. Also read: Banking Central | Why outrage against RBI over compromise settlement for wilful defaulters is misplaced Further, on the dilution of penal measures, the central bank said it will remain unchanged what has been mentioned in the Master Directions on Frauds dated July 1, 2016, and the Master Circular on Wilful Defaulters dated July 1, 2015. These penal measures entails that no additional facilities should be granted by any bank/ FI to borrowers listed as wilful defaulters, and that such companies get debarred from institutional finance for floating new ventures for a period of five years from the date of removal of their name from the list of wilful defaulters. "In addition, borrowers classified as fraud are debarred from availing bank finance for a period of five years from the date of full payment of the defrauded amount," RBI added. The FAQ also said that borrowers classified as fraud or wilful defaulter will not be able to borrow fresh funds from the lenders after the cooling period of 12 months. The central bank also said prudential guidelines provide sufficient safeguards and Compromise settlement is not available to borrowers as a matter of right; rather it is a discretion to be exercised by the lenders based on their commercial judgement. Also read: India bank unions ask RBI to withdraw compromise settlement for wilful defaulters It said that all decision regarding this should be taken by lenders as per their board approved policies. On the objectives front, the central bank further said clear regulatory framework enables other regulated entities, particularly cooperative banks, to undertake compromise settlements as part of the normal resolution efforts. It also provides clarity on definition of technical write-off and provides a broad guidance on the process to be followed by the regulated entities. The permit validity of all taxis in the national capital, which are running on compressed natural gas (CNG) or other cleaner fuels, have been extended up to 15 years, as per an order issued by the transport department of the Delhi government on June 20. "All the taxies plying on CNG/Clean Fuel registered in Delhi possessing Contract Carriage (Delhi NCR) Permit, the validity of the permit shall remain valid for 15 years subject to fulfillment of all other prescribed conditions as stipulated in Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, CMVR, 1989 and DMVR, 1993," the official notification stated. The government noted that it had received a number of representations from various taxi unions, who sought uniformity with respect to the validity of the permits issued under Section 74 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, also known as Contract Carriage Delhi NCR Permit. Also Read | Supreme Court sets aside stay on bike taxi ban in Delhi Some of the unions had also approached the Delhi High Court, seeking the removal of disparity in the validity period of the different categories of taxi permits issued under the Motor Vehicles Act. The high court had directed the transport department to consider the grievances of the petitioner. The matter was examined and it was "found that there is disparity in validity of the permit issued to taxies plying on CNG and clean fuel within Delhi NCR", the order stated, adding that, therefore, it was decided to extend the permit validity uniformly up to 15 years. USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Brokerage firm Morgan Stanley has maintained the 'overweight' rating on Bharti Airtel Ltd and hiked its target price by 4 percent to Rs 870 a share. The report explains the sensitivity of Bharti Airtel's fair value to a potential 4G tariff hike over the coming months and currency devaluation in Nigeria. Morgan Stanley believes that the recent depreciation of the Nigerian Naira on the official market will have minimal consequences for Bharti Airtel. According to a news report, Nigeria's central bank allowed the naira to drop as much as 36 percent on the official market on Wednesday. Airtel Africa (56.1 percent owned by Bharti Airtel) contributed 29.3 percent of consolidated revenue and 28.9 percent of consolidated EBITDA in FY23. Within Airtel Africa, Nigeria accounts for 40.5 percent of revenue and 45 percent of EBITDA. "Assuming Nigeria's EBITDA were to fall 36 percent in dollar terms, this would impact Bharti Airtel's consolidated revenue by 4.3 percent and consolidated EBITDA by 4.7 percent," the Morgan Stanley report said. In the last few weeks news reports suggest that Vodafone Idea is likely to raise funds. This has led to investor queries around tariff hikes and their potential impact on Bharti Airtel's EBITDA and fair value. The brokerage firm also said a rise in 4G tariffs in India is factored into their base case for FY25. However, Morgan Stanley is now examining the potential effects if this tariff increase were to happen in FY24. Morgan Stanley has outlined three scenarios in their analysis. The first scenario assumes that half of the tariff hike projected for FY25 is implemented in FY24, while the remaining half occurs in FY25 as planned. The second scenario considers the possibility of the entire tariff hike taking place in FY24 without any additional hikes in FY25. Lastly, the third scenario assumes a 20 percent tariff hike in FY24 with no further increases in FY25. "Across these scenarios, the sensitivity to the Bharti's India business's EBITDA was over 4 percent to over 11 percent for F24 and over 1 percent to over 7 percent for F25. In terms of sensitivity to base case fair value, it was over 2.6 percent to over 10 percent," the Morgan report said. The finance ministry has asked the banking industry lobby, the Indian Banks' Association (IBA), to look at certain demands raised by retired bank employees related to retirement benefits. During the meeting with the All India Bank Pensioners & Retirees Confederation (AIBPARC) on June 19, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman asked IBA to respond to the demands of the association within seven days, said (AIBPARC) President K.V. Acharya to Moneycontrol. "The FM said that she will talk to the IBA and ask them to give their response to all of the issues within the week," said Acharya. The association has put demands including, pension updation, 100 percent uniform rate of DA neutralisation, and medical insurance scheme premium to be borne by the banks for retirees among others. "We have also raised the issue of reckoning special allowance for computation of pension and gratuity, pension Option to Resignees who completed pensionable service and consultative Status to Pensioners Organisations with IBA," said J D Sharma, Vice President All India Banks Pensioners And Retirees Confederation. Also read: NaBFID to complete Rs 60,000 crore disbursements in FY24: MD Rajkiran Rai G Binoy Viswam, a Rajya Sabha representative for the Communist Party of India (CPI), wrote to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pleading with her to start a pension update process for retirees in the banking industry, which he described as their "justified right," ANI reported. In a letter to Nirmala Sitharaman, Binoy Viswam said that the banking industry had not had its pensions updated in the previous 28 years, therefore denying sources of income. Communist Party of India (CPI) Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam has written a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urging her to initiate a pension updation exercise for retirees of the banking sector which he called their "justified right". Binoy Viswam in a letter to Nirmala Sitharaman said that no pension updation exercise was carried out for the banking sector in the past 28 years which is effectively depriving sources of sustenance. "I write this letter to convey to you the plight of thousands of retirees and pensioners, who after years of dedicated service to the country, are struggling to meet ends pending pension updation. No pension updation exercise was carried out for the banking sector in the past 28 years which is effectively depriving sources of sustenance after employees gave their best years to the organization they served," he said in his letter ANI reviewed. The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector is betting big on the growth which is also reflected on dashboards of staffing firms witnessing a surge in talent demand, especially in metro cities. In December last year, the sector accounted for around 38 percent of junior-level jobs, 42 percent of middle-level jobs and 46 percent of senior-level jobs in Bengaluru followed by Mumbai and Pune, showed Randstad Talent Trends Report 2023, the latest from the human resources (HR) consulting company . Analysts say this growth may continue in FY24 also. Kaustubh Pawaskar, an analyst with Sharekhan, recently told Moneycontrol that pricing growth should moderate even as volume growth gradually improves, which would result in decent high to low single-digit revenue growth for FMCG companies. FMCG companies heavily rely on sales and marketing professionals to promote their products and drive revenue but nowadays Sekhar Garisa, CEO of job portal foundit, observed that companies heavily invest in consumer research and insights to understand market trends, consumer preferences and competitor analysis. As per foundit data, there are close to 7,500 active jobs in the FMCG sector. Additionally, roles in areas such as sustainability and e-commerce are gaining importance in the industry as companies focus on environmental responsibility and online sales channels. Focussed hiring Companies such as Bisleri, Amway and Marico have focused hiring plans, implying a continued thrust on driving growth despite the slowdown. Bisleri International is currently increasing its manufacturing and distribution capacities and rapidly evolving to build a diverse team of experts and professionals. Currently, it is growing the team across departments and focusing on hiring employees in marketing, IT, learning and development, data analytics and research. ALSO READ | IT firms look for PhD talent to meet technological advancement goals We are looking at hiring a balance of young and experienced professionals with analytical and decision-making skills who understand the economics of the business. These employees can make decisions based on critical thinking that will help the organisation achieve its vision, said Parag Bengali, director of HR and finance at Bisleri International. On the other hand, Amway is strengthening its workforce across functions, including science and innovation, research and development, and digital and e-commerce functions. Garisa of foundit said FMCG companies are preferring to hire fresh graduates through campus recruitment. Maricos flagship campus competition Over the Wall engages with students from a range of B-schools, providing them with an opportunity to share innovative business ideas, work on live projects with its teams and eventually offer job opportunities to selected students. Job roles As far as the distribution of job profiles is concerned, the demand at staffing firm Randstad is equally distributed across managerial business roles and finance profiles at around 20 percent each. However, it is seeing significant demand for marketing-oriented profiles and supply chain roles with approximately 25-30 percent each. Some of the most in-demand job profiles in this industry are retail buyers, supply and distribution chain managers, and finance and marketing managers. Additionally, there is a significant demand for roles in digital marketing and tech profiles. ALSO READ | India Inc focuses on ERGs to drive inclusion of LGBTQIA+ employees We have also seen new jobs like product development executive, retail analyst, market research associate, content strategist and corporate reporting manager emerge due to increased adoption of technology, ESG and innovation in the consumer goods sector, said Sanjay Shetty, director of professional search and selection at Randstad India. Randstad expects these developments to help maintain an offer-to-joining ratio percentage of 55-60 percent in the upcoming months with average pay anywhere between Rs 15 lakh per annum (LPA) and Rs 25 LPA for mid- to senior-level employees. KKR & Co. has overhauled its Asia-Pacific private equity team in the early stages of allocating capital from its $15 billion regional fund as deal making sputters on strained US-China relations. Ming Lu, the firms Asia-Pacific head, will become executive chairman for the region to spend time on strategic initiatives, according to a letter sent to investors. Hiro Hirano will relinquish his role as co-head of private equity to become deputy executive chairman, while maintaining his role as head for Japan, according to the letter seen by Bloomberg. Gaurav Trehan will be elevated to sole head of private equity for Asia-Pacific, in addition to his role as head of India. KKR has deployed $5 billion in the market since he joined in 2020, making India one of the firms largest and most active markets in Asia, the letter explained. A Hong Kong-based spokesperson confirmed the contents of the document. In other moves, Ashish Shastry, co-head of private equity for the region and head of Southeast Asia, and Jaka Prasetya, a partner for Southeast Asia, will become advisers. Apart from promoting Trehan, a former TPG Capital executive, KKR also put Akshay Tanna, recently hired from the same rival, in charge of India private equity. The senior management changes are among the most sweeping for global investment firms in Asia in recent years, coming just two years after KKR raised its biggest ever buyout fund in the region. Since December 2020, the firms heads of private equity in India, Greater China, Australia and Southeast Asia have stepped down. Private equity investors have been facing heightened challenges of generating decent returns and navigating the increasingly complicated geopolitics in the region. Fund investors typically seek comfort in knowing that their general partners have a stable team and continuity. Following a decade of rapid expansion in China-focused investments, global buyout firms have shifted gears and are instead bolstering dealmaking in India, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia. Carlyle Group is accelerating investments in India as growth across sectors and the prospect of better exits mean the market is now catching up with China. Warburg Pincus LLC last year slashed about seven China dealmaker jobs. Venture capital powerhouse Sequoia Capital earlier this month said its breaking up into three entities around the world, splitting the Chinese and US operations. US-China relations crashed to their lowest point in decades in February, and deal making in the worlds second-biggest economy tumbled after the US sanctioned some China investments while Beijing cracked down on foreign businesses. Equity offerings in Asia-Pacific slumped by almost a third in the second quarter from the first three months, while announced M&A deals fell 21%, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Private equity deals meanwhile slumped 44% in the region last year to $198 billion, according to Bain & Co. The initial public offer (IPO) of HMA Agro Industries, a buffalo meat exporter, will open for public bidding on June 20. The issue is thinly tracked by analysts. Considering the FY22 and FY23 annualised earnings per share (EPS) of Rs 23.49 and 31.32, respectively, on a post issue basis, the company is going to list at a P/E of 24.91x and 18.68x with a market cap of Rs 2,929.5 crore. There are no Indian listed companies that are engaged in a business similar to that of the company, making it difficult to make a comparative analysis. However, some analysts believe valuations seem reasonable. Also Read: HMA Agro Industries IPO: 10 key things to know The company has a well diversified market reach along with long standing relations with their customer base and well-established marketing set up, said analyst at Marwadi Financial Services in a pre-IPO note. It is available at reasonable valuation considering the future growth potential of the company. Marwadi Financial Services has assigned a subscribe rating to this IPO. HMA Agro is a family run business with brothers Gulzar Ahmad and Wajid Ahmad being founding promoters. Gulzar Ahmad is the chairman and whole time director, while Wajid Ahmed is the managing director on the board. The company and its promoters aim to raise Rs 480 crore via public issue comprising fresh issuance of shares worth Rs 150 crore and an offer for sale worth Rs 330 crore by promoters. Proceeds from fresh issues will be used to meet working capital requirements (Rs 135 crore), besides general corporate purpose. In its anchor round, names such as Craft Emerging Market Fund PCC, Minerva Ventures Fund, Forbes EMF, Coeus Capital Opportunities Fund, Radiant Global Fund, and Absolute Returns Scheme have already bought shares worth Rs 144 crore. Craft Emerging Market Fund PCC is the biggest investor amongst them, investing Rs 70 crore. They have bought shares at the rate of Rs 585 per share, which is the ceiling of the price band of Rs 555-585. Dilip Davda, who runs IPO-centric platform Chittorgarh and is a SEBI registered analyst, said based on its FY23 annualised earnings, the IPO appears reasonably priced. Well-informed and cash surplus investors may consider parking of funds for the medium to long-term rewards, he added. HMA Agro Industries IPO to open on June 20 | 10 key things to know before subscribing offer HMA Agro Industries is currently one of the largest exporters of frozen buffalo meat products from India and accounts for more than 10 percent of Indias total export of frozen buffalo meat. It exports its product to over 40 countries Its four processing plants at Aligarh, Mohali, Agra, and Parbhani are approved for export to the UAE, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan, Algeria, Egypt, Angola, Vietnam, Indonesia, Georgia, Malaysia, Cambodia, and other Middle East, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and African Countries, etc. Approximately 90 percent of the sales of the company are in the form of exports. Egypt, Hong Kong and Malaysia are its high margin markets where it has increased focus recently. HMA Agro has also started focussing on exporting Frozen Fish Products and Basmati Rice, taking advantage of its robust exports business and well-established distribution channels. Marwadi Financial Services has highlighted some risk factors of the company including mortgaging of personal properties of promoters, losses by subsidiaries and religiously sensitive business of the company. Incidentally, there has been some uproar among a section of the investor community over this IPO who wrongly believe the company is involved in the business of cow meat. Certain of their processing units generate pollutants and waste, some of which may be hazardous and harmful to the environment. They have experienced shutdowns/disruptions in the past with respect to their manufacturing plants in Aligarh, Agra and Punjab, said analysts at Marwadi Financial Services, highlighting the risks. The company also highlights one of its promoters was also MLA in Uttar Pradesh legislature. Thou he has left his political career, due to the past political affiliation there may be some adverse reaction on stock. The issue closes for bidding on June 23. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Shares of ITI Limited jumped 3 percent in trade on June 20 after the company signed an R&D contract with TCIL and C-DOT. At 12:38pm, the ITI stock was trading 2.97 percent higher at Rs 112 on the NSE. According to a filing with the BSE, ITI Limited has signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) with TCIL and CDOT to synergise research and development initiatives. ITI Limited has signed a tripartite MoU with the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) and Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) recently as part of larger efforts by the government to synergise R&D efforts in the field of telecommunications aimed at establishing a framework for cooperation between C-DOT, TCIL, and ITI in creation and delivery of innovative telecommunication products and related services for smart cities, said the filing. Follow our live blog for all market action The co-operation between TCIL, ITI and C-DOT is aimed at joint execution of projects that are of mutual interest to all the three parties. Each project shall be governed by a separate project agreement, in which TCIL will be the lead partner, C-DOT will be the technology partner and ITI will be the manufacturing partner, according to the statement. About the Company ITI Limited is a public sector undertaking in the telecommunications technology segment established as a departmental factory in 1948. The company has manufacturing facilities in Bengaluru, Naini, Rae Bareli, Mankapur and Palakkad along with an R&D centre in Bengaluru and 25 marketing, services and projects (MSP) centres at Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, New Delhi and 17 other places across the country. Management Commentary ITI is the first telecom manufacturing PSU established to achieve self-reliance in Indian telecom sector. We have a long-standing productive and enriching experience with both C-DOT and TCIL and I look forward to working with both of them so that the synergies arising out will prove beneficial to the development of the nation," Rajesh Rai, CMD of ITI Limited, said. "ITI is excited to join other DOT organisations to manufacture indigenous telecom products that will achieve Aatma Nirbharata in the Indian telecom sector. We have the best-in-class manufacturing capabilities and I am convinced that this MoU will draw upon our collective capabilities to further build the indigenous manufacturing capabilities in India, he said. Stock Performance The ITI Limited stock has given a return of 5.12 percent since the start of this year, outperforming the benchmark Nifty50 index which has given a return 2.24 percent during the same period. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. T.J. Maxx is moving a mile up Niagara Falls Boulevard in Amherst and bringing a few friends along with it. The popular department store will move from its current site at the corner of Sheridan Drive, near BJ's Wholesale Club, to the former Burlington Plaza, near Trader Joe's, now undergoing a $7.6 million overhaul, according to the plaza's developer and plans filed with the town Building Department. The adjoining HomeGoods store also will move with T.J. Maxx to the new location, along with two other stores under the same corporate umbrella: Homesense and Sierra. They are the first locations in Western New York for Homesense, a home decor store, and Sierra, which sells outdoor goods. "The TJX Companies, one of the nations foremost retailers, will be doubling down on their commitment to Amherst and bringing their expansive line of apparel and home fashions to the revitalized center," Eric Recoon, Benderson Development Co.'s vice president of development and leasing, said in an email. The move completes a game of musical retailers along the busy Niagara Falls Boulevard corridor where Benderson owns numerous properties. The Burlington Plaza's namesake tenant had anchored that shopping center, 1501-1551 Niagara Falls Blvd. just south of Romney Drive, since the 1990s. Then known as Burlington Coat Factory, it moved in 2019 into the former Toys "R" Us store at Niagara Falls Boulevard and Sheridan Drive. Now T.J. Maxx and HomeGoods will close the circle by moving from the plaza that hosts the new Burlington store to its former location. The town wants to avoid simply "shifting the chess pieces" at shopping centers, as A.J. Baynes, president and CEO of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce, put it. The first two years under Covid-19 were challenging for business, Baynes said, but Amherst's retail economy had shown strength before the pandemic. "Now as we continue to pull ourselves out of it, out of a pandemic and into the endemic, hopefully that trend will continue," he said. Several tenants will remain in the new-look Burlington Plaza, including Northwest Bank, Five Guys, Moe's, Orange Theory and Outback Steakhouse. But Benderson has demolished 90,400 square feet of the large building in the rear of the 14-acre site and is constructing 102,100 square feet of new retail space, according to planning documents. It's part of the gradual shift south of the developer's thriving The Boulevard shopping center, formerly Boulevard Consumer Square, which features Lowe's, Target, Best Buy and L.L. Bean, along with a recently opened Marshalls, also part of the TJX family. Benderson refers to the former Burlington Plaza area as The Boulevard's South District. "We continue to hear from shoppers about their excitement over the latest additions to the merchandise mix at The Boulevard," Recoon said. Most recently, Amherst officials announced Benderson intends to bring the region's first Costco warehouse club to the neighboring Amherst Commerce Park, once an annex campus for the University at Buffalo. How can Amherst squeeze Costco into crowded Niagara Falls Boulevard corridor? Given the high traffic volume that drivers already face on Niagara Falls Boulevard, Maple, North Bailey Avenue and Ridge Lea Road, shoppers and neighbors are wondering how Costco, and other future retail tenants, will fit there. T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods, Homesense and Sierra are part of TJX, based in Massachusetts, which reported sales of $48.6 billion in 2021. The stores have a passionate customer base. For example, when T.J. Maxx and HomeGoods reopened their Sheridan Drive location in June 2020, after being closed for three months in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, hundreds of fans lined up for the doors to open. "The brands that they're bringing together, they're trying to create a sense of community with the shopper who's going to go there and go to three, four or five places when they park their vehicle," Baynes said of Benderson. T.J. Maxx and the other TJX chains sell off-price apparel and home decor items. What's the difference between HomeGoods and Homesense? As Cosmopolitan magazine put it, Homesense, which began in Canada, "is basically HomeGoods on steroids. Think: Larger selections, new sections, more of everything." Homesense has seven locations in New York, with its store in the Rochester suburb of Pittsford the closest to Buffalo. Sierra, formerly Sierra Trading Post, has just two stores in the state, including one in Rochester. The company sells clothing, footwear and gear for a range of outdoor and fitness activities. Recoon said construction on the new retail building is well underway and the stores are targeting a fall opening, in time for the holiday shopping season. The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and NSE Clearing (NCL) have paid over Rs 72.64 crore to settle with the market regulator for halting trading on February 24, 2021, following a technical glitch. Along with the monetary penalty, the market regulator has ordered that NSEs former MD and CEO Vikram Limaye, NCLs MD Vikram Kothari and NSEs CTOO Shiv Kumar Bhasin will take necessary exams/courses and commit to pro bono community service of at least 14 days over the next year. The service should be towards investor education and awareness, by actively contributing to specified programmes that are conducted by and monitored under the aegis of SEBI's Office of Investor Assistance and Education ("OIAE"), the order dated June 20 said. Also read: NSE trading interruption: What exactly is a technical glitch, how does it impact investors, The three senior executives will need to take and pass "specific and appropriate training courses (specified by Sebi), at their own cost, within the next six months", stated the order passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The background On February 24, 2021, the exchange decided to halt trading in all segments from 11:40 am. The exchange informed that its telecom service providers had said that there were issues with their telecom links, because of which there was an adverse impact on NSE system. The trading resumed from 3.45 pm and the trading day was extended up to 5 pm at NSE, BSE Limited and Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India. The market regulator had launched an investigation into whether the failure of systems of NSE and NCL following the technical glitch was in violation of provisions of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) (Stock Exchanges and Clearing Corporations) Regulations, 2018; Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992; and Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956; or any other Rules/ Regulations made or directions or circulars issued by SEBI thereunder. After the investigation, a showcase notice was issued to the five noticees/applicants and in it various failures were recorded. They included NSE and NCL's failure to monitor services of vendor in respect of Core and Critical activities of the two entities; to ensure systems preparedness and readiness to move operations to DRS; to ensure orderly execution of trades, on-line/real time risk management of trades and market integrity; to ensure no single point of failure and to recover operations within RTO of 4 hours. The notice also alleged failure on the part of the crisis management team of NSE which included Limaye, Kothari and Bhasin. "Pending the proceedings initiated vide the SCN (showcause notice), the Noticees to the SCN i.e. the Applicants, proposed to settle the instant proceedings initiated against them, without admitting or denying the findings of facts and conclusions of law," according to the order. Also read: NSE technical glitch | A look at some of the past instances of trading glitch globally After attending meetings with the Internal Committee of SEBI on May 04, 2022, August 24, 2022 and February 24, 2023, the applicants proposed revised settlement terms through a letter dated March 19, 2023. These applications were placed before the High Powered Advisory Committee headed by a retired judge of the High Court, during its meeting held on April 13, 2023. After the committee invited observations from the Sebi's Internal Committee and after the applicants met with the Internal Committee, the HPAC recommended that in addition to the combined settlement amount of Rs 72,64,80,000, Sebi may consider other non-monetary settlement terms, as deemed fit. In a first for Indian aviation, IndiGo and Air India have ordered close to 1,000 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing in the first six months of this calendar year. This is a big feat for the Indian aviation sector. There are many similarities between Air India's February order of 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing and the 500 Airbus aircraft order placed by IndiGo on Monday. According to Nripendra Singh, Global Director, Aerospace and Defence, Frost and Sullivan, the similarities include optimism about the growth of the Indian aviation market, growing competition to capture domestic market share and capitalise on its expected growth, and an effort to bridge the gap left by Go First suspending operations. It is widely accepted that air travel grows at twice the pace of a countrys gross domestic product (GDP). With India logging around 7 percent GDP growth, aviation is set to grow at about 14 percent annually. This is already reflected in the air passenger numbers. In May this year, domestic airlines flew 1.32 crore passengers, a jump of 15.24 percent over the same period of the previous year. Satyendra Pandey, Managing Partner of Aairavat Technology & Transport Ventures Private Ltd, adds that both airlines' orders take into account fleet renewal and growth. He adds that the IndiGo order, with its fleet type, will enable the airline to leverage economies of scale and deliver on competitive costs. "Air India, on the other hand, is catering to a mix by virtue of its business model, which has both full-service and low-cost airlines." "While Indigo has ordered 500 A320/321/321 XLR, Air India's mix consists of 140 A320 and 70 A321 plus 190 Boeing 737 MAX 8/10 (a 400 narrow-body aircraft). The Boeing order includes the option for an additional 50 737 MAXs. Both orders are in the narrow-body segment, which has unique characteristics," Pandey says, adding that the A321XLR, which is an acronym for extra-long range and a part of the IndiGo order, enables the airline to fly farther, "as far East as Japan and as far West as London on a non-stop basis. And planning has already been completed for the first set of destinations, placing Indigo well ahead of the curve". But there are also differences between the two orders. According to some, IndiGos order seems to be better thought out. For example, Captain Eng. Gustav Baldauf, GB Aviation Consulting, says that IndiGo is clearly sticking to the rules of a low-cost carrier (LCC), keeping the system simple by just ordering a more or less single type of aircraft for replacement, expanding its home market, and soft transitioning into long-range markets without taking the risk of losing the strong market leader position in the home market. "History shows that airlines flying international and forgetting to handle their basic home market and losing market share start running into trouble with the feeder system and finally collapse (PANAM, TWA, Jet Airways)," he says, adding that IndiGos order seems to tick all these boxes quite clearly, not endangering the LCC business model but carefully expanding in a new facet of long-range LCC. Baldauf was Air Indias Chief Operating Officer (COO) in 2011, when the airline was still being run by the government. He also adds that the IndiGo order takes all the advantages of a big and historic order with a single aircraft manufacturer (with a lot of concessions from that side), which will give the airline the highest support and attention from Airbus. A person representing a competing airline in India adds that IndiGo returns aircraft after five years to the lessor, thus ensuring a steady stream of new, efficient aircraft in its fleet that is fed from a constant supply chain whose price is also negotiated and sealed in advance. Some others, like Singh, maintain that while IndiGos focus is still predominantly on the domestic market, along with the gradual expansion of its international market, Air Indias focus is more on increasing its footprint in the international space. "While Air India has yet to leverage the synergies of the consolidation of three airlines mergers recently, Indigo has a relatively stable structure organically in the current environment, where its focus will be more on efficiencies," he says. Air India has ordered different types and sizes of aircraft to fulfil the vision it has developed for the airlines future. "A highly complex system with different business models (full service, worldwide operating carrier, and an LCC for the national and international markets within a flight time range of four to five hours). Air India is competing strongly with the UAE carriers in the full-service market as well as with the LCC branches of those airlines. Hence, it will have to develop both business models independently but also use the synergies and advantages of common operational, commercial, financial, and strategic services from the common headquarters. So, change management will be a key issue for Air India," Baldauf says. Baldauf also provides a word of caution for Air India. "As the mergers are still under construction and the new organisation is not yet in place, there is the risk of being delayed by internal quarrels, losing focus on vision and targets, and losing market share in this fast-growing environment. Any weakness in these change management processes will give advantages to competitors." "Air Indias order is a long overdue action, together with the development plan to get the feet back on the ground and the last chance to survive if they do the right things now. IndiGos order is a clear and self-confident sign of an airline showing its strengths and conviction to lead the market without having to struggle for survival," Baldauf adds. The person working for a competing airline adds, Air India is in for a far rougher ride, and IndiGo will be at the forefront of that. While expressing his disappointment at IndiGo not ordering wide-body aircraft, Mark D Martin MRAeS, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Martin Consulting adds that IndiGo's order will be very unlike the Air India order as the latter will deploy all the 470 aircraft with no spares for replacement after 10 years of revenue service. #1. IndiGo places record order for 500 narrow body A320 aircraft from Airbus InterGlobe Aviation, which runs IndiGo, has placed an order for 500 narrow body aircraft with Airbus, setting a new record for the single-largest purchase in the commercial aviation industry, and taking its total order book to 1,330. The latest order has gone past Air Indias massive order for 470 aircraft from both Airbus and Boeing in February. Why its important: Indian airlines are beefing up their fleets to meet the surging demand for domestic air travel in India. IndiGo is also quickly ramping up its footprint on international routes. #2. Prime Ministers US visit could strengthen technology, semiconductor agreements Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US is likely to provide a boost to India-US technology partnership, especially on building a semiconductor supply chain where major announcements are expected. Meetings have also been scheduled with the CEOs of top 20 US companies, which include Mastercard, Accenture, Coca-Cola, Adobe Systems and Visa. Discussions with business leaders during the June 21-24 visit are likely to focus on exploring opportunities for collaboration, attracting investments and expanding business ties between India and the US. Why its important: There are expectations of a breakthrough on bilateral collaboration in semiconductors, one of the main goals of the US-India initiative on critical and emerging technology. #3. India is close to settling seven trade disputes with the US out of court India and the US are in advanced discussions for an out-of-court settlement to resolve seven trade disputes at the World Trade Organization. The development coincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modis three-day state visit to the US. The US may take back three cases against India and India could do the same. The two nations can approach the dispute settlement panel of the global trade body. Why its important: The dispute settlement would be welcome, particularly on US imposing steep tariffs on steel and aluminum, and India providing subsidies to select exports. #4. Indias merchandise exports to the US increases despite diversification efforts Notwithstanding Indias efforts to diversify its goods exports, the countrys dependence on the US for its outbound shipments has increased over the past 12 years by seven percentage points to touch 17.4 percent share in 2022-23. In contrast, the share of the US in Indias total exports, including services, has declined. Why its important: Despite this increase, Indias share in US imports is just about 2 percent, indicating that the country is yet to tap into the major segments where US imports are taking place. #5. Adani Group in talks with five global banks to refinance loans worth $3.8 billion The Adani Group is in discussions with five international banks to refinance $3.8 billion of loans of varying tenors taken to but ACC and Ambuja Cement last year. The majority of Adanis existing lenders are likely to participate in the refinancing. Adani has also begun talks with two Taiwanese and one Malaysian bank to expand the group of lenders to syndicate the loan, including extension of payment tenor by three years. Why its important: Adani has shrugged off the market rout following a damaging report by Hindenburg. It is now business as usual for the conglomerate although the rate of expansion may have slowed down a bit. #6. Baring and ChrysCapital to acquire 90 percent stake in HDFC Credila for Rs 9,000 crore A private equity group of Baring Private Equity Asia and ChrysCapital is acquiring 90 percent stake in HDFC Credila Financial Services, the educational loan arm of Housing Development Finance Corp, for Rs 9,060 crore, according to a stock exchange filing. HDFC will retain the remaining 10 percent equity. The deal values Credila at approximately Rs 10,067 crore. Why its important: Indias market for education loans, particularly for overseas universities, is expanding rapidly. Credila has a significant chunk of the business and there is still headroom for further expansion. #7. Byjus retrenches another 1,000 personnel in latest round of job cuts Edtech unicorn Byjus has fired around 1,000 employees in the past few days amid a tussle with lenders and a challenging fundraising environment. The job cuts affected middle and senior employees across levels. Teachers were spared in the latest job cuts while the axe fell on the administrative, human resources, and marketing departments. The layoffs are part of the wider cost-cutting measures by the company. Why its important: Byjus is trying to get closer to profitability as it battles lenders on repayments amid a funding winter. Since it has grown too rapidly for its own good, the start-up still has a long way to go. #8. Draft legislation for export of live animals faces opposition from right-wing groups Animal rights activists, right-wing groups and Jain religious leaders are up in arms about the central governments draft livestock Bill, which provides for the export of live animals. They are demanding a complete withdrawal. The department of animal husbandry and dairying uploaded the draft Livestock and Livestock Products (Importation and Exportation) Bill, 2023, on its website on June 7. It sought suggestions and comments from stakeholders, importers, and exporters with 10 days until June 17. Why its important: The government will not find it easy to disregard its own right-wing constituency regarding the export of live animals. It remains to be seen whether it withdraws the draft legislation. #9. Adani Transmission gets shareholder approval to raise up to Rs 8,500 crore Adani Transmission has secured shareholder nod to raise up to Rs 8,500 crore through fresh equity issued to qualified institutions. The company had sought the approval through postal ballot to raise the money by way of qualified institutional placement on May 15. Why its important: Adani Transmission anticipates growth opportunities in existing operations as well as inorganic growth. It requires capital for achieving such growth and business expansion. #10. Financial intelligence unit turns scanner on high-value transactions in violence-hit Manipur The Financial Intelligence Unit is looking into high-value transfers and transactions in Manipur in the past six months to investigate if there were any links with the recent ethnic violence in the state. The federal agency is looking into all financial transactions above Rs 20 lakh from January 1 onwards. The agency has zeroed in on about 150 suspicious accounts of individuals, including those of some local leaders and a few charitable institutions, which show an unusual pattern of money transactions. Why its important: The ethnic conflict in the northeastern border state seems to be simmering still. There could be financial backing for the large-scale violence. In what is possibly among the single largest donations made by an alumnus in India, Infosys co-founder and Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani donated Rs 315 crore to his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Overall, he has committed Rs 400 crore in donations to the institute following his previous grants of Rs 85 crore. A statement said that Nilekani marks 50 years of his association with the institute and the donation is to fund world-class infrastructure, research in emerging areas of engineering and technology, and a deep tech startup ecosystem at IIT Bombay. Nilekani joined IIT Bombay in 1973 for a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. Speaking about the donation, Nilekani said, IIT-Bombay has been a cornerstone in my life, shaping my formative years and laying the foundation for my journey. As I celebrate 50 years of my association with this esteemed Institution, I am grateful to give forward and contribute to its future. This donation is more than just a financial contribution; it is a tribute to the place that has given me so much and a commitment to the students who will shape our world tomorrow, he added. This Rs 315 crore ($38.5 million) is part of the institutes plan to raise $500 million in the next five years. In the next decade, IIT-Bombay plans to set up world-class centres of excellence in areas such as artificial intelligence, green energy, quantum computing and others, through which it wants to nurture a deep tech start-up eco-system and provide best-in-class research, living, and academic facilities to students and faculty. IIT Bombay director Prof Subhasis Chaudhuri said the donation will significantly accelerate the growth of IIT Bombay and will firmly set it on a path of global leadership. IIT Bombay is committed to building research and academic excellence that can make India a leader in scientific discovery and its translation towards solving the pressing challenges facing humankind. Nandans contribution will catalyse philanthropic contributions towards advancing research & development at universities in India, he said. An MoU was signed to this effect in Bengaluru on June 20. Nilekanis previous contributions of Rs 85 crore were instrumental in constructing new hostels, co-financing the School of Information Technology, and establishing India's first university incubator, the statement added. The technocrat was awarded the prestigious Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999, followed by an Honorary Doctorate in 2019. In the past, Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan donated Rs 225 crore to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Rs 60 crore to IIT-Madras. Last year, Mindtree's Subroto Bagchi and NS Parthasarathy donated Rs 425 crore to IISc to set up a medical institute and an 800-bed multi-speciality hospital. Quess Corp CEO Ajit Isaac has also donated Rs 105 crore to IISc as well. IT industry veteran and Happiest Minds CEO Ashok Soota has donated Rs 20 crore to his alma mater, IIT Roorkee, through his research trust SKAN. Bengaluru traffic police have decided to use drones fitted with cameras to monitor traffic in eight congested locations across the city, particularly focusing on the Outer Ring Road (ORR). These drones will be deployed at eight congested locations: Hebbal, Central Silk Board, Ibballur, Marathahalli, KR Puram, Goraguntepalya, Sarakki and Banashankari bus stand. "This will provide an aerial perspective of traffic congestion at major bottlenecks. For instance, traditional ground-level observation by traffic police personnel stationed beneath flyovers, such as Hebbal and Silk Board, may not provide a clear assessment of the traffic situation on the upper levels. By utilizing drone cameras, we could identify the causes of obstructions, such as accidents or vehicle breakdowns, and make decisions based on the aerial visuals" MN Anucheth, joint commissioner of police (traffic) told Moneycontrol. He said two drone cameras have been procured and were deployed at Hebbal junction on June 19 on pilot basis. "We will soon deploy drone cameras at Marathahalli junction. Additional drone cameras will be procured, and their deployment at other congested points will be based on availability," he said. Bengaluru, known as the country's tech capital, has more than one crore vehicles, and the average speed during peak hours is less than 10 kmph. Also read: 'Why Bengaluru's tech corridor, Outer Ring Road, needs an urgent fix'. "During peak hours, aerial footage captured from these busy areas will be analyzed at the Traffic Management Center (TMC) on Infantry Road to come up with solutions," said a senior traffic police official. This is the first time drones have been used to monitor peak-hour traffic. This is also expected to help traffic police in identifying the number and types of vehicles passing through specific stretches. "Based on the data, corrective measures can be implemented, including the deployment of additional personnel," said an official. On June 16, Home minister G Parameshwara set a three-month deadline for the traffic cops to clear traffic gridlock in the city. He also instructed all deputy commissioners (DCPs) and assistant commissioners (ACPs) to be on the field for four hours (two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening) to monitor traffic movement. Indian pharma exports may touch USD 28 billion during the current fiscal against USD 25.39 billion in FY 23, Udaya Bhaskar, Director General of Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), a body under the Department of Commerce said on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters he said during the current fiscal the exports cloaked over 10 per cent and 0.7 per cent growth in April and may respectively. "In FY 23 we exported USD 25.39 billion worth of pharma goods with 3.25 per cent growth. When most commodities are not doing so well, India pharma made this and achieved this despite so many headwinds and global challenges," Bhaskar said replying to a query. "I am ambitious that we may touch around USD 28 billion in FY 24. That is my expectation," he further said. Justifying the target the official said the US market which has over 31 per cent share in over all exports last year has stabilised and it is positive sign indicating continuous growth. The exports from Commonwealth of Independent States (Russia and others) was down by 8.42 per cent to USD 1.15 billion due to disturbances in some countries, he said. To another query, he said the US Food and Drug Administration officials inspection on Indian manufacturing sites have not picked up and is yet to reach the pre-covid levels. He said the Ministry of Commerce is aware of the situation and is taking up the issue with the USA. Meanwhile, the ninth edition of the International Pharma Exhibition (IPHEX), a flagship event of the Pharmexcil is being organised with the support of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, from July 5 to 7 here. For the last eight editions, a total of 4,500 plus foreign delegates including regulatory officials, public procurement agencies, journalists and importers from 120 plus countries, 3,500 exhibitors and over one lakh visitors attended, Bhaskar said. The ninth edition of IPHEX, is a special edition being organised on the occasion of G20 presidency by India, with exhibition, business meetings and an exclusive "G20 focussed CEOs Round Table" inviting delegates from over 120 countries, he added. Piramal Enterprises will sell its entire stake of 8.34 percent in Shriram Finance via block deal, CNBC-Awaaz reported on June 20, citing sources who are privy to the development. To offload the stake, Piramal will be required to sell around 3.1 crore shares it currently holds in the non-banking financial company. The floor price for the block deal is likely to be Rs 1,483 per share, the sources said. This would mark a discount of around 5 percent, as the current market price of Shriram Finance's stock is Rs 1,559.45 on the BSE. Investment banking firm Morgan Stanley will be the sole broker for the block deal, the sources added. Piramal's decision to exit Shriram Finance, as reported by CNBC Awaaz, comes a day after private equity firm TPG divested its entire 2.65 per cent stake in the NBFC for Rs 1,390 crore through open market transactions. TPG through its affiliate TPG India Investments II Inc offloaded the shares in 18 tranches. The buyers included ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, Norges Bank, Societe Generale ODI, Nippon India Mutual Fund, Aditya Birla Sun Life MF, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company, and Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore, among others. In the quarter ending March 2023, Shriram Finance posted a net profit of of Rs 1,288 crore, which was up 18 percent year-on-year. The consolidated net interest income (NII) came in at Rs 4,533 crore, which was 72 percent higher as against the corresponding period of FY22. USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. 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I Accept Prime Minister Narendra Modis upcoming visit to the United States (US) will bolster the Indo-US technology partnership, especially on the establishment of a new semiconductor supply chain where major announcements are expected. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who was in India on a two-day trip last week, said there could be substantial results on bilateral collaboration in semiconductor supply chains as early as next week. Collaboration in the semiconductor sector is among the primary goals of the US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET). iCET, which is being billed as the Next Big Thing in the India-US relationship, is vital for the two countries to create a democratic technology ecosystem. Also Read: US visit will be opportunity to enrich depth, diversity of our partnership: PM Modi In March, New Delhi and Washington inked an initial pact on increasing private sector cooperation in the area of semiconductors under which the two countries would help businesses to grow and develop a robust ecosystem. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden are also likely to concentrate on artificial intelligence (AI) because it is going to be so transformative of our economies, our societies, our national security, Sullivan had said. Meeting agenda Talks have also been scheduled with the CEOs of top 20 American companies, such as Mastercard, Accenture, Coca-Cola Co, Adobe Systems, and Visa. Also Read: PM Modi's US visit: Closer defence ties top agenda Meetings with business tycoon during the PM Modis June 21-24 visit are expected to focus on exploring opportunities for alliances, attracting investments, and expanding business ties between the two countries. The meetings will emphasise the importance of India as a vital market for American businesses. Foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, on June 19, said that PM Modis state visit to the US will be a milestone in the relationship between India and the US, which will involve talks on all aspects of defence coproduction and co-development. He added that all aspects of defence co-production and co-development will be part of the discussions between PM Modi and President Biden. To enable buyers to make an informed decision before buying a housing unit, the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has decided to grade housing projects across the state. However, real estate and legal experts said that regulators are under Section 32 (F) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act expected to take 'measures to encourage grading of projects on various parameters of development including grading of promoters' and not grade them on their own. MahaRERA has sought opinion from the public and stakeholders on the framework until July 15. All projects that have been registered after January 2023 shall be eligible for grading under this framework. The first set of grading will be undertaken between October 1, 2023, and March 2024. The exercise will be conducted twice in a year but initially all projects registered from January 2023 onwards will be graded. As the system stabilises, the authority would seriously consider a matrix to grade promoters as well, the MahaRERA consultation paper that has been put up for review and discussion said. The first grading will be out on April 20, 2024. Aligning with its mission to empower homebuyers, MahaRERA proposes to introduce a grading system for real estate projects in the state. This initiative aims to enable homebuyers, even those who may not comprehend technical details such as approvals, to assess the quality of a project and make well-informed decisions. By implementing the grading system, MahaRERA seeks to enhance transparency and facilitate easier understanding of project details for homebuyers, the consultation paper said. Grading shall be automatically generated through MahaRERAs IT solution MahaCRITI on the basis of the information submitted by the promoter, it said. Broad factors like project overview, technical snapshot, financial details and legal snapshot would be taken into account. Under these categories, promoters track record on compliance, legal litigations, quality of project finance, project amenities, status of various statutory approvals, booking percentage, financial and legal encumbrances, and audit certification, among others would be considered. Some risks that real estate grading needs to highlight are financial risks, legal risks, technical risks and timely completion risks. It is important to note that a real estate project grading is not a guarantee that there will be no problems with the project. However, a high grading can make buyers more confident in their investment, it said. Abhay Upadhyay, president, Forum for People's Collective, said that the ranking may be utilised by developers to improve sales and goodwill but drew attention to an interesting facet. Why is it that only Section 32F seems to stand out amidst other sections of the RERA Act? Also, which regulatorSEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority), RBI (Reserve Bank of India) grades itself? Its usually the third party that is engaged to do this exercise, he said. Also, the act clearly lays down that the role of the regulatory body under Section 32F is to encourage and not to grade projects itself, he pointed out. Besides, the MahaRERA consultation paper alludes to the Dubai Land Department that grades projects in the emirate, which also has a real estate authority. Its not the RERA authority grading the projects, he explained. For six years, information sought from builders has not been updated on the MahaRERA website on account of which the regulator had to issue hundreds of notices. This grading exercise seems to be dependent on the information shared by the developers. How is the authority expected to grade projects if the information is not up to date? he asked. Also, if there is a complaint received by the authority against a project whose builder has been given an excellent rating, how is the authority expected to act in an unbiased fashion against the builder, he asked, adding again that the rating should be conducted by an independent agency. Trupti Daphtary, an advocate and solicitor based in Mumbai, said that while this is a good initiative by MahaRERA, its success will depend on how effectively it is implemented. MahaRERA needs to evaluate certain parameters for grading of projects. Suggestions by stakeholders would be critical going forward, she said, adding that this is a fallout of the Mumbai High Court asking the state government whether it has a grading mechanism in place. Asked why projects registered after January 2023 may be considered under this grading system, she said that it may be because several projects launched earlier have either lapsed, or may have execution warrants pending. Therefore, effective grading of those projects by itself will be negative. Why would RERA want to grade a project when their own data shows that so many projects have lapsed, in which warrants have not been executed, she explained. UPRERA initiated the process two years ago UPRERA, after receiving inputs from development authorities, industrial development authorities, homebuyers associations, promoters associations and other stakeholders, in consultation with the consultant CRISIL, had also designed a grading framework for projects registered under RERA. We have submitted the grading framework to the state government. Their approval is awaited, Rajive Kumar, chairman, UPRERA, told Moneycontrol. In the meantime, UPRERA plans to plug in the real estate projects data at its disposal into the grading framework designed by CRISIL. This should be ready by July, said Kumar. This data (which contains details including how many cases have been filed against the builder, the compliance rate of RERA orders, etc.) will be utilised for internal purposes while issuing new registrations and providing extensions, among others, he explained. Once the state governments approval comes in, this will be made available to the public also, he said. US-based NS Aviation has acquired an 85 percent stake in the Hyderabad-based budget airline TruJet, which ceased operations in 2022 due to financial troubles. NS Aviation vice chairman Isha Ali said on June 19 that the total valuation of the deal was around Rs 450 crore and the transaction would be completed soon. Also Read: InterGlobe Aviation flies to 52-week high powered by record 500-aircraft order India Plans Talking about the company's India plans, Ali said NS Aviation was planning to induct 100 Airbus 320 Neo aircraft. The airline plans to focus on domestic operations and have flights connecting key metro cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad. Also Read: Aircraft mega-deals prompt bubble warning from industry veterans Future Plans The American aviation company has set its sights on covering international routes as well, however, that will be done over the next 18 months, as the company is planning to strengthen its base in India. "We will operate flights to Tier-II and III cities by the end of this year and International destinations by the next one-and-half year," Ali said. The company also plans to increase its fleet for international operations by adding ten Airbus aircraft for international cargo operations. Operations are expected to commence as early as October, with competitive pricing, attractive offers, and complimentary meals to attract passengers, the airline said. Even as IndiGo, the country's largest airline by market share, ordered a jaw-dropping 500 Airbus aircraft on June 19, the Indian aviation sector is seeing some turbulence as well. Also Read: IndiGo makes historic $50 billion aircraft order, securing 500 Airbus A320 family planes In May, budget carrier Go Air submitted for bankruptcy, which it has blamed on faulty Pratt and Whitney engines that grounded about half of its fleet. Rival SpiceJet, too, is caught in litigation over payment of dues in one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets The Village Co-op Market of Williamsville is one step closer to opening its doors. The cooperative grocery store has signed a lease with Benderson Development on a 10,000-square-foot former BAC for Women at 480 Evans St. in Williamsville, next to Rite Aid. Construction has begun on the facade, and the building will be renovated inside and out. The co-op is targeting a fall 2024 opening. Benderson Development had been trying to coax the co-op into operating the former Orchard Fresh grocery store in Orchard Park, which the group ultimately declined, according to its board. Ultimately, Benderson donated all of the equipment left behind by Orchard Fresh to the co-op. Theyve offered all that equipment to us to be able to use for free, said Jim Walfrand, the co-ops board president. That is huge. The group has grown to 786 member owners, each of whom paid a $150 lifetime fee for membership. I think many people were waiting to see the actual location and now that they see it, theyll come sign up, Walfrand said. Members must live in New York but are not required to live in the Village of Williamsville. Once the store opens, it will be open to members and nonmembers alike. Eileen Toree was one of 15 founding members when the co-op was incorporated in 2017. It was just all local residents who got together over a table of wine and cheese, she said. She said knowing where her food comes from was a motivating factor, as well as having somewhere small and local to shop for food. Though the campaign to start the co-op stagnated when the Covid pandemic hit, it has come a long way since those initial talks. Were halfway there, weve got the other half to go, Walfrand said. A group of American lawmakers on Tuesday wrote to US President Joe Biden, asking him to raise directly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi ''areas of concern'' and discuss with him the full range of issues important to a successful, strong, and long-term relationship between the two countries. ''As longtime supporters of a strong US-India relationship, we also believe that friends can and should discuss their differences in an honest and forthright way,'' read the letter signed by 75 lawmakers, including Indian-American lawmaker Pramila Jayapal. ''That is why we respectfully request that - in addition to the many areas of shared interests between India and the US - you also raise directly with Prime Minister Modi areas of concern,'' the letter read. Describing India as an important member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad) and a crucial partner for stability in the Indo-Pacific, the letter said that the lawmakers support the deepening strategic partnership between the two countries. ''You have once again made respect for human rights, press freedom, religious freedom, and pluralism core tenets of American foreign policy. Moreover, these tenets are necessary to the functioning of true democracy. In order to advance these values with credibility on the world stage, we must apply them equally to friend and foe alike, just as we work to apply these same principles here in the United States,'' it said. The letter mentioned reports about ''the shrinking of political space, the rise of religious intolerance, the targeting of civil society organizations and journalists, and growing restrictions on press freedoms and internet access'' in India and also referred to the State Department's 2022 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in India. ''Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, who gave his life in pursuit of building the beloved community here in the US, was an ardent student of the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, known in India as the 'Father of the Nation.' Both King and Gandhi had the vision of building a more perfect union among people from different backgrounds, races and faiths Gandhi in India, and King in the US. We share their vision. We join you in welcoming Prime Minister Modi to the US,'' they said. The lawmakers said they want a close and warm relationship between the people of the United States and the people of India and added that the friendship should be built not only on shared interests but also on shared values. ''We do not endorse any particular Indian leader or political party that is the decision of the people of India but we do stand in support of the important principles that should be a core part of American foreign policy. And we ask that, during your meeting with Prime Minister Modi, you discuss the full range of issues important to a successful, strong, and long-term relationship between our two great countries,'' the letter added. Meanwhile, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urged President Biden to address issues of religious freedom and other related human rights in India during Prime Minister Modi's state visit. ''With India's upcoming state visit, the Biden administration has a unique opportunity to explicitly incorporate religious freedom concerns into the two countries' bilateral relationship," said USCIRF Commissioner David Curry. Amid continued ethnic violence in Manipur, the Supreme Court Tuesday declined urgent hearing of a petition seeking Army protection for the minority Kuki tribals and prosecution of communal groups attacking them, while conceding it's a "serious" law and order issue which the administration should tackle. "This is a serious law and order issue. Let the administration look into the issue. Can the Supreme Court order individual protection? Our interference will create more problem. It can aggravate the situation. We hope courts are not required to pass such an order that Army or central forces should be deployed," the bench observed. Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves mentioned the matter on behalf of the petitioner NGO, Manipur Tribal Forum, saying solemn assurances were given that nobody will die but despite that 70 tribals have been killed. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the State, opposed the prayer for urgent hearing, and asserted security agencies are on the ground doing their best to stem violence and restore normalcy. "Similar prayer was made before (summer) vacation which was not considered. This can wait. Public interest can wait," he said, adding the main matter pertaining to the Manipur High Court's order for grant of Scheduled Tribe status to the majority Meitei community, which set off a chain of violence in the northeastern state, has been posted for hearing on July 17. Contending that tribals cannot be abandoned, Gonsalves said by then 50 more people will have been killed. "From where have you got these calculations?" the court asked Gonsalves and posted the matter for hearing on July 3. The Manipur Tribal Forum has alleged the central government and the chief minister of Manipur have jointly embarked on a communal agenda aimed at "ethnic cleansing" of Kuki tribals in the northeastern state. The NGO urged the apex court not to rely on "empty assurances" given by the Centre and sought Army protection for the Kukis. More than 100 people have lost their lives in bloody clashes between between Meitei and Kuki communities which first broke out on May 3 after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts of the state to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribal Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts. NGO 'Manipur Tribal Forum', which has filed an interlocutory application in the apex court, said the assurances by the government authorities have been made in a non-serious fashion and are not intended to be implemented. "The reason why this court ought not to rely anymore on the empty assurances given by UOI (Union of India) is because both the UOI and the Chief Minister of the State have embarked jointly on a communal agenda for the ethnic cleansing of the Kukis," it alleged. The NGO claimed despite assurances, 81 more Kuki people have been killed and 31,410 displaced since May 17, when the top court last heard the matter. The petition said the narrative that there is a "clash" between the two communities- the majority Meiteis and the tribals- is far from truth as the two have coexisted since long. "Such a narrative misses the fact that the two communities have co-existed for a long time despite their sometime deep-rooted differences and, secondly, that the unique situation presently existing is of a couple of armed communal groups linked to the party in power in the State, carrying out a predesigned communal attack on the tribals. "The 'clash' narrative camouflages the presence of these two groups behind all the attacks and renders them immune from prosecution thereby emboldening them to carry on further attacks," the petition alleged. It sought constitution of an SIT headed by former Assam police chief Harekrishna Deka to go into the violence and an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 crore to the kin of each of those killed within three months. It also demanded a permanent government job to a member of the families of those slain. On May 17, the top court had directed the Manipur government to take steps to foster confidence and ensure peace and tranquillity in the state torn by ethnic violence, asserting that being the top-most court it can ensure that the political executive exercises its power and does not turn a blind eye to the situation. Taking note of the submissions on alleged provocative statements by Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, the top court had asked Mehta to advise him to exercise restraint. The state is in the throes of a bloody conflict between the Meiteis and tribal Kukis since the March 27 Manipur High Court order that asked the state government to send a recommendation to the Centre within four weeks on the demand for ST status to the majority community. The apex court is seized of a batch of pleas on the Manipur situation, including one by a ruling BJP MLA challenging the high court order on Scheduled Tribe status to the Meitei community, and a PIL by the tribal NGO for an SIT probe into the violence that has rocked the northeastern state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet here on Tuesday over two dozen thought leaders from various walks of life, including Nobel laureates, economists, artists, scientists, scholars, entrepreneurs, academicians and health sector experts. These include entrepreneur and Tesla and Twitter owner Elon Musk, astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson, Nobel laureate economist Paul Romer, author Nicholas Nassim Taleb and investor Ray Dalio. Other notable personalities are Falu Shah, Jeff Smith, Michael Froman, Daniel Russel, Elbridge Colby, Peter Agre, Stephen Klasko and Chandrika Tandon, officials said. There will be conversations to achieve better synergy, understand the developments in the US and invite people to collaborate with India among other issues on the agenda, they said. As a means to enhance people-to-people connect, Modi often meets thought leaders in the countries he visits, they noted. PM Modi will be in the city where he will celebrate the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community. Prime Minister Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. They will host Modi at a state dinner on June 22. The visit also includes an address to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept This time a year ago, trade ministers of World Trade Organisation (WTO) members adopted the Geneva Package of outcomes after intensive negotiations at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12). MC12 will long be remembered as the ministerial where the larger interest of reviving rules-based trade multilateralism through a solution-oriented approach won the day. Despite continuing pandemic-induced stressors and the added complexities of conducting trade negotiations in the shadow of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, trade ministers led from the front and invested significant political capital in ensuring deliverables at MC12, which ultimately helped carry the day. Where do things stand a year on? With just around eight months to go for the next WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi, we take stock of progress achieved since MC12 and the road ahead to MC13. Work In Progress One of the landmark achievements of MC12 was the adoption of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies to eliminate subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. This now awaits formal acceptance by two-thirds of the WTO membership in order to enter into force. Only 10 WTO members have so far deposited their instrument of acceptance, which includes the United States. This is a positive signal of its active reengagement with the WTO. However, this agreement remains a work in progress. The more contentious aspects of disciplining subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, and the contours of special and differential treatment (S&DT) for developing country members are yet to be thrashed out. These will be the priority issues in the run-up to MC13. The MC12 decision limiting patent rights over subject matter required for the production and supply of COVID-19 vaccines by reducing the rigour of procedures relating to use without authorisation of right holders (compulsory licencing) was another propitious outcome. Having missed the original deadline on a decision on whether to extend this decision to COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics, the issue remains important and on the agenda for MC13, despite the pandemic having receded from headlines. Apart from the WTO, the United States International Trade Commission is also examining the matter of the relationship of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) with Covid-19 diagnostics and therapeutics, and its results are expected in late October. Development-oriented Multilateralism The developmental aspects of trade will continue to underpin discussions on all substantive issues and take centre stage in discussions before MC13. At its heart will be making the WTO framework for S&DT of developing and least-developed countries more operationally effective. A recent Policy Brief for the ThinkTwenty (T20) engagement group of the G20, co-authored by one of us in collaboration with global experts, identifies some reformatory interventions which can promote development-oriented multilateralism at the WTO. At MC13, WTO members also have to arrive at a decision on the future of the existing moratorium on levying customs duties on electronic commerce. This is a complex issue with implications not just for cross-border digital trade, but equally for the development dimensions of digital industrialisation. The WTO membership will also continue to grapple with legacy issues in the run-up to MC13, particularly relating to agricultural trade, where delivering outcomes on food security and domestic support reform remains challenging. While a declaration on emergency response to food insecurity was one of the MC12 outcomes, the priority now is its implementation through an effective decision at MC13 which can alleviate prevailing and impending food insecurity, particularly in least-developed and net food-importing developing countries. With concerns around climate change and sustainability becoming a mainstay of discussions on international cooperation, the WTO will need to arrive at a shared understanding of the role it can play in these global conversations. Trade measures and environmental sustainability will become even more intertwined in the future. How trade policy can contribute to environmental sustainability without creating new barriers to trade, particularly for developing countries, will be an issue the WTO membership will have to contend with at MC13 and beyond. Reforms At WTO Finally, systemic concerns and WTO reform will continue to occupy top priority in the remaining months till MC13. All eyes will be on the MC12 mandate of restoring a fully functioning dispute settlement system by 2024. If progress on this front is to be achieved, it will require intensifying discussions amidst a rapidly changing landscape of different proposals on the shape of dispute settlement reforms. MC12 came as a shot in the arm for the WTO and breathed fresh life into the moribund institution. While success breeds success, we must be careful to not burden the WTO with unrealistic expectations for MC13. MC13 will be held in the week of February 26, 2024. About two decades ago, on February 26, 2004, then WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi, delivering a speech in Washington DC, had said, It is true that as the WTO's importance to the world economy increases, so too does the challenge of making it work - there are more countries, more issues, trade is in the spot light as never before. The echoes of the past must serve as a guide to the future. We must not take the benefits of the rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its centre for granted. It remains indispensable as a global public good, and is worth all the work required to preserve it. Pradeep S Mehta & Advaiyot Sharma work for CUTS International, a global public policy research and advocacy group. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication. Dear Reader, The Panorama newsletter is sent to Moneycontrol Pro subscribers on market days. It offers easy access to stories published on Moneycontrol Pro and gives a little extra by setting out a context or an event or trend that investors should keep track of. The war in the domestic skies is finally getting real. Interglobe Aviation, aka IndiGos 500-aircraft deal with French aerospace giant Airbus is being lauded as a defining moment in aviation history. It is reportedly the largest-ever single aircraft order placed by any airline with Airbus. Veteran analysts of the sector also state that commercially IndiGo has locked in delivery slots for the next decade with this mega order. Such large deals allow customers to set commercially viable terms such as engine selection, exact mix of the type of aircraft and of course, pricing. With this deal, IndiGo has soared several feet higher than Tata-owned Air India, which shocked all not only with its turnaround plans but also by its 470-aircraft order placed with Boeing and Airbus earlier this year. To be sure, domestic skies seem to be showering a bonanza on airline companies in India in the post-pandemic period. High demand and passenger load factor leading to soaring air fares are making headlines. IndiGo, which has the largest market share in the domestic skies will have a fleet in excess of 1,000 aircraft by 2035! For those puzzled by the financial muscle of these airlines that were struggling for survival through the pandemic, they seem to have finally struck upon a winning business model. Analysts reckon that IndiGo may use the sale and leaseback model to finance its fleet acquisition -- something that works well for this sector, given the huge cost of aircraft. Besides, the sale at a much later date from the purchase, usually comes at a significant profit. That said, these future orders and the sale-and-leaseback model run the risk of currency volatility. The lease liability too, needs to be managed well, especially during challenging times for the industry. Be that as it may, the aggressive deals in domestic skies signal good times for the aviation industry as a whole. Even globally, the airline industry market is projected to grow at a CAGR value of 25.5 per cent from 2022 to 2027. Reports also point to high growth in the Asia Pacific region. According to forecast reports published by Boeing, in the next two decades, the APAC region will account for approximately half of the global air traffic and about 40 per cent of all new aircraft deliveries. Indeed, IndiGo appears to have got its business model right. Investors too seem to have given a thumbs-up to the company as the stock hit a 52-week high on news of the latest deal. However, one needs to see how competition will pan out in the skies, as the Tata group, with deep pockets and a host of brands, is unlikely to fly low. Investing insights from our research team Discovery Series | SJS Enterprises: carving out a lucrative niche Galaxy Surfactants: Macro challenges to subside in H1FY24 PNC Infratech: Quality stock to play the infrastructure uptrend Tracker Pro Economic Tracker | Auto sales turn a mixed bag, bank credit growth softens What else are we reading? Does the rush in small cap stocks indicate a risk-off market? Cyclicality in financial markets can boost returns India shouldnt allow EU FTA talks to remain hostage to the carbon border levy As hiring slows, employee pyramid improvement stalls at Infosys, TCS Chart of the Day: Convincing recovery in capex among listed firms Bank of Baroda must show it is special beyond the performance metrics The Senthil Balaji question RIP bear market? (republished from the FT) PM Modis US visit yields crown-jewel jet engine technology for India Climate Change: Homes need to turn into batteries to beat the summer power crisis Despite GatiShakti & emphasis on infrastructure creation, projects continue to overrun Crucial decisions of WTO MC12 awaits members action ahead of Feb 24 meeting Unlucky 13 looms for the BOE and UK mortgage payers UK retailers should make hay while the sun shines on shoppers Technical Picks: Som Distilleries, Dr Lal Pathlabs, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Bank of Baroda and Zinc (These are published every trading day before markets open and can be read on the app). Vatsala Kamat Moneycontrol Pro Prime Minister Narendra Modis state visit to the US (June 21-23) has aroused considerable interest and expectation from different quarters and it is being heralded as one that might prove to be historic and transformational particularly in the defence sector. Ahead of the visit, it has been indicated that the US has agreed to a key deliverable that will be inked in Washington and this pertains to the manufacture of the US-made F414 jet engines. The US Congress is being notified about an impending MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) to be signed between GE (General Electric) and HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited). These jet engines will power the Indian Tejas LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) Mk2, which has been handicapped by the failure of the indigenous Kaveri engine and the inability to ob tain an appropriate alternative. Optimism About The Deal Reports from Washington are very optimistic and this deal has been described as a case of the US sharing its crown-jewel as far as its defence technology is concerned. Furthermore, it is being highlighted that this is the first time that the US is engaging in such commerce with a non-military ally nation. One official expansively interpreted the deal thus: It is transformative. India will have access to the full engine. There are no black boxes here. The manufacturing in India is going to start with technology sharing of way over 50 percent which rises over the production cycle. There will be a flexible licensing agreement. India will have designs and sensitive technology. This is more tech transfer than the US has ever authorised. We are breaking through into new frontiers. While this breakthrough in relation to jet-engine manufacturing in India is to be welcomed, for it will give a much needed fillip to the Tejas fighter, the fineprint of the manufacturing knowhow and the design transfer between GE and HAL will have to be studied carefully for its technology transfer detail and protocol and long-term implications. The Self Reliance Question It has been an Indian aspiration to acquire a credible degree of indigenously designed defence manufacturing capability but this has been elusive. Decades of acquiring military inventory from the former USSR and now Russia has led to proven competence in assembling parts but very little design skills were acquired. Barring the underwater nuclear propulsion success (INS Arihant) with assistance from Russia the Indian track-record is dismal. Thus India is in the top tier of arms importers and the Modi focus on aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) is to be applauded, though the journey will be arduous. Specific to the aviation sector, HAL a defence PSU (public sector undertaking) in Bengaluru dominates the eco-system and has had very limited success in nurturing indigenous design and manufacturing capability. Numerous structural constraints often associated with the Indian public sector have plagued this domain and this has to be overcome. One hopes that the GE-HAL deal will provide the necessary traction. However, as is well established globally no major design and manufacturing entity/nation parts with the core knowhow of the crown jewel. Hence it will be instructive to see how the proposed 50 percent plus technology share that is being mooted in the F414 agreement will translate into ground reality. Over and above this, the ability of HAL to absorb what is being offered in an efficient and seamless manner will be the litmus test. The Kaveri Engine Failure The most relevant strand will be the long-term impact of the GE cooperation as regards the inchoate Kaveri engine. Being able to design and manufacture a world-class jet engine is a high necessity skillset and India has yet to acquire this capability. The Kaveri seed was planted in 1986 under DRDOs aegis and it has had a chequered trajectory. The first prototype engine was tested in 1996 and by 2004 it was flying in a Russian test-bed but with limited success. Since then the Kaveri has become a stepchild and attempts at acquiring a foreign partner to co-develop the engine have been abortive. And in an inexplicable policy decision, DRDO closed the project in 2014. Will India be able to revive the Kaveri against the backdrop of the GE-HAL deal for the F414 engine? HAL and other institutions will have to invest in design capability, and some innovative partnership models will need to be evolved and supported with adequate funding. Indias Aerospace Aspirations Remaining dependent on the GE engines without trying to develop an indigenously designed engine will inhibit Indias long term aerospace aspirations. In this context, Chinas hard-won success with its WS-10 aero engine project should serve as a motivator. As Admiral Arun Prakash, former naval chief and war-decorated fighter pilot, has cautioned: Historically, all major aerospace powers have possessed the capability to design airframes as well as power-plants. Until India can design and produce its own aero-engines, the performance and capabilities of any indigenously designed/built aircraft will be seriously limited by the technology that we are permitted to import. Thus while the deal with GE is to be welcomed, Indias aatmanirbhar index will depend on its ability to bridge the current design gap. Commodore C Uday Bhaskar (Retd.) is Director, Society for Policy Studies, New Delhi. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for the African Union to be included as a full and permanent member of the G20, bolstering Indias commitment to the development of Africa and championing the Global South. The African Union represents 54 countries from one of the most resource-rich continents. But Africa also has the most impoverished people. Modi proposed to the leaders of the G20 countries that the African Union be included at their summit in New Delhi in September. The Prime Ministers proposal comes when African countries have expressed their frustration at being marginalised in global institutions. The large representation from Africa at this weeks New Global Financial Pact summit co-organised by France and India. in Paris reflected this rising frustration. The summit, with representation from the leading global economies, will discuss pressing issues such as World Bank reforms, climate financing and debt distress. But the African countries increasingly feel they are being shortchanged as priorities shift towards helping Ukraine and dealing with climate change. They are angry that Africa has very little say in global institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations and the proposed reforms are likely to ignore their concerns. Largest stakes We, the Global South, have the largest stakes in the future, Modi said at the Voice of Global South organised by India early this year. Most of the global challenges have not been created by the Global South. But they affect us more. The Prime Minister pointed out that India has always shared its developmental experience with the Global South. As India begins its G20 Presidency this year, it is natural that our aim is to amplify the Voice of the Global South, Modi had said. Modis move to include the African Union at the forthcoming G20 summit under Indias presidency is a smart move. It pre-empts others from walking away with the credit and coincides with the peaking frustration among African nations at being excluded from global decision-making. The G20 is an intergovernmental forum of the major developed and developing economies. The members represent about 85 percent of global GDP, over 75 percent of global trade, and about two-thirds of the worlds population. The grouping comprises 19 countries and the European Union. The G20 this year also invited nine non-member "guest" countries including Bangladesh, Singapore, Spain and Nigeria, besides organisations such as the UN, the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the IMF. Observers said including the African Union will be the right step towards a just, fair, and more inclusive and representative global architecture and governance. India has always maintained regular and cordial contacts with African countries since independence. Under Modis government, the engagement with African countries has been enhanced significantly. The President, vice president, Prime Minister, the foreign minister and other senior officials regularly visit the continent as India implements a series of projects for the development and progress of the African nations. Other nations have also tried to step up their engagement with Africa in recent years. This is largely because Chinas footprint had grown significantly in the continent over the past few decades as it spent billions of dollars in the African infrastructure sector under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). US commitment In this period, China also struck deals with African countries to import resources for its development while using the continent as a lucrative market for Chinese goods, arms and technology. Alarmed at Chinas growing presence in the continent, US President Joe Biden tried to revive Americas links with the continent by hosting a three-day US-Africa summit in December. He offered a $55 billion developmental package to convince African leaders of his commitment to Africa in the face of Chinas growing influence in the continent. Russia, Japan, Turkey and other European countries have also tried to get a foothold in Africa in recent years. Africa is a large bloc and its support is solicited by most countries on crucial issues at the UN such as the Ukraine war, climate change or reforms of the UN and other global bodies. But African nations note that while funds for the continents development have been steadily dwindling every year, most western countries have been extremely generous to help Ukraine. Bilateral aid to sub-Saharan Africa fell by 8 percent in real terms to $29 billion in 2022, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. However, global bilateral aid rose by 15 percent during the same period as $16 billion went directly to Ukraine and European countries spent $29 billion to host refugees from Ukraine. Modi has said that to deal with the challenges of the Global South and re-energise the world, We should together call for a global agenda of Respond, Recognise, Respect, Reform. As the world shows keenness to engage the Global South, there could be little opposition among the G20 members to this initiative of Modi at the summit. British adventurer Hamish Harding was reported to have been missing on a submersible that was diving to the wreckage of the Titanic. During the weekend, Harding had posted on social media that a ship had set sail from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada en route to the Titanic wreck. Harding and the rest of the crew were scheduled to begin diving operations in the submersible at around 4 am local time. Even as search operations to find Harding begin, in an old video shared on his Facebook page in September 2022 Harding could be heard speaking about the transfer of the cheetahs from Namibia to India. "Well, we are here in Windcock, Namibia. We have arrived in the Boeing 747 from the UAE and we are all ready for the cheetahs to load in the next 48 hours. We are just practicing now to make sure the cheetahs boxes can get on board through the doors and plan the securing of the cheetahs in the cabin and everything is on track for the reintroduction of cheetahs into India for the very first time in more than 75 years. We are all very excited," Harding said in the video. In September last year, on his birthday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released eight cheetahs into the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Addressing the country on the occasion, PM Modi had said India will follow international guidelines to ensure the animals settle in their new surroundings. Also read: Namibian cheetahs to be brought to India in customised jumbo jet Renowned British adventurer Hamish Harding has been reported missing on a submersible that was diving to the wreckage of the Titanic. Harding, 58, who is the chairman of aircraft firm Action Aviation and holds three Guinness World Records, is an experienced explorer who has ventured to space and undertaken numerous daring expeditions. According to Harding's stepson Brian Szasz, who posted on Facebook, the adventurer "has gone missing on (the) submarine." The operator of the submersible, OceanGate, has expressed its utmost focus on ensuring the safe return of the crew. The company stated, "We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely." The search efforts are currently underway, with multiple organizations and assets dedicated to locating the missing submersible. Over the weekend, Harding had shared on social media that a ship had set sail from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, en route to the Titanic wreck. He and the crew were scheduled to commence diving operations in the submersible at approximately 4:00 AM local time. Harding acknowledged the challenging weather conditions, stating, "Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023." Nevertheless, he remained hopeful, stating, "A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Capt. Hamish Harding (@actionaviationchairman) Following the successful launch of the submersible, Action Aviation confirmed that Harding was "currently diving." However, contact was lost with the vessel about one hour and 45 minutes into its dive, prompting an immediate search and rescue operation for the five people onboard. Rear Admiral John W Mauger from the US Coast Guard revealed that a highly-sophisticated P-8 Poseidon aircraft with underwater detection capabilities had been deployed. Additionally, the Canadian armed forces and commercial vessels were actively involved in the search effort. The search teams have been employing sonar buoys to listen for underwater noise and scanning the ocean surface in case the submersible had surfaced. The UK's Foreign Office expressed its concern, stating, "We are in contact with the family of a British man following reports of a missing submarine off the coast of North America." The international community remains hopeful for a successful rescue mission. The expedition to the Titanic wreck, organized by OceanGate Expeditions, is an eight-day trip that costs $250,000 per person. Participants travel aboard a larger ship to the vicinity of the wreckage, and from there, they embark on an eight-hour dive in a truck-sized submersible named Titan. The Titan is capable of carrying up to five people and provides life support for the crew for up to 96 hours. For Hamish Harding, a private jet dealer, this trip to the Titanic's wreckage is the latest in a series of extraordinary adventures. He has previously visited the South Pole multiple times and even journeyed into space aboard Blue Origin's fifth human-crewed flight in 2022. Additionally, Harding holds three world records, including the longest time spent at full ocean depth during a dive to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. The Titanic rests approximately 12,500 feet beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, around 600 km off the coast of Newfoundland. The number of foreign tourists who arrived in India this year during January-April is 166 per cent more than the figures for the corresponding period in 2022, Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Tuesday. He said this in his address at the inaugural session of the fourth G20 Tourism Working Group (TWG) meeting here. Reddy also said that after the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign tourist arrivals in India have increased. "The number of foreign tourists who arrived in India this year during January-April is 166 per cent higher than the figures for the corresponding period in 2022," Reddy said. "India's inbound travel is expected to reach to pre-pandemic level in 2023," he asserted. Later at a press conference here, Reddy said it was a "matter of happiness" that the concluding meeting of the TWG is taking place in Goa. "India is hosting over 200 G20 meetings at 55 locations across the country. It is happening with 'janbhagidari' (people's cooperation). And, tourism sector is benefitting the most from these meetings," he said. In keeping with the philosophy of 'Atithi Devo Bhav', India is hosting G20 delegates with great warmth. "Each of these delegates we want them to go back as ambassadors of India," the minister said. Earlier interacting with members of a Yuva Tourism Club after the opening session here, Reddy said the G20 meetings are taking place across the country "akin to a festival". During the TWG meeting on Tuesday, sustainable tourism, climate change, among other subjects were discussed. The fourth and the final meeting is discussing various challenges that tourism sector is facing globally. Hailing India as the "mother of democracy" and ancient land of spirituality, Union minister Reddy urged the global community to work together to build a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient tourism sector. India is currently chairing the G20, and "mother of democracy" and "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam", are also one of the key taglines used by the central government in its posters and other visuals means of comunication on it. The Union minister also said that currently the Indian government has two priorities: sustainable infrastructure creation, to cater to the growing needs of the tourists, and raising awareness among the tourists, for responsible consumption and adoption of an environmentally conscious lifestyle and through the launch of the "G20 Tourism and SDG Dashboard, a legacy has been created". The dashboard being developed, shall promote policies and initiatives by the G20 countries, and guest countries in building a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient sector, he said. A thematic discussion on 'Making India a Hub for Cruise Tourism' was also organised in partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was also held on Tuesday during the event. At the end of the fourth Tourism Working Group Meeting and the G20 Tourism Ministerial Meeting, a Goa Roadmap and Action Plan and a ministerial communique endorsing the roadmap will be issued. From the last three Tourism Working Group meetings, "insightful discussions, thought-provoking and positive decisions" have emerged which will be deliberated upon in the fourth and the final meeting in Goa, the minister said. Reddy said the outcomes of the two meetings, aim to lend support towards building a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient tourism sector. The Roadmap and the communique are in line with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of 2030. "Friends, let us work together in bridging the gap between public and private leaders and building a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient tourism sector in future," he said. Tourism Ministry officials reiterated that these two documents will be key deliverables after the Goa meet. "At the end of our working group meeting and the ministerial meeting, we are going to declare a Goa Roadmap and Action Plan for tourism as a vehicle for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs)," a senior official said. Under India's G20 Tourism Track, the TWG is working on five inter-connected priority areas green tourism, digitisation, skills, tourism MSMEs and destination. These priorities are key building blocks for accelerating the transition of the tourism sector and achieve the targets for 2030 SDGs. Also, there will be a "ministerial communique" that will be released at the end of the tourism working group and other deliberations which will endorse the Goa roadmap. The first Tourism Working Group Meeting of the G20 was held at Runn of Kutch in Gujarat followed by the second one at Siliguri and Darjeeling in West Bengal, and the third one was hosted in Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. Buffalo has long welcomed refugees and immigrants to rebuild their lives in the City of Good Neighbors. An ecosystem of charitable organizations has helped them in that process. On Tuesday, which has been designated World Refugee Day, five of those local agencies announced that they have formed a coalition so that they can better serve new arrivals to Buffalo. Local agencies prepare as Ukrainian citizens resettle in Western New York There are about 237 Ukrainian citizens now in the Buffalo area, said Molly Carr, CEO of Jewish Family Services. The Refugee Partnership brings together Catholic Charities of Buffalo, International Institute of Buffalo, Jericho Road Community Health Center, Jewish Family Services of WNY and Journeys End Refugee Services. We are experiencing unprecedented numbers of refugees across the globe, said Molly S. Carr, chief executive officer of Jewish Family Services. These refugees are coming and they are moving because of a variety of reasons. There are over 50 civil wars happening throughout the globe. Global warming is impacting the security and safety of refugees. Situations like the war in Ukraine has created millions of refugees that are fleeing from their homes. The United States has always been and continues to be receptive to receiving refugees through our U.S. refugee admissions programs. And here in Buffalo, we are happy to help refugees come and resettle and find their new home. The organizations have always worked informally together. Catholic Charities, the International Institute, Jewish Family Services and Journeys End are all involved with refugee settlement services. Jericho Roads clinics provide care to refugees and new immigrants, as well as other underserved populations in Buffalo, and it also operates the Vive Shelter for asylum-seekers. Refugees are people and families who are displaced from their home countries and were living in camps in other countries. Through a program overseen by the United Nations, the United States agrees to take in a certain number of these refugees. Asylum-seekers are different from refugees, in that they are still in the process of being granted asylum. A new home for Vive: Jericho Road completes $2 million purchase of former assisted-living facility in Buffalo "To people running from violence, war, persecution and other desperate conditions, Vive represents hope for a new beginning in a safe place," Jericho Road founder and CEO Dr. Myron Glick said. Formalizing the coalition allows the groups to share resources, the organizations leaders said at a news conference in front of the Vive Shelters new location at 1500 Main St., which is under construction. The partnership employs two staff members who will work on the coordination efforts. We know that we have to work in a more collaborative way, that there has to be this added value in order for us to ensure that the community that we serve is being served in a way that they deserve, and the way that Western New York deserves. We have been doing it informally for so long that it just also seems like a really natural step, said Karen M. Andolina Scott, chief executive officer of Journeys End. The partnership is getting ready to launch a website where people interested in helping can donate welcome kits for new arrivals as well as monetary donations. Two men, including a Thai national and an AISATS staffer, were arrested at the international airport here for allegedly smuggling gold into India valued at about Rs 58 lakh, a customs official said on Tuesday. AISATS, an airport services provider, is a 50-50 joint venture between Air India Limited (a part of the TATA group) and Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS). A case of smuggling was registered on June 12 against the Thailand national, who had arrived here from Dubai, he said. The accused passenger planned to go back to Bangkok on the same day, the officer said. During investigation, it emerged that he smuggled the gold in paste form by handing it over to an airline staff, who further acted clandestinely to take it outside the airport without declaring it to the customs officials with the intention to evade payment of customs duty, according to a statement issued on Monday by the customs department. A total of 1.12 kg of gold, valued at Rs 57.65 lakh, has been obtained from the gold paste. The gold was seized and both the accused were arrested, the statement said. A senior customs officer said the accused worker is employed with AISATS as its customer service junior assistant. The employee was allotted the Vistara airline pool, he said. The customs department has written to AISATS about the involvement of its staffer in the case, he said. An AISATS spokesperson condemned the behaviour displayed by the employee and said that they are extending all support to the concerned authorities in this matter. At AISATS, we have a strict employee code of conduct, which is based on the values and ethos of the organisation. Any violation of this policy could lead to severe disciplinary action. It is mandatory for all staff to comply with the companys rules and regulations and more so with the customs and security laws of the land, the spokesperson said in a statement. We condemn the behaviour displayed by the employee and are extending all support to the concerned authorities in this matter, it added. A recent announcement by an unidentified company in eastern China, prohibiting employees from having extramarital affairs, has ignited a fiery debate on social media platforms across the country, South China Morning Post reported. While some individuals have expressed support for the ban, others argue that it infringes upon personal freedoms and privacy. Furthermore, legal experts have pointed out that such a prohibition may be illegal under China's Labour Contract Law. The company, based in Zhejiang province, issued the "extramarital affairs prohibition" order on June 9, applying it to all married employees. In an internal document, the company stated that the purpose of the rule was to strengthen inner management, promote a corporate culture of loyalty to family, protect families, and enhance employee focus on work. The document explicitly stated that any employee found violating the ban would be terminated. It urged staff to embrace correct values and strive to be "good employees with four 'Nos'"no illicit relationship, no mistress, no extramarital affair, and no divorce. According to an unnamed staffer from the company, the ban was introduced to encourage employees to maintain stable and harmonious families, thus increasing productivity at work. The staffer emphasized the importance of a harmonious family life, asserting that only with such stability could individuals fully concentrate on their professional responsibilities. However, legal experts have raised concerns about the legality of the ban. Lawyer Chen Dong from V&T Law Firm in Shanghai explained that, under the country's Labour Contract Law, an employee's termination can only be justified if they are no longer capable of performing their duties or if their capabilities no longer align with the job requirements. Chen highlighted that even if a company includes an affair ban in its employee manual, it cannot form a legitimate basis for firing staff. Employees who are dismissed based on this reason have the right to take legal action to protect their rights. Chen emphasized that while promoting the right values is commendable, companies cannot infringe upon employees' rights due to extramarital issues. The company's affair ban has evoked mixed responses on social media platforms. Some individuals voiced their support, praising the company's initiative in combating what they perceive as a widespread issue. One user on Douyin expressed, "Which company is it? We should support it. Thumbs-up to the boss of this company!" Another commenter said, "Cheating in marriage is probably quite common. The state authorities should intervene. Now a company takes the initiative to fight against this bad behavior. This is a positive energy for society, and the company deserves our respect." However, critics, including well-known blogger Zhou Kanjun, condemned the ban as an encroachment on personal freedoms and privacy. Zhou argued that companies should not dictate employees' personal lives, emphasizing the importance of individual autonomy and the right to privacy. As of now, the local municipal human resources and social security bureau, responsible for handling labour disputes, has not received any complaints regarding the affair ban. It remains unclear what prompted the company to implement this extreme measure or if any workplace affairs involving employees played a role in the decision. Carlos Ghosn, the former head of Nissan Motor Co., sued the Japanese automaker and connected individuals for ousting him in 2018 and arranging his arrest for alleged financial misconduct, claiming more than $1 billion for deep damage to his finances and reputation. The former auto executive, who forged Nissans carmaking alliance with Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., filed his claims with the public prosecutor in the Court of Cassation in Lebanon, where he has lived since his dramatic escape from Japan in late 2019 to flee trial. The lawsuit, seen by Bloomberg News, was submitted on May 18 and translated into English from Arabic. The arrest of Ghosn, 69, sent shockwaves through the global auto industry and unleashed turmoil within Nissan that continues to this day. Ghosn has minced few words criticizing Nissan and Japans legal authorities for removing him from the worlds biggest automaking alliance. He still faces criminal charges in Japan for what prosecutors describe as a plot to underreport his compensation, as well as a civil lawsuit filed by Nissan in a court in Yokohama seeking monetary damages. The serious and sensitive accusations against me will linger in peoples minds for years, Ghosn asserted in the lawsuit, saying he will suffer from them for the remainder of his life, as they have persistent and lingering impacts, even if based on mere suspicion. The lawsuit claims $588 million in lost compensation and costs, as well as $500 million in punitive measures. Nissans shareholders also suffered losses after the company squandered its first-mover advantage with respect to electric vehicles. Ghosn is no longer a shareholder in the Japanese company. Ghosn was sent by Renault in 1999 to turn around the Japanese carmaker, which had been struggling before receiving a cash injection from the French company. He later became chief executive officer of both companies and chairman of the alliance. The lawsuit also makes claims against at least a dozen people, including: Hari Nada, a Nissan employee seen as one of the key instigators of the plot to oust Ghosn Hidetoshi Imazu and Hitoshi Kawaguchi, two senior Nissan managers with early involvement in Nissans actions against Ghosn Toshiaki Onuma, a manager in the CEOs office, who along with Nada, agreed to cooperate with Japanese prosecutors to avoid prosecution Masakazu Toyoda and Motoo Nagai, two Nissan board members A representative for Nissan said the company hasnt yet received the lawsuit or is aware of it, and therefore cant comment or make anyone available for comment on Ghosns claims. The lawsuit includes other individuals and entities, which have not yet been served, according to Ghosns legal representative. Lebanons public prosecutor has set a hearing for September. Authorities in Lebanon can request cooperation from their Japanese counterparts to investigate Ghosns assertions. Its not clear whether Japans judicial system, which Ghosn has said is rigged and violates the most basic principles of humanity, would be willing to cooperate with authorities in Lebanon, which doesnt extradite its citizens. In 2020, a UN panel found that Ghosns detention in a Japanese jail for more than 100 days was neither necessary nor reasonable and violated his rights. The decision to arrest Ghosn four times in a row so as to extend his detention was fundamentally unfair, according to the United Nations Human Rights Councils Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The 18-page claim includes Ghosns plan to bring Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors under a grand alliance with Fiat Chrysler, which he says fueled concerns within Nissan in early 2018 that he was seeking to make the partnership irreversible. Nada and others then laid the groundwork to have Ghosn arrested in order to remove him from Nissan and the alliance, according to the former auto executive. Ghosn also described his intentions for taking a voluntary pay cut in 2011 after new disclosure rules in Japan triggered efforts to find legal means to retain and pay him during retirement. Those plans eventually became the basis for the arrest of Ghosn and Greg Kelly, a former Nissan director who was involved in the salary discussions. A trial verdict last year exonerated Kelly of most charges and imposed a fine on Nissan. The former auto executive described how he received job offers by Volkswagen AG, Ford Motor Co. and a more lucrative salary to join General Motors Co., but decided to stay with the alliance following the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. Ghosn said the efforts within Nissan to find ways to compensate and keep him were criminalized because that was the only means found by the conspirators to get rid of him as the chairman of the board of directors. Nada and others then waged a defamation campaign to tarnish his image, Ghosn asserts in the lawsuit. The claim also details the involvement of the Japanese and French governments, the purge of certain people from Nissan following Ghosns arrest, issues with the companys internal investigation into the matter and damage done to shareholders as a result of the actions. In a way, the lawsuit is the crystallization of Ghosns efforts to clear his name following his arrival in Lebanon, where in early 2020 he held an epic news conference denouncing his arrest. The former auto executive spent part of his childhood in the country and lives in a house that was bought and restored by Nissan, which he had planned to buy from the company upon retirement. They cannot plot a lie and cheat and get away with it, Ghosn said by telephone from Beirut. This is just a small response to the damage they created. I dont think they can right the wrong, because the damage is so deep this is intended to repair part of the damage that has been done. Masayoshi Son is due to make his first public appearance in seven months at SoftBank Group Corp.s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, with cash-strapped startups wondering if the worlds biggest tech investor will ever go on the offensive again. The debt-laden Tokyo-based conglomerate is hosting the meeting in person for the first time in four years. Son is scheduled to break a months-long silence after the billionaire bid adieu to earnings calls amid mounting losses to focus on taking Arm Ltd. public. Prospects for the chip design units initial public offering have brightened recently, buoyed by hype around generative AI and talks with potential anchor investors including Intel Corp. Arm is seeking to raise as much as $10 billion, Bloomberg News reported, and brokerages are revising up their SoftBank stock price targets. The companys shares have gained about 25% so far in the June quarter, heading for their best quarterly performance in three years. But the outlook for SoftBanks flagship Vision Fund investment unit remains bleak. Slumping tech valuations have forced it to shoulder billions of dollars in losses for five straight quarters. Investments at SoftBanks funds have ground to a virtual halt, forcing belt-tightening throughout the startup ecosystem. SoftBank invested in seven startups through funding rounds totaling about $550 million so far in the June quarter, data compiled by Bloomberg show. For reference, the Vision Fund segment spent $15.6 billion in the same quarter just two years ago. Although the downside caused by geopolitical risks and other factors continues to be unpredictable, innovative information technologies keep evolving rapidly, Son wrote in a letter to shareholders dated May 29. Sons comment echoed previous remarks by Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto about the possibility of SoftBank shifting gears away from total defense. While maintaining financial soundness, we will make investments that drive the information revolution, and strike a balance of defense and offense, Son said. USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. 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I Accept Oracle Corp CEO Safra Katz discussed a possible expansion of the company's investment activity in Israel during a meeting on Tuesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu, his office said. Oracle provides products and services that address enterprise information technology (IT) environments. The statement from Netanyahu's office said he and Katz also discussed opportunities arising from artificial intelligence. USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. 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I Accept Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Tuesday on the first leg of his maiden state visit to the US during which he will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters and hold bilateral talks with President Joe Biden in Washington. Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, who will host him at a state dinner on June 22. The visit includes an address by the prime minister to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. In his departure statement, Modi said this "special invitation" from President Biden and the First Lady for a state visit is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between the democracies. "I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community," the prime minister said. "I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported India's proposal in December 2014 to recognise an International Day of Yoga," he said. Nine years after Prime Minister Modi first proposed from the United Nations General Assembly podium to mark International Yoga Day as an annual commemoration, the Indian leader will for the first time be at the UN Headquarters to lead the yoga session in a historic commemoration of the day. From New York, Modi will travel to Washington D.C. where he will hold talks with President Biden. The prime minister noted that President Biden and he have had the opportunity to meet several times since his last official visit to the US in September 2021. "This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership," Modi said. Modi said his discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders will provide an opportunity to consolidate bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity). The prime minister said he will also join President Biden and the First Lady for the state banquet along with a number of dignitaries. Noting that the US Congress has always provided strong bi-partisan support to India-US ties, Modi said that during his visit, he will address a joint session of the US Congress at the invitation of the Congressional leadership. "Strong people-to-people linkages have been instrumental in developing the trust between our countries. I look forward to meeting the vibrant Indian-American community that represents the best of our societies," he said. "I will also meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating our trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains," Modi said. Modi will also meet business leaders, interact with the Indian community and meet thought leaders from different walks of life. "We seek to deepen India-USA ties in key sectors like trade, commerce, innovation, technology and other such areas," he said. The US is India's largest trade partner in goods and services, and the two countries collaborate closely in the fields of science and technology, education, health, defence and security, the prime minister said. The initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration in defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, artificial intelligence and biotech sectors, he added. "Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific," he said. Modi expressed confidence that his visit to the US will reinforce ties between the two countries based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. "Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges," Modi said in his statement. From the US, Modi will travel to Egypt at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Lorigos use of political contributions and pro-police advertisements during his 2022 campaign is being investigated by a state commission just months after the Erie County legislator was elected to the bench. Lorigo is the subject of an ethics complaint being investigated by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which has the power to censure and remove judges for unethical conduct, The Buffalo News has learned. Lorigo in a brief phone interview confirmed the complaints existence but declined to comment publicly. He then threatened to file a lawsuit against The News if the newspaper reported on the complaint. His father, Ralph C. Lorigo, the longtime chairman of the Erie County Conservative Party, has been working to provide responses to more than 20 questions posed by the commission, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The sources requested anonymity because they feared political retaliation from Ralph Lorigo. Ralph Lorigo did not respond to phone calls and messages from The News seeking comment about the ethics complaint. Tenor of campaign ads Joe Lorigo, a Conservative, was elected to State Supreme Court in November over Buffalo City Court Judge Shannon Heneghan, a Democrat. Lorigo had received the lowest possible judicial rating of not recommended by the Erie County Bar Association. State Supreme Court justices, who serve terms of 14 years and make $210,900 per year, are bound by tougher ethics regulations than other elected officials. A judicial candidate may not make pledges or promises of conduct in office other than the faithful and impartial performance of the duties of the office, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct states on its website, nor may a candidate make statements that commit or appear to commit the candidate with respect to cases, controversies or issues that are likely to come before the court. Thats because, according to the state, an independent and honorable judiciary is indispensable to justice in our society, and a judge should participate in establishing, maintaining and enforcing high standards of conduct, and shall personally observe those standards so that the integrity and independence of the judiciary will be preserved. But Lorigo sent multiple campaign mailers to voters referencing current political issues, including those related to law enforcement. Joe Lorigo fought back against politicians who wanted to defund the police, one ad reviewed by The News stated. SUPPORTS LAW ENFORCEMENT...OPPOSES CASHLESS BAIL...PRO LAW AND ORDER. In 2003, the judicial conduct commission announced it intended to more strictly enforce political advertising rules, warning candidates that they have fair warning that violations in the future may result in public discipline more readily than before. That year, the commission removed Lockport City Court Judge William Watson for explicit and repeated statements that he intended to work with and assist police and other law enforcement personnel if elected to judicial office, the commissions website stated. The Court of Appeals later overturned the removal, ordering that Watson be censured for the statements. Judges must apply the law faithfully and impartially they are not elected to aid particular groups, be it the police, the prosecution or the defense bar, the court said. Campaign promises that suggest otherwise gravely risk distorting public perception of the judicial role. Terrence M. Connors, who represented Watson in that case and who often represents judges in cases before the commission, said he was familiar with the complaint against Lorigo, but had not been retained as his attorney. The commission declined to confirm, deny or comment about Lorigo, saying the states judiciary law provides that complaints are confidential unless or until a judge has been publicly disciplined, said spokesperson Marisa E. Harrison. Sources told The News that in addition to the mailers, which featured an image of Lorigo superimposed on a police badge, the campaign is also under scrutiny for a television commercial with a pro-law enforcement theme. Money transfers Additionally, sources say the commission is also probing a series of money transfers Lorigo made between his County Legislature campaign account, his State Supreme Court campaign account and a political action committee affiliated with his father. On Nov. 1, Lorigo transferred $45,989 from his County Legislature campaign account to his State Supreme Court campaign account, according to documents filed with the State Board of Elections. On Feb. 8, three months after he was elected to the bench, Lorigos County Legislature campaign account contributed $41,402 to the Real Conservatives political action committee, which is affiliated with his father, the Conservative Party chairman. A State Board of Elections spokesperson said those moves appear to be legal under election law. But they run contrary to an advisory opinion by the state court systems Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics. Unexpended campaign funds from prior nonjudicial campaigns may not be used for a present campaign for judicial office, for general political party use, nor for the campaigns of candidates sharing ballot with judicial candidate, but must be returned to donors on a pro rata basis, the opinion states. Not only are the offices different, but the opposing candidates may be different, which might factor into the donor decision to support a candidate. It cannot be assumed that donors in the prior campaigns would wish to support the candidate for this office against the present opponents. It is unclear who filed the ethics complaint against Lorigo or when it was filed. But investigations by the commission can take months and sometimes years before a decision is announced. Last year, the commission investigated 15 complaints against State Supreme Court justices, according to its annual report. Five judges were cautioned after the investigations, one was publicly disciplined and two others resigned from the bench. The embattled president of Nardin Academy has been removed by the newly installed board of trustees. Sandra Betters has been replaced on an interim basis by Rebecca Reeder, whose 40 years at the school before retiring included 25 years as principal of the girls high school and seven years as senior vice president of academics. The board removed Sandra Betters as president and named Rebecca Reeder as her replacement on June 16, Chairwoman Marsha Joy Sullivan told The Buffalo News. Although Dr. Betters had tendered her resignation on May 3, the terms were not finalized and were still being discussed when the board turnover occurred earlier this month. The resignation of Betters whose rocky two-year tenure led to widespread calls for her resignation by faculty, alumni and parents of dozens of current students was to have gone into effect June 30 before talks broke down. A statement sent Friday to the Nardin community said Reeder agreed to return to Nardin as interim president and will begin her new role effective immediately. Becky is an experienced leader whose time at Nardin was marked by stellar academic student achievements and excellent faculty and parent morale, the statement said. In our opinion, she is the perfect person to lead our school through this time of healing and renewal. Reeder and Sullivan retired in June 2021, one month before Betters became the top administrator at Nardin. Betters removal also takes her off the board of trustees, since as president she was an ex-officio member. Nardin president will step down at the end of June; 9 board members resign A statement issued by the Board of Trustees late Wednesday night said it had agreed on several measures, including that Nardin President Sandra Betters would step down as of June 30. The nine board members will also step down as part of that agreement. Betters presidency brought widespread criticism during the 2022-23 school year from a majority of faculty in the high, lower and Montessori schools. Their concerns were reflected in letters to the board of trustees, which complained of a harsh and incommunicative management style. Faculty and alumni called for her resignation, which grew to include calls for board Chairwoman Tish Van Dyke to also resign. Nine of the trustees also called for Betters, who was completing the second year of a three-year contract, and Van Dyke to resign, a position joined in a letter by 22 former trustees. About 250 students walked out earlier this spring in support of the faculty. The schools financial stability, too, was put at risk when the families of nearly 300 children withheld re-enrollment deposits for next school year. Many parents said they were waiting until they knew the status of the schools leadership as an already pushed-back June 1 deadline loomed. Nardin Academy announces new leadership after tumult A new board of trustees is in place at Nardin Academy following a tumultuous period that led to the former board's removal on May 29. Then, in one fell swoop May 29, the Paris-based Society of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary, the religious order that founded Nardin in 1857, issued a statement saying it had removed the board. Sullivan, a two-time president of the school, was summoned to form a new board that now includes 10 former board members and six members of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary. The statement from the academy also read, We thank Sandra Betters for the contributions that she made during her time with us and wish her well in her future endeavors. June 20, 2023 Ukraine Open Thread 2023-146 Only for news & views directly related to the Ukraine conflict. The current open thread for other issues here. Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators. Posted by b on June 20, 2023 at 13:17 UTC | Permalink Comments next page The following items will no longer be available to use in NZ as part of the Ministry for the Environments initiative to cut down on hard-to-recycle plastic: Single-use plastic drinking straws, single-use plastic tableware and cutlery, single-use plastic produce bags, and single-use compostable plastic produce labels. Erie County residents cast 402 ballots Monday on the third day of early voting for the June 27 primary in Erie County, Elections Commissioners Ralph M. Mohr and Jeremy J. Zellner reported. The adjusted three-day total now stands at 1,167. Early voting will continue through next Sunday, June 25. Democrats have candidates in five Common Council districts in Buffalo and others in the City of Tonawanda, Cheektowaga and Newstead. Republicans have contests in Alden, Grand Island, Marilla, Orchard Park, Wales and West Seneca, as well as in the Erie County Legislature's 10th District. Registered Conservatives are voting for mayor of Lackawanna, council members in Alden and the Town and the City of Tonawanda, Town of Evans supervisor, Erie County legislators in the fourth and 10th districts and other offices in Amherst, Newstead and West Seneca. Early voting is taking place at 38 polling locations in Erie County 11 in Buffalo, one in Lackawanna, one in the City of Tonawanda and one in each of the 25 towns. Polls are open from noon to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. next Saturday and Sunday. For information on polling locations and candidates on the June primary ballot, call the Board of Elections at 716-858-8891 or visit elections.erie.gov. U.S. President Joe Biden holds virtual talks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin amid Western fears that Moscow plans to attack Ukraine, during a secure video call from the Situation Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., December 7, 2021. /The White House/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo (Reuters) The third topical depression of the 2023 hurricane season has formed in the central tropical Atlantic and is expected to become a Joint Region Marianas Commander Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson places a flower at the base of the statue of Santa Marian Kamalen, the patron saint of Guam, during Guams 78th Liberation Day parade in Hagatna, July 21, 2022. The islands patron saint led the parade, and was symbolic of the World War II attack of Guam, which occurred during the patron saints day, Dec. 8. Its not every day you can say you found something new at a fossil park. James Hanna and Jonathan Hoag should know. Theyve been picking up rocks at Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve in Hamburg since they were kids. And now, in their 20s, they have found two rare fossils of an animal that had never been found here. It was believed to have gone extinct more than 25 million years before the rocks at Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve were deposited. This is an animal Ill be completely honest I did not know it existed until we had these discoveries, said Penn Dixie Executive Director Philip J. Stokes. The animal is a carpoid, a primitive type of echinoderm, a distant ancestor to starfish, sea urchins and sand dollars. It wasnt until the fossils were sent off to be prepared professionally that the experts recognized this was something new and different, Stokes said. Its so new that it is a novel genus and species, and the species will be named after Hoag. Its a dream come true for a biologist, Hoag said. Hanna will be one of the authors on the scientific paper describing it a dream come true for a paleontologist. Hanna, 20, a junior geology major at the University at Buffalo, found the first fossil in April when he and Hoag were digging for trilobites, which are extinct marine arthropods. They were splitting the rocks that were left over after separating the trilobite from the rock. I could tell there was something there, Hanna said, but he did not know what it was. If I hadnt looked closely enough, I very easily could have tossed it. He sent photographs of it to some friends in paleontology, and experts identified it. And then about a week later, they were in the same area about 20 yards away, and Hoag, 26, who graduated from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, found a similar fossil. Sure enough it was another one sitting in the block. It was unexpected, Hoag said. I knew exactly what it was the minute I flipped the rock. The second fossil, while not as well preserved as the first, is complementary, and demonstrates that there were multiple carpoid living in the environment for a period of time. It extends the fossil record by over 25 million years for this animal, which tells us it did in fact survive through several extinction events, Stokes said. The 54-acre Penn Dixie Fossil Park in Hamburg is the site of a former quarry filled with fossils from the Devonian Period, nearly 400 million years ago. Carpoids had been thought to be extinct 25 million years before the Devonian Period, and have been found in only a handful of locations around the world, Stokes said. The Penn Dixie fossils are roughly 382 million years old, according to Stokes. The carpoids are considered a Lazarus taxon, an animal that disappears from the fossil record and reappears much later, Stokes said. Its just amazing when something like this shows up, said Carlton E. Brett, distinguished research professor at the University of Cincinnati. We know then that group had to be around all that time in between, but its not seen anywhere else in world. Brett and Ronald L. Parsley, professor emeritus at Tulane University and a world renown expert in the field, will be the authors of the paper. Once it was known what was found, word traveled fast throughout the paleontological community, Stokes said. It was pretty shocking. Ive been a scientist for 20 years, usually things happen very slowly. Like every visitor to Penn Dixie who picks up a fossil, the find belongs to the visitor. That doesnt change, even if its something very rare and valuable, Stokes said. Hanna and Hoag are donating their fossils to the Paleontological Research Institutions Museum of the Earth in Ithaca. There they can be examined and compared by researchers. It could have just been ridiculous luck, Hanna said. We found two of them in two different layers, they probably are hundreds of thousands of years apart. Hanna began going to Penn Dixie when he was about 5 years old, and started volunteering at the site when he was a teenager. This is his sixth season working for the fossil park. He wants to go to graduate school, and having his name on a research paper wont hurt his prospects. Hannas fossil is considered a holotype, the single specimen of the new species. Hoag started collecting fossils when he was 11, and got his love of the outdoors at the fossil park, where he is the site manager. The carpoids were found where they have walked hundreds of times. We found it right at the end of our walkway. God knows how many people walked by that walkway, Hoag said. On Nov. 8, as Erie County Legislator Joe Lorigo stood victorious next to his father, a minor party political boss, and his wife, an aspiring politician, he seemed to have the last word over critics who said it was politics not qualifications that carried him to a State Supreme Court judgeship. Lorigo, a Conservative, had just defeated City Court Judge Shannon Heneghan, a Democrat, despite receiving the lowest possible judicial rating of not recommended by the Erie County Bar Association. The rating that mattered most, it seemed, was one he received at birth: He was the son of Ralph C. Lorigo, who just celebrated his 40th year as chairman of the small but influential Erie County Conservative Party. Joe Lorigo thanked supporters for what he called the best damn Supreme Court campaign Western New York has ever seen. But the way he ran that campaign and, specifically, whether it was more political than state law allows for judicial races could jeopardize Lorigos career on the bench. It also comes as his father is going all out in an effort to get Lindsay Bratek-Lorigo Joes wife and former staffer and Ralphs daughter-in-law elected to Joes old seat in the county Legislature. The Buffalo News has learned that Joe Lorigo is the subject of an ethics complaint being investigated by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which has the power to censure and remove judges for unethical conduct, as reported in todays story on Buffalonews.com. The commission is investigating Lorigos use of political contributions and pro-police advertisements during his 2022 campaign for state judge. Lorigo, in a brief phone interview, confirmed the complaints existence, but declined to comment publicly. He then threatened to file a lawsuit against The News if the newspaper reported on the complaint. Ralph Lorigo has been working to provide responses to more than 20 questions posed by the commission, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. And the normally talkative Lorigo isnt returning multiple phone calls on the matter from The Buffalo News. State Supreme Court justices, who serve terms of 14 years and make $210,900 per year, are bound by tougher ethics regulations than other elected officials. A judicial candidate may not make pledges or promises of conduct in office other than the faithful and impartial performance of the duties of the office, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct states on its website, nor may a candidate make statements that commit or appear to commit the candidate with respect to cases, controversies or issues that are likely to come before the court. That is because, according to the state, an independent and honorable judiciary is indispensable to justice in our society, and a judge should participate in establishing, maintaining and enforcing high standards of conduct, and shall personally observe those standards so that the integrity and independence of the judiciary will be preserved. Lorigo sent multiple campaign mailers to voters referencing current political issues, including those related to law enforcement. Joe Lorigo fought back against politicians who wanted to defund the police, one ad reviewed by The News stated. SUPPORTS LAW ENFORCEMENT ... OPPOSES CASHLESS BAIL ... PRO LAW AND ORDER. The commission is also probing a series of money transfers Lorigo made between his county Legislature campaign account, his State Supreme Court campaign account and a political action committee affiliated with his father. Political sources have been buzzing about the state probe for weeks. While the state Board of Elections is not known for aggressively policing election law, the judicial conduct commission can remove judges or censure them. Last year, five judges statewide were cautioned after judicial conduct investigations, one was publicly disciplined and two others resigned from the bench. Joe Lorigos election appeared to push aside objections from those in the legal community who said Lorigo, on his way to the bench, was skipping over plenty of qualified lawyers and judges with more experience than him in the courtroom but less experience in the political world. I spoke with two judges last week. Both were shocked at the tenor of Lorigos judicial ads and the use of previous campaign funds for his judicial race. All of this creates an unwanted headache and at an inopportune time, as Bratek-Lorigos primary is June 27. Its not the only headache for Ralph Lorigo of late. The chairman found himself on the stand last week during proceedings for a lawsuit he filed claiming members of other parties have infiltrated Conservative ranks in the Town of Evans. Hes expected to be cross-examined when proceedings continue in July. The question of whether such headaches are temporary or more of a long-term problem is yet to be answered. <&rule> <&rdpEm><&rdpStrong>How to sign up for this newsletter Click the following link: buffalonews.com/newsletters/. News / Local by Staff reporter POLICE have arrested a suspected cyber-criminal who allegedly hacked WhatsApp accounts, cloned bank cards, and stole people's identities to commit fraud.Trynos Muzanenhamo (25) was arrested after a high-speed chase in Chiendambuya, Headlands, Manicaland Province.He, police said, committed the crimes between June 2020 and June 2023 where he conned his victims of more than $27 million.His accomplices, Trevor Muzanenhamo, Bradwell Shangwa and Timothy Bvuramiti are still at large.In a statement, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the suspect used various techniques such as card cloning, identity theft, WhatsApp hacking, social media-aided advance fee fraud, corporate account hacking, phishing scams, and hot airtime recharge scams, among others to dupe individuals and companies."On the 15th June 2023 detectives from Criminal Investigation Departments Commercial Crimes Division, Harare acted on received information and arrested Trynos Muzanenhamo in Chiendambuya, Headlands after a speed chase. The suspect was arrested while driving a Toyota GD 6 vehicle which he was using as a getaway car," said Asst Comm Nyathi.It is alleged that the suspect once was once employed by a mobile phone operator where he sent a One Time Password code to unsuspecting members of the public for confirmation thereby enabling him to gain access to unsuspecting persons' bank accounts.The hacked accounts were used to receive fraudulently obtained funds from various sources according to the statement."The suspect would hack WhatsApp accounts, use foreign accounts and fake identity documents to create fraudulent accounts which he used to defraud individuals and companies. Subsequently, the victims were duped approximately ZW$ 27 996 000 and US$1 800" read the press statement.The police are appealing to members of the public who could have been defrauded through phone hacking, WhatsApp hacking and identity theft hacking to report these cases to the Criminal Investigation Crimes Division, Harare, or report to the nearest police station.Meanwhile, the police are appealing for information that may lead to the arrest of the suspect's accomplices.Assistant Commissioner Nyathi added that "Anyone with information to contact National Complaints Desk on (242) 703631 or WhatsApp on +263 712 800 197 or report at any nearest police station. Senator Mitch McConnell View Photo U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered remarks on the Senate floor regarding national security. McConnell was Tuesdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words: As Ive discussed repeatedly, Vladimir Putins brutal escalation in Ukraine has prompted Americas European allies to take their commitments to collective defense more seriously. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Russias authoritarian aggression has reinforced a reality our friends in the Indo-Pacific understand all too well. From communist Chinas backyard, American partners in Japan, Taiwan, and elsewhere see the clear connection between Ukraines fight against Putins Russia and the threats they face closer to home. And they havent been shy in calling it out. Last year, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida said, Ukraine might be East Asia tomorrow We must show there are consequences to the attack. The Japanese Defense Minister put it this way, If the international community somehow allows or condones Russias aggression it might send a wrong message that such actions can be tolerated in other parts of the world. Last month, Taiwans ambassador delivered the same message. Support for Ukraine is relevant to us becauseit helps to deter. It imposes costs on the aggressor. And Taiwans Deputy Foreign Minister was even more specific. He recently said support for Ukraine is, the best way to deter China, and that Beijing is, waiting to see whether the Western democratic camp will be able to hold their position. Mr. President, take it from our friends with the most to lose from Chinese aggression: Ukraines fight is not a distraction its fundamental to deterring China. Fundamental. Of course, our friends in the Indo-Pacific arent just telling us theyre showing us. Japan has committed more than $7 billion dollars to the Ukrainian cause, including drone technology, mine detection systems, support for critical infrastructure, and humanitarian aid. And Prime Minister Kishida made a special effort to travel to Kyiv in March. Taiwan has provided tens of millions of dollars in humanitarian relief to Ukraine, and the islands businesses are stepping up to send life-saving technologies to the front lines. And lets not forget the brave citizens of Taiwan who have literally volunteered for frontline service in Ukraine! Mr. President, Americas Indo-Pacific partners are standing with the West against todays authoritarian aggression. And our combined efforts are helping the entire free world prepare to meet tomorrows threats. As Taiwans Foreign Minister pointed out today in Prague, were drawing critical lessons from Ukraines successful defense of its territory, allowing vulnerable partners to adjust training, procurement, and tactics accordingly. Were investing in our own defense industrial capacity here in America to improve our ability to compete with China and to enhance deterrence. And importantly, Americas friends in Europe and the Indo-Pacific are forging closer ties with one another. Europe increasingly understands that NATO has global interests. That the worlds key theaters of competition are connected. And that the challenges we all face from China are not confined to Asia. Our European allies will be affected by instability or conflict in Asia as much as the United States if not more so. So Im encouraged by the way NATO is thinking about the scope of the challenges posed by the PRCs aggression. In particular, Im glad that NATO has invited our friends in Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand to join the United States and our allies at the Vilnius Summit next month. China may have proxies and client states. But the United States and our allies are friends with shared interests. To paraphrase NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg: its better to have friends. The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML. News / National by APO/WFP Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Food Programme (WFP). HARARE - The Government of Zimbabwe has today contributed 4,400 mt of maize grain, to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to meet the food needs of refugees living at Tongogara Refugee Camp in Chipinge.The in-kind contribution, comes at a critical time - when funding for refugees is limited and follows the commitment made by His Excellency President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, in response to the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres' call for pledges towards humanitarian assistance.'Zimbabwe is committed to fulfil its international obligation to protect refugees and asylum seekers. This in-kind contribution is a clear sign that the country walks the talk. The Government appreciates the partnership with the World Food Programme in ensuring that refugees and asylum seekers domiciled in Zimbabwe are food secure', said Simon Masanga, Permanent Secretary for Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.Under the partnership, WFP will cover the costs of transport, storage, handling, milling and fortification of the maize with funds from international donors. A first batch of 2,170 mt will be uplifted in the coming weeks.'No matter the circumstances that have pushed refugees to flee their countries, we serve them without discrimination and ensure that they are able to put food on their tables,' said Francesca Erdelmann, WFP Representative and Country Director in Zimbabwe. 'Around the world refugees are living longer away from home, more than ever before, so we are heartened to see that countries like Zimbabwe are putting forward solutions and working to ensure that refugees have a better life.'Zimbabwe has shown continued solidarity towards refugees, hosting families who have been forced to leave their countries since 1984. Initially established to serve refugees fleeing the Mozambique civil war, Tongogara Refugee Camp is today home to people affected by conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, northern Mozambique, and other countries.WFP provides food assistance to 12,000 refugees living at the camp every month. Refugees will receive hybrid rations (in-kind maize and cash), designed to meet the daily nutrient requirements.WFP has been present in Zimbabwe since 1982 and started food distribution activities in the country in 2002, during the southern Africa drought. WFP's activities are aligned to Zimbabwe's national priorities in areas of food and nutrition security. Access Health CT is hosting a series of free insurance fairs throughout the state to help residents losing coverage as a result of the Medicaid unwinding. The fair in Meriden is being held on June 24 at the Augusta Curtis Cultural Center, 175 East Main St., from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. A lot of folks in underserved communities, hard-to-reach communities, even rural communities dont get the same [health care] access as others do. So, we want to make sure that were able to serve all residents in Connecticut, said Tammy Hendricks, Access Health CT director of health equity and outreach. What is Medicaidunwinding? Director of Communications and Legislative Affairs for the state Department of Social Services Jalmar De Dios explained that at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency. The declaration gave states more flexibility and access to federally funded social services to support their residents. One significant change was made to Medicaid by introducing the continuous eligibility rule, De Dios said. Supported by congressional legislation, this action ensured Medicaid consumers had constant access to healthcare during the pandemic. During the PHE, anyone who became eligible for Medicaid coverage has been able to keep it this is known as the continuous eligibility rule. Individuals who might ordinarily have lost coverage for example, because their income changed or they didnt complete an eligibility review were able to keep their coverage, he said. The Medicaid unwinding is essentially a reversal of that flexibility across all the supported services and is part of the more extensive unwinding process of the public health emergency. Benefits not impacted by the unwinding include access to specific COVID-19-related treatments and opioid use disorder treatment, according to a presentation hosted by the Department of Social Services in March. Medicaids telehealth flexibilities will also not be affected. In Connecticut, De Dios said the Department of Social Services is reviewing all HUSKY recipients to ensure they are still eligible for the coverage. He added that the review process is staggered, so an estimated 8% of enrolled HUSKY consumers will be notified to update their information to ensure they are still eligible. The review will continue until April 2024. Everyone who is enrolled in Medicaid coverage over 1,200,000 state residents could be affected by the unwinding. For some, they will hardly notice because DSS will automatically extend their eligibility without the need to take action. Others will need to provide information to verify that they are still eligible for coverage, De Dios said. Residents no longer eligible for HUSKY may be eligible for other state-funded coverage plans, such as the Transitional Medical Assistance program, which extends HUSKY plans for another year while they find new coverage. Another program available is a no-cost health, dental and non-emergency medical transport to residents age 18 to 64 years old called Covered CT. However, De Dios noted that state legislators recently passed laws to increase HUSKY coverage to income-eligible children under 15 years of age, regardless of immigration status. The new age limit goes into effect in July 2024. We strongly encourage people to contact us when they get their renewal notice or if they do not currently have affordable health coverage, De Dios said. Enrollment fairs Throughout the summer, Access Health CT will host enrollment fairs in underserved communities expected to have high rates of HUSKY coverage loss during the unwinding, Hendricks said. On-hand staff at the fairs include certified insurance application counselors and enrollment specialists. Also, brokers can help clients identify which insurance plans work best for their situation. To address language barriers, Hendricks said many of their counselors can speak a language other than English. In addition, if none of the staff speaks the language, the client is connected to the Access Health CT call centers language line. In-person events, we deal with some of the hardest applications, a lot of technical issues with some of the applicants coming in person because they have a lot going on, Hendricks said. Sometimes theyre far out, sometimes theres internet issues, all those other things so we just want to make sure everyone gets equal access to health insurance. Other resources Many other free resources are available for clients who cant make it to the enrollment fairs. For people seeking in-person services, Hendricks said Access Health CT employs over 130 application counselors who are based in community health centers throughout the state. Also, Hendricks said clients can connect with Access Health representatives and receive the help they need online or via phone. In addition, Access Health hosts monthly Health Chats, which virtually connect with outreach staff to ask questions about their plans and options. I think consumers can learn a lot from the opportunity to ask a question in person that they may have been thinking about and so its been helpful for a lot of consumers so far, Hendricks said. To register for the Meriden enrollment fair, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/access-health-ct-husky-unwind-enrollment-fairs-tickets-631762848687. cvillalonga@record-journal.com203-317-2448 Health Equity reporter Cris Villalonga-Vivoni is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. They can be reached at cvillalonga@record-journal.com and 203-317-2448. Support RFA reporters at the Record-Journal through a donation at https://bit.ly/3Pdb0re. To learn more about RFA, visit www.reportforamerica.org. French rail firm faces court action after killing cat on train lines to avoid delays to services The death of Neko has caused widespread anger across the country ( ) Cat lovers have called for French railway staff to be sent to prison after a much-loved family pet was sliced in half because they refused to delay a train when he ran on the track. The death of Neko, aged four, has caused widespread anger across the country, and a criminal prosecution that on Tuesday was being considered by judges in Paris. Animal rights activists have called for tough action against SNCF, Frances national rail operator, following the cats death in January. He was with his owners named by the Paris Police Tribunal as Georgia and her 15-year-old daughter Melaina at Paris Montparnasse station when he escaped from his travel bag and got underneath a stationary train bound for Bordeaux. After a 20-minute search, they pleaded for the train to be delayed, but instead it set off as planned. We saw him sliced in half,said Melaina, who is being supported by the animal rights group 30 Million Friends. The rail staff told us it wasnt their problem that it was just a cat and that we should have had him on a leash. A criminal lawsuit has been filed against SNCF, with the campaigners calling for the operator to be found guilty of wilfully causing an animals death an offence which comes with a five-year prison sentence and fine equivalent to around 67,000. Demonstrators have gathered across the country, and a Justice for Neko petition is approaching 40,000 signatures. The case opened on Monday, with SNCF facing the charge of inflicting involuntary harm on a domestic pet, but 30 Million Friends lawyers said the offence should be raised. Prosecutors have initially asked for the charges to be dropped, but judges were on Tuesday mulling over the case, and could still order a trial. Neko has not said his last word, said Georgia. This must never happen again. A trial is important symbolically. An SNCF spokesman said: Everyone has been very affected by this event which has stirred strong emotions in the company and among the train personnel. Despite the search by staff and the owner, the cat was no longer visible when the train departed. No one knew where he was. By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Readers will recall that Ive been muttering for some time that masks (and respirators) should become fashion items. Recently: The way we live now, in a world where the danger of airborne diseases is known to be real, personal risk assessment is the norm, and yet the data to make such assessments is missing or polluted, the realist will conclude that breathing has, in itself, become dangerous, and apply the precautionary principle in daily life. I personally advocate a strategy of layered protection, in which masks filtering shared air as they do play an important part. Not all people, of course, are realists, but there are many who take share my views. Enough, in fact, to form a large market. In this post, I will argue that the way to reach this market is to transform masking into a social norm, as it is in Asia (which, in general, did far better saving lives during the Covid pandemic than did the West). Masking can become a social norm if masks become fashion items, but that can only happen if the mask industry adopts some standards[1]. Sadly, were still falling short on the standards front. But I do think the idea of masks as fashion items is coming up on the zeitgeist charts, even in backward countries like our own. This tweet, for example, continues to garner quotes: I continue to have no time for illness (neither the getting nor the spreading.) https://t.co/LUmOuw5MYp pic.twitter.com/IbzfleQNRn Sasha (@loulouchik) June 20, 2023 Imagine my joyful surprise at finding a company that has fashionable masks as its business model! You may also imagine my embarassment at not having served you, dear readers, by discovering the company earlier. First, Ill look at the company (MaskLabs). Then, Ill eat a bit of crow on why I didnt write this post earlier. Here is the tweet that sparked this post: Why can't we have nice things. Ty @giselegordon for sending this https://t.co/GlQdc0NeFy SARS-CoV-2 is Blairborne Waldorf (@pxnzischemes) June 19, 2023 Holy moley! A bricks and mortar mask store! With people browsing colorful displays of masks! In Korea! (Here on the periphery, people ask, tentatively, if its possible to get a black mask (presumably because black wipes out everything else around)). I did check Google maps to make sure the store still existed: Here is the interior, showing the displays: (The jewelry tie-in is clever.) From MaskLabs South Korean offline store: , Artist Illustrator Artist Mask Lab works with fashion designers, art artists and illustrators in various fields. Through collaboration, the creativity of outstanding artists in each field Delivered to many people through masks and to domestic and foreign artists We provide a platform to deliver another message (Fascinating that arttist and illustrator are in English[2]. Im not quite sure what to make of that.) Here is part of MaskLabs front page. There are plenty of pretty, pouting models, but this caught my eye: Trying to break into the $70 billion wedding services market in the US is very smart (and, in this case, life-saving, since weddings are classic superspreader events), And here customers are encouraged to share their looks on Instagram: Here is a potted history of MaskLab from the South China Morning Post. From 2020: Hong Kong-based outdoor furniture maker 3i Corporation saw its exports to the US and Europe start to stagnate at the beginning of the year as the first reverberations of an economically disastrous global pandemic were felt. To weather the downturn that was to come, the family firm with the unlikely name decided to do what dozens of others were doing: make protective face masks. It started out with two machines in a factory in San Po Kong in April. Today it boasts six, capable of producing hundreds of thousands of masks a day, sold not only online but via three shops. Its been a crazy rabbit hole that weve gone down said Albert Chen, a son in the family business and CEO of its face mask spin-off, Masklab. Companies like 3i had some advantages outdoor furniture used non-woven fabric, also a critical material for some masks but not everyone who jumped in had a business background. In addition, MaskLab is careful about standards. From the US subsidiarys FAQ: Prior to making masks, we were a metrics-driven manufacturer who obsessed over engineering the highest quality products. Mask-making is a new endeavor for us, but we have brought the same type of fastidiousness to the craft. We believe mask producers should have the attention-to-detail on par with scientific laboratories, hence the name masklab. To stay true to the name, we have outfitted the factory with Hong Kongs first automated filter tester so that we can verify the quality of every batch of our filters. masklab products are tested by SGS, Eurofins, Nelson Labs, and STC. MaskLab is based in Hong Kong, privately held, employs under 25 people, and has revenues under $25 million. Here is an interview on Reddit with the CEO. Finally, here is a review of Masklab masks from BreatheSafeAir (apparently Korean-adjacent or -based). There is a purchase-link on the page, so discount if you will: Masklab masks are a very unique and excellent idea. While Ive seen many fashionable masks over my time running this website, I have never liked any of them as much as Ive liked the Masklab designs. If you want to complement your outfit, are looking for a way to stand out, or just want a mask that isnt boring, Masklabs KF-Series are a great choice. They are more pricey than comparable KF94 masks, and therefore they arent ideal for wear every day. However, they are well worth having on hand whenever you want to look great. They also make for great gifts! The masks have been tested and surpassed the FFP2 requirements. Since the KF94 standard is based on the FFP2 standard and the form of the mask is almost identical to standard KF94 trifold/boat shape respirators, we can assume these masks perform very similarly. Since these masks are so similar, there is a significant benefit in that you can judge whether or not they will fit you before purchasing. If you want to test the fit, go and find some cheap standard KF94s (in similar sizes) and fit-check them. If they fit, Masklab masks will too. While offering good filtration as per EN149:2001 and ASTM F2100, Masklab also offers very breathable masks. I found that they feel more breathable than standard KF94s and closer to highly breathable masks such as those provided by AirQueen. And the product rating for KF94s: Pros Awesome designs Fit like a boat-style KF94/FFP2 mask Certified FFP2 (in some regions) Very breathable ASTM F2100 Level 3 compliant Cons Quite expensive Loose-fitting No headband option Loose fitting and no headband option boil down to all MaskLab masks having earloops, Im guessing because of printing issues with vinyl straps. The author recommends getting a cheap plastic clip or headband accessory. Presumably the price would come down if the enormous US market could be cracked. And now to my small plate of crow. Fortunately for my amour propre, I only missed one mention of MaskLab by a reader: Will, on April 20, 2023. (I also missed two mentions I made myself, on August 16, 2020 and October 17, 2022.) The real reason I missed the story is an overly-siloed data collection model: Basically, I read an enormous amount on Twitter, selected from an obssessively curated list of accounts, and I only added hot mask summer imventor @pxnzischemes, who came up with the MaskLab store in Seoul, quite recently. So Ive been overly siloed on the scientific and political fields. But I think perhaps Ive been overly siloed on the sites that I visit as well. I wont be going on Instagram anytime soon unless the Tyrell Corporation fixes whatevers gone wrong with The Zuckerberg, but Im seeing good stuff on Reddit too. So perhaps I need to expand my horizons a little bit (and going on Reddit may break me out of my generational silo as well). Anyhow, thats it on MaskLab. Anybody out there wear them? NOTES [1] Even if one were to concede that Covid over (as I do not), masking is also protective against other viruses, as well as PM2.5 particles from wildfires and pollution generally. One might also urge that airborne viruses and particles in the air are not going away, and that making masking a norm hardens society against The Jackpot, which will doubtless include airborne antagonists of many kinds. [2] Interestingly, this small firm in the Five Eyes country of New Zealand characterizes its fashionble masks as Korean-Style. APPENDIX One sees K-Pop groups like Blackpink, Twice, and BTS taking the US by storm. I dont think MaskLab is big enough to pay for product placement, but perhaps their management companies would consider encouraging their groups to wear cute, fashionable masks as a way to do a good deed for those of us trapped in the Third World. Joe Biden (R) issued a stern warning about Vladimir Putin's threats with tactical nuclear weapons Joe Biden (R) issued a stern warning about Vladimir Putin's threats with tactical nuclear weapons Joe Biden issued a firm warning that Vladimir Putins threats of using tactical nuclear weapons is very real on Monday. The Russian president has alluded to using his countrys supply of nuclear weapons regularly since launching the invasion of Ukraine last year. He usually makes the threat when Ukraines Western allies renew their support for the beleaguered country by offering more equipment, training or hefty funds. But, this time, the US president has said his Russian counterpart has done something absolutely irresponsible with his nuclear power. Speaking to a group of donors in California, Biden said: When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado river drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy. The water in the Colorado River, near the US-Mexico border, is drying up, putting local communities at risk. The US president continued: They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. Its real. His words came after Russia began to deploy its nuclear weapons to neighbouring Belarus, which is closer to the rest of Europe than Russia, bordering Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Last week, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko claimed he had already started to take delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons these are shorter-range and usually less powerful than the ones expected to be used on the battlefield or used to destroy cities. But, he claimed that among this haul there were nukes which were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The relocation of such weapons is the first time Moscow has moved warheads out of Russia since the Soviet Union fell in 1991 which is why many around the world are nervously watching what happens with this nuclear supply next. Despite Bidens comments, the US has made it clear it does not plan to respond to the deployment by altering its own stance on strategic nuclear weapons. It also claims that it has seen no signs Russia is looking to use a nuclear weapon. Biden criticised the plan to move tactical weapons into Belarus last month, and the States suggested the world faced the most serious nuclear danger since the 19652 Cuban missile crisis. But, the Kremlin shot back by pointing out that the US has been using Europe as a base for similar weapons since the 1950s. The Russian embassy in the US said: It is the sovereign right of Russia and Belarus to ensure their security by means we deem necessary amidst of a large-scale hybrid war unleashed by Washington against us. The measures we undertake are fully consistent with our international legal obligations. It added that before blaming others, Washington could use some introspection. The organisation continued: The United States has been for decades maintaining a large arsenal of its nuclear weapons in Europe. Together with its NATO allies it participates in nuclear sharing arrangements and trains for scenarios of nuclear weapons use against our country. Russia has regularly presented itself as just a reactive force in the face of Western aggression and expansion via NATO. Related... Yves here. After televised coverage of the horrors of the war in Vietnam helped fuel opposition to it, the US, with many other governments following it, has sought to keep the human cost out of the public eye. Many military families were upset during the Iraq war that the press was kept well away from returning coffins. Similarly, while Australian reporters presented the cost to Iraqis, such as looted hospitals and a lack of electricity for most of the day in Baghdad, the US media stayed well away from the idea that we were greatly worsening the quality of life. But the severity of the cover-up in Ukraine is worse. Ukraine was already thin on 20 to 30 year olds. The USSR dissolution hit Ukraine even harder than Russia economically, leading to a baby bust in the 1990s through the early 2000s. It allegedly takes about $7000 for a candidate for military service to buy his way out, further reducing the population of potential cannon fodder. The Western press has for the most part also been trying to pretend that the normal rules of military math dont operate in Ukraine, where in land battles, the level of casualties and deaths correlates to the amount of artillery shelling. Early in the war, Russia was firing 20,000 rounds most days, peaking sometimes to 40,000 to 60,000, while Ukraine was sending off 5,000 to 7,000 rounds. Ukraine is now down to 1,000 to 3,000 rounds a day, while Russias firing level has increased to 40,000 rounds a day or more. So the idea that Ukraine is losing 7 to 10 men for every Russian is precisely what youd expect, before getting to the fact that Russia is also much more successful at getting the wounded treated quickly (this has apparently been a big MoD priority for quite a while). This terrible picture is made even worse by the shift in Ukraine tactics in the last week or so. Its little attacking convoys, typically with minesweepers in front, followed by a tank or two, then armored personnel carriers, were taken down by unexpectedly dense mine fields, plus remote mining, plus drones, plus Alligator helicopters. The many videos of all that supposedly tide-turning equipment being dispatched so quickly was apparently very embarrassing to Ukraine and its NATO minders. So to avoid such scenes, Ukraine is now trying to rely mainly on infantry, using personnel carriers who hug unmined tree lines, then having the men get out and advance to the line of contact on foot. This is the functional equivalent of human wave tactics, all to avoid bad optics: Yuri Podolyaka has been, in my estimation, one of the better correspondents of this war. His reports have been consistently restrained, mostly lacking hyperbole. That puts in proper context his shocking report of todays battle:https://t.co/ZIu8Y3rD3c pic.twitter.com/QRt1LzqKOq Will Schryver (@imetatronink) June 17, 2023 By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies, the authors of War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict, published by OR Books in November 2022. Medea Benjamin is the cofounder of CODEPINK for Peace, and the author of several books, including Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nicolas J. S. Davies is an independent journalist, a researcher with CODEPINK and the author of Blood on Our Hands: The American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq. Plans love silence. Therell be no announcement of the start. Photo credit: Ukraine Defense Ministry As Ukraine prepared to launch its much heralded but long delayed counteroffensive, the media published a photograph of a Ukrainian soldier with his finger on his lips, symbolizing the need for secrecy to retain some element of surprise for this widely telegraphed operation. Now that the offensive has been under way for two weeks, it is clear that the Ukrainian government and its Western allies are maintaining silence for quite a different reason: to conceal the brutal cost Ukraines brave young people are paying to recover small scraps of territory from Russian occupation forces, in what some are already calling asuicide mission. Western pundits at first described these first two weeks of fighting as probing operations to find weak spots in Russias defenses, which Russia has been fortifying since 2022 with multiple layers of minefields, dragons teeth, tank-traps, pre-positioned artillery, and attack helicopters, unopposed in the air, that can fire 12 anti-tank missiles apiece. On the advice of British military advisers in Kyiv, Ukraine flung Western tanks and armored vehicles manned by NATO-trained troops into these killing fields without air support or de-mining operations. The results have been predictably disastrous, and it is now clear that these are not just probing operations as the propaganda at first claimed, but the long-awaited main offensive. A Western official with intelligence access told the Associated Press on June 14, Intense fighting is now ongoing in nearly all sectors of the front This is much more than probing. These are full-scale movements of armor and heavy equipment into the Russian security zone. Other glimpses are emerging of the reality behind the propaganda. At a press conference after a summit at NATO Headquarters, U.S. General Milley warned that the offensive will be long, violent and costly in Ukrainian lives. This is a very difficult fight. Its a very violent fight, and it will likely take a considerable amount of time and at high cost, Milley said. Russian videos show dozens of Ukrainian tanks and armored vehicles lying smashed in minefields, and NATO military advisers in Ukraine have confirmed that it lost 38 tanks in one night on June 8th, including newly delivered German-built Leopard IIs. Rob Lee of the Foreign Policy Research Institute explained to the New York Times that the Russians are trying to inflict as many casualties and destroy as many vehicles as possible in the areas in front of their main defensive lines, turning those areas into lethal kill zones. If this strategy works, any Ukrainian forces that reach the main Russian defense lines will be too weakened and depleted to break through and achieve their goal of severing Russias land bridge between Donbas and Crimea. Russias Ministry of Defense reported that Ukraines forces suffered 7,500 casualties in the first ten days of the offensive. If Ukraines real losses are a fraction of that, the long, violent bloodbath that General Milley anticipates will destroy the new armored brigades that NATO has armed and trained, and serve only to escalate the gory war of attrition that has destroyed Mariupol, Sievierodonetsk and Bakhmut, killing and wounding hundreds of thousands of young Ukrainians and Russians. A senior European military officer in Ukraine provided more details of the carnage to Asia Times, calling Ukraines operations on June 8th and 9th a suicide mission that violated the basic rules of military tactics. We tried to tell them to stop these piecemeal tactics, define a main thrust with infantry support and do what they can, he said. They were trained by the British, and theyre playing Light Brigade, he added, comparing the offensive to a suicidal charge into massive Russian cannon fire that wiped out Britains Light Cavalry Brigade in Crimea in 1854. If Ukraines Spring Offensive plunges on to the bitter end, it could be more like the British and French Somme Offensive, fought near the French River Somme in 1916. After 19,240 British troops were killed on the first day (including Nicolass 20-year-old great-uncle, Robert Masterman), the battle raged on for more than four months of pointless, wanton slaughter, with over a million British, French and German casualties. It was finally called off after advancing only six miles and failing to capture either of the two small French towns that were its initial objectives. The current offensive was delayed for months as Ukraine and its allies grappled with the likelihood of the outcome we are now witnessing. The fact that it went ahead regardless reflects the moral bankruptcy of U.S. and NATO political leaders, who are sacrificing the flower of Ukraines youth in a proxy war they will not send their own children or grandchildren to fight. As Ukraine launches its offensive, NATO is conducting Air Defender, the largest military exercise in its history, from June 12th to 23rd, with 250 warplanes, including nuclear-capable F-35s, flying from German bases to simulate combat operations in and over Germany, Lithuania, Romania, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The exercise has led to at least 15 incidents between NATO and Russian aircraft in the skies near Lithuania. It seems that nobody in NATOs foreboding fortress in Brussels has stumbled on the concept of a security dilemma, in which supposedly defensive actions by one party are perceived as offensive threats by another and lead to a spiral of mutual escalation, as has been the case between NATO and Russia since the 1990s. Professor of Russian history Richard Sakwa has written, NATO exists to manage the risks created by its existence. These risks will be evident in the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius on July 11-12, where Ukraine and its eastern allies will be pushing for Ukraine membership, while the U.S. and western Europe insist that membership cannot be offered while the war rages on and will instead offer upgraded status and a shorter route to membership once the war ends. The continued insistence that Ukraine will one day be a NATO member only means a prolongation of the conflict, as this is a red line that Russia insists cannot be crossed. Thats why negotiations that lead to a neutral Ukraine are key to ending the war. But the United States will not agree to that as long as President Biden keeps U.S. Ukraine policy firmly under the thumbs of hawkish neoconservative desk warriors like Anthony Blinken and Victoria Nuland at the State Department and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House. Pressure to keep escalating U.S. involvement in the war is also coming from Congress, where Republicans accuse Biden of hemming and hawing instead of going all in to help Ukraine. Paradoxically, the Pentagon and intelligence agencies are more realistic than their civilian colleagues about the lack of any military solution. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Milley, has called for diplomacy to bring peace to Ukraine, and U.S. intelligence sources have challenged dominant false narratives of the war in leaks toNewsweek and Seymour Hersh, telling Hersh that the neocons are ignoring genuine intelligence and inventing their own, just as they did to justify the invasion of Iraq in 2003. With the retirement of Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, the State Department is losing the voice of a professional diplomat who was Obamas chief negotiator for the JCPOA with Iran and urged Biden to rejoin the agreement, and who has taken steps to moderate U.S. brinkmanship toward China. While publicly silent on Ukraine, Sherman was a quiet voice for diplomacy in a war-mad administration. Many fear that Shermans job will now go to Nuland, the leading architect of the ever-mounting catastrophe in Ukraine for the past decade, who already holds the #3 or #4 job at State as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Other departures from the senior ranks at State and the Pentagon are likely to cede more ground to the neocons. Colin Kahl, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, worked with Sherman on the JCPOA, opposed sending F-16s to Ukraine, and has maintained that China will not invade Taiwan in the near future. Kahl is leaving the Pentagon to return to his position as a professor at Stanford, just as China hawk General C.Q. Brown will replace General Milley as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs when Milley retires in September. Meanwhile, other world leaders continue to push for peace talks. A delegation of African heads of state led by President Ramaphosa of South Africa met with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv, and President Putin in Moscow on June 17th, to discuss the African peace plan for Ukraine. President Putin showed the African leaders the 18-point Istanbul Agreement that a Ukrainian representative had signed back in March 2022, and told them that Ukraine had thrown it in the dustbin of history, after the now disgraced Boris Johnson told Zelenskyy the collective West would only support Ukraine to fight, not to negotiatewith Russia. The catastrophic results of the first two weeks of Ukraines offensive should focus the worlds attention on the urgent need for a ceasefire to halt the daily slaughter and dismemberment of hundreds of brave young Ukrainians, who are being forced to drive through minefields and kill zones in Western gifts that are proving to be no more than U.S.- and NATO-built death-traps. Peruvian troops training alongside US forces will help to improve their capabilities and strengthen the operational performance of [Peruvian] Special Forces, boosting their interoperability with NATO systems and doctrine. As Peru descends even deeper into political chaos and ungovernability, the main priority for its unelected President Dina Boluarte is basic survival. So says a piece in the Peruvian daily La Republica, adding that Boluartes dire approval rating (14%-17%) is a result not just of the 60 protesters deaths on her watch but also her abject lack of management ability. As vice president, Boluarte helped to topple and replace her former boss, Perus elected President Pedro Castillo, now languishing in jail, sparking riots throughout the country. But since then (December 7), her short-lived presidency has brought nothing but bloodshed, chaos and division. Peru is currently in the grip of its worst ever Dengue outbreak, which is hitting poor communities many of the same communities that voted for Castillo particularly hard. Five days ago, the Health Minister Rosa Gutierrez resigned over criticism of her management of the crisis. Gutierrezs replacement, Cesar Vasquez, faces allegations in Perus Congress of influence peddling in early 2021. It is against this febrile backdrop that Boluarte chose to break the news five days ago that she will not be calling general elections until 2026 despite the fact she has repeatedly pledged to call new elections some time this year, has zero democratic legitimacy, is broadly despised by the public and is under investigation for numerous human rights violations. But Boluarte still enjoys the support of the US Embassy*, and for the moment that is what counts. In fact, there are 1,172 US soldiers on Peruvian soil right now or at least on their way there. As I reported in my May 26 post, Why Are US Military Personnel Heading to Peru?, the Boluarte government and Perus Congress which ranks even lower in the publics estimation than Boluarte have authorised the entry of US troops onto Peruvian soil between June 1 and August 29. They also authorised the entry of 11 US military aircraft, two boats, two trucks, rockets, grenades, detonators, satellite communication equipment, machine guns, pistols and ammunition. War Games in the New Cold War Since that article, more details have seeped out about the US militarys presence in Peru, which is certainly out of the ordinary. US troops have entered Peru periodically for decades, but never for periods as long as this. Juegos de Guerra (War Games), an in-depth report published by the weekly newspaper Hildebrandt en sus trece, wagers that the main reason for the US troops mobilisation is as a show of force to Washingtons main strategic rivals, Russia and China, which are eroding US influence in the region. There is a global political confrontation between the United States and China and Russia. Peru is key because we are located at a strategic point in the Pacific basin, a gateway for China and access point to Brazils huge market on the Atlantic seaboard. We are a hinge, Wilson Barrantes, former director of Perus National Intelligence Directorate (DINI), told the weekly newspaper. Most of the US military personnel will be taking part in Resolute Sentinel 2023, a military exercise that will be staged across a number of regions of Peru between June and August. The 12th Air Force-led U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) exercise was first held in 2021 when the US deployed 129 military personnel to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. A year later, the military contingent was multiplied by seven and Belize joined the list of participating countries. The third edition will be held for the first time in South America, in a single nation: Peru. Before the exercise begins, a contingent of 42 members of the US Special Forces will participate in training with Perus Joint Intelligence and Special Operations Command, the Joint Special Force and the FAP Special Forces Group. An additional 160 US soldiers, manning nine aircraft, will train with personnel from the Peruvian Air Force, Special Forces (GRUFE), the Space Operations Centre (Copes), and the National Satellite Image Centre (Cnois). Then, a total of 970 members of the US Air Force (USAF), Space Force (USSF) and the US Special Forces will participate in Resolute Sentinel 2023. An additional 65 US military personnel will be staying put until the end of the year to oversee ongoing training programs. Preparations for the exercise were thrashed out between the US Embassy in Lima and Ana Cecilia Gervasi Diaz, Perus Minister of Foreign Affairs. Gervasi Diaz was appointed to the role by Boluarte on December 10, just three days after Castillos impeachment and imprisonment. NATOs Moves in Latin America In late December, shortly after Castillos fall, the Mexican geopolitical analyst Alfredo Jalife-Rahme warned in one of his video conferences (which we covered here) that the United States and China are in a war for Perus soul. As I noted at the time, this war of which Jalife speaks is rather one-sided, given that China, unlike the US, does not tend to meddle in internal politics in the region, or at least hasnt until now. Now, six months later, Hildebrandt en sus trece, a widely respected Peruvian news outlet, has reached a similar conclusion by tracing some of the steps that led to the US militarys current presence in Peru (text, including the excerpts of Admiral Craig Fallers document, translated from the Spanish by yours truly): In May 2019 Admiral Craig Faller, then head of Southern Command, presented an internal document called Enduring Promise for the Americas. It was about a plan for winning allies in Latin America and the Caribbean up to 2027 with the goal of improving security, protecting the US homeland and our national interests, says the report. In the document SOUTHCOM singles out two threats in the US backyard: Chinese influence and the growth of organised crime. On the spectre of Xi Jinping, Faller paints a bleak picture: In many areas around the world, including this hemisphere, our competitive advantage is eroding () China has expanded its One Belt, One Road initiative in Latin America and the Caribbean at a pace that could one day eclipse its expansion in South East Asia and Africa. Its trade and investments are increasing rapidly and it is now the biggest creditor to the region. Chinese control of deep water ports and infrastructure connected to the Panama Canal bolsters its operational position. Its investments in telecommunications and access to space tracking facilities put at risk military operations, intellectual property and data privacy, says the report. Faller proposes three lines of action to counter US rivals. The first strategy consists of increasing US presence in the region by strengthening its alliances. We will take advantage of our bilateral security assistance programs to enhance regional cooperation. As if to confirm this, the documents presented to the Peruvian Congress requesting authorisation for the entry of US troops and military equipment argue that (emphasis my own) training alongside US forces will help to improve the capabilities and strengthen the operational performance of [Peruvian] Special Forces, boosting their interoperability with NATO systems and doctrine. Since as far back as 2019 the Peruvian Army one of the last remaining institutional backbones in Peru, according to Jalife has made no bones about its aspirations to join the North Atlantic Treaty Association at some point in the future, despite Perus geographic position perched on South Americas Pacific coastline. NATO already has three partner countries in South America and is on the lookout for more. In 2017, Colombia became one of NATOs eight global partners, along with Australia, Iraq, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan and the Republic of Korea. The apparent benefits of membership include interoperability with NATO forces as well as the opportunity to participate in NATO-led operations and missions around the world. Like Colombia, both Brazil and Argentina are also major non-NATO allies, a designation awarded by Washington to close allies that have strategic working relationships with the US Armed Forces but are not members of NATO. NATO is certainly keen to expand its influence in Latin America, especially in the context of the current conflict in Ukraine. In 2019, the US State Department even suggested that Mexico should join the military alliance, despite the countrys long, albeit interrupted, history of neutrality. In 2020, the Atlantic Council even argued that securing Mexicos membership could be key to keeping the United States, then under Trumps presidency, committed to the Alliance. Between them Brazil (334,000 active military personnel) and Colombia (200,000) alone would contribute more assets to NATO than the European members annexed in the 1990s, according to the the Latin American Strategic Center for Geopolitics (also known as CELAG). At an event on the sidelines of the 2022 NATO summit in Madrid, King of Spain Felipe VI proposed that Spain could serve as both a bridge and a nexus between NATO and the former Spanish colonies of Latin America an idea that will no doubt have met with the approval of EUs chief diplomat Josep Borrell. A month ago, Colombias first left-wing President Gustavo Petro dismayed many of his supporters by committing to strengthen Colombias cooperation with NATO in areas such as climate change, human rights, integrity building and cyber defence. As Ive noted in a previous article, Petro has his hands largely tied when it comes to dealing with the US military, given that Colombia is one of the biggest recipients of US military aid, is home to seven or eight official US military bases and has suffered through a decades-long civil war that is not nearly resolved. But even I was surprised by the extent to which Petro appears to have caved in. Peru: The Most Chinese Country in South America, Until Now Perus Ambassador to China during Pedro Castillos government, Luis Quesada, described China as the most Chinese country in South America. That was in July last year. At the time, there was even talk of upgrading Chinas free trade agreement (FTA) with Peru. China is already Perus largest trading partner on both the exports and imports side while Peru is the second largest destination for Chinese investment in Latin America, behind only Brazil. A whopping 32% of Perus exports go to China, compared with just 12% to the US. But according to the report in Hildebrandt en sus trece, citing other documents by Craig Faller, Washingtons soft-power arm USAID will also be playing a part in the US counter-offensive against China and Russia in Peru. The notes that USAID is investigating foreign agents in Peru, with a particular focus on unethical practices by Asian (read: Chinese) multinationals. The companies that have so far been targeted allegedly include China Railway Tunnel Group with whom the Ministry of Transport and Communications recently cancelled an $87 million contract and Cosco Shipping, which is under investigation by the Prosecutors Office for a landslide at one of the companys tunnel construction sites at the $3.6 billion Chancay mega-port it is helping to build. Located 50 miles north of Lima, the port is expected to become (in the words of Mercopress news agency) a colossal infrastructure that will transform the 65,000 people former fishing village into a milestone of Chinas increasing trade and influence in Latin America. Chinese companies have also invested huge sums in Perus mining sector over the past decade and a half. But US and European interest in Latin Americas strategic resources is also on the rise as the race for lithium, copper, cobalt and other elements essential for the so-called clean energy transition heats up. In recent months the regions largest economies have received state visits from both Germanys Chancellor Olaf Scholtz and EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, who last week unveiled 10 billion of Global Gateway investments in Latin America and the Caribbean. As readers may recall, Craig Fallers successor at the helm of SOUTHCOM, General Laura Richardson, has been explicit about the US governments intentions to box out China and Russia from strategic resources in Latin America. And while Peru may not form part of the Lithium Triangle (Bolivia, Argentina and Chile), it does boast significant deposits of the white metal. By one estimate, it is home to the sixth largest deposits of hard-rock lithium in the world. It is also the worlds second largest producer of copper, zinc and silver, three metals that are also expected to play a major role in supporting renewable energy technologies. The problem is that Perus economy is hugely dependent on Chinese money for its mining industry and infrastructure projects, and that economy is as Jalife put it one of the few fractals that continue to provide some degree of stability. And while the US and NATO may offer guns and war, they cannot compete with China on investment or trade. * The US Ambassador to Peru, Lisa Kenna, is a former adviser to former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a nine-year veteran at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). She almost certainly gave the green light for Castillos toppling during a meeting with Perus Defense Minister Gustavo Bobbio Rosas the day before (December 6). A retired brigadier general, Bobbio Rosas was appointed defence minister just one day before his meeting with Kenna and was replaced a couple of days later by Jorge Chavez Cresta, a graduate of the West Virginia National Guard and the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies in Washington. According to a tweet by Perus Ministry of Defence, the meeting between Kenna and Bobbio was meant to tackle issues of bilateral interest. Biden administration looks DESPERATE to reestablish normal communications with China Secretary of State Antony Blinken shook hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping to wrap up a two-day visit to China Monday, June 19. With Xi shaking hands with Blinken at the Great Hall of the People, a grand venue usually reserved for greeting heads of state, China and the United States virtually sealed an agreement to stabilize their intense rivalry and prevent it from veering into conflict. On Sunday, June 18, Blinken held talks that lasted over seven hours with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. The Department of State called the talks "candid, substantive and constructive" although they did not appear to make concrete progress on disputes that include Taiwan, trade, human rights and fentanyl. The visit was part of a larger effort by the Biden administration to build guardrails around the two nations' rivalry. "Intense competition requires intense and tough diplomacy to ensure that competition does not veer into confrontation or conflict, and thats what we intend for this visit," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a press briefing prior to Blinken's visit to China. According to Miller, the three broad objectives of the trip were: to reestablish normal communications; champion U.S. values and interests; and identify potential avenues for mutual cooperation. It was the first time a secretary of state has traveled to Beijing since 2018. Blinken was previously scheduled to visit China earlier, but those plans were scrapped when a Chinese spy balloon was spotted over the continental U.S., collecting information on three military sites associated with the U.S. nuclear program. The Biden administration has repeatedly stated that the trip would still take place as part of its wider effort to engage with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). And it did. "We thought it was important that there be a direct channel of communication between our two countries," Miller said. "Obviously, we have a competitive relationship with China but its important as two of the worlds great powers that we have the ability to directly communicate with each other so that competition doesnt veer into conflict." The CCP has systematically reduced communications with the U.S. over the past year and a half. That communications blackout has mostly affected military-to-military communications. Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said last month that the CCP is refusing virtually all communications with the U.S. military, whether it be Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, regional commanders or civilian Pentagon employees. Biden administration's moves concerning China are driven by fear Analysts think the Biden administration is seeking to draw China back to the table out of fear that the lack of communication could lead to a catastrophic miscommunication amid increasingly tense military encounters in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea. (Related: China carries out military drills around Taiwan in "serious warning" after US House Speaker visit.) Amid these efforts, the administration of President Joe Biden acknowledged the fact that traditional engagement with the regime has failed and that new approaches will be needed to manage the relationship effectively. "We're clear-eyed about [China]. We know efforts to shape or reform China over several decades have failed. And we expect China to be around and to be a major player on the world stage for the rest of our lifetimes," said Kurt Campbell, National Security Council coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs. "We are in competition with China, but we do not seek conflict, confrontation or a new Cold War. We are for managing the competition responsibly." Blinkens trip to China comes amid increased efforts by the CCP to prepare its military and population for conflict. Xi has urged his people to prepare for "extreme scenarios." Likewise, the regime is attempting to build up its domestic industrial and economic base to ensure continued operation in the event of war. The CCP is also developing military capabilities specifically designed to overcome and annihilate U.S. systems in the Indo-Pacific. These include new aircraft carriers; space and counterspace capabilities; and the largest nuclear expansion since the Cold War. The U.S. estimates that the regime will quintuple its arsenal of around 300 nuclear weapons to 1,500 by 2035. To date, the regime has rebuffed all attempts to draw it into nonproliferation talks and refused to engage in arms control agreements with the United States. Read more stories about China at CommunistChina.news. Watch this video that talks about a "secret" visit by Blinken to China. This video is from the Martin Brodel channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: ELON UNMASKED: Tesla bigwig Elon Musk reaches out to CCP officials during short visit in China. China flies fighter jets into Taiwanese airspace, escalating tension following Pelosi visit. U.S. warns China about plans to increase military drills in South China Sea region. Ex-CIA chief: Biden operative Antony Blinken is behind the contrived intel letter discrediting Hunter Biden laptop story. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com Reuters.com Brighteon.com Tell me who your friends are, and Ill tell you who you are: Bill Gates funnels $50 million to CCP-controlled Chinese university Liberal billionaire and tech giant Bill Gates funnels $50 million into a Chinese university controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that also conducts military research. In a visit to the communist nation, Gates unveiled his foundation's partnership with Tsinghua University in Beijing. Tsinghua is a public university with very close ties to the CCP. According to a speech he made in Beijing, the $50 million procured from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be used to support a joint disease and medicine research initiative in collaboration with the People's Government of Beijing Municipality, the main local government unit overseeing the Chinese capital city, which also made a matching pledge to the university. (Related: Dr. Jane Ruby STAT! Bill Gates is using his wealth to destroy humanity Brighteon.TV.) "China has made significant gains reducing poverty and improving health outcomes within China. I'm hopeful China can play an even bigger role in addressing the current challenges, particularly those facing African countries," said Gates, emphasizing his desire to continue flooding the African continent with vaccines, particularly for malaria, and other medicines. "China has invaluable experience to share from its own successes in health, agriculture, nutrition and poverty reduction. And it has talent," he added, claiming that Chinese students and youths in labs, start-up industries and classrooms were "inventing the solutions of the future," including new medicines and technologies. Tsinghua is heavily funded by the Chinese Ministry of Education and has a "CCP Committee" that maintains the school's communist ideological direction. The university is notorious for holding "secret-level security credentials" for classified military research for the People's Liberation Army, China's armed forces, and for training students who end up working for the communist nation's nuclear weapons program. Tsinghua is also notable for being the alma mater of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who studied chemical engineering there as an undergraduate and then studied Marxist theory and ideological education as part of his post-graduate education in law and ideology. Gates meets with Xi Jinping, who calls him "an old friend" While in Beijing, Gates met with Xi, who called the billionaire technocrat "an old friend." Gates met with Xi at the Diaoyutai state guest house, where high-ranking Chinese officials have traditionally received senior foreign visitors. The symbolic decision to host Gates in this house emphasizes how highly the CCP values Gates. Xi himself noted that he hopes Gates' visit can benefit both China and the United States amid increasingly strained relations in recent years. "You are the first American friend I have met in Beijing this year. I often say that the foundation of U.S.-China relations lies with its people. I place my hopes on the American people," said Xi. "With the current global situation, we can carry out various activities beneficial to our two countries and people, activities that benefit humanity as a whole." Gates claimed that he was "honored" to have the chance to meet the Chinese president, adding that he always has "great conversations" with Xi. He is the latest American billionaire to visit the communist nation in recent months. Last month, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Tesla's Elon Musk both visited China to strengthen their extensive business ties with the country. In March, Apple CEO Tim Cook spent time in Beijing and claimed that his company enjoyed a "symbiotic" relationship with China. Learn more about China's latest actions on the world stage in CommunistChina.news. Watch this clip of Steve Bannon discussing how the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation acts as an agent of the CCP. This video is from the channel Chinese Taking Down Evil CCP on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Time to collect for Bill: Clinical trial for Gates-funded microneedle vaccine patch deemed "successful." ENEMY AT THE GATES: Microsoft co-founder's former Russian lover linked to notorious Russian spy Anna Chapman. Globalist collusion: Gates Foundation funding Clinton initiative to force developing world to depend on China. Receipts show that Bill Gates just paid the Chinese Communist Party to recruit more foreign scientists. Bill Gates-funded and CCP-controlled Wuhan University reports case of cholera. Sources include: FreeBeacon.com SCMP.com Reuters.com DW.com Brighteon.com The Berkeley Files: Faculty applicants were ranked on their support for DEI policies and practices After years of resisting demands under the Public Records Act (including alleged violations), UC Berkeley has finally turned over documents to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) on its hiring criteria. The files show that Berkeley has been grading faculty on their commitment to DEI, including viewpoints that should be protected by free speech or academic privileges. (Article by Jonathan Turley republished from JonathanTurley.org) In 2018, Berkeleys life sciences departments launched an initiative to advance faculty diversity that included requiring candidates to submit statements on their contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion, including information about their understanding of these topics, record of activities to date, and specific plans and goals for advancing equity and inclusion. I have no problem with candidates being asked about diversity values and other university priorities. Indeed, I believe that candidates should be asked about their tolerance for opposing views and commitment to free speech. Diversity, free speech, and other values are important elements for higher education. However, Berkeley went beyond that inquiry and graded candidates on their espousing specific viewpoints that many academics may disagree with for intellectual or ideological reasons. The long withheld documents indicate that candidates would be given lower scores if they discount the importance of diversity. The concern is not that candidates should support the principle of diversity, but whether they were expected to support specific practices that some view as inimical to higher education or racial and gender diversity goals. The scoring document mandates lower scores for those who do not feel any personal responsibility for helping to eliminate barriers. For example, may state that its better not to have outreach or affinity groups aimed at underrepresented individuals because it keeps them separate from everyone else, or will make them feel less valued. The concern is that the rubric could be used to enforce an ideological litmus test. Faculty may favor diversity on a faculty but still have qualms about specific approaches that separate or segregate faculty. My greatest concern with the rubric is that it offers no express accommodation or consideration for possible ideological or intellectual disagreement with DEI priorities or practices. We have discussed controversies involving faculty who oppose special accommodations of faculty in terms of benefits or advancement. For example, it is likely that Princeton professor Joshua Katz would be marked down on this rubric. Katz drew the ire of faculty and students by questioning a proposed anti-racism program of benefits for minority faculty. Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber called on the university board to fire Katz in a move being denounced as a transparent effort to circumvent free speech and academic freedom protections over his prior public stance. (Eisgruber has also been criticized for his tepid support for free speech at Princeton). The Berkeley rubric requires candidates to voice and demonstrate commitments to DEI measures that some may find personally or intellectually problematic. For example, affinity groups have long raised concern that universities are effectively recreating segregated spaces and rolling back on efforts from the 1960s to remove racial and other classifications from university life. That is now considered reactionary by many today, but a candidate could have legitimate non-racist, non-sexist objections to creating programs separating faculty or students by race or gender. There is an interesting comparison to the Harvard and North Carolina cases before the Supreme Court on affirmative action in college admissions. We are awaiting the opinions in those cases. However, the schools were accused of using different rubrics for interviews with student applicants to conceal the use of race. Asian students were allegedly given lower scores on personality considerations that lowered their admission rates. The use of such rubrics can create subtle preferences on the basis of ideological or other considerations. That is why the long refusal of Berkeley to turn over these documents is a concern. Harvard and North Carolina were also accused of such delay and obstruction. Here, Berkeley made the decision to obstruct the legitimate document request of FIRE for years as it employed this rubric to select faculty members. That should be a matter for separate inquiry but it is doubtful that there will be action from the California legislature. Read more at: JonathanTurley.org Government data shows COVID-19 vaccines HARM the immune system Facebook admits it was wrong to label it misinformation In August 2022, an investigation into five months' worth of official U.K. government data revealed that a Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) "booster" dose provides only a temporary boost before harming the immune system more rapidly than two doses of the coronavirus vaccine. This suggests that the COVID-19 vaccinated population is developing some new form of vaccine-induced acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (VAIDS). When the investigation was shared by a reader on Facebook the same day it was published, the post was quickly removed and labeled as "misinformation." The reader who shared the article disputed Facebook's censorship, and the social media platform responded on Oct. 27 to admit that it was wrong to label it as "misinformation." Facebook confirmed that the investigation was actually factual. The Facebook post is now back, complete with details about the report. A closer look at vaccines and the lies Big Pharma continues to tell the public The U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) used to publish a weekly Vaccine Surveillance Report, which contains four weeks' worth of data on coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths by vaccination status. In the investigation that Facebook tried to censor, experts studied five of the published Vaccine Surveillance Reports containing data from August 16, 2021 to January 2, 2022, to get a clear picture of the effect the vaccines are having on the immune systems of the vaccinated population. Using the data published by the UKHSA, the investigators were also able to calculate the real-world effectiveness of the vaccines. The results paint a grim and alarming picture. The week 37 Vaccine Surveillance report included the number of coronavirus cases by vaccination status between week 33 and week 36 of 2021, or Aug. 16 to Sept. 12. The report showed the confirmed COVID-19 case rates per 100,000 people among the unvaccinated and two-dose vaccinated population. Using this information, the investigators calculated the real-world vaccine effectiveness during that period: The real-world effectiveness of all available vaccines combined was as low as -47 percent in the 60 to 69 age group , and as high as +66 percent in the under-18 age group . , and . The only other age groups that the vaccine was shown to have a positive effect at this point were 18 to 29, 30 to 39 and 80 and older. One month later, the data showed a shocking change. The week 41 Vaccine Surveillance report included the number of COVID-19 cases by vaccination status between week 37 and week 40 of 2021, or Sept. 13 to Oct. 10. Findings of the investigation reveal the following: The real-world effectiveness of all available COVID-19 vaccines combined was as low as -109 percent in the 40 to 49 age group, and as high as +89 percent in the under-18 age group . and . The only other age group that the vaccine was shown to have a positive effect was 18 to 29. It's alarming that the real-world effectiveness of the vaccine significantly went down in all age groups, especially the 40 to 49 age group which declined from a real-world effectiveness of -36 percent to -109 percent. The fact that the real-world effectiveness of the vaccines surpassed the -100 percent barrier suggests that the vaccines are failing and they were harming the immune system of the recipients. (Related: Pfizer docs: Modernas COVID-19 vaccine can damage the immune system.) The real-world effectiveness of the vaccines wanes significantly in a short time. And for the vaccinated population, instead of their immune system returning to the same state it was prior to vaccination, the immune system performance begins to rapidly decline until it is inferior to that of the unvaccinated. The official U.K. government data proves that a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine can give a short-term boost to the immune system of the vaccinated, but the immune system performance then begins to decline fast. This data suggests that the vaccinated population now needs an endless cycle of booster shots to strengthen their immune systems. According to the most recent figures made available by the U.K. government through the Office for National Statistics, the unvaccinated population has the lowest mortality rate per 100,000 compared to the vaccinated population among all age groups. Visit VaccineInjuryNews.com for more information about the adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots. Watch this video to know more about VAIDS. This video is from the channel The Prisoner on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Dr. Ryan Cole explains how the COVID vaccines compromise the immune system. Media pushing HIV variant narrative as cover story for vaccine-induced immune system collapse. EU ADMITS repeatedly taking COVID-19 vaccine boosters could destroy the immune system. Sources include: Expose-News.com 1 Expose-News.com 2 Brighteon.com House Republicans push back against Biden administrations GREEN TYRANNY The Republican-controlled House of Representatives has passed a bill to block the Biden administration's federal ban on gas stoves. Lawmakers voted 248-180 on June 14 in favor of the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act (GSPFA), sponsored by Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND). A report by POLITICO stated that 29 Democratic lawmakers crossed party lines to ensure the bill's passing. Republicans touted the GSPFA as a pushback against the executive branch's overreach and green tyranny. If it becomes law, the bill will prohibit the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) from utilizing taxpayer dollars to enact an outright federal ban on gas stoves. It will also prevent the commission from using taxpayer dollars to enforce any consumer safety standard that would result in the effective removal of gas stoves from the market, or any significant increase in their mean price. "We know the motivation of the CPSC, and throughout this entire administration, is a green climate push," Armstrong said. "The goal is to dictate how you live every aspect of your life. How you save and invest for the future by pushing [environmental, social and governance standards], how you drive by banning gas-powered cars and now the goal is to control how you cook." House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) remarked: "Now, they want to tell you what kind of stove you have to operate in your home and having to pick a less efficient and more costly option by banning gas stoves. We're pushing back against that." "We will hold the Biden administration accountable by standing up for the American people to stop the outrageous and really insane ban on gas stoves," said Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY). She described the ban as "a bad idea that started in New York that is now being embraced by every Democrat and the Biden administration." (Related: Another ploy to control people's lives: Biden administration plans to ban gas stoves.) House Democrats want ban on gas stoves to push through The GSPFA had its fair share of criticisms, mostly coming from Democrats. Some congressmen who opposed the bill branded the arguments of their GOP counterparts as "misinformation." Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) remarked: "I just don't quite understand the energy and hysteria almost in places about gas stoves. No one is taking away your gas stove." Meanwhile, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) lamented that the GOP-backed bill would stifle the CPSCs ability to investigate potentially hazardous products. "What you're basically saying is that this agency that protects our safety and health is just basically going to be emasculated and can't do its job," Pallone told his colleagues in the lower chamber. "What possible help is that?" In January, CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. said any option is on the table with regard to a possible federal ban. "Products that can't be made safe can be banned," he added. Trumka also noted that his office opened an inquiry into the potential health hazards of gas stove emissions. While there isn't any legislation that seeks to codify a prohibition on gas stoves at the federal level, multiple state and local governments all under Democratic control have pursued their own versions of gas stove bans in recent months. Ben Lieberman, senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based think tank Competitive Energy Institute, said the June 13 vote represents a GOP-led effort to halt "bureaucratic meddling" in the personal choices of consumers. He told the Daily Caller: "The Biden administration has unleashed two agencies the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Department of Energy to go after gas stoves, despite the fact that the American people overwhelmingly prefer to decide for themselves what to put in their kitchens." Watch Gary Franchi of Next News Network deliberating if the Democrats' gas stove ban is aimed at protecting the air or stripping people's liberties below. This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Those attacks on gas stoves aren't really about health. If Democrats successfully ban gas stoves, restaurants everywhere will fail. Guess who's really behind the anti-gas stove crusade? The World Economic Forum (and their Democrat lackeys). Climate lunatics are working to ban natural gas stoves, forcing consumers to rely on electric burners that are mostly powered by coal. Sources include: YourNews.com POLITICO.com Brighteon.com We are restricting freedom for the common good: Irish Green Party calls for limiting free speech The Irish Green Party followed many on the left around the world, including our own Democratic Party, this week and came out for censorship and speech controls. Indeed, the party went full Orwellian as its chairwoman Pauline OReilly called for restricting freedom to protect it. (Article by Jonathan Turley republished from JonathanTurley.org) OReillys comments are part of the introduction of the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022. We previously discussed this massive assault on free speech. The legislation that would criminalize incitement to violence or hatred against people with protected characteristics, as well as condoning, denying or grossly trivialising genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against peace. Limiting free speech has become an article of faith for many on the left. I have written about my distress (as someone who grew up in a liberal, politically active Democratic family in Chicago) in watching the abandonment of free speech values by the party. Democratic leaders now uniformly call for censorship and speech regulations. President Biden even charged that companies who refused to censor opposing views on social media were killing people. Others have denounced free speech as a white mans obsession. The anti-free speech movement has become openly Orwellian in claiming to protect freedom by limiting freedom. It also employs using terms like disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation to obscure their effort to silence those with opposing views. Rather than use censorship, they refer to content moderation. That effort was on full display this week in Ireland with this anti-free speech legislation. Speaking before the Irish Senate (Seanad) this week, OReilly declared when one thinks about it, all law and all legislation is about the restriction of freedom. This is exactly what we are doing here. We are restricting freedom but we are doing it for the common good. It is the same message of New York democrats calling for limiting speech as a way of protecting democracy. Indeed, former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich has declared free speech is tyranny. OReilly assured citizens that giving up freedom was nothing new or threatening: Throughout our Constitution one can see that while one has rights they are restricted for the common good. Everything needs to be balanced. What is particularly chilling is how low the threshold is for denying free speech, according to OReilly. It now appears that deep discomfort is enough: If a persons views on other peoples identities make their lives unsafe and insecure, and cause them such deep discomfort that they cannot live in peace, our job as legislators is to restrict those freedoms for the common good. What is interesting is that OReilly admits that there is nothing new about hateful views but it is time to clear out such voices: Social media has fuelled hatred but it has also put on display for all of us the dirty, filthy, underbelly of hatred in Irish society. That hatred has always existed. Of course, she and the majority will determine what views create deep discomfort. The Irish legislation is likely to be replicated around the world if the free speech community cannot hold the line against the anti-free speech movement. It is part of an unrelenting movement in Europe, particularly by the European Union, to rollback Western free speech values that once defined countries. We have been discussing efforts by figures like Hillary Clinton to enlist European countries to force Twitter to restore censorship rules. Unable to rely on corporate censorship or convince users to embrace censorship, Clinton and others are resorting to good old-fashioned state censorship, even asking other countries to censor the speech of American citizens. Ireland now stands on the precipice of freedom. The embrace of such laws by the Irish is crushingly ironic. Frank Ryan, who fought against the treaty, spoke for many radicals in declaring as long as we have fists and boots, there will be no free speech for traitors. Those anti-Treaty forces rejected the views of free speech that long defined Western nations. Now, Ireland is declaring no free speech for haters and assumes the authority to define who are haters and who are not. Read more at: JonathanTurley.org Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Getty Images) Estonia has become the first Baltic nation to legalise same-sex marriage. The Estonian parliament voted in favour of a government bill that allows gay and lesbian couples to marry and win the same rights as heterosexual couples in a landmark ruling on Tuesday. Everyone should have the right to marry the person they love and want to commit to. With this decision we are finally stepping among all the rest of the democratic countries in the world where marriage equality has been granted, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said in a statement. This is a decision that does not take anything away from anyone but gives something important to many. It also shows that our society is caring and respectful towards each other. I am proud of Estonia. She added: My message (to central Europe) is that its a difficult fight, but marriage and love is something that you have to promote. We have developed a lot in those 30 years, since we have freed ourselves from the (Soviet) occupation. We are equals among same-value countries. The law, which was backed by 55 votes in the 101-seat parliament, will come into effect from 2024. Gay couples were already able to have civil union ceremonies in the country. It comes after Edgars Rinkevics - who is openly gay - was elected as president of Latvia last month, making him one of Europes few LGBTQ+ heads of state. The Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been slower to embrace LGBTQ+ rights than most countries in Western Europe. In largely secular Estonia, 53% of the population supported same-sex marriage in a 2023 poll by the Centre for Human Rights. A decade ago the number was 34%. Rep. Jim Jordan grills Rochelle Walensky over her LIES concerning COVID transmission among the fully vaccinated United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky is finally facing the music for lying to the American people about Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) "vaccines." Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Oh.) grilled Walensky this week over false statements she made again and again throughout the "pandemic," one of the most offensive being the lie that "fully vaccinated" people cannot spread COVID. "Why did you and the Biden administration mislead the American people?" Jordan asked Walensky directly. After a long pause, unsure of what to say, Walensky responded with: "Um ... you'd have to say more. I'm unclear ..." Jordan then interrupted Walensky by providing more details about the things she apparently forgot she did that misled the country into believing that COVID jabs are "safe and effective" and help "stop the spread." "March 29, 2021: 'Vaccinated people do not carry the virus. Vaccinated people don't get sick. We got that information from clinical trials but also real-world data.' It seems to me there are a number of statements you make in there that aren't accurate," Jordan said, quoting statements Walensky had previously made. "Um," Walensky responded. "Do vaccinated people carry the virus?" Jordan then asked Walensky again point blank. "In March of 2021, um, the vast majority of data demonstrated that the vast majority of people were not getting infected if they were vaccinated," Walensky responded in snide arrogance. "That's not what you said. You didn't say 'the vast majority of people;' you said 'vaccinated people do not carry the virus.' Was that accurate?" Jordan shot back. "Uh, it was generally accurate," Walensky responded. "Generally accurate. Why not just be accurate? Why not just tell the American people the truth? Why didn't you say to the American people what you just said to me? We're big boys and girls. We pay your salary. The government is supposed to be of the people, by the people, for the people why not just tell us the truth?" Jordan said. (Related: Back in the spring, Walensky finally conceded that the "fully vaccinated" can and are spreading COVID to others after previously denying this was possible.) Everyone knows you're a liar, Rochelle Walensky It was around this time in the proceeding that Walensky, angrily but with a pride-filled grimace plastered across her face, responded back with: "Uh, I was speaking ..." "Six weeks later when you said 'if you were to get infected during post-vaccination, you can't give it to anyone else' is what you said. Was that accurate?" Jordan asked again. "Uh, what was the date of that?" Walensky said. "May 19, 2021," Jordan responded. "Uhm, at the time we had the Wuhan strain and then the Alpha strain and that was the Alpha strain that was circulating that was generally true, yes," Walensky answered. "Generally true again? Why not tell the American people this is generally true?" Jordan asked again. "Um, I couldn't tell you the exact data on the vaccine effectiveness of symptomatic disease and severe disease at the time. What I can tell you is that we generally saw that if you were to get infected after you had been vaccinated that you were not carrying the virus by transmitting it to somebody else. You could not transmit it to others," Walensky said. "But we know that's not accurate," Jordan retorted. "It was at the time. Now what happened ..." Walensky proceeded. "Really?" Jordan shot back. "Yes, in May of 2021, it what, that was hap, that was true for the Alpha variant, now what happened ..." Walensky proceeded. Watch a clip of the proceedings below: Nice work from Jim Jordan in the last hour. Dr. Rochelle Walensky is squirming.pic.twitter.com/xZEMfBQjrN Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) June 13, 2023 Rochelle Walensky and every other "authority" figure at the CDC who participated in COVID fascism and crimes against humanity belongs behind bars. To learn more, visit CDC.news. Sources for this article include: Twitter.com NaturalNews.com Matt Walsh blows lid on transgender body-butchering industry that mostly targets children In a new expose journalist Matt Walsh, a staunch conservative, reveals the shocking medical malpractice taking place under the guise of "gender-affirming care," also known as the transgender mutilation of humans, particularly children. Walsh created a video series see below showing how the body butchers who sign up to participate in the LGBT destruction of human bodies are preying on mental illness in their quest for more money. "The largest 'trans healthcare' providers in the U.S. are rubber-stamping letters approving gruesome, life-altering surgeries," Walsh warned about the transgender mutilation industry. "It's such a racket that my producer was approved for testicle removal in [22 minutes]. The tape is disturbing." ?1/ BREAKING: The largest trans healthcare providers in the U.S. are rubber-stamping letters approving gruesome, life-altering surgeries. Its such a racket that my producer was approved for testicle removal in #22minutes. The tape is disturbing. Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) June 7, 2023 (Related: In 2019, Walsh declared that it is not possible, in his opinion, to be a decent person and also a Democrat.) Transgender mutilation "gatekeepers" writing form letters for children approving their body butchery procedures In order to be approved for such procedures, a person or child must have a recommendation from an "expert" such as licensed clinical social worker Ari Groner, who at a recent training session for the Juniper Center admitted that she writes whatever letters her patients want and demand because she does not want to be a "gatekeeper." In essence, Groner is a gatekeeper under the law, but is choosing to reject her "do no harm" oath and instead signs children up for whatever body butchery procedures they were groomed into wanting by their public school teachers, or by the drag queen at the local library or bar and grill. Hospitals in America follow what are known as WPATH standards, requiring them to obtain a letter before undergoing any transgender surgeries. Groner told her audience that she treats these letters like a "persuasive essay" to green-light even suicidal patients for transgender mutilation procedures. Unless a patient is officially diagnosed with gender dysphoria, insurance companies will not reimburse hospitals for these surgeries. And since money is the number-one driving factor behind transgender mutilation that and the complete demoralization and dissolution of the country by the globalists such letters are critical for getting that sweet, sweet cash from the government, aka taxpayers. "We're using that diagnosis to ensure clients get that necessary treatment," Groner admitted about the true motivating factor behind the letters and following WPATH standards. Transgenders wanting fast and easy approval for their mutilation procedures can do so via a trans telehealth service called Folx Health that allows them to call in and get the approval they need within minutes. Even if a caller does not technically "fit" the definition of gender dysphoria, the service will give the diagnosis as "needed" so that insurers will pay out for the mutilative procedures. "Folx, which provides letters authorizing surgeries for a nominal fee, goes on to admit that 'it's quite possible' patients will receive a letter indicating a gender dysphoria diagnosis, even though they 'really do not have dysphoria,'" Walsh said. Folx responded to a request from Walsh and his team for clarification about this "diagnosis," to which a "they / them" from Folx revealed that "diagnosis" is used in quotes because it is a "requirement" for insurance purposes, even if it "doesn't apply" to the person applying. "The largest trans healthcare provider in the U.S., @plume_clinic, runs a similar scam," Walsh warned. "They sell letters for $150 authorizing surgeries. That's how our producer @gregg_re received approval for testicle removal after a 22-minute video call." The latest news about transgender mutilation and other perversions in the LGBT industry can be found at Transhumanism.news. Sources for this article include: BigLeaguePolitics.com NaturalNews.com Ontario medical regulator REVOKES license of doctor challenging draconian COVID-19 protocols The medical regulator for the Canadian province of Ontario has revoked the license of a doctor challenging draconian Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) mandates. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) stripped Dr. Patrick Phillips of his medical license for his opposition to the medical tyranny it espoused. Phillips himself confirmed the revocation of his license in a tweet. "I had the privilege of finally entering a plea of no contest in my case with the [CPSO]," he tweeted. "As a result, I was convicted of multiple counts of professional misconduct, declared incompetent and my medical license was revoked." According to LifeSiteNews, Phillips was ordered by the CPSO to appear before a panel for his reprimand. His license would then be taken away, and he must also pay a fine before July 6. He earlier attended a virtual disciplinary hearing held by the Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Disciplinary Tribunal (OPSDT). Dr. Roy Kirkpatrick, a member of the OPSDT panel, issued a statement regarding Phillips. "We are dismayed by the deliberate steps you took to undermine the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic," he said. " As a physician, the information you communicate is trusted by many. Your communications to colleagues, patients and your thousands of followers on social media regarding COVID 19, and public health response measures were careless, often offensive, and at times possibly harmful." During the hearing, Phillips' lawyer Michael Alexander said while his client "does not contest the proceeding, that does not mean that he agrees with the findings of facts." (Related: Regulator needs to be regulated: Body that disciplines doctors in Ontario oversteps jurisdiction.) LifeSiteNews stated that Phillips will be able to appeal to get his license back. However, he must wait one year after the verdict before doing so. CPSO barred Phillips from providing medical exemptions for vaccines, masks Despite his ordeal, Phillips felt "much peace, forgiveness and even gratitude" for his experience. He continued: "I hold no ill will toward the [CPSO] or [the Canadian] government. It just felt so good to cut that chain of trying to resist what I used to see as injustice." "I have also been fighting the legal path by trying to change the world and organizations like the CPSO. Needless to say, this latter course has been met with consistent failures and definitely no peace." The doctor thanked his lawyer in a tweet. He also thanked fellow physicians Dr. Mark Raymond Trozzi and Dr. Crystal Luchkiw for "continuing the legal fight for constitutional rights at the CPSO." Just like Phillips, the two physicians were canceled for their opposition to the COVID-19 narrative espoused by the college. The CPSO's revocation of the doctor's license picked up from an earlier disciplinary action done in September 2021. A CBC News report at the time said the regulator barred Phillips from providing exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines, masks and testing. It also prohibited the doctor from prescribing ivermectin, atorvastatin and the antidepressant fluvoxamine in relation to COVID-19 infection. Moreover, the CPSO smeared Phillips as "incompetent" and accused him of engaging in "disgraceful" and "dishonorable" conduct. According to an email by the regulator, he had made "misleading, incorrect or inflammatory statements about vaccinations, treatments and public health measures for COVID-19." The allegations against the doctor had been referred to the OPSD, it added. Phillips dismissed the penalties against him. He tweeted that he has "never been more proud of myself than the day I decided to take a stand against our country's medical tyranny." Visit MedicalFascism.news for more stories about doctors receiving disciplinary actions for challenging the COVID-19 narrative. Watch this video about Ontario province, where Phillips is based, becoming a full COVID-19 police state. This video is from the TruthAndFreedom1 channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: After firing all unvaccinated doctors and nurses, Ontario orders hospitals and clinics to CANCEL non-urgent surgeries due to lack of staff. Ontario Health Minister calls for "immediate censorship of doctors" medical totalitarianism rolling out fast. Canada waging war on Dr. Charles Hoffe for speaking out publicly against covid "vaccines." Sources include: LifeSiteNews.com CBC.ca Brighteon.com The real Peter Hotez: Scientism, snake oil, & a lifelong campaign to sell vaccines for parasites Its time to get to know the nefarious actor that is Peter Hotez, the Anthony Fauci of Houston, a vaccinologist mRNA evangelist who has never developed a successful vaccine. (Article by Jordan Schachtel republished from Dossier.today) Dr. Hotez has been in the headlines this weekend after he refused an offer from Joe Rogan to debate presidential candidate RFK Jr on Rogans program. Now that hes in the news, its worth discussing the extremely unethical behavior and activities of one of Americas most prominent pseudoscientists. The Baylor Medicine professor is best known for his unapologetic religious promotion of unlimited doses of covid vaccines, for both adults and young children. The dishonest, ruthlessly corrupt (read Simon Goddeks Twitter thread on Hotez) Big Pharma snake oil salesman has labeled any and all of his detractors as anti-science agents of disinformation. Speaking of disinformation, watch the video below and youll get a sense of his character. But what does he do when hes not on television and peddling experimental injections to the masses? Dr. Peter Hotez has dedicated his career to developing vaccines for parasites, specifically hookworms. What began as a doctoral dissertation on hookworm vaccination in 1987 has transformed into a several decades quest to create vaccine-induced immunity against multicellular organisms. Unfortunately for Hotez, 35 years later, he still has nothing to show for his prized parasite vaccine ambitions, besides ongoing trials. More broadly, Hotez has never brought a vaccine to market other than his covid shot, which doesnt work to stop covid disease. Similar to the Pfizer, Moderna, and discontinued J&J covid injections, it is pure junk. If an effective vaccine against a parasite a sophisticated multicellular organism seems a bit far fetched, thats because it is. The FDA has never approved a parasite vaccine in humans, and for good reasons that youll see in a moment. Nonetheless, the funding for such an endeavor remains robust. While there is little money to be made in effective anti-parasite drugs (plus, the patent for ivermectin expired almost 30 years ago), a vaccine can at least hypothetically serve an entire national patient population that is not even currently infected with the organism. An anti-parasite treatment is used only on those who get sick, so its not nearly as lucrative. Institutions run by Dr. Hotez who has carved out space for himself as an anti-parasite vaccine specialist (but again, despite having shown zero success) have received well over 100 million dollars in grant funding over the years from the Gates Foundation and U.S. government health institutions, specifically focused on developing hookworm and parasite vaccines. The government continues to give healthy sums of annual grant cash to Hotez, both for his Baylor entities and his parasite vaccine work. How is the quest for parasite vaccines going more broadly? Not so well. The only parasite vaccine minimally available to humans, a malaria vaccine only currently available in two African countries, has been an unmitigated disaster, rife with human tragedy. The Mosquirix (the Gates Foundation-funded malaria vaccine now owned by GSK) trials produced shockingly poor results, displaying 10 times higher risks of meningitis, cerebral malaria, and a doubling in the risk of death in the vaccine cohort, and it failed to achieve any sterilizing immunity or significant efficacious benefit, leading Gates Inc to drop support for the shot. Nonetheless, the World Health Organization endorsed the dangerous vaccine, recommending it for at risk youth. Read more at: Dossier.today Texas governor signs new bill banning diversity offices at public colleges, universities The diversity, equity and inclusion offices at state-funded colleges and universities in Texas will be closed thanks to a new bill recently signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott. Last month, the Texas House voted 83-60 in support of the bill following hours of debate. The law defines a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) office as an office that gives different treatment to individuals according to their ethnicity, race, color or sex via programs, activities, training policies and procedures. It requires that state-funded colleges and universities do not form or maintain such offices, contract outside parties to perform similar duties, or require anyone to supply diversity statements or give anyone preferential treatment based on such statements. In addition, they cannot require anyone to participate in diversity, equity and inclusion training, nor can they give preference to applicants for employment based on ethnicity, national origin, sex, race or color. Any public institution of higher education that fails to certify its compliance with the new law will not be allowed to spend state funds that have been allocated to it. State auditors will occasionally perform audits of state-funded schools to ensure compliance; those that fail the audit and do not correct the violation within 180 days may lose their funding. The bill also requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to carry out studies every two years through the end of the decade assessing the impact of the new law on students by race. The study must consider application, acceptance, retention, graduation and matriculation rates as well as grade point averages. This amendment was added to the bill in response to concerns by Democrats that schools might lose federal grants requiring them to show they are promoting diversity. The amendment also allows higher education institutions to make reasonable efforts to reassign those working in diversity and inclusion offices to other positions within the school offering comparable pay. After the new bill was passed by the state's senate last month, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick praised legislators, saying in a statement: "The Texas Senate has now passed the strongest pushback on woke policies in higher education nationwide. For far too long, academia has been poisoned by woke policies and faculty seeking to indoctrinate our students. Professors did not believe we would push back on their advances, but they were wrong. Students should be taught how to think critically, not what to think." Tenure will be easier to revoke in Texas universities Abbott also signed a bill that will make it easier for universities to revoke a professor's tenure in certain circumstances. Current policies surrounding tenure stipulate that professors who have earned this merit-based form of job security can only be terminated due to extreme circumstances such as severe financial restraints or a justifiable cause. However, the new law will allow professors to be dismissed for a range of other reasons, including moral turpitude, professional incompetence, unprofessional conduct and neglecting their professional responsibilities. Florida has also banned DEI programs Texas will now join Florida in cracking down on diversity and inclusion initiatives at public colleges. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed SB 266 into law, which bans state funding for such programs at the states public colleges and universities. It also bans curriculum related to identity politics and critical race theory. At the bill signing ceremony, DeSantis identified what he feels is wrong with DEI, saying: This has basically been used as a veneer to impose an ideological agenda, and that is wrong. The new laws comes at a time when the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to ban colleges and universities throughout the nation from allowing race to be a factor in decisions about admissions. Sources for this article include: NBCNews.com FoxNews.com Woman sues California hospital for subjecting her to a DOUBLE MASTECTOMY when she was 13 and experiencing gender confusion An 18-year-old woman has sued a hospital in California for subjecting her to a double mastectomy procedure when she was only 13 and experiencing "gender confusion." The Epoch Times reported that Layla Jane, whose given name is Kayla Lovdahl, filed a lawsuit against Kaiser Foundations Hospitals and Permanente Medical groups. Doctors who work for or are affiliated with the nonprofit Kaiser Permanente, including psychologist Dr. Susanne Watson, were also named as defendants. "Jane is seeking damages for her pain and suffering; additional money for medical expenses and costs of the suit covered," the report said. Lawyers for the plaintiff filed the suit in the Superior Court of California. The suit reads: "Defendants did not question, elicit or attempt to understand the psychological events that led [Jane] to the mistaken belief that she was transgender. Nor did they evaluate, appreciate or treat her multi-faceted presentation of co-morbid symptoms." (Related: Detransitioner Chloe Cole to sue doctors who forced her to undergo gender-affirming procedures.) Charles LiMandri, one of the lawyers representing Jane, blasted the defendants for carrying out "ideological and profit-driven medical abuse" when they prescribed the girl puberty blockers and hormones, and subsequently removed both her breasts surgically. Center for American Liberty (CAL) CEO Harmeet Dhillon said in a statement: "Kaiser continues to engage in the quackery of subjecting innocent children to irreversible sex mimicry treatment, including drugs and surgery, without informed consent." CAL is also representing Jane in the lawsuit. "The medical providers responsible for [Jane's] case, along with countless others, have substituted woke ideology for medically accepted standards of care including lying to and manipulating vulnerable patients and families." Both Watson and Kaiser Permanente did not respond to requests for comment. Doctors at Kaiser fast-tracked Jane's transition According to Jane, people she met online influenced her that she was a boy at the age of 11. She then told her parents about this, prompting them to ask for guidance from doctors. Three doctors visited by Jane's parents advised against cross-sex hormones, but she was eventually referred to several physicians who prescribed both puberty blockers and hormones. The girl underwent a double mastectomy within six months. According to the suit, a single 75-minute session with Watson served as the basis to prescribe the hormones and puberty blockers. The decision to allow Jane's breasts to be removed followed a separate 30-minute session with plastic surgeon Dr. Winnie Tong. But Jane said she didn't feel better after the surgery, suffering nerve damage and other issues. She has since de-transitioned resumed identifying as a girl a decision that has made her happy. The complaint noted that the lack of therapy and outlining of possible side effects from the surgery means the doctors did not provide the plaintiff with informed consent. Rather, the defendants argued that Jane's "gender dysphoria" would not resolve unless she proceeded with having her breasts surgically removed. Recounting her ordeal to the Epoch Times, Jane shared: "Nobody none of my doctors tried anything to make me comfortable in my body, meaningfully pushed back or asked questions. They only affirmed." "The law says children aren't mature enough to make serious decisions that could have long-lasting consequences like getting a tattoo; driving with friends; drinking alcohol; smoking cigarettes or even voting. So why is it acceptable for 13-year-olds to decide to mutilate their body?" Watch this video from "War Room" on InfoWars featuring a de-transitioned male caller regretting the gender transition process. This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Transgender quackery exposed as "child abuse" by top doctor. Former trans teens express REGRET over gender reassignment procedures. Detransitioner Chloe Cole blasts "transgender refuge state" bill backed by CA state senator. Former FTM Chloe Cole denounces gender transition in powerful speech, saying "it almost killed her." Transgender clinics and doctors push same false promises, scare stories as fraudulent cancer industry: Consent to these horrific "treatments" or you might die! Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com Brighteon.com Three scientists from Wuhan lab identified as first carriers of COVID-19 Three scientists from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in the capital of China's Hubei province were reportedly the first ones infected with the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). The revelation came as part of a lengthy investigation by the Public and Racket newsletters, which involved interviews of multiple U.S. government officials. The outlets disclosed that three WIV researchers Ben Hu, Yu Ping and Zhu Yan were infected by SARS-CoV-2 while doing gain-of-function research on the pathogen at the institute in the city of Wuhan. All three scientists fell ill in the fall of 2019 while studying ways to make SARS-CoV-2 more infectious and lethal, purportedly to "better understand their dangers." It came four months after Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), stated that his office believes that COVID-19 likely originated from an accidental outbreak at a laboratory. It also challenged the notion that the pandemic's origins may be impossible to determine a claim espoused by most officials, notably infectious disease expert and former White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci. "The FBI has, for quite some time now, assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan," the FBI director told Bret Baier of Fox News. However, with the identities of the first infected individuals now known, answers regarding the origins of SARS-CoV-2 appear to be within reach. Initially, the narrative claimed COVID-19 began at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in the capital of Hubei province, 40 minutes away from the WIV. (Related: Virus expert at Wuhan lab denies COVID-19 lab leak theory.) Wuhan scientists performed lab research without proper safety measures Hu and Ping, two of the infected scientists, co-authored a paper on the genetic lineage of SARS-related coronaviruses in bats across China back in 2019. They had been studying the viruses under the tutelage of virologist Dr. Shi Zhengli. Dubbed as the "bat woman of China" for her extensive research on bat coronaviruses, Shi has faced significant scrutiny since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in Wuhan. Molecular biologist Alina Chan described Hu as "the next Shi," citing his involvement in making chimeric SARS-like viruses and testing them in humanized mice. She added: "He was her star pupil. If I had to guess who would be doing this risky virus research and most at risk of getting accidentally infected, it would be him." Chan also expressed concerns about the risky nature of the study and the possibility of accidental infections. One video from 2017 aired by Chinese state-run television showed Hu watching a lab worker handle specimens without protective gear. She remarked: "If they were worried about being infected in the field, they would need full body suits with no gaps." Chan is not alone with her concerns regarding the WIV. The institute conducted research at the lower biohazard safety level 2 (BSL-2). In contrast, SARS-CoV-2 can escape a more stringent BSL-3 facility and infect fully vaccinated lab workers. The U.S. Department of State previously acknowledged suspicions that several researchers at the institute fell ill in the autumn of 2019 with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses. Meanwhile, China repeatedly denied the lab-leak theory and accused the FBI of politicizing the issue. It's still refusing to allow independent investigators to look into the allegations surrounding the WIV. Pandemic.news has more stories about the origins of COVID-19. Listen to Dr. Shi Zhengli denying WIV's involvement in military research in March 2021. This video is from the Chinese taking down EVIL CCP channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Video reveals Wuhan laboratory kept bats despite claiming it did not. Shi's lying: Chinas Bat Woman Shi Zhengli lied about WIVs connection with the communist Chinese military. Sick lab scientists in Wuhan fuel questions about pandemic's origin. U.S. investigators say covid came from classified bioweapons program at Wuhan lab. Shi Zhengli, the Bat Lady publishes propaganda piece in MIT Technology Review to cover up for crimes against humanity. Sources include: ZeroHedge.com NYPost.com Brighteon.com Democrat donor to Lincoln Project and Democrat campaigns arrested for starting massive California fire that destroyed 100 homes 71-year-old Edward Hackerman was arrested last week and accused of starting last years Oak Fire. (Article by Jim Hoft republished from TheGatewayPundit.com) Hackerman was taken into custody last Friday for starting the fired that charred over 19,000 acres. Hackerman is reportedly a retired firefighter with 12 years experience. The fire destroyed 127 homes and over 60 other buildings. Conservatives Are Looking For Ways To Boycott and Move Spending Away From Woke Corporations -- Here Is One Way To Do It Edward Wackerman is a Democrat donor who gave money to The Lincoln Project and other leftist campaigns. The Washington Free Beacon reported: What happened: Authorities busted a Democratic donor for allegedly starting a ginormous inferno in Yosemite National Park. Democratic politicians had insisted climate change was to blame for the blaze, which destroyed more than 100 homes and injured several firefighters in July 2022. Edward Fredrick Wackerman (his actual name) of Mariposa, Calif., faces a number of charges including aggravated arson following his arrest on Friday. By the numbers: The arson suspect has donated $1,775 to Democratic candidates and committees since 2020, government records show, including a $1,000 donation to Tim Ryans failed U.S. Senate campaign in 2022 and $400 to the Lincoln Project, a disgraced liberal super PAC. The so-called Oak Fire destroyed 127 homes and 66 outbuildings. Roughly 6,000 people were forced to evacuate as the inferno torched 30 square miles of land and smoke from the fire drifted more than 200 miles into parts of Nevada and the San Francisco Bay Area. Read more at: TheGatewayPundit.com GOP lawmaker demanding answers after armed IRS agents raid and close Montana gun store while confiscating 4473 forms containing customer data A Republican congressman from Montana has fired off a letter to Biden administration officials demanding to know why more than a dozen armed IRS agents raided a gun store in the state and kept it closed for several business hours earlier this month. According to Great Falls-based KRTV, Tom Van Hoose, the owner of Highwood Creek Outfitters, told the outlet that he has been under constant surveillance by state and federal authorities. He also maintains that he runs a clean operation and sells firearms and other products by the book. At 7:30, I came in, and they pulled in behind me with 20 heavily armed agents," he said. Van Hoose alleges that his gun shop has been under surveillance by various state and federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the State of Montana, and most recently, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), for a period of two years. The fact that they think we make so much money as a gun business that they had to come investigate all the thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars whatever it is we supposedly absconded with, anybody that knows the margins in the gun business knows theyre not that high, said Van Hoose. Van Hoose states that he was simply informed that his business had been reported without being provided information about the source or the motive behind the report. He believes that it's part of a larger trend happening across the country and perceives it as being politically motivated, the outlet said. I can only assume that its because of the style of weapons that we have and the press thats so against them, said Van Hoose. The current administration seems to be hell-bent on getting those guns out of the hands of average Americans. He was also upset because he lost a day's worth of business. I got 30 minutes of operating time in and made one $16 sale, said Van Hoose. We have a reputation of dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's because there's so much legal fun to be had, said Van Hoose. It's just not worth doing things that are going to get you in trouble. Meanwhile, Montanas Republican congressman, Matt Rosendale, is demanding answers. This event is another example of President Biden weaponizing federal agencies to target and harass hardworking Americans for exercising their constitutional rights, Rosendale said in a letter to leaders of the Internal Revenue Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as reported by The Blaze. Background check forms containing sensitive personal information of all customers who had purchased guns at the store were confiscated by IRS agents. But such forms do not include financial information, Rosendale said, leading him to describe the act as an egregious breach of privacy that showed no regard for federal law. There is no circumstance in which 4473s would be necessary in an investigation spearheaded by the IRS, Rosendale noted in a letter he sent to ATF Director Steven Dettelbach and IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel. The shop owner said the agents were respectful, but he nonetheless felt invaded and angry at losing almost a days worth of business. Given the positions of the Biden Administration, this raid appears to be an attempt to intimidate firearms dealers and owners, Rosendale said in his letter. This pattern [of intimidation and harassment] appears to be orchestrated directly from the White House, Rosendale also wrote. Meanwhile, in a blow to Biden's anti-gun agenda, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 on Friday that some individuals convicted of gun crimes may receive reduced prison sentences. In those cases, gun-related offenses can be served concurrently, The Epoch Times reported. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com KRTV.com Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signs four new laws restricting sexually explicit books in school libraries Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed four new laws that restrict sexually explicit books in school libraries These laws, which the governor hailed as transformative, seek to improve the school curriculum and ensure transparency and parental involvement in current issues. One of the new laws, House Bill 900, prohibits the possession, acquisition and purchase of sexually explicit, pervasively vulgar or educationally unsuitable library materials. Book vendors must assign ratings to books based on depictions or references to sex. Materials that describe or portray sexual activity and are part of the required curriculum will be considered "sexually relevant." Vendors must flag books as "sexually explicit" if they describe or portray sexual behavior deemed "patently offensive" and not part of the required curriculum. State law defines "patently offensive" as materials that affront "current community standards of decency." Books with a "sexually explicit" rating would be removed from library bookshelves, while students wishing to check out books with a "sexually relevant" rating would need parental permission beforehand. Another law, House Bill 1605, grants parents the right to access and review instructional materials. It also mandates that districts provide teachers with a complete sequence of instructional materials, reducing the need to develop materials themselves during planning time. The other two laws address specific needs. One provides resources to parents of children with special needs to ensure they have the necessary support. The other gives parents, rather than school staff, the authority to decide if children in certain grade levels should repeat a grade. Abbott's latest education laws add Texas to the growing list of states taking steps to eliminate inappropriate texts from classrooms and libraries, ensuring that parents have more say in their children's education and protecting students from controversial and explicit materials. New laws draw varying opinions from experts The new laws, especially HB 900, have elicited different opinions. Some fear that their language might restrict books that are appropriate while others see it as a child protection bill. School librarians and advocates who oppose the new laws fear that it will create unnecessary obstacles for book vendors and impede the ability of librarians to serve students effectively. Critics argue that the requirements of HB 900 would slow down book purchases and impose financial burdens on vendors and libraries. (Related: Michigan school board meeting turns chaotic as Muslim parents push back against LGBT materials.) Mary Woodard, president of the Texas Library Association, also expressed concerns about the lack of standardized book ratings, which could lead to confusion and inconsistencies in implementation. Mark Smith, former director of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, echoed these concerns. He warned that the bill would significantly slow down the acquisition of materials by school libraries, diminishing their usefulness and negatively impacting students' educational experiences. But Cindi Castilla, president of the conservative think tank Texas Eagle Forum, described the bill as a "child protection measure" during the Senate education committee hearing. Castilla argued that explicit materials in books are educationally unsuitable for students and that taxpayers should not fund such books. "Our schools must not sexualize our students or provide them pornographic reading material or introduce them to inappropriate materials that distract from the educational goals we've set as a state," she said. Visit EducationSystem.news for more stories about sexually explicit books being used in American schools. Watch this clip as Muslims in Montgomery County protest against LGBT books in the school of their children. More related stories: Teacher accused of "harassment" for opposing use of sexually explicit LGBTQ books in her middle school classroom. Government spies covertly capture sexually explicit images using webcams. Texas AG Paxton seeks PROSECUTION against sexually explicit drag shows for children. IT'S HAPPENING: Colorado public schools now requiring students to role play child sacrifice "poems" as part of rape training indoctrination. VA Education Department finalizing policies to ensure transparency of sex education materials for public schools. Sources include: LifeSiteNews.com TexasTribune.org Brighteon.com Frankie Dettori's final Royal Ascot dominates the narrative all week but day two can underline the greatness of Ryan Moore, with Luxembourg taken to make all in the feature Prince Of Wales's Stakes (4.20). With little obvious pace on in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh, connections opted to make the running on the son of Camelot and it worked a treat. In this race last year, State Of Rest was able to dictate and this year's Irish raider can do the same. That said, connections of last year's runner-up Bay Bridge, who chased home Luxembourg at the Curragh, will be greatly encouraged that Ascot was hit by heavy rain before the first day of the royal meeting, with nearly 10mm falling in the early hours at the track Tuesday. The Queen Mary (2.30) is a minefield but Karl Burke won it last year and the omens are good about Beautiful Diamond, who looked really exciting when romping home at Nottingham. The yard's juveniles have been in superb nick and she has plenty in her favour. In the Kensington Palace Fillies' Handicap (3.05), two Irish raiders who were eye-catching recently at Naas are noted. Yerwanthere was just ahead of Villanova Queen then and is marginally preferred look out for bookies paying up to seven each-way places. Another Irish-trained filly appeals in the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes (3.40) under Moore, for all that the bookmakers have not taken chances about her. Jumbly was smart for Roger Charlton last year, winning here, and her Curragh debut for new connections was perfectly satisfactory. It hardly needs saying but bookmakers will be looking for your custom and then some in a desperately difficult Royal Hunt Cup. The ground complicates matters, the draw perhaps even more, yet the Dettori-ridden Reach For The Moon can be supported each way. He was a raging hot favourite at this meet 12 months ago but seemed not to stay ten furlongs. Perhaps this is more his thing. The Queen's Vase (5.35) sees a short-priced Dettori favourite in Gregory. Peking Opera, who holds a couple of these rivals on his tidy Navan win, is preferred under Moore. They conclude with the Windsor Castle Stakes, which is an absolute cracker. Johannes Brahms looks like he wants further but he is classy and can conclude a superb day for O'Brien and that man Moore despite the presence of American raider Fandom. Deep state propaganda: Illegal alien SMUGGLERS allowed to run successful video channels on YouTube, TikTok but not Americans who tell truth about vaccines The latest "influencer" trend on social media is to advertise cartel-linked human smuggling into the United States and Big Tech fully supports it , despite actively discriminating against American channels that tell the deadly truth about vaccines. Reports indicate that migrant-smuggling influencers are all over platforms like YouTube and TikTok where they offer illegal entry into the United States for $10,000 per person or even more. The New York Post learned that slickly produced TikTok videos advertising these services are all over the platform with "coyotes," as they call them, producing high-quality promotional videos in which they are seen escorting illegal aliens across rivers and through the desert into America. Many of the ads show happy, smiling "customers" once they arrive in so-called "stash houses," which are set up for them once they cross the border. One would think this type of illegal activity would get flagged and removed from the tech platforms, but reports suggest that Silicon Valley is thrilled to host such content. With the simple click of a button, any person can log onto social media and receive an instant quote for slipping an illegal immigrant into the U.S., much like how you would receive an instant quote for insurance, a rental car, or moving services. (Related: Child traffickers can do whatever they want on YouTube, but not Jordan Peterson, Candace Owens, or Michael Knowles, all of whom had their accounts suspended for telling the ugly truth about transgenderism.) YouTube and TikTok are profiting from illegal immigration One such channel on YouTube is called "Soy Xulen," who goes by the handle of #ELINMIGRANTEAVENTURERO, which translates into English as "the migrant adventurer." According to Xulen, the price of illegal entry using his escort service varies depending on the country from which a migrant comes. As of his writing, Xulen's footage has collected nearly 13 million views. Much of it shows smugglers dressed in camouflage relocating illegal aliens across America's southern border. In one of Xulen's videos, border crossers with backpacks can be seen trudging along a dusty desert road followed by what appears to be a large family crammed in the back of a vehicle. Another clip, filmed in Juarez, shows the location of Border Patrol officers so as to avoid them as migrants are seen traveling via a raft across the Rio Grande, a river that separates Texas from Mexico and serves as the international boundary between the two countries. Video footage shot in Texas' Big Bend region also shows smugglers pulling inflatable rafts packed with migrants across the water using a safety line. Once in their "stash house," the illegals are given fresh clothing by the smugglers. Xulen's videos are subtle in that they claim to simply be "documenting the migrant experience." Truth be told, however, Xulen's is offering a service that aids and abets criminal activity by ushering illegals across the southern border. "How about My people!" reads a blurb on Xulen's YouTube channel, which right now has about 55,000 subscribers. "I like to share moments captured on camera at the precise moment." "The simple reason is to share life and everything that we Latinos (legal, undocumented) and Americans have in the USA, so my dear friends, I hope it is to your liking." Xulen was contacted by the Post for a quote, to which he said it costs $10,460 per illegal smuggled across the border. "For people who have that desire to know more about it ... Here you find ADVENTURES OF AN IMMIGRANT," he explains. "And the different ways of living in Usa." Conveniently, Xulen's page avoids any mention of the risks involved with human smuggling, instead choosing to make it look like a fun adventure. Big Tech is complicit in illegal alien child trafficking. To learn more, visit Trafficking.news. Sources for this article include: NYPost.com NaturalNews.com Former intelligence official: US has at least a dozen alien spacecraft in its possession American military and intelligence agencies led by the Department of Defense have long held at least a dozen alien spacecraft , according to a former intelligence official. Two months ago, All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) Director Sean Kirkpatrick testified before members of the Senate Committee on Armed Services that he has never seen any proof of alien spacecraft. AARO is Pentagon's latest program for investigating the existence of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). (Related: Experts clarify the role of the Pentagon's newest UFO task force.) "I should also state clearly for the record that in our research, AARO has found no credible evidence thus far of extraterrestrial activity, off-world technology, or objects that defy the known laws of physics," added Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick acknowledged that this conclusion might be "unsatisfying" to people who think they have seen indisputable proof of physics-defying craft or objects. But more recently, former United States Air Force intelligence official David Grusch refuted the Pentagon's claim, informing multiple media outlets that the American government is in possession of several alien spacecraft. "I thought it was totally nuts. I thought at first [that] I was being deceived. I have plenty of current and former senior intelligence officers who came to me many of whom I knew almost my whole career [and] who confided in me," said Grusch, speaking about the multiple other intelligence officers who informed him about the government's secret possessions. Several sources have also come forward to back Grusch's claims. The sources are either high-ranking intelligence officials, former intelligence officials or individuals involved in the U.S. government's UFO efforts for three or more decades. Two of the sources testified last year before both AARO and Congress. Some high-ranking officials also implied in the past that America has alien spacecraft in its possession. Before his passing, the late Sen. Harry Reid called for greater disclosure from the Pentagon over what he said were materials retrieved from potential UAP crash sites. Just recently, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Christopher Mellon said at least four witnesses told him that they knew of a secret U.S. government program involving the analysis and exploitation of materials recovered from off-world spacecraft. "Some have supplied information to the intelligence community's inspector general, others directly to the staff of the congressional oversight committees," Mellon added. AARO knows about at least some of the alien spacecraft Grusch's sources revealed that they have either seen for themselves or been presented with "credible" and "verifiable" evidence that the government and military contractors have at least 12, possibly more, alien spacecraft in their possession. AARO knows about at least some of the alien spacecraft, and the agency has simply refused to reveal their existence. One of the sources said the reason AARO "has not discovered any verifiable information" is because it does not have the authority to verify such information. "In his testimony, Kirkpatrick said that AARO is operating under Title 10 authority, but most intelligence agencies operate under a higher, Title 50 authority. The intelligence community with Title 50 feels free to stonewall AARO with Title 10, because it views Title 10 authority as inferior to Title 50," the source explained. Grusch last year filed a whistleblower complaint before the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG), saying that the military and intelligence communities were withholding information from AARO and Congress. The ICIG concluded in July last year that Grusch's whistleblower complaint was "credible and urgent." "I know of at least 12 to 15 craft," said one source who shared information with AARO and Congress. "Every five years, we get one or two recovered for one reason or another, from either a landing or that we catch, or they just crash." Follow UFOs.news for more news about alien spacecraft. Watch the video below about a UFO whistleblower's revelation that the U.S. government has alien spacecraft in its possession. This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com. More related articles: House intel panel holds public hearing about UFOs for the first time in over 50 years. Intelligence report highlights possible threats from UFOs, Senate requires agencies to provide UFO-related data to UAPTF. Retired DOD officer: US government in possession of "exotic material" recovered from UFOs. Pentagon says test findings on UFO wreckage could "change our lives forever." The Pentagon ADMITS to investigating UFOs to assess "potential threats to national security." Sources include: Public.Substack.com Space.com Brighteon.com RFK Jr. stuns with claim about CIA, says he must be careful agency doesnt assassinate him Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is considered a long shot to win the Democratic presidential primary as the entire party lines up to protect the aged and decrepit Joe Biden because he can be controlled, turned heads this week during an interview that led many Americans to recount what happened to his presidential uncle in 1963. During an interview with top podcaster Joe Rogan, RFK Jr. acknowledged that he believes he is jeopardizing his own safety by openly discussing the assassinations of his uncle and father. He expressed that he takes "precautions" to safeguard himself against any potential harm or assassination by the CIA. Rogan asked the candidate and Kennedy's legacy what he thought might happen if he actually won the presidency or started to appear as though he could win it. I gotta be careful," he said. Im aware of that, you know, Im aware of that danger. I dont live in fear of it at all. But Im not stupid about it, and I take precautions, he added. Kennedy also talked about his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, being at war with the military-industrial complex, and added that, at the time, the U.S. intelligence community was trying to trick him into launching military operations into Cuba and Vietnam. RFK Jr. again spoke about JFK, eventually concluding that he must shatter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds. [JFK] learned very early on that the purpose of the CIA and the intelligence apparatus was to create a constant pipeline of new wars for them, for the military-industrial complex, Kennedy said. He added that JFK was adamant that its not the United States jobs to dictate what kind of governments other countries have. He said JFK, in October of 1963 ... heard that some of his Green Berets had been killed and he said I want a total casualty list from Vietnam. His aide came to him and said 75 Americans have died, he said thats too many, and he signed that day a national security directive ordering all troops out of Vietnam the first thousand over the next month and then the rest by the beginning of 1965, and, um, and then a month later he was killed. JFK was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald, who was blamed for the killing, was himself shot and killed by a mob-connected nightclub owner, Jack Ruby, as Oswald was being led out of a police precinct. He also noted that President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander in World War II, warned about the "military-industrial complex" in his final speech in office just a few days before JFK was inaugurated. As for RFK Jr., he has a legitimate shot to win some early primary states. Thats if theyre in the traditional first-to-vote states of Iowa and New Hampshire a scenario that seems increasingly likely, Axios reported. Bidens campaign has announced that they wont put his name on the ballot in either of those two states if they have their primaries before South Carolina, which is reportedly his preference. Democrats in Iowa and New Hampshire could defy Biden and move ahead with their contests even as the party warns it will strip them of their national convention delegates if they jump the gun, Axios reported further. That sets up a scenario in which Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or another long-shot Democrat could win those states and embarrass the president. After President Biden's surprising decision in December to choose South Carolina as the first state for Democrats in the 2024 primary season, scheduled for February 3rd, New Hampshire Democrats have openly voiced their dissatisfaction with both the White House and the Democratic National Committee. Sources include: ZeroHedge.com Axios.com Why is it so important to disclose lead-based paint when selling a home built before 1978, but its fine to inject babies and pregnant women with mercury-laced vaccines? Most natural health advocates are aware that heavy metal toxins, like arsenic, lead, aluminum, and mercury, can cause a whole host of health problems. Consumers who do not pay attention to this end up eating, drinking, inhaling, and even having heavy metal toxins injected into their body, and the consequences can be quite debilitating. Most homeowners have heard, at least once, about lead-based paint warnings, when considering buying a home built before 1978, especially when young children or babies are (or will be) part of the equation. In fact, law requires sellers to disclose the presence of known lead-based paint hazards in the residence, and there are federally-approved forms, disclosures and pamphlets discussing preventing this type of poisoning. Failure to provide the correct form is subject to penalties set at $11,000 for each repeated, deliberate violation. Buyers and sellers beware, right? Beware of the serious and deathly dangers of eating, drinking, inhaling, or injecting heavy metal toxins For starters, lead exposure can have serious health consequences, especially for kids. Lead exposure can attack the brain and central nervous system, leading to convulsions, coma, and even death. Surviving lead poisoning can leave the victim with permanent intellectual disabilities and behavioral disorders. Acute arsenic poisoning leads to vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, often followed by numbness and tingling of extremities, muscle cramping, and eventually, in extreme cases, death. Aluminum overdose causes oxidative stress in the brain, liver, and kidneys. Accumulation of aluminum in the brain can lead to dementia-related diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Aluminum can be found in many vaccines, antacids, and unfiltered tap water. Many heavy metal toxins are prominent in foods imported from China, the most industrially-polluted nation on Earth. Mercury can cause permanent brain damage when injected, and permanent lung damage when inhaled. Mercury in dental fillings, also known as dental "amalgam" or "silver filling," is usually a mixture of mercury, silver, copper, tin and zinc. Classified as a neurotoxin, mercury accumulates in the body and brain, and can lead to severe migraines, weight loss, nausea, vomiting, aggressiveness, anger, anxiety, confusion, depression, mood swings, and memory loss. Heavy metal toxins are even more deadly when they bypass the three main human toxin filters: lungs, skin, and digestive tract Doctors and nurses always say the same thing when asked about the dangers of injecting mercury (listed as thimerosal) and other vaccine contaminants or neurotoxic "adjuvants," emulsifiers, and preservatives: "There's only a miniscule amount," or "There's not enough in there to worry about," or "Allergic reactions to these are very rare." Mercury is the most poisonous, non-radioactive substance on our planet, and there is NO safe level of mercury because just one atom of it inside your body is doing some harm. Yet, it's still in multi-dose flu vaccines as an "excipient" that functions as a preservative. In fact, there is up to 25,000 times the amount of mercury in these flu shots than the EPA says is dangerous in fish and tap water. Imagine that. Worse even yet, aluminum in vaccines allows the mercury to cross over the blood-brain barrier, but nary a medical doctor on planet earth warns their patients about that. Why not? If sellers of homes have to legally present documents to buyers about lead-based paint in old homes, because babies might inhale fumes or eat paint chips, why aren't pregnant women warned about injecting mercury directly into their blood? Here is a short list of vaccines and their ingredients, straight from the CDC's website, that contain either aluminum or mercury (listed as thimerosal, which is 50 percent mercury): DTaP-IPV-Hib-HepB ( Vaxelis): polysorbate 80, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, bovine serum albumin, neomycin, streptomycin sulfate, polymyxin B sulfate, ammonium thiocyanate, yeast protein, aluminum Vaxelis): polysorbate 80, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, bovine serum albumin, neomycin, streptomycin sulfate, polymyxin B sulfate, ammonium thiocyanate, yeast protein, aluminum Hep A (Havrix): MRC-5 cellular proteins, formalin, aluminum hydroxide, amino acid supplement, phosphate-buffered saline solution, polysorbate 20, neomycin sulfate, aminoglycoside antibiotic MRC-5 cellular proteins, formalin, aluminum hydroxide, amino acid supplement, phosphate-buffered saline solution, polysorbate 20, neomycin sulfate, aminoglycoside antibiotic Hep A (Vaqta): amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate sulfate, non-viral protein, DNA, bovine albumin, formaldehyde, neomycin, sodium borate, sodium chloride, other process chemical residuals amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate sulfate, non-viral protein, DNA, bovine albumin, formaldehyde, neomycin, sodium borate, sodium chloride, other process chemical residuals Hep B (Engerix-B): aluminum hydroxide, yeast protein, sodium chloride, disodium phosphate dihydrate, sodium dihydrogen phosphate dihydrate aluminum hydroxide, yeast protein, sodium chloride, disodium phosphate dihydrate, sodium dihydrogen phosphate dihydrate Hep B (Recombivax): formaldehyde, potassium aluminum sulfate, formaldehyde, potassium aluminum sulfate, HPV (Gardasil 9): amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate sulfate, sodium ch amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate sulfate, sodium ch Influenza Vaccine: (Afluria) Quadrivalent(c): sodium chloride, monobasic sodium phosphate, dibasic sodium phosphate, monobasic potassium phosphate, potassium chloride, calcium chloride, sodium taurodeoxycholate, ovalbumin, sucrose, neomycin sulfate, polymyxin B, betapropiolactone, hydrocortisone, thimerosal (multi-dose vials) Bookmark Vaccines.news to your favorite independent websites for updates on toxic vaccine ingredients like mercury and aluminum, that no medical doctors ever blame for health trauma, while everyone worries about lead-based paint in old homes. Sources for this article include: CDC.gov/vaccines Pandemic.news GatewayPundit.com NaturalNews.com MercurySafeandMercuryFree.com A confirmed tornado left the small central Mississippi town of Louin with catastrophic property damage, killing at least one person and injuring 20 others. Louin, Mississippi: 1 Fatality, 20 Injuries Louin is a tiny village of 275 inhabitants located about 55 miles from Jackson, Mississippi. According to Becky Collins, the South Central Regional Medical Center vice president of marketing and community relations, at least one person died and 20 people were injured. The medical center is about a 45-minute drive from Louin, Collins told AccuWeather that the majority of the 20 persons injured are in stable condition, and several were subsequently discharged from the hospital. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said that emergency officials are still searching since many locations are inaccessible by car due to downed power lines. Later, Reeves called for prayers for those affected as well as the team members who were out aiding their neighborhoods and fellow Mississippians. Property Damage, Power Outage Storm Chaser Brandon Clement was among the first to arrive on the site. Clement posted footage showing first responders and volunteers collaborating to pull individuals from the wreckage. Clement praised their efforts in saving victims. When the ambulances ran out, the rescuers began using a Humvee to take injured people to the hospital. The entire magnitude of the destruction was visible when the sun rose on Monday. Several homes were without roofs, trees were pulled apart and toppled over, and debris was scattered everywhere, according to a drone video posted by Clement. #tornado #damage in #Louin #Mississippi is significant. Many homes damaged or destroyed. First responders and volunteers did amazing rescuing people. At one point they ran out of ambulances and started using a humvee to transport injured to the hospital. @jpetramala @VinceWaelti pic.twitter.com/OAApmEHQie WxChasing- Brandon Clement (@bclemms) June 19, 2023 In addition to the residences wrecked at Louin, a poultry farm was severely damaged. Clement's video shows hundreds of hens in rows where their coops stood. Also, feed silos were destroyed, and trees encircling the property were cut in half. According to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, as of 7:50 AM CDT Monday, 49,000 customers in Central Mississippi were without power. Also Read: El Nino Causes Mass Die-Off of Birds on Shores of Mexico, Bird Flu Ruled Out in Autopsy Direct Hit From Tornado According to the Louin Volunteer Fire Department, the neighborhood "took a direct hit" from a catastrophic storm on Sunday night. At 11:16 PM CDT on Sunday, as a spinning thunderstorm neared the town of Louin, the National Weather Service (NWS) placed a tornado warning in effect over the area for the storm. The NWS verified the tornado was on the ground around 15 minutes later and advised citizens to take cover. The Louin Volunteer Fire Department advised residents to seek immediate shelter, AccuWeather reports According to the Storm Prediction Center, at least five more tornadoes were confirmed in Mississippi on Sunday, in addition to hail and destructive wind gusts. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency provided information on how to prepare for tornadoes. The list includes staying in the lowest part of the house, staying away from doors and windows, evacuating mobile homes, staying away from widespan roofs, and never driving during a tornado because tornadoes can change direction quickly and lift and toss a vehicle in the air. When tornadoes strike, flash floods are also a threat, according to the agency. Related Article: Cyclone Biparjoy to Hit Pakistan, India; 80,000 Ordered to Evacuate A cyclone swept through southern Brazil, leaving at least 13 people dead and thousands homeless as flash flooding due to heavy rain battered the region. One state mostly affected by the deadly cyclone is Rio Grande do Sul which was struck by the storm late last week. Multiple people were also reported missing and local authorities continue their search operation as of Monday, June 19. The cyclone battered several towns across the states, where its eastern coast received its brunt. One of the victims include a baby inside a car swept away by raging floodwaters. Moreover, thousands of houses were also damaged and communities underwent widespread power outages, as strong winds also damaged power lines. The natural disaster came more than two weeks after the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season on June 1. While formed tropical storms in the Atlantic Ocean can traverse toward North America or the Caribbean, it can also impact South America, based on reported incidents in previous years, including the landfall of Hurricane Bonnie in Venezuela. Brazil Deadly Cyclone The cyclone, which brought torrential rain and strong winds, killed at least 13 people in different towns across Rio Grande do Sul, according to local authorities on Sunday, June 18, WION reported. The storm ravaged the region on Thursday and Friday, June 15 and June 16 in dozens of towns across the state, including Caraa, Tramandal, and Sao Leopoldo, wherein continuous rainfall in 18 hours was 'a level never seen before in the city's history,' according to AFP, as cited by Phys.org. Also Read: Severe Tropical Cyclone Charlotte Expected to Weaken Off the Coast of Western Australia Brazil's Deadliest Hurricanes In the past years, Brazil has recorded some of its deadliest hurricanes in modern history. In March 2004, an extraordinarily rare tropical cyclone from the South Atlantic called Hurricane Catarina made landfall in South Brazil, causing multiple fatalities. In February 2023, a low-pressure area off the coast of Brazil resulted in the deaths of at least 40 people due to rainfall and flooding, leading to landslides, the natural disaster-monitoring site Floodlist.com reported. What is a Tropical Cyclone? A tropical cyclone is an organized weather system that rotates and consists of clouds and thunderstorms originating in the waters over tropical or subtropical regions of the world, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In the Northern Hemisphere, tropical cyclones rotate counterclockwise and they are classified by the NOAA as follows: Tropical depression: a cyclone with maximum sustained winds reaching 38 miles per hour (33 knots) or less. Tropical storm: a cyclone with maximum winds of up to 39 to 73 miles per hour (34 to 63 knots). Hurricane: a tropical cyclone with maximum winds of 74 miles per hour (64 nots) or higher. Major hurricane: a tropical cyclone with maximum winds of 111 miles per hour (96 knots) or stronger. It is also designated as a Category 3, 4, or 5 based on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The U.S. weather agency explains that there are various names given to these storms based on where they occur. For instance, hurricanes are called cyclones if they occur in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, hurricanes are called typhoons if they form over the western North Pacific. Related Article: Subtropical Storm Churns Brazil to Uruguay, Kills Two People Washington State has euthanized 400,000 of the invasive species that have been caught from its waterways to eradicate the invasive European green crab. In recent years, the crabs raced into the area's seas, endangering native species such as Dungeness crabs, oysters, and littleneck clams, along with seagrass that provides a habitat for fish. Invasive European Green Crabs There are important economic and environmental stakes in the state's conflict with the invasive European green crab. The shellfish industry, which is expected to contribute $270 million annually to the state's economy and employs around 3,200 people in rural regions, might be harmed by the crab if its expansion is left unchecked. The crab may also harm coastal habitats, which would make it more difficult for animals like shorebirds and salmon to survive. Green crabs can't break the shells of adult oysters, but they may feed on young ones and will delve six inches below to discover clams to eat, according to the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife. The agency notes that a green crab may eat 40 half-inch clams each day in addition to other crabs of its size. It is the crab's behavior of digging that can harm wetlands, estuaries, and eelgrass. According to Allen Pleus, Fish and Wildlife's emergency incident commander for European green crabs, the species has a "nasty reputation" that has prompted the organization to increase its efforts to eradicate it. 400,000 European Green Crabs Euthanized According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, no one is being urged to kill suspected green crabs at this time, primarily because it is possible to confuse them with other native crab species. Instead, it is encouraged for people to report sightings. European green crabs are not well-known as delectable seafood since they are rather tiny by crab standards. If used in cooking, they are often added to stocks and broths. The crabs' dull hues of green and yellow, together with five tooth-like serrations on both sides of their shells, make them relatively distinct, according to Washington State Standards. According to Fish and Wildlife data, the state and its partners have seized and put to death more than 400,000 European green crabs since 2021, primarily along the state's coast and in northern Puget Sound. Washington is investing millions in state resources to address the issue, and local authorities believe the federal government should be contributing more. The 1800s saw the proliferation of European green crabs along the country's eastern shore following their arrival by ship. They were found in the late 1980s on the West Coast, and around five years ago, they started to grow in Washington's waters. By 2021, there will be visible population growth. Although it is highly unlikely that the crab will ever be completely eliminated from the area, Pleus is optimistic that its populations may be kept low enough to avoid negative consequences. Also Read: Blue Mussels Cover Microplastics with Poop Making Oceans Cleaner Funded Eradication It was noted during the discussion of the problem that, as a result of the state's prompt response, no substantial economic, environmental, or cultural repercussions have been seen so far. However, it is hoped that any harmful effects would be avoided. Although there has been improvement, Washington's native crab populations still lag behind those in other areas. The northern Pacific coast, Willapa Bay, Grays Harbor, and other notable regions are also impacted by the crabs. $12 million has been allotted by the state for crab control initiatives, and local management and collaborations are vital in the battle against invasive species, Kitsap Sun reports. Related Article: Crustacean Dish Giant Isopod Noodles Now on Taipei Restaurant Menu During the biggest documented seizure, swim bladders from endangered totoaba fish valued at $2.7 million were confiscated in Arizona. Swim Bladders at $2.7 Million At the Port of Nogales in southern Arizona, law enforcement officers recovered more than 240 pounds of illicit fish bladders. At the Mariposa trading facility in April, US Customs Border and Protection CBP employees found 270 swim bladders of the threatened totoaba fish. According to reports, the bladders were stowed away in a commercial consignment labeled frozen fish fillets. The US Fish and Wildlife Service USFWS was notified by the CPB officers, and they seized control of the bladders. There were 242 pounds of totoaba swim bladders that were covered under the Endangered Species Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CITES. Its estimated worth is $2.7 million, according to the authorities. Endangered Fish Totoaba Macdonaldi According to CBP, early DNA testing by USFWS shows the bladders are those of the endangered totoaba macdonaldi species, which is native to Mexico's Gulf of California. This seizure is thought to be the biggest totoaba seizure ever recorded in Arizona and the second largest of its kind in the whole United States. Under US law, totoaba fish are listed as an endangered species. Since 1979, the Endangered Species Act has been in effect, claims NOAA Fisheries. In Traditional Chinese Medicine and certain Asian societies, the swim bladders found in the fish and other species that are closely related are highly valued. Since totoaba fish are federally protected in both the US and Mexico, taking, possessing, transporting, or selling them is prohibited. Additionally, the Vaquita porpoise, another endangered species inhabiting the Gulf of California, has also perished as a result of the gill-net fishing techniques employed to catch them. Homeland Security Investigations and USFWS are looking into the smuggling attempt, according to ABC15 Arizona. Also Read: Ambergris Boulder at $4 Million Confiscated After Smuggle Attempt Failed in India Totoaba and Vaquita Porpoise The futures of the totoaba fish and the vaquita porpoise, both of which are in grave danger, are intertwined. The unrestricted demand for totoaba swim bladders, an antiquity revered in Chinese medicine, is at the core of this sad link, and the indiscriminate fishing techniques have proven fatal for the elusive vaquita. The heart of a boom on the black market is the totoaba's swim bladder, an organ that aids the fish in controlling its buoyancy. These "fish maws," or swim bladders, are said to provide several health advantages in traditional Chinese medicine, including enhancing longevity and energy. The price of totoaba fish swim bladders has increased to astounding proportions as a result of this demand, earning them the moniker "cocaine of the sea." The vaquita population has suffered significantly as a result of the illicit fishing techniques employed to capture totoaba, notably gillnets. Vaquitas are frequently caught and killed as bycatch in gillnets, which are indiscriminately intended to catch fish by their gills. As a result, the vaquita-whose population is already in decline-has suffered unintended consequences in the rush to supply the coveted totoaba trade. The phrase "dual extinction," which emphasizes how the vaquita and totoaba's destinies are interwoven, was used to describe how both species are on the verge of extinction. An urgent effort is required to stop the extinction of both species since the population of the totoaba is in a critical condition and the vaquita's population has declined to less than 20 individuals, the Porpoise Conservation Society explained. Related ARticle: 5 Poachers Living Near Thailand National Park Sentenced for Killing and Skinning Adult Tiger, Cub Soon, a section of California's coast will become the first vast sanctuary in Mainland US that is tribally nominated and led. Upcoming Vast Sanctuary in California The Chumash people, other regional tribal organizations, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will co-manage a 156-mile section of coastline in central California that will become a national marine sanctuary. The sanctuary would cover an area six times larger than the area of Yosemite, with 7,670 square miles of ocean and 156 miles of shoreline. According to The Guardian, all of this territory is gravely threatened by the consequences of pollution and climate change. At double the pace of the rest of the ocean, the water off the California coast is becoming more acidic, and the region has already had oil spills from pipelines and gas tanks, urban stormwater runoffs, and agricultural runoffs, as well as offshore oil drilling, that which is still permitted in the state. Sanctuaries Professor of marine sciences at Stanford University, Stephen Palumbi, described how the sanctuary will contribute to the preservation of the local marine ecosystem. He outlined the three main functions of sanctuaries, including acting as a great hub for bringing together the interests of many parties, including local landowners, state fish and wildlife authorities, and fishermen. Additionally, because they are a part of the federal government, they have access to funding and research resources. They can also combine administrative skills with local understanding to create a potent mix. The sanctuary would most critically halt any offshore oil drilling because it is one of the activities that are technically prohibited in sanctuaries, along with dumping garbage, changing the seabed, and causing harm to cultural resources. Also Read: Save The Elephants Day: Senior Elephant From Zoo Knoxville Retires to Sanctuary for End-Of-Life Care Plan First Tribally Nominaned and Led Sanctuary in Mainland US Since the Chumash officially requested in 2015, the sanctuary has been in preparation and might be proclaimed as early as 2024. If authorized, it will be the first refuge on the US mainland that was nominated and run by a tribe. According to Yahoo News, Palumbi noted that all the components are present. The Chumash are taking cues from the Hawaiian effort Mai Ka P Mai, which brings together Indigenous people and federal agencies to govern the land across the north-western Hawaiian islands. Although there have been some attempts to co-manage tribally sacred land, this new sanctuary could be the pioneer to be nominated by a tribal body. Optimistically, putting an end to conflicts between US government agencies and Indigenous management for millennia, The Guardian reports. President Biden advocated for the creation of the Pacific Remote Islands National Marine Sanctuary on March 24 of this year. This intended sanctuary has to be completed as soon as possible. It also serves as a reminder that further protected areas are being considered, such as the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Monument, Environment America reports. 15 senators and congressional representatives have so far signed a letter supporting its ratification. Related Article: Animal Sanctuary Sued, Faces Possible Euthanasia for 80% of Exotic Animals - Washington Climate change has been a natural phenomenon for thousands and millions of years on Earth, long before anthropogenic factors such as greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel burning that we see today even existed. Marked by extreme weather events, including drought, the changing climate found in ancient human history was linked to the downfall of some early civilizations, based on previous studies. While some historians linked the end of an ancient civilization to colonization, some scientists argue it was the depletion of natural resources and the death of inhabitants that caused such destruction. For instance, the Ancestral Pueblo, located in the Colorado Plateau region, is one of the several ancient civilizations annihilated by climate change. Moreover, climate-related factors were also linked to the mysterious disappearance of some ancient human societies. This is in addition to evidence of social and political struggles, as well as epidemics and war, that a particular society went through during its time. Despite the evidence, the exact events that led to their end may not be fully portrayed. One of the latest pieces of evidence of such a link between climate and ancient human civilization is a new study published earlier in June. The research shows that climate change intensified violence in the southern-central regions of the Andean highlands from the years 470 to 1540. Scientists involved in the study pointed that the cause of violence is competition between limited natural resources amid a drought. Ancient Andean Society Violence Researchers from the University of California, Davis found a pattern of heightened violence in ancient Andean societies, located in South America, during the said period. This social phenomenon coincided with the rise of overall temperature that led to droughts and the collapse of the first Andean states, as cited by the website ZME Science. The study was published in the journal Quaternary Research on June 5, wherein researchers compared incidents of skeletal trauma from approximately 3,000 skeletal fractures in 58 archaeological sites across the region in what is now modern-day Chile, Bolivia, and Peru. The new research only confirms previous studies' linkage between climate change and violent behavior, wherein high temperatures cause the brain to transfer resources throughout the body for it to cool down. Also Read: Massive Mississippi Floods May Have Wiped Out Ancient Civilization Climate Change Impact Scientific literature of today based on climate models show that extreme weather events either emerge or intensify due to the current climate emergency. Although its impact mainly affects the environment, along with natural habitats, natural disasters triggered by climate change can affect a society even in contemporary times. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, climate change is Earth's "greatest existential threat," especially if we ignore the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions and burning of fossil fuels. If such emissions continue, global warming could lead to massive crop losses and collapse of fishery, as well as the disappearance of species and inhabitable communities. Related Article: Mystery Collapse of Ancient Tibetan Civilization Solved 1923s Jake Dutton is going to get a little more time to heal than originally planned. Production of the Yellowstone prequels Season 2 has been delayed indefinitely in Montana as the Writers Guild of America strike continues, NBC Montana reports. More from TVLine The Paramount+ series shoots in Butte, Mont., and makes use of the citys Civic Center. Civic Center manager Bill Melvin tells the NBC affiliate that 1923s production team let him know that the delay stems from the strike, which began May 2. TVLine has reached out to Paramount+ for comment. TV programming has been disrupted since the WGA officially went on strike after talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down despite months of negotiation. Late-night talk shows went dark the day the strike began. Saturday Night Live cancelled its final three shows of Season 48, which wouldve been hosted by Pete Davidson, Kieran Culkin and Jennifer Coolidge. More recently, Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers announced that production on the Netflix sci-fi dramas final season was held up amid the strike. Writing does not stop when filming begins, the Stranger Things bosses wrote in a statement at the time. While were excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then over and out. Best of TVLine Get more from TVLine.com : Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , Newsletter Click here to read the full article. Wind energy is one of the most promising sources of renewable energy, as it is clean, abundant, and cost-effective. However, the installation of wind turbines in offshore environments poses several challenges and impacts, especially for marine life. One of the main impacts is the noise and vibration generated by pile driving, a method that involves hammering steel piles into the seabed to anchor the wind turbine foundations. This noise can disturb or harm marine animals, such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises, that rely on sound for communication, navigation, and foraging. Gravity-based foundations: A novel solution Gravity-based foundations are large concrete structures that sit on the seabed and rely on their weight to provide stability for the wind turbine, as per Phys.org. They consist of a concrete base into which the shaft of the wind turbine is installed. They offer several advantages over pile driving, such as: Less noise and vibration: Gravity-based foundations do not require pile driving, which reduces the underwater noise and vibration that can affect marine animals. Instead, they are constructed on land or floating platforms, and then towed and lowered to the seabed using cranes or barges. Less disturbance and damage: Gravity-based foundations do not penetrate or disturb the seabed as much as pile driving, which reduces the physical and ecological impacts on the benthic (bottom-dwelling) communities and habitats. Instead, they rest on the seabed surface or a thin layer of gravel or sand. More flexibility and adaptability: Gravity-based foundations can be installed in deeper waters and different types of seabed conditions than pile driving, which increases the potential locations and configurations for offshore wind farms. They can also be removed or relocated more easily if needed. Gravity-based foundations are not a new concept, as they have been used for other offshore structures, such as oil and gas platforms, bridges, and lighthouses. However, they have been recently applied to offshore wind turbines, with several pilot projects and demonstrations around the world. Also Read: Is Renewable Energy Really Green? Case study: The Blyth Offshore Demonstrator One of the first examples of offshore wind turbines using gravity-based foundations is the Blyth Offshore Demonstrator, a project developed by EDF Renewables in Northumberland, UK, as per Innovation Toronto. The project consists of five wind turbines with a total capacity of 41.5 megawatts (MW), enough to power 34,000 homes. The project was completed in 2017 and was the first offshore wind farm in UK waters to use gravity-based foundations. The gravity-based foundations used in the Blyth Offshore Demonstrator were designed by Royal BAM Group, a Dutch construction company. They were built at a dry dock in Newcastle upon Tyne, using 1,800 tonnes of concrete and 600 tonnes of steel reinforcement each. They were then floated to the installation site using a semi-submersible barge and lowered to the seabed using ballast tanks. The installation of the gravity-based foundations was monitored by scientists from Newcastle University, who assessed the impacts on marine animals, such as dolphins and porpoises. The scientists used cetacean echolocation recorders to measure the presence and activity of these animals before, during, and after the installation. The results showed that gravity-based foundations had no long-term negative effects on a dolphin or porpoise occurrence, while porpoise occurrence increased during and after the installation. They also showed that other factors, such as the month, hour of the day, tidal currents, and vessel sonar activity influenced the presence of dolphins and porpoises. The Blyth Offshore Demonstrator is an example of how gravity-based foundations can provide a more marine-friendly solution for offshore wind turbines. It also shows how scientific research can help to evaluate and improve the environmental performance of offshore wind projects. Related article: 10 Ways to Promote Renewable Energy on Your Campus Global warming is the most urgent and complex challenge facing humanity today. It is caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), in the atmosphere, which trap heat and raise the Earth's temperature. Global warming has serious consequences for the environment, human health, food security, economic development, and social stability. To avoid the worst impacts of global warming, such as extreme weather events, sea level rise, biodiversity loss, and human displacement, the world needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions drastically and rapidly. However, this is not an easy task, as it requires transforming the way we produce and consume energy, transport, agriculture, and other sectors. One of the most promising and cost-effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to target methane, which is the second most abundant and potent greenhouse gas after CO2. Methane is responsible for about 30% of the warming that has occurred since pre-industrial times and has a global warming potential 84 times higher than CO2 over 20 years. The gas is emitted from various natural and human sources, such as wetlands, landfills, rice paddies, livestock, coal mines, and oil and gas production and distribution. Some of these sources are unavoidable or difficult to control, but others are avoidable or easy to control. By focusing on these sources, we can achieve significant and immediate reductions in methane emissions that can slow down global warming in the short term. Curbing methane leaks from oil and gas fields Oil and gas fields are among the largest sources of human-made methane emissions, accounting for about 23% of the global total, as per Phys.org. Methane is released from oil and gas operations through intentional venting (releasing gas to the atmosphere), unintentional leaks (fugitive emissions from equipment or pipelines), or incomplete combustion (flaring or burning gas). Methane leaks from oil and gas fields are not only harmful to the climate but also wasteful for the industry. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), about 75 billion cubic meters of natural gas were lost or flared in 2020, equivalent to 13% of global gas consumption. This represents a loss of revenue of about $20 billion for oil and gas producers. Reducing methane leaks from oil and gas fields is one of the most cost-effective and feasible climate actions available today. The IEA estimates that around 40% of oil and gas methane emissions could be avoided at no net cost, by using existing technologies and best practices to detect, measure and repair leaks. The remaining emissions could be reduced at a low cost, by using alternative technologies or practices to vent or flare less gas. These initiatives show that curbing methane leaks from oil and gas fields is not only beneficial for the climate but also for the economy, energy security, and international cooperation. Also Read: Since 2000, Global Warming Has More than Doubled Extreme Ocean Warming Events Over Japan Curbing methane emissions from coal mines Coal mines are another major source of human-made methane emissions, accounting for about 11% of the global total, as per Bloomberg. Methane is naturally present in coal seams, where it is trapped by water or pressure. When coal is mined, methane is released into the mine workings or the atmosphere. Methane emissions from coal mines are not only harmful to the climate but also dangerous for the miners. It can cause explosions or fires in underground mines or asphyxiation in poorly ventilated areas, and can also affect the quality of coal by reducing its calorific value or increasing its moisture content. Reducing methane emissions from coal mines is another cost-effective and feasible climate action available today. The IEA estimates that around 60% of coal mine methane emissions could be avoided at no or low cost, by using existing technologies and best practices to capture, use or destroy methane. The captured methane can be used for power generation, heating, cooking, or vehicle fuel, or injected into natural gas pipelines or storage facilities. The remaining emissions could be reduced at a moderate cost, by using alternative technologies or practices to ventilate or seal mines. Several countries are taking steps to curb methane emissions from coal mines, by setting targets, regulations, or incentives for the industry. For example: The EU has proposed new legislation that aims to cut methane emissions from all sectors by 35% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. The legislation includes mandatory reporting and verification of methane emissions from coal mine operators, as well as measures to capture, use or destroy methane. China has set a target to reduce methane emissions from coal mining by 50% by 2025 compared to 2010 levels. China has also implemented various policies and programs to promote methane capture and utilization from coal mines, such as subsidies, tax incentives, standards, and pilot projects. Australia has established a voluntary industry initiative called Coal21, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from coal mining and use. Coal21 supports research and development of low-emission technologies for coal mining, such as methane capture and utilization. These initiatives show that curbing methane emissions from coal mines is not only beneficial for the climate but also for the safety, efficiency, and competitiveness of the coal industry. Related article: Global Warming vs Climate Change: What Scares You More? Earthquakes are rare but not unheard of in North Carolina, a state that lies far from the active tectonic plate boundaries that produce most of the world's seismic activity. However, a recent series of earthquakes in a small town near the Appalachian Mountains has surprised and puzzled scientists, who said that they reveal the existence of an old fault line that has become active again. Recently, eight earthquakes in four weeks have shaken West Canton, a town of about 1,200 people in Haywood County. The earthquake cluster: A rare phenomenon The first earthquake in the series occurred on May 23, 2023, at 9:46 p.m. local time. It was a magnitude 2.8, centered about 2.5 miles north of West Canton, at a depth of 3.1 miles, as per Phys.org. It was followed by six more earthquakes over the next three weeks, ranging from magnitude 1.8 to 3.2, all within a few miles of the first one. The latest earthquake occurred on June 16, 2023, at 7:32 a.m. local time. It was a magnitude 2.1, centered about 2.4 miles north of West Canton, at a depth of 3.7 miles. It was felt by only one person in Clyde, a town about 8 miles away. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), this series of earthquakes is known as a cluster, which is defined as "a group of earthquakes that occur close together in space and time with no clear mainshock-aftershock sequence". Clusters are different from swarms, which are "a sequence of many earthquakes striking in a relatively short period of time within an area several miles across". Clusters are rare but not unprecedented in North Carolina. The USGS said that the state has experienced at least three other clusters since 1975, all in the western part of the state near the Blue Ridge Mountains. The largest cluster occurred in December 1986 near Sparta, where nine earthquakes ranging from magnitude 2.6 to 4.5 occurred over two weeks. Clusters are also rare but not unprecedented in other parts of the eastern U.S., where earthquakes are generally less frequent and smaller than in the western U.S. The USGS says that some examples of clusters in the eastern U.S. include: A cluster of six earthquakes ranging from magnitude 3.0 to 4.6 near Mineral, Virginia, in August and September 2011, following the mainshock of magnitude 5.8 that caused widespread damage and was felt by millions of people. A cluster of seven earthquakes ranging from magnitude 2.0 to 3.9 near Youngstown, Ohio, between December 2011 and March 2012, which were linked to wastewater injection from hydraulic fracturing operations. A cluster of five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 2.6 to 4.0 near Irving-Dallas, Texas, between January and February 2015, which were also linked to wastewater injection from hydraulic fracturing operations. Also Read: 6.3 Magnitude Earthquake in Philippines: No Casualties, Major Damage Reported The old fault: A hidden hazard The cluster of earthquakes near West Canton has revealed the existence of an old fault line that runs through the area, according to the USGS. A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures in the Earth's crust along which rocks have moved relative to each other. The USGS said that the fault near West Canton is part of an ancient system of faults that formed hundreds of millions of years ago when the Appalachian Mountains were created by the collision of tectonic plates. These faults have been inactive for a long time, but they can occasionally become active again when stress builds up in spots where the rock is weak. It is not clear what triggered the recent activation of the fault near West Canton, but it could be related to natural variations in the stress field or to human activities such as mining or groundwater withdrawal. Moreover, the USGS said that it is also not clear how long the cluster will last or whether it will lead to larger or more frequent earthquakes in the future. However, it says that there is no evidence that clusters increase or decrease the likelihood of larger earthquakes on nearby faults. Currently, the USGS is monitoring the cluster closely and providing updates on its website and social media platforms. Related article: Magnitude 6.0 Earthquake Jolts Masbate, Philippines; No Major Damage, Casualties Reported According to information published by Stuff on June 18, 2023, the Anzac class frigate HMNZS Te Kaha was confronted by two Chinese PLA Navy frigates in the disputed Spratly Islands. Two vessels, along with a helicopter and four other vessels, approached the 3500-tonne New Zealand frigate within 463 meters. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link Royal New Zealand Navy's Anzac-class frigate HMNZS Te Kaha. (Picture source: Royal New Zealand Navy) The Spratly Islands, despite their limited land area, are the focal point of several ongoing political disputes due to their strategic location and potential natural resource reserves. These disputes primarily involve the neighboring countries of China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei. China and Taiwan both claim virtually the entire South China Sea, including the Spratly Islands, as their own, citing historical evidence that they say proves their claim. Vietnam also declares its sovereignty over the islands, asserting that it has actively ruled over them since the 17th century. Meanwhile, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei lay claim to certain parts of the archipelago that fall within their respective exclusive economic zones, as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). About the frigate The HMNZS Te Kaha is a powerful Anzac-class frigate in the Royal New Zealand Navy. With a full load displacement of 3,600 tonnes, it stretches 118 meters in length and 15 meters across the beam, while maintaining a draught of 4 meters. Her propulsion system combines the output of a General Electric LM2500+ gas turbine and two MTU 12V1163 TB83 diesel engines, powering two shafts with controllable pitch propellers in a Combined Diesel or Gas (CODOG) configuration. This allows the ship to reach speeds over 27 knots and sustain a range of 6,000 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 18 knots. The Te Kaha is operated by a complement of 178 officers and ratings. She is fitted with state-of-the-art sensors and processing systems including broadband sonar, multi-beam naval search radar, X-band radars for navigation, infrared and laser detection systems. For defense, the frigate possesses electronic warfare capabilities, a variety of countermeasures, and a strong suite of armaments that include guns, missiles, and torpedoes. Her primary armament consists of a 5 in/54 Mk 45 Mod 2 gun, a Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS), eight M2 .50 Cal Browning machine guns, Sea Ceptor surface-to-air missiles, and the AGM-119 Mk 2 Mod 7 Penguin Missile. Te Kaha is also equipped with two sets of triple 324mm Mk 32 Mod 5 torpedo tubes. The ship's combat data systems and weapons control are managed by the CMS 330 Link 16 and Navantia Fire Control systems respectively. The ship is also designed to carry one Kaman SH-2G(I) Super Seasprite helicopter, further extending its operational capabilities. According to a PR published by Dearsan Shipyard on June 6, 2023, the contract that was sealed represents a significant milestone, focusing on the Refit and Remodeling project of the frigate NNS Aradu (F89), which holds the title of being the flagship of the Nigerian Navy. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link Nigerian MEKO 360-class frigate NNS Aradu. (Picture source: Dearsan Shipyard) The NNS Aradu, a MEKO 360-class frigate, was originally built by the renowned German Blohm & Voss Shipyard and commissioned in 1982. With a remarkable length of 125 meters and a displacement of 3500 tons, the historical frigate will undergo a comprehensive refit and remodeling process at Dearsan Shipyard in Tuzla, Istanbul. This ambitious project aims to address the aging and obsolete systems, equipment, and devices of the NNS ARADU. By repairing or renewing these components with modern equivalents, the frigate will be elevated to meet the standards of contemporary naval vessels. The meticulous refurbishment seeks to ensure the frigate's continued operational effectiveness while aligning it with the technological advancements of the present era. In addition to the NNS Aradu project, the contract encompasses the delivery of a 57-meter Tuzla Class Patrol Boat to the Nigerian Navy. With this acquisition, the Nigerian Navy will become the fourth user of this highly capable vessel, following in the footsteps of the Turkish Naval Forces, Turkmenistan Navy, and Turkmenistan Coast Guard Command. Notably, this delivery marks the 27th unit of the 57-meter Patrol Boat, highlighting its proven success and widespread utilization. The patrol boat, equipped with a range of capabilities, will play an active role in various naval operations. From patrol and escort duties to intelligence gathering, reconnaissance, and surveillance missions, it will also contribute to anti-smuggling, anti-piracy efforts, and the protection of maritime rights, interests, and natural resources. Additionally, the vessel will ensure maritime situation awareness and carry out inspections of illegal fisheries. Furthermore, the Patrol Boat will be armed with Anti-Air Warfare, Anti-Surface Warfare, and Asymmetric Warfare weapon systems, enhancing its defensive and offensive capabilities. Dearsan Shipyard takes great pride in this achievement, as the Patrol Boat represents Turkey's first national warship. It is a source of happiness and honor that this remarkable vessel will now fulfill its duties in Nigerian territorial waters, further strengthening the maritime cooperation between the Republic of Turkiye and the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As Dearsan Shipyard forges ahead with modernization and new building projects, the company remains dedicated to nurturing the enduring relationship between the two nations. Furthermore, the shipyard is committed to achieving its export targets with Nigeria and other countries, serving as a testament to its commitment to excellence and global maritime collaboration. About the frigate The NNS Aradu, with a full load displacement of 3,360 long tons (3,414 tonnes), is equipped with various propulsion systems, including 2 Rolls-Royce Olympus TM3B gas turbines generating 50,880 shp (37,940 kW), and 2 MTU 20V 956 TM92 diesel engines providing 10,420 bhp (7,770 kW). The frigate has 2 shafts and 2 Kamewa controllable pitch propellers. She can achieve a top speed of 30.5 knots (56.5 km/h) and has a range of 6,500 nautical miles (12,000 km) at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h). The complement of the NNS Aradu consists of 195 personnel, including 26 officers. The frigate is equipped with several sensors and processing systems, such as the Plessey AWS 5 air/surface search radar, Racal Decca 1226 navigation radar, Signaal STIR fire control radar, and Atlas Elektronik sonar. For electronic warfare and decoy purposes, the NNS Aradu is equipped with two chaff dispensers and the Decca RDL-2 ESM system. In terms of armament, the NNS Aradu carries 8 Otomat Mk 1 ship-to-ship missiles, 24 Aspide surface-to-air missiles in an octuple launcher configuration, and a 5-inch (127 mm) OTO Melara Otobreda 127/54 Compact gun. She also features 8 Bofors 40 mm guns, 6 324 mm (13 in) torpedo tubes, and a depth charge rack. The frigate has the capacity to carry 1 Lynx Mk.89 helicopter. In Oddities, A Book of Unexplained Facts Rupert Gould wrote: Around Bouvet Island, it is possible to draw a circle of one thousand miles radius (having an area of 3,146,000 square miles, or very nearly that of Europe) which contains no other land whatever. No other point of land on the earths surface has this peculiarity. 1 Indeed, the tiny uninhabited island a glacier-covered volcanic shield lying at the far southern end of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is literally the most remote place on Earth. Perhaps then its no wonder that it proved so elusive to 18th and 19th century polar explorers. Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier was educated in Paris then studied navigation at St. Milo. He joined the French East India Company and by 1731 had reached the rank of lieutenant. At the young age of 30 he petitioned his employers with a plan for an exploratory mission of the southern seas for land that could accommodate French trading vessels on route to the Far East. On 19 Jul 1738, outfitted with the Aigle and Marie he set sail for Brazil. After repairs and provisioning on Santa Catarina Island he sailed south, crossing the 44th parallel in early December. By the end of the month the expedition was some 1600 miles from inhabited land sailing in increasingly difficult, uncharted polar waters. At 3:00 pm on New Years Day, 1739 he spotted a very high land, covered with snow, which appeared through the mist. He spent 12 days attempting to harbor but found that conditions made it impossible. With his crew nearly freezing to death and suffering from scurvy he was forced to turn north, eventually reaching the Cape of Good Hope on Feb 24. Bouvet was convinced that the land he found was a promontory of the fabled Terra Australis and named it Cap de la Circoncision (Cape of Circumcision).2 It was, according to his calculations, 54S, 11E, making it the southernmost point of land ever sighted. The map of his voyage (above) prepared by Philippe Buache, a leading polar theorist, became immediately influential, adding to the scant cartographic knowledge below the 50th parallel. In 1754 Buache prepared a second edition of the map showing the Cape of Circumcision attached to his fanciful rendition of Terres Antartiques: Carte des Terres Australes, 1754. BNF Accurate reckoning of longitude was the fundamental problem of 18th century navigation and Bouvets calculations placed his discovery considerably too far east. James Cook, on the Antarctic leg of his 1772 and 1776 expeditions, attempted locate Bouvets Cape with no success. The Cape was next sighted in 1808 by James Lindsay, captain of the British whaler Snow Swan. He, too, was unable to land, although he did recognize the promotory as an island which he circumnavigated and named after himself Lindsay Island. The first landing occured in 1822 by the American Benjamin Morrell aboard the seal hunting ship Wasp. Morell named it Bouvettes Island, in honor of its discoverer. Three years later George Norris, master of the British whaler Sprightly, landed on the island, claimed it for the British Crown and named it Liverpool Island. Then the island simply disappeared. Subsequent explorers, such as James Clark Ross in 1843 or Thomas Moore in 1845, all failed to again locate it. As Boudewijn Buch famously wrote [they] knew it existed, but thats all [they] knew. 3 The island was rediscovered by the marine biologist Carl Chun during his 1898 German Deep-Sea Expedition aboard the steamer Valdivia. On 3 Nov 1898, at the exact same time of day Bouvet recorded his sighting 159 years earlier, he spotted the island and made the first accurate calculations of its size (19 mi2) and position (5426'4"S. 0324'2"E). The accounts of the expedition included the first photographs and map: Bouvet Island, southeast side, as seen at sunrise, eight miles distant, Nov 26, 1898. From ref. 4 Bouvet Island, south side Nov 26, 1898. From ref. 4 Bouvet-Insel. From ref. 5 Although remote and inhospitable, Bouvet was still of interest to 20th century whalers. The Norwegian entrepreneur Lars Christensen identified the island as a potential site for a whaling station and in 1927 sent his research vessel Norvegia to investigate. Although the island, with its nearly vertical cliffs, was a poor choice for a station, the crew under captain Harald Hornvelt landed on Bouvet, built a hut (the Villa Haapls), and claimed the island for King Haakon VII. Despite British objections, this claim has stood. Depot at Cape Circoncision on Bouvet Island, 1927. Norsk Polarhistorie Here is the expeditions map of the island: Bouvet-Insel, 1927 Since the Norwegian annexation the island has been visited sporadically by scientific expeditions. For the International Geophysical Year and again in the 1960s the Royal South African Navy conducted meteorological expeditions. They performed the first true surveys and the RSA Hydrographic Office produced a map in 1955 and a bathymetric chart in 1967. For two decades these were the best maps of the island available. Here is a sadly 2-bit version of the 1955 map: Bouvet Island, 1955. From ref. 6 The 1977/78 Norwegian Antarctic Research Expedition performed a completely new survey, including helicopter photogrammetry, doppler satellite geodesy and echo sounder hydrography. Their maps, although the most detailed to date, were nevertheless incomplete; constant low cloud cover prevented mapping of the eastern slope of the island. In his description of the map Sigurd Helle wrote A future, more complete surveying may indeed give a new map which may deviate from the enclosed. 7 Bouvetya 1:20 000, 1981. From ref. 7 Bouvetya 1:60 000, 1981. From ref. 7 The 1985/86 Norwegian expedition, blessed with a unusual period of cloudless weather, was able to photograph the entire island, establish new control points and complete the earlier surveys.8 Their new topographical map was published in 1986 and updated several times. It may very well be the last great paper map of the island Bouvetya 1:20 000, 2000. Norsk Polarinstitutt Today, in an era of high-res remote sensing, no place is truly too remote its all just a satellite photo away: Bouvet Island from the ISS, 13 Sep 2008. NASA Bouvet Island from Landsat 8, 26 May 2013. NASA 1. Gold, Rupert. The Auroras, and Other Doubtful Islands in Oddities, A Book of Unexplained Facts. London: Philip Allan & Co., 1928 (WorldCat). 2. Bouvet named his newly-discovered cape after the 1 Jan Catholic Feast of the Circumcision. 3. See: Buch, Boudewijn. Eilanden. Amsterdam: De Arbeiderspers, 1991 (WorldCat). 4. Chun, Carl. Aus den Tiefen des Weltmeeres: Schilderungen von der Deutschen Tiefsee-expedition. Berlin: Gustav Fischer, 1903 (online). 5. Die Deutsche Tiefsee-Expedition auf dem Schiff Valdivia, 1898/1899: Nach Amtlichen Berichten. Berlin: 1899 (online). 6. Burdecki, Felix. Errichtung einer Wetterstation auf Bouvet Oya? Polarforschung. 1965 35 (1/2): 3841 (online). 7. Bouvetya, South Atlantic Ocean: Results from the Norwegian Antarctic Research Expeditions 1976/77 and 1978/79. Skrifter 175. Oslo: Norsk Polarinstitutt, 1981 (online). 8. Report of the Norwegian Antarctic Research Expedition (NARE) 1984/85. Rapportserien 22. Oslo: Norsk Polarinstitutt, 1985 (online). Older Newer Press Release June 20, 2023 Pia: Bohol is our pride, and also our collective responsibility Tagbilaran, Bohol - Senator Pia S. Cayetano on Tuesday (June 20) hailed the designation of Bohol as a 'Global Geopark' by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), while noting that the island-province should be a source of great pride for Boholanons and all Filipinos. In addition, the senator said that the task of preserving the natural beauty and unique geographic features of Bohol must be viewed as a collective responsibility of Boholanons, and shared with tourists who visit the province. This was Cayetano's message during her visit to Tagbilaran City, where she met with local government leaders, community health workers, women's groups, and young athletes. What made Bohol's selection more special, she pointed out, is that the entire island-province was cited by UNESCO, and not just specific geographic features or sites. "That's why it's the first. It's very rare that [UNESCO] gives this award to a very big area. Often, it's just one specific area," she explained to reporters in an ambush interview. "The challenge for Boholanons is to really preserve it. We also need to educate visitors to contribute to the preservation and appreciation of the province, and not add to its damage," explained the senator in a mix of English and Bisaya. Cayetano committed to help in every way to promote sustainable tourism in Bohol. In her past visits to the province, the senator recalled that she used her bicycle to visit known tourist spots, particularly centuries-old churches, which are also designated national heritage sites. "In my next visit, I will bring my bike because I really want to promote Bohol as one of our sporting capitals," she shared. "I also want to encourage, both the locals and the resort owners, to be involved in the promotion of sustainable tourism," she concluded. We are living through an age of disasters. Each day the news cycle brings fresh horrors, including mass shootings, widespread police violence, and rising hate crimes against Asian Americans and LGBTQ+ people. Sometimes it seems impossible to keep up with the tragedies, many of which are steered by human hands, the result of choices made by corporations, politicians, and their donors over whose safety and comfort matters and whose does not. These choices often create a ripple effect, too, leading to unforeseen consequences that invariably wreak the most havoc on the least powerful. Recently weve seen a very public spate of industrial disasters that have poisoned or threatened to poison entire working-class communities in places like East Palestine, Ohio, and Philadelphia, and killed multiple workers in West Reading, Pennsylvania, and one in Newburyport, Massachusetts. On February 3, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, creating a lingering nightmare for the towns 5,000 inhabitants. Twenty of the train cars were carrying hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, isobutylene, and other toxic chemicals; several of these caught fire when the train derailed, and vinyl chloride leaked out. Officials ordered residents to evacuate ahead of a controlled burn on February 6, which released a black cloud of chemicals into the air above East Palestine. Though officials told residents it was safe to return home on February 8, the townspeople and the land itself are still suffering aftereffects four months later. Norfolk Southern has removed thousands of pounds of contaminated soil and over a million gallons of contaminated water from the area (in the weeks after the derailment, thousands of dead fish were found floating in the local river), while residents and a team of investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported experiencing respiratory issues, headaches, and other ailments following the crash. Government officials insist the air and drinking water pose no hazards, but some residents are still afraid to return home. Norfolk Southern is paying for lodging for an unknown number of people, and others are bouncing between hotels and roadside motels. I have no idea how long we can continue to do this, Shelby Walker, a displaced East Palestine resident whos now living out of a hotel with her family, told PBS in April. The company is currently facing over 30 proposed class action lawsuits related to the disaster. On March 29, Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) introduced the Railway Accountability Act with fellow Democratic senators Bob Casey (PA) and Sherrod Brown (OH), saying in a statement: This bill will implement commonsense safety reforms, hold the big railway companies accountable, protect the workers who make these trains run, and help prevent future catastrophes that endanger communities near railway infrastructure. Working Pennsylvanians have more than enough to think about already they should never have been put in this horrible situation. Reportedly, rail workers had long worried about safety hazards on the specific train, nicknamed 32 Nasty, that derailed in East Palestine. And since that February catastrophe, multiple Norfolk Southern trains have derailed in other locations. As recently as May 10, nine cars jumped the track in New Castle, PA; there were no hazardous chemicals involved this time. Sen. Fetterman characterized the crash as the same sh*t, different day from Norfolk Southern, channeling the frustration that many have felt over the lack of safety precautions for rail workers. It may be my bias as a local showing, but it sure seems like Pennsylvania has had an especially rough go this year in terms of chemical-related industrial accidents. On Friday, March 24, an equipment failure at the Trinseo Altuglas manufacturing facility in Bristol Township dumped more than 8,000 gallons of latex emulsion chemicals a cocktail that includes ethyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, and butyl acrylate, which was also present in East Palestine into Otter Creek. The creek empties into the Delaware River, which provides Philadelphia with half its drinking water. City officials sent an alert on a Sunday afternoon warning residents to stock up on bottled water, which predictably led to panic-buying across the region. Officially, the assurance given was that the drinking water was fine, but there was a slight chance of contamination, and the alert was framed as a suggestion by Mayor Jim Kenney. The bungled communication, which relied on cryptic updates and vague language, raised questions about the citys water system and left residents wondering how much we could trust the official response. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Bristol plant has a history of contamination incidents under its previous owner, including federal investigations and documentation surrounding chemical releases and spills in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2021. (The Bristol plant was acquired by Trinseo in 2021, and this is the first accident under the new ownership.) Phillys tap water quality isnt exactly sparkling in the best of times. Visions of Flint, Michigan, and Jackson, Mississippi two other working-class, majority-Black cities with infamous, ongoing water crises exacerbated anxiety during what local artist Grim Grim Grim, referencing a local linguistic quirk, dubbed the Philadelphia Wooder Wars of 2023. While Philadelphians worriedly stocked up on bottled water at the Acme, people an hour north in West Reading were dealing with a horrific industrial accident of their own. On March 24, a massive explosion ripped through the R.M. Palmer Companys chocolate factory, reducing the two-story building to rubble. Seven workers lives were ultimately lost, and several survivors suffered grievous injuries. Mark Baxter was unloading a delivery of melted chocolate in the factorys loading dock just before the explosion ignited; according to a lawsuit against the company, he suffered second- and third-degree burns on 19% of his body, hearing loss, and other injuries. R.M. Palmer is also facing allegations that the company ignored workers who smelled gas inside the building 30 minutes before the blast, and a wrongful death suit filed by the family of Judith Lopez-Moran, a worker who died in the explosion, is accusing the company of negligence. The suit alleges that company supervisors "intended to mislead the factory workers... so that the factory workers would continue working and so that factory downtime would be minimized." R.M. Palmer, known throughout the region for its iconic hollow chocolate Easter bunnies, has said the company cant publicly comment on ongoing litigation while the National Transit Safety Board investigates the incident and that it is assisting with the investigation. Last month, yet another worker lost his life in a chemical explosion, this time at a Seqens pharmaceutical facility in Newburyport, MA. On May 4, a blast the city's acting fire chief Stephen Bradbury called it a seven-alarm hazardous materials event blew off the roof and sent a chemical metal vat skidding into the parking lot. Four workers were taken to the hospital with injuries, but it took firefighters hours to find Jack OKeefes body. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, but it's worth noting this particular facilitys track record: In 2019, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found serious violations in the facilitys handling of hazardous materials and eventually issued a $50,000 fine; that same year, the company (then known as PCI Synthesis) reached a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency after the agency accused the company of violating federal and state hazardous-waste laws. The facility was also fined in 2020 and 2021. In 2020, a chemical reaction caused a series of explosions to rip a hole through the roof, and in 2021, a chemical fire sent smoke pouring out of the plants roof vents. There is clearly a documented history from OSHA of negligence committed by this nonunion company toward the safety of its workers, Al Vega, chief of strategy and engagement for the nonprofit Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health said in a statement. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) said the explosion was just the latest avoidable disaster at this facility, following years of serious violations, fines, and explosions. Three disasters in three years is three too many. We need answers. Sen. Markey also signed a letter with fellow Massachusetts Democrats Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Seth Moulton that called on Seqens to explain how and why the explosion happened. (In a statement, the company said it is fully committed to working closely with the authorities and relevant agencies to determine the cause of the incident.) We do need answers. We deserve to know how major industrial companies are able to get away with ignoring federal agencies, making costly even deadly mistakes. According to the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters, there is, on average, a chemical incident nearly every day in this country; every 24 hours or so, another life may be lost, another community may be shattered, and another company may walk away with its hands in its pockets, offering thoughts and prayers instead of real accountability and action. A Guardian report found that, in the first seven weeks of 2023, the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters documented more than 30 incidents, from California to Kansas to Louisiana, and that accident rates are getting worse. The US also averages about three train derailments per day; though most are not major incidents, the frequency has increased as profit-obsessed rail bosses have eroded workplace protections for rail workers. We call things accidents, as National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy told NPR. There is no accident. Every single event that we investigate is preventable." We deserve to know why rail and factory workers seem to be ignored when they raise concerns about safety. We deserve to be told the truth about potential risks to our health and clear communication about what is going on with our water supply. We deserve clean air, clean water, and clean soil. We deserve to know that we and our loved ones will make it home from work at night. And we deserve to know why corporations are able to get away with this sh*t. Why aren't the people weve elected to represent us doing more to punish offenders, protect workers (and their right to strike against bad employers), and prevent these disasters from happening in the first place? We deserve so much better. But the sad truth is that too many politicians are bought and paid for by the very corporations that are killing us. Capitalism is the greatest disaster of all the engine behind every industrial accident in the US and every get-out-of-jail-free card for every negligent employer. Until we do something about that, we are all potential victims. Stay up-to-date with the politics team. Sign up for the Teen Vogue Take Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue Want more labor coverage? By: Eve-Marie Lanza, Senior Security Solutions Marketing Manager, HPE Aruba Networking. IT security gaps caused by lack of visibility and control into user and device activities persist for many organizations, according to a report recently released by security research firm Ponemon Institute. In the report sponsored by Hewlett Packard Enterprise, The 2023 Global Study on Closing the IT Security Gap: Addressing Cybersecurity Gaps from Edge to Cloud, 67% of respondents indicated that identifying and authenticating IoT devices accessing their network is critical to their organizations security strategy. Yet nearly the same number of respondents (63%) said their security teams lack visibility and control into all the activity of every device connected to their IT infrastructure. Aruba Over 60% of security professionals agreed that securing IoT devices is critical to their organizations security strategy; a similar amount acknowledged a persistent lack of visibility and control. Network access control, IoT, and Zero Trust Security Network access control (NAC) solutions enable IT to limit what users and devices can access on the network. NAC plays an important part in delivering least-privilege access to resources that is foundational to Zero Trust Security solutions. Because NAC solutions ensure that only users and devices with proper permissions can access resources, they are fundamental in a variety of use cases, including BYOD and guest access. Some NAC solutions can also identify subjects suspected of compromise and quarantine or block access pending further investigation, which can prevent the spread of attacks. Analysts estimate that over 15 billion devices will be connected to enterprise infrastructure by 2029.[i] The growing number of IoT devices connected to enterprise networks represents a significant expansion of the attack surface. Exacerbating the issue, IoT devices are often installed and managed by lines of business other than IT, contributing to lack of visibility. 80% of IT organizations have reportedly found IoT devices on their networks they did not install or secure.[ii] IoT: A primary driver in network access control adoption Closing gaps in IoT security is a concern for networking and security leaders as IoT adoption increases. NAC solutions are helping fill gaps in IoT visibility and access management. The Ponemon Institute study revealed that respondents usage of NAC in support of IoT has increased significantly, from 12% of respondents in 2021 to 45% in this years research. Aruba Deployment of NAC solutions for IoT has dramatically increased, from 12% in 2021 to 45% in 2023. NAC is not simply answering the binary question of, Do you belong on the networkyes or no? Rather, its supporting what a user or device needs to do on the network to get their job done, making sure theyre only doing those things, and raising an alert if theyre doing something else, said Jon Green, Chief Security Officer for HPE Aruba Networking at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, in a recent webinar, Addressing Cybersecurity Gaps from Edge to Cloud. (Watch the webinar on demand.) Green illustrated this concept with a real-world use case of NAC for IoT: With NAC, you can let the TV screen on the network and monitor its behavior. If it starts doing some unusual activity for a TV screenlike port scanning the data center or ERP systemthe NAC solution can stop that activity and raise a security incident for the SOC to investigate and probably find that TV is infected with malware. Network access control linked to security effectiveness The Ponemon study offered additional insights pertaining to respondents with fewer security breaches in the past 12 months than other respondents. Ponemon analyzed what these high-performing organizations are doing to achieve a more effective cybersecurity posture. High-performing organizations reporting high effectiveness in closing IT security gaps were positive about the use of NAC solutions and their importance to proving compliance, according to the Ponemon study. Of high performers, 51% considered NAC solutions an essential tool for proof of compliance, compared to only 42% within the general respondent group. High performers were also more likely to use NAC solutions for IoT security. Aruba Choosing the right network access control solution for IoT NAC solutions play a vital role in Zero Trust Security practices, so choosing the right NAC solution matters. The Ponemon report revealed a few critical considerations to keep in mind when comparing NAC solutions. Interoperability and vendor-neutral features. 58% percent of respondents in the Ponemon Institute study said integration of NAC functionality with other elements of their security stack was very or highly important. Choosing a NAC solution that enables bidirectional exchange of information with other elements in the security stack supports continuous monitoring and enforcement. 58% percent of respondents in the Ponemon Institute study said integration of NAC functionality with other elements of their security stack was very or highly important. Choosing a NAC solution that enables bidirectional exchange of information with other elements in the security stack supports continuous monitoring and enforcement. Scalability to support hundreds of thousands of concurrent endpoints. 44% of Ponemon survey respondents reported feeling low or no confidence in their NAC solutions and practices to adapt to changes in the organization that might increase threats and risks. A NAC solution that scales with the organization and supports organizational agility can accelerate digital transformation while protecting critical resources. 44% of Ponemon survey respondents reported feeling low or no confidence in their NAC solutions and practices to adapt to changes in the organization that might increase threats and risks. A NAC solution that scales with the organization and supports organizational agility can accelerate digital transformation while protecting critical resources. Suitability for hybrid cloud. More high performers than other Ponemon survey respondents said NAC solutions are best delivered by the cloud. When assessing NAC solutions, consider a cloud-native NAC like HPE Aruba Networking Cloud Auth, which integrates with common cloud identity stores and allows organizations to use Multi Pre-Shared Keys (MPSK) and Device Provisioning Protocol (DPP) for IoT device onboarding. Explore network access control in depth Learn more about NAC solutions and discover how HPE Aruba Networking solutions can help you apply Zero Trust Security principles to IoT adoption: [i] Gartner, Feb. 2021 [ii] Gartner, Segmentation or Isolation: Implementing Best Practices for Connecting All Devices, September 2019. Intel will spend more than $32 billion to open two high-end microchip fabrication facilities in Magdeburg, Germany, in an expansion of the chipmaking giants plans for European growth. In an announcement on Monday, Intel also said that the facilities would use its more advanced Angstrom manufacturing process, which is used to manufacture sub-nanometer chips. The use of this technology has always been in the plans for the Magdeburg site, for which Intel acquired the land in November 2022. That initial plan, announced in March 2022, earmarked $18.55 billion for the site. The company said that the facility will enter production in four to five years, following the European Commissions approval of the incentive package. About 30% of the costs for the Magdeburg facility (roughly $5.5 billion) will be covered by government subsidies, according to a report from Bloomberg at the time of the deals initial announcement. That figure is set to increase to nearly $11 billion as of yesterdays announcement. The expanded plans for the German manufacturing site are part of Intels larger strategy to locate substantial facilities in the EU. A further $13 billion is earmarked for a site in Leixlip, Ireland, which should bring total investment in that country to nearly $33 billion, along with an R&D hub in France that Intel said should create more than 1,000 jobs. A new back-end manufacturing facility is planned for Italy, at a cost of almost $5 billion in investment, as well as a supercomputing center in Barcelona, Spain, and increased lab space in Poland. Germany, like most large nations, has been increasingly eager to bolster domestic semiconductor production in recent years, as the ongoing trade dispute between China and the US continues to incentivize moves away from suppliers in East Asia. Many countries have implemented rules similar to the US' CHIPS and Science Act, which provides incentives to chipmakers looking to set up new production. That trade dispute has proved to be a concern for CIOs, who need to assess their supply chains for dependence on Chinese semiconductors. Its a particularly acute issue for businesses planning to use AI technology, as using Alibaba cloud for training or AI accelerator chips from Horizon may quickly become a non-option. A Cole County judge on Tuesday ruled that Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey had no authority to inflate the estimated cost of a ballot measure to restore abortion rights. The 28-page order, filed by Cole County Judge Jon Beetem, requires Bailey, a Republican, to approve a series of identical fiscal notes filed by Republican Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick within 24 hours. The estimates say that the ballot measure would have no cost to the state. Bailey had rejected Fitzpatricks estimates, arguing they should include a projected loss of $12.5 billion in Medicaid dollars, citing as an example Catholic hospitals that could be cut off from Medicaid reimbursements. The figure was pushed by anti-abortion groups. Fitzpatrick said it was inaccurate. Bailey has no authority to substitute his own judgment for that of the Auditor regarding the estimated cost of a proposed measure, Beetem wrote in his ruling. Baileys actions put Fitzpatrick in an untenable and absurd position, the judge said. The standoff between the two statewide Republicans had delayed Missouri in finalizing 11 versions of a state constitutional amendment that would restore abortion rights in Missouri, where the procedure is almost entirely banned. Anna Fitz-James, a retired St. Louis doctor, submitted the proposals in March. The ongoing dispute prevented supporters from gathering signatures, an arduous, expensive and time-intensive process. The ACLU of Missouri filed suit last month against Bailey, Fitzpatrick and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft to force them to finish finalizing the ballot initiative. While the courts decision is welcomed, we know this is only the first stop to give Missourians the opportunity to vote on a proposal that would enshrine access to reproductive health care, Tori Schafer, the ACLU of Missouris director of policy and campaigns, said in a statement. Bailey spokesperson Madeline Sieren said in an email that the office will appeal the ruling. Fitzpatrick, in a statement, welcomed the judges ruling. As someone who is steadfastly pro-life, I am personally opposed to these ballot initiatives and the taking of innocent lives, he said in a statement. However, I firmly believe my personal stance cannot and should not impact the duty my office has to provide voters with an unbiased assessment of each measures fiscal impact. I appreciate the decision of the court to uphold the process that has been in place for decades so my office can continue to create fiscal notes that are as fair and accurate as possible. Once Bailey approves Fitzpatricks fiscal note, Ashcroft will be able to certify the ballot title for the 11 initiative petitions. Uma Kannan By Express News Service BENGALURU: Two weeks after deciding to halt payments to lenders, edtech firm Byjus has reportedly cut nearly 1,000 jobs across various departments. The edtech firm has decided to cut jobs with an aim to improve its finances. This decision comes at a crucial time when Byjus hasnt made any further payments including interest on a $1.2 billion Term Loan B (TLB). A couple of employees who have been laid off told this newspaper that many employees have been receiving layoff emails and that they were informed about the retrenchment last week. An employee at Byjus in a LinkedIn post said that he worked hard and was always available 24/7 for the company. He said the company has asked him to resign immediately and that he would not complain anything against the edtech firm as it helped him last year when he was searching for a job by offering him one. He further added that the work culture at Byjus was good and that they would have taken this decision since they might be in trouble. He is yet to inform his family and he said he doesnt have the courage to inform them as he is the sole breadwinner in the family. When asked about layoffs, Byjus declined to comment. In the past year alone, the company has cut close to 3,000 jobs. The company last year announced that it was aiming to achieve profitability by March 2023, and will cut 2,500 jobs. It is yet to file its financial results for FY22. Apart from 2,500 job cuts, last year it also laid off 500 jobs across Toppr and WhiteHat Jr. Byjus has been backed by prominent investors such as Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Naspers, CPPIB, General Atlantic, Tencent, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Ventures, Tiger Global, Owl Ventures & Qatar Investment Authority, among others. The countrys most valued edtech firm recently announced that it will launch an initial public offer (IPO) of its subsidiary, Aakash Education Services Limited (AESL) mid next year. The upcoming IPO will provide a significant capital infusion to bolster Aakashs infrastructure, broaden its reach, and extend high-quality test-prep education to a larger number of students across the nation. Since its acquisition, Aakash has clocked a three-fold increase in revenue in the last two years. AESLs revenue is on track to reach Rs 4,000 crore with an EBITDA of `900 crore in the fiscal year 2023-24, Byjus said. Edtech woes Byjus in a legal tussle with its lenders over $1.2 billion term loan B (TLB) Edtech company had filed a complaint in New York Supreme Court to challenge the acceleration of TLB Edtech company has cut nearly 3,000 jobs in recent times Currently, it employs over 45,000 people Byjus subsidiary Aakashs revenue is on track to reach Rs 4,000 crore Its investors include Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Naspers, General Atlantic, Tencent BENGALURU: Two weeks after deciding to halt payments to lenders, edtech firm Byjus has reportedly cut nearly 1,000 jobs across various departments. The edtech firm has decided to cut jobs with an aim to improve its finances. This decision comes at a crucial time when Byjus hasnt made any further payments including interest on a $1.2 billion Term Loan B (TLB). A couple of employees who have been laid off told this newspaper that many employees have been receiving layoff emails and that they were informed about the retrenchment last week.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); An employee at Byjus in a LinkedIn post said that he worked hard and was always available 24/7 for the company. He said the company has asked him to resign immediately and that he would not complain anything against the edtech firm as it helped him last year when he was searching for a job by offering him one. He further added that the work culture at Byjus was good and that they would have taken this decision since they might be in trouble. He is yet to inform his family and he said he doesnt have the courage to inform them as he is the sole breadwinner in the family. When asked about layoffs, Byjus declined to comment. In the past year alone, the company has cut close to 3,000 jobs. The company last year announced that it was aiming to achieve profitability by March 2023, and will cut 2,500 jobs. It is yet to file its financial results for FY22. Apart from 2,500 job cuts, last year it also laid off 500 jobs across Toppr and WhiteHat Jr. Byjus has been backed by prominent investors such as Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Naspers, CPPIB, General Atlantic, Tencent, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Ventures, Tiger Global, Owl Ventures & Qatar Investment Authority, among others. The countrys most valued edtech firm recently announced that it will launch an initial public offer (IPO) of its subsidiary, Aakash Education Services Limited (AESL) mid next year. The upcoming IPO will provide a significant capital infusion to bolster Aakashs infrastructure, broaden its reach, and extend high-quality test-prep education to a larger number of students across the nation. Since its acquisition, Aakash has clocked a three-fold increase in revenue in the last two years. AESLs revenue is on track to reach Rs 4,000 crore with an EBITDA of `900 crore in the fiscal year 2023-24, Byjus said. Edtech woes Byjus in a legal tussle with its lenders over $1.2 billion term loan B (TLB) Edtech company had filed a complaint in New York Supreme Court to challenge the acceleration of TLB Edtech company has cut nearly 3,000 jobs in recent times Currently, it employs over 45,000 people Byjus subsidiary Aakashs revenue is on track to reach Rs 4,000 crore Its investors include Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Naspers, General Atlantic, Tencent By Express News Service BENGALURU: Major investors of health-tech start-up Mojocare have uncovered financial irregularities, and have initiated a review of the companys financial statements. The start-up has also laid off 170 employees. Investors of the start-up include Peak XV Partners (Sequoia India), B Capital and Chiratae Ventures. In a statement, they said, While the analysis remains ongoing, initial findings have uncovered financial irregularities, and it has become apparent that the business model is not sustainable due to a variety of operational and market factors. As a result, Mojocare will be scaling down operations, and the investor group is working with the company via its transition. In August last year, the start-up, founded by Rajat Gupta and Ashwin Swaminathan, had raised $20.6 million. Earlier, Online car service and repair start-up GoMechanic too had faced a similar issue and they admitted to financial reporting errors. Both start-ups are backed by Sequoia and Chiratae Ventures, among others. When asked about such financial irregularities that are being witnessed by some Indian start-ups, Anil Joshi, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, told this newspaper that such discoveries undoubtedly impact the entire ecosystem. VCs have to deal with fund life and want to see their companies grow, but it doesnt mean the growth should come at the cost of financial irregularities. It is true growth attracts attention for further funding but ignoring the mismanagement leads to question trust and intent. It would be wrong to paint everyone with the same brush but the fact is irregularities are happening at a large level, he said. In most cases, founders are first-time entrepreneurs and lack managing financial discipline in order to gain traction at a fast pace. In most cases, they miss building strong backend operations including finance management, he added. BENGALURU: Major investors of health-tech start-up Mojocare have uncovered financial irregularities, and have initiated a review of the companys financial statements. The start-up has also laid off 170 employees. Investors of the start-up include Peak XV Partners (Sequoia India), B Capital and Chiratae Ventures. In a statement, they said, While the analysis remains ongoing, initial findings have uncovered financial irregularities, and it has become apparent that the business model is not sustainable due to a variety of operational and market factors. As a result, Mojocare will be scaling down operations, and the investor group is working with the company via its transition. In August last year, the start-up, founded by Rajat Gupta and Ashwin Swaminathan, had raised $20.6 million.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Earlier, Online car service and repair start-up GoMechanic too had faced a similar issue and they admitted to financial reporting errors. Both start-ups are backed by Sequoia and Chiratae Ventures, among others. When asked about such financial irregularities that are being witnessed by some Indian start-ups, Anil Joshi, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, told this newspaper that such discoveries undoubtedly impact the entire ecosystem. VCs have to deal with fund life and want to see their companies grow, but it doesnt mean the growth should come at the cost of financial irregularities. It is true growth attracts attention for further funding but ignoring the mismanagement leads to question trust and intent. It would be wrong to paint everyone with the same brush but the fact is irregularities are happening at a large level, he said. In most cases, founders are first-time entrepreneurs and lack managing financial discipline in order to gain traction at a fast pace. In most cases, they miss building strong backend operations including finance management, he added. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that the Centres ordinance on Delhi will be the first agenda item in the meeting of opposition parties. The meeting, scheduled to take place in Patna on June 23, will see the participation of prominent leaders from various non-BJP parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Incidentally, the key opposition party Congress has not yet cleared its stance on the said ordinance. The ordinance, which comes a week after the Supreme Court handed over the control of services in Delhi, excluding police, public order and land, to the elected government, seeks to set up a National Capital Civil Service Authority for the transfer of and disciplinary proceedings against Group-A officers from the DANICS cadre. Transfer and postings of all officers of the Delhi government were under the executive control of the lieutenant governor before the May 11 verdict of the apex court. Following the ordinance, Kejriwal has been reaching out to leaders of non-BJP parties to garner their support against the ordinance so that the Centre's bid to replace it through a Bill is defeated when it is brought in Parliament. Speaking on this matter, Kejriwal said, I hope that the Congress will make its stand clear, as all the other political parties in that meeting will ask the Congress about its stand. To reinforce his point, Kejriwal will also carry a copy of the constitution in the meeting to elucidate the implications of such an ordinance. The central government has the authority to introduce similar ordinances on any subject within the concurrent list. Therefore, it is crucial for all opposition parties to come together and deliberate on this issue to ensure the protection of states' autonomy, Kejriwal added. Addressing a press conference, He pointed out that by promulgating such an ordinance, the Centre can end up dissolving all the matters that come within the concurrent list of the Constitution of India. In addition to this, Delhi CM also highlighted that just because this has only been promulgated in Delhi, which is often considered a "half-state", it does not mean that it cannot be promulgated in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Maharashtra. (With inputs from PTI.) NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that the Centres ordinance on Delhi will be the first agenda item in the meeting of opposition parties. The meeting, scheduled to take place in Patna on June 23, will see the participation of prominent leaders from various non-BJP parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Incidentally, the key opposition party Congress has not yet cleared its stance on the said ordinance. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The ordinance, which comes a week after the Supreme Court handed over the control of services in Delhi, excluding police, public order and land, to the elected government, seeks to set up a National Capital Civil Service Authority for the transfer of and disciplinary proceedings against Group-A officers from the DANICS cadre. Transfer and postings of all officers of the Delhi government were under the executive control of the lieutenant governor before the May 11 verdict of the apex court. Following the ordinance, Kejriwal has been reaching out to leaders of non-BJP parties to garner their support against the ordinance so that the Centre's bid to replace it through a Bill is defeated when it is brought in Parliament. Speaking on this matter, Kejriwal said, I hope that the Congress will make its stand clear, as all the other political parties in that meeting will ask the Congress about its stand. To reinforce his point, Kejriwal will also carry a copy of the constitution in the meeting to elucidate the implications of such an ordinance. The central government has the authority to introduce similar ordinances on any subject within the concurrent list. Therefore, it is crucial for all opposition parties to come together and deliberate on this issue to ensure the protection of states' autonomy, Kejriwal added. Addressing a press conference, He pointed out that by promulgating such an ordinance, the Centre can end up dissolving all the matters that come within the concurrent list of the Constitution of India. In addition to this, Delhi CM also highlighted that just because this has only been promulgated in Delhi, which is often considered a "half-state", it does not mean that it cannot be promulgated in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Maharashtra. (With inputs from PTI.) Harpreet Bajwa By Express News Service CHANDIGARH: The Punjab cabinet on Monday approved an amendment in the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925 to make transmission of Gurbani from the Golden Temple in Amritsar free for all. The AAP-led Punjab government and the apex religious body of Sikhs Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) are at loggerheads over the telecast of Gurbani from the Golden Temple. The bill would be tabled in the ongoing special session of the Punjab assembly on Tuesday for discussion and is likely to be passed. On the other hand, the SGPCs direct interference in the religious affairs of Sikhs may let the controversy snowball further. After the state cabinet meeting, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that the cabinet has approved the amendment of the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 and inserted Section 125 A thereby casting duty on the SGPC to ensure free-to-air live telecast of the Gurbani from the Golden Temple. The CM said that this amendment has been made with the objective to enable entire humanity to listen to and see the live telecast of Gurbani, free of cost. He said that this move is also aimed at checking the commercialisation of the Gurbani in any manner. The act will be called the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Act, Mann clarified. He said that the Act stipulates that it will be the duty of the SGPC board to propagate the teachings of Gurus uninterrupted without any on-screen ads or commercials and to make it available free of cost to all media outlets, platforms, channels etc. He said that as a humble Sikh devotee, he is a votary of free-to-air telecasts of the Gurbani across the globe. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), President Harjinder Singh Dhami said that adding a new clause in the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 can only be done by the Union government through the Parliament of the country as per the recommendations of the General House of the SGPC. He said that Mann wants to please his masters in Delhi by giving a political colour to the religious affairs of the Sikhs. About the broadcast of Gurbani from Golden Temple, he said that the worldwide broadcast of Gurbani is already going on, with which the Sangat (community) everywhere are satisfied and no money is taken from the community. CHANDIGARH: The Punjab cabinet on Monday approved an amendment in the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925 to make transmission of Gurbani from the Golden Temple in Amritsar free for all. The AAP-led Punjab government and the apex religious body of Sikhs Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) are at loggerheads over the telecast of Gurbani from the Golden Temple. The bill would be tabled in the ongoing special session of the Punjab assembly on Tuesday for discussion and is likely to be passed. On the other hand, the SGPCs direct interference in the religious affairs of Sikhs may let the controversy snowball further.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); After the state cabinet meeting, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that the cabinet has approved the amendment of the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 and inserted Section 125 A thereby casting duty on the SGPC to ensure free-to-air live telecast of the Gurbani from the Golden Temple. The CM said that this amendment has been made with the objective to enable entire humanity to listen to and see the live telecast of Gurbani, free of cost. He said that this move is also aimed at checking the commercialisation of the Gurbani in any manner. The act will be called the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Act, Mann clarified. He said that the Act stipulates that it will be the duty of the SGPC board to propagate the teachings of Gurus uninterrupted without any on-screen ads or commercials and to make it available free of cost to all media outlets, platforms, channels etc. He said that as a humble Sikh devotee, he is a votary of free-to-air telecasts of the Gurbani across the globe. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), President Harjinder Singh Dhami said that adding a new clause in the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 can only be done by the Union government through the Parliament of the country as per the recommendations of the General House of the SGPC. He said that Mann wants to please his masters in Delhi by giving a political colour to the religious affairs of the Sikhs. About the broadcast of Gurbani from Golden Temple, he said that the worldwide broadcast of Gurbani is already going on, with which the Sangat (community) everywhere are satisfied and no money is taken from the community. After nearly 50 years, this Boise neighborhood bar with no neighborhood has closed After rumors about its demise in the name of progress, the near-unthinkable finally happened. The Symposion, 2801 Fletcher St., closed Saturday. The cocktail lounge had warned regulars about the impending date on its Facebook page also reminding them that the bar has been around since 1975. Nestled between Fairview Avenue and the I-184 Connector, the Symposion was treasured for its isolated charm. In 2005, the Idaho Statesmans Thrive magazine wrote that its owner at the time described it as a neighborhood bar with no neighborhood. The place is actually in great shape for a bar thats been around for more than 30 years, the article explained. Its not a dive, but rather a tucked-away spot near downtown where the outside belies a rougher inside. A destination bar ... it added, (the) Symposion sees a working crowd earlier and a well-heeled younger one later in the evenings. It also was known for being dog-friendly. Another bonus was that the bars multiple rooms make it easy in case you feel the need to wander. It wasnt immediately clear what the future holds for the old building. Apartments were proposed at the site in 2022, according to previous Statesman reporting. Mayank Singh By Express News Service NEW DELHI: An Indian Army contingent is participating in the multinational peacekeeping joint exercise Ex Khaan Quest 2023 beginning in Mongolia on Monday. The exercise features participation from military contingents and observers from over 20 countries. India has announced a gift of a warship to Vietnam, which is another milestone in the rising strategic relationship in the Indo-Pacific region. The Ministry of Defence said Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh inaugurated the exercise in a ceremony held in that country. The exercise is co-sponsored by Mongolian Armed Forces and United States Army Pacific Command. The Indian Army is represented by a contingent from the Garhwal Rifles. The 14-day exercise is aimed at enhancing the interoperability of the participating nations, sharing experience and training the uniformed personnel for the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. The exercise will prepare participants for future UN Peacekeeping missions, develop peace operations capabilities and enhance military readiness. The exercise includes command post exercise, field training exercises, combat discussions, lectures and demonstrations. Calling the exercise as significant, retired major general Sudhakar Jee said, For India, Mongolia is an important strategic partner with regards to China, Asia Pacific and multilateral forums. The military exercise will enhance the level of defence cooperation between the Indian Army and participating countries, especially with the Mongolian Armed Forces, which will enhance bilateral relations between the two countries, the Ministry of Defence said. NEW DELHI: An Indian Army contingent is participating in the multinational peacekeeping joint exercise Ex Khaan Quest 2023 beginning in Mongolia on Monday. The exercise features participation from military contingents and observers from over 20 countries. India has announced a gift of a warship to Vietnam, which is another milestone in the rising strategic relationship in the Indo-Pacific region. The Ministry of Defence said Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh inaugurated the exercise in a ceremony held in that country. The exercise is co-sponsored by Mongolian Armed Forces and United States Army Pacific Command. The Indian Army is represented by a contingent from the Garhwal Rifles. The 14-day exercise is aimed at enhancing the interoperability of the participating nations, sharing experience and training the uniformed personnel for the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The exercise will prepare participants for future UN Peacekeeping missions, develop peace operations capabilities and enhance military readiness. The exercise includes command post exercise, field training exercises, combat discussions, lectures and demonstrations. Calling the exercise as significant, retired major general Sudhakar Jee said, For India, Mongolia is an important strategic partner with regards to China, Asia Pacific and multilateral forums. The military exercise will enhance the level of defence cooperation between the Indian Army and participating countries, especially with the Mongolian Armed Forces, which will enhance bilateral relations between the two countries, the Ministry of Defence said. Ramashankar Mishra By Express News Service PATNA: Bihars anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Monday announced that Mumtaz Ansari, a prime accused in Phulwari Sharif terror module of Popular Front of India (PFI), was arrested from Tamil Nadu and subsequently handed over to National Investigation Agency (NIA). Mumtaz Ansari, a resident of Harpur Nag village under Mehsi police station in Bihars East Champaran district, had gone underground ever since a case was registered against him with Phulwari Sharif police station in Patna on July 12, 2022, for carrying out anti-India activities. Additional director general of police, headquarters, Jitendra Singh Gangwar said on Monday that a team of Bihar ATS was camping in Tamil Nadu for the last 10 days and looking for Ansaris hideouts based on a tip-off that Ansari was working in a private firm at Kannigaipair village in Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu. Subsequently, ATS personnel with the help of Tamil Nadu police took him into custody. He was then handed over to NIA after initial interrogation. ADGP Gangwar said, Since the Phulwari Sharif PFI terror module case is being probed by NIA, we handed over the accused to them. During the police investigation, it came to light that Ansari is a non-matriculate and no criminal case was pending against him in any police station in Bihar. We are looking into this aspect, ADGP Gangwar told media persons. Ansaris associate and co-resident Irshad Alam was arrested from Phulwari Sharif on March 17 this year. He was also handed over to NIA. Earlier, 14 people were arrested by NIA in relation to the case and all of them were remanded in judicial custody after interrogation. PATNA: Bihars anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Monday announced that Mumtaz Ansari, a prime accused in Phulwari Sharif terror module of Popular Front of India (PFI), was arrested from Tamil Nadu and subsequently handed over to National Investigation Agency (NIA). Mumtaz Ansari, a resident of Harpur Nag village under Mehsi police station in Bihars East Champaran district, had gone underground ever since a case was registered against him with Phulwari Sharif police station in Patna on July 12, 2022, for carrying out anti-India activities. Additional director general of police, headquarters, Jitendra Singh Gangwar said on Monday that a team of Bihar ATS was camping in Tamil Nadu for the last 10 days and looking for Ansaris hideouts based on a tip-off that Ansari was working in a private firm at Kannigaipair village in Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Subsequently, ATS personnel with the help of Tamil Nadu police took him into custody. He was then handed over to NIA after initial interrogation. ADGP Gangwar said, Since the Phulwari Sharif PFI terror module case is being probed by NIA, we handed over the accused to them. During the police investigation, it came to light that Ansari is a non-matriculate and no criminal case was pending against him in any police station in Bihar. We are looking into this aspect, ADGP Gangwar told media persons. Ansaris associate and co-resident Irshad Alam was arrested from Phulwari Sharif on March 17 this year. He was also handed over to NIA. Earlier, 14 people were arrested by NIA in relation to the case and all of them were remanded in judicial custody after interrogation. Pranab Mondal By Express News Service KOLKATA: The main opposition, BJP, has reportedly failed to put up candidates in one-third of the seats from Nandigram, the assembly constituency in East Midnapore from where Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari won the last Assembly election by defeating CM Mamata Banerjee. The party has failed to field their candidates because of the ruling Trinamools alleged highhandedness in Nandigram, which had drawn nationwide attention after Mamata decided to change her Kolkata constituency and contest against her former lieutenant Adhikari. According to the data available with the state election commission, there is no BJP candidate in 66-gram panchayat seats and seven panchayat samiti seats in Nandigram. In Nandigram panchayats 19 seats, the BJP is missing eight. In Kendamari-Jalpai panchayat in Nandigram-I panchayat samiti has a total of 22 seats and the BJP failed to field a single candidate there. The panchayat has three seats for the panchayat samiti, the middle-tier of the rural polls, and the election will be held without any face representing the saffron camp. The BJP has, however, managed to field 10 candidates in Kalicharanpur panchayat out of its 17 seats and in Daudpur panchayat, lotus has bloomed on the walls of seven seats as the saffron camp has no candidate in the rest 10 seats. The party is trying to ensure none of its candidates will be forced to withdraw nominations by the TMC on Tuesday, the deadline for withdrawing candidature. The TMC is trying to force at least 20,000 of our candidates out of 56,000 to withdraw their nominations to maximise their uncontested wins. We will fight against their atrocities with our full capacity, said BJPs state president Sukanta Majumdar. With violence continuing unabated ahead of the nomination process, opposition parties are accusing the TMC of flexing muscles to force candidates of its rival parties to withdraw their nominations on Tuesday. The TMC, however, refuted the allegations. The BJP failed to field candidates in one-third of the seats in Nandigram and is trying to malign the TMC, said a TMC leader in Nandigram. The large-scale violence during nomination filing resulted from Governor C V Ananda Boses visit to Bhangar in South 24-Parganas where two persons were shot dead on the last day of submitting nominations on June 15. KOLKATA: The main opposition, BJP, has reportedly failed to put up candidates in one-third of the seats from Nandigram, the assembly constituency in East Midnapore from where Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari won the last Assembly election by defeating CM Mamata Banerjee. The party has failed to field their candidates because of the ruling Trinamools alleged highhandedness in Nandigram, which had drawn nationwide attention after Mamata decided to change her Kolkata constituency and contest against her former lieutenant Adhikari. According to the data available with the state election commission, there is no BJP candidate in 66-gram panchayat seats and seven panchayat samiti seats in Nandigram. In Nandigram panchayats 19 seats, the BJP is missing eight. In Kendamari-Jalpai panchayat in Nandigram-I panchayat samiti has a total of 22 seats and the BJP failed to field a single candidate there.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The panchayat has three seats for the panchayat samiti, the middle-tier of the rural polls, and the election will be held without any face representing the saffron camp. The BJP has, however, managed to field 10 candidates in Kalicharanpur panchayat out of its 17 seats and in Daudpur panchayat, lotus has bloomed on the walls of seven seats as the saffron camp has no candidate in the rest 10 seats. The party is trying to ensure none of its candidates will be forced to withdraw nominations by the TMC on Tuesday, the deadline for withdrawing candidature. The TMC is trying to force at least 20,000 of our candidates out of 56,000 to withdraw their nominations to maximise their uncontested wins. We will fight against their atrocities with our full capacity, said BJPs state president Sukanta Majumdar. With violence continuing unabated ahead of the nomination process, opposition parties are accusing the TMC of flexing muscles to force candidates of its rival parties to withdraw their nominations on Tuesday. The TMC, however, refuted the allegations. The BJP failed to field candidates in one-third of the seats in Nandigram and is trying to malign the TMC, said a TMC leader in Nandigram. The large-scale violence during nomination filing resulted from Governor C V Ananda Boses visit to Bhangar in South 24-Parganas where two persons were shot dead on the last day of submitting nominations on June 15. By PTI NEW DELHI: The CBI on Tuesday questioned Sanville alias Sam D'Souza in connection with alleged bribe demand of Rs 25 crore from actor Shah Rukh Khan for not implicating his son Aryan Khan in the 2021 Cordelia cruise drug bust case, officials said. The agency had given a third notice to D'Souza last week to appear for questioning at its Delhi office, they said. He has not yet been questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case which was registered by the agency on May 12. D'Souza is listed as accused number 5 in the CBI FIR. "The CBI issued him a notice on June 16 to appear before it for questioning. He will appear before the officer in Delhi on June 20," D'Souza's lawyer Pankaj Jadhav told PTI over the phone. His plea before the Special CBI Court in Mumbai seeking anticipatory bail was turned down. Former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede, the main accused in the case, has been granted interim protection by the Bombay High Court till June 23. The CBI has alleged that D'Souza had brokered a deal between Shah Rukh's manager and witness K P Gosavi for helping Aryan in the case. Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB on October 3, 2021, a day after the NCB raid on Cordelia cruise ship. He was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on October 28, 2021, after spending 25 days in jail. The much-hyped case took a twist when an 'independent witness' claimed in 2021 that Rs 25 crore was demanded by an NCB official and other persons, including witness Gosavi, to let off Aryan Khan. Prabhakar Sail, the 'independent witness', now deceased, had told media persons that he had overheard Gosavi telling D'Souza over the phone about the demand of Rs 25 crore after Aryan Khan was brought to the NCB office after the October 2, 2021 raid. "It has also been alleged that the said persons entered into conspiracy in order to extort an amount of Rs 25 crore (approx) from family members of the alleged accused of the case of NCB, Mumbai, by threatening them of the accusation of offences of possession of narcotics substances as per the alleged directions of then zonal director (Wankhede) being the supervisory officer," a CBI spokesperson had said after the registration of the FIR. The NCB on May 27, 2022, also filed a 6,000-page charge sheet against 14 accused, giving a clean chit to Aryan Khan. NCB officials said Aryan Khan and five others were not named in the agency's charge sheet due to a "lack of sufficient evidence". Besides the NCB SIT found "grave irregularities" and gaps in the probe, the officials said, adding that the central agency's first team that arrested Aryan did not follow rules like a mandatory medical test of the accused, video recording of raids and corroborate evidence for WhatsApp chats. NEW DELHI: The CBI on Tuesday questioned Sanville alias Sam D'Souza in connection with alleged bribe demand of Rs 25 crore from actor Shah Rukh Khan for not implicating his son Aryan Khan in the 2021 Cordelia cruise drug bust case, officials said. The agency had given a third notice to D'Souza last week to appear for questioning at its Delhi office, they said. He has not yet been questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case which was registered by the agency on May 12.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); D'Souza is listed as accused number 5 in the CBI FIR. "The CBI issued him a notice on June 16 to appear before it for questioning. He will appear before the officer in Delhi on June 20," D'Souza's lawyer Pankaj Jadhav told PTI over the phone. His plea before the Special CBI Court in Mumbai seeking anticipatory bail was turned down. Former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede, the main accused in the case, has been granted interim protection by the Bombay High Court till June 23. The CBI has alleged that D'Souza had brokered a deal between Shah Rukh's manager and witness K P Gosavi for helping Aryan in the case. Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB on October 3, 2021, a day after the NCB raid on Cordelia cruise ship. He was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on October 28, 2021, after spending 25 days in jail. The much-hyped case took a twist when an 'independent witness' claimed in 2021 that Rs 25 crore was demanded by an NCB official and other persons, including witness Gosavi, to let off Aryan Khan. Prabhakar Sail, the 'independent witness', now deceased, had told media persons that he had overheard Gosavi telling D'Souza over the phone about the demand of Rs 25 crore after Aryan Khan was brought to the NCB office after the October 2, 2021 raid. "It has also been alleged that the said persons entered into conspiracy in order to extort an amount of Rs 25 crore (approx) from family members of the alleged accused of the case of NCB, Mumbai, by threatening them of the accusation of offences of possession of narcotics substances as per the alleged directions of then zonal director (Wankhede) being the supervisory officer," a CBI spokesperson had said after the registration of the FIR. The NCB on May 27, 2022, also filed a 6,000-page charge sheet against 14 accused, giving a clean chit to Aryan Khan. NCB officials said Aryan Khan and five others were not named in the agency's charge sheet due to a "lack of sufficient evidence". Besides the NCB SIT found "grave irregularities" and gaps in the probe, the officials said, adding that the central agency's first team that arrested Aryan did not follow rules like a mandatory medical test of the accused, video recording of raids and corroborate evidence for WhatsApp chats. Express News Service PUNE: The G20 countries should commit to ensuring Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) for all children entering class 3 by 2033, renowned Indian-origin mathematician and National Curriculum Framework (NCF) member Prof. Manjul Bhargava said on Monday. Bhargava laid stress on dedicated financing, resources, legislation, and international commitments to ensure the goal that the goal is achieved in 10 years' time. "G20 countries should commit to Foundational Literacy and Numeracy for all children entering grade 3 by 2033. I am hopeful that the member countries can make this commitment during the upcoming G20 Education Ministers' meeting, he said during a session at the fourth and final Education Working Group (EWG) meeting of the G20. Bhargava noted that several surveys indicate "a severe learning crisis concerning these most basic skills. There needs to be a continued collaboration amongst the member countries and the world by sharing experiences, best practices, and lessons learned to promote foundational learning, said the Princeton University professor, who was awarded the Fields Medal in 2014, "There should be committed financing, resources, legislation, and G20 and other international commitments to ensure that universal FLN is achieved," he further said.FLN is the ability to read and write simple text and perform basic arithmetical operations like addition, subtraction etc. When asked by this paper whether India will be able to achieve the 2033 target, Bhargava said, "I think so. These last three-four years, I have been very impressed with how India is totally committed. The New Education Policy (NEP) puts FLN at the centre and early childhood care (ECC) and education at the centre. The NCF has come out for early childhood care and education. ECC programmes have actually started in all Kendriya Vidayalyas and then spread to all government schools. The government commitment is there., "I am optimistic that it can happen. India is moving in the right direction. If they keep a sustained effort for the next five or ten years it can happen," he said. Bhargava also said that there is a need for a developmentally appropriate curriculum that is responsive and relevant to learners' developmental needs and interests at different stages of their development. Bhargava said the percentage of children and adolescents not achieving Minimum Proficiency Levels in Mathematics and reading as per the 2030 target of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is 14 per cent in developed countries and up to 50 per cent in developing countries. "Once students fall behind on foundational skills, they tend to maintain flat learning curves for years, perpetually unable to catch up. For many students, this has become a major reason for not attending school or for dropping out altogether. Surveys indicate that we are in a severe learning crisis concerning these most basic skills," he said. "Foundational learning provides the building blocks for all other learning, knowledge, and higher order skills that children and youth need to acquire through education. Literacy and numeracy help children to learn, experiment, reason, create, be active and informed citizens, and contribute socially, culturally, and economically. FLN skills are not only critical for all future learning but are also strongly correlated with greater quality of life and well-being for the individual, and greater stability and prosperity for the nation. FLN skills bolster and enable progress on all other Sustainable Development Goals," added Bhargava. According to UNESCO, achieving universal primary and secondary education would help lift more than 420 million people out of poverty, reducing the number of poor in the world by more than half. Bhargava noted that since 2000, school enrolment has increased and the number of out-of-school children and youth was nearly cut in half. Globally, 87 per cent of children now complete primary school. Dramatic progress has been made toward gender parity, especially in access to primary education. Through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4), the world has committed to achieving universal completion of secondary school for all youth - with meaningful learning - by 2030. "However, despite these improvements in access and equity, significant gaps persist, and hundreds of millions of children and youth worldwide are reaching adulthood without even the most basic life skills," he said. Expanding and ensuring universal access to quality ECCE (early childhood care and education) programs, curricular focus on FLN, improving teacher capacity, focus on nutrition and health, parent and community participation and committed spending to ensure equitable access and learning are among the recommendations made by Bhargava for achieving universal FLN. "In particular, students who do not have access to ECCE programs are far less likely to attain FLN. It is therefore recommended that all nations ensure universal access to early childhood care and education institutions having play-based curriculum and pedagogy for all children aged 3-6 years," he said, adding that the data shows that much more needs to be done to ensure the universalisation of access to quality ECCE programs, especially for children from low-income households. "If these trends continue, these gaps in access to pre-primary education will be significant and have distressing implications for child development and educational outcomes. Initiatives must range from ensuring access to improving the overall quality of the ECCE program," Bhargava said. PUNE: The G20 countries should commit to ensuring Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) for all children entering class 3 by 2033, renowned Indian-origin mathematician and National Curriculum Framework (NCF) member Prof. Manjul Bhargava said on Monday. Bhargava laid stress on dedicated financing, resources, legislation, and international commitments to ensure the goal that the goal is achieved in 10 years' time. "G20 countries should commit to Foundational Literacy and Numeracy for all children entering grade 3 by 2033. I am hopeful that the member countries can make this commitment during the upcoming G20 Education Ministers' meeting, he said during a session at the fourth and final Education Working Group (EWG) meeting of the G20.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Bhargava noted that several surveys indicate "a severe learning crisis concerning these most basic skills. There needs to be a continued collaboration amongst the member countries and the world by sharing experiences, best practices, and lessons learned to promote foundational learning, said the Princeton University professor, who was awarded the Fields Medal in 2014, "There should be committed financing, resources, legislation, and G20 and other international commitments to ensure that universal FLN is achieved," he further said.FLN is the ability to read and write simple text and perform basic arithmetical operations like addition, subtraction etc. When asked by this paper whether India will be able to achieve the 2033 target, Bhargava said, "I think so. These last three-four years, I have been very impressed with how India is totally committed. The New Education Policy (NEP) puts FLN at the centre and early childhood care (ECC) and education at the centre. The NCF has come out for early childhood care and education. ECC programmes have actually started in all Kendriya Vidayalyas and then spread to all government schools. The government commitment is there., "I am optimistic that it can happen. India is moving in the right direction. If they keep a sustained effort for the next five or ten years it can happen," he said. Bhargava also said that there is a need for a developmentally appropriate curriculum that is responsive and relevant to learners' developmental needs and interests at different stages of their development. Bhargava said the percentage of children and adolescents not achieving Minimum Proficiency Levels in Mathematics and reading as per the 2030 target of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is 14 per cent in developed countries and up to 50 per cent in developing countries. "Once students fall behind on foundational skills, they tend to maintain flat learning curves for years, perpetually unable to catch up. For many students, this has become a major reason for not attending school or for dropping out altogether. Surveys indicate that we are in a severe learning crisis concerning these most basic skills," he said. "Foundational learning provides the building blocks for all other learning, knowledge, and higher order skills that children and youth need to acquire through education. Literacy and numeracy help children to learn, experiment, reason, create, be active and informed citizens, and contribute socially, culturally, and economically. FLN skills are not only critical for all future learning but are also strongly correlated with greater quality of life and well-being for the individual, and greater stability and prosperity for the nation. FLN skills bolster and enable progress on all other Sustainable Development Goals," added Bhargava. According to UNESCO, achieving universal primary and secondary education would help lift more than 420 million people out of poverty, reducing the number of poor in the world by more than half. Bhargava noted that since 2000, school enrolment has increased and the number of out-of-school children and youth was nearly cut in half. Globally, 87 per cent of children now complete primary school. Dramatic progress has been made toward gender parity, especially in access to primary education. Through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4), the world has committed to achieving universal completion of secondary school for all youth - with meaningful learning - by 2030. "However, despite these improvements in access and equity, significant gaps persist, and hundreds of millions of children and youth worldwide are reaching adulthood without even the most basic life skills," he said. Expanding and ensuring universal access to quality ECCE (early childhood care and education) programs, curricular focus on FLN, improving teacher capacity, focus on nutrition and health, parent and community participation and committed spending to ensure equitable access and learning are among the recommendations made by Bhargava for achieving universal FLN. "In particular, students who do not have access to ECCE programs are far less likely to attain FLN. It is therefore recommended that all nations ensure universal access to early childhood care and education institutions having play-based curriculum and pedagogy for all children aged 3-6 years," he said, adding that the data shows that much more needs to be done to ensure the universalisation of access to quality ECCE programs, especially for children from low-income households. "If these trends continue, these gaps in access to pre-primary education will be significant and have distressing implications for child development and educational outcomes. Initiatives must range from ensuring access to improving the overall quality of the ECCE program," Bhargava said. By PTI PATNA: Heat strokes claimed nine lives in Bihar in the past 48 hours, the state Disaster Management Department (DMD) said on Tuesday. According to a DMD statement, five casualties were reported in Bhojpur, three in Arwal and one in Jehanabad in the last 48 hours. Bihar Disaster Management Minister Shahnawaz told PTI that over 22 deaths attributed to heat stroke have been found to be caused by other factors. Meanwhile, light rain at a few places in the state provided some relief to people from the scorching heat and also brought down the maximum temperature by two to three degrees Celsius. Aurangabad district sizzled at 42.1 degrees Celsius, the highest in the state, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, adding Patna recorded a maximum of 40.5 degrees. The mercury had soared past the 45-degrees Celsius mark on June 17. PATNA: Heat strokes claimed nine lives in Bihar in the past 48 hours, the state Disaster Management Department (DMD) said on Tuesday. According to a DMD statement, five casualties were reported in Bhojpur, three in Arwal and one in Jehanabad in the last 48 hours. Bihar Disaster Management Minister Shahnawaz told PTI that over 22 deaths attributed to heat stroke have been found to be caused by other factors.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Meanwhile, light rain at a few places in the state provided some relief to people from the scorching heat and also brought down the maximum temperature by two to three degrees Celsius. Aurangabad district sizzled at 42.1 degrees Celsius, the highest in the state, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, adding Patna recorded a maximum of 40.5 degrees. The mercury had soared past the 45-degrees Celsius mark on June 17. By PTI NEW DELHI: There is no requirement for confirmation of suspension by the Central government in case an IAS, IPS or IFoS officer remains in detention/custody for more than 48 hours, the Centre has said. The clarification comes after the government received a number of queries regarding the issue of deemed suspension and the requirement of confirmation of suspension by it under the provisions of All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969. Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS) are the three All India Services. According to existing provisions, "a member of the service who is detained in official custody whether on a criminal charge or otherwise for a period longer than 48 hours, shall be deemed to have been suspended by the government concerned under this rule". "The matter has been examined in light of 3(2) of AIS(D&A) Rules, 1969. Accordingly, it is clarified that in the cases of deemed suspension under Rule 3(2), the confirmation of suspension by the Central government is not required for the period that the government servant remains in detention/custody," said an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). The question of confirmation of suspension would arise only when, after release from detention/custody, the government intends to continue with suspension, it added. "In this event, if the period of suspension exceeds 30 days, the confirmation of suspension order by the Central government as envisaged under Rule 3(1) will be required within 30 days from the date of release or the date on which the fact of his release comes to the knowledge of the government," said the order issued to chief secretaries of all state governments and secretaries of Home and Environment, Forest and Climate Change ministries. NEW DELHI: There is no requirement for confirmation of suspension by the Central government in case an IAS, IPS or IFoS officer remains in detention/custody for more than 48 hours, the Centre has said. The clarification comes after the government received a number of queries regarding the issue of deemed suspension and the requirement of confirmation of suspension by it under the provisions of All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969. Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS) are the three All India Services. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); According to existing provisions, "a member of the service who is detained in official custody whether on a criminal charge or otherwise for a period longer than 48 hours, shall be deemed to have been suspended by the government concerned under this rule". "The matter has been examined in light of 3(2) of AIS(D&A) Rules, 1969. Accordingly, it is clarified that in the cases of deemed suspension under Rule 3(2), the confirmation of suspension by the Central government is not required for the period that the government servant remains in detention/custody," said an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). The question of confirmation of suspension would arise only when, after release from detention/custody, the government intends to continue with suspension, it added. "In this event, if the period of suspension exceeds 30 days, the confirmation of suspension order by the Central government as envisaged under Rule 3(1) will be required within 30 days from the date of release or the date on which the fact of his release comes to the knowledge of the government," said the order issued to chief secretaries of all state governments and secretaries of Home and Environment, Forest and Climate Change ministries. By Express News Service KOLKATA: Three relatives of Trinamool Congress MP Mimi Chakrabarty have joined the rural poll bandwagon in Jalpaiguri district. Curiously, the three are pitted against each other representing bitter political rivals, TMC and CPM and Congress. Though the TMC is hitting out at the opposition for allegedly maligning the ruling party for inciting violence, Mimi, the MP from Jadavpur, wished her three aunts best of luck. The TMC, on its part, says the candidature of the three women of a family is an example of democracy for all in the state. In the Chakrabarty family, the three sisters-in-law Punam, Porna and Kanta will contest each other. Punam and Porna are candidates for TMC and CPM respectively. Kanta is a Congress candidate. Political battle has nothing to do with our family relationship. We leave the electoral battle outside before entering home, said Punam. The three homemakers are candidates of Kharia panchayat in Jalpaiguri Sadar block. KOLKATA: Three relatives of Trinamool Congress MP Mimi Chakrabarty have joined the rural poll bandwagon in Jalpaiguri district. Curiously, the three are pitted against each other representing bitter political rivals, TMC and CPM and Congress. Though the TMC is hitting out at the opposition for allegedly maligning the ruling party for inciting violence, Mimi, the MP from Jadavpur, wished her three aunts best of luck. The TMC, on its part, says the candidature of the three women of a family is an example of democracy for all in the state. In the Chakrabarty family, the three sisters-in-law Punam, Porna and Kanta will contest each other. Punam and Porna are candidates for TMC and CPM respectively. Kanta is a Congress candidate.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Political battle has nothing to do with our family relationship. We leave the electoral battle outside before entering home, said Punam. The three homemakers are candidates of Kharia panchayat in Jalpaiguri Sadar block. By Express News Service BHOPAL: All six accused who allegedly kept a man on a dog leash and abused him by forcing him to bark like a dog and pressurizing him to change religion in Bhopals Tila Jamalpura have been arrested. The six arrested accused include two minors, who have been booked under IPC Sections as well as the provisions of the MP Religious Freedom Act. The National Security Act (NSA) was invoked against three accused (two of whom are already accused in over 15 cases, including murder and attempted murder) and illegally constructed portions of the houses of three accused have been demolished. The states home minister Narottam Mishra alleged that Congress remained silent on the issue. Senior Congress leaders from Delhi to Bhopal to Chaupal, why are they silent over this inhuman incident. Ex-CM Digvijaya Singh, who is quick to tweet on incidents happening in Uttarakhand and even abroad, had nothing to tweet on this Bhopal incident. State Congress chief Kamal Nath who says that hes a Hindu, but not a bevkoof (stupid) preferred remaining silent on the savage act committed with a Hindu youth. None of the senior Congress leaders are condemning the savagery, but are questioning demolition of illegal constructions of the accused. Entire action has been initiated in accordance with law, states Home Minister Narottam Mishra said. State BJP spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi, while echoing Mishras words, questioned why the two senior Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh havent uttered a single word in the matter of savagery and attempted religious conversion of the Hindu youth by the men from another community. The same Congress party, whose leaders consider Muslim League secular and speak while abroad about minorities being unsafe in India, why is it silent on the savagery with the youth in Bhopal by minority community men. This exposes that Congress is part of an ecosystem designed to defame India, Chaturvedi said. State Congresss media wing head KK Mishra, meanwhile, said, No one can support any inhuman and savage act with anyone, but whatever action is being taken should be in accordance with law and not targeted against any particular community. Importantly, the savagery with the 25-year-old youth had come to fore, after the video of the cruelty became viral on Monday morning, prompting the government and police to act in the matter. The concerned youths brother had also alleged that the accused were pressurizing their family including their widow mother to change their religion and start consuming beef. Owing to these pressures they had to sell their house in Tila Jamalpura and shift elsewhere in the MP capital. The family also alleged that despite complaints about the May 9 incident to Tila Jamalpura police multiple times, the cops didnt act in the matter. Taking action in the matter, the Tila Jamalpura police station in-charge Anurag Lal was attached to lines on Monday only. BHOPAL: All six accused who allegedly kept a man on a dog leash and abused him by forcing him to bark like a dog and pressurizing him to change religion in Bhopals Tila Jamalpura have been arrested. The six arrested accused include two minors, who have been booked under IPC Sections as well as the provisions of the MP Religious Freedom Act. The National Security Act (NSA) was invoked against three accused (two of whom are already accused in over 15 cases, including murder and attempted murder) and illegally constructed portions of the houses of three accused have been demolished.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The states home minister Narottam Mishra alleged that Congress remained silent on the issue. Senior Congress leaders from Delhi to Bhopal to Chaupal, why are they silent over this inhuman incident. Ex-CM Digvijaya Singh, who is quick to tweet on incidents happening in Uttarakhand and even abroad, had nothing to tweet on this Bhopal incident. State Congress chief Kamal Nath who says that hes a Hindu, but not a bevkoof (stupid) preferred remaining silent on the savage act committed with a Hindu youth. None of the senior Congress leaders are condemning the savagery, but are questioning demolition of illegal constructions of the accused. Entire action has been initiated in accordance with law, states Home Minister Narottam Mishra said. State BJP spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi, while echoing Mishras words, questioned why the two senior Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh havent uttered a single word in the matter of savagery and attempted religious conversion of the Hindu youth by the men from another community. The same Congress party, whose leaders consider Muslim League secular and speak while abroad about minorities being unsafe in India, why is it silent on the savagery with the youth in Bhopal by minority community men. This exposes that Congress is part of an ecosystem designed to defame India, Chaturvedi said. State Congresss media wing head KK Mishra, meanwhile, said, No one can support any inhuman and savage act with anyone, but whatever action is being taken should be in accordance with law and not targeted against any particular community. Importantly, the savagery with the 25-year-old youth had come to fore, after the video of the cruelty became viral on Monday morning, prompting the government and police to act in the matter. The concerned youths brother had also alleged that the accused were pressurizing their family including their widow mother to change their religion and start consuming beef. Owing to these pressures they had to sell their house in Tila Jamalpura and shift elsewhere in the MP capital. The family also alleged that despite complaints about the May 9 incident to Tila Jamalpura police multiple times, the cops didnt act in the matter. Taking action in the matter, the Tila Jamalpura police station in-charge Anurag Lal was attached to lines on Monday only. By PTI BHOPAL: A war of words has broken out between the opposition Congress and ruling BJP after a picture surfaced of some government officials attending a function of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Madhya Pradesh's Satna district. While a Congress parliamentarian demanded that such officials be kept away from preparations for the MP Assembly polls due this year-end, a state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said this only shows the Congress's "hatred" for the RSS. State Congress media department chairman KK Mishra told PTI on Tuesday that Satna District Collector Anurag Verma and Satna Municipal Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Shahi participated in prayer during a programme of the RSS organised on June 11 and saluted its flag. "It can't be expected that such officials will perform their duty without any bias in the Assembly polls, which are due later this year. Their behaviour is against the conduct meant for civil servants," Mishra claimed. "We are going to make a complaint to the Centre's Department of Personnel and Training," he added. Congress Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha demanded that the Election Commission of India keep such leaders away from preparations for the Assembly polls. However, BJP state secretary Rajneesh Agrawal told PTI that there was no violation of the code of conduct by the officials. "Taking part in an RSS event is not illegal or unconstitutional and doesn't violate the code of conduct. The RSS, which works under constitutional arrangements, is a democratic, social and cultural organisation. It is the fault of the Congress if it sees any organisation with hatred and not the officials," Agrawal said. " There is no basis of action (as sought by the Congress) against these officials under the law, " he said. " This is purely a Congress agenda of hatred. Several professionals, bureaucrats and people associated with the judiciary work with the RSS," Agrawal said. The picture was of a function of the Sangh Shiksha Varg organised on June 11. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) vice president Achchhelal Kushwaha was the chief guest at the programme. Satna Collector Verma earlier said he was present at the programme as per the protocol because several dignitaries, including ministers, were present at the event. BHOPAL: A war of words has broken out between the opposition Congress and ruling BJP after a picture surfaced of some government officials attending a function of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Madhya Pradesh's Satna district. While a Congress parliamentarian demanded that such officials be kept away from preparations for the MP Assembly polls due this year-end, a state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said this only shows the Congress's "hatred" for the RSS. State Congress media department chairman KK Mishra told PTI on Tuesday that Satna District Collector Anurag Verma and Satna Municipal Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Shahi participated in prayer during a programme of the RSS organised on June 11 and saluted its flag.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "It can't be expected that such officials will perform their duty without any bias in the Assembly polls, which are due later this year. Their behaviour is against the conduct meant for civil servants," Mishra claimed. "We are going to make a complaint to the Centre's Department of Personnel and Training," he added. Congress Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha demanded that the Election Commission of India keep such leaders away from preparations for the Assembly polls. However, BJP state secretary Rajneesh Agrawal told PTI that there was no violation of the code of conduct by the officials. "Taking part in an RSS event is not illegal or unconstitutional and doesn't violate the code of conduct. The RSS, which works under constitutional arrangements, is a democratic, social and cultural organisation. It is the fault of the Congress if it sees any organisation with hatred and not the officials," Agrawal said. " There is no basis of action (as sought by the Congress) against these officials under the law, " he said. " This is purely a Congress agenda of hatred. Several professionals, bureaucrats and people associated with the judiciary work with the RSS," Agrawal said. The picture was of a function of the Sangh Shiksha Varg organised on June 11. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) vice president Achchhelal Kushwaha was the chief guest at the programme. Satna Collector Verma earlier said he was present at the programme as per the protocol because several dignitaries, including ministers, were present at the event. Cyber incidents have escalated in frequency and sophistication, posing significant risks to businesses of all sizes. Among them, the world has seen the SolarWinds supply chain attack, the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, the Microsoft (News - Alert) Exchange Server vulnerabilities and the Accellion data breach. However, no matter the type of cyber incident (from data breaches and intellectual property theft to ransomware attacks and regulatory non-compliance), organizations face a multitude of threats that can disrupt operations and tarnish reputations. This is why the alignment of cybersecurity programs with business objectives has become a critical priority for organizations worldwide. Safeguarding sensitive data, maintaining business continuity and complying with regulations are just a few reasons why this alignment is crucial. In fact, according to new research conducted by Accenture, organizations that closely align their cybersecurity programs with their business objectives experience several positive outcomes. The study revealed that these organizations are 18% more likely to achieve target revenue growth and market share (while improving customer satisfaction), as well as 26% more likely to lower the cost of cybersecurity breaches or incidents, on average. The report identified a group of companies that are leading the way in their cybersecurity efforts. These companies, or cyber transformers, account for 30% of respondents. They strike a balance between excelling at cyber resilience and aligning with the business strategy to achieve better business outcomes. There are four characteristics that set cyber transformers apart from other companies: The first is excelling at integrating cybersecurity and risk management. Cyber transformers integrate a cyber risk-based framework into their enterprise risk management program; have their cybersecurity operations and executive leadership agree on the priority of assets and operations to be protected; and consider cybersecurity risk to a great extent when evaluating overall enterprise risk. The second characteristic is that they leverage cybersecurity-as-a-service to enhance security operations. Accenture (News - Alert)'s research found that cyber transformers (coming in at 40%) are more likely than others to use managed services providers (MSPs) to administer cybersecurity operations. The third characteristic? Well, cyber transformers are more committed to protecting their ecosystem. This simply means that they are more likely than others to take actions such as incorporating their ecosystem or supply chain partners into their incident response plan and to require them to meet strict cybersecurity standards. Finally, the last characteristic that sets them apart is that they rely heavily on automation for their cybersecurity programs. In addition, 96% of all respondents whose organizations substantially automate their cybersecurity said that automation helps them alleviate cyber talent shortages a key challenge for any company seeking cyber resilience. The accelerated adoption of digital technologies like generative AI combined with complex regulations, geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainties is testing organizations approach to managing cyber risk, said Paolo Dal Cin, Global Lead of Accenture Security. Although there are some signs that organizations are making efforts to align cybersecurity programs with business objectives, there is significant room for improvement. According to Jacky Fox, Accenture Security Lead for Europe, more than 60% of respondents still experience successful breaches from external sources. To address this, it is crucial to enhance collaboration and effectiveness across the C-suite, especially with a business-led chief information security officer. Organizations can also embed three cybersecurity actions into their digital transformation efforts and apply strong cybersecurity practices across their organization. The cybersecurity actions that organizations can take to increase the success and satisfaction of their digital transformations are: Require cybersecurity controls before all new business services and products are deployed. Apply cybersecurity incrementally as each digital transformation milestone is achieved. Appoint a cybersecurity representative as part of the core transformation team who orchestrates cybersecurity across all transformation initiatives. According to the report, organizations that embed these three cybersecurity actions into their digital transformation efforts and apply strong cybersecurity practices are nearly six times more likely to experience more effective digital transformations than those that dont. Businesses leaders need to embed cybersecurity into the fabric of their digital core transformation efforts to become business resilient, said Dal Cin. Edited by Alex Passett Shahid Faridi By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to announce a multi-billion dollar deal to acquire 26 Rafale Marine fighter jets during his visit to France. The Prime Minister will be in France on July 17 this year as the guest of honour at the Bastille Day parade. This paper was the first to report that the Indian Navy has expressed its preference for the deck-based French Rafale Marine over the F-18 Super Hornets of the US. Their price is yet to be revealed, but sources said these multi-role carrier-borne fighters will be cheaper than those the Indian Air Force bought earlier. They will be bought through a government-to-government deal instead of taking the open tender route. The Indian Navy has been scouting for a suitable fighter to be deployed on aircraft carrier INS Vikrant to replace its aging MiG 29Ks. Sources said its quest ended with Dassaults Rafale Marine, which has over 80% features of the IAFs Rafales. The savings that will result on account of training, repairs and maintenance due to the commonality of the fleet made the Navy prefer the French fighter. Sources said besides the fleet commonality, the Indian Navy brass was impressed by the Rafale-Ms capabilities during a joint exercise and the operational demonstration test conducted in India. After the tests, the Navy informed the Ministry of Defence that Rafale-M was best suited for its needs. The ministry has worked out a detailed maintenance, spares and training contract, which includes building an on-board maintenance facility on INS Vikrant and one on the ground in Goa, besides training the ground crew and pilots. The fighters will be equipped with sophisticated maritime systems, including maritime search radars capable of detecting submarines, besides warships. India is working on a long-term plan to develop indigenous deck-based fighters in association with public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). These twin-engine deck-based fighters are designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency and will be manufactured by HAL. The aircraft, first displayed at the Aero India in 2021, will take a few years for deployment. The Navy has, therefore, decided to go in for an outright purchase to meet its short-term needs. Race with Super Hornet The Rafale-M and Boeings Super Hornet were locked in a dogfight to bag the Indian Navys order NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to announce a multi-billion dollar deal to acquire 26 Rafale Marine fighter jets during his visit to France. The Prime Minister will be in France on July 17 this year as the guest of honour at the Bastille Day parade. This paper was the first to report that the Indian Navy has expressed its preference for the deck-based French Rafale Marine over the F-18 Super Hornets of the US. Their price is yet to be revealed, but sources said these multi-role carrier-borne fighters will be cheaper than those the Indian Air Force bought earlier. They will be bought through a government-to-government deal instead of taking the open tender route. The Indian Navy has been scouting for a suitable fighter to be deployed on aircraft carrier INS Vikrant to replace its aging MiG 29Ks. Sources said its quest ended with Dassaults Rafale Marine, which has over 80% features of the IAFs Rafales. The savings that will result on account of training, repairs and maintenance due to the commonality of the fleet made the Navy prefer the French fighter.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Sources said besides the fleet commonality, the Indian Navy brass was impressed by the Rafale-Ms capabilities during a joint exercise and the operational demonstration test conducted in India. After the tests, the Navy informed the Ministry of Defence that Rafale-M was best suited for its needs. The ministry has worked out a detailed maintenance, spares and training contract, which includes building an on-board maintenance facility on INS Vikrant and one on the ground in Goa, besides training the ground crew and pilots. The fighters will be equipped with sophisticated maritime systems, including maritime search radars capable of detecting submarines, besides warships. India is working on a long-term plan to develop indigenous deck-based fighters in association with public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). These twin-engine deck-based fighters are designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency and will be manufactured by HAL. The aircraft, first displayed at the Aero India in 2021, will take a few years for deployment. The Navy has, therefore, decided to go in for an outright purchase to meet its short-term needs. Race with Super Hornet The Rafale-M and Boeings Super Hornet were locked in a dogfight to bag the Indian Navys order By PTI CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Assembly on Tuesday passed the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 to ensure free telecast of 'Gurbani' from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The move comes after the Punjab Cabinet on Monday approved an amendment to the British-era Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 to ensure a free-to-air telecast of Gurbani. Speaking during the debate on the Bill, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said no channel should have exclusive rights to broadcast the holy Gurbani. He said former Akal Takht Jathedar Gian Harpreet Singh had last year directed the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to have its own channel, but it was not launched. "One channel has the exclusive right to broadcast the holy Gurbani," Mann said in an apparent reference to the PTC channel. Currently, Gurbani is broadcast from the Sikh shrine by PTC, a private channel often linked to the Shiromani Akali Dal's Badal family. Mann further argued that many people who watch this channel abroad have to pay a hefty amount for its subscription. The chief minister described it as the need of the hour to disseminate the "Sarb Sanji Gurbani" across the globe with the aim of spreading the universal message of "welfare of all". Echoing similar sentiments, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Manpreet Ayali said Gurbani should be telecast in a transparent manner and only one channel should not have the exclusive rights. The SGPC should start a channel of its own and give rights, he said. Ayali, however, opposed the Bill as he said the government should not be interfering in SGPC matters. "The SGPC is the apex religious body of the Sikhs and it is also called a 'mini parliament' of the Sikhs," he said. BSP MLA Nachhatar Pal also opposed the Bill, saying before taking such decisions, consultation with religious bodies and others concerned should be held. According to the provisions of the Bill, "In the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, after Section 125, Section 125-A shall be inserted." "It shall be the duty of the Board (SGPC) to propagate the teachings of the Gurus by making uninterrupted (without any on screen running advertisements or commercials or distortion) live feed (audio or audio as well as video) of holy Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) available free of cost to all media houses, outlets, platforms, channels, etc, whoever wishes to broadcast anywhere all over the world. "Anyone broadcasting holy Gurbani from Harmandir Sahib shall not run any advertisement at least 30 minutes prior to the start of broadcast of Gurbani and 30 minutes after the broadcast of Gurbani is over," the Bill stated. According to the statements of objects and reasons of the Bill, "Sri Guru Granth Sahib contains the Bani of Sikh Gurus and saints. It is highly desirable that the teaching of the Gurus be propagated worldwide." "Therefore, it is imperative that Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee should make Gurbani available free of cost to entire humanity and to ensure that the spread of Gurbani is not commercialised in any manner," it said. AAP leader Budh Ram said if only one channel has the broadcast rights, the Gurbani cannot reach people in a widespread manner. AAP MLA Ajitpal Singh Kohli said the Gurbani's reach should be far and wide and there cannot be any wrong in this. He also claimed that many SGPC members have welcomed the Bill. Commenting on the Bill, Punjab minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said some are saying the move amounts to interfering in religious matters of Sikhs, which is "baseless". The SGPC had contested the move by the AAP-led Punjab government, saying the 1925 Act is a central legislation and can only be amended by Parliament. However, Mann on Monday said the state government was fully competent to amend this Act. He reasoned that the Supreme Court had on the issue of a separate gurdwara committee for Haryana ruled that this Act was not an inter-state Act, but a state Act. Meanwhile, Congress members staged a walkout protesting that there was no question hour or zero hour provision in the present session of the Assembly. The BJP had on Monday said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab was holding the two-day special assembly session to further its agenda and wasting taxpayers' money. The party had announced to stay away from the proceedings. CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Assembly on Tuesday passed the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 to ensure free telecast of 'Gurbani' from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The move comes after the Punjab Cabinet on Monday approved an amendment to the British-era Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 to ensure a free-to-air telecast of Gurbani. Speaking during the debate on the Bill, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said no channel should have exclusive rights to broadcast the holy Gurbani.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); He said former Akal Takht Jathedar Gian Harpreet Singh had last year directed the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to have its own channel, but it was not launched. "One channel has the exclusive right to broadcast the holy Gurbani," Mann said in an apparent reference to the PTC channel. Currently, Gurbani is broadcast from the Sikh shrine by PTC, a private channel often linked to the Shiromani Akali Dal's Badal family. Mann further argued that many people who watch this channel abroad have to pay a hefty amount for its subscription. The chief minister described it as the need of the hour to disseminate the "Sarb Sanji Gurbani" across the globe with the aim of spreading the universal message of "welfare of all". Echoing similar sentiments, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Manpreet Ayali said Gurbani should be telecast in a transparent manner and only one channel should not have the exclusive rights. The SGPC should start a channel of its own and give rights, he said. Ayali, however, opposed the Bill as he said the government should not be interfering in SGPC matters. "The SGPC is the apex religious body of the Sikhs and it is also called a 'mini parliament' of the Sikhs," he said. BSP MLA Nachhatar Pal also opposed the Bill, saying before taking such decisions, consultation with religious bodies and others concerned should be held. According to the provisions of the Bill, "In the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, after Section 125, Section 125-A shall be inserted." "It shall be the duty of the Board (SGPC) to propagate the teachings of the Gurus by making uninterrupted (without any on screen running advertisements or commercials or distortion) live feed (audio or audio as well as video) of holy Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) available free of cost to all media houses, outlets, platforms, channels, etc, whoever wishes to broadcast anywhere all over the world. "Anyone broadcasting holy Gurbani from Harmandir Sahib shall not run any advertisement at least 30 minutes prior to the start of broadcast of Gurbani and 30 minutes after the broadcast of Gurbani is over," the Bill stated. According to the statements of objects and reasons of the Bill, "Sri Guru Granth Sahib contains the Bani of Sikh Gurus and saints. It is highly desirable that the teaching of the Gurus be propagated worldwide." "Therefore, it is imperative that Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee should make Gurbani available free of cost to entire humanity and to ensure that the spread of Gurbani is not commercialised in any manner," it said. AAP leader Budh Ram said if only one channel has the broadcast rights, the Gurbani cannot reach people in a widespread manner. AAP MLA Ajitpal Singh Kohli said the Gurbani's reach should be far and wide and there cannot be any wrong in this. He also claimed that many SGPC members have welcomed the Bill. Commenting on the Bill, Punjab minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said some are saying the move amounts to interfering in religious matters of Sikhs, which is "baseless". The SGPC had contested the move by the AAP-led Punjab government, saying the 1925 Act is a central legislation and can only be amended by Parliament. However, Mann on Monday said the state government was fully competent to amend this Act. He reasoned that the Supreme Court had on the issue of a separate gurdwara committee for Haryana ruled that this Act was not an inter-state Act, but a state Act. Meanwhile, Congress members staged a walkout protesting that there was no question hour or zero hour provision in the present session of the Assembly. The BJP had on Monday said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab was holding the two-day special assembly session to further its agenda and wasting taxpayers' money. The party had announced to stay away from the proceedings. Fayaz Wani By Express News Service SRINAGAR: Over 60,000 troops, vigilance through night vision devices, snipers, drone systems, bomb disposal squads, dog squads and counter-IED equipment would be part of the multi-tier security arrangements for Amarnath Yatra beginning on July 1. According to sources, over 60,000 security men including police, CRPF and Army men would be deployed for the safety of the yatra this year. The security men will be deployed from Lakhanpur, the gateway of J&K, up to the cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas during the 62-day long pilgrimage beginning on July 1 and culminating on Raskha Bandhan on August 31. The security men armed with sophisticated weapons would be deployed on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway and along both routes of the yatra, the traditional Pahalgam route in south Kashmir and the shortest Baltal route in central Kashmir. The paramilitary vehicles will escort the Yatra convoys on both routes. Besides, other multi-tier security arrangements including day and night patrolling, night area domination through night vision devices, snipers, drone systems, bomb disposal squads, dog squads, counter IED equipment, vehicle repair and recovery teams to ensure smooth movement of pilgrim convoys. The army helicopters and drones will also conduct aerial surveillance during the yatra, officials said. Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi on Monday reviewed the preparations for the yatra. The Army has also established a number of your camps with adequate tent and medical facilities along with winter clothing arrangements. The Army has also arranged emergency airlifting services as well. After 15 pilgrims died in a cloud burst during the yatra last year, civil rescue teams and avalanche rescue teams will be deployed along the route systematically to mitigate any kind of disaster. Multiple medical detachments with oxygen cylinders; control rooms at various places on both routes will be operational around the clock. Helipads are to be set up by the Army at several locations for medical emergencies. Yatri camps along with special winter clothing arrangements provide habitat and comfort. SRINAGAR: Over 60,000 troops, vigilance through night vision devices, snipers, drone systems, bomb disposal squads, dog squads and counter-IED equipment would be part of the multi-tier security arrangements for Amarnath Yatra beginning on July 1. According to sources, over 60,000 security men including police, CRPF and Army men would be deployed for the safety of the yatra this year. The security men will be deployed from Lakhanpur, the gateway of J&K, up to the cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas during the 62-day long pilgrimage beginning on July 1 and culminating on Raskha Bandhan on August 31.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The security men armed with sophisticated weapons would be deployed on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway and along both routes of the yatra, the traditional Pahalgam route in south Kashmir and the shortest Baltal route in central Kashmir. The paramilitary vehicles will escort the Yatra convoys on both routes. Besides, other multi-tier security arrangements including day and night patrolling, night area domination through night vision devices, snipers, drone systems, bomb disposal squads, dog squads, counter IED equipment, vehicle repair and recovery teams to ensure smooth movement of pilgrim convoys. The army helicopters and drones will also conduct aerial surveillance during the yatra, officials said. Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi on Monday reviewed the preparations for the yatra. The Army has also established a number of your camps with adequate tent and medical facilities along with winter clothing arrangements. The Army has also arranged emergency airlifting services as well. After 15 pilgrims died in a cloud burst during the yatra last year, civil rescue teams and avalanche rescue teams will be deployed along the route systematically to mitigate any kind of disaster. Multiple medical detachments with oxygen cylinders; control rooms at various places on both routes will be operational around the clock. Helipads are to be set up by the Army at several locations for medical emergencies. Yatri camps along with special winter clothing arrangements provide habitat and comfort. By PTI VISAKHAPATNAM: A 60-year-old "seer" was arrested for allegedly molesting a girl for a certain period in the ashram he runs in Visakhapatnam, police said on Tuesday. Paramananda runs the Ramananda Jnanananda ashram at Venkoji Nagar in M V P Colony area, which came under his authority through heredity. The ashram has been in existence since 1955. "The seer used to call two children (girls) who are around 14 years old after 9 pm on the pretext of getting his legs pressed but used to do all kinds of manhandling," Visakhapatnam police commissioner Trivikram Varma told PTI on Tuesday, confirming molestation charges. A few days ago, the girl managed to escape from the ashram and boarded the Tirumala express train and reached Vijayawada where she was helped by some people to contact a child protection official, Varma said. Later, the girl was escorted to a Disha (women's protection) police station in Vijayawada where she lodged a complaint and subsequently Paramananda was arrested in the port city. Incidentally, Paramananda himself had lodged a missing complaint on June 15 at M V P Colony police station to avoid suspicion. Meanwhile, police are talking to other children from the ashram to elicit information on the antecedents of the arrested man to know if such incidents had occurred earlier as well. In the event of such a scenario, the commissioner noted that all those cases will be clubbed together into one case for further action. Police registered a case under Sections 505 and 506 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The ashram has 12 children and six staff members. Out of the 12, eight are boys and four girls. Eleven of the 12 children are from Araku tribal area while the girl who lodged the complaint came from Gandepally area in Rajamahendravaram. Varma said the victim first joined the Gandepally Sadhu Matham in Rajamahendravaram back in 2016 as she lost her parents and was later shifted to Paramananda's ashram. VISAKHAPATNAM: A 60-year-old "seer" was arrested for allegedly molesting a girl for a certain period in the ashram he runs in Visakhapatnam, police said on Tuesday. Paramananda runs the Ramananda Jnanananda ashram at Venkoji Nagar in M V P Colony area, which came under his authority through heredity. The ashram has been in existence since 1955. "The seer used to call two children (girls) who are around 14 years old after 9 pm on the pretext of getting his legs pressed but used to do all kinds of manhandling," Visakhapatnam police commissioner Trivikram Varma told PTI on Tuesday, confirming molestation charges.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); A few days ago, the girl managed to escape from the ashram and boarded the Tirumala express train and reached Vijayawada where she was helped by some people to contact a child protection official, Varma said. Later, the girl was escorted to a Disha (women's protection) police station in Vijayawada where she lodged a complaint and subsequently Paramananda was arrested in the port city. Incidentally, Paramananda himself had lodged a missing complaint on June 15 at M V P Colony police station to avoid suspicion. Meanwhile, police are talking to other children from the ashram to elicit information on the antecedents of the arrested man to know if such incidents had occurred earlier as well. In the event of such a scenario, the commissioner noted that all those cases will be clubbed together into one case for further action. Police registered a case under Sections 505 and 506 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The ashram has 12 children and six staff members. Out of the 12, eight are boys and four girls. Eleven of the 12 children are from Araku tribal area while the girl who lodged the complaint came from Gandepally area in Rajamahendravaram. Varma said the victim first joined the Gandepally Sadhu Matham in Rajamahendravaram back in 2016 as she lost her parents and was later shifted to Paramananda's ashram. Rajesh Kumar Thakur By Express News Service National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) chairman Hansraj Gangaram Ahir says serious discrepancies have been found in the OBC (Other Backward Classes) list of West Bengal. He tells Rajesh Kumar Thakur that state government officials have been asked to rectify the discrepancies, failing which the commission will take action. Excerpts: What discrepancies have actually been identified in the OBC list of West Bengal and other states by the NCBC? During review meetings conducted by the West Bengal government, a significant issue regarding the inclusion of 80% Muslims in the OBC category has come to light. Upon examination, it was revealed that genuine OBC communities are denied their rights by the government. The state government has divided the OBC list into two groups, A and B. In the A group (Most Backward Castes), the government has included 73 Muslim OBCs and eight Hindu OBC castes. In the B group (Backward Class) of OBCs, 98 castes have been added, including 43 Muslim OBCs and 55 Hindu OBC castes. These actions have led to many discrepancies in the state list of OBCs in the state, resulting in a total of 179 OBCs, including 116 Muslim OBCs. The NCBC has identified these discrepancies. Are Muslims who migrated to West Bengal from neighbouring countries and upper caste Hindus who converted to Islam included in the state OBC list? As NCBC chairman, I can confirm that I have been informed by West Bengal officials that the number of OBCs have increased due to the inclusion of Hindus who converted to Islam. When I inquired about the data regarding Hindus who converted and were later included in the state list of OBCs, the state government stated that no such data is maintained. However, it is puzzling how a Hindu who converted to Islam could be included in the OBCs without meeting the necessary criteria. It appears that some undeserving castes have been included in the state lists of OBCs. We will not allow injustice to be perpetrated against genuine OBCs in West Bengal or elsewhere. Have you noticed discrepancies in BJP-ruled states as well? The commission does not take into account a party, government or a state. We fulfill our constitutional responsibilities as a commission. However, it has been found, both on paper and in reality, that the rights of genuine Hindu OBCs have been snatched away by the West Bengal government. In other states, including Telangana, minor anomalies have been identified, and officials were told to rectify them. There is a possibility of including Rohingya Muslims in the state list of OBCs, which merits further investigation. Among the 179 castes categorised and included in the state list of OBCs in West Bengal, 116 belong to the Muslim community. While some anomalies have been observed in states like Bihar, Telangana and Rajasthan, particularly in the creamy layer benefits and others, the discrepancies identified in West Bengal are more glaring. The commission is gradually reviewing the OBC lists of other states. What motives do you see behind the alleged discrepancies in West Bengal? As a holder of a constitutional post, I cannot make any political comment. However, it is evident that there are some motives behind such actions in West Bengal. What is clear is that injustice has been done to genuine OBCs in the state. What will be the next course of action by the NCBC if discrepancies in the lists of OBCs in West Bengal and other states are not addressed? If West Bengal and others fail to ensure proper compliance with the commissions instructions, we will take action through appropriate channels to remove fraudulently included castes from the state lists of OBCs. The commission will take strict action if West Bengal government neglects to act upon the commissions instructions. We will not compromise on the rights of genuine OBCs. In 2011, the West Bengal government submitted a list of only 38 OBCs, which included two Hindu castes, to the central OBC commission. This indicates an imbalanced approach. The commission is fully committed to safeguarding the rights of genuine OBCs. We will not accept the inclusion of castes in the OBC lists without a thorough review. What challenges is the NCBC currently facing? The main challenge is the removal of fraudulently included castes from the state lists of Other Backward Classes and ensuring that genuine castes receive benefits. In West Bengal, there are many castes with roots in Bangladesh. It cannot be denied that the West Bengal OBC list has been prepared dishonestly. Dont Muslims meet the OBC criteria list? I am not saying that Muslims do not meet the criteria to be included in the OBCs. The issue is not about Muslims, but rather about how the West Bengal government prepared the OBC lists. Genuine Muslims who meet the criteria should be included in the OBC category. Do you think there is a need to include more and more castes in the OBCs in the country? This is currently being assessed, and necessary steps will be taken only after the castes proposed by state governments in their state lists of OBCs are found to meet the established criteria. National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) chairman Hansraj Gangaram Ahir says serious discrepancies have been found in the OBC (Other Backward Classes) list of West Bengal. He tells Rajesh Kumar Thakur that state government officials have been asked to rectify the discrepancies, failing which the commission will take action. Excerpts: What discrepancies have actually been identified in the OBC list of West Bengal and other states by the NCBC? During review meetings conducted by the West Bengal government, a significant issue regarding the inclusion of 80% Muslims in the OBC category has come to light. Upon examination, it was revealed that genuine OBC communities are denied their rights by the government. The state government has divided the OBC list into two groups, A and B. In the A group (Most Backward Castes), the government has included 73 Muslim OBCs and eight Hindu OBC castes. In the B group (Backward Class) of OBCs, 98 castes have been added, including 43 Muslim OBCs and 55 Hindu OBC castes. These actions have led to many discrepancies in the state list of OBCs in the state, resulting in a total of 179 OBCs, including 116 Muslim OBCs. The NCBC has identified these discrepancies. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Are Muslims who migrated to West Bengal from neighbouring countries and upper caste Hindus who converted to Islam included in the state OBC list? As NCBC chairman, I can confirm that I have been informed by West Bengal officials that the number of OBCs have increased due to the inclusion of Hindus who converted to Islam. When I inquired about the data regarding Hindus who converted and were later included in the state list of OBCs, the state government stated that no such data is maintained. However, it is puzzling how a Hindu who converted to Islam could be included in the OBCs without meeting the necessary criteria. It appears that some undeserving castes have been included in the state lists of OBCs. We will not allow injustice to be perpetrated against genuine OBCs in West Bengal or elsewhere. Have you noticed discrepancies in BJP-ruled states as well? The commission does not take into account a party, government or a state. We fulfill our constitutional responsibilities as a commission. However, it has been found, both on paper and in reality, that the rights of genuine Hindu OBCs have been snatched away by the West Bengal government. In other states, including Telangana, minor anomalies have been identified, and officials were told to rectify them. There is a possibility of including Rohingya Muslims in the state list of OBCs, which merits further investigation. Among the 179 castes categorised and included in the state list of OBCs in West Bengal, 116 belong to the Muslim community. While some anomalies have been observed in states like Bihar, Telangana and Rajasthan, particularly in the creamy layer benefits and others, the discrepancies identified in West Bengal are more glaring. The commission is gradually reviewing the OBC lists of other states. What motives do you see behind the alleged discrepancies in West Bengal? As a holder of a constitutional post, I cannot make any political comment. However, it is evident that there are some motives behind such actions in West Bengal. What is clear is that injustice has been done to genuine OBCs in the state. What will be the next course of action by the NCBC if discrepancies in the lists of OBCs in West Bengal and other states are not addressed? If West Bengal and others fail to ensure proper compliance with the commissions instructions, we will take action through appropriate channels to remove fraudulently included castes from the state lists of OBCs. The commission will take strict action if West Bengal government neglects to act upon the commissions instructions. We will not compromise on the rights of genuine OBCs. In 2011, the West Bengal government submitted a list of only 38 OBCs, which included two Hindu castes, to the central OBC commission. This indicates an imbalanced approach. The commission is fully committed to safeguarding the rights of genuine OBCs. We will not accept the inclusion of castes in the OBC lists without a thorough review. What challenges is the NCBC currently facing? The main challenge is the removal of fraudulently included castes from the state lists of Other Backward Classes and ensuring that genuine castes receive benefits. In West Bengal, there are many castes with roots in Bangladesh. It cannot be denied that the West Bengal OBC list has been prepared dishonestly. Dont Muslims meet the OBC criteria list? I am not saying that Muslims do not meet the criteria to be included in the OBCs. The issue is not about Muslims, but rather about how the West Bengal government prepared the OBC lists. Genuine Muslims who meet the criteria should be included in the OBC category. Do you think there is a need to include more and more castes in the OBCs in the country? This is currently being assessed, and necessary steps will be taken only after the castes proposed by state governments in their state lists of OBCs are found to meet the established criteria. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Amid severe heatwave conditions in many states, especially in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where heat-related deaths and hospitalisations have been reported, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting on public health preparedness for heatwave management across the country. He also directed a team of experts from the union health ministry, ICMR, IMD and NDMA to visit Bihar and Uttar Pradesh the two worst-hit states that are reporting heat-related deaths and hospitalisations to support them in public health response measures to address heat-related illnesses. Highlighting the importance of sturdy and timely preparedness through awareness and early actions, Mandaviya also directed the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct research on how to minimise the effects of heatwave on health, with specific short, medium and long-term action plans. Several states, especially north Indian states, have been experiencing severe heatwave conditions for the last few days. The health minister said the centre has taken timely measures ahead of the summer season to address heatwave-related illnesses. In March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chaired a meeting to review preparedness ahead of the summer season, while the health ministry had issued a heatwave advisory in February. The ministry had advised the states to review health facility preparedness in terms of essential medicines, intravenous fluids, packs, ORS, drinking water as well as dissemination of necessary IEC materials. The National Action Plan on Heat-Related Illnesses was also shared with all the states. At the meeting, Mandaviya was briefed on the status of heatwaves in various states and the preparedness of central agencies in terms of availability of required supplies and hospital infrastructure to provide timely and effective healthcare services. It was also apprised that daily surveillance on heat-related illnesses under the National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health (NPCCHH) has been ensured in all states and districts through the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) and all the health facilities have been asked to participate using the P-form level login. The National Action Plan on Heat Related Illnesses, prepared by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), was released in July 2021. It outlines the standard operating procedures (SOP) for surveillance of heatstroke cases and deaths with a preparedness plan before and during the summer season. It also provides a special emphasis on Heat Related Illnesses (HRI) in elderly, infants and children, pregnant women, outdoor and manual workers, and other vulnerable sections. Under this action plan, states are advised to increase resilience to extreme heat at the level of health facilities by ensuring uninterrupted electric supply, installation of solar panels and measures to reduce indoor heat through a cool or green roof, window shading, outside shades etc. Sensitisation of masses is important, but sensitisation and capacity building of medical officers, health staff and grass-root level workers on heat-related illnesses, their early recognition and management is also important, Mandaviya said. He urged the states and central agencies to enhance awareness among people regarding the preventive measures through multi-media IEC campaigns. Mandaviya asked the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue daily weather forecasts in a manner that can be easily interpreted and disseminated. Union Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar and Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, and Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and other health ministry officials were also present at the meeting. NEW DELHI: Amid severe heatwave conditions in many states, especially in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where heat-related deaths and hospitalisations have been reported, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting on public health preparedness for heatwave management across the country. He also directed a team of experts from the union health ministry, ICMR, IMD and NDMA to visit Bihar and Uttar Pradesh the two worst-hit states that are reporting heat-related deaths and hospitalisations to support them in public health response measures to address heat-related illnesses. Highlighting the importance of sturdy and timely preparedness through awareness and early actions, Mandaviya also directed the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct research on how to minimise the effects of heatwave on health, with specific short, medium and long-term action plans.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Several states, especially north Indian states, have been experiencing severe heatwave conditions for the last few days. The health minister said the centre has taken timely measures ahead of the summer season to address heatwave-related illnesses. In March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chaired a meeting to review preparedness ahead of the summer season, while the health ministry had issued a heatwave advisory in February. The ministry had advised the states to review health facility preparedness in terms of essential medicines, intravenous fluids, packs, ORS, drinking water as well as dissemination of necessary IEC materials. The National Action Plan on Heat-Related Illnesses was also shared with all the states. At the meeting, Mandaviya was briefed on the status of heatwaves in various states and the preparedness of central agencies in terms of availability of required supplies and hospital infrastructure to provide timely and effective healthcare services. It was also apprised that daily surveillance on heat-related illnesses under the National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health (NPCCHH) has been ensured in all states and districts through the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) and all the health facilities have been asked to participate using the P-form level login. The National Action Plan on Heat Related Illnesses, prepared by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), was released in July 2021. It outlines the standard operating procedures (SOP) for surveillance of heatstroke cases and deaths with a preparedness plan before and during the summer season. It also provides a special emphasis on Heat Related Illnesses (HRI) in elderly, infants and children, pregnant women, outdoor and manual workers, and other vulnerable sections. Under this action plan, states are advised to increase resilience to extreme heat at the level of health facilities by ensuring uninterrupted electric supply, installation of solar panels and measures to reduce indoor heat through a cool or green roof, window shading, outside shades etc. Sensitisation of masses is important, but sensitisation and capacity building of medical officers, health staff and grass-root level workers on heat-related illnesses, their early recognition and management is also important, Mandaviya said. He urged the states and central agencies to enhance awareness among people regarding the preventive measures through multi-media IEC campaigns. Mandaviya asked the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue daily weather forecasts in a manner that can be easily interpreted and disseminated. Union Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar and Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, and Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and other health ministry officials were also present at the meeting. By Associated Press WASHINGTON: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is, on many counts, a curious choice for President Joe Biden to honour with a state visit. Since Russia's Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine 16 months ago, India has boosted its economy by purchasing increasing quantities of cheap Russian oil. Human rights groups and political opponents have accused Modi of stifling dissent and introducing divisive policies that discriminate against Muslims and other minorities. India's foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, has espoused a worldview in which there are no allies or friends, only "frenemies." But Biden, who will welcome Modi to the White House on Thursday for a state visit, has made clear he sees US ties to India the world's biggest democracy and one of its fastest-growing economies as a defining relationship. New Delhi, as Biden sees it, will be essential to addressing some of the most difficult global challenges in coming years, including climate change, disruptions related to artificial intelligence, and China's growing power in the Indo-Pacific. "Now, we know that India and the United States are big, complicated countries," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the US-India Business Council in Washington ahead of Modi's visit. "We certainly have work to do to advance transparency, to promote market access, to strengthen our democracies, to unleash the full potential of our people. But the trajectory of this partnership is unmistakable, and it is filled with promise." ALSO READ | PM Modi to talk tech, trade and defence on state visit to US Much is at stake for both sides in the Indian leader's three-day visit to the US, which begins Wednesday with a stop in New York, where Modi will lead an international yoga day event at the United Nations. Biden wants to bring India closer to the United States as the administration tilts its foreign policy toward Asia and looks to build partnerships in the region in the face of an ascendant China. Modi, for his part, is trying to usher in a more prosperous era for his nation of 1.4 billion, delivering on a promise he made when he swept into office more than nine years ago. The Indian prime minister hopes to strengthen US-India economic and military ties. He also has his own worries about Chinese military activities, along the Himalayan border and in the Indian Ocean. India has been locked in a long-running standoff with China in the rugged mountainous area of Ladakh, where each side has stationed tens of thousands of military personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets. "As China has risen, India and the US both need one another and the US needs more partners in the Indo-Pacific," said Jitendra Nath Misra, a professor of diplomatic practice at the OP Jindal Global University and a former Indian ambassador. "They can't do it alone anymore because China is catching up with the US, and the Chinese economy is significantly larger than India's. So, there is a congruence of geopolitical interests here." There are plenty of signs that the relationship already has taken a leap forward. Trade between the US and India in 2022 climbed to a record $191 billion. The Indian diaspora in the US stands at nearly 5 million and has become an economic, cultural and political powerhouse. Biden has sought to reinvigorate the Quad, an international partnership of the US, Australia, India and Japan. And US defense sales to India have risen from near zero in 2008 to over USD 20 billion in 2020. WATCH | Ambassador PS Raghavan talks about Modi's state visit Still, the state visit comes with some problematic aspects for Biden, who as a presidential candidate pledged that human rights would be a driving force in his foreign policy. Elaine Pearson, Asia director for the group Human Rights Watch, urged Biden in a letter not to shy away from confronting Modi on India's "worsening human rights situation." Her organization plans a Tuesday screening in Washington of a BBC documentary critical of Modi that was banned by the Indian government. The documentary delves into Modi's oversight as chief minister of Gujrat during the deadly 2002 anti-Muslim riots that left more than 1,000 dead. In 2005, the US revoked Modi's visa to the US, citing concerns that he did not act to stop the communal violence. An investigation approved by the Indian Supreme Court later absolved Modi, but the stain of the dark moment has lingered. More recently, Modi has faced criticism over legislation amending the country's citizenship law that fast-tracks naturalization for some migrants but excludes Muslims, a rise in violence against Muslims and other religious minorities by Hindu nationalists, and the recent conviction of India's top opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, for mocking Modi's surname. "Modi's government has also demonstrated blatant bias in protecting BJP supporters and affiliates accused in a range of crimes, including murder, assault, corruption, and sexual violence," Pearson wrote, using the initials for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. "At the international level, Modi's government has often proven unwilling to stand with other governments on key human rights crises, abstaining or refraining from condemning grave human rights violations elsewhere." The Indian government has continually defended its human rights record and insisted that India's democratic principles remain robust. Modi has offered only limited criticism of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, urging Putin during a meeting last September to "move onto a path of peace." The New Delhi-Moscow relationship dates back decades, with Moscow offering key cooperation on defence, nuclear energy and other issues. ALSO READ | India's Modi will bend leaders into shape on International Yoga Day The Biden White House has privately pressed India to cut its reliance on Russian oil but has largely avoided publicly criticizing New Delhi's stance. In 2021, Russian oil accounted for just 2 per cent of India's annual crude imports. That figure now stands at more than 19 per cent. Biden is expected to again raise India's reliance on Russian oil as well as human rights in his private talks with Modi, according to a senior Biden administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss preparations for the visit. The White House sees indications that Modi's government has been moving away from Russia since the start of the war, noting a subtle shift in tone in Modi's public comments about Ukraine, a growing desire by India to diversify its sources of military hardware, and an increasing awareness by the Indian government about China and Russia's tightening relationship and what it could mean for India. Richard Rossow, chair of US-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the Biden White House has made the calculation to keep its "powder dry" despite its disappointment with India's ballooning oil purchases. "We don't want to risk severing the relationship with India," Rossow said of the administration's careful approach. "Find small and modest ways to nudge, but don't make that a deciding factor." The official state visit portion of Modi's trip starts Thursday and includes an Oval Office meeting with Biden, an address to a joint meeting of Congress and a lavish White House dinner hosted by Biden and first lady Jill Biden. Modi also is to be honoured at a State Department luncheon on Friday hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris and Blinken, and he is scheduled to address members of the Indian diaspora before departing Washington. Biden and Modi are expected to make announcements on cooperation in higher education, space and more. High on the agenda is deepening defence cooperation. India has sought to reduce its reliance on Russian military hardware by buying from the US, France, Germany and other countries. But it will likely take decades or more for India to completely wean itself off Russian military hardware, said Rudra Chaudhuri, director of Carnegie India, the New Delhi arm of the international think tank. "Keep in mind that 65 per cent of India's defence kit is still Russian," Chaudhuri said. "Let's say India reduces purchases from Russia to one-third over 25 years, that's still a big part of your defence ecosystem." WASHINGTON: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is, on many counts, a curious choice for President Joe Biden to honour with a state visit. Since Russia's Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine 16 months ago, India has boosted its economy by purchasing increasing quantities of cheap Russian oil. Human rights groups and political opponents have accused Modi of stifling dissent and introducing divisive policies that discriminate against Muslims and other minorities.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); India's foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, has espoused a worldview in which there are no allies or friends, only "frenemies." But Biden, who will welcome Modi to the White House on Thursday for a state visit, has made clear he sees US ties to India the world's biggest democracy and one of its fastest-growing economies as a defining relationship. New Delhi, as Biden sees it, will be essential to addressing some of the most difficult global challenges in coming years, including climate change, disruptions related to artificial intelligence, and China's growing power in the Indo-Pacific. "Now, we know that India and the United States are big, complicated countries," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the US-India Business Council in Washington ahead of Modi's visit. "We certainly have work to do to advance transparency, to promote market access, to strengthen our democracies, to unleash the full potential of our people. But the trajectory of this partnership is unmistakable, and it is filled with promise." ALSO READ | PM Modi to talk tech, trade and defence on state visit to US Much is at stake for both sides in the Indian leader's three-day visit to the US, which begins Wednesday with a stop in New York, where Modi will lead an international yoga day event at the United Nations. Biden wants to bring India closer to the United States as the administration tilts its foreign policy toward Asia and looks to build partnerships in the region in the face of an ascendant China. Modi, for his part, is trying to usher in a more prosperous era for his nation of 1.4 billion, delivering on a promise he made when he swept into office more than nine years ago. The Indian prime minister hopes to strengthen US-India economic and military ties. He also has his own worries about Chinese military activities, along the Himalayan border and in the Indian Ocean. India has been locked in a long-running standoff with China in the rugged mountainous area of Ladakh, where each side has stationed tens of thousands of military personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets. "As China has risen, India and the US both need one another and the US needs more partners in the Indo-Pacific," said Jitendra Nath Misra, a professor of diplomatic practice at the OP Jindal Global University and a former Indian ambassador. "They can't do it alone anymore because China is catching up with the US, and the Chinese economy is significantly larger than India's. So, there is a congruence of geopolitical interests here." There are plenty of signs that the relationship already has taken a leap forward. Trade between the US and India in 2022 climbed to a record $191 billion. The Indian diaspora in the US stands at nearly 5 million and has become an economic, cultural and political powerhouse. Biden has sought to reinvigorate the Quad, an international partnership of the US, Australia, India and Japan. And US defense sales to India have risen from near zero in 2008 to over USD 20 billion in 2020. WATCH | Ambassador PS Raghavan talks about Modi's state visit Still, the state visit comes with some problematic aspects for Biden, who as a presidential candidate pledged that human rights would be a driving force in his foreign policy. Elaine Pearson, Asia director for the group Human Rights Watch, urged Biden in a letter not to shy away from confronting Modi on India's "worsening human rights situation." Her organization plans a Tuesday screening in Washington of a BBC documentary critical of Modi that was banned by the Indian government. The documentary delves into Modi's oversight as chief minister of Gujrat during the deadly 2002 anti-Muslim riots that left more than 1,000 dead. In 2005, the US revoked Modi's visa to the US, citing concerns that he did not act to stop the communal violence. An investigation approved by the Indian Supreme Court later absolved Modi, but the stain of the dark moment has lingered. More recently, Modi has faced criticism over legislation amending the country's citizenship law that fast-tracks naturalization for some migrants but excludes Muslims, a rise in violence against Muslims and other religious minorities by Hindu nationalists, and the recent conviction of India's top opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, for mocking Modi's surname. "Modi's government has also demonstrated blatant bias in protecting BJP supporters and affiliates accused in a range of crimes, including murder, assault, corruption, and sexual violence," Pearson wrote, using the initials for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. "At the international level, Modi's government has often proven unwilling to stand with other governments on key human rights crises, abstaining or refraining from condemning grave human rights violations elsewhere." The Indian government has continually defended its human rights record and insisted that India's democratic principles remain robust. Modi has offered only limited criticism of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, urging Putin during a meeting last September to "move onto a path of peace." The New Delhi-Moscow relationship dates back decades, with Moscow offering key cooperation on defence, nuclear energy and other issues. ALSO READ | India's Modi will bend leaders into shape on International Yoga Day The Biden White House has privately pressed India to cut its reliance on Russian oil but has largely avoided publicly criticizing New Delhi's stance. In 2021, Russian oil accounted for just 2 per cent of India's annual crude imports. That figure now stands at more than 19 per cent. Biden is expected to again raise India's reliance on Russian oil as well as human rights in his private talks with Modi, according to a senior Biden administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss preparations for the visit. The White House sees indications that Modi's government has been moving away from Russia since the start of the war, noting a subtle shift in tone in Modi's public comments about Ukraine, a growing desire by India to diversify its sources of military hardware, and an increasing awareness by the Indian government about China and Russia's tightening relationship and what it could mean for India. Richard Rossow, chair of US-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the Biden White House has made the calculation to keep its "powder dry" despite its disappointment with India's ballooning oil purchases. "We don't want to risk severing the relationship with India," Rossow said of the administration's careful approach. "Find small and modest ways to nudge, but don't make that a deciding factor." The official state visit portion of Modi's trip starts Thursday and includes an Oval Office meeting with Biden, an address to a joint meeting of Congress and a lavish White House dinner hosted by Biden and first lady Jill Biden. Modi also is to be honoured at a State Department luncheon on Friday hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris and Blinken, and he is scheduled to address members of the Indian diaspora before departing Washington. Biden and Modi are expected to make announcements on cooperation in higher education, space and more. High on the agenda is deepening defence cooperation. India has sought to reduce its reliance on Russian military hardware by buying from the US, France, Germany and other countries. But it will likely take decades or more for India to completely wean itself off Russian military hardware, said Rudra Chaudhuri, director of Carnegie India, the New Delhi arm of the international think tank. "Keep in mind that 65 per cent of India's defence kit is still Russian," Chaudhuri said. "Let's say India reduces purchases from Russia to one-third over 25 years, that's still a big part of your defence ecosystem." By PTI LONDON: Hamish Harding, a British businessman who collaborated with the Indian government to bring eight wild cheetahs from Namibia to India, is among five people who went missing in the Atlantic Ocean aboard a tourist submersible on a mission to view the wreckage of the iconic ocean liner the Titanic. British-Pakistani billionaire businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman were also on the sub, the BBC reported on Tuesday. Contact with the small sub was lost about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive in the mid-Atlantic on Sunday. OceanGate Expeditions, a company offering eight-day missions to see the Titanic debris for USD 250,000 per person, confirmed that its submarine was lost at sea with crew members on board. The company's chief executive, Stockton Rush, previously described the craft as "rock solid", is also believed to be on board. The company said in a statement that it is "exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely." ALSO READ | What we know about the Titanic-bound submersible that's missing with 5 people onboard French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet is also thought to be on board, according to a Facebook post by Harding before the dive started. Harding also worked on a project to launch a regular business jet service to the Antarctic, working with a company called White Desert, and also collaborated with the Indian government on a project to reintroduce eight wild cheetahs from Namibia to India in September last year, under the auspices of the Explorers Club. He had arranged a customised Boeing 747-400 aircraft for the mission. Harding is known for his exploratory escapades across the globe. The trip to Titanic's wreckage was the latest in a string of adventures. He has visited the South Pole multiple times, flown into space in 2022 onboard Blue Origin's fifth human-crewed flight, and set three world records - including the longest time spent at full ocean depth during a dive to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. Over the weekend, Harding said on social media that a ship had set off from the city of St John's, in Newfoundland, Canada, for the destination of the Titanic wreck. From there, he and the crew were planning to start diving operations in the submersible down to the wreck at around 04:00 local time on Sunday morning. He wrote on Facebook that he was "proud to finally announce" that he would be aboard the mission to the wreck of the Titanic. Due to the "worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years," he said, "this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023". "A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow." Action Aviation said on Sunday that the sub had had a successful launch and Harding was "currently diving". Later, his stepson Brian Szasz said in a now-deleted post on Facebook: He "has gone missing on (the) submarine." Patrick Woodhead, the founder of British tour operator White Desert Antarctica, said Harding was an "incredible" aviation explorer and a great advocate for discovering new pathways to make the world a better place. Harding had travelled with them to Antarctica a number of times, he said, including with US astronaut Buzz Aldrin. ALSO READ | Small submersible tourist vessel on dive to Titanic wreck goes missing, search under way: Reports On an inquiry about Harding, a spokesperson from the UK's Foreign Office said it was "in contact with the family of a British man following reports of a missing submarine off the coast of North America." In a statement released on Tuesday, the Dawood family in Pakistan said: "Our son Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, had embarked on a journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available," BBC quoted the statement as saying. The Dawood family, who live in Surbiton, southwest London, are in Canada for a month. Shahzada Dawood, from one of Pakistan's richest families, is a trustee of the Seti Institute, a research organisation in California, according to its website. It says he lives in the UK with his wife, Christine, and his children Suleman and Alina, and is in the Founder's Circle of the British Asian Trust. He is also vice chairman of Dawood Hercules Corporation, part of the Dawood Group, a conglomerate of various businesses owned by the family. In their statement, his parents said: "We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety." It went on to say the family was well looked after and were praying for the safe return of their family members. Military planes, a submarine and sonar buoys have so far been used in the search for the vessel. LONDON: Hamish Harding, a British businessman who collaborated with the Indian government to bring eight wild cheetahs from Namibia to India, is among five people who went missing in the Atlantic Ocean aboard a tourist submersible on a mission to view the wreckage of the iconic ocean liner the Titanic. British-Pakistani billionaire businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman were also on the sub, the BBC reported on Tuesday. Contact with the small sub was lost about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive in the mid-Atlantic on Sunday.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); OceanGate Expeditions, a company offering eight-day missions to see the Titanic debris for USD 250,000 per person, confirmed that its submarine was lost at sea with crew members on board. The company's chief executive, Stockton Rush, previously described the craft as "rock solid", is also believed to be on board. The company said in a statement that it is "exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely." ALSO READ | What we know about the Titanic-bound submersible that's missing with 5 people onboard French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet is also thought to be on board, according to a Facebook post by Harding before the dive started. Harding also worked on a project to launch a regular business jet service to the Antarctic, working with a company called White Desert, and also collaborated with the Indian government on a project to reintroduce eight wild cheetahs from Namibia to India in September last year, under the auspices of the Explorers Club. He had arranged a customised Boeing 747-400 aircraft for the mission. Harding is known for his exploratory escapades across the globe. The trip to Titanic's wreckage was the latest in a string of adventures. He has visited the South Pole multiple times, flown into space in 2022 onboard Blue Origin's fifth human-crewed flight, and set three world records - including the longest time spent at full ocean depth during a dive to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. Over the weekend, Harding said on social media that a ship had set off from the city of St John's, in Newfoundland, Canada, for the destination of the Titanic wreck. From there, he and the crew were planning to start diving operations in the submersible down to the wreck at around 04:00 local time on Sunday morning. He wrote on Facebook that he was "proud to finally announce" that he would be aboard the mission to the wreck of the Titanic. Due to the "worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years," he said, "this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023". "A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow." Action Aviation said on Sunday that the sub had had a successful launch and Harding was "currently diving". Later, his stepson Brian Szasz said in a now-deleted post on Facebook: He "has gone missing on (the) submarine." Patrick Woodhead, the founder of British tour operator White Desert Antarctica, said Harding was an "incredible" aviation explorer and a great advocate for discovering new pathways to make the world a better place. Harding had travelled with them to Antarctica a number of times, he said, including with US astronaut Buzz Aldrin. ALSO READ | Small submersible tourist vessel on dive to Titanic wreck goes missing, search under way: Reports On an inquiry about Harding, a spokesperson from the UK's Foreign Office said it was "in contact with the family of a British man following reports of a missing submarine off the coast of North America." In a statement released on Tuesday, the Dawood family in Pakistan said: "Our son Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, had embarked on a journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available," BBC quoted the statement as saying. The Dawood family, who live in Surbiton, southwest London, are in Canada for a month. Shahzada Dawood, from one of Pakistan's richest families, is a trustee of the Seti Institute, a research organisation in California, according to its website. It says he lives in the UK with his wife, Christine, and his children Suleman and Alina, and is in the Founder's Circle of the British Asian Trust. He is also vice chairman of Dawood Hercules Corporation, part of the Dawood Group, a conglomerate of various businesses owned by the family. In their statement, his parents said: "We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety." It went on to say the family was well looked after and were praying for the safe return of their family members. Military planes, a submarine and sonar buoys have so far been used in the search for the vessel. By PTI HELSINKI: Estonia's lawmakers approved legislation on Tuesday allowing same-sex marriage as of next year, making Estonia the first of the three Baltic countries to do so. The 101-seat Riigikogu legislature passed in a 55-34 vote amendments to Estonia's Family Law Act and related legislation that will enable the introduction of marriage equality in the small country of 1.3 million as of January 1, 2024. Like former Eastern bloc countries, the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been slower to embrace LGBTQ+ rights than most countries in Western Europe. The Baltic countries regained independence from the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Parliament's measure was tied to a confidence vote on Prime Minister Kaja Kallas' centre-right government, which has been under pressure from conservative opposition parties and civil society groups to maintain what they say are traditional family values by rejecting same-sex marriage. Estonia has just voted to legalise same-sex marriage, becoming the first Baltic country to do so. Where else in Europe is same-sex marriage legal? Take a look at our map! (Includes laws that may not yet have come into effect) pic.twitter.com/robvvpHVOi euronews (@euronews) June 20, 2023 "Everyone should have the right to marry the person they love and want to commit to. With this decision, we are finally stepping among all the rest of the democratic countries in the world where marriage equality has been granted," Kallas said in a statement. "This is a decision that does not take anything away from anyone but gives something important to many. It also shows that our society is caring and respectful towards each other. I am proud of Estonia," she said. Along with equal marriage, Estonians will continue to enjoy the right to enter into a registered partnership. Same-sex couples who enter into a registered partnership will also be able to convert their status to marriage in a simplified procedure. Last month, Latvia's Parliament voted the country's long-serving and popular Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, who is openly gay, as the new president, making him one of Europe's few LGBTQ+ heads of state. HELSINKI: Estonia's lawmakers approved legislation on Tuesday allowing same-sex marriage as of next year, making Estonia the first of the three Baltic countries to do so. The 101-seat Riigikogu legislature passed in a 55-34 vote amendments to Estonia's Family Law Act and related legislation that will enable the introduction of marriage equality in the small country of 1.3 million as of January 1, 2024. Like former Eastern bloc countries, the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been slower to embrace LGBTQ+ rights than most countries in Western Europe.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The Baltic countries regained independence from the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Parliament's measure was tied to a confidence vote on Prime Minister Kaja Kallas' centre-right government, which has been under pressure from conservative opposition parties and civil society groups to maintain what they say are traditional family values by rejecting same-sex marriage. Estonia has just voted to legalise same-sex marriage, becoming the first Baltic country to do so. Where else in Europe is same-sex marriage legal? Take a look at our map! (Includes laws that may not yet have come into effect) pic.twitter.com/robvvpHVOi euronews (@euronews) June 20, 2023 "Everyone should have the right to marry the person they love and want to commit to. With this decision, we are finally stepping among all the rest of the democratic countries in the world where marriage equality has been granted," Kallas said in a statement. "This is a decision that does not take anything away from anyone but gives something important to many. It also shows that our society is caring and respectful towards each other. I am proud of Estonia," she said. Along with equal marriage, Estonians will continue to enjoy the right to enter into a registered partnership. Same-sex couples who enter into a registered partnership will also be able to convert their status to marriage in a simplified procedure. Last month, Latvia's Parliament voted the country's long-serving and popular Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, who is openly gay, as the new president, making him one of Europe's few LGBTQ+ heads of state. By AFP NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the United States on Tuesday to meet with President Joe Biden and address Congress, with military and technological ties on the agenda as his hosts seek a regional counter to China. The leader of the world's most populous nation will also receive all the pomp of a state dinner at the White House on Thursday -- only Biden's third since his inauguration. Landed in New York City. Looking forward to the programmes here including interaction with thought leaders and the Yoga Day programme tomorrow, 21st June. pic.twitter.com/6V5gHglLCg Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 20, 2023 Hailed by New Delhi as a "historic" chance to "expand and consolidate" ties, the visit comes at a time of rising concerns on human rights and democratic backsliding in India. But Washington is seeking to boost ties with a potential regional ally to counter an increasingly assertive China. Analysts expect landmark announcements in clean energy and strategic technology, including a deal to jointly produce fighter jet engines. 'Deep alignment' US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, on a visit to New Delhi earlier this month, announced an "ambitious new roadmap for defence industrial cooperation" with India. It has been linked to a likely announcement, expected at this week's summit, of a long-discussed multibillion-dollar plan to co-produce the jet engines in India. New Delhi has been trying to become less dependent on Russian military hardware by diversifying imports and boosting domestic production. With many countries wooing Modi, Washington hopes its co-production and technology offers will help secure a key market. Ashok Malik, India head of The Asia Group advisory firm, said US-India ties were defined by "pragmatism and deep alignment at the government level", with "very strong" economic and business links. India is important as "a growing power" in a region "where China is becoming unusually assertive", New Delhi-based Malik told AFP. After a deadly clash with China along their disputed Himalayan border in 2020, India rapidly expanded its Washington ties and is already part of the Quad grouping alongside Australia, the United States and Japan. 'Contrasting personalities' India's huge market and potential as an alternative to China-dependent supply chains make it attractive, but its ties with Moscow remain an irritant for Washington. New Delhi has not condemned Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and has ratcheted up its oil imports from Russia. Donald Camp, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that while the United States will push India for "some further action" on Russia, it "has not seemed to be a huge impediment in the development of the (US-India) relationship over the last year or so". Modi will also meet Secretary of State Antony Blinken -- who on Sunday visited Beijing on the highest-level trip by a US official in nearly five years. Kicking off his US trip on Wednesday with a mass yoga demonstration at the UN headquarters in New York, Modi will also meet top US CEOs to make a fresh investment pitch before India's national elections next year. Samir Saran, president of New Delhi-based think tank the Observer Research Foundation, said that "despite the very contrasting personalities of the two leaders", the Biden-Modi summit was expected to result in tighter ties. An initiative on emerging technologies announced by the two countries last year "has the potential to shape this century's geopolitics and technology landscapes", Saran told AFP. Saran said he expected the "two democracies to collaborate in securing global technology infrastructure, set governance standards, and counter techno-authoritarianism" in fields such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and robotics. NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the United States on Tuesday to meet with President Joe Biden and address Congress, with military and technological ties on the agenda as his hosts seek a regional counter to China. The leader of the world's most populous nation will also receive all the pomp of a state dinner at the White House on Thursday -- only Biden's third since his inauguration. Landed in New York City. Looking forward to the programmes here including interaction with thought leaders and the Yoga Day programme tomorrow, 21st June. pic.twitter.com/6V5gHglLCggoogletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 20, 2023 Hailed by New Delhi as a "historic" chance to "expand and consolidate" ties, the visit comes at a time of rising concerns on human rights and democratic backsliding in India. But Washington is seeking to boost ties with a potential regional ally to counter an increasingly assertive China. Analysts expect landmark announcements in clean energy and strategic technology, including a deal to jointly produce fighter jet engines. 'Deep alignment' US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, on a visit to New Delhi earlier this month, announced an "ambitious new roadmap for defence industrial cooperation" with India. It has been linked to a likely announcement, expected at this week's summit, of a long-discussed multibillion-dollar plan to co-produce the jet engines in India. New Delhi has been trying to become less dependent on Russian military hardware by diversifying imports and boosting domestic production. With many countries wooing Modi, Washington hopes its co-production and technology offers will help secure a key market. Ashok Malik, India head of The Asia Group advisory firm, said US-India ties were defined by "pragmatism and deep alignment at the government level", with "very strong" economic and business links. India is important as "a growing power" in a region "where China is becoming unusually assertive", New Delhi-based Malik told AFP. After a deadly clash with China along their disputed Himalayan border in 2020, India rapidly expanded its Washington ties and is already part of the Quad grouping alongside Australia, the United States and Japan. 'Contrasting personalities' India's huge market and potential as an alternative to China-dependent supply chains make it attractive, but its ties with Moscow remain an irritant for Washington. New Delhi has not condemned Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and has ratcheted up its oil imports from Russia. Donald Camp, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that while the United States will push India for "some further action" on Russia, it "has not seemed to be a huge impediment in the development of the (US-India) relationship over the last year or so". Modi will also meet Secretary of State Antony Blinken -- who on Sunday visited Beijing on the highest-level trip by a US official in nearly five years. Kicking off his US trip on Wednesday with a mass yoga demonstration at the UN headquarters in New York, Modi will also meet top US CEOs to make a fresh investment pitch before India's national elections next year. Samir Saran, president of New Delhi-based think tank the Observer Research Foundation, said that "despite the very contrasting personalities of the two leaders", the Biden-Modi summit was expected to result in tighter ties. An initiative on emerging technologies announced by the two countries last year "has the potential to shape this century's geopolitics and technology landscapes", Saran told AFP. Saran said he expected the "two democracies to collaborate in securing global technology infrastructure, set governance standards, and counter techno-authoritarianism" in fields such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and robotics. " " The rental house looks great but should you be worried about hidden cameras? Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images When you arrive at your Airbnb- or VRBO-booked rental home, you hope to relax and let your hair down. But these days, high-tech surveillance gadgets of all kinds make it easy for unscrupulous property owners to spy on you, perhaps during your most private moments. Modern surveillance cameras are cheap, tiny, and in some cases, designed to be difficult to spot, particularly if you're not keeping an eye out for them. They are often made to look like other products, like smoke detectors, alarm clocks, AC power adapters, computer speakers, books, houseplants, or other common objects, all the better to disguise their real purpose. A 2019 survey by financial services firm IPX found that 11 percent of respondents had discovered a hidden camera in an Airbnb. Advertisement You'll never know and may never want to know what a sketchy person might do with those photos and videos. Ugh. It's almost enough to make you opt for a permanent staycation in the familiar surroundings of your own home. But let's back up for a moment. Is it legal for someone to record your activities at a rental property? After all, you don't own the place and it's understandable that landlords might be anxious to make sure you're following the rules and not throwing wild parties that could damage the home. "There is no federal law regulating hidden surveillance, which means that the law of the state in which the Airbnb property is located would govern," emails Matthew A. Dolman, a managing partner at Sibley Dolman Gipe, a Florida law firm. "For example, in Florida, Minneapolis and Minnesota, hidden cameras are only prohibited where a person would have a 'reasonable expectation of privacy.' Whether a kitchen or living area owned by a host would fit into this category would depend on the circumstances." He says that by contrast, in New Hampshire, Maine, South Dakota, and Delaware, the host would legally need consent to use hidden surveillance of any kind. Some rental companies realize the issues and try to balance the power of owners and renters. "Airbnb prohibits the use of indoor security cameras without full disclosure, and cameras are prohibited entirely from bedrooms or bathrooms," says Dolman. "However, if you're staying at an Airbnb and discover a camera planted without your knowledge, a refund is the most the company will generally do to remedy the situation." In short, private rooms like bedrooms and bathrooms really should be off-limits for any law-abiding owner. But it's the bad eggs we're worried about. How can you proactively protect yourself? J-K: LG Manoj Sinha lauds ICAI for contribution in economic policies implementation Srinagar, June 19: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has lauded the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for their members' contribution to implementing various policies linked to economic development. J-K: LG Manoj Sinha lauds ICAI for contribution in economic policies' implementation LG Sinha said ICAI has continuously extended its support to various government bodies, and regulatory bodies and in implementing various policies linked to economic development. Sinha was speaking at the 12th residential meeting of ICAI members in Srinagar on Sunday."As a partner in nation-building, ICAI has continuously extended its support to various government bodies, and regulatory bodies and in implementing various policies related to the economic development of the country so that the collective efforts of development are more rapid," said Lt Governor Manoj Sinha."Our nation has emerged as the fifth largest economy in the world and this has given new vigour and confidence to people to take the socio-economic sectors on a new path of progress. I think it shows the excitement in every section of society for taking every sector on the path of development. Whether it is GST collection or foreign exchange reserve, private equity, domestic investment or the schemes under Atma-Nirbhar Bharat has gained momentum, infrastructure development projects, every sector is witnessing new definition and culture of development," said Sinha further.Manoj Sinha also asserted the ongoing development projects under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have changed the perspective of the world towards Jammu Kashmir.ANI19 June 2023 Shared Recently! Manoj Muntashir gets security from Mumbai Police amid Adipurush backlash Mumbai, June 19: After facing backlash for the dialogues in 'Adipurush', writer Manoj Muntashir has requested protection, citing a threat to his life. Mumbai Police has provided him security and said that they are investigating the matter. Manoj Muntashir gets security from Mumbai Police amid 'Adipurush' backlash Earlier, Manoj along with the directors and producers of the film decided to make specific changes in the dialogue of the movie.During a conversation with ANI, he said, "Our aim was to present the true heroes of Sanatan to our younger generation. There is an objection to 5 dialogues and they will be changed. If people are not liking some parts, then it's our responsibility to fix them."He also took to his Twitter handle and wrote a long post that why he has been questioned and abused for his dialogues in the film. "It is possible that in a 3-hour film, I have written something different from your imagination for 3 minutes, but I could not know why you were in such a hurry to write Sanatan-Drohi on my forehead. Have you not heard the song 'Jai Shri Ram', Didn't hear 'Shivoham', Haven't heard 'Ram Siya Ram'? These praises of Sanatan in Adipurush are also born from my pen. I have also written 'Teri Mitti' and 'Desh Mere'."He further mentioned, "We have created Adipurush for Sanatan Seva, which you are seeing in large numbers and I am sure you will see in future as well."Manoj also shared, "Why this post? Because for me there is nothing greater than your feeling. I can give countless arguments in favour of my dialogues, but this will not reduce your pain. Me and the producer-director of the film have decided that some of the dialogues which are hurting you, we'll revise them, and they'll be added to the film this week."As many opposed the controversial dialogues used in the film, a group of people protested, expressing their displeasure over the film. They were later detained by Hazratganj Police.Directed by Om Raut, 'Adipurush' stars Prabhas as Lord Ram, Kriti Sanon as Goddess Sita, Sunny Singh as Laxman and Saif Ali Khan as Ravan.ANI19 June 2023 Shared Recently! Groundwork being laid under PM Modis leadership for India to become developed nation by 2047: Rajnath Singh New Delhi, June 19: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that India is witnessing economic, social, cultural and political empowerment under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, with groundwork being laid for the country to become a developed nation by 2047. Groundwork being laid under PM Modi's leadership for India to become developed nation by 2047: Rajnath Singh This was stated by Rajnath Singh at an event, organised on the theme 'Swarnim Bhavishya', in Dehradun, Uttarakhand on Monday, the Ministry of Defence said.Union Minister asserted that the steps taken by the Government in the last few years have ensured the holistic development of the country, social cohesion and re-connected the people with the nation's rich cultural heritage.Union Defence Minister touched upon some of the path-breaking decisions, including Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Ayushman Bharat and abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, besides India's brave fight against COVID-19 pandemic and measures to get rid of the colonial mindset while instilling the feeling of pride in Indian heritage, traditions and values among the people.Rajnath Singh also shed light on the steps taken towards women's empowerment, including the construction of pucca houses with toilets in rural areas and ensuring that females get equal opportunities as their male counterparts in every field.On the decisions taken to increase the role of women in the Armed Forces, he stated that doors have been opened for girls for admission in Sainik Schools and female officers are being posted at the world's highest battlefield in Siachen Glacier as well as on warships.He added that efforts are being made to make the country completely safe for women and provide them with abundant opportunities.Laying out the roadmap of India's Swarnim Bhavishya from the military and security perspective, Rajnath Singh asserted that the Government is committed to building an India which is completely self-reliant in the defence sector and possesses state-of-the-art weapons and technologies.He highlighted the efforts being made to ensure that the country's youth have ample opportunities if they wish to serve the motherland as defence scientists."We have established new IITs and NITs and the number of seats has also increased. In addition, we have invited ideas in the defence sector through the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) initiative and Technology Development Fund (TDF) which aims to promote start-ups. Due to these steps and many other reforms, India is well on course to soon become one of the leading defence exporters from an importer. We are building a strong and self-reliant India which is the flag-bearer of regional and global peace and, at the same time, has the wherewithal to give a befitting reply to those who try to cast an evil eye," said Shri Rajnath Singh.The Union Defence Minister lauded PM Modi for transforming India's image on the global stage to an assertor from a mere observer.While India is the world's third-largest economy in terms of Purchasing Power Parity, it will, by 2027, become the third-largest economy in terms of nominal GDP as well, he hoped.He voiced the Government's vision to bring India to the forefront in terms of GDP while connecting the people with its country's traditions and culture.ANI19 June 2023 Shared Recently! Tesla Cybertruck arrives in New Zealand for winter testing: Report San Francisco, June 19: Elon Musk-owned Tesla's much-awaited Cybertruck's prototype has been spotted arriving in New Zealand by plane, possibly for the electric pickup truck's last winter testing. Tesla Cybertruck arrives in New Zealand for winter testing: Report According to the company's latest statement, the delivery event of the electric truck will take place "around the end of Q3," which would be at the end of September this year, reports Electrek.Tesla recently told suppliers to be ready for Cybertruck release candidates -- last step before the official start of production -- in late August, followed by the production in early October."While the vehicle is covered, it is pretty easy to recognise the electric pickup truck," the report said.Last week, a prototype of the electric pickup truck was spotted going through a drive-through in California and it was equipped with camouflage.Also, a Cybertruck prototype was spotted stuck in a field in rural Texas last month.In December last year, the electric truck was spotted being worked on in Texas.The company had claimed that the electric pickup truck would hit the market by the end of 2021 when it first announced the Cybertruck in 2019.Meanwhile, Musk had said that the upcoming truck will "serve briefly as a boat" that will help in crossing rivers and other water bodies.According to Musk, the objective is for a Cybertruck to be able to traverse the sea between SpaceX's Starbase and South Padre Island in Texas.IANS19 June 2023 Shared Recently! India has immense potential in cruise industry: Tourism Minister Reddy Panaji, June 19: Union Minister of Tourism G Kishan Reddy on Monday said that with an extended coastline of 7500 km and home to large rivers, India has immense growth potential in the cruise industry. India has immense potential in cruise industry: Tourism Minister Reddy The minister, while speaking at the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Goa, said "With an extended coastline of 7500 km and home to large rivers, India has immense growth potential in the cruise industry. Our government is dedicated to developing infrastructure for ports, domestic and international cruise terminals."The concluding and last G20 Tourism Working Group meeting along with the Tourism Ministerial Meeting began on Monday in Goa.The minister said that the government is trying to harness the power of tourism to boost coastal tourism, beach tourism, light-house tourism and cruise tourism."India is one of the potential cruise tourism destinations with many of its best tourist destinations yet to be disclosed to the world," he said.He said that the government is planning to establish youth tourism clubs in all educational institutes. "These clubs will promote responsible tourism practices," he said."Post Covid pandemic has not only given an opportunity to rebuild the tourism sector, but also to shift focus on the tourism sector and contribute towards green, inclusive and circular economic growth," the minister said.He said that the government is taking steps to eradicate the menace of plastic for the clean India mission. "We are taking all steps to get rid of plastic pollution," he said, adding that the government is working for sustainable tourism."There is a need for collective action and knowledge sharing, best practices to achieve our goal to tackle the plastic waste. We are committed towards it. We need to work together to take steps to contribute to reducing plastic waste," he said.IANS19 June 2023 Shared Recently! Experimental stem cell therapy shows promise for epilepsy patients New York, June 19: An experimental stem cell therapy has reduced seizure frequency by almost 95 per cent in the first two epilepsy patients, according to early results of a trial. Experimental stem cell therapy shows promise for epilepsy patients Developed by San Francisco-based biotech Neurona Therapeutics, the single dose therapy, called NRTX-1001, involves lab-grown neurons which are injected in the patients to silence the seizure activity in the epileptic region of the brain.The regenerative neural cell therapy, NRTX-1001, was derived from human pluripotent stem cells.The preliminary data demonstrate promising reduction (90 per cent) in seizure frequency in the first and second patients at one year and seven-months post-treatment, respectively. In addition, neuropsychological testing suggests an improvement in memory after NRTX-1001 administration."Although our clinical investigation is ongoing in additional patients, it is gratifying to witness the first two patients achieving seizure relief without additional cognitive impairment to date," said Cory Nicholas, the CEO of Neurona Therapeutics, in a statement."We are hopeful that these improvements will continue in the ongoing trial," he added.The early findings were presented at the recently held International Society for Stem Cell Research's annual meeting in Boston, US.The two patients had a history of significant monthly seizure activity that was not controlled by anti-seizure medications.The first patient, treated at SUNY Upstate Medical University, had a seven-year history of seizures, and in the six months prior to the administration of NRTX-1001 experienced an average of 32 seizures per month.The second patient treated in the trial, at the Oregon Health iamp; Science University, had a nine-year history of seizures and averaged 14 seizures per month in the six months prior to treatment.Both patients continue to report reduced overall seizure counts of more than 90 per cent at one year and seven-months post NRTX-1001 administration, respectively. No serious adverse events have been reported."Patient-one has reached the one-year post treatment endpoint and has achieved more than 95 per cent overall monthly seizure reduction, including elimination of all seizure events since the seventh month post-administration of NRTX-1001," said David Blum, Neurona's chief medical officer, in the statement."In addition, this patient has shown improved memory performance on cognitive tests," he added.IANS19 June 2023 Shared Recently! Shahid Rafiq from Kashmirs remote area shines in Class 10 results, sets eyes on IAS Jammu, June 19: Shahid Rafiq, a student from the Pahari ethnic group of Jammu and Kashmir, has secured the third position in his school in the Class 10 examination. Shahid Rafiq from Kashmir's remote area shines in Class 10 results, sets eyes on IAS Hailing from a small border village of Tetwal in Karnah, Kupwara, Shahid said, "The road to success was not an easy one. We had to travel 6 kilometres every day to reach the school. However, I remained focused on my studies and worked hard to achieve this result."When asked about his future plans, Shahid said he wanted to become an IAS officer.Shahid's family is overjoyed with his remarkable achievement.His father, Mohammed Rafiq Banday, a school teacher, said, "I am extremely proud of my son's accomplishment. He has shown great dedication and commitment. I am confident he will achieve great things in life."The recently declared results of the class 10 examination by the J and K Board of School Education have revealed an overall pass percentage of 79.89 per cent. The pass percentage for boys stands at 78.23 per cent, while for girls at 81.68 per cent.Shahid's success story serves as an inspiration to countless other students, demonstrating that with determination and hard work, one can overcome challenges and achieve their goals.His journey highlights the potential of the youth of Jammu and Kashmir and reinforces the importance of quality education in shaping a brighter future for the region.As Shahid sets his sights on the path to becoming an IAS Officer, he serves as a role model for others, proving that dreams can be turned into reality with perseverance and a strong will.His achievement is a testament to the power of education and the transformative impact it can have on individuals and communities alike.The entire community joins Shahid's family in congratulating him on his outstanding achievement, and they wish him the best as he embarks on his journey towards a successful and fulfilling career as an IAS Officer.ANI19 June 2023 Shared Recently! Restrictions on women and girls should be removed in Afghanistan: UN New York, June 19: Representatives from several countries at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) criticized the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and asked the Taliban administration to remove the gender-based restrictions on women and girls, Khaama Press reported. Restrictions on women and girls should be removed in Afghanistan: UN While reviewing the report of Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, the council members called the Taliban's de facto authorities to respect and protect the rights of all people of Afghanistan, including, women, girls, religious minorities and political groups.Envoys from different countries spoke about the critical humanitarian situation in Afghanistan during Monday's assembly. They particularly focused on bans restricting women and girls from accessing education, work and social engagement, as per Khaama Press.They demanded that the 9international community should closely monitor human rights violations in Afghanistan and pressurize the Taliban to alter their conduct.Rina Amiri, the US Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls and Human Rights called the women's rights issues in Afghanistan a strategic priority of the United States. "The US condemns the Taliban's systematic discrimination against women and girls and stands with the people of Afghanistan to fight for human rights and dignity," she said.Amiri warned that women's rights will be endangered everywhere else if the international community does not take action against women's rights violations in Afghanistan.Meanwhile, the French envoy at the meeting said that the Taliban have imprisoned women and girls in houses and darkness. "According to Richard Bennett's report, such restrictions are not seen anywhere else and the repressive policies the Taliban have launched in Afghanistan are considered a "war crime", he added.Whereas, Spain's representative asked for a comprehensive investigation into the Taliban's treatment of women, and whether or not it is considered a "war crime". He also called for the accountability of human rights violators and an end to their immunity, according to Khaama Press.ANI19 June 2023 Shared Recently! Beijing and Moscow will be keenly watching PM Modis visit to US, Research Fellow Washington DC, June 20: Research Fellow & Director at Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia Aparna Pande, said that Beijing and Moscow will be keenly watching Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States (US). Beijing and Moscow will be keenly watching PM Modi's visit to US, Research Fellow While talking about the global powers who will be watching the visit, she said, "This state visit will be watched by Beijing because China has always been concerned that the closer India gets to the United States, the more it moves away from non-alignment. It not only gets economic investment and technology but it is going to get defence equipment like the predator drones which for example India is using... and can use in the maritime area."The second capital that will be watching it is Moscow, she added, "because traditionally India's largest supplier of defence equipment has been Russia but American equipment is high-end and high-technology and so Russia will be concerned that the more India purchases American equipment, the less likely it will in the future purchase Russian equipment.""Third, I would say the capitals in the region will be watching whether it's Islamabad, Dhaka, Kathmandu, or Columbo because from their point of view, the closer India gets to the US, it has the impact on their relationship with the US," she further said.Aparna said, "Symbolically, it is important for President Biden because the Biden administration has placed a strategic bet on India that India's rise is good for American national interest."It's important for PM Modi to show that he has received an official state visit and that he will be meeting President Biden about three times this year; Hiroshima, DC, and Delhi for G20 meet, she said."For an Indian leader to show that the president of only power, as of now, the only superpower in the world values the relationship with India matters a lot," Aparna said.Aparna talked emphasized the India-US relationship and said, "It is important because the India-US economic relationship has grown to about USD 190 billion and they will like to take it to USD 500 billion. The defence partnership has grown with a defence industrial roadmap and India's purchase of the predator drone as well as the GE jet engine and the third is the very strong people-to-people relationship."Indian diaspora which is in New York City is going to be there on Wednesday to welcome everybody on the south lawn on Friday. It shows the strength of people to people dimension which has normally been the strongest element of this partnership..., she said.India and US are working on the Indo-Pacific strategy, its economic forum, Quad, and middle eastern Quad.ANI20 June 2023 Shared Recently! Mera Booth, Sabse Mazboot program in Bhopal to witness dialogue with lakhs of energetic BJP workers: PM Modi Bhopal, June 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the groundbreaking Mera Booth, Sabse Mazboot program which is scheduled to take place on June 27 in Bhopal. 'Mera Booth, Sabse Mazboot' program in Bhopal to witness dialogue with lakhs of energetic BJP workers: PM Modi This momentous event is set to invigorate the spirit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and engage millions of enthusiastic party workers."The Mera Booth, Sabse Mazboot program organized in Bhopal on June 27 is going to give a new resolve and a new power to our positive politics. The day will witness a dialogue with lakhs of energetic BJP workers dedicated to the cause of the world's largest democracy," tweeted the Prime Minister in Hindi.Under the banner of "Mera Booth, Sabse Mazboot," the program aims to empower BJP workers by providing them with renewed resolve and strength in their political endeavours.PM Modi is scheduled to visit Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal on June 27 as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gears up for the upcoming assembly elections in five states.ANI20 June 2023 Shared Recently! Ukraine claims recapture of eight settlements in southern region in past two weeks Kyiv, June 20: Amid the ongoing conflict with Russia, Ukrainian forces have recaptured eight settlements from Russian forces in the south of Ukraine in the past two weeks, CNN reported citing Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar. Ukraine claims recapture of eight settlements in southern region in past two weeks In a Telegram post, Hanna Maliar said offensive operations in the Berdiansk and Melitopol directions in the Zaporizhzhia region have liberated the communities of Novodarivka, Levadne, Storozheve, Makarivka, Blahodatne, Lobkove, Neskuchne and Piatykhatky.The status of Piatykhatky was in dispute on Sunday after the Russian government denied a report from its own installed leader in southern Ukraine and refuted his claim that Ukrainian forces had recaptured the village, CNN reported.On Monday, Hanna Maliar said the Ukrainian army had advanced 7 kilometres into Russian-occupied territory in the southern Tavria sector, recapturing an area of 113 square kilometres (44 square miles, according to CNN report. She praised the "professionalism and courage" of Ukrainian soldiers for the advances in the frontline.Hanna Maliar said that Russian forces in eastern Ukraine launched over 5800 attacks and used over 277,000 munitions over the past week, the report said. She said that Russian soldiers had been more active against a Ukrainian advance near Bakhmut and Lyman-Kupyansk, Avdiivka and Mariinka.Earlier on June 13, Ukrainian forces recaptured seven villages from Russian forces in the past week, CNN reported while quoting Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar.Hanna Maliar in a post on Telegram said the "advance of the offensive troops amounted to 6.5 kilometres" in Donetsk and Tavria. She further said, "The area taken under control amounted to 90 square kilometres," CNN reported.Maliar said that the villages that have been recaptured including Lobkove, Levadne, Makarivka Novodarivka, Neskuchne, Storozheve and Blahodatne were liberated.Earlier on June 13, three people were killed and thirteen others sustained injuries in a Russian missile attack on Odesa, a Black Sea port in Ukraine, Al Jazeera reported citing Ukraine's military.Russia fired four cruise missiles towards the city, according to the southern military command of Ukraine. Two missiles were reportedly destroyed by the military before they could reach their objectives, reported Al Jazeera.As per the Al Jazeera report, as a result of air combat and blast waves, a business centre, an educational institution, a residential complex, food establishments and shops in the city centre were damaged," the southern command of the Ukrainian military said.ANI20 June 2023 Shared Recently! Costa Serena deploys 23 new cruises in India for the winter season New Delhi, June 19: Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ayush Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday launched a new cruise service programme for the domestic market of the country by Costa Cruises. Costa Serena deploys 23 new cruises in India for the winter season The cruise service has been started by Costa Serena-- an Italian-flagged ship marking the beginning of the maiden cruise service by an international cruise company in the domestic circuit.The 23 new sailings, which are set to commence in India from November 4 this year and January 1 of 2024, will call on the ports of Mumbai, Cochin, Goa, and for the first time Lakshadweep, Costa Cruises said at an event here.Speaking on the occasion, Sarbananda Sonowal said that the Central government is committed to developing the coastal regions of India, unearthing the huge potential that lies within them."The immense potential of cruise tourism in India has largely remained untapped, both in the domestic as well as international circuits. Under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, we remain committed to developing the coastal regions of India, unearthing the huge potential that lies within them," the Union Minister said.He further said that launching a new cruise service programme is the beginning of a new age of development in the coastal cruise service and tourism sectors."Today, we move ahead further in coastal cruise tourism, heralding a new age of development. Our coastal regions are full of cultural and historical riches. With the help of an internationally reputed service available for tourists to explore the coastal regions of India, I believe this is the beginning of a new age of development in the coastal cruise service and tourism sectors which will further the aim that we want to achieve via Sagarmala under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, towards an Atmanirbhar Bharat. I am glad that this programme also aligns with Narendra Modi ji's vision of 'Dekho Apna Desh' - an initiative that was launched as an appeal by the honourable Prime Minister to Indians to prefer domestic tourism," he added.Calling on the potential cruise industry, the Minister urged cruise liners to attract and give experience to more and more people from the hinterland."India has a tremendous cruise potential and more and more cruise liners should take this opportunity. This cruise will also improve India's Bilateral relationship with Italy," he added.The new cruise programme launched by Costa Serena will offer a mixed variety of cruises from 2 to 5 days whereby visits to Mumbai, Goa, Cochin and Lakshadweep are on the anvil.Tourists travelling onboard will be able to enjoy an international holiday experience.The company confirmed a total of 23 new sailings in India from November 4 this year to January 1, 2024, with an exclusive visit to domestic destinations.Costa Serena is an Italian-flagged ship built by Fincantieri, which entered service in 2007.With 114,000 gross tons and a capacity of up to 3,780 guests, onboard guests will enjoy a wide range of international-style experiences, enriched with the Italian warm hospitality that has characterized Costa for 75 years of history.The ship has a total of 1500 cabins, 505 of which have private balconies, and 14 passenger decks.To make the most of their cruise on board, guests can choose from a wellness centre and a gym with a sea view, a beauty salon, a theatre, restaurants serving Indian and international cuisine, bars, 4 swimming pools, 2 of which have a self-propelled glass roof, a shopping area, and a kids' club for children and teenagers.ANI20 June 2023 Shared Recently! Our aim is to build an Aatmanirbhar defence sector: Rajnath Singh New Delhi, June 19: Laying out the roadmap of India's Swarnim Bhavishya from the military and security perspective, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday asserted that the government is committed to building an India which is completely self-reliant in the defence sector and possesses state-of-the-art weapons & technologies, said a press release by Ministry of Defence on Monday. Our aim is to build an 'Aatmanirbhar' defence sector: Rajnath Singh Singh was addressing an event, organised on the theme 'Swarnim Bhavishya', in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, added the press release.He asserted that the steps taken by the Government in the last few years have ensured the holistic development of the country, social cohesion and re-connected the people with the nation's rich cultural heritage.The Defence Minister touched upon some of the path-breaking decisions, including Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Ayushman Bharat and abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, besides India's brave fight against COVID-19 pandemic and measures to get rid of the colonial mindset while instilling the feeling of pride in Indian heritage, traditions and values among the people.He also shed light on the steps taken towards women's empowerment, including the construction of pucca houses with toilets in rural areas and ensuring that females get equal opportunities as their male counterparts in every field.He also highlighted the efforts being made to ensure that the country's youth have ample opportunities if they wish to serve the motherland as defence scientists.On the decisions taken to increase the role of women in the Armed Forces, he stated that doors have been opened for girls for admission in Sainik Schools and female officers are being posted at the world's highest battlefield in Siachen glacier as well as on warships. He added that efforts are being made to make the country completely safe for women and provide them with abundant opportunities."We have established new IITs and NITs and the number of seats has also increased. In addition, we have invited ideas in the defence sector through the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) initiative and Technology Development Fund (TDF) which aims to promote start-ups. Due to these steps and many other reforms, India is well on course to soon become one of the leading defence exporters from an importer. We are building a strong and self-reliant India which is the flag-bearer of regional and global peace and, at the same time, has the wherewithal to give a befitting reply to those who try to cast an evil eye," Singh said.The Defence Minister lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for transforming India's image on the global stage to an assertor from a mere observer. While India is the world's third-largest economy in terms of Purchasing Power Parity, it will, by 2027, become the third-largest economy in terms of nominal GDP as well, he hoped. He voiced the Government's vision to bring India at the forefront in terms of GDP while connecting the people with its country's traditions and culture.ANI20 June 2023 Shared Recently! Nobody was expected to blink when US State Secy Blinken met Chinese President Xi Beijing, June 19: Summits happen between equals. Only summits succeed or fail. Antony Blinken is only US Secretary of State. Nothing much was expected out of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. That the meeting came about at all is news. Nobody was expected to blink when US State Secy Blinken met Chinese President Xi Such is the antagonism between the two countries that till the last minute neither side confirmed the meeting would happen. The US State Department made it official with just an hour to go.The meeting itself lasted 35 minutes, enough time for the shutterbugs to record the handshake and both leaders to articulate diplomatic inanities.Xi was heard saying, "The two sides have agreed to follow through on the common understandings President Biden and I have reached in Bali."If Antony Blinken said anything, it was not available in the Chinese recording. But he was seen saying something to the Chinese President.Diplomatic logic says there cannot be a higher-level meeting after this. Only the Summit remains. Is this a step-by-step close-in to a possible meeting between Xi and US President Joe Biden? Speculative.The fact is, the meeting will at best ensure that either side commits no irreversible mistake for some time in the future and keeps channels of communication open despite open hostility.Officially, they claim to be in the process of reducing the risk of misperception and miscalculation, but there is no indication that things are starting to turn around.Blinken met other Chinese leaders as well in Beijing, but no side showed any inclination to loosen their hardened positions on disagreements over a range of issues. The issues are many.To recall the major ones, the issues include the tariff and trade war, Taiwan, human rights conditions in China and Hong Kong, Chinese military assertiveness in the South China Sea, and Russia's war in Ukraine.In the opening round of talks, Blinken met for nearly six hours with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang after which both countries said they had agreed to continue high-level discussions. However, there was no sign that any of the most fractious issues between them were closer to resolution.The Chinese state media said Qin Gang pointed out that the Taiwan question is at the core of China's core interests, it is the most significant issue in China-US relations, and it is also the most prominent risk. China has been urging the US side to adhere to the one-China principle and the three China-US Joint Communiques, and truly implement its commitment not to support "Taiwan independence".Blinken then met China's top diplomat Wang Yi for about three hours. The US State Department said Blinken "underscored the importance of responsibly managing the competition between the United States and the PRC through open channels of communication to ensure competition does not veer into conflict."China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement wrote that Blinken's visit "coincides with a critical juncture in China-US relations and it is necessary to make a choice between dialogue or confrontation, cooperation or conflict," and blamed the "US side's erroneous perception of China, leading to incorrect policies towards China" for the current "low point" in relations.Blinken's exchanges with the two Chinese officials makes it clear that achieving something tangible was not on the agenda. It was an effort by both sides to keep stirring the pot and not allow anything to spill out.For instance, the American side reportedly invited Qin to the US which the latter accepted but not before Beijing made it clear - and the Americans echoed the sentiment - that "the China-US relationship is at the lowest point since its establishment".The Blinken visit comes after so much preparation. The initial schedule in February was deferred after the Americans shot down a Chinese "surveillance balloon" over US territory. Had the meeting still taken place and Xi snubbed the American, the freeze in ties would have been complete. Both sides did not want that.So, efforts were made to keep the channels of communication open. CIA chief William Burns visited China in May. China sent its Commerce Minister to the US. Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan called on Chinese foreign policy adviser Wang Yi in Vienna in May.Even as the meetings took place, neither side stopped the exchange of angry rhetoric from both countries over the Taiwan Strait, their broader intentions in the Indo-Pacific, China's refusal to condemn Russia for its war against Ukraine, and US allegations from Washington that Beijing is attempting to boost its worldwide surveillance capabilities, including in Cuba.Earlier this month, the Chinese Defence Minister rebuffed a request from US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for a meeting on the sidelines of a security symposium in Singapore, a sign of continuing discontent.Just before Blinken travelled to Beijing, US President Joe Biden said he hoped to be able to meet President Xi in the coming months to take up the plethora of differences that divide them.Judging by the reactions of both sides after the Blinken-Xi meeting, the agenda for a possible Summit is being set and the issues and stands are being outlined already.The Chinese hope that the US will have an objective and rational understanding of China, walk towards China, maintain the political foundation of China-US relations, and "calmly, professionally, and rationally handle unexpected incidents".As Wang stated, they expect the US not to assume China was seeking dominance, and not to "misjudge" Beijing based on the trajectories of traditional Western powers. "This is key as to whether the US policy towards China can truly return to objectivity and rationality," Wang said.On Taiwan, Wang stressed that safeguarding its national unity would always be at the core of China's core interests, and that there was "no room for compromise". Qin also warned that Taiwan was "the core of China's core interests", and that it presented the "most prominent risk" for ties between the two countries.The American side has a single-point agenda that it openly declared, the Secretary made clear that the United States will always stand up for the interests and values of the American people and work with its allies and partners to advance our vision for a world that is free, open, and upholds the international rules-based order.ANI20 June 2023 Shared Recently! Tunisian prez meets French, German ministers on ties, illegal immigration Tunis, June 20: Tunisian President Kais Saied met with visiting French and German Interior Ministers, Gerald Darmanin and Nancy Faeser, to discuss bilateral cooperation and the issue of illegal immigration. Tunisian prez meets French, German ministers on ties, illegal immigration According to a statement released by the presidency on Monday, the meeting focused on the strategic cooperation and partnership relations between Tunisia and the European Union in various fields."The President and the Ministers confirmed their keenness to strengthen and develop relations between Tunisia and the EU towards broader horizons in line with new visions and perceptions," the statement said.During the meeting, Saied said Tunisia would not be a guardian of Europe's borders in preventing the flow of illegal immigrants as the country will only guard its own borders, Xinhua news agency reported."Tunisia will not accept the settlement of immigrants on its soil," the President said, calling for a collective approach to eliminating the root causes of illegal immigration.Earlier on Monday, the French Interior Minister revealed at a press conference in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, that his country would offer 25.8 million euro ($28.2 million) to Tunisia to stop illegal immigrants from reaching European shores.This visit came a week after a previous one by a delegation of President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte to discuss relations between Tunisia and the EU and ways to combat illegal immigration.Located in the central Mediterranean, Tunisia is one of the most popular transit points for illegal immigration to Europe.Although Tunisian authorities have adopted rigorous measures to tackle the problem, the number of illegal immigrants from Tunisia to Italy has been on the rise.IANS20 June 2023 Shared Recently! UN chief calls for renewed efforts to combat hate speech United Nations, June 20: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for renewed efforts to counter the toxic and destructive phenomenon of hate speech, in a message to mark the second anniversary of the International Day for Countering Hate Speech. UN chief calls for renewed efforts to combat hate speech "Hate speech is used to stoke fear and division, often for political gain, and at immense cost to communities and societies," he said on Monday.Guterres added that hate speech incites violence, exacerbates tensions, and impedes efforts to foster mediation and dialogue. It is one of the warning signs of genocide and other atrocity crimes, he said.The UN chief's message was delivered by Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide, at a high-level event to commemorate the international day, which is officially observed on June 18, at the UN headquarters in New York.Speaking at the event, UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi said that countering hate speech is a key component of atrocity prevention, calling for more global action towards eradicating it, Xinhua news agency reported."Hate speech is an attack on human dignity and one of the most toxic forms of misinformation. We must address it because we know that hate speech leads to hate crimes," he added.Korosi noted that the International Day for Countering Hate Speech encourages everyone to do their part by identifying hate speech early, confronting it directly and halting it immediately.In July 2021, the UN General Assembly highlighted global concerns over "the exponential spread and proliferation of hate speech" around the world and adopted a resolution on "promoting inter-religious and intercultural dialogue and tolerance in countering hate speech".The resolution proclaimed June 18 as the International Day for Countering Hate Speech.IANS20 June 2023 Shared Recently! Modi says US visit a reflection of vigour of bilateral ties New Delhi, June 20: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on his two-nation trip to the US and Egypt on Tuesday, he said his invitation to Washington by President Joe Biden is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies. Modi says US visit a 'reflection of vigour' of bilateral ties "I am travelling to the United States of America on a state visit at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. This special invitation is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies," he said in a statement just before departing."I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the UN Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community. I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported India's proposal in December 2014 to recognise an International Day of Yoga."I will thereafter travel to Washington D.C. President Biden and I have had the opportunity to meet several times since my last Official Visit to the US in September 2021. This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership," he added.The Prime Minister noted that the India-US ties are "multifaceted, with deepening engagements across sectors"."The US is India's largest trade partner in goods and services. We collaborate closely in science iamp; technology, education, health, defence and security fields."The initiative on critical and emerging technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration to defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, Artificial Intelligence and biotech sectors. Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacifi."My discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders will provide an opportunity to consolidate our bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and IPEF."I will also have the pleasure of joining President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for the State Banquet along with a number of dignitaries."The US Congress has always provided strong bi-partisan support to India-US ties. During my visit, I will address a Joint Session of the US Congress at the invitation of Congressional leadership. Strong people-to-people linkages have been instrumental in developing the trust between our countries. I look forward to meeting the vibrant Indian-American community that represents the best of our societies. I will also meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating our trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains," the Prime Minister said.He expressed confidence that his visit to the US "will reinforce our ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Together we stand stronger in me in meeting the shared global challenges".After wrapping his US visit, Modi will then will travel to Cairo from June 24-25 at the invitation of Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi."I am excited to pay a state visit to a close and friendly country for the first time," he said."We had the pleasure of receiving President Sisi as the Chief Guest at our Republic Day celebrations this year. These two visits in the span of a few months is a reflection of our rapidly evolving partnership with Egypt, which was elevated to a 'Strategic Partnership' during President Sisi's visit."I look forward to my discussions with President Sisi and senior members of the Egyptian Government to impart further momentum to our civilisational and multi-faceted partnership. I will also have the opportunity to interact with the vibrant Indian diaspora in Egypt," Modi added.IANS20 June 2023 Shared Recently! India hosts technical briefing for 20 outreach nations in Vienna as Wassenaar Arrangement plenary chair Vienna [Austria], June 20: As the plenary chair of Wassenaar Arrangement, India hosted a technical briefing for over 20 Outreach Partner countries and Participating States at its Enhanced Technical Briefing (ETB) in Vienna. India hosts technical briefing for 20 outreach nations in Vienna as Wassenaar Arrangement plenary chair Taking to Twitter, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "A key initiative of India as the plenary chair of Wassenaar Arrangement! India hosts over 20 Outreach Partner countries and Participating States at its Enhanced Technical Briefing (ETB) today in Vienna. Being undertaken after 5 years, the WA ETB shared national implementation experiences and recent developments in Export Controls."India assumed the chairmanship of the plenary of the Wassenaar Arrangement on January 1 for one year.At the 26th annual Plenary of the WA held in Vienna on November 30 to December 1, Ireland handed over the chairmanship to Jaideep Mazumdar, India's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to UN and International Organizations in Vienna.India also became a member of Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies, showcasing the country's forward strides in geopolitics.India joined the Wassenaar Arrangement on December 08, 2017, as its 42nd participating state.Wassenaar Arrangement is a multilateral export control regime, which, through regular information exchange among members on transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies, seeks to promote transparency and greater responsibility in such transfers and prevent destabilizing accumulations.The Wassenaar Arrangement Plenary is the decision-making body of the Arrangement which operates based on consensus.ANI20 June 2023 Shared Recently! Arrival of PM Modi in US is an important event, says Hindi, Sanskrit Scholar Elliott McCarter Washington, June 20: The arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United States is an important event, Hindi and Sanskrit Scholar Elliott McCarter said. Arrival of PM Modi in US is an important event, says Hindi, Sanskrit Scholar Elliott McCarter Taking to Twitter, Indian Embassy in the US shared McCarte's video on Monday (local time).In the video, McCarter, who is a scholar at Vanderbilt University, said, "The arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from India, the world's largest democracy, to America is an important event. We heartily welcome him.""The kind of preparations being made in America to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi is proof of India's increasing influence in the world. Everyone knows Narendra Modi's love for Hindi. As a Hindi teacher in America, I hope that with their cooperation the possibilities of Hindi teaching in America will increase," he added.The Prime Minister is all set to start his historic visit to the US today. At the invitation of US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a state visit to the US from June 20.The visit will commence in New York where the Prime Minister will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21.PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22 and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening, according to a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The PM will also address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress on June 22.On June 23, the prime minister will be jointly hosted at a luncheon by US Vice President Kamala Harris and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In addition to official engagements, the Prime Minister is scheduled to have several curated interactions with leading CEOs, professionals, and other stakeholders. He will also meet members of the Indian Diaspora. The PM will then travel to Cairo to pay a state visit to Egypt from June 24-25.ANI20 June 2023 Shared Recently! According to a St. Francois County criminal complaint, David House Jr., 34, of Bonne Terre is charged with one count of felony resisting arrest and five misdemeanors following an alleged car chase after a Missouri State Highway Patrolman attempted a simple traffic stop. A probable cause statement from the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) states on March 17 a trooper saw a Ford F-150 fail to make a complete stop at Highway 8 and Old Highway 8. The report states the trooper activated his lights and siren in an attempt to stop the truck but the truck quickly accelerated instead of stopping. The report states the truck made a sudden turn onto Mitchell Road and reached speeds of up to 81 mph in a 35 mph speed zone. The chase allegedly progressed at high speed east on Mitchell Road to Davis Crossing south to Highway 32 West. While continuing to travel west at high speed, the Ford allegedly crossed the center line and forced a vehicle traveling the opposite direction off of the right side of the highway. A second vehicle was reportedly forced off the road when the Ford failed to properly negotiate a curve in the highway. The Ford allegedly crossed the center line a third time and nearly forced yet another vehicle from the highway. The Ford turned onto Loughboro Road and the trooper reportedly watched the driver throw out a cigarette before eventually pulling over. The report states the trooper spoke with the driver and identified him as House. House allegedly told the trooper he had drug paraphernalia in the truck. When the trooper searched the truck, the report states, paraphernalia was found. The trooper reportedly Mirandized and arrested House then transported him to the St. Francois County Jail. The report also states that a record check at the time of arrest revealed House was on parole for second degree burglary and had three outstanding felony parole violation warrants for his arrest. House is currently out on bond and awaiting a probation violation hearing on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. in the St. Francois County Courthouse for prior convictions. Meanwhile, a warrant was issued on May 22 for the most recent alleged car chase. A Missouri Case Net history on House shows a lengthy felony conviction history including forgery and property damage 2015; fraud in 2017; tampering with a motor vehicle in 2017; and in 2019, two counts of burglary and one count of possession of burglary tools. The 2019 case also held convictions for several misdemeanors. Treat Williams daughter remembers late actor on Fathers Day, one week after his death Washington, June 20: American actor Treat Williams' daughter paid tribute to him on Father's Day, less than a week after his untimely death. Treat Williams' daughter remembers late actor on Father's Day, one week after his death Elinor Ellie Williams took to Instagram Story on Sunday to share two photos of the late actor, Richard Treat Williams.With a throwback photo of a young Treat playing with Ellie when she was a kid, she wrote, "I love you, Dad. I miss you."In the second picture, a more recent image of the beloved Hollywood star smiling while riding a tractor was shown. Ellie captioned, "I took this picture of my pops when I was in college. He's so handsome ."The 'Everwood' star died in a motorbike accident in Vermont last Monday. He was 71, Page Six reported."He was making a left or a right, and a car cut him off," Treat's representative, Barry McPherson, said shortly after. "I'm completely devastated. He was the sweetest person. He was extremely gifted."McPherson went on to say that Treat, who he called 'the heart of Hollywood since the late 1970s,' was an actor's actor who filmmakers adored.Entertainers from all walks of life, including Kim Cattrall, Hilaria Baldwin, Matt Bomer, and Melissa Gilbert, took to social media to pay their respects.Ellie spoke out about her father's death two days later.She wrote alongside an old photo of the 'Hair' actress, "This is a pain I have never felt. I am absolutely shattered."Despite her terrible heartbreak, she thanked everyone who has sent messages and kept her family in their hearts, as per Page Six.Since June 1988, Treat had been married to Ellie's mother, actor and producer Pam Van Sant.Gill Williams, the couple's 30-year-old son, was born in December 1992, and Ellie arrived in September 1998.ANI20 June 2023 Shared Recently! Despite monsoon ban lift, decline in fish catch leaves TN fishermen worried Chennai, June 20: The traditional fishing hamlets of Tamil Nadu are in despair after the fishermen who had ventured into the sea from Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi and other areas did not get the expected catch. Despite monsoon ban lift, decline in fish catch leaves TN fishermen worried Syvestor Daniel, a fisherman from Kanyakumari who braved the rough seas and a directive from the fisheries department ventured into the sea said that their group could get only half of what was expected. He said that they had spent around Rs 1.5 lakh rupees for diesel and other expenses but the catch of shrimp could fetch only a little over 1.65 lakhs. He said that this would lead to no one venturing into the sea.Fishermen of Ramanathapuram are also equally worried at the dwindling catch. Thomas Joseph, a fisherman from the hamlet while speaking to IANS said, "We are at a loss. Generally we get a good catch and things used to look up after the ban but this time our catch has come down just half of what we used to get. Yesterday, we could get only 200 kg of shrimps, lobsters and squids against 450 kg and you can very well understand the plight of us."The fishermen said that the environment pollution caused by major ships passing through international channels and usage of banned fishing nets were the major reasons for the dwindling catch. Many fishermen also cite the extensive use of monofilament fishing nets by country boats as being another reason for the loss of fish wealth.Tamil Nadu fisheries department officials told IANS that they would study the matter and give a proper report to the government regarding the complaints raised by the fishermen.IANS20 June 2023 Shared Recently! PM Modi thanks people for sharing enthusiasm on his upcoming visit to US New Delhi, June 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday thanked people from all walks of life, including the members of the US Congress for sharing enthusiasm on his upcoming visit to the US. PM Modi thanks people for sharing enthusiasm on his upcoming visit to US He stated that the diverse support underlines the depth of ties between India and the US.Taking to his official Twitter handle, PM Modi stated, "People from all walks of life including Members of Congress, thought leaders and others have been sharing their enthusiasm on my upcoming USA visit. I thank them for their kind words. Such diverse support underlines the depth of the India-USA relationship."PM Modi's statement comes after US Congress leaders extended a warm welcome to him for his upcoming visit. US lawmakers have been sharing videos to express their excitement over the upcoming visit of PM Modi.Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut Susan Bysiewicz said that she hopes his visit will pave the way for a stronger and closer partnership between the two nations, as well as, between India and the state of Connecticut.The official Twitter account of the Embassy of India, Washington, DC posted her video and appreciated her message. In the video, Susan Bysiewicz welcomed PM Modi on behalf of the people of Connecticut on his state visit to the United States."The Indian diaspora has made many contributions to our state. I hope your visit is successful and I am confident that will pave the way for an even stronger and closer partnership between India and the United States and between India and the state of Connecticut," she said in the video. She also spoke about the Indian relationship with Connecticut and said that India-US shared values of diversity nurture the bond between the two countriesMike Collins, a member of the House of Representatives from the 10th Congressional District, also extended PM Modi a hearty welcome to the US in his short video address."We have a very special guest coming in to speak to both chambers on June 22 and that's Prime Minister Modi from India," the Congressman from Georgia said in the video message.He also highlighted the "great relations" that India and US share not just economically but also the combined efforts the two countries are putting in to counter China, which he called a "big enemy."The President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Micron Technology, Sanjay Mehrotra lauded PM Modi's vision for India's technological advancement on Saturday.In a video shared by the Embassy of India in the US, the top Indian-American CEO has said that he is looking forward to the state visit of PM Modi and added that he would like to extend a warm welcome to him."We see much promise in India as part of our global footprint. Indians have made their mark in every field, be it in the private sector, academia or government enriching the cultural fabric of countries worldwide," he said.At the invitation of US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a state visit to the US from June 20. The visit will commence in New York where the Prime Minister will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21.PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22 and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening, according to a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The PM will also address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress on June 22.On June 23, the prime minister will be jointly hosted at a luncheon by US Vice President Kamala Harris and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In addition to official engagements, the Prime Minister is scheduled to have several curated interactions with leading CEOs, professionals, and other stakeholders. He will also meet members of the Indian Diaspora. The PM will then travel to Cairo to pay a state visit to Egypt from June 24-25.ANI20 June 2023 Shared Recently! There is danger from Australia: Englands Stuart Broad on fifth day of 1st Ashes Test Birmingham, June 20: After setting up a thrilling final day of the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston on Tuesday, England veteran pacer Stuart Broad insists there are still a lot of dangerous Australia batters for hosts to face on the nail-biting fifth day. There is danger from Australia: England's Stuart Broad on fifth day of 1st Ashes Test The opening Test of the Ashes hangs in the balance as Australia closed on 107/3, still 174 behind with one day's play remaining.Australia needs 174 runs more to win the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston, and England needs seven wickets, so Broad is aware that visitors will be dangerous on day five.Broad first dismissed Marnus Labuschagne (13) and then he struck again to dismiss Steve Smith for 6."It's all set up to be a fantastic day. We're obviously delighted to have Warner, Marnus and Smith back in the pavilion because they're world-class players. But we know the Aussies have got a lot of danger to come so we've got to be right on the money," Sky Sports quoted Broad as saying."I don't think any batter is going to come in and say it's a fantastic pitch to bat on. It's turgid and hard to time the ball on. And no bowler's going to say it's not carrying or moving particularly. It's a hard working pitch, you've got to create pressure and hit the pitch as hard as you can," he added.But outstanding four-wicket hauls for Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon saw England bowled out for 273, leaving a target of 281 for the visitors to win the Edgbaston Test.In addition, Broad is hoping for some bad weather on day five to increase England's prospects after Australia's victory on day three while playing in cloud cover.Just before play was halted by rain, Scott Boland and Australia's skipper Pat Cummins were able to get rid of England's openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, and Broad acknowledged that England might benefit from a similar spell on the final day."There is still two results on the table I think. The intent from ball one was pretty clear. We are not a results driven team in any way, shape, or form and you almost add pressure on yourself when you set targets of what you want to achieve," said Broad."This could have been a draw on this type of pitch so us forcing the game forward makes a result possible tomorrow."I think there is supposed to be a bit of cloud around tomorrow. We saw how much it zipped around when there was the cloud the other day. If you can get lucky as a bowling group and get an hour of that you can bring the game home pretty quickly. We feel pretty confident we can go and get 7 wickets and if we turn up tomorrow and there is a bit of cloud, I will have a smile on my face," he added.ANI20 June 2023 Shared Recently! Union Home Minister inaugurates newly constructed park in Ahmedabad Ahmedabad, June 20: Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated a newly constructed park by the Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC)at New Ranip in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Union Home Minister inaugurates newly constructed park in Ahmedabad Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was also present at the inauguration of the park.Amit Shah who is on a day-long visit to Gujarat earlier participated in the 'Mangla Aarti' (part of worship) at the 400-year-old Jagannath temple in Jamalpur area ahead of the 146th Rath Yatra in the city.The 'Ratha Yatra' Festival celebrated in Ahmedabad, Gujarat is considered to be the second biggest Rath Yatra in the country after the Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra.The Home Minister is also scheduled to attend several public events that include the inauguration of a railway flyover and the 'Bhoomi Poojan' event of Trimurti Hospital in Ahmedabad's Bavla area.Shah will inaugurate the newly constructed Jagatpur railway flyover by AMC and Railways in Ahmedabad's Chandlodia area.ANI20 June 2023 Shared Recently! Tom Cruise does death defying bike stunt in Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One Los Angeles, June 20: Actor Tom Cruise-starrer action spy thriller 'Mission Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One' premiered in Rome. The movie features some very detailed and elaborate stunt-work, one of which includes Cruise doing a death-defying stunt as he rides his bike off the edge of a cliff and does a parachute jump, which is among the film's highlights. Tom Cruise does death defying bike stunt in 'Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One' The seventh installment in the franchise, 'Dead Reckoning Part One' follows the events of 'Mission Impossible Fallout', where Ethan Hunt and his crew of secret agents have to save the world from a global nuclear catastrophe.The 2018 release has been the highest-grossing entry in the franchise yet, grossing $792 million at the global box office.Speaking about the stunt, actor Simon Pegg who plays the hacker Benji told 'Variety' "It's become a kind of self-perpetuating evolving relationship where they've just egged each other on and challenged each other to move the story forward; to increase the scale; increase the ambition."The stunt has been described by Cruise as one of the most dangerous he's ever done, and it required months of prep work prior to its execution.Speaking to 'Deadline' during the Monday premiere, Simon Pegg further added that there is a genuine fear that such death defying stunts may lead to them permanently losing Tom Cruise. He told 'Deadline', "You know, I'm lucky because Benji just kind of stays behind the computer and he does his thing.""Tom is jumping off cliffs on a motorbike he's hanging his you know, hanging off trains - it's genuinely dangerous stuff. There's always a sense that, you know, one day, something might go wrong we might lose Tom, you know. Anytime there's a big stunt, we all have that sense of, you know, fear, but he always pulls it off."Directed by Christopher Mc Quarrie and produced by Skydance, 'Mission Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One' stars Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby, Rebecca Ferguson and Henry Czrney in key roles and will release in US on July 12, 2023 with Part Two set for a June 28, 2024 release.IANS20 June 2023 Shared Recently! The Trial actor Aseem Hattangady calls bona-fide star Kajol a cooperative actor Mumbai, June 20: Actor Aseem Hattangady, who has been receiving a lot of positive response to his work in the streaming show 'Scoop', will soon be seen sharing the screen with Bollywood star Kajol in the upcoming OTT release 'The Trial: Pyaar, Kaanoon, Dhokha'. The actor said that working with Kajol was an amazing experience and that she is one of easiest, fun and cooperative co-actors he has ever worked with. 'The Trial' actor Aseem Hattangady calls 'bona-fide' star Kajol a 'cooperative' actor In the show, Aseem plays the character of Illyas, an old friend of Noyonika (Kajol) and Rajiv (Jisshu Sengupta) who is a political fixer and problem solver. Illyas is well-read, sharp, witty, and street-smart, and he knows how to get what he wants.Describing his rapport with Kajol he shared, "It's kajol! Working with her is a dream come true. Honestly, I was a little bit nervous when I got the news that I'd be working with her on this show. She is a national treasure and a bona-fide film star. But whatever nervousness I had, it soon disappeared when I met her and worked with her".He further mentioned, "I realised she is one of the easiest, fun and cooperative co-actor I've ever worked with. I don't know what it is, but I was so relaxed working with her. And let me tell you behind the star is a committed actor. She really does her prep, explores every choice for her character and isn't afraid to try something new - Hallmarks of a good actor. No wonder she's going to deliver a mind blowing performance in aThe Trial'".He also revealed that he formed close relationships with his co-actors and the team, and they had long heartfelt conversations about life, diets, dreams, and everything else under the sun."There isn't a topic we haven't covered", he added.Talking about how he prepared for the role, he said, "I was happy to put in so much effort to bring out the different aspects of my character in The Trial! I paid special attention to my character arc in the series and made sure that I wasn't monotone in my performance. I was able to recognize the different roles that Illyas played when interacting with the characters in the show, and I was committed to portraying each aspect of him in a unique way. I dedicated myself to the role, and I'm hoping the audience will appreciate the work I've put in".'The Trial', directed by Suparn Verma, will stream on Disney+ Hotstar from July 14.IANS20 June 2023 Shared Recently! Modis visit will reaffirm strength of Indo-US strategic partnership: USISPF New York, June 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit sends a strong message that the relationship between India and the US is critical and pivotal and the most defining partnership of the 21st century, the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) said on Tuesday. Modi's visit will reaffirm strength of Indo-US strategic partnership: USISPF "This historic and important state visit sends a strong message that the US-India relationship is critical and pivotal and the most defining partnership of the 21st century," USISPF President and CEO, Mukesh Aghi said."Prime Minister Modi's state visit will reaffirm, the strength of the strategic partnership and cement our relations in defence, energy, healthcare, technology, and education. This relationship is best epitomised by the concept that these are two democracies, sharing a common vision," Aghi said in a statement.Prime Minister Modi is visiting the US from Wednesday to Saturday at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.The visit includes a state dinner as well as an address to the joint session of Congress on Thursday.Welcoming Prime Minister Modi USISPF Chairman and Chairman Emeritus of Cisco, John Chambers, said "It is an honour to have Prime Minister Modi back in the US. He has been a role model for many of us around the world with Digital India and how he brings those benefits to every citizen across the country."Prime Minister Modi is able to build relationships with various stakeholders in the United States and focuses on the win-win aspect. Prime Minister Modi has the ability to inspire hope and translate hope into vision and vision into results and those benefits are well evinced."Before flying to the US for a landmark state visit, Prime Minister Modi said India is in the process of gaining its rightful position in the world."We do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world," the Prime Minister said in an interview to The Wall Street Journal."There is an unprecedented trust between the leaders of the US and India," Modi said.Modi's visit will commence in New York where he will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the UN headquarters on Wednesday.He will be the third Indian leader to make a state visit to the US with the previous two visits by former president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in June 1963 and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November 2009.IANS20 June 2023 Shared Recently! IndiGos order for 500 Airbus A320 family aircraft landmark for industry: Scindia New Delhi, June 20: Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia on Tuesday termed the IndiGo Airlines order for a staggering 500 Airbus A320 family aircraft as another landmark in the country's aviation industry. IndiGo's order for 500 Airbus A320 family aircraft landmark for industry: Scindia Addressing the media here, Scindia expressed enthusiasm for the groundbreaking order. "India has once again set another landmark in the aviation industry," he declared."IndiGo's order for 500 aircraft from a single manufacturer is unparalleled, solidifying its status as a pioneer in the aviation sector. This momentous decision will not only revolutionise the domestic aviation market but will also have a profound impact on our nation's economy," he said.Scindia went on to emphasize the economic benefits that the civil aviation industry brings to the country. "First Air India had placed 470 aircraft orders and now IndiGo. Every dollar invested in civil aviation yields $3.1 in terms of new growth, along with the employment multiplier effect," he explained."For every direct job in civil aviation, there are 6.1 indirect jobs created in the sector. This highlights the immense dividends that accrue from the ever-expanding civil aviation sector," he said.The minister's remarks shed light on the significant role that the aviation industry plays in stimulating economic growth and generating employment opportunities.IndiGo's order comprises a combination of A320NEO, A321NEO, and A321XLR aircraft, scheduled to be delivered between 2030 and 2035.The purchase agreement was finalised at the Paris Air Show 2023, with representatives from IndiGo and Airbus present on Monday.In a statement on Monday, IndiGo confirmed that the engine selection and the precise mix of A320 and A321 aircraft will be determined in due course.Currently operating a fleet of over 300 aircraft, IndiGo already has outstanding orders for 480 aircraft, expected to be delivered by the end of this decade.With this new firm order for 500 aircraft in the 2030-2035 time-frame, IndiGo's order-book now boasts almost 1,000 aircraft, securing a steady stream of deliveries well into the next decade.IANS20 June 2023 Shared Recently! PM Modi to meet entrepreneurs, CEOs, think tanks during US visit New Delhi, June 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet eminent people representing several fields like economists, scholars, entrepreneurs, scientists and academicians during his US visit. PM Modi to meet entrepreneurs, CEOs, think tanks during US visit According to sources, Modi, who left for US this morning, will land in New York at 12.55 p.m. (local time) on June 20.Later in the evening, he is scheduled to have back to back meetings with several dignitaries.The Prime Minister will be meeting, Prof Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Robert Thurman, Paul Romer, Ray Dalio, Neil deGrass Tyson and singer Falguni Shah, according to sources.Apart from this, Modi will also meet academic groups, think tanks and health experts.On June 21, during his Washington leg of the visit, the prime minister will have one on one meetings with CEOs.These include Sanjay Mehrotra of Micron, Lawrence Culp Jr of GE and Gary Dickerson of Applied Materials.IANS20 June 2023 Shared Recently! After 35 years in service to the county, Orange County Circuit Court Clerk Teresa Carroll will step down from her role at the end of June. The lifelong Orange County resident has worked for the courts since the age of 20, ascending to her current position in 2009. With her quiet, humble demeanor, it can be easy to forget that Carroll holds one of the most pivotal roles within the court system. As the official recordkeeper, she and her office handle everything from marriage licenses to property records and jury management. In fact, the Code of Virginia lists 800 separate duties of circuit court clerks within the commonwealth. It can also be easy to forget that Carroll, with her easy-going nature, has spent the past several decades enduring some of the most difficult cases in Orange County history. Opening up about her experiences, Carroll said that cases involving child abuse have been particularly tough for her personally. Its sort of like a doctor, right? Any profession even the attorneys themselves you have to distance yourself between work and home, she said. I try to prepare myself and when I go in there, I just say, ;OK, you have to go in with a professional face. It gets to me, and Im not going to lie. You hope that the people that are there doing the job will do the right thing with the evidence theyre given, Carroll continued. At the end of the day, the justice happens. Working in a position that necessitates witnessing so many of the highs and lows of people within the community, Carroll said that her primary philosophy is to treat everyone how she would want to be treated, regardless of their reason for visiting the court. It doesnt matter whether theyve been incarcerated or theyve been let out; you treat everyone the same, she said. Carrolls last day will be June 30, and she has put in a request for her chief deputy clerk, Melissa Morris, to be appointed to fulfill the remainder of her term through the end of the 2023. In November, Morris will run in the general election in the hopes of securing the spot for another eight years. Morris has worked for the court for 12 years, including three years in her current role. She previously handled primarily civil issues but now focuses on criminal cases as chief deputy clerk. Carroll said she feels confident that in her absence Morris will run the department with same spirit of teamwork and continued learning that have characterized her time with the court, along with keeping the mood in the office lighthearted. You can come in and have a bad day and shes going to make it funny, Carroll said about Morris. Shes smart, shes a quick learner and shes going to be a very good clerk. In turn, Morris said that she hopes to model some of the values shes learned from Carroll. Fairness, I think is one, Morris said. Shes done the job, shes been in the trenches and she gets back in the trenches if she needs to. And she also gives us the ability to grow with our education, letting us go to seminars and cross-training. She doesnt have to micromanage us, because she knows we have a good staff and everybody does their job well. We have a good team and I think that starts from the top. Although Carroll said she will miss working with her team and the community on a daily basis, she says she plans to use her retirement to travel, remodel her home and spend more time with family. My sons getting married in October, so Ive got a wedding, Carroll said. Ive got a lot planned this year and Im really, really excited. Tasas Interior Design Transformation of Bengaluru Homes Earns International Design Award VMPL, New Delhi, June 20: Are you in search of an interior designer who is perfect for your needs? TASA Interior provides top-notch interior design services at affordable prices. Tasa's Interior Design Transformation of Bengaluru Homes Earns International Design Award They specialize in residential and commercial space design, decoration, renovation, modification, and offer comprehensive services. Whether you desire a dream kitchen like the ones featured in magazines or want to revamp your entire home, TASA Interior ensures a seamless experience from initial design to final installation.TASA Interior has become a highly esteemed interior design firm in Bangalore, thanks to its dedicated team of over 365 internal staff members who work tirelessly to ensure client satisfaction. Established in 2000 by G. Sunil Kapse Koteshwar, the company has grown significantly. TASA sets itself apart by owning its own factories and stores across Bangalore, and it proudly offers a written warranty on its products ranging from 10 to 30 years, making it the exclusive interior design company in Bangalore with this feature. Additionally, TASA follows a manufacturer-to-consumer business model, resulting in reduced expenses for both the customers and the company itself. Notably, TASA maintains a debt-free status.TASA has been rated as the best interior design company in Bangalore by its cherished clients over 1 Lakh in terms of client reviews on google. It is transforming Bengaluru home's interior design. TASA offers an end-to-end plug and play interior fit out collaborating with clients around the globe to create sustainable places to live, learn, work and heal.With big plans for TASA G. Sunil Kapse wishes to continue TASA's objective for the next 12 months to expand the Bangalore model throughout India. He believes that this manufacturer-to-consumer model with a documented warranty will have an influence on people's houses.TASA is an expert in commercial and hospitality interior design, skillfully balancing functionality and aesthetics in their planning process. They actively participate in the renovation and construction of commercial office fit-outs, collaborating closely with contractors and manufacturers to execute intricate office furniture and interior designs. Their expertise extends to various types of spaces, including office cabins, dental clinics, home offices, modern offices, small offices, and due diligence projects. TASA excels at defining the project's scope, creating detailed schematics and blueprints, and selecting appropriate materials. They provide valuable assistance to clients in overseeing budgeting and scheduling, ensuring a seamless execution of the project.TASA offers the best service at a competitive price directly to the consumer because it owns its own office buildings and manufacturing facility, has no loans from investors or partners, and employs salaried Modular carpenters, electricians, plumbers, painters, tile, quartz, and granite fitters and layers, false ceiling workers, and masons for civil construction.Call TASA today at 9241117111 to schedule your complimentary consultation. Discover how TASA Interiors can shape your space and make your dreams come true. Visit the website at www.tasainteriordesigner.com for a glimpse into our portfolio of captivating projects. Let us embark on this extraordinary design journey together!For more information visit(Disclaimer The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)ANI20 June 2023 Shared Recently! Brand ambassador of shining India, Dawoodi Bohra community in US eagerly waits for PM Modi New Delhi, June 20: The Dawoodi Bohra communities from across America are eagerly looking forward to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States starting Tuesday. Brand ambassador of shining India, Dawoodi Bohra community in US eagerly waits for PM Modi The Dawoodi Bohras are Muslims hailing mainly from the Indian subcontinent. They also have large numbers in Pakistan, Yemen, East Africa, and the Middle East, as well as growing populations in Europe, North America, South East Asia, and Australia.The leader of the community, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, serves as the spiritual and temporal guide of the worldwide Dawoodi Bohras community and primarily resides in India.Prime Minister Modi has had a long association with the Dawoodi Bohra community, including during his time as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, saying that their affection keeps raining on him wherever he goes.Earlier this year, while inaugurating the new campus of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah (Saifee Academy) - the principal educational institute of the Dawoodi Bohra community - at Marol in Mumbai, PM Modi said that he was attending the event not as a Prime Minister but as a family member who has been associated with the community for four generations.'When I go somewhere not only in the country but also abroad, my Bohra brothers and sisters definitely come to meet me,' the Prime Minister remarked as he highlighted the love and concern of the Bohra community for India.'The people of the Bohra community in foreign lands can act as brand ambassadors of shining India. The Dawoodi Bohra community will continue to play an important role in reaching the goal of a developed India,' said PM Modi.With over 5,000 families, the Dawoodi Bohras are spread across the United States and, despite their relatively small numbers, have played an important role in their local societies.During his visit to the country in September 2019, PM Modi interacted with the members of the community in Houston, Texas.The community members felicitated the PM and spotlighted his association with 'Syedna Sahib' besides recalling the Prime Minister's visit to Indore's Saifee Mosque to attend Ashara Mubaraka - the commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain.Tweeting after the interaction, PM Modi said 'The Dawoodi Bohra community has distinguished itself across the world. In Houston, I had the opportunity to spend time with them and speak about a wide range of issues.'Earlier today, children and adults from the Dawoodi Bohra communities in Houston and Collin County got together in welcoming Prime Minister of India.'The community is honoured to be part of this historic occasion, reflecting on their commitment to fostering harmony between their beloved home, the United States, and their cherished Indian roots,' tweeted the Dawoodi Bohras of USA.The community members in California also put out a video to extend a warm welcome to PM Modi.'Many American Dawoodi Bohras have deep spiritual and familial ties with India and are proud to contribute to the strong bonds between the two nations,' the members said.Earlier this month, TV Nagendra Prasad, the Consul General of India in San Francisco, visited Dawoodi Bohra centre in Fremont to celebrate the community's centuries-old rich Indian heritage.(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)--indianarrativeIANS21 June 2023 Shared Recently! Dean McDermott deletes divorce announcement with Tori Spelling Washington, June 20: American actress Tori Spelling has maintained silence on a recent social media post by husband Dean McDermott announcing their break up, which he has subsequently deleted, Page Six reported. Dean McDermott deletes divorce announcement with Tori Spelling In fact, the actor has remained silent since McDermott announced on Instagram that he and Spelling who have been married for over 17 years had "decided to go separate ways."The former 'Chopped Canada host announced with great sadness and a very heavy heart, explaining that the two would embark on new and separate journeys, as per Page Six."We will continue to work together as loving parents and guide and love our children through this difficult time," he added, adding, "We ask that you all respect our privacy as we take this time to surround our family with love and work our way through this." Thank you all for your kindness and support."Spelling neither responded to nor made her own announcement.She also spent Father's Day with Lance Bass, his husband, Michael Turchin, and their twin children last year.Spelling and McDermott, who married in May 2006, have three children Liam, 16, Finn, 10, and Beau, 6, as well as Stella, 15, and Hattie, 11.Despite mounting evidence that a divorce was imminent, the 'Beverly Hills, 90210' alum and the actor have repeatedly dismissed rumblings of marital woes over the years.According to Page Six, the couple has had a rocky relationship since they met in 2005 when they were both married to other people.Less than a month after Spelling's divorce from Charlie Shanian was finalised, she and McDermott said "I do."He admitted to cheating on her in late 2013 and then checked himself into a sex addiction treatment centre in early 2014.ANI21 June 2023 Shared Recently! Since Michael Kochis became Charlottesvilles police chief in January, the department has implemented multiple changes in order to build trust and partnership in the city. The latest, expected to be launched as a pilot program around September, is a customer service-style survey for police officers. Charlottesville Police Department plans to partner with Guardian Score, a program that allows people to rate their specific interactions with police officers on the basis of five traits, and to leave detailed feedback on officer interactions. Those five traits include: telling why, listening skills, fairness, professionalism and next steps. Its just a way to measure how we are doing through confirmed police-citizen encounters, Kochis told The Daily Progress. How are we doing in the realm of relational policing? How are we treating the folks were encountering while out there on patrol? Officers will be required to hand out their business cards after interactions, such as traffic stops or calls for service. Those cards will include QR codes that lead to a one-minute survey and a space for comments. Administrators and supervisors are able to view the ratings and feedback, and may look at body camera footage to see how police officers are engaging with citizens in order to make adjustments, Kochis said. Kochis said the department intends to apply for grants from the Virginia Risk Sharing Association to fund the pilot program. Guardian Score was first implemented in Warrenton in November 2021 under Kochis leadership there before he became Charlottesvilles police chief. Since the department began using the tool, interactions between Warrenton police officers and residents became more personal, less transactional and less robotic, Kochis said. Warrenton was the first city to use Guardian Score, according to Burke Brownfeld, co-founder of the product and a former Virginia police officer himself. Around a dozen cities and campuses across the country have implemented it since, with an additional two or three expected to begin this fall. The inspiration for making the tool was this idea of, how can we help police leaders better use community feedback to measure really important skills like procedural justice skills, and turn that into meaningful and actionable data for making decisions, Brownfeld told The Daily Progress. The survey follows academic research on procedural justice that says citizens care more about how they were treated by police officers than what the outcome of the interaction was, Brownfeld said. Feedback from the surveys has shown just that, with responses speaking highly of officers even after having been handed a speeding ticket. How officers treat people matters ultimately so much more than whatever that outcome is, Brownfeld said. Whether the outcome was positive or negative or you went to jail or didnt go to jail. That is not really the deciding factor on how people view that individual interaction. In Charlottesville, Kochis said he thinks Guardian Score is going to show officers empathy when interacting with folks, something he sees when he watches body cam footage almost every morning. I think its going to show the great work that our officers go out there and do each and every day, and its going to show how much they care about this community, Kochis said. Brownfeld said he hopes the tool will help bring light to the blind spot of interactions between police officers and civilians, referring to the boring, innocuous, regular interactions between law enforcement and the public. Those include changing a tire or helping a lost tourist, rather than the arrests and traffic tickets people tend to associate with the police. Guardian Score is bringing data into the fold of something that previously we never had data on, which is just the day to day human interactions between the police and the public, Brownfeld said. For too long, a good police officer was defined as someone who wrote a lot of tickets and made a lot of arrests, Kochis said. Thats not necessarily the measure we want to use. Instead, the police department is shifting its focus to relational policing: treating people with empathy, identifying next steps and explaining the why, such as why an officer pulled someone over. We struggled as a profession on how to measure that, Kochis said. And so this is one way of doing it. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Scattered thunderstorms in the morning. Partly cloudy skies late. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 89F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 62F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. An out-of-state chapter of the Klu Klux Klan that participated in the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally-turned-riot in Charlottesville littered the citys neighborhoods over the weekend with homophobic and anti-transgender flyers. The stunt comes in the midst of national Pride Month and after an unauthorized video of students at the citys Johnson Elementary School reading from the book ABC Pride earlier this month was leaked and circulated in local and then national right-wing media last week. City police are investigating the matter, city officials have denounced the offensive language of the flyers and residents in the targeted neighborhoods say they are disturbed and disgusted. It made me really angry to see the flyers, Lori Pinkey, who found one of the flyers outside her house on Sunday, told the Daily Progress. These creeps were going around and throwing these flyers in our yards while we were sleeping. The flyers appear to have been concentrated in the Frys Spring and Johnson Village neighborhoods, where Johnson Elementary is located. The video of Johnson students went viral in the right-wing media space where its been referred to as grooming and hyper-sexualized after first appearing on local radio host Rob Schillings blog. On Thursday, Schilling boasted that the video had been picked up by Fox News Primetime host Jesse Watters. Now in Charlottesville, Virginia, grade school kids were forced to go to a Pride Month celebration, Watters said on a Wednesday broadcast. O is for coming out of the closet, are you kidding me? Neither Schilling nor a representative for Fox News immediately responded to a request for comment from The Daily Progress. What is there to be proud of, a copy of a flyer obtained by The Daily Progress reads before quoting from the Book of Proverbs, Pride goeth before destruction. A gathering of queers and trans-sexuals thumbing their collective noses at God almighty and his son Jesus Christ! So be it! God will judge! a copy of another flyer reads. The origin of the flyers appears to be some 140 miles away and across the state border in North Carolina, according to one of two phone numbers as well as a post office box number printed on the handbills. The flyers also say they were distributed by the Loyal White Knights of the KKK, headquartered in Pelham, North Carolina. When dialed, one of the phone numbers on the flyers goes directly to a voicemail message asking White Christian patriots to join the racist organization and do your part to help save America. The second phone number on the flyers directs callers to an unmanaged conference call. The Loyal White Knights white supremacist group is one of the largest and most active Klan chapters in the United States, with about 100 members, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The group follows a version of traditional Klan ideology infused with neo-Nazi beliefs, according to the ADL. The Carolina Klan chapter, founded in 2011, is led by Christopher Barker and his wife Amanda Barker though in recent years Amanda Barker has been the primary leader while her husband is behind bars. Christopher Barker, who participated in the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville and the torch-bearing march on University of Virginia Grounds the day before, has expressed no remorse for his actions or the lives that were lost on Aug. 12, 2017. When a couple of them die, it doesnt bother us, Barker said shortly after Unite the Right when asked about Charlottesville native Heather Heyer, who was killed by a white supremacist that day. Theyre always attacking and messing with our rallies. Barker has a long criminal record and is currently being held at the Caswell County Detention Center in North Carolina. In 2016, he was arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting after another Klan member was stabbed at Barkers house during a meeting. He also has been arrested for assaulting his wife, possessing a firearm violating his probation and driving while under the influence. Barker is also facing a civil lawsuit from the Southern Poverty Law Center for his role in organizing the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017. Its not the first time this year Charlottesville has been the target of a coordinated campaign by out-of-town propagandists. In January, antisemitic flyers were distributed across the city as part of a national public relations stunt by a group that calls itself the Goyim Defense League. Then, as now, Charlottesville police say that while the flyers themselves are not necessarily a crime, the means of their distribution may be. It is probably not legal to go on someone elses property and distribute stuff like this, Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis told The Daily Progress. We are still investigating. Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook said Charlottesville has unfortunately become an easy target for these sorts of campaigns. Charlottesville has often been sort of a lightning rod for this kind of nonsense, and we got a lot of it in 2017, but that wasnt the only time, weve had these kinds of things left in peoples driveways on and off for many years, Snook told The Daily Progress. Snook noted that another set of flyers was found in Charlottesville over the weekend in Locust Grove, some 4 miles away from Frys Spring and Johnson Village. Neither Snook nor Kochis could say whether the flyers were all connected. The items that were left on driveways in Locust Grove are specifically talking about Jews and their specifically not KKK, Snook said. On the other hand, what was left at Johnson School seems to be much more dealing with LGBTQ Issues and claiming to be the KKK. So I suspect that theyre just two random acts not connected, but I dont know. What Snook could say is that Charlottesville residents should not let the flyers make them feel scared to live in their own community. These kinds of things are being done by people who think they are being cute. In fact, theyre just being offensive, Snook said. Theyre probably not violating a law except perhaps littering, but its just one of those things where we have to sit there and ball it up and throw it in the garbage and move on. The Charlottesville Pride Network, a local LGBT advocacy group, said that while the Klan and other hate groups are obsessed with what they deem Pride propaganda it is clear who is pushing the real propaganda. There is a section of the media that wants to make outrage cycles, and their target this time is LGBT people and trying to make parents feel like there is Pride propaganda in schools, acting Pride President Nick Morrow said. When this type of story is elevated in right-wing media, it puts a real target on peoples backs and escalates dangerously. Like Snook, Morrow said Charlottesvilles LGBT community should refuse to live in fear. It is important to watch out when people want to harm us and make us less visible, Morrow said. But, especially during Pride Month, it is important to be loud and proud and make sure we are seen. I think the message for Charlottesville has to continue to be that hate has no home here, Snook said. While some residents who received flyers over the weekend said they were worried something akin to a second Unite the Right might be in the works, Kochis said the police department is fully prepared should the situation escalate any further. We are absolutely prepared if anything comes of these flyers, Kochis said. A Johns Hopkins Children Center study using medical records from an international registry concludes that female babies with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) are slightly more likely to die within 30 to 60 days of birth than male babies with the same condition. In a report on the published June 19 in The Journal of Pediatrics, investigators examine the role biological sex plays in outcomes for patients with CDH, and they found that females have about a 32% higher risk of dying than males. The researchers say it's a small but significant difference, and that the origins are unclear but may be linked in part to overall lower birth weights for female newborns. CDH, which Johns Hopkins experts say affects an estimated one in 4,000 live births annually in the United States, has a historically high mortality rate of 30% or more. Thought to be rooted in genetic alterations that affect organ development during pregnancy, the condition is marked by defects in formation of the diaphragm a large muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen and that is vital to breathing. The developmental damage leaves a hole or rupture, in the muscle that allows the intestines, stomach, liver and other abdominal organs to protrude into the chest. Most significantly, it impairs an infant's normal lung development. While some previous studies showed that male babies are more likely than female babies to have CDH, the impact of sex on a patient's survival has been unclear from other studies. Although racial and ethnic outcome disparities have been documented in CDH, disparities between males and females are not well known. It is really important to understand if those disparities exist, because it may change how we can better manage these patients." Shaun Kunisaki, M.D., M.Sc., senior author of the study, professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University, and director of the congenital diaphragmatic hernia program at the Children's Center In an effort to compare disease severity and analyze differences in survival between female and male patients, Kunisaki and J. Michael Collaco, M.D., Ph.D., M.S., an associate professor of pediatrics in the Eudowood Division of Pediatric Respiratory Sciences, turned to a large international registry the Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Study Group. Developed by the University of Texas at Houston, the registry is comprised of data on 7,288 neonatal patients with CDH -- 41% female and 58% male. All of the data was gathered from January 2007 to December 2018 from 105 hospitals in 17 countries including the United States. The researchers found that females, who weighed less on average at birth than males, had a lower survival rate at 30 days after birth: 77.3%, compared with males who had an 80.1% 30-day survival rate. At 60 days after birth, female patients had a 70.2% survival rate, compared with 74.2% for males. "The sex differences in mortality rates is not huge," Kunisaki says. But, he adds, because death is such a catastrophic outcome, the finding has the potential to better guide interventions to prevent it. One such intervention, Kunisaki says, is to raise awareness among physicians who care for people who are pregnant and newborns. "It may be that we need to be more aggressive in treating female CDH patients than we currently are," explains Kunisaki. "That may mean using medications to optimize lung function, and developing different clinical criteria for placing female patients with CDH on ECMO, [a heart-lung machine] to protect their lungs." Kunisaki also recently authored a separate study, published in JAMA Network Open, that used a different database to examine the impact of race and ethnicity on patients with CDH. The study found that hospitals treating a more racially and ethnically diverse patient population were associated with lower mortality for Black and Hispanic patients with CDH. There was no effect on mortality in White patients with CDH. He says findings from both of his studies represent a call to action for investigators to better understand disparities in vulnerable patient populations. "Unfortunately, with sex, as well as race and ethnicity, we know disparities do exist," Kunisaki says. "Determining why whether it's caused by biology or other aspects that can be modified will be important in efforts to prevent them." The investigators caution that further research is needed to confirm the current study's findings because of data collection limitations, such as diagnosis miscoding and missing data on patients in the registry. Kunisaki and the team of investigators believe, however, their findings provide a roadmap for such research, and ultimately to better therapies. The Johns Hopkins CDH program is one of the most comprehensive programs of its kind in the country. In addition to cutting edge basic science and clinical research, the program has extensive experience with fetal tracheal occlusion an experimental prenatal treatment to promote lung growth that is offered through the Johns Hopkins Center for Fetal Therapy. In addition, long-term, multidisciplinary follow-up care is available for all patients with CDH through the Kennedy Krieger Institute. Along with Kunisaki and Collaco, the study authors from Johns Hopkins are Shelby Sferra, Matthew Guo, Andres Gonzalez Salazar, Annalise Penikis and Abigail Engwall-Gill. Other authors are Ashley Ebanks and Matthew Harting from the University of Texas at Houston. With ever-growing pressures on the NHS, dealing with angry or frustrated patients and their relatives has become increasingly common for those working in healthcare. But what if doctors could practice navigating angry conversations with patients and their relatives in virtual reality before having to do so face-to-face? Doctors and other healthcare professionals will get the chance to do precisely that, using technology developed by a British company for the Royal Society of Medicine - one of the UK's leading providers of continuing learning for healthcare professionals. Bodyswaps, a virtual reality company, working with educationalists at the RSM, has developed a simulation enhanced by AI software to help doctors to improve their ability to identify anger signals, recognize how different responses can diffuse or exacerbate anger, remain calm in hostile situations, and move the situation forward with empathy. Doctors and medical students will wear VR headsets to meet virtual patients and family members in emotionally charged scenarios. One situation tasks them with communicating with an upset husband who believes that there is a lack of urgency from the medical team about his wife's breast cancer. Another situation asks doctors to deal with an unhappy and uncooperative elderly man who has started to develop urinary incontinence. The software analytics measure the extent to which learners defuse or aggravate the patient or relative's anger through the composition of their speech and non-verbal communication, such as eye contact, pace, volume, intonation and hand gestures. At the beginning and end of the immersive module, doctors are asked to complete a self-reflection questionnaire to see how much their confidence levels have improved from the training. Professor Dame Lesley Fallowfield, DBE of Brighton and Sussex Medical School, was the chief academic consultant on the project, bringing rigor and specialized knowledge to the course content. She says: "Communicating with patients is a core clinical skill, but it's not something healthcare professionals get much formal training in. "Anecdotally, we know that healthcare professionals regularly face increased levels of verbal abuse from patients. And medics often say that handling angry patients and relatives is one of their greatest challenges. Learning how to diffuse anger is an important skill, irrespective of the setting." The way professionals handle difficult interactions can have a profound impact on the experience of the patient at what is likely to be a stressful time in their life. We expect this technology will improve patients' experiences and also help with the wellbeing of healthcare professionals." Professor Mary Bishop, Director of Learning, Royal Society of Medicine Chris Mallet, CEO of Bodyswaps, adds: "VR is a safe space to practice skills that can be hard to learn in the heat of the moment. Our technology gives healthcare professionals an immersive training experience and the chance to put theory into practice." A post-pandemic survey of 1,000 GPs* showed that almost three-quarters (74%) experienced increased levels of patient abuse compared with before. Accessing the module The new module is available for all RSM members. In the coming weeks, we will share how you can access it using your own devices. Each year nearly 900,000 US children up to 19 years of age sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) requiring hospitalization or emergency treatment. In this themed issue of NeuroRehabilitation experts share their work related to the challenges associated with return to school (RTS) for children and adolescents with TBI and discuss emerging trends, new developments, and recommendations on how they impact parents, carers and students and quality of life. Over the past decade, there have been improvements in bringing awareness and training about TBI to educators, but there are limited data about effective interventions for students with TBI including information about and how to improve communication and coordinate care between schools and medical/health organizations. The collection of papers in this themed issue on "Pediatric Educational Re-Entry After Traumatic Brain Injury" is guest-edited by Melissa McCart, EdD, University of Oregon, Eugene, and Susan Davies, EdD, University of Dayton. "There are emerging programs that may be effective for students with TBI," explained Dr. McCart. "They show promise in improving educator knowledge and self-efficacy about TBI and demonstrate preliminary effects on improving school-based services for students with TBI. As practices slowly change to align with research, we must continue to increase awareness and strive to improve outcomes for children with TBI." "Vulnerable and diverse populations are at increased risk for sustaining a TBI and experiencing poor outcomes; these students need representation in TBI studies so we can better understand their experiences and meet their needs," noted Dr. Davies. Two of the articles in this issue explore parent/carer and educator views about the impact of RTS after a brain injury. In the article entitled "Returning to education after childhood acquired brain injury: Learning from lived parental experience," by Emily Bennett, PhD, Department of Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust; and BRILL Team, Nottingham Children's Hospital, and colleagues explore the lived experience of parents and carers to focus on what can both help and hinder the process. The aim was to understand more about RTS from parents' perspectives to inform best practice and facilitate improvements in service delivery. A service evaluation explored parent/carer views about the RTS process and the support received from healthcare professionals at a regional center in the UK. Questionnaires were sent to parents of patients treated for an acquired brain injury in the last two years. Responses from about 30 parents highlight the many challenges of RTS and revealed six key themes: Parental mindset and growth; what they need to know; specialist support and information; talk and share; challenges of new and hidden needs; and don't forget them! "Parents offer crucial insight into the challenges of the RTS process," commented Dr. Bennett. "Their feedback draws attention to important factors for service development and reminds professionals of the key components of an effective return." A longitudinal qualitative study tracked students with TBI from hospital discharge through their return to school and subsequently for an average of four years of school to better understand the experiences of students and parents. Researchers interviewed parents and educators of 21 students with TBI using open-ended questions plus observed students in the classroom. "We identified three themes," explained lead investigator Dr. McCart. "Lack of student tracking year to year, lack of educator training, and conflicting views between educators and parents about students' needs. These factors ultimately led to parent frustration and eventually conflict and deteriorating relationships between parents and educators. We suggest that improving educator training could positively affect the factors identified and possibly mitigate parent frustration." It is critically important to train educators to work with students who return to school following TBI and to track these students over the course of their school careers in order to meet their changing instructional and emotional needs." Bonnie Todis, PhD, Co-Investigator, Center on Brain Injury Research and Training, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon Four key recommendations emerged from this collection of papers are: Create protocols that emphasize intentional collaboration between systems, developing and implementing policy. This can help improve quality for both students and their families. Identify sources of funding to support care coordination. Use guided credible history interviews in the special education eligibility determination process when official medical documentation is not available. This can help ensure that students who need special education services are appropriately identified. Conduct more robust experimental evaluation of educational interventions for TBI. "While there are many challenges to overcome, such as the need for improved care coordination, educator training, and family support, the good news is that awareness continues to grow in the general public about brain injury, brain injury prevention, and the challenges a brain injury can create for students," concluded the Guest Editors. "This awareness is a vital step in driving change and improvement in school practices." H.E.L Group (H.E.L), a global developer and manufacturer of innovative laboratory tools for process optimization, safety, and scale-up, today announced it will relocate its Greater London global headquarters from Borehamwood to Hemel Hempstead, over summer 2023. Overseen by interim Operational Director, Damian Slater, the move to new purpose-designed facilities supports the Companys continued expansion and plans for future growth. Located on the Centro Trading Estate, the 16,000 sq ft new site will house a large purpose-built development and customer application training lab, combined with flexible office and meeting spaces that have been designed with innovation, collaboration and the customer experience at the fore. Future proofing H.E.Ls business, the site has potential to accommodate up to at least 70% greater production capacity and the accompanying growth in staff. Future development of the site will enable further productivity growth. H.E.Ls move to the new facilities follows a comprehensive refurbishment of the unit, delivered with sustainability in mind to transform its green credentials, achieving an EPC rating of A. Other features built in to increase the environmental and cost efficiency of the units include an electric VRF system for heating and cooling, LED lighting and electric vehicle charging points to encourage low carbon travel. Rooftop PV solar panels are projected to generate more than 60,000 kWh of solar energy and save 14 tCO2 per year. Louise Madden, CEO at H.E.L Group, said: Were delighted to be making the Centro location our new home. The new building provides H.E.L with the space to meet our scale-up requirements for our growing business. It also provides the opportunity for us to have a world-class customer-centric facility to accelerate that growth. The environmental credentials of the facility and the refurbishment were a key factor in deciding to locate ourselves here, as they align strongly to our mission to create a Healthier, Sustainable, Safer world for everyone. Damian Slater, Interim Operational Director at H.E.L Group, said: With the site fit-out on track, operationally we will start moving our people across from mid-July and will have the transition of staff, production and assets completed by the end of September, maintaining business continuity throughout. The space provides a flexible, modern environment to support the future growth of H.E.Ls business, and offers an attractive working location for our team and customers. Adults who live in walkable neighborhoods are more likely to interact with their neighbors and have a stronger sense of community than people who live in car-dependent communities, report researchers at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego. The findings of the study, published online in the journal Health & Place, support one of six foundational pillars suggested by United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy as part of a national strategy to address a public health crisis caused by loneliness, isolation and lack of connection in this country. In May 2023, the Surgeon General Advisory stated that loneliness and isolation can lead to a 29% increased risk of heart disease, a 32% increased risk of stroke, a 50% increased risk of developing dementia among older adults, and increases risk of premature death by more than 60%. To address this public health crisis, the Surgeon General recommends strengthening social infrastructure by designing environments that promote connection. Our built environments create or deny long-lasting opportunities for socialization, physical activity, contact with nature, and other experiences that affect public health." James F. Sallis, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and senior author of the UC San Diego study "Transportation and land use policies across the U.S. have strongly prioritized car travel and suburban development, so millions of Americans live in neighborhoods where they must drive everywhere, usually alone, and have little or no chance to interact with their neighbors." Walkable neighborhoods promote active behaviors like walking for leisure or transportation to school, work, shopping or home. The study analyzed data from the Neighborhood Quality of Life Study, which included 1,745 adults ages 20 to 66 living in 32 neighborhoods located in and around Seattle, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Neighborhood walkability may promote social interactions with neighbors -; like waving hello, asking for help or socializing in their homes, said the first author, Jacob R. Carson, M.P.H., a student in the UC San Diego San Diego State University Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health. Carson began the research while a Master of Public Health student at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health. Neighborhoods where people must drive in and out, and where there is an absence of gathering places, may have the opposite effect, preventing neighbors from socializing. "Promoting social interaction is an important public health goal. Understanding the role of neighborhood design bolsters our ability to advocate for the health of our communities and the individuals who reside in them," said Carson. "Fewer traffic incidents, increases in physical activity, and better neighborhood social health outcomes are just a few of the results of designing walkable neighborhoods that can enrich our lives." Co-authors include: Terry L. Conway and Kelli L. Cain, UC San Diego; Lilian G. Perez, RAND Corporation; Lawrence D. Frank, UC San Diego Department of Urban Studies and Planning and Urban Design 4 Health, Inc.; and Brian E. Saelens, Seattle Children's Research Institute and University of Washington. This research was funded, in part, by the National Institutes of Health (HL67350). Millions of Americans over the age of 65 lack access to the social and emotional support they need for healthy aging, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Non-white individuals in rural communities are especially susceptible. New research from Penn State found that the presence of social infrastructure -; shared community spaces that are free or low cost to visit -; in rural communities may help provide social and emotional support and promote healthy aging among older, non-white adults. Danielle Rhubart, assistant professor of biobehavioral health and demography at Penn State and lead author of the study, explained that when people retire, they often lose social connections at work. Then, older friends, family members and acquaintances may die. Over time, many lose abilities like sight that help them participate in activities or maintain skills like driving. These changes can lead to a loss of social support. One-in-10 white adults over age 65 reported not receiving the emotional support they need, according to the researchers. The problem is more significant for non-white older adults, one-in-five of whom reported not receiving the emotional support they need. This can be especially true in rural areas, where access to social infrastructure like churches, coffee shops, libraries, parks, gyms and hair salons may be more limited. In a recent publication in Rural Sociology, the researchers evaluated whether social infrastructure increases social and emotional support. They examined individuals' perceptions of support using data from 110,850 rural older adults in the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System paired with social infrastructure data from the National Neighborhood Data Archive. They found that Black and Hispanic older adults were nearly two times more likely to report rarely or never getting the support they need relative to non-Hispanic, white older adults. The researchers noted, however, that rural Hispanic and Black older adults living in counties with more social infrastructure were more likely to report at least sometimes getting the support they need compared with those living in counties with less social infrastructure. Rhubart said that social infrastructure can provide an important support system for people's mental and emotional well-being. As people age, their social networks tend to shrink. Retirement often starts the process, and networks continue to contract as people age. Additionally, reduced personal abilities can limit people's opportunities to access and engage the social networks that remain." Danielle Rhubart, assistant professor of biobehavioral health and demography, Penn State This reduced social contact contributes to reduced levels of support, and lower levels of social and emotional support can be related to a range of health problems including cognitive decline, depression, dissatisfaction with life and even early death. Black and Hispanic older adults are at even more risk, according to Jennifer Kowalkowski, postdoctoral scholar in biobehavioral health and study coauthor. "Historically, racist practices in society have contributed to poorer health among Hispanic and Black older adults," Kowalkowski said. "Connecting with others is often important for these groups -; they have larger and more diverse social networks than white older adults -; and it is through these connections that Hispanic and Black older adults are able to get the kind of support they need to maintain their health and well-being. The presence of social infrastructure provides physical spaces for these social networks to be developed and maintained." People's diminishing networks need not result in their total loss of support, however. A conceptual model used by the researchers proposes that all older people in a community benefit from social infrastructure, not just those who visit social infrastructure. The model suggests that a combination of intimate and casual encounters in these spaces leads to interactions that increase everyone's senses of support. A scenario that illustrates the theory, according to Rhubart, could be to consider social and emotional support for a hypothetical older woman with poor vision who does not often leave the house. If her brother runs into her pastor at a coffee shop and tells the pastor about his sister's condition, the pastor may visit the woman. So, despite the woman not visiting the church or the coffee shop, her support is increased because both spaces exist in her community. And even if the pastor doesn't visit the woman, hearing about her brother's interaction and conversation with the pastor may help her feel connected to a larger network of support. Rhubart said the findings in this research partially validate this theory, and she plans to continue research into the potential of social infrastructure to improve people's health and well-being. "As policymakers work to address loneliness and mental and emotional health among older adults, they do so with limited resources," Rhubart said. "While direct support for individuals will always be critically important, this research is exciting because it suggests that we may be able to make inroads into supporting mental and emotional health by working at the community level. Research has shown that sidewalks and parks are important for supporting physical health. We need to apply this same community-level approach to mental and social health. Our research here suggests that social infrastructure might be a good place to start." Logan Wincott, undergraduate student in the Department of Sociology and Criminology and Rhubart's former research assistant, also contributed to this research. This research was supported by Penn State's Population Research Institute and the National Institute on Aging-funded Interdisciplinary Network on Rural Population Health and Aging. Honda 2-Wheelers India has launched the BS6 OBD-II compliant version of the Shine 125 in the country. Available in two variants namely Drum and Disc, the 2023 Honda Shine 125 is priced between Rs 79,800-83,800 (ex-showroom, Delhi). The company is offering a special 10-year warranty package (3 years standard + 7 years optional extended warranty) on the purchase of bike. The 2023 Honda Shine will be available in five color schemes namely Black, Geny Grey Metallic, Matte Axis Grey, Rebel Red Metallic and Decent Blue Metallic. As far as styling goes, it flaunts a bold front visor with chrome garnish and DC headlamp. Some of the other notable design features include chrome side covers, new graphics, chrome muffler cover, smart tail lamp and black alloy wheels. Speaking on the launch of new OBD2 compliant 2023 Shine 125, Mr. Tsutsumu Otani - President, CEO & Managing Director, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said, Leading the 125cc motorcycle segment, the success of brand Shine is a testimony to the love and trust of our customers. As we launch the 2023 Shine 125, I am confident, it will create a new benchmark in its segment and further strengthen our position. As for features, the bike gets Engine Start/Stop Switch, Headlamp beam & passing switch, Combi-Brake System (CBS) with equalizer, and tubeless tyres. It has a ground clearance of 162 mm while the wheelbase stands at 1285mm. The 2023 Honda Shine 125 boasts of a 651mm long single-seat setup. Fitted with a 5-step adjustable rear suspension, the motorcycle also comes with Seal Chain as a standard feature. Mechanically, the 2023 Shine 125 is equipped with BS6 OBD2 compliant 125cc PGM-FI petrol engine with Enhanced Smart Power (eSP) tech which comprises of Unique Honda ACG Starter and Friction Reduction function. The engine is linked to a 5-speed gearbox. Introducing the new OBD2 compliant 2023 Shine125, Mr. Yogesh Mathur, Director, Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said, Since introduction, brand Shine has always been synonymous to trust and reliability. With Hondas superior technology, advanced features and the special 10-year warranty package, new Shine offers irresistible value and peace of mind to the customers. In a move to cater to the special travel requirements of Haj pilgrims, SpiceJet has announced the temporary suspension of select flights bound for Hyderabad and Bengaluru from Puducherry. The suspension will be in effect until July 2, with operations set to resume on July 3. According to reliable sources, SpiceJet has taken the initiative to operate special flights to Jeddah by diverting aircraft from certain busy routes. Notably, the Q400 Bombardier aircraft, which are usually deployed on the Hyderabad-Puducherry-Bengaluru route, have been reassigned for this purpose. Sources further reveal that the flight occupancy on the Hyderabad-Puducherry route remains strong, standing at approximately 80 percent on weekdays and an impressive 90 to 95 percent on weekends. Similarly, the Puducherry-Bengaluru route has recorded an occupancy rate of around 40 to 50 percent on both weekdays and weekends. These numbers led to the decision to temporarily discontinue service on the Hyderabad-Puducherry-Bengaluru sector. Also Read: Go First Extends Flight Cancellation Until June 22nd, Heres Why While operations are scheduled to resume on July 3, sources indicate that a temporary withdrawal will occur once again in August. This temporary suspension in August will coincide with the arrival of special flights that will bring back pilgrims from Jeddah, demonstrating SpiceJets commitment to accommodating the needs of the Haj pilgrims. Passengers are advised to stay informed through official channels and remain updated on any further developments or changes to their travel plans. SpiceJet is dedicated to ensuring a smooth travel experience for all passengers, even during these exceptional circumstances. SpiceJets decision to temporarily halt flights from Puducherry to Hyderabad and Bengaluru is a strategic move as the airline continues to make changes to its operations. The airline aims to optimize resources and provide an enhanced travel experience to its valued customers. Tolentino spearheads jobs fair in Batangas MATAAS NA KAHOY, Batangas - Close to 4,000 vacancies were offered on Monday following the inaugural jobs fair hosted by region-based organization KLABARZON Society in the province of Batangas. Senator Francis 'TOL' N. Tolentino, lead convenor of KLABARZON Society, disclosed that the said jobs fair was able to attract some 18 private firms, offering employment of various types for the people of the Municipality of Mataas na Kahoy and nearby localities. The senator explained that having this kind of activity as part of its town hall meeting on public policy programs further uplifts the employment growth in the Southern Tagalog region. "Tunay na ang mga manggagawa at empleyado ang pundasyon ng ating ekonomiya. Sila ang mga lakas na nagtataguyod sa ating mga industriya, nagbibigay-buhay sa ating mga negosyo at bumubuo sa ating komunidad," said Tolentino. The KLABARZON jobs fair was made possible in partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the local government unit (LGU) of Mataas na Kahoy. According to Tolentino, KLABARZON Society's initial hosting of a jobs fair is a way for the region-based organization to bring down the national government services directly to the LGUs to fast-track public service delivery in order to achieve significant positive change for the region. Months of negative campaigning has brought national attention to Kellen Squire and Amy Laufers Democratic primary race. It also may have brought them a Republican challenger for the 55th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates come the general election in November. Speaking politically, if two Democrats are spending $400,000 tearing each other down, that helps my chances, Steve Harvey told The Daily Progress on Monday. The Ruckersville Republican, father of four, U.S. Army veteran and self-described Catholic sinner announced his candidacy for the seat on Monday morning at Hollymead Town Center. In 2019, Harvey ran for the White Hall District seat on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors but lost to incumbent Democrat Ann Mallek. He insists that the public spat between the Laufer and Squire campaigns was not the impetus for his decision to run for public office. Instead, he said that a Democrat running uncontested did not sit well with him. I spent three days in cold sweats thinking, Theres going to be nobody on ballot. Its going to be a total embarrassment, he said before referencing longtime Republican Del. Rob Bell from the district who decided not to run again this year. You have Rob Bell in the seat for 20 years and then you have nobody on ballot? Thats insane. Squire claimed he will take the new opponent seriously, but said hes not threatened by a conservative challenger. This district is nigh-on unwinnable for a Republican, Squire told The Daily Progress in an email on Monday. If the Republicans thought it was winnable, Rob Bell would not have retired. Harvey is largely focused on school choice, claiming that Albemarle County Public School students are still struggling even after the pandemic. We need competition, he said, arguing that the state should fund religious schools, learning pods and other non-public-school options. If just some of the money from the state level followed students, immediately schools would improve. Although Harvey said the public feud between both Democratic Party candidates which began in earnest when Laufer released mailers questioning Squires commitment to pro-abortion policies was not super impactful on his decision to run, some think the Democrat-on-Democrat attacks created fertile ground for a Republican challenger to rise. Squire said he broached this issue as far back as January. Part of why I was so disappointed to see Amy Laufer spread those lies was exactly that, Squire said. The emergency room nurse maintains that he is pro-abortion and that attacks from the Laufer campaign were disingenuous attempts to take previous statements he made out of context. Laufer, Squire claimed, was at one point telling people publicly that she and Squire were equally pro-choice while simultaneously laying the groundwork for these attacks on me. In an interview with The Daily Progress last week, Laufer defended the mailers sent out by her campaign, arguing that, The statements [Squire] has had in the past are his direct quotes from his website and multiple other documents. Since Harveys announcement, the Laufer campaign released a statement to The Daily Progress saying that, The battle for womens abortion rights continues through November. Watching the back-and-forth from afar, Harvey said he found their positions on reproductive rights to be quite creepy. It makes me kind of creeped out how enthusiastically pro-abortion both candidates are, he said. Virginia needs to be having serious conversations about human rights about all classes of humans and when those human rights begin. Asked when he believes those human rights begin, Harvey responded that they begin in utero for certain. Abortion is legal in Virginia up until 26 weeks and six days of pregnancy. That could change if Republicans take control of the General Assembly this November. If nothing else, Harvey hopes that having a Republican on the ticket will make voters feel like they have a choice in the general election. We cant have democracy with only one name on ballot, he said. Its an outrage that even couldve been the case. In a remarkable journey that began as a college project led by Ankit Mehra and his two IIT juniors, Idea Forge has emerged as a prominent player in the drone industry. Now, the company is poised to make a significant move by listing on the stock market. Having successfully concluded its pre-IPO placement, raising an impressive INR 2,500 crore, Idea Forge solidifies its position as Indias largest drone manufacturer. The companys evolution from a college endeavour to a major market player highlights its remarkable growth and potential in the ever-expanding drone sector. Three friends Ankit Mehta, Rahul Singh, and Ashish Bhatt started working on an unnamed aircraft vehicle in the year 2007 as a part of their project at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Ankits childhood friend Vipul Joshi Joined to oversee operations as the companys fourth co-founder. Idea Forge reached a milestone in 2009, making a notable appearance in the Bollywood blockbuster 3 Idiots. The film showcased the on-screen debut of a drone concept, bringing the companys innovative ideas to the forefront of popular culture. Idea Forge completed its pre-IPO round with an approximate valuation of INR 2,500 crore. This year in February Idea Forge filed IPO for DRHP in SEBI. DRHP indicates the earning, expenses, investments, and overall bio data of the company. As per these details, SEBI examines and companies are listed in the stock market. In the initial days of May 2023, SEBI granted permission for the launch, and Idea Forge might announce its IPO by the end of this month. Analysts predict the issue size to be approximately INR 650 crore. The company has over 20 patents. It creates drones for both Civil as well as Security uses. The company implements projects for Army, DRDO, and State Police. In 2021, they cracked a big deal of INR 160 crore with the Indian Army. As per this contract, they need to manufacture 200 drones that can vertically land or take off. As per the website of the company after every 5 minutes, a drone takes off for mapping and surveillance. They also have voluntarily positioned their drones in flood, and earthquake disasters to be a helping hand in search and rescue operations. In recognition of the immense potential of the drone industry, the Central Government has been actively supporting its growth. Notably, crucial steps have been taken, such as the allocation of INR 120 crore for the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in the budget. Additionally, the government has been promoting domestic manufacturing, exemplified by the complete ban on drone imports last year. These strategic measures aim to bolster the indigenous drone industry and tap into the vast opportunities it presents. Looking ahead, reports suggest a promising future for the global drone market, with an estimated value of approximately INR 4.4 Lakh Crore by 2025. Indias drone market is also poised for significant growth, projected to reach a value of around INR 34 crores. These statistics highlight the potential economic impact and opportunities that lie within the burgeoning drone industry. The cycle of layoffs doesnt seem to be stopping soon as reports of job cuts surface almost daily from any corner of the world. In a latest development, short video app Chingari has reportedly laid off 20% of its workforce amid organisational restructuring. This comes less than four months after the startup raised undisclosed equity investment from L1 blockchain company Aptos Labs and discussed its global hiring and expansion plans, shedding light on the grappling businesses of short video apps. Also Read: Layoffs Continue In Tech World: Now This Big Data Analytics Firm Is Cutting Jobs Inc42 reported the development first. We deeply regret the need for these workforce reductions of 20% as a part of Chingaris organisational restructuring. These were one of the toughest decisions for our management and we understand the impact they have on our employees. We are appreciative of their contributions and commitment to Chingari, a company spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that affected employees will be offered a severance package equal to two months salary to assist them during this transition. Employees will be getting support through career counselling and job placement assistance. Around 50 people of its team of 250 employees got laid off in Chingaris attempt to boost long-term productivity and profitability, the company confirmed to Moneycontrol. This happened across teams including engineering, marketing, customer support, product to name a few. Chingaris co-founder Aditya Kothari had quit the company in May this year. As of December, co-founder and COO Deepak Salvi had told Moneycontrol that the startup was focusing on expanding and launching its apps across Europe, Latin America and Africa. It had already released its apps in local languages in the UAE, Indonesia, Turkey, and parts of the US. Prior to this, Chingaris peers Mojs parent company, Mohalla Tech, had laid off about 115 people after closing its fantasy gaming vertical and Joshs parent company, VerSe Innovation, laid off 150 people while announcing company-wide pay cuts for employees earning more than Rs 10 lakh per year. If the US has actor Keanu Reeves travelling in the subway like a common man and the UK has former PM Boris Johnson sprinting to board a train, India has Dr A Velumani, the founder of Thyrocare, surprising people travelling on a local train. Dr Velumai recently tweeted a picture of himself in a Mumbai local train and spoke about both how economical and faster travelling on a local train is. He said that the car showed 70 mins on an app while the train took just 18 mins by beating the traffic. https://twitter.com/velumania/status/1670028471865851904? It seems that Dr Velumai, whose company is valued at Rs 2500 crore has not forgotten his humble roots as he grew up in near poverty. His father was a landless farmer and the family used to depend on the meagre Rs 50 per month earned by his mother. As a child, Dr Velumai did not even have chappals as his parents could not afford them. Dr Velumani received a B.Sc. despite having little access to education. He worked his first job in a pharmaceutical company making capsules close to Coimbatore for a low salary. But even that did not last long because the business filed for bankruptcy after four years, leaving him jobless. He then left for Mumbai, the city of opportunities, with Rs 400 in his pocket. After coming to Mumbai, he worked in BARC for 14 years. Soon, he laid the foundation of Thyrocare with his PF money. Thyrocare started with a capital of Rs 1 lakh in 1996. In 2021, Velumanis shareholding reportedly hit Rs 5,000 crore, per a Forbes story. For Rs 4,546 crore, he sold his 66% ownership to PharmEasys parent business. The market capitalization of Thyrocare is presently Rs 2,500 crore. Currently, Thyrocare Diagnostic Chain comprises 1,122 outlets nationwide. A Reddit user has claimed that their college in Bengaluru is demanding an alleged 2.1 per cent of students salaries as part of Placement Fee from students upon securing a job through campus placements. Screenshots of the post, which was shared by user PurpleRageX on Bangalore Reddit group, sparked outrage on social media platform Twitter. As per the post, the college had allegedly withheld the certificates of the student which is hindering her onboarding process at the company. The user also claimed that despite repeated requests for official documentation supporting this fee claim, the college has failed to provide any. The post also mentioned that the payment requirement was not disclosed beforehand and that the college was pressuring the student to make the payment without presenting any written evidence of this obligation. My college requires me to pay 2.1 per cent of my CTC and they have termed it as Placement Cell Fee. This payment wasnt mentioned before and now they are withholding all my certificates and its hindering my further procedures with my company However, they wont produce any document or circular where it mentions this clause of making this payment, post my placement, the post read. The student, who revealed the details in the post, said the college was forcing her to pay the fee. They are only telling me verbally and are forcing me to pay, she said. The student also added that they are not even earning yet and have still been asked to pay this fee. The institution in question was identified as New Horizon College of Engineering (NHCE) when users requested further details. The students account further included allegations that the college had imposed similar fees on previous batches of students who had secured placements with various companies. The student is now looking for suggestions on the next step of action. The State Institute of Health and Family Welfare (SIHFW), Rajasthan, has issued a notification inviting applications for the posts of Lab Technician and Assistant Radiographer. SIHFW announced the same in two separate notifications for more than 3,000 vacancies. For Lab Technicians there are 2,007 vacancies and for Assistant Radiographers there are 1,067 vacancies. Applications can be submitted online through its official website https://sihfwlabtech.eshika.net/. The last date for online application is June 30. In the recruitment of Lab technicians and Assistant Radiographers in 2023, reservations will be provided to candidates who are permanent residents of Rajasthan. All candidates from other states will be considered as general category candidates. Original residents of Rajasthan will be required to upload a residence/domicile certificate issued in the name of their father. Educational qualifications For the position of Assistant Radiographer, one needs to be a Class 12 pass out with science subjects along with a radiography course. They should also possess knowledge of the Hindi language in the Devanagari script and familiarity with Rajasthan culture. For the position of Lab Technician, candidates must have passed Class 12 in the science stream and with a diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology. They should also possess knowledge of the Hindi language in the Devanagari script and familiarity with Rajasthan culture. Age limit For the posts of Lab Technician and Assistant Radiographer, the applicants age needs to be in between 18-40 years. Reserved category candidates will get weightage according to the rules. Registration fee For General and other backward-class candidates, the application fee is Rs 500 whereas for the OBCs of Rajasthan, it is Rs 350. For the TSP and Shariya tribe SC/ST, it is Rs 250. Tom Cruise made a comeback in the seventh instalment of Mission: Impossible. During the world premiere of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One in Rome, the actor got rather emotional while discussing his film with the media. He shared his views on cinema, shedding light on its ability to bring people together and create shared experiences by breaking down barriers. Expressing gratitude, Tom Cruise said he appreciates everyone for attending the world premiere of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One in Rome. The event, held on the iconic Spanish Steps, coincided with the films setting in the Italian capital. Indian audiences can catch the release of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One in theatres on July 12. In a red carpet interview with Deadline, Tom Cruise said hes happy with the collective efforts of the governments and crew members involved in the making of the film. Believe me, every day I was dealing and working with this community of governments and the people in my crew, to make it so that we could all have this and be here today, and it would not have happened at enough in film and enough in Venice, Norway, Abu Dhabi, everyone and the whole industry to be able to support it make this happen. So this is a moment, this is very exciting, he said. The actor spoke of the importance of immersing oneself in the industry by not only attending studio premieres in a country but also visiting local theatres and watching their movies in order to understand the nuances of the film industry. He also mentioned his efforts to engage with students and advocate for the need of theatres in various countries. I brought my movies and I watched my movies with them to understand the universality of humanity, the things that bring us together. And thats why its not just a cinema experience it is about all of us together from all walks of life, and being there together in the theatre and having a common experience. And that is what cinema does. It bridges walls, it breaks them down and allows people to be able to share that kind of commonality and experience And I used to go meet with the students. Id be like, we need theatres. You know, I want to I want to push you know, we need theatres in this country. We need theatres in that country." In Mission Impossible 7, Tom Cruise reprises his role as Ethan Hunt, leading his team, the Impossible Missions Force (IMF), on their most perilous assignment to date. Tom Cruise starrer Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is inching closer to its release date. The world premiere of the much-anticipated seventh installment of the popular franchise was held in Rome on Monday. The ones bestowed with the opportunity to attend the special screening have now flooded social media with their first reactions and it seems promising. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, Part One of the seventh installment features Tom Cruises Ethan Hunt tasked with a yet-another dangerous mission. He has to track down a deadly weapon during the boom of Artificial Intelligence to eradicate it from falling into the wrong hands thereby saving humanity. Multiple film critics have attested that the upcoming actioner features pulse-pounding sequences that are sure to keep audiences on the edge of their seats. Check out the early reactions below: Film critic Erik Davis from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango stated he has an absolute best time watching Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One. He called it an impeccably made action film adding, Each action sequence is long, crazy, and intense. The story is big and sprawling, but I like how it both felt complete and left you dying for what comes next. I had the absolute best time watching #MissionImpossible - an impeccably made action film that does not stop entertaining. Each action sequence is long, crazy & intense. The story is big & sprawling, but I like how it both felt complete & left you dying for what comes next pic.twitter.com/iNaKlDMH8l Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) June 19, 2023 For Drew Taylor, a reporter at The Wrap, the movie is nothing less than a thrill ride. He teased about the feature of probably the greatest train sequence ever in the Mission Impossible franchise. For the next part, Drew said, Bring on part 2. #MissionImpossibleDeadReckoning is easily the thrill ride to beat this summer. Great new characters, amazing action set pieces and a surprising new villain. (The less you know the better.) Also the last act is probably the greatest train sequence ever. Bring on part 2. pic.twitter.com/um2gipldF8 Drew Taylor (@DrewTailored) June 19, 2023 The Editor-in-chief at Collider, Steven Weintraub called watching the movie an incredible experience. The fastest 2 hr 30 min movie Ive seen in a long time. One of the best films Ive seen this year and Tom Cruise has done it again. Demands to be seen on the biggest screen. Cannot recommend this movie enough, he said. #MissionImpossibleDeadReckoning is incredible. The fastest 2 hr 30 min movie Ive seen in a long time. One of the best films Ive seen this year and @TomCruise has done it again. Demands to be seen on the biggest screen. Cannot recommend this movie enough. pic.twitter.com/GOB1WyX2Mi Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) June 19, 2023 Meanwhile, Joseph Deckelmeier from Screenrant declared the Tom Cruise film to be phenomenal. He praised the performance of Hayley Atwell and explained, With the AI being the villain, this feels like a cautionary tale. The action had my heart rate elevated. That train scene is mind-blowing! #MissionImpossibleDeadReckoning this phenomenal! Hayley Atwell STEALS ever scene shes in. This is now my favorite #missionimpossible film. With the AI being the villain, this feels like a cautionary tale. The action had my heart rate elevated. That train scene is mind blowing! pic.twitter.com/raHLqTwqEO Joseph Deckelmeier (@joedeckelmeier) June 19, 2023 The host and producer of The Last of Pods, Brandon Davis highlights that the villain, cliffhanger, and runtime of the movie did not impress him so much. However, he added, The rest is wildly entertaining and brilliantly filmed. Its solid. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is phenomenal on the action front, especially in the first hour.Hayley Atwell steals every scene. The villain, cliffhanger, and runtime didnt blow me away but the rest is wildly entertaining and brilliantly filmed. Its solid. pic.twitter.com/z4Im8S0oQc BD (@BrandonDavisBD) June 19, 2023 Emmy-nominated producer Scott Mantz called it the best Mission: Impossible movie so far. Great story, awesome cast, incredible action that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Tom Cruise has topped himself. The best action movie of the summer, he said of the movie. FINALLY HERE & WORTH THE WAIT! MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE DEAD RECKONING is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC & the BEST MISSION YET! Great story, awesome cast, incredible action that will keep you on the edge of your seat @TomCruise has topped himself w/ the BEST ACTION MOVIE OF THE SUMMER! pic.twitter.com/e2otIYcvQ4 Scott Mantz (@MovieMantz) June 19, 2023 Rohan Patel of ComicBook describes the movie to have Jaw-dropping action, high stakes, and a pulse-pounding third act thatll have you on the edge of your seat. #MissionImpossibleDeadReckoning is the best movie of the year! @TomCruise has done it again! Jaw-dropping action, high stakes, and a pulse-pounding third act thatll have you on the edge of your seat! #TomCruise is better than ever, and #HayleyAtwell is incredible! pic.twitter.com/eBFwKmJG2M Rohan Patel (@KingPatel7) June 19, 2023 Managing Editor of Get Fandom, Eric Goldman felt the start of the movie was a bit clunky. He believes, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One isnt quite as great as the last couple of films in this awesome series all while its still a terrifically exciting action film with fantastically executed set pieces. A bit of a clunky start and the (expected) non-ending means Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One isn't quite as great as the last couple of films in this awesome series all while it's still a terrifically exciting action film with fantastically executed set pieces. pic.twitter.com/L3TKdVpxLo Eric Goldman (@TheEricGoldman) June 19, 2023 Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One theatrically releases in India on July 12. Mantra Mugdh is a name associated with some of the most unique and captivating podcasts from the country. Heading his own, audio production house MnM talkies, the multi-talented artist has churned out shows ranging in genres. Whether it was his Virus 2062, Love In The Time Of Corona or Kaali Awaazein presented by Amitabh Bachchan, Mantra has truly broken through the clutter of audio story-telling in India. He recently helmed Prajakta Koli, Taaruk Raina and Adarsh Gouravs coming-of-age audible series Desi DownUnder. Mantra exclusively spoke with News18 Showsha where he talked about the future of audio story-telling in the country. Here are the excerpts: How was your collaborative experience with Mithila Gupta? What are some of the things about Desi Down Under that instantly compelled you to direct it? Mithila Gupta is a lot of fun, and that reflects in her stories. Also, she captures human emotions in a very nonchalant manner. I really enjoyed bringing her characters to life. We started working on the story in January 2022. I loved the draft she sent, and we worked together streamlining our ideas towards making it even more immersive and gripping. We had a fabulous creative in the form of Manali Rasal who helped us create a compelling Hindi version of the script. So, the 3 Ms (Mithila, Mantra, Manali) got together and lived this story for months.Throughout the collaborative process, we shared countless brainstorming sessions and engaging discussions, constantly pushing each other to explore new ideas and push the boundaries of our project. The story combines the adventure of three childhood friends chasing their dreams with zest of romance and comedy. The story is a delightful blend of genres that offers a unique and refreshing take on storytelling. What compelled me to direct Desi Down Under was the possibility of creating the first ever Inter Continent audio drama with actors based in 2 different countries coming together and sounding as if there were in the same room. How did you zero in on Prajakta Koli, Taaruk Raina, and Adarsh Gourav as the leads? Were there also other actors that you had considered before deciding on the current cast? Casting was a tedious process. We had to find the perfect trio and considering the fact that this is an audio series, it didnt matter whether you had six-pack abs, what mattered was whether they could transport the listeners to Sydney with just their voice. After an extensive casting process, we zeroed in on the most amazing trio we could have asked for - Prajakta Koli, Taaruk Raina, and Adarsh Gourav. This was my first time working with Prajakta and I was pleasantly surprised with her finesse in this medium. She has a terrifically expressive voice and she took to it like fish in the water. Adarsh was the most dedicated of them all, he imbibed the process completely and was always willing to go deeper with his character with the smallest nuances. Taaruk, I am afraid will always be my favorite, as he is my little buddy, a brother from another mother. As we both have worked with each other extensively in the past, it was a smooth experience. He is a maverick behind the microphone and it is there for everyone to hear in DDU. Walk me through the process of directing an audio series like Desi Down Under as opposed to visual direction. How difficult and challenging is it to set the mood of the story? Desi Down Under has been my most ambitious project. I tell stories through sound and I wanted to capture the essence of Australia on my binaural microphone. If that meant I had to fly to Sydney and walk the streets of the city with a strange-looking device in my hand, I was up for it. We sought to make the program as relatable and real as we could. Therefore, it was crucial to find the right cast, which included both Indian and Australian actors. Due to the involvement of two nations, their citizens, and two different time zones, the production process for the show was undoubtedly unique. For a movie or a TV series, there are so many visual aids for the viewers to get hooked on to the story. For an audio series like Desi Down Under and that too a wanderlust one, what were some of the things you implemented as the director that guaranteed listeners binge-listening to all the episodes? Audio Dramas are like a blind mans television. We paint pictures on an invisible canvas of the mind. Through the power of sound, we create pictures in the minds of our listeners. And sometimes the mind can create visuals no camera can ever capture. Thus, I believe audio dramas are much more powerful as the listeners become their own directors. Of course, what helps is the foley and sound effects which bring alive the imagination. I personally roamed around Sydney walking down the streets capturing the sounds of busy streets, capturing the sound of nature, etc on my binaural microphone. With a storyline so gripping, actors pouring their hearts, and the real sounds of Sydney, this series is the perfect binge podcast you were waiting for. What were the briefs that you gave to all the actors in the context of their approach to their characters? And how did they respond to it and how did they make this audio series their own? My brief to the actors is always to see the visuals in their heads while acting out a scene for this medium. I feel if the actor manages to see it, the listener will begin to see it too. As there were a lot of physical scenes in the series, many of them in the ocean, it was necessary for the actors to give us real physical stress in their voices. For many, it was an actual excursion and they actually felt short of breath at times. Audio storytelling while prevalent in the West is still a niche medium for the listeners in India. How can we attract more listeners to this medium and in what way do you make audio series engaging, the ones that you have directed? I feel the audio medium creates visuals in the listeners mind, which is a great thing. Our mind is the greatest filmmaker. Listeners can still enjoy and engage themselves in the work while their earphones are still on. The maker of the audio series has to pick compelling stories and has to make the series so interesting that the listener visualizes the picture in their mind. Tell us something about MnM Talkies? Your journey with the audio production house and how do you plan to curate more listeners in the coming time? In the world of podcasts, audio fiction is a different game altogether. Unlike regular podcasts, audio fiction is not fast food, it rather takes the finesse of a fine dine chef to create a theatre of the mind experience. MnM Talkies is my dream come true, its our audio wing and a leading audio content studio. At MnM, we bring the finest audio stories to life and have been continuously pushing the boundaries in the field of audio entertainment since our inception in 2016. Over the last 5 years, MnM Talkies has created top chartbuster audio shows that are extremely popular on streaming platforms including Batman Ek Chakravyuh, Kaali Awaazein, Commander Karan Saxena, awardwinning shows like Bhaskar Bose, Aakhri Sawaal and many more. Mithila Gupta has been shelling out Austrailian television for a decade now. The screenwriter and creator has been associated with series like Home and Away, Five Bedrooms, Neighbours, Winners & Losers and her most recent outing in the audio story-telling realm Desi Down Under, featuring stars like Prajakta Koli, Adarsh Gourav and Taaruk Raina. The Audible series follows three young Mangaloreans who take their first trip abroad, training as lifesavers at the stunning Coogee beach in Sydney, Australia. Mithila who has written the show spoke with News18 Showsha where she revealed the origin of the story and more. Here are the excerpts: Desi Down Under is the first audio series that you have written. While you have been associated with the visual medium of storytelling, what made you venture into this space? I had an opportunity to pitch my slate to Audible. And when we spoke of DDU they were immediately convinced of its potential in the audio medium. I had always seen it as a TV series but after my conversation with them, I became so excited about adapting it to a more immersive experience So when the characters are drowning, we feel like we are. When they whisper to each other, we swoon too. What was the seed behind Desi Down Under? How did you come up with a story like that and considering that the premise majorly deals with the themes of wanderlust, how did you decide to adapt it as an audio series? It all started when producer Mala Sujan came to me with an article about real-life life-saver Partha Varanashi who came to Coogee to learn lifesaving in the hopes of opening clubs and safety infrastructure on the South Indian coast. This felt like a great opportunity to explore the culture clash and fusion of my two homes. From here I built it into a story of three misfits who find themselves on Aussie foreign shores - in the hope that the wanderlust and coming-of-age story would resonate around the world. While writing the script, were you sure about the actors who would be lending the voice to the characters of your story? I had some ideas but was open to whom Audible would reach out to. I had NO IDEA we would end up with such an exciting and accomplished cast. I was stoked when they came on board. How was your experience working with Prajakta Koli, Adarsh Gourav, and Taaruk Raina? To what extent were they able to do justice to the characters as well as the story? They recorded in India, so being in Sydney, I only got to have some character chats on Zoom. It wasnt as hands-on as I wouldve hoped but I think the cast did an amazing job with the support of our director Mantra and Audible. To what extent were they able to do justice to the characters as well as the story? They recorded in India, so being in Sydney, I only got to have some character chats on Zoom. It wasnt as hands-on as I wouldve hoped but I think the cast did an amazing job with the support of our director Mantra and Audible. Subsequently, Mantra Mugdh being the director of the series, how did you guys creatively join forces to churn out something engaging? Were there any creative differences in the entire process? Mantra came on board once all the scripts were written and brought so much energy and excitement. He supported my vision for the show and brought some great layers in his Hindi translation. In what way a series like Desi Down Under will inspire the youth in chasing and fulfilling their dreams? I think our three leads are flawed but also resilient. They are trying to figure out who they are, what they want, and how to overcome their demons. I think we can all relate to one if not all of those things. And despite these drawbacks, they throw themselves into an adventure with open hearts. Its not easy, but with each others support, they find what theyve been missing. I hope this will inspire the youth to connect with those around them and thus unlock the power to fulfill their dreams. After this, do you plan to write more stories for the audio medium? Can an Audible series like Desi Down Under change the perception of audio storytelling (especially in a space dominated by Bollywood and OTT)? Absolutely, if I had another idea that suited the medium, I would write it for sure. Im hoping the exciting press, star cast, and writing and directing will draw the audience in and hold their interest like any OTT would. Also, there are benefits to audio series - you can listen on the way to school while cooking while walking or running - anywhere really. So you can consume it hard and fast and really invest in the characters. Thats really exciting as a writer. What are the opportunities for South Asian writers in a foreign country like Australia? Are they aptly represented? Not yet. Were working to get more representation on Australian screens, especially since the Indian population here is growing so fast! I have big hopes for the future of our industry That there will be more projects to hire Indian writers on and vice versa. The countries have much in common and much we could learn from each other. Palak Purswani needs no introduction. The model turned actor became a household name after audience loved her as Shweta in Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyaar Ke. The 30-year-old actor, who started her career at 19 with Splitsvilla 7, is now on Bigg Boss OTT Season 2 hosted by Salman Khan. Nicknamed Drama Queen, Purswani says that she is excited to be on the show. Im more than excited, actually. Theres a lot of mixed feelings here. Theres nervousness, excitement, anxiety bhi horahi hai thodi thodi. Its just next level. So, there are too many mixed feelings, but altogether good ones, says Purswani. Ask her what made the show producers coin her as the drama queen, and she says, Honestly, whenever Im in my house or in front of the camera, I always enjoy because camera is something which has always been my friend since the time that Ive entered the industry. I love the time when its between the action and the takes. My life can never be boring and monotonous. I always like my life to be thrilling. Im always out there, so, I think probably thats the reason why the name totally goes with me. The actor, who hails from Nagpur, made her onscreen debut at the age of 19 through another reality show. So, does this give her an added advantage in Bigg Boss OTT? The first time I entered a reality show was when I was almost a child. I was 19 years old when I entered Splitsvilla. Things have changed drastically in past 10 years. I would actually say that being part of a reality show, obviously I have the knack of it like how it is, but then things have really changed in 10 years. Its nothing like what Splitsvilla was. Advantage or disadvantage, I dont know about that. But I know for a fact that Im coming with a completely clean slate. Bigg Boss OTT 2 will also have Avniash Sachdev as one of the contestants. And his love story with Purswani was once the talk of the town. Purswani accepts that the duo were dating for almost four and a half years. So, will his presence in the show make a difference for her? Definitely, its going to make a difference in my game, because I was involved with him for good four and a half years. There were things between us, and we were very solid. It was not just a relation for few months that ended. So, definitely, it would make a little difference that he would be around me. I have not seen his face for the last one and half years after we broke up. Living with the same guy, might take a toll on me. But in terms of my game, I am just going to take him as just any other contestant. That is not going to hamper my game in any possible way. On a personal note, I dont know how I will react or how he will react, she concludes. It's primary day in Virginia today. Follow along as The Daily Progress newsroom reports live from polling places across the Charlottesville area, as well as from the viewing and victory parties as tallies are counted and winner are announced. As a Democratic stronghold, Charlottesville's primary elections today will likely determine who will take seats on City Council and within the House of Delegates and state Senate in Richmond come November. Analysis from Tuesday's primary is already beginning to roll in, and for at least one pro-abortion organization, the big takeaway from the night is that reproductive rights are still a huge motivator for Democrats. A spokesperson from EMILYs List, a political action committee, sent the following statement to The Daily Progress. "Across Virginia's Senate and House district primaries, EMILYs List has been proud to stand with unapologetically pro-choice women who have never wavered in their commitment to protecting abortion access. Tonight's primary results were an unmistakable indication that protecting abortion access continues to be the biggest motivating factor for Democratic voters, and that momentum will only grow in the general election." The statement reads like a reference to Amy Laufer, who the organization endorsed in April and who attacked her opponent, Kellen Squire, for once referring to himself as "fervently and unashamedly pro-life." The Squire campaign maintained that this quote was taken out of context. -Jason Armesto Early morning wake-up call be damned, Sen. Creigh Deeds was still enjoying the party at 10:30 p.m. Cheers erupted throughout Belmont Pizza late Tuesday evening as Deeds supporters and campaign staff took a shot at the bar to celebrate the senators victory over Sally Hudson. Talking to The Daily Progress, Deeds wasnt quite ready to declare victory, but he got quite close. I know that there are still some precincts out, but we are going to win those precincts, he said. I feel like were going to win this thing. Currently Hudson trails Deeds by less than 1,000 votes, but the race is all but over as Hudson gave a concession speech earlier in the evening. Still, the contest was much closer than prognosticators had expected, with Deeds just three points ahead of his primary challenger. Is that a sign that voters want him to push for more progressive legislation? Ive got to keep doing what Ive been doing, he said, pointing to the fact that hes among the most productive members in the General Assembly. Ill continue to do the work that Ive been doing for so many years, and Ive still got so much to do. But that work, as well as his daytime job as a lawyer, will wait until tomorrow. Deeds has to wake up at 5 a.m. in order to be at court at 9 a.m. Upon learning that it was already 10:22 p.m., the 65-year-old senator conceded he should go to bed soon. But soon after he cited a Warren Zevon rock song from 1976. Ill sleep when Im dead, Deeds said. -Jason Armesto After a standing ovation, Sally Hudson thanked her supporters and said she was planning to call Creigh Deeds to concede a closely watched race that has received national attention. I think that we know by the time that all of these ballots are counted, its not gonna go our way, Hudson said. I promise you that no matter how the rest of the night shakes out, we'll be better served. We're gonna have a senator who has to engage with thousands of people and recognize the priorities of this community. In her speech to supporters at Beer Run in Charlottesville, she wished the next senator well but refrained from explicitly naming Deeds. She also subtly took digs at Deeds' lengthy time in the state house and at other long-serving Democrats in the commonwealth. This is the Democratic Party. Whatever the formal institutions or people with title tell us, these are actually the people who power this community, Hudson said. Democrats around here aren't that used to elections. They're remarkably scared of democracy. One of the things that we have learned over the last 30 years is that we can get more of what we want from pressure, Hudson said. And so the work of that does not stop tonight. She ended her speech by saying that Virginia politics is at a turning point and urged supporters to stay energized and vigilant. I think that Virginia politics are about to take turn, Hudson said. So I want to thank all of you for playing your part in that process. Thank you for showing up for me, big and small. Hudson said it is too soon to know where she plans to go next but remains hopeful. If you had told me four years ago that I would be a four-year legislator right now, I would not have known, Hudson said. I have no idea what the next steps are for me, but we'll find the next adventure. While the tallies are not finished yet, Hudson is down by about 600 votes. Deeds outperformed her with in-person voters on Tuesday by large margins in almost every locality aside from Charlottesville city. -Luke Fountain Katrina Callsen was joined at Rapture by two City Council members. Lloyd Snook and Michael Payne have been reelected to the council, where they will be joined by newcomer Natalie Oschrin. Thats exactly the way I voted, so Im psyched, Snook told The Daily Progress, speaking well of Oschrin. For himself, he is looking forward to continuing work on initiatives he took on during his last term. Even if we dont get the zoning process completed in 2023 Ill be able to help make sure it gets completed in 2024, he said. Theres always a fear when you have a changeover mid project that somehow momentum is going to get lost and things will fall apart. So Im pleased with the way things are going to go and I am confident that itll be good governance for the city of Charlottesville, he said. Payne said he was nervous all day, and noted he had a City Council meeting as results were coming in. But he seemed more relaxed at the watch party. Im just excited for over the next four years to have a team on City Council that can start to make even greater progress on housing, public transportation and expanding green space, he said. -Jason Armesto Katrina Callsen is still digesting the fact that shes about to join the House of Delegates. At her campaigns watch party at Rapture restaurant, the crowd looked to a large projector screen as race results were updated and a green check mark appeared next to Callsens name. I think the green check mark means you won, Callsen told The Daily Progress. I think all the early votes are counted and it is what it is. Im feeling pretty good about it. After the hard work of campaigning, Callsen plans to go on a vacation with her family so that she can enjoy some time off and think about next steps. Its a lot to take in, she said while glancing up at the results on the projector screen. Im excited about potentially helping out other candidates and now that primaries are over, figuring out the best way to get started in January. -Jason Armesto Amy Laufer has declared victory over her opponent Kellen Squire. -Haley Sandlow Sally Hudson has announced to those attending her campaign watch party at Beer Run in Charlottesville she is preparing to call Creigh Deeds to concede. -Luke Fountain While Hudson has yet to arrive to her election watch party at Beer Run in Charlottesville, plenty of her supporters have. There are roughly 60-80 people at the restaurant watching and waiting as numbers trickle in through the evening. In the final mile of the campaign, Hudson hit Deeds hard on his previous votes, or lack thereof, on firearms. Ive been a Deeds supporter all this time, but Im voting for Sally because shes going to get stuff done," one supporter said. "Shes a doer. I changed my mind on Deeds when he sat on gun control when we had a Democratic in the governor's mansion and only acted on it when he knew it could get passed with Youngkin." Other supporters, noticing how tight the race has become, are taking a more moderate tone: "Win or lose, we will be OK with Deeds. ... We are happy we started a conversation." Ironically, Hudson's party has at least one person in attendance who still counts themselves as a Deeds' supporter. Im a Deeds supporter because we need to have the experience in the state house," they told The Daily Progress. "Im more angry than anything that they were gerrymandered into one district. We need both of them in Richmond. -Luke Fountain Katrina Callsen is leading in the race for the 54th District House of Delegates seat, but it's close. Callsen has 38% of the vote with Dave Norris close behind at 35%. Bellamy Brown sits at 27%. An important note is that all of the votes so far have come from Charlottesville city. Albemarle County has yet to post any of its numbers. On one hand, this could mean that Norris has plenty of time to take the lead. On the other, conventional wisdom would say the former Charlottesville mayor's stronghold is Charlottesville city. Only four of 10 city precincts have reported results so far, so while there are many more votes to be counted, if Norris cannot get a big showing from the remaining precincts, he may be in trouble. That's especially true if there is a large turnout in Albemarle County, as many believe Callsen will outperform her opponents in the suburbs. -Jason Armesto The much-hyped race between Creigh Deeds and Sally Hudson is living up to its billing so far. As of 7:59 p.m., Deeds has roughly a 300-vote lead over Hudson, much of it coming from counties surrounding the city. That was largely expected, as Deeds is believed to have more appeal with rural voters. So far that's true in Amherst, Louisa and Nelson, where Deeds has won 68%, 60% and 58% of the vote, respectively. Hudson is leading in Charlottesville city with 54% of the vote, but she may need a bigger turnout from the area if she's going to keep up with the sitting senator. With just three of 10 city precincts reporting results so far, she may have the opportunity to do just that. If Deeds is able to extend his lead in the outer counties, the city precincts may not offer enough votes for Hudson to overcome the Deeds lead. Keep an eye on Albemarle County. No results have been released from there yet, and if Hudson can grab a big chunk of those votes, this race will be hard to call until late in the evening. -Jason Armesto The night is young, but with the first reported election results from the 55th District House of Delegates race, Amy Laufer has taken a commanding lead over Kellen Squire. The former Charlottesville School Board chair has 493 votes to Squires 126. The majority of that lead has come from Louisa County, where four of five precincts have reported results. She also has 75% of the vote in Nelson County so far. If Squire is to make the race competitive, hell likely need big turnouts from Fluvanna and Albemarle counties. -Jason Armesto Candidates have descended upon Charlottesville High School in the last hours remaining of the campaign. City Council hopefuls Natalie Oschrin and Dashad Cooper, along with House of Delegates candidate Katrina Callsen, are making their case to any voter who will listen as people get off work and visit the polls. CHS is the top polling place with roughly 600 in-person ballots cast today. Election officials expect that turnout will be around 8,000 or 9,000 voters in this primary. A number well below the 10,380 voters in 2021. There will be about 3,700 to 3,800 early in-person and absentee ballots and that number is surprisingly equal to the number of election day voters, Jim Nix, a member of the electoral board, said. Callsen and Cooper are campaigning side by side outside the polls, while Oschrin is a distance away. Callsen and Oschrin had wildly different forecasts of what turnout would be. Callsen said she expected that turnout would be anywhere between 12,000 to 14,000 voters because of the high-profile nature of the Deeds versus Hudson race. With the amount of money these people have spent on Creigh Deeds and Sally Hudson, I expected turnout to be a lot higher, Callsen said. But it is probably just going to be around 9,000 people. Unless an unexpected swarm of voters descends to the polls in the last hour before they close, it is highly unlikely turnout will tick that high. Callsen did not comment on if the lower-than-expected in-person turnout was a benefit or disadvantage for her candidacy. Oschrin has set her hopes on what appears to be a more realistic turnout level. She hopes that in-person voting today will match early voting numbers. It has been way better than I was expecting. A lot more people have shown up and may not have done all their research and I can educate them and convince them. Oschrin said. Then there are some people who come by and know exactly who and why they are voting. ... It is great to help democracy. It seems shes on track to reach that goal. However, no consensus seems to be forming on who should be on City Council. No one candidate has appeared to run away with support based on the voters at the polls today. -Luke Fountain Charlottesville High School is proving to be a hotspot for voters, according to Charlottesville's Voter Registration and Election Office. CHS has seen 459 voters as of 4 p.m., the most of any precinct in the city. This is the first time the school is being used as a polling station. Its also had the largest turnout among registered voters, at 12.8%. Walker Elementary is not far behind, as 11.8% of the precincts registered voters have turned out. With a total of 2,747 in-person votes reported, this primary is so far lagging slightly behind the 2021 election, when 2,992 voters cast an in-person ballot by 4 p.m. The low turnout could be a sign of how many people have begun taking advantage of early and absentee voting. At 2 p.m., workers at the Charlottesville's Voter Registration Office told The Daily Progress that nearly 2,000 more people voted early in this election than they did in 2021. With many people getting out of work around 5 p.m., precincts may see a surge of in-person votes over the next couple hours. Polls close at 7 p.m. -Jason Armesto New primary day turnout numbers as of 4: 30 p.m. say that 2,747 voters have cast their ballot so far today in the Democratic primary. Its nearly 200 less people than at this time in 2021. Elections officials think that despite lower in-person turnout, the total turnout for the city of Charlottesville will be higher this year than in previous elections because of high-profile races up and down the ballot. Of the 30,281 registered voters in the city, the turnout numbers right now means that about 9% of Charlottesvilles voting population decided to vote today. The total number of Democratic primary voters in 2021 amounted to 10,380 voters, and the city is on track to get near that amount this go-around. Online, the tide appears to have shifted in favor of Creigh Deeds, the incumbent state senator, and away from upstart challenger Sally Hudson. Much of the conversation focuses on Hudson's criticism of Deeds record on gun reform and Deeds daughter's fiery defense of her father in the runup to the primary. -Luke Fountain Local in-person voting remains moderately busy, according to local election volunteers. Officials have emphasized that many people have opted to vote early or by mail. There are about 2,000 early and mail-in votes so far, and about 1,700 in-person votes, chief deputy registrar Josh Jenkins said. On the ground, voters have repeatedly said that the race they are watching the most is Creigh Deeds versus Sally Hudson. People go to vote for big elections, but local elections are just as, if not more, important, Walker Catoltt said. The race I am most interested in is Deeds versus Hudson. Faults have appeared over experience, with some saying Deeds lengthy time in the state Senate makes him more equipped to get things done. Others say it is time for a change in the state house, and they are voting for Hudson. It came down to when you want experience and when do you want a new voice, Lindsy Schwalb said. Picking a woman candidate also weighed in my choices. Housing and abortion rights seems to be the two largest issue voters have on their minds when they step into the ballot box. Housing is one of the biggest issues that needs to be addressed, Honnah Daigle said. Along with the environment, gun violence and abortion access. People in both camps say they would settle for the opposing candidate if their pick did not win the nomination. Everyone seems to be promoting the same issues. The candidates have unanimity on issues that matter for Charlottesville, Schwalb said. "I wouldnt be that disappointed with Sally, Catoltt said. I think Sally would be good because they have a lot of similar issues they advocate for. Id be happy with either one, I just think Deeds has more experience. -Luke Fountain Del. Sally Hudson, who's running against longtime state Sen. Creigh Deeds for the 11th District seat in the Senate was posted outside the Buford Middle School polls at 4 p.m. Just before close of business, the polls were largely empty, with only one woman casting her ballot. But Hudson said she anticipates traffic to pick up once workers clock out at 5 p.m. Hudson said that while in-person, day-of turnout has been lower this year, combined with early votes the numbers "have already beat Terry's race," referring to former Gov. Terry McAuliffe's race against the ultimately victorious Glenn Youngkin in 2021. Hudson said she was posted outside Mountain View Elementary School earlier in the day. -Reynolds Hutchins Few people were casting ballots at the Herman Key Recreation Center at 2:30 p.m., where The Daily Progress saw just five voters exit the polls. Kim Monge and her wife Karlie Smith were among them. Monge was keeping an eye on the couple's bicycles while Smith was in the polling place. Both were most interested in the District 11 Senate race between Sally Hudson and Creigh Deeds. "I almost didn't vote, but there seemed to be a lot of issues close to my heart," said Monge. The same-sex couple is concerned about LGBTQ rights and climate change. Voting, they said, often feels like choosing the lesser of two evils. "Which candidate is going to hinder people's rights the least," Smith said. They sided with Hudson over Deeds because they feel female representation matters, and they were concerned about Deeds' "lack of consistency" on policies they care about. And if Hudson loses? "We'll make do. We'll survive. We survived Trump," Smith said. -Jason Armesto As of 1 p.m., voter turnout on election day in Charlottesville is down close to 10% from the 2021 election, according to data from the voter registration and elections office for the city. According to data, 1,785 voters had been cast on election day so far. The decline in turnout mirrors trends in the past three off-year elections around the state. This election year marks a new turn in Virginia politics. Incumbents have been stripped of their old districts drawn by politicians for new boundaries drawn from scratch by independent experts. Already the state has seen more than two dozen retirements and new competitive primaries that pit old allies against one another. -Luke Fountain Rajeev Sen and Charu Asopa are maintaining good relations after their divorce. The couple were granted divorce on June 8 and are co-parenting their daughter Ziana. Well, recently in one of his vlogs, Rajeev offered a role to his ex-wife and said that he will be very happy if she can be one of his co-actors. As mentioned in Hindustan Times, Rajeev also revealed his upcoming web series titled Kaka Joos. He said, I have told Charu about this project. I will be very happy if she can be one of my co-actors in it. Of course, I will give her a very good role. The script is fantastic. I am sure she will go through the script. Charu and I havent worked together professionally. We have done a lot of vlogging together. So this will be a treat for the fans. Sharing screen with her will be interesting, the dialogues and all are fun and interesting." He even mentioned that he knows that Charu is a good actor and will give her best of she takes up. Charu Asopa and Rajeev Sen tied the knot in June 2019 and welcomed their first child, a baby girl in 2021. Earlier, in an interview, Charu mentioned that she and Rajeev want to maintain a cordial relationship so that things do not get difficult for their daughter Ziana when she grows up. When Ziana grows up, she shouldnt feel like shes in a tight spot because her parents dont talk to each other. I dont want to make things difficult for her. Sometimes, things get difficult for me, but main apni beti ke liye itna toh kar hi sakti hun, she told Hindustan Times. Recently, Rajeev also shared pictures of him celebrating Fathers day with Ziana. Shalin Bhanot is on a success spree. He was one of the finalists of the reality show Bigg Boss 16 and was then offered the lead role in the Ekta Kapoor-produced fantasy drama show Bekaboo which also stars Eisha Singh. Following this, he made his OTT debut with Inspector Avinash in which he played the role of a Punjabi cop. However, is Shalin now planning to make his Bollywood debut soon? On Tuesday, Shalin Bhanot took to his Instagram stories and dropped a photo in which he was seen posing with the Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 director Anees Bazmee. In the caption of his picture, Shalin wrote, Your day is made when you spend good time with an awesome human being @aneesbazmee bhai." Shalins recent meeting with Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 director has certainly sparked some curiosity among fans with everyone now wondering if he is planning to make a Bollywood debut soon. While its unclear what exactly transpired during their meeting, its safe to say that both men had a great time in each others company. Perhaps this meeting could lead to a collaboration between the two in the future. Only time will tell, but fans are certainly excited to see what these talented individuals have in store for us. Recently, Shalin also bought a new car when he recalled how he came to Mumbai on a bike as he couldnt afford anything. I got my first car from Jabalpur. I had actually come on a bike since I couldnt afford anything. After a year and a half, my dad felt that I am getting famous but I am still on the same bike. He asked me to take their car as it wouldnt spoil my hair during auditions, the actor was quoted as saying by ETimes. A submersible, an underwater vehicle, with five people on board has gone missing near the location where the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean. The United States Coast Guard has initiated a search and rescue operation and confirmed that they were looking for the vessel, called Titan. The Canadian research ship MV Polar Prince lost contact with the submersible while it was diving around 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on Sunday morning. Where was the Submersible Last Seen? The submersible disappeared in the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean and its occupants have limited supplies (including oxygen) to survive for about four days or less. The search for the missing submersible is being led by the U.S. Coast Guard in Boston. The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, reported that the submersible was overdue on Sunday night, approximately 435 miles south of St. Johns, Newfoundland, USA Today reported. Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander of the First Coast Guard District, stated that two aircraft from both the United States and Canada, as well as a commercial ship, are involved in the search. Additional resources will be deployed as the search continues throughout the night. Why is Locating the Submersible a Challenge? The US Coast Guard has dispatched two planes to survey the isolated region in the North Atlantic, and their Canadian counterparts have also sent a plane and a ship to aid in the search, AFP said in its report. However, despite efforts throughout the day, there have been no reported sightings of the missing vessel or any communication signals. The US Coast Guards Boston-based unit announced on Twitter at around 9:00 pm (0100 GMT Tuesday) that their flights for the day had been completed. The research ship called Polar Prince, which launched the submersible, along with the US Air National Guard unit called Rescue106, will continue surface searches throughout the evening. Canadian aircraft, which have been using buoys to scan beneath the surface, will resume the search on Tuesday morning. One of the individuals on board has been identified as British businessman Hamish Harding, whose aviation business had shared about his expedition on social media. Rear Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard assured reporters in Boston that despite the challenges of searching in such a remote area, they are deploying all available resources to locate the submersible and rescue its occupants. Time is of great importance in this situation. The vessel, carrying a crew of five, has a limited range of 96 hours. Rear Admiral Mauger stated on Monday afternoon that he believed there were still 70 or more hours of oxygen left for the crew. This indicates that there is a diminishing window of time to locate the vessel and ensure the safety of those on board. Why Underwater Rescues are So Difficult The rescue operation to save the five individuals aboard the deep-diving submersible Titan faces several challenges. John Ismay, for the New York Times, explains that various factors such as weather conditions, darkness at night, sea state, and water temperature can affect search and rescue efforts at sea. However, rescues conducted underwater are even more complex. The primary obstacle is locating the Titan. Many underwater vehicles are equipped with acoustic devices known as pingers that emit sounds detectable underwater. It is unclear if the Titan has such a device, the report says. The submersible lost contact with its support ship approximately one hour and 45 minutes into what is typically a two-and-a-half-hour dive to the ocean floor where the Titanic rests. Possible issues could include problems with the Titans communication equipment or its ballast system, which controls its descent and ascent by flooding or pumping out water from tanks, it explains. There is also the risk of the submersible becoming entangled with wreckage, preventing it from resurfacing. If the submersible is located at the ocean floor, rescue options are limited due to the extreme depths involved. Human divers using specialized equipment and breathing helium-rich air mixtures can reach depths of only a few hundred feet before requiring lengthy decompression periods, Ismay explains. Beyond a certain depth, sunlight cannot penetrate the water, resulting in complete darkness. The Titanic rests at approximately 14,000 feet, a depth that can only be reached by specialized submersibles designed to keep occupants warm, dry, and supplied with breathable air. The most viable rescue option would likely involve an unmanned underwater vehicle or drone. The U.S. Navy possesses a submersible rescue vehicle, but its depth capability is reportedly limited to 2,000 feet. For deeper water recoveries, the Navy relies on remote-operated vehicles like CURV-21, which can reach depths of 20,000 feet, as demonstrated during the recovery of a crashed F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in the South China Sea. Deploying the appropriate equipment, such as a remote vehicle like CURV-21, to the site requires time, including transporting it to a suitable ship capable of reaching the location. The Titanic wreck is located around 370 miles south of Newfoundland, and ships capable of carrying deep-diving vehicles typically travel at speeds of around 20 miles per hour. The Titan is equipped to sustain its occupants for approximately 96 hours. Although submersibles recycle air by removing carbon dioxide and adding oxygen, there is a limit to how long they can effectively scrub carbon dioxide from the air. If the Titans batteries deplete and can no longer power the heaters to keep the occupants warm in the freezing depths, hypothermia becomes a significant risk, making the situation ultimately unsurvivable. Additionally, if the submersibles pressure hull fails, it would result in a swift and certain demise for those inside, the New York Times report explains. About Oceangate OceanGate is a privately owned company based in Everett, Washington, that has been operating since 2009 with a focus on enhancing access to deep-ocean exploration, Anna Betts writes for the New York Times. The company has gained attention in recent years for organizing expeditions, allowing paying tourists to travel in submersibles to explore shipwrecks such as the Titanic and underwater canyons. In addition to these tourism ventures, OceanGate provides crewed submersibles for commercial projects and scientific research. OceanGate emphasizes safety, proactive communication, and client satisfaction, employing a team of qualified pilots, expedition leaders, mission professionals, and client-service staff, as stated on their website. The company was founded by Stockton Rush, an aerospace engineer and pilot who currently serves as the CEO. Rush achieved the distinction of becoming the youngest jet transport rated pilot globally at the age of 19 in 1981. He obtained an aerospace engineering degree from Princeton University three years later and later earned an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1989. Currently, OceanGate owns and operates three five-person submersibles. The first submersible they acquired, named Antipodes, has a depth capability of 1,000 feet, the report explains. In 2012, the company acquired another submersible, which was transformed into Cyclops 1. This vessel had the capacity to reach depths of up to 1,640 feet. Cyclops 1 served as a prototype for their latest submersible, the Titan. Constructed from carbon fiber and titanium, the Titan is designed to explore depths exceeding 13,000 feet or more than two miles. AFP, The New York Times contributed to this report Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his visit to the US will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of the Indo-US partnership and asserted that together the two countries stand stronger in meeting shared global challenges. Modi said this special invitation" from President Joseph Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for a state visit is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between the democracies. Modi emplaned for the US in the morning. He will head to Egypt from the US before returning to India. According to a report by Firstpost, during his visit, it is expected that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will once again choose to stay at the renowned Willard InterContinental Washington DC, which is considered one of the most prominent and historic hotels in the United States. This choice is not surprising, as PM Modi had previously stayed at the hotel during his visit in September 2021. The Willard InterContinental holds a significant place in American history, being listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Over its more than 200 years of existence, the hotel has been a preferred accommodation for U.S. presidents, international dignitaries, and numerous celebrities. About the Hotel The Willard InterContinental is a historic hotel in downtown Washington that has been around for three centuries. It started in 1816 when Captain John Tayloe built row-houses that were later turned into a hotel by Joshua Tennyson. Over the years, the hotel changed hands and names until it was purchased by Henry and Edwin Willard in 1850 and became known as Willards City Hotel, according to a report by The Historic Hotels of America. They combined the buildings and renovated the hotel in 1900. After some changes in ownership, the hotel faced a decline and closed in the 1960s but was saved from demolition by the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation (PADC) and restored by the Oliver Carr Company and Golding Associates. It reopened as The Willard InterContinental in 1986. The Willard InterContinental has been an important part of Washingtons social and political life, the report explains. Notable events and figures include a ball held by British Ambassador Francis Napier, the stay of Japanese envoys during a trade agreement, the founding of the National Press Club, Julia Ward Howe writing The Battle Hymn of the Republic," and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. writing his I Have A Dream" speech. Many U.S. presidents have visited or stayed at The Willard, such as Abraham Lincoln, who was secretly brought to the hotel before his inauguration, Ulysses S. Grant, who could often be found in the lobby, Woodrow Wilson, who held meetings for the League of Nations, and Calvin Coolidge, who took his oath of office at the hotel. The hotel offers various upscale amenities, including luxurious guest rooms, multiple restaurants, the well-known Round Robin Bar, a series of luxury shops called Peacock Alley, and spacious function rooms. It is also conveniently located two blocks east of the White House and two blocks west of the Washington Metros Metro Center station. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to meet with a group of influential thought leaders in New York on Tuesday. Among the notable individuals he will meet are entrepreneur Elon Musk, known for his involvement with companies like Tesla and Twitter, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, Nobel laureate economist Paul Romer, author Nicholas Nassim Taleb, investor Ray Dalio, and several others. The purpose of these meetings is to foster better synergy, gain insights into developments in the United States, and invite collaboration between the thought leaders and India, the government has said. Prime Minister Modi often engages with thought leaders during his visits to other countries as a means to strengthen people-to-people connections. His visit to the United States from June 21-24 is at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The itinerary includes a state dinner hosted by the Bidens on June 22, as well as an address by Prime Minister Modi to a joint session of the US Congress on the same day. Who are Thought Leaders? Thought leaders are individuals who, through their expertise and industry perspective, provide unique guidance, inspire innovation, and exert influence on others, according to a report by Business News Daily. According to Jake Dunlap, CEO of Skaled Consulting, they possess the ability to contribute to current conversations while also speculating on future trends. Rather than offering opinions on every topic, they set the industry pace by providing intelligent insights and informed perspectives. Thought leaders bring a distinct point of view that cannot be easily found elsewhere, making them valuable in business settings. They not only generate cutting-edge ideas but also have the courage to express those ideas and inspire others to implement them, according to the report. Walt Rakowich, a leadership speaker and retired CEO of ProLogis told Business News Daily that thought leaders not only have great ideas but also know how to influence and motivate others to put those ideas into action. And according to a report in Forbes, a thought leader is an individual or organization that others in a particular industry look to for guidance and expertise. They stand out among competitors and are considered foremost authorities in their specialized areas. While some may associate thought leadership with profits and industry status, it encompasses much more, the report explains. Being a thought leader goes beyond financial gains and status; it involves being authentic and empowering. Thought leaders aim to influence others and encourage them to think differently about specific topics. They bring alternate viewpoints and insightful perspectives to discussions, going beyond simply creating content or commenting on current events. According to Aneesh Raman, a former CNN war correspondent and speechwriter for President Barack Obama, true thought leaders possess authenticity, relevance, insightfulness, and novelty. They focus on a narrow set of issues they are passionate about and have experience in. Their thoughts align with the interests of their industry or audience and are connected to ongoing conversations. Authentic curiosity is also crucial for thought leaders. Despite their expertise, they remain open to listening and learning from others. By combining their curiosity with their existing knowledge, they can offer enlightened perspectives to their audiences. Confidence and conviction are important traits for thought leaders. They provide unique viewpoints that stimulate creativity and often challenge the status quo. They push people to change their thinking or question established ideas. About Musk, deGrasse Tyson Elon Musk, born in Pretoria, South Africa, is an entrepreneur of South African origin who later became an American citizen. He is widely recognized for his involvement in various groundbreaking ventures. Musk co-founded the electronic-payment company PayPal and played a pivotal role in its development, according to Britannica. He is the founder and CEO of SpaceX, a company focused on manufacturing launch vehicles and spacecraft. Furthermore, Musk was one of the initial prominent investors in Tesla, an electric car manufacturer, and subsequently became its CEO. In 2022, he also acquired the social media platform Twitter. Modi will also meet Neil deGrasse Tyson, an American astronomer who has played a key role in making science accessible and engaging to the public. He has achieved this through his writings, including several books, as well as frequent appearances on radio and television, as per reports. The Indian leader will also meet with Paul Romer, an American economist who was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2018 along with William Nordhaus. He received this prestigious recognition for his significant contributions to the understanding of long-term economic growth and its connection to technological innovation. Romers research has provided valuable insights into how technological advancements that support sustained economic growth are created within human economic activities. He has also highlighted the crucial role of government intervention through investments in research and development (R&D) and the implementation of well-designed intellectual property laws in fostering continuous economic growth, according to Britannica. PTI contributed to this report A distress call received by Delhi Polices Control Room on Monday led to a vigorous search after multiple PCR vans were deployed to undertake a high-speed car on the streets of south Delhi, known for sorts of notorious crimes, especially against women. While the police were still unable to gather any substantial clue on the case in the absence of any official missing or kidnapping complaint by any woman, it has so far concluded that the matter was related to some personal dispute, HT reported. According to an HT report, the late-night drama began with a group of students noticing a car with two men and women inside. However, what alarmed the youth was the fact that women in the car were attempting to get out of the vehicle while the men constantly prevented them from doing so. The students hastily made a call to the police noting the licence plate number but the police were still unable to catch the car as it managed to give them the slip. The car was reportedly registered on a Haryana number and went towards Noida. The Delhi police alerted Noida police about the case, but even they failed to locate any such vehicle leaving the police with no leads. Police said that the incident occurred in South Extension Part 1 at around 12.35 am when a group of NEET aspirants spotted a grey Hyundai i20 car with two men and two women, HT reported. Meanwhile, officers at the Kotla Mubarakpur police station monitored the CCTV footage around the spot and their story was checked out. A camera showed a car, possibly a Maruti Celerio or a Hyundai i10, at the spot around 12.35 am. Its front door was open and a woman appeared to be calling out for help, a police official told HT. To ensure a safe Amarnath Yatra, which is set to begin on July 1, the Indian army has decided to put multi-tier security with the deployment of Special Frontier Force detachments, snipers, drone systems, bomb disposal squads, dog squads, and counter IED equipment. This was decided in a review meeting chaired by Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi, Northern Army Commander, during which he visited both routes of the Yatra - the southern route through Baltal in Ganderbal and the northern route through Pahalgam in Anantnag district. The Army Commander, while inspecting the arrangements on both routes, was briefed on the multi-tiered security arrangements to include night domination through night vision devices, snipers, drone systems, bomb disposal squads, dog squads, counter IED equipment, vehicle repair, and recovery teams to ensure smooth movement of convoys and synergy with civil agencies being undertaken to make the Yatra incident free. Lt Gen Dwivedi was also shown the arrangements made by Border Roads Organisation (BRO), the Indian Air Force, and teams from High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS). The road stretch to holy cave shrine is almost clear for induction of pilgrims. In coordination with civil admin, NGOs, and other agencies, Army is establishing multiple medical detachments with special arrangements of oxygen cylinders and control rooms at various points along both the routes for humanitarian aid that will be operational round the clock," officials told News18. Army has also established helipads at multiple locations for medical emergencies and to cater to other airlift requirements. Army has also established several Yatri camps with adequate tent facility along with special winter clothing arrangements to provide habitat and comfort during the Holy Yatra," they said. Based on the experiences of the cloud burst during the Amarnath Yatra last year, civil rescue teams and avalanche rescue teams will also be deployed enroute systematically to mitigate any kind of disaster. Earth movers will also be placed at the Cave and multiple locations enroute for emergencies. Seamless communication network on both the routes has also been operationalized. SFF detachments will also be overlooking the security of the people," army officials said. An All Inclusive Approach" has been followed to synergise the efforts with all civil agencies including joint training, joint operation, joint exercises, and mock drills are being conducted to ensure seamless and successful conduct of the Yatra this year. Northern Army commander, officials said also appreciated the good work of all agencies and the synergy between them. He complimented them for their proactive action and exhorted them to meet future challenges. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the International Yoga Day celebration at the United Nations headquarters in New York, a plethora of activities are planned back home in India to commemorate the occasion. The world will be celebrating the 9th International Yoga Day on June 21. To signify its immense significance, the tri-services the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Airforce have plans to organise grand events within their respective jurisdictions. The theme for International Yoga Day 2023 is Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam". It describes the desire for One Earth, One Family, and One Future. Army gears up for Bharatmala The Indian Army is undertaking the creation of a Bharatmala by organising yoga activities at over 106 locations situated along the border areas of the nation. These locations span from the eastern extremity of Dong, where the first rays of the sun touch India, to the sand dunes of Longewala, the site of the epic battle fought in 1971. Similarly, yoga activities will be conducted in the glacial heights of Siachen to the southern tip of Kanyakumari, and even the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. This initiative aims to promote the practice of yoga and foster a sense of unity and well-being among the soldiers stationed in these areas. Mega activities are planned at different places within the country. We have invited Defence Attache/ Military Attache posted at New Delhi to be a part of the yoga event scheduled at Delhi Cantt where the Army chief is the chief guest, said senior officials of the Indian Army. Additionally, thousands of Army men will take part in yoga activities across the nation. Ocean Ring of Indian Navy Defence minister Rajnath Singh along with the Chief of Naval staff and hundreds of personnel from the Navy will perform yoga onboard INS Vikrant on Yoga Day. Additionally, the Indian Navy has planned a series of activities under the event called Ocean Ring of Yoga. This initiative aims to promote unity and solidarity while spreading the message of yoga across the seas. Indian Navy ships deployed in the Indian Ocean Region will visit various ports of friendly foreign countries, acting as ambassadors of yoga and conducting yoga sessions at these locations. In total, approximately 3,500 naval personnel on board 19 Indian naval ships have travelled over 35,000 kilometres to represent yoga as ambassadors, both nationally and internationally. This includes over 2,400 personnel on 11 Indian Navy ships at foreign ports and international waters. Additionally, celebrations are also planned onboard ships of several foreign navies in coordination with Indian overseas missions, involving over 1,200 foreign navy personnel, said a spokesperson of the Indian Navy. As per information available, port calls are planned at Chattogram in Bangladesh, Safaga in Egypt, Jakarta in Indonesia, Mombasa in Kenya, Toamasina in Madagascar, Muscat in Oman, Colombo in Sri Lanka, Phuket in Thailand, and Dubai in the UAE by IN Ships Kiltan, Chennai, Shivalik, Sunayna, Trishul, Tarkash, Vagir, Sumitra, and Brahmaputra, respectively. Mega event by Indian Air Force Other than the Army and Navy, the Indian Air Force has planned Yoga Day celebrations across the country at different air force stations. Its an important day for the whole world. Indian Air Force is a very big part of the occasion. Our chief will be a part of celebrations at the air force station in New Delhi and along with him hundreds of personnel from the service will perform yoga throughout the country, said a senior official. Other wings of the ministry of defence have also planned similar activities. The new Congress government in Karnataka is taking content and narrative on social media seriously in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The ruling party believes that political opponents who had used social media during chief minister Siddaramaiahs first tenure to bring disrepute to the government are at it again. The Congress government says the opponents had earlier tried to create unrest in the society by spreading false news about child thieves, beef transporters, etc. The chief minister has now asked the state home minister to ensure all sources of fake news are traced. CM Siddaramaiah has claimed that there are indications that attempts would be made to create mob attacks and riots through fake news and rumours". The chief minister also held a detailed meeting with home minister G Parameshwara, asking his department to be alert in tackling fake news, especially as the Lok Sabha elections approach. The state government has also decided to set up fact-checking teams at the Bengaluru city police commissioners office and at the state police headquarters. Apart from busting fake news and creating awareness among internet users, the cyber cell of the police department has been actively tracking individuals manufacturing fake news and those propagating it. The CM has also sought a monthly report on the implementation of these measures. The government claims a similar fact-checking unit was disbanded by the previous BJP dispensation. We will have a fact-checking unit in place soon, any news deemed to be floated with mala fide intention, we will take action. We will have a heavy fact-checking unit in the state. Anybody trying to spread fake news and false narrative will be reined in, said information technology and biotechnology (IT & BT) minister Priyank Kharge. Soon, frisking may not be the norm at airports and may be reserved only for fliers who dont clear suspicion after passing through metal detectors and body scanners, top sources in the Civil Aviation Ministry told News18. A senior ministry official told News18 that two to four full-body scanners shall be deployed in airports across the country in a phased manner, following which physical frisking of passengers, airport staff and airline crew will be reserved in rare cases. Once you are through full body scanners and metal detectors, only some people will be frisked. Right now everyone is frisked. Once these machines are up, well follow the science, the official said. If the person seems suspicious even after going through full body scanners, then theyll be frisked. And then the frisking will be on the spot and intensive. It wont be light frisking in that case, he added. Asked about complaints of invasive and hostile frisking by officials from the Central Industrial Security Force, which secures airports and other sensitive installations across India, the official said: Frisking shouldnt be the norm. But if its being done, it should be thorough. The Centre had earlier directed 84 airports across India to install body scanners to detect non-metallic objects as well. A circular sent by Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to all airports in 2019 had stated that walk-through metal detectors and hand-held metal detectors cannot detect non-metallic weapons and explosives, while body scanners detect both metallic and non-metallic items concealed on the body. In a recent case, a Kenyan woman was apprehended at the international airport in Delhi for smuggling liquid cocaine, which was dissolved in two whiskey bottles she was carrying. Of around 105 operational airports in the country at present, 28 are classified as hypersensitive, including those in big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and in conflict areas like Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast while 56 airports are categorized as sensitive. Full-body scanners provide image-free solution using a generic mannequin. Threats shall be graphically presented," the BCAS circular had stated, addressing privacy concerns that these machines may generate images with full body contours. On the mannequin-like image generated by the machine, a yellow spot will highlight the area on the body that may need further screening. Passengers usually have to remove their jackets, thick clothing, shoes, belts as well as all metallic items before entering into the body scanner of an airport. The scanners are based on millimeter wave technology comprising non-ionising electromagnetic radiation, which means it is safe for all passengers, including pregnant women, the circular had said. Following are impressions from the main foreign exhibits at Vietnam Defence 2022 Russia At the Vietnam Defense Exhibition, Russia was represented by Rosoboronexport, Rostec, and United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), but the displays mainly consisted of models. The Russian exhibit reflected their attempt to focus on what works in combat and minimize focus on the hardware that has shown poor performance in Ukraine. In this context, artillery rocket systems of various sizes, including a compact launcher of six 300mm rockets adapted for light trucks, were on display, with rockets modified to provide precision strike capability with an accuracy of 30 meters at a flight distance of 120 km. This trend is likely the Russian response and lessons from the successful performance of the Lockheed Martin M-142 HIMARS the US equivalent used extensively by Ukraine with its M31 227mm precision-guided rockets. To gather accurate target information at these ranges, Russian artillery units could use the Orlan drones, which were also on display. India India had a strong presence at the exhibition, with 20 exhibitors from the public and private sectors and research and development organizations. The main focus was on the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, which has achieved operational capability with the Indian navy and army and is being flight tested on Indian Su-30 MKI strike fighter jets similar to the Su-30s used by Vietnam. India has already sold the BrahMos to the Philippines and is negotiating to sell it to Indonesia and Vietnam. Other weapon systems promoted at the exhibition included the AKASH air defense systems, ASTRA beyond visual range air-to-air missile (also developed for Indias Su-30MKI and Tejas MK1), and an 88 wheeled Armored Platform (WhAP) APC that could potentially replace Vietnams legacy BTRs. US Since lifting trade sanctions in 2016, the US has gradually increased defense trade with Vietnam, including selling T-6C training aircraft and pilot training through Foreign Military Support funds. Sales of F-16 fighter jets and C-130J transport aircraft are also in the works. Participating companies included Lockheed Martin, Textron, Honeywell, and Aerovironment. Israel In recent years, Vietnam has been looking to diversify its arms suppliers beyond Russia and has already acquired Israeli Spyder air defense systems and Trigon coastal defense rockets. Vietnam has also expressed interest in the Israeli Barak 8 air defense system as part of a $500 million investment. Czech and Slovak Republics The Vietnam defense market is of interest to the Czech and Slovak defense industries, which are organized under the CSG group. This enterprise brings together 11 companies from both countries, including Excalibur Army (armored vehicle manufacturer), Tatra Defense Vehicles (truck producer), MSM Group (ammunition provider), Retia (radar specialist), and others. Read more on Vietnam Defence 2022 in this post The allure of foreign countries, particularly America, has driven some individuals to pursue their dreams at any cost, even putting their lives at risk. Recent incidents have shed light on the dangers faced by those who seek to relocate to America through unconventional means. One such case involves a Gujarati family that endured harassment and torture after being promised assistance with their journey to America. Disturbing footage of the youths mistreatment has emerged, prompting an investigation by the police, who suspect the video originated from either Iran or Hyderabad. The couple from Ahmedabad embarked on a journey that took them through multiple countries. Reports have emerged in the local media about their abduction in Hyderabad and subsequent transportation to Tehran or Azerbaijan. A viral video accompanied by a ransom demand has brought their plight to public attention. The victims, identified as Pankaj Patel and his wife Nisha, residents of Krishnanagar, Ahmedabad, were subjected to unimaginable horrors in their quest for a better life. After being transported from Ahmedabad to Hyderabad, the couples aspirations of reaching America were shattered when they fell into a treacherous trap. Alongside five other couples, they were taken to Iran, where they were held hostage and extorted for money. The perpetrators captured the torturous ordeal on video and sent it to the families, adding further distress to an already harrowing situation. The Crime Branch has initiated an investigation into the matter following the videos viral circulation. The couple entrusted their dream of American immigration to a person named Abhay Rawal, who has since vanished with the substantial sum of money they paid him. Pankaj Patel had reportedly handed over Rs 1.15 crore to the agent for assistance with their journey. The family believes they have been defrauded and left in a dire predicament. The case of Dinguchas family illustrates the desperation and willingness of families to risk everything for the chance to move to America. Last year, tragedy struck when a family from Gandhinagar perished on their way to the United States. Initially lured with promises of an easy immigration, the family was transported to Dubai. Their journey was to continue illicitly through Toronto and Winnipeg, but fate took a tragic turn. Four family members, including two children, lost their lives due to a snowstorm in Winnipeg. The stories of these families serve as a stark reminder of the lengths some people are willing to go to fulfill their dreams of settling in America. However, they also highlight the dangers and risks associated with seeking illegal means of immigration, underscoring the importance of legal and safe pathways to achieve these aspirations. The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the West Bengal governments plea against the deployment of central forces during the panchayat polls and said that the State Election Commission (SEC) should not have any issue with such deployment. The court further noted that holding elections cannot be a license to allow violence and considering that West Bengal has a history of such poll-related violence, such deployment seems necessary. The apex court made the remarks while hearing a plea challenging an order of the Calcutta High Court directing the SEC to requisition and deploy central forces across West Bengal for the panchayat elections. The High Court on June 15 had directed the SEC to requisition and deploy central forces across West Bengal for the panchayat elections within 48 hours. The HCs order came after state-wide violence erupted and workers of BJP and TMC clashed in various places during the nomination process for the panchayat polls. Noting that no effective steps were taken to identify sensitive areas from the law and order point of view and in light of the SECs submission that it may take a couple of days more to do so, the HC court had said, Waiting for any longer will cause more damage to the situation and will not aid in protecting the purity of the election process." The Supreme Court also noted that West Bengal has a history of poll violence that often leads to multiple deaths and thus, deployment of central forces in every district will only aid the SEC whose prime responsibility is to conduct fair and peaceful elections in the state. Seeing the history of the State, the petition was entertained and order was passed. But it is to your (SEC) aid. You (SEC) cannot have been aggrieved," the court noted. The matter was mentioned on Monday before a vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and M M Sundresh by senior advocate Meenakshi Arora who sought an urgent hearing. Arora, who was appearing for the SEC, told the appeal against the order was filed on Friday last but was not taken up. Opposition leaders, including BJPs Suvendu Adhikari and Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, had petitioned the court for the deployment of central forces for ensuring peaceful elections, stating the state had witnessed large-scale violence during the municipal elections in 2022 and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections in 2021. (With PTI inputs) Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in New York on Tuesday for the much-awaited state visit to the United States of America. The Prime Minister will be staying at Lotte New York Palace on Madison Avenue which is around 10-12 minutes away from Central Park. PM Modi had earlier stayed at this hotel during his New York visits in 2019 and 2014. Room Rates Start From Rs 48,000 to Rs 12 Lakh Per Night The five-star hotel has 733 guest rooms and suites. It also offers accommodations in its towers and royal suites collection. The rates at one of New York Citys iconic hotels start from around Rs 48,000 per night for a king-size bed. The prices move to a higher range with more facilities and space inside rooms and go up to around Rs 12.15 lakh per night for its luxurious Towers Penthouse Suite, according to the hotels website. Biden to Host PM Modi on June 22 Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, who will host him at a state dinner on June 22. The visit includes an address by the prime minister to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. Nine years after Prime Minister Modi first proposed from the United Nations General Assembly podium to mark International Yoga Day as an annual commemoration, the Indian leader will for the first time be at the UN Headquarters to lead the yoga session in a historic commemoration of the day. From New York, Modi will travel to Washington D.C. where he will hold talks with President Biden. The prime minister said he will also join President Biden and the First Lady for the state banquet along with a number of dignitaries. Noting that the US Congress has always provided strong bi-partisan support to India-US ties, Modi said that during his visit, he will address a joint session of the US Congress at the invitation of the Congressional leadership. Strong people-to-people linkages have been instrumental in developing the trust between our countries. I look forward to meeting the vibrant Indian-American community that represents the best of our societies," he said. I will also meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating our trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains," Modi said. Modi will also meet business leaders, interact with the Indian community and meet thought leaders from different walks of life. We seek to deepen India-USA ties in key sectors like trade, commerce, innovation, technology and other such areas," he said. Modi expressed confidence that his visit to the US will reinforce ties between the two countries based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. From the US, Modi will travel to Egypt at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. In todays digest, News18 brings you the latest updates on the Prime Ministers interview with The Wall Street Journal ahead of his US visit, Manoj Muntashirs new controversial remark amid Adipurush row and other top stories. Some Say We Are Neutral, But We Arent: What PM Modi Said on War, China Ties | Top Quotes from WSJ Interview Ahead of his first state visit to the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave an interview with The Wall Street Journal, where he spoke about peace, war and Indias ties with China. PM Modi said that some people say India is neutral" when it comes to strained ties with some countries. Commenting on the notion, the prime minister said, We are not neutral". READ MORE I am the first Prime Minister to be born in free India and thats why my thought process is inspired and influenced by my countrys attributes and traditions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. India deserves a much higher, deeper and wider profile and a role," Modi said in the interview, ahead of his visit to the US this week that is billed as a turning point for bilateral relations. Ties between New Delhi and Washington are stronger and deeper than ever. There is an unprecedented trust he said, hailing the expanding defence cooperation between India and US as an important pillar of our partnership. This cooperation and partnership, he said, extends to trade, technology and energy. Modi departed for the US on Tuesday morning on a State Visit at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Modis US visit is expected to give India access to critical American technologies Washington rarely shares with non-allies, strengthening a new bond that is underpinned by not just global politics but also business and economics. Though Modi has made several previous visits to the United States, this will be his first with the full diplomatic status of an official state visit, just the third of Bidens presidency and third by any Indian leader. Major announcements expected during Modis visit are US approval to General Electric to manufacture engines in India for its domestically produced fighter jets, Indias purchase of 31 armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones made by General Atomics worth $3 billion, and removal of US obstacles that prevent smoother trade in defence and high technology. Overall, Modis message was thatfrom Indias role in global politics to its contributions to the world economythe countrys time has come. He sought to portray New Delhi as the natural leader of the global South, in sync with and able to give voice to developing countries long-neglected aspirations," said the WSJ report on the hour-long interview at the PMs official residence in New Delhi. The 72-year-old leader called for changes to the United Nations and other international organizations to adapt them for an increasingly multipolar world order and to make them more broadly representative of the worlds less-affluent nations and their priorities, from the consequences of climate change to debt reduction," the report added. Unlike the vision of nonalignment advanced by Indian leader Jawaharlal Nehru in the early years of the Cold War, Modis foreign policy is one of multiple alignments, seeking to advance Indias interests in partnership with a range of global powers, including those in conflict with each other," it further said. In the interview, Modi also batted for diversification of supply chains, saying India is gaining its rightful position in the world. Let me be clear that we do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world The world today is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. To create resilience, there should be more diversification in supply chains, the WSJ report quoted the PM as saying. On China, PM Modi said India wants peace at the border but is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity. For normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential We have a core belief in respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, observing the rule of law and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. At the same time, India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity. Heres a look at the highlights of PM Modis interview to Wall Street Journal: There is an unprecedented trust between the leaders of the US and India" India deserves a much higher, deeper and wider profile and role" We do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world" The world today is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. To create resilience, there should be more diversification in supply chains" For normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquility in the border areas is essential" We have a core belief in respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, observing the rule of law and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. At the same time, India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity" All countries should respect international law and the sovereignty of countries. Disputes should be resolved with diplomacy and dialogue, not war" Some people say that we are neutral. But we are not neutral. We are on the side of peace The world has full confidence that Indias topmost priority is peace" There has to be an evaluation of the current membership of the Security Council and the world should be asked if it wants India to be there" I am the first prime minister to be born in free India and thats why my thought process, my conduct, what I say and do, is inspired and influenced by my countrys attributes and traditions. I derive my strength from it I present my country to the world as my country is, and myself, as I am" During the three-day visit that begins in New York on June 21, Modi will be hosted by President Biden for a state dinner and a private family dinner, attend lunch with Vice-President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and address a joint session of Congress for the second time in nine years. Modi will also meet American CEOs and lead an International Yoga Day event at the UN headquarters. Read more along with a number of dignitaries on Thursday. Modi and Biden have had the opportunity to meet several times since his last official visit to the US in September 2021. This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership, Modi said. PM Modi on Wednesday said yoga is free from copyrights, patents and free from royalty payments. Yoga is adaptable to your age, gender and fitness level. Yoga is portable and is truly universal, he said. PM Modi is leading the 9th International Yoga Day celebrations at the United Nations headquarters with representatives from over 180 countries. PM Modi, who arrived in New York on Tuesday, met Tesla owner Elon Musk among other thought leaders on the first day of his state visit to the US. Elon Musk said his conversation with Modi was excellent and very good and added that he is planning to visit India next year. Musk also suggested he is confident that Tesla will be coming to India in the future. Modi is meeting over two dozen thought leaders from various walks of life, including Nobel laureates, economists, artists, scientists, scholars, entrepreneurs, academicians and health sector experts. Besides Musk, they include astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson, Nobel laureate economist Paul Romer, author Nicholas Nassim Taleb and investor Ray Dalio. The White House said India like the US is a vibrant democracy and the two nations are going to continue to work on their bilateral relationship. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told a news conference here on Tuesday that: Democracy is tough. We know that. We have seen it firsthand here in this country. It is tough, you have got to work at it. India has a vibrant democracy, and they, too, work at it. No democracy at any given point in time reaches perfection, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached New York earlier today on the first leg of his US visit at the invitation of President Joe Biden from June 21-24. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Tesla CEO Elon Musk in New York, Musk asserted that India has more promise than any other large country and that he is incredibly excited about its future. Asked if Tesla will enter the Indian market, Musk said he is planning to visit the country next year. I am confident that Tesla will be in India and will do so as soon as humanly possible, he said. I would like to thank the prime minister for his support and hopefully we will be able to announce something in the not so distant future, Musk said. In a separate video statement, Musk also lauded Modi, saying he really cares about India because he is pursuing us to make significant investment in India. I am a fan of Modi, he said. India is great for solar energy investment, Musk added, describing his talks with the prime minister as excellent. Modi is meeting over two dozen thought leaders from various walks of life, including Nobel laureates, economists, artists, scientists, scholars, entrepreneurs, academicians and health sector experts. Besides Musk, they include astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson, Nobel laureate economist Paul Romer, author Nicholas Nassim Taleb and investor Ray Dalio. Modi is also scheduled to observe the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations headquarters here with the UN leadership and members of the international community. Representatives of over 188 countries are expected to attend the exercise. Nine years after Prime Minister Modi first proposed from the United Nations General Assembly podium to mark International Yoga Day as an annual commemoration, Narendra Modi will for the first time be at the UN Headquarters to lead the yoga session in a historic commemoration of the day. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host Narendra Modi at a State Dinner on June 22 (Thursday). The visit also includes an address by the prime minister to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. Security agencies in the US are taking extra precautions in giving permissions to groups planning protests during Prime Minister Narendra Modis state visit to the country, intelligence sources told News18. Sources added that agencies are extra-cautious in the backdrop of the March attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco by pro-Khalistani groups who were protesting police action against radical preacher Amritpal Singh in Punjab. They understand its not only about protests, but physical attacks are also involved. US authorities also understand that protests may lead to physical violence and people are not sympathetic about them, a source told News18. According to a Reuters report, rights groups are planning protests this week against Modis state visit to Washington over what they call Indias deteriorating human rights record, even though experts do not expect Washington to be publicly critical of New Delhi. The Indian American Muslim Council, Peace Action, Veterans for Peace and Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition plan to gather near the White House on June 22 when Modi is due to meet President Joe Biden. Another event is planned in New York featuring a show titled Howdy Democracy," a play on the name of the 2019 Howdy Modi!" rally in Texas featuring the Prime Minister and then-US President Donald Trump, the Reuters report added. Modi departed for the US on Tuesday morning on a State Visit at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Modis US visit is expected to give India access to critical American technologies Washington rarely shares with non-allies, strengthening a new bond that is underpinned by not just global politics but also business and economics. Though Modi has made several previous visits to the United States, this will be his first with the full diplomatic status of an official state visit, just the third of Bidens presidency and third by any Indian leader. Major announcements expected during Modis visit are US approval to General Electric to manufacture engines in India for its domestically produced fighter jets, Indias purchase of 31 armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones made by General Atomics worth $3 billion, and removal of US obstacles that prevent smoother trade in defence and high technology. During the three-day visit that begins in New York on June 21, Modi will be hosted by President Biden for a state dinner and a private family dinner, attend lunch with Vice-President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and address a joint session of Congress for the second time in nine years. Modi will also meet American CEOs and lead an International Yoga Day event at the UN headquarters. The Uttarakhand High Court recently rejected a habeas corpus plea filed by a man who alleged that his wife had been illegally detained by another man. The high court noted that the mans wife had been living with the other man of her own will, so no order could be passed in the habeas corpus plea. Before the high court, the mans wife submitted that he used to misbehave with her, so she had gone to live with her friend of her own will. She also told the court that she was no more willing to join the man back. While taking note of the womans submissions, a division bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Pankaj Purohit disposed of the habeas corpus plea in terms of the statement made by her. Be that as it may, since (corpus) has categorically stated that she is living with respondent no.9 of her own free will, therefore, no further order can be passed," ordered the court. The marriage between the couple was solemnized in 2012. The couple has two children a son aged 10 and a daughter aged 6. The husband moved the high court seeking presence of his wife before the court through a habeas corpus plea stating that in August 2022, his wife left Dehradun for Faridabad, where her parents reside, but had not returned since then. He claimed that it was his apprehension that another man had detained his wife. However, the wife told the court otherwise. INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR YOGA 2023: Yoga is a wonderful approach to enhancing both your physical and emotional well-being. Its a good method to connect with your body and mind. India is the country where yoga first emerged as a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline. The Sanskrit word yoga," which means to join or to unite," represents the fusion of the human body and the mind. It is currently practised in many different forms all over the world and is becoming more and more popular. Therefore, the International Day of Yoga is observed every year on June 21. INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA 2023 DATE Every year on June 21, people around the world observe International Yoga Day. The goal of the day is to increase public awareness of the numerous advantages of yoga- for both physical and mental health and to motivate yoga practitioners all around the world. INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA 2023 HISTORY In 2014, a record-breaking 175 member states supported the draught resolution establishing the International Day of Yoga, which India had submitted to the UN General Assembly. The suggestion was initially presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which said, Yoga is an invaluable gift from our ancient tradition. Yoga embodies unity of mind and body, thought and actiona holistic approach [that] is valuable to our health and our well-being. Yoga is not just about exercise; it is a way to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and nature." The first International Day of Yoga celebration took place on June 21, 2015. INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA 2023 THEME The theme for this years Yoga Day celebration is Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam". It refers to the concept of One Earth, One Family, and One Future" and aims to bring everyone together for the cause of health and fitness. INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA 2023 SIGNIFICANCE Yoga is a way to energise your body, mind, and spirit. It encourages self-healing, improves self-awareness, and aids in achieving equilibrium and harmony. The multiple health concerns, lack of fitness, and other problems make it crucial that everyone incorporates yoga into their daily routine. INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY 2023: International Yoga Day is an annual observance celebrated on June 21st. It was proclaimed by the United Nations in 2014, following a proposal from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The day is intended to raise awareness of the many benefits of yoga and to encourage people of all ages and abilities to practice it. There are many ways to celebrate International Yoga Day. You can join a yoga class, practice yoga at home, or simply take some time to relax and breathe deeply. With the right accessories, you can safely and effectively improve your flexibility, strength, and balance. Here are some yoga accessories that can boost your workout: Yoga mat A yoga mat is essential for any yoga practice. It provides a cushioned surface to protect your joints and helps you maintain your balance. Yoga blocks Yoga blocks can help you improve your alignment and reach your full range of motion in poses. They can also be used for support in more challenging poses. Yoga straps Yoga straps can help you deepen your stretches and make poses more accessible. They can also be used for balance and support. Yoga bolster A yoga bolster is a large, soft pillow that can be used for support in a variety of poses. It can be used to prop up your hips in reclining poses, or to support your back in seated poses. Yoga blanket A yoga blanket can be used to provide warmth and comfort during your practice. It can also be used to create a more challenging surface for some poses. Yoga eye pillow A yoga eye pillow can help you relax and focus during your practice. It can also be used to block out light, which can be helpful for deep relaxation. These are just a few of the many yoga accessories that can help you boost your workout. With the right accessories, you can safely and effectively improve your flexibility, strength, and balance. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine demonstrates the strategic shift in air warfare from direct attacks by bombers to standoff attacks using missiles. The ground-based air defenses have yet to embrace this change. Legacy air defenses were designed to defeat the weapon carriers the bombers, strike fighters, and their highly trained aircrews. Unlike the air raids of WWII, flown by thousands of bombers, modern air forces have much fewer aircraft and even fewer bombers. In the recent conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Ukraine, the role of missiles has increased, with each conflict involving a larger share of missiles in standoff attacks. These missiles include loitering, cruise, tactical ballistic missiles (TBM), and hypersonic maneuvering. Ukraine has encountered all these threats in its War against Russia in 2022-2023. The Proliferation of the Missile Threat This threat is also relevant to many European nations, specifically the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. These nations have modern energy, telecommunications, transportation, and commercial infrastructure. In the event of a direct Russian strike or an ambiguous terrorist missile attack, significant damage could be caused to the countrys infrastructure, disrupt commercial continuity, and expose the population to great danger. The assessment of such risks has urgently driven Estonia and Latvia to seek a modern, advanced air defense solution. As the front-line NATO member countries, both share a border with Russia. The optimal protection in both countries requires a national air defense system that will provide wide-area defense in several layers, including point defense of high-priority strategic sites, effective against the different threat vectors. Each type of missile represents different challenges for air defenses. Loitering missiles are launched from the ground; they are small, slow, and have a small radar signature making them virtually invisible to radar. Their relatively low cost enables the enemy to use large numbers of such missiles to saturate the defenses. Cruise missiles are launched from ships, submarines, aircraft, and ground launchers. They are a great challenge, especially since they fly low above the surface to evade detection. The ground-launched TBM is much faster. Although they fly in a predictable trajectory, they challenge the defenses with high terminal velocity, and the use of decoys, while some of the new TBM also consist of a level of maneuverability to confuse defenders fire controls. The new air and sea-launched hypersonic missiles take these capabilities to a new level, further challenging air and missile defenses. The TBM threat is proliferating fast. From Iran to Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and most recently, Ukraine. According to official Ukraine sources, between February and November 2022, Russia launched over 800 tactical ballistic missiles in its attacks on Ukraines military, infrastructure, and population centers. They spent a large arsenal of their most advanced TBM the 9K720 Iskander missile, striking targets from 500 kilometers. As the most devastating TBM in the Russian tactical arsenal, the Iskander poses the most challenging threat to air defense systems. It can carry a conventional or nuclear warhead and hit targets with high precision. The Russian attacks targeted strategic infrastructure such as the national energy generation systems and power grid, communications networks, military barracks, and air defense sites. The strategic goal behind those attacks was to cause a humanitarian crisis that would turn the population against the regime. This strategy was first implemented in Syria, almost eliminating the revolt that spanned over a decade. Russia considers its strategic attacks against Ukraine a success, and it is most likely that Moscow will use this strategy again if the conflict spills over to neighboring countries. Air Defense Should Evolve Missile Defense Capabilities Air defense against such threats is not trivial. It includes fighter planes carrying missiles and guns and ground-based air defense systems, including radars, fire control centers, and missile interceptors. Those systems are based on technologies developed in the 1990s. Ground-based systems were designed to protect specific targets and operate in independent units. Such systems address distinct layers of defense short, medium, and long ranges. To extend coverage over a wide area, an integrated network of several units is used to protect a larger area. However, as the sensors, battle management, and interceptors of most such systems are not optimized for all those missions, this solution is not optimal. Moreover, fighter planes cannot engage TBM and are challenged by the slow, low-flying, loitering weapons. Only a few countries have missile defense capabilities, such as the Israeli ARROW system and the USA THAAD system, as part of their multi-layered air defense systems. Modern air defense systems are designed to provide nationwide air defense implementing a distributed system of sensors, fire units based on smart launchers, and battle management systems that can employ different interceptors for short, medium, and long-range. Some of them with interception capabilities even out to 150 km. The battle management system and fire controls should be based on open systems architecture, which means they should implement different algorithms to engage specific targets, such as aircraft, guided missiles, and TBM. Each type of target requires techniques that are unavailable with legacy systems. Radars suitable for those systems should also be modular, able to be enhanced to detect and track smaller targets and extend their coverage from medium to long range. While national air defense systems are primarily designed to defend military forces, strategic sites, and infrastructure from military threats, they are also required to protect the population and safeguard the citizens. Air and missile defense systems are required to deliver the best capabilities at an affordable cost and are measured by the cost of coverage rather than intercept. To achieve this goal, systems should be flexible and agile and have the growth potential to evolve throughout their life cycle. Combat experience has demonstrated that air defenses should be able to adapt and change, to deliver effective defense against the threats of today and tomorrow. WORLD REFUGEE DAY 2023: World Refugee Day is observed annually on June 20. It is an international day dedicated to raising awareness about the challenges faced by refugees worldwide. This significant day serves as a platform to honour the strength, courage, and resilience of millions of individuals who have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution, or terror. World Refugee Day sheds light on the plight of refugees. It also seeks to mobilize support and resources to address their needs and aspirations. The day further emphasises the importance of compassion, empathy, and understanding in creating a more inclusive and welcoming world for those seeking refuge. On this day, organizations, governments, and communities come together to advocate for the rights and protection of refugees and to promote their integration into host societies. Read on to find out more about the day WORLD REFUGEE DAY 2023 THEME World Refugee Day is a global commemoration of the resilience and bravery displayed by individuals compelled to leave their homeland due to violence or discrimination. In 2023, the theme is Hope away from home". It acknowledges peoples ability to find strength, rebuild their lives, and cultivate a sense of hope even in the face of immense challenges. World Refugee Day provides an opportunity for people to raise awareness, show solidarity, and support the millions of refugees seeking safety, dignity, and a brighter future. WORLD REFUGEE DAY 2023 KEY FACTS Massive protests have broken out in India as people took the streets to oppose the release of controversial film, Adipurush, for allegedly distorting the Hindu epic Ramayana and its characters in the movie. Directed by Om Raut, Adipurush is an on-screen adaptation of the Ramayana and stars Prabhas as Ram, Kriti Sanon as Sita and Saif Ali Khan as Ravana. Multiple film theatres across the country have been witnessing fierce protests. Videos uploaded to social media show protestors calling for the films boycott while chanting slogans like Murdabad," Hindu dharma ka apmaan band karo (stop insulting Hindu dharma)" and Maa Sita ka apmaan band karo". A group of people staged a demonstration in Varanasi and tore posters of the film. While Hindu Mahasabha lodged a complaint with the Lucknow police against the makers of Adipurush on Monday. Meanwhile, All India Cine Workers Association (AICWA) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to stop screening" the movie and immediately order a ban" on Adipurush shows in theatres and OTT platforms in the future. In an open letter, AICWA wrote that the movie clearly" defamed the image of Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman and hurt religious sentiments of Hindus and Sanatan Dharma." Adipurush is a complete disaster of our faith in Shri Ram and Ramayana We need FIR against director Om Raut, dialogue writer Manoj Mantashir Shukla and the producers of the film," read the letter. #WATCH | Uttar Pradesh | A group of people protested in Lucknow today, expressing their displeasure over the film #Adipurush. They were later detained by Hazratganj Police. pic.twitter.com/5zIM5wScI9 ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) June 19, 2023 There have been protests over the film in different parts of the country since Monday morning when a group of people disrupted screenings of Adipurush in Delhi and Maharashtras Palghar district, claiming that the film had hurt the sentiments of Hindus" by taking objectionable creative liberties with the epic Ramayana and its characters. The protests and calls for the boycott have only intensified since then. Saints in Ayodhya have also demanded a ban on the film, alleging that Adipurush has misrepresented the characters of Ramayana and shown Hindu deities in a distorted manner". The dialogues are shameful and the film should be banned immediately," Head priest of Ram Janmabhoomi, Acharya Satyendra Das, said. Lord Ram, Lord Hanuman as well as Ravana have been presented in totally different manner. It depicts our deities in completely different form against what we have read and known so far," he added. Actor Arun Govil, who played the Lord Ram in Ramanand Sagars acclaimed Ramayana on television, has also taken a dig at the makers of Adipurush by questioning their decision to experiment with a subject like Ramayana. The veteran actor told CNN-News18, Why do they want to fool around? Why do they want to bring new things or try new things? Leave us alone. Why do you want to touch God in this fashion? Please dont do that. And what was the need for it? There are so many other subjects. Do your creative liberty there. What do you want to prove by doing this kind of thing?" #Exclusive: Actor Arun Govil (@arungovil12) tells why he does not want to watch 'Adipurush', says, "The looks of the characters is the most problematic part of the movie." Watch his full interview with CNN-News18's @anjalipandey06#Adipurush #ArunGovil pic.twitter.com/A8ZKCu1Oxt News18 (@CNNnews18) June 19, 2023 In light of the massive outrage, the team of Adipurush on Sunday decided to make alterations" to the films dialogues after a line given to Lord Hanumans character in the movie received criticism for sounding overly colloquial." While its unclear which dialogues have been revamped by the team, the makers said they are revisiting the ones that have not gone down well with the audience, ensuring to resonate with core essence of the film. On the other hand, Adipurush lyricist and dialogue writer Manoj Muntashir Shukla has sought security from the Mumbai Police amid the growing backlash over the film, which hit the theatres on June 16. Manoj has claimed that his life is in danger" as he received a death threat in the wake of the Adipurush controversy. In 2018, film producer Ajay Kumar Singh lodged a legal complaint against actor Ameesha Patel and her business partner, Kunal, claiming fraud and case of cheque bounce. Apparently, she borrowed Rs Rs 2.5 crore from the Ranchi-based producer Ajay Kumar Singh to make her film, Desi Magic, and claimed that she would return the money upon completion of the project. But the cheque Ameesha sent him is said to have bounced, following which Ajay filed a case against her. Last year, the Supreme Court stayed proceedings for cheating and criminal breach of trust against her. On Saturday (June 17), she appeared in the Ranchi Civil Court for the hearing, following which it granted her conditional bail. Now, she has been summoned to personally appear in court on June 21. In an exclusive interview to News18, Ameesha speaks about being inundated with messages from her fans following the bail. Talking about why she chose to not speak about the case earlier, she shares, Ive been getting so many messages from fans and well-wishers. I want to say that Ive maintained a dignified silence on the inspection of the case and I continue to do so but it was high time I spoke the truth and let everyone know the fact about the Supreme Court and that it has come in my favour. Im relaxed and smiling and going about my daily activities. I have a life and Ill continue to live it. Calling the episode a crazy situation, she adds, Its just very unfortunate. I had chosen to stay silent and I dont need the publicity. Mr Ajay Singh has taken it for granted and decided that hell get two minutes of fame. He should actually tell the press that the Supreme Court has quashed the matter. The bottom-line is, why isnt he telling the truth to the media? Ameesha feels that it was the complainants intention to derive fame using her name but that she always had faith in the Indian judiciary to being her justice. I believe in our judicial system and judiciary and I believed that the law would take its course and it has. The Supreme Court has granted relief to me and have quashed the wrong things that he said. It was all Mr Ajays ulterior motives. He was just wanting to get famous by using a name. The Supreme Court has seen it through and has stayed the matter of cheating and breach of trust, which was anyway never the case, she claims. The 47 year-old further continues, Ive never made a media spectacle or have chosen to speak. Ive never stooped to his level of calling the media and tom tomming even though the judgment was passed by the Supreme Court months before. I could have called a press conference and spoken about all this but I didnt want to because Ive so many other things going on. I dont need to do all this. Alleging that the complainants claims are false and how she appeared before the court as a formality, the Gadar 2 actor asserts, I think when somethings in court, its the matter of our judiciary to render the justice and not for people like me, Ajay or anyone to talk about it and spread falsehood. I picked up the phone today because I want my fans, well-wishers and supporters to know that everything is fine and that Im very happy and grateful to the Supreme Court for their correct judgment as theyve quashed a case of fraud and cheating that he had put on me. When the Supreme Court has passed a judgment, I dont think theres a reason to go to the media and talk about it. As far as appearing before a judge is concerned, its all part of a legal proceeding, formality and legality. According to Ameesha, being a woman made her an easy target. She points out, I think men sometimes think that they can take advantage of a woman and all the more, when shes a celebrity, because they get their two bits of fame in their small towns. They become heroes for no rhyme or reason. But I dont need that false fame and name. I believed in the judicial system and I waited for it to pan out. Kangana Ranaut describes her journey into production as a seamless transition. Her debut project, Tiku Weds Sheru, produced under her banner Manikarnika Films, is set to premiere on Prime Video India this Friday, June 23. Although Kangana has directed Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, which was produced by Zee Studios, Tiku Weds Sheru, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Avneet Kaur, is her maiden project as an official producer. This romantic comedy, helmed by Sai Kabir, reunites Kangana with the director after their collaboration on Revolver Rani in 2014. In an interview with Punjab Kesari, Kangana spoke about the perception of women turning producers in the film industry. She highlighted that while male actors such as Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, and Akshay Kumar have been actively involved as producers in their films, it is often considered new when a woman takes up the role. But when a woman does it, people feel its very new. My directors have always asked me to collaborate with them. They look forward to my opinion, because obviously I choose to work with only the people whore collaborative," she said. In the same interview, Kangana shared insights into her collaborative process with director Sai Kabir on Tiku Weds Sheru. She revealed that she had personally worked on three drafts of the script, while Sai had contributed five drafts. Even when we were collaborating on the music, Id write three lines and hed write three. When we went on floors, of course hes a very equipped director since hes done Revolver Rani in the past, but since Ive been an actor on this film, Id already conceptualised some scenes. And since Avneet is a new actor, I thought she wont be able to do the very emotionally layered scenes. And as a man, Sai wont be able to guide her in the best way. So thats when I came on set and helped her out." Next, Kangana Ranaut will direct and produce Emergency, a political drama about the 1975 Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi. She will also star in the film alongside Anupam Kher, the late Satish Kaushik, Shreyas Talpade, Mahima Chaudhary, and more. Kriti Sanon seemingly reacted to the backlash that Adipurush has been getting since its release. The actress, who plays Janaki in the Om Raut directorial, took to Instagram and shared a crytic note which appeared to be a reaction to all that is unfolding around Adipurush. In the cryptic post, Kriti said that she has decided to focus on the love and support the film has been getting. The post featured a gallery of videos of audiences cheering and hooting for scenes. The videos consisted of reactions to not only her scenes in the film but also a few battle scenes featuring Prabhas, Sunny Singh and the other cast of Adipurush. Sharing the post, Kriti Sanon wrote, Focusing on the cheers and claps! Jai Siya Ram." Adipurush has been swamped with controversies for various reasons. Not only did the film face backlash over the dialogues and the VFX but Om Raut also landed in trouble after Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah expressed his disappointment over Adipurush dubbing Janaki as daughter of India and claimed that Sita was rather born in Nepal. In his Facebook statement, the Kathmandu mayor claimed cultural encroachment on Nepal via Adipurush and banned all Indian movies in the city. He also reportedly deployed police forces in Nepal capital to ensure no theatre screens any film made in India. Following his comment, the makers apologised to the mayor. In a letter, the makers of Prabhas and Kriti Sanon starrer said, At the outset we would like to apologize if we have hurt the sentiments of the people of Nepal in any way It was never intentional or deliberate to cause disharm for anyone," the letter sent on behalf of T-Series stated. It further mentioned that as Indians, the respect of women all over the world is of the utmost important to us." We request you to view the film in its artistic form and support the intention of reaching out to the large audiences to create interest in our history," the letter added. Manoj Bajpayee has recently dismissed rumours about himself that he takes vodka shots before filming every scene. The critically acclaimed actor, known for his exceptional performances, spoke out against it and said that he was shocked to know that the industry believed in this myth. In an interview with Unfiltered by Samdish, Bajpayee spilled about his rumours and said, Once I was shooting for a film so a junior girl asked me, Sir what is it that you drink? I told her, Yaar dawayi hai ye (this is medicine). She then told me, In our gang of actors, there is a myth that you do vodka shots before performing any scene! I said, Bewakoofo, jo main mehnat kar raha hu woh tumhe dikhayi nahi de raha hai! Tumne homeopathy medicine ko vodka shots bana diya, acting ka raaz woh kaise ho sakta hai. Manoj was recently seen in Sirf Ek Bandaa Hi Kaafi Hai and his performance was hailed in the film. In the same interview, the actor cited the example of his acclaimed 2017 feature Gali Guleiyan and said his performance was awarded internationally, but went completely unnoticed at home. There was no nomination, I only got international awards. Yaha toh gha**a. Yaha aap nange ho ke naachlo, kuch farak nahi padne waala aur sharam bhi nahi aati hai (Here even if you dance naked, they wont be bothered and they wont even feel ashamed), he added. Earlier, the actor also asked if he received Salman Khan or Shah Rukh Khan-type fees for The Family Man. Manoj instantly dismissed and said, Yeh OTT wale regular producer se kam nahi hai (OTT platforms are just as bad as regular producers). They will pay big stars. I did not get the kind of money I should have for The Family Man. He will return to the OTT space soon with the third season of The Family Man, his much-loved crime thriller franchise which is helmed by Raj and DK. The Adipurush controversy took an ugly on Tuesday when All India Cine Workers Association (AICWA), in an open letter, asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene to immediately order a ban" on the films screening in theatres and OTT platforms in the future. Directed by Om Raut, Adipurush is an on-screen adaptation of the Ramayana. However, since its release on Friday, the film has been facing scathing criticism for its colloquial dialogues given to Lord Hanumans character in the movie. Netizens are particularly upset about the Lanka Dahan scene, where Bajrangbalis character is heard mouthing a line, Tel tere baap ka. Aag bhi tere baap ki. Aur jalegi bhi tere baap ki" to Meghnad. While the makers of Adipurush have now decided to revamp" some dialogues amid the growing backlash, we take a look at the actor who played the role of Lord Hanuman in the film. Who played Hanuman in Adipurush Actor Devdatta Nage plays the role of Lord Hanuman in Om Rauts Adipurush. Devdatta is a renowned Marathi actor, who has worked in several Marathi shows. He made his acting debut with a TV show, Veer Shivaji, in which he played the role of Tanaji Malusare. He then appeared in 2013 popular Marathi serial Devyani. However, it was his role as Lord Khandoba in the Zee Marathi serial Jai Malhar which helped him become a household name. After impressing the audience as Khandoba, Devdatta went on to work in Ajay Devgn starrer Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior. Interestingly, Adipurush marked his reunion with director Om Raut who had also helmed Tanhaji. In an earlier interview, Devdatta revealed that he landed the role of Lord Hanuman in Adipurush due to his well-built physique. Devdatta also said that he especially felt comfortable working with Saif Ali Khan in Adipurush as they previously worked together in Tanhaji. Adipurush cast details Adipurush stars Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali Khan in lead roles. The film features Prabhas as Raghava, Kriti as Janaki, Saif as Lankesh and Sunny Singh as Lakshmana. Tamil actor Udhayanidhi Stalins upcoming film Maamannan directed by Mari Selvaraj has landed itself into a legal controversy after a petition was filed in the Madras High Court to ban the release of the film. The petitioner, Rama Saravanan, demanded Rs 25 crore from Udhayanidhi as compensation as per reports by DT Next. Saravanan is a film producer and moved the high court seeking a ban on the release of Maamannan. According to the petition, Saravanan earlier began a film titled Angel which is headlined by Udhayanidhi Stalin. The film also features Anandhi, Payal Rajput and actor Yogi Babu in significant roles. The shoot of the film began in 2018 and reportedly 80 per cent of the film has been completed. And now, Saravanan has alleged that Udhayanidhi is not providing his dates as per the contract to complete the remaining 20 per cent. The petitioner also added that the actor had agreed to complete the shoot of Angel before taking up any other project but apparently, he has breached the contract. The film is directed by KS Adhiyaman where Udhayanidhi is portraying the role of a journalist. The petitioner also mentioned that if Maamannan gets released before his film, he would lose business and money. He also demanded Rs 25 crore from the actor as compensation for his loss. The Madras High Court is likely to list the hearing of the petition soon. Meanwhile, Maamannans trailer has received positive reviews from the audience and critics. The film is said to be a political drama which revolves around a community that has been subjected to exploitation at the hands of a powerful man. But the table turns when a man fights against him. The film also features Fahadh Faasil, Vadivelu, Udhayanidhi Stalin, AR Murugadoss, Raveena Ravi, Koushik Mahata and Keerthy Suresh in prominent roles. It has been produced by Red Giant Movies and the music has been composed by AR Rahman. Maamannan is all set to hit the cinemas on June 29. Ram Charan and Upasana have welcomed a baby girl. The couple welcomed the baby on June 20, in Hyderabad. The news comes just a few hours after a video of Ram and his wife from the hospital had surfaced online, hinting that the couple could be welcoming their baby any moment. Ram Charan and Upasana welcomed their first baby after being married for 11 years. The news of Ram and Upasanas baby was shared by Apollo Hospitals in Hyderabad, where Upasana is admitted. Sharing a medical bulletin, the hospital said, Ms Upasana Kamineni Konidela and Mr Ram Charan had a baby girl on 20th June 2023, at Apollo Hospital Jubilee Hills - Hyderabad. The baby and mother are doing well." Ram Charans father, megastar Chiranjeevi had announced that Ram and Upasana are expecting their first baby late last year. Taking to Twitter, the veteran actor wrote, With the blessings of Shri Hanuman ji. We are delighted to share that Upasana and Ram Charan are expecting their first child. With love & gratitude, Surekha and Chiranjeevi Konidela; Shobana and Anil Kamineni." Upasana Kamineni Konidela on embracing motherhood after 11 years of marriage: Earlier this year, during the Mothers Day celebrations, Upasana opened up about embracing motherhood after being married for 11 years. Taking to Instagram, Upasana had written, I am proud to embrace motherhood for all the right reasons. I did not do it to conform to societys expectations or to fit. My decision to become a mother was not driven by a desire to carry on a legacy or to strengthen my marriage. I chose to have a child when I was emotionally prepared to give unconditional love & care that my child deserves for his/her overall well-being. Celebrating my first #mothersday." Ram had hinted that the couple is having a baby girl earlier this year during an interview. As reported by BollywoodLife at the time, the RRR star spoke about the loves of his life when he referred to the baby as her. My first Jaan is Upasana. My second Jaan is my pet dog Rhyme. And my 3rd Jaan is on her way," Ram said, as quoted by the report, leading to speculations that the couple is expecting a baby girl. Ram Charan And Upasana Konidela Marriage Date: Ram Charan and Upasana have been married for 11 years now. The couple reportedly met when they were in college and were introduced to each other via their mutual friends. According to a Pinkvilla report, their first meeting took place in London, where they met at a sports club. They eventually grew close as friends before they began dating each other. They got engaged in December 2021 and tied the knot on June 14, 2012. We are glad that the little princess is here and both the mother and the daughter are healthy. Congratulations to the family! They went from being close friends to becoming distant post My Name Is Khan, but then rekindled their friendship yet again. Actor-director duo Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar has frequently expressed their affection and love for each other. Shah Rukh Khan launched the teaser of Karan Johars highly-anticipated film Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani and it looks promising! The Badshah of Bollywood took to social media to pen a note and share a link to the teaser. The post read, Wow Karan 25 years as a filmmaker. Youve come a long way baby!! Your father and my friend Tom uncle must be seeing this from heaven and feeling extremely happy and proud. Have always told you to make more and more films because we need the ethereal magic of love being brought to life like only u can do. #RockyAurRaniKiiPremKahaani teaser is looking beautiful. Love you and best wishes to the cast and crew" The film stars Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt in the lead, who reunite after 2019s Gully Boy, and also stars Shabana Azmi, Jaya Bachchan and Dharmendra. The film marks Karan Johars directorial comeback after seven years. In the teaser, Karan promises a drama-packed movie. While he brings back the chiffon sarees and dancing in the Swiss Alps with the film, we also see Ranveer and Alia in the middle of a lot of drama. Karan manages to keep everything under the wraps, generating the right amount of curiosity. Watch it right here: Karan Johar, too, took to Instagram to share the teaser. He wrote, Presenting to you the first glimpse of a piece of my heart - #RockyAurRaniKiiPremKahaani! Im thrilled and super excited to finally let it unfurl for you all to seewatchand give love!!!" The film is slated to release on July 28. Its On Us Corvallis and the Corvallis Farmers Market are collaborating to give $20,000 to people in need to use at the market. The giveaway will take place Wednesday, June 21, and Saturday, June 24 at the market. Participating households will each receive $25 in printed paper currency, to be used to purchase any farmers market item. Funds for this collaborative effort are being provided by Benton County through the American Rescue Plan Act. The paper currency distributed this week will have no expiration date, enabling participants to pick up $25 of market currency on one of those dates and spend it at a later date. Its On Us is a Corvallis Sustainability Coalition Food Action Team project. IOU gives gift cards to connect people in need of a meal with locally owned restaurants, local food businesses and local farmers, building community through the act of giving and receiving gifts. Most people who participate in IOU both receive gift cards and give when they can, continuing the spirit of pay it forward when you are able, however you are able. For more information about IOU Corvallis, visit itsonuscorvallis.org. To view a list of Corvallis Farmers Market vendors, go to LocallyGrown.org/vendors. The time when diamonds were a girls best friend is long gone; today, pearls are a girls one true love and best friend for life. The dipped in pearls moment, which can be seen on red carpets, in couture show cases, and in the most recent lines unveiled by top designers, has been pushed to the next level in the world of couture. At events like the Filmfare Awards, IIFA Awards, Cannes Film Festival, Met Gala, and others, all of our favourite superstars and Bollywood divas are having a major fashion moment. Shilpa Shetty Kundra is one celebrity who has been practicing yoga for many, many years now. Boasting one of the fittest bodies in the business, she is a strong advocate of yoga. The actress has written books, produced yoga CDs and videos, conducted workshops on the subject. (Image: Instagram) It was the third week of January this year and the national capital was reeling under a cold wave. But away from the Delhi chill, inside Ambedkar auditorium where the BJP National Executive was being held, the saffron party had his eyes set on next years summer when India elects its next government. It was during this two-day session that Prime Minister Narendra Modi told BJP leaders to reach out to minorities, particularly a section of Muslims. The BJP machinery immediately sprang into action and identified 65 minority-dominated Lok Sabha seats where they would reach out to them. Now, News18 has learnt that the party is all set to enter its next stage this year-end. With early few months left for the general elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address as many as 1 lakh minorities, particularly Muslims, in the heart of Delhi. When & Where will the Public Reach Out Take Place? PM Modi is likely to address this mega minority gathering either in November or in December, News 18 has learnt. There are multiple locations that are being shortlisted but very few options are left, which can accommodate 1 lakh public and also centrally located. So, there is a high probability that this minority reach out will be held at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. We are trying to make this happen either in November or in December. One lakh individuals from the minorities will be brought into Delhi who are likely to be addressed by the Prime Minister himself. Since, it involves massive logistical planning, BJP has already started homework, told Jamal Siddique, president of the BJPs Minority Morcha, to News18. Siddique added that these 1 lakh individuals will be Modi Mitra (friends of Modi), a campaign through which the BJP strives to target 5,000 minorities each who are influenced by the governance of Modi Sarkar in 65 minority-dominated Lok Sabha constituencies. But bringing 1 lakh individuals to Delhi is not an easy job and the BJP is mindful of that. Thats why Siddique said, We will bring them on the morning of the event so that there is no logistical concern of overnight stay. They will be directly taken to the venue. As soon as the Prime Ministers address is over, they will be guided back to their respective hometowns. For Votes or Inclusivity? When Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked BJP leaders to reach out to Pasmanda Muslims, the Bohra community, Muslim professionals, and educated Muslims this January, his advice was not to see this from the prism of electoral wins. His words were clear BJP leaders should make this minority connect without expecting them to translate into votes. But come this year-end, is the scheduled gala minority reach out also for the BJPs proverbial sabka sath, sabka Vishwas? If BJP leaders are to be believed, they are indeed looking to translate the nationwide minority reach out into votes, notwithstanding Prime Ministers suggestion. Siddique has a simple reasoning, We are a political party. We are not an NGO. Stressing the politics of it, Siddique said, he will request the Prime Minister to cover some contentious issues like the Unified Civil Code in his speech. They used to say there will be a blood bath if Article 370 is abrogated. Nothing happened when it actually was let go. The BJP expects the opposition to build a fake narrative over UCC, given recent developments. So, we want the Prime Minister himself to clarify to them, he adds. The saffron party puncturing its anti-minority image had won 41 out of 79 Lok Sabha constituencies across 90 districts in the 2019 Lok Sabha election that the UPA-I government had identified to be having a minority population of over 25%. Not just that. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Centre back then also found that one out of five Muslims in India had voted for the BJP in 2019. Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the BJP now wants to better its tally when it comes to minority-dominated seats, through such mega outreach among communities. Then who better than fielding its biggest star campaigner Prime Minister Narendra Modi? Ignorance is bliss. That seems to be the mantra for the about 20 opposition parties at the unity meeting on June 23 in Patna. So, sources say, contentious issues are likely to be brushed under the carpet. The biggest among these is the Delhi ordinance issue. Both the Punjab and Delhi Congress units have said no" to supporting Arvind Kejriwal on this. Its likely that none of the opposition parties, including AAP and Congress, would raise the issue. Because this could raise the temperatures and wouldnt serve the purpose of the Patna meet. Even the Trinamool Congress, despite recent criticism of the Congress by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, will not attack the grand old party in Patna. In fact, sources say the TMC is likely to reach out to the Congress in acknowledgment of the fact that its a pan-India party and has a national reach. In private, a top TMC leader said, We understand why Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has to attack Mamata Banerjee. He needs to win from his seat in Murshidabad. The meeting doesnt plan to formulate or finalise any common minimum programme yet. The parties feel that this could be contentious at this time and its best to leave it for later, closer to results or polls. The attack of the participants will be on some leaders who are not part of their unity efforts despite being in the opposition. Notable names are those of Mayawati and Naveen Patnaik. TMC MP Derek OBrien told News18, He (Patnaik) will not speak on burning of churches or Manipur but click pictures with the Pope. He is working to suit the RSS and the BJP." However, despite competition and differences, KCR and Jagan Mohan Reddy wont be targeted as top leaders in the Congress and TMC feel that following the 2024 Lok Sabha election results, if the opposition has the numbers, these parties could make an overture. But the real challenge and task lie ahead in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament when the Delhi ordinance will come up for passage and vote. Opposition parties will try to ensure that the BJP is defeated in the upper house where they have the numbers. But here again, the Congresss stand matters. As expected, tricky issues like the leadership of the opposition front will also not be raked up at the Patna meet. The hope is that the meeting ends with a Hum saath saath hain" photo op. And the smile remains. The two factions of Shiv Sena are at loggerheads again, and this time its over gaddar divas (traitors day). The fresh verbal duel began on Sunday when Uddhav Thackeray, during Shiv Sena (UBT) plenary, asked party workers to celebrate June 20 as traitors day as Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and others in his camp has rebelled last year on the date and joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Nationalist Congress Party, the allies of Shiv Sena (UBT), protested on Tuesday outside party office in presence of Sharad Pawars daughter Supriya Sule. The NCP held demonstrations at different places in Maharashtra with boxes as sign of 50 khokhe", to support Thackerays statement. While CM Shinde hit out at Thackeray on Monday, some BJP leaders jumped into the Sena rift on Tuesday. BJP MLA Nitesh Rane said that July 27, which is Uddhav Thackerays birthday, should be declared as international traitors day as there is no bigger traitor than him". Uddhav Thackeray celebrates his birthday on 27th July. There is no bigger traitor than him. He is one such traitor who betrayed his father's ideology, betrayed Hindutva, betrayed Marathis, Devendra Fadnavis and BJPThat is why, 27th July should be declared "International pic.twitter.com/Q9awZ9Mjht ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 The Maharashtra lawmakers reaction was triggered after Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut in the morning tweeted his letter to UN chief Antonio Guterres. He asked the United Nations to declare June 20 as World Traitors Day. Elaborating on his demand, the Shiv Sena (UBT) launched a hidden attack on Shinde camps ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party. Our prime minister, home minister and central government are promoting traitorship. PM Modi is going to the US. He should tell United Nations about June 20 when 40 of our MLAs left the party. And ask the UN to announce World Traitors Day," Raut said. #WATCH | Our PM, Home Minister and Central Government are promoting traitorship. On this day 40 of our MLAs left the party. It should be declared as 'International Traitor Day'. PM is going to the USA, so he should tell United Nations about it and announce 'International Traitor pic.twitter.com/dNLITtqm3M ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday announced that his son, Aaditya, will take out a maha morcha on July 1. However, this will be against the BMC. On Rauts Gaddar Diwas demand, he said this happens when you do not give any outlet to people to express their discontent. On Monday, CM Shinde said former CM Uddhav Thackeray discarded party founder Bal Thackerays ideology to join hands with the NCP and the Congress. Speaking at an event organised in Mumbais Goregaon to mark the 57th foundation day of the party, Shinde launched a scathing attack on Uddhav Thackeray, who heads Shiv Sena (UBT) faction, and said Bal Thackerays ideology was compromised for the chief ministers chair. You discarded the principles of Balasaheb for power, for the sake of chair. Balasaheb once said he would not allow the Shiv Sena to become like the Congress and if that happens, he will shut his shop. But today, you (Uddhav) went with the NCP and the Congress. This is a betrayal on your side and that truth you spoke yesterday (Sunday)," he said referring to a speech delivered by Uddhav Thackeray during the Shiv Sena (UBT) plenary. In your speech, you asked the party workers to celebrate June 20 as the gaddar divas (traitors day). You fumbled when you said our betrayal is completing one year. But you immediately corrected yourself and blamed those leaders who left the party last year. It is you who is a traitor but you forgot the date," the CM added. Shinde said the allegation of being traitors" levelled against him and other MLAs of his camp after the last years rebellion will not help Uddhav Thackeray gain public sympathy. You will not get the sympathy of people as you have abandoned Balasahebs principles for power," he added. This was the first foundation day event addressed by Shinde after a split in the Shiv Sena and the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government last year. Shinde said Uddhav Thackerays speech on Sunday was repetitive and advised his predecessor to change his scriptwriter. Same taunts, same cassette all repetitive. Ask him to change the scriptwriter. But we will give answer to these allegations (of traitors) by our work and this is what Balasaheb taught us," the CM said. He said one year ago, they did revolt against the then-Shiv Sena leadership and the world took cognizance of the rebellion which brought down the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. We managed to form a Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government and that is why this foundation day today is historic and a matter of pride," Shinde added. Referring to the rebellion, the CM said, if he had taken a wrong decision, then he would not have garnered wide-ranging support from Shiv Sena MLAs, MPs and other party leaders. Had we taken a wrong decision, these 50 MLAs, MPs and other party leaders would not have come with us. They refer to those who leave them as kachara (trash) but mind you, one day you will turn into trash," he said, hitting out at the rival Shiv Sena (UBT). The Bal Thackeray-founded Shiv Sena, which came into existence on June 19, 1966, made the pride of Marathi manoos (Marathi speakers in Mumbai) the core plank of its politics and later added Hindutva to its ideology to expand support base. The Shiv Sena split in June last year after Shinde and 39 other MLAs of the party rebelled against then-chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and toppled the MVA coalition government of the Sena, the NCP and the Congress. Both the factions have now been trying to claim the mantle of the true inheritor of Bal Thackerays legacy ahead of the next years Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections as well as the long-due civic polls in Mumbai. (With inputs from PTI) June 21, 2022 This date will always be remembered by Shiv Sena leaders and workers. On this day, Eknath Shinde, along with his MLAs, rebelled against the party chief and then Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. And after nine days of this rebellion and drama, Shinde, with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Post the rebellion, Shinde and his loyal MLAs and supporters maintained that they had to do it as Thackeray got into an unnatural alliance with the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) by forming the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state. ALSO READ | Modi for India, Shinde for Maharashtra: Full Page Print Ad by Shiv Sena Irks State BJP Unit During the MVA regime, Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik had written to Thackeray to join hands with the BJP again, so that central agencies wont trouble Shiv Sena leaders. For a long time, Sarnaik was under the Enforcement Directorates (ED) scanner. As Shinde got the party name, Shiv Sena, and bow and arrow symbol, his supporters were rest assured that they wont have to struggle while facing the elections. But it seems they failed to assess the risk of joining hands with the BJP. The friction within the alliance is now coming to the fore. THE FIGHT OVER PRINT AD Although Shinde and Fadnavis both portray that they are working as one team for Maharashtra, their love-hate relationship is the topic of gossip in the states political circles. The latest instance is the full page ad in all leading newspapers a week ago. The advertisement had a photograph of PM Narendra Modi and CM Eknath Shinde. It said that 26% people of Maharashtra, in a survey, preferred Eknath Shinde for the post, whereas 23% people want to see Devendra Fadnavis as the CM. This was a bold advertisement and created a flutter within the BJP camp in the Maharashtra. After the ad grabbed the headlines, Shinde issued a damage control statement, disowning it, saying it is not the official advertisement by the party and some well-wishers had done it. Through the advertisement, Shinde tried to give a clear message to Fadnavis and state BJP leaders that he has got the backing of the central leadership of the BJP. Without strong support, no well-wisher could have ever dared to publish such an advertisement. ALSO READ | Damage Control? Shiv Sena Corrects Shinde Ad After Fadnavis Camp Sees Red; Oppn Says Tie-up in Danger To cool off the escalated tension, the next day, Shindes party gave an official advertisement with a photo of Fadnavis, and talking about how people wanted to see the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in the state again. SNATCHING OF MIC, BJPs NON-COOPERATION WITH SHINDEs SON SHRIKANT This was not the first instance of friction between the Shiv Sena and BJP. When Shinde became the Chief Minister and was addressing a joint press conference with Fadnavis, the latter snatched the mic from Shinde to answer a question. This gave an opportunity to the MVA, especially the Thackeray faction, to raise the question who is real Chief Minister of the state? ALSO READ | Sena-BJP Tension Clouds Maha CMs Son Belt: Dombivli BJP Wont Work with MP Shrikant Shinde, He Slams Selfish Politics Not just the upper layers, this love-hate relationship percolated to the grassroots level too. A few weeks ago, when Shinde was on a tour of Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP unit of Kalyan and Dombivali took a decision to not help Member of Parliament from Kalyan Dr Shrikant Shinde, Shindes son, in the upcoming election. The reason was a local BJP leader from Dombivali was arrested by the local police and BJP leaders were of the opinion that this was done by Shrikant to settle scores. Shrikant sent a video statement from Kashmir and said that someone is trying to spread rumours about him and it is an attempt to strain the ties between the Shiv Sena and BJP. He also offered to tender his resignation as an MP on this issue. Shinde intervened and brought both the factions together. A few days later, MLA and BJP leader Sanjay Kelkar criticised Shinde and Shiv Sena in Thane, Shindes home turf, for expanding into the BJPs territory of Kalyan, Palghar and Thane. He criticised Shinde at the party function where other leaders of the BJP were also present. NOT B-TEAM OF BJP According to political analysts, this friction is happening because Shinde and his Shiv Sena have realised that if they dont expand politically, they will always be called the B-team of the BJP, which will ultimately help Thackeray and his faction of the Shiv Sena. Shinde is also aware of the fact that Thackeray and his faction have sympathy on ground. Also, seeing the BJPs track record of how they have treated regional parties so far, including the Shiv Sena under Thackerays leadership, Shinde doesnt want an encore. The other reason for the strain is the top leadership of the BJP has given a direct access to Shinde, which the state BJP leadership didnt like. After Fadnavis was made the deputy CM in the Shinde cabinet, it was clear that what top leadership of the BJP had on their mind. It will be interesting to see how long these two parties can go on this way? Will Shinde help the BJP win maximum seats in Lok Sabha and will the BJP allow Shinde to lead in the state elections? Although Shinde has the ambition to become the CM again, is the BJP state leadership ready to give away the CMs post again? Be it Telangana Day or Assam Day, the state and the respective Chief Ministers go out of their way to celebrate the day their state was born. But when it comes to West Bengal Day, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is against any kind of celebration. So much so she uses adjectives like ahistorical, and unconstitutional to describe Modi governments decision to celebrate and commemorate the day. This unusual objection has put the Raj Bhavan in the middle of a political one-upmanship between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is dead against such a celebration, and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which believes that Banerjee wants to obliterate West Bengals history. THE TUSSLE Banerjee has written to Governor CV Ananda Bose, requesting to stay away from celebrating the day, alleging: This may be a programmme of a political party, driven by vendetta. But the Bengal Raj Bhavan, in a subtle reference to Banerjees objection, called it disinformation, without naming her or her party. Bose cited an advisory issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on May 11 this year to all states and Union Territories, asking respective Raj Bhavans to observe respective State Foundation Days. We CONDEMN the decision of Hon'ble Governor C. V. Ananda Bose to commemorate the State Foundation Day of West Bengal on June 20, 2023. The partition of Bengal which was a traumatic process has left an indelible mark on the lives of millions of people There is no pic.twitter.com/giE2dnJ5Zx All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) June 20, 2023 Citing that, Bengal Raj Bhavan, in a way, insinuated that it is going by the book. While the statement acknowledged Banerjees objection letter, it also added that President Droupadi Murmu, too had sent her greetings to the people of West Bengal. In a peculiar situation of sorts, where the President, MHA, and the Raj Bhavan are in a celebratory mode, the state government is against it. What made things further complicated was when the BJP jumped into the controversy. The saffron party, traditionally, has been for celebrating this day, as they see it as a way to connect it to one of its founding fathers and ideological guide Shyama Prasad Mookerjee. This time, too, there have not been any aberrations, with the BJP training guns at Banerjee for denying the past THE PRE-INDEPENDENCE PAST In a long tweet, BJPs co-in charge of West Bengal Amit Malviya referred to the pre-independence past of the West Bengal Day that cast its shadow even in 2023 and termed Banerjees determined objection a travesty of justice and denial of our collective past. The truth is that the state of West Bengal was created by partitioning the British Indian province of Bengal after the then British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, had announced on 3rd June 1947, that the legislatures of Punjab and Bengal could opt for partitioning their respective provinces, tweeted Malviya. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees objection to commemorating 20th June as Bengals Foundation Day is a travesty of justice and denial of our collective past.The truth is that the state of West Bengal was created by partitioning the British Indian province of Bengal pic.twitter.com/pCi1upuW4L Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 20, 2023 Giving historical context, the BJP leader went on, There were two votes on June 20, 1947. In the first division, the Bengal Legislative Assembly voted to incorporate the entire province in the new state of Pakistan. But a separate meeting of legislators from the non-Muslim majority districts of Bengal voted resoundingly to seek partition of the province and keep the Hindu majority areas in India. While he credited Mookerjee for creating a homeland for Bengali Hindus, where they wouldnt have to live under Muslim oppression, he also acknowledged the role of then Congress members and two Communist leaders from West Bengal who voted for dividing the province accordingly, thus making it a battle where all political ideologies stand on the one side and on the TMC on the other. Speaking to News18, Malviya went a step further, Mamata Banerjee is denying the past to the people of West Bengal because of her vote bank. She thrives on appeasement politics. Thats why she is careful. According to the last census, Muslims make up a little above 27% of the population of West Bengal. And ever since she came to power, this vote bank, by and large, has been with the ruling party. In the high voltage 2021 Assembly Election in the state, the TMC bagged 120 seats of the 141 assembly seats having Muslim presence. However, amid the political mudslinging, its the people of West Bengal who are left disillusioned about the day their state was created. The Apple Watch has time and again made headlines for its life-saving abilitiesbe it its health tracking features, such as checking ones blood oxygen and heart arrhythmia, or features like satellite tracking for remote rescues. Now, an Apple Watch has once again saved a womans life by waking her up mid-sleep and alerting her about a dangerous blood clot. According to a report by AppleInsider, the womanKimmie Watkins, a resident of Cincinnati, USAwas feeling unwell, experiencing dizziness and lightheadedness. In the hope of feeling better, she decided to take a nap. However, not long into her nap, her Apple Watch alerted her to an abnormally high heart rate, around 178 beats per minute, as reported by Local12 news. Watkins mentioned that her Apple Watch sounded an alarm that said that my heart rate had been too high for too long. She added, So for over 10 minutes, it was too high. Concerned, she went to her doctor, only to discover that she had saddle pulmonary embolisma life-threatening blood clot in the lungs. Her doctor, Richard Becker, explained that having a saddle pulmonary embolism translates to only a 50% survival rate. In all likelihood, if it werent for the Apple Watch alerting her to her heart rate, she might have dismissed the issue and could have died. It might be seen as staying too connected or something, but I think it can be helpful in a health sense, and not just in a connect-to-people sense, Watkins said. In related news, last month, a womans Apple Watch reportedly auto-dialed 911 after detecting no movement on her end after she collapsed from the ruptured aorta. Google is ready to unleash its AI-powered tools in the market later this year. The company showcased its new products at the I/O 2023 keynote recently, and one of them is the new AI powered notebook which helps you take notes, which Google calls Project Tailwind. Google has developed the AI tool using its PaLM 2 language model which promises to help you with taking notes powered by its AI model. It can also answer questions along with helping you summarise the notes. But when does the user get to experience the feature and who all can use it right now, here are all the details. Project Tailwind Aka AI Note Taking Tool Googles AI note taking tool is built under Project Tailwind. The company claims the AI tech can be used to pick up content from Google Docs or Drive and build a notebook using its power. Google has offered this tool via a waitlist process which is only available for those in the US for now. But now the company has confirmed that these users will soon have access to the feature. You can join the waitlist by heading over to Googles Project Tailwind website. The AI tool is helpful in many ways, and you dont need to search for the content. All you have to do is select files from the Drive using which the AI tool can create a personalised interface that helps you filter through the notes. The power of AI means you can not only use it for searching content, but also use it for creating new ones. Google claims you can build a quiz using the available information, or summarise a particular note for better clarity. The AI tool has three options that are New Ideas, Reading Quiz and Summary, which as the name suggests helps you with different applications with the note taking tool. Features like these can be useful for students, academicians and researchers. The most intriguing part about Googles Project Tailwind is that the AI model uses your own data, rather than scouring the internet for information, which means you avoid issues like copyright infringement and other trademark violations. Lucknow, the city of Nawabs, introduces a new coffee experience with Theka Coffee, which comes with the motto of Indulge in Flavors and Laughter. These unique coffees are infused with a variety of flavours, each bearing amusing names like Koffee Ki Jawani, Natkhat, and Palang Tod. Priced between INR 100 to INR 160, this franchise has been thriving for two months, attracting the youth who visit regularly. Satyam, the shop manager, proudly claims a successful business venture as he runs the Coffee Punjab franchise, earning well throughout the day. This coffee haven offers special delights like Popcorn Cracker Coffee and Minto Rani, priced at INR 160. For the same price, savour other delectable options such as Nutty Flavor and Desi Orange. Additionally, Palang Tod, Next Level, Coffee Ki Jawani, and Hu Da Gabru cold coffees range from INR 100 to INR 125. Among the crowds favourites is the delectable shake, Barry Pia, priced at INR 130. Equally enticing are flavours like Chocolate Patola and Strawberry, also priced around INR 130. To experience these unique flavours and shakes, visit Antas Mall Sector 1 in Gomti Nagar in Lucknow, the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. Theka Coffee aims to provide high-quality, branded coffee to tier 2, 3, and 4 cities, catering to the preferences of the new generation. Balancing authenticity and accessibility, Theka Coffee creates an appealing connection with the locals. Albany leaders have rejected a request from Greater Albany Public Schools to let bus drivers drive through a residential neighborhood to the districts bus garage after those neighbors spoke up in a public hearing. Buses have been using Ferry Street, an industrial and commercial street, to get in and out. But school officials asked their permit be modified to allow employees to enter the employee parking lot to the bus garage via Southeast Lyon Street on a regular basis. Four neighbors and three representatives of a developer said they didnt like the idea, raising concerns over traffic, safety and a lack of communication about the potential change. Resident Tina Halvardson said the second access point is already in use, and its changed the character of her neighborhood. Halvardson said she has seen the gate open and employees use the Lyon Street exit. In less than a week there was noticeably more traffic, she said. So she informed the Planning Commission of her concerns with the access of the road. You can hardly walk across the street to the mailbox because there is so much traffic, she said. Halvardson said the traffic posed noise and safety concerns, and she wouldnt let her children outside without supervision. But because she did not live within 300 feet of the property she was not notified, she said. So she began knocking on doors, notifying her neighborhood. This affects all of our lives, she said. Residents were notified in the same manner they were in 2018, Planning Supervisor David Martineau said, when the conditional permit was first issued. A sign about the hearing also was posted at the property for people to see, he said. Developer Colleen Brodsky also expressed concerns over traffic as Albany continues to grow and more school buses are added to the fleet. She estimated that there would be 12 cars passing per minute, using the metrics provided in the report. There is no way that those streets can handle the arterial traffic of a main road, she said. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Albany Democrat-Herald. Brodsky said GAPS had sold property that would have allowed them another point of access, forcing traffic where children are playing. As residents voiced their concerns at the Wednesday, June 14 City Council meeting, Councilor Jackie Montague wondered if there were other solutions the school district could pursue. Representing the school district, land use planner Laura LaRoque noted that it would be experienced bus drivers, mindful of children, who would be using the access point. She added that creating more access points to the districts bus barn and related employee parking would impact surrounding natural resources, like wetlands. Brodskys business partner, Colleen Gavaghan, said because the neighborhoods sidewalks are not completed, children are forced out into the street, and adding traffic makes the situation even more perilous for them. Councilor Marilyn Smith said she didnt understand why employees couldnt just use the single Ferry Street access because it was built for it, being wide and in a commercial. Councilor Ramycia McGhee urged the school district to come up with its own solution that wasnt at the expense of the neighborhood. In the end, city councilors unanimously denied the request, encouraging GAPS to find another way to accommodate traffic at the bus barn. Related stories: New GAPS transportation center finally underway Help wanted: Albany schools incentivize bus drivers with multiple bonuses In a heartwarming turn of events, the use of Covid-19 vaccine data has led to a long-awaited reunion for a family. The diligent efforts of the Karnal police in their search for a missing individual have paid off. After six years of being separated, an elderly man has been located and successfully reunited with his family, thanks to a unique approach. Despite facing numerous challenges along the way, the unwavering determination of both the family and the police ultimately resulted in a joyful homecoming. Hailing from Karnal, the man left home in 2017 as he was upset with his family. He was a retired bank officer. Everybody searched for him but he couldnt be tracked. There was no news, no trace of him since he suddenly disappeared. The family members and police tried to search for him intensively and also filed a missing persons report including photos and information in the missing person database, yet he could not be found. ASI Krishna of the Faridabad nursing cell collected the data on Covid-19 vaccination so that the information about the missing elderly person could be found. He believed that the individual is educated and literate and in such a case he definitely would have been vaccinated for Covid-19. It was discovered that the man got vaccinated from a Covid-19 vaccine centre in Delhi, after which the missing cell was relaxed. Based on this information, the missing cell found the man. The cell contacted the family members and handed him over to them. Working In Delhi Upset from the family, the elderly guy was working in Delhi. Not just that but in all these years he did not even debit his pension from his bank account. However, Covid-19 vaccination data pulled out all the information about him and the family members convinced him to come back home. Loneliness became a major societal preoccupation during the Covid-19 pandemic, as lockdowns and social distancing propelled the issue into the spotlight. At the same time, numerous scientific studies on the subject have established a link between social isolation and deteriorating mental health, which plays a role in increasing the risk of physical health problems and death. The latest study even reveals that social isolation has a negative impact on bone health. While the Covid-19 health crisis brought to light the many risks and dangers of social isolation, a new scientific study now reveals that loneliness is also bad for bone quality. Surprising research, to say the least, but it could ultimately lead to paying greater attention to the bone health of isolated individuals, in particular the elderly. Especially given that we still dont know all the health effects of the increase in social isolation that resulted from various lockdown and social distancing measures mandated throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Presented at ENDO 2023, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society (June 15-18), the research was conducted by scientists at the MaineHealth Institute for Research in Scarborough, USA. Previous clinical research has demonstrated that psychosocial stressors, and subsequent mental health disorders, are major risk factors for osteoporosis and fracture, which disproportionally affect older adults. The effects of social isolation on bone, however, have not been thoroughly investigated," said Rebecca Mountain, PhD, lead researcher of the study, in a press release. She added that loneliness was already associated with an increased risk of health problems of all kinds, as well as higher death rates. Is loneliness bad for your bones? This new research was not conducted with human participants, but with adult mice, thus necessitating further study. The scientists divided the rodents into two categories: those subjected to social isolation, meaning one adult mouse per cage, and those cohabiting in a group four mice per cage for a period of four weeks. At the end of their work, the researchers observed a significant drop in bone quality, and in particular a reduction in bone mineral density, in male mice who had been in isolated conditions. It should be noted that bone mineral density corresponds to the quantity of calcium and other minerals contained in bone tissue, and thus helps determine bone strength and resistance. Overall, our data suggest that social isolation has a dramatic negative effect on bone in male mice, but it may operate through different mechanisms or in a different time frame in female mice. Future research is needed to understand how these findings translate to human populations," explains Rebecca Mountain. Further work will also help to understand and determine the mechanisms by which this impact can occur in other words, how and why loneliness can be detrimental to bone health. Such research is important at a time when all the health effects of Covid-19-related social isolation are not yet known, bearing in mind that the pandemic is not solely responsible for the loneliness suffered by populations worldwide. Social isolation is a potent form of psychosocial stress and is a growing public health concern, particularly among older adults. Even prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has significantly increased the prevalence of isolation and loneliness, researchers have been concerned about a rising epidemic of loneliness," warns the studys lead author. How to deal with China and its hegemonic aspirations" is among the big challenge that confronts India and the United States, believes John Bolton, the former National Security Advisor (NSA) of the US. Bolton, who served under the previous Donald Trump administration said China is a large threat to the US and its friends around the world due to its hegemonic aspirations." I think the big challenge that confronts India and the United States is how to deal with China. I think the view in the United States, shared to a large extent across party lines, is that China is a large threat to the US and its friends and allies around the world with its hegemonic aspirations, not just in Asia, but beyond," Bolton told news agency ANI. A lot is going to depend on how the countries in the region align with countries outside the region to deal with it, the two most important countries in that complex situation are India and the US. I think Indias interests lie in closer relations with the US and I hope thats the view that Prime Minister Modi increasingly accepts," he added. #WATCH | Washington, DC: John Bolton, Former US NSA (National Security Advisor) says, I think the big challenge that confronts India and the United States is how to deal with China. I think the view in the United States, shared to a large extent across party lines, is that China pic.twitter.com/QzQVUjlbKp ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 Boltons comments came on the day Modi arrived in the US for his first state visit, receiving a rousing welcome from members of the Indian-American community who cheered him and raised slogans in his favor. Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, who will host him at a state dinner on June 22. The visit includes an address by the prime minister to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. Differing from Boltons statement, a top White House official said that Modis landmark trip is also not about Russia and China, this big week" is about the India-US bilateral relationship. Speaking at a press conference, John Kirby, the White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, clarified that the visit aims to enhance the bilateral relationship on its own foundation. Its not about forcing or coercing or trying to convince Prime Minister Modi or the Indian government to do something different. Its about focusing on where we are in this relationship and making it more important, more robust, more cooperative going forward," Kirby was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Read More: PM Modis US Visit Not About Russia or China, This Big Week is About Bilateral Ties: White House On the first leg of his maiden state visit to the US, PM Modi will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters and hold bilateral talks with President Joe Biden in Washington. In his departure statement, Modi said this special invitation from President Biden and the First Lady for a state visit is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between the democracies. The prime minister noted that President Biden and he have had the opportunity to meet several times since his last official visit to the US in September 2021. This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership, Modi said. Noting that the US Congress has always provided strong bi-partisan support to India-US ties, Modi said that during his visit, he will address a joint session of the US Congress at the invitation of the Congressional leadership. Strong people-to-people linkages have been instrumental in developing the trust between our countries. I look forward to meeting the vibrant Indian-American community that represents the best of our societies, he said. I will also meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating our trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains, Modi said. Read More: Meeting with CEOs, Yoga Day: A Look at PM Modis Itinerary on Day 1 of US State Visit Modi will also meet business leaders, interact with the Indian community and meet thought leaders from different walks of life. The US is Indias largest trade partner in goods and services, and the two countries collaborate closely in the fields of science and technology, education, health, defence and security, the prime minister said. Modi expressed confidence that his visit to the US will reinforce ties between the two countries based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. China on Tuesday blocked a proposal, moved by India and the US at the United Nations, to blacklist Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Sajid Mir, who is wanted for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, as a global terrorist. The proposal moved by the US and co-designated by India was meant to designate Mir under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council as a global terrorist and attach his assets, besides clamping a travel ban on him. In September last year, it was learnt that China had put a hold on the proposal to blacklist Mir at the UN. Beijing has now blocked the proposal. Who is Sajid Mir? LeT terrorist Mir is one of Indias most wanted terrorists, carrying a bounty of USD 5 million placed on his head for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. In June, Mir was jailed for over 15 years in a terror-financing case by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan. Pakistani authorities had in the past claimed Mir had died, but Western countries remained unconvinced and demanded proof of his death. This issue became a major sticking point in FATFs assessment of Pakistans progress on the action plan late last year. Mir is a senior member of the Pakistan-based LeT and is wanted for his involvement in the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Mir was LeTs operations manager for the attacks, playing a leading role in their planning, preparation, and execution", the US State Department has said. Beijing, an all-weather friend of Islamabad, has repeatedly put holds on listings to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorists under the sanctions committee of the UN Security Council. Hundreds of foreign media groups including AFP on Tuesday accused Britains Conservatives of undermining press freedom by imposing charges on journalists to cover their annual conference. Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks ruling party first imposed a fee for media accreditation at last years conference, defying complaints from both UK and foreign organisations. It has again imposed charges for the October Conservative party conference in Manchester, northwest England, imposing a 137 ($175) charge, rising to 880 from August 1. Sunaks party, the UK Conservatives, say the money raised helps cover the administrative costs of thousands" of journalists failing to show up. The Tories insist that the money raised helps to cover the administrative costs of thousands" of journalists failing to show up. But the Foreign Press Association of UK-based overseas media said the party had failed to show any evidence for no-shows on such a scale and argued that wider principles were at stake. In fact, this decision sets a dangerous precedent for countries all over the world who will use this decision to justify financial and other barriers to media scrutiny of the political process," it said. We therefore call upon the Tory party conference organisers to scrap or refund the charges and allow fair and free reporting for all." The open letter was signed by nearly 300 media groups including Agence France-Presse, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Le Monde, The Hindu, Yomiuri Shimbun, Der Spiegel and the Sydney Morning Herald. Media in more than 60 countries were represented, including from China and Russia. Some UK media also complained about the introduction of the charges last year, but have yet to make a collective stand. AFP contacted Conservative headquarters but there was no immediate comment. Media access to the UKs main opposition Labour party is free up until July 28, then a charge of 75 is imposed until August 31, rising to 95 from September 1 onward Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday departed for the United States on his three-day US State Visit. In this historic visit, PM Modi will be hosted by US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The Prime Minister will also address the joint session of the US Congress. People from all walks of life including Members of Congress, thought leaders and others have been sharing their enthusiasm on my upcoming USA visit. I thank them for their kind words. Such diverse support underlines the depth of the India-USA relationship. https://t.co/lNXuQxtzJs Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 19, 2023 PM Modi will arrive at 10:30 pm IST in New York. Soon after he lands he will engage with CEOs and thought leaders in the US. He will meet Twitter, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, American astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Nobel laureate Peter Agre, Lebanese-American essayist and mathematical statistician Nicholas Nassim Taleb and many other notable citizens. Looking forward to participating in the 9th International Day of Yoga celebrations @UN with Prime Minister @NarendraModi at the UNHQ North Lawn next week.https://t.co/0afheBDRzc pic.twitter.com/qCuEQQyJF6 Amina J Mohammed (@AminaJMohammed) June 16, 2023 On Wednesday, the Prime Minister is scheduled to lead the 9th International Day of Yoga celebrations at the UN in New York. There he will be joined by UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi and deputy secretary general of the UN Amina Mohammed. The event can be viewed on Doordarshan on Tuesday evening from 5:20 pm IST. The event is expected to last until an hour. I am looking forward to participating in the 9th International Day of Yoga celebrations @UN with Prime Minister @NarendraModi at the UNHQ North Lawn next week.https://t.co/yzK5GLusFb pic.twitter.com/YxE4zdkHp2 UN GA President (@UN_PGA) June 15, 2023 The Prime Minister will depart for Washington around 8:00 pm IST. It must be noted that this is a tentative schedule and subject to change. People from all walks of life including Members of Congress, thought leaders and others have been sharing their enthusiasm on my upcoming USA visit. I thank them for their kind words. Such diverse support underlines the depth of the India-US relationship, PM Modi said before departing. India-US ties are multifaceted, with deepening engagements across sectors. USA is Indias largest trade partner in goods and services. We collaborate closely in science and technology, education, health, defence and security fields. The initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration to defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, Artificial Intelligence and biotech sectors. Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, PM Modi said in his departure statement before departing for the US. A search and rescue operation is underway in the Atlantic Ocean for a missing submarine that was deployed to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, the iconic ocean liner that sank over a hundred years ago. The submarine, equipped with advanced technology, is carrying five individuals, including British billionaire and explorer Hamish Harding. It is estimated that the submarine has approximately 70 hours of oxygen remaining. The vessel was reported overdue Sunday night about 700 kilometres south of St. Johns, Newfoundland. Canadian Coast Guard vessel and military aircraft were assisting the search effort, which was being led by the US Coast Guard in Boston. Addressing a news conference Monday, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said they anticipate that theyre somewhere between 70 to the full 96 hours" of oxygen available on the vessel at this point. According to the Coast Guard, the craft submerged Sunday morning, and its support vessel lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later. The submersible was operated by OceanGate Expeditions, which said its focus was on those aboard and their families. David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate, said the submersible had an 96-hour oxygen supply starting at roughly 6 a.m. Sunday. OceanGates expeditions to the Titanic wreck site include archaeologists and marine biologists. The company also brings people who pay to come along. Known as missions specialists, they take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible. The Coast Guard said Monday that there was one pilot and four mission specialists aboard. U.K. businessman Hamish Harding was one of the mission specialists, according to Action Aviation, a company for which Harding serves as chairman. Read More: Who is Hamish Harding? The British Billionaire on Missing Submarine Exploring Titanic Harding is an adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records, including longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. In March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. The expedition was OceanGates third annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew. Since the wreckages discovery in 1985, it has been slowly succumbing to metal-eating bacteria. Some have predicted the ship could vanish in a matter of decades as holes yawn in the hull and sections disintegrate. The initial group of tourists in 2021 paid USD 100,000 to USD 150,000 apiece to go on the trip on the submersible, named Titan. It is capable of diving 4,000 meters or 13,120 feet with a comfortable safety margin, OceanGate said in its court filing. It weighs 20,000 pounds (9,072 kilograms) in the air, but is ballasted to be neutrally buoyant once it reaches the seafloor, the company said. The Titan is made of titanium and filament wound carbon fiber and has proven to withstand the enormous pressures of the deep ocean, OceanGate stated. OceanGate told the court that Titans viewport is the largest of any deep diving submersible and that its technology provides an unrivaled view of the deep ocean. (With AP inputs) Ahead of his first state visit to the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave an interview to The Wall Street Journal, where he spoke about peace, war and Indias ties with China. PM Modi said that some people say India is neutral" when it comes to strained ties of some countries. Commenting on the notion, the prime minister said, We are not neutral". He further said that for normal ties with China, peace and tranquility in the border areas is essential. India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity," PM Modi said. Here Are Top Quotes from PM Modis Interview All countries should respect international law and the sovereignty of countries. Disputes should be resolved with diplomacy and dialogue, not war. Some people say that we are neutral. But we are not neutral. We are on the side of peaceThe world has full confidence that Indias topmost priority is peace." Modi said he has spoken several times to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He said he recently spoke to Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan in May. India will do whatever it can" and supports all genuine efforts to bring an end to the conflict and ensure enduring peace and stability", he said. For normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquility in the border areas is essential. We have a core belief in respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, observing the rule of law and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. At the same time, India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity." He said ties between New Delhi and Washington are stronger and deeper than ever. While talking about global politics, PM Modi also said, India deserves a much higher, deeper and wider profile and role." On Indias desire to be part of the UN Security Council, the prime minister pointed to the countrys role as a contributor of troops to peacekeeping operations around the world. There has to be an evaluation of the current membership of the council and the world should be asked if it wants India to be there, he said. Modi said global institutions such as the UN must change. He said, Look at the membership of key institutions does it truly represent the voice of democratic values?" A place like Africa does it have a voice? India has such a huge population and is a bright spot in the global economy, but is it present?" Let me be clear that we do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world," Modi told the newspaper. The world today is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. To create resilience, there should be more diversification in supply chains," he said. Modi also pointed out that he is the first prime minister to be born in free India. And thats why my thought process, my conduct, what I say and do, is inspired and influenced by my countrys attributes and traditions. I derive my strength from it," he said. I present my country to the world as my country is, and myself as I am," the prime minister added. (With inputs from PTI) Members of the Indian diaspora chanted Modi, Modi slogans on Tuesday as they eagerly awaited the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York. The Prime Minister arrived at the JFK airport in New York for the first leg of his maiden state visit to the US. #WATCH | Members of the Indian diaspora chant Modi, Modi slogans as they await PM Modis arrival in New York pic.twitter.com/tJcTwGdL09 ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 A group of people was seen chanting Modi, Modi" followed by Bharat Mata ki Jai" as they eagerly awaited the arrival of the Prime Minister. #WATCH | Members of the Indian diaspora chant 'Modi, Modi' slogans as they await PM Modi's arrival in New York. pic.twitter.com/BtlOu7lwuQ ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 Shortly after he arrived at the JFK Airport, the Prime Ministers cavalcade was spotted at the premise, according to PTI visuals. PM Modi would be arriving at Lotte New York Palace hotel later. VIDEO | PM Modis cavalcade at JFK Airport in New York. The Prime Minister will be arriving at Lotte New York Palace hotel shortly. pic.twitter.com/GHSzcqVTca Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 20, 2023 The Prime Minister also shook hands with members of the Indian community. #WATCH | Members of the Indian community cheerfully welcome PM Modi on his arrival in New York, US pic.twitter.com/8N0rx3hrhh ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 Modi took to Twitter on Monday to acknowledge the enthusiasm expressed by people from various backgrounds, including members of the US Congress, regarding his upcoming visit to the United States. He highlighted that this diverse support underscores the profound depth of the India-US relationship. People from all walks of life including Members of Congress, thought leaders and others have been sharing their enthusiasm on my upcoming USA visit," Modi said in a tweet. I thank them for their kind words. Such diverse support underlines the depth of the India-USA relationship," he said. The Prime Minister had tagged the Twitter account of the Indian Embassy in the US, where numerous videos showcased individuals such as members of the US Congress, business leaders, Indian-Americans, and others expressing their excitement and extending a warm welcome to Modi ahead of his visit. Prime Minister Modi embarked on a visit to the United States from June 21-24, upon the invitation of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The visit holds significant events, including leading the International Day of Yoga celebrations at the United Nations Headquarters and engaging in bilateral talks with President Biden in Washington. The highlight of the trip is a state dinner hosted by the Bidens on June 22. Additionally, Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to address a joint session of the US Congress on the same day, emphasising the strength and vitality of the partnership between the two democracies. Expressing his gratitude for the special invitation," Modi in his departure statement highlighted the importance of the visit and the robust relationship between the nations. Following his visit to the US, the Prime Minister will then head towards Egypt at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was greeted with a lively reception from the Indian diaspora on Tuesday at Hotel Lotte in New York, where he will be staying during his visit to the city. The Indian diaspora cheered and waved flags as slogans like Bharat Mata ki Jai" and Vande Mataram" echoed through the hotel. PM Modi, who arrived on a maiden state visit to the US, will lead the International Day of Yoga celebrations at the UN Headquarters and hold bilateral talks with President Joe Biden in Washington. VIDEO | Indian diaspora members welcome PM Modi with Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai chants at Lotte New York Palace hotel. pic.twitter.com/uAaifeVwvb Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 20, 2023 Landed in New York City. Looking forward to the programmes here including interaction with thought leaders and the Yoga Day programme tomorrow, 21st June, Modi tweeted. The prime minister was received at the airport by Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Indias Permanent Representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj. Prime Minister Modi received a rousing welcome upon his arrival here with Indian-American community members cheering him and raising slogans in his favour. It was the best moment of my life," said a member of the Indian diaspora who was part of the contingent to welcome PM Modi in New York. VIDEO | It was the best moment of my life," says a member of the Indian diaspora who was part of the contingent to welcome PM Modi in New York. #PMModiUSVisit pic.twitter.com/h5LB8mxCCR Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 20, 2023 Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, who will host him at a state dinner on June 22. The visit includes an address by the prime minister to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. In his departure statement, Modi said this special invitation from President Biden and the First Lady for a state visit is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between the democracies. Read More: Meeting with CEOs, Yoga Day: A Look at PM Modis Itinerary on Day 1 of US State Visit Nine years after Prime Minister Modi first proposed from the United Nations General Assembly podium to mark International Yoga Day as an annual commemoration, the Indian leader will for the first time be at the UN Headquarters to lead the yoga session in a historic commemoration of the day. From New York, Modi will travel to Washington D.C. where he will hold talks with President Biden. The prime minister noted that President Biden and he have had the opportunity to meet several times since his last official visit to the US in September 2021. This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership, Modi said. Modi said his discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders will provide an opportunity to consolidate bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity). The prime minister said he will also join President Biden and the First Lady for the state banquet along with a number of dignitaries. Noting that the US Congress has always provided strong bi-partisan support to India-US ties, Modi said that during his visit, he will address a joint session of the US Congress at the invitation of the Congressional leadership. Strong people-to-people linkages have been instrumental in developing the trust between our countries. I look forward to meeting the vibrant Indian-American community that represents the best of our societies, he said. Modi will also meet business leaders, interact with the Indian community and meet thought leaders from different walks of life. The US is Indias largest trade partner in goods and services, and the two countries collaborate closely in the fields of science and technology, education, health, defence and security, the prime minister said. Modi expressed confidence that his visit to the US will reinforce ties between the two countries based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. From the US, Modi will travel to Egypt at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Prime Minister Narendra Modis first State Visit to the United States is significant as it showcases how broad the relationship has become between the two countries, said Dhruva Jaishankar, Executive Director, Observer Research Foundation (ORF) America. It is the first state visit of PM Modi to the United States. The significance of this visit will be to showcase how broad the relationship is and how India and the US are discussing almost every big issue today," ORFs Dhruva told ANI. Hopefully, we will see some forward movement in defence co-production and defence trade in some critical areas that are very vital to Indian national security," he added. Dhruvas remarks came as Modi arrived on Tuesday on the first leg of his maiden state visit to the US during which he will lead the celebrations of the International Yoga Day at the UN Headquarters and hold bilateral talks with President Joe Biden in Washington. Landed in New York City. Looking forward to the programmes here including interaction with thought leaders and the Yoga Day programme tomorrow, 21st June. pic.twitter.com/6V5gHglLCg Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 20, 2023 The executive director of the prominent think tank said India and the US have similar concerns about Chinas rise and have been on the receiving end of Chinese aggression and are concerned about Chinese aggression. That is obviously getting the Indian-US to cooperate more closely together. A lot of the cooperation between Indian-US is happening regardless of China," he added. PM Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, who will host him at a state dinner on June 22. The visit includes an address by the prime minister to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. Read More: Meeting with CEOs, Yoga Day: A Look at PM Modis Itinerary on Day 1 of US State Visit In his departure statement, Modi said this special invitation from President Biden and the First Lady for a state visit is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between the democracies. A top White House official on Tuesday underlined the importance of the Prime Minister Narendra Modis landmark trip to the United States saying that the State Visit is also not about Russia and China, this big week" is about the India-US bilateral relationship. Speaking at a press conference, John Kirby, the White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, clarified that the visit aims to enhance the bilateral relationship on its own foundation. Its not about forcing or coercing or trying to convince Prime Minister Modi or the Indian government to do something different. Its about focusing on where we are in this relationship and making it more important, more robust, more cooperative going forward," Kirby was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Read More: PM Modis US Visit Not About Russia or China, This Big Week is About Bilateral Ties: White House The White House official said this is a big week" here at the White House as President Biden and First Lady welcome the Prime Minister of India for an official State Visit and dinner. Its only the third such state dinner and visit of this administration. This visit will affirm the deep and close partnership between the US and India and the warm bonds of family and friendship that link Americans and Indians together," Kirby was quoted as saying by ANI. The visit will strengthen our two countries shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific and our shared resolve to elevate our strategic technology partnership, including in defence, clean energy and space," he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed for the United States on Tuesday morning for a historic state visit on the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The Prime Minister said the visit will further strengthen India and US ties. Leaving for the US, where I will attend programmes in New York City and Washington DC. These programmes include Yoga Day celebrations at the United Nations headquarters, talks with the US President Joe Biden, address to the Joint Session of the US Congress and more, PM Modi said. In USA, I will also get the opportunity to meet business leaders, interact with the Indian community and meet thought leaders from different walks of life. We seek to deepen India-USA ties in key sectors like trade, commerce, innovation, technology and other such areas. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 20, 2023 This special invitation is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies. This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership, PM Modi said in a statement released ahead of his visit. PM Modi will also visit Egypt while returning from the United States. The Prime Minister will begin his visit with a mega International Yoga Day event with top UN officials Csaba Korosi and Amina Mohammed on June 21. He will then meet CEOs of top American companies. On June 22, the Prime Minister will hold meetings with US President Joe Biden and attend the state dinner hosted by Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at the White House. India-US ties are multifaceted, with deepening engagements across sectors. USA is Indias largest trade partner in goods and services. We collaborate closely in science & technology, education, health, defence and security fields. The initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration to defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, Artificial Intelligence and biotech sectors. Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, the Prime Minister said. PM Modi will also address the US House of Congress, becoming the second leader after the likes of former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu to address the US Congress on more than one occasion. He will address the US Congress on Thursday. The meeting is also important because India and the US are committed to a shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific but Chinese assertiveness in the region and its attempts to subdue smaller nations into submission by threatening their sovereignty and integrity also needs to be highlighted in the global stage. United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) President Csaba Korosi has expressed his support for Indias long-standing demand for reforms at the UN Security Council ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis much-anticipated visit to Washington. India is not alone in advocating for a more representative Security Council. The current council structure dates back decades, and member states recognize the need for reform," President Korosi told news agency ANI. India is among those countries that believe they can contribute to global well-being. The case for reform has been under negotiation for 13 years, and its high time we act. The responsibility lies with member states, and India is one of the most active proponents of early Security Council reform," he added. #WATCH | New York, US | Csaba Korosi, President United Nations General Assembly, speaks on UN Security Council reforms, he says, India is not alone in its advocacy for a better representative security council. The security council we have today has been inherited from decades pic.twitter.com/x7Ex4C0gq0 ANI (@ANI) June 19, 2023 The Prime Minister embarked on the trip to the United States on Tuesday. He will participate in the International Day of Yoga celebrations as part of his highly anticipated trip, which includes a state dinner and an address to Congress. Korosi emphasized that the reform issue has been discussed for way too long." The discussions on the potential necessity of reforming the Security Council began over 40 years ago. So, its really high time, but its up to the member states," the UNGA President told ANI in an interview. The UNGA President will join PM Modi in the 9th International Day of Yoga celebrations at the UN headquarters in New York. I am looking forward to participating in the 9th International Day of Yoga celebrations at the UNHQ North Lawn next week with Prime Minister Narendra Modi," the UNGA President tweeted last week. Responding to Csaba Korosis tweet, Prime Minister Modi highlighted how yoga brings the world closer. PM Modis US visit is expected to be a turning point in bilateral relations, focusing on deeper cooperation in the defense industry and sharing high technology. The visit is anticipated to provide India access to critical American technologies that Washington rarely shares with non-allies, strengthening the new bond that encompasses not just global politics but also business and economics. Washington and New Delhi, once marked by mutual suspicion during the Cold War, have been drawing closer for over two decades, with successive U.S. presidents displaying bipartisan support for stronger ties with the emerging Asian economy and regional power. The Biden administration also aims to wean India away from its traditional defense partner Russia. While New Delhi continues to do business with Moscow and has increased its purchases of cheap Russian oil in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine, it has caused frustration in the West. Ahead of the International Day of Yoga, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has highlighted benefits of the ancient Indian science from reducing anxiety and promoting mental well-being to developing discipline and patience. In a video message, Guterres called upon the people to embrace the spirit of unity and resolve to build a better, more harmonious world for people, the planet and ourselves. Yoga unites. It unites body and mind, humanity and nature, and millions of people across the globe, for whom it is a source of strength, harmony, and peace, he said. In a dangerous and divided world, the UN Secretary-General said the benefits of this ancient practice are particularly precious. Yoga offers a haven of calm. It can reduce anxiety and promote mental well-being. It helps us to develop discipline and patience. It connects us to our planet, which so badly needs our protection. And it reveals our common humanity helping us to understand that despite our differences, we are one, he said. On this International Day of Yoga, let us embrace the spirit of unity, and resolve to build a better, more harmonious world for people, planet and ourselves, he added. Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead a unique yoga session on Wednesday in a historic celebration to commemorate the 9th International Day of Yoga at the UN Headquarters that will see participation from top UN officials, envoys from across and the world and prominent individuals. Modi will be in New York on the first leg of his US visit at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Nine years after Prime Minister Modi first proposed from the United Nations General Assembly podium to mark International Yoga Day as an annual commemoration, the Indian leader will for the first time be at the UN Headquarters to lead the yoga session in a historic commemoration of the day. (With PTI inputs) Reiterating US support for Beijings One China policy, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday stated that Washington does not support Taiwan independence." He made these remarks during a press conference at the Beijing American Center on Monday. A copy of his address was posted on the State Department website. We do not support Taiwan independence. We remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side," Blinken said during his highly anticipated China visit. We remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side. We continue to expect the peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences. We remain committed to continuing our responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act." Taiwan is a self-governed island for the past seven decades, with its separate constitution and elected leaders. Beijing, however, regards it as a rebel province of China. Blinkens statement follows US President Joe Bidens apparent deviation from the long-standing One China policy of the United States. Earlier on two occasions, Biden implied that the US would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, causing displeasure in Beijing. US Secretary of States remarks on Taiwan ruffled the feathers of many Republicans who viewed the statement and the secretarys inability to re-establish military dialogue as an inappropriate kowtow to Beijing, The New York Post reported Blinken flew to Communist China to appease Xi Jinping and state the Biden administration does not support Taiwans independence, Sen. Marsha Blackburn said on Twitter. Why wont this administration stand up to bullies and stand for freedom? Blinken flew to Communist China to appease Xi Jinping and state the Biden administration does not support Taiwans independence.Why wont this administration stand up to bullies and stand for freedom? Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) June 19, 2023 On Monday, Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said they agreed to stabilize badly deteriorated US-China ties, but Americas top diplomat left Beijing with his biggest ask rebuffed: better communications between their militaries. After meeting Xi, Blinken said China is not ready to resume military-to-military contacts. However, both sides pronounced themselves satisfied with the progress made during the two days of talks. Later Blinken said that the US set limited objectives for the trip and achieved them. He told reporters before leaving for a Ukraine reconstruction conference in London that he had raised the issue of military-to-military communications repeatedly." It is absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications, he said. This is something were going to keep working on. Speaking to reporters Monday during a campaign fundraising trip to California, Biden said Blinken did a hell of a job. The US president said you know progress was made with relations between the U.S. and China because of the meeting. The US has said that, since 2021, China has declined or failed to respond to over a dozen requests from the Department of Defense for top-level dialogues. Blinkens trip is expected to herald a new round of visits by senior U.S. and Chinese officials to each others countries, possibly including a meeting between Xi and Biden in India or the US in the coming months. His visit came after his initial plans to travel to China were postponed in February after the shootdown of a Chinese surveillance balloon over the U.S. (With AP input) Members of the United Nations adopted the first-ever treaty to protect marine life in the high seas on Monday, with the UN's chief hailing the historic agreement as giving the ocean "a fighting chance." Delegates from the 193 member nations burst into applause and then stood up in a sustained standing ovation when Singapores ambassador on ocean issues, Rena Lee, who presided over the negotiations, banged her gavel after hearing no objections to the treatys approval, the AP reports. The treaty will create a new body to manage conservation of ocean life and establish marine protected areas in the high seas. It also establishes ground rules for conducting environmental impact assessments for commercial activities in the oceans. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told delegates that the adoption of the treaty comes at a critical time, with the oceans under threat on many fronts. Climate change is disrupting weather patterns and ocean currents, raising sea temperatures, "and altering marine ecosystems and the species living there," he said, and marine biodiversity "is under attack from overfishing, over-exploitation and ocean acidification." "Over one-third of fish stocks are being harvested at unsustainable levels," the UN chief said. "And we are polluting our coastal waters with chemicals, plastics, and human waste." Guterres said the treaty is vital to address these threats and he urged all countries to spare no efforts to ensure that it is signed and ratified as soon as possible, stressing that "this is critical to addressing the threats facing the ocean." The new treaty will be opened for signatures on Sept. 20, during the annual meeting of world leaders at the General Assembly, and it will take effect once it is ratified by 60 countries. Oceans produce most of the oxygen we breathe and absorb carbon dioxide, which makes them increasingly critical in reducing carbon emissions that fuel global warming. Yet, currently only 1% of the vast ocean areas are protected. A treaty to protect biodiversity in waters outside national boundaries, known as the high seas, covering nearly half of earths surface, had been under discussion for more than 20 years, but efforts repeatedly stalled until March. That's when delegates to an intergovernmental conference established by the UN General Assembly agreed on a treaty which was then subject to legal scrutiny and translated into the UNs six official languages. (Read more oceans stories.) The night before their friend's wedding, five young friends were out together in Minneapolis getting ready for the next day's celebration when a speeding driver ran a red light and rammed their car, killing all of them, police say. "These were individuals who had a bright future," said Dar Al Farooq Center's mosque director. "We're talking about the pearls. We're talking about the bright stars of our community." The center identified the victims as Sabiriin Ali, Sahra Gesaade, Salma Abdikadir, Sagal Hersi, and Siham Adam, Somali women and girls who were all between the ages of 17 and 20, CBS Minnesota reports. The son of a former Minnesota state representative was arrested Monday on suspicion of crashing into the victims' car, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports. A lawsuit filed against the North Carolina speaker of the House has some pretty wild allegations. Tim Moore is accused of engaging in an affair with a former Apex City councilman's wife as well as engaging in group sex with people wanting to curry political favor with him, WSOC-TV reports. The former city councilman who filed the lawsuit, Scott Riley Lassiter, says he heard rumors of his wife's affair with the House speaker and then discovered them together, and that when confronted (he says he confronted Moore at a Biscuitville in Raleigh on the day after Christmas last year) they both confessed to a multi-year affair. Lassiter is suing for alienation of affection, accusing Moore of destroying his marriage, which has since broken up, WRAL reports. He is seeking $200,000. Lassiter says that his wife, who had known Moore for years due to her job in the state government, told him "she had engaged in sexual activity with Defendant Tim Moore (including group sex with other individuals seeking Tim Moores political favor), and that she feared ending the relationship with [Moore] would result in losing her job," per the lawsuit. The suit also accuses Moore of having a camera installed on Lassiter's property in an attempt to dig up dirt on Lassiter to convince Lassiter not to file a legal claim against him. Both Lassiter's estranged wife and Moore himself deny the claims, which Moore described as "baseless." Lassiter's ex says they've been separated for years, their marriage was a "nightmare," and that he "has serious mental health and substance abuse issues, which I can only assume led him to file this outrageous and defamatory suit." (Read more North Carolina stories.) The family of the man who started Juneteenth celebrations in San Diego says they've been visiting an empty grave for 22 years. Sidney Cooper's body and casket are missing from his plot at Greenwood Memorial Park and Mortuary, something his family learned in March when the cemetery opened Lot 319 so that Cooper's wife, Thelma, could be buried alongside him. "Sidney Cooper is still lost as we speak," says an attorney for the family, which filed a lawsuit against the cemetery and its parent company on Friday, per KFMB . "They don't know where he is to reunite this beautiful couple in their eternal rest." The family held the annual Cooper Family Juneteenth Celebration in southeast San Diego on Saturday but says there was a cloud over the festivities as the body of the businessman who started the celebration with his own money more than 50 years ago remained lost. While at the event, one of Cooper's children described the loss of her father's remains "as losing her father for a second time," family attorney Annee Della Donna tells the Washington Post. "This is unimaginable, and they can't believe this is real. It's something you think you would see in a movie," an unnamed attorney representing the family tells KFMB. Greenwood Memorial Park and Mortuary faces Imperial Avenue, which was important to Cooper as he was known as the unofficial mayor of the area, where he ran a barber shop and produce store before his death in April 2001. A cemetery rep says the placement occurred "under previous ownership and management," per the Post. "Our hope is to reunite the loved ones as intended as soon as possible," the rep adds. An underground probe has detected a casket in another plot that should be empty, the AP reports. The family, accusing the cemetery's current and former owners of negligence and inflicting emotional distress, hopes the body will be exhumed for DNA testing. (Read more San Diego stories.) As the search continues off the coast of Newfoundland for the Titanic-bound submersible that went missing over the weekend, more details have emerged about the five passengers on board. Action Aviation CEO Hamish Harding, a billionaire and British adventurer, is one of the five, as are French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet; Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, the company that owns the Titan submersible; and Shahzada Dawood, one of Pakistan's richest men, and his 19-year-old son, Sulaiman, per WION. Shahzada Dawood, 48, the vice chairman of fertilizer firm Engro Corporation, lives with his wife in Surrey, England. In addition to Sulaiman, the couple also share a daughter, Alina. More on the missing sub: UPDATE Jun 22, 2023 1:30 AM CDT Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton won't be voting in her husband's impeachment trial. The GOP-controlled state Senate decided Wednesday night to bar her from taking any part in the trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton when it begins Sept. 5, though she is required to attend, the AP reports. The citizens of Texas can count on the Senate of Texas to have a fair and just trial, said Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the Senates presiding officer. Jun 20, 2023 7:31 AM CDT Will she or won't she attend? That's been the question on everyone's mind about Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton, on whether she'll take part in the impeachment trial this summer of her husband, suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton. Now, an answer: She'll be there. "I will carry out my duties, not because it is easy, but because the Constitution demands it and because my constituents deserve it," the 60-year-old Republican senator said in a Monday statement, per the Houston Chronicle. It may have seemed a bit unconventional for a priest to show up at their place of employment to offer confession, but workers at the Taqueria Garibaldi restaurant in Sacramento took the holy man up on the chance to admit their "sins." Now, the owners of the Northern California chain have been ordered to pay $140,000 to nearly three dozen employees after it turns out the priest was a phony, in what the US Department of Labor is calling "among the most shameless" schemes to intimidate or retaliate against workers. The New York Times reports that at the end of 2021, Taqueria Garibaldi co-owner Eduardo Hernandez brought who he claimed was a priest into the workplace, telling employees the man was available to hear confessions in the name of helping their "mental health," per one worker's account, as told to government regulators. However, that worker, Maria Parra, says the man bombarded her with mostly work-related questions, which she found odd. "[He] asked if I had stolen anything at work, if I was late to my employment, if I did anything to harm my employer, and if I had any bad intentions toward my employment," she noted in a sworn affidavit. She added, "I found the conversation to be strange and unlike normal confessions," per the Catholic News Agency. A DOL investigator says Parra was just one of multiple workers with such a story, and who'd gone to "confession" with Hernandez's supposed priest"supposed" being the operative word, because there doesn't seem to be any evidence that the man was a real priest. "While we don't know who the person in question was, we are completely confident he was not a priest of the Diocese of Sacramento," a diocese spokesman tells CNA. After an investigation into wage theft, the DOL now says that the restaurant didn't pay employees overtime and illegally took money from tip pools to give to managers, and that it had brought in the phony priest as a form of intimidation against its workers. The agency says the eatery also threatened employees over their immigration status if they cooperated with the probe. Marc Pilotin, a regional solicitor for the DOL, calls the company's machinations "despicable" and notes the department "will not tolerate workplace retaliation," per Law & Crime. Meanwhile, a judge last month ordered Hernandez and his fellow co-owners at parent company Che Garibaldi to pay 35 workers $70,000 in back wages and $70,000 in damages, as well as $5,000 to the DOL in civil penalties. (Read more strange stuff stories.) If former President Trump takes the "former" out of his title next year, don't look for a Trump administration to be as much of a family affair as it was the first time around. In his interview with Fox News on Monday night, he addressed the subject of his children. "I said, 'Thats enough for the family,'" Trump said. "Its too painful for the family. My family has been through hell." NBC News notes that Ivanka Trump, who along with husband Jared Kushner served as senior White House advisers for her father's entire term, announced last year that she was done with politics and would have no involvement with Trump's 2024 campaign. UPDATE Jun 24, 2023 7:00 AM CDT An Aug. 14 date set by US District Judge Aileen Cannon for the beginning of former President Donald Trump's trial in his classified documents case is already being challenged. On Friday, special counsel Jack Smith filed a motion requesting that the trial be delayed until Dec. 11, noting the August start date would deny "reasonable time necessary for effective preparation" by both sides, reports ABC News. Of particular importance in the timeline of the pretrial proceedings will be defense lawyers obtaining the appropriate security clearances so they can review the classified documents involved in the case. In his motion, Smith notes that the defense teams for Trump and co-defendant Walt Nauta don't oppose moving the start date. Jun 20, 2023 10:15 AM CDT Those following Donald Trump's legal travails over classified documents can mark their calendars for August 14the date designated on Tuesday by federal judge Aileen Cannon as a starting date for the trial, reports Politico. However, they should most definitely use pencil, because it's a safe bet things will be delayed significantly longer, per the New York Times. Much has to be resolved before the trial starts, including how attorneys can discuss or display classified material. In looking at Cannon's track record, delays of weeks or months are fairly typical once such a date has been announced, notes Politico. The dad of four adult sons died when a car in which he was a passenger crashed and erupted into flames during a Fathers Day street racing incident Sunday. Friends and family identified the passenger as Garry Pfalmer. Arapahoe County Sheriff's officials said the driver of a black Chevy Camaro started a street racing challenge with another car. They got the call at around 1:27 p.m. Investigators heard from bystanders who watched in horror as the Camaro weaved in and out of traffic, speeding at 100-120 miles per hour driving east on East Dry Creek Road in Centennial, before the vehicle hit a bump in the street and went airborne at Yosemite Street. Tire tracks carved into the mud show the car careened to the sidewalk adjacent to a multi-unit apartment complex, missed pedestrians who were out for a stroll, hit a parking garage and burst into flames. On Monday, a torn piece of the vehicles front hood marked with the words Supercharged lay among the branches of a torn pine tree. A pair of blue plastic forensic gloves were discarded nearby. Pfalmer, 70, and an unnamed driver died in the inferno. The Arapahoe County Coroners office said it would officially identify the second person once family was notified. We heard a loud boom, but we didnt hear the sound of brakes screeching, said Amela Ajanovic, who showed up to work on her day off at the Walgreens across the street from where the accident happened. "It's so sad. And on Father's Day, too." It was so scary. We had no warning, said Hailey Bradshaw, also a Walgreens employee. Bradshaw said she smelled burning rubber inside the store. Bradshaw and Alanovic said traumatized customers came into the store with their heads in their hands after witnessing the horrific scene. "A deputy came in to get surveillance video of the crash and it showed people walking on the sidewalk just minutes before the accident," said Alanovic. No pedestrians were injured in the incident and it's unknown what happened to the second car which started out taking on the street racing challenge. Nathan Farler saw the vehicle in flames from the Walgreens parking lot. It was basically in the apartments back yard, said Farler. I saw the tree and the parking garage on fire and saw the fire department putting out the fire. South Metro Fire responded to the crash at 1:27 p.m. along with deputies with Arapahoe County. A friend said Pfalmer moved to Colorado within the past year and lived with one of his children. He raised four sons by himself. He was truly a happy person, said Brooke McWilliams. She said she recently made the trip to Colorado to visit Pfalmer, who was a heavy machinery mechanic in Alaska. Sunday's crash was the second ironic tragedy to beset Pfalmer 's family, as Pfalmers father was an Anchorage police officer who was shot and paralyzed while stopping a stolen vehicle almost 70 years to the day of Sundays accident. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, William Pfalmer, Jr. lived for 17 years before he succumbed to his wounds during corrective surgery. McWilliams, who lives in Nevada City, California, got a text from Pfalmer on Father's Day morning, just hours before he died. She said he had Parkinsons disease and was feeling lonely because he didnt have a lot of friends in Colorado. One day not too long ago, he told her that he wanted to live life to the fullest despite his illness, "because he said he could step off of a curb and die tomorrow." UPDATE Jun 26, 2023 12:00 AM CDT Just days after authorities said the search for actor Julian Sands would continue "in a limited capacity" after eight searches in California's Mount Baldy area turned up short over the five months since he went missing during a hike, human remains have been found in that area. Hikers in the Mount Baldy Wilderness Area reported finding the remains Saturday morning, KTLA reports. Deputies from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department responded and transported the remains to the local coroner's office, where identification is pending and is expected next week, NBC 4 reports. "We continue to hold Julian in our hearts with bright memories of him as a wonderful father, husband, explorer, lover of the natural world and the arts, and as an original and collaborative performer," the family of the 65-year-old British actor said in a statement last week. Jun 20, 2023 1:42 PM CDT British actor Julian Sands has long been presumed dead since vanishing during a hike in Southern California's San Gabriel Mountains in January. Yet five months later, authorities have failed to confirm that. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department launched an eighth search for the actor on Saturday before reporting that "unfortunately, Mr. Sands was not located," Variety reports. More than 80 deputies and search and rescue volunteers ventured into the wilderness surrounding Mount Baldy, along with two helicopters and drone crews. When news broke that Hunter Biden had struck a plea deal on federal tax and gun charges, Donald Trump wrote that the "corrupt" Justice Department under President Biden had given the younger Biden the equivalent of a "traffic ticket," per the Hill . Meanwhile, the left-leaning Talking Points Memo (while not defending Hunter Biden's behavior) criticized Republicans for what it calls a relentless campaign to "visit the alleged sins of the son on the father." Where does the truth lie? In a place neither the left nor the right likes, according to an analysis written earlier this year by Adam Entous, Michael S. Schmidt, and Katie Benner in the New York Times . "The real Hunter Biden story is complex and very different in important ways from the narrative promoted by Republicansbut troubling in its own way," they write. When his father became vice president, Hunter Biden struck lucrative deals with foreign business interests that raised legitimate questions about conflicts of interest. His personal struggles didn't help matters: After "the death of his brother, Beau, in 2015, Hunter descended into a spiral of addiction and tawdry and self-destructive behavior." The Times examination finds that Hunter Biden "aligned himself with foreign actors eager to leverage their connections to him to further their own interests. But it also underscores ... how his fathers opponents have often twisted or exaggerated the story of his descent to score political points." White House: On Tuesday, President Biden and first lady Jill Biden released a short statement saying they "love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life, per the AP. We will have no further comment. On Tuesday, President Biden and first lady Jill Biden released a short statement saying they "love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life, per the AP. We will have no further comment. Kevin McCarthy: The House speaker agreed with Trump, saying the "sweetheart" deal demonstrates a "two-tier system in America." He added, per the Hill: "Now this does nothing to our investigation. It actually should enhance our investigation because the DOJ should not be able to withhold any information now saying that theres a pending investigation." The House speaker agreed with Trump, saying the "sweetheart" deal demonstrates a "two-tier system in America." He added, per the Hill: "Now this does nothing to our investigation. It actually should enhance our investigation because the DOJ should not be able to withhold any information now saying that theres a pending investigation." More from the GOP: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer voiced a similar sentiment. Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery, Comer said. We will not rest until the full extent of President Bidens involvement in the familys schemes are revealed. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer voiced a similar sentiment. Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery, Comer said. We will not rest until the full extent of President Bidens involvement in the familys schemes are revealed. Details: The Washington Post has details on the plea agreement, with prosecutors expected to ask for two years of probation on the tax charges and for the gun charge to be expunged from Hunter Biden's record provided he completes a "diversion" program on firearms. (Read more Hunter Biden stories.) Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Tolentino meets PH ambassador to South Korea for local executive program MANILA - Senator Francis 'TOL' N. Tolentino met with Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Theresa Dizon-Vega to discuss the Adaptive Governance Innovation for Local Executive (AGILE), a program he launched in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. AGILE program is implemented in partnership with the Korean Development Institute (KDI). Aside from KDI, AGILE program is also in partnership with Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore (NUS), and the Hague Academy for Local Government. AGILE program invites governors and mayors for a certificate program that enhances new ways of thinking in the administration of local government units. Senator Tolentino informed Ambassador Vega that he is sending another batch of governors and vice governors in Korea this December for capacity building in partnership with KDI. The former president of League of Cities of the Philippine (LCP) also said that the AGILE program discusses way forward vis-a-vis current policies relevant to the national government's roadmap to full devolution of basic services to each LGU. Winity, which became a new Brazilian national mobile operator in 2021, and satellite operator Hughes have announced a pilot project involving prepaid mobile internet in remote areas. The project is called RuralChip and uses 700MHz spectrum won by Winity at auction in 2021. Ericsson, Nokia and Algar Telecom are among the partners for the project. The duo's proof of concept is taking place in two cities: Presidente Juscelino and Cururupu. Both are in Maranhao state in northern Brazil. In the first city the access network provider is Ericsson. The other uses technology provided by Nokia. Algar Telecom provides the network core along with charging, provisioning, NOC and data centre services. Both sites will make use of Hughes' high-capacity satellite backhaul solution, an LTE site and a Winity network core, effectively creating a 4G network to serve RuralChip customers in the areas covered. The official launch of the project took place last week. The plan is to refine the solution for a future deployment at scale throughout the country, making possible the digital inclusion of thousands of people and the economic development of these regions, in line with Winity's business plan, which is to get to where no other operator has reached to date. According to TeleGeography's CommsUpdate, Winity Telecom which is backed by alternative asset management firm Patria Investimentos successfully bid on a national 210MHz 700MHz licence in Brazils November 2021 5G spectrum auction, paying BRL1.428 billion (USD276.8 million) the highest bid for a single spectrum lot in the auction. Winity plans to build 5,000 cell towers by 2029 and to establish itself as Brazils first wholesale operator. 4G/LTE provider Smile, which operates in Uganda and East Africa, has apologised to its customers for the outage that has affected its services since January 31st 2022 and explained the root cause of the issue. Smile claims that its network was illegally disconnected by American Towers Corporation (ATC), arguing that this went against the tower firms licence obligations as well as industry best practices. Acknowledging that customers deserved an update far sooner, Smile stated that it had chosen to wait for the conclusion of certain legal processes prior to providing the explanation. The companies had been involved in a commercial dispute since 2018 over allegations of discriminatory pricing practices, with Smile claiming that ATC was collecting around 50% more than the tariffs set by the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Uganda. The disputes were referred to arbitration in accordance with the underlying contracts, and while this was initially scheduled by all involved parties to conclude in June 2021, it was extended into 2022. With the award favouring ATC, the tower firm immediately and without notice disconnected Smiles sites, resulting in a complete shutdown of Smile's 4G LTE services by February 1, 2022. Smile challenged the arbitral award via the High Court and its application was granted on 11th April 2023. The previous ruling was set aside and ATC has not yet made any appeal. Throughout the process, Smile claims that it attempted to reach a settlement with ATC but was met with intransigence, resulting in it terminating all contracts with ATC and requesting the return of its equipment to allow it to work with another tower partner. However, ATC has thus far refused to comply and faced no consequences for doing so, meaning that Smile has been unable to provide services. The operator claims that ATCs actions have damaged its investment in Uganda to the tune of approximately US$120,000,000 as well as denying its customers service and impacting jobs and livelihoods. Smile has described the situation as unprecedented and is continuing its legal action against ATC. In this regard, the Cabinet emphasised that the meeting further strengthened relations between the two countries and their peoples. His Royal Highness was speaking as he chaired yesterday's weekly Cabinet meeting at Gudaibiya Palace. The Cabinet highlighted the importance of the official meeting between His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the UAE President, HH Shaikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at His Majestys residence in Abu Dhabi. HRH Prince Salman commended the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and with the support of HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for their commitment to ensuring a seamless Hajj season. Tier 1 status The Cabinet noted Bahrains success in retaining Tier 1 status in the US Department of States Trafficking in Persons report for the sixth consecutive year. The annual publication provides an assessment of global efforts to combat human trafficking. Bahrains high rating reflects its competency in mitigating issues of trafficking. The Cabinet attributed this achievement to the Kingdoms comprehensive development, led by His Majesty the King and supported by the government under the leadership of HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. Additionally, the Cabinet monitored progress on the implementation of His Royal Highness directives to hold events and exhibitions that raise awareness about housing finance services and programmes for Bahraini citizens. The Minister of Housing and Urban Planning reviewed the success of the exhibition in achieving its objectives. The Cabinet congratulated the graduates of the Bahrain Teachers College as well as expressed their appreciation to the Board of Directors and staff for their efforts in driving academic excellence, resulting in the largest number of graduates in the history of the College. It congratulated the chairman, board, staff, and players of the Al Najma Club on winning the 25th Asian Mens Club League Handball Championship and the Manama Club on being champions at the inaugural FIBA West Asia Super League. The Cabinet commended the athletes of both sports clubs for their wins and their role in affirming Bahrains position as a leader on the global sports stage. His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, directed relevant entities to support Bahraini citizens participating in the Hajj pilgrimage. HRH Prince Salman commended the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and with the support of HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for their commitment to ensuring a seamless Hajj season. His Royal Highness was speaking as he chaired yesterday's weekly Cabinet meeting at Gudaibiya Palace. HRH Prince Salman issued Edict (45) of 2023, amending some provisions of the regulation determining the wages, employment benefits, and eligibility conditions for employees subject to the Civil Service Law, promulgated by Edict (77) of 2013, based on a proposal by the Civil Service Bureau (CSB). Article (1) Article (12) of the regulation determining the wages, employment benefits, and eligibility conditions for employees subject to the Civil Service Law, promulgated by Edict (77) of 2013, shall be amended as follows: "A monthly allowance for improving the standard of living of BD85 or BD100 shall be granted to employees who are eligible for the salaries shown in the table contained in Appendix No. (3) attached to this regulation, in accordance with the terms and conditions set by the Civil Service Bureau". Article (2) The table contained in Appendix No. (3) attached to the regulation determining the wages, employment benefits, and eligibility conditions for employees subject to the Civil Service Law, promulgated by Edict (77) of 2013, shall be replaced with the table accompanying this edict. Article (3) The term "Bureau" (Apparatus) shall replace the term "Bureau" whenever it appears in the regulation determining the wages, employment benefits, and eligibility conditions for employees subject to the Civil Service Law, promulgated by Edict (77) of 2013. The Ministers, President of CSB, and those concerned, each in their capacity, shall implement the provisions of this edict, which comes into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, hailed Team Bahrains expertise and competence in the health sector, one of the vital sectors contributing to the Kingdoms comprehensive development goals, led by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. HRH Prince Salman was speaking as he met yesterday with the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Health (SCH), Lt. Gen. Dr. Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, at Gudaibiya Palace. The Minister of Finance and National Economy, HE Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, and the Minister of Health, HE Jalila bint Al Sayed Jawad Hassan, also attended the meeting. HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister commended the Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA), Dr. Mariam Al Jalahma, on receiving the 2023 Nelson Mandela Award for Health Promotion and noted her admirable contributions to the Kingdoms health sector in the last 30 years. He also commended the medical professionals for their contributions to the Kingdoms goals and progress in the health sector. His Royal Highness expressed his pride in Bahraini citizens achievements and contributions to the Kingdoms progress across many fields. Lt-Gen Dr. Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah and Dr. Al Jalahma expressed their gratitude for meeting with HRH Prince Salman and his continuous support for the Kingdoms health sector. They also reiterated their commitment to developing the health sector. Agencies | Tel Aviv The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com The Government Hospitals administration is keen to provide the best healthcare services within a framework that enhances the healthcare system in Bahrain, according to the highest level of quality, competitiveness, and excellence. This was emphasised by Dr. Ahmed Al Ansari, Chief Executive Officer of Government Hospitals, as he visited the Ministry of Health of Israel, accompanied by Khaled Yousef Al Jalahma, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the State of Israel. The visit aims to enhance joint work, exchange skills, and reinforce cooperation in training and scientific research, as well as in the Visiting Doctor Programme, within the framework of the two countries efforts to enhance healthcare services. Dr. Asher Solomon, Head of the Department of International Relations at the Israeli Ministry of Health, was present in the meeting. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com The Philippine Embassy has hosted a National Reception Day to jointly commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence Day and the 45th year of Philippines-Bahrain Diplomatic Relations. Her Excellency Anne Jalando-on Louis welcomed guests of honour: His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Ali Bahzad, Undersecretary for Consular and Administrative Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Shaikh Daij bin Isa Al Khalifa, Chairman of the ASEAN Bahrain Council; and Manama Capital Directorate, Director of Information and Follow-Up, Mr. Yusuf Lori. The reception at the Bahrain Conference Centre, Crown Plaza Hotel, was graced by around 260 guests, including Bahrain government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, leaders and representatives of the business community, and the Filipino community. A collection of vintage memorabilia, which consisted of old stamps and coins, bank notes, postcards, and documents, was exhibited to give a glimpse of the panoramic view of the Philippines through small things. The Nightingales, a soprano duo comprised of Ms. Katrina Saga and Ms. Bernadette Mamauag, along with the Filipino Community Band, serenaded the guests with Filipino songs. AFP | Jenin The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank killed five Palestinians including a militant on Monday, in a raid that saw eight Israeli security personnel wounded and rare helicopter fire. Palestinian authorities reported "intense gunfire" by Israeli forces in what the army described as "routine activity" in which an armoured vehicle was said to have been hit by a "dramatic" explosion. The Palestinian health ministry said five people had been killed and at least 91 others were wounded in the violence. It identified those killed as 15-year-old Ahmed Saqer, as well as Khaled Assassa, 21, Qais Jabareen, 21, Ahmad Daraghmeh, 19, and Qassam Abu Saria, 29. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed Abu Saria as a fighter for the militant group. Among the injured was Palestinian journalist Hazem Nasser, who was hospitalised with a gunshot wound, according to the Palestinian journalists syndicate. The sound of gunfire was heard across Jenin as wounded Palestinians continued to arrive by ambulance to the northern West Bank city's Ibn Sina hospital into the early afternoon, an AFP journalist said. Crowds, among them Palestinian gunmen, gathered outside a government hospital in Jenin for the funerals of those killed in 11 hours of fighting. Jenin's deputy governor, Kamal Abu al-Rub, told AFP the Israeli forces had launched the raid at around 4:00 am (0100 GMT). "The army stormed the (Jenin refugee) camp and the city after the dawn prayer in large numbers, and there was intense gunfire," he said. Jenin camp resident Bassem Talib, 38, said he "woke up to the sounds of gunfire at 4:15 in the morning". "The army targeted anything that moved... there is no safety," he said. An AFP journalist at the scene said Israeli forces withdrew from Jenin at around 15:10 (1210 GMT). - 'Deteriorating situation' - The Israeli army said an armoured vehicle had been hit by a "very unusual and dramatic" explosive device at around 7:10 am (0410 GMT), during "routine activity" to arrest two "wanted suspects" -- one affiliated with Islamist movement Hamas and the other with Islamic Jihad. "We had five Israeli border police guys wounded, and two soldiers also lightly wounded," army spokesman Richard Hecht said. The army said an Apache helicopter had fired missiles in support of the soldiers during an operation to extract the injured. A Palestinian intelligence official told AFP on condition of anonymity it was the first time since 2002 -- during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising -- that the Israeli army has fired missiles from an aircraft during a raid in Jenin. United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said he was "extremely worried by the deteriorating situation". "Unlawful killings of Palestinians by the Israeli security forces have increased, including apparent extrajudicial executions," he added. Violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has escalated over the past year, particularly since the hard-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took power in December. - 'Open war' - Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian Authority's civil affairs minister, said a "fierce and open war is being waged against the Palestinian people". Speaking as the raid unfolded, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said: "We will use all the tools at our disposal and strike terrorists wherever they may be." The raid came as the US State Department's top Middle East official, Barbara Leaf, was in Ramallah to meet with the Palestinian leadership. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Islamic Jihad chief Ziyad al-Nakhalah were also in Tehran for talks with Iranian leaders Monday. Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War and its forces regularly launch incursions into Palestinian cities, which are nominally under the control of president Mahmud Abbas's Palestinian Authority. Later Monday, two Israeli soldiers were wounded after Palestinians rammed them at a checkpoint near Jenin, the army said. "The soldiers responded with fire, hits were identified," a statement said. The Palestinian health ministry said two Palestinians suffering gunshot wounds were being treated in a Jenin hospital, one of them in a critical condition. Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp -- which was besieged by the army in 2002 and saw deadly fighting -- have frequently been the site of violent clashes. In March, four Palestinians were killed during a raid on the camp. Ten Palestinians were killed in another operation in the camp in January -- at the time the deadliest single raid in the West Bank for 20 years. An incursion into Nablus the following month killed 11 Palestinians. Since the start of the year, at least 164 Palestinians, 21 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian have been killed in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources. The figures include combatants as well as civilians and, on the Israeli side, three members of the Arab minority. The Japanese government will cover half the cost of a new supercomputer being built in Hokkaido, which alone will triple the nation's processing capabilities for developing generative artificial intelligence. The cloud service provider Sakura Internet is assembling the supercomputer in Ishikari city. The supercomputer is expected to begin service as soon as next year, specializing in large language model training necessary for developing generative AI. ...continue reading Nissan to adopt Tesla's EV charging standard from 2025 Nikkei - Jul 20 Nissan Motor will adopt Tesla's charging standards for its electric vehicles sold in North America from 2025, the company said Wednesday, becoming the first Japanese automaker to embrace the quick-charging technology. Nissan Motor will adopt Tesla's charging standards for its electric vehicles sold in North America from 2025, the company said Wednesday, becoming the first Japanese automaker to embrace the quick-charging technology. Haneda Airport reopens Terminal 2 International Flight Area NHK - Jul 20 Tokyo's Haneda Airport reopened the International Flight Area in Terminal 2 on Wednesday. That section of the terminal was shut down, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Tokyo's Haneda Airport reopened the International Flight Area in Terminal 2 on Wednesday. That section of the terminal was shut down, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Foreign visitors to Japan top 10 million in first half of 2023 NHK - Jul 20 The number of foreign visitors to Japan topped 10 million in the first half of this year according to a government estimate. The number of foreign visitors to Japan topped 10 million in the first half of this year according to a government estimate. Bear vanishes after holed up in bunny park News On Japan - Jul 20 Police have called off their watch over the Tsuki Usagi no Sato rabbit park after a search revealed the bear they feared holed up in the facility in Kaga, Ishikawa Prefecture, was not there. Police have called off their watch over the Tsuki Usagi no Sato rabbit park after a search revealed the bear they feared holed up in the facility in Kaga, Ishikawa Prefecture, was not there. World's most powerful passports: Japan loses top spot in Henley ranking Forbes - Jul 20 The newly updated 2023 Henley Passport Index, based on official and exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has revealed a newly crowned winner of the worlds most powerful passport. The newly updated 2023 Henley Passport Index, based on official and exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has revealed a newly crowned winner of the worlds most powerful passport. Chain of body hair removal clinics for men sued after suspending services NHK - Jul 20 A total of 110 men filed lawsuits with courts in Tokyo, Osaka and elsewhere in Japan on Wednesday, demanding a refund from a chain of body hair removal clinics for men. A total of 110 men filed lawsuits with courts in Tokyo, Osaka and elsewhere in Japan on Wednesday, demanding a refund from a chain of body hair removal clinics for men. Ursine Invader Barricaded with Bunnies, Scares Off Staff News On Japan - Jul 19 A bear was holed up inside a rabbit park nearly all day on Wednesday and is now believed to have escaped the facility. A bear was holed up inside a rabbit park nearly all day on Wednesday and is now believed to have escaped the facility. Japan condemns N.Korea's latest missile launch NHK - Jul 19 The Japanese government has condemned North Korea's latest round of missile launches. The Japanese government has condemned North Korea's latest round of missile launches. Dog bites Japanese idol on face during recording session News On Japan - Jul 19 Takeuchi Kirari, a member of Japanese idol group Hinatazaka46, has suffered injuries to her face and finger after being bitten by a dog during a recording session, TV Asahi reports. Takeuchi Kirari, a member of Japanese idol group Hinatazaka46, has suffered injuries to her face and finger after being bitten by a dog during a recording session, TV Asahi reports. Fugitive ex-auto tycoon Ghosn sues Nissan for irreparable damage Kyodo - Jul 19 Former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who fled Japan while awaiting trial, said Tuesday he has filed a criminal lawsuit in Lebanon against the Japanese company, vowing to make it pay for "the damage that cannot be repaired." Former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who fled Japan while awaiting trial, said Tuesday he has filed a criminal lawsuit in Lebanon against the Japanese company, vowing to make it pay for "the damage that cannot be repaired." Tokyo "Joker" train attacker says he was inspired by similar case NHK - Jul 19 A man accused of attempted murder and arson while dressed in a Joker costume on a Tokyo train in 2021 said Tuesday that a similar incident a few months earlier inspired him to alter his original plan of going on a killing spree in Shibuya. A man accused of attempted murder and arson while dressed in a Joker costume on a Tokyo train in 2021 said Tuesday that a similar incident a few months earlier inspired him to alter his original plan of going on a killing spree in Shibuya. Top Japanese diplomat shoved to the ground in downtown Portland KPTV FOX 12 Oregon - Jul 19 Last month, in downtown Portland, the top Japanese diplomat in Oregon was attacked by a homeless person. Last month, in downtown Portland, the top Japanese diplomat in Oregon was attacked by a homeless person. Man given 3-year prison term for killing wife he took care of for 40 years NHK - Jul 19 A Japanese court has sentenced an 82-year-old man to three years in prison for killing his wife, whom he had been taking care of for about 40 years. A Japanese court has sentenced an 82-year-old man to three years in prison for killing his wife, whom he had been taking care of for about 40 years. Sales of Japanese carmakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda sink in China as they fall behind in EV race South China Morning Post - Jul 19 Japans top carmakers suffered a huge setback in China in the first half, with sales plunging nearly 20 per cent, their biggest drop in the worlds largest car market since 2012, where the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) is accelerating. Japans top carmakers suffered a huge setback in China in the first half, with sales plunging nearly 20 per cent, their biggest drop in the worlds largest car market since 2012, where the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) is accelerating. McDonald's Japan makes big expansion to employee shifts: report hcamag.com - Jul 19 McDonald's Japan has greatly expanded the number employee shift types it has under the variable working hours system while facing a lawsuit on the matter, according to reports. McDonald's Japan has greatly expanded the number employee shift types it has under the variable working hours system while facing a lawsuit on the matter, according to reports. Japan's crypto exchanges are pushing for a relaxation of curbs on margin trading, unbowed by last years global digital-asset market crash. Many people in the industry want permitted leverage for retail investors of four to 10 times whereas currently customers can at most double exposure via borrowing, according to the Japan Virtual & Crypto Assets Exchange Association. Reforming the leverage rule could make Japan more attractive for crypto and blockchain companies, the associations vice chairman Genki Oda said in an interview, adding that the step would encourage more trading. The nations digital-asset exchanges are in talks to reach a consensus on a recommended leverage limit and may take their proposal to the Financial Services Agency (FSA) as soon as next month, Oda said. Japan has moved towards easing some crypto rules, such as on token listing and taxation, but overall is viewed as having strict regulations. That focus on investor protection enabled the Japanese arm of failed exchange FTX to return money to clients earlier this year even as the groups US bankruptcy drags on. An FSA official said crypto firms must present convincing reasons why loosening margin trading caps will help the government achieve its goal of expanding blockchain-based industries. The agency is open to discussing the issue with digital-asset businesses, the official added. ...continue reading Russias Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has lost its longstanding legal battle against Turkmenistan after it was allegedly forced to abandon its operations in the market in 2017. MTS claims that state-owned Turkmentelecom blocked its access to various interconnection points, resulting in it shuttering operations and incurring losses worth up to US$1.5 billion. The operator filed a case with the World Banks International Centre for Settlement of Investments Disputes (ICSID) in July 2018. Turkmenistans legal team Squire Patton Boggs reacted to ICSIDs decision with a press release claiming a significant victory for the nation, noting that the body has unanimously rejectedall claims on the merits with a finding of no liability for any of the alleged complaints asserted. CommsUpdate notes that the tribunal found that MTS operating contract for Turkmenistan expired as per the terms of its five-year licensing period, and that MTS had no basis for expecting a renewal. Additionally, it exonerated Turkmenistan of any wrongdoing regarding MTS operations in the market, noting that the operator had been allocated a proportionally larger amount of capacity than its local rival Atlyn Asyr. The tribunal noted that Atlyn Asyr had been just as badly affected by data quality issues as MTS, as well as observing that there was no evidence to indicate that MTS had been overcharged for any channels. The tribunal awarded Turkmenistan over US$11 million to cover legal fees and arbitration costs. Despite offering a less environmentally impactful way to transport goods, the railway was met with resistance from conservationists and there was high levels of public concern about its environmental compliance. With national parks already at risk from poaching, illegal grazing, mining and unregulated urban expansion, the arrival of the railway brought worries that it would set a precedent for construction in other parks. To help ease agitation and to stop the railway encroaching on the park, an agreement was made between the Kenyan government and wildlife officials that it would not change the boundaries of the park. Instead of running through the park at ground level, the railway was raised up on giant columns to allow animals to pass underneath. The bridge is 6.5 metres off the ground and is tall enough for giraffes and elephants to move beneath. A 5.9-kilometre-long sound barrier was also placed either side of the guardrail of the bridge to minimise the noise from the passing trains. A maintenance crew checks the sound-absorbing plates every month to make sure they havent been eroded by wear and tear or vandalised. In total, the railway has 14 large wildlife passages, 79 bridges and 100 culverts along its route to allow animals to pass. These passages were designed and carefully placed based not only on the migration routes of different species but on the location of nearby water sources. Building the railway through the park rather than demolishing populated areas to build it around the park, saved the project money and this money is being reinvested into the parks maintenance. Malawian asset financier Yellow has closed $14 million in series B funding to expand its business, which involves digital and financial products related to connectivity and solar power. Convergence Partners led the round; the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund and Platform Investment Partners participated. Convergence Partners, a leading private equity investment manager focused on the technology sector in sub-Saharan Africa, describes Yellow as a leading provider of pay-as-you-go finance for off-grid solar home systems and connectivity solutions for low-income consumers in parts of East Africa. In 2018, Mike Heyink and Maya Stewart founded Yellow in Malawi. Since then, it has expanded across Africa. The company's most popular product is a small home solar system, including a 6W-10W panel, 20-50Wh battery and cellphone chargers. It also sells solar systems and smartphones. According to the Techpoint Africa news service, Yellow wants to use the funds to expand its presence in its current markets, including Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Madagascar, while preparing for additional debt funding rounds to accelerate its expansion. It also plans to leverage more debt financing to reach more customers with financed smartphones and solar systems. Customers make a deposit for these and then pay the remaining balance in monthly instalments. The startup operates through a network of 1,100 agents using its proprietary tech platform Ofeefee, which enables last-mile distribution and credit provision. Using this model, Yellow has, according to Convergence Partners, become a catalyst for change and a model for leveraging technology to solve the most pressing problems of everyday African households. Since entering the market in 2018, Yellow has rapidly grown its reach to more than 400,000 households across its current markets. Yellow claims a compound annual growth rate of 265% over the past four years. Digital communications technology corporation Cisco has announced plans to establish a data centre in Saudi Arabia dedicated to cloud-delivered security. Through this data centre, the company says it aims to assist customers in safeguarding their users, infrastructure, and investments against potential threat actors. Cisco says the data centre will assume a crucial role in providing agile and highly resilient secure access to users within Saudi Arabia. It will support Ciscos cloud services, including the recently introduced Secure Service Edge (SSE) solution, Cisco Secure Access. Many organisations currently rely on a complex assortment of point products that were not specifically designed to support the intricacies of todays highly distributed environment. Consequently, says Cisco, users often face inconsistent access experiences, necessitating frequent re-authentication, which ultimately disrupts productivity. Cisco Secure Access resolves this issue by automating decisions regarding user connections to the internet, software as a service (SaaS), and private applications, streamlining the process and enhancing productivity. The data centre will be accessible via any ISP in Saudi Arabia. Precise details of size and capacity do not seem to be available yet. However, Cisco says the data centre should be fully operational by mid-2024. To underline its security message, Cisco cites the latest Cisco Security Outcomes Report, which says that 54% of organisations surveyed in Saudi Arabia had experienced security incidents that had a detrimental impact on their business, notably distributed denial of service attacks, network or system outages, and malicious insider abuse events. The former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has been advised to apologise for allegedly working against President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC). The advice was given by a former Commissioner for Information and Strategy who served in Aregbesolaa first term as governor of Osun State, Sunday Akere, on Monday in Osogbo. The Osun APC chieftain was speaking in reaction to statements credited to Aregbesola on Sunday at a reception organised in his honour by the concerned Muslim scholars and clerics in the South-West of Nigeria in Oyo town, Oyo State. At the reception, Aregbesola had said he owed his achievements and success in politics to President Bola Tinubu and former President Muhammadu Buhari. Akere alleged that Aregbesola had worked against the interest of the APC in the February 25 presidential election and the July 16, 2022, gubernatorial election in Osun State. The Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State had roundly defeated the APC in both elections in the state. He urged Aregbesola to apologise for his alleged anti-party activities. He said after the apology, he and his supporters should appear before Prof. Isaac Adewoles committee instituted to reposition APC in the state and thereafter await the decision of the party on their matter. Aregbesola and his supporters worked against Tinubu in the presidential poll. They only changed their tune after the ex-Lagos governor had emerged victorious at the poll. Everybody knew Ogbeni Aregbesola and all his followers engaged in anti-party activities in the 2022 governorship election and all the series of elections we had in 2023, and there is nobody that will engage in anti-party activities that will not be punished appropriately for it. We expect him and his followers to apologise, appear before the Professor Adewole repositioning committee and state their own side of the matter. We expect them to do what is needful and after then, the party will, maybe, accept their apology. When Ogbeni was here as governor in Osun, he always said that after God, it was Asiwaju Bola Tinubu that helped him, but along the line, when things changed, it was on record that Ogbeni said that they have all prayed to God to bring Tinubu down. We all knew that with the result of the February 25, 2023 election, God did not answer their prayer. It is good that Ogbeni is now realising and giving kudos to those that made him and supported him to become what he is today. Reacting, Lani Baderinwa, who served in Aregbesolaa second term as Information Commissioner, dismissed the allegations of anti-party activities against his former principal. There is no proof that Aregbesola and his men worked against Tinubu. Anti-party activity is a serious offence that carries full weight punishment, except when it is used and meant as a witch-hunt. The allegation, whenever it is made, is often subjected to rigorous investigations, found to be very true before any further step is taken. In the case of Osun, no one has brought forward any concrete evidence on the allegations being bandied around and mouthed like a running tap. You wonder what they were thinking when they bragged and shouted that Ogbeni and his allies were not needed in the build-up to the elections, he insisted. The immediate past Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has arrived at the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in Makurdi, the state capital. Ortom was in EFCCs office on Tuesday following an invitation by the anti-graft agency. The former governor who drove in his private SUV vehicle, arrived at the EFCC office located along Gordon Aluor Street, old GRA, Makurdi, around 10:08am. He was later joined by his two former aides including Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Terver Akase and his Principal Special Assistant, Abraham Kwaghgu. The former Governor was still at the office of the law enforcement agency as of the time of filing this report. A federal capital territory high court in Maitama has fixed July 13 to rule on a fundamental human rights suit instituted by Godwin Emefiele, suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). On June 9, President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele and asked him to transfer his responsibilities to Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, deputy governor, operations directorate. The day after, the DSS announced that Emefiele was in its custody for some investigative reasons. Through his lawyer Joseph Daudu, Emefiele filed a suit against the DSS and the attorney-general of the federation (AGF) seeking to enforce his fundamental rights. On Friday, Hamza Muazu, presiding judge, ordered the respondents to immediately allow Emefiele access to his lawyers and family. At the court session on Tuesday, Tijjani Ghazali, counsel to the AGF, informed the court that the first respondent is challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the case brought before it by the applicant. He said Emefieles arrest and detention by the DSS is an administrative decision of an arm of the executive. The DSS is also challenging the courts jurisdiction to hear the suit, insisting that there is a subsisting order of a chief magistrate court for Emefieles detention. The respondents prayed the court to dismiss the application with cost against the applicant. In his submission, Daudu insisted that the court has the jurisdiction to entertain the matter. According to him, the offences listed against his client are state offences that can be entertained by the FCT high court. The Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has accused the former Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, of allegedly being the brain behind the participation of the suspended Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, in the APC presidential primary. According to the party, Omo-Agege lured Emefiele to participate in the APC primary in a bid to scuttle President Bola Tinubus ambition. The claim was disclosed in a letter written to the president on Monday, titled: Attempts by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege to scuttle presidential ambition of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu through recruitment of Mr. Godwin Emefiele, anti-Tinubu campaign stance and anti-party activities. The letter, which was signed by the State APC Secretary, Michael Inana; Delta North Chairman, Tom Onah; South Chairman, Nelson Ogharama and Central Chairman, Michael Orunefe. The statement partly read, Your Excellency, you will recall that at a point ahead of the Party National Convention in June 2022, members especially those of us from Ika South Local Government Area got information that Omo-Agege had plans to issue party membership card to the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele and we objected to his plans. We told him it was not morally right for Emefiele to contest and that it would affect your chances to secure the presidential ticket. All efforts to make Omo-Agege see reasons fell on deaf ears but he convinced Emefiele and assured him that he will get the Party National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka whom he planted as a spy to help get Emefiele the ticket. Your Excellency Sir, permit us to refer you to PUNCH Newspaper of May 9, 2022, which confirmed the story that the APC Ward Chairman eventually gave Emefiele the membership card in February 2021. The name of the Ward Chairman is Mr. Nduka Erikpume and the Ika South APC Local Government Chairman is Hilary FadaIbude. These two were the ones who also signed our state leaders expulsion letters on the instructions of Omo-Agege. Their offence was that they opposed Omo-Ageges position to recruit Emefiele to contest the Presidential election against you, the letter stressed. Continuing, the statement maintained that on the night of the APC Convention, the Delta delegates were instructed by the former deputy senate president to vote against Tinubu, who he alleged stood no chance against their anointed. Inana and others noted in the letter that virtually every delegate was aware of this stance, adding that as God would have it, the former Lagos State Governor won the primary convincingly. However, they maintained that Omo-Agege has yet to forgive them for opposing him. The Delta APC allegation also recalled that in the build-up to the 2023 general elections, party faithful and critical stakeholders, especially, those not in Omo-Ageges camp, were sidelined and prevented from participating in the activities, including the buying of forms to contest congresses and primaries. It insisted, They did this to the extent that Omo-Agege was the only person in Delta who collected forms for the gubernatorial primaries. The same thing was applicable to Senatorial, House of Representatives, and State Assembly Primaries. Omo-Agege single-handedly nominated all the candidates in Delta State. His personal staff members were subsequently made party officials in Delta State, including the current APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, who was his legal aide. His political adviser, Omeni Sobotie, also became the party chairman. All aides in his office were allotted party positions in the state excos, he alleged further. The letter containing the allegation was also accompanied by tweets, Omo-Ageges campaign posters involving the Obidient movement, and video clip evidence to prove he was involved in a series of anti-party activities even during the 2023 general elections. It also maintained that the development led many party chieftains, including Chief Great Ogboru to leave the APC to pursue their political ambitions in other parties before the poll. The statement remarked, Mr. President, we enclose herewith posters and videos of Omo-Agege and Labour Party candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, posing ahead of the election to the fact that he and his group never worked for you. We cannot continue this way in Delta. Therefore, we call on you to ask Omo-Agege to free the State APC of his stranglehold so it can breathe freely. You can imagine that in an election held on the same day, the APC won two senatorial seats and could not garner the required 25 per cent votes in the state. This makes it obvious that Omo-Agege asked his followers not to vote for you. If you have any doubt, you have the security agencies at your command to investigate the points we have raised, the statement pointed out. When contacted for a reaction, the Communications and Media Strategist for Omo-Agege Campaign Organisation, Ima Niboro, told our correspondent to reach the politicians Chief Press Secretary, Sunny Areh. Areh also declined comment, saying the Chairman of the Delta APC, Omeni Sobotie, will be in a better position to discuss the issue and the crisis rocking the party at the state level. As of the time of filing this story, Sobotie could not be reached as his phone repeatedly indicated that he was unreachable. However, Morka defended the former DSP, saying the allegation was spurious. The APC national publicity secretary also disclosed that the claim was probably sponsored by the expelled former APC chieftain and Delta grassroots politician, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh. I am sure you thats not the real Delta APC. Those guys are Cairo Ojougbohs sponsored organisation. Over time, we know Cairo has set his bunch of nobodies just to perpetrate this sort of rubbish. I think the reaction that will be appropriate for now is the state executive of the party. That is where you can get the proper perspective, he said. Kayode Egbetokun, the acting inspector-general of police (IGP), says he is ready to devour Nigerias internal enemies. Egbetokun spoke on Tuesday after he was decorated with his new rank by Vice-President Kashim Shettima. The brief ceremony took place at the state house, Abuja. The new police chief said he is looking forward to assuming office on Wednesday, adding that he is keen to chase away all criminals in the country. I am looking forward to taking over tomorrow morning by 11 am, he told state house correspondents. I really cant describe how I feel presently, but if I have to tell you anything, I will tell you that right now I feel like a tiger inside of me, ready to chase away all the criminals in Nigeria. And some other times, I feel like a lion in me ready to devour all the internal enemies of Nigeria. Thats my feeling right now. Usman Baba, the immediate past IGP, was also present at the decoration ceremony of Egbetokun. Baba said he believes his successor is up to the task, noting that he has confidence in him. Im happy I am handing over to somebody that I know will carry the mantle of leadership from where I have stopped, the former IGP said. We grew up in the job together, I was his boss at a time or even when I was IGP. He worked under me twice, weve been working together and I know how he can go ahead to champion the cause of the police from where I stopped. President Bola Tinubu on Monday approved the immediate retirement of Baba and all the other security chiefs. Nuhu Ribadu replaced Babagana Monguno as the national security adviser (NSA) while Christopher Gwabin Musa took over from Lucky Irabor as the chief of defence of staff. Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja was named chief of army staff while Emmanuel Ogalla is the new chief of naval staff. The president appointed Hassan Bala Abubakar as the chief of air staff while EPA Undiandeye was named chief of defence intelligence. Google is reportedly searching for suppliers in India to build its Pixel smartphone range as the US company pivots away from manufacturing in China. The US technology giant follows Apple in its move to diversify away from China and has begun talks with Lava International, Dixon Technologies, and Foxconns Indian subsidiary Bharat FIH, according to sources speaking to Bloomberg. The sources said there is no guarantee a deal will close. It was reported last year Apple had pivoted some of its manufacturing away from China to Vietnam and India for the construction of its latest range of devices, with the long-term view of being less reliant on China as a manufacturing hub. Hunter Biden, US President Joe Bidens son, is expected to plead guilty to two tax crimes according to a court filing on Tuesday. Hunter is also reportedly striking a deal with federal prosecutors regarding a separate felony gun charge while he was a drug user. The 53-year-old has previously worked as a lawyer and a lobbyist abroad, including in China and Ukraine. He was discharged from the US Navy in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine. The US justice department had initiated an investigation into whether he properly reported his income in 2017 and 2018, and made false statements on paperwork used to purchase a firearm in 2018. Although the terms of Hunters agreement with the prosecutors reportedly have good chances of keeping him out of jail, a judge would still need to review the terms. It is unclear when he will appear in court to enter his guilty plea. Hunters plea deal comes as some Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates have accused Biden, who is running for a second term, of weaponising the justice department against political opponents. Critics of Bidens governments have alleged that Hunters dealings and repeated run-ins with the law indicate a pattern of corruption. Donald Trump, former US president who has also declared his intention to return to the White House, criticised Hunters plea deal on Truth Social, his social media platform. Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket. Our system is BROKEN!, Trump wrote. Ian Sams, a White House spokesperson, said President Biden would not be discussing his sons deal. The president and first lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment, Sams said. At the presidential election petition court on Monday, a witness said there was no network glitch as suggested by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Here are five major highlights from the proceedings. NO TECHNICAL GLITCH AS CLAIMED BY INEC Clarita Ogar, the seventh witness of the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, disputed claims that there was a network glitch during the conduct of the February 25 presidential election. Ogar is a cloud engineer and architect with Amazon Web Services Incorporated, a firm which INEC engaged to provide technical support during the general election. INEC had said its inability to upload election results to IReV in real-time was due to technical hitches related to scaling up the platform from managing off-season and state elections to nationwide polls. During his testimony, Ogar said the AWS cloud did not record any technical glitch in the country on February 25. The subpoenaed witness tendered six reports showing the status of the AWS dashboard of cloud services in 33 regions and certificates of compliance. Although the respondents objected to the admissibility of the documents, they were entered as exhibits. LP, INEC BICKER OVER DOCUMENTS At the court session, LP accused INEC of deliberately using delay tactics to frustrate the case. Jibrin Okutepa, counsel to the petitioners, told the court that INEC is holding the legal team hostage by refusing to provide the documents requested. He also alleged that INEC has refused to accept the service of the subpoena issued to them. Responding, Abubakar Mahmoud, INEC counsel, described Okutepas allegations as unfounded. STOP BLACKMAILING YOURSELVES, COURT WARNS The five-member panel of the court warned the parties against frustrating each others case. The panel urged the lawyers to imbibe the spirit of cooperation and settle their dispute amicably. Monsurat Bolaji-Yusuf, the only female on the panel, said this allegation is becoming a recurring issue. I think you should realise that sentiments, playing to the gallery, blackmail or whatever from anybody will not help in the determination of this case. What will help is cooperating in the interest of this nation, she said. You dont want people outside to hear that you are being denied documents and the right to present your case. Therefore we do not want a display of an attempt to blackmail or an attempt of the other side to frustrate the case of anybody. This is a serious business and counsel on all sides should take it seriously. We do not want a repeat of this. APM REFUSES TO WITHDRAW PETITION The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) refused to discontinue its petition challenging the election of Bola Tinubu as Nigerias president. Earlier, Wole Olanipekun, counsel to Tinubu and Kashim Shettima, the vice-president, drew the courts attention to a judgment of the supreme court delivered on May 26. The apex court had dismissed a pre-election appeal filed by the PDP which claimed Shettima had a double nomination. However, at the resumed proceeding, Gideon Idiagbonya, APM counsel, said the party has analysed the judgment and still intends to continue with the petition. There was no objection from the respondents as the panel noted that everyone is at liberty to pursue their petition. The court fixed Wednesday for APM to call its sole witness. THREE PRESIDING OFFICERS TESTIFY AGAINST INEC Three witnesses who served as presiding officers (PO) for INEC during the February 25 polls told the tribunal that only the results of the presidential poll failed to upload to the IReV. The POs are Janet Turaki (Yobe), Christopher Ardo (Bauchi) and Victoria Sani (Katsina). They said the results of the senate and house of representatives polls were transmitted successfully but the presidential election results could not be transmitted. The POs said despite complying with the online and offline transmission methods as they were trained to do, the results failed to upload. The Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, have again accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of deliberately frustrating their case. Obi and LP are challenging the outcome of the election held on February 25 which produced Bola Tinubu as Nigerias president. At the court session on Monday, Jibrin Okutepa, counsel to petitioners, told the court that INEC is holding the legal team hostage by refusing to provide the documents requested for. Narrating the experience which he termed excruciating, Okutepa said: We are bringing this to your lordships notice because we have done everything humanly possible, including letter writing, and persuasion and it seems to us that we need to come before your lordships to come to our aid. This afternoon, we received a few copies of IREV reports for a few LGAs in Lagos state, including Agege, Mushin, Oshodi, Isolo, epe, Surulere, Eti-Osa and Alimosho, he continued. Each document was certified on May 29 but they decided to give it to us today. The same thing with Gombe. They just gave us the IREV report for just two LGAs. Those ones were also certified on May 29. We have consistently written letters, including the letter that I personally signed and delivered on May 20 to A.B Mahmoud (INEC lawyer), detailing all the documents we wanted. The senior lawyer said the letters were written to INEC, requesting documents to help prove their petition, noting that the letters were acknowledged by the commission. He said INEC also refused to accept service of the subpoenas issued to them It appears that INEC is deliberately frustrating us.We have nowhere to cry to except to your lordships, Okutepa said. He prayed the court to direct that a copy of the subpoena should be served on INEC through its lawyer. CLAIMS ARE UNFOUNDED SAYS INEC Responding, Abubakar Mahmoud, INEC counsel, described Okutepas allegations as unfounded. He said he only received one letter from Livy Uzoukwu, petitioners lead counsel, on May 15 which he said was promptly replied to on the same day. Aside from that, I have not received any other communication from the counsel, he said. Mahmoud said Okutekpa never approached him to talk about issues. There is absolutely no reason to deny LP any documents, the INEC lawyer said. There are procedures and costs which they are fully aware of. If counsel chooses not to follow them and then just comes here and blames INEC, I dont think that is correct. Im taken aback by this complaint. It is totally unfounded and if counsel has issued a subpoena, he should follow the process. He didnt consult me about the subpoena and he never brought any issue to me on any refusal to accept any subpoena. We are happy to help in any way we can. We are taken aback and I dont think we would continue to sit here and hear lamentations that are unfounded. However, Uzoukwu denied receiving any response to his letter. Im really shocked that my brother AB Mahmoud said he replied to my letter, he said. It is possible that he replied maybe the letter wasnt sent to me. I can say authoritatively, that I received no letter whatsoever. He prayed the court to make an order against INEC to comply with the subpoena and produce the documents they are requesting. COURT SPEAKS Addressing parties, Stephen Adah, one of the justices in the five-member panel, said the lawyers must imbibe the spirit of cooperation. When we started these proceedings, we talked about the spirit of cooperation so its amazing when we sit down here and hear these kinds of things, he said. If the cooperation is on the table why wont you just walk to your colleague and say we are having issues with your client and get it sorted out? But you people go bureaucratic and when things dont work, you come and make complaints here. Monsurat Bolaji-Yusuf, the only female on the panel, said: This allegation is becoming a recurring issue. I think you should realise that sentiments, playing to the gallery, blackmail or whatever from anybody will not help in the determination of this case. What will help is cooperating in the interest of this nation, she said. If truly, you are having problems accessing documents, approach your learned friends and let them know. I am sure Olanipekun, Mahmoud and other very senior counsels have the interest of this nation at heart and will not do anything that would distract the integrity and standing of this nation in the committee of nations. You dont want people outside to hear that you are being denied documents and the right to present your case. Therefore we do not want a display of an attempt to blackmail or an attempt of the other side to frustrate the case of anybody. This is a serious business and counsel on all sides should take it seriously. We do not want a repeat of this. The Oba of Idofin, Shedrack Durojaye Obibeni and his wife have been abducted by gunmen along Makutu-Idofin road in Yagba East local government area of Kogi State. A source explained that the incident happened on Monday evening around 5.30pm while he was in transit in the area. The Obas car, according to the source was flagged down at gunpoint by the hoodlums who whisked him and his wife away to an unknown destination. Mr. Tunde Ibrahim, the Director of Security of Okun Development Association (ODA), confirmed the incident on the associations platform. SP William Aya, the Kogi State Commands Police Public Relations Officer, who also confirmed the incident, assured that efforts were being intensified to ensure the immediate release of the monarch and his wife. According to him, Hakeem Adesina Yusuf, the state Commissioner of Police, had already deployed men of the command, in conjunction with other sister security operatives and local vigilantes with a view of tracking the hoodlums and rescuing the victims. The PPRO said, We are already on the trail of the abductors of the monarch and his wife. No cause for alarm. Men of the command, in synergy with other sister security operatives, hunters and vigilantes are on the track of the hoodlums. The immediate past governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, has debunked reports alleging that he was arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Reports had earlier emerged on social media that the former governor was taken into custody by the anti-graft agency in Makurdi on Monday. However, Ortom in a statement issued on Tuesday night by his media aide, Terver Akase, said he only honoured an invitation by the EFCC. According to the statement, Ortom was neither arrested nor detained at the EFCC Zonal Headquarters in Makurdi. The statement reads partly, Contrary to insinuations in some sections of the media, the immediate past Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom today visited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to honour the invitation of the commission. The former Governor has repeatedly said that he is available to respond to inquiries by anti-graft agencies as he has nothing to hide regarding his stewardship of Benue State. President Bola Tinubu departed Abuja on Tuesday morning to attend the summit for a new global financial pact in France. The two-day summit (June 22 and 23) seeks to explore opportunities to restore fiscal space to countries that face difficult short-term financial challenges. The visit to France is Tinubus first official trip abroad since he was sworn in as Nigerias president on May 29. The president was accompanied to the summit by members of the presidential policy advisory council and senior government officials. He is expected to return to the country on Saturday. The Nigeria Police Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, has called for the arrest of a popular skit maker known as Trinity Guy. The FPRO ordered the arrest after he ignored initial warnings to skit makers to regulate their pranks as they endanger Nigerian lives. Sharing an extreme prank video of Trinity Guy via his Instagram page on Monday, CSP Adejobi urged people who have been affected by the skit makers pranks to report them to the authorities. He said, This doesnt make any sense. I think the guy should have been arrested. Those individuals who feel the heat and fear of the pranks should be reporting the pranksters as many of their pranks are criminals, immoral, and evil. \Vice-President Kashim Shettima on Tuesday decorated Kayode Egbetokun with the rank of inspector-general of police (IGP). Egbetokun was decorated at the presidential villa. On Monday, President Bola Tinubu approved the immediate retirement of all security chiefs including former IGP Usman Baba. Egbetokun was born on September 4, 1964 in Erinja, Yewa South LGA of Ogun state. He started his journey into the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in 1990 as a cadet assistant superintendent of police and in 1999, he was appointed chief security officer to Tinubu, then governor of Lagos. He graduated from the University of Lagos with a bachelor of science degree in mathematics in June 1987 and lectured briefly at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, before his enlistment into the police. Here are photos of the ceremony. The federal government has granted approval to six companies for the importation of petroleum products. The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) had earlier said three oil marketers will start importing petroleum products in July. Briefing journalists after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu on Monday, Farouk Ahmed, the chief executive officer (CEO) of NMDPRA, said the number has increased to six. He said apart from the six firms, a number of companies have applied for permits. There are several companies that applied for fuel importation permit. So, you can apply for importation to get access to the port. And by the way, we are open to all those who are interested in importing, he said. We have guidelines which are not very stringent because we are trying to encourage importation. There are six companies who said they want to import fuel in July. Of course, all the others may import in December, in November, or anytime but those who expressed interest to bring in fuel in July there were six of them as of this morning. The beauty of it is that there are interests which means that they have been able to have access to foreign exchange in order to import. Now, as we go along, of course, well be briefing you on the progress or the achievements so far, but the important thing is that NNPC has 30 days fuel sufficiency, so we do not anticipate any gap in supply or in distribution. Ahmed also denied claims that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) had given approval to Dangote Group to import petroleum products, saying the company has no power to give such a directive. Ahmad Aliyu, governor of Sokoto, has paid an unscheduled visit to the specialist hospital in the state to ascertain the quality of service rendered. Abubakar Bawa, the governors spokesperson, said Aliyu rode a tricycle into the hospital premises at midnight and headed straight for the wards. He said the governors decision to visit the health facility unannounced followed series of complaints raised by residents of the state over poor service delivery. The spokesperson said other concerns that forced the governor to visit the hospital include dilapidated facilities, erratic power supply, dearth of manpower and lack of functional medical equipment. The unscheduled visit which lasted for over an hour, offered the governor an opportunity to see things for himself, he said. Patients in most of the wards visited by the governor, were found using torchlights because of absence of light in the hospital. Some of the nurses we met in the hospital were either sleeping in their stations or sitting outside the wards because of absence of light and the fear of mosquito bites. Some of them interviewed by the governor revealed that their wards had been without light for the past nine months. Speaking after the midnight inspection, the governor expressed dismay over the condition he met the hospital and the patients. This is unbelievable. I cant believe this, he was quoted as saying. How could a hospital operate without electricity? See how patients and their relatives are being subjected to all kinds of hazards. The statement said the governor directed the hospital management to see him for further discussion on how to remedy the situation. MWC Shanghai 2023 will be held at the end of this month, with executives from telecom operators and mainstream equipment manufacturers set to deliver keynote speeches sharing their insights into development, opportunities, and challenges in the mobile industry. The event is eagerly anticipated as it will serve as a platform to observe and share on how China has approached 5G technology evolution and fostered a technological ecosystem. Chinas Ministry of Industry and Information Technology first issued commercial 5G licenses to the countrys four major operators China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Broadnet on 6th June 2019. Across the next four years, China would go on to make remarkable strides in 5G development, with constantly improving infrastructure, increasingly impressive technological innovations, a steadily expanding industry ecosystem, growing development momentum, and thriving converged 5G applications. 5G now serves as a foundation for streamlining China's overall digital infrastructure and supporting the intelligent digital transformation of industries. As they implement commercial 5G, Chinese operators are accelerating their transition from an investment-driven approach to an innovation-driven approach, allowing them to achieve business success as they develop networks. This has allowed operators in the market to develop successful practices, contributing to the development of the global 5G industry. China's leadership in 5G adoption speed China leads the world in 5G network construction, with over 2.64 million 5G base stations as of end-March 2023. All prefecture-level cities and the urban areas of counties receive 5G coverage, and operators have constructed and are sharing over 1.5 million base stations, helping to ensure that 5G networks remain intensive, efficient, and green. From technical to business success Compared to the 3G and 4G eras, China has led the world in 5G development from the very start in terms of network construction and technology adoption, while its operators have successfully monetized their 5G networks. All three of Chinas major operators reported positive growth in terms of both B2C service revenue and average revenue per user (ARPU) in their 2022 financial reports, citing rapid 5G migration and growth in individual digital life consumptions. Factors behind the success of commercial 5G Success in the B2C market has acted as a solid foundation for the development of the 5G industry, but the technologys long-term benefit lies in its role as a conduit of business growth. Over the first three years of commercial 5G adoption, telecom service revenue increased by 0.8%, 3.6%, and 8%, respectively, year-on-year. In the first four months of this year, revenue continued to see rapid growth, increasing by 7.2% more than the same period last year. Network quality is the lifeblood of all operators Operators worldwide can learn from the successful practices of Chinese players. The first step is clearing spectrum resources and establishing utilization strategies. A combination of adequate spectrum resources, reasonable allocation methods, and continuous and efficient supply has laid a solid foundation for the sustainable and healthy development of 5G in China. China chose the Sub 6 GHz IF spectrum as the entry point of 5G, and has realized contiguous large bandwidth of over 100 MHz. This not only guarantees the network performance required for 5G commercialization in the current stage, but reduces the deployment cost of 5G networks. The second step is massive investment to achieve contiguous coverage. Chinas three major operators have constantly promoted the construction of high-quality 5G network infrastructure; as shown in the table above, since obtaining commercial 5G licenses in 2019, these operators have heavily invested in 5G, with the accumulative amount exceeding CNY700 billion (excluding CNY270 billion saved by China Unicom and China Telecom through co-construction and sharing). Supported by these huge investments, a high-bandwidth infrastructure network providing contiguous coverage was quickly built, greatly improving user experience, accelerating 5G user and traffic migration, paving the way for experience-based 5G monetization, and driving the rapid development of 5G application scenarios and the 5G industry ecosystem. Liu Liehong, Chairman of China Unicom, pointed out that China Unicom regards the construction and operation of ICT infrastructure as the top priority and has unswervingly increased investment into 5G development. The third step is technical planning to a high standard. At 5Gs inception, there was a lot of uncertainty over how the technology would evolve but Chinas three major operators were resolute in choosing 5G SA networking. By adopting this networking model, they avoided the cost of secondary network reconstruction and enabled 5G to support converged industry applications, thus overcoming the bottleneck for operators' continuous business growth and beginning a new trend for global 5G SA networking. Moreover, during 5G network construction, it is necessary to consider traditional 2G, 3G, and 4G networks with a view to redeveloping spectrum resources and achieving smooth evolution towards an integrated 5G network. Step four is defining clear industry standards and introducing key technologies promptly. During the early stages of 5G commercialization in China, the R15 standard was adopted on the network side, mainly for eMBB applications, which helped operators rapidly increase their dataflow of usage (DOU) and ARPU. With the deepening convergence of 5G applications, new service requirements are becoming increasingly diversified and complex, positioning 5.5G as the only path for future upgrades and evolution. Finally, operators must define their core 5G business models to accelerate development. For consumer markets, Chinese operators prioritize superior 5G user experience, improving network coverage capabilities and peak rates to support the experience of service. By offering continuous growth and new experiences, consumers are better disposed to paying extra for 5G. In business markets, Chinese operators regard secure production, cost reduction, and efficiency improvement as opportunities to make breakthroughs in rigid demand. Technologies such as QoS, DNN customization, and slicing are employed to allow industry customers to flexibly deploy virtual private 5G networks for different industries, thus maximizing the commercial value of 5G for businesses. In the 5G era, Chinese operators have achieved both technical and business success. Now, with the 5.5G era as the trend of our times, we are confident that Chinese operators will continue to find success in the 5G industry. Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), has released the breakdown of his partys election campaign expenses. In a statement on Tuesday by the Sowore Political Action Committee (SPAC), the AAC candidate tasked other presidential candidates to make their campaign funding sources and expenses public. In line with the best campaign practice and the spirit of accountability as we hold dear in the African Action Congress (AAC), the Sowore Political Action Committee (SPAC) has released the final breakdown of the 2023 presidential election campaign donations, sources of funding and expenditure, the statement reads. Recall that the committee gave monthly updates during the campaign and this is not the first time the committee will be releasing a breakdown such as this. In 2019, the AAC candidate also released a complete breakdown of campaign expenses, the first recorded in the history of electioneering campaign in Nigerias history. The Sowore presidential campaign organisation, then in a novel manner released detailed accounts of money received and spent, which was published on major dailies in the country. According to SPAC, over N40 million was generated by the AAC candidate for the campaign while N38 million naira was received as donations, and the candidate provided N1.8m from his personal funds. See photos of the break down below. President Bola Tinubu arrived in Paris, France on Tuesday evening, where he will be taking part in the Global Financing Summit convened by President Emmanuel Macron. It is Tinubus first official trip abroad since he was sworn in as president on May 29, 2023. Confirming his arrival in Paris, Tinubu said on his official Twitter handle; My team and I arrived in Paris, France where well be taking part in the Global Financing Pact Summit convened by President Emmanuel Macron The two-day summit, to be held at Palais Brongniart from June 22 to 23, will consider opportunities to restore fiscal space to countries that face difficult short-term financial challenges, especially the most indebted. The president is expected back in the country on Saturday, June 24. President Bola Tinubu says his administration will provide a better environment for investments to thrive. Tinubu spoke on Monday during a meeting with Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel Worldwide at the Aso Rock Villa. In a statement signed by Deleke Alake, Tinubus aide on special duties, communication and strategy, the president said the government is looking forward to the expansion of Airtels 5G network in the country. I have a connection with Airtel. We brought Econet to Nigeria when I was governor of Lagos state. I was a main promoter then because we needed to liberalise the telecom industry. The economy of Asia headed by India is very phenomenal because of reforms. We are ready to copy India, the president was quoted as saying. Digital economy is very crucial. We are not ashamed to copy any model that works. I congratulate Airtel for the growth of your business in Nigeria. We are looking forward to the growth and expansion of your 5G network in Nigeria. Airtel should continue to promote Nigeria. I assure you that your investment is very safe and will continue to grow. We are working to improve the business environment for all investors. While speaking, the Airtel chairman hailed the decision of the president to eliminate multiple foreign exchange (FX) rates. Mittal said the longstanding issue has been a challenge for foreign investors, adding that the decision would now unleash foreign investments in the country. I came here to make a request, but I have to say thank you first. We are grateful for what you have done with the removal of fuel subsidy and fixing the foreign exchange, he said. This will open a floodgate of foreign investments. You have taken these bold steps. It is important to stand firm. Airtel is a robust telecom company and we are ready to serve Nigeria. Phrank Shaibu, a media aide to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, says a thanksgiving service by Nyesom Wike, immediate past governor of Rivers state, is not acceptable to God until he repents. On Sunday, a service was held at the St. Peters Anglican Church in Obio-Akpor LGA of Rivers where Wike thanked God for escaping death twice during his time as governor of the state. During the service, the former governor said he was poisoned at the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and that he was hurriedly flown out of the country for medical treatment. In a statement on Monday, Shaibu said Wike should go for confession over how he badly governed Rivers state instead of thanking God. Governor Wike ought to be doing confessions rather than thanksgiving. Psalm 51:17 says God does not despise a broken spirit and a contrite heart, he said. His thanksgiving cannot be acceptable to God unless there is first repentance. The aide said Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo and ally of Wike, should concentrate on working for his people. Governor Makinde should, however, focus on delivering the dividends of democracy to the people of Oyo, he said. He is the only G5 member who currently holds political office. The other four are jobless spent forces who are running helter-skelter seeking appointment and protection from the EFCC. The Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku Abubakar, the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Phrank Shaibu, has advised former Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State to reduce his consumption of alcohol following a revelation that his liver and kidneys failed due to poisoning. During a Thanksgiving on Sunday, Wike said his liver and kidney failed after he was poisoned at PDPs Secretariat in 2018 However, Shaibu said Wike had always been open about his love for alcohol, especially whiskey, which he has even admitted to drinking in the early hours of the day. He said that given the rate of Wikes drinking, he likely had alcohol poisoning and not food poisoning. Governor Wike has always been open about his intense and indubitable love for whiskey. He even said back in March that he was sipping a 40-year-old whiskey with his friends while watching Atiku and others protesting on TV at 11 am. Governor Wike has also been seen drinking and dancing in videos, including one he did with former Governor Rochas Okorocha. If Wike was indeed poisoned and his organs failed, he ought to be a teetotaller by now and reduce his drinking. I am not a medical doctor, but it is general knowledge that excessive alcohol consumption leads to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, digestive problems; and cancer of the breast, mouth, throat, oesophagus, voice box, liver, colon and rectum, he said. Other ailments associated with excessive drinking include: weakening of the immune system, increasing the chances of getting sick; learning and memory problems, including dementia and poor sexual performance. Wike should look inwards. Let us assume that he was poisoned by food. Was his hoarse and husky voice also caused by food poisoning? A 61-year-old New Jersey man was killed in a motorcycle crash Sunday night on White Horse Pike in Atlantic City, authorities said. Pearl Matthews was riding east near mile marker 54 when he veered off the road and struck a pole at about 8:40 p.m, Atlantic City police said. Matthews, of Pleasantville, was thrown from his bike and pronounced dead at the scene east of Delilah Road. No other vehicles were involved. A 29-year-old man from Ohio is awaiting extradition to New Jersey for allegedly sexually assaulting two minors multiple times while in the state, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Eduardo Camacho, of Cleveland, Ohio, was arrested Monday after the Cliffside Park Police Department contacted the Bergen County Prosecutors Office Special Victims Unit about the alleged sexual assaults, officials said. An investigation revealed Camacho sexually assaulted two children, one under the age of 13 and one between 13 and 16 years old, on multiple occasions in Cliffside Park, the prosecutor said. He was apprehended in Ohio and charged with six counts of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, the prosecutor said. Camacho is being held in Cuyahoga County Jail in Ohio pending his extradition to Bergen County, officials said. No attorney information for Camacho was immediately available. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com. Teachers looking for jobs in New Jersey for the upcoming school year have a new way to streamline their searches. The Education Employment Opportunities in New Jersey website was launched in September by the state Department of Education as one way to help address the growing teacher shortage, said department spokesperson Laura Fredrick. As schools try to fill jobs for the 2023-2024 school year, the website is a potential tool for both teachers and districts grappling with vacancies due to retirements and resignations that escalated during the COVID-19 pandemic. A 4-year-old girl who wandered into the lake in Branch Brook Park in Newark on Monday evening was rescued by her mother and a sheriffs officer, officials said. The girls condition is promising, though assessments on her are expected to take two to three days, the Essex County Sheriffs Office said Tuesday. The girl and her siblings were at a playground with their mother at about 6:30 p.m. Monday when the woman noticed her 4-year-old was missing, officials said. The mom quickly notified a sheriffs officer who was nearby. The mother then saw the her daughter submerged in the lake after first noticing the girls scooter in the road by the boathouse, officials said. She and the sheriffs officer jumped into the lake to pull the girl out before the officer performed CPR on the child, authorities said. The sheriffs officers then rushed the child to nearby University Hospital. I commend our officers for the quick actions taken at the scene, the outcome of this situation could have been dire, Essex County Sheriff Armando B. Fontoura said. The actions taken by our officers directly (contributed) to the childs current promising condition. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family for a swift and full recovery. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Mickey McCabe took a used van from Brooklyn in 1973 and turned it into a booming ambulance business, serving Bayonne for 50 years. But more than a success in business, McCabe was a hero whose life was cut short because of a selfless act working the pile at the World Trade Center site in the days after the 2001 terrorist attacked reduced the Twin Towers to smoldering piles of toxic rubble. McCabe, a husband, father and grandfather, died Monday at the age of 76. Mickey gave his life to this work, and this work took his life, Michael Bascom, state leader/chairman of the New Jersey Emergency Medical Services Task Force, said in a social media tribute. The Bayonne native suffered from interstitial lung disease with pulmonary fibrosis due to the dust he inhaled at the World Trade Center and in 2016 he underwent double-lung replacement. My lungs were being eaten up by the debris that I inhaled at the site, McCabe told The Jersey Journal in 2021 of the diagnosis. He was on the way to Trenton for a meeting on Sept. 11, 2001, when he was told a plane had hit the World Trade Center. So he turned around and headed to New York. The second plane struck the south tower just before he entered the Holland Tunnel; by the time he reached Manhattan, the tower was on fire. I was fortunate to get out of 9/11, McCabe said in the 2021 interview. I should have died that day. Because everybody I was with died that day. So any time I got after that its like bargain time. McCabes legacy also included co-founding the New Jersey Emergency Medical Services Task Force as a result of the 9/11 attacks. Today we lost a legend not only here in Bayonne, but in the state of New Jersey, James Newby Jr. said in a Facebook tribute, ... He has touched a lot of lives and left an everlasting impact on our community, county and state. He was a legend and advocate in the EMS field. The lessons Mickey taught us all, and the impact he made in our community and in the EMS field, will be felt and passed on for generations to come. Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis called McCabe an absolute icon. ... Im having a hard time envisioning our city without this pillar. Davis, a retired police captain, said he first met McCabe in 1986, when he joined the force and McCabe gave him for a bulletproof vest. When you became a police officer, thats when you first met Mickey because he handed you your bulletproof vest, the mayor said. He used to run a bulletproof vest fund for the Bayonne Police Department. He would raise money every year and he would purchase the vests for the police officers. Each vest was only good for five years, so you would get notified by Mickeys people that you had to come in and get refitted for a new vest. When the city took over paying for bulletproof vests, McCabe raised money to put a defibrillator in every police vehicle and also in the schools, Davis said. McCabe Ambulance have always been quick to assist as well. McCabe crews have responded to every major event in the area over the last several decades, including both World Trade Center attacks, Secaucus and Hoboken train derailments and U.S. Airways Flight 1549. McCabe also served as chairman of the 200 Club of Hudson County, which honors police officers, firefighters and EMTs annually at its Valor Awards ceremony. The city of Bayonne and the state of New Jersey lost a true legend in Mickey McCabe, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez said in a statement. Few people could match the grit and fight that Mickey had always advancing the cause of emergency response and preparedness and ensuring that those who answer the call have the support and resources they need. From establishing the McCabe Ambulance Corp. to co-founding the New Jersey Emergency Medical Services Task Force after 9/11 to leading the 200 Club of Hudson County, Mickey always put others first and gave selflessly to his community. Bayonne and the entire State of New Jersey are immensely better due to his work and advocacy and we are forever grateful for his service. McCabe sold the family business in 1997 and repurchased it in 1999. The business now answers more than 25,000 calls per year, including 9-1-1 for Bayonne, backup 9-1-1 for Hoboken, 9-1-1 call screening for both municipalities, mutual aid for neighboring communities in Hudson County, and emergency response to the New Jersey Turnpike and Bayonne Bridge, according to the company website. McCabes legacy includes the multitudes of emergency medical technicians he trained and took under his wing. A great man was sent home to be with God, but his imprint on this earth will live on forever, Mark Mathew said in a Facebook post. Mickey is an inspiration to us all and literally played a major role in a lot of our lives. ... Every EMT that walked through the McCabe doors, myself included, with little to no experience, was given an opportunity to represent his family name. Davis noted that despite the serious nature of the EMS and medical field, McCabe had a great wit. He was just such a unique person, the mayor said. He had a great sense of humor. He was funny, he was always in a good mood. He had a bundle of energy no matter where he was. He was a great emcee if you were having an event. He could make everyone laugh, make everyone comfortable. According to Bayonne Memorial Home, the services have been scheduled: Visitation Wednesday and Thursday 2-4 p.m and 7-9 p.m. at Bayonne Memorial Home, 854 Avenue C. Funeral Mass is scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m., at St. Vincent de Paul Church, 979 Avenue C, Bayonne. For tenants in many cities across the country, the balance of power in fighting eviction can often be stacked against them. On average nationwide, only 3% of tenants are represented by attorneys in such cases, versus a whopping 82% of landlords who had representation on hand, according to the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel (NCCRC). But the tide is starting to turn with a number of places implementing right-to-counsel programs that offer tenants free legal representation. Studies have shown that such programs are able to keep numerous tenants in their homes. Heres what tenants in Jersey City, which passed its own right-to-counsel ordinance, should know about how the new program will work and what to expect in court proceedings. How the program will run The citys right-to-counsel program will be headed by a director who is an attorney and be staffed by in-house or contracted attorneys. Translators will also be available. The program will begin next year, says Councilman James Solomon, one of the sponsors of the legislation that established it. It will be fully funded by 2026 and Solomon estimates that it will serve 1,500 clients a year with 12 attorneys on hand. When (the program begins), we will obviously have notices (and) a lot of public relations to make sure that everybody across the city is aware that the program is up and running and (available) for help, Solomon said. The director of the program is required to create a document of tenants rights and list of resources by 2025, which must be distributed by landlords to tenants when theres a new lease, a rent demand or a notice of eviction. The tenants rights document must also be distributed to any tenants in the Jersey City Housing Authority (JCHA) or an affordable housing provider if a notice of termination or subsidy is issued. When right-to-counsel begins, it will only serve those that are 80% or below the current area median income (AMI). If more funding were to become available, those above 80% AMI could become eligible, officials said. The $4 million budget will be funded by fees on new development. It speaks to the most vulnerable tenants, said Isaac Jimenez, the coalition coordinator of the Right to Counsel campaign formed by the North Jersey Democrat Socialists of America. Fixed income, seniors, folks in Section 8. How the court process will work Tenants can request free counsel if they are brought to court over an eviction notice for non-payment of rent. Other eligible proceedings including a termination of tenancy by the JCHA, notices of violations of local and state housing laws, and notices of violations of the citys rent control laws. Typically, when an eviction case starts, the parties are first brought into whats called a case management conference, according to Lissette Diaz, the legal director of the Waterfront Project, a nonprofit that currently provides free legal services to tenants. In a conference, which usually takes place a few months after the eviction notice, the landlord submits paperwork, and sometimes a potential settlement is sought. Most of the time however, cases go to trial within three to four weeks of the conference, Diaz said. When tenants dont have an attorney present, sometimes the court appearances last only 90 seconds, Jimenez said. But tenants with attorneys change the power dynamic. What it does is provide a way for the law to be interpreted correctly, fairly, and equitably for everyone involved, said Diaz. More often than not, having two attorneys in the case on both end really results in better outcomes for everybody. Diaz says that tenants usually dont know the laws or their rights, and either enter settlement agreements that they dont have to enter into, or are unaware of unfair claims, such as a case when a landlord lied to a judge about not receiving a tenants rental assistance. When we got involved in (that) case after that initial court proceeding, we were able to save the tenancy, she said. But had we not gotten involved, nobody would have known, because the landlord lied, and the tenant didnt know what the law was. Such cases also dont need to go to trial. Attorneys in right-to-counsel programs are permitted to handle mediation and resolutions between both parties. Negotiations between tenants and landlords can often leave both parties satisfied, Diaz said. Right-to-counsel advocates also note that tenants wont get away without rent, but instead the program ensures that landlords arent doing anything illegal or unfair when attempting to evict tenants. Dont just assume that because you received the notice, you have to leave, said Solomon. Lots of times, landlords take advantage of tenants lack of knowledge of their rights. The core part of this were changing the law, were just guaranteeing a level playing field, so tenants know their rights. With no fanfare, Jersey City has named an acting police chief, the citys first police chief since Mike Kelly retired in early 2021. Deputy Chief Robert J. Kearns assumed the role on May 31, city officials confirmed. Since Kelly retired Feb. 1, 2021, the police department has been under the guidance of Police Director Tawana Moody, under the supervision of Department of Public Safety Director Jim Shea. Kearns, who has served five terms as elected president of the Police Superior Officers Association, is a 35-year veteran of the department. He is a lifelong Jersey City resident and last commanded the Office of Public Integrity (Internal Affairs/Body Cameras/Use of Force) and meets the utmost qualification for this new capacity, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop said. Asked why the city did not announced the appointment, Fulop said that consistent with past practices in the police department, acting chiefs have not been announced with major ceremonies in comparison to permanent appointments of such. Official media notice of a permanent appointment will be made at the appropriate time. In the Department of Public Safety budget hearing before the city council earlier this month, Shea said the acting chief was appointed because not having a chief does cause us some difficulties dealing with prosecutorial units, with outside units, not having a chief, because of the (Attorney General) guidelines in the state of New Jersey. We are perfectly comfortable dealing without a chief and just handling those issues. But we decided, based on the performance of the department and our supervisors that we would dip our toe back in. City officials did not divulge any issues related to the department, but Shea said at the budget hearing that city officials will see if those old issues we didnt like, raise their ugly head again, or if we continue progressing in the area we want, of a progressive police department, community oriented, et cetera, et cetera. So we chose Deputy Chief Kearns ... and we are going to see how it goes. Hes in an acting capacity because if those issues that caused us to not have a chief begin to tick back up, then we can say we tried and it didnt work and return to the way we were doing it. Kelly was promoted to chief in 2018 after Phil Zacche retired amid a probe of no-show/low-show police off-duty details. Zacche pleaded guilty and sentenced to two years probation. This story was produced in collaboration with CivicStory as part of the New Jersey Sustainability Reporting project. Caitlin Donovan lives for her walks along Ocean Avenue in Belmar and the unobstructed views of the ocean tides. But, the Jersey Shore resident said shes afraid that scenic view will change if Verizon is allowed to proceed with its plan to install 20 cell towers along Belmars beachfront street. Were at the beach almost every single day, said Donovan, a mother of three. So, Im well aware of how dramatically putting up an enormous tower on every single beach entrance will change the entire character of the beach. Donovan and other Belmar residents are asking Verizon to abandon its plans to install 5G cell towers on Ocean Avenue in a Change.org petition that has amassed more than 2,500 signatures. The 20 small cell towers which Verizon says will help bring faster cell and internet service to the area would resemble street light poles along the avenue in front of the beach, the telecom company said. A rendering presented by Verizon showing one of the small silver cell towers with an attached street light that would be built along Ocean Avenue in Belmar. The towers are taller than the black street lights that currently line the boardwalk. But, critics say the project would obstruct views, harm wildlife and hurt property values in the 5,900-resident Monmouth County borough known for its boardwalk and beach. Verizons plans are excessive, disruptive and disrespectful to our community and our treasured natural resources, the petition says. We ask Verizon to stop all plans and to work with the community to find a solution that does not involve placing ugly towers on our beach. In a statement, Verizon defended the project and said the cell tower locations have been extensively vetted and approved by township. The debate over cell towers in Belmar goes back several years. In January 2021, Verizon filed an application with Belmar to obtain permits and approvals to begin a cell tower project. When Belmar failed to respond within the mandatory 90 day window, Verizon filed a complaint in federal court against the borough for missing the deadline. The two parties settled the case last summer. In November, the township council signed a resolution stating the settlement agreement with Verizon assures Belmar and its residents that the proposed 5G cellular antennas will be properly located and aesthetically pleasing. The 5G cellular antennas proposed by Verizon are considered small cell towers with a maximum height of 40 feet, according to the settlement agreement and attached renderings. Verizon will custom design the poles and affix streetlights to them, under the terms of the agreement. The poles will have electrical outlets for holiday lights and decorations on the towers. Electricity, maintenance and repair of the street lights will be the responsibility of the borough, according to the deal. In exchange for access to the towers and public right-of-way, Verizon will pay Belmar $108,000 the equivalent of $270 each for 20 cell towers per year for 20 years. Verizon will also pay the borough another $5,000 to cover a professional review of the project. The money is in addition to another $5,000 Verizon previously paid the borough, the settlement states. However, Verizon will deduct the cost of all permits, approvals, professional escrow and any other fees required from anything it pays to Belmar. The new cell towers would be close to Belmar's boardwalk.Jim Lowney | For NJ Advance Media The new cell towers will benefit the area, Verizon officials said. Verizon balances a number of factors in choosing small cell locations, and the final design and placement maximize technical and community needs, the company said in a statement. Verizons deployment of new small cells in Belmar provides customers and emergency service providers in our community with enhanced and more reliable wireless voice and data services to meet not only todays needs, but also those of the future, the statement said. However, some Belmar residents are questioning the placement of the cell towers and the settlement agreement the borough entered into to settle Verizons lawsuit. Donovan, who is running for the borough council on a platform against overdevelopment, is part of Belmar Against 5G Towers. The citizens group launched a website, distributed lawn signs and held local meetings to protest the cell tower project. Lets stop these towers through community engagement and direct action, the groups website says. The average cell tower is usually located outdoors on elevated surfaces and stand between 50 and 200 feet high, according to the Federal Communications Commission. There are currently more than 160,000 registered communication towers taller than 200 feet across the country, according to U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. However, the 5G cell towers proposed in Belmar do not need to be that tall and will only be slightly taller than other street lights in the area, according to Verizons renderings. Verizon said it is building thousands of additional 5G nodes, or small cell towers, as it expands its network. Because the towers use less electricity, they can be built smaller than traditional cell towers. A spokesman for Verizon said the company has small cell towers similar to the ones planned for Belmar throughout the state. Weve deployed our 5G Ultra Wideband service from Sandy Hook down to Cape May. Our focus is on providing our customers with the best, most reliable wireless service wherever they are, said spokesman Andrew Testa. Some residents say they are also worried about possible exposure to radiation from the cell towers, citing concerns raised over the years about exposure to the low levels of radio frequency electromagnetic fields from cell towers and cell phones. The Belmar Against 5G Towers website states, we dont know if 5G radiation is safe. However, scientists and public health organizations say there is no evidence establishing a link between wireless technology, including 5G, and cancer or other illnesses. No adverse health effect has been causally linked with exposure to wireless technologies, according to the World Health Organization. The Federal Communications Commissions has also previously said the possibility that a member of the general public could be exposed to excess radio frequency levels from wireless technology is extremely remote. Belmar residents have also questioned how the 20 cell towers will impact local wildlife. Nearly 7 million birds die due to night-time collisions with communication towers each year, according to the U.S Fish and Wildlife Services. Most of the birds that collide with towers are night migrating songbirds on their journeys to and from warmer climates for the winter, experts say. The National Audubon Society recommends equipping communications towers with flashing lights to make them more visible to birds. Verizon did not respond when asked if it would be equipping the cell towers in Belmar with flashing lights. Belmar is a known nesting site for several endangered bird species, including the American oystercatcher and the piping plover, according to the state Division of Fish and Wildlifes Endangered and Nongame Species Program. Its unclear exactly when Verizon plans to start installing the cell towers. During a May 23 council meeting, Belmar Mayor Gerald Buccafusco said Verizon still needs to obtain permission from Monmouth County for the project because the proposed cell towers would be located in the countys rights-of-way. That gives us time to regroup and strategize how to move forward, Buccafusco said. At the same meeting, the mayor also said Belmar retained an attorney specializing in telecommunications. At the attorneys direction, the town started to revamp its ordinances that cover small cell wireless facilities. The town plans to add a new ordinance that would give Belmar more protection when dealing with telecommunications companies, Buccafusco said. Buccafusco, who was elected last November, has voiced his opposition to the cell tower project deal his administration inherited from the previous mayor and council. He would be happy if Verizon took its 20 cell towers to another area. The bottom line is we dont really want them and were hoping that theyll just move on to another municipality, Buccafusco told NJ Advance Media. Belmar joins several other New Jersey municipalities fighting cell towers. After consistent pressure from residents upset about cell phone towers planned for the roof of a commercial building, the city council in Ocean City in Cape May County approved a resolution in April limiting the placement of future communication towers. However, a similar ordinance approved last year limiting the location of wireless utilities in Westfield in Union County is being challenged in state court by PSE&G. The case is still pending. This story was produced in collaboration with CivicStory as part of the New Jersey Sustainability Reporting project. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Researcher Vinessa Erminio contributed to this report. Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com. Three men were convicted of various charges Tuesday in a trial showcasing U.S. claims that China has engineered pressure campaigns on American soil to bully expatriates into returning home, part of an effort called Operation Fox Hunt. American private investigator Michael McMahon and two Chinese citizens living in the U.S. Zheng Congying and Zhu Yong all were accused of taking part in scare tactics aimed at a former Chinese official. Officials said the target of the alleged tactics was living quietly in New Jersey, and Beijing wanted him back. Zhu was convicted of acting as an illegal foreign agent, stalking, interstate stalking conspiracy, and conspiring to act as an illegal foreign agent. Zheng was convicted of stalking and stalking conspiracy but acquitted of the other charges. McMahon was convicted of all except conspiracy to act as a foreign agent. The Brooklyn federal court trial was the first to result from a spate of U.S. prosecutions scrutinizing Chinas Operation Fox Hunt, a nearly decade-old initiative that Beijing characterizes as a pursuit of fugitives from justice. U.S. authorities view it, at least sometimes, as an exercise in transnational repression, or deploying government operatives to harass, threaten and silence critics living abroad. China has denied trying to force repatriations through intimidation and says the U.S. is maligning an effort to fight crime. Prosecutors say pressure from Beijing was brought to bear in suburban New Jersey, where former Wuhan city official Xu Jin and his family moved in 2010. China has accused him and wife Liu Fang of taking bribes; they deny it and say they were targeted because he got crosswise with Chinas Communist power structure. According to prosecutors, Zhu, Zheng and McMahon took part in a yearslong, multipronged effort to goad Xu into going back to China. The country couldnt officially compel him to do so, as it has has no extradition treaty with the U.S. Zheng Congying leaves federal court, May 31, 2023, in Brooklyn, New York. Zheng was one of three men accused of participating in an escalating series of scare tactics aimed at repatriating a former Chinese official who was living quietly in New Jersey. (AP Photo | Mary Altaffer, File)AP The defense acknowledged that Zhu, Zheng and McMahon took various actions but said the three had no idea that Beijing was allegedly behind it all. McMahon said he was devastated by the verdict, insisting that all he had done was his job as a private investigator. If I had known for one second that they were a foreign country, a foreign government, hiring me, I would never have worked the case. I would have notified the FBI, McMahon said. His lawyer, Lawrence Lustberg, said he would challenge the conviction and was confident that this injustice will not survive the scrutiny that the legal system will give it. Zheng and Zhu left court without speaking to reporters. Messages seeking comment were sent to their attorneys. McMahon, a former New York City police sergeant, conducted surveillance and data searches to smoke out Xus carefully guarded address and information about his loved ones. Zhu, a retiree who also goes by Jason Zhu and Yong Zhu, helped hire McMahon and equip him with details to get started. Zheng later went to Xus home and left an ominous note: If you are willing to go back to the mainland and spend 10 years in prison, your wife and children will be all right. Thats the end of this matter! Before I saw this, I felt that the threats from the Chinese Communist Party was only a mental threat to me. However, when I saw that note, I realized that it had become a physical threat, Xu testified, through a court interpreter. The defense said McMahon, Zheng and Zhu were told they were helping to collect a debt or achieve some other end for a company or individuals not for China. They were used, cheated, misguided by a foreign government to work for them, Zhus attorney, Kevin Tung, said in a closing argument. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Heeren said the three agreed to participate in something that went way, way over the line ... a line that all three defendants knew they were crossing. The trial unfolded at a fraught time in U.S.-China relations. The two powers have been at odds in recent years over a growing list of issues: trade, industrial espionage, human rights, Taiwan, the South China Sea, Russias war against Ukraine, U.S. allegations of Chinese spying, and Washingtons claims that Beijing is tracking and harassing dissidents overseas. The two nations said they made some progress toward improving relations in recent days, when U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and top diplomats. But it remains unclear whether the countries will be able to bridge their biggest divides, and Blinken said he left empty-handed on a key request: better military-to-military communication. China announced Operation Fox Hunt in July 2014 as an effort to go after corrupt officials and criminals who had fled the country. However, Beijings wanted list has included people whose political and cultural views conflicted with those of Chinas ruling Communist Party. U.S. prosecutors have brought several criminal cases involving alleged Operation Fox Hunt endeavors. In one, a pregnant U.S. citizen was held in China for eight months and pressured to persuade her mother to return to the country, prosecutors said. Zheng, McMahon and Zhu were charged alongside eight other people also accused of harassing Xu, the former Wuhan official. Three have pleaded guilty; five are believed to be in China. Prosecutors said the arm-twisting included derogatory Facebook messages to friends of Xus adult daughter and an onslaught of letters to a relative in New Jersey. At one point, a Chinese prosecutor even flew Xus unwilling, octogenarian father to New Jersey to lean on his son to return to their homeland, according to prosecutors and trial testimony. Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. A 34-year-old Louisiana man en route to the Jersey Shore to sexually assault a 14-year-old child for a second time was arrested Friday at Newark Liberty International Airport, authorities said. Spencer Caudle traveled to the Toms River area on May 27, had sexual contact with the teen and was planning another encounter when he was taken into custody, the Ocean County Prosecutors Office said. Caudle, of Prairieville, had been communicating with the victim through the Whisper messenger application, prosecutors said. A Juneteenth celebration in the City of Elizabeth began with clear intentions at Veterans Waterfront Memorial Park. Prayers of commemoration and a historical statement by Rev. George Britt of Mount Teman African Methodist Episcopal Church set the tone. We must utilize this as an opportunity to do an assessment and also develop a plan of action that we might truly live as free beings and to help other people achieve freedom in all areas of life, Britt said. And with a clear purpose the group that gathered for the offering threw the wreath of white flowers into the Arthur Kill saltwater channel. This ceremony paid tribute to those whether by choice or illness who did not survive the journey from Africa to America. Hosted by the Juneteenth Collective 1865, a coalition of organizations and people in and around Elizabeth, and the 313+ Ancestors Speak Project, the City of Elizabeths Juneteenth Parade and Celebration on Sunday, June 18, 2023, was attended by hundreds of people from across the state.Ande Richards |NJ Advance Media for NJ.com This Juneteenth marks the third year the US has observed the holiday since President Biden gave it federal status in 2021. The date commemorates the fall of slavery in Galveston, Texas, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863 by President Lincoln to free enslaved Black people held in the Confederacy. 25 1 / 25 Juneteenth Celebration in Elizabeth The Elizabeth Parade featured marching bands and community organizations. DJs spun tunes while passengers danced and waved flags as they rode on floats sponsored by local business owners, civic groups and sororities. Crystal Orr is the new president/CEO of the Urban League of Union County Inc. and was at the nexus of the event planning. This was important for me, she said. In part because theres Juneteenth and the history of the holiday but also because my mom, Georgia Jones Orr, was one of the co-founders of the first African American Heritage Day Parade in Elizabeth in 2000. So, Ive been a part of this literally, since I was a kid. She says a few years ago the city combined the Heritage Parade with the Juneteenth celebrations, so now they have one big event in June which she helped to produce. Crystal Orr delivers welcoming remarks during a wreath ceremony to kick off a Juneteenth Celebration in Elizabeth on Sunday, June 18, 2023.Julian Leshay | For NJ Advance Media So now, to be able to have a full circle moment as an adult, to have the opportunity to lead this prestigious and historic celebration, is truly an honor, said Orr, who turned 33 on the day of her big event. The parade ended at Siloam-Hope First Presbyterian Church, where the 313+ Monument unveiling took place. Rev. Dr. Wanda Lundy is the pastor at Siloam-Hope First Presbyterian Church, formerly the First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethtown. She remembers looking around in a small museum attached to the church called Snyder Academy. Snyder Academy, by the way, is where Alexander Hamilton went to school when he first came to America from the West Indies, and Aaron Burr also attended, Lundy said. [The museum] has a few artifacts, and there was this picture up on the wall. It had a little Black boy in Revolutionary garb, within a group of some other children and adults. And I said, Well, I finally see a Black person. Lundy said she always looks for someone who looks like her when he goes into a space. Rev. Lundy, left, who spearheads the 313+ Ancestors Speak Project talks with community members at the monument dedication and unveiling in Elizabeth on June 18, 2023.Ande Richards |NJ Advance Media for NJ.com A woman was sitting there, and she said, Oh, yeah, you know, there are 313 slaves buried in the cemetery. And I said, Are you serious? It took my breath away. The church which had its origin in 1664 had numerous congregations with various names over the years. However, it turns out the church kept impeccable burial records denoting who was buried in the cemetery, when they were born, when they died, and what they died from. Early records burned in fires. The book that survived was dated from 1766 to 1914. A pastor who was there before Rev. Lundy had begun a historical investigation into who exactly was buried in the church cemetery. So, from a list that was originally given to me that had 313 of the ancestors on it, thats why I started calling the project that 313 Ancestors Speak Project, she said. Right then, I found out about the additional research, but rather than change the name, I started calling it the 313+. After that discovery, Rev. Lundy said she could hear the ancestors asking to be called by their names. She set out to do just that and found that she had a community who were ready, willing and able to assist her in venerating the dead in those unmarked graves behind the church. Dont miss an issue of our Opinion newsletter! Get it delivered each Wednesday right into your inbox by adding your email below and hitting "subscribe." I guess its three years ago now, in December. My husband and I were visiting the cemetery where Siloam-Hope First Presbyterian Church is, said Nancy Benz who has several ancestors buried there. My fifth great-grandfather was Stephen Crane, who was one of the founders of Elizabeth, she said. Im a descendant of the Crane family after whom Cranford, where I live now, is named. She says some women came out of the church and approached her and her husband and asked them who they were. One of them was Rev. Lundy who helped them to find her ancestors grave. Benz and Lundy had a nice visit and about a month later Lundy called Benz and told her about the 313+ Ancestors Speak Project and asked if she would like to serve on the board. Benz said yes. Giacomo Sacca is the police chief in Elizabeth. He says the Police Benevolent Association, which is the police union, has a civic organization, and they run fundraisers year-round, with the sole goal of helping people and they donate to various projects. Ande Richards |NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Giacomo Sacca is the chief of police in Elizabeth. He says In March 2020, he was conducting a tour of the city with Earl J. Graves who was coming aboard as a new police director. I was showing him around, he said. I was telling him about the rich history, and thats when we met Rev. Lundy and she said, You know, we have a mass grave with 313 people in it. So I said, What do you mean? She says, Well, because they were slaves, nobody ever marked their graves. Sacca said he and Graves looked at each other and realized that this was a tremendous social injustice. Those people that are buried there, they are people who fought in the Revolutionary War, whether they were sworn Continental soldiers or not, he said. Their owners were most likely Elizabeth militiamen. So, these people were the people that carried their stuff and were sent to battle for them. These are the people that were promised their freedom if we won the war. At that moment Sacca said they decided they were going to help the church. So, we pooled our resources; we had fundraisers for them, he said. We had a gala, we sold bricks, and I put the project together. I got a contractor that would come in and the police department and volunteers dug the foundation by hand. Sacca says the person who paid for the final paving job is Rabbi Joel Friedman, a Hasidic Jewish businessman down the street from the church. He has nothing to do with either the police or the Presbyterian community thats there, Sacca said. But I knew he owned the building close by and I called him up and said, Hey, I have this project. He came down, looked at the site a couple of times and said Get your contractor and finish it up. And Ill see you Sunday. Stanley Neron is the director of Recreation and a board member of the Elizabeth Board of Education. Hes affiliated with the Historic Society and is aware of most things going on in the city. In 2019 Neron started talking with Rev. Lundy about applying for grants on behalf of the project. And about two years ago, we applied for a grant with the Union County Open Space, Recreation and Historic Preservation Trust Fund with the county and we got it, he said. And once we got that grant, we knew that we were well on our way to completing this project. The 313+ Ancestors Speak Project monument, prior to the unveiling, stands in the cemetery of Siloam-Hope First Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth on Sunday, June 18, 2023. The monument honors over 313 unmarked graves found in the cemetery.Julian Leshay | For NJ Advance Media Neron says the monument to the ancestors is just phase one. Phase two of the project will also include a museum at the actual location that will explain the history of the 313+ people buried there. There is also a documentary in the works. I think this has really brought the community together, he said. This monument is a symbol of unity. And its not just about people of African descent, but people of all races and cultures here in this city who recognize the ancestors whose backs we stand on. And Juneteenth is an American holiday celebrating freedom, and a significant time in our country and in our community. Ande Richards wants to hear from New Jerseys communities of color, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ communities, and those who feel underserved by traditional media. She may be reached at arichards@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anderichards. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Heres how to submit an op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. State lawmakers sent Gov. Phil Murphy a bill Tuesday that would protect the right for people of different races to marry under state law in New Jersey, a move sparked by the U.S. Supreme Courts decision last year to overturn the nearly 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion under Roe v. Wade. Democratic lawmakers in the state Legislature introduced the measure (A4939) to protect interracial marriage after the nations highest court a year ago in the Dobbs decision determined the right to an abortion was not guaranteed under the 14th Amendment, which says no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the court should revisit other legal precedents that were wrongly decided on similar grounds, such as the decisions upholding same-sex marriage and access to contraceptives. Although Thomas did not specifically say the 1967 Loving v. Virginia decision protecting interracial marriage should be reconsidered, the public should take no chances, state lawmakers said. Get politics news like this right to your inbox with the N.J. Politics newsletter. Add your email below and hit "subscribe" The Dobbs Decision not only gutted Roe v. Wade, but also opened the door for the court to reconsider various other decisions recognizing fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution, state Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, the prime sponsor of the bill, which passed the Senate by a 37-0 vote Tuesday. While it should not be a question that interracial marriage is a fundamental right, this legislation will safeguard our residents, should the US Supreme Court strike down Loving v. Virginia, Ruiz said. This bill reaffirms our strongly-rooted belief that love is love and people have a right to marry who they want, regardless of their race. The state Assembly passed the same bill by a 78-0 vote in February. Murphy would need to sign it to make it the law. The United States Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has opened the door to further erosion of rights such as marriage equality, access to contraception, and yes, interracial marriage. The threat may seem theoretical but the concern is very real, said Assemblyman John McKeon, D-Essex, the other prime sponsor. Given the risk that other federally protected personal decisions could be returned to individual states for determination, including the right of persons of different racial or ethnic backgrounds to marry, it is necessary to protect interracial marriage in New Jersey statutory law. Murphy signed a bill into law early last year that preserved the legal right for women and girls to obtain an abortion in New Jersey. The Democratic governor also signed a bill that codified marriage equality for same-sex couples. New Jersey was among only nine states, as well as the District of Columbia, that never enacted anti interracial marriage laws. The other states are Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alaska, and Hawaii. NJ Advance Media staff writer Matt Arco contributed to this report. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. A 23-year-old New Brunswick man who was a standout track athlete in high school was killed in a three-vehicle crash in Somerset County, authorities said. Mario Heslop was driving east on Hamilton Street in Franklin Township at about 5:30 p.m. Monday when he crossed over the center line and struck a westbound vehicle, the Somerset County Prosecutors Office said. The second vehicle was then hit by a third vehicle, also headed west near the corner of Hillcrest Avenue, officials said. Heslop was bought to an area hospital, where he died of his injuries. The driver of the vehicle he hit, a Hillsborough resident, was hospitalized, officials said. The driver of the third vehicle declined treatment. Considered one of the greatest high school sprinters in New Jersey history during a standout career at Franklin High School, Heslop collected eight Meet of Champions titles and was named both the 2018 and 2019 NJ.com boys track athlete of the year. He went on to compete in college at North Carolina A&T University. Heslop last competed at the Kennesaw State University Invitational in April in Kennesaw, Georgia, according to MileSplit.com. He finished first in both the 100 in 10.54 and the 200 in 20.78. The stretch of Hamilton Street where the crash took place is two lanes in each direction. All three vehicles were in their respective left lanes before the crash, authorities said. The crash remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Somerset County Prosecutors Office at 908-231-7100 or Franklin police at 732-873-5533. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. 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. K&B Industries of Houma said it will spend $12 million to create a new advanced manufacturing facility, a move that will create 70 new jobs. A memorial for 2-year-old Ezekiel Harry surrounds a trashcan on Dapsit Street in Houma on Friday, July 15, 2022. Ezekiel died due to blunt force trauma to the head earlier in the week, and his remains were found in a trashcan. (Photo by Brett Duke, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate) The Supreme Court has upheld the Court of Appeal's decision regarding Nika Gvaramia, the founder of the 'Mtavari' Channel.The highest court of the country deemed both the prosecution's and defense's cassation appeals as inadmissible. Consequently, the prison sentence of 3 years and 6 months for Nika Gvaramia remains valid.Nika Gvaramia was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months of imprisonment by the Tbilisi City Court, and this verdict was upheld by the Court of Appeal. Moreover, the appellate court modified the penalty of a 5,000 GEL fine to imprisonment for the charge of abusing official authority in relation to the embezzlement of 6,700,000 GEL.The Supreme Court's ruling marks the conclusion of the legal battle at all levels of the country's judiciary regarding the case of Nika Gvaramia.In relation to the incident that occurred in the camp of the "Girchi-More Freedom" party in Borjomi, Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the "Georgian Dream" party, stated that it is the government's responsibility to conduct investigations into such matters.When questioned by journalists about the government's accountability for organized groups that target individuals based on their political opinions, including the groups that attacked the "Girchi-More Freedom" camp in Borjomi on June 17th, Saturday, Irakli Kobakhidze responded by stating that the government solely assumes responsibility for investigating such incidents."The government takes responsibility for the investigation, and it is essential to thoroughly examine all such incidents. Violence is unequivocally wrong and unacceptable; it must be investigated. It is the government's duty to investigate these matters. Our country's utmost priority is to put an end to polarization and reduce the level of radicalism. Certain forces deliberately attempt to polarize the political landscape and promote radicalism. Regrettably, these actions often result in violence, which is highly detrimental. I urge everyone to refrain from engaging in any actions that foster polarization within the country," stated Kobakhidze. STARKVILLE, Mississippi Mikaela Grubb of Coffee Springs was named to the Mississippi State University spring 2023 Presidents List. Grubb was among more than 4,000 students named to the spring 2023 Presidents List. Students on the Presidents List achieved a 3.80 or better grade-point average, based on a 4.0 scale, while completing at least 12 semester hours of course work with no incomplete grades or grades lower than a C. Mississippi State University is a national STEM-focused, doctoral degree-granting, land-grant university offering a wide range of educational experiences for learning and growth to a diverse student body of approximately 23,000 students. Among the National Science Foundations Top 100 research universities, MSU provides access and opportunity to students from all 50 states and 86 countries. MSU is committed to its comprehensive research university mission, addressing complex local and global issues with innovative ideas and solutions. You are clearly a super-user of NUVO.net. Thats a good thing. It means you depend on independent and local news sources to keep you informed. You are a smart person. Coincidentally, independent and local news sources depend on you too. Youve read 25 articles this month and now, wed like you to be join our mission and become a NUVO Supporter. For as little as $4 a month, you can keep us alive and fighting -- and can have unlimited access to the independent news that cant be found anywhere else. Australian government officials are considering introducing a mandatory labelling requirement for AI-generated material to mitigate the potential negative impacts associated with the rapidly advancing technology. The move comes as concerns grow over the rise of deep fake images, videos, and lifelike robotic recordings that have the potential to deceive and mislead the public. Industry Minister Ed Husic, who is spearheading the governments efforts to regulate artificial intelligence (AI), recently met with Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, to discuss the urgent need for measures to address these challenges. The proposed labelling system aims to provide transparency and empower individuals to make informed decisions when consuming AI-generated content, ultimately fostering media literacy and safeguarding against the dissemination of misinformation. It would serve as a visual cue, alerting viewers that the media they are consuming has been generated by AI algorithms. By providing transparent information about the origin and nature of the content, individuals can make more informed decisions and develop critical media literacy skills. However, implementing effective labelling mechanisms for AI-generated content presents various challenges. Technological solutions need to be developed to detect and authenticate AI-generated media accurately. Additionally, standards and guidelines must be established to ensure consistency and reliability across different platforms and industries. Collaborative efforts between government bodies, industry stakeholders, and AI research organisations will be crucial to devising comprehensive frameworks that balance innovation and public trust. As AI algorithms and tools become increasingly sophisticated, it has become harder for the average person to discern real from fabricated content. Deep fake images and videos created using AI can convincingly replicate individuals or events, leading to the spread of misinformation and damaging consequences. Similarly, lifelike robotic recordings can create an illusion of interaction with humans, blurring the lines between AI and human communication. Professor Geoff Webb from the Department of Data Science & AI, Faculty of Information Technology, said: The Australian government is to be commended on the considered and practical approach they are taking to the real and immediate risks associated with AI. Vested interests are generating much hysteria and overblown hyperbole. But we can sleep assured that there is no risk that we will be subjugated by AI overlords. Nonetheless, there are many current risks associated with the current technologies. I am cautious about exactly how effective mandatory labelling of AI generated content would be. It is unlikely to stop bad actors, such as a foreign power seeking to disrupt an Australian election or referendum. The best way to ensure that Australia is not left at the mercy of the foreign interests that currently control these technologies is to increase Australian workforce training and investment in Australian AI research and development. Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. HAMMOND Federal prosecutors are seeking to have former Republican Portage Mayor James Snyder surrender himself in no more than a week to begin serving a 21-month prison sentence on his bribery and tax violation convictions. The request, which was filed Tuesday, comes in the wake of Thursday's ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit that rejected all of Snyder's claims of error in his case, which upheld his convictions. "Now that the judgment has been affirmed, it is appropriate to revoke the defendants bond and have the defendant surrender to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons," according to Amarjeet Bhachu, special attorney for the United States. The motion references federal code "permitting bond pending appeal only when appeal presents a 'substantial question of law' likely to result in reversal or new trial." "In view of the fact that this matter has been pending for a considerable period, the government respectfully requests that the defendant be ordered to surrender within seven days, on or before June 27, 2023," the motion reads. Snyder's defense attorney had not filed a response by early Tuesday afternoon. Snyder, 45, was found guilty of soliciting and accepting a $13,000 bribe in 2014 in return for steering a $1.125 million contract for the purchase of garbage trucks for the city of Portage to the local Great Lakes Peterbilt company. Additionally, federal prosecutors said he obstructed the Internal Revenue Service's efforts to collect unpaid taxes on a private mortgage company he ran. He was tried and found guilty in February 2019. When Snyders attorneys moved for a judgment of acquittal or a new trial, the district court denied the motion for acquittal but granted Snyder a new trial on the bribery charge. He was convicted for a second time in March 2021. In an appeal argued before the court in January, Snyders defense team said his rights were violated when the government seized email communications between him and his attorney as part of the discovery of evidence in the case. Second woman claiming harassment by Region man already charged with stalking Taylor Swift "I'm scared to come back to LB if he is released so I'm taking the necessary steps to get things on record," the woman wrote in a June 9 email to Long Beach police. The government maintained the integrity of its investigation through a filtering process in which federal agents determine which emails are considered privileged communications that should not be disclosed to the prosecution. "The emails had been seized and the filter process completed before Snyder was indicted in November 2016, and only at that time did his Sixth Amendment right to counsel attach," the appellate court wrote. The court also concluded that seizure of Snyders emails under the warrant did not violate the particularity requirement of the Fourth Amendment. Snyder's team further argued that his conviction was not supported by sufficient evidence, which the judges did not find to be legitimate. "The evidence here was sufficient to support the jurys verdict," the judges said. "Evidence at trial established that Snyder owed personal and payroll taxes and that the IRS had taken specific, targeted steps to collect by levying Snyders personal and business bank accounts." Snyders legal team took additional action in March, suing the city of Portage, Democratic Mayor Sue Lynch and city attorney Dan Whitten, accusing the two of instructing city employees, including case witness Randall Reeder Jr., to not meet with Snyder and his legal team as they prepared for his second trial. Attorneys for the city, Lynch and Whitten filed a motion in May to dismiss. Snyders legal team has five days to respond to the motion, according to federal court records. CROWN POINT A Gary man faces a slew of charges in connection to the fatal shooting of an East Chicago man in March, according to court records. Davion Dean, 27, was charged on Thursday with two counts of murder, and three counts of attempted robbery, court records stated. Charging documents said on March 30, Dean organized the drug robbery of 24-year-old Jordan Miller, which subsequently led to Millers shooting death. Miller died from six gunshot wounds to the torso, and his death was determined a homicide by the coroners office, according to a probable-cause affidavit. Brandon McFadden, 22, of Gary was charged in connection to Millers death on April 5. Officers wrote in the affidavit that on March 30, Miller and another man went to a two-flat apartment on the 400 block of Delaware Street to sell them drugs. Miller entered the house and quickly turned to leave, charging documents stated. When Miller turned to leave, McFadden purportedly shot him. A witness told police that McFadden continued to shoot Miller when he was down, charges stated. The witness told officers that Dean repeatedly called Miller on the day of his death to inquire about purchasing marijuana and mushrooms. He added that he believed Dean set Miller up, because Dean called repeatedly, and the agreed product was more than they usually dealt, the probable cause affidavit stated. Police arrested Dean on March 31 for driving without a license, and when officers spoke to him about Millers murder they wrote in the affidavit that he was misleading as to his involvement and attempt(ed) to continually distance himself from the incident. Dean told police that he was supposed to meet up with Miller, who he referred to as Maintain, to buy drugs on March 30, but his phone died so he didnt leave his house. Dean also told officers that he did not set anyone up and he did not see (expletive), charges stated. He then gave police a description of McFadden and called him a shooter. He also said that he would not put it past McFadden to kill somebody, according to charging documents. After McFadden was initially charged, Detectives were able to access text messages and location data from Davion Dean and Brandon McFadden's cell phones, which indicated a planned robbery of Jordan Miller, the Lake County Prosecutors office said in a news statement. The probable cause affidavit indicated that Dean and McFaddens phones were both on the 400 block of Delaware Street on the day of Millers death. Officers also obtained texts from Dean to McFadden and in one text Dean appeared to tell McFadden that he was willing to shoot or rob Miller for drugs, the affidavit stated. Deans first court appearance is not yet set, according to court records. McFaddens next appearance is set for July 25 in Judge Natalie Bokotas courtroom, records stated. Gallery: Recent arrests booked into Lake County Jail Tevin Jones Stephanie Pabon Soula Campbell Shanta Baker Mykia Canady Monica Acevez Michael Novak Michael Frassrand Mark Stovall Jr. Mark McGowan Manuel Arce Louis Adkins Lois Williams Larondo Thomas Laquintae Taborn Kevin Johnston Kevin Cokes Keturah Carter-Lampkins Keith Nowling Keith Eastwood Katina Kidd Jordon Novorita Jonathon Thomas Jhust McBride Ervin Pearson Erin Dunning Dyequan Kizer Derek Akins Demetrius Morris David Garza Courtney Hill Christopher Hawkins Jr. Charles Schuler Carvell Thomas Carrington Pitts Butch Ferry Brockton Lane Brandon Dubose Ashley Griffith Ashley Cook Anthony Mysliwiec Anthony Hiles Andrea Black Amber Kowal Amanda Sellers Alejandro Sanchez Durians are loved by many people in Southeast Asia. Photo by Reuters Restaurants and supermarkets in Singapore have been offering its first-ever durian buffets amid bountiful supply from Malaysian farms. Supermarket chain Giant held its first durian buffet at the carpark of its Tampines outlet earlier in June, which attracted a large number of durian lovers, Strait Times reported. A Giant spokesman said the chain plans to offer the one-hour buffet again. Other durian stores such as Zeng Zu Fu and Lexus Durian King are also offering free-flow durian feasts. The Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Fruit Farmers' Association said that Malaysia now exports more than 100,000 kg of fresh durians to Singapore on a daily basis. Thanks to abundant supply, the prices of durians have fallen by 20-30% compared to last year. Primarily grown in tropical countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, the durian is distinctive for its large size, strong odor and thorn-covered rind. Many countries across Asia have banned durian from public transport, hotels, and other enclosed spaces, which testifies to the fruit's stench. However, its aroma belies a rich, creamy flavor, and the fruit has become a popular staple used to prepare specialties such as cakes, ice cream, shaved ice, fritters, and sweet Thai-style soup. VALPARAISO A 33-year-old Kouts man was behind bars Tuesday morning on two felony counts of child exploitation after more than two dozen cyber tips were forwarded to Indiana State Police by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, ISP said. Christopher Hultquist was arrested Monday following a visit by police to his home and an investigation, according to ISP Sgt. Jeremy Piers. State police said they received the tips in August linked to a specific phone number. Detectives served a search warrant at Hultquist's home Monday where they found child sexual abuse material, Piers said. He was taken into custody and taken to the Porter County jail. Second woman claiming harassment by Region man already charged with stalking Taylor Swift "I'm scared to come back to LB if he is released so I'm taking the necessary steps to get things on record," the woman wrote in a June 9 email to Long Beach police. "The Indiana State Police Crimes Against Children Task Force was assisted throughout the investigation by Indiana State Police Digital Forensics Unit, troopers from the Lowell Post, Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, and the Kouts Police Department," Piers said. LAPORTE After learning that Long Beach resident Mitchell Taebel had been arrested on allegations of stalking and harassing pop musician Taylor Swift, a longtime acquaintance of his came forward making similar allegations leading to additional criminal charges in the case. The woman claims Taebel, 36, has repeatedly called and harassed her for many years both locally and elsewhere around the country. The incidents occurred as recently as earlier this month, just days before his arrest in the Swift case, when Taebel allegedly showed up at the home of the woman's parents in Long Beach "banging on their door and ringing their bell looking for me," a charging document reads. "I'm scared to come back to LB if he is released so I'm taking the necessary steps to get things on record," the woman wrote in a June 9 email to Long Beach police. Additional charges of felony stalking and three misdemeanor counts of harassment have been filed against Taebel in addition to the felony stalking and intimidation charges, and misdemeanor invasion of privacy and harassment counts he faces in the Swift case, records show. Taebel was arrested June 2, which was the opening night of her nearby Chicago performances on her wildly popular Eras Tour. Taebel, who has YouTube and Facebook accounts dedicated to Swift, is accused in that case of traveling across the country in an attempt to gain access to the 33-year-old artist and sending her threatening messages. "On March 29, 2023, Taebel posted a voice message to his Instagram account that he sent to the ARTIST official Instagram account stating that he would happily wear a bomb if he cannot be with his soul mate," a charging document reads. He then left a message the following day for Swift's father claiming to be Swift's soulmate and on April 5 sent her a picture on Instagram of someone firing a handgun at a gun range, police said. "If today there is the sexual performance of Vigilante (Expletive), you can be sure that we will destroy you and all the other dancers and ARTIST too," Taebel allegedly posted with the threatening photo. Handcuffed Valpo woman jumps from Portage police car on U.S. 20 in second attempt to flee, cops say The accused fled on foot and was caught by officers, the report says. She reportedly resisted arrest and urinated on herself and an officer. Taebel is further accused of contacting governors' offices in several states and informing them of his intention to make his presidential campaign part of Swift's Eras Tour, police said. Police say Taebel threatened to harm Swift so she would "learn self respect" and traveled on May 5 to luxury condominiums in Nashville, Tennessee, where he slipped through an unsecured door only to be stopped in the inner lobby by secondary security. He then showed up later that day to the Nissan Stadium in Nashville where Swift was to perform, according to a court document. Despite being placed on a security threat list designed to block entry, Taebel reportedly found his way into the stadium, positioned himself near a VIP area and was recognized, questioned and removed by security for safety reasons. An attempt earlier this month to reach a representative for Swift at her 13 Management company was unsuccessful. Swift is in the midst of her highly successful Eras Tour, which included three performances earlier this month at Solder Field in Chicago. New details released on Monday's helicopter crash into Cedar Lake "I then observed as the aircraft hit the water's surface and spun out of control," police said. The alleged victim in the most recent charges said she grew up with Taebel, who she said "always acted strange and would make weird and bizarre statements towards her," police said. Despite attempting to distance herself from Taebel, he has repeatedly approached her in person and electronically, making inappropriate comments and advances, she told police. She provided police with examples of the messages, which are contained in the charging documents. Taebel if further accused of harassing the woman's parents, who she said were seeking a protective order. CROWN POINT A Northwest Indiana state lawmaker has decided which candidate she's backing in what's expected to be a fiercely contested 2024 Republican primary for governor. State Rep. Julie Olthoff, R-Crown Point, announced Tuesday her endorsement of Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch for the state's top job, based in part on Crouch's efforts in favor of advancing the Olthoff-sponsored House Enrolled Act 1342. "This year, Suzanne and I worked together to pass a great bill with new protocols to protect individuals with disabilities. Her commitment to support the most vulnerable among us is only one reason among many that I ask you to join me in support of Suzanne for governor," Olthoff said. Olthoff is the first Region Republican state lawmaker to publicly endorse a candidate in next year's GOP gubernatorial contest. Crouch, a former state auditor and state representative from Evansville, is competing for the nomination at the May 7, 2024, primary election against U.S. Sen. Mike Braun and Eric Doden, a Fort Wayne businessman. Gallery: Get to know the state symbols of Indiana State Aircraft: Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt State Bird: Cardinal State Flag State Flower: Peony State Fossil: Mastodon State Gun: Grouseland Rifle State Insect: Say's Firefly State Language: English State Motto: "Crossroads of America" State Nickname: The Hoosier State State Pie: Sugar Cream Pie (unofficial) State Poem: "Indiana" State River: Wabash State Seal State Snack: Indiana-Grown Popcorn State Song: "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" State Stone: Limestone State Tree: Tulip tree CEDAR LAKE The pilot of a helicopter that crashed into Cedar Lake early Monday afternoon had leased the aircraft and lives near the crash site, Deputy Police Chief Carl Brittingham said. The update comes after officials initially announced the pilot and passenger escaped injury in the crash. Brittingham said that around 1:09 p.m. Monday he saw a small Robinson R22 helicopter flying low over the lake heading north. "I observed the aircraft go low just above the water and move towards land on the east side of the lake," he said. "I then observed as the aircraft hit the water's surface and spun out of control." Brittingham said he immediately radioed for assistance and responded to the crash site by boat with officers Shaun Meyer and Cliff Wroe. The group learned the pilot and passenger were out of the helicopter and safe. Neither person was injured nor anyone in the area, police said. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were notified have been working closely with police, Brittingham said. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is also investigating. UPDATE: Woman identified in Hobart drowning was pregnant, coroner says A man was rescued by a witness, while a woman went under the water and did not resurface, the DNR said. "Divers were placed into the water at the crash site to confirm the condition and placement of the aircraft, as well as confirming no one else was inside as reported," according to Brittingham. The helicopter was removed from the water using a crane boat and was placed on a trailer on shore. "The pilot was leasing the aircraft out of the Lansing Airport and does reside on the lake near the crash site," police said. "The flight plan and intentions of the pilot are part of an ongoing investigation." Brittingham said, "Thank you to all the citizens who provided information and to all responding agencies who did an incredible job today. We are thankful that no one was injured in today's event." PHOTOS: Dredging of Cedar Lake begins Dredging Cedar Lake Dredging Cedar Lake Dredging Cedar Lake Dredging Cedar Lake Dredging Cedar Lake Dredging Cedar Lake Dredging Cedar Lake Dredging Cedar Lake ORLANDO, Fla. After appointees of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took over Walt Disney Worlds governing district earlier this year, its firefighters were among the few employees who publicly welcomed them with open arms. But that warm relationship is in jeopardy as a new district administrator has reopened negotiations on a contract that was approved last month by the unionized firefighters, promising pay raises and more manpower. A vote on the contract originally was targeted for last month during a meeting of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board of supervisors. But it was never brought up, and it did not appear on an agenda released ahead of the next meeting scheduled for Wednesday. Under the three-year contract proposal overwhelmingly approved by 200 firefighters and first responders, annual starting pay for firefighters would increase to $65,000, up from $55,000. It also promised hiring up to three dozen firefighters and paramedics. At several meetings since the DeSantis-appointed supervisors took their seats this spring, Jon Shirey, who leads the firefighters' union, praised them for visiting firefighters at their stations around the 39-square-mile Disney World property. The firefighters looked forward to collaborating with the new supervisors and administrator after years of clashing with their Disney-supporting predecessors, and viewed the appointments as an opportunity for a fresh start, he said. Almost overnight, a change occurred that we have never experienced transparency, open dialogue, the ability to sit down and have our issues heard and felt listened to, Shirey told board members last month. You have been able to build bridges that were long burned. The feeling was mutual, with board chairman Martin Garcia saying last month that the supervisors were working with the firefighters to resolve their issues. Even so, Garcia made clear that the firefighters weren't the only district employees the board wanted to support. We also need to let the (other) employees know, we love you, too. We care about you. We love you as much as we love our firefighters, Garcia said. But the delay in approving the contract has alienated the firefighters' union, which last year endorsed the gubernatorial reelection campaign of DeSantis, who recently launched a campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. The old contract expired four years ago, and the firefighters declared an impasse last year when the districts board was still controlled by Disney supporters. The Reedy Creek Professional Firefighters, Local 2117 have warned for years that they are understaffed, which poses a safety risk as the central Florida theme park resort grows. Last month, District Administrator John Classe, who originally negotiated the new contract, was replaced by the board with Glenton Gilzean, a DeSantis ally who previously served as president and CEO of the Central Florida Urban League and will receive a $400,000 salary in his new job. The district also is paying Classe to stay on as a special adviser. Board spokesperson Alexei Woltornist said negotiations with the union were continuing, without explaining why they were reopened with a contract already approved by the firefighters and first responders. Administrator Gilzean is actively working with the fire department to finalize a deal that offers a competitive compensation package and gives firefighters the resources they need to protect the public, Woltornist said in an email to The Associated Press. Officials with the firefighters' union did not comment. While Gilzean may alienate the firefighters, whose support gave the DeSantis takeover some legitimacy, he may gain credibility with other constituencies within Disney's governing district and put some distance between himself and his predecessor, said Richard Foglesong, a Rollins College professor emeritus who wrote a definitive account of Disney Worlds governance in his book, Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando. Hes an unproven administrator, yet here hes showing hes no pushover when dealing with a cantankerous group, which frankly impresses me, Foglesong said. The DeSantis appointees took over the Disney World governing board earlier this year following a yearlong feud between the company and DeSantis. The fight began last year after Disney, beset by significant pressure internally and externally, publicly opposed a state law banning classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades, a policy critics call Dont Say Gay. As punishment, DeSantis took over the district through legislation passed by Florida lawmakers and appointed a new board of supervisors to oversee municipal services for the sprawling theme parks and hotels. But before the new board came in, the company made agreements with previous oversight board members that stripped the new supervisors of their authority over design and construction. Disney sued DeSantis and the five-member board, asking a federal judge to void the governors takeover of the theme park district, as well as the oversight boards actions, on the grounds they were violations of companys free speech rights. The board sued Disney in state court in an effort to maintain its control of construction and design at Disney World. The district was created in 1967 when then-Florida Gov. Claude Kirk signed legislation authorizing it to regulate land use, enforce building codes, treat wastewater, control drainage, maintain utilities and provide fire protection at Disney World. Such private governments arent uncommon in fast-growing Florida, which has more than 600 community development districts that manage and pay for infrastructure in new communities. Disney attractions that don't exist anymore Disney rides that don't exist anymore Rainbow Caverns Mine Train (1956-1977) Submarine Voyage (1959-1998) America Sings (1974-1988) World of Motion (1982-1996) Journey Into Imagination (1983-1998) Horizons (1983-1999) Videopolis (1985-1989) Maelstrom (1988-2014) Dreamflight (1989-1998) Body Wars (1989-2007) Adventurers Club (1989-2008) The Studio Backlot Tour (1989-2014) The Great Movie Ride (1989-2017) ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter (1995-2003) The Timekeeper (1994-2006) The Great Movie Ride (1989-2017) ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter (1995-2003) The Timekeeper (1994-2006) New research from scientists in Nepal confirms that ice and snow in the worlds highest mountains are disappearing as a result of rising temperatures and at a faster pace than previously thought. The report from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Kathmandu finds that glaciers in the Hindu Kush and Himalaya mountain range region melted 65 percent faster from 2010 through 2019 than in the previous decade. The finding adds to a growing body of evidence that the consequences of climate change are speeding up, and that some changes will be irreversible. Nearly two billion people who live in more than a dozen countries within the mountain region or in the river valleys downstream depend on melting ice and snow for their water supply. Melting glaciers are destabilizing the landscape and raising the risks of hazards like floods and landslides. These rapid changes are squeezing much of the regions unique wildlife into smaller and more precarious habitats. For some unlucky species, its already too late. Things are happening quickly, said Miriam Jackson, a cryosphere researcher at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development and one of the authors of the report. Just from two decades ago to the last decade, theres been quite big changes. And I think thats a surprise for lots of people, that things are just happening so fast. This summer, I will be interning in a corporate setting, and I am wondering if you have any tips for dressing appropriately for work while still being able to showcase my personality? I dont want to make any big fashion mistakes, but I dont want to look like a drone either. Erica, Berkeley, Calif. What you got to understand is, when you come into work, you give up certain rights. So says Toby Flenderson, the H.R. character in The Office, during Season 5, Episode 26 a.k.a., Casual Friday. The specific right he was talking about was, as it happens, the right to dress as you want. And while the show may have been a comedy, his statement was not entirely a joke. When you join an office, you adopt, to a certain extent, its dress code. You give up a portion of your fashion autonomy to be part of the group. And that is a delicate and ever-evolving negotiation between institutions political, social, professional and individuals. It has been a subject of high-minded discourse for centuries. (Hello, Rousseau and the social contract; hello, Hegel and the philosophy of right.) Its about balance of power, and at some points in history the group has taken precedent over the person; at others the person outweighs the group. The good news is that we are largely in one of those periods when the person takes precedence, meaning you have a bit more freedom now than in the era of, say, the man in the gray flannel suit. But what does that mean practically? Employers are reluctant to dictate dress codes too specifically, lest they run afoul of human rights law (they tend to fall back on the generic and totally useless appropriate), and employees are still clinging to their work-from-home comfort wardrobes. On Capitol Hill and in the courts, Republican lawmakers and activists are mounting a sweeping legal campaign against universities, think tanks and private companies that study the spread of disinformation, accusing them of colluding with the government to suppress conservative speech online. The effort has encumbered its targets with expansive requests for information and, in some cases, subpoenas demanding notes, emails and other information related to social media companies and the government dating back to 2015. Complying has consumed time and resources and already affected the groups ability to do research and raise money, according to several people involved. They and others warned that the campaign undermined the fight against disinformation in American society when the problem is, by most accounts, on the rise and when another presidential election is around the corner. Many of those behind the Republican effort had also joined former President Donald J. Trump in falsely challenging the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. I think its quite obviously a cynical and I would say wildly partisan attempt to chill research, said Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of Columbia Universitys Knight First Amendment Institute, an organization that works to safeguard freedom of speech and the press. The descent has groves of handsome pine trees that lend a serenity belying the tense history. Follow signs for Sukjeongmun Gate, the northernmost point, then follow signs for Waryong Park, which has chirping birds and lush trees. As you reemerge to city views in Seongbuk district, the low slung homes just outside the towering wall help you imagine the exclusion the city wall once forged. At the edge of the park, the wall comes to an abrupt end. You can make a short detour here for refreshments, like jujube tea or squash shaved ice, at the nearby Suyeonsanbang teahouse. The building boasts of a beautiful yard and a hanok, a traditional tile-roofed building. The walk next takes you through small city streets, with signs on electric poles guiding you to Hyehwamun Gate. See how the city was rebuilt after the Korean War, with people incorporating remaining parts of the wall as foundations for their homes. After the gate, cross an eight-lane major thoroughfare to pick up the trail on the other side. OceanGate Expeditions, the owner of the missing submersible, is a privately owned company headquartered in Everett, Wash., that, since its founding in 2009, has focused on increasing access to deep-ocean exploration. The company has made headlines in recent years for organizing expeditions for paying tourists to travel in submersibles to shipwrecks, including the Titanic, and to underwater canyons. According to the companys website, OceanGate also provides crewed submersibles for commercial projects and scientific research. Our team of qualified pilots, expedition leaders, mission professionals and client-service staff ensure accountability throughout the entire mission and expedition process with a focus on safety, proactive communication and client satisfaction, the website reads. OceanGate was founded by Stockton Rush, an aerospace engineer and pilot, who currently serves as its chief executive officer. Vietnam tourism searches grow at 7th fastest rate in the world Foreign tourists sit in front of a coffee shop in Hoi An ancient town, April 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Phong The number of searches of Vietnam tourism between April and June grew at the seventh fastest rate globally. Turkey topped the list, followed by Greece, Croatia, India, Italy, and Spain, according to data from Google's Destination Insights. Vietnam was the only Southeast Asian country in the top 10. The 10 countries with the highest number of tourism-related searches of Vietnam were the U.S., Japan, Australia, India, South Korea, Singapore, the U.K., Malaysia, Germany, and France. Ho Chi Minh City was the most searched destination by international visitors, followed by Hanoi, Da Nang, Phu Quoc, and Nha Trang. The number of searches about Vietnam was four times compared to a year earlier when Vietnam had just reopened its borders after Covid. In the first five months of this year the country received 4.6 million international visitors, more than half this year's target of 8 million but just 63% of pre-pandemic levels. Lawmakers will vote this Saturday on a bill that seeks to extend the validity of e-visas from 30 days to three months and allow multiple entry. ATHENS Shortly after a rickety fishing boat carrying hundreds of smuggled migrants sank in front of a Greek Coast Guard vessel last week, Greek officials explained that they had not intervened because the smugglers didnt want them to. Intervening also would have been dangerous, Coast Guard spokesman Nikos Alexiou has said, given that the ship was overcrowded and filled with migrants intent on reaching Italy. Trying to violently stop its course without cooperation from the crew or passengers could have provoked a maritime accident, Mr. Alexiou said. He added that even though the ship was in Greeces search and rescue territory, you cant intervene in international waters against a boat that is not engaged in smuggling or some other crime. Mr. Alexiou apparently meant smuggling drugs or guns, not people. But in the aftermath of the deadliest shipwreck in Greece in a decade, and perhaps ever, with possibly more than 700 men, women and children from Syria, Pakistan and Egypt drowned, the decision not to intervene has raised concerns that an alignment of interests between smugglers paid to reach Italy and Greek authorities who would rather the migrants be Italys problem led to an avoidable catastrophe. Magda Saleh, a Bolshoi-trained Egyptian ballerina who was a star of the Cairo Ballet and played a major role in introducing ballet to wider audiences in her country, and who then led the companys ballet school and a new opera house, died on June 11 in Cairo. She was 79. Her death was confirmed by Diane Hakak, another former principal dancer in the Cairo Ballet. Ms. Hakak, who lives in New York, said that Tarek Saleh, Ms. Salehs brother in Cairo, had informed her of his sisters death. No cause was specified. Ms. Saleh, who had been living on Shelter Island, N.Y., moved back to Cairo to be with family in March, shortly after the death late last year of her husband, Jack Josephson. Like the United States, Egypt did not have a permanent national-scale ballet company until the 1950s, although it had a grand opera house in Cairo. Americans, however, had seen ballet productions; major European ballet companies have performed in the United States since the 19th century. In Egypt, ballet recitals were mostly confined to private dance schools, often run by British teachers, where the students usually came from upper-middle-class families like Ms. Salehs. As a Finnish musician, I must say that we are very grateful to him, because he spent a couple of years in Helsinki. He was a very, very strange bird in Helsinki cultural life. And he was an incredibly important influence to Sibelius, because Sibelius suffered from this kind of country boy complex compared to contemporaries like Richard Strauss. Busoni and Sibelius became really good friends. Im absolutely sure that to have somebody like that as a conversation partner and drinking buddy they did quite a bit of that apparently was incredibly important. They even had a little club, a group of friends who called themselves Leskovites, because Busonis dog was called Lesko. Theres a bar in Helsinki where they hung out and developed the new music for the next century. LEVIT One of the most important teachers I had in my life was Matti Raekallio. Matti is from Helsinki. Mattis thesis was on Busonis fingering. He introduced me to the concerto when I was 19. He introduced me to the Fantasia Contrappuntistica. He introduced me to the way Busoni would play the piano, which is a very positional kind of playing, and not a graphic kind of playing. For, lets say, a normal piano player, who grew up with rules and who studied in Central Europe or wherever, there is no such thing as Ferruccio Busoni, all you know is Bach-Busoni. You might know two or three of his chorale preludes. Thats it. But you dont get in touch with the actual man. It was Matti who opened this incredible door for me into the thinking of the man and to the music. So even I know Busoni through Finland. SALONEN Its funny: The first time I ever heard anything by Busoni was when I was a composition student in Siena, Italy, with Donatoni back in the late 70s. There was a concert when some Italian pianist played Busonis arrangement of Schoenbergs Opus 11, three piano pieces. He arranged Schoenbergs piano pieces for the piano. And I thought that was the silliest thing Id ever heard in my life. Igor, is the concerto as hard as everyone says it is? LEVIT Yeah, this is a piece to widen your curse words repertoire. The British pop superstar Elton John lamented the growing swell of anger and homophobia in the United States and described several laws recently passed in Florida that curtail L.G.B.T.Q. rights as disgraceful. Its all going pear-shaped in America, John, a longtime leader for gay rights and visibility, said in an interview published Tuesday in Radio Times, in which he pointed to a rise in violent incidents and recent legislation curtailing rights. We seem to be going backwards. And that spreads. Its like a virus that the L.G.B.T.Q.+ movement is suffering. More than 520 pieces of such legislation have been introduced in over 40 states this year, a record, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy group. I dont like it at all, John said, referring to the increasingly hostile climate. Its a growing swell of anger and homophobia thats around America. He still gets nervous before big scenes but its helpful, he said; it means theres something to risk. Im probably attracted to people that are in periods of crisis or loss or confusion when they cant find their way home, you know? And though his own upbringing was supportive, hes had his share of dirtbags to draw on. One rowdy Masshole can do a lot of damage, he said. I had my feelings hurt a lot. In The Bear, Matty Matheson, the Canadian chef and restaurateur, plays the hanger-on and handyman Neil, his first scripted role. Im a student of the acting school of Ebon, he said. The two share more moments in the second season and more fights. Im like this soft blade, trying to constantly be nice, said Matheson, who is also a producer and consultant on the series. Ebons character is allowed to be the most Richie with me. Im not telling him to be woke. Theres definitely Richies in the food world, he added. Richie doesnt want change, and now more than ever, restaurants are changing. Storer, the series creator, did his own time behind a stove and comes from a Chicago restaurant clan. His sister, Courtney Storer, a celebrated chef in Los Angeles, is the shows culinary director (she helps whip up the gourmet dishes for their close-ups), and Christopher spent his childhood at the Chicago institution Mr. Beef, which is owned by a friends family and was the model for the onscreen Original Beef. The Bear has drawn praise for its verisimilitude. Before they began production, White and Ayo Edebiri, who plays the determined chef Sydney, were sent to culinary school and to intern at fine dining establishments, developing their bond in the process. Moss-Bachrach instead went to bars on the South Side to commune with Chicagoans. He had no idea his co-stars were training; back then, he thought they were doing a restaurant show the way Taxi was a show about drivers. For him, The Bear was a character study in loss and change. After suffering the death of his best friend Carmys brother, the original owner of the Beef, who is played by Jon Bernthal, Moss-Bachrachs friend offscreen Richie is deeply distressed and mourning and volatile, and not in a place of self-reflection, Moss-Bachrach said. Hes medicating with, like, Bacardi and nachos. There were such strong associations between Corbett and the role that he struggled to be seen in any other way. He recalled being turned down for other roles he wanted, told that he would be too distracting. His work on Sex and the City and in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding movies, the first of which was released in 2002, affirmed and limited his type: the nice boyfriend. Then he became the nice husband. Lately, in projects like the To All the Boys Ive Loved Before movies and their recent spinoff series, XO, Kitty, he has charmed a new generation of viewers as the nice dad. Ive made friends with the idea of, this is just what I do, he said. When the phone rings and it feels like the moneys right and the place is right and the time is right, Ill go be this guy that these people want. Colleagues who speak about Corbett tend to overlap him and his characters. He is a very fun rapscallion who likes to have a good time, said Nia Vardalos, the writer and star of the Greek Wedding films, which seemed to refer equally to actor and role. Hes a big puppy how can you not adore a puppy? said Toni Collette, his co-star in the Showtime series The United States of Tara. For Corbett, the boundaries are equally fuzzy, particularly when it comes to Aidan. The line gets blurry because when they clap the action board, theres not a change, he said. Im still living the same life. In Sex and the City, that life, for all of Corbetts warmth, had its darkness. If fans saw Aidan as comfortable and loving, the character was also judgmental and angry. (For Corbett, the line gets blurry here, too: I get upset. I want to send a [expletive] chair through plate glass windows a couple times a day.) The Marvel series for Disney+ vary in their degree of independence from the mega-narrative that threads through Marvels feature films. There isnt a rule of thumb for how that plays out being tied into the Avengers story line didnt hurt Loki, while being apart from it didnt help Moon Knight. The effect is clear in Secret Invasion, though, which in its early episodes feels less like a free-standing drama than like an interstitial element. The storytelling is at first rushed the introduction of the Skrull crisis feels elided, as if previous publicity releases and Comic-Con panels were understood to count as part of the plot and then enervated, as were given expository speeches and scenes whose only purpose seems to be to fill in the gaps between Captain Marvel and Secret Invasion. In keeping with the genre-hopping trend in the Marvel series, Secret Invasion, which is set initially in Moscow, goes for a restrained Euro-spy, counterterrorist thriller approach, and it certainly looks good. (Ali Selim directed the episodes, and Remi Adefarasin, who shot Juliet, Naked, was the cinematographer.) The shows creator, Kyle Bradstreet, was a writer and producer for Mr. Robot, and he injects some of the ambient unease that show specialized in. He also commits to the Mr. Robot themes of paranoia and manipulation, for which the Skrulls, with their ability to assume the form of any convenient human, are tailor made. This gives the story a topical sheen as the Skrulls foment mass panic, but the writing doesnt give us enough in either human or dramatic terms to make the violence and pathos resonate. An attempt to link Furys experience of racism and exclusion with the plight of the homeless, persecuted Skrulls doesnt add anything worth noting, at least in the early going. Amid the franchise tending thats going on in Secret Invasion, one decision feels like a potential misstep: emphasizing Furys weariness and malaise. Perhaps its just to set up a return to formidableness in the remaining episodes, but here it doesnt play to Jacksons strengths. When he does get a chance to be fierce, the writing Im Nick Fury. Even when Im out, Im in doesnt hold much promise of future satisfaction. A group of students and the authors of a childrens book about a penguin family with two fathers sued a Florida school district and the states board of education on Tuesday, saying that restricting access to the book in school libraries was unconstitutional. The suit argues that the book was targeted on ideological grounds, as a result of new legislation that has led to a spike in book removals. The state law, known by its opponents as Dont Say Gay, bars instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation. In an attempt to follow the statute, the school district, Lake County, restricted access to 40 titles, the vast majority of them books that deal with L.G.B.T.Q. issues and themes. The lawsuit by the authors of the picture book, And Tango Makes Three, seeks to make it available again and to have the law found unconstitutional. Restrictions on books have become widespread in some parts of the country, particularly in places like Florida, which have passed statewide regulations outlining what constitutes appropriate reading material for children. Books that get removed from libraries are often described as inappropriate or pornographic, but in practice, many deal with themes of race or include L.G.B.T.Q. characters, according to free speech organizations and library groups. In late March, Daniel Zhang unveiled what was called the most significant overhaul in the 24-year history of Alibaba, one of Chinas original technology conglomerates, splitting the company into six units that would help them seek out investors from the public. Now, Mr. Zhang, the tech giants chairman and chief executive, is out of the top job and will step down from Alibabas board of directors, and two of the companys co-founders have moved up into the leadership positions. Alibaba announced on Tuesday that Mr. Zhang, 51, will relinquish his top job in September. Instead, he will serve only as chief executive of Alibabas cloud computing division, a position he assumed in March when he unveiled the restructuring. Alibaba announced plans to spin off its cloud division in May, in preparation for a public listing. Joseph Tsai, 59, an Alibaba veteran with roots to the companys founding, will move up from executive vice chairman to chairman. Another Alibaba co-founder, Eddie Yongming Wu, will succeed Mr. Zhang as chief executive. As Russias ruinous attacks on Ukraine mount, Britains government is proposing legislation that would enable it to divert frozen Russian assets to the rebuilding of Ukraine and keep sanctions in place until Moscow pays compensation to its war-torn neighbor. The British announcement is in line with a decision last month at the annual Group of 7 meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, to freeze the estimated $300 billion worth of Russian assets held by banks and financial institutions in those countries including Britain until Russia pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine. The issue of seized assets is highly contentious. While governments have the power to freeze assets, the European Central Bank has privately warned Brussels that confiscating Russian funds or giving the earned interest on those accounts to Ukraine could undermine confidence in the euro and shake financial stability, according to a report in The Financial Times. Investors might be reluctant to use euros as a reserve currency if they fear their funds could be grabbed. Ukraines reconstruction costs are estimated to top $411 billion, according to the most recent numbers from the World Bank, the European Commission and the United Nations. The ravaged landscape of the eastern city of Bakhmut, which President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine laid out at the G7 meeting, is just one sign of the damage. You have to understand that there is nothing, Mr. Zelensky told reporters. Theyve destroyed everything. There are no buildings. The recent Defiance of international law and the norms that bind us is making international and regional cooperation to maintain peace and security ever more difficult, said Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. This means that when it comes to stabilizing one of the worlds most restive regions, the Middle East, the strong relationship between the United Nations and the Arab League is critically important. The United States believes strongly the Arab League is vital to both regional and international peace and security, said United States Representative to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield. The Arab League plays a critical role across five conflicts, she said: In Yemen, we see a window of opportunity to achieve durable peace. We recognize the efforts of Arab states to facilitate dialogue. Then there are the Arab Leagues efforts to blunt the impact of the war in Sudan on the civilian population. The United States appreciates the Arab Leagues efforts to facilitate humanitarian access, a cessation of hostilities, and a resumption of an inclusive political process in Sudan, she said. In Libya, the United States encourages the Arab League to stand with the people of Libyan as they call for long-overdue elections. We also hope the Arab League will support the withdrawal of foreign fighters in Libya, and their rehabilitation and reintegration in their home countries. Then there is the question of Syria and that countrys readmission into the Arab League. We do not believe [Syrian President Anwar al] Assad has earned his place there, and the United States will not normalize relations with the regime, or lift our sanctions, until there is progress toward a political solution, she said. However, we do have shared goals and we want to work with the Arab League to defend the human rights of the Syrian people, and address humanitarian and security issues on the ground. The bottom line is this: the needs of the Syrian people should be front and center in any and all engagements with the regime. Finally, we applaud the Arab Leagues invitation of Ukrainian president Zelenskyy to address the Arab League Summit, said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. The League of Arab States shoulder a weighty responsibility, she said. They have a strong partner in the United States and in the United Nations. We are committed to working with you to find creative solutions to todays most pressing challenges. Last December, Yun Yati Naing began searching for the job she would begin after graduating from Baruch College in New York City. It was one month after a law passed by the city went into effect requiring employers with four or more employees to post salary ranges on all new job advertisements. All my friends were talking about it, Ms. Naing said. It really made a difference going into the work force as a fresh graduate. We had no idea what the wages of these entry-level jobs were. Thanks to the new disclosure requirements, Ms. Naing, who was interested in a career in finance, was able to filter out opportunities that paid less than $50,000, the minimum salary she hoped to earn. She tracked job opportunities on an Excel spreadsheet, and, after a flurry of interviews and offers, she accepted a job in financial services that advertised starting pay between $54,000 and $79,000. Her new employers offer came in at $60,000, and she negotiated a modest increase. She graduated in early June and has just started work. Gannett, the countrys largest newspaper chain, filed a lawsuit against Google on Tuesday, accusing the tech giant of violating federal antitrust laws by illegally abusing a monopoly over the technology used by publishers to buy and sell online ads. In the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York against Google and its parent company, Alphabet, Gannett argued that Googles dominance over the digital ad market had greatly cut into potential revenue for those publishers. While the online ad market is worth $200 billion a year, the complaint said, news publishers have seen a nearly 70 percent decrease in advertising revenue since 2009, which has diminished journalism jobs and put many newspapers out of business. Google controls how publishers sell their ad slots, and it forces publishers to sell growing shares of that ad space to Google at depressed prices, the complaint said. The result is dramatically less revenue for publishers and Googles ad-tech rivals, while Google enjoys exorbitant monopoly profits. Manny Medina, the chief executive of a Seattle-based artificial intelligence sales company, doesnt mind repeating himself. It comes with the territory, after all. That tolerance proved convenient this year as he faced the same question innumerable times. Wait, so why was it you wanted us back in the office? The engineers reminded him of their commutes. The working parents reminded him of school pickup times. Mr. Medina replied with arguments he has delineated so often that they have come to feel like personal mantras: Being near each other makes the work better. Mr. Medina approached three years of mushy remote-plus-office work as an experiment. His takeaway was that ideas bubble up more organically in the clamor of the office. You can interrupt each other without being rude when youre in person, said Mr. Medina, whose company, Outreach, is now in the office on a hybrid basis. In a Zoom conversation, you have to let somebody finish their thought. For tens of millions of office workers, its been three years of scattershot plans for returning to in-person work summoning people in, not really meaning it, everybody pretty much working wherever they pleased. Now, for the umpteenth time, businesses are ready to get serious. President Biden is welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India to the White House this week. They want to show the world that the two largest democracies are strengthening their alliance. But concerns over the health of democracy are high in both countries. Thats why today I want to introduce you to Ritwick Dutta, an environmental lawyer who is using Indias democratic institutions to protect people and forests, running afoul of his government. Hes an advocate for change whose work has made him a target of the Modi administration. More on that later. First, let me tell you about who he is. At 49, Dutta has worked on more than 1,300 environmental cases, he told me. Since he became a lawyer some two decades ago, his philosophy has been to bring as many cases as possible at once. It increases his chances of winning something, he said. That richness didnt happen by accident; it was created with purpose. During the restless summer of 2020, I would pass signs in the neighborhood reading, What if Bed-Stuy was a Black utopia? As a transplant, I feared it was a dream that maybe I didnt have the right to cling to, but wanted to nonetheless. This spring, while looking for a new apartment, I realized how much change had taken place. Not just in the ever-rising rents but in this neighborhoods increasing appeal to people who have been priced out of neighborhoods like Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Clinton Hill. I might qualify as someone who has contributed to the gentrification of Bed-Stuy, but I also look like I belong. I was terrified that I might be priced out of that utopian dream. But I found a rent-stabilized apartment blocks away from my old place. Im incredibly thankful. I often find myself filled with anxiety. When a new restaurant or business opens in this corner of Bed-Stuy, I wonder: Is it Black-owned? If not, are the owners forming relationships and engaging with the Black community? Are they hiring people who reflect the neighborhoods history? I sometimes see self-imposed segregation: One neighborhood split into two. Walk up Lewis Avenue past Peaches on a weekend morning and its spilling over with Black and brown customers. Two and a half blocks up at Saraghina Pizzeria, its a different story. I flit between both, depending on my cravings, but I feel a need to protect one. The New York State Legislature gave final approval on Tuesday to legislation that provides legal protection for New York doctors to prescribe and send abortion pills to patients in states that have outlawed abortion. The measure, along with similar new laws in several other states controlled by Democrats, could significantly expand medication abortion access by allowing more patients in states that restrict abortion to end pregnancies at home, without traveling to states where abortion is legal. The New York bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has indicated that she supports the idea of such a shield law. The bill stipulates that New York courts and officials will not cooperate if a state with an abortion ban tries to prosecute, sue or otherwise penalize a New York health care provider who offers abortion via telemedicine to a patient in that state, as long as the provider complies with New York law. It passed the State Assembly by a vote of 99 to 45 on Tuesday evening after clearing the Senate by a vote of 39 to 22 last month. Since the Supreme Court ended the nationwide right to an abortion last year, legislation known as telemedicine abortion shield laws have been enacted in Massachusetts, Colorado, Vermont and Washington. But New Yorks legislation is expected to have a notable impact. Several providers in New York say they plan to send abortion pills to patients in all restrictive states, and a few providers are speaking publicly, which those in other states with shield laws have so far not done. The actor Jonathan Majors appeared in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday morning at a brief hearing where a trial date for his misdemeanor assault case was set for August. In a hearing that lasted less than five minutes, the judge, Rachel S. Pauley, set Mr. Majorss trial date for Aug. 3 and reminded him that the order requiring him to stay away from the woman he is accused of assaulting remains in place. Mr. Majors, who wore a brown suit and crisp white collared shirt, sat for a time toward the back of the courtroom with sunglasses on next to the actress Meagan Good, his girlfriend. He spoke very little during the hearing, which began around 9:39 a.m. He greeted the judge and acknowledged her instructions, but otherwise remained silent while standing before her. Mr. Majors, 33, was arrested in March after what the police described as a domestic dispute. He was subsequently arraigned on a complaint that included several misdemeanor charges. In their initial reports, the authorities said the victim, described only as a 30-year-old woman, had told investigators that she had been assaulted and was taken to a hospital after suffering what the police said were minor injuries to her head and neck. Two years ago, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez set out to put her imprint on New York City government, using her personal clout and a leadership PAC to boost dozens of left-leaning candidates. Yet as New Yorkers prepare to go back to the polls next week to begin electing a new City Council, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has been practically invisible. Courage to Change, her political action committee that backed 60 candidates in 2021, has gone dormant. Her advisers have warned campaigns not to recycle past statements of support. And while she has offered to quietly help left-leaning incumbents who dissented from last years city budget, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has yet to issue any actual endorsements and may not, as early voting began Saturday. Our team will be in touch about any endorsements the congresswoman plans to make in the 2023 cycle, a representative from the PAC wrote to candidates in late March, according to a copy of the message viewed by The New York Times. But in the meantime, please do not use Courage to Change PAC or A.O.C. branding in your current materials. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is pressing fishery businesses to pay back almost half of all their federal Covid-19 aid because it was improperly allocated, according to a letter from the state comptrollers office. In its haste to dispense $14.4 million, the state Department of Environmental Protection failed to thoroughly review the applications, at times missing prominent red flags, according to a letter sent on Tuesday to the agency by Kevin D. Walsh, the acting state comptroller. The vetting was so sloppy, Mr. Walsh noted, that 25 percent of awards surveyed lacked necessary documentation. Almost 40 percent of 117 applicants were made more than whole, Walsh wrote that is, the awards they received were greater than the losses claimed by a sample pool that included seafood processors and dealers and recreational businesses such as charter boats. Receiving and processing applications and distributing funds in a timely manner were critical to the success of the fisheries program, but the work is not done when the funds are distributed, Mr. Walsh wrote to Sean Moriarty, a deputy environmental protection commissioner. The Brooklyn pilot began in 2017 and is distinct from other city offerings for students with disabilities, although it is modeled on a similar program for students with autism. Two teachers lead a class, which includes a small group of general education students and about four children who follow special education plans for those with intellectual disabilities. A team of paraprofessionals and about a dozen in-house therapists work alongside them. The environment is not necessarily appropriate for all children, but even those in special education-only classrooms are invited to join other students through other means. Pupils who are nonverbal might use their adaptive speech devices to lead morning announcements, for example. Srikala Naraian, a professor at Teachers College who studies special education, called the approach a wonderfully unique departure from the traditional view that only some kids can be included. Instead, it starts with Whos been most overlooked in our school system? she said. By creating close relationships with Kentucky food and beverage manufacturers, Synthica has secured feedstocks to process at the plant that will produce approximately 650,000 MMBTU of carbon negative RNG per year - offsetting the region's reliance on fossil natural gas. This project is expected to be completed in late 2024 and process 400,000 tons per year of food waste that otherwise ends up in landfills or local waterways, emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. "The City and our engineers are looking forward to a working relationship with Synthica in anticipation of creating a great asset to our community," said Larry Dangerfield, Mayor of Lebanon Junction. Sam Schutte, CEO of Synthica commented, "The need for an anaerobic digestion facility capable of processing the complex nutrient load produced by Kentucky's Bourbon industry - as well as food manufacturing industry - has been discussed state-wide for many years. While other biofuel developers have unsuccessfully attempted to solve this problem, Synthica's pragmatic approach, combined with the backing of some of the strongest Blue Chip companies in the business, means our facility will be a reliable, dependable part of local infrastructure." About Synthica Energy: Synthica Energy is an anaerobic digestion development company focused on the creation of organics-to-energy facilities in underserved markets. Analysts have recently estimated that US demand for RNG will increase 45-fold within the next two decades. Did you know: Did you know that at least 40% of the food produced in the United States ends up as food waste? This means that the uneaten food from your homes, schools, and restaurants ends up in our landfills, resulting in harmful gases like carbon dioxide and methane being excreted into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change and global warming. The elder Mr. Xus daughter had already been jailed because of his sons refusal to return home, jurors were told. Chinese officials then plotted to send the elder Mr. Xu to New Jersey to persuade his son to come back to China, prosecutors said. The officials did not know the younger Mr. Xus address, and used his father as bait to lure him out and follow him, prosecutors said. Mr. Xus sister-in-law testified about her shock when the older man showed up on her doorstep in Short Hills, N.J., with no warning. She had already received several threats related to Mr. Xu and knew that the Chinese government was trying to find him, she said. To thwart them, she arranged a meeting the next day at a nearby mall, rather than at Mr. Xus home. But the next year, two men, including Mr. Zheng, showed up at his home in Warren, N.J., and left a threatening note. Mr. Zhengs lawyer, Paul Goldberger, said that his client was just a kid who had driven to the home as a favor to the other man, and that he had immediately regretted his actions. Mr. Zheng even drove back to try and take the note down, Mr. Goldberger said. But he was too late: Mr. Xu testified that he had already done so, following instructions from the F.B.I. The New York Times Audio app includes podcasts, narrated articles from the newsroom and other publishers, as well as exclusive new shows, which were making available to readers for a limited time. Download the audio app here. Earlier this month, a news outlet called The Debrief published a story that included, to put it mildly, some explosive material. The story, reported by Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal, centered on David Grusch, a decorated former combat veteran who has worked in multiple government intelligence agencies and served on the Pentagons Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. In the story, Grusch said he had decided to come forward as a whistle-blower, testifying under oath that there are longstanding covert programs within the U.S. government that possess crash materials of nonhuman origin. His claims are backed by multiple on-the-record sources from the intelligence community. [You can listen to this episode of The Ezra Klein Show on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google or wherever you get your podcasts.] To the Editor: Re Daniel Ellsberg, 1931-2023: Whistleblower Who Unveiled U.S. Deceit in Pentagon Papers (obituary, front page, June 17): Thank you for the excellent obituary recounting the life, career and legacy of Daniel Ellsberg. I had the pleasure and honor of meeting Mr. Ellsberg in 2010 during one of the Portland, Ore., screenings of the documentary film about him, The Most Dangerous Man in America. After the Q. and A., I approached him and began to thank him, but even as I was about to tell him that I was born in Saigon during the Tet offensive of 1968, I began to lose my composure and eventually broke down in front of the entire crowd. Through my tears, gasps for air and apologies, I tried to convey my gratitude for a life that might have been drastically altered if it were not for his acts of courage, which I believe helped bring about the end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. With a patient smile, one palm gently placed on my shoulder, and the other still engaged in our handshake, he whispered his response, Thank you. Its impossible to know where I would have ended up as the half-American child of a U.S. soldier if the U.S. had not gotten out of Vietnam a couple of years after the Pentagon Papers were released. We first collected 235 surveys with over 574,000 responses total and found that, overwhelmingly, people believe that humans are less kind, honest, ethical and moral today than they were in the past. People have believed in this moral decline at least since pollsters started asking about it in 1949, they believe it in every single country that has ever been surveyed (59 and counting), they believe that its been happening their whole lives and they believe its still happening today. Respondents of all sorts young and old, liberal and conservative, white and Black consistently agreed: The golden age of human kindness is long gone. We also found strong evidence that people are wrong about this decline. We assembled every survey that asked people about the current state of morality: Were you treated with respect all day yesterday? Within the past 12 months, have you volunteered your time to a charitable cause?,How often do you encounter incivility at work? Across 140 surveys and nearly 12 million responses, participants answers did not change meaningfully over time. When asked to rate the current state of morality in the United States, for example, people gave almost identical answers between 2002 and 2020, but they also reported a decline in morality every year. Other researchers data have even shown moral improvement. Social scientists have been measuring cooperation rates between strangers in lab-based economic games for decades, and a recent meta-analysis found contrary to the authors expectations that cooperation has increased 8 percentage points over the last 61 years. When we asked participants to estimate that change, they mistakenly thought cooperation rates had decreased by 9 percentage points. Others have documented the increasing rarity of the most heinous forms of human immorality, like genocide and child abuse. Two well-established psychological phenomena could combine to produce this illusion of moral decline. First, theres biased exposure: People predominantly encounter and pay attention to negative information about others mischief and misdeeds make the news and dominate our conversations. Second, theres biased memory: The negativity of negative information fades faster than the positivity of positive information. Getting dumped, for instance, hurts in the moment, but as you rationalize, reframe and distance yourself from the memory, the sting fades. The memory of meeting your current spouse, on the other hand, probably still makes you smile. When the Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht coined the term solastalgia about two decades ago to describe a form of grief he later defined as the lived experience of the desolation of a much-loved landscape, he wasnt thinking specifically about the sky, but he might as well have been. Already many of us are experiencing something previously unimaginable: We are homesick for the sky. There have always been wildfires in North American forests, but the fires in Canada that sent the plumes over my Minnesota home are burning earlier than whats normal for Canada. Whats happening there mirrors whats happening in the Western United States, where the average annual number of wildfires has more than tripled since 1970. Some 37 percent of the cumulative areas burned by forest fires in the Western United States and southwestern Canada between 1986 and 2021 have been influenced by human-caused climate change. This year, above-average heat in Canada helped create the conditions ripe for a long and intense wildfire season, with at least 14.3 million acres of forest already burned. Officials call this unprecedented, and in the Northwest Territories alone, fires have already burned more than 60 times the average for a year. It seems certain that air quality concerns will continue as more fires than normal are expected throughout the year, promising more smoke across Canada and the United States in the months to come. About three decades ago, the environmental activist and author Joanna Macy argued that until the late 20th century, parents lived with the tacit certainty of something every previous generation had enjoyed. The certainty was that their children and childrens children would walk the same Earth, under the same sky. That certainty was now lost, she wrote, and that loss was the pivotal psychological reality of our time. Are we supposed to just get used to more smoke in the sky? With so much climate change baked into the future, the answer is probably yes. But this new reality feels overwhelming, especially as I imagine the rest of my childs life. Hundreds of time travelers in 1920s-era outfits took ferries to Governors Island earlier this month to attend the two-day Jazz Age Lawn Party, one of New York Citys most curious summer traditions. They wore flapper dresses with feather boas, pinstripe suits with black-and-white wingtips and lots of boater hats, cloche hats and bow ties. Gathered on picnic blankets in a grassy field, they passed the day sipping gin and tonics before dancing to hot jazz performed by the Dreamland Orchestra. A man wearing pink pants and suspenders drank beer from a Mason jar while his young son, also in suspenders, sat on his shoulders. Lines gathered outside a stand that sold newsboy caps and another that offered on-site tintype portraits. A pie contest included the category, Hobos Choice, which rewarded the confection most likely to be stolen off a back porch. The orchestra was conducted by the pencil-mustached bandleader Michael Arenella, who started the event in 2005. We were pretty much the first event out here, he said. It was maybe 50 people then. People are drawn to the Roaring Twenties because theres a youthfulness to the era. After the war, people were looking to have a good time, after their brush with mortality. When she was growing up, Shannon Maldonado wanted to be a fashion designer. After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology, Ms. Maldonado spent a decade on the design teams for several brands in New York, including Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and American Eagle. But by her early 30s, Ms. Maldonado said, she had become uninspired by her career. While traveling around the world for work, she liked hunting for unconventional souvenirs in hotel gift shops (her first purchase was a speckled ceramic pen holder in Japan). She started to wonder what it would be like to choose such items for shops at the Ace or Standard hotels. In 2015, Ms. Maldonado, now 39, recalled thinking, What if I start a modern gift shop? Soon after, she started a website, Yowie, that sold housewares, like ceramic cups and bowls. (When considering names for the website, yowie, an Australian word synonymous with yeti or Bigfoot, emerged as a favorite and stuck.) Ms. Maldonado soon quit her job at American Eagle to focus on the business. She moved to her native Philadelphia, where she hosted a series of Yowie pop-up shops before settling into a tiny store in the Queen Village neighborhood. Recently, she moved the store again, to a much bigger space on the ground floor of a new Yowie hotel designed and co-owned by Ms. Maldonado. The hotel is set to open this summer in Philadelphia. And now he can. Cuiffo and Hnath have created A Simulacrum, which includes both classic tricks (the ambitious card, the torn and restored newspaper) and some new ones. Unusually for a magic show, it also incorporates several tricks that fail. Because A Simulacrum, running through July 9 at Atlantic Stage 2, is less a demonstration of magic than a deconstruction of how and why magic is made. To perform it, Cuiffo, 45, had to unlearn most of his habits, to strip away any vestige of showmanship. This whole show is trying to answer that question of what is magic, said Cuiffo, sunk into a couch in his dressing room, deep underground at the Atlantic Stage 2 space in Chelsea, and dressed in magician-appropriate all-black. His offstage persona is fairly close to the stage one he favors rumpled, excitable, mildly sardonic, casually authoritative. Writing in The Times, Maya Phillips complimented his unflashy stage presence: Hes low-key, grounded in both his gestures and his manner of speech. If there is space between the man he is and the man he plays when hes making cards appear and disappear, he cant quite find it. If I had a therapist, maybe I could answer that, he said. Cuiffo, a familiar face Off Broadway, is unusual both in how he fuses magic and theater, which few performers do, and in how he appears to combine rigor with a seeming spontaneity. A federal judge in Arkansas on Tuesday struck down the states law forbidding medical treatments for children and teenagers seeking gender transitions, blocking what had been the first in a wave of such measures championed by conservative lawmakers across the country. The case had been closely watched as an important test of whether bans or severe restrictions on transition care for minors, which have since been enacted by 19 other states, could withstand legal challenges being brought by activists and civil liberties groups. It is the first ruling to broadly block such a ban for an entire state, though judges have intervened to temporarily delay similar laws from going into effect. In his 80-page ruling, Judge James M. Moody Jr. of Federal District Court in Little Rock said the law both discriminated against transgender people and violated the constitutional rights of doctors. He also said that the state of Arkansas had failed to substantially prove a number of its claims, including that the care was experimental or carelessly prescribed to teenagers. Rather than protecting children or safeguarding medical ethics, the evidence showed that the prohibited medical care improves the mental health and well-being of patients and that by prohibiting it, the state undermined the interests it claims to be advancing, wrote Judge Moody, who was nominated by President Barack Obama. A court in Georgia has ordered the owner of an auto-repair shop who disbursed a former employees wages with about 91,500 greasy pennies left in his driveway to pay nearly $40,000 in back pay and damages. The judgment said that the shop owner retaliated against the worker, who had asked for his final paycheck, and that he failed to pay overtime to the man and eight other employees. Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr., of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, issued the order in a lawsuit brought by the federal Department of Labor in 2021 against Miles Walker, the owner of A OK Walker Luxury Autoworks in Peachtree City, Ga. The claim alleged that Mr. Walker retaliated against Andreas Flaten, an employee, after Mr. Flaten reported that he had not been paid final wages of $915 after he resigned, a statement from the Labor Department said. Investigators learned that Walker later paid the former employees final wages of $915 by delivering about 91,500 oil-covered pennies and a pay stub marked with an expletive to the workers home, the Labor Department said. He also published defamatory statements about the former employee on the companys website. Kentucky Power's future plans for providing safe, reliable power will be outlined in an upcoming filing with the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC). The application will include a comprehensive rate review and a request to allow Kentucky Power to use a financial tool known as securitization. Securitization allows energy providers to refinance previously incurred costs, such as generation, storms and fuel over a longer period and at a lower financing rate. By securitizing a large portion of the rate base and excluding other proposals from the rate request, Kentucky Power has limited the proposed increase in revenue to an overall 13.6 percent. "We are sensitive to the financial hardships some of our customers are experiencing. Our team takes steps every day to ensure we are doing what is needed to keep power flowing while managing the costs to serve our customers," said Kentucky Power President and COO, Cindy Wiseman. The rate review proposal includes multiple customer benefits: Introduction of an optional seasonal tariff to address high usage during winter months. Expansion of tree clearing program aimed at increasing reliability. Increased funding for the company's energy assistance programs to allow more customers the benefit. Extension of bill due date from 15- to 21-days to give customers more flexibility. Kentucky Power initiated its last rate review in 2020. The filing for this new review will be made with the PSC on June 29, and new rates will likely take effect in early 2024. "We are committed to eastern Kentucky and will continue to be a leader in economic development and a strong community partner, working together with others to grow our region," said Wiseman. "Establishing new rates that are more reflective of current demands and the unique environment we serve will help ensure Kentucky Power is best positioned to provide the safest and most reliable service to our customers and communities." A rate review, or rate case, is a comprehensive and transparent process in which the PSC reviews the costs, business practices and rates of an energy provider. Complete case information can be found on the PSC's website. Kentucky Power's filing will detail their plan for providing reliable service to customers, and the PSC will determine whether the request is fair, just and reasonable for their customers. To learn more about utility rate cases visit, www.KentuckyPower.com/rates. Kentucky Power provides service to about 163,000 customers in 20 eastern Kentucky counties. It is an operating company of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), based in Columbus, Ohio, is powering a cleaner, brighter energy future for its customers and communities. AEP's approximately 17,000 employees operate and maintain the nation's largest electricity transmission system and more than 225,000 miles of distribution lines to safely deliver reliable and affordable power to 5.6 million regulated customers in 11 states. AEP also is one of the nation's largest electricity producers with approximately 30,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including more than 7,000 megawatts of renewable energy. The company's plans include growing its renewable generation portfolio to approximately 50 percent of total capacity by 2032. AEP is on track to reach an 80 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 levels by 2030 and has committed to achieving net zero by 2045. AEP is recognized consistently for its focus on sustainability, community engagement, and diversity, equity and inclusion. AEP's family of companies includes utilities AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana, east Texas and the Texas Panhandle). AEP also owns AEP Energy, which provides innovative competitive energy solutions nationwide. For more information, visit aep.com. MEDIA CONTACT: Sarah Nusbaum Corporate Communications Manager smnusbaum@aep.com Hamish Harding, a British explorer aboard the submersible missing in the North Atlantic, acknowledged in a 2021 interview that he had taken on deep-sea missions in the past knowing that rescue would not be an option. If something goes wrong, you are not coming back, he told the Indian newsmagazine The Week after he made a record-setting trip to Challenger Deep, the furthest depths of the Mariana Trench. At almost seven miles, the Mariana Trench is far deeper than the Titanic site that the submersible was set to visit, which is about two-and-a half miles down. On the 2021 trip, Mr. Harding, a 58-year-old British businessman, and Victor Vescovo, an American explorer, set a Guinness World Record for the longest time spent traversing the deepest part of the ocean on a single dive. Their 4-hour, 15-minute dive also set a record for farthest distance traveled along the deepest part of the ocean. It was potentially scary, but I was so busy doing so many things navigating and triangulating my position that I did not really have time to be scared, Mr. Harding told The Week. Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French maritime expert who has been on over 35 dives to the Titanic wreck site, is one of the five people aboard the submersible that has been missing since Sunday, according to his literary representative, Mathieu Johann. Mr. Nargeolet, 77, is the director of underwater research for RMS Titanic, Inc., an American company that owns the salvage rights to the famous wreck and displays many of the artifacts at Titanic exhibitions. The company conducted eight research and recovery expeditions between 1987 and 2010, according to its website. The dozens of dives Mr. Nargeolet has made to the wreck site include previous OceanGate expeditions on the Titan, the missing submersible. In 2022, he enabled the discovery of an extraordinarily biodiverse abyssal ecosystem on a previously unknown basalt formation near the Titanic, according to the company. Mr. Nargeolets company, RMS Titanic, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Sunday, in a statement on Twitter, it expressed heartfelt support to the Boston Coast Guard during their search and rescue mission but made no mention of Mr. Nargeolet. Years before OceanGates submersible craft went missing in the Atlantic Ocean with five people onboard, the company faced several warnings as it prepared for its hallmark mission of taking wealthy passengers to tour the Titanics wreckage. It was January 2018, and the companys engineering team was about to hand over the craft named Titan to a new crew who would be responsible for ensuring the safety of its future passengers. But experts inside and outside the company were beginning to sound alarms. OceanGates director of marine operations, David Lochridge, started working on a report around that time, according to court documents, ultimately producing a scathing document in which he said the craft needed more testing and stressed the potential dangers to passengers of the Titan as the submersible reached extreme depths. Two months later, OceanGate faced similarly dire calls from more than three dozen people industry leaders, deep-sea explorers and oceanographers who warned in a letter to its chief executive, Stockton Rush, that the companys experimental approach and its decision to forgo a traditional assessment could lead to potentially catastrophic problems with the Titanic mission. Congressional Republicans on Tuesday blasted the plea deal Hunter Biden reached with the Justice Department, accusing President Biden of orchestrating a lenient penalty for his son and promising to intensify their investigations of the Biden family. Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the agreement, in which Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors for failing to pay taxes on time and could avoid prosecution on a separate gun charge, continues to show the two-tier system in America. He and many other Republicans drew a contrast between the charges against Mr. Biden and the 37-count indictment the Justice Department unsealed this month against former President Donald J. Trump on charges that he mishandled highly classified national security documents and lied to and obstructed investigators looking into the matter. If you are the presidents leading political opponent, D.O.J. tries to literally put in you jail and give you prison time, Mr. McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol. If you are the presidents son, you get a sweetheart deal. Senator J.D. Vance, Republican of Ohio, used two recent hearings to argue that Housing First ignores the root causes of homelessness. The Cicero Institute, a Texas policy group, is promoting model state legislation that bars Housing First programs from receiving state funds. A documentary it produced with PragerU, a conservative advocacy group, cuts between critiques of Housing First and footage of people living in tents on the street and shots of drug use. The escalating war over an obscure social service doctrine is partly an earnest policy dispute and partly an old-fashioned rivalry between groups seeking federal funds. But it is also a new ideological and political flashpoint, with former President Donald J. Trump and others on the right using it to to promote their argument that homelessness in liberal cities is an indictment of Democratic governance more broadly. Joe Lonsdale, the tech mogul behind the Cicero Institute, has called Housing First part of a Marxist attempt to blame homelessness on capitalism, and Mr. Trump, in seeking a return to office, has pledged to place homeless people in tent cities. The attack on Housing First is the most worrisome thing Ive seen in my 30 years in this field, said Ann Oliva, chief executive of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, an advocacy group with bipartisan roots. When people have a safe and stable place to live, they can address other things in their lives. If critics succeed in defunding these successful programs, were going to see a lot more deaths on the street. Hunter Biden agreed with the Justice Department on Tuesday to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and accept terms that would allow him to avoid prosecution on a separate gun charge, a big step toward ending a long-running and politically explosive investigation into the finances, drug use and international business dealings of President Bidens troubled son. Under a deal hashed out with a federal prosecutor who was appointed by President Donald J. Trump, Mr. Biden agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his 2017 and 2018 taxes on time and be sentenced to probation. The Justice Department also charged Mr. Biden but, under what is known as a pretrial diversion agreement, said it would not prosecute him in connection with his purchase of a handgun in 2018 during a period when he was using drugs. The deal is contingent on Mr. Biden remaining drug-free for 24 months and agreeing never to own a firearm again. The agreement must still be approved by a federal judge. Mr. Biden is expected to appear in court in Delaware in the coming days to be arraigned on the misdemeanor tax charges and plead guilty. Hunter Biden has become in some ways a more extreme example of the phenomenon in an era when any restraint about a presidents family that might have existed in the past has long since vanished. His work in Ukraine helped lead to Mr. Trumps first impeachment, his laptop led to allegations that Twitter covered up on his behalf, his foreign financial ties have prompted sprawling congressional investigations and his turbulent personal life has produced much tabloid fodder. Many Americans have been persuaded that the presidents son has been up to something shady beyond the tax and gun charges at issue on Tuesday. A Harris Poll conducted last month for Harvards Center for American Political Studies found that 63 percent of Americans think Hunter Biden was involved in illegal influence peddling, and 53 percent said his father was somehow involved while vice president. Even some of the presidents Democratic allies have privately said there were legitimate questions about Hunter Bidens business dealings in Ukraine and China that seemed to trade on his name. Even as they emphasized that there was no evidence that his father abused his power in office as a result, they lamented that Mr. Biden had not done more to rein in his sons lucrative activities. Even so, none of those produced charges in Tuesdays deal, and the fact that it was brokered by David C. Weiss, the U.S. attorney who was first appointed by Mr. Trumps attorney general to investigate and was allowed to stay on the case by Mr. Bidens Justice Department, provided a useful rejoinder to allegations of favoritism. Mr. Weiss told Congress that he was granted ultimate authority over this matter. Democratic strategists doubted the issue would resonate with swing voters regardless. The Republicans have been all in on and constantly beating the Hunter Biden drum and while it certainly riles up their base, there isnt much evidence that the average voter feels impacted by this issue, said Cornell Belcher, a Democratic pollster who worked for President Barack Obama. But for a critical slice of Republicans those who represent competitive districts in state legislatures or in Congress, who support some degree of abortion rights, or, in some cases, presidential candidates the issue presents a particularly difficult balancing act. Their decisions and calculations are at the heart of the tensions over the abortion debate within the Republican Party in the post-Roe era. I was hearing from both sides strongly, said State Representative Mike Caruso of Florida, a Republican who opposed a measure ultimately signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that forbids abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, with a few exceptions. It was pretty much a ban on abortion. Ive got seven children, been through nine pregnancies, he added. I dont think I ever knew, we ever knew, that we were pregnant prior to six weeks. But, demonstrating the vastly different views on the issue within the party, State Representative Mike Beltran of Florida said that while he voted for the measure, frankly, I dont think it goes far enough. The federal judge presiding over the prosecution of former President Donald J. Trump in the classified documents case set an aggressive schedule on Tuesday, ordering a trial to begin as soon as Aug. 14. The timeline set by the judge, Aileen M. Cannon, is likely to be delayed by extensive pretrial litigation including over how to handle classified material and its brisk pace seems in keeping with a schedule set under the Speedy Trial Act. In each of four other criminal trials the judge has overseen that were identified in a New York Times review, she has initially set a relatively quick trial date and later pushed it back. The early moves by Judge Cannon, a relatively inexperienced jurist who was appointed by Mr. Trump in 2020, are being particularly closely watched. She disrupted the documents investigation last year with several rulings favorable to the former president before a conservative appeals court overturned her, saying that she never had legitimate legal authority to intervene. Brandon L. Van Grack, a former federal prosecutor who has worked on complex criminal matters involving national security, said the trial date was unlikely to hold considering that the process of turning over classified evidence to the defense in discovery had not yet begun. Still, he said, Judge Cannon appeared to be showing that she intended to do what she could to push the case to trial quickly. Stockton Rush, the chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions and one of the five occupants of the submersible missing this week in the North Atlantic, has advocated for deep-seas tourism in the face of criticism. His company proceeded with its tours despite the unanimous concern expressed by three dozen industry leaders in 2018. In an interview last year, he told The New York Times that high-resolution footage gathered on the Titanic tours could benefit researchers. No public entity is going to fund going back to the Titanic, Mr. Rush said. There are other sites that are newer and probably of greater scientific value. In the interview, he defended the price tag seats in the Titan cost up to $250,000. For those who think its expensive, its a fraction of the cost of going to space, and its very expensive for us to get these ships and go out there, said Mr. Rush, who founded OceanGate in 2009. And the folks who dont like anybody making money sort of miss the fact that thats the only way anything gets done in this world. The companies, listed alphabetically, are Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui and Sumitomo. Presently these are the only publicly traded investments that Berkshire owns in Japan. Their aggregate value considerably exceeds that of Berkshire-held public stocks in any other country outside of the United States. Excluding shares of treasury stock, Berkshire Hathaway's ownership interest in each of the five companies now averages more than 8%. This reporting of ownership interest is consistent with how Berkshire Hathaway reports its ownership interest in U.S. based publicly traded companies. Berkshire Hathaway's intention continues to be to hold its Japanese investments for the long term. Depending on price, Berkshire Hathaway may increase its holdings up to a maximum of 9.9% in any of the five investments. However, Warren E. Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has pledged that the company will make purchases only up to an ownership of 9.9% in any of the five investments. The company will make no purchases beyond that point unless given specific approval by the investee's board of directors. Earlier this year Mr. Buffett and Gregory E. Abel, Berkshire's Vice Chairman-Non Insurance operations traveled to Japan and met with the CEOs of each of the five companies. Mr. Buffett and Mr. Abel continue to be delighted with the investments and hope, eventually, to own 9.9% of each of the five companies. About Berkshire Berkshire Hathaway and its subsidiaries engage in diverse business activities including insurance and reinsurance, utilities and energy, freight rail transportation, manufacturing, retailing and services. Common stock of the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading symbols BRK.A and BRK.B. Cautionary Statement Certain statements contained in this press release are "forward looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are not guaranties of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those forecasted. As his few remaining hours with a place to live ticked by last Thursday, Scott Alexander panhandled near a McDonalds in Brattleboro, in southern Vermont, while running through a mental checklist of the supplies he would need for a move back into the woods nearby. He had a tent and sleeping bags for himself and his wife, a propane stove and a heater. But he needed tarps and propane, and in two hours of holding his battered cardboard sign Any Act of Kind Greatly Appreciate he had made only $3. It feels like a countdown, Mr. Alexander, 41, said as he eyed the storm clouds gathering overhead. Ill be up all night, trying to get ready. In the progressive bastion of Vermont, it was a point of pride that the state moved most of its homeless residents into hotel rooms during the coronavirus pandemic, giving vulnerable people a better chance of avoiding the virus. At least 41 inmates were killed on Tuesday morning in central Honduras after a riot broke out at the countrys only prison for women, one of the deadliest outbreaks of violence in the countrys long-troubled prison system. Most of the victims had been burned, while others had been shot, said Yuri Mora, a spokesman for the public prosecutors office, who added that the death toll was expected to rise as investigators combed through the detention facility in Tamara, near Tegucigalpa, the capital. While the cause of the violence was not clear, the prison has been the scene of ongoing conflict between feuding gangs. We are dismayed by the loss of human lives, Julissa Villanueva, vice minister of security and head of the Honduran penitentiary system, said in a news conference. The countrys penal system, she said, had been hijacked by organized crime. An austere greeting on the airport tarmac in Beijing sans a red carpet. A stone-faced handshake from Chinas top foreign policy official. A seat looking up at the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, perched at the head of a long table. To international audiences, the optics of Secretary of State Antony J. Blinkens two-day visit to Beijing barely raised any eyebrows. Foreign ministers are rarely, if ever, met with much fanfare at the airport. And an audience with a head of state alone is a sign of great importance and respect. But to nationalist-leaning audiences in China, especially on social media, the scenes tell a different story. To them, Mr. Blinken arrived only after months of pleading for an invitation. And during his visit, he was schooled on respecting Chinas interests and played supplicant to Mr. Xi. Chinese social media users gleefully noted that Mr. Blinken arrived on Fathers Day, the implication being using the parlance of the internet that Mr. Xi was Americas daddy. Andrew Tate, an antagonistic online personality known for his misogyny, has been indicted in Romania on charges including human trafficking and forming an organized criminal group related to the abuse of women, prosecutors there said in a statement on Tuesday. Mr. Tate, 36, a British American former kickboxer, had been living in Romania and was arrested there in December last year along with his younger brother, Tristan Tate, and two Romanian women. They were initially held in a Bucharest jail. The four have been under house arrest since April as investigations continued into the charges that were laid against them after they were arrested, which included a rape charge against one suspect as well as human trafficking and forming an organized criminal group. With the indictment, they will now face a trial in a Bucharest court, though it was unclear when that would take place. The European Commission on Tuesday unveiled a new trade doctrine aimed at curbing Chinas ability to squeeze Europes economy, and at preventing European companies from exporting sensitive, military-linked technology that could give China an edge. The policy, still in its early stages, highlights how the European Union is seeking to align itself with the United States in limiting Chinas access to sensitive markets and industrial secrets. It also reflects growing concerns about Beijings deepening alliance with Moscow. The announcement in Brussels came in a busy week for Europe-China relations. The Chinese premier, Li Qiang, is visiting Germany, where he met with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and business leaders on Tuesday before heading to meetings in France. The initiative also underscores how the European Union, one of the worlds biggest economies and a key trade partner to both China and the United States, is trying to manage its economic dependence on Beijing and avoid the kind of economic breakup with Russia that followed the invasion of Ukraine. Foreign intelligence services are increasingly targeting Germany, its domestic intelligence agency said on Tuesday, warning that espionage, cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns, particularly from China and Russia, pose a serious threat to the country. Though such assessments are issued annually, this years report was exceptional both for the strength of the warnings and as a measure of just how much Germanys security environment had changed in a year. Earlier this month, the government issued a comprehensive national security strategy for the first time, part of an expanding effort to confront Germanys vulnerability to new military, economic and geopolitical threats. Russias invasion of Ukraine and rising global tensions with China served as a backdrop to the countrys increased exposure to foreign interference, given its position both in NATO and as one of the most powerful countries in the European Union, the agency said. That might surprise some, said the archaeologist Monica Ceci, who oversees the site. Visitors may have a hard time imagining this, because the Shakespearean drama induces you to think that the murder was in the forum, she said. Caesar was actually assassinated at the Curia of Pompey, a large rectangular meeting hall where the Senate of Rome met occasionally. The emperor Augustus later declared the hall a locus sceleratus, or cursed place, and it was walled up. But Shakespeare could get away with a little artistic license, Ms. Ceci laughed. On the opposite side of the site, marble decorations and sculptures, for decades stored unseen in Romes archaeological warehouses, have been displayed in a long hall under the modern-day street. Its one thing to keep them in order on shelves, quite another to tell the history of this site through these fragments, Ms. Ceci said. Irina Lumsden, a data engineer visiting Rome from Melbourne, Australia, said that the site was transporting. Its amazing, you get such a feeling of ancient time here, she said Theyve done a great job of conserving the site. The area was rediscovered during excavations from 1926 to 1929, when the square was being demolished to make way for new buildings. The four temples unearthed were initially labeled with the first four letters of the alphabet because archaeologists were unsure which temples they had uncovered. Now they have been tentatively identified, though there is still scholarly debate: the Temple of Juturna, after a goddess of fountains, wells and springs, dating from the mid-third century B.C.; the Temple of Fortuna Huiusce Diei, or Fortune of the Present Day, built in the second century B.C.; the Temple of Feronia, a goddess of fertility, built about the end of the fourth century B.C.; and the Temple of Lares Permarini, dedicated to the protectors of navigation, or according to others to the Nymphs, and constructed in the early second century B.C. Russia unleashed dozens of attack drones across Ukraine before dawn on Tuesday, targeting the cities of Kyiv and Lviv, far from the front lines where Ukraines counteroffensive made small gains and Russian forces tried to seize more territory in eastern Ukraine. Moscows military also fired on rescue workers in the flood-stricken city of Kherson on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said, killing one person and injuring eight others while they were responding to the catastrophic effects of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam this month. The Interior Ministry of Ukraine said in a statement that unarmed State Emergency Service workers in Kherson had come under heavy shelling. Calling the workers heroes, it said that killing rescuers during one of the countrys largest man-made disasters was a manifestation of fear. The drone attack on Kyiv, the capital, was the first in more than two weeks. Russian forces repeatedly targeted the city throughout May, but recently there had been a relative lull with the notable exception of missile barrage fired at Kyiv last week while a delegation of African leaders visited to discuss a path to peace talks. Shot through the jaw and tongue by a snipers bullet last year in the last days of the grinding siege at the Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine, Senior Sgt. Maksym Kushnir could not eat or talk, and could barely breathe. But when he hobbled out of a bunker last May with hundreds of other wounded Ukrainian soldiers in a surrender negotiated with Russian forces, there was no medical help or any sign of the Red Cross workers they had been promised. Instead, Sergeant Kushnir, nine years a soldier and a poet since childhood, said he was taken on a two-day bus journey into Russian-controlled territory and left on a bed to die, with his jaw shattered and gangrene spreading across his tongue. I thought it was the end, he said. For the first three to four days, they did not do anything. They expected me to die on my own. Two Palestinian gunmen shot and killed four Israeli civilians on Tuesday afternoon outside a Jewish settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said, in the deadliest attack on Israelis since January. The shootings occurred at a restaurant and gas station next to the settlement of Eli, about 25 miles north of Jerusalem, video showed. An Israeli civilian shot and killed one of the assailants, a Palestinian from a nearby Arab town, and a second attacker was later shot in his getaway vehicle after a manhunt, security officials said. Hamas, the Islamist militia and political movement that controls the Gaza Strip, said that the attackers had been members of its armed wing and described the violence as a response to recent Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, police raids on a mosque in Jerusalem and military incursions in the northern West Bank. Hamas has often avoided direct acknowledgment recently of any involvement in West Bank violence. Its decision to claim responsibility this time raised the possibility of Israeli reprisals on Hamas leaders and infrastructure in both Gaza and the West Bank. ELKO A man who set his house on fire with a homemade flamethrower has been sentenced to up to seven years in prison. Charles J. Morrell, now 59, told police he thought former president Donald Trump and other people had broken into his home on West River Street in August 201. He used spray paint and lighters to make a homemade flamethrower. Morrell was originally charged with first-degree arson and possession of methamphetamine. He pleaded no contest to second-degree arson and was sentenced June 6 by District Judge Mason Simons to 32 to 84 months in prison. Morrell was listed as a resident of Las Vegas on his booking sheet. He was also ordered by the judge to pay $21,140 restitution to the property owner. Not since Eugene V. Debs campaigned from a prison cell more than a century ago has the United States experienced what might now happen: a prominent candidate with a felony conviction running for president. And never before has that candidate been someone with a real chance of winning. Former President Donald J. Trump faces no campaign restrictions. Though he has been charged with dozens of felonies across two cases, one federal and one in New York, verdicts are a long way off. And there are many uncertainties, including whether the proceedings will hinder Mr. Trumps campaign in practical ways or begin to hurt him in the polls in a way they have not so far. But if he is convicted on any of the felony counts, things get more complicated and the Constitution and American law have clear answers for only some of the questions that would arise. Others would bring the country into truly uncharted territory, with huge decisions resting in the hands of federal judges. Be honest: If you had to advise people on how to really understand this country, would you suggest they read the Declaration of Independence or watch all 44 seasons of Survivor? Some pieces of culture deliberately or not are so revealing, capture so much of a countrys essence that they can practically be read as foundational texts. We asked our columnists to pick the one piece of culture that, to them, best explains America. They came back with a wide range of answers from a 1979 Sugarhill Gang song to a literary classic. Each pick speaks to a different vision of this country and what it stands for, some more hopeful than others. But they all tell us something about the archetypes we root for, the mythologies we cling to and the ideals we clash over and share. Chartwell Strategy Group is providing strategic communications services to NSO Group, the Israel-based cybersecurity firm that developed the notorious Pegasus spyware. Pegasus, which can be installed remotely on phones without the owner knowing it, is licensed to intelligence and law enforcement services. The United States on Nov. 3, 2021, blacklisted NSO Group from receiving American technology after it determined that its software was used by foreign governments to maliciously target activists, journalists and political opponents. Hanan Elatr, widow of Jamal Khashoggi, filed a lawsuit in US District Court on June 15, claiming that Saudi Arabia put Pegasus on her cellphone to spy on her husband. NSO has denied that its software was used to bug Elatrs phone or that it had any involvement in the murder of Khashoggi. Chartwell reps NSO as a subcontractor to Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman law firm. It signed the NSO contract on Dec. 20, 2021 but the pact did not go into effect until Jan. 11, 2022 when Chartwell got a $100,000 payment from the company. The firm received $200K from NSO during the six-month period ended Feb. 28, 2023 for media outreach to outlets including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Foreign Affairs, Reuters, Politico, Boston Globe, Associated Press, and The Mail. David Tamasi, Chartwells founding partner and managing director, handles NSO. Riverside Co. Wants Vaccination PR Wed., Jul. 19, 2023 Riverside County, which is home to 2.4M southern Californians, is looking for a firm to develop a public health campaign that emphasizes the importance of getting COVID-19 and flu vaccinations. A fantastic week of racing with the final of the Irish Oaks in Shelbourne while in Towcester ten of the twenty four dogs in the quarter-finals of the English Derby were from this side of the Irish Sea. Adding in the semifinals of the Produce Stakes in Clonmel and quarterfinals of the Denis Linehan Open unraced in Cork it proved to be one of the best weeks of racing in a while. Another decent return of Offaly winners too. Early Week Racing Thursday, Enniscorthy, quarter-finals of a valuable A2 sweepstake with Da Little Rocket setting the standard for the B-Y-K-Syndicate in 29.82 (20 slow) by one length at 4/1. In Shelbourne Park, in the final of the Talking Dogs A4 stake, Mister Sandbag (Skywalker Rafa - Rylane Dubh) won the 2.25k first prize in 28.92 by one length also at 4/1 with Vincent McKenna training. First Offaly winner of the week was also at this meeting as Moneygall Aaron won an A3 race for Geashill trainer Margaret Bolton in 29.09 by two lengths at 5/2. Friday Racing Kilkenny held the final of the Coolavanny Hoffa @ Stud A1 stake, the 1k first prize went to Kapuka Warrior (Good News - Cruel Intentions) for Karol Ramsbottom in 29.01 (30 slow) by two lengths at 4/1. In Tralee, in the final of one of their big skates of the year, The Callaway Rambler @ Stud Race Of Champions AAO 550, the 15k purse went to one of the most consistent and fastest dogs in the country Ballinabola Ed (Confifent Rankin - Dolls Lady) who won his twentieth race for Pat Buckley, in 29.23 (10 fast) by three lengths, at 1/1 fav and has now amassed over 54k in winning prize money. Last years Oaks winner Rafa Mofo was second for Murt Leahy and got a cheque for 4K and she has now earned over 45k in her racing life. Another final in Tralee was the K.G.S.S.C Novice ON2 stake, Saleen Jet (Airmount Nando - Hunters Sophia) won the 1.25k for Pat OConnor in 28.31 (10 fast) by two lengths at a short 1/3 fav. Three finals of note in Shelbourne, with the favorites not to the fore in any, firstly the Talking Dogs A2 550/575 dual distance stake, Russmur Shane (Ballymac Best - Cabra Ash) won at 4/1 for Stephen Dunne in 31.87 by two lengths with a pot of 1.75k going his way. In the final of the This Runs Deep A2 525 stake, Lough Mistoki (Droopys Buick - Pipette) was first back in kennels for Jack Molloy in 28.63 by two lengths at 5/2 with a cheque of 2.5k on the way to him. The Sporting Press A1 525 stake concluded the finals with the 1.75k prize going to Lotto Other News (Good News - Shes Made It) and Shaun Conway in 28.45 by three lengths at 5/2. Saturday Racing The two best races in Curraheen Park in Cork were the semi-finals of the Denis Linehan Solicitors Open unraced stake, Droopys Flyline won the first for Rathangan trainer Robert Gleeson in 28.20 by eight lengths at 4/6 fav. A warm favourite also won the second as Jetara stopped the clock in 28.26 for Owen Mckenna by four lengths at 4/5 fav. If both of these manage to avoid trouble it should be a cracking buckle between them in Saturday's final. Dundalk held the quarter-finals of the Paddy and Eamonn Carroll Memorial A3 stake, Sunning Dale was first back in 28.60 by ten lengths for Francie Murray Jnr, it was a magnificent night for Murray at the county Louth track as he had six winners in total from his Crookedwood Kennels. In Galway, in the final of the GRI Spring A4 stake, it was a super win for an Offaly dog as Cappaneale Lulu (Good News- Lilly Lula) proved too strong for her rivals in 29.17 (10 slow) by five lengths at 4/6 fav with 2.5k going to Birr owners Micheal Pardy and Jack Carroll. This young dog has now won four of his five races and looks a real prospect for bigger things. Three Offaly winners in Mullingar, in an A6 contest, Coolree Best won for Daingean owner Eugene Glennon in 30.26 (50 slow) by six lengths at 2/1. In an A5 grade Dew Claw was first home for Edenderry trainer David Hanlon in 29.88 (50 slow) by seven lengths at 4/6 fav. In the best race of the night, in an A1 grade, Lingrawn Aoife won for Moneygall owner Liam Jones in 29.86 (50 slow) by a neck at 6/4. Undoubtedly the best racing so far in 2023 in Shelbourne Park took place in front of a huge crowd with over 70k given out in prize money. The final of the Sporting Press Online Edition Irish Oaks was the highlight with a brilliant line up. Six of the fastest bitches in Ireland went to traps with the 25k first prize going to Galway as Crafty Shivoo (Droopys Sydney - Ballymac Sanjose) won for Peter and Brian Divilly in a career best run of 28.14 by four lengths at 3/1. Although it was only her fifth career win she will now go into the record books as a Classic winner. Scooby Duchess was second for Jennifer ODonnell and received a runner up prize of 7.2k. The Offaly bitch in the final Droopys Timing for Paul Cronin didnt have any luck on the night and hit a lot of trouble to tail in at the rear of the field but better days ahead for her. In the final of the GRI Summer AO 525 stake, the 10k first prize pot went to the classicly bred Churchtown Syd (Droopys Sydney - Skywalker Pearl) for Cork trainer Denis Fitzgerald in 28.53 by six lengths at 3/1. Feelsawumble was second for Murt Leahy and got a 4K purse. English Derby Twenty four became twelve on Saturday night in Towcester after the quarter-finals of the Star Sports/TRC English Derby. Of the dozen remaining we have a brilliant six heading into Saturday night. On Saturday we won two of the four heats with the ever consistent Swords Rex in 28.93 (15 slow) and Gaytime Nemo in 28.94 (15 slow) both for Graham Holland. Of the six remaining, champion Irish trainer Holland has four, as well as the two winners he also has Clona Duke and Jacktavern Bella. Liam Dowling has Ballymac Finn with Burj Khalifa also in the draw for Brendan Mathews. Leading Irish bookmakers has Swords Rex as short as 6/4 fav to lift the English blue ribbon event with Romeo Command second favourite at 7/2 while Clona Duke is 6/1. 7/1 bar. Semifinals Saturday should be a cracker.Hopefully all Irish dogs will get trouble free runs and putting best foot forward. Fingers crossed. Sunday Racing Two Offaly winners at the matinee meeting in Mullingar, in an A6 race, Lingrawn Niamh had her ninth career win for Liam Jones again in 30.17 (50 slow) by one length, at a generous 8/1. In an A5 contest, Lahinch Jake won in 29.84 (50 slow) by six lengths at 5/1 for Clara owner P.J. Cleary. At the evening meeting in Clonmel, in the semi-finals of National Produce Stakes, three heats with two qualifying from each for Sundays final. The first semi went to the April winner of the Con and Annie Kirby Memorial Clonbrien Treaty in the fastest time of the night in 28.09 (10 slow) by three lengths at 2/1 with Holland training. The number one trainer also provided the next winner as Clona Shadow stopped the clock in 28.60 (10 slow) by four lengths at 3/1. Pat Buckley paraded the final heat winner as Ower Mystery won in 28.46 (10 slow) by four lengths at 4/1. As well as Hollands two and Buckleys one in the final the other three come from the kennels of Adam Dunford, Thomas ODonovan and Shiela Spillane / J.J. Fennelly. Clonbrien Treaty looks to have a bit in hand and seems to be the dog to beat. Upcoming Events Thursday, semi-finals of an A2 stake in Enniscorthy. Saturday, semifinals of the Star Sports/TRC English Derby, final of the Denis Linehan Solicitors Open unraced in Cork and semifinals of the Paddy and Eamonn Carroll Memorial in Dundalk. Sunday, final of the National Produce Skakes in Clonmel. Tribune Offaly dog of the week Cappaneale Lulu gets the nod this week for winning the final of the GRI Spring A4 sweepstake in Galway in a top class 29.17 (10 slow) for Birr owners Micheal Pardy and Jack Carroll. Well deserved. Offaly Winners Eight Offaly winners this week. Congrats to everyone who was involved with these in any small way. Want to immerse yourself in some summer romance? Theres a raft of new novels to choose from, whether youre after contemporary, historical or word-of-mouth recommendations. Here are 10 of the best 1. Talking At Night by Claire Daverley (Michael Joseph, Jul 6, 14.99) This cover is A beautiful, lyrical story of first love, we can't wait to share @ClaireDaverley's gorgeous debut, #TalkingAtNight, with you all this summer. Pre-order your copy via @Waterstones now: https://t.co/1y4DvSh4TN pic.twitter.com/XOXUwlwYAh Penguin Books UK (@PenguinUKBooks) May 5, 2023 Talking At Night is a generation-spanning romance about opposites Will and Rosie who meet as teenagers and fall in love over secret walks and phone calls. Despite events outside their control driving them apart, their lives come back together at different stages, rekindling that romantic chemistry. 2. The Rachel Incident by Caroline ODonoghue (Virago, Jun 22, 16.99) 'It's funny and nostalgic and the sex scenes are actually sexy it's everything I want from a summer book' @monicaheisey #TheRachelIncident by Caroline O'Donoghue is out a week today! Email lilly.cox@littlebrown.co.uk for last minute POS or proof requests for bookshops. pic.twitter.com/nG4ZiIQHX1 Little, Brown: Book News (@LBBookNews) June 15, 2023 This novel centres on Rachel and her gay best friend James, who form a close relationship while he tries to help her get closer to an attractive married professor, with complications and emotional turmoil following in their wake. Its set in Catholic Ireland so there are even more crosses to bear, but it will make you laugh and wince with its depiction of 20-something life, from the author of Promising Young Woman. 3. Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood (Sphere, 9.99) It's official Love Theoretically by New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood is OUT TODAY Get it now https://t.co/D6OFInfIrn #lovetheoretically #thelovehypothesis #alihazelwood pic.twitter.com/pniYlOzjGN The Little Book Cafe (@littlebookcafe) June 13, 2023 A science-backdrop romcom from the author of TikTok hits The Love Hypothesis and Love On The Brain sees a theoretical physicist by day make up her earnings as a fake girlfriend to her clients. All goes swimmingly, until she meets an attractive, arrogant older brother of her favourite client. 4. The Situationship by Taylor-Dior Rumble (#Merky Books, Aug 17, 8.99) cover reveal! shout out to @hollydrawsinink and the whole penguin team for their hard work on this. it feels so real now! preorders are super important for debut authors so hit that link in my bio to order your copy of #thesituationship! pic.twitter.com/i5rK1gNrDx taylor-dior rumble (@taylordiorr) April 28, 2023 Contemporary romcom in which a 20-something heroine goes on a dating app and instantly connects with a handsome photographer, who is everything she wants. He seems to be on the same page, but they remain two people dating who are more than friends but less than official. Its a fun read which explores emotional vulnerability and the pitfalls of modern romance. 5. Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth (Verve, Jun 22, 9.99) This tender debut set in a small Irish town in the early 1990s over one long, hot summer, sees a young woman struggling with her relationship with the handsome boy next door, when she becomes obsessed and falls in love with a female school friend and begins to lead a double life. 6. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (Bloomsbury, Aug 1, 18.99) A love story told in two time frames sees a married woman and three grown-up daughters return to the fold on a fruit farm in Michigan during Covid. To pass the time, the children ask their mother, a former actor, about her time in the 1980s in a theatre company, when she had an on-off romance with an actor who went on to become a famous film star. Through the timelines, she relives her earlier life as a promising young actor and the romance which she encountered. 7. A Song Of Me And You by Mike Gayle (Hodder & Stoughton, Jul 6, 16.99) Joyful to toast TWENTY FIVE YEARS of @mikegayle, his silver jubilee @HodderBooks. I asked everyone all the important questions eg Temptation by New Order or Temptation by Heaven 17 #ASongofMeandYou pic.twitter.com/6wIfMWMBn7 Katie Espiner (@kesp) June 8, 2023 Its 25 years since the bestselling authors debut, My Legendary Girlfriend, put Gayle at the forefront of a new trend emotional, funny and uplifting stories from male authors, with male characters at the heart of the narrative. His latest charts the fortunes of Helen and Brad, who parted as 18-year-olds and meet up 20 years later, when Helen is a part time teacher with a love rat husband. When Ben now a multi-millionaire rockstar turns up on her doorstep, can they rekindle the past? 8. Ever After by Kate Eberlen (Orion, Jul 6, 8.99) 'Heartbreaking and heart-mending. I adored it!' Laura Jane Williams Fall head over heels for the new novel from @KateEberlen, author of the runaway hit #MissYou This summer, fall in love with #EverAfterhttps://t.co/k2FQCU5teU pic.twitter.com/HragjOqMrG Orion Publishing (@orionbooks) June 15, 2023 The bestselling author of Miss You is back with an escapist, emotional, romantic story which follows Tess and Gus, who have a holiday romance but is their love strong enough to survive the challenges of two complicated lives? Set between Florence, Sicily, Margate and London. 9. The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (Macmillan, Jun 22, 8.99) TikTok stars and married couple Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka bring readers a tale about two erstwhile bright literary writers whose co-written book had topped the bestseller list. But following this, their partnership ended on bad terms (for reasons neither would divulge to the public) and they havent spoken since. However, theres one final book to deliver on contract and, facing crossroads in their lives, they are forced to reunite and end up in the tiny Florida town where they wrote their previous bestseller. Working through the reasons theyve hated each other for the past three years isnt easy, especially not while writing a romantic novel. 10. Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan (Hodder, 9.99) So I missed #NoraGoesOffScript but kept hearing how great it was, and then @ollie__martin sent me #SameTimeNextSummer, @AnnabelMonaghans latest, and I cannot tell you how much I loved it. But Ill try. pic.twitter.com/qznC73EOAk Laura Pearson (@LauraPAuthor) June 13, 2023 This nostalgic read from the bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script centres on a buttoned-up, engaged woman whos due to marry her conventional fiance. He wants to get married in Manhattan, but she takes him to her parents beachside holiday home on Long Island to look for an alternative venue and runs into her first love, who she hasnt seen for 14 years. ELKO REACH Air Medical Services has announced another investment to help save lives in Elko County. The air medical provider will now carry blood products on its Elko-based air medical helicopter. Stacey Ingram, program director for REACH, said packed red blood cells are now available to the medical crews to provide to patients who may be suffering from severe blood loss and require aggressive fluid resuscitation under their care. The addition of blood products to our aircraft is an important step in providing care at a moments notice to critically ill and injured patients, said Ingram. Early administration of blood products can help provide important stabilization for patients being transported to a higher level of care. REACH operates four air medical bases in Northern Nevada in Elko, Ely and Reno. CM Stalin together with his sister Selvi inaugurated Kalaignar Kottam: A dream comes true moment for CM Chennai oi-Oneindia English Desk The inauguration ceremony of Kalaignar Kottam in Thiruvarur happened today. CM Stalin inaugurated the Kottam which comprises Kalaignar's statue, a library in the name of Kalaignar's father Muthuvel, a museum which depicts the life history of Kalaignar, an assembly hall and 2 marriage halls. Thiruvarur's Kottam has an area of 7000 square feet and was built with an estimated cost of 12 crores from Dayalu Ammal Trust. The Kottam was built as a part of Kalaignar's centenary birthday celebrations and CM Stalin considers this as a tribute to his father Kalaignar. CM Stalin and his Dravidian model government is working hard for the implementation of various beneficial schemes and projects in each district which proclaims the glory of Karunanidhi. One such project is the Kalaignar Kottam in Thiruvarur. A place in history cannot be attained by concession, it should be earned by unwavering hard work. One such person who has earned a place in history through his hard work is Karunanidhi. To celebrate such a person's memory and his centenary birthday Thiruvarur became like a festival place today. The inauguration ceremony was graced by volunteers, party members, ministers, public etc. The Kottam was inaugurated by CM Stalin along with his sister Selvi. The Bihar CM did not attend the inauguration ceremony owing to health issues. Bihar's Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav attended the ceremony and inaugurated Muthuvel library. In the ceremony CM Stalin said that Kalaignar was born as a leader in Thiruvarur. Kalaignar Kottam serves as a testimony for the fact that he is still living in our hearts, said the CM. He thanked Bihar's Deputy CM for his participation in the function. He also said that leaders of the country should work together against the BJP by propagating the principles of democracy which are being tainted by the BJP government. He said that it is the responsibility of the public leaders to save democracy from BJP, failing which will lead to the disappearance of the 3000-4000 years old state Tamil Nadu. Allowing the continuation of the BJP regime will become an adverse situation for Tamil, Tamil Nadu and Tamil people. To avoid such a situation secular forces of Tamil Nadu should come together and act at once, said CM. He also said that he will attend the opposition parties meeting on 24th June, which is going to be conducted in Patna to light the lamp of democracy. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, June 20, 2023, 21:56 [IST] What is the controversy around 'Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway'? 'Adipurush' 1st Day Box Office Collection: Here's How Much It Is Predicted To Collect On Opening Day All India Cine Workers Association Write To PM Modi Seeking Ban On 'Adipurush' India oi-Deepika S All India Cine Workers Association has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a ban on 'Adipurush' screening in the theatres and OTT platforms in the future. "We need FIR against Director Om Raut, dialogue writer Manoj Muntashir Shukla and the producers of the film..," reads their letter. The letter further stated that 'Adipurush' with its screenplay and dialogues is defaming the image of Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman. "'Adipurush' Movie is Hurting religious Sentiments of Hindus and Sanatan Dharma. Prabhu Shri Ram is a God for everyone in India no matter what religious faith one comes from, this movie depicts Lord Ram and even Ravan who looks like a character of a video game, with dialogues hurting every Indian in the country and across the globe. Actor Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, and Saif Ali Khan shouldn't have been part of such a disgraceful movie ever made in the history of Indian Cinema, Adipurush is a complete disaster of our faith in Shri Ram and Ramayan," the letter said. Recommended Video Adipurush Ban: All India Cine Workers Association writes to PM seeking it's ban | Oneindia News Adipurush Writer Manoj Muntashir To Get Police Protection After He Cites Threat To Life Ayodhya seers seek ban on 'Adipurush' Seers in Ayodhya demanded an immediate ban on 'Adipurush' saying its dialogues made their blood boil as different parts of Uttar Pradesh witnessed protests against the film on Monday. Ayodhya seers alleged that the film was made as part of a foreign conspiracy against Hinduism and its culture. Acharya Satyendra Das, the chief priest of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, said, "The film's dialogues make our blood boil. The film should be banned immediately. The government should ensure that this does not happen again. It has been done intentionally." Mahant Ram Das, the chief priest of the Hanumangarhi temple in Ayodhya, alleged that the film was made under a "foreign conspiracy against Hindu religion and culture". "The dialogues delivered by the characters playing Lord Ram, Lord Hanuman and Goddess Sita will destroy the ideal culture of Ramayana. We urge the Centre that the film should be banned immediately. A religious film, before being cleared, should be reviewed by Hindu religious leaders," he said. After Kathmandu, Nepals Pokhara Bans Indian Movies Over 'Adipurush' Controversy 'Adipurush' Controversy The film has been mired in controversy since the release of its teaser as some Hindu groups objected to the portrayal of Lord Ram and other characters. They alleged that the film was inaccurate and inappropriate and that it would hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. Tapori language The action film 'Adipurush', based on the Sanskrit epic Ramayana has come under strong criticism for making the Hindu mythological figures speak the language of street thugs. In a scene where Lanka King Ravana's son sets Hanuman's tail on fire, the ardent devotee of Lord Ram has been made to say, "Kapda tere baap ka. Tel tere baap ka. Aag bhi tere baap ki. Toh jalegi bhi tere baap ki." "Jo humari behno ko haath lagaayenge, unki Lanka laga denge," a mythological character says in another scene. 'Adipurush' release halted in Nepal In Nepal, the film's release hit a snag as the screening was put on hold in cinema halls across Kathmandu following a controversy over a dialogue that calls Janaki the daughter of India. "Until the line 'Janaki is a daughter of India' contained in the South Indian film 'Adipurush' is removed not just in Nepal but also in India, no Hindi films will be allowed to run in Kathmandu Metropolitan City (sic)," Mayor Shah wrote on Facebook on Thursday. Govt employees to get 42 days' special casual leave if they donate organs Manipur To Invoke 'No Work No Pay' Rule For Employees Not Attending Office BYJU's Lays Off Close To 1,000 Employees Across All Departments: Report India oi-PTI Edtech major BYJU's has laid off close to 1,000 employees across departments as part of its restructuring process, sources aware of the development told PTI on Monday. The fresh round of firing comes at a time when the company has entered into a legal battle with lenders in the US for USD 1 billion term loan B. "BYJU's has laid off close to 1,000 employees. However, the final headcount of the company remains around 50,000 because of the addition of new employees," a source aware of the development told PTI. Recommended Video Byjus lays off 1000 employees as legal battle with US lenders rages on | Oneindia News BYJU's had announced cutting about 5 per cent of 2,500 employees over six months starting October 2022 as it unveiled the company's plan to become profitable by March 2023. Microsoft to layoff over thousands of employees today "The recent layoff is part of the company's cost optimisation process," the source said. An email query sent to BYJU's elicited no reply. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, June 20, 2023, 9:01 [IST] How BJP and Congress have spent on the elections in Karnataka Plea seeking right for NRIs to vote from respective countries rejected by HC EC Releases Assam Delimitation Proposals; No Change In Number Of LS, Assembly Seats India oi-Madhuri Adnal The Election Commission has proposed to retain the number of assembly seats in Assam at 126 and the Lok Sabha constituencies at 14 as it released the draft delimitation papers for the northeastern state. According to an official statement, the EC has proposed that the assembly seats reserved for Scheduled Castes be increased from eight to nine and Scheduled Tribe seats from 16 to 19. The EC draft of delimitation proposes to reserve 19 assembly and two parliamentary seats for STs, and nine assembly and one parliamentary seats for SCs. The poll body proposed that the number of assembly seats in the autonomous districts of West Karbi Anglong be increased by one and in Bodoland autonomous council areas by three (from 16 to 19). The EC has retained Diphu and Kokrajhar parliamentary seats reserved for ST and continued the Lakhimpur Parliamentary seat as unreserved. In Run Up To LS Polls, EC Begins 'First Level Check' Of EVMs, Papertrail Machines Across India According to the proposals, there will be one unreserved assembly seat in Dhemaji district. Two Parliamentary seats have been proposed for the Barak Valley districts. A parliamentary seat has been named as Kaziranga. The Election Commission has sought suggestions and objections till July 11 and it will visit the state next month. The Commission visited Assam from March 26-March 28 this year and held interactions with political parties, public representatives, civil society members, social organisations, members of public and officers in the state including chief electoral officer, deputy commissioners of all districts and district election officers regarding delimitation exercise in the State. In total, representations from 11 political parties and 71 other organisations were received and considered. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, June 20, 2023, 19:41 [IST] From Jet Engine Deal To Visa Wait Time Issue: What To Expect From PM Modi's Visit India oi-Prakash KL Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for his three-day official trip to the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. This is his sixth visit to the US since he assumed power in 2014 and this is his first official visit to the country. In his departure statement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the special invitation is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between the two democracies. "I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community. I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported India's proposal in December 2014 to recognize an International Day of Yoga," he said. This is an important point in the bilateral relationship and is a key symbol of the two nations growing closer together, according to experts. PM Modi Leaves For US, Closer Defence Ties On Agenda Recommended Video PM Modi US Visit: What will be the possible key topics of talks between Biden & Modi | Oneindia News What To Expect From This PM Modi's Much-Anticipated Visit? Stepping up defence cooperation, India and the US are poised to unveil a roadmap for industries in the sector to partner closely in co-production, co-development, and maintaining supply change during PM Modi's visit. The Defence Ministry had last week approved the procurement of 30 MQ-9B Predator armed drones from the US under a government-to-government framework. The procurement of the weaponised 'hunter-killer' drones from General Atomics was cleared at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, PTI reported citing people familiar with the matter. The nearly USD 3 billion deal is expected to be announced following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden in Washington. The Biden administration has given executive approvals for the manufacturing of the GE-F414 jet engine in India, in a multi-million-dollar deal with Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL). Called as a "crown jewel", this is for the first time that Washington is sharing this technology with a non-ally, Hindustan Times reported. "It is transformative. India will have access to the full engine. There are no black boxes here. The manufacturing in India is going to start with technology sharing of way over 50% which rises over the production cycle. There will be a flexible licensing agreement. India will have designs and sensitive technology. This is more tech transfer than the US has ever authorised. We are breaking through into new frontiers," said a person aware of the discussions. The GE and HAL will sign an MoU on the manufacturing deal during the PM's visit. A key topic that is likely to come for discussion during the PM's visit is related to visa wait time. India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu has confirmed in an interview that there will be talks on easing the waiting period of US visas for Indians. The US is expected to ask India to join the trade pillar under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to trade experts. Bilateral issues like market access for goods and restoration of India's Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) status by America may also come up for discussion, according to trade experts. The framework is structured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy, and fair economy (issues like tax and anti-corruption). India has joined all the pillars except the trade one. The visit also includes an address to the Joint Session of the US Congress on June 22. He will also address an invitation-only gathering of diaspora leaders from across the country at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington on June 23. Covid linked to spike in heart attacks? Here's what Health Minister says As Covid cases shoot up, Centre in huddle with State Health Ministers Mansukh Mandaviya Reviews Steps Taken To Deal With Cyclone Biparjoy Heatwave Fury: Health Minister Mandaviya Holds Key Meet India oi-Deepika S Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a high-level meeting on Tuesday to review the country's preparedness as several states continue to reel under intense heatwaves. Niti Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Dr Rajiv Bahl and India Meteorological Department (IMD) experts will join the meeting that will be held at 11:30 am, they said. Over the past few days, deaths due to heat stroke have been reported from different parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. The India Meteorological Department has predicted severe to very severe heatwave conditions in various regions such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Vidarbha, Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana among others. Heatwave: Death toll in UP's Ballia Hospital Rises To 68 Amid rising temperature, 68 people died in UP's Ballia in five days. In the neighbouring Bihar, 15 districts are in the grip of heat waves. In two days, 42 deaths have been reported in Bihar, including 35 from two Patna hospitals. On Monday, Odisha government confirmed the first heat wave related death and sanctioned an ex gratia of Rs 50,000 for the deceased's family. US supports Modi's goal of having 500 GW from renewable energy sources by 2030 IREDA Pavilion Engages With Global Stakeholders At Munich Exhibition India oi-Sanjeev Nayak The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) had set up a pavilion an international renewable energy expo to educate visitors about the organisation. The three-day "Intersolar Europe 2023" exhibition was held in Munich, Germany, last week. Visitors to the pavilion had the opportunity to learn about IREDA's initiatives in financing renewable energy projects, promoting energy efficiency, and supporting the growth of renewable energy sector in India, as per a release from the company. The pavilion also served as a platform for networking and exploring potential business opportunities with IREDA, especially at the crucial time of energy transition and initial public offering (IPO) plan of IREDA, a Mini Ratna (Category-I) public sector enterprise under the administrative control of Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Inaugurating the pavilion, IREDA CMD Pradip Kumar Das said, "Intersolar Europe provided a valuable opportunity for IREDA to showcase our accomplishments and expertise in 'renewable energy financing' domain. It allowed us to engage with global stakeholders to foster collaborations, exchange ideas and drive the transition towards a greener and more sustainable future." At the exhibition, team IREDA held meeting with KfW Development Bank to review the progress of the current line of credit, technical assistance and discussed potential future collaborations to support new and emerging renewable energy technologies. A meeting was held also with Commerz Bank, Germany, to explore collaborative opportunities and advancing partnerships. IREDA officials also visited RCT GMbH at Konstanz, and a brief presentation was made by them on their global operations. RCT GMbH is the technology provider for Indosol solar manufacturing project. The two sides discussed the technology, milestones, and capital & operating expenditures for the project. IREDA's participation in "Intersolar Europe 2023" highlights its commitment to contributing to the global renewable energy landscape and fostering sustainable development practices. Through collaborative efforts and innovative solutions, IREDA continues to play a pivotal role in India's journey towards achieving its renewable energy goals and addressing the challenge of climate change, the release said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, June 20, 2023, 15:27 [IST] Chinese President Xi Jinping recently sent a congratulatory letter to the Forum on Global Human Rights Governance. Noting that China advocates safeguarding human rights through security, Xi stressed the need to respect all countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity, jointly follow the path of peaceful development, act on the Global Security Initiative (GSI), and create a secure and peaceful environment for realizing human rights. Xi's remarks profoundly expounded on the relations between security and human rights, and emphasized the significance of acting on the GSI for realizing human rights, offering a Chinese plan for maintaining a secure environment for safeguarding human rights. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person, said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Peace and security is the basic prerequisite for the promotion and protection of human rights. Without peace and security, all human rights cannot be realized. At present, global human rights governance is facing severe challenges characterized by emerging threats against world peace and security. Regional security hotspots keep flaring up, local conflicts and turbulence occur frequently, and traditional and non-traditional security threats are entwined. At a time when humanitarian crises created by wars and conflicts are still troubling Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and other countries, a few countries are arbitrarily instigating confrontation, creating contradictions and intensifying conflicts, bringing new security threats to the world. "Security is the precondition for development. We humanity are living in an indivisible security community," Xi said in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022 in April last year. In the speech, he solemnly proposed the GSI, stressing that the world should stay committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and work to create a new path to security featuring dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance and win-win over zero-sum. What he said has been broadly recognized and supported by the international community. In February this year, China officially released the Global Security Initiative Concept Paper, which systematically explains the core ideas and principles of the GSI, and identifies the priorities, platforms and mechanisms of cooperation. The GSI provides ideas for solving global security issues and demonstrates China's wisdom in improving global human rights governance through maintaining world peace and stability. Ong Tee Keat, chairman of Malaysia-based think tank the Center for New Inclusive Asia, noted that the universal and inviolable value of human rights is being endlessly and severely tested in global governance today. He believes the GSI addresses both traditional and non-traditional security issues, and lays a foundation for building a new security framework. It is China's distinctive aspiration to achieve lasting world peace, so that all countries can enjoy a peaceful and stable external environment and their people can live a happy life with their rights fully guaranteed. China's efforts to implement the GSI and build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture are expected to create a more peaceful and secure environment for the world and ensure a realistic basis for protecting and realizing human rights. On the Ukraine crisis, China always stands on the side of peace. Its core stance is to facilitate talks for peace. It advocates for jointly improving the humanitarian situation in the regions and has offered batches of humanitarian assistance. The country has worked to help Saudi Arabia and Iran resume bilateral diplomatic ties, which has promoted reconciliation in the Middle East and offered a rare opportunity for alleviating humanitarian crises in Syria, Yemen and other countries. China supports the peaceful reconstruction of Afghanistan, continues to assist within its capacity for the reconstruction and development of the country, and helps to solve Afghanistan's humanitarian and refugee issues. These concrete actions to maintain world peace and stability demonstrate that China is a responsible major country in improving global human rights governance. The common interest of all humankind is in a world united and peaceful rather than divided and volatile, which helps protect and promote human rights. To maintain international peace and security, promote economic and social advancement and encourage respect for human rights are the three missions of the United Nations stipulated in the UN Charter. China always adheres to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, respects all countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity, and does not interfere in other countries' internal affairs. It supports all countries to choose independently the path for human rights development in accordance with their national conditions, and opposes arbitrary blockades, sanctions and other hegemonic practices against other countries. China always believes that human rights should not be used as an excuse for meddling in other countries' internal affairs or holding back their development, and human rights issues should not be politicized, weaponized or instrumentalized. It opposes any practice to undermine world peace and stability under the disguise of human rights. The issue of security bears on the well-being of people of all countries, the lofty cause of world peace and development, and the future of humanity. China will stay committed to the path of peaceful development. It is ready to work with the international community to follow the GSI and build a world that is free from fear and enjoys universal security, making constant contributions to protecting and promoting human rights. Khalistani Leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun Reportedly Untraceable Since 48 Hours India oi-Madhuri Adnal If media and Twitter speculation is to be believed, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the founder of pro-Khalistan outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) is reportedly untraceable since 48 hours. The development comes a day after designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who headed pro-Khalistan outfits Khalistan Tiger Force and the Canadian arm of SFJ, was shot dead by unknown attackers at a parking lot of a gurdwara in Surrey, Canada, on Monday. It must be noted that in just over a month, three Khalistani separatists including Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who were wanted in India have died. In May, news emerged regarding the killing of Paramjit Singh Panjwar, a 63-year-old Khalistani terrorist based in Pakistan. Khalistani Head in Canada Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is reportedly untraceable since last 48 hours. Hoping for some good news. pic.twitter.com/1RiNoLl0Ou Prof.N John Camm (@njohncamm) June 20, 2023 Who Is Gurpatwant Singh Pannun? Pannun, a lawyer based in New York, USA, reportedly hails from Khankot, a village in Punjab's Amritsar district. According to The Caravan, Pannun established Sikhs for Justice in 2007 while residing in the United States. Recommended Video Khalistani Leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun reportedly untraceable since 48 hours | Oneindia News Pannun has been actively involved in lobbying for the cause of Khalistan and has been organising events and rallies in different parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. He is spearheading a campaign 'Referendum 2020'. He has issued an appeal to Punjab based gangsters and youth to fight for the cause of independent state of Khalistan. He has demanded a separate Sikh state on the pattern of Catalonia, Spain. He also travelled to Spain for studying the referendum on self-determination that held in Catalonia, Spain in 2017. Pannun has also been involved in filing lawsuits against Indian officials and institutions in international courts, alleging human rights violations against Sikhs. In 2020, Pannun was declared a designated terrorist by Government of India and his agricultural land was attached under Section 51A of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Pannun is currently facing 22 criminal cases, including three of sedition, in Punjab, India. Khalistani Leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar Killed In Canada: Know All About KTF Chief In October 2022, Interpol rejected India's second request to issue a Red Corner Notice on terror charges against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, citing not enough information. Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a separatist organization, has been banned in India due to its activities that aim to foster animosity among various groups and incite Khalistan sentiment within the Sikh community. However, the founder of SFJ, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has not faced any consequences thus far. Crackdown on Khalistan movement In a concerted effort to curb separatist sentiment, India has taken strict measures against organisations and individuals involved in activities aimed at fueling division in various countries. On September 23, India issued an advisory urging Indian nationals and students residing in Canada to maintain a state of vigilance due to the rising incidents of crimes and anti-India activities within the country. In response to the resurgence of militancy in Punjab, Indian diplomats have engaged in discussions with various foreign governments, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has taken proactive steps in addressing this issue, reflecting their heightened focus on the matter. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also expressed his concerns regarding this during his recent visit to Australia, emphasising the need for collective action in countering the threat. Case Against Caller Who Threatened To Carry Out 26/11-Like Attack If Seema Haider Not Sent Back Mumbai Police Registers Case Against 'Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah' Producer, 2 Others India oi-Prakash KL 'Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah' producer Asit Modi, Operation Head Sohail Ramani and Executive Producer Jatin Bajaj are in trouble as Mumbai Police has filed a case against them based on a complaint by one of the show's actors. The First Information Report (FIR) has been registered under Sections 354 and 509 (Assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), ANI reported. However, no arrests have been made yet. In May, the actress filed a written sexual harassment complaint against producer Asit Modi and others. However, Asit Kumar Modi had denied the allegations and said that he would take legal action against the actress. "We will take legal action as she is trying to defame me and the show both, since we terminated her services, she is making these baseless allegations," Asit Kumar Modi said. "She lacked basic discipline on the set and was not focusing on her work. We regularly had to complain to the production head about her behaviour. On her last day she was abusive in front of the whole unit and left the set without finishing her shoot," ANI quoted the team of directors of the show including Harshad Joshi, Rushi Dave and Arman about the actress as saying. Project head Sohail Ramani and executive producer Jatin Bajaj had accused her of misbehaving on the sets. "She regularly misbehaved on the show with the entire team. While moving out from the shoot, she rashly drove her car out at very high speed not caring for people in her way. She even damaged the set property. We had to terminate her contract because of her bad behaviour and indiscipline during the shoot. During this incident, Asit ji was in the USA. She is now trying to defame us and the show by making baseless allegations. We have already filed our complaint against these baseless allegations with the concerned authorities," they added. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, June 20, 2023, 10:51 [IST] Odisha Train Mishap: CBI Team Grills Suspect Jr Engineer For 6 Hours India oi-Sanjeev Nayak The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating into the Odisha triple train accident, has interrogated the railway's Signal Junior Engineer (JE) Amir Khan, one of the suspects in the incident, as it continues with its probe into the horrific tragedy. The ghastly train accident that occurred at Bahanaga railway station near Balasore on June 2 claimed the lives of around 300 passengers and left over a thousand injured, many of them seriously. The injured passengers are undergoing treatment at the AIIMS in Bhubaneswar. According to reports, a CBI team reached Khan's house located near Annapurna Rice Mill in Soro, and questioned him about the sequence of events that took place just before the accident as he was the Signal JE in Soro section and the accident site comes under him. According to reports, the interrogation went on for more than 6 hours. Earlier reports suggested that when the team went to Khan's house, they found it locked and sealed it as they failed to ascertain the whereabout of Khan and his family. However, a railway spokesperson has dismissed the reports. In a tweeted video, he clarified that no such thing has happened and none of the railway staff has gone absconding. https://twitter.com/SpokespersonIR/status/1671056830435569670?s=20 Recommended Video Odisha Train Accident: CBI seals junior engineers residence, goes missing with family|Oneindia News After taking over the probe on June 6, the CBI team conducted an on-the-spot investigation and left Balasore on June 16. However, they returned yesterday and visited the station master's house. The investigating agency is said to have deputed two sleuths to keep a watch on the house, according to a news agency report. Electronic interlocking systems installed at the stations provide vital information about the status of the trains. Railway officials had raised suspicions of deliberate sabotage. They insisted that the train accident was possibly a result of tampering by "deliberate interference with the electronic interlocking system." The needle of suspicion obviously points to the Signal JE as he is the one responsible for installing, maintaining and repairing the signalling equipment, including point machines, interlocking systems and signals, etc. In short, they play a vital role in ensuring train operations run smoothly and safely. In a report, Times of India quoted Khurda DRM Rinkesh Roy as saying, "You get green signal only after fulfilling all the pre-conditions such as whether the route is set and everything is right. Even if there is a minor problem, technically, there cannot be a green signal in any circumstance; it becomes red. It can't go green unless and until someone has tampered with it, someone has physically tempered with it." After the allegations of tampering with the electronic interlocking system came to the fore and suspicion of a criminal intent behind the incident grew, the investigation was handed over to the CBI. According to a media report, five railway employees, including Khan, are under CBI's radar now. The CBI has already filed an FIR in the matter. As soon as it began its investigation, the CBI seized the log book, relay panel and other equipment and sealed the station. The relay interlocking panel was also sealed. This blocked the access of personnel to the signal system. Hence, it was decided that no passenger or goods train will stop at Bahanaga station until further notice. If Govt Does Not Act, We Will: Supreme Court Warns After 2 Manipur Women Paraded Naked By Mob Panchayat Polls: SC Rejects Bengal Govt's Plea Against Deployment Of Central Forces India oi-Deepika S The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the West Bengal government's plea against the deployment of central forces during the panchayat polls. The apex court further noted that holding elections cannot be a license to allow violence and considering that West Bengal has a history of such poll-related violence, and such deployment seems necessary. The top court made the remarks while hearing a plea challenging an order of the Calcutta High Court directing the State Election Commission (SEC) to requisition and deploy central forces across West Bengal for the panchayat elections. A vacation bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Manoj Misra said the fact remains that the tenor of the high court order is ultimately to ensure free and fair elections in the state since it is conducting local body polls on a single day. On June 15, the Calcutta high court directed the SEC to deploy central forces across West Bengal for the panchayat elections within 48 hours. The court had noted that no appreciable steps had been taken ever since it passed an order on June 13 to deploy central forces in sensitive areas for the poll process. The high court had directed the SEC to requisition central forces for deployment in all the districts of the state that were rocked by violence during filing of nominations for the July 8 panchayat elections. Enormous Good Fortune For Country To Have Somebody Like Him: Jaishankar Hails PM Modi Opposition Mantra Is Of, By And For Family: PM Modi What Happened With Daughters Can Never Be Forgiven: PM Modi On Manipur Parade Incident PM Modi Gets Grand Welcome as He Lands In New York For 3-Day US Visit | Watch India oi-Madhuri Adnal Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a rousing welcome as he arrived in New York on Tuesday on the first leg of his maiden state visit to the US during which he will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters and hold bilateral talks with President Joe Biden in Washington. "Landed in New York City. Looking forward to the programmes here including interaction with thought leaders and the Yoga Day programme tomorrow, 21st June," Modi tweeted. Landed in New York City. Looking forward to the programmes here including interaction with thought leaders and the Yoga Day programme tomorrow, 21st June. pic.twitter.com/6V5gHglLCg Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 20, 2023 The prime minister was received at the airport by Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu and India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj. Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, who will host him at a state dinner on June 22. The visit includes an address by the prime minister to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. Praise for Modi flew thick and fast as an enthusiastic group of Indian Americans heartily raised slogans in support of the prime minister amid tightened security measures outside the hotel he will stay tonight. PM #NarendraModi reaches the US on a historic state visit;gets a warm welcome at the New York Airport.#ModiInUSA pic.twitter.com/4QHgerOPLx All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) June 20, 2023 In his departure statement, Modi said this "special invitation" from President Biden and the First Lady for a state visit is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between the democracies. Leaving for USA, where I will attend programmes in New York City and Washington DC. These programmes include Yoga Day celebrations at the @UN HQ, talks with @POTUS @JoeBiden, address to the Joint Session of the US Congress and more. https://t.co/gRlFeZKNXR Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 20, 2023 "I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community," the prime minister said. "I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported India's proposal in December 2014 to recognise an International Day of Yoga," he said. PM Modi Likely to Stay At Willard InterContinental During US Visit: Know All About It Nine years after Prime Minister Modi first proposed from the United Nations General Assembly podium to mark International Yoga Day as an annual commemoration, the Indian leader will for the first time be at the UN Headquarters to lead the yoga session in a historic commemoration of the day. From New York, Modi will travel to Washington D.C. where he will hold talks with President Biden. The prime minister noted that President Biden and he have had the opportunity to meet several times since his last official visit to the US in September 2021. "This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership," Modi said. Modi said his discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders will provide an opportunity to consolidate bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity). The prime minister said he will also join President Biden and the First Lady for the state banquet along with a number of dignitaries. Noting that the US Congress has always provided strong bi-partisan support to India-US ties, Modi said that during his visit, he will address a joint session of the US Congress at the invitation of the Congressional leadership. "Strong people-to-people linkages have been instrumental in developing the trust between our countries. I look forward to meeting the vibrant Indian-American community that represents the best of our societies," he said. "I will also meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating our trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains," Modi said. Modi will also meet business leaders, interact with the Indian community and meet thought leaders from different walks of life. "We seek to deepen India-USA ties in key sectors like trade, commerce, innovation, technology and other such areas," he said. The US is India's largest trade partner in goods and services, and the two countries collaborate closely in the fields of science and technology, education, health, defence and security, the prime minister said. The initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration in defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, artificial intelligence and biotech sectors, he added. "Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific," he said. Modi expressed confidence that his visit to the US will reinforce ties between the two countries based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. "Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges," Modi said in his statement. From the US, Modi will travel to Egypt at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. PM Modi In US: What Is State Visit and How It Is Different From Earlier Ones? India oi-Prakash KL Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. They will host Modi at a state dinner on June 22. The visit also includes an address to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. Although he had previously visited the US on six occasions since becoming the Prime Minister of the country, this time it is different from his previous ones as it is his first 'state visit'. So, what is a 'state visit' and how it is different from PM Modi's six earlier visits to Washington? The 'state visit' is the highest-ranking visit which can only be offered to a chief of state (the President of a country or a reigning monarch like Britain's Queen Elizabeth). However, it must be at the invitation of the US president. By definition, it involves more pomp and ceremony than an official visit. "Typically, there is an invitation. There are about six months of planning leading up to the White House events," Matthew Costello, vice president and interim director of the David M Rubenstein National Center for White House History, told PTI in an interview. PM Modi In US: Who All Will PM Meet Besides The Bidens? Recommended Video PM Modi US Visit: What will be the possible key topics of talks between Biden & Modi | Oneindia News Grand Welcome During a state visit, various key events take place, including a meeting with the US president, a grand state dinner held at the White House, a ceremonial arrival and departure ceremony with full honours on the south grounds of the White House, and a notable 21-gun salute. The exchange of gifts is customary, and spouses are invited to attend the ceremonies and dinners. Additionally, there are ample opportunities for press availability and photo sessions. The visiting guest will be offered a room for four days and three nights at Blair House, the President's official guest house. However, the Indian Prime Minister reportedly stays at a hotel next door and not at the Blair House. On the day of the state visit, there will be a state arrival ceremony at the White House, typically on the South Lawn. The President and the visiting Head of State will exchange remarks. "They'll listen to the national anthems of the respective countries, review their troops, and then they'll go into the White House for conversation, and diplomatic exchanges later that night, there is a state dinner held in their honour, and then they spend the night there as the overnight guest of the President, the First Lady at Blair House, the president's official guest house," Costello said. Dinner The menu at the dinner usually showcases a blend of culinary traditions from the guests of honour, infused with an American touch. It symbolizes the harmonious bond between the hosts and the guests. Here, the business part takes the backseat and the bonhomie takes the centre stage. However, this dinner is not just about fancy meals. It is about an acknowledgement and respect for the visiting country, its culture, and its ideals. There is also a lot that goes on to show about the shared ideals, goals and objectives that highlight that the two countries can work together as a united bilateral relationship. Indian-American Congressman To Escort PM Modi For His Joint Address To US Congress As a result, this invitation is considered very coveted and many leaders of other countries want to go to the White House. "That's beneficial to them, not only in terms of their political capital at home, but it's beneficial to them on the international stage. People start to recognise and acknowledge that this person has quite a bit of leeway. They have a good relationship with the President," he said. Brief History of State Visits The first state visit to the US is recognised as that of King Kalakaua of Hawaii in 1874. It started becoming more elaborate, probably beginning with the (John F) Kennedy administration. "Before that, they were fairly straightforward, there were state dinners, obviously, throughout Franklin Roosevelt's time, but the United States was fighting World War II, so they had to be mindful of not overspending, and not seeming too extravagant," Costello said. "But when we get to the Kennedy administration, a big part of this is the Kennedys themselves; they used these occasions not only for diplomacy, but as an opportunity to demonstrate and display some of the best of American culture," he added. How Many State Dinners Have Bidens Hosted? President Biden has only twice previously extended such an invitation to French President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Yoon. How State Visits Are Different From Official Visits? Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited the US six times since 2014 and met three Presidents: Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. However, this is the first time that he is on a state visit. The two other Indians to make a state visit to Washington are: Former President S Radhakrishnan (June 3-5,1963) and former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh (Nov 23-25, 2009). Unprecedented Trust Between India, US: PM Modi In WSJ Interview There is not much difference between a state visit and an official visit except for the rank of the visitor and the varying number of gun salutes. Normally, a head of state, and not the head of government is invited for a state visit. This is a significant development as the President is the head of the state in India. However, what makes this official visit more special is Modi was denied the US visa in 2005 under a 1998 US law that bars entry to foreigners who have committed "particularly severe violations of religious freedom". The United States distanced itself from Modi after the 2002 Gujarat riots. The United States lifted the decade-old visa ban on Narendra Modi after he came to power in 2014. PM Modi Kicks off Key Visit to US; to Lead Yoga Session at UN Headquarters Today India oi-Madhuri Adnal Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead a unique yoga session on Wednesday in a historic celebration to commemorate the 9th International Day of Yoga at the UN Headquarters here that will see participation from top UN officials, envoys from across and the world and prominent individuals. "Landed in New York City. Looking forward to the programmes here including interaction with thought leaders and the Yoga Day programme tomorrow, 21st June," Prime Minister Modi tweeted. Modi is here on the first leg of his first state visit to the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Nine years after Prime Minister Modi first proposed from the United Nations General Assembly podium to mark International Yoga Day as an annual commemoration, the Indian leader will for the first time be at the UN Headquarters to lead the yoga session in a historic commemoration of the day. Watch: Indian Community Welcomes PM Modi at Lotte New York Palace Amid 'Modi, Modi' Chants India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj told PTI in an interview that the yoga celebration this year will be a very "unique occasion" because it was Prime Minister Modi who had given this vision and it was his leadership that ensured that June 21 every year is celebrated as International Yoga Day. "So about nine years later, the author of that vision comes to the United Nations," she said, adding that now Yoga Day is a UN-mandated occasion. "So the coming together of the two- the visionary leader and the United Nations, I think, is in itself very unique," Kamboj said. She said that the yoga event is generating a lot of anticipation and excitement and is very heavily subscribed. "The international element is very high. There's a lot of interest, which is in itself, I would say, a sort of attribute to yoga, this ancient Indian practice, the fact that it has transcended all borders and it has become a global phenomenon." Kamboj added that the "fact that there will be children performing yoga onstage is very unique. So altogether I think it is going to be quite a one of its kind event." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his message for Yoga Day, said yoga unites. "It unites body and mind, humanity and nature and millions of people across the globe for whom it is a source of strength, harmony and peace," he said. "In a dangerous and divided world, the benefits of this ancient practice are particularly precious. Yoga offers a haven of calm, it can reduce anxiety and promote mental well-being. It helps us to develop discipline and patience. It connects us to our planet, which so badly needs our protection," Guterres said. He added that yoga reveals "our common humanity, helping us to understand that despite our differences, we are one. On this International Day of Yoga, let us embrace the spirit of unity and resolve to build a better, more harmonious world for people, planet and ourselves." The Yoga session will run from 8 to 9 am on June 21 at the expansive North Lawn in the UN Headquarters, where a bust of Mahatma Gandhi, a gift from India to the UN, was installed in December last year during the country's Presidency of the UN Security Council. Prime Minister Modi will be paying his respects to the bust of Mahatma Gandhi that now "proudly adorns" the North Lawn of the UN headquarters where the yoga will also be conducted. "There is also a memorial to the fallen Peacekeeper which is, I think, very poignant and very significant given that India is the largest troop and police contributing country," to UN peacekeepers, Kamboj said. The historic yoga session is expected to be attended by top UN officials, ambassadors, envoys, delegates from Member States as well as prominent members of the global and diaspora community. The advisory for the event encourages guests and attendees to wear Yoga-friendly attire for the special session and added that Yoga mats will be provided during the session. "Welcome to take it home as a souvenir," it said. People from more than 180 countries will participate in Prime Minister Modi-led Yoga Day celebrations here, representing different walks of life and comprising diplomats, artists, academicians and entrepreneurs among others, sources said. UN officials, agencies and member states have said they are "looking forward" to participating in the historic event. "Looking forward to participating in the 9th International Day of Yoga celebrations @UN with Prime Minister @NarendraModi at the UNHQ North Lawn next week," UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, the highest-ranking woman at the world organisation, said in a tweet. The French Mission to the United Nations said in a tweet that it is "looking forward to doing yoga with Prime Minister @narendramodi at UNHQ North Lawn". President of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly Csaba Korosi said in a tweet that he was "looking forward to participating in the 9th International Day of Yoga celebrations" with Prime Minister Modi. Modi, responding to Korosi's tweet, said "Looking forward to seeing you at the International Day of Yoga celebrations at the UNHQ. Your participation makes the programme even more special. Yoga brings the world together towards furthering good health and wellness. May it keep getting more popular globally." In a separate tweet, Modi said "Yoga holds profound benefits for both body and mind, fostering strength, flexibility, and tranquillity. Let us make Yoga a part of our lives and further wellness as well as peace. Sharing a set of videos depicting the various Asanas." The UN Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance in a tweet called on people to join the Yoga Day celebrations and described the initiative by the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations as "awesome." The first International Day of Yoga was commemorated in 2015 and has since then been marked with several sessions and events highlighting the benefits and universal appeal of Yoga at the UN, Times Square and iconic locations across the world. The UN underlined that Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice that originated in India. The word 'yoga' is derived from Sanskrit and means to join or to unite, symbolising the union of body and consciousness. Today it is practised in various forms around the world and continues to grow in popularity. Recognising its universal appeal, in December 2014, the UN proclaimed June 21 as the International Day of Yoga. The draft UNGA resolution establishing the International Day of Yoga was proposed by India and endorsed by a record 175 member states. The proposal was first introduced by Prime Minister Modi in his address during the opening of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, June 21, 2023, 0:53 [IST] Punjab Assembly Passes Bill To Make Gurbani From Golden Temple Free For All India oi-PTI The Punjab Assembly on Tuesday passed the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 to ensure free telecast of 'Gurbani' from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The move comes after the Punjab Cabinet on Monday approved an amendment to the British-era Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 to ensure free-to-air telecast of Gurbani. Speaking during the debate on the Bill, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said no channel should have exclusive rights to broadcast the holy Gurbani. He said former Akal Takht Jathedar Gian Harpreet Singh had last year directed the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to have its own channel, but it was not launched. "One channel has the exclusive right to broadcast the holy Gurbani," Mann said in an apparent reference to the PTC channel. Currently, Gurbani is broadcast from the Sikh shrine by PTC, a private channel often linked to the Shiromani Akali Dal's Badal family. Mann further argued that many people who watch this channel abroad have to pay a hefty amount for its subscription. The chief minister described it as the need of the hour to disseminate the "Sarb Sanji Gurbani" across the globe with the aim of spreading the universal message of "welfare of all". Echoeing similar sentiments, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Manpreet Ayali said Gurbani should be telecast in a transparent manner and only one channel should not have the exclusive rights. The SGPC should start a channel of its own and give rights, he said. Ayali, however, opposed the Bill as he said the government should not be interfering in SGPC matters. "The SGPC is the apex religious body of the Sikhs and it is also called a 'mini parliament' of the Sikhs," he said. BSP MLA Nachhatar Pal also opposed the Bill, saying before taking such decisions, consultation with religious bodies and others concerned should be held. According to the provisions of the Bill, "In the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, after Section 125, Section 125-A shall be inserted." "It shall be the duty of the Board (SGPC) to propagate the teachings of the Gurus by making uninterrupted (without any on screen running advertisements or commercials or distortion) live feed (audio or audio as well as video) of holy Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) available free of cost to all media houses, outlets, platforms, channels, etc, whoever wishes to broadcast anywhere all over the world. "Anyone broadcasting holy Gurbani from Harmandir Sahib shall not run any advertisement at least 30 minutes prior to start of broadcast of Gurbani and 30 minutes after the broadcast of Gurbani is over," the Bill stated. According to the statements of objects and reasons of the Bill, "Sri Guru Granth Sahib contains the Bani of Sikh Gurus and saints. It is highly desirable that teaching of the Gurus be propagated worldwide. "Therefore, it is imperative that Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee should make Gurbani available free of cost to entire humanity and to ensure that the spread of Gurbani is not commercialised in any manner," it said. AAP leader Budh Ram said if only one channel has the broadcast rights, the Gurbani cannot reach people in a widespread manner. AAP MLA Ajitpal Singh Kohli said the Gurbani's reach should be far and wide and there cannot be any wrong in this. He also claimed that many SGPC members have welcomed the Bill. Commenting on the Bill, Punjab minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said some are saying the move amounts to interfering in religious matters of Sikhs, which is "baseless". The SGPC had contested the move by the AAP-led Punjab government, saying the 1925 Act is a central legislation and can only be amended by Parliament. However, Mann on Monday said the state government was fully competent to amend this Act. He reasoned that the Supreme Court had on the issue of a separate gurdwara committee for Haryana ruled that this Act was not an inter-state Act, but a state Act. Meanwhile, Congress members staged a walkout protesting that there was no question hour or zero hour provision in the present session of the Assembly. The BJP had on Monday said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab was holding the two-day special assembly session to further its agenda and wasting taxpayers' money. The party had announced to stay away from the proceedings. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, June 20, 2023, 16:12 [IST] RTI Activist Murder Accused Had Hired Same Gang to Kill Sister-in-law Last Year India oi-Sanjeev Nayak A 70-year-old right-to-information (RTI) activist was killed in Jangaon district of Telangana in an apparent fallout of a land issue. Police have arrested three persons for kidnapping and killing the retired Mandal Parishad Development Officer (MPDO). According to the police, victim Nalla Ramakrishnaiah was first strangled to death with the help of a towel and then the killers dumped the body in a quarry pond near a stone crusher in Champak Hills area of Jungaon district. The incident came to light on Sunday when his body was found floating in the water-filled quarry, three days after he went missing. G. Anjaiah, the prime accused, had a dispute with Ramakrishnaiah and nursed a grudge over the latter complaining against him to government officials over a land issue, police said. He allegedly hired a contract killing gang to eliminate him, a police official said. The gang kidnapped Ramakrishnaiah in a car at Pochannapeta on June 15 and forcibly took him to an isolated area where they killed him. Police apprehended Anjaiah and two contract killers D. Srikanth and Shivarathri Basha alias Bhaskar while based on their interrogation, efforts are on to track others absconding accused D. Thirupati and D. Raju. Before leaving home, Ramakrishnaiah had reportedly told his son Ashok that he was going to file a complaint with the Bachannapet police in this regard. Ashok had earlier filed a missing complaint. Chargesheet filed in Umesh Pal Murder Case, Eight Accused Named Ramakrishnaiah had filed RTI applications, civil suits in the court and had also approached Human Rights Commission against Anjaiah for cancellation of land deeds (pattas) pertaining to a government-assigned land measuring 8.04 acre in Pochannapet village, which the latter had occupied illegally by misleading the concerned officials. Anjaiah, husband of a local Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) member belonging to the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), took it as personal enmity and hatched a plan to eliminate Ramakrishnaiah. He engaged 'supari' (contract) killers for the job, police said. Anjaiah contacted Tirupati and offered him to pay Rs 8 lakh for eliminating Ramakrishnaiah. Tirupati agreed to do the job and took an advance amount of Rs 50,000 from Anjaiah. Speaking to the media, Warangal Commissioner of Police A.V. Ranganath said that the arrested people have confessed to the crime. "The task force along with the Bachannapet police were able to trace the accused within an hour of the recovery of the dead body. Anjaiah also revealed that he had hired the same gang to kill his sister-in-law, Subhadra, on October 20, 2022, over another land dispute," the commissioner informed. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, June 20, 2023, 17:16 [IST] Enormous Good Fortune For Country To Have Somebody Like Him: Jaishankar Hails PM Modi Opposition Mantra Is Of, By And For Family: PM Modi What Happened With Daughters Can Never Be Forgiven: PM Modi On Manipur Parade Incident Watch: Indian Community Welcomes PM Modi at Lotte New York Palace Amid 'Modi, Modi' Chants India oi-Madhuri Adnal Prime Minister Narendra Modi's much-anticipated state visit to the United States commenced with great enthusiasm as he arrived at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to a rousing reception from the Indian diaspora. Chants of 'Modi, Modi' echoed through the air as the Prime Minister set foot on American soil on Tuesday evening. After he landed at the airport, the Indian Prime Minister was greeted by Indian-American diplomats, including India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, and India's Permanent Representative to United Nations, Ruchira Kamboj. The Indian community turned out in large numbers outside Lotte New York Palace Hotel, where the Prime Minister will be staying during his visit, to extend their heartfelt welcome. #WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at Lotte New York Palace. pic.twitter.com/AYenubr4ZG ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 PM Modi Gets Grand Welcome as He Lands In New York For 3-Day US Visit | Watch With its close proximity to Central Park, Lotte New York Palace Hotel is the chosen residence for Prime Minister Modi throughout his stay. Offering luxurious accommodations, the hotel provides rooms starting from Rs 48,000 per night, catering to the esteemed guest's requirements. #WATCH | Amid chants of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', PM Modi arrives at New York hotel as he begins the first leg of his US visit pic.twitter.com/kTi4S2oe4l ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 Recommended Video Modi In US: PM Modi meets Thought Leaders after grannd welcome in the US | Oneindia News #WATCH | Indian community welcomes Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he arrives at Lotte New York Palace. pic.twitter.com/94hEv9MfsO ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 Prime Minister Modi's itinerary includes leading the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21. Additionally, he will engage in crucial meetings with US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The Bidens will honor the Prime Minister with a State dinner on June 22, followed by an address to a joint session of the US Congress. During his visit, Prime Minister Modi will also seize the opportunity to meet with prominent CEOs and professionals, fostering collaborations between India and the US. Interacting with the Indian diaspora residing in the US holds significance as well, as he aims to strengthen the bond between the two nations. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden extended the invitation to Prime Minister Modi, making his visit all the more momentous. The Prime Minister's visit to the US concludes on June 24, after which he will embark on a two-day visit to Egypt. Prime Minister Modi's visit is expected to further solidify the strategic partnership between India and the United States, fostering cooperation on various fronts and reaffirming the strong ties between the two nations. Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang (front, left) and other members of the Vietnamese delegation at the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction in New York (Photo: VNA) The agreement under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was adopted at the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction in New York on June 19. Most of the UN member states have applauded and voiced strong support for the adoption of the high seas treaty, and also shown their intention to sign and ratify the deal soon so that it can take effect early and be implemented fully and effectively. Cuba, representing the group of developing countries, described the adoption as a success of multilateralism and developing countries thanks to their tireless efforts and strong solidarity. Addressing the conference, Ambassador Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, affirmed that the success reflects the conferences strong commitment and determination to achieve an instrument for conserving and sustainably using marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. The treaty will further consolidate the 1982 UNCLOS the constitution of the oceans and a comprehensive legal framework for all sea-related activities, promote multilateralism, be a new landmark in the development of international law, contribute to the implementation of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, and help reach Sustainable Development Goal 14 on conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas, and marine resources, he went on. The UN adoption of the agreement was highly meaningful, especially for those who directly engage in the negotiations, including the inter-sectoral delegation of Vietnam led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, since it came as a result of a long and complicated negotiation process. The 1982 UNCLOS stipulates the freedom of navigation and fishing on the high seas beyond exclusive economic zones of states, and that seabed resources on the continental shelf of a state are the common heritage of mankind. It also outlines a mechanism for licensing and distributing benefits from seabed mining on the high seas, but has yet to have a similar mechanism for marine genetic resources. The high seas treaty, comprising 17 chapters with 76 articles and two appendices, develops the UNCLOS on this aspect. It is the third treaty to enforce the 1982 UNCLOS, following the UN Fish Stocks Agreement and the Agreement on Part XI of the UNCLOS./. There Will Be No Polls In Future If This Dictatorial Govt Returns: Mamata at Oppn Meet West Bengal Foundation Day? Mamata Shocked At Governors Decision India oi-Deepika S West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday took exception to Governor CV Ananda Bose's unilateral decision to mark the state's Foundation Day on June 20. Banerjee pointed out that the pain and trauma of partition was such that people in the state have never commemorated any day as foundation day since India's independence. In a letter to Governor CV Ananda Bose, Banerjee wrote: "I am stunned and shocked to know that you have decided to organise a programme on June 20 at Raj Bhavan, Kolkata, commemorating what you have peculiarly chosen to describe as the 'State Foundation of West Bengal." "Since independence, we in West Bengal have never rejoiced over or commemorated or celebrated any day as the foundation day of West Bengal. Rather, we have seen the partition as a result of the unleashing of communal force that could not be resisted at that point in time," she said. Mamata Govt Moves SC Challenging HC Order On Central Forces' Deployment She claimed that during a telephonic discussion earlier in the day, Bose had admitted that a 'unilateral and non-consultative decision' to declare a day as the state's Foundation Day is not warranted. "Kindly refer to our today's telephonic discussions when you admitted that a unilateral and non-consultative decision to declare a particular day as the foundation day of the State of West Bengal is not warranted. You were kind enough to assure me that you would not proceed to hold the programme," she said. Mamata said the partition of Bengal was the tragic destiny of the people of the state. "The slicing out of West Bengal was seen as a historical necessity at that point in time, but it was also known that it was a tragic destiny for the people of Bengal. The State was not founded on any particular day, least of all on June 20," Mamata Banerjee wrote. "Contrarily, the state was formed through the infamous Radcliffe Award, which was given legitimacy by the departing colonial/imperial government," she added. Requesting the governor not to go ahead with the programme, Mamata said it would rekindle the bitter memories of crores of people and reincite undesirable forces in the state. "If an event is conducted at Raj Bhavan, it "may at best be a programme of a political party, driven by vendetta, but not of the people or its Government," she added. 3 Shot Dead In Clashes During Bengal Panchayat Poll Nomination Filing; Mamata Blames Oppn Why did the Governor declare June 20 as West Bengal Foundation Day? Notably, the British Parliament declared the India Independence Act on July 15, 1947, without any clarity on the borders of the two states being torn apart - Bengal and Punjab. On this day in 1947, two meetings of separate sets of legislators in the Bengal Assembly decided whether the Bengal Presidency would be part of India or Pakistan. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, June 20, 2023, 10:16 [IST] Why Nandan Nilekani Is Donating Rs 315 Crore To IIT Bombay? India oi-Prakash KL Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is set to donate Rs 315 crore to IIT-Bombay, the entrepreneur announced the news on Twitter. To mark 50 years of his association with the IIT Bombay (first as a student and then in different roles), he was donating the said amount. " I am grateful to be able to do this," he tweeted. "IIT-Bombay has been a cornerstone in my life, shaping my formative years and laying the foundation for my journey. As I celebrate 50 years of my association with this esteemed Institution, I am grateful to give forward and contribute to its future. This donation is more than just a financial contribution; it is a tribute to the place that has given me so much and a commitment to the students who will shape our world tomorrow," he said in a statement. In the last five decades, he has served the India's premiere institute in multiple roles. He served on the Board of the IIT Bombay Heritage Foundation from 1999 to 2009 and was on the Board of Governors from 2005 to 2011. His initial contribution totalling up to Rs 85 Crores over the years, was instrumental in constructing new hostels, co-financing the School of Information Technology, and establishing India's first university incubator, thereby significantly boosting the Indian start-up ecosystem, the statement said. He was awarded the prestigious Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999, followed by an Honorary Doctorate in 2019 as part of the 57th convocation of IIT Bombay. When Nandan Nilekani was asked not to issue Aadhaar Card to a driver Talking about the donation, IIT Bombay, Director Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri said, "This historic donation will significantly accelerate the growth of IIT Bombay and will firmly set it on a path of global leadership. IIT Bombay is committed to building research and academic excellence that can make India a leader in scientific discovery and its translation towards solving the pressing challenges facing humankind. Nandan's contribution will catalyse philanthropic contributions towards advancing research & development at universities in India." This significant contribution serves as the anchor for IIT Bombay's ambitious vision to become a global leader among engineering and technology institutes and contribute significantly towards nation-building. IIT Bombay's strategic plan for the coming decade includes setting up world-class centres of excellence in strategic areas such as artificial intelligence, green energy, quantum computing and others, nurturing a deep tech start-up eco-system, and providing best-in-class research, living, and academic facilities to students and faculty. The plan envisages fundraising of about $ 500 million over the next five years. Nilekani's contribution will help the Institute kick-start its plans and inspire others to join this transformative initiative, the statement added. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, June 20, 2023, 16:17 [IST] Ahead Of PM Modi's Visit To US, Xi, Blinken Agree To Stabilise Tense US-China Relations International oi-PTI US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday met with Chinese President Xi Jinping who said that an agreement on "some specific issues" has been reached during the extensive talks between the top diplomats of the two countries amidst tense ties. Blinken met Xi on the last day of his two-day high-stakes visit to Beijing during which the Chinese president spoke of the agreement without providing any details. Xi said that China's top diplomat and Director of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Qin Gang described their talks with Blinken as candid and in-depth. The Chinese side has made its position clear, and the two sides have agreed to "follow through with the common understanding US President Joe Biden and I had reached in Bali," state-run CGTN quoted President Xi as saying. "The two sides also made progress and reached an agreement on some specific issues," Xi said, without providing details. "State-to-state interactions should always be based on mutual respect and sincerity. I hope that Secretary Blinken, through this visit, could make a positive contribution to stabilising China-US relations," he said. Recommended Video Chinese President Xi Jinping holds meeting with Antony Blinken on Monday | Oneindia News PM Modi In US: What Is State Visit and How It Is Different From Earlier Ones? Blinken's visit to China was among the key outcomes of the Xi-Biden meeting in which they agreed to work on improving ties. Earlier, Blinken met top diplomat Wang, who urged the US to "reflect deeply" and manage differences with China while attributing worsening ties to Washington's "erroneous perception" of Beijing. Wang told Blinken that his trip to Beijing came at a "critical juncture" in US-China ties and it was "necessary to make a choice between dialogue and confrontation, cooperation and conflict". "Sino-US relations have experienced ups and downs, and it is necessary for the US to reflect deeply and work with China to jointly manage differences and avoid strategic surprises," he said. "With an attitude of being responsible to the people, history and the world, we must reverse the downward spiral of Sino-US relations, push for a return to a healthy and stable track and work together to find a correct way for China and the United States to get along in the new era," he said. Wang also urged the US not to assume China was seeking dominance, and not to "misjudge" Beijing based on the trajectories of traditional Western powers. "This is key as to whether the US policy towards China can truly return to objectivity and rationality," Wang said, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. Wang, who is Xi's top foreign policy adviser, also called for the US to lift unilateral sanctions against China, stop the suppression of China's technological development, and not interfere in Beijing's internal affairs. On Taiwan, Wang stressed that safeguarding its national unity would always be at the core of China's core interests and that there was "no room for compromise". China views Taiwan as a breakaway province. Beijing has not ruled out the possible use of force to reunify the self-ruled island with the mainland. According to the Chinese statement on the meeting, Blinken shared Washington's views with Wang, adding that the US looked forward to strengthening communication with China and managing differences responsibly. Blinken is the highest-level US official to visit China since President Biden took office, and the first secretary of state to make the trip in five years. His visit is expected to usher in a new round of visits by senior US and Chinese officials, possibly including a meeting between Xi and Biden in the coming months. His visit also comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to Washington and his meeting with President Biden on June 22. Their talks are expected to include deepening defence cooperation and firming up the Quad alliance of the US, India, Australia and Japan, which China alleges is aimed at containing it. Unprecedented Trust Between India, US: PM Modi In WSJ Interview Ahead of Blinken's visit to Beijing, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the US expects a "transformational moment" in Indian ties during Modi's visit to Washington and played down the secretary of state's visit to Beijing. "Secretary Blinken's trip to China will be a significant event, but it's likely not even the most significant event of next week when it comes to US foreign policy," Sullivan told reporters in Tokyo on June 16. Blinken's visit was largely seen as an attempt to keep the communication channels open between Washington and Beijing so that bilateral relations can be responsibly managed. Analysts say the visit signals a desire by both sides to restore engagement but cast doubt on the prospects of a breakthrough, the South China Morning Post reported. Both sides are yet to comment on the talks. Before leaving for Beijing on Saturday, Blinken said one of his goals was to set up open and empowered communications with Chinese officials. He said he would also speak directly and candidly about (the US') very real concerns on a range of issues. The intense competition requires sustained diplomacy to ensure that competition does not veer into confrontation or conflict, he said. Blinken is expected to establish a road map and timetable with the Chinese side on senior bilateral exchanges during the trip, Shanghai-based news site The Paper quoted Wu Xinbo, head of US studies at Fudan University, as saying. Qin Feng, an academic committee member of Peking University's Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding, said Blinken's visit was part of the preparation for President Xi's trip to the United States in November, where he is expected to meet President Biden on the sidelines of the APEC summit. In a way, the materialisation of Blinken's Beijing trip is a success by itself. It marks progress in the preparation for the two nations' leaders' summit, which was delayed by the balloon incident. There is lots of catching up to do at the working level now, Qin Feng said. On June 16, President Xi met Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates. "I believe that the foundation of Sino-US relations lies in the people. Under the current world situation, we can carry out various activities that benefit our two countries, the people of our countries, and the entire human race," he said after his meeting with Gates. Biden told White House reporters Saturday he was hoping that over the next several months, he will meet with Xi again and talk about legitimate differences the two countries have and how to get along. Chances for such a meeting may come at a Group of 20 leaders' gathering in September in New Delhi and at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November in San Francisco that the United States is hosting. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, June 20, 2023, 13:57 [IST] Seema Haider Once Been To Jail, Now Out On Bail: UP Cop On Pakistani Woman Cash Payment, Fake Name: Details Of Sachin, Seema Haider's Stay in Room No. 204 Of Kathmandu Hotel Revealed China Blocks Proposal By India, US To Blacklist Pak-based LeT Terrorist and 26/11 Accused Sajid Mir International oi-Madhuri Adnal China has put a hold on a proposal moved at the United Nations by the US and co-supported by India to designate Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Sajid Mir, one of India's most wanted terrorists and the main handler of the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks, as a global terrorist. Beijing blocked the proposal that had been moved by the US and co-designated by India to blacklist Mir under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council as a global terrorist and subject him to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. In September last year, it was learnt that China had put a hold on the proposal to designate Mir at the UN. Beijing has now blocked the proposal. Mir is one of India's most wanted terrorists and has a bounty of USD 5 million placed on his head by the US for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. In June, Mir was jailed for over 15 years in a terror-financing case by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan. MHA designates LeT's Arbaz Ahmad Mir as terrorist for conspiring targeted killings in J-K Pakistani authorities had in the past claimed Mir had died, but Western countries remained unconvinced and demanded proof of his death. This issue became a major sticking point in FATF's assessment of Pakistan's progress on the action plan late last year. Mir is a senior member of the Pakistan-based LeT and is wanted for his involvement in the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. "Mir was LeT's operations manager for the attacks, playing a leading role in their planning, preparation, and execution," the US State Department has said. Beijing, an all-weather friend of Islamabad, has repeatedly put holds on listings to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorists under the sanctions committee of the UN Security Council. Enormous Good Fortune For Country To Have Somebody Like Him: Jaishankar Hails PM Modi In Pics: New Terminal Building Of Veer Savarkar International Airport In Port Blair Opposition Mantra Is Of, By And For Family: PM Modi What Happened With Daughters Can Never Be Forgiven: PM Modi On Manipur Parade Incident India, US To Sign Key Defence Deal During PM Modi's First State Visit: What Will It Include? International oi-Deepika S Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a historic visit to the United States on Tuesday with new defense deals on the table as the two nations boost military ties to counterbalance rival China. PM Modi has visited the US several times since taking office in 2014, but the three-day trip from Wednesday marks the first official state visit by an Indian leader since former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's 2009 trip during the Barack Obama administration. Prime Minister's US visit has been hailed as a milestone in the bilateral relationship and a key symbol of the two nations growing closer together. Jet deal The US administration is set to sign off on a deal that would allow General Electric Co to produce jet engines that will power the military aircraft in India. PM Modi In US: What Is State Visit and How It Is Different From Earlier Ones? The deal, which will be signed between General Electric and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), will entail 80 percent transfer of jet engine technology by value. Recommended Video PM Modi US Visit: What will be the possible key topics of talks between Biden & Modi | Oneindia News If approved, the GE-414-IN6 engine will power India's indigenous Tejas Mk-2 fighter as well as the futuristic AMCA - or Advanced Medium Combat aircraft, a stealth fighter. Also, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will have reliable and long-lasting jet engines that can be overhauled after several thousand hours. Reportedly, the multi-billion dollar jet deal between India-US is in the final stages and the two countries are deliberating on payment mechanisms, procurement of machinery and tech transfer modalities. MQ-9B Drones India is expected to procure 30 MQ-9B Predator armed drones from the US under a government-to-government framework. The nearly USD 3 billion deal is expected to be announced following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden in Washington. In 2020, the Indian Navy had taken on lease two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones from General Atomics for a period of one year for surveillance in the Indian Ocean. PM Modi In US: Who All Will PM Meet Besides The Bidens? The Sea Guardian drones can carry out a variety of roles including maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare and over-the-horizon targeting among others. Other deals expected PM Modi's visit to the US is expected to be a game changer as Washington has decided to help boost India's indigenous capabilities in the economic, technological, and military fields amid threats from neighbouring countries like Pakistan and China. According to a Reuters report, the two countries are also likely to seal pacts on the coproduction of land mobility systems, and smart munitions, as well as fast-tracking cooperation in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, semiconductors, space, supercomputers, quantum, and other technologies. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, June 20, 2023, 15:44 [IST] Enormous Good Fortune For Country To Have Somebody Like Him: Jaishankar Hails PM Modi What Happened With Daughters Can Never Be Forgiven: PM Modi On Manipur Parade Incident Indian-American Congressman To Escort PM Modi For His Joint Address To US Congress International oi-PTI Indian-American Congressman Thanedar would be escorting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his historic joint address to the US Congress on June 22. The first-time Democratic Congressman, who represents the 13th Congressional District of Michigan, has also been invited by President Joe Biden for the White House State Dinner hosted in honour of Prime Minister Modi on the same day. It is the second time that Prime Minister Modi is addressing the joint session of the US Congress, a first for any Indian prime minister. The prime minister had earlier addressed the US Congress in 2016. "(Spouse) Shashi (Thanedar) and I are looking forward to the Prime Minister's visit to the United States; this is a historic event for the Prime Minister. I hope to stress upon the Prime Minister the need for stronger US-India ties," Thanedar, 68, said. Thanedar, a Democrat, said he and his wife are honoured to accept President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden's invitation to the State Dinner on June 22. Unprecedented Trust Between India, US: PM Modi Interview To WSJ Recommended Video PM Modi US Visit: What will be the possible key topics of talks between Biden & Modi | Oneindia News This invitation serves as a testament to their commitment to public service and their dedication to fostering international cooperation, he said. The Congressman said he has been entrusted with the distinct pleasure of escorting the Indian Prime Minister to his joint address to Congress, as requested by United States Congressional leadership. This role holds special significance for Congressman Thanedar, who recognises the importance of the United States as a diverse nation built by immigrants, a land of opportunity, and a symbol of democracy. Reflecting on his personal journey, he said, "I grew up in poverty and only came to America with a dream," stated Congressman Thanedar. "I was fortunate to achieve my American Dream; The United States is a country of immigrants, a land of opportunity, and this diversity makes our country strong." Moving forward, Thanedar reaffirmed his commitment to advocating for stronger ties between the United States and India. How White House Is Planning To Treat 'Pure Vegetarian' Narendra Modi He will focus on crucial areas such as education, defence, space, technology, medicine, and other pressing issues that impact both nations. By nurturing the relationship between the world's strongest democracy and the largest democracy, Thanedar aims to address shared challenges and harness mutual opportunities for growth and progress. Missing Titanic Vessel: How Is Submersible Different From a Submarine? International oi-Madhuri Adnal A search and rescue operation has been launched to locate a submersible carrying five people that has lost contact near the site of the Titanic wreckage. Contact with the Titan submersible was lost about an hour and 45 minutes into its journey to the Titanic shipwreck, as per the US Coast Guard. The carbon-fibre submersible named the Titan, part of a mission by OceanGate Expeditions, carried a pilot, a renowned British adventurer, two members of an iconic Pakistani business family and another passenger. What is Titan submersible? According to the official website of OceanGate, Titan is a Cyclops-class manned submersible designed to take five people to depths of 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) for site survey and inspection, research and data collection, film and media production, and deep sea testing of hardware and software. Titan is lighter in weight 10,432 kg (23,000 lbs) and more cost efficient to mobilize than any other deep diving submersible. OceanGate recently shared a tweet stating, "Without any cell towers in the middle of the ocean, we are relying on @Starlink to provide the communications we require throughout this year's 2023 Titanic expedition." Additionally, the submersible is equipped with a 96-hour bottled oxygen supply, although the duration may be influenced by the breathing rate of those on board, particularly if there are tourists with limited diving experience. It must be noted that the company takes paying customers to see the Titanic at a price tag of USD 250,000 a spot. Titan Specifications: Depth: 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) Capacity: 5 persons (1 pilot + 4 crew) Pressure Vessel Material: Carbon Fiber and Titanium Overall Dimensions: 670cm x 280cm x 250cm (22ft x 9.2ft x 8.3ft high) Weight: 10,432 kg (23,000 lbs) Payload: 685 kg (1,510 lbs) Speed: 3 knots Propulsion: Four Innerspace 1002 electric thrusters Life Support: 96 hours for 5 crew Integrated Technology: Sub C Imaging 4k Rayfin camera, Teledyne 2D sonar, 40,000 lumens of external light, 2G Robotics laser scanner, INS/USBL. When and Where Did the Titan Go Missing? The Titan, a submersible, embarked on its journey in Atlantic Ocean on Sunday morning but unfortunately lost contact with its support vessel, the Polar Prince, approximately one hour and 45 minutes later. The Coast Guard said that there was one pilot and four mission specialists aboard. However, OceanGate's website suggests that the fifth person aboard may be a so-called content expert who guides the paying customers. OceanGate said its focus was on those aboard and their families. "We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible," it said in a statement. Who are the 5 Passengers Aboard the missing Titanic Sub? Among the individuals on board the missing submersible, which embarked on an exploration of the Titanic wreckage, are a British billionaire with space travel experience, one of Pakistan's most affluent individuals, and a former commander from the French navy who spearheaded the initial expedition to the site of the ill-fated "unsinkable" vessel. British businessman Hamish Harding, who lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, was one of the mission specialists, according to Action Aviation, a company for which Harding serves as chairman. Harding is a billionaire adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. In March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket. Also on board were Pakistani nationals Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, according to a family statement sent to the AP. The Dawoods belong to one of Pakistan's most prominent families. Their eponymous firm invests across the country in agriculture, industries and the health sector. Shahzada Dawood also is on the board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute that searches for extraterrestrial intelligence. Difference Between a Submersible and a Submarine It's essential to understand the difference between a submersible and a submarine. The missing Titan was a submersible, not a submarine. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a submarine is capable of independent ocean launch from a port, whereas a submersible lacks the power to reach the port, the ocean floor, or return autonomously. Instead, submersibles are deployed from support ships that transport them to the designated dive site, similarly to how a boat carries a scuba diver to an area in the ocean for exploration. Why Finding and Rescuing Titanic Submersible Will Be So Difficult? Experts said that rescuers face steep challenges. Alistair Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London, said submersibles typically have a drop weight, which is "a mass they can release in the case of an emergency to bring them up to the surface using buoyancy". "If there was a power failure and/or communication failure, this might have happened, and the submersible would then be bobbing about on the surface waiting to be found," Greig said. Another scenario is a leak in the pressure hull, in which case the prognosis is not good, he said. "If it has gone down to the seabed and can't get back up under its own power, options are very limited," Greig said. "While the submersible might still be intact, if it is beyond the continental shelf, there are very few vessels that can get that deep, and certainly not divers." Even if they could go that deep, he doubts they could attach to the hatch of OceanGate's submersible. Enormous Good Fortune For Country To Have Somebody Like Him: Jaishankar Hails PM Modi What Happened With Daughters Can Never Be Forgiven: PM Modi On Manipur Parade Incident PM Modi Leaves For US, Closer Defence Ties On Agenda International oi-Deepika S Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for the United States on Tuesday on an official state visit - the highest diplomatic reception reserved for closest allies. PM Modi's upcoming visit to the US is being hailed as a watershed moment in Indo-US ties that may see several pacts inked for better cooperation across sectors, including defence and critical technologies. "I am travelling to the United States of America on a State Visit at the invitation of President Joseph Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. This special invitation is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies," PM Modi tweeted ahead of his US visit. "I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community. I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported India's proposal in December 2014 to recognize an International Day of Yoga," he added. "I will thereafter travel to Washington D.C. President Biden and I have had the opportunity to meet several times since my last Official Visit to the USA in September 2021. This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership," he said. "India-US ties are multifaceted, with deepening engagements across sectors. USA is India's largest trade partner in goods and services. We collaborate closely in science and technology, education, health, defence and security fields. The initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration to defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, Artificial Intelligence and biotech sectors. Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific," the prime minister said. "My discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders will provide an opportunity to consolidate our bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and IPEF," he added. "I will also have the pleasure of joining President Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden for the State Banquet along with a number of dignitaries," he said. "The US Congress has always provided strong bi-partisan support to India-US ties. During my visit, I will address a Joint Session of the US Congress at the invitation of Congressional leadership," PM Modi said. "Strong people-to-people linkages have been instrumental in developing the trust between our countries. I look forward to meeting the vibrant Indian-American community that represents the best of our societies. I will also meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating our trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains," he tweeted. "I am confident that my visit to the US will reinforce our ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges," he said. PM Modi on Egypt visit "I will travel to Cairo from Washington D.C. at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. I am excited to pay a State Visit to a close and friendly country for the first time," PM Modi tweeted. "We had the pleasure of receiving President Sisi as the Chief Guest at our Republic Day celebrations this year. These two visits in the span of a few months is a reflection of our rapidly evolving partnership with Egypt, which was elevated to a 'Strategic Partnership' during President Sisi's visit," he added. "I look forward to my discussions with President Sisi and senior members of the Egyptian Government to impart further momentum to our civilizational and multi-faceted partnership. I will also have the opportunity to interact with the vibrant Indian diaspora in Egypt," the prime minister concluded. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, June 20, 2023, 8:39 [IST] Tremendous Opportunities To Bolster US-India Defence Cooperation: Pentagon International pti-PTI The Pentagon believes that its relationship with India offers tremendous opportunities for cooperation in the defence sector, a senior official said on Tuesday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the country for talks with US President Joe Biden to bolster the military-to-military ties between the two strategic partners. India and the US are poised to unveil a roadmap for industries in the defence sector to partner closely in co-production, co-development and maintaining supply chain during Prime Minister Modi's state visit to the US, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said on Monday. We think this is a transformational moment in the US-India Defense Partnership. I know that some people may say, maybe this is not the moment to be ambitious, maybe this is not the relationship where you should be ambitious. And are you making the right bet? When it comes to the US-India partnership? We think we are, the senior defence official said. Talking to a group of reporters, the official said that this is a relationship that is full of tremendous opportunity. That is two of the world's largest democracies, with some of the most innovative workers and companies working more closely together on strategic technologies and how we can leverage them for security is a natural next step in this relationship, the official, who did not want to be identified, said. PM Modi Kicks off Key Visit to US; to Lead Yoga Session at UN Headquarters Today In the last 20 years, the United States and India are doing things together now, in terms of a defence partnership that people would have said was never possible 20 years ago. Twenty ago, there were no US defence sales to India at all, the official noted. And now we're talking about co-producing and developing major systems together. The United States and India now do a tri-service joint exercise together on an annual basis, which is something that would have seemed impossible in the past, the official said. India-US defence relationship is now focused on three things, the official said. First is looking for ways that we can support India's own military modernisation and enable it to play a larger role in leading as a security provider in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. Defence-industrial cooperation is certainly a big part of that. During the recent India visit of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the two countries concluded a new defence industrial cooperation roadmap that lays out a pretty ambitious path ahead in terms of what the two countries are able to do in bringing the defence industrial bases more closely together and really taking advantage of what is fairly substantial US investment in India's modernisation that that's already taken place. The second thing we're focused on is looking at ways that we can really strengthen US-India interoperability going forward because it's not just about what we have the ambition to make together, but how we're going to operate together in the future. You can see some significant achievements this past year, the official said. The recent air exercise, we had some of our most modern bombers and fighters participating in that exercise. We've had two visits by the US Navy to India's shipyards, looking at ways that we can do more ship repair and logistics in India, the official said. In May, India and the US launched a new advanced defence domains dialogue that is talking about how the two nations can work together in emerging areas such as space, cyberspace, additive manufacturing, and artificial intelligence. India and the United States are looking at how they can strengthen multilateral cooperation. As two of the world's largest democracies, we think there's an increasing role for our partnership in looking at how we come together with other like-minded partners in the region, the official said. The QUAD grouping, comprising the US, India, Japan and Australia, is obviously a significant part of that multilateral cooperation. All Quad partners are going to be participating again at the end of this summer in the exercise Malabar. We are also working together on the Indo-Pacific maritime domain awareness initiative, which India is playing a key role in leading as we bring new cutting-edge satellite technologies together to build a common maritime operating picture in the Indo-Pacific, the official said. We are also very pleased that India just for the first time this past year concluded its first maritime multilateral exercise with ASEAN and so we're working with India together on the kinds of capacity building that we can do in the defence space in the Indian Ocean region, and more broadly into the Indo Pacific, the official said. Observing that defence is an important part of the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) dialogue launched early this year, the official said the defence industrial roadmap signed early this month identifies a handful of priority areas where they are looking to fast track or co-production and co-development relationship going forward. Air Combat, ISR mobility, meaning logistics systems, undersea domain awareness, and munitions are the handful of priority areas where they are looking to bring forward important new project proposals in the coming months and years. Secondly, identifying specific ways that we can knock down red tape on both sides that will allow our respective defence industrial bases to be more competitive in working together. "And then finally, it commits us to long-term supply chain integration and specifically to beginning negotiations on a security of supply arrangement and reciprocal defence procurement arrangement, the official said. These will be transformational agreements when they are concluded that will do a tremendous amount for actually bringing the Indian and defence industrial bases more closely together in the future, said the official. The launch of INDUS-X brings private sectors together. The two countries are looking at ways wherein they can go beyond the routine government-to-government cooperation, and really bring some of the cutting-edge commercial and dual-use technology that is being developed on both sides more rapidly into the respective systems. Enormous Good Fortune For Country To Have Somebody Like Him: Jaishankar Hails PM Modi What Happened With Daughters Can Never Be Forgiven: PM Modi On Manipur Parade Incident Unprecedented Trust Between India, US: PM Modi In WSJ Interview International oi-Deepika S Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that ties between India and the United States are stronger and deeper than ever, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. "India deserves a much higher, deeper and wider profile and a role," PM Modi said in the interview, ahead of his visit to the US that is billed as a milestone in New Delhi and Washington bilateral ties. "India's relationship with the U.S. has strengthened in recent years in part because of economic ties. Trade between the two countries reached a record $191 billion in 2022, making the U.S. India's largest trading partner. The U.S. is India's third-biggest source of foreign direct investment, and one of the top five destinations for investment from India," the report said. "Let me be clear that we do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world... The world today is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. To create resilience, there should be more diversification in supply chains," the WSJ report quoted the PM as saying. Indian-American Congressman To Escort PM Modi For His Joint Address to US Congress PM Modi said he believes that India is working towards securing its rightful position on the global stage, particularly during a time of significant geopolitical instability. Recommended Video PM Modi in US: Unprecedented trust between India and US, says Modi | Oneindia News PM Modi on Russia-Ukraine war PM Modi has said that India's stance on Russia in the Ukraine conflict has not faced widespread criticism in the United States. "All countries should respect international law and the sovereignty of countries," he said. Disputes should be resolved with diplomacy and dialogue, not war, he added. PM Modi said he has spoken several times to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He said he recently spoke to Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan in May. "India will do whatever it can" and supports "all genuine efforts to bring an end to the conflict and ensure enduring peace and stability", he said. PM Modi on India's UNSC membership In his interview to The Wall Street Journal, PM Modi said global institutions such as the UN must change. "Look at the membership of key institutions -- does it truly represent the voice of democratic values?" "A place like Africa -- does it have a voice? India has such a huge population and is a bright spot in the global economy, but is it present?" he said. On India's desire to be part of the UN Security Council, the prime minister pointed to the country's role as a contributor of troops to peacekeeping operations around the world. There has to be an evaluation of the current membership of the council and the world should be asked if it wants India to be there, he said. "Let me be clear that we do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world," PM Modi told the newspaper. "The world today is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. To create resilience, there should be more diversification in supply chains," he said. PM Modi on ties with China Speaking on ties with Beijing, PM Modi said "For normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquility in the border areas is essential. We have a core belief in respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, observing the rule of law, and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. At the same time, India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity." How White House Is Planning To Treat 'Pure Vegetarian' Narendra Modi "I am the first prime minister to be born in free India," PM Modi said. "And that's why my thought process, my conduct, what I say and do, is inspired and influenced by my country's attributes and traditions. I derive my strength from it." "I present my country to the world as my country is, and myself, as I am," he said. "Overall, Modi's message was that-from India's role in global politics to its contributions to the world economy-the country's time has come. He sought to portray New Delhi as the natural leader of the global South, in sync with and able to give voice to developing countries' long-neglected aspirations," said the WSJ report on the hour-long interview at the PM's official residence in New Delhi. At the event (Photo: VNA) Le Thanh Hop from the Ho Chi Minh City Charity Association said that the health care program was launched by the association eight years ago and this is the third time its medical team has traveled to Cambodia. From the beginning of this year, the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia, social charity organisations, agencies, and units in Vietnam have sent medical groups and volunteer doctors to visit and provide free medical check-ups for people of Vietnamese origin in Cambodia and those from other ethnic groups as well as Cambodian nationals. Because the cost of medical services is quite high compared to the average income in the country, such charity activities are practical and useful, as well as show solidarity and friendship between Vietnam and Cambodia./. As the match moves towards a thrilling conclusion, The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald's Daniel Brettig discusses the key moments from Day Four of the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston with Nine's Sam Djodan. The Sino-German intergovernmental consultations, led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Prime Minister Li Qiang, are expected to cover the war in Ukraine, the fight against climate change, and trade relations. 70 years ago today, Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria was arrested by his fellow leader of the Communist Party and the Soviet state and.. Eurasia Review 27 Jun 2023 More money is needed to maintain funding for the war in Ukraine, as well as the bloc's migration policy. In a rare step, the.. Upworthy 21 Jun 2023 Israel has said four civilians were killed and that two attackers had been "neutralized." Militant group Hamas has claimed the attack was in response to a raid the previous day. Moscows forces also shot and killed a rescue worker in the flood-stricken city of Kherson, Ukrainian officials said, as both sides battled for territory in the south and east. "Just so you know, I'll serve you anything except Bud Light," Ron DeSantis said while serving drinks behind the bar. HNGN 20 Jun 2023 President Biden will speak in San Francisco Tuesday, hours after it was announced Hunter Biden is pleading guilty to federal tax charges. Upworthy 19 Jun 2023 A judge in Florida issued an order on Monday barring former President Donald Trump from disclosing evidence to the media or general.. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in New York on Tuesday for his first stop of a four-day state visit. Modi's visit will include an Oval Office meeting with Biden, an invitation to address a joint session of Congress, and a formal state dinner at the White House. At the festival (Photo: VNA) This is the third year the festival has been organised, creating an opportunity for visitors to taste popular Vietnamese dishes and fruits. This year, visitors can also enjoy contemporary music, with the excitement of electronic music, pop and rap, performed by French-Vietnamese DJ-beatmakers. In addition, visitors can also find books, meet with writers, and play Vietnamese folk games. On this occasion, Vinfast, a subsidiary carmaker of Vietnamese Vingroup, displayed its latest electric vehicles. Mr. Jerome Tham Vo My, a member of the festivals organizing committee, said that in 2022, the one-day festival attracted nearly 10,000 visitors. He hopes that with the participation of about 30 businesses, this year's event would attract more visitors than last year. Ngo Minh Duong, owner of Thanh Binh Jeunes supermarket chain, said that the products of his company at the festival were all from Vietnam, such as sugarcane juice, coconut water, lychee, mango, coffee, and tea. The company also cooperates with the Graine de riz - Grain de vie Association to raise funds for disadvantaged children and families in Vietnam and Laos. The street food festival only took place in one day but it contributed to arouse a typical culture of Vietnam and was an attractive destination not only for the Vietnamese community but also for French friends in the capital city of Paris. Ici Vietnam Festival is the idea of a group of young Vietnamese-French people who wish to organize festivals in various fields of film, art, painting and cuisine to promote Vietnamese culture./. FOXNews.com 19 Jun 2023 Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that the U.S. does "not support" Taiwanese independence after a meeting with Chinese.. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met and thanked personnel participating in exercise Air Defender 2023 together with the German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius at Air Base Jagel in northern Germany on Tuesday (20 June 2023). Recalling the importance of air defence, the Secretary General explained this exercise shows... Russia on Tuesday struck military and infrastructure targets in Ukraine's capital Kyiv and across other parts of the country, including western areas far from the front lines, Ukrainian officials said. Palestinian gunmen shot dead four Israelis near a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday in an attack the militant Hamas group said was a response to a raid by Israeli forces a day earlier in the flashpoint city of Jenin. Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Dr. Faisal Mekdad, Syria's Foreign Minister, is in Saudi Arabia for meetings held on June 11 and 12, which marks his third visit to the Kingdom in the last three months. In April, he made his initial visit and accompanied President Assad to Jeddah to attend the Council of the League of Arab States summit on May 19. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MbS, promoted the aid and recovery of Syria through his position as host of the Arab League Summit in May. MbS asked for an Arab decision to bring Syria back to the brotherly league of Arab nations, while the US voiced condemnation of the plan. "This is a strong signal to America that 'we're reshaping and redrawing our relations without you'," said Abdulaziz Al-Sager, Chairman of the Gulf Research Centre. MbS took on his leadership role at the helm of the biggest oil exporter in the world while putting the interests of his nation first, and not bowing to pressure from the US Biden administration, who have used undiplomatic language to describe MbS and voiced open threats directed against Saudi Arabia. The US demanded that Saudi Arabia participate in the Obama-Biden war on Syria for regime change beginning in 2011. The American plan utilized terrorists who raped, maimed, and murdered across Syria while being financed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The project failed, and the Syrian people fought back against the Muslim Brotherhood and Radical Islam to remain the only secular country in the Middle East. In April, Mekdad and Prince Farhan, the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, discussed a comprehensive political settlement to the Syrian crisis and restoring Syria's role in the Arab world. Syria announced that Saudi Arabia has agreed to resume direct flights between Syria and Saudi airports and they are expected to begin at the end of June. A Saudi technical team arrived on May 28 in Syria to prepare for the reopening of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Damascus. US-Saudi relations When US President Biden visited MbS last July, he came to demand an increase in oil production to lower the gas prices in the US, but he left empty-handed. On June 8, US Secretary of State Blinken sat with MbS and during the visit MbS announced he will cut oil production in July, raising the price of gasoline to US consumers. Blinken has voiced the US condemnation of allowing Syria to return to the Arab League, and the US is actively planning revenge on the Kingdom and any other Arab countries who dare to participate in rebuilding the homes, infrastructure, and livelihood of the Syrian people. Instead of looking for a peaceful solution for the US-engineered conflict in Syria, Blinken is focused solely on coercing Saudi Arabia into normalization with Israel through the Abraham Accords, which according to Blinken is an American "priority". Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan seemed unmoved by Blinken's urging, and said that normalization with Israel would have "limited benefits" without "finding a pathway to peace for the Palestinian people." MbS has repeatedly called for the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and Gaza, which would meet existing UN resolutions. However, such a move is impossible in Israel under the current Jewish extremist regime of Benjamin Netanyahu. MbS is in the midst of his Vision 2023, which calls for peace and prosperity for the Middle East. Blinken has no vision for the Middle East, and his priority is to maintain the status quo in Palestine by keeping 6 million people under a brutal military dictatorship. Blinken is oblivious to the suffering of the Syrian people and their neighbors the Palestinians. During Blinken's visit to Riyadh, he co-hosted a meeting of foreign ministers from the global coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) and pledged nearly $150 million for efforts in Syria and Iraq. The coalition includes more than 80 countries and new funding for the program amounts to more than $600 million. The money will flow through the US partner in Syria, the Kurdish communist administration in the northeast. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). The owner of a Hillsboro diesel vehicle repair shop will spend six months in federal prison and his shop will pay a $148,233 penalty to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for disabling pollution controls on the cars and trucks of more than 200 customers. Travis Turner, 38, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Portland to the misdemeanor of being an accessory after the fact to Clean Air Act tampering and entered a guilty plea on behalf of his company, Pure Addiction Diesel Performance, to the felony of Clean Air Act tampering. He formed the limited liability corporation in March 2013. The Clean Air Act directs the Environmental Protection Agency to issue regulations limiting the amount of pollutants that motor vehicles can emit. From 2018 to 2020, Turners shop removed the emissions controls from about 245 diesel vehicles for customers and then tuned the on-board computer systems to ensure they wouldnt detect the removal of the pollution controls. Without the control, the 245 vehicles will collectively emit an estimated 245 additional tons of nitrogen oxides and more than 4,400 pounds of particulate matter into the environment over their lifespans, said Karla Gebel Perrin, a special assistant U.S. attorney. The pollutants are linked to asthma, breathing problems, heart-related problems and cancer, Perrin said. Turner, a Forest Grove resident, was well-aware of the tampering done in his shop as he oversaw the work and then provided inaccurate information to the EPA when its civil enforcement division inquired about the activity, according to Perrin. He provided invoices for 46 customer vehicles that contained inaccurate or incorrect information, claiming the shop had only sold parts, when further investigation revealed it had performed the work that altered the emissions controls, according to the government. The modifications are often marketed to diesel vehicle owners to improve horsepower, torque or fuel efficiency or reduce the cost of having to replace diesel exhaust fluid or clogged filters, according to the prosecutor. Further, some drivers simply dont like the EPA regulations and just think its cool to blow black smoke out of their vehicles, known as rolling coal, Perrin said. Turners shop was known in the community for performing the illegal modifications, she said. The company charged customers about $2,000 for the parts and labor to remove emissions control systems, according to the prosecutor. Attorney Kevin Collins, who represented Turner and his company, said Turner understood that what he did was illegal, has accepted responsibility and stopped in 2020 when EPA investigators confronted him. Turner has no prior criminal record and largely pulled himself up by his own bootstraps after his father died at a young age, Collins said. Turners customers became his friends, Collins said, and he pointed to the two rows of family and friends who sat in the courtrooms public gallery to support Turner. When asked if he wanted to address the judge, Turner, dressed in a gray suit, became overcome with emotion, grabbed a tissue and lifted his black-rimmed eyeglasses to wipe tears from his eyes. He whispered to his lawyer, I cant say anything. U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon accepted the negotiated plea agreement, which allows Turner to personally avoid a felony conviction. Turner waived indictment and agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor offense and spend time in custody to avoid a felony conviction on his record, Perrin told the judge. We cannot live together in a civilized society intentionally and knowingly breaking the law, Simon said. The judge said he was disturbed to learn about the adverse health effects resulting from the violations of federal regulations. Congress and the EPA are doing their best to protect us all from this type of pollution, he said. We want to live in a clean environment. I think its very serious when people intentionally flout and ignore, evade and violate those laws. Turner has agreed to surrender to the Federal Bureau of Prisons on Aug. 3. He requested to serve his time at the federal prison camp in Sheridan. -- Maxine Bernstein Email mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212 Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe My wife and I recently returned from New York City, a destination that we have traveled to frequently over the last 40 years. For years, as weve returned home, weve remarked how lucky we are to live in a safe and beautiful city like Portland. This year, we felt uneasy coming home. We commented on how much safer and more comfortable it felt in midtown Manhattan compared to downtown Portland. New York has moved on from the pandemic and is open for business. Portland has surrendered to the pandemic. An epidemic of lawlessness has defined our city and soiled our once pristine national reputation. It was heartening to read in the paper that Mayor Ted Wheeler and Commissioners Dan Ryan and Rene Gonzalez voted to ban daytime public camping, (Portland City Council bans daytime camping, June 7). The phase-in of this program as new safe and supportive public camping and housing areas are developed makes sense, and is a positive step for our community. Many thanks to the City Council. Keep up the good work! Jeff Jensen, Portland To read more letters to the editor, go to oregonlive.com/opinion. Travel website Trips to Discover recently ranked the most beautiful campground in each state. In Oregon, the Bivy Campground at Smith Rock State Park topped the list. Smith Rock is a popular central Oregon destination for hikers, climbers and other outdoors enthusiasts. Brian McMillan of Bend climbs the route known as Magic Light in early February at Smith Rock State Park in Terrebonne, Oregon. Jamie Francis/The Oregonian Hikers stop at Monkey Face Rock, with Mount Jefferson in the distance, at Smith Rock State Park in central Oregon.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian The Bivy campground is open Mar. 15 to Nov. 15 and is very affordable at just $8 per night. Its a walk-in campground, so no reservations are required. The park itself is open year-round, but only for day use. The campground offers restrooms and showers. Its also pet friendly, with a few minor restrictions. Theres even a charging station for devices. A sunny spring day in June greets Smith Rock State Park in central Oregon. The sprawling park is home to miles of hiking trails and nearly 2,000 rock climbing routes. LC- Jamie Hale/The OregonianLC- Jamie Hale/The Oregonian A sunny spring day in June greets Smith Rock State Park in central Oregon. The sprawling park is home to miles of hiking trails and nearly 2,000 rock climbing routes. LC- Jamie Hale/The OregonianLC- Jamie Hale/The Oregonian The Crooked River runs past tall cliffs on the River Trail on the southwest side of the park. A sunny spring day in June greets Smith Rock State Park in central Oregon. The sprawling park is home to miles of hiking trails and nearly 2,000 rock climbing routes. LC- Jamie Hale/The OregonianLC- Jamie Hale/The Oregonian RVs arent permitted, though. The site is for tent camping only. Then-host of The Oregonian/OregonLives Peak Northwest travel series Jim Ryan climbed Smith Rock in 2019. Trips to Discover also recommended that campers take a hot air balloon ride above the park while visiting. Interested in visiting? The Peak Northwest podcast has tips for hiking and climbing at Smith Rock, as well as recommendations for what to see and do when visiting the area. Tom Danowski announced Tuesday his decision to step down at the end of the year as the executive director of the Oregon Wine Board (OWB). Danowksis 12-year tenure marked a period of significant growth in the Oregon wine industry. After a distinguished marketing career spent working with major corporations such as Coca-Cola, Chateau Ste. Michelle and Starbucks, Danowski was appointed executive director of the OWB in 2011. Vietjet opens direct flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Brisbane (Australia). (Photo: congthuong.vn) With this direct flight, Vietjet became the first airline to have direct flights between Vietnam and Queensland. The first flight opened to the welcome and joy of the people, tourists and leaders of the two countries Vietnam - Australia. Previously, on June 4, the Prime Ministers of Vietnam and Australia attended a ceremony to announce the new flight route. At the event, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese excitedly welcomed the first direct flight connecting Vietnam with the beautiful city of Brisbane, where the 2032 Summer Olympics will take place. Vietjet Deputy General Director Mr. Michael Hickey said at the launch ceremony that with the route connecting the two cities, two countries and two regions, the crew and company leaders welcome customers to happy flights, full of smiles with Vietjet. With 2 round flights per week, Vietjet's direct flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Brisbane will depart every Monday and Friday with unlimited promotions, a variety of hot and fresh dishes, served by dedicated, cheerful, professional flight attendants on large, comfortable and modern aircrafts. Brisbane is the third largest city and is known as the "New York" of Australia, with a blend of a young, vibrant city and natural scenery. Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City is the outstanding economic, cultural and tourist center of Vietnam as well as the region with many unique Asian cultural features, modern bustling life and convenient connections with all destinations in Vietnam as well as internationally. The new route will contribute to promoting tourism and bilateral trade between Vietnam and Australia, expand Vietjet's flight network on the east coast of Australia, the most populae area of Australia, with eight round-trip flights weekly to and from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane./. Tuesday 20 June 2023 10:41am Researchers have developed a groundbreaking health model to ensure the cultural differences and needs of Maori mental health patients will finally be taken into consideration. The collaboration between Te Whatu Ora Southern, Auckland University of Technology, University of Waikato, and the University of Otago, and funded by the Oakley Foundation, has taken a Maori-centred approach to creating a culturally relevant way for patients to state their preferences about their future mental health care. Psychiatric advance directives ( PAD s) are used to increase mental health patients autonomy and engagement in care to ensure the treatment provided is aligned with their preferences. Professor Paul Glue. Co-author Professor Paul Glue, Otagos Hazel Buckland Chair in Psychological Medicine, says the impact cultural background has on what people want from a PAD , and how it should be completed, differs greatly between Maori and Pakeha. While Pakeha emphasise the individual over the collective, the opposite is true for Maori the most important factor for Maori patients was the inclusion of family and friends in decision making around PAD creation and use, which goes against current mental health legislation, he says. Surprisingly, virtually no-one has studied cultural factors of mental health assessments, clinically or academically, which is particularly concerning given how Maori are known to disproportionately experience coercive mental health care, suffer inequity in decision making about responses to their mental distress, and have limited opportunities to seek mental health support that incorporates Maori knowledge and values. Based on input from Maori mental health clinicians, service users and their families, the researchers created a culturally specific, tikanga-informed, conceptual model Pou Herenga which they hope to soon pilot. Johnnie Potiki. Lead author Johnnie Potiki (Kai Tahu, Kati Mamoe, Waitaha), Te Whatu Ora Southern Consumer Advisor-Kaitohutohu Kaihoko, explains Pou Herenga refers to a mooring place. Unlike a PAD , which identifies actions to take, highlighting movement and a journey, Pou Herenga focuses on the importance of stopping and reassessing all aspects of ones life journey. Centring, or finding calm, plays an integral role in the Pou Herenga process. Taking stock of individual and whanau wants and needs is essential to ensure that the time spent at Pou Herenga is healing, productive, and culturally safe, he says. Co-author Jessie Lenagh-Glue, Senior Research Fellow in Otagos Department of Psychological Medicine, describes the research as groundbreaking. Up until we embarked on this work, there was nothing in the sector that took into consideration cultural differences and needs, she says. Mr Potiki says the work is important because it was created with the principles of tino rangatiratanga, partnership, active protection of taonga, and equity, in mind. Our Maori kaimahi staff working with tangata whaiora (people seeking wellness) and whanau can now offer a Maori template to tangata whaiora and whanau in their journey to wellbeing that prioritises their voice. My hope is that the public will appreciate the effort we have made to develop a hauora Maori model of practice that may make a difference for the tangata whaiora and whanau in their mental health journey. Publication details Cultural Influences when creating Psychiatric Advance Directives in Maori Mental Health Service Users in New Zealand Johnnie Potiki, Daniel Tawaroa, Heather Casey, Katey Thom, Anthony OBrien, Jessie Lenagh-Glue, and Paul Glue Psychiatric Services For more information, contact: Professor Paul Glue Hazel Buckland Chair in Psychological Medicine Dunedin School of Medicine University of Otago Mob +64 21 243 3372 Email paul.glue@otago.ac.nz Ellie Rowley Communications Adviser University of Otago Mob +64 21 278 8200 Email ellie.rowley@otago.ac.nz In the first 5 months of 2023, durian exports bring in more than half a billion USD, up 18 times over the same period last year. (Photo: baodautu.vn) Durian exports increased dramatically in May, bringing the export value of durian in the first five months of 2023 to more than half a billion USD, according to statistics of the General Department of Customs. Particularly in May 2023, the export value of durian fruit reached the highest level ever, with USD332 million, more than 10 times higher than the previous month. In the 5 months of 2023, the export value of durian fruit reached USD503.4 million, an increase of USD475.8 million, more than 18 times higher than USD27.6 million in the same period last year. In which, the export of durian fruit to China amounted to USD477 million, accounting for 95% of the total export value of this commodity group of the country. Although it was only allowed to be officially exported to China from the third quarter last year, by the end of 2022, this item contributed nearly USD430 million. It is forecasted that durian will bring impressive results in 2023, with a possible turnover of USD1 billion. The basis of this forecast is that China has continuously approved durian growing areas and packing facilities for Vietnam. Currently, Vietnam has 293 growing areas and 115 packing facilities that have been granted official export codes by China. Not only focusing on the Chinese market, localities and businesses are also focusing on finding other potential markets. Trade promotion and product promotion activities will bring durian exports to many markets around the world, and at the same time develop a stable growing area. Vietnam has exported fresh and frozen durians to China, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States. According to the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetables Association, Vietnams durian has the advantage of abundant output and high income. The plan is to spread the crop all year round, and as the transportation time to China is short, it is forecasted that in 2023, increased durian export orders to the market of billions of people will contribute to raising the export turnover of the whole fruit and vegetable industry to USD4.2-4.5 billion./. Paducah, KY (42003) Today Thunderstorms, some heavy in the morning, then skies turning partly cloudy late. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 87F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight A few clouds from time to time. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable. Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - Bangladesh maintained its position as Benin's leading customer in the first quarter of the current year, according to a publication by the National Institute of Statistics and Demography (INSTAD) Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - The Beninese government has just set up a National Hospital Maintenance Agency to support the ongoing reforms in the health sector, official sources told PANA here Wednesday SAO PAULO, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The death toll rose to 13 from the extratropical cyclone that lashed southern Brazil over the weekend with four people still missing, said the country's civil defense agency on Sunday. The devastation caused by the storms and floods began Friday, affecting more than 40 towns in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, which borders neighboring Uruguay and Argentina. The search operation for those missing is still going on, said the civil defense agency. More than half a million people were left without electricity over the weekend and 4,913 people were displaced, according to the civil defense agency. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has pledged federal aid to the affected area. Editor: WJH Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - At a plenary session broadcast live on state television (RTB) on Tuesday, the Burkina Faso parliament voted unanimously to pass a bill on property development in the country New York, US (PANA) - Countering hate speech is a key component of atrocity prevention, UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi said on Monday, calling for more global action towards eradicating it Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - A meeting between the Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Najla Al-Mangouch, and the Deputy Special Representative and United Nations Resident Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs in Libya, Georgette Gagnon, Tuesday focused on the United Nations cooperation framework on sustainable development and the progress made Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released a new funding appeal requesting US$145 million to meet the increasing health needs of people affected by violence in Sudan and to assist those who have fled to neighbouring countries Photo: (Photo : ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images) Singapore's Changi Airport has become home to two formidable robots standing over 7 feet tall. These autonomous machines, recently introduced by the Singapore Police Force, mark the beginning of a new era in law enforcement. The robots, which have undergone more than five years of trials, are set to augment frontline officers and serve as an additional police presence, according to CNN. The Singapore Police Force has introduced two robots to patrol Changi Airport, projecting an additional police presence and serving as "eyes on the ground." These robots, developed in collaboration with local technology companies, are equipped with advanced features to enhance security measures. According to the force, they are the latest addition to their technological arsenal, aimed at enhancing the operational efficiency and capabilities of their frontline officers. Enforcing Safety Measures During incidents, the robots are equipped to enforce cordons and warn bystanders using their blinkers, sirens, and speakers while they wait for human officers to arrive. According to West Observer, this allows them to effectively manage potentially dangerous situations and maintain public safety. Additionally, the robots have a button on their front that enables direct communication between the public and the police force, fostering an efficient and immediate response. Standing at roughly 5.5 feet tall, these robots are equipped with extendable masts that can reach up to 7.5 feet, allowing for unobstructed views through multiple cameras. This 360-degree vision empowers airport police to effectively monitor and manage incidents, enhancing their incident response capabilities. The robots can transmit real-time video footage to the police control center, providing crucial information to facilitate decision-making and coordination. The Singapore Police Force plans to progressively deploy these patrol robots throughout the city-state, demonstrating their commitment to leveraging technology for law enforcement purposes. Singapore has a track record of embracing technological advancements in various sectors. In the past, earlier versions of these robots were deployed during public parades in 2018 and 2022. The country has also employed robot dogs to enforce social distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, while cleaner robots have become a common sight in metro stations and airports. Read Also: Child Abuse and Pedophilia :Can Child Sex Dolls & Robots Prevent Pedophiles From Abusing Real Kids? Public Reactions and Future Implications The introduction of these patrol robots may take some getting used to for both residents and visitors. The presence of these intimidating robots has captivated travelers passing through Terminal 4 at Changi Airport. American traveler Samwell Swant described the sight as something out of a movie or the TV series "Black Mirror." As advancements in robotics continue, society will need to adapt and familiarize itself with these technological innovations. The integration of robotics in law enforcement is expected to enhance the operational efficiency and capabilities of frontline officers. By deploying these robots, the Singapore Police Force aims to ensure public safety and provide an additional layer of security at critical locations like Changi Airport. As the robots' deployment expands across the city-state, they are likely to contribute to a safer and more secure environment for residents and visitors alike. As technology continues to evolve, the role of robots in law enforcement may expand further. It is crucial to strike a balance between leveraging technology and maintaining human judgment and interaction. The Singapore Police Force's initiative serves as a testament to their commitment to innovation and their dedication to keeping up with the ever-changing landscape of security measures. Related Article: Artificial Intelligence in Pregnancy Labor & Delivery: Robot Nurse Could One Day Help Moms Give Birth and Assist Doctors in the Hospital Photo: (Photo : MAX HERMAN/AFP via Getty Images) A Father's Day celebration in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood took a tragic turn as a shooting incident unfolded, resulting in the deaths of two victims and injuries to three others. The incident occurred on Sunday evening and has left the community shaken. According to the Chicago Police, the shooting took place near West 99th Street and South Princeton Avenue. Five victims were targeted while they were gathered at a park, enjoying the Father's Day festivities. The attackers, believed to be traveling in a gray Honda sedan, opened fire on the unsuspecting group, leaving a trail of devastation behind. Gunmen Open Fire on Park-Goers, Claiming 2 Lives, Injuring 3 Among the victims, two men aged 37 and 33 tragically lost their lives, succumbing to the injuries sustained during the shooting. The remaining three victims, aged 27, 25, and 19, were rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment, each in varying conditions. Chicago Police spokesperson Tom Ahern expressed his dismay at the senseless act of violence, stating, "It's unfortunate that this occurred because today was a fine day. People are just enjoying their family activities, but violence prevails in this city." The shooting incident has once again highlighted the ongoing issue of gun violence in Chicago and its impact on innocent lives. As the investigation unfolds, the police have yet to make any arrests or take suspects into custody. The authorities are actively working to gather evidence, interview witnesses, and analyze any available surveillance footage to identify and apprehend those responsible for the heinous act. According to FOX News, the shooting, which occurred at approximately 8 p.m., disrupted what should have been a joyous Father's Day barbecue. The community came together to celebrate fatherhood and family, only to have their festivities marred by this tragic incident. The local residents, as well as city officials, expressed their deep sadness and outrage over the violence that has once again plagued their neighborhood. The incident serves as a painful reminder of the ongoing challenges faced by Chicago in addressing gun violence. The city has been grappling with a persistent issue of shootings and homicides, with innocent lives being shattered and communities left in mourning. Read Also: Michigan State University Deadly Shooting Kills 3 Students, 5 Injured Calls for Action Intensify Amidst Renewed Focus on Curbing Violence in the City Efforts to curb gun violence in Chicago have been ongoing, with initiatives aimed at increasing police presence, implementing stricter gun control measures, and engaging communities in prevention programs. However, the complexity of the issue requires a multi-faceted approach that addresses root causes such as poverty, education, and access to resources. According to NY Post, the Father's Day shooting has ignited renewed calls for action and underscores the need for continued efforts to promote community safety and find sustainable solutions to reduce gun violence. It is a stark reminder that the fight against violence requires the collective commitment and collaboration of law enforcement, community leaders, and residents. As the investigation into this devastating incident continues, the thoughts and condolences of the community and the nation are with the victims and their families. The tragedy serves as a somber reflection on the challenges faced not only by Chicago but also by many communities across the country grappling with the impact of gun violence. Related Article: Suspect of Shooting Incident Involving 6-Year-Old Girl, Parents, Neighbor Now Under Police Custody: 'Turned Himself In' Photo: (Photo : Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) As the one-year anniversary of overturning Roe v. Wade comes close, Biden and Harris continue to advocate for women's reproductive choices. President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to participate in a series of high-profile events at the White House this week, leading up to the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. The events aim to highlight the administration's commitment to protecting reproductive rights and mark the significance of the anniversary. White House Gears Up for Events Commemorating One-Year Anniversary As the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade approaches, NBC News reported that the White House is preparing to hold a series of events to address the issue of reproductive rights. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will take part in these events, emphasizing the administration's stance on protecting access to reproductive healthcare. In a show of support for reproductive rights, President Biden and Vice President Harris will join forces with several prominent reproductive rights groups, including EMILYs List, NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. This united front aims to emphasize the significance of the anniversary and rally advocates, supporters, and community leaders in the fight for abortion access. Furthermore, First Lady Jill Biden will host a roundtable conversation at the White House, bringing together women who have been denied medical care in the year since the Roe v. Wade decision was overturned. Joined by White House Gender Policy Council Director Jennifer Klein and women from various parts of the country, the roundtable aims to highlight the stories of those affected and reaffirm the administration's commitment to protecting reproductive healthcare. Harris Delivers Keynote Speech on Abortion Access in North Carolina As reported by The Hill, the culmination of the White House's week-long focus on reproductive rights will be Vice President Harris' major speech in Charlotte, North Carolina. Harris plans to address supporters, advocates, and community leaders, underscoring the importance of abortion access and positioning it as a key issue for voters ahead of the 2024 election. Her speech aims to draw a sharp contrast between what the administration sees as "Republicans' extreme approach" and the Biden administration's efforts to safeguard reproductive health care. The events organized by the White House and the active participation of President Biden and Vice President Harris underscore the significance of the one-year anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision being overturned. Read Also: Michigan Teen Arrested for Neo-Nazi Links, Mass Shooting Plot To Jewish Community One Year Anniversary From Overturning Roe v. Wade According to Forbes, this landmark ruling, which had protected access to abortions for almost 50 years, was reversed by a 6-3 Supreme Court vote, with all three of former President Donald Trump's appointees supporting the decision to overturn. The abortion issue has remained a hotly debated topic, particularly in the context of the upcoming 2024 election. Republicans have been advocating for strict state-level abortion bans, while the Biden administration has been working towards making the procedure more accessible. Major women's groups are expected to demonstrate unified support for the Biden-Harris ticket as the one-year anniversary approaches. The White House's commitment to codifying abortion rights is evident, as President Biden, Vice President Harris, and their respective spouses urge lawmakers to pass a law restoring the protections of Roe v. Wade. Despite Democratic control of both chambers, such legislation has faced challenges in garnering sufficient support on Capitol Hill. The administration continues to emphasize its alignment with the majority of Americans who believe in the fundamental right to choose and the importance of healthcare decisions being made between a woman and her doctor. As the debate on abortion intensifies, Democrats are rallying support for abortion rights, while Republicans push for state-level restrictions. The administration's efforts and the support from major women's groups highlight the significance of this issue as the 2024 election approaches. Related Article: Ohio Father Charged with Murder as Three Young Sons Shot Dead in Tragic Family Tragedy Photo: (Photo : ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / Getty Images) The tragic death of an 8-year-old girl in Border Patrol custody has ignited a wave of concern and scrutiny over the care provided to detained migrants. The young girl's passing has put the U.S. government's treatment of migrants under renewed public and legal scrutiny. Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez, an 8-year-old girl, tragically passed away while under the custody of the Border Patrol. Her family had been on their way to New York City when their journey across the southern U.S. border took a devastating turn. The circumstances surrounding her death have raised significant concerns about the care and treatment of thousands of detained migrants. 8-Year-Old Died in Border Patrol Custody According to NBC News, dozens of people gathered in New York City to pay their respects to Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez. Balloons adorned with rainbows and Minnie Mouse surrounded her casket at the R.G. Ortiz Funeral Home. Her mother, Mabel Alvarez Benedicks, embraced each guest, expressing gratitude for their presence and pleading for justice for her daughter. Anadith had a history of heart problems and sickle cell anemia, which her mother had informed the Border Patrol medical personnel about. However, an internal investigation revealed that the medical staff declined to review her medical file before she experienced a seizure and tragically passed away on May 17, only nine days into their custody. In their statement, the Alvarez family expressed their heartfelt farewell, stating that as they lay their child to rest, their sincere desire is for her to find eternal peace. They seek justice on her behalf, determined to prevent any future occurrences. They vow to persistently fight for justice. The immense sorrow experienced by the family underscores the pressing necessity for transparency, accountability, and finding solutions to avoid similar tragedies in the future. Read Also: Ohio Father Charged with Murder as Three Young Sons Shot Dead in Tragic Family Tragedy Systemic Issues and Calls for Change Customs and Border Protection (CBP) faced significant backlash, leading to the reassignment of its chief medical officer, Dr. David Tarantino. The agency announced the appointment of additional senior leadership to drive action and address pressing concerns across the agency. Moreover, the family's tragic loss occurred during a time of heightened illegal border crossings as migrants rushed to beat pandemic-related asylum restrictions lifted on May 11. The influx of migrants and the strain it places on the system underscore the urgent need for improved care and protocols for vulnerable individuals, particularly children with pre-existing medical conditions. The 8-year-old girl died in a Border Patrol detention facility in Texas. According to Knau, the nurse practitioner acknowledged refusing three to four requests from the girl's mother for an ambulance until the girl collapsed in her mother's embrace and lost consciousness. The Office of Professional Responsibility expressed its findings, stating that despite the girl's deteriorating condition, her mother's concerns, and the necessity for ongoing treatments, contracted medical staff neglected to transfer her to a hospital for advanced care. Dr. Paul H. Wise, a pediatrics professor from Stanford University, visited South Texas to investigate the circumstances surrounding what he deemed a preventable death. Dr. Wise emphasized the importance of promptly sending sick children, especially those with chronic conditions, to the hospital without hesitation. Attorneys from the Texas Civil Rights Project and the Haitian Bridge Alliance have called for an independent autopsy to determine the cause of Anadith's untimely death. The findings from the autopsy could provide crucial insights into the circumstances surrounding her passing and contribute to ongoing legal efforts seeking justice. According to ABC, a statement issued earlier this month by CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said the agency is taking steps to address the issues related to the incident. These measures include barring certain medical providers involved in the incident from working at CBP facilities and deploying clinicians from the United States Public Health Service to CBP facilities nationwide. Additionally, the agency has initiated a review of the medical contractor's practices to ensure necessary improvements are made, as stated by Miller. On Saturday, Anadith will be laid to rest at a cemetery in New Jersey, where her memory will forever be cherished by her grieving family and the community that rallied behind their call for justice and change. Related Article: Pediatricians Warn Weighted Sleep Sacks, Swaddles for Infants Could Be Deadly Photo: (Photo : EVA HAMBACH / Getty Images) The growing epidemic of child vaping has sparked serious concerns among parents and teachers in the UK. The child vaping crisis, highlighted by the prevalence of vaping among young people, has prompted calls for urgent action to address the alarming rates of nicotine addiction. As the harmful effects of vaping become more evident, educators and parents are raising their voices, emphasizing the need for effective education, legislative changes, and increased regulation of vaping products. Alarming Rise in Child Vaping Rates The child vaping crisis has become increasingly pervasive, with parents and teachers expressing deep concerns about its impact on children's health and well-being, per The Guardian. According to reports from the UK, many children are exposed to vaping through older peers, and vaping has become normalized in their perception. While children may lack a clear understanding of the difference between smoking and vaping, raising awareness about the potential health risks, particularly the impact of nicotine addiction on developing teenage brains, is crucial. Teachers and counselors working closely with students have observed a disturbing trend. Many schoolchildren believe that vaping is relatively harmless and turn to it as a coping mechanism for stress and anxiety. The misconception that vaping helps alleviate these issues is prevalent among young people, further exacerbating the child vaping crisis. Educators and parents are now calling for comprehensive education programs that address the risks associated with vaping and inform children about its potential long-term consequences. Health Authorities Urge Conversations, Action Against Vaping In response to the escalating child vaping crisis, health authorities in certain parts of the UK are urging parents to engage in conversations with their children about the harmful effects of vaping. These conversations are seen as crucial to countering the normalization of vaping and increasing awareness of the associated risks. Effective education is viewed as one of the primary lines of defense against this crisis, alongside necessary legislative changes and enhanced regulation of vaping products. Furthermore, as per ABC, alarming evidence has emerged from Australia, where clinical psychologist Donna Stambulich has observed a significant rise in parents seeking treatment for their children aged 12 to 24, with vaping as a contributing factor. Stambulich emphasizes that while vaping may not be the main reason for seeking treatment, it is often associated with underlying issues such as social isolation, anxiety, and depression. The child vaping crisis is particularly concerning among adolescent girls, who use vaping as an appetite suppressant, leading to potential negative impacts on their overall well-being. Read Also: Teen Driver's Fatal Sleep: Idaho Crash Claims Father, Two Siblings on Family Vacation Urgent Need for Action and Education The child vaping crisis demands immediate action and a comprehensive approach involving multiple stakeholders. According to INews, England's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, has publicly expressed his dismay at the appalling rates of child vaping. He highlights the addictive nature of vaping and the unknown consequences it poses to developing minds, emphasizing the utter unacceptability of marketing these products to children. Recent surveys reveal an upward trend in child vaping rates, with a rise in both experimentation and regular use. Concerns extend beyond the immediate health risks, as vaping is feared to act as a gateway to more dangerous substances. Educators have reported instances of vaping disrupting classrooms, increasing truancy, and fostering an environment conducive to the use of substances like THC or spices. The child vaping crisis necessitates a comprehensive strategy that includes educational campaigns to debunk misconceptions, stricter regulations on the sale and marketing of vaping products, and targeted interventions to address underlying issues that contribute to vaping behaviors. It is imperative that parents, teachers, health authorities, and policymakers work together to protect the well-being of young people and combat the child vaping crisis effectively. In conclusion, the child vaping crisis has reached an alarming level, causing grave concern among parents, teachers, and health authorities. The normalization of vaping among children and adolescents, coupled with misconceptions about its risks, has led to a significant increase in nicotine addiction. Urgent action is required to educate children about the dangers of vaping, enact stricter regulations, and provide necessary support for those affected. The child vaping crisis demands a collective effort to safeguard the health and well-being of young people in our communities. Related Article: Ohio Father Charged with Murder as Three Young Sons Shot Dead in Tragic Family Tragedy Photo: (Photo : JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) Google, the tech giant, has recently faced scrutiny over allegations that it earned more than $10 million by allowing misleading advertisements from "fake" abortion clinics. A report released by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) has brought attention to the concerning reach and influence of these ads, which aim to dissuade women from pursuing abortions. While the revenue generated from these ads is relatively small compared to Google's overall ad sales, the report emphasizes the significant impact they can have on individuals seeking accurate information about abortion procedures. According to the CCDH report, researchers utilizing the Semrush analytics tool identified approximately 188 "fake clinic websites" advertised on Google between March 2021 and February 2023. These ads, designed to resemble genuine abortion clinics, were estimated to have been clicked on by users around 13 million times during the period under review. According to CNN, alarming findings indicate that individuals searching for phrases such as "abortion clinics near me" were often redirected to so-called "crisis pregnancy centers." These centers, posing as supportive facilities, often employ deceptive tactics to discourage women from pursuing abortions, including offering unproven abortion pill reversal techniques. Targeted Google Searches and Varied Spending The CCDH report highlights the specific keywords and phrases associated with these misleading ads. Alongside searches for terms like "abortion pill," "abortion clinic," and "Planned Parenthood," crisis clinic ads frequently appeared. Notably, clinics located in states where abortion is legal were found to invest twice as much in these targeted advertisements compared to clinics in states with abortion bans. The deliberate targeting based on search queries and geographical locations indicates a systematic approach to influencing individuals seeking abortion-related information. In response to the allegations, Google emphasized its adherence to local laws regarding abortion-related advertisements. The company stated that advertisers must complete certifications and disclose whether they provide abortion services. Ads promoting abortion reversal treatments or misleading services are prohibited, and any content violating these policies is removed or blocked. Google has also reiterated its stance against allowing advertisements for abortion reversal pills due to the treatment's lack of approval by the FDA. Read Also: Abortion Battle: Senators Urge Walmart, Costco, Albertsons, Kroger To Sell Mifepristone in Their Pharmacies Data Privacy Concerns Beyond the issue of misleading ads, concerns have arisen regarding the protection of abortion seekers' location data. Several Senate Democrats raised questions about Google's handling of users' location histories, particularly visits to sensitive locations such as abortion clinics. According to The Guardian, privacy advocates conducted tests that revealed inconsistencies in the deletion of recorded visits to fertility centers and Planned Parenthood clinics. Although Google has not provided a comprehensive response, the company categorizes abortion clinics as sensitive locations and claims that data will be deleted "soon after" a visit. The CCDH report exposing Google's substantial revenue from allowing misleading anti-abortion ads from "fake clinics" has sparked controversy and drawn attention to the need for stricter ad policies. The report sheds light on the extensive reach and influence these ads have on individuals seeking reliable and accurate information about abortion procedures. As public scrutiny intensifies, Google faces mounting pressure to ensure transparency, protect user privacy, and prevent the dissemination of misleading content within its search results. The implications of these findings underscore the importance of robust measures to ensure the authenticity and accuracy of advertisements in sensitive and critical areas such as healthcare. Related Article: Revised North Dakota Abortion Laws Challenged: Physicians, Clinics Say It Is Unconstitutional and Violates Patients' Rights At the initiative of the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, the formation of registers of communities affected by the undermining of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant by the Russians has begun, and a plan for the restoration of these territories is also being developed with the participation of leading experts. According to the press service of the Ministry of Restoration, the expert group included representatives of the Ministry of Restoration, the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, the Kyiv School of Economics, VoxUkraine, Reform Support Teams (RST) and volunteer organizations. To analyze the situation and draw up an action plan, the experts visited the disaster zone directly. In Kherson, they met with representatives of the regional military administration. Currently, a survey of local governments regarding the needs of communities affected by the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant is ongoing. All information is transferred to international donors and partners, who, together with the Ukrainian government, will provide the necessary assistance. "This is necessary in order to understand the real needs for the restoration of water supply, sewerage, heat supply, as well as the restoration of healthcare facilities and housing. The main priorities are to provide the population with drinking water, essential goods and medicines in sufficient quantities. Next is the restoration of critical, social and transport infrastructure so that residents of the affected territories can return to their homes," Oleksandra Azarkhina, Deputy Minister of Restoration, said. According to her, data are being collected on urgent, until the end of 2023, measures, short-term (2024-2025) and long-term (2026-2030) ones. The Government of Ukraine has allocated UAH 1.5 billion for the construction of main water pipelines to provide drinking water to the affected settlements. Funds were allocated to the State Agency for the Rehabilitation and Infrastructure Development from the Fund for Eliminating the Consequences of Armed Aggression. More than UAH 845 million was allocated to develop design solutions and provide measures for the transportation of drinking water to the affected settlements of Kherson, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhyia regions. The government of Ukraine has allocated more than UAH 980 million to provide financial assistance to those whose homes were damaged or destroyed as a result of the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. As a reminder, if housing is recoverable, cash assistance can be obtained using the eRecovery service in the Diia application. Such an act of cruelty perfectly corresponds with Herods paranoid and merciless character, which bolsters the argument for its historicity. Josephus records that Herod was quick to execute anyone he perceived to threaten his rule, including his wife and children (Antiquities 15.7.56 and 16.11.7). Two Jewish scholars have made the case that Herod suffered from Paranoid Personality Disorder, and Caesar Augustus even said that it was safer to be Herods pig than his son. * In addition, first-century Bethlehem was a small village that would have included, at most, a dozen males under the age of two. Josephus, if he even knew about the massacre, probably did not think an isolated event like the killings at Bethlehem needed to be recorded, especially since infanticide in the Roman Empire was not a moral abomination as it is in our modern Western world. * [prominent archaeologist William F. Albright estimated the population of Bethlehem at the time of Jesus birth to be about 300 people] * Herods massacre would also not have been the first historical event Josephus failed to record. * We know from Suetonius and from the book of Acts that the Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome in A.D. 49, but neither Josephus nor the second century Roman historian Tacitus record this event (Acts 18). Josephus also failed to record Pontius Pilates decision to install blasphemous golden shields in Jerusalem, which drove the Jews to petition the emperor for their removal. The Alexandrian philosopher Philo was the only person to record this event. * Sometimes historians choose not to record an event, and their reasons cannot always be determined. In the nineteenth century Pope Leo XIII noted the double standard in critics for whom a profane book or ancient document is accepted without hesitation, whilst the Scripture, if they only find in it a suspicion of error, is set down with the slightest possible discussion as quite untrustworthy (Providentissimus Deus, 20). * Guinness Ghanas great-tasting, quality beer Star Beer, has marked yet another remarkable milestone by securing the prestigious Gold Award at the renowned Monde Selection Quality Awards for the fifth time. This is the first Ghanaian Beer to have ever achieved such a feat and solidifies Star Beer's position as the unrivaled and best quality beer that Ghanaians truly deserve. The Monde Selection Quality Awards, renowned for their rigorous evaluation process and esteemed panel of expert judges, serve as a global benchmark for excellence in the brewing industry. With a focus on quality and taste, the awards celebrate the finest beverages from around the world. Star Beer's consistent success in this esteemed competition is a testament to its unwavering dedication to crafting quality, great-tasting beer for Ghanaians. Commenting on the awards, Marketing and Innovation Director at Guinness Ghana, Estella Muzito said: For us, the pursuit of excellence is not just a matter of pride but also a reflection of the belief that Ghanaians deserve nothing but the best quality beer. From the moment we source our local raw materials, to the final pour, every step of the brewing process of Star Beer is approached with unwavering dedication and passion. We aim to ensure that every sip of Star Beer delivers a refreshing taste experience, creating moments of joy and celebration for Ghanaians. This accomplishment highlights our unwavering commitment to brewing the best quality beer for Ghanaians. We firmly believe that our consumers deserve the highest standards, and we will continue to push boundaries, innovate, and create exceptional moments that bring joy to every occasion, she added. Head of Beers at Guinness Ghana, Roland Ofori noted, being the first Ghanaian Beer to win a fifth Gold Award at the prestigious Monde Selection Quality Awards is a great reaffirmation of Star Beers superior quality. It is also a prompt to seek ways to outdo ourselves in the coming years, because Ghanaians always deserve the best, and we intend for that to always be Star Beer. Guinness Ghana recently announced the production of the great tasting, quality Ghanaian beer Star Beer in Kumasi, where it was originally brewed in Ghana. For several years, Star Beer has been a popular choice among Ghanaians, and it is often associated with casual occasions, good moments, celebrations and social events in the country. Source: Guinness 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 QNET, a global lifestyle and wellness company that uses a direct selling business model, has demonstrated total commitment and willingness to repair its image and reputation in Ghana by collaborating with the police and security agencies to arrest people misrepresenting the company for their own selfish gains. QNET provided information and supported the judicial authority to end the activity of five people who were obtaining money under false pretences, facilitating illegal migration and fraudulently misrepresenting the company in Tarkwa, Techiman and Nsawam. Additionally, QNET assisted the Eastern Regional Command of Ghana Immigration to repatriate 46 foreigners (mainly Nigerians) who migrated illegally. This is a demonstration of the companys commitment to combat the menace of fraud and misrepresentation. We have reached a point where we are decisively taking strong actions against people misrepresenting QNET under false and fraudulent representations for personal gains. We are collaborating with the Police and local authorities to weed out these few people and their bad behaviours. They do not represent the ideals and virtues we stand for. We are not a ponzi or investment scheme, we are not a travel agency, we do not promise our independent representatives or distributors fixed salaries. Unethical and unprofessional actions by a few people have tarnished our image and we are committed to clearing our name and showing the good people of Ghana, who we are, what we stand for and how we can improve their lives and wellbeing through our products, Mr. Biram Fall, Regional General Manager for sub-Saharan Africa for QNET, explained. He added: QNET is a prominent direct selling business that prides itself in its strong value of helping people raise themselves to help mankind. Unfortunately, some independent representatives behave in unethical and unprofessional ways, thereby causing reputational damage on the companys image. In some cases, people who are not associated with the company in any way, attempt to scam others using the companys name. These individuals cause confusion and distrust and mislead customers and the public. QNET is taking steps to either suspend, terminate or prosecute them when they are found, depending on the nature of their unethical practice. QNET is encouraging people to report anyone found to be misusing its name by promising fixed income jobs, overseas travels, investment returns and other outrageous claims through [email protected]. 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 Being diagnosed with Hepatitis B is like a death sentence, says Anthony Holmes, a 30-year-old businessman. Anthony had to leave his business when he fell seriously ill and was diagnosed initially with an autoimmune disease. A few months passed and Anthony still did not feel well. One day, he decided to get tested during one of the free screening exercises normally organized on World Hepatitis Day, and the results turned out positive. This was a big blow to Anthony, but with the support of his family members and friends, some contributions were made to his laboratory investigations to start the treatment process. He did well with his treatments for the first six months. He was always seen at the Hospital every month and never missed his counseling session. He was doing great. Unfortunately, he stopped his treatment after some time and started herbal treatment recommended to him by his parents who said it could help cure the infection. One faithful day, Anthony run into his physician who asked him why he had not been coming to the clinic for his routine treatments and management. He gave his Physician his reasons and he expressed disappointment in Anthony saying that his decision could result in terrible complications, but he said he was giving it a trial for some time. After some months of being on the treatment, Anthonys condition worsened, and he was admitted to the Hospital. His laboratory results were so bad with elevated liver enzymes. By that time, he looked so sick with swollen limbs and a distended abdomen. Anthonys life now hangs in the balance. His liver was failing. Several liver ultrasound tests conducted revealed that the state of his liver was terrible. The story of Anthony is one of the many incidents of hepatitis patients resorting to herbal treatments. Anthonys life hangs in balance now, but I am hopeful that his condition can be managed. There are many people out there with similar cases but unfortunately couldnt live to tell their stories. Hepatitis B, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), is a viral infection that attacks the liver and can cause both acute and chronic diseases. When the infection lasts for more than six months, it can develop into chronic Hepatitis B, which can lead to chronic inflammation of the liver, cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), liver cancer, and/or liver failure. The virus is spread through contact with the body fluids of an infected person, such as blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and saliva. Symptoms of the disease include abdominal pain, dark urine, fever, joint pain, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, weakness, fatigue, yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes. A vaccine can prevent Hepatitis B, but theres no cure if one has the condition. Infected persons must take precautions that can help prevent spreading of the virus to others. The five main viral classifications of hepatitis are hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. A different virus is responsible for each type of viral hepatitis. A 2022 Report by the WHO indicates that nearly 296 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis B, with an annual mortality of 820,000. In Africa alone, about 60 million people are estimated to have hepatitis B viral (HBV) infection (WHO, 2020), and a higher proportion of these people reside in Central and Western Africa (WHO, 2017b). In Ghana, 12.3 per cent of the population have hepatitis B, and three per cent of the people have Hepatitis C with 8.36 per cent of the condition having been recorded in the adult population, 14.3 per cent in adolescents, and 0.55 in Children five years. Hepatitis B and C are the most common of the conditions and result in 1.1 million deaths and 3 million new infections per year. Scientists are thus against the use of traditional herbal medicines because till now no scientific tests have proven the efficacy of these products, so, consumers must be mindful to protect the liver from any additional injury or harm. Dr Atsu Godwin Seake-Kwaku, Programme Manager, National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme, GHS, says it is worrying that people resort to herbal treatment when effective treatment options were available for all in hospital care. Research has shown that in recent times, effective antiviral agents against HBV such as Nucleos(t)ide analogs (NAs) are available. These drugs are capable of suppressing HBV replication, preventing the progression of chronic Hepatitis B to cirrhosis, and reducing the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and liver-related death. Notwithstanding, hepatitis treatments are underused despite their effectiveness in managing Hepatitis B due to the cost. Dr Seake-Kwaku reveales that Ghana has a high prevalence rate of eight per cent of hepatitis B and C, which means that the country is hyper-endemic being driven by mother-to-child transmission. He says it is, therefore, crucial for the country to address this inter-generational transmission to be able to impact the prevalence to reduce the disease. The Programme Manager called for a scale-up of Hepatitis B and C testing as the disease prevalence keeps increasing in the country. He advised Ghanaians to take advantage of Hepatitis C-free treatment opportunities as medication for the disease was high-priced. Checks at some Hospitals reveal that a 12-week course of treatment for hepatitis C is GHC 5,500, equivalent to $486.17 quite expensive for the ordinary Ghanaian. As part of the global response toward the elimination of viral hepatitis by 2030, WHO has adopted a global strategy to reduce new HBV infections by 90 per cent and death by 65 per cent through immunization, prevention of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT), blood and injection safety, harm reduction services, and increased testing and treatment. In 2022, on World Hepatitis Day, the WHO reported a new outbreak of unexplained acute hepatitis infections affecting children. This new outbreak brings focus to thousands of acute viral hepatitis infections that occur among children, adolescents, and adults every year. The WHO, thus, called for global efforts to prioritize the elimination of hepatitis infections B, C, and D infections. Mr Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, Deputy Majority Leader, in his recent submission on the floor of Parliament and reported in the media appealed to the government to make testing, vaccination, and treatment of Hepatitis B accessible to rural communities. He says it was equally important that Hepatitis B treatment be enrolled into the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to make it affordable or even free as done for Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. HIV patients get the antiretroviral drugs free of charge. Unfortunately, Hepatitis B patients who also rely on this same medication have to buy it. If we do this, it will reduce morbidity and mortality in our country to the barest minimum with a strong focus on vulnerable groups within our rural areas, the Deputy Minority Leader stated. Dr Charles Ampong Adjei, the Executive Director, of Hepatitis Alliance Ghana (HAG), a non-governmental organization told the GNA that the issue of using herbal medicine for hepatitis was a huge challenge they are currently faced with. He said the proliferation of herbal practitioners in the market was overwhelming, adding that their effectiveness is based on self professions of consumers of the products. But fortunately for patients in our network, they have been sensitized against herbal medicine use, and we have also gone a step further to create a space for them to access liver specialists via phone and Zoom, the Executive Director said. Dr Adjei, however, said this problem persisted in the country because primary healthcare had not been responsive to the needs of persons with Hepatitis B. Patients are left with no option but to seek help from herbal practitioners, which unfortunately makes them report to the hospital late with damaged livers. No herbal medicine has been certified as effective in treating hepatitis B or C in Ghana and cautioned the public against using any of such medicines in an attempt to cure hepatitis, he stated. He said, despite the gains made as a country much is required to enable Ghana to achieve the 2030 target. This report was made possible with technical support from the Centre for Science and Health Communication (CSHC), and funding from the National Research Foundation, South Africa. 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 One of the essential prerequisites for good governance and accountability constitutes the orderly and efficient use of public funds. It is argued that the rule of law and procedures for accountability constrain the states power and ensure that it is used only in a controlled and consensual manner. However, Ghana has a poor record in the area of public financial accountability which adversely affect the effective and efficient use of government revenues. As emphasised by Ackerman (2004), the only way good governance can be secured is by institutionalising powerful accountability mechanisms that hold public officials responsible for their actions as public servants. Based on the principalagent theory, in a democracy the principal is the citizenry, who through elections delegate authority to Parliament and President, who in turn establish bureaucratic hierarchies to carry out their wishes. Accountability mechanisms help to ensure that the agent (politician) acts in the interests of the principal (voter) and does not engage in opportunistic behaviour. Corruption is a key threat to good governance, democratic processes and fair business competition (OECD,2011). Corruption in Ghana occurs because of weak values, systems and consequences (Pauw et al., 2008:348). At the similar level of economic development, the least corrupt governments collect four per cent of GDP more in tax revenues than countries with the highest levels of corruption. Corruption has damaging effects on economic growth and political legitimacy (Fukuyama, 2014, p.82). Constitution Article 35(8) of the 1992 Constitution enjoins the State of Ghana to take steps to eradicate corrupt practices and abuse of power and Chapter 24 of the Constitution mostly regulate the Code of Conduct of Public Officers under various provisions comprising conflict of interests, public appointments and complaints of contravention of the Code of Conduct. The solution to the problems regarding the role of money in African politics lies ultimately with practical activities by stakeholders such as political actors, public oversight bodies and civil society (Fukuyama, 2014). According to Anna Bossman, a former Commissioner of CHRAJ, an enabling environment within which anticorruption agencies and institutions of governance including CHRAJ among others, effectively operate requires a responsible media, civil society/citizen engagement, coalitions, international cooperation and above all political will. In his key principal agent theory for explaining public corruption, Robert Klitgaard provides an equation of public corruption = monopoly + discretion accountability. Consequently, effective anti-corruption policy solutions should include: Monitoring agents extensively; Designing highly detailed contracts; Introducing free-market competition and decentralisation; Adding mechanisms to improve vertical, horizontal and social accountability. Mandate, CHRAJ Due to its importance, article 216 of Chapter 18 of Constitution required the establishment of Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) within six months after Parliament first meets after the coming into force of the Constitution, with a specific mandate to investigate and work to prevent corruption. Per Article 218 (a) and (e); 284-288 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 7(1) (a), (e) and (f) of Act 456, CHRAJ is mandated to among others investigate: (i) abuse of power and all instances of alleged or suspected corruption and the misappropriation of public monies by officials (Article 218 (e)); (ii) allegations of breaches of the code of conduct under Chapter 24 of the 1992 Constitution. Importantly, Article 218 (g) requires CHRAJ to report annually to Parliament on the performance of its functions. However, as of June 15, 2023, CHRAJ has not yet released its 2021 annual report on its website. Many petitions for investigations including non-declaration of assets by public officials thus remain unresolved. Paradoxically, in August 2022 Mr Richard Quayson, Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ, said endemic corruption swallows on the average about 20 per cent of the national budget annually and urged Ghanaians to change the habit of seeing corruption as normal and develop a strong a abhorrence for it (Ghana News Agency, 2022). A possible explanation of CHRAJs inability to fulfil its mandate could be due to contextual difficulties including the lack of adequate funding, limited enforcement capacity, the absence of second order accountability (i.e., holding accounting agencies accountable) and the overall weakness of the rule of law needed to enforce agency sanctions. For instance, in 2020 the allocated budget to cater for anti-corruption was merely GH300,000. In the Report of the Special Committee on 2020. Annual Budget Estimate of CHRAJ, the committee was informed that the staff levels of the commission was inadequate and it did not have its full complement of technical staff prompting the committee to recommend to the Ministry of Finance to grant CHRAJ special. Dispensation and financial clearance to enable it to recruit the requisite staff. The committee also recommended to the President to consider an appointment of an additional Deputy Commissioner to meet the full complement of the establishment of CHRAJ. In her submission to the United Nations Conference on Anti-Corruption Measures, Good Governance and Human Rights in November 2006, the acting commissioner of CHRAJ outlined a number of external and internal challenges faced by CHRAJ in the fight against corruption. The external challenges comprised inadequate legal and institutional framework, lack of government commitment or political will and responsible media. We have emphasised that the government must demonstrate political will and commitment to the fight against corruption by adequately resourcing our institutions. Responsible Media However, the media must be more responsible in their reportage and guard against media tyranny. In some cases, we have found that in reporting what is perceived to be corruption, the media has not been motivated by personal integrity or reasons of public interest but rather by malice. Internal Challenges The preceding discourse highlights the external and environmental challenges that we as a nation face in combating corruption. As an institution, CHRAJ faces impediments and obstacles that seriously challenge its efficacy and the efficient discharge of its mandate. These problems include: Resource Constraints Inadequate resourcing and the need for financial independence in order to fully execute our mandate. It is in the interest of both the Executive and Legislature to ensure adequate and appropriate resourcing of CHRAJ, which as we have been at pains to point out, is three bodies in one, and the funds allocated should reflect this. Poor conditions of service of our staff lead to exodus of qualified core staff, especially our legal officers. This hampers service delivery and causes backlog in our cases. Anna Bossman, Ghanas ambassador to France and the former commissioner of CHRAJ has called on the government to resource anti-graft bodies in order to effectively win the war against corruption in Ghana: I always want anti-corruption institutions to be very well resourced to have what it takes to promote the integrity the country needs or wants (The Ghana Report, March 26, 2023). 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 Mr Cletus Avoka, the Member of Parliament for Zebilla Constituency, has called on Ghanaians to as a matter of priority unite and work collectively to consolidate the gains made under the fourth republican Constitutional democracy. He said Parliament was proud of the journey and successes achieved under the 1992 Constitution which had strengthened the countrys unity in diversity and political stability and Ghanaians should not take such opportunities for granted. Democracy is expensive, but dictatorship is worse, he said, adding do not take our democracy and peace for granted, we have to work hard to sustain our democracy and peace because a divided country is a fallen nation. Mr Avoka, who is also a former Majority Leader, made these remarks when he led MPs and other stakeholders in a Parliamentary peace walk in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region. The peace walk, coupled with other sporting activities, is under the auspices of Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, as part of activities marking the 30th Anniversary of Constitutional Democracy under the Fourth Republic. It is being held on the theme: 30 years of Parliamentary democracy under the Fourth Republic: the journey thus far. Mr Avoka said Ghana, after its Independence in 1957, had three Constitutions before the 1992 Constitution, under Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia and Dr Hilla Limann, but they were all short-lived. He said the 1992 constitution which gave birth to the Fourth Republic had stood the test of time and attributed the successes to the framers of the Constitution who took into consideration the views of all stakeholders at the grassroots. He said it was imperative to sensitise Ghanaians to participate in governance to strengthen the stable democracy for sustainable socio-economic development and preservation of the Constitution. The MP indicated that the calls for some portions of the 1992 Constitution to be amended to fight ills in governance and society in general is apt, however, it would only yield desired results when Ghanaians change their attitudes. At the end of the day, it is not the type of Constitution that we run that matters but it is how we manage the Constitution that matters because you cannot put everything in the Constitution. The American Constitution is about 20 pages; the British do not have a written Constitution and we got our Constitution and Independence from them. You can draw any Constitution, but the people can still be corrupt, extorting people, so, it is about our attitude, mentality, common sense, practicalities and ensuring good governance, he stressed. Mr Stephen Yakubu, the Upper East Regional Minister, said democracy was all about understanding the diversity that existed among people and harnessing such diversities for their growth and development. He said, particularly, stakeholders in the Upper East Region needed to work together despite their political and tribal affiliations to restore peace in conflict areas to enhance economic growth. Definitely there would be problems because we are humans but anytime those problems come, we should sit down and talk about it and solve it instead of running to pick a gun to solve the problem, he appealed. Some dignitaries who joined in the peace walk included, Mr Isaac Adongo, MP for Bolgatanga Central, Dr Kurt Nawane, MP for Nabdam, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, MP for Bolgatanga East, Ms Lydia Akanvariba, MP for Tempane, Mr Albert Akuka Alalzuuga, MP for Garu, Mr and Thomas Adda Dalu, MP for Chiana-Paga. Others are Mr John Tia Kolgo, former MP for Talensi, Mr Gaaga Azitariga, former MP for Bongo, some Municipal and District Chief Executives, state institutions, students, and people from all walks of life. 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 Reverend Dr Joyce Rosalind Aryee, Executive Director of Salt and Light Ministries, has admonished health professionals to be patient with patients and serve them with love under all conditions. That, she said, would help them to add value and preserve the lives entrusted in their care. She was speaking at the sixth annual Methodist Health Professionals Conference, in Accra, on the theme: Administering Saline in Healthcare. The Conference brought together about 460 Methodist Health Professionals to reflect on how they minister to people through their work. It will educate them on how to accomplish their God-given assignments to heal the sick and promote healthy living in communities. Dr Joyce Aryee, thus, urged them to exhibit high professional standards and be morally upright in their service to humanity. Like the Saline, which is used in healthcare to replenish, cleanse devices and treat certain types of bacteria, they should be of the right balance to be effective and not harmful. Dr Aryee expressed concern over the negative attitude of some health professionals. She, therefore, charged them to reform and focus on being peacemakers. Mr. Enoch Osafo, Health Director of Methodist Church Ghana, said the Conference was to encourage health professionals to be ethical and cater for their patients with compassion and uphold their dignity. It is part of the Churchs mission to disciple all men while preparing health professionals to provide the utmost quality care to patients. The Conference will also discuss how to use the Methodist Health Sunday to reflect on Gods promise to be in good health and prosper and educate church members to lead healthy lifestyles. This Conference will educate the professionals on patients rights and data protection in the public space, and keep patients information professionally, he added. It was important for health professionals to honour their responsibilities under the Patients Charter of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), he emphasised. According to the Charter, patients have the right to know the identity of all their caregivers and other persons who may handle them at the health facility. The patient also has the right to privacy during consultation, examination and treatment. Consequently, when it becomes necessary to use a patients case for teaching, his/her consent must be sought. On the other hand, patients are responsible for providing their full and accurate medical history to aid in diagnosis, treatment and counselling purposes. It is also their responsibility to request additional information and clarification regarding their health or treatment, which they may not have been well understood. 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 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the UK's defense support, including Storm Shadow missiles. Today, in a conversation with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, I outlined our current defense needs and thanked him for the defense support provided. For example, the British Storm Shadow long-range missiles are doing a very useful and accurate job at the front, he said in a video address on Monday. Of course, we discussed with Rishi, with Mr. Prime Minister, the preparations for the NATO Summit in Vilnius and the content of this meeting of the Alliance, he noted. Zelenskyy also welcomed a significant political decision by the UK regarding sanctions - to maintain sanctions against Russia until the aggressor compensates for all the damage done to our people and our country. And it is very important that the assets of the aggressor state and all those associated with it, associated with the system of domination that the Kremlin has built on the territory of Russia, are used to compensate for the damage caused by the Russian war and terror, the president stressed. Former President John Mahama has suspended his campaign in Assin North on Saturday for about two hours to visit accident victims of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at Dansame in the Central region. I have had to suspend my campaign in Assin North for about 2hrs, this afternoon, to visit injured sympathizers who were involved in an accident after our engagement at Dansame. Unfortunately, we lost one of our comrades who enthusiastically joined others to the programme. Our condolences to her family, Mr. Mahama stated in a Facebook post on Saturday. He continued: I will be leading the party to visit the family of the deceased to commiserate with them. Source: starrfm 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 flag bearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has stated that the Assin North by-election should be seen as a test on the government's performance and urged the people to retain James Gyakye Quayson as their Member of Parliament. He called on the constituents of Assin North to rally behind the NDC in the upcoming by-election for victory. Interacting with the chiefs and people of Danyame in the Assin North Constituency, the former President called on NDC members to ensure that the partys parliamentary candidate, Mr Quayson, wins the by-election. The Former President is leading a team to campaign ahead of the by-election slated for June 27, 2023. Mr Mahama said the election was a referendum on the performance of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). He said Mr Quayson could not be jailed when Nana Appiah Mensah, popularly known as NAM One, the Chief Executive Officer of defunct Menzgold, a gold dealership firm, was walking freely and urged the people to vote for him as MP. Optimistic He said Mr Quayson had shown great commitment to the development of the area and deserved to win the election. He said he was optimistic the NDC would return to power come January 2025. Former President Mahama also questioned the claim that Mr Quayson could be arrested and imprisoned when he is elected MP for Assin North. Speaking at the Saviour Church at Assin Bereku in the Assin North Constituency, the former President told constituents to disabuse their minds of the belief that Mr Quayson would be imprisoned when voted for in the upcoming by-election. Courtesy call Mr Mahama, on arrival in the constituency, last Saturday, paid a courtesy call on the Chief of Assin Bereku, Nana Oduro Basayiadom II, at his palace. He said the people of Assin North should use the June 27 by-election as a symbolic dress rehearsal of Ghanaians to reject the bad governance of the ruling NPP in 2024. The flag bearer of the NDC continued that a win for Mr Quayson would reinvigorate the preparation to halt the hardship, pain and suffering they were going through. Mr Mahama said Mr Quayson, whom they voted for in the 2020 general election, had gone through a lot and the only way they could show him their love and support was to vote for him to return to Parliament. Accident Meanwhile, Mr Mahama is said to have suspended his campaign last Saturday in Assin North to commiserate with the family of one of the NDC supporters who lost her life in an accident that happened at Danyame. The party faithful were returning from Danyame in the constituency after a campaign when the accident occurred. According to eyewitnesses, the accident occurred when one of the front tyres of the vehicle burst. 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 Former President John Mahama has urged fathers to place their families first in all they do. In a fathers message on Sunday June 18, 2023, former President Mahama commended fathers for the hard work for their families. I want to take a moment to recognize my fellow fathers, for the incredible work that you do as fathers. Today, we celebrate you and all that you bring to our society. Our love and dedication to our children, both biological and others, is truly admirable. Let us continue to put our families first in everything that we do, Mr. Mahama advised. He continued: I must say that, on occasions such as today, we must use it, as we are celebrated or we celebrate ourselves, to strengthen our resilience in playing our role as fathers. Congratulations for all you do to support your families and communities. Happy Fathers Day! Source: starrfm 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 Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has applauded the immense contributions of grass root members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to the success of the party over the years. Addressing party stakeholders in Ashaiman and Tema during his campaign tour of the Greater Accra Region on Sunday, Dr. Bawumia acknowledged the invaluable contributions of all stakeholders to the success of the party. He commended the grass root for what he described as their "significant contributions" to the NPP and discounted the notion that only those who contribute money to the party support party's course. "Everyone in this party contributes to the progress and success of the party, so let no one tell you that they have spent money so they have contributed more than you. Everyone contributes in diverse ways," Dr. Bawumia told the party stakeholders. "Some contribute money, some contribute ideas and many of you are on the ground contributing; some go round and campaign on foot and some go round to file party posters. These are all collective contributions which help the party." "In terms of sacrifices, many have also sacrificed. Some have been wounded, many have suffered and some have even lost their lives in serving the party so everyone plays a role." The Vice President recalled how executives of the party and members, right from the polling station level, contributed immensely towards the gathering of evidence for the landmark 2012 election petition at the Supreme Court by the NPP. "An example of your immense contributions to the party at the grassroot level is how all of you worked so hard and gathered pink sheets across the country for us to be able to gather evidence for the 2012 Election Petition at the Supreme Court." "We could not have done it successfully without your contributions right from the base. It is not all about money, but also many people's collective dedication and diverse contributions." Dr. Bawumia also shared his own contributions to the NPP, from opposition as a Running Mate to being in government as Vice President, to the ecstatic crowd who cheered him while listing reasons and policies why he should be voted for as the next leader of the party into the 2024 elections. 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 Four constituencies in the Greater Accra Region on Sunday threw their weight behind Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for the NPP flagbearership bid. The four constituencies; Ashaiman, Tema East, Tema Central and Tema West, minced no words in publicly declaring their unflinching support for the Dr. Bawumia's bid to be elected NPP flagbearer for next year's presidential election. Dr. Bawumia, who has submitted his nomination forms to party officials to contest the flagbearership, has been on a campaign tour of the Greater Accra Region since Friday. His visit on Sunday took him to Ashaiman and all three Tema constituencies and the party faithfuls came out in their numbers treating him to a massive warm reception. In front of their executives from polling station level to constituency executives, the Chairmen of the four constituencies namely Gbeku Amanor of Ashaiman, Nene Ofoe Teye Agbadiagba of Tema East, Charles Boateng of Tema Central and Kwesi Poku Bosompem of Tema West on behalf of their people assured the Vice President of their unflinching support for him. Each declaration at every constituency was met with rapturous reactions and endorsement by the delegates. The Chairmen explained why their constituencies support the candidacy of Dr. Bawumia, attesting to his loyalty to the New Patriotic Party, hard work both in opposition and in government, his good character and good works. At Dr. Bawumia's last engagement with party stakeholders at Tema West, the constituency Chairman, Kwasi Poku Bosompem, summed up their endorsement saying "we know what Bawumia has done, we know what is good for the party and we know what is good for Ghana. It is Bawumia we want". 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 Akufo-Addo left the country yesterday (Monday) on a six-day working visit to Spain, France and the United Kingdom. At the joint invitation of the King of Spain, His Majesty Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso VI, and the King of Jordan, His Majesty Abdullah II Bin Al-Hussein, he will on Tuesday, 20th June 2023, participate in the Aqaba Process meeting of West Africa and the Sahel in Cordoba, Spain. He will later travel to Paris, France, at the invitation of the French President, Emmanuel Macron, to participate in the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact, to be held from 22nd to 23rd June, 2023 and proceed to the United Kingdom on 23d June, 2023 for a private visit. He was accompanied by the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, and officials of the Presidency. The President Akufo-Addo is expected back home in Ghana on Saturday June 24 , 2023. In his absence, Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will be acting in accordance of Article 60 (8) of the Constitution as President. 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 Looks like there will be no more lives for Harrisburgs old William Penn High School. The school district is considering a proposal from the Gordian Group to raze the once-grand former high school just east of Italian Lake at a proposed cost of just under $7 million. Final action by the districts court-appointed receiver Lori Suski is set for the boards June 27 public meeting. Pennsylvania was one of 10 states that sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week requesting aid to cover damages from the late frost that occurred in May, especially on the 18th. The letter noted that temperatures plummeted below 25 degrees for multiple days across this ten-state region, destroying fruit blossoms, young produce plants, and damaging vines at many orchards and vineyards. You can see the full letter at the bottom of this story. If your Fourth of July 2023 travel plans include trips to Florida, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee or Louisiana, Old Navy wants to fix you up with free gas. The brand will give drivers $50 gift cards at RaceTrac gas stations and convenience stores - one in Orlando, Florida, on Monday, June 26; and one each on Thursday, June 29, in Atlanta, Georgia; Dallas, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and New Orleans, Louisiana. The five exact locations will be announced on the day of the giveaways, which will start at 9 a.m. The locations will be revealed in partnership with local radio broadcasts. At each station, the first 250 cards will receive a $50 RaceTrac card to be used at the gas pumps for gas and snacks. Old Navy credit card holders will receive $100 in RaceTrac gift cards. Not traveling to those locations to celebrate Independence Day 2023? Old Navy also will give away more free gas to followers of Old Navy on Instagram and TikTok from Monday, June 26, through Tuesday, July 4. To enter, just comment on Old Navys post about the sweepstakes on those social media sites. Old Navy will select 20 winners around July 14 to receive a $50 gas gift card to a gas station local to the winner. READ MORE: When is Slurpee Day 2023 at 7-Eleven? Heres how to get more than one of the iconic drinks free. By Don Sweeney, The Charlotte Observer (TNS) A Colorado man says he was lucky to survive a chance encounter with a protective mother moose while walking his dogs. Rob Standerwick, 58, of Coal Creek, told KDVR he and his dogs, Phantom and Magic, inadvertently surprised the moose and its baby after coming around a bend in the trail. I heard a couple of branches break and looked up and saw this cow, female moose, and she was already at full speed running right at me, he told the station. I didnt have a chance to even turn to run or get behind a bigger tree. The moose knocked Standerwick down and trampled him on the morning of Monday, June 19, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said in a news release. Standerwick pulled out a pistol and fired twice into the ground, scaring off the moose without harming it, the agency said. The noise alerted his neighbors, who came to help. He had a hoof print on his chest, neighbor Collin Howe told KDVR. Standerwick suffered torn muscles and broken fingers, but he doesnt blame the moose. She was doing her job as a mom, he told the station, noting hed seen the moose in the past and managed to avoid it. Parks officials searched the canyon but did not find the moose or its baby, the agency said. Coal Creek is a community in Boulder County about 20 miles northwest of Denver. More: Officers round up hundreds of pigs from overwhelmed animal sanctuary Pa. zoo named one of the top 26 animal parks in the United States In response to the decision of the Supreme Court regarding Nika Gvaramia's case, the U.S. Embassy reiterated its profound concern over Gvaramia's continued detention. The Embassy once again emphasized its deep concern regarding this matter."The U.S. Embassy reiterates our deep concern about the continued imprisonment of Nika Gvaramia. The United States has raised questions and concerns regarding the case since its inception, including the timing and nature of the charges, as well as the sentence. Numerous international and Georgian human rights defenders have echoed these same concerns. A functioning democracy depends on protecting media freedom and prohibiting political prosecution. Even the perception of selective or politically motivated justice puts Georgia's European future at risk, and undermines the rule of law, constitutionally protected human rights, and democracy itself." the statement reads.On June 19, the Supreme Court of Georgia made a decision to uphold the imprisonment of Nika Gvaramia, the general director of the "Mtavari" Channel. The court deemed the cassation appeals filed by Nika Gvaramia's lawyer, Kakhaber Damenia, and the prosecutor's office as inadmissible.The Minister of Internal Affairs, Vakhtang Gomelauri, held a meeting with Pawel Herczynski, the head of the European Union Representation in Georgia, as well as ambassadors and representatives from the embassies of European Union member states.According to information provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, ambassadors and representatives from Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Kingdom of Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Greece, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and the Kingdom of Sweden participated in the meeting.During the meeting, the parties discussed the issue of holding the events planned within the framework of the Tbilisi Pride Week in a safe environment. Vakhtang Gomelauri provided European partners with detailed information about the activities of the representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the organizers of "Tbilisi Pride," and the joint working group of international partners.It was noted during the meeting that the joint working group is actively engaged in ensuring the safety of the events by sharing information and coordinating efforts.The Minister of Internal Affairs expressed gratitude to the head of the EU representation in Georgia, the ambassadors of the EU member states, and the embassy representatives for their active and close cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. At the Headquarters of the Supreme Commanderin-Chief on Monday, we separately and in detail reviewed the training and provision of equipment for new brigades of the National Guard and our border guards - those who are waiting for their time for combat operations, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message on Monday. According to the President, in some areas our warriors are moving forward, in some areas they are defending their positions and resisting the occupiers' assaults and intensified attacks. We have no lost positions. Only liberated ones. They have only losses. In general, it is a situation of pressure, our pressure, which allows us to pave the way for our flag. Blue and yellow colors will be all over our south and all over our east. And the evil state has no such fortifications or reserves that will stop Ukraine, he said. Rihanna continues to redefine what pregnancy looks like worldwide but this time, its on a massive billboard for all of Paris to see. But unlike the countless times her picture has been displayed, this isnt just any billboard. In grand fashion, Pharrell Williams revealed that Rihanna would be a muse in his inaugural Louis Vuitton campaign thats set to debut in Paris this summer, according to media sources. Williams shared the ad on social media Thursday. In the Instagram post, the multi-hyphenate musician poses in all-black with yellow sunglasses in front of the larger-than-life billboard of Rihanna. The billboard displays a typical day on the go for the global mega-star, shopping with colorful Louis Vuitton bags in hand and a cup of coffee in the other, all the while displaying her growing baby bump. The soon-to-be mom of two is seen wearing an all-black checkered gradient leather jacket with black pants underneath, dressed from head-to-toe in Louis Vuitton garb, according to reports from Huffpost, Vogue, and Vibe. Per Vogue, the announcement comes as Williams gears up for his first Louis Vuitton collection thatll arrive on June 20 during Paris Mens Fashion Week. And theres a great deal of anticipation and chatter around Williams unveiling of his first collection. Williams, who is now Louis Vuittons Mens Creative Director, first announced his new role in February. He succeeds the late iconic fashion designer Virgil Abloh, who died in 2021 of cancer. In a statement made by Louis Vuittons CEO Pietro Beccari back when Williams first took over the role, he expressed that he was, Glad to welcome Pharrell back home, adding that, His creative vision beyond fashion will undoubtedly lead Louis Vuitton towards a new and very exciting chapter, Vibe reported. Read more via Huffpost, Vogue and Vibe. Read More: By Low De Wei, Alex Millson, Bloomberg News (TNS) A submersible carrying five people to tour the wreck of the Titanic on the Atlantic seabed went missing on Sunday. The dive crafts command ship lost contact with the submersible and its occupants less than two hours after launch, after which it informed the U.S. Coast Guard. Extensive rescue operations are underway, with the crafts air supply thought to last a little under three more days. Heres what we know about the missing vessel and the company behind the tours: What is the Titan submersible? The missing craft is owned by OceanGate and is named Titan. The sub is designed to carry five people a pilot and four passengers and is made of carbon fiber and titanium, according to OceanGates website. It measures 6.7 meters in length and is designed to reach depths of 2.5 miles. The Titanic sits on the seabed 2.4 miles down. FILE - This undated photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File)AP What is it like on board? Its cramped and there are few facilities. Travelers are sealed into the cylindrical capsule from the outside. Inside the air is breathable and is recycled in a similar way to a spacecraft, and internal pressure remains constant. Facilities are sparse. At one end is a viewing portal 21 inches in diameter, which allows two passengers to look outside at once. There is a very small bathroom on board. What happened to the Titan? Right now, nobody knows. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, about an hour and 45 minutes after the sub launched on Sunday, the submersibles command ship, the Polar Prince, lost contact with the vessel about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander of the First Coast Guard District, talks to the media, Monday, June 19, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)AP How much air does the Titan have left? Authorities said the sub is able to provide occupants with about 96 hours of air, citing information from the company. During a press conference in Boston at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Rear Adm. John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard estimated that the air capacity may, at that time, have been reduced to as little as 70 hours. How is the Titan launched? The craft sits on a platform until it reaches about 30 feet below the waters surface, where it can start its journey to the seabed without the turbulence of waves and currents. Upon its return, it docks with the platform and ballast tanks are filled with air, bringing the craft and its passengers back to the surface. How is the submersible controlled? The sub can travel at a speed of 3 knots and descend at 55 meters per minute, with propulsion coming from four electric thrusters. Attached equipment includes powerful external lights, cameras and a laser scanner. David Pogue, a CBS journalist who took a trip in the Titan to view the Titanic in 2022, said he was surprised to discover the craft was controlled with a video game controller. Who built the sub? The Titan was built by Washington-based private company OceanGate Expeditions, which runs underwater vessels for charter and scientific exploration. It was the brainchild of CEO Stockton Rush, who, according to several newspapers, is on board. Rush, who holds a degree in aerospace engineering from Princeton University and an MBA from UC Berkeleys Haas School of Business, worked with NASA and Boeing on the crafts design. What does OceanGate offer tourists hoping to see the Titanic? OceanGate charges at least $250,000 for expeditions to the Titanic shipwreck. According to its website, the expedition lasts over a week and sets off from the Canadian city of St. Johns in Newfoundland. Single dives take six to eight hours to reach the Titanic site, explore and return to the surface. OceanGates expeditions to the Titanic wreck site include archaeologists and marine biologists. The company also brings people who pay to come along, known as mission specialists. They take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible. In this photo provided by Blue Origin, Hamish Harding receives his Blue Origin astronaut pin after a successful flight to space on June 4, 2022, in Van Horn, Texas. (Felix Kunze/Blue Origin via AP, file)AP Who is on board? The Coast Guard said Monday that there was one pilot and four mission specialists aboard. However, OceanGates website suggests that the fifth person aboard may be a so-called content expert who guides the paying customers, perhaps the companys CEO. British businessman Hamish Harding, who lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, was one of the mission specialists, according to Action Aviation, a company for which Harding serves as chairman. Also on board were Pakistani nationals Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, according to a family statement sent to the AP. The Dawoods belong to one of Pakistans most prominent families. What are difficulties with a potential rescue? If the sub has sunk near the Titanic wreck, the depth of the site complicates any rescue efforts because few other vessels, including those designed for Navy submarine rescue, are able to go so deep, let alone retrieve a submersible from the seabed, according to Alistair Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London. If the Titan has risen to the surface, it could be bobbing about waiting to be found, a highly uncomfortable situation for the occupants because subs arent designed to be on the surface, Greig added. The Associated Press contributed to this report. WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Bidens son Hunter has been charged with failing to pay federal income tax and illegally possessing a weapon and has reached an agreement with the Justice Department, according to a letter filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware. As part of the agreement, made public Tuesday, Hunter Biden will plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses and is expected to reach an agreement with prosecutors on the felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user. It is somewhat unusual to resolve a federal criminal case at the same time the charges are filed in court, though it is not unheard of. FILE - President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden in 2022. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) The deal ends a long-running Justice Department investigation into Bidens second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden. It also averts a trial that would have generated days or weeks or distracting headlines for a White House that has strenuously sought to keep its distance from the Justice Department. The news comes as congressional Republicans pursue their own investigations into nearly every facet of Hunter Bidens business dealings, including examining foreign payments and other aspects of his finances. It also comes days after a 37-count indictment came down against former President Donald Trump for mishandling classified documents on his Florida estate, another case with even more dramatic political implications. Joe Biden has also faced questions about his sons business dealings and drug addiction. More: Fox News graphic calls Biden a wanna be dictator who ordered Trumps arrest Trump uses New Jersey rally to rail against Biden, prosecutors This story was produced in collaboration with CivicStory as part of the New Jersey Sustainability Reporting project. Caitlin Donovan lives for her walks along Ocean Avenue in Belmar, New Jersey, and the unobstructed views of the ocean tides. But she said shes afraid that scenic view will change if Verizon is allowed to proceed with its plan to install 20 cell towers along Belmars beachfront street. Were at the beach almost every single day, said Donovan, a mother of three. So, Im well aware of how dramatically putting up an enormous tower on every single beach entrance will change the entire character of the beach. Donovan and other Belmar residents are asking Verizon to abandon its plans to install 5G cell towers on Ocean Avenue in a Change.org petition that has amassed more than 2,500 signatures. The 20 small cell towers which Verizon says will help bring faster cell and internet service to the area would resemble street light poles along the avenue in front of the beach, the telecom company said. A rendering presented by Verizon showing one of the small silver cell towers with an attached street light that would be built along Ocean Avenue in Belmar. The towers are taller than the black street lights that currently line the boardwalk. Critics say the project would obstruct views, harm wildlife and hurt property taxes in the 5,900-resident Monmouth County borough known for its boardwalk and beach. Verizons plans are excessive, disruptive and disrespectful to our community and our treasured natural resources, the petition says. We ask Verizon to stop all plans and to work with the community to find a solution that does not involve placing ugly towers on our beach. In a statement, Verizon defended the project and said the cell tower locations have been extensively vetted and approved by township. The debate over cell towers in Belmar goes back years. In January 2021, Verizon filed an application with Belmar to obtain permits and approvals to begin a cell tower project. When Belmar failed to respond within the mandatory 90-day window, Verizon filed a complaint in federal court against the borough for missing the deadline. The two parties settled the case last summer. In November, the township council signed a resolution stating the settlement agreement with Verizon assures Belmar and its residents that the proposed 5G cellular antennas will be properly located and aesthetically pleasing. The 5G cellular antennas proposed by Verizon are considered small cell towers with a maximum height of 40 feet, according to the settlement agreement and attached renderings. Verizon will custom design the poles and affix streetlights to them, under the terms of the agreement. The poles will have electrical outlets for holiday lights and decorations on the towers. Electricity, maintenance and repair of the street lights will be the responsibility of the borough, according to the deal. In exchange for access to the towers and public right-of-way, Verizon will pay Belmar $108,000 the equivalent of $270 each for 20 cell towers per year for 20 years. Verizon will also pay the borough another $5,000 to cover a professional review of the project. The money is in addition to another $5,000 Verizon previously paid the borough, the settlement states. However, Verizon will deduct the cost of all permits, approvals, professional escrow and any other fees required from anything it pays to Belmar. The new cell towers would be close to Belmar's boardwalk.Jim Lowney | For NJ Advance Media The new cell towers will benefit the area, Verizon officials said. Verizon balances a number of factors in choosing small cell locations, and the final design and placement maximize technical and community needs, the company said in a statement. Verizons deployment of new small cells in Belmar provides customers and emergency service providers in our community with enhanced and more reliable wireless voice and data services to meet not only todays needs, but also those of the future, the statement said. However, some Belmar residents are questioning the placement of the cell towers and the settlement agreement the borough entered into to settle Verizons lawsuit. Donovan, who is running for the borough council on a platform against overdevelopment, is part of Belmar Against 5G Towers. The citizens group launched a website, distributed lawn signs and held local meetings to protest the cell tower project. Lets stop these towers through community engagement and direct action, the groups website says. The average cell tower is usually outdoors on elevated surfaces and stand between 50 and 200 feet high, according to the Federal Communications Commission. There are more than 160,000 registered communication towers taller than 200 feet across the country, according to U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. However, the 5G cell towers proposed in Belmar do not need to be that tall and will only be slightly taller than other street lights in the area, according to Verizons renderings. Verizon said it is building thousands of additional 5G nodes, or small cell towers, as it expands its network. Because the towers use less electricity, they can be built smaller than traditional cell towers. A spokesman for Verizon said the company has small cell towers similar to the ones planned for Belmar throughout the state. Weve deployed our 5G Ultra Wideband service from Sandy Hook down to Cape May. Our focus is on providing our customers with the best, most reliable wireless service wherever they are, said spokesman Andrew Testa. Some residents say they are also worried about possible exposure to radiation from the cell towers, citing concerns raised over the years about exposure to the low levels of radio frequency electromagnetic fields from cell towers and cell phones. The Belmar Against 5G Towers website states, we dont know if 5G radiation is safe. However, scientists and public health organizations say there is no evidence establishing a link between wireless technology, including 5G, and cancer or other illnesses. Researcher Vinessa Erminio contributed to this report. Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com. By BEN FINLEY and HOLLY RAMER, The Associated Press Rescuers in a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean raced against time early Tuesday to find a missing submersible carrying five people on a mission to document the wreckage of the Titanic, the iconic ocean liner that sank more than a century ago. The carbon-fiber submersible named the Titan, part of a mission by OceanGate Expeditions, carried a pilot, a renowned British adventurer, two members of an iconic Pakistani business family and another passenger. Authorities reported the vessel overdue Sunday night about 435 miles south of St. Johns, Newfoundland, according to Canadas Joint Rescue Coordination Center. FILE - This undated photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File) Every passing minute, however, puts the Titans crew at greater risk. The submersible had a 96-hour oxygen supply when it put to sea at roughly 6 a.m. Sunday, according to David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate. It is a remote area and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area, said Rear Adm. John Mauger, a commander for the U.S. Coast Guard, which also is searching for the Titan. But we are deploying all available assets to make sure we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board. The Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, which was supporting the Titan, reportedly lost contact with the vessel about an hour and 45 minutes after it submerged. The Polar Prince was to continue to do surface searches throughout the night and a Canadian Boeing P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft will resume their surface and subsurface search in the morning, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Twitter. Two U.S. Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft also have conducted overflights. Ship-tracking satellite data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed by The Associated Press showed the Polar Prince some 430 miles southeast of St. Johns on Tuesday morning. The Bahamas-flagged cable layer Deep Energy was nearby as well, likely assisting in the surface search. In an earlier email to the AP, Concannon said he was supposed to be on the dive but could not go. He said officials were working to get a remotely operated vehicle that can reach a depth of 3.7 miles to the site as soon as possible. OceanGates expeditions to the Titanic wreck site include archaeologists and marine biologists. The company also brings people who pay to come along, known as mission specialists. They take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible. The Coast Guard said Monday that there was one pilot and four mission specialists aboard. However, OceanGates website suggests that the fifth person aboard may be a so-called content expert who guides the paying customers. OceanGate said its focus was on those aboard and their families. British businessman Hamish Harding, who lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, was one of the mission specialists, according to Action Aviation, a company for which Harding serves as chairman. The companys managing director, Mark Butler, told the AP that the crew set out on Friday. There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission, there is equipment on board for survival in this event, Butler said. Were all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound. Harding is a billionaire adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. In March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origins New Shepard rocket. Also on board were Pakistani nationals Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, according to a family statement sent to the AP. The Dawoods belong to one of Pakistans most prominent families. Their eponymous firm invests across the country in agriculture, industries and the health sector. Shahzada Dawood also is on the board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute that searches for extraterrestrial intelligence. The expedition was OceanGates third annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew. A $10,000 reward is being offered by the Citizens Crime Commission and authorities in search of a bartender who was abducted in Philadelphia nearly three months ago, according to news sources. The search has been ongoing for 48-year-old Wey Um, a bartender at Oxford Tavern on Oxford Avenue, who was abducted during the early morning hours of March 31. The incident occurred near the 900 block of East Godfrey Avenue around 2:30 a.m. Um was said to have just returned home from work when two armed men in black hooded sweatshirts came out of a black Ford SUV and forced him into that vehicle, which then took off, according to reports from NBC10 and 6ABC. Since the abduction, there hasnt been any trace of Um, with no phone calls or evidence that hes currently at a hospital and no bank account activity or contact about a ransom. During a search in April, police said his clothes might have been discovered along the banks of the Delaware River. He hasnt been seen or heard from since, John Apeldorn, president of the Citizens Crime Commission, said to 6ABC. In March, a few weeks before the disappearance, Um was said to have been robbed by a masked man a block away from his family-owned bar where he worked as a bartender. Um never reported the robbery but authorities later released pictures of a person of interest involved in it. It hasnt been determined if the person of interest is involved in Ums disappearance or if the two incidents are connected. Authorities are hoping the released photos will lead to finding Um, according to reports. Additionally, the Citizens Crime Commission and Philadelphia Police are hoping the $10,000 reward will help in locating Um, as well. Money opens mouths and hopefully thatll be the case this time, Apeldorn said to NBC10. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 215-686-8477 or call the Citizens Crime Commissions anonymous tip line at 215-546-8477. Read More: In an emotional scene on an airport tarmac on Monday, friends and family of slain Pennsylvania State Trooper Jacques Rougeau Jr. watched as his body arrived in his hometown of Corry in Erie County. The somber gathering was reported by Erie-based ABC affiliate Jet24 Action News, which captured the arrival of the private jet carrying the body of the slain trooper arriving at Corry Airport around 3 p.m. Monday. SUNBURY - The Republican candidate for Northumberland County district attorney is calling for an investigation into why the district attorneys office failed to uncover what federal authorities say was the use of excessive force by Mount Carmel police officers. I believe these allegations require further investigation, Michael C. ODonnell said Monday when he released a statement about Thursdays federal indictment of two former and one current borough officer. The district attorney is responsible for the oversight of law enforcement and ensuring all individuals receive a fair and just prosecution, ODonnell said. This story has been updated with reaction from the Marcellus Shale Coalition The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission announced Tuesday that it will be distributing nearly $279 million in fracking impact fees charged to shale gas drillers in 2022, a bump over $234 million collected in 2021. The lions share of the impact fees established by Act 13 of 2012 are paid either to counties and municipalities to offset the adverse impact of gas drilling and pipelines in their communities, or into the states Marcellus Legacy Fund, which the state uses to fund environmental and infrastructure projects. The increase in revenue for 2022 is driven primarily by the rise in natural gas prices last year, according to the PUC, as well as by new wells drilled. Pennsylvanias fee is charged per well, but varies each year based on prices; the average natural gas price in 2022 was $6.64 per Metric Million British Thermal Units, as opposed to $3.84 in 2021, according to the PUC. Additionally, 574 new horizontal wells were drilled last year although this is a decline in drilling relative to prior years, according to Department of Environmental Protection data tracked by the Independent Fiscal Office. This has accompanied a slowdown in Pennsylvania gas production overall, according to IFO and DEP numbers, despite a large number of unexplored gas leases outstanding. With the distribution of 2022 funds next month, the state will have handed out over $2.5 billion to local governments since the inception of the fee system 11 years ago, according to the PUC. Pennsylvanias fee structure on drillers who extract natural gas and other chemicals by hydraulic fracturing often called fracking - has been a subject of debate, albeit not this budget year. Former Gov. Tom Wolf repeatedly proposed changing the per-well fee to a true tax, charged by the volume of gas extracted. As far back as 2016, Wolf was projecting that a 6.5% fracking tax would bring in over a half a billion dollars annually while shifting the tax burden toward higher-intensity operators. But this change never made it through budget negotiations with the legislature, and current Gov. Josh Shapiro did not propose changing the fracking fee system in his budget request for the upcoming fiscal year. Pennsylvania natural gas development has delivered national energy security, cleaner air, consumer and economic gains here at home and abroad, David Callahan, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry trade group, said in a press release. The impact tax is yet another example of how the industry supports better quality of life for all Pennsylvanians. Diplomas have just been handed out at high schools across Pennsylvania. And for an increasing number of recent graduates, that means its time to go to work. In keeping with recent national trends, more and more new high school graduates are passing on traditional college programs, and either moving directly into the job market or opting to attend some kind of post-secondary program aimed at training them for a specific career. AFU eliminates more than 1,000 occupiers, 23 artillery systems, eight tanks, 15 armored vehicles, 10 UAVs, a helicopter, two air defense systems, three enemy cruise missiles over day The Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) eliminated more than 1,000 occupiers, 23 artillery systems, eight tanks, 15 armored vehicles, 10 UAVs, one helicopter, two air defense systems, three cruise missiles, four multiple rocket launchers, 37 units of enemy vehicles and special equipment, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Tuesday morning. "The total combat losses of the enemy from February 24, 2022 to June 20, 2023 approximately amount to: about 221,460 people of military personnel (plus 1,010) people, 3,997 tanks (plus eight) units, 7,750 armored combat vehicles (plus 15) units, 3,888 artillery systems (plus 23) units, 614 MLRS units (plus four) units, 372 units of air defense equipment (plus two) units, 314 aircraft units, 306 helicopters (plus one) unit, 3,393 operational-tactical level UAVs (plus 10), 1,214 cruise missiles (plus three), 18 ships/boats, 6,645 motor vehicles and tankers (plus 32) units, and 531 units of special equipment (plus five)," the report of the General Staff says. The data is being updated. A 17-year-old girl driver was likely under the influence of alcohol and drugs during a Saturday night crash in Perry County that killed one of three other teens in the car, police said. Dillon A. Fuller, 19, of Duncannon, was riding in the backseat and sticking his head out of the window when his head hit a utility pole around 10:30 p.m. Saturday on Route 274 east (New Bloomfield Road) in Wheatfield Township, according to Pennsylvania State Police. State police said the car also sideswiped the pole. The 17-year-old driver, an Enola resident, continued driving on Route 274 until she realized Fuller was killed, according to state police. The cars three other passengers a 17-year-old girl from Enola; a 16-year-old girl from Enola; and a 15-year-old boy from Enola suffered minor injuries, state police said. The drivers blood was tested and the results are pending. However, state police said she was suspected to be under the influence of drugs and alcohol. State police said charges are pending against the driver. Her identity was not immediately released. READ MORE: 3 dead after overnight crash on I-80, leaving Pa. highway closed 2 killed in central Pa. house fire: coroner The arrival of summer has lots of us thinking of ways to spruce up our outdoor space or even creating an oasis perfect for relaxing after a hard day of work. Nothing makes your own space feel like a staycation more than a relaxing, bubbling hot tub. An inflatable hot tub offers all the therapy, relaxation and fun of a permanent hot tub without the giant year-round footprint or construction prices that may come with a traditional hot tub - or the inflated price tag. From jet spas for up to 8 people to easily moveable and convenient, weve rounded up Amazons best hot tubs to take your outdoor space to the next level. Coleman Sicily SaluSpa 2-7 Person Inflatable Round Outdoor Hot Tub Spa with 180 Soothing AirJets $619.99 (from $804.99) The spacious, round design of this spa provides a soothing massage experience for up to 7 people. Simply attach the pump and watch as it inflates. Featuring an AirJet system with 180 jets, this hot tub releases bubbles from the bottom of the spa to create a warm, bubbling hot tub environment. Coleman Sicily SaluSpa INTEX PureSpa Bubble Massage Deluxe, Inflatable Spa Set with Energy Efficient Cover $641.56 The PureSpa provides relaxation at the touch of a button. The tilt-adjustable control panel activates 120 high-performing bubble Jets surrounding the interior of the spa for a refreshing massage. The heating system adjusts to fit your personal temperature preference allowing a stress-free spa experience. PureSpa provides simple maintenance with easy-to-replace filter cartridges for lasting enjoyment for up to 4 people. Coleman SaluSpa Inflatable Hot Tub Spa $419.99, Amazon Best Seller, currently on sale 35% off The Coleman SaluSpa AirJet provides a soothing massage experience for up to 4 people, while still being quick and easy to set up. Simply attach the pump and watch as it inflates. Soothing Massage System: The AirJet system features 140 jets which release bubbles from the bottom of the spa to create a warm, bubbling hot tub environment. These soothing bubbles will help you relax and unwind right from the comfort of your home. Bestway Hawaii SaluSpa 6 Person Inflatable Square Outdoor Hot Tub with 114 Soothing AirJets $549.99 The AirJet bubbles are released from the bottom of the spa to create a warm, bubbling hot tub environment. These soothing bubbles will help you relax and unwind. This spas inflatable walls are made of durable, puncture-resistant, UV-resistant Tritech material to prevent damage and to retain its shape no matter how many times it is inflated and deflated. The Hawaii spa comes with a reinforced cover with safety clips for extra insulation. This spa set also comes with a pump that inflates it, heats it up, runs filtration and controls the massage system, along with a ChemConnect chemical dispenser. Bestway St. Lucia SaluSpa 2 to 3 Person Inflatable Round Outdoor Hot Tub $351.44 (from $469.99) The SaluSpa St. Lucia AirJet provides a soothing massage experience for up to 3 people, while still being quick and easy to set up. This spa reaches up to 104F (40C) to provide ultimate relaxation as you are surrounded by 110 AirJet massage bubbles. Simply attach the pump and watch as it inflates. The AirJet system features 110 jets which release bubbles from the bottom of the spa to create a warm, bubbling hot tub environment. Coleman SaluSpa 2 to 4 Person Inflatable Round Outdoor Hot Tub $440.99 The spacious, round design of this spa provides a soothing massage experience for up to 4 people. Simply attach the pump and watch as it inflates. Featuring an AirJet system with 60 jets, this hot tub releases bubbles from the bottom of the spa to create a warm, bubbling hot tub environment. AUSTIN, Texas Texas power grid operator asked residents Tuesday to voluntarily cut back on electricity due to anticipated record demand on the system as a heat wave kept large swaths of the state and southern U.S. in triple-digit temperatures. On the last day of spring, the sweltering heat felt more like the middle of summer across the South, where patience was growing thin over outages that have persisted since weekend storms and tornadoes caused widespread damage. In the Mississippi capital, some residents said Tuesday that they had been without power and air conditioning for almost 100 hours, which is longer than the outages caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Entergy Mississippi, the states largest electric utility, said its crews had worked 16-hour shifts since Friday, but some officials expressed doubts about its preparedness. High temperatures in the state were expected to reach 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday. The delay in restoring power has caused significant hardship for their customers and it is unacceptable, said Brent Bailey, a member on the Mississippi Public Service Commission, the states energy regulator. A boxer puppy named Lexi, right, cools off in the water with other dogs at White Rock Lake in Dallas, Tuesday, June 20, 2023. It's Texas, it's summer, it's hot. (AP Photo/LM Otero)AP The request by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which serves most of that states nearly 30 million residents, was its first of the year to cut energy consumption. ERCOT said it was not experiencing emergency conditions, but it noted that the state set an unofficial June record on Monday for energy demand. In the oil patch of West Texas, temperatures in San Angelo soared to an all-time high of 114 degrees (46 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. Many Texans have been skeptical of the states grid since a deadly 2021 ice storm knocked out power to millions of customers for days. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has said improvements since then have made the grid more stable, but those improvement efforts continue to draw scrutiny. In neighboring Oklahoma, more than 100,000 customers were eagerly awaiting the restoration of power and air conditioning following weekend storms that downed trees and snapped hundreds of utility poles. Officials say at least one person in Oklahoma has died because of the prolonged outages, which could last into the weekend for some residents. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday declared a state of emergency because of the weekends storms, citing damage from the weather and numerous downed power lines. Dawn Borchert sleeps in her front yard in a neighborhood near 11th Street and Lewis Ave., Tuesday, June 20, 2023 in Tulsa, Okla. Borchert has been without power since the weekend storms and slept in a tent over night but moved outside to cool off in the morning. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)AP In Louisiana, more than 51,000 electricity customers were still without power Tuesday because of the storms that damaged more than 800 structures around Shreveport alone, according to Mayor Tom Arceneaux. Officials said more than a dozen major transmission lines were still awaiting repairs. Paul J. Weber of The Associated Press wrote this story. AP writers Michael Goldberg in Jackson, Mississippi, and Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas, contributed to this report. More: Auto shop ordered to give back wages to worker paid in oily pennies Ready for a vacation? This U.S. beach is known as the Shark Bite Capital of the World During the London conference, Kyiv's Western partners will announce specific financial contributions to the restoration of Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba believes. This was reported on the ministry's Telegram channel on the eve of the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which will be held in London on June 21-22. "During the London conference, there will be announcements from major countries on specific financial contributions to Ukraine's recovery," the message published on Monday evening reads. It is emphasized that the military and diplomatic bloc of President Zelenskyy's team is now working primarily on the supply of artillery ammunition and armored vehicles. Corresponding batches of aid arrive daily in Ukraine. In addition, the minister noted that the aircraft coalition had actually begun functioning, training of pilots on aircraft and simulators, as well as training of technicians and infrastructure would soon begin. From an initial 8,317 runners, the field has been narrowed to just 43 players as they enter the fourth and final day of Event #39: $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold'em. Today is the day that someone is guaranteed to take home the $1,162,681 top prize and, of course, the WSOP gold bracelet. Returning players have already locked up a very impressive $31,415 from their initial $1,500 investment. Most of the original $11,103,195 prize pool is still up for grabs, with Chinas Xuming Qi leading the way with a stack of 24,300,000. Marcos Exterkotter of Brazil is close behind him with 23,575,000 and accomplished WSOP Circuit Champion Steven Snyder is looking for his first bracelet win and rounds out the top three with 21,275,000. 2004 Main Event Champion and multiple bracelet winner Joe Cada is also still in the race for his fifth bracelet after bagging 8,950,000. Top Ten Chip Counts Rank Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds 1 Xuming Qi China 24,300,000 97 2 Marcos Exterkotter Brazil 23,575,000 94 3 Steven Snyder United States 21,275,000 85 4 Yuanjun Lu China 19,525,000 78 5 Jonathan McCann United Kingdom 18,600,000 74 6 Matthew Volosevich United States 16,350,000 65 7 Joshua Adcock United States 16,125,000 65 8 Nate Silver United States 13,275,000 53 9 Ian Schechter United States 13,175,000 53 10 David Vedral Austria 12,000,000 48 The remaining field will play one-hour levels, starting at noon, until a winner is decided, taking 15-minute breaks every two levels. The 60-minute dinner break as seen the past few days has not been confirmed and will be TBD. PokerNews will be on-site all day long to capture all the action as the remaining runners look to secure their place in WSOP history. Keep your browser here for live updates when cards hit the air! Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Donald Trump exploded with so much rage over Hunter Bidens DOJ deal that he was typing gibberish by the end. Trump posted on Truth Social, The Hunter/Joe Biden settlement is a massive COVERUP & FULL SCALE ELECTION INTERFERENCE SCAM THE LIKES OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN IN OUR COUNTRY BEFORE. A TRAFFIC TICKET, & JOE IS ALL CLEANED UP & READY TO GO INTO THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND THIS AS CROOKED DOJ, STATE, & CITY PROSECUTORS, MARXISTS & COMMUNISTS ALL, HIT ME FROM ALL SIDES & ANGELS WITH BULL.! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!! Trump was hit from all sides with angels and bulls, which does not seem to be a pleasant experience. Of course, Trump meant angels and BS, but he was so angry that he couldnt get out a coherent social media post. Republicans including Trumps own son did not take the news well. The former president needed Hunter Biden to be criminally prosecuted to even the ledger so that as he is on trial for the 71 felonies that he is accused of, he can try to divert the attention of the American people toward Hunter Biden. Trump pulled the same stunt in 2016 when every scandal that came out about his campaign, he responded by discussing Hillary Clintons emails. The 2020 version of this tactic was Hunter Bidens laptop. Donald Trump sees it all going wrong, and the only thing that he can do is frantically put out all-caps gibberish. On the night of June 20, the enemy struck Iranian Shahed-136/131 barrage ammunition at military and infrastructure facilities of Ukraine, a total of 35 drones were fired, 32 of them were destroyed by air defense forces, according to the Telegram channel of the AFU Air Forces. The launches were carried out from the northern and southern directions - Bryansk region and the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov. In total, the invaders used 35 attack drones. The air defense managed to destroy 32 of them. Thirty Shaheds were destroyed by the forces and means of the Air Forces, two more by units of the Ground Forces," the morning report says. It is reported that air defense today worked in most regions of Ukraine, the main direction of attack by Iranian drones is Kyiv region. More than two dozen Shaheds were destroyed here. In addition, at night, the Russian occupiers struck Zaporizhia with ballistic missiles Iskander-M/S-300. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print House Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) called on Republicans to investigate Jared Kushners Saudi billions now that Hunter Biden has reached a plea deal with the DOJ. Raskin said in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA: The U.S. Attorney for Delaware, appointed by former President Trump and kept on by President Biden, has investigated and now criminally charged the son of the sitting President with two misdemeanor tax counts and a firearms count. This development reflects the Justice Departments continued institutional independence in following the evidence of actual crimes and enforcing the rule of law even in the face of constant criticism and heckling by my GOP colleagues who think that the system of justice should only follow their partisan wishes. Oversight Committee Republicans have advanced debunked conspiracy theories about President Biden and are now, again, wailing about the work of a Trump appointed U.S. Attorney. Meanwhile, our colleagues have refused to investigate Jared Kushner and Donald Trumps receipt of billions of dollars from autocratic regimes after handing them a string of outrageous policy favors and concessions. Rep, Raskin was correct. Republicans would rather run around and chase baseless conspiracy theories about the Bidens than investigate how Jared Kushner got $2 billion from the Saudis, and Trump was taking money from foreign governments through his businesses while he was president. House Republicans dont care about real corruption. They are only concerned with finding something that they can use to try to smear Joe Biden to hopefully help Trump during the 2024 election. The Oversight Committee Republicans should be investigating problems in the government, but actual oversight has been sacrificed so that people like Rep. Comer can chase conspiracy theories. Republicans are attacking a Republican US Attorney who investigated Hunter Biden for years because they didnt get the outcome that they wanted. The Justice Department is showing its independence, as Republicans are left complaining because they didnt get the help Trump needed for the next presidential election. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) reacted disgracefully to the news that Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two misdemeanors. Video: The Speaker first tried to claim that the Trump and Hunter Biden cases are the same, My first reaction is that it is continuing to show the two-tier system in America. If you are the presidents leading political opponent, the DOJ is going to try to put you in jail and give you prison time, but if you are the presidents son, you will not. And so, the DOJ should not be able to withhold any information because of the pending investigation, and they should provide Chairman Comer with any information. McCarthy said when asked about the Hunter Biden plea deal, Do you believe it is fair that a sweetheart deal will be given to a presidents son and compared to other individuals in America who have the same accusations against them and same crimes they have been guilty of that they would be proposed 10 years and given the same time period. The Speaker then embarrassingly repeated the debunked Russian disinformation Biden bribery allegation. McCarthy said that House Republicans are going to continue to investigate Hunter Biden. There are a few big differences between Trump and Hunter Biden. The presidents son has never been in government or an elected official. Hunter Biden has never obstructed justice or violated The Espionage Act or obstructed justice. There is no comparison between Donald Trump and Hunter Biden. Kevin McCarthy used his platform as the Speaker of the House to smear the President Of The United States and his family. McCarthy revealed long ago that he has no shame. The Speaker is embarrassing the House and the country with his shameless pandering to the feelings of Trump. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print A new poll found that while none of the other Republican presidential candidates can gain any ground, Trumps favorability with Republicans has fallen by ten points. CNN reported on their poll: Overall, 47% of Republicans and Republican-leaning registered voters say Trump is their first choice for the partys nomination for president, down from 53% in a May CNN poll. Support for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held steady at 26% in the latest poll, with former Vice President Mike Pence at 9%, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley at 5%, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott at 4%, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 3% and the remaining candidates at 1% or less. In addition to the decline in support for Trumps candidacy, his favorability rating among Republican-aligned voters has dipped, from 77% in May to 67% now, while the share who say they would not support him for the nomination under any circumstances has climbed, from 16% in May to 23% now. At the same time, there has been a similar increase in the share saying they would not back DeSantis under any circumstances (up 6 points to 21%), while the shares ruling out other top candidates have held roughly steady. Trump still has a more than 20-point lead over Ron DeSantis who has not gained a single point on an opponent who is accused of 71 felonies. The softening of support for Trump has little to do with the indictment itself as in the same poll 54% of Republicans said that they arent concerned about it. The Jack Smith indictment has triggered an epic round of Trump drama and has caused the Trump fatigue among Republican voters to grow. The drama and baggage that Trump comes with are one of the consistent complaints that a segment of Republican voters has voiced. Since Trump cant keep his mouth closed or stop creating drama, the greatest ally that his fellow Republican candidates might have is that with each new indictment and development, the former president will get more out of control and fatigue his supporters. Jack Smiths indictment isnt helping, but Trump is being undone by Trump. Enrollment at Aiken Technical College is on the upswing. During the 2021-22 academic year, we served 2,606 students, the schools president, Dr. Forest Mahan, told the Rotary Club of Aiken on Monday at Newberry Hall. Not all the statistics for 2022-2023 have been finalized yet, but the total increased to more than 2,900 after a decline that followed the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mahan reported. The average age of a student at Aiken Tech in 2021-2022 was 26 and for 2022-2023 it is about 27 based on preliminary data, according to Mahan. Were seeing an increasing number of nontraditional students coming to Aiken Tech, he said. In 2021-2022, 65% of the students were female and 35% were male, and the percentages are similar for 2022-2023, Mahan said. Aiken Techs top career technical education programs continue to be nursing, welding, computer technology and management, he reported. Nearly 72% of Aiken Techs students were Aiken County residents in 2021-2022. Aiken Techs placement rate is 91.8%, which means that the vast majority of students are working in the fields that they received training for while studying at the school, Mahan said. Aiken Tech is at 2276 Jefferson Davis Highway in Graniteville. For more information, call 803-593-9231 or visit atc.edu. The announcement of Hunter Biden's plea deal drew howls of outrage from two South Carolina Republicans. NBC News reported Tuesday that Biden, 53, the youngest son of President Joe Biden, had agreed to plead guilty to two charges of failing to timely file tax payments and to enter a pre-trial diversion agreement to resolve a five-year investigation into his activities by federal authorities. The Washington Post reported the deal would be subject to approval by a federal judge and it was not clear when Hunter Biden would plead before the court. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said the plea deal is another reason Americans have lost faith in the Department of Justice. "While the Biden family gets a slap on the wrist with kid gloves, DOJ throws the kitchen sink at political opponents, raids the homes of pro-life advocates, and targets parents as 'domestic terrorists,'" Scott said. U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., said the Department of Justice ignored the serious charges of influence peddling by the Biden Crime Family as they work a sweetheart plea deal with Hunter Biden on tax and gun misdemeanors. Duncan's district includes Edgefield County. "The Bidens must not be allowed to escape prosecution for the more serious crimes that are being investigated," Duncan said. "Make no mistakethis is a White House-approved whitewash by the DOJ. House Republicans are committed to getting to the bottom of the litany of Biden family corruption schemes, with or without the slap on the wrist Hunter is getting today with this plea deal. "We cannot allow the two-tiered justice system to continue to persecute conservatives while looking the other way for liberals." Aiken, SC (29801) Today Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 93F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 74F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. A New Jersey woman has sued the operator of a Windsor business, alleging that she negligently, carelessly, maliciously, intentionally, wantonly, willfully and recklessly disregarded the safety of a horse. According to Sarah Mennens lawsuit, which was filed in the South Carolina 2nd Judicial Circuits Court of Common Pleas in May, her Irish Sport Horse gelding, Cobain, was found hanging dead in a stall at Shannon Eckels Hat Trick Sporthorses by a friend of an employee of the defendant in July 2021. Reached by telephone June 13, Eckel declined to comment. The legal action alleges that Eckel tied Cobain in the stall with his head and neck extended upwards into an unnatural, stretched-out, upright and vertical manner, and then left the gelding there for several hours while she was at a horse competition. After he refused to load onto a horse trailer to go to the competition, Cobain was tied to the highest rail on the stall wall by a rope halter and a leadline which was permanently attached to the rope halter and he didnt have access to food or water, according to the suit. In addition to the friend of an employee of the defendant, someone who worked for Eckel witnessed Cobain hanging dead and immediately notified the defendant of Cobains demise, the legal action states. Eckel had agreed to provide board, care, training and promotional services in accordance with customary industry standards for Cobain for a monthly fee of $1,100-$1,300, according to the suit. The legal action also accuses Eckel of breach of contract and breach of bailment (failing to uphold her duty of care) along with intentional infliction of emotional distress for several reasons, including refusing to inform [the] Plaintiff of the true facts and circumstances surrounding Cobains death on the date of his death. In addition, the suit alleges that Eckel violated the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act. Mennen is seeking compensatory, special, general and punitive damages in an appropriate amount to be determined by jury trial as well as pre- and post-judgment interest at the highest legal rate until paid, the lawsuit states. In addition, Mennen is seeking injunctive relief requiring [the] Defendant to be barred from offering professional equine services to the community, according to the legal action. Greg Collins of Savage Royall & Sheehan LLP in Camden is Mennens attorney. Learning about local African American history is how many people in Aiken marked Juneteenth. The Center for African American History, Art and Culture began its week of Juneteenth activities with an open house on Monday. During the course of the open house many visitors, including the center's sponsors, had a chance to view a quilt exhibit, murals and literature at the center. The center's mission is to preserve the Immanuel Institute building where it is housed and be an educational resource to inspire and celebrate Aikens diversity and the contributions of the African Americans in Aiken County, South Carolina and the country. Juneteenth, which became a federal holiday in 2021, commemorates the emancipation of the last group of slaves in Galveston, Texas, in June 1865. Other events scheduled for the week include a Juneteenth Paint and Sip from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Freedom Day Cocktails and Conversations from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Juneteenth Greek Night from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, and a movie night Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. The center will hold its annual Juneteenth Festival at Founders Park from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday. The festival will include music and food vendors. Cynthia Bell-Faulks, who is from Ridge Spring, but lives in Charlotte was a first-time visitor to the center said history is important all the time and not just during certain days like Juneteenth. We as African Americans definitely need to know, but everybody should," she said. Bell-Faulks said she liked the quilt exhibit because it brought her back to a time when she and her mother used to make quilts. Its the stories that we have the oral history, the history that we can see, as well as enjoy, she said. Cathy Cobb had previously visited the center and said learns something new about Aiken each time she steps into the center. The quilts are just so wonderful and the history," Cobb said. "Its stuff you never heard in history class and you are hearing it now and its wonderful. Charles Cummings is another first-time visitor, and said he stopped by after he was invited by Juanita Campbell, the center's executive director. He said he was amazed by what he saw. It was just touching to see the quality of the quilts back then compared to today, he said. Cummings said moving forward people should take time to learn about their own history. This is something that is needed and we (African Americans) need to learn more of our culture," he said. I think more of our culture needs to be taught in school, but this is a great opportunity to begin and ask questions. North Augusta resident Kim Patterson brought her daughter who was visiting from New York to the center as something to do on Juneteenth and because her daughter enjoys genealogy. It was very fascinating, it was my first time really hearing about the door to no return and seeing that was very impressive, she said. Bell-Faulks said she will keep Juneteenth alive by letting people know the importance of the holiday. If you dont know your history, you are not living a full life if you dont know where you came from, she said. Santee Cooper will spend the next year studying the base electric rates it charges as it prepares to raise bills for the first time in eight years. The board of the Moncks Corner-based utility gave the go-ahead for a review to determine what the appropriate increases are for the minimum cost of power paid by residential, commercial, industrial and possibly municipal electric ratepayers. The state-owned utility expects to phase in new prices over three years beginning April 1, 2025. The average monthly bill for residential customers is $110.49 per 1,000 kilowatt hours. Santee Cooper hopes to minimize the impact by staggering the increases, said Mike Smith, budget director, during a June 20 meeting. The rates have been frozen at 2017 levels as part of a 2020 settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought by customers of the parent of South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. over costs associated with the failed expansion of the V.C. Summer nuclear plant. Cayce-based SCANA Corp., which owned SCE&G now Dominion Energy abandoned work on the two reactors after years of delays and cost overruns. The move cost South Carolina ratepayers more than $9 billion and is widely viewed as the largest business failure in state history. SCE&G was responsible for 55 percent of the losses, with the rest falling to V.C. Summer co-owner Santee Cooper. The deal required Santee Cooper to freeze its electric rates for four years and refund $200 million to ratepayers. Under the agreement, the utility also was not allowed to recoup increases in fuel expenses, which ran $520 million over budget last year, partly because of the war in Ukraine. That kept Santee Coopers energy prices, on average, well below other utilities serving customers across the Palmetto State. Still, about 14 percent of customers say they are challenged to pay their electric bills at the current rate. This information is very, very important to us as particularly today you approve taking a look at what rates will look like post-2025, said Jimmy Staton, Santee Cooper's CEO. Staton said the utility needs to consider this data as it develops programs to ensure those folks that are most challenged in and across our territory can continue to afford their energy. We are going to continue to be very focused so that we dont put an undue burden on our customers, he said. Based on 2023 data, projections show that beginning in 2025 and through 2027, Santee Coopers revenues will fall short of the cost to do business without raising rates. Any recommendations from that study will require a public review and comment period, expected to begin in the summer of 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron has said that the SAMP/T medium-range anti-aircraft missile system of Franco-Italian production has already been delivered to Ukraine, the RaiNews edition reports. "Paris announced in early February the delivery of this analogue of the Patriot system. I am happy that I can announce together with my Italian colleague Giorgia Meloni that the French-Italian SAMP/T is now deployed and put into operation in Ukraine, where it protects key facilities and people's lives," the French President stressed, speaking in Paris about the missile defense of Europe. RaiNews notes that SAMP/T MAMBA is the first long-range anti-missile system in Europe, which should help Ukraine cope with attacks by Russian drones, missiles and aircraft. SAMP/T can destroy enemy aircraft at a range of 3 km to 100 km and ballistic missiles at a range of 3 km to 25 km, the height of the defeat - up to 25 km. All eight Aster-30 missiles, which are contained in one launcher, can be fired in one salvo in 10 seconds. The developer and manufacturer of the SAMP/T anti-aircraft missile system is the European consortium Eurosam. CHAPIN Lexington-Richland School District Five officials stopped a Chapin High School teacher's lesson on a book about racism after receiving complaints, but district leaders involved in handling the situation have given differing justifications for the decision. The stopped lesson centered around Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates 2015 autobiographical work about the experience of being Black in the United States, which Chapin High teacher Mary Wood assigned to her AP Language and Composition class in February. Questions from Wood's lesson instructed students to identify themes of Coates book and describe their thoughts about it, including disagreements and explanations. It also asked questions about two videos about systemic racism shown in class, which Wood used as a lead-in to the book. But the lesson triggered complaints from some parents and students, who wrote emails to school board member Elizabeth Barnhardt that the lesson in their AP class made them uncomfortable and ashamed to be Caucasian," according to records released by the district. Another student asserted that Wood said something along the lines of hopefully I dont get fired for this,' as she introduced the lesson, though Wood said in a June 14 interview that she didn't recall ever saying that, noting that she'd already taught the material before without incident. Days after that initial lesson, Wood was called into an after-school meeting about the lesson and the complaints. She met with Chapin Highs assistant principal for instruction and the districts director of secondary education, according to an email Wood sent to her principal the next day. The decision from this meeting was that I pause instruction of Coates book, even though time is of the essence in preparation for the Argument essay on the AP exam, and despite the lack of a formal challenge to the text by any of the concerned parents, she wrote in the email. Another document that was created from the process, labeled as a script, was given to the assistant principal the same day she met with Wood. It seemingly contained questions to ask Wood. This pre-written script created in advance of the meeting with Wood already said the school needed her to "cease the assignment." The script document given to the assistant principal also said the assignment could run afoul of part of the state's budget provision that bans the use of state funding for teaching various ideas about race, such as that "an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of his race or sex" or that "an individual, by virtue of his race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously." Some complaints also questioned the lesson's legality, with one student writing that they were "pretty sure a teacher talking about systemic racism is illegal in South Carolina." Its unclear who produced the script document. When asked, district spokeswoman Amanda Taylor directed The Post and Courier to the released documents, saying in an email that they stand on their own. Wood said in a June 14 interview that the situation "feels like a direct attack on me, quite honestly, as a teacher," adding that such divisions are bad for the country's democracy. "The sooner we find some common ground, the better off we'd be," she said. District leadership response Official explanations from district administrators for why Woods February lesson was stopped have been limited. While records released by the district show officials concerned that a lesson on systemic racism could violate a state budget law prohibiting the teaching of certain ideas about race, Superintendent Akil Ross declined to comment on the legal question, saying that he didn't want to go into details on the matter. But Barnhardt, the Moms for Liberty-endorsed school board member who received some of the complaints about the class, had no such reluctance, asserting that the Between the World and Me" lesson was illegal in an expressly political June 16 statement. All the conservative groups and conservative public officials who endorsed my campaign expect me to stay true to the ideals I expressed on the campaign trail, her statement read. One of the ideals on the top of the list was ensuring that cultural Marxist indoctrination is not taught in District Five. Barnhardts response, which called the Chapin High lesson radical subject material and criticized what she described as hyper-racialized and hyper-sexualized indoctrination, mirrored talking points used by hard-right politicians and groups working to limit how ideas about race and gender are taught in schools across the United States. "While in local and national headlines you may hear that 'white supremacy' is the biggest threat to our nation, it is my opinion that ANY and ALL forms of supremacy no matter the race, ethnicity or creed are unacceptable," Barnhardt added in a second statement the same day. The same budget law cited by Barnhardt was also used by a hardline conservative faction of S.C. House Republicans in their lawsuits against school districts in Charleston and Lexington counties last year, which alleged that the districts had violated the law's restrictions on what they could teach. Ross took a different approach to explaining how his administration handled the complaints, pointing to the district's rules on how to teach controversial ideas. "If you present an issue that children are supposed to debate, or come up with what's called an independent conclusion, it has to have a variety of viewpoints," he said. He said Lexington-Richland Five's response to the Chapin High situation was governed by its policy on academic freedom, which says teachers should present controversial issues in a fair and unbiased way, and the community has the right to communicate concerns about those issues to the board. If community members or parents feel a controversial issue was not presented fairly, they can contact the schools principal, who will investigate the complaint, says an administrative rule connected to the academic freedom policy. That policy, which was also referenced in the script document, says teachers should consult with the administration on the appropriateness of discussing any planned controversial issues. In her email to Chapin Highs principal, Wood said the school had purchased Coates' book, and that she'd taught it the year before with no complaint and with the knowledge of the schools previous assistant principal for instruction. I am exceedingly cognizant of remaining neutral, she wrote. Students should feel safe and nurtured in the exploration of this and any subject, and to suggest otherwise is counterproductive to academic success and professionalism in the classroom. Board response After Woods lesson was stopped in February, the Lexington-Richland Five board discussed changing its policy on classroom materials, including how complaints are handled, in April. The district's current policies on instructional materials, one of which was also referenced in the script document, say complaints about instructional classroom materials should be handled based on the districts procedure for complaints against library materials. That procedure, last revised in June 2022, directs parents or district residents who want to challenge the appropriateness of a book to fill out and submit an official materials challenge form. The official challenge is then reviewed by a committee of district staff and community members appointed by the superintendent, which makes a decision on whether the book is appropriate to stay in school, and whose ruling can be appealed to the school board. The district used that system in October 2022 for a challenge against the book Black is a Rainbow Color. A complaint objected to what it called the books Black Lives Matter imagery. The nine-member review committee found the book acceptable and appropriate, and kept it in schools. But public records released by Lexington-Richland Five about the Between the World and Me lesson and complaints do not include any official materials challenge forms about the book or videos from Woods lesson, or any records of a review committee meeting about the book or videos like the ones released about "Black is a Rainbow Color." In emails to district administrators, Wood noted that the district had not used the materials review procedure outlined in district policy, calling it "grievous." Ross said in a June 16 interview that the materials challenge policy's procedure was not applicable to the Between the World and Me complaints because it's about the appropriateness of books, while the academic freedom policy is about "viewpoints and controversial issues." "They're related, but there is some distinction," he said. In their April meeting, the board considered a revision to the materials policy that would direct parents with concerns to a students teacher and school administrator, with an option to bring the objections to the superintendent in the event that matter cannot be resolved at the school level. While some board members argued that the school board should play a role in that process, others, including board member and Wood's father Mike Satterfield, said teachers shouldnt have to answer to board members. Satterfield declined to comment about the Chapin High lesson. In an email sent to the board and superintendent after the April meeting, Wood agreed with Satterfield, writing that teachers are afraid to speak up and that there's an "ever-present lack of clarity about policy dictating the expectations of teachers." She also emphasized the necessity of teaching potentially controversial ideas in AP courses, writing that stopping such instruction is "both biased and discriminatory and completely antithetical to the development of critical thinking and civil discourse." In this culture, EVERYTHING may be controversial she wrote, adding, please define controversial, as this is a very fluid term that requires structure." LEXINGTON The murder trial is underway for a Mexican restaurateur accused of killing his wifes alleged lover on Valentines Day 2016. Gregorio Leon, who has run several local restaurants under the San Jose Mexican chain, called 911 the night of the February 14 murder, telling dispatch I shot my wifes lover. Video surveillance shows Leon opening the rear door to a Toyota Tundra parked in a lot by the highway and then firing a handgun several times, killing Arturo Pereyra Bravo, according to arrest warrants. Seven years after the murder, on June 19, Leon walked into the Lexington County Courthouse with a GPS monitor on his ankle. Jury selection for the trial in front of Circuit Judge Walton McLeod took the majority of the day, with questions including whether the potential panelists had strong opinions on immigration or adultery that would impact their judgment. After jurors were chosen, Eleventh Circuit Solicitor Rick Hubbard, who is prosecuting the case, and Columbia-based criminal defense attorney Jack Swerling, who represents Leon, went back and forth about what would be allowed as evidence and testimony. In a separate case, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has charged Leon with perjury for allegedly providing false testimony in the murder case. The love triangle between Leon, his wife, and Bravo was outlined in an Los Angeles Times story headlined "The dark side of the South's Mexican combo-plate dream." The columnist described Leon as "almost royalty in the dynasty of transplants from San Jose de la Paz, Jalisco," a village of about 1,000 people in Mexico which now dominates the South's Mexican restaurant scene. The Times quoted a South Carolina Spanish-language newspaper, which called Leon "un orgullo Hispano," meaning a Hispanic to be proud of. The long-awaited and highly anticipated Little Bee Bun Mee restaurant, an Asian eatery from the owners of Cayce's well-received Duke's Pad Thai, plans to open its doors July 11, the restaurant announced in a press release June 19. The restaurant, which sits next door to the popular Thai quick-service spot, has been in the works for some time, as owners Chris and Noi Souvanna ran their other restaurant and prepared for the upcoming one. The last few years have been a whirlwind, surviving a pandemic, raising two boys and running a successful business; we all just felt like busy bees which led us to naming Little Bee," Noi Souvanna said, in a press release. Little Bee will share a space with Duke's, making it an open dining concept that gives diners a chance to pick between two restaurants while only going to one. The menu will feature options not currently offered at Duke's, like traditional Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, sushi and poke bowls. Similar to the sister restaurant, it will be fast-casual and offer online to-go ordering. Duke's Pad Thai, which offers traditional noodle bowls, stir fry dishes and other signature Asian street food, opened in Cayce in 2017. The eatery was included as one of the 18 essential restaurants in Columbia by Eater, a national media website covering food and dining. It joins a handful of Asian-inspired restaurants that await the capital city. Well-known Columbia restaurateur Kristian Niemi is on the cusp of opening The Dragon Room, a pan-Asian small plates restaurant and bar just across the river in the Vista and 929 Kitchen and Bar's Sean Kim will unveil MOA Korean BBQ on Main Street in the coming months. Little Bee Bun Mee is located at 904 Knox Abbott Dr. For updates and more information, find the restaurant on Facebook or on Instagram at @littlebeebunmee. PARIS Clemson University and GE Aerospace have received $10 million from the U.S. Air Force to continue developing advanced flight materials. The ceramic composite materials are lighter and more durable than metal alloys currently in use, which could improve engine efficiency, reduce environmental impact and shorten travel time, researchers said in a news release. The congressional funding from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory comes just a month after ground was broken on a new $130 million Advanced Materials Innovation Center at Clemson. The building will house research on advanced manufacturing, energy and health innovation. Working as a group with GE Aerospace and the Missouri University of Science and Technology, Clemson researchers will continue to develop ceramic-matrix composite materials that can withstand extreme temperatures during high-speed flight, while being strong enough for maneuvering. Clemson University officials announced the deal at the Paris Air Show on June 20 alongside Tony Mathis, president and chief executive of GE Edison Works. Officials at aerospace giant Boeing, which has a passenger jet factory in North Charleston, said they are optimistic about demand for commercial jetliners ahead of this week's international airshow. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said investment in research and development is key to maintaining a competitive technological edge. I appreciate Air Force Research Lab and the consortium collaborating on this important project, Graham said. Clemsons continued prioritization of advanced materials research ensures that our state and nation stay at the forefront of technological capabilities in ceramic-matrix composites. U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn, D-Columbia, said the research will provide new opportunities for students to work on cutting-edge advanced materials. The investments we make today in education and workforce development are critical to building a prosperous future for South Carolina, he said. Our universities, including Clemson, are key to this effort and to meeting the critical research needs for a strong national defense while also preparing our workforce for the opportunities of the 21st century. The biennial Paris Air Show is one of the largest and most prestigious aerospace exhibitions in the world, serving as a platform for showcasing the latest advancements in aviation and aerospace technology. Less than six months after opening their second Sofrito Restaurant, owners Hector and Ana Batista are already in the process of opening not one, but two, new concepts. One of those, the Food Truck Village, is slated to open at 101 Pennsylvania Ave. on the outskirts of downtown Greer this summer. The other, Sofrito Rotisserie, is set to open at the Publix shopping center in Taylors this winter. The growth comes as the Batistas are finally putting in motion plans theyve had in the works for some time and another plan that was born from observing the market and adapting. I dont consider it work, because I enjoy it so much, and the fact we can contribute to providing, help the economy and provide work and help grow the individuals around us, said Hector Batista, in between stops at the food truck village and Sofrito Downtown. Its rewarding. The Upstates first food truck park Initially, the Batistas saw potential for creating a food truck park in Greenville. They were eyeing a property at the corner of Mauldin Road and Pleasantburg Drive, but the partnership in the space never quite materialized and so the Batistas were searching anew. They figured theyd find a place in Greenville, but when they saw the space that housed Rosies Hot Dogs in Greer for 30 years, they knew theyd found a home for the concept. That concept includes a mix of food trucks and a permanent counter-service restaurant. The former hot dog space is on track to be converted into a small cafe that will serve items such as paninis, flatbreads and hot dogs. It will also serve as a bar selling drinks including beer and wine. Plans call for transforming the outside space into an oasis of sorts, with covered outdoor seating, a deck and hanging lights. The goal is to have about five food trucks present at all times, with the trucks rotating on a weekly basis. Trucks will pay a small fee that will go toward covering the cost of utilities and upkeep, Batista said. Among the trucks will always be the Batistas Cuban coffee and dessert truck, which will serve Cuban coffee and warm desserts like bread pudding and sweet empanadas, as well as ice cream. Once open, Batista hopes to feature live music on Fridays and Saturdays and a happy hour with discounted beverages and bites. Ordering for food trucks will be done via QR code, but guests will be able to order beverages and other food at the counter inside. I hope it becomes a place where people know they can have great food and a family community atmosphere, Batista said. But I want it to be a community where the community is supporting small local entrepreneurs. Sofrito Rotisserie The idea for a casual-quick-service hybrid concept has been cooking for over a year. Initially, the Batistas thought about bringing the concept to the West End space, but the restaurant footprint in that location was much larger, so it made more sense to bring their full-service Softiro Latin Restaurant & Bar concept there instead. The idea has grown out of innovation and necessity. With continued challenges in staffing restaurants, Sofrito Rotisserie allows for great food and efficient service without having to rely too heavily on lots of staff, Batista said. The 1,500-square-foot space in Taylors will be a hybrid quick-service and sit-down spot. Guests will be able to order at a counter and will be given a pager that, once they are seated at a table, will alert the kitchen of their order and place in the dining room. Servers will then bring food to tables. The focus is high-quality and fast. The food will center on the traditional Latin American sauce called wasakaka. The garlic-citrus herb sauce is often paired with chicken. At Sofrito Rotisserie, the chicken will be marinated and basted in wasakaka sauce, and then roasted on a rotisserie. The menu will include whole-chicken, half-chicken and quarter-chicken meals all served with sides. Plans call for offering a variety of rice and beans, along with vegetables and a traditional Dominican potato salad referred to as Russian potato salad in the Dominican Republic that combines potatoes, carrots, peas and beets. The Batistas have come a long way in a short amount of time. They opened their original concept, Tacos & Mas, in Greer in 2017. A second location on Woodruff Road followed in 2018. But, seeing a saturation of tacos in the market, they pivoted and created Sofrito to highlight their Latin cuisine specialties. The change worked. The couple opened Ciao Bella, an elevated Italian concept in Greer in 2020, playing off Hector's 20-year career spent working with traditional French and Italian cuisine. The restaurant closed in 2022, but Batista admitted to not giving up on the dream of opening another elegant Italian restaurant in the future. There is nothing wrong with failure, Batista said, reflecting on the changes his restaurants have undergone. There is nothing wrong as long as you get up and try it again." The Batistas have plans to continue to grow, to be open to what life brings and to embrace all of it with open hearts and open minds. Greer Food Truck Village will open later this summer at 101 Pennsylvania Ave., Greer; For more, visit https://greerfoodtruckvillage.com Sofrito Rotisserie is slated to open in the Publix shopping center in Taylors in January. BEAUFORT A lawsuit seeking to block construction of a 70-room downtown hotel and parking garage has been dismissed by a South Carolina court. The ruling was a setback for developer Graham Trask in his efforts to keep the projects championed by the Beaufort-based 303 Associates from moving forward. Trask has filed two separate, but closely related, lawsuits contesting construction plans, which received final approval from the city's Historic District Review Board in June 2021. "In my opinion, these huge buildings, that either had been approved or were in the process of being approved, and were immediately adjacent to my property, had not followed the city's laws," Trask told The Post and Courier. A tale of two lawsuits, part 1 In April 2021, Trask filed the first of his two lawsuits in the Court of Common Pleas naming the City of Beaufort, the Beaufort Inn, LLC and 303 Associates, LLC as respondents. It asserted that the city's Historic District Review Board erred in the process of approving the hotel and parking garage projects. Further, it requested that the court compel the city to require that the developer apply for a special exception related to the size and scale of the projects. The city asserted that the development code in effect at the time the approval process was initiated required no such exception. The case was argued May 11 before Judge R. Scott Sprouse. The hearing ran for nearly three hours. In his ruling issued June 8, Sprouse denied the request for an injunction on grounds related to another case that Trask has pending in the South Carolina Court of Appeals, writing that "the issues in that case are identical." Expanding on his reasoning, Sprouse said that, with a case still pending before the Court of Appeals, Trask had not exhausted his available remedies. And, he added, one judge of the same court cannot overrule another judge. "It's a confirmation and positive decision that supports our position and the city position, that we have followed the process," said Dick Stewart, founder and chairman of 303 Associates. "We're encouraged that the court has agreed that we followed the approval process." Trask said he was disappointed that Sprouse did not rule on the merits of the case and instead focused on procedural issues. "At some point, somebody's going to rule on the merits of the case," Trask said. "Either it's going to be the Court of Appeals or the South Carolina Supreme Court." Contrary to Trask's opinion, Stewart believes that there's already been a ruling on the merits of Trask's case. He referred to a decision made by Judge Bentley Price last year. A tale of two lawsuits, part 2 303 Associates started the approval process for the hotel and parking garage in 2016, and the city's Historic District Review Board issued those final approvals June 9, 2021. Trask filed an administrative appeal of the board's decision the following month. This second lawsuit made essentially the same arguments that were presented in his April 2021 filing. The Historic Beaufort Foundation joined the administrative appeal but is not a party in the April 2021 lawsuit. "The Historic Beaufort Foundation has always contended that the hotel and parking garage as currently designed will negatively and adversely affect the character of Beaufort's National and Historic Landmark District," said Cynthia Jenkins, executive director of the foundation. The July 2021 appeal asked the court to vacate the Historic District Review Board's hotel and parking garage approvals and require 303 Associates to start the review process anew. Judge Bentley Price heard arguments on that case in the Court of Common Pleas 14th Judicial Circuit on Jan. 6. Price denied the appeal in a 19-page order, stating that the time to contest the review board's decision had expired. "However, to the extent the matters they attack were decided at (a Historic Review Board) meeting prior to the June 9, 2021, meeting, the time for appealing those decisions has expired and those decision cannot be challenged now," Price wrote. A motion to reconsider the decision was also denied. This matter now rests with the state Court of Appeals. A hearing date has not been set. "The appellate court will just determine whether the lower court ruled correctly," Stewart said. "I'm highly confident that the merits have already been decided and the appellate court will say that." A city divided Plans for the hotel and parking garage have had a polarizing effect in the city that sits wrapped in the bend of the Beaufort River. A series of spats between city officials and the Historic Beaufort Foundation have played out in public meetings and newspaper opinion pages. Beaufort Mayor Stephen Murray specifically referred to Jenkins during a March 14 City Council meeting, saying that an opinion piece she penned about the two projects was misleading and incendiary. Continuing, he referenced the appeal of Price's ruling saying the city has been forced to spend more than $100,000 defending "frivolous" appeals. "When is enough enough?" he asked. Size and scale Beaufort issued building permits for both the hotel and garage in December. According to the permits, the nearly 62,000-square foot hotel will be located at 800 Port Republic St. and will feature a restaurant, bar, interior courtyard and rooftop bar. The building permit indicates the hotel will be four stories tall. The four-story parking garage will be located at 918 Craven St. The size and scale of these building, which will be located within Beaufort's National Historic Landmark District, have been at the center of debate. "The Historic Beaufort Foundation has never opposed the proposed uses," Jenkins said. "We believe, based on the preservation guidelines, that the height, mass and scale of these buildings are not appropriate for the surrounding blocks." That concern surfaced this year in a preliminary report by the National Park Service on the current state of the historic landmark district. The report, without pointing to any specific building or project, said that new buildings that are substantially taller or wider than their surrounding neighbors are incompatible and a detriment to the overall integrity of the historic landmark district. "While one intrusion may be damaging, multiple instances of weak standards, variances, and other inappropriate alterations can lead to cumulative damage and an irreparable loss of integrity," reads a portion of the draft report. A final report has not been released. With one case already pending before the Court of Appeals, Trask indicated that he will also appeal Sprouse's decision. Kingstree, SC (29556) Today Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 92F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 74F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. This is a good-news story of faith, endurance and reclamation, but tainted by sorrow and sacrifice. In the mid-1960s, African American residents of the Cannonborough-Elliotborough and West Side neighborhoods learned of plans to build a highway through their communities. Land would need to be appropriated through eminent domain and structures cleared, including Immaculate Conception Church, a Catholic parish that catered to Black people, located at the corner of Coming and Shepard streets. Nearby was St. John Cemetery, where more than 1,000 Black Catholics were buried. The new road, today known formally as the Septima P. Clark Parkway, often referred to as the Crosstown, would impact the old burial ground, too. The highway was built. The cemetery fell into disuse, then neglect, then the haze of memory. On June 19, the Catholic Diocese of Charleston held a dedication service at St. John Cemetery marking the completion of a yearslong renovation project. What for decades appeared to be an empty field nestled between Calvary Episcopal Church and the Crosstown, now is beautifully landscaped. It features a prominent granite cross at its center, walking paths, benches, and newly planted Palmetto trees and shrubs, with fresh mulch covering their roots. A sign at the gate announces the presence of the dead. The neglect has been remedied. It took time and effort, patience and prayer to achieve this day of joy, as the Most Rev. Jacques Fabre-Jeune put it. The dedication ceremony coincided with the Juneteenth holiday, prompting the bishop to emphasize remembrance over celebration. In 1833, roughly 1,200 enslaved people in Charleston were Catholic, he noted. Ten years later, the diocese secured land for use of the colored Roman Catholic population of the City of Charleston and Charleston Neck, as a cemetery or burial ground for the said Colored Slaves or free, according to records. Of the 1,000 or so people buried in St. John Cemetery, 200 were enslaved when they died. We could learn so much from their life stories, the bishop said. When enslaved people learned of their emancipation during or after the Civil War, they knew they were legally free, but most were provided with nothing they could use to begin the process of building productive lives. They relied on ingenuity and persistence. They relied on themselves. Freedom doesnt come by itself. It must come with opportunities, Fabre-Jeune said. Freedom without opportunities is not freedom. Slavery, he said, was sustained because of the enslavers love for material things and willingness to ignore or demean the essential humanity of each of Gods children. We have to look in our society to see if its happening again, he said. The body is the temple of the spirit. Then he sprinkled holy water around the granite cross. Rovena Hazel Owens spoke of her familys connections to the neighborhood and the ancestors she knew were buried beneath her feet. As a child, she played in the churchyard, catching tadpoles in pools of standing water. Her mother told her of three cousins who did not survive their first year of life and were interred here. Their mother, when she died, was buried in St. Peters Cemetery in North Charleston, the new Catholic cemetery for African Americans. St. John Cemetery no longer was accessible. In 1880, the diocese built the first Immaculate Conception Church at the corner of Coming and Shepard streets. In 1904, the sisters of Our Lady of Mercy converted it into a parochial school for African Americans. In 1928, a new Immaculate Conception Church, larger and built of brick, opened on the site. The school was attracting not just the citys Black Catholics but African Americans of other denominations, as well. The last recorded burial at the cemetery took place in 1930. In 1965, the diocese sold a portion of the cemetery property to the states highway department so the Crosstown could be built. As desegregation took hold, Catholic officials closed St. Peter and Immaculate Conception in 1967 and merged their congregations with St. Patrick Church which, until then, had been predominantly White. City Councilman Keith Waring said he recalled when, in 1965, his mother told him the family would need to leave Immaculate Conception Church because of the highway coming through. Waring, 10 at the time, wondered why the engineers couldnt create a curve in the road around his beloved church. Once Catholics abandoned the property, the cemetery fell into neglect until 1994, when parishioners of St. Patrick protested an impending sale of the land and worked with Calvary Episcopal Church to retain the Chicora Foundation to conduct an archaeological and historical study of the site. At the ceremony, the Rev. Ricardo Bailey, newly installed priest of Calvary Episcopal Church, told those gathered that he started his vocational journey as an ordained Catholic priest in Atlanta. Its ironic, and satisfying, that today he is the de facto guardian of St. John Cemetery, he said. You are my family, and I hope you all know that I am your brother, Bailey said. Frank Dirks of Carolina Catholic Professionals spearheaded the restoration project, receiving critical support from Karmin Meade, director of cemeteries for the diocese. He said three parishes St. Peter, Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Mercy once used the cemetery. The work got underway just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and disrupted fundraising efforts, Dirks said. By early 2022, though, a fence had been installed, a design secured from LS3P Associates and the big cross commissioned. Four benches were installed, each one in memory of the four historically Black Catholic parishes that operated on the peninsula. Last fall, the city of Charleston arranged to have a historical marker placed at the site. More than $100,000 ultimately was raised, and recently Dirks and his team of volunteers completed the last of the landscaping work. During the long restoration process, they would gather on-site, each Ash Wednesday and each All Souls Day, to recite a rosary and the known names of the dead, all 1,000 of them. The granite cross finally arrived and was installed on Feb. 2, the Catholic Feast Day of the Presentation of the Lord. Prayer has a lot to do with it, Dirks said. Lead researcher Julie Bowling pored through burial records and helped create a database of names, he said. Rather than etch the names into stone for display at the cemetery (since in some cases misspellings were discovered), the team decided to include a QR code at the entrance, enabling visitors to link to a website that presents a listing of the dead. The information can be adjusted or corrected as new details are gathered from descendants, scholars and others, Dirks said. The Charleston area has many Black burial grounds that have been lost, forgotten, relocated, destroyed or neglected. In recent years, preservationists and parishioners have undertaken to identify, catalogue and protect these sites. The story of St. John Cemeterys renovation provides some hope. I think that it offers a model, a kind of template, for how other communities, other similarly situated cemeteries or institutions may try to recover and restore them, Dirks said. In some cases, it will be nearly impossible. Highways such as the Crosstown would need to be removed. But other burial grounds overgrown or threatened by development require quick intervention. Its our duty to honor and remember the dead, Dirks said. Changes are coming to top leadership positions at The Post and Courier as South Carolinas largest newspaper continues to grow and expand its offerings. Executive Editor Autumn Phillips has been promoted to the newly created position of editor-in-chief, effective Aug. 1. In this role, Phillips will oversee two significant growth opportunities for the newspaper: philanthropic fundraising and the launch of a new venture in which she will lead readers on international trips. Autumn is a veteran world traveler and journalist, Publisher P.J. Browning said. She will teach participants how to write about the journey as a way of deepening the experience. Veteran journalist Jeff Taylor has been hired as The Post and Couriers new executive editor after a national search. Taylor, who also will start Aug. 1, is an award-winning newsman who most recently served as vice president and executive editor for news and investigations at USA Today. Jeff comes to us with a tremendous background as a journalist and has held many executive leadership positions, Browning said. For Phillips, the move allows her to keenly focus on two of her driving passions: writing and travel. During her 5 years at The Post and Courier, she has written several pieces about her sojourns to far-flung places such as Lebanon, Sudan and Kyrgyzstan. Beginning next year, she will bring readers along on her journeys. Trips are in the works for several destinations, including Argentina, Portugal, Northern Ireland, India, Mongolia, Cambodia, and Rwanda. These Post and Courier trips will include conversations with political and historical experts, archeologists, conservationists, chefs and farmers, artists and writers so travelers leave with a well-rounded view of the culture, history and context of the country visited, Browning said. As she considered her next chapter, Phillips said, her path quickly became clear. I want to travel. I want to write. And I want to build community and make life fun and interesting for other people, she said. Suzanne Pollak, who recently traveled with Phillips to Lebanon, described the experience as life-altering. Autumn travels differently, Pollack said. She interacts with people and places as if she belongs. I began to feel the same, instead of like a tourist." Subscribers will also have a limited number of travel opportunities with other Post and Courier journalists as they report on international connections to Charleston. Photographers will teach them how to capture the journey, and reporters will show them how to see a place through the lens of climate change, history or food, Browning said. Back at home, Taylor will oversee the daily operations of The Post and Courier as it continues to expand across South Carolina. In addition to its home base in Charleston, the newspaper has newsrooms in Columbia, Greenville, Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, Florence and Rock Hill. As he charts a path forward, Taylor will lean on a wealth of experience gleaned from a long and distinguished career in journalism, Browning said. At USA Today, Taylor supervised departments responsible for coverage of national issues, politics, foreign affairs, data reporting and investigations. He also served in top editorial jobs at The Indianapolis Star and USA TODAY Network, and as senior managing editor for the Detroit Free Press. Taylor started his career at the Kansas City Star and Times where he worked a variety of roles, including investigative reporter and national correspondent. He has been honored with numerous awards, including a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting, a George Polk Award and two national SPJ Sigma Delta Chi Awards. Taylor said he is thrilled to be joining a paper that has demonstrated impact, connection to the community and "is highly regarded by the people of South Carolina and Charleston." He said he has long had a passion for "big-J journalism" that can make a difference in people's lives through rich storytelling and investigative journalism that holds power to account. Taylor said he will also be focused on growing The Post and Courier's digital footprint and drawing new generations of readers who will serve as the newspaper's path to the future. He said he intends to do that by building on The Post and Courier's reputation for producing stories that "are more penetrating, have more context and help people understand how all of the pieces fit together." Stories, he added, that "they are not going to find anyplace else." Editor's Note: This story was supported in part by The Chronicle of Philanthropy and PBS Frontline. NORTH CHARLESTON After living in the woods for 18 months, Betty Moore found a place in December that had everything she needed: a bed, a refrigerator and a bathroom. More importantly, the room in the private shelter came with a price tag she and her boyfriend could manage just $455 a month, a fraction of the average rent in the city. Moore, 67, and her boyfriend Scott had struggled to find an affordable rent on her fixed income of about $800 a month from disability, retirement and Social Security payments. They had no intention of going back to the woods. But unbeknownst to the couple, they were walking right into another dark chapter in the North Charleston Community Interfaith Shelter's long history of instability, mismanagement and spotty oversight. About a month into their stay, an evacuation notice was duct-taped to their door. An inspection by city building and fire officials found the place too dangerous for people to live there. Its 18 units had no hot water or heat. Exposed wires lined the walls and ceilings. Rooms had soiled mattresses and space heaters of different amperages, crowded by tenant belongings. Trash and clutter filled the kitchen and utility rooms. The city gave everyone five days to pack up and leave. Without a place to go, Betty and Scott returned to the woods, hoping no one would find their camp and force them to relocate. Many homeless individuals face a similar fate here in Souths Carolinas third-largest city. North Charleston has no homeless shelter. While the city has nonprofits that provide food, clothing and other necessities to the homeless, the closure of the Community Interfaith Shelter eliminates one of the largest low-income housing options in the area. Interfaith had once served as a beacon of hope for the citys neediest individuals. But a spending scandal a decade ago had driven off donors, leaving the shelter to wobble along with dwindling funds, deteriorating structures and shaky leadership. Years of blind trust from local, state and federal officials allowed the problems to fester until they fatally undermined Interfaiths ability to function. The shelters closure came at a time when North Charleston is experiencing the largest economic boom in its 51-year history. Its thriving industries, including Boeing and Mercedes, employ thousands, and the citys retail base is the largest in the state. Housing prices continue to rise as residents from across the nation pour into the Lowcountry. This has generated millions in new revenue and funded positive things for the city such as new parks and municipal pay hikes. But it also puts pressure on low-income residents, like Moore and her boyfriend, to try to keep up with soaring rents in the rapidly developing city. Similar trends are playing out in prosperous cities across the nation such as Austin, Las Vegas and Nashville, Tenn., where growth has outpaced services available for the homeless. Rent in North Charleston is up 6 percent since last year, with the average cost for a one-bedroom apartment sitting around $1,300 a month. Brandon Lilienthal, the citys homeless coordinator since August, said the lack of low-income housing is the main reason for homelessness in North Charleston. He knows of several families whove resorted to staying in hotels because its more affordable. Lilienthal said he was able to find housing for a few of the people displaced by Interfaiths closure. The rest, like Betty and Scott, have turned to the woods, underpasses and other locations until something better comes along. A rocky history Before the city deemed Interfaith unsafe, the former nonprofit already had a history of questionable leadership and suspected misuse of funds. Until around 2010, the facility was the largest transitional housing shelter for homeless veterans in the Lowcountry. Located in a two-story former motel, the 18-bed property had the support of local donors and received hundreds of thousands of dollars in backing from organizations such as the South Carolina Housing Authority and U.S Department of Veteran Affairs. The VA was by far the organizations largest benefactor. In the span of 13 years, it shoveled more than $963,000 into the organization to feed and clothe homeless veterans, as well as build a 14-bed expansion onto the facility. But hard questions about the spending of these funds by Interfaiths former director, Nancy Cook, were raised after a 2010 Post and Courier investigation. The newspaper found that Cook had doubled her salary during the height of the recession. She also signed off on tax forms that didnt account for thousands of dollars in federal funding. This investigation led to a federal audit, which discovered that Cook had spent some of the cash on personal incidentals, repairs to a personal vehicle, fundraising and advertising. Money was also spent on pricey downtown dinners and King Street shopping jaunts that included hundreds of dollars spent at Bath & Body Works. Cook, who was also a Charleston County School Board member, was fired by the shelter's board of directors in May 2011 shortly after the audit. The Post and Courier reached out to Cook for comment on Interfaith's shuttering. She replied, calling it a significant loss for individuals seeking shelter and the community as a whole. The closure illustrates how mismanagement can destroy a nonprofits reputation and greatly limit its sources of revenue. After the Department of Veteran Affairs cut off its funding, other local and state supporters quickly followed suit, making it difficult for the organization to recover. With its funding cratering, the planned 14-bed expansion ground to a halt, leaving the structure half complete. Today, Interfaith sits vacant on Burton Lane, just a few miles north of the Charleston peninsula. Patches of overgrown grass and weeds line the perimeter of the property. Twenty-two cylinders of PVC pipe sit between the spaces of honeycombed cement blocks, holding the mail of people who are now looking for new addresses. Unit 104 was only partially cleared out during a recent visit. In the room, dressers overflowed with clothing, empty beer boxes were pancaked flat on the floor and a pungent stench seeped from the heaps of trash covering the floor. A tall gate with no lock surrounded the property. Some rooms that were padlocked shut when the shelter closed have been busted open. Veiled money trail A lack of oversight on the state and federal level make the organization's finances more of a mystery to unravel. There is little evidence of Interfaiths long-running financial strife in documents readily available to the public and potential donors from the IRS and the S.C. Secretary of State. Thats because both entities largely take a hands-off approach that allows small nonprofits such as Interfaith to operate on the honor system. Small nonprofits need only file some routine paperwork each year to stay in good standing. Neither entity asks for detailed financial documents or an annual audit to determine the solvency of these organizations or how they are spending their money. Most nonprofits are required to file an annual IRS form known as a 990, in which these organizations provide statements of revenues and expenditures, a list of agency officers and, in some instances, their earnings. The North Charleston Community Interfaith Shelter has not submitted such a form since 2013. Instead, Interfaith submitted a much-less-detailed form known as a 990-N. Its essentially a postcard listing the organization's principal officers and a mailing address. This form is available to nonprofits that take in less than $50,000 a year in revenue. The shelters current leadership said its main source of income during the past 12 years has been a monthly $455 rental fee charged per unit. If all 18 units were full 365 days a year, Interfaiths annual income would be more than $98,000 almost double the threshold for the 990-N requirement. Eric Smith, a spokesman for the IRS, said small nonprofits are not required to submit financial documents to back up their statements, but an organization can be charged with perjury if discrepancies are found. The IRS pulled Interfaiths nonprofit status in April 2022 after it failed to submit even a 990-N form for the prior three years. But evidence of that action is not readily apparent to potential donors reviewing the groups status and mission on charity-tracking websites such as Guidestar. The S.C. Secretary of States office said it also yanked Interfaiths charity status last year after the organization failed to file annual paperwork and pay $1,800 in late registration fees. That means the organization can no longer legally collect donations. But that might be difficult for potential donors to discern from the Secretary of States website. A search there showed Interfaith was still listed as a nonprofit in good standing. Changes in leadership Since April 2022, Linda Brockway has been leading the Interfaith shelter from her home in Lansing, Mich. some 900 miles away. Its quite a distance, but Brockway said she is quite familiar with both North Charleston and the larger mission at hand. For many years, she has made it her business to find housing for low-income people across the country. Through her work with the National Association of Housing Cooperatives, Brockway picked up contract work with housing authorities in eight states as a consultant working to build home ownership opportunities. One of her longest consulting stints has been the 18 years she has worked with the North Charleston Housing Authority. Brockway got involved with Interfaith after meeting a man named Bobby Knight in 2010 at the Exchange Club of North Charleston. His parents started Interfaith in the 1990s before Nancy Cook came on as a director. He convinced her to join Interfaith as a board member. Brockway said shes involved in several other local volunteer and housing organizations, as well, though she couldnt give specific examples. Anytime anyone asks me to do something, I do it, she said. Brockway said she took over running Interfaith after Knight died last year because there was no one else ready to step up. She hired Daniel Morris, a former resident of the shelter, as an on-site manager to keep an eye on the place when she was away. The pair said Knight left the place in really bad shape. Brockway said she wasnt aware until she took over that tax forms for the organization hadnt been filed for the last three years. She said shes working with the IRS to get their nonprofit status back. I didnt have anything to do with that, she said of the unfiled forms. Im trying to fix that. I hope to have that fixed in the next three months. Though Brockway is Interfaiths top officer, she often struggled in interviews with The Post and Courier to answer specific questions about the organizations workings. For example, when asked about Interfaiths two remaining board members, Brockway could only name one of them Sharon Hill, a Section 8 coordinator with the North Charleston Housing Authority. Hill, however, said she's never been a board member for Interfaith and isn't sure why she was named as one. Combined, Brockway and Morris said theyve spent over $10,000 to fix up the neglected rooms, as well as cover debts, bills and other supplies before the city shut them down in January. But Brockway disagreed with the citys determination that Interfaith was too unsafe for people to live there. I just think (the city) felt pressured maybe to make sure we're providing safe housing, she said. "But there was no reason it wouldn't be safe. I mean, there was one man who lived there for 10 years. So I think he felt safe. Brockway and Morris dont feel they were given a fair shot to repair the violations before the city shut Interfaith down. Now, they say theyre out all the money theyve invested into the property to make it better. Brockway said she is troubled that the shelters closure has left its former residents living out in the trees. But she said the setback wont stop her from trying to help people. Im not giving up until people give up, she said. Shelters closure Darbis Briggman, North Charlestons chief building official, said a tenant complaint prompted the citys review of Interfaith in January. He said the place was in rough shape. Inspection reports show bathroom walls busted open and crumbling, leaving broken plaster on the floors and exposing pipes. Rat traps were spread sporadically and surrounded by dirt and dust from the unkept floors. Curled exposed wires could be found on the walls and ceilings. Briggman said the place can be fixed with enough money, but it would be expensive to bring it up to code. It would take a lot of money, he said. The conditions they were living in it was definitely a danger. We caught it just in time before something happened. David Ringley, the citys chief fire inspector, said a main concern was the potential fire hazards from the accumulation of items such as space heaters and makeshift cooking equipment. The people became more like residents and stayed there for months, if not years, and those places are not designed for that, he said. On Jan. 25, Briggman and Ringley jointly signed an order to vacate, requiring everyone to be off the property by the afternoon of the 30th. But the January inspection was seemingly the first hard look at the property in several years. The most recent city review prior to that was in 2017, when inspectors called the unfinished 14-bed expansion a risk to public safety. The city made Interfaith leadership bring in a structural engineer to assess the facility. But after the engineer determined that it was in excellent shape, Briggman said his team didnt have a reason to follow up with the property. Public records requests indicate that the last full-scale inspection of Interfaith occurred in 2015. Ringley said he assumed his post last year and doesnt know if the gap in data means that no inspections were done from 2015-2023 or if a change in the citys records system caused those documents to get lost in the shuffle. North Charleston officials say building and fire inspections arent done annually. Briggman said they rely largely on tenant complaints or visual drive-by inspections to determine if they should take a closer look at a property. Ringley said the fire department only has the staff to inspect about half of the citys buildings every year. City officials said Interfaith can reopen if its leadership can make the necessary fixes. But Brockway doesnt want to put any more of her own money into the place. Unless she gets a grant to fund the repairs, the property will remain as is. City without a shelter Eighteen people were staying at Interfaith when the city ordered the evacuation in January. Lilienthal, the homeless coordinator, said a handful of the displaced were able to stay with relatives or found other housing. The rest, like Betty and Scott, turned to the streets. Lilienthal said he had personally referred five or six people to Interfaith before it closed. He said he had not inspected the place beforehand but he wasnt surprised by what the city found in its review. He never saw the place as a top-notch solution, but he recognized it was one of the only affordable options for some of the people he worked with. I tell people, you know, its not the best. But its a stepping stone to get you to where you want to be, he said. My priority is getting people off the streets. The Rev. Bill Stanfield is founder and CEO of Metanoia, a North Charleston-based group that works to expand affordable housing in the community. He said that if the people living at Interfaith were paying a monthly rent, they should have been living in an environment that helps propel them to the next stage in life. Just because somebody is having a hard time doesnt mean that they arent deserving of housing thats up to code. It doesnt mean that they dont deserve a decent place to live, he said. It wouldn't be unheard of for people to have to pay rent. But the question is really, what were they getting for that rent? Were they getting a substandard room that had code violations and no programming? Kara Stewart is the director of Neighbors Together an organization that provides food, clothing, and health and wellness services to homeless and low-income individuals in the Lowcountry. While she cant say for sure the two are related, Stewart said shes seen a 30 percent increase in people using her organizations services since Interfaith shut its doors. Over 300 people were counted as homeless in the Lowcountry, according to the latest South Carolina State of Homelessness report from November. But many suspect the annual count doesnt include all of the unhoused. North Charleston Councilwoman Dorothy Williams made a plea to build a homeless shelter in April as the city passed a $147 million budget that included raises for all employees. She said the homeless problem in the city is extremely evident. They're living under bridges. Living in the woods, she said. Theres just no place for them to go. Stacey Denaux, director of One80 Place, a shelter and social service provider in downtown Charleston, said she believes the way to truly solve homelessness is providing people with a path to permanent housing. Giving emergency shelter only solves the immediate crisis, she said. I'm not saying that's not important. But if you don't have an end game, and you simply are sheltering people for the sake of sheltering them, that's kind of a misalignment of resources, she said. Houston is considered one of the biggest housing first success stories. Over the last decade, the city was able to get 25,000 homeless into housing, dealing with unemployment and mental health issues down the line. Charleston Mayor John Tecklenberg took a similar approach in 2016. His Homeless to Hope effort helped relocate more than 100 people from a tent city on upper Meeting Street. Most of them were placed into permanent housing and others who were not from Charleston were given money to get back home. Councilwoman Williams said North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey was open and listened to her concerns about addressing the citys problem with a homeless shelter. But so far nothing has happened, she said. Ryan Johnson, the mayor's spokesman, told The Post and Courier the city is working with a local nonprofit that has a parcel under contract for a shelter. "This is still in its infancy," he said, offering no further details on the project. Keeping hope Today, Betty Moore and her boyfriend Scott live in a tent with a tarp on top to help keep out the rain. Moore believes theyre safe for now, but they fear the owner of the North Charleston land where they're staying might make them leave. She said the night they were told to evacuate the Interfaith shelter she became so overwhelmed that she had to be hospitalized. At 67 years old, she looks after her boyfriend, who has diabetic neuropathy. She said she didnt have the energy to move again. Despite all shes gone through, shes still found the strength to carry on. Maybe its the love she has for her boyfriend, whom she says is the only family she has left. His name, tattooed in cursive in thick black letters on her neck, is one of the first things one notices about her. Or maybe its the joy she gets from playing with their Lucas Terrier, Gizmo. Whatever the source, it allows her to maintain faith that she and her family will finally find a home. She said she has to have hope. Budanov on Russian fakes about his death: special detachment of immortal commanders being created in Ukraine Head of the Main Intelligence Agency (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, ridiculed the fakes of Russian propaganda about his alleged death, injury and coma. Now in Ukraine, a special detachment of immortal commanders is being created: Valeriy Zaluzhny, myself, Stepan Bandera, Symon Petliura, Ivan Mazepa. A squad of immortals will come in the middle of the night to the dreams of Russian citizens who wanted to take over Ukraine and give them nightmares, Budanov said in a comment to Kyiv Post. He clarified that the "Ukrainian special squad of immortals" guarantees the creation of a "nervous working environment" for Russians and their propagandists. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 94F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 79F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%. FLORENCE Three new industrial sites in Florence County are nearing completion and already attracting potential buyers. Each area cost between $8 million to $12 million, with $15 million to $20 million in utilities used at each location. Potential customers are looking into the parks now, Florence County Economic Development Partnership Chief Executive Officer Gregg Robinson said. A site consultant with Deloitte Consulting toured the sites last week, Robinson said. Deloitte is considered the fourth most prestigious consulting firm this year. The three projects came into being after the Florence County Council passed a $22 million bond referendum in 2020 to support industrial expansion within the county because we hadnt had a lot of success, Robinson said. There wouldnt be a chance of attracting new businesses if buildings or ready building pads werent available for businesses to look at, Florence County Council Chairman Willard Dorriety Jr. said. A more than 100,000 square-foot building located across Highway 327 from Pee Dee Commerce City East, is designed to accommodate modern manufacturing and logistics requirements and has room for expansion up to 235,000 square-feet. A more than 100,000 square-foot building in Scranton with room to expand up to 300,000 square-feet is located in a federal opportunity zone. Federal opportunity zones are meant to spur economic growth in lower-income communities by attracting investors through tax incentives. The idea was authored by South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott in 2017 and put into action in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. These federal incentives can come alongside incentives from the state, county and city. There are 135 zones in South Carolina as of 2020. A private company will build a 200,000 square-foot building on a completed building pad down Route 301 past Francis Marion University. The 330-acre property will also have a CSX rail line on it. The bond passed in 2020 also included a 400-acre park across the street from the Honda plant off I-95, which Robinson said would be developed once the three prior locations start getting some traction. The bond was passed during Dorrietys first meeting as chairman of the Florence County Council. He was elected in 2020. Senator (Hugh) Leatherman called me, Dorriety said. He was excited that we had taken the initiative to do something like that. He thought it was bold. Leatherman was a state senator from Florence and was considered one the most powerful lawmakers due to his control over the state budget. He sat on multiple fiscally focused boards in the Statehouse, such as the Fiscal Accountability Authority and the Joint Bond Review Committee. Leatherman backed a tax incentive package that got Boeing to set up operations outside of Charleston. He also helped to get Honda to build its all-terrain vehicle plant in Florence County. He died in 2021 in his Florence home. Selling the sites with buildings on them could take up to six months, while clear sites could take up to a year and a half. Robinson also is evaluating other locations for sites. The 2022 annual report for the Partnership shows one of those sites is near Pamplico. Robinson said projects like this would grow the tax base in the county and reduce taxes. That's where small business massively benefits from those payroll dollars that are coming in, Robinson said. The new parks come as multiple companies, such as AESC and Cheney Brothers, Inc., bring more manufacturing and distribution plants to Florence County. Both are under construction. AESC's initial plant will take up 500-acres and create 1,170 jobs with extra acreage to grow. Cheney Brothers, Inc. is building a $66 million manufacturing and distribution center that will create 280 new jobs. AESC also is bringing with it a $15 million training facility to train its over thousand employees set to be complete by December 2024. The plant will have land purchased by the bond. The manufacturing industry in South Carolina has seen an over 7 percent growth in employment from 2017 to 2022 and employs just below 14 percent of South Carolinas private sector workforce, according to the South Carolina Department of Commerces website. These manufacturing jobs are what Florence County is targeting since the jobs created by the industry create a higher wage base, Robinson said. Its also because the suppliers of those manufacturers can then be brought into the county as well, creating more jobs. Robinson said hes already looking into bringing suppliers for AESC to Florence County. Other companies that fall into this category include Field Fasteners, which primarily supplies OTISs main U.S. manufacturing facility in Florence and ABB that makes electrical vehicle chargers. Other industrial parks in Florence County include the Johnsonville Commerce Park and Lake City Commerce Center, which are both just over 100 acres. These parks are where Robinson said he is looking to put more companies like Field Fasteners and ABB. Keeping the suppliers close together will also attract more businesses to the county. When you start seeing clusters of manufacturing and distribution coming together, what does that mean, Robinson said. New housing, new restaurants, new schools, new opportunities, which brings in more people. While the county primarily uses the S.C. Department of Commerce to connect with potential businesses that may want to move to Florence County, there is also a network of site consultants, real estate executives and other groups the county keeps in touch with to gauge interest or share developments with. This also includes international reach through the state government. One industry Robinson said hed want to see in Florence is aerospace due to its proximity to other aerospace producers, such as Boeings 787 Dreamliner productions in Charleston and Honda Aviations in Greensboro, North Carolina. He also cited the return of the aerospace industry to pre-pandemic levels as a reason for his interest. Boeing is expecting strong demand for its planes as the number of flights returns to 97 percent of pre-COVID levels and passenger count sits at 90 percent of what it was in April 2019. Honda Aviation also announced it will commercialize its new light jet concept with a classification set for 2028 while also expanding the role of its supplier in the process of making it. Five more jobs are made for every manufacturing job brought to Florence, Robinson said. The restaurant, the dry cleaner, the small business owner, the uniform company, those that supply that manufacturing, Robinson said. Dorriety said if the county wants to grow, it needs to provide opportunities, whether it be for jobs or an education. Providing these opportunities is why he ran for county council and continues to serve to this day, he said. As your children grow up, you want to be able to provide opportunities for them, you want to be able to provide opportunities for your grandchildren, Dorriety said. CHESTERFIELD COUNTY Officials in Chesterfield County are combining forces on a comprehensive plan that will encompass almost all of the countys municipalities. The strategy is designed to streamline planning and consolidate costs, Chesterfield County Council member Mary Anderson said. The idea was sparked as county officials began work to update its master plan, which happens about every 10 years. The Pee Dee Coalition of Governments, which Chesterfield officials are working with to complete the update, suggested the new approach because many towns in the county also had plans expiring soon, Anderson said. With the new approach, the county and its municipalities will have one comprehensive plan, and participating towns will each have representatives on a single planning commission. Those that already have a commission will disband them. The county will pay half of the cost of the plan, while the rest will be divided among the participating towns according to their population. The project began this year, and at the end of May, the committee held its first meeting. Greenwood County is one of a number of South Carolina counties that uses a single plan. Carol Coleman, Greenwood County planning director, said its more economical because it eliminates duplicated services and provides rural areas with more resources and expertise. Each jurisdiction appoints its own representative to the Joint Planning Commission of Greenwood County so that everyone has a seat at the table. When it comes to decisions that would affect one community in particular, Coleman said, she is deferential to the desires of the community and its representative on the commission. The benefit to me is that even if its a small local government, theyre not necessarily required to try and fund an office to do these things when we are capable of helping them do it. And I totally bow and answer to these local governments, Coleman said. Anderson said she hopes combining the plans and commissions in the county will improve communication and consolidate resources as the county tries to address persistent issues, such as failing infrastructure in rural areas. Towns like Mt. Croghan or Ruby, the countys smallest towns, dont have comprehensive plans, and Anderson said the county will be able to provide them guidance they didnt have before. Towns like Cheraw, the countys largest town, already have a comprehensive plan and a planning commission. But the towns administrator, Mike Smith, said combining forces will still be beneficial. It will reduce costs and ease the burden of establishing a full planning commission in each municipality. Smith said its becoming more difficult to find people who are willing to commit to the required training and regular meetings that planning commission members attend. I think itll be a positive, because you will now have more qualified professionals serving, he said. Smith said he isnt worried that Cheraw will give up any control by eliminating its planning commission. He said he thinks the commission members will defer community-specific decisions to the representative from that community. Those decisions also are recommendations; town councils make the final call. The only municipality in Chesterfield County to opt out of the project is Pageland. The town of about 2,500 people is the site of the areas largest growth spurt. Officials predict the population could double by the end of the decade thanks to growth from Charlotte. Shane Sligh, the town administrator, said the town updated its own comprehensive plan more recently than the countys other municipalities, and its reluctant to give up its planning commission. While the town will still have a representative on the commission, it wont have a vote. Anderson said Pageland can still consider joining once its plan is up for renewal in a few years. Work on the plan began in the spring and will conclude sometime next year, Anderson said. MOUNT PLEASANT During a recent phone call with Donald Trump, Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham nudged the former president to consider changing course when it comes to his 2024 White House bid. "I told him to talk more about the future," Graham said before issuing a warning to the early GOP frontrunner: "Grievances just give an opening to your opponents." Graham shared the details of the June 18 call during an interview with The Post and Courier on June 20. The South Carolina Republican is one of Trump's most vocal backers. He frequently defends Trump on national television and is also a key member of his leadership team South Carolina, an early primary state. Despite Graham's private and public urging, Trump has made settling past political scores a key feature of his 2024 presidential campaign. Graham said the former president wanted to discuss his upcoming South Carolina rally in Pickens. The July 1 event will be Trump's second campaign appearance in South Carolina but the first that has been open to the public. Graham said they also discussed Trump's current standing in the early primary state, which is also home to two of Trump's challengers for the Republican presidential nomination: Former Gov. Nikki Haley and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott. And about those 37 federal felony charges Trump is facing over his handling of classified documents and accusations that he obstructed the governments efforts to reclaim them? "I told him I thought the indictment backlash would probably do more to help him than hurt him in South Carolina," Graham said. Graham's comments came after he spoke at length with local reporters in the Charleston area on June 20, where he stressed that South Carolina is a must-win state for anyone hoping to be the GOP presidential nominee. When asked if he thought the race for the 2024 GOP nomination is sealed up for Trump, Graham struck a confident, but cautious tone. "Well, Trump has a commanding lead, but no, it's not over. There are so many things that can happen," Graham said. He said that Republicans have "an embarrassment of riches in terms of choices" in the 2024 contest, calling Scott and Haley "two dear friends who are out there running." Graham additionally heaped praise on Trump's chief rival for the GOP nomination, saying Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has "a heck of a record as governor." "The biggest challenge for President Trump is to convince Republicans that he can win," Graham continued. "And as I see the race unfold here, I think if President Trump can focus on the future, talk about what he did as president versus what's going on now, he has a very good chance of winning." Then, Graham declared, "The South Carolina primary is President Trump's to lose." In the wide-ranging interview, Graham also offered additional thoughts on a number of topics, including abortion, the war in Ukraine and his take on who could be a contender for the GOP's 2024 veepstakes. GOP nominee should consider Haley, Scott for VP pick Graham, in blunt terms, said that whoever becomes the GOP presidential nominee needs to be considering South Carolina's two contenders Scott and Haley as their vice president. "If you're the nominee of the Republican Party and you don't look at Tim and Nikki, you're stupid," Graham said. "You need to look at them. They've got a lot to offer. They're bringing a lot to the table. They can they can handle the world stage." Graham characterized Haley, a former United Nations ambassador, as "the gold standard" when it comes to foreign policy. He called Scott "literally the nicest man I've ever met" who understands the economy and offers an optimistic message. Campaigns for Scott and Haley have separately pushed back against claims that they are running for the No. 2 slot. "But if they fall short," Graham said, "I think a vice presidency is possible for both of them." Graham dings 2024 GOP candidates for unclear abortion stances Graham said he will reintroduce legislation to create a federal ban on abortions at 15 weeks as he tries to get Republicans to reach shared consensus on the issue in a post-Roe America. "Some Republicans say abortion is a states' rights issue. I reject that," Graham said. "Abortion is a human rights issue. At 15 weeks, no matter where you're conceived, the baby sucks their thumb, they feel pain." Graham said he is looking for a presidential nominee to "embrace this concept." This election cycle, Republican candidates are facing pressure from powerful anti-abortion groups to support a national ban like the 15-week suggestion Graham is proposing. For example, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America has said it would not support any White House candidate who did not at a minimum support a 15-week federal abortion ban. "That's not too much to ask of a potential nominee," Graham said. He then pushed back on the idea that abortion should being left solely up to the states. He compared it to states deciding the legality of slavery. "I think there's a role in protecting the unborn in Washington. Some states owned slaves and others didn't. That was wrong. No state should have been able to own a person," Graham said, adding that he thinks states should be allowed to go further but that there should be a national standard at 15 weeks. Graham said he will be traveling to Iowa on June 21, where he will meet with pro-life leaders to discuss the federal role of abortion in a post-Roe America. Saturday will mark one year since the Supreme Court issued a ruling that overturned nearly 50 years of legal precedent, stripping away constitutional protections for abortion. Should China be involved in Ukraine negotiations? During a June 20 interview on NPR's "Morning Edition," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he would welcome China's involvement in negotiating an end to the Ukraine war. But Graham disagreed with the approach offered by America's top diplomat. "China's in Russia's camp," Graham said, adding that he recently returned from Ukraine. He predicted that Ukraine will be successful in its counteroffensive to try and drive the Kremlins forces from occupied areas if America continues to provide military assistance. "It's in our interests to stop Putin," Graham said, adding, "I'd be very wary of any deal offered by China, but I'll leave that up to the Ukraine." PR-Inside.com: 2023-06-20 14:02:22 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 984 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / CO2 GRO Inc. (TSXV:GROW)(OTCQB:BLONF)(Frankfurt:4021) Forum is excited to announce its largest sales contract to-date with El Salvador-based greenhouse pepper grower Hidroexpo S.A. de C.V. (Hidroexpo). The Sales Contract is based on a multi-year Pay-for-Use model worth ~CAD $800,000, in addition to the previously announced Sales Contracts of ~CAD $200,000, with Hidroexpo.This sales contract is a result of CO2 GRO's Technology Adaptation Trials (TAPs) with Hidroexpo, the first of which was initiated in September 2021 and delivered a 20% increase in pepper production; and the second in April 2022 which delivered a 30% increase after technology protocol optimization.Hidroexpo's choice of the Pay-for-Use option that CO2 GRO offers will create a long-term partnership, which is expected to accelerate larger sales contracts with other customers.Hidroexpo's General Manager, Rodrigo Martinez commented, "After using CO2 GRO's aqueous CO2 technology over the past two seasons, we have decided to expand its deployment to additional greenhouses at our facility and are confident that it can provide more benefits to our operations. We believe that the additional production and profits can help transform our business and enable us to expand our operations over the coming years. We look forward to cultivating our partnership with CO2 GRO and enhancing both our businesses for many years to come." "Our multi-year Pay-for-Use contract option provides for recurring cash flow and allows more greenhouses to adopt our technology sooner and on a larger scale. Having closed this sales contract with Hidroexpo, we look forward to helping them continue to boost yields at more of their greenhouses as well as inspire more growers who have shown great interest in our technology's benefits to move forward" said John Archibald, CEO, CO2 GRO Inc."This sales contract, combined with our recently announced ~CAD $500,000 sales contract with a Canadian greenhouse vegetable grower, brings our total sales contracts since our inception to approximately CAD $2.1 million. This is a significant sales milestone that we look forward to building upon in the second half of 2023."About CO2 GRO Inc.CO2 GRO Inc. is an innovative precision ag tech company focused on delivering CO2 Delivery Solutions to the global protected agricultural sector. Its patented technology helps growers increase crop yields and profits by enhancing plant growth, resilience, quality and water-use efficiency through aqueous CO2 misting. CO2 GRO Inc. is committed to fostering sustainable agriculture practices and reducing the industry's environmental footprint, while supporting the well-being of its employees and local communities. For more information, please visit www.co2gro.ca Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains statements which constitute "forwardlooking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company with respect to future business activities. Forward looking information is often identified by the words "may," "would," "could," "should," "will," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect" or similar expressions and include information regarding: statements regarding the future direction of the Company; the ability of the Company to successfully achieve its business and financial objectives; plans for expansion and the ability of the Company to obtain, develop and foster its business relationships; and expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Investors are cautioned that forward looking information is not based on historical facts but instead reflect the Company's management's expectations, estimates or projections concerning the business of the Company's future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates that management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Such assumptions include but are not limited to: general business and economic conditions; the Company's ability to successfully execute its plans and intentions; the availability of financing on reasonable terms; the Company's ability to attract and retain skilled staff; market competition; the products and technology offered by the Company's competitors; and that good relationships with business partners will be maintained. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forwardlooking information are reasonable, such information involves risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such information, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forwardlooking information are the following: changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; in particular, in the ability of the Company to raise debt and equity capital in the amounts and at the costs that it expects; adverse changes in applicable laws or adverse changes in the application or enforcement of current laws; the biotechnology industry and the greenhouse growers market are highly competitive, and technical advances in the industry will impact the success of the Company, and other risks described in the Company's filings that are available at www.sedar.com . Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forwardlooking information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forwardlooking information except as otherwise required by applicable law.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 more information, please visit www.co2gro.ca or contact:Soumik Roy416.475.3806ir@ co2gro.ca SOURCE: CO2 Gro Inc. On Tuesday morning, Russian occupiers shelled residential quarters of Kherson, according to preliminary information, a 27-year-old man was killed, head of the Regional Military Administration Oleksandr Prokudin said. "This morning, the occupiers shelled residential areas of Kherson. Enemy artillery strikes fell on civilian objects: houses, a kindergarten, an educational institution and a service station. According to preliminary information, a 27-year-old man was killed due to the shelling," he said on the Telegram channel. In addition, the occupiers fired at the ambulance brigade, which was sent to help the residents of Kherson. There are no casualties among medical workers. PR-Inside.com: 2023-06-20 18:15:28 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 572 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / U.S. Bank:Photo: Tamika Perry, Dallas Hope Charity's CEO, pictured with U.S. Bank representatives Doug Whittemore, Conor O'Hagan and Jennifer PalmbergOriginally published on U.S. Bank company blogDoors recently opened to an unprecedented home serving a population of young people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area who may have had the doors closed on them at home.Earlier this year, the nonprofit Dallas Hope Charities debuted a newly refurbished home for LGBTQ+ ages 18-24, aiming to provide a safe place and sense of community. The eight-bed home, called Dallas Hope Center, provides residents with a 12-month program that provides a secure, welcoming environment where they can learn important life skills necessary to successfully lead independent lives.LGBTQIA+ youth are overrepresented among young people experiencing homelessness in the U.S., according to a 2022 report by The Trevor Project. Some 28% of LGBTQIA+ youth reported experiencing homelessness or housing instability in their lives, and those who did had two to four times the odds of reporting mental health challenges such as depression, self-harm or attempting suicide compared to those with stable housing. About 16% of LGBTQIA+ youth reported they ran away from home, with the majority saying they ran away because of mistreatment due to their identity, and another 14% reported they were kicked out or abandoned by their parents or caregivers."The consequences of homelessness for LGBTQIA+ youth are devastating," said Doug Whittemore, senior vice president, head of consumer & mortgage default operations at U.S. Bank. "This program is designed to help young people who are often forced to leave their homes due to rejection, discrimination and abuse from their families and communities. They are left without a support system, without a safe and stable place to call home." U.S. Bank provided the funding to rehabilitate the fixer-upper home Dallas Hope Charities purchased in 2020, partnering with other companies including property services company MCS and landscaping company SHINEscapes for home renovations that ranged from stabilizing the foundation to installing new appliances. The transformation was perfected with design and personalization of the interior living spaces from Dwell with Dignity and Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA. Telling the stories of how people spoke up and the positive impact it makes is important. So that's one of the projects we're working on with that team.U.S. Bank has further teamed up with Dallas Hope Charities to offer internships to Hope Center residents during their journey through the 12-month program. The internships will provide the opportunity to practice the crucial life and soft skills required for a successful career. Interns will have the potential for permanent employment.U.S. Bank over the past decade has completed over 100 donations to military families, including 24 mortgage-free homes through Housing Opportunities after Military Engagement, and the partnership with Dallas Hope Charities, a first of its kind for the bank, likely won't be the last, Whittemore said.The need for this kind of transitional housing is tremendous: there are currently more than 300 young adults on the waitlist seeking housing through Dallas Hope Charities."We are just one organization, but we're doing everything that we can," said Tamika Perry, Dallas Hope Charity's CEO.For more information, visit here.View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from U.S. Bank on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: U.S. BankWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/us-bank Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: U.S. Bank PR-Inside.com: 2023-06-20 16:00:48 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 683 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 ZURICH, SWITZERLAND / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / The DFINITY Foundation, a major contributor to the Internet Computer blockchain, and Patika.dev , a Turkish training platform, have launched the first Internet Computer bootcamp for female developers in Turkey. The program aims to tackle the issue of low female participation in Web3 by providing practical knowledge and tools.Web3 Gender Gap Still WideAccording to a recent study by Boston Consulting Group and People of Crypto Lab, only 13% of Web3 startups include a female founder, and only 3% of companies have a team that is exclusively female. Overall female representation in Web3 is less than in traditional startups. This female-focused Web3 bootcamp in Turkey is addressing this issue.Emilio Canessa, Head of Community Grants Program at the DFINITY Foundation, says "The DFINITY Foundation is proud to partner with Patika.dev and bring more women into Web3. We have been blown away by the enthusiasm and skills of the applicants. We aimed to receive 100 applicants, in the end we received over 400 in total. We're also excited to see the Internet Computer ecosystem grow in new regions and look forward to seeing what projects come out of Turkey". Patika.dev aims to enroll 250 female developers in the program by the end of the month. 200 developers have successfully completed the pre-technical assessment so far.Gulcan Yala, CEO of Patika.dev , says "The low representation of female developers in our Web3 bootcamps in both application and training process has been bothering us for a long time. That is why when the DFINITY Foundation came up with the suggestion of providing Web3 training to female developers, we were very excited. We received a similar response from our community as the 400+ applications and the support from women groups showed us. We're looking forward to onboarding this talent to the Internet Computer and having a first-of-its-kind graduation ceremony in Istanbul".Comprehensive 6-week Program on Web3 and the Internet ComputerThe program consists of initial self-paced content for developers to learn about Web3 as well as the bootcamp itself. It aims to help female developers take their first steps into Web3 and the Internet Computer ecosystem.The online course on the Patika.dev e-learning platform will be open to everyone and will eventually enroll more than 500 developers. A comprehensive 6-week long bootcamp will revolve around the Rust development language and building on the Internet Computer blockchain. Participants will have access to all the learning materials and both in-person and online consultations with experienced mentors.Rust is a popular Web3 programming language that has great documentation, a friendly compiler, and top-notch tooling. Other Internet Computer programming languages include Motoko, a programming language specifically designed to support the unique features of the IC, also Python, TypeScript and Solidity.Successful bootcamp participants will be certified in an in-person graduation ceremony in Istanbul after evaluating the unique canister smart contract each one of them will build on the Internet Computer. Successful developers will also have an opportunity to apply their newly acquired skills by applying for the DFINITY Developer Grant and building decentralized applications on the web-serving and infinitely scalable Internet Computer blockchain.About the DFINITY FoundationThe DFINITY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization comprised of leading cryptographers, computer scientists and experts in distributed computing. With a mission to shift cloud computing into a fully decentralized state, the Foundation leveraged its experience to create the Internet Computer and currently operates as a major contributor to the network.About the Internet ComputerThe Internet Computer (ICP) is a fully decentralized Web3 cloud platform that allows developers to deploy code directly to the blockchain without the need for servers or other centralized infrastructure. The fast, low-cost and easily scalable protocol establishes a new paradigm for how a decentralized Web3 platform truly operates. ICP provides the same functionality as centralized clouds but with cost-efficient computation, enhanced security, and high processing speeds native to decentralized technology.Media ContactOrganization: DFINITY FoundationContact Person: Mindaugas SnicoriusWebsite: https://dfinity.org/ Email: mindaugas.snicorius@dfinity.org Address: ZurichState: ZurichCountry: SwitzerlandPR ContactKing Newswiresupport@ kingnewswire.com SOURCE: DFINITY Foundation PR-Inside.com: 2023-06-20 12:01:31 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 354 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, reminds investors of a class action lawsuit against Trinseo PLC ("Trinseo" or "the Company") (NYSE:TSE) for violations of 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.Investors who purchased the Company's securities between May 3, 2021 and March 27, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the firm before June 20, 2023.If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com , or by email at bschall@ schallfirm.com The class, in this case, has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member.According to the Complaint, the Company made false and misleading statements to the market. Trinseo's plant in Bristol, Pennsylvania, suffered from a troubled history of safety problems under its previous ownership, which continued to be plagued with safety problems after it was acquired. The Company failed to disclose the specific risks involved in this plant's normal operations. The Company was at risk of chemical spills and other problems due to its operation of an unsafe plant. Based on these facts, the Company's public statements were false and materially misleading throughout the class period. When the market learned the truth about Trinseo, investors suffered damages.Join the case to recover your losses.The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.CONTACT:The Schall Law FirmBrian Schall, Esq.,Office: 310-301-3335info@ schallfirm.com SOURCE: The Schall Law Firm PR-Inside.com: 2023-06-20 13:02:14 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 755 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Forward-thinking Leadership: New Groff Tractor & Equipment Executive Team Empowers Innovation and Growth!MECHANICSBURG, PA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Groff Tractor & Equipment assembled a new executive team that will lead an extensive, strategic rebranding initiative following the recent acquisition of several John Deere Construction & Forestry locations throughout Pennsylvania.Meet Our TeamNew Management Team "With the acquisitions of Plasterer Equipment in Eastern PA & Murphy Tractor branches in Western PA, we have united the world class brands of John Deere & Wirtgen under one roof," said Mike Savastio, President and CEO of Groff Tractor & Equipment. "It was imperative that we put together a great management team to execute our strategy of combining these two brands to ultimately becoming a major player in Pennsylvania." The acquisition of the John Deere Construction & Forestry locations was a natural next step for Groff Tractor & Equipment. Since 2006, Groff has been a dealer for Wirtgen America, a John Deere company since 2017. Groff Tractor & Equipment has an opportunity to unite two legacy product lines together in the region to further expand the company's footprint and service offerings.Groff Tractor's presence was expanded to ten John Deere Construction & Forestry locations throughout Pennsylvania following the 2023 acquisition of Murphy Tractor's locations in Delmont and Harmony, and the Plasterer Equipment's four locations in Lebanon, Bethlehem, Sellersville, and Lewisberry.Groff Tractor & Equipment is proud to announce the appointment of five accomplished leaders to support the company's strategy to offer customers state-of-the-art equipment solutions backed by its best-in-class product support.Corey Berkheimer has been promoted to Executive Vice President/Chief Sales Officer.Corey was appointed to his new role on January 1st, 2023. Corey will oversee all Sales, Rental & Marketing operations throughout the 12 Groff Tractor & Equipment branches.Corey has over 20 years of experience with Groff Tractor & Equipment leading and managing successful sales teams, developing and executing sales strategies, building strong customer relationships, and driving revenue growth.Corey started as a compact sales representative in 2002, moving into a Key Account Manager role, then Regional Sales Director, and ultimately into the position of Regional VP/GM of Central Pennsylvania.Larry Gindville has been hired by Groff Tractor to become the new Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer.Larry officially started in November and was promoted to his current position Jan. 1st, 2023. Larry oversees all Parts & Service operations, including the Customer Support Center and all 12 branch facilities.Larry brings an extensive background to Groff Tractor having been the Corporate Equipment Manager for IT Corporation managing more than 4,000 pieces of equipment covering 42 states in the 1990's, VP of Service and then VP of Sales for the Volvo dealer in Chicago from 2001 -2010, and then VP/GM of a Komatsu & Wirtgen in Midwest managing seven branches over the past 12 years.Steve Weikert is the Senior Vice President/General Manager who oversees four branches in central Pennsylvania.Steve has been with Groff Tractor and Equipment for 21 years. He started as a territory sales manager in 2002, moved to sales manager in 2005, and became general manager of Ephrata for several years. He was promoted into the VP/GM role for all aspects of the business within his four locations.Thomas Deardorff was recently hired by Groff Tractor & Equipment to become the Vice President of Used Equipment & Heavy Rentals.In this new role, Thomas will grow and expand the used equipment opportunities within Groff Tractor & Equipment's geographical territory, source and acquire more equipment for retail customers for sale and rental and assist in the growth and management of the heavy rental fleet.Rodger Miller has been hired by Groff Tractor & Equipment to become the Vice President/General Manager of the Western Region. Rodger has a mining engineering degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He has 33 years of general sales experience. In this new VP/GM role, Rodger will oversee all aspects of the business within three locations in Harmony, New Stanton, and Ebensburg.Groff Tractor & Equipment will maintain its headquarters in Mechanicsburg and will continue to carry and support premium brands such as the WIRTGEN GROUP, Toro, Giant, Terramac, Tana, CBI, LaBounty, Etnyre, Bergmann Americas and more.Founded in 1958, Groff Tractor & Equipment is a premier heavy equipment dealer serving a broad range of construction markets, including heavy construction, landscaping and general contracting, road building, excavating, forestry, governmental, demolition and material processing. Groff Tractor provides an extremely flexible mix of sales, rentals, parts, and service throughout Pennsylvania.For more information, please visit www.GroffTractor.com Contact InformationEd MillerDirector of Marketing Operationsedmiller@ grofftractor.com Rachel HeiserManager, Graphic Design and Contentrachelheiser@ grofftractor.com (717) 273-2616SOURCE: Groff Tractor & Equipment PR-Inside.com: 2023-06-20 17:11:25 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 531 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 BETHESDA, MD / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / The Jeremy Schulman Grant is pleased to announce its annual financial grant, designed to support law students in need who are on the path to a law degree in the United States. The $5,000 grant aims to alleviate the financial burdens faced by deserving students, enabling them to pursue their legal education and embark on successful careers. The deadline to apply for the scholarship is December 15, 2023, with the winner set to be announced on January 15, 2024.The Jeremy Schulman Grant aims to recognize and assist students who demonstrate both a commitment to their legal education and financial need. Applicants must be in good academic standing and meet specific criteria to be considered for the grant. Preference may be given to applicants who are first-generation college students, members of underrepresented groups, or those who have overcome significant obstacles to pursue their legal education.To apply for the grant, eligible law students must submit an essay of no more than 1,000 words that addresses the following question: "In your opinion, what is the most significant challenge facing the legal profession today, and what steps do you believe should be taken to address this challenge?" Essays should be submitted as Word documents to apply@ jeremyschulmangrant.com Jeremy Schulman, an accomplished commercial litigation attorney, philanthropist, and entrepreneur, is the driving force behind the Jeremy Schulman Grant. As the Chairman of the Litigation and Arbitration Group and a co-founder of Schulman Bhattacharya, Mr. Schulman has dedicated his career to advocating for clients across various sectors. His expertise in resolving complex commercial litigation cases in state and federal courts has earned him accolades within the legal community.Beyond his legal practice, Mr. Schulman is actively involved in philanthropy and civic engagement. He serves on the advisory board of the Round House Theatre, a non-profit organization committed to promoting arts and culture in the Washington DC area. Recognizing the importance of providing opportunities to aspiring legal professionals, Mr. Schulman established the Jeremy Schulman Grant to support low-income law students pursuing a legal career.Applicants for the Jeremy Schulman Grant have the opportunity to benefit from Mr. Schulman's dedication to excellence, his passion for philanthropy, and his commitment to supporting those in need. His remarkable journey as a leading commercial litigator and his tireless efforts in making a positive impact within the legal profession and the community at large serve as an inspiration to aspiring lawyers and community leaders.The deadline to apply for the Jeremy Schulman Grant is December 15, 2023. Applicants are encouraged to visit the official grant website at https://jeremyschulmangrant.com/ for further information and submission guidelines. The winner of the grant will be announced on January 15, 2024, following a thorough review process by the selection committee.About Jeremy Schulman:Jeremy Schulman is an accomplished commercial litigation attorney, philanthropist, and entrepreneur who has made significant contributions to the legal profession and the broader community. He is a co-founder of the law firm Schulman Bhattacharya and serves as the Chairman of the Litigation and Arbitration Group.For more information, please visit https://jeremyschulmangrant.com/jeremy-schulman-grant/ Contact Info:Spokesperson: Jeremy SchulmanOrganization: Jeremy Schulman GrantWebsite: https://jeremyschulmangrant.com Email: apply@ jeremyschulmangrant.com SOURCE: Jeremy Schulman Grant PR-Inside.com: 2023-06-20 01:04:44 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 767 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 RADNOR, PA / ACCESSWIRE / June 19, 2023 / The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP( www.ktmc.com) informs investors that a securities class action lawsuit has been filed against Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. ("Charles River") (NYSE:CRL). The action charges Charles River 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 Charles River's materially misleading statements and omissions to the public, Charles River's investors have suffered significant losses.CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR CHARLES RIVER LOSSES. YOU CAN ALSO CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK OR COPY AND PASTE IN YOUR BROWSER: https://www.ktmc.com/new-cases/charles-river-laboratories-international-inc?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=crl&mktm=r LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE:JULY 18, 2023CLASS PERIOD: MAY 5, 2020 THROUGH FEBRUARY 21, 2023CONTACT AN ATTORNEY TO DISCUSS YOUR RIGHTS:Jonathan Naji, Esq. at (484) 270-1453 or via email at info@ ktmc.com 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.CHARLES RIVER'S ALLEGED MISCONDUCTCharles River is a full-service, non-clinical global drug development partner with a mission to create healthier lives. The company has three reporting segments: Research Models and Services, Discovery and Safety Assessment, and Manufacturing Solutions. The Discovery and Safety Assessment segment accounts for approximately 60% of the company's total revenue and offers, among other things, safety assessment studies required for regulatory submission of therapeutic solutions.On February 22, 2023, Charles River revealed that the company had received a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice relating to an ongoing investigation in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service into the supply chain and illegal importation of non-human primates for research. On the same day, during an earnings call with investors, James C. Foster, the company's CEO, stated that the "investigation in current [non-human primate] supply situation will result in study delays in our Safety Assessment business." He further stated that the investigation into the Cambodian non-human primate chain would reduce the annual revenue forecast by approximately 200 basis points to 400 basis points.Following this news, the price of Charles River shares declined by $24.51 per share, or approximately 10.06%, from $243.60 per share to close at $219.09 on February 22, 2023.WHAT CAN I DO?Charles River investors may, no later than July 18, 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 Charles River investors who have suffered significant losses to contact the firm directly to acquire more information. The class action complaint against Charles River, captioned Coleman v. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc., et al, Case No. 23-cv-11132, is filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts before the Honorable Denise Jefferson Casper.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE CASEWHO 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, LLPKessler 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, LLPJonathan Naji, Esq.280 King of Prussia RoadRadnor, PA 19087(484) 270-1453info@ ktmc.com SOURCE: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP PR-Inside.com: 2023-06-20 01:13:18 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 407 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Expert Commentary: Juliet Gomes, Customer Success Manager at Ritani, Sheds Light on the Allure of the Esteemed Actress's Marquise Engagement RingNEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 19, 2023 / Ritani, a renowned diamond and engagement ring company, asked their Customer Success Manager to share insights into the stunning marquise diamond engagement ring worn by the actress Naomi Watts. Watts and her partner, Billy Crudup, recently tied the knot, making headlines with their intimate courthouse wedding in Manhattan. Watts' engagement ring, featuring a stunning marquise-cut diamond, has captured the attention of jewelry enthusiasts and industry experts alike.Ritani Pave Vaulted Diamond Engagement RingRitani Pave Vaulted Diamond Engagement Ring "The solitaire engagement ring boasts a remarkable 2.5-carat marquise-cut diamond, elegantly set on a pave diamond band. Renowned engagement ring specialist Zack Stone estimates the ring's value at approximately $50,000. The breathtaking beauty and timeless allure of the marquise-cut diamond perfectly complement Watts' unique style and grace," explained Juliet Gomes, Customer Success Manager at Ritani.The marquise cut diamond holds a significant historical allure, with a noble and fascinating royal heritage. The cut gained popularity among mainstream consumers in the late 1960s and early 1970s but has been revered in aristocratic circles for centuries. Its origin can be traced back to the French Royal Court, influenced by the opulent adornments of Marie Antoinette and Louis XIV, the Sun King. Legend has it that the marquise cut was inspired by King Louis XV's chief mistress, Madame du Pompadour, whose lips were deemed the most perfect the king had ever seen. In honor of her enchanting beauty, the king commissioned a royal jeweler to create a diamond shape that mimicked the outline of her lips, giving birth to the marquise-cut diamond."Apart from their intriguing history, marquise-cut diamonds possess unique characteristics that set them apart from other diamond shapes. Their elongated, shallow shape creates an illusion of a larger diamond, making them an excellent choice for those seeking maximum brilliance and presence. The slender base and elevated crown of marquise-cut diamonds allow ample light to enter the stone, further enhancing its brilliance. Additionally, this diamond shape is known for its flattering effect on fingers, creating the illusion of longer and slimmer digits," continued Gomes.Read more about this celebrity couple on the Ritani blog here: https://www.ritani.com/blogs/news/naomi-watts-and-billy%20crudup-tie-the-knot%E2%80%94see-her-$50K-marquise-diamond-sparkler! Contact InformationTaylor KellyDirector of Organic Growth & Content Strategytaylork@ ritani.com (347) 805-2522SOURCE: Ritani PR-Inside.com: 2023-06-20 19:00:25 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1019 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 GOTHENBURG, SE / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / IRLAB Therapeutics (STO:IRLAB-A) (FRA:6IRA) Today, on Tuesday June 20, 2023, IRLAB Therapeutics AB held its Annual General Meeting at Wallenbergs Konferenscentrum, Medicinaregatan 20 A in Gothenburg, Sweden. Attorney Dag Fredlund from MAQS Advokatbyra was elected as Chair of the Annual General Meeting. The following main resolutions were resolved upon at the Annual General Meeting.Adoption of income statement and balance sheet as well as consolidated income statement and consolidated balance sheetThe Annual General Meeting adopted the income statement and the consolidated income statement as well as the balance sheet and the consolidated balance sheet for the financial year 2022.Disposition of the company's resultsThe disposition of the company's results proposed by the board of directors was adopted by the Annual General Meeting. This means that the funds available to the Annual General Meeting, totaling SEK 441,879,993 shall be carried forward in full and that no dividend shall be paid for the past financial year.Resolution on discharge of liabilityThe Annual General Meeting resolved on discharge of liability for all members of the board of directors and the managing director for the financial year 2022.Election of Board members and auditorThe Annual General Meeting resolved that the board of directors shall consist of seven board members. Carola Lemne, Catharina Gustafsson Wallich, Gunnar Olsson and Rein Piir were re-elected as board members and Christer Nordstedt, Daniel Johnsson and Veronica Wallin were elected as new board members. Carola Lemne was re-elected as Chair of the board of directors for the period until the close of the next annual general meeting.The Annual General Meeting resolved to re-elect Ohrlings PricewaterhouseCoopers AB (PwC) as auditor for the period until the close of the next annual general meeting with the authorised public accountant Ulrika Ramsvik as new auditor in charge.A presentation of the newly elected board members, including an assessment of their independence in relation to the company, the company's management, and major shareholders, is available on the company's website ( www.irlab.se) Remuneration of the board of directors and the auditorThe Annual General Meeting resolved on remuneration to the board of directors with SEK 550,000 to the Chair of the board of directors and SEK 250,000 to each of the other board members. No director's fee shall however be paid if and during the time the board member is employed by the company or any of its subsidiaries.It was further resolved that remuneration shall be paid to the board's audit committee with SEK 85,000 to the committee's Chair and SEK 50,000 to each of the other members of the Committee, that remuneration shall be paid to the boards renumeration committee with SEK 50,000 to the committee's Chair and SEK 30,000 to each of the other members of the committee.It was resolved that fees to the auditor shall be paid in accordance with invoices approved by the company.Instruction to the nomination committeeThe Annual General Meeting resolved, in accordance with the nomination committee's proposal, that the principles that were adopted at the Annual General Meeting 2022, shall continue to apply as the instruction to the nomination committee and that such principles shall continue to apply until further notice.Pursuant to the instruction, the nomination committee shall consist of four members that shall be appointed by the three largest shareholders or groups of shareholders in the company in terms of voting rights on the last banking day of August together with the Chair of the board of directors.The instruction to the nomination committee adopted at the Annual General Meeting 2022, is available on the company's website ( www.irlab.se) Guidelines for salary and other compensation to senior management and the remuneration reportNo changes had been proposed to the guidelines for remuneration to the senior management (the "Guidelines") (adopted by the Annual General Meeting 2022) why the Guidelines will continue to apply without any changes.The Guidelines adopted at the Annual General Meeting 2022, are available on the Company's website ( www.irlab.se) It was further resolved to approve the board of directors' remuneration report for 2022. The board of directors' remuneration report for 2022 provides an outline of how the Guidelines have been implemented in 2022. The remuneration report also provides information on the remuneration to the company's CEO and a summary of the company's outstanding incentive programs. There have been no deviations from the procedure for the implementation of the Guidelines and no derogations from the application of the Guidelines in 2022.The Remuneration Report for 2022 is available on the Company's website ( www.irlab.se) Authorization for the board of directors to resolve on new issue of shares and/or convertibles (Authorization 1)The Annual General Meeting resolved, in accordance with the board's proposal, to authorize the board of directors to, on one or several occasions during the period until the next Annual General Meeting, resolve on new issue of shares of series A and/or convertibles entitling to conversion to shares of series A for payment in cash and/or with terms regarding issue in kind, payment by set-off, or otherwise with terms and thereby be able to deviate from the shareholders' preferential right, ("Authorization 1").The issues shall be made on market-based subscription price determined by the board of directors in consultation with the Company's financial advisers, if any, taking into consideration market-based issue discount, where applicable.The number of shares that may be issued or the number of shares that convertibles shall entitle conversion to by virtue of the authorization shall in total amount to a maximum of 10,373,680 new shares (corresponding to a reduced shareholding for non-participating shareholders (dilution) amounting to approximately 16.7 per cent or an increase of the existing number of outstanding shares by approximately 20 per cent), of which the total number of shares or the number of shares to which convertible bonds shall entitle conversion to in case of an issue with deviation from the shareholders' preferential rights shall amount to a maximum of 5,186,840 new shares (corresponding to a reduced shareholding for non-participating shareholders (dilution) amounting to approximately 8.35 per cent or an increase of the existing number of outstanding shares by approximately 10 per cent).If the board of directors utili PR-Inside.com: 2023-06-20 15:01:45 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 865 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 PHOENIX, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / The Stock Day Podcast welcomed Searchlight Resources (OTCQB:SCLTF)("the Company"), a Canadian mineral exploration and development company focused on Saskatchewan, Canada, which has been ranked as the top location for mining investment in Canada by the Fraser Institute. Chairman and VP of Corporate Development, Alf Stewart, joined Stock Day host Kevin Davis.Davis began the interview by asking about the Company's background and current projects. "Searchlight is involved in the exploration for critical metals elements, which are elements that power our modern society and more importantly the transition to renewable energy and green transportation," explained Stewart. "We are doing that in the best jurisdiction for these commodities in North America, in our view - Saskatchewan, Canada." "What is Searchlight's value proposition?", asked Davis. "Searchlight is a very inexpensive stock," said Stewart. "We have just recently listed on the OTCQB and the company has expanded its portfolio dramatically," he shared. "We have had excellent results in the field of exploring for rare earths and uranium; we have completed surface surveys and have uncovered interesting targets for both," said Stewart. "We are expanding our portfolio dramatically and we are at the drill ready stage for five different projects since Saskatchewan." "How has your company fared since your last interview with Stock Day in October of 2020?", asked Davis. Stewart elaborated on the potential and prolific history of Saskatchewan as a mining district. "We did a survey and found a huge target for uranium and rare earth elements, which included rare earth grades amongst the highest in the world." "The United States has essentially nominal uranium production," said Stewart, adding that the US currently imports a majority of its uranium. "Saskatchewan is the leading uranium supplier in North America," he explained. "Saskatchewan will likely continue to supply the United States with uranium in a major way over the next decade." "What are your plans for the next year?", asked Davis. "Our plan is to continue exploring on our properties," said Stewart, before elaborating on Canada's short field seasons. "Over the next year we hope to deliver news of the grades of uranium and rare earth metals we are finding on our properties," he said. "Later in the year, we hope to be announcing our drilling programs and drilling results." To close the interview, Stewart encouraged listeners and shareholders to keep up-to-date on the Company's current and upcoming announcements as they continue to expand their portfolio and advance mining projects in a historically prolific mining district.To hear Alf Stewart's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/8320751-searchlight-resources-discusses-upcoming-critical-metals-drill-programs-in-canada-s-top-ranked-mi Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/ About Searchlight Resources - Where the Critical Elements Supply Chain BeginsSearchlight Resources Inc. (TSXV:SCLT, OTCQB:SCLTF) is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company focused on Saskatchewan, Canada, which has been ranked as the top location for mining investment in Canada by the Fraser Institute. Exploration focus is on battery minerals and gold throughout the province, concentrating on projects with nearby infrastructure.On behalf of the Board of Directors,"Stephen Wallace"Stephen Wallace, President, CEO and DirectorSEARCHLIGHT RESOURCES INC.For further information, visit the Company's website at www.searchlightresources.com or contact:Searchlight Resources Inc.Alf Stewart, VP Corporate Development(604) 331-9326info@ searchlightresources.com Forward-Looking StatementsInformation set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.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.About The "Stock Day" PodcastFounded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America.(602) 821-1102SOURCE: Stock Day Media PR-Inside.com: 2023-06-20 08:00:31 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 424 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until August 7, 2023 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against SentinelOne, Inc. (NYSE:S), if they purchased the Company's securities between June 1, 2022 and June 1, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.What You May DoIf you purchased securities of SentinelOne and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email ( lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com) , or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-s/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by August 7, 2023.About the LawsuitSentinelOne and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.On June 1, 2023, the Company disclosed that "[a]s a result of a change in methodology and correction of historical inaccuracieswe made a one-time adjustment to ARR of $27.0 million or approximately 5% of total ARR" and that the Company had slashed its fiscal year 2024 revenue guidance from a range of $631 million to $640 million to a range of $590 million to $600 million, due to the discovery of "historical upsell and renewal recording inaccuracies relating to ARR on certain subscription and consumption contracts, which are now corrected." On this news, shares of SentinelOne fell $7.28 per share, or more than 35%, to close at $13.44 per share on June 2, 2023.The case is Johansson v. SentinelOne, Inc., et al., No. 23-cv-02786.About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCKSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.To learn more about KSF, you may visit http://ksfcounsel.com/ Contact:Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCLewis Kahn, Managing Partner1-877-515-18501100 Poydras St., Suite 960New Orleans, LA 70163SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen says that the European Commission proposes to reserve EUR 50 billion for Ukraine for the next four years in the budget of the European Union. "On Ukraine, we propose a financial reserve for the next four years of EUR 50 billion. This includes both loans and grants. This reserve will provide perspectives for our partners in Ukraine, predictability, and should also incentivize other donors," von der Leyen said in Brussels on Tuesday. According to her, this financial reserve will allow the EU "to calibrate our financial support according to the evolution of the situation on the ground, because we all know that war requires utmost flexibility from us." The European Commission President also recalled that as of today, the total financial assistance to Ukraine from the EU has already amounted to EUR 30 billion, which was not previously provided for by the EU budget. PR-Inside.com: 2023-06-20 01:25:15 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 294 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 19, 2023 / Weiss Law is investigating possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law by the board of directors of Eneti Inc. ("Eneti" or the "Company") (NYSE:NETI) in connection with its acquisition by Cadeler A/S ("Cadeler"). Under the terms of the merger agreement, the Company's shareholders will receive 3.409 shares of Cadeler common stock for each share of Eneti common stock owned, representing implied per-share consideration of $160.70 based upon Cadeler's June 16, 2023 closing price of $47.14. Upon completion of the transaction, Cadeler shareholders will own 60% of the combined company, while Eneti shareholders will only own 40%.If you own Eneti shares and wish to discuss this investigation or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, visit our website:Or please contact:Joshua Rubin, Esq.Weiss Law305 Broadway, 7th FloorNew York, NY 10007(212) 682-3025(888) 593-4771stockinfo@ weisslawllp.com Weiss Law is investigating whether (i) Eneti's board acted in the best interests of Company shareholders in agreeing to the merger, (ii) the merger consideration adequately compensates Eneti's shareholders, and (iii) all information regarding the sales process and valuation of the transaction will be fully and fairly disclosed.Weiss Law has litigated hundreds of stockholder class and derivative actions for violations of corporate and fiduciary duties. We have recovered over a billion dollars for defrauded clients and obtained important corporate governance relief in many of these cases. If you have information or would like legal advice concerning possible corporate wrongdoing (including insider trading, waste of corporate assets, accounting fraud, or materially misleading information), consumer fraud (including false advertising, defective products, or other deceptive business practices), or anti-trust violations, please email us at stockinfo@ weisslawllp.com SOURCE: Weiss Law PR-Inside.com: 2023-06-20 13:02:12 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 693 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / ThriveDX, the leader in cybersecurity and digital skills training, today announced the official launch of its new Cyber Academy for Enterprise. This innovative solution, part of the company's Human Factor Security suite, empowers organizations to reskill and upskill employees for cybersecurity positions while also attracting diverse external candidates, simultaneously addressing the growing talent and diversity gaps in the cyber industry.Cyber Academy for Enterprise is more than a cybersecurity training program - it's a complete solution that enables businesses and government agencies to cultivate their internal talents while simultaneously attracting diverse external candidates for cybersecurity positions. Designed for an end-to-end cybersecurity learning journey, the program offers pre-training screening, intensive training, and post-training matching to facilitate an efficient talent acquisition and development process."The cybersecurity talent shortage and lack of diversity, is one of the biggest challenges of human resources and cybersecurity leaders. Effective reskilling of employees demands considerable investment, and recruiting diverse talent requires a comprehensive understanding of organizational needs to properly align candidates with open positions," said Roy Zur, CEO of ThriveDX Enterprise. "Our Cyber Academy for Enterprise creates unprecedented educational opportunities for all, irrespective of their background or skill level. It not only aids in talent acquisition from outside the company but also facilitates the reskilling and upskilling of current employees, fostering an environment of continual learning and development." The global shortage of cybersecurity talent and the skills gap continue to widen, with more than 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs worldwide. Eighty-percent of organizations attribute one or more recent breaches to a lack of cybersecurity talent and skills within their company. At the same time, the industry suffers from a lack of diversity. The Cyber Academy for Enterprise targets both these issues, offering a robust platform for building cyber skills and enhancing diversity within the industry.The academy offers a holistic training experience, with rigorous learning supplemented with access to virtualized cyber labs and challenges. Overall, trainees have an opportunity to access 1000+ hours of immersive learning and hands-on practice, ensuring they are thoroughly prepared for real-world cybersecurity scenarios.Key advantages of the Cyber Academy for Enterprise include:Access to over 1000 hours of immersive, hands-on training, adhering to globally recognized cybersecurity education frameworks such as the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).Real-world simulations on a skills-based learning platform, providing trainees with exposure to current threat landscapes.A comprehensive curriculum, offering diverse cybersecurity modules tailored to various career tracks.Access to a network of 1000+ professional cybersecurity trainers.Pre-training screening to identify high-potential talent, offering an objective comparison of candidates and unbiased talent assessment.Data-driven post-training matching, enabling optimization of both internal and external recruitment practices.Partnership option to run the academy in conjunction with leading universities, providing graduates with a university certificate.ThriveDX's Cyber Academy has been implemented and deployed with global universities, enterprise, MSSPs, non-profits, and government agencies to broaden access to cybersecurity training and employment opportunities across all regions."We aim to democratize access to cybersecurity education, allowing anyone, regardless of their technical background, to embark on or advance a cybersecurity career. Having already reskilled more than 60,000 learners globally into cybersecurity and related positions, we now provide organizations with the tools to attract, develop, and retain diverse talent, educated in the latest cybersecurity technologies, and capable of mitigating enterprise risk," Zur added.For more information and to request a demo please visit thrivedx.com ###About ThriveDXThriveDX is the global leader in cybersecurity training and workforce development, solving the cyber talent shortage and skills gap, by reskilling the workforce and upskilling the industry. We provide end-to-end human factor security solutions, including professional cybersecurity bootcamps, phishing and awareness simulations, application security training and beyond. We collaborate with top-tier academic institutions, enterprises, and government agencies to serve millions of learners and thousands of organizations globally. The ThriveDX team is composed of military-trained cyber experts, industry veterans, and seasoned educators united in the mission to close the worldwide skills and talent gap in cybersecurity, and encourage diversity, equity and inclusion across industries. For more information, visit https://thrivedx.com Press contact:press@ thrivedx.com SOURCE: ThriveDX To ensure tax compliance, the federal government has announced a grace period of three months for non-resident vessel owners to reconcile their tax obligations. A six-month grace period was equally given to vessel owners who are yet to reconcile their accounts and fulfil tax obligations to clear their outstanding tax bill, said to be running into millions of dollars. Reports said many of the vessel owners avoided the nations port due to tax concerns in the recent past. According to the Special Adviser on Revenue to the President, Zaccheaus Adedeji, the decision was made following an interactive session involving key stakeholders, including oil and gas regulators, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Federal Inland Revenue, and representatives from the Presidency. We have agreed to give the parties three months to come to the conclusion, and we will also give a grace period of six months when we will not enforce any of these laws, just to allow for reconciliation. In essence, no vessel or ship will be detained or delayed. So we give this six-month break to them so that they can reconcile with this technical committee that we set up, he said. During the session, concerns were raised regarding a demand notice issued to non-resident vessel owners, which required them to remit back taxes for the past ten years in accordance with Nigerian tax laws. Fearing potential enforcement actions and their impact on business operations, the parties worked towards a mutually agreeable solution. Mr Adedeji explained the governments commitment to upholding the law and not accepting any form of blackmail from tax defaulters. However, to avoid disrupting the flow of oil and gas products within and outside the country, it was agreed that no vessels or ships would be detained or arrested. Instead, he said a technical committee would be established to address the concerns of non-resident vessel owners and facilitate the reconciliation of taxes. READ ALSO: The committee will consist of representatives from regulatory bodies such as NUPRC, NMDRA, NNPC, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, and the presidency, with the support of the Special Advisers on Energy and Revenue. The Federal Inland Revenue will serve as the secretariat for the committee, the official noted. Bunmi Toyobo, executive director of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, expressed appreciation towards the new development. The official highlighted the significant contributions of the oil sector, with members and the NNPC collectively responsible for 90 per cent of Nigerias oil production, generating 50-60 per cent of government revenue and contributing around 70 per cent to the GDP. Meanwhile, the grace period provides non-resident vessel owners with an opportunity to reconcile their tax liabilities and engage with the technical committee to ensure future compliance. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The global average sea level is expected to rise by up to half a metre by 2050 and up to two metres by 2100. This is due to the expansion of seawater from increasing temperatures caused by global warming and melting glaciers and ice sheets, which cover 10 per cent of the Earths surface. Many of Africas largest and most densely populated cities, including Lagos, Abidjan and Accra, are located along its low-lying West Coast. They are vulnerable to climate change impacts such as coastal flooding and pollution, which cost the continent around $4 billion in annual economic losses. These rapidly expanding littoral metropolises are threatened by land mass erosion, coastal flooding and storm surges caused by rising sea levels. These cities contribute significantly to the regions economy, generating 56 per cent of its gross domestic product, according to a 2020 World Bank report. They also offer vast wetlands, marine resources, opportunities for tourism, and oil and gas reserves. West Africa The prospects for sustainable development along West Africas coast are complicated. The population trajectory is forecasted to exceed anywhere else in Africa. It will be accompanied by rapid coastal urbanisation, heightened demand for water and land, and destructive activities like sand extraction all as sea levels rise. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report suggests that by 2030, around 116 million Africans could live in densely populated, low-lying coastal areas. The IPCC warns that while coordinated action is needed to address rising sea levels, not enough tangible adaptation measures have been implemented. The Africa Climate Mobility Initiative converts sea level projections into estimates of potential population exposure to guide policy interventions. These projections must be mainstreamed into various levels of policymaking to be implemented. If adaptation measures arent implemented, Africa could face annual damages costs of up to US$10 billion from flooding alone by 2100. West Africas coastline averages about 300 metres above the sea along the Atlantic Ocean, with few mountains, putting these countries at risk. In Ghana, rising sea levels threaten coastal communities in low-lying areas such as Accra, Keta and Takoradi. Senegals coastal communities, such as Saint-Louis, Dakar and Ziguinchor, are also vulnerable. Once sea levels rise, these communities could be displaced by inundation and erosion, losing homes, infrastructure and agricultural land. This exacerbates socio-economic inequalities and public health crises emanating from damage to drainage systems. Implementing long-term solutions, including improved urban planning, resilient infrastructure and planned relocation where adaptation isnt possible, is crucial to ensure the safety of affected areas. The impact of rising sea levels is both an environmental and an economic problem. Coastal infrastructure such as ports is critical for the regions economy, as it supports tourism, fisheries and trade. The World Bank estimates that Cote DIvoire lost up to $2 billion nearly 5 per cent of the countrys gross domestic product in damages from rising sea levels in 2019 alone. Changing coastal ecosystems due to rising sea levels also adversely affect fish populations, diminishing catch potential, compromising food security and jeopardising coastal communities socio-economic stability. These impacts will probably worsen in the coming decades, and adaptation strategies must be urgently implemented to help communities cope. Almost all African countries now have adaptation plans, but these need to be executed coherently and include multiple sectors and levels of government. Sustainable green infrastructure should be developed, including seawalls and mangrove restoration, to protect coastal communities from the effects of rising sea levels. Protecting and restoring coastal ecosystems can help. Innovative practices like the Green Ghana project can be scaled up to revive degraded mangrove forests, which act as natural barriers against coastal erosion and storm surges. Early warning systems and community engagement can also reduce vulnerability. This may involve training local communities to respond to emergencies and equipping them with tools and knowledge to protect themselves and their properties. The challenges must be addressed collectively. Regional efforts to reverse the degradation of ecosystems in the region are already underway in its inland waterways. One example is the Reversing Ecosystem and Water Degradation in the Volta (REWarD-Volta) River Basin initiative. This aims to manage, develop and conserve the natural resources of the basin in six countries Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote dIvoire, Ghana, Mali and Togo based on transboundary analysis data. In line with the African Unions Climate Change Strategy, the Economic Community of West African States has launched the ECOWAS 2050 climate strategy and an initial 2022-2030 action plan to combat climate change and its effects. Implementation will require strengthening the capacity of responsible agencies, mobilising resources for climate finance, adaptation, loss and damage, and regular monitoring and evaluation. The effects of climate change and sea level rise must feature in ongoing negotiations on international ocean governance. African countries must support the implementation of the treaty to protect marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction adopted by the United Nations on 19 June. Implementing this treaty is crucial to maintain healthy marine ecosystems that are vital in regulating the global climate and could help mitigate the impacts of rising sea levels. These include coral reefs, which act as natural barriers against storm surges. Embracing the necessary changes and investing in resilient and adaptive measures backed by country and coastal data will help Africa adapt to the impact of rising sea levels. Ilhan Dahir, Senior Researcher, Climate Risk and Human Security, David Willima, Research Officer, Maritime, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Pretoria (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 It is normal in a country like Nigeria that many people prefer to be silent on the issue of taxation. It is what could easily be described as the elephant in the room. And this is not just because Nigerians dont want to pay tax but more about trust in the authorities. But thankfully, there is a gradual shift in this mentality which has been obvious, judging from tax receipts in the last two years. So it was not much of a surprise that the countrys Tax-to-GDP ratio moved up from 6%, where it had hovered for about five years, to 10.86% for 2021. The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Mamman Nami was heard saying at a recent meeting that it could go as high as 15% by the end of this year. But how high is this number for a country of Nigerias size and revenue potentials? In reality, it is not good enough in a country where tax returns via the FIRS have contributed over 50% of the national budget in the better part of the last four years. For the avoidance of doubt, data from the Budget office show that in 2016, FIRS contributed 54.6 per cent, 55.2 per cent in 2017, 58.3 per cent in 2018, and 59.0 per cent in 2019 before it tapered down to 50 per cent in 2020. And as for monthly allocation from the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), the tax authority has been contributing nearly 60 percent since 2021. But in spite of all these, the belief is that the countrys Tax-to-GDP ratio should be higher and experts are quick to point at economic factors which include but are not limited to tax waivers and leakages. The federal tax agency under the management of Muhammad Nami is known to have weighed in and is of the view that Nigeria could indeed do better. There is also the issue of low tax morale which could rank high on the list of factors responsible for the countrys low lax receipts. Herein lies the solution but the question is how does the tax authority get this done without necessarily pitching itself and the government against the citizenry at a time like this? A quick look at the most recent tax collection receipt shows that the FIRS has already laid the groundwork by successfully pushing Nigerias annual tax revenue above the N10tn mark in 2022. And the question is how does the authority sustain the momentum and get to the level that a former Kaduna State governor, Mr Nasir el-rufai once suggested that the country should be, which is the 20% Tax-to-GDP ratio seen as the global benchmark. It is noteworthy that the FIRS is already aiming at breaking its record achievement of last year by working towards attaining over 15% of GDP in 2023. To get that done, the first step would be to improve and sustain tax compliance in every facet of operation and in line with extant tax laws. Eligible tax payers across board (and this also includes Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) who have a duty to register with the tax authority and in some instances, collect and remit Value Added Tax to the FIRS) have to keep to their side of the two-way social contract. In simple terms, they have to meet their tax obligations and the first step is to register and obtain a Tax Identification Number (TIN). This is one step that was not as seamless as it is today. Now, rather than waiting in long queues to obtain and fill the application form from the FIRS Tax Office closest to the registered business address, it is immediately given to a taxpayer at the point of Company Registration. The only thing needed for the taxpayer to do is to visit the tax office with it to be uploaded on the FIRS Tax Pro-Max solution. Experience and interactions with members of the public have revealed that while getting the TIN is one of the easiest of the tax payers obligations, voluntary disclosure has been an uphill task. Ideally, every tax payer in the country is expected by law to make full and voluntary disclosure of their income and expenditure for a given period. It has a legal backing in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999: Section 24 (f) of 1999 Constitution (as amended) which states that it shall be the duty of every citizen to declare his income honestly to appropriate and lawful agencies and pay his tax promptly. So anything short of this is tax evasion, which is why the tax authority has to go the extra mile to ensure that this vital link in the tax obligation chain is not broken. Other obligations of a tax payer include an annual self-assessment which will eventually lead to full payment of all taxes assessed on or before the due dates. It is interesting to note that Nigeria operates a self-assessment regime; meaning that it is not expected for the tax authority to reach out to you requesting you to assess and collect your taxes, the taxpayer is expected to do so themselves without being asked to. Our tax laws also expect that the obligation by businesses to charge, deduct, collect and remit Value Added Tax (VAT), Withholding Tax (WHT) and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) must be strictly adhered to. And to do this effectively, the entity has to maintain as well as keep business records and proper books of account to facilitate voluntary compliance. And just as the tax payer is expected to keep to the terms of his obligation, he also has rights that should be respected and not trampled on. He has the right to be informed, assisted and heard as the most important stakeholder who deserves to be treated with respect. The current management of the Federal Inland Revenue Service prides itself as a customer-centric institution. It thus classifies taxpayers as the KING, just like they say: the Customer is King. Many do not know that if a taxpayer is not convinced with his tax assessment, he has the right to object, especially if it is not in line with his business activities. He also reserves the right to contest or appeal against any decision of the tax authority he is not satisfied with. And above all, tax payers have the right to pay the exact amount in tax and be issued with a Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) on settling all tax liabilities within two weeks of application or be given reasons for non-issuance. With the TaxPro Max this has become much easier: a taxpayer can now get their TCC with the click of a buttonas long as they have no tax liabilities. FIRS has made it easy for taxpayers to keep up with their obligations without the stress and burden that hitherto came with paying taxes; this has been made possible with the introduction of TaxPro-Max, its home-grown, one-stop solution where everything from taxpayer registration, tax returns filing and tax payment to requesting for tax clearance certificate, could be done from the comfort of ones home on or before the due date. Companies, on their own part, are expected to make payment of tax due on or before the due date of filing, in one lump sum or in installments if they meet the conditions outlined in the provisions of the Finance Act of 2020. There is really no excuse for any eligible Nigerian within the various tax nets to not fulfill his tax obligations. Be patriotic, it is worth it for our country! Dapo Okubanjo is a journalist and public affairs commentator who writes via dokubanjo@yahoo.co.uk from Abuja Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print President Bola Tinubu has, through his legal team, told the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja that Amazon Web Services (AWS) server is prone to glitches. But a cloud and web engineer from the firm disagreed. AWS Incorporated hosts the INEC Results Viewing (IReV) portal which was deployed in the conduct of Nigerias general disputed elections in 2023. AWS is a subsidiary of Amazon, an online store for assorted commodities with global patronage. An information technology management company, AWS provides on-demand cloud computing platforms to individuals, companies, and government agencies. The presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and the Labour Partys Peter Obi, filed separate petitions to challenge the outcome of the poll. They both accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of manipulating the results of the 25 February election to secure victory for Mr Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC). INECs failure to upload the results in real-time as promised was one of the early reasons opposition parties and their supporters criticised the elections in the wake of the conclusion of the exercise. The issue forms part of the grounds raised by Atiku and Mr Obi in challenging Mr Tinubus victory in the disputed poll. The commission had tried to explain away the failure by blaming it on technical glitches suffered by the IReV portal as a result of network failure. But the web engineer from AWS, Mpeh Ogar, brought by Mr Obi to testify in court on Monday, countered INECs claim. Testifying before the five-member panel of the court headed by Haruna Tsammani, Ms Ogar said the IReV portal did not experience any technical hitches to justify INECs failure to upload real-time the polling unit results of the 25 February presidential election. Tinubu cites instances of glitches on AWS server Mr Tinubus lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, while cross-examining Ms Ogar, asked the witness if she was aware that In 2021, AWS experienced twenty-seven outages on its servers, to which she responded no. Mr Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), went on to reference a glitch experienced by MTN Momo-PSB (Payment Service Bank) on its server last year. The Momo Payment Service Bank Limited is a fintech subsidiary of MTN Nigeria. The technical hitch led to erroneous transfers of the banks customers funds. Upon further cross-examination, Ms Ogar, a cloud engineer and architect at Amazon Web Services Incorporated, said It is highly unusual for glitches to occur for primary functions during production of AWS when it is available to end-users. She told the court that her reports of the 33 regions where Amazon Web Services hosts their servers are available public information. The witness clarified that she was not at the court to testify as Amazon Web Services Incorporated official, but to testify as an expert witness regarding the technology that hosts INEC IReV. Ms Ogar said she was a Labour Party candidate for the House of Representatives election in Cross River State. She admitted to losing the contest. While being cross-examined by Lateef Fagbemi, APCs lawyer, Ms Ogar said, Nothing is impossible regarding glitches during the deployment of AWS technology. She earlier told the court at Tuesdays proceedings that glitches only happen during the testing stage of the (AWS) software. The court adjourned the suit until Wednesday for further hearing. Meanwhile, Mr Obi is expected to close his case on Friday. Thereafter, Mr Tinubu, INEC and the APC will commence their defence in the suit. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Mike Ozekhome, the lead counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has forwarded names of new medical doctors to the State Security Service (SSS), which he wants the SSS to allow them access to the IPOB leader. Mr Ozekhome made the request in a letter addressed to the Director-General of the SSS, Yusuf Bichi. The letter, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, is dated 16 June 2023. The SSS received it on Monday. Mr Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, reminded the secret police of an earlier agreement on 3 June between them and Mr Kanus legal team that the IPOB leaders medical doctor should be permitted to see him for initial medical review before a proposed surgical procedure on his left ear on a later date. The lawyer explained that the introduction of the new medical doctors followed the unavailability of Mr Kanus known medical doctor, identified as Cfine Okorochukwu, whom he said, travelled out of the country. It is against the backdrop of the foregoing that we respectfully request that the herein-named medical doctors to wit: Dr Uche Ukwuije and Dr David Obasi Ukoha, be allowed access to our client for a formal engagement meeting, he said. The aforementioned doctors have confirmed their availability for a visit on Tuesday, the 20th of June, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. Mr Ozekhome said the new medical doctors, whom he said were chosen by Mr Kanu, needed to see the IPOB leader personally, given that this would be their first meeting. It is after this initial interface with our client that the doctors will revert to us before a date is scheduled for a formal meeting for the medical review with your in-house medical doctors, Mr Ozekhome further told the SSS. Background There has been controversy concerning Mr Kanus medical treatment. The latest development comes a day after Mr Kanus younger brother, Kanunta, announced that their family had sacked Mr Ozekhome and his colleague, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, as the IPOB leaders lawyers. Messrs Ozekhome and Ejiofor dismissed the reported sack, arguing that Kanunta had no right to issue the statement given that it was Mr Kanu, and not him, who hired them as his (Kanu) lawyers. IPOB would later condemn Kanunta for making the announcement. The separatist group subsequently banned Aloy Ejimakor from visiting Mr Kanu at the SSS facility and accused him of conspiring with Mr Kanus family to jeopardise the legal teams efforts to secure his release. READ ALSO: Mr Ejimakor, the special counsel to the IPOB leader, has since denied the allegations. He also faulted the ban by IPOB from visiting Mr Kanu at the SSS facility, insisting that he was only doing his job as a lawyer to the IPOB leader. The developments appear to confirm speculations that Mr Kanus legal team was having a disagreement with his family. Also, IPOB, which has split into factions, is believed to be involved in the disagreement. The cause of the disagreement is unclear for now. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigerian government, in partnership with the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), is set to hold a national dialogue to commemorate World Desertification and Drought Day. The dialogue, themed; Her Land, Her Rights: Advancing Gender Equality and Land Restoration Goals, is scheduled to hold on Tuesday (today) in Abuja, Nigerias federal capital territory. The conversation which will be anchored by CJID has the Federal Ministry of Environment representing the government. According to the organisers, the event will convene a high-level meeting to assess progress in combating land degradation and outline the way forward for Nigerias efforts to resuscitate and restore healthy land. The dialogue, they said, will feature a panel session to discuss the role of media in addressing desertification, land degradation and drought in Nigeria and will furthermore highlight the roles of the government institutions in promoting responsible governance of land and forest tenure in the context of national food security principles. The dialogue, they added, will also appraise how civil society organisations can be empowered to promote land tenure discussion in the context of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). READ ALSO: The organisers said: While land continues to deteriorate, land use transformation is occurring at a quicker rate than at any other period in human history. People must be aware that desertification, land degradation, and drought have direct consequences in their daily lives. Therefore, the yearly commemoration of this event aims to emphasise that this problem may still be tackled via increased community participation and cooperation at all levels Land use transformation In todays rapidly changing world, the transformation in land use is transpiring at an unprecedented pace. Over the last 50 years, this transformation has occurred faster than ever before, with scientific evidence showing that the process is observable over remarkably short periods. In Nigeria, over 70 million people are directly or indirectly experiencing the negative impact of drought and desertification, which is threatening their livelihoods and widening inequality gaps of over 55 million people, especially across the 11 frontline states that are mostly faced with this threat. Globally, 23 per cent of the land is no longer productive, amounting to more than 2 billion hectares, including more than half of all agricultural land, affecting the livelihoods of over 3.2 billion people, or 40 per cent of the global population. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The police in Lagos State have arrested seven suspected traffic robbers, including an ex-convict released three days ago from Ikoyi Correctional Centre. The polices spokesperson in the state, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday. Mr Hundeyin said the ex-convict was picked alongside others while allegedly committing the crime in the Ijora-Apapa axis on Saturday at about 9.30 p.m. A well-coordinated operation by the patrol teams of the Ijora Badia Police Division led to the arrest of suspects at different locations on the Total Bridge, along Apapa, Ijora Badia areas. READ ALSO: Police arrest suspected traffic robbers in Lagos One of the suspects, simply identified as Kingsley, 43 years old, was released from Ikoyi Correctional Facility three days before his arrest. Other suspects are between the ages of 19 and 25. They were allegedly robbing motorists. Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects are members of a syndicate who are in the habit of robbing motorists on Total Bridge, Ijora Badia. The police have been on their trail for some time, he said. The image maker said that the suspects would be arraigned in court after the completion of the investigation. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The police in Anambra State, south-east Nigeria, said they have rescued nine girls who were being used as sex slaves in a hotel in the state. The police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement on Monday. Mr Ikenga, a deputy superintendent of police, said the victims were rescued during a raid of the hotel in Awka on Monday by police operatives. The police spokesperson said the proprietor of the hotel was arrested during the operation but did not mention the name of the hotel. He said the operation was in response to a tip-off from the Anambra State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare at about 6:00 p.m. on Sunday. The nine girls were within the age bracket of 15 to 23 years, he said. Meanwhile, further interrogations/confessions of the rescued girls reveal that the respective persons that brought them to the brothel lured/enticed them on the assurances of giving them jobs to alleviate the poverty of their parents and dependents, Mr Ikenga said. The police spokesperson said the rescued girls confessed to being taken from Ebonyi, Enugu, Akwa Ibom and Rivers states. He said the police in the state were collaborating with the ministry to ensure that the girls were adequately cared for and reunited with their parents and guardians. The command has condemned the act and frowned at such persons who take advantage of vulnerable individuals to make money and described such places as a den where criminals take refuge, Mr Ikenga said. The police spokesperson said the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for investigation and that those involved in the matter would be charged in court afterwards. He urged residents of the state to continue to support the police with information about similar places where sex slaves were being harboured, saying the security agencies were ready to take action. Be assured that all information passed through these channels shall be treated with utmost confidentiality, the police assured the residents. Prohibited in Nigeria Nigeria in 2015 enacted the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act which outlawed all acts of human trafficking in the country, including trafficking for sexual exploitation. The Act prescribes a minimum penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of N1 million for trafficking relating to sex and labour exploitation. Several persons have been convicted for similar offences across the country. The Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Magistrate Court in Awka, Anambra State, in February, convicted a 35-year-old woman who trafficked and forced four teenage girls into prostitution. A Federal High Court in Benin, Edo State, in 2018, sentenced 49-year-old Ehie Ehirobo to three years imprisonment for human trafficking. Mrs Ehirobo was convicted of procuring persons for prostitution, among others. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The panel of judges of the Judicial Chamber for Considering Criminal Cases of the Kyiv Court of Appeal considered an appeal filed by the defense in the case of the ex-president of JSC Motor Sich, the press service of the court has reported. As stated in the report on Facebook, the defense filed a complaint against the ruling of the investigating judge of the Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv dated May 19, 2023, which satisfied the request of the senior investigative department to extend the term of detention until July 17 2023 inclusive, without determining a bail. "Based on the results of the appeal hearing, the ruling of the investigating judge of the Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv dated May 19, 2023 was left unchanged, the appeal of the defense in the interests of the suspect B. was not satisfied," the court said. The ex-president of Motor Sich is suspected of committing criminal offenses under Part 3 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 4 of Article 111-1, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 258-3, and Part 1 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. As reported, the Security Service of Ukraine revealed that in April 2022, Viacheslav Bohuslaev, as president of the Motor Sich corporation, blocked the supply of a combat helicopter for the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense. On this fact, he was notified of suspicion. In October 2022, Security Service officers detained Bohuslaev and the head of the Foreign Economic Activity Department of Motor Sich. They were declared suspected under Article 111-1 (collaboration activity) and Article 111-2 (complicity with the aggressor state) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. On February 1, 2023, the ex-president of PJSC Motor Sich was notified of a new suspicion: assistance to the activities of the DPR terrorist organization, Article 258-3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The police have arrested three workers at a hospital over the disappearance of the placenta of a newborn in Emure Ile, in Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State. The officials work at the Comprehensive Health Centre, Emure Ile where the incident of the missing organ occurred. The family of the newborn had raised an alarm after the health workers failed to hand over the placenta to the mother several days after the delivery of the baby girl on 15 June . It was gathered that the family had immediately taken the matter up with the suspects, and reported it to the police when the organ was not returned. The parents of the newborn Tunde Ijanusi, 23, and his wife Joy, 19 told journalists that they were disturbed by the incident. The childs paternal grandmother, Funmilayo Ijanusi, said the hospital officials had claimed that a stray dog stole the organ. She urged the police to take appropriate action in order to retrieve the placenta. At the health centre, no official agreed to speak on the incident with our reporter. READ ALSO: Ondo community cry out over siege by suspected criminal herders However, the police spokesperson in the state, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, confirmed the incident and the arrest of the suspects. She said the three suspects are a nurse, a health assistant and a security officer, adding that further investigations were ongoing on the matter. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print After a PREMIUM TIMES report, Heroic lives of Nigerian mothers caring for children with cerebral palsy a donor has offered to help one of the mothers. The report looked into how mothers, as the primary caregivers of children with special needs, bear the brunt of caring for this lifelong condition. The story also showed the challenges that come with caring for a child with cerebral palsy. From the loss of social life, emotional and financial stress, physical exhaustion to balancing work and family life, the mothers in the report demonstrated courage in learning to live with the lifelong conditions of their wards. The report also gave an insight into how the mothers unwavering love and care towards their children, regardless of societal discrimination, had helped them to remain optimistic and overcome certain difficulties. Donation Moved by the financial condition of one of the mothers, a donor, who simply identified himself as Dokun, has supported Mama Ara. Shortly after he indicated interest, he sent N150,000 into the bank account of the NGO -LetCPKidsLearn that has been responsible for the childs education. READ ALSO: Heroic lives of Nigerian mothers caring for children with cerebral palsy The donation was on Monday received by Mama Ara who called to notify this reporter of the development. Thank you so much, God bless you, Mama Ara said in appreciation. She said the money will be channeled into paying her childs school fees which cost N65,000 per term and buying foodstuff. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday issued an advisory on the role of the media in countering and reporting hate speech. The Executive Secretary of the commission, Tony Ojukwu, presented the advisory while addressing journalists as part of activities to mark the 2nd International Day for Countering Hate Speech, which is officially observed on 18 June. According to Mr Ojukwu, the briefing is jointly organised by the NHRC and the United Nations (UN) in Nigeria in pursuance of the commissions unique mandate to promote and protect humans. This, he said, is in recognition of the constitutional roles of the media in shaping national values and advancing political, social, economic and cultural objectives. As the lead organisation charged with the promotion and protection of human rights in Nigeria, the commission, on the occasion of the International Day for Countering Hate Speech and in exercise of its mandate under section 5, paragraphs (l)(m)(o) of the NHRC Act (as amended), is issuing a policy advisory on the role of media in countering and reporting hate speech. We welcome the partnership of all the media organisations that have agreed to work with the commission and the UN on this very important mandate of forging common actions in countering hate speech. Hate speech is intricately related to human rights, either in its form or outcome, he said. Mr Ojukwu said, to the person spreading hate speech, it is about the right to freedom of expression, opinion, speech or belief. He said to the recipient of hate speech, it is a violation of his/her rights to dignity. Hate speeches promote discrimination, divisions, and incite violence, all of which violate the right to dignity, right to life and belonging to a society. Hate speech could, as in recent cases, lead to violation of the right to political participation in the case of elections and political process and impedes voters participation and access in the elections. In the build up to the elections, we witnessed heavy traffic in the spread of hate speeches across many media platforms, often leaving Nigerians and voters deeply divided and maligned, he said. According to him, hate speech is a threat to national cohesion, peace, security and the attainment of sustainable development and the achievement of human rights. He, therefore, called on everyone to work together to combat hate speeches in political, social and cultural spheres. Similarly, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mathias Schmale, lamented the misuse of the social media platforms and fuelling of hate speech. The UN, according to him, is worried about the impact of hate speech on the society and will soon come up with a Code of Conduct for Information Integrity to detail commitments by UN member states. He added that this will help to protect human rights, especially the freedom of expression and information while also protecting people, especially vulnerable communities, from the excesses of the information ecosystem pollution. READ ALSO:NHRC hails Nigerian journalists on World Press Freedom Day Unfortunately, social media and others have been the ones spreading hate speech. If we dont tackle hate speech, the effort would consume us. All the states have the obligation to make sure hate speech is tackled, he said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Abdulkarim Chukkol, on Tuesday called for strong partnership and cooperation among law enforcement agencies across Africa. Mr Chukkol made the call while declaring open a Peer Exchange Programme organised by the EFCC for Ghanas Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) at the Rockview Hotel, Abuja. He stated that such alliances will be instrumental in combating economic and financial crimes in the region. This study tour holds immense importance as it offers the unique opportunity to engage in peer learning through the exchange of knowledge, experiences and best practices in the field of law enforcement and anti-corruption efforts. I believe together we can contribute to strengthening the fight against economic and financial crimes and the promotion of rule of law in our respective countries, he said. The EFCC boss stated that the study tour will create valuable insights that could help refine approaches and enhance the capabilities of the respective agencies. We aim to foster long-term collaborations and establish enduring relationships that extend beyond the duration of this visit. There is no doubt that the benefit of this study will extend to both our agencies and our nations at large. As neighboring countries within the West African region, learning from each others successes and challenges can help us strengthen the foundation of our law enforcement systems and build a better future for our societies. He said the peer exchange programme signifies a shared commitment to a world free from economic and financial crimes. Let us all embrace this study tour as an opportunity to forge new connections, share knowledge and embark on a journey of mutual growth and progress, he added In her remarks, Executive Director, Economic and Organised Crimes Office, Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, stressed the importance of collaboration and cooperation among nations and institutions in surmounting the challenges affecting the West-African sub-region. She said such collaborative arrangements provide a platform for learning and sharing relevant experiences and expertise which are essential for combating crime from a law enforcement perspective. She called for collaboration among the agencies in tackling the menace of cybercrime which, according to her, has become a huge threat in Africa. With regards to the theme of the exchange programme, I wish to state that I will be particularly interested to know how our two institutions can collaborate to curb the emergence of cybercrime which in recent times have become a looming threat in our sub-region, she said. Technical Adviser, Giz, Sampson Kwakwa, equally restated the imperatives of collaboration in law enforcement in the Sub-region. We all know and we believe that crime has no borders; the reason why it is important that whilst criminals are coordinated and working together, it is important that institutions that are fighting against them also come together to fight them because if they are coordinated and the institutions are not, it will be difficult to fight them. During the study tour, the delegates from Ghana and their EFCC counterparts are expected to look at the inner workings of their agencies through shared insights on investigative processes, operational strategies and enforcement mechanisms, among others. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has recommitted itself to creating the enabling and sustainable environment that upholds press freedom and protection of journalists rights, in order to ensure the sustainability of democracy and good governance. It also said being conscious of its constitutional and social responsibility, its commitment to professionalism will help shape the narratives, influence public opinion, and help forge a society that thrives on transparency, inclusivity, justice and a system of government that is accountable to the citizens. The NGE, which is the professional body of all editors in Nigeria, stated these at the end of its two-day national biennial convention in Owerri, the Imo State capital. In a communique signed by its new President, Eze Anaba, and the General Secretary, Iyobosa Uwugiaren, the editors added that in a rapidly evolving media landscape, where information flows at an exceptional pace, the role of journalism in shaping good governance and democracy has never been more crucial than now. We, as journalists, bear the enormous responsibility of providing accurate, reliable, and unbiased news to the public, thereby fostering transparency, accountability, and public participation in the affairs of our nation. The 2023 general elections marked a decisive turning point for our nations democracy. And as we embark on this new phase, it has become very necessary that editors as gatekeepers, recommit themselves to the highest standards of professionalism, ethics, and integrity. We must be the precursors of truth, holding those in power accountable; while providing a platform for diverse voices and perspectives, the editors stated. Examining the role of journalists in the 2023 general elections at the convention themed, Post 2023 Election: Promoting Professionalism for Enhancement of Democracy and Good Governance, and which was attended by 400 editors cutting across the print, broadcast and online media, editors recommitted themselves to the watchdog role in ensuring that public office holders are closely monitored in order to live up to the expectation of the people. The NGE added, To achieve this, we must prioritise continuous professional development and capacity building. As journalists, we should strive to stay updated on emerging trends, technological advancements, and ethical standards within our industry. This national convention serves as a demonstration to our shared commitment to excellence and the pursuit of knowledge. We intend to collaborate and foster partnerships not only within our ranks but also with other stakeholders in the democratic space; engaging with civil society organisations, government agencies, and international bodies in order to build bridges and intensify our mutual impact. By doing so, we will be in strategic position to continue to create an enabling environment that upholds press freedom, protection of journalists rights, and ensures the sustainability of democracy and our profession. The editors praised Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, who declared the elective convention open, for creating the conducive environment for its success. The peaceful elective convention saw Mr Anaba, the Editor of Vanguard Newspaper, securing 250 votes to emerge as the new President. He defeated his only opponent Bolaji Adebiyi, executive editor, Western Post, who polled 81. Other members of the new executive elected include, Husseina Bangshika, Deputy President; Sheddy Ozoene, Vice-President (East); Umoru Ibrahim, Vice-President (North); Kabir Alabi Garba, Vice President (West); Iyobosa Uwugiaren, General Secretary; Gabriel Akinadewo, Assistant General Secretary; Steve Nwosu, Treasurer; and Charles Kalu, Social/Publicity Secretary. Other standing committee members elected are: Onuoha Ukeh, Paulyn Ugbodaga, Oluwole Sogunle, Dom Isute, Rose Moses, Chinedu Egere and Mohammed Jibril. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The boards of at least 14 agencies pulled through Mondays sweeping shake-up aborting the tenure of the top hierarchies of the Nigerian Governments agencies, parastatals, institutions and state-owned companies. President Bola Tinubus directive to dissolve the apex decision-making organs of the establishments falls within the ambit of his Constitutional Powers and in the Public interest, said the government in a statement Monday night. The rejig continues a chain of leadership changes in major government institutions since the president assumed power barely three weeks ago. Godwin Emefiele, the central bank governor, was asked to vacate his seat on 9 May to allow the government to start a probe into the operations of the apex bank under his watch. The State Security Service has since detained Mr Emefiele. Folashodun Shonubi, the banks deputy governor overseeing the operations directorate, has been acting in his stead. On Thursday, Abdulrasheed Bawa, chair of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, was suspended, later presenting himself to the secret police for questioning. President Tinubu will temporarily handle issues that, ordinarily, members of the dissolved boards were duty-bound to treat until new boards are in place, the statement said. Such matters will reach the president via the permanent secretaries of their respective supervisory Ministries and Offices, the statement added. READ ALSO: The dissolution does not, however, affect boards, commissions and councils listed in the Third Schedule, Part 1, Section 153 (i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended. PREMIUM TIMES presents the list of the identified boards, commissions and councils, featuring in the Third Schedule, Part 1, Section 153 (i) of Nigerias 1999 Constitution as amended. They include: (a) Code of Conduct Bureau; (b) Council of State; (c) Federal Character Commission; (d) Federal Civil Service Commission; (e) Federal Judicial Service Commission; (f) Independent National Electoral Commission; (g) National Defence Council; (h) National Economic Council; (i) National Judicial Council; (j) National Population Commission; (k) National Security Council; (l) Nigeria Police Council; (m) Police Service Commission; and (n) Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print President Bola Tinubu has appointed Christopher Musa, a major general, as the new chief of defence staff (CDS) and Taoreed Lagbaja, a major general, as chief of army staff. Mr Tinubu also appointed Emmanuel Ogalla, a rear admiral, as chief of naval staff and Hassan Abubakar, an Air vice marshal, as the chief of air staff, while Emmanuel Undiandeye, a major general, was appointed chief of defence intelligence, among others. The new CDS, Mr Musa, born on 25 December 1967 in Sokoto, hails from Zangon Kataf in Kaduna State. He is a member of the 38th Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy and was commissioned on 21 September 1991 into the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps. Mr Musa holds a Masterss in Defence Studies from the National Defence University in Beijing, China. He has held several command appointments during his military career and was at the thick of the fight against Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists for over a decade. He was Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai, in the North-east before his deployment as commander Infantry Corps, from where he was appointed as CDS. The new COAS, Mr Lagbaja, hails from Ilobu in Osun and is a member of the 39 regular courses of the Nigerian Defence Academy. He holds a Bachelors in Geography from NDA Kaduna and a Masters from U.S. Army War College. Until his elevation as COAS, Mr Lagbaja was the chief of operation (Army) and had served as General Officer Commanding 1 Division, Kaduna, and 82 Division, Nigerian Army Enugu. He had held command positions in several military operations, including Operation HARMONY IV in the Bakassi Peninsula, the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Operation ZAKI. He was also part of the Internal Security Operation in Benue, Operation LAFIYA DOLE, Operation MESA/UDO KA, and Internal Security Operation in the South East. As GOC 1 Division in Kaduna, he led troops of Operation FOREST SANITY in confronting terrorists in Kaduna and Niger States. The new Chief of Naval Staff hails from Enugu Ezike in Enugu State and is a member of 39 Regular Course of NDA. He was born in 1968. READ ALSO: Until his appointment, he was the Director of Lessons Learnt at the Naval Headquarters Department of Policy and Plans. Mr Ogalla is a regular combatant and has held several command appointments and attended several courses both at home and abroad. The new CAS, Mr Abubakar, was born on 11 September 1970 and hails from Shanono Local Government Area in Kano State. He was enlisted into the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) as a member of 39 Regular Course of NDA and was commissioned Pilot Officer on 19 September 1992. He was the Air Officer Commanding, Logistics Command until his new appointment and attended several courses. Mr Abubakar holds a Bachelor of Science from the Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna and Basic Flying Training Courses at the 301 Flying Training School Kaduna. He also attended the National Defence Course at the Nasser Higher Military Academy, Cairo Egypt, and holds a Masters in International Affairs and Diplomacy from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The new Chief of Defence Intelligence, Mr Undiandeye, hails from Bedia in Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State. He was, until his appointment, the Commandant of the Martin Luther Agwai International Leadership and Peacekeeping Centre, Jaji, Kaduna State. Mr Undiandeye was a member of the Troop Contributing Countries Working Group for developing the second edition of the United Nations Infantry Battalion Manual (UNIBAM) published in 2020 by the UN Office of military affairs. He is of the Intelligence Corps of the Nigerian Army. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print President Bola Tinubu replaced Nigerias army, navy, air force and defence chiefs on Monday, a widely anticipated move as the former Lagos State governor makes security his optimum priority. The president approved their replacements with immediate effect. Mr Tinubu appointed Taoreed Lagbaja, a major general, as the new Chief of Army Staff to replace Farouk Yahaya who alongside other outgoing service chiefs was retired from the military. Mr Lagbaja was born in Ilobu, Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State on 28 February 1968. He lived his early life in Osogbo where he attended St Charles Grammar School and Local Authority Teachers College. The new army chief was admitted into the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1987 as a member of the 39th Regular Course. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 19th September 1992 into the Nigerian Infantry Corps. Between 1992 and 1995, Mr Lagbaja was platoon commander of the 93 Battalion. From 1995 to 2001, he was platoon commander of 72 Special Forces Battalion. In 2001, Mr Lagbaja obtained a Bachelors degree in Geography from the Nigerian Defence Academy. He studied Strategic Studies at the US Army War College at the Masters level. He was an instructor at Nigerian Defence Academy between 2001 and 2004. At one time, Mr Lagbaja was a Grade 2 Staff Officer in charge of peacekeeping at the Army Headquarters Department of Army Training and Operations. Then he was a Directing Staff at Armed Forces Command and Staff College from 2006 2009. By 2009, he became Deputy Chief of Staff G1 at Headquarters 81 Division and subsequently, he became Commanding Officer at 72 Special Forces Battalion Makurdi from 2012 to 2013 and 2014 to 2015. In 2016, he was named the Chief of Staff at Headquarters 8 Task Force Division, Monguno. He served as Director of Operations at the Army Headquarters Department of Army Training and Operations from January December 2018. READ ALSO: He was a Commander of Headquarters 9 Brigade, Ikeja, Lagos State and Headquarters 2 Brigade, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. Before his new appointment, Mr Lagbaja was General Officer Commanding Headquarters 82 Division from March 2021 August 2022 and Headquarters 1 Division from August 2022 June 2023. Earlier in 2008, he attended the Military Observers Course on Peacekeeping Wing at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry Jaji (February May 2008) and ECOWAS Standby Force Battalion Command Post Course Peacekeeping Centre, Bamako, Mali (June August 2010). He started his career as a second lieutenant and he is currently a major general, a rank he has held since September 2019. Mr Lagbaja participated in Operation HARMONY IV in Bakassi Peninsula; United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC); Operation ZAKI Internal Security Operation in Benue State; Operation LAFIYA DOLE; Operation MESA/Operation UDO KA March 2021 August 2022 Internal Security Operation in South-east Nigeria (Anambra/Abia/Ebonyi/Enugu and Imo States); and Operation FOREST SANITY Aug 2022 to 2023 Internal Security Operation in Kaduna/Niger states. He is married to Mariya Abiodun-Lagbaja and the marriage is blessed with 2 children. Mr Lagbaja enjoys watching documentaries and reading biographies. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A Monday pronouncement by the Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, has dissolved the governing boards of all federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. The president, by the pronouncement, has also dissolved the governing board of all parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Education (FME). According to a statement by the Director, Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Willie Bassey, Mr Tinubu approved the dissolution of all governing boards of all federal government parastatals, agencies, institutions, and government-owned companies. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has approved the immediate dissolution of the Governing Boards of all Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies, Institutions, and Government-Owned Companies in the exercise of its constitutional powers and in the public interest, Mr Bassey wrote. Exemption There are, however, some exceptions to the presidents sweeping order. According to the statement, the president exempted boards, commissions and councils listed in the Third Schedule, Part 1, Section 153 (i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended. But there is no parastatal under the education ministry that is exempted from the order. A review of Section 153(I), first part of the third schedule of the Nigerian constitution, shows that the exempted parastatals include: the Code of Conduct Bureau, Council of State, Federal Character Commission, Federal Civil Service Commission, Federal Judicial Service Commission, and the Independent National Electoral Commission. Others are National Defence Council, National Economic Council, National Judicial Council, National Population Commission, National Security Council, Nigeria Police Council, Police Service Commission; and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission. Affected education agencies, institutions The institutions that are affected by the order under the education ministry include; National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS), National Universities Commission (NUC), Nigerian Educational Research Development Council (NERDC), Nigerian French Language Village (NFV), National Commission for Adult Education Mass Literacy and Non-Formal Education (NMEC), National Examinations Council (NECO), and Librarians Registration Council of Nigerian (LRCN). Others are the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE), Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN), Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB), National Institute for Educational Planning & Administration (NIEPA), National Teachers Institute (NTI), National Institute for Nigerian Languages (NINLAN), Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), National Library of Nigeria (NLN), Federal Scholarship Board (FSB), Nigerian Arabic Language Village (NALV) and the Nigerian Mathematical Centre (NMC). Also affected are all federal government-owned universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and inter-university centres such as the University of Lagos, Ahmadu Bello University, University of Uyo, Yaba College of Technology, Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, and Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka. Operations continue Meanwhile, following the dissolution of the boards, the president has directed the heads of affected parastatals to refer all matters requiring the attention of the board to his office through the respective permanent secretaries in their ministries. In view of this development and until such a time new boards are constituted, the Chief Executive Officers of the Parastatals, Agencies, Institutions, and Government-Owned Companies are directed to refer matters requiring the attention of their Boards to the President, through the Permanent Secretaries of their respective supervisory Ministries and Offices, the statement said. Permanent Secretaries are directed, also, to route such correspondences to Mr President through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Consequently, all Ministries, Departments and Agencies are to ensure compliance to the provision of this directive which took effect from Friday 16th June. Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The immediate past Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali, said he habours no ill feelings about his removal from the position following his compulsory retirement by President Bola Tinubu. President Tinubu ordered a compulsory retirement for Mr Alkali on Monday, alongside the heads of the Nigerian military. Mr Alkali was replaced by Kayode Egbetokun, a deputy inspector general of police. Mr Alkali spoke about his removal Tuesday after handing over to Mr Egbetokun. Its a stage, you come, you work, and you go. Im happy I am handing over to somebody I know that will carry the mantle of leadership from where I have stopped, he said. When asked how much he knows about his successor, Mr Alkali said: We grew up in the job, we grew up together, I was his boss at a time or even when I was IG. He worked under me twice, weve been working together and I know how he can go ahead to champion the course of the police from where I stopped. Mr Egbetokun also spoke of his new role. READ ALSO: Police arrest 7 suspected traffic robbers in Lagos Now I have just been decorated and I am looking forward to taking over tomorrow morning by 11 a.m. I really cant describe how I feel presently, but if I have to tell you anything, I will tell you that right now I feel like a Tiger inside of me ready to chase away all the criminals in Nigeria. And some other time, I felt like a lion in me ready to devour all the internal enemies of Nigeria. Thats my feeling right now. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print As a result of the shelling of Kherson by the Russian occupation troops, an officer of the State Emergency Service was killed, eight more were wounded, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko has said. "One killed and eight wounded officers of the State Emergency Service in Kherson. Our heroes were carrying out restoration work without weapons when Russian terrorists began heavy shelling," Klymenko said on his Telegram channel on Tuesday. The wounded are reportedly receiving emergency medical care. "Sincere condolences to the family and relatives of the deceased. Killing rescuers during the liquidation of one of the largest man-made disasters is baseness and a manifestation of fear," Klymenko said. Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak also updated the statement in the Telegram channel, indicating eight wounded rescuers. Newly appointed acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, says he is ready to chase away all criminals in Nigeria. Mr Egbetokun stated this after he was decorated by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday. President Bola Tinubu named him as the IGP in acting capacity on Monday. His appointment has to be confirmed by the Senate. He succeeds Usman Baba, who has been retired from service. Mr Egbetokun, a former police commissioner in Lagos, told State House correspondents that he will formally assume duty on Wednesday. He said he feels like a tiger inside of him ready to chase away all criminals in Nigeria and like a lion ready to devour all the enemies of the country. Now I have just been decorated and I am looking forward to taking over tomorrow morning by 11 a.m. I really cant describe how I feel presently, but if I have to tell you anything, I will tell you that right now I feel like tiger inside of me ready to chase away all the criminals in Nigeria. And some other time, I fell like a lion in me ready to devour all the internal enemies of Nigeria. Thats my feeling right now. Meanwhile, Mr Baba said he is happy that he is handing over the police force to somebody he knows. Its very significant as you have mentioned. Its a stage, you come, you work, and you go. Im happy I am handing over to somebody I know that will carry the mantle of leadership from where I have stopped, he said. Asked how much he knows his successor, the outgoing IGP said: We grew up in the job, we grew up together. I was his boss at a time or even when I was IGP. He worked under me twice, weve been working together and I know how he can go ahead to champion the course of the police from where I stopped. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print In the spirit of the reorganisation of public service operations, all but 14 governing boards of the Nigerian governments parastatals, agencies, institutions, and government-owned companies have been disbanded. The dissolution, on the order of President Bola Tinubu, means until the affected government establishments get new heads, the president has a duty of handling pressing issues that ideally would have been the responsibilities of the boards in addition to his normal role. There are strong indications that the sizes and number of the institutions may shrink further in the days, with the merger of key revenue-generating agencies on the cards. A roadmap to Nigerias economic revamp for the new administration, drawn by a presidential advisory team last month, proposed the unification of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Customs, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency into a single entity to be known as the Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS). The NRS will help the new government ease the receipt of direct and indirect taxes, in addition to levies. PREMIUM TIMES presents a list of the establishments affected by the rejig: Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, slated 20 July for judgment in a suit filed by Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), against Nigerias spy agency, the State Security Service (SSS). Mr Kanu is seeking an order to allow him unhindered access to his medical doctor while in custody. Binta Nyako, the judge, fixed the date for judgement after a hearing of the civil case launched by the IPOB leader to seek a relaxation of the restrictions he faces in SSS custody. Mrs Nyako is also the judge that handlec the dismissed criminal case involving terrorism and treasonable felony charges filed against Mr Kanu by the federal government over his secessionist campaigns for an independent Biafra nation comprising mainly the five Igbo-dominated states in thd South-east Nigeria. The Court of Appeal terminated the case in a judgement in October last year, citing the irregularities in the manner Mr Kanu was captured in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria to continue facing his trial that was paused after he fled the country in 2017. Mr Kanu is still being held in custody pending the Supreme Courts final determination of the federal governments appeal against the Court of Appeals decision. Suit During Tuesdays hearing, Mr Kanus lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and lawyer to the SSS, A.M. Danlami, adopted their processes and presented their arguments for and against the suit. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Kanu, through his team of lawyers led by Mr Ozekhome, had sued the SSS and its Director General in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/ 2341/2022. He prayed the court for an order compelling the SSS to allow him have unhindered access to his medical doctor, among others. The suit, by its nature, required the plaintiff to first obtain the leave of the court to approve of its filing. The court had on 1 February, granted Mr Kanu the permission to apply for the order of mandamus he sought in an ex-parte motion moved by Mr Ozekhome. But in a preliminary objection filed by the SSS, the security outfit urged the court to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction. It argued that there was a subsisting judgement of a sister court delivered by Taiwo Taiwo (now a retired judge of the Federal High Court) on 3 June 2022 in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1585/2021 between Mr Kanu and the DG of SSS and two others, wherein the court dealt substantially with the issue of allowing the IPOB leader access to his personal physician. It said the instant suit was similar to the earlier one and that Mr Kanu had filed an appeal against the judgement arising from it. Hearing Mr Ozekhome said Tuesday that the SSS had flouted an earlier order of Mrs Nyako directing that Mr Kanu be allowed access to his personal doctor while in custody. The senior lawyer argued that the act was against Section 7 of the Anti-Torture Act. He said 10 exhibits were attached to the affidavit and that two of the exhibits detailed Mr Kanus medical report before he was renditioned from Kenya on 27 June 2021 and a medical report of his present health status. He said his clients application was that an independent doctor be allowed to attend to him in the presence of the security operatives. He further argued that a defendant, based on the provisions of the law, should stand his trial and not to be on a wheelchair while being prosecuted. We asked if we could see his medical report and they are refusing and if he dies, this will cause national commotion, he said. Mr Ozekhome, who said that a further affidavit was also filed in the suit, said two exhibits were attached to it. According to him, one of the exhibits is a certified true copy of the judgment of the Federal High Court, Umuahia. In the judgment, the court awarded the sum of N500 million damages against the respondents for illegal rendition of the defendant from Kenya to Nigeria, he added. Besides, he said the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had exonerated him in a judgement when it dismissed the remaining seven counts after Mr Nyako struck out eight counts from the 15-count charge earlier preferred against him What will they lose to allow an independent doctor to examine him in their presence, he said. He faulted the allegations that Mr Kanu jumped bail in 2017 after the court granted him bail. The lawyer, who argued that Mr Kanu, rather, escaped a military invasion at his residence, said as soon as he got to Israel, he deposed to an affidavit to that effect. Contrary to the SSS argument that the matter was similar to the earlier one decided by retired Justice Taiwo, Mr Ozekhome argued that the claims, the subject matter, and the parties in the two matters were different. The former suit sought 11 reliefs (prayers) but ours has two reliefs, he added. READ ALSO: Lawyer forwards to SSS names of new doctors to visit Nnamdi Kanu He argued that the law allowed an aggrieved party to file more than one case where facts of his case disclose multiple cause of actions. On his part, Mr Danlami, the SSS laywer, urged the court to dismiss Mr Kanus plea for lack of jurisdiction. Referring to a counter-affidavit with four attached exhibits, Mr Danlami said one of the exhibits showed that Mr Kanu was physically and clinically sound. We urge my lord to dismiss this suit in the interest of justice and national interest, he said. The judge adjourned the matter until 20 July for judgement. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Secretary to the Kano State Government, Abdullahi Baffa, has denied he said the state government demolished a monument at a popular roundabout because its aerial view shows the Christian symbol of the cross. Mr Baffa denied this despite evidence showing he actually claimed that the monument was demolished because it carries the Christian symbol which he said was improper because Kano is a majority Muslim state. The statement he made on local radio stations after appearing on national television was that part of the reasons the state government demolished the monument was that it had a Christian symbol. PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Baffa, a former Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, (TETFund), told a local radio station the Kano State government demolished the monument because it depicted a Christian cross from its aerial view. The design in the roundabout is blocking road users front view because of its size. Secondly, if you use a drone shot of the aerial view of the monument, you will see a sign of a cross and in Kano, we are 99.9 per cent, if not 100 per cent Muslims (and) you cannot put a cross sign in the front of a government house. Photos showing Kano State has two big crosses, big ones. The one in front of the government house and the one built on the Muhammadu Buhari Interchange flyover at the Hotoro area. The flyover, also from its aerial view, you will see a big cross and we (are) now planning to redesign it and remove the cross sign, Mr Baffa told Freedom Radio, Kano. But he denied he made the statement during an interview on Channels Television on Monday. READ ALSO: Real reason we demolished monument Kano government He said the cross sign remark was propaganda by vested interests and elements that are fighting the restoration (demolition) exercise of the places they (allegedly) grabbed. The monument was removed because it was posing a security threat to the government. It is causing traffic gridlock at the doorsteps of the government house, its obstructing the views of the road users. That is the reason, Mr Baffa said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print On Monday night, a few hours after relieving the former service chiefs and the Inspector General of Police of their jobs, President Bola Tinubu also summarily dissolved the governing boards of all federal government parastatals, agencies, institutions, and government-owned companies. The statement, which was signed by the Director of Information, Willie Bassey, however, gave exceptions to the Presidents order. The dissolution does not, however, affect Boards, Commissions, and Councils listed in the Third Schedule, Part 1, Section 153 (i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, the statement noted. But the exemption is not extended to any of the agencies and parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Health as stipulated by the section of the constitution quoted in the statement. Affected hospitals Some of the agencies under the Federal Ministry of Health that are affected by the presidents order are the governing boards of about 20 teaching hospitals including the National Hospital, Abuja, where the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Olubunmi Etteh, functioned as the board chairman until the announcement on Monday night. Also affected are the governing boards of about 21 federal medical centres (FMCs) and the Federal Staff Hospital in Abuja, Nigerias Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Like the FMCs are also some specialist hospitals including three federal government-owned orthopaedic hospitals located in Lagos, Enugu and Kano states; eight neuro-psychiatric hospitals, and the National Eye, and National Ear Care Centres which are both located in Kaduna. Affected agencies Meanwhile, the agencies under the ministry that are affected by the new directive are: National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN). Others are the National Agency for the Control of AIDs (NACA) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). Forging ahead In order to ensure a smooth operation of the hospitals without the chief executive officers flouting the rules of engagement, the president has mandated that all actions that had hitherto been presented before the governing boards for approvals should be sent to his office. Mr Tinubu also directed the heads of affected parastatals to do this through their respective permanent secretaries in their ministries. In view of this development and until such a time new boards are constituted, the Chief Executive Officers of the Parastatals, Agencies, Institutions, and Government-Owned Companies are directed to refer matters requiring the attention of their Boards to the President, through the Permanent Secretaries of their respective supervisory ministries and offices, the statement said. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that only 14 institutions of the federal government are exempted from the dissolution order. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The poor customer service experience was unhelpful; it got me thinking. What does the iconic global Virgin brand sell? It sells experience to woo and attract customers. I went to the Qatar Airways customer service desk to see if I could salvage the situation by joining the 21:00 flight to Doha. That was not to be because boarding time was too close, but a young lady (Marwa) on the desk was very helpful. Rotarians from around the world gathered in Melbourne for the 114th international convention from 27-31 May. The weather was cold but we survived it. Melbourne, noted for its high-rise buildings in the Central Business District (CBD), is the coastal capital of Victoria, the southeastern state of Australia, which has different time zones. During our stay in Melbourne, the difference with the time back home was nine hours. It explains why Australia celebrates the New Year ahead of other parts of the world. When it is 9.00 p.m. in Nigeria, it is 6.00 a.m. the following day in Melbourne. The plenary sessions of the Rotary International Convention held at the Rod Laver Arena, famous for the Australia Open every January, but Rotarians spent more time at the Melbourne Exhibition and Conference Centre (MECE), venue of the breakout sessions and the House of Friendship. Rotary conventions are usually the largest fellowships of Rotarians from over 200 countries and territories of the world and it is an opportunity to renew friendships, build great connections and enjoy the hospitality offered by the hosts. The tour companies are also busy at this time, with Rotarians signing up for the sights and sounds of the touristic sites. Melbourne looks every inch like Paris and London the streets are dotted with cafes, restaurants, bars and shops. Trams supported by train services cover most parts of the city in what is clearly an effective transportation system, but you can only drive on the right-hand-side as you would find in the UK, Kenya, Bangladesh, and so on. Something remarkable occurred close to midnight on the Sunday after we arrived. A 3.4 magnitude earthquake, which lasted a few seconds, jolted the city. It was a scare, but we were told not to worry as such tremors were normal in that part of the world. Australia the smallest continent in the world is surrounded by three oceans: the Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans. Rotarian Jonathan Babatunde Majiyagbe (SAN, OFR) was the first and only African to have ever served as Rotary International President (2003-2004) since the organisation was founded in 1905. He passed away at the age of 89 on the eve of the opening ceremony of the convention in Melbourne. Rotary International President Jennifer Jones broke the news to the entire Family of Rotary, when she took the stage for her welcome remarks inside the prestigious Rod Laver Arena and a minute silence was observed in his memory. The next convention will hold in Singapore from 25 29 May, 2024. The Qatar Airways flight I was on took off from Lagos before midday on 24 May and avoided the restricted Sudanese airspace due to the armed conflict between rival factions of the military government, thereby extending the flight time to Doha. After over eight hours of flying, we arrived at Hamad International Airport, a significant terminal complex in a class of its own. The airport is modern, functional, and luxurious; it is a spectacular piece of art for endless dining and shopping experiences. It was a non-stop flight of 14 hours from Doha and we arrived in Melbourne, Australia, in the early hours of Friday, 26 May. On the same flight with me were Rotarian Omotunde Lawson, the district governor of District 9110 and her spouse, Rotarian Francis Lawson; the immediate past district governor of District 9110, Remi Bello; past assistant governor Kayode Aderinokun and his daughter, Mosun. There were also other Rotarians on the flight. My return itinerary was QR 6346 on 4 June, but operated by Virgin Australia VS 871, flying from Melbourne at 17:30 to arrive in Sydney at 18:55, after which I would connect Qatar Airways flight QR 909 on that same day from Sydney to Doha at 21:00. Why pass through Sydney? Initially, I was curious because I assumed that my booking was from Melbourne to Doha. It turned out to be a wrong assumption and I told my agent I didnt like the idea of passing through Sydney to Doha, as it would stretch the entire journey to 31 hours. A sense of foreboding made me uneasy; I had this uncomfortable feeling that something could go wrong with my travel plan back to Lagos. Meanwhile, since it was not a direct Qatar Airways flight from Melbourne to Doha, I couldnt check-in online. I decided to chat with a Qatar Airways virtual assistant to see if I could change the itinerary. It was possible but it required me to cough out over US$1,000. Since it was a cost I could avoid and still arrive in Lagos as originally scheduled, I did not bother to pay the money. It was here the customer service agent looked closely at my boarding pass and said my flight was being boarded at Gate 8. At this time, just imagine my state of mind and the thoughts racing through it. By the time I walked back, lasting over 10 minutes, the flight had departed for Sydney and my two bags had been removed from the plane and sent to the Baggage Services unit. After missing my flight out of Melbourne to Sydney, I blamed myself for not paying to fly from Melbourne to Doha. It turned out to be a penny-wise-pound-foolish decision which I regretted. As a rule, I get to the airport early each time I have a flight to catch be it a local or international flight to avoid missing my flight due to unforeseen circumstances. On Sunday 4 June, I got to the airport in Melbourne quite early (before 13:00) for my return trip to Lagos and checked in my two bags, while having three boarding passes issued to me for the entire trip to Lagos. I went through the security checks and ended up at a WH Smith shop, where I bought some books. From that point, I went straight to Gate 5, as indicated on my boarding pass, and sat down patiently. This was before 14:00, which was early for a flight that would depart at 17:30, and began reading one of the books I bought. Instinctively, I took a photograph at 14:30 of Gate 5, with the monitor displaying flight schedules. At about 15:00, I proceeded to the desk to ask about the status of the 17:30 flight to Sydney but the female customer service agent told me she was busy boarding passengers. An hour later, I went to the desk again to meet another female agent, who also told me she was busy boarding passengers. On both occasions, I went back to sit down waiting for the 17:30 flight to be announced. Apparently, the boarding gate had been changed to Gate 8, which was nearby, without my knowledge. It was at the third inquiry that the customer service agent told me boarding would be at Gate 12 in Terminal 4, which was not nearby. When I got to Gate 12, I went straight to the desk for confirmation of the flight status, showing the attendant my boarding pass. Boarding to Sydney had not started, she said, because the operating aircraft had not arrived. I must have spent close to 25 minutes waiting at Gate 12 before boarding commenced. By the time I presented my boarding pass, one of the customer service agents told me the flight being boarded at the gate was VS 879, and not VS 871 indicated on my boarding pass. She directed me to Gate 11, just around the corner. Nothing was happening there; it was like a grave yard. I returned to Gate 12, only to be told that I should go to Gate 13, opposite Gate 12. It was here the customer service agent looked closely at my boarding pass and said my flight was being boarded at Gate 8. At this time, just imagine my state of mind and the thoughts racing through it. By the time I walked back, lasting over 10 minutes, the flight had departed for Sydney and my two bags had been removed from the plane and sent to the Baggage Services unit. Feeling frustrated, I was advised to see the Customer Service people. I used the escalator to one level below and then the elevator to locate the desk. It was there I received the greatest shock from a team member who should, at the very least, show empathy towards a passenger who was going to miss his international flight. The implication of missing the flight to Sydney was that I would miss my flight to Doha. There was a female customer service agent when I got to the desk. She was concerned about my situation and checked the computer system to see if it was possible to get another flight to Sydney and still be able to catch the flight to Doha, which looked unlikely. But at least, she wanted to try. Upon my return, I wrote to Virgin Australia to narrate my story and complain about the poor customer service but the airline only expressed their regrets and sympathised with my plight. Guests are to accept personal responsibility to ensure that they are present at the correct boarding gate prior to the flight being closed to boarding, a Virgin Australia representative wrote in their email to me. When the second attendant also a female arrived (maybe the boss), she looked at me straight in the face and said defiantly, as if to mock me: Theres nothing we can do. Go to Qatar Airways and inform them. It is their problem; we are only operators of the flight. I was speechless for a few seconds, and felt dehumanised. I wondered why she acted that way; it was an unprofessional behaviour that does not align with the work ethos of the renowned global Virgin brand. I summoned the courage to respond. Is this how you talk to your distressed customers? I queried. She wanted me to carry my own cross and that was exactly what I did with unbearable pain in my heart. There is enough evidence to show that I was at Gate 5 early, waiting to board my flight to Sydney. If I wasnt sent on a merry-go-round by the Virgin customer service agents, I would have boarded at Gate 8 easily because I would have heard my name being called, while I was seated at Gate 5, to prevent de-boarding. But I was far away at Gate 12. What happened next? I picked up my bags from baggage services and as I dragged them with me, I feared I could collapse from exhaustion. I was mentally and physically exhausted, arising from the stress of the missed flight. The poor customer service experience was unhelpful; it got me thinking. What does the iconic global Virgin brand sell? It sells experience to woo and attract customers. I went to the Qatar Airways customer service desk to see if I could salvage the situation by joining the 21:00 flight to Doha. That was not to be because boarding time was too close, but a young lady (Marwa) on the desk was very helpful. I paid Qatar Airways to be able to return to Nigeria because of the Code Share agreement with Virgin Australia an expense that could easily have been avoided. I also paid for a one night stay and dinner at Park Royal Hotel, opposite the airport. Upon my return, I wrote to Virgin Australia to narrate my story and complain about the poor customer service but the airline only expressed their regrets and sympathised with my plight. Guests are to accept personal responsibility to ensure that they are present at the correct boarding gate prior to the flight being closed to boarding, a Virgin Australia representative wrote in their email to me. It didnt matter anymore that I was at the airport early and I still missed my fight in spite of my best efforts to confirm the boarding gate. Apart from the announcement on the change of boarding gate from Gate 5 to Gate 8, which I missed, I did not receive any other notification. I took a travel insurance policy with Axa Mansard for my trip to Australia. Hopefully, the insurance giant will redeem their promise in respect of disrupted and missed flights. Some of my friends teased me to purchase a private plane and I asked them to send me US$65 million for a Gulf Stream jet! I have learnt my lessons; missing an international flight comes with a lot of inconveniences that must be avoided at all cost. For example, your bank cards may be declined due to suspected fraudulent activity. It happened to me as I tried to confirm my trip from Melbourne to Doha on Qatar Airways. It was surprising because it was the same bank card that I used throughout my stay in Melbourne. Eventually, payment was made but with a double charge on the bank card by Qatar Airways which, by the way, is a great airline. The extra charge was a debit error, which Qatar Airways is obliged to refund. I am thankful to one of our district governor nominees, Rotarian Oluwole Kukoyi (a medical doctor and member of the Rotary Club of Ota in Ogun State)) and his wife, Sola, for their valuable assistance. They ensured that I was not stranded in Melbourne. Joe Akhigbe, president of the Rotary Club of Lagos (my club) was equally helpful at the Melbourne airport, when it became clear that I would spend another night in Melbourne the second largest city in Australia. Ehi Braimah is a public relations strategist and publisher/editor-in-chief of Naija Times, can be reached via hello@neomedia.com.ng Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print the SSS will remain unshaken and professional in carrying out its duties. It recommits to diligently operate, as always, within the confines of the law and to uphold the fundamental rights of all Nigerians. The media must, as the fifth estate of the realm, remain balanced, accurate, impartial and accountable. To sustain a deliberate misguidance of the public with any form of misconceptions is detrimental to nationhood. Recently, about five major newspapers called the State Security Service (SSS) out for a bashing of sorts. The papers, which used their platforms to express varied views about the modus operandi of the Service include Vanguard, Daily Trust, The Sun, Tribune and The PUNCH. While Vanguards piece on 2nd June was Dousing the SSS/EFCC Feud, Daily Trust, on 6th June, published an editorial titled The SSS Must Conduct Its Duties as a Secret Service. The Sun, on 7th June, published The Needless SSS/EFCC Fracas while Tribune on 8th June wrote on The EFCC/SSS Confrontation. Similarly, on 14th June, The PUNCH featured, SSS, Others Need Radical Reforms. It did not seem that the editorials, which sought the reforms of the DSS or to criticise it for its public statements or actions on various subject matters of national security concern were, by any means, accidents or coincidences. They looked every inch planted or organised. They are hatchet jobs or so they seem. The judgement that the Service is excessively public or ubiquitous missed the point. The papers manifested predictable bias patterns. Relatedly, some respected legal personalities, namely Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), Mike Ozekhome (SAN) and Femi Falana (SAN) opined that the Service operates outside its mandate, especially with regard to the investigation of suspended CBN governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele. The fact that this matter has become sub-judice constrains the Service from making further statements about it. The celebration of the news of a court order to allow his lawyers and family access to him is quite unnecessary. They were never denied access. Ever since he was taken into custody, Emefieles family has continually accessed him. The same with his medical caregivers. The impression that the Service is going to act on the prompting of the Court is not correct. That is by the way. Back to the subject under discourse. While it might be fair to admit that the news media and aforementioned personalities are entitled to their opinions, measured ignorance predominantly played out in their arguments. First, they failed to recognise that security threats are evolving and so do the approaches to managing them. Instructively, the security landscape in Nigeria, like in many other countries, has become increasingly complex and dynamic. The periodic issuance of press statements to educate or carry citizens and residents along has undoubtedly become part of strategies to manage national security challenges. Extensive research would have revealed to the critics that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other world intelligence services deploy similar tactics, including the release of occasional statements and advisories. The CIA includes demographic information on its website to provide the public with valuable insights and data about various populations, so as to enhance the understanding of different regions and communities. Does it mean that the CIA is operating outside its mandate? Or will that be accepted because it is the CIA, a foreign body? The need for agencies to be responsive, transparent and apprise taxpayers has become the global norm in national security and intelligence management. It is called security/intelligence accountability. The tenets of security and intelligence governance expect that agencies remain transparent, accountable and compliant to the democratic order. World over, intelligence services operate in ways and by means not too discernable to the uninitiated. But the institutionalisation of democracy as a preferred political culture has nonetheless forced such agencies to communicate often with the public. You can see why the public statements can never be out of place. Without public consciousness and support, countering threats may remain a herculean task for security agencies. Democratic subordination and legislative oversight are basic principles that make it an obligation for these agencies to operate openly, even when some of their activities are secret. Ask the USA, UK, France, Canada and other advanced democracies. This level of openness does not vitiate the expected secrecy or in any way compromise their operations. the editorials accurately alluded to the constitutionality of the SSS as an intelligence organisation in detecting, preventing and neutralising threats against Nigeria. They commended the Service for its commitment to the security of the country, as well as the many feats it had accomplished in the course of discharging its duties. Thank you indeed. It has to be understood that the Service is not only an intelligence organisation. It is also a law enforcement agency. Regarding the matter concerning the SSS and EFCC, both agencies have refuted claims of a rivalry. It is important to note that comparing the 30th May incident at 15 Awolowo Road, Lagos to the barricade of the National Assembly in 2018 is inaccurate and unjust due to the substantial differences in the nature and context of the two events. While it is essential to emphasise inter-agency relations and cooperation, it would be unfair to generalise and imply that the Service is in a rivalry and power struggle with the Commission. Each agency operates within its distinct mandate and context. Meanwhile, the editorials accurately alluded to the constitutionality of the SSS as an intelligence organisation in detecting, preventing and neutralising threats against Nigeria. They commended the Service for its commitment to the security of the country, as well as the many feats it had accomplished in the course of discharging its duties. Thank you indeed. It has to be understood that the Service is not only an intelligence organisation. It is also a law enforcement agency. It is a security and policy advisory organ. Its establishment law expects it to engage in prevention. To prevent unarguably means to enforce. Should the Service seek media endorsement or permission before deploying operatives and equipment to conduct its job? Should it rather play to the gallery? Characteristic of intelligence operating systems, SSS activities may never be completely explained or understood, particularly to those who do not need to know this. Even though some of its high officials and operations are known and their veils of secrecy uncovered, there are a thousand undercover personnel and actions of the Service that have no business going public. It is expected to remain so. With its broad mandate and legal authority to investigate crimes of national security significance, the SSS is well within its rights to initiate an inquiry into any relevant matter. The DSS is primarily charged to detect and prevent crimes and threats against the internal security of Nigeria. More profoundly, it is to undertake such other responsibility as may be assigned to it by the President and Commander-in-Chief. Appreciating this role of the SSS is instructive for some sections of the media, lawyers and other interested parties. The Service operates on the basis of the rule of law. Its operations are rule governed. As required, it obtains arrest and detention warrants when and if needed. For the fact that such instruments are not advertised does not suggest otherwise. Critics should get conversant with the law and rules of engagement and desist from misinforming, misleading or inciting the public. Those seeking to weaken the Service through premeditated reforms may be on a wild goose chase. Consistent attacks on it based on ignorance, unrealised interests and emotional assessments and judgements do the country no good. The SSS has stood so firmly for Nigeria. It will continue to do so. Certain groups and people are bound to come up with frivolous allegations against the Service and its leadership. These entities may also exploit unpatriotic members of the Service to spread falsehoods, propaganda and hate in order to project the organisation in a bad light. Given their reach and war chest to mobilise forces against government and its key officials, the adversaries may intend to cause distractions to the on-going investigations,, as directed by the C-in-C. Considering the warped mentality that has triggered these writeups, it will, no doubt, be unsurprising to witness an upsurge in malicious articles, criticisms and baseless attacks in the public space, following the investigations of Messrs Godwin Emefiele and Abdulrasheed Bawa, among other flimsy matters. Certain groups and people are bound to come up with frivolous allegations against the Service and its leadership. These entities may also exploit unpatriotic members of the Service to spread falsehoods, propaganda and hate in order to project the organisation in a bad light. Given their reach and war chest to mobilise forces against government and its key officials, the adversaries may intend to cause distractions to the on-going investigations,, as directed by the C-in-C. However, the Service will not depose its professionalism for cheap backlash nor discharge its duty with prejudice or fear. For those who canvass the opinion that the DSS has no business in investigating the matters referred to it, are obviously not taking seriously the omnibus powers of the president, as enshrined in the enabling Acts of the SSS and the NSA. As argued by a one-time director of the SSS, Fubara Duke, When a law confers on the President power to delegate ANY assignments he deems fit for a particular Agency to perform, I wonder how it falls outside the purview of (ANY) the stipulations of the Presidents powers and by extension why the DSS is being faulted for carrying out the Presidents directive. Continuing, he added: I have heard arguments of cases being thrown out by the courts over questionable prosecutorial powers of the SSS regarding some categories of cases including criminal cases. Without prejudice to the wisdom of the court on such judgements, they should not override the lawful investigative authority of the SSS. Should there be need for prosecution in due course, these determinations would be appropriately evaluated and where/if necessary, appropriate prosecutorial agencies, which may include the Attorney Generals Office or other sister agencies, may be deployed to prosecute. It is not the first time this has happened. Let it be clear, however, that the SSS will remain unshaken and professional in carrying out its duties. It recommits to diligently operate, as always, within the confines of the law and to uphold the fundamental rights of all Nigerians. The media must, as the fifth estate of the realm, remain balanced, accurate, impartial and accountable. To sustain a deliberate misguidance of the public with any form of misconceptions is detrimental to nationhood. Therefore, to deepen the expected contributions, seeking veracity is not only ethical but obligatory. That should not be asking for too much. Peter Afunanya is the spokesperson of the Department of State Services (DSS), also known as the State Security Service. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Former President Buharis ascendancy to office of the President was partly attributed to electoral reforms introduced by Jega-led INEC between 2010 2015. These reforms include, a fairly credible voter register, Smart Card Reader for electronic voter accreditation and a truly independent electoral commission. The former President attested to the centrality of these reforms in defining his electoral fortune in the 2015 elections. In his words, When the time He (God) had set for me came, He used technology to bring me in,. His testimony underscores the power of electoral technology in deepening electoral integrity. Buharis recognition of the value of the electoral reforms is undisputed. However, his commitment to credible elections and electoral reforms leaves a sour taste and deserves further interrogation. Two general elections held under his tenure. First, the 2019 general election where he was reelected and the 2023 transitional elections. Both elections were enmeshed in controversies and legal contests. Throughout his tenure, Buhari was vocal about leaving a legacy of credible elections, possibly because of the legitimizing benefit of maintaining that posture, but some of his actions proved otherwise. In fact, the constitutive elements of the much-mouthed legacy of credible elections were unknown to the public. No doubt, the former President deserves accolades for his contributions to electoral reforms. However, he bequeathed a litany of bad precedents whose negative effects will have lasting impact on election landscape. Commendable Lasting Legacies Legacy of non-interference with off-cycle governorship election Fourteen off-cycle governorship elections held between 2015 2023. Pres Buhari ensured the traditional tactic of deploying federal might to influence governorship elections was reduced to barest minimum. He is believed to have resisted pressures from his party men to interfere in four elections his party lost in Edo 2020, Anambra 2017, 2021; and Osun 2022. Former President Buhari stands out as one President who proactively extended his congratulations to winners of elections from the opposition party against the preferences of his party. When the Inspector General of Police, IGP withdrew security aides from former governor of Anambra, Willie Obiano during the 2017 Anambra governorship elections, the President ordered the IGP to reinstate the aides. Some of Pres Buharis predecessors may not have extended the same grace to Governor Obiano given their antecedents. Legacy of an improved electoral legal framework Credit must go to the former President for assenting to the 2022 Electoral Act after several years of intense advocacy, intrigues and controversies. In addition, he gave assent to landmark constitutional amendment bills related to elections such as the bill to increase the timeframe for bye-elections from seven days to twenty-one days, grounds for de-registration of parties, time for the determination of pre-election matters, age reduction bill popularly known as the Not Too Young To Run law and restriction on tenure of president and governors The 2022 Electoral Act is touted as the best piece of election law in Nigerias 25 years of uninterrupted democracy. The Act guarantees timely release of election funding to INEC and permits INEC to deploy electoral technology for elections, amongst other changes which renewed citizens faith in the electoral process. INECs deregistration of 74 political parties in 2020 for failure to meet requirements imposed by the amended constitution improved election logistics greatly. Thirty-seven young people between 25 -29 have been elected into the National and State legislatures between 2018 2023 as a result of the Not Too Young To Run Act. Retrogressive Legacies Legacy of withheld assent to electoral bills Former President Buhari will go down in history as the President with the highest record of withheld assent to electoral bills. He declined assent to electoral bills five record times before signing the 2022 Electoral Act on 25 February 2022. The reform process that produced the 2022 Electoral Act commenced in 2015 shortly after the inauguration of the 8th National Assembly. The 8th National Assembly passed amendments to the Electoral Act but the amendments suffered an ill-fate as former President Buhari declined assent to the electoral bill four times, citing drafting issues, assault on INEC constitutional powers, and late passage of the bill as reasons for withholding assent. These reasons though plausible were a smokescreen for a deeper political agenda. In December 2021, he declined assent to the electoral bill due to the restriction on political parties to adopt only direct primaries for nominating candidates. Legacy of late appointments into INEC To deliver credible elections, electoral institutions must be fully staffed with competent personnel. This underscores the importance of early recruitment and appointment of these individuals to facilitate effective planning for elections. Ideally, appointments into INEC should be structured in a manner that it aligns with the electoral calendar to allow for seamless transition and adequate time for newly appointed commissioners to settle into new roles, plan and effectively discharge their responsibilities. Buharis late appointments into INEC leaves a legacy of misalignment in the tenure of commissioners and the electoral calendar. As it stands, the 2027 general election will be managed largely by greenhorns who will have limited or no time to understand the dynamics of election administration. The tenure of the current INEC Chairman ends by the first week of December 2025 leaving us with 918 days to the 2027 elections. Similarly, five current National Commissioners will end their term by October 2026 and over nineteen states will be staffed by new Resident Electoral Commissioners just three months to the 2027 elections. These transitions will impact INECs strategic planning, and operational capabilities. Legacy of brazen assault on INECs independence In recent history, no President has attacked INECs independence with tenacity, audacity and brazenness like former President Buhari. Most of his appointments into INEC failed the constitutional test of non-partisanship and unquestionable character. His most controversial appointment was the appointment of his partisan media aide as INEC National Commissioner. Although the appointment encountered stiff resistance from the public, the President defied ethics, morality and constitutional fidelity and insisted on pulling through with the appointment. As President, he appointed a former member of his party who contested elections in 2015 as Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) including the REC who committed electoral coup in Adamawa state during the 2023 election. All the RECs suspended by INEC for incompetence, and election manipulation were appointed by former President Buhari despite petitions against their appointment. INECs financial independence was also attacked under Buharis administration. INEC received 60% of the funding for the 2019 elections barely six months to the elections which impeded the commissions ability to deliver an election free of operational lapses. As a remedy the 9th National Assembly introduced a clause in the 2022 Electoral Act that makes it mandatory for the executive to release election funding to INEC at least one year before a general election. Buharis legacy is etched on the annals of Nigerias election history. There are key attributes that President Tinubu should emulate from his predecessor as he builds his own legacy. Creating a conducive environment for competitive elections will enhance Nigerias democratic credentials and put him in the class of statesmen. Timely appointment of competent INEC commissioners with impeccable character will deepen the Commissions independence and effectiveness. Partisan considerations should be eschewed when making appointments into INEC to rebuild the broken public trust. The forthcoming November 11 governorship election in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo state is a litmus test for the Tinubu administration. Will he sustain the legacy of non-interference or will he return the country to the dark days of influencing election outcomes from the villa? Time will tell. For now, he has the daunting task of redeeming Nigerias electoral process from Buharis legacy of a weak electoral governance architecture, and heightened distrust in the electoral process. Samson Itodo is an election, democracy, and public policy enthusiast. Itodo serves as the Executive Director of Yiaga Africa. He is also a Board member of the Kofi Annan Foundation and the Board of Advisers of International IDEA. Please send comments and feedback to sitodo@yiaga.org. He tweets @DSamsonItodo. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Governor Ahmad Aliyu of Sokoto State on Monday paid an unscheduled visit to the Sokoto Specialist Hospital to ascertain the quality of services at the outfit. Abubakar Bawa, the Press Secretary to the governor, disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Sokoto. Mr Bawa said the governors decision to visit the health facility unannounced followed a series of concerns raised by citizens of the state over poor service delivery at the facility. The press secretary added that other concerns that forced the governor to visit the hospital were dilapidated structures, erratic power supply, shortage of human resources and lack of functional medical equipment, among others. He said the governor visited the hospital in a tricycle to get first-hand information from its workers. I was surprised with what I saw during my visit to the hospital, which lasted for four hours; it afforded me an opportunity to see things for myself, Mr Bawa quoted Governor Aliyu as saying. Patients and their relatives are subjected to all kinds of hazardous situations owing to dirty environment and lack of functional equipment in the medical facility. Patients relatives rely solely on alternative sources of power due to erratic electricity supply in the hospital. I have directed the management of the hospital to see me for further discussions on how to remedy the situation. A top management source told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the poor state of things at the hospital was due to the inability of past administrations to release its monthly allocations. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Akwa Ibom State said it secured 59 convictions of drug offenders between July 2022 and May 2023. The Commander of NDLEA in Akwa Ibom, Obot Bassey, disclosed this at a news conference commemorating the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Uyo on Monday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the 2023 United Nations International Day Against Drug Abuse is: People First: Stop Stigma and Discrimination, Strengthen Prevention. Mrs Bassey said that the command, during the period, arrested 239 suspects who engaged in drug trafficking and drug abuse, comprising 197 males and 42 females. She added that the command seized drugs weighing 1,465.99kg and counselled 160 people who used drugs, treated and rehabilitated 15 during the period. From last years celebration till this moment, NDLEA Akwa Ibom State Command has been committed to saving humanity through its mandate of eliminating illicit drugs from homes and streets through arrests and seizures of illicit drugs. Prosecution of drug dealers, preventive mechanisms of campaign and awareness creation on the consequences of illicit drugs abuse. From July 2022 to May 2023, the State Command arrested a total of 239 suspects made up of 197 males and 42 females. Seized drugs weighing 1, 465.99 kg, convicted 59 drug offenders, Bassey said. The state commander said that the drugs commonly abused in the state included Cannabis Sativa, Cocaine, Heroin, Meth and Amphetamine, among other psychotropic substances. Mrs Bassey said that prevention was a vital tool against drug abuse, stressing that sensitisation and campaign would be used by the command to reduce drug abuse to the barest minimum from the state. She said the command aimed at increasing awareness about the importance of treating people who use drugs with respect and empathy. The campaign also aims to combat stigma and discrimination against attitudes that are respectful and non-judgmental. She said the command would continue sensitising youths against drug abuse and trafficking on its front burner. The commander appealed to the Akwa State Government, philanthropists and individuals to join hands with the NDLEA to reduce drug abuse and trafficking to the barest minimum in the state. She called on the state government to assist the command with utility vehicles to patrol the 31 local government areas, especially border areas, to curb drug trafficking. The commander appealed to all Akwa Ibom people to remain drug-free for optimal health, safety and security. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Peoples Daily: The Chinese side announced this morning that the Prime Ministers of Barbados, Mongolia, New Zealand and Viet Nam will visit China. Could you share more about the programs and Chinas expectations for the visits? Mao Ning: At the invitation of Premier Li Qiang, Prime Minister Mottley of Barbados, Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene of Mongolia, Prime Minister Hipkins of New Zealand and Prime Minister Pham of Viet Nam will attend the 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin and pay an official visit to China. Barbados is an important country in the Caribbeans and Chinas important cooperation partner in that region. Our two countries enjoy a traditional friendship. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 46 years ago, we have had deepening political mutual trust and fruitful cooperation in various sectors, which has brought tangible benefits for our two peoples. Prime Minister Mottleys visit provides a good opportunity for the two sides to further enhance political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation, bring bilateral relations towards greater heights and brighter prospects. During Prime Minister Mottleys visit, leaders of the two sides will have in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest and share governance experience. China and Mongolia are friendly neighbors linked by mountains and rivers. In recent years, bilateral relations have maintained a sound momentum of growth with frequent high-level exchanges and deepening cooperation across the board. During President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsuhs state visit to China last November, President Xi Jinping reached important common understandings with him on working together to advance modernization and building a China-Mongolia community with a shared future featuring peaceful co-existence, mutual support and win-win cooperation. China attaches high importance to the upcoming visit by Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene and looks forward to further deepening political mutual trust, enriching our comprehensive strategic partnership, and continuing to build a China-Mongolia community with a shared future through the visit. China and New Zealand are each others important cooperation partners. Last year, we jointly celebrated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties. Next year, we will mark the 10th anniversary of the establishment of our comprehensive strategic partnership. Over the course of more than half a century, China-New Zealand relations have enjoyed sound and steady growth, creating many firsts. Cooperation in various fields has delivered benefits to both peoples and made significant contribution to regional peace, stability and prosperity. This will be Prime Minister Hipkinss first visit to China after taking office. Leaders of the two sides will hold in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest. We hope this visit will be an opportunity to enhance mutual trust, expand exchanges, advance cooperation, and further deepen our comprehensive strategic partnership to the greater benefit of both countries and peoples. Viet Nam is our socialist neighbor. In 2022, after the 20th National Congress of the CPC concluded, General Secretary Xi Jinping invited General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to visit China. The two leaders jointly charted the course for the China-Viet Nam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era. Since the beginning of this year, there has been frequent high-level interaction between the two sides, exchange and cooperation between various departments and at the subnational level has quickly resumed, and high-level common understandings are being steadily translated into concrete results. During Prime Minister Phams visit, the two sides will discuss ways and steps to act on the top party leaders common understandings and in particular, exchange views on deepening Belt and Road cooperation, enhancing connectivity and stabilizing industrial and supply chains. We believe the visit will strengthen the sound momentum of growth in bilateral relations and promote solid progress in our deepening comprehensive strategic cooperation. Hubei Media Group: On June 24 last year, President Xi Jinping hosted the High-level Dialogue on Global Development and announced 32 practical cooperation measures in Chinas effort of implementing the Global Development Initiative (GDI), which was actively supported and echoed by the international community. We noted that as we mark the anniversary of the High-level Dialogue on Global Development, the Center for International Knowledge on Development released the Progress Report on the Global Development Initiative today. Could you share more information with us? Mao Ning: In September 2021, President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Development Initiative (GDI), which was warmly supported and echoed by the international community. Last June, President Xi hosted the High-level Dialogue on Global Development, charting the course for implementing the GDI and achieving a series of fruitful results. In the past one year and more, thanks to concerted efforts, the GDI developed a clearer cooperation pathway and more effective cooperation mechanisms. Cooperation in the eight priority areas has been advanced steadily with a growing list of projects and an expanding pool of development resources, demonstrating a good momentum of all-round progress with clear priorities. The GDI has been an effective tool to build international consensus on development and galvanize cooperation actions, which has produced many early harvests. One year on since the High-level Dialogue on Global Development, the Progress Report on the Global Development Initiative, written by the Center for International Knowledge on Development, has been released in Beijing. As the first progress report on GDI, the document holds unique significance. Diplomatic envoys and representatives of international organizations in China attended the event. Many praised the GDIs active and important role in pooling global consensus on development and accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, expressed satisfaction on the progress of advancing the GDI and recognized that practical GDI cooperation effectively increased peoples wellbeing in developing countries, especially members of the Group of Friends of the GDI. Many also expressed willingness to continue to work with China to implement the GDI so as to help realize all Sustainable Development Goals as scheduled. The world has responded to Chinas GDI with global action. China welcomes attention and support to the GDI from all corners of the globe and looks forward to any contribution of ideas, projects, funding and action to the GDI. China stands ready to work with the international community to promote the sound and steady growth of practical GDI cooperation and contribute to faster implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, so that no country or individual will be left behind. Reuters: Following State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gangs meeting with US Secretary of State Blinken, China and the US have agreed to discuss increasing passenger flights and welcoming more students and business people to each others countries. What are the measures underway to put these into effect? And when will both countries start increasing flights and by how much? Mao Ning: State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Secretary of State Antony Blinken reached a positive common understanding on promoting people-to-people exchanges. Both sides agreed to encourage more people-to-people and educational exchanges, and had positive discussions on increasing passenger flights between the two countries. Both sides welcomed more mutual visits by students, scholars and business people, and agreed to provide support and facilitation to this end. Competent departments of China and the US have been in communication on increasing passenger flights. China stands ready to work with the US on increasing flights with flexibility and pragmatism. Yonhap News Agency: At a press conference on June 19, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed Chinas important role in pressing Pyongyang to engage in dialogue and to end its dangerous behavior. Whats Chinas position on this? Mao Ning: The crux of the Korean Peninsula issues is very clear. All parties need to face the crux of the issues squarely, step up to their respective responsibilities, and address the legitimate concerns of all parties in a balanced way through meaningful dialogue. Chinas position on the Peninsula issues is consistent and we will continue to play a constructive role in promoting the political settlement of the Peninsula issues. CCTV: It was reported that leaders of African countries, including South Africa, Senegal, Zambia, Comoros, Egypt, the Republic of the Congo and Uganda, visited Ukraine and Russia to mediate on the Ukraine issue. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy invited African countries to the global peace summit proposed by Ukraine. Russian President Putin noted that Russia welcomes the balanced approach of African countries towards the Ukraine crisis. How does China view African countries mediation efforts on the Ukraine issue? Mao Ning: China supports all efforts conducive to a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis and commends the positive role South Africa and other African countries have played in this regard. Their efforts well reflect the international communitys shared call for an end to hostilities and deescalation of tensions. Facts have shown that war and sanctions will not solve any problem; dialogue and negotiation is the only viable way out. China stands ready to work with all parties, including African countries, to create favorable conditions for a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. Bloomberg: China and Cuba are negotiating to establish a new joint military training facility on the island. This is according to a report from The Wall Street Journal that cites US officials. The report also said that the talks were at an advanced stage. How does the foreign ministry respond to this report? Mao Ning: Im not aware of what you mentioned. We hope relevant parties will focus their time and efforts on doing things that are conducive to mutual trust and regional peace, stability and development. RIA Novosti: The Prime Ministers Office of Bangladesh said to RIA Novosti on June 19 that Bangladesh had officially applied to join the BRICS. Whats Chinas comment? Mao Ning: As an important platform for cooperation among emerging markets and developing countries, BRICS is committed to upholding multilateralism, vigorously advancing the reform of the global governance system and increasing the representation and say of emerging markets and developing countries. The expansion of BRICS is a political consensus reached by all five BRICS members. China is committed to advancing the BRICS expansion and stands ready to bring more like-minded partners into the big family of BRICS. Reuters: US Secretary of State Blinken has said that the US is continuing talks with China on the release of three US citizens detained in China. The US said these three Americans were wrongfully detained. What is the progress on the talks? Mao Ning: China is a country under the rule of law and relevant cases are handled in accordance with the law. There isnt an issue about individuals being wrongfully detained . Reuters: More than 100 heads of state and government are expected to attend the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact in Paris from June 22 to June 23. Chinas confirmed its participation in the summit during President Macrons visit in April. Given that Premier Li Qiang is in Europe right now, will he be attending the summit? Mao Ning: China has announced last week that Premier Li Qiang will visit Germany and France. During his visit to France, one of the important activities on his schedule is to attend the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact proposed by President Macron at Frances invitation. One of the key priorities of the Ukrainian Defense Forces is the "artillery bleeding" of the Russian occupation forces, the maximum destruction of artillery and other fire systems and their crews to clear the theater of operations for the operations of the Defense Forces, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov said on Facebook. He also noted as a task "the destruction of Russian command posts, ammunition depots, fuel, food, supply routes." "Such work by Ukrainian defenders is excellent. The indicators of the destruction of enemy equipment have reached the highest levels since the start of the war," Danilov said. According to him, "the defense forces of Ukraine simultaneously carry out both offensive and defensive actions. The defense forces develop both their own offensive operations and repel a hostile offensive and counterattack." "The Russian occupation forces are actively counteracting the offensive of the Defense Forces by maximizing the intensification of hostilities in the East in Donetsk operational area (near Maryinka and Avdiyivka), pulling up reserves, primarily from the airborne troops. The goal is to completely capture Donetsk and Luhansk regions and delay forces and means of the Defense Forces from other areas," Danilov also said He also said "the enemy is concentrating additional forces in the South, building at least a three-level fortification system with an unprecedented scale of mining of territories in the most critical Kupiansk-Lyman direction." The federal government and Enugu State Government say they will partner to complete and operationalise the international wing of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu. Both governments said they would also partner to build a cargo terminal to boost the states and nations economy and tourism capacity. The Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Kabir Mohammed, and the Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, made this known on Monday in Enugu. The duo toured the ongoing international terminal building and the proposed site for the international cargo terminal of the airport. Speaking to reporters after a courtesy visit to the governor and tour of the facility, Mr Mohammed commended Mr Mbahs zeal and sense of urgency towards the actualisation and operationalisation of the two terminals. He said there was no better time to discuss partnership and collaboration than now. We met with the governor here today with a view to collaborating with FAAN in order to make the international terminal functional. This is a time to look at things again and again before you will be able to get the right formula for it, and I believe His Excellency has that formula and within the shortest possible time, I can assure you that this terminal will be put to use. The first place we went to is supposed to be the cargo terminal and we have a cargo warehouse in that location as well as the cargo terminal, he said. He explained that having a cargo terminal in Enugu would go a long way in improving the economy of the South-east region and the nation as well as assist traders in the region. Critical to Enugus drive for a $30 billion economy Addressing reporters, Governor Mbah said the operationalisation of the international terminal, construction of the cargo terminal and warehouse at the airport were critical to Enugus drive for a $30 billion economy. He described them as enablers of investments and key economic activities in the state. For us, the cargo terminal is critical. You know that we are migrating agriculture to agro-allied industrialisation. That means agriculture will not just be for food, it will also be for export. The cargo terminal is critical if we are going to engage in the export of agricultural and agro-allied produce from the state. That is why we are looking at partnering with FAAN to ensure that we start and complete a cargo terminal and indeed operationalise it, he said. He added that the international wing was almost completed, demanding they operationalised it. READ ALSO: Nigeria reopens Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu He said that until they got it functional, they would not be able to make money from it. We will not be able to create value for the people of Enugu or South-east and indeed the entire country if it is not done. If you look at the huge economic development plan we have expressed to our people, tourism is core there. We are looking at attracting over three million visitors to Enugu yearly. That cannot happen just by road, and it is going to occur by flying, getting people from all across the different parts of the world to come to Enugu, and that will mean having an international airport, Mr Mbah said. On the funding challenge, Mr Mbah assured that FAAN and the state government would explore funding models to actualise the project. He said: Now, we believe that projects like these are bankable because they are also revenue-yielding projects. So, there is no reason why we cannot find a financing model that will work for us and ensure that this project is immediately realised. Mr Mbah also said the state government and the FAAN team had fruitful discussions on the timeline to ensure the speedy completion of both projects. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print ( Read 2074 Times) DCM Shriram Foundation and The/Nudge Institutes Centre for Social Innovation, with the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (GoI), have launched an INR 2.6 crore prize challenge, aimed at fostering innovation at the intersection of agriculture and efficient use of water. The challenge seeks to encourage leading AgTech & Social Impact Entrepreneurs to develop population scale solutions & innovations within India's agri-water ecosystem, with massive impact on stagnant livelihood opportunities, especially for smallholder farmers. 80% of Indias groundwater is used for agriculture, but 60% of this is inefficient utilisation. Misaligned practices on application of nutrients and fertilisers has led to imbalance and soil degradation resulting in inefficiency in water utilisation, declining groundwater and affecting crop yields. Hence, water scarcity, non-judicious use of freshwater resources, unsustainable agricultural practices, overdependence on erratic rainfall and climate change threaten the state of the agriculture sector in India, home to over 600 million farmers. For the upcoming DCM Shriram AgWater Challenge, The/Nudge Prize encompasses a substantial prize purse of INR 2.6 Crore. This includes a grand prize of INR 2 Crore for the winner, representing one of the most generous grant prizes for sustainable agricultural interventions. Additionally, a total of 60 Lakh rupees will be distributed among three other finalists who successfully cross the milestone thresholds (INR 30/20/10 Lakh respectively). To create unprecedented urgency & impact on this topic - The challenge is also enabling an AgWater and SHF expert ecosystem, consisting of leading market players, government departments, research Institutions & senior mentors/visionaries across India & beyond. This ecosystem will be essential to promote high potential innovators and accelerate adoption of their solutions, along with the leadership of the PSA, tasked with providing pragmatic and objective advice to the Prime Minister and the cabinet in matters of Science and Technology. While announcing the launch, Aman Pannu, President, DCM Shriram Foundation said, Any effort aimed at conserving water on a large scale must closely align with the needs of agriculture. Such a program would have to navigate through a complex web of factors, including weather conditions, selection of crops and varieties, yield potential, water requirements of crops, available irrigation resources, water-saving technologies, agronomic practices, agricultural extension services, accessibility of agricultural inputs, electricity availability, and numerous other variables. Additionally, policy changes that affect input pricing and agricultural produce must also be considered. Undoubtedly, creating a conducive environment for water conservation and improving water-use efficiency in agriculture is an exceedingly challenging task. In view of the same the DCM Shriram AgWater Challenge has been launched in collaboration with The/Nudge Institute with significant emphasis on addressing the water-related challenges in agriculture. The challenge invites disruptive technology-driven agricultural startups and social entrepreneurs to innovate and provide tangible solutions to this intricate problem specifically focused on scalability for smallholder farmers. Kanishka Chatterjee, Director, The/Nudge Prize added, While lucrative solutions addressing agri-water problems have gained momentum in recent years, there has been far less vitality in affordable and accessible models for the small and marginal farmers. Their high dependence on groundwater and increased vulnerability to water stress/climatic changes, land productivity, price and market risks call for audacious problem solving. An inducement challenge like the DCM Shriram AgWater Challenge, pushes AgTech to develop, demonstrate & deploy rapid innovation for this critical problem. Innovating for efficient water utilisation in agriculture holds the potential to improve economic outcomes for over 600 million smallholder farmers across the country. This highly anticipated challenge will meticulously identify a cohort of 15-20 exceptional solutions from a vast pool of applicants, who are working on improving the agricultural water utilisation of smallholder farmers through technological interventions - specifically for water intensive crops like rice, wheat, sugarcane & cotton, for the first time. The selected cohort will be chosen and supported for 12 months by a distinguished group of advisors comprising prominent Agri Investors, Policymakers, Academia, Thought Leaders from DCM Shriram, RICH Telangana, MANAGE, SocialAlpha, TISS, Acumen, ThinkAg, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, etc., among others. Throughout the challenge, the selected cohort will engage in immersions, mentorship sessions, interventions, and pilots facilitated by an evolved and high-performing ecosystem that shares the common objective of addressing AgWater issues for smallholder farmers. DCM Shriram Foundation is dedicated to disrupting the status quo of inefficient water usage in agriculture, by promoting practices, innovations, and optimisation for large-scale water conservation. The/Nudge Prize focuses on population-scale solutions for livelihood challenges faced by the bottom 30% of India's population, especially small and marginal farmers. The DCM Shriram AgWater Challenge is the third Prize Challenge by The/Nudge Institute (Cisco Agri Challenge and Ashirvad Water Challenge were the previous two). United in purpose, DCM Shriram Foundation and The/Nudge Prize are launching this challenge with a view towards unlocking prosperity and water security for 1 million Indian farmers. Annexure DCM Shriram AgWater Challenge, invites leading AgTech innovators & Agri Social Entrepreneurs in crop productivity, irrigation tech & water utilisation efficiency from across the nation to develop & scale demonstrable smallholder farmer (SHF) specific solutions for India, that solve the following: improve cropping water efficiencies or reduce water consumption for fine cereals (rice and wheat etc) or cash crops ( sugarcane and cotton etc) as per targets below improve farmer profitability by at least 40-50%, while implementing their solutions offer affordable water efficient technology at costs not more than 20% of the cost of crop cultivation to smallholder farmers, (or offer flexible financing options) Over the past three years, The/Nudge Prize has successfully launched and executed two challenges Cisco Agri Challenge (CAC) and Ashirvad Water challenge. They collaborated with over 50 innovators, handpicked from a pool of more than 1,000 applicants. Source : ( Read 3489 Times) Udaipur, June 20th - The completion of the second convocation ceremony of Sai Tirupati University was announced today. The event took place at the Mewar Banquet Hall, Shilpgram, where 150 MBBS students from the 2016 and 2017 batches received their degrees. Dr. Vipin Mathur, the Principal and Controller of RNT Medical College, graced the occasion as the chief guest. Prominent figures from Sai Tirupati University including Chairperson Ashish Agarwal, Co-Chairperson Sheetal Aggarwal, Vice Chancellor Dr. J.O. Chhaparwal, Registrar Dr. Devendra Jain, and Principal and Controller of PIMS Dr. Suresh Goyal, were also present. In his address, Dr. Vipin Mathur congratulated the medical graduates on their academic accomplishments and emphasized the importance of hard work and unwavering dedication in the medical field. He highlighted the significant advancements in medical science and urged the graduates to serve humanity with commitment and empathy. Dr. Mathur reminded them that being a doctor goes beyond a mere profession; it is about providing comfort and care to patients who approach them with fear, hope, and dreams. He encouraged the graduates to continue their pursuit of knowledge, as there is no end to learning. He expressed his confidence that they would bring pride to the Pacific Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) by becoming successful doctors. Ashish Agarwal, the Chairperson of Sai Tirupati University, acknowledged the university's journey of eight years, filled with various challenges and achievements. He commended the students of the 2016-2017 MBBS batch for their perseverance and emphasized the importance of a lifelong thirst for knowledge. Ashish Agarwal expressed his belief in their ability to become accomplished doctors, not just locally but also on an international level, bringing honor to PIMS. Co-Chairperson Sheetal Agarwal deemed the convocation ceremony a remarkable occasion, celebrating the students' hard work and dedication over the years. She acknowledged the challenges they faced and highlighted the role of their teachers in their success. Sheetal Agarwal emphasized that this moment should not be seen as a farewell, but rather an opportunity to remember the efforts, guidance, and achievements of their educators. During his welcome address, Vice Chancellor Dr. Chhaparwal provided a brief overview of the university's accomplishments. He mentioned that the university spans over 31.67 acres and offers academic programs and research in various disciplines, including medical science, nursing, physiotherapy, paramedical science, fashion technology and management, and pharmacy. Dr. Chhaparwal stated that the university is duly approved by the Rajasthan State Government and has obtained the necessary permissions from regulatory bodies for all the vocational courses. He quoted that wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is love for humanity, and commended the graduates for their noble pursuit of saving lives. Dr. Sureshchandra Goyal, the Principal and Controller of PIMS, expressed his immense pleasure and pride in awarding MBBS degrees to three hundred students. He recognized their hard work and stated that their dreams of becoming doctors had come true. Dr. Goyal administered an oath to all the students, signifying their commitment to the medical profession. Registrar Dr. Devendra Jain highlighted the significance of hard work and discipline, which led the students to their current position as doctors. Congratulating the graduates, he emphasized that their acquired knowledge would only be meaningful if it serves society. Dr. Jain expressed his hope that the graduates would dedicate themselves to the community with devotion and integrity. In a concluding gesture, Dr. Jain recognized the top-performing students by awarding them certificates and medals for their outstanding performance in the MBBS examination. Tanya Khemchandani and Kanishka Agarwal secured the first and second positions, respectively, in the MBBS 2016 batch, while Anukreethy Paneri and Pujara Riya achieved the first and second positions in the MBBS 2017 batch. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the students shared their six-year journey of obtaining an MBBS degree. They attributed their success to discipline, regular attendance, and unwavering dedication. The students expressed their gratitude to Ashish Aggarwal and Sheetal Aggarwal for their exceptional guidance and encouragement, acknowledging their pivotal role in reaching this milestone. They collectively expressed their gratitude to Sai Tirupati University. The event concluded with a mention of Dr. Seema Champawat, who successfully performed an operation. Source : Half an hour before Russia undermined the dam of Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant (HPP), the occupation unit that was in that territory was ordered to immediately evacuate, Head of the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Major General Kyrylo Budanov has said. "This artificially created man-made disaster a terrorist attack and an act of ecocide was deliberately carried out by Russia. All gossip and rumours about what was different are not true. There are many facts that directly show how this happened. The most interesting thing is that in half an hour they reached the unit that was at Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant via the radio network, and they told them to pack up and leave the territory very quickly," Budanov said on the air of the national telethon. He also said all units of the occupying troops, located near the hydroelectric power plant, really did not know that the attack would happen. "This is still quite classified information, but I tell you absolutely frankly that in half an hour the radio network went on air to the unit that was located at Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. With a clear command, immediately evacuate from this territory," Budanov said. Stormzy leads an international roster of stars in an electrifying digital concert series to celebrate the launch of Rockstar's new global 'Press Play' platform. DUBLIN, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Rockstar Energy Drink today announces a revolutionary digital in-app concert experience in collaboration with an international line-up of chart-topping musical talent. The globally renowned artist, Stormzy, will headline the main stage, performing his biggest hits from his latest #1 album, 'This is What I Mean', with local stars taking the stage in France, Poland and Germany. Global superstar, Stormzy, set to dominate the virtual stage with Rockstar Energy Drink This extraordinary digital in-app concert experience will premiere live on Spotify at 5pm GMT on July 21st, kicking off the weekend for audiences around the world. Each of the Rockstar 'Press Play' Concert headliners will transport viewers to five distinct digital worlds, thoughtfully crafted to capture the essence of 'Play'. These worlds, encompassing gaming and nightlife themes, create vibrant atmospheres that align with each artist's unique concept of play. This innovative experience embodies Rockstar's new brand platform, 'Press Play', which empowers fans with the energy and motivation they need to embrace their passions. By simply clicking the 'Press Play' icon during the concert, viewers can navigate between the immersive worlds, empowering them to curate their own unforgettable experience and seamlessly transition from work to play before the weekend begins. Rockstar is committed to making energy accessible to everyone, enabling them to be at their best for those highly anticipated moments of play. The brand is embodying this commitment through 'Press Play' by offering the launch of this in-app digital concert experience free for all music fans to enjoy*, as well as releasing a British Sign Language (BSL) edit of the Stormzy performance available on YouTube, featuring an energetic interpretation by Chris Fonseca, a deaf choreographer and dancer. Exciting out-of-home viewing experiences will also be available in select regional UK locations. Stormzy played an instrumental role in the concert creation process, combining his incredible vocals and high-energy performances with innovative technology. By utilising motion capture sensory tracking, these captivating performances promise a one-of-a-kind experience that has never been seen before. Global artist and Rockstar 'Press Play' performer Stormzy comments: "I'm really excited to be a part of this legendary digital in-app concert experience with Rockstar Energy. My favourite part has been performing in a mo-cap suit to take my music into different realms. The idea blew my mind because it isn't something I've done before, so I hope the Rockstar 'Press Play' digital in-app concert experience blows my fans' minds too and gives them the energy they need to embrace the things they love, the same way I do with music." As part of the partnership with Stormzy, there will be an exclusive gig later in the year, giving UK based fans the opportunity to attend. To win a chance to be part of this event, fans can purchase Rockstar Energy Drink cans from all retailers as well as enter online via the Rockstar website. Bart LaCount, Vice President of International Beverages Marketing at PepsiCo, expressed his excitement about the launch of the platform, commenting: "The in-app digital concert experience is explosive and truly captures the essence of the brand - helping to energise fans and facilitate their transition from work to play. Stormzy's dynamic performance and lively persona perfectly embody the 'Press Play' attitude. In keeping with our brand's commitment to inclusivity, we placed an emphasis on accessibility when developing the platform. Consequently, we are delighted to offer a BSL interpreted version of the concert, considering the diverse needs of the deaf community and the hearing impaired. By doing so, we ensure that all music lovers receive the boost they need to engage in the activities they love." The Rockstar in-app digital concert experience starring Stormzy, will go live at 5pm BST on Friday July 21st and will be available to stream across Spotify until August 4th. Additional versions without the ability to move between worlds will be available on YouTube. For fans who are hard of hearing the concert will also feature a BSL translation of Stormzy's invigorating set-list, on YouTube. Fans in Poland, Germany and France will also be able to stream the Rockstar 'Press Play' Concert at the same time in their local time zone to view performances by renowned local artists who will be announced at a later date. For more information on the upcoming Rockstar 'Press Play' Concert series, and how to win your way into Stormzy's upcoming gig, follow @RockstarEnergyUK on Instagram, or visit https://www.rockstarenergy.co.uk/ *The 'Press Play' in-app experience is available via Spotify Free, in addition to its subscription option. For further information, please contact: pepsicomediarelations@pepsico.com NOTES TO EDITOR About Rockstar Energy Rockstar, founded in 2001, produces beverages that aim to fuel those who need and love to do-it-all. With over 20 Rockstar Energy products available at convenience and grocery outlets in more than 30 countries globally, Rockstar gives you a bold refreshing boost, full of benefits and loaded with flavours. PepsiCo purchased the energy beverage leader in March 2020. In addition to Rockstar, PepsiCo owns the Sting and Adrenaline Rush brands, as well as GameFuel and AMP. About PepsiCo PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $86 billion in net revenue in 2022, driven by a complimentary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales. Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with pep+ (PepsiCo Positive). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability and human capital at the centre of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for the planet and people. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com , and follow on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @PepsiCo. About Stormzy Stormzy is a multi-award-winning musician who hails from South London, England. His three albums to date; 'Gang Signs & Prayer', 'Heavy Is The Head' and 'This Is What I Mean' all finished at #1 in the UK album chart, with the former two subsequently being nominated for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize. His remarkable ascent has been accompanied by his honest and relatable character; a true spokesman of black empowerment and social activism, Stormzy is one of the UK's most inspiring figureheads who has consistently stood up for people from all areas of life. In July 2018, he announced #Merky Books, an imprint within Penguin Random House UK, dedicated to publishing the best new fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and in August 2018 he announced 'The Stormzy Scholarship', an annual studentship to fund black British students to go to the University of Cambridge. In June 2020, he announced the launch of his charity, #Merky Foundation, to which he pledged 10 million, over 10 years, to organisations, charities and movements that are committed to fighting racial inequality, justice reform and black empowerment within the UK. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105594/Rockstar_x_Stormzy.jpg SOURCE PepsiCo LEICESTER, England, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Jadu, a leading web experience management software company, has partnered with Global IT and business consulting services firm CGI and the City of Edinburgh Council to develop 'Jadu Central Gateway', a new Intranet publishing platform that provides secure access to the Council's Intranet to frontline workers. The platform addresses an issue faced by frontline employees who don't have regular access to the Council's Intranet, which limits their ability to access important internal communications, policies, guidance, and support, as well as information on pay, benefits, and wellbeing initiatives. The City of Edinburgh Cammie Day, Council Leader of The City of Edinburgh Council, said: "This platform will provide access to a host of support documentation and guidance to all of our previously digitally excluded frontline employees. By creating a secure gateway to the intranet, Jadu Central Gateway ensures that all colleagues have access to the same information at the same time and is a significant step in our digital and accessibility ambitions. The platform reinforces our commitments to engagement and empowerment of colleagues, and to continue transforming services." The Jadu Central Gateway platform also supports the Scottish government's " A changing nation: how Scotland will thrive in a digital world " strategy, including the "No-one Left Behind" theme, focusing on digital inclusion, accessibility and participation. Tara McGeehan, President, CGI in the UK and Australia said: "This is an important project that will allow us to provide all frontline workers with secure access to important information and services. Jadu Central Gateway will provide employees with access to information they need to do their jobs more effectively and is a great example of how Edinburgh is leading digital innovation that can support their employees." Suraj Kika, CEO of Jadu, expressed the company's excitement about the partnership, adding: "We're solving a real problem for large organisations with a distributed workforce. What happens when frontline workers, contractors and remote teams cannot access internal policies and digital services, because they do not have a corporate email address? Jadu Central Gateway solves this by enabling secure access to important content and digital services critical to supporting these roles. We're thrilled to be partnering with CGI to deliver this important initiative for the City of Edinburgh Council." Lindsay McGranaghan, Senior Vice President and Business Unit Leader for CGI in Scotland, said: "The Jadu Central Gateway will be a valuable tool for large organisations with a dispersed workforce like City of Edinburgh Council, and we're excited to help them improve their inclusivity, productivity and efficiency with this innovative platform." The outcomes of the partnership between Jadu, CGI, and the City of Edinburgh Council represents a significant step forward for large organisations with a remote workforce and the new Gateway Intranet system will be available from Jadu to organisations in the UK, US and Australia from July 2023 as a secure, subscription-based service. About Jadu Jadu has over 20 years' experience digitally transforming hundreds of government, education and private sector organisations around the world. With offices in the UK, North America and Australia, Jadu is a leading global provider of accessible web experiences, specialising in low code, CRM, accessible websites (CMS) and online forms, customer case management for the enterprise and expert digital design services. Millions of users use Jadu to access important digital services every day. Jadu focuses on using technology to connect communities and empower effective self-service. Learn more: jadu.net Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105555/Edinburgh_City.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105556/Jadu_Edinburgh_CGI.jpg SOURCE Jadu; CGI HONOLULU, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 1,000 additional military family members and civilians alleging exposure to jet fuel-contaminated water in 2021 near the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawai`i filed new legal claims against the Government today, joining hundreds already in or headed for federal-court litigation, according to their attorneys at Just Well Law, PLLC, the Hosoda Law Group, and Motley Rice LLC. Today, the military family members and civilians filed 1,002 required pre-litigation SF-95 administrative claim forms under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). If their administrative claims are denied, they will join the pending federal-court lawsuit in Honolulu as soon as possible, the law firms said. The case is Patrick Feindt, Jr., et al., v. The United States of America, Case No. 1:22-cv-0039, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawai`i. Court filings in the Feindt case detail how the affected military and civilian families suffer from a widening range of frightening, debilitating health effects because of the U.S. Navy's allegedly reluctant, inconsistent delivery of medical care and its seeming secrecy. The families have been critical of the Navy for its alleged refusal to fully disclose the scope of the Red Hill contamination which has left many of them fearing for their families and futures and distrustful of the Navy command on which they depend. In other developments in the Feindt case: A fourth amended complaint was filed on June 13 , adding 187 plaintiffs. The filing doubled the size of the pending federal-court claims. The families allegedly affected by contamination of the Navy water line have reported seizures, gastrointestinal disorders, neurological issues, burns, rashes, lesions, thyroid abnormalities, migraines, neurobehavioral challenges, and other maladies, according to the complaint. , adding 187 plaintiffs. The filing doubled the size of the pending federal-court claims. The families affected by contamination of the Navy water line have reported seizures, gastrointestinal disorders, neurological issues, burns, rashes, lesions, thyroid abnormalities, migraines, neurobehavioral challenges, and other maladies, according to the complaint. The Government filed a stipulation admitting negligence, nuisance and injury as to the plaintiffs in the Feindt lawsuit. The Feindt legal team is aware of no case where the Government has admitted to negligence of this scale and certainly none where it admitted injuries. The injured military families and civilians in the case will now litigate the scope of harm and damages. Kristina S. Baehr, a lawyer for the injured military and civilian families in the case, said, "Our team is working hard to hold accountable a Government that allegedly exposed its people to dangerous contaminants, failed to treat them, and told them they were not sick. We are working hard to vindicate our clients' rights. These families are still sick, and 67 percent of our clients report that they still have adverse health symptoms. This is consistent with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reporting. We are monitoring the five federal investigations of the contamination. Our clients are rightly concerned for their near- and long-term health prospects." All Red Hill cases are being jointly handled by Kristina S. Baehr (TX) of Just Well Law, 2606 W 8th St Unit 1, Austin, TX; Lyle Hosoda (HI) of the Hosoda Law Group, 500 Ala Moana Blvd #3-499, Honolulu, HI; and Frederick C. Baker (NY, SC) of Motley Rice LLC, 28 Bridgeside Blvd., Mt. Pleasant, SC. Contact: Erin Powers, Powers MediaWorks LLC, for Just Well Law, PLLC, the Hosoda Law Group, and Motley Rice LLC, [email protected], 281.703.6000. SOURCE Just Well Law, PLLC Industrial Internet Platform XCMG HANYUN Ranks 425th with Brand Value of 15.026 Billion Yuan XUZHOU, China, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- XCMG Machinery ("XCMG", SHE000425) has ranked highest among all Chinese construction machinery companies on World Brand Lab's 2023 list of China's Top 500 Most Valuable Brands released on June 15 in Beijing, consolidating its No. 1 position for 10 years in a row. A Decade of Excellence: XCMG Machinery Ranks Highest Among All Chinese Construction Machinery Companies on World Brand Lab's 2023 List of China's Top 500 Most Valuable Brands for 10 Consecutive Years. With a brand value of 113.619 billion yuan (USD 15.836 billion), which was examined based on financial data, brand strength, and consumer behavior, XCMG is the most valuable brand in the Chinese construction machinery industry, taking 63rd, a leading position in innovation, quality, brand value, and social responsibility. "We will continue to increase the international investment and localization operation, accelerate the research and development of products adapted to the local market, strengthen the automation level of supply chain collaboration, accelerate the response speed of overseas service and spare parts, accelerate the pace of internationalization, continue to maintain high growth in the international business, and let XCMG Machinery continue to create value for global customers," said Yang Dongsheng, Chairman of XCMG. Elie Ofek, an Israeli-American economist at Harvard Business School, noted that AI and digital transformation are opening up novel and significant prospects for rebranding. XCMG HANYUN ("HANYUN"), the industrial internet platform developed by XCMG, leverages industrial big data, changing the paradigm of production, service, and business model to empower the digital transformation of each industry as a reliable partner for 70,000 users from 80 industries across 80 countries and regions. HANYUN provides professional consulting, design, development, manufacturing, implementation, and operation products and services relating to industrial internet and integrated intelligent manufacturing solutions. It received CMMI Level 5 certification early this year. Recently, HANYUN launched the HANYUN OS platform at the 2023 Industrial Internet Conference, which empowers global users with integrated digital capabilities with six core technologies embedded edge computing, production process simulation, big data mining, low-code technology, digital twin, and AI, as well as upgrade of the three key platforms HANYUN Industrial Internet, HANYU Digital Thread, and HANYUN Digital Twin. "Internationalization, digitalization and greening are the paths to innovation and high-quality development at XCMG, and we will continue to provide sustainable and trustworthy solutions for our global customers," said Yang. For more information about XCMG, please visit http://en.xcmg.com/en-ap/. SOURCE XCMG Machinery SEATTLE, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ACT Capital Advisors, a leading mergers and acquisitions firm, is pleased to announce that its client, Advanced Government Services, Inc. ("AGS") has partnered with ATS Traffic, Ltd. ("ATS Traffic"). AGS is an award-winning traffic control company based in Tacoma, Washington that has delivered traffic control and road safety services in Washington and Oregon since 2003. ATS Traffic is Canada's leading traffic safety provider. This transaction marks ATS Traffic's first-ever move into the United States, marking a significant milestone in its history. Their long-standing ambition to expand south of the Canadian border, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, has finally become a reality. The partnership between these two industry leaders will introduce new customized offerings, enhanced service delivery capabilities, and streamlined customer engagement for AGS's customers in the region. Arti O'Brien, President of AGS commented: "We're eager to grow together and forge a reciprocal relationship that will ultimately create exponential growth and deliver a new standard of road safety solutions to the region." Arti will continue to lead as the President for AGS in the Pacific Northwest. Matthew Latimer, Managing Director of ACT Capital, lauded the deal: "We are pleased to have been a trusted advisor to AGS throughout this transaction. The partnership of AGS and ATS Traffic combines two best-in-class in traffic control service and technology companies to deliver on customer needs throughout a growing and competitive traffic control and road safety industry." ACT Capital Advisors' deal team consisted of Managing Director Matthew Latimer and Associate Jack Welch. AGS's Press Release About Advanced Government Services, Inc. Based in Tacoma, Washington, Advanced Government Services has delivered traffic control and road safety services since 2003. We come to work every day with one goal: "To get people through our work zones safely and efficiently. We're committed to Working Hard at Playing It Safe.TM" For more information, visit www.advancedgovernmentservices.com. About ATS Traffic Since 1966, ATS Traffic has helped organizations and communities keep workers, motorists, and pedestrians safe on our roads. With 9 locations across Canada and over 15,000 products in its inventory, ATS Traffic designs and implements customized safety solutions for traffic control, On-Street Services, and work zones for specific industries and project scopes. As a 3M Authorized Fabricator and Certified Digital Fabricator, ATS Traffic is Canada's leading sign and barricade manufacturer as well as an award-winning provider of installation services, consulting, procurement and logistics, asset management, ITS solution architecture, and drafting and design services. For more information, visit www.atstraffic.ca. About ACT Capital Advisors ACT Capital Advisors is a premier mergers & acquisitions firm representing middle-market companies across all industries. ACT has a 30-year history of deal-making, closing 250+ transactions, and unlocking over $2.0 billion in wealth for its clients. For more information, visit https://actcapitaladvisors.com . SOURCE ACT Capital Advisors Award recognizes promotion, retention, recruitment and support of military employees HANOVER, Md., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Actalent, a leading engineering and sciences services and talent solutions company, today announced that it has been named a 2023 Military Friendly Employer. The annual designationinformed by survey data collected from service-disabled, veteran-owned company Viqtoryrecognizes a select group of organizations for their commitments, efforts and successes in creating sustainable and meaningful opportunities for the military community. The award comes as Actalent continues to expand its DE&I strategy to foster a more inclusive workforce, which includes initiatives to hire, promote, retain and support military talent. To that end, Actalent provides a wide range of resources for military employees, including competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, counseling services, family support, and employee resource groups (ERGs). "It's heartening to see that our ongoing efforts to support the military community have not gone unnoticed," said Chad Gieg, Regional Vice President and Executive Sponsor of the Military and First Responders ERG at Actalent. "This designation also underscores our commitment to our partners and employees within the aerospace and defense sectors, as well as the military government agencies with whom we workand we're thrilled to join ranks with the other organizations that have received this honor." This year, Actalent exceeded Viqtory's benchmark standards in the following categories: Recruiting and sourcing Policies and compliance Support and retention Culture and commitment Opportunity and advancement Hiring and onboarding "From the very beginning, Actalent has championed the unique and diverse skillsets that the military community brings to the workforce," added Olakunle Arowolo, Director of DE&I at Actalent. "Our leadership team has consistently gone above and beyond to craft an inclusive culture for these employeesbe they active duty, reserve duty or former service members. That's because at Actalent, we know supporting military talent isn't just the right thing to doit also helps us better serve our clients with the specialized experience and skills these professionals bring to the table. We're proud to call our current and former military employees part of the Actalent family." About Actalent Actalent connects passion with purpose. We're supporting critical engineering and sciences initiatives that advance how companies serve the world. With almost 40 years of experience, our scalable engineering and sciences services and talent solutions provide the expertise our customers need to achieve more. Actalent's global footprint and flexible delivery models ensure access to specialized talent where and when you need it. Follow us on LinkedIn and learn more at actalentservices.com . Actalent is an operating company of Allegis Group, the global leader in talent solutions. SOURCE Actalent In collaboration with renowned Nigerian medical illustrator Chidiebere Ibe, Illustrate Change aims to address the lack of representation in medical imagery amongst individuals in underrepresented racial and ethnic groups NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Deloitte is proud to announce the launch of "Illustrate Change," a project that seeks to build momentum around representation in medical illustrations and reduce health disparities among people of color, in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson. With its launch, Illustrate Change will immediately make available 25 diverse medical illustrations. The illustrations showcase the work and unique vision of Chidiebere Ibe. Ibe's impactful Black fetus-in-womb illustration sparked a global conversation about representation in medical images in 2022. His work, alongside that of many other noteworthy medical illustrators, inspired this collaborative effort. Illustrate Change aims to build the largest library of diverse medical illustrations and demonstrates a commitment to address the lack of representation in medical imagery. "The launch of Illustrate Change marks a step forward toward a more representative medical education system. Illustrations are an important visual tool used in both medical and patient education," said Chidiebere Ibe, chief medical Illustrator of Illustrate Change. "I'm proud my illustrations will play a vital role in continuing to raise awareness of gaps in the representation of medical images. Closing these gaps helps avoid implicit bias within healthcare settings and increases awareness of how conditions present on different skin tones, which could have very critical implications for health outcomes. I hope these images inspire future generations of medical illustrators." Currently, less than 5% of medical images show dark skin. Only 8% of medical illustrators identify as people of color. The Illustrate Change digital library, made possible by a grant from the Johnson & Johnson 'Our Race to Health Equity' commitment, will house a collection of diverse medical illustrations across a range of health conditions. The library will continue to grow and evolve, reflecting a more representative patient population. The initial 25 images will represent 23 conditions across dermatology, maternal health, eye disease, oncology, general health, orthopedics, and hematology. The Deloitte Health Equity Institute, in collaboration with Deloitte Digital, played a crucial role in helping to bring Illustrate Change to life. Inspired by the power of illustrations such as Chidiebere Ibe's Black fetus in-womb, the Deloitte Digital team saw the need for a digital library that would increase diversity in the world of medical illustrations. Driven by the movement, the team connected the Deloitte Health Equity Institute and Johnson & Johnson with the proposal and led the development of the digital library. Healthcare leaders within the Deloitte Health Equity Institute shaped the strategic direction of the program, led cross-sector collaboration, and facilitated the medical review process alongside Johnson & Johnson. "Illustrate Change is essential in addressing health disparities and achieving health equity. By increasing diversity in medical illustrations, we can help improve medical education, reduce bias, and ultimately provide better, safer, and higher quality care for everyone," said Dr. Jay Bhatt, managing director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions and Deloitte Health Equity Institute. "Deloitte is proud to be part of this much needed movement and to contribute our unique expertise across creativity, healthcare, and digital innovation." To further support the mission of Illustrate Change, Johnson & Johnson has engaged the Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI) to offer the AMI Diversity Fellowship. This fellowship program will nurture the training and education of 10 medical artists, encouraging them to create 100 new medical illustrations featuring patients of color over the next year. "The lack of representation in medical imagery is an issue that directly impacts communities of color and their relationship with the healthcare system. This can lead to feelings of not being seen, and continue potential mistrust among communities of color," said Vanessa Broadhurst, executive vice president of Global Corporate Affairs for Johnson & Johnson. "The AMI Diversity Fellowship is a unique component of Johnson & Johnson's commitment to addressing racial biases in medicine, increasing representation in healthcare, and promoting health equity so that all communities can thrive." "Nurturing the training and education of medical artists from diverse backgrounds will naturally result in healthcare visuals that more accurately reflect the diverse patient population," said Jill Gregory, president of the Association of Medical Illustrators. "Over time the Fellowship will endeavor to bring greater visibility to issues of health equity and increase the pipeline of medical and scientific illustrators from under-represented communities of color. This fellowship can not only amplify the voices of underrepresented communities but also contribute to the promotion of health equity and improved patient care." The Deloitte Health Equity Institute was established because of the stark inequities illuminated by COVID-19 and businesses had to lean in with other stakeholders to advance health equity as a moral and economic imperative. DHEI is addressing disparities in the drivers of health, racism/bias, and structural flaws in the health system. DHEI is focused on investing in programs to directly improve people's lives, drive new approaches and tools to advance health equity, and activate key decision makers to help ensure that our health ecosystem is advancing health equity as an imperative. By advancing health equity, Deloitte aims to help everyone achieve their full potential in health and well-being, fostering a more equitable society. About Deloitte Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500 and more than 7,000 private companies. Our people come together for the greater good and work across the industry sectors that drive and shape today's marketplace delivering measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to see challenges as opportunities to transform and thrive, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthier society. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them. Building on more than 175 years of service, our network of member firms spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte's approximately 415,000 people worldwide connect for impact at www.deloitte.com. Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the "Deloitte" name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms. SOURCE Deloitte Consulting LLP Increase in efforts of government to deploy AI technology and secured and convenient data storage, drives the growth of the global AI trust, risk and security management market. PORTLAND, Ore., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "AI trust, Risk and Security Management Market by Component (Solution and Services), Deployment Mode (On-premise and Cloud), Enterprise Size (Large Enterprise and Small and Medium-sized Enterprise), Industry Vertical (IT and Telecom, BFSI, Manufacturing, Retail and E-commerce, Healthcare, Government, and Others), and Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2032" According to the report, the global generated $ 1.7 billion in 2022, and is estimated to reach $7.4 billion by 2032, witnessing a CAGR of 16.2% from 2023 to 2032. The report offers a detailed analysis of changing market trends, top segments, key investment pockets, value chains, regional landscapes, and competitive scenarios. Drivers, Restraints, and Opportunities Factors such as increase in efforts of government to deploy AI technology and secured and convenient data storage primarily drive the growth of the AI trust, risk and security management market. However, comprehensive ethical norms as a foundation for Al and insufficient awareness of Al hamper market growth to some extent. Moreover, Al may dramatically lessen gender-prejudice and are expected to provide lucrative opportunities for market growth during the forecast period. Download Sample Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/98010 Report coverage & details: Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20232032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 $1,692.53 Million Market Size in 2032 $7,397.28 Million CAGR 16.2 % No. of Pages in Report 346 Segments covered Component, Deployment Mode, Enterprise Size, Industry Vertical, and Region. Drivers Secured and convenient data storage Increasing efforts of government to deploy AI technology Opportunities Al can dramatically lessen gender-based prejudice Restraints Insufficient awareness of Al Comprehensive ethical norms as a foundation for Al Covid-19 scenario- As it has decimated the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on a variety of business. Moreover, during the pandemic condition, remote work offers substantial security hazards in addition to productivity issues. Modern technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) were required by a number of industries, including healthcare, the automobile industry, and others. Big Data and analytics are now used to anticipate and address the future challenges of COVID-19 crisis. In order to handle the pandemic and make suitable recommendations in real-time to stop its spread, the healthcare sectors urgently needed decision-making technology. Buy Complete Report (346 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures) at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/ai-trust-risk-and-security-management-ai-trism-market/purchase-options The solution segment to rule the market By component, the solution segment held the major share in 2022, garnering nearly one-third of the global AI trust, risk and security management market revenue, owing to privacy-preserving techniques to enable organizations to leverage AI while protecting sensitive information. Moreover, techniques such as differential privacy, secure multi-party computation, and encryption allow data to be analyzed without compromising individual privacy. The services segment would also showcase the fastest CAGR of 18.4% during the forecast period, owing to help organizations assess, implement, and manage AI-related security measures. These services provide guidance, expertise, and support in addressing the challenges and risks associated with AI adoption. The on-premise segment to maintain its dominance during the forecast period By deployment mode, the on-premise segment contributed to the highest share in 2022, accounting around one-third of the global AI trust, risk and security management market revenue, owing data privacy, compliance and regulatory requirements and protection against insider threats in the organization. This is attributed to trust, risk, and security management that play a crucial role in ensuring business continuity by implementing robust backup strategies, disaster recovery plans, and resilience measures. The cloud segment would also showcase the fastest CAGR of 19.4% throughout the forecast period, owing to the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of AI systems and data. Key factors related to the cloud segment in AI trust, risk and security management are storage, data protection, secure infrastructure and identity and access management. The large enterprise segment to maintain its dominance during the forecast period By enterprise size, the large enterprise segment contributed to the highest share in 2022, accounting around two-third of the global AI trust, risk and security management market revenue, owing to increased establish accountability and ensure compliance with internal policies, industry standards, and regulatory requirements. Large organizations may enhance the trustworthiness and security of their AI systems and mitigate the risks associated with AI adoption by addressing these aspects effectively. The small and medium-sized enterprise segment would also showcase the fastest CAGR of 18.4% throughout the forecast period, owing to the trustworthiness and security of their AI systems and mitigate the risks associated with AI adoption by addressing these aspects effectively. The IT and telecom segment to dominate by 2032 By industry vertical, the IT and telecom segment accounted for nearly two-fifth of the global AI trust, risk and security management market share in 2022, and is expected to rule the boost by 2032, owing to robustness, availability, and resilience of 5G network platforms are being given more attention to accommodate innovative commercial and mission-critical use cases. The manufacturing segment would also display the fastest CAGR of 20.4% throughout the forecast period, owing to the manufacturer to better anticipate trends and keep a close eye on their processes and production capacity. Nevertheless, it allows them to base such decisions on more accurate real-time data. Asia-Pacific garnered the major share in 2022 Region-wise, North America garnered the highest share in 2022, holding nearly one-third of the global AI trust, risk and security management market revenue in 2022, and is projected to retain its dominance by 2032, owing to the increase in adoption and growth of advanced and latest technology, such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML). The integrated smart processes and breakthroughs of technical developments have entirely revolutionized the landscape of the IT industry and, in turn, encouraged the drive for the implementation of efficient and secure AI solutions. The Asia-Pacific region would also portray the fastest CAGR of 18.6% during the forecast period, owing to strong technological capabilities, encouraging governmental regulations on advanced technologies such as AI, ML, automation and IoT. Enquiry Before Buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/98010 Leading Market Players- International Business Machines Corporation SAP SE SAS Institute Inc. Oracle Corporation Rapid7 At&T Intellectual Property LogicManager, Inc. ServiceNow Moody's Analytics, Inc. Rsa Security LLC. The report analyzes these key players in the global AI trust, risk and security management 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, developments, and product portfolios of every market player. 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Get an access to the library of reports at any time from any device and anywhere. For more details, follow the link: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/library-access 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. 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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/information-and-communication-technology-and-media Follow Us on Blog: https://www.technologyplz.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Allied Market Research SAINT PAUL, Minn., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- All Energy Solar, a solar installation leader in five states, has added a sixth state to the company's service areas . In 2023, Illinois joins the list with other Midwestern states Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and New England states Massachusetts and New Hampshire. As All Energy Solar continues to thrive, the company is taking the opportunity to bring high-quality solar solutions to more communities. All Energy Solar began operations about 14 years ago, and since then, the solar installation company has enjoyed success in a volatile industry. Brothers Michael and Brian Allen founded All Energy Solar in 2009 in their solar-friendly home state of Wisconsin and have expanded from there. As the company grew, Minnesota and Iowa were natural fits because of their proximity to where it all started. Additionally, operations skipped a few states over to the East Coast in Massachusetts and New Hampshire , largely due to favorable solar policies. All Energy Solar boasts commercial projects throughout the United States and beyond . Michael Allen, CEO and Co-Founder of All Energy Solar , commented on the reason for the move stating, "Illinois has an appreciation for solar, and the state has been friendly when it comes to solar policies. Since the beginning, we have wanted to spread the benefits of solar to more people and positively impact the world. Growing into new markets is an excellent way to carry out that mission, so it made sense to bring our solar skills to Illinois." The choice for All Energy Solar to enter Illinois came with a lot of forethought. The Northern part of Illinois, where most of their work will be focused, is close to the company's facilities in Wisconsin, making it easily accessible to existing installation crews as All Energy Solar establishes itself in the state. Illinois solar incentives were another major reason for the decision. Programs such as Illinois Solar for All, Illinois Shines, the state's net-metering policies, or even the utility-specific rebates available have proven local acceptance of solar energy. "I have full confidence that through the hard work and dedication of our team, this transition into Illinois will go smoothly," said Allen. "The excitement from the company is felt all around as employees are looking forward to the new opportunities and challenges that will come from working in a new state." All Energy Solar has had plenty to celebrate this year. In February, the company placed third in the 2023 Solar Games . In May, the organization reached a milestone of 100 megawatts of solar installed . Already in June, All Energy Solar announced an expansion of its Saint Paul, Minnesota, headquarters . About All Energy Solar All Energy Solar is a full-service solar energy solutions provider for residential, commercial, agricultural, and government customers seeking to make the transition to solar energy. With industry-leading certifications and full electrical and building licenses, All Energy Solar installs quality solar power systems with excellent customer service throughout the experience and after installation. www.allenergysolar.com SOURCE All Energy Solar, Inc EMMAUS, Pa., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Altitude Marketing, an integrated marketing agency serving B2B companies for more than 19 years, recently announced a partnership with Libre Technologies Inc., the world's first and only graph-based manufacturing data hub built specifically to the ANSI/ISA-95 standard. We are incredibly excited that after an extensive agency search, Libre selected us as their global marketing partner. Tweet this Libre Technologies Press Release Libre is a first-of-its-kind platform that helps manufacturers create a real-time, unified data model of their entire operation a data-driven representation of what's happening at every layer of business, from materials and machinery to people and processes, without silos. Using Libre, a manufacturing firm can better understand the relationships between and across every node of information it produces, and rapidly harness that knowledge to continuously improve everything from performance to quality to execution. Until now, data harmonization and speed-to-insight of this kind has been virtually unattainable for manufacturers, which rely on heavily siloed, monolithic systems that keep data trapped. Libre is an entirely different beast: It's built on a graph-based microservices architecture; it's fully and natively compliant with ANSI/ISA-95 the industry standard "common language" for manufacturing enterprise control systems; and it's powered by an entirely novel, event-driven workflow modeling engine. The unique combination allows manufacturers to transcend legacy data barriers and create a far more granular, and thus, far more accurate, moving picture of what is currently happening in their operation. With locations in the US, UK, and Australia, Libre serves a worldwide client base of manufacturers across biopharma, life sciences, food and beverage, consumer packaged goods, and more. The partnership with Altitude will transform the platform's visual and verbal identity and bring the brand to a hungry manufacturing market. "Libre needs a naming, branding and messaging refresh with a focus on delivering thought leadership to the life sciences market," said Kirt Anderson, CEO of Libre Technologies, Inc. "Altitude's experience in the Life Sciences and the Manufacturing sector as well as their in-house capabilities in renaming, rebranding and website design, make them the perfect partner to transform our brand." "With their innovative, scalable approach to data management and hard-to-argue-with value proposition for manufacturers especially in the life sciences Libre is a great fit with Altitude," said Altitude Marketing CEO, Andrew Stanten. "We are incredibly excited that after an extensive agency search, Libre selected us as their global marketing partner to help take the firm to the next level. A lot of companies boast about the uniqueness of their solutions a perception that is often based more on hope, marketing spin, and lack of market awareness than reality. Libre is the real deal. They are poised to revolutionize manufacturing in the Life Sciences and beyond." About Altitude Marketing Altitude Marketing is a modern, data driven, full-service B2B marketing agency that serves national and global technology-oriented companies in enterprise software, life sciences, biotechnology and established manufacturing. For more than 19 years, Altitude has thrived working with technology-oriented clients who have complex offerings and operate in regulated spaces. Ideally located between New York and Philadelphia in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, Altitude works with clients from all over the United States and Europe, providing a full suite of integrated marketing services: strategy, branding, messaging, web development, digital marketing, content marketing, lead generation, SEO, public relations, trade shows, social media, sales enablement, advertising, marketing automation, data analytics, channel support and more. Learn more at altitudemarketing.com or follow us on Linkedin , Facebook , Twitter and Instagram . Media Contact: Ziera Soda [email protected] SOURCE ALTITUDE MARKETING The Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest was able to take three Ukrainian prisoners of war out of Hungary, the soldiers are already on Ukrainian territory, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (MFA) Oleh Nikolenko said. "The Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest managed to take three Ukrainian prisoners of war out of Hungary. They are already on Ukrainian territory, they are receiving all kinds of support," Nikolenko said on Facebook. He said Ukrainian diplomats, together with the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and other involved bodies of Ukraine, continue to take active measures to return home the rest of the Ukrainian defenders evacuated from Russia to Hungary. On June 19, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikolenko said attempts by the Ukrainian side to establish a constructive dialogue with the Hungarian authorities are ignored by official diplomatic channels. "All attempts by Ukrainian diplomats over the past few days to establish direct contact with Ukrainian citizens have not been successful. This, as well as information received from relatives of some of them, indicates that the assurances of the Hungarian authorities about the allegedly free status of Ukrainian defenders in Hungary do not correspond to the reality. In fact, they are kept in isolation, do not have access to open sources of information, their communication with relatives takes place in the presence of third parties, they are denied contact with the Ukrainian embassy," Nikolenko said on Facebook. On June 16, Commissioner for Missing Persons in Special Circumstances Oleh Kotenko announced that the whereabouts of 11 Ukrainian captured defenders held in Hungary, who were previously prisoners of war in Russia, had been established. On June 9, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikolenko said the Hungarian charge d'affaires had been invited to the Foreign Ministry for a substantive discussion on the transfer of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russia to Hungary. According to him, from the public statements of the Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister, Ukraine learned that Russia handed over 11 Ukrainians of Hungarian origin to Budapest. PARIS, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- American Airlines has signed a firm order with Embraer for seven new E175s. The aircraft will be operated by American's wholly owned subsidiary, Envoy Air. With deliveries to begin Q4 2023, Envoy's fleet of E-Jets will grow to over 141 aircraft by the end of 2024. The contract value is US$403.4 million at list price and will be included in Embraer's 2023 Q2 backlog. "Our journey with Embraer began 25 years ago with the ERJ145, and our partnership continues to grow today as we take these additional aircraft and grow our all-Ejet fleet. Not only are our customers happy with the aircraft, but the jet's outstanding performance and reliability has allowed us to continue to provide excellent service to American Airlines and the thousands of customers we serve every day", said Pedro Fabregas, President & CEO of Envoy. This new order further demonstrates the importance of the E175 to connectivity across the United States, despite the constraints currently affecting the US regional sector. We thank American Airlines and Envoy for their long partnership with Embraer." said Arjan Meijer, CEO and President, Embraer Commercial Aviation, said, "It's hard to exaggerate the impact this hardworking aircraft has every day, delivering essential, dependable service, and an economic lifeline to communities across the North American market. The E175 is the backbone of the US regional network, with over 620 aircraft sold, and 86% market share since 2013". The E175 entered service in North America in 2005, and has since come to dominate the sector, due to its comfort, high performance, and efficiency. Customers like Embraer's trademark two-by-two seating, meaning no one must endure a middle seat. To date, the worldwide E170/E175 fleet has accumulated over 18 million flight hours with Envoy having flown 1.1 million of these hours. Aircraft Images: https://embraer.imagerelay.com/ml/4f5c75f564fe45fda4f84099030b7ad1 Follow us on Twitter: @Embraer About Embraer Embraer (B3: EMBR3, NYSE: ERJ) is a global aerospace company headquartered in Brazil. It manufactures aircraft for Commercial and Executive aviation, Defense & Security, and Agricultural customers. The company also provides after-sales services & support through a worldwide network of wholly owned entities and authorized agents. Since it was founded in 1969, Embraer has delivered more than 8,000 aircraft. On average, about every 10 seconds an aircraft manufactured by Embraer takes off somewhere in the world, transporting over 145 million passengers a year. Embraer is the leading manufacturer of commercial jets up to 150 seats and is the main exporter of high value-added goods in Brazil. The company maintains industrial units, offices, service and parts distribution centers across the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Embraer's APAC headquarters is located in Singapore and its China headquarters is in Beijing. About Envoy Air Envoy Air Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines Group, operates more than 130 Embraer aircraft on 700 daily flights to over 160 destinations throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas and Caribbean. The company's 19,000 employees provide regional flight service to American Airlines under the American Eagle brand and ground handling services for many American Airlines Group flights. The company was founded in 1998 as American Eagle Airlines, Inc., following the merger of several smaller regional carriers to create one of the largest regional airlines in the world. Envoy is headquartered in Irving, Texas, with hubs in Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago, and Miami, with a large ground handling operation in Los Angeles. Connect with Envoy on Twitter @EnvoyAirCareers, on Instagram @EnvoyAirCareers, and on Facebook at facebook.com/envoyaircareers SOURCE Embraer S.A. SHENZHEN, China, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As International Day of Yoga approaches on June 21st, AMIRO, a leading beauty and skincare technology brand, is embracing the occasion to build awareness around the benefits of Yoga. Especially the increasingly popular Face Yoga, it is an exercise that many people incorporate into their daily routines to help maintain youth, vitality and beauty. By partnering with multiple expert face yoga practitioners including Blush with me-Parmita, AMIRO aims to promote a more efficient and simplified way of practicing facial yoga. AMIRO - Face yoga practitioners To celebrate this event, AMIRO reintroduced its latest range of products that can act as the perfect partner to a great Yoga routine. With innovative products such as the R1 and S1, which are known as facial skin tightening devices, AMIRO aims to provide individuals with enhanced and individualized skincare solutions that complement their daily facial exercise routine. Face Yoga has gained popularity for its ability to tone facial muscles and rejuvenate the face's youthful appearance. Recognizing the potential to maximize benefits for practitioners, AMIRO identified the importance of providing suitable skincare tools to serve as an effective supplement for their daily practices. "Yoga, with its holistic approach to integrating the mind and body, enables individuals to restore their energy and face the complexities of the world with strength," said Ke Li, CIO of AMIRO. "AMIRO's philosophy aligns with the principles of yoga, as it does not believe in reversing time. Instead, we empower women to have the courage to combat the effects of aging and embrace their natural beauty." AMIRO products, specifically its Radio Frequency (RF) devices, possess key features that make them ideal companions for facial exercises. Firstly, its EMS (Electrical Muscle Stimulation) treatment provides instant lifting results by toning facial muscles, visibly firming the skin and reducing fine lines and wrinkles. Secondly, the RF treatment emits waves that stimulate collagen production, leading to a tighter skin and the disappearance of wrinklesreducing fine lines by up to 32.6% in just 28 days. Additionally, the inclusion of infrared light and red light works on deep layers of the skin, enhancing elasticity, improving microcirculation, and promoting a healthy glow. These four treatments synergistically deliver a quadruple effect on facial layers, allowing for both short-term and long-term face lifting results while improving overall skin texture. "Our philosophy at AMIRO is deeply rooted in empowering individuals to embrace their natural beauty and to feel confident in their skin," continued Ke Li. "Just as yoga allows us to restore balance and harmony within ourselves, our facial devices can be used to complement facial exercises, helping individuals achieve their skincare goals. We understand that aging is a natural process, and our goal is to provide the tools and confidence for individuals to age gracefully." As a brand, AMIRO's product concept mainly revolves around accessibility, innovation, and enhancing skincare efficiency. By empowering individuals to embrace their natural beauty, AMIRO products offer convenient and efficient skincare solutions. Specifically for Face Yoga practitioners, the highlighted products are perfectly suited to enhance the benefits of facial exercises. With AMIRO, individuals can cultivate a harmonious connection between their inner well-being and their radiant, healthy skin. For more information about AMIRO and its range of facial devices, please visit their official website. Or connect with them on social media: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amiroglobal/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AMIRO-Global-103502195623795/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@amiroglobal/featured Media Contact: [email protected] About AMIRO AMIRO, a beauty and skincare technology brand founded in 2015, has been delivering joy and harmony through its technologically advanced home beauty and personal care electronic products. With over 38 international design awards, AMIRO is your trusted skincare partner that offers portable, short-acting, and long-lasting solutions to improve skincare efficiency. Upholding the idea of "Revitalize beauty through science", AMIRO's products are designed to be affordable, high-quality, and supported by clinical data. With a commitment to sustainability and innovation, AMIRO is dedicated to providing skincare solutions that make women of all ages feel confident and beautiful. SOURCE AMIRO PERTH, Australia, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Andrew and Nicola Forrest have given nearly A$5 billion more to their philanthropic foundation Minderoo, through a donation of 220 million Fortescue shares - one fifth of their shareholding. This brings the Foundation's endowment to about A$7.6 billion and enables the substantial investment to be deployed for greater public benefit. It continues the Forrests' pledge to donate their material wealth creating lasting change and the greatest possible good. Minderoo Foundation will continue to grow its philanthropic work and be sustained for many decades to come, to help meet the huge challenges which society and humanity face. Minderoo's soon to be announced 2030 Strategy will enable the Foundation to deepen its focus and make a greater impact in the face of looming global challenges such as climate change and economic disruption. ''As our world faces enormous challenges, we have elected to continue to use our material wealth to help humanity and the environment meet these existential risks," Dr Andrew Forrest AO said. "Accumulating wealth should only be a small part of a person. Their contribution to their family and society is way more important. Other skills such as carpentry, farming, the arts, working in construction, or for government are equally as important. If you happen to be good at accumulating wealth, then I believe in using that skill for the greater good. "This is why we will continue to donate our wealth to causes where we can make a sustainable difference." Nicola Forrest AO said the latest donation will directly result in real change for Minderoo's beneficiaries. "These are tough times for many Australians, and of course for many people right around the world. I believe we all need to do what we can with what we have, so I am pleased that the transfer of these shares will escalate our efforts to help those who need it most," Mrs Forrest said. "From the outset and over the past 22 years, we have remained focused on supporting families to ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential - as children are our future. "This donation is a further expression of our unwavering passion to help and in conjunction with our new strategy, will see Minderoo provide more significant support in a focused manner, empower our partners to deliver change and ignite collective and purposeful action including for vulnerable communities, our oceans and gender equality." In 2013, the Forrests' were the first Australians to sign the Giving Pledge, committing to give away the vast majority of their wealth in their lifetimes. SOURCE Minderoo Foundation DUBAI, UAE, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today marks the conclusion of the third edition of the A.R.M. Holding Children's Programme. This cultural education programme is the largest of its kind in the UAE, aimed at inspiring the next generation of creative minds and cultivating a passion for art and culture. The 2023 edition grew 64%, reaching more than 9000 students across the country. A.R.M. Holding Children's Programme concludes its third edition, reaching more than 9000 students across the UAE. Photo courtesy of Art Dubai. (PRNewsfoto/Art Dubai) The first-of-its-kind programme is developed by private investment firm A.R.M. Holding, in partnership with Art Dubai. The initiative seeks to empower the new generation with an understanding of the arts, reinforcing Dubai's position as a global capital of culture and innovation. With creative programming conceived by international artists, each edition is designed to inspire the UAE's young minds by offering specially curated workshops at Art Dubai every spring, followed by bespoke classroom experiences. His Excellency Mohammad Saeed Al Shehhi, CEO of A.R.M. Holding, said: "In a diverse community of over 200 nationalities, art is a bridge that can connect us on a deeper level, fostering communication, understanding, and empathy. By integrating the arts both in and out of the classroom, we can equip students with the tools they need to think innovatively and solve problems creatively. Our programme has grown tremendously, increasing this year's outreach to 64% compared to 2022. Over the years, we have engaged 1,800 children from 70 schools in the first edition, 5,500 students in 80 schools in the second edition, to over 9,000 students from 90 schools this year. We sincerely hope this programme can be extended further, serving as an integral component of the UAE curriculum." Each year, the programme themes the workshops complementary to the UAE priorities. In its inaugural edition in 2021, design duo Studio Sain tested innovative ideas on constructing a sustainable community in outer space and had the children create an alternative living habitat on a fictional version of the moon through the 'Noom Project.' This was in line with the UAE's space mission to Mars as the first Emirati embarks on space travel. As the UAE leads the way in sustainable development, Kenyan artist Cyrus Kabiru conducted 'Art of Recycle' workshops in 2022. Designed to challenge perspectives and demonstrate how everyday objects can be given a new lease of life, the children repurposed everyday materials from their homes and schools creatively. In 2023, the A.R.M. Holding Children's Programme's third edition selected Swedish visual artist Jacob Dahlgren. Drawing inspiration from his Signs of Abstraction project, he developed a series of workshops designed for children aged from 5 to 17. The aim was to foster teamwork skills while promoting creative and abstract thinking about their environments. The children created collages from everyday materials, pieced together to form colourful tapestries and flags. The programme culminates with an exhibition of the children's artwork at schools, demonstrating the potential of abstract engagement with our surroundings and the power of collaboration towards a common goal. Mona Mahmood, Art Teacher at Al Sadiq Islamic English School Dubai, said: "The workshop provided our students with a unique platform to explore their creativity and reflect upon the significance of flags as symbols of identity, unity, and diversity. The program has not only enriched their academic pursuits but also fostered a sense of confidence, self-expression, and appreciation for different cultures. We extend our sincerest appreciation to A.R.M. Holding and Art Dubai for spearheading this initiative and providing a transformative experience for our students. The Flag Project has become an integral part of our school's artistic endeavours, and we eagerly look forward to future collaborations and opportunities to further empower our students through art education. We wholeheartedly endorse this programme and its commitment to nurturing young artistic minds." Benedetta Ghione, Executive Director of Art Dubai, said: "We are humbled by the growth of the A.R.M. Holding Children's Programme, which has been successfully incorporated into Art Dubai's education programme. The positive response has enabled us to continue engaging with the community beyond the fair. It is exciting to see the immense creativity that young minds can unleash through their art." Schools may express their interest in participating in the next edition through [email protected]. Media Contacts Art Dubai UAE / MENA: Sheila Tobias | [email protected] | +971 55 567 4158 Full press kit, with high-res images, is available to view/download here: http://bitly.ws/Io2z About A.R.M. Holding A.R.M. Holding is a private investment firm and multi-focused economic enabler that creates synergies and opportunities through local, regional and global investments. At the core of the company's business strategy is its commitment to impactful investments, actively employing its resources to advance society and empower its players to pursue innovative solutions and inspire a better future. It collaborates with like-minded organizations and leverages its network and partnerships to create meaningful relationships and growth opportunities. A.R.M. Holding's investments are focused on tech-enabled industries and sophisticated technologies around the world that demonstrate strong potential for long-term positive social impact. It also holds equity stakes in some of Dubai's foremost companies in a variety of sectors including Banking, Telecom, FMCG, Real Estate, and Hospitality. A.R.M. Holding has contributed to society with significant investments in numerous industries and versatile projects. In 2021, it became the first corporate patron of the Dubai Collection, the first institutional art collection in the emirate of Dubai. To learn more about A.R.M. Holding, please visit: www.armholding.ae About Art Dubai Founded in 2007, Art Dubai is the premier platform to see and buy modern and contemporary art from the Global South. Across its Contemporary, Modern and Digital gallery sections, annual artist commissions and year-round collector and education programmes, Art Dubai champions art and artists from across the Global South, providing a relevant and increasingly important alternative to mainstream, largely Western-led narratives. The preeminent international art fair in the Middle East, Art Dubai has established itself as a regional cultural hub and an increasingly important meeting point for the Global South's art world. The city has experienced unprecedented growth over the last 10 years and the fair welcomes top collecting and institutional audiences from the UAE, the region and internationally. Art Dubai has an extensive year-round education and commissioning year-round programme, carried out in collaboration with local and regional partners and delivering ambitious cultural programming across the city. A core component of this is its flagship initiative, Campus Art Dubai (CAD), now on its 10th edition. CAD was the first programme of its kind in the region, developed to provide existing and aspiring members of the region's cultural and creative community with educational and professional opportunities. The annual programme offers a special curriculum that provides UAE-based talents with a platform to develop their artistic skills. During the fair, Art Dubai organises extensive school tours, enabling children to visit and participate in a carefully curated trail. Art Dubai is held in partnership with A.R.M. Holding. The fair is sponsored by Swiss Wealth Management Group Julius Baer. Culturally rich developer HUNA is a partner of Art Dubai. The Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) is the fair's strategic partner. Madinat Jumeirah is the home of Art Dubai. artdubai.ae Facebook | Instagram | Twitter #ArtDubai #ArtDubai2024 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2101928/Art_Dubai.jpg SOURCE Art Dubai VANCOUVER, BC, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Asep Medical Holdings Inc. ("Asep Inc." or the "Company") (CSE: ASEP) (OTCQB: SEPSF) (FSE: JJ8) is delighted to announce that the Company's Founder, Chair and CEO has recently been ranked as the 4th Best Microbiologist in the World (1st in Canada) according to www.research.com, a leading scientific research portal based in Southampton, England. The rankings are based on the D-index for each of the scientists, which considers publications and their citation values, as well as the number of publications in scientific journals. The rankings were published on the research.com website in early May 2023. Dr. Robert E. W. Hancock Founder, Chair and CEO of Asep Medical Holdings Inc. (CNW Group/ASEP Medical Holdings Inc.) In addition to the research.com honour, Dr. Hancock was also installed as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) based in Tampa, Florida. The NAI Fellows Program was established to highlight academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society. Dr. Hancock will be travelling to Washington, DC, on June 25, 2023, to accept his Fellowship at the NAI's annual meeting. The Company's COO, Tim Murphy, commented, "The Asep board and team would like to congratulate Dr. Hancock for these prestigious honours. We are fortunate to have his leadership at Asep as Founder, Chair and CEO and be able to advance the research and innovations of the Hancock Lab to address global health issues, like Sepsis, and other unmet medical needs." ASEP INC. ADDS LOUISE ROSE PACINI TO THE ADVISORY BOARD Asep Inc. is very pleased to announce the addition of Louise Rose Pacini to the Company's advisory board, effective June 6, 2023. Ms. Pacini is a healthcare and technology-focused professional with extensive operations expertise. She offers extensive knowledge in diagnostic and therapeutic clinical trial research, with a focus on data modelling and data set creation to predict patient outcomes following diagnosis and treatment. She has an established track record of partnering with C-suite leaders to identify, execute and accelerate business priorities. Her experience leading operations, project management, human resources, professional services and support has given her unique insights into streamlining business processes for both life science and enterprise technology corporations. She also has experience in designing and leveraging product telemetry to gain customer and marketplace insights. Louise has spent years building global relationships with venture capital and C-suite in both the tech and pharma industries. Founder, Chair and CEO of Asep Inc., Dr. Robert E. W. Hancock, commented, "We are very fortunate to have Ms. Pacini on our advisory board as she has direct and highly relevant experience that will be invaluable as we move closer to commercialization. The whole Asep team welcomes Ms. Pacini, and we look forward to working with her." In connection with the appointment, the Company has granted 93,034 stock options (the "Options") and 13,034 restricted stock units (the "RSUs") to receive or purchase, as applicable, up to 106,068 common shares (each, a "Share") of the Company which will vest in accordance with the Stock Option Plan and Long Term Incentive Plan (together, the "Plans"), as applicable, of the Company. The RSUs are subject to a deferral right whereby the recipient can defer any vesting date at their option, on five days prior written notice to the Company and in accordance with the terms of the RSU grant notice, to the earlier of the date of a change of control of the Company and the date the holder ceases to provide services to the Company and to be an eligible participant. A copy of the Plan is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR. All of the Options and RSUs (and the Shares underlying such Options) are subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance in accordance with the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange. Asep Medical Holdings Inc., none of the securities acquired in the grant will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") and none of them may be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the 1933 Act. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state where such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful. ABOUT RESEARCH.COM Research.com is the number one research portal for scientists. The organization's mission is to make it easier for professors, research fellows, and those studying for a Ph.D. or a master's degree to progress with their research and to ensure they are always up-to-date with the latest conferences around the world and publications related to their work. ABOUT THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF INVENTORS The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) (academyofinventors.org) is a member organization comprising U.S. and international universities, governmental agencies, and non-profit research institutes. Currently, there are over 4,600 individual members, including Fellows, Senior Members, and Chapter Members, affiliated with more than 300 institutions worldwide. The NAI was founded to recognize and encourage inventors with U.S. patents, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and create a wider public understanding of how its members' inventions benefit society. ABOUT ASEP MEDICAL HOLDINGS INC. Asep Medical Holdings Inc. (asepmedical.com) is dedicated to addressing the global issue of antibiotic failure by developing novel solutions for significant unmet medical needs in human medicine. The Company is a consolidation of three existing private companies, all with technology in advanced development Sepset Biosciences Inc. (proprietary diagnostic tools to enable the early and timely identification of sepsis), ABT Innovations Inc. (broad-spectrum therapeutic agents to address multi-drug resistant biofilm infections), and SafeCoat Medical Inc. (an antibacterial peptide medical device coating technology). Sepset Biosciences Inc. (sepset.ca) is in the final stages of preparation for clinical studies and commercialization of an in vitro diagnostic test that involves a patient gene expression signature that helps assess the development of severe sepsis, one of the significant diseases leading to antibiotic failure since antibiotics are the primary initial treatment for sepsis. Sepsis was responsible for nearly 20% of all deaths on the planet in 2017 and essentially all deaths due to COVID-19 and other pandemics. The SepsetER test is a blood-based gene expression assay that is straightforward to implement, and results are obtained in about an hour after taking a blood sample in the emergency room or intensive care unit. This proprietary diagnostic technology differs from current diagnostic tests in enabling the risk assessment for progression to severe sepsis within ~60 minutes of initiating the test. Bacterial culture, the gold standard, provides results after ~15 hours but can be as long as three days. Asep Inc. believes its test will enable critical early decisions to be made by physicians regarding appropriate therapies and thus reduce overall morbidity and mortality due to sepsis. ABT Innovations Inc.'s (abtinnovations.ca) peptide technology covers a broad range of therapeutic applications, including bacterial biofilm infections (dental, wound, sinusitis, skin, medical device infections, chronic infections, lung, bladder, ear-nose and throat, orthopaedic, etc.), anti-inflammatories, anti-infective immune-modulators and vaccine adjuvants. The company is in the pre-clinical development phase for the first three indications with promising data. SafeCoat Medical Inc.'s (safecoatmedical.com) technology encompasses self-assembling polymers combined with conjugated antimicrobial peptides, which can be applied to various surfaces as antimicrobial and anti-fouling coatings. In particular, the invention relates to coatings that may be applied to multiple medical devices and implants, and feasibility has been demonstrated in animal models. The company's expertise also encompasses the methods for manufacturing and applying these anti-bacterial coatings. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "anticipates," "plan," "continue," "expect," "project," "intend," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "may," "will," "potential," "proposed," "positioned" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements include but are not limited to the successful clinical testing of our Sepsis in vitro diagnostic test and its intended filing for regulatory market authorization; the Company not receiving regulatory market authorization as planned or at all; the undertaking of pre-clinical studies on our lead therapeutic, with the expectation that this will lead to fast-track clinical trials; the timeframe for identification of sepsis with the company's products; the potential opportunities for the generation of revenue; the therapeutic benefits of the company's products; and other statements regarding the company's proposed business plans. Various assumptions were used in drawing conclusions or making the predictions contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks including the risk that the company's products may not perform as expected; that the company may not receive the requisite regulatory market authorization or results of testing; the Company's testing of the products may not be successful and market authorization may not be obtained in the estimated timelines or at all; the company may not be able to generate revenue from its products as expected or at all; the market for the company's products may not be as described in this news release; and various other risk factors identified in the Asep Medical Inc.'s prospectus dated November 9, 2021, and in the company's management discussion and analysis, available for review under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Asep Medical Inc. is under no obligation and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law. SOURCE ASEP Medical Holdings Inc. Turnkey Application Enables Integration of Valuable Neighborhood Data into Existing Sites or the Creation of Custom Branded Instances for Clients. IRVINE, Calif., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, today announced the launch of Neighborhood Navigator, a solution that empowers various industries to offer their clients comprehensive information on community, school, local amenities, and home values across the United States. ATTOM continues to offer comprehensive and efficient solutions for companies of all sizes to support complex operations and workflows. Our newest solution, Neighborhood Navigator, enables companies to implement valuable neighborhood data into their website using an iFrame or a stand-alone company branded instance with logo. The iFrame supports mapping at the zip and city geo levels for existing website integrations, while the stand-alone link guides users to a separate web page to perform address and location searches. "Our goal with this newest solution is to enhance our clients' decision-making process, empower their strategies, and provide exceptional services utilizing Neighborhood Navigator," said Todd Teta, Chief Product & Technology Officer at ATTOM. "Clients can uncover unparalleled insights into communities, schools, amenities, home values, and beyond. "Backed by the industry's most trusted property data provider, Neighborhood Navigator includes the most robust and up-to-date data in the marketplace, including: Community Information: This includes demographics, community characteristics, environment, weather, crime, and more available at zip code, city/town, and neighborhood levels. School Information: Covers most public, private, and parochial schools across the nation with school and district profiles, along with state test scores for all grade levels. Nearby Establishments: Locates the closest nearby amenities. Recent Home Sales: Offers insights on sale trends and provides access to recent actual sale transactions within the targeted search area. Home Value Estimates: Provides an estimate for the value of a property, including a confidence score and range of high and low values using ATTOM's proprietary AVM. Neighborhood Navigator provides intelligent community and neighborhood information that can be leveraged by leading real estate, media, financial, and technology companies to enhance their operations, websites, and applications, or to provide valuable insights to their customers. Real estate professionals can implement Neighborhood Navigator directly on their website, giving end users access to hyperlocal community information when shopping for a home to buy or rent. Similarly, relocation companies can utilize Neighborhood Navigator to provide clients with community insights, enabling individuals to make informed decisions about their move and feel more comfortable and familiar with their new surroundings. Discover Neighborhood Navigator Today! About ATTOM ATTOM provides premium property data to power products that improve transparency, innovation, efficiency, and disruption in a data-driven economy. ATTOM multi-sources property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, and neighborhood data for more than 155 million U.S. residential and commercial properties covering 99 percent of the nation's population. A rigorous data management process involving more than 20 steps validates, standardizes, and enhances the real estate data collected by ATTOM, assigning each property record with a persistent, unique ID the ATTOM ID. The 30TB ATTOM Data Warehouse fuels innovation in many industries including mortgage, real estate, insurance, marketing, government and more through flexible data delivery solutions that include bulk file licenses, property data APIs, real estate market trends, property navigator and more. Also, introducing our newest innovative solution, that offers immediate access and streamlines data management ATTOM Cloud. Media Contact: Christine Stricker 949.748.8428 [email protected] Data and Report Licensing: 949.502.8313 [email protected] SOURCE ATTOM Distilled from 100% Barley in Fukuoka, Japan, Umami-Forward Taste Profile Derived from Koji NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hakata, the award-winning, premium whisky, distilled and matured in Fukuoka, Japan and hailing from the Hikari Distillery (est. 1912) today announces its U.S. debut. Distilled from 100% barley and aged in sherry casks, the range includes Hakata 10-Year-Old Whisky, Hakata 12-Year-Old Whisky, Hakata 16-Year-Old Whisky and the showstopping Hakata 18-Year-Old Whisky. Imported by ImpEx Beverages, the Hakata Whiskies showcase the distilling prowess of Japanese producers. AWARD-WINNING HAKATA WHISKIES MAKE THEIR U.S. DEBUT Tweet this Hakata Whiskies Highly sought-after, Hakata Whisky is distilled and matured in Japan using 100% barley, a fraction of which is fermented with Koji - providing healthy enzymes for fermentation, and thus delivering a savory, unmistakable, Umami-enhanced patina. A distinguishing technique employed by the brand; this type of distillation is as revered as it is ancient and has been leveraged by some of the finest distillers in Japan for nearly 500 years. Known as the source of Umami, Koji is also used for production of Soy Sauce, Sake, and Miso. Created by the imaginative team at the storied Hikari Distillery, Hakata Whiskies are aged in sherry casks in both traditional and open-air warehouses, allowing the aged spirits to benefit from the unique environmental elements in the Fukuoka region. Exposure to a humid summertime climate and cold winter temperatures manifest whiskies that are bold and evolved, characterized by decadent, sherry-dominant flavor profiles. These distillation and production techniques combined render a valiant, almost classical whisky flavor profile, while retaining a coveted freshness that is truly rare. Located on the southern island of Kyushu, the historic Hikari distillery has been producing spirits since 1912. The careful craftsmanship and attention to detail in crafting Hakata's whiskies have received worldwide acclaim, including recognition recently from the highly respected Whisky Advocate, who recently awarded outstanding scores to every product in the current Hakata lineup: Hakata 18-Year-Old Whisky (SRP: $190 ) - awarded 94 points - is some of the most prized liquid hailing from the Japanese distillery. Glorious and decadent, it showcases notes of cola, dark cherry, roses, and the profound influence of sherry on the nose. On the palate, it exhibits smooth waves of savory umami, graham cracker, dates and a tart cherry. It concludes with an oak finish, complemented by notes of fresh berries and smooth vanilla. - awarded 94 points - is some of the most prized liquid hailing from the Japanese distillery. Glorious and decadent, it showcases notes of cola, dark cherry, roses, and the profound influence of sherry on the nose. On the palate, it exhibits smooth waves of savory umami, graham cracker, dates and a tart cherry. It concludes with an oak finish, complemented by notes of fresh berries and smooth vanilla. The refined Hakata 16-Year-Old Whisky (SRP: $150 ) was honored with an outstanding 96 points by Whisky Advocate - a score achieved by only seven other whiskies in the past decade, is the embodiment of a well-rounded whisky. Characterized by notes of caramelized coconut, white peach, powdered sugar and a touch of char, it's decorated with a profound scent of oak on the nose. On the palate, it delivers a hint of creamy, creme brulee, unripe pear, roasted almonds, and white raisins. was honored with an outstanding 96 points by a score achieved by only seven other whiskies in the past decade, is the embodiment of a well-rounded whisky. Characterized by notes of caramelized coconut, white peach, powdered sugar and a touch of char, it's decorated with a profound scent of oak on the nose. On the palate, it delivers a hint of creamy, creme brulee, unripe pear, roasted almonds, and white raisins. Awarded 95 points, Hakata 12-Year-Old Whisky (SRP: $100 ) is truly oak and umami defined - an enchanting, balanced whisky which on the nose delivers notes of champagne, dried plums, and sweet dates. On the palate, stewed fruit, caramelized orchard fruit, and apple cider with Sherry are demonstrated, finishing with a sweet, but slightly citrus salute. With a drawn-out finish and flush with minerality, this liquid gem is sweet, tangy, and enlightened by umami - a measured triumph of harmony and spice. is truly oak and umami defined - an enchanting, balanced whisky which on the nose delivers notes of champagne, dried plums, and sweet dates. On the palate, stewed fruit, caramelized orchard fruit, and apple cider with Sherry are demonstrated, finishing with a sweet, but slightly citrus salute. With a drawn-out finish and flush with minerality, this liquid gem is sweet, tangy, and enlightened by umami - a measured triumph of harmony and spice. Hakata 10-Year-Old Whisky (SRP: $80 ), awarded 93 points, demonstrates the full flavor and authentic, spirit-forward character that the brand is known for. Oaky and earthy, on the nose it also presents notes of lemon meringue and strawberry preserves. Ripe with rich sherry, walnuts, and sweet raspberries on the palate and culminates with notes of vanilla Oak, sherry, raisin, and orange peel. "The domestic market for World whiskies is unprecedented right now, and we are excited to bring Hakata's otherworldly flavor profile to an American audience - especially as we know umami is finally having its moment in the sun. Whisky from Japan is a formidable and well-respected category in the overall whisky scene, and our hope is that Hakata finds its rightful seat at the table," said Chris Uhde, Vice President, ImpEx Beverages. With their inimitable flavor profile, Hakata Whiskies appeal to the most discerning whisky drinker while maintaining an approachability that is dually engaging for the casual bourbon enthusiast. The complex flavors and striking textures showcase a luxurious spirit with intense aroma - a splendid achievement in balance, character, and mystique. This whiskies flavor profile positively shines when served with food, thanks to the savory umami essence which illuminates the flavors of any dish. Best served neat in pours of 1 oz. or less, Hakata is a whisky to be sipped and savored. Available on www.hakatawhisky.com , and at select retailers, bars and restaurants across the U.S, Hakata Whiskies are available in 700 ml bottles. HI-RES IMAGES and MEDIA ASSETS CAN BE FOUND HERE About ImpEx Beverages Founded in 2008 by whisky expert and Keeper of the Quaich Sam Filmus, ImpEx Beverages is a leading importer of premium and rare spirits from around the world with a special emphasis on Scotch Whisky. Joined by whisky veteran Chris Uhde in 2018, the two partners expanded the portfolio, which now includes some of the most notable small and medium-sized distilleries and independent bottlers. Today, ImpEx Beverages imports whisky, gin, rum and mezcal from Scotland, Wales, Japan, Israel, Mexico, England, the Caribbean, India, and New Zealand. It's brands, including Kilchoman Single Malt Scotch Whisky, GlenAllachie Scotch Whisky, Penderyn Welsh Single Malt, Hakata Whisky of Japan, Black Tot Rum, Lemon Hart and Sons Rum, Herb Garden Gin and Mezcal Mal de Amor, are available in 49 states across the US with a focus on high-end retail. The company also features a line of fine liqueurs and cordials produced in the US. To learn more, visit www.impexbev.com. SOURCE ImpEx Beverages CORNELIUS, N.C., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Plant-based food company Barvecue announced today that it has been certified as a B Corporation, furthering the Company's commitment toward operating its business as a force for good. Barvecue Brand Refresh - New Packaging To become a Certified B Corporation , companies undergo a rigorous review of the impact of their operations and business model on their workers, customers, communities and environment. They must also meet a minimum verified score of 80 points on the B Impact Assessment. Barvecue is proud to have exceeded this minimum achieving a total score of 111.9 to complete its initial certification and join the community of over 6,300 Certified B Corporations in over 80 countries, across 150 industries. The B Corp certification logo will appear on Barvecue's new packaging, rolling out in late June. The refreshed design will emphasize several unique features of Barvecue including "Authentically Wood Smoked," "Crafted from Plants," and "Batch Made in North Carolina." Barvecue's Pulled BVQ and Carnitas are currently available in over 1,100 grocery stores and its top selling foodservice product (Naked BVQ) will also land soon in retail stores, renamed as Naked Shredded Chicken. Director of Business Development, Kelsey Joseph, noted "Barvecue makes better comfort foods crafted from plants. B Corp certification demonstrates our commitment to sourcing clean ingredients from quality suppliers, efficiently managing our manufacturing process, and taking care of our stakeholders. We're excited to bring our Naked Shredded Chicken, B Corp certification, and the refreshed packaging design to our customers." About Barvecue Barvecue is a mission-driven company inspiring joy and change through better comfort foods. Founded in 2017, Barvecue set out to create authentically wood-smoked, plant-based foods to delight customers of all backgrounds. With an ode to its Carolina roots, Barvecue built the world's largest plant-based smokehouse in Cornelius, NC. www.barvecue.com @barvecue For further information please contact: Kelsey Joseph Director, Business Development E: [email protected] P: (704) 268-9296 SOURCE Barvecue CHICAGO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Arizton's latest research report, the benchtop tools market will grow at a CAGR of 5.42% during 2022-2028. To Know More, Download the Free Sample Report: https://www.arizton.com/request-sample/3845 Benchtop Tools Market Report by Arizton Browse In-Depth TOC of the Benchtop Tools Market 67 - Tables 74 - Charts 238 Pages The global market for benchtop tools is broad and ever-changing, with several manufacturers providing a range of items to suit various needs and price points. Benchtop tool industry leaders include DeWalt, Bosch, Delta, Jet, Ryobi, and Makita, to name a few. These businesses provide various products at various pricing points to accommodate varied requirements and budgets. The market for benchtop tools is anticipated to expand throughout the projected period. The rise in benchtop tool applications in the residential and commercial sectors and the speed with which industrialization is occurring have fueled the expansion of the worldwide benchtop tool market. Moreover, infrastructure is a major sector that boosts the overall development of any nation's economy. There has been a significant rise in infrastructure development initiatives in several countries worldwide to cater to the rapid pace of urbanization and the considerable increase in demand for housing units in recent years. For instance, Saudi Arabia's latest budget shows that the government focuses on infrastructural reforms per the 2030 vision. The initiative aims to provide a dignified life for Saudi families by enabling them to own houses that match their requirements and financial capabilities. Thus, the surge in such infrastructure development initiatives will offer tremendous growth potential for vendors of benchtop tools. Report Attributes Details Market Size (2028) USD 3.01 Billion Market Size (2022) USD 2.20 Billion CAGR (2022-2028) 5.42 % Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023-2028 Market Segmentation Product, End User, Distribution Channel, and Geography Geographic Analysis North America, Europe, APAC, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa Countries Covered The US, Canada, Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, the Rest of Latin America, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Turkey Market Dynamics Surge in E-commerce Increasing Demand from the Woodworking Industry Increase in Infrastructural Development Projects Looking for More Information? Download the Free Sample Report Now: https://www.arizton.com/request-sample/3845 Several benchtop tools are primarily used in the automobile, aerospace, construction, electronics, and shipbuilding industries. Moreover, these tools have various household applications, such as making furniture for decor and other DIY projects. The surge in Li-ion batteries and the rise in infrastructural developments have fueled the demand for cordless benchtop tools. The market can be broadly classified under segments, such as types of benchtop tools and end users. In terms of type, the major revenue contributors include sawing tools used in cutting and sawing. The industrial sector is the largest end-user of benchtop tools, followed by the residential end-user segment. The benchtop tools market has a strong demand globally from industrial and residential segments. The major regions driving the market's growth are North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. The US is the largest market for benchtop tools in North America. The demand for these tools is driven by the growth in the construction and woodworking industries and the DIY (do-it-yourself) trend among consumers. The market is also supported by the increasing adoption of advanced technologies, such as CNC (computer numerical control) machines, which provide precise and accurate results. In Europe, Germany, the UK, and France are the major markets for benchtop tools. The growth in the automotive and construction industries drives the demand for these tools. The market is also supported by the increasing use of advanced materials, such as composites and alloys, requiring specialized cutting and shaping tools. Rising Popularity of Benchtop CNC Machines Driving the Market Growth Benchtop CNC machines have become increasingly popular, leading to demand for benchtop tools. CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines are automated cutting machines that use a computer program to control their movement and cutting tools. CNC automatically operate parts such as lathes, grinders, routers, shapers, and other with the help of a computer rather than a human operator. They are often used in manufacturing, but benchtop CNC machines are smaller, more affordable, and designed for hobbyists and small businesses. The availability of benchtop CNC machines has boosted the demand for benchtop tools for several reasons. First, benchtop CNC machines require tools, such as end mills, drill bits, and collets, specifically designed to work with the machine. These tools are often sold as part of a kit or bundle with the CNC machine, and users need to purchase additional tools as needed. This has led to an increased demand for benchtop tooling and accessories, which can be purchased from various online and offline retailers. Buy the Report Now: https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/benchtop-tools-market Post-Purchase Benefit 1hr of free analyst discussion 10% of customization North America became largest regional market, with a revenue of about $648.34 million in the global benchtop tools market in 2022. Large-scale enterprises like those in the automotive, building, electronics, and aerospace sectors have pushed benchtop tool sales in the region. Additionally, during the forecast period, DIY culture and home improvement activities are anticipated to expand dramatically. Benchtop tool demand is anticipated to increase significantly over the projected period because of the expansion of green construction standards, the rising cost of manual labor, high discretionary incomes, and the expansion of immigration rates. With initiatives such as the Investing in Canada Plan, the Canadian government plans to improve the country's public transit and residential housing projects. Around 20 federal departments and agencies in the country collaborate with provinces, territories, municipalities, and indigenous groups to administer infrastructure development programs. With the reapproval of the Trans Mountain pipeline, the laying of the pipeline can be boosted in provinces such as Alberta. This will increase the scope for material removal and other benchtop tools in the country. Furthermore, DIY culture is highly predominant in North America. With rising applications of technology and increasing purchasing power, the benchtop tools market in North America is expected to grow significantly. Key Questioned Answered in the Report: How big is the benchtop tools market? What is the growth rate of the global benchtop tools market? What are the growing trends in the benchtop tools market? Which region holds the most significant global benchtop tools market share? Who are the key players in the global benchtop tools market? Key Company Profiles Robert Bosch Stanley Black & Decker & Decker Makita Corporation Techtronic Industries Koki Holdings Hilti CHERVON CHANG TYPE Industrial Festool Ferm International JPW Industries KYOCERA Corporation Laguna Tools POWERTEC Positec Tool Corporation PROXXON Richpower Industries Record Power RIKON Power Tools Triton Tools WEN Products Market Segmentation Product Sawing Tools Bench Drill Press Grinder & Sander Jointer, Planer & Router Others End User Industrial Residential Distribution Channel Offline Online Geography North America The US Canada Europe Germany The UK France Italy Spain APAC China India Japan South Korea Australia Latin America Brazil Mexico Rest of Latin America Middle East & Africa South Africa Saudi Arabia The UAE Turkey 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 PRODUCT 4.3.2 MARKET SEGMENTATION BY END USER 4.3.3 MARKET SEGMENTATION BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL 4.3.4 MARKET SEGMENTATION BY GEOGRAPHY 5 REPORT ASSUMPTIONS & CAVEATS 5.1 KEY CAVEATS 5.2 CURRENCY CONVERSION 5.3 MARKET DERIVATION 6 PREMIUM INSIGHTS 6.1 MARKET DEFINITION 6.2 REPORT OVERVIEW 6.3 RISK FACTORS IN THE MARKET 6.4 OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGE ANALYSIS 6.5 SEGMENT ANALYSIS 6.6 REGIONAL ANALYSIS 6.7 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 7 MARKET AT A GLANCE 8 INTRODUCTION 8.1 OVERVIEW 8.2 RAW MATERIAL INSIGHTS 8.3 RISK FACTORS 8.3.1 PEST ANALYSIS 8.4 KEY INSIGHTS 8.5 IMPACT OF RECESSION ON PURCHASING BEHAVIOR 8.6 VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS 8.6.1 RAW MATERIAL SUPPLIERS 8.6.2 MANUFACTURERS 8.6.3 DISTRIBUTORS 8.6.4 END-USERS 9 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES & TRENDS 9.1 GROWING ADOPTION OF POWER TOOLS 9.2 INCREASING DEMAND FROM HOME IMPROVEMENT & DIY SEGMENT 9.3 RISING POPULARITY OF BENCHTOP CNC MACHINES 10 MARKET GROWTH ENABLERS 10.1 SURGE IN E-COMMERCE 10.2 INCREASING DEMAND FROM THE WOODWORKING INDUSTRY 10.3 INCREASE IN INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS 11 MARKET RESTRAINTS 11.1 FLUCTUATIONS IN RAW MATERIAL PRICING 11.2 LOW LABOR COST & SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTIONS 11.3 HIGH COMPETITION & PRICE SENSITIVITY 12 MARKET LANDSCAPE 12.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 12.1.1 SUPPLY SIDE FACTORS 12.1.2 DEMAND SIDE FACTORS 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 PRODUCT 13.1 MARKET SNAPSHOT & GROWTH ENGINE 13.2 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.3 SAWING TOOLS 13.3.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.3.2 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 13.4 BENCH DRILL PRESS 13.4.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.4.2 MARKEY BY GEOGRAPHY 13.5 GRINDER & SANDER 13.5.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.5.2 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 13.6 JOINTER, PLANER & ROUTER 13.6.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.6.2 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 13.7 OTHERS 13.7.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.7.2 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 14 END-USER 14.1 MARKET SNAPSHOT & GROWTH ENGINE 14.2 MARKET OVERVIEW 14.3 INDUSTRIAL 14.3.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 14.3.2 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 14.4 RESIDENTIAL 14.4.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 14.4.2 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 15 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL 15.1 MARKET SNAPSHOT & GROWTH ENGINE 15.2 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.3 OFFLINE 15.3.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.3.2 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 15.4 ONLINE 15.4.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.4.2 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 16 GEOGRAPHY 16.1 MARKET SNAPSHOT & GROWTH ENGINE 16.2 GEOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW 17 NORTH AMERICA 17.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 17.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 17.3 PRODUCT 17.3.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 17.4 END USER 17.4.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 17.5 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL 17.5.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 17.6 KEY COUNTRIES 17.6.1 US: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 17.6.2 CANADA: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 18 EUROPE 18.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 18.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 18.3 PRODUCT 18.3.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 18.4 END-USER 18.4.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 18.5 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL 18.5.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 18.6 KEY COUNTRIES 18.6.1 GERMANY: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 18.6.2 UK: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 18.6.3 FRANCE: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 18.6.4 ITALY: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 18.6.5 SPAIN: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 19 APAC 19.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 19.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 19.3 PRODUCT 19.3.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 19.4 END-USER 19.4.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 19.5 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL 19.5.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 19.6 KEY COUNTRIES 19.6.1 CHINA: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 19.6.2 INDIA: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 19.6.3 JAPAN: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 19.6.4 SOUTH KOREA: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 19.6.5 AUSTRALIA: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 20 LATIN AMERICA 20.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 20.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 20.3 PRODUCT 20.3.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 20.4 END USER 20.4.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 20.5 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL 20.5.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 20.6 KEY COUNTRIES 20.6.1 BRAZIL: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 20.6.2 MEXICO: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 20.6.3 REST OF LAM: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 21 MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA 21.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 21.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 21.3 PRODUCT 21.3.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 21.4 END-USER 21.4.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 21.5 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL 21.5.1 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 21.6 KEY COUNTRIES 21.6.1 SOUTH AFRICA: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 21.6.2 SAUDI ARABIA: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 21.6.3 UAE: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 21.6.4 TURKEY: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 22 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 22.1 COMPETITION OVERVIEW 23 KEY COMPANY PROFILES 23.1 ROBERT BOSCH 23.2 STANLEY BLACK & DECKER 23.3 MAKITA CORPORATION 23.4 TECHTRONIC INDUSTRIES 23.5 KOKI HOLDINGS 23.6 HILTI 24 OTHER PROMINENT VENDORS 24.1 CHERVON 24.2 CHANG TYPE INDUSTRIAL 24.3 FESTOOL 24.4 FERM INTERNATIONAL 24.5 JPW INDUSTRIES 24.6 KYOCERA CORPORATION 24.7 LAGUNA TOOLS 24.8 POWERTEC 24.9 POSITEC TOOL CORPORATION 24.10 PROXXON 24.11 RICHPOWER INDUSTRIES 24.12 RECORD POWER 24.13 RIKON POWER TOOLS 24.14 TRITON TOOLS 24.15 WEN PRODUCTS 25 REPORT SUMMARY 25.1 KEY TAKEAWAYS 25.2 STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS 26 QUANTITATIVE SUMMARY 26.1 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 26.2 MARKET BY PRODUCT 26.3 MARKET BY END-USER 26.4 MARKET BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL 26.5 NORTH AMERICA 26.5.1 PRODUCT: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 26.5.2 END USER: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 26.5.3 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 26.6 EUROPE 26.6.1 PRODUCT: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 26.6.2 END-USER: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 26.6.3 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 26.7 APAC 26.7.1 PRODUCT: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 26.7.2 END-USER: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 26.7.3 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 26.8 LATIN AMERICA 26.8.1 PRODUCT: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 26.8.2 END-USER: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 26.8.3 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 26.9 MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA 26.9.1 PRODUCT: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 26.9.2 END-USER: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 26.9.3 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 27 APPENDIX 27.1 ABBREVIATIONS Check Out Some of the Top-Selling Research Reports: Cutting Tools Market - Global Outlook & Forecast 2023-2028 Powder-Actuated Tools Market - Global Outlook & Forecast 2022-2027 Hand File Tools Market - Global Outlook & Forecast 2022-2027 Cordless Power Tools Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2022-2027 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. CONTACT US Call: +1-312-235-2040 +1 302 469 0707 Mail: [email protected] Contact Us: https://www.arizton.com/contact-us Blog: https://www.arizton.com/blog Website: https://www.arizton.com/ Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2106159/Benchtop_Tools_Market.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/818553/Arizton_Logo.jpg SOURCE Arizton Advisory & Intelligence A collaborative effort from craft brewers around the world to increase black representation in the industry. SAN ANTONIO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Black is Beautiful, an influential initiative launched by Weathered Souls Brewing CO in 2020 in support of equality and social justice reform, is making a resounding comeback. This time, the movement stands firmly alongside the National Black Brewers Association, with 100% of the proceeds supporting the newly launched organization in its efforts to foster inclusivity and black representation in the brewing industry. With its roots firmly planted in raising awareness about the daily injustices endured by people of color, Black is Beautiful garnered remarkable global momentum in 2020. Uniting 1601+ breweries across all 50 states in the United States and 21 countries worldwide and raising over 5 million in funds to support local charities. Brewers participate by promoting sales of the open source "Black is Beautiful" stout and adding their own creative spin on its evolving recipe. "Black is Beautiful Volume 2 embodies the spirit of solidarity, empowering the brewing community to embrace diversity and equality" said Marcus Bakersville co-founder and head brewer at Weathered Souls Brewing. "Our alliance with the National Black Brewers Association, will continue to pave the way for a more inclusive beer industry." This initiative comes on the heels of the National Black Brewers Associations launch in May, the first of its kind non-profit will direct Black is Beautiful proceeds towards impactful efforts that align with its mission to create a more equitable and diverse beer industry through education, policy, and community. About Weathered Souls Brewing: Weathered Souls Brewing Company is a renowned James Beard nominated craft brewery based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded by Marcus Baskerville and Mike Holt in 2016, the brewery has gained widespread recognition for its exceptional beer offerings, community engagement, and commitment to social justice. Visit our website at: https://weatheredsouls.beer/ About National Black Brewers Association: Less than 1% of craft breweries in the U.S. are owned by African Americans and there is no single entity to help African American brewers and brewery owners with their specific needs and issues. Given these challenges, the National Black Brewers Association ("NB2A") was formed as a 501c6 membership-based non-profit organization to: Promote the Black brewing community as a first-of-its kind organization. Increase the number of African Americans in the brewing industry at all levels of production, especially ownership and brew master. Exercise political influence by developing and advocating for effective policy; and Foster understanding about the history and legacy of African American brewing in the United States . The NB2A is governed by a dynamic Board of Directors composed of the most experienced and successful Black brewery owners and brew masters across the country. For more information on the National Black Brewers Association, visit our website at: www.nationalblackbrewersassociation.org . SOURCE National Black Brewers Association Yermak calls on Israel to allow Ukraine to use its defensive weapons against Iranian-made drones Head of the President's Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, during a briefing for Israeli journalists, called on Israel to allow Ukraine to use its defensive weapons against Iranian-made drones. "No country other than Israel has the capabilities Ukraine needs to defend itself This equipment will be used in Ukraine against Iranian weapons," he said. According to Yermak, "Ukraine knows that it shares an enemy with Israel - Iran - and as such, so we [in Ukraine] don't understand why the government and Israeli politicians don't understand this." Yermak also called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "to express his support for Ukraine" and said he expects the premier to visit. In addition, the head of the President's Office of Ukraine described Israel as "the most neutral among countries that have good relations with Ukraine." He also called on the Israeli government to condemn Putin's remarks about Zelenskyy's Jewish heritage. "As a person with a Jewish father, I cannot understand why Israel is not reacting," he said. BPM Real Estate Group to make the single largest affordable housing investment in Portland's history Block 216 closes on additional financing to secure funding through completion PORTLAND, Ore., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BPM Real Estate Group announces the August 15, 2023 opening of Block 216, the 35-story mixed-use tower located in Portland's Central Business District. Residential condominium sale closings will be scheduled for new owners of The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Portland beginning on opening day. The debut of The Ritz-Carlton, Portland hotel will also be celebrated during a ribbon cutting ceremony that day. FLOCK, the all-new open-air cuisine experience on the first floor of Block 216 is expected to be unveiled in November 2023. Each of the nine vendors are local BIPOC-owned businesses that include well-known restaurants, food carts, a futuristic coffee shop, brewery and bakery. The century-old Portland jewelry and watch retailer, Packouz Jewelers, will move into the remaining retail space on the first floor this fall. Further, BPM has secured two tenants for office space within Block 216: leading national law firm, Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP and San Francisco-based venture capital firm, Banneker Partners. This announcement comes on the heels of BPM Real Estate Group's recent closing of additional financing that will secure project funding through construction completion and the start-up period through December 2024. BPM Real Estate Group and the Portland Housing Bureau have also reached an agreement regarding the timing of the $7.76 million payment under the City's Inclusionary Housing Program, which is made to facilitate offsite affordable housing. This payment, due on December 31, 2025, will result in the single largest investment supporting affordable housing in Portland's history. Walter Bowen, CEO of BPM Real Estate Group, remarked "I look forward to seeing the direct impact of this investment in the program for creating a difference in affordable housing for our city." "As one of the tallest towers in Portland, this development is a monumental signifier of the renewal and transformation in store for this city," enthusiastically noted Walter Bowen. "We are pleased to contribute to Portland's continued recovery and resurgence as one of the country's leading business centers and gateway to the Pacific Northwest travel destination locations." The projected net new jobs from Block 216 is approximately 2,000 living wage jobs, which includes 350 Ritz-Carlton, Portland hotel employees at full capacity. The total amount of government fees (including the payment-in-lieu for the residential component) is $25 million and the estimated annual net new real estate, income and hotel tax is $10 million annually. About Block 216 Block 216 is one of the largest private sector developments in downtown Portland, and the most complex construction project in Portland's history. On the outside, it is a striking presence that will transform the way the world views the city. The building will house The Ritz-Carlton, Portland, a 251-room hotel, as well as The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Portland, with 132 Residences and Penthouses, plus underground parking, ground floor luxury retail space, FLOCK food gallery, 11,000 sq. ft. of elegant event and meeting spaces, and 165,000 sq. ft. of class A office space. Block 216 is conveniently positioned in the heart of Portland's burgeoning West End, fostering immediate access to all that the city has to offer. Block 216 is positioned only steps away from Portland's best high-end dining, bars, boutiques, art galleries, and more. Media Contact: Matthew Demma [email protected] 781.258.3008 SOURCE BPM Real Estate Group New US Treasury offering bolsters Bloomberg's support of diverse broker dealers NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bloomberg today announced that it has introduced a white label solution for US Treasuries that enables diverse broker dealers to provide liquidity for trades initiated on Bloomberg. The offering adds new minority-owned broker dealers for US Treasuries, including CastleOak Securities, Mischler Financial Group and Tigress Financial, with additional firms soon to be on-boarded and integrated. The Treasury offering builds on Bloomberg's existing D&I Dealer program, which was introduced in 2017 with CastleOak Securities, a leading boutique investment bank. Bloomberg supported the launch of DirectPool, CastleOak's platform for US corporate bond (both investment grade and high yield) electronic trading, providing all-to-all services for clients. The offering, which was recently expanded to include US Treasuries, is used by many of the nation's largest investment managers and bond dealers and provides a reliable pool of liquidity. Through the white label offering, dealer firms will be on-boarded to Bloomberg's electronic trading solution to serve as liquidity providers for US Treasuries. The dealer firms can then engage traditional liquidity providers to make markets for incoming client RFQs. As a result, a client can easily include a diverse broker dealer in an RFQ, which is routed to the various counterparties, and delivers pricing back to the counterparty that initiated the RFQ. The offering delivers a seamless process that expands the liquidity pool while supporting minority-owned broker dealers. "We approached Bloomberg in 2016 about an innovative idea using Bloomberg BOLT that would not only help us provide liquidity to our clients, but also level the playing field. The combination of Bloomberg's technology prowess with our trading capabilities has resulted in a lower cost alternative for clients while still fulfilling best execution requirements," said David R. Jones, CEO of CastleOak Securities. "Our partnership with Bloomberg has helped us gain significant fixed income trading market share, which in turn has meant measurable revenue growth for CastleOak. DirectPool's trading volumes continue to grow year over year; the marketplace has realized that this is not only an efficient way to trade, but also a transparent way for clients to achieve their D&I goals. We recently expanded our relationship to include US Treasury electronic trading capabilities and continue to work with Bloomberg to develop new solutions for our clients." "The US Treasury white label solution enables us to provide liquidity to buy-side firms to help them with their best execution requirements, while concurrently helping them expand their ESG impact by working with diverse broker dealers," said Michael Lindley, Head of Fixed Income Trading at Tigress Financial Partners. "The launch of this solution was made possible by Bloomberg's commitment to the project, and the resources it provided to get it done. The white label offering enables us to provide clients a service that meaningfully adds value to their business and is part of a seamless workflow. The Bloomberg team have prioritized the democratization of their offerings and have been great partners throughout this process. We look forward to continuing to grow our relationship in the future." "Being a part of this Bloomberg initiative is exciting for Mischler Financial Group. It allows us to better support our trading partners by delivering a best in class offering to clients who rely on us to help meet their best execution needs in addition to their diversity goals and mandates," said Glen Capelo, Head of Rates at Mischler Financial Group. "We've already seen firms over 10 trillion in AUM collectively signed up through the US Treasury white label initiative and look forward to what's ahead. We are extremely excited to be at the forefront of the e-trading revolution in the diversity broker dealer space, and this offering gives us the ability to be more competitive. It's crucial to active robust partners like Bloomberg, who share our ambition to excel and our vision of creating a comprehensive solution for the everyday transaction requirements of our clients." "We're excited and proud to work with such an impressive group of firms as we continue to build our D&I initiative," said Derek Kleinbauer, Global Head, Fixed Income & Equity E-Trading at Bloomberg. "We remain committed to continually supporting diverse broker dealers, and the US Treasury white label solution is a perfect example of innovation and partnership coming together to deliver an efficient and effective offering." Bloomberg Electronic Trading Solutions (ETS) are used by leading financial institutions to trade efficiently in over 175 markets around the world. More than 9000 client firms use Bloomberg ETS to access industry-leading depth and breadth of liquidity across asset classes from over 1,500 dealers globally. Bloomberg ETS provides market participants with comprehensive solutions across the trading lifecycle, including robust price transparency, analytics, automation and execution, powered by Bloomberg's high-quality, multi-asset class data and tools. About Bloomberg Bloomberg is a global leader in business and financial information, delivering trusted data, news, and insights that bring transparency, efficiency, and fairness to markets. The company helps connect influential communities across the global financial ecosystem via reliable technology solutions that enable our customers to make more informed decisions and foster better collaboration. For more information, visit Bloomberg.com/company or request a demo. SOURCE Bloomberg Marks first of-its-kind offering by local non-profit health plan; Benefit to adhere with new national certification program standards EAGAN, Minn., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) today announced that access to peer support specialists trained individuals with lived experiences who provide support, encouragement and connections to resources for others facing recovery and mental health challenges will be a covered benefit starting next year for members enrolled in fully-insured commercial plans. The enhanced coverage comes as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently released a new National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification, a directive from the Biden Administration's strategy to address the nation's mental health crisis announced in March 2022. All peer support specialists covered by Blue Cross will be credentialed according to the new national certification model standards. The benefit, which will be available at no cost to members when coordinated by an in-network provider, takes effect with plans beginning on or after January 1, 2024. Blue Cross will be the first non-profit plan in Minnesota offering this benefit to those with employer-offered health insurance as well as to those who purchase Individual and Family coverage on their own. Blue Plus, the HMO arm of Blue Cross, has been administering a peer support specialist benefit since it first became available in 2009 for members enrolled in health programs offered by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) Minnesota. In 2022, Blue Cross began discussions with DHS on best practices to develop similar coverage for Blue Plus members enrolled in commercial Individual and Family plans as well as Blue Cross members with coverage through fully insured employer-based plans. "Blue Cross wants to set a new standard for how to extend this important benefit to more Minnesotans," said Lauren Foster, principal program manager of behavioral health at Blue Cross. "With the national conversation around mental health continuing to show greater understanding about the links between behavioral and medical healthcare, we are proud to be taking this important step to connect people with the strength and understanding that comes from others who have gone through similar challenges." The peer support specialist is a non-clinical position that is uniquely trained to utilize one's own lived experiences and care navigation journey to support others. The role is proven to be effective in helping with a range of difficult circumstances, specifically with those who feel at a loss and believe their situation falls outside the realm of 'traditional' healthcare. This sense of isolation can result in people delaying treatment or feeling unsure of where to turn for help, which Blue Cross and the federal government are working to address through increased opportunities for peer specialist support. Blue Cross' coverage will encompass the following areas: Certified Family Peer Specialists have raised or are raising a child with a mental health or substance use disorder, providing non-clinical support to strengthen the family and increase parents' ability to support the treatment goals of the child have raised or are raising a child with a mental health or substance use disorder, providing non-clinical support to strengthen the family and increase parents' ability to support the treatment goals of the child Certified Peer Specialists have had a mental health diagnosis and are available to assist members with their recovery journey have had a mental health diagnosis and are available to assist members with their recovery journey Peer Recovery Specialists have had a substance use diagnosis and are available to assist members with their recovery journey 140 agencies currently employ peer support specialists throughout Minnesota. Blue Cross anticipates that care systems will have the opportunity to onboard additional peer specialists in order to meet increased demand. The addition of a peer specialist support benefit in fully insured commercial health plans for 2024 is subject to regulatory review and approval of the Minnesota Department of Commerce (Blue Cross products) and the Minnesota Department of Health (Blue Plus products.) Self-insured commercial groups will have the option to add peer specialist support coverage to the health plan benefit design starting with the 2024 plan year. About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota For 90 years, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (bluecrossmn.com) has supported the health, wellbeing and peace of mind of our members by striving to ensure equitable access to high quality care at an affordable price. Our 2.5 million members can be found in every Minnesota county, all 50 states and on four continents. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Selects key tier-one structure suppliers for Overture's wing, fuselage, and empennage; reveals Overture systems configuration Accelerates Symphony design and development with engine architecture unveil and signing of initial production partner PARIS, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Boom Supersonic , the company building the world's fastest airliner, announced today at the Paris Air Show significant advances on Overture, its sustainable supersonic aircraft, including milestones for its Symphony engine. Overture will fly at twice the speed of today's airliners and is designed to run on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Boom announced at the Paris Air Show significant advances on Overture, its sustainable, supersonic aircraft, including milestones for its Symphony engine. Pictured is an image of Overture at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Boom signed structural supplier agreements with Aernnova for Overture's wings, Leonardo for the fuselage and wing box, and Aciturri for the empennage. The three aerospace leaders join Boom's growing network of global suppliers which includes Safran Landing Systems, Eaton, Collins Aerospace, Flight Safety International, FTT, GE Additive, and StandardAero. Boom also revealed today, for the first time, Overture's full systems configuration as the aircraft program advances toward production. "We are incredibly proud of the progress with Overture and Symphony from our global team of partners and suppliers who continue to operate at an accelerated pace toward the future of sustainable supersonic flight," said Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. Boom's commercial order book stands at 130 aircraft, including both orders and pre-orders from major airlines such as United, American and Japan Airlines. Boom continues to advance with Northrop Grumman on a defense variant of Overture that will expand the total addressable market for supersonic aircraft. Overture systems configuration revealed Boom also revealed a comprehensive look at the systems configuration for Overture. The schematics shared today highlight key systems inside Overture, including avionics, flight controls, hydraulics, fuel systems and landing gearall designed and developed for optimal performance, efficiency, and safety. Among the major systems highlighted, Overture's fuel systems provide center of gravity control during subsonic and supersonic operations, enable sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) compatibility and supply fuel to the engines. Triple redundant hydraulic systems provide reliable power for flight controls and mechanical systems, and Overture's landing gear is compatible with international airport runways and taxiwaysdesigned for takeoff and landing on over 600 routes around the world. The all-composite aerostructures support Overture's contoured fuselage and gull wings for enhanced aerodynamic efficiency. Key systems leverage certified technologies, reducing program risk and maturing Overture through aircraft systems development. The company is on track to secure suppliers for the majority of major systems by the end of this year. Aernnova selected as Overture wing supplier Spain-based Aernnova, one of the world's largest tier-one aerospace suppliers, will design and develop the wing structure for Overture. Overture's gull wings are shaped to enhance supersonic performance as well as improve subsonic and transonic handling. The wings are structurally thinner than typical subsonic wings to reduce drag, allowing the aircraft to efficiently travel at higher speeds. "Overture will be an extraordinary opportunity to provide our expertise in the design and development of aerostructures for the first sustainable supersonic aircraft," said Ricardo Chocarro, CEO of Aernnova. "We're thrilled to partner with Boom as its wing supplier and be part of the world-class network of suppliers supporting Overture's production." Leonardo selected as primary engineering lead for fuselage structural components integration, design and build partner for fuselage sections With long-standing leadership in structural composite components for commercial aircraft, Italian company Leonardo will support Overture as the primary engineering lead for major fuselage structural components. Leonardo was also selected as design and build partner for two major fuselage sections of Overture, including the wingbox. The proprietary design of Overture's contoured fuselage has a larger diameter toward the front of the aircraft and a smaller diameter toward the rear. Boom applied this design technique to minimize wave-drag and maximize fuel efficiency at supersonic speeds. "Leonardo has played an integral role in shaping the success and future of the aviation industry," said Stefano Bortoli, Leonardo's Aerostructures Division Managing Director. "We will build on that tradition and believe in Boom's continued, and impressive, progress toward bringing sustainable supersonic air travel to the skies." Aciturri selected as Overture's empennage supplier Boom selected Spain-based Aciturri, a tier-one leader across aerostructures and aeroengines components, to design and develop the empennage for Overture. Overture's empennage features a differentiated horizontal stabilizer that allows for greater control at subsonic speedsparticularly takeoff and landing. "Overture is a generation-defining project," said Alvaro Fernandez Baragano, CEO of Aciturri. "We are bringing decades of aerostructures and aeroengines expertise to the future of sustainable supersonic flight with Boom." Symphony engine hits new program milestones Boom and engine design partner FTT continue to achieve key milestones across the design and development of Symphony. First, Boom shared the engine architecture and additional key specifications for Symphony. Reflecting this progress, Boom unveiled its 3D-printed scale design model for Symphony at the Paris Air Show. The bespoke engine is optimized for sustainable supersonic flight and is designed to deliver 25% more time on wing and provide 10% operating cost savings to airline customers. Second, Boom announced today an expanded partnership with FTT to assemble the initial production units for ground test, flight test, and certification. Boom will leverage FTT's considerable experience with supersonic engines, ensuring seamless continuity as Symphony transitions from design to production. Boom has identified Jupiter, Florida as the base for initial production. "We believe there is large market potential for both Overture and Symphony, which will be transformational for the future of supersonic travel," said Stacey Rock, President of Florida Turbine Technologies. "The Symphony engineering team includes many of the best and most experienced engine designers on the planet, and we're thrilled to expand our role to include the initial assembly of engines for ground test, flight test, and certification." Symphony's technical specifications include: Two-spool, medium-bypass turbofan engine, no afterburner 35,000 lb thrust Optimized for 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) Single-stage 72" fan Air-cooled, multi-stage turbine Additive manufacturing enables lightweight, low part count, and reduced assembly costs FAA Part 33 and EASA CS 33 compliant ICAO Chapter 14 noise levels Low-pressure compressor stages: 3 High-pressure compressor stages: 6 High-pressure turbine stages: 1 Low-pressure turbine stages: 3 "Symphony is the key that will unlock Overture and make it a commercial and enduring success," said Ric Parker, Chair of Singapore Aerospace Programme & former Rolls-Royce CTO. "Boom's strategy with Symphony is very innovative. Their approach makes it compelling for top-tier suppliers to seek the opportunity to contribute their expertise and capabilities to this exciting, breakthrough, supersonic engine program." Boom and Northrop Grumman progress collaboration Today, Boom announced it will support Northrop Grumman on a NASA contract to deliver solutions for the "High-Speed Endo-atmospheric Commercial Vehicle Conceptual Design Study and Technology Roadmaps Development" program. The study for future research and development will identify technologies to continue the advancement of commercial supersonic flight efficiency. Initial technologies to be explored include mechanisms to increase aircraft efficiency and reduce emissions, net CO2 reduction, net non-CO2 reduction, and climate feedback loops. Boom and Northrop Grumman are also continuing collaboration on a special mission variant of Overture, after ongoing identification and investigation of use cases that will benefit the Department of Defense. About Boom Supersonic Boom Supersonic is transforming air travel with Overture, the world's fastest airliner, optimized for speed, safety, and sustainability. Serving both civil and government markets, Overture will fly at twice the speed of today's airliners and is designed to run on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The company has secured SAF offtake agreements from Dimensional Energy and AIR COMPANY, bringing its total to 10 million gallons of SAF for Overture's net zero carbon flight test program. Overture's order book, including orders and pre-orders from American Airlines, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines stands at 130 aircraft. Boom is working with Northrop Grumman for government and defense applications of Overture. Suppliers and partners collaborating with Boom on the Overture program include Aernnova, Leonardo, Aciturri, Safran Landing Systems, Eaton, Collins Aerospace, and the United States Air Force. Symphony is the propulsion system that will power Overture, a Boom-led collaboration with world-class partners including Florida Turbine Technologies (FTT), a business unit of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., GE Additive and StandardAero. For more information, visit https://boomsupersonic.com . Photos and video available at https://boomsupersonic.com/press Connect with Boom Supersonic on Twitter , LinkedIn , Facebook , Instagram, YouTube SOURCE Boom Supersonic WESTCHESTER, N.Y., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Children's Health Physicians (BCHP) celebrated the opening of its new administrative headquarters located at 400 Columbus Avenue, Suite 200E, Valhalla NY, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 25, 2023. The event was attended by BCHP's founders, representatives from Boston Children's Hospital, senior executives, leaders in the medical field, and staff who gathered to mark the occasion and recognize the significance of this new facility for the organization. This office has been built exclusively for BCHP, with the aim of providing a modern and efficient space for the organization's administrative staff to work together. "Our new headquarters will create a collaborative work environment for our administrative staff, increasing job satisfaction. This, in turn, can help us continue to attract and retain a dedicated workforce that is committed to providing the highest quality of care to our patients. We believe that this transition will ultimately benefit our patients by ensuring they receive consistent, high-quality care from a team of devoted professionals," said Allen J. Dozor, MD, President. Gerard Villucci, Chief Executive Officer, added, "This new administrative headquarters location is a significant investment in the future of BCHP. By consolidating our administrative functions in one location, we can more effectively manage resources and reduce costs, allowing us to focus on what we do best - providing high-quality pediatric care to the children in our region." The benefits of having the administrative staff of a comprehensive healthcare group working under one roof are numerous. It enables faster decision-making, improved communication, and better collaboration, leading to improved patient care and outcomes. BCHP is excited to move forward with this new administrative headquarters location, and looks forward to continuing to provide outstanding pediatric care to its patients. For more information about BCHP and its services, please visit bchphysicians.org. About Boston Children's Health Physicians Boston Children's Health Physicians (BCHP) is a large multi-specialty group with more than 300 clinicians. BCHP proudly offer a full range of care to families in over 55 practices throughout New York's Metropolitan Area, the Hudson Valley and Connecticut. Working with partners at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at WMCHealth and New York Medical College, BCHP is dedicated to state-of-the-art patient care, excellence in medical education, and cutting-edge scientific research. BCHP is also part of the Boston Children's Hospital network of care, the #1-ranked children's hospital by U.S.News & World Report. For more, visit our website and follow us on Facebook @BCHPhysicians. CONTACT: Kristen DiBari, Boston Children's Health Physicians 914-614-4227 | [email protected] SOURCE Boston Children's Health Physicians At Cannes Lions Event, Brady Called on Creative Industry Leaders to Help Free America from Gun Violence WASHINGTON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday, during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity , Brady President Kris Brown announced a new " Free America from Gun Violence " culture change campaign, which aims to harness the power of creative ad agencies to change the cultural narrative about guns in America. The campaign's goal is to shift the existing cultural narrative, from viewing firearms as glamorized instruments of personal safety and patriotism, to a more balanced view that highlights the risks, dangers and consequences of these deadly weapons. To change this narrative, influenced by decades of National Rifle Association (NRA) propaganda, Brady aims to partner with advertising and media companies to develop new content to achieve this, including commercials and digital advertisements. Brown told industry leaders: "America and many other nations have successfully tackled public health challenges through creative culture change efforts, from smoking to seat belts to drunk driving. "Together, we will shift the dominant cultural narrative from viewing guns as instruments of personal safety and freedom that must not be regulated in any way, to a more balanced view that guns are inherently dangerous and must be managed more responsibly like other dangerous products." The new partnered content will revolve around three pillars: challenging the gun industry's lies about firearms; highlighting the importance of safe storage practices in preventing "family fire;" and creating the political pressure needed to enact common-sense legislative change. The campaign is the latest in Brady's efforts to change the culture around gun violence in the U.S. Last month, as part of its " ShowYourSafety " campaign, Brady organized a White House roundtable featuring nearly two dozen actors, directors, and showrunners about the role Hollywood can play in combating the gun violence epidemic. Brady's " End Family Fire " campaign uses public service announcements to reach gun-owning households to promote safe storage practices. ThisIsOurLane , Brady's physician-led program, is mobilizing health practitioners to address gun violence as a public health crisis. Contacts: Mike Stankiewicz, [email protected], (202) 255-7472 Izzy Olive, [email protected], (412) 401-5787 SOURCE Brady GALE is now the largest agency to have committed to refusing work with fossil fuel companies. CANNES, France, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- GALE CEO Brad Simms took to the stage today at The Next Level Climate Summit at Cannes Lions 2023 to announce the agencies will sign the Clean Creatives pledge, making GALE the largest agency to commit to refusing work with fossil fuel companies. With its global workforce of 750+ with people in New York, Toronto, Bengaluru and more, GALE's pledges guarantee that the agency will decline any future contracts with fossil fuel companies, trade associations, or front groups. GALE's pledge to Clean Creatives makes it the largest agency to commit to refusing work with fossil fuel companies. Tweet this "GALE signing the Clean Creatives pledge is a commitment to the most important thing we have: our planet. Refusing to work with fossil fuel companies is the least we can do to support our future. This pledge represents our commitment to sustainability and progress in climate change and we hope it inspires other agencies to do the same," Brad Simms, CEO, GALE. "GALE's commitment to not work with fossil fuel companies shows that creative leadership and climate leadership go hand-in-hand. Great agencies are grounded in great talent, and pledging to not work with major polluters is a crucial part of providing an environment where young creatives can thrive. We are grateful to GALE's leadership on this urgent issue, and I hope that others follow their lead." Duncan Meisel, Executive Director, Clean Creatives. Advertising and PR industry campaign group, Clean Creatives, is an ongoing movement calling for an industry-wide refusal to work with fossil fuel corporations. The campaign aims to increase awareness of the harmfulness of greenwashing strategies deployed by fossil fuel companies and the agencies working with them while uniting industry professionals. There are over 600 agencies, creatives and freelancers globally that have committed to the Clean Creatives pledge. The GALE pledge announcement was during the 'The Power of Coming Clean: Agency CEOs on the Clean Creatives Pledge at the Next Level Climate Summit' event hosted by Meisel, which explored how the pledge can empower industry leaders by becoming part of a wider community of agencies refusing work from Big Oil. The event was part of a day-long programme of activity at the Next Level Climate Summit produced in partnership between Clean Creatives, Creatives for Climate, the Embassy of Dutch Creativity, Purpose Disruptors, and Scope3 to focus on the strategies and teams that will make the creative industry a leader in transforming the culture of the climate conversation. To join GALE in signing the Clean Creatives pledge, visit cleancreatives.org. About GALE GALE is a Business Agency. Founded in 2014, the agency currently has offices in New York, Singapore, Toronto, Denver, Los Angeles, London, Austin, Kansas City and Bengaluru. GALE has received top industry awards including Ad Age's A-List, Ad Age's Data & Analytics Agency of the Year, Adweek's Fastest Growing Agency and Adweek's Breakthrough Media Agency of the Year. For information on GALE, its customer data platform Alchemy and its consumer research capability ASK GALE, visit: https://gale.agency/ . About Clean Creatives Clean Creatives has mobilised over 600 agencies and 2000 individuals to pledge not to work with fossil fuels, including Top 150 UK-ranked Hope&Glory, strategic design studio Bruce Mau Design, global creative services company The Moon Unit, and TRIPTK from the holding group Havas, brand commitments range from Everlane to Gentleman Farmer to S'well and more. Clean Creatives created an open letter signed by 273 creative professionals under 30 who promised they would not work for fossil fuel clients. In partnership with the Union of Concerned Scientists, Clean Creatives also released a letter from 450 scientists condemning the advertising and PR industry's work with fossil fuels. Clean Creatives Website: cleancreatives.org Clean Creatives Twitter: @CleanCreatives Clean Creatives Instagram: @clean_creatives Clean Creatives Executive Director Duncan Meisel Twitter: @duncanwrites CONTACT Lindsay Bennett [email protected] 917 497 5582 SOURCE Stagwell Inc. The CONVINCE Trial study compares high-dose hemodiafiltration with standard, high-flux hemodialysis Study revealed a 23% decrease in mortality rates for patients treated with high-volume hemodiafiltration compared to those treated with more commonly used high-flux hemodialysis Exploration of methods to increase adoption of hemodiafiltration (HDF) making this therapeutic option accessible to patients WALTHAM, Mass., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fresenius Medical Care, the world's leading provider of products and services for individuals with renal diseases, participated in groundbreaking research that demonstrates that the mortality rate among kidney failure patients can be significantly reduced through the utilization of high-dose hemodiafiltration technology. Conducted by the CONVINCE consortium and led by the University Medical Center Utrecht, this international, randomized controlled trial marks a crucial milestone in comparing high-dose hemodiafiltration with standard, high-flux hemodialysis. The study's findings reveal that patients treated with high-dose hemodiafiltration experienced a remarkable 23% decrease in mortality rates compared to those treated with the more commonly used high-flux hemodialysis. Hemodialysis represents the most prevalent form of dialysis for treating kidney failure. While techniques have improved over time, conventional high-flux hemodialysis primarily employs diffusion to remove small molecules and fluid from the blood. In contrast, high-dose hemodiafiltration incorporates both diffusion and convection techniques to eliminate larger molecules and effectively manage fluid replacement through convection. Frank Maddux, MD, Chief Global Medical Officer of Fresenius Medical Care, expressed enthusiasm over the study's results, stating, "This meticulously designed and executed clinical study unquestionably demonstrates the efficacy of high volume hemodiafiltration for a significant portion of kidney failure patients. These findings have the potential to prompt significant changes in the standard treatment approach and, most importantly, contribute to reducing mortality rates among this vulnerable population in need of kidney replacement therapy." Lead investigator Professor Peter Blankestijn from UMC Utrecht commented, "Our results unequivocally demonstrate the survival benefits of utilizing hemodiafiltration over hemodialysis in the treatment of kidney failure, akin to a remarkable 23% reduction in all-cause mortality. I am optimistic that hemodiafiltration can become the new standard of care." Chronic kidney disease poses a pressing global health challenge, affecting an estimated 830 million individuals worldwide, with nearly four million people reliant on dialysis. When the kidneys can no longer perform their vital functions, dialysis is employed to cleanse the blood by eliminating waste products and regulating fluid volume in the body. The trial encompassed a total of 1,360 patients across 61 centers in eight European countries and followed up for a median of 30 months. Of these, 683 patients received high-dose hemodiafiltration and 677 received high-flux hemodialysis three times a week. The rate of mortality was 7.1 deaths per 100 patient-years in the group randomized to hemodiafiltration compared to 9.2 deaths per 100 patient-years in the hemodialysis group, corresponding to a relative reduction of 23%. The CONVINCE trial was spearheaded by researchers from UMC Utrecht in collaboration with University College London (UCL), Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin, University of Bari, The George Institute for Global Health, Imperial College London, and dialysis providers Fresenius Medical Care, Diaverum, and B. Braun Avitum. While hemodialysis serves as the standard treatment in most countries, hemodiafiltration remains underutilized in certain regions and is yet to be adopted in places like the U.S. Fresenius Medical Care has taken the lead in developing machines that facilitate online fluid generation and innovative techniques for delivering hemodiafiltration. "Fresenius Medical Care has a rich history of driving innovation in renal care, aimed at improving the lives of kidney disease patients worldwide," emphasized Frank Maddux, MD. "As pioneers in dialysis and membrane technologies, we will continue to explore methods that promote the adoption of hemodiafiltration, making this crucial therapeutic option more readily accessible to the patients we serve." Fresenius Medical Care is the world's leading provider of products and services for individuals with renal diseases of which around 3.9 million patients worldwide regularly undergo dialysis treatment. Through its network of 4,060 dialysis clinics, Fresenius Medical Care provides dialysis treatments for approximately 343,000 patients around the globe. Fresenius Medical Care is also the leading provider of dialysis products such as dialysis machines or dialyzers. Fresenius Medical Care is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FME) and on the New York Stock Exchange (FMS). For more information visit the Company's website at www.freseniusmedicalcare.com. Disclaimer: This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements due to various factors, including, but not limited to, changes in business, economic and competitive conditions, legal changes, regulatory approvals, impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic results of clinical studies, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, uncertainties in litigation or investigative proceedings, and the availability of financing. These and other risks and uncertainties are detailed in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA's reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA does not undertake any responsibility to update the forward-looking statements in this release. Notes to Editors: Disclaimer: The information in this document is provided as is and no guarantee or warranty is given that the information is fit for any particular purpose. The user thereof uses the information at its sole risk and liability. The opinions expressed in the document are of the authors only and in no way reflect the European Commission's opinions. The CONVINCE study was exclusively supported by the European Commission Research & Innovation, Horizon 2020, Call H2020-SC1-2016-2017 under the topic SC1-PM-10-2017: Comparing the effectiveness of existing healthcare interventions in the adult population (grant no 754803). Media Contacts Steffen Rinas T +49 6172 608-6698 [email protected] US Media: Ryan Jimenez [email protected] Contact for analysts and investors Dr. Dominik Heger T +49 6172 609-2601 [email protected] www.freseniusmedicalcare.com SOURCE Fresenius Medical Care Holdings, Inc DALLAS, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT) (the "Company") today announced that it intends to offer $350 million aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes due 2030 (the "Notes") in a private offering to eligible purchasers. The Notes will be guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by each of the Company's subsidiaries that guarantee its revolving credit facility. Net proceeds from the offering of the Notes are expected to be used to repay a portion of the outstanding indebtedness under the Company's revolving credit facility. Any remaining net proceeds are expected to be used for general corporate purposes. Consummation of the offering of the Notes is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance that the transaction will be successfully completed on the terms described above, or at all. The Notes have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. Accordingly, the Notes will be offered and sold only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers in reliance on Rule 144A under the Securities Act and to non-U.S. persons in offshore transactions outside the United States in accordance with Regulation S under the Securities Act. This release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, the Notes in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction. About Brinker Brinker International, Inc. is one of the world's leading casual dining restaurant companies and home of Chili's Grill & Bar, Maggiano's Little Italy and the It's Just Wings virtual brand. Founded in 1975 in Dallas, Texas, we've ventured far from home, but stayed true to our roots. Brinker owns, operates or franchises more than 1,600 restaurants in 29 countries and two U.S. territories. Our passion is making everyone feel special, and we hope you feel that passion each time you visit one of our restaurants or invite us into your home through takeout or delivery. Forward-Looking Statements The statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. We intend all forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements are made only based on our current plans, expectations, estimates, assumptions and beliefs concerning future events impacting us as of the date such statements are made, and we undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date such statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Forward-looking statements are neither predictions nor guarantees of future events or performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from our historical results or from those projected in forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among other things, prevailing market conditions, risks related to whether the Company will consummate the offering of the Notes on the expected terms, or at all, and the fact that Company's management may have broad discretion in the use of the proceeds from any sale of the Notes. Other risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the impact of general economic conditions, including inflation, on economic activity and on our operations; the crisis in Ukraine and related disruptions on our business including consumer demand, costs, product mix, our strategic initiatives, our partners' supply chains, operations, technology and assets, and our financial performance; the impact of competition; changes in consumer preferences; consumer perception of food safety; reduced consumer discretionary spending; unfavorable publicity; governmental regulations; the Company's ability to meet its business strategy plan; loss of key management personnel; failure to hire and retain high-quality restaurant management and team members; the impact of social media or other unfavorable publicity; reliance on technology and third party delivery providers; failure to protect the security of data of our guests and team members; product availability and supply chain disruptions; regional business and economic conditions; volatility in consumer, commodity, transportation, labor, currency and capital markets; litigation; franchisee success; technology failures; failure to protect our intellectual property; outsourcing; impairment of goodwill or assets; failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting; downgrades in credit ratings; changes in estimates regarding our assets; actions of activist shareholders; failure to comply with new environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements; failure to achieve any goals, targets or objectives with respect to ESG matters; adverse weather conditions; terrorist acts; health epidemics or pandemics (such as COVID-19); tax reform; inadequate insurance coverage and limitations imposed by our credit agreements as well as the risks and uncertainties described in "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT: MIKA WARE, INVESTOR RELATIONS: [email protected]; MEDIA RELATIONS: [email protected], (800) 775-7290 SOURCE Brinker International Payroll Company, L.P. By spreading fakes about a "dirty bomb," Russia wants to divert attention from the obvious defeats of the occupying forces at the front and create distrust of the allies in Ukraine; if Russia talks about a "dirty bomb," then this could be a real threat of its use by the Russians, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said. "Insignificant are the accusations of Russia against someone else regarding violations of international humanitarian law, the creation of 'dirty bombs,' the use of prohibited methods and means of warfare. Similar statements were made by the Russian authorities last fall, when the Russian occupiers were defeated on the front around Kherson," the Defense Ministry said in a statement on its Telegram channel. The department said in this way the Russian authorities want to divert attention from the obvious defeats of the occupying forces at the front and create distrust of the Western allies in Ukraine. "If Russia talks about the danger of war from someone, then she unleashes it herself. If Russia is talking about a 'dirty bomb,' then this could be a real threat of its use by the Russians. For its part, the Ministry of Defense evaluates all scenarios and associated risks and, together with other departments and military administrations, takes measures to counter the Russian threat." The ministry said. GMC2023 hosts the official mobility agenda of the Spanish EU Presidency MADRID, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The second edition of Global Mobility Call, a key Congress-Expo on the international sustainable mobility agenda, will be held in Madrid from 24 to 26 October. In its second edition, GMC2023 will be the meeting point for companies and regulators to drive the transformation of sectors involved in the decarbonised, safe and inclusive mobility of the future. Key business and institutional players in the mobility ecosystem across the value chain will participate, together with international experts who will present trends and cutting-edge projects. Participants of the 2022 Global Mobility Call - photo credit Global Mobility Call GMC will host part of the official mobility agenda of the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council with three meetings organised by the Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, bringing together representatives from the 27 EU countries and EU Commissioners. These are the "Technical Conference on Mobility in Rural Areas", "The PEP Partnership on Active Mobility", and European Corridors in Spain 360: Atlantic Corridor and Mediterranean Corridor, for which an investment of over 53.8 billion is foreseen. Large corporations and associations by sector confirmed for GMC23 include: BP, Cepsa, EDP, Iberdrola and Total Energies from the energy sector, Consorcio de Transportes, EMT and Metro de Madrid from public transport, Adif, Aena, Arriva, Astara, Enaire, Iberia, Ineco, Puertos del Estado, PWC, Renfe, Santander (WABI and Ulity), Senasa and UBER from multimodal mobility, Etra, Indra and Sistem from technology and innovation, and the General Directorate of Roads and the National Geographic Institute from infrastructures, among others, all of which will be present in the exhibition and congress areas. Over 100 exhibiting companies, start-ups and 50 national and international sectoral associations will take part. Renowned speakers, including Bertrand Piccard, Peggy Liu, Jeremy Rifkin, Ugwem Eneyo, Miguel Luengo and Ge Jun, are confirmed, as well as the Program Advisory Board, composed of 12 leading professionals from the sustainable mobility ecosystem, such as Eric-Mark Huitema, Sita Holstlog, Javier Gandara, Julia Lopez Ventura and Sophie Bernard. In its second edition, GMC becomes the essential international event for mobility stakeholders to join forces and achieve the Paris Agreement objectives and the Sustainable Development Goals. GMC is also a business and networking platform for companies operating in Europe to take advantage of the NextGenerationEU funds and align with the European Green Deal. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105092/2022_Global_Mobility_Call_Participants.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2053658/Global_Mobility_Call_Logo.jpg Media Cotact: [email protected] SOURCE Global Mobility Call SACRAMENTO, Calif. and WALTHAM, Mass., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Salary.com, a leading provider of compensation management software data and solutions, and the California Hotel & Lodging Association (CHLA), the largest state hospitality industry association in the nation, are partnering to provide CHLA members with industry-leading compensation data and pay equity analysis tools. This partnership marks a new chapter for both organizations, as they work to improve compensation practices and increase pay transparency within California's hospitality industry. CHLA members will receive special pricing on Salary.com's Hospitality Survey, which provides detailed compensation data for a range of hospitality industry positions, from entry-level to executive. CHLA will also have access to automated analysis for SB 1162 pay transparency guidelines, that require employers to include a pay range for positions in all job postings and larger companies to submit demographic and pay data to the state. "We're thrilled to partner with the California Hotel & Lodging Association to support compensation best practices in the hospitality industry," said Kevin Plunkett, Salary.com's Senior Vice President of Partnerships & Channel. "At Salary.com, we believe that fair and equitable pay is essential for building an engaged workforce and we look forward to working with CHLA members to achieve that goal." As part of the partnership, CHLA members are entitled to significant discounts, including: 55 percent discount on the participant price of the Salary.com Hospitality Survey. Up to 60 percent off Salary.com's Pay Gap Overview, which offers an insightful analysis of compensation and distribution based on age groups, ethnicities, and gender designations. 10 percent discount on Salary.com's suite of software products, including CompAnalyst, CompAnalyst Market Data, and CompAnalyst Enterprise. Additional discounts on other surveys and consulting services. These exclusive benefits aim to provide valuable resources and insights to CHLA members. "This partnership with Salary.com will provide our members with access to the tools and data they need to build fair and equitable compensation practices," said Lynn S. President & CEO of the California Hotel & Lodging Association. "This partnership aligns with our mission to support the hospitality industry and ensure that our members have the resources they need to succeed." About Salary.com Salary.com has been solving the complex human capital needs of global organizations for more than 20 years. Today, Salary.com's 30,000 organizations in 22 countries use our solutions to confidently hire and retain talent so they can better compete in a constantly changing landscape. Offering the most precise data set on the market, Salary.com provides more than 10 billion data points across more than 225 industries using a powerful, proprietary AI framework. The company's flagship product CompAnalyst is the cornerstone of the compensation management software platform. It empowers organizations with a suite of tools that simplifies hiring, eliminates compensation guesswork, and increases retention. Employee trust depends on fair pay and Salary.com's solutions get pay right. For more information, please visit www.salary.com/business. About California Hotel & Lodging Association The California Hotel & Lodging Association is the largest state hospitality industry association in the nation and a trusted resource for California hotels and lodging properties. CHLA advocates for and represents the interests of the California lodging industry and provides education and resources to help members succeed. For more information, visit www.calodging.com. Media Contacts: Jennifer Flohr: [email protected] Julie Murphy: [email protected] SOURCE Salary.com, Inc. Fixed income assets under management have doubled over the past 10 years, making Capital Group one of the largest active bond managers worldwide LOS ANGELES, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Capital Group, one of the world's largest and most experienced active investment managers, with assets under management of approximately US$2.3 trillion, is celebrating 50 years of fixed income investing. Capital Group has globally more than doubled the size of its fixed income assets under management to approximately $470B1 in the last 10 years, with a wide range of global fixed income strategies and portfolio solutions that pursue consistent, long-term superior outcomes to meet client needs. Capital Group first entered fixed income investing in the U.S. in 1973 and now has over 230 fixed income associates based in Los Angeles, New York, London and Singapore. Over the past five years, the firm has captured 33 percent of all active U.S. fixed income fund flows. "Since 1973 and over the past 10 years in particular, we've invested heavily in our talent, our investment processes, our technology, risk management systems and our bond offerings to grow our global footprint and bring our investment results to new investors worldwide," said Mike Gitlin, Global Head of Fixed Income at Capital Group. "Alongside our long-established equity franchise, we have a track record of delivering long-term fixed income results that beat their benchmarks and a continual focus on putting our clients' interests first in all that we do." Guy Henriques, President of Europe and Asia Client Group, commented, "We're committed to bringing our distinct, active, research-driven approach to a broader set of investors across the world. While uncertainty is likely to remain for the foreseeable future and this environment will be challenging for investors globally, fixed income has a key role to play in meeting investors' long-term financial goals. With our strong fixed income capabilities, we are well-positioned to help our clients in Europe and Asia-Pacific by bringing them the best investment opportunities we can identify." "Over the 40 years I've been here, fixed income has become a bigger and more important part of our company," said Tim Armour, CEO and Chairman of Capital Group. "I am proud of the strength of our fixed income team today and the trust our investors place in our long-term fixed income capabilities." Gitlin added, "We exist for our clients, and we'll keep evolving over the next 50 years to continue to help meet their needs. That's our promise." To learn more about Capital Group's fixed income investment services and offerings, visit https://www.capitalgroup.com/advisor/investments/fixed-income.html. __________________________ 1 AUM as of March 31, 2023 About Capital Group Capital Group has been singularly focused on delivering superior results for long-term investors using high-conviction portfolios, rigorous research, and individual accountability since 1931. As of March 31, 2023, Capital Group manages approximately $2.3 trillion in equity and fixed-income assets for millions of individuals and institutional investors around the world. Capital Group manages equity assets through three investment groups. These groups make investment and proxy voting decisions independently. Fixed-income investment professionals provide fixed-income research and investment management across the Capital organization; however, for securities with equity characteristics, they act solely on behalf of one of the three equity investment groups. For more information, visit capitalgroup.com. Investments are not FDIC-insured, nor are they deposits of or guaranteed by a bank or any other entity, so they may lose value. Investors should carefully consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other important information is contained in the fund prospectuses and summary prospectuses, which can be obtained from a financial professional and should be read carefully before investing. Statements attributed to an individual represent the opinions of that individual as of the date published and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Capital Group or its affiliates. This information is intended to highlight issues and should not be considered advice, an endorsement, or a recommendation. All Capital Group trademarks mentioned are owned by The Capital Group Companies, Inc., an affiliated company or fund. All other company and product names mentioned are the property of their respective companies. This content, developed by Capital Group, home of American Funds, should not be used as a primary basis for investment decisions and is not intended to serve as impartial investment or fiduciary advice. American Funds Distributors, Inc. Media Contacts: USA: Natalie Marin [email protected] +1 (213) 615-4508 Europe: Aramide Debo-Aina [email protected] +44 (0) 207 864 5523 Asia-Pacific: Kaitlyn Yang [email protected] +65-6437-0439 SOURCE Capital Group Experience Carrabba's new Happy Hour menu featuring $7 cocktails and $7 bites, 7 days a week TAMPA, Fla., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Carrabba's Italian Grill is taking Happy Hour to a delightful level with an all-new bar experience that adds Italian flair to the classic gathering. Carrabba's is known for bringing people together and invites guests to enjoy innovative and mouth-watering appetizers and charcuterie boards while sipping refreshing beverage selections. Happy Hour launches today in all locations. Carrabba's Italian Grill Happy Hour "Aperitivo is the Italian tradition of gathering together for memorable drinks and food, and we can't think of a better way to honor our Italian roots than to model our new Happy Hour after it," said Pat Hafner, Carrabba's Italian Grill President. "We're excited to welcome guests in to enjoy incredible food and discover a new favorite place for happy hour to relax and reconnect with friends and family any day of the week." Infused with value and flavor with a generous spread of food and drink offerings, the new Happy Hour is available in the Carrabba's bar, now known as the C Bar. Guests will peruse a chef-crafted menu seven days a week featuring $7 cocktails, seven $7 bites and much more. Happy Hour just got better! Special Appetizers: Charcuterie Board & Wine : Two savory choices, cured and curated for Happy Hour. One is plated with Mortadella, rustic Italian meat cuts, an array of Italian cheeses, burrata, olives, and more with two glasses of house wine for $25 ; the second comes with two glasses of premium wine for $30 . Enjoy the board on its own for $15 . : Two savory choices, cured and curated for Happy Hour. One is plated with Mortadella, rustic Italian meat cuts, an array of Italian cheeses, burrata, olives, and more with two glasses of house wine for ; the second comes with two glasses of premium wine for . Enjoy the board on its own for . $7 Bites: Bruschette Caprese, Meatball Sliders, Shrimp Focaccia Bites, Vegetable Focaccia Bites, Mezzaluna Fritte, Calamari and Truffle Fettuccine Cacio e Pepe. Beverage Specials: $7 Specialty Cocktails : Passion Pear Spritz, Pomegranate Martini and Italian Old Fashioned. : Passion Pear Spritz, Pomegranate Martini and Italian Old Fashioned. Peroni and Bud Light draft beer for $3 . . A 9-ounce glass for the price of 6 ounces of house wine and sangria. Absolut, Bacardi, Lunazul Blanco, Jim Beam, Crown Royal, Dewar's, New Amsterdam Gin premium spirits for $6 . . Blackberry, Peach and Classic Red Sangria Pitchers serving four for $25 . Happy Hour in the C Bar is available daily starting at 4 p.m. For more information and to find your nearest location, visit www.carrabbas.com. Times and offerings may vary. About Carrabba's Italian Grill Offering authentic Italian cuisine passed down from our founders' family recipes, Carrabba's Italian Grill invites guests to "Come together at Carrabba's" with the people who matter most. Carrabba's is the centerpiece of creating lasting connections through the sharing of food. Signature dishes include Chicken Bryan, Pollo Rosa Maria, Wood-Fire Grilled Steak and Chops, Lasagne, and the Johnny Trio plated with three favorites on one plate. Carrabba's offers online ordering and curbside carryout with care; catering options include Perfect Bundles, Individually Packaged Entrees, Party Pans and more. For more information, visit www.carrabbas.com and connect on Facebook and Instagram. PR Contact: Mariah Kulkin [email protected] SOURCE Carrabbas Italian Grill CHICAGO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The cell-based assays industry is poised for significant advancements in the near future. With ongoing advancements in cell culture techniques, automation, and high-throughput screening technologies, cell-based assays will play a crucial role in drug discovery, toxicity testing, and personalized medicine. The industry will witness the development of more physiologically relevant and complex 3D cell models, allowing for better prediction of drug efficacy and safety. Integration of innovative technologies such as organ-on-a-chip systems and microfluidics will further enhance the capabilities of cell-based assays, enabling more accurate and reliable testing. Moreover, the industry will focus on leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to analyze complex data generated from these assays, facilitating faster and more precise decision-making in drug development. Overall, the near future of the cell-based assays industry holds great promise, with advancements in technology and techniques paving the way for improved drug discovery processes and personalized approaches to healthcare. Cell based Assays Market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth $18.9 billion in 2023 and is poised to reach $28.2 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 8.4% from 2023 to 2028 according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. The global cell-based assays market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.4% during the forecast period. The market for cell-based assays is experiencing significant growth primarily due to the increasing demand for drug discovery and development, as well as the rising adoption of cell-based assays in this process. Government support and funding for cell-based research initiatives are further contributing to this growth. Additionally, efforts by regulatory authorities, such as the FDA, to reduce reliance on animal-based studies are driving the adoption of cell-based assays. Download an Illustrative overview: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=119917269 Browse in-depth TOC on "Cell based Assays Market" 338 - Tables 43 - Figures 344 - Pages Cell based Assays Market Scope: Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2023 $18.9 billion Estimated Value by 2028 $28.2 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 8.4% Market Size Available for 20212028 Forecast Period 20232028 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered Product & Service, Application and End User Geographies Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America (LATAM) and Middle East and Africa (MEA) Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Growing opportunities in emerging economies Key Market Drivers Growing demand for drug discovery & development and increasing preference for cell-based assays in drug discovery The instruments and software segment accounted for the second largest share, by product and service in the cell-based assays market in 2022. These sophisticated instruments enable researchers to automate and streamline various aspects of cell-based assays, enhancing efficiency, accuracy, and throughput. Additionally, powerful software platforms provide advanced data analysis, visualization, and integration capabilities, enabling researchers to derive valuable insights from their experiments. The integration of cutting-edge instruments and software solutions into cell-based assays research workflows is revolutionizing the field and propelling the market forward. The pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical companies segment accounted for the largest share of the end user segment in the cell-based assays market in 2022. The pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical companies dominated the market in 2022. Pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical companies are the largest end users of cell-based assays. The demand for cell-based assays in this end-user segment is driven by the growth in the number of R&D activities for the development of new pharma and biotech drugs and therapies coupled with the adoption of cell-based assays in these companies. The North America region catered the largest share of the cell-based assays market in 2022. North America has emerged as the dominant region in the cell-based assays market. The region's leadership can be attributed to several factors, including a robust pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, extensive research and development activities, and a favorable regulatory environment. Furthermore, the presence of key market players, advanced healthcare infrastructure, and significant investments in drug discovery and development contribute to North America's strong market position. The region's emphasis on technological advancements and the adoption of innovative approaches in cell-based assays further solidifies its dominance in the market. Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=119917269 Cell based Assays Market Dynamics: Drivers: Growing preference for cell-based assays in drug discovery Increasing funding for cell-based research Growth in the number of drug discovery activities Restraints: High cost of instruments and restrictions on reagent use Lack of infrastructure for cell-based research in emerging economies Opportunities: Emerging economies Growing risk of pandemics and communicable diseases Application of novel cell-based assays in cancer research Key Market Players: Key players in the cell-based assays market include Danaher Corporation (US), Thermo Fisher Scientific (US), Merck (Germany), Becton, Dickinson and Company (US), Lonza (Switzerland), PerkinElmer (US), Charles River Laboratories (US), Eurofins Scientific (France), Enzo Biochem (US), Carna Biosciences (Japan), Cell Biolabs (US), Promega Corporation (US), Cell Signaling Technology (US), BioAgilytix Labs (US), Reaction Biology Corporation (US), AAT Bioquest (US), Pestka Biomedical Laboratories (US), InvivoGen (US), CA3 Biosciences (US), BPS Bioscience (US), BellBrook Labs (US), Profacgen (US), BMG LABTECH (Germany), Hanugen Therapeutics (India), and JRS Pharma (Germany). Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=119917269 Recent Developments: In December 2021, Thermo Fisher Scientific acquired PPD to enhance its clinical research services for the biopharma and biotech industries In March 2020 , Danaher acquired General Electric's Life Sciences Division (and renamed it Cytiva) to enhance its Life Sciences products and services portfolio. Cell based Assays Market Advantages: Physiological Relevance: Cell-based assays utilize living cells, providing a more physiologically relevant environment compared to traditional biochemical assays. This allows for the assessment of drug efficacy, toxicity, and interactions in a more accurate and predictive manner, leading to better understanding of biological mechanisms and improved translatability to human responses. High Sensitivity and Specificity: Cell-based assays offer high sensitivity and specificity in detecting and measuring biological responses. They can detect subtle changes in cellular functions, such as cell viability, proliferation, apoptosis, and signaling pathways, enabling the identification of potential drug candidates or toxic compounds with greater precision. Versatility and Flexibility: Cell-based assays can be designed and adapted to various research needs and objectives. They can be customized to assess specific targets, diseases, or pathways, allowing researchers to address diverse scientific questions and develop tailored solutions. This versatility makes cell-based assays applicable across different therapeutic areas and research fields. Predictive Value: By utilizing human or relevant animal cell lines, cell-based assays offer better predictability of drug responses compared to non-cell-based models. They can provide insights into drug efficacy, safety, and potential side effects, helping researchers and pharmaceutical companies make more informed decisions during drug development stages, leading to improved success rates and reduced costs. High-Throughput Screening Capabilities: With advancements in automation and robotics, cell-based assays have become amenable to high-throughput screening. This enables the rapid testing of large compound libraries, accelerating the drug discovery process and increasing the chances of identifying potential lead compounds. Reduction of Animal Testing: Cell-based assays provide a valuable alternative to animal testing in drug development and toxicology studies. They allow for preliminary evaluation of drug candidates and toxicity profiles, reducing the reliance on animal models and contributing to the ethical treatment of animals in research. Integration with Advanced Technologies: Cell-based assays can be integrated with other advanced technologies, such as imaging systems, microfluidics, and gene editing tools like CRISPR-Cas9. This integration allows for real-time monitoring of cellular responses, enhanced data collection, and manipulation of cellular systems, expanding the capabilities and applications of cell-based assays. Cost-Effectiveness: Cell-based assays can offer cost savings compared to in vivo animal models and provide faster results. By reducing the need for expensive animal studies and streamlining the drug discovery process, cell-based assays contribute to cost-effective research and development. Overall, the advantages of cell-based assays include their physiological relevance, sensitivity, versatility, predictive value, high-throughput screening capabilities, reduction of animal testing, integration with advanced technologies, and cost-effectiveness. These advantages make cell-based assays an indispensable tool in pharmaceutical research, toxicology screening, and the development of novel therapeutic interventions. Cell-based assays Market- Report Highlights: The market size is updated for the base year 2022 and forecasted from 2023 to 2028 by studying the impact of the recession on the overall cell-based assays industry. The new edition includes the impact of the recession on the cell-based assays market (especially the region-wise impact in the geographic analysis section) in 2022. There is a variation in the growth rate of the market due to the ongoing recession. Additional points such as, impact of uncertainties on cell-based assays market, trends/disruptions impacting customers' businesses, pricing analysis, patent analysis, key conferences and events (20222023), list of key regulatory bodies, regulatory landscape, Porter's Five Forces analysis, key stakeholders, the influence of stakeholders on buying decisions, and buying criteria among end users have been added in the market overview chapter. The Latin American region is split into Brazil and the Rest of Latin America . The Middle East & Africa is further split into the Middle East and Africa . This has been newly added in the geographical analysis section of the current edition of the cell-based assays market report. and the Rest of . The & is further split into the and . This has been newly added in the geographical analysis section of the current edition of the cell-based assays market report. Recent developments are helpful to know the market trends and growth strategies adopted by players in the market. Tracking product portfolios helps analyze the cell-based assay offerings in the market. The new edition of the report provides an updated product & service portfolio of the companies profiled in the report. Additional company profiles have been added (a total of 25 companies profiled). Key market strategies/right to win and competitive benchmarking been added in the competitive landscape section of the current edition of the cell-based assays market report. Related Reports: Cell Isolation Market - Global Forecasts to 2028 3D Cell Culture Market - Global Forecasts to 2028 Immunoassay Market - Global Forecasts to 2027 Multiplex Assays Market - Global Forecasts to 2027 Bioanalytical Testing Services Market - Global Forecasts 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: [email protected] Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/cell-based-assays-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/cell-based-assays.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg SOURCE MarketsandMarkets Central in Lima is named The World's Best Restaurant 2023, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna in is named The World's Best Restaurant 2023, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Announced this evening at an awards ceremony in Valencia , the 2023 list includes restaurants from 24 territories in five continents worldwide and introduces 12 restaurants making their debut , the 2023 list includes restaurants from 24 territories in five continents worldwide and introduces 12 restaurants making their debut Pia Salazar of Nuema, Quito , receives The World's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Sosa of Nuema, , receives The World's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Sosa The Beronia World's Best Sommelier Award is presented to Miguel Angel Millan of Diverxo, Madrid of Diverxo, Fyn in Cape Town wins the Flor de Cana Sustainable Restaurant Award in wins the Flor de Cana Sustainable Restaurant Award Table by Bruno Verjus (No.10) in Paris takes homes the Highest New Entry Award, sponsored by Aspire Lifestyles (No.10) in takes homes the Highest New Entry Award, sponsored by Aspire Lifestyles Atomix (No.8) is awarded the Villa Massa Highest Climber Award, as the New York restaurant climbs 25 places from the 2022 list (No.8) is awarded the Villa Massa Highest Climber Award, as the restaurant climbs 25 places from the 2022 list Alchemist (No.5) in Copenhagen wins the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award (No.5) in wins the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award goes to Julien Royer of Odette, Singapore VALENCIA, Spain, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The world of gastronomy came together in Valencia, Spain, tonight to celebrate The World's 50 Best Restaurants awards 2023, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, with Lima's Central named The World's Best Restaurant 2023, as well as The Best Restaurant in South America 2023. The awards ceremony, held at the city's Les Arts Opera House, honours the pinnacle of gastronomic talent from 24 territories across five continents. For the full 1-50 list, please see the attached graphic or see the bottom of this release. Central in Lima, Peru is named The World's Best Restaurant 2023, sponsored by S. Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, as well as The Best Restaurant in South America, at the awards ceremony for The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2023 held in Valencia, Spain, this evening. (PRNewsfoto/50 Best) View PDF Central in Lima, Peru is named The World's Best Restaurant 2023, sponsored by S. Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, as well as The Best Restaurant in South America, at the awards ceremony for The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2023 held in Valencia, Spain, this evening. Central, the flagship Lima restaurant of chefs Virgilio Martinez and Pia Leon, is crowned in the No.1 position, taking over from the 2022 winner, Geranium, Copenhagen, which is now elevated to the Best of the Best hall of fame. Placed at No.2 in the 2022 list, Central is an ode to Peru, with a menu that celebrates the unique biodiversity of the country's indigenous ingredients guided by its research arm, Mater Iniciativa along with its traditions and history, whilst championing sustainability. Central is followed by Disfrutar (No.2) in Barcelona and Diverxo (No.3) in Madrid. William Drew, Director of Content for The World's 50 Best Restaurants, comments: "It gives me great pleasure to share the list of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2023 and celebrate the fantastic achievement of Central as the new No.1. Virgilio Martinez, Pia Leon and the whole Central team have truly paved the way in celebrating indigenous ingredients through their innovative dishes and warm hospitality. Their commitment to research, respect for their country's heritage and promotion of Peru's unique biodiversity is unmatched, and we're honoured to name Central as The World's Best Restaurant, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. This year's list continues to show the breadth of culinary talent across the globe, and we look forward to seeing how it evolves even further in 2024 and beyond." South America further strengthens its position in global gastronomy, with the continent boasting nine restaurants overall including two new entries: Pia Leon's Kjolle, (No.28) in Lima and El Chato (No.33) in Bogota. Asia follows with seven restaurants on the list, including Singapore's Odette named The Best Restaurant in Asia (No.14) along with new entries Le Du (No.15) and Gaggan Anand (No.17) in Bangkok and Sezanne, Tokyo (No.37). Two Dubai restaurants make the list for the very first time, with Tresind Studio (No.11) named The Best Restaurant in Middle East & Africa, ahead of Orfali Bros Bistro (No.46). The Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award is presented to Copenhagen's Alchemist (No.5). An almost mystical dining experience in a remote, industrial corner of the city, an evening here is divided into several 'acts' where guests of head chef Rasmus Munk and his team are led through different locations, types of art and storytelling moments, alongside exquisite food born from Munk's obsessive search for the finest ingredients. Pia Salazar of Nuema, Quito, is the recipient of The World's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Sosa. Already crowned Latin America's Best Pastry Chef 2022, the Cuenca-born chef is helping put Ecuador on the culinary map with her experimental creations, turning fruit and vegetables into sweet masterpieces, like coconut with umami-rich yeast and black garlic, or leek and vanilla with cedron, a herb resembling lemon verbena. In its second year, the Beronia World's Best Sommelier Award is presented to Miguel Angel Millan, sommelier of Madrid's Diverxo. He expertly curates pairings to match chef Dabiz Munoz's ever-changing menu and takes the restaurant's beverage programme to an exceptionally high level, establishing himself as one of the most important sommeliers on the international restaurant scene. The winner of the Highest New Entry Award, sponsored by Aspire Lifestyles, is Table by Bruno Verjus (No.10). The self-taught French chef serves simple, seasonal, no-fuss cuisine at this Paris restaurant, which has developed a loyal following among the city's gourmands and is rapidly becoming an international dining destination. Atomix (No.8) is awarded the Villa Massa Highest Climber Award and named The Best Restaurant in North America, after the New York favourite climbed 25 places from its position in last year's ranking. The intimate 14-seat tasting menu restaurant from husband-and-wife team Junghyun 'JP' and Ellia Park won the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award as part of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2022 and its progressive and distinctive Korean food has been widely acclaimed. Julien Royer of Odette (No.14) in Singapore wins the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award. Voted for the world's leading chefs, this special prize is awarded to a chef who has had a significant positive influence on the culinary community. Royer's restaurant, Odette, in the city's National Gallery, is also named The Best Restaurant in Asia 2023. The Flor de Cana Sustainable Restaurant Award is this year bestowed on Cape Town's Fyn (No.75), where founding chef Peter Tempelhoff's mission is to blur boundaries by interpreting South Africa through techniques largely rooted in Japanese cooking. This award is independently audited by the Sustainable Restaurant Association, which rates establishments based on a wide range of criteria, including environmental and social responsibility, community involvement and staff welfare. The evening also celebrated those honoured with pre-announced special awards, including the Champions of Change winners Nora Fitzgerald Belahcen, founder of Moroccan social enterprise Amal, and Othon Nolasco and Damian Diaz, the duo behind food-security project No Us Without You LA. Elena Reygadas, winner of The World's Best Female Chef Award, Andoni Luis Aduriz of Mugaritz, winner of the Icon Award, and New York restaurant Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi, winner of the Resy One To Watch Award, were presented with their trophies on stage. The World's 50 Best Restaurants awards 2023, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, held at Valencia's Les Arts Opera House, marks the 21st year of the prestigious global gastronomic ranking. The Voting Process The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2023 list is voted for by 1,080 international restaurant industry experts and well-travelled gourmets who make up The World's 50 Best Restaurants Academy. The gender-balanced Academy comprises 27 separate regions around the world, each of which has 40 members including a chairperson. No sponsor from the event has any influence over the voting process. Professional services consultancy Deloitte independently adjudicates The World's 50 Best Restaurants list, including the ranking from 51-100. This adjudication ensures that the integrity and authenticity of the voting process and the resulting lists are protected. Best of the Best Those in the elite group of No.1 ranked restaurants (listed below) have more than proved their worth and will now be forever honoured as iconic dining destinations in the Best of the Best hall of fame. The chefs and restaurateurs who have led their restaurants to the pinnacle of the list have expressed their desire to invest in the future of the sector and 'give back' to the food world through new projects and initiatives. The following restaurants have been named No.1 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants since the list's inception and were therefore not eligible for voting in 2023 and beyond: El Bulli (2002, 2006-2009) The French Laundry (2003-2004) The Fat Duck (2005) Noma original location (2010-2012, 2014) El Celler de Can Roca (2013, 2015) (2013, 2015) Osteria Francescana (2016, 2018) Eleven Madison Park (2017) Mirazur (2019) Noma current location (2021) Geranium (2022) EDITOR'S NOTES: The World's 50 Best Restaurants: Position Restaurant Location 1 Central Lima 2 Disfrutar Barcelona 3 Diverxo Madrid 4 Asador Etxebarri Atxondo 5 Alchemist Copenhagen 6 Maido Lima 7 Lido 84 Gardone Riviera 8 Atomix New York 9 Quintonil Mexico City 10 Table by Bruno Verjus Paris 11 Tresind Studio Dubai 12 A Casa do Porco Sao Paulo 13 Pujol Mexico City 14 Odette Singapore 15 Le Du Bangkok 16 Reale Castel di Sangro 17 Gaggan Anand Bangkok 18 Steirereck Vienna 19 Don Julio Buenos Aires 20 Quique Dacosta Denia 21 Den Tokyo 22 Elkano Getaria 23 Kol London 24 Septime Paris 25 Belcanto Lisbon 26 Schloss Schauenstein Furstenau 27 Florilege Tokyo 28 Kjolle Lima 29 Borago Santiago 30 Frantzen Stockholm 31 Mugaritz San Sebastian 32 Hisa Franko Kobarid 33 El Chato Bogota 34 Uliassi Senigallia 35 Ikoyi London 36 Plenitude Paris 37 Sezanne Tokyo 38 The Clove Club London 39 The Jane Antwerp 40 Restaurant Tim Raue Berlin 41 Le Calandre Rubano 42 Piazza Duomo Alba 43 Leo Bogota 44 Le Bernardin New York 45 Nobelhart & Schmutzig Berlin 46 Orfali Bros Bistro Dubai 47 Mayta Lima 48 La Grenouillere La Madeleine-sous-Montreuil 49 Rosetta Mexico City 50 The Chairman Hong Kong For media centre access, please visit: https://mediacentre.theworlds50best.com 50 Best Social Media About The World's 50 Best Restaurants Since 2002, The World's 50 Best Restaurants has reflected the diversity of the world's culinary landscape. The annual list of the world's most prestigious restaurants provides a snapshot of some of the best destinations for unique culinary experiences, in addition to being a barometer for and a pioneer of global gastronomic trends. The 50 Best family also includes Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, Middle East & North Africa's 50 Best Restaurants, The World's 50 Best Hotels, The World's 50 Best Bars, Asia's 50 Best Bars, North America's 50 Best Bars, 50 Best Discovery and the #50BestTalks series, all of which are owned and run by William Reed. 50 Best aims to bring together communities across the hospitality sector to foster collaboration, inclusivity, diversity and discovery and help drive positive change. About the host destination: Visit Valencia Valencia is the third largest city in Spain with more than 800,000 inhabitants. Bathed by the waters of the Mediterranean, it is clean and green, thanks to multiple urban parks, and boasts more than 300 days of sunshine a year. Its rich Mediterranean cuisine is based on local produce from the orchard that surround the city and nourish its markets, bars and restaurants. In addition, Valencia is the birthplace of the most international Spanish dish: paella. It is a perfect city to enjoy at any time of the year thanks to all its Unesco Heritage attractions such as: the Lonja de la Seda, the Tribunal de las Aguas or the Fallas. Valencia is at the forefront of sustainable projects that have earned it several international awards such as European Smart City 2022, as well as European Green Capital 2024. About the main sponsor: S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna are the main partners of The World's 50 Best Restaurants and 50 Best for Recovery. S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna are the leading natural mineral waters in the fine dining world. Together they interpret Italian style worldwide as a synthesis of excellence, pleasure and well-being. Our partners: Visit Valencia Official Host Destination Partner Official Host Destination Partner S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna Main Partner & Official Water Partner; sponsor of The World's Best Restaurant Main Partner & Official Water Partner; sponsor of The World's Best Restaurant Estrella Damm Official Beer Partner; sponsor of the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award Official Beer Partner; sponsor of the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award American Express Resy Official Credit Card & Booking Platform Partner (Resy); sponsor of the Resy One To Watch Award Gin Mare Official Gin Partner; sponsor of the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award Flor de Cana Official Rum Partner; sponsor of the Flor de Cana Sustainable Restaurant Award Sosa Official Ingredients Partner; sponsor of The World's Best Pastry Chef Award Beronia Official Wine Partner; sponsor of the Beronia World's Best Sommelier Award Aspire Lifestyles Official Concierge Partner; sponsor of the Highest New Entry Award Dassai Sake Official Sake Partner Tequila Ocho Official Tequila Partner illycaffe Official Coffee Partner The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. Official Whiskey of the World Partner Techlam Official Premium Worktop Partner Cinco Jotas Official Iberico Ham Partner Nude Glassware Official Glassware Partner Kaviari Official Caviar Partner Fundador Brandy Official Brandy Partner Official Brandy Partner Villa Massa Official Limoncello and Amaretto Partner; sponsor of Villa Massa Highest Climber Award Culinary Roots Castilla la Mancha Official Partner Asturias Official Partner Jaen Seleccion Official Olive Oil Partner Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2106885/50_Best.jpg PDF - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2103914/50_BEST_pdf.pdf Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2076144/World_50Best_Rest_2023_Logo.jpg SOURCE 50 Best BEIJING, June 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday, the second and last day of the top U.S. diplomat's visit to China. During the meeting, Xi urged actions to stabilize and improve China-U.S. relations, and emphasized that whether the two countries can find the right way to get along bears on the future and destiny of humanity. CGTN: Xi Jinping urges actions to stabilize and improve China-U.S. relations "Planet Earth is big enough to accommodate the respective development and common prosperity of China and the United States," he said. The Chinese, like the Americans, are "dignified, confident and self-reliant" people, and they both have the right to pursue a better life, Xi stressed. The common interests of the two countries should be valued, and their respective success is an opportunity for each other, not a threat, he said. 'World needs stable China-U.S. ties' Noting that the international community is concerned about the current state of the relations, Xi said it does not want to see conflict or confrontation between China and the U.S. or choose sides between them. "The two countries should act with a sense of responsibility for history, for the people and for the world, and handle China-U.S. relations properly," urged the Chinese leader. "In this way, they may contribute to global peace and development, and help make the world, which is changing and turbulent, more stable, certain and constructive," he added. Blinken said U.S. President Joe Biden believes that the U.S. and China have an obligation to responsibly manage their relations, which is in the interest of both countries and the world. Translating Bali common understandings into actions When Xi and Biden held their first in-person talks as heads of state on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G20) Summit on the Indonesian island of Bali last November, both sides agreed to take actions to take China-U.S. relations back to the track of stable development. During Monday's meeting with Blinken, the Chinese president reiterated that the two countries need to remain committed to the common understandings he and Biden had reached in Bali, and translate the positive statements into actions so as to stabilize and improve China-U.S. relations. He noted that major-country competition does not represent the trend of the times, much less can it solve America's own problems or the challenges facing the world. "China respects U.S. interests and does not seek to challenge or displace the United States," said Xi. "In the same vein, the United States needs to respect China and must not hurt China's legitimate rights and interests." China always hopes to see a sound and steady China-U.S. relationship and believes that the two major countries can overcome various difficulties and find the right way to get along based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, he added. Blinken said the U.S. is committed to returning to the agenda set by the two presidents in Bali. The United States stands by the commitments made by Biden, namely it does not seek a new Cold War, it does not seek to change China's system, its alliances are not directed at China, it does not support "Taiwan independence," and it does not seek conflict with China, reiterated Blinken. He added, the U.S. side looks forward to having high-level engagement with the Chinese side, keeping open lines of communication, responsibly managing differences, and pursuing dialogue, exchanges and cooperation. Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China, told CGTN on Monday that it was an important step for China and the U.S. to stabilize their relations as both sides agreed to take the business and people-to-people exchanges back to normal following Blinken's visit. Monday's meeting was the first time a U.S. secretary of state had met the Chinese president since 2018. Blinken is the senior most U.S. official to visit China since Biden took office in early 2021. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-06-19/Xi-Jinping-urges-actions-to-stabilize-and-improve-China-U-S-relations-1kLNJcMwSwE/index.html SOURCE CGTN RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cloudsky, a global leader in advanced computing solutions and services, recently announced its strategic partnership with Saudi Excellence Company. The partnership is for driving digital transformation and supporting Saudi Arabia's "2030 Vision" strategic framework. The collaboration, recently unveiled during the 10th China-Arab conference, will harness cutting-edge technologies to propel the country's digital economy forward. Saudi Excellence Co., an investment company under AI-Ramez International Group, specializes in providing state-of-the-art solutions in AI, robotics, data, energy, and gaming. Crusoe Mao, Chairman and CEO of Cloudsky, underscored the importance of the partnership, stating, "Saudi Arabia is a dynamic country with a keen interest in emerging technologies and digital transformation. The '2030 Vision' sets a clear goal of increasing the digital economy's contribution. Cloudsky is committed to delivering advanced computing solutions and services to empower the global digital economy. We are thrilled to collaborate with Saudi Excellence Company to promote local economic development in Saudi Arabia and support the objectives of the '2030 Vision' plan." Sheikh Abdullah Zaid Al-Meleihi, CEO of AI-Ramez, stated, "We are pleased to establish a partnership with Cloudsky, a global leader in next-generation computing infrastructure. This alliance marks a significant step in our mission to assist Saudi Arabia in developing a comprehensive digital economy ecosystem. It will catalyze and transform the future of emerging technologies in the entire region. We look forward to closely collaborating with Cloudsky to facilitate the digital economy development in Saudi Arabia and beyond." Cloudsky has engaged in fruitful discussions with the Saudi government, enterprises, and universities, fostering the integration of industry, academia, and research. Cloudsky has established a strong partnership with Saudi Telecom, working together to advance the development of a 5G edge cloud infrastructure. The government agencies, such as the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), have pledged comprehensive support for business initiatives. Furthermore, Cloudsky has agreed to engage in extensive technology research and development as well as talent exchange programs with Prince Sultan University. Cloudsky's business footprint is expanding globally, focusing on the Middle East. The company aims to localize its leading technology and extensive experience in customer service and project implementation in Saudi Arabia, fast-tracking the realization of the "2030 Vision." CONTACT: [email protected]com SOURCE Cloudsky INB2 is the first multi-vendor, waveform agnostic NetOps software application to allow monitoring and management of the Integrated Tactical Network (ITN) from Company to Division. ATLANTA, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CodeMettle, an innovative developer of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) NetOps software, has been awarded a contract to provide software licenses for the INB2 Program that will be used to field and manage disparate and interconnected radio networks. This contract marks the software's initial program deployment, which concludes a five-year Middle Tier Acquisition (MTA) process that started at a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 5 and is now at a TRL of 8. CodeMettle demonstrated the software's performance and reliability during the Army's Capability Set Operations Demonstration and Adversary Assessment with the 2nd Calvary Regiment as well as Pacific Pathways with the 82nd Airborne Division. "The Army can now monitor and manage tactical radios in conjunction with the Lower Tactical Tier (LTT) networks quickly and with ease knowing they're using a tool that was developed through agile practices and continuous feedback loops through multiple Soldier touch points," said Richard Graham, CEO of CodeMettle. "We are certain all Army units, other U.S. military branches, and even federal law enforcement have similar requirements and that they will be able to easily implement and deploy this solution to modernize and better manage their radio networks as well." CodeMettle's NetOps capability is a first-of-its-kind, platform-agnostic implementation utilizing software architectures to provide distributed common management and operational views of multi-vendor, Disconnected, Intermittent, and Limited (DIL) radio networks. It provides an intuitive, user-friendly interface, integrates with virtually any tactical radio type and waveform, reduces the time it takes to keep radio networks up and running, and requires minimal training to operate effectively. CodeMettle is continuing to advance its INB2 solution to meet the Army's LTT requirements within the Unified Network Operations (UNO) Program of Record and is looking forward to supplying more licenses to the Army as it continues to field the solution. About CodeMettle CodeMettle serves defense, government, and commercial partners through innovative and scalable commercial software products. Our agile solutions solve the most complex data integration, network operations, and process challenges. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, CodeMettle provides a suite of distributed and scalable Network Operations products that enable enterprises to analyze, organize, and consolidate complex data, processes, and operations. Learn more at www.codemettle.com. SOURCE CodeMettle NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Concern Worldwide provides critical humanitarian support as the world's displacement crisis reaches an all-time high, with 1 in every 78 people on earth forced to flee their homes and 32.5 million refugees - that is, people who have fled the country - globally. In Chad, Concern is responding to the immediate needs of refugees from neighboring Sudan. Due to the ongoing conflict, Chad has recently taken in over 30,000 refugees. Concern's team is responding by providing shelter, essential household items, mobile health clinics, nutrition support, and WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene). Working with some of the more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Concern's work has included screening and treating children and vulnerable older people for malnutrition, achieving cure rates of above 80%. Concern also provided workshops to 5,000 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and caregivers about nutrition and personal hygiene and has run hundreds of cooking demonstrations for over 12,000 caregivers. Across the Horn of Africa, many communities across Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia are facing hunger and food insecurity at unprecedented levels. For internally displaced communities or refugees living in host communities (especially in Ethiopia and Sudan), getting food and other life-saving items is even more of a challenge as rations have become more expensive to acquire, and humanitarian organizations in the area are underfunded. With a range of services, Concern reached 1.5 million people across the Horn of Africa with life-saving programs in the last year alone. Across Concern's 25 countries of operation, many serve as host countries to forcibly displaced populations or have a displacement crisis of their own due to conflict, climate change, and food insecurity. Concern US Chief Executive Officer, Colleen Kelly, said: "Concern continues to address the immediate needs of those caught in increasingly protracted displacement crises that pose a significant threat to our global sustainable development goals." About Concern Worldwide Concern Worldwide is an international humanitarian organization working to end extreme poverty, whatever it takes. For 55 years, Concern has helped transform lives with emergency response and long-term development programs designed to address the root causes of extreme poverty in vulnerable communities around the world. www.concernusa.org CONNECT WITH US If you would like to speak to a team member or organize media interviews, please contact us using the details below. Media Contact: Candance Patel-Taylor, Vice President of Communications at [email protected] or 212-557-8000. SOURCE Concern Worldwide US Korniyenko urges parliaments of nine European states to recognize Russia's actions against Ukraine as acts of terrorism First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksander Korniyenko called on the parliaments of small European states to recognize Russia's actions against Ukraine as acts of terrorism. "We call on all civilized countries to recognize the horrors committed by Russia as acts of terrorism. The Russian Federation does not plan to stop and will continue the brutal war against Ukraine, killing civilians, destroying lives, turning them into horrors for every Ukrainian," Korniyenko said at a conference of speakers of parliaments of small European states on Tuesday in Luxembourg. According to the press service of the apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada, Korniyenko said the world will not allow Russia to win and will do everything possible to stop it. Korniyenko focused on the return of Ukrainian children illegally deported by Russia. "From the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the invaders immediately systematically took away children from orphanages or schools, separated families during filtration and killed parents," Korniyenko said. He said the return of all Ukrainian children to their homeland is a full-fledged component of Ukraine's victory, as well as one of the elements of the implementation of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Peace Formula. Korniyenko invited representatives of the countries of small European states to take part in the work of the International Center for the Return of Children. The First Deputy Chairman also called on the parliaments, whose representatives participated in the conference, to recognize the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine as a genocide of the Ukrainian people. He thanked Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg Fernand Etgen for recognizing the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as a genocide of the Ukrainian people. "This step restores historical justice and honors the memory of millions of victims," Korniyenko said. He also suggested holding a conference of speakers of parliaments of small European states in Kyiv. The Conference of Speakers of Parliaments of Small European States is the largest meeting of parliamentarians from nine European countries: Andorra, the Republic of Cyprus, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Republic of Malta, the Principality of Monaco, Montenegro and the Republic of San Marino. Since 2006, this annual meeting has been a platform for strengthening inter-parliamentary relations of the participating countries and agreeing on common positions in international organizations and on major issues on the international agenda. TACOMA, Wash., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Confete Gifts debuts their new Wedding collection with the intention of making wedding season gifting just a smidge easier after a Snipp study found that 91% of newly engaged couples register for gifts. The announcement comes after the company released their custom branding gifts earlier this year. We're making it easier to send curated and personalized wedding gifts that are heartfelt, impactful and fun! Tweet this Confete Gifts & Party Boxes launches Wedding & Bridal Collection aimed at curating engagement gift boxes, bridesmaid proposals, groomsmen gifts, and bachelorette party boxes. Confete Gifts offers Custom & Branded gifting for businesses but their primary focus has been developing a platform where connections can be built across the United States. "Virtual Party Boxes is where it all started," said Jamie Taylor, owner of Confete. She continued "Our goal has always been to make lasting relationships and showing gratitude. We realized that weddings are one of the most celebrated milestones where gifting plays a vital role. We wanted to make that easier". The Wedding & Bridal Collection allows newly engaged couples to propose to their bridal party, plan their parents wedding gifts, and even get gifts for themselves to celebrate their impending prenuptials. The wedding collection features the trending bridesmaid proposal boxes, bachelorette party boxes, gifts for the newly engaged couple and more. Boxes included in the Wedding Box Series: For the Newlyweds - "ENGAGED" For the Groomsmen - "OLD FASHION BOX" For the Bridesmaids - "BRIDESMAID" For the Bachelorette - "POP FIZZ CLINK & CHEERS, BABE" Choose to shop from their predesigned gift collection or make it more personal by building your own custom gift box. Wedding boxes are now available to ship across the nation, from $48-$100. For more information on how to build the perfect wedding gift, visit www.confeteparty.com About Confete Party: Confete Party Box is a self-funded, women-run company specializing in curated gift boxes and virtual party boxes that make your friends, clients and team members feel special and make you look like the boss you are. Featured in the New York Times, Time Magazine, and Yahoo Finance, Confete Party has changed the way we view connection through gifting and virtual partying. SOURCE Confete Party Box TORONTO and GATINEAU, QC, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Converge Technology Solutions Corp. ("Converge" or "the Company") (TSX: CTS) (FSE: 0ZB) (OTCQX: CTSDF) a services-led, software-enabled, IT & Cloud Solutions provider, is pleased to announce the results of its annual general meeting of shareholders held on Tuesday, June 20th 2023. The results of the vote at the Company's virtual annual meeting of shareholders held earlier today are set forth below. i. Election of Directors By resolution passed via ballot, the following seven nominees were elected as Directors of Converge to hold office until the next annual meeting of shareholders of Converge, or until their successors are earlier elected or appointed. The results of the ballot were as follows: Nominee # Votes For % Votes For # Votes Against % Votes Against Shaun Maine 97,037,400 99.79 % 201,352 0.21 % Thomas Volk 93,554,207 96.21 % 3,684,545 3.79 % Brian Phillips 71,972,698 74.02 % 25,266,055 25.98 % Nathan Chan 93,309,674 95.96 % 3,929,078 4.04 % Ralph Garcea 80,383,107 82.67 % 16,855,645 17.33 % Darlene Kelly 96,278,769 99.01 % 959,983 0.99 % Toni Rinow 93,622,330 96.28 % 3,616,422 3.72 % ii. Appointment of Auditors By a resolution passed via ballot, Ernst & Young LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants, were appointed as auditors of Converge until the close of the next annual meeting of shareholders of Converge. The results of the ballot were as follows: # Votes For % Votes For # Votes Withheld % Votes Withheld 98,617,453 99.98 % 22,222 0.02 % About Converge Converge Technology Solutions Corp. is a services-led, software-enabled, IT & Cloud Solutions provider focused on delivering industry-leading solutions. Converge's global approach delivers advanced analytics, application modernization, cloud platforms, cybersecurity, digital infrastructure, and digital workplace offerings to clients across various industries. The Company supports these solutions with advisory, implementation, and managed services expertise across all major IT vendors in the marketplace. This multi-faceted approach enables Converge to address the unique business and technology requirements for all clients in the public and private sectors. For more information, visit convergetp.com. Converge Technology Solutions Corp. Email: [email protected], Phone: 416-360-1495 SOURCE Converge Technology Solutions Corp. NAIROBI, Kenya, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- COP28 President-Designate Dr Sultan Al Jaber met with Hon. Davis Chirchir, Kenyas Cabinet Secretary for Energy at the Africa Energy Forum. (PRNewsfoto/COP28 UAE) Dr. Sultan Al Jaber , COP28 President-Designate, meets with H.E. William Ruto , President of the Republic of Kenya , and African energy ministers and leaders at Africa Energy Forum in Nairobi . , President-Designate, meets with H.E. , President of the Republic of , and African energy ministers and leaders at Africa Energy Forum in . President Ruto commends UAE, its leadership and the COP Presidency on its long-standing support for sustainable development and climate action and jointly commits towards the necessary tripling of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030. Joint working group launched between Africa Climate Summit and COP28 to focus on just energy transition and unlocking climate finance to accelerate green growth in Africa to focus on just energy transition and unlocking climate finance to accelerate green growth in "We don't need to wait for the global stock-take to plan our response to the global stock-take." "We must lay the groundwork now preparing for the highest possible ambition in the negotiated outcomes "We must complement whatever is decided inside the negotiations with an equally powerful action agenda outside the negotiating rooms in the real world." "First, we must recognize that the energy system of the future will not build itself. We need every country, every region, every part of society, including businesses, governments and NGOs, working together in solidarity, in a unified effort to make it happen." " Africa's potential as a clean energy giant is massive. Developing that potential will require political will, visionary ambition and lots of capital." potential as a clean energy giant is massive. Developing that potential will require political will, visionary ambition and lots of capital." "And we need to end the rhetoric that puts a false division between North and South that says that one region has all the answers, while another region is not equipped to contribute. The truth is some countries in the Global South are setting the pace." "Here in Kenya , 80 per cent of the country's electricity is provided by renewable energy placing this nation of 50 million people well on its way to meeting the goal of transitioning to 100 percent clean power by 2030." , 80 per cent of the country's electricity is provided by renewable energy placing this nation of 50 million people well on its way to meeting the goal of transitioning to 100 percent clean power by 2030." " Africa is rich in clean energy resources including wind, solar, hydro and geothermal giving it huge potential for low-carbon growth and sustainable development." is rich in clean energy resources including wind, solar, hydro and geothermal giving it huge potential for low-carbon growth and sustainable development." Clean energy investment in Africa represents only 2 percent of what is invested globally and less than 10 percent of the $120 billion dollars a year that is the baseline requirement. represents only 2 percent of what is invested globally and less than 10 percent of the a year that is the baseline requirement. "As a first step, the long overdue 100-billion-dollar pledge needs to be fulfilled this year." pledge needs to be fulfilled this year." "We know that the current international financial architecture is not fit for purpose. IFIs and MDBs are not distributing concessional finance anywhere near quickly enough." "The UAE has deployed over 12 billion dollars in investments in renewable projects across Africa through public/private partnerships." COP28 President-Delegate, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, met H.E. William Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, along with energy ministers and leaders from other African nations, at the Africa Energy Forum in Nairobi, where he emphasized the importance of making climate finance more available, accessible, and affordable to enable countries in the continent to achieve their clean energy potential. In a joint statement with the President-Designate, President Ruto commended the UAE, its leadership and the COP Presidency on their long-standing support for sustainable development and climate action. Kenya and COP28 will jointly champion actions to triple installed renewable energy capacity by 2030, and will cooperate on policy and scaling finance. A joint working group has also been launched through the Africa Climate Summit and COP28 to focus on a just energy transition and unlocking climate finance to accelerate green growth in Africa. With abundant clean energy resources, including wind, solar, hydro and geothermal sources, and precious metals, Africa "has the potential to emerge as a hub for renewable energies, and a significant driver of clean growth for the world," the President-Designate said. "But one major obstacle stands in its way. And that is a lack of available, accessible and affordable finance." Clean energy investment in Africa represents only 2 percent of what is invested globally and less than 10 percent of the 120 billion dollars a year that is the "baseline requirement," Dr. Al Jaber said. "We need to be candid about the issues and determined to fix them," he stated. The President-Designate repeated calls for developed nations to meet their historic commitment of delivering $100 billion a year in climate finance for developing nations, and reiterated the need for reform of international financial institutions (IFIs) and multilateral development banks (MDBs). "We know that the current international financial architecture is not fit for purpose. IFIs and MDBs are not distributing concessional finance anywhere near quickly enough," he said. "Reform is urgently needed," and if this is not possible in time, "we must explore new mechanisms for lowering risk and massively expanding the flow of private investment to build a pipeline of bankable, sustainable clean energy projects." Harmonizing standards for voluntary carbon markets could also help Africa to attract capital, while countries should also look at supportive policies and regulations to "help develop a favorable investment climate for the private sector," the President-Designate said. Dr. Al Jaber hailed Kenya's success in providing 80 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources. "That didn't happen by accident," he said. "It happened because visionary government policies combined with smart investments met practical-minded people of action." Kenya will be a regional champion in the drive to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, the President-Designate said. "Africa's potential as a clean energy giant is massive," Dr. Al Jaber said. "Developing that potential will require political will, visionary ambition and lots of capital. Some of this is already happening through evidence-based energy transition plans. The AFDB is spearheading innovative, blended public and private finance solutions to expand clean growth through Africa 50. And the UAE has deployed over US$12 billion in development and renewable projects across Africa through public/private partnerships." During his meeting with President Ruto, Dr. Al Jaber discussed adaptation & mitigation efforts, including the transition to green energy and COP28's action plan that aims to build bridges nurturing collaboration between the global north & south. The President-Designate also met with H.E. Davis Chirchir, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum, to discuss the need for accelerated partnerships on renewable energy, in the lead up to the Africa Climate Summit, taking place in Nairobi in September, and COP28UAE. Dr. Al Jaber also attended a ministerial roundtable on the energy transition, attended by ministers from more than 15 nations, and took part in a townhall discussion with representative of youth, indigenous peoples', and civil society. In one of his visit's highlights, Dr. Al Jaber met young social entrepreneurs from M-KOPA, a company developing innovative financial products that are helping home-grown, clean tech businesses get off the ground. For all media enquiries and requests for interviews, please contact [email protected] For up-to-date COP28 news, follow us on Twitter @COP28_UAE Notes to Editors: COP28 UAE: COP28 UAE will take place at Expo City Dubai from November 30-December 12, 2023 . The Conference is expected to convene over 70,000 participants, including heads of state, government officials, international industry leaders, private sector representatives, academics, experts, youth, and non-state actors. from . The Conference is expected to convene over 70,000 participants, including heads of state, government officials, international industry leaders, private sector representatives, academics, experts, youth, and non-state actors. As mandated by the Paris Climate Agreement, COP28 UAE will deliver the first ever Global Stocktake a comprehensive evaluation of progress against climate goals. The UAE will lead a process for all parties to agree upon a clear roadmap to accelerate progress through a pragmatic global energy transition and a "leave no one behind" approach to inclusive climate action. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2106516/COP28_UAE.jpg SOURCE COP28 UAE The beauty industry's leading B2B trade show in the Americas is primed for its annual event this July - a not-to-be-missed experience! LAS VEGAS, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cosmoprof North America will host its highly anticipated 20th edition at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) in Las Vegas, NV, from July 11-13, 2023. The beauty business has never been bigger and better, and Cosmoprof North America stands at the heart of this dynamic industry. Tweet this Cosmoprof North America attendees expand their business networks and explore collaboration opportunities. As the premier platform for new beauty brands, supply chain innovations, and product launches setting industry trends, Cosmoprof North America celebrates two decades of excellence. The event has established a reputation for connecting brands with top retailers, distributors, suppliers, and media professionals. In 2023, the beauty industry continues to thrive, attracting 44% of first-time attendees to Cosmoprof North America, eager to expand their business networks and explore collaboration opportunities. The beauty business has never been bigger and better, and Cosmoprof North America stands at the heart of this dynamic industry. It is undeniably the place to be. The 20th edition will return to a one-hall format (the West Hall in LVCC) to ease navigation between different product sectors. Cosmoprof will feature finished products for retail in the following categories: Hair Care, Skin Care & Makeup, and Nails in addition to Country Pavilions and special areas, including Discover Beauty, Discover Beauty Spotlights, Discover Black-Owned Beauty, Discover Green, and The Beauty Vanities. Cosmopack, the only event that features solutions for the entire beauty supply chain, will include raw materials and ingredients, private label and contract manufacturing, primary and secondary packaging, machinery, and other solutions. "We are proud of our exclusive programs, such as Country Pavilions, which are supported by foreign governments (such as Italy and South Korea), who recognize the importance of creating exposure for their brands in the US," says Enrico Zannini, General Manager of BolognaFiere Cosmoprof. "The professional beauty space is growing and innovating like never before," shares Nina Daily, Executive Director of the Professional Beauty Association, "and Cosmoprof North America allows leading brands the prime opportunity to pave the future for the beauty industry as a whole." Ed McNeill, SVP of USA Beauty LLC, adds, "This year's edition boasts an unprecedented number of sponsored buyers, retailers, and distributors, both domestic and international, such as Bloomingdale's, Walmart, Nordstrom, Costco, Neiman Marcus, Macy's, The Detox Market, Belk, Thirteen Lune, and Sally Beauty." Attendees can look forward to several event highlights, including: Education and Trends: CosmoTalks features a series of seminars and panels on various topics in the beauty industry. Highlights include a state of the business presentation by Circana's Larissa Jensen and the "Disrupted Beauty Retail Part 1" panel featuring beauty retailers and disruptors SpaceNK, Thirteen Lune, and CVS Health and moderated by WSL Strategic Retail's Wendy Liebmann. Entrepreneur Academy focuses on workshops that center on product creation, marketing strategies, and winning approaches for budding beauty entrepreneurs, while Cosmopack Education offers complimentary sessions exclusively on the beauty supply chain. NEW! Press, Influencers, Social Media, and Marketing: Free for attendees and exhibitors alike is the CosmoTalks panel "The Evolution of Influencer Marketing on Social." The discussion, moderated by CEW's Andrea Nagel, features prominent influencers such as Jasmine Nguyen (@jasmineNguyen), Ian Michael Crumm (@ianmcrumm), and Monica Ravichandran (@monicas_makeuptips). They will share valuable insights on successful marketing strategies across multiple platforms, helping brands build awareness and achieve next-level success. The Cosmoprof North America 20th Anniversary Soiree The Soiree, hosted on the first day of the event, will celebrate two decades of bringing the beauty industry together and will feature a presentation of the Cosmoprof North America & Cosmopack North America Awards winners. For the first time, this year's winners, along with all global Awards winners, will be presented and displayed at Cosmoprof Bologna in March 2024. Also, in strategic partnership with BEAUTYSTREAMS is CosmoTrends, which highlights the latest trends and cutting-edge innovations in the beauty market and will be supported through a CosmoTalks session and an onsite installation. Returning Partnership with City of Hope Cosmoprof North America is delighted to announce the return of its partnership with City of Hope, one of the country's top ten comprehensive cancer centers, ranked by U.S. News and World Reports. City of Hope will co-locate its renowned Beauty Industry Spirit of Life Celebration with Cosmoprof North America, kicking off the biggest week in beauty at Resort's World on July 10th. The event will honor long-time Cosmoprof North America partner, Dr. Farouk Shami, Chairman & Founder of Farouk Systems, inc. REGISTER NOW! Cosmoprof North America offers 3 ticket options: a 1-day show pass, a 3-day show pass, or an Entrepreneur Academy Package, which includes a 3-day show pass and all sessions in Entrepreneur Academy. PBA members receive the added benefit of a 25% discount. Register now at www.cosmoprofnorthamerica.com/las-vegas/ Plan your visit: www.cosmoprofnorthamerica.com/las-vegas/plan-your-visit/ ; www.cosmoprofnorthamerica.com/hotel-travel/ Exhibitor listing: https://cosmoprof2023.smallworldlabs.com/exhibitors Learn More About City of Hope's Spirit of Life Event: https://e.givesmart.com/events/wcC/ Informa Markets creates platforms for industries and specialist markets to trade, innovate and grow. We provide marketplace participants around the globe with opportunities to engage, experience and do business through face-to-face exhibitions, targeted digital services, and actionable data solutions. We connect buyers and sellers across more than a dozen global verticals, including Boating, Pharmaceuticals, Food, Fashion, and Infrastructure. As the world's leading market-making company, we bring a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, please visit: WWW.INFORMAMARKETS.COM . BolognaFiere Group is the world's leading trade show organizer in cosmetics, fashion, architecture, building, art, and culture. The Group has more than 80 international exhibitions within its portfolio, notably Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, the most important meeting point in the world for beauty professionals, established in 1967 and held in Bologna, Italy. For the 2023 edition, Cosmoprof registered more than 250.000 attendees from 153 countries in the world, and 2,984 exhibitors from 64 countries. Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna 2024 is scheduled from March 21 to 25, 2024, in Bologna Italy. Cosmoprof B2B format is constantly able to support companies and stakeholders in their business all over the world with specific tools and initiatives adapting to each market. The Cosmoprof platform extends throughout the entire world, with Cosmoprof North America, Cosmoprof CBE ASEAN, Cosmoprof India, and Cosmoprof Asia. For more information, please visit: WWW.COSMOPROF.COM . The Professional Beauty Association (PBA) is the largest and most inclusive trade organization representing the entire beauty industry. PBA exists to elevate, unite, and serve the beauty industry and the professionals who improve people's lives and is the only national organization to represent the entire beauty industry. Our members include manufacturers, distributors, salons, spas, schools, independent practitioners, students, and industry suppliers. PBA is dedicated to advocating and fighting for the rights of the beauty industry, enhancing professionalism, and committed to the long-term success of the stylist and the businesses that employ and support them. For more information on membership, please visit: WWW.PROBEAUTY.ORG/JOIN . SOURCE Cosmoprof North America VANCOUVER, BC, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cova Software ("Cova" or "the Company) an award-winning provider of cannabis retail software, today introduced Cova Pay in Canada, a modern payment processing solution for cannabis stores. Cova Pay integrates seamlessly with Cova Point of Sale andin an industry firstenables cannabis retailers to accept and process debit and credit card payments directly through the POS provider, eliminating the need for third-party payment contracts. Cova Software Logo Cova Pay - Fast, Reliable, Centralized Payments for Canadian Cannabis Stores Setting the new industry standard for speed and reliability, Cova Pay runs on the same technology infrastructure that processes over $1.2 trillion in transactions annually, trusted by some of the most high-volume consumer businesses in North America. This, combined with industry-leading POS uptime, ensures Cova retailers will be able to process payments when it matters most, quickly, consistently, and with uncompromising security. Further elevating the payment experience beyond the status quo, Cova Pay will use state-of-the-art mobile terminals that are preconfigured and extensible. In addition, Cova Pay is fully built and managed by the Cova Software team, which has earned a reputation in the industry for offering dedicated, high-touch support to its customers. "The support I've had from Cova is unparalleled, and I attribute a significant part of our success to that," said Helene Vassos, founder, and CEO of Ontario-based Canvas Cannabis. "Cova is a lot more than just POS software; its retail management tools help Canvas stay on top of everything. No other company comes even close." The current payment processing experience for cannabis retailers has proven quite costly, taxing, and time consuming. In addition to full integration with Cova's POS and eCommerce solutions, Cova Pay will offer the following features and benefits to cannabis retailers: Simple, centralized billing and reporting. Clients will no longer need to deal with multiple companies or platforms to see the numbers that impact their revenue. Cova POS will securely communicate directly to terminals, with no need for error- or theft-prone manual entry. Cova Pay will also deploy new hardwaremodern, extensible, Wi-Fi and LTE capable terminals to complement Cova's tablet-based POS. will also deploy new hardwaremodern, extensible, Wi-Fi and LTE capable terminals to complement Cova's tablet-based POS. End-to-end single point-of-contact support, for which the company has earned a strong reputation industry-wide. "As Cova evolves, our mission to simplify the complex and commitment to reliability remain the foundation," said Gary Cohen, CEO of Cova Software. "As the Canadian cannabis market has matured, retailers have exposed the need for a next-level payment solution that isn't glitchy, failure-prone, or difficult when resolving issues. We couldn't be more excited to present Cova Pay as a better, modern solution, eliminating the hassle of working with unreliable third-party payment providers." Cova Pay for Canada is the latest addition to Cova Software's suite of cannabis retail solutions, which most recently included the launch of eCommerce. Cova has become a one-stop shop for essential cannabis retail software and continues to expand its network of partner integrations. Cova has been recognized with industry awards including Best POS, Excellence in Innovation, and Excellence in Dispensary Operations. For more information on Cova Pay, visit www.covasoftware.com/cova-pay-canada About Cova Cova builds innovative software solutions for cannabis retail. Its award-winning suite includes cannabis point of sale, eCommerce, payments, inventory management, and advanced analyticstech designed to simplify compliance and streamline complex operations. A focus on ease-of-use, industry-leading reliability, and enterprise-proven scalability have made Cova the most-trusted cannabis retail platform in North America, powering 2,000 locations. MEDIA CONTACT: Dayna Van Buskirk Cova Software [email protected]com SOURCE Cova Software Time saved using Pulse allows veterinarians to see more patients, drive practice efficiencies and improve outcomes PORTLAND, Maine, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This month Covetrus , a global leader in animal-health technology and services, celebrates one year since the launch of Covetrus Pulse , a revolutionary cloud-based veterinary operating system (vOS). Data compiled by Covetrus shows that use of Pulse saves veterinarians valuable time and as a result, increases revenue for the practice and improves outcomes. Now supporting more than 3,000 veterinary practices, Covetrus Pulse is the fastest growing vOS in North America, moving the industry forward by offering the clinical applications providers need in a single, connected ecosystem. Photo courtesy of Covetrus "We are proud to support thousands of veterinary practices across North America and continue to be amazed by the collaborative process with our valued clients to build a truly innovative offering, such as Pulse, which specifically addresses the challenges of veterinary practices and helps build ongoing revenue for the practice," said Benjamin Wolin , president and CEO of Covetrus. "Pulse is designed to ease vet practice pain points, give practices the gift of more time to focus on their pet patients, grow practice revenue, and work to achieve optimal health outcomes." A study demonstrated that Pulse saved approximately three hours each week, providing much-needed relief to overworked, understaffed veterinary practices. By Pulse workflows enabling more face time with pets and less screen time, providers can focus on the patient, ask the right questions, and improve outcomes. Covetrus estimates veterinarians who utilize Pulse could have an additional 200-250 appointments per veterinarian each year, increasing revenue for the practice.1 In addition, more than 40 percent of Pulse users are accessing the system on a mobile device, further streamlining operations for vet practices and enabling a seamless digital experience for veterinarians and pet parents alike.2 This data can deliver care and maintain strong client relationships when and where their practice and business strategy demand it. When Dr. Heather Moreau, owner of Canyons Veterinary Clinic in Cottonwood Heights, UT, decided to open her own practice, she spent countless hours conducting research on which practice management software (PIMS) would best meet her needs. With the assistance of her operations manager, Sierra Miller, they selected Pulse. "In our experience, Pulse continues to be the most user-friendly platform with which I have ever worked," said Miller. "I am constantly telling new staff how easy it is to navigate and learn. It makes our jobs as customer services representatives, nurses, animal care assistants so much easier." She added, "It is a straightforward system that has skipped the loopholes and backdoors and secrets to successful utilization. It saves us time, improves our ability to communicate and share information, which further supports our goal of providing the quickest and best care for every companion animal we have the pleasure of treating." Over the past year, Covetrus has continued to advance Pulse with data-driven user insights, incorporating more than 1,500 user submitted ideas and enhancements to optimize its operating system in the areas vet practices needed most: solving for staff management/workflow challenges and practice operation needs and strengthening client communication and vet-pet parent relationships.3 The newest features for the solution include: Text-to-pay + Collect Deposits: Provides a convenient way for pet parents to make payments via text. Enables providers to collect a deposit for appointments. Provides a convenient way for pet parents to make payments via text. Enables providers to collect a deposit for appointments. Task Board Advanced Personalization: Teams stay on top of tasks seamlessly, with enhanced abilities to create filters and sort / assign staff and due date. Also enables handling of emergency tasks. Teams stay on top of tasks seamlessly, with enhanced abilities to create filters and sort / assign staff and due date. Also enables handling of emergency tasks. Consolidated Service Catalog: Saves time through bulk editing capabilities. Plus, new features to manage billables for multi-location practices, allowing staff to quickly create billables for new locations. A more in-depth discussion of Pulse innovations and its impact on real-world veterinary practice challenges can be found on the Covetrus Connected Care podcast, which helps veterinary practitioners tackle the real-world challenges they experience, from the front desk to the exam room and beyond. Each episode dives into the technologies and innovations that are improving the world of animal health and the future of modern veterinary care. To listen the latest episode, visit: https://software.covetrus.com/veterinary-insights/blog/podcast/covetrus-connected-care/ Covetrus Pulse is available to veterinary practices across North America. For more information, please visit www.covetrus.com/pulse. About Covetrus Covetrus is a global animal-health technology and services company dedicated to empowering veterinary practice partners to drive improved health and financial outcomes. We are bringing together products, services, and technology into a single platform that connects our customers to the solutions and insights they need to work best. Our passion for the well-being of animals and those who care for them drives us to advance the world of veterinary medicine. Covetrus is headquartered in Portland, Maine with more than 5,700 employees serving over 100,000 veterinary customers around the globe. For more information about Covetrus visit www.covetrus.com. 1 Internal Covetrus data 2 Internal Covetrus data 3 Internal Covetrus data SOURCE Covetrus RALEIGH, N.C. , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gradient Health, a leading medical AI data-sharing company, announced today the successful closure of a $2.75 million funding round led by ReMY Investors & Consultants. The investment will enable the company to continue assembling the world's largest and most comprehensive annotated medical imaging library into a secure, unified platform. Joining ReMY on the round were new investors Boro Capital, Supernode Ventures, MedMountain Ventures, The Triangle Tweener Fund, David Golan, and Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2) as well as existing investors VentureSouth and Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health. With the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence in healthcare, access to high-quality and diverse medical imaging data is vital for the development of innovative and robust solutions. Gradient Health's groundbreaking approach addresses this critical need by providing a vast collection of annotated medical images in a single, secure repository. By growing and curating this extensive library, the platform will empower researchers to unlock new insights and minimize bias, fueling advancements in diagnostics and therapies. "We are thrilled to have secured $2.75 million in funding, which will accelerate our mission to transform medical AI data sharing", said Josh Miller, CEO of Gradient Health. "This investment will allow us to continue assembling the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of annotated medical imaging data. With this dataset, we aim to revolutionize medical research, and ultimately improve patient outcomes." The company's platform offers a range of powerful features designed to facilitate compliant research and seamless collaborations. It employs state-of-the-art security measures to ensure the privacy and compliance of sensitive patient information. Additionally, it provides advanced tools for developers including machine-learning-ready formatting, the ability to search by diseases and imaging modality. "We're excited by Gradient's vision of building the data layer that will underpin all future medical AI" said Shana Barghouti, Co-CIO at ReMY Investors & Consultants who led the round. "We've been impressed by the team, the vision, and the progress that the team has made already. Gradient Health are building capabilities that will allow for rapid and game-changing advancements in the medical and pharmaceutical industries." Jay Goss, General Partner at investors Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health who invested in Gradient Health in a previous round said "As healthcare charts its path with the world of artificial intelligence, which is still in the early innings, a significant unlock comes from accessing clinical data - especially imaging - so that the models are trained responsibly. Gradient has established itself as the leader in this, ensuring an efficient marketplace of sorts exists between algorithm makers and the healthcare industry. We couldn't be more excited to be involved with this exciting company and stellar team." Gradient Health's data-sharing platform has garnered recognition from industry experts for its potential to revolutionize healthcare research. The company aims to collaborate with academic institutions, healthcare organizations, and technology partners to collectively advance medical knowledge and improve patient care. About Gradient Health. Gradient Health is a medical technology company headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. They provide instant access to the raw and labeled medical images needed to train and validate technologies, getting more equitable innovations to market, faster. Gradient was founded to power better medical research by accelerating AI development. Health innovators from around the world use Gradient Health's platform to improve their products, without compromising speed, quality of research or data privacy. For more information about Gradient Health, visit gradienthealth.io Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2104567/Gradient_Health_Logo.jpg SOURCE Gradient Health Dr. Jessica Kriegel States CEOs Must Improve Work-life Balance for Employees to Offset Gallup Findings TEMECULA, Calif. , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Jessica Kriegel, Chief Scientist of Workplace Culture for Culture Partners, appeared on CNN's Early Start Thursday, June 15 to discuss the recently released Gallup State of the Global Workplace report on the American workforce and how senior leaders need to adjust to survive. Dr. Kriegel noted during the interview that Culture Partners is helping CEOs successfully navigate the changing workplace dynamics revealed in the Gallup poll. The CNN segment focused on Gallup's findings that 59% of employees are quiet quitting, 23% are thriving at work, and 18% are loud quitting. Another finding discussed was that American and Canadian workers are more stressed than those in any other country. Dr. Kriegel attributes the current situation to "a return to pre-pandemic workplaces with a post-pandemic mindset." Culture Partners' Jessica Kriegel appeared on CNN to discuss how CEOs must adjust to the changing workforce to survive. Tweet this "Culture Partners does its own research and it finds the most successful CEOs are those that best balance this dynamic between the old way of operating and the new workplace. That's the key to reduce employee stress and increase company profitability," explained Dr. Kriegel during the segment. Dr. Kriegel also commented on the Gallup findings that indicated most employees believe a change in culture will improve the workplace. She stated that CEOs need to create a better work-life culture to engage and retain employees. You can view the entire interview on the Culture Partners website. About Culture Partners For over 30 years, Culture Partners, a leading culture consulting firm based in Temecula, CA, has empowered clients across the world to harness the power of culture. Using human industrial-organizational psychological methods, the company helps organizations achieve record-breaking results by connecting experiences, beliefs, and actions to those results through culture. Culture Partners' management frameworks empower thousands of top organizations realize their potential by owning their growth. To learn more visit https://culture.io/. SOURCE Culture Partners Next-Generation platform empowers organizations with real-time risk analysis module and allows CISOs to take mitigation plans to the next level TEL AVIV, Israel, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CYE, the industry leader in cybersecurity optimization platforms, today announced a new capability in its Hyver platform that calculates dynamic risk in real-time. Hyver sets a new standard for the industry that will allow CISOs to take mitigation plans to the next level by optimizing real-time data to make both short-term and long-term decisions. Ultimately, Hyver helps CISOs make faster, more informed decisions, while they deal with budget concerns and strategic or tactical organizational decisions regarding security investments. Many companies today build their risk models on static data such as reports, questionnaires and audits but in a world that is constantly changing those models aren't enough. CYE raises the bar with innovative risk calculation, taking multiple data sources and inputting them into a risk model, providing tailor made recommendations for security teams. This new module allows them to decide where they would like to invest, and what they should remediate with a correlation to their business needs. CYE's new feature enhances its risk quantification capabilities, empowering companies to assess cyber risks based on their potential business impact. With the latest additions to the platform, businesses can develop dynamic plans that can be easily communicated to management and adjust to changes in the threat landscape according to their risk appetite. "Our main mission at CYE is to deliver an innovative, new approach to the market in order to truly help organizations manage, quantify and mitigate risks," said Inbar Reiss, Chief Product Officer of CYE. "These new capabilities embedded within Hyver will allow organizations to define their risk tolerance and build remediation processes accordingly. By attaching a dollar value to the cyber risk, the organization is up against, CISOs and security decision makers will be in a much better position to determine their security plans and budget." CYE provides complete visibility into possible attack routes, streamlines and prioritizes the remediation process and allows security leaders to understand the true cost of threats and remediation so they can communicate it to the board and management in business terms of Return on Investment (ROI). When using CYE and Hyver, companies can eliminate the need for numerous cybersecurity tools and reduce the likelihood and the impact of cyberattacks. "Cybersecurity has transformed from a cost-center to a business differentiator," said Reuven (Rubi) Aronashvili, CEO and Founder of CYE. "CISOs today feel pressure from leadership and boards to deliver on cybersecurity investments in light of increased threats and significant breaches. Hyver brings immediate value to organizations by turning security data into actionable business insights, reducing cyber risk exposure, and enabling organizations to make strategic and operational decisions, including optimizing security investments." About CYE CYE's cybersecurity optimization platform enables businesses to assess, quantify, and mitigate cyber risk so they can make better security decisions and invest in effective remediation. CYE combines cutting edge technology with dedicated professional guidance and services provided by world-class cybersecurity experts. The company serves Fortune 500 and mid-market companies in multiple industries around the world. With headquarters in Israel and offices in New York and London, CYE is funded by EQT Private Equity and 83North. Visit us at cyesec.com . Media Contact: Katie Brookes Merritt Group [email protected] SOURCE CYE The Foundation Will Partner with Thurgood Marshall College Fund to Provide Scholarships to Descendants of Jesuit and Catholic Slaveholding WASHINGTON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation today announced the creation of an educational advancement program in partnership with Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) to provide educational advancement opportunities to Descendants of Jesuit and Catholic slaveholding in the United States. The initiative is part of the Foundation's core programming plans, which include supporting the educational aspirations of Descendants from early childhood education through post-secondary education; investing in truth, racial healing, and reconciliation in communities and organizations throughout America; and supporting elderly and infirm Descendants. "Supporting the educational aspirations of the Descendants of Jesuit and Catholic slaveholding is a cornerstone of our mission and a key step toward the realization of our vision of a world in which every human is valued for their inherent worth," said Joseph M. Stewart, President, CEO and Co-Founder of the Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation. "Effective education is our greatest opportunity to uplift the quality of life from one generation of Descendants to all succeeding generations, and this program will create life-changing opportunities for many." The Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation was born out of the 2016 discovery that in 1838, the Society of Jesus sold more than 272 enslaved men, women and children from their plantations in Maryland to plantation owners in Louisiana in order to save Georgetown College from financial ruin. The Foundation is a partnership between the Descendants of the enslaved and the Society of Jesus and seeks a joint moral path rather than a legal path to truth, racial healing and transformation. Thurgood Marshall College Fund will administer the program funded by the Foundation as a part of an initial 5-year scholarship program. Year one of the scholarship program will provide $400,000 for annual need-based scholarships of up to $10,000 to Descendants of Jesuit and Catholic slaveholding for attendance at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) or other post-secondary institutions. "TMCF is on an ambitious mission to advance equity and opportunity through scholarships and professional development programs," said TMCF President & CEO, Dr. Harry L. Williams. "We are proud to partner with the Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation on this consequential initiative to advance the educational aspirations of the Descendants of Jesuit and Catholic slaveholding. It is an unprecedented but essential step forward on our nation's path to racial healing and its ongoing efforts to finally honor the fundamental principles enshrined in our Constitution." The Foundation's educational advancement program will be open to applications beginning this Fall, to be applied to college attendance in 2024. More information will be available in the coming months at www.descendants.org . About the Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation The 2016 discovery of that sale of 272 men, women and children enslaved by Jesuits led to the creation of the Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation, a partnership between the Descendants of the enslaved and the present-day successors of the Jesuit enslavers. The Foundation has a $1 billion vision with key objectives to support the educational aspirations of present and future Descendants; to invest in truth, racial healing and transformation programs in communities throughout America; and providing emergency support for elderly and infirm Descendants. About the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Established in 1987, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) is the nation's largest organization exclusively representing the Black College Community. TMCF member schools include the publicly supported Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly Black Institutions, enrolling nearly 80% of all students attending black colleges and universities. Through scholarships, capacity building and research initiatives, innovative programs, and strategic partnerships, TMCF is a vital resource in the K-12 and higher education space. The organization is also the source of top employers seeking top talent for competitive internships and good jobs. TMCF is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization. For more information about TMCF, visit www.tmcf.org . SOURCE Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov and UN System Coordinator in Ukraine Denise Brown on the eve of the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2023, London, June 21 and 22) discussed the implementation of a joint approach to the reconstruction of Ukraine at the community level, which provides for the creation Community Restoration Fund, the press service of the Ministry of Restoration said. "...The Community Recovery Fund...is a key step towards long-term recovery and resilience of communities. Its priorities will be the restoration of housing, critical, social infrastructure, as well as humanitarian demining and support for local businesses," the Ministry of Restoration said on Facebook on Tuesday. The Fund is reportedly planning to raise $300 million over the next five years with initial seed funding of $50 million. "Successful recovery is impossible without continuing the decentralization reform. We understand that today many communities do not have the opportunity to cope with the challenges on their own. Our task is to provide all the necessary institutional, financial and advisory support to strengthen communities. For this, we are already creating a regional the structure of support teams that will help communities cope with the challenges of recovery," the ministry's press service said, citing Kubrakov. According to Brown, the UN and the government of Ukraine are already demonstrating the success of a population-centric approach with the recovery of Kharkiv and the de-occupied town of Izium in Kharkiv region, where central and local governments, the UN and the public are working together to restore damaged infrastructure. In particular, the UN helps the communities to carry out demining, dismantle the destroyed, restore housing, schools, medical institutions. The UN also together with the government, is working to provide residents of the affected communities with basic services. As reported, the Restoration Ministry and the UN will work together to prioritize those projects that are initiated by communities and agreed upon in the framework of public consultations with their residents. As reported, in 2024 the UN plans to allocate more than $1 billion for the restoration of Ukraine. NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Technavio, the global diamond jewelry market size is estimated to grow by USD 16.6 billion from 2022 to 2027. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 3% during the forecast period. North America is expected to account for 44% of the market's growth during the forecast period. The North American diamond jewelry market is experiencing high demand for personalized and unique design jewelry with cut and polished diamonds, particularly in wedding rings. The demand for designer jewelry in the North American market peaks during the festive and wedding seasons. Moreover, the growth of the diamond jewelry market in the US is also driven by the rising technological innovation in online retail. Hence, all these factors will drive the diamond jewelry market in North America. Download a sample report now! Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Diamond Jewelry Market Information Services Market Insights - Vendors : 15+, Including Anglo American plc, BlueStone Jewellery and Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd., Brilliant Earth LLC, Cartier SA, CHANEL Ltd., Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA, DAMIANI S.p.A., F.lli Pisa SRL, Graff Diamonds Ltd., Harry Winston Inc., Kalyan Jewellers India Ltd., Kering SA, Le petit fils de L.U. Chopard and Cie SA, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, Malabar Gold and Diamonds, Pandora AS, Parker Diamonds, Signet Jewelers Ltd., Swarovski AG, Tacori Inc., and Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd., among others : 15+, Including Anglo American plc, BlueStone Jewellery and Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd., Brilliant Earth LLC, Cartier SA, CHANEL Ltd., Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA, DAMIANI S.p.A., F.lli Pisa SRL, Graff Diamonds Ltd., Harry Winston Inc., Kalyan Jewellers India Ltd., Kering SA, Le petit fils de L.U. Chopard and Cie SA, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, Malabar Gold and Diamonds, Pandora AS, Parker Diamonds, Signet Jewelers Ltd., Swarovski AG, Tacori Inc., and Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd., 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: Distribution Channel (Specialty stores, Department stores, Discounters, Online retailers, and Others) and Geography ( North America , APAC, Europe , Middle East and Africa , and South America ) To understand more about the information services market, request a sample report Diamond jewelry 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 Anglo American plc, BlueStone Jewellery and Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd., Brilliant Earth LLC, Cartier SA, CHANEL Ltd., Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA, DAMIANI S.p.A., F.lli Pisa SRL, Graff Diamonds Ltd., Harry Winston Inc., Kalyan Jewellers India Ltd., Kering SA, Le petit fils de L.U. Chopard and Cie SA, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, Malabar Gold and Diamonds, Pandora AS, Parker Diamonds, Signet Jewelers Ltd., Swarovski AG, Tacori Inc., and Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. Diamond Jewelry Market Market Dynamics Major Drivers - The shift to the e-commerce platform drives the growth of the global diamond jewelry market during the forecast period. The convenient services offered by e-retailers and the hassle-free shopping experience are major reasons why diamond jewelry is widely available on various online shopping portals. Moreover, manufacturers stepping into the online platform also shape the online jewelry market, which is expected to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period. Hence, such factors drive the market growth during the forecast period. Key challenges - The presence of counterfeit products in the e-retailing space is the major challenge impeding market growth. The growth of the diamond jewelry e-retail market is hindered by the proliferation of counterfeit products due to growing brand consciousness and preference for luxury goods. Counterfeiters use digital marketing strategies, such as pay-per-click campaigns, to mimic top brands and attract customers with fake products at lower prices. These counterfeit products are more prevalent in the Middle East and Southeast Asia , including UAE, Saudi Arabia , Indonesia , China , India , Malaysia , and Singapore , which will slow down market growth during the forecast period. Drivers, Trends and challenges have an impact on market dynamics, which can impact businesses. Find more insights in a sample report! The diamond jewelry 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. 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 What are the key data covered in this Diamond Jewelry Market report? CAGR of the market during the forecast period Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the diamond jewelry market between 2023 and 2027 Precise estimation of the size of the diamond jewelry market and its contribution to the market with a focus on the parent market Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior Growth of the diamond jewelry market across North America , APAC, Europe , 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 diamond jewelry market vendors Gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Related Reports: The gems and jewelry market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7.55% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 137.48 billion. This gems and jewelry market research report extensively covers market segmentation by distribution channel (offline and online), type (gold, platinum, silver, diamond, and gemstones), and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America). Innovation in terms of design and manufacturing technology is notably driving the market growth, although factors such as the rising labor cost and fluctuating raw material prices may impede the market growth. The costume jewelry market in India is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.64% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 639.32 million. This India costume jewelry market report extensively covers market segmentation by product (necklaces and chains, earrings, rings, bracelets, and others), and distribution channel (offline and online). It also includes an in-depth analysis of drivers, trends, and challenges. Furthermore, the report includes historic market data from 2017 to 2021. Diamond Jewelry Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 3% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 16.6 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 2.8 Regional analysis North America, APAC, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America Performing market contribution North America at 44% Key countries US, China, India, Japan, and UK Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Anglo American plc, BlueStone Jewellery and Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd., Brilliant Earth LLC, Cartier SA, CHANEL Ltd., Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA, DAMIANI S.p.A., F.lli Pisa SRL, Graff Diamonds Ltd., Harry Winston Inc., Kalyan Jewellers India Ltd., Kering SA, Le petit fils de L.U. Chopard and Cie SA, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, Malabar Gold and Diamonds, Pandora AS, Parker Diamonds, Signet Jewelers Ltd., Swarovski AG, Tacori Inc., and Tata Sons Pvt. 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, Market condition analysis for 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. 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 Type Exhibit 06: Executive Summary Chart on Market Segmentation by Distribution Channel Exhibit 07: Executive Summary Chart on Incremental Growth Exhibit 08: Executive Summary Data Table on Incremental Growth Exhibit 09: Executive Summary Chart on Vendor Market Positioning 2 Market Landscape 2.1 Market ecosystem Exhibit 10: Parent market Exhibit 11: Market Characteristics 3 Market Sizing 3.1 Market definition Exhibit 12: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition 3.2 Market segment analysis Exhibit 13: Market segments 3.3 Market size 2022 3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2022-2027 Exhibit 14: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 15: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 16: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 17: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 4 Historic Market Size 4.1 Global diamond jewelry market 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 18: Historic Market Size Data Table on Global diamond jewelry market 2017 - 2021 ($ billion) 4.2 Product Type Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 19: Historic Market Size Product Type Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ billion) 4.3 Distribution channel Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 20: Historic Market Size Distribution channel Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ billion) 4.4 Geography Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 21: Historic Market Size Geography Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ billion) 4.5 Country Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 22: Historic Market Size Country Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ billion) 5 Five Forces Analysis 5.1 Five forces summary Exhibit 23: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2022 and 2027 5.2 Bargaining power of buyers Exhibit 24: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers Impact of key factors 2022 and 2027 5.3 Bargaining power of suppliers Exhibit 25: Bargaining power of suppliers Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027 5.4 Threat of new entrants Exhibit 26: Threat of new entrants Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027 5.5 Threat of substitutes Exhibit 27: Threat of substitutes Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027 5.6 Threat of rivalry Exhibit 28: Threat of rivalry Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027 5.7 Market condition Exhibit 29: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2022 and 2027 6 Market Segmentation by Product Type 6.1 Market segments Exhibit 30: Chart on Product Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 31: Data Table on Product Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%) 6.2 Comparison by Product Type Exhibit 32: Chart on Comparison by Product Type Exhibit 33: Data Table on Comparison by Product Type 6.3 Rings - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 34: Chart on Rings - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 35: Data Table on Rings - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 36: Chart on Rings - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 37: Data Table on Rings - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.4 Necklaces - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 38: Chart on Necklaces - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 39: Data Table on Necklaces - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 40: Chart on Necklaces - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 41: Data Table on Necklaces - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.5 Earrings - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 42: Chart on Earrings - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 43: Data Table on Earrings - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 44: Chart on Earrings - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 45: Data Table on Earrings - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.6 Bangles - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 46: Chart on Bangles - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 47: Data Table on Bangles - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 48: Chart on Bangles - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 49: Data Table on Bangles - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.7 Pendants - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 50: Chart on Pendants - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 51: Data Table on Pendants - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 52: Chart on Pendants - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 53: Data Table on Pendants - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.8 Market opportunity by Product Type Exhibit 54: Market opportunity by Product Type ($ billion) 7 Market Segmentation by Distribution Channel 7.1 Market segments Exhibit 55: Chart on Distribution Channel - Market share 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 56: Data Table on Distribution Channel - Market share 2022-2027 (%) 7.2 Comparison by Distribution Channel Exhibit 57: Chart on Comparison by Distribution Channel Exhibit 58: Data Table on Comparison by Distribution Channel 7.3 Specialty stores - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 59: Chart on Specialty stores - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 60: Data Table on Specialty stores - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 61: Chart on Specialty stores - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 62: Data Table on Specialty stores - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.4 Department stores - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 63: Chart on Department stores - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 64: Data Table on Department stores - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 65: Chart on Department stores - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 66: Data Table on Department stores - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.5 Discounters - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 67: Chart on Discounters - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 68: Data Table on Discounters - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 69: Chart on Discounters - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 70: Data Table on Discounters - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.6 Online retailers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 71: Chart on Online retailers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 72: Data Table on Online retailers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 73: Chart on Online retailers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 74: Data Table on Online retailers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.7 Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 75: Chart on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 76: Data Table on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 77: Chart on Others - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 78: Data Table on Others - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.8 Market opportunity by Distribution Channel Exhibit 79: Market opportunity by Distribution Channel ($ billion) 8 Customer Landscape 8.1 Customer landscape overview Exhibit 80: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria 9 Geographic Landscape 9.1 Geographic segmentation Exhibit 81: Chart on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 82: Data Table on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%) 9.2 Geographic comparison Exhibit 83: Chart on Geographic comparison Exhibit 84: Data Table on Geographic comparison 9.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 85: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 86: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 87: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 88: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.4 APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 89: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 90: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 91: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 92: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.5 Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 93: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 94: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 95: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 96: 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 97: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 98: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 99: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) and - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 100: 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 101: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 102: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 103: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 104: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.8 US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 105: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 106: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 107: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 108: 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 109: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 110: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) 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 (%) 9.10 India - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 113: Chart on India - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 114: Data Table on India - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 115: Chart on India - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 116: Data Table on India - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.11 Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 117: Chart on Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 118: Data Table on Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 119: Chart on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 120: Data Table on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.12 UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 121: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 122: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion) Exhibit 123: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 124: Data Table on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.13 Market opportunity by geography Exhibit 125: Market opportunity by geography ($ billion) 10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends 10.1 Market drivers 10.2 Market challenges 10.3 Impact of drivers and challenges Exhibit 126: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2022 and 2027 10.4 Market trends 11 Vendor Landscape 11.1 Overview 11.2 Vendor landscape Exhibit 127: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation 11.3 Landscape disruption Exhibit 128: Overview on factors of disruption 11.4 Industry risks Exhibit 129: Impact of key risks on business 12 Vendor Analysis 12.1 Vendors covered Exhibit 130: Vendors covered 12.2 Market positioning of vendors Exhibit 131: Matrix on vendor position and classification 12.3 Anglo American plc plc Exhibit 132: Anglo American plc - Overview plc - Overview Exhibit 133: Anglo American plc - Business segments plc - Business segments Exhibit 134: Anglo American plc - Key news plc - Key news Exhibit 135: Anglo American plc - Key offerings plc - Key offerings Exhibit 136: Anglo American plc - Segment focus 12.4 Brilliant Earth LLC Exhibit 137: Brilliant Earth LLC - Overview Exhibit 138: Brilliant Earth LLC - Product / Service Exhibit 139: Brilliant Earth LLC - Key offerings 12.5 Cartier SA Exhibit 140: Cartier SA - Overview Exhibit 141: Cartier SA - Product / Service Exhibit 142: Cartier SA - Key offerings 12.6 Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA Exhibit 143: Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA - Overview Exhibit 144: Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA - Business segments Exhibit 145: Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA - Key offerings Exhibit 146: Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA - Segment focus 12.7 DAMIANI S.p.A. Exhibit 147: DAMIANI S.p.A. - Overview Exhibit 148: DAMIANI S.p.A. - Product / Service Exhibit 149: DAMIANI S.p.A. - Key offerings 12.8 F.lli Pisa SRL Exhibit 150: F.lli Pisa SRL - Overview Exhibit 151: F.lli Pisa SRL - Product / Service Exhibit 152: F.lli Pisa SRL - Key offerings 12.9 Harry Winston Inc. Exhibit 153: Harry Winston Inc. - Overview Exhibit 154: Harry Winston Inc. - Product / Service Exhibit 155: Harry Winston Inc. - Key offerings 12.10 Kering SA Exhibit 156: Kering SA - Overview Exhibit 157: Kering SA - Business segments Exhibit 158: Kering SA - Key offerings Exhibit 159: Kering SA - Segment focus 12.11 Le petit fils de L.U. Chopard and Cie SA Exhibit 160: Le petit fils de L.U. Chopard and Cie SA - Overview Exhibit 161: Le petit fils de L.U. Chopard and Cie SA - Product / Service Exhibit 162: Le petit fils de L.U. Chopard and Cie SA - Key offerings 12.12 LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE Exhibit 163: LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE - Overview Exhibit 164: LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE - Business segments Exhibit 165: LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE - Key news Exhibit 166: LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE - Key offerings Exhibit 167: LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE - Segment focus 12.13 Malabar Gold and Diamonds Exhibit 168: Malabar Gold and Diamonds - Overview Exhibit 169: Malabar Gold and Diamonds - Product / Service Exhibit 170: Malabar Gold and Diamonds - Key offerings 12.14 Parker Diamonds Exhibit 171: Parker Diamonds - Overview Exhibit 172: Parker Diamonds - Product / Service Exhibit 173: Parker Diamonds - Key offerings 12.15 Signet Jewelers Ltd. Exhibit 174: Signet Jewelers Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 175: Signet Jewelers Ltd. - Business segments Exhibit 176: Signet Jewelers Ltd. - Key offerings Exhibit 177: Signet Jewelers Ltd. - Segment focus 12.16 Tacori Inc. Exhibit 178: Tacori Inc. - Overview Exhibit 179: Tacori Inc. - Product / Service Exhibit 180: Tacori Inc. - Key offerings 12.17 Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. Exhibit 181: Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 182: Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. - Business segments Exhibit 183: Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. - Key offerings Exhibit 184: Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. - Segment focus 13 Appendix 13.1 Scope of the report 13.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist Exhibit 185: Inclusions checklist Exhibit 186: Exclusions checklist 13.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ Exhibit 187: Currency conversion rates for US$ 13.4 Research methodology Exhibit 188: Research methodology Exhibit 189: Validation techniques employed for market sizing Exhibit 190: Information sources 13.5 List of abbreviations Exhibit 191: 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 SAN FRANCISCO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Financial institutions and technology vendors have repurposed their strategies on digital paymentsmore soon the back of a dip in physical cash. Add to it the technological innovations that have leveraged online banking. Cash may still be the king; electronic payment, however, is giving a run for the money. An exponential rise in smartphone usage, surging internet penetration and growth in e-commerce have made electronic payment a force to reckon with. Meanwhile, the luxury of contactless and fast payments comes with caveatsenvironmental, social and governance challenges. Amidst climate change, a volatile economy and the Russia-Ukraine war, society, businesses and governments have exhibited a strong commitment to foster an inclusive workplace, accentuate low-carbon energy solutions, bolster transparency and create long-term value. Several financial institutions have started carbon offset programs, providing rewards and loyalty points. In September 2021, Ascenda joined forces with Patch to enable consumers to redeem their rewards points for carbon offsets, helping reduce and eliminate GHG emissions. Learn more about the practices & strategies being implemented by industry participants from the Digital Payments Industry ESG Thematic Report, 2023, published by Astra ESG Solutions PayPal Propels Science-Based Targets (SBTs) Carbon footprints from the digital payment ecosystem have prompted financial institutions to up their sustainable strategies. A study from Cambridge inferred that Bitcoin used 80% more energy consumption in 2021 compared to the preceding year. Digital wallets reportedly consume less energy vis-a-vis cryptocurrencies, offering opportunities galore. In March 2022, Helpful rolled out digital wallets that it claims can save up to 80% of the CO2 produced from payment transactions. The potential risks posed by adverse weather conditions on facilities have encouraged companies, such as PayPal to underscore science-based GHG emission reduction targets. The Fintech player achieved 100% renewable energy sourcing for its data centers in 2021, while it reached 90% total energy use in 2022. The American giant formed science-based emission reduction targetsto minimize absolute operational GHG emissions by 25% by 2025. In 2022, the company set the goal to engage 75% of its suppliers (in terms of spending) to SBTs by 2025 and Its IT asset management team retired 338 metric tons of IT hardware across the data center services. Global Payments Underscores Philanthropic Activities The social criterion emphasizes a shifting business environment where companies are gearing up to enhance workplace diversity, financial literacy, social equity and health & wellness. In 2021, Global Payments Plano, Texas office teamed up with the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) and collected USD 1,600 for charity. Besides, the Lindon, Utah team formed a canned food drive to donate 2,500 cans to a local food bank. Taking the philanthropic work further, the company doled out USD 5 million in 2021 to underpin several organizations, such as Red Cross, the American Heart Association, UNCF, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Susan G. Komen and Mercer Medical School. To reinforce financial literacy and economic inclusion, the Fintech company offers around 4 million (especially small and medium-sized businesses) locations globally with digital commerce solutions, allowing acceptance of more than 140 payment methods. Meanwhile, the U.S.-based company has propelled its DEI strategies to augment female representation to 47% and boost the number of people of color to 39% by 2025. Is your business one of participants to the Digital Payments Industry? Contact us for focused consultation around ESG Investing, and help you build sustainable business practices JP Morgan Embeds Transparency and Accountability Corporate governance has become a value proposition to impel ethics & compliance, board diversity, transparent work culture, independence and anti-corruption activities. In 2021, directors at JP Morgan were offered education on DEI, cybersecurity, its climate risk management framework and technology. The Board in the financial service company has ramped up corporate culture and values, boosting diversity in leadership positions. As of April 2022, Out of ten, there were four women directors and one black director. Further, women accounted for 37% of seats on the Operating Committee (as of December 2021). While digital solutions have become invaluable in the economy, data privacy and cybersecurity threats have sent alarm bells to stakeholders. The Global Cybersecurity and Technology Controls organization analyzes changes in global threats and monitors JP Morgan's operations. In 2022, the company was involved in policy issues, such as software bills of materials, evolving U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), zero trust and notification. The need to protect the global financial system and underpinning cybersecurity will help companies achieve ESG goals. Fintech players have expedited their strategies to undergird climate solutions and build financial confidence among underserved and vulnerable communities. In the 2021-2022 ESG Report, American Express announced an infusion of USD 3 billion toward DEI initiatives and underrepresented groups through 2025. During the Earth Month of 2022, the financial service company asserted that at least 70% recycled or reclaimed plastic would be used to make most plastic cards by 2024. The rising footprint of contactless- and card payments against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic has made electronic payment the next big thing. The global digital payments market size stood at USD 68.61 billion in 2021 and will expand at a CAGR of 20.5% between 2022 and 2030, reports Grand View Research. Browse more ESG Thematic Reports from the Technology Sector, published by Astra - ESG Solutions About Astra ESG Solutions by Grand View Research Astra is the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) arm of Grand View Research Inc. - a global market research publishing & management consulting firm. Astra offers comprehensive ESG thematic assessment & scores across diverse impact & socially responsible investment topics, including both public and private companies along with intuitive dashboards. Our ESG solutions are powered by robust fundamental & alternative information. Astra specializes in consulting services that equip corporates and the investment community with the in-depth ESG research and actionable insight they need to support their bottom lines and their values. We have supported our clients across diverse ESG consulting projects & advisory services, including climate strategies & assessment, ESG benchmarking, stakeholder engagement programs, active ownership, developing ESG investment strategies, ESG data services, build corporate sustainability reports. Astra team includes a pool of industry experts and ESG enthusiasts who possess extensive end-end ESG research and consulting experience at a global level. For more ESG Thematic reports, please visit Astra ESG Solutions, powered by Grand View Research Need expert consultation around identifying, analyzing and creating a plan to mitigate ESG risks related to your business? Share your concerns and queries, we can help! Contact: Michelle Thoras Sales Specialist, USA Astra ESG Solutions - Powered by Grand View Research, Inc. Phone: 1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Web: https://astra.grandviewresearch.com/ Email: [email protected] LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/astra-esg-solutions/ SOURCE Astra ESG Solutions LOS GATOS, Calif., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers evaluating and comparing the gene expression profiles of common (non-malignant) moles and melanoma, the most aggressive skin cancer, have found that the transition from benign tissue to early-stage melanoma involves the reorganizing or "remodeling" of the surrounding skin structural tissue, a process that also has its own distinctive patterns of gene expression. The analysis by researchers from Orlucent, Inc. and the University of California, San Diego appears in a peer-reviewed article published in the July 2023 issue of The American Journal of Pathology. Some common moles may exhibit abnormal features and are referred to as atypical or dysplastic nevi. But many experts believe these do not progress to melanoma, based on evidence that only 30% of melanomas are associated with common moles. However, the newly published analysis shows that dysplastic nevi are more similar to melanoma than previously believed and may contain genetic changes that can support the transition to melanoma. "These findings demonstrate that dysplastic nevi do, in fact, have the genetic ability to transition to melanoma when supported by molecular signatures and genetic pathways related to remodeling activities of the surrounding structural tissues," Catherine Shachaf, Ph.D., the corresponding author of the study and president of Orlucent said. "These remodeling processes include the gene expression of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), collagens, extracellular matrix (ECM), and integrins. These cells and proteins assist in the development of early melanoma, as well as the immune surveillance process that plays a substantial role at this early stage." Physicians typically spot melanoma, the most aggressive type of skin cancer, through visual examination of moles using the established ABCDE criteria, sometimes with the aid of dermoscopy. To develop into melanoma, dysplastic nevi must undergo genetic changes while also receiving various means of support from the surrounding tissue. Shachaf points out that it is possible to identify tissue remodeling processes through gene and protein expression patterns to objectively measure their progression or regression during the various stages of melanoma development. "The ability to measure and assess the presence of biological tissue remodeling activity adds another tool to the clinician's toolbox for assessing the development of atypical moles, one that complements their current methods of visual examination and histopathology analysis," Shachaf said. "Helping clinicians understand the biological activity occurring inside the skin can significantly transform the identification, diagnosis, and clinical management of these moles." To conduct the analysis, the researchers reanalyzed publicly available RNA sequencing and microarray data sets with particular focus on very early stages of melanoma. They evaluated and compared gene expression profiles of four different kinds of moles or nevicommon nevi in healthy individuals, common nevi that were adjacent to melanoma, dysplastic nevi, and nevi diagnosed as melanoma. In addition to their findings on remodeling, the researchers found that common nevi adjacent to melanoma were more similar to melanoma than to common nevi in healthy individuals. The authors also found that 53 genes significantly overlap in dysplastic nevi and melanoma, substantiating the notion that dysplastic nevi can serve as a transitional phase between common nevi and melanoma. Several of these genes, associated with the remodeling of surrounding tissue, were commonly expressed in both dysplastic nevi and in early stages of melanoma development. Using technology that measures tissue remodeling activity, Orlucent is developing a handheld point-of-care molecular-based imaging system designed to noninvasively identify and clinically assess the development of atypical moles in adults. In the U.S., the system recently received the FDA's Breakthrough Device Designation, which is especially relevant for the estimated 2% to 53% of the adult U.S. population that have atypical moles suspicious of becoming melanoma. The peer-reviewed article is titled, "Transcriptome Analysis Identifies Oncogenic Tissue Remodeling During Progression from Common Nevi to Early Melanoma," and can be found at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002944023001347. About Orlucent (www.orlucent.com) Orlucent, Inc. is developing the Orlucent Skin Fluorescence Imaging System, an in vivo molecular imaging system. Between 2% and 53% of the U.S. population have atypical/dysplastic moles suspicious of becoming melanoma and the in-office Orlucent system will provide the physician with information on the mole's biological activity as part of their clinical assessment. The first-of-a-kind product uses a topically-applied small peptide fluorescent dye and handheld imager to non-invasively detect a biomarker of early tissue changes and to report the level of potential concern for transition to melanoma. Media Contact Jeff Christensen SignalWest Public Relations Phone: (831) 566-0275 [email protected] SOURCE Orlucent, Inc. MODESTO, Calif., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- E. & J. Gallo Winery (Gallo) announced today that it has purchased the Hahn Family Wines portfolio, complementing Gallo's existing Central Coast offerings. The strategic investment includes the Smith & Hook, Hahn, and Hahn SLH brands. "This acquisition reinforces Gallo's strategy for continued growth in support of our goal to deliver superior quality." Tweet this Hahn Family Wines logo Hahn Family Wines portfolio "For over forty years, the Hahn family and their incredible team have produced expressive terroir-driven, quality wines from the Santa Lucia Highlands, Arroyo Seco, Paso Robles and throughout the Central Coast. We are honored to welcome their brands into our portfolio," said Steve Carlotti, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Commercial Brands at Gallo. "This acquisition reinforces Gallo's strategy for continued growth while supporting our goal of delivering superior quality at great value to our consumers across all usage occasions." "I am pleased to transition our Hahn Family Wines portfolio to the E. & J. Gallo Winery. Not only do we share similar family values, but both organizations are deeply committed to creating a sustainable future," said Thomas Duhameau, President of Hahn Family Wines. "I am confident the Hahn family's Central Coast wine legacy is in the best hands with the Gallo family." The Hahn Family Wines portfolio includes Smith & Hook, which has long stood for spirited, layered, and luscious Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux red blends from Paso Robles and the Central Coast. It also includes Hahn wines which are rooted in the terroir of Monterey County and offer a fresh, approachable style in an array of varietals, and the Hahn SLH wines which showcase the character of the Santa Lucia Highlands. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The transaction excludes the Hahn family's vineyard assets. Zepponi & Company served as the exclusive financial advisor to Hahn Family Wines. About E. & J. Gallo Winery Founded in 1933 by brothers Ernest and Julio Gallo, E. & J. Gallo Winery is a family-owned company and global wine and spirits industry leader. The hallmark of E. & J. Gallo Winery is their lasting commitment to sustainability and quality, and consistently providing wine and spirits for every occasion. Gallo's range of offerings includes Apothic, Barefoot Wine, Black Box, J Vineyards and Winery, La Marca Prosecco, Orin Swift, New Amsterdam Vodka, RumChata, High Noon, along with partnerships with esteemed family-owned brands such as Allegrini, Argiano, The Dalmore, Don Fulano, and Gruppo Montenegro. Learn more at: www.gallo.com. CONTACT: Caroline Shaw [email protected]com SOURCE E. & J. Gallo Winery Offering Unprecedented Visibility and Continuous Monitoring to Optimize Enterprise Security DUBLIN, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Edgescan, the first-fully integrated cybersecurity platform, announced today the release of its new External Attack Surface Management solution, offering unprecedented visibility and continuous monitoring to help secure organizations of all sizes. Today's enterprises require a cloud-savvy security solution that effectively inventories, monitors, manages and protects their corporate assets across their digital footprint. Traditional ad hock approaches and laborious, manual processes, combined with legacy tools make the process complex, expensive, and 'false positive' prone due to human error. An essential way to gain complete visibility and control across a multi-cloud IT environment requires an External Attack Surface Management (EASM) solution that uses a hybrid approach; a solution that provides automated risk-based vulnerability intelligence coupled with incident validation that leverages cyber analytics and human expertise. "Edgescan's unique hybrid approach combines EASM with its award-winning PTaaS (Penetration Testing as a Service) and RBVM (Risk-based Vulnerability Management) solutions, providing organizations with an optimal view of risks and exposures, understanding exactly what assets exist and what level of security coverage is being applied" says Eoin Keary, Founder and CEO of Edgescan. "The outcome is detailed, actionable and validated vulnerability intelligence that provides risk prioritization for faster remediation and coverage assurance." The Edgescan EASM solution solves the lack of visibility and slow remediation response challenges presented by legacy tools and manual processes; making it a cornerstone of any modern-day cybersecurity strategy. Integrated with Edgescan Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS) and Risk-based Vulnerability Management (RBVM) capabilities, EASM provides complete visibility and assessment across multi-cloud and on-premises infrastructures allowing organizations to see and effectively secure their critical assets and applications. The solution provides the flexibility for organizations to easily modify their change management and deployment models whenever needed, to suit their business needs. Key capabilities of the Edgescan EASM solution include mapping, discovery, and inventory tracking of known DNS and, most importantly, unknown, internet systems; exposing shadow IT and discovering and enumerating subdomains; customizable alerting and reporting of discovered anomalies and exposures; and more. The overall benefits help security teams confidently discover and understand the security of their hybrid environments with continuous, proactive monitoring, while optimizing incident response and remediation. About Edgescan Edgescan is the first fully integrated cybersecurity platform that unifies all required security solutions into a single combative platform. These solutions include penetration testing as a service (PTaaS), full stack vulnerability management (FSVM), dynamic application security testing (DAST), external attack surface management (EASM), and API security testing. All vulnerability information gleaned from any assessment or test is added to a growing collection of intelligence that is stored in our data lake and shared amongst the solutions. The platform enables companies to view and map assets across their entire global attack surface and delivers validated vulnerability data eliminating false positives. The platform reduces the complexity and overhead associated with tool proliferation, speeds up remediation, cuts operational costs, while reducing risk associated with digital transformation and cloud deployments. Christine Carrig Senior Vice President, Global Marketing Edgescan [email protected] SOURCE Edgescan ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on World Refugee Day NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- There were 108.4 million forcibly displaced people worldwide by the end of 2022. This includes 62.5 million internally displaced people, 35.3 million refugees, 5.4 million asylum seekers and an additional 5.2 million in need of international protection, according to recent analysis by UNHCR. Today, more than 43 million of the world's forcibly displaced are children, up from 36 million in 2021. Our investment in education for every child, everywhere, is our investment in humanity - theirs, as well as our own. As we mark World Refugee Day, ECW calls on leaders worldwide to make sure the rights of refugees enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention are honoured. These girls and boys who have fled their beloved home-countries due to armed conflicts and persecution are entitled to protection and basic services, not the least a continuation of their education. With access to safe, inclusive, quality learning opportunities, there is Hope Away From Home. Hope away from home means the safety of the classroom, the kindness of caring and well-trained teachers, the nourishment of a school lunch, and the dignity to learn, grow and thrive. Their experiences have made them resilient, but the scars remain. With mental health and psychosocial services within their educational pathway, they can and will reach their full potential in the most astounding ways. With strategic partners like UNHCR, Education Cannot Wait is dedicated to ensuring that refugee girls and boys are able to access safe learning environments. In places like Chad, this means refugee girls like Hawa are learning to read and write with support from the Government, which has taken broad strides in including refugees into the national education system. We will not get there alone. It will take close to US$4.85 billion annually to provide education for the world's refugees. As we rethink our priorities and combine efforts to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, we must connect donors, the private sector, philanthropic foundations and other innovative financing modalities to bridge this gap. As the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies, Education Cannot Wait was created to follow and find those left furthest behind refugees on the move and support the delivery of a quality education. With a total of US$1.5 billion in financing over the next four years, we will reach 20 million children and adolescents with quality, holistic education. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1656121/Education_Cannot_Wait_Logo.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2102341/Education_Cannot_Wait.jpg SOURCE Education Cannot Wait New Research by MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group Examines the Risks Stemming from Internally and Externally Developed AI Tools 53% of Companies Exclusively Rely on Third-Party AI Tools, Exposing Them to Unmitigated Risks Organizations With a CEO Who Takes a Hands-on Role in Responsible AI Efforts Report 58% More Business Benefits Than Organizations With a Less Hands-On CEO BOSTON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The artificial intelligence (AI) landscape has changed dramatically over the past year with the swift adoption of generative AI (GenAI), making it more difficult for organizations to be responsible with the technology and putting pressure on Responsible AI (RAI) programs to keep up with continuous advances. While more than half (53%) of organizations rely exclusively on third-party AI tools, having no internally designed or developed AI of their own, 55% of all AI-related failures stem from third-party AI tools, according to new research by MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The report, titled "Building Robust RAI Programs as Third-Party AI Tools Proliferate," is based on a global survey of 1,240 respondents, representing organizations reporting at least $100 million in annual revenues, across 59 industries and 87 countries. "The AI landscape, both from a technological and regulatory perspective, has changed so dramatically since we published our report last year," says Elizabeth M. Renieris, MIT SMR guest editor and coauthor of the report. "In fact, with the sudden and rapid adoption of generative AI tools, AI has become dinner table conversation. And yet, many of the fundamentals remain the same. This year, our research reaffirms the urgent need for organizations to be responsible by investing in and scaling their RAI programs to address growing uses and risks of AI." Both Leaders and Non-Leaders Need to Step Up RAI Leaders have increased from 16% of our survey sample to 29% year over year.1 Despite this progress, 71% of organizations are Non-Leaders. With significant risks emerging from third-party AI tools, it's time for most organizations to double down on their RAI efforts. Widespread Reliance on Third-Party AI The vast majority (78%) of organizations surveyed are highly reliant on third-party AI, exposing them to a host of risks, including reputational damage, the loss of customer trust, financial loss, regulatory penalties, compliance challenges, and litigation. Still, one fifth of organizations that use third-party AI tools fail to evaluate their risks at all. Employing a wide variety of approaches and methods to evaluate third-party tools is an effective strategy for mitigating risk. Organizations that employ seven different methods are more than twice as likely to uncover lapses as those that only use three (51% vs. 24%). These approaches include contractual language mandating adherence to RAI principles, vendor pre-certification and audits, internal product-level reviews, and adherence to relevant regulatory requirements and industry standards. A Rapidly Evolving Regulatory Landscape The regulatory landscape is evolving almost as rapidly as AI itself, with many new AI-specific regulations taking effect on a rolling basis. About half (51%) the organizations surveyed report being subject to non-AI-specific regulations that nevertheless apply to their use of AI, including a high proportion of organizations in the financial services, insurance, healthcare, and public sectors. Organizations subject to such regulations account for 13% more RAI Leaders than organizations not subject to them. They also report detecting fewer AI failures than do their counterparts that are not subject to the same regulatory pressures (32% vs. 38%). CEO Engagement Is Key in Affirming an Organization's Commitment to RAI CEOs play a key role in both affirming an organization's commitment to AI and sustaining the necessary investments in it. Organizations with a CEO who takes a hands-on role in RAI efforts (such as by engaging in RAI-related hiring decisions or product-level discussions or setting performance targets tied to RAI) report 58% more business benefits than do organizations with a less hands-on CEO, regardless of their leader status. Furthermore, organizations with a CEO who is directly involved in RAI are more likely to invest in RAI than are organizations with a hands-off CEO (39% vs. 22%). Five Recommendations for a Dramatically Changing AI Landscape The report outlines five recommendations for organizations as they navigate the rapid adoption of AI and the inherent risks associated with it: Move quickly to mature RAI programs Properly evaluate third-party tools Take action to prepare for emerging regulations Engage CEOs in RAI efforts to maximize success Double down and invest in RAI "Now is the time for organizations to double down and invest in a robust RAI program," says Steven Mills, chief AI ethics officer at BCG and coauthor of the report. "While it may feel as though the technology is outpacing your RAI program's capabilities, the solution is to increase your commitment to RAI, not pull back. Organizations need to put leadership and resources behind their efforts to deliver business value and manage the risks." Download the publication here: https://www.bcg.com/publications/2023/ai-responsibility-at-crossroads Media Contacts: Eric Gregoire: +1 617 850 3783 [email protected] Tess Woods: +1 617 942 0336 [email protected] ABOUT MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW At MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR), we explore how leadership and management are transforming in a disruptive world. We help thoughtful leaders capture the exciting opportunitiesand face down the challengescreated as technological, societal, and environmental forces reshape how organizations operate, compete, and create value. MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW BIG IDEAS MIT SMR's Big Ideas Initiatives develop innovative, original research on the issues transforming our fast-changing business environment. We conduct global surveys and in-depth interviews with frontline leaders working at a range of companies, from Silicon Valley startups to multinational organizations, to deepen our understanding of changing paradigms and their influence on how people work and lead. 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. 1 The samples used to construct the maturity index differed from 2022 to 2023 due to different individuals surveyed each year. SOURCE Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Former ONESCO Firm with $340 Million in Client Assets Affiliates with Savage and Associates, One of Advisor Group's Largest Groups PHOENIX, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Advisor Group, one of the nation's largest networks of independent wealth management firms, announced the affiliation of Encore Financial Group (Encore) of Cheboygan, MI, through Savage and Associates (Savage), one of Advisor Group's largest groups. Founded in 2004 by president and CEO, Dennis Hesselink, CLU, CHFC, LUTCF, CFP, AEP, Encore has 14 financial advisors located in offices in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. The former Ohio National Equity Sales Company (ONESCO) firm brings more than $340 million in client assets to the Advisor Group network. Encore's mission is to help individuals, multi-generational families and business owners achieve and maintain financial independence via a comprehensive approach to reducing risk, offering protection services and seeking potential growth opportunities. The firm provides complete wealth management services to members of its community, including financial planning, wealth building, income distribution and estate planning. Personal protection services include life, health, disability and long-term care insurance. Employing a team approach, Encore was built on showing respect for clients, community and colleagues, while delivering top-quality services and solutions. "We are excited about what the future holds and the impact we can have on our community with the support, technology and expertise of both Savage and Advisor Group," said Dennis Hesselink, President and Chief Executive Officer of Encore Financial Group. "We did not take the decision to change firms lightly. After an in-depth due diligence process, it became apparent to us that Savage, backed by the scale and resources of Advisor Group, was the right place for the firm, our advisors and clients for years to come." Ongoing growth at Savage and Associates A mainstay of the Ohio business community, Savage and Associates was founded by John F. Savage in 1957, with a strong belief in the difference people can make in the lives of others. Over the years the firm has achieved tremendous success by adhering to those founding beliefs and providing only the highest quality advice, services and solutions to clients. Today, Savage is comprised of 68 financial professionals and more than $2.8 billion in total client assets. J.R. Toland, President & CEO Savage and Associates said, "Dennis and his team at Encore represent the very best of what wealth management has to offer. Their integrity, respect for clients and an unwavering commitment to service are a perfect fit for the way we run our business at Savage. We look forward to working with Encore to help them achieve even greater success, while serving more clients and enhancing more lives." Recruiting success continues at Advisor Group "We are thrilled to welcome Encore to Advisor Group," added Kristen Kimmell, Executive Vice President Business Development, Advisor Group. "We are focused on helping advisors grow and enhance their client service experience by delivering continuous improvements in technology, wealth management solutions and practice management support. Our ability to attract groups like Encore is a testament to the strength of our value proposition, powerful platform and collaborative approach that drives mutual success. I can't wait to see all we will do together." About Advisor Group Advisor Group, Inc., a portfolio company of Reverence Capital Partners, is the nation's largest network of independent wealth management firms, serving approximately 10,000 financial professionals. The firm is mission-driven to support the strategic role that financial professionals can play in the lives of their clients. Cultivating a spirit of entrepreneurship and independence, Advisor Group champions the enduring value of financial professionals. For more information visit https://www.advisorgroup.com . Securities and investment advisory services are offered through the firms: FSC Securities Corporation, Royal Alliance Associates, Inc., SagePoint Financial, Inc., Triad Advisors, LLC, Infinex Investments, Inc., and Woodbury Financial Services, Inc., broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, and members of FINRA and SIPC. Securities are offered through Securities America, Inc., American Portfolios Financial Services, Inc., and Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., broker-dealers and member of FINRA and SIPC. Advisory services are offered through Arbor Point Advisors, LLC, American Portfolios Advisors, Inc., Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management, Inc., Securities America Advisors, Inc., and Triad Hybrid Solutions, LLC, registered investment advisers. Advisory programs offered by FSC Securities Corporation, Royal Alliance Associates, Inc., SagePoint Financial, Inc., Securities America Advisors, Inc., Triad Advisors, LLC., and Woodbury Financial Services, Inc., are sponsored by VISION2020 Wealth Management Corp., an affiliated registered investment adviser. Savage and Associates Savage and Associates was founded by the late John F. Savage started in 1957 with a mission to provide an environment where advisors and employees can make a difference in the lives of their clients by providing only the highest quality advice, services, and solutions. Integrity, respect for clients and an unwavering commitment to service are the hallmarks of business at Savage. Securities and investment advisory services offered through Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. (RAA), member FINRA/SIPC. RAA is separately owned and other entities and/or marketing names, products or services referenced here are independent of RAA. Media Inquiries Joseph Kuo / Donald Cutler Haven Tower Group [email protected] or [email protected] 424 317 4851 or 424 317 4864 SOURCE Advisor Group HOUSTON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG) will host a conference call and webcast to discuss second quarter 2023 results on Friday, August 4, 2023, at 9 a.m. Central time (10 a.m. Eastern time). Please visit the Investors/Events & Presentations page on the EOG website to access a live webcast of the conference call. If you are unable to listen to the live webcast, a replay will be available for one year. If you have any questions, please contact Angie Lewis at 713-651-6722. About EOG EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE: EOG) is one of the largest crude oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the United States with proved reserves in the United States and Trinidad. To learn more visit www.eogresources.com. Investor Contacts David Streit 713-571-4902 Neel Panchal 713-571-4884 Shelby O'Connor 713-571-4560 Media Contact Kimberly Ehmer 713-571-4676 SOURCE EOG Resources, Inc. New Talent Report Hourly Supports Applicants by Highlighting Their Experience and Education, Helping Employers to Improve Retention and Reduce Turnover ATLANTA, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Equifax (NYSE: EFX) has introduced the industry's first pre-employment verification solution specifically tailored to employers recruiting, retaining and engaging an hourly workforce. In a competitive hourly talent market, the new Talent Report Hourly solution supports better-informed hiring decisions by providing a full view of the applicant's work experience, including their employment history and student enrollment status. This can help support employers as they seek to accommodate employee class schedules and recognize relevant work experience, which can lead to lower turnover and improved retention. According to recent Equifax data, today's hourly workforce is projected to account for more than 79 percent of annual new hires. While these employees play a vital role in business operations, they may be applying for multiple jobs at once and therefore only have a few minutes to spend on an application. Additionally, less than 30 percent of companies provide feedback to hourly workers during the recruitment process. However, savvy employers recognize that an intentional dialogue with hourly candidates supported by relevant data can help them build a foundation for greater success. "At Equifax, we continually engage with our customers, including some of the largest employers in the retail and restaurant space, who share insights about their greatest opportunities for improving hourly employee retention. From these conversations, we've found two key areas that Talent Report Hourly can help address," said Jennifer Hunter, Product Leader for Onboarding & Talent Solutions at Equifax Workforce Solutions. "The first is scheduling. If the manager knows a candidate is enrolled in college, they can design a work schedule to better fit everyone's needs. Not only can this help support appropriate staffing, but it can potentially help the employee to qualify for tuition assistance. The second relates to work experience. If the employer can see a fuller view of the applicant's current and recent jobs, it may be more inclined to not only hire the applicant, but to also make a better offer and possibly guide the new hire toward faster promotion based on relevant work experience." Talent Report Hourly is available only to credentialed employers and background screeners. The candidate agrees to having the report provided as part of the application and pre-employment screening process. Talent Report Hourly provides a candidate's previous three years of employment history sourced from The Work Number , the industry-leading centralized source of income and employment information in the United States. It also includes a candidate's postsecondary enrollment status and institution name for the previous six months, sourced from the National Student Clearinghouse, which covers 97 percent of all enrollments at Title IV, degree-granting institutions in the United States. These unique insights are powered by the TotalVerify data hub from Equifax, a more accurate, single source for delivering multi-data solutions. Talent Report Hourly is available now. For more information on other pre-employment verification services available from Equifax, click here . ABOUT EQUIFAX INC. At Equifax (NYSE: EFX), we believe knowledge drives progress. As a global data, analytics, and technology company, we play an essential role in the global economy by helping financial institutions, companies, employers, and government agencies make critical decisions with greater confidence. Our unique blend of differentiated data, analytics, and cloud technology drives insights to power decisions to move people forward. Headquartered in Atlanta and supported by nearly 14,000 employees worldwide, Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. For more information, visit Equifax.com . FOR MORE INFORMATION Daniel Jenkins for Equifax Workforce Solutions [email protected] SOURCE Equifax Inc. Philip Morris International (PMI) is investing more than $30 million in launching a new production facility in Lviv region, the company's press service said on Tuesday. According to the report, preparatory work for the new factory will begin in July 2023, and they expect to begin production in Q1 2024. The new factory will employ over 250 people, primarily in manufacturing. Employment will be offered to Philip Morris Ukraine employees from our Kharkiv factory first. "By opening this new facility, we once again demonstrate our support for Ukraine. This investment embodies our commitment as a long-term economic partner. The new production at the location proposed by UkraineInvest will create jobs, satisfy the demand of the Ukrainian market with high-quality products, and support the economy in a tough time for the country," Maksym Barabash, Managing Director of Philip Morris Ukraine, said. PMI European Region President Massimo Andolina expressed confidence that the new facility would provide a reliable supply of products and employment opportunities for Ukrainians. "This investment is a powerful signal to other international investors - a signal of confidence in Ukraine's economy, confidence in the Ukrainian people, and confidence in Ukraine's future," he concluded. Philip Morris Ukraine has been operating in the Ukrainian market since 1994 and during this time has invested more than $700 million in the Ukrainian economy. In 2022, the company paid UAH 25.3 billion in taxes in Ukraine. HONG KONG, June 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- eSurfing Cloud, the world's largest telco cloud service provider, successfully held "eSurfing Cloud Global Launch Event" and announced the official expansion of its global footprint, starting exclusively with its cloud service offerings available in Hong Kong. Guests and Leadership of China Telecom Global attended the "eSurfing Cloud Global Launch Event" (From left to right: Mr. Hans P. Chuang, Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Communications Group, GM, PRC CoSP Business Consumption of Intel, Mr. Zhao Feng, Deputy General Manager of the China Taiping Insurance Group Company Limited, Mr. Yin Jin, CEO of China Telecom Global Limited, Mr. Wong Chi Kwong, Tony, JP, Government Chief Information Officer of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Zeng Shendian, Vice President of the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association, Mr. Hu Zhiqiang, Chairman of the Board and General Manager of China Telecom Cloud Technology Co., Ltd., Mr. Wang Huaihe, Vice President of Greater Bay Area International Information Technology Industry Association, Mr. Shan Jinxiao, Director of Technology Division of Digital Centre of China Merchants Group) Mr. Yin Jin, CEO of China Telecom Global Limited delivered a welcome speech Mr. Hu Zhiqiang, Chairman of the Board and General Manager of China Telecom Cloud Technology Co., Ltd.& delivered a speech Following the theme of "Embracing the Future of Cloud and Network towards Digitalisation", more than 300 government officials, business leaders, and industry experts participated in the event, witnessing the unveiling of eSurfing Cloud's global expansion plan. As its first overseas conference, the discussion shed light on the core capabilities of eSurfing Cloud namely cloud and network integration, independent R&D, and extensive industry experience. The conference also elaborated on how enterprises can seize market opportunities when entering the Chinese market, as well as how Chinese companies can expand overseas by overcoming their digital challenges with emerging technologies. During this special occasion, Mr. Wong Chi Kwong, Tony, JP, Government Chief Information Officer, and Mr. Zeng Shendian, Vice President of the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association delivered their opening remarks. Mr. Tony Wong introduced the implementation of the Smart Hong Kong digital initiatives and outlines how Hong Kong can tackle the challenges of city management with cloud solutions. He expressed his gratitude to eSurfing Cloud for strategically selecting Hong Kong as its first expansion point for global footprint development. The Hong Kong government is seeking further forward-looking opportunities to pursue deeper collaborations with eSurfing Cloud, continually enhancing the development of Hong Kong's digital economy. Mr. Zeng also expressed his excitement for the future and trust in eSurfing Cloud capabilities. Expressing his belief that the expansion will help create a competitive edge for Chinese enterprises looking to expand globally. Mr. Yin Jin, CEO of China Telecom Global Limited delivered welcome speeches at the event respectively. Mr. Yin Jin highlighted, "The AI revolution has paved the arrival of the next industrial revolution, reshaping the future of the economy and society at large. As the world's leading service provider, China Telecom is dedicated to serving our customers with forward looking solutions centered around a customer-first mindset for over a decade. Throughout this journey, we became the first to bring to life the concept of 'Cloud Network Integration'. Today, I am honoured to announce that eSurfing Cloud is launching in Hong Kong, marking the first step in our global expansion journey. In addition, we are also making further investments to build the largest data centre in Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong. We strive to play a major role in contributing to the smart city infrastructure in Hong Kong, building a solid foundation that fast tracks the development of finance, trading, logistics, and industrial and commercial industries in the city. We look forward to working with our partners to support Hong Kong's goal of building an International Innovation and Technology Hub." Mr. Hu Zhiqiang, Chairman of the Board and General Manager of China Telecom Cloud Technology Co., Limited further elaborated, "Over the past ten years, the global digital economy has been developing rapidly, we have observed computing capabilities play a critical role in boosting economic growth. eSurfing Cloud is seizing major opportunities for development stemming from a rapidly growing economy, continuously investing in research and development. We have begun our ascent into the 4.0 cloud architecture through extensive development of our core capabilities in cloud and other key technologies. Leveraging our independent platforms, cloud-network integration capabilities and a sustainable mindset, eSurfing Cloud is expanding globally to unleash the power of digital transformation and connect our enterprise customers to a world of business opportunities." The event was held with an innovative activation feature to announce the launch of eSurfing Cloud global expansion plan. The officiating guests were invited on stage to join the launch ceremony, signalling that eSurfing Cloud has officially embarked on its journey for global expansion. Accelerate Digital Transformation Journey for All Industries through "Cloud Network Integration" During the sharing session, Mr. Wu Xiaolei, Executive Vice President of China Telecom Global Limited explains how eSurfing Cloud adequately supports digital leaders as they embark on their digital transformation journey made possible with "Cloud-Network Integration" technology, extensive digital resources, and extensive R&D capabilities. eSurfing Cloud adheres to the cloud-network integration strategy of China Telecom: "Cloud central, Network around, Network adaptive to cloud, Cloud and Network as one", eSurfing Cloud has evolved up to stage 3.0 of "Cloud-Network Integration" and will continue to explore new models to advance the potential of cloud. Leveraging the global network resources of China Telecom, eSurfing Cloud have been providing a variety of cloud products to more than 3.35 million enterprise consumers, including SD-WAN, Cloud Exchange, iStack or ctStack, Cloud Laptop, and Cloud Disaster Recovery services. In addition, we have launched eSurfing Cloud International Site that is specifically designed for all global enterprise consumers to enjoy a one-stop management service, while offering solutions that suit for different business scenarios. Through the global expansion of eSurfing Cloud, a number of clients and industry partners expressed their interest in its future development. Mr. Shan Jinxiao, Director of Technology Division of Digital Center of China Merchants Group expressed, "We are honoured to witness the global expansion of eSurfing Cloud, as well as its continued success in delivering cutting-edge cloud services to a diverse suite of industries, accelerating industrial digitalisation outcomes. The China Merchants Group over time has built a strong collaborative relationship with China Telecom. Relying on their advanced abilities in cloud-network integration and edge computing, we have established a solid foundation for a fully digitalised future of China Merchants Group in 2025. Moving forward, we will closely partner with eSurfing Cloud to unlock leading competitiveness in the global digital economy through the usage of AI technologies. As a long-term partner of eSurfing Cloud, Mr. Hans P. Chuang, Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Communications Group, GM, PRC CoSP Business Consumption of Intel pointed out, "As the world's leading semiconductor manufacturer, Intel provides a broad product portfolio that addresses the technological needs of our enterprise partners in an ever-evolving data-centric world. Supporting the ambitions of eSurfing Cloud in enhancing market competitiveness and innovation capabilities has been an ongoing and vital mission for us. We are continuously coming up with new technologies and solutions tailored to help the brand expand its global businesses through the enormous opportunities that digitalisation provides." Through collaboration with over hundreds of global industry partners across different professional aspects, eSurfing Cloud will be strengthening its cloud service capabilities to meet customer needs across the realms of Data, Computing Abilities, Algorithm, and Network Requirements, joining hands with our customers to build a mutually beneficial cloud ecosystem. The launch showcased the diversified product portfolio of eSurfing Cloud, especially its rich global resources and cloud services, as well as its industry-leading solutions to guests and partners. An exclusive interactive booth showcased "Ling Ze", the Data Service platform, and "Yun Xiao", its Intelligent Computing Platform, as well as the Cloud Disaster Recovery and Smart Building solutions to the global markets for the first time. eSurfing Cloud acts as a pillar of robust foundation that empowers all industries in their respective digital transformation journey. Moving forward, eSurfing Cloud will continue to provide robust and reliable cloud-network infrastructure to different industries, offering competitive advantages to customers through rich global cloud-network resources and diversified technologies. Together, we've built a competitive digital ecosystem and accelerated sustainable development for the wider society and economy. About eSurfing Cloud eSurfing Cloud is a technology-based, platform-based and service-oriented company under China Telecom. It provides customers with solutions ranging from public cloud, private cloud, exclusive cloud, hybrid cloud, edge cloud to full-stack cloud services based on six core corporate values, including "Innovation, Self-developed, Safe and Reliable, Cloud-network Integration, Collaborative Ecosystem, and Low carbon emission". With a variety of solutions, eSurfing Cloud empowers government agencies and large and medium-sized enterprises to be future-proof and meet the digital transformation needs. eSurfing Cloud has grown into the world's largest telco cloud service provider and ranks the third in public cloud service providers. As the world's leading cloud service provider, eSurfing Cloud is committed to becoming the powerhouse of the digital economy and provides users with safe and inclusive cloud services. SOURCE China Telecom Global; eSurfing Cloud Partnership Provides Long Term Financing to Sector Resources, to focus on the development and operation of mining related projects in the respective regions. SAN DIEGO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ETHOS ASSET MANAGEMENT INC USA, announced a new long-term financing partnership with Sector Resources Ltd., founded in 1995 to focus on the development and operation of mining related projects. Sector's mission is to concentrate on acquiring and developing gold silver copper and industrial minerals interests in Canada and Colombia. Ethos has committed to providing significant capital infusion that will continue for several years. Carlos Santos, CEO of Ethos Asset Management Inc, stated, Sector Resources Ltd., is focused on mining projects that complement the communities with strict environmental standards, and inclusion in all mine planning. We encourage utilization of local work forces along with education of the workforce to make our projects part of the community. (PRNewsfoto/Sector Resources Ltd,Ethos Asset Management Inc) "We are delighted to announce this high impact infra structure and industrial project, partnering with Sector Resources Ltd., led by the dynamic William Dell'Orfano and his team. Sector Resources has played a very important role in the communities where it operates mines, contracting local services, housing, catering and other services related to mining to hire most of the workforce from the Santa Isabel town and the local region in Colombia as well as the town of Atlin, British Columbia, Canada. The social program approved by the National Mining agency in Colombia includes to provide services to the community such as health, education and activities for the youth such as sports, and social events. The benefits program being developed for the Taku River Tlingit, First Nation, in Atlin British Columbia, contemplates educational grants for training First Nation members in the trades of electrical, plumbing, welding, mechanics and equipment operation. The Colombian mine will commence a drilling program that will start with the design and preparation of the contractors for access ramp development and diamond drilling program to 5000 meters. This will increase reserves internally in the mine and keep the operation going, while the exploration program will take place in three stages. The Canadian mine is in its final year of exploration where the processing facility has been built and is being commissioned. The production phase is scheduled to commence in 2024. We look forward to working with William and Sector developing these new and exciting projects adding value to the economy and improving local communities through the creation of new jobs, social programs and developing mineral interests to create wealth for all stakeholders." William Dell'Orfano, Founder and President, Sector Resources Ltd, stated, Working With Ethos Asset Management has been nothing short of absolute positivity. Sector Resources Ltd and Ethos Asset Management have forged a relationship that applies capital towards projects that will allow our people and the people of the communities we impact to be part of a careful and responsible mineral development program and their personal growth. Our greatest assets are our people and the communities we partner with. We look forward to meeting the needs of our communities and the successful development of both our Colombian and Canadian projects. Mayra Couto, Chief Operating Officer, Ethos, South America, stated, "We are very sure that the partnership established between Sector Resources and Ethos will bring significant benefits, since it is a project of great economic and social impact. The project goes beyond the mining activity and will promote the increase of the economic activity, benefiting the service sector, besides having the commitment with the youth education, health, and culture of the local society. Our congratulations to Mr. William Dell'Orfano and the whole team at Sector Resources for the robust and sustainable project with focus on the mineral operation under the best social, legal and environmental standards." Alaor Pinheiro Guerra, Associate, Ethos, South America, stated, "We had the pleasure of providing Sector Resources Ltd, an American company in the industrial mining sector, the opportunity to implement its two projects, through the bold financing model that Ethos offers to companies in all sectors of the world economy. We thank Sector for its trust and partnership during the negotiations to prepare the documents, and especially Ethos Asset Management for believing in our work." About Ethos Asset Management Inc: Ethos Asset Management (Ethos) is an independent, US-based company with global reach in resource mobilization and project financing. For more information, please visit http://www.ethosasset.com/. About Sector Resources Ltd: Sector Resources Ltd., is focused on mining projects that complement the communities with strict environmental standards, and inclusion in all mine planning. We encourage utilization of local work forces along with education of the workforce to make our projects part of the community. This approach provides long term security for the capital deployed and a return of capital, a reasonable return on investment and most importantly a high return on enhancing people's lives associated with the projects. Contacts: William Dell'Orfano, Founder and President, Sector Resources: Email: [email protected] Ethos USA: Ethos Asset Management INC: Press Office [email protected] +18585354814 SOURCE Ethos Asset Management Inc; Sector Resources Ltd BRUSSELS, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the European electricity industry trade body unveils a landmark study highlighting three scenarios for Europe to achieve net zero. Looking towards 2030, 2040 and 2050, "Decarbonisation Speedways" confirms the key role of clean electrification in accelerating Europe's path to climate neutrality and underlines its potential in lowering households' energy bills. Europe's success hinges, however, on critical enablers including the electricity market reform, permitting, grids, and industrial competitiveness. Climate action, energy independence and reindustrialisation call for an ambitious, yet realistic well-balanced decarbonisation strategy for Europe. By 2050, 70% of fossil-fuel-based final energy demand in Europe's transport, buildings and industry must be decarbonised. The study underlines that clean and renewable power is the cost-efficient solution to curb emissions and reduce energy use thanks to its superior energy efficiency. Transport will score the highest efficiency gains, with at least a 53% reduction in energy use in 2050 compared to 2015. Decarbonisation Speedways shows that electricity capacity will have to triple by 2040, together with a ten-fold expansion in renewables and a stable basis of firm capacity to match around 4,600 TWh of final electricity demand by 2040. Delivering on such daunting numbers calls for enabling policies. Underlining the industry commitment to climate neutrality, Eurelectric's President and E.ON CEO, Leonhard Birnbaum said: "The EU has highly ambitious targets for 2030. The step change we achieve already this decade will determine our success in delivering any target we might set ourselves for 2040. That is why we must get laser-focused on making progress on the ground now. This means ensuring investors' confidence, reaching warp speed in permitting for power generation and grid infrastructure, defending competitiveness and modernising our grids to manage a bigger more complex system." Massive investments in power generation and infrastructure are essential to a successful energy transition. With properly designed policies, consumers could save 175 billion per year in avoided fuel imports and enjoy cheaper energy bills. Lowered emissions and energy use, air quality, biodiversity preservation, job creation and competitiveness would also benefit Europe and lower costs for the economy. The incentive to act has never been higher. Eurelectric calls on policymakers to adopt the necessary enablers for the industry to deliver on climate neutrality with ambition and realism. Note to Editors: Eurelectric represents the interests of the European electricity industry. SOURCE Eurelectric DUBLIN, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Europe Green Data Center Market - Industry Analysis & Outlook 2023-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Europe green data center is expected to reach a value of $12.25 billion in 2028 from $7.94 billion in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 7.49% Hyperscale players such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Meta, and Microsoft are procuring renewable energy for their data centers. AWS meets 85% of its energy requirements from renewable energy. Google and Meta meet 100% of their energy requirements for data centers from renewable energy. Microsoft will power all data centers with 100% renewable energy by 2025. Colocation operators in the Europe green data center market such as Equinix, Digital Realty, CyrusOne, Vantage Data Centers, OVHcloud, VIRTUS Data Centres, QTS Realty Trust, and others are proactively signing PPAs and procuring renewable energy to power their facilities to meet their sustainability goals. In September 2022, OVHcloud started constructing a new facility in Germany, renewable energy will be procured from Energieversorgung Limburg (EVL). GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS The Nordic region is the most suitable region for green data center development as there is no need for water cooling. Nordic countries also source the maximum power supply from renewable energy. Site selection for data centers across Europe will mostly depend on access to renewable energy. There is continuous investment in renewable energy projects across Nordics and Western Europe, where data center companies also participate. KEY MARKET PARTICIPANTS Renewable energy companies like Engie, TotalEnergies, EDF Renewables, ENEL Group, Orsted, and much more supply renewable energy to European green data center market operators. These companies are setting up new plants exclusively for data center companies, thus providing clean power sources for companies. KEY HIGHLIGHTS Climate Neutral Data Center Pact has played a major role in increasing the sustainability of European data centers as all the signatories will be relying on renewable energy for their facilities by 2030. As of October 2022 , over 100 companies have signed the Climate Neutral Data Center Pact, which operates more than 90% of data center capacity across Europe . , over 100 companies have signed the Climate Neutral Data Center Pact, which operates more than 90% of data center capacity across . Hyperscale operators in the Europe green data center market like AWS and Microsoft and colocation operators like Kao Data, NorthC Datacenters, and Data4 are taking multiple steps to improve their sustainability credentials. green data center market like AWS and Microsoft and colocation operators like Kao Data, NorthC Datacenters, and Data4 are taking multiple steps to improve their sustainability credentials. A few of the initiatives taken by major operators are: Replacing diesel with HVO (Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil) Use of recycled construction material Use of Fuel cells, vegetable oil, and other sustainable fuel sources Replacement of VRLA batteries with Lithium-ion batteries Data Center investors are moving to new locations like Spain , Portugal , Greece , and other sites where the availability of renewable energy is high with average land prices. , , , and other sites where the availability of renewable energy is high with average land prices. Europe is at the forefront of renewable energy adoption. Europe's commitment to adopting renewable energy and phasing out fossil fuels will promote the growth of renewable energy adoption by data center companies. SEGMENTATION INSIGHTS Electrical Infrastructure: Efficient and sustainable power infrastructure replacing traditional power systems. The increasing demand for efficiency in data centers has fueled the growth of efficient infrastructure such as lithium-ion UPS systems, fuel cells, HVO, Natural Gas generators, nuclear energy reactors, and more. AWS will use HVO across all of its European facilities. It has already replaced diesel with HVO in Ireland facility. facility. Companies are using Microgrids and Smart grids to further stabilize power supply to the data center and back to the grid in the hour of need. Microsoft has partnered with Eaton, which will outfit all of Microsoft's data centers with grid-interactive UPS. Mechanical Infrastructure: Europe is to witness an increase in advanced cooling technologies. Most companies have deployed free cooling, and zero-water cooling, leveraging the cold temperature of the region. Colt Data Centre Services uses free cooling most of the year in the Paris Southwest data center; the same will be used in the announced expansion of this data center. DigiPlex has deployed air-free cooling in Sweden's Stockholm 1 data center. General Construction: Adopting sustainable and innovative construction design/material in Europe in data centers. Hyperscale operators like AWS, Microsoft, Apple, and Google are leading in using sustainable materials to construct facilities. Companies introduce technologies like green concrete, modular data centers, and more in their data center construction. Data4 has been using low-carbon concrete in its data centers since 2021. Zetto, a TV streaming service provider, placed its servers in windmills of WestfalenWind from where it has been streaming. Companies are investing in additional infrastructure like Aquifer Thermal Storage Systems to conserve heat. Key Vendors Amazon Web Services (AWS) Atman Beyond.pl Bulk Infrastructure CyrusOne Data4 Digital Realty EdgeConneX Equinix Google Green Mountain Iron Mountain Kao Data Keppel Data Centres LCL Data Centers Microsoft Nautilus Data Technologies NorthC Datacenters NTT Global Data Centers OVHcloud Switch Datacenters STACK Infrastructure Serverfarm Scaleway Telehouse Vantage Data Centers VIRTUS Data Centers Verne Global Renewable Energy Providers ACCONIA Energia Better Energy Bryt Energy Conrad Energy Datafarm Energy Eneco Enel Group Engie ERG GreenYellow HDF Energy Ilmatar Energy Neoen NTR Orsted RWE Renewables ScottishPower Shell TotalEnergies For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/jzpwvj 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 Eviation signs letter of intent with Aerolease, a U.S.-based leasing company focused on sustainable aviation Under the deal announced at the 2023 Paris Air Show, Aerolease orders up to 50 Alice electric aircraft Orders for Alice now valued over US$ 4 billion PARIS, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Eviation Aircraft , a manufacturer of all-electric aircraft, today announced that Aerolease , a leasing company based in Miami, U.S., has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for up to 50 commuter Alice aircraft. Aerolease is focused on sustainable aviation and will provide financing and leasing solutions for the Alice to a global customer base of operators. Eviation Announces Aerolease Order for up to 50 All-Electric Alice Aircraft Leading The Aviation of Tomorrow The Eviation Alice is a nine-passenger electric aircraft the only flight-proven all-electric commuter aircraft of its size. Built from a clean-sheet design around magniX's industry-leading electric propulsion system, Alice produces zero carbon emissions and features lower operating costs per flight hour compared to light jets or high-end turboprops thereby providing the opportunity to activate more routes, improving the convenience of air travel. "As we gather for the Paris Air Show, the aerospace industry is facing increasing pressure to turn sustainable solutions into reality," said Eddie Jaisaree, Vice President, Commercial Sales at Eviation. "The Alice aircraft meets the demand for zero-carbon technology that we are seeing from governments, regulators, and the public, while offering a more enjoyable flight experience and lower operating costs. Aerolease further demonstrates the commitment of leasing companies to revolutionize air travel and we are very pleased to receive this order." "We work with major airlines around the world, and we know from many conversations that sustainability is a major concern," said Jep Thornton, Managing Partner of Aerolease. "New projects that address sustainability are key to our future strategy and we are excited to be working with Eviation to offer our global customers a zero-emissions solution that is good for the planet and provides an exciting means of opening up new regional routes." "In the four years since the last edition of the Paris Air Show, Eviation has achieved the world-first test flight of the Alice, and secured over US$ 4 billion in orders," said Gregory Davis, CEO of Eviation. "Our aircraft has captured the hearts and minds of the marketplace with its beautiful design, low cost of operation and environmental credentials. The leasing community has an important part to play in creating a long-lasting future for our industry, and we are delighted to work with Aerolease, our latest leasing customer." About Eviation Aircraft Based in Washington State, U.S., Eviation Aircraft Inc. develops and manufactures electric aircraft to delight operators and passengers with green, cost efficient and convenient regional transportation. Its electric propulsion units, high-energy-density batteries, mission-driven energy management, and innovative airframe are designed from the ground up for electric flight. Please visit us at www.eviation.com. About Aerolease Aerolease Aviation has been active in leasing and trading commercial aircraft since it was founded in 1986. To date, it has carried out hundreds of commercial aircraft transactions with customers around the world. Since its inception, Aerolease has made markets in the DC-8, A300B4, and 757, with a focus on Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) conversion programs for these types. It operates as a privately held boutique firm with an industry-leading team that is responsive and creative in areas including marketing, sourcing, financial structuring, and technical management for commercial aircraft transactions. For more information, please visit www.aerolease.aero . SOURCE Eviation HAMILTON, Bermuda, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited, a global insurance holding company, with insurance and reinsurance operations in Bermuda, Ireland and the United Kingdom (the "Company"), announced today the launch of its initial public offering ("IPO") of 17,000,000 of its common shares. The offering consists of 5,714,286 common shares offered by the Company and 11,285,714 common shares to be sold by certain of the Company's existing shareholders. In addition, the underwriters will have a 30-day option to buy an additional 2,550,000 common shares from the selling shareholders. The IPO price is currently expected to be between USD 16.00 and USD 19.00 per common share. The common shares are expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "FIHL." The Company intends to use the net proceeds it receives from the offering to make capital contributions to its insurance operating subsidiaries, which, together with other sources of liquidity, should enable the Company to take advantage of the ongoing rate hardening in the key markets in which it participates by writing more business under its planned strategy. The Company will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of its common shares by the selling shareholders. J.P. Morgan, Barclays and Jefferies are acting as Joint Lead Bookrunning Managers for the proposed offering. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, a Stifel company, BMO Capital Markets, Citigroup and UBS Investment Bank are acting as Joint Bookrunning Managers for the proposed offering. JMP Securities, A Citizens Company and Dowling & Partners Securities are acting as co-managers for the proposed offering. The proposed offering of the Company's common shares will be made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the preliminary prospectus, may be obtained from: J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Attention: Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, by telephone at 1-866-471-2526 or by email at [email protected]; Barclays Capital Inc. c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 115 Long Island Avenue Edgewood, NY 11717, by telephone at (888) 603-5847 or by email at [email protected]; and Jefferies LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, 520 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022, by telephone at (877) 821-7388 or by email at [email protected]. A registration statement relating to the proposed IPO has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, but has not yet become effective. The common shares may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the common shares, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that state or jurisdiction. Any offers, solicitations or offers to buy, or any sales of securities will be made in accordance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Investor Inquiries: [email protected] Media Inquiries: [email protected] SOURCE Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited SAN FRANCISCO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The global fire protection system market size is expected to reach USD 130.37 billion by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 6.6% from 2023 to 2030, according to a new study by Grand View Research Inc. Modern fire alarm and detection systems are expected to see increased demand due to the ongoing development of new buildings around the world, including both residential and non-residential constructions. Modern technologies like artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and smart sensors being incorporated are also anticipated to drive the market. In addition, as mandatory fire safety regulations are implemented in sectors including oil & gas, manufacturing, and mining, the use of fire prevention systems is expanding. The adoption of fire protection systems is being fuelled by a variety of end-use sectors as well as escalating safety concerns and improved awareness of preventative actions. Key Industry Insights & Findings from the report: The commercial application segment is predicted to dominate and generate a fire protection systems market revenue of 39,486.7 by the end of 2023. Asia Pacific fire protection systems market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 9.2% fire protection systems market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 9.2% The aggressive campaigns being carried out by various public safety associations and prominent manufacturers of fire safety equipment and subsequently, the growing awareness among the end-users to ensure fire safety is expected to drive the growth of the market Read full market research report for more latest industry insights, "Fire Protection System Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Detection, Suppression, Response, Analysis, Sprinkler System), By Service (Managed Service, Maintenance Service), By Application, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030", published by Grand View Research. Fire Protection System Market Growth & Trends A fire prevention system is one of the most crucial systems that must be installed in every structure or organization. A fire protection system is employed to control, recognize, and safeguard occupants of a building or establishment from fire hazards. These tools aid in extinguishing fires or smoke, alerting occupants of buildings, and reducing property damage and casualties. Fire protection systems contain a variety of apparatus, such as fire detectors, fire response systems, fire analysis software, fire suppression systems, and fire sprinkler systems. Governments in the area hold manufacturers of fire safety equipment operating in the area to a number of standards and regulations. This has inspired several value chain participants to create reliable fire safety systems and intelligent components with wireless communication capabilities. Consumer demand has steadily increased over the past few years in developed nations like Europe and North America, and this growth tendency is likewise anticipated to continue in the next years. However, the markets in developing areas and countries remain largely untapped due to lax laws and the high cost of sophisticated fire protection equipment. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that the need for fire safety equipment would increase as the economy in nations like Brazil and India continues to improve. Fire Protection System Market Segmentation Grand View Research has segmented the global fire protection system market based on product, service, application, and region Fire Protection System Market - Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030) Fire Detection Fire Suppression Fire Response Fire Analysis Fire Sprinkler System Fire Protection System Market - Service Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030) Managed Service Installation and Design Service Maintenance Service Others Fire Protection System Market - Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030) Commercial Industrial Residential Fire Protection System Market - Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030) North America U.S. Canada Europe UK Germany France Italy Spain Asia Pacific China India Japan Australia South Korea Latin America Brazil Mexico Argentina Middle East & Africa (MEA) & (MEA) UAE Saudi Arabia South Africa List of Key Players of Fire Protection System Market Eaton GENTEX CORPORATION Halma plc Hitachi Ltd. Honeywell International, Inc. Iteris, Inc. Johnson Controls Raytheon Technologies Corporation Robert Bosch GmbH Siemens Check out more market research studies published by Grand View Research: North America Fire Protection Systems Market - The North America fire protection systems market size is expected to reach USD 37.36 billion by 2030, according to a new study by Grand View Research Inc., registering a CAGR of 3.6% over the forecast period. A rapid increase in residential and commercial construction activities across the globe, coupled with stringent government regulations pertaining to employee and people safety is anticipated to drive the market growth. AI- and ML-based fire systems can analyze data from various sensors and detectors in real-time to detect and predict fires more accurately and quickly than traditional systems. This can significantly reduce response times and help prevent fires from spreading, potentially saving lives, and reducing property damage. The fire protection systems market size is expected to reach by 2030, according to a new study by Grand View Research Inc., registering a CAGR of 3.6% over the forecast period. A rapid increase in residential and commercial construction activities across the globe, coupled with stringent government regulations pertaining to employee and people safety is anticipated to drive the market growth. AI- and ML-based fire systems can analyze data from various sensors and detectors in real-time to detect and predict fires more accurately and quickly than traditional systems. This can significantly reduce response times and help prevent fires from spreading, potentially saving lives, and reducing property damage. Gas Detection Equipment Market - The global gas detection equipment market size is expected to reach USD 10.66 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 11.0% from 2023 to 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The rapidly expanding necessity for facility safety along with worker safety throughout the world is driving the market expansion of gas detection equipment. At the same time, the rise in need to comply with the stringent safety and environmental rules is a significant factor driving the growth of the gas detection equipment market. According to the industry guidelines, it is critical to restrict worker's occupational exposure to hazardous gases. As a result, gas detectors can be deployed in the hazardous workplaces. - The global gas detection equipment market size is expected to reach by 2030, registering a CAGR of 11.0% from 2023 to 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The rapidly expanding necessity for facility safety along with worker safety throughout the world is driving the market expansion of gas detection equipment. At the same time, the rise in need to comply with the stringent safety and environmental rules is a significant factor driving the growth of the gas detection equipment market. According to the industry guidelines, it is critical to restrict worker's occupational exposure to hazardous gases. As a result, gas detectors can be deployed in the hazardous workplaces. Tilt Sensors Market - The global tilt sensors market size is expected to reach USD 288.7 million by 2025, registering a CAGR of 8.9% from 2019 to 2025, according to a new study conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. Tilt sensors measure the angular inclination of a vehicle or equipment with reference to the ground and provide an alarm or information to the operators and drivers about a rollover condition. These devices are being adopted across a variety of applications as a part of safety systems in automobiles and construction equipment. Browse through Grand View Research's Sensors & Controls 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. CHICAGO , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Fire-Resistant Fabrics Market by Type (Treated and Inherent), Application (Apparel and Non-apparel), End-Use Industry (Industrial, Defense and Public Safety Services, Transport), and Region - Global Forecast to 2028", is estimated at USD 3.5 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 4.9 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 6.6% from 2023 to 2028. The stringent regulations & standardization pertaining to safety at the workplace, urbanization & infrastructure development, and increased demand from industries such as chemicals, construction, and oil & gas are the main factors driving the market expansion for fire-resistant fabrics. Browse in-depth TOC on "Fire-Resistant Fabrics Market" 289 Tables 54 Figures 226 Pages Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=185633312 Treated segment is expected to account for the largest share in 2022 By type, the fire-resistant fabrics market has been segmented into treated fire-resistant fabrics and inherent fire-resistant fabrics. These treated fire-resistant fabrics' chemical makeup does not make them fire resistant. With the use of several chemicals, they are made fire-resistant. Chemical additives are used to treat fabrics so that the fibers are fire resistant. These fabrics depend on chemical reactions to put out fires when exposed to fire. Through use or laundry, the treated fabric's fire-resistant feature may lose some of its effectiveness. Stringent regulations for workplace safety are driving the demand in apparel application in fire-resistant fabrics market. By application, the fire-resistant fabrics market has been segmented into apparel applications and non-apparel applications. Due to the significant demand for protective clothing across a variety of end-use industries, including oil & gas, construction, and manufacturing, the dominance of the apparel application is anticipated to persist over the projection period. Workers in various essential industries, including oil & gas, construction, manufacturing, and others, frequently wear protective garments when they are exposed to dangerous working circumstances. Each local government in a nation has established strict rules requiring businesses to adhere to PPE standards for workers' or employees' safety. Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=185633312 Industrial segment is projected to be the fastest-growing market in the fire-resistant fabrics market By end-use industry, the fire-resistant fabrics market has been segmented into industrial, defense & public safety services, transport, and others. The market for industrial end-use fire-resistant fabrics in Asia Pacific is anticipated to experience the greatest CAGR in terms of volume during the forecast period. The expansion of various new manufacturing industries in China and India's rising economies is largely to blame for the region's rapid growth. Because the economy is only slowly expanding, the manufacturing sector is expanding steadily in industrialized nations like the US and Germany. As a result, the market for fire-resistant materials in the industrial segment is anticipated to rise a bit. Asia Pacific is expected to account for the largest share in 2022 Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, the Middle East, and South America have all been examined for the fire-resistant fabric market. China is the biggest market for fire-resistant textiles in the Asia Pacific region and is projected to have a sizeable market share over the forecast period. The market for fire-resistant textiles is rapidly growing in Asia Pacific countries including China, India, Japan, and South Korea as a result of the escalating demand from sectors like chemicals, construction, and oil & gas. Major players operating in the fire-resistant fabrics market is DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (US), Teijin Ltd. (Japan), Royal TenCate N.V. (Netherlands), Kaneka Corporation (Japan), PBI Performance Products Inc. (US), Milliken & Company (US), Gun-Ei Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. (Japan), Huntsman Corporation (US), Lenzing AG (Austria), Solvay SA (Belgium), and W.L. Gore & Associates Inc. (US) among others. Browse Adjacent Market: Yarns, Fabric and Textile Market Research & Consulting Related Reports: Meta-aramid Fiber Market - Global Forecast to 2027 Personal Protective Equipment Market - Global Forecast to 2027 Protective Clothing 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 Insights: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/fire-resistant-fabric-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/fire-resistant-fabric.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg SOURCE MarketsandMarkets Brings extensive background in energy policy and government and public affairs to lead company's external affairs activities AKRON, Ohio, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) today announced that Amanda Mertens Campbell has been named vice president, External Affairs, effective July 10. Campbell will lead and oversee local, state and federal external affairs for FirstEnergy. In this role, she will drive engagement on issues that significantly impact the company's customers, employees and operations aligned with FirstEnergy's core values and business strategies. She will report to Mark Mroczynski, acting vice president, Operations. "Amanda's knowledge of the energy industry, along with her experience leading policy development and strategy and driving industry and trade association collaboration around key issues, make her a strong addition to the FirstEnergy leadership team," Mroczynski said. "As we renew our leadership on policies and regulations that advance our ability to serve customers, she will play a key role in ensuring our activities remain grounded in our core values and enhanced political engagement policies and procedures." Since 2018, Mertens Campbell served as vice president of Government Affairs and Community and Project Outreach for The Williams Companies. In this role, she was instrumental in building teams engaged in government and regulatory affairs, guiding the development of strategic policy and regulatory agendas that integrated business priorities and sustainability goals. Under her leadership, The Williams Companies established itself as an industry leader on clean energy and climate change issues. In addition, she led efforts to partner with customers to create and execute community outreach campaigns that support energy infrastructure development and operations. Prior to The Williams Companies, Mertens Campbell was executive counsel, Global Government Affairs and Policy for GE Power, a subsidiary of The General Electric Company. She has also served as manager of Global Affairs and Policy for GE Hitachi Nuclear. Before joining GE, Mertens Campbell was minority counsel from 2008-2009 and general counsel from 2009-2010 for The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. She has also held an associate attorney role with Stinson LLP in its Washington, D.C., energy regulatory practice. Mertens Campbell earned a Bachelor of Science degree in American Studies and English from Lake Forest College and received a Juris Doctorate from Roger Williams University School of Law. Campbell is a member of the bar associations in Maryland, District of Columbia and U.S. Supreme Court. FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. The company's transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com and on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp. Editor's Note: A professional photo of Amanda Mertens Campbell is available for download on Flickr. SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp. Leading Dental Support Organization Announces Scholarship Winners in Dental Hygiene EFFINGHAM, Ill., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Heartland Dental is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023 Heartland Dental Hygiene Scholarship, a prestigious awards package totaling $18,000. The scholarship was established with the aim of assisting future dental hygienists in Florida in their journey to provide exceptional care and positive patient experiences. As one of the nation's largest dental support organizations, Heartland Dental recognizes the vital role that hygienists play in delivering outstanding patient care. With the projected 9% increase of dental hygienist job openings from 2021 to 2031, Heartland Dental is fully aware of the growing demand for these healthcare professionals. This understanding led to the launch of the scholarship program in Florida in 2022. Cathy Telles, Campus Recruiting Manager for Heartland Dental, expressed the organization's unwavering commitment to investing in the future of dental hygienists: "At Heartland Dental, we're committed to investing in the future of dental hygienists. These incredible professionals are deeply rooted in our communities, and those who choose this career have the chance to change people's lives forever. In recognition of our appreciation for these important individuals, we are thrilled to award the 2023 Heartland Dental Hygiene Scholarships as a way to support hygienists and provide them the chance to continue their education, develop leadership skills, and become mentors within their community." To qualify for the scholarships students had to be enrolled in a hygiene school in Florida, have a 3.2 GPA and fill out an application form with two essays. The 2023 Heartland Dental Hygiene Scholarship has been bestowed upon 18 deserving recipients, each receiving an individual scholarship of $1,000. The following remarkable individuals have demonstrated exceptional dedication and promise in their pursuit of a dental hygiene career. Angela Brinson, Daytona State College Elizabeth May , Eastern Florida State College , Eastern Florida State College Taylor Gross , Florida Southwestern State College , Florida Southwestern State College Cassandra Carmichael, Florida Southwestern State College Jailene Cantu , Florida State College at Jacksonville , Florida State College at Jennifer Stepnowski, Florida State College at Jacksonville Ashley Armitage, Hillsborough Community College Stephanie Allen, Hillsborough Community College James Mertilus, Hodges University Kendal Patterson , Palm Beach State College , Palm Beach State College Fresline Saint Fort, Palm Beach State College Iryna Slyusar , Pensacola State College , Pensacola State College Briana Cabral , Pensacola State College , Pensacola State College Ashley Gongo, State College of Florida - Manatee - Sarasota - - Alecia Barwise , Tallahassee Community College , Hannah Caskey, Tallahassee Community College Aysel Mekhtieva, Valencia College Valquiria Polanco , Valencia College One of the scholarship recipients, Alecia Barwise expressed their gratitude, saying, "I am incredibly grateful to have received the 2023 Heartland Dental Hygiene Scholarship. This award will help inspire me to pursue excellence in my studies and future career as a dental hygienist. Heartland Dental's commitment to supporting the growth and development of hygienists is truly commendable, and I am honored to be a part of their vision to support dentists in providing lifetime care and positive patient experiences." Another scholarship recipient, Valquiria Polanco, shared her appreciation, stating "Receiving the 2023 Heartland Dental Hygiene Scholarship is an incredible honor for me. With this scholarship, I am confident that I will be able to make a lasting impact on the oral health and well-being of individuals in my community." Media Contact Jessica Thompson, Vice President, Communications + Content [email protected] About Heartland Dental Heartland Dental is the nation's largest dental support organization providing non-clinical, administrative support services. What started from the entrepreneurial spirit of Rick Workman, DMD, with his single dental practice, has evolved into affiliating with over 2,700 doctors in over 1,700 locations across 38 states and the District of Columbia. The company is majority owned by KKR, a leading global investment firm. For additional information, please visit heartland.com. SOURCE Heartland Dental BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. The information of Armenias Defense Ministry about that on June 20, at around 00:20 (GMT+4), the Azerbaijani army units allegedly fired at the positions of the Armenian armed forces in the direction of Garaiman settlement from small arms of various calibers, is another lie and has nothing to do with reality, Trend reports citing Azerbaijans Defense Ministry. "We categorically deny this information," - the reads the statement. Tom Shell of New Port Richey's Tom Shell Plumbing, Inc. will speak on a panel about fighting fraud in homeowner claims at the 2023 Florida Insurance Fraud Education Commission Conference NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tom Shell Plumbing, Inc., a New Port Richey, Florida-based plumbing company providing services ranging from plumbing repair to installation, announced today that owner and operator Tom Shell will speak at the 2023 Florida Insurance Fraud Education Committee's annual conference in Orlando on July 14. Tom Shell of Tom Shell Plumbing, Inc. in New Port Richey, Florida will discuss fraud in homeowner claims on a panel at the 2023 Florida Insurance Fraud Education Commission Conference in Orlando on July 14. Shell has served as a master plumber in the New Port Richey area since 1997 and has worked as an expert insurance fraud investigator researching plumbing-related claims since 2018. He will lend his expertise to the "Fighting Fraud in Late Reported Homeowners' Claims" panel along with experts from the legal and construction fields. The convention runs July 12-14 at the Renaissance Orlando Hotel. "It's an honor to be included in this panel with other experts in the insurance fraud and claims fields," Shell said. "Investigating claims and testifying in court has given me the experience necessary to address the best practices necessary to determine the origin and cause of various plumbing claims. I look forward to hearing from the other experts on the panel and addressing strategies that will help the audience as they pursue litigation in these cases." Shell began investigating insurance claims related to the plumbing industry after receiving a request from a law firm that he lend his expertise in the field to help them research potential fraud in homeowner insurance claims. He is now considered the primary expert plumbing witness in Florida. Shell said he didn't always want to be a plumber but was working for his father at Tom Shell Plumbing in the mid-1990s while attending school to become a doctor. In an effort to earn more money, Shell took time off school and sat for his master plumber's certification the day he had served as an apprentice plumber long enough to take the exam five years and passed, making him the youngest master plumber in the state at the age of 23 years old. He stayed on at the company and eventually took over for his father in 2004. "Now, in addition to working as a master plumber, it's my job to investigate claims and testify in court," he said. "I can use my experience investigating claims to improve my own plumbing business. That ensures our customers get the best plumbing services available in the area." In addition to court and insurance investigations panels, Shell and his company have been featured on ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and on the podcast Potty Talk. For more information about Tom Shell Plumbing, Inc., please visit https://tomshellplumbing.com/. About Tom Shell Plumbing, Inc. Tom Shell Plumbing, Inc. has provided reliable plumbing services in the New Port Richey, Florida area for more than 35 years. At 23, owner Tom Shell was the youngest plumber to earn his master plumber certification and is now sought after to give his expert advice on a variety of plumbing topics. The company provides plumbing services, water heater repair, sewer camera inspections, trenchless pipe lining and water filtration systems to residents and business owners in New Port Richey, Odessa, Land O' Lakes, Tarpon Springs, Tampa, Port Richey and Trinity, Florida. The family-run business offers same-day service and solutions that range from repairs to installations. For more information, please visit https://tomshellplumbing.com/. MEDIA CONTACT: Heather Ripley Ripley PR 865-977-1973 [email protected] SOURCE Tom Shell Plumbing, Inc. ORLANDO, Fla., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As young people head off to college this fall, 214 of them from communities across Florida will receive financial help for their costs through scholarships from Florida Realtors Education Foundation Inc. A not-for-profit corporation established by the state Realtor association, the Florida Realtors Education Foundation Inc. provides real estate-related educational scholarships. The Foundation's Board of Directors awarded $235,200 in scholarships to help pay for higher education expenses for 214 young people in the 2023-2024 school year. All recipients are Florida residents and will attend community colleges, four-year universities, graduate programs or law schools, both in state and out-of-state. Some students are considering careers in real estate. "For 13 years now, the Florida Realtors Education Foundation Student Scholarship Program has helped 1,807 young people realize their dreams for the future by continuing their education," said Meighan Harris, chair of Florida Realtors Education Foundation Inc. "Florida Realtors has awarded a total of $2,502,500 in scholarships to help these students and their families with financial support for college. These scholarships are an investment in the future. Realtors across the state are honored to support these deserving young people and give back to our communities through this program." Scholarship recipients are enrolled at institutions of higher learning throughout the state, such as the University of Florida, Florida State University, University of Central Florida, Florida Atlantic University, Florida A&M University College of Law, Embry/Riddle, Ringling College of Art and Design, Flagler College, Stetson University and Tallahassee Community College, as well as other colleges throughout the U.S., including Yale University, University of Michigan, University of Chicago and Louisiana State University to name a few. A variety of criteria was considered for successful applicants including academic achievements, financial need, relationship to the Realtor family and contributions to family, school and community. Florida Realtors serves as the voice for real estate in Florida. It provides programs, services, continuing education, research and legislative representation to 238,000 members in 51 boards/associations. Florida Realtors Newsroom website is available at http:// floridarealtors.org/newsroom. SOURCE Florida Realtors Becomes Meaningful Customer of PulteGroup Provides New Home Rentals to People Who Cannot Afford To Buy a New Home BOCA RATON, Fla., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pulte Family, the founding family and significant shareholders of PulteGroup Inc, issued the following statement on behalf of former PulteGroup Director William J. "Bill" Pulte: "To reiterate our family's personal support for the employees and the company we love, PulteGroup, and to help give the experience of a new home to Americans who cannot afford it, we recently signed $5.1 million in new home purchase orders with PulteGroup. With our family's deep legacy at PulteGroup and as significant PulteGroup Shareholders, we want to support the company and employees as a PulteGroup Customer. We are 'Doing The Right Thing,' as PulteGroup's Founder Bill Pulte said, by helping give all Americans the ability to live in a safe, new home. "For the past 2 years, we urged Ryan Marshall, the homebuilder's current CEO, that the homebuilder should start a new venture of renting its own homes." The Pulte Family Office LLC, through its subsidiaries, affiliates and agents, purchased or has signed purchase orders worth $5.1 million (11 new homes) from PulteGroup. Four of the 11 homes have already closed and are housing people, and 7 are in the pipeline awaiting closing. The Pulte Family Office's home rental portfolio includes homes built by Lennar, DR Horton, PulteGroup and Toll Brothers, is independently operated, and is not on behalf of any homebuilder. SOURCE The Pulte Family AUSTIN, Texas, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Great Place To Work and Fortune magazine have honored SafeLease as one of this year's Best Workplaces in Texas. This is the second consecutive year SafeLease has been named to this prestigious list. To be selected, SafeLease surpassed rigorous benchmarks and has established itself as one of the best companies to work for headquartered in Texas. To determine the Fortune Best Workplaces in Texas List, Great Place To Work surveyed more than 100,000 employees at eligible companies. Via the Trust Index Survey , employees shared honest feedback about their experience by responding to 60 statements about the employee experience and answering two open-ended questions. "Earning Fortune's Best Workplaces in Texas award for the second year in a row is an exceptional accomplishment," said SafeLease CEO Steven Stein. "Culture is what people do when no one's watching and I think ours is enviable. The team prioritizes results and open-minded collaboration to drive innovation in the self-storage industry. I congratulate our incredible team for creating a great place to work not just in Texas, but across the United States." The Best Workplaces in Texas list is highly competitive. Survey responses reflect a comprehensive picture of the workplace experience. Honorees were selected based on their ability to offer positive outcomes for employees regardless of job role, race, gender, sexual orientation, work status, or other demographic identifier. "Congratulations to the Best Workplaces in Texas," says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work. "These are companies that understand how putting people first drives performance, productivity and innovation essentials in this economy." "Fortune congratulates the Best Workplaces in Texas," says Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell. "They are leading their industries in employee satisfaction, a critical metric for success in a period of economic uncertainty." To be eligible for the list, companies must be Great Place To Work Certified , have at least 10 U.S. employees, and be headquartered in Texas. About SafeLease SafeLease is a leading provider of self-storage tenant protection and revenue management software. The company leverages technology and a partner-centric business model to create new revenue channels that maximize the value of commercial property assets at more than 1,000 facilities nationwide. SafeLease is headquartered in Austin, TX and works with commercial real estate owners across the United States. Learn more at safelease.com . About the Fortune Best Workplaces in Texas Great Place To Work selected the Fortune Best Workplaces in Texas List by surveying companies employing 7.5 million people in the U.S. with 1.3 million survey responses received. Of those, more than 100,000 responses were received from employees at companies who were eligible for the 2023 Fortune Best Workplaces in Texas List, and this list is based on their feedback. To be eligible, companies must be Great Place To Work Certified , have at least 10 U.S. employees, and be headquartered in Texas. Read the full methodology. About Great Place to Work As the global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work brings 30 years of groundbreaking research and data to help every place become a great place to work for all. Their proprietary platform and For All Model help companies evaluate the experience of every employee, with exemplary workplaces becoming Great Place To Work Certified or receiving recognition on a coveted Best Workplaces List. About Fortune The Fortune mission is to change the world by making business better. We achieve that by providing trusted information, telling great stories, and building world-class communities. We measure performance by rigorous benchmarks. And we hold companies accountable. Our goal is to make Fortune a force for good through its second century and beyond. For more information, visit www.fortune.com . SOURCE SafeLease The Heritage Bourbon Brand Will Also Honor the Milestone with Rare Release of Its Proprietary Ten Recipes LAWRENCEBURG, Ky., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Four Roses Distillery , the award-winning Kentucky-based bourbon brand, announces its global brand refresh, the first update for the brand since 2006. The new visual identity also comes as Four Roses, a heritage brand that predates Prohibition, celebrates its 135th year. Fans of the brand and consumers alike will see the refreshed branding across all of Four Roses' bourbon bottles, and on its new website, starting today. The Heritage Bourbon Brand Will Also Honor the Milestone with Rare Release of Its Proprietary Ten Recipes. The Heritage Bourbon Brand Will Also Honor the Milestone with Rare Release of Its Proprietary Ten Recipes. Since its founding in 1888, the bourbon brand has maintained its commitment to quality and consistency in its liquid and overall product. Four Roses has continued to stay true to its roots and time-tested process of creating bourbons with an unmatched flavor that are not only complex, but also delightfully mellow. Four Roses looks to pay homage to the brand's heritage while exploring a more modernized approach through evolving the labels on all bottles, and revitalizing the website for a more user-friendly and cohesive experience. "In our 135th year, we're thrilled to reveal our refreshed, modernized branding, which aims to maintain the spirit of our rich history while appealing to today's bourbon drinker," said Kelly Edney, Senior Brand Manager. "Four Roses is about creating and being part of life's mellow moments, and we hope that our dedicated fans and future customers continue to feel that connection." Helmed by agency Camp + King , the design updates from the brand refresh include: A renewed, 3D rose emblem - the brand's classic logo - offering a more refreshed and refined representation of the brand's founding story A new engraved rose cluster on the cork of each bottle Brightened labels with gilded borders on all bottles labels, to bring a more contemporary look to the design. Labels on each of the brand's four bourbon expressions show a varying color palette that correspond with the richness of the product with gilded borders on all bottles labels, to bring a more contemporary look to the design. Labels on each of the brand's four bourbon expressions show a varying color palette that correspond with the richness of the product The publico typeface on the new label brings an elegance that is as timeless as the brand itself The addition of Master Distiller Brent Elliott's signature on the face of each bottle as a nod to the care and attention he puts into every bottle; tasting notes have also been added to the back of each bottle label to highlight the unique flavor profiles of each product. An updated website design that still includes cocktail recipes, events, and purchase links, but with a brighter and more cohesive look to match the refreshed branding To celebrate this momentous occasion, for the first time ever, Four Roses is releasing a rare, limited edition kit - The Ten Recipe Tasting Experience - which will feature each of the ten unique bourbon recipes that make up Four Roses' bourbons. It's these ten signature recipes that set the brand's bourbons apart, and gives the liquid in each bottle its distinctive characteristic. The kit will include 50ml bottles of each recipe for bourbon enthusiasts to get a taste of where the brand's offerings originate. A QR code on the box will lead to a guided tasting video with Master Distiller Brent Elliott for a more immersive experience. This limited edition kit (SRP: $129.99) will be available for purchase starting June 30 at the Four Roses Visitor Centers in Lawrenceburg and Coxs Creek, Kentucky, and will roll out in select retailers in Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, and California starting in mid-July. "While the look of our brand is being refreshed, our unwavering commitment to producing the highest-quality bourbons made of our ten signature recipes remains the same," said Brent Elliott, Master Distiller, "It's been a true honor watching the brand grow over the past 18 years that I've been with Four Roses and I look forward to this next chapter." 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 46 awards, including 2 Double Platinum medals, 8 Double Gold medals and 16 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. SOURCE Four Roses Distillery New native Work Automation and Task Routing capabilities for Genesys Cloud CX unite the front and back office through intelligent routing, reporting and process automation to enhance experience orchestration and improve customer service DENVER, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Genesys, a global cloud leader in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered experience orchestration, today announced a new easy-to-use task management solution to automate workflows between contact center employees and other departments for seamless end-to-end customer experiences. With the Work Automation and Task Routing solution now available for the Genesys Cloud CX platform, organizations can bridge the gap between the front and back office to more effectively solve customer-related tasks and post interaction follow-ups. By helping employees become more connected, the new solution enables tasks to move efficiently across teams and departments for better customer outcomes. Many agent-led customer service interactions trigger a follow-up action with another department, such as progressing a loan application, a service request or submitting a fraud claim. Yet, for many organizations, siloed departments and technology, manual workarounds, and the inability to track or trace the status of tasks make it difficult to process work items efficiently and programmatically. This often results in missed deadlines, work backlogs and frustrated customers. Additionally, a lack of visibility into back-office tasks can make it difficult for managers to accurately forecast and schedule employees based on workload and customer needs. Building upon its rich expertise in Intelligent Workload Distribution, Genesys introduced the new cloud-native solution embedded in Genesys Cloud CX, offering organizations intelligent routing, reporting and process automation. It also enables them to manage any work type both in the contact center and externally. Now with Work Automation and Task Routing, Genesys Cloud CX helps organizations: Create customizable workflows for more seamless task routing : Use the easy drag-and-drop capability to create endless possibilities for employee assisted or fully automated workflows, helping to eliminate the guesswork for agents to resolve customer requests. : Use the easy drag-and-drop capability to create endless possibilities for employee assisted or fully automated workflows, helping to eliminate the guesswork for agents to resolve customer requests. Have real-time visibility into every customer activity and any work type : The ability to accurately measure task completion time, status and employee performance results in better resource management and staffing to ensure teams meet customers' needs on schedule. : The ability to accurately measure task completion time, status and employee performance results in better resource management and staffing to ensure teams meet customers' needs on schedule. Manage shifting priorities: Real-time visibility into fluctuating business priorities empowers team leaders to define tasks based on service-level agreements, and immediately reprioritize work to ensure no customers tasks are missed. Real-time visibility into fluctuating business priorities empowers team leaders to define tasks based on service-level agreements, and immediately reprioritize work to ensure no customers tasks are missed. Get a single centralized task view of all back-office work: By integrating all back-end system tasks into a single view, organizations can view statuses and make more informed decisions based on real-time data, streamlining customer support and improving satisfaction. "In this business environment, many organizations' operations are strained with rising customer demand and expectations while managing through an economic period dictating they do more with less," said Mary Wardley, program VP, customer care and CRM at IDC. "The new Genesys Cloud CX solution has the potential to give organizations a practical way to simplify and automate customer tasks across the enterprise, helping them improve their efficiency, effectiveness and productivity. Ultimately, it's the customers who win with a stronger overall experience, as well as employees who gain a tool to help them prioritize, offload tedious tasks and improve their ability to coordinate across teams." "Organizations no longer have to rely on an admin manager's 'best guess' to prioritize and assign tasks," said Olivier Jouve, chief product officer at Genesys. "With Work Automation and Task Routing for Genesys Cloud CX, organizations now have an efficient and reliable solution to orchestrate a high volume of work requests, helping them fulfill service-level agreements and keep their customer promises." To learn more about Work Automation and Task Routing, visit here. About Genesys Every year, Genesys orchestrates billions of remarkable customer experiences for organizations in more than 100 countries. Through the power of our cloud, digital and AI technologies, organizations can realize Experience as a Service, our vision for empathetic customer experiences at scale. With Genesys, organizations have the power to deliver proactive, predictive, and hyper personalized experiences to deepen their customer connection across every marketing, sales, and service moment on any channel, while also improving employee productivity and engagement. By transforming back-office technology to a modern revenue velocity engine Genesys enables true intimacy at scale to foster customer trust and loyalty. Visit www.genesys.com . 2023 Genesys. All rights reserved. Genesys, the Genesys logo, Genesys Cloud CX, Genesys Cloud EX, GCXNow and Experience as a Service are trademarks, service marks and/or registered trademarks of Genesys. All other company names and logos may be registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies. Marielle Sedin External Communications Manager [email protected] 510.967.2964 SOURCE Genesys CORK, Ireland, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Getvisibility, a leading provider of data classification and data security solutions, is thrilled to announce the launch of its cutting-edge Mac endpoint agent. This innovative product expands the capabilities of data classification and data security visibility to Mac endpoints, empowering organizations with enhanced data security posture management and data protection capabilities. In a technology breakthrough, Getvisibility is the first classification and data monitoring endpoint tool to fully support the new M1 Apple chip, ensuring compatibility and exceptional performance for Mac users. Mac laptops and desktops are widely favored by company executives and professionals who handle and manage highly sensitive data on a daily basis. Recognizing the critical need to extend robust data security measures to these devices, Getvisibility has developed a comprehensive suite of tools that provide unrivaled coverage for organizations in need of effective data classification, discovery, and security solutions. Key features of the Getvisibility Mac endpoint agent include: Data Classification: The powerful data classification capabilities allow organizations to automatically identify and label sensitive data, enabling efficient data management and compliance with data protection regulations. Data Security Visibility: Getvisibility provides real-time visibility into data security posture, enabling organizations to detect and respond to potential threats and vulnerabilities effectively. "We are delighted to introduce our Mac endpoint agent, offering an unprecedented level of data classification and security visibility to Apple M1 chip-based devices," said Mark Brosnan CEO at Getvisibility. "With the increasing use of Mac laptops and desktops by executives and professionals, it is essential to provide organizations with the tools they need to effectively classify, discover, and secure their data. The Getvisibility suite empowers businesses to proactively manage data security, ensuring compliance, mitigating risks, and safeguarding their sensitive information." The Getvisibility Mac endpoint agent is now available for organizations seeking robust data classification and data security solutions for their Mac devices. About Getvisibility: Getvisibility is a leading provider of data classification and data security solutions. With its innovative technology, Getvisibility empowers organizations to effectively classify, discover, and secure their data, enabling compliance, mitigating risks, and protecting sensitive information. By leveraging cutting-edge capabilities, Getvisibility is committed to delivering unmatched coverage and excellence in data security. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2101944/4096255/Getvisibility_Logo.jpg Media Contact: For media inquiries, please contact: Stuart Wakeman Product Marketing Manager Email: [email protected] SOURCE Getvisibility Evans Bank and WyHy FCU among first to deploy Illuma Shield on Glia Interaction Platform NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Glia, the customer interaction leader unifying Digital Customer Service (DCS), phone and automated self-service on a single platform, and Illuma Labs today announced a strategic partnership to streamline voice authentication for customer service interactions. By integrating Illuma Shield with the Glia Interaction Platform, financial institutions can offer quick, seamless and secure real-time voice authentication that enhances the customer experience, improves operational efficiency, and helps prevent fraud. Milind Borkar, CEO and founder of Illuma noted, "Glia's ChannelLess solution enables a frictionless experience that enhances the customer experience and drives new efficiencies. Illuma Shield fits seamlessly with the Glia Interaction Platform, adding more efficiency by making voice authentication effortless. Our joint customers are experiencing the real value that the Glia and Illuma partnership delivers." According to Eric Valla, CIO at WyHy Federal Credit Union, "The more complex authentication is for telephone banking, the more friction members face during an interaction. Illuma's real-time voice authentication makes it easy to begin an engagement and the Glia Interaction Platform makes it seamless from start to finish. This combination has greatly improved our overall member experience." Jennifer Zorn, EVP and CIO for Evans Bank commented, "We wanted to remove friction from the authentication process and also enhance security for our customers. Illuma delivered a frictionless approach with voice authentication that matches the seamless interactions that Glia provides. We were impressed with the joint solution, as well as the white-glove implementation experience provided by both companies." The Glia Interaction Platform brings Digital Customer Service (DCS), traditional phone and AI-driven self-service options together to enable a seamless experience that can accelerate interactions and drive new opportunities. Steve Kaish, SVP of Alliances for Glia stated, "Illuma and Glia share a philosophy on making each customer interaction as effortless as possible. Authentication, particularly for phone banking, has traditionally been cumbersome and a major source of friction. By verifying enrolled customers in the first few seconds of natural conversation with the Illuma Shield software, Glia quickly enables an authenticated interaction, reducing fraud and letting customers focus on their immediate need, be it an account balance, mortgage inquiry or loan origination." About Glia Glia redefines how businesses interact with customers. The Glia Interaction Platform unifies Digital Customer Service (DCS), traditional call center, and automation with a ChannelLess Architecture, empowering businesses to create the ideal mix of interactions and adapt on demand. The ability to easily shift volume between channels drives revenue, efficiency, and loyalty at the same time. Glia has partnered with over 400 banks, credit unions, insurance companies and other financial institutions worldwide to improve the customer experience and drive business results. Named a Deloitte Technology Fast 500 company and a Great Place to Work for a third year in a row, the company has raised over $150 million in funding from top investors and was recently valued at over $1B by top tier investors. To learn more visit glia.com . About Illuma Illuma Labs is a fintech and R&D company headquartered in Plano, Texas. The company's flagship product, Illuma Shield, replaces traditional knowledge-based authentication practices with an effortless and secure real-time voice authentication solution to enhance customer experience, improve operational efficiency, and prevent fraud. Illuma Labs is the exclusive provider for CUNA Strategic Services and has industry endorsements in 34 U.S. states. For more information, visit https://illuma.cx . Glia Media Contact: Chris McManus [email protected] Illuma Media Contact: Milind Borkar [email protected] SOURCE Glia DUBLIN, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Aircraft Engine Market: Analysis By Technology, By Platform, By Engine Type, By Component, By End User, By Region Size and Trends with Impact of COVID-19 and Forecast up to 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global aircraft engine market was valued at US$80.09 billion in 2022 and is expected to be worth US$123.88 billion in 2028. The market value is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.54% during the forecast period of 2023-2028. An aircraft engine is a crucial component of an aircraft that generates the necessary thrust for flight. It is responsible for converting fuel into mechanical energy, which propels the aircraft forward. Aircraft engines have evolved significantly over time, with advancements in technology and engineering. Modern aircraft engines, such as turbofan engines, are known for their efficiency, reliability, and power. The demand for aircraft engines has been steadily growing due to increasing global demand for air travel. As economies grow and people's disposable incomes rise, more individuals are opting for air transportation. This trend has led to a surge in airline fleets and the need for additional aircraft engines to power these planes. Furthermore, emerging markets, particularly in Asia and the Middle East, have witnessed rapid expansion in their aviation sectors. These regions have experienced a rise in passenger numbers and the establishment of new airlines, which in turn drives the demand for aircraft engines. Competitive Landscape: The global aircraft engine market is consolidated across five companies: GE, Pratt & Whitney (owned by Raytheon), Rolls-Royce, Safran, and MTU Aero Engines. GE and Safran have a 50/50 JV called CFM International, which dominates the narrow body engine market and enjoys very high margins. GE is also the dominant player in the wide body market. The key players in the global aircraft engine market are: Honeywell International Inc. General Electric Company (GE Aerospace) Raytheon Technologies Corporation MTU Aero Engines AG Safran SA Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc. Textron Inc. Technological advancements in the market are also bringing sustainable competitive advantage to companies, and the market is witnessing multiple partnerships and mergers. For instance, in November 2022, with the first flight of a modern aero engine powered by hydrogen, Rolls-Royce and easyJet officially announced they had achieved a new aviation milestone. Market Dynamics Drivers Increasing Defense Budget Increasing Airline Capacity Growth in Cargo Operations Surge in Adoption of Cost Effective and Fuel Efficient Aircraft Increasing Commercial Aircraft Deliveries Introduction of New Fuel Efficient Engines and Aircraft Models Challenges High Upfront Investments with Long-term Payback Technological Complexity Huge Entry Barriers Market Trends Digitalization and IoT Integration Increasing Use of 3D Printed Parts in Aircraft Engines Incorporation of Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs) Need to Decarbonize Aviation Market Segmentation Analysis: By Technology: The report provides the bifurcation of the market into two segments based on the technology: Conventional Aircraft Engine and Hybrid Aircraft Engine. The conventional aircraft engine segment held the highest share in the market in 2022. Continuous advancements in materials, design, and manufacturing processes contribute to the development of more efficient and powerful conventional aircraft engines. These advancements enhance fuel efficiency, reduce emissions, and improve overall performance. Increased use of conventional engines in current commercial and military aircraft is further driving the demand of the segment. Combustion engines with conventional powertrains offer the best performance in terms of simple layout, well-known and approved technology and excellent performance in terms of mission range. By Platform: The report further provides the segmentation based on the platform: Fixed Wing Aircraft Engine, Rotary Wing Aircraft Engine, and Unmanned Ariel Vehicles. During the forecast period, the rotary wing aricraft is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR. Rotary wing aircraft or helicopters are used for a wide array of applications such as commercial air transport, emergency medical transport, rescue operations, and many other military and defense applications. The growing demand for all the aforementioned applications has promoted rotary-wing aircraft from past decades. Consequently, the demand for engines for rotary aircraft engines is expected to grow consistently in the following years. By Engine Type: The aircraft engine market is further bifurcated based on the engine type: Turbofan Engine, Turbojet Engine, Piston and Turboprop Engine and Turboshaft Engine. Turbofan Engine sector held the highest share in the market in 2022. The turbofan engines are commonly used for civil and commercial aircraft. Perpetual development in the field of civil aviation and aircraft engines has been observed for the past few years. This has drawn the attention of many major airline companies to invest in advanced turbofan engines. The demand for such engines is rising consistently due to its fuel economy and reliability of the engines. Owing to the aforementioned factors, the market for the turbofan engine is expected to grow throughout the forecast period. By Component: The report provides the bifurcation of the market into into six segments based on the component: Combustor, Turbine, Compressor, Fan, Mixer and Nozzle. Combustor segment held the highest share in the market in 2022. The combustor is responsible for the combustion process, where fuel and air are mixed and ignited. The growth of this segment is driven by the need for more efficient and environmentally friendly engines. Stringent regulations regarding emissions and fuel efficiency have led to the development of advanced combustor technologies, such as lean-burn and low-emission designs. Additionally, the increasing demand for lightweight and durable combustors that can withstand high temperatures and pressures fuels the growth of this segment. By End User: The report provides the bifurcation of the market into into two segments based on the end user: Commercial & Military. In 2022, commercial segment hold a dominant position in the aircraft engine market and is expected to continue the dominance during the forecasted period as well. Consistently growing trade and passenger transport among different countries has boosted the commercial aviation industry significantly. The blooming aviation industry has generated the demand for new and advanced aircraft. Manufacturers are continuously engaged in the enhancement of current engines for a more economical and comfortable aviation experience. With the perpetual growth of commercial aviation, the market segment is expected to dominate the overall aircraft engines market throughout the forecast period. By Region: The report provides insight into the aircraft engine market based on the geographical operations, namely North America , Europe , Asia Pacific , and ROW. The North American region has emerged as a dominant player in the aircraft engine market, the aviation industry is one of the most profitable industries in North America . Major aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing and Bombardier are based in this region. The high disposable incomes of consumers in North America have contributed to the rise in air travel, which, in turn, is leading to an increase in air passenger traffic. This rise in air passenger traffic has led to an increase in the number of aircraft deliveries in this region, which is leading to the high demand for aircraft engines. The region has been benefiting from low oil prices, improved efficiency in aircraft operations, and a steady labor market. Thus, the profitability of airline owners is higher in North American countries. These are the factors due to which North America is the largest market for aircraft engines. , , , and ROW. The North American region has emerged as a dominant player in the aircraft engine market, the aviation industry is one of the most profitable industries in . Major aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing and Bombardier are based in this region. The high disposable incomes of consumers in have contributed to the rise in air travel, which, in turn, is leading to an increase in air passenger traffic. This rise in air passenger traffic has led to an increase in the number of aircraft deliveries in this region, which is leading to the high demand for aircraft engines. The region has been benefiting from low oil prices, improved efficiency in aircraft operations, and a steady labor market. Thus, the profitability of airline owners is higher in North American countries. These are the factors due to which is the largest market for aircraft engines. During the forecast period, Asia-Pacific is anticipated to expand rapidly. The Asia Pacific region has experienced significant growth in air travel demand, driven by a growing middle class, increasing disposable income, and the emergence of low-cost carriers. This surge in passenger traffic has led to increased aircraft orders and subsequent demand for aircraft engines. Many countries in Asia Pacific , including China and India , are investing heavily in airport infrastructure development. The expansion of airports and the establishment of new ones create opportunities for aircraft engine manufacturers as airlines expand their fleets. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/2lggl6 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 BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. The Western Azerbaijan Community has issued a statement in connection with World Refugee Day, Trend reports citing the Community. "On this World Refugee Day, we, the Western Azerbaijan Community, stand in solidarity with all displaced people around the world. With heavy hearts, we note the unfortunate rise in the number of refugees worldwide, many of whom have been forced to flee their homes due to armed conflicts," the community said. A significant portion of the refugee and displaced population has been uprooted as a by-product of armed conflicts. But it is also crucial to recognize that in some instances, malicious actors initiate armed conflicts with the sole purpose of ethnic cleansing. One such example is the conflict instigated by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia's actions guided by a racist ideology resulted in the ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijanis from their ancestral lands in Armenia. Exploiting impunity, Armenia thereafter used force against Azerbaijan to occupy the latters territories and expel all its Azerbaijani inhabitants. The expulsion of Azerbaijanis from Armenia, where they had a significant presence, was a long and painful process, characterized by systematic efforts by state authorities to employ violence, perpetrate massacres, and commit other crimes against humanity and human rights violations. This violent and cruel process has recurred throughout history, notably during the periods of 1905-06, 1918-21, 1948-53, and 1987-91. As a result, today there is no single Azerbaijani left in Armenia. Armenia systematically destroyed Azerbaijani graveyards, cultural and religious sites. The ethnic cleansing has also had a profound negative impact on Azerbaijani intangible cultural heritage. Traditions, customs, and way of life and social ties have been disrupted. It is disheartening that Armenia continues to prevent Azerbaijanis from visiting their homes, graveyards, and sacred places. This denial of access not only violates basic rights but also adds to the deep pain and longing they feel for their ancestral lands. Armenia's policy of creating a mono-ethnic space by expelling Azerbaijanis and other ethnicities from its territory stands in stark contrast to the rich history of ethnic and religious diversity in our region. This denial of basic rights prolongs our suffering and hinders prospects of lasting peace and reconciliation. We mention these painful historical facts not to perpetuate discord but to underscore the starting point of our arduous journey toward peace, reconciliation, and returnan objective we strive to achieve. "We extend our utmost appreciation to the Government of Azerbaijan for their unwavering political, social and humanitarian support, to our rightful cause. Azerbaijans solidarity with and assistance to the refugees have not been limited to ethnic Azerbaijanis alone - Azerbaijan has also assisted refugees from various ethnic backgrounds, who found refuge in the country in the tens of thousands. It exemplifies the ethnic and religious tolerance deeply rooted in Azerbaijani society," the community said. "We also express our gratitude to the international community for their support to Azerbaijani refugees from Armenia during the 1990s. This assistance has been instrumental in alleviating the hardships faced by our community during that challenging period, as recognized by the United Nations General Assembly resolution No 48/114 titled Emergency international assistance to refugees and displaced persons in Azerbaijan adopted on 20 December 1993," the community added. The Community stands for the respect of the norms and principles of international law, including territorial integrity and sovereignty of states, as well as values of peace, reconciliation, reintegration and coexistence. "We are the Community driven by a steadfast dedication to a humanitarian and human rights-centered agenda. Our demands for the peaceful return to our homes should not be misinterpreted or mispresented as being detrimental to the territorial integrity or sovereignty of Armenia. As the Government of Azerbaijan pledged and took actionable measures to reintegrate and ensure the rights of Armenian residents of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan within its territorial integrity and sovereignty, the Government of Armenia must reciprocate by taking tangible steps to guarantee our rights and ensure our reintegration," they said in the statement. Whereas Azerbaijan is always ready for a direct dialogue with the Government of Armenia on issues of mutual concern, the return process and subsequent ensuring collective and individual rights shall be addressed within an appropriate international mechanism. The increased emphasis by the international community on human rights and the unwavering willingness of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia to return to their homes further encourage the Community to step up its efforts in the direction of the right to return. However, the realization of this human rights cause is heavily reliant on political and practical support from the international community. The Community appreciates the backing received from states and organizations for Azerbaijani's right to return. "In particular, we value our ongoing dialogue with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to whom we have envisaged a central role in our Concept of Return, relating to the planning and execution of repatriation, reintegration, rehabilitation, and reconstruction efforts," Western Azerbaijan Community added. "Today, on World Refugee Day, we reiterate our call to the international community to support our just cause, upholding the principles of human rights and justice, to enable our inherent right to return to our homes in safety and with dignity, and to ensure our rights and security upon return," they said. DUBLIN, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "C4ISR Market-Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, & Forecast, 2018-2028 Segmented By Component (Hardware, Software), By Platform (Naval, Airborne, Land and Space), By End User (Defense & Space, Homeland Security, Civil Organizations, Others), By User Type, By Region" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Global C4ISR market stood at USD111.40 billion in 2022 and is estimated to reach USD154.78 billion in 2028, advancing with a CAGR of 5.93% through 2028. Rising military expenditure on automobiles, increasing global territorial conflicts, and growing terrorism are driving the growth of the global C4ISR market in the forecast years. C4ISR refers to technology that enables defense and strategic decision-makers to carry out command-and-control orders by providing actionable intelligence. A clearer grasp of an adversary's capabilities and enhanced Situational Awareness (SA) are now partly attributable to recent developments in systems, methodologies, and technologies. By reducing the amount of time between the initial perception of a threat and the decisions made to neutralize it, such improved SA will help to improve C4ISR capabilities. Command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, often known as C4ISR, is the military's "nervous system," a group of sub-systems utilized to maximize the use of real-time Situational Awareness (SA). Any defense operation's foundation is C4ISR, which ensures battlefield visibility. It gathers and analyzes information from numerous sources, compiles it, conducts analysis on it, and then transmits it to all concerned bodies for coordinated and fast action. The services and intelligence organizations are just two of the entities that provide data to C4ISR. A crucial factor to take into account in this situation is the possibility that none of these stakeholders would desire to reveal their internal architecture, including data and apps. As a result, it is important to establish a collaborative network-centric design that enables all agencies to exchange the identified data when required or necessary while preserving the confidentiality of other data. Rising Military and Defense Applications Military and defense applications are a significant driver of the C4ISR market, as they require advanced situational awareness capabilities for intelligence gathering, threat detection, and missile defense. C4ISR systems provide a range of capabilities that enable military forces to collect, process, analyze, and disseminate information, improving their ability to conduct operations in complex and dynamic environments. The growing use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other unmanned systems in military and defense operations has also driven the demand for C4ISR systems. These systems require advanced communication and control capabilities to operate effectively, and C4ISR systems provide the necessary infrastructure to support these operations. Technological Advancements The emergence of cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data analytics has made it possible to build more complex C4ISR systems that can manage massive volumes of data and offer real-time insights. Military organizations are now better able to make decisions based on the information gathered owing to AI-enabled C4ISR systems that can analyze and interpret data more rapidly and precisely. Cybersecurity has become more of a priority as a result of the rising usage of digital technology in C4ISR systems. C4ISR systems are now more protected from potential cyber assaults owing to developments in cybersecurity technology, including intrusion detection and encryption. Surging Contractual Tie-ups The necessity of C4ISR systems is substantial in countries that are engaged in defense activities, particularly countries like the United States and Russia. The ERP solutions are putting into strategic operation efforts, including partnerships and collaborations, as well as improved research capabilities to address this growing demand. The US Department of Defense has raised its need for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) tools, such as unmanned aircraft and ground vehicle systems, since they are necessary for military operations. Increasing Usage of Unmanned Systems Unmanned systems, such as drones and unmanned ground vehicles, are increasingly integrated into C4ISR systems. These systems provide enhanced situational awareness, intelligence gathering, and reconnaissance capabilities without putting human operators at risk. Unmanned systems of all kinds, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), unmanned surface vessels (USVs), and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), are used as C4I and C4ISR assets to provide intelligence for areas of the battlefield on land, at sea, and in the air. ISR system costs have significantly decreased over the years due to improvements in ISR technologies and manufacturing methods. It is one of the major drivers for the global C4ISR market, with the continuous improvement in the defense and surveillance capabilities of the armed forces and law enforcement. Market Players In the interest of gaining more market share and securing new contracts with the armed forces, the corporations are involved developing strategies. To increase their presence in new markets, market participants are proactively developing joint ventures and partnerships with regional producers. In addition to these goals, it is projected that expenditures in R&D would help the businesses in the coming years lure in more clients and grow their market share as they build C4ISR systems that are integrated with AI and quantum networking. Recent Developments: The Indian Defense Ministry and BEL entered into a partnership in March 2022 to provide the Indian Air Force's fighter jets with an advanced electronic warfare suite. The Ministry of Defense and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) inked a contract worth around USD 255 million. In order to improve working relationships with different national agencies in charge of maritime security, the Qatari Emiri Naval Forces (QENF) chose Leonardo in March 2022 to build a Naval Operation Centre (NOC). The NOC will provide command, control, and coordination of operations at territorial water, the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and adjacent waters simultaneously. Leidos received a contract modification from the US Naval Sea Systems Command in March 2022 to deploy the AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 undersea fighting system on the Navy's battle boats. The contract had a USD81.1 million value. The surface vessels will be equipped with the AN/search, SQQ-89A(V)15's detection, classification, localization, and tracking capabilities (like submarines, sea mines, torpedoes, etc.) Competitive landscape Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global C4ISR Market. Lockheed Martin Corporation Raytheon Technologies Corporation Northrop Grumman Corporation The Boeing Company BAE Systems Plc Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc L3Harris Technologies Inc. Thales Group Elbit Systems Ltd. General Dynamics Corporation Report Scope: C4ISR Market, By Component: Hardware Software C4ISR Market, By Platform: Naval Airborne Land Space C4ISR Market, By End User: Defense & Space Homeland Security Civil Organizations Others C4ISR Market, By User Type: Government & Military Commercial C4ISR Market, By Region: North America United States Canada Mexico Asia-Pacific China India Japan South Korea Australia Indonesia Thailand Europe & CIS & CIS Russia United Kingdom France Germany Italy Spain Poland Middle East & Africa & Saudi Arabia Israel United Arab Emirates Turkey South Africa South America Brazil Argentina For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/vix9gx 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 DUBLIN, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Hypersonic Weapons - Market and Technology Forecast to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. A decade ago experiments started in the US with hypersonic weapons (speeds greater than Mach 5) but were initially not seen as an option to increase the strike capability enough to justify the cost. With the Chinese and Russians starting to develop hypersonic weapons, the US has renewed funding to continue the development for weapons and defense systems once again. In the military domain, hypersonic technology is used to develop fast, manoeuvrable weapons that can strike targets quickly and with little warning. In the commercial aviation sector, hypersonic technology has the potential to enable the development of passenger planes that can travel at extremely high speeds, reducing travel times significantly. Military spending for this technology is expected to grow as an overall percentage of large military budgets such as the United States' defence budget and the Chinese defence budget, offering specialised missile manufacturers and software developers a tremendous opportunity. Based on rigorous study of the capabilities of supersonic and hypersonic weapons and the growing impact this technology has caused in military environments, we've researched the market and technologies for Hypersonic Weapons. The study aims to achieve the following objectives: Demonstrate the importance of Hypersonic weapons for the military globally Relate the concept of interoperability of hypersonic weapons with man & unmanned systems Analyse and forecast the market size of the Hypersonic market in the US and globally Leading Companies Airbus BAE Systems Boeing Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Leonardo Northrop Grumman Corp. Raytheon Safran Thales Other Companies of Interest Almaz -Antey Calspan Corporation China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Curtiss-Wright Corporation Denel SOC Ltd Dynetics General Atomics General Dynamics Corporation Hermeus Corp Kongsberg Gruppen ASA MBDA Nexter Group Reaction Engines Tactical Missiles Corporation Textron Inc Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 1.1 Scope 1.2 Methodology 2 Executive Summary 2.1 Trends and Insights 2.2 Main Findings 2.3 Key Conclusions 2.4 Important Tables and Figures 3 Technologies and Developments 3.1 Technology overview 3.2 Types of Hypersonic Weapons 3.3 Challenges in developing Hypersonic weapons 3.4 Technologies: Hypersonic Weapons 3.5 Countering hypersonic weapons 4 Market Overview 4.1 Market volume over forecast period overview by region 4.2 Notable Events 4.3 Competitive Landscape 4.4 Supply Chain analysis 4.5 Top companies in hypersonic weapon market (based on turnover) 4.6 Important movements/developments (like mergers, joint ventures, partnership) in the market 5 Market Segmentation and Forecast Factors 5.1 Market Segmentation 5.2 Drivers 5.3 Trends 5.4 Opportunities 5.5 Challenges 5.6 Forecast Factors 6 Country Analysis 6.1 Country Analysis: USA 6.2 Country Analysis: Russia 6.3 Country Analysis: China 6.4 Country Analysis: United Kingdom 6.5 Country Analysis: France 6.6 Country Analysis: India 6.7 Country Analysis: Israel 6.8 Country Analysis: Turkiye 7 Impact Analysis 7.1 Overview 7.2 Scenario I - Market Forecast Impact Analysis 7.3 Scenario II - Event Forecast Impact Analysis For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/5kfjuk 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 DUBLIN, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Social Media Analytics Growth Opportunities" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This study discusses top 10 trends, growth drivers, restraints, and growth opportunities in the social media analytics market. Social media analytics is the ability to evaluate and examine data gathered from social media platforms. Social media data includes metrics beyond likes, followers, views, clicks, and impressions. Businesses leverage social media analytics to understand customer preferences and gain competitive intelligence. Social media analytics can be predictive, prescriptive, or descriptive; it helps businesses understand the different parts of a problem, thereby enabling them to tackle issues strategically. When combined with other voice-of-the-customer (VoC) data (obtained from surveys, reviews, and other sources), social media analytics can be leveraged to inform a business's marketing, sales, service, and engagement initiatives and strategies to offer fulfilling customer experiences. Key Topics Covered: 1. Definitions Relevant Definitions for This Study 2. Strategic Imperatives Why is it Increasingly Difficult to Grow? The Strategic Imperative The Impact of the Top 3 Strategic Imperatives on the Global Social Media Analytics Industry Growth Opportunities Fuel the Growth Pipeline Engine 3. Growth Environment Social Media Analytics Market Environment 4. Top Trends to Watch Top 15 Social Media Analytics Trends 5. Key Growth Drivers and Restraints Growth Drivers Growth Restraints 6. Social Media Analytics and Customer Journeys Social Media Analytics across the Customer Journey Customer and Business Actions through the Social Customer Journey 7. Reaping Benefits with Social Media Analytics Benefits of Social Media Analytics 8. Contact Centers and Social Media Analytics Evolution of the Contact Center with Social Media Analytics Evolutionary Technology Explained Contact Center Solution Providers Leverage Social Media for Customer Care 9. Social Media Analytics and CX Use-Cases 10. Social Media Analytics Solutions - Provider Landscape Social Media Analytics Solutions - Provider Profiles Social Media Analytics - Provider Segmentation Vendor Scoping 11. Growth Opportunity Universe Partnerships and Mergers and Acquisitions Enhancement of Visualization and Reporting Capabilities Emphasis on Security and Data Compliance For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/98eo3m 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 Global event expected to draw tens of thousands of participants on June 22 TROY, Mich., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Summer is almost o-FISH-ally here, and Goldfish Swim School locations across North America will celebrate by participating in the 14th Annual World's Largest Swimming Lesson on Thursday, June 22. The global drowning prevention event was created by the World Waterpark Association to raise awareness of the importance of water safety. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, drowning is the primary cause of unintentional death for children aged 1-4. Additionally, the majority of nonfatal pool drowning injuries among children under 15 years old happen between June and August, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission . Research by the National Library of Medicine shows participation in formal swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning for kids ages 1-4 by 88%. "Swimming lessons are such a vital element of drowning prevention, and we're demonstrating our commitment to water safety by joining aquatic facilities across the world to raise awareness for this lifesaving tool," said Goldfish Swim School Franchising Director of Training Nikki Thomas. "Our mission at Goldfish Swim School is to teach kids to be safer and confident in and around water." Local Goldfish Swim School locations throughout North America are participating in different ways to support the event. Goldfish Swim School - Wexford in Pennsylvania is partnering with a local water park. Goldfish Swim School - Columbia in Maryland will augment its schedule with additional swim times to accommodate a larger number of swimmers. Goldfish Swim School - Grandville in Michigan will host a water safety presentation and free lesson, and Goldfish Swim School - Urbandale in Iowa will provide free trial lessons all day. Meanwhile, more than 110 other locations plan to commemorate this day by celebrating and raising awareness through their regularly scheduled lifesaving swimming lessons, in addition to 500 other swim lesson providers across the globe. "With well over 100 participating schools, Goldfish Swim School represents a significant portion of this year's total event locations. We're excited to have so many schools engaged given our shared mission of promoting drowning prevention and water safety," said Rick Root, President of the World Waterpark Association. "We look forward to seeing the full impact Goldfish will have this year as they join The World's Largest Swimming Lesson and actively contribute to the collective endeavor and united voice to help spread the message that swimming lessons save lives." More information on the World's Largest Swimming Lesson can be found at goldfishswimschool.com/blog . To find the closest Goldfish Swim School near you, visit https://www.goldfishswimschool.com/locations/ . About Goldfish Swim School Founded in 2006 by husband-and-wife team Chris and Jenny McCuiston, Troy, Michigan-based Goldfish Swim School provides swim lessons and water safety instruction to infants and children aged 4 months to 12 years. Classes are led by specially trained instructors in a safe, child-friendly environment using a research-based philosophy called The Science of SwimPlay. Since opening its first franchised location in 2009, the brand has grown to more than 140 schools in over 30 states, with an additional 150-plus in development. Goldfish is ranked No. 69 overall in Entrepreneur's 2023 Franchise 500 and has been recognized as the No. 1 children's fitness franchise for seven consecutive years, was named to Franchise Times' Top 500 for 2022 and is rated as a Top Franchise by Franchise Business Review for 2023. Goldfish Swim School is currently in the process of expanding franchise opportunities throughout North America. For information on franchising, go to www.goldfishswimschool.com/franchise-opportunities. Media Contact: Karina Green [email protected] 817-329-3257 SOURCE Goldfish Swim School MARLBOROUGH, Mass., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- OneShield, a leading enterprise and cloud-based solutions provider for fast-growing and established insurers, is proud to announce its strategic collaboration with HAI Group. HAI Group, the nation's leading member-owned property-casualty insurance company for the affordable housing industry, has chosen OneShield's cutting-edge Enterprise 7.0 platform to revolutionize its business operations. HAI Group has chosen OneShield's cutting-edge Enterprise 7.0 platform to revolutionize its business operations. Tweet this "Our partnership with OneShield has offered a clear path to our complex technology transformation," stated Troy LePage, HAI Group's Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer. "OneShield Enterprise provides us with commercial lines experience, prebuilt insurance processes, as well as reusable workflows and use cases that are critical to our transformative journey. Their partnership approach, deep insurance expertise, and in-house consulting services have all proved extremely beneficial." Headquartered in Cheshire, Connecticut, HAI Group operates in 48 states and the District of Columbia, offering a range of commercial insurance products. Recognizing the need for transformative change, HAI Group's executive team embarked on an extensive search for the ideal platform to optimize their business operations and handle the complexities of their policyholder accounts. OneShield Enterprise's platform emerged as HAI Group's top choice, offering robust insurance capabilities, extensive experience with AAIS products, and proficiency in managing large schedules. "Our partnership with OneShield has offered us a clear path to our complex technology transformation," stated Troy LePage, HAI Group's Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. "OneShield Enterprise provides us with commercial lines experience, prebuilt insurance processes, as well as reusable workflows and use cases that are critical to our transformative journey. Their partnership approach, deep insurance expertise, and in-house consulting services have all proved extremely beneficial." OneShield Enterprise offers a comprehensive suite of insurance solutions, delivering a unified platform for all lines of business and deployment options. Its highly configurable nature empowers clients to prepare for future needs with minimal limitations. At the same time, the seamless upgrade path ensures continuous service enhancements, eliminating the burden of large-scale upgrade costs. "We are thrilled to join forces with HAI Group in their pursuit of digital transformation," announced Cameron Parker, Chief Executive Officer of OneShield. "Our full Enterprise Suite offers the comprehensive capabilities and advanced technology that HAI Group sought to elevate their operations, enhance customer experience, and drive substantial growth. We eagerly anticipate a successful partnership with HAI Group and the remarkable results we will achieve together." For more information or to schedule a media interview, please contact: Janice Merkley - VP of Marketing OneShield T: 774.348.1000 | E: [email protected] About OneShield OneShield provides business solutions for P&C insurers and MGAs of all sizes. OneShield's cloud-based and SaaS platforms include enterprise-level policy management, billing, claims, rating, relationship management, product configuration, business intelligence, and smart analytics. Designed specifically for personal, commercial, and specialty insurance, our solutions support over 90 lines of business. OneShield's clients, some of the world's leading insurers, benefit from optimized workflows, pre-built content, seamless upgrades, collaborative implementations, and pricing models designed to lower the total cost of ownership. Our global footprint includes corporate headquarters in Marlborough, MA, with additional offices throughout India. For more information, visit www.OneShield.com About HAI Group HAI Group is the nation's leading property-casualty insurance organization founded by and dedicated to public and affordable housing providers. For 30+ years, we've delivered tailor-made insurance and risk management solutions designed to protect assets, improve efficiency, empower employees, and move housing strategies forward. Headquartered in Cheshire, Connecticut, HAI Group is recognized as a Top Workplace by Hearst Connecticut Media Group (2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023). All products and services are written or provided by subsidiaries or affiliates of Housing Authority Risk Retention Group, Inc. Products or services may not be available in all jurisdictions. Certain property and casualty coverage may be provided by a risk retention group or a surplus lines insurer or by a third party. Risk-retention groups and surplus lines insurers do not participate in state guaranty funds and their insureds are not protected by such funds. For a complete list of HAI Group companies and to learn more about HAI Group, visit www.haigroup.com. SOURCE OneShield Software Rasmala plans significant expansion in Saudi Arabia DUBAI, UAE, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Rasmala Group, a leading alternative investment manager, has announced the appointment of H.E. Abdallah Yahya Al-Mouallimi, a prominent Saudi businessman and senior diplomat, as its Group Chairman. Al-Mouallimi served as Saudi Arabia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations until 2022. He also served as Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union, as Mayor of Jeddah, and as a member of the Saudi Consultative Council. H.E. Abdallah Yahya Al-Mouallimi appointed Chairman of Rasmala Group Al-Mouallimi's appointment will accelerate Rasmala's growth plans in Saudi Arabia, including the establishment of a new investment management subsidiary to be licensed by the Capital Market Authority (CMA). A local presence will support Rasmala's ability to originate investment opportunities in the Kingdom for international investors, to build local partnerships, and to establish and grow its client base in Saudi Arabia. In past private sector appointments, Al-Mouallimi also served as chair of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce, as Vice- Chairman of Olayan Financing Company, and as Managing Director of Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Saudi Arabia. Commenting on his appointment, Al-Mouallimi said "I have known and worked with the Rasmala team for many years, and look forward to supporting the firm's mandate to connect Gulf-based investors with international investment opportunities. I am especially excited to support Rasmala's significant expansion plans in Saudi Arabia, the region's largest economy and capital market." With Al-Mouallimi's appointment Zak Hydari steps down as Group Chairman while continuing to serve as a Board member and as the chair of its Investment Committee. Hydari added: "We are delighted to welcome H.E. Abdallah Yahya Al-Mouallimi as Chairman of the Board. He brings tremendous knowledge and experience which will be invaluable as the firm accelerates its growth plans." Additional appointments are expected in the near future. About the Rasmala Group Rasmala Group is a leading alternative investment manager operating in global markets since 1999. It invests directly and alongside Gulf-based institutional investors including banks, pension funds, endowments, family offices, corporations and government institutions. Rasmala Investment Bank Limited is based in the Dubai International Financial Centre and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Rasmala Group. The significant subsidiaries of the Rasmala Group are referred to interchangeably as "Rasmala" and "the Rasmala Group". For further details, please visit www.rasmala.com. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105683/Rasmala_Group.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105973/Rasmala_Logo.jpg SOURCE Rasmala Group HiddenLayer recognized for achievements in Security for AI NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CB Insights today named HiddenLayer to its seventh annual AI 100 ranking , showcasing the 100 most promising private artificial intelligence companies in the world. "This year's AI 100 cohort are developing game changing innovations that meaningfully impact the world around them," said Brian Lee, SVP of CB Insights' Intelligence Unit. "From healthcare to climate tech, we've seen incredibly novel applications of AI, particularly in the generative AI space. Our winners are shaping the future of AI and its possibilities, and as the future unfolds, I cannot wait to see what they accomplish next." "Being named to the CB Insights AI 100 list is an extraordinary honor for HiddenLayer. We are immensely proud to stand among the brightest innovators who are reshaping the future of AI and ensuring its safe and responsible use across all sectors," said Chris Sestito, CEO of HiddenLayer. "This prestigious recognition validates the unwavering commitment of the HiddenLayer team to push the boundaries of Security for AI and safeguard our clients' most valuable IP." Utilizing the CB Insights platform , the research team picked these 100 private market vendors from a pool of nearly 9,000 companies, including applicants and nominees. They were chosen based on CB Insights datasets including R&D activity, proprietary Mosaic scores, business relationships, Yardstiq transcripts, investor profiles, news sentiment analysis, competitive landscape, and team strength and criteria such as tech novelty and market potential. The research team also reviewed thousands of Analyst Briefings submitted by applicants. With enterprises growing interest in the use of Artificial Intelligence, HiddenLayer has been a welcomed entrant to a new category, providing security solutions for machine learning algorithms, models and the data that powers them. Most recently, HiddenLayer was named "Most Innovative Start-up" at RSA's Innovation Sandbox Competition, a platform widely recognized as a catapult for success for the most promising cybersecurity companies with the top 10 finalists collectively having celebrated 75 acquisitions and $12.5 billion in investments over the last 18 years. Quick facts on the 2023 AI 100: Equity funding and deals : Since 2019, the 2023 AI 100 cohort has raised nearly $22B driven by OpenAI's $13B worth of investments from Microsoft across 223 deals. : Since 2019, the 2023 AI 100 cohort has raised nearly driven by OpenAI's worth of investments from Microsoft across 223 deals. Unicorns : There are 15 companies with $1B+ valuations on the list. : There are 15 companies with $1B+ valuations on the list. Most Represented Categories: The cohort is broken down across 14 industries, 19 cross-industry applications, and 11 categories of AI development tools. The cohort is broken down across 14 industries, 19 cross-industry applications, and 11 categories of AI development tools. Geographic distributions: This year's winners represent 13 different countries across the globe. Sixty-seven of the selected companies are headquartered in the US. The UK comes in second with 10 winners, and Canada follows closely with 7. Other countries home to a winner/winners on this year's list include the Netherlands , Sweden , China , and Germany . About CB Insights CB Insights builds software that enables the world's best companies to discover, understand, and make technology decisions with confidence. By marrying data, expert insights, and work management tools, clients manage their end-to-end technology decision-making process on CB Insights. To learn more, please visit www.cbinsights.com. Contact: [email protected] About HiddenLayer HiddenLayer, a Gartner recognized AI Application Security company, is a provider of security solutions for machine learning algorithms, models & the data that power them. With a first-of-its-kind, non-invasive software approach to observing & securing ML, HiddenLayer is helping to protect the world's most valuable technologies. https://hiddenlayer.com/ SOURCE HiddenLayer NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hilco Corporate Finance (HCF) , Hilco Global's investment banking advisory firm, has named Kyle Herman Senior Managing Director and Sanjay Marken Director. Based in Houston, they will focus their national practice on Special Situations and Restructuring Investment Banking Advisory. Prior to joining HCF, Messrs. Herman and Marken founded Exigent Partners, a Houston-headquartered restructuring advisory firm. Exigent will transfer its advisory clients to HCF as part of the move. In making the announcement, Teri Stratton, HCF's Senior Managing Director and National Practice Leader of Special Situations and Restructuring said, "We are thrilled to add Kyle and Sanjay to our team. Both are distinguished and talented investment banking leaders, respected by their clients and peers, with significant experience in all aspects of middle-market special situations and restructuring advisory. With their depth of knowledge and broad network of relationships within the financial community -- both in Texas and across the US -- they will accelerate the growth of our practice." Mr. Herman has spent 17 years advising distressed companies and their stakeholders. His deal experience includes the City of Detroit, Ion Media Networks, Allied Holdings, Standard Pacific Corp., Ultrapetrol (Bahamas) Limited, The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, The Weinstein Company, and Keystone Automotive Operations, among others. Before forming Exigent, he was a Managing Director at Berkeley Research Group in Houston and a Director at Miller Buckfire & Co. in New York. He serves on the boards of the Turnaround Management Association Houston Chapter and The Healthy Lunch Box. He also has served on multiple alumni boards for the University of Texas at Austin. He graduated with honors with a B.B.A. in Finance and a B.A. from the Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin. He also holds an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Marken has 16 years of experience advising companies and their constituents during periods of transition. His advisory engagements include Molycorp, the City of Detroit, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and AMF Bowling Worldwide, among others. Prior to forming Exigent Partners, Mr. Marken was a Vice President at Miller Buckfire & Co. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of a bedding and home products company, and previously served on the Board of Corsicana Mattress Company during its chapter 11 case. He graduated with a B.S. in Finance and Information Systems (magna cum laude) from the Stern School of Business at New York University. Geoffrey Frankel, the CEO of Hilco Corporate Finance, added, "Over the past 18 months, we have expanded our business by re-imagining how investment banking advisory services can best be provided to middle-market clients. Encompassing capital advisory, M&A advisory, and special situations and restructuring services, we are building our practice from the client's point of view focusing on a solutions-oriented, and not just a transactional, approach. As HCF continues to grow and expand our advisory services to middle market companies, we have recognized Texas as a key market. Kyle and Sanjay understand and share our passion for superior client-centric service for middle-market companies." About Hilco Corporate Finance: Hilco Corporate Finance, LLC is a registered broker-dealer with the Securities and Exchange Commission and a member of FINRA ( www.finra.com ) and SIPC ( www.sipc.org ). Hilco Corporate Finance specializes in merger and acquisition advisory service, capital advisory, and special situations and restructuring advisory. Hilco Corporate Finance is the investment banking affiliate of Hilco Global. Hilco Global operates as a holding company comprised of over 20 specialized businesses and has nearly four decades of successfully acting as an advisor, agent, investor and/or principal in transactions. SOURCE Hilco Corporate Finance TORRANCE, Calif. and MARYSVILLE, Ohio, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of Honda's efforts to promote equality in its workforce and society, the company today released its second annual Inclusion & Diversity Report: "Inclusion: Together, We Will Bring the Future." The report includes company goals through 2030 and progress to date, as well as key sentiments from Honda leadership. This is the first report released since the inaugural report was shared in May of 2022. The 2023 Honda Inclusion & Diversity Report provides data on the diversity of the company's U.S. operations, including workforce, dealers, suppliers and corporate giving. It also highlights partnerships with organizations supporting diverse communities where Honda associates live and work. "The second annual Inclusion & Diversity report illustrates our unwavering commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment and our ongoing dedication toward progress and growth as an organization," stated Yvette Hunsicker, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility and Inclusion & Diversity at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "By supporting inclusion and diversity initiatives that promote equity within our company and in the communities where our associates live and work, we can bring the future." The annual report represents Honda's commitment to transparency and accountability, as it publicly discloses comprehensive data on the diversity of its U.S. operations, encompassing its workforce, dealers, suppliers, and corporate contributions. Some actions and accomplishments showcased within the report include: Improved ethnic and gender diversity among Honda associates; up 2% year-over-year for total workforce and up 3% for management positions Increased spending with diverse suppliers and U.S. philanthropic partners Pledged $1 million to support each of the following organizations: Hispanic Scholarship Fund, National Urban League, and Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund to support each of the following organizations: Hispanic Scholarship Fund, National Urban League, and Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund Expanded dealer diversity with the addition of eight ethnic minority-owned dealerships and two women-owned dealerships, accounting for the highest net increase in the past 21 years Signed the Human Rights Campaign's letter urging U.S. senators to pass the Respect for Marriage Act Introduced the new global Honda Human Rights Policy "We are proud of the progress we have made throughout the past year, but we have more work to do," said Hunsicker. "Honda will remain vigilant and continue to take deliberate action to advance inclusion and diversity within our company and in society. We know the future we envision depends on what actions we take today." For more information, download the Honda Diversity and Inclusion Report here. Honda Commitment to Inclusion & Diversity Honda is committed to advancing inclusion, diversity, and equity within the company and in communities across America. This includes both Honda's longstanding efforts as well as new actions the company is taking to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce, advance the diversity of its dealer and supplier networks, provide educational opportunities to marginalized communities, and support diverse organizations, among other efforts. One example is the special relationship Honda has with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), forged through more than 30 years of support that has impacted the lives of nearly 300,000 students, including over $14 million in grants to HBCU education programs and facilities improvements. About Honda Corporate Social Responsibility and the Honda USA Foundation For more than 60 years in the U.S., Honda has been committed to making positive contributions to the communities where its associates live and work. Honda's mission is to create products and services that help people fulfill their life's potential, while conducting business in a sustainable manner and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. Advancing its corporate social responsibility, Honda and the Honda USA Foundation support this direction through giving focused on education, the environment, mobility, traffic safety and community. Learn more at https://csr.honda.com/. SOURCE Honda MIAMI, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Matching the sight and sound of speech a face to a voice in early infancy is an important foundation for later language development. This ability, known as intersensory processing, is an essential pathway to learning new words. According to a recent study published in the journal Infancy, the degree of success at intersensory processing at only 6 months old can predict vocabulary and language outcomes at 18 months, 2 and 3 years old. "Adults are highly skilled at this, but infants must learn to relate what they see with what they hear. It's a tremendous job and they do it very early in their development," said lead author Elizabeth V. Edgar, who conducted the study as an FIU psychology doctoral student and is now a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University. "Our findings show that intersensory processing has its own independent contribution to language, over and above other established predictors, including parent language input and socioeconomic status." Edgar and a team at FIU psychology professor Lorraine E. Bahrick's Infant Development Lab tested intersensory processing speed and accuracy in 103 infants across three years, between the ages of 3 months to 3 years old, using the Intersensory Processing Efficiency Protocol (IPEP). This tool was created by Bahrick and co-investigator FIU Research Assistant Professor of Psychology James Torrence Todd and colleagues. Designed to present distraction or simulate the "noisiness" of picking out a speaker from a crowd, the IPEP presents several short video trials. Each trial depicts six faces of women displayed in separate boxes on the screen at once. All the women appear to be speaking. However, the soundtrack that matches only one of the women speaking is heard on each trial. With an eye tracker that follows pupil movement, the researchers could measure if the babies made the match, as well as how long they watched the matching face and voice. Then, the data was compared with language outcomes at different stages of development such as how many unique and total words children used. Results revealed infants who looked longer at the correct speaker were later found to have better language outcomes at 18 months, 2 and 3 years old. For video and more information click here. Media Contact: Angela Nicoletti 305-348-0272 [email protected] SOURCE Florida International University BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. The opening of all communications will greatly contribute to ensuring sustainable peace and stability in the region, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said at the Caspian Connectivity Conference organized by the Caspian Policy Center (CPC) during his working visit to the UK, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend. Noting that the volume of transit through Azerbaijan increased by 75 percent in 2022, the minister expressed confidence that the opening of all communications will also contribute to a significant increase in trade and transport. In this context, Bayramov noted the importance of the Zangazur Corridor, an initiative which is coming to the forefront and can further strengthen connectivity within the Middle Corridor. The minister also informed about the obstacles posed by Armenia to the opening of communications, despite the efforts made. Proposed by the Azerbaijani side, Zangazur Corridor aims to establish a transportation link between Azerbaijan's mainland and its exclave, Nakhchivan, passing through Armenian territory. This corridor emerged as part of the trilateral agreement signed between Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia in 2020 [following the second Karabakh war]. One point of the agreement outlined Armenia's commitment to ensuring the security of transport connections to Nakhchivan, facilitating unrestricted movement of people, vehicles, and goods in both directions. Hyundai Motor shares mid- to long-term business and financial plans based on 'Hyundai Motor Way' strategy Hyundai Motor to boost its annual EV sales goal to 2 million units by 2030 Company to accelerate its transition toward becoming a smart mobility solution provider by investing KRW 109.4 trillion over the next 10 years -- KRW 35.8 trillion to go toward electrification, including KRW 9.5 trillion for battery development and the remainder funding development of a next-generation modular architecture for EVs and increased EV production capacity Hyundai Motor outlines a blueprint for its strategy: -- Integrated Modular Architecture (IMA): to develop IMA for its next-generation EV-dedicated platform, which will replace the current E-GMP EV platform -- EV production: to expand EV production and optimize capacity, not only building new EV factories but also utilizing existing ICE plants to reduce costs and time -- Battery: to strengthen the overall value chain for battery, including stable procurement of battery materials, design capability, and next-generation batteries -- Future businesses: to continue working with strategic partners to advance plans for autonomous driving, software, robotics, advanced air mobility and hydrogen Based on the newly introduced strategy, the company will build on its heritage and successfully transition to electrification SEOUL, South Korea, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Motor Company hosted '2023 CEO Investor Day' in Seoul today, unveiling its visionary mid- to long-term business strategies and financial plans. With the aim of actively leveraging its knowledge and heritage of innovation from internal combustion engine vehicles, the company is committed to a successful transition to the electrification era through its newly introduced strategy, 'Hyundai Motor Way.' President and CEO Jaehoon Chang (left to right) Taesik Yun (Head of IR Team), Zayong Koo (Senior Vice president and Head of IR Group), Gang Hyun Seo (Executive Vice President and Head of Finance & Accounting Division), Jaehoon Chang (President and CEO), Heung-soo Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of the Global Strategy Office, and Chang Hwan Kim (Senior Vice President and Head of the Battery Development Center) The company will implement this strategy and accelerate its transition toward becoming a smart mobility solution provider by securing a large-scale investment of KRW 109.4 trillion over the next 10 years, including KRW 35.8 trillion for electrification over the next decade. The company aims for 2 million units in annual EV sales by 2030. The key parts of the strategy include introducing a next-generation modular architecture for EVs, strengthening EV production capacity, battery development capabilities and future businesses, including autonomous driving, hydrogen, robotics and advanced air mobility. Hyundai Motor is leveraging its heritage of innovation and knowledge accumulated over a long period of time as a traditional vehicle manufacturer amidst seismic change in the industry with competition intensifying in a bid for leadership in the electric vehicle market. The company announced that it will achieve a successful transition to electrification by efficiently and effectively leveraging its long experience in vehicle production and sales. "The value of cultivating human-centered innovation by further developing technology inherited from the past is the distinct heritage that a company with a rich legacy can provide," said President and CEO Chang. "As it originated from Pony, the IONIQ 5 Na high-performance EV scheduled for unveiling in Julywill embrace and carry forward the enduring heritage of Hyundai Motor Company." More information about Hyundai Motor can be found at: http://worldwide.hyundai.com or http://globalpr.hyundai.com. SOURCE Hyundai Motor Company 10-city tour will expand its footprint to establish relationship capital and build a more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem NEWARK, N.J., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership ( IFEL ) today announced "Creating Conscious Collisions," the kick-off of its second annual Women of Color Connecting (WOCCON) Road Show . The 10-city tour, designed to unite women of color entrepreneurs with investors and allies, launches on June 27 in New York City with an event hosted at Rise, created by Barclays and Equivico , an impact investment manager that finances and empowers responsible lenders to provide fair credit to small businesses, including those owned by women and people of color. "Women of color don't need more skill-building and people telling them what to do, they need people to use their relationships and resources to open doors for them," shared Jill Johnson, CEO and Co-Founder of IFEL. "As we kick off the Road Show in New York City, we're excited to collaborate with investors, executives and allies who are serious about inclusion in the entrepreneurial ecosystem." The 2023 Road Show aims to expand the network of entrepreneurs and founders by "creating conscious collisions" - a gathering of people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives that share the common goal of building a more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem through new ideas, collaboration, and action. "Equivico is excited to host this event in New York City, and we are proud to continue our collaboration with the Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership and Jill Johnson," said Eleni Delimpaltadaki Janis, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Equivico. "The rate of new businesses started by women of color grew by 43% between 2014 and 2019. This is a great opportunity for investors and other stakeholders to take a deeper look at the great range of offerings that such entrepreneurs are building and the opportunity for innovation and economic output." As a supporter of IFEL's mission, The Impact Seat Foundation will serve as the national sponsor of the WOCCON 2023 Road Show. The Impact Seat Foundation strives to empower women leaders by ensuring they receive unwavering support and adequate financing at every stage of their entrepreneurial endeavors. "Creating conscious collisions are catalysts for change, igniting innovation and breaking down barriers in the entrepreneurial landscape," said Cheryl Contee, CEO of Impact Seat Foundation. "By fostering diverse connections and empowering women of color, we can forge a path towards a truly inclusive and prosperous future." The Road Show will also travel to Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Boston, Charlotte, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Seattle, Houston and Detroit. Additional event venue hosts of the 2023 Road Show include Davis Wright Tremaine, LLC/Project W, KPMG, and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, offering their support, venues and expertise to empower women of color entrepreneurs. IFEL invites all investors, executives, allies, and champions who want to change business as usual to join them and learn what it takes to be part of the solution. To request an invitation or to learn more, please visit www.woccon.org/roadshow . About The Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership IFEL is a nonprofit organization that leverages the power of relationship capital to create pathways to success for Black and Latinx entrepreneurs and small business owners. Founded in 2002, IFEL's mission is to eradicate the systemic barriers that prevent people from historically excluded populations from being able to access the knowledge, networks, and capital required for entrepreneurial success and wealth creation. About Equivico Equivico is an impact investment manager that finances and empowers responsible lenders to provide fair credit to small businesses, including those owned by women and people of color. Equivico demonstrates the power of advancing an inclusive economy that delivers competitive returns for investors, businesses, and communities alike. Learn more at www.equivico.com. Media Contacts Sandra Correa Rally Point for IFEL 917-319-8472 [email protected] Brigit Hennaman Rubenstein Public Relations for Equivico 212-805-3005 [email protected]com SOURCE Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership IFS extends capabilities with Poka connected worker technology to empower factory and field workers to work smarter, safer and drive productivity and efficiency. The acquisition positions IFS as the only vendor with leading ERP, EAM and FSM capabilities now able to digitally connect workers across the end-to-end value chain in its core industries. LONDON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- IFS, announces it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Poka, Inc. (Poka) the market leading Quebec based provider of a connected worker platform. Poka enables factory and field workers to be more efficient across all aspects of their jobs from training and development to troubleshooting. This capability enables businesses to measure productivity across machinery and operators globally and therefore provides a clear insight into profitability. Poka also provides actionable insights for companies to stay compliant and provide safer working conditions as part of their ESG goals. Over the past decades companies have invested trillions of dollars enabling back office workers to do their jobs. With the massive focus on efficiency, industry 4.0 and the merging of the physical and digital worlds to drive automation, companies are now looking to enable factory and field workers to work smarter, safer and more efficiently. The acquisition puts IFS at the nexus of this trend as it now combines its ERP / FSM / EAM technology with Poka and extends its value all the way to the actual user empowering them at every step. Founded in 2014 by Alexandre Leclerc and Antoine Bisson the company has customers in 55 countries which include brands such as Nestle, Tetra Pak, Mars, Bosch, RioTinto, Coty, Alcoa, Hitachi Energy, Mahle, and more. For companies such as these, recent global events have created a heightened degree of complexity, and uncertainty in labor availability as well as impacted supply chains and raw material sourcing. To address these business challenges, organizations are doubling down on their efforts to achieve faster digital transformation. At the heart of this renewed focus is the need to empower their own employees making the Connected Worker a key focus. Connected Worker technologies go beyond delivering a software application to help workers do their jobs better. When frontline workers are digitally connected, companies are better able to gather and share critical operational data real-time, leading to optimized work systems where insights are contextualized and responsive. IFS CEO, Darren Roos, commented: "The concept of a connected worker is synonymous with the augmented worker because of the direct impact on improving productivity and operational efciency. With a potential manufacturing skills gap in the U.S. alone which could result in 2.1 million unfilled jobs by 2030*, closing this gap, it is as much a technology need as it is a change management and worker empowerment need. Improving access to information and knowledge means workers can become part of an integrated continuous improvement cycle." Roos added: The concept of connecting every single worker was historically overlooked as part of digital transformation journeys yet, giving workers the ability to get information whenever and wherever they are in the factory not only improves their experience, it is fundamental to building manufacturing agility something we understand very well at IFS." Alexandre Leclerc, CEO of Poka commented: "We are incredibly proud of the best-in-class platform we've built and our pioneering leadership in the Connected Worker space. Becoming part of IFS will enable us to further innovate and extend the value we create for manufacturers" He added: "As the global workforce crisis deepens, more companies are looking to scale their digital factory projects across the enterprise Leclerc concluded: "With the help of IFS's global presence and industry experience, Poka will be better equipped to deliver on its mission at scale." Poka was the recipient of an Open Bosch Award in recognition of outstanding innovation and was distinguished as a top Connected Worker vendor in Gartner's Hype Cycle for Manufacturing Operations Strategy, four years in a row. For more information about IFS Cloud for Manufacturing, PSO, MES and EAM and FSM, please visit: www.ifs.com IFS expects the acquisition of Poka to complete in Q3 2023 *Deloitte 2021 "Creating pathways for tomorrow's workforce today" About IFS IFS develops and delivers cloud enterprise software for companies around the world who manufacture and distribute goods, build and maintain assets, and manage service-focused operations. Within our single platform, our industry specific products are innately connected to a single data model and use embedded digital innovation so that our customers can be their best when it really matters to their customers - at the Moment of Service. The industry expertise of our people and of our growing ecosystem, together with a commitment to deliver value at every single step, has made IFS a recognized leader and the most recommended supplier in our sector. Our team of over 5,500 employees every day live our values of agility, trustworthiness and collaboration in how we support our thousands of customers. Learn more about how our enterprise software solutions can help your business today at ifs.com. About Poka Poka is a connected worker platform built specifically for manufacturers. The company's mission is to provide a hub for operational knowledge in factories by empowering workers to learn, share and collaborate right from the production floor. Poka was the recipient of the 2020 Open Bosch Award in recognition of outstanding innovation and was distinguished as a top Connected Worker vendor in Gartner's Hype Cycle for Manufacturing Operations Strategy, four years in a row. Poka is trusted by leading global manufacturers including Nestle, Danone, Bosch, Kraft, and Tetra Pak. For additional information, visit www.Poka.io Contact information: EUROPE / MEA / APJ: Adam Gillbe IFS, Director of Corporate & Executive Communications Email: [email protected] Phone: +44 7775 114 856 NORTH AMERICA / LATAM: Mairi Morgan IFS, Director of Corporate & Executive Communications Email: [email protected] Phone: +1 520 396 2155 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Public/855/3790555/9fcd03cc4ffc3338.pdf IFS Acquires Poka - Press Release - PDF https://news.cision.com/ifs/i/ifsxpoka,c3192155 IFSxPoka SOURCE IFS PTAB finds "reasonable likelihood" Motif will prevail in challenge of key Impossible patent Second setback for Impossible in effort to secure monopoly on use of heme in plant-based foods BOSTON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In a highly-anticipated ruling by its Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced Friday it would institute inter partes review (IPR) of Patent 9,943,096 B2 claimed by Impossible Foods. The ruling commences an administrative trial, expected to take about a year, on the validity of one of Impossible Foods' most important patents. Motif FoodWorks petitioned for review of the patent after Impossible sued Motif in federal court last year, alleging patent infringement in using heme to create plant-based meat substitutes. In the PTAB's ruling on Friday, Administrative Patent Judge Donna M. Praiss wrote that Motif "has demonstrated a reasonable likelihood of prevailing with respect to at least one claim of the '096 patent, and we institute inter partes review of all claims and all grounds asserted in the petition." The Impossible patent now under review titled "Methods and Compositions for Affecting the Flavor and Aroma Profile of Consumables" seeks to "better replicate the aromas and flavors of meat, particularly during and/or after cooking," according to filings at the Patent and Trademark Office. "We are pleased with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's decision to institute inter partes review (IPR) for Patent 9,943,096 B2, finding that Motif has shown a reasonable likelihood we will prevail," said Michael Leonard, CEO of Motif FoodWorks. "Statistics show the PTAB invalidates one or more claims in 80 percent of the patents that reach a final decision in IPR, so we look forward to seeing this process play out." "This is not just a victory for Motif it's a victory for consumers," added Leonard. "For us, this whole process is about protecting innovation and consumer choice in plant-based foods." Friday's ruling marks Impossible's second significant setback in its effort to secure a monopoly on using heme a naturally occurring protein to flavor plant-based meat substitutes. Late last year, the European Patent Office revoked an EU patent held by Impossible. Meanwhile, its lawsuit against Motif is still pending in federal district court in Delaware. Motif and Impossible both use heme proteins in plant-based meat alternatives. Impossible's heme protein is identical to soy leghemoglobin, a protein found in nodules attached to the roots of nitrogen-fixing plants like soy. Motif's heme protein, HEMAMI, is identical to bovine myoglobin, which is found in the muscle tissue of cows. Motif argues that these ingredients, which have been used to develop the taste and smell of meat and meat alternatives in food products for decades, are not patentable by Impossible. Indeed, Motif argues that the ingredients that Impossible claims to have discovered have existed and been sold in everyday food products for decades and that the claims are a legally and factually baseless attempt to stifle innovation and limit consumer choice. "Impossible is wasting resources, creativity, and opportunities through a failing litigation strategy," Leonard said. "The company seems more concerned with securing monopoly power over a protein than with growing this sector." "Since our founding in 2018, Motif has reinvented plant-based meat, making it better tasting, more nutritious and sustainable," added Leonard. "Impossible is determined to stop that innovation hurting consumers, our industry and, ultimately, our planet. We will continue to fight Impossible's aggressive actions to limit competition and are gratified that the PTAB found merit in our position." About Motif FoodWorks Motif FoodWorks is creating the next generation of food. We are a food technology company developing breakthrough ingredients that unleash the promise of plant-based foods and transform the eating experience from first bite to lasting impact. With food as our passion and innovation coded into our DNA, we are driven by the science of more. More taste. More texture. More choices for consumers. That is why our work has gone beyond the lab. We have taken it all the way to the plate with products grown from the universal experience of what great food should be: tantalizing, satiating, and nourishing. Our ecosystem of ingredients and finished products are designed for people of all habits and beliefs and with the health of our planet always in mind. Because at Motif, we believe the food of the future should set you free. For more information, visit www.madewithmotif.com. Media contact: Julia Dacri, [email protected] SOURCE Motif FoodWorks 97% of students in Indiana are now eligible to apply for a private school scholarship program INDIANAPOLIS, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This spring, Indiana has taken significant steps to enhance school choice options for students and families, including an expansion of income eligibility for Indiana's Choice Scholarship Program, the School Scholarship Tax Credit, and the Education Scholarship Account Program. As a result, 97% of students in the state are now eligible to apply for private school scholarship programs. The biggest impact of these reforms will be on Indiana's Choice Scholarship Program, which provides financial assistance to families who choose to send their children to private schools. These changes will open doors for more families by allowing greater income thresholds. Specifically, the new budget, effective from 2023, expands eligibility for Indiana's Choice Scholarship Program. Now, any child from a family of four earning less than $222,000 annually can receive a voucher to attend a private school of their choice. Given all the school choice updates in Indiana, the National School Choice Awareness Foundation a nonprofit that helps parents navigate K12 education options across traditional public, public charter, public magnet, private, online, and home education environmentshas developed a comprehensive guide with valuable information and resources for parents, families, and educators. The guide answers questions about the program, including the following: Who is now eligible for Indiana's Choice Scholarship? Choice Scholarship? How much does Indiana's Choice Scholarship amount to? Choice Scholarship amount to? Where can the scholarship be used? What changed with similar programs offered by the state, such as the School Scholarship Tax Credit and the Education Scholarship Account Program? What is the new Career Scholarship Account program for high school students? "For years, Indiana has been a standard bearer for a strong slate of school choice options for families, well before the wave of expansions we've seen nationally over the last several years," said Shelby Doyle, vice president of public awareness at the National School Choice Awareness Foundation. "When options expand, families need accurate, jargon-free information quickly to help them make school choices for their children. We hope this guide, alongside the vital work of many local organizations, will help them on their way." More information and resources for journalists can be found at schoolchoiceweek.com/multimedia . More information for families can be found at https://schoolchoiceweek.com/indiana-choice-scholarship/ or schoolchoiceweek.com/indiana . The National School Choice Awareness Foundation (NSCAF) raises broad and positive awareness of school choice through two charitable programs: National School Choice Week each January and the research, development, and promotion of comprehensive and unbiased school navigation resources for parents via School Choice Week and Conoce tus Opciones Escolares. NSCAF does not advocate for or oppose legislation at any level of government and is steadfastly nonpartisan and nonpolitical. SOURCE National School Choice Week "Introduction to Blockchain Technology" and "Introduction to Internet of Things" promise to guide readers through the revolutionary technologies that are shaping our future FREMONT, Calif., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ahmed Banafa, a globally recognized expert and professor at San Francisco Bay University, is set to release two insightful books, "Introduction to Blockchain Technology" and "Introduction to Internet of Things" on July 28 and July 31, 2023, respectively. "Introduction to Blockchain Technology" delves into the fundamentals of blockchain, a transformative technology with significant potential in various sectors such as banking and supply chain. "Introduction to Internet of Things" provides a comprehensive overview of IoT, a technology set to interconnect up to 75 billion devices by 2025, transforming our lives and businesses. Professor Banafa shared, "With these books, I aim to guide readers through these revolutionary technologies that are shaping our future. Blockchain and IoT are not just buzzwords but are at the forefront of a new era. Their applications are vast, and while complex, it's crucial for everyone to understand their potential. They are set to redefine industries and how we live our daily lives." LinkedIn named Professor Banafa as the "No. 1 Tech Voice to Follow" in 2018. His research has been featured in Forbes, IEEE, and MIT Technology Review. Professor Banafa has also appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, BBC, NPR, Fox TV, and numerous radio stations. SFBU is a premier WASC/WSCUC-accredited, nonprofit university located in the San Francisco Bay Area/Silicon Valley. SFBU offers degree programs in computer science, engineering, technology, and management. Learn more at www.SFBU.edu . SOURCE San Francisco Bay University HSINCHU, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) participated in the 2023 EuCNC & 6G Summit in Gothenburg, Sweden and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 6G technologies collaboration with leading French research institute EURECOM on June 9. Under the MoU, the two parties will collaborate on areas including joint communication and sensing (JCAS), reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), AI-native networks, and Open RAN Network architecture. The cooperation is expected to open up opportunities for industries, academia, and research institutions in Taiwan to participate in the EU's 6G project proposals and early-stage verification and testing. The MOU was signed by General Director at ITRI Pang-An Ting (left) and Prof. Navid Nikaein (right) Co-founder of OpenAirInterface and witnessed by the representative (middle) from the Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT) at the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) of Taiwan. The MoU was signed by Dr. Pang-An Ting, ITRI's General Director of the Information and Communications Research Laboratories, and David Gesbert, Director at EURECOM. Under the MoU, both parties will work together on exploring the opportunities in 6G technology through regular exchanges of talents, seminars, and joint research proposals. Dr. Ting indicated that the collaboration aims to bring new opportunities to Taiwan's industries through the joint development of advanced technologies. Potential areas include JCAS technology which facilitates the integration of radar perception for the base station industry, RIS technology which meets the energy-saving and low-power consumption requirements of leading communication companies, and Open RAN architecture which enables seamless software and hardware security interconnectivity. Dr. Ting expected that the deepened partnership with the EU in technological and industrial development will empower Taiwan to grasp key technology in 6G and position itself at the forefront of the market. EURECOM, which has been training engineering students from universities for thirty years, boasts cutting-edge research and innovation in digital science including communication technology. Navid Nikaein, Professor at EURECOM and Co-founder of OpenAirInterface, anticipated that 6G will become a crucial field in the future with the continuous evolution of the industry. This year, Prof. Nikaein was invited to Taiwan as a speaker at the 2023 Open RAN Workshop and was impressed by the research capabilities and vision of ITRI. He believes that through the collaboration with ITRI, both parties will bring in new 6G technologies. The 2023 EuCNC & 6G Summit, themed "6G for a Green and Digital Transition", took place from June 6 to 9 at the Swedish Exhibition and Congress Centre. The event not only serves as an annual gathering in the field of communication systems and networks in Europe but also provides an excellent platform for countries across the world to demonstrate their latest technological developments. ITRI, a member of the Taiwan MOEA DoIT delegation for this event, has successfully showcased its R&D achievements in JCAS, RIS, AI-native networks, and Open RAN ecosystem. It is expected that through ITRI's networking efforts, potential partners can be identified and reached for cooperation on EU project proposals, enabling Taiwanese industry to become a strategic innovation partner with the European Union, fostering close cooperation and partnership. About ITRI Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) is one of the world's leading technology R&D institutions aiming to innovate a better future for society. Founded in 1973, ITRI has played a vital role in transforming Taiwan's industries from labor-intensive into innovation-driven. To address market needs and global trends, it has launched its 2030 Technology Strategy & Roadmap and focuses on innovation development in Smart Living, Quality Health, and Sustainable Environment. It also strives to strengthen Intelligentization Enabling Technology to support diversified applications. Over the years, ITRI has been dedicated to incubating startups and spinoffs, including well-known names such as UMC and TSMC. In addition to its headquarters in Taiwan, ITRI has branch offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan in an effort to extend its R&D scope and promote international cooperation across the globe. For more information, please visit https://www.itri.org/eng. SOURCE Industrial Technology Research Institute Creates Blueprint for How Financial Institutions Can Significantly Strengthen the Security and Privacy of Customer Interactions While Also Dramatically Improving CX DENVER, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Journey.ai, Inc (DBA: Journey), a groundbreaking cybersecurity software business, has joined forces with Tradition Capital Bank, a leading community bank headquartered in Edina, Minnesota. This strategic partnership signifies a pivotal moment in the industry as both companies unite to redefine cybersecurity and digital transformation in the face of escalating data breaches and emerging threats from deepfakes and generative AI. Tradition Capital Bank's decision to select Journey as their trusted vendor and partner reflects the urgency for the financial service industry to rapidly innovate and safeguard their operations without sacrificing CX. By leveraging Journey's cutting-edge Zero Knowledge Network, Tradition Capital Bank aims to enhance customer interactions with greater access to multi-factor biometrics, user authentication and data protection from advanced encryption. Journey's technology enables financial institutions to instantly and biometrically authenticate a customer, fully protect the customer's privacy, protect data and transactions from fraud, and ensure compliance with corporate and regulatory guidelines all while delivering an enhanced customer experience. Real Impact: Tradition Capital Bank's customers will experience accelerated access to state-of-the-art solutions that empower them to engage with the bank seamlessly in person and through remote voice and digital channels. This transformation will provide unparalleled flexibility and convenience and ensure the highest levels of security to protect their valuable data in transactions such as wire transfers, change of address, or ACH. Tradition Capital Bank recognizes that their challenges to fight fraud while improving CX are shared among other community banks and credit unions nationwide. By investing in Journey, they are not only driving up the value of their investment through Journey's expansion in their market but also creating a direct line to help influence cutting-edge technology development that addresses their current and future needs. "We are delighted to partner with Tradition Capital Bank on this transformative journey," said Brett Shockley, CEO of Journey.ai. "Together, we will redefine the landscape of cybersecurity and digital transformation, setting new standards and empowering financial institutions to thrive in a rapidly evolving threat landscape." Journey's unique approach, powered by patented Zero Knowledge cryptography, grants the bank seamless access to the full array of smart device capabilities such as facial biometrics and document scanning, while standardizing how the bank requests, collects, encrypts, and routes sensitive information eliminating the need for intermediaries to see or store it. Journey's growing patent and trademark portfolio provides a solid foundation for its award-winning solutions and reinforces its commitment to safeguarding data. For media inquiries, please contact: Julie Runda Vice President of Marketing Communications [email protected] About Journey.ai, Inc (DBA: Journey): Journey.ai, Inc (DBA: Journey) is a trailblazing cybersecurity software business that sets the industry standard for safeguarding data and reimagining customer experiences. By leveraging their patented Zero Knowledge Network, Journey.ai, Inc empowers businesses to excel in an ever-changing landscape. With a customer-centric approach and a commitment to innovation, Journey.ai, Inc is redefining cybersecurity and digital transformation. About Tradition Capital Bank: Tradition Capital Bank is a leading community bank headquartered in Edina, Minnesota. Their strategic partnership with Journey.ai, Inc signifies their unwavering commitment to driving change and protecting their customers' data. Tradition Capital Bank's investment in Journey reinforces its position as an industry pioneer dedicated to staying ahead of emerging threats and delivering exceptional customer experiences. SOURCE Journey Complimentary program on Forage offers business, academic, and legal community opportunity to advise on a hypothetical initial public offering and learn more about working at a global law firm. NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Latham & Watkins LLP1 has launched the firm's newest Virtual Experience Program (VEP) on capital markets law. The free virtual program gives the business, academic, and legal communities the opportunity to represent the underwriters in an initial public offering (IPO), while learning about the nature of work at a global law firm. Participants will review corporate records, prepare an auditor "circle-up" on financial metrics, draft a principal stockholder table, and review a lock-up agreement in connection with an IPO. Ian Schuman, Global Chair of Latham's Capital Markets and Public Company Representation Practices, said: "We are proud to be recognized as the world's leading capital markets law firm for our trailblazing work on the most complex and innovative transactions in the US and globally. This program highlights the critical role capital markets lawyers play in supporting clients' growth and success, from IPO through their life as a public company. The Capital Markets VEP also underscores our commitment to fostering the next generation of talented lawyers." The Capital Markets VEP launch marks Latham's eighth program on Forage, an innovative, open-access platform connecting users with companies and law firms. It joins VEPs for Antitrust & Competition, Banking, Emerging Companies, Intellectual Property Litigation, Mergers & Acquisitions, Restructuring & Special Situations, and White Collar Defense & Investigations. Each program immerses participants in navigating legal issues in a transaction or litigation matter. "There are few opportunities for up-and-coming lawyers to gain a first-hand understanding of what the practice of law is really like," said Michele Penzer, Global Chair of Latham's Recruiting Committee. "By providing aspiring legal professionals from a wide diversity of backgrounds the virtual opportunities to gain practical legal experience, we are breaking down barriers and creating a more inclusive legal landscape." Since the program's inception in 2019, more than 60,000 individuals have participated worldwide. Fifty-five percent of program participants identify as female, and of the nearly 32,000 program participants in the US and the UK, more than half identify as a racial or ethnic minority. Latham numbers among the world's leading capital markets practices, consistently ranked at the top of the league tables for both the volume and value of our work. With more than 450 lawyers around the globe, we represent issuers, private equity investors, and investment banks, as well as founders, startups, and technology giants transforming industries. We are proud to be innovators at the leading-edge of the capital markets and to steer novel, landmark deals. To learn more about our Capital Markets Practice and careers at Latham, visit lwcareers.com. About Latham & Watkins (lw.com) Latham & Watkins delivers innovative solutions to complex legal and business challenges around the world. From a global platform, our lawyers advise clients on market-shaping transactions, high-stakes litigation and trials, and sophisticated regulatory matters. Latham is one of the world's largest providers of pro bono services, steadfastly supports initiatives designed to advance diversity within the firm and the legal profession, and is committed to exploring and promoting environmental sustainability. Notes to Editors 1 Latham & Watkins operates worldwide as a limited liability partnership organized under the laws of the State of Delaware (USA) with affiliated limited liability partnerships conducting the practice in France, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, and the United Kingdom and as an affiliated partnership conducting the practice in Japan. Latham & Watkins operates in Israel through a limited liability company, in South Korea as a Foreign Legal Consultant Office, and in Saudi Arabia through a limited liability company. Contacts Michele Penzer, Partner and Chair of Latham's Global Recruiting Committee, +1.212.906.1245 Ian Schuman, Partner and Global Chair of the Capital Markets and Public Companies Practices, +1.212.906.1894 SOURCE Latham & Watkins LITTLETON, Colo., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- 10x People , an international market leader and expert in Local Number Portability (LNP) software and services, has been selected as a winner of the acclaimed Colorado Companies to Watch 2023 . This statewide awards program acknowledges dynamic and thriving companies that play a vital role in fueling Colorado's economic growth. To receive this distinction, companies must be nominated by their peers, and are judged based on evidence of employment and revenue growth, business successes and unique strengths. Collectively, the winning companies generate significant employment opportunities and contribute millions of dollars to Colorado's economy. "We have always believed that Littleton provides the perfect environment for our company to thrive and grow, and this honor by Colorado Companies to Watch is a testament to the dedication and hard work our staff has put in over the years to contribute to the state's thriving technology sector," said Lisa Marie Maxson, CEO of 10x People. This year 10x People celebrates 10 years as an innovator and leader in telephone number management software-as-a-service solutions. With a roster of well-known clients, including Zoom, DISH Network, Lumen, T-Mobile and Twilio, 10X People's cutting-edge, cloud-native numbering solutions cater to businesses of all sizes. By providing user-friendly interfaces, OpenAPIs, and detailed analytics, the company helps businesses optimize their telecom operations and improve employee and customer satisfaction. About 10x People 10x People is a developer of custom software solutions, specializing in cloud-based numbering solutions and local number portability (LNP). Based in Littleton, Colorado, and currently celebrating its 10th year, 10x People provides expertise in numbering and inventory management and is widely considered the preeminent expert in the LNP space having been involved since the inception of number porting in 1996. With memberships in prestigious organizations such as the FCC North American Numbering Council, Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions, and the Numbering Administration Oversight Working Group (NAOWG), 10x People is committed to providing dependable products, services and support to its global customer base. For more information, visit www.10xpeople.com and follow us on Linkedin , Facebook and Instagram . SOURCE 10x People LLC BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. A new Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan has been appointed, Trend reports. Bakhtiyar Mammadov was appointed to this position. Nakhchivan-born, Mammadov previously worked as director of the SOCAR oil refinery. Recently, several people have been appointed to high-ranking positions in Nakhchivan. In February 2023, Saadat Bektashi was appointed as Chairperson of the Supreme Court of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. In May 2023, a military prosecutor has been appointed. By the order of the Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev, the duties of the military prosecutor of Nakhchivan were entrusted to the senior investigator for especially important cases of the investigative department of the Prosecutor General's Office Agil Akhundov. Back in April 2023, Deputy Special Representative of President of Azerbaijan in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic has been appointed. Samir Seyidahmedli took over this position. HOUSTON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lexitas, a leading provider of technology-enabled litigation services and a portfolio company of funds advised by Apax, announced its acquisition of Imagine Reporting. Founded in 2007, Imagine Reporting has built a reputation for providing highly personalized court reporting and record retrieval services for legal professionals throughout California and the rest of the country. "We are thrilled to welcome the highly regarded Imagine Reporting team to the Lexitas family. Sean Coletta and Nicole Braa have built an award- winning court reporting and litigation support business. Their comprehensive service offerings and culture fit perfectly within the Lexitas model. We look forward to welcoming their clientele, team members and reporter relationships to our company." said Gary Buckland, Chief Executive Officer at Lexitas. Sean Coletta, Chief Executive Officer, at Imagine Reporting said, "Over the past 15 years, Nic and I poured every ounce of ourselves into growing Imagine Reporting. That growth was always fueled by a commitment to personalized service and client satisfaction. When we made the decision to seek the support of a larger company, we were deliberate in who we engaged with. Lexitas shares our commitment to client care and forthright business practices. We are proud to join a team that prioritizes relationships with clients, employees, and reporters and look forward to all that awaits us in this new chapter." Founded in 1987, Lexitas is a leading national provider of legal support services to law firms, corporations, and insurance companies. Services include court reporting, record retrieval, process service, registered agent, legal staffing, document review and commercial contracts outsourcing. For more information visit https://lexitaslegal.com and https://www.imaginereporting.com/. SOURCE Lexitas GREVIE, Sweden, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As one of few companies in the world, Lindab will receive a test delivery of SSAB's fossil-free steel from the Hybrit research facility in September. Lindab will offer its customers a limited number of ventilation and building construction products made from fossil-free steel. Hybrit is a collaboration between SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall. Hybrit has developed a technology for hydrogen-based iron and steel production with the aim of establishing a fossil-free value chain from mine to finished steel products. The delivery that Lindab will receive comes from a test facility and is the only delivery that will take place before regular production starts in 2026. Lindab, in collaboration with selected customers, will offer circular ventilation ducts, with fittings, to the customers' projects. These will be the first ventilation ducts in the world made from fossil-free steel. Lindab will also offer selected roof and facade products in fossil-free steel, including SolarRoof with solar cells integrated in the roof. "For us, close co-operation with steel suppliers is of great importance for several reasons. It has helped us to secure deliveries to customers during times of steel shortage. Now it gives us the opportunity to get access to fossil-free steel. It is very pleasing that Lindab's customers will be the first with ventilation products in fossil-free steel", says Ola Ringdahl, President and CEO of Lindab. "Lindab aims to create a better climate, partly by contributing to a better indoor climate with our products, and partly by contributing to a better global climate by working in a sustainable way. Steel has a major environmental impact and being part of the development of fossil-free steel is one of our most important sustainability activities. We participate as a volume guarantor and thus make the projects possible to implement. The fact that we are now the first ventilation company in the world to offer fossil-free products makes me very proud", says Matilda Isaksson, Group Sustainability Manager for Lindab. Lindab's selected range of fossil-free steel products will be available starting in autumn 2023. Contacts: Ola Ringdahl President and CEO E-mail: [email protected] Phone: +46 (0) 431 850 00 Catharina Paulcen Head of Corporate Communications E-mail: catha[email protected] Mobile: +46 (0) 701 48 99 65 Matilda Isaksson Group Sustainability Manager E-mail: [email protected] Mobile: +46 (0) 72 353 44 61 The following files are available for download: SOURCE Lindab MIAMI, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lionfield Capital is pleased to announce the acquisition of Mudshare, a leading Civictech company powering the enhanced deliverability and compliance of marketing communications for political, nonprofits, advocacy, and select retail customers. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Mudshare + Lionfield Capital Founded in 2014 by David Cerrone, the Company started as a geofencing technology provider for municipalities in New Jersey and became a trailblazing Civictech communications software platform that facilitates engagement, fundraising and awareness through its unique SwaS model (Software with a Service). "We are dedicated to prioritizing our customers, and we are thrilled about partnering with Lionfield Capital. This collaboration will allow us to amplify our reach, resources and capabilities to better serve our existing and future clients. We look forward to the success of our partnership and welcome the Principals of Lionfield to join us on the team in a dedicated capacity to help drive value to our customers." stated David Cerrone, founder of Mudshare. With this acquisition, the Company is expected to open its new headquarters in Miami, FL to benefit from the dynamic and business-friendly tech ecosystem. The Company intends to augment its workforce and retain all employees and collaborators post-transaction to catalyze growth and focus on product and market expansion. "We are proud to partner with David and the team at Mudshare. The Company's core capabilities are rooted in technology, compliance, and service and while the current specialization is in texting, e-mail, and voice communications, the Company is strategically positioned to leverage its data capabilities and infrastructure and expand to select product adjacencies." said Adan Sierra, Managing Partner at Lionfield Capital. "In this exhilarating journey, we stand grateful for the alliance with David and the exceptional team at Mudshare. Together, we'll forge the path to more meaningful connections, magnifying the power of communications for impactful civic causes. Capitalizing on Mudshare's strong foundations and conserving what has been built, we'll continually innovate, and propel our customers and their businesses to unprecedented heights of success." said Rodrigo Zuloaga, Managing Partner at Lionfield Capital. About Mudshare (www.mudshare.com): Marketing technology company based out of New Jersey. Through its proprietary software, the company serves political campaigns, nonprofits, advocacy groups, and retail customers enabling their data aggregation and marketing communications with a specialization in peer-to-peer texting, email and voice solutions. The company is focused on enhanced deliverability and helping its customers navigate the ever-evolving mobile communications landscape for organizations looking to reach constituents and expand their audiences compliantly. About Lionfield Capital (www.lionfieldcap.com): Lionfield Capital is a private investment company based out of Florida. The fund is led by Adan Sierra and Rodrigo Zuloaga (the "Principals") and is backed by a seasoned group of institutional investors, family offices and high net worth individuals with vast operating and investing experience in technology companies. The mandate of the firm is to acquire and operate one platform company. The Principals are entrepreneurial-minded executives with robust experience across several industries (20+ years of combined experience), a complimentary skillset and significant overlap in principles and values. SOURCE Lionfield Capital Nvidia and Apple technologies enable LlamaZOO technology partners like Acuity Brands to visualize, manage and collaborate using their data like never before Images and broll can be found here . VICTORIA, BC, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - LlamaZOO , a spatial business intelligence provider, today announced the beta release of its digital twin editing software, Clarity Digital Twin (ClarityDT) , which creates immersive, real-time replicas of physical assets. The software utilizes advanced computing technologies from Nvidia and can be experienced on desktops, tablets, VR headsets, and soon, Apple Vision Pro . By analyzing data from various sources, including satellite imaging and physical mapping, organizations can create 3D replicas of assets like manufacturing facilities, entire geographies, mines, and much more, to streamline operations. The ClarityDT beta program allows users to start working within their digital twin using mixed reality in a matter of days. Industrial technology company Acuity Brands is already leveraging the software to further enhance its Atrius portfolio of cloud applications for intelligent spaces. Industrial enterprises can register for the ClarityDT beta program now to be one of the first to explore their data on Apple's new spatial computer. A mining client running their data on LlamaZOOs spatial platform ClarityDT, will be able to easily and intuitively visualize on the Apple Vision Pro. (CNW Group/LlamaZOO Interactive Inc.) "Pairing LlamaZOO's new ClarityDT technology with Nvidia and the Apple Vision Pro headset creates an incredibly powerful visualization tool that transcends language and simplifies subject matter and domain specific knowledge - its impact is beyond compare," said Charles Lavigne, CEO of LlamaZOO. "Integrating this spatial technology breaks down barriers, accelerating business decisions by providing real-time shared experiences and understanding of data." Traditional pen-and-paper methods dominate around 70% of industrial processes, leading to errors, misinterpretation, and inefficiencies. Moreover, conventional data analysis tools often struggle to handle spatial data, hindering effective decision-making. By harnessing ClarityDT, businesses and industries can now revolutionize their data visualization, management, and collaboration. For example: Intelligent spaces. ClarityDT provides a data visualization layer. The software can be used by industrial technology companies like Acuity Brands to unlock operational efficiencies for its customers. Acuity Brands is connecting Atrius DataLab , the company's open data platform that enables building management at scale, with ClarityDT to deliver applications that improve location awareness and provide building insights monitoring. These best in class applications, built on top of a single platform, give customers better access to their data while helping them optimize how their buildings perform. "For the last year and a half we've been working with LlamaZOO to explore how Atrius DataLab could be extended and visualized as a 3D spatial digital twin," said Sandeep Modhvadia, Vice President of Product Management, Atrius, Acuity Brands. "The ClarityDT beta technology is a great opportunity to see this extension come to life. We are excited to continue our technology partnership with LlamaZOO so that we can offer solutions to the market that take advantage of this impressive technology." Ecological disaster management. Forest fires and flooding incidents are increasing around the world. ClarityDT can visualize digital twins of high-risk areas with integrated real-time data to support mitigation and prevention efforts. Governments and other sectors can leverage the software in real-time to better understand the extent of damage, anticipate future risks, and develop prevention plans and solutions. Forest fires and flooding incidents are increasing around the world. can visualize digital twins of high-risk areas with integrated real-time data to support mitigation and prevention efforts. Governments and other sectors can leverage the software in real-time to better understand the extent of damage, anticipate future risks, and develop prevention plans and solutions. Streamlining production lines in manufacturing. ClarityDT can create a digital twin of a physical production facility, merging real-time data collection and physics-based simulations for faster problem detection and improved business intelligence. A collaboration between LlamaZOO and Latecoere Aerostructures Canada digitized industrial production lines for aircraft parts, driving digital tools for spatial planning and asset tracking. can create a digital twin of a physical production facility, merging real-time data collection and physics-based simulations for faster problem detection and improved business intelligence. A collaboration between LlamaZOO and Latecoere Aerostructures Canada digitized industrial production lines for aircraft parts, driving digital tools for spatial planning and asset tracking. Land & project planning . ClarityDT provides the common framework for immersive collaboration between stakeholders across geographies. The use of an up-to-date digital twin in land and project planning saves time by reducing site visits, facilitates informed decision making, and creates efficiencies not possible with traditional methods. . provides the common framework for immersive collaboration between stakeholders across geographies. The use of an up-to-date digital twin in land and project planning saves time by reducing site visits, facilitates informed decision making, and creates efficiencies not possible with traditional methods. Indigenous land & tenure management. ClarityDT accelerates progress already made in land use strategy and planning between Indigenous communities and industry. Using their digital twin, Indigenous communities can better visualize and immerse themselves in their land to collaborate and facilitate land use consultation processes through interactive engagement. Applications to participate in the ClarityDT beta program are now open for early access to industrial and land based resource operators who want to experience the innovative features and capabilities of the platform. The ClarityDT platform will be available globally in the first half of 2024, coinciding with the release of the Apple Vision Pro headset. To learn more and register for the program, visit https://llamazoo.com/clarity-dt/. Quotes Christoph Schilling, Manager of Business Development & Forestry, FPInnovations - "FPInnovations has partnered with LlamaZOO on a number of projects in the past years, with various use cases in the forest sector, working with industry and Indigenous communities. We see great potential and applications in using digital twinning and spatial visualization in supporting the forest sector in land use planning, resource management, and community engagement. Further enhancing the visual experience through ClarityDT and Apple Vision Pro will strengthen these use cases." Laura Petrescue, Director, Engineering & Quality, Latecoere Aerostructures Canada (formerly Avcorp) - "As part of our collaboration in the Learning Factory Digital Twin Supercluster project, we've seen considerable advances in LlamaZOO's ClarityDT solution and experienced its growth in a variety of use-cases. We look forward to our continued dive into the world of digitalization with LlamaZOO, and their ClarityDT product, and are excited to see our facility digital twin on the Apple Vision Pro." About LlamaZOO LlamaZOO is an industry leader in spatial data and digital twin solutions. The ClarityDT platform empowers industries by providing them with the tools to handle complex and disparate data, enabling them to gain valuable insights and make better informed decisions. LlamaZOO's solutions have earned the trust of major companies around the world, including those in mining, energy, manufacturing, and property development. Visit: www.LlamaZOO.com, Twitter or LinkedIn. Media Contacts: LlamaZOO Media Contacts: Maddie Davidson 604-358-0011 [email protected] Larissa Dundon 604-649-5506 [email protected] Acuity Brands Media Contact: Katherine Verducci 408-429-5779 [email protected] SOURCE LlamaZOO Interactive Inc. PARIS, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin, Korea Aerospace Industries and Red 6 today announced they have begun developing engineering solutions and a technology roadmap to establish an implementation path for Red 6's Advanced Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS), into the T-50 platform and associated ground-based training systems. Initial technology integration includes a T-50 demonstrator and the Red 6 ATARS technology that is electronically networked with the Lockheed Martin Prepar3D software simulation suite. This early engineering solution provides Lockheed Martin and Red 6 additional experience in integrating simulations which could eventually comprise embedded training for the T-50 program and ground-based training systems. "ATARS addresses the critical training inefficiencies in today's training platforms. There has never been a training environment in which you can combine virtual assets being visually represented in the real outdoor world, and the opportunity to overlay this training into ground-based training, until now," says Daniel Robinson, founder and CEO at Red 6. ATARS is a multi-node, all-domain augmented reality (AR) system that delivers a complete outdoor synthetic training environment for multiple users. Red 6 technology allows pilots to experience the cognitive loads of physically flying airplanes while capturing the value of synthetics by enabling them to enter realistic, scalable in range and ratio, secure, simulated training environments while airborne in the most dynamic of outdoor environments. "Our vision is to help our customers leverage emerging technologies to seamlessly and securely connect all assets for joint missions, and enable fast and decisive action," said Aimee Burnett, vice president, Business Development for the Integrated Fighter Group at Lockheed Martin. "Lockheed Martin has made significant advances in digital engineering and built strategic partnerships that are enabling us to accelerate development across our platforms. "One such example is continued integration with Red 6 as we look to build advanced 21st Century Security capabilities that support our customers' needs," Burnett continued. Burnett added the T-50 program remains in demand around the world. Lockheed Martin recently submitted the TF-50A variant for the U.S. Air Force's trainer program to serve three near-term missions including tactical training, adversary air support and tactical fighter surrogate. The TF-50A is configured as a light attack fighter/trainer with additional enhancements to include radar, electronic warfare system, tactical data link and other capabilities to meet Air Combat Command requirements. Lockheed Martin also submitted the TF-50N variant for the U.S. Navy's trainer program. The TF-50N is uniquely configured to meet multiple U.S. Navy missions including pilot landing qualification, adversary air, training/chase and tactical surrogate. While the ATARS system is initially targeted for the T-50 program, it could eventually be applied to operational Lockheed Martin platforms such as the F-16, F-22 and F-35. Red 6 is a Lockheed Martin Ventures portfolio company. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin Corporation is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 116,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. Please follow @LMNews on Twitter for the latest announcements and news across the corporation. About Red 6 Red 6, founded in 2018, is the creator of Advanced Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS), and Augmented Reality Command and Analytic Data Environment (ARCADE). Red 6 systems are the first wide field-of-view, full color demonstrably proven outdoor augmented reality solution that operates in dynamic outdoor environments. Together, they bring virtual and constructive assets into the real-world by allowing pilots and ground operators to see synthetic threats in real-time, outdoors, and critically, in high-speed environments. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1954774/Lockheed_Martin_Logo.jpg SOURCE Lockheed Martin Aeronautics 'Fierce Consumer Champion' Began at CUB Answering Hotline, Later Built Nation-leading Outreach Program, Now Ready to Fight for Consumers in Historic Clean Energy Transition CHICAGO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sarah Moskowitz, who during a two-decade career at the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) has advocated for thousands of utility customers and pioneered the group's nation-leading Outreach program, will now head Illinois' top utility watchdog, succeeding David Kolata, who concludes an acclaimed 18-year tenure at the organization's helm, the CUB Board of Directors announced Tuesday. Kolata, who is leaving for a new leadership position in the clean energy industry, enthusiastically endorsed Moskowitz, formerly the group's Deputy Directorand the CUB Board voted unanimously for her appointment. "First and foremost, Sarah is a fierce consumer champion," said CUB Board President Robert Craig Neff. "Her longtime experience advocating for utility customers and leading many of CUB's key consumer initiatives, plus her strong grasp of energy policy, made her an overwhelmingly popular choice by the Board and the CUB staff to lead the consumer group into a new era." Moskowitz will be CUB's fourth executive director, after Kolata, Martin Cohen and Sue Stewart. "I am honored and excited to carry on CUB's legacy and lead the important consumer advocacy work for utility customers in Illinois," Moskowitz said. "I am grateful to my CUB colleagues and the thousands of utility customers I've worked with over the yearsthey made me a better consumer advocate and have prepared me to lead CUB at this key moment. As we challenge unprecedented rate hikes and help usher in the clean energy future, Illinois consumers need a tough consumer advocate in their corner. Our team is up to this historic task." Kolata, who is becoming vice president of policy at Sealed, a climate tech company that designs, manages, and finances home weatherization and electrification projects, described Moskowitz as the perfect choice to lead CUB at this moment in Illinois utility history. CUB is challenging a record $3.7 billion in electric and gas rate hikes, and is working to implement the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), groundbreaking energy legislation that aims to power Illinois with 100 percent clean energy by 2045. "I'm proud of what CUB has accomplished, and although it's sad to leave, I know the consumer group will be stronger than ever under Sarah's leadership," said Kolata, who first came to CUB in 2001 and became its executive director in 2005. "Sarah is a lifetime consumer advocate who loves wrestling with the question of how energy policy can better serve consumers. Her deep experience filling several key CUB rolesincluding her start answering the Consumer Hotline and her years traveling the state as the leader of the Outreach teamhas given her a profound understanding of the needs of Illinois utility consumers. CUB is in great hands." Under Kolata's leadership, CUB successfully advocated for historic legislation, such as the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) and CEJA, and increased the amount it has saved consumers to more than $20 billion. Moskowitz began at CUB even before Kolata, and she was a key player in the group's consumer victories over the last two decades. After graduating with honors from the University of Chicago in 2000, Moskowitz served a two-year stint staffing CUB's Consumer Hotline, which handles thousands of inquiries a year from sometimes desperate customers with complaints about their utility bills. She scaled back to working one day a week doing administrative tasks while she attended grad school, and returned to CUB full-time in 2006 after receiving a Master's Degree in the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration. Moskowitz spent the next 13 years building CUB's Outreach program into a national leader in consumer education that staffed 400 to 500 free events a year across the state of Illinois. The events, including CUB's popular utility bill clinics, help customers process complaints against their utilities, warn consumers about energy rip-offs peddled by alternative suppliers and counsel people on how energy efficiency and other clean energy programs can lower their utility bills. Moskowitz and CUB's Outreach team played leading roles in several cutting-edge initiatives that made the watchdog a national leader in educating consumers on how clean energy can cut utility bills. That included hundreds of Smart Grid educational events; an online energy efficiency tool called CUB Energy Saver; CUB Energy Responder, a demand-response program tailored to curb the energy use of plug-in appliances; and CUB's solar group-buy programs, which have used volume discounts to help participants install solar panels and cut their bills by hundreds of dollars a year. By the time Moskowitz became CUB Deputy Director in 2019, working closely with Kolata and the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition to help pass CEJA, she had helped orchestrate hundreds of educational programs and events, and had personally handled thousands of consumer inquiries, showing people how to cut their utility bills by hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. Citizens Utility Board (CUB) is Illinois' leading nonprofit utility watchdog group. Created by the Illinois Legislature, CUB opened its doors in 1984 to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. Since then, CUB has saved consumers more than $20 billion by helping to block rate hikes and secure refunds. For more information, call CUB's Consumer Hotline at 1-800-669-5556 or visit CUB's award-winning website, www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org . SOURCE Citizens Utility Board Availability supports LP's mission to provide an innovative and sustainable portfolio of high-quality products that help customers build beautiful, durable homes NASHVILLE, Tenn., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- LP Building Solutions (LP), a leading manufacturer of high-performance building products, today announced the expansion of its LP SmartSide Trim & Siding product line into California through a partnership with International Wood Products (IWP) and Taiga Building Products. The company's return to California means products within the LP portfolio are now available to customers nationwide. "LP's dedication to help solve industry challenges through innovation is exemplified by our range of cutting-edge products," said LP Executive Vice President and General Manager of Siding Jason Ringblom. "Our return to California and nationwide distribution reinforces the company's commitment to providing dependable and durable building solutions to meet evolving industry needs." The quality and durability of the LP SmartSide Trim & Siding and LP Structural Solutions products, combined with the company's nationwide distribution network helps to benefit builders, contractors and installers across the U.S. Through this expansion, builders now have access to products that will give them the opportunity to build stronger and faster while positively impacting the environment due to the carbon-negative properties of LP SmartSide Trim & Siding. For more information about LP's innovative products and its purpose of Building a Better World, visit lpcorp.com/showcase. About LP Building Solutions As a leader in high-performance building solutions, Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP Building Solutions, NYSE: LPX) manufactures engineered wood products that help meet the demands of builders, remodelers and homeowners worldwide. LP's extensive portfolio of innovative and dependable products includes Siding Solutions (LP SmartSide Trim & Siding, LP SmartSide ExpertFinish Trim & Siding, LP BuilderSeries Lap Siding and LP Outdoor Building Solutions), LP Structural Solutions (LP TechShield Radiant Barrier, LP WeatherLogic Air & Water Barrier, LP Legacy Premium Sub-Flooring, LP FlameBlock Fire-Rated Sheathing, LP NovaCore Thermal Insulated Sheathing and LP TopNotch 350 Durable Sub-Flooring) and oriented strand board (OSB). In addition to product solutions, LP provides industry-leading customer service and warranties. Since its founding in 1972, LP has been Building a Better World by helping customers construct beautiful, durable homes while shareholders build lasting value. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, LP operates 22 plants across the U.S., Canada, Chile and Brazil. For more information, visit LPCorp.com. SOURCE LP Building Solutions MagLev Aero recently emerged from stealth with its proprietary MagLev HyperDrive aero propulsion platform, underpinned by more than 20 issued patents GE Additive is working with the company as it develops its novel MagLev HyperDrive electric aero propulsion technology and platform to enable ultraquiet electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft MagLev Aero's strategy is to collaborate with major aerospace OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers and has received support from prominent industry leaders and technology investors, including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Material Impact, Stage 1 Ventures, Grit Capital and Moai Capital, among others BOSTON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MagLev Aero an aerospace innovator with more than 20 issued patents underpinning a breakthrough propulsion platform that will enable the next generation of ultraquiet electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft is announcing it has selected GE Additive's AddWorks consultancy team to support the development of additive technologies and materials for its proprietary MagLev HyperDrive aero propulsion platform. MagLev Aero and GE Additive executives at Paris Air Mobility at the Paris Air Show With a novel engineering approach, MagLev Aero is solving critical challenges in urban eVTOL business models, practicality and deployment. The unique MagLev HyperDrive applies the same fundamental principles that drive ultrafast, ultraquiet, high-efficiency maglev trains, but in a circular rotor. This approach has the potential to deliver less noise, more payload, elevated safety and compelling industrial design for high-efficiency electric aircraft. "We're honored to have been chosen by MagLev Aero," said David Chapin, AddWorks engineering leader. "The eVTOL segment is rethinking commercial aerospace, both in terms of business model and technical innovation and creativity, and our team is looking forward to exploring how additive manufacturing can play a role in this emerging industry." "This is a major step for MagLev Aero, and we are thrilled to harness the power of GE Additive's extensive industry experience, cutting-edge metal additive manufacturing techniques and proven track record of designing and fabricating additive manufactured propulsion components that satisfy the stringent requirements of aerospace certification," said Ian Randall, co-founder and CEO of MagLev Aero. MagLev Aero's propulsion-first business model allows its platform to be integrated into different OEMs' aircraft concepts and eVTOLs, enabling industrial design elements and use cases previously thought impossible with traditional rotor technology. The first generation of eVTOLs has achieved tremendous milestones, improving the viability of Urban Air Mobility. But the industry, to this point, has yet to solve the critical, real-world challenge of take-off and landing noise. MagLev Aero represents the next generation of electric, ultraquiet, high-performance and safe vertical lift propulsion that's necessary to bring clean energy flights to everyday people. "The MagLev HyperDrive platform represents a transformative step in vertical lift efficiency and aircraft design. By working with AddWorks' world-class consultants and engineers, we are leveraging advanced technologies and materials to achieve optimal strength and stiffness at the lightest weight on our mission to open up ultraquiet electric air mobility to the masses," said Rod Randall, MagLev Aero's co-founder and chairman. GE Additive is one of the first companies to be publicly announced as supporting MagLev Aero, driving the potential of additive manufacturing to unlock a new generation of eVTOL aircraft designs that achieve ultra-low noise operation not just in high-altitude cruise, but more importantly, in take-offs and landings to achieve community acceptance from the general public, as well as widespread accessibility. The company is actively in talks with major OEMs and is supported by technology investors and industry leaders who have endorsed its innovative approach, including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Material Impact, Stage 1 Ventures, Grit Capital and Moai Capital, among others. ABOUT MAGLEV AERO: MagLev Aero is on a mission to advance the future of zero emission air transportation with its proprietary electric MagLev HyperDrive aero propulsion platform that will enable the quietest, safest, highest performing and most visually engaging eVTOL passenger/cargo aircraft. Based in Boston and supported by some of the world's most prominent technology investors and industry leaders, the company is driven by a passion for innovation in engineering and design that will inspire emotional appeal and mass market demand for practical Urban Air Mobility services in communities across the country and the world. #MagLevHyperDrive ABOUT GE ADDITIVE: GE Additive part of GE (NYSE: GE) is a world leader in metal additive design and manufacturing, a pioneering process that has the power and potential to transform businesses. Through our integrated offering of additive experts, advanced machines and quality powders, we empower our customers to build innovative new products. Products that solve manufacturing challenges, improve business outcomes and help change the world for the better. GE Additive offers Direct Metal Laser Melting, Electron Beam Melting and Binder Jet metal additive technologies, as well as AddWorks consulting services, software and metal powders. www.ge.com/additive. SOURCE MagLev Aero 'Bio-Experiential Rooms,' Robot-Assisted Geriatric Consults with Cleveland Clinic, and AI-Enabled Fall Prevention Tech are Just Some of the Newest, Exciting Innovations in Senior Care CHICAGO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Maplewood Senior Living's Vice President of Health and Wellness, Brian Geyser, APRN-BC, MSN, was recently tapped by Lincoln Healthcare Leadership (LHL) - an organization dedicated to fostering innovation in senior living, long-term care, and home care - for inclusion in their newest symposium known as the Innovation Roundtable. The event took place in Chicago at LHL's HI2 Conference and brought together a hand-selected group of industry leading executives, representing the most forward-thinking companies in the senior living, home care, and skilled nursing sectors, for a first-of-its-kind Post-Acute Innovation Summit. Brian Geyser, Vice President of Health and Wellness, Maplewood Senior Living The cross-sector group boasted an all-star lineup of gamechangers in the industry who met with the highly accomplished Vin Gupta, MD, former Chief Medical Officer for New Product Design at Amazon, and current Chief Medical Officer for Amazon Pharmacy. The main goal of the summit is to bring executives from the post-acute space together with top leaders from big tech companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple to explore opportunities and address challenges in caring for our fast growing older adult population. The hope is that forums like this can help drive innovation; attract cutting-edge technology; forge partnerships with leading technology companies; and accelerate transformative opportunities for positive, scalable, and sustainable change. Dialogue explored the complexities of the post-acute continuum, spanning home care, home health, skilled nursing facilities, independent living communities, assisted living, memory care, and hospice. "The event served as an unparalleled opportunity to interact with other colleagues from senior living, skilled nursing, and home care, along with a highly influential voice in health tech," Geyser noted. "These meetings will allow us to educate technology thought leaders about the challenges and opportunities in the post-acute continuum." Among the critical takeaways were the need to further the implementation of ambient AI technologies in senior living residences, such as Inspiren's AUGi (an AI-enabled fall prevention and "care assistant" technology currently in use at Maplewood's Inspir Carnegie Hill property in Manhattan; Maplewood at Stony Hill in Connecticut; and soon Inspir Embassy Row in Washington, D.C., which is opening in 2024. Technologies like AUGi hold the promise to transform the understanding of resident and staff behavior, enhance diagnostics, and improve health outcomes. The group also touched on the challenges within senior care, especially for the growing 65-plus population, highlighting the potential role of big tech in addressing these issues. For his part, Geyser is looking forward to continuing his innovation work at Maplewood, where they are experimenting with initiatives like evidence-based, tech enabled 'bio-experiential rooms,' robot-assisted geriatric consults with Cleveland Clinic, and onsite fully integrated geriatric-focused primary care with Nuvance Health. "We are honored to be part of the Innovation Roundtable, which, like Maplewood, is dedicated to driving innovation and creating meaningful solutions that enhance the lives of our residents and the broader senior living and senior care community," said Geyser. The Innovation Roundtable will convene two times per year with the next meeting scheduled for early 2024. About Maplewood Senior Living: Maplewood Senior Living is a leading provider of senior living communities, offering exceptional independent living, assisted living, memory care, and respite care services. With a commitment to resident well-being, innovative programming, and high-quality care, Maplewood Senior Living sets the standard for excellence in senior living. For media inquiries, please contact: Alyson Grala Hundred Stories PR [email protected] 201.906.4643 SOURCE Maplewood Senior Living LONGMONT, Colo., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), a private, non-profit oceanographic research center, is working with 3D at Depth, the global leader in commercial subsea LiDAR laser technology, to deliver a new design for a next generation Subsea Lidar customized for marine science applications. If successful, fabrication of the next generation system will begin later this year. Initial testing of Wide Swatch Subsea Lidar (WiSSL) system at MBARI's research facilities in Moss Landing, California. The two lidar heads produce separate but overlapping scans of the seafloor forming a single swath as the ROV moves along survey tracks. The test structures shown here were used to validate the resolution and accuracy of the system. Lidar technology from 3D at Depth is part of MBARI's Low-Altitude Survey System, which can map and visualize the deep seafloor at centimeter scale. Credit: Todd Walsh 2018 MBARI MBARI began testing 3D at Depth's technology with the first-generation subsea LiDAR system (the SL1) in 2013 and incorporated the sensor into the institute's Low-Altitude Survey System (LASS) that can be attached to MBARI's remotely operated vehicles to map and image the deep ocean floor. In 2017, 3D at Depth delivered a 4000m depth rated Wide Swath Subsea LiDAR (WiSSL) to meet the custom requirements for MBARI's seabed mapping work. Starting in 2018, MBARI's Seafloor Mapping Lab has used the WiSSL and LASS to map a variety of seafloor features and habitats at centimeter scale, including methane gas seeps, faults, submarine canyons, deep-sea coral and sponge communities, octopus brooding sites, and high-temperature hydrothermal vents. MBARI's mission is to advance marine science and engineering to understand a changing ocean. Visualizing the structure of the seafloor is critical to understanding the biology and ecology of the ocean. The success of the WiSSL and LASS has allowed MBARI and 3D at Depth to demonstrate the benefits of efficient 1-cm-scale swath mapping in the deep ocean. Ultimately, MBARI plans to incorporate the low-altitude survey capability on autonomous platforms to achieve efficient centimeter-scale surveys of the deep ocean floor. To this effort, MBARI is collaborating with 3D at Depth to develop the next generation system that provides enhanced capabilities in a smaller package capable of AUV deployments. Dave Caress, Principal Investigator for MBARI's Seafloor Mapping Lab, states, "Our desire to achieve 1-cm-scale surveys of areas with complex and rugged terrain requires generating precise bathymetry over altitudes from 2-m to 10-m, while our need for efficient use of expensive platforms requires a scan rate and a field of view comparable to other swath mapping sensors. Achieving this performance with a LiDAR that is smaller, lighter, and uses less power will enable us to integrate the system into smaller subsea vehicles, and ultimately to make fundamental new observations in the deep ocean in support of our benthic ecology and marine geology research programs." Carl Embry, CEO of 3D at Depth, states, "We are excited that a research organization such as MBARI continues to use and invest in our technology to meet one of their strategic goals. These projects are truly a win-win for both organizations as it provides MBARI with a tool to meet their scientific goals and this helps us accelerate the development of our next generation Subsea LiDAR (SL) systems for moving AUVs and ROVs." Usage guidelines: Image may only be used for media coverage of 3D at Depth's press release (MBARI Collaborates with 3D at Depth on a New Detailed Design of the Next Generation Subsea Lidar Customized for Scientific Research). Image may not be added to any stock library and any additional use requires MBARI permission. Questions may be referred to [email protected]. Issued on behalf of 3D at Depth by HHE Business. For more information, please contact Martine Watker [email protected] / [email protected] or +44 7828828216 Notes to Editors 3D at Depth is the world's foremost commercial leader in advanced subsea LiDAR laser technology. Its advanced Subsea LiDAR laser (SL) systems and subsea survey services enable clients to extract more value from underwater 3D data. Through advanced data collection, processing, visualization, and analysis, 3D at Depth provides accurate, repeatable, millimetric 3D point clouds to help measure, map, and evaluate underwater assets and environments. The firm supports customer survey operations globally from its bases in Europe and the United States. To learn more and gain insight into the range of solutions and services provided by 3D at Depth, visit www.3datdepth.com, LinkedIn, and 3D at Depth on Twitter and Instagram. For more information visit: https://www.3datdepth.com PR & Marketing contact: 3D at Depth Martine Watker, Marketing Communications at 3D at Depth / HHE Business +44 7828 828216 SOURCE 3D at Depth, Inc. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. The information that Azerbaijani army units fired small arms at the civilian infrastructure in the Armenian village of Arazdeen on June 20, at 16:30 (GMT+4) is another lie of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, which does not correspond to reality, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan told Trend. "We categorically refute this information disseminated by the Armenian side," the ministry said. SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pride Month celebrates and honors the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan each June. The Stonewall Uprising was monumental for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. Pride Month celebrates everyone who champions LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and other related identities such as Two-Spirit. The percentage of U.S. adults who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or something other than heterosexual has increased to 7.2%, according to a 2022 Gallup poll. Being an active ally for the LGBTQIA+ community is not just about tolerance; it's about actively promoting acceptance, understanding, and equality. Kiana Shelton, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker with Mindpath Health in Katy, Texas. Generation Z adults, born between 1997 and 2004, are the most likely subgroup to identify as LGBTQ, with one in five adults doing so. Allies support the LGBTQIA+ community and advance LGBTQIA+ rights and acceptance. Being an active ally means taking intentional actions to advocate for and uplift the voices and rights of LGBTQIA+. Active allyship demonstrates a commitment to dismantling systemic injustices and actively promoting inclusivity. Allyship for the LGBTQIA+ community goes beyond simply displaying a rainbow sticker or symbol. While these symbols can be meaningful and visibly show support, true allyship requires ongoing learning, actions, and efforts to create a more inclusive and accepting society. Here are 10 tips on how to be an active ally and why it's crucial: Educate yourself. Start by educating yourself about the diverse experiences, challenges, and histories of the LGBTQIA+ community. Read books, articles, and personal stories. Watching documentaries and shows, We're Here, RuPaul's Drag Race, reading books, All about Love: New Visions and The Book of Pride: LGBTQ Heroes Who Changed the World, and listening to podcasts, Queer as Fact, provides deep insights for all generations. Attend workshops or webinars that delve into LGBTQIA+ issues. Engage with LGBTQIA+ activists, organizations, and community leaders. Do not rely on your LGBTQIA+ friends to educate you. Understanding their struggles and triumphs will help you develop empathy and knowledge to stand as an ally. Listen and amplify. Actively listen to the stories and experiences shared by LGBTQIA + individuals. Give them the space to express themselves without judgment. Amplify their voices by sharing their stories, art, or advocacy work on social media or within your network. Encourage others to do the same. Use inclusive language. Familiarize yourself with inclusive terminology and various pronouns. Respect and use individuals' pronouns and gender identities. Avoid assumptions or offensive language that might perpetuate stereotypes or invalidate their experiences. By using inclusive language, you create a more welcoming and respectful environment. Speak out against discrimination. The LGBTQIA + community is commonly affected by discriminatory remarks, actions, or policies. Use your privilege to address and dismantle homophobic, transphobic , or biphobic attitudes. Be prepared to have difficult conversations, offering factual information and personal perspectives to counter prejudice. Support LGBTQIA+ organizations and creators . Donate to LGBTQIA + organizations or volunteer your time. These organizations advocate for LGBTQIA + rights, provide resources, and offer safe spaces for community members. Be active in civic engagements. Engage with representatives who champion LGBTQIA + rights and equality. Advocate for inclusive policies and legislation. Practice intersectionality. Recognize that LGBTQIA + individuals can also face additional discrimination based on their race, religion, disability, or socioeconomic background. Embrace an intersectional approach, acknowledging and addressing the interconnected nature of multiple identities and experiences. Create safe and supportive spaces. LGBTQIA + individuals often face hostility and exclusion, leading to higher rates of mental health challenges, self-harm, and suicide. As an ally, you can create safe and supportive environments where LGBTQIA + individuals feel seen, heard, and valued. Your support can significantly impact their well-being, fostering a sense of belonging and acceptance. Celebrate and show up for LGBTQIA+ . Attend local events. Be conscious of your presence. Try not to overstep or overshadow others. Give yourself grace. Part of being a better ally is a willingness to keep learning. If you get someone's pronouns wrong, correct them and allow yourself space to relearn. Punishing yourself for mistakes will make it harder to learn and grow. Allyship is an ongoing process, not just a one-time gesture. It requires consistent support and effort, even after Pride Month. Allies commit to learning, growing, and challenging their own biases continuously. They recognize that their support is needed year-round, and they actively engage in creating long-lasting change. Being an active ally for the LGBTQIA+ community is not just about tolerance; it's about actively promoting acceptance, understanding, and equality. Active allyship empowers the LGBTQIA+ community and inspires others to join the cause, fostering a collective movement towards a more equitable and accepting world. Visit mindpath.com to learn more about gender-affirming mental health care treatment options. This article was written by Kiana Shelton, LCSW, a licensed clinical social worker with Mindpath Health in Katy, Texas. Mindpath Health is a leading provider of high-quality outpatient behavioral health services, offering in-person and telehealth visits. We coordinate care with primary care physicians and referring providers to ensure a focus on total health. Visit mindpath.com to partner with us. We have locations in Arizona, California, Florida, Minnestoa, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. We offer TMS in California, North Carolina, and Florida. Learn how TMS can help here. We offer Mindpath On Demand in North Carolina, providing urgent therapy and psychiatry. Schedule an appointment at mindpath.com. SOURCE Mindpath Health Webinar tomorrow Weds, June 21st at 2:00pm ET/11AM MDT CALGARY, AB, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Nanalysis Scientific Corp. ("the Company") (TSXV: NSCI) (OTCQX: NSCIF) (FRA: 1N1), a leader in portable NMR machines and MRI technology for industrial and research applications is pleased to invite investors and other interested parties to attend an upcoming interview with Market Radius Research. Martin Gagel of Market Radius Research and CEO Sean Krakiwsky and CFO Randall McRae are providing an update and outlook on Nanalysis' growth and opportunities. The webinar will be a live, interactive online event where attendees are invited to ask the Company questions in real-time following the interview. An archived webcast will be made available for those who cannot join the event live on the day of the webinar. Event: Radius Research Pitch, Deep Dive and Q&A with Nanalysis Scientific Corp. Presentation Date & Time: Wednesday, June 21st at 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT Webcast Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/7116867749801/WN_Lu3SPGS4S9mTrp7ZAuPQjA About Nanalysis Scientific Corp. (TSXV: NSCI, OTCQX: NSCIF, FRA: 1N1) Nanalysis' business is what we term "MRI and NMR for industry". The Company develops and manufactures portable Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometers or analyzers for laboratory and industrial markets. The NMReady-60 was the first full-feature portable NMR spectrometer in a single compact enclosure requiring no liquid helium or any other cryogens. The company has followed-up that initial offering with new products and continues to have a strong innovation pipeline. In 2020 Nanalysis announced the launch of its100MHz device, the most powerful and most advanced compact NMR device ever brought to market. Nanalysis' devices are used in many industries (oil and gas, chemical, mining, pharma, biotech, flavor and fragrances, agrochemicals, law enforcement, and more) as well as numerous government and university research labs around the world. The Company continues to exploit new global market opportunities independently and with partners. In 2022 the Company acquired K'(Prime) Technologies Inc. (K'Prime), a North American sales and service company which provides sales services for scientific instrumentation for pharma, food, chemical and oil & gas customers, as well as imaging systems for security applications. K'Prime's service organization provides airport and commercial security installation and maintenance solutions across North America. Additionally in 2022, the Company acquired a 43% ownership in Quad Systems AG ("Quad Systems"), a Zurich-based Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) company focused on high-field NMR for pharmaceutical and other vertical markets. About Radius Research Market Radius Research gives individual investors access to in-depth CEO interviews with deep-dive institutional level discussion and Q&A. Market Radius is hosted by Martin Gagel, former top-ranked technology analyst. By registering for this webinar, you agree to receive email communications from Market Radius Capital, Inc. and from the presenting company (with unsubscribe). Your email will not be further shared. Martin Gagel and Market Radius Capital, Inc. are not registered or licensed to provide investment advice and may own shares in mentioned companies and may be compensated for these services. Content is for information purposes only and is not advice or recommendations and may include incomplete or incorrect information. Investing entails a high degree of risk. This is a production of Market Radius Capital, Inc. Notice regarding Forward Looking Statements and Legal Disclaimer This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "anticipates", "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed", "positioned" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management 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 projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Nanalysis Scientific Corp. LAKEWOOD, Colo., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Just in time for summer, Natural Grocers, America's largest family-operated organic and natural grocery retailer proudly announces the introduction of its Natural Grocers Brand Sparkling Spring Water to the company's premium quality house brand. Customers looking to up their summer hydration needs at an Always Affordable PriceSM, can enjoy Natural Grocers Brand Sparkling Water in two bubbly sizes: 16 oz. and 25.3 oz. NATURAL GROCERS BRAND PRODUCTS SPARKLING WATER New Sparkling Spring Water from Natural Grocers, available in two sizes: 16 oz. and 25.3 oz. Tweet this Natural Grocers introduces Sparkling Water to its premium quality house brand. 100% unprocessed with natural electrolytes and minerals, bottled without additional additives (Including Fluoride), flavorings, colors or preservatives and packaged in non-BPA lined recyclable aluminum bottles. Sustainability, quality and community are behind every Natural Grocers Brand Product, including this new variety of Spring Water. "The new Sparkling Spring Water is from the same trusted supplier that has provided our bottled Spring Water since 2020. Bottled at the source in Idaho's pristine Rocky Mountain wildernesssustainability is the core principle of our producing partner's operations," said Raquel Isely, Vice President of Marketing at Natural Grocers. "Only 5% of the spring's daily output is collected, and the on-location, gravity-fed bottling system means a low energy footprintno electric pumps and no transport to a plant. As with our original Spring Water, all electrolytes and minerals are natural from the springs. The water is unprocessed and bottled without additional additives. Our Sparkling Spring Water's naturally occurring minerals and electrolytes are maintained throughout the production processincluding the injection of CO2, homogenization and bottling." The new products demonstrate a concerted effort to expand the Natural Grocers Brand Products line, established in 2016, which presently includes over 800 high-quality products, exclusively available at Natural Grocers stores. Learn more about Natural Grocers' Grocery Standards by clicking here. PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES 100% Unprocessed with Natural Electrolytes and Minerals Bottled Without Additional Additives (Including Fluoride), Flavorings, Colors or Preservatives Alkaline pH of 8.1-8.5 Packaged in non-BPA Lined Recyclable Aluminum Bottles Available in 16 oz. and 25.3 oz. RECENT ADDITIONS AND COMING SOON Recent additions to the Natural Grocers Brand Product Line include items such as four new scented varieties of Natural Grocers Brand Organic Epsom Salt Bath & Foot Soaks. Customers can expect to see more premium-quality additions at Always Affordable Prices to the house brand line, including Natural Grocers Brand Regeneratively Grown Organic Pasture-Raised Eggs and Natural Grocers Brand Regeneratively Grown Organic Free-Range Eggs, expected in stores this summer. Click here for a media kit featuring the new products, courtesy of Natural Grocers. To request media samples, or for any press-related questions, please contact Katie Macarelli : [email protected] . ABOUT NATURAL GROCERS Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. (NYSE: NGVC) is an expanding specialty retailer of natural and organic groceries, body care products, and dietary supplements. The products sold by Natural Grocers must meet strict quality guidelines and may not contain artificial colors, flavors, preservatives or sweeteners, or partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated oils. The Company sells only USDA-certified organic produce and exclusively pasture-raised, non-confinement dairy products, and free-range eggs. Natural Grocers' flexible smaller-store format allows it to offer affordable prices in a shopper-friendly, clean, and convenient retail environment. The Company also provides extensive free science-based Nutrition Education programs to help customers make informed health and nutrition choices. The Company, founded in 1955, has 166 stores in 21 states. Visit www.NaturalGrocers.com for more information and store locations. SOURCE Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. OAKVILLE, ON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Many of us have experienced the discomfort of canker sores those small, shallow ulcers that develop in the soft tissues of the mouth. While most heal naturally in a week or two, some people suffer from persistent or recurring canker sores, leading to constant pain and a diminished quality of life. Dentists are now stepping in with an arsenal of effective treatments to aid in the fight against these stubborn oral afflictions. Dr. Vini Bhandari Outdoors Dr. Vini Bhandari Headshot With over three decades of experience and a respected membership in the Canadian Dental Association, Dr. Vini Bhandari is at the forefront of providing relief for individuals plagued by canker sores. "There's no definitive cure for canker sores, but that doesn't mean you have to suffer in silence," says Dr. Bhandari. "A variety of treatment options exist to help manage pain, speed up healing time, and potentially prevent recurrence." One such approach is the use of topical products, like special mouth rinses or gels, to ease discomfort and reduce inflammation. "These treatments can be a game-changer for patients who previously had to endure the pain of canker sores until they healed on their own," says Dr. Bhandari. For more severe or stubborn cases, dentists may turn to laser treatment. This state-of-the-art solution uses a concentrated beam of light to minimize the pain and potentially accelerate the healing process of canker sores. "Laser treatment can be done in a single office visit, with no anesthesia required. Patients generally find it comfortable and are relieved when their canker sores heal quicker than they would naturally," adds Dr. Bhandari. It's not all about direct treatment, though. Dentists are also focusing on preventative measures. Identifying potential triggers, such as stress, certain foods, or underlying health conditions, and advising on lifestyle changes can be critical in reducing the frequency and severity of canker sores. Dr. Bhandari strongly urges individuals struggling with persistent canker sores to consult with their dentist. "Canker sores may seem like a minor nuisance, but if they're a regular part of your life, it's essential to seek professional help. Persistent canker sores can be an indication of an underlying health issue, like nutritional deficiencies or immune system disorders." The advent of these treatment and prevention strategies signals a significant shift in how dental medicine approaches the management of canker sores. The focus is on delivering immediate relief and long-term solutions to patients. If you or someone you know is struggling with persistent canker sores, consider reaching out to a dental professional today. Dr. Bhandari and his team are dedicated to bringing the highest level of dental care to their patients, and they stand at the forefront of treating and preventing persistent canker sores. Visit their clinic for a comprehensive oral health consultation. ABOUT DR. VINI BHANDARI Dr. Vini Bhandari, boasting over 30 years of experience, is a highly qualified dentist passionate about providing top-tier dental care. As an esteemed member of the Ontario Dental Association, he consistently keeps pace with the latest advances in dental treatment. He is deeply committed to offering the best solutions to his patients and improving their oral health. Dr Vini Bhandari, BSc DIH DDS IV Cons Sed www.bhandaridental.com https://www.facebook.com/BhandariDental/ https://www.instagram.com/bhandaridental/ Press Contact: Dr. Vini Bhandari 1-905-902-9000 [email protected]com SOURCE Dr. Vini Bhandari Industry Veteran Will Serve as EVP, National Sales TUSTIN, Calif., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- It's been a banner year for New American Funding, as the nationwide mortgage lender is celebrating its 20th anniversary and rolled out a fresh modern rebrand. NAF has also been in expansion mode in 2023, naming Pat Bolan its new Chief Production Officer as part of an effort to grow the company's retail sales. New American Funding Strengthens Sales Organization with Addition of Andy Pettola Now, the lender is ready to take the next step in those efforts. NAF is proud to announce that industry veteran Andy Pettola has joined the company as Executive Vice President, National Sales. Pettola brings more than 30 years of mortgage industry experience to his new role at NAF. Over the course of his career, Pettola has served in senior executive leadership positions in Wholesale, Retail, and Correspondent channels, and has a proven track record of building out sales and operational platforms both locally and nationally. While serving in those roles, Pettola set multiple corporate milestones in production, divisionally and nationally in multiple channels. Earlier in his career, Pettola was the owner of a retail broker shop for seven years and spent time in both processing and underwriting. "We are thrilled to welcome Andy to our company," NAF President Christy Bunce said. "Throughout his career, he's shown the ability to balance growth, profitability, and operational support, all while providing best-in-class service to his sales teams and clients alike. We are confident that Andy will use his expertise to take our sales organization to the next level." At NAF, Pettola will focus on growing sales and scaling operations in key strategic markets, as well as developing growth, competitive and profitability strategies globally. Pettola's culture-first leadership style will fit right in at NAF, which has been repeatedly honored for its culture, including being named to the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2023. About New American Funding New American Funding is an independent mortgage lender with a servicing portfolio of 246,000+ loans for approximately $64.9 billion and more than 170 nationwide locations. NAF was named #43 on the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2023. The company offers state-of-the-art career training and provides its branch Loan Officers with innovative technologies to streamline the mortgage process. SOURCE New American Funding Agenda Health Provides Customized Strategies to Achieve Business Objectives DALLAS, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Through a new partnership between Axxess, the leading technology innovator for healthcare at home, and Agenda Health, a healthcare mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory firm, Axxess clients can obtain M&A consultations to achieve their strategic business goals. Agenda Health uses a targeted matching approach that aligns with buying, selling or growing revenue. "Growth opportunities abound in the care at home industry," said Chris Taylor, senior vice president of channel partnerships at Axxess. "Through this partnership, Axxess clients will be able to leverage the insights of Agenda Health's team to determine the best path forward for their business." Agenda Health offers strategic M&A services to home health, medical and non-medical home care and hospice organizations. They also support the care at home industry by providing tools and resources that help maximize the value of healthcare M&A services. In 2022, the firm had more than 150 deals listed, many of which they expect to close before the end of this year. Added Agenda Health Founder and CEO Al Veach: "The Agenda team is passionate about identifying value-focused partners that care as much about the ultimate success of our clients as we do. Axxess has proven that commitment in the relationships they've built with their own customers by providing a high-quality solution built with clinicians in mind. We can be confident that anyone we introduce to Axxess will experience the same level of commitment that they are accustomed to getting from Agenda. For that reason, we are extremely excited about what this partnership brings to the owners of home-based healthcare businesses and look forward to partnering with Axxess to better serve our clients and theirs." About Axxess Axxess is the leading technology innovator for healthcare at home, focused on solving the most complex industry challenges. Trusted by more than 9,000 organizations that serve more than 3 million patients worldwide, Axxess offers a complete suite of easy-to-use software solutions that empower home health, home care, hospice, and palliative providers to make healthcare in the home human again. The company's collaborative culture focused on innovation and excellence is recognized nationally as a "Best Place to Work." About Agenda Health Agenda Health started with one mission to deliver consistent results with a faith-based, Christ-centered focus. Founded in 2008 and focused in healthcare services, Agenda Health is a leader in M&A advisory services. Our team of knowledgeable brokers has over 30 years of combined healthcare services experiences spanning home healthcare, hospice, home care and behavioral health. When you work with a member of our team, you can count on us to use our expertise with integrity to help you accomplish your goals. Contact: Johnathan Eaves (903)445-6969 [email protected] SOURCE Axxess NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- New York Life Investments today announced a name change for MainStay CBRE Global Infrastructure Megatrends Fund (the "Fund") (NYSE: MEGI) to MainStay CBRE Global Infrastructure Megatrends Term Fund. This name change is being made to better align the Fund's name with its existing limited term structure, and to increase awareness to the fact that there will be a liquidity event at net asset value for shareholders, either at the Termination Date (as indicated below) or in connection with an Eligible Tender Offer (as discussed below). The name change will be effective on or around June 30, 2023. There are no changes to the Fund's investment policy or strategy in conjunction with the name change. Ticker Current Fund Name New Fund Name Termination Date1 MEGI MainStay CBRE Global Infrastructure Megatrends Fund MainStay CBRE Global Infrastructure Megatrends Term Fund December 15, 2033 1 Pursuant to the terms of the Declaration of Trust, the Fund will commence the process of liquidation and dissolution at the close of business on December 15, 2033 (the "Termination Date"); provided that if the Board of Trustees of the Fund (the "Board") believes that, under then-current market conditions, it is in the best interests of the Fund to do so, the Termination Date may be extended: (i) once for up to one year and (ii) once for up to an additional six months (in the event of any such extension, the termination date shall be referred to as the "Extended Termination Date"), in each case upon the affirmative vote of a majority of the Board and without the approval of common shareholders. In addition, as of a date within twelve months preceding the Termination Date or the Extended Termination Date, the Board may cause the Fund to conduct a tender offer to all common shareholders to purchase common shares of the Fund at a price equal to the Fund's NAV per common share on the expiration date of the tender offer (an "Eligible Tender Offer"). The Board has established that, following an Eligible Tender Offer, the Fund must have at least $200 million of net assets to ensure the continued viability of the Fund. Following the completion of an Eligible Tender Offer, the Board may eliminate the limited term structure of the Fund and the Fund may continue as a perpetual closed-end fund, upon the affirmative vote of a majority of the Board and without the approval of common shareholders. If the payment for properly tendered Common shares would result in the Fund's net assets totaling less than $200 million, the Eligible Tender Offer shall be canceled, and the Fund would dissolve as set forth above. About New York Life Investments With over $670 billion in Assets Under Management* as of March 31, 2023, New York Life Investments is comprised of the affiliated global asset management businesses of its parent company, New York Life Insurance Company, and offers clients access to specialized, independent investment teams through its family of affiliated boutiques. New York Life Investments remains committed to clients through a combination of the diverse perspectives of its boutiques and a long-lasting focus on sustainable relationships. *Assets under management (AUM) includes assets of the investment advisers affiliated with New York Life Insurance Company, other than Kartesia Management, and Tristan Capital Partners, as of 12/31/2022. As of 12/31/2022 New York Life Investments changed its AUM calculation methodology, and AUM now includes certain assets, such as non-discretionary AUM, external fund selection, and overlay services, including ESG screening services, advisory consulting services, white labeling investment management services, and model portfolio delivery services, that do not qualify as Regulatory Assets Under Management, as defined in the SEC's Form ADV. AUM is reported in USD. AUM not denominated in USD is converted at the spot rate as of 12/31/2022. This total AUM figure is less than the sum of the AUM of each affiliated investment adviser in the group because it does not count AUM where the same assets can be counted by more than one affiliated investment adviser "New York Life Investments" is both a service mark, and the common trade name, of certain investment advisors affiliated with New York Life Insurance Company. About CBRE Investment Management CBRE Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC is the listed real assets arm of CBRE Investment Management, a leading global real assets investment management firm, with $148.9 billion in assets under management* as of March 31, 2023, operating in more than 30 offices and 20 countries around the world. Through its investor-operator culture, the firm seeks to deliver sustainable investment solutions across real assets categories, geographies, risk profiles and execution formats so that its clients, people and communities thrive. CBRE Investment Management is an independently operated affiliate of CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), the world's largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2022 revenue). CBRE has approximately 115,000 employees (excluding Turner & Townsend employees) serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE Investment Management harnesses CBRE's data and market insights, investment sourcing and other resources for the benefit of its clients. For more information, please visit www.cbreim.com. *Assets under management (AUM) refers to the fair market value of real assets-related investments with respect to which CBRE Investment Management provides, on a global basis, oversight, investment management services and other advice and which generally consist of investments in real assets; equity in funds and joint ventures; securities portfolios; operating companies and real assets-related loans. This AUM is intended principally to reflect the extent of CBRE Investment Management's presence in the global real assets market, and its calculation of AUM may differ from the calculations of other asset managers and from its calculation of regulatory assets under management for purposes of certain regulatory filings. This press release is not an offer to sell securities and is not a solicitation of an offer to buy securities, nor will there be any sales of securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. New York Life Investment Management LLC engages the services of SEC-registered advisors. CBRE Investment Management Listed Real Assets (CBRE Investment Management) is unaffiliated with New York Life Investments. The MainStay Funds are managed by New York Life Investment Management LLC and distributed by NYLIFE Distributors LLC, 30 Hudson Street, Jersey City, NJ 07302, a wholly owned subsidiary of New York Life Insurance Company. NYLIFE Distributors LLC is a Member FINRA/SIPC. Media Contacts: New York Life Investments: Sara Guenoun [email protected] CBRE Investment Management Pam Barnett [email protected] SOURCE New York Life Investments New infusion of capital enables NewHaptics to accelerate the development of an affordable refreshable braille and tactile graphics display for blind people ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NewHaptics, an innovative tactile display technology company, announced it has raised growth capital from the Accelerate Blue Fund. This represents the Company's first round of venture funding, and is a meaningful milestone towards commercializing an affordable refreshable braille and tactile graphics display. "We are excited to partner with Accelerate Blue in order to further our development efforts," said NewHaptics co-founder Alex Russomanno. "This investment complements the funding we have raised from government grants, and enables us to continue improving the capabilities and performance of our product and prepare for its commercial launch." NewHaptics announces venture investment by Accelerate Blue Fund Tweet this "ABF was created to support companies like NewHaptics," said Don Manfredi, Associate Director of Ventures at U-M Innovation Partnerships. "We provide patient, early stage growth capital to U-M licensed companies with the potential to positively impact society. NewHaptics' braille display will significantly change so many lives for the better and we are happy to support their mission with our investment." NewHaptics technology is aimed at enabling increased access to braille in digital form and allowing blind people to interact with spatial content through digital formats. It supports the Company's mission to improve information access for people who are blind and enable them to reach information parity with their sighted counterparts, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. About NewHaptics NewHaptics was founded with the goal of improving the lives of people who are blind by enabling true digital interaction using the sense of touch. The company has its roots in the affectionately named "Holy Braille Project" that focused on developing novel technology to enable the creation of a large-area tactile display for the blind. Since spinning off from the University of Michigan in 2018, NewHaptics has raised funding from federal and state grants to support commercialization activities. About Accelerate Blue Fund The Accelerate Blue Fund (ABF) is an early stage venture fund that exclusively invests in University of Michigan (U-M) licensed startups. The goal of Accelerate Blue is to bridge the funding gap between initial launch and angel/VC funding for startups based on University of Michigan intellectual property (IP). Please visit the Company's website at newhaptics.com and connect on Twitter and LinkedIn for more information. SOURCE NewHaptics Relevant communication reduces complaints and builds trust with customers LONDON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Over 20% of consumers will complain on social media if they are not satisfied with their shopping experience.[1]Better communications can help ecommerce companies deal with customer complaints and minimize negative feedback, according to nShift, the global leader in parcel delivery management software. An analysis of Trustpilot reviews shows that some 31.9% of shoppers made a complaint about the quality or speed of delivery after shopping online. A similar proportion, 31.24% complained about poor customer service and a lack of communication.[2] Of those likely to voice their concerns on social media, 79.6% will complain on facebook and 37.5% will communicate their displeasure on Twitter.[3] Sean Sherwin-Smith, Post-purchase Product Director at nShift, said: "When shoppers take their complaints online, there's a real risk to the retailer's reputation. And for many shoppers, what happens after they've hit the buy button is what creates a lasting impression of the vendor. "By building a cutting-edge customer communications experience, retailers can deal directly with shoppers. They will gain crucial feedback that will help them iron out any issues. Crucially, they will minimize complaints and keep negativity off social media." In a recent guide, " The five customer complaints that matter most and how to avoid them ", nShift outlined solutions to improving the customer experience. These include: Get ahead of the problem: delays happen, everyone knows that. Most people are understanding, even forgiving, if they know what's going on. Being kept in the dark is what upsets people. So, when problems arise, make sure to keep customers in the loop as much as possible. delays happen, everyone knows that. Most people are understanding, even forgiving, if they know what's going on. Being kept in the dark is what upsets people. So, when problems arise, make sure to keep customers in the loop as much as possible. Real-time, tailored updates: the hours and days that follow the purchase are the moment of truth for the consumer. They will discover whether the retailer can deliver on their promise and if they want to buy from them again. the hours and days that follow the purchase are the moment of truth for the consumer. They will discover whether the retailer can deliver on their promise and if they want to buy from them again. Choose delivery partners wisely: by working with multiple carrier companies, retailers can facilitate a range of delivery options and compare performance across carriers. nShift's carrier library contains over 1,000 different carriers. Read the full guide: The five customer complaints that matter most and how to avoid them nShift Track is a post-purchase tracking solution that helps improve customer loyalty. It enables customers to follow orders from the moment they're purchased to the moment they arrive at their preferred delivery destination, receiving push notifications at each stage of their journey. www.nshift.com About nShift nShift is the global leading provider of cloud delivery management solutions enabling frictionless shipment and return of almost one billion shipments across 190 countries annually. nShift's software is used globally by ecommerce, retail, manufacturing, and 3PL shippers. The company is headquartered in London and Oslo. It has over 500 employees across offices in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, United Kingdom, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Romania. [1] https://londonlovesbusiness.com/uk-retailers-risking-financial-and-reputational-damage-by-failing-to-respond-to-customer-complaints-on-social-media/ [2] https://www.grocerygazette.co.uk/2022/11/15/shoppers-complain-christmas/ [3] https://londonlovesbusiness.com/uk-retailers-risking-financial-and-reputational-damage-by-failing-to-respond-to-customer-complaints-on-social-media/ Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1782566/nShift_Logo.jpg SOURCE nShift NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs (ACMA), a globally recognized leader and the first and only accrediting body for the pharmaceutical industry, today announced the launch of its Certified Nurse Medical Affairs Professional (CNMAP) Program, the first and only accredited nursing certification for nurses looking for a way to apply their clinical experience in the life sciences industry. The CNMAP program is the first of its kind, establishing the industry standard for nurse professionals seeking entry into the industry, or looking to expand their skillset and careers in the biopharmaceutical industry. Nurses have deep medical expertise and are critical thinkers, skills that are highly valued and transferrable in the pharmaceutical industry. "By launching the first and only medical affairs certification program for nursing professionals, we embark on a transformative journey that empowers nurses to advance their expertise and play a pivotal role in the life sciences industry," said William Soliman, Ph.D., BCMAS, ACMA Founder and CEO. "Combining clinical knowledge with a deep understanding of medical affairs will allow nurses to enhance patient care, driving evidence-based practices, and fostering collaborative partnerships across the healthcare ecosystem." Former pharmaceutical executive and nurse, Janice Nissen who has over 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry said, "CNMAP will bring tremendous value for nurse professionals that are looking to build their careers as medical affairs or medical science liaison professionals in the biopharmaceutical industry." CNMAP is self-paced and online making it easy for full-time professionals to get certified and accredited. The program takes about 20 hours to complete and includes 24/7 online support for learners via live chat. To get certified, learners must take and pass an online certification exam. As the leading organization in medical affairs/medical science liaison accreditation, the ACMA is committed to promoting best practices and ensuring the highest-level of professionalism and integrity in the pharmaceutical industry. This certification program signifies ACMA's commitment to equipping nursing professionals with the tools and knowledge they need to thrive in the dynamic landscape of medical affairs. About the Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs (ACMA) The ACMA is a globally recognized, award-winning organization providing solutions for certification, training, analytics, and insights to support the healthcare and life sciences industries. From Medical Affairs to Market Access, Managed Care, Biologics/Biosimilars, and Market Research, the ACMA is the standard in the industry for certifying and credentialing prior authorization and medical affairs professionals in over 80+ countries. The ACMA works with Industry, Regulators, and Academia, among others, to further its mission: Establishing Best-in-Class Practices across the Life Sciences Industry to ensure the most rigorous quality/competency standards are established and globally enforced to elevate patient care. To learn more, visit nursetopharma.org. Contact Joe Spagnuolo Email: [email protected] Tel: 1-646-619-3566 Matthew Purcell, PharmD Email: [email protected] Tel: (646) 942-5595 SOURCE Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. We hope that Azerbaijan and Armenia will reach a peace agreement, said Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, addressing the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Trend reports. We do hope that both countries, Azerbaijan and Armenia, despite all the difficulties will be able to agree on peace agreement. And I very much welcome also the intensification of the dialogue, that political process. I do hope also that this will lead to concrete and positive result. I think the Council of Europe has the role to play in this process by creating the necessary conditions, he said. Rinkevics pointed out that it is necessary to more concentrate on the political process for the future, rather than trying to look into the issues of the past. That's how we intend to address this very complex, very difficult situation, he added. Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn OKLAHOMA CITY, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE: OGE) announced today that it has received notice of an unsolicited mini-tender offer by TRC Capital Investment Corporation ("TRC Capital") to purchase up to 3,000,000 shares of OGE Energy Corp. ("OGE Energy") common stock from OGE Energy shareholders. The offer represents approximately 1.5% of OGE Energy's shares of common stock outstanding as of the June 16, 2023 offer date. TRC Capital's offer price of $34.95 per share is approximately 4.38% lower than the $36.55 closing price of OGE Energy common stock on the NYSE on June 15, 2023. OGE Energy does not endorse TRC Capital's unsolicited mini-tender offer and recommends that shareholders do not tender their shares in response to TRC Capital's offer because the offer is at a price that is significantly below the current market value of OGE Energy common stock. OGE Energy urges investors to obtain current market quotations for their shares, consult with their broker or financial advisor, and exercise caution with respect to TRC Capital's offer. OGE Energy urges shareholders who have not responded to TRC Capital's offer to take no action. Shareholders who have already tendered their shares may withdraw them at any time by providing written notice as described in the TRC Capital mini-tender offer documents prior to the expiration of the offer, currently scheduled for 12:01 a.m., New York City time, on July 18, 2023. OGE Energy encourages shareholders to review carefully the "Withdrawal Rights" section of the offer documents. OGE Energy is not associated in any way with TRC Capital, its mini-tender offer or its mini-tender offer documents. As noted in the offer documents for this mini-tender, TRC Capital is not generally subject to the information filing requirements of the Securities Exchange Act and is not generally required to file reports, proxy statements, and other information with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") relating to its business, financial condition, and otherwise. TRC Capital has made similar unsolicited mini-tender offers for shares of other companies. New mini-tender offers, such as this one, seek to acquire less than 5% of a company's shares outstanding, thereby avoiding many disclosure and procedural requirements of the SEC. As a result, mini-tender offers do not provide investors with the same level of protections as provided by larger tender offers under U.S. securities laws. The SEC has cautioned investors that some bidders making mini-tender offers at below-market prices are "hoping that they will catch investors off guard if the investors do not compare the offer price to the current market price." The SEC's cautionary advice to investors on mini-tender offers is available at sec.gov/investor/pubs/minitend.htm. OGE Energy encourages brokers and dealers, as well as other market participants, to review the SEC's letter regarding broker-dealer mini-tender offer dissemination and disclosure at sec.gov/divisions/marketreg/minitenders/sia072401.htm and National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. Notice to Members 99-53, issued July 1999, regarding guidance to members forwarding mini-tender offers to their customers, which can be found at finra.org/sites/default/files/NoticeDocument/p004221.pdf. OGE Energy requests that a copy of this news release be included in any distribution of materials relating to TRC Capital's mini-tender offer for OGE Energy common stock. About OGE Energy OGE Energy Corp. is the parent company of OG&E, a regulated electric company with approximately 890,000 customers in Oklahoma and western Arkansas. SOURCE OGE Energy Corp. ST. LOUIS, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Peabody (NYSE: BTU) today announced that Shoal Creek Mine, in coordination with MSHA, has safely completed localized sealing of two longwall panels in the J panel area of the mine impacted by a fire in March involving void fill material. Peabody has begun the process of resuming development coal production in the new L panel area where better mining conditions are anticipated. Shoal Creek is in a ramp-up period throughout 2023 and expecting delivery of a new longwall kit at the end of the year. As a result, Peabody does not expect the current incident to have a material impact on the company's 2023 financial results. Shoal Creek is a production-stage underground longwall metallurgical coal mine located 35 miles west of Birmingham, Alabama, USA. The mine extracts coal from the Mary Lee and Blue Creek coal seams at depths of 1,000 to 1,300 feet. Peabody is a leading producer of metallurgical and thermal coal. The health and safety of our people is our first value. CONTACT: Mary Compton 314-342-3489 Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the securities laws. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They often include words or variation of words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "targets," "would," "will," "should," "goal," "could" or "may" or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements provide management's current expectations or predictions of future conditions, events, or results. All statements that address operating performance, events, or developments that may occur in the future are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the potential impacts of the incident at the Shoal Creek Mine, including impacts on the operations at the mine or on Peabody's overall operations. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and reflect Peabody's good faith beliefs, assumptions, and expectations, but they are not guarantees of future performance or events. Furthermore, Peabody disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, except as required by law. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, a variety of economic, competitive, and regulatory factors, many of which are beyond Peabody's control, including the that are described in Peabody's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2022 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, and other factors that Peabody may describe from time to time in other filings with the SEC. You may get such filings for free at Peabody's website at www.peabodyenergy.com. You should understand that it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors and, consequently, you should not consider any such list to be a complete set of all potential risks or uncertainties. SOURCE Peabody MIAMI, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Aleph Group, Inc. a leading global enabler of digital advertising with a coverage across 130+ countries, announces an international sales partnership with Pinterest, the visual inspiration platform. Pinterest and Aleph partner to serve advertisers in EMEA, LATAM and APAC The partnership will enable Aleph Group, Inc. to offer Pinterest's advertising solutions to its global network of clients across EMEA, LATAM and APAC. Aleph will provide the outreach and management of advertisers in countries across these regions where Pinterest is not currently serving ads. Advertisers in these countries will now have access to reach Pinterest's highly engaged audience in markets where ads are served an audience who are coming to the platform with intent to discover ideas to take action on with help from brands. Aleph is uniquely positioned to support clients achieve success on Pinterest. Through this partnership, Aleph will be able to offer its clients the ability to advertise on Pinterest for the first time. More than 460 million people come to Pinterest each month to discover products and services for their wardrobe, for their new home, for their next holiday and much more. Advertisers want to be discovered during these planning moments and there is a natural alignment with users who are actually seeking brands to inspire their next purchase. On Pinterest, advertisers can reach the consumers they care about and drive them from discovery to decision to do all in a more positive place online. "Pinterest is a unique, full-funnel platform where ads can be meaningful content. We're excited about our partnership with Aleph and the value it will bring to our Pinterest users," said Bill Watkins, Chief Revenue Officer at Pinterest. "Pinterest connects advertisers to consumers with intent and when they're open to brands. Aleph's broad coverage of clients across global regions will help to bring a range of new advertisers to the platform and enable us to serve more relevant ads to users when they're looking for inspiration to take action on." "We are thrilled to partner with Pinterest to help our network of 21,000 businesses drive results and growth by engaging with an audience that naturally comes to the platform to shop," said Gaston Taratuta, Founder and CEO of Aleph. "Pinterest is a differentiated platform where users explicitly come to find something to buy or do. Our clients will now have the opportunity to drive everything from brand awareness to purchase conversions while we bring Pinterest new access to some of the fastest growing economies in the world." About Aleph: Aleph Group, Inc is an ecosystem of global digital experts which connects thousands of advertisers with billions of consumers that thrives on empowering local markets to grow through digital advertising. Aleph is active in more than 130 countries and helps advertisers engage with consumers on nearly 45 of the world's leading digital platforms, such as Twitter, Meta, TikTok and Snapchat. Through tailored solutions built on proprietary technology, Aleph enables local advertisers to maximize digital platforms to reach segmented audiences and deliver meaningful results. Aleph provides global platforms with access to connect with local ecosystems of advertisers in markets where they don't have a physical presence andusing Aleph's cross-border transaction solutionreceive proceeds from advertising spend in their choice of nearly 50 currencies. Aleph was established in 2005 and continues to be led by its founding CEO, Gaston Taratuta, EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2022, with a vision to accelerate the global shift from offline to online and drive long-term economic growth. To support this shift, Aleph launched its own social business, Digital Ad Expert, which is on a mission to create economic opportunities through digital advertising education. Aleph's approach has been highly successful to date. In recent years, the Group has scaled up to more than 1,700 employees in 65+ offices and has secured investment from institutional partners including CVC Partners, Twitter, and Snap. About Pinterest: Pinterest is the visual inspiration platform people around the world use to shop products personalized to their taste, find ideas to do offline and discover the most inspiring creators. People have saved more than 390 billion Pins across a range of interests from building a home office to cooking a new recipe and planning a vacation. Headquartered in San Francisco, Pinterest launched in 2010 and has more than 460 million monthly active users worldwide. Available on iOS and Android, and at pinterest.com . Media Contact: [email protected]; [email protected]com SOURCE Aleph Group, Inc The global point-of-care glucose testing market is driven by an increase in diabetes incidence rates, a rise in the geriatric population, technological advancements in diabetes monitoring devices, and an increased prevalence of diabetes risk factors. PORTLAND, Ore., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report titled, "Point-of-Care Glucose Testing Market by Product Type (Lancing Devices and Strips, Blood-Glucose Meter), by Application (Type-1 Diabetes and Type-2 Diabetes), by End Users (Hospitals & Clinics, Home Care Settings, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032." According to the report, the global point-of-care glucose testing market was valued at $3.0 billion in 2022 and is estimated to reach $4.8 billion by 2032, exhibiting a CAGR of 4.8% from 2023 to 2032. Download Sample Copy- https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/10820 Prime Determinants of Growth: The global point-of-care glucose testing market is driven by an increase in diabetes incidence rates, a rise in the geriatric population, technological advancements in diabetes monitoring devices, and an increased prevalence of diabetes risk factors. However, the accuracy concerns of glucose testing meter are expected to hamper the point-of-care glucose testing market's growth. On the contrary, the surge in healthcare expenditure and rise in the number of adoptions of key strategies by key players are expected to create immense opportunities for the expansion of the global market in the future. Report Coverage & Details: Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20232032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 $3.0 Billion Market Size in 2032 $4.8 Billion CAGR 4.8 % No. of Pages in Report 408 Segments covered Product Type, Application, End User, and Region Drivers An increase in diabetes incidence rates A rise in the geriatric population Technological advancement in diabetic monitoring devices An increased prevalence of diabetes risk factor Opportunities Increase in awareness for glucose monitoring devices Untapped market opportunities in the developing regions Restraints Inaccurate results COVID-19 Scenario: The global point-of-care glucose testing market had a positive impact during the pandemic, owing to the rise in cases of diabetes and the surge in demand for self-monitoring glucose testing devices. Moreover, diabetic patients are more vulnerable to the COVID-19 infection. This led to an increased demand for point-of-care glucose testing devices in hospitals and other healthcare facilities for close monitoring and optimal management of diabetes. Procure Complete Report at 20% Discount (408 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures) https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/point-of-care-glucose-testing-market The lancing devices and strips segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period: Based on product type, the lancing devices and strips segment held the largest market share in 2022, contributing to nearly two-fifths of the global point-of-care glucose testing market revenue, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. This is due to an increase in type 1 and type 2 diabetes prevalence, which enables patients to monitor and manage their blood glucose levels, has contributed to an increase in risk factors for developing diabetes. However, the blood-glucose meter segment would showcase the fastest CAGR of 5.4% from 2023 to 2032, owing to a rise in cases of diabetes and a rise in awareness regarding the diagnosis of diabetes. The type-2 diabetes segment is expected to lead the trail by 2032: Based on application, the type-2 diabetes segment held the major share in 2022, accounting for more than four-fifths of the global point-of-care glucose testing market revenue, and is expected to lead the trail by 2032. owing to the higher prevalence of type-2 diabetes, the increase in awareness regarding physical health, and the rise in diabetes diagnoses. The same segment would also cite the fastest CAGR of 4.9% from 2023 to 2032, owing to the rise in prevalence of type-1 diabetes and the growth in the geriatric population suffering from diabetes. The home care settings segment to rule the roost by 2032: Based on end user, the home care settings segment accounted for the largest share in 2022, contributing to more than half of the global point-of-care glucose testing market revenue, and is projected to rule the roost by 2032. The same segment would also exhibit the fastest CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period. Due to the rise in the geriatric population who require medical care in their home, and the rise in awareness among people regarding the use of point-of-care glucose testing devices at home. For Purchase Inquiry- https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/10820 North America to maintain its dominance by 2032: Based on region, North America held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2022, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the global point-of-care glucose testing market revenue, and is likely to dominate the market during the forecast period. This is attributed to the surge in the geriatric population that is suffering from diabetes, the strong presence of key players, and the availability of an advanced healthcare system & modern medical technologies. However, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 5.8% from 2023 to 2032. owing to the presence of a diabetes patient population, a rise in demand for point-of-care glucose testing devices due to the high population base, and an increase in public-private investments for unmet medical needs. Leading Market Players: Abbott Laboratories ACON Laboratories Inc., Ascensia Diabetes Care Holdings AG EKF Diagnostics Holdings plc F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. Nipro Nova Biomedical Platinum Equity Advisors, LLC (Lifescan, Inc.) Prodigy Diabetes Care, LLC Trividia Health, Inc. The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global point-of-care glucose testing market. These players have adopted different strategies, such as new product launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others, to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolios, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario. 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AMR offers its services across 11 industry verticals including Life Sciences, Consumer Goods, Materials & Chemicals, Construction & Manufacturing, Food & Beverages, Energy & Power, Semiconductor & Electronics, Automotive & Transportation, ICT & Media, Aerospace & Defense, and BFSI. 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 Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285 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 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Allied Market Research PARIS, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PARIS AIR SHOW -- Pratt & Whitney, an RTX business, announces the launch of Percept an advanced AI-based Aircraft Engine Analysis Tool. Pratt & Whitney and Awiros team using the Percept Tool to scan a V2500 engine Percept Tool scanning a V2500 engine on a mobile device Percept is a computer vision product that operates on top of the Awiros Video Intelligence Operating System (OS). Its cloud-based interface allows users to capture images and videos of aircraft engines on their mobile devices and receive real-time responses on parts availability. This helps enable faster and cost-efficient turnaround of leased engine assets. Instead of an inspector having to examine an engine and check part-by-part, Percept automates this inspection, and reduces time taken by nearly 90%. "The Percept tool helps reduce time and effort involved in the pre-and-post lease analysis of aircraft engines," said O Sung Kwon, vice president, Customer Support, Pratt & Whitney. "We have been working with Awiros, an Indian Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence (AI) start-up for the past few years to mature this technology; we are excited to be shifting from technology development to now bringing an operational product to the market." "Building the Percept tool in collaboration with RTX has been one of the most exciting opportunities in the journey of Awiros as a startup. We are proud that Percept's high-fidelity scanning of Pratt & Whitney engines with handheld mobiles phones, without any specialized hardware, is being commercially deployed in the aerospace industry." said Vikram Gupta, founder and CEO, Awiros. Awiros was selected as the winner of the RTX Innovation Challenge. The Innovation Challenge was launched in September 2019 with over 60 Indian and global startups in Computer Vision, AI, and Machine learning (ML) domains. The teams proposed solutions to optimize and automate aircraft engine inspections with reduced human interventions. Awiros' idea was evaluated through 2020-21 and is expected to be launched commercially later this year. "As the fastest growing aviation industry and world's emerging start-up capital, India has become a hotbed for agile aerospace innovation," said Ashmita Sethi, president & country head, India, Pratt & Whitney (UTCIPL). "Percept is the result of some of India's best and brightest minds collaborating with Pratt & Whitney to innovate a solution that delivers significant efficiencies and value to our customers." The Percept solution will be deployed exclusively on Pratt & Whitney's most advanced commercial engines, including the Pratt & Whitney GTF engine and the V2500. About Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units. To learn more visit www.prattwhitney.com. To receive press releases and other news directly, please sign up here. About RTX RTX is the world's largest aerospace and defense company. Our global team of 180,000 employees pushes the limits of known science and redefines how we connect and protect our world. We are advancing aviation, building smarter defense systems and creating innovations to take us deeper into space. Effective July 1, the company will complete its realignment into three customer-focused business units Collins Aerospace, Raytheon and Pratt & Whitney. The company, with 2022 sales of $67 billion, is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Pratt & Whitney +1 (860) 565-9600 [email protected] SOURCE Raytheon Technologies Milestones to Date Include Impressive Global Adoption, New Platform Capabilities, Expansion of the Senior Leadership Team and Third-Party Accolades MISSISSAUGA, ON , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prophix, a leading global platform for financial performance management, today announced it has achieved several notable milestones in the first half of 2023, all positioning the company for continued impressive growth in the second half of the year. With more than 100 new cloud customers worldwide in recent months, finance leaders continue to turn to Prophix and its enhanced Financial Performance Platform to increase agility and take advantage of advanced analytics to maintain flexibility in the current environment and also scale and evolve for the future. "The finance department has developed into a strategic hub for many organizations," said Alok Ajmera, Chief Executive Officer of Prophix. "It's never been more imperative for finance executives to plan for the unexpected, collaborate on budgets and easily consolidate data in order to effectively guide their businesses with the speed and flexibility required today. That's what we're all about at Prophix: helping finance professionals become the leaders they've always wanted to be. "With our expanded platform and unwavering focus on finance, Prophix elevates the talents of finance teams to become mission-critical leaders in achieving their companies' success. We're incredibly bullish about both our corporate growth and our ability to play an important role in our customers' success in 2023, and are excited about the progress we've already made on those important fronts," Ajmera noted. Platform Enhancements Having earned its reputation via its industry-leading corporate performance management software, Prophix has expanded its capabilities to meet finance leaders' needs today and into the future. New capabilities include: Advisor, which provides users with benchmarks and optimization advice to enhance the user experience and confidence for FP&A teams; and Predictive Forecasting, which helps finance leaders accelerate budgets and planning, by comparing actuals, variances and forecasts supplying finance leaders with support for agile reforecasting and planning. Executive Leadership Expansion To maintain focus on the company's critical platform expansion goals, Prophix has created a new executive leadership team role, Chief Platform Officer, which will be held by its longtime Chief Technology Officer, Geoffrey Ng. Joining Prophix to fill the role of Chief Technology Officer is Anurag Yagnik, who most recently held the same position at Vitech Systems Group. "During this past year, Prophix met a number of its platform expansion objectives and the reception from our customers and partners has been extremely positive," said Ng. "Our team is finalizing enhancements to the Prophix Financial Performance Platform that will enable access to advanced planning, reporting and reconciliation capabilities that are critical to creating a truly strategic finance function." Forging Industry Thought Leadership The goal-oriented and forward-thinking relationship Prophix has with finance departments that utilize its platform is reflected via positive unbiased reviews, including on sites such as TrustRadius, which awarded Prophix with its Top Rated distinction in six different finance-related categories in 2023 (Corporate Performance Management; Budgeting and Forecasting; Financial Close; Cash Flow Management; Sales Forecasting; and Project Management.) In addition to a new brand identity, a refreshed corporate website and speaking opportunities at numerous CFO-focused events, Prophix has continued to maintain its role as a finance industry thought leader with the publication of its recent Finance Leaders Survey. By identifying and quantifying the most persistent challenges faced by finance departments, Prophix is able to work in lockstep with its own customers to address their specific needs. Tomorrow, June 21, Prophix will host a webinar entitled "Strategic Finance: How Your Team, Technology, and Culture Drive Performance" that will feature an expert panel of industry leaders and financial influencers for a discussion on what it takes to build a strategic finance function. Register here to join the webinar. Giving Back to the Community Corporate philanthropy has long been a part of Prophix's DNA. To mark the critical business milestone of having reached $100 million in annual recurring revenue in 2022, Prophix initiated the largest giving campaign in its history. Partnering with Kiva.org, a platform that connects financially-excluded entrepreneurs with microloans available through a crowdfunding platform of shared lenders, Prophix employees were empowered with Kiva credits and the ability to provide vital loans to global businesses. With its initial campaign in 2023, Prophix set new Kiva engagement records, reaching more than 3,000 borrowers across 49 countries and supporting tens of thousands of dollars in loans to either underfunded areas or rurally-excluded individuals. Additionally in 2023, Prophix and its employees raised funds for Humanity First in response to the Turkey & Syria earthquake disaster, and donated products and time to support Ukrainian Refugees through Peel Children's Aid. About Prophix Ambitious finance leaders use Prophix to drive progress. By improving the speed and accuracy of decision making, Prophix's Financial Performance Platform elevates the talents of finance teams to do their best work. Crush complexity, reduce uncertainty, and illuminate insights with access to best-in-class AI insights and planning, budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and consolidation functionalities. Prophix is a private company, backed by Hg Capital, a leading investor in software and services businesses. More than 2,500 active customers across the globe rely on Prophix to achieve organizational success. Additional information at www.prophix.com. SOURCE Prophix SAN DIEGO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Reachify (www.reachify.io), North America's premier enabler of restaurant engagement automation, announced today that seasoned leadership maven, Edwin Ojeda, has been hired as Chief Revenue Officer. In his new capacity, he will be responsible for all go-to-market functions while the company disrupts the restaurant experience through intelligent automation. Edwin Ojeda joins Reachify as Chief Revenue Officer. "Customer experience across all aspects of life is the new frontier," said Zeel Jadia, Reachify Chief Executive Officer. "Edwin brings the enterprise experience and leadership we need to harness this vast new opportunity that we have created in the market. I am beyond excited to have him joining our executive team." With more than 25 years of experience, Ojeda has an impressive combination of sales acceleration, enterprise automation and leadership. Prior to joining Reachify, Ojeda held various sales and leadership roles focused on the enterprise delivery of automation powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence at industry leading firms such as Automation Anywhere, Automic Software, BMC Software, Evotek. Ojeda resides in Houston and volunteers as a counselor for Candelighters Houston. The company has been cooking up a fresh concept with automation and call deflection, transforming old-school phone-in orders into modern, efficient, digital culinary experiences. The objective? To streamline operations, revolutionize customer experience, and tackle the industry's most pressing challenge of increasing brand loyalty, head-on. "Innovation is the lifeblood of growth," said Ojeda. "This dynamic market is ripe for disruption, and I am excited to assist restaurants adapt and flourish in a digital-first world. It's an exciting time to be joining the leadership team." The intersection between restaurants and digital innovation are inextricably linked. Together, we're not just redefining the dining experience - we're reimagining it! About Us: Reachify, the pioneering force in restaurant engagement automation, is reimagining how restaurants serve their customers. By moving traditional phone orders to a seamless, automated platform, customers will experience their favorite restaurants in a whole new way. The combination of automation and AI driven interaction will offer one-click access to online ordering, directions, and catering; all while increasing order volume capacity and accuracy. Now, restaurant owners can focus on the food, not the phone. To get a taste of the future, visit us at www.reachify.io. Press Contact: Sara Lewis, +1 (800) 215-0522 , [email protected] LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram SOURCE Reachify Market-Leading Link Management Provider Expands Leadership Team and Continues Exponential Growth SAN FRANCISCO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Rebrandly , the market-leading provider of link management solutions, announced it had appointed two new members to its global executive team - Nataly Kelly is the company's new Chief Growth Officer, and Chris Davies is Senior Vice President, Global Head of Legal. Kelly joins Rebrandly with a tenured background as a global marketing and go-to-market (GTM) executive with deep expertise in leading and developing commercial operations for high-growth companies. Most recently, Kelly led international expansion at HubSpot from 2015-2023. As VP of Marketing, in addition to other leadership functions focused on global operations and strategy, Kelly helped drive the company's top-line growth from $170M to $1.5B+ and accelerated non-US revenue from 20% to 50%. Kelly is an award-winning B2B SaaS commercial operations executive, an ongoing contributor to Harvard Business Review, and the author of the forthcoming book, "Take Your Company Global" (Berrett-Koehler). Davies brings more than 10 years of global legal and B2B SaaS experience to Rebrandly, including having grown a market-leading cyber security SaaS platform (Immersive Labs) from $5M to $50M ARR in under three years. At Immersive, Davies steered the company through three funding rounds (led by Goldman, Insight, Summit, and Menlo), acquiring a US-based entity and expanding into the US, European, and MENA markets. Most recently, Davies served as General Counsel at AND Digital, a 1,800-person, 150M digital transformation business. There, he led the legal team focusing on commercial contracting, data privacy, and security and was a key advisor to the company's global oversight boards. Founded in 2015, Rebrandly has attracted tens of thousands of customers, over 2 million users, and an active community of 90k developers who rely on the company's platform and APIs to securely create and manage custom links at scale (the company has generated more than 1 billion branded links to date and processes a vast amount of monthly conversion data for its customers). Kelly and Davies join Rebrandly at an exciting inflection point. The company has achieved exponential user growth (34% year-over-year), stringent SOC 2 Type II certification , and recently launched Rebrandly On Demand , the industry's first dynamic volume-based pricing model for link management. Rebrandly made recent headlines for its work with Meta and others to help identify and mitigate malware across the internet, along with a growth investment from Five Elms Capital in July 2022. "These executives bring a strategic growth mindset cultivated by years of in-depth B2B SaaS experience driving global expansion and commercial success for market-leading companies," said Rebrandly CEO Carla Bourque. "I look forward to partnering with Nataly, Chris, and the rest of the Rebrandly team, to further our leadership position in the market and deliver digital innovation at scale to our customers." For more information on Rebrandly, please visit https://www.rebrandly.com . About Rebrandly Rebrandly is the market leading link management platform that allows users to brand and shorten custom URLs. Rebrandly helps companies of all sizes securely manage and measure their link engagement, increase brand awareness, improve conversion rates, and track advanced analytics. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in the US, with offices in Rome and Dublin. Rebrandly serves millions of users and global brands worldwide, including Versace, Toyota, PayPal, and Zillow. For more information, visit https://www.rebrandly.com . SOURCE Rebrandly Leading proptech company and largest MLS in Colorado will deliver products to improve the real estate transaction experience SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Colorado's largest MLS, REcolorado, has announced plans to enhance its subscriber benefits with the launch of two powerful SkySlope solutions, SkySlope Forms and SkySlope Offers. Designed with the goal to make real estate professionals more efficient, both SkySlope Forms and Offers use automation to simplify time-consuming real estate transaction tasks. "As technology becomes increasingly important to our subscribers' businesses, REcolorado is committed to constructing a benefits model that gives our subscribers access to the most innovative and powerful solutions out there," says REcolorado CEO, Gene Millman. "We're looking to provide the best technology to improve the transaction experience for agents and consumers, and SkySlope's offerings are currently unmatched." SkySlope Forms is a widely used forms solution throughout the U.S. and Canada, powering dozens of MLS and associations' digital forms libraries. Filled with productivity-enhancing features like MLS integrations that pre-populate data fields and embedded digital signature, users can quickly format digital forms for signing and send them to clients with the click of a button. "We couldn't be more excited to work with REcolorado to provide their agents with a wholly integrated, fully upgraded forms and offers experience," says SkySlope CEO, Tyler Smith. "When paired with SkySlope Offers, REcolorado members will be able to greatly reduce their screen time, allowing them to invest more energy back into their businesses." Like SkySlope Forms, Offers was designed to automate data, plus centralize interactions and decisions during the home purchase process. SkySlope Offers provides real estate professionals with an easy way to share, compare, and action offers in a single space. With built-in anonymity that makes it easy for sellers to identify the most competitive, desirable offer based solely on data, SkySlope Offers promotes equitable housing practices. "SkySlope Offers is on the cutting edge when it comes to fair housing initiatives," says Smith. "In addition to helping sellers select the best offer without bias, it communicates with the buyer's side in a clear, equitable way throughout the entire process, working to build trust between agents and their clients." The largest MLS in Colorado and the 16th largest in the country, REcolorado serves over 26,000 real estate professionals. As one of Colorado REALTORS' most prominent business partners, they're committed to connecting their members with time-saving tools that empower them to serve their clients at a higher level. A celebrated proptech leader, SkySlope shares a similar mission to improve the lives of REALTORS. Equipped with the goal to reduce agent screen time, SkySlope serves more than 650,000 real estate professionals across the U.S. and Canada. About SkySlope Established in 2011, SkySlope is the customer experience platform managing real estate transactions from contract to close. Serving over 650,000 real estate professionals across the U.S. and Canada, SkySlope manages nearly 3 million transactions annually. SkySlope is on a mission to build solutions that reshape the real estate industry by creating the most powerful autonomous transaction platform. For more information, visit SkySlope. About REcolorado REcolorado is the largest Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in Colorado with over 26,000 professional subscribers who operate throughout the state. REcolorado's vision is to empower a trusted, cooperative, and comprehensive real estate marketplace to position customers for success by providing data, technology, and intelligence. The company is REALTOR owned and serves real estate professionals including the members of Denver Metro Association of REALTORS, South Metro Denver REALTOR Association, Mountain Metro Association of REALTORS, REALTORS of Central Colorado, and Steamboat Springs Board of REALTORS. Contact SkySlope [email protected] 1-800-507-4117 SOURCE SkySlope MECCA, Saudi Arabia , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With the clock of the annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage already ticking, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah released on Monday a cinematic video to welcome its guest pilgrims. The Minister of Hajj Tawfiq Al Rabiah opened the video with Talbiyah, a Muslim prayer cited by pilgrims as a declaration that they intend to perform Hajj only for the glory of God. Part of Minister of Hajj d. Tawfiq Al Rabiah's speech at the start of the Hajj season 1444 AH "In Just a matter of days, millions of Muslims from every corner of the globe will raise their voices to recite the powerful Talbiyah chant," Al Rabiah said. "As Hajj draws near, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia prepares to welcome pilgrims from all walks of life. With great pride and honor, we invite pilgrims to join us in the largest Islamic gathering in history," Al Rabiah added. "Here, over two million pilgrims from over 160 countries will come together," the Minister stated. Al Rabiah expressed gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, for their constant follow-up on the services provided to the pilgrims, so that they can embark on their journey of faith within an atmosphere of peace and comfort. He explained that airline bookings by those arriving to the Kingdom reached the 1.7 million mark, while noting that more than 32,000 healthcare practitioners, both male and female, will be on site to provide their services to the devotees. Al Rabiah also shed light on the transportation network at the holy sites, stating "With a well-connected road and train network, shuttle bus services, and integrated infrastructure, pilgrims are guaranteed a seamless travel experience, regardless of their language or unique needs." The eco-friendly Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro line comes at the forefront of said networks, consisting of 17 trains distributed among 9 stations with an estimated operating capacity of 72,000 passengers per hour. Al Rabiah pointed out that it is with the help of skilled Saudi cadres, an advanced system has been implemented, especially in Mina, which boasts the world's largest tent city, hosting 2,192,000 pilgrims. The Minister concluded the video by stating that said achievements are not coincidental, but rather a result of an extensive effort exerted over the past years. Video: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105969/Ministry_of_Hajj.mp4 SOURCE Ministry of Hajj BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. Armenia must learn a lesson from its historical mistakes and stop trying to hinder the successful completion of the peace process in the post-conflict period [following the 2020 second Karabakh war], Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry told Trend. The ministry made the remark commenting on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's claims during his speech in Armenian parliament on June 20. "As for the allegations that Azerbaijan allegedly since 2011 "escalated the situation by increasing armaments and committing provocations", it should be noted that since the occupation of the territories, Azerbaijan made efforts to liberate its lands through negotiations based on the decisions and resolutions of the UN Security Council and a number of other international organizations," the ministry said. "Despite all this, everyone knows that the acts of aggression and provocations committed by Armenia over the years, including the provocative rhetoric personally demonstrated by Prime Minister Pashinyan in 2018-2019, did not contribute to peace and led to war in 2020," the ministry added. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation from late Sept. to early Nov. 2020, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's prime minister, and the president of Russia. The Scott Cooper Miami Scholarship is unique in the sense that it requires students to write essays that are thought-provoking and controversial. MIAMI, June 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --The Scott Cooper Miami Scholarship, a prestigious academic initiative aimed at promoting critical thinking and analysis, is pleased to announce its latest essay competition. The $1,000 scholarship invites students to delve into the ongoing news between Governor Gavin Newsom of California and Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, exploring the intricacies and implications of their political feud. California Governor Gavin Newsom and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are engaged in a political disagreement over the transportation of South American migrants to Sacramento. Sixteen migrants from Venezuela and Colombia were transported from Texas to New Mexico and then flown to Sacramento. Another group of 20 migrants arrived later. With the objective of fostering a deeper understanding of contemporary political dynamics and the impact they have on society; the Scott Cooper Miami Scholarship encourages students to write a comprehensive essay that provides an in-depth analysis of the dispute between the two prominent governors. Participants are expected to examine the key issues, events, and underlying motivations that have fueled this political rivalry, and present their findings in a well-researched and thought-provoking manner. "Education is the key to success, and every student in Miami should have the opportunity to reach their full potential," said Scott Cooper. "This scholarship is our way of investing in the future of Miami and supporting our local students." The scholarship aims to promote critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, and effective communication skills among students, empowering them to engage in constructive and informed discussions on important political matters. By encouraging comprehensive analysis of the Newsom-DeSantis dispute, the scholarship seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of the complexities of modern governance and the impact it has on the lives of individuals. Eligibility: The Scott Cooper Miami Florida Scholarship is open to all undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled in an accredited college or university. Applicants must submit an original essay addressing the specified topic. The essay must be between 1,000 and 2,000 words in length. The submission deadline is July 15, 2023 Scholarship: The Scott Cooper Miami Scholarship is a philanthropic initiative dedicated to empowering students and promoting academic excellence. With a focus on fostering critical thinking and analysis, the scholarship aims to support students in their pursuit of higher education and contribute to the development of well-rounded individuals who are equipped to make positive contributions to society. Contact: Paul Miller ***@scottcoopermiamischolarships.com Photos: https://www.prlog.org/12970054 Press release distributed by PRLog SOURCE Scott Cooper Miami Scholarship NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SecuPi, the leading Data Centric Security Platform provider, announced today its availability on Google Cloud Marketplace. This integration enables customers of regulated organizations to seamlessly access the SecuPi Data Centric Security Platform, allowing them to implement end-to-end data protection, de-identification, fine-grained access control, and column-level FPE encryption/Tokenization across Google Cloud, Hybrid and Multi-Cloud environments. The platform ensures full Segregation of Duties (SoD) and Data Access on a need-to-know basis. This solution enables organizations to de-identify and control access across all Google Cloud managed data services, including BigQuery and Vertex AI, while maintaining end-to-end protection of sensitive data and remaining compliant with the strictest financial, federal, telecom secrecy, sovereignty, privacy, and security regulations. Google Cloud Marketplace allows users to quickly deploy functional software packages that run on Google Cloud. Customers can easily start up a familiar software package with services like Compute Engine or Cloud Storage, with no manual configuration required. "We are thrilled to welcome SecuPi to Google Cloud Marketplace," said Dai Vu, Managing Director, Cloud Marketplace & ISV GTM Programs, Google Cloud. "Now, highly regulated organizations can seamlessly access the information they need all in one place, with end-to-end protection." The unique benefits of this solution include: De-Identification (FPE Encryption/Tokenization) and re-identification of sensitive regulated data within trusted environments (either on-prem, Cross Cloud or within Confidential Compute). Format-preserving and Type-preserving encryption preserves the utility and relevance of protected data for analytics and machine learning use-cases. Centralized and fine-grained Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) of all sensitive data across BigQuery, Bigtable, Cloud Spanner, Cloud SQL, etc. Sensitive Data Activity Monitoring (DAM) with tamper-proof context-rich activity audit trails. Segregation of duties between Google Cloud admins and encryption and ABAC enforcement ensuring clear text data can never be accessed. A flexible solution with support for Hybrid-Cloud and Multi-Cloud deployments. The joint solution includes SecuPi components deployed on Google Cloud, delivering a secured centralized Policy Definition Point (PDP) and secure Policy Enforcement Points (PEPs) that can be integrated with both Data Producers (such as Kafka, Nifi, Dataproc, and 3rd party ingestion tools) and Data Consumers (such as Tableau, PowerBI, Qlik Sense, and Cloud-native applications). Hybrid-Cloud and Multi-Cloud Scenarios are fully supported to provide maximum flexibility and freedom of choice to CSPs (Cloud Service Providers). SecuPi is excited about our collaboration with Google to enhance organizations' cloud data security while streamlining data and business operations. For additional information, explore the SecuPi Marketplace Listing, visit the SecuPi website, or contact us at [email protected]. SOURCE SecuPi DUBAI, UAE and NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With the aim of bringing the best of scientific solutions in healthcare to the MENA region, Seed Group , a company of the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Maktoum, has announced a strategic partnership with New York-based biotechnology company Dante Genomics . From left to right: Andrea Riposati, Co-Founder and CEO of Dante Genomics; Hisham Al Gurg, CEO of Seed Group and the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum Dante Genomics is a leading global genomics and precision medicine company working to deliver better healthcare and save lives with a more human approach to health. The company works with customers across 97 countries and has created customised genomic analysis processes that have an impact on people's lives. As a strategic partner of Seed Group, Dante Genomics seeks to bring its technology and innovations to people in the MENA region with the aim of accelerating science. Together, Seed Group and Dante Genomics will help revolutionise the healthcare sector in the region by offering products and services designed to help people make informed decisions about their health and future. Per this partnership, Seed Group will help and guide Dante Genomics to bring its solutions to the UAE and the region. Seed Group will assist Dante Genomics growth with guidance on how to reach the right audience, access top decision-makers in the government as well as the private sector, and contribute to adding the latest technological innovations in the region. Hisham Al Gurg, CEO of Seed Group and the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum, said, "Genetics and genome sequencing are the future of healthcare. The profound impact of personalised medicine, driven by advancements in genomics, has the potential to revolutionise healthcare outcomes. In this regard, the UAE stands as an ideal hub for such industries. With its visionary leadership, cutting-edge infrastructure, and commitment to innovation, the UAE provides fertile ground for healthcare transformation." He added, "We are thrilled to welcome Dante Genomics as our strategic partner, as their expertise in genome sequencing aligns perfectly with our mission. This partnership holds immense potential to drive forward the frontiers of healthcare, propelling the UAE as a global leader in genomics and personalised medicine." "Dubai continues to emerge as a leading area for investing in precision medicine," said Andrea Riposati, co-founder and CEO of Dante Genomics. "Dante's clinical sequencing centre in Dubai serves as a hub for global markets, delivering best-in-class precision medicine, and we are thrilled to partner with the visionaries at Seed Group in the effort to deliver these genomic solutions." Dante Genomics leverages genome sequencing technology and interpretation using proprietary genomic platforms based on artificial intelligence and machine learning capable of integrating and optimising all resources and information, creating important synergies for all stakeholders. The company also collaborates with international associations and advocacy groups to find solutions to improve the quality of life of patients. In 2019, the two founders of the company won the EY award for "Best Entrepreneurs of the Year," and the company took sixth place in the list of 2023 growth leaders compiled by Statista and Il Sole 24 Ore. Seed Group is a notable force in the technology, healthcare, hospitality, and telecommunications landscapes in the Middle East. Over the past 16 years, it has formed successful strategic alliances with leading global companies representing diverse regions to accelerate sustainable market entry and presence within the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. About Dante Genomics Dante Genomics is a global genomic information company building and commercialising a new class of transformative health and longevity applications based on whole genome sequencing and software. The Company uses its platform to deliver better patient outcomes, prevention, enhanced diagnostics, and personalised medicine. The Company's assets include one of the largest private genome databases with research consent, proprietary software designed to unleash the power of genomic data at scale, and proprietary processes that enable an industrial approach to genomic sequencing. For more information, visit www.dantegenomics.com . About Seed Group For over 20 years, Seed Group has formed strategic alliances with leading global companies representing diverse regions and industries. These companies have propelled their business interests and goals in the Middle East and North Africa region through the support and strong base of regional connections of the Seed Group. The Group's goal is to create mutually beneficial partnerships with multinational organisations and to accelerate their sustainable market entry and presence within the MENA region. Seed Group has been a key point in the success of all its partners in the region, helping them reach their target customers and accelerate their businesses. The Private Office was established by Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum to directly invest in or assist potential business opportunities in the region, which meet The Private Office's criteria. For more information, visit www.seedgroup.com . Dante Genomics Media Contact Laura D'Angelo +39 0862 191 0671 [email protected] Seed Group Media Contact Nomarie Jean Lacsamana +971 4 373 5068 [email protected] Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105446/Dante_Genomics_and_Seed_Group.jpg SOURCE Seed Group; Dante Genomics 348-Bed Community Hospital Builds on Success of Preventive and Diagnostic Care Scheduling Impact BOSTON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kyruus, the leader in healthcare provider data management, price transparency, and patient access and engagement, today announced that Silver Cross Hospital , an Illinois based not-for-profit community hospital, is expanding its use of Kyruus' award winning ProviderMatch platform. A customer since early 2021, Silver Cross first partnered with Kyruus to help launch consumer self-service scheduling for a variety of preventive and diagnostic services including annual screening mammograms, CT scans, lab appointments, and more. Supported by Kyruus' foundational provider data and inventory management capabilities, Silver Cross launched their initial online scheduling program focused on driving patients to the right diagnostic and preventive services through self-service. They saw immediate impact on their organizationin the first six months, consumers self-scheduled over 500 appointments per month for key services such as mammograms, ultrasounds, and lab services. Encouraged by the demand for digital self-service from consumers, Silver Cross expanded its online scheduling program to include providers across primary care, gastroenterology, and cardiology. "Building a foundation of the right data and routing was our first step to creating a scalable strategy that allowed us to engage consumers directly," said Teresa Andrea, Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Silver Cross Hospital. "People want the flexibility to manage their care however and whenever they want, and offering online scheduling across a variety of care types was key to delivering on what our patients want and need. We're excited to expand digital self-service and continue our partnership with Kyruus as part of our broader digital front-door strategy, realizing even greater impact for our patients in the future." Silver Cross's expansion news follows the recent announcement that the Kyruus ProviderMatch platform was again recognized as the "Best Online Search and Scheduling Solution'' by MedTech Breakthrough , an independent market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global health and medical technology market. This award comes at a time of growing consumer preference for online scheduling, with over 40% of consumers preferring to book medical appointments online , and half reporting they'd switch providers for the ability to schedule online instead of via phone. "Silver Cross represents one of the many organizations who are making strategic investments in tech to benefit the entire enterprisehelping them get more patients to the right care more efficiently than before," said Paul Merrild, President of Kyruus. "We are honored to be recognized again by MedTech Breakthrough and privileged to work with Silver Cross and others that share our commitment to meeting the growing consumer demand for convenience and flexibility in scheduling care." Hear more about Silver Cross's provider data management and online scheduling strategy from Teresa Andrea, Chief Information Officer at Silver Cross, during Kyruus' upcoming webinar, Putting Provider Data to Work: How Leading Healthcare Organizations are Powering Innovation & Operational Efficiency on Wednesday, June 28th at 1 PM ET. About Silver Cross Silver Cross Hospital is an independent, not-for-profit healthcare provider serving Will County and southwest suburban communities since 1895. Silver Cross has been recognized as a Merative 100 Top Hospitals National Award winner 10 times, honored with an "A" Hospital Safety Grade by The Leapfrog Group 17 times, and is rated 4 Stars by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. With over 4,500 employees, physicians and volunteers, Silver Cross operates a 348-bed acute care hospital and 12 satellite facilities providing outpatient services and physician offices. Silver Cross opened a state-of-the-art replacement hospital in 2012 at I-355 and Route 6 in New Lenox. In 2022, Silver Cross provided over $54 million in charity care and other community benefits. To learn more about Silver Cross Hospital,visit www.silvercross.org. About Kyruus Kyruus is on a mission to connect people to the right care. Serving more than 500 healthcare organizations and 100 health plan brands, our platform includes solutions for provider data management, price transparency, provider search and scheduling, and digital patient intakeall to help people navigate and access the care they need. We've reimagined a better healthcare journey, resulting in more satisfied members and patients, more aligned and engaged clinicians, and improved financial performance for the organizations we are proud to call our partners. Visit www.kyruus.com to learn about our solutions for health systems and hospitals. Visit www.epionhealth.com to learn about our solutions for medical groups and practices. Visit healthsparq.com to learn more about our solutions for health plans. Contact: Chad Van Alstin KNB Communications [email protected] SOURCE Kyruus StreamCaster PRISM to support Sustainment Transport System Line-of-Sight Program LOS ANGELES, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Silvus Technologies, Inc. ("Silvus"), a global leader of advanced wireless networking communication systems, today announced that the U.S. Army has awarded Silvus a $5.5 Million contract for StreamCaster PRISM Precision Integrated Sectorized MIMO in support of the Sustainment Transport System Line-of-Sight Program (STS LOS). The initial task order from the U.S. Army includes StreamCaster PRISM Antenna Radio systems, training, spares, and integrated logistical support. Delivering long-range connectivity in any operational environment, Silvus' StreamCaster PRISM is a rapidly deployable integrated antenna and radio solution that combines the power of StreamCaster dual band MANET radios (AN/PRC-169v(1)) with high-gain dual band MIMO sector antennas designed to deliver high data rates over long distances. Silvus StreamCaster PRISM was selected as the materiel solution for the Army's STS LOS program for its ability to create a robust and scalable point-to-point, point-to-multipoint and EW resilient mesh network with advanced interference avoidance and cancellation waveform capabilities. In addition, all StreamCaster PRISM systems acquired by the Army will include Silvus' proprietary Mobile Networked MIMO (MN-MIMO) waveform with Spectrum Dominance features to enable operations in congested and contested environments. "StreamCaster PRISM exemplifies Silvus' commitment to delivering on the Army's unified network modernization efforts, providing high bandwidth connectivity for line-of-sight logistics data exchange," said Mike Kell, Silvus Director of Army Strategic Programs. "Rapidly deployable and with integrated Spectrum Dominance LPI/LPD and AJ capabilities, StreamCaster PRISM provides the Army with a highly mobile and EW-resilient STS LOS communications solution that supports contested logistics sustainment operations in a dynamically changing battlespace." The Army's new Sustainment Transport System (STS) will provide an expeditionary, easy to use and secure global data transfer for the logistics community including logistics, personnel, medical and force protection data to enable the rapid delivery of the right supplies and personnel to the right locations on the battlefield. STS will modernize and replace the legacy SATCOM and line-of-sight logistics network program, known as the Combat Service Support (CSS) network, to create an easy to deploy network transport system that provides resilient, high-capacity connectivity needed to enable the exchange of critical logistics information worldwide. Learn more about the StreamCaster family of MANET radios on the Silvus website and follow us on LinkedIn. About Silvus Technologies, Inc. Privately held and headquartered in Los Angeles, Silvus Technologies develops advanced MIMO technologies that are reshaping broadband wireless connectivity for mission critical applications. Backed by an unmatched team of PhD scientists and design engineers, its technologies provide enhanced wireless data throughput, interference mitigation, improved range, mobility, and robustness to address the growing needs of its government and commercial customers. Learn more at https://silvustechnologies.com. Media Contact: Patrick Renegar Phone: 919.623.5577 [email protected] SOURCE Silvus Technologies, Inc. New populations of first-time savers continue to join the growing program SALEM, Ore., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Oregon Retirement Savings Board and State Treasurer Tobias Read today announced that OregonSaves, the state's auto-enrollment retirement savings program, has reached a significant milestone$200 million saved for retirement. The occasion coincides with the rollout of the program to Oregon's smallest businesses. Launched in July 2017, OregonSaves became the nation's first state-based effort to address the retirement savings crisis by ensuring all private sector workers can save. Over time, the program expanded statewide in waves, starting with the largest employers, and culminating in this sixth (and final) group of employers; those with four or fewer employees. Oregon is the first state program to roll out to businesses of this size. Six years ago, Oregon made history. Now every Oregonian has an easy way to save for their retirement at work. Tweet this "Six years ago, Oregon made history," said State Treasurer Tobias Read. "We started with the belief that everyone should have an easy way to save for their retirement at work. Every Oregonian now has that opportunity. OregonSaves is delivering, and it's more than a visionary Oregon ideait has served as inspiration for other stateswith more than $800M saved nationally for a more secure future." The program, championed by Read during his service in the Oregon Legislature, gives working Oregonians the option to save their own money for retirement via payroll deductions, without requiring employers to create plans or pay fees. The program was designed for workers without access to a retirement plan like a 401(k) through their employer. Early market research found that about half of Oregon's workforce (one million workers) lacked access to a workplace-based retirement savings plan and would be eligible to participate in OregonSaves. And surveys by the AARP found that workers are 15 times more likely to save via payroll deductions. Six years later, nearly 118,000 workers from more than 21,000 businesses statewide are saving with every paycheck in their own Individual Retirement Accounts. Approximately 75% of employees opt to stay in the program, saving an average of $171 per month. OregonSaves was the first program of its kind in the U.S. and continues to lead a national movement. Now 13 states have followed Oregon with similar programs for helping uncovered workers. Oregon continues to blaze a trail, including being the first state to welcome cannabis businesses, and opening its doors to the self-employed and gig economy workerswith more than 2,100 workers electing to independently take partsince 2018. Continuing its efforts toward inclusivity for industries typically excluded from other programs and benefits, OregonSaves recently welcomed SEIU represented Personal Support Workers, as well as Homecare Workers and Personal Care Attendants to the program. These steps demonstrate the program's continued commitment to retirement savings accessibility for every worker in Oregon. OregonSaves is a simple way for Oregonians to save for retirement at work. Employees contribute part of their paycheck into their own personal IRAs that stay with them throughout their careers. Visit www.oregonsaves.com. Contact: Kasey Krifka [email protected] 503-431-7976 SOURCE OregonSaves Teamsters Successfully Organize Two Red Cross Facilities in One Week CHARLESTON, S.C., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Workers in the fixed collections unit at the American Red Cross facility in Charleston have voted to join Teamsters Local 509. These workers join manufacturing distribution technicians at Red Cross in Charlotte, N.C. who also voted to join the Teamsters this week. "Congratulations to these hardworking men and women on their organizing victory," said Brian Clardy, President at Local 509. "Their essential work is instrumental in keeping communities across the state safe and healthy. We are glad they will now be covered by a strong union contract that reflects the important nature of their work." "After hearing about the benefits of joining the Teamsters from good pay to lunch breaks and quality health insurance I was very interested," said Pattianne Burbage, apheresis collections specialist at Red Cross Charleston. "After meeting with Teamster organizers, it became clear that the Teamsters had Red Cross workers' best interest at heart and would fight for us to be treated fairly in the workplace." In voting the join the Teamsters, these workers will join more than 1,800 other Red Cross workers represented by the Teamsters and immediately be covered by a National Master Agreement between Teamsters and the American Red Cross. Teamsters Local 509 represents more than 5,000 working men and women in South Carolina. For more information, visit teamsterslocal509.org. Contact: Matt McQuaid, (202) 624-6877 [email protected] SOURCE Teamsters Local 509 Dr. Favre brings extensive experience in gene therapy, immunology and drug development Appointment comes at a pivotal time of Company growth as it prepares for clinical development and expands its pipeline into other gene therapies BARCELONA,Spain, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SpliceBio, a genetic medicines company exploiting its proprietary Protein Splicing platform to develop next generation gene therapies, is pleased to announce the appointment of David Favre, D.V.M., Ph.D., as Chief Development Officer (CDO). Dr. Favre brings more than 25 years of experience in gene therapy, immunology and drug development throughout academia and the biopharma industry. He joins SpliceBio from Innoskel, where he served as Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to that, Dr. Favre was Vice President of Translational Medicine at Asklepios Biopharmaceutical (AskBio), where he led the platforms and program resources to marshal preclinical, INDs and early clinical programs, particularly focusing on the immunogenicity and adjunctive immunotherapy of AAV gene therapy and metabolic diseases. Previously Dr. Favre was the Director of HIV Biology at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), where he spearheaded their portfolio of immunotherapy drugs. Dr. Favre has also served as Adjunct Associate Professor at the University North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Miquel Vila-Perello, CEO and co-founder of SpliceBio, said: "I am excited to welcome David to the SpliceBio leadership team at an exciting time of platform expansion as we begin preparations for clinical development. His extensive knowledge in gene therapy, immunology and drug development will be invaluable as he takes the lead on development of the Company's therapeutic candidates from preclinical research to the clinic. David will focus on advancing the company's lead AAV gene therapy program for Stargardt disease towards clinical development and expanding the company's Protein Splicing platform and pipeline to other genes that exceed the packaging capacity of AAV vectors." David Favre, CDO of SpliceBio, commented: "SpliceBio has built an impressive gene therapy platform that addresses one of the most fundamental challenges facing the gene therapy field today: the limited packaging capacity of AAV vectors. I am thrilled to join the SpliceBio leadership team to lead the development of several novel programs aimed at diseases that have been elusive to gene therapy until today." David's appointment follows an oversubscribed Series A financing in February 2022 which is the largest Series A round for a Spanish biotech company. The company was also awarded a Private-Public Partnership Grant ("Colaboracion Publico-Privada") from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation in January 2023. Dr. Favre earned a D.V.M. from the Veterinary School of Nantes, France, and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Paris, which focused on the immunology of AAV gene therapy and preclinical assessment in non-human primates. He completed his post-doctoral studies in immunology at the Gladstone Institutes and at UCSF in San Francisco, US. About SpliceBio SpliceBio is a genetic medicines company exploiting its proprietary Protein Splicing platform to develop the next generation of gene therapies. The Company's platform enables efficient delivery of large genes with adeno-associated vectors (AAV), overcoming the most fundamental challenge in the quest to curing a broad range of genetic diseases. SpliceBio's platform is based on technology developed in the Muir Lab at Princeton University after more than 20 years of pioneering intein and protein engineering research. For additional information, please visit www.splice.bio. SOURCE SpliceBio NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPR) alleging that the Company violated federal securities laws. Class Period: April 8, 2020 to April 13, 2023 Lead Plaintiff Deadline: July 5, 2023 No obligation or cost to you. Learn more about your recoverable losses in SPR: https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/spirit-lawsuit-loss-submission-form?id=41004&from=4 Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. NEWS - SPR NEWS CLASS ACTION CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Spirit lacked effective production quality controls; (2) as a result, Spirit incorrectly installed fittings designed to join the aft fuselage to the vertical tail for some Boeing 737 Max airplanes that Spirit sent to Boeing; (3) as a result, Spirit would have to develop an inspection and repair procedure for the affected fuselages; (4) the foregoing would negatively impact Spirit's financial results; and (5) as a result of the foregoing, defendant's positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU AS A SHAREHOLDER: If you have suffered a loss in Spirit you have until July 5, 2023 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff. NO COST TO YOU: If you purchased Spirit securities during the relevant period, you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out-of-pocket fees. HOW TO PROTECT YOUR FINANCIAL INTERESTS: For additional information about the SPR lawsuit, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or click this link: https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/spirit-lawsuit-loss-submission-form?id=41004&from=4. ABOUT KLEIN LAW FIRM J. Klein, Esq. represents investors and participates in securities litigations involving financial fraud throughout the nation. The Klein Law Firm is a boutique litigation firm with experience in a wide range of areas including securities law, corporate finance and commercial litigation. Since 2011, our experienced attorneys have achieved superior results for our clients with a personalized focus. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. CONTACT: J. Klein, Esq. 535 Fifth Avenue 4th Floor New York City, NY 10017 [email protected] Telephone: (212) 616-4899 www.kleinstocklaw.com SOURCE The Klein Law Firm The Franchise Business Review Award-Winning roofing and construction brand continues their nationwide expansion. FORT WORTH, Texas, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Storm Guard the innovative and community-driven roofing and construction brand is celebrating 20 years of success while continuing to expand nationwide. They provide a wide range of services for both residential and commercial properties. Storm Guard was founded in 2003 by Jim Linehan and Al Hertling with the goal of helping families after natural disasters. Thanks to Jim's innovative approach, combined with the dedication and expertise of his team, Storm Guard began to grow as a local company. Jim decided to begin franchising Storm Guard in 2013, and they have since grown to serve families across 17 states nationwide. Through franchising, Storm Guard has been able to build a network of like-minded individuals who were passionate about providing exceptional service and prioritizing employees. In 2014, Storm Guard experienced a significant milestone when it was acquired by Bobby Cox and Glenn Lynch, bringing new resources and expertise to the company Storm Guard prides themselves on not only providing high-quality services, but also educating and providing expertise to help home and property owners navigate the often confusing process of insurance aided restoration, as well as always keeping their clients' best interest their top priority. Storm Guard has worked over the past two decades to give roofers a positive reputation by communicating with their clients honestly and transparently. In the last year, Storm Guard opened five new locations, bringing the total operating locations to a total of 39. They are always looking for ways to improve and guarantee the best service for their clients. They strive to create a stress-free experience by providing free inspections, alleviating the need for visits from insurance providers, and offering a 5 year warranty on each project. Most recently, Storm Guard was named a Top Franchise for 2023 by Franchise Business Review. Over 360 franchise brands participated in Franchise Business Review's research, and the top 200 were chosen based on survey responses from franchisees. Recognitions like these truly reveal how Storm Guard works to guarantee satisfaction from both franchisees and clients. "This milestone is a testament to Storm Guard's achievements in reinventing the contracting industry through providing clients with the best possible service," said Shane Lynch, Storm Guard President, "Looking to the future, we hope to further enhance our brand by improving and ensuring the best prevention methods for our clients." Storm Guard continues to look towards the future and accomplishing their goal of becoming the premier roofing contractor in the United States. Storm Guard is seeking self-driven entrepreneurs to help care for their local communities. The initial franchise fee for Storm Guard is $65,000 and the total investment ranges from $185,400-$221,600. To learn more about Storm Guard or inquire about franchising opportunities, please visit https://www.stormguardrc.com/. SOURCE Storm Guard BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry shared a tweet in connection with the World Refugee Day, Trend reports via tweet of the country's. "Today marks World Refugee Day. As a result of Armenia's aggression for almost 30 years, Azerbaijan has one of the largest IDP and refugees per capita in the world. Initiating reconstruction efforts in liberated territories, Azerbaijan is resolute to ensure a dignified return of IDPs to their homes," the ministry added. Following the liberation of its territories from Armenian occupation in 2020 [as a result of the second Karabakh war], Azerbaijan initiated the long-awaited 'Great Return' program, which envisions the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their native lands. To date, Azerbaijan's former IDPs have returned to the liberated villages of Aghali (Zangilan district), Talish (Tartar district) and Lachin city. NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As per Facts and Factors study, the global speech and voice recognition market size was nearly $17.18 billion in 2022 and is predicted to surge to about $54.70 billion by 2030 along with recording the highest CAGR of 14.10% from 2023 to 2030. Report Link with All Related Graphs & Charts: https://www.fnfresearch.com/speech-and-voice-recognition-market Speech and Voice Recognition Market: Overview Speech and voice recognition applications encompass voice user interfaces including appliance control, voice dialing, call routing, keyword searching, and data entry. Apart from this, speech and voice recognition systems are used in determining speaker characteristics, preparing structured documents, and speech-to-text processing. Moreover, voice recognition is referred to as recognizing the speaker which will help in simplifying the task of converting speech in the systems trained on a particular person's voice. Get a Free Sample Report with All Related Graphs & Charts (with COVID 19 Impact Analysis): https://www.fnfresearch.com/sample/speech-and-voice-recognition-market Key Insights: As per the analysis shared by our research analyst, the global speech and voice recognition market is projected to expand annually at an annual growth rate of around 14.10% over the forecast timespan (2023-2030) In terms of revenue, the global speech and voice recognition market size was evaluated at nearly $17.18 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $54.70 billion by 2030. in 2022 and is expected to reach by 2030. The global speech and voice recognition market is anticipated to record massive growth over the forecast period owing to the surging application of speech & voice recognition systems for multi-factor authentication. Based on the function, the speech recognition segment is predicted to contribute majorly toward the global market share over the forecast timeline. In terms of technology, the artificial intelligence-based segment is projected to dominate the global market size over 2023-2030. On the basis of the vertical, the healthcare segment is projected to account for a major share of the global market in 2023-2030. Region-wise, the Asia-Pacific speech and voice recognition market is projected to register the fastest CAGR during the assessment period. Facts and Factors published the latest report titled "Speech and Voice Recognition Market Size, Share, Growth Analysis Report By Function (Speech Recognition and Voice Recognition), By Technology (Artificial Intelligence-Based and Non-Artificial Intelligence-Based), By Vertical (Automotive, BFSI, Healthcare, Retail, Government, Military, Legal, and Education), and By Region - Global and Regional Industry Insights, Overview, Comprehensive Analysis, Trends, Statistical Research, Market Intelligence, Historical Data and Forecast 2023 2030" into their research database. Industry Dynamics: Global Speech and Voice Recognition Market: Growth Drivers Rise in the demand for speech & voice recognition systems to boost the global market trends. The growing demand for speech and voice recognition software in the healthcare sector will boost the speech and voice recognition market trends globally. In addition to this, the rise in AI and ML trends is likely to pave a new growth phase for the global market. An increase in the acceptance of deep neural engines and networks has translated into humongous demand for speech and voice recognition systems, thereby driving the expansion of the global market. Escalating demand for audio-visual speech recognition systems, speaker adaption, word recognition, and digital speaker recognition will steer the growth of the market across the globe. Nonetheless, lack of fluency, accent, punctuation, and background noise has posed a threat to the expansion of the global speech and voice recognition industry. However, the growing demand for online shopping and AI trends will open new growth opportunities for the global industry. This will nullify the negative impact of hindrances on global industry expansion. Directly Purchase a Copy of the Report @ https://www.fnfresearch.com/buynow/su/speech-and-voice-recognition-market Global Speech and Voice Recognition Market: Segmentation The global speech and voice recognition market is segregated into function, technology, vertical, and region. The function segment of the speech and voice recognition market is subdivided into speech recognition and voice recognition segments. Furthermore, the speech recognition segment, which contributed to about 66% of the global market share in 2022, is predicted to establish its segmental dominance in the forthcoming years. The growth of the segment in the years ahead can be attributed to an increase in the penetration of speech & voice recognition in the automotive and smartphone industries. On the basis of technology, the speech and voice recognition industry across the globe is divided into artificial intelligence-based and non-artificial intelligence-based segments. The artificial intelligence-based technology segment, which held nearly three-fourths of the global industry share in 2022, is set to register the highest CAGR in the years to come. The segmental expansion in the analysis period can be subject to the ability of artificial intelligence-based systems in translating speech into well-structured algorithms in various stages. Moreover, a prominent rise in machine learning activities and a surge in the natural language processing capacity of the speech & voice recognition systems will scale up the growth of the segment in the forecast timeline. In terms of vertical, the speech and voice recognition market across the globe is segmented into automotive, BFSI, healthcare, retail, government, military, legal, and education segments. Furthermore, the healthcare segment, which led the segmental expansion in 2022, is anticipated to record the fastest CAGR during the forecast period of 2023-2030. The segmental growth over the forecast timeline can be due to the increase in the demand for speech and voice recognition tools in electronic health record systems. In addition to this, speech and voice recognition technologies find a slew of applications in healthcare domains such as emergency medicine, radiology, and pathology. Recent Developments: In the second half of 2021, Scribetech, a key firm in the voice-AI-based technology services industry, introduced Augnito, an AI-driven secured, and portable speech recognition tool. For the record, the solution provided an effective way of gathering data on any equipment encompassing Windows, smartphones, and Mac with aptness. The move is likely to boost the expansion of the speech and recognition industry across the globe. Scribetech, a key firm in the voice-AI-based technology services industry, introduced Augnito, an AI-driven secured, and portable speech recognition tool. For the record, the solution provided an effective way of gathering data on any equipment encompassing Windows, smartphones, and Mac with aptness. The move is likely to boost the expansion of the speech and recognition industry across the globe. In the third quarter of 2021 , LumenVox, a key provider of speech and voice technology, launched a next-generation automatic speech recognition engine with transcription. The new engine is based on AI and ML tools and helps in providing apt speech and voice-enabled experiences to its customers. This move will expand the scope of the market growth in the years ahead. , LumenVox, a key provider of speech and voice technology, launched a next-generation automatic speech recognition engine with transcription. The new engine is based on AI and ML tools and helps in providing apt speech and voice-enabled experiences to its customers. This move will expand the scope of the market growth in the years ahead. In November 2021 , Slang Labs, a voice assistant as-a-service firm, introduced its speech recognition engine. The voice assistant with a new speech recognition engine can be easily embedded in smartphone and web applications. The strategic move will spearhead the expansion of the speech and voice recognition market across the globe. Get More Insight before [email protected]: https://www.fnfresearch.com/inquiry/speech-and-voice-recognition-market List of Key Players in Speech and Voice Recognition Market: Nuance Communications Inc. Amazon.Com Inc. Verint Systems Inc. Apple Inc. Baidu Inc. Dolbey Systems Inc. Google LLC IBM Corporation SESTEK iFlytek Microsoft Corporation LumenVox Sensory Inc. Speechmatics Assembly AI Inc Others Key questions answered in this report: What are the growth rate forecast and market size for Speech and Voice Recognition Market? What are the key driving factors propelling the Speech and Voice Recognition Market forward? What are the most important companies in the Speech and Voice Recognition Market Industry? What segments does the Speech and Voice Recognition Market cover? How can I receive a free copy of the Speech and Voice Recognition Market sample report and company profiles? Report Scope: Report Attribute Details Market size value in 2022 USD 17.18 Billion Revenue forecast in 2030 USD 54.70 Billion Growth Rate CAGR of almost 14.10% 2023-2030 Base Year 2022 Historic Years 2016 2021 Forecast Years 2023-2030 Segments Covered By Function, Technology, Vertical, and Region Forecast Units Value (USD Billion), and Volume (Units) Quantitative Units Revenue in USD million/billion and CAGR from 2023 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 Nuance Communications Inc., Amazon.Com Inc., Verint Systems Inc., Apple Inc., Baidu Inc., Dolbey Systems Inc., Google LLC, IBM Corporation, SESTEK, iFlytek, Microsoft Corporation, LumenVox, Sensory Inc., Speechmatics, Assembly AI Inc., and others. 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.fnfresearch.com/customization/speech-and-voice-recognition-market Free Brochure: https://www.fnfresearch.com/ask-to-analyst/speech-and-voice-recognition-market Regional Dominance: North America to contribute a major revenue share to the global Speech and Voice Recognition market in the coming years. Moreover, North America, which contributed the highest share towards the global speech and voice recognition industry in 2022, is slated to continue its dominance in the projected years. The regional market surge in the forecasting years can be owing to the presence of giant industry participants such as Microsoft Corporation, Amazon, Inc., Google LLC, and IBM Corporation in the countries such as the U.S. Furthermore, the blending of smart home equipment with voice assistants will foster the expansion of the industry in the North American region. Moreover, the growing demand for voice assistants in the countries such as Canada and the U.S. will spike the expansion of the industry in the sub-continent. Global Speech and Voice Recognition Market is segmented as follows: Speech and Voice Recognition Market: By Function Outlook (2023-2030) Speech Recognition Voice Recognition Speech and Voice Recognition Market: By Technology Outlook (2023-2030) Artificial Intelligence-Based Non-Artificial Intelligence-Based Speech and Voice Recognition Market: By Vertical Outlook (2023-2030) Automotive BFSI Healthcare Retail Government Military Legal Education Speech and Voice Recognition Market: By Region Outlook (2023-2030) 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: https://www.fnfresearch.com/news/global-speech-and-voice-recognition-market Browse Other Related Research Reports from Facts and Factors Mobile Gaming Market : According to the report published by Facts & Factors, the global mobile gaming market size was worth around USD 108.15 billion in 2022 and is predicted to grow to around USD 339.45 billion by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 13.55% between 2023 and 2030. 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Gamification Market: According to the report published by Facts & Factors, the global gamification market size was valued at around USD 15.86 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to USD 95.87 billion by 2030 with an increasing CAGR of 26.5% during the forecast period. Browse through Facts and Factors's coverage of the Global Technology & Media Industry Follow Us on: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook About Us Facts and Factors 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. Last but not the least, we make it our duty to ensure the success of clients connected to usafter allif you do well, a little of the light shines on us. Contact Us: Facts and Factors Tel: +1 347 690-0211 USA/Canada Toll-Free No. +44 2032 894158 Email: [email protected] Website: https://www.fnfresearch.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1981423/FnF_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE FnF Research SJMC's long history of clinical and service excellence and expertise in certain areas, such as oncology and orthopedics, points to its robust performance. SAN ANTONIO, June 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Frost & Sullivan assessed the Malaysian healthcare industry and, based on its findings, recognizes Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC) with the 2023 Company of the Year Award for the third consecutive year, affirming its solid commitment to patient care. SJMC continually adopts clinical and operational management solutions and purposefully uses digital technology to increase efficiencies across the entire workflow, making it the leading hospital in the Malaysian private healthcare industry. SJMC's Cancer & Radiosurgery Centre has been gaining a strong reputation since 2002 and has evolved to become a leader in regional cancer care. The center offers a full complement of services designed to address all aspects of cancer treatment for both adult and pediatric patients through a multidisciplinary and integrated approach. SJMC is among the first hospitals in Malaysia to routinely measure the performance of its cancer care services, with the results comparable with leading centers in developed countries. The hospital's patient outcomes are among the highest internationally for breast cancer and nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients, with an 80 to 90% success rate in curing lymphoblastic leukemia. SJMC's highly trained and experienced medical teams are coupled with the most advanced and sophisticated medical technologies. The Radixact X9 with Synchrony, a significantly advanced system that combines the precision of intensity-modulated radiation therapy and image-guided scan to destroy and reduce cancer tumour, was first introduced in Malaysia by SJMC. In nuclear medicine, SJMC is equipped with the new generation of the world's first digital PET/CT platform, Discovery MI Gen2, for optimal care from detecting disease to treatment planning and assessment. According to Bhaskar Vittal, Industry Principal, Healthcare at Frost & Sullivan, "SJMC's philanthropic efforts for the community include providing mammography and Do-It-Yourself HPV screening programs to identify potential breast and cervical cancer cases at an early stage. This not only saves lives, but also increases the quality of life post-early successful treatment. This year, the hospital is the first private hospital to participate in the Global Surgery Initiative, a first-of-its-kind public private partnership with the Ministry of Health Malaysia and the Malaysian Society of Anaesthesiologists (MSA) to bring equitable access to safe, affordable surgical and anaesthesia care." SJMC's hospital management dashboard and porter management system enhance operational efficiencies and workforce management, enabling positive patient experiences. SJMC was the first hospital in Malaysia to implement a complete electronic medical record system in 2016, providing it with a competitive edge. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital's healthcare workforce continued to serve and remain available for patient care, while supporting the Ministry of Health Malaysia to lessen the burden on public healthcare through private-public partnerships. SJMC has received numerous accreditations to stamp its clinical excellence in niche specialties for high patient care and safety standards. The hospital is internationally accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI) and the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health (MSQH). The accreditation by the world's foremost health care accreditor is a testament to the hospital's deep commitment to providing high-quality care; a culture of safety for patients, visitors, and staff; care delivery based on leading, evidence-based practices; and leadership in continuously complying with exacting standards. "Supported by its strong financial performance, brand equity, treatment expertise in orthopedics and oncology, and the adoption of digital solutions across the care continuum, SJMC provides positive patient outcomes and experiences, which will likely continue to drive the hospital and industry forward," added Vittal. "We are thrilled to receive this prestigious recognition for the third time. This award is a testament of our people's dedication to providing the best possible patient care. As the country's leading multidisciplinary hospital, I'm proud of the collaborative spirit shown by our medical teams, their abilities to take on complex cases and backed by strong clinical research," said Bryan Lin, Chief Executive Officer of SJMC. Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents a Company of the Year Award to the organization that demonstrates excellence, in terms of growth strategy and implementation in its field. The award recognizes a high degree of innovation with products and technologies and the resulting leadership, in terms of customer value and market penetration. Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in various regional and global sectors for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare sector participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analyses, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry. About Frost & Sullivan For six decades, Frost & Sullivan has been world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion. Contact: Tarini Singh P: +91 - 9953764546 E: [email protected] About SJMC SJMC is the flagship hospital of Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care, a joint venture between Ramsay Health Care in Australia and Sime Darby in Malaysia, with an impeccable reputation as one of Malaysia's most trusted private medical centers that is best known for its clinical outcomes. The award-winning, 444-bed, multi-disciplinary tertiary hospital provides comprehensive and complex care in all specialties. SJMC is one of the few internationally JCI- and MSQH-accredited hospitals in Malaysia, and its laboratory has been internationally recognized as MS ISO 15189 accredited since 2009. SJMC is recognized as a finalist for the Flagship Medical Tourism Hospital Programme 2023-2025 by Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) to establish Malaysia as a globally renowned icon for healthcare travel, delivering exceptional end-to-end patient experiences anchored on medical excellence, service excellence, and international branding. SJMC receives both local patients across Malaysia and international patients across Asia Pacific. SOURCE Frost & Sullivan WHIPPANY, N.J., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. (NYSE: SPH), a nationwide distributor of propane, renewable propane, renewable natural gas, fuel oil, and related products and services, as well as a marketer of natural gas and electricity and investor in low carbon fuel alternatives, today teamed up with the American Red Cross and athlete-activist-entrepreneur, Eric LeGrand, to boost awareness for sickle cell disease in the Company's home state of New Jersey. (L-R) Fairfield Mayor William Galese; Spokesperson Suburban Propane, Nandini Sankara; Advocate, Eric Le Grand; CEO of the American Red Cross New Jersey Region, Rosie Taravella. Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. today teamed up with the American Red Cross and athlete-activist-entrepreneur, Eric LeGrand, to boost awareness for sickle cell disease in the Companys home state of New Jersey. The event took place at the Northern New Jersey location of the American Red Cross in Fairfield. (PRNewsfoto/Suburban Propane Partners, L.P.) The event took place at the Northern New Jersey location of the American Red Cross in Fairfield. Eric LeGrand attended the event, which included a blood drive, and spoke about the need for more blood donations to fight sickle cell disease. The Mayor of Fairfield, William Galese was also in attendance. In the United States, it is estimated that over 100,000 people have sickle cell disease and may require frequent blood transfusions throughout their lifetime as many as 100 units of blood per patient each year. Unfortunately, frequent transfusions can make finding compatible blood types more difficult when patients develop an immune response against blood from donors that are not closely matched to the blood of the recipient. One in three African American blood donors is a match for people with sickle cell disease. To help ensure patients have the blood products they need, the American Red Cross is working with partners in the Black community to grow the number of blood donors who are Black. "Suburban Propane is honored to team up with our longtime partners at the American Red Cross and with hometown hero, Eric LeGrand, to increase awareness for such an important cause," said Nandini Sankara, Spokesperson, Suburban Propane. "We are continuously inspired by Eric, the American Red Cross, and their work within our local community to help others overcome some of the toughest moments in life, and we hope that today will inspire others to become blood donors." The endeavor is part of the Company's SuburbanCares initiative which is dedicated to supporting community efforts across the United States. Recently, SuburbanCares has undertaken charitable endeavors in numerous underserved communities including Syracuse, NY; Key West, FL; Spokane, WA; Boston, MA; Lake Worth, FL; Boston, MA; Helena, MT; Charlotte, NC; Lewes, DE; San Diego, CA; Albany, NY; Dayton, OH; Philadelphia, PA; Santa Fe, NM; Santa Rosa, CA; Columbia and Charleston, SC; New Brunswick, NJ; and fed healthcare professionals in 2020 in some of the most COVID-19 affected regions in the nation, including Florida, California, Texas, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Washington, D.C. "Blood transfusion is an essential treatment for sickle cell diseasethe most common genetic blood disease in the U.S. and primarily affecting Black and African American individuals," said Rosie Taravella, CEO, American Red Cross New Jersey Region. "We appreciate Suburban Propane and Eric LeGrand helping bring awareness to the need for blood donation to help Sickle Cell patients with their treatment." "Suburban Propane has been a longtime champion of Team LeGrand, and I'm honored to support their partnership with the American Red Cross and its mission to help raise awareness of sickle cell disease here in New Jersey," said LeGrande. "It is great to see Suburban Propane and the American Red Cross team up to host a blood drive in Fairfield and raise awareness for sickle cell disease," said Fairfield Mayor William Galese." The generous act of donating blood saves lives, and Fairfield is grateful for the work being done to support the community." About Suburban Propane: Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. ("Suburban Propane") is a publicly traded master limited partnership listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Headquartered in Whippany, New Jersey, Suburban Propane has been in the customer service business since 1928 and is a nationwide distributor of propane, renewable propane, renewable natural gas ("RNG"), fuel oil and related products and services, as well as a marketer of natural gas and electricity and producer of and investor in low carbon fuel alternatives, servicing the energy needs of approximately 1 million residential, commercial, governmental, industrial and agricultural customers through approximately 700 locations across 42 states. Suburban Propane is supported by three core pillars: (1) Suburban Commitment showcasing Suburban Propane's 95-year legacy, and ongoing commitment to the highest standards for dependability, flexibility, and reliability that underscores Suburban Propane's commitment to excellence in customer service; (2) SuburbanCares highlighting continued dedication to giving back to local communities across Suburban Propane's national footprint; and (3) Go Green with Suburban Propane promoting the clean burning and versatile nature of propane and renewable propane as a bridge to a green energy future and investing in the next generation of innovative, renewable energy alternatives. For additional information on Suburban Propane, please visit www.suburbanpropane.com. SOURCE Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. At this year's Kinder Bueno "Summer Gets Bueno: Savor the Journey" rest stop takeover in Connecticut, fans can expect a one-of-a-kind white glove experience that makes pumping gas feel anything but ordinary. Participating fans also have the chance to receive a gift card with up to $25 worth of free gas (while supplies last), free Kinder Bueno and limited-edition Kinder Bueno White Chocolate bars, plus a slew of fun road trip necessities. Just in time for the Fourth of July weekend, consumers can stop by 211 Post Road in Darien, Connecticut 06820 on Thursday, June 29 from 10:00 AM ET 2:00 PM ET and Friday, June 30 from 10:00 AM ET 2:00 PM ET, while supplies last. "According to a survey by the National Confectioners Association (NationalCandyMonth.com), 94 percent of people headed on a road trip this summer will bring chocolate and candy with them. We also know that rising airline costs mean more travelers are choosing road trips over flying this summer. Back by popular demand, the "Summer Gets Bueno" program gives travelers a special trip experience that they can savor, thanks to crispy, creamy Kinder Bueno chocolate." said Shalini Stansberry, Vice President of Marketing, Kinder Snacking. Travelers will also have the chance to receive $1.00 off their purchase of a pack of Kinder Bueno or Kinder Bueno White Chocolate bars during both days at six other locations in Connecticut, all of which are great starting points for a variety of road trip locationsincluding: 464 N Main St, Danbury, CT 06811 06811 419 Main St, Danbury, CT 06810 06810 818 Federal Rd, Brookfield, CT 06804 06804 831 S Main St, Cheshire, CT 06410 06410 460 Oakland St, Manchester, CT 06042 06042 263 Roosevelt Dr, Derby, CT 06418 In addition to the "Summer Gets Bueno" rest stop takeover, Kinder Bueno is hosting a nationwide #SavorYourSummerSelfieContest now through August 13, 2023, where consumers can enter for a chance to win an unforgettable one-week road trip experience in a custom RV, plus hundreds of other summer prizes. Entrants who are 21 years of age or older with a valid Instagram account and/or Twitter account and valid U.S. driver's license can participate from 12 a.m. ET on 4/24/23 through 11:59 p.m. ET on 8/13/23. For more information on the sweepstakes rules, please visit www.summergetsbueno.com. Kinder Bueno is a unique chocolate with a taste experience that defies expectation, available in shareable packaging that is perfect for when you're on the go all summer long. Share your summer fun with Kinder Bueno by using #SummerGetsBueno and tagging @KinderBuenoUS. About Kinder Bueno Kinder Bueno is a crispy, creamy chocolate bar that comes with a creamy hazelnut filling in a crispy wafer, enrobed in milk chocolate and a dark chocolate drizzle. The limited-edition Kinder Bueno White Chocolate is a delicious take on the classic favorite, containing real white chocolate, creamy hazelnut filling, crispy wafer and finely decorated cocoa bits. Since launching in the U.S., Kinder Bueno has reached more than 15 million households and is ranked in the Top 10 of 2020 Food and Beverage New Product Pacesetters by IRI1. Kinder Bueno is available nationwide at retail, grocery, drug and convenience stores. For more information on the Kinder Bueno brand and where to find Kinder Bueno in stores, please visit www.Kinder.com. You can also check out Kinder Bueno Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages for additional updates. About Ferrero Ferrero began its journey in the small town of Alba in Piedmont, Italy, in 1946. Today, it is one of the world's largest sweet-packaged food companies, with over 35 iconic brands sold in more than 170 countries. The Ferrero Group brings joy to people around the world with much-loved treats and snacks including Nutella, Kinder, Tic Tac, and Ferrero Rocher. More than 38,000 employees are passionate about helping people celebrate life's special moments. The Ferrero Group's family culture, now in its third generation, is based on dedication to quality and excellence, heritage and a commitment to the planet and communities in which we operate. Ferrero entered the North American market in 1969 and has grown to more than 5,100 employees in 15 plants and warehouses, and eight offices in North America across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. It has expanded its presence and portfolio with the addition of iconic brands such as Butterfinger, CRUNCH, Keebler, Famous Amos, Mother's Cookies, and other distinctive cookie and chocolate brands. Follow @FerreroNACorp on Twitter and Instagram. www.ferreronorthamerica.com. Media Contact Amanda Yodice [email protected] SOURCE Ferrero North America SUSE enhances its reputation as the industry's most secure open source solution with advancements to SUSE Linux Enterprise and new security focused updates to Rancher by SUSE SUSE continues to improve business continuity for customers with enhanced support, real-time patching and automation, including AI support for Rancher Prime customers MUNICH, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- (SUSECON 2023) SUSE, a global leader in innovative, reliable and secure enterprise-grade open source solutions, today at SUSECON announced new advanced capabilities to help customers accelerate digital transformation as a part of its mission to best secure IT infrastructure and accelerate digital trust. "Every enterprise must maximize their business resilience to face increasingly sophisticated, and potentially devastating, digital attacks," said Dr. Thomas Di Giacomo, Chief Technology and Product Officer of SUSE. "That means they need to get serious about the security posture of their complex workloads, particularly AI/ML platforms where the protection of customer data is under intense scrutiny. SUSE's approach to supply chain security along with the latest announcements allow customers to safely adapt the advantages of a cloud native world and to secure their digital business." A new trend report sponsored by SUSE found that more than 88% of respondents reported experiencing more than one cloud-related security incident in the past year. SUSE is in the business of protecting customer data and helping customers stay ahead of threats. To address these concerns, SUSE continues to build out its infrastructure security stack to ensure that customers, partners and open source communities can safely run their application workloads no matter if it's in the cloud, in the edge or in data-centers to make their business more resilient. Introducing a new level of Linux security for cloud native The latest version of SUSE's flagship enterprise Linux platform, SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 Service Pack 5 (SLE 15 SP5) is designed to deliver high-performance computing capabilities which are essential for AI/ML workloads and works in lockstep with Rancher, the world's most widely adopted Kubernetes platform. SLE 15 SP5 further extends Live Patching capabilities improving business continuity, security and compliance as well as further enhances SLE's reputation as the industry's most secure Linux platform with the highest levels of industry certifications. Highlights include: Bringing p rivacy to cloud and edge environments with Confidential Computing SLE 15 SP5 is the first Linux distribution to support the entire spectrum of Confidential Computing, a revolutionary approach to secure customer data being processed in the public cloud and at the Edge. This allows customers to run fully encrypted virtual machines (VMs) no matter the environment. As such, SLES 15 SP5 supports the latest chipset innovations from AMD, Arm, IBM and Intel. SLE 15 SP5 is the first Linux distribution to support the entire spectrum of Confidential Computing, a revolutionary approach to secure customer data being processed in the public cloud and at the Edge. This allows customers to run fully encrypted virtual machines (VMs) no matter the environment. As such, SLES 15 SP5 supports the latest chipset innovations from AMD, Arm, IBM and Intel. Securing the SAP infrastructure SLE 15 SP5 for SAP Applications endorsed by SAP - further improves SAP system high availability and faster deployment through enhanced automation and tooling with built-in security features. These enhancements include: Automatic discovery and full observability of servers, cloud instances, SAP HANA databases, SAP S/4HANA, NetWeaver applications and clusters. The latest enhancements in SP5 enable continuous checks of High Availability (HA) configurations with visualization of potential problems and application of recommended fixes. SLE 15 SP5 for SAP Applications endorsed by SAP - further improves SAP system high availability and faster deployment through enhanced automation and tooling with built-in security features. These enhancements include: Automatic discovery and full observability of servers, cloud instances, SAP HANA databases, SAP S/4HANA, NetWeaver applications and clusters. The latest enhancements in SP5 enable continuous checks of High Availability (HA) configurations with visualization of potential problems and application of recommended fixes. Building resilience for the Linux estates SUSE Manager 4.3.6 now supports more than 15 different Linux distributions including SUSE systems as well as all RHEL 9 variations such as Rocky Linux, Alma Linux and RHEL 9. In early fall, SUSE Manager will be available as a pay-as-you-go offering in the AWS marketplace. This will allow customers to manage infrastructure from the cloud, benefiting from metered usage, scalability and single billing from the cloud provider. For lack of time and in-house skills, customers can take advantage of the new SUSE Manager solutions, including one specifically for customers running SAP workloads, which encompass subscriptions, services, and training - speeding time to value. SUSE Manager 4.3.6 now supports more than 15 different Linux distributions including SUSE systems as well as all RHEL 9 variations such as Rocky Linux, Alma Linux and RHEL 9. In early fall, SUSE Manager will be available as a pay-as-you-go offering in the AWS marketplace. This will allow customers to manage infrastructure from the cloud, benefiting from metered usage, scalability and single billing from the cloud provider. For lack of time and in-house skills, customers can take advantage of the new SUSE Manager solutions, including one specifically for customers running SAP workloads, which encompass subscriptions, services, and training - speeding time to value. Linux for a cloud native world The SUSE Adaptable Linux Platform (ALP) brings enterprise Linux forward into modern cloud environments by evolving to a modular Linux, running containerized and virtualized workloads. SUSE ALP is an open source project that provides self-healing and self-management, executing tasks affecting both the OS and the container layer. This allows users to focus on their workloads while abstracting from hardware and applications. Securing the digital enterprise with full lifecycle container security for Kubernetes SUSE's report also found that 88% of respondents agreed that their teams would mitigate more workloads in cloud and to the edge if they knew their data couldn't be tampered with. To ensure customers and partners are protected, Rancher by SUSE builds off its spring 2023 launch with new security-focused product updates that include optimized storage, support for hardened VMs, and improved vulnerability and compliance management. Increasing data protection, optimizing backup archives and new standards of Kubernetes optimized storage through advanced kernel technology . Longhorn 1.5, the CNCF incubator project of which Rancher is the primary maintainer, will include a preview version of the next-generation Storage Performance Development Kit-based storage engine to improve the input-output performance of persistent volumes used by applications. Other newly released features include the ability to control backing images through container storage interface (CSI) and support for ClusterAutoscaler via Pod Disruption Budgets. These provide operators with more authority over their storage volume costs and deployment support across public cloud Kubernetes. . Longhorn 1.5, the CNCF incubator project of which Rancher is the primary maintainer, will include a preview version of the next-generation Storage Performance Development Kit-based storage engine to improve the input-output performance of persistent volumes used by applications. Other newly released features include the ability to control backing images through container storage interface (CSI) and support for ClusterAutoscaler via Pod Disruption Budgets. These provide operators with more authority over their storage volume costs and deployment support across public cloud Kubernetes. Addressing the growing interdependency of containers and VMs across modern infrastructure stacks. SUSE continues to make advancements in simplifying cloud native infrastructure operations with the upcoming release of Harvester 1.2. Starting in July, users will get access to features including support for third-party storage through CSI and the ability to run security-optimized operating systems. Telco and Edge users will also benefit from new dynamic allocations of single root I/O virtualization functions across workloads and be able to implement a new modular framework that provides better control of operational functions across resource-constrained environments. In addition, new experimental features include: the implementation of the full Rancher management console built into Harvester for faster deployment of Rancher as well as the release of 'bare metal mode' in Harvester, which is designed to give users the ability to run and manage VMs and containers in Kubernetes clusters. Improving vulnerability management and simplifying Kubernetes security. The SUSE NeuVector 5.2 update covers enterprise-grade security, vulnerability and compliance management, as well as enterprise scalability and readiness. Key features include common vulnerabilities and exposure database search, NIST 800-53 report mapping which ensures nothing important gets overlooked, Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmarks, AWS Marketplace integrated billing, token-based API access, customizable login banners (RGS), and Harbor adapter. SUSE is continuing its investment with cloud service providers across its business. In July, SUSE NeuVector will be available on the AWS Marketplace, giving AWS customers self-service access to full lifecycle, zero-trust container security with pay-as-you-go pricing. NeuVector provides unsurpassed visibility into Kubernetes infrastructure, zero-trust controls to prevent runtime attacks, and supply chain security with vulnerability and compliance scanning and security policy as code. In addition, SUSE NeuVector will also be available on Azure and Google Cloud later this summer. Enhancing customer experience with AI. Rancher Prime's AI Assistant provides automated, accurate, and real-time assistance to customers, and will soon be available via the Rancher Prime customer Slack channel. By leveraging the power of OpenAI and other cutting-edge generative AI technologies, it will have the ability to have a self-serviceable, easy to consume user experience while providing accurate and helpful information. Improving usability and security in distributed environments SUSE Edge 2.0 gets support from adding Akri as a component of SUSE Edge for discovering and scheduling workloads for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, including sensors, control systems, cameras and more. This allows for managing industrial IoT devices declaratively along with the rest of the stack. This improves IT/OT integrations and reusability of configuration as well as provides a path to a self-healing cluster. Partner and customer testimonials "More than 20 years ago, we were the first large industrial company in Germany to build a Linux cluster based on SLES. Since then, open source technology has become a key element of our corporate strategy. The results we have achieved together with SUSE since then show that our decision was exactly right." Dr. Thomas Kronseder, Head of Linux Team, MTU Aero Engines AG "We are pleased to have SUSE as a partner who shares our belief that the telecom industry needs a common blueprint for an industrial-grade cloud-native telco cloud stack covering best in class in security, energy and network performance requirements. This is essential to bring the integration effort for cloud-native network functions down to a level where it becomes feasible for telecom operators to run their CNFs from different vendors on any open source telco cloud stack. We have a unique opportunity to make this a reality through the first Linux Foundation Europe hosted project, Sylva, where we are working together to span infrastructure to bare metal and edge, opening the door to new business cases with similar requirements, such as aerospace and others. This will bring huge benefits to the entire ecosystem, unlocking the true benefits of cloud-native technology, with high resilience and better reliability, for operators to achieve new operating models, paving the road towards Network Reliability Engineers (NRE)." - Philippe Ensarguet, VP Software Engineering, Orange "Sustainably and securely meeting cloud computing performance demands requires energy-efficient, specialized processing alongside a strong software ecosystem. Our ongoing work with SUSE to expand the SUSE Linux Enterprise portfolio enables the Arm ecosystem to bring their innovative solutions to market faster on a well-established OS like SLE Micro, with confidence in security proven by its achieving PSA Certified Level 1." - Andrew Wafaa, senior director of software communities, Arm Arm is a leading example of how SUSE's partner ecosystem continually adapts to offer timely and effective solutions to customers. SUSE Linux Enterprise has been the first Enterprise OS to support the Arm architecture, and now SLE Micro has been PSA Certified. In addition, Arm currently provides support for K3s and Longhorn, with support for RKE2, Rancher Prime and NeuVector by SUSE in the works. For more information about how SUSE is building digital trust for its customers visit www.suse.com/digital-trust/ and to learn the latest on SUSE's products, register for SUSECON Digital here: www.suse.com/susecon/. About SUSE SUSE is a global leader in innovative, reliable and secure enterprise-grade open source solutions, relied upon by more than 60% of the Fortune 500 to power their mission-critical workloads. We specialize in Business-critical Linux, Enterprise Container Management and Edge solutions, and collaborate with partners and communities to empower our customers to innovate everywhere from the data center to the cloud, to the edge and beyond. SUSE puts the "open" back in open source, giving customers the ability to tackle innovation challenges today and the freedom to evolve their strategy and solutions tomorrow. The company employs more than 2,000 people globally. SUSE is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Forward-Looking Statements Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for the company, including statements containing the words "aims," "targets," "will," "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," and similar expressions, may constitute forward-looking statements and should be read with caution. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including competitive landscape, development of customer deals, reliance upon customer relationships, management of growth and acquisitions, the possibility of undetected software issues, the risks of impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and economic downturns, pricing pressures and the viability of the Internet. In addition, any forward-looking statements included herein represent views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. The Company does not have any obligation to update its forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to change and should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date other than the date of this press release. Copyright 2023 SUSE LLC. All rights reserved. SUSE and the SUSE logo are registered trademarks of SUSE LLC in the United States and other countries. All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Media Contact: Natalie Paffmann Email: [email protected] Phone: +1 503 544-3824 SOURCE SUSE S.A. PHILADELPHIA, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Suvoda LLC, a global clinical trial technology company that specializes in complex studies in therapeutic areas like oncology, central nervous system (CNS), and rare disease, has tapped Irena Lerentracht Webster to join its board of directors. Webster is a seasoned global drug development leader with over two decades of experience at sponsor, CRO, and site levels. She has led global clinical trial strategy and execution in a myriad of therapeutic areas including neurology, psychiatry, oncology, cardiology, and rare disease, contributing to multiple NDAs and sNDAs. Click to tweet. Webster currently serves as vice president, head of program strategy & development operations for Arkuda Therapeutics, a biotechnology company that focuses on neurodegenerative disease. Prior to that, she led the Clinical Operations and Biometrics teams at FORMA Therapeutics (now a Novo Nordisk company) through a global sickle cell program as well as the approval of olutasidanib (Rezlidhia) for the treatment of IDH1 mutation Acute Myeloid Leukemia. She also has held senior clinical development and operations roles at Sage Therapeutics and Alkermes. "Irena brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in all aspects of clinical development and is known to be a change leader and practical innovator," said Jagath Wanninayake, CEO of Suvoda. "Throughout her career, she has demonstrated a commitment to the science of clinical research, while also focusing on the human element, particularly the site and patient experience. Her unique perspective on the Suvoda board will make a significant contribution to our ability to deliver innovative technology solutions that reduce the burden on clinical trial teams and the patients they serve." In addition to joining the board of directors, Webster also serves on the Suvoda customer advisory board (CAB). "Suvoda has a culture of authenticity, curiosity, passion, and excellence which is instantly apparent to customers. Leadership is extraordinarily customer-centric, interested in understanding and engaging, in an effort to help someone like me, in the role of a sponsor, do my job better," said Webster. "These characteristics and culture are the elements that motivated me to accept when I was asked to join the board. I am proud to be collaborating with some of the brightest minds in the eClinical space, to make a difference in how clinical trial teams serve patients." Webster's appointment comes following Suvoda's recent launch of the Suvoda platform, which integrates IRT, eConsent, and eCOA solutions to provide drug trial sponsors and sites a seamless way to manage complex, mission-critical, and time-sensitive moments in clinical trials. Webster earned her master's in public health from New York Medical College. About Suvoda Suvoda is a global clinical trial technology company specializing in complex, life-sustaining studies in therapeutic areas like oncology, central nervous system (CNS), and rare disease. Founded in 2013 by experts in eClinical technologies, Suvoda empowers clinical trial professionals to manage the most urgent moments in the most urgent trials through advanced software solutions delivered on a single platform. Headquartered outside Philadelphia, Suvoda also maintains offices in Portland, OR, Barcelona, Spain, Bucharest, Romania, and Tokyo, Japan. The company consistently boasts a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of close to 70, far exceeding the technology industry average of 50, and has been selected by trial sponsors and CROs to support more than 1,000 trials across 80 countries. To learn more, visit suvoda.com. Follow Suvoda on Twitter and LinkedIn. For information contact: Mara Conklin, (847) 340-6823 [email protected] Kathy Zoeller, (312) 485-2422 [email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1759317/4091263/Suvoda_Logo.jpg SOURCE Suvoda LLC STOCKHOLM, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Taggr, a leading Swedish intelligent assets company, has successfully completed its Spring 2023 financing round, securing 1.2 million from venture capital firms Polar Structure and Capelin Ventures. This funding propels Taggr closer to its vision of becoming a global leader in intelligent assets across a range of key industries such as construction, transportation, logistics, and mining and quarrying. Recognizing the transformative potential of intelligent assets technology and sharing risk with customers through its unique business model of selling information instead of a technical device, system, or service, Taggr has devised an unprecedented offer. This approach minimizes barriers to adoption, enabling customers and partners to deploy these advanced capabilities rapidly. With the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) soon to come into effect, Taggr's unique approach to measuring and reporting CO2e emissions will become indispensable for companies and cities seeking to be compliant with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). Both combustion-based and electrified equipment can benefit from capabilities that allow tracing back when, where, and how much energy was consumed. According to reports within the construction equipment industry, Taggr's capabilities will be instrumental in achieving up to a 50% reduction in the carbon footprint of construction equipment. This latest funding round signifies a vote of confidence from the investor community in Taggr's innovative approach and market potential. Polar Structure's investment is not just a financial endorsement but also a vital part of a strategic alliance to catalyze Taggr's growth trajectory. The capital injection will be utilized to advance product development, scale operations, and broaden customer outreach. As Taggr navigates the emerging intelligent assets landscape, the backing of Polar Structure and Capelin Ventures will be invaluable. Their support will aid Taggr in capitalizing on this technology's immense potential and shaping a future where digital intelligent assets become an integral part of multiple industry verticals. "Polar Structure invests holistically to contribute to transforming cities and communities to make them sustainable and more efficient. Our investment in Taggr exemplifies this commitment, as it enables precise monitoring of equipment and goods, forming the foundation for optimizing utilization and logistics - both of which are crucial factors in achieving net-zero goals," says Tobias Emanuelsson, Founder and CEO of Polar Structure. For more information, please visit - www.taggr.se Andreas Eriksson, +4670-555 61 65, [email protected] The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/22535/3790014/2138862.pdf Press release (PDF) SOURCE Taggr AB ATLANTA, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ClassOne Equipment (classoneequipment.com), announced the sale of its advanced new Takano WM-7SR particle measurement system to the DTU Nanolab at the Technical University of Denmark. The announcement was made by ClassOne Equipment Vice President, David Pawlak, and DTU Nanolab Head of Process Engineering, Flemming Jensen. Takano WM-7SR advanced wafer particle detection system exclusively from ClassOne Equipment "DTU Nanolab chose the Takano WM-7SR particle inspection system specifically to replace an older particle scanner system that was not keeping up with our current needs," said Jensen. "And because we still had our older particle scanner on hand, we were able to compare it directly with the new Takano system and see the dramatic improvements firsthand. The new WM-7SR now gives us a number of significant advantages, including Windows 10, superior sensitivity, more modern hardware, and a longer life laser diode. Plus, it will require significantly less maintenance." Jensen also noted that the new Takano system will be available to outside companies on a pay-per-use basis, as well as to ClassOne Equipment for customer demonstrations. Pawlak pointed out that ClassOne is seeing dramatically increased sales of the new Takano tools, often because of their value as replacements for legacy particle scanner systems. Attractively priced and readily available, the Takano equipment can deliver best-in-class detection sensitivity along with high throughput and excellent repeatability, as well as a full suite of options. ClassOne Equipment is the exclusive source for sales, service and complete support of Takano particle detection systems in North America and Europe. ClassOne maintains a team of specially-trained field engineers to provide installations, PMs and all other services on Takano systems. In addition to the all-new Takano systems, ClassOne Equipment also offers a broad selection of previously-owned semiconductor equipment, including many tools that are totally refurbished and literally better-than-new. The company also provides thousands of top-quality OEM parts, as well as equipment service, support, warranties, financing, and much more. All may be seen at classoneequipment.com. For detailed information, contact [email protected]. About ClassOne Equipment Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, ClassOne Equipment has long been known as the industry's premier provider of previously-owned and professionally-refurbished name-brand semiconductor processing equipment delivering like-new performance at a fraction of new-tool cost. In addition, ClassOne sells and fully supports the Takano line of all-new high-performance wafer particle inspection systems. ClassOne Equipment supplies a broad spectrum of turnkey solutions that can include not just tools but also spare parts, installation, service, support, warranty, financing and more. About the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) DTU (dtu.dk), located in Kongens Lyngby, near Copenhagen, is an international elite technical university known for its education, science, innovation, and world-class research. It has been ranked as the second best university in the world and number one in Europe. It is at the forefront of the technical and natural sciences with new initiatives in a number of demanding engineering disciplines, including sustainable energy and life science. The DTU Nanolab conducts research into micro and nanotechnology for producing advanced microchips. In addition, this lab grants access to outside companies and industry to use their unique facilities in the only large-scale cleanroom in Denmark. For more information, contact: Byron Exarcos ClassOne Equipment 5302 Snapfinger Woods Drive Atlanta, GA 30035 tel: +1 (678) 772-9086 email: [email protected]com SOURCE ClassOne Equipment Initial pilots show significant enhancements to customer experience, including reduced handling and response times, improved agent experience and increased customer satisfaction NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Teleperformance , a global leader in digital business services, today announced that it has signed a multi-year, $185 million Azure Cloud commitment with Microsoft to deliver comprehensive Microsoft Cloud infrastructure solutions to clients. Through the partnership, Teleperformance is also leveraging Microsoft Azure artificial intelligence (AI) to launch TP GenAI, a new suite of AI solutions that enable faster, more efficient, and improved business processes that deliver enhanced customer experience. TP GenAI seamlessly empowers organizations to rapidly and precisely pinpoint customers' needs and pain points across various touchpoints. Leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) through Microsoft Azure OpenAI, this comprehensive suite of generative AI tools allows advisors to accelerate response times and focus on customer needs with greater empathy. Teleperformance is also embedding TP GenAI to optimize its internal back office and support functions including HR, Recruitment, Finance, IT and Training. The launch of TP GenAI is just one more step in Teleperformance's transformation as a digital business services leader. Tweet this Initial client programs piloting the use of TP GenAI have produced significant efficiency, accuracy and customer experience benefits across a variety of industries. The company's initial TP GenAI-powered programs have seen up to a 25% reduction in call handling time and a 20% reduction in email response times; increased customer satisfaction scores, and 90% improvement in accurately addressing customer needs, 35% increase in sales conversions, and near real-time insights on customer interactions. "The launch of TP GenAI is just one more step in our transformation as a digital business services leader," said Daniel Julien, Chairman and CEO of Teleperformance Group. "We are a big promoter of blending 'high tech' with 'high touch,' combining artificial intelligence with real people and human empathy to deliver a more supportive and compassionate, human-centered customer experience. As an industry leader, we're pleased to offer generative AI solutions to organizations to help automate simple, low-value tasks and enable our staff to focus on what matters most building brand loyalty." The expanded Microsoft partnership also is fueling enhancements to Teleperformance's existing AI-powered services using Microsoft's Azure Cognitive Services. This includes: TP Interact an interaction analytics platform which leverages Azure Cognitive Services to extract and harness insights from all interactions including audio and digital conversations, to help create actionable business insights and drive customer experience enhancements. TP Digital Floorwalker a chatbot leveraging machine learning and analytics capabilities that helps Teleperformance's experts resolve customer requests faster and more accurately. StoryfAI - a multi-lingual translation engine which delivers automated translation services in real-time in more than 100 languages, thereby enabling customer care experts to respond across multiple languages more quickly and accurately. ABOUT TELEPERFORMANCE GROUP Teleperformance (TEP ISIN: FR0000051807 Reuters: TEPRF.PA - Bloomberg: TEP FP), is a global leader in digital business services, blending the best of advanced technology with human empathy to deliver enhanced customer care that is simpler, faster, and safer for the world's biggest brands and their customers. The Group's comprehensive, AI-powered service portfolio ranges from front-office customer care to back-office functions, including Trust and Safety services that help defend both online users and brand reputation. It also offers a range of specialized services such as collections, interpreting and localization, visa and consular services, and recruitment process outsourcing services. With more than 410,000 inspired and passionate people speaking more than 300 languages, the Group's global scale and local presence allows it to be a force of good in supporting communities, clients, and the environment. In 2022, Teleperformance reported consolidated revenue of 8,154 million (US$8.6 billion, based on 1 = $1.05) and net profit of 645 million. Teleperformance shares are traded on the Euronext Paris market, Compartment A, and are eligible for the deferred settlement service. They are included in the following indices: CAC 40, STOXX 600, S&P Europe 350, MSCI Global Standard and Euronext Tech Leaders. In the area of corporate social responsibility, Teleperformance shares are included in the CAC 40 ESG since September 2022, the Euronext Vigeo Euro 120 index since 2015, the EURO STOXX 50 ESG index since 2020, the MSCI Europe ESG Leaders index since 2019, the FTSE4Good index since 2018 and the S&P Global 1200 ESG index since 2017. Visit the Group at www.teleperformance.com. SOURCE Teleperformance DUBAI, UAE, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal households and discerning parents around the world are turning to the extraordinary Bubble Baby Bed, a pioneering invention from Lana Agiyan, an award-winning designer and mother of three. Immaculately designed over two years, Bubble Baby Bed graces nurseries with its revolutionary double-wall transparent design, blending opulence with functionality. Commissioned for Salone Satellite, this product sets a new gold standard in luxury baby care. Bubble Baby Bed - Awarded Best Bassinet "The Bubble Baby Bed isn't just a crib; it's a testament to luxury, safety, and avant-garde artistry, effortlessly matching any home's grandeur," says Agiyan. The transparent crib design, favoured by royal households, allows caregivers to monitor their precious ones effortlessly. Its mattresses, designed with a 3D breathable mesh, guarantee not only unparalleled comfort but also optimal thermoregulation, mould prevention, and a significant reduction in suffocation risk. Designed for hygiene, the mattress is conveniently machine-washable. Adding a royal touch, the crib mimics a gentle rocking motion akin to a tilt toy, comforting babies while showcasing impressive stability - it stands firm even with an adult sitting on it. With its striking design and unmatched safety features, Bubble Baby Bed has proudly been recognized with prestigious accolades, including the Salone Satellite Award at Milan Design Week and the Well-Tech Award for technological innovation in Milan. "Be it a regal living room or a peaceful nursery, Bubble Baby Bed is meticulously crafted to elevate your lifestyle," Agiyan adds. For more information, visit https://bubble-baby-bed.com/ About Bubble Baby Bed: Founded by Lana Agiyan, an award-winning designer and mother, Bubble Baby Bed is redefining luxury in the baby crib industry. With an unrivalled design and top-tier safety features, it provides a uniquely secure, lavish, and Eye-catching environment for babies. Phone: +971 58 568 0055 Email: [email protected]com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105668/Bubble_Baby_Bed.jpg SOURCE Bubble Baby Bed BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. The trade turnover between the two countries has increased by 10 times since the opening of the Embassy of Argentine in Azerbaijan, Argentine Ambassador Mariangeles Bellusci said during an event dedicated to the country's national holiday, Trend reports. The National Flag Day is the holiday dedicated to the Argentine flag and to the commemoration of its creator, Manuel Belgrano. It is celebrated on 20 June, the anniversary of Belgrano's death in 1820. Bellusci also noted that over the past year, turnover between the two countries has doubled compared to the preceding year. "Relations between our countries have been developing steadily and continuously since the early 1990s, which is reflected in numerous agreements aimed at strengthening ties and developing bilateral trade. There are no contradictions in these relations, on the contrary, similar views remain on the application of many general principles of international law," Bellusci said. According to the ambassador, there are many opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in the economic and trade spheres, as well as in agriculture and animal husbandry. "As an embassy, we strive to ensure that Argentine companies can take advantage of the opportunities offered by the port of Alat, and that Azerbaijan becomes the center for the distribution of Argentine products not only locally, but also at the regional level," she said. She added that a meeting of the Joint Working Group on Trade and Economic Cooperation is scheduled for the end of this year. At present, active work is being conducted to create an appropriate legal and regulatory framework for the development of relations between Azerbaijan and Argentine. Azerbaijan's exports to Argentine stood at $11.31 million in 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. Azerbaijan and Argentine have a joint working group on trade and economic co-operation. The group was established in accordance with the Agreement on Trade and Economic Co-operation between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Argentine Republic, which was signed in July 2012. On 9 March 1992, Argentine recognized the independence of Azerbaijan and on 8 November 1992 both nations established diplomatic relations. PALMER'S BRANCH, Texas, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, Andrew Garrett is acknowledged as a Distinguished Healthcare Professional for his contributions to the field of Chiropractic. Dr. Garrett pursued higher education at the University of Texas at El Paso where he earned a Bachelor of Science in 2000. He then attended Parker College of Chiropractic where he graduated with a Doctor of Chiropractic's Degree. Andrew M. Garrett Known for his compassionate care and state-of-the-art practices and techniques, Dr. Garrett is the Clinic Director of Return to Health, a multidisciplinary practice focusing on physical rehabilitation, pain management, and treatment of federal employees who have suffered on-the-job injuries. He also uses virtual reality therapy; electroangesia technology; aquatic therapy; and shock wave therapy to maximize recovery for his patients. Dedicated to providing the latest advancements in his field, the doctor is associated with the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) and supports local and community programs. He would like to dedicate this honor to his dear children, Phillip, Laura and Katie, and thanks them for their love and support. Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected] SOURCE The Inner Circle BOCA RATON, Fla., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, Scott Alexander Rose is acknowledged as a Top Pinnacle Professional for his contributions to the Insurance Industry. Dr. Rose pursued higher education Florida Atlantic University where he graduated with a Bachelor's degrees in Theater Arts, Music Education, and Fine Arts and later also earned a Master's degree in Nonprofit Management in 2012 and a second Master of Business Administration degree. He capped his education at Lynn University in 2015 where he earned a Doctor of Education degree. He is also a certified fundraiser; holds a certificate in financial planning; and has earned the designation of Certified International Specialist from Florida Atlantic University in 2013. Dr. Rose began his career as a Florida representative with the Office of Public Liaison in 1991. He is currently the owner and certified international specialist at Mainstreet Solutions LLC and has worked there since 1992. An accomplished and celebrated artist, the doctor also spent 15 years as a performing arts teacher. Touted as an expert in his field, Dr. Rose was named Insurance Expert of the Year by Finance Monthly and the International Lawyers Journal in 2021. The South Florida Business Journal named him Top 2/12 in 2012 and in 2016, he was the runner-up for his learning theory thesis with the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate. Aside from his professional pursuits, Dr. Rose is also a civic-minded leader who has served as the president of the Life Care Foundation on Disabilities from 2004 to 2015. He additionally contributed to Limitless Horizons International where he has maintained affiliation with an underwriter's association; the Palm Beach County Underwriters Association; the Florida Association of British Business; and his local chamber of commerce. Dr. Rose plans to continue finding success in his career. In his spare time, he enjoys exercising and hiking. Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected] SOURCE The Inner Circle Organization stands as the only fertility platform with a Chief Compassion Officer, offering comprehensive mental health resources to patients and employees. HOUSTON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In recognition of Men's Health Week and in the spirit of Father's Day, The Prelude Network (Prelude), North America's most comprehensive network of fertility clinics, is unveiling a series of initiatives aimed at prioritizing mental health for both patients and employees. As the only network with a dedicated Chief Compassion Officer, Prelude and its parent company, Inception Fertility (Inception) underscores the importance of mental well-being in fertility and reproductive health. Recognizing the importance of mental well-being in the fertility journey, Inception has implemented free monthly evening webinars for all Prelude patients. The series of webinars tackle a variety of topics including lifestyle habits and infertility, enhancing couple communication, managing stress during fertility treatment, coping with pregnancy loss, and tips on best practices in third-party reproduction. "At Inception, we believe that holistic patient care is crucial to successful fertility treatments," says TJ Farnsworth, Founder and CEO of Inception Fertility. "Our commitment to patient mental health, led by our Chief Compassion Officer, Dr. Alice Domar, uniquely positions us to offer the empathetic and comprehensive support needed throughout this journey." Taking the lead in leveraging technology, Inception dramatically improves the patient experience by offering everything a patient could need under one roof. "Studies consistently show the connection between mental health and fertility outcomes," says Dr. Alice Domar, Chief Compassion Officer at Inception. "As part of our commitment to comprehensive patient care, we're making mental health a priority, offering resources that help patients manage stress and cultivate resilience during their fertility journey." This encompasses their extensive family of brands, including The Prelude Network, Pathways Fertility, MyEggBank, Bundl Fertility (Bundl), and HavenCryo. Complementing our mental health initiatives, we offer our proprietary patient app, Prelude Connect. As the only fertility network with such a tool, this app serves as a vital companion for patients at every stage of their fertility journey. With its intuitive design and enhanced functionality, Prelude Connect provides more than a transactional experience. It gives patients exclusive access to an extensive library of content, offering crucial relaxation strategies, stress management techniques, and coping methods. This integrated approach underscores our dedication to holistic patient care and support. Fueled by the belief that the best way to improve patient care is through research, the newly established Inception Research Institute is pioneering research on patient-centered care. The institute is currently studying the impact of stress on IVF outcomes, weighing the benefits of remote versus in-person physician visits, and taking part in trials that explore the most effective and patient-friendly approaches to care. Moreover, 2023 is designated as the "Year of the Employee" at Inception. This commitment to employee well-being includes stress-management webinars, regular clinic visits from the Chief Compassion Officer, orientations about the psychological impact of infertility, and compensation for assisting with research. In addition, Inception is training physicians across its North American clinics in empathic communication, shown to enhance the quality of patient care. "Inception's commitment to the mental health of our patients and employees underscores our dedication to going above and beyond in fertility care," says Farnsworth. "Our goal is to revolutionize the fertility experience, making it as supportive and stress-free as possible." About Inception Fertility Inception Fertility (Inception) is a family of fertility brands committed to helping patients build their own families. Built by patients for patients, Inception's purpose is to achieve the highest bar in experience, science and medicine in an effort to enhance each patient's experience and achieve better outcomes. Inception's medical experts are leading pioneers in fertility care. Our doctors are some of the first to use breakthrough assisted reproductive technologies (ART) including in vitro fertilization (IVF), preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) and fertility preservation services and they continue to lead the industry by building on these technologies by through development, research and thought leadership. Through its growing family of national organizations which includes The Prelude Network , the fastest-growing network of fertility clinics and largest provider of comprehensive fertility services in North America; Pathways Fertility , clinics that provide affordable, individualized and high quality care; MyEggBank , one of the largest frozen donor egg banks in North America; BUNDL Fertility , a multi-cycle fertility service bundling program; HavenCryo , a long-term reproductive preservation and storage solution provider and NutraBloom , a premium lifestyle brand with expertly formulated supplements to support individuals' health and wellness goals for preconception Inception is working to deliver on its promise to push the envelope of what is possible for exceeding patient expectations. About The Prelude Network The Prelude Network (Prelude), the fastest-growing network of fertility clinics and largest provider of comprehensive fertility services in North America, is the clinic network of Inception Fertility a family of fertility brands that touches every part of the fertility journey, including diagnostics and treatment to financial accessibility. Each clinic, as part of the Prelude Network, is committed to delivering the highest level of personalized fertility care by the nation's leading reproductive endocrinologists, embryologists, and practitioners by focusing on an excellence in science, medicine and the patient experience. The growing Prelude Network has over 40 total locations nationwide, offering a wide range of fertility services including egg freezing, IVF, genetic testing and egg/embryo storage, among others. MEDIA CONTACT: Mia Humphreys Krupp 239-297-6592 [email protected] SOURCE The Prelude Network Exterior building services company, The Valcourt Group, expands its service area with the acquisition of Southern California-based South Shore Building Services THE WOODLANDS, Texas, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Valcourt Group, the leading provider of waterproofing, window cleaning, and facade restoration services, is excited to announce its recent acquisition of South Shore Building Services. This strategic move further solidifies The Valcourt Group's position as an industry leader while expanding its footprint within Los Angeles, Orange Country, and San Diego. The Valcourt Group, originally a small window washing company in Washington DC, has grown into the premier provider of comprehensive building maintenance solutions. With a strong focus on safety standards and unwavering commitment to superior service, The Valcourt Group now offers services in 27 states, catering to a diverse range of clients. South Shore Building Services, founded by Ty Eubanks in 1979 during his high school years, has earned a stellar reputation for excellence in the industry. Starting with humble beginnings and armed with a bucket, squeegee, and ladder, Ty's passion for delivering exceptional service propelled his business to serve prestigious homes in Newport and Laguna Beach. Over the years, South Shore has expanded its operations and emerged as a leading commercial building maintenance company. "South Shore is, and will continue to be, a family-run company that shares our culture of service excellence and uncompromising safety," says The Valcourt Group CEO, Eric Crabb. "This partnership, along with the Valcourt Group's acquisition of HSG in 2021, will continue reinforcing our already strong presence in Southern California while expanding our geographic reach to new cities in the market." "We are excited for this new opportunity and to watch the next generation of Eubanks lead South Shore into an exciting and successful future, says South Shore Founder Ty Eubanks. "South Shore will continue operating with the same team members and under the same name our customers have come to know and trust for many years." Ty and his team are actively involved in industry associations, such as Power Washers of North America (PWNA) and The International Window Cleaning Association (IWCA) https://www.pwna.org/, https://www.pwna.org/exemplifying their dedication to advancing safety standards and training within the industry. Ty currently serves as the President of PWNA, while his son, Conner Eubanks, is on the Executive Board of Directors of the IWCA, tirelessly working to enhance power washing and window cleaning safety practices. South Shore Building Services proudly serves an impressive portfolio of marquee buildings, their commitment to excellence and client satisfaction has positioned them as a trusted partner in the industry. The Valcourt Group's acquisition of South Shore Building Services reflects its continued dedication to expanding its service capabilities and delivering unparalleled solutions to clients. With the shared values of excellence, safety, and customer-centricity, this union is set to create new opportunities and drive even greater success in the building maintenance industry. ABOUT THE VALCOURT GROUP The Valcourt Group specializes in waterproofing, window cleaning, facade restoration, and other essential exterior building maintenance services for Class-A commercial offices, high-rise residential condominiums, hospitality businesses, healthcare facilities, and other clients. A merger of legacy Valcourt Building Services and JOBS Group business, the Valcourt Group has grown its service offerings, employee base, and regional coverage. For more information please visit www.valcourt.group. ABOUT SOUTH SHORE BUILDING SERVICES South Shore Building Services, Inc. provides the Southern California commercial real estate industry with services to protect the asset of the property owner while increasing tenant satisfaction. Through utilizing the best products, methods, and techniques available, we provide the highest quality service and instill the greatest customer confidence levels in the Southern California property services industry. To learn more, please visit www.southshoreinc.com. For media inquiries or further information, please contact: Kathleen Garska Director of Marketing The Valcourt Group [email protected] (979) 665-8823 SOURCE Valcourt Group Keeper Password Management Report indicates poor password practices could largely be due to feeling overwhelmed by cybersecurity CHICAGO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Keeper Security, a renowned industry leader in exceptional password, passkey, secrets and privileged access management, has today released the results of its latest study, The Keeper Password Management Report: Unifying Perception with Reality. Assessing the password habits of over 8,000 individuals across the US, UK, France and Germany, the report reveals that 3 in 4 (75%) people globally don't adhere to widely-accepted password best practices, with a majority (64%) either using weak passwords or repeat variations of passwords to protect their online accounts. More than a third of people also admitted to feeling overwhelmed when it came to taking action to improve their cybersecurity; an indication that these feelings might be putting people at greater risk of being hacked. "In order to analyze people's personal cybersecurity hygiene, we asked which animal they would identify with in regard to their cybersecurity behaviors," said Darren Guccione, CEO and Co-founder of Keeper Security. "With over one in four people describing themselves either as an ostrich burying their head in the sand, careless as a bull in a china shop or a possum paralyzed with fear, the industry clearly still has much work to do to get more people comfortable with cybersecurity and better protected as a result." According to Verizon's annual Data Breach Index Report, up to 80% of successful data breaches are the result of compromised login credentials. However, according to Keeper's study, 57% claim they watch their passwords 'like a hawk' or say they're like a 'lion who confidently takes charge.' Of the former, 40% had no idea whether their passwords had been breached, suggesting a large number of those surveyed are grossly overestimating their cyber-savvy or are wilfully ignoring password hygiene advice. Additionally, only 7% of respondents globally recognized password managers as the best way to achieve personal cybersecurity. "Password management does not need to be complex, overwhelming or difficult to understand even with a large number of digital accounts to secure," said Craig Lurey, CTO and Co-founder of Keeper Security. "Using a password manager is an ideal way for anyone to protect themself. Along with creating and storing strong and unique passwords for all digital accounts, a password manager can offer protection against phishing attacks and malicious links, because it will not fill credentials if the URL doesn't match what's in the user's vault. A password manager can also be paired with dark web monitoring so users can stay abreast of all account information and take action immediately, if credentials are compromised." Other significant statistics in the report include: 30% of people still use simple passwords to protect their digital accounts, while 34% admit to repeating variations of the same password. 39% of respondents are unaware of whether they've been breached and 32% do not know whether their passwords are available on the dark web. 64% of respondents are not confident that they are managing their passwords well. 41% of respondents said cybersecurity is too difficult to understand. 29% of Baby Boomers use strong and unique passwords for every account, compared to only 20% of Gen Z respondents, of which 40% found cybersecurity overwhelming the highest of all the age groups. Men are more confident than women about password security 39% of men vs. 31% of women. For the full report, please visit: https://www.keepersecurity.com/password-management-report-unifying-perception-with-reality/ About Keeper Security Keeper Security is transforming cybersecurity for people and organisations around the world. Keeper's affordable and easy-to-use solutions are built on a foundation of zero-trust and zero-knowledge security to protect every user on every device. Our next-generation privileged access management solution deploys in minutes and seamlessly integrates with any tech stack to prevent breaches, reduce help desk costs and ensure compliance. Trusted by millions of individuals and thousands of organisations, Keeper is a leader for best-in-class password management, secrets management, privileged access, secure remote access and encrypted messaging. Learn more at KeeperSecurity.com . Media Contact: Christian Morley Lumina Communications for Keeper Security [email protected] SOURCE Keeper Security DUBLIN, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Torpedo Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Product, By Weight Type, By Application, By Region, Segment Forecast, 2023-2032" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global torpedo market size is expected to reach USD 1.641 billion by 2032 Torpedoes are the most lethal underwater weapons widely used in submarines. The increase in ongoing disputes among countries such as Russia and Ukraine, China and India, China, Taiwan, and others has driven the growth of the torpedo market. The government of both developed and developing economies are investing in making strong submarine and navy forces. This factor is anticipated to enhance the overall demand for torpedoes in the coming years. AI-integrated smart and lightweight torpedoes are in high demand due to their cost-effectiveness and quick detection ability has improved the performance of torpedoes. For instance, the Russian Navy has also developed a nuclear-enabled torpedo. The rest of the globe is expected to witness a high growth rate in the coming years. Rising maritime border conflicts in the South China Sea & anti-piracy operations. Besides, Brazil also developing new submarines is key development which led to a rise in the potential sales of the torpedo market during the forecast period. Factors such as the upgradation of AI and IoT technologies in torpedo have escalated the torpedo market. Furthermore, defense organizations are focusing on strengthening advanced weapon solutions for submarine sectors. For instance, according to data revealed by Fortune India in December 2022, India's defense budget for 2022-23 was USD 70.6 Bn, & around 24% was allocated for weapons and equipment for modernization. This factor is projected to drive the torpedo market during the forecast period. Moreover, the marine conflicts & disruptions in maritime trade activity have contributed to an increase in the adoption of anti-submarine weapons, mainly torpedoes. In addition, AI-integrated and lightweight torpedoes are best suited in anti-submarine warfare due to their cost-effectiveness and efficiency have driven the market. These factors are enhancing the potential sales of the torpedo market, thus, offering the most lucrative opportunities for the future. Torpedo Market Report Highlights Wake homing type segment is anticipated to hold largest revenue share over the forecast period, owing to the growing economy and demographic growth are the major key market trend for enhancing the defense industry. Lightweight type segment accounted for largest revenue share which is accelerated by the emerging trends of adopting lightweight torpedo during the wars and anti-submarine activities. Naval vessel segment is held substantial share over the study period due to the strong navy forces and government support and high spending on R&D activities have fuel the market growth. North America is expected to grow at a significant CAGR over the projected period. This is primarily due to presence of key companies in the region. is expected to grow at a significant CAGR over the projected period. This is primarily due to presence of key companies in the region. The global players Aselsan, Atlas Elektronik, BAE Systems, Bharat Dynamics, Honeywell International, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, and Naval Group. Torpedo Market Dynamics Drivers and Opportunities Demand for the lightweight torpedo from aircraft in large quantities Rise in the modernization events in the navy industry Restraints and Challenges Increasing cyber attacks Porter's Five Forces Analysis PESTEL Analysis Torpedo Market Weight Type Trends Value Chain Analysis COVID-19 Impact Analysis Company Profiles Aselsan Atlas Elektronik GmbH BAE Systems Bharat Dynamics Limited Honeywell International Inc Leonardo SpA, Lockheed Martin Corporation Naval Group Northrop Grumman Corporation Raytheon Company Rosoboronexport Saab ABSechan Electronics Inc. Scope of the Report Torpedo, Product Type Outlook (Revenue - USD Million, 2019 - 2032) Acoustic Homing Torpedo Wake Homing Torpedo International Torpedo, Weight Type Outlook (Revenue - USD Million, 2019 - 2032) Heavy weight Lightweight Torpedo, Application Outlook (Revenue - USD Million, 2019 - 2032) Naval Vessel launched torpedo Aerial platform-Launched Torpedo Torpedo, Regional Outlook (Revenue - USD Million, 2019 - 2032) North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany UK France Italy Spain Russia Netherlands Asia Pacific China India Japan South Korea Indonesia Malaysia Latin America Argentina Brazil Mexico Middle East & Africa & UAE Saudi Arabia Israel South Africa For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/rvjrip 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 First phase of launch to provide connectivity to major ECNs for spot FX trading on TT platform CHICAGO and LONDON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Trading Technologies International, Inc. (TT), a global capital markets technology platform provider, today announced that the firm has established a new foreign exchange (FX) business unit, TT FX, and appointed industry veteran Tomo Tokuyama to lead it. Tokuyama has an extensive FX trading track record on the buy side and sell side, most recently as Head of Trading at a multi-billion dollar quantitative fund manager. TT made the announcement at the start of the FIA International Derivatives Expo (IDX) in London. TT FX represents the firm's latest expansion into new asset classes, following its acquisition in March of AxeTrading, a leading global provider of fixed income trading solutions. Tokuyama will manage the new business line with initial focus on the hiring of other key talented FX industry product and technology experts, connectivity to major electronic communication networks (ECNs) and liquidity providers, and the delivery of advanced FX trading capabilities through TT's execution management system (EMS). The first phase of implementation for TT FX, slated for late 2023, will enable TT buy-side clients to trade spot FX through a choice of curated ECNs. In early 2024, TT will extend the offering to include liquidity from major banks and expand the product set to include forwards, non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) and swaps. TT CEO Keith Todd said: "We have more than 6,000 buy-side users alone on the TT platform including hedge funds, CTAs, proprietary traders and commodity trading firms who already trade a huge amount of FX on other systems and platforms. Following many months of outreach and research with our clients, we've heard significant positive feedback and strong demand to consolidate this activity on TT's EMS. TT FX will leverage the unparalleled global distribution capabilities of our platform, the award-winning functionality of our EMS and the widest possible choice of liquidity providers to deliver a truly best-in-class solution. We are delighted to have Tomo on board to lead this initiative for TT. He brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in this space from both the sell-side and buy-side perspectives." Tokuyama said: "I have long believed that technology will continue to advance and shape the future of FX trading through greater focus on automation and data. I'm pleased to join a firm that not only shares that view but listens carefully to clients to deliver innovative tools and access to markets that traders and firms actually want. FX is in high demand by TT clients, and I'm excited about the opportunity to further shape the FX strategy and deliver a product that TT clients will be proud to use." For more than a decade, Tokuyama was at Los Angeles-based First Quadrant, LLC, a quantitative fund that at its peak managed over $25 billion in assets. As Head of Trading, he transformed the firm's FX trading from 98% voice execution to 95% electronic, and positioned First Quadrant at the forefront of FX algorithms and automation. He was responsible for managing the trading team and overseeing all trading activity at the firm including FX, equities, commodities, futures, listed options and total return swaps. He, along with the head of Portfolio Construction, managed day-to-day implementation of the firm's portfolio strategies and analyzed new ways to improve trading efficiencies, which included vetting all of the latest Fintech offerings. Prior to joining First Quadrant, Tokuyama worked at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo and Hong Kong, where he was a member of the Macro Asset Sales team specializing in electronic FX, responsible for distributing the Goldman Sachs electronic FX offering across Asia. He was instrumental in launching both electronic NDFs and first-generation FX algorithms. Tokuyama is a frequent speaker at FX and financial services industry events and has served on numerous advisory boards, including for Best X, FX Connect, FX Hive and the TradeTech FX conferences. He earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree in management from Toronto Metropolitan University. About Trading Technologies Trading Technologies (www.tradingtechnologies.com) is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology platform provider to the global capital markets industry. The company's award-winning TT platform connects to the world's major international exchanges and liquidity venues in listed derivatives alongside a growing number of asset classes, including fixed income and cryptocurrencies. The TT platform delivers advanced tools for trade execution and order management, market data solutions, analytics, trade surveillance, risk management and infrastructure services to the world's leading sell-side institutions, buy-side firms and exchanges. The company's blue-chip client base includes the Tier 1 banks as well as brokers, money managers, hedge funds, proprietary traders, Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs), commercial hedgers and risk managers. These firms rely on the TT ecosystem to manage their end-to-end trading operations. In addition, exchanges utilize TT's technology to deliver innovative solutions to their market participants. TT also strategically partners with technology companies to make their complementary offerings available to Trading Technologies' global client base through the TT ecosystem. SOURCE Trading Technologies The announcement of the joint venture took place during a signing ceremony at the French-Saudi Investment Forum held on June 19, 2023, in Paris, France. The forum was led by His Excellency Eng. Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Falih, the Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia, and brought together esteemed chairpersons from all three companies: Nasser AlZamil, Riyadh AlZamil, and Michael Fribourg. The forum showcased the thriving private sector investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia and featured high-level panel discussions. During one such panel, Michael Fribourg emphasized the significant economic growth potential of the Knowliom-CMS joint venture in driving tourism and positioning Saudi Arabia as a cultural hub. Distinguished leaders from the tourism and cultural sectors, including Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority; Jerry Inzerillo, CEO of Diriyah Gate Development Authority; and Fahad AlObailan, Chief Tourism Officer of AlMosafer, part of Seera Group, were also present, further emphasising the importance of the collaboration. Abdulaziz AlSulaim, CEO of the new entity, stated, "Knowliom-CMS stands at the forefront of Saudi Arabia's cultural renaissance. With immense honour, our dedicated team in Riyadh endeavors to support our clients in creating unforgettable cultural experiences for both residents and visitors throughout the Kingdom. We aim to provide an entire supply chain of services that will showcase the rich mosaic of Saudi Arabian traditions, catapulting the nation into a transformative era of enriching guest interactions." Knowliom-CMS will become part of the renowned Chargeurs Museum Studio group, the world's largest studio dedicated to comprehensive cultural services for museums, arts, brands, real estate, and experience markets. This integration allows the Chargeurs Museum Studio group to extend its global presence and incorporate local and regional knowledge within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The partnership with Knowliom-CMS will play a significant role in fostering the development of cultural experiences within institutions, museums, and guest experience activities throughout the country. "We envisage a future where Saudi Arabia emerges as a prominent global hub for culture and attractions, enchanting visitors, fostering talent, and igniting sustainable growth. With the collaborative efforts of Knowliom-CMS, we are pooling resources to create immersive experiences that exalt the distinctive heritage, traditions, and narratives of Saudi Arabia, captivating audiences from every corner of the world," expressed Delphine de Canecaude, CEO of Chargeurs Museum Studio. The establishment of Knowliom-CMS underscores the commitment of Zamil Trade and Services, Knowliom and Chargeurs Museum Studio to contribute to the development and preservation of cultural assets in Saudi Arabia. The joint venture represents a significant step towards elevating Saudi Arabia's global standing in the museum and cultural asset sectors, fostering cultural exchange, and creating immersive experiences that resonate with audiences worldwide. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105578/Knowliom_CMS_1.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105579/Knowliom_CMS_2.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105580/Knowliom_CMS_3.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105581/Knowliom_CMS_4.jpg SOURCE Knowliom-CMS Modal title PRN Top Stories Newsletters Sign up to get PRNs top stories and curated news delivered to your inbox weekly! Enter Your Email Select Country Select Country Submit Thank you for subscribing! Our newsletters contain tracking pixels to help us deliver unique content based on each subscriber's engagement and interests. For more information on how we will use your data to ensure we send you relevant content please visit our By signing up you agree to receive content from us.Our newsletters contain tracking pixels to help us deliver unique content based on each subscriber's engagement and interests. 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Vous pouvez a tout moment revenir sur votre consentement par le biais des informations situees au bas de chaque e-mail recu. CHICAGO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas will host a photo exhibition showing the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, before and after the invasion by Russia, the first showing of the "heartbreaking" pictures in North America. Pappas will open the exhibit, "MARIUPOL. Life on the edge of the apocalypse," with a reception inside her first-floor offices on Thursday, June 22 at 3 p.m. at the Cook County Building, 118 N. Clark St., Room 112. The exhibit features dozens photos by Mariupol photographers depicting life in the port city, located off the northern coast of the Azov Sea, before and after the Russian invasion. Prior to the Russian invasion in February 2022, Mariupol was the tenth-largest city in Ukraine, with more than 425,000 people. A brutal and unrelenting bombardment obliterated the once vibrant city, whose population has fallen below 100,000. "The images are searing," said Pappas. "The juxtaposition of the photos depicting the happy life before the war and the heartbreaking images of loss and suffering is truly unforgettable." Mariupol and its surrounding region was once home to one of the largest and oldest groups of ethnic Greeks outside of Greece. Ethnic Greeks were the third-largest ethnic group after Ukrainians and Russians. The exhibit has been on display in Thessaloniki and Athens, Greece, and New Delhi, India, and Pappas said it was an honor for her office to be the first site in North America to showcase the photos. They will be on display on the walls of the Treasurer's office until August 25, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. SOURCE Cook County Treasurer's Office SAN FRANCISCO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Treez , the leading enterprise commerce technology platform that streamlines retail operations within the cannabis industry, today introduced Suresh Khanna as President and Chief Operating Officer. Khanna joins the company after several years as an executive advisor. Khanna holds deep experience in leading and scaling high-growth technology startups across sales, marketing, customer success, growth, product, and fundraising. Notable roles include successful tenures as CRO and President at NextRoll, where he grew revenue from $3M to $150M, as well as Director of Sales at Google where he led North America new business sales for Google's ad platform. He spent several years in enterprise software at SAP and Siebel, and most recently co-founded Pieces, a startup enabling developers to save, search, and reuse code snippets using AI. Khanna also co-founded the award-winning Kasa Indian Eatery restaurant chain, where he has had an operator's view of the POS, payments and e-commerce needs of retailers since 2008. In his new role, Khanna will oversee Treez's operations to accelerate growth and achieve critical revenue scale and profitability. He will also partner closely with CEO John Yang to execute the company vision and to lead and mentor a high-performing team across sales, marketing, customer success and support divisions. "I'm thrilled to join Treez at a time where there is a tremendous opportunity to become the most dominant retail technology company in the industry," said Suresh Khanna, President and COO of Treez. "Having had a front row seat for several years as an advisor, I'm honored to get to work with such a high caliber, committed team with a best-in-class product and an incredible roadmap of product enhancements ahead. Most of all, as a retail operator myself, I'm excited to connect with our customers, really listen to their needs and make sure we deliver value through our platform and services." With its Series C funding of $51 million, the successful acquisition of Swifter to provide a comprehensive suite of financial services and digital payments solutions to cannabis dispensaries and expansion into multiple new state markets, Treez has experienced significant growth in an otherwise challenging cannabis economy. "We're ecstatic to bring on an executive of Suresh's caliber," said Treez CEO John Yang, "As the market and our competitors continue to face stiff challenges, Treez has been expanding market share and launching industry-defining solutions such as our new Retail Analytics platform. Suresh's decision to join is clear validation of the opportunity ahead as the market leader with tailwinds such as regulatory reform and normalization to come." About Treez Treez is the leading enterprise cloud commerce platform providing point-of-sale software, retail analytics, cashless payments, and integrated partner solutions to the highest volume retail operators in the biggest state markets in the cannabis industry. Treez's innovative technology and insights help retailers streamline their growth, increase their ROI, and drive efficiency in their operations. The extensible open API platform provides smooth integration into a variety of best-of-breed solutions across e-commerce, delivery, customer relationship management, marketing and loyalty, accounting, ERP, and more. Layered on top is a dedicated client success team and 24/7 customer support, giving retailers everything they need to grow their business. For more information, visit https://www.treez.io/ Media Contact Oak PR Drew Tybus - [email protected] SOURCE Treez BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. Argentina through its Southern Program pursues a policy of promoting the works of Argentine writers by translating them into different languages, Argentine Ambassador to Azerbajan Mariangeles Bellusci said during an event dedicated to the country's national holiday, Trend reports. The National Flag Day is the holiday dedicated to the Argentine flag and to the commemoration of its creator, Manuel Belgrano. It is celebrated on 20 June, the anniversary of Belgrano's death in 1820. "As part of this program, five works have already been translated and published in Azeri language, another of our works is at the stage of translation. Moreover, seven textbooks about Argentine have been translated and published, they are at the disposal of the Azerbaijan University of Languages," the ambassador noted. According to her, the embassy is also actively engaged in promoting the film industry. "We are moving forward in negotiations on an agreement with the Argentine National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA), so that Baku will soon become the distribution center for Argentine cinema, joining Madrid, Paris, Rome, Havana and New York," Bellusci added. She also noted that thanks to the hospitality and sincerity of the Azerbaijani people, she feels at home in Azerbaijan. Active work is being conducted to create an appropriate legal and regulatory framework for the development of relations between Azerbaijan and Argentine. This includes work in cultural field as well. For example, on 47 October 2017, Baku hosted the First International Tango Festival. The festival was organized by the Embassy of Argentine in Azerbaijan and the dance studios in Baku. The development of cultural ties has been strengthening in the following years as well. Educational Activities Designed to Help Students in Grades K-8 Learn in Backyards, Schools & Communities ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The TurfMutt Foundation announces ten new lesson plans for students in grades K-8 are now available on the TurfMutt web site and in the USGBC Learning Lab. They are designed as a fun and engaging way for students to learn valuable science lessons in their own backyard, a park or school yard. The curriculum's hero, Mulligan, is real-life rescue dog, rescued by Kris Kiser a few years ago. Tweet this Were thrilled to add to our vast library of educational materials that help teachers meet the science standards in use today, especially at USGBCs Learning Lab, which makes them available to their network of educators nationwide, says Kris Kiser, President & CEO of the TurfMutt Foundation, which is an official USGBC Learning Lab Education Partner. TurfMutt Foundation logo (PRNewsfoto/TurfMutt Foundation) "We're thrilled to add to our vast library of educational materials that help teachers meet the science standards in use today, especially at USGBC's Learning Lab, which makes them available to their network of educators nationwide," says Kris Kiser, President & CEO of the TurfMutt Foundation, which is an official USGBC Learning Lab Education Partner. "The new plans focus on getting kids outside to conduct interactive experiments and other fun activities. Ultimately they're our future environmental stewards and will learn how to make our communities better for all of us." In the lessons plans, superhero and Foundation "spokesdog," Mulligan the TurfMutt, with her "outdoor power" pals Big Rooty, Water Warrior, the Green Ranger, and Professor Botany, battle the environmental "bad buys" including Carbon Creep, Dust Demon, Heat Freak, and Dr. Runoff. The curriculum's hero, Mulligan, is real-life rescue dog, rescued by Kris Kiser a few years ago. "Having a dog as a spokesperson of our program makes it 'sticky' for kids. And no one loves a yard and green space more than a dog," he says. "Children may be more apt to learn valuable lessons right in their own backyard or school yard from a fun-loving, adventurer like Mulligan the TurfMutt." TurfMutt's past education curriculum has reached more than 70 million children, educators and families since 2009. The new lesson plans are varied by grade, including activities where students can: See trees "breathe" by capturing water vapor given off by trees on plastic bags, and learn how trees absorb and return water to the atmosphere. Practice counting and learn about their own carbon footprints at home and in school. Figure out how many creatures hang out in one square foot of healthy dirt outside, observing the worms and insects found. Calculate how much water a plant transpires. Go on a scavenger hunt to find the wildlife that reside around us in backyards and community parks. Conduct an experiment examining whether we water plants, or plants water the earth. Use rain gauges and an outdoor experiment to calculate water runoff and talk about ways to control it. Do an experiment to discover dust in an area and discuss ways to mitigate it. Learn how soil and trees help capture storm water, with a poster illustrating how communities with green plantings and riparian barriers does a better job of controlling runoff into waterways. The arts are included in the lessons, as well. One of the plans provides an original drama script where students can act out parts for flowers, sun, trees, shrubs and environmental villains, such as Carbon Creep. By putting on the play as a class or for others, students can learn how green plants, trees and shrubs help our communities. The ten new lesson plans, synchronized with the Next Generation Science Standards used in classrooms across the country, are available for download as pdf files and are also helpful for homeschoolers. All of the lessons include suggestions for more ways to learn about the topics covered. The TurfMutt lesson plans are free on TurfMutt.com and available via subscription from the USGBC Learning Lab. Prior TurfMutt lesson plans, created with Scholastic, Discovery Education and Weekly Reader, are also housed on the website at TurfMutt.com. Media contacts: Ami Neiberger, Four Leaf PR on behalf of OPEI, 703-887-4877, [email protected] Debbi Mayster, Four Leaf PR on behalf of OPEI, 240-988-6243, [email protected] About TurfMutt TurfMutt was created by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute's (OPEI) TurfMutt Foundation and has reached more than 70 million children, educators and families since 2009. Through education partners such as Weekly Reader, Discovery Education and Scholastic, TurfMutt has taught students and teachers how to "save the planet, one yard at a time." Today, TurfMutt is an official USGBC Education Partner and part of their global LEARNING LAB. TurfMutt has been an education resource at the U.S. Department of Education's Green Ribbon Schools, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Green Apple, the Center for Green Schools, the Outdoors Alliance for Kids, the National Energy Education Development (NEED) project, Climate Change Live, Petfinder and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 2017, the TurfMutt animated video series won the coveted Cynopsis Kids Imagination Award for Best Interstitial Series. TurfMutt's personal, home habitat was featured in the 2017-2020 Wildlife Habitat Council calendars. More information at www.TurfMutt.com. SOURCE TurfMutt Foundation ILOE STUDIOS leverages spring success to solidify and drive growth in Midwest, including a larger show floor and dedicated spaces for young contemporary ready-to-wear and elevated modern womenswear brands CHICAGO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ILOE STUDIOS today announces continued investment in the Midwest following a highly acclaimed April event in Chicago. The international fashion trade fair will debut an even larger show expansion this October along with the official launch of Studio Next and Studio Wear, offering dedicated space for young contemporary ready-to-wear and elevated modern womenswear brands. ILOE STUDIOS - Chicago brings together the world's top manufacturers, brands and retailers for unrivaled connections and ROI. "Our strength in the industry comes from our commitment to listen and learn from our partners," said ILOE STUDIOS Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Zuckerman. "These relationships allowed us to double the size of our April event, and we are now poised to make an even greater investment in the Midwest market with a larger show floor and two, new exhibiting and buying experiences with the full debut of Studio Next and Studio Wear. This expansion will solidify the entire fashion industry and provide a sense of stability the Midwest market desperately needs now." In April, ILOE STUDIOS Chicago unveiled a newly expanded international focus with brands from Canada, Italy, Greece, Lithuania, Turkey and Lebanon, among others from around the world and across the United States. The event also included a preview of Studio Next, offering a unique young contemporary experience for top retailers and buyers alike. October's event builds on this success while taking aim toward establishing a powerhouse Midwestern fashion market. Zuckerman added, "Now more than ever, manufacturers and retailers need conveniently accessible and highly profitable trade show experiences to connect, build relationships and, ultimately, provide their stakeholders and customers with the best return on investment. We have leveraged all our insider knowledge to build a show and community that fully supports the industry," ILOE STUDIOS Chicago will be held October 1-3 at the Donald Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois Exhibitor applications and registration is now open at www.iloestudios.com. ILOE STUDIOS is produced by Main Street Events. Media Contact: Megan Paquin, APR, CPRC Paquin Public Relations (407) 432-7066 [email protected] SOURCE ILOE STUDIOS The type 2 diabetes market is anticipated to be driven in the coming years due to the rise in novel drugs and therapies and increased healthcare spending across the world. The high prevalence of the disease and the participation of key companies will bring a change in the type 2 diabetes market dynamics LAS VEGAS, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- DelveInsight's Type 2 Diabetes Market Insights report includes a comprehensive understanding of current treatment practices, type 2 diabetes emerging drugs, market share of individual therapies, and current and forecasted market size from 2019 to 2032, segmented into 7MM [the United States, the EU-4 (Italy, Spain, France, and Germany), the United Kingdom, and Japan]. Key Takeaways from the Type 2 Diabetes Market Report As per DelveInsight analysis, the type 2 diabetes market is expected to grow positively at a significant CAGR during the study period (20192032). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 34 million Americans have diabetes (about 1 in 10), and approximately 90-95% of them have type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes most often develops in people over age 45, but more and more children, teens, and young adults are also developing it. Americans have diabetes (about 1 in 10), and approximately of them have type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes most often develops in people over age 45, but more and more children, teens, and young adults are also developing it. Leading type 2 diabetes companies such as Eli Lilly and Company, Regor Pharmaceuticals Inc., AstraZeneca, Eccogene, Pfizer, Sciwind Biosciences USA Co., Ltd., MediciNova, Sparrow Pharmaceuticals, HighTide Biopharma Pty Ltd, Novo Nordisk A/S, Biomea Fusion Inc., Altimmune, Inc., Novartis, Amgen, Neuraly, Inc., Carmot Therapeutics, Inc., Inventiva Pharma, Inversago Pharma Inc, Applied Therapeutics, Inc., and others are developing novel type 2 diabetes drugs that can be available in the type 2 diabetes market in the coming years. and others are developing novel type 2 diabetes drugs that can be available in the type 2 diabetes market in the coming years. Some key therapies for type 2 diabetes treatment include Tirzepatide/LY3298176, Danuglipron, RGT001-075, AZD0186, ECC5004, PF-07081532, XW014, MN-001, SPI-62, HTD1801, Semaglutide, BMF-219, ALT-801, MBL949, LY3457263, AMG 133, DD01, CT-868, IVA337, INV-202, AT-001, and others. and others. Several emerging type 2 diabetes therapies are in their clinical trials' mid and late phases and are awaiting a launch to make the pipeline robust. Discover which therapies are expected to grab the major type 2 diabetes market share @ Type 2 Diabetes Market Report Type 2 Diabetes Overview The most prevalent type of diabetes is type 2 diabetes, which is a disease that happens when blood glucose, commonly known as blood sugar, is too high. This type of diabetes is more common in people in their forties and fifties. It was previously known as adult-onset diabetes. However, type 2 diabetes affects children and adolescents, primarily as a result of childhood obesity. Type 2 diabetes symptoms might be so minor that they go unnoticed. The visual indications and symptoms of this clinical illness include unexplained hunger and weight loss, frequent urination, dry skin, feeling weary all the time, and so on. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test, A1C test, random plasma glucose (RPG), and oral glucose tolerance test are used to confirm type 2 diabetes. The normal range for A1C is less than 5.7%, fasting plasma glucose is 99 mg/dL or less, and oral glucose tolerance is 139 mg/dL or less. Type 2 Diabetes Epidemiology Segmentation The type 2 diabetes epidemiology section provides insights into the historical and current type 2 diabetes patient pool and forecasted trends for individual seven major countries. It helps to recognize the causes of current and forecasted trends by exploring numerous studies and views of key opinion leaders. The type 2 diabetes market report proffers epidemiological analysis for the study period 20192032 in the 7MM segmented into: Total Type 2 Diabetes Prevalent Cases Total Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosed Prevalent Cases Total Type 2 Diabetes Gender-specific Prevalent Cases Total Type 2 Diabetes Age-specific Prevalent Diagnosed Cases Type 2 Diabetes Treated Cases Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Market Given the chronic and severe nature of type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes, the therapeutic approach for them is extremely thorough; regularisation of glucose metabolism and control of risk factors (e.g., arterial hypertension) is the primary therapy objective for type 2 diabetes. Metformin, the most widely prescribed initial treatment for the illness, decreases blood sugar levels in patients by improving how their bodies manage insulin. Many other medications, such as alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, Amylin analogs or agonists, and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors, are used for type 2 diabetes treatment. Finerenone, the first nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) antagonist marketed by Bayer under the brand name Kerendia, received FDA clearance in July 2021. The FDA approved finerenone based on the good results of the pivotal Phase III FIDELIO-DKD research, which was presented during the American Society of Nephrology's (ASN) Kidney Week Reimagined 2020. Finerenone was also authorized by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in February 2022 to treat chronic renal disease in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma announced the approval of Twymeeg (imegliminhydrochloride) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in Japan in June 2021. Twymeeg is a first-in-class medication with a novel dual mode of action for the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes throughout the existing treatment paradigm, both as a monotherapy and as an adjunct to conventional glucose-lowering medicines. The medication was developed in conjunction with Poxel. To know more about type 2 diabetes treatment, visit @ Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Drugs Key Type 2 Diabetes Therapies and Companies Tirzepatide/LY3298176: Eli Lilly and Company Danuglipron: Pfizer RGT001-075: Regor Pharmaceuticals Inc. AZD0186: AstraZeneca ECC5004: Eccogene PF-07081532: Pfizer XW014: Sciwind Biosciences USA Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd. MN-001: MediciNova SPI-62: Sparrow Pharmaceuticals HTD1801: HighTide Biopharma Pty Ltd Semaglutide: Novo Nordisk A/S BMF-219: Biomea Fusion Inc. ALT-801: Altimmune, Inc. MBL949: Novartis LY3457263: Eli Lilly and Company AMG 133: Amgen DD01: Neuraly, Inc. CT-868: Carmot Therapeutics, Inc. IVA337: Inventiva Pharma INV-202: Inversago Pharma Inc AT-001: Applied Therapeutics, Inc. Learn more about the FDA-approved drugs for type 2 diabetes @ Drugs for Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Type 2 Diabetes Market Dynamics The dynamics of the type 2 diabetes market are expected to change in the coming years. The expected introduction of emerging therapies with improved efficacy, more awareness initiatives programs, and a further improvement in the diagnosis rate are likely to boost the growth of the type 2 diabetes market in the 7MM. Moreover, the pipeline for type 2 diabetes is quite robust; many prospective therapies are being researched for type 2 diabetes treatment, and it is safe to expect that the type 2 diabetes treatment space will have a substantial impact on the type 2 diabetes market throughout the forecast period. Moreover, the available therapeutics treatment options in the type 2 diabetes landscape aim to provide a cure to the patients suffering from this indication; however, there are several challenges that are yet to be tackled. However, several factors are impeding the growth of the type 2 diabetes market. The type 2 diabetes market growth may be offset by failures and discontinuation of emerging therapies, unaffordable pricing, market access and reimbursement issues, and a shortage of healthcare specialists. In addition, the undiagnosed, unreported cases and the unawareness about the disease may also impact the type 2 diabetes market growth. Report Metrics Details Study Period 20192032 Coverage 7MM [The United States, the EU-4 (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain), the United Kingdom, and Japan] Key Type 2 Diabetes Companies Eli Lilly and Company, Regor Pharmaceuticals Inc., AstraZeneca, Eccogene, Pfizer, Sciwind Biosciences USA Co., Ltd., MediciNova, Sparrow Pharmaceuticals, HighTide Biopharma Pty Ltd, Novo Nordisk A/S, Biomea Fusion Inc., Altimmune, Inc., Novartis, Amgen, Neuraly, Inc., Carmot Therapeutics, Inc., Inventiva Pharma, Inversago Pharma Inc, Applied Therapeutics, Inc., and others Key Type 2 Diabetes Therapies Tirzepatide/LY3298176, Danuglipron, RGT001-075, AZD0186, ECC5004, PF-07081532, XW014, MN-001, SPI-62, HTD1801, Semaglutide, BMF-219, ALT-801, MBL949, LY3457263, AMG 133, DD01, CT-868, IVA337, INV-202, AT-001, and others Scope of the Type 2 Diabetes Market Report Therapeutic Assessment: Type 2 Diabetes current marketed and emerging therapies Type 2 Diabetes current marketed and emerging therapies Type 2 Diabetes Market Dynamics: Attribute Analysis of Emerging Type 2 Diabetes Drugs Attribute Analysis of Emerging Type 2 Diabetes Drugs Competitive Intelligence Analysis: SWOT analysis and Market entry strategies SWOT analysis and Market entry strategies Unmet Needs, KOL's Views, Analyst's Views, Type 2 Diabetes Market Access and Reimbursement Discover more about type 2 diabetes drugs in development @ Type 2 Diabetes Clinical Trials Table of Contents 1. Type 2 Diabetes Market Key Insights 2. Type 2 Diabetes Market Report Introduction 3. Type 2 Diabetes Market Overview at a Glance 4. Type 2 Diabetes Market Executive Summary 5. Disease Background and Overview 6. Type 2 Diabetes Treatment and Management 7. Type 2 Diabetes Epidemiology and Patient Population 8. Patient Journey 9. Type 2 Diabetes Marketed Drugs 10. Type 2 Diabetes Emerging Drugs 11. Seven Major Type 2 Diabetes Market Analysis 12. Type 2 Diabetes Market Outlook 13. Potential of Current and Emerging Therapies 14. KOL Views 15. Unmet Needs 16. SWOT Analysis 17. Appendix 18. DelveInsight Capabilities 19. Disclaimer 20. About DelveInsight Related Reports Type 2 Diabetes Pipeline Type 2 Diabetes Pipeline Insight 2023 report provides comprehensive insights about the pipeline landscape, pipeline drug profiles, including clinical and non-clinical stage products, and the key type 2 diabetes companies, including Sanofi, Eli Lilly and Company, Novartis, among others. Diabetes Market Diabetes 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 diabetes companies, including TikoMed, Avotres, REMD Biotherapeutics, Novo Nordisk, among others. Type 1 Diabetes Market Type 1 Diabetes 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 type 1 diabetes companies including Histogen, Novo Nordisk, Prevention Bio, among others. Diabetes Pipeline Diabetes Pipeline Insights 2023 report provides comprehensive insights about the pipeline landscape, pipeline drug profiles, including clinical and non-clinical stage products, and the key diabetes companies, including Prevention Bio, Zealand Pharma, Novo Nordisk, among others. 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. Contact Us Shruti Thakur [email protected]com +1(919)321-6187 www.delveinsight.com Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082265/DelveInsight_Logo.jpg SOURCE DelveInsight Business Research, LLP LONDON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Orbis Partner, a leading provider of strategic consulting services, announces its specialized support for American and Canadian manufacturers entering the European market. Orbis Partner addresses the unique challenges faced by manufacturers, empowering them to expand operations, establish a strong presence, and seize opportunities in Europe. Exporting products to Europe poses distinct hurdles for American and Canadian manufacturers. Orbis Partner recognizes the complexity of market entry and provides tailored solutions to overcome obstacles such as linguistic barriers, cultural differences, time zone disparities, and financial constraints. Linguistic barriers often hinder effective communication and market penetration. Orbis Partner's language experts and localization services ensure accurate translation and adaptation of product information, packaging, and marketing materials. This enables manufacturers to effectively communicate their value proposition to European consumers and connect with them on a deeper level. Cultural differences play a crucial role in successful market entry. Understanding local customs, regulations, and business practices is vital. Orbis Partner's cultural intelligence services provide valuable insights into the European market, enabling manufacturers to navigate cultural nuances, adapt their strategies, and build strong relationships with European partners and customers. Time zone disparities can complicate supply chain management and customer support for manufacturers operating in Europe. Orbis Partner offers flexible solutions, including virtual teams and round-the-clock customer service, bridging the time gap and ensuring seamless operations across different time zones. This fosters efficient communication and enhances customer satisfaction. Financial considerations can be challenging for manufacturers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) entering the European market. Orbis Partner's market entry strategies provide cost-effective approaches tailored to each manufacturer's needs, optimizing resource allocation, identifying potential cost savings, and maximizing return on investment. "At Orbis Partner, we understand the unique challenges American and Canadian manufacturers face when expanding into Europe. Our specialized solutions overcome linguistic barriers, cultural differences, time zone disparities, and financial constraints," said Brian Goldman, Group CEO of Orbis Partner. "Leveraging our expertise and extensive network, we enable manufacturers to navigate the European market successfully and achieve sustainable growth." Orbis Partner has a proven track record in assisting manufacturers in expanding into Europe. By closely collaborating with clients, Orbis Partner develops customized strategies, identifies market opportunities, and facilitates connections with European partners. Recent success stories include a Telecommunications parts manufacturer experiencing significant revenue growth after penetrating the European market and a US drink manufacturer establishing a strong European distribution network, boosting their market share and brand recognition. About Orbis Partner: Orbis Partner is a leading strategic consulting firm dedicated to helping American and Canadian manufacturers expand into the European market. With seasoned experts and specialized solutions, Orbis Partner empowers manufacturers to overcome linguistic barriers, cultural differences, time zone disparities, and financial constraints. Learn more at www.orbispartner.com SOURCE Orbis Partner CHICAGO, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Vertical Farming Market is expected to grow from USD 5.1 billion in 2023 to USD 15.3 billion by 2028; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 24.7% during the forecast period according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. Multiple factors are propelling the expansion of the vertical farming market. These include the dwindling availability of agricultural land due to urbanization, deforestation, and climate change, creating a need for more efficient food production methods like vertical farming. Technological advancements such as LED lighting and hydroponics have enhanced the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of vertical farming practices. Government support and investor interest have also contributed to the market's growth. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=221795343 Browse in-depth TOC on "Vertical Farming Market" 150 Tables 70 Figures 240 Pages Vertical Farming Market Report Scope: Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2023 $5.1 billion Estimated Value by 2028 $15.3 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 24.7% Market Size Available for 20192028 Forecast Period 20232028 Forecast Units Value (USD Million/Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered By Growth Mechanism, Structure, Crop Type, Offering and Region Geographies Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of World Key Market Challenge Higher energy consumption leads to high operational costs Key Market Opportunities Potential market opportunities in Asia Pacific and the Middle East Key Market Drivers Reduced environmental impact from agriculture by the adoption of vertical farming The adoption of sensors in vertical farms is likely to witness rapid growth from 2023 to 2028. The adoption of sensors in vertical farms is witnessing rapid growth for several reasons. Sensors offer valuable insights into various aspects of farming operations, including plant growth, water quality, air quality, energy usage, and yield. By monitoring plant growth and development, sensors enable farmers to detect potential issues early on. They also ensure optimal nutrient levels by monitoring water quality and preventing the spread of pests and diseases by monitoring air quality. Furthermore, sensors allow farmers to track energy consumption and optimize resource usage, reducing costs and improving efficiency. By tracking yield, sensors help farmers enhance production and strive for continuous improvement. Aeroponics technique-based vertical farming is expected to offer lucrative growth opportunities during the forecast period. The surging adoption of aeroponics techniques in vertical farming can be attributed to several key factors. One of the primary reasons is the efficiency that aeroponics offers compared to traditional methods like soil-based farming. Aeroponics requires less water and nutrients, making it a more resource-efficient approach, and it can be implemented in smaller spaces, maximizing land utilization. Another significant driver is the productivity advantage of aeroponics. Aeroponics promotes faster and healthier growth by providing plants with increased access to oxygen and nutrients through precise misting, resulting in higher crop yields. Shipping container-based vertical farms are likely to witness higher growth during the forecast period. The market for shipping container-based vertical farms is likely to register a higher CAGR due to their sustainability and efficiency. Shipping container-based vertical farms use less water and land than traditional farming methods, recycle water for irrigation, and produce minimal waste. Despite their small size, these farms can yield significant food, making them ideal for urban areas with limited land availability. The container's-controlled environment allows farmers to maximize crop yields and produce high-quality produce. Notable companies are pioneering the shipping container vertical farm industry. For instance, Freight Farms designs and operates these farms worldwide. They have already set up their farms in more than 20 countries and have plans for future growth. Another company, Local Roots, operates a network of shipping container vertical farms throughout the United States, providing fresh produce to local businesses. Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=221795343 Asia Pacific is likely to witness the highest growth in the vertical farming market by 2028 due to the rapidly growing population and escalating urbanization in the region. The Asia Pacific region is witnessing a surge in the adoption of vertical farming due to various factors. The rapid population growth, with the region accommodating over 60% of the global population, places immense strain on traditional farming methods that are already struggling to meet current and future food demands. Additionally, the escalating urbanization in the region leads to decreased available agricultural land as more individuals migrate to cities, heightening food scarcity and insecurity concerns. Moreover, climate change further compounds these challenges as extreme weather events like droughts and floods disrupt crop production, making it even more challenging to fulfill the region's food requirements. The vertical farming industry in the Asia Pacific region is primarily led by key countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea. China, being the world's most populous country and experiencing rapid economic growth, faces a growing demand for food. Vertical farming is seen as a viable solution to meet this demand. Japan, with its dense population and limited agricultural land, emphasizes sustainable agriculture and recognizes vertical farming as a way to fulfill the country's food needs. Similarly, South Korea, also dealing with high population density and limited arable land, grapples with the challenges of climate change impacting food production. Key Players The report profiles key players in the vertical farming companies and analyzes their market shares. Signify (Netherlands), ams-OSRAM AG (Germany), Freight Farms (US), AeroFarms (US), sky Greens (Singapore), Spread (Japan), Plenty (US), Valoya (Finland), Everlight Electronics (Taiwan), and Heliospectra AB (Sweden), Green Sense Farms (US) are dominant players in the vertical farming market. Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=221795343 Browse Adjacent Market: Semiconductor and Electronics Market Research Reports &Consulting Related Reports: Precision Farming Market Size, Share & Industry Growth Analysis Report by Technology (Guidance, Remote Sensing and Variable Rate Technology), Offering, Application, and Region (Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Rest of the World) - Global growth Driver and Industry Forecast to 2030 Smart Agriculture Market by Offering (Hardware, Software, Services), Agriculture Type, Farm Size (Large, Medium, Small), Application (Precision Farming, Livestock Monitoring) and Region (America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Row) - Global Forecast to 2028 Grow Lights Market by Offering (Hardware, Software, Services), Watt, Spectrum, Cultivated Plant, Lighting Type, Light Source, Installation Type, Sales Channel, Application (Greenhouse, Indoor Farm, Vertical Farm) and Region - Global Forecast to 2028 LED Grow Light Market by Wattage, Type of Installation (New, Retrofit), Spectrum (Partial, Full), Application (Indoor Farming, Commercial Greenhouse, Vertical Farming, Turf & Landscaping, Research, and Others), and Geography - Forecast to 2020 Agricultural Lighting Market by Light Source (Fluorescent, HID, LED), Application (Horticulture, Livestock, Aquaculture), Offering (Hardware, Software, Services), Installation Type, Wattage Type, Sales Channel and Region - Global Forecast to 2028 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] Visit Our Web Site: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/vertical-farming-market.asp Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/vertical-farming.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg SOURCE MarketsandMarkets WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hudson Gateway Association of REALTORS (HGAR) announced today that veteran visionary association executive Lynda Fernandez, CAE, RCE, CIPS has been named HGAR's new Chief Executive Officer. The selection of Ms. Fernandez, who is currently the CEO of the Greater Louisville Association of REALTORS (GLAR), culminates an extensive and comprehensive nine-month national search by HGAR. Lynda Fernandez has been named CEO of the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors, effective Sept. 1, 2023. Ms. Fernandez is scheduled to take her new position at HGAR on or about Sept. 1, 2023. She has more than 20 years of experience in association management, government affairs, communications and international business development. She is a Certified Association Executive (CAE), REALTOR Association Certified Executive (RCE), and a Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS). HGAR officials commended Jana Currier, who has served as interim HGAR CEO since January 2023 after longtime HGAR CEO Richard Haggerty left the association to become CEO of OneKey MLS. Ms. Currier will continue to serve HGAR as Chief Operating Officer going forward once Ms. Fernandez joins HGAR. The HGAR Board of Directors appointed a CEO Search Committee that conducted a national search. The process for the highly sought after post spanned several months and countless hours of intense interviews. 2023 HGAR President and Chairman of the CEO Search Committee Tony D'Anzica said the search was highly competitive, but ultimately the Search Committee unanimously agreed to recommend Ms. Fernandez to the Board of Directors for approval as the new CEO. "After concluding a thoughtful, diligent and extensive nationwide search, the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors is pleased to announce that Lynda Fernandez has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors to become the new Chief Executive Officer of HGAR," said HGAR President D'Anzica. "As a current Association CEO, and someone who has served as a former top executive at the nation's largest local REALTOR association for more than 15 years, Lynda represents a new generation of leadership. Lynda is a change-agent who is results-driven, dynamic and multilingual." He continued, "As President of HGAR, I am honored to welcome, and looking forward to working with, Lynda as she helps to steer HGAR into the future, build on its successes, and unleash its full potential in order to solidify its reputation as one of the largest and most outstanding REALTOR associations in this country." Mr. D'Anzica noted that throughout her career, Ms. Fernandez was involved in a number of significant association merger transactions, including the historic 2010 merger between The REALTOR Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches (RAMB) and the REALTOR Association of Miami-Dade County (RAMDC), which created the Miami Association of REALTORS (MIAMI). At the time it was the largest merger in the history of the National Association of REALTORS and brought together 23,000 REALTORS in South Florida, and which is now the largest local REALTOR association in the nation. Ms. Fernandez said, "I am very excited to be joining an impressive organization like HGAR and am looking forward to continuing its great legacy as I work with the exceptional leadership to advance their vision." Ms. Fernandez began her tenure as CEO of the Greater Louisville Association of REALTORS (GLAR) on April 26, 2021. She led GLAR through the COVID-19 pandemic and oversaw its expansion that culminated last month with its merger with the Old Kentucky Home Board of REALTORS. The new organization is the largest local REALTOR Association in Kentucky, representing more than 5,600 members in 13 counties. She was responsible for 15 staff professionals and a contract lobbyist, two separate board of directors, including a wholly-owned MLS, and was responsible for a $3-million annual budget. Among her chief accomplishments include launching Kentucky's first Global Council and launching Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. Ms. Fernandez previously held several posts with the Miami Association of REALTORS, where she served as MIAMI's Chief of Communications & Global from Sept. 2018-April 2021. Previously, she was the Senior Vice President of Public Relations and International for MIAMI for almost 14 years. Prior to her association with the Miami Association of REALTORS, Ms. Fernandez worked in public relations for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Florida International University in Miami, Fla., and a Master of Accounting Degree from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Fla. MIAMI is the largest REALTOR Association in the U.S. About the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors: The Hudson Gateway Association of REALTORS is a not-for-profit trade association supporting more than 14,000 members in Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Orange counties, The Bronx and Manhattan. HGAR is the second largest REALTOR Association in New York, and one of the largest in the country. Contact: Mary Prenon HGAR (914) 681-0833 SOURCE HGAR Director's Near Fatal Childhood Accident Left Him Wheelchair Bound LOS ANGELES, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Vision Films, Inc. ("Vision") announces the Transactional VOD release of the WWII POW documentary, Angels of the Sky on July 11, 2023. Firsthand accounts from five WWII veterans memorialize and will keep alive the valor, importance, and legacy of servicemen for generations to come. The full-length documentary was executive produced by Natalia Pleshivtseva and Trent McGee, co-directed by McGee and Josh Berman, and co-written by McGee, Berman, and Pleshivtseva. Angels of the Sky WWII POW Documentary Film These are true stories told by men who were shot down behind enemy lines and taken prisoner during WWII, their attempts to escape, and their harrowing experiences, perseverance, and determination to survive in the POW camps during the deadliest conflict in human history. Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGoZCA1OCHI Trent McGee also has an incredible story of survival and perseverance. On July 11, 1994, in Irvine, CA, he became an innocent victim of a police pursuit. While en route to church camp, his mother, sister, and he were broadsided by a criminal fleeing the police. As a result, the accident left Trent a [C1, C2] quadriplegic dependent on a respirator. At the time of the accident, he was 7 years old. Two-years after his accident McGee met and became friends with Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman). She encouraged him to pursue an education and career in film saying, "There is nothing we do that you cannot." Trent graduated from Chapman University in Orange, CA in 2011 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in film production with an emphasis in producing, and just received his master's degree in political science from Harvard University (2023). Lise Romanoff, CEO and Managing Director of Vision Films states, "There are so few servicepeople from WWII left to tell their stories. Angels of the Sky is an important and riveting documentary that will preserve their legacy, bravery, and our US history." Filmmaker Trent McGee shares, "You never know when a story might fall on your lap without even trying, the documentary Angels of the Sky was something I never imagined myself doing and I just happened to be at the right place at the right time." This is McGee's first full-length film. Angels of the Sky will be available on major streaming and cable platforms across the US and Canada on July 11, 2023 the 29th anniversary of his accident. About Vision Films Vision Films is a leading independent sales and VOD aggregator specializing in the licensing, marketing, and distribution of over 800 feature films, documentaries, and series from some of the most prolific independent film producers in the world. Led by Lise Romanoff, Managing Director/CEO Worldwide Distribution, Vision Films releases 2-4 films a month across Theatrical, VOD, DVD, and television platforms. visionfilms.net Media Contact: Andrea McKinnon [email protected] 818-415-9442 SOURCE Vision Films, Inc. LOS ANGELES, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Vision Films, Inc. ("Vision") has announced the TVOD release of the relationship drama Breaking Bounds from director Mark Harris on July 18, 2023 across the US and Canada. The film from L10 Group was executive produced by Lotten Yeaney, Garcon Moweh, and Lou Rago, written by Marvin Nelson and Yeaney, and produced by Latoya Hunter, Yeaney and Nelson. Almost ripped from the headlines, Breaking Bounds highlights the very real possibility of persecution for being a gay Ugandan national in the US and in danger of being deported, as well as the pull and challenge of multi-cultural relationships. Breaking Bounds Film Poster A young gay man faces deportation and anti-homosexual persecution if returned to his homeland of Uganda. His Nigerian born attorney also struggles to define his own cultural identity and live the life he wants with his American girlfriend. Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewDIA9e4hK8 Starring: A former Mr. Nigeria Kenneth Okolie (The Royal Hibiscus Hotel), Dawn Halfkenny (Saints & Sinners), Erica Hubbard (Akeelah and the Bee), and Corey Hendrix (The Bear). Lise Romanoff, CEO and Managing Director of Vision Films shares, "This couldn't be a timelier film to help bring awareness to the injustices being upheld against the LGBT community in some parts of the world. Breaking Bounds is also a relationship story that will resonate with anyone in who battles family expectations or cultural norms." Filmmaker Lotten Yeaney says, "Being able to raise awareness by telling stories about the nuances of the human experience thru the lens of multiculturalism is what continues to and always will inspire me. "Breaking Bounds" is an extension of that inspiration." Breaking Bounds will be available on major streaming and cable platforms across the US and Canada on July 18, 2023 followed DVD at major online retailers. About Vision Films Vision Films is a leading independent sales and VOD aggregator specializing in the licensing, marketing, and distribution of over 800 feature films, documentaries, and series from some of the most prolific independent film producers in the world. Led by Lise Romanoff, Managing Director/CEO Worldwide Distribution, Vision Films releases 2-4 films a month across Theatrical, VOD, DVD, and television platforms. visionfilms.net Media Contact: Andrea McKinnon 818-415-9442 [email protected] SOURCE Vision Films, Inc. HOLMDEL, N.J., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Visiting Nurse Association Health Group (VNAHG), one of the nation's largest nonprofit providers of home health, hospice, and community-based care, announced that Christopher Rinn has been named President and Chief Executive Officer starting in early August. Christopher Rinn Rinn is a longtime Monmouth County, New Jersey resident with nearly a longstanding career in public health, policy, and community health. Since 2017, Rinn has served as the CEO for VNA of Central Jersey Community Health Centers (CHC). Previously he served as the Acting Health Commissioner for the New Jersey Department of Health and was the Executive Director of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Government Affairs for Jersey City Medical Center. "Christopher is a compassionate servant leader with a deep passion for public health and a drive to ensure high-quality services are provided to the community," says Dr. Steven Landers, MPH, who is stepping down as President and CEO of VNA Health Group this summer. "As a respected healthcare policy and public health leader, Christopher is an excellent fit for our future." "We wanted someone who understands our sophisticated network of programs and services and has the skills and experience to oversee our various programs and services, and Christopher checks all the boxes," notes Patrick McMenamin, VNAHG Board Chairman, who helped lead the Search Committee for the organization alongside Board Vice Chairman, Robert Dibble. In response to the announcement, Rinn adds, "We'll work closely with Dr. Landers and the whole team to ensure a smooth transition. As a long-time member of the VNA family, I heartily welcome this opportunity to help move healthcare forward for all our communities." About VNA Health Group Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) Health Group is the second largest independent, nonprofit provider of home-based health services in New Jersey and Mid-Central Ohio. Founded over 110 years ago with a mission to care for the community, today VNA Health Group helps individuals and families achieve their best level of health and well-being by providing high quality, compassionate home health, hospice, palliative and community-based care and offers private-pay personal care services. A full range of primary care services are available through the VNACJ Community Health Centers. Currently, VNA Health Group employs nearly 2,500 people and cares for over 150,000 individuals and families annually with a special focus on vulnerable populations such as children, older adults and those with serious and disabling chronic illness. Our unique partnership model with health systems leverages our clinical and technical resources to operate VNA of Central Jersey Home Care and Hospice, Robert Wood Johnson Visiting Nurses, VNA of Englewood, Barnabas Health Home Care and Hospice, Cleveland Clinic Florida Visiting Nurses, Parker Advanced Care Institute and Visiting Physician Services, and Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio. For more information about VNA Health Group and the VNAHG Foundation please call 800.862.3330, visit www.vnahg.org and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/VNAHealthGroup or @VNAHealthGroup. Media Contact: Jenna Vaccaro, MPH Chief of Staff Visiting Nurse Association Health Group 732-224-6868 [email protected] SOURCE VNA Health Group First ever clinical data on an innovation specifically designed to advance the TEE procedure will be presented at global echocardiography meeting MINNEAPOLIS, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Visura Technologies, Inc., a privately-held medical device company dedicated to delivering state-of-the-art visualization solutions to improve the safety and success of transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) probe intubations, announced today it will be attending the American Society of Echocardiography's (ASE) 34th Annual Scientific Sessions in Baltimore, MD June 23-26. At this year's meeting, the TEECAD system will be highlighted in an abstract poster presentation by Sunil Mankad MD, Professor of Medicine, and Director of Transesophageal Echocardiography at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN on Sunday, June 25 at 2:00 pm. In addition, Visura will release a new 15 patient TEECAD white paper from a world-renowned heart center. The TEECAD System is the world's first, FDA-cleared disposable camera that seamlessly connects to TEE probes to provide real-time visualization during intubation to support first pass success and reduce TEE procedural complications. First ever clinical data on an innovation designed to advance TEE procedure will be presented at global meeting Tweet this "The presentation of the clinical data from Mayo Clinic is an important milestone for Visura and real-time visualization for TEE procedures," said David Marmor, Cardiologist at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel and Founder of Visura Technologies. "For decades, physicians have been adapting existing technologies to try and find a solution for blind TEE intubation. Now with TEECAD, physicians can perform completely visual TEE intubations like endoscopists to guide critical cardiology procedures with greater safety and efficiency." Traditionally, TEE intubation has been performed blind, meaning the physician cannot see the esophagus and surrounding structures during probe placement. This can result in failed intubations and TEE-related injuries, which can be life-threatening and costly. Clinical data continues to support the need for sighted-TEE intubation to reduce TEE-related complications and increase first pass intubation success. A recent Letter to the Editor in the Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia cited a study that demonstrated a 50% reduction in oropharyngeal injury and an increase in first-attempt insertion success when procedures were guided by real-time visualization compared to blind intubation.1 At ASE 2023, Visura will showcase the TEECAD System in Booth 513 at the TEECAD Innovation Station where clinicians can experience the system. Visura will also host a fellows' coffee in their booth on Sunday, June 25th from 10:00 am 10:45 am, and Dr. Mankad will be available in the Visura booth from 2:45 pm 3:30 pm on Sunday the 25th to answer questions about his team's experience with TEECAD. Visit Visura and the TEECAD Innovation Station at ASE booth 513 to learn more. About Visura Founded in 2015, Visura is a medical device company dedicated to delivering state-of-art visualization solutions to improve the safety and success of TEE probe intubation. They have developed the TEECAD System, the world's first, FDA-cleared, disposable camera that seamlessly connects to a TEE probe, providing physicians real-time visualization for more efficient and effective probe placement to support first pass intubation success. For more information, please visit www.visuratechnologies.com. 1 Kumar N. et al. "Video Laryngoscopy-Guided Transesophageal Echocardiography Probe Insertion: A Worthy Approach to Consider." Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia. 37 (2023) 496-499 https://www.jcvaonline.com/action/showPdf?pii=S1053-0770%2822%2900859-X SOURCE Visura Technologies BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. Argentine companies have been invited to join restoration work in Azerbaijani liberated areas, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elnur Mammadov said during an event dedicated to the national holiday of Argentine, Trend reports. The National Flag Day is the holiday dedicated to the Argentine flag and to the commemoration of its creator, Manuel Belgrano. It is celebrated on 20 June, the anniversary of Belgrano's death in 1820. "This year marks 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries. Over the past period, the political dialogue and mutual trust established between the two countries have created a solid foundation for the future development of bilateral relations," Mammadov noted. "Our embassies have been successfully cooperating for more than 10 years. The first Azerbaijani Embassy in South America was opened in Argentina in 2010." He added that during the visit of the Azerbaijani delegation to Argentine, the existing potential for cooperation between the two countries in such areas as agriculture, traditional and alternative energy and high technologies was emphasized. After liberating its territories from Armenian occupation during the second Karabakh war, Azerbaijan started planning out large scale restoration on these lands. Many foreign companies expressed interest in signing up for the work, including those from Argentine. Active work is being conducted to create an appropriate legal and regulatory framework for the development of relations between Azerbaijan and Argentine. Azerbaijan and Argentine have a joint working group on trade and economic co-operation. The group was established in accordance with the Agreement on Trade and Economic Co-operation between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Argentine Republic, which was signed in July 2012. SHANGHAI, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Wavemaker China, one of the leading media agencies in China, announced today a new and powerful business architecture, with strategic teams and pillars in place allowing the agency to maximise the potential of the latest market opportunities to boost growth for its clients. The agency sets 3 agency pillars and 10 business roles to increase focus and expedite growth across key areas, futureproofing their agency model. As part of this initiative, Wavemaker China appoints Sachin Gupta as Chief Investment Officer, Riki Li as Chief Transformation Officer, Tanya Xing as Chief Digital Officer and Milton Liao as Chief Business Officer, South China, who will join Josephine Har and Julep Lin, who were recently named Chief Strategy and Growth Officer and Chief Client Officer respectively, and the already stablished senior leadership team with Christy Chen as Talent Director, Henry Wang as Chief Product Officer, Jeff Yan as Chief Business Officer and Eric Zhang as Chief Commercial Officer. Wavemaker continuously strives to positivily provoke growth, enabled by a continuous transformation that makes real its belive that "there's always a better way to grow." Wavemaker China positions itself as much more than a media agency, but a data and marketing technology driven communications partner. The agency has been recently awarded by Campaign Agency of the Year with a Gold trophy as a Performance Agency and a Silver trophy as a Data Analytics Agency. Under the state-of-the-art planning framework -Provocative Planning, the agency has released its RPA and automation platform WIE (Wavemaker Intelligence Engine), FRONT Model and an interest-based precision model GRAVITY, together with Ocean Engine Yuntu. The core of Wavemaker's future development lies in delivering more value to its clients, continuously enhancing data, tech and digital solutions that deliver more business outcomes for brands, and staying ahead of the curve with a provocative, forward thinking mindset to make the most of emerging marketing opportunities. Even in the challenging year of 2022 in China, Wavemaker achieved a 97% client retention rate, a 70% new business win rate, and sustained double digit growth for the fifth consecutive year. To enhance its business advantage, Wavemaker China is accelerating its digital transformation to become, more than an agency, a brand's business partner. Jose Campon, CEO of Wavemaker China, has set the new business architecture across 3 pillars including Business Leadership, Investment and Operations, and Strategic Solutions, each led by the best talent in the market in their respective fields. In times of a sluggish economic environment, brands tend to focus on immediate results, jeopardising often their future growth if not executed through a strategic lens. Wavemaker China addresses this through an operating design that simplifies complexity, allowing focus and, therefore, enables sustainable growth for both brands and the agency. With this new business architecture, Wavemaker strengthens its competitive edge in China. Jose remarked, "Wavemaker China believes in Positive Provocation. We strive to be bold, to push the boundaries and move farther. We believe there is always a better way to grow, and whether its brand or performance, at the end there's really no distinction: it's a thorough strategy and execution that maximises the power of the brands and how they best connect with consumers to deliver short term results and sustainable, long term growth." Patrick Xu, WPP Greater China CEO and GroupM North Asia CEO, believes that "meaningful change can only be achieved by holding a long-term vision. The new Wavemaker China business architecture is a forward-looking organisation that responds to both current priorities and future challenges, which will incubate closer collaboration with enterprises and brands." About Wavemaker We believe there always is a better way to grow. We positively provoke growth for our clients by reshaping consumer decision-making and experiences through media, content, and technology. The Wavemaker way is globally consistent. Fueled by the world's most powerful consumer data, we understand where and how marketing can intervene decisively to help brands win more sales. Our 7,560 people across 88 markets have the deep knowledge, confidence, and courage to provoke growth for some of the world's leading brands and businesses. We are a part of GroupM, WPP's global media investment management company. Discover more on wavemakerglobal.com , Twitter and LinkedIn . SOURCE Wavemaker BEIJING, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2023 World New Energy Expo (WNEE) kicked off on Monday in Changzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, aiming to show the dynamic trend of the development of new energy industry and explore the direction of future energy innovation. The opening ceremony of the expo has gathered 15 scientists in the field of new energy, domestic and foreign merchants from foreign delegations and associations like Shenzhen Battery Industry Association, and nearly 200 representatives from enterprises. Photo shows the site of 2023 World New Energy Expo (WNEE) kicked off on Monday, in Changzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. Relying on Changzhou's solid industrial foundation, in recent years, the city has promoted the continuous development of the new energy industry and built itself into a leading city in new energy sector, said Chen Jinhu, Secretary of the CPC Changzhou Municipal Committee. According to Chen, Changzhou's rapid development in the field of new energy stems from a deep understanding and comprehensive layout of the industry, and its industrial closed-loop chain includes four major areas of production, storage, distribution and application. Holding the World New Energy Expo in Changzhou aims to build a platform for the great development of the global new energy industry and the realization of the future scenarios. At the same time, Changzhou is also committed to realizing the city's further development of the new energy industry and achieving both its scale and market value of the new energy sector in the capital market exceeding trillion yuan, said Chen. In the future, Changzhou will continue to build the test field for global new energy development, and welcome enterprises from all over the world to Changzhou for layout, innovation and entrepreneurship, covering new racetracks such as new generation battery materials and intelligent connected vehicles. It's expected to build a more open, collaborative and shared industrial ecosystem in Changzhou, Chen added. According to a report released by Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman of Hurun Report, during the opening ceremony, Changzhou's new energy industry has witnessed strong growth, with the industrial agglomeration level ranking fourth in China and the investment heat evaluation ranking first in China. https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/334684.html SOURCE Xinhua Silk Road BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. On June 20, starting from 16:30 to 17:25, the Armenian armed forces units from the positions in the direction of Arazdeyen settlement of the Vedi region using small arms periodically subjected to fire the Azerbaijan Army positions stationed in the direction of the Heydarabad settlement of the Sadarak region of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Trend reports citing Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. "Moreover, at about 20:10 members of illegal Armenian armed detachments in the territory of Azerbaijan, where the Russian peacekeepers are temporarily deployed, subjected to fire the Azerbaijan Armys positions stationed in the direction of the Shusha region. The Azerbaijan Army Units took adequate retaliatory measures in mentioned directions", the ministry noted. Laman Ismayilova Another concert has been held as part of the 6th International World of Mugham Music Festival. World-recognized master of the Afghan rubab and the Indian sarod Daud Khan Sadozai performed at International Mugham Center with his musical ensemble, Azernews reports. Mathieu Clavel, a member of the ensemble who greeted the audience, expressed his satisfaction with a participation in the 6th International World of Mugham Music Festival. "It is a great honor to participate in the International World of Mugham Music Festival held in a country with such a rich musical heritage. We would like to thank all the festival organizers for creating a wonderful environment for the presentation of traditional music of Afghanistan. Although each of us comes from different countries, the universal language of music unites us. Here we are living this wonderful moment together within the framework of the festival. Daud Khan Sadozai regularly performs solo concerts with various musicians and prestigious ensembles (Jordi Savall, Ustad Farida Mahvash), as well as with his own ensemble. He succeeds in demonstrating the beauty of classical and traditional folklore styles of the instruments he plays, classical ghazals with great sophistication and ornaments. Daud Khan Sadozai often participates in master classes and seminars in European countries. He was also awarded the Aga Khan Music Award for 2019-2022 for his services in the development, promotion and preservation of Afghan music," said Mathieu Clavel. The 6th International World of Mugham Music Festival is co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Culture Ministry with the support of the Ministry of Science and Education and the Azerbaijan National Conservatory. The music festival will run until June 25. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. Four people who were part of a network of Iranian drug dealers named "Rza" and "Milad" were detained in the Narimanov district of Baku, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan told Trend. According to the press service, the district's police officers carried out regular operations to prevent illegal drug trafficking. During these operations, a previously convicted resident of Baku Elmar Mamishov was detained, with five kilograms of drugs. During another operation, members of the gang that organized the sale of drugs in Baku - Niyazi Guliyev, Nazim Novruzov and Ziya Zakirov - were detained. In total, two kilograms of drugs were found in their possession. The detainees said that they purchased drugs through social networks from Iranian citizens named "Rza" and "Milad" with the aim of further sale. Criminal cases have been opened against the detainees by the investigative department of the Narimanov District Police Office, and the investigation of these cases is ongoing. Previously, in April this year, the officers of Nasimi Police Department in Baku, as well as territorial and police departments conducted an operation against locals, who got involved in drug trafficking. Among the five detained drug dealers were Huseyn Osmanov, Eldeniz Guliyev, Elyanar Ibragimov, Hayala Abbasova and Elmir Mammadov, who got drugs for sale online, from an Iranian citizen named "Mobil". 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 United Nations, June 20 : There is great enthusiasm among diplomats from around the world and UN officials for the International Day of Yoga celebrations to be led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, according to India's Permanent Representative to UN, Ruchira Kamboj. As workers were busy on Monday for the celebration at the North Lawn of the UN headquarters campus, Kamboj said that about 1,800 diplomats and officials have registered for the event. Modi will be starting off his US visit at the Yoga Day celebrations and head to Washington. While in New York, he will also be meeting "a cross-section of prominent personalities and leaders," according to Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra. This will be Modi's eighth visit to the US as Prime Minister, but his first state visit that carries a higher level of pomp and circumstance -- like a welcoming 21-gun salute and a state dinner. He will also be addressing the joint session of US Congress for the second time. Modi said that the theme for this year's event is "Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" or "Yoga for the Welfare of All as One World-One Family". Modi personally leading the celebration has increased the interest in and enthusiasm for the event, Kamboj said. UN General Assembly President and Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has tweeted that she looks forward to being with Modi at the yoga event. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will be away in Paris for the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact, but will be sending a video message to the celebration. The ninth International Yoga Day, which will include mass yoga exercises, will be held from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. New York Time (5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. IST) on Wednesday and will be videocast on the UN network (webtv.un.org). Modi will not be attending the yoga celebrations scheduled to be held at the Times Square. The annual event with the participation of the consulate, civic groups and yoga organisations is called "Mind over Madness Yog". In his address to the UN General Assembly in 2014, Modi suggested declaring June 21 -- the Summer Solstice which is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere -- as the International Day of Yoga. He linked yoga to both health and climate change. He said yoga "is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature". He added that it could lead to "changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help us deal with climate change". Asoke Mukerji, who was then India's Permanent Representative to the UN, worked feverishly to mobilise support for it and got it unanimously approved in a record time of less than three months in December. The first Yoga Day was celebrated in 2015 and has been held every year, even in the middle of the Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021 when it went virtual. Yoga Day has become an international celebration with group practices and asana demonstrations across the globe. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis) Oslo, June 20 : Norway has announced to provide 250 million Norwegian kroner ($23 million) this year to support nuclear safety and security efforts in Ukraine, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Anniken Huitfeldt. "A nuclear accident in Ukraine would have consequences not only for Ukraine itself, but also beyond the country's borders," she said in a press statement on Monday. Of the allocated funds, 100 million kroner will be used in support to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This financial assistance will help ensure the continued presence of IAEA experts in Ukraine, said the statement. IAEA experts are present at the Chernobyl site, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and Ukraine's three other operational nuclear power plants, Xinhua news agency reported. Norway will also increase its funding for nuclear safety and security cooperation with Ukraine by 150 million kroner, the statement added. (1 Norwegian krone = 0.093 US dollar) Cairo, June 20 : Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi met with visiting EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, discussing bilateral relations and regional hotspot issues. During their meeting, Sisi highlighted the diverse and longstanding ties between the two sides, and Egypt's willingness to continue cooperation with the bloc, according to an Egyptian presidency statement on Monday. For his part, Borrell lauded the good bilateral relations, and the crucial role played by Egypt in keeping regional security and stability, which makes Egypt a key and valued strategic partner of the EU and its members, Xinhua news agency reported. Borrell praised Egypt for hosting Sudanese refugees and exerting efforts to restore calm and consolidate a ceasefire, said the statement. The two leaders agreed to continue their cooperation in illegal migration and counter-terrorism, coordination on the Sudan conflict as well as other issues of mutual concerns, and agreed to put more efforts into pursuing the Palestinian cause. The talks also touched on the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis. Los Angeles, June 20 : One person was killed and nearly two dozen people were injured after severe storms swept through the US state of Mississippi overnight, authorities said. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said on Monday in a statement that casualty figures were reported in Jasper County and the agency "is working closely with counties to assess the damage from the June 18-19 storms". "At the time of this statement, Central Mississippi had over 49,000 without power," the agency added. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said in a tweet that there were multiple confirmed tornadoes overnight in the southern US state, Xinhua news agency reported. Emergency crews are doing additional search and rescue missions and damage assessments in areas struck by the tornadoes, with drones in those areas where it is impossible to get by vehicle due to downed power lines, according to the Governor. Residents in the state have seen severe weather in recent days. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency warned in a tweet that more severe weather was on the way on Monday afternoon for South Mississippi. "Damaging winds and hail are possible, and a tornado can't be ruled out," said the agency, urging people to stay weather aware going into the afternoon and evening hours. Etah, June 20 : The body of a 25-year-old man who had gone missing a day before, was found in Shastri Nagar locality under the Jaithara police circle in Uttar Pradesh's Etah district, police said. The man, identified as Chetan Yadav, had been shot at and then stabbed to death. Yadav's wife Ruby said, "My husband had an argument as the loading vehicle he was driving collided with a bike. The two bike-borne men threatened to kill him. He went missing on Sunday evening." Additional Superintendent of Police, Dhananjay Kushwaha, said, "The body has been sent for post-mortem examination. An FIR has been registered against a local resident Aakash, as named by the family members of the deceased, and an unknown person. The entire matter is being investigated in detail." Meanwhile, family members of the deceased along with locals staged a protest by keeping the body outside the police station and later blocking the Jaithra-Aliganj road. The protestors demanded the arrest of the accused. "Three teams have been tasked to arrest the accused men at the earliest," Kushwaha added. Shamli : , June 20 (IANS) A man from Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district, having five wives, has now abducted a sixth girl. When the girl's family lodged an FIR, the accused said, "Will take your other daughter with me." Both these girls are Hindu. The accused not only abducted this 19-year-old woman but also converted her to Islam and got married to her as per Islamic rituals. After the incident came to light the Hindu activists, including Swami Yashvir Singh with local Bajrang Dal activists, protested outside the police station, and demanded strict action against the accused. The woman is still with the accused, the local activists presented a memorandum demanding the recovery of the girl before June 22 or else they will stage a protest in the village. After learning that the victim's family has lodged a complaint, the accused called them and threatened saying, "If his name from the FIR is not removed in time, he will take away their other daughter as well." The activists during the protests said the accused has five wives and that out of five of his wives, only one is a Muslim and that the other four are Hindus. This shows that the man intentionally targets Hindu women for conversion and then leaves them to target another one. The accused Rashid has several cases registered in his name at the Chaprauli police station. Meanwhile, the police spokesman said that the FIR had been lodged and the matter was under investigation. United Nations, June 20 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has launched a high-level teachers' panel, and appointed former Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid and former President of Trinidad and Tobago Paula-Mae Weekes as its co-chairs. Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for Guterres, said on Monday that the High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession builds on the outcome of the September 2022 Transforming Education Summit and is supported by a joint UNESCO-International Labour Organisation (ILO) Secretariat. According to a UN announcement, the panel draws expertise from Ministries of Education and Labor, teachers, students, representatives of teacher unions, and representatives of civil society, the private sector and academia. "Education remains a centerpiece of global and national efforts to achieve sustainable development, protect human rights and sustain peace," the statement said. "However, the world is experiencing a global learning crisis and education systems are struggling to respond to the needs of a rapidly changing world." At the Transforming Education Summit, national governments from more than 130 countries committed to taking urgent action, Xinhua news agency reported. In this context, teachers, the single most influential variable in achieving learning outcomes, are under considerable strain. A persistent global teacher shortage on the one hand, and concerns around the role of teachers in an increasingly digital learning environment on the other hand, are among the many factors that are making the job of teaching increasingly challenging, the statement added. It said the panel would build on the summit discussions and clarify the role of teachers in education transformation. Panel members would recommend ensuring every student has a professionally trained, qualified, well-supported teacher who can flourish in a transformed education system. The panel's report, expected by the end of November, would contribute to broader efforts in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 as an input to preparations for the 2024 Summit of the Future and help advance follow-up on the education summit, said the statement. SDG 4, one of the 17 UN SDGs for 2030, calls for inclusive and equitable quality education, and lifelong learning opportunities for all. The ex-officio members named to the panel are Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, Gilbert Houngbo, Director-General of the ILO, and Leonardo Garnier, special adviser to Guterres on follow-up to the Transforming Education Summit. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. The procedure for monitoring the accrual of state duties and their transfer to the state budget has been approved, Trend reports. In this regard, Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov has signed a corresponding decree. The procedure for monitoring the correct accrual of state duty and its timely transfer to the state budget", approved by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No.199, provides for information exchange between departments and organizations collecting state duty on reports submitted on the accrual and transfer to the state budget of state duty for services and legal actions, verification, analysis, monitoring of the correctness of collection and transfer of the state fee to the state budget in institutions and organizations, levying a state fee. The distribution of functions for monitoring the correct accrual and timely transfer to the state budget of the state fee for services and legal actions by departments and organizations collecting the state fee has also been determined. San Francisco, June 20 : Police in the US state of Idaho have said they were investigating a shooting that left four people dead in the small city of Kellogg, and one person was in custody. The Shoshone County dispatch centre received a 911 call on Sunday evening, indicating that multiple people had been killed inside a residence in Kellogg, Idaho State Police said on Monday in a statement. Law enforcement officers found four people dead when they arrived and detained a 31-year-old male believed to be connected with the deaths, according to the statement. Police blocked off parts of an apartment complex in Kellogg. According to local media reports, the shooting occurred at multi-dwelling units behind the Mountain View Congregational Church on Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported. Law enforcement has not yet identified the victims or the suspect, and they believe that there is no additional threat to the community, State Police added. Doha, June 20 : Qatar and the UAE have announced the reopening of their respective embassies and consulates with immediate effect. The detente was broadly welcomed by regional leaders and analysts. Qatar's embassy in Abu Dhabi and its consulate in Dubai, as well as the UAE's embassy in Doha, will reopen on Monday, according to the Qatar News Agency (QNA). Both sides stressed that the significant step reflects the determination of the leadership of both countries and contributes to the advancement of joint Arab initiatives, fulfilling the aspirations of the two brotherly people, QNA said. In a phone conversation on Monday, Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, and UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan congratulated each other on the resumption of their diplomatic representation, according to a separate QNA report. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) also welcomed the restoration between the two member states, Xinhua news agency reported. GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi praised the "blessed step which embodies ... the unity of the GCC countries and the support for the joint Gulf action," QNA reported. Kheir Diabat, a professor from the International Affairs Department of Qatar University, said the decision to restore diplomatic ties signifies that both sides have pushed their relations a step forward to normalisation and cooperation. "It means there is an opportunity for the two parties to coordinate their positions and political visions towards Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Sudan. In addition, this rapprochement will also be reflected in the strength of the GCC, which has suffered in recent years from apparent weakness due to the Gulf crisis," he said. The thaw is yet another fruit of the wave of regional de-escalation since the Al-ula summit, Adel Abdel Ghafar, director of the Foreign Policy and Security Program of the Middle East Council on Global Affairs in Doha, told Xinhua. In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt announced the severing of diplomatic ties with Qatar, citing Qatar's alleged support for terrorism and destabilisation of the region. Qatar has denied these accusations. In 2021, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt announced the restoration of diplomatic relations with Qatar on the sidelines of the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia. However, due to a lack of consensus on certain issues, the process of full normalisation has been delayed. Tunis, June 20 : Tunisian President Kais Saied met with visiting French and German Interior Ministers, Gerald Darmanin and Nancy Faeser, to discuss bilateral cooperation and the issue of illegal immigration. According to a statement released by the presidency on Monday, the meeting focused on the strategic cooperation and partnership relations between Tunisia and the European Union in various fields. "The President and the Ministers confirmed their keenness to strengthen and develop relations between Tunisia and the EU towards broader horizons in line with new visions and perceptions," the statement said. During the meeting, Saied said Tunisia would not be a guardian of Europe's borders in preventing the flow of illegal immigrants as the country will only guard its own borders, Xinhua news agency reported. "Tunisia will not accept the settlement of immigrants on its soil," the President said, calling for a collective approach to eliminating the root causes of illegal immigration. Earlier on Monday, the French Interior Minister revealed at a press conference in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, that his country would offer 25.8 million euro ($28.2 million) to Tunisia to stop illegal immigrants from reaching European shores. This visit came a week after a previous one by a delegation of President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte to discuss relations between Tunisia and the EU and ways to combat illegal immigration. Located in the central Mediterranean, Tunisia is one of the most popular transit points for illegal immigration to Europe. Although Tunisian authorities have adopted rigorous measures to tackle the problem, the number of illegal immigrants from Tunisia to Italy has been on the rise. United Nations, June 20 : Kicking off the Counter-Terrorism Week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on all nations to "stand as one" to fight the scourge. "When it comes to combatting terrorism, we must stand as one against this global threat," he said on Monday at the High-Level Conference of Heads of Counter-Terrorism Agencies that is at the core of week-long programmes. "In the names of all those who have suffered and continue to suffer, and in the names of all victims and survivors, let's intensify our work to create a future without terrorism." At a tree-planting ceremony held to honour the memory of the victims of terrorism, Karambir Singh Kang who survived the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, said: "I truly believe that with solidarity and unity we are no longer victims and become stronger together to face any adversity." His wife and two sons were killed in the attack by Pakistan-based terrorists. The Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism, which includes India, and the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism organised the tree-planting. Guterres said that although there were some "significant gains", terrorism and violent extremism acecontinue to take root and grow". Al Qaeda and the Islamic State terror hroups are continuing to make headway in Africa, while Neo-Nazi and White supremacist movements are emerging as the primary internal security threat in several countries, he said. The UN chief said that preventing terrorism is not just foiling attacks but it also requires addressing the factors that help its spread. He listed the as poverty, discrimination, disaffection, weak infrastructure and institutions and gross violations of human rights. "We must ensure that counter-terrorism strategies and measures reflect all communities, constituencies and voices -- especially minorities, women and young people -- and do not hinder civil society in carrying out their vital work," Guterres added. Meanwhile, General Assembly President Csaba Korosi warned: "If we cannot work together, the terrorists will win. Our collective success requires approaches which are innovative, agile, multi-faceted, and integrated. "Combatting these threats is an urgent responsibility of the entire international community, because they are challenging the very foundations of the United Nations Charter we have sworn to uphold." The Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov, said that "complex dimensions to the threat" have risen from new technologies, the exploitation of cyberspace, and the manipulation of social media platforms. "The magnitude, complexities and evolving nature of terrorism require a robust and coordinated regional and international response," he said. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis) New York, June 20 : Congressman Jim Himes has agreed to support a bill introduced in the US Congress to declare Diwali as a federal holiday. The Diwali Day Act, introduced by New York Congresswoman Grace Meng last month, would make the 'Festival of Lights' the 12th federally recognised holiday in the US when it is passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. Himes' support came after his meeting with prominent members of Global Organization of People of Indian Origin-Connecticut Chapter (GOPIO-CT) last week. Led by GOPIO Chairman Thomas Abraham, the delegation also discussed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming state visit from Wednesday to Friday. The visit includes a state dinner as well as an address to the Joint Session of the Congress on Thursday. Himes, who serves Connecticut's fourth Congressional district, also discussed shortage of workers in hospitality and healthcare sectors, and delays faced by Indians in getting permanent resident cards, according to a GOPIO release. Recently, the New York State legislature passed a Bill, led by Indian-American assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, to make Diwali a school holiday in the city. New York Governor Kathy Hochul is expected to sign the bill to make it a law, following which Mayor Eric Adams would be able to designate Diwali as a school holiday for an estimated two lakh students from these communities who celebrate it. Earlier this year, Pennsylvania became the first US state to officially recognise Diwali as a public holiday. The state introduced the Diwali holiday ahead of other states like California, Texas, Illinois, New York and New Jersey with a high concentration of Indian-Americans. Michigan's Indian-American state representative Ranjeev Puri, also introduced a bill last week to make Diwali, Vaishakhi, Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Adha and Lunar New Year as state-recognised holidays in the state. London, June 20 : British MPs have overwhelmingly backed an inquiry report by a Parliamentary committee that revealed former Prime Minister Boris Johnson had deliberately misled the House of Commons over Covid-19 lockdown breaches. On Monday evening, 354 MPs voted backing the report, with seven against it, reports the BBC. Senior Conservative MPs who supported the findings of the report published by the Privileges Committee on June 15 were former Prime Minister Theresa May, Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt and Education Secretary Gillian Keegan. While, Bill Cash, Nick Fletcher, Adam Holloway, Karl McCartney, Joy Morrissey and Heather Wheeler were amongst the Conservatives who voted against it. No vote was recorded for 225 MPs, because they either abstained or did not turn up to vote, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who was not in attendance. The vote means Johnson loses his right to a parliamentary pass, which gives access to certain parts of Parliament, as this was one of the report's recommendations, the BBC reported. The report found that Johnson "committed a serious contempt" of Parliament when, after the so-called "Partygate" scandal which revealed that illegal gatherings took place at Downing Street, the former Prime Minister told the House that lockdown rules were followed at all times. It recommended that the former Prime Minister should have been suspended from the Commons for 90 days if he had remained an MP. The inquiry report came days after Johnson resigned as a Conservative MP on June 9, claiming that he was "forced out of Parliament" over the Partygate scandal. In his resignation statement, Johnson described the Privileges Committee as a "kangaroo court" whose purpose "from the beginning has been to find me guilty, regardless of the facts". He had previously admitted of misleading Parliament when he gave evidence to the Committee in a combative hearing in March - but denied doing it on purpose. He said that social distancing had not been "perfect" at gatherings in Downing Street during Covid lockdowns but insisted the guidelines, as he understood them, were followed at all times. Hyderabad, June 20 : Entrepreneur Upasana Kamineni Konidela and leading actor Ram Charan welcomed a baby girl on Tuesday. The baby arrived in the early hours of the morning at the newly personalised wing of the Apollo Hospital here. The birth was announced by the hospital through a medical bulletin. Both the baby and mother are doing fine. Megastar Chiranjeevi and the family visited the couple early in the morning to welcome the new addition to their family. The Konidela and Kamineni families are elated at the baby's arrival. Fans across the globe have already started celebrations. Upasana was admitted to the hospital for the delivery on Monday. The couple celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary last week. Image Source: IANS News -- Syndicated from IANS Chandigarh, June 20 : Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday travelled by Jan Shatabdi Express train from Chandigarh to Sonipat where Union Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will be inaugurating 11 flyovers on the eight-lane national highway from Delhi to Panipat. The Chief Minister's Office told IANS that the Chief Minister is a frequent traveller in a train. "Even he prefers to travel by train to his hometown Karnal from Chandigarh," an official said. Regarding Gadkari's daylong visit to the state on Tuesday, the official said besides the inauguration of 11 flyovers part of a 24-km long project constructed with an outlay Rs 900 crore, he would lay the foundation stone of four national highway projects in Sonipat, Karnal and Ambala at a cost of Rs 3,835 crore. Gadkari will also lay the foundation stone for the construction work of Karnal Green Field Six-Lane Ring Road project at Kutail village in Karnal district. The total length of this project is 35 km and it will cost about Rs 1,700 crore. Similarly, the Union Minister will lay the foundation stone for the construction work of Ambala Green Field Six Lane Ring Road project at Jandli village in Ambala district. The total length of this project is 23 km and it will cost a total of Rs 1,100 crore. A day earlier Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala said the government is strengthening the road network. These major road projects will change the picture of infrastructure in the state and will also give a new direction to the development of industries. Along with Haryana, the commuters of Punjab, Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir passing through the Delhi-Panipat corridor will be benefitted. Similarly, the construction of Ambala and Karnal Ring Road will provide relief to the local people from the traffic congestion in the city in both the districts. Jalandhar, June 20 : Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday performed flexible feats in a mass session with an estimated 15,000 people at the "CM di Yogshala" at the PAP grounds here and asked people to make yoga part of their life. Sporting a yellow turban and a yoga T-shirt, Mann said that attending the yoga event had given him energy and strength. Describing yoga as a "panacea" for stress, he said, "We want our Punjab to be healthy, people do their work with positive energy, waking up early in the morning and doing yoga keeps you full of energy throughout the day. So make yoga a part of your life." Chief Minister Mann along with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on April 6 launched the "CM di Yogshala" campaign in Patiala. Under this, residents will be provided with yoga and meditation facilities. Madrid, June 20 : FC Barcelona announced the signing of 18-year-old Senegalese central defender Mikayil Faye from Croatian side NK Kostosija Zagreb, under a contract lasting until the end of June 2027. Faye is slated to commence the next season with Barcelona's B-team, Barca Atletic. Still, he will accompany the first team on their pre-season tour of the United States and regularly train with Xavi Hernandez's squad, reports Xinhua. "I have always dreamed of playing in Spain, particularly with Barca," said Faye, who completed 13 appearances in the Croatian second division last season. "I adorned my room with photos of Barca, over my bed and in my mind. I will devote my all because the club has expressed confidence in me. It's a dream come true," he assured. Subscription to paid content Gain access to all that Trend has to offer, as well as to premium, licensed content via subscription or direct purchase through a credit card. New Delhi, June 20 : The Reliance Group has announced the appointment of Parul Sharma as the Group President with effect from June, 20. As a global communications strategist, Parul brings a rich body of experience to power the Group, and -- as Tony's wife -- the continuity to carry forward his formidable legacy. For nearly 40 years, Tony Jesudasan was the public face of the Reliance Group, its bulwark in Delhi and across the world. Tony passed away in February 2023. Welcoming Parul to the Reliance Group, Anil Ambani said, "I am pleased that Parul is joining us as Group President. While this is her first professional association with the Group, she has for long been a part of the broader Reliance family as Tony's partner. Our memories of Tony and what he meant for the Group makes Parul's entry all the more special." Parul Sharma steered the communications strategy for Rupert Murdoch's 'Star India' for 15 years, shaping its corporate image, publicity and relationships. Prior to that she was with the German broadcaster 'Deutsche Welle', based in Cologne. "Stepping in Tony's shoes is not the easiest thing to do but he would be pleased to see me try," said Parul Sharma. "Besides my experience with global media outlets, I hope to blend empathy and humanism in my stakeholder management. This is a transformative journey for Reliance Group that seeks to uphold the enduring spirit of the past." Parul Sharma will be based in New Delhi. Toronto, June 20 : The targeted killing of pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the president of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara who was shot dead in Surrey, British Columbia, has thrown up many tricky questions for Canadian security agencies. Nijjar, 45, who was designated as a terrorist by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) last year and carried a prize of Rs 10 lakhs on his head, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen while leaving the gurdwara at about 8.30 p.m. on Sunday. Nijjar, who came to Canada from Bhar Singh Pura village in Jalandhar in 1997, was also the main leader of the pro-Khalistan referendum in Canada along with New York-based Sikhs for Justice leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Just days before his murder, Nijjar told a local Punjabi channel that he had been informed by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) that there was a threat to his life. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), which has taken over the investigation, will have to unravel whether the killing of the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) leader was a result of local feuds or the handiwork of other elements. In a media briefing on Monday, IHIT's Timothy Pierotti said: "We understand there is a lot of speculation regarding the motive of this homicide, but we are dedicated to learning the facts and letting the evidence lead our investigation." He said the investigation team would work with the country's spy agency to unravel the case. "We're working hard to speak to every person and collect the facts of this case. And we'll determine the motive that way." There have also been reports about an encrypted online site seeking to hire hitmen to target Nijjar. Another angle doing the rounds is that it could be a case of revenge killing for the July 2022 murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik, the Air India bombing accused. Malik was also killed by two gunmen outside his Surrey office. Nijjar was at loggerheads with Malik over the printing of the holy Sikh scripture by the latter at his own printing press in Surrey. Moreover, Malik's praise for the Narendra Modi government in India had also angered pro-Khalistan leaders. For their part, some pro-Khalistan organisations have alleged that Nijjar was targeted by Indian agencies. New Delhi, June 20 : Homegrown short-video making platform Chingari has laid off 20 per cent of its workforce as part of organisational restructuring. In a statement to IANS, the company spokesperson said that it was "one of the toughest decisions for our management and we understand the impact they have on our employees". "We are recognising the contribution and dedication of the affected employees by offering a severance package equal to two months' salary to assist them during this transition," said the spokesperson. Additionally, "we will make sure they have three more months of health insurance coverage". The company said that it will support impacted employees by providing all-encompassing support, such as career counselling and job placement assistance. "Our priorities continue to be streamlining processes, boosting productivity, and matching resources to our long-term growth goals," the company spokesperson added. The layoffs at Chingari, one of the leading Indian short video apps, came as its cofounder Aditya Kothari recently quit the startup. As reported late last year, Chingari had more than 160 million users in over 15 languages. It had more than 5 million daily active users (DAU) and 40 million monthly active users (MAU). Chingari's crypto token GARI powers India's only blockchain-based social infotainment platform. In October 2021, Chingari raised over $19 million for its token round across more than 30 venture funds and individual investors. The VC firms participated in the funding round included Republic Crypto, Galaxy Digital, Alameda Research, Solana Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Kraken, Blackpine, NGC, Coinfund, LD Capital, Borderless Capital, AU21, Cultur3 Capital, Long Term Ventures, Afton Capital, CSP DAO, among others. New Delhi, June 20 : Dr Sharad Agarwal, National President of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), raised concern about the growing instances of violence against doctors and requested the government to bring a law to protect the medical community. The IMA chief was speaking to The Healthy Indian Project (THIP). A survey done a couple of years ago revealed that up to 75 per cent of doctors had experienced some form of violence in their workplaces. The Epidemic (Amended) Ordinance, 2020, passed in India, gave protection for healthcare personnel combatting Covid. But Dr Agarwal raised a pertinent question on why violence against doctors should only be considered a crime during the times of national health crises. "This is the need of the hour. How can a doctor treat a critical patient under stress and under threat? The nation is not realising how serious this issue is. After this, no good doctor will agree to treat a serious patient because they will feel threatened," said Dr Agarwal. He highlighted that ensuring the safety and security of the doctors is one of the foremost challenges being addressed by the IMA. The interview given to The Healthy Indian Project (THIP) also covered topics like IMA's stance towards the AYUSH medicinal systems in India. Speaking to Anshima Gupta from THIP, Dr Agarwal clarified that IMA is not against the practice of any medicine system in India and emphasised their respect for all forms of Indian medicine systems. "However, we are against 'crosspathy'. Medicines from a certain field should not be prescribed by any person who has not studied it," said Dr Agarwal. The IMA, the leading organisation representing doctors in India, has consistently opposed the notion of granting AYUSH practitioners the authority to perform certain surgical procedures or prescribe modern medicines. The IMA chief further said that while the government's intentions regarding AYUSH are commendable, its implementation at the grassroot level needs to be improved. He further added that the Indian Medical Association, with its wealth of experience, is prepared to collaborate with the government to improve the current state of AYUSH. The interview conducted by Anshima Gupta for THIP's show, Health Dialogues, had been published recently. The interview covered various topics including problems around health misinformation, IMA's initiatives like 'Aao Gaon Chale 'and increasing costs of healthcare. Watch the full interview on www.thip.media. Mumbai, June 20 : Actor Ali Fazal, who plays the role of Kahil in 'Kandahar', spent time during the shoot learning a new skill set required for his character. Ali said: "So basically dirt biking has clearly become a very loved passion in my life. Also surprisingly dissipating me from regular biking on the busy roads of our cities. But you know you'll never be as good as you wanna be because when you're working with such an amazing stunt team on a film like Kandahar, where everything is totally measured and state-of-the-art, even though the bike was a very simple bike, deliberately chose a very non pricey bike like a KTM." He added why particularly this bike was chosen. "This was because we actually had to do these stunts. I had to do these stunts in the desert. And we couldn't fake a lot of this stuff. So I learned about dirt biking. I landed up 25 days before shoot and started learning these tricks. Of course, first learning how to just ride plainly on the sand and then, doing different kinds of skids and the breaks, different kinds of turns." Ali shared: "And ultimately, no matter what stunts you pull off, you have to make the character come alive. There's body language and everything. So me and my stunt double, we had to work together all the time because there were some shots like riding on top of a very steep Cliff which has only rocks, those things I never did." The film, which is a war thriller, has Ali star in his first ever high octane action film. The actor shot the film extensively in the Al Ula region of Saudi Arabia. 'Kandahar' stars top international actors like Gerard Butler, Travis Fimmel and Navid Negahban and released this past weekend in North America, with India release to follow soon. Ali plays the role of Kahil, who is one of the main antagonists of the movie. Bengaluru, June 20 : Infosys Co-founder and Chairman Nandan Nilekani has donated Rs 315 crore ($38.5 million) to his alma mater, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. Nilekani earlier contributed Rs 85 crore to the institute, bringing the cumulative value of his support to Rs 400 crore. The memorandum of understanding was formally signed in Bengaluru on Tuesday by Nilekani and professor Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director, IIT Bombay. "IIT Bombay has been a cornerstone in my life, shaping my formative years and laying the foundation for my journey. As I celebrate 50 years of my association with this esteemed Institution, I am grateful to give forward and contribute to its future," said Nilekani, also the founding chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). "This donation is more than just a financial contribution; it is a tribute to the place that has given me so much and a commitment to the students who will shape our world tomorrow," he added. Nilekani joined IIT Bombay in 1973 for a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. "This historic donation will significantly accelerate the growth of IIT Bombay and will firmly set it on a path of global leadership. IIT Bombay is committed to building research and academic excellence that can make India a leader in scientific discovery and its translation towards solving the pressing challenges facing humankind," said Chaudhuri. Over the last 50 years, Nilekani has stayed connected with the Institute in multiple roles. He served on the Board of the IIT Bombay Heritage Foundation from 1999 to 2009 and was on the Board of Governors from 2005 to 2011. He was awarded the prestigious Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999, followed by an Honorary Doctorate in 2019 as part of the 57th convocation of IIT Bombay. IIT Bombay aims to set up world-class centres of excellence in strategic areas such as artificial intelligence, green energy, quantum computing and others, nurturing a deep tech start-up ecosystem, and providing best-in-class research, living, and academic facilities to students and faculty. Patna, June 20 : A prominent gold jeweller was shot dead in Patna on Tuesday by unidentified assailants, a police official said. The victim has been identified as Vinod Kumar, a resident of Khajekalan locality. According to the official, the incident took place at around 7 a.m. when Kumar was heading towards Mirchai Gali on his scooty. The assailants, after firing at him, fled from the scene. "We have sent the body to the Nalanda Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem. We are also scanning the CCTV cameras of the area to identify the accused," said an officer from the Patna City Chowk police station. "We are also taking the statements of the victim's family to find clues about the possible reasons of murder," he said. Bhopal, June 20 : Senior BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra hit out at the Congress, accusing it of doing 'politics of appeasement' and questioned its silence on cases of forced religious conversions. He made this accusation while briefing about the incident in Bhopal in which a young man was forced to act like a dog. Mishra said Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh and former CM Kamal Nath did not utter a single word on the incident. "A Hindu youth was forced to act like a dog. When it is about religious conversion, the Congress leaders would not utter a single word, but when the administration takes action, they would raise questions." The minister, while briefing the press on Tuesday, informed that one more accused involved in the case was arrested late on Monday. So far, four persons have been arrested and the search operation for the remaining two more was under way, the Minister told the media on Tuesday. On Monday, the Bhopal district administration along with Municipal officials carried out the demolition of houses of the accused. Notably, the Madhya Pradesh Police have booked six persons under the National Security Act (NSA) for traumatising the youth. On Sunday night, a video went viral on social media wherein a youth could be seen tied with a chain and forced to act like a dog. The victim, who was later identified as Vijay Ramchandani, was seen pleading for mercy, while the accused kept abusing him and asking him to bark like a dog. In the 50-second video, Ramchandani could be heard saying, "Mujhe maaf kar do, mai miyan bhai banne ke liye taiyar hun (please pardon me, I am ready to become Miya brother)." According to the police, the victim was referring to 'miyan' for Muslim, and therefore NSA has been imposed against the accused. While the incident took place one-and-a-half-month ago, the administrative action began after the video went viral on social media on Sunday night. On Monday morning, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra told mediapersons that he watched the video and directed the Bhopal Police commissioner to take prompt action in the matter. Couple of hours after Mishra's statement, Bhopal district police claimed to have arrested three persons. "At least six persons were involved in the case, and three of them have been arrested. They have been booked under the National Security Act (NSA). A search is on to nab the remaining culprits," the police said. Chennai, June 20 : Tamil Nadu Excise and Prohibition Minister S. Muthusamy on Tuesday said the state government will close down 500 liquor shops, currently operated by government-owned Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC). The minister in a statement also said that the government has not set any target for collecting money through liquor sales. The DMK, which had promised step by step reduction of liquor shops in the state in its election manifesto, has drawn flak for not honouring the commitment. He also said that the government is for a crackdown against illegal liquor sale and that the department was into a detailed study to bring down the drinking habits of the people by addressing the root cause. Karachi, June 20 : Pakistan has constituted a negotiation committee to finalise a deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for handing over the Karachi port terminals. This move may mark the first intergovernmental transaction under a law enacted last year to raise emergency funds, The Express Tribune reported. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar chaired the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions. The cabinet committee decided to set up a committee to negotiate a commercial agreement between the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and the UAE government, according to the decision. The negotiation committee has also been permitted to finalise a draft operation, maintenance, investment, and development agreement under the government-to-government arrangements with a nominated agency of the UAE for handing over the Karachi port terminals. The negotiation committee set up to finalise a framework agreement will be headed by the Minister for Maritime Affairs, Faisal Sabzwari. The committee members include the additional secretaries of Finance and Foreign Affairs, the special assistant to PM Jehanzeb Khan, the Chairman of the Karachi Port Terminal (KPT), and the general managers of the KPT. Pakistan aims to reach a deal to hand over the terminals to Abu Dhabi Ports (ADP), a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Ports Group. The UAE government had shown interest in acquiring the Karachi port terminals that were under the administrative control of the Pakistan International Containers Terminals (PICT) last year, The Express Tribune reported. Abu Dhabi Ports, part of AD Ports Group, owns or operates 10 ports and terminals in the UAE. Last year, the coalition government enacted the Intergovernmental Commercial Transactions Act, aimed at selling state assets on a fast-track basis to raise funds. The country is in dire need of additional money after its deal with the International Monetary Fund has lapsed. New Delhi, June 20 : The Delhi Police's Special Cell has arrested a 27-year-old henchman of infamous Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu gang along with his associate from Mohali in Punjab, an official said on Tuesday. The henchman has been identified as Rohit Sharma, a resident of village Chhara in district Jhajjar. He had conducted recce of the office of deceased Surender Matiala and also arranged shooters, motorcycles and weapons for the murder, said the official. His associate was identified as Sanju Kadyan alias Sushant Rana (24), a resident of district Jhajjar, Haryana. On April 14, two unidentified men had entered the office of Surender, district president Najafgarh Kishan Morcha of BJP Unit, and fired upon him leading to his death. Earlier, police had apprehended eight members of the Kapil Sangwan gang, including three juveniles, in connection with the murder. The Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) H.G.S. Dhaliwal said that a team was continuously monitoring the activities of Nandu Gang manually and technically. "During monitoring it was revealed that the main handler and conspirator of Surender's murder, Rohit Sharma was in direct contact with Kapil Sangwan through encrypted social media apps. He was passing on instructions to the shooters present in Delhi to execute the killing of Surender while he himself was hiding in the Mohali area of Punjab with his associates," said Dhaliwal. Police also learnt that Rohit along with his associate was also planning to eliminate Nandu's rival gangster Manjit Mahal, who is presently lodged in Tihar Jail. "On June 16 on the basis of specific input Rohit Sharma and his associate Sanju were apprehended from Mohali, Punjab," said the special CP. According to police, Rohit's two brothers -- Mohit and Sohit -- have been arrested in Surender Matiala murder case. "Sanju was tasked to provide hideouts to the shooters in Surender's murder. He also absconded after the incident as police had raided his house," said the official. Kolkata, June 20 : West Bengal Foundation Day is being celebrated at the Raj Bhavan with various colourful events marking the occasion on Tuesday ignoring Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's request to Governor C.V. Ananda Bose not to celebrate the same. The programme was kicked off this morning with the parade by cadets of National Cadet Corps (NCC) which was supervised by the Governor himself. It was followed by a "peace run" and "sit & draw" competition, with the Governor being present on the occasion all the time. In his inaugural address, the Governor said that the "West Bengal Foundation Day is celebrated at Raj Bhavan following an instruction from the Indian President Droupadi Murmu. Late Monday evening, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had sent a communique to the Governor requesting the latter not to celebrate the "West Bengal Foundation Day" at the Governor's House on Tuesday. "I am stunned to and shocked to know that you have decided to organise a programme on 20.06. 2023 at Raj Bhavan, Kolkata, commemorating what you have peculiarly chosen to describe as 'the state foundation day of West Bengal,'" the chief minister's letter to the Governor read. She also pointed out that since inception the people have never rejoiced or commemorated or celebrated any day as the foundation day of West Bengal. "Rather we have seen the partition as a result of unleashing of communal forces that could not be resisted at that point of time," the letter read. She had also said that she strongly protests against this "historical, unconstitutional and unilateral decision" of the Union government to commemorate the "so-called Foundation Day of West Bengal" on June 20. Political slugfest has already erupted over the chief minister's objection to the celebration of the day. According to BJP's national vice-president and the party Lok Sabha member Dilip Ghosh since every Indian state has a foundation day, the objections to celebrating that are irrational. The chief minister is making an attempt to distort history," he said. Countering that, the Trinamool Congress state spokesman in West Bengal Kunal Ghosh said the Governor is celebrating the day to satisfy a particular political agenda. "This is a clear attempt to distort the history of West Bengal. This is against the heritage of West Bengal and hence we strongly oppose this move," he said. New York, June 20 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit sends a strong message that the relationship between India and the US is critical and pivotal and the most defining partnership of the 21st century, the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) said on Tuesday. "This historic and important state visit sends a strong message that the US-India relationship is critical and pivotal and the most defining partnership of the 21st century," USISPF President and CEO, Mukesh Aghi said. "Prime Minister Modi's state visit will reaffirm, the strength of the strategic partnership and cement our relations in defence, energy, healthcare, technology, and education. This relationship is best epitomised by the concept that these are two democracies, sharing a common vision," Aghi said in a statement. Prime Minister Modi is visiting the US from Wednesday to Saturday at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The visit includes a state dinner as well as an address to the joint session of Congress on Thursday. Welcoming Prime Minister Modi USISPF Chairman and Chairman Emeritus of Cisco, John Chambers, said: "It is an honour to have Prime Minister Modi back in the US. He has been a role model for many of us around the world with Digital India and how he brings those benefits to every citizen across the country. "Prime Minister Modi is able to build relationships with various stakeholders in the United States and focuses on the win-win aspect. Prime Minister Modi has the ability to inspire hope and translate hope into vision and vision into results and those benefits are well evinced." Before flying to the US for a landmark state visit, Prime Minister Modi said India is in the process of gaining its rightful position in the world. "We do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world," the Prime Minister said in an interview to The Wall Street Journal. "There is an unprecedented trust between the leaders of the US and India," Modi said. Modi's visit will commence in New York where he will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the UN headquarters on Wednesday. He will be the third Indian leader to make a state visit to the US with the previous two visits by former president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in June 1963 and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November 2009. Srinagar, June 20 : Police on Tuesday seized 800 bottles of a psychotropic drug, codeine phosphate from a vehicle in Jammu and kashmir's Srinagar city outskirts that tried to jump a checkpost. Police said that a Scorpio vehicle sped away from the checkpost in Chanapora outskirts of the city. "The vehicle was intercepted and 800 bottles of codeine phosphate were recovered from the vehicle. "One Muhammad Yasin Rather of Chanapora was arrested and an FIR lodged against the accused," police said. Washington, June 20 : More than 35 million people in multiple across southern US states, including Texas, Louisiana and Florida, are experiencing a brutal heat wave that is expected to last for days, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). A blistering heat wave will persist all this week, NWS said in its latest forecast late Monday. Thunderstorms, some severe, and heavy rainfall are possible in the next few days across the Southeast. Critical fire weather conditions persist in the Southwest, Xinhua news agency quoted the NWS as saying. Amid the sweltering heat, over 49,000 people in Mississippi, nearly 187,000 in Oklahoma, almost 79,000 in Texas and some 69,000 in Louisiana were left without electricity as of Monday evening, according to utility tracker poweroutage.us. While in New Mexico firefighters are battling a large fire, Phoenix, the state capital of Arizona, on June 18 recorded its hottest temperature of the year so far at 42 degrees Celsius. Heat waves are occurring more often than they used to in major cities across the US. Their frequency has increased steadily, from an average of two heat waves per year during the 1960s to six per year during the 2010s and 2020s, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. New Delhi, June 20 : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his visit to the US when Manipur is burning. "Violence in Manipur is not stopping. PM is going to America," AAP tweeted with a sixteen-second video of the Manipur violence. AAP has raised questions about the PM's foreign tour, indicating that he should not have gone abroad when Manipur has been hit by violence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on his two-nation tour of the US and Egypt on Tuesday, calling his invitation to the US by President Joe Biden "a reflection of the vigor and vitality of the partnership between our democracies." "I am travelling to the United States of America on a state visit at the invitation of President Joseph Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. This special invitation is a reflection of the vigor and vitality of the partnership between our democracies," he said in a statement while departing for the two-nation tour. "I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community. I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported India's proposal in December 2014 to recognize an International Day of Yoga," he said while giving details of his state visit to the US. Mumbai, June 20 : In a huge embarrassment for the ruling Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance, the Opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has drawn the attention of the United Nations to the 'treason' perpetrated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his group last year, here on Tuesday. The development comes on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's high-profile State Visit to the US, starting Wednesday. Raut, along with former CM Uddhav Thackeray, Aditya Thackeray plus the Maha Vikas Aghadi ally Nationalist Congress Party had demanded that June 20 -- the day when Shinde walked out of the original Shiv Sena in 2022 -- should be declared as 'World Traitors Day' by the UN. Following up on the demand, Raut has shot off a letter to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres seeking the declaration of June 20 as 'World Traitors Day', and giving a backgrounder to the unusual plea before the global body. "On June 20 (2022), a huge group of 40 legislators from our Shiv Sena left us after being instigated by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Each of them is said to have taken Rs 50-crore to defect. The BJP used all their might to ensure that Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra led by Uddhav Thackeray fell," said Raut. Raut said that the 40 MLAs who backstabbed Thackeray, along with 10 Independent legislators, were led by Eknath Shinde, who is now the CM. Justifying the date of June 20, he said that the process of leaving the party began on that day in 2022 when Shinde and others left Mumbai for neighbouring Gujarat. "They deserted Uddhav Thackeray who was an ailing man and underwent two major surgeries Nov. 12 and Nov. 19 (2021). Each one of them (MLAs) took advantage of his illness," said Raut, affording a curtain-raiser on the pre-toppling drama in Maharashtra to the UN-SG. "Hence, I am appealing to you to make June 20 as World Traitors Day just as June 21 is observed as World Yoga Day. This must be done so that the world remembers Traitors," urged Raut in the letter to Guterres which was released Tuesday. This is probably the first time that an Indian state's political issue has gone to the table of the world body with a peculiar request to dedicate a day in the international calendar for remembering turncoats, back-stabbers or deserters. In an apparent counter to Raut, BJP MLA Nitesh Rane has now proposed that June 27 should be proclaimed as a 'World Anti-Nationals Day' and plans to write to the UN for the same. Unfazed by Raut's contentions with the dreaded words -- 'gaddars' (traitors) and '50 khokhas' (slang for Rs 50-crore) -- popping to the fore again, the ruling Shiv Sena has said that it will mark June 20 as a 'self-respect day' or 'pride day'. Incidentally, both -- the Shiv Sena and the Shiv Sena (UBT) -- celebrated their foundation days on June 19 (Monday) with the top leaders Shinde and Thackeray shooting barbs at each other. (Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in) New Delhi, June 20 : Pakistan's removal from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) "Grey List" in October 2022 came with the assurance that it would fall in line and cease support for terrorism. However, it has become evident that Islamabad's commitment to this promise is dubious at best. A recent incident in North Kashmir's Kupwara district, where the Army successfully foiled an infiltration bid by eliminating five terrorists, serves as a stark reminder of Pakistan's nefarious intentions. It is just one example of many incidents that illustrate Pakistan's continued efforts to disrupt peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Despite losing the 30-year-long proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir and mounting international pressure, Pakistan remains defiant. The international community has recognised Pakistan as a hub of terrorism, and this perception hampers its credibility and prospects for economic growth. If Pakistan's leadership and the deep state fail to acknowledge the problems the country faces and redirect their efforts towards stability, the consequences could be dire. The nation risks becoming increasingly impoverished, politically unstable, and isolated on the global stage. Additionally, the growing influence of China in territories like PoK raises the possibility of Pakistan losing control over its own regions. The terrorist bosses sitting across the Line of Control (LoC) are making desperate attempts to keep the cross border terrorism alive in Jammu and Kashmir. They are finding it hard to digest that the terror which they kept alive for three-long decades is "gasping and dying" in Jammu and Kashmir. According to the officials some infiltration attempts this year have been successful but the number of terrorists who have managed to sneak in has been very low. There were a couple of successful infiltration bids in the Poonch-Rajouri area in which dreaded terrorists from Pakistan came in and they targeted ordinary people and some security personnel at some places as well. According to the official data in 2022, there were 27 incidents in which 24 infiltrators were killed and four were arrested. During the attempts of infiltration from across the border from 2005 till October 31, 2019, 1,011 terrorists were killed, 42 apprehended and 2,253 pushed back/returned due to efficient vigil of security forces. According to official sources, 19 terrorists were killed during the course of infiltration in 2020 and 12 in 2021. One terrorist was apprehended in 2021. There were 77 infiltration attempts in 2021 and 99 in 2020. The data reveals that in both 2022 and 2021, 193 terrorists (including during infiltration) were killed. Of 193 terrorists killed in 2022, at least 56 were Pakistanis. From a peak of 2,345 in 2001, terrorist fatalities dropped to a low of 84 in 2012, and increased again for six consecutive years: 100 (2013), 114 (2014), 115 (2015), 165 (2016), 220 (2017), 271 (2018). They declined to 163 in 2019, but increased again to 232 in 2020. Since 1988, a total of 23,918 terrorists (including during infiltration) have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir. Persistent support for terrorism Pakistan's persistent support for terrorism not only undermines regional peace but also has severe consequences for its own stability. While Pakistan continues to focus its efforts on destabilizing J&K, it neglects the pressing issues within its own borders. The country is plagued by economic struggles, increasing poverty rates, and a deteriorating security situation. Failure to address these internal challenges may lead Pakistan down a path of self-destruction. Pakistan's misguided priorities are evident in its neglect of social and economic development. The country's resources are diverted towards supporting terrorist activities instead of investing in sectors that could uplift its population. This shortsightedness perpetuates a vicious cycle of poverty, unemployment, and extremism, ultimately fueling more terrorism within its own borders. JeM raises funds, Salahuddin makes public appearance Pertinently, Pakistan was included in FATF "Grey List" in June 2018 for deficiencies in its legal, financial, regulatory, investigations, prosecution, judicial and non-government sector to fight money laundering and combat terror financing considered serious threat to global financial system. In February this year members of UN-designated terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is responsible for several terrorist attacks, including the 2001 attack on Indian Parliament and the 2019 Pulwama attack, were seen openly collecting funds in Peshawar to fight "Jihad" in Palestine and Kashmir. After Pakistan's exit from the FATF list fundraising for terrorist activities has become a common sight in Pakistan. According to netizens it is a very normal sight in big cities of Pakistan for someone to stand up after prayers and openly ask for funds to support terrorism. The ease with which these groups openly collect funds has once again revealed that Pakistan is still using terrorism as an instrument of its state's policy. It has put a question mark on the ability of the neighbouring country to crack down on terror groups, which it has reared in its backyard for the past so many years. Earlier this year designated global terrorist and chief of the terror outfit Hizbul-Mujahideen, Syed Salahuddin, was openly seen addressing his supporters in Islamabad thus making it evident that he and his group still enjoy the tacit support of the Pakistan establishment. FATF warns Pak After Salahuddin's appearance and his renewed call to revive terror in J&K, President of FATF, T. Raja Kumar, reminded Pakistan that it has been removed from the "Grey List" with specific conditions and it should fulfil the promise it has made to FATF. He made it clear that Pakistan is being monitored and it needs to act fast. The FATF had placed Pakistan in its grey list in 2018 due to its failure to curb terror financing but removed it last year. However, recent developments such as the open fundraising by JeM and global terrorist Syed Salahuddin making a public appearance suggest that the country still has a long way to go in curbing extremist activities. New Delhi has repeatedly raised concerns about Pakistan's involvement in supporting and sponsoring terrorism, both at regional and international platforms. Pakistan's actions violate international norms and pose a significant threat to regional security. The international community has been reminding Pakistan again and again that it should stop harbouring terrorists and stop making persistent attempts to destabilise the region and disrupt peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Pak refuses to mend ways When Pakistan was removed from the "Grey List" India had sounded a caution stating that Pakistan must continue to take credible, verifiable, irreversible and sustained action against terrorism and terrorist financing emanating from territories under its control. But Pakistan is refusing to mend its ways and continues to sponsor terror. During the nine years of Modi's rule Pakistan has been made to understand in clear terms that talks and terror cannot go together and India remains resolute in its commitment to ensuring the safety and security of its citizens. And if it continues to indulge in misadventures it can face repercussions. Lucknow, June 20 : The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) have joined hands against the film 'Adipurush' demanding ban and an apology from its makers. The two parties have slammed the film for its "cheap and superficial dialogues" and said that this was part of an "agenda". The SP also attacked the ruling BJP over the issue. Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav said the Censor Board should check the "political character certificate" of those who play with people's faith by making films with an agenda using the money of their political masters. "Has the Censor Board become Dhritarashtra (visually challenged)?" the SP chief tweeted. Samajwadi Party national general secretary Shivpal Yadav said the efforts are being made to belittle the great and inspiring character of Lord Ram and his story through cinema with "cheap and superficial dialogues". He said crores of faithful 'Sanatanis' are hurt and for this deed, the so-called sanatani BJP leaders must apologise to the country. Another SP national general secretary Swami Prasad Maurya, who early this year courted controversy over Ramcharitmanas (an ancient epic on Lord Ram) by alleging caste discrimination in the epic, also attacked the BJP over the movie. Maurya said: "The kind of language given to the characters by Manoj Muntashir and Om Raut is indecent... have they not insulted the 'sanatan dharma'? If yes, where are all those who had issued threats to behead me? Is it just because these two -- Manoj Muntashir and Om Raut -- are of high caste?" The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) demanded that the movie must be banned. The RLD spokesman said, "The movie Adipurush has mocked the Ramayana and the faith in Sanatan Dharma which is intolerable. The indecent language and scenes in the movie have hurt religious sentiments. RLD demands immediate ban on the movie and the movie makers must apologise to the people for fiddling with the religious texts and culture." Kolkata, June 20 : A political slugfest erupted after the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a Calcutta High Court order on deployment of central armed forces in West Bengal for the forthcoming panchayat elections. The Apex Court upheld the Calcutta High Court's order on deployment of central armed forces and dismissing the special leave petitions filed by the State Election Commission and the state government. A division bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Manoj Mishra observed that since the Calcutta High Court directed central forces for ensuring free and fair polls, there should not be any objection in adhering to that. Reacting to the development, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member and senior advocate of the Calcutta High Court Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya said that such an order from the apex court was inevitable. "The state government and the state election commission were not serious in ensuring free and fair polls and hence they were so desperate to halt the process of the central armed forces deployment. The apex court has rightly questioned the logic of the state election commission filing the SLP to halt the central forces deployment when the commission's responsibility is to ensure free and fair polls. The apex court has also raised questions on the justification of deployment when the entire cost for the same will be borne by the Union government," said Bhattacharya. Reacting to the development, BJP's national vice- president and the party Lok Sabha member Dilip Ghosh said that the auspicious day of "ratha yatra" has turned into the day of "Antarjali Yatra" (the doom's day) for the state government and state election commission. "The state government and the ruling party might have a compulsion to win the polls. But why did the state election commission oppose the deployment of central armed forces. That is why the Supreme Court has boxed the ears of the commission today," Ghosh said. The state Congress president in West Bengal and veteran Lok Sabha member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the Top Court's judgement has proved how biased was the role of the state election commission in the entire matter. Till the filing of this report, there was no reaction from the ruling Trinamool Congress in the matter. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. Azerbaijan discussed the possibility of cooperation with IT giant Tech Mahindra, Minister of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan Rashad Nabiyev said on Twitter, Trend reports. "Today we met with Senior Vice President of the global IT giant Tech Mahindra Sandeep Phadke. We talked about the favorable business environment created in our country for foreign companies, as well as the benefits applied in the field of ICT. We discussed the formats of long-term cooperation, which will facilitate the exchange of knowledge and technology between the two parties," he said. Tech Mahindra is an Indian multinational IT services and consulting company. Part of the Mahindra Group, the company is headquartered in Pune and has its registered office in Mumbai. Tech Mahindra is a $6 billion company with over 158,000 employees across 90 countries. On June 25, 2013, Tech Mahindra announced the completion of a merger with Mahindra Satyam. Tech Mahindra is one of the top Big Tech (India) companies. Agra : , June 20 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh tourism and culture minister Jaiveer Singh will inaugurate a complex 'Atal Sankul Kendra', a museum-cum-photo gallery, set up in the memory of former Prime Minister, late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, during his visit to Vajpayee's paternal village Bateshwar in Agra district on June 23. Bateshwar, located around 65 km from Agra, is known for a number of temples dedicated to Lord Shiva on the Yamuna banks. An annual grand fair takes place at the village around Diwali. Cattle traders from different parts of state, besides bordering districts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, come here during the fair organised by zila panchayat. Bateshwar has a tourism potential and located barely 10 km from here is Shoripur, which is famous for its Jain temples. "We are preparing for visit of tourism minister on June 23. Progress of various projects will be discussed with him," said senior BJP leader and former UP minister Aridaman Singh. Local MLA Pakshalika Singh spoke about the plans to improve and beautify surrounding of Bateshwar temples. "The idea to develop Bateshwar as a centre of eco-tourism is also in the pipeline," she said. Chandigarh, June 20 : The Punjab Assembly on Tuesday passed the Sikh Gurdwara (Amendment) Bill, 2023, in the absence of the main opposition Congress that boycotted the session, paving the way for eliminating the undue control over the free to air telecast of the sacred Gurbani from the Golden Temple. Gurbani is the term used by Sikhs to refer to compositions of the Sikh Gurus. All three members of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BSP combine opposed the Bill that was introduced in the House by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who said only one channel had control over telecasting the Gurbani. "Now, this channel along with all channels would also get free feed of the live Gurbani," he said. Speaking on it, SAD legislator Manpreet Ayali said one channel shouldn't have the exclusive rights over the live telecast of Gurbani. "The SGPC should run its own channel. The government should not interfere in the SGPC affairs." He appealed to the government to reconsider its decision of tabling the Bill in the House. "It will set a wrong precedent and in the coming days governments would start interfering in the SGPC matters." The Cabinet on Monday approved to amend the Sikh Gurdwaras Act of 1925 and to insert Section 125-A into the Act, thereby casting duty on the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex religious body for Sikhs, to ensure free to air live telecast of the holy Gurbani. The Chief Minister said this amendment has been made with the objective that entire humanity is able to listen to and see the live telecast of holy Gurbani free of cost. Mann said this Bill is aimed at ensuring that Gurbani is not commercialised in any manner. The Chief Minister said this Act will be called the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Act, 2023, and will come into force on and with effect from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. He said in the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, after Section 125, Section 125-A would be inserted for the live telecast of the Gurbani free of cost. The SGPC has reacted sharply to the move, asking the state government not to interfere in religious matters. Responding to the Cabinet decision, SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami said: "This (Gurdwara Act) can only be amended by the Centre as the Punjab government has got no right to do so." The SGPC has given exclusive rights of Gurbani telecast to G-Next Media Private Ltd, the company of the Badal family that owns PTC channels, under an agreement signed on July 24, 2012. The agreement was "irrevocable" for its entire duration of 11 years. This agreement is going to end on July 24 and the SGPC is mulling over inviting open bids, subject to the conditions pertaining to the preservation of 'maryada'. The Chief Minister had been questioning over giving exclusive rights to a particular channel to telecast Gurbani. Lucknow, June 20 : A strong sense of unease seems to be emerging in opposition parties over the presence of Congress, ahead of the Patna conclave of non-BJP parties. Opposition parties seem visibly uncomfortable in working with the Congress to oust the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Samajwadi Party has tweeted a poster that quoted national president Akhilesh Yadav as saying, "We hope all those parties which wish to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party will support Samajwadi Party with a big heart." Although it did not mention any party by name, there was an implied reference to the Congress. The fresh reiteration from Samajwadi Party has come days before the Patna meeting. Yadav, who had confirmed his attendance for the June 23 meeting, said, "Whosoever is strongest, fighting against the BJP, and is in a position to defeat the BJP in that particular state should be supported by the joint opposition in that state." Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam responded by saying, "AAP says leave Delhi and Punjab, Akhilesh Yadav says leave UP, Mamata Banerjee says leave West Bengal, KCR wants Congress to leave Telangana... Is this opposition unity, or a new form of a Congress-free country?" Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal started his party's campaign for the Rajasthan assembly elections in December by accusing the Congress and the BJP of "indulging in corruption" in the western state. He accused Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of copying his schemes from Delhi and trying to project a Rajasthan development model, which he said is nothing but a replica of his Delhi model. The Congress hit back, saying the AAP has no future in Rajasthan. Kejriwal had sought support of the Congress to defeat the Centre's ordinance on transfer and posting of Delhi government officials in the Rajya Sabha. The Congress is yet to respond. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi led by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has also shown discomfiture over the presence of the Congress. It has reiterated its stand of maintaining equidistance from the Congress and the BJP. The BRS sees the Congress as its main opponent in Telangana. London, June 20 : The company of British billionaire Hamish Harding, who is among the five people on board a tourist submarine that went missing on June 18 during a dive to the Titanic's wreckage in the Atlantic, had supplied a special aircraft to transport eight wild cheetahs from Namibia to India last year. The 58-year-old UAE-based businessman, pilot, explorer and space tourist, is the founder of Action Group and chairman of Action Aviation, an international aircraft brokerage company with headquarters in Dubai. In September 2022, Action Aviation, supplied the customised Boeing 747-400 aircraft to transport the cheetahs from Namibia to India to launch the reintroduction of the big cat in the country. Harding, who holds three Guinness World Records, was on the flight to India. For Harding, the trip to Titanic's wreckage was the latest in a string of adventures. He has visited the South Pole multiple times, flew into space in 2022 on board Blue Origin's fifth human-crewed flight, and set three world records -- including the longest time spent at full ocean depth during a dive to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. Over the weekend, Harding said on social media that a ship had set off from the city of St John's, in Newfoundland, Canada, for the destination of the Titanic wreck, reports the BBC. From there, he and the crew were planning to start diving operations in the submersible down to the wreck at around 4 a.m. on Sunday morning. He wrote on Facebook that he was "proud to finally announce" that he would be aboard the mission to the wreck of the Titanic. Due to the "worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years," he said "this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023". "A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow." Meanwhile, Pakistani billionaire businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman is also on board the missing submarine. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Dawood family said: "Our son Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, had embarked on a journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. "As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available." Dawood, from one of Pakistan's richest families, is a trustee of the Seti Institute, a research organisation in California, according to its website. It says he lives in the UK with his wife, Christine, and his children Suleman and Alina, and is in the Founder's Circle of the British Asian Trust. According to the US Coast Guard, the vessel has only about 70 hours of oxygen left, with a massive search and rescue operation currently underway. Addressing the media on Monday, Rear Adm John Mauger of the US Coast Guard said: "We anticipate there is somewhere between 70 and the full 96 hours available at this point," reports the BBC. He also said that two aircraft, a submarine and sonar buoys were involved in the search for the vessel but noted the area in which the search is taking place was "remote", making operations difficult. Rear Adm Mauger said the rescue teams were "taking this personally" and were doing everything they could to bring those on board "home safe". The missing vessel is believed to be tour firm OceanGate's Titan submersible, a truck-sized sub that holds five people and usually dives with a four-day emergency supply of oxygen. Tickets cost $250,000 for an eight-day trip including dives to the wreck at a depth of 3,800m. According to the US Coast Guard, contact with the submarine was lost about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive on June 18. In a statement on Monday, OceanGate said its "entire focus (was) on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families", the BBC reported. The Titanic's wreck lies some 700 km south of St John's, Newfoundland, though the rescue mission is being run from Boston, Massachusetts. Chandigarh, June 20 : Saying rural development works in Punjab are being impacted, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said if the Centre didn't release the rural development fund of Rs 3,622 crore within 10 days, the government would move the Supreme Court. Speaking on a resolution against the non-release of the rural development fund or RDF in the Assembly, the Chief Minister expressed concern over its non-release and said the government would move the Supreme Court on July 1. Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian moved the resolution. "It is our right which is being denied by the Centre and is affecting our rural infrastructure." He said the Centre is targeting non-BJP governments, whether it is Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal or Delhi. "They had deputed governors just to target the state governments," the Chief Minister informed the Assembly. "Due to non-release of RDF for the last four seasons by the Centre, the rural development works in Punjab are being affected. The Punjab Vidhan Sabha condemns the fact that the Centre has not yet released the withheld amount of Rs 3,622 crore towards the agricultural produce bought from Punjab,a says the resolution. "This House recommends to the state government to approach the Centre for the release of the withheld RDF immediately," it added. Lucknow, June 20 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked officials to chalk out a plan to set up district-level outlets of organic and natural products and also in government mandis. "At present, organic product outlets have been set up at divisional headquarters. There is a need to extend them to district and Mandi levels," he said. According to the government spokesman, the chief minister also emphasised the need for organising bazaars for the sale of organic products in the state, besides setting up test labs in agricultural universities for verifying and branding natural products grown by farmers. He further directed officials to expedite the work to establish a tissue culture laboratory in the Acharya Narendra Dev Agricultural and Technical University in Ayodhya. The tissue culture lab, he said, must be set up on a minimum area of 3 hectares with all the cost to be borne by the Mandi Parishad. He also said new Kisan Bazaars and Mandis should be set up as per regional requirement. The chief minister said that it was encouraging that the income of Mandis had increased despite a cut in the Mandi fee. The income of Mandis rose from Rs 614 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 1,520.95 crore in 2022-23 and an income of Rs 251.61 crore had been earned till May in the current financial year. New Delhi, June 20 : A minor girl was allegedly sexually assaulted in West Delhi's Vikaspuri area, an official said, adding that they have apprehended the accused. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Vichitra Veer, a police control room call was received at Vikaspuri police station on Monday regarding the sexual assault of a girl. "A police team rushed to the spot and the 10-year-old girl was taken to hospital for medical examination," said the DCP. The counselling of the minor was done and subsequently a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and POCSO Act was registered. "During investigation, a police team was formed and with the help of CCTV footage and local intelligence, the accused was identified and nabbed," the official added. London, June 20 : Software major Adode's $20 billion acquisition of cloud-based designer platform Figma is reportedly under scrutiny by the antitrust regulators in the European Union, the media reported on Tuesday. The EU regulators are preparing to launch a formal investigation into the acquisition, reports the Financial Times. The UK's competition watchdog is also looking into the Adobe-Figma deal. Adobe is already discussing the acquisition with regulators in the UK, EU, and the US. In September last year, Adobe announced it would acquire design software company Figma for about $20 billion in a cash and stock deal. Founded by Dylan Field and Evan Wallace in 2012, Figma pioneered product design on the web. The combination of Adobe and Figma will usher in a new era of collaborative creativity. "The combination of Adobe and Figma is transformational and will accelerate our vision for collaborative creativity," said Shantanu Narayen, Chairman and CEO, Adobe. Figma has a total addressable market of $16.5 billion by 2025. The company is expected to add approximately $200 million in net new ARR this year, surpassing $400 million in total ARR exiting 2022. Mumbai, June 20 : The All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ban the screening of Prabhas and Kriti Sanon-starrer 'Adipurush' directed by Om Raut. On Tuesday the AICWA penned a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the subject line reading as "Request to immediately Ban on Adipurush Movie - THIS IS NOT OUR RAMAYAN." The letter read: "All Indian Cine Workers Association Demands Ban on Screening the Movie Adipurush, This Movies screenplay and dialogues are clearly defaming the Image of Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman. Adipurush Movie is Hurting religious Sentiment's of Hindus and Sanatan Dharma." The letter stated that Lord Ram is a God for everyone in India no matter which faith one comes from. "This Movie Depicts Lord Ram and even Ravan who looks like a Character of a video game, with dialogues hurting every Indian in the country and across the Globe." The AICWA requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "order to stop screening this Movie and immediately order a Ban of Adipurush Screening in the Theatres and OT platforms in the Future." They also stated they needed an FIR against the director and writer Manoj Muntasir Shukla. "We need FIR against the Director (Om Raut), Writer (Manoj Muntasir Shukla) & the Producers of the Movie who have hurted the Hindu Sentiments and Save the Image of our Bhagwan Shri Ram, Maa Sita & Ramsevak Bhagwan Hanuman." The letter also stated that actors "Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali khan shouldn't have been part of such a disgraceful movie ever made in the history of Indian Cinema, Adipurush is a complete disaster of our faith in Shri Ram and Ramayan." The letter was by Suresh Shyamlal Gupta, founder and president of the All Indian Cine Workers Association. A copy of the letter has also been sent to Anurag Thakur, Union Minister - Information & Broadcasting and Prasoon Joshi, Chairman, Central Board of Film Certification. Prayagraj : , June 20 (IANS) The Prayagraj police investigating the murder of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the Raju Pal murder, have now found the involvement of slain Atiq Ahmad's son Ali, who is lodged in Naini jail, in the conspiracy that led to the murder on February 24. Police sources said that three of the shooters involved in murder of lawyer Umesh Pal, had met Ali in Naini Central Jail before February 24. Police have received CCTV footage of Naini Central Jail in which assailants Guddu Muslim, Ghulam and another accused Sadaqat could be seen entering from the gate. Investigations by police have also indicated the involvement of Atiq's eldest son Umar lodged at Lucknow Jail. With evidence at hand regarding the involvement of Ali and Umar in the case, the police have mentioned about it in the case diary. The police now plan to include their names as accused in the case and will question them at jail after receiving a warrant from the court, said an official. Earlier, the police had found during investigation that before the murder of Umesh Pal, the assailants had met Ashraf at Bareilly Jail. CCTV footage of the jail went viral in which Atiq's son Asad, assailants Guddu Muslim, Ghulam, Armaan, Vijay Chaudhary, Sabir and Sadaqat were seen entering the Bareilly Jail premises. They met Ashraf on February 12 and planned the murder inside the jail, said the police officials. As per the police officials, after meeting Ashraf at Bareilly jail, Guddu Muslim, Ghulam and Sadaqat met Atiq's son Ali at Naini Central Jail. Police have found CCTV footage of the trio and have collected it as evidence. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. Kazakhstans state budget revenues for the first four months of 2023 showed a significant growth of 14.1 percent year-on-year, Trend reports. As the latest data from the Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan revealed, the total income reached 7.515 trillion tenge ($16.5 billion), marking an impressive increase of 926 billion tenge ($2 billion). The primary driver behind this revenue surge was the substantial growth in tax collections, which rose by 21.3 percent, or 1.048 billion tenge ($2.3 billion). Tax revenues contributed significantly to the overall budget expansion, demonstrating the positive economic momentum in the country. However, transfer receipts to the republican budget experienced a decline of 8.1 percent, or 120 billion tenge ($264.8 million), compared to the corresponding period in 2022. The government will need to address this decrease and explore potential avenues to bolster transfer revenues in the coming months. Analyzing the structure of tax revenues, the most notable growth was observed in value-added tax (VAT) income. VAT collections soared by 32 percent, which is an increase of 395.7 billion tenge ($873.4 million) year-on-year. Notably, domestic production within Kazakhstan contributed significantly to this surge, with VAT on domestically manufactured goods rising by 20.6 percent, or 114.4 billion tenge ($252.5). Additionally, the growth in imports led to a substantial increase of 40.9 percent, or 279.2 billion tenge ($616.2 million) in tax revenues from imported goods. Furthermore, income tax revenue from corporate entities experienced a remarkable boost, registering a growth of 15.7 percent, or 249.9 billion tenge ($551.8). Individual income tax also saw a significant rise, reaching 136.1 billion tenge ($300.4 million), or an increase of 26.4 percent. These positive trends in tax revenues signify the resilience and robustness of the Kazakhstani economy. The government remains committed to maintaining favorable conditions for economic growth and will continue monitoring revenue inflows closely. Jammu, June 20 : Adish C. Aggarwala, president international council of jurists, London, has alleged that he was threatened not to hoist the Tricolour at the city centre Lal Chowk in Srinagar city. Aggarwala had earlier said that he would go to Srinagar without any security and hoist the Tricolour at Lal Chowk to prove that all is well in Kashmir. He is also the Chairman, All India Bar Association and the President, Supreme Court Bar Association. He returned to Jammu city abandoning his journey to Srinagar and has issued a press statement that said, "I was travelling from Katra to Srinagar for unfurling the national. I stopped at Zaika Sweets and Restaurant at Samroli near Udhampur town) for taking snacks at about 10:08 p.m. when reportedly two cars stopped near my parked car, one to his left and the other behind his taxi. "In the left side car, one occupant was having a rifle & other came to me and told me "Kashmir me Tiranga Fehra Rahe Ho. Srinagar Me Dekh Lenge ( Are you going to unfurl Tricolour in Kashmir, will see you in Srinagar)". "I kept mum and did not react and instead asked the driver to take me to Jammu claiming that I have to collect the important file & I reached Jammu and checked in Circuit House in the early morning of June 18 but I have not reported this incident to Jammu and Kashmir Police officials as some of them may be under the influence of some forces," he alleged. He also alleged that with this incident he feels there has been a conspiracy to eliminate him in Kashmir as I was going to unfurl the national flag at Lal Chowk, Srinagar. Chennai, June 20 : Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian has said that the arrested state minister, Senthil Balaji will undergo a surgery on June 21, Wednesday. Senthil Balaji was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on June 14 in a cash-for-job scam and is remanded in judicial custody. However, after he complained of chest pain and uneasiness, a coronary angiogram was conducted on the minister during which it was found that he had three blocks in the coronary artery. Talking to reporters, Ma Subramanian said that as the doctors have recommended immediate surgery, the procedure will be conducted tomorrow itself. Senthil Balaji who was the Tamil Nadu Excise, Prohibition and Electricity Minister was divested of his portfolios and is presently a minister without portfolio in the Stalin cabinet. The minister was first admitted in a government hospital after his arrest and then shifted to a private hospital in Chennai. The ED has already moved the Supreme Court against the shifting of the minister. The cash-for-job 'scam' in which Senthil Balaji is arraigned took place in the period between 2011-16 when he was a minister in the AIADMK government of late J. Jayalalithaa. However, later he switched political positions and joined the DMK becoming a trusted lieutenant of Chief Minister M. K. Stalin. He is also considered a strong man in the Karur area of Western Tamil Nadu who has deep following at the grassroots levels. Chennai, June 20 : The Sri Lankan Navy has detained nine fishermen from Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, after their mechanised boat crossed the Indian Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and ventured into the island nation's waters. The incident took place during the early morning hours of Tuesday. Sources in the Tamil Nadu coastal police told IANS that the fishermen had ventured into the sea on Monday but the engine of their boat developed glitches. The sources said that following the technical glitch, the vessel ventured into the Tamil Nadu waters at Nadantheevu. A Sri Lankan Naval vessel that was passing through the area found the boat inside Sri Lankan waters and took the fishermen for questioning at the Kankensanturai Naval base for questioning. It may be noted that several Indian fishermen were earlier arrested for crossing Sri Lankan waters. While most of the arrested fishermen were released following the court's ruling in favour of them and on the basis of diplomatic intervention, the mechanised fishing boats that cost a fortune are apprehended. Jose Thomas, a fisherman at Ramanathapuram told IANS: "We are venturing into the sea expecting a good catch and to support our family. However occasionally and unintentionally we reach the Sri Lankan waters. We are arrested and our mechanised boats that cost lakhs of rupees are impounded. "Even after the men are released, the mechanised boats that cost a fortune for us are apprehended and not released. This affects us largely as our only vocation is fishing and these mechanized boats are our bread and butter." Mumbai, June 20 : Crying foul over the alleged financial irregularities being perpetrated in the civic body, the Opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) will take out a protest march to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on July 1, party president and ex-chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said here on Tuesday. The march will be led by ex-minister and MLA Aditya Thackeray plus other senior party leaders, with thousands of people expected to join from Mumbai and other cities. Incidentally, the Sena (UBT) move comes a day after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced a Mumbai Police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into an alleged fraud of Rs 12,000-crore in the BMC spendings during the MVA tenure. The alleged scam was flagged off after a special audit report submitted to the state government by the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) in March. Uddhav Thackeray said that like the monsoons, even the elections to the civic bodies are getting delayed and now the BMC is squandering public monies, a purported Rs 650-crore has already been spent - from its deposits of Rs 92,000-crore on different grounds. He said that they would expose the ongoing corruption in the BMC and said that something like the police SIT is unprecedented in the city's history, and if the MVA allies Congress-Nationalist Congress Party want to participate, they would be welcomed. Referring to his party's demand to the UNO for declaring June 20 as 'World Traitors Day', Thackeray pointed out that the government is trying to confuse the people with the police SIT to probe the BMC's financial scams in road and other projects. Thackeray questioned why Shinde and his team kept rushing to New Delhi so many times and wondered whether they were getting notices from the central probe agencies. Earlier this morning, Thackeray held a preparatory meeting of former municipal corporators or councillors at the party headquarters for the much-anticipated polls to the BMC and other major civic bodies. New Delhi, June 20 : The Delhi High Court has set aside a previous order by a trial court, which had granted transit remand of an accused to be presented before a court in Mumbai in a cheating case. In petitioner Rahul Lunia's submission, it was claimed that he had been unlawfully detained at the GK-1 police station by the investigating officer from the Bandra police station in Mumbai. The petitioner, in the habeas corpus petition before the high court, argued that the transit remand order was unlawful. The petitioner's lawyer, Sahil Mongia, asserted that the trial court could not have determined the merits of the transit remand case as the case diary was in Marathi, a language the court was unfamiliar with. A vacation bench of Justices Jasmeet Singh and Vikas Mahajan observed that the trial court had not considered the petitioner's bail application, despite having the authority to do so, when granting the transit remand. Consequently, the high court set aside the contested order passed by the learned Duty Metropolitan Magistrate and directed the trial court to hear and decide the petitioner's bail application on its merits. The bench also affirmed the maintainability of the habeas corpus petition, citing a previous ruling that allows individuals to seek habeas corpus if the remand is deemed completely illegal or conducted in a purely mechanical manner. The state opposed the petition, arguing that the petitioner's custody was not illegal and therefore the present petition was not viable. The state contended that the trial court had carefully considered the matter and decided that the investigating officer should present the accused before the appropriate court, which would then determine the bail application. The petition has argued that the transit remand order had been mechanically issued, violating the constitutional provision that guarantees petitioners the right to be informed of the reasons for their arrest. New Delhi, June 20 : Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday glorified China for "stepping up" to support Pakistan when the cash-strapped nation was left in the lurch by the lender of the last resort amid a bailout limbo, a media outlet reported. "The agreement with the IMF has been unusually delayed and China once again came to our rescue," the premier said during a ceremony in Islamabad for signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Pakistan and China for the 1,200 MW Chashma-5 (C-5) nuclear power project. The country has barely enough currency reserves to cover one month's imports. It had hoped to have $1.1 billion of the funds released in November - but the IMF has insisted on a number of conditions before it makes any more disbursements, Geo News reported. Consequently, Pakistan hoped China would continue to ease its payments pressure by extending loans as concerns arose that the South Asian nation could become the next emerging market to default. The nation plans to repay a $300 million loan to China on Friday and another $1 billion loan will be rolled over by June 30, State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jameel Ahmad said earlier. Pakistan also returned a separate $1 billion loan to China recently which was refinanced last week. "When Pakistan is faced with economic challenges, and we are also engaged with IMF to finalise the ninth review and met all conditions required by the IMF, China once again came to our help," Prime Minister Shehbaz was quoted as saying by the media outlet. Chinese support comes as odds are that the cash-strapped nation will fail to restart its loan programme -with the lender - that expires at the end of June. The country has pledged to repay its debt and faces about $23 billion of external debt payments for the fiscal year that starts in July. China has extended loans annually to Pakistan for many years. The central bank expects debt of $2.3 billion to be rolled over in June after Chinese banks extended another $2 billion in March, the media outlet reported. Bengaluru, June 20 : The ruling Congress workers on Tuesday staged staged a state-wide protest to condemn the central government's alleged move of not selling rice which is in stock of the Food Corporation of India (FCI). The Congress's protest demonstration was led by Dy Chief Minister and Congress State President D.K. Shivakumar at Freedom Park. They displayed placards against the central government and raised slogans against the BJP government at the centre. The protests were observed at all district headquarters. Addressing protesters, Shivakumar said: "We have decided to make the state hunger free and plan to provide 10 kg rice through 'Anna Bhagya Scheme'. However, the centre is obstructing the implementation of the scheme. The people should teach BJP a lesson in the upcoming Lok Sabha, panchayat and corporation elections." "Even if the centre is not giving rice, we will procure it from other states for the people. We are not asking for free rice from centre. They are refusing it on the pretext of changed policy. "Former CM B.S. Yediyurappa had stated that even if a gram lesser than promised quantity is given, they will stage protests. I ask Yediyurappa, ex-chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, why they have not ensured that Rs 15 lakh are deposited to bank accounts? Why has the income of farmers not doubled? They have to stage a protest against BJP President J.P. Nadda and PM as the Acche Din (good days) are not ensured," Shivakumar stated. When Sonia Gandhi was the Chairman of UPA government and Manmohan Singh was the PM, the Food Security Act was implemented and the right to food was ensured by distributing rice to the people. Reacting strongly to Congress protests and it criticism of central government, former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said: "If the Congress Chief Minister has the capacity let him procure the rice from wherever he can and provide 10 kg rice along with five kg rice which is provided free of cost by the centre. In total, he should provide 15 kg." The BJP leaders staged the protest near Anand Rao Circle. They were arrested and later released. Bommai said: "You are not capable of providing promised free rice and resort to protest. Did people elected you to protest? This government is run by liars and sly people. The government tells blatant lies and cheats people. Don't you have any shame? Don't you have the responsibility? This is an irresponsible government." He said that electricity bills have also been hiked and people and industrialists can not pay their bills. "The buses are going to stop plying in future. People as well as school children are protesting as the scheduled buses are being cancelled," Bommai said. "The central government is always there for the state at the times of crisis. It has helped the state during the Covid and floods. You (Congress) are spreading lies that the centre is not providing rice. The five kg of rice which is given to the poor is being provided by the centre. Without any preparation you announced the scheme and now are blaming the centre?" Bommai said. New Delhi, June 20 : The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) to India's first mRNA-based Omicron booster vaccine and it is likely to be rolled out in 2-3 weeks, Gennova Biopharmaceuticals announced on Tuesday. The Pune-based firm's GemCovac-OM is a monovalent needle-free booster shot. It will be delivered intradermally with the PharmaJet Tropis Precision Delivery System (PDS) to adults of 18 years of age and older; and to those who have previously taken the primary vaccine shots from either Covishield or Covaxin, the two major Covid-19 vaccines administered in the country. The GemCovac-OM is a lyophilised (freeze dried) vaccine that remains stable at 2 degrees Celsius to 8 degrees Celsius, and is safe and compatible with the current refrigeration supply chain across India, along with other low and middle-income countries (LMICs), said Dr Sanjay Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Gennova Biopharmaceuticals, at a virtual press conference held on Tuesday. "Even though the WHO has declared that Covid is no longer a public health emergency, our booster dose holds relevance as Covid, specifically, Omicron and its sub-lineages are still prevalent. It has been scientifically proven that the existing vaccines are not effective to tackle specific variants. The need is for a tailor-made vaccine to target specific variants," Dr Sanjay Singh said. "We are proud to announce that India now has its own Omicron-based vaccine that has passed clinical trials," he added. The mRNA vaccine was developed in association with the Department of Biotechnology. It was evaluated for its safety and immunogenicity as a booster in about 3,000 people from across 13 cities in India who received two doses of Covishield and Covaxin. The clinical trial results showed that the single booster dose is safe and well tolerated with mild to moderate side effects. No serious adverse events were reported. Importantly, GemCovac-OM as a booster also showed "significantly higher immune response than Covishield," Singh said. The company is yet to disclose the price. Patna, June 20 : More than 100 people from 35 families have been infected with smallpox in a village in Bihar's Supaul district, an official said. The infected people include children and elderly people. The victims alleged that they have not received any medical attention from the health department. Victims said that the district health department did not know about the spread of the disease till Monday while they have been infected with Smallfox since last three months. The victims claimed that they were undergoing treatment at the local level as the health officials did not provide them treatment. The villagers also claimed that neither health officials nor any public representatives came to see them. "A medical team arrived on Tuesday. We have assisted them for the identification of the patients. The infection keeps spreading in the area," said Mohammad Ismyle, a resident of ward number 4 of Triveniganj. The incident occurred at ward number 4 of Triveniganj in Supaul. The area is considered as a Muslim dominant area. The majority of the infected persons belong to Muslim community. "As soon as we learnt about the disease, we sent a medical team to the village to provide treatment to the infected persons. Process of identifying the patients is currently underway," said Dr Mihir Kumar, civil surgeon of Supaul. Rome, June 20 : A Montenegro court has sentenced Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs, and one of his aides to four months in prison on charges of using fake passports. Kwon, 32, who was behind cryptocurrencies that suffered a multi-billion dollar crash last year, and his chief financial officer, identified only by his surname Han, were arrested at Podgorica Airport on March 23 after attempting to travel to Dubai with forged passports, reports Yonhap News Agency. The Basic Court in Podgorica announced on its website, it handed four-month prison terms to both. They denied the charges during previous hearings. Earlier this month, the court granted bail to both on the condition that they each pay 400,000 euros ($428,241) in bail money and are placed in confinement under police surveillance. South Korea and the US are seeking his extradition. The duo had been on the run after fleeing South Korea while under a probe in connection with the crash of Terraform Labs' TerraUSD and Luna coins in May last year, which wiped out nearly 50 trillion won ($38 billion) in market value. South Korean prosecutors have since sought an arrest warrant for Kwon over allegations that included providing false information to investors and violation of the capital market law. Interpol also issued a red notice, used for the highest level of wanted suspects and criminals. Kwon's passport has since been invalidated. Kwon is also wanted by the US, where he was charged with fraud by federal prosecutors in New York. It is unclear whether Kwon would be sent to South Korea, as the country requested his extradition first. In March, the Montenegrin justice minister said which country Kwon will be extradited to will be determined on the basis of the location and the time of his criminal offence and other factors. TerraUSD was designed as a stablecoin, which was pegged to stable assets, like the US dollar. But holders of TerraUSD and Luna lost more than an estimated $40 billion in market value after the stablecoin plunged far below its $1 peg last May. Thiruvananthapuram, June 20 : Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan cautioned on Tuesday that the collapse of the higher education sector is "worse" than the collapse of the law and order. Khan was reacting to numerous reports about alleged fake certificate cases and other malpractices involving activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the ruling CPI(M), at higher education institutions in the state. By now, a handful of cases have surfaced in which forged documents were allegedly used to secure a teaching job or admission to Post Graduate courses, all involving SFI activists, lending a huge setback to the student's organisation. The Governor, who is also chancellor of state varsities, said that if one is able to do all this because one belongs to a particular student's organisation then it's a serious thing, adding that he will be looking into all such cases. Chandigarh, June 20 : Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday dedicated 11 flyovers spread over 24 km on the eight-lane national highway from Delhi to Panipat completed at an outlay of about Rs 900 crore. On the occasion, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar thanked Gadkari for giving the gift of road projects to the people. Khattar said 17 national highways have so far been constructed in the state. Perhaps Haryana in the only state in which all district headquarters have been connected with the national highway. Besides, several projects are in the pipeline. He said the Central government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has completed its tenure of nine years. On the other hand, the double-engine government in Haryana has also performed remarkably well in every field in the last eight and a half years. Besides further strengthening the road and rail network, today a common man is also travelling by air. He said the state government is working shoulder-to-shoulder with the Centre in implementing the schemes. The Chief Minister said the present government hit hard on 3Cs -- corruption, crime and caste-based politics. He said the government has adopted a zero-tolerance policy against corruption. Apart from this, special emphasis has been laid on 5-S -- Shiksha (education), Swasthya (health), Svabhiman (self-respect), Suraksha (security) and Svavlamban (self-reliance). In Haryana, eligible citizens are getting the benefit of every scheme sitting at home through the Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP). New Delhi, June 20 : Buoyed by friendly government policies and production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, India is set to cross Rs 1,20,000 crore in mobile exports in the current fiscal year (FY24), driven by tech giant Apple, the top electronics industry body told IANS on Tuesday. The country surpassed a remarkable Rs 90,000 crore worth smartphone exports in the fiscal year 2022-2023. According to the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), the mobile phone exports have already registered a massive 128 per cent growth in the months of April-May this year. "Mobile phone exports growth in 2023-24 have bucked the trend of falling exports with a growth of 128 per cent in the first two months of 2023-24," Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, ICEA, told IANS. "We are confident of crossing Rs 120,000 crore in this financial year compared to Rs 90,000 crore in the last financial year which was a phenomenal 90 per cent growth," Mohindroo added. Amid this stupendous growth in the mobile exports, Apple's share is set to exceed 50 per cent in FY24, according to the ICEA. In May, iPhone exports reached a record Rs 10,000 crore, pushing the total mobile shipments from the country to Rs 12,000 crore. The top five global destinations India currently exports mobile phones to are the UAE, the US, the Netherlands, the UK and Italy. "The mobile phone industry will cross $40 billion manufacturing output," according to Mohindroo. More than 97 per cent of the smartphones sold in India are now being produced locally. India is now the second largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world. The country is now moving in a different direction, "which is largely export-focused and led by the government's PLI push". According to estimates, India and Vietnam are set to become the biggest beneficiaries of smartphone supply chain migration out of China. Kochi, June 20 : The Kerala High Court on Tuesday came down heavily on a family court judge for using improper language while granting sole custody of a minor child to the father, and set aside the order asking each parent to keep the child for a week each. A division bench of Justices A. Muhamed Mustaque and Sophy Thomas noted that the family court judge had jumped to the conclusion that the mother had eloped with another person for "pleasure" and that the "wayward life" chosen by her would impact the welfare of the children. "What has disturbed us is the language used by the family court judge. Merely for the reason that a woman is found in the company of another male, the family court came to the conclusion that she went for pleasure with someone else. The highly distasteful language depicts the mindset of an officer of high rank in the district judiciary," said the High Court. The court was dealing with a plea moved by the child's mother challenging the family court's order. While the child's father alleged that the mother had left the matrimonial house to be with another man, the woman claimed that she was forced to leave the house due to unbearable domestic violence. At this, the bench said it does not care to believe or disbelieve either of the versions put out to the court. "There may be many circumstances when one may have to leave the matrimonial home. If a woman is found with another person, it cannot lead to an assumption that she went for pleasure. The moral judgment reflected in such orders would defeat the objective of inquiry in the matters of child custody," pointed out the High Court's order. The bench further emphasised that "a mother may be morally bad in the societal sense, but that mother may be good for the child as far as the welfare of the child is concerned. The so-called morality is created by society based on their own ethos and norms and should not necessarily reflect in a contextual relationship between a parent and child," the court said. Finally, it decided that each of the parents can take custody of the child for one week each which they felt was the best for the child, after setting aside the family court's order. Bhopal, June 20 : Veteran BJP leader and former minister Raghavji got a big relief after the Madhya Pradesh High court quashed a decade-old FIR against him lodged on charges of sodomising a youth, observing that the case was a "politically-oriented animosity, which makes the petitioner's prosecution malicious". The former Finance Minister was arrested on charges under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in July 2013 for allegedly sodomising a youth. He was arrested following a complaint lodged by his domestic help in which he claimed that he was sexually assaulted by Raghavji. Raghavji was also expelled from the BJP following his arrest. Delivering the 22-page judgement last Friday, the high court ordered quashing of the FIR registered at Bhopal's Habibganj police station. The court also said that all subsequent proceedings pursuant to the said FIR will automatically come to an end. "Notably, for almost three years, the complainant remained reticent and astoundingly it was only after he left the petitioner's (Raghavji) house that he felt humiliated and lodged the complaint. It was found that the complainant was hand-in-glove with the leaders of rival political parties and therefore it is nothing but the assimilation of personal and political antipathies, more precisely, a politically oriented animosity, which makes the petitioner's prosecution malicious," the court noted in its order. Further, the court also mentioned about the complainant youth's father (through affidavit) telling the police about his son not being in a stable mental condition, being a habitual intoxicant, habitual of making fallacious allegations against highly-placed persons of the society and trying to blackmail Raghavji at the behest of the veteran leader's political rivals. For Raghavji, who is in his 80s now, the relief comes as too little too late for reviving his political career. However, it might help his daughter's poll prospects in the run-up to the Assembly elections scheduled this year-end. People associated with Raghavji told IANS that while the quashing of the FIR is unlikely to revive his political career, the development will certainly boost the electoral prospects of his daughter Jyoti Shah, who is said to be in the race for a BJP ticket from Vidisha district. Jyoti, who is seen as Raghavji's political heir, has already served as Vidisha Janpad panchayat chairperson and head of the Vidisha Nagar Palika. She is known to be popular among the BJP cadres in Vidisha district. Raghavji, who won the Vidisha Lok Sabha seat in 1977 and 1989, had emerged winner from Shamshabad and Vidisha Assembly seats in 2003 and 2008, respectively. Vidisha has long been seen as an impregnable saffron fort in Madhya Pradesh. The Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency (which comprises eight Assembly segments spread across four districts) has been a BJP stronghold since 1989. While ex-Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee won from there in 1991, former External Affairs Minister late Sushma Swaraj had won the seat in 2009 and 2014. It's also seen as the political 'karmabhoomi' of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who won the Vidisha Lok Sabha five times between 1991 and 2004, before becoming the CM in 2005. Raghavji, who won the seat in 1977 and 1989, opted out of the race in 1991 after Vajpayee decided to contest from Vidisha in 1991. However, after winning from both Lucknow and Vidisha, Vajpayee vacated the Vidisha seat. However, much to the surprise of Raghavji, first-time MLA from Budhni (Sehore), Shivraj Singh Chouhan, was fielded from Vidisha in the subsequent bypoll held in 1991. Not only did Chouhan win, but he went on to emerge victorious in four successive polls from the same seat. Raghavji, who won the Assembly elections from Vidisha in 2008, fell from grace following the 2013 unnatural sex case. In the 2018 Assembly elections, Congress managed to win from Vidisha, while the BJP won the remaining four Assembly seats in the central MP district. Kathmandu, June 20 : The Nepal government said on Tuesday that it has sought a report from its embassy in New Delhi about the murals depicted in the new Indian Parliament building. Nepal's Foreign Minister N.P. Saud said that the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi has been instructed to send a report about the murals (maps) depicted in the Indian Parliament building. In a meeting of the International Relations Committee of the Federal Parliament held on Tuesday, Saud said that the embassy has been instructed to send a report after inquiring with the Indian side about the murals. The issue has drawn a huge uproar in Kathmandu. However, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that during his visit to New Delhi, the Indian side clarified that it was a cultural map and not a political one. Saud also informed the Committee that the murals depicted in the newly constructed Indian Parliament building has a caption about the expansion of Emperor Ashoka's empire during his time. "The Committee is aware that the official opinion of the Government of India has come from the Foreign Minister that this issue is not a political issue," he said, adding that the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi has been instructed to discuss this matter with the Indian side and send a report. He said that the government's attention had been drawn toward the murals depicted in the Indian Parliament building, and added that the committee, members of the committee, and the government are all clear and firm on Nepal's international borders. "We have a national consensus on this issue," he said. Saud asserted that the government is fully committed to Nepal's sovereignty, national integrity, independence, and international borders and will not let anyone encroach upon even an inch of Nepal's land. Earlier, Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Balen Shah triggered a controversy by placing the Greater Nepal map at his office in retaliation to the Indian murals that "depicted some parts of Nepal such as Lumbini and Kapilvastu" as part of 'Akhand Bharat'. New Delhi, June 20 : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday announced that all opposition parties will discuss the ordinance imposed by the Central government in an upcoming meeting. The meeting is scheduled to take place in Bihar's Patna on June 23. "The primary agenda of the meeting will be the Centre's ordinance on Delhi. The opposition seeks clarity from the Congress regarding their stance on this matter," stated the AAP. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal emphasised that the ordinance not only applies to Delhi but also has the potential to be enforced in any full-fledged state in the country. Kejriwal highlighted that the Central government now possesses the authority to introduce similar ordinances on any subject within the concurrent list. Therefore, it is crucial for all opposition parties to unite and deliberate on this issue to ensure the protection of states' autonomy. "I hope that the Congress will clearly state its position, as the other political parties present in the meeting will inquire about it. The first topic to be discussed will be the Delhi ordinance. I will explain the risks of this ordinance to each and every party attending the meeting. I will bring the Constitution of India with me and demonstrate how this ordinance ridicules it," said Kejriwal. He added, "Just because it has been implemented in Delhi, which is often considered a 'half-state', doesn't mean it cannot be implemented in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and other states. By promulgating such ordinances, the Centre can undermine all matters falling within the concurrent list of the Constitution of India." Kolkata, June 20 : The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed the West Bengal government to file an affidavit within 10 days stating the reasons why several candidates were unable to file their nominations for the forthcoming panchayat polls despite a clear order from the court in this context. A singe-judge bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha directed the state government to inform the court about the number of arrests made by police in connection with the violence during the nomination-phase that concluded last week. Justice Mantha also directed the state government to attach CCTV footage of the areas where the violence occurred along with the affidavit. He cautioned all officers-in-charge of all police stations under trouble- prone Basirhat sub-division in North 24 Parganas district against inaction and directed them to necessary actions immediately on receipt of any complaint of violence on this count. He also observed that there had been several complaints of police inaction during the nomination phase. On Tuesday, a division bench of the Supreme Court had upheld an earlier order by a division bench of the Calcutta High Court directing central forces deployment throughout the state for the forthcoming polls for the three-tier panchayat system. Eight deaths relating to poll-related violence have been reported from different pockets in the state since panchayat poll dates were announced on June 8. The polls for the three-tier panchayat polls are scheduled on July 8 and the counting will be taken up on July 11. Chandigarh, June 20 : Punjab AAP MP Vikramjit Singh Sahney has sought an intervention of the Iraqi government to build a gurdwara at the site in Baghdad where Guru Nanak Dev "had visited and stayed over for three months on invitation of Sufi saint Sheikh Bahlol Dana". In an interaction with Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Hayan Abdulghani Abdulzahra Al-Sawad in New Delhi, Sahney also reiterated that the gurdwara would be built under the aegis of World Punjabi Organisation and he himself will make a significant contribution towards the cause. "This will encourage Sikh and Sindhi pilgrims who are followers of Guru Nanak Sahib to visit the holy place of Baghdad and shall augment tourism in Iraq," an official statement quoting Sahney said, who requested Indian Ambassador to Iraq and the Secretary (Gulf) with the Ministry of External Affairs to expedite the approval so that work on building the gurdwara can be stared at the earliest. Sahney, besides other initiatives towards the cause of Sikhism, has established a Sikh Multimedia Heritage Museum at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib and Sh Guru Teg Bahadur Holographic Auditorium at Gurdwara Rakabganjm bith in Delhi, where daily shows on Sikh history are held. Kolkata, June 20 : The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the tension at the temple of Matua spiritual leader late Binapani Devi a.k.a. 'Boro Ma' at Thakurnagar in Bangaon district. The single-judge bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the BJP MP from Bongaon, Santanu Thakur, accusing Trinamool Congress' national General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee and his associates of creating the tension on June 11. In the petition, Tkahur, who's also the Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, alleged that the district police, instead of taking action against the offenders, have filed cases against the disciples of the temple who were allegedly heckled by Trinamool supporters. The petition was filed on Monday and the matter came up for hearing on Tuesday. Justice Mantha, while directing the formation of an SIT to probe the matter, said that the SIT should be headed by an IPS officer in the rank of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP). Justice Mantha also directed the police to immediately collect CCTV footage from the temple. He further directed the immediate release of Matua disciples arrested in this connection. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled on July 18. To recall, after Abhishek Banerjee reached the temple on June 11, several people from the Matua community showed him black flags and raised slogans claiming that he will not be allowed to enter the temple. The situation turned even more serious after local MP Thakur, escorted by central armed forces personnel and his associates, reached the spot and locked the gate of the temple from inside. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. Kazakhstan accounts for 80 percent of the transit land shipments along the China-Europe route, Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said during his meeting with Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in an expanded format, Trend reports. The discussions focused on strengthening cooperation within the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR - Middle Corridor). President Tokayev emphasized the growing role of Kazakhstan as a significant regional hub, handling 80 percent of the transit land shipments along the China-Europe route. He highlighted the strategic importance of this transport and logistics corridor, which connects the markets of the East and West. It was noted that approximately 1.7 million tons of cargo were transported along this route, doubling the figures from 2021. The leaders also explored prospects for collaboration in agriculture and alternative energy sources within special economic zones and financial institutions. Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is currently on a visit to Kazakhstan at the invitation of the country's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. His visit will last until June 21. As part of his visit, Frank-Walter Steinmeier will participate in the opening of the Kazakhstan-Germany Engineering Institute and the launch ceremony of test drilling at the plant for the production of green hydrogen by the Svevind Swedish-German company. Patna, June 20 : Bihar Finance Minister and JD-U leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary on Tuesday clarified that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's health issues did not allow him to travel to Tamil Nadu after he cancelled his trip at the last moment. "Anyone can fall ill. Health of the Chief Minister is not good. Due to health problems, he had to cancel his Tamil Nadu trip. He has also talked to his counterpart in Tamil Nadu about the illness," Chaudhary said. On Tuesday, Nitish Kumar cancelled his Tamil Nadu trip at the last moment when Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav reached the airport and waited for Chief Minister for half an hour. At the last minute, Nitish Kumar sent his trusted leader of his kitchen cabinet Sanjay Kumar Jha along with Tejashwi Yadav to Chennai. Meanwhile, the BJP has sharply reacted to the last minute cancellation. BJP Bihar Spokesperson Arvind Kumar Singh said: "I don't know the actual health status of CM Nitish Kumar but the way he has cancelled the trip at the last minute, it looks like, CM MK Stalin may not be interested in participating in opposition party meet in Patna. Now, one leader is out of prime minister post race. The opposition unity will disarray till the Lok Sabha election." National General Secretary of BJP OBC Wing Nikhil Anand said: "Timing of CM Nitishji's sudden illness raises serious doubts. The Congress must have warned him on his political over adventurism in the name of opposition unity. That is why JDU's National President Lalan Singh has publicly warned party workers not to raise the slogan of Nitish becoming PM otherwise it will be a setback to opposition unity." "Nitish ji is well known for fake illness or busy schedule and on many occasions, whenever, he has to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji or our Home Minister Amit Shah ji in the meetings of national or state interest he makes the same excuses. This is one of the political styles of Nitish ji. No one can predict his next move. He can even surprise his friends. Despite his several U-turns and lost political credibility, he continues to be CM either by sitting on BJP shoulders or in the lap of RJD. More than his political rivals, his political friends must be worried about his unpredictable moves," Anand said. "Nitish Kumar is basically trapped between Congress, RJD and some other constituents of the so called grand alliance. The sheer political desperation and nervousness of CM Nitish ji is clearly visible from what he is saying and doing these days. How can a person sitting in the lap of RJD Supremo Lalu Prasad daydream of becoming PM. The opposition unity is simply an attempt to check the weight of so many frogs on a weighing scale," Anand said. New Delhi, June 20 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Tuesday that a "compromise settlement" with borrowers aims to enable multiple avenues to lenders to recover the money in default without much delay. The RBI made the remarks while issuing a set issued a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on Framework for Compromise Settlements and Technical Write-offs. "The primary regulatory objective is to enable multiple avenues for lenders to recover the money in default without much delay," the RBI noted. It further said that the provision enabling banks to enter into a compromise settlement in respect of borrowers categorised as fraud or wilful defaulter, is not a new regulatory instruction and has been the settled regulatory stance for more than 15 years. On June 8, the RBI has issued a circular on Framework for Compromise Settlements and Technical Write-offs. On dilution of penal measures, the central bank said it will remain unchanged what has been mentioned in the Master Directions on Frauds dated July 1, 2016, and the Master Circular on Wilful Defaulters dated July 1, 2015. These penal measures entail that no additional facilities should be granted by any bank to borrowers listed as wilful defaulters, and that such companies can get debarred from institutional finance for floating new ventures for a period of five years from the date of removal of their name from the list of wilful defaulters. Also borrowers classified as fraud are debarred from seeking bank finance for a period of five years from the date of full payment of the defrauded amount, the RBI added. New Delhi, 20 June : Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will join the Indian Navy personnel to perform yoga on board indigenously-built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant on the occasion of International Day of Yoga on Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Defence, the Indian Navy will stream an exclusive video on its outreach activities emphasising the theme 'Ocean Ring of Yoga', while naval units that are deployed in the Indian Ocean Region will visit various ports of friendly foreign countries to spread the message of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam', which is also the theme for International Day of Yoga. This is the ninth year since the UN recognised June 21 as the International Day of Yoga through a resolution in 2014. A ministry official said that the armed forces personnel, including Agniveers, will participate in the event embracing the spirit of unity and well-being. After the yoga session, the Defence Minister will address the gathering and felicitate the yoga instructors. Later on Wednesday, Rajnath Singh is scheduled to inaugurate the Integrated Simulator Complex (ISC) 'Dhruv' at the Southern Naval Command, Kochi. ISC 'Dhruv' hosts modern state-of-the-art indigenously built simulators, which will significantly enhance practical training in the Indian Navy. Admiral R. Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff, Kala Hari Kumar, President of Naval Welfare and Wellness Association, along with other senior officers will be present at the event on board INS Vikrant. Los Angeles, June 20 : Actor Misha Collins, who plays Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent in the superhero show 'Gotham Knights', has expressed disappointment over the cancellation of the series. Misha lamented not being able to further explore his "villain arc". The District Attorney was later poised to be Two-Face who is one of Batman's most iconic villains. However, in Gotham Knights, the character hadn't yet earned his disfigured visage, and while the district attorney was disturbed by the presence of an alternate persona, he hadn't yet begun to dive into the villainous nature of his alternate personality. For fans of the show, the cancellation comes at a moment when the series recently began exploring the Gotham DA's dual nature with the revelation of his alternative self as the show enters into the final episodes of its first season. Lamenting the cancellation of the show, the actor wrote a lengthy post on social media: "Just got back on the grid after unplugging for a week to hear the news that Gotham Knights was canceled by The CW and won't be able to find a new home. I'm incredibly bummed, and selfishly disappointed to not be able to fully explore my 'villain arc' but I'm proud of the show we made and so grateful to have been able to work with such a smart, caring, good group of people." He continued: "I'm especially proud that our story about fighting the good fight also gave us opportunities to tell diverse and inclusive stories. We need more of that on screen, and while this story may not be going forward, I really believe it helped open that door a little wider for more characters from all backgrounds to shine." "Thank you, #BatBrats, for your full-throated support. The show may be ending, but I know this community will keep the light shining against the darkness in the real world. Onward!" According to Deadline, 'Gotham Knights' was cut from The CW last week, joining a host of other series that were cancelled by the network. Only four existing CW dramas will make it to next season. 'Gotham Knights' has been a respectable ratings performer and, under different circumstances, could've made it to a second season but, with the business model of the CW changing under its new ownership, only a handful of highly rated (by CW standards) existing scripted series could make the cut." New Delhi, June 20 : The prolonged strife in Manipur has resulted in a distressing situation for numerous students from the state residing in the national capital. With the disruption of Internet services and restricted movement in the state, the Manipur students living in Delhi-NCR are facing difficulties in receiving financial support from their families back home. A significant number of students are now dependent on the assistance of relatives and friends to cover their rent, as well as their fees. This predicament becomes particularly burdensome for those enrolled in private colleges, where substantial fees are required and for rented accommodation. In order to meet their daily needs, some students are resorting to part-time jobs. Some who live in PGs and rented accommodation are now finding it hard to pay the rent. RK Yaiphaba, who graduated recently with a Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy) degree from Delhi University and is vice president of the Manipur Students Association of Delhi, told IANS that for the last 45 days it has been hard for all Manipur students living in Delhi. "We are just surviving and arranging money from our relatives and friends here to pay rent and for our daily needs, as we are unable to receive money from our homes. The situation is so grim that we are even ready to work as waiters, just for our daily bread," he said. Another student at a college in Delhi said that the government must take immediate action and use force if required to bring back normalcy in Manipur. "How will we survive? We call for peace," she said, adding that Manipur students here are helping each other in any way they can. "Some of us are planning to work in call centres, hotels and restaurants, whichever job we get. We need to pay our rent on time in PG or rented accommodation," said Bikram, a student at a university in Noida. "We have taken money from our friends here but they too have limitations. They are doing their best to support us in tough times," said Bikram. "We are bearing the brunt of the ongoing violence in Manipur, unable to return home and lacking the means to sustain ourselves here. The current predicament leaves us in a state of uncertainty regarding our next course of action. It is imperative for both the state and central governments to promptly intervene and take decisive measures to restore stability in the region," said M Konthoujam, a student in Delhi University. The Manipur High Court, in an interim order, directed the state authorities to provide limited Internet services to the public in some designated places under the control of the state authorities. The High Court's observation came on a Public Interest Litigation filed by different individuals. It will now hear the case again on June 23. As shortage of various essentials, transport fuel, cooking gas and life-saving drugs, disturbances in banking and online facilities are affecting the normal life of people in the strife-torn state, the Internet suspension for one-and-a-half months across the mountainous state has added to the miseries of the people. The impact can be also seen on students living in Delhi-NCR. Bengaluru, June 20 : Karnataka PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi on Tuesday levelled serious allegation against the central government for hacking the Gruha Laxmi Scheme App. Under the Gruha Laxmi scheme, the Congress government is planning to provide Rs 2,000 monthly allowance to all women heads. It is one of the five guarantees assured to voters by the Congress during the recently held election. Reacting to BJP's charge that the guarantee schemes are announced without preparation, Satish Jarkiholi said: "We had planned well. But our machine is being hacked by the central government in the same manner as Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are hacked. That is why the implementation of the Gruha Laxmi scheme is getting delayed. The app through which the applications are received is being hacked by the central government. In the coming days, we will get it fixed and guarantees will be given to the people," the minister said during a protest demonstration against the centre for not providing rice to the state. The minister said that when the scheme commences, there would be trial and error. "This is not a big issue. At the most, we will accept the applications by hand. Nothing can happen beyond this," he said. Reacting to Karnataka Minister's allegations, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mine and Coal Pralhad Joshi said that if the server of the state government is hacked, let them file a complaint with the cyber crime division and get it investigated. "The statements of Satish Jarkiholi are laughable. They are coming with excuses when it comes to implementation of guarantee schemes," he said. Meanwhile, the state government has started the process of receiving applications from the beneficiaries of the Gruha Laxmi scheme. However, the people are not able to file applications as the server is not supporting the load. New Delhi, June 20 : On the eve of International Yoga Day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accused the Central government of shutting down Yoga classes where 17,000 people used to practice Yoga. Kejriwal said on Tuesday that for him, Yoga Day would be the day when he would start free Yoga classes again for the people of Delhi. "Tomorrow is International Yoga Day. This day inspires us to do Yoga. "Two years ago the Delhi government started free Yoga classes for the people of Delhi. About 17,000 people started doing Yoga in these every day. Last year They got these Yoga classes stopped. Who benefits from this? Should public welfare programs like this be stopped? "Yoga day for me will be the day when I will again start free Yoga classes for Delhiites. "But if you have good intentions then God also supports you. They stopped us in Delhi, we started free Yoga classes in Punjab. I am glad it is getting overwhelming support from people in Punjab," Kejriwal tweeted. The International Day of Yoga has been celebrated across the world annually on June 21 since 2015, following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014. Pune, June 20 : At least a dozen inmates were hurt in a rioting that suddenly broke out on Monday in the historic Yerawada Central Jail (YCJ), official sources said here on Tuesday. The scuffle started over some minor unknown issue and soon erupted into a huge free-for-all involving more than a dozen inmates housed at the YCJ - one the most famed prisons in the country The jail security and other inmates together managed to bring the situation under control and peace seemed to have returned. After the fracas, more than a dozen inmates were injured, some reported minor hurt, a few others sustained trauma injuries, and they are under treatment. The YCJ authorities registered a complaint with the Yerawada Police Station nearby which has booked around 15 accused in the violence. Most of the inmates are hardened criminals convicted for various types of crimes and live together in the sprawling YCJ, which last shot to fame when Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt spent time there as a celeb-convict till his release in February 2016. Independent social activists claim that the jail capacity is around 2,500, but it currently is crammed with over 6,000 inmates and such incidents are common with fights breaking out even over trivial matters. Despite repeated attempts, the YCJ authorities were not available for comments in the matter. New Delhi, June 20 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged on Tuesday that the BJP is attempting to take control of Delhi through its ordinance. Kejriwal criticised the Central government for its ordinance, and the misuse of the recently set up National Capital Civil Services Authority (NCCSA). Kejriwal said the ordinance grants excessive power to bureaucrats, surpassing that of ministers, the Chief Minister, and the Cabinet. "One of the alarming consequences of this ordinance is that the final decision-making authority will now rest with department secretaries, rather than the elected representatives. "The secretary can overrule the minister's decision in every department. Furthermore, the Chief Secretary will be positioned above the Cabinet, giving him the authority to determine which decisions made by the Cabinet are correct," Kejriwal said. Kejriwal also alleged that in an apparent attempt to subvert the will of the people, two officers have been appointed above the Chief Minister to overturn the decisions in the NCCSA. "No proposal can be brought to the Cabinet without the consent of these officers. This move effectively places all decision-making power in the hands of the officers under the direct control of the Central government," Kejriwal alleged. Kejriwal also claimed that the NCCSA is a farce, since the decisions to be made under it are already determined by the Centre, which is 'cunningly' attempting to take control of Delhi through this body, despite facing defeat in the Assembly elections. "We first need to understand what the Centre is trying to do through this ordinance. After losing the Assembly elections for three consecutive times in Delhi, the BJP-led Central government is now attempting to take control of the city through this ordinance," he said. Kejriwal added that the provisions of the ordinance give the government officers the authority to override the decisions of the Cabinet. "The Central government has included several provisions in this ordinance, through which a Centre-appointed government officer reviews every decision made by the elected government of Delhi. "A government officer will now even vet the decisions of the Delhi Cabinet. Therefore, in each department of the government, the Centre-appointed officer, and not the minister, will be the highest authority," the Chief Minister said. Vijayawada, June 20 : The Andhra Pradesh government plans to introduce International Baccalaureate (IB) syllabus in the government schools of the state. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said on Tuesday that the day of introducing IB syllabus in government schools is not far. He was addressing students who topped school and intermediate exams at various levels for the academic year 2022-23 under the 'Jagananna Animuthyalu' toppers reward scheme. "We need to do more in the educational sector like changing the examination system and introducing the IB syllabus at the school level to ensure that our students attain number one positions in their respective fields and become perfect global leaders," he said. Stressing that all students should at least complete graduation, the Chief Minister said that reforms have reduced the drop-out rate and government schools have reached a stage wherein corporate schools are trying to compete with them. "Like your maternal uncle, I will do more for you with the blessings of God," Reddy said, assuring the students that the government will stand by them in pursuing their educational ambitions. Reddy also described the rankers as bright minds and shining stars who are the future of Andhra Pradesh. He said the government has introduced reforms in the educational sector aiming to turn the students into global products equipped with balanced and matured thought attaining the knowledge of emerging and future technologies such as artificial intelligence, data management, machine learning, Chat GPT and other subjects. "Our students should not be just followers of emerging technologies, they should become the technology leaders," he said, adding that quality education is required to achieve this goal. "The day is not far when our students will rule and command the world," Reddy said. Emphasising that students and parents should change in tune with the fast-changing educational system across the globe, the Chief Minister called upon them to aim at reaching higher echelons. He also asked the non-rankers not to get disappointed, but aim at big targets. "We have changed the face of education in government schools with more facilities through Nadu-Nedu, CBSE syllabus and English medium, bilingual textbooks with Byjus content, modern curriculum, subject teacher-concept from Class 3 and digital teaching from Class 6," he said, adding that training is being imparted to Class 3 students for TOEFL certification with the sole aim of making them attain the best communication skills. In order to prevent the poor families from falling into the debt-trap because of the children's educational pursuits, the government has been implementing programmes like Amma Vodi, Jagananna Vidya Kanuka, Vasathi Deevena and Videshi Vidya Deevena and these schemes have boosted the self-confidence of the students and their parents across the state, the Chief Minister said. A total 42 students who topped in Class 10 and 26 students who achieved group-wise ranks in Intermediate were awarded Animutyalu Awards, while 20 students who have shown excellence in higher education in five categories were felicitated with state excellence awards. In all, 22,710 students were felicitated with Jagananna Animutyalu Awards across the state. The awards consist of cash prizes of Rs 1 lakh, Rs 50,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 3,000 to first rankers in Class 10 at state, district, constituency and school level, respectively. The second rankers got Rs 75,000, Rs 30,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 2,000, respectively, while the third rankers got Rs 50,000, Rs 15,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 1,000. For the rankers in Intermediate courses, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 50,000 and Rs 15,000 was given away as cash prizes at state, district and constituency levels, respectively. Along with the cash awards, medals and certificates were also presented. On learning about the family problems of two students, the Chief Minister instructed the concerned officials to take necessary action. A Class 10 girl student told him that her mother has been suffering from lung cancer. The Chief Minister directed the officials to extend necessary medical treatment to the girl's mother. Another top ranker informed the Chief Minister that he had become a loner after his care-taker teacher was transferred to a different place. "After the death of my parents, the teacher had been taking care of me. Now that the teacher has been transferred, there is no one to look after me," the student said. The Chief Minister directed the concerned officials to take necessary steps to take care of him. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. The Ministry of Transport and Roads of Kyrgyzstan was granted 4.5 billion Kyrgyz som ($51.4 million) for road repairs and construction this year, Bektursun Dykanbaev, Head of the Preparation and Planning Department at the Ministry, said, Trend reports. Reportedly, a total of 249 kilometers of asphalt concrete surface will be laid. This includes 180 kilometers of rough-surface treatment and 87 kilometers of gravel coverage. The roadworks will be carried out throughout Kyrgyzstan, targeting public highways under the ministry's responsibility. As part of the capital investment project, the reconstruction of the BalykchyBokonbaevoBarskoon road is planned. Currently, 20 kilometers of asphalt have already been laid, with an additional 18 kilometers completed last year. Reconstruction work is also underway on the BalykchyCholpon-AtaKorumdu highway, where 5 kilometers of asphalt have already been laid. Moreover, the OshBatkenRazzakov highway is undergoing reconstruction from kilometer 28 to kilometer 75, with plans to reconstruct 13 kilometers on this stretch during the current year. New Delhi, June 20 : United Nations Secretary General AntAnio Guterres on the eve of International Day of Yoga said that benefits of this ancient practice (Yoga) are precious in today's dangerous and divided world. "In a dangerous and divided world, the benefits of this ancient practice (Yoga) are particularly precious. Yoga offers a heaven of calm," he said in a message on Tuesday, on the eve of the International Day of Yoga, which is observed on June 21 every year. He further added that, "On this International Day of Yoga, let us embrace the spirit of unity, and resolve to build a better, more harmonious world for people, planet and ourselves." Prime minister Narendra Modi is set to lead a yoga session at UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday during the course of his ongoing US visit. Chandigarh, June 20 : The Punjab Assembly on Tuesday passed the Punjab Police Amendment Bill, 2023, paving the way for the state to appoint a Director General of Police (DGP). With this amendment, the government has decided to put in place a parallel mechanism to circumvent the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) procedure. As per the procedure, with the vacancy of the DGP, the state will send the names to the UPSC which would in turn appoint a three-member panel to pick the candidate for the top job. The Bill was passed without any opposition in the House. The main opposition Congress had walked out earlier in the day and the BJP had boycotted the two-day special Assembly session. The Bill will become law only after the Governor's assent. The amendment states that the committee shall prepare a panel of three senior officers from the pool of eligible names based on the selection criteria, which would include length of service, work record and range of experience. "Selection will be made on merit from a pool of eligible officers as per zone of consideration," the Bill states, adding that the DGP appointed following the amendment will have a minimum tenure of three years. In case of vacancy for the post of DGP, the state government may give additional charge to any officer of an equivalent rank. "The provisions of this section (Section 6) shall prevail notwithstanding anything contained in any judgement, order or decree of any court," the Bill adds. Chennai, June 20 : Expelled AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, O. Panneerselvam, has called upon Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to immediately fill up the vacancies in the state transport corporation. In a statement issued on Tuesday, Panneerselvam said that there are 25,000 vacancies in the state transport corporation, which he urged the state government to fill in a transparent manner. He cited certain reports in the media that the Tamil Nadu government is recruiting retired drivers and conductors at a consolidated pay and charged that this is against the youth of Tamil Nadu. The former Chief Minister said that not filling up vacancies in the state transport corporation with youth is affecting the morale of the youth, as he called upon the government to immediately do the needful. Panneerselvam charged that there are reports of the DMK government filling up vacancies in various government departments with retired people or on contract basis, saying that this is preventing several thousands of unemployed youth from getting government jobs on a permanent basis. New Delhi, June 20 : A 72-year-old woman was stabbed to death by two unidentified youths in East Delhis Mandawali area on Tuesday, an official said. The deceased was identified as Sudha Gupta, a resident of Guru Nanak Pura in Laxmi Nagar area. Sharing the details, a senior police official said that two calls were received in the afternoon that one woman had been stabbed by two boys. "On reaching the spot under Railway Bridge, Mandawali, it was learnt that the woman had been rushed to Max hospital, however later she was referred to Metro hospital Preet Vihar. In the hospital it was revealed that Sudha was admitted with injuries on the left parietal organ 'head and shoulder'," said the official, adding that the victim succumbed to her injuries during treatment. Upon examination of the deceased's body, the police team noticed multiple pierce marks on the left shoulder, on the face, side of the chest, waist and back. "The police team immediately contacted the Max hospital doctors who also opined that there were multiple piercings by sharp objects. Accordingly, a case under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code is being registered," said the official. "Police teams have been formed to crack the case," the official added. Bhopal, June 20 : BJP leader and former Union Minister Uma Bharti hit out at the Congress on Tuesday for "criticising" the decision to felicitate 'Gita Press' Gorakhpur with Gandhi Peace award. The veteran BJP leader said that the Congress seems to have taken the path of Islam and Christianity without realising that communities like Christians and Muslims also have respect for the Gita Press. Bharti made the remarks in response to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh's tweet, in which he termed the decision to felicitate the Gita Press with the Gandhi Peace Prize a "travesty". "The Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 has been conferred on the Gita Press at Gorakhpur which is celebrating its centenary this year. There is a very fine biography from 2015 of this organisation by Akshaya Mukul in which he unearths the stormy relations it had with the Mahatma and the running battles it carried on with him on his political, religious & social agenda. The decision is really a travesty and is like awarding Savarkar and Godse," Ramesh said in a tweet on Monday. Bharti said that people like Jairam Ramesh who are sitting on big posts in the Congress "may not know that what is printed in the Gita Press, Gorakhpur". She further termed the the Congress leader's remark "highly shameful and condemnable". Kolkata, June 20 : The West Bengal State Election Commission (SEC) on Tuesday sent a requisition for just one company of central armed force for each district for the July 8 panchayat elections. The action on the part of the SEC came after the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the earlier order of the Calcutta High Court for deployment of central armed forces throughout the state for the rural civic body elections. The opposition parties have described the requisition of the SEC as eyewash following the top court's order. The opposition parties have pointed out that the number of central forces personnel sought by the SEC is too little to ensure security in the 61,636 polling booths for 63,229 panchayat seats, 9,730 panchayat samiti seats and 928 zilla parishad seats. Retired ADGP Nazrul Islam pointed out that in one company of central armed police force, there are only around 100 personnel, out of which around 75 are ground operation staff, while the remaining are supporting staff like radio operators, cooking assistants and cleaning assistants, among others. So in reality, only 75 personnel will man one district. During the panchayat polls in 2013, then State Election Commissioner Meera Pandey had insisted on the deployment of central forces, and on an average, 3,500 personnel were deployed in each district, which is a sharp contrast to SEC's requisition this time. The opposition parties termed the latest development as a gross insult to the order of the apex court, which directed for deployment of central forces to ensure free and fair polls. Bengal Congress President and Lok Sabha MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the SEC is acting as per the directions of the state government, and making a mockery of the entire election process. Hinting that he might approach the court on this count, Chowdhury said that whatever will happen now will take place in the court. CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya said that the move of seeking just one company for each district is proof that neither the state government nor the SEC is serious about ensuring free and fair elections. New Delhi: Congress leader from Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh with party leader Ajoy Kumar and other leaders of like-minded parties during a press conference, at party HQ in New Delhi, Tuesday, June 20, 2023. (Photo: Qamar Sibtain/IANS) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Congress leader from Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh with party leader Ajoy Kumar and other leaders of like-minded parties during a press conference, at party HQ in New Delhi, Tuesday, June 20, 2023. (Photo: Qamar Sibtain/IANS) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Congress leader from Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh with party leader Ajoy Kumar and other leaders of like-minded parties during a press conference, at party HQ in New Delhi, Tuesday, June 20, 2023. (Photo: Qamar Sibtain/IANS) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, June 20 : Leaders of ten opposition parties from violence hit Manipur, led by Congress, on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ignoring the people of the north eastern state and not meeting the opposition leaders before leaving for his US visit. The Congress criticised Prime Minister for meeting the film writer Manoj Muntashir, who wrote obscene dialogues for the movie Adipursh, but has no time to meet senior leaders of the country. Congress leader Ajoy Kumar claimed that the writer Muntashir met Modi without any appointment for 45 minutes while the leaders from the violence ridden state, including even those from the BJP, were not able to get audience with him (PM Modi). Addressing a joint press conference at the party headquarters, Congress leader Ajoy Kumar said: "Since June 10, several senior leaders of Manipur, including political leaders, civil society people are waiting here to meet Prime Minister Modi. Even Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, and the Assembly speaker are waiting for the appointment." He said that senior leader Ibobi Singh, who was the Manipur Chief Minister for 15 years and many other top leaders of Manipur are not able to meet PM whereas a script writer can meet Prime Minister without appointment. He said that a memorandum was also submitted by the delegation of 10 parties to the Prime Minister's Office. Kumar was joined by former Chief Minister of Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh, including the leaders of the opposition parties, Manipur PCC President Keisham Meghachandra Singh and others who said that they were disappointed as the Prime Minister had not spared even ten minutes for them before leaving for his US visit. Kumar said that the opposition leaders have been camping here for the last ten days in the hope of meeting the Prime Minister. "Not only these leaders, but the people of Manipur felt deeply disappointed that the Prime Minister had no time for them," he said. Meanwhile, former Chief Minister of Manipur Ibobi Singh said it was the failure of the Chief Minister Biren Singh as he had himself admitted that it was an intelligence and administrative failure. "As citizens of this country, we were waiting here to meet Modiji. We have not come here to beg something from the Prime Minister but what has happened in Manipur should be considered a national issue. Handling of violence in Manipur is a failure of double engine government," the former chief minister said. He said while the Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Manipur after 26 days and stayed there for three days, even that did not help in restoration of peace. Opposition's memorandum The memorandum submitted by the Opposition leaders highlighted that more than 150 people have died while over 1,000 people were injured. More than 5,000 houses have been burned down and more than 60,000 people are displaced. Hundreds of churches and temples have also been burnt down. The memorandum also alleged that it was the "BJP's politics of divide and rule" that had led to the present crisis. The memorandum referred to the demand of 10 MLAs, including two Ministers in the government, belonging to Kuki tribe, demanding a "Separate Administration" for Kukis. It warned against any move to divide the Manipur state. It said that stoic silence of Prime Minister over the ethnic violence which has claimed many lives and created havoc for thousands of citizens sends a clear message of indifference to the people of Manipur. It also held Chief Minister Biren Singh responsible for the violence and said that he was the architect of present ethnic violence because of his arbitrary actions. "Had he taken preventive and prompt actions, the ethnic clashes could have been averted." The signatories of the memorandum include leaders from the Congress, JDU, CPI, CPM-M, TMC, AAP, Forward Bloc, Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena and RSP. The Congress has been critiical of the Prime Minister's silence on the Manipur violence. The Congress on Tuesday also reminded the Prime Minister to follow 'Rajdharma' instead of indulging in "publicity to improve his image". New Delhi, June 20: The Dawoodi Bohra communities from across America are eagerly looking forward to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States starting Tuesday. The Dawoodi Bohras are Muslims hailing mainly from the Indian subcontinent. They also have large numbers in Pakistan, Yemen, East Africa, and the Middle East, as well as growing populations in Europe, North America, South East Asia, and Australia. The leader of the community, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, serves as the spiritual and temporal guide of the worldwide Dawoodi Bohras community and primarily resides in India. Prime Minister Modi has had a long association with the Dawoodi Bohra community, including during his time as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, saying that their affection keeps raining on him wherever he goes. Earlier this year, while inaugurating the new campus of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah (Saifee Academy) - the principal educational institute of the Dawoodi Bohra community - at Marol in Mumbai, PM Modi said that he was attending the event not as a Prime Minister but as a family member who has been associated with the community for four generations. "When I go somewhere not only in the country but also abroad, my Bohra brothers and sisters definitely come to meet me," the Prime Minister remarked as he highlighted the love and concern of the Bohra community for India. "The people of the Bohra community in foreign lands can act as brand ambassadors of shining India. The Dawoodi Bohra community will continue to play an important role in reaching the goal of a developed India," said PM Modi. With over 5,000 families, the Dawoodi Bohras are spread across the United States and, despite their relatively small numbers, have played an important role in their local societies. During his visit to the country in September 2019, PM Modi interacted with the members of the community in Houston, Texas. The community members felicitated the PM and spotlighted his association with 'Syedna Sahib' besides recalling the Prime Minister's visit to Indore's Saifee Mosque to attend Ashara Mubaraka - the commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain. Tweeting after the interaction, PM Modi said: "The Dawoodi Bohra community has distinguished itself across the world. In Houston, I had the opportunity to spend time with them and speak about a wide range of issues." Earlier today, children and adults from the Dawoodi Bohra communities in Houston and Collin County got together in welcoming Prime Minister of India. "The community is honoured to be part of this historic occasion, reflecting on their commitment to fostering harmony between their beloved home, the United States, and their cherished Indian roots," tweeted the Dawoodi Bohras of USA. The community members in California also put out a video to extend a warm welcome to PM Modi. "Many American Dawoodi Bohras have deep spiritual and familial ties with India and are proud to contribute to the strong bonds between the two nations," the members said. Earlier this month, TV Nagendra Prasad, the Consul General of India in San Francisco, visited Dawoodi Bohra centre in Fremont to celebrate the community's centuries-old rich Indian heritage. (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative New Delhi, June 20 : The Delhi High Court has granted bail to a man, accused of sexually assaulting a minor girl, with whom he was in a relationship, stating that there was a lack of medical evidence to support the offence of rape. The 24-year-old man had allegedly sexually assaulted the girl in two separate incidents in June and July 2021, when he was 22-year-old, whereas the girl was a teenager of 14-15 years. Although the consent of the minor is deemed irrelevant due to her age, the court acknowledged that she willingly met and accompanied the accused on both occasions without any physical threat or coercion. A bench of Justice Anup Jairam Bhambani said that there was no indication of violence, force, or threat in the girl's account and no medical evidence to substantiate the rape allegation. The high court considered several factors in granting bail such as all key witnesses had already given their testimonies during the trial, and the accused, now a 24-year-old young man, had no previous criminal record. Additionally, there was no evidence suggesting that he posed a flight risk or would intimidate witnesses or tamper with evidence. However, the accused was directed not to contact, threaten, or influence any prosecution witnesses and not to tamper with evidence. He was also prohibited from contacting or interacting with the prosecutrix or her family directly or indirectly and from visiting the area where the girl resides. The court noted that the fact that they had an on-going relationship, she had met and accompanied the accused to a hotel. Justice Bhambani said that while there may be a debate about the innocence of both parties, the age difference was not significant enough to categorise the alleged act as "vile." "This also does not foreclose the possibility that the two were in an innocent, though unholy, physical alliance, which deserves to be looked at with less severity," he said. Initially, the girl's mother reported an attempted assault but later retracted her statement, stating that no offence was committed against her daughter. For which, the court said that the contradictory narration of the mother cannot be ignored. Mumbai, June 20 : The Congress will set up a separate ministry at the Centre to tackle the problems of the backward classes, SC/ST and others when it comes to power, AICC General Secretary Mukul Wasnik said here on Tuesday. Addressing the executive meeting of Maharashtra Congress' SC Cell, Wasnik said that the BJP government is continuously reducing the welfare funds for OBCs, SC, ST, and other schemes for backward classes are not being implemented. "After the Congress comes to power at the Centre, we shall form a separate ministry specifically to address the problems of all the backward classes. We will also make budgetary provisions in proportion to the population of the backward classes for their welfare schemes," Wasnik declared. He warned that the biggest challenge facing the nation today is the BJP government, which does not even allow the Parliament to function properly. The Constitution was framed with the idea of taking together all the communities together, but in the past few years, the BJP regime has worked to disrespect the Constitution, he said. "If the Constitution has to be protected and democracy be saved, there is no other option except the Congress," said Wasnik, flanked by top state leaders, including Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole, Varsha Gaikwad, Siddharth Hattiambire, Suresh Shetty, Anis Ahmed, Devanand Pawar and others. Addressing the meeting, Patole said that post 2014, 'Hindutva-wadi' forces have raised their heads in the country and spoiled the atmosphere of amity in the lands of great icons like B.R. Ambedkar, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and others. "We are continually raising the problems of the masses with the BJP government, which is engaged in spoiling the peaceful atmosphere in the society. People should not fall prey to its conspiracies. The citizens have realised their mistake of 2014, which will not be repeated next year," Patole said. Gaikwad explained how the backward classes are being attacked in Maharashtra, but the state government of Shiv Sena-BJP is doing nothing to stop these atrocities. "We shall need a bigger struggle in the coming days, with the participation of all the people from different sections of the society, to defeat the forces which are attempting to create strife in the country," said Gaikwad. Hattiambire announced that the party will start a 'Dikshabhumi to Chaityabhumi Constitution Gaurav Yatra' soon to spread the message of defending the Constitution and safeguarding democracy. During the procession between Nagpur and Mumbai, the party will distribute 2,000 copies of the Constitution in all the districts enroute. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. French companies have been making a special contribution to the development of a number of sectors of Turkmenistan's economy for many years, Trend reports. This was stated by the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov during a meeting with the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Turkmenistan Philippe Merlin. Among the promising areas of cooperation, the parties named the sphere of information technology, oil and gas, chemical, food industry, etc. In this regard, they noted the important role of the intergovernmental Turkmen-French commission for economic cooperation. In turn, the French Ambassador assured that, for his part, he would contribute to the further strengthening of bilateral relations and continue the course of expanding constructive, mutually beneficial cooperation that meets the interests of the two countries and their peoples. Turkmenistan's Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and Philippe Merlin recently held a meeting during which they discussed the agenda of bilateral relations covering various spheres of interstate cooperation. New Delhi, June 20 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called the second meeting of the National Capital Civil Services Authority (NCCSA) on June 28 to discuss the transfer and posting of officers in the city. According to Chief Minister's office, Kejriwal received a proposal from the Services Department encompassing three distinct categories of requests. These categories include departments requesting the transfer of certain officers, posting of officers against vacant positions, and an officer's request for transfer/postings. Kejriwal's office also said that it has received complaints from numerous officers alleging that the Services Department is selectively and arbitrarily processing transfer and posting requests. Several officers have pointed out that their transfer requests have been pending with the Services department for a long time without any response. The Chief Minister has sent the file back, instructing the Chief Secretary, who is the Member-Secretary of the NCCSA, to compile and present all the requests falling under these three categories. Additionally, Kejriwal has directed that all requests received by the Services Department in the last six months, which were neither pending nor rejected, must be submitted to the Chief Minister's Office by June 21. The meeting is scheduled for June 28 at 11:00 a.m. and will be held at the Chief Minister's Camp Office, where discussions will take place regarding the transfer and posting of officials in the national capital. The Chief Minister's office has claimed that a few weeks ago, when the Chief Minister, who is also the Chairperson of the NCCSA, received a proposal for disciplinary proceedings against an officer, the Chief Secretary completely bypassed the Chief Minister and the NCCSA when Kejriwal raised a query on the proposal. "The Chief Secretary (CS) and the Lt Governor (LG) colluded to take action against the mandate of the NCCSA. In a blatant disregard of Section 45F(1) of the Centre's Ordinance and established constitutional practices, the Chief Secretary overruled the Chief Minster's directions for furnishing additional information and directly sent the file to the LG, bypassing the CM and the NCCSA. Then, acting on the CS's advice, the LG disregarded the authority of the CM and NCCSA and ordered the suspension of the officer," the Chief Minister's office alleged. New Delhi, June 20 : Customs officials on Tuesday said that they have arrested two ground staff members at IGI airport which resulted in the recovery of 4635 grams gold valued at Rs 2.42 crores. The official said that they were arrested based on the information provided by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Ludhiana Zonal Office. They said that the two ground staff members belonged to a private agencies working at IGI airport. "The recovered gold has been seized under section 110 of customs act. The said two ground staff have been placed under arrest in terms of section 104 of the Customs Act," said the official. The official said that both the accused were produced before a local court which remanded them to fourteen days judicial custody. The customs officials said that they were working to identify their aides. Further investigation into the matter is ongoing. IANS atk/dan Washington, June 20 : US President Joe Bidens son Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two minor charges related to tax evasion and admit to the facts of a gun charge, an agreement he has reached with the Department of Justice. Hunter Biden faces fines and probation under the deal, which must be approved by a court, and not jail term. The case was filed in 2018 under the Donald Trump administration and it had become a key weapon for the Republicans to attack the President and his administration. "The defendant has agreed to plead guilty to both counts of the tax information," the prosecutors wrote in two papers filed in the court on Tuesday called 'criminal information', which are typically filed in cases in which the defendants plead guilty. "The defendant has agreed to enter a Pretrial Diversion Agreement with respect to the firearm information," according to the second criminal information. Diversion does not technically amount to a guilty plea. It is used in cases involving defendants with substance abuse problems. Hunter has admitted to addiction to crack cocaine in his memoir "Beautiful Things". The gun charges stem from his own admissions in his memoir. "Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of failure to file tax payments when due," Chris Clark, one of Hunter Biden's lawyers, said in a written statement. He added: "A firearm charge, which will be subject to a Pretrial Diversion Agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the government. I know Hunter Biden believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward." While Joe Biden's defenders have argued that Hunter is a recovering addict and the charges are relatively light, Republicans have been targeting the younger Biden, also accusing him, without evidence, of making a fortune when the senior Biden was the Vice President. "People are going wild with the Hunter Biden scam with the Department of Justice," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. Trump is running for President again but is under indictments in two major cases - one related to paying an adult film star hush money to keep quiet about her allegations that the two had an affair in 2005, and the other to his mishandling of national defence papers. He could notch a few more for his role in the January 6 riots on the Capitol in 2021 and attempts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election in Georgia. Kolkata, June 20 : In view of the rising pressure of the growing number of cases in West Bengal, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) might soon increase its staff strength at the agency's Kolkata office. It is learnt that an assurance has come from the office of NIA Director General Dinkar Gupta about deploying more investigating officials in the agency's Kolkata office. Currently, there are only six investigating officials at the Kolkata office and the insiders feel that the ideal strength should be at least 20. Sources said the office of the Director General has acknowledged the requirement of increasing the staff strength in the Kolkata office for the purpose of speedy progression in the new cases as well for the follow-up of the old cases for which hearings are going on in the courts. Recently, the Calcutta High Court had entrusted the NIA with the task of probing the clashes that took place during Ram Navami processions in different parts of the state. On Monday, the NIA had approached the Calcutta High Court accusing West Bengal police of non-cooperation in handing over crucial documents in this particular case. The NIA is the third central investigating agency which has taken the initiative to increase its staff strength in Kolkata. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which are conducting parallel probes into multiple cases of financial irregularities in West Bengal, too have increased their staff strength at their Kolkata offices. Berlin, June 20 : The No.1 seed Aryna Sabalenka cruised into the second round of the German Open on Tuesday with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-2 victory over qualifier Vera Zvonareva. Current World No.2 needed just 66 minutes to defeat former World No.2 and 2010 Wimbledon finalist Zvonareva. Sabalenka extended her undefeated record against Zvonareva to 3-0 after their first grass-court meeting. The victory marked a Berlin breakthrough for Sabalenka, who had lost her opening match in each of her two previous appearances at the tournament. She cracked 27 winners, well outpacing Zvonareva's three. Sabalenka also converted three of her nine breakpoints in the match, while never facing a single breakpoint on her own service. In the second round, Sabalenka will face either last week's 's-Hertogenbosch runner-up Veronika Kudermetova or last season's WTA Newcomer of the Year Zheng Qinwen. In other action, reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina made a winning start on her return to grass, defeating qualifier Polina Kudermetova 6-4, 6-2 in the first round. This match was Rybakina's first since withdrawing from Roland Garros due to illness ahead of her third-round clash with Sara Sorribes Tormo. It was also her eighth straight grass-court win following last year's title run at Wimbledon. She will next take on Donna Vekic of Croatia on Wednesday. In the same quarter, lucky loser Elina Avanesyan saved two match points and upset No.8 seed Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7). Avanesyan was not even in the main draw until early on Tuesday. She replaced 30th-ranked Petra Martic, who withdrew from her scheduled match against Kasatkina due to a lower back injury. New Delhi, June 20 : A Delhi court on Tuesday sent two accused arrested for the murder of a Delhi University (DU) student to five-day police custody. After the police sought their remand to recover the murder weapon and to arrest the other accused persons, Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Anamika of the Patiala House Courts sent the accused duo to five-day police custody. Police produced both the accused -- Rahul and Haroon -- before the court and after hearing the submissions of the investigation officer (IO), the court said: "In view of the submissions of the IO and for the purpose of fair and proper investigation, five days' PC remand is allowed. Both the accused persons are sent to five-day police custody. They should be produced before the concerned court on June 25." While granting the remand, the court also perused the disclosure statement of the accused wherein they have submitted that they can aid in further investigation. "The offence alleged is serious in nature as it has been stated that the accused persons were involved in the murder of the victim/deceased and some of the co-accused are yet to be apprehended," the court observed. The court also directed the IO to get the accused persons medically examined, as per the rules. Nikhil Chauhan, a 19-year-old first-year student of political science in the School of Open Learning (SOL) at Delhi University, was stabbed to death by three individuals outside the Aryabhatta College on June 18. Accused Rahul (19) is a resident of Bindapur, while Haroon (19) is a resident of Janakpuri. Rahul is a BA first year student, while Haroon, a school dropout, is friend of Rahul. Surat, June 20 : As the world gears up to celebrate International Day of Yoga on Wednesday, Surat is set to make history with an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people for a yoga session. A team from the Guinness World Records has arrived in Surat to verify the record-breaking feat, with an estimated 1.25 lakh people expected to join the yoga session on Wednesday. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will also be present at the event. The vibrant city of Surat will be the focal point of the state-level celebrations to mark International Day of Yoga. The grand event will take place at Y Junction in Surat, where approximately 1.25 lakh individuals are expected to actively engage in the yoga session, demonstrating their commitment to health and well-being. The enthusiasm for the event is already apparent, with over one lakh people having registered for the event as of Monday morning. To accommodate the massive gathering, the event venue has been meticulously divided into 135 blocks, each block accommodating around 1,000 participants. Special arrangements have been made for school students, with separate blocks designated for their participation. Approximately 20,000 students from 42 private schools will be joining the event. The Y Junction BRTS route, where the event will take place, has undergone a transformation as green carpets have been laid to welcome the yoga enthusiasts. As a result, bus services will be temporarily suspended on this route on Wednesday, allowing for a dedicated space for the yoga session. In order to authenticate the record-breaking attempt, a team of eight to 10 representatives from the Guinness World Records is present in Surat. The administration has appointed 2,500 dedicated volunteers to assist the team in the meticulous counting process. Each participant will be provided with a belt by the Guinness representatives, and the counting will be conducted by scanning the barcode on the belt, leaving no room for discrepancies. Islamabad, June 20 : Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Asim Munir, has assured the Armys all-out support to complement the governments efforts to deal with the economic challenges facing the country, media reports said. The Army chief made these remarks during a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Tuesday, Geo News reported. The huddle unveiled an elaborate 'Economic Revival Plan' in the wake of economic hardships being confronted by the country, an official statement issued by the PM's Office said. Speaking on the occasion, General Munir assured the Army's all-out support to complement the government's efforts for economic revival, considered fundamental to the socio-economic prosperity of Pakistanis and for reclaiming the country's stature among the comity of nations, Geo News reported. Sharif recalled that his government inherited an economy which was on the brink of collapse. With bold and difficult decisions, it is now being steered towards growth and development, he said. "There are, however, massive challenges ahead. Export-oriented FDIs hold the key to economic revival. The government has, therefore, decided to adopt a holistic/whole-of-government approach which fosters partnerships within the federal and provincial governments for effective implementation and execution," the premier was quoted as saying at the meeting. The investors would be given primacy and fast-track approvals through a well-coordinated approach, he added. The premier also observed that the expected investments would create jobs and livelihoods for the youth and women. "The focus should be on empowering the youth and women to realise their full potentials," Sharif said, Geo News reported. Washington, June 20 : A bipartisan duo of US senators will introduce legislation this week proposing to add India to the NATO Plus group of American allies, disregarding opposition from New Delhi. Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat who chairs the India Caucus in the Senate, said on Tuesday that he and Senator John Cornyn, the Republican co-chair, will be introducing "both as a stand-alone bill and as an amendment to the (National) Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) and effort to upgrade India-US defence ties". "What we propose is adding India to the so-called NATO Plus arrangement where the United States is able to transfer with as little bureaucratic interference as possible defense equipment in a very strong way." This current relationship, he added, is restricted only to US' ties with NATO and with certain other key allies such as Israel, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. "Adding India to that category will strengthen our incredibly important defence ties, particularly as we both grapple with challenges" from China. The lawmakers intend the legislation to be a part of the celebration of Prime Minister Modi's visit, but India does not want to be added to that group. "That is not a template that applies to India," External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said at a recent news conference in response to a question about a recommendation by the US congressional body to expand NATO Plus to include India. Jaishankar not only expressed opposition to the idea, but also said the Joe Biden administration did not support it either. "So I must say, a lot of it is actually outside the administration. The administration understands this very, very well. So we have a situation where actually in many areas, the administration has been very forthright, very understanding, very cooperative." The Senator did not directly address Jaishankar's opposition to India's inclusion in the group, when asked specifically about the minister's remarks. Warner replied instead by stressing on the general need to improve defence ties with India and improve India's defence capabilities by making defence trade between the two countries easier. There was a need to improve defence ties, he said, as he had heard form Indian defence companies, and defence companies owned by Indian Americans and even Indian defence officials. Membership of the NATO Plus group will considerably shorten the approval procedures for the sale of US defence equipment, specially those subjected to export controls. Warner and Cornyn's legislation -- both stand-alone and as an amendment to the NDAA -- will need to pass both chambers of the US Congress before it becomes law. There is already some support for it in the other chamber, the House of Representatives, whose committee on China recommended adding India to NATO Plus earlier in June. This proposed legislation will not be the first. Earlier efforts failed because of opposition from some key lawmakers. Bhubaneswar, June 20 : Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday announced an assistance of Rs 2 crore for the development of Bahanaga village in Odisha's Balasore district, where around 290 people were killed on June 2 in an accident involving three trains. The minister, during his visit to Bahanaga, also thanked the locals for rescuing the victims of the train accident. Vaishnaw announced Rs 1 crore from his MP Local Area Development (LAD) fund and another Rs 1 crore from the Railways funds for the development of Bahanaga village and a hospital there. He appreciated the people of Bahanaga for the way they came out and worked in unison with the administration and the railways on the day of the accident. "I also had discussions with the people of the village about the development work that can be done here. Accordingly, Rs 2 crore has been sanctioned for the development of the village and the hospital," the minister told reporters. Speaking about the restoration work at the station, he said, "Almost work is finished, only signalling work is going on and it will be completed within the next four days." When asked about progress made in the ongoing probe into the massive accident, he said, "An independent investigation is going on." He said that the CBI and the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) are investigating the incident. He also announced that an advanced life saving ambulance will be given to the Balasore district hospital for the service of critical patients. The minister became emotional while remembering his earlier days in Balasore when he was serving as Collector of the district. "The local people use to call me Ashwini Bhai, not collector sir. During the 1999 super cyclone, Balasore showed the way on saving human lives. Now, on June 2 also, the Balsore people again set a model for the entire nation. People across India are praising the local people for the humanitarian approach they have shown on that evening," he said. Stating that he will always remain indebted to the Balasore people for their selfless services rendered during the train tragedy, the minister said, "I will never forget the help of the people and I will be available for any kind of support for the people of Balasore." Qabil Ashirov One day, no one would have thought that an artifact in Greek mythology of 700 BC could be repeated in the historical territory of Azerbaijan, Kapan region. It was like the calamity that descends on people when Pandora opened the box, being unaware of the curses, diseases and troubles inside. Thirty years ago, when furious Armenians armed with cold weapons expelled over 10,000 civilian Azerbaijanis from Kapan, it came into nobody's mind that, this was the foretoken of the bloody Karabakh war that would continue for dozens of years. Kapan, located in the valley of the Okhchuchay in the southeast of modern Armenia, between Nakhchivan and main-land Azerbaijan had been the homeland of Azerbaijanis living here for thousands of years before Armenians were placed in the region by the Russian Empire. Armenians were able to grab this historic Azerbaijani land, like Goyche, Irevan, and so on when they created modern Armenia. At the end of the last century, Armenian effrontery grew further and they eyed on another Azerbaijani territory - Karabakh. Fearing that Karabakh could be a precedent for Azerbaijanis in Kapan, i.e. Azerbaijanis could ask for self-determination in the region, first-up Armenians drove out innocent Azerbaijanis. Following the Kapan deportation, compactly-settled Armenian minorities in Karabakh made protests and demanded self-determination that evolved into a full-scale war. Unfortunately, the bloody Karabakh War overshadowed and lived down the Kapan deportation. However, after the de-occupation of Azerbaijani land in the 44-day war, Kapan was brought back to the agenda once again. Iran opened its Consulate General in Kapan despite the fact that there are no Iranian citizens living in the city. Russia followed Iran and announced that it intends to open Consulate General. Reading Armenian mass media, some could think that Iran and Russia are not the last countries to open Consulate General. Why this tiny and poor city is so important? What new 'diseases' will bring the Pandora's Box of Caucasus to the region? Commenting on the issue in an interview with Azernews, political analyst, Professor at Western Caspian University, and former diplomat Fikret Sadigov noted that the question is not whether Kapan is strategically important, but the matter is the proxy of the city to the border. It is not a big city. Kapan enables many to observe processes - the events taking place at the border, and receive operational information about the events. At the same time, it is known that if a state representative office is opened there, certain people will work there, as well. They are far from diplomacy, but close to intelligence their main goal and task are to collect information. That is, to analyze the situation at the border and to inform their home countries. I think Kapan is so important just because of this issue, Fikret Sadigov opined. Responding to the question of whether the purpose is to expand the spheres of activity of Iranian and Russian intelligence, the professor pointed out that economic and humanitarian issues will be promptly resolved at a closer diplomatic level and simultaneously, intelligence agencies will strengthen their activities. Each country has its own duties. There can also be general tasks here. If a certain country is watching military actions there, another state may be interested, for example, in the events taking place on the border, the [Azerbaijani] military potential, and so on. That is, these countries want to study the situation on the spot through those diplomatic missions, and this is their main goal, he said. The professor said states are more interested when they open consulates. He ensured that these countries also received the consent of Armenia. They would not have opened these consulates if Armenia had not agreed. That is, perhaps these countries that collect data also share it with Armenia. We can draw such a conclusion that both Armenia and the states that opened consulates are satisfied, he said. He added that other countries can follow Iran and Russia. As is known, Iran opened its consulate in Kapan, and Russia will open soon. I will not be surprised if France opens a consulate there too. Some French cities are twinned with Armenian cities. There are such facts, he concluded. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. Turkmenistan and the EU discussed issues of further development of cooperation both bilaterally and within the framework of the Central Asia-EU format, Trend reports. These issues were discussed between the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Myahri Byashimova and the delegation of the European Parliament, who arrived in Ashgabat on a visit. During the meeting, the Turkmen side stressed effective political and diplomatic cooperation between Turkmenistan and the EU in a wide range of areas. Special attention is paid to the regularly held meetings of the Turkmenistan-EU Joint Committee, the Inter-Parliamentary Dialogue, and the Dialogue on Human Rights. The sides noted the intensification of partnership within the framework of the Central Asia-European Union format, within which meetings at the level of foreign ministers, meetings within the framework of the High-level Dialogue on Politics and Security between the EU and Central Asian countries, economic forums are regularly held. In the context of the exchange of views on international and regional issues, the delegation of the European Parliament stressed the importance of Turkmenistan's international humanitarian initiatives aimed at ensuring peace and sustainable development, including the efforts of our country in the process of resolving the situation in Afghanistan. Agartala, June 20 : Tripura police on Tuesday registered an FIR against an assistant professor of Tripura Central University allegedly for molesting a female student. Sub-divisional police officer Asish Dasgupta confirmed that the assistant professor in the philosophy department has been accused of molesting a final-year student. The victim's mother lodged a complaint with the Amtali police station, on the outskirts of the Agartala, leading to probe into the case. Meanwhile, demanding action against the assistant professor, members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Tuesday staged a sit-in-demonstration in front of the chamber of Vice-Chancellor Ganga Prasad Prasain. The ABVP members demanded immediate suspension of the accused teacher until a thorough investigation into the case is completed. The Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students' Welfare, Somdev Banik, held a meeting with the protesting ABVP members and assured them that the matter will be dealt with promptly and according to the university's rules. The internal complaint committee of the university will also take appropriate action to ensure justice for the student. It was reported that during a viva test in the philosophy department on Monday, the female student reported the incident of molestation by the assistant professor. The victim was admitted to a hospital, as she became unconscious after the incident and her oxygen level had dropped. She was discharged on Tuesday. Washington, June 20 : More than 70 Democratic members of the US Congress on Tuesday urged President Joe Biden in a joint letter to raise "areas of concern" in his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Yashwant Raj Washington, June 20 (IANS) More than 70 Democratic members of the US Congress on Tuesday urged President Joe Biden in a joint letter to raise "areas of concern" in his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. President Biden and Prime Minister Modi are scheduled to hold a private meeting on Wednesday night, followed by further meetings. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host Prime Minister Modi at a state dinner later on Thursday. "As longtime supporters of a strong US-India relationship, we also believe that friends can and should discuss their differences in an honest and forthright way," the lawmakers said in the letter, adding, "That is why we respectfully request that -- in addition to the many areas of shared interests between India and the US -- you also raise directly with Prime Minister Modi the areas of concern." They added: "Credible reports reflect troubling signs in India toward the shrinking of political space, the rise of religious intolerance, the targeting of civil society organisations and journalists, and growing restrictions on press freedom and internet access." The joint letter was led by Pramila Jayapal, an Indian-American leader of the Progressive Caucus of the Democratic party in the House of Representatives, and Senator Chris Van Hollen, who went to school in India for a few years. They were joined among others by Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Richard Durbin; and Representatives Jerrold Nadler, Grace Meng, Elissa Slotkin, Seth Moulton, Linda Sanchez and Maxwell Frost. The lawmakers also cited US reports to underscore their concerns. "The State Department's 2022 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in India documents the tightening of political rights and expression. Similarly, the State Department's 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom in India details the worrisome increase in religious intolerance towards minorities and religiously motivated violence by both private and state actors." They further cited Reporters Without Borders to say that "India, a country that has been known in the past for its vibrant and independent press, has fallen significantly in the rankings for press freedom". They added, Access Now, which tracks curbs on internet access, rates India as first in terms of the most internet shutdowns for the fifth year in a row. The lawmakers welcomed Prime Minister Moi's visit and wrote, "We want a close and warm relationship between the people of the United States and the people of India. We want that friendship to be built not only on our many shared interests, but also on shared values." They also made clear, perhaps in view of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's recent visit to the US, "We do not endorse any particular Indian leader or political party - that is the decision of the people of India - but we do stand in support of the important principles that should be a core part of American foreign policy." The lawmakers urged Biden that "during your meeting with Prime Minister Modi, you discuss the full range of issues important to a successful, strong, and long-term relationship between two great countries". Guwahati, June 20 : The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday published the draft proposal for delimitation of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Assam. The commission has invited the suggestions and objections to the draft till July 11. The ECI team will also visit the state to discuss the draft delimitation with various stakeholders. "All Assembly and Parliamentary Constituencies in the state are to be delimited on the basis of the 2001 Census as provided in Article 170 and Article 82 of the Constitution. The census figures of 2001, as published by the Census Commissioner have thus alone been considered for this purpose," the ECI said. The number of seats in the Legislative Assembly and parliament constituencies has been retained as 126 and 14 respectively. In the draft proposal, 19 seats in the Assembly have been proposed to be allocated for Scheduled Tribes (STs) out of 126 seats, while two seats are proposed to be allocated for STs out of 14 parliamentary seats in the state. "Similarly, nine seats in the Legislative Assembly are proposed to be allocated for Scheduled Castes (SCs), while one seat is proposed to be allocated for Scheduled Castes in the Lok Sabha from Assam," the notification added. Meanwhile, the SC seats in the Assembly have been increased from eight to nine while the ST seats will increase to 19 from present 16 seats, according to the draft. The Bodoland districts will have three more seats in the next assembly election if the draft is accepted for the delimitation. A new parliamentary seat will be named as Kaziranga. Meanwhile, the Commission comprising of Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar along with Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel is slated to visit Assam in July for a public hearing on the draft proposal. Earlier in March, an ECI team visited Assam and received representations from 11 political parties and 71 organisations. New Delhi, June 20 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) confirmed with IANS on Tuesday that it has taken over the investigation into a series of attacks carried out by Khalistani elements on the Indian High Commission (IHC) in Canada and the United States. "The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) asked us to probe the matter, following which we took over the investigation from the Special Cell of Delhi Police," an NIA official confirmed with IANS, on condition of anonymity. Earlier, the Special Cell of Delhi Police had registered two FIRs under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) regarding the March 2023 assaults in Canada and San Francisco. After careful examination of the case, the MHA decided to transfer the investigation to the NIA, considering its expertise in dealing with cases involving terrorism and transnational elements. Recently, there were instances of pro-Khalistan supporters in the United States issuing threats towards the Indian Embassy and the Indian Ambassador to the US, Tranjit Singh Sandhu, during their protests. During a recent rally, one of the protesters delivered a speech that included a direct threat towards Sandhu. In March, Khalistan supporters had organised a protest outside the Indian Embassy in Canada. During the demonstration, they raised pro-Khalistan slogans and reportedly engaged in acts of aggression towards Indian-origin journalists present at the scene. New Delhi, June 20 : Sam D'Souza, the alleged accused involved in connection with the extortion demand of Rs 25 crore in the Aryan Khan drug case, involving former NCB Mumbai zone Director, Sameer Wankhede, left the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) headquarters after being questioned for nine hours. The CBI sources said that he has been asked to join the probe again on Wednesday. The case is filed against Wankhede and four others. D'Souza was summoned thrice in the case and he reportedly skipped the first two summons. On Tuesday, he arrived at the CBI headquarters in Delhi with his lawyers to join the probe. "Sam D'Souza arrived with his lawyers. The CBI had issued a notice today at 10:30 a.m. summoning him for questioning at the CBI headquarters in Delhi," said a source. "D'Souza made a deal between Shah Rukh Khan's manager and K.P. Gosavi (a witness). D'Souza had said to Khan that he would help him in the case," the source added. D'Souza had approached the Bombay High Court seeking anticipatory bail, but his plea was dismissed by the court. It was Prabhakar Sail, the witness in the case, who had made the shocking revelations that D'Souza and Gosavi were planning to extort Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan for the release of his son Aryan Khan. Later, Sail died under mysterious circumstances. "On October 2, 2021, Aryan Khan was brought to NCB's Mumbai Zone office where D'Souza and K.P. Gosavi were also present, as per Sail. He (Sail) had heard their conversation about the deal of Rs 25 crore," said the source. Previously, Wankhede was questioned by the CBI in Mumbai. Wankhede too has approached the Bombay High Court, which granted him protection from arrest till June 23. The accessed FIR reveals shocking revelations. "Sameer Wankhede is accused of engaging in the buying and selling of expensive watches without disclosing this information. He also allegedly concealed details of his expenses during his foreign trips," said the CBI source, quoting the FIR. The CBI has mentioned that while some individuals were caught on the Cordelia cruise ship, Aryan Khan was arrested. It also mentioned that Gosavi, who appeared as an NCB official, was responsible for Aryan Khan's arrest. He was presented in such a way that he seemed like an officer of the NCB. Later, a demand of Rs 25 crore was made for a settlement, which was eventually negotiated down to Rs 8 crore. Initially, Rs 50 lakh was taken, but later some of the money was returned due to the case getting stuck. The NCB arrested Aryan Khan on October 3, 2021. Later, the Bombay High Court granted him bail on October 28, 2021. Aryan Khan spent 25 days in jail. On May 27, 2022, the NCB filed a charge sheet in the drug-seize matter, giving a clean chit to Aryan Khan. The agency had said that there was not enough evidence against Aryan Khan. The charge sheet was filed against 14 persons by the NCB. Later, as per the SIT report, which was initiated into the matter, the CBI lodged an FIR against Wankhede, D'Souza, and others. New Delhi, June 21 : One more suspect has been apprehended in connection with the murder of a 19-year-old Delhi University student three days ago, a police official said. The suspect was identified as Talib, who is a student of DU's School of Open Learning. The official on Tuesday said that the suspect was apprehended after several raids in the national capital. However, the suspect has claimed that he was not involved in stabbing Talib. Earlier on Tuesday, the Delhi court sent two accused arrested for the murder of a Delhi University student to five-day police custody. After the police sought their remand to recover the murder weapon and to arrest the other accused persons, Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Anamika of the Patiala House Courts sent the accused duo to five-day police custody. Police produced both the accused -- Rahul and Haroon -- before the court and after hearing the submissions of the Investigation Officer (IO), the court said: "In view of the submissions of the IO and for the purpose of fair and proper investigation, five days' police custodial remand is allowed. Both the accused persons are sent to five-day police custody. They should be produced before the concerned court on June 25." While granting the remand, the court also perused the disclosure statement of the accused wherein they have submitted that they can aid in further investigation. "The offence alleged is serious in nature as it has been stated that the accused persons were involved in the murder of the victim/deceased and some of the co-accused are yet to be apprehended," the court observed. The court also directed the IO to get the accused persons medically examined, as per the rules. Nikhil Chauhan, a 19-year-old first-year student of political science in the School of Open Learning at Delhi University, was stabbed to death by three individuals outside the Aryabhatta College on June 18. Accused Rahul (19) is a resident of Bindapur, while Haroon (19) is a resident of Janakpuri. Rahul is a B.A. first-year student, while Haroon, a school dropout, is a friend of Rahul. Empress is so excited to be competing with the best of the best at Nationals. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / PRURGENT Congratulations to Empress on being accepted to SPiN (Society Performers in Nationals) July 2023 in Los Angeles, CA. Empress is 8 years old hails from Southern California, and started with Society Performers in April 2023. She has since trained, showcased, attended workshops, and continues to work hard... and it shows! Well done Empress. Keep it up. GOOD LUCK IN HOLLYWOOD! Tatiana Delogramatic, Esq. We are very excited to welcome Tatiana aboard. Tatiana brings a wealth of skills and experience to our firm, to the benefit of all of our clients. We are thrilled to have her on the team! Structure Law Group, LLP, a leading full-service business law firm with offices in San Jose, Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas, is pleased to announce the addition of Tatiana Delogramatic as its newest business litigation attorney in the San Jose office. Ms. Delogramatic brings a wealth of knowledge and a track record of success to further strengthen the firm's ability to serve clients' diverse legal needs. We are very excited to welcome Tatiana aboard. Tatiana brings a wealth of skills and experience to our firm, to the benefit of all of our clients. We are thrilled to have her on the team! said Attorney Ethan Solove. Ms. Delogramatic brings extensive experience in handling complex civil litigation matters, including business disputes, commercial disputes, real estate issues, breach of contract cases, employment litigations, intellectual property infringement, and malpractice disputes. Her practice encompasses all stages of litigation, including trials, arbitrations, and mediations. I am honored to be a member of the distinguished team at Structure Law Group and to contribute to their unwavering commitment to justice. said Ms. Delogramatic. Prior to joining Structure Law Group, LLP, Ms. Delogramatic served as an attorney at a prominent law firm in Palo Alto. Additionally, she worked at GOOGLE LLC in the Legal Investigation Support Department, where she managed criminal investigation inquiries from government enforcement agencies. Her responsibilities also encompassed ensuring compliance with data privacy discovery requirements, facilitating opposing parties' access to relevant materials. Ms. Delogramatic's legal career extends beyond the United States, with experience practicing law in Europe. During this time, she gained valuable litigation experience representing both corporate and individual clients in diverse legal matters. Her multifaceted background significantly influences her approach, enabling her to achieve successful client outcomes. In addition to her extensive legal knowledge, Ms. Delogramatic is fluent in Russian and Romanian, with competency in Spanish and French. Her linguistic abilities contribute to effective communication and the ability to serve a diverse clientele. Ms. Delogramatic can be reached at tdelogramatic@structurelaw.com or (408) 441-7500. About Structure Law Group, LLP: Structure Law Group, LLP is a renowned business law firm with a global client base. Our dedicated team of legal professionals is committed to delivering top-notch legal services and ensuring an exceptional client experience. With strategically located offices in Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas, we are well-equipped to cater to companies of all sizes and industries. Our mission is to go above and beyond expectations, offering innovative strategies and cost-effective solutions. Our comprehensive services encompass start-up and financing, business litigation, mergers and acquisitions, employment law, intellectual property, debtor and creditor rights, and commercial real estate. At Structure Law Group, LLP, we are devoted to assisting our clients in achieving success by providing them with superior legal services and invaluable advice. Practice Areas Include: Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Business Transactions Business Litigation Construction Contracting & Payment Claims Corporations Debtor & Creditor Rights E-Commerce Employment Immigration EB-5 Fraud Litigation Limited Liability Companies Mergers & Acquisitions Partnerships Real Estate Start-ups & Financing Technology Licensing & Protection of Intellectual Property OUR LOCATIONS: Austin, Texas Office: 7600 Burnet Road Suite 515 Austin, TX 78757 Phone: (512) 881-7500 Los Angeles Office: 1801 Century Park E #475 Los Angeles, CA 90067 Phone: (310) 818-7500 Silicon Valley Office: 1754 Technology Drive Suite 135 San Jose, CA 95110 Phone: (408) 441-7500 For more information about the legal services offered at Structure Law Group, LLP, please call (408) 441-7500 or visit http://www.structurelaw.com. For more information about business law careers at Structure Law Group, LLP, please visit https://www.structurelaw.com/careers. In a bold and exciting move, Son of James Cosmetics, an emerging cosmetics company with a focus on uplifting artists, announces the launch of "Our Beauty Voice." This competition is a revolutionary platform aimed at discovering and uplifting the next big talent in the beauty influencer industry. Recognizing the challenges of breaking into the highly competitive beauty industry, Son of James's founder, Jameson Gardner, a celebrated makeup artist, hair stylist, and salon owner, wants to pay it forward. The competition is his brainchild and a testament to his commitment to enabling emerging talent to achieve their goals. Ive been in the beauty biz a long time. Ive seen all the tricks and changes, but one thing always remains the same: beauty pros are always cultural trailblazers and big dreamers! said Jameson Gardner, founder of Son of James Cosmetics. I want to help make their dreams come true, and I believe that this fun summer competition will do just that! Each weekly challenge winner will have their posts digitally boosted- bringing more followers, more exposure, and more money! Reflecting the ethos of Son of James, the competition celebrates diversity and the unique beauty in everyone. Residents of the United States aged 18 and above, with less than 50,000 followers, are invited to partake in this life-changing opportunity. Registration is open from June 16th to July 16th. The competition lasts for two months after registration closes- so the earlier you register, the sooner you can start and begin to boost your rankings. Upon signing up, participants will purchase a kit that includes the company's new Haute Sauce Filler Gloss, their custom affiliate code, and entry into the exclusive influencer lounge. This digital meeting space facilitates weekly challenges, tips sharing, and networking among participants. In addition to the thrill of the competition, participants earn a commission for each tube of Haute Sauce Filler Gloss sold under their affiliate code. The earned commission is paid out at the end of September- so even if you don't grab first place, you still earn money and gain followers. The winner is chosen based on their participation in challenges and products sold with their affiliate code. The Beauty Voice winner will gain the prestigious title of Son of James's brand ambassador and be treated to a week of fun and professional photoshoots in Tampa, Florida. The winner will also benefit from exclusive access to all future product launches and enjoy further commission benefits. To sign up for this game-changing opportunity, visit the Son of James Cosmetics Website. About Son of James Cosmetics Son of James Cosmetics is a trailblazer in the cosmetics industry, dedicated to innovation, diversity, and empowering emerging talent. With a focus on high-quality beauty products and a commitment to inclusivity, Son of James continues to redefine beauty standards. Media Contact: Jameson Gardner Son of James Cosmetics jameson@sojcosmetics.com tel: 352.754.0147 Gil Karson "I wrote Freedom Guaranteed with Alan Nathanson as a way of thanking the men and women who have given their lives so that we can enjoy our freedom. Im not trying to be evangelical about it or change hearts and minds. Im just incredibly thankful to all who serve and have served." - Gil Karson Fast-rising Americana rock band Gil Karson and the Karson City Rebels announce the release of their debut single, Freedom Guaranteed, on Enchanted Land Records Enchanted Land Records (distributed by Hitskope Music Group under their agreement with Sony Orchard). The rousing and anthemic track, which seamlessly blends country-rock and blues, is a heartfelt musical salute to all members of the U.S. military, and its sure to evoke feelings of pride and patriotism. Listen to Freedom Guaranteed HERE. Watch the video HERE. Says band leader and frontman Gil Karson, I wrote Freedom Guaranteed with Alan Nathanson as a way of thanking the men and women who have given their lives so that we can enjoy our freedom. Im not trying to be evangelical about it or change hearts and minds. Im just incredibly thankful to all who serve and have served. If Im not free, then I cant pursue my life the way I want. I cant go out and play the music I love. Over a sweeping arrangement that elegantly weaves lush acoustic and electric guitars, uplifting organ swells and tasteful splashes of pedal steel, Karson sings, they gave their lives so you and I could live free/ men and women who served our country/ from the birth of our nation until today/ they stood up proud for the U.S.A./ theyve always been there in our time of need/ to keep our freedom freedom guaranteed. Karson produced the song at Sal Rodriguezs studio in Los Angeles (Rodriguez is the drummer for the band War). The track was mixed and mastered by Grammy winner Gerhard Joost (Sangeeta, Stevie Wonder, Missy Elliot, among others) at Studio Hill Austin. Both Sal and Gerhard are old friends, says Karson. I worked with them on various projects years ago, and it was a pleasure to reconnect with them on this project. Theyre both incredible at everything they do. The inspirational video for Freedom Guaranteed mixes live footage of Gil Karson and the Karson City Rebels with poignant scenes honoring the U.S. military. Karson, who directed the clip, is no stranger to cinematic storytelling he spent years as one of Hollywoods top editors. His music has been featured in a number of films, among them Angel Town (for which he wrote 10 songs including the title track; he also appeared in the movie with his band) and Lionheart. I come from a show business family, Karson says. My brother is a DGA director, and my father worked in radio before he moved into TV with shows like Wagon Train, My Favorite Martin and others. Whether its through music or images or both telling stories has always fascinated me. Karson has also enjoyed several chart hits as a writer (most notably the 1977 disco smash Le Spank by Le Pamplemousse) and has had portions of his music sampled by superstar acts such as Eminem and the Black Eyed Peas. As a performer, the California native appeared on bills that included iconic bands such as the Byrds, the Jefferson Airplane, Steppenwolf and the Rascals. Karson got started in music early, drawing inspiration from classic rock, country and blues artists. It spans a pretty wide range of artists, he says. The Eagles, Chuck Berry, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings are some of my major influences. After making a name for himself performing throughout the Southwest, Karson took a break from music to focus on raising a family while working in the film business. But the call of music beckoned. As he explains, I started performing again kind of innocently, doing acoustic gigs and open-mic nights. It felt good and I realized that I wanted to rock out, so I put this new band together. In addition to Karson on bass and lead vocals, the Karson City Rebels consists of drummer Lionel Barton, Jon Greathouse on keyboards and vocals, guitarists Kyle Appleton and Chris Brooks, and multi-instrumentalist Jon Adams. Its such a fantastic band, Karson enthuses. The guys are all superb players, and we have a great time whenever were on stage together. Karson and his band are currently finishing an upcoming album, which will include Freedom Guaranteed along with tracks such as Runaway Train and Lets Party. We have some more tunes that are inspirational in nature, but others focus on personal relationships, he says. And, of course, we like to have fun, so theres Lets Party, which says it all. I want to provide listeners with a chance to suspend reality and have fun. You can be serious, but you can also shake it off and feel energized. When you come to our show or listen to the record were finishing, youll get the complete experience. For more information, please visit: https://gilkarson.com/home BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are interested in establishing close cooperation between the enterprises of the two countries in the implementation of joint projects, Trend reports. According to the official source of Uzbekistan, this opinion was voiced during a meeting of representatives of the Uzcharmsanoat association with a delegation headed by Deputy Chairman of the Industrial Development Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan Olzhas Saparbekov. It was attended by associations and entrepreneurs of the two countries working in the leather and footwear sector, and the agenda included the issue of further development of bilateral cooperation and the implementation of joint projects. Saparbekov noted that Uzbekistan is considered a country with authority in the leather and shoe industry not only in the Central Asian region, but also in the CIS and in the international arena, and also added that about 50 percent of the Kazakh leather and shoe market is occupied by products manufactured in Uzbekistan At the same time, the parties discussed the issue of increasing exports of finished leather, shoes, and fur products of Uzbek production to Kazakhstan. Furthermore, the prospects for further cooperation and the organization of business missions of enterprises of the two countries to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were discussed in detail. This designation recognizes our AWS expertise and experience in helping companies successfully build modern data architectures with AWS services by developing new data pipelines or migrating legacy ETL to AWS Glue. Bitwise, a technology consulting and services company, announces achievement of the Amazon Web Service (AWS) Service Delivery designation for AWS Glue, recognizing that Bitwise follows best practices and has proven success delivering AWS services to end customers. Achieving the AWS Service Delivery designation differentiates Bitwise as an AWS Partner Network (APN) member that provides specialized demonstrated technical proficiency and proven customer success in delivering AWS Glue. To receive the designation, APN Partners must possess deep AWS experience and deliver solutions seamlessly on AWS. Bitwise is proud to receive the AWS Service Delivery designation for AWS Glue, said Ankur Gupta, Bitwise Inc. CEO. This designation recognizes our AWS expertise and experience in helping companies successfully build modern data architectures with AWS services by developing new data pipelines or migrating legacy ETL to AWS Glue. AWS enables scalable, flexible, and cost-effective solutions from startups to global enterprises. To support the seamless integration and deployment of these solutions, AWS established the AWS Service Delivery Program to help customers identify APN Partners with deep experience delivering specific AWS services. With its Data Modernization practice, Bitwise uses the right combination of proprietary automation tools and migration experience to accelerate conversion of any ETL such as Informatica, DataStage, SSIS or Ab Initio to AWS Glue for programmatical data processing in PySpark or to AWS Glue Studio for easy to use drag-and-drop interface, solving the trickiest part of modernization for customers and providing an optimal data architecture on AWS. To underscore the value that Bitwise delivers, one customer expressed thoughts on the Bitwise teams hard work and commitment to their initiative to migrate on-premises ETL to AWS Glue by saying It gives us great satisfaction to have a team that is both enthusiastic and devoted, and their contributions were essential to the project's accomplishment. Learn how Risk-Free ETL Migration to AWS Glue can help data leaders accelerate data modernization to better meet the demands of AI and advanced analytics that modern business users expect. About Bitwise Bitwise provides advanced technology solutions that leverage data to enable business insights. By deploying our breakthrough technology innovations, we help our global clients maximize their competitive advantage. We are the industry's most experienced and dedicated team of data professionals, focusing on Data Warehousing, Business Intelligence, Analytics, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Test Engineering, and Web/Mobile Application Development. We optimize value for our clients through our global delivery model and with our proprietary technology tools that reduce the time, complexity, and cost of data initiatives. Together, our people and technology provide the insights clients need to continue to lead their fields. Bitwise, founded in 1996, has offices in Chicago, London, Pune and Indore. For more information, visit Bitwise at https://www.bitwiseglobal.com/en-us/. Our goal is to continue delivering world-class technology and services to legal teams worldwide, and this new office will play a key role in the innovation of our advanced software solutions. Nextpoint, a Chicago-based leader in cloud-based ediscovery and litigation management software, has announced the opening of its new office in Bangalore, India. The move comes as part of the company's efforts to expand its global presence and bolster its software development capabilities, as most of the industry is experiencing layoffs. The Bangalore office will significantly increase Nextpoint's engineering and development resources, enabling the company to focus on developing new products and features for its suite of legal software. "We are thrilled to open our new office in Bangalore and expand our global footprint," said Rakesh Madhava, CEO and Founder of Nextpoint. "As a second-generation Indian American, this has been years in the making, and I'm excited to bring Nextpoint to India. Our goal is to continue delivering world-class technology and services to legal teams worldwide, and this new office will play a key role in the innovation of our advanced software solutions." The Bangalore office is expected to create job opportunities for software developers, engineers, and AWS Cloud engineers. The office will be led by our VP of Engineering, Sirisha Surisetty, who oversees the existing software development team in the U.S. I have loved building our software development team at Nextpoint, and I'm excited to expand my leadership role to this talented team in India, where I began my career as a software engineer," Surisetty said. "As a first-generation Indian woman working in tech, I've seen the obstacles many face in this field, and I am thrilled at the chance to mentor and foster the growth of a new team of skilled developers." Nextpoint leadership traveled to India in April to take part in the official launch of the Bangalore office and meet its inaugural cohort of engineers. The new team members shared that they love the company culture so far and are excited to work in a fast-paced tech environment. We get a lot of support and energy from leaders like Sirisha to move forward and keep pushing, said Gowthamvel Palanivel, one of the first engineers to join the Bangalore team. Nextpoint's expansion into India is part of the company's broader growth strategy, which includes expanding its product suite and increasing its market share in the legal technology industry. With the new office in Bangalore, Nextpoint is well-positioned to advance its software offerings and continue providing innovative solutions to legal teams worldwide. For more information about Nextpoint and their suite of legal technology and services, visit nextpoint.com. ABOUT NEXTPOINT Nextpoint delivers transformative software & services for all law-kind. Our award-winning team is 100% focused on making it simple, fluid, and human for law firms of all sizes to win the day, with streamlined eDiscovery workflows, simplified case management, and best-in-class security at every point. Founded in Chicago in 2001, Nextpoint continues to push the industry forward with unlimited data, world-class innovation, and expert services. Learn more about Nextpoint and their suite of trusted services at nextpoint.com. ScaleOut Software today announced that its product suite now includes Google Cloud support. Applications running in Google Cloud can take advantage of ScaleOuts industry leading distributed cache and in-memory computing platform to scale their performance and run fast, data-parallel analysis on dynamic business data. The ScaleOut Product Suite is a comprehensive collection of production-proven software products, including In-Memory Database, StateServer, GeoServer, Digital Twin Streaming Service, StreamServer and more. This integration complements ScaleOuts existing Amazon EC2 and Microsoft Azure Cloud support to provide comprehensive multi-cloud capabilities. We are excited to add Google Cloud Platform support for hosting the ScaleOut Product Suite, said Dr. William Bain, CEO of ScaleOut Software. This support further broadens the public cloud options available to our customers for hosting our industry-leading distributed cache and in-memory analytics. Googles impressive performance enables our distributed cache to deliver the full benefits of automatic throughput scaling to applications. Key benefits of ScaleOuts support for the Google Cloud Platform include: Simplified Deployment and Management: Users can take advantage of the ScaleOut Management Console to deploy a distributed cache to Google Cloud using a step-by-step wizard and track its status. Automatic Clustering: Distributed caches comprising one or more virtual servers automatically create a single compute cluster to serve client requests with both scalability and high availability. Automatic Client Connectivity: Client applications running either within Google Cloud or from remote sites can automatically connect to all caching servers within a cluster just by specifying the clusters name. Elastic Performance: Using the management console, users can add or remove virtual servers from a distributed cache to meet the needs of application workloads. In addition, users can implement auto-scaling policies based on performance measures, such as memory usage. Distributed caches, such as the ScaleOut Product Suite, allow applications to store fast-changing data, such as e-commerce shopping carts, stock prices, and streaming telemetry, in memory with low latency for rapid access and analysis. Built using a cluster of virtual or physical servers, these caches automatically scale access throughput and analytics to handle large workloads. In addition, they provide built-in high availability to ensure uninterrupted access if a server fails. They are ideal for hosting on cloud platforms, which offer highly elastic computing resources to their users without the need for capital investments. For more information, please visit http://www.scaleoutsoftware.com and follow ScaleOut Software on LinkedIn and Twitter. Additional Resources: ScaleOut Google Cloud Platform blog post ScaleOut Product Suite information About ScaleOut Software Founded in 2003, ScaleOut Software develops leading-edge software that delivers scalable, highly available, in-memory computing and streaming analytics technologies to a wide range of industries. ScaleOut Softwares in-memory computing platform enables operational intelligence by storing, updating, and analyzing fast-changing, live data so that businesses can capture perishable opportunities before the moment is lost. It has offices in Bellevue, Washington and Beaverton, Oregon. Sunset at Reunion Costa Rica. We have created this program with the firm belief that everyone deserves the space to grow, heal, and explore their identities freely and without judgment. Reunion Costa Rica, a not-for-profit leader in transformative retreat experiences, is excited to announce its latest initiative: the LGBTQIA2S+ Program. This initiative underscores Reunion's commitment to inclusivity, diversity, and understanding, providing a safe, nurturing, and empowering environment for those within the LGBTQIA2S+ community. The program offers a series of curated plant medicine retreats, tailor-made to address the unique experiences and challenges of the LGBTQIA2S+ community. Each retreat combines healing ceremonies, engaging workshops, and integration circles focused on promoting self-love, acceptance, and authenticity. Reunion's LGBTQIA2S+ Program commences with the "Cultivating Pride & Authenticity" retreat, scheduled to run from October 28 to November 4, 2023. This inaugural retreat, co-curated with an array of queer leaders and seasoned psychologists, is specially designed for gay, queer, trans, or questioning men. Participants will have an opportunity to engage with the transformative power of ayahuasca, guided by experienced facilitators. Themes of this retreat include releasing shame, fostering self-acceptance, and living authentically. We have created this program with the firm belief that everyone deserves the space to grow, heal, and explore their identities freely and without judgment, said Reunion Founder and Steward Brad Wells. Safety and inclusivity are at the core of our mission. Reunion provides a supportive, compassionate, and understanding environment that fosters healing and self-love. The "Cultivating Pride & Authenticity" retreat will offer a blend of powerful healing modalities including plant medicine sessions, embodiment workshops, ecstatic dance, cacao ceremonies, and integration group circles. There will also be ample opportunity for interaction with nature, further enriching participants' transformative journeys. Participants will receive comprehensive pre- and post-retreat support, ensuring their journey of self-discovery and transformation extends beyond the duration of the retreat. This support will empower participants to carry their lessons and transformations into their everyday lives, creating a ripple effect of positive change within their personal networks and communities. While the initial retreat is specifically designed for gay, queer, trans, or questioning men, Reunion plans to expand its offerings to include all members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community in the future. For more information about the LGBTQIA2S+ Program or to register for the "Cultivating Pride & Authenticity" retreat, visit reunionexperience.org. ABOUT REUNION Reunion is a leading not-for-profit plant medicine center, combining Indigenous shamans and wisdom teachers from diverse lineages blending the best of ancient and modern modalities. Located in Costa Rica, Reunion is a medically licensed, eco-luxe campus with a beach-front location providing a safe setting for personal growth, healing, and transformation. Rooted in reciprocity, 100% of proceeds support impact initiatives, including Indigenous medicine stewards, the replenishment of sacred plants for future generations, and scholarship programs to expand access. After receiving an unsettling medical diagnosis, Elaine Schnelle, a 61-year-old divorced, retired grandma and psychic medium, decides that the only way she can achieve her dream of driving around Australia, is to do it now and alone. Overcoming fears and self-doubt, she takes a leap of faith and embarks on the trip of a lifetime, which she now shares in Around Australia: One Woman One Soul One Dream (published by Balboa Press AU). This book provides a practical guide of how the author planned her trip including deciding what vehicle she will drive, the plotting of her itinerary, a description of her travels, the fears and challenges on the way, the interesting people she met, as well as maps, photos, and road details so that the reader, if desired, can drive a similar trip. It also gives readers who cannot do the trip, the opportunity to live and experience the journey vicariously through the eyes of the author. And for people, especially women, who were like the author, living on their own who have given up on their dream because they think they could not do it by themselves, this book inspires and shows them how to do it. This book inspires people to say Yes to life, Schnelle states. When you have a deep passion for something in your life, know that it is the Universe speaking to you, guiding you and showing you your life path. Be brave, and take that first step, because the Universe will support you. And most importantly, never give up on your dreams they are your soul speaking to you and showing you the way. Around Australia: One Woman One Soul One Dream will appeal to those who are looking for a spiritual memoir book that shares insights on how to be in the present moment and interpret the signs from the Universe, so that they can live a guided life and on purpose. Visit https://www.balboapress.com/en-au/bookstore/bookdetails/847070-around-australia to get a copy. Around Australia: One Woman One Soul One Dream By Elaine Schnelle Softcover | 6 x 9in | 294 pages | ISBN 9781982296780 E-Book | 294 pages | ISBN 9781982296773 Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble About the Author Elaine Schnelle, who has both a B.ED and a B.Leg.S, is a retired Australian legal professional who worked for twenty-seven years in the law. She is a gifted psychic medium, a spiritual teacher, light worker, angel intuitive, and a devoted mother and grandma. She has a passion for travel and a deep love for Australia, and inspires people to trust their intuition and follow their dreams. Balboa Press Australia is a division of Hay House, Inc., a leading provider in publishing products that specialise in self-help and the mind, body and spirit genre. Through an alliance with the worldwide self-publishing leader Author Solutions, LLC, authors benefit from the leadership of Hay House Publishing and the speed-to-market advantages of the Author Solutions self-publishing model. For more information or to start publishing today, visit balboapress.com.au or call 1-800-844-925. The 2023 Chevy Silverado 1500 LT Turbomax is available with 1.9% APR Carl Black Orlando is offering low APR financing for the 2023 Chevrolet Silverado. Select models will be available with low financing rates of 1.9% APR at the dealership this month. Drivers interested in taking advantage of low rates are encouraged to visit the dealership in June to view the available truck inventory and discuss their financing options. This temporary offer is available for well-qualified buyers who purchase a 2023 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LT Turbomax truck. To take advantage of this offer, drivers must finance their new vehicle purchase with GM Financial, which can be done right at Carl Black Orlando. New retail delivery must be taken by the end of the month, June 31, 2023. Special offers are always changing at the dealership, and drivers are encouraged to seek other offers after this one has expired. Instead of low APR financing, well-qualified buyers can choose to enjoy a cash allowance offer of $2,750 total cash allowance with their purchase. Drivers who go this route can also take advantage of a $1,500 engine credit and a $1,500 trade assistance credit, making the total value of their savings $5,750. For drivers who go this route, truck options include 2023 Chevrolet Silverado 2FL, Custom, LT and RST models with a 2.7 L Turbo High-Output engine. The trade assistance credit is available when drivers trade in a 2009 or newer model year vehicle. This offer is also available until the end of the month for interested buyers. Drivers can learn more about special offers, financing options and available inventory by heading to the dealerships website, carlblackoforlando.com. About Carl Black Orlando Carl Black Orlando is a GM dealership in Orlando, Florida. Offering Chevrolet, GMC and Buick vehicles, the dealership provides a wide and varied inventory of options for drivers in the area. Committed to helping their customers save money, the dealership offers multiple special offers each month to help with the costs of purchasing and maintaining a vehicle. As a not-for-profit public agency, we are able to utilize our tax-exempt status to reduce our power procurement costs. We can then pass along these appreciable savings to our Southern California customers, said Susan Santangelo, Chair of CPAs Finance Committee and Mayor of the City of Camarillo. Clean Power Alliance (CPA), Californias largest Community Choice Aggregator serving approximately one million customer accounts throughout Los Angeles and Ventura counties, has arranged for the issuance of its second municipal non-recourse Clean Energy Project Revenue Bond through the California Community Choice Financing Authority (CCCFA). The approximately $1 billion bond issuance is expected to reduce CPAs renewable energy costs by approximately $31.9 million over the initial five-year period of the bonds, or an average of $6.4 million annually. The savings from this prepay transaction are locked in until 2028, at which time the bond will be repriced. The bond received an investment-grade Baa1 rating from Moodys and a Green Bonds designation by Kestrel Verifiers. CPA arranged for the issuance of its first Clean Energy Project Revenue bond in February 2023. The combined average annual CPA savings for the two bond issuances total approximately $14.7 million. This is an exciting opportunity for CPA to save on the costs of purchasing renewable energy that will yield significant benefits to our customers, said David McNeil, Clean Power Alliances Chief Financial Officer. It feels great to continue to be innovative in how we provide affordable clean energy to the many communities we serve. Energy prepayment bonds are long-term financial transactions available to municipal agencies like CPA to provide power procurement cost savings. As a not-for-profit public agency, we are able to utilize our tax-exempt status to reduce our power procurement costs. We can then pass along these appreciable savings to our Southern California customers, said Susan Santangelo, Chair of CPAs Finance Committee and Mayor of the City of Camarillo. A Clean Energy Project Revenue Bond is a form of wholesale electricity prepayment that requires three key parties: a tax-exempt public electricity retailer (CPA in this transaction), a taxable energy supplier (J Aron & Company, LLC in this transaction), and a municipal bond issuer (CCCFA in this transaction). The three parties then enter into long-term power supply agreements for zero-emission clean electricity sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, and battery storage. The municipal bond issuer issues tax-exempt bonds (underwritten by Goldman Sachs in this transaction) to fund a prepayment of energy that will be delivered over 30 years. The energy supplier utilizes the bond proceeds and provides a discount to the tax-exempt public electricity retailer in exchange for the prepayment on the respective power purchases. This discount is historically in the range of 8 to 12 percent. CPA has assigned four power purchase agreements (PPAs) to this prepay transaction, three solar-plus-storage projects, and one wind project. The bond will be utilized to prepay the purchase of a combined capacity of 685.5 megawatts (MW) of clean electricity. This is enough clean energy to avoid more than 830 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions annually, and power more than 209,000 Southern California homes per year. The bond proceeds are $ 1,001,786,198 and the bonds yield an average of 4.53 percent. CPA was advised by municipal financial advisor Municipal Capital Markets Group and by the law firm Chapman & Cutler. About Clean Power Alliance Founded in 2017, Clean Power Alliance is the locally operated not-for-profit electricity provider for 30 cities across Los Angeles County and Ventura County, as well as the unincorporated areas of both counties. CPA is the fourth largest electricity provider in California and has the most customers receiving 100% renewable energy in the nation. CPA serves approximately three million people via one million customer accounts, providing clean renewable energy at competitive rates. To view CPAs 2022 Impact Report, click here. For complete information regarding CPA visit http://www.cleanpoweralliance.org. Media Contact: Joseph Cabral Clean Power Alliance External Affairs Manager jcabral@cleanpoweralliance.org 213-442-8109 "This patent validates the revolutionary nature of the product development efforts at Curio and the novel application of our pulse-release technology." - Dr. Edward Rudnic, Chairman of Curios Scientific Board and Chief Scientific Officer. Curio Wellness, a cGMP-certified, vertically integrated cannabis company and market-leading innovator of health and wellness products derived from cannabis, was awarded a Utility patent for Good Night by Curio, marking a significant milestone for the company and brand. Good Night, Marylands only pulse-release cannabis sleep aid line has led the market since its release in 2021. The ratio tablet is designed to help consumers fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer and reduce morning grogginess. Curio Wellness was granted US Patent (11,654,130) on May 23, 2023 which will be in force until January 2042. Good Nights patented technology secures a unique, pulse-delivery system for medicinal cannabis sleep products, demonstrating Curios adherence to driving innovation, breaking boundaries and improving patient outcomes and the overall experience for cannabis-derived medicine. "This patent validates the revolutionary nature of the product development efforts at Curio and the novel application of our pulse-release technology," added Dr. Edward Rudnic, Chairman of Curios Scientific Board and its Chief Scientific Officer. This is the first of many condition-specific product patents we anticipate to issue over the coming years thanks to the continued innovation and unmatched clinical testing executed by Curios product innovation team. The proprietary pulse-release doses in two stages for sustained release and has been scientifically proven to improve sleep quality. An independent study, published in the American Journal of Endocannabinoid Medicine, found that participants woke up less frequently and spent less time awake at night. Additionally, 65 percent of participants reported feeling more satisfied with their sleep and feeling better rested during the day four times per week, double the rate found before the trial. Curios medical-based research methods are the foundation of all the innovative work we have accomplished thus far, said Michael Bronfein, CEO of Curio Wellness and co-inventor. This patent is a significant and exciting milestone for Curio, and solidifies our commitment to developing cutting-edge cannabis products that enable our patients to enjoy a better quality of life. Curio Wellness is the leading developer of cannabis-derived medical products in Maryland. In addition to cannabis sleep aids, in 2022 Curio launched GI by Curio targeting gastrointestinal health issues as well as Move by Curio targeting muscle and joint pain. Earlier this year, it launched Good Day targeting anti-anxiety and stress relief. Curio Wellness is Marylands first cGMP-certified manufacturer, which means that its products meet the same quality and safety standards required by the FDA and those produced by the world's leading pharmaceutical companies. About Curio Wellness Founded in 2014 in Baltimore, Maryland, Curio Wellness is a cGMP-certified, vertically integrated cannabis company and trusted healthcare partner. Recognized as the leading wellness brand in cannabis by BDS Analytics, Curio is committed to serving patients with safe, effective, and reliable cannabis-based medicine. For more information, visit https://curiowellness.com. Divi Carina Bay All-Inclusive Beach Resort & Casino, St. Croix New Hires - Lucy Ocampo & Norman McPherson My core mission is to deliver to guests what we promisea dreamy Caribbean getawayand care for the employees who make that promise a reality. Guests will enjoy a memorable vacation experience with warm hospitality and personalized service. There are two new fresh faces taking on lead roles at Divi Carina Bay All-Inclusive Beach Resort & Casino and Oceans at Divi Carina Bay on St. Croix. Lucy Ocampo takes the helm as the resorts new General Manager while Norman McPherson will lead the resorts restaurant team as the Executive Chef. Ocampo has over 31 years of experience in the hospitality industry and has spent her career working nationally and internationally in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean at luxury brands and resorts. She will now lead the team at Divi Carina Bay with the goal to exceed guests expectations and help mentor aspiring hospitality professionals. My core mission is to deliver to guests what we promisea dreamy Caribbean getawayand care for the employees who make that promise a reality, said Ocampo. Guests will enjoy a memorable vacation experience with warm hospitality and personalized service. As General Manager, Ocampo will be in charge of all aspects of the resorts, including operations, food and beverage, human resources, and guest outreach, to name a few. McPherson has been cooking professionally around the world for more than 20 years. Now, he says hes ready to take on his next culinary adventure at Divi Carina Bay All-Inclusive Beach Resort and Oceans at Divi Carina Bay to continue to grow the resorts strong presence on the island. I love the idea of taking a simple raw ingredient and turning it not only into a work of art, but also something thats healthy, satisfying, and nourishing, said McPherson. Guests can expect a strong focus on traditional Caribbean cuisine, the freshest seafood, authentic Italian, and an emphasis on organic and healthy ingredients. McPherson will now be in charge of the resorts all-inclusive restaurants and bars, including Oceans Bar & Grill, Waves Marketplace, Tuscany Ristorante Italiano, East End Coffee, and Latitude Bar. For more information on accommodations, amenities, and activities at Divi Carina Bay All-Inclusive Beach Resort & Casino and Oceans at Divi Carina Bay, visit http://www.divicarinabay.com. About Divi Resorts: The Caribbean vacation expert for over 50 years, Divi Resorts features a collection of seven premium resorts spanning the five stunning islands of Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, St. Croix, and St. Maarten. Divi Resorts offers a cash back rewards program, a best price guarantee, optional travel insurance, travel agent rates, a Divi Devotion Discount, and other programs. For more information on Divi Resorts, call 1-800-367-3484 or visit http://www.diviresorts.com. Photos of General Manager & Executive Chef: http://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/y3mr3hc8gqzui2qa3t2u8/h?dl=0&rlkey=t9byj6l6j8zzagf9o5njlglwa In his first book titled The Way of the Sith, Edwin Ferreira attempt to delineate paths towards power over the self, which must begin before one can gain power in the world at large. He now releases its follow- up The Way of the Sith: World Mastery (published by Xlibris AU), the second in a series of books which aims to build up a vast network of like-minded people by explaining what it takes to create a storm of strength and power. Ferreira believes that to be able to properly compel others and to form influence in the world, they need to be able to master themselves. Only through self-control, ideology, metaphysics, inner alchemy, warrior ethos, traits, potency traits and other components can they receive the power to become ruler over the self and become a leader. For him, not everyone is entirely suited to this task but anyone can try. He noted that as Sith, people intend to gain greater confidence, respect and direction over their external reality. They seek out self-perfection through the work and teachings of those who master the self, to have character, happiness, respect and freedom. For Ferreira, self-perfection like control, attaining exaltation and elevating oneself, the furtherance of respect and self-honor can only through the guidance and teachings of this world mastery book. The world as it stands needs a soul, a spirit and a will to enact its many plans and goals, and that is what the dark side offers them. It offers them a cause to rally behind that supports their tendencies for power and strength, while reliably eschewing anything that makes the debased conformity and conditioning of decadence, anti-personality, degeneracy, enfeebled people, apathy and weakness of current comfortable all too easy answers offered by the current society. We are looking to create a new age where such limitations are of the past, Ferreira says. When asked what he wants readers to take away from the book, Ferreira answered, To understand the current reality and help provide additional tools like traits, potency traits, warrior ethos or metaphysics to bend reality to our will in our own lives, which is essential to doing it in the world at large. I go into the ways of the Sith on specific topics and deep into my own personal and political power philosophy. Visit https://www.xlibris.com/en-au/bookstore/bookdetails/850495-the-way-of-the-sith to get a copy. The Way of the Sith: World Mastery By Edwin Ferreira Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 426 pages | ISBN 9798369490617 Softcover | 6 x 9in | 426 pages | ISBN 9798369490600 E-Book | 426 pages | ISBN 9798369490594 Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble About the Author Edwin Ferreira is a graduate of Murdoch University with a Bachelor of Criminology and Security, Terrorism and Counterterrorism. He has spent his life searching for a philosophy that can grant him the courage, heroism, passion for truth, interest in natural law as well as an ideology that can bring about the best out of him that he possibly can accomplish, to give the very best that he can. A philosophy that if applied well can allow him to achieve past his past known limitations. Whether somebody out there can possibly achieve something, then he can do it to mentality, past the limitations whether they be nurture or nature to accomplish anything if it is possible. Xlibris Publishing Australia, an Author Solutions, LLC imprint, is a self-publishing services provider dedicated to serving Australian authors. By focusing on the needs of creative writers and artists and adopting the latest print-on-demand publishing technology and strategies, we provide expert publishing services with direct and personal access to quality publication in hardcover, trade paperback, custom leather-bound and full-color formats. To date, Xlibris has helped to publish more than 60,000 titles. For more information, visit xlibrispublishing.com.au or call 1-800-844-927 to receive a free publishing guide. "As a regular speaker and judge of the startup PITCH competitions, being able to present to thousands of startups in this Masterclass is a culmination of consistency in giving back to the community that Web Summit has built and continues to nurture through its amazing shows globally" Following last year's success of kicking off Web Summit Lisbon, Enventys Partners President and co-founder, Roy Morejon, is delivering a Masterclass at the 2023 Collision Conference, North Americas largest tech event, focusing on the changing landscape of investment capital for startups and investor expectations. More than 2,000 startups, 140 countries and 40,000 people are slated to attend this years Collision Conference. Guest speakers include the CEO of Amazon Web Services, Adam Selipsky, YouTuber/Podcaster, Marques Brownlee, and the Godfather of AI Geoffrey Hinton. In 2019, North America's fastest-growing tech conference, Collision, relocated from New Orleans to Toronto. This conference represents where startups are heading not only in North America but globally, said Roy Morejon, President and co-founder of Enventys Partners. Morejon acknowledges Toronto's momentum as a hub for technology and innovation. Leveraging the strength of Canada as diverse and inclusive has led to a massive influx of tech enthusiasts, builders and developers to the region, leading to 'what's next in tech. Morejons Masterclass addresses the changing landscape of investment capital for startups, how venture capitalists and investor angels are now evaluating startups and how to prepare pitch decks to close deals. As a regular speaker and judge of the startup PITCH competitions, being able to present to thousands of startups in this Masterclass is a culmination of consistency in giving back to the community that Web Summit has built and continues to nurture through its amazing shows globally, said Morejon. I look forward to continuing to support the startups that are not only able to attend one of my mentor sessions, investor meetings, or startup Masterclasses on pitching investors. Morejon will serve as MC and onstage host for the Startup Showcase at Collision on Wednesday, June 28th. The Startup Showcase brings together startups from a range of industries to present their company and vision to Collision attendees. Startups will have two minutes onstage to showcase their company to the audience. The 2023 Collision Conference runs from June 26-29th. To speak with or schedule an interview with Roy Morejon, please email roy.morejon@enventys.com. About Enventys Partners Enventys Partners is the industrys only full-service, turnkey product launch agency. They combine start-to-finish, all-encompassing product development services with digital marketing expertise to create innovative products and bring them to market. As a global leader in product development and marketing with four offices in the US and one in Asia, Enventys Partners designs, prototypes, manufactures, fulfills, crowdfunds, and markets new products and startup businesses. Enventys Partners has raised more than $500 million for clients through crowdfunding and has been involved in the development, prototyping, launching, and/or marketing of over 2,000 products. For more than 20 years, clients have utilized the agencys combined services to take their consumer product from napkin sketch to production For more information, visit https://enventyspartners.com/. About Web Summit Web Summit events have gathered half a million people across Web Summit in Lisbon, Web Summit Rio in South America, Web Summit Qatar in the Middle East, Collision in North America, and RISE in Asia since its beginnings as a 150-person conference in Dublin in 2009. Web Summits mission has been to create software that enables meaningful connections between the CEOs, founders, investors, media, politicians and cultural figureheads who are reshaping the world. For more information, visit https://websummit.com/. Laurie Gerber I will work with the management teams to ensure our employees are able to grow and be successful in their careers and that they are afforded advancement opportunities within the company, Laurie Gerber said. Laurie Gerber, wife of the late EPOCH Senior Living Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Laurence (Larry) Gerber, has been named the companys Chairperson. Laurie will work alongside the EPOCH management team to carry on the legacy of Larry by enriching the lives of seniors every day. Larry founded the company in 1997. Under his leadership, the company grew significantly to include five Waterstone Senior Living communities and 11 Bridges by EPOCH memory care assisted living communities located throughout the Northeast. Larry tragically died on March 25 at the age of 66. Laurie is an accomplished executive with over two decades of experience as a business leader. She has a strong reputation of being a collaborative thinker and building teams by working closely with all constituencies, including clients, business partners, leadership teams, and employees. Prior to her new role at EPOCH, she served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer for Great Hill Partners, a private equity firm, the Chief Financial Officer of a healthcare REIT, and a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an accounting firm. Laurie has followed EPOCHs growth over the years, sharing in her husbands philosophy and taking pride in the company he built. She was a strong support to him during the challenges of the pandemic and by his bedside during his recent illness. Knowing what he wanted to do, how he wanted to do it, and what his philosophy was about the company making EPOCH a great place for residents to thrive, a wonderful place to work, and making sure the employees were treated well are all things that I want to continue in honor of my husband and his legacy, Laurie said. I am learning a lot more about the company with the help of a very experienced management team that is doing an outstanding job. Laurie recently visited all the EPOCH communities in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and New York, spending time with the team members and residents to further understand what makes EPOCH Senior Living the premier provider of senior living services in the markets it serves. Larry built a great team, and I will continue to support them and their abilities. Like Larry, I will work with the management teams to ensure our employees are able to grow and be successful in their careers and that they are afforded advancement opportunities within the company, Laurie said. Our entire team truly appreciated Laurie Gerbers visit to Waterstone at the Circle, said Kevin Defayette, Executive Director at EPOCH Senior Living. Her warmth, kindness and passion for Larrys legacy was evident. We look forward to all working together to continue the mission and vision that Larry set for our organization. Waterstone at the Circle is an independent living community located at the foot of Chestnut Hill in Boston. EPOCH also operates four other Waterstone communities in Lexington, MA; Wellesley, MA; Stamford, CT; and White Plains, NY. The 11 Bridges by EPOCH communities are in Norwalk and Trumbull, Connecticut; Andover, Hingham, Lexington, Mashpee, Pembroke, Sudbury, Westford and Westwood, Massachusetts; and Nashua, New Hampshire. About EPOCH Senior Living (EPOCHsl.com) Waltham-based EPOCH Senior Living has been a leader in New England senior living since 1997. The organization currently operates Waterstone Senior Living communities, offering independent living and assisted living, as well as Bridges by EPOCH memory care assisted living communities. EPOCH is committed to providing residences that enable seniors to enjoy a comfortable and dignified lifestyle in gracious settings. We are honored to join Accelerates 2023 Call to Effective Action as a research grant recipient," said CEO of FEV Tutor, Jim Tormey. "The important work that Accelerate is doing will help make high impact tutoring a permanent part of the nations public education system. FEV Tutor today announced that it has been selected to receive a 2023-2024 Call to Effective Action research grant in the amount $115,000 from Accelerate, a national nonprofit working to make high-impact tutoring a standard feature of the American school day. FEV Tutors team of researchers will be working with J-PAL, an MIT-based research center, to implement and evaluate a randomized control trial. In the face of the existing national achievement gaps, there is nothing more important than delivering equitable and impactful academic support that drives learning acceleration for all students, regardless of economic status, said CEO of FEV Tutor, Jim Tormey. We are honored to join Accelerates 2023 Call to Effective Action as a research grant recipient. The important work that Accelerate is doing will help make high impact tutoring a permanent part of the nations public education system and for our part, further enrich our evidence-based tutoring model and expand its positive impact on student outcomes that will have a lasting effect in students lives. FEV Tutors targeted high-impact tutoring intervention model is the gold standard for accelerating learning outcomes with the hardest to reach low-performing students. As a category leader and a Level 2 ESSA research and evidence-based intervention, FEV Tutors virtual tutoring programs are customized to meet the diverse needs of every learner by offering its public schools, districts, and charter school partners a consultative approach to collaboratively design and deliver tutoring programs that are tailor-fit to specific student achievement needs, goals, and initiatives. It matches students with the same instructor from lesson to lesson, establishing a positive relationship. To ensure concept mastery, each session concludes with a formative assessment exit ticket, and students provide feedback about their experience. Grounded in research on effective tutoring principles and instruction, FEV Tutor addresses core, supplemental, and special needs learning. In addition, FEV Tutor earned the Research-Based Design Product Certification from Digital Promise and continues to pursue industry-leading product certifications and accolades. The evidence behind tutoring as an intervention is strong and the field is making tremendous progress, but we still need more providers with a proven track record that can also scale, said Accelerate CEO Kevin Huffman. Before the federal pandemic relief dollars dry up, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to identify these providers and ensure they are able to deliver cost-effective programs and present evidence that they get results for kids. FEV Tutor was selected for a Call to Effective Action grant because of its commitment to developing and scaling a research-backed tutoring model that improves outcomes for all students, especially those in historically underserved communities. About Accelerate Accelerate is a nonprofit organization, incubated and launched by the national nonprofit America Achieves, that seeks to embed high-impact tutoring programs into public schools now and for the long term. Launched in April 2022 with an initial fund of $65 million, Accelerate funds and supports innovation in schools, launches high-quality research, and advances a federal and state policy agenda to support this work. Accelerate is leading efforts to improve practice on multiple fronts, including as a lead technical assistance partner to the National Partnership for Student Success (NPSS). The NPSS is a joint partnership of more than 100 organizations, The Department of Education, AmeriCorps, the Johns Hopkins Everyone Graduates Center to launch a new coalition formed to expand high-quality tutoring, mentoring, and other evidence-based support programs, with the goal of ensuring an additional 250,000 adults serve in these roles over the next three years. Accelerate is supported by Citadel founder and CEO Kenneth C. Griffin; Arnold Ventures; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the Overdeck Family Foundation; and the Walton Family Foundation. For more information, visit http://www.accelerate.us. 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 # # # Harris Teeter announced today the launch of its Backpack Boosters Round Up Campaign to help provide nutritious meals and school supplies to students-in-need. Now through Aug. 22, shoppers are invited to round up their transaction to the nearest whole dollar to support this effort. The funds collected through Backpack Boosters will benefit local food bank backpack programs which provide nutritious meals and snacks to families-in-need across Harris Teeters operating area. In select North and South Carolina counties Mecklenburg, Union, Cabarrus, Iredell, Gaston and Lancaster the funds will be divided evenly between Second Harvest Food Bank of the Metrolina and Classroom Central. Classroom Centrals mission is to equip students-in-need to learn by collecting and distributing free school supplies to their teachers, which is a mission Harris Teeter is thrilled to support again this year. While many families look forward to weekends, there are many children who leave school on Friday afternoon not knowing when theyll receive their next meal, said Danna Robinson, communication manager for Harris Teeter. With generous contributions from our associates and shoppers to support our local food bank partners backpack programs, we can help those children and their families who are facing food insecurity. 100% of funds collected through this campaign will benefit the local community in which the donation was made. About Harris Teeter: For more than 60 years, Harris Teeter, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), has enriched lives one meal, one family, one associate, and one community at a time. Headquartered in Matthews, North Carolina, Harris Teeter employs 36,000 valued associates across more than 250 stores and 60 fuel centers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, Delaware, Florida, and the District of Columbia. Toma Polic has had a long-held desire to record the lives of his parents and the hardships they faced in Jugoslavia and Australia. Theirs reflect the experiences of many immigrants whose stories have not been fully told or indeed fully understood. It is for this reason that he decided to pen Yes it is...... (published by Balboa Press AU). This book chronicles the journey of the PolichKatavich families who struggled with a meagre existence in Yugoslavia before migrating to Australia. It details their lives in Australia and the struggles that most migrant families endured in the period before and immediately after the Second World War. There is also a brief history of the country of their birth and its progress in the world after the defeat of the AustroHungarian and Nazi empires. The later part of the book describes the life of the author and his family and relations, and the achievements attained as intended by their parents when they decided to migrate. Readers will be happy that the efforts of these immigrants have been rewarded, Polic states. It may even be a catalyst for them to resolve their own predicaments. When asked what he wants readers to take away from the book, the author answers, An appreciation of others' troubles and experiences. To purchase a copy, visit https://www.balboapress.com/en-au/bookstore/bookdetails/851715-yes-it-is. Yes it is...... By Toma Polic Softcover | 7.5 x 9.25in | 662 pages | ISBN 9781982297350 E-Book | 662 pages | ISBN 9781982297367 Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble About the Author The author, Toma Polic (Croatian notation), is the first-born son of Ante and Iva Polic. Both parents came to Australia before World War II in search of a better life. Foremost in their decision was the idea that they would give their children a better future than the one they had foreseen for themselves in their early years in Jugoslavia. Polic was therefore a first generation child of these immigrants and did indeed benefit enormously by their foresight, as did his children. He studied and worked relentlessly and achieved two university degrees. He and his siblings adapted very easily to the Australian way of life as did his parents as time wore on. He married an Australian girl and they successfully raised three sons. Now retired, he has endeavored to record for posterity and history the trials and tribulations experienced by his parents. Many other immigrants duplicated their experiences. The tough times touched upon in this book are to remind readers of easily forgotten experiences that made this country a preferred place of destination for economic refugees. This book will show some of the hardships experienced and endured by Ante and Iva and their three children Toma, Ivan, and Joyce. Balboa Press Australia is a division of Hay House, Inc., a leading provider in publishing products that specialise in self-help and the mind, body, and spirit genre. Through an alliance with the worldwide self-publishing leader Author Solutions, LLC, authors benefit from the leadership of Hay House Publishing and the speed-to-market advantages of the Author Solutions self-publishing model. For more information or to start publishing today, visit balboapress.com.au or call 1-800-844-925. James Michael Matthew, founder and chairman of JM Prophecies Corp., believes people of the world continue to lose confidence in the ability of their supposed leaders to provide anything resembling responsible leadership. From the abysmal approval ratings of media and Congress, to crony capitalism, climate anxiety, and Chinas looming preemptive strike, confidence in leadership is at an all-time low. He now releases The Leadership Broadcasting Company: The Decision-Making Network (published by Archway Publishing) to provide a pathway back to responsible leadership. This book provides the American people with an open forum and technology platform that can be used as a tool to launch a media company to plan, debate, and help solve the nations most significant problems in an unbiased and nonthreatening environment. With this plan, Matthew believes that somewhere along the way, America will return the nation to a government by the citizens, rebuild the middle class, and put an end to the lunacy of bifurcating the country between an elite aristocracy and a permanent underclass. Simultaneously, it will defeat climate change and the new Axis powers. The cast for each program will include the following: A program host; US federal, state, and local legislators; US executive branch personnel; neighborhood focus groups; town hall participants; JM Prophecies teaming partners; guest hosts and panels; studio audience participants; and a national online audience who will vote for questions, advice, and recommendations to be made during the program. Others can be added as needed, depending on the program and topics. Matthew has included all the case studies from his previous books in the exhibits. He had planned to combine these in a separate workbook, so readers could keep a history of their responses. After monitoring how many chose the e-book option, he decided to include them all here, so that readers can follow along when the TV programs begin. This book builds on my first five books, the courses offered online by the James Michael Matthew Institute, and the James Michael Matthew podcast. I invite you to read my previous books, attend our online courses, and listen to my podcast to prepare for personally participating in future town halls and other events from the Leadership Broadcasting Company, Matthew says. When asked what he wants readers to take away from the book, he answered, People are desperate for leadership and hope for their future and the futures of their children. Contact me to join Leadership Broadcasting Company to return the nation to a republic. For more details about the book, please visit https://www.archwaypublishing.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/838841-the-leadership-broadcasting-company The Leadership Broadcasting Company: The Decision-Making Network By James Michael Matthew Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 108 pages | ISBN 9781665743709 Softcover | 6 x 9in | 108 pages | ISBN 9781665743723 E-Book | 108 pages | ISBN 9781665743716 Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble About the Author James Michael Matthew is an award-winning author, financial executive, and industrialist with more than 40 years of experience. He is the founder and chairman of JM Prophecies Corp. His companys mission includes tackling the major challenges of the times, building the selfless economy, and inverting the global wealth inequality pyramid. He graduated from The Johns Hopkins University with a masters in biotechnology enterprise and entrepreneurship, an MBA from Michigan State University, and a bachelors in accounting and auditing from the University of Illinois-Springfield. He completed postgraduate studies in law and sustainability and the future of sustainable business from the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, the University of Oxford. Simon & Schuster, a company with nearly ninety years of publishing experience, has teamed up with Author Solutions, LLC, the worldwide leader in self-publishing, to create Archway Publishing. With unique resources to support books of all kind, Archway Publishing offers a specialized approach to help every author reach his or her desired audience. For more information, visit archwaypublishing.com or call 844-669-3957. Over the past 11 months, a storefront warehouse at 127 Woolwich Street has provided 100 newcomer families from Afghanistan, Ukraine and Syria with the furniture and housewares they need to establish their homes in Guelph and neighbouring communities. While the volunteer-run space was established in late 2021 as part of Danbys preparations to sponsor 50 Afghan refugee families, the scope of the warehouse quickly grew to help the Guelph community welcome Ukrainian newcomers displaced by the war and to support other newcomer families being settled through Danbys continuing sponsorship program. Recognizing the growing need for this community service, Danby has secured and sponsored the warehouse space on an ongoing basis and named it the Circle Home Furniture Bank. As Danby CEO Jim Estill explains: As I have visited with families Danby has sponsored, Ive witnessed how important it is to provide newcomers with the comfort, dignity, and stability of a furnished home. Im grateful for all the donors and volunteers who have supported our furniture collections and temporary warehouse spaces since Danby began sponsoring refugees in 2016. I am delighted to partner with the volunteer team at 127 Woolwich Street to establish the Circle Home Furniture Bank as an ongoing resource for newcomer families. The storefront warehouse is managed by a small team of volunteers who work in consultation with Danby Refugee Program Administrator Blaire Rennie. Donations of furniture and housewares are received by appointment and newcomers and their sponsors visit the warehouse by appointment to choose what they need. Thanks to generous community support, including a significant donation from the Stokes store at Stone Road Mall, the warehouse is currently well stocked with dishes, cutlery, mugs and glasses. To meet the immediate needs of the incoming families the warehouse team is currently focusing on collecting essential furniture: apartment-sized sofas, love seats and armchairs; queen, double, twin and bunk beds (used mattresses cannot be accepted); dining and kitchen tables and chairs; bureaus and student-sized desks and small appliances (toasters, coffee makers, kettles, irons). Items must be new or gently used, free from stains, tears, odours or damage. Donations are received by appointment during volunteer shifts on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, and Tuesday and Thursday evenings. To meet the growing demand, the Circle Home Furniture Bank is currently seeking volunteers for various roles: to receive and help organize donated furniture during regular three-hour shifts, welcome and assist newcomer families and their sponsors, track incoming and outgoing items, and manage social media. Training and orientation is provided. Danbys sponsorship of the Circle Home Furniture Bank represents another chapter in Jim Estills continuing commitment to serving and supporting families in need. Working in partnership with local volunteers, organizations and the federal government, Danbys refugee sponsorship program has helped settle hundreds of newcomer families, helping them find and furnish homes, secure employment, and start their new lives in and around Guelph. Recently, a newcomer family expressed their thanks in this handwritten note: We sincerely appreciate your help in furnishing our new home. Thank you for extending a helping hand during difficult time for us. To learn more about donating furniture or selected housewares to the Circle Home Furniture Bank please visit https://www.danby.com/circle-home-furniture-bank/. To explore volunteer opportunities visit https://www.danby.com/refugee-program/volunteer/. CONTACT: For further information, or to arrange a tour of the warehouse please contact Blaine Rennie, Danby Refugee Program Administrator at DanbyRefugeeProgram@gmail.com About Danby Appliances Founded in 1947, Danby is one of North America's leading manufacturers and distributors of compact appliances, such as microwaves, dehumidifiers, refrigerators, freezers, and air conditioners. For more information on Danby and its products, please visit http://www.Danby.com. Follow Danby on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. Nurse Mates Partnership For the second year in a row, Nurse Mates is proud to partner with Stanford University medical student, advocate, and founder of Dysunderstood, Ella Eastin. A record-breaking swimmer on the path to qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Swim Team, Ella was diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and dysautonomia, debilitating illnesses that ended her swimming career and set her life on an inspiring new course. Now studying to be a physician, Ella is dedicated to helping others suffering from ME/ CFS and autonomic nervous system disorders (known as dysautonomia) and is the founder of Dysunderstood.com, an online forum for people living with the challenges of these chronic, often invisible illnesses, where she shares her own experiences. She also motivates and encourages young competitive swimmers through her work as a keynote speaker and mentor. Ellas resilience and perseverance in turning a heartbreaking setback and life-changing diagnosis into an opportunity to help others through her medical career and unique online support community are inspirational, says Lynne Dejadon, Vice President of Nurse Mates. Were excited to partner with her again this year to help spread the word about Dysunderstood and its mission. As part of this years collaboration, Ella has selected her top on-the-job favorites from the Nurse Mates footwear and accessory collection she recommends for her fellow medical students, doctors, and nurses. To shop her picks and learn more about Ella Eastin and Dysunderstood, please visit https://www.nursemates.com/en/ella-eastin.html. Appassionata Estate, the Oregon winery owned by internationally renowned German winemaker Ernst Erni Loosen, will entrust the exclusive distribution of the debut release of its 2012 Fortissimo Pinot Noir to La Place de Bordeaux. Appassionata will be featured in the September 2023 Beyond Bordeaux release through the acclaimed Bordeaux Negociant, CVBG. As Oregons only Pinot Noir to be aged for a minimum of 10 years before it is released, the Fortissimo Pinot Noir is crafted for its longevity and expressiveness. It represents the pinnacle of Ernis vision for what Pinot Noir in Oregon can be. Inspired by the three movements of Beethovens Appassionata Piano Sonata, the winery crafts three Pinot Noirs Allegro, Andante and Fortissimo which are released at different stages of their development, but are thematically intertwined to express the distinctive character of the Willamette Valley. Fortissimo epitomizes what we are seeking in Willamette Valley Pinot Noir; Its a wine that combines brooding intensity with lilting grace and can stand alongside the classic wines of the world for generations to come, Erni says. We are thrilled to have this wine released through La Place to showcase Oregons potential to produce wines of exceptional quality and extraordinary ageability for wine lovers and collectors worldwide. Pursuing his lifelong passion for Pinot Noir, Erni launched Appassionata as a limited, high-end Pinot Noir in collaboration with J. Christopher Wines in 2005. He then realized his dream of establishing a European-style family estate in the Willamette Valley when he purchased 40 acres in the Chehalem Mountains, planting a vineyard and building a winery. Appassionata will join an exclusive group of international wineries that have been selected for distribution in the highly specialized 'Beyond Bordeaux' category of the famed Negociant network. The distribution of Fortissimo will rely on the expertise and knowledge of one of the oldest and most respected negociants, CVBG, which will commercialize this remarkable wine in the most prominent markets around the world. Matthieu Chardronnier, CEO of CVBG, states, Over the years, La Place de Bordeaux has become the distribution epicenter of the best wines in the world, be they from Bordeaux, or beyond. Our clients are looking for wines with the highest track record for quality and prestige. They are looking for wines that have contributed to elevating their regions of origin. Erni Loosen is a world-famous Riesling legend, yet while pursuing his passion for Pinot Noir, he has made an impact on the Oregon landscape. In his quest to create a great thought-provoking, classically crafted Pinot Noir, he was also willing to invest the most precious resource of all: time, as time is indeed the ultimate revelator of terroir. We are excited and proud to bring this remarkable wine to the world, now that it has achieved the 10 year aging mark, and has been deemed ready by Erni himself. Emma Thienpont, co-director at International First Growths, who facilitates the partnership between producers and negociants, commented, "Erni is an adventurous global winemaker, demonstrating his profound and storied expertise in Oregon through Appassionata. His vision for the estate, singular focus on ageability, and the premium quality of his wine make Fortissimo a welcomed addition to La Place's international offerings. A wine that is a true testament to the potential of Oregon as a world class wine producing region, holding its own in the global world of fine wine." Appassionatas 2012 Pinot Noir Fortissimo will be released on La Place de Bordeaux in September 2023 and can be purchased from selected wine merchants worldwide. Appassionata Estate - appassionataestate.com Appassionata Estate is the realization of renowned German winemaker Ernst Loosens long-term vision of establishing a world class European-style wine estate in Oregon, dedicated to crafting wines of extraordinary ageability that express the true character of the Willamette Valley. Located on the slopes of the Chehalem Mountains, the estate is the culmination of more than two decades of development that began with a single limited-production Pinot Noir bottling in 2005. Today, Appassionata offers three Pinot Noirs of varying age, a barrel-fermented Chardonnay, a Sauvignon Blanc produced in acacia barrels, and a dry Riesling made in the German Grosses Gewachs (GG) style. Guided by Ernis belief that the true character and complexity of a wine doesnt emerge until it has developed maturity, Appassionata holds its wines for 10 years or more, ensuring they are ready to enjoy upon release. International First Growths - internationalfirstgrowths.com Working with highly reputable winemakers around the world, International First Growths aims to help promote and sell their wine via La Place de Bordeaux distribution system the oldest and most developed trading platform in the world. CVBG - cvbg.com CVBG is a historically respected fine wine merchant on the Place de Bordeaux, whose approach is centered on a modern vision of the very concept of Fine Wine. Thanks to strong, considerate relationships with the wineries, CVBGs clients benefit from an extensive selection of fine wines from Bordeaux and beyond. Pearson's Connections Academy launches new college and career prep initiative This is about connecting students to their unique interests and giving them the support they need to be confident about their next steps. Pearson, the world's leading learning company, announced today that Connections Academy, its K-12 online school program will expand its slate of college and career readiness initiatives for middle and high school students. The initiatives feature partnerships with Coursera, the global online learning platform, Acadeum, the largest course sharing network in higher education, e-Dynamic Learning, a provider of Career Technical Education for middle and high school students, and Credly, a global leader in digital credentialing. The career readiness initiatives for high school students will offer an innovative new tri-credit approach where courses can deliver: High school credit from Connections Academy Industry-recognized micro-credentials on Coursera, and Eligibility for college credit toward over 150 bachelors degree programs in the U.S. via the Coursera/Acadeum college and university partner network The industry credentials available can help qualify high school students for careers in fields like data analytics, UX design, software development, and cybersecurity, while also allowing them to earn eligible credit and cost savings toward a college degree. In addition, a new Connections Academy Career Pathways program for middle and high school students will deliver curated learning experiences in the fields of IT, Business, and Healthcare. Students can connect with employers, internships, clubs and take advantage of specialized classes from e-Dynamic Learning that transition seamlessly to higher education and/or nationally recognized, industry certifications. Connections Academy high school students also have free access to Credly to help them earn digital badges to enhance their career options. Credly is a Pearson business. "We're making the college and career prep experience for high school students more meaningful with new learning opportunities that set them up for post-secondary successwhether that means planning for two- or four-year college upon graduation or opting to earn job-ready credentials while in high school, or both. This is about connecting students to their unique interests and giving them the support they need to be confident about their next steps," said SVP of Business Development at Pearson Virtual Schools, Nik Osborne. "With this tri-credit initiative, we're creating multiple pathways for high school students to unlock opportunity in the digital economy, whether they want to break into an in-demand career right away or pursue a college degree," said Marni Baker Stein, Chief Content Officer at Coursera. "We're thrilled to partner with Pearson and Acadeum to equip the next generation of talent with the industry skills and micro-credentials they need to navigate a fast-changing labor market." The new and expanded career readiness programs will launch in select Connections Academy schools in the 2023-24 school year, rolling out nationwide in the following years. About Pearson At Pearson, our purpose is simple: to add life to a lifetime of learning. We believe that every learning opportunity is a chance for a personal breakthrough. Thats why our c.20,000 Pearson employees are committed to creating vibrant and enriching learning experiences designed for real-life impact. We are the worlds leading learning company, serving customers in nearly 200 countries with digital content, assessments, qualifications, and data. For us, learning isnt just what we do. Its who we are. Visit us at pearsonplc.com. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. India's G-20 presidency takes center stage as a seminar on 'Ensuring Foundational Literacy and Numeracy' in the context of Blended Learning is being held in Pune on Monday at Savitribai Phule Pune University. The seminar is being organised on the sidelines of the G20 4th Education Working Meeting. Around 50 delegates from 20 countries attended the Seminar today. Union Minister of State for Education and External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, delivered the keynote address. The event was also graced by Chandrakant Patil, Minister, Higher and Technical Education, Maharashtra; Secretary, School Education Sanjay Kumar; Secretary, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Atul Kumar Tiwari; Member, NCF Steering Committee, Prof. Manjul Bhargava, G20 delegates, officials from International Organisations, and several senior officials of the Ministry of Education and State Education Departments. Rajkumar Ranjan, in his keynote address, shared how India's G20 EdWG Presidency is focused on building and carrying forward deliberations in past presidencies and on addressing concerns that are impediments in realizing full transformational potential of education by bridging gaps in quality education and skilling, as well as on accelerating the pursuit of the SDGs. He shed light on how our National Education Policy lays particular emphasis on the development of the creative potential of each individual, as it is based on the principle that education must develop not only cognitive capacities - both the 'foundational capacities' of literacy and numeracy and 'higher-order' cognitive capacities, such as critical thinking and problem-solving - but also social, ethical, and emotional capacities and dispositions. MoS Education stated that the ability to read and write, and perform basic operations with numbers, is a necessary foundation and an indispensable prerequisite for all future schooling and lifelong learning. The various surveys from across the globe suggest the challenge in education is the attainment of foundational literacy and numeracy. Attaining foundational literacy and numeracy for all children thus becomes an urgent priority for our educational systems requiring immediate measures to be taken on many fronts and with clear goals which will be attained in the short term (including that every student will attain foundational literacy and numeracy by Grade 3). Speaking at the occasion Sanjay Kumar expressed how today's seminar is expected to help identify appropriate policies and practices adopted by countries in G20 member countries and other invitee countries. He said that the ensuing panel discussions would focus on issues related to curriculum, pedagogical approaches, capacity building of teachers and other stakeholders and role of parents and other caregivers and community members in supporting learning at home. Kumar also highlighted the concurrent exhibition on the theme of Ensuring Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, Digital Initiatives, Research and Skilling being showcased presently, which we will be visited between sessions by the delegates and other officials. The event also featured a detailed presentation by the UNICEF, on Foundational Learning and Numeracy pertaining to the theme. This was followed by an insightful presentation on Foundational Learning and Numeracy Practices in G- 20 countries by Prof. Manjul Bhargava, who lauded the progress that has been made in FLN in the last 20 years, and the exponential increase in accessibility to education. A multimedia exhibition is also organised, showcasing best practices in education, FLN, digital initiatives, research and skill development. Over 100 exhibitors, including UNICEF, NSDC, NCERT, National Book Trust, Indian Knowledge Systems Division (IKS) and startup initiatives will present their contributions. This exhibition will be open to local institutions, students, academicians and researchers from June 17-22, 2023, except on June 19, 2023. No matter what I'm doing, music motivates me to do that thing in the moment and do it to the best of my ability, says artist Payton West about what inspired her design. SAFE Credit Union chose the artwork of three Sacramento-area teens to be the credit unions 2023 collectible stickers. The decals will be available at SAFE branches in July. The winners are San Juan High School graduating senior Brooklyn Wagner, El Camino Fundamental High School junior Payton West, and El Camino Fundamental High School sophomore Asiya Mamond. Each design showcases unique interpretations of what motivates each budding artist to make good financial decisions. We asked each student to show us What Motivates YOU?," says SAFE Credit Union Vice President of Marketing Amber DiBernardo. They answered through their art two-fold. The contest kicked off in April to celebrate Financial Literacy Month. First-place winner Wagners intricate collage intertwines the careers of her family members. Wagners father works for the U.S. Postal Service, both her mom and sister work in healthcare, and her mentor is a counselor. I wanted them to be represented in my art and within the community. They are very important people to me, says Wagner, who graduates this week. Art is very important to me as well, and I hope to continue this passion." Wagner is attending Sacramento State University in the fall where she plans to pursue a degree in STEM. For second-place winner West, her mandala, or geometric, inspired design of a set of headphones represents a love of music. No matter what I'm doing, music motivates me to do that thing in the moment and do it to the best of my ability, West says. And because I don't know how to play any instruments, my headphones are my gateway to music. Third-place winner Mamond created a colorful, circular henna design to represent her personal beliefs and heritage. She notes henna, a temporary tattoo art form originating in Indian and Middle Eastern communities, is often used for special occasions. Henna symbolizes good health and prosperity in marriage. That's why we do henna for brides in weddings, says Mamond. First-place, second-place and third-place winners were awarded $500, $300, and $100 SAFE Visa Gift Cards, respectively. About SAFE SAFE Credit Union is a not-for-profit, state-chartered credit union in Northern California with over $4.5 billion in assets and more than 234,000 members. Insured by NCUA. Moving Beyond Remote Access: Discover the Power of Zero Trust Network Access research webinar Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), a leading IT and data management research and consulting firm, today announced it will host a research webinar titled Moving Beyond Remote Access: Discover the Power of Zero Trust Network Access featuring Shamus McGillicuddy, vice president of research covering network management at EMA, and Tim Roddy, vice president of marketing at Open Systems. With users working remotely and data now housed in multiple cloud applications, securing access to data is essential to a modern digital infrastructure. The rise of hybrid work has challenged the scalability of traditional VPNs, and hybrid multi-cloud architectures have made legacy centralized VPN concentrators impractical. Moreover, many enterprises are pursuing a zero trust architectural security strategy that secures access to data instead of to a network. VPN solutions are not designed to be part of a zero trust architecture. Zero trust network access is an emerging class of technology that addresses these new remote access requirements and challenges. During this webinar, McGillicuddy and Roddy will discuss why it has never been more important to transition from legacy VPNs to ZTNA solutions, as well as: Why legacy VPN technologies cannot address the needs of modern enterprises How ZTNA helps secure remote access in the era of hybrid work and multi-cloud architectures The best way to transition to a next-generation solution The webinar is Wednesday, June 28 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. Registration is available at: https://info.enterprisemanagement.com/zero-trust-network-access-webinar-pr About EMA Founded in 1996, EMA is a leading industry IT analyst research firm that specializes in providing deep insight across the full spectrum of IT and data management technologies. EMA analysts leverage a unique combination of practical experience, insight into industry best practices, and in-depth knowledge of current and planned vendor solutions to help their clients achieve their goals. Learn more about EMA research, analysis, and consulting services for enterprise line of business users, IT professionals and IT vendors at https://www.enterprisemanagement.com. "We appreciate the recognition on our ability to execute on this much needed project. This middle-mile route will lower the barrier of entry and improve broadband options across a region that has been overlooked by the incumbents," said Mike Brigman, WANRack's President & Chief Operating Officer. On Friday, June 16th WANRack was awarded a $2.8 million dollar grant as a part of the Enabling Middle-Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program, helping expand and strengthen America's high-speed internet networks. The Biden Administration announced $930 million in grant awards as a part of their Internet for All Initiative. This funding invests in projects that connect regional networks to national Internet networks. WANRack applied for the grant last September as part of the "Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure" program. It was a highly competitive grant process, with over $7 billion in applications. This awarded grant funding, matched by the company, will allow WANRack to construct 45-miles of new fiber optic infrastructure from the northside of Lakeland, FL, passing through Zephyrhills, Dade City and continuing on to Hill N Dale in Hernando County. This middle-mile network will improve the affordability of internet access in these and surrounding communities. WANRack collaborated with the local communities to get support for this critical project, which will soon enable high-speed broadband to thousands of unserved and underserved Floridians. "WANRack has been serving customers in Central Florida for years. We appreciate the recognition on our ability to execute on this much needed project. This middle-mile route will lower the barrier of entry and improve broadband options across a region that has been overlooked by the incumbents," said Mike Brigman, WANRack's President & Chief Operating Officer. About WANRack WANRack provides high-bandwidth, fiber-based middle and last-mile infrastructure and related services to schools, hospitals, libraries, enterprises, and carrier customers throughout the continental United States. Based in Overland Park, Kansas, WANRack provides fiber solutions that eliminate numerous points of failure found in typical legacy networks. To learn more about WANRack and its services, visit http://www.wanrack.com. We are grateful to MissionSquare Foundation for its generous support of the Y and its partnership in developing leaders who are civic-minded and prepared to work collaboratively toward solutions to challenges facing communities, today and in the future. YMCA of the USA (Y-USA), the national resource office for the 2,600+ YMCAs across the country, is pleased to announce the launch of a $1.9 million multi-year national partnership with MissionSquare Foundation. This partnership will provide support to implement the Youth and Government program in 10 states and the District of Columbia, helping shape the next generation of thoughtful, committed and active citizens. Since 1936, YMCA Youth and Government has offered students across the country the opportunity to serve their schools, communities, states and nation through model government, civic engagement, advocacy, leadership and character development, service-learning and more to amplify youth voice and strengthen youth civic health. MissionSquare Foundation, launched in 2022, is focused on strengthening communities by supporting the long-term wellbeing of youth. A core component of the Foundations efforts includes cultivating civic-mindedness, critical thinking and leadership skills in future leaders. Partnering with the Y establishes a strong alignment of both organizations values, specifically through the YMCA Youth and Government program. Engaging the next generation in civic programming gives youth a voice in helping to solve community challenges, ensures that our local communities can thrive and serves as a critical step towards a long-term solution for improving our civic discourse. MissionSquare Foundation was the sponsor of this years Youth Governors Conference, supporting student participation and conference execution. They also awarded the inaugural MissionSquare Bridgebuilder Award to Arushi Bansal and Conner Brumley of Kentucky, whose community project of Common Ground in the Commonwealth, a podcast series focused on encouraging and supporting students of diverse political viewpoints to have productive conversations regarding pressing issues, was chosen to be rolled out in their community. This collaborative projects goal is to help empower younger generations to find common ground in their beliefs regardless of political views, and to promote civic engagement and constructive discourse. Bansal and Brumley will receive a $5,000 implementation award from MissionSquare Foundation. MissionSquare Foundations support for this years Youth Governors Conference and Bridgebuilder Award brings its overall partnership commitment to over $2 million. Through this partnership, MissionSquare Foundation is helping close the youth civic engagement gap by connecting students to opportunities that strengthen the civic health of communities. This support increases student access to the YMCA Youth and Government program in communities nationwide. Funding will support expanding the program into schools and communities that don't currently have one, and help programs reach previously unengaged students. In this first year of the partnership, MissionSquare Foundation will provide funding to Ys in the following locations: California: YMCA of Greater Long Beach Colorado: YMCA of Pueblo District of Columbia: YMCA of Metropolitan Washington Florida: YMCA of the Treasure Coast Illinois: YMCA of Rock River Valley Maryland: YMCA of Frederick County Missouri: Gateway Region YMCA North Carolina: YMCA of Northwest North Carolina Oregon: YMCA of Grants Pass Oregon Virginia: Bedford Family YMCA, Piedmont Family YMCA and YMCA at Virginia Tech Washington: South Sound YMCA Through programs like Youth and Government, the Y empowers young people to reach their full potential as engaged citizens and community leaders, said Suzanne McCormick, President and CEO of Y-USA. We are grateful to MissionSquare Foundation for its generous support of the Y and its partnership in developing leaders who are civic-minded and prepared to work collaboratively toward solutions to challenges facing communities, today and in the future. We are thrilled to partner with Y-USA to expand access to their Youth and Government program at a time when civic engagement has never been more important, said Deanna Santana, Acting CEO and President of MissionSquare Retirement. As an organization rooted in serving those who serve our communities, we are invigorated by the opportunity to help give our youth the resources, tools and knowledge they need to tackle community challenges. Today more than ever, it is critical that our youth learn to organize and mobilize for their interests. Our children are the future and supporting their civic engagement is foundational to a strong democracy. ### About the Y Driven by its founding mission, the Y has served as a leading nonprofit committed to strengthening community for more than 175 years. The Y empowers everyone, no matter who they are or where theyre from, by ensuring access to resources, relationships, and opportunities for all to learn, grow and thrive. By bringing together people from different backgrounds, perspectives and generations, the Ys goal is to improve overall health and well-being, ignite youth empowerment and demonstrate the importance of connections in and across 10,000 communities nationwide. Learn more at ymca.org. About MissionSquare Foundation The MissionSquare Foundation, launched in 2022 through an initial $20 million grant from MissionSquare Retirement, seeks to make a meaningful impact in our communities by focusing on the long-term well-being of youth. Our core initiatives focus on civic mindedness, financial capabilities, critical thinking and leadership development skills. We believe that cultivating these lifelong skills in our next generation supports strong, sustainable and thriving communities. If you would like to know more about the Orthopaedic & Neurological Rehabilitation and EmpowerMe Wellness lawsuit, please contact Attorney Jackland Hom today by calling (619) 255-9047. The Northern California labor law attorneys at Zakay Law Group, APLC and JCL Law Firm, APC, filed a class action complaint against Orthopaedic and Neurological Rehabilitation, Speech Pathology, Inc., Orthopaedic and Neurological Rehabilitation, Inc., and EmpowerMe Wellness, LLC (hereinafter, collectively, "Orthopaedic & Neurological Rehabilitation and EmpowerMe Wellness") for allegedly failing to provide meal and rest breaks. The class action lawsuit, Case No. 23CV033481, is currently pending in the Alameda County Superior Court of the State of California. A copy of the Complaint can be read here. According to the lawsuit, Orthopaedic & Neurological Rehabilitation and EmpowerMe Wellness allegedly violated California Labor Code Sections 201, 202, 203, 204, 210, 226, 226.7, 246, 510, 512, 558, 1194, 1197, 1197.1, 1198 and 2802 by failing to: (1) pay minimum wages; (2) pay overtime wages; (3) provide required meal and rest periods; (4) provide accurate itemized wage statements; (5) provide wages when due; (6) reimburse for required business expenses; and (7) provide sick pay. As a result of their rigorous work schedules, Orthopaedic & Neurological Rehabilitation's and EmpowerMe Wellness's employees were allegedly unable to take off duty meal breaks and were not fully relieved of duty for meal periods. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges employees were from time to time interrupted during their off-duty meal breaks to complete tasks for Orthopaedic & Neurological Rehabilitation and EmpowerMe Wellness. Employees were allegedly required to perform work as ordered by Orthopaedic & Neurological Rehabilitation and EmpowerMe Wellness for more than five (5) hours during a shift without receiving an off-duty meal break. Further, the lawsuit alleges Orthopaedic & Neurological Rehabilitation and EmpowerMe Wellness failed to provide employees with a second off-duty meal period each workday in which these employees were required by Orthopaedic & Neurological Rehabilitation and EmpowerMe Wellness to work ten (10) hours of work. Orthopaedic & Neurological Rehabilitation's and EmpowerMe Wellness's policy allegedly caused employees to remain on-call and on duty during what was supposed to be their off-duty meal periods. Employees therefore allegedly forfeited meal breaks without additional compensation and in accordance with Orthopaedic & Neurological Rehabilitation's and EmpowerMe Wellness's strict corporate policy and practice. If you would like to know more about the Orthopaedic & Neurological Rehabilitation and EmpowerMe Wellness lawsuit, please contact Attorney Jackland Hom today by calling (619) 255-9047. Zakay Law Group, APLC, and JCL Law Firm, APC are labor and employment law firms with offices located in California that dedicate their practices to fighting for employees who have been wronged by their employers due to unfair employment practices. Contact one of their attorneys today if you need help with workplace issues regarding wage and hour, wrongful termination, retaliation, discrimination, and harassment. -THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT (Rules Prof. Conduct, rule 7.2)- BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the parties to do their utmost to ensure the continuation of the grain agreement, which expires on July 17, UN Secretary General's Office says in a statement, Trend reports. "The United Nations is fully committed to supporting the implementation of both the Black Sea Initiative and the Memorandum of Understanding on Russian food and fertilizer exports," the UN noted. The office also noted that food exports through the maritime humanitarian corridor have dropped significantly from a peak of 4.2 million metric tonnes in October 2022 to 1.3 million metric tonnes in May, the lowest volume since the Initiative began last year. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 21. US President Joe Biden extended sanctions with respect to North Korea for a year, the relevant resolution of the President of the United States, which was distributed by the White House, Trend reports. This extension concerns the state of emergency in relation to Pyongyang, which implies the preservation of restrictions established on the basis of a number of presidential executive orders signed in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Biden attributed his decision to extend sanctions Tuesday to the risk of the proliferation of weaponsusable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula and the actions and policies of the Government of North Korea. Blythe, CA (92225) Today A mainly sunny sky. Near record high temperatures. High 119F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight A mostly clear sky. Low 84F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. The General Directorate of Drug Enforcement has apprehended an Asian man for drug trafficking in Qatar. The culprit was trafficking hashish into the country for monetary benefits in collaboration with another individual from outside of the country. The Asian man was arrested upon authorization from the Public Prosecution. Upon searching the man's residence and vehicle, a total of 12 kilograms of hashish was found rolled and packed in rolls and packages of various sizes. The culprit has been referred to the Public Prosecution to initiate the necessary legal procedures. Image source: @MOI_QatarEn Twitter page WorldTempus on Tour is back for another legendary summer edition, this time amid the sparkling waters and crystalline skies of Greece Back by popular demand, WorldTempus on Tour is back, reporting to you from the shores of Greece, where were on a quest to create the perfect summer watch content. In addition to the journalists, photographers and videographers from WorldTempus and GMT, we are also joined by the team from Diode Studio as well as members of our sister magazine Skippers, who will be sailing us around the Greek islands in a magnificent Solaris 60. So, without further ado, lets set off on this summers most epic horological adventure. Google celebrated what would've been Polish sculptor and multi-element artist Magdalena Abakanowicz's 93rd birthday on Tuesday with a Doodle. ADVERTISEMENT Abakanowicz, who was born on June 20, 1930, is the creator of the art-style using woven fiber called Abakans. Her art education began at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where she graduated from in 1954. She started off painting on canvas and then, in the 1960s, began making large, soft three dimensional sculptures. These pieces were called Abakans, based on the artist's name. In 1965, she earned the top prize at the 1965 Sio Paulo International Art Biennale for her Abakans, which launched her into fame. Google Doodle said that from the 1970s on, Abakanowicz's art was inspired by "'The Crowd' sociological phenomenon -- the idea that crowds act as a whole and individuals lose their individuality within it." Based on this, she created thousands of figures of human trunks using sack and bronze. Her most famous collection, titled Agora, features 106 iron cast figures. It can be seen at Chicago Grant Park. Abakanowicz's work has been shown in museums all over the world and she has won many awards -- including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sculpture Museum in New Jersey, the Award for Distinction in Sculpture from the Sculpture Center in New York and the Commander Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta in Poland. 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! The artist died at age 86 on April 20, 2017. Porterville, CA (93257) Today Mainly sunny. Hot. High near 105F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Low around 70F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Unraveling the Mystery: The Search for the Lost Titanic Submersible Continues (Photo : Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons) The international community is gripped by the ongoing search for the lost Titanic submersible, Nemo. After its inexplicable disappearance in the North Atlantic Ocean, teams of experts are working tirelessly to locate and retrieve it. The Nemo, a state-of-the-art submersible, was on a mission to explore the wreckage of the Titanic when it went off the grid. The last contact with the vessel was near the underwater resting place of the infamous ship. The mission had aimed to gather invaluable data about the current state of the Titanic and contribute to our understanding of the underwater ecosystem that has evolved around it. Advertisement "The disappearance is as mysterious as it is unfortunate," said Dr. Jane Smith, a marine archaeologist involved in the mission. "We're utilizing all available resources to find Nemo and bring it back safely." As the search operation unfolds, several maritime organizations have offered their assistance. The collective effort reflects the global interest in this mission and the shared hope for a positive outcome. The operation's progress is being closely monitored, with updates stirring anticipation worldwide. The submersible's disappearance has sparked discussions about the risks associated with deep-sea exploration. The incident underscores the need for robust safety measures and reliable communication systems, particularly in challenging environments such as the ocean floor. While the search continues, the team remains hopeful. "We're not giving up," said Dr. Smith. "The technology and expertise we have are beyond anything we've had in the past. If Nemo can be found, we're the ones who can do it." It won't be easy for the banking sector to better its performance every quarter, predicts Tamal Bandyopadhyay. Earlier this month, a Business Standard report mentioned a sharp slowdown in India Inc's earnings in FY23. The combined net profits of 823 non-BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) companies -- part of BSE 500, BSE Mid-cap and BSE Small Cap indices -- dropped 8.9 per cent in the year. The report cited the normalisation of corporation margins from their abnormally high level of FY22 and FY21 as the main reason for this. The banking sector, in contrast, has never had it this good. The combined net profits of 32 listed private and public-sector banks (PSBs) were up 40.56 per cent in FY23 to close to Rs 2.29 trillion. Both sets of banks crossed the Rs 1 trillion mark in recording net profits -- Rs 1.24 trillion for private banks and Rs 1.05 trillion for PSBs. Quite a few banks have recorded their highest ever net profits. The nation's largest lender, State Bank of India, is one of them. It has posted a net profit of Rs 50,232 crore (Rs 502.32 billion), the highest among all listed banks. HDFC Bank Ltd comes second with Rs 44,109 crore (Rs 441.09 billion) and ICICI Bank Ltd third with Rs 31,896 crore (Rs 318.96 billion). Three other banks have posted a net profit of at least Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion). They are Bank of Baroda (Rs 14,110 crore/Rs 141.10 billion), Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd (Rs 10,939 crore/Rs 109.39 billion) and Canara Bank (Rs 10,604 crore/Rs 106.04 billion). Barring Axis Bank Ltd, Yes Bank Ltd and Punjab National Bank, all others have recorded a rise in net profit. Axis Bank's loss is due to Rs 12,490 crore(Rs 124.90 billion) nspent on acquiring Citibank NA's consumer business in India. RBL Bank Ltd, which had posted a net loss of Rs 74.74 crore (Rs 747.4 million) last year, has bounced back to the black with Rs 882.73 crore (Rs 8.82 billion) profit. Bandhan Bank Ltd's net profit has zoomed from Rs 125.79 crore (Rs 1.25 billion) to Rs 2,195 crore (Rs 21.95 billion). However, the rise in the operating profit of the banking industry is much lower -- 16.04 per cent, to Rs 4.64 trillion. In fact, RBL Bank, Bandhan Bank, UCO Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd and DCB Bank Ltd have shown a drop in operating profits. Of course, there are others that have shown handsome growth. The list includes IDFC First Bank Ltd and Karur Vysya Bank Ltd (both have recorded over 50 per cent rise), Jammu & Kashmir Bank Ltd (39.48 per cent), Karnataka Bank Ltd (35.14 per cent) and Bank of India or BoI (34.08 per cent). At least four others -- Axis Bank, Federal Bank Ltd, Bank of Maharashtra and ICICI Bank -- have recorded 25 per cent growth in operating profits. How could the industry post record net profit while the operating profit has not grown in tandem? And, despite a drop in operating profits, how could the net profits of a few banks zoom? It's elementary, my dear reader: A sharp drop in provision for bad assets. The private banks have recorded a 32.61 per cent drop in provision and the PSBs 9.7 per cent. Among private banks, only Citi Union Bank Ltd has shown a marginal rise in provision, while BoI, among PSBs, has raised its provision kitty by a hefty 62 per cent. Four other PSBs, led by the Central Bank of India (21.79 per cent), have recorded higher provisions. This means 26 of the 32 listed banks have provided much less in FY23 as bad assets have been tamed. A drop in provision apart, hefty recovery of bad loans has contributed to the bottom line of certain banks. To be sure, the net interest income of the industry, the bedrock of a bank's income, has risen handsomely. Barring Bandhan Bank, every listed bank's net interest income has risen during the year in double digits. The highest net interest income is recorded by BoI (44.18 per cent) and five banks have recorded at least 30 per cent rise in net interest income. They are South Indian Bank (34.48 per cent), Dhanlaxmi Bank (31.31 per cent), ICICI Bank (30.89 per cent), Indian Overseas Bank or IOB (30.8 per cent) and IDFC First Bank (30.18 per cent). Overall, the listed banks' net interest income has risen close to 23 per cent in FY23, year-on-year. But the other income, which includes income from fees and treasury, has not risen for many. Six private banks and eight of the 12 PSBs have recorded a drop in the other income. The fall is the sharpest for Dhanlaxmi Bank (55.94 per cent). Meanwhile, Karur Vysya Bank (50.7 per cent), IDFC First Bank (38.64 per cent) and Central Bank of India (37.57 per cent) have seen a hefty rise. Overall, PSBs have recorded a 1.97 per cent drop in the other income, while private banks have seen it rising by 7.8 per cent. For all listed banks, the rise is 2.44 per cent. The icing on the cake is that all PSBs have shown a drop in their gross and net NPAs -- both as a percentage of loans as well as in absolute terms. However, among private banks, a few, including HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank Ltd, have shown a rise in absolute terms. Of course, as a percentage of their overall loan portfolio, like the PSBs, all private banks have shown a drop -- both in gross and net bad loans. In a few cases, the decline is very sharp. For instance, IDBI Bank's gross bad loans have dropped from 20.16 per cent to 6.38 per cent and those of Yes Bank Ltd from 13.93 per cent to 2.17 per cent. The sale of such loans to asset reconstruction companies have led to the sharp drop. The lone private bank to have more than 2 per cent net NPAs is City Union Bank Ltd (2.36 per cent), while 12 of the 20 such listed banks have less than 1 per cent of it. The comparable figure for PSBs is four. In this pack, PNB is the only bank to have more than 2 per cent net NPAs (2.72 per cent). When it comes to gross NPAs, IDBI Bank has the highest net NPAs among private banks (6.38 per cent), followed by J&K Bank (6.04 per cent) and Dhanlaxmi Bank (5.19 per cent). PNB's gross NPAs, at 8.74 per cent, are the highest among PSBs, while BoM has the lowest (2.47 per cent), followed by SBI (2.78 per cent). Eight of 12 PSBs have at least 5 per cent gross NPAs. Now, let's come to the not-so-happy part of the picture. The average growth of deposits for all listed banks has been 11.3 per cent against 17.7 per cent credit growth in FY23. While the growth in advances is comparable between PSBs and private banks, when it comes to deposits, private banks have fared better. Their deposits have grown 15.3 per cent versus PSBs' 9.26 per cent. At least one PSB -- IOB -- has recorded a drop in its deposit portfolio (-0.49 per cent), while its advance book has grown 23.44 per cent. Quite a few banks have seen their advance portfolio growing many times more than their deposit portfolio. The list of such banks includes South Indian Bank (2.82 per cent vs 16.35 per cent), Central Bank of India (4.85 per cent vs 20.7 per cent), Indian Bank (4.64 per cent vs 15.45 per cent), Punjab & Sind Bank (7.73 per cent vs 20.73 per cent), and BoI (6.64 per cent vs 15.46 per cent). Will the dream run for banks continue? S&P Global Ratings thinks so. In a recent report, the rater said the sector's profitability will stabilise at a healthy level, benefitting from higher net interest margins and lower credit costs, and the banks' asset quality will continue to improve. It also says recovery in written-off accounts is boosting the profitability of banks. At the risk of sounding like Cassandra, let me say there are challenges ahead. It won't be easy for the banking sector to put up a better performance every quarter. With a bulk of the deposits being repriced, the net interest margin, or the difference between what they pay to the depositors and earn on advances, will shrink. A rise in loan rate will lead to some cracks in the quality of retail assets. And, the pace of recovery will taper off. Not every bank will be able to continue with the stellar show. Tamal Bandyopadhyay is a consulting editor at Business Standard. You can read his earlier columns here. Micron plans an assembly testing, marking and packaging project of $1 billion, and talks are on to set up a memory chip plant for captive requirements. IMAGE: Kindly note the image has been posted only for representational purposes. Photograph: Kind courtesy Jeremy Waterhouse/Pexels.com India's ambition to become an emerging semiconductor giant is running into unanticipated problems. In March, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) officials had raised expectations that a big announcement for a fab plant would be made in a few weeks. Last fortnight, however, MeitY said it would start accepting fresh applications with an extended deadline that ends in December 2024. MeitY added that existing applicants could also re-apply -- and two consortiums, Singapore-based IGSS and Abu Dhabi-led Next Orbit Ventures, said they would do so. Indeed, 17 months since India announced the $10 billion semiconductor scheme even the publicised Vedanta-Foxconn joint venture, which was seen as a strong contender, has not received approval. This, despite signing, with much fanfare, an agreement for land with the Gujarat government. That's because it has not yet found a technology partner, a key prerequisite according to sources. Sceptics argue that the poor response to the scheme the government initially announced in January last year is the result of global chip makers from Intel to TSMC or Samsung sinking billions in semiconductor plants in US and Europe. These majors are unlikely to take a risk in India, which has scant chip-making experience and a non-existent ecosystem. Building a semiconductor ecosystem is not easy, especially from scratch, even with a generous capital subsidy that the government offered. That is why the government is recalibrating its strategy based on stakeholder feedback. For instance, officials admit that a 45-day window with details of agreements firmed up was unrealistic when it first invited applicants for a fab plant. "We realised that companies sometimes need six months to put together a proposal with clearances from the board. So we decided to have a longer deadline when we invite new players again," a senior government official explained. The government also realised that the scheme needed aggressive marketing to global semiconductor CEOs, who are being wooed by competing countries. One big step in that direction was Minister Ashwini Vaishnav's outreach in San Francisco in April where he met senior executives of leading companies Micron, Intel, Western Digital, Applied Materials and AMD. The meet was followed by a three-day symposium of IT and electronic companies where 40 global companies were invited. The upshot of this outreach, Vaishnaw said, is that India is being viewed by semiconductor majors as the next big investment destination. Analysts suggest the attraction lies in the fact that making chips in India is 30-40 per cent cheaper than competing destinations. The strategy on chip technology has also been readjusted. Recently, junior MeitY Minister Rajeev Chandraskehar tweeted that the strategy now was to initially encourage more mature nodes of 40 nanometers (which is used in the automobile industry). Earlier, the focus was on 28 nm (which Vedanta was planning to manufacture) and then push them to move down for more advanced and lower nodes. IMAGE: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw during the signing of an MoU between the India Semiconductor Mission and Purdue University for cooperation in capacity building, R&D and industry participation, May 10, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo Closed-door discussions between experts and the government suggested getting some marquee names in the semiconductor space in India to kick-start the process. The problem is that India's tryst with semiconductors coincides with changing global geopolitical realities. Major countries are now keen to be self-sufficient in semiconductors for which large financial incentives are being extended for companies to invest in specific geographies. The pandemic exposed how chip shortage could impact broad swathes of industry. So, companies such as Intel, TSMC, Global Foundries, Micron, Samsung and Texas Instruments are putting in over $200 billion collectively to build fab plants in US, France, Germany and Japan, according to analysts Jeffries. They are unlikely to venture into uncharted territory in India. The US alone accounts for over 80 per cent of the global investment in semiconductors. The subsidies, too, are enormous: The US administration is offering $53 billion through the US Chips Act, Europe is offering $45 billion and South Korea $100 billion till 2030. Clearly India's share of subsidy looks pretty small. And these countries have robust ecosystems for chip making. India has made some headway. For instance, Micron plans an assembly testing, marking and packaging (ATMP) project of $1 billion, and talks are on to set up a memory chip plant for captive requirements. An announcement is expected soon, MeitY sources said. India hopes to leverage the potential of a high-growth chip market that is estimated to hit $64 billion by 2030, from $25 billion-$27 billion currently, according to IESA. But experts said local sourcing (purchase orders generated in India) accounts for just 10 per cent of the market. Most global consumers -- mobile device makers and consumer electronics giants -- tend to procure globally. Said Satya Gupta, former chairman of IESA: "At best, with the government's effort local sourcing can be increased to 20 or 25 per cent. But for this we need home-grown product companies in mobiles, consumer electronics, automobiles and white goods, which will locally source chips." The growth of local sourcing from global IDM and fabless players like Qualcomm or MediaTek, Gupta added, will incentivise them to manufacture their chips in Indian foundries or ATMP units provided they get good quality and better pricing. Until then, despite the promise of a large domestic market, the only viable option for fab companies would be to export. Given these formidable challenges, the government's big bang announcement to announce India's entry in semiconductors, therefore, will be awaited with anticipation. Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com Market concentration in the countrys telecom sector continues to scale new heights despite government bailouts of public-sector Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), and private-sector Vodafone Idea. The combined revenue (or net sales) share of the countrys top two telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio in the sectors total reached an all-time high of nearly 72 per cent in FY23 from 70.4 per cent in FY22 and around 60 per cent in FY20. The net sales of Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel India were Rs 1.67 trillion in FY23, up 18.6 per cent from the Rs 1.4 trillion a year earlier. In the same period, the industrys net sales were up 16.2 per cent to Rs 2.32 trillion from around Rs 2 trillion in FY22. A decade ago, in FY13, the big two operators then Bharti Airtel and Vodafone India accounted for 36.4 per cent of the market with combined net sales of Rs 82,000 crore. Vodafone Idea, which merged with Idea Cellular in 2018, was the second-biggest operator in terms of revenue till FY19. It was overtaken in FY19 by Reliance Jio, which has since become the largest, ahead of Bharti Airtel. Bharti Airtel was the leader for nearly 15 years till FY18. Reliance Jio reported net sales of Rs 90,800 crore in FY23 against Bharti Airtels around Rs 76,000 crore. Profit concentration in the industry is even higher with only the top two operators being profitable now. The steady increase in the market share of the top two players and the exits of many after the entry of Reliance Jio in 2017 have resulted in a swift rise in the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) for the industry (this measures market concentration). The HHI increased to an all-time high of 3,004 in FY23, up from 2,948 a year earlier and 2,430 in FY18. (See charts). An industry with a score of 2,500 or above is believed to be highly concentrated while one with 1,500-2,500 is considered moderate in concentration. A score of less than 1,500 is said to be competitive. The scores are calculated using the revenues of all players in an industry or market. A score can range from close to zero to 10,000, which is a monopoly level. Conversely, the HHI approaches zero if an industry has many players, with each having a minuscule share. The United States Justice Department uses the HHI to evaluate mergers and acquisitions and their impact on competition. As a general rule, mergers that increase the HHI by more than 200 points in highly concentrated markets raise antitrust concerns. For comparison, the HHI in Indias telecom industry is up by 1,400 points since FY16. The data suggests competitive intensity in the telecom sector was fairly stable from FY09 to FY16 with Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, and BSNL accounting for around 44 per cent of the industrys revenues, on average, during the period. Together with the third-biggest operators during the period, Idea Cellular or BSNL, the big three accounted for around 60 per cent of revenues, on average, during the period. This affected competitive intensity during the period. The industrys HHI remained close to the competitive zone and it ranged from a low of 1,584 to a high of 1,672 with an average of 1,627. Competitive intensity began to decline from FY17 with a steady rise in the revenue share of the top two players. Their share increased from 44.6 per cent in FY16 to nearly 72 per cent last financial year. The revenue share of the top three operators increased from 60.4 per cent in FY16 to 90.1 per cent last financial year. Consolidation has resulted in a slow death of most of the small operators in the private sector. The number of operators has declined from 11 in FY16 to five now. In Karnataka, the BJP lost the elections because of multiple poles of power, a problem the central leadership could not sort out in time. Could the same happen to the Congress in Rajasthan? asks Aditi Phadnis. IMAGE: Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal, flanked by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and senior party leader Sachin Pilot, addresses the media outside party President Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in New Delhi, May 29, 2023. Photograph: Ayush Sharma/ANI Photo Following a four-hour meeting on May 29 at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in New Delhi, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his one-time deputy, Sachin Pilot walked to the gate for a photograph together. The last time they were seen together was during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, when they had called a temporary truce as the Yatra passed through Rajasthan. The picture that was clicked is a comment for posterity on the state of play between the two leaders. It shows Mr Pilot, lips pursed, arms crossed over his chest as Mr Gehlot grimaces into the camera in a parody of a smile. Party General Secretary K C Venugopal appears grim and watchful as he stands between them. The message the picture sends is: Together, but separate. This is entirely of a piece with the reality on the ground. Barely 10 days before the picture was taken, ahead of a review meeting in Ajmer of the party's poll preparations, supporters of the two stalwarts clashed publicly, raising slogans against each other's leaders, after which the police had to be called to break up the fight. But exactly seven days after the photo appeared, Mr Pilot, addressing a meeting of Congress workers in Tonk, said: 'Corruption and the future of the youth -- on these two issues it is not possible for me to make any compromise ... The Congress has always been against corruption and in favour of the youth. So I feel action should be taken against the allegations of corruption and the youth should be given justice.' There is hardly any doubt as to the identity of the 'youth' he wanted justice for. Mr Gehlot was quick to offer a riposte. 'I remember the words of Sonia Gandhiji, who at the Congress convention had asked party workers to have patience and they would get to serve the party in some way,' he said. 'I keep this in my heart and tell all partymen to have patience. They would get the opportunity to serve the party in some way. So, I call for patience, patience, patience.' How did it come to this? The 2013 assembly elections saw the comprehensive defeat of the Gehlot government at the hands of the BJP, bringing Vasundhara Raje to power. The Congress could manage just 21 seats, its lowest tally in history. The BJP posted a stupendous result, 163 seats, its highest ever. In 2014, in a bid to revive morale, Mr Pilot was made party chief of the state unit. He led the 2018 election campaign, which led to a Congress victory. His reward was deputy chief ministership. He may have felt he deserved more. His supporters got that chance in 2020, when, sensing he might get some assurance from the BJP, Mr Pilot and his supporters sequestered themselves in Manesar, demanding a change of chief minister. That challenge was defused, but it came up again when Mr Gehlot was offered presidentship of the Congress -- but only if he gave up the chief ministership. This was made clear by Rahul Gandhi at the Congress's Chintan Shivir in Udaipur. Mr Gehlot opted out of the presidential contest when his supporters hit the streets, demanding he be retained as chief minister. Action was promised against some individuals by the high command, but was never taken. And most of Mr Pilot's supporters in the government were dropped. Mr Gehlot says Mr Pilot will never get his job in his (Mr Gehlot's) lifetime, for he is a 'gaddar': He was ready to cross over to the BJP. Mr Pilot says it is time for a generational leadership shift. His supporters keep reminding him that time is running out. Mr Pilot and his faction reckon he was the one that brought the Congress to power. This group resents Mr Gehlot's somewhat authoritarian tendencies and is in no mood to retreat. In Karnataka, the BJP lost the elections because of multiple poles of power, a problem the central leadership could not sort out in time. Could the same happen to the Congress in Rajasthan? When he launched his 'agitation' against Mr Gehlot, Mr Pilot put forth three demands: The disbanding of Rajasthan's Public Service Commission and its reconstitution; compensation for those affected by paper leaks in government-job exams; and a high-level probe into charges of corruption he had levelled against the previous BJP government, including against former chief minister Vasundhara Raje. The state government has not taken action on any of these so far. Instead, Mr Gehlot has launched a publicity blitz about all the welfare measures his government has taken. More are in the offing. And so, the chances of another dust-up cannot be ruled out. If, as is being speculated, Mr Pilot launches his own separate party (he has denied any such plan), the outcome could be unpredictable. But it is safe to say that the ultimate, biggest loser will be the Congress. 'The State uses identity politics as part of divide and rule; the militant groups too use identity politics and civil society groups are also divided along ethnic groups.' IMAGE: Security personnel stand guard during a protest over the killing of nine civilians at Konung Mamang in Imphal, June 15, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo Manipur is burning. The violence that started on the 3rd of May continues, perhaps more aggressively. Is there no solution to what Manipur is suffering from? Nandita Haksar, activist and lawyer, who has fought human rights violations in Manipur from the 1980s, analyses the situation in the North East state in this e-mail interview with Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier. To some, the violent situation in Manipur is a reaction to the illegal migrants from Myanmar. To some others, it is a fight based on religious lines. It is also said to be a fight between the majority Meiteis living in the valley and the tribals from the hills. As someone who has been involved in Manipur from the 1980s, how do you see the current situation? There are many factors that have led to this violent events in Manipur: Historical, geographical and political. Obviously, I cannot give the details of each, but let me briefly touch upon each: Geographical: Manipur joined the Indian Union in 1949, but become a full-fledged state only in 1972; between 1949 and 1972 Manipur remained a Union Territory. It is bounded by Nagaland to the north, Mizoram in the south and Assam in the west. It has approximately a 400 km long border with two regions of Myanmar -- Sagaing to the east and Chin state to the south. It is the gateway to Southeast Asia and crucial for India's Look East Policy. The international border between India and Burma by the British cuts across many communities, but the ties across the border have remained live. The frequent military coups and influx of the refugees fleeing from persecution has been constant in Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur. This time, after the February 2021 coup, many people from Myanmar have taken refuge in our country. It is true that some of these refugees have settled in India, but the fear of the 'outsiders' and the cry against 'illegal migrants' is being propagated by vested interests. Immediately, there is no danger of the citizens in Manipur becoming a minority because of the influx. However, the Government of India should allow the state governments to register these people as refugees and provide basic humanitarian aid. This registration would protect the local citizens and also allow for a humanitarian approach to the refugees coming to our country. Historical: Before the communities were converted to Vaishnavism and Christianity, there were more equal relations between the two. The conversion to Vaishnavism also brought with it caste and concepts of purity and pollution. This has historically caused resentment. But there has been a movement among the Meiteis to convert back to their pre-Hindu religion, Sanamahi. The two most aggressive groups in the current violence, the Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun, are Sanamahi and not Hindu. Political: The geographical and historical factors are manipulated for political purpose and in Manipur, it has been done since the 1980s. In order to deal with the Naga insurgency, the Government of India had raised Kuki commandos which were operating like militias. These were absorbed into the Assam Rifles and now we see their role in the present violence. There have been Naga-Kuki clashes in the 1990s, and both are Christian and both are hill people. So we see that religion can be used, but is not the major factor. It is the political manipulation of religion, history and culture. In one word, it is identity politics which is largely responsible for the situation. There is no space where the communities can come together as 'Manipuris', and so there is no question of having conversations across the communities. It would require a great deal of statesmanship and commitment to build such a space. Unfortunately, this would not be possible because of the 35 plus armed groups operating in the state. IMAGE: A view of the charred and damaged remains of the official residence of Manipur Minister Nemcha Kipgen after it was burned down by mobs in Imphal, June 16, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo Various Christian organisations have raised concern over the number of churches that were attacked in the violence. Is the conflict between Hindus and Christians? The violence is not primarily a 'Hindu' versus 'Christian' and the Meitei Sanamahi are the most aggressive by all reports. But the BJP while denying that it is a Christian-Hindu clash has, by its policies tried hard to turn it into one. Again, I will say majoritarianism has also fuelled minority communalism. And the missionaries have also been involved in aggressive proselytising in the valley. Do you think those who live in the hills, the Kukis, do not trust the state government anymore? What is the reason behind this distrust and suspicion? I think Kuki (and Naga) political leaders have been opportunist in joining the BJP even though they did not fully understand its ideology or its history. Now they have seen that merely joining the party would not mean that their interests would be looked after or respected. In any case, the Kuki group of tribes had joined hands with the Naga tribes to oppose the Meiteis's demand for being declared a Scheduled Tribe. The tribals have, for long said that they have been economically discriminated against and politically dominated by the valley people. So, this distrust and suspicion has been confirmed by the latest violence, and the way the state government and the BJP have handled the situation. IMAGE: People in large numbers take part in a torchlight vigil in response to the ongoing violence in Manipur in Bishnupur, June 17, 2023. Photograph: PTI Photo You had written in an article, 'Even the human rights movement was soon divided along communal lines, with each community focusing on specific violations rather than uniting to fight as one. In all these cases, the activists from New Delhi added to the divisions rather than bringing people together.' Can you please elaborate on this? The human rights movement in post-Independence India started after the Emergency in 1975. There was the People's Union of Civil Liberties and then there were state-level human rights organisations. Both the organisations took up cases of State violence. However, at the time, in the 1970s they were not willing to take up human rights abuses committed by the Indian armed forces. We were also not aware of the situation in the North East. It was this reason that the Nagas formed their own human rights group, the Naga People's Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) and the Mizos too had formed a group. Then the Sikhs formed their own and human rights movement got split down ethnic lines. In Manipur the NPMHR took up human rights violations of the Nagas, while the Meitei human rights groups focused on the human rights violations in the falley. It did not occur to the Naga and Meitwei human rights groups to come together to fight the armed forces. They ran parallel campaigns. Then came Irom Sharmila and her fast in support of the demand for repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. For the Delhi (and other Indian activists) Irom Sharmila was an icon of non-violence. But she had never condemned armed resistance and besides she was supported by the Meitei armed groups. The Delhi groups turned the campaign into a save Irom Sharmila instead of repeal AFSPA. IMAGE: Manipuris participate in a candlelight vigil demanding peace and to raise concern over the current conflict in Manipur at Mukundapur in Kolkata, June 17, 2023. Photograph: PTI Photo Do the tribals in the hills feel neglected by various state governments? Yes, of course. You have to just visit Manipur and see the infrastructure. The life of the tribals is so much harsher because of the terrain and also because of lack of roads, transport, housing, educational institutions and medical facilities. In the past, it was part of the counter insurgency policy and not develop insurgency prone areas. Manipur has become one of the poorest states in India. This was not true when it joined the Indian State. IMAGE: Nandita Haksar IMAGE: Nandita Haksar The Kukis are demanding a separate Hill Council. When I interviewed Professor Nabakumar, he said dividing a state on ethnic lines would set a bad precedent. What do you say? I feel strongly that identity politics is destroying the country. The State uses identity politics as part of divide and rule; the militant groups too use identity politics and civil society groups are also divided along ethnic groups. However, if the Meiteis do not want a division of Manipur, they must initiate the process of confidence building. It will be very difficult because there are few traditions and historical precedence, and with this latest violence, there is almost no way that a new politics could emerge which could bring all communities together. Intelligence agencies have played a big role as well in creating divisions. Who can douse the fire that is burning Manipur? A very mature politically committed group of men and women can; who have a political vision which is genuinely inclusive and their integrity is unquestionable. I do not know of any such group as of now. But knowing Manipur, I believe it can emerge. Otherwise everyone will lose. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com Asserting that peace and tranquillity in the border areas are essential for normal bilateral ties with China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India has a core belief in respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity and was fully prepared and committed to protecting its sovereignty and dignity. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photograph: ANI Photo In an interview with The Wall Street Journal ahead of his first state visit to the United States, Modi also talked about the Ukraine conflict, saying some people say that India is neutral but it is on the side of peace. Disputes should be resolved with 'diplomacy and dialogue', not war, the prime minister said and added that 'some people say that we are neutral. But we are not neutral. We are on the side of peace'. "All countries should respect international law and the sovereignty of countries," he said. Referring to the criticism of India's stance on Russia over that country's conflict with Ukraine, Modi said, "I don't think this type of perception is widespread in the US." "I think India's position is well known and well understood in the entire world. The world has full confidence that India's topmost priority is peace," he said. On the India-China relationship, Modi said that for normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquility in the border areas are essential. "We have a core belief in respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, observing the rule of law and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. At the same time, India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity," he said. The Indian and Chinese troops are locked in an over three-year confrontation in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh even as the two sides completed disengagement from several areas following extensive diplomatic and military talks. The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted in May of 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area. India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas. Arrested Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji will undergo an open-heart surgery at a private hospital in Chennai on June 21, Health Minister Ma Subramanian said on Tuesday, a week after the beleaguered DMK leader was advised a bypass surgery. IMAGE: Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji being taken to a private hospital in Chennai. Photograph: ANI on Twitter The surgery will be performed early on Wednesday, Subramanian told reporters in Chennai. "Since the surgery has to be mandatorily performed on Senthil Balaji it will be done tomorrow," he said. "We are in touch with hospital administration they are going to do open-heart surgery early morning tomorrow," Subramanian added. Balaj was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a cash-for-jobs scam last week. He was initially admitted to a government hospital after he complained of chest pain but was shifted to the private facility following a court order. The government hospital had on June 14 said Balaji had then undergone a coronory angiogram which had revealed "triple vessel disease" and advised coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery at the 'earliest.' On Tuesday, Subramanian said his colleague was not aware of the "critical blocks" before they were diagnosed last week by the government doctors. His family doctor as well medical experts from the ESI Hospital, referred to by the ED, endorsed it and said the surgery was required, he added. "Now the doctors (at Kauvery Hospital) are ready for the surgery," he said. Earlier, certain medicines that Balaji was prescribed earlier had to be stopped and only "5-6 days" from then could the surgery be done, the health minister said. Research Fellow and Director at Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia Aparna Pande, said that Beijing and Moscow will be keenly watching Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States. IMAGE: The Indian American diaspora holds unity rally ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States, in Washington, DC on Monday. Photograph: ANI Photo While talking about the global powers who will be watching the visit, she said, "This state visit will be watched by Beijing because China has always been concerned that the closer India gets to the United States, the more it moves away from non-alignment. It not only gets economic investment and technology but it is going to get defence equipment like the predator drones which for example India is using... and can use in the maritime area." The second capital that will be watching it is Moscow, she added, 'because traditionally India's largest supplier of defence equipment has been Russia but American equipment is high-end and high-technology and so Russia will be concerned that the more India purchases American equipment, the less likely it will in the future purchase Russian equipment.' "Third, I would say the capitals in the region will be watching whether it's Islamabad, Dhaka, Kathmandu, or Columbo because from their point of view, the closer India gets to the US, it has the impact on their relationship with the US," she further said. Aparna said, "Symbolically, it is important for President Biden because the Biden administration has placed a strategic bet on India that India's rise is good for American national interest." It's important for PM Modi to show that he has received an official state visit and that he will be meeting President Biden about three times this year; Hiroshima, DC, and Delhi for G20 meet, she said. "For an Indian leader to show that the president of only power, as of now, the only superpower in the world values the relationship with India matters a lot," Aparna said. Aparna talked emphasized the India-US relationship and said, "It is important because the India-US economic relationship has grown to about USD 190 billion and they will like to take it to USD 500 billion. The defence partnership has grown with a defence industrial roadmap and India's purchase of the predator drone as well as the GE jet engine and the third is the very strong people-to-people relationship." Indian diaspora which is in New York City is going to be there on Wednesday to welcome everybody on the south lawn on Friday. It shows the strength of people to people dimension which has normally been the strongest element of this partnership..., she said. India and US are working on the Indo-Pacific strategy, its economic forum, Quad, and middle eastern Quad. COVID-19 is on the verge of becoming endemic but Indian scientists are keeping a close watch on each new variant and the government would continue to maintain a high alert, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said, underlining that the virus has managed to survive and is going to stay. IMAGE: A health worker takes a swab sample of a woman for COVID-19 test in Mumbai. Photograph: ANI Photo In an exclusive video interview with PTI, the minister said the situation is stable now after more than three years of one of the worst pandemics to hit the world but all necessary measures would remain in place to guard against any variant that can prove to be deadly. The deadly virus was first detected in China in late 2019 while the first case in India was reported in late January 2020. Since then, close to 4.5 crore positive cases have been reported in India and more than five lakh have died during multiple waves. However, the caseload has declined significantly in recent months and the number of active cases now stands at just about 1,800 with close to 99 per cent overall recovery rate and about 1 per cent fatality rate. Only 36 new cases were reported on Tuesday, the lowest since March 2020 and miniscule in comparison to a record of over four lakh new cases reported in a day at the peak of the pandemic in May 2021 and again more than three lakh in January 2022. Also, more than 220 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administered in India with about 90 per cent of India's eligible population fully vaccinated. "Covid is on the verge of entering the endemic stage (endemic ki kagaar pe hai) but our team of scientists at ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) is keeping a close watch on each variant of Covid. Till now, more than 224 variants of Covid have been noticed in the country, continuous genome sequencing is being done for each variant," he said. The minister said whenever a new variant is found, it is isolated and then tested for effectiveness of the vaccine and it is also measured how deadly it is. "All of this is a continuous process and we keep closely tracking it so that we can guard against and be prepared against any variant in the future that can cause any destruction. The situation is stable as of now across the world and, keeping the future in mind, we are alert. But I would say that it is a virus and this virus is never going to go away as it has managed to survive. "Just like (the) influenza virus has survived somehow and whenever a new variant comes, people experience cough, fever, etc, but does not harm the people much, something similar will happen with Covid and largely that has happened now," the minister said. According to experts, a disease is called endemic when its presence becomes constant, based on established patterns, in a population within a particular geographical area, as is the case with seasonal influenza. Globally, more than 76 crore confirmed COVID-19 cases and nearly 69 lakh deaths have been reported so far while 1,340 crore vaccine doses have been administered. The cases saw their biggest spike in December 2022, nearly a year after the earlier peak of January 2022. However, in terms of deaths, the worst period was January 2021 and the situation remained worrisome for almost a year. The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced last month that Covid was now 'an established and ongoing health issue which no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)' but stopped short of declaring it an endemic. Recounting the fight against the pandemic, Mandaviya, who took charge of the health ministry in the middle of the coronavirus crisis in July 2021, said Covid management was a big challenge for a vast and diverse country like India, but its success story has now become an example for the entire world. He also holds the charge of the pharmaceutical department as Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers, which he has held for much longer. He also dismissed suggestions that approvals for vaccines were rushed without taking into account long-term side effects and that the recent spate of heart attacks was linked to it, saying the entire process from vaccine research to its administration followed all established international standards. He said vaccine development and approvals used to take much longer earlier due to various physical and manual processes but the authorities and scientists made full use of the latest technology, including artificial intelligence, this time and, therefore, the entire process could be fast-tracked. Mandaviya, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader from Gujarat known to enjoy the trust of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for long, said, "Let me tell you that PM Modi followed scientific ways for all procedures from the very beginning, from Covid management to vaccine research to approvals to the vaccination drive." "It was the PM's direction because of which INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium) and several other taskforce and empowered groups were set up for vaccine approvals and other protocols. In the entire Covid journey, we followed scientific ways to fight this pandemic. "Scientists told us when the vaccines should be approved, and the entire data and data analysis was done as per international standards. India followed the same international standards that were followed by global companies," he said. The minister said it all indeed happened very fast in India but those questioning the speed must understand why the approvals came early. "The times have changed. Earlier, data would get collected, their physical analysis would take place, and a lot of procedures would happen manually, but today we have artificial intelligence, the latest modelling methods, and digital technology, and we thought how can we speed up things by using all of these," he said. "Whatever international practice is there for vaccine research and vaccine approval, India followed the same. India's vaccines are now known as the best in the world as they not only saved India but helped save the rest of the world also. Not just one, but five Indian-researched and Indian-manufactured vaccines are in the market today. Our vaccination journey has been based on scientific data while following all scientific protocols and methods, that I can assure you," he said. China on Tuesday blocked a proposal by India and the United States at the United Nations to designate Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Sajid Mir, wanted for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, as a global terrorist. IMAGE: Mumbai terror attack handler Sajid Majeed Mir. Photograph: ANI Photo Beijing blocked the proposal that had been moved by the US and co-designated by India to blacklist Mir under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council as a global terrorist and subject him to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. In September last year, it was learnt that China had put a hold on the proposal to designate Mir at the UN. Beijing has now blocked the proposal. Mir, believed to be in his mid 40s, is one of India's most wanted terrorists and has a bounty of USD 5 million placed on his head by the US for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. In June last year, Mir was jailed for over 15 years in a terror-financing case by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan. Pakistani authorities had in the past claimed Mir had died, but Western countries remained unconvinced and demanded proof of his death. This issue became a major sticking point in FATF's assessment of Pakistan's progress on the action plan late last year. Mir is a senior member of the Pakistan-based LeT and is wanted for his involvement in the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. "Mir was LeT's operations manager for the attacks, playing a leading role in their planning, preparation, and execution, the US State Department has said. Beijing, an all-weather friend of Islamabad, has repeatedly put holds on listings to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorists under the sanctions committee of the UN Security Council. The US State Department had said that Mir has been a senior member of LeT since approximately 2001. From 2006 to 2011, Mir was in charge of LeT's external operations and planned and directed various terrorist attacks on behalf of the group. Additionally, Mir conspired to commit a terrorist attack against a newspaper and its employees in Denmark between 2008 and 2009. For his role in the Mumbai attacks, Mir was indicted in the United States in April 2011. In August 2012, the US Department of the Treasury designated Mir as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. As a result of this designation, among other consequences, all property and interests in property of Mir that are subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with Mir. "Mir is on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists List, according to information on the State Department website. Egypts Strategy for Human Rights was the focus of talks between Egyptian MPs and European Union (EU) Special Representative for Human Rights Eamon Gilmore in Brussels on Tuesday. A young couple from Naroda area in Ahmedabad, who planned to enter the United States illegally, has been held hostage in Iran by a Pakistani agent who has sought money for their release, police said. Image used only for representation. Photograph: Pixabay.com A process was on to register a first information report (FIR) in this connection at Krushnanagar Police Station in Naroda area and the Ahmedabad city crime branch has started an investigation into the matter, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Chaitanya Mandlik said on Monday. Since the incident has taken place outside the country, the crime branch will approach the Indian Embassy in Iran with all details to secure the release of the couple, identified as Pankaj Patel and his wife Nisha Patel, both aged 29, the official said. As per details shared with Krushnanagar police by the couple's family, the two wanted to enter the US illegally and came in contact with a Hyderabad-based agent who arranged for their air tickets. As per the agent's plan, the couple was supposed to land at Tehran in Iran and then proceed further as per instructions, police said. However, after they landed at Tehran airport a few days ago, a Pakistani agent took them to a hotel and held them hostage for ransom, officials said. The Pakistani agent and his accomplices thrashed Pankaj Patel and sent a video to his kin and sought a huge amount of money to release the couple, they added. The second cyber attack on AIIMS took place just last fortnight, but the hospital's cyber security systems were able to successfully thwart this attempt. IMAGE: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. Photograph: PTI Photo After facing two cyber attacks in the last eight months, the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in New Delhi is expediting 'complete revamp' of its IT infrastructure with special emphasis on "improving legacy network and security operations centre", according to official documents reviewed by Business Standard. Asked about information about this 'complete revamp', the institute is planning, an AIIMS spokesperson said the "details are still under finalisation". AIIMS has been using a dashboard, developed in-house, to show information about real-time emergency beds availability. 'After the recent (November 23, 2022) cyber incident, NIC (the National Informatics Centre) has been requested to develop the dashboard in eHospital,' the documents noted. The eHospital portal is an online registration and hospital management system being used by 1,138 hospitals, including AIIMS in New Delhi. The first cyber attack on AIIMS took place on November 23 last year when files on the NIC's eHospital were found to be encrypted. A message was found on the server suggesting that it was a 'ransomware attack'. This incident affected the hospital's operations for two weeks. The second cyber attack on AIIMS took place just last fortnight, but the hospital's cyber security systems were able to successfully thwart this attempt. 'The eHospital services remain to be fully secure and are functioning normally,' AIIMS had stated on June 6. As per official documents, the November 23 incident was the first time that AIIMS came under a cyber attack. 'Such a cyber security incident happened at AIIMS, New Delhi, for the first time. The older network was unmanaged and its upgradation was already being worked upon. Old computers (were) not getting operating system updates and are now getting replaced,' they mentioned. "After taking the immediate measures, cyber security is being further strengthened in coordination with the agencies concerned. 'A complete revamp of the IT infrastructure, which is in the pipeline, is being expedited with emphasis on improving legacy network and security operations centre,' the documents noted. The copies of data are now protected in different servers for the continuity of business activity. 'This was done by putting in place enhanced security features which could be implemented immediately like endpoint hardening, strong firewall policies and network segmentation, etc, with the help of CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) and other agencies,' the documents stated. When the first cyber incident took place at 7 am on November 23, the systems were immediately disconnected and put offline to prevent further spread of the infection. 'The CERT-In was informed about this cyber incident and an FIR dated November 24, 2023, was registered with the special cell of the Delhi police. Six infected physical servers were seized by the Delhi police's special cell for their investigation,' the documents said. All the data for eHospital, they noted, was retrieved from a backup server which was unaffected and restored on new servers. 'Most functions of the eHospital application like patient registration, appointment, admission, registration, etc were restored after two weeks of the incident,' the documents added. In this interim two-week period, the hospital services were provided in offline/manual mode. Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com Ill-health forced Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to cancel his scheduled visit to Chennai on Tuesday, where he was invited by his Tamil Nadu counterpart MK Stalin, a key aide of the Janata Dal-United leader said. IMAGE: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav. Photograph: ANI on Twitter However, Tejashwi Yadav, the deputy chief minister who was also invited, has left for the southern state. The chief minister took ill. Sudden physical illness can afflict anybody. He informed the Tamil Nadu CM and other people concerned, Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary told reporters in Patna. Kumar and Yadav were invited to the inauguration of some initiatives of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu in memory of M Karunanidhi, a former chief minister and ex-president of the party, who was also the father of Stalin. Yadav has left for Chennai along with Sanjay Kumar Jha, Bihar's minister for water resources and information and public relations department. Chaudhary, who was talking to reporters at the JD-U's state headquarters, asserted that the June 23 meeting of opposition leaders which Kumar, the party's supreme leader, has convened, was a matter of pride for the state. Bihar once again finds itself at the epicentre of a political churn which will have national ramifications, said Chaudhary, who also made light of the BJP's contention that the united opposition lacked cohesiveness and would not be able to agree upon a face. The BJP should remember that it has been part of experiments in the past when different parties have come together to upstage the ruling dispensation and the leader has been chosen after attaining the objective. The same will happen this time, asserted the JD-U leader. Reacting to the BJP's repeated assertion that there was no vacancy for the prime minister's post in 2024, Chaudhary said the saffron party felt the same way in 2004 when, under the leadership of the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, it ended up tasting defeat. Let there be no doubts, a vacancy will be created at the June 23 meeting. There is a growing consensus among parties and the people that if all those who are opposed to the BJP come together, the behemoth can be bundled out for 100 seats or less, he claimed. He was also asked whether AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and BSP supremo Mayawati, both of whom claim to be opposed to the BJP but are often accused of being in cahoots by others, were approached for the meeting. Chaudhary replied: Why do you ask about those who are on their way to political oblivion? Please do focus on those who are going to come. You will realise all those who matter are joining us in the mission. Leaders of close to 20 parties have given their assent to attend the meeting. These include at least three chief ministers - Stalin, Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal and Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and president Mallikarjun Kharge will also be flying down to attend the meeting besides a number of other leaders such as Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav, Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Sitaram Yechury, D Raja and Uddhav Thackeray. Preparations are in full swing and posters of the visitors are being put up at vantage points in the city while the state guest house, where they are likely to be put up, is getting a facelift. Chaudhary also hit back at the BJP for giving a bad name to Bihar and said the party, which shared power in the state until about a year ago, would do well to study the latest NITI Aayog report. Two districts of Bihar, Gaya and Jamui, have been placed among the top five in terms of the progress made in the fields of agriculture, water resources, health and nutrition. BJP leaders in Bihar are belittling their home state to show their loyalty towards the party. The people are taking note, he said. United States President Joe Biden's second son Hunter has been charged with failing to pay federal income tax and illegally possessing a weapon. IMAGE: Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden speaks by video feed during the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US on August 20, 2020. 2020. Photograph: Democratic National Convention/Pool via Reuters However, according to a letter filed before the US district court in Delaware, Biden Jr is said to have an agreement with the justice department. Accordingly, Hunter Biden will plead guilty to misdemeanour tax offences. On the charge of illegally owning a firearm as a drug user, he is yet to reach an agreement. The news comes even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is flying to the US on a state visit, during which he will be hosted by the Bidens. The deal ends a long-running Justice Department investigation into Biden's second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden. The gun charge states that Hunter Biden possessed a handgun, a Colt Cobra 38 special, despite knowing he was a drug user for 11 days in October 2018. The count carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, but the Justice Department says Hunter Biden has reached a pretrial agreement on that charge. Full details were not immediately available. The White House had no immediate comment on the case. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his visit to the United States will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of the Indo-US partnership and asserted that together the two countries stand stronger in meeting shared global challenges. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves from New Delhi for his first official State visit to the United States, on Tuesday. Photograph: ANI Modi said this 'special invitation' from President Joseph Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for a state visit is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between the democracies. Modi emplaned for the US on Tuesday morning. He will head to Egypt from the US before returning to India. In his departure statement ahead of his visit to the US and Egypt, Modi said his discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders will provide an opportunity to consolidate bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity). 'I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community,' the prime minister said. 'I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported India's proposal in December 2014 to recognise an International Day of Yoga,' he said. Modi said he will thereafter travel to Washington, DC. The prime minister noted that President Biden and he have had the opportunity to meet several times since his last official visit to the US in September 2021. 'This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership,' Modi said. India-US ties are multifaceted with deepening engagements across sectors, he noted. The US is India's largest trade partner in goods and services, and the two countries collaborate closely in the fields of science and technology, education, health, defence and security, the prime minister said. The initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration in defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, artificial intelligence and biotech sectors, he added. 'Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific,' he said. In a tweet, Modi said that in the US, he will also get the opportunity to meet business leaders, interact with the Indian community and meet thought leaders from different walks of life. 'We seek to deepen India-USA ties in key sectors like trade, commerce, innovation, technology and other such areas,' he said. In his departure statement, Modi said his discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders will provide an opportunity to consolidate bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity. The prime minister said he will also join President Biden and the First Lady for the state banquet along with a number of dignitaries. Noting that the US Congress has always provided strong bi-partisan support to India-US ties, Modi said that during his visit, he will address a joint session of the US Congress at the invitation of the Congressional leadership. 'Strong people-to-people linkages have been instrumental in developing the trust between our countries. I look forward to meeting the vibrant Indian-American community that represents the best of our societies,' he said. 'I will also meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating our trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains,' Modi said. He expressed confidence that his visit to the US will reinforce ties between the two countries based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. 'Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges,' Modi said in his statement. On his visit to Egypt, the prime minister said, 'I will travel to Cairo from Washington D.C. at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. I am excited to pay a State Visit to a close and friendly country for the first time.' 'We had the pleasure of receiving President Sisi as the Chief Guest at our Republic Day celebrations this year. These two visits in the span of a few months is a reflection of our rapidly evolving partnership with Egypt, which was elevated to a 'Strategic Partnership' during President Sisi's visit,' he said. Modi said he looks forward to his discussions with President Sisi and senior members of the Egyptian government to 'impart further momentum to our civilisational and multi-faceted partnership'. 'I will also have the opportunity to interact with the vibrant Indian diaspora in Egypt,' he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet over two dozen thought leaders from various walks of life in New York on Tuesday. IMAGE: Indian-Americans gather to send a message of welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his state visit, in Washington, on Sunday, June 18, 2023. Photograph: PTI Photo These include Nobel laureates, economists, artists, scientists, scholars, entrepreneurs, academicians and health sector experts. Among those meeting Modi would be entrepreneur and Tesla and Twitter owner Elon Musk, astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson, Nobel laureate economist Paul Romer, author Nicholas Nassim Taleb and investor Ray Dalio. Other notable personalities are Falu Shah, Jeff Smith, Michael Froman, Daniel Russel, Elbridge Colby, Peter Agre, Stephen Klasko and Chandrika Tandon, officials said. There will be conversations to achieve better synergy, understand the developments in the US and invite people to collaborate with India among other issues on the agenda, they said. As a means to enhance people-to-people connect, Modi often meets thought leaders in the countries he visits, they noted. Modi will be in New York where he will celebrate the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community. Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. They will host Modi at a state dinner on June 22. The visit also includes an address to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. IMAGE: Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar. Photograph: ANI Photo Three days ahead of the Opposition meeting in Patna on Friday, June 23, to forge strong Opposition unity to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party in the next Lok Sabha election, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will travel to Chennai on Tuesday, June 20, to meet his Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin. Nitish will personally invite Stalin -- who also heads the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham -- for the Opposition rally, which will also mark the birth centenary of Stalin's father and the late DMK leader M Karunanidhi. Nitish will return to Patna on June 21 and monitor preparations for the Opposition meeting, which will be held at his residence. Nitish has been engaging with national and regional party leaders in recent months as part of his mission to strengthen 'Opposition unity'. He has repeatedly denied that he in contention for the prime minister's position. According to JD-U leaders close to Nitish, after the Opposition meeting in Patna, the Janata Dal-United leader is likely to be appointed convenor of the united Opposition front for the Lok Sabha election. BJP leaders in Bihar, sources say, have been asked by the party's central leadership to target Nitish constantly. The BJP and the JD-U were in an alliance till August 9, 2022, when Nitish pulled out and formed a government with the Rashtriya Janata Dal's support. After he dumped the BJP, forged a Mahagathbandhan with the RJD, Congress and other parties, Nitish has repeatedly urged all the Opposition parties to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha election together if they wanted to end the BJP's rule. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com When he stood to speak for the princes, he surprised the British when he declared, 'The breeze is blowing from east to west. It will uproot and blow off the British. It is my earnest request to my British friends to now quit India respectfully'. IMAGE: Maharaja Jey Singh, who ruled Alwar from 1892 to 1937. Photographs: Prakash Bhandari There are so many intriguing tales about the princes who ruled the Indian principalities. They not only relate to the battles that were won and lost, but are also about the good deeds of the princes and the various welfare schemes that a ruler launched during his rule. There are legends of valour, shikaars, expeditions, foreign jaunts, excellence in sports, and accounts of both eccentricities and excellence. And then too various anecdotes and kahanis focusing on the high lives of maharajas and their love for women. Maharaja Jey Singh, who ruled Alwar from 1892 to 1937, after which he was sent into exile by the British, was a man oddly caught between the two worlds. He was educated at Mayo College, Ajmer, where he learned about Indian and world history from his European teachers and was known to be an excellent orator in English and scholar. He was one of the longest-serving maharajas of his state and had many colourful and sometimes bizarre aspects to his life. He could be called the first truly patriot maharaja, who outright asked the British to pack up and leave India. This he did this much before Quit India was called by Mahatma Gandhi in August 1942. Maharaja Jey Singh was proud of his ancestors who belonged to the solar dynasty -- suryavanshis that claimed direct descent from Kush, the second son of Lord Ram. Though he was a prince of a small principality, he served as the chancellor of the Chamber of Princes of India, the apex body of the Indian rulers. He represented the Indian princes at two of the three Round Table Conferences in London starting in 1930, organised by the British between Indian leaders and British administrators to bring about peaceful reform. At the second conference in September 1931, the British expected him to oppose the Indian leaders -- the Congress, represented by Mahatma Gandhi, the Liberals by Tej Narayan Sapru and Mohammed Ali Jinnah for the Muslim League -- but he did not. Instead, when he stood to speak for the princes, he surprised the British when he declared, 'The breeze is blowing from east to west. It will uproot and blow off the British. It is my earnest request to my British friends to now quit India respectfully'. Sixteen Indian rulers, including Maharaja Jey Singh, were invited to the Round Table Conference in London. On receipt of the invitation, Jey Singh wrote back that as he was from the family of Lord Ram, he would not meet people who were anti-Hinduism or shake hands with them without gloves. King George V was annoyed when he heard about Jey Singh's reply to the invitation. British officials were critical of the Alwar maharaja and warned him to mend his ways. At one of the banquets hosted by the British monarch, probably on the occasion of the first conference, the maharaja defied all advice and appeared in snow white gloves and only shook hands with the other dignitaries wearing the gloves which were specially tailored for him. Another version recounts that when he went to shake hands with King George V, he took off his gloves so swiftly and shook hands with the monarch so fast, nobody from the large gathering noticed the brief unrobing of his hands. There is another curious story connected to Jey Singh's encounters with the British. Once when Lord Willingdon, viceroy of India from 1931 to 1936, was at Simla, the summer capital of the British Raj, the ruler of Alwar also happened to be in town. Jey Singh was invited for a banquet at the Viceregal Lodge. At the banquet he was seated beside the viceroy's wife. Lady Willingdon at the pre-banquet meeting had lavished attention on the dog in her arms. As the banquet began, the dog jumped out of the arms of the lady in waiting caring for it, reached the banquet table and found her way to Lady Willingdon's feet, which she began licking joyfully. The dog then began kissing the maharaja's feet. Jey Singh did not like being touched by a dog while eating; it went against his beliefs. The maharaja leapt out of his seat and marched out of the dinner. Jey Singh went back to his quarters for a quick bath and returned wearing fresh clothes and, apologising for his absence, took his seat at the banquet table. The cumulative effect of all this was exile. The British began to find fault in his administration and he was eventually exiled from Alwar. In exile, he lived in Paris with his wife and died after he fell from the stairs. Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Sunny to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Sunny to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. The Egyptian Cabinet granted Golden Licences to five projects with total investments of EGP 10.2 billion ($329.34 million) during a meeting on Wednesday, according to a cabinet statement. To the editor: What is Vermont doing wrong? That was just one question I had, reading Lt. Governor David Zuckermans opinion piece on June 14. Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman: Houselessness, the canary in the coalmine of our morals and economic system Before the pandemic, 1,200 to 1,400 Vermonters experienced houselessness on any given night. Zuckermans opinion was aimed at Governor Phil Scott to extend the hotel homelessness program. (Officially called the transitional housing program). I certainly agree that needs to be done by the General Assembly and Governor Scott. However, Zuckermans piece does two things. First, he glosses over an alarming statistic, and second, he throws a state agency (Vermonts Agency of Human Resources under the bus) The Lt. Governor writes that Vermont has the second highest homeless rate in the country. I know he is referring to a per capita measurement, but its still staggering when you consider this state is the second smallest in the country in total population. How does that happen? Mr. Zuckerman knows why. A big reason for the high homeless rate is the Vermont Legislature repeatedly hitting taxpayers to fund programs. Low-income families take the biggest hit. While its never apples to apples comparing state to state one can use two criteria. First, the overall tax burden and second, the cost of living. Vermont has two of the highest in the country. Who pays the price? Middle and low-income families. Especially low-income families who depend on the transitional housing program. The Vermont tax burden has three elements. Income tax, property tax and sales tax. Vermont ranks fourth in the country when it comes to the overall tax burden residents get hit with, ahead of such states as California, Texas, and Massachusetts. The other measuring stick is the cost of living. It used to be you could look at Vermonts tax burden and say, ...well, we have a higher tax burden, but we dont have to pay as much for car insurance, or our gas is cheaper... etc. Not anymore. Vermont is ranked 10th in the country in cost of living ahead of states such as Texas, Minnesota, and New Jersey. But instead of tackling the high tax burden and high cost of living, state representatives continue to drop a bucket in the taxpayer well, which hits middle to low-income families the hardest. In the same opinion piece, the Lt. Governor throws the Agency of Human Services under the bus in the transitional housing program, questioning the lack of planning while the Agency of Human Services develops a last minute and inadequate plan to ease the temporary homeless situation. The end of this program has always had a deadline, a deadline that, fortunately, was extended multiple times. However, it appears as long as the money was coming through the federal pipeline, any thought of a plan when the pipeline stopped didnt seem to exist - from the legislature, state agencies, and the Governors office. Not exactly a confidence booster in the abilities to lead from Lt. Governor Zuckerman, who characterizes the Department of Human Services as a last minute inadequate plan. One state agency cant be the only responsible party. The Governors office (including both Governor Scott and Lt. Governor Zuckerman), along with the state Legislature, bear the burden of responsibility. Its as if they had blinders on rather than plan with a purpose. Now, they are now wringing their hands, caught unprepared, when its their fault they are unprepared. That is what deadlines are. This program always had a deadline, and they had a long window to come up with a plan, but didnt. I strongly think, based on the current situation, further extending the program is absolutely necessary, but what is needed is a permanent plan. To read quotes from individual state representatives who suddenly need to vote their conscience to continue the program indicates a lack of knowledge and preparation as a state representative. It makes them look as if they had no idea until now that the federal funding was ending. Its as if this deadline for those representatives suddenly came out of nowhere. While its noble to say they will vote their conscious they have a job, and that job was to come up with a permanent plan, and they didnt. That is just bad legislative management. Not having a plan with a deadline looming, is why the ACLU calls it a betrayal to those who rely on the program. I totally agree. Chip Carter Guilford, June 15 News International Death toll rises six in Nepal floods and landslides Qabil Ashirov Signing a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and opening the Zangazur corridor will be the final nail in the coffin of the Iranian long-dead Caucasian policy. Being aware that it will deprive Iran of leverages over the region, the mullah regime makes up fabrications to cow Armenia not to sign the agreement and open the corridor. There is no single day that Iranian mass media do not publish ridiculous articles or news about the so-called side effects of the Zangazur corridor on Armenia. The last such opprobrium was published in Parstoday. In his comment on the issue, Mohammad Ismail Alikhani, former representative of Iran to the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) allegedly claimed that ostensibly the Zangazur corridor will cut Armenia's only link to Iran and Armenians will ask permission from Azerbaijan to go to Iran. However, blocking the the only transport route between these two countries by launching the corridor is out of the question. For example, previously Azerbaijanis and Armenians simultaneously used the former Lachin corridor without hindering each other's movement. Armenians crossed the bridge over the Hakari River for going to Khankendi, while Azerbaijanis drove under the same bridge for going to Kalbajar. So the same scenario can be applied to the Iranian-Armenian border, especially for the shuttle of transport. We can list several other examples to prove that the corridor will not block any movement between Armenia and Iran, on the contrary, it will give the opportunity to both countries to boost trade turnover between the two countries through the railways that will be constructed on the corridor. Besides, the corridor will enable both countries to export their products to Russia which will cause to increase in the living standards in the region. However, it once again proves that ambition is more important than the wealth of Iranian citizens for mullahs. It is known that after the First Karabakh War, as Armenia closed the Zangazur corridor, Iran became the only optional route whether cheap or expensive between Azerbaijan and its exclave Nakhchivan. For sure, it depended on the mood of the official Tehran to use the route to Nakhchivan as leverage to influence Azerbaijan. In any dispute, Iran bans movement toward Nakhchivan. Needless to say that if Armenia opens the Zangazur corridor, Iran will lose this leverage, which is one of the main concerns for it. In addition, the regime has discovered another leverage to influence Armenia - to save Armenia from so-called Azerbaijans aggression. As if "Azerbaijan aims to occupy the south of Armenia", and Iran "protects Armenia heroically". Besides, the increasing dynamics of the GDPs of Azerbaijan and Armenia are much faster than the isolated mullahcracy. According to the economic data, Azerbaijan's GDP has ramped up by 175 folds, and Armenia's GDP has increased by 15 times for 30 years, but Iranian GDP has grown 5 times. Keeping in mind this economic data, some can conclude that South Caucasus countries will overtake Iran economically in the near future, and opening the Zangazur corridor will accelerate this process which means a big blow against the Iranian propaganda over the developing economy despite being deprived from majority of projects. In the future, every single Iranian citizen crossing the borders to Azerbaijan and Armenia will witness the big differences between the living standards in the South Caucasus and Iran. So, opening the Zangazur corridor does not mean territorial claims against Armenia, but it means further marginalization of the regime in Tehran. The Indian Secretary Minister for External Affairs, Ausaf Sayeed, highlights in an interview with Ahram Online the significance of President Abdelfattah El-Sisi's visit to India in January, which helped upgrade the relationship between both countries to a strategic partnership. Sayeed has had an extensive career as a diplomat, including serving as the Indian ambassador to Yemen and Saudi Arabia. He believes India and Egypt's partnership will allow the pursuit of cooperation in fields such as security, defense, economy, and political relations in a more focused manner. Sayeed also shared that the Indian Prime Minister is eager to visit Egypt, and the Egyptian Health Minister is scheduled to visit India in June. Furthermore, he mentioned that Indian companies may be interested in investing in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE). Ahram Online: How do you view bilateral relations between Egypt and India in the last few years and especially after President Abdelfattah El-Sisi's visit to New Delhi last January? Ausaf Sayeed: The relations have been progressing very well, especially in the last couple of years. Last year we had serious visits from the Indian side, where the Indian Defense Minister, the Foreign Affairs Minister and the minister of forest and environment visited Egypt. On the other hand, the IT Egyptian minister visited India, but most important of all was the visit of President El-Sisi to India to attend, upon the Indian Prime Minister's invitation, the Indian public day. The significance was that the two leaders upgraded relations to a strategic partnership, and opened opportunities for focused cooperation in security, defense, economy, and politics. Further consolidation will be vital. AO: How can Indian investments in Egypt be further enhanced? AS: The current Indian investment volume is $3.5 billion, and a further $800 million is in the pipeline. Many of these investments are in the manufacturing sector and they have created about 38,000 jobs in Egypt. Also, there are further investments in the pipeline in the renewable energy sector. Of course, one of the good proposals that has come out from the Egyptian side is to have Indian investments in the SCZONE, so we are looking at this and this will be very important, and this idea was presented during President El-Sisi's visit to India, with Indian companies. There were discussions about the SCZONE, so we will promote this to the business sector in India so that Indian companies can make use of this offer and this great opportunity. AO: How can we enhance cooperation in the field of renewable energy and green hydrogen? AS: Renewable energy is a very important field, as far as Indian companies are concerned three to four companies have expressed interest in this field of cooperation. Lately, they were signing an agreement for $18 billion for green hydrogen with Egypt, so I think there are great opportunities in this field as Egypt is a very suitable country for investing in renewable energy and we encourage that. AO: Are there more visits coming from both sides? AS: There is a coming visit by the Egyptian ministry of health to India mid-June. It is a very important visit as healthcare and pharmaceuticals are very important sectors. Also, there will be a foreign ministers' meeting soon. AO: Are there arrangements for a visit by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi? AS: The Indian Prime Minister was supposed to visit Egypt in 2020 but unfortunately because of Corona many plans had to be changed. And when President El-Sisi was in Delhi he reextended the invitation and the Indian Prime Minister affirmed that he would like to visit Egypt soon. This year there are many things happening in India such as the Shanghai cooperation organisation meeting which will be held in July and then we have the G20 summit meeting in September. But the Indian Prime Minister is keen to visit Egypt. AO: How can both Egypt and India cooperate to decrease the negative economic effects of the Russian-Ukraine war? AS: Both countries are cooperating in various fields like the food sector, wheat supplies, fertiliser supplies, and energy supplies, and all of this cooperative effort is to reduce the negative effect of the Russian-Ukraine war on the economy. India had limited wheat exports but upon Egypt's request as a friendly country, there was special permission given to export wheat to Egypt. Currently, we are negotiating Egyptian fertiliser exports to India in the coming future. AO: Are there any plans to enhance cooperation in the pharmaceutical field between the two countries? AS: I think this is one of the biggest areas of cooperation because India has been recognised globally as the pharmacy of the world. We have a lot of vaccine manufacturing not only COVID but also other vaccines, so I see possibilities for Egypt and India to join hands in the manufacturing of vaccine facilities. There are negotiations already taking place in this field and I think the visit of the Egyptian Health Minister to India in June will further discuss this cooperation. There could also be cooperation in the field of managing hospitals. AO: India took many steps forward in the field of IT, so will there be more cooperation in this field with Egypt? AS: During the visit of the Egyptian IT information technology minister there were several discussions about enhancing cooperation in that field, and also about startup companies. AO: India is currently the head of the G20 this year so how can it enable the south voice to be more heard during its presidency? AS: India organised the voice of the south summit where almost 125 countries from the south were invited to try to understand from them their areas of concern. It was the first time for them and we listened to a lot of ideas from them that are very beneficial. Search Keywords: Short link: The Egyptian and Indian air forces conducted an air exercise at an Egyptian airbase, aimed at strengthening military cooperation between the two countries, the Egyptian Armed Forces announced on Monday. The training involved several joint flights, including practice in aerial refuelling, allowing for the exchange of training experiences between both sides. The exercise demonstrated the high level of professionalism the air force fighters achieved, qualifying them for various missions according to the Egyptian statement. Egyptian and Indian air forces previously conducted a joint exercise in Egypt in November 2021. Search Keywords: Short link: India aims to expand its annual oil purchases from Iraq from 1 billion barrels currently, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Twitter after meeting his Iraqi counterpart Hayan Abdel-Ghani in New Delhi on Tuesday. Iraq used to be India's top oil supplier but has slipped to second position as Indian refiners have ramped up purchases of Russian oil, sold at a discount since the war in Ukraine led to Western sanctions on Russia. India is Iraq's second largest trade partner with annual trade worth $37 billion, Puri said. "In addition to matters pertaining to energy and hydrocarbon trade, we also discussed ways of further expanding our trade basket and strengthening cooperation in other fields, including trade and investment, health and education, sports, medical tourism and capacity building," he said. India has gifted an indigenously-built missile warship, INS Kirpan, to its strategic partner Vietnam with the aim of strengthening its reach in the South China Sea. The announcement came after India's Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, held a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, General Phan Van Gang, in the national capital on June 9. Defence Ministers of India and Vietnam strengthen bilateral defence ties in a high-level meeting. (Image: Ministry of Defence) 3 Things You Need to Know about Gifting the Kirpan The gift of INS Kirpan, an in-service missile corvette, will enhance the Vietnamese People's Navy. Vietnam is a vital partner in India's Act East policy, and the gift of Kirpan strengthens this alliance. During the visit, Ministers discussed defence cooperation, research, and joint production. Enhanced maritime security with INS Kirpan The missile corvette will become the second largest in Vietnam's arsenal and provide a cost-effective solution for Vietnam's coastal defence and patrol operations. With its smaller crew requirements and efficient operation in littoral waters, INS Kirpan offers an efficient and affordable option. It has been designed with multi-purpose capabilities, including anti-ship warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and patrol missions. This versatility allows the Vietnamese Navy to effectively address a wide range of maritime security challenges. Given Vietnam's significant coastal territory, these corvettes can conduct surveillance, enforce maritime law, and respond effectively to threats in nearshore areas. Additionally, acquiring corvettes with capable armament and sensors contributes to regional stability, enabling Vietnam to maintain a credible defence posture and engage in cooperative maritime security efforts with neighbouring countries, fostering stability and cooperation in the region. Deepening mutual cooperation for further growth This gesture also signifies the deepening alliance between Vietnam and India, which has been steadily growing over the past decade. The Ministry of Defense's official release stated, "Both Ministers identified means to enhance existing areas of collaboration, especially in the field of defence industry cooperation, maritime security, and multinational cooperation." The officials also discussed defence research and joint production during the Vietnamese defence minister's visit to the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) headquarters. Kirpan Strengthens India's 'Look East' Policy India's strategic partnership with Vietnam is a crucial component of its Act East Policy and broader vision for the Indo-Pacific region. The "Look East" policy aims to foster economic cooperation, cultural ties, and strategic relations. The gifting of INS Kirpan reflects a trend of countries coming together to counterbalance China's influence and emphasises regional cooperation for security. It highlights India's proactive role in the Indo-Pacific, strengthening defence capabilities, and projecting its influence. The objective is to ensure regional stability and promote a balanced and prosperous Indo-Pacific. On the eve of its decommissioning after 32 years of service, the INS Khukri was commemorated. (Image: Press Information Bureau) During General Phan Van Gang's visit to India, a solemn wreath-laying ceremony was held at the National War Memorial, where he paid homage to the fallen heroes. In the future, the collaboration can extend beyond defence equipment and encompass joint exercises, information sharing, and capacity building. UAE-based British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, who collaborated with the Indian government to reintroduce eight wild cheetahs from Namibia to India, and two Pakistani businessmen are among five people who went missing in the Atlantic Ocean aboard a tourist submersible on a mission to view the wreckage of the iconic ocean liner the Titanic. British-Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood, 48-year-old vice chairman of Engro Corporation, accompanied by his 19-year-old son Suleman, were also on the sub, which remains missing since Sunday. Contact with the small sub was lost about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive in the mid-Atlantic on Sunday. OceanGate Expeditions, a company offering eight-day missions to see the Titanic debris for USD 250,000 per person, confirmed that its submarine was lost at sea with crew members on board. The companys chief executive, Stockton Rush, previously described the craft as rock solid, is also believed to be on board. The company said in a statement that it is exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely. French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet is also thought to be on board, according to a Facebook post by Harding before the dive started. Harding is the chairman of aircraft firm Action Aviation and a renowned adventurer who has flown to space and holds three 'Guinness World Records'. In September last year, the 58-year-old flew on one of his aircraft from Namibia on a mission to relocate cheetahs to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. "This is an amazing project, an amazing aircraft, we can fly direct from southern Africa to India with a Boeing 747-400 we are all very, very excited to get going and get the cheetahs to India, he said in a video posted on social media just before take-off from Namibia at the time. The trip to Titanic's wreckage was the latest in a string of adventures. He has visited the South Pole multiple times, flown into space in 2022 onboard Blue Origin's fifth human-crewed flight, and set three world records - including the longest time spent at full ocean depth during a dive to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. Over the weekend, Harding said on social media that a ship had set off from the city of St John's, in Newfoundland, Canada, for the destination of the Titanic wreck. From there, he and the crew were planning to start diving operations in the submersible down to the wreck at around 04:00 local time on Sunday morning. He wrote on Facebook that he was "proud to finally announce" that he would be aboard the mission to the wreck of the Titanic. Due to the "worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years," he said, "this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023". "A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow." Action Aviation said on Sunday that the sub had had a successful launch and Harding was "currently diving". Later, his stepson Brian Szasz said in a now-deleted post on Facebook: He "has gone missing on (the) submarine." Patrick Woodhead, the founder of British tour operator White Desert Antarctica, said Harding was an "incredible" aviation explorer and a great advocate for discovering new pathways to make the world a better place. Harding had travelled with them to Antarctica a number of times, he said, including with US astronaut Buzz Aldrin. On an inquiry about Harding, a spokesperson from the UK's Foreign Office said it was "in contact with the family of a British man following reports of a missing submarine off the coast of North America." In a statement released on Tuesday, the Dawood family in Pakistan said: "Our son Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, had embarked on a journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean." The Engro Corporation, one of Pakistans largest conglomerates, has investments in fertilisers, vehicle manufacturing, energy and digital technologies. The Engro in a statement said that all it knew was that contact was lost with the submersible craft. There is limited information available beyond this that we know, and we humbly request that speculation and theorisation is avoided, it said. We, at Engro, remain in prayer for their swift and safe return, and will share updates we may have as and when they come, it added. The Pakistan government has not commented on it so far, while the family and the company are not ready to offer any insight due to the sensitivity of the issues. Shahzada belongs to a leading business family and his father, Hussain Dawood, 79, is the Chairman of the Dawood Hercules Corporation (DH Corp), a big business entity in Pakistan with Engro Corporation as its subsidiary. The Dawood family, who live in Surbiton, southwest London, are in Canada for a month. "The British Asian Trust is devastated by the terrible news that Shahzada Dawood, one of our supporters, is on board the missing submarine that set off to see the wreck of the Titanic. He is with his son Suleman, said the British Asian Trust, a charity founded by King Charles III when he was the Prince of Wales. Shahzada has been a longstanding supporter of the British Asian Trust and our work across South Asia. Our heartfelt thoughts are with family and friends in the UK and Pakistan. This is an extraordinarily difficult time for everyone affected as we hope for the safe return of all, the statement added. Shahzada, from one of Pakistan's richest families, is a trustee of the Seti Institute, a research organisation in California, according to its website. It says he lives in the UK with his wife, Christine, and his children Suleman and Alina, and is in the Founder's Circle of the British Asian Trust. In their statement, his parents said: "We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety." It went on to say the family was well looked after and were praying for the safe return of their family members. Military planes, a submarine and sonar buoys have so far been used in the search for the vessel. The wreck of the Titanic, the infamous ship that sank in April 1912, lies around 700km south of St. John's, Newfoundland, in Canada. The rescue mission for the missing sub is being run from Boston in Massachusetts and the US Coast Guard has said a research ship called the 'Polar Prince' had conducted a surface search for the sub on Monday evening. It is used to transport submersibles to the wreckage site and was the support ship on Sunday's tourist expedition. PTI AK/SH/NSA ZH AKJ ZH ZH United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) President Csaba Korosi on Tuesday (June 20) called India a 'superpower country' in terms of rising population, economy, science and technology. Hailing India's important and influential role worldwide, Korosi further stated that the country is among those who believe they can contribute to the world's well-being. Amid India's run for the permanent seat at the UNSC, Korosi's remarks hold massive significance. "There is a notion among the member states that we need a better representative in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), including those countries who have a larger responsibility for peace, larger responsibility for making well-being for the people, and, of course, India among those who believe they can contribute to the well being of the world," Korosi said. He noted that at the time of UNSC formation, India was not among the 'biggest ones.' UNGA chief's remark on India comes a day before the mega event scheduled at United Nations headquarters in New York City. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the ninth International Day of Yoga celebrations on June 21 at the UN headquarters as part of his three-day State visit to the United States. 'UNSC will reform' While mentioning the need for reform at the UNSC, Korosi said, "The case of the reform has been going on in the negotiating process for 13 years, way too long. The first discussion that started on the potential necessity of reforming the Security Council started more than 40 years ago. So it's really high time, but it's in the hands of the member states." The UNSC is composed of 15 permanent and non-permanent members. China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States, are the five permanent UNSC members. Whereas, ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly are Albania, Brazil, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Switzerland, and United Arab Emirates (UAE). Meanwhile, India has been elected as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for eight times till October 2020. "If the member states can agree on how to reform the Security Council, in terms of its working methods, in terms of membership, in terms of permanent members, in terms of the right to veto, in terms of what should be the better relationship between the Security Council and maybe other bodies of the United Nations, so, it's all in the hands of the member states," the UNGA President added while highlighting that India is one of the perhaps most active advocates for the early reform of the Security Council. Korosi recalls meeting PM Modi While recalling his meeting with PM Modi, the UNGA president said, "I met Prime Minister Modi a couple of months ago in New Delhi, and I had a deep impression after our meeting." Korosi on January 30 paid his first visit to India and extended his support for the G20 summit. "A person with vision, a person with strategic thinking, a person who has a very deep tradition bringing with himself a very deep tradition of a nation and a clear vision of where modern India should look like. And I'm very happy to greet him. He is very much welcome in the United Nations. He's one of the most highly respected leaders in the world coming here in a short period of time. India is one of the biggest countries in the world," he added while recalling his meeting with PM Modi. Land and religious freedom remain at the heart of Montagnard grievances, but there are others. Authorities search the area near the police stations in Dak Lak Province, which were attacked by an armed gang on June 11, 2023 in a photograph taken from a pro-government social media site. On June 11, a group of Montagnards in Vietnams Central Highlands attacked the offices of two communes with small arms and molotov cocktails, killing four policemen, two commune officials, and three civilians. The attackers wounded two other policemen and burnt the commune offices. This prompted an immediate and massive government response. As of the time of writing, 74 people have been arrested, including, allegedly, one of the groups masterminds. Two people turned themselves in, and the government has promised leniency for others who surrender. Montagnard villagers throw stones during a protest in Vietnam's central highland province of Dak Lak in this screenshot from video taken on April 10, 2004. Credit: Dak Lak Provincial People Committee handout via Reuters So far, almost all of the information about the events has come from the government side, so there is clearly a bias in the reporting. The government has selectively leaked a lot of information and ensured that the story has gotten coverage in the state-controlled media. The Communist Party of Vietnam immediately dispatched deputy prime minister Tran Luu Quang and the deputy minister of public security Luong Tam Quang to signal government control, a sign of the governments insecurity. Legitimate grievances Dak Lak and the Central Highlands are not new to unrest, though gun violence is very rare in Vietnam. But the region has not been beset by violence for a while, which begs some questions: Why now? What prompted this latest spate of unrest? There are a number of underlying issues for any unrest involving the Montagnards, a broad grouping for some 30 different tribes, in the Central Highlands. Beginning in the 1990s, the Vietnamese government began to encourage migration of ethnic Kinh Vietnamese to the region to establish coffee plantations and other agribusinesses. U.S. Special Forces personnel show Montagnard fighters the finer points of rifle handling and safety during a training session in July 1962. Credit: Horst Faas/Associated Press Today, Vietnam is the second largest coffee producer in the world, exporting over 1 million metric tons in 2022, and almost all of it comes from the Central Highlands. But that put the Kinh population at odds with the Montagnards, who practiced swidden agriculture: burning forests, farming for a few years, and then moving on to new land. All of a sudden, with land titles going to the Vietnamese settlers, the Montagnards were unable to practice their traditional agriculture, its environmental degradation and inefficiency. Beyond the economic interests in encouraging Kinh settlement, the government had a political interest in settling the region. The Montagnards had close ties to both the French colonial government as well as the Americans. Persecuted minorities often seek protection from the majority population. During the Vietnam War, the United States relied on the Montagnards and the Hmong in neighboring Laos to interdict North Vietnamese troops and supplies along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Hanoi has never forgiven them for this. But while the Montagnards often portray their struggle as being anti-communist, its important to note that the government of the pre-1975 Republic of Vietnam treated them terribly, too, believing that they were abetting North Vietnamese on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. South Vietnamese government officials shared the same mistrust and condescension as their rivals in Hanoi. Beyond politics, there is simply a lot of condescension by Kinh towards the poor tribes that constitute the Montagnards. For the Montagnards, this is simply a form of internal colonialism; indeed, some Montagnards do not even respect Vietnamese sovereignty. Montagnard hill tribesmen emerge from dense forest northeast of Ban Lung, in Cambodia's northeastern province of Ratanakiri July 22, 2004. Credit: Adrees Latif/Reuters That animus and mistrust is further compounded in Hanoi by the fact that many of the Montagnards are Evangelical Christians. The Vietnam Fatherland Front, an arm of the Communist Party responsible for mass organizations and religions, only recognizes six religions, controlling their clergy and organization. Evangelical Christianity continues to go unrecognized, and, as such, the house churches are technically illegal. That many of the Montagnard congregations are supported by faith groups in the United States and elsewhere compounds Hanois paranoia. Land and religious freedom remain at the heart of Montagnard grievances, but there are others. The Central Highlands remains a poor region of the country, lagging in human development indicators, educational opportunity, and public health. While Vietnam enjoyed over 8 percent economic growth in 2022 and was the darling of foreign investors, receiving over $22.4 billion in investment, that prosperity is nowhere to be seen in the Central Highlands. And while we should not be conspiratorial about this, we do need to consider that the unrest comes at a time when U.S.-Vietnamese relations are set to be upgraded to a strategic partnership. CPV General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has agreed in principle to visit Washington this summer, and President Biden is expected to travel to Vietnam in the fall. Not everyone in Vietnams conservative and xenophobic national security establishment and party echelons are happy with the deepened ties. A full-on crackdown is likely to prompt the U.S. Congress to scrutinize Vietnams already dismal human rights record, assault on independent journalists and environmental activists, and control over social media. The quick and effective government response has not been bad for the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security or its minister, To Lam, who immediately promoted the four officers posthumously and moved quickly to compensate their kin and the wounded officers. What do we know about the attacks? So far we know very little about the motivation for the attacks or the groups organization or foreign ties, if any. Montagnard organizations in the United States have denied any involvement. Montagnards who fled Vietnam's Central Highlands wait in Cambodias Senmonorom in Mondulkiri province, which borders Vietnam, May 15, 2001. Credit: Reuters A spokesman for the ministry of public security said the group had acted in an organized manner, reckless, ruthless and without humanity. Suspects, allegedly, had been ordered to kill officers and local police on sight, taking their assets and weapons. According to state media, three of the arrested men claim to have been promised large sums of money to kill officials. The government has offered little proof other than statements by arrested individuals, but given Vietnams history of coerced confessions, this is not reliable evidence. The government will have a heavy-handed and disproportionate response. As the communist partys mouthpiece noted: Local authorities have quickly taken drastic measures to suppress the attack, stabilize the situation, support the bereaved families and the injured, and call on local residents to stay calm and follow authorities instructions to ensure safety. Ministry of public security troops were shown on state-TV, deployed with sniper rifles. They are clearly not taking this lightly. In addition to the large-scale response, the Vietnamese Peoples Army has been mobilized in Cu Kuin District to provide security, a function that the military has largely eschewed, though less so in the Central Highlands than in ethnic Kinh-dominated regions. The government immediately received Cambodian government cooperation in sealing the border. The government has also quickly moved to control the information space, levying large fines against five people so far for disseminating false information on Facebook about the attacks. The government, which has stepped up the use of civil fines rather than criminal enforcement to control social media, hopes that the VND35.5 million ($1,510) fine is enough to deter on-line discussion. More information about the attacks and their motivations will emerge, but anything in the Vietnamese state media, is there for a reason. While the government has every right to promote law and order, its long ignored the legitimate grievances of the countrys ethnic minorities and will shift the blame away from itself to foreign forces. Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and an adjunct at Georgetown University. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College, Georgetown University or Radio Free Asia. In Brief An audio recording of an "internal speech" attributed to Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang predicting that war between China and the United States is inevitable has gained attention on the Chinese Internet. Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) discovered striking similarities in the phrasing of the supposed Qin speech and a nationalistic article posted by blogger Tanji Kede in 2022. And the recording of the supposed Qin speech sounds remarkably like several audio versions of Tanji Kedes article circulating online, in terms of wording, voice and recording characteristics. AFCL's comparison of Qins alleged speech with these various online postings suggests that the "internal speech" is likely a fake, and instead was likely a recording created by one or more Chinese netizens. In Depth Users on Twitter and YouTube have recently circulated the supposed internal speech of Qin with many referencing a video posted on the Chinese social media platform Q Town Media as their source. The original poster who identifies himself as James Quan does not provide any information about the time or location of the speech. The 10-minute clip is entitled, Video 06012023: Recording of Qin Gangs Internal Speech: War is Inevitable, Chinas Relations with the U.S. are at a Boiling Point. It features a male voice speaking about U.S.-China relations. The faceless speaker notes that the United States has long regarded China as its imaginary archnemesis and the only way for the U.S. to stop the rise of China is through war. Throughout the speech, the video shows a blurry still image of what appears to be a meeting between senior Chinese and American officials. The participants faces arent clear, but the Chinese and American flags are identifiable. Relations between the United States and China have grown competitive and strained in recent years, as many in Washington view China as seeking to challenge U.S. supremacy and Beijing alleges that the U.S. is trying to contain the countrys rise. Recent events, including the February shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon over U.S. waters, have exacerbated these tensions. But U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinkens trip this past weekend to Beijing, during which he met both Qin and President Xi Jinping, did appear to help stabilize ties between the two superpowers. Some netizens suggested that the sentiments expressed in the purported Qin speech reflect current Chinese foreign policy. But others expressed doubt over the authenticity of the video and voiced suspicion that the speech might have been generated by AI. Tweets circulating about a supposed speech made by Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. Did Qin ever deliver such a speech? This is unlikely. After conducting an online search of select phrases from the supposed Qin speech, AFCL found a match with an article entitled Farewell to America! posted on the Chinese news site 163.com by Tanji Kede on April 30, 2022. Further comparison showed that virtually the entire content of the supposed Qin speech matches sections two through four of the lengthy article, except for a few differences in wording and a reordering of the paragraphs. Is the voice in the recording that of Qins? AFCL found several videos of users reading aloud all or parts of Tanji Kedes article on popular Chinese video-sharing platform Douyin. One such recording entitled Farewell to America (1) was posted by a user identified as Fengyu Tonglu in September 2022. A comparison of this latter recording and the supposed Qin speech suggests that the audio for both probably comes from the same source. Both videos contain most of the same sections from the original article, read in slightly different order, and the voices sound virtually identical. Furthermore, the same beeping noise is audible at the same place in the text in both recordings, occurring just as the speaker finishes saying, Otherwise the First World Wars tragedy will be repeated. The sound occurs at approximately the 4:40-minute mark in the supposed Qin speech and at 8:42 minutes in the Fengyu Tonglu video. Another Douyin video posted in April 2022 shows a middle-aged man reading the same content as the beginning section of the purported Qin speech, with a similar accent and intonation. AFCL identified the man in the video as Douyin user Liuge Liao Shenghuo by linking him to other videos he posted online. However, the April 2022 video was not found among Liuges content on Douyin. AFCL compared the Liuge audio with the supposed Qin audio using the open AI voiceprint recognition software Unisound. The program found a 93.81 percent probability that the voices from the two tracks belong to the same person. In contrast, a comparison of the supposed Qin internal speech with audio of the foreign minister responding to journalists' questions at a news conference on March 7, 2023, resulted in only a 65.78 percent probability that the voices belong to the same person. AFCL also asked a Taiwanese information engineer with voice recognition expertise to analyze and compare the audio from the Liuge video and from Qins alleged speech. The engineer noted that the sound waves of both clips were consistent with each other and tentatively concluded that they were likely the same track. AFCL did not directly compare the voices in the two Douyin videos. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment as of the time of publication. Conclusion Until Chinese officials confirm or deny whether the audio clip is indeed from Qin, AFCL cannot definitively make a clear judgment. However, based on voice recognition software analysis and similarities in text, voice, and recording features in the supposed Qin and Douyin clips, AFCL preliminarily concludes that the alleged Qin leaked audio is most likely fake. It appears that someone manipulated existing online audio or video material and then attributed it to Qin, potentially in a bid to spread misinformation. Translated by Shen Ke Both sides profess to be satisfied a first step has been taken on communications. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken briefs journalists at the end of his trip in Beijing, Monday, June 19, 2023. The mood was cautiously buoyant in both the U.S. and China as well as Taiwan that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinkens trip to China was the right move in stabilizing relations between the two superpowers that have grown increasingly precarious in recent months. The State Department issued a statement saying the two sides had candid, substantive, and constructive discussions on key priorities in the bilateral relationship and on a range of global and regional issues. The Secretary emphasized the importance of maintaining open channels of communication across the full range of issues to reduce the risk of miscalculation. He made clear that while we will compete vigorously, the United States will responsibly manage that competition so that the relationship does not veer into conflict, department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. In a digital press briefing on Tuesday, Daniel J. Kritenbrink, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and Sarah Beran, Special Assistant to the President of the United States and U.S. National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs, broadly described Blinkens trip as having been successful in terms of reestablishing lines of communication and managing competition. Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, talks to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second left, as Wang Yi, third right, Chinese Communist Party's foreign policy chief, listens during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Monday, June 19, 2023. Credit: Wang Ye/Xinhua via AP During his meeting with Blinken, Xi Jinping rejected the term strategic competition, according to Chinese-language sources, saying, Great power competition does not conform to the trend of the times. But as Wen-Ti Sung, a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub, sessional lecturer in the Australian National Universitys College of Asia and the Pacific and a member of the Australian Centre on China in the World, wrote in a tweet, the framing of the great power relations as non-competitive is long-standing, dating back to 2012. If China were to change, and to accept [the] U.S.' preferred framing, it would symbolize China compromising, he wrote, saying that would only be likely to happen when Xi met his equal, President Biden. Sung told RFA that, symbolically, the meeting was important. The visuals of Xi-Blinken meeting will embolden Chinese diplomats to more proactively engage with the U.S. and possibly show a little more flexibility, he said. Sung said that the fact that Xi had met with a U.S. envoy, someone lower than himself, showed that China was in a gracious mood and that would give Chinese bureaucrats political cover to extend olive branches and make occasional compromises necessary to repair relations. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Monday, June 19, 2023. Credit: Leah Millis/Pool Photo via AP Another area of concern is Chinas apparent disdain for reestablishing military-to-military communications, which Blinken said the U.S. wants in order to avoid any miscalculations in the Taiwan Strait or the South China Sea turning into outright conflict. But both sides expressed satisfaction with the outcome of Blinkens visit, even if there was little in the way of substantive agreement on specifics beyond returning to the agreement reached by Xi and President Joe Biden at a summit in Bali last November. Exiled Tiananmen Square student leader Wuer Kaixi, speaking to RFA in Taiwan, said it was possible that military-to-military exchanges were a no go for Beijing due to the non-negotiable nature of its claims on Taiwan. He said Beijing may also be reluctant to appear to be in too much of a hurry to offer concessions to Blinken for fear of looking weak and caving into Washington based on one visit by a U.S. Secretary of State. Wuer Kaixi described Blinkens statements on the U.S. position on the One-China policy and on Taiwan independence, as new definitions of old policies, an effort to regain control of [the] narrative. I think it was a success, the U.S. playing their game on Chinas home turf, he said, adding that China cannot appear too willing to admit it has overstepped in a game of bluff and lost. The fact is that the whole wolf warrior diplomacy thing was a mistake and I think Blinken took that message to Beijing whether China likes it or not. Beijing probably realizes that its up against a firmer, more no-nonsense U.S. administration than any it has had to deal with before, he added, while cautioning it may not signal an end to provocative military maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. A Chinese J-16 fighter jet carries out a maneuver that the U.S. military said was unnecessarily aggressive near an American reconnaissance plane flying above contested waters in the South China Sea, May 26, 2023. Credit: U.S military handout State tabloid Global Times reported Monday that H-6K bombers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force had carried out nighttime sorties encircling Taiwan, without specifying when it had occurred and with no official confirmation by Taiwan at the time. According to Sung, the fact that Xi called for cooperation rather than strategic competition signaled that Beijing is confident enough to reject American overtures [on competition] but also that the Chinese government can engage the U.S. government more now because Xi himself reaffirmed the need for cooperation. Sung added, Chances are [that] functional issues such as people-to-people exchanges between students, scholars, and businesspeople will see a slow thaw, but it may not take long until tensions return again. Chinese military activities in the East and South China Sea as well as Taiwan Strait will likely go on unabated, said Sung. All it takes is another near-miss between Chinese and American warships or military jets to turn up the default temperature of US-China rhetoric up again. Like it or not, strategic competition is here to stay. Edited by Mike Firn. Six weeks ahead of the feast holiday of Eid Al-Adha, Egypt is currently witnessing record-high meat prices, reaching EGP 400 per kilogram (nearly $13) in some neighbourhoods. The unprecedented prices has left everyone from clients, chamber of commerce officials, to butchers complaining. Ahram Online surveyed the market and found prices ranging from EGP 270 for imported meat to EGP 340 for fresh meat in middle-class districts to more than EGP 400 in upper-class neighborhoods and some hypermarkets. In Egypt, meat refers to red meat beef, lamb and goat and excludes poultry. Head of the Butchers Division at Cairo Chamber of Commerce Mohamed Wahba attributed last Friday the soaring prices of meat to the low supply and the high cost of importing fodder. He called for increasing the quantities of imported meat during the coming period, in order to control prices. However, in a phone-in with presenter Amr Adib on MBC Masr channel, Wahba said: Due to time constraints, we will not be able to do anything before Eid to contain the rise in meat prices. He called for price controls, saying if the situation continues like this, we will face a crisis. Egypts livestock breeders rely mainly on imported high-cost cultivated or manufactured feed. Moreover, local production of red meat, which used to cover about 60 percent of the countrys needs, has recently declined to 40 percent, according to vice president of the Butchers Division Haitham Abdel-Basset. During a phone-in with Sada El-Balad satelite channel on Sunday, Abdel-Basset attributed this decline to a number of factors, including the fact that 30 percent of butchers have left the business, in addition to 70 percent of farmers who have given up livestock farming. The meat market is stagnating and buying and selling has declined due to the high prices and weak purchasing power of citizens, Wahba said. Abdel-Basset agrees, saying that the market has seen a decrease in purchasing power by 60 percent. According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), Egypt's consumer price index (CPI) inched up 1.8 percent in April, down from 3.2 percent in March and 7.1 percent in February. Prices of food and beverages surged by 53.8 percent in April on an annual basis, the CAPMAS said. Gauging consumer demand Abo Omar, a butcher shop owner in Mokattam district in Cairo, says the turnout is not really going well. We used to sell one and a half calves per week, now it is only a quarter per week, a disappointed Abo Omar told Ahram Online. A photo showing Abo Omar's butcher shop Currently, the most demanded meat in Abo Omars shop is liver which is priced at EGP 360 per kilogram. As for the price of Kanduz meat (calves over one year old) ranges from EGP 350 to EGP 360 based on the meat cut, he said. Comparing the current prices to those from last years Eid Al-Adha, Abo Omar says that the prices for goats and calves have drastically changed. During Eid Al-Adha, which is one of the two major annual Islamic feasts, Muslims slaughter cows, sheep and goats to feed their families and donate to the poor, marking Prophet Ibrahims willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismail, on God's command. The [average] price of a goat was EGP 4,500 [$145] and now it has reached EGP 9,000 ($290) and more. As for calves, it ranges from EGP 65,000 [$2,100] to EGP 120,000 [$3,880] up from EGP 65,000 last year, Abo Omar explained. He attributes this price increase to two factors: the shortage of livestock fodder and the slaughtering of female calves, which are more expensive than their male counterparts. Elsewhere in El-Matariya, a lower middle-class district, in an attempt to overcome the recession and attract customers, the El-Gomhoriya butcher shop is offering promotional offers to get customers to buy larger quantities. They are offering four kilos of premium meat for EGP 1,400 instead of 1,520, while four kilos of medium quality meat are being offered for EGP 1,150 instead of EGP 1,280. Customer response Egyptians are struggling to afford meat as prices surge, leading many to reduce the quantities they are purchasing. We reduced the quantity of meat I consume, and therefore reduced the number of times we eat meat per week, Ashraf, a 50-year-old employee, told Ahram Online. Sobhi, who is retired, says: I allocate a fixed budget for meat and deduct it from my monthly pension. So, according to the prices, I buy the same value of meat, but less of it. There have been some calls on social media to boycott meat, in order to punish what they see as price gouging. However, such a boycott is difficult, says Mohamed Mahmoud, a father of three children. Meat cannot be completely avoided due to the importance of animal protein for children's growth and nutrition, but we opt to reduce quantity we purchase and compensate with other types of protein such as plant protein," Mahmoud explained. Manal, a housewife, wonders why there is a significant difference in prices from place to place, and is demanding regulation. The Aman outlet [which is affiliated with the Ministry of Interior] has meat priced at EGP 270, while the butcher in front of my house sells it for EGP 360, Manal said. The meat industry has been negatively affected by foreign currency shortages and the devaluation of the Egyptian pound, which caused crucial inputs like fodder to accumulate in ports. However, the country is working to release fodder stuck in ports. On Monday, the Minister of Agriculture announced in a statement the release of the largest quantity of fodder in a single batch, 308,000 tons of corn and soybeans worth approximately $134 million. Search Keywords: Short link: We who can still do something do what we can, says one. Four years after millions of Hong Kongers took to the streets in peaceful mass protests against plans to allow the extradition of alleged criminal suspects to mainland China, the city is a very different place. Since Beijing imposed a national security law banning public opposition and dissent in the city, blaming "hostile foreign forces" for the protests, hundreds of thousands have voted with their feet amid plummeting human rights rankings, shrinking press freedom and widespread government propaganda in schools. Some fled to the United Kingdom on the British National Overseas visa program, while others have made their homes anew in the United States, Canada, Australia and Germany. Many are struggling with exile in some way, worrying about loved ones back home while facing threats to their personal safety from supporters of Beijing overseas. Yet the resistance to authoritarian rule, and the will to keep fighting for the freedoms that were promised to Hong Kong, live on overseas, according to many exiles. They are now involved in projects from political lobbying to joining rallies and marches, to community welfare schemes and support for the arts and cultural expression Anna Kwok, executive director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council in Washington, D.C. Credit: Provided by Anna Kwok Anna Kwok, executive director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council in Washington D.C., is engaged in political lobbying for Hong Kongs future at the heart of American politics. We mainly hope to get some laws passed that can really help Hong Kongers, and some that could help the city to return to its [previous state of] autonomy, Kwok told Radio Free Asia in a recent interview. We need to pay attention to that as the political situation in the United States is changing, she said, adding that her groups campaigning is hampered by the relatively small number of Hong Kong currently in the United States. Ted Hui, former pro-democracy lawmaker, now in Australia. Credit: Provided by Ted Hui Former pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui, now living in Australia, is also trying to raise the loss of Hong Kongs promised freedoms to the status of an issue for Australian politicians. Hong Kong isn't a big issue in Australian politics, while China policy and trade are very important to Australians, Hui said. They are also very concerned about regional security and China's soft-power infiltration. Hui said he is trying to show Australians how the struggle of the Hong Kong people for freedom and democracy is closely bound up with Australia's China policy. [We want] to show people the true nature of the Chinese Communist Party through the lens of Hong Kong's situation, and to get Australians to bear that in mind when doing trade or building relationships with China, he said. Sky Fung, secretary-general of the Taiwan-based exile group Hong Kong Outlanders. Credit: Chen Zifei Sky Fung, secretary-general of the Taiwan-based exile group Hong Kong Outlanders, there has been a similar need to link the suppression of freedom and democracy in Hong Kong with the potential loss of Taiwans democratic way of life, should China step up its infiltration efforts, blockade or even invade. There has been a long process of conversion here since 2019, when Hong Kong's local politics gradually shifted people's focus to Taiwan's domestic politics, Fung said. Our organization doesn't just explain what happened in Hong Kong in the past, but has shifted into focusing on Taiwan's policies as they relate to Hong Kong. Fu Tong, Taiwan-based activist. Credit: Provided by Fu Tong Some Hong Kongers in Taiwan are taking the threat of a Chinese invasion very seriously. Taiwan-based activist Fu Tong recently formed a civil defense brigade to support the official war effort in case the Peoples Liberation Army does invade. Civilians don't have to stand completely idle if that happens, he said. For example, we can act as support for people with light injuries or people who are panicking. If we are trained, we can reduce the burden on the government. We also need to be able to take care of ourselves, he said. I think it's a normal civic responsibility, and the price [we Hong Kongers] pay for living here. Carmen Lau, U.K.-based former Hong Kong democratic district councilor. Credit: Provided by Carmen Lau Meanwhile, U.K.-based former democratic district councilor Carmen Lau, is turning to arts and cultural activities to show the rest of the world what it means to be a Hong Konger. Because the United Kingdom is a mature democracy, British people of this generation may not care so much about politics, and their will to vote may even be lower than that of Taiwanese and Hong Kongers, Lau said. If we approach the issues directly, nobody will pay us any attention. Instead, Lau decided to package Hong Kongs political issues in the form of a cultural festival. Its intended to be leisure-focused and cultural, so local people and non-Hong Kongers would welcome it more, she said. We want to highlight this Hong Kong identity in a number of different ways, and we want to be recognized as Hong Kongers in the international community and by the people of different countries, she said. But there is a deeper pull created by the need for Hong Kongers to remember who they are, she said. Everything we do is to go home, Lau said. If we can't forge an identity for ourselves that is distinct from a Chinese or an Asian identity, then everything we do will have been in vain. Hui Lai-ming, social worker and founder of the community group Re-Water in Sheffield, England. Credit: Provided by Hui Lai-Ming Social worker Hui Lai-ming founded community group Re-Water in Sheffield, England, and has come to a similar conclusion. We often say that politics and life are the same thing, Hui said. We organized a meeting of 61 Hong Kongers in London awhile back, and everyone reached the very clear consensus that the two things should be done together. Issues we run into in our daily lives go hand-in-hand with political issues, she said. It's not all about turning out on the streets, about demonstrations. The key point is that we can't win this fight just by demonstrating. Community memory and identity is just as important for Hui and her project, she said. We have to inherit and pass down our history. And all of that lies in the details of our lives, all of it, in our experiences and our beliefs, she said. We need to undergo our own process of reflection, then take part in the resistance movement. Jijai, Taiwan-based art student. Credit: Provided by Chen Zifei Taiwan-based art student Jijai turns up regularly, dressed like a 2019 frontline protester, to commemorate key events during the protest movement against the erosion of Hong Kongs freedoms. June 9, June 12, July 21 and Aug. 31 are all dates that the people of Hong Kong will never forget, he said. I always insist on dressing like this. June 12 is particularly special to me because it is the first time I really fought on the front line, defending peaceful protesters from riot police. It reminds me that you can still do something, that you can still remember [Hong Kong as it was], no matter where you are, he said. We who can still do something do what we can. His actions are far more than just putting on a show, Jijai said. Rather, they are about reconnecting with the spirit of Hong Kong as it once was. Right now, we need more than ever just to feel a connection, and for people to remember what happened in Hong Kong, he said. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster. Wang Quanzhang's family has been left traumatized and separated by round-the-clock surveillance and harassment. Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang seen on a laptop screen in Beijing as he speaks via video link from his home in Jinan, in Chinas eastern Shandong province, April 23, 2020. Authorities in Beijing have stepped up their harassment of rights attorney Wang Quanzhang and his family, cutting off power to their new apartment and forcing his wife and child to leave. Forced to leave their old apartment in the middle of the academic year and find somewhere else to live, the family thought they had finally found a new home in a Beijing suburb, but instead the harassment escalated. The family has been watched and harassed by a group of unidentified men since they relocated to the northern Beijing suburb of Changping after being forced to leave their previous apartment, according to video clips posted to Wang's Twitter account. "Are you telling me what to do?" says one, when Wang opens the front door to find them outside. "Yes of course, because this is our front door," Wang replies. "So is this your private property? You are violating my right to privacy," the man retorts. Overseas activists have called on the authorities to stop, saying it is a continuation of an operation targeting rights lawyers and public interest law firms that began in 2015. Wang's wife Li Wenzu said via her Twitter account that the power to the apartment was cut off on Sunday, and that the power company had refused to reconnect it. "I called the power supply bureau at 1800 on June 19, 2023, to file a request for repairs," Li wrote on Monday. "At 1830, a member of staff from the Changping supply station called me back and promised to deal with it immediately." "But when I called them back at 1900, they told me the property management company had said this was an internal matter ... I told them this should be their responsibility." she wrote. 24-hour siege Li told Radio Free Asia that she has now left the apartment and has sent the couple's child to stay with friends for the time being. "They've cut off our power again, and the door of the meter box has been sealed with a big lock," she said. "There are many unidentified men in front of the building every day." "We are under 24-hour siege, and couriers can't get through to deliver anything -- they are constantly escalating their harassment of us, using different methods to stop us from living a normal life," she said. Li Wenzu, Wang Quanzhangs wife, told RFA that the meter box for their apartment has been locked [shown]. Credit: 709liwenzu Twitter Li said the constant stress and fear has taken a toll on their son, Wang Guangwei. "We kept moving around during the month when we were forced to relocate, and there have been frequent incidents of violence and intimidation such as the police coming to our door in the middle of the night, which left the kid severely frightened, and he became ill during that time," she said. "I felt desperate and powerless with all of that happening every day, I could even live the most basic normal existence, and our son couldn't attend school," she said. "And now he has to be separated from us." Li said she expects the water and gas to be cut off next. An overseas-based rights group called on the authorities to end the official harassment of Wang Quanzhang and fellow rights attorney Li Heping and their families. "The authorities are requested to implement and guarantee the implementation of the Civil Code and ... immediately stop all inappropriate and illegal acts that smear and trample on the law," the China Human Rights Lawyers Group said in a statement dated June 19. Petition to end harassment It called for an investigation into officials and police officers who had entered the lawyers' homes illegally. Luo Shengchun, wife of jailed rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi, said she had signed a petition calling for an end to the harassment of rights lawyers and their families. "They have forced Li Wenzu and [Li Heping's wife] Wang Qiaoling to leave their homes, and my anger is indescribable," Luo said. "Government agencies in China have degenerated to the point where they just hire a group of thugs to do this stuff -- it's crazy. They don't treat ordinary people as human beings, and it's getting worse." U.S.-based rights activist and legal scholar Teng Biao said the persecution dates back to a 2015 police operation that targeted hundreds of rights lawyers, fellow activists and their families, during which many were jailed for subversion, with Wang Quanzhang "disappearing" for around three years. "A lot of lawyers got their licenses revoked during the July 2015 crackdown, and many were sentenced," Teng said. "Now they want to totally silence any defenders of human rights, and so they are using these thuggish methods." "China has now upgraded to a high-tech totalitarian system with total disregard for the rule of law and the most basic standards of human rights," he said. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Paul Eckert. Shes empire once formed part of Beijing's gray-to-black ops in Southeast Asia, but his star appears to have waned. Gambling tycoon She Zhijiang [fourth from left] is seen at a meeting of the China Myanmar Economic Corridor in 2019. UPDATED at 10:50 am EDT, June 23, 2023 Chinese Communist Party officials appear to be distancing themselves from detained gambling tycoon She Zhijiang, whose casinos have been linked with massive human trafficking and online scam operations in the region, and who faces imminent extradition to China after being arrested by Thai police in August 2022. She, 41, a naturalized Cambodian national born in China who owns property and gaming ventures across Myanmar, Cambodia and the Philippines, stands accused of "running illegal online gambling operations." He will likely be sent to China very soon coinciding with the expiration of his 30-day appeal period, according to an official statement and a person familiar with the case. A deputy spokesman for Thailand's Supreme Prosecutor's Office announced that the court had issued a deportation order for She on May 25. However, the order allowed 30 days for She to appeal the decision. Shortly afterwards, Thailands Provincial Electricity Authority said it would cut off the power supply to Shwe Kokko, the site of She's $15 billion real estate and casino mega-project that has become notorious as a bastion of illegal activity, including drug trafficking, amid violence and unrest in post-coup Myanmar. Meanwhile, officials linked to Beijing's international outreach and influence operations are now claiming he has no connection with a key organization carrying out "United Front" work among overseas Chinese. While official reports show She attending top-level meetings in Beijing in 2019 hosted by the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, a known United Front organization, officials at the body said they had "no knowledge" of She's case when contacted by Radio Free Asia, and that it fell under the remit of the China Federation of Overseas Entrepreneurs instead. However, an official at the entrepreneurs' organization said She, as a former high-ranking officer in the organization, would still be the business of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. Court documents As Chinese officials appeared to pass the buck on She, a Thailand-based dissident who shared a detention center cell with him in Bangkok told Radio Free Asia that the former gambling tycoon is desperate to avoid being sent to China amid an ongoing crackdown on human trafficking and online scams that have netted thousands of victims across the region in recent years. According to Thai court documents shared with the dissident by She and verified by Radio Free Asia, She had once been a valued collaborator with the Chinese authorities, and was put in touch with state security police in the southern island province of Hainan and given a handler to provide intelligence for Beijing. She now fears that his most basic human rights won't be protected and is calling on the international community to help prevent his extradition to China, the dissident, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, said. Radio Free Asia was able to confirm that the dissident had been held in the same detention facility as She. She wouldn't be the first former darling of Beijings overseas United Front operations to face repercussions in China amid an ongoing anti-corruption and anti-espionage campaign that typically nets people who have fallen out of political favor under general secretary Xi Jinping, or who are considered insufficiently loyal to Chinas supreme leader. In May, a court in the eastern city of Suzhou handed down a life sentence to 78-year-old U.S. citizen John Leung, who headed a Beijing-backed overseas Chinese community group, after finding him guilty of "espionage." Leung had also previously been photographed alongside high-ranking Communist Party officials. "She Zhijiang made his name and fortune in Myawaddy, an extremely sensitive area in the hands of the Chinese," the dissident said, referring to an area in southeastern Myanmars Kayin state, where She's Yatai Corp is a major investor in the Shwe Kokko Special Economic Zone. Bastion of illegal activity While the Shwe Kokko mega-project along the Thaungyin River was initially promoted as a way to spur economic growth and deliver material benefits to the local community, it has become notorious as a bastion of illegal activity, according to a report by the Washington-based Center for Advanced Defense Studies, C4ADS, an independent research outfit that studies transnational organized crime networks. According to the dissident, She believes that his army of some 5,000 mercenaries and his deep connections in the local area should protect him from the worst form of political retaliation in China. Yet he still fears he could receive the death penalty. "I told him he has been abandoned by the Communist Party, who can easily deal with other people under his command," the dissident said, adding that She had handed over copies of hundreds of pages of court trial records and other documents and asked him to make them public. Much of the material details close cooperation between She and Chinese Communist Party officials, including his recruitment as an agent by the state security police. They also allege that he paid up to two million yuan in bribes to An Chen, secretary-general of the China Federation of Overseas Entrepreneurs. Repeated calls to state security police agencies in China rang unanswered by the time of writing. According to the dissident, She ran afoul of Beijing after he grew extremely powerful in Myawaddy, and wanted to run the Asia-Pacific City complex in the Shwe Kokko Special Economic Zone as his personal fiefdom, something that the Chinese Communist Party couldn't countenance owing to the strategic importance of the area, which is close to the border with Thailand. Chinese involvement? Chinese state media reports from the time of She's arrest described She as the "Asia-Pacific City online scam king," whose operation in Myawaddy had attracted more than 100 casino and scam companies to Asia-Pacific City. "Amid a vast network of vested interests and transactions, crimes like smuggling, kidnapping, human trafficking, fraud, assault, extortion are densely intertwined and span Southeast Asia and China," the August 2022 Phoenix News report on She's arrest said. "She Zhijiang, who has changed his nationality and who has multiple pseudonyms, rules the roost like an emperor." According to the dissident, none of these activities could have taken place in Myanmar without the knowledge and collusion of the Chinese Communist Party. "You can't do this stuff with no backing behind them are governments and warlords," he said. "The Chinese Communist Party controls 100% of this place." Another person familiar with organized crime in the region agreed that the Chinese government is heavily involved with organizations carrying out criminal activities in the region, including in Myawaddy, Sihanoukville and the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, a gambling and tourism hub catering to the Chinese and situated along the Mekong River where Laos, Myanmar and Thailand converge. "There's a man called Zhao Wei in the Golden Triangle SEZ who has leased a piece of land for 99 years, and the place is full of gray-to-black operations," the person said. "The entire area is under his control ... and he is engaged in scams, human trafficking and wild animal trafficking around there." "Basically 80% of the scamming industry in Southeast Asia is run by people from Fujian [province]," he said. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Paul Eckert and Malcolm Foster. This story has been updated to correct references to She Zhijiangs extradition and citizenship, and to add Radio Free Asias attempts to contact Chinese state security officials for comment. A student at Chinas Jiangxi Industry Polytechnic College recently found a rat head in their food at the schools canteen. Officials in eastern China have revoked the license of a Nanchang university canteen after admitting that a sodden, toothed and bewhiskered lump found in a student's food was a rat's head after all, following an earlier claim by the school that it was part of a duck. A provincial level inquiry into the grisly object found by a student at the Jiangxi Industry Polytechnic College in the provincial capital upturned the school's claim, which it had backed up with a written statement" from the student involved. Food quality has long been a bone of contention for students at Chinese vocational colleges, with the viral video clip of the incident prompting widespread public disgust and ridicule on social media. The task force reviewed the video clip, interviewed staff and looked at a list of supplies recently ordered by the canteen, the English-language China Daily newspaper reported, citing a June 17 statement from investigators. It found that the college and local market supervision officials "did not conduct an investigation carefully," and had reached the wrong conclusion, the paper said. The college canteen's food license has been revoked and the company that operates the canteen has been given the maximum penalty under food safety laws and regulations, it said. It will also be handing down "strict punishments" to college management and officials at the local Changdong market supervision bureau, the report said. Duck or Rat? Changdong market supervision officials had earlier said that the sodden lump which appears in the video to have eyes and rodent-like teeth was in fact part of a "duck's neck" a common ingredient in soups. Nanchang market supervision bureau official Jiang Xiexue told state-run Jiangxi Radio and TV that "local law enforcement officials had arrived at the scene and confirmed the strange item as a duck neck after repeated comparison." Beijing-based current affairs commentator Ji Feng says investigations such as the one into the canteen focus on finding scapegoats among lower-ranking officials. Credit: @jhf8964 Twitter Beijing-based current affairs commentator Ji Feng said the move was clearly a bid to calm public anger over the incident. "This is similar to what I predicted -- but they are still evading the issue, claiming that the [ruling Chinese Communist Party] is great, and glorious and correct," Ji said. "The credibility of the government just keeps on getting worse," he said. Ji said it is typical of investigations like this one to focus on finding scapegoats among lower-ranking officials, rather than systemic issues that allow such scandals to emerge in the first place. "The thing people really care about is the vested interests that are shared by the school leadership and the local industrial and commercial bureau," he said. "When someone makes a big mistake, the authorities always punish a bunch of low-ranking officials," Ji said. Food safety deteriorating? Current affairs commentator Wang Zheng said there are systemic issues in the outsourcing of canteen contracts to big companies, in which local industrial affairs officials often hold a stake. "This phenomenon has had a huge impact on food safety in China," Wang said. "If anything, food safety has gotten worse over the past few years, not better." Meanwhile, reports emerged in Chinese media that two rats were found at a canteen on the Pingdingshan Expressway, which has been shut down pending "rectification." And investigators in Jiangxi's Jiujiang city found that a kindergarten staff member had washed up childrens' lunchboxes in a urinal, after a tipoff from a parent. Local officials have now launched a "food safety awareness" campaign, the Global Times said, while The Paper reported on a food safety awareness event at the Jiangxi University of Engineering. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster. They were among 34 villagers arrested in connection with the raid in Myanmars Bago region. Bago Region Peoples Defense Force members in a photo taken in June 2022. The group attacked Nyaung Khar Shey Police Station, Waw township on April 27, 2023. Junta authorities have announced the deaths of four men and a woman, arrested in connection with an attack on a police station in Myanmars central Bago region, a local Peoples Defense Force militia group told RFA this week. They were among 34 locals arrested on suspicion of involvement in the April 27 attack on the police station in Waw townships Nyaung Khar Shey village. On Monday, an official of the Waw township People Defense Force told RFA that families had been notified of the deaths of 53-year old Tin Myo Khaing; 52-year-old Win Zaw Htay; 45-year-old San Shey; 60-year-old Mya Thein; and 35-year-old Kyaw Myint Thein, all from villages in the township. They were told to hold funerals but did not receive the bodies. Family members were called to see the body of Myint Thein from Kyon Par village last month, said the official, who declined to be named for security reasons. He was shot and caught as he tried to flee from the roof of his house We dont know when the other people arrested died and did not see their bodies. The official added that two other men, San Shey and Kyaw Myint Thein, were shot before their arrests. RFA tried to contact the families but they didnt want to talk because of safety concerns. Calls to the junta spokesperson for Bago region, Tin Oo, seeking information on the deaths went unanswered. Peoples Defense Joint Forces attacked the police station in April, leading to a police roundup of locals over several days. They took in 20 people for questioning on April 27 and 28 and another 14 on May 1. Locals said they dont know if those arrested will be charged or released and RFA has been unable to contact the local police. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn. A writer and director for TV and film, Armando Iannucci is known for his biting political satire, most popularly with the hit shows, Veep and The Thick Of It and its spin-off film, In The Loop. His 2017 black comedy, The Death Of Stalin, which lampoons the power struggles, intrigues, and backstabbing following the death of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in 1953, was banned by the Russian Culture Ministry. Iannucci recently traveled to Tbilisi to take part in the three-day ZEG festival, billed as a gathering of storytellers. During his stay in the Georgian capital, Iannucci sat down for an interview with RFE/RL Georgian Service's Vazha Tavberidze. Iannucci says today's Russia is much like the one portrayed in The Death Of Stalin, with those around Russian President Vladimir Putin eager to please and avoiding uncomfortable truths, much like the sycophants who surrounded the Soviet dictator. If he were to cast someone as Putin, Iannucci says, it would be a 12-year-old "in a suit." RFE/RL: Let me bring the big guns out straightaway: The Death Of Stalin. Are you looking forward to making a sequel to that? You know, with the current dictator-in-charge? Iannucci: To make The Death Of Putin, which I imagined is what you're referring to, we'll have to think events would have to take a certain course that hasn't occurred yet. I think a lot of my career is spent on responding to the death of truth, really -- that's the thing that concerns me. Putin partly being responsible, that kind of whole assault on language, the fact that, even in Russia, if you call it a war, you can be arrested because it's not a war. It's a "special military operation" that will all be done in weeks, and what are you worrying about? You know, even if you hold up a card with nothing written on it, you can be taken to prison, because that's seen as a sign of opposition. RFE/RL: Assuming the stars align, and yes, in whatever reality it will be, if there will be a Death Of Putin kind of movie, is it hard to imagine similarly farcical, absurd scenes at Putin's funeral? You would need to change the setting, costumes, but would I be right to suspect that most of dialogue wouldn't look out of place? Iannucci: There are already rumors of the fact that people can only tell Putin what he wants to hear. So, they, the military, presented him with this case in advance that the war would be a very quick thing, that the people in Ukraine would rise up. And that's what happens when you spread fear and terror, which is what The Death of Stalin is about, really. This individual was terrorizing everyone around him [and] it caused his own death -- he collapsed [after] a stroke in the middle of the night -- but people were too scared to open the door to see if he was OK. People were too scared to ring for a doctor before they'd consulted the entire committee. They were scared of which doctor to call, so this was someone who instilled terror throughout, and that's what caused his own death. I think that's the situation that Putin is facing, and that he's now being fed these "facts" that are not facts, [but] are just made up. They're just the most positive things people can tell him without being arrested. And so he lives in this bubble he's created himself which is a bubble of unreality; it will get them in the end. RFE/RL: On the subject of what you can tell Putin, and also what you can say about Putin, he, like most of the world's dictators, is notoriously allergic to comedy and humor. What do you think is the reason for that? Iannucci: When we were researching The Death of Stalin, people who grew up under Stalin told us there were joke books; jokes about [secret police chief Lavrenty] Beria, and Stalin, and the gulags, and the shootings. And you could be arrested and shot if you were heard telling these jokes, but people said, "But we needed to tell jokes, because the situation was so absurd." You can either laugh at it or you can scream. And sometimes comedy is the only outlet you have to make some kind of sense of what seems absurd. The Tavberidze Interviews Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Vazha Tavberidze of RFE/RL's Georgian Service has been interviewing diplomats, military experts, and academics who hold a wide spectrum of opinions about the war's course, causes, and effects. To read all of his interviews, click here. But also, they said, you know, "He could lock me up, he could take my business away, he could take my family away, but I can still make a joke about him and then he hasn't shut my mind down." And that's why autocrats and dictators hate jokes and are suspicious of all art [because] they don't have control over the response. If you make a joke, even if it's in bad taste, if you laugh, it's something you can't help. It's a sort of visceral bodily response. And that's what they don't like. They don't like the fact that they can't control how you would respond to a joke. RFE/RL: With that in mind, in the modern world, not only in Russia, how important is the right to mock and ridicule? Iannucci: It's so important because, you know, if you cannot take a joke against yourself there is something wrong. There is paranoia and fear that does not stand up to mild ridicule. You know, all throughout Donald Trump's presidency, he would be tweeting after Saturday Night Live about how terrible it was. The impression of him was awful, the humor was bad. You know, they don't say, "I don't want you to make a joke about me." What they'll say is, "I'm so good at comedy, that I can tell you the jokes you're making about me are not very good and not very funny." So that's how they get around it. But it's this prickliness. It's when they show their first vulnerability, when they don't like a joke being told about themselves, then the armor is cracked. RFE/RL: And then you can, you know, slay the dragon. Iannucci: Yeah. I don't know about slay. [Laughs] RFE/RL: Well, at least, poke in there. Iannucci: Yes. RFE/RL: When and if you were to satirize Putin in one of your upcoming works, what would be the soft spot you would go for? What would be his Achilles' heel? Iannucci: It's his isolation, I think. I mean, the iconic symbol is that massive, long table that he meets people at, 12-foot long, you know, bigger than the Sistine Chapel. There's that. And I imagine him in a world where people, everyday people, are further and further away from him. And all he's got left is himself and his shadow. And then maybe he's scared of his shadow and his reflection. And they're gradually reduced as well. He looks like a very lonely figure, really. RFE/RL: In his mind, the great tsars usually are. Iannucci: Yes. And that's his perpetual complaint, isn't it, that the West is laughing at Russia, the world is laughing. They're not laughing now. It's this very human, I think, very vulnerable sense of vulnerability of being attacked. RFE/RL: Insecurity? Iannucci: There's an insecurity that can only be processed by these very macho [statements like], "We've got missiles, we've got even worse things we can do." You know, the threats. That's the sign of a bully. That's how a bully acts. But he's a bully on the world stage. RFE/RL: On the subject of bullying and also the subject of demanding respect and not getting it, you created one of the most irreverent and foul-mouthed characters ever to grace our screens, and that's Malcolm Tucker (a British political operative in The Thick Of It and In The Loop). What would Malcolm say to Putin if he had a chance? Iannucci: Oh, heavens, I think he wouldn't say anything, he would just go for [the] legs and try to rugby-tackle him to the ground. We created [Tucker] as an indication of what is wrong with politics in the U.K.; he's a bully, as well. He wouldn't exist now in British politics, he'd be reported. And quite rightly. He'd have to go and have to be taught to practice mindfulness, and whatever. I'd love to hear a mindfulness tape narrated by Malcolm: How To Get You More Stressed Out. But yes, I think it would be pure physical violence. RFE/RL: On this subject of, you know, mockery or humor, how do you cure a country where humor has become a health hazard? Iannucci: That's an interesting question. I don't think it's my job to do that. I'm taking part in the ZEG festival here in Tbilisi, which is about storytelling and the story. It's important that we tell these stories, whether it's as a journalist [telling] the stories of the facts that are happening, or as a writer telling stories of what is happening. [It's] affecting freedom and democracy and freedom of speech and personal safety and you have to fight back, but it's individual fights. It's not like you can have an army of writers. But, at least, especially against the threat of AI (artificial intelligence), [where] the threat is that it will then generate so much online that is fake. The best way we can fight against that is by doing what we do, by telling jokes, by telling stories, because the AI cannot replicate [that]. It still can't come up with a really good joke, you know. I've tried it, [and] they've not been very good. Because what we do is we originate; the AI doesn't originate, it feeds off what's already there. RFE/RL: It lacks the original spark of creation. Iannucci: Yes. So, what we have to do is remember that we're better than it because we can originate new ideas and originate new stories, new dramas, new worlds, new arguments. You know, that's our job, not to hand our job over to a computer. RFE/RL: We discussed in the beginning a possible sequel, somewhat jokingly, but I think it's fair to assume that when it's all over and the war is over, there will be films made, right? Iannucci: Yes. RFE/RL: They won't waste that opportunity. Be it from the Russian side as well, etc. Let me go full-on tabloid here, and ask you this: Whether you're at the helm or not, if you were the casting director and you had the choice, who would you choose to portray Putin? No restraints on funds etc., among the living actors, I suppose. Iannucci: I suppose I would cast a 12-year-old child. RFE/RL: Just a 12-year-old child? A very spoiled one? Iannucci: No, a 12-year-old but in a suit and doing the whole thing. And we would see all the military and all the people address him as if he was a 60- or 70-year-old. RFE/RL: You might want to copyright that, you know, that's fantastic. But we've dedicated too much time to Putin. I want to ask you about the phenomenon of [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskiy: how a comic who started with telling jokes became basically the flagbearer of truth in the world. What's the phenomenon? Iannucci: He also was an astute businessman, you know, [with the] production company that he ran. Just because you write jokes doesn't mean to say you're an idiot, you can be competent. And also, you know, the humor he was doing was very much analyzing the political process. So, he's someone who's very astutely aware of how power politics works, and, also, it's about how you get a message across, how you tell your story, you know, every joke is a little story. It's that creative engagement with the world, really. RFE/RL: In Russia, and I'm pretty sure also in Britain, if you call somebody a clown -- respectable profession that it might be -- it has a negative connotation. Iannucci: Yes. RFE/RL: And that was what Russians would incessantly call him during his presidency. Before the war; for quite a while after the war [started], as well. Now, not so much. What's this transformation, metamorphosis from clown into a court jester kind of figure that speaks truth to the world. How does it come about? Iannucci: I suppose what he's doing is very brave and honorable, but I'm also sure the performer in him is aware enough of what he signifies, and therefore how important it is, how effective it is, that he shows that he's there. He's able to use social media, using his ability to convey this idea of a leader who didn't run away, who's always there, where the worst is happening, is always on top of it, but he's going out around the worldand drumming up support. RFE/RL: He is not afraid of humor, instead embracing it. Iannucci: Yes, yes. So that's an interesting thing. But I've always maintained that to treat a subject comically is not to belittle that subject, [but to] really allow a surprising way into that subject. You know, when I was doing The Death Of Stalin, I looked back at Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator, which was a whole comedy about anti-Semitism and about brutality. But it is his way into it, explaining what was going on in Germany to a wider audience -- first to an American audience and then to an international audience. RFE/RL: Would there be an argument to be made that there is no convincing going on anymore (in media and on social media)? It's more exploitation. Iannucci: It's not convincing. It's damage limitation where their image has been damaged. But fundamentally, it's about keeping their own economy, their company economy going, no matter the cost. You know, the whole history of Facebook has been the whole history of Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Meta, parent company of Facebook) saying, "I'm sorry, we didn't get it right. We'll do better next time." And he's been trying to do better next time for the last 15 years, you know. Any other company, any politician would be out, any other company would be shut down. RFE/RL: Throughout the interview, we poked fun mostly at Russia. Iannucci: That's because of your line of questioning, it's been mostly about Russia! RFE/RL: Because we are in Georgia, where Russia casts such a large shadow, you need to ask those questions. Iannucci: Yeah, absolutely. It's a fundamental threat to existence. As a journalist from Ukraine was saying last night, it's not just about Ukraine versus Russia. It's about freedom and democracy against authoritarianism and military rule. It's that important. Autocratic governments across the world mustn't be given the sign that they can get away with it. RFE/RL: In order to remedy my own shortcomings of asking too many questions about Russia, let's take a somewhat satirical look at the West. as well. I'd like to invoke another all-time classic of political satire that I happen to know you have a great respect for -- Yes Minister, the British sitcom series -- especially considering the current president of Ukraine starred in the remake of it. I want to ask you about a particular quote from it that deals with foreign policy. The four stages of it, according to Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby from that series: "Stage 1: We say nothing is going to happen. Stage 2: We say something may be about to happen, but we should do nothing about it. Stage 3: We say maybe we should do something about it, but there's nothing we can do. Stage 4: We say maybe there was something, but it's too late now." Why is it as relevant today as before? To a large extent, this was also the case with Ukraine, at least until 2022. It certainly was the case with Georgia. Iannucci: Because it's just a perennial truth, like all politics has been like that, you know. And yet, time and time again, we think it wouldn't happen again. The whole shock, I think, to the system, with the invasion of Ukraine, and the war on Ukraine, has been that a lot of us, especially in Western democracies, thought that things like that were all in the past [and] would never happen again. And even someone like Putin, who had a history of clamping down on opposition and killing his opponents and so on, even someone like him, because he's in the 21st century, would never do something like that. It's this complacency that we have, that we've read it, we understand it, and we'll never get it wrong again. That's the big mistake. "Sorry, we didn't get it right. We promise to do better, you know." Well, we can't keep promising to do better next time, because we'll run out of next times. You know, the next biggest thing, even bigger than the war, is the climate crisis. And, still, we're in this complacent, maybe we can come up with something, maybe technology will sort it out. RFE/RL: The four stages of climate crisis. Iannucci: Yes, exactly. And you know, it's getting nearer. But this is really the time now that, you know, geniuses like [Elon] Musk (boss of Twitter and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX) and so on can put their brains together and come up with something that will solve it. And then you realize, Oh, no, it's too late. He didn't, he went to Mars. He went to Mars and died, because that's what's going to happen when you go to Mars. And he's just left us here in the smog. RFE/RL: Why do we keep buying into those promises? Is it human nature? Iannucci: It is human nature. And it's always tempting to go with the positive outcome, isn't it? It's a self-denial thing. And also, we're encouraged more and more to retreat from the real world anyway, by our screens, 3D, the meta world, you know. And I think more and more of us will just simply conclude that it's too depressing to think about the problems here. And we'll just spend all our days in our little goggles. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. SOFIA -- Bulgarias new defense minister, Todor Tagarev, has signaled a likely break from the previous caretaker governments reluctance to provide lethal aid to Ukraine by pledging an imminent announcement on a fresh package of military assistance, a move that could increase tensions with Bulgarias president. Bulgarian officials have bickered publicly over the question of lethal aid for Kyiv fueled in part by two years of inconclusive elections and political stalemate that denied either side an upper hand and boosted the influence of pro-Kremlin President Rumen Radev. In an interview with RFE/RLs Bulgarian Service on June 20, Tagarev said officials are now striving to take a decision as soon as possible to provide a new aid package pursuant to parliaments endorsement late last year of military aid toward Ukraines war effort. Lawmakers in December urged caretaker Prime Minister Galab Donev and his government to be responsive to both Ukrainian requests and Bulgarias own security needs. We are working to implement this point of the decision of the National Assembly and very soon we will announce the sending of the next package of military aid to Ukraine, Tagarev told RFE/RL. And we will continue to analyze the needs of Ukraine and our capabilities to see if we can help in the future as well. Bulgarian sources this week told RFE/RL that providing ammunition and other weapons directly to Ukraine could be green-lighted as soon as this week. A NATO and EU member, Bulgaria has joined Western sanctions on Russia for its 15-month-old invasion of Ukraine but dragged its feet on weapons transfers and classified details of its lone publicized weapons shipment to Kyiv, after the December 9 vote. It was said to contain only light weapons and ammunition. Bulgaria is home to a thriving arms industry and a large stockpile of Soviet-era weapons familiar to many Ukrainian troops. The United States has offered to reimburse Sofia or replace some of Bulgarias aging military hardware with more modern systems in exchange for contributions from its stockpiles to Kyiv. One of Tagarevs first moves as minister this month was to request an analysis of the types and quantities of ammunition and equipment that Bulgaria could quickly provide to Ukraine. The Bulgarian public has appeared divided on issues around Russia and the war, and Radev has been the face of institutional and public resistance to supplying lethal military aid to Kyiv. In March, Radev refused to join a dozen EU allies commitment to supply 1 million artillery shells over the course of a year. He and key members of the caretaker government at the time warned that transferring Soviet-era tanks and jets or S-300 air-defense systems would leave Bulgaria overly vulnerable. 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 counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here. Tagarev called the argument that Bulgarians taxes would be poured into weapons that are simply handed over to Ukraine an element of pro-Kremlin propaganda on our territory. It was never about that type of help, the defense minister said. We are talking about weapons and ammunition that are already in stock, many of which have already expired or are at the end of their life that need to be replaced anyway. He said Ukrainians are ready to take those items and even some systems that are not fully functional. For ammunition, which if we don't provide now, in a few years we have to dispose of it -- that is, to pay again to destroy them and refresh our stock. This is the type of help we are talking about, Tagarev said. It in no way affects the interests of the Bulgarian taxpayer. Bulgarian researchers and a former member of parliaments Defense Committee say that in addition to multiple types of long-range ammunition that Ukraine needs, Sofia could provide artillery and air-defense systems -- possibly in conjunction with NATO pledges to reinforce Bulgarias security and help modernize its 36,000-troop army. Analysts and others have challenged the argument that shipping ammunition and other military hardware to Ukraine is likely to endanger Bulgarians. Bulgaria can provide 152- and 122-millimeter projectiles, armored vehicles, howitzers, Ivo Mirchev, a lawmaker from the ruling PP-DB coalition who serves on the parliamentary Defense Committee, told RFE/RLs Bulgarian Service. Bulgarias stockpiles of such long-range ammunition are sufficient, he and other sources said. It could also donate other artillery, volley-fire, and air-defense systems, they said. Tagarev is part of a pro-EU government that was approved on June 6 with support from parliament's two biggest political groupings: the center-right GERB and Continue the Change/Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB). The current position [of Bulgaria] is that we understand very well the situation in which Ukraine is. We are absolutely aware of who the aggressor is in the war, which is currently going on in full force, and who the victim of aggression is, Tagarev said. And understanding all this -- the need to preserve the international legal order, the moral considerations that we have, and the geostrategic considerations, that by protecting itself, Ukraine is effectively protecting us -- we understand and share this need to help Ukraine with all we canas long as Ukraine needs this help. The United States on July 19 announced a $1.3 billion military aid package for Ukraine that includes advanced antiaircraft missile systems and other equipment after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of launching a "deliberate" attack on grain infrastructure at the Black Sea port of Odesa. The aid package is part of U.S. efforts to meet "Ukraine's pressing requirements" although it will not be part of a drawdown from U.S. stocks and will therefore not arrive soon on the battlefield. 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 counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here. Zelenskiy said the new aid "will help save Ukrainian lives and move closer to our common victory" and expressed gratitude for "the unwavering support of the friendly American people." The aid includes four additional national advanced antiaircraft missile systems (NASAMS) that Ukraine has used to defend its cities and infrastructure against Russian missile attacks. Russia's Defense Ministry said strikes on Odesa were retaliation against facilities where it claimed Ukraine was building seaborne drones of the type that Moscow says damaged a bridge in the annexed region of Crimea. But Zelenskiy said on his Telegram channel that the Russian strikes had "deliberately" targeted sites in the Odesa region that are used to export grain just hours after Russia refused to extend a UN-sponsored deal that had allowed shipments of Ukrainian grain abroad. "About a million tons of food is stored in the ports that were attacked today. Exactly the volume that should have been delivered to consumer countries in Africa and Asia a long time ago," Zelenskiy said in a video message. "Everyone in the world should be interested in holding Russia accountable for terror," he added. The port terminal that sustained the most damage contained 60,000 tons of agricultural products intended for shipment to China, he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin complained that Western nations had "completely distorted" the grain deal, but said Russia would immediately return to it if all its conditions were met. Russian fired more than 60 missiles and drones at southern Ukraine early on July 19. Ukrainian air defense forces destroyed 13 Kalibrs, one Kh-59 missile, and 23 drones, the military said. In addition to hitting grain and oil terminal facilities in Odesa, there were reports that an infrastructure facility was hit in the Zhytomyr region and of shelling in Mykolayiv. Twelve people were injured in the Odesa region and two in the Mykolayiv region, officials said. The claims could not be independently verified. The attack on Odesa was the second in as many days after Russia vowed "revenge" following an explosion on the bridge linking Russia with annexed Crimea that killed two people, wounded one teenage girl, and restricted road traffic. Russia has blamed Ukraine for what it said was "a terrorist attack," and Putin vowed retaliation. Russia said on July 19 it would consider cargo ships on the Black Sea destined for Ukraine potential military targets. A Russian Defense Ministry statement said the vessels will be considered to be involved on the side of Ukraine. Kyiv at the same time urged other countries in the Black Sea region to intervene to assure the safe passage of cargo ships. In Crimea, earlier on July 19, Moscow-installed Governor Sergei Aksyonov said a fire near a military training ground had prompted the evacuation of some 2,000 people and partially closed the nearby Tavrida Highway. Aksyonov did not give details about the cause of the fire or potential victims, but Telegram channels linked to Russian security services and Ukrainian media reported that an ammunition depot exploded at the base after an overnight Ukrainian air attack. Unverified videos circulating on social media show a large fire in the distance and sparks flying from the apparent detonation of ammunition. A post on Telegram attributed to Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of Ukraine's military intelligence (GUR), claimed that Ukraine was responsible for the attack on the Russian depot. But the GUR military later denied that Budanov had issued the comment. Spokesman Andriy Yusov said in an interview with broadcaster Suspilne that the comments, carried by several media outlets, "were fake." Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops forced Russians to retreat from Orikhovo-Vasylyvka, just northwest of Bakhmut, in the eastern region of Donetsk, Andriy Kovalev, a spokesman for the military, said on July 19. Russia captured Bakhmut in May after one of the longest and bloodiest battles since the beginning of the war in February 2022. But since the start of their counteroffensive, Ukrainian forces have advanced on the northern and southern flanks of the city. Russia on July 20 launched a third consecutive round of air strikes on southern Ukraine, targeting port installations and grain storage facilities as well as civilian infrastructure and wounding several civilians, regional officials said. The attacks came after Russia refused to extend a UN-sponsored deal that had allowed shipments of Ukrainian grain abroad, and warned that it would consider cargo ships on the Black Sea destined for Ukraine as potential military targets. 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 counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here. In Mykolayiv, at least 18 civilians, including children, were wounded in an attack on a three-story residential building in the city center, regional Governor Vitaliy Kim said. "The Russians hit the city center. A garage and a three-story residential building caught fire.... A total of 18 people were injured. Nine of them were hospitalized, including five children, while two people were rescued from under the rubble. It's a miracle that we managed to save them," Kim said. In Odesa, grain and oil terminals were hit, and there was also destruction in the city center, Odesa regional Governor Oleh Kiper reported. "A fire broke out on an area of 300 square meters. Relevant services work on site. It is known about two hospitalized victims...detailed information later," Kiper said on Telegram. The Ukrainian Energy Ministry said grain terminals and port infrastructure in the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk were targeted. In Chornomorsk, 60,000 tons of grain were destroyed, the ministry said. Ukraine's air defense said in an update on July 20 that during the attack, Russia fired 19 cruise missiles and 19 kamikaze drones. It said it shot down 13 Iranian-made drones, two Kalibr cruise missiles, and three Iskander-K missiles. Russia's Defense Ministry has said strikes on Odesa and Mykolayiv were retaliation against facilities where it claimed Ukraine was building seaborne drones of the type that Moscow says damaged a bridge in the annexed region of Crimea. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on his Telegram channel late on July 19 the Russian strikes had "deliberately" targeted sites in the Odesa region that are used to export grain after Russia refused to extend the grain deal. "About 1 million tons of food is stored in the ports that were attacked today. Exactly the volume that should have been delivered to consumer countries in Africa and Asia a long time ago," Zelenskiy said in a video message. "Everyone in the world should be interested in holding Russia accountable for terror," he added. After Ukraine said it would continue to export grain despite Moscow's pullout from the deal, Russia announced that starting from July 20, it would consider international waters in northwestern and southeastern parts of the Black Sea "temporarily dangerous" for shipping and warned that it will consider any incoming vessel as a legitimate target. The Russian statement prompted the White House to issue a warning that Moscow is preparing for possible attacks on civilian cargo ships in the Black Sea. "Our information indicates that Russia laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports," White House National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said in a statement. "We believe that this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine for these attacks." On July 19, Washington announced a $1.3 billion military aid package for Ukraine that includes advanced antiaircraft missile systems and other equipment. The aid package is part of U.S. efforts to meet "Ukraine's pressing requirements" although it will not be part of a drawdown from U.S. stocks and will therefore not arrive soon on the battlefield. Zelenskiy said the new aid "will help save Ukrainian lives and move closer to our common victory," and expressed gratitude for "the unwavering support of the friendly American people." The aid includes four additional national advanced antiaircraft missile systems (NASAMS) that Ukraine has used to defend its cities and infrastructure against Russian missile attacks. In Russian-annexed Crimea, Moscow-installed Governor Sergei Aksyonov said on Telegram early on July 20 that a settlement in the northwestern part of the region was hit by Ukrainian drones overnight, and a teenage girl was killed in the attack. "As a result of an attack by an enemy UAV, four administrative buildings were damaged in one settlement in northwestern Crimea...Unfortunately, it was not without victims -- a teenage girl died,"Aksyonov wrote. The information could not be independently confirmed. Aksyonov's claim came a day after he reported an explosion and fire at an ammunition depot in a Russian military facility in Crimea that he said prompted the evacuation of 2,000 civilians and partially closed the nearby Tavrida Highway. With reporting by AP and Reuters WASHINGTON -- White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said there will be deliverables on the defense cooperation front when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Washington later this week, but declined to provide details. Kirby acknowledged at a briefing on June 20 that India would be pressed regarding its Russian oil and arms purchases during the state visit, adding that Ukraine is without question going to be a topic of discussion. However, he emphasized that the United States would make Indian sovereignty a priority in the discussions, noting that India should and must speak for itself on where it stands. Kirby suggested the meeting would focus more on U.S.-Indian ties than on Indias relationship with Russia. The state visit is not about Russia. What were trying to dois improve the bilateral relationship on its own, he said. India has not condemned Russia's war in Ukraine and has frustrated Western countries by increasing its imports of Russian oil and defense equipment. However, Kirby called India a terrific contributor to humanitarian aid to Ukraine so far. Through statements and through votes at the UN, India has made it clear its deep concern about what Russia is doing inside Ukraine, Kirby said. Additionally, he praised Indias adherence to the price cap on Russian oil, which he said has proven effective in both keeping the supply stable while simultaneously limiting revenues flowing to the Russian state. Kirby said he hopes India will continue to buy within the price cap to limit Moscows war funds. Modi was upbeat as he left for the trip, his fifth to the United States since he became prime minister in 2014 but the first with the full status of a state visit. We seek to deepen India-USA ties in key sectors like trade, commerce, innovation, technology and other such areas, Modi said on Twitter on June 20. After arriving in New York City on the first stop of his visit, he posted a link to an interview he did with The Wall Street Journal in which he said that ties between New Delhi and Washington are stronger and deeper than ever. He also responded to the criticism of Indias stance on Russias invasion of Ukraine. "I don't think this type of perception is widespread in the U.S.," he said in the interview. "I think Indias position is well known and well understood in the entire world. The world has full confidence that Indias top-most priority is peace." Kirby also said he would welcome any role India wanted to play in building peace in Ukraine, but he would not be able to give any details until after the discussions take place. Modi is scheduled on June 22 to address a joint meeting of the House and Senate -- one of the highest honors Washington affords to foreign dignitaries -- followed by a state dinner. Kirby said that he expects additional discussions to be centered around global health, emerging technologies, and climate change. President Joe Biden has made clear he sees U.S. ties to India as a defining relationship that will jointly address some of the most difficult global challenges and Chinas growing power in the Indo-Pacific. The president was reminded by members of Congress as Modi arrived to raise human rights issues. Seventy-five Democratic members of Congress -- 18 senators and 57 members of the House of Representatives -- said in a letter to Biden that they "stand in support of the important principles that should be a core part of American foreign policy." They asked the president to "discuss the full range of issues important to a successful, strong, and long-term relationship between our two great countries." With reporting by Shelby Rayer in Washington Egypts Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Osama Askar met with Indias Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Manoj Pande on Tuesday. Askar greeted Pande and his delegation, who are on an official visit to Egypt. Both officials discussed mechanisms to boost cooperative military relations and exchange expertise between Egyptian and Indian armed forces. Egypts chief of staff expressed pride in his countrys military relations with India as well as the Armed Forces keenness to expand cooperation and partnership in multiple military fields. For his part, Pande affirmed Indias keenness to enhance military cooperation with Egypt in the future and expressed appreciated for the Egyptian Armed Forces efforts in all fields. The meeting was attended by a number military leaders from both countries. The visit by Indias chief of staff comes shortly after a joint exercise in Egypt between the two countrys air forces earlier in May. Search Keywords: Short link: Eight-year-old Halima was devastated to learn that after overcoming numerous obstacles to her education under Taliban rule, her path to learning had been blocked with the closure of her private school. "We all went home crying," she told RFE/RLs Radio Azadi of the day she and her fellow students learned that their classes in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar Province had been terminated. "Our schools were closed first by the coronavirus [pandemic], then there was fighting, and now they have been shut again," she said. "We just want to study." The rural classroom where she studied was a lifeline for learning basic mathematics, Afghan languages, science, and Islamic studies despite the ruling Taliban's efforts to restrict girls' and women's access to education. But on April 16, classes ended when the hardline Islamist authorities announced that the school, among Afghanistan's thousands of Community-Based Education (CBE) centers, would be closed following unspecified "complaints from locals." Unrest and poverty in Kandahar and neighboring Helmand Province made the two regions a focal point for the development of CBE centers over the past three decades, with funding coming primarily from Western donors via the United Nations and international nongovernmental organizations. Countrywide, more than 500,000 Afghan children currently attend CBE centers, which were established in cooperation with the communities in which they were based and are often held in private homes, mosques, or large tents. Aid groups pay teachers' salaries, provide educational materials, and offer the same curriculum taught in Afghan state schools. The centers, typically made up of a single classroom catering for up to 50 students, half of them girls, also filled an education void in remote areas where there were no state schools. But since mid-April, nearly 1,600 CBE centers in Kandahar Province have been closed, depriving 50,000 students of an education. Similar numbers have been recorded in neighboring Helmand Province in a nationwide trend. 'It's Heartbreaking' The termination of classes at Halima's school and others like it appears to show that the narrow window for learning in remote areas is being closed as the Taliban looks to impose full control over how children are educated. Munir Ahmad, who ran a literacy class inside his mudbrick home in Dand, a rural district in Kandahar Province, said he was forced to close his doors to students in April. "It is heartbreaking to lose these classes because they serve children in remote areas where there are no other education opportunities," he told Radio Azadi. The Taliban, approaching two years in power, has not commented on whether it has ordered the school closures. But aid workers, rights campaigners, and education experts suggest that the hardline group is trying to ensure that young students receive an Islamic education even though the CBE centers follow the state model. This, in turn, has led to concerns that the Taliban either intends to permanently shut down the schools or use them as venues to spread its extremist worldview and ideology. "It is alarming," said Heather Barr, associate director of the women's rights division at Human Rights Watch. "The Taliban will likely change these schools in a way that is harmful to students, particularly girls." Education has been a main target of the Taliban's extremist policies since it seized power in August 2021 and took steps to root out secular education. Teenage girls were promptly banned from attending school despite the Taliban's promises to the international community, which has listed the Taliban's stance on girls' and women's education as a key obstacle to officially recognizing its government. 'Jihadi Madrasahs' Since taking power, the Taliban has consistently enforced strict gender segregation and replaced professional educators with clerics. Last year, Taliban supreme leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada appointed key loyalists Mawlawi Habibullah Agha and Nida Mohmmad Nadim to lead the education and higher education ministries, respectively. The two have diligently worked to expand the ban on womens education and attempted to turn schools into a tool for indoctrination by tweaking the curriculum, critics say. In some cases, modern schools have been converted into madrasahs. In December, the Taliban upped the ante by prohibiting women from receiving a university education. And in the latest move, a Taliban official said this month that its government had established "jihadi madrasahs" in at least five provinces. Many Islamist militant groups, including the Taliban, emerged from such religious schools in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan in the 1980s. Wazhma Tokhi, an Afghan human rights activist with a particular focus on women's rights and education in Afghanistan, suggests that the recent school closures can be seen as another example of the groups determination to root out secular education. "They want to turn the schools into madrasahs," Tokhi said. The UN agency for children, UNICEF, which funds many CBE centers, says it is now holding discussions with the Taliban over "timelines and practicalities" for possibly handing them over to Afghan NGOs, many of which receive outside funding and have some protection from the Taliban. Tokhi sees disastrous consequences if the Taliban assumes direct control over CBE centers. "Our future is destroyed," she said. Ukrainian soldiers are advancing around Bakhmut atop captured Russian tanks. The fighting vehicles were seized by Ukrainian troops during counteroffensive operations in the Kharkiv region last year. The tanks were taken for repairs before being sent to attack Russian positions in Ukraine's embattled Donetsk region. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government on Wednesday passed a new two-year budget, a step that could bring some stability to his coalition and clear the way for it to press ahead with its religious, pro-settlement agenda. While the budget could buy Netanyahu some quiet inside his coalition of ultra-Orthodox and ultranationalist parties, Israel's most hard-line ever, it also was expected to deepen the divisions in Israel. Critics have accused Netanyahu of increasing spending on his ultra-Orthodox allies for religious programs that have little benefit for the economy and broader society. The vote dragged on overnight, with the budgets for 2023 and 2024 finally passing with a 64-56 vote in parliament after daybreak. It followed weeks of tense negotiations between Netanyahu and the parties in his coalition. We have received the tools, we're rolling up our sleeves and going to work, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said after the vote." The new budget has been criticized for allocating nearly $4 billion in discretionary funds, much of it for ultra-Orthodox and pro-settler parties. That will include increases in controversial stipends for ultra-Orthodox men to study full time in religious seminaries instead of working or serving in the military, which is compulsory for most secular males. It also includes more money for ultra-Orthodox schools, which are widely criticized for not teaching students skills like math and English needed in the modern workplace. The funds also include tens of millions of dollars for hard-line pro-settler parties to promote pet projects through the ministries they control. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler leader, has said he hopes to double the population of West Bank settlers in the coming years. The governments composition and agenda have deeply divided the country. On Tuesday, several thousand flag-waving Israelis protested outside the parliament building against the budget. That smaller demonstration over the budget followed months of sustained mass protest against a series of proposals by Netanyahu's government to overhaul the country's judicial system while he is on trial for corruption. Proponents say the measures are needed to rein in an overzealous Supreme Court, but critics say the plan would destroy the countrys system of checks and balances and compromise Israeli democracy. That plan has raised concerns overseas but is now on hold. Now that the budget has passed, however, Netanyahu may face renewed pressure from his allies to bring it back before parliament. Following the budget vote, Netanyahu told Israels Channel 14 that it was the dawn of a new day and said that the judicial overhaul plan would be revived. Search Keywords: Short link: Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that the expansion of Israeli settlements and ongoing demolitions of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank are taking Israel further away from peace with the Palestinians. Yet, he stressed that the US-Israel relationship remains iron-clad," lauded American security commitments to the Jewish state and said the Biden administration will continue to promote normalization between Israel and its Arab neighbors, particularly with Saudi Arabia. At the same time, he made clear the administration's displeasure with actions that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government has taken in expanding Jewish settlements and increasing Palestinian home demolitions. Settlement expansion clearly presents an obstacle to the horizon of hope we seek, Blinken said in a speech to the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington. Likewise, any move toward annexation of the West Bank, de facto or de jure, disruption of the historic status quo at the holy sites, the continuing demolitions of homes and the evictions of families that have lived in their homes for generations damage prospects for two states, he said. Improving Israeli-Arab relations cannot replace a two-state solution with the Palestinians, he said. Integration and normalization efforts are not a substitute for progress between Israelis and Palestinians, and they should not come at its expense, Blinken said. Israels deepened relationships with its partners can and should advance the well-being of the Palestinian people and the prospects of a two-state solution, he added. Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia this week, in part to discuss prospects for the Saudis joining the so-called Abraham Accords that were completed during the Trump administration between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. The United States has a real national security interest in promoting normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, he said. We believe we can and must play an integral role in advancing it. We have no illusions this could be done quickly or easily but we remain committed to working toward this outcome. Blinken also reaffirmed the Biden administrations determination not to allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. Search Keywords: Short link: Ram Charan & Wife Upasana Ram Charan expressed his heartfelt gratitude for the precious gift of parenthood HYDERABAD: Celebrations are in full swing in the household of renowned Telugu actor Ram Charan and his wife Upasana as they recently welcomed a new addition to their family. The couple is now proud parents to a beautiful baby girl. The News of the arrival was shared by the ecstatic parents on their respective social media accounts, spreading joy among their fans and well-wishers. Ram Charan, known for his stellar performances in blockbuster films, expressed his happiness and gratitude for this precious gift of parenthood. Advertisement Ram Charan and Upasana, who tied the knot in a grand ceremony in 2012, have been eagerly anticipating this new chapter in their lives. The couple has always been open about their desire to start a family and has received an outpouring of love and blessings from their fans. As the news broke, social media platforms were flooded with congratulatory messages and heartfelt wishes for the couple and their newborn daughter. Fans of the star couple eagerly await glimpses of the little one and eagerly share their joy in this special moment. Ram Charan, son of acclaimed Telugu actor Chiranjeevi, has secured a position for himself in the film industry with his impressive performances and charismatic on-screen presence. He is widely known for his roles in hit movies such as "Magadheera," "Rangasthalam," and "Dhruva." Upasana, on the other hand, is a well-known entrepreneur and the Vice-Chairperson of Apollo Foundation. Advertisement RBI HC Stresses the Importance of Fair Procedures & Natural Justice in RBI's Circular on Fraudulent Accounts MUMBAI: In a significant development, the Bombay High Court has issued a stay on the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) master circular, which required banks to label any account as a 'fraud account' without providing a fair hearing. The court order, valid until September 11, comes in response to a batch of petitions filed by Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita, challenging the circular on the grounds that it violates the principles of natural justice. A division bench consisting of Justice Gautam S Patel and Justice Nila K Gokhale granted the stay, acknowledging the need for a thorough examination of the matter. The court expressed concern that the RBI's decision lacked proper consideration of fair procedures and emphasized the importance of affording individuals an opportunity to present their case. Advertisement During the hearing, it was clarified that in cases where FIRs (First Information Reports) have already been registered and investigations are underway, actions initiated by the investigating agencies would continue independent of the outcome of the disputed circular. The circular in question, titled "Reserve Bank of India (Fraud Classification and Reporting by Commercial Banks and Selected FLSs) Circular 2016," directed banks to utilize the Central Fraud Registry to promptly detect, control, report, and mitigate associated risks. As per the circular, once a bank identifies an account as fraudulent, it is obligated to report the account to a central repository of information shared among major credit platforms, thereby alerting other banks to exercise caution. Furthermore, if a bank independently determines that an account should be classified as fraudulent, it must report the fraud to the RBI within 21 days and inform the matter to the relevant investigating agency. Advertisement The petitions challenging the RBI's decision will be further heard by the court in September, allowing for a more comprehensive examination of the issues raised. This stay granted by the Bombay High Court provides temporary relief to individuals and entities who may have been affected by the RBI circular, allowing for a fair and unbiased assessment of the situation. It reaffirms the importance of upholding principles of natural justice and providing individuals with a chance to present their side of the story before severe actions are taken. The outcome of the court proceedings in September will shed further light on the future course of action regarding the RBI circular, ultimately shaping the regulatory landscape concerning the identification and reporting of fraudulent accounts in the banking sector. The Secretary-General of the Arab League (AL) Ahmed Abul-Gheit warned on Tuesday against Israeli plans to build thousands of settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling on the US administration to honour its commitment to the two-state solution. "The US administration must take a firm stand against these Israeli plans in defence of the two-state solution promoted by Washington," Abul-Gheit said in a statement published on the ALs website. "Such plans undermine the two-state solution due to the seizing of lands on which the future Palestinian state should be based, " he added. "Building settlements shatters peace. It is not possible to talk about a settlement between the Palestinians and the Israelis, or about peace in the region, while the Palestinian lands are being gnawed away every day," he exclaimed. In this context, Gamal Rushdi, the spokesman for the secretary-general, said that the Israeli government is seeking an "American green light" to move forward with its plans. "The Netanyahu government refuses to be a partner in a peaceful political process that leads to a comprehensive settlement," the spokesman added quoting Abul-Gheit. "Its first and foremost concern is to satisfy the most extreme right-wing (players) on the domestic political scene, and appease the settlement groups and religious nationalist currents," the spokesman added. Last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government passed a new two-year budget, a step that could clear the way for his right-wing coalition to press ahead with its religious, pro-settlement agenda. The United Nations and most of the international community see Israeli settlements, home to 700,000 people in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, as illegal and obstacles to peace. Since the start of the year, at least 157 Palestinians have been killed during Israeli raids into the occupied West Bank, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources. Search Keywords: Short link: Manipur Escalating Unrest in Manipur Sparks Concern as Punjabi Community Seeks Safety MANIPUR: The Situation in Manipur has been steadily worsening over the past 45 days, leading to the imposition of a curfew in the region. Disturbed by the escalating unrest, Punjabi residents of Manipur have been compelled to seek refuge in Guwahati. While Punjabis have established successful businesses in Manipur, the deteriorating environment has prompted them to relocate to safer areas. Amardeep Singh, owner of a Tata Transport showroom in Imphal, the capital city of Manipur, revealed the challenges faced by the community. While inter-tribal conflicts have been a recurring issue in the region, this time the clashes have intensified due to misunderstandings between different communities. The resulting riots have not only witnessed incidents of arson but also tragic instances of violence between groups. Though Punjabis are not directly involved in these conflicts, they have chosen to leave Manipur as a precautionary measure, seeking solace in more secure locations. Advertisement Many Punjabis have sought refuge with their families in Guwahati, while others have been forced to rely on the assistance of acquaintances. Initially, they had hoped that the riots would subside within a few days, but to their dismay, the situation continues to deteriorate with each passing day. Today marks the 45th day of unrest, and yet there seems to be no respite from the escalating violence. The exodus of Punjabi residents has dealt a blow to the local economy, as they have played a significant role in various business ventures throughout Manipur. Amardeep Singh's Tata Transport showroom, for instance, reflects the substantial investments made by Punjabis in the region. However, the prevailing atmosphere of uncertainty has compelled them to prioritize their safety and well-being over their economic interests. The authorities have responded to the deteriorating situation by imposing a curfew in Manipur, aiming to restore calm and protect the lives and property of residents. It is a critical step towards containing the violence and ensuring the safety of the affected communities. Advertisement The prolonged unrest in Manipur serves as a somber reminder of the challenges faced by diverse communities residing within the region. The government and relevant stakeholders must work together to address the root causes of the conflicts, promote dialogue, and foster a harmonious environment that respects the cultural diversity of Manipur. CM Bhagwant Mann State Agriculture Minister Urges Centre to Expedite Release of RDF Owed to Punjab CHANDIGARH: The ongoing tussle between the Punjab Chief Minister and the Centre took a new turn as the Chief Minister issued a stern warning regarding the release of funds. Expressing his concerns, the Chief Minister emphasized that if the funds were released without proper consideration, it would be deemed unacceptable and will lead to Supreme Court Intervention. The Second day of the special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha was marred by chaos and disruptions right from the beginning. The proceedings took an unruly turn as the Minister for Local Government, Balkar Singh, proposed that the session should focus solely on the purpose for which it was called, avoiding discussions on unrelated matters. Advertisement Opposition leader Partap Singh Bajwa objected to this approach, insisting that the purpose of the session should be clearly explained before any further proceedings. Bajwa highlighted that a session on Operation Lotus had been convened nine months ago, during which discussions were held with the Chief Minister and complaints were lodged by various MLAs. However, no concrete response or action has been taken on those matters yet. Bajwa called for accountability and demanded answers in the Parliament regarding the status of those complaints. The Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha stated that the matter is currently under investigation. Following the objection, Congress MLAs decided to boycott the session in protest. Partap Bajwa, speaking outside the Vidhan Sabha, expressed his disappointment with the government's lack of response and transparency regarding the pending issues. He questioned why no agenda or clear explanation was provided for the session. Meanwhile, Ashwani Sharma, the BJP state president, also criticized the meeting, alleging that the Punjab government should refrain from interfering in religious matters. Sharma further accused Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of dancing to the tune of Arvind Kejriwal. He claimed that the two-day session was organized solely to appease Kejriwal. Earlier in the assembly, Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Khudian addressed the issue of the Punjab government's Rural Development Fund (RDF) owed by the central government. Khudian emphasized that the non-release of the RDF funds, amounting to Rs 3,622 crore, has adversely impacted rural development work in Punjab. He proposed approaching the central government to expedite the release of the funds, stressing that the Punjab government has been awaiting this allocation for the past four seasons. Advertisement The ongoing chaos and boycott in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha have highlighted the increasing tensions and dissatisfaction among opposition parties and legislators. The lack of clarity and effective communication from the government has further fueled the frustrations of the opposition, leading to a disruption in the session's proceedings. Lanxess AG (LNXSF.PK), a German specialty chemicals company, said on Tuesday that it cut its second-quarter and full-year 2023 adjusted EBITDA guidance, amidst persisting weak demand combined with continued customer de-stocking impact. Matthias Zachert, CEO of Lanxess, said: "The demand recovery we originally expected in the second half is not yet visible - neither in China nor in other meaningful end . This impacts us especially in Germany: Here we are massively impacted by the disadvantageous conditions such as the high energy prices and massive bureaucracy." For the second-quarter, EBITDA pre exceptionals is now expected to be at around 100 million euros, below current average market expectations. Earlier, Lanxess had expected its second-quarter EBITDA pre exceptionals roughly on par with first-quarter's 189 million euros. The chemical firm now expects that the weakness to continue in the second half of 2023. Therefore, now it expects full year EBITDA pre exceptional of 600 million euros - 650 million euros against its previous outlook of 850 million euros - 950 million euros. Lanxess is scheduled to release its second quarter results on August 4. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News A report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday showed new residential construction in the U.S. unexpectedly skyrocketed in the month of May. The Commerce Department said housing starts soared by 21.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.631 million in May after tumbling by 2.9 percent to a revised rate of 1.340 million in April. Economists had expected housing starts to edge down to a rate of 1.400 million from the 1.401 million originally reported for the previous month. With the substantial increase, housing starts spiked to their highest annual rate since hitting 1.803 million in April 2022. The report showed single-family housing starts shot up by 18.5 percent to a rate of 997,000, while multi-family housing starts skyrocketed by 27.1 percent to 634,000. The Commerce Department said building permits also surged by 5.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.491 million in May after slumping by 1.4 percent to a revised rate of 1.417 million in April. Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to rise to a rate of 1.423 million from the 1.416 million originally reported for the previous month. Single-family building permits jumped by 4.8 percent to a rate of 897,000, while multi-family building permits surged by 5.9 percent to a rate of 594,000. "Our baseline forecast assumes housing starts will dip back below 1.40mn later in the year as the enters a recession," said Nancy Vanden Houten, U.S. Lead Economist at Oxford Economics. "Tighter lending standards are expected to weigh on construction, particularly in the multi-family sector," she added. "However, the May report, along with a rebound in homebuilder sentiment, points to an upside risk to that forecast." The National Association of Home Builders released a separate report on Monday showing homebuilder confidence in the U.S. has improved by much more than expected in the month of June. The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index jumped to 55 in June from 50 in May. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 51. The housing market index increased for the sixth straight month, climbing above the midpoint of 50 for the first time since July 2022. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Forex News Rhodes University VC, Professor Sizwe Mabizela signs ARUA/Guild CoRE collaboration agreement. From left to right: Ernest Aryeetey (Secretary General ARUA); Sizwe Mabizela (VC, Rhodes University), HE Ambassador Tokozile Xasa (South Africa), Tomasz Grodzicki (Vice-Rector, Jagiellonian University, Poland), Jan Palmowski (Secretary General, The Guild) Rhodes University has been drafted to take up key roles in various clusters of the newly launched Africa-Europe Clusters of Excellence, including co-leading the establishment of Water Resource Management for a Sustainable and Just Future Cluster. Rhodes University has been drafted to take up key roles in various clusters of the newly launched Africa-Europe Clusters of Excellence, including co-leading the establishment of Water Resource Management for a Sustainable and Just Future Cluster. The Africa-Europe Clusters of Excellence were recently launched at a summit held in Brussels, Belgium. Rhodes University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sizwe Mabizela and the Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Strategic partnerships, Professor Joanna Dames, attended the launch. The Africa-Europe Clusters of Research Excellence bring together distinguished researchers from universities and research institutes across both continents, from African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities and beyond the two networks. Rhodes University and the University of Ljubljana were selected as co-leads to establish a Cluster of Research Excellence in Water Resource Management for a Sustainable and Just Future which includes the already established ARUA Centre of Excellence in Water (Dr Jane Tanner and Prof Nelson Odume from the Rhodes University Institute for Water Research), eight core African partners and three additional Guild core partners Other Rhodes University academics are core partners in four other selected Africa-Europe Clusters of Research Excellence. These are: Genomics for Health in Africa: Professor Ozlem Tastan Bishop (Director: Research Unit in Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry & Microbiology) and Professor Adrienne Edkins (SARChI Chair: Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Eukaryotic Response, Department of Biochemistry & Microbiology). Nature Based Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation: Distinguished Professor Heila Lotz-Sisitka (SARChI Chair: Global Change and Social Learning Systems, Director: Environmental Learning Research Centre, Education Department); Professor Brad Ripley (Department of Botany), Professor Susie Vetter (Department of Botany), Professor Nelson Odume (Director: Institute for Water Research) and Dr Chika Nnadozie (Institute for Water Research). Sustainable Water and Land Resource Management for Human Well-being: Dr Jane Tanner (Institute for Water Research, Director ARUA Centre of Excellence in Water). Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, and Theoretical and Computational Thinking: Prof Ozlem Tastan Bishop (Director: Research Unit in Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry & Microbiology). Rhodes University is excited and deeply honoured to be part of this collaboration between and among research-intensive universities in the African and European continents. The challenges faced by humanity are simultaneously local and global in nature. They do not observe any political, geographic, social or economic boundaries. They require multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research approach and the summoning of the human talent across the globe, Professor Mabizela said during the launch. The Clusters are formed in the context of a clear and unequivocal support in the R&I sector, in Europe and Africa, to develop science collaboration equitably and sustainably, and the urgent demand from funders like the European Union to develop a more integrated approach that focuses on excellence and capacity-building. To this end, the Clusters are aimed to open up new dialogues with policymakers and funders in both continents and beyond, to identify ground-breaking solutions and create opportunities for investment in societal transformation. The Africa-Europe Clusters of Research, led by ARUA and The Guild, addresses the inequity that has characterised research in relation to Africa, to the detriment of global science. The Clusters will develop new research paradigms and transform the joint capacities to overcome major health challenges, address climate change, strengthen technological transformations, and sustain societies facing conflict and change. They will help ensure that a common research agenda is at the heart of the African Unions Africa 2063 strategy which envisages Africas transformation to a knowledge society. The Clusters also strengthen the capacity of research and innovation to make a major contribution to each priority of the European Unions Global Gateway. The Clusters of Research Excellence proposals submitted and the collaborations that they represent were developed by our researchers. The willingness of our academics to collaborate on a wider global scale to address societal needs is to be applauded. The long-term vision of the Clusters of Research Excellence will ensure excellent and impactful research and I look forward to their future development, Professor Dames said. These strategic partnerships are aligned with the Institutional Development Plan (2023-2028) to strengthen Rhodes Universitys standing as a research-intensive university and build research capacity not only at Rhodes University but also among all partners. The South African delegation that attended the launch included Rhodes University, University of Stellenbosch, Wits University, University of Pretoria, University of Cape Town and University of KwaZulu-Natal. Renault Rafale India debut is less likely Here Renault has plans to bring back Duster brand At the 54th Paris Air Show held at La Borguet, Renault showcased its flagship Rafale SUV. With the Rafale name, Renault is celebrating its airplane manufacturing heritage from the 1930s. The first ever Rafale plane was built in 1934 by Caudron Renault in the form of C460. Rafale shares its platform with other Renault vehicles like Austral and Espace. At first glance, it is an all new SUV from the French brand that takes a fastback shape. The rear three-quarter is probably the best angle for Rafale. It features a clutchless hybrid powertrain and will be the brands flagship offering in its global portfolio. Launch timeline is not yet out. But it will probably launch in 2024. Renault Rafale Debuts New French fastback SUV From the front, there is a large grille in Black finish that houses Renaults logo. Sleek LED headlights flank this grille. The bonnet features two character lines and Renault has designed this bonnet to look like a clamshell unit, but it isnt. Front bumper features sharp creases that neatly blend into its boomerang-shape LED DRLs. There is a wide lower grille that gets faux skid plates as well. From the sides, coupe-ish fastback design is immediately evident. What is also evident is its 4.7m length and 2.74m wheelbase. Alloy wheels look like theyre 19 or 20 in size and look very new-age. ORVMs are fairly large and feature a Black finish, matching the front grille. Rear fastback design is accentuated by a sporty roof spoiler. Bottom end of the rear windshield is almost level with the window line, which is a neat touch. This should enhance visibility too. Rear LED tail lights are very attractive and rear bumpers get Black treatment as well. Tailgate features Renault logo and a stylistic Rafale badge. On the inside, Renault is offering an interesting flat-bottom steering wheel with controls. There is a rotary dial on the steering too. That is likely to control drive modes for hybrid powertrain. There is a large instrumentation display in landscape orientation and a large portrait display for infotainment. Other than that, the dashboard and center console are fairly minimal (no buttons). Hybrid powertrains dont feature a clutch At launch, Renault Rafale will feature a hybrid powertrain with a 1.2L 3-cylinder petrol engine with two electric motors. Combined, power output is 194 bhp of which the petrol engine is capable of 127 bhp. Between the engine and a 4-speed automatic gearbox, there is a 66 bhp electric drive motor with an integrated 2-speed dog box. Second motor acts as ISG and even recuperates lost kinetic energy. This powertrain stores electrical energy in a 2 kWh battery and this entire setup only drives the front wheels. A 290 bhp powertrain with AWD is in the works too. This will be a PHEV with a larger battery that promises an E-range of up to 64 km. India launch is less likely, though. Egypt will celebrate the four-day Islamic feast Eid El-Adha starting Wednesday, 28 June, after Dar El-Iftaa, Egypt's highest authority for issuing religious edicts, announced it has sighted the moon of the Islamic month of Dhul-Hijja. According to the announcement, the Muslim sacred month of Dhul-Hijjah -- the last month of the Islamic calendar and the time of the Hajj (Islamic pilgrimage) -- will start on Monday. Dar El-Iftaa extended Eid greetings to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and the Egyptian people. It also extended greetings to the kings and princes of the Arab and Islamic states and Muslims worldwide. According to astronomical calculations, Muslims in Egypt will attend the Eid Al-Adha prayers for this Islamic year, 1444, at around 5:16 a.m Cairo Local Time (CLT). The four days of the Eid El-Adha are always declared holidays for the public and private sectors. Soaring meat prices Eid Al-Adha, which sees increasing demand for meat, comes at a time when prices of commodities in Egypt, including meat and poultry, have soared. In May, Egypt announced plans to import 170,000 cattle in light of the states endeavours to provide sufficient meat at reasonable prices for Eid Al-Adha. Search Keywords: Short link: President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana emphasized that robust development financial institutions are necessary to achieve growth on the African continent. Akufo-Addos comments came during his inauguration of the 30th Annual Meetings of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), held in Accra 18-21 June. This years Afreximbank Annual Meetings (AAM2023), which ends on Wednesday, is being attended by political and business leaders from across Africa and beyond. AAM2023 marks the 30th anniversary of the Afreximbank, which was founded in 1993 with its headquarters in Cairo. President Akufo-Addo noted the need for effective coordination between financial institutions and the African Union (AU) to ensure their effectiveness in driving Africa's development. He highlighted the disparity in capital between African institutions like Afreximbank, with $6 billion in available capital, and counterparts like China Exim Bank, with $54 billion in available capital. Therefore, he urged African nations and individuals to contribute to Afreximbank's capital initiative. President Akufo-Addo also praised Afreximbank for its significant contributions to Africa's development, calling on the bank to improve its credit rating and promising to secure a special status for Afreximbank within the AU. Welcome and appreciation The Ghanian president also welcomed the newest members of Afreximbank a group of countries from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) which marked the bank's expansion beyond the African continent. He hailed the banks support for Ghana, recalling its first-ever transaction with the Ghana Cocoa Board. He also hailed the bank's timely support to Ghana through its Counter-Cyclical Liquidity Facility (COTRAFL) during a period when global financial institutions were withdrawing from Africa. When dealing with powerful global financial institutions, it is important to have your own powerful financial institutions, said President Akufo-Addo. Afreximbank: Goals for Africa Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, also discussed the bank's historic and recent achievements. According to Oramah, Afreximbank is delivering on the blueprint laid out by the founders of the Organisation of African Unity for the continent's socio-economic transformation. "The pioneers had set priority key goals to establish a free trade area among the various African countries; to establish a Pan-African payments and clearing union; and to establish a common external tariff to protect emergent industries and set up a raw material price stabilization fund, he said. They also set goals to develop trade among African countries by the organization and participation in African trade fairs and exhibitions and by granting transport and transit facilities; and to progressively free national currencies from all non-technical external attachments and the establishment of a Pan-African monetary zone," he added. For sixty years, this well-articulated road map remained a map and gathered dust, said Oramah. But thanks to the vision of African leaders who founded Afreximbank 30 years ago, one by one, they are being delivered within the framework of Team Africa, comprising the African Union and its agencies, the AfCFTA Secretariat and Afreximbank as the underpinning banker. Free trade in Africa Today, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) is up and running, which will save the continent $5 billion in intra-African transfer changes. It will also expedite and enable payments for intra-African trade in African currencies, said the Afreximbank president. Very soon, we will domesticate all intra-African payments and extend the same to the CARICOM, where just a few days ago, the Association of CARICOM Central Banks adopted PAPSS as their preferred payment infrastructure for a pilot project. By this singular move, we are one step closer to a full integration of African and CARICOM economies. Oramah added that, in fulfillment of the founding fathers aspiration to develop trade within Africa through international trade fairs, Afreximbank partnered with the African Union in 2018 to introduce biennial Intra-African Trade Fairs (IATF). These fairs, held twice so far in Cairo and Durban, South Africa, have attracted an aggregate of about 40,000 visitors and about $75 billion in deals, he said. Since partnering with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) Secretariat, the IATF, now branded the AfCFTA Marketplace, has become the world's largest gathering of African businesses and traders, Oramah continued. The third fair will be held in Cairo from 9 to 15 November, 2023. The Afrimexbank president also noted the importance of Afrimexbank as the financial backbone of the AfCFTA, signed in 2018. Afreximbanks existence will give the AfCFTA the best chance of success, he said. Afreximbank: Big feats He announced that, to deal with the considerable intra-African trade finance gap, Afreximbank had disbursed over $20 billion in the five years prior to 2021, and is projected to double those disbursements to $40 billion from 2021 to 2026. Oramah noted that it was Afreximbank that arranged the $2.9 billion bundle of credit and guarantees that allowed Egyptian contractors to begin executing the largest-ever intra-African construction contract, for a dam in Tanzania. It was also Afreximbank that supported phosphate fertilizer exports from Morocco to Nigeria and Ethiopia with hundreds of millions of US dollars; and that enabled Burkina Faso's Vista Bank to complete the acquisition of BNP subsidiaries in West Africa, he added. Afreximbank and the AfCFTA Secretariat have also established the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund, which compensates eligible countries for tariff revenue losses arising from the new trade regime, while also supporting the private sector to adjust in an orderly manner to the new arrangement under the AfCFTA, he continued. Oramah added that Afreximbank was working with the African Regional Standards Organization to harmonize trade standards across the continent, and had used Afreximbank-mobilized grant funding to harmonize over 155 standards, notably in automotive, medical equipment and pharmaceutical industries. The bank was also working with Bureau Veritas of France to build testing, inspection, and certification sites across the continent branded as Africa Quality Assurance Centres, he said. The first of these was completed in West Africa and others were underway in North and East Africa. Expanding to the Caribbean AAM2023 marks Afreximbank's intercontinental expansion, welcoming as new members several Caribbean countries that have recently joined the Bank via partnership agreements. Philip Davis, the Prime Minister of The Bahamas and Chairman of CARICOM, noted in his speech that the countries of Africa and the Caribbean shared similar challenges, and had not been maximizing the hands dealt them by geography. Prime Minister Davis expressed appreciation for the warm welcome extended to the Caribbean delegation to AAM2023, noting that many people in the Caribbean traced their ancestral ties to Africa. He added that the new linkages between Afreximbank and the Caribbean are a strong testament to the shared goal of pan-African prosperity, He also highlighted the risks posed to Caribbean states by climate change. Relaunching our economies Assoumany Aboudou Salam, Special Adviser to the President and former Minister of Finance of Comoros, said that it was time to think about relaunching Africas economies. Speaking on behalf of President of Comoros and Chairman of the African Union Azali Assoumni, Salam said that Africa needed strong visionary leaders that were committed to working for the welfare of all Africans, adding that there should be an emphasis on technology investment to stimulate economic development and job creation for the continents youth. Meanwhile, Albert Muchanga, the AU Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Mining, congratulated Afreximbank on its 30th anniversary on behalf of AU Commission Chairman Musa Faki Mahamat, and said that the AU was a great friend and supporter of all African financial institutions. Muchanga commended Afreximbank for its role in pioneering a relationship with Caribbean countries and said that Africa could go even further in its integration with the Caribbean. Earlier, Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance of Ghana, welcomed participants to AAM2023 and noted that in its 30 years, Afreximbank had made significant contributions in building prosperity for all Africans. Ofori-Atta commended the Bank and its President for the decisive role it played in supporting African countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, including making available $7 billion to address COVID-19 related challenges and setting up the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust. The opening ceremony of AAM2023 featured a poem delivered by South African artist Lebo Mashile, a reenactment of the life of famed Mali Empire ruler Mansa Musa, and a hologram featuring the words of Kwame Nkrumah. Search Keywords: Short link: The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs celebrated World Refugee Day on Tuesday, which the UN observes annually on 20 June to recognize refugees worldwide, according to a statement from the ministry on Tuesday. Egypt emphasized the significance of allocating adequate resources to meet the needs of refugees and provide support to the host countries, based on the principle of equitable burden-sharing. This day represents an important opportunity to shed light on the suffering of those individuals and affirm solidarity with them and their hosting communities, the ministry stated. This year's World Refugee Day focuses on the theme Hope Away from Home: A World Where Refugees Are Always Included, with an emphasis on including refugees in their host countries and providing them with opportunities to contribute to those countries' economies. The Egyptian Ministry views the UNHCR's theme, which focuses on supporting refugees and their host countries, as a universal call for assistance, according to a statement. The ministry added that this would allow refugees to reconstruct their lives until it is feasible for them to return to their home countries voluntarily and safely. Amidst a global context in which crises and natural disasters are exacerbating, Egypt continues to open its doors to provide a safe haven for those whom the circumstances forced them to leave their countries, the ministry said. The ministry stated that Egypt approaches these refugees from a humanitarian viewpoint, ensuring that they can live with dignity on Egyptian soil. Egypt restated the importance of global cooperation in finding long-term solutions to refugee concerns through a comprehensive approach that incorporates the integration of humanitarian and development aspects. The ministry commended the crucial role of international organizations involved in refugee and migration cases and reiterated Egypt's commitment to collaborating and coordinating with these organizations. The ministry emphasized Egypt's dedication to strengthening peace-building and sustainable development efforts to address the underlying causes of the refugee crisis. On 23 June, the UNHCR is arranging an 8km run and expo in Cairo, as one of several events to commemorate World Refugee Day. The run begins at 7:15am and requires registration, but it is free of charge. Egypt, with a population of 105 million, is home to 9 million refugees from various countries, particularly Syria and Sudan. Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sameh Shoukry, announced on Monday that over the past few months, Egypt has welcomed more than 250,000 Sudanese refugees, accounting for around 60 percent of the total number who have fled violence in Sudan. As the largest host of Sudanese refugees fleeing the conflict, Egypt has provided hundreds of tons of medical and relief assistance to Sudan. Egypt has requested assistance from the international community in supporting the millions of refugees it hosts, while also providing Sudanese refugees with immediate assistance and keeping its borders open. Search Keywords: Short link: There is an air of mourning in Bandli, a small village nestled among lush green hills in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency. Grief has gripped this village since last weeks shipwreck off the coast of Greece, a tragedy that has claimed the lives of hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers. Bandli, which lies over 200 kilometers (125 miles) southeast of the regions capital Muzaffarabad, and its people are mourning for 28 sons, all believed to have perished in the disaster. There are no bodies here in white shrouds, though, making the pain all the more difficult to bear. We cant even cry because we dont know their fate. We dont have their bodies, Abid Rajorvi said through tears. His cousins Imran Wazeer and Abdul Salam were on the vessel attempting an ill-fated journey from Libya to Italy. The trawler, packed with over 700 people, including women and children, sank off the southwestern coast of Greece in the early hours of June 14, close to the deepest point of the Mediterranean Sea. Greece is facing intense scrutiny over the disaster, with new revelations by local and international media contradicting its claims about how the tragedy occurred. The reports indicate that the boat was stationary for hours before it eventually capsized, as well as that a Greek Coast Guard boat was in contact with it on the afternoon of June 13, many hours before its overnight sinking. Only 81 bodies have been pulled out and 104 people rescued, meaning that hundreds more are missing and unlikely to be ever found. Lured by promises of a better life In Bandli, people are still clinging to hope, or as Rajorvi said, desperately praying for a miracle. There is also anger at the agents, a term used locally for the traffickers who arrange these perilous journeys. With unconfirmed estimates of up to 400 Pakistanis being on board the vessel, the Pakistani government observed a national day of mourning on Monday. For Rajorvi and the others affected, however, the government is equally at fault, particularly for its failure to stop the operations of human smugglers. According to Rajorvi, around 300 men from Kotli, the district which includes Bandli, have left for Europe in the past two to three years. Many of them are unhappy and want to come back, but do not have the means, he said. He said Wazeer and Salam both bachelors in their mid-20s were also lured by traffickers with dreams of a better life in Europe. They were living comfortably here. They had their own homes and were earning decently. Imran ran a grocery store and Abdul had his own business, Rajorvi told Anadolu in a phone call. He said their families were strictly against them leaving for Europe, but both of them persisted. They took out loans and borrowed from friends and relatives to pay 2.3 million Pakistani rupees ($8,000) each to the traffickers, he said. On the morning of March 13, Wazeer and Salam said their final goodbyes and set off. Wazeers father begged him to stay as his eldest brother had died just a few months ago, said Rajorvi. His father told him that he couldnt bear another loss, but Imran just wouldnt listen, he recalled. The fateful journey They first traveled south to Karachi, Pakistans largest city, where they caught a flight to Dubai, said Rajorvi. From Dubai, they went on to Egypt and then Libya, where they were arrested while waiting to board a boat to Italy and detained for more than a month. They were treated very badly and both of them fell ill there, he said, sharing a photo of the two in Libya, their hair and beards unkempt and clothes crumpled. Wazeer and Salam called their families the night before they were due to set sail for Italy, asking for prayers for a safe passage. A few days later, the families found out about the disaster through social media, while Adnan Bashir, one of the survivors who is from their village, confirmed that they were on the boat.??????? I just thank God that their mothers are not alive today. This would be too much to bear for any mother, said Rajorvi. The Hungary-based ultra low-cost air carrier Wizz Air plans to operate five flights per week from each of Rome and Milan airports to Sphinx International Airport (SPX) in Giza, Egypt. The first-ever direct Wizz Air flight from Malpensa Airport in Milan, carrying 247 passengers, arrived at Sphinx International Airport on Thursday. The flight was welcomed by the chairman of Wizz Air, the Hungarian and Italian ambassadors to Egypt, the Hungarian and Italian commercial attache in Cairo, in addition to Deputy Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ghada Shalaby, according to a statement released by the tourism and antiquities ministry on Tuesday. Wizz Air has been one of the leading low-cost airlines in Europe and the largest in Central and Eastern Europe since it was founded in 2004. Promoting tourism to Egypt The inauguration of the new Wizz Air route from major airports in northern Italy to the SPX in Giza comes as part of the efforts by the country to boost air traffic to the airport and attract more European tourism to Egypt, according to a statement by the civil aviation ministry. Since reopening in November 2022, SPX has received an increasing number of flights from renowned airlines around the world, including Flynas (Saudi Arabia), Jazeera Airways (Kuwait), Air Europa (Spain) and Condor Airlines (Germany). The SPX was constructed near the Pyramids of Giza platform to serve as an accessible gateway to the historic platform and the soon-to-be-inaugurated Grand Egyptian Museum. Egypt has taken a number of major steps to boost tourism to the country in recent months. On Monday, the country started issuing a five-year multiple-entry visa for foreigners at a fee of $700. In March, the government eased tourist visa requirements for visitors from China, Iran, India, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, and Israel. In April, Egypt welcomed a record-breaking 1.35 million tourists, as the tourist sector continues recovering at a fast pace after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The country aims to attract a total of 15 million visitors in 2023, surpassing the previous record of 14.7 million set in 2010, according to a recent statement by Minister of Tourism and Antiques Ahmed Issa. More than 11.7 million tourists visited Egypt in 2022, an increase of 46.2 percent over the eight million figures in 2021, according to official figures. Search Keywords: Short link: Exposure to dioxins can negatively impact thyroid function, according to a study presented Thursday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. Dioxins are highly toxic compounds that are primarily produced by industrial processes, and their persistence in the environment makes them a significant public health concern. They are produced through a variety of incineration processes, including improper municipal waste incineration and burning of trash. They can be released into the air during natural processes, such as forest fires and volcanoes. Strict regulatory controls on major industrial sources of dioxin have greatly reduced emissions into the air. Today people are exposed to dioxins primarily by eating food, in particular animal products, contaminated by these chemicals. Dioxins are absorbed and stored in fat tissue and, therefore, accumulate in the food chain. More than 90 percent of human exposure is through food, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Recently, scientists have begun to study the potential impact of exposure to environmental chemicals, such as dioxins, on thyroid function. Thyroid dysfunction affects a significant portion of the population and can have a range of adverse health effects. Previous studies of the relationship between dioxin exposure and thyroid function have produced inconsistent results, according to researcher Cheng Han, M.D., of the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine in Boston, Mass. In the new study, the researchers used three different statistical methods to investigate the combined effects of 20 environmental dioxins on thyroid function. They used data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2007 to 2010. A total of 20 dioxins and levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were measured in the blood of 2,818 adults. The researchers found that dioxins were significantly associated with high TSH. A high TSH level indicates that the thyroid gland is not making enough thyroid hormone. "Although more research on how dioxins affect thyroid function is needed, efforts to reduce exposure to dioxins and other toxic chemicals could help to reduce the risk of thyroid dysfunction and improve public health outcomes," Han said. Receptor patterns define key organisational principles in the brain, scientists have discovered. An international team of researchers, studying macaque brains, have mapped out neurotransmitter receptors, revealing a potential role in distinguishing internal thoughts and emotions from those generated by external influences. The comprehensive dataset has been made publicly available, serving as a bridge linking different scales of neuroscience -- from the microscopic to the whole brain. Lead author Sean Froudist-Walsh, from the University of Bristol's Department of Computer Science explained: "Imagine the brain as a city. In recent years, brain research has been focused on been studying its roads, but in this research, we've made the most detailed map yet of the traffic lights -- the neurotransmitter receptors -- that control information flow. "We've discovered patterns in how these 'traffic lights' are arranged that help us understand their function in perception, memory, and emotion. "It's like finding the key to a city's traffic flow, and it opens up exciting possibilities for understanding how the normal brain works. "Potentially in the future, other researchers may use these maps to target particular brain networks and functions with new medicines. advertisement "Our study aimed to create the most detailed map yet of these 'traffic lights'." The team used a technique called in-vitro receptor autoradiography to map the density of receptors from six different neurotransmitter systems in over 100 brain regions. To find the patterns in this vast data, they applied statistical techniques and used modern neuroimaging techniques, combined with expert anatomical knowledge. This allowed them to uncover the relationships between receptor patterns, brain connectivity, and anatomy. By understanding the receptor organisation across the brain, it is hoped new studies can better link brain activity, behaviour, and the action of drugs. Moreover, because receptors are the targets of medicines, the research could, in the future, guide the development of new treatments targeting specific brain functions. Dr Froudist-Walsh added: "Next, we aim to use this dataset to develop computational models of the brain. advertisement "These brain-inspired neural network models will help us understand normal perception and memory, as well as differences in people with conditions like schizophrenia or under the influence of substances like 'magic mushrooms'. "We also plan to better integrate findings across species -- linking detailed circuit-level neuroscience often conducted in rodents, to large-scale brain activity seen in humans." Creating openly-accessible maps of receptor expression across the cortex that integrate neuroimaging data could speed up translation across species. "It is being made freely available to the neuroscientific community via the Human Brain Project's EBRAINS infrastructure, so that they can be used by other computational neuroscientists aiming to create other biologically informed models," added Nicola Palomero-Gallagher, HBP researcher at the Forschungszentrum Julich and senior author of the paper. The global team of researchers are from University of Bristol, New York University, Human Brain Project, Research Center Julich, University of Dusseldorf, Child Mind Institute and Universite Paris Cite. Adults who live in walkable neighborhoods are more likely to interact with their neighbors and have a stronger sense of community than people who live in car-dependent communities, report researchers at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego. The findings of the study, published online in the journal Health & Place, support one of six foundational pillars suggested by United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy as part of a national strategy to address a public health crisis caused by loneliness, isolation and lack of connection in this country. In May 2023, the Surgeon General Advisory stated that loneliness and isolation can lead to a 29% increased risk of heart disease, a 32% increased risk of stroke, a 50% increased risk of developing dementia among older adults, and increases risk of premature death by more than 60%. To address this public health crisis, the Surgeon General recommends strengthening social infrastructure by designing environments that promote connection. "Our built environments create or deny long-lasting opportunities for socialization, physical activity, contact with nature, and other experiences that affect public health," said James F. Sallis, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and senior author of the UC San Diego study. "Transportation and land use policies across the U.S. have strongly prioritized car travel and suburban development, so millions of Americans live in neighborhoods where they must drive everywhere, usually alone, and have little or no chance to interact with their neighbors." Walkable neighborhoods promote active behaviors like walking for leisure or transportation to school, work, shopping or home. advertisement The study analyzed data from the Neighborhood Quality of Life Study, which included 1,745 adults ages 20 to 66 living in 32 neighborhoods located in and around Seattle, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Neighborhood walkability may promote social interactions with neighbors -- like waving hello, asking for help or socializing in their homes, said the first author, Jacob R. Carson, M.P.H., a student in the UC San Diego -- San Diego State University Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health. Carson began the research while a Master of Public Health student at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health. Neighborhoods where people must drive in and out, and where there is an absence of gathering places, may have the opposite effect, preventing neighbors from socializing. "Promoting social interaction is an important public health goal. Understanding the role of neighborhood design bolsters our ability to advocate for the health of our communities and the individuals who reside in them," said Carson. "Fewer traffic incidents, increases in physical activity, and better neighborhood social health outcomes are just a few of the results of designing walkable neighborhoods that can enrich our lives." Co-authors include: Terry L. Conway and Kelli L. Cain, UC San Diego; Lilian G. Perez, RAND Corporation; Lawrence D. Frank, UC San Diego Department of Urban Studies and Planning and Urban Design 4 Health, Inc.; and Brian E. Saelens, Seattle Children's Research Institute and University of Washington. This research was funded, in part, by the National Institutes of Health (HL67350). A year-long British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) investigation exposed the global network of sadistic monkey torture. The Dark Online Community of Violators Hundreds of people gather in torture rings to share their extremely sadistic ideas and pay Indonesians and other Asians to carry them out. Indonesians are paid by hundreds of customers from the U.S., UK, and other parts of the world to torture and kill baby long-tailed macaques. Their goal is to create custom-made films featuring the abuse, torture, and killing of baby monkeys. BBC journalists went undercover in one of the main torture groups in Telegram to track down the torturers in Indonesia, and the distributors in the U.S. They also participated in bringing justice to the long-tailed macaques by gaining access to an international law enforcement program. Almost 20 people are being investigated globally, including three women from the UK who were already apprehended last year but were released under investigation. Another one is a man from Oregon who was prosecuted last week. Mike McCartney is one of the key video distributors in the U.S. with the screen name "The Torture King." From being a motorcycle gang member, he ran Telegram groups where hardcore torture enthusiasts distribute the videos. He said the monkey torture world is no different from the illegal drug industry. BBC also identified two other suspects, namely Stacey Storey, with the screen name "Sadistic," and a ringleader called "Mr. Ape," who is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Mike McCartney, "Mr. Ape," and Stacey Storey are among the five critical targets in the ongoing investigation by the DHS. Although they are yet to be charged, they can be prosecuted up to seven years in prison based on the gathered evidence. The torture ring started on YouTube until it moved to private groups on the Telegram messaging app. The videos of monkey torture are still available on some Telegram groups. Some are also accessible on Facebook, where dozens of groups with over 1,000 members share extremely sadistic content. READ ALSO: Macaques Prove Quite Handy with a Hammer What is a Long-Tailed Macaque? Long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) refers to a species of primate native to Southeast Asian countries. Also known as crab-eating macaques, they can thrive in ecologically diverse habitats such as primary, coastal, and disturbed forests. Among other non-human primates, these animals are considered unique due to their ability to demonstrate learned or cultural behavior. Humans benefit from long-tailed macaques in various ways. They are important members of ecosystems and have the potential to serve as important agents in regenerating tropical rainforests. In their natural habitat, these animals perform their ecological role as seed planters of crops important in plant conservation. Unfortunately, long-tailed macaques are particularly threatened by illegal trade. Not only are they hunted for food in some communities, but they are the preferred animal in research studies involving biomedicine and drug safety because of their genome sequence and physiology that closely resembles that of humans. RELATED ARTICLE: Monkeys in Indonesia Use Stones for Self-Directed Tool-Assisted Sexual Stimulation Check out more news and information on Animal Welfare in Science Times. The hajj pilgrimage holds a profound place in the hearts of Egyptians, representing far more than a mere religious obligation. For Egyptians, the hajj is a significant milestone in life, as obtaining the Hajj title symbolizes a new beginning after repenting for past sins and striving to act with greater humility. It also carries social status due to its religious significance. In the rural areas of Egypt, the joyous hajj celebrations commence well in advance of the pilgrimage itself. Women from the village gather to sing traditional heritage songs, recounting the inspiring stories of Prophet Ibrahim and his son Prophet Ismail. These heartfelt melodies honor the pilgrim embarking on the sacred journey and bid them a farewell filled with blessings. While pilgrims set forth on their holy trip, their loved ones back home in Egypt engage in a delightful tradition traditional Hajj Graffiti to decorate their houses. This cheerful ritual involves village artists decorating the front wall of the pilgrim's home with intricate drawings of the modes of transportation used during their journey, including camels, boats, airplanes, and the holy shrine. Some rare graffiti even depicts the tale of Prophet Ibrahim and his son Ismail. The return of the pilgrim is greeted with jubilation and excitement. White flags adorn the streets, symbolizing the pilgrim's safe arrival. The return of the pilgrim home safely is greeted with jubilation and white flags, while the pilgrim brings back cherished souvenirsa tangible connection to the holy sites: Rosaries, white head caps, and water from the sacred well of Zamzam . On a national scale, Egypt's engagement with the hajj rituals begins long before the actual pilgrimage season. For decades, Egypt has played a significant role in providing a yearly cover for the holy shrine of Mecca. This woven cloth, was made from Egypt's finest materials, and hand-stitched with verses from the holy Quran by top calligraphers and by specialized Keswa artists. A procession is usually organized where the new cloth was carried on the back of a specially decorated camel that would carry it all the way to Mecca. Hajj songs would accompany this procession that used to roam the Saladin Square in Al Qalaa district, on its way to Bab El-Wadaa, (The gate of Farewell) where the procession heads off to Mecca. The journey to Mecca is full of captivating tales, and travelling by land on the historic Hajj route is filled with stories of hope, miracles, and the mausoleums of those who passed away along the way. Several Orientalists were able to participate in and document these journeys, providing us with a glimpse of the pilgrimage. After completing the pilgrimage, the camel that set foot in the holy Hijaz land is expected to work for the rest of its life. Happy Adha Feast! Search Keywords: Short link: Several Arab countries on Tuesday strongly condemned Israels deadly military assault on the northern West Bank city of Jenin that left six Palestinians dead and 90 others injured, including over 20 in critical condition, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. The United Arab Emirates called on Israel to deescalate the situation and to stop engaging in any activities that may exacerbate the situation in the Palestinian Territories. It also called on the Israeli government to put an end to illegal practices that threaten the Middle East peace process and pose an obstacle to the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. Qatar, for its part, called the assault the latest in a series of horrific crimes against the Palestinian people, warning against the fading chances for peace. It also stressed the need for the international community to protect the Palestinians and to compel Israel to stop its violations of international law. Similarly, Tunisia denounced the assault and called on the international community to bring an end to the repeated and systematic aggression against the Palestinian people and to Israels flagrant violations of international law. "These attacks only exacerbate situations that may spiral out of control, and undermine efforts to reduce tensions in the occupied territories," added the statement. The statements came after Egypt affirmed in its own statement on Monday its rejection of the assault, which contradicts all international laws and charters. Elsewhere in the West Bank on Tuesday, Israeli forces killed a young Palestinian man, Palestinian health officials said, the latest death in a surge of violence that has wracked the region. The death toll from the assault on Jenin rose to six on Tuesday, after 48-year-old Palestinian man Amjad Aref Abu Jaas succumbed to wounds sustained, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. The occupation army raid on Jenin camp, lasting for more than 10 hours, saw Israel use helicopter gunships in the West Bank for the first time in several years. In retaliation, Palestinian militants detonated a large roadside bomb under an Israeli armored vehicle. Israel forces have been carrying out near-nightly daily raids in the West Bank where at least 126 Palestinians have been killed this year, according to AP figures. Search Keywords: Short link: He urged the powers that be to increase pressure on Libyan political leaders to reach a consensus on the constitutional framework and electoral laws required to hold presidential and legislative elections by the end of the year. In his briefing to the UN Security Council on 19 June, Bathily reported that the 6+6 Committee, tasked by the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) and the High Council of State (HCS) to finalise the electoral laws, had already reached an agreement on draft laws but that this step was not sufficient to resolve the most contested issues and enable successful elections. The 6+6 Committee had met in Bouznika, Morocco, from 22 May to 6 June, in order to iron out some long standing differences over the laws. UNSMIL had assigned a technical team of electoral, gender and constitutional experts to advise committee members who announced their agreement on draft laws in the closing session on 6 June. We have since seen a flurry of mixed reactions from Libyan stakeholders on the agreed text, indicating that key issues remain strongly contested, Bathily said. He pointed out that the High National Electoral Commission (HNEC) had officially expressed concerns about serious loopholes and technical shortcomings in the draft laws. The most controversial provisions were four: the eligibility criteria for presidential candidates, the mandatory second round in the presidential election even if a candidate wins more than 50 per cent of the vote, the provision to cancel parliamentary elections if the first round of presidential elections failed, and the provision to establish a new interim government before elections can take place. All those provisions, Bathily said, were highly contentious and require, first and foremost, a political agreement among the major stakeholders and key constituencies across the Libyan political spectrum. Short of this, related provisions in the laws would surely remain unimplementable and might even trigger a new crisis. The only way to avert this gloomy prospect was through urgent steps to overcome persistent disagreements over those issues, which meant that Libyan decision-makers had to act in a spirit of compromise and put the interests of the Libyan people first and foremost. Without such compromises, the contested issues are likely to take the electoral process into a cul-de-sac, like in 2021, which will result in further polarisation and even the destabilisation of the country. The UN special envoys remarks have raised doubts about the 6+6 Committee which, instead of sorting out the remaining differences, has thrown more obstacles in the path of the long awaited elections. Numerous talks have taken place between HoR Speaker Aguila Saleh and HCS leader Khaled Mishri and between representatives of the HoR and HCS in Cairo, Rabat and Geneva in the past two years. Essentially, the participants managed to reduce their differences over the constitutional framework for elections to one area: the eligibility criteria for candidates in the presidential elections. As is clear from Bathilys briefing, the 6+6 Committee added several more differences which, moreover, would require considerable amounts of time and effort to resolve, probably making it impossible to hold the elections before the end of the year. Ahead of his briefing to the UN Security Council, Bathily had met with the head of the Libyan Presidential Council Mohamed Al-Manfi, the Chairman of the HNEC Emad Al-Sayeh, the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity Abdel-Hamid Al-Dbeibah, and the HNC leader Khaled Al-Mishri in Tripoli. Prior to that, he had met with the HoR Speaker Aguila Saleh and Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar in Benghazi. The purpose of these discussions was to resolve outstanding problems with the electoral laws. In his meetings the UN special envoy stressed that UNSMIL was ready to work with the HCS and other Libyan stakeholders to improve the legal framework for the elections and to bring together all stakeholders in order to reach a consensuses on the different issues, according to a statement released by the Presidential Councils press office. Al-Manfi agreed on the need for agreement among the main stakeholders over a consensual and inclusive framework that would lead to the elections to which the Libyan people aspire and that would end the syndrome of successive interim phases. In a similar vein, Al-Dbeibah stressed the importance of fair and implementable laws if the election process is to succeed and usher in the stability that Libyans long for. On Sunday 18 June, Al-Mishri, for his part, insisted that the draft electoral laws produced by the 6+6 Committee were final and binding and welcomed by both houses. He added that should there be a need to amend them, which was unlikely, the amendment would have to be drafted by the 6+6 Committee. In effect, this was a reversal of his previous stance. At the time the draft laws were announced on 6 June, Al-Mishri suggested he had reservations. While the draft laws announced by the 6+6 Committee triggered conflicting reactions inside Libya, they were enthusiastically welcomed across the Arab region, from Morocco to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq and even at the level of the Arab League. It is noteworthy, though, that neither Mishri or Saleh signed them, even though they had both travelled to Morocco for the signing ceremony. In a letter to the HoR and HCS, HNEC Director Emad Al-Sayeh noted 12 observations about the draft electoral laws and stressed that they had not been presented in advance to the HNEC for its opinion. The 6+6 Committee denied this. In the opinion of numerous political figures and parties, the draft laws fell short of expectations. In a joint letter, 61 MPs accused the 6+6 Committee of exceeding its remit and deviating from its task which was to agree on the outstanding points of difference related to the presidential elections. They also faulted the speaker of the house for signing or approving the outputs of the committee without referring back to parliament. Referring to another contentious provision, they insisted that no changes should be made to the number of parliamentary seats, and that the question of increasing or decreasing them should be left to the drafters of the next constitution. Similarly, 54 members of the HCS declared their opposition to the draft laws which they described as invalid and unconstitutional. They too accused the 6+6 Committee of overstepping its authorities and called on all political forces and parties and civil society organisations to reject any potential consensus among the members of the committee on electoral laws if they made it possible for dual nationals, military officers and convicts to run for president. The draft laws, a copy of which has been made available to Al-Ahram Weekly, will ease the eligibility criteria for presidential candidates in Libya while making them tougher for potential parliamentary candidates. Some provisions could create technical impediments to holding the elections, such as that stating that the elections had to be held within 240 days after the draft laws were passed. The provision calling for the establishment of a new interim government to oversee the electoral process would be particularly thorny since it would require the GNU to stand down. The current GNU prime minister has previously insisted that he would not step aside before elections. If pressures fail to compel Libyan politicians to come to terms on the electoral laws, the UN may be forced to take the route of a new political dialogue forum. It is noteworthy, in this regard, that Bathily did not mention the possibility of creating a high level steering committee, an alternative he had proposed in his UNSC briefing in February. Moreover, after his briefing on Monday, the UK representative to the UNSC said her country would support a new Libyan Political Agreement. Preparing for a new LPA, should the international community approve that option, would take even longer than preparing for a new political dialogue forum. * A version of this article appears in print in the 22 June, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Mali : Le gouvernement lance une action en justice contre la Minusma accusee d'espionnage La justice malienne est saisie d'une action engagee par la junte au pouvoir contre la mission de l'ONU dans le pays (Minusma), accusee d'espionnage apres la publication d'un rapport accablant pour l'armee nationale, a indique le parquet general dans un communique. Le procureur du pole specialise dans la "lutte contre le terrorisme et la criminalite transnationale organisee a ete saisi d'une plainte" de l'Etat contre les membres de la Minusma ayant enquete sur les evenements survenus dans la petite ville de Moura (centre) entre le 27 et 31 mars 2022, dit le communique date de lundi et consultable mardi sur les reseaux sociaux. Ces membres sont presentes par le communique comme "tous co-auteurs ou complices du chef des crimes, entre autres, d'espionnage, d'atteinte au moral des armees de Terre ou de lAir, de faux et usage de faux et datteinte a la surete exterieure de lEtat". Cette plainte fait suite a la publication, le 12 mai, dun rapport du Haut-Commissariat aux droits de lHomme de l'ONU, fonde sur une enquete de la division des droits de l'Homme de la Minusma. Il accuse larmee malienne et des combattants "etrangers" d'avoir execute au moins 500 personnes a Moura lors dune operation antijihadiste. La junte qui a pris par la force en 2020 la tete de ce pays confronte au jihadisme et a une profonde crise multidimensionnelle avait denonce un "rapport biaise, reposant sur un recit fictif". Elle avait assure qu'il n'y avait que des "terroristes" parmi les morts. Les autorites avaient rapporte que la mission d'enquete onusienne avait utilise des satellites a leur insu. Elles avaient annonce l'ouverture d'une enquete pour espionnage et atteinte a la surete exterieure de l'Etat contre la mission d'enquete. La publication du rapport a exacerbe les tensions existantes entre la Minusma et la junte. Cette derniere vient de demander le retrait de la mission, deployee dans le pays depuis 2013. As the Sudanese conflict enters its third month, Cairo is assessing its options vis-a-vis its strategically crucial neighbour. In a series of high-level meetings this week, senior Egyptian officials examined different scenarios for the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The meetings, says an informed source speaking on condition of anonymity, had one focus: to determine the most likely scenarios for the war, and to assess Egypts options. According to the source, it is likely that the conflict will get worse despite the repeated, and fragile, ceasefires secured through joint Saudi-US mediation. On Tuesday morning, the SAF said the RSF had violated the most recent three-day ceasefire before it expired. For now, it does not seem either side has been weakened enough to succumb to the other. Nor do regional and international players have any answers to the future of Sudan when the battle does come to an end especially if it ends in an SAF defeat, said the source. Two Cairo-based foreign diplomats told Al-Ahram Weeky that the chances of SAF leaders, including army chief Abdel-Fattah Al-Borhan, of undermining the RSF and forcing its leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo into exile or surrender, are vanishingly slim. The balance of power, they say, especially in Khartoum, does not favour an SAF victory anytime soon. Acknowledging the challenging situation the SAF is facing, compounded by the intervention of regional players supporting the RSF, the Egyptian source said a visit to Cairo this week by a senior aide to Al-Borhan had discussed the situation on the ground and the advances that RSF has been making with external help. On Sunday, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi received Malik Agar, deputy chairman of Sudans Sovereign Council. Agar was appointed by Al-Borhan last month to the post that Dagalo had held before the conflict. Agar also met with Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abul-Gheit. According to the source, Agar explained the situation on the ground, reviewed the state of political mediations and requested help. He declined to specify the nature of assistance requested, saying only that Sudan requires all types of help. In statements made ahead of his Egypt visit, Agar said Khartoum is all but destroyed and acknowledged that the RSF now controls large parts of the Sudanese capital. This week, Sudanese Minister of Health Haitham Ibrahim said that around 3,000 people had been killed since the beginning of the conflict and 6,000 wounded, and warned that Sudans health system is on the brink of collapse. Earlier in the month, WHO said that two thirds of the Sudaneses health had been compromised by the ongoing conflict. UN agencies, including the WHO and FAO, have warned of the catastrophic situation in Sudan where 25 million people need immediate health and nutrition assistance. In remarks this week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the scale and speed of Sudans descent into death and destruction is unprecedented and that without strong international support, Sudan could quickly become a locus of lawlessness, radiating insecurity across the region. A Saudi-chaired donors conference met on Monday in Geneva to discuss aid for Sudan. International donors made pledges of close to $1.5 billion for Sudan and the surrounding region. According to UN estimates, half a million people have fled Sudan into neighbouring countries, and two million people have been forced from their homes. Egypt has sent several consignments of aid to Sudan. In the early days of the conflict Egyptian authorities also allowed emergency entry to Sudanese in need of healthcare and issued entry-upon-request visas for those Sudanese who flocked to the Argeen border crossing. Two weeks ago, however, Egypt introduced a stricter visa regime for Sudanese coming from Egypt. A government official said that the decision was taken following abuse of the flexibility of the earlier, more liberal visa system. The visa policy for Sudanese escaping the war is subject to continuous reassessment, added the official. In addition to providing humanitarian aid and entry visas, Egypt has been carefully examining what it can do to help promote stability in Sudan. According to the government official, the view in Cairo is that stability can only prevail in Sudan if its armed forces remain united, stable and strong. But while it highly values the role of the army, Egypt does not want to be seen siding too closely to one side of the conflict. To do so, says the official, would hamper any possible political or diplomatic intervention. So far, such intervention has been confined to two tracks: the Saudi-American one which has brokered a series of on-and-off ceasefires, and the track pursued by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which is trying to get Al-Borhan and Dagalo to meet in an African capital, possibly Addis Ababa, the venue of the headquarters of the African Union, to agree on a power-sharing policy. Since the beginning of the conflict, in agreement with international partners, Egypt has upscaled security on its western and southern borders to abort any possible trafficking of arms or militants from Libya into Sudan. Egyptian sources this week reported that Cairo is examining the possibilities of playing a mediatory role and of working with regional and international players to help ensure that Sudan does not fragment along tribal lines. They added, however, that no decision has been taken on either front. One thing, though, is clear, insist the sources: Cairo has no plans for direct military intervention in Sudan. Yes, it has issues with the flow of assistance some Arab and African countries have extended to Dagalo, but it is not willing to become directly involved in the conflict. What Egypt wants to do, according to the same sources, is to work with partners, in and out of the region, on a possible extended truce monitored by peacekeeping forces under the umbrella of the African Union. A diplomatic source close to Agars talks in Cairo said senior Sudanese officials had told their interlocutors that Al-Borhan is open to compromise. Al-Borhan does not want to be too weakened prior to possible indirect negotiations. He wants to improve his position by having direct support from Egypt, he said. * A version of this article appears in print in the 22 June, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: The Egyptian government and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) have opened a humanitarian corridor between Upper Egypts Aswan and Sudans Wadi Halfa in the north of the country. The new humanitarian corridor will be used by the WFP, UN agencies and other development organizations to provide critical assistance to thousands of people trapped by the ongoing conflict in Sudan, a statement by the WFP read on Monday. While WFP continues to provide support to those arriving in Egypt through food and cash assistance, we are also committed to assisting people inside Sudan, WFP Representative and Country Director in Egypt Praveen Agrawal said. He added that the establishment of the corridor was the fruit of the great partnership between the WFP and the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We are now able to take our aid where it is most needed, Agrawal stressed. The first shipment, consisting of 50 tons of food aid, was transferred to Wadi Halfa on 16 June, the statement said. The northern Sudanese city is located about 20 kilometres south of the border with Egypt. Since the conflict broke out in mid-April, WFP has sent more than 80 metric tons of emergency food aid to the Egyptian borders in cooperation with the Egyptian government and the Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC), the WFP noted. The deteriorating situation in Sudan due to the conflict has caused more than 500,000 people to flee the country, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said on Tuesday, marking World Refugee Day. Over 250,000 Sudanese have fled to Egypt, according to figures presented by Egypts Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry on Monday. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that around 800,000 people may flee Sudan to neighbouring states against the backdrop of the conflict. As the largest host of Sudanese refugees fleeing the conflict, Egypt has already provided hundreds of tons of medical and relief assistance to Sudan. Donors at a UN conference on Monday pledged nearly $1.5 billion to combat the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and support its neighbouring states host refugees fleeing the conflict. Search Keywords: Short link: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he was looking forward to his discussion with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in his upcoming visit to Egypt to impart further momentum to the two countries multifaceted partnership. In an official statement, Modi stated that he was excited to make his first ever visit to Egypt, a close and friendly country, at the invitation of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. Modi is scheduled to arrive in Cairo on Saturday after first visiting the United States. The Indian PM will meet with El-Sisi and other senior members of the Egyptian government. We had the pleasure of receiving President El-Sisi as the chief guest at our Republic Day celebrations this year. These two visits in the span of a few months is a reflection of our rapidly evolving partnership with Egypt, which was elevated to a strategic partnership during El-Sisis visit," PM Modi also said. In his visit to New Delhi in January, El-Sisi and Modi announced they would increase bilateral trade to $12 billion in the next five years. According to Indias Ambassador to Cairo Ajit Gupte in January, bilateral trade expanded by 75 percent in 2021/22 to reach its highest-ever level of $7.26 billion, adding that trade between the two countries continues to grow in 2022/23. Around 50 Indian companies operating in Egypt provide direct employment to approximately 38,000 Egyptians, investing over $3.2 billion across the chemical, energy, automobile, retail, apparel and agriculture sectors, among others. Many of these companies are planning to expand their investments by a cumulative $800 million, Gupte added. According to a recent Reuters report, the two sides are expected to announce a trade agreement during the visit whereby India will barter for Egyptian goods like fertilizer and gas as part of a wider deal that could see New Delhi extending a credit line worth several billion dollars. Indian official sources told Reuters that the agreement would allow Egypt to make purchases in rupees to sidestep its persistent foreign currency shortage and settle the debt through the sale of Egyptian products. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt approved the legalization of an additional 374 Christian churches and service buildings that had been operating without a permit. According to the official state gazette on Monday, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has given his approval for the legalization of 141 Christian churches and 233 service buildings. The total number of churches and their service buildings that have been legalized by the government now exceeds 3,000. In 2016, the parliament passed legislation aimed at facilitating the construction and renovation of churches, as part of the government's efforts to guarantee the freedom of worship. In line with this legislation, the cabinet established a committee in 2017 to review and address the requests for legalizing the status of numerous unpermitted places of worship. The committee, led by the prime minister and composed of 10 members, includes representatives from various Christian sects, six government officials from different ministries, as well as representatives from the national security and intelligence apparatus and the administrative control body. Search Keywords: Short link: The decision applies to employees at ministries, government institutions, public authorities, local administration units, public sector companies and public business sector companies, according to Prime Minister Madbouly. End-of-year exams at schools and universities will be administered as previously scheduled, added Madbouly. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour is expected to issue a statement shortly to announce the duration of the break for private sector employees. Time to celebrate Muslims are set to celebrate the four-day Islamic Eid El-Adha starting Wednesday 28 June. Eid Al-Adha commences on the 10th day of the Islamic month of Dhul-Hijja, which is the last month on the lunar calendar. On Sunday, Egypts Dar Al-Iftaa, the authority tasked with issuing religious edicts, announced that 28 June would be the first day of Eid Al-Adha after sighting of the moon after Maghreb prayers, which signalled that 19 June was the first day in the month of Dhul-Hijja. On Tuesday 27 June, Tens of thousands of Egyptians will join Muslims from around the world to start annual Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. According to astronomical calculations, Muslims in Egypt will perform Eid Al-Adha prayers at approximately 5:16am on Wednesday morning. At least 20 people have been killed in a fresh bout of violence between herders and farming communities in a state in central-northern Nigeria, police said. Plateau State sits on the dividing line between Nigeria's mostly Muslim north and predominately Christian south and has seen a recent surge in intercommunal clashes. The latest attack by suspected armed herder militias hit several farming communities on Sunday in Plateau's Barkin Ladi district, Plateau police spokesman Alfred Alabo told AFP late on Monday. "In Barkin Ladi, we got reports that about 15 people lost their lives yesterday, and today another five have been buried, which make the total number to be 20," he said. Plateau often sees surges in intercommunal tensions and tit-for-tat attacks between Muslim Fulani herders and mostly Christian farming communities, especially in Mangu, Barkin Ladi and Riyom districts. Plateau State Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang issued a condemnation, calling for the security forces to end "the wanton spilling of blood and burning of property." On Friday, five herders were killed as they took cattle to market by suspected youths from a Berom farming community, a herdsman representative said. Eight farmers were then killed in an apparent revenge attack, according to a Berom community leader. Police later confirmed those attacks had left 13 dead. Nigeria's northwestern and central states have seen a steady rise in clashes over land use and water between herders and farming communities. The spiral has also fuelled more general criminality as heavily armed gangs target villages for mass kidnappings, looting and killing. Since mid-May, at least 140 people have been killed in communal clashes in Plateau and more than 3,000 people displaced. The local authorities have deployed police in several districts in a bid to restore peace. Nigeria's new president, Bola Tinubu, sworn in at the end of May, on Monday replaced the top military and security brass to help the country combat its multiple security problems. Search Keywords: Short link: Stocks on the Continent finished lower as investors pondered the potential for further interest rate hikes, both in the euro area and in the States. Investor sentiment was also dented by smaller-than-expected rate cuts overnight by the People's Republic of China. Against that backdrop, the pan-European Stoxx 600 was off by 0.59% to 459.32 and Germany's Dax by 0.55% at 16,111.32. Spain's Ibex 35 was the exception on the Continent, edging up 0.08% to 9,439.80. The Stoxx 600 gauge of Basic Resources companies' shares was particularly weak, giving back 2.21% to 557.61. Front-dated Brent crude oil futures fell 0.96% to $75.13 a barrel on the ICE and the euro was off a tad at 1.0906 against the US dollar. The day before, ECB governing council member, Isabel Schnabel, had termed the path towards sustained price stability as uncertain and fraught with risks. ECB chief economist, Philip Lane, meanwhile had told an audience in Madrid that a further hike in July was likely but that it remained to soon to predict the outcome of September's meeting. Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, was scheduled to deliver a speech the next day. Elsewhere on the economic front, Destatis reported a 1.4% month-on-month decline in German producer prices in May so that the annual rate of increase ebbed from April's 4.1% to 1.0%. The euro area's current account surplus shrank in April to 4.0bn, against 31bn during the month before. On a trailing 12-month basis, the current account slipped into a deficit of 55bn or 0.4% of the single currency bloc's GDP, against a surplus equal to 1.1% of GDP a year earlier. One of the members of a group of PKK terrorists "neutralized" last week by Turkish forces was a German national, security sources in Turkiye said Tuesday, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency. Thomas J., codenamed Azed Serges, was one of the six "neutralized" on Thursday in an anti-terror operation by Turkish forces in northern Iraq's Hakurk and Metina regions, according to sources in Turkiye's National Defense Ministry. Born in the town of Mainburg in southern Germany, Thomas J. joined the terror group in Munich, according to the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media. Thomas J. was "neutralized" in Hakurk with the rest of his group, which was planning to carry out an attack when they were hit by a Turkish drone strike. Turkish authorities use the term "neutralize" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.??????? "Where the terrorist is, thats our target," the ministry had said on Twitter Thursday, adding: "Our Turkish Armed Forces have neutralized six PKK terrorists, which they detected in the Hakurk and Metina region in northern Iraq, during an operation." In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US, and EU has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged Israel to immediately cease and reverse all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory and to fully respect its legal obligations toward Palestinians, a UN spokesman said. "The Secretary-General is deeply troubled by the Israeli Government decison to amend settlement planning procedures", deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement. The Israeli government approved on Sunday a draft decision to expedite settlement expansion procedures in the occupied West Bank, giving more authority to far-right Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich. Antonio Guterres also "reiterates that settlements are a flagrant violation of international law. They are a major obstacle to the realization of a viable two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace, Haq added. "He is also deeply alarmed by the anticipated advancement next week of over 4,000 settlement housing units by Israeli planning authorities", the statement further said. Similarly, last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus right-wing government passed a new two-year budget that clears the way to press ahead with its religious, pro-settlement agenda. The new budget has been criticized for allocating nearly $4 billion in discretionary funds, much of it for ultra-Orthodox and pro-settler parties. The funds also include tens of millions of dollars for hard-line pro-settler parties to promote pet projects through the ministries they control. The expansion of these illegal settlements is a significant driver of tensions and violence and deepens humanitarian needs, Haq added. Guterres also called on the Israeli government to take "concrete steps" to implement the commitments made in the Joint Communiques in Aqaba, Jordan and Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt, respectively. Smotrich, who also serves as a minister in the defense ministry, has said he hopes to double the population of West Bank settlers in the coming years. Search Keywords: Short link: Lookers said on Monday that it has agreed to be bought by Toronto-based car dealership Alpha Auto Group in a 465.4m cash deal. The price represents a 35.3% premium to the closing share price on Monday. Lookers chief executive Mark Raban said: "Today's offer reflects the transformational progress that has been made in recent years. We have harnessed our strong market position, enhanced our brand relationships, and executed well against our six strategic priorities. "I am excited about the combination with Bidco. It will create a business of greater scale, and bring together two successful businesses with complementary OEM relationships, and a strong platform to support future growth in the UK." Hiring specialist SThree reported a "robust" net fee performance for the first half of its financial year, despite what it described as an "uncertain" macroeconomic backdrop. "We are delighted with the strategic progress we have made, centred on an analytical and fact-based approach of knowing where to play and playing where we can win," the company's boss, Timo Lehne, said. "Our highly disciplined and targeted investment in talent acquisition within Contract remains a priority for the business." The company, which was focused on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics roles, reported a 2% year-on-year decline in group net fees for the six months ending on 31 May at constant currencies. Lehne highlighted the impact from tough comparables and the 3% rise in net fees on an as reported basis, thanks to currency tailwinds. Contract net fees were ahead by 3% in annual terms, having grown in most regions, and now made up 81% of group net fees. Sthree's three major markets saw divergences with net fees in the Netherlands growing by 3%, whilst in Germay they fell by 1% and in the US by 11%. Demand from the various sectors was also quite disparate, as Engineering was ahead by 17% but Life Sciences down by 21%. Commenting on the outlook, Lehen said: "Our long-term opportunity is unchanged, underpinned by structural megatrends which drive the acute need for scarce STEM talent. "In the short term we remain responsive to the macro backdrop and how that plays out on the mix of new placements and extensions, while tightly managing costs. Supported by a resilient business model and robust financial position, we remain well positioned to source and place the best STEM talent the world needs and will be in a position of strength once the macro-economic environment eases." Israeli forces killed a young Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said, the latest death in a surge of violence that has wracked the region. Zakaria al-Zaoul, 21-year-old was shot in the head by the Isralei forces, in the town of Husan, west of Bethlehem, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. Tuesday saw a surge in Israeli violence against Palestinians near the northern West Bank city of Jenin where the death toll has risen to six with the death today of a Palestinian man Amjad Aref Abu Jaas, who succumbed to his wounds sustained in the Israeli assault. The 48-year-old was shot by a live bullet in the abdomen and was in critical condition until he was pronounced dead this morning, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. The other Palestinians killed during the assault included five youths, one of them a 15-year-old child while more than 90 were wounded, over 20 of them said to be in critical condition. The occupation army raid on Jenin camp, lasting for more than 10 hours, saw Israel use helicopter gunships in the West Bank for the first time in several years. Palestinian militants in retaliation detonated a large roadside bomb under an Israeli armored vehicle. Israel forces have been carrying out near-nightly daily raids in the West Bank where at least 126 Palestinians have been killed this year, according to AP figures. Search Keywords: Short link: Representatives of the US-based International Battery Company (IBC), which is considering setting up a Lithium Nickle Manganese Cobalt prismatic cell manufacturing industry in Karnataka by investing Rs 8,000 crore, met Large and Medium Industries Minister M.B. Patil. At the meeting convened at the KUM conference hall in Khanija Bhavana, IBC officials briefed the minister about the specifics of the company and discussed the steps forward. IBC plans to set up a non-captive gigafactory, involving a substantial investment of approximately Rs 8,000 crore. The investment is across land, plant, machinery and building. Patil said, "Given the scope for growth of the electric vehicle sector in the country, there is a need to scale up the lithium battery production. The company has asked the government to provide 100 acres of land at ITIR in Devanahalli. The decision on providing land and extending incentives will be taken after discussing with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah." Venkatesh Valluri, President, IBC India Pvt Ltd, said that India will need lithium batteries in the range of about 150 gigawatt of capacity by 2030. "Currently, there is production of lithium cells totalling around 1.5 gigawatt capacity in the country and there is a huge gap between the demand and the supply. If the proposed plant is set up, the state will get about Rs 12,300 crore in the form of taxes in the next 20 years," Valluri said. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A 27-year-old man charged with slinging a cellphone at pop star Bebe Rexhas face during a concert Sunday in Manhattan allegedly told authorities he did it for his own amusement, the New York Post reported. Nicolas Malvagna of New Jersey was charged with assault, aggravated harassment, attempted assault and harassment in connection with the bizarre incident. I was trying to see if I could hit her with the phone at the end of the show because it would be funny, the defendant stated, according to a criminal complaint. Rexha, a former Staten Islander, was performing on stage on the Rooftop at Pier 17 when the alleged assault occurred. Video posted to social media showed the phone bouncing off Rexhas head before she dropped to her knees. The pop star, who was transported to a local hospital, was bloodied and bruised by the random attack, according to police and photos she posted of her injury. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio faces a fine of historic proportions regarding a publicly funded NYPD detail during his 2019 run for president, the Associated Press reported. De Blasio was ordered Thursday by the citys Conflict of Interest Board to pay nearly $500,000 in restitution and fines for wrongfully billing taxpayers, which includes the largest fine ever imposed by the board of $155,000, according to the report. He was also ordered to refund the city $319,794 for travel, meal and lodging expenses for the police escort. De Blasio did consult with the Conflicts of Interest Board about the costs of his security prior to announcing his presidential campaign in May 2019. He was told the salaries for NYPD officers would be covered, but that all other costs associated with their travel would not, the board said. During interviews with investigators, the former mayor said he did not have a 100% clear understanding of the guidance, and suggested that it was an issue for others to resolve, according to Kevin Casey, an administrative law judge that recommended the fine imposed by the Conflicts of Interest Board. De Blasio immediately appealed the decision, filing a lawsuit Thursday against the COIB in Manhattan Supreme Court. Andrew Celli, one of lawyers who have been representing de Blasios response on his police detail problem, in an interview with The City dubbed COIBs order arbitrary and contended, It undermines the citys compelling interest in allowing its high officials to travel safely anywhere in the world. Celli cited the Jan. 6 riot by Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol and recent shootings of congress members to justify de Blasios need for the NYPD presence. In an interview with New York Magazine published earlier this week, de Blasio described his White House bid as a mistake. I think my values were the right values, and I think I had something to offer, but it was not right on a variety of levels, he said. I think I got into a place of just extreme stubbornness and tunnel vision. MORE STATEN ISLAND NEWS: >> Staten Island man arrested, charged in Midland Beach flag burning incident >>Bellucci trial: Israeli security official details bizarre airport encounter with alleged S.I. parent killer >> Juneteenth on Staten Island: A day of reflection, commemoration at Historic Richmond Town >> Brooklyn-based driving school expands to Staten Island >> NYC declares a new public health threat: Social media STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. An 18-year-old male and 19-year-old female were shot on a commercial stretch of Victory Boulevard in Castleton Corners Monday evening, according to police. The violence prompted a massive NYPD search for the perpetrators, as squad cars canvassed the area for miles and police helicopters hovered overhead. The shooting was reported around 7 p.m. in the vicinity of Victory Boulevard and Lester Street, according to a spokesperson for the NYPD. The male was shot in both arms and the chest while the female was shot once in the chest, the NYPD spokesperson said. The victims were transported to the hospital and both were listed in stable condition, police said. NYPD officers investigate the scene of a shooting at Victory Boulevard and Lester Street in Castleton Corners on Monday, June 19, 2023. (Staten Island Advance/Scott R. Axelrod) Police are searching for four males who fled the scene in a black sedan that was later found abandoned on the 800 block of Henderson Avenue in West Brighton, according to a police spokesperson. Police roped off Victory Boulevard near Lester where the shooting took place. Officers could be seen shining flashlights on the ground next to a white vehicle that was in the roped-off area. Orange evidence markers could be seen on the ground. An orange evidence marker lies next to a shell casing following a shooting at Victory Boulevard and Lester Street in Castleton Corners on Monday, June, 19, 2023. (Staten Island Advance/Scott R. Axelrod) Members of the NYPD could be seen searching for evidence along a stretch of Victory Boulevard following a shooting in Castleton Corners Monday, June, 19, 2023. (Staten Island Advance/Scott R. Axelrod) An NYPD helicopter could be seen circling overhead following a shooting in Castleton Corners Monday, June, 19, 2023. (Staten Island Advance/Scott R. Axelrod) This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available. 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! National auto repair retailer mycar Tyre & Auto has been hit with a $1 million fine over spam messages after the communications watchdog found the company sent marketing materials without a functioning unsubscribe button. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said on Wednesday that the company has paid a $1,047,000 penalty after an investigation of more than 1 million messages it sent to customers between January and August 2022. Australian Communications and Media Authority chair Nerida OLoughlin said sending text messages without an option to unsubscribe was unacceptable. Credit: Rhett Wyman These included 1.45 million text messages and emails sent to customers without a functioning unsubscribe option. The business also sent 276,000 emails that required a user to supply their vehicle registration details to opt out of future messages and sent 5000 messages to consumers who had already asked to opt out of receiving marketing materials. Woodside has pressed go on its $US7.2 billion ($10.5 billion) Trion oil project off the coast of Mexico as it awaits the backing of state-owned partner PEMEX and Mexican regulators to start drilling. The Perth-based energy major said on Tuesday that its 60 per cent stake in the 100,000 barrels a day oil project, inherited from BHP, would generate a return of more than 16 per cent, with a payback period of less than four years from the expected first production in 2028. Woodside chief executive Meg ONeill said strong oil demand is expected to continue to 2050 and beyond. Credit: Ben Searcy The predicted return, which exceeds its published hurdle for oil investments of 15 per cent return and a payback period of five years, is based on fetching $US70 a barrel in real terms later this decade. Woodside chief executive Meg ONeill said Trion was an attractive addition to Woodsides portfolio in the Gulf of Mexico obtained with the purchase of BHPs petroleum division. The spectacular fallout between comedian Julian Morrow and his former business partner Nick Murray ended with a bruising Court of Appeal loss for The Chaser founder and his high-flying barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC. Disastrous farce: Julian Morrow has suffered a loss in the Court of Appeal. Credit: SMH The near four-year long legal battle all began when ABC management canned the pairs consumer affairs show The Checkout. In the aftermath, Murrays production company CJZ agreed to sell its share in the joint venture to Morrows Giant Dwarf for a measly $50. What Murray didnt know was that Morrow had been in talks with ABC management about a new, eerily similar consumer affairs show. When Murray got wind of things, he refused to sign a deed of release for the joint venture, effectively nuking the new show. Morrow sued Murray for breaching that sale agreement, with the producer counter-claiming that his former partners actions amounted to misleading and deceptive conduct. Morrow also sued Murray for defamation over four angry emails to ABC management, including one comparing the bald comedian to Lord Voldemort. United Nations Special Envoy for Syria will participate in an international meeting on Syria in the Kazakh capital of Astana on June 20-21, Russian Special Presidential Envoy to the Middle East and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said. The UN special envoy Geir Pedersen will be joined by delegations from the guarantor countries Russia, Iran and Turkey and representatives of the Syrian government and opposition, according to Russian news agency TASS. UN representatives and representatives from neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq will also participate in the negotiations, TASS added. Earlier, in May, Russia proposed a roadmap to normalise ties between Syria and Turkey at the first meeting of their foreign ministers since the start of the Syrian civil war over a decade ago. Similarly, in April, Russia's defense minister hosted his counterparts from Iran, Syria and Turkey for talks that were part of the Kremlin's efforts to help broker a rapprochement between the Turkish and Syrian governments. Turkey which supported early rebel efforts to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, maintains a military presence in northern stretches of the war-torn country that angers Damascus, launching successive military offensives in Syria, most of them targeting Kurdish militants that Ankara links to a group waging a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state. Assad's government has described the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syrian territory as a prerequisite for a normalization of ties. On the other side, Moscow has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow Syrian President Bashar Assads government to reclaim control over most of the country. While the bulk of Russia's armed forces have been busy fighting in Ukraine, Moscow has maintained its military presence in Syria and has also made persistent efforts to help Assad rebuild fractured ties with Turkey and other countries in the region following the civil war that has killed nearly 500,000 people and displaced half of the countrys prewar population. Search Keywords: Short link: He and McKendry, originally from Rockhampton, worked together as principal dancers at the Houston Ballet and moved to Melbourne in 1995, with their young family, where he became a principal dancer with the Australian Ballet. In July 2012, he took up the reins at Queensland Ballet, with Mary working alongside him. He leaves the company with an ensemble of 48 dancers double what he came to a world-class young artists program of 12 dancers and a newly redeveloped home, the Thomas Dixon Centre. The sixth of seven sons, he grew in a village in north-east China during Chairman Mao Zedongs Communist regime. One day, quite by chance a chance in a billion Lis life changed when, at the age of 11, he was chosen to join Madame Maos Central 5-7 Performing Arts University in Beijing. When he was spotted by an American choreographer, Li was invited to participate in a summer school with the Houston Ballet; he subsequently defected to the United States, where he would meet his first wife, Elizabeth Mackay, and spend the next 16 years. In his book Maos Last Dancer, he writes about a story his father told him about a frog, which was trapped in a deep, dark well but could see the sky yet never reach it. Inspired by this as a young boy, he started sending messages to the gods on pieces of paper attached to his kite. First he wished for his mothers happiness, second for his fathers good health and third to get me out of the well so I could help my family. Id always lived with the harsh reality of not having enough food to fill our stomachs, of seeing my parents struggle, of witnessing people dying of starvation, of constantly being trapped in that same hopeless, vicious cycle as my forefathers, he writes. He told this masthead in 2003 that he always had big dreams. From a very young age, I held a deep-seated sadness that I wanted to do something and that has been achieved through hard, hard work and a lot of luck. The luck, he says, was firstly being chosen to join the Beijing academy as I had no dancing skills at all, only a body which looked flexible enough to train, and then being chosen to perform as a guest with the Houston Ballet in the US which gave me the first taste of true artistic freedom Id never dreamed possible. Mary McKendry and Li Cunxin performing with the Australian Ballet in 1990. Though Li looked fondly upon his entire time at Queensland Ballet, he said he would dearly miss a few elements upon his departure, such as witnessing the collaboration between multiple creative energies on-stage. What I will miss most is working with talented, inspiring young people and helping them deliver and achieve the best in life, he said. And I will also miss ... the combination of the music and dance together, creating that powerful magic and grace. It really brings so much happiness to our audience. It was that happiness the smiles on peoples faces as they enjoyed the powerful performances before them that Li said would remain close to his heart well into retirement. Im thrilled that perhaps Ive played a small part in bringing more people into the audience or [making them] lovers of the ballet. Among those paying tribute were film director Baz Luhrmann and his wife Catherine Martin. Li Cunxins impact on the creative landscape of Australia will be felt for years to come. His decade at the helm of Queensland Ballet exemplifies the world-class arts and culture that has transformed our region, Luhrmann said. The big-budget TV series, Metropolis, which had been expected to shoot up to three seasons in Australia, has been cancelled. A reimagining of Fritz Langs seminal 1927 silent science-fiction classic of the same name from Mr Robot creator Sam Esmail, Metropolis was announced last April as the second booking for the new sound stage 6 at Docklands Studios Melbourne, following the Robbie Williams biopic, Better Man. With an estimated budget of $188 million for its first eight-episode season, the Apple TV+ series had been expected to start production early this year. However, the complexity of the shoot which was to make extensive use of the worlds largest LED virtual production array contributed to delays. Uncertain economic conditions have played their part, too, but one of the biggest factors in the cancellation appears to have been the fact that final shooting scripts were not ready by the time the Writers Guild of America strike began on May 2. I sold a block of land and put money in a savings account in a bank that I had opened recently. The teller did not tell me that there were restrictions on how much I could withdraw in cash he said a total amount of $10,000. I want to renovate my house and a project manager told me the cost would be $50,000. He pays all his suppliers in cash to avoid credit card charges. I would therefore have to pay him in cash, and he would use my money and not his. The bank has advised that to withdraw that amount, I would have to have a paper trail which was a ruling from the federal government. Can the government and the bank tell me where I can spend my money? This government ruling affects all Australians that have their money in a bank. It is my money, and so I should be able to withdraw any amount when I want and how I want. I am not a drug dealer or a money launderer. As you say, its your money, and you can ask for it in cash. However, be aware that most banks only carry small stocks of cash these days, and you will need to make an appointment at a mutual time if a large amount of cash is required. My advice is to exercise extreme caution. Australian banks are required to report cash transactions over $10,000 to the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) and a large transaction will certainly receive attention. If you need to withdraw a significant sum of cash such as to pay builders do so with extreme caution. Credit: Simon Letch Furthermore, youre dealing with a builder who by his own admission is dishonest. The Tax Office has very sophisticated tracking mechanisms these days and the last thing you would want to happen is your builder ending up in serious financial trouble halfway through the job. Thats a lot of different interventions. And we know they worked in general countries that tried hard were, generally, able to limit the spread of the virus before the introduction of vaccines. We can also see the effect on other respiratory illnesses, which all but vanished. Credit: Nature The issue, says Associate Professor James Trauer, a Monash University epidemiologist, is its really hard to tease out the individual effect of each policy, because almost invariably across the world, these were implemented as a packet. Consider Melbournes lockdowns. We locked down but we also mandated mask wearing and we limited our travel to a five-kilometre radius. Its difficult to disentangle those interventions using observational studies. We won, but we dont precisely know how we won. The research-review charity Cochrane, the doyen of gold-standard medical research evidence, had a crack at finding high quality, randomised, controlled trials of handwashing, disinfecting surfaces, wearing eye protection, isolating or quarantining, and physical distancing earlier this year. It could find randomised studies of only mask wearing and hand hygiene, and even then, the studies on masks were mixed. Mask wearing in Byron Bay in April 2021. Credit: Natalie Grono Mechanically, it seems like these interventions should work. But mechanical evidence and modelling matters little when science hits reality. Masks are the best example. We know they filter out viruses. But we also know a) viruses can infect us in other ways and b) many people do not wear masks properly. It is plausible they have some effect, says Professor Paul Glasziou, director of the Institute for Evidence-Based Healthcare. But we have no idea of the size of the effect. You want to know the true effect in real-world settings. Its dismal. Compare how little we know about the things that upended our lives with how much we know about drugs and vaccines. One group tracking research on non-pharmaceutical interventions reported in early 2022 that 35 randomised trials were running versus 3768 drug trials. Worse, many of these studies were poorly designed, using faulty or incompatible measures, meaning we cant combine data into big data sets. In hindsight, this was madness. Even as the evidence mounted that ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine did not work, we still kept running new and better studies. (Monash University continues to recruit people for its ivermectin study!) But we couldnt design and fund high-quality studies of physical distancing? Even the few high-quality studies of masks we had were funded by charities, not governments. Loading We just failed to do the trials. And we often assumed from our knowledge of mechanisms, and sometimes observational studies, what the effects would be, says Glasziou. Are these trials hard? Sure. Are they possible? Absolutely particularly when you consider the amount of money governments were splashing around. Now, theres a good argument for putting in place interventions you expect will work at the height of a public health emergency, even if you dont have all the evidence. But with working under the precautionary principle comes, absolutely, an obligation to collect the evidence, and working to understand if what you put in place actually works, says Professor Catherine Bennett, chair in epidemiology at Deakin University. Its actually knowing if we could have been more nuanced, more refined, had less collateral damage and achieved the same outcomes. Of course a sledgehammer will work but will a nutcracker do? Allow me a moment of journalistic cynicism. I wonder if our politicians actually want to know. To return to air purifiers, in whose interests is it to know if the $113 million the Victorian government spent was worth it? Its certainly not in the interests of the politicians and officials who made the decision. If it worked, nobody cares. If it did not work, they get pilloried. But it is in our interests. Its our money. Were the ones who had to live through the lockdowns. When the next pandemic rolls around, we should know whether the stuff were being asked to do actually works. New evidence has been uncovered in the homicide of former AC/DC manager Crispin Dye, who was fatally bashed in Sydney in 1993, after an inquiry examining LGBTIQ hate crimes sent his clothing to be forensically tested for the first time. Bloodstains, two pieces of paper and DNA from an unknown male linked to another crime were recently discovered in the shirt and jeans Dye was wearing when he was attacked in a Darlinghurst laneway on December 23. He died in hospital on Christmas Day, having suffered critical head injuries. Crispin Dye (left) with AC/DC star Malcolm Young. The jeans and shirt were never sent for forensic analysis until several months ago, counsel assisting Peter Gray, SC, told the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ hate crimes on Tuesday. On February 14, the NSW Forensic and Analytical Science Service said it found two pieces of paper in the pocket of Dyes denim shirt. One was a post-it note with a handwritten name and number on it, while the other had a bloodstain. The fourth most profitable hotel in NSW for poker machine takings is likely to face prosecution after the states gaming regulator found it had illegally offered credit card withdrawals from an ATM on its premises. The Wentworth Hotel in Homebush West, owned by hospitality giant Iris Capital, has been ordered by Liquor and Gaming NSW to remove the credit card withdrawal function from the ATM following a complaint from a customer who was able to withdraw $2000 on credit. The Wentworth Hotel in Homebush West has increased its takings from poker machines since it was purchased by Sam Arnaout in 2014. Credit: Flavio Brancaleone The Earlwood Hotel, owned by the Orion Hotel Group, was also directed to remove the credit function from an ATM last week, as well as to strip material from the ATM screen that allegedly encouraged gaming by referring to the hours that its VIP room was open. Pubs and clubs with gaming rooms are not permitted to have ATMs that offer credit withdrawals in any part of the premises, as a harm minimisation requirement. The penalty for failing to comply with a directive is a fine of up to $5500. To suggest that Boomers are somehow sucking on the teat of the national milch cow is as unfair as it is wrong. Boomers have become the easybeats of the present times and are blamed for everything from housing shortages to airfares. It is true that Boomers did benefit from a political decision taken by the Whitlam government. This was free tertiary education. Many working-class wannabe students benefited from this and went onto university and secured positions they could only dream about. I was one. Being brought up in a family where the highest level of education was the Merit Certificate the equivalent of year 9 and living in a weatherboard war service home in a working-class suburb, education was the escalator and it was crowded with Boomer kids. Boomers are blamed for everything from housing shortages to airfares. Credit: Glenn Hunt It is true that in the late 60s and 70s, a house could be purchased on one modest salary. Even so, many families worked two jobs and saved. This enabled homes to be paid off quickly. Few had inherited wealth. Boomers fulfilled their parents ambitions and became successful. So why attack Boomers? Is it the frustration of the haves and have-nots? Is it envy? Is it the historical times we live in where housing in cities is becoming unaffordable for many? It is not an Australian problem alone. England, where I lived for some years, also had its own Boomers. Villages and towns that were once affordable to locals are now out of reach. Montebello, Megan, Joshua Elmes, 15, and Lucus Garzoli, 14, were killed in the crash. Jorja, the sole survivor of the crash, was transported to The Alfred hospital in a critical condition. The 17-year-old has been discharged from hospital. Alicia Montebello moved to Hamilton from South Australia in late 2022. Credit: Facebook In a short mobile phone video uploaded to Snapchat hours before the crash, the car is seen travelling along a narrow road at speed, while music blared in the background. In the footage, a boy asks what speed the car is driving before a woman responds: 130. Joshuas father, Matthew Elmes, had previously asked his son not to get into Montebellos car because he said the group had been pushing the boundaries too much, driving too fast. Eventually, Josh stopped hopping in the car for the last four months, as far as we know. I might not have even found out he was in the car if they didnt have the accident, Elmes said. The tragedy left the small community of Hamilton reeling and raised questions about Montebellos relationship with the teenagers. A memorial near the crash honouring Montebello was vandalised, which prompted her mother, Debbie Montebello, to issue an emotional plea on social media. I am begging the people of Hamilton to stop trashing our daughter [and] sisters memorial site. Its killing us. We know you are all angry at Alicia. But please stop. We are grieving [and] hurting too, she wrote alongside an image of a plaque honouring her daughter nailed to a tree. The April 14 court hearing was told Montebello had moved to Hamilton from South Australia at the end of last year, seeking to start fresh after an emotionally and physically abusive long-term relationship that had left her socially isolated in Adelaide. Before the deadly crash, she was living in a caravan park in Hamilton, after her brother asked her to move out of his home following the birth of his second child. Montebellos lawyer told the court Montebello met 17-year-old Jorja through her job at the local Coles and the pair hit it off and became best friends. In social media posts, Montebello regularly referred to Jorja as her best friend and little one. Its been a long time since shes had something like that, her lawyer told the court in April. Theres no indication that Jorja or Megan were in her company or in her car under duress or anything like that. In fact, their mother picks them up at midnight, and they sneak out again and go back to Ms Montebellos. But the court also heard Montebello had sent Jorja more than two dozen text messages over 30 hours despite warnings to stay away from the sisters, and was found driving with both girls in the car in April when pulled over by police. Holzer sentenced Montebello to a $700 fine without conviction for one count of causing damage wilfully, two counts of stalking and four counts of breaching bail conditions. Joshua Elmes was one of four people killed in a road crash near Hamilton on May 27. Credit: Facebook Tanya Broadbent, a close friend of Montebello who took her in while the latter had endured a rough patch in 2015, told The Age days after the crash that Montebello was a caring friend who longed to be a part of something. I knew that she was friends with some younger kids and as much as I wished shed have friends more her own age, Alicia thrived on feeling wanted and feeling like she was included, Broadbent told The Age. Lucus Garzoli, 14, was killed in the crash. She just craved to be loved and [have] attention, not attention in a bad way but attention as in feeling wanted and needed. Those girls did it for her. Broadbent said Montebello had struggled with depression after experiencing family problems and moved to country Victoria in the hope of putting her past behind her. She wanted to have a family, she wanted to do all the things that everybody else wants to do, Broadbent said. She didnt have a death wish or anything like that. She was looking for that place where she just belonged. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is being urged to launch a sweeping investigation into the countrys response to the COVID-19 pandemic by the years end to avoid turning the probe into a political blame game in the run-up to the next federal election. Policy experts and the Australian Medical Association believe Albanese must follow last weeks decision to order an independent review of the $90 billion JobKeeper program with a wide-ranging inquiry into all aspects of federal and state governments responses to the pandemic. Anthony Albanese promised in January last year to order an inquiry into Australias handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Albanese promised in January 2022, ahead of the federal election, to hold a royal commission or some form of inquiry into the countrys handling of COVID-19. Pressed on the issue last month, he said that when we are confident that were through those issues [continuing circulation of the virus], then well examine it. Serial killers will soon be banned from re-applying for parole for a period of at least five years, under an overhaul of Victorias parole system that victims families say doesnt go far enough. Premier Daniel Andrews flagged the overhaul on Tuesday morning. Changes are to be made so that the states most violent criminals will not be able to apply multiple times a year for early release. The move comes as loved ones of Paul Denyers victims have called on the premier to meet them, amid concerns the serial killer is again attempting to win parole. The 51-year-old was sentenced to three life sentences in 1993 after pleading guilty to the murders of Natalie Russell, 17, Elizabeth Stevens, 18, and Deborah Fream, 22. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said they agreed to stabilize badly deteriorated U.S.-China ties, but Americas top diplomat left Beijing with his biggest ask rebuffed: better communications between their militaries. After meeting Xi, Blinken said China is not ready to resume military-to-military contacts, something the U.S. considers crucial to avoid miscalculation and conflict, particularly over Taiwan. Still, China's main diplomat for the Western Hemisphere, Yang Tao, said he thought Blinken's visit to China marks a new beginning. The U.S. side is surely aware of why there is difficulty in military-to-military exchanges, he said, blaming the issue squarely on U.S. sanctions, which Blinken said revolved entirely around threats to American security. Yet Blinken and Xi pronounced themselves satisfied with progress made during the two days of talks, without pointing to specific areas of agreement beyond a mutual decision to return to a broad agenda for cooperation and competition endorsed last year year by Xi and President Joe Biden at a summit in Bali. And, it remained unclear if those understandings can resolve their most important disagreements, many of which have international implications. Still, both men said they were pleased with the outcome of the highest-level U.S. visit to China in five years. The two sides expressed a willingness to hold more talks, but there was little indication that either is prepared to bend from positions on issues including trade, Taiwan, human rights conditions in China and Hong Kong, Chinese military assertiveness in the South China Sea, and Russias war in Ukraine. Blinken said later that the U.S. set limited objectives for the trip and achieved them. He told reporters before leaving for a Ukraine reconstruction conference in London that he had raised the issue of military to military communications repeatedly." It is absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications, he said. This is something were going to keep working on. Speaking to reporters Monday during a campaign fundraising trip to California, Biden said Blinken did a hell of a job. The president said you know progress was made with relations between the U.S. and China because of the meeting. The U.S. has said that, since 2021, China has declined or failed to respond to over a dozen requests from the Department of Defense for top-level dialogues. According to a transcript of the meeting with Blinken, Xi said he was pleased with the outcome of Blinken's earlier meetings with top Chinese diplomats and said restarting the Bali agenda were of great importance. The Chinese side has made our position clear, and the two sides have agreed to follow through the common understandings President Biden and I had reached in Bali, Xi said. That agenda had been thrown into jeopardy in recent months, notably after the U.S. shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon over its airspace in February, and amid escalated military activity in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. Combined with other disputes over human rights, trade and opiate production, the list of problem areas is daunting. But also Xi suggested the worst could be over. The two sides have also made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues, Xi said without elaborating, according to a transcript of the remarks released by the State Department. This is very good. In his remarks to Xi during the 35-minute session at the Great Hall of the People, a meeting that was expected but not announced until an hour before it started, Blinken said the United States and China have an obligation and responsibility to manage our relationship. The United States is committed to doing that, Blinken said. Its in the interest of the United States, in the interests of China, and in the interest of the world. Blinken described his earlier discussions with senior Chinese officials as candid and constructive. Despite the symbolism of his presence in China, Blinken and other U.S. officials had played down the prospects for any significant breakthroughs on the most vexing issues facing the planets two largest economies. Instead, these officials have emphasized the importance of the two countries establishing and maintaining better lines of communication. Thus, China's refusal to resume the military-to-military contacts was a hitch. Progress is hard, Blinken told reporters. "It takes time, it takes more than one visit. Blinken's trip is expected to herald a new round of visits by senior U.S. and Chinese officials to each other's countries, possibly including a meeting between Xi and Biden in India or the U.S in the coming months. Before meeting with Xi, Blinken met earlier Monday with Chinas top diplomat Wang Yi for about three hours, an encounter that produced a harsh assessment of the talks. Chinas foreign ministry said "it is necessary to make a choice between dialogue or confrontation, cooperation or conflict. It blamed the U.S. sides erroneous perception of China, leading to incorrect policies towards China for the current low point in relations. And, it said the U.S. bore responsibility for halting the spiraling decline of China-U.S. relations to push it back to a healthy and stable track." It added that Wang had "demanded that the U.S. stop hyping up the China threat theory, lift illegal unilateral sanctions against China, abandon suppression of Chinas technological development, and refrain from arbitrary interference in Chinas internal affairs. In it's readout of the meeting, the State Department said Blinken underscored the importance of responsibly managing the competition between the United States and the PRC through open channels of communication to ensure competition does not veer into conflict," using the acronym for the People's Republic of China. In the first round of talks on Sunday, Blinken met for nearly six hours with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, after which both countries said they had agreed to continue high-level discussions. Both the U.S. and China said Qin had accepted an invitation from Blinken to visit Washington but Beijing made clear that the China-U.S. relationship is at the lowest point since its establishment. That sentiment is widely shared by U.S. officials. Blinken's visit came after his initial plans to travel to China were postponed in February after the shootdown of a Chinese surveillance balloon over the U.S. In his meetings, Blinken also pressed the Chinese to release detained American citizens and to take steps to curb the production and export of fentanyl precursors that are fueling the opioid crisis in the United States. Since the cancellation of Blinkens trip in February, there have been some high-level engagements. CIA chief William Burns traveled to China in May, while Chinas commerce minister traveled to the U.S. And Bidens national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Wang Yi in Vienna in May. But those have been punctuated by bursts of angry rhetoric from both countries over the Taiwan Strait, their broader intentions in the Indo-Pacific, Chinas refusal to condemn Russia for its war against Ukraine, and U.S. allegations from Washington that Beijing is attempting to boost its worldwide surveillance capabilities, including in Cuba. And, earlier this month, Chinas defense minister rebuffed a request from U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for a meeting on the sidelines of a security symposium in Singapore, a sign of continuing discontent. Search Keywords: Short link: This article is part of the Travel Hot List for July, 2023. Four temples from ancient Rome, dating back as far as the 3rd century BC stand smack in the middle of one of the modern citys busiest crossroads. But until Monday, practically the only ones getting a close-up view of the temples were the cats that prowl the so-called Sacred Area, on the edge of the site where Julius Caesar was assassinated. Journalists visit the new walkways of the so called Sacred Area. Credit: AP With the help of funding from Bulgari, the luxury jeweller, the grouping of temples can now be visited by the public. For decades, the curious had to gaze down from the bustling sidewalks rimming Largo Argentina (Argentina Square) to admire the temples below. Thats because, over the centuries, the city had been built up, layer by layer, to levels several metres above the area where Caesar masterminded his political strategies and was later fatally stabbed in 44 B.C. Gama Completes 2,378 line kilometres of SkyTEM Geophysical Survey over Tyee Nickel-Copper Sulphide Project in Quebec Gama Explorations Inc. (CSE: GAMA) (FSE: N79) (OTCQB: GMMAF) (aGamaa or the aCompanya https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/gama-explorations-inc/ ) is pleased to announce that the Company has completed 2,378 line kilometres of the SkyTEM geophysical survey over the Tyee nickel-copper sulphide project in Quebec. aWith most of the 625 km2 Tyee project area now covered, we look forward to receiving the processed images to begin interpreting the data, expected in a few weeks, and conducting our mapping and sampling program later in the summer, stated Dr. Mick Carew, CEO of Gama. aWith exploration work also underway our Muskox Lithium Project in the Northwest Territories, GAMA anticipates a busy summer on its fully funded 2023 exploration programs.a This survey marks the first set of data on the Tyee project apart from historical government data, and gives the company valuable insight into conductive and magnetic ground up to a depth of 500m. After processing, the company will update shareholders on the priority targets from the survey and the findings will be used to guide ground exploration plans. The core 400 km2 block of the Tyee project has now been surveyed at a variable line spacing of 200 a 400m. As a result of inclement weather and the wildfire season in Quebec, the Company has decided to postpone completion of the remaining 1,187 km (covering the remaining 224 km2 located in the southeast) of the project to the late summer. About the Tyee Project The Tyee project covers 624 km2 in Canadaa?s newest nickel belt on the north shore of Quebec, about 120 km north of Havre St. Pierre. The entire 624 km2 is underlain by rocks of the Havre St. Pierre anorthosite complex. The Havre St. Pierre anorthosite complex is prospective for nickel, copper and platinum group elements and hosts the Lac Tio titanium mine owned by Rio Tinto. The entire anorthosite complex is largely underexplored. The Tyee project is within 16 km of the road-accessible Romaine hydroelectric dam and within 100 km of a railhead at the Lac Tio mine. About Gama Explorations Inc. Gama is a Canadian company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE:GAMA), on the OTCQB market in the United States (OTCQB:GMMAF), and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE: N79). The Company is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties containing metals used in green technologies and the renewable energy sector. The company currently has the right to acquire 100% interest in the Muskox Lithium Pegmatite Project located within the Yellowknife Pegmatite Province in the Northwest Territories and owns 100% of the Tyee Nickel-Copper Massive Sulphide Project located in North-Eastern Quebec. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements as well as historical information. Readers should not rely on information in this summary for any purpose other than for gaining general knowledge of the Company. The words aexpecteda, awilla and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that its expectations as reflected in any forward-looking statements, are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that managementa?s beliefs, estimates, opinions or other factors should change. Trillium Gold Mines Completes Plan of Arrangement to Acquire Pacton Gold Trillium Gold Mines Inc. (TSXV: TGM, OTCQX: TGLDF, FRA: 0702) (aTrilliuma) and Pacton Gold Inc. (TSXV: PAC, OTC: PACXF, FSE: 2NKM) (aPactona https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/trillium-gold-mines-inc/ ) are pleased to announce the completion today of the previously announced plan of arrangement (the aArrangementa) under section 288 of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia), resulting in Pacton becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Trillium. The Arrangement was approved at a special meeting of shareholders of Pacton held on JuneA 2,A 2023 followed by the issuance of the final order approving the Arrangement from the Supreme Court of British Columbia on June 6, 2023.A A Pursuant to the Arrangement, each former holder of Pacton common shares (each, a aPacton Sharea) is entitled to receive 1.275 common shares of Trillium (each such whole common share, a aTrillium Sharea) in exchange for each Pacton Share held. Upon completion of the Arrangement, existing Trillium and Pacton shareholders will own 53% and 47%, respectively, of the combined company. In addition, all outstanding stock options of Pacton were exchanged for stock options to acquire up to an aggregate of 2,198,737 Trillium Shares. All outstanding warrants of Pacton remain in effect, but are now exercisable to acquire 42,075 Trillium Shares. Prior to the completion of the Arrangement, Trillium did not own any Pacton securities.A Further details of the Arrangement are set out in Pactona?s management information circular dated May 2, 2023 (the aCirculara). Registered Pacton shareholders should send their completed and executed letters of transmittal and certificates representing their Pacton Shares to the depositary for the Arrangement, Computershare Investor Services Inc., in accordance with the instructions contained in the letter of transmittal as soon as possible in order to receive the Trillium Shares to which they are entitled pursuant to the Arrangement. A copy of the Circular and the letter of transmittal can be found under Pactona?s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Trillium and Pacton expect the Pacton Shares to be delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange (aTSXVa) in the near term. Trillium will also apply for Pacton to cease to be a reporting issuer under applicable Canadian securities laws. Changes to Board of Directors of Trillium In conjunction with the Arrangement, Nav Dhaliwal (former Interim Chief Executive Officer, Interim President and a director of Pacton) and Dale Ginn (former Executive Chairman and a director of Pacton) have been appointed to the board of directors of Trillium. Luke Norman has resigned from his position as Chairman of the board of directors of Trillium. Payment of Success Based Compensation to Haywood Prior to the completion of the Arrangement, Pacton issued 405,034 Pacton Shares (the aCompensation Sharesa) to Haywood Securities Inc., along with a cash fee (together with the Compensation Shares, the aCompensationa), for acting as financial advisor to Pacton in connection with the Arrangement. Payment of the Compensation was made in accordance with TSXV Policy 4.3 a Shares for Debt and approved by the TSXV. Advisors and Legal Counsel Red Cloud Securities Inc. acted as Trilliuma?s financial advisor and Haywood Securities Inc. acted as Pactona?s financial advisor. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP acted as legal counsel to Trillium and Cozen Oa?Connor LLP acted as legal counsel to Pacton. About Trillium Gold Mines Inc. Trillium Gold Mines Inc. is a growth focused company engaged in the business of acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties located in the Red Lake Mining District of Northern Ontario. As part of its regional-scale consolidation strategy, the Company has assembled one of the largest prospective land packages in and around the Red Lake mining district in proximity to major mines and deposits, as well as along the Confederation Lake and Birch-Uchi greenstone belts. A The closing of the acquisition of Pacton Gold Inc. extends Trilliuma?s ownership in Red Lake to over 89,600 hectares of prospective and diversified exploration properties with significant potential for gold and critical minerals on trend with the major structures hosting known gold occurrences in the Red Lake mining district today.A A portfolio of prospective projects in Western Australia has also been acquired.A For further information, please contact: Trillium Gold Mines Inc. 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 Russell Starr 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 President, CEO and Director 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 Donna Yoshimatsu 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 VP Corporate Development and IR A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Tel: (416) 722-2456 Email: dyoshimatsu@trilliumgold.com A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A or info@trilliumgold.com Website: www.trilliumgold.com In Europe: Swiss Resource Capital AG Jochen Staiger info@resource-capital.ch www.resource-capital.ch 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 note regarding forward-looking statements This news release contains forward-looking information, including statements relating to the anticipated delisting of the Pacton Shares and the intention to apply for Pacton to cease to be a reporting issuer, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectations. Forward-looking information is based on managementa?s reasonable assumptions, estimates, expectations, analyses and opinions, which are based on managementa?s experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, and other factors that management believes are relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, but which may prove to be incorrect.A Such factors, among others, include: risks associated with the Arrangement and acquisitions generally and the integration of the businesses of Trillium and Pacton, impacts arising from the global disruption caused by the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, business integration risks; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; fluctuations in spot and forward prices of gold or certain other commodities; change in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents); inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability of increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development (including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities); and title to properties. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. OceanaGold Provides Exploration Update for Wharekirauponga OceanaGold Corporation (TSX: OGC) (aOceanaGolda or the aCompanya https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/oceanagold-corp/ ) is pleased to announce at Wharekirauponga in New Zealand. Highlight drill intercepts include (estimated true width): 5 g/t Au over 11.1 m from 462.2 m, EG Vein (WKP118) 3 g/t Au over 5.9 m from 519.7 m, EG Vein (WKP107B) 9 g/t Au over 8.0 m from 473.1 m, EG Vein (WKP109B) 3 g/t Au over 5.0 m from 453.3 m, EG Vein (WKP109C2) Gerard Bond, President & CEO of OceanaGold, said aWe continue to make good progress in converting mineralization at Wharekirauponga, supporting our goal of creating value through near-mine exploration programs. New drilling results confirm the presence of high-grade gold and silver mineralization in the East Graben vein zone, and aid in our understanding of the geometry of this mineralized system. Resource conversion drilling remains a priority for us in 2023 as we work towards growing Indicated Resources to support a Pre-Feasibility Study next year.aA A A A Wharekirauponga 2023 Drill Program The Wharekirauponga low sulphidation epithermal Au-Ag vein system is located approximately 10 kilometres to the north of the Waihi Gold Mine. Wharekirauponga hosts an existing Indicated Resource of 1.7 million tonnes grading 12.3 grams per tonne gold (ag/t Aua) for 0.66 million ounces of gold. Inferred Resources total 2.6 million tonnes at a grade of 7.8 g/t Au for 0.64 million ounces of gold, with approximately 90% of the Resources contained within the EG Vein, a hanging wall splay and three footwall veins (collectively, the aEG Vein Zonea). Since the December 31, 2022 mineral resource estimate, 2,095 metres (ama) have been drilled at Wharekirauponga, targeting the addition of Indicated resources in the EG Vein Zone. New intercepts better define the southern and upper extent of the southern shoot on the EG vein and EG Hanging Wall Splay (aEG HWSa) and provide increased confidence in the model and grade continuity of the deposit. Opportunities for both up- and down-plunge and along-strike extensions of the EG Vein remain, with high-grade intercepts remaining open. Step-out drilling in hole WKP100 (previously released), the most southerly hole on the EG Vein () has also confirmed mineralisation continues for at least a further 200 m along strike of the currently defined southern shoot. 2023 drilling on the EG Vein Zone includes (estimated true width intersections): 5 g/t Au and 137.2 g/t Ag over 11.1 m from 462.2 m, EG Vein (WKP118) 3 g/t Au and 85.3 g/t Ag over 5.9 m from 519.7 m, EG Vein (WKP107B) 9 g/t Au and 93.0 g/t Ag over 8.0 m from 473.1 m, EG Vein (WKP109B) 3 g/t Au and 113.0 g/t Ag over 5.0 m from 453.3 m, EG Vein (WKP109C2) 5 g/t Au and 30.0 g/t Ag over 3.3 m from 478.9 m, EG HWS (WKP107B) 5 g/t Au and 316.5 g/t Ag over 1.4 m from 419.4 m, EG HWS (WKP109B) 9 g/t Au and 87.8 g/t Ag over 1.7 m from 424.6 m, EG HWS (WKP109B) 2 g/t Au and 49.0 g/t Ag over 0.5 m from 499.3 m, EG Footwall Vein (WKP109B) The EG Vein Zone remains the primary, near-term target for drilling with a focus on resource conversion and extensional drilling with approximately 7,700 m scheduled for full-year 2023 with two drill rigs operating. Approvals to introduce a third drill rig for an additional 3,500 m in 2023 are in the final review stages.A A A For maps and sections see Figures 1-6 and Table 1 for full results. Wharekirauponga is part of the Waihi North Project, which has the potential to create significant socio-economic contributions for the communities in the Coromandel region and for New Zealand. This includes significant in-country investments and a substantial increase to direct and indirect employment opportunities. . The Company has lodged a resource consent application for its proposed Waihi North Project with Hauraki District Council and Waikato Regional Council. For further information relating to drill hole data for Wharekirauponga please refer to the Company\-s website atA https://oceanagold.com/investor-centre/tsx-asx-filings. For further information please contact: Investor Relations: Rebecca Harris, Director, Investor Relations Tel: +1 604-678-4095 ir@oceanagold.com Media Relations: Melissa Bowerman, Group Manager, Communications Tel: +61 730 740 509 info@oceanagold.com www.oceanagold.comA |A A Twitter: @OceanaGold In Europe: Swiss Resource Capital AG Jochen Staiger info@resource-capital.ch www.resource-capital.ch About OceanaGold OceanaGold is a multinational gold producer committed to the highest standards of technical, environmental and social performance. We are committed to excellence in our industry by delivering sustainable environmental and social outcomes for our communities, and strong returns for our shareholders. Our global exploration, development, and operating experience has created a strong pipeline of organic growth opportunities and a portfolio of established operating assets including the Haile Gold Mine in the United States of America, Didipio Mine in the Philippines, and the Macraes and Waihi operations in New Zealand.A A Qualified Person Statement The exploration results in this press release were prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 a Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators (\NI 43-101\).A A Information relating to Waihi exploration results in this document has been verified by, is based on and fairly represents information compiled by or prepared under the supervision of Lorrance Torckler, a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and an employee of OceanaGold. Mr Torckler has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as Qualified Persons for the purposes of the NI 43-101. Mr Torckler consents to the inclusion in this public report of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears. Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) at Wharekirauponga, Waihi Gold Mine All exploration samples are assayed for gold by 30 g fire assay with AAS finish. Since mid-2022 drill core sample intervals where visible electrum is logged are followed up by a subsequent screen fire assay after the routine 30g fire assay. Holes WKP40-45 had core samples shipped for sample preparation to in Westport (New Zealand). Prepared pulps were then shipped to independent Australian Laboratory Services Pty Ltd in Brisbane, accredited to ISO/NATA 17025 for gold analysis by fire assay and 4-acid digest, and 42 element ICP geochemical analysis. Holes drilled after WKP45 (i.e., WKP46 to WKP118) were prepared and analysed at SGS Waihi NZ Ltd (Au by 30g fire assay and Ag by aqua regia digest and 0.3gm AAS finish). Selected pulps are periodically sent to ALS in Brisbane for a 4-acid digestion and 42 or 48 element ICP geochemical analysis. Quality of exploration assay results has been monitored in the following areas: Sample preparation at the SGS Waihi and Westport labs through sieving of jaw crush and pulp products. Monitoring of assay precision through routine generation of duplicate samples from a second split of the jaw crush and calculation of the fundamental error. Monitoring of accuracy of the primary SGS assay and ALS results through insertion of Certified Reference Materials (CRMa?s) and blanks into sample batches. Blank, duplicate and CRM results are reviewed prior to uploading results in the AcQuire database and again on a weekly basis. The protocol at Waihi requires CRMs to be reported to within 2 standard deviations of the certified value. The criterion for preparation duplicates is that they have a relative difference (R-R1/mean RR1) of no greater than 10%. Blanks should not exceed more than 4 times the lower detection value of the assay method. Failure in any of these thresholds triggers an investigation and if appropriate re-assay. Drill core is stored within secure facilities on site to which access is controlled. Site employees transport samples to the analytical laboratory which is also a secured facility. The SGS Waihi NZ Ltd laboratory is an independent commercial geochemistry and energy assay laboratory with ISO 17025: 2017 accreditation, audited by an external consultant in 2020, and is inspected on an annual basis by OceanaGold geologists. No sampling risks have been recorded during these visits. Technical Reports For further information, please refer to the following NI 43-101 technical report and the Companya?s news release titled aOceanaGold Reports Growing High-Grade Resources at WKP in New Zealanda dated February 24, 2020: (a) aWaihi District Study Preliminary Economic Assessment NI 43-101 Technical Reporta dated August 30, 2020, prepared by T. Maton, Study Manager and P. Church, Principal Resource Development Geologist, both of Oceana Gold (New Zealand) Limited, and D. Carr, Chief Metallurgist, of OceanaGold Management Pty Limited. Both of the above documents have been filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and are available for review electronically from the Canadian System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com under the Companya?s profile.A A Cautionary Statement for Public Release Certain information contained in this public release may be deemed aforward-lookinga within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information relate to future performance and reflect the Companya?s expectations regarding the generation of free cash flow, execution of business strategy, future growth, future production, estimated costs, results of operations, business prospects and opportunities of OceanaGold Corporation and its related subsidiaries. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as \expects\ or \does not expect\, \is expected\, \anticipates\ or \does not anticipate\, \plans\, \estimates\ or \intends\, or stating that certain actions, events or results \may\, \could\, \would\, \might\ or \will\ be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements and information. They include, among others, the accuracy of mineral reserve and resource estimates and related assumptions, inherent operating risks and those risk factors identified in the Companya?s most recent Annual Information Form prepared and filed with securities regulators which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com under the Companya?s name. There are no assurances the Company can fulfil forward-looking statements and information. Such forward-looking statements and information are only predictions based on current information available to management as of the date that such predictions are made; actual events or results may differ materially as a result of risks facing the Company, some of which are beyond the Company\-s control.A Although the Company believes that any forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release is based on reasonable assumptions, readers cannot be assured that actual outcomes or results will be consistent with such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements and information, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. The information contained in this release is not investment or financial product advice.A A NOT FOR DISSEMINATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES AND NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO US NEWSWIRE SERVICES.A TANAKA Precious Metals to Exhibit at SEMICON China 2023 International Semiconductor Exhibition to be Held in Shanghai, China TOKYO, June 20, 2023 (ACN Newswire) TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director & CEO: Koichiro Tanaka), which develops the manufacturing business of TANAKA Precious Metals, announced that it will exhibit at SEMICON China 2023, an international semiconductor exhibition to be held in Shanghai, China on June 29 to July 1, 2023. At this exhibition, we will exhibit panels showing precious metal products related to semiconductors such as various types of plating solutions, bonding wires, and precious metal pastes for which demand is expected to continue to grow in China\-s semiconductor market. We will also be exhibiting for the first time TK-FS, a new alloy for probe pins that was announced in April 2023. For plating solutions, which have high demand in China, TANAKA Precious Metals contributes to the manufacturing of compound semiconductors by providing the environmentally friendly non-cyanide gold plating process instead of the cyanide gold plating process. In the past, products imported from Japan were offered in China, but now, the same products can be produced and supplied locally by group company Metalor Technologies (Suzhou) Limited using precious metal materials from China. In addition, TK-FS which is being exhibited for the first time is a product that allows the same material to be used in a wide range of probe pins for semiconductor test equipment. With the spread of the IoT today, semiconductors are becoming necessary not only in electronic devices but also in a broad range of fields, such as automobiles and home appliances. In particular, the demand for power semiconductors is expected to grow. TANAKA Precious Metals engages in business globally as a manufacturer specializing in precious metals and, above all, boasts the world\-s highest market shares for bonding wires. In China, TANAKA Precious Metals has earned trust as a precious metal professional group by supplying products of high reliability that were made in Japan. TANAKA Precious Metals aims to contribute toward the growth of China\-s semiconductor market which is expected to continue to expand in the future by continuing the technological development of precious metal materials for semiconductor devices. SEMICON China 2023 Exhibition Outline Exhibition Title: SEMICON China 2023 Dates: Thursday, June 29-Saturday, July 1, 2023, 9:00-17:00 *China local time (until 16:00 on July 1) Venue: Shanghai New International Expo Centre (Suzhou, China) Official Site: https://www.semiconchina.org/ *Only English and simplified Chinese sites are available Exhibitor: TANAKA Kikinzoku International (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (A TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. overseas office) and Metalor Technologies (Suzhou) Limited. Booth Number: E2152 Main Products Shown on Panels: Products for semiconductors, such as various types of plating solutions, TK-FS, bonding wires, and precious metal pastes Product Name: Various types of plating solutions Outline: Various types of plating solutions are offered according to the application, including the MICROFAB series of non-cyanide gold plating processes excellent for fine pattern formation on wafers, the PRECIOUSFAB series of corrosion-resistant platinum plating solutions, and the GALVANOMEISTER gold-tin alloy plating which can be expected to reduce costs as a replacement for lead-free solder. For equipment, panels will introduce the RAD-Plater experimental equipment and the fully automated POSFER. Product Name: TK-FS Outline: This is a material that can be used in a wide range of types of probe pins besides pogo-pin types, such as cantilever-type or vertical-type for wafer testing (pre-processing) probe cards. With three unique attributes a Vickers hardness of at least 500, specific resistance of at most 7.0 micro ohm-cm, and durability that can withstand 10 or more times of repeated bending this material can be used in various types of probe pins. Product Name: Bonding wires Outline: These are precious metal products essential for electrically connecting electronic components such as integrated circuits, transistors, semiconductors, and printed circuit boards used in electronic devices. The full lineup will be introduced at this exhibition, centering on gold bonding wires for flash memory and aluminum wires, ribbons, etc. for power devices. Product Name: Precious metal pastes Outline: Precious metal pastes, powders, and conductive adhesives are widely used in various applications, such as circuitry and semiconductor die bonding. In particular, due to the rising demand for pastes with high thermal cooling in the markets for lead-free products, automotive power devices, and optical devices for LEDs, the lineup of various silver pastes will be introduced. TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. Headquarters: 22F, Tokyo Building, 2-7-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Representative: Koichiro Tanaka, Representative Director & CEO Founded: 1885 Incorporated: 1918 Capital: 500 million yen Employees: 2,429 (including overseas subsidiaries) (March 31, 2022) Sales: 389,646,820,000 yen* (FY2021) Main businesses: Manufacture, sales, import and export of precious metals (platinum, gold, silver, and others) and various types of industrial precious metals products. * Due to the adoption of the Accounting Standard for Revenue Recognition from FY2021, the net amount is given for the net sales of some transactions. About TANAKA Precious Metals Since its foundation in 1885, TANAKA Precious Metals has built a portfolio of products to support a diversified range of business uses focused on precious metals. TANAKA is a leader in Japan regarding the volumes of precious metals handled. Over the course of many years, TANAKA has not only manufactured and sold precious metal products for industry but also provided precious metals in such forms as jewelry and assets. As precious metals specialists, all Group companies in Japan and around the world collaborate and cooperate on manufacturing, sales, and technology development to offer a full range of products and services. With 5,225 employees, the Group\-s consolidated net sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, were 787.7 billion yen.* *From the current consolidated fiscal year, the amounts of sales for some transactions are indicated as net values due to the application of the Accounting Standard for Revenue Recognition. Global industrial business website https://tanaka-preciousmetals.com/en/ Product inquiries TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. https://tanaka-preciousmetals.com/en/inquiries-on-industrial-products/ Press inquiries TANAKA Holdings Co., Ltd. https://tanaka-preciousmetals.com/en/inquiries-for-media/ This press release in PDF: http://www.acnnewswire.com/docs/files/20230620_EN.pdf Alpha Lithium Files Technical Report for Highly Prospective Hombre Muerto Project in Argentina Alpha Lithium Corporation (NEO: ALLI) (OTC: APHLF) (German WKN: A3CUW1) (aAlphaa or the aCompanya https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/alpha-lithium-corp/ ) announces that it has filed an independent technical report (the aReporta) prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 with respect to the Companya?s properties in the Salar del Hombre Muerto, located in Argentina. Hombre Muerto neighbors Alpha Lithiuma?s Tolillar Salar, located less than 15 kilometres to the northwest. The Report was prepared by Dr. Mark King of Groundwater Insight Inc., an expert in lithium brine salars and, specifically, in the Salar del Hombre Muerto. The Report follows the near-completion of the Companya?s detailed Vertical Electrical Sounding (aVESa) survey on the properties, which has identified several extremely conductive sedimentary and halite facies compatible with brine-saturated horizons, at depths up to 500 meters. Alphaa?s extensive experience in Hombre Muerto, combined with the VES results and the exploration histories of the neighboring properties, make the Hombre Muerto project highly prospective. The Company currently holds just over 5,000 hectares in Hombre Muerto Salar, one of the worlda?s foremost lithium brine salars. The Companya?s land position is adjacent to those of multi-billion-dollar industry leaders such as POSCO (Sal de Oro project) and Allkem Ltd. (Sal de Vida project), both of which are at advanced stages of development, and Livent Corp., which has been producing high-quality lithium chemicals for over two decades from its Fenix project. The Report recommends an 18-hole exploration program. All rotary drilled boreholes will utilize the Borehole Magnetic Resonance (aBMRa) tool, which was also used with great success in Tolillar. The intended purpose of the drilling program is to produce a Mineral Resource Report, based on findings, in approximately 12 to 18 months. Brad Nichol, President & CEO of Alpha commented, aThe Hombre Muerto salar is world-famous for its extremely high lithium concentrations, very low levels of impurities, and high flow rates from production wells. Given its decades-long production history and the billions of dollars committed by industry leaders, the Salar del Hombre Muerto is rightfully viewed as one of the worlda?s best locations for lithium exploration and development. We are fortunate that the Alpha team has assembled assets in this highly prospective basin, during a time of unprecedented industrial competition for lithium assets in Argentina.a The fully-funded drilling program will engage at least four drilling rigs, all of which will be redeployed from the Tolillar exploration program. As defined by Groundwater Insight, the drilling campaign is expected to require just over US$11 million, including contingency funds; however, in keeping with previous drilling campaigns, the team at Alpha believes it can deliver this program well below the costs projected in the Report. The Company currently has more than $30 million of cash on hand. Nichol added, aOur team has extensive experience in the exploration and development of assets specifically in Hombre Muerto. In some cases, members of our team were involved in drilling wells that were only dozens of meters away from the properties that we now own, adding more confidence to our exploration program. Our team members are sought by, and have advised, governments, universities, the World Bank, and multi-billion-dollar conglomerates from across the globe. In my view, there is not another more qualified lithium brine exploration and development team in the world.a The Company continues to pursue additional land acquisitions in Hombre Muerto and will update the market as new ground is successfully acquired.A All operations and assets of the Company are in Argentina and are fully managed by Alpha Lithium Argentina SA (aAlpha SAa) in Tolillar, and Alpha Minerals Argentina (aAMSAa) in Hombre Muerto, utilizing local employees and consultants. Since 2020, Alpha SA and/or AMSA have drilled more than 20 holes, constructed an in-house brine chemistry research laboratory, developed a proprietary Lithium Carbonate production process, started construction of a pilot plant, and employed dozens of highly skilled Argentinian technologists, engineers, geologists, geophysicists and chemists, in addition to several students, accounting, managerial and HR professionals. The Company is grateful for, and reliant upon, the significantly large Argentinian team that has proven instrumental at generating value for shareholders. QP Independence Statement The technical and scientific information in this press release was reviewed and approved by Dr. Mark King, a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. Dr. King participated in the preparation of this news release. About Alpha Lithium (NEO: ALLI) (OTC: APHLF) (German WKN: A3CUW1) Alpha Lithium is a team of industry professionals and experienced stakeholders focused on the development of the Tolillar and Hombre Muerto Salars. In Tolillar, we have assembled 100% ownership of what may be one of Argentinaa?s last undeveloped lithium salars, encompassing 27,500 hectares (67,954 acres), neighboring multi-billion-dollar lithium players in the heart of the renowned aLithium Trianglea. In Hombre Muerto, we continue to expand our 5,000+ hectare (12,570 acres) foothold in one of the worlda?s highest quality, longest producing, lithium salars. Other companies in the area exploring for lithium brines or currently in production include Allkem Ltd., Livent Corporation, and POSCO in Salar del Hombre Muerto; Orocobre in Salar Olaroz; Eramine SudAmerica S.A. in Salar de Centenario; and Gangfeng and Lithium Americas in Salar de Cauchari. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and other statements that are not historical facts, including statements concerning the commencement and completion of a drilling program resulting in a Mineral Resource estimate with respect to the Hombre Muerto project. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as awilla, amaya, ashoulda, aanticipatea, aexpectsa and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company\-s expectations include the results of the Companya?s ongoing strategic review, ability of the Company to successfully complete proposed exploration and development initiatives, global economic conditions and other risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, include numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by applicable law. No securities regulatory authority has reviewed nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release. Global trend toward more nuclear energy Germany and Austria are exceptions, but nuclear power is being expanded worldwide. For example, Poland, which still gets 80 percent of its energy from coal, is planning to go big into nuclear power. Nuclear power plants will increase in number over the next few years. In Great Britain, eight new nuclear power plants are expected to see the light of day. France is a big proponent of nuclear power anyway. So that uranium demand will increase is the inevitable consequence. And the fact that uranium prices can rise sharply can be seen from the past. From 1973 to 1978, the price of uranium went up by 629 percent. From 2000 to 2007, prices also rose by 1801 percent. The third super cycle could now be imminent. Because uranium has become presentable in contrast to gas and oil. If investors want to jump on the bandwagon, they could also consider investing in smaller uranium companies. While this is riskier, the leverage is also significantly greater. The fact that it will not be possible to achieve climate targets without uranium is shown by the figures for wind and solar energy. Although these areas have been favored, they are only responsible for a good ten percent of global electricity production. Uranium supplies are scarce, and they could reach new heights. South Korea, for example, is relying heavily on nuclear power. Already, around 33 percent of its electricity supply comes from nuclear power. The country is also on board with the construction of the first power plant in the United Arab Emirates. Russia is no longer a reliable supplier; most uranium comes from Canada and Kazakhstan. Consolidated Uranium https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/consolidated-uranium-inc/ has uranium projects in Australia, Argentina, Canada and the USA. Production start-up is possible at short notice. A subsidiary takes care of projects in Wyoming and Colorado. Labrador Uranium https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/labrador-uranium-inc/ owns prospective uranium projects in Labrador and Nunavut, thus in two mining-friendly regions. Current corporate information and press releases from Consolidated Energy (- https://www.resource-capital.ch/en/companies/consolidated-uranium-inc/ -) and Labrador Uranium (https://www.resource-capital.ch/en/companies/labrador-uranium-inc/ ). In accordance with A34 WpHG I would like to point out that partners, authors and employees may hold shares in the respective companies addressed and thus a possible conflict of interest exists. No guarantee for the translation into English. Only the German version of this news is valid. Disclaimer: The information provided does not represent any form of recommendation or advice. Express reference is made to the risks in securities trading. No liability can be accepted for any damage arising from the use of this blog. I would like to point out that shares and especially warrant investments are always associated with risk. The total loss of the invested capital cannot be excluded. All information and sources are carefully researched. However, no guarantee is given for the correctness of all contents. Despite the greatest care, I expressly reserve the right to make errors, especially with regard to figures and prices. The information contained herein is taken from sources believed to be reliable, but in no way claims to be accurate or complete. Due to court decisions, the contents of linked external sites are also co-responsible (e.g. Landgericht Hamburg, in the decision of 12.05.1998 312 O 85/98), as long as there is no explicit dissociation from them. Despite careful control of the content, I do not assume liability for the content of linked external pages. The respective operators are exclusively responsible for their content. The disclaimer of Swiss Resource Capital AG also applies: https://www.resource-capital.ch/en/disclaimer/ Terry Rasche learned the craft from his father who was one of a handful of stained glass artisans in the area. Apprentice Sarah Cousino, 25, learned carpentry from a young age from her father, a woodworker. Over the past two years, Rasche has rebuilt his workshop from the ground up, collecting tools and materials from other craftsmen in the region who are downsizing or retiring. People like making things. Its in their nature. But the kind of working knowledge acquired over a lifetimerather than an afternoon on Pinterestcultivates a different kind of fine craftsmanship than the average DIYer.Handicrafts and homemade goods are abundant at urban street fairs and on Etsy, but skilled tradespeople like tailors and carpenters seem few and far between. In an era of throwaway fashion, fast food, and MDF furniture, is it even possible to commission a truly custom dress suit or a hand built coffee table?Cincinnati has a long heritage of tradespeople and artisans. Its historic buildings and urban infrastructure speak to this heritageeverything from the stonework to the street lamps say, someone made me. But the modern absence of skilled craftsmen becomes apparent the moment a favorite pair of boots needs a repair, a family heirloom needs reupholstering, or the neighbor kid busts a hole in a stained glass window.Cincinnati rose around the Ohio River in the 1800s and most of its iconic buildings and landmarks were constructed sometime between 1820-1960. Those structures were built by teams of architects, skilled craftspeople, and laborers who put them together, piece by piece, sometimes over years. (Cincinnatis Music Hall, for example, took two years to build.) Modern construction has brought its own charms to Cincinnatithe Contemporary Arts Center, for example, built in 2003but Cincinnati is still, categorically, a historic city.21st century property owners who live and work in historic buildings have a unique set of challenges in keeping and maintaining their property, especially if they want to preserve the historic architectural and ornamental elements of the buildings.Even modestly-sized historic homes have features not found on modern houses: plaster walls, leaded glass, wainscoting, transom windows, interior molding, exterior cornices, etc. Maintaining these historic elements is not always as simple as making a run to Home Depot.It is a real challenge to maintain historic buildings in a modern economy, but this is where traditional tradespeople come into the picture.Quality historic rehabilitation and restoration work requires skilled workers in the traditional trades, says Beth Johnson, Executive Director of the Cincinnati Preservation Association.Without skilled masons, carpenters, painters, plasterers, and others that know how to work with historic materials as well as replicate the craftsmanship that originally went into the buildings, we will continue to lose high quality building elements, such as windows, doors, plaster moldings, and they will be replaced with less sustainable, lower-quality and unrepairable materials.In the building industry, these niche, traditional skills are sometimes called preservation trades. Johnson says that, in Cincinnati, Terry Rasche is one of the best in the industry.Terry Rasche is a stained glass craftsman. He learned the craft from his father who was one of a handful of stained glass artisans in the area.When I started at five or six years old, I had to run tools and ride along with them to jobs and learn from the ground up, he remembers.Rasches home and studio are in an off-the-beaten-path neighborhood: Woodlawn, Kentucky, near Newport. Hes a third generation homeowner there on the street where both his parents and his wifes grandparents lived. He owns the home next door but bought and moved into his parents home and studio a few years back.As is often the case with craftsmen, Rasche has acquired many skills in his 73 years. He says his expertise is stained and leaded glass restoration and repair, but he can also build glass panels from scratch. His niche skill is color; and texture-matching glass.You have a lot of people with old houses having new stained glass panels made, but if theres a piece broken off an old one, they probably cant find it. I can. I have that niche of restoration to make the old one like new.Rasches leaded and stained glass work can be seen all over Cincinnati in homes, churches, and community buildings. At this point in his career, he keeps it simple. He says no to a lot of offers, taking on work that excites him and employs his true expertise.In recent years, he took on the job of restoring stained glass windows for the ARCO arts and community center in an old Masonic lodge in East Price Hill.The project was monumental in scale. He remembers massive boxes of disassembled windows being delivered to his home; 2,587 pieces of glass in total that he had to clean, repair, or replace, re-assemble, and re-lead. He also created 18 new stained glass panels modeled after the one single panel that remained in the building after the rest had been stolen during its thirty years of vacancy.His next large-scale project is in Augusta, Kentucky where members of the Clooney family are working to preserve a historically significant African American church. Rasche will be restoring the large stained glass windows. Again, the project is monumental. He estimates it will take about 6 months to complete.Most of Terry Rasches work is done alone. He says you have to be a bit of a recluse to enjoy his craft. But, for the past few months, hes had two young apprentices working alongside him.A few evenings a week, Matilda Blades and Sarah Cousino come to work with Rasche. He teaches them the skills of the trade; they help him around the studio.Both Blades and Cousino work during the day for Olde Fort Restoration, a company that does water, fire, and storm remediation and repair. They met Rasche when he was called in for a consultation on a window repair that didnt fit into their capabilities. After working together on that project, Rasche enlisted them to lend him their skillsin welding and carpentry, respectfullyin exchange for learning a bit about stained and leaded glass.Matilda Blades, 23, is a graduate of the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Shes excited to learn more about stained glass and painting with metals and solvents. Shes interested in using the skills in her own fine art applications.Sarah Cousino, 25, learned carpentry from a young age from her father, a woodworker. A self-professed glutton for knowledge, she wants to learn every skill she can. She has always been interested in stained glass and jumped at the opportunity to learn from an expert like Rasche.Id like to learn everything Terry can teach me, she says. Its definitely a niche skillset and theres not a lot of people who actually know how to do it.Blades says that they are at Rasches beck and call when he needs their labor or skills and, in turn, they get to learn from one of the best.Its been a great, mutually beneficial apprenticeship. In addition to helping with his work, Rasche been investing time in their professional development. He recently passed off a family heirloom table to Cousino for restoration and he took Blades with him to get a kiln for firing stained glass, which is something shes interested in learning. Rasche says he enjoys the company and values their help.Skill isnt the only thing required for Rasches work. Every art glass panel is like a puzzle and every step in the process of restoration requires knowledge, skill, and the right materials. So, while Rasche is highly skilled and an encyclopedia of knowledge, hes also a collector. He spends a lot of time and energy collecting the materials for his windowsthings like specialized tools and materials, window frames, and a lot of pieces of glass.Youve got to wait a long time for glass unless you can find it, he explains. Some of the glass I have is from 1935. And they only make some [of the new] glass in a cycle of every 42 weeks because theres no call for it.A few times a year, he drives out to a company in Kokomo, Indiana, which is one of the only places that still produces the kind he needs for his repairs. He says some of the glass he needs can take months to make new. For smaller repairs, he salvages broken windows and saves glass remnants, sorted by color and texture.In 2021, Rasches studio was destroyed in a fire. He lost a lifetime of tools and materials in the fireincluding those owned and used by his father. It was a devastating loss. Over the past two years, he has rebuilt his workshop from the ground up, collecting tools and materials from other craftsmen in the region who are downsizing or retiring.Rasche says that his generation of business owners are aging out and offering to sell their businesses, but theres no one to buy. At one point, Rasche says, it was common for children to take over their family trade, but it is far less common now. Even his own kids arent interested.Its not as glamorous as some other jobs, Rasche explains.You have to work with your hands and climb ladders and scaffolding. You work by yourself most of the time or maybe you have one other helper [Younger people] arent interested in that. Theyd rather sit at a computer.There is plenty of preservation work do be done in a historic city like Cincinnati, but even finding a skilled employee is hard. Most stained glass workers are hobbyists and want to create their own designs to sell. His niche is a little different.Id like to see someone qualified take [the business] over eventually, he says. For now, he has plenty to keep him busyplenty of windows to restore and plenty of glass to sort.As Rasche continues to rebuild his workshop, he is also making space for a small design studio and museum to share his library of resources and display some of the historically significant pieces hes collected. He wants to create more opportunities to help preserve the heritage of this traditional trade. The French government said Tuesday that it would shut down an activist climate group over a series of recent demonstrations including one that led to fierce clashes with police over a controversial irrigation project. Related Fresh clashes rock France as protests shift to water dispute Government spokesman Olivier Veran accused the Uprisings of the Earth (SLT) coalition of encouraging violence at protests in March against an irrigation reservoir near Sainte-Soline in western France. "You don't dissolve an association because of its ideas. You dissolve it because there is violence or a risk for public safety," Veran told CNews television. SLT denounced "a very political and extremely worrying dissolution that was demanded from the head of state by the agriculture industry and the FNSEA" farmers' union. "This is a vain attempt to break the thermometer instead of worrying about the temperature," it said. President Emmanuel Macron, who has defended reservoir projects like the one at Sainte-Soline, said in March that while many of the protesters at the site were peaceful, "you had thousands of people who simply came to wage war". Veran said SLT "whipped up violence at Sainte Soline by inviting rioters, who came from across Europe with metal bars and petanque balls to try and kill police officers". "The climate question does not justify throwing rocks at police in a field," he said. SLT is a coalition of several activist associations, which was also behind a recent protest against a sand quarry in western France where protesters tore up fields and equipment at a farm. The group was also one of several organisers of a banned demonstration at the weekend against a new rail link between the eastern city of Lyon and Turin in Italy. It is part of a new wave of more radical climate activist groups, including Extinction Rebellion, which use direct action to underline their warnings about the dangers to the planet. On Tuesday, prosecutors also said they had detained 14 people for questioning over vandalism at a protest supported by SLT, against a Lafarge cement plant near the southern city of Marseille. Protesters called the company "one of the most destructive in the world". Policing In Spotlight The dissolution procedure for SLT was launched just after the Sainte-Soline clashes by Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin, using powers that have been previously used to outlaw far-right and Islamist groups. Darmanin told parliament on Tuesday that it would be debated and potentially enacted during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, saying "no cause can justify injuries to police officers." France has faced a wave of protests in recent months, mainly over a hotly contested decision to push back the retirement age, which have at times turned violent. Some of the demonstrators have vandalised buildings and street furniture or thrown rocks at riot police. Critics accuse authorities of fomenting tensions with heavy-handed policing tactics and aggressive confrontations with demonstrators. Many in France were shocked by the scenes at Sainte-Soline, where around 5,000 protesters battled with more than 3,000 police officers. Two protesters were left in a coma afterwards, while around 30 officers were injured. The demonstrators were protesting against a giant reservoir for storing water pumped up from the underground water table. Critics say it will penalise smaller farmers and the ecosystem, while benefitting mainly industrial agriculture groups. France's Human Rights League (FDH) said afterwards that "as soon as the demonstrators arrived at the reservoir site, police fired at them with weapons of war: tear gas grenades, stun grenades, explosive sting-ball grenades and rubber bullets". "The deployment put everyone present at risk of serious harm," it said. Earlier this month, United Nations experts urged France to review its policing practices, expressing concern at the "reported excessive use of force" against protesters, in particular at Sainte-Soline Search Keywords: Short link: The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and United Bank for Africa (UBA) signed an agreement on Tuesday to provide financial support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) within the AfCFTA in order to boost intra-Africa trade. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Afreximbank Annual Meeting 2023 taking place in Accra, Ghana. The agreement is also intended to catalyse industrialisation to improve the socio-economic well-being of the continent. According to the McKinsey consulting firm, Africas 85-95 million SMEs account for 80 percent of the continents private sector employment, which makes their growth extremely important. The agreement acknowledges the need to bolster formal and informal economic operators, including women and youth. It also aims to break down the barriers to intra-Africa trade and productivity, including SME access to finance and markets. Under the agreement, the UBA will provide financial services to SMEs in four main areas: agro-processing, automotive, pharmaceuticals, transport and logistics During the signing, Wamkele Mene, secretary-general of the AfCFTA Secretariat, noted that the support offered by the UBA, will enable SMEs achieve industrial driven growth and export development in Africa. For his part, Muyiwa Akinyemi, deputy managing director at UBA, observed that the bank has a robust network spread across 20 countries on the continent. In UBA, we say your small business is big business, he said The agreement will make the continental free trade area a reality, Akinyemi concluded. Search Keywords: Short link: European Union consumer protection groups urged regulators on Tuesday to investigate the type of artificial intelligence underpinning systems like ChatGPT, citing risks that leave people vulnerable and the delay before the blocs groundbreaking AI regulations take effect. In a coordinated effort, 13 watchdog groups wrote to their national consumer, data protection, competition and product safety authorities warning them about a range of concerns around generative artificial intelligence. A transatlantic coalition of consumer groups also wrote to U.S. President Joe Biden asking him to take action to protect consumers from possible harms caused by generative AI. Europe has led the world in efforts to regulate artificial intelligence, which gained urgency with the rise of a new breed of artificial intelligence that gives AI chatbots like ChatGPT the power to generate text, images, video and audio that resemble human work. The EU is putting the finishing touches on the worlds first set of comprehensive rules for the technology, but they are not expected to take effect for two years. The groups called for European and U.S. leaders to use both existing laws and bring in new legislation to address the harms that generative AI can cause. They cited a report by the Norwegian Consumer Council outlining dangers that AI chatbots pose, including providing incorrect medical information, manipulating people, making up news articles and illegally using vast amounts of personal data scraped off the internet. The consumer groups, in countries including Italy, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Greece and Denmark, warn that while the EUs AI Act addresses some of the concerns, they wont start applying for several years, leaving consumers unprotected from a technology which is insufficiently regulated in the meantime, and developing at great pace. Some authorities have already acted. Italys privacy watchdog ordered ChatGPT maker OpenAI to temporarily stop processing users personal information while it investigated a possible data breach. France, Spain and Canada also have been looking into OpenAI and ChatGPT. Search Keywords: Short link: A London-based AI startup that launched earlier this year has already reached a $100 million valuation in fresh signs investors are pouring in cash to snap up shares in the nascent technology. ElevenLabs, which uses artificial intelligence to generate audio for dubbing videos into different languages, has no office and up until recently had fewer than ten employees. But it has already achieved a $19 million funding round backed by the likes of VC giant Andreessen Horowitz and DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, valuing it at around $99 million. Mati Staniszewski, co-founder of ElevenLabs, told the Standard: When we were pitching with investors in 2022, most of them were still focusing on crypto and the metaverse but there was no clear interest in AI the whole market thought this was not the best time. But a lot of people have become more aware of AI technology and some of the benefits it can offer so people were more keen to innovate and experiment and it was significantly easier for us to speak with investors. We were very lucky with timing in terms of the general field maturing. It comes after Paris-based AI firm Mistral raised over 100 million euros just weeks after it was set up, valuing it at just shy of a quarter of a billion euros. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: My guess is AI now is where say the internet was 25 years ago new, fascinating, potentially terrifying and lots of firms looking to get a piece of the action, either to defend their existing business model or to demolish and disrupt someone elses. There will be big winners and there will be big losers. No-one, but no-one, knows which will be which, so the policy that many adapt will be to spread their capital around and see if they can find one or two of the potential gems. Rishi Sunak has placed artificial intelligence front and centre of his plans to grow the UK economy, setting up an AI taskforce and earlier this month announcing the UK would be host to the first global AI summit. At a speech to London Tech Week last week, he said he wanted to make the UK not just the intellectual home but the geographical home of global AI. We are going to seize the extraordinary potential of AI to improve peoples lives, he said. Speaking at the Fintech Week London conference, City minister Andrew Griffith said: We want to encourage investment in higher risk, early-stage companies, those that face the biggest challenges in accessing funding. The explosion of interest in AI over the past six months has propelled it into every boardroom and to the centre of government. The UK governments vision is for the UK to be one of the worlds leading nations in the development and commercial application of AI. ElevenLabs hopes to upgrade the decades-old film dubbing industry by using text-to-speech and voice cloning software to produce compelling, rich and lifelike voices. Being from Poland, one of the things you experience at the cinema is you rely on a single voice narrator to deliver all the lines in the movie, Staniszewski said. We realise that if you stretch in the future, all the content out there will be delivered in a significantly different way. The firm, which recently expanded to a team of 15, hopes to use the funding to grow to a staff of 30 by the end of the year. S ustainable fashion brand Pangaia has taken out a 5,700 sq ft office on Chancery Lane, in a newly resigned building thats home to the London Silver Vaults. Pangaia will be the first tenants of Chancery House, a new 125,000 sq ft building from The Office Group. It said the location was carefully considered based on environmental factors. Enrico Sanna, CEO of The Office Group, said: Today represents an exciting milestone for The Office Group. We are delighted to welcome Pangaia as we open the doors to Chancery House. Their forward-thinking approach and commitment to an Earth-positive business model resonate with The Office Groups values and our ambitions for this property. Chancery House offers unrivalled customer experience and a space for those who recognise that the office is no longer simply a commodity but a vital tool for ensuring employee health and wellbeing - both of which are key factors for driving productivity and ultimately, business performance. The building is truly a standout in London, with facilities and amenities that staff will want to come to work for. Pangaia Collective said: Team Pangaia are delighted to be taking up residence in Chancery House. We are excited to have found a partner with shared values in The Office Group, with their wellbeing-focused workspace designed to provide teams with a flexible work environment that caters to their every need, while prioritising people and the planet. The International Bar Association is also set to move into the property, in the heart of Londons legal district, soon. On Sunday, political figures from right to left, intellectuals, and officials gathered at the Coptic Cathedral in Abbasiya to bid farewell to George Ishak, a dedicated political and human rights activist who passed away on Friday. News of his death was not unexpected, given his declining health over the past couple of years. But it still came as a shock to friends and co-activists for whom Ishak, despite his long political experience, embodied the enthusiasm of a 20-year-old. Born in Port Said, Ishak had many traits of a true Mediterranean. He joked and laughed aloud, and could move from anger to calm at the spur of a moment, traits that had been part of his political profile since he first embraced politics in the 1960s. In 1964, Ishak graduated from Cairo Universitys Faculty of Arts, History Department. He pursued a job in teaching, though it never overshadowed his political zeal which first expressed itself when he joined the demonstrations that began in Egypt in the wake of the 5 June 1967 military defeat. In 2004, Ishaks name became more widely known. He joined a group of dedicated and mostly older activists to launch Kifaya (Enough), a political movement that called for an end to the rule of Hosni Mubarak who had come to power in October 1981. The launch of Kifaya on the eve of the 2005 presidential elections helped crystallise opposition to the rule of Hosni Mubarak and the widely rumoured plan that his youngest and politically ambitious son, Gamal, was being groomed for succession. Between 2004 and 2011, Ishak was a fixture at the mounting protests against Mubaraks policies. By early 2011, he was firm in underlining the demands of Tahrir Square, as millions of people took to the streets to demand democracy and social justice. The iconic image of this unassuming Copt is Ishak standing, with silver hair and beard and a red scarf, keeping watch for possible intruders as Muslims performed their prayers in Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the protests against Mubarak. With Mubaraks fall Ishak became a household name, appearing on TV channels to share the details of the seven years of protests and activism which had brought Mubarak down. On 11 February 2011, he rejoiced over the end of Mubaraks rule which had been the of Kifaya and, subsequently, the Egyptian National Association for Change. It was not long, however, before Ishak was once again at the forefront of political opposition, this time against Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood leader elected as president in June 2011. Ishak lent his weight to the calls for demonstrations on 30 June 2012 to protest Morsis rule and demand early presidential elections. In the years following Morsis ouster, Ishak stressed that human rights standards must apply to the arrest and trials members of the Brotherhood. Iskhaks friends attest to several occasions when he used his position as member of the National Human Rights Council, a government-guided body, to appeal against the prolonged pretrial detention of Islamist activists. In recent years, in a series of articles on the opinion pages of the daily Al-Shorouk, Ishak called for social justice, public and personal freedoms, better health and education services, and equal human rights for all. In his latest articles, Ishak praised the performance of the opposition during the Press Syndicate elections, which he hailed as a possible beginning to more gains. Ishak never allowed personal grievances to compromise his political positions. He was a man whose political choices were guided by love. * A version of this article appears in print in the 15 June, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: A s interest and mortgage rates soar, Londons renters would be forgiven for thinking welcome to our world. Over the past two years, the average rent in the capital has risen by 490 a month, taking it to more than 2,000, according to Zoopla. Meanwhile, boroughs with high levels of deprivation such as Newham and Tower Hamlets are seeing some of the largest annual increases. The news nationally is hardly better. Rents for new lets have outpaced earnings for 21 successive months. Little surprise, then, that rental affordability is at record lows. The result is a devastating housing crisis, one in which 34 per cent of tenants are pouring more than half of their salary on rent, according to a study last month by Spare Room. Traditionally, spending more than a third of take- home pay on housing was considered burdensome. At root is the vast differential between housing supply and demand, particularly since the pandemic, exacerbated by the impact of rising mortgage repayments for buy-to-let landlords and high levels of migration. But at the end of the day, London and Britain more widely do not have enough homes of all types: to rent, to buy, for families and for younger people. Until that changes, renters will continue to experience high prices and fierce competition, even when mortgage rates eventually fall. End of the Odey era The speed of the collapse has been remarkable. Crispin Odey dominated Londons hedge-fund sector for longer than many investors can even remember. Now he has left his eponymous fund, following allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denies. Customers rushed to withdraw their funds, companies that provided vital services severed ties and the enterprise faces being broken up. This was not the first time Mr Odey had faced claims and complaints over his behaviour. Indeed, in 2021, he was found not guilty over an accusation of indecent assault which allegedly took place in 1998. Yet again, this episode serves as an example of when a torch is shined, how something so solid can seemingly disintegrate in days. Big Lie not for Glasto The decision by Glastonbury to cancel a screening of Oh Jeremy Corbyn: The Big Lie is the right one but festival organisers should never have come close to it. This film fuels an antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jeremy Corbyns downfall was due to nefarious and organised actors, not least Britains Jewish community. This is wrong on every imaginable level. Corbyn failed to become Prime Minister, and is now no longer even a Labour MP, because of his own beliefs, mistakes and decisions. With anti-Jewish prejudice rising in this country and around the world, we ought to be alive to tropes that promulgate such mendacious myths, not air them at music festivals. I n the end, he was the Pontius Pilate of Parliament. By washing his hands of the Commons debate and vote on the privileges committee report on Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak not only made a grievous error of judgment but failed a hugely significant test of leadership. His absence from the green benches was as shameful as it was conspicuous. Since Johnson has already resigned as member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, the only practical consequence of the vote was to remove his parliamentary pass. But the symbolism of MPs endorsement of the committees report by 354 to seven and of its original recommendation to suspend him from the Commons for 90 days, was huge. Only 118 out of 352 Conservative MPs voted to support the committees findings and recommendations. Credit is due to the five Cabinet ministers Penny Mordaunt, Alex Chalk, David TC Davies, Gillian Keegan and Chloe Smith and four additional ministers who attend Cabinet Tom Tugendhat, Andrew Mitchell, Victoria Prentis and Simon Hart who had the integrity to do so. But this was by far the most serious matter ever to have been addressed by the privileges committee: the deliberate misleading of the Commons by a former PM over breaches of Covid rules at the infamous Downing Street parties. So where were the holders of the great offices of state to defend the fundamental democratic principles of trust and truth-telling in Parliament? The Deputy Prime Minister, Oliver Dowden; Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt; Home Secretary, Suella Braverman; and Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly? Where, above all, was their boss, who less than eight months ago stood in Downing Street and promised a government of integrity, professionalism, and accountability at every level? His official excuse that he was too busy hosting the Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson was pitiful. Had the PM wanted to make an initial appearance on the front bench and turn up later to vote, he could easily have found time to do so. His failure to attend reflected a cravenness of spirit precisely when statesmanship was most needed. There are circumstances in politics when reticence is wise. This was not such a moment; quite the opposite, in fact. Yes, Sunak is temperamentally risk-averse. But sometimes the risk of inaction is greater than the risk of taking a stand. There are moments when a political leader must break decisively with the past; when a bold and explicit statement of differentiation is absolutely required. In recent days, his allies have claimed that it would be counter-productive to poke the beast by antagonising Johnson further. But that is a disastrous strategy, one that will only confirm the former PMs conviction that he can still intimidate and constrain Sunak whenever the mood seizes him. True, he is no longer an MP, deserted by many of his former parliamentary supporters, and comprehensively disgraced in an unprecedented parliamentary ruling. Yet he has a new megaphone in his weekly Daily Mail column and knows that the spotlight will swing round to illuminate him when he next chooses to make mischief. Sunak has shown that he remains pathetically fearful of this prospect. Yet the PMs absence yesterday was not only politically puny. It was also intrinsically wrong. Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the Commons, opened the debate with a clear statement of principle: a defence of the right not to be misled, the right not to be abused in carrying out our duties; a denunciation of the lockdown breaches which grate hard with those who sacrificed so much to keep us all safe; and a sideswipe at the debasement of the honours system a clear reference to Johnsons contentious resignation honours list. Theresa May was also right to say the public wanted to see MPs coming to a conclusion on this grotesque scandal; not, in other words, to scurry away from the crucible of the Commons. And Caroline Lucas, the Green Party member for Brighton Pavilion, spoke truth to power when she said the absentees and the abstainers were guilty not just of cowardice but of complicity. Almost a year has passed since Johnson was forced to resign. He left behind the task of democratic repair: to restore trust in politics, to end the culture of impunity and to drain from his party the sense that the rules do not truly apply to them. What we now know is that Rishi Sunak is not equal to the task. G lastonbury Festivals decision to cancel a screening of a conspiracy theory film about former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is disgraceful, its producer has said. Norman Thomas, of Platform Films, said claims that the film was antisemitic were a total smear and had no foundation whatsoever. Glastonbury previously said that although the film, titled Oh, Jeremy Corbyn: The Big Lie, had been booked in good faith, it had decided that it was not appropriate to screen. It came after the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BDBJ) expressed deep concern over the film and said it was profoundly sinister for Glastonbury to be providing it with a platform. In a statement shared with the PA news agency Mr Thomas said the cancellation had been caused by vicious outside pressure. An outside pressure group has declared war on our film, he said. They wrote to the festivals sponsors and whipped up huge storm of complaints about the film claiming, without any foundation whatsoever, that the film is antisemitic. He continued: The claim that the film is antisemitic is a total smear. The festival organisers even had a lawyer examine the film who pronounced it totally devoid of antisemitism. According to Platform Films, the documentary claims Mr Corbyn was a victim of a concerted smear campaign, that current Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer played a deceptive spy cop role in Mr Corbyns shadow cabinet and that Sir Keir is now waging a witch-hunt in the party. It was due to be shown on June 25 at Glastonburys Pilton Palais cinema and described, according to the BDBJ, as the banned Corbyn documentary. This has gone on long enough. Journalists, who know very well whats going on, have to stand up and call this out for what it is: rank censorship, Mr Thomas said. The problem is, if they do, they fear being accused of antisemitism. But if enough of us stand together the accusation wont stick and this madness will end. A statement attributed to Glastonbury said: Although we believe that the Pilton Palais booked this film in good faith, in the hope of provoking political debate, its become clear that it is not appropriate for us to screen it at the festival. Glastonbury is about unity and not division, and we stand against all forms of discrimination. The festivals decision came following a letter sent by BDBJ president Marie van der Zyl to Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis. This film, we understand, seeks to suggest that organisations such as the Board of Deputies of British Jews, of which I am the president, somehow helped to orchestrate Jeremy Corbyns downfall as Labour Party leader, Ms van der Zyl wrote. An outside pressure group has declared war on our film. They wrote to the festivals sponsors and whipped up huge storm of complaints about the film claiming, without any foundation whatsoever, that the film is antisemitic Adding that the initial decision to show the film was worrying her letter continued: Your festival is one of the most successful festivals in the UK. It seems profoundly sinister for it to be providing a platform to a film which clearly seeks to indoctrinate people into believing a conspiracy theory effectively aimed at Jewish organisations. We would request that you not allow your festival to be hijacked by those seeking to promote hatred with no basis in fact, in the same way as we would hope that your festival would not screen films seeking to promote other conspiracy theories, such as anti-vaccination, 9/11 truthers or chemtrails. The BDBJ later said it was pleased the film would no longer be shown at the festival. We are pleased that in the wake of a letter we sent earlier today, @glastonbury have announced the cancellation of the screening of this film, the organisation wrote on Twitter. Hateful conspiracy theories should have no place in our society. R Attention adiohead and Sons of Kemet fans - The Smile are back with their new standalone single Bending Hectic. Fronted by Radioheads vocalist Thom Yorke, The Smile also features his bandmate, guitarist Jonny Greenwood, while Tom Skinner, the drummer in Mercury Prize-nominated contemporary jazz group Sons of Kemet, completes the trio. The new track, which hums with rich string arrangements from the London Contemporary Orchestra, was recorded at the beyond-iconic Abbey Road Studios earlier this year, and is produced by Warpaint and Puma Blue producer Sam Petts-Davies. He previously collaborated with Yorke on his score for Luca Guadagninos 2018 supernatural horror Suspiria. An eight-minute epic, Bending Hectic certainly has a cinematic, score-like quality as it rises up from gently picked, string-bending melodies to the sort of thrashing, reverb-laden rock that coursed through Radioheads 1995 album The Bends. Already a live favourite at The Smile shows, the song first debuted at last years Montreux Jazz Festival. Charting a sprawling journey around winding, mountainside roads, Yorkes lyrics reflect on teetering on the edge of losing control. Were coming to a bend now/Skidding round the hairpin/A sheer drop down/An Italian mountainside, he sings, as an orchestra bursts into life alongside Skinners restless, jazz-inflected beats. Then, roughly six minutes in, chaos finally descends in a surge of white noise. Its The Smiles first new material since the release of their 2022 debut album A Light For Attracting Attention one of the Evening Standards albums of the year. [It] sounded like the closest well get to a new Radiohead album for a long while, as a dense, fascinating collaboration led by Thom Yorke, guitarist Jonny Greenwood and long-term producer Nigel Godrich, we wrote. Comparisons to Radiohead will be inevitable and the material sits somewhere between the uneasy dystopia of Hail to the Thief and the hopeful beauty of In Rainbows, we said of their Greenwich gig last year, which saw the band performing from within a gigantic, circular structure lit with neon strips. Radiohead released their last album, A Moon Shaped Pool, back in 2016; Yorke has branched off into everything from solo records to film scores, and is also part of Atoms For Peace with Nigel Godrich. Sons of Kemets most recent album Black to the Future came out in 2021. Earlier this year, Greenwood released collaborative album Jarak Qaribak an album of Middle Eastern love songs alongside Israeli musician Dudu Tassa, and was nominated for an Oscar for his original score for The Power of the Dog in 2021. Though Bending Hectic is a standalone effort from The Smile, the band will regroup to work on further new material following their North American tour, which kicks off in New York on June 21. Listen to the new single below. A nd just like that, Sex and the City - the cult romantic comedy show that explored the sex lives of single women in their thirties as they dated their way around New York City throughout the early Noughties - is back for a second season of its reboot. Meeting with mixed reviews, the first season of And Just Like That first aired in December 2021, following Sex and the Citys central characters Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte York (Kristen Davis) as fifty-somethings. Along with exploring a complex new slate of issues, including Carries grief following the sudden death of Mr Big, Mirandas sexuality being thrown into question by a new romance, and Charlotte struggling to support her child Rock as they come out as non-binary, it often felt worlds apart from the original source material. The OG Sex and the City, though hilarious and often genuinely groundbreaking, admittedly had significant diversity issues; remember when literal sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw recoiled in pearl-clutching horror at the idea of dating a bisexual man, or Samantha Joness fetishisation of black music industry exec Chivon? And Just Like That attempts to right some of these wrongs, drafting in plenty of brand new characters to try and rebalance things along the way. Among them: Mexican-American stand-up comic Che Diaz (who is non-binary), documentary maker Lisa Todd Wexley, real estate titan Seema Patel, and Columbia law academic Dr. Nya Wallace. We knew that the show had been white, says Sarah Jessica Parker. We wanted to bring in more characters because that was something that was important to us. Perhaps the most divisive of all the new characters so far has been the abrasive Che Diaz. In season two, Mirandas newest love interest who has a habit of bursting into scenes by loudly announcing: hey, its Che Diaz! - perhaps goes on the biggest journey as they struggle to find themselves within their onstage persona in season two. Im really glad that we are opening them up to show us more about who they are and what makes them tick, says actor Sara Ramirez. Che Diaz and Miranda Hobbes / PR Handout Conspicuously absent, meanwhile, is the original shows brilliantly lewd, sex-positive icon Samantha Jones, though its since been revealed she will be making a short, surprise cameo in the second season of And Just Like That I dont know how it happened, but I do know that she is back, confirms principal director and writer Michael Patrick King. How is she back? I wont tell you, because Im pissed that you even know shes back! I wanted it to be a surprise where everybodys just sitting at home and they see a phone call, and its not a text. Im mad that it got leaked so that your head doesnt blow off when you see it. At the point that we did And Just Like That Kim had made it clear she was not ready, or didnt want to play Samantha anymore. And then magic happened, he says. Asked if Cattralls character could pop up again in the future, King declined to answer. I told you, Im not telling you anything about Samantha, past what you already know, he said laughing. Its already spoiled for me. Im not spoiling it anymore! Kristen Davis, who plays the shows wide-eyed romantic Charlotte York, added that Samantha offered a valuable foil to the rest of the central characters in Sex and the City. Though were told early on in And Just Like That that Carrie and Samantha have drifted apart after the former fired the latter as her publicist, the two characters continue to be drawn to each other, exchanging a series of texts throughout the first season. What kind of closure does Davis think that Carrie is looking for? I think that sometimes you really do have friends in life who are very different from you, Davis says. I think thats what was great about the four of us Charlotte had a really different perspective to Samantha, and Carrie and Miranda. All of us represented different points of view at different times, and sometimes argued, as friends do. I dont know that theres a closure or resolution necessarily, she said. Of Samanthas cameo and her characters relationship with Carrie: those are kind of big things that I dont know that we were going for. We just thought that it would be fun for the fans to have a little bit of Samantha, because we know that they missed her, and shes a great character. I dont know that were even trying for closure at this point, or resolution, Davis adds. I think we just thought: here is our character whos been gone, and we know people miss her, and Carrie misses her. Wouldnt it be great to have a little bit of her? Thats what we wanted, and then I think maybe hopes had been lifted, possibly higher than that, she admits. That was not our intention, so I hope people arent disappointed. Charlotte York / PR Handout While Carrie was deep in the grip of bereavement throughout season one of And Just Like That reeling from her late husband (played by Chris Noth) coming a cropper atop his Peloton, the second season finds her in a more buoyant place, reveals Sarah Jessica Parker, whose iconic character has asked countless existential questions about love, sex and relationships (mostly beginning with the words I couldnt help but wonder...) since the shows inception in 1998. Loss kind of reveals itself when you think you are recovered, Parker says, and I think thats kind of what Carrie articulates and expresses.. there are occasions when [grief] surfaces, or is revisited in ways that are unexpected. The actor also explains that she drew on personal circumstances in approaching the storyline. My father passed away unexpectedly recently, she says. For my mother, its been very hard to make sense of [things] and shes been super noble as shes tried to navigate through this loss. There are times that it is inarguably really painful, but it doesnt mean that shes without joy, or that she doesnt have great days. Bringing back more of Sex and the Citys intrinsic comedy, King agrees, felt important. The original show, he suggests, became increasingly funny over time as viewers became familiar with each characters minute quirks; By season two, season three, and season four, you were like: Oh, my God, if that happens to Charlotte, I will die. In the second season of And Just Like Thathe adds, the palette moved from dark to light, because our feelings about the first season was; Carrie is going to go through a big loss, and thats going to affect everything. Even the humour will be forced, or may be specific. Now shes coming to the light, from winter to summer to spring, it can be more fun. Once you jump into bed with people, here come the jokes.The minute youre having sex with people, humour enters, because it brings up uncomfortability, embarrassment, and vulnerability. Carrie Bradshaw / PR Handout The biggest and most important thing that Sex in the City did was make sex funny, he says, reflecting on the shows cultural impact, 25 years after it first aired, versus dark, and hidden, and forbidden. That's the first calling card for me: we got to make sex funny, [and show] that women would speak about sex in a shocking and delightful way. The other really important thing that Sex in the City did when it started and I think the reason that we're even here now is because it gave a voice to a voice that didn't exist [on television]. When it came out, a 34 year old single girl was considered a leper; like, there was something wrong with her if she was not married at 34. At that time, when we were doing Sex in the City, all of us writers were single, all of us. So it was nice to be able to say, Well, what do you mean party of two, I just walked in here? Why would you assume that there could be somebody else with me at this restaurant? I think whats most important to me as we continue to go on into And Just Like That... comes from Carries last monologue [in Sex and the City]. She says, basically, the most significant important relationship you will ever have is the one you have with yourself. And if you find somebody else to love you? Thats fabulous. I think its an interesting journey to be choosing yourself as your significant relationship. Those were things that were never on television, or in pop culture, before we were lucky enough to be able to do them. And Just Like That... airs on NOW TV on June 22 Although there is no shortage of fabulous events that require elegant dress codes, Royal Ascot is in a league of its own. The quintessentially British occasion has welcomed high society to its Berkshire racecourses since the 1700s, and with it a flurry of OTT frills, florals and modern day Bridgerton-esque ensembles. Daniel Lismore attends day one of Royal Ascot 2023 / Getty Images for Royal Ascot The opening Tuesday, which started wet but warmed up nicely, saw racegoers kick off festivities with a triumph of frocks and fascinators. Most notably, self-professed living sculpture Daniel Lismore dropped jaws in a dramatic red sliced-up Alexander McQueen gown embellished with floral appliques and trinkets around the chest, and a Union Jack and feathered hat by Victoria Grant. I know the dress code has been very strict: I came here before and felt like a fat controller, he said, of the mens code which requires a full morning suit and top hat in the to enter The Royal Enclosure. But this is how I live, and its good that Ascot are embracing me, Everyone seems very kind. If I can come here like this, theres hope for people. The Saturdays singer Una Healy wearing a Frankie Dettori themed hat / Ben Stevens/PinPep Former The Saturdays star Una Healy also looked sleek in a white crocheted dress from Victoria Beckham. Its this summers biggest trend, so its no surprise she wore a Barbie-core approved pair of heels to complete the ensemble. However the main attraction was undoubtedly her extravagant Ladrokes-commissioned headwear that paid homage to racing superstar Frankie Dettori who is enjoying his final Royal Ascot before hanging up his saddle. A golden model of him performing his infamous flying dismount was the main millinary event. Zara Tindall and Mike Tindall / PA Considering the spectacle was synonymous with the late Queen Elizabeth, who only missed the racing event once in 2020 due to Covid, there were plenty of royals mulling around the grounds. Arriving on foot, as opposed to the in the royal carriage procession, were Zara and Mike Tindall. She wowed in a 660 green midi buttoned up number from Leo Lin that was styled by Annie Miall. She finished the look with a bespoke straw Sarah Cant boater hat with chic pink ribbons, a pale pink Anya Hindmarch clutch bag, yellow diamond Laurence Coste earrings and Sauvereign shoes, as she mixed with Princess Beatrice, who wore go-to brand Beulah, and her mother, Princess Anne, in the paddock. Of course, new monarch King Charles was the main event, alongside Queen Camilla, who wore a white dress and matching, crystal trimmed overcoat from DIor. Hana Cross / Getty Images for Royal Ascot Made in Chelseas Georgia Toffolo doubled up her outfits: first wearing a white flowy Gul Hurgel gown with a chic burgundy hat from Juliette Millinery, bag from Mango and shoes from Manebi, before switching to a sleeveless orange dress for maximum fashion impact. Model and Brooklyn Beckham ex Hana Cross also wowed in a simply yet elegant white dress with a bow neckline and matching veiled hat. Betty Bachz / Getty Images for Royal Ascot Keen to enjoy day two, early arrivials counted influencer Betty Bachz, who wore a black and white tweed dress by London-based designer Huishan Zang, complete with a bespoke matching hat from Miss Bs Millinery, as well as Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, who arrived on foot in arm with Elizabeth Segerstrom, the author and widow of philanthropist Henry Segerstrom. Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh / Chris Jackson/Getty Images The carriage procession was lead by the King, again sporting his grey-wool morning suit, while the Queen who opted for a lilac look by Anna Valentine, with a contrasting cream hat. Following them were the Tindalls, back for more action, as well as Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh and a beaming Andrew Lloyd Webber. Sabrina Elba / Dave Benett/Getty Images for Roy As Ladies Day, Thursday often marks the pinacle of statment looks - and 2023 did not dissapointed. Leading the most stylish arrivals was Sabrina Elba, who looked elegant in a structured, white skirt suit from Self-Portrait, not dissimilar to the look The Princess of Wales chose from the brand to re-open the National Portarit Gallery on Tuesday. Also there enjoying the sun was Made in Chelseas Georgia Toffolo, in a red and white floral dress by Rosie Assoulin, and singer Ciinderella Balthazar in a black trouser suit and statement white hat. Prince and Princess of Wales / AFP via Getty Images Perhaps the most eagerly awaited arrival to Royal Ascot was the Prince and Princess of Wales, who after a week busy with commitments in London, and rumoured school hunting for Prince George at Eton, made their way into the paddock on Friday 23rd July. The Princess was typically elegant in a bold red dress by her go-to British designer, Alexander McQueen, and a saucer-esque hat by esteemed milliner Philip Treacy. She was joined in the carriage by Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Click through the gallery above for the best looks at Royal Ascot 2023. A 15-year-old black schoolgirl strip-searched by police has spoken for the first time about her ordeal and is asking herself: Why was it me? Child Q hit out as an updated report on the scandal was published on Tuesday finding concerns about safeguarding, racism and disproportionality extend to all public services. Protests and condemnation erupted after it emerged the teenager was wrongly searched for cannabis in the knowledge that she was on her period at school in Hackney, east London. The Metropolitan Police apologised and said the search without another adult present should never have happened in 2000. Former police chief Jim Gamble revealed he spoke to Child Q and she is showing remarkable courage and resilience. He added: Having spoken to her recently, this remains a weight on her shoulders. Child Q is still asking herself, Why was it me? Things need to change with all organisations involved. Even I can see that. Jim Gamble / Paul Faith/PA Mr Gamble carried out the latest review as an independent commissioner with City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership. It concludes concerns about safeguarding, racism and disproportionality extend to all public bodies and they need to work together in a coordinated way for change. Mr Gambles initial report last year found Child Qs search was unjustified and racism was likely to have been an influencing factor. He said that since the scandal came to light in March 2022, no children in Hackney had been subjected to a strip searches so theres an immediate positive, but the work to do goes far, far deeper than that. Mr Gamble added: Would this exist if child Q was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl in a south Kensington school? I dont think it would. Child Q wonders why its her because at the end of the day, worst case scenario, she smelled of cannabis. You can pick that up in the back of a taxi or having your lunch somewhere. So shes asking why me? and we all need to ask that question. The Independent Office for Police Conduct said four Met officers have been served with gross misconduct notices in connection with its ongoing investigation into complaints that Child Q was inappropriately strip-searched. Mr Gamble - who also spoke to 100 local youngsters, parents and carers - concluded: Perhaps the most striking message was that for many children, they felt no sense of shock about the strip search of Child Q. Some were disappointed, but not shocked. Indeed, in stark contrast to how most adults responded, the children I spoke with felt there was a certain inevitability that something like this would happen and that in their view, Child Q was yet another example of a black child being treated unfairly by the police. Responding to the update in a joint statement, Mayor of Hackney Philip Glanville, deputy Mayor Anntoinette Bramble and Susan Fajana-Thomas, cabinet member for community safety, said: We again reiterate our calls to the top of the Met Police to recognise and accept the definition of institutional racism. Real and lasting progress and change will remain paralysed until this happens. Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway, who leads policing in Hackney and Tower Hamlets, said: The experience of Child Q should never have happened and I am sorry for the trauma that we caused her, and I am also sorry it took an event like this to highlight that we were overusing this type of strip search on children. We have been working hard to listen to what our communities and partners have told us about this incident. We wish these types of searches were not necessary but sadly we know there are children in London being exploited to carry drugs and weapons for others, as well as being involved in criminality. The force said 57 children were fatally stabbed in the last five years and 490 under-18s knifed in attacks. On average over the same period, 578 children have been arrested for possession with intent to supply drugs and 1,356 detained for having weapons. A teenage boy was ambushed and fatally stabbed with a machete by two balaclava-clad attackers as he walked through a west London churchyard, witnesses said. The 17-year-old was attacked as he walked past the Church of St Mary on Paddington Green in front of horrified bystanders including students at City of Westminster College which is next to the crime scene. The killers struck just after 1.40pm on Monday. Staff from the college raced to help the fatally injured boy as police and paramedics rushed to the scene. The victim was not a student at the college. A witness said: There were two attackers with their faces covered. The boy was walking through the churchyard and they jumped on him. They had a machete and stabbed him it looked like under the armpit. He lay there and staff and security at the college came out to try to help him. Then the paramedics came and everyone worked so hard to save him. Everyone is devastated. The air ambulance was dispatched to the scene along with dozens of police officers. Forensics officers have been trawling the scenes for clues. Another witness said: After the stabbing the boys family came. The mother was in a terrible state, they were all crying. There were dozens of families and friends. They said the boy was wonderful. A joker loved by everybody. The boy is said to be an avid boxer from the Kurdish-Iraqi community. A tribute left with roses at the scene said: Rest in peace. 17 is no age to go, you will not be forgotten. From A Level politics and sociology. Another witness claimed on Facebook: I tried to save him, I saw the whole incident. When you hear the mum scream, then you know -devastating! She added: Im no hero, these kids pushed me aside, shouting at him, I tried to keep his wound compressed but they were moving him around too much. The teachers and first aiders helped but he went into cardiac arrest soon after, I knew he was deteriorating... I managed to get his name. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: Officers found a boy, believed to be 17, with a stab wound. Despite the best efforts of the emergency services, he was pronounced dead at the scene just over 30 minutes after the 999 call was received. Next of kin have been informed. Police cordoned off the area around the body and several officers stood at entrances to the green. No arrests have been made as police trawl through CCTV footage from around the area. Local MP Nickie Aiken tweeted: Very sorry to learn the police are investigating a murder in Paddington. My thoughts are with the family and friends of the victim. In a separate stabbing, in Leytonstone a man was found with serious knife wounds after a collision between two cars. The incident happened on High Road Leytonstone at around 1am today (Tuesday). The victims injuries are not thought to be life-threatening Any witnesses or anyone with information on either crime is asked to tweet @MetCC or call 101. To remain anonymous contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. A former deputy head teacher at a school once attended by Prince George and Princess Charlotte is facing many years behind bars after admitting 22 child sex offences. Matthew Smith, 34, from East Dulwich, was raided by the National Crime Agency when investigators discovered he was sharing abuse material on the dark web. At the time of his arrest last November, Smith was caught online speaking to a teenage boy living in India. He had asked him to send sexual images of a younger child in return for money, Southwark Crown Court heard. Smith also had dark web forums dedicated to child sexual abuse open on his computer. Detectives studied those chat logs and financial transactions to establish Smith paid 65,398 to that same teenager, and another also based in India, to abuse children over a five-year period. Smith was living in Nepal and working at a school for the majority of this time. Prior to this, he spent various periods working in orphanages across India between 2007 and 2014. Smith moved back to the UK in July 2022 and two months later began working as deputy head and was in charge of pastoral care at Thomas prep school in Battersea. None of the charges related to his time at the primary the two young royals left when they relocated to Windsor with the Prince and Princess of Wales in August. Officers recovered over 120,000 indecent images of children Smith saved on a laptop, SD card and on his mobile. There is no evidence to suggest he committed offences against children based in Nepal or the UK. Southwark Crown Court (Sean Dempsey/PA) / PA Archive Smith pleaded guilty to an initial five offences in November 2022. Last month, he was charged with a further 17 counts, including encouraging the rape of a child under 13, causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and arranging the sexual abuse of a child. On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to the additional crimes and will be sentenced at the same court on August 4. A spokesperson for Thomass Battersea said: We have been shocked and appalled beyond measure by this matter and are grateful for the work of the police and courts in bringing this man to account. Mr Smiths employment at the school, which commenced in September 2022, was terminated with immediate effect when the school first learned of the charges against him in November.While the National Crime Agency has confirmed that none of the matters under investigation related to the school or its pupils, these deplorable actions constitute an unforgivable breach of trust and our thoughts are with those who have been impacted or damaged by them. As always, we remain absolutely committed to the ongoing safety and wellbeing of our pupils and our whole school community. Helen Dore, an NCA senior officer, said: Matthew Smith was a high risk individual and we moved quickly to locate, arrest and remand him so he could no longer pose a threat to children. Ultimately, we were able to prove that he was a prolific offender who manipulated young men to sexually abuse children on his behalf, giving them detailed instructions and financial reward. While conducting his offending, Smith worked at a school in Nepal, then became a deputy head teacher and head of pastoral care in the UK, so his offending is a deep betrayal of the trust placed in him. The NCA is dedicated to operating online and overseas, working with global partners to ensure that children are safeguarded and offenders like Smith are brought to justice. Specialist prosecutor Claire Brinton, of the Crown Prosecution Services organised child sexual abuse unit, added: Matthew Smiths crimes are particularly disturbing given his role as a primary school teacher entrusted with the responsibility of caring for and safeguarding children. This conviction sends a clear message that the CPS, working alongside the NCA and international partners, will work to bring to justice to those who sexually abuse and exploit children, wherever that abuse takes place. A young man who shared so-called Islamic State propaganda on Telegram and WhatsApp has been jailed for six years. Ismail Kissa, 24, from Leyton, east London, was stopped at Stansted Airport on March 29 last year and two mobile phones were seized. On the devices, a number of disturbing files and videos linked to Daesh and Islamist terrorism were found by counter-terrorism officers from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit. Kissa was a member of various extremist chat groups on the Telegram app, the Old Bailey heard on Tuesday. He engaged in conversations about the importance of target selection for a terrorist attack, including reference to police stations. Kissa was subsequently charged with possessing a document useful to a terrorist in relation to instructions on how to make a Molotov Cocktail and 13 charges of disseminating terrorist publications. The defendant, who was said to be on the autistic spectrum, pleaded guilty to all the charges against him in February. Stansted Airport Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Polices Counter Terrorism Command, said: We know that the sharing of this type of material online can lead to people becoming radicalised particularly some young people who may be more vulnerable to malign influences. If you see this kind of material online, or are aware of anyone sharing it, I would urge you to report it to us so we can take appropriate action. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell was in Cairo this week to discuss the blocs policies on illegal migration. The issue of illegal migration featured high on the agenda at meetings of European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell with President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and Egyptian officials in Cairo this week. The visit came in the wake of the sinking of a boat carrying 750 illegal migrants off the Greek coast. The boat was travelling from the coastal city of Tobruk in Libya to Italy. It sank last Wednesday off the Greek coast leaving at least 78 people dead. The Greek authorities said 104 survivors had been brought ashore, but the rest of the passengers are still missing. A huge search-and-rescue operation continued until Friday, but no survivors have been found. The people rescued include Egyptian, Syrian, Pakistani and Palestinian nationals. Eight are minors. The boat had departed empty from Egypt and stopped at the Libyan port of Tobruk where it had picked up migrants destined for Italy. Conflicts in different parts of the world, the war in Ukraine, and pressing global economic problems have caused an unprecedented rise in irregular border crossings, the highest recorded by Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard, since 2017. During their meeting on Monday, President Al-Sisi and Borrell underlined their commitment to enhancing dialogue and cooperation on the issue of combating illegal migration and terrorism. Borrell said during a meeting with Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri on Sunday that there was a need for a sustainable, humane, and safe system of migration. Pointing to the problem as a global issue that cannot be addressed by just one country or region, Borrell reiterated the need to double down on efforts by the EU and the countries in the region to reach a safe system of migration. We need to work together, as we do with Egypt, with countries of origin, transit, and destination in order to avoid this drama from happening again. And we need to take fierce action against the smugglers and traffickers, who put peoples lives in danger knowing the risks that they are going to take, Borrell said. We need to do this quickly. We cannot sit by when children are drowning in the Mediterranean Sea, one that unites our continents, he said during a press conference held after his meeting with Shoukri on Sunday. Borrell said that the EU is allocating about 80 million to Egypt for border management, search and rescue, and anti-smuggling operations. He said that this amount may not be enough, because Egypt is hosting a community of migrants representing up to 10 per cent of the population. We want to work together in order to protect borders and to fight against these smugglers and traffickers that in the end are responsible for people losing their lives at sea or in the Sahara Desert, he added. The sinking of the boat and the deaths of the passenger was a very sad incident, said Naela Gabr, chair of the National Coordinating Committee for Combating and Preventing Illegal Migration and Trafficking in Persons (NCCPIM). Illegal migration is a route to death, she said. Instead of paying some $4,500 to smugglers to reach Europe, this money could be used by migrants to establish projects in their own country, Gabr said. She added that even if migrants manage to reach their destination, Italy in most cases, the government there would repatriate them under an agreement between Italy and Egypt. If they stay in Italy, they will find themselves either working in poor and possibly illegal jobs or be subjected to human-trafficking, she added. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) described the boat disaster as the worst in several years. They called for urgent and decisive action to prevent further deaths in the Mediterranean. Although none of the survivors from the sinking were women, eyewitness accounts say there were many women and children on board the boat. Gabr said that under Italian law, the Italian authorities are not allowed to repatriate minors, meaning individuals under the age of 18. She said that in previous discussions with the Italian authorities she had highlighted that this law encourages minors to migrate because they know that they will not be repatriated. However, the Italian authorities had not reconsidered it, citing laws designed to protect children, she said. The recent sinking should prompt the EU to appreciate the efforts that Egypt is exerting in combating illegal migration and consider giving Egypt more support to help with the cost of hosting refugees in the country. We have never considered using the Tunisian or Turkish approach to illegal migration, Gabr said, noting that both countries have threatened to open their borders to illegal migration to Europe. In Egypt, we control our borders. As a result, smugglers resort to using fishing boats to reach Libyan waters and board illegal migrants from there, she explained. She said that providing more opportunities for legal migration to Europe could reduce illegal migration. The only person who has dealt with the issue in a pragmatic way was [former German chancellor] Angela Merkel, who opened her countrys borders to legal migration. Unfortunately, various parties in the German government opposed that approach, she said. The Central Mediterranean remains the main route into the EU countries for migrants. Over the first five months of this year, detections of irregular border crossings along the route have more than doubled compared to the same period in 2022, the EU border agency Frontex said. EU national authorities reported more than 50,300 detections from January to May, accounting for nearly half of all irregular entries into the EU in 2023. Developments in Sudan were also among the issues Borrell discussed with Egyptian officials during his visit to Cairo. Some 250,000 Sudanese refugees have been forced to move to Egypt during the recent fighting. Another five million Sudanese refugees are already settled in the country. The EU declared that it would provide immediate assistance of 20 million to help Cairo address this new wave of Sudanese refugees. I know this is not enough, and you are going to need to spend much more, but at least let us contribute a little bit in your support, Borrell said during the press conference that followed his meeting with Shoukri. He called for continuing the present mediation process in Sudan under strong African leadership comprising all the relevant stakeholders, adding that Egypt was one of the most important stakeholders. The visit was Borrells second trip to Cairo in his capacity as European Union High Representative. The issue of illegal migration was also discussed during his meeting with Minister of Defence Mohamed Zaki and Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Abul-Gheit. Borrell described his meeting with Zaki as friendly, adding that the two men had held discussions on common interests, including migration and the need for immediate action to fight traffickers who exploit peoples desire to travel to Europe illegally. His meeting with Abul-Gheit had focused more on regional issues, namely the situation in Sudan and Libya and the fate of the Middle East Peace Process, he said. Borrells visit also tackled other important issues, including further broadening and deepening bilateral cooperation, including on energy, trade and human rights, as well as on regional issues such as the peace process, the situation in Syria, and the sharing of the Niles water. * A version of this article appears in print in the 22 June, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: U niversity students from London feel the most resilient following the pandemic and are among the least likely to consider dropping out of their courses, new research shows. An overwhelming 85 per cent of students who come from London described their well-being as good or okay in a new study of student wellbeing published on Tuesday the highest proportion of any region. But the results of the annual UK Student Well-being Survey also reveal the cost-of-living crisis is hitting students hard, with more than two thirds of London students concerned about sacrificing study time to do paid work. The results show: Nationally, four out of five students feel the cost-of-living crisis has affected their university experience, with three-quarters worried about not being able to afford a social life. More than half of London students are concerned about getting an extra job to pay the bills, and being able to afford heating, food and rent. But only one third of London students have considered dropping out of university the lowest rate in the country. Londoners were also the most likely to say they felt motivated to study. 18 per cent of London students said they were significantly more resilient in dealing with future hardships following the pandemic the highest rate in the country. Isabelle Bristow, managing director of Studiosity, which commissioned the research, said it was encouraging to see students are typically more resilient as a result of the pandemic and banding together to support each other emotionally and academically. But she added: Students are really feeling the crunch. To try to combat rising costs, students are picking up more paid work alongside their degrees which is reducing the time they have to study and socialise. As a result, students are in need of 24/7 access to additional feedback and support, whenever and wherever they want it, when they are now burdened with extra responsibilities. The report, published today, said: Looking to the future, 2023 displays evidence that students are indeed enjoying their university experience more than in 2021 with most aspects returning back to normality and most aspects hitting or exceeding expectations. The research comes as the Evening Standards Step Up Expo at Olympia is preparing to give expert advice and guidance to thousands of London teenagers about their sixth form, college, university, training, apprenticeship and career options at age 16 and 18. It gives an insight into the future plans of todays undergraduates. The report predicted that competition in the graduate market will be harder than ever. Register for free tickets to StepUpExpo at stepupexpo.co.uk S chools are being hit by an incredibly bleak recruitment crisis as teachers exit the profession feeling unsupported by the government, MPs were warned. There has been a massive rise in the number of children are being taught by non-specialist teachers in crucial subjects including English and Maths, while the number of supply teachers covering classes has rocketed, experts said. Speaking to MPs on the first day of the commons education committees new inquiry into the recruitment and retention of teachers, Dame Alison Peacock, Chief Executive of the Chartered College of Teaching said there is now a terrible situation where many teachers feel unappreciated. She said there is an overall sense from the teaching profession which is one of feeling undervalued. Theres a real sense that teachers dont believe that government supports them and thats a terrible situation to be in. Department for Education figures show 44,000 qualified teachers quit the profession in 2021/22, representing 9.7 per cent of all qualified teachers. This was the highest rate since 2017/18. Over the last decade the number of teachers working in state schools has lagged being the growing number of pupils, despite increases in the number of teachers being recruited. The changes mean that the national pupil/teacher ratio increased from 17.6 in November 2010 to 18.5 in 2021. Dame Alison said: The stats really look incredibly bleak. Frankly it costs the government a lot of money to constantly be retraining more teachers. We need institutional wisdom in our schools. So it is not satisfactory to have the level of turnover that we have. She said the government has missed its secondary school recruitment targets for nine out of the past ten years. She added: We are getting to the point where if you cant even find a supply teacher, it gets to desperate stakesit leads to a decline in standards. We have a very real problem. Its not something we are just moaning about round the edges, this is becoming absolutely front and centre for schools. I am speaking to colleagues who are headteachers who are saying we have never known it this bad we dont know how we will fill our posts. The government and teaching unions are in the midst of an ongoing dispute over pay which has led to a series of strikes. Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said that although there has been a six per cent increaser in teacher numbers, there has been an 11 per cent rise in pupil numbers. She told MPs: What we are seeing is a massive rise in the use of cover teachers who generally will not be trained in the subject they are teaching will not know the pupilsand we are seeing a massive increase in teachers teaching out of their subject area. She said this makes things worse for the remaining qualified teachers because they have to provide extra support for teachers teaching in subjects they are not qualified in. Patrick Roach, general secretary of NASUWT said: Government data suggests it is not beyond the bounds of credibility to suggest within the next 10 years we will have to recruit the entire stock of teachers again given the number leaving the profession. It comes after the Evening Standard revealed a dramatic drop in the number of trainee teachers from London in the pipeline. The number of Londoners training via the three main pathways postgraduate teaching courses, Teach First and undergraduate courses have all dropped. Experts blamed it party on the number of better paid alternative jobs in London. B oys in the UK will be given the HPV jab in a bid to prevent thousands of cases of cancer each year. The vaccination programme, which currently only covers girls, will be given to boys aged 12 to 13 for the first time from September. Experts hope that by rolling out the programme to boys, they can prevent 64,138 cervical and 49,649 non-cervical cancers in the UK by 2058. The jab protects against the human papillomavirus, a viral infection that can lead to cervical, penile, anal and genital cancers, along with cancers of the neck. Here is all you need to know about the HPV virus and its vaccine. Boys in the UK will be given the HPV jab from September / PA What is the HPV virus? The human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted virus linked to more than 99% of cervical cancers, as well as 90% of anal cancers, about 70% of vaginal and vulvar cancers and more than 60% of penile cancers. The virus, of which there are more than 100 varieties, is passed through intimate skin-to-skin contact and can affect the genitals, mouth or throat. According to the NHS, it is extremely common and most people will get some type of the virus in their life. HPV has no symptoms and most of the time does not cause problems, but can cause genital warts and cancer. There is no treatment for infection, but most are cleared by your body within two years. How can HPV cause cervical cancer? Changes in the cervix are almost always caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). The NHS says there are more than 100 types of HPV and around 30 types affect the genital area. Some will cause abnormal changes in cells which can sometimes turn into cancer. Most cervical cancers are caused by high-risk types HPV-16 and HPV-18. What is the HPV vaccine? The HPV vaccination programme was introduced to Britain around 50 years ago and girls in Year 8 have been offered the vaccine free in school since 2008. PHE said the programme meant infections of some strains of HPV in youngsters aged 16 to 21 have fallen by 86% in England. A Scottish study also suggested the vaccine had reduced pre-cancerous cervical disease in women by up to 71%. Similarly, diagnoses of genital warts have declined by 90% in 15 to 17-year-old girls and by 70% in 15 to 17-year-old boys. From the start of the next school year, boys in Year 8 who are aged 12 and 13 will be given the jab with parental consent. The first dose will be given in school in Year 8, with a follow-up dose six months to two years later, also given in school. The HPV jab currently used by the NHS is Gardasil, which protects against HPV for at least 10 years and possibly a lifetime. Giving boys the jab also protects girls from HPV. PHE said there will be no catch-up programme for older boys aged 13 to 18. Why do children get the vaccine at such a young age? What are the symptoms, how to curb the epidemic and should you get a measles vaccine Since the virus is spread during sexual activity or skin-to-skin contact, it is best to vaccinate people before they become sexually active. According to the NHS, the jab will work best before children have a chance to come into contact with the virus. So it is hoped the vaccine will protect them for years afterwards. Are there any side effects? The NHS says that common side effects include bruising or itching at the site of the injection redness, swelling or pain at the side of injection a high temperature or feeling hot and shivery headaches nausea pain in the arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet or toes Uncommon side effects include hives, difficulty breathing and feeling dizzy or faint afterwards. A Tory barrister who is battling to become the partys London mayoral candidate broke down in tears as he told how he had been inspired by his mothers death to run for City Hall. Moz Hossain KC sobbed on camera as he told the Evening Standard how his mother, who was married at the age of 11, and father worked day and night to feed and educate their eight children. Asked when he decided to try to become mayor, he said: It was after my mother died in May 2021 around October, November. My mother was my biggest pocket of love. My life changed forever after she died. Her whole life has been about sacrificing for others. She gave us everything she had. She worked 18 hours a day, never slept properly, and often, after feeding eight children and a husband, there would be nothing left just rice. I wanted to change life on a grand scale, and I can do that as the mayor of London because people are suffering. Im not a politician but I know I can do this. Tears for his mother: Moz Hossain reveals inspiration in bid to become mayor / ES It is one life we have and I want to be able to say: I have tried. I want her to be proud. She never knew what a KC was but I think she would have understood that her son was doing something good. The three Tory mayoral rivals: Hossain, Hall and Korski / ES Composite Mr Hossain is competing against Susan Hall and Dan Korski for the right to stand against Sadiq Khan next May. The victorious Tory mayoral candidate is due to be announced on July 19. Mr Hossain, who lives in Mile End, grew up in a village in Bangladesh in a wooden house with a mud floor and tin roof, a magical place where he would bathe in a pond surrounded by papaya trees and pineapple bushes. He came to the UK in 1995, aged 21, to study law at Liverpool university, funded by his elder brothers. My third brother was a doctor a consultant in the NHS, he said. When he becomes a junior doctor Im the youngest of eight he brings me over here. Thats the way my parents did it the family looking after each other. He moved to London in 1999. He recalled having to travel each year to Lunar House in Croydon to renew his visa. My visa expired as a trainee barrister and the only way I could stay in the country was if I won a pupillage [at a barristers chambers]. I think I was the only foreign student who got a pupillage that year. Moz Hossain breaks down after being asked by Ross Lydall what had inspired him to run for the Tory mayoral nomination / ES He became a British citizen in 2009. It was one of my proudest moments, he said. I became a British citizen and I had to go and take the oath. I was the first person in the whole room to finish [the citizenship test]. It was great fun. Asked if a boy from Bangladesh could follow his footsteps under the UKs current immigration rules, he said: Yes, I think they could. If you want to come here legally I think we still have a very welcoming system. If elected, he would cut the head off gangs to tackle knife crime and phone robberies. He told the Standard he would establish a Targeted Termination Team within the Met with the sole purpose of hunting and arresting gang leaders. The mayor also holds the job of police and crime commissioner for London. I will make sure the [Met] commissioner follows my guidance, Mr Hossain vowed, My orders come from Londoners. No ifs, no buts. He hopes to use his forensic legal skills to cross-examine the mayors policies. I think Im the candidate that Sadiq Khan worries about before he goes to sleep, he said. He has vowed to turn off the Ulez extension cameras on day one of taking office. He revealed he cannot drive a car. I have never learned how to drive, he said. I have learned how to ride a bike five years ago and I love it. He is a fan of theatre and recalled going to the National Theatre as a student, on 5 tickets, to see plays such as Uncle Vanya. At the first Tory mayoral hustings last week, he vowed to freeze the mayors share of council tax - though without explaining how he would fund the pledge. But his campaign has been hit by controversy it is being run by people caught in the Partygate scandal, including Ben Mallet and dancing woman Malin Bogue. Meanwhile, Mr Khan has emerged as the most popular of Londons three mayors since the establishment of the Greater London Authority in 2000. A poll by Redfield & Wilton and the OnLondon website asked 1,100 respondents if he had been a good or bad mayor: 51 per cent said good and 23 per cent bad. This compared with 43 per cent good for Boris Johnson and 41 per cent good for Ken Livingstone. Asked who had been the best mayor since the role was created in 2000, 29 per cent said Mr Khan, 28 per cent said Mr Johnson and 24 per cent said Mr Livingstone. L ondon Climate Action Week is back again for 2023. This year the climate-focussed week takes place from June 24 until July 2. Its a week dedicated to finding solutions to climate change, with events taking place across the capital. Amid the climate crisis, Londoners are sure to be wondering what they can do to help cut emissions in the city. Find out below what is happening for London Climate Action Week and how you can take part. What is London Climate Action Week? London Climate Action Week was founded in 2019 by London Mayor Sadiq Khan. It is the largest independent climate gathering in Europe. The week was established after Mr Khan declared a climate emergency in London, following a series of scientific reports that warned of the scale of climate change. It brings business leaders, NGOs, and politicians together to explore solutions to climate change. London Climate Action Week also aims to showcase London as the leading example of how the whole of society can together shape and drive climate action. What are the themes of this years Climate Action Week? There are four themes this year: accelerating the global clean economy, delivering fair, inclusive, and just climate transitions, expanding networks for Whole of Society Action, and creating a greener London with and for Londoners. Where is London Climate Action Week? Events are taking place across London, with major talks happening at Londons ExCel centre. LCAW events will also take place at iconic London institutions, including The Natural History Museum, the RSA, and Guildhall. For those who cant make it to London in person, several events will also be hosted online. For a full schedule of LCAW events , check the LCAW website. What is London doing to fight climate change? The Mayors office has established a number of initiatives that aim to fight climate change in London. London aims to be a zero-carbon city by 2030, and the Mayor intends for all of Londons buses to be zero-emission by 2034. Mr Khan has expanded Ulez to cut air pollution in the city and intends to retrofit homes to become ultra-low carbon. R oughly 3 in 5 Londoners believe the housing crisis has got worse since the last general election, a new poll has revealed. The YouGov survey has revealed 62 percent of people in the capital believe the shortage of available housing stock has gotten worse since 2019s election, while 61 per cent think the Government is not building enough social housing. The poll, commissioned by the National Housing Federation, also found that of Londoners who have searched for a home since the election, around 7 in 10 (67 per cent) said they had struggled to find a suitable and affordable property. The Government defended its record, pointing out that in the last year, house-building was at its third highest rate for thirty years. The number of new homes started in England increased by 16 per cent last year, compared to pre-pandemic levels, it said. Looking across the whole of Britain, the poll also showed that a majority (52 per cent) of Conservative voters believe not enough social housing is being built. Across all party loyalties, the figure was 58 per cent. Almost half of Tory voters (48 per cent) across Britain meanwhile think the Government should prioritise building social housing over homes for sale (28 per cent) or private rent (8 per cent). Among all voters, 53 per cent believe social housing should be prioritised over other types. Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation said: There is a clear consensus amongst voters from all parties and people across all ages and parts of the country, not only that we need to build more social housing, but that this should take precedence over building any other types of home. There is also indisputable evidence that housing policies over the last few decades, particularly those focused on home ownership, have widened inequality, increased government spending and made the housing crisis worse. How can it be that we have a national strategy for space exploration, but no strategy for homes back here on earth? With such strong public support for and proof of the need for more social housing, its time for politicians to catch-up and make meaningful commitments that will solve the housing crisis and ensure everyone has access to a safe secure and affordable home. We urgently need a long term plan aimed at drastically increasing the number of affordable and crucially social homes built over the next decade. A spokeswoman at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, responded: The Government is considering a number of measures to improve availability of social housing. We are committed to delivering 300,000 new homes per year and are investing 11.5 billion to build the affordable, quality homes this country needs. Since 2010, we have delivered over 632,000 new affordable homes, including more than 441,612 affordable homes for rent, of which over 162,800 homes are for social rent. In London, house-building is managed at a strategic level by the Mayor, with individual projects signed off by borough councils. A spokeswoman for the Mayor Sadiq Khan said: The Mayor is delivering a new era of homebuilding in the capital, surpassing the ambitious Government target of starting 116,000 affordable homes for Londoners between 2015/16 and 2022/23 and starting 23,000 City-Hall funded council homes since 2018. Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London / Noah Vickers/Local Democracy Reporting Service This is the highest number since the 1970s, and a key part of his plans to build a better, fairer London for everyone. High quality council homes are a direct way of addressing our citys inequalities and leaving a legacy to future generations. There has been huge progress in recent years, but the Mayor is clear that we can do more. He has laid the foundations for a new renaissance in council homebuilding to be at the heart of our post-Covid recovery it is now up to ministers to show the same scale of ambition as London, by backing a new funding programme exclusively for council homes. A n "unreal thunderbolt striking the roof of a family home in south London is believed to have sparked a house fire. Fire engines raced to the semi-detached home in Sidmouth Road, Welling as residents fled to safety at 7.40am on Tuesday. Locals say that phone lines in the street have been knocked out by the thunderbolt as flash storms erupted after days of warm weather across the capital. Footage posted to social media shows plumes of smoke billowing out of the roof as people in dressing gowns flee the house. Smoke billows out of the roof / Noel Walsh Firefighters fought the blaze for more than an hour before getting it under control. There are no injuries reported. Noel Walsh was having a cup of tea in his conservatory when he saw the scary lightning bolt strike his neighbours house. He told the Standard: It was very loud. Ive never seen anything like it. Firefighters arrive at the scene / Noel Walsh I looked out of my window and saw my neighbour who told me of the fire so I went out to see if I could be of any help. The people who owned the house were already in the street The homeowners were in a state of shock but other neighbours offered them assistance. Supplied by Cema He added: At the end of the day the firemen did a great job as usual and there were no fatalities. One worker nearby said: My daughter heard the bolt and looked out of the back window. There was a big thunder and then she saw the smoke coming out of the window. Its very scary, I heard the thunder. His daughter Cema added: It didn't feel real for a moment, the lightening sounded like a crash or explosion - it was so bright. There's like a 1 in 200 chance of your house getting struck by lightning, I'm just glad the fire brigade came quickly and no-one was hurt. Firefighters got the fire under control in just over an hour / Bruna Silva Bruna Silva, 35, a parent at the local school, told the Standard: We saw the strike this morning. We dont have a view of the affected house from our place but our kid goes into the school. The fire was going off when we got there. My first thought was that it could have hit the school. Apparently, there are no telephone lines at the moment as they have been affected by the strike. She added: Im feeling so glad no-one was hurt and it was before the school rush. We saw the flash, it was very bright and we heard the noise. Fire trucks were going by soon after then we noticed the smoke. A London Fire Brigade spokesman said the service believed the fire may have been started by lightning striking the roof. He added: Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters attended a fire on Sidmouth Road in Welling. The roof of a semi-detached house was partially damaged by fire. Residents had left the building before crews arrived and there are no reports of any injuries. Crews deployed a 32m Turntable Ladder as an observation platform. This allowed the Incident Commander to monitor the fire in the roof from above, whilst firefighters tackled it from inside. The Brigades 999 Control Officers took 7 calls reporting the fire, with the first received at 7.40am Firefighters had the incident under control by 8.57am Crews from Plumstead, Greenwich and Bexley attended the incident. A vote took place yesterday to back a report by the privileges committees report, which found that former MP Boris Johnson misled the party and the public during Covid-19 lockdowns. In all, 354 MPs backed the Partygate report, while only seven Tories voted against it but 225 Conservative MPs did not vote at all. Johnson was found to have committed five serious offences, including deliberately misleading the Commons when he said that no Covid rules were broken, or that he had been assured none were broken. Johnson told them he knew nothing about lockdown-breaking social gatherings in and around Downing Street the report recommended a 90-day suspension from Parliament. This is a new investigation, and includes the Downing Street Christmas party on December 14, 2020, where Tory staffers were filmed dancing and joking about bending Covid rules after being invited to jingle and mingle. Which Tory MPs voted in support of the report? Alex Chalk (MP for Cheltenham), Penny Mordaunt (MP for Portsmouth North), and Gillian Keegan (MP for Chichester) are among those who voted in support of the report. Ex-prime minister Theresa May also voted in support. Who voted against the Partygate report? Six Tories voted against the report, according to the Government: Joy Morrisey (MP for Beaconsfield), Karl McCartney (MP for Lincoln), Adam Holloway (MP for Gravesham), Heather Wheeler (MP for South Derbyshire), Nick Fletcher (MP for Don Valley), and Bill Cash (MP for Stone). Jacob Rees-Mogg, who did not vote, compared the privileges committee to communist China, and said the move to strip Mr Johnson of his parliamentary pass was going from the vindictive to the ridiculous. He said: For some reason, the privileges committee thinks its in communist China, and that we must kowtow, and then they go on to say that Mr Johnson was complicit in the campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of committee without one single, solidarity shred of evidence. How did Rishi Sunak vote? Rishi Sunak did not vote, and was accused of being too weak to stand up to Mr Johnson after the PM dodged the Commons debate as the privileges committee report was approved. No 10 have said that there are no plans for the prime minister to strip honours from two Tories who were at the party at CCHQ. His official spokesman said he had followed the process of leaving resignation honours to the Lords authorities. During Prime Ministers Questions, a debate ensued between Mr Sunak and Labour leader Keir Starmer. Sir Keir said: Honours should be for public service not Tory cronies. And then he added: Isnt this the case: He was too weak to block Johnsons list, and that also means that those who spent their time helping cover up Johnsons lawbreaking are rewarded by becoming lawmakers for the rest of their lives? The Prime Minister said in his defence: As I said, I and the Government followed due process and convention. Prime ministers of both parties have always upheld the convention of non-interference on political honours. T he family and friends of British billionaire Hamish Harding have spoken of their hope that he and the other missing explorers will be found in time as they hailed his adventurous spirit. Friend Jannicke Mikkelsen, a Norwegian explorer, said she knew the 58-year-old would be calm amid the crisis but feared the submersible was trapped on the sea bed. His cousin Kathleen Cosnett told the Daily Telegraph that he was daring and an inquisitive adventurer and that she was devastated to learn that he was on the missing vessel. Mr Harding holds 16 air speed records including the Guinness record for the fastest aircraft circumnavigation of earth. He has described how his desire for adventure was triggered by watching the Apollo moon landing as a five-year-old. He made his fortune as the founder and chairman of Action Aviation, which buys and sells business jets. He lives in Dubai with wife Linda and sons Rory, 18, and Giles, 15. Six years ago he introduced the first business jet flight to Antarctica, using a specially constructed ice runway, while last year he travelled on Blue Origins fifth human space flight mission, making him the first Briton to do so and one of only a tiny number of tourists to have crossed the Karman line marking the beginning of space. His earlier adventures included travelling in 2016 with the Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, then aged 86, to Antarctica an expedition which saw Mr Aldrin become the oldest person to reach the South Pole. Three years ago Mr Harding took his son Giles, then 12, to become the youngest person to reach the South Pole. His underwater adventures include a 2021 dive to Challenger Deep, the deepest known part of the seabed at 36,000 feet, with US explorer Victor Vescovo. They travelled 2.8 miles along the bottom for a record four hours and 15 minutes. A lawyer who fled Ukraine with her young son a year ago has set up a new life in Hampshire but says she still cries at night. Yulia Dubovyk and her nine-year-old son Damir travelled seven hours on foot from Kyiv to Poland to find safety before settling in the UK via the Homes for Ukraine scheme in April 2022. Acting as a single mother and unable to work as a lawyer, Ms Dubovyk lost her confidence and felt like she was starting her life from the very beginning again. But after living with a host for four months the 38-year-old moved into her own apartment near Winchester. Im smiling during the day and crying at night, she told the Standard in an interview for World Refugee Day. Because my husband is there, I [cant] move on. Some people say that Ukrainians have post traumatic stress syndrome, but we actually dont have post because were still in this. In Ukraine she worked in constitutional law, including for a member of parliament. In the UK she works at the local library and as a translator for Winchester City Council, helping to integrate other Ukrainians into life in Britain. To become a lawyer here, I would have to study again because we have a totally different system of law, she explained. I really hope that one day I will [go] back home and I can continue my [law] practice so while Im here I just have a mission to learn some new skills, to make life here for myself easier. Ms Dubovyk said one of the hardest challenges is living away from her husband, who had to stay in Ukraine where he works and volunteers. In Winchester, her son Damir is integrating into school and took part in a lcaol concert. Ms Dubovyk said: Sometimes we take part in such a concert just to say to people that we exist, that we are still here, that the war is still existing and to gather some money to help Ukrainians. On World Refugee Day she thanked the Government and British people for their support. We feel confident that if something happens, we can ask for help which really helps because when we just arrived, we really didnt understand whats going on, how to apply for a job. We learned about International Rescue Committee, which helps Ukrainians with different courses, like how to find a job. So I finished three courses. One of them was [for] public service interpreter. Im actually not a professional interpreter or translator. I studied English at school and it was more than 20 years ago. So I had to revise everythingbecause I never used the English language in my adult life. Her message to the Ukrainians rebuilding their lives in the UK is clear: Stay strong, the war will be finished and we will be home again. Learn as much as you can because when it will come time to rebuild our Ukraine, we can use all this experience. We can change many things we wanted to change before the war. As of February this year, local councils have helped 163,500 Ukrainians settle in the UK. There have been 225,278 visas granted on the Ukraine Visa Schemes since their introduction, with 30 percent on the Ukraine Family Scheme and 70 per cent on the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme. World Refugee Day is an international day set by the United Nations to honour refugees globally. It falls each year on June 20 and acknowledges the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution. Surrounded by workers wearing helmets and green phosphorescent work jackets, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi dispensed with the usual presidential uniform of suit and tie and instead dressed casually, in a light blue shirt and white trousers. While the occasion was a routine site visit to review the progress of infrastructure projects, the change in garb appeared to signal the opening of a pre-election campaign, with the event showcasing the presidents commitment to completing ambitious megaprojects. While the visual narrative might have appeared unremarkable given Al-Sisis penchant for active engagement and a campaign-like demeanor, it contained a deeper significance, says Amr Hashem Rabie, deputy chairman of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. On the other side of the city, another spectacle was unfolding. Inside the meeting complex at Medinat Nasr, the National Dialogue had brought together competing political factions to discuss a proposed freedom of information bill when Diaa Rashwan, the dialogues general coordinator, took the microphone and shifted the focus of the audience to the upcoming presidential election. He announced that 3 December was the deadline for opening the election process, noting that the second paragraph of Article 140 of the constitution stipulates that procedures for electing a new president of the republic must commence at least 120 days before the end of the presidential term, and that the election results must be announced at least 30 days prior to the conclusion of this period. Since Al-Sisi was elected on 2 April 2018, his term expires on 2 April 2024, said Rashwan. The clarification immediately sparked controversy, fuelling discussions of a possible early election, with Rabie noting that while the constitution specifies the minimum duration before conducting elections, it does not impose a maximum timeframe, leaving room for the possibility of initiating the process earlier. The National Dialogue should not have any relation to presidential elections, says Negad Al-Borei, human rights lawyer and board member of the National Dialogue. The clarification made by Rashwan about the election date was inappropriate. It was an ill-considered move. It has become increasingly evident, however, that the National Dialogue is intrinsically intertwined with the impending presidential election. Insights, shared with Al-Ahram Weekly by sources on the dialogues board, suggest that the dialogues recommendations are not merely intended for the presidents consideration but are likely to form a campaign platform for the forthcoming election. The forthcoming presidential election has informed the call for a national dialogue with the aim of garnering recommendations prior to the poll. Al-Sisi stands to gain an advantageous position over competing candidates by incorporating the recommendations of the dialogue, articulating a different political process and gilding his public image, believes Abdel-Azim Hammad, a member of the board and former chief editor of Al-Ahram. The president himself urged the National Dialogue to find common ground to build the new republic during his speech at the opening session. And the new republic will last until 2030, says Hammad. While it remains to be seen which recommendations the president will incorporate in his manifesto, Hammad anticipates a focus on election laws, pretrial detention, and municipalities. As for economic policies, I dont think they will change greatly, he added. Elections, which once formed a backdrop for the dialogue, have moved to the fore with the emergence of potential candidates like Ahmed Tantawi, a former MP and head of the leftist Karama Party, who has made it clear that he intends to enter the electoral race, and Abdel-Sattar Al-Yamama, head of the Wafd Party, who has secured the nomination of his party. Meanwhile, President Al-Sisi has yet to make an announcement about his intention to stand. Though some media reports have appeared suggesting he might not run, there are no indications that he will not participate. Anticipation surrounding the presidential elections has fuelled sometimes heated debate. Some assert that the emphasis on elections is premature, while others argue that expediting the process is necessary to implement robust economic measures and meet international commitments, including those to the IMF. Given the urgency, it is crucial to expedite the elections, argues Hammad. Rabie, also a member of the dialogues board, begs to differ, highlighting President Al-Sisis recent implicit criticism of the IMF. We are flexible in the exchange rate, to be clear. But when the matter touches on Egypts national security, and the Egyptian people are lost? No. No, no, no. Im speaking seriously. Im saying this on air. When the exchange rate has an effect on the lives of Egyptians, and could cause them to be lost, we wont remain seated. We cannot, Al-Sisi said to applause during last weeks National Youth Conference in Alexandria. Though no end date for the dialogue, which started on 3 May, has been set, it must conclude before the nomination process begins. Yet according to dialogue participants, the socio-political discussions are still in their preliminary stage. Though we await the transition to limited small-scale workshops, where experts will play a crucial role, delving deeper into the issues away from the current public relations formula, I dont think it will continue beyond October, says Al-Borei. When President Al-Sisi first called for a national dialogue in April 2022, the aim was to address growing discontent and economic challenges, and to foster political reform. Accompanied by the release of over 1,000 prisoners detained on opinion-related charges, the dialogue was praised as an extremely positive step by many, including prominent journalist Abdallah Al-Sennawi. While recognising the value of the dialogue, Al-Sennawi now argues that it remains incomplete without broad political openness and genuine transparency. He believes that concrete actions need to be taken before any judgement on the dialogues effectiveness in fostering substantial reform ahead of the upcoming elections can be made. Rabie, an election expert, expects the next presidential elections to differ from the polls held in 2014 and 2018, when President Al-Sisi secured overwhelming victories with 96.91 per cent and 97 per cent of the vote, even if he is not anticipating a particularly close-run battle between candidates. * A version of this article appears in print in the 22 June, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: A ndrew Tate and his brother Tristan have been charged with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. Romanian prosecutors sent the self-proclaimed misogynist, his sibling and two Romanian female suspects to trial on Tuesday. They are all under house arrest pending a criminal investigation for abuses committed against seven women, accusations they have denied. A translation of the prosecution statement claimed the female victims included some who were misled by false claims of marriage and love. Andrew Tate has also been charged with raping one of the victims, while his brother Tristan has been charged with instigating others to violence. The trial will not start immediately. Under Romanian law, a judge now has 60 days to inspect the case files to ensure legality. A spokesperson for Andrew Tate said: We embrace the opportunity it presents to demonstrate their innocence. Under Romanian law, trafficking of adults carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. The Tates and their associates have always denied any wrongdoing. Tate, 36, is an American-British kickboxer born in Chicago, Illinois but raised in Luton, England. He is a son of the late chess player Emory Tate. Tate worked as a TV producer while training as a kickboxer, before going on to fight professionally. His appearance on Big Brother in 2016 kick-started his life in the public eye. Since then, Tate has gained notoriety for making offensive, misogynistic comments on social media. Videos of Tate have amassed millions of views attracting widespread criticism and leading to calls from womens charities to have him removed from TikTok. A n axe-wielding man attacked random diners at three neighboring Chinese restaurants in the New Zealand city of Auckland, wounding four people. Police said the man began the attack at about 9pm on Monday in the northern suburb of Albany. Officers arrested a 24-year-old suspect at the scene and charged him with wounding, with the intention of causing grievous bodily harm. The man, a Chinese national, made a brief court appearance on Tuesday. Police did not immediately offer a motive for the attack but said they had no evidence it was racially motivated. Auckland City Hospital said on Tuesday that one patient from the attack remained there in a stable condition. North Shore Hospital said it had one patient with moderate injuries and a second with minor injuries, both of whom were in a stable condition, and had earlier discharged a third patient. A diner told the New Zealand Herald newspaper he was eating dinner with a friend when the man walked in and started attacking his friend, who was seriously injured. I was in shock. When I realised what was happening, he tried to target me, the man, who asked not to be named, told the Herald. I blocked his axe with my hand. He was also trying to target my head, so I blocked the axe with my hand. The diner said the man with the axe chased them out of the restaurant and then turned around and walked into another restaurant. The Herald posted an image of what appeared to be a wood-splitter style of axe lying on the pavement. Surveillance footage posted by news website Stuff showed people fleeing from one of the restaurants, including one person who ran out backward holding a chair as a barricade followed closely by another person holding a weapon. Police said they expect to file more charges against the man, who they believe acted alone. Police increased their presence in the area around the restaurants on Tuesday. We acknowledge how frightening this incident was for those involved, and for the wider community, and we are ensuring there is support in place for both the victims and their friends and family, Inspector Stefan Sagar said in a statement. During his court appearance, the defendant was helped by a Chinese language interpreter. He was not required to enter a plea. He was granted temporary name suppression, a common outcome in New Zealands legal system. H unter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, will plead guilty to federal charges, US media reported on Tuesday afternoon. He has been charged with failing to pay federal income tax and illegally possessing a weapon and has reached an agreement with the Justice Department, according to letter filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware. As part of the agreement, which was only made public on Tuesday, Hunter Biden will plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses and is expected to reach an agreement with prosecutors on the felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user. His lawyer Christopher Clark said: I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. US Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden / REUTERS According to court filings, Biden received taxable income in excess of $1.5 million in 2017 and 2018, but he did not pay income tax those years despite owing in excess of $100,000. The two counts are misdemeanors. His attorney, Christopher Clark, said the government would file a firearm charge against his client that would be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement, an alternative to prosecution that is sometimes used to allow defendants to avoid prison time or a criminal conviction. The gun charge states Biden possessed a handgun, a Colt Cobra 38 special, despite knowing he was a drug user for 11 days in October 2018. The count carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, but the Justice Department says he has reached a pretrial agreement on that charge. US legal experts said it was somewhat unusual to resolve a federal criminal case at the same time the charges are filed in court, though it is not totally unheard of. The deal ends a long-running Justice Department investigation into Bidens second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother Beau . It also averts a trial that would have generated distracting headlines for a White House that has strenuously sought to keep its distance from the Justice Department. The news comes as congressional Republicans pursue their own investigations into nearly every facet of Hunter Bidens business dealings, including examining foreign payments and other aspects of his finances. It also comes days after a 37-count indictment came down against former President Donald Trump for mishandling classified documents on his Florida estate, another case with even more dramatic political implications. President Biden is not the first holder of the USs highest office to be embarrassed by the legal problems of a family member. Jimmy Carters brother Billy was investigated by the government after he hosted members of the Libyan government and accepted money from them while working as a lobbyist while Bill Clintons half-brother Roger served prison time for cocaine dealing. V ladimir Putin poses a real" threat of using tactical nuclear weapons, Joe Biden has said. The US President has previously denounced Russia moving nuclear arms to Belarus as "absolutely irresponsible". Speaking to donors an event in California on Monday night, Mr Biden said he was worried about Putin using the catastrophic weapons. When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado river drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy," he said. They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. It's real. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country has started taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons last week. Some are believed to be three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The deployment is the Kremlin's first move of shorter-range, less powerful nuclear weapons that could be used on the battlefield outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile Moscow launched attacks across Ukraine in the early hours of Tuesday, hitting Kyiv and the western city of Lviv, close to the border with Poland. The Ukrainian capital's military administration said Moscow had launched a massive air attack on Tuesday morning and warned residents to find shelter. The citys air defences detected and destroyed about two-dozen Iranian-made Shahed drones, Kyiv authorities said. It is believed to be the second drone attack on the Kyiv this month. The capital saw a restless and noisy night but the situation is stable, the head of the city council, Anatoly Kurtev, said on Telegram. No casualties have been reported and there was no damage to residential buildings or utility systems, he added. A further search of the Mount Baldy area in southern California failed to find missing British actor Julian Sands, police have said. Sands was reported missing on January 13 after setting out for a hike in the San Gabriel Mountains. The 65-year-old actor known for his roles in films A Room With A View, Leaving Las Vegas and Warlock, as well as TV appearances on 24, Smallville and Banshee was reported missing in the Baldy Bowl area. Searches were halted temporarily in March due to the risk of avalanches, but the the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department said a further search for Sands took place on Saturday and was unable to locate the missing man. Mr Sands missing person case remains active and search efforts will continue in a limited capacity A statement said: On June 17, the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department continued ongoing search efforts in the Mount Baldy wilderness for missing hiker Julian Sands. Unfortunately, Mr Sands was not located. Saturdays search included over 80 search and rescue volunteers, deputies, and staff. Their efforts were supported by two helicopters, and drone crews. Aviation resources inserted search teams into remote areas across Mount Baldy and conducted aerial search and assessments efforts. Additionally, drone crews searched areas inaccessible to ground crews. Despite the recent warmer weather, portions of the mountain remain inaccessible due to extreme alpine conditions. Multiple areas include steep terrain and ravines, which still have 10-plus feet of ice and snow. The statement added: Since January, the Sheriffs Department has conducted eight searches (ground and air) specific to Mr Sands, with volunteer searcher hours exceeding 500 hours. Additionally, eight unrelated search and rescue operations have been conducted in the Mount Baldy area. Mr Sands missing person case remains active and search efforts will continue in a limited capacity. A spokesperson for the sheriffs department previously said its goal was to bring closure to Sands family. In January, the actors family praised the heroic search teams. A n explosives-laden car was placed on top of a dam in Ukraine which collapsed earlier this month, drone photos have appeared to show. Ukrainian officials said it showed that Russia had the means and motive to bring down the Kakhovka Dam, which led to deadly flooding and threatened drinking supplies for thousands. The drone photos, obtained by the Associated Press from May 28, appear to show a white car with its roof cut open and with a barrel which appears to have a landmine attached to its lid. It appears to have a cable running toward the Russian-held side of the Dnipro river. Two Ukrainian officials told the news agency that Russian troops were stationed in a crucial area inside the dam when the explosion reportedly took place. They said they believed the purpose of the car was to stop any Ukrainian advance on the dam. Dead fish in the reservoir after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam / AP Ukrainian commanders say it also scuppered some of their plans to take Russian positions in a counteroffensive that is now in its early stages. Russia has denied causing the dam to burst but has benefited from the timing of the massive flooding that followed the explosion. At least 52 people died when the dam on the Russia-occupied bank of the river burst on June 6. Last week the international human rights law firm Global Rights Compliance said it believed it was highly likely Russian forces deliberately destroyed the dam. The Kremlin on Monday refused help from the United Nations in the flood-affected areas citing what it called security concerns. The United Nations said it has offered help to Russia dealing with the disaster in the illegally occupied left bank of the Dnipro but its offer was turned down. It comes as Ukraine it had driven Russian forces out of an eighth village in its two-week-old counteroffensive. Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces had retaken Piatykhatky, a settlement on a heavily fortified part of the front line near the most direct route to the country's Azov Sea coast. This was part of an advance by Kyiv of up 4.3 miles into Russian lines in two weeks, capturing 44 square miles of land. T he search continues for a missing submersible near to the wreck of the Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean. On Tuesday evening the five people onboard, which includes a London businessman and his son - had roughly 40 hours of breathable air left, according to the US Coast Guard. Shahzada Dawood, 48, a Pakistani-born global board member of the Princes Trust charity, and his son Suleman, 19, are with British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding and two others on the tiny vessel that set off on Sunday to see the famous wreck at a depth of 12,500 feet in the Atlantic. Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard explained the deadline rescuers face as they try to trace the lost men who have been missing since the last ping connecting the submersible with its mother ship was heard yesterday afternoon above the wreck site. He told a press conference in Boston on Tuesday: So, first of all, its an estimate, right? We know from the data we were using, a starting point was 96 hours. We know at this point were approximately about 40/41 hours (of oxygen left). He added: We know theres about 40 hours of breathable air left, based on that initial report. The amount of oxygen left gives the rescuers a deadline of midday on Thursday if they want to be sure of finding those inside while it is still possible for them to breathe. Officials said the search covering 10,000 square miles had turned up no signs of the lost sub known as the Titan, but they planned to continue looking. Captain Frederick said the complex search effort required multiple agencies with subject matter expertise and specialised equipment. He said: While the US Coast Guard has assumed the role of search and rescue mission coordinator, we do not have all of the necessary expertise and equipment required in search of this nature. The unified command brings that expertise and additional capability together to maximise effort in solving this very complex problem. On Tuesday rescuers said they were expanding their search into deeper waters. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told CNN: As we continue on with this search ... weve been working through the night with a broad group of partners to bring all capabilities to bear looking on both the surface and now expanding to a subsurface in the area. As the race to find the five passengers who are also thought to include Stockton Rush, the American chief executive of the OceanGate firm running the trip and the French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet continues, the Dawood family released a statement praying for a safe end to the drama. Our son Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, had embarked on a journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. Contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available, the statement said. We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time. The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members. Suleman Dawood, right / Supplied Mr Dawood, who is understood to live in Surbiton, south-west London, with his wife Christina, Suleman and daughter Alina, comes from one of Pakistans wealthiest and most well-known business families. He moved to Britain as a student to study law at the University of Buckingham and later studied for a masters degree in textile marketing at the University of Philadelphia. His father Hussain, 79, is the chairman of the Dawood Hercules Corporation, which makes chemicals, and the Engro Corporation, which makes fertilisers, food and energy. Mr Dawood is the vice-chairman of both companies. He is also in the founders circle of the British Asian Trust and a board member of the Princes Trust, the charity set up by King Charles in 1976 to help disadvantaged young people. OceanGate Expeditions to the Titanic: Titan submarine 1 / 36 OceanGate Expeditions to the Titanic: Titan submarine ES Composite The ship Deep Energy sails in the search area for OceanGates Titan submersible US Coast Guard/AFP via Getty Ima The pilot of a Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora maritime surveillance aircraft of 14 Wing flies a search pattern for the missing OceanGate submersible, which had been carrying five people to explore the wreck of the sunken SS Titanic, in the Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland, Canada via REUTERS Ssubmersible Titan preparing to dive into the Atlantic Ocean on an expedition to the Titanic AP A view shows the ROV (Remotely Operated underwater Vehicle) Victor 6000 via REUTERS Cargo being loaded onto the Horizon Arctic at the harbour in St Johns, bound for the search area Joe Chase for DailyMail.com Last sighting of the Titan submarine Facebook Search equipment arriving at St Johns airport in Newfoundland aboard US Air Force C-17 cargo planes that is bound for the search area near the Titanic wreckage Joe Chase for DailyMail.com OceanGate Expeditions/AFP via Ge OceanGate Expeditions showing staff at work inside their submersible vessel named Titan, which is used to visit the wreckage site of the Titanic PA Cargo being loaded onto the Horizon Arctic at the harbour in St Johns, bound for the search area Joe Chase for DailyMail.com Facebook Cargo being loaded onto the Horizon Arctic at the harbour in St Johns, bound for the search area Joe Chase for DailyMail.com US Coast Gurad Captain Jamie Frederick speaks during a press conference about the search efforts for the submersible that went missing near the wreck of the Titanic, at Coast Guard Base in Boston, Massachusetts AFP via Getty Images A view shows the ROV (Remotely Operated underwater Vehicle) Victor 6000 via REUTERS PA Search equipment arriving at St Johns airport in Newfoundland aboard US Air Force C-17 cargo planes that is bound for the search area near the Titanic wreckage Joe Chase for DailyMail.com Members of the Coast Guard watch as US Coast Gurad Captain Jamie Frederick speaks during a press conference about the search efforts for the submersible that went missing near the wreck of the Titanic, at Coast Guard Base in Boston, Massachusett AFP via Getty Images Hamish Harding Facebook Stockton Rush OceanGate Suleman and Shahzada Dawood DAWOOD HERCULES CORPORATION/AFP Paul-Henri Nargeolet . AP Titanic tourist submarine Facebook U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander of the First Coast Guard District, speaks to the media AP A US Coast Guard vessel sits in port in Boston Harbor across from the US Coast Guard Station Boston in Boston, Massachusetts AFP via Getty Images Titan submersible vessel testing in 2018 Oceangate Expeditions As the Dawood family clung to hope that the Mr Dawood and his son will be rescued, friends of the British billionaire Hamish Harding spoke of their fears for those on board. Jannicke Mikkelsen, a Norwegian explorer, said: My biggest fear is knowing that they are trapped, without being able to get help. My fear is that they didnt make their last ascent window. We are starting to make worst case scenarios. Patrick Woodhead, the founder of White Desert Antarctica, which organises polar expeditions, said Mr Harding was a true friend and incredible explorer and that he was praying that he and the other passengers will survive. Hamish is a great advocate for exploring the globe and discovering new pathways to help make the world a better place, Mr Woodhead added. Our thoughts are with his wife Linda and his sons at this anxious time, and may Hamish and the crew be located quickly. The wreck of the liner Titanic, which sank on its first voyage to the US, is located about 370 miles off Newfoundland and was discovered in 1985, prompting tourist trips to see it in recent years. The US Coastguard has warned that locating the submersible would be difficult in such a remote part of the ocean. Hardings stepson, Brian Szasz, who was one of the first people to reveal the veteran explorer was on the craft later told friends he was going to a Blink-182 concert despite the crisis unfolding. Writing on Facebook, he said: It might be distasteful being here but my family would want me to be at the Blink-182 show as its my favorite band and music helps me in difficult times. Loading.... It has deployed two C-130 Hercules aircraft to search the surface in case it has emerged undetected. A Canadian Hercules aircraft and a P8 aircraft equipped with underwater sonar capability have also joined the search, while sonar buoys are also being deployed to try to detect the vessel. Even if the submersible is found in time, it might still be a challenge to save those inside. Frank Owen, a former submarine officer and director of an Australian escape and rescue project, said those on board also faced the challenge of maintaining composure to avoid consuming too much oxygen. He told the BBC that if they start panicking or moving around too much they could exceed those rates [of normal consumption of oxygen] with the result that the time available to the stricken passengers is shortened. He added that it would be easier to find the submersible on the surface of the water, but that it would be difficult if it was trapped or entangled. The vessel weighs 23,000 lbs (10,432 kg), measures 6.7m (22ft) in length, and can hold five people for 96 hours. Called Titan, it is made of titanium and filament wound carbon fibre and has proven to withstand the enormous pressures of the deep ocean, OceanGate said. A huge search operation has been launched to save the crew and passengers of a submersible that went missing on a dive to see the wreck of the Titanic in the North Atlantic. The Titan submersible, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, disappeared on Sunday morning about one hour and 45 minutes into an expedition to the wreck site, around 370 miles from the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. It was launched from a chartered ship called the Polar Prince. Who was on the vessel? The US Coast Guard said five people were onboard. Hamish Harding, 58, a British billionaire and adventurer, is feared to be among the missing, while Sky News reported that OceanGates CEO Stockton Rush and French submersible pilot, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, are also thought to be onboard. Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman were also on the vessel, their family said in a statement. British explorer Hamish Harding is feared to be among the missing / Facebook We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety, the statement read. Prolific adventurer Mr Harding - who holds 16 air-speed records including the fastest pole-to-pole circumnavigation by plane - lives in Dubai with his family. His stepson Brian posted last night: Thoughts and prayers for my Mom and Hamish Harding. Hamish Harding my stepfather has gone missing on submarine. Mr Harding, chief executive of brokers Action Aviation, posted that he was proud to be joining the OceanGate expedition as a mission specialist on Saturday . Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood (pictured) and his son were also on the vessel / World Economic Forum He posted a picture of himself on the support vessel and wrote on Instagram: Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive. We started steaming from St Johns yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow. The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers... some have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s, including PH Nargeolet. OceanGate Expeditions to the Titanic: Titan submarine 1 / 36 OceanGate Expeditions to the Titanic: Titan submarine ES Composite The ship Deep Energy sails in the search area for OceanGates Titan submersible US Coast Guard/AFP via Getty Ima The pilot of a Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora maritime surveillance aircraft of 14 Wing flies a search pattern for the missing OceanGate submersible, which had been carrying five people to explore the wreck of the sunken SS Titanic, in the Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland, Canada via REUTERS Ssubmersible Titan preparing to dive into the Atlantic Ocean on an expedition to the Titanic AP A view shows the ROV (Remotely Operated underwater Vehicle) Victor 6000 via REUTERS Cargo being loaded onto the Horizon Arctic at the harbour in St Johns, bound for the search area Joe Chase for DailyMail.com Last sighting of the Titan submarine Facebook Search equipment arriving at St Johns airport in Newfoundland aboard US Air Force C-17 cargo planes that is bound for the search area near the Titanic wreckage Joe Chase for DailyMail.com OceanGate Expeditions/AFP via Ge OceanGate Expeditions showing staff at work inside their submersible vessel named Titan, which is used to visit the wreckage site of the Titanic PA Cargo being loaded onto the Horizon Arctic at the harbour in St Johns, bound for the search area Joe Chase for DailyMail.com Facebook Cargo being loaded onto the Horizon Arctic at the harbour in St Johns, bound for the search area Joe Chase for DailyMail.com US Coast Gurad Captain Jamie Frederick speaks during a press conference about the search efforts for the submersible that went missing near the wreck of the Titanic, at Coast Guard Base in Boston, Massachusetts AFP via Getty Images A view shows the ROV (Remotely Operated underwater Vehicle) Victor 6000 via REUTERS PA Search equipment arriving at St Johns airport in Newfoundland aboard US Air Force C-17 cargo planes that is bound for the search area near the Titanic wreckage Joe Chase for DailyMail.com Members of the Coast Guard watch as US Coast Gurad Captain Jamie Frederick speaks during a press conference about the search efforts for the submersible that went missing near the wreck of the Titanic, at Coast Guard Base in Boston, Massachusett AFP via Getty Images Hamish Harding Facebook Stockton Rush OceanGate Suleman and Shahzada Dawood DAWOOD HERCULES CORPORATION/AFP Paul-Henri Nargeolet . AP Titanic tourist submarine Facebook U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander of the First Coast Guard District, speaks to the media AP A US Coast Guard vessel sits in port in Boston Harbor across from the US Coast Guard Station Boston in Boston, Massachusetts AFP via Getty Images Titan submersible vessel testing in 2018 Oceangate Expeditions What was the sub doing? The 22ft Titan submersible holds five people and can descend to depths of 2.5 miles. Travelling at about 3.5mph, it has also been used for research, film production and testing of hardware and software. The vessel is run by OceanGate Expeditions, a US-based private company, which charges $250,000 for an eight-day package to visit the ship. It promises passengers the chance to become one of the few to see the Titanic with your own eyes. The firm has pioneered adventure packages to the Titanic, first completing dives to the wreck in 2021 and returning for six weeks of expeditions in 2022. During the eight-day excursions, operating from St Johns, Newfoundland, tourists are taken out into the Atlantic on large boats. When they reach the dive site, the submersible is released from the ship and dives down to the wreck. The round trip - descending to the ocean floor, exploring the wreck and ascending back to the surface - usually takes about eight hours in total. David Pogue from CBS said passengers were sealed inside the main capsule by bolts applied from the outside and had to be removed by an external crew. If the sub became trapped or sprung a leak theres no back-up, theres no escape pod, he said. A submersible differs to a submarine in that it needs a mothership to launch and recover it. A submarine has the power to leave and return to port itself. It maintains contact via an internet connection powered by Elon Musks Starlink system. It had 96 hours worth of air. Titan is the only deep-diving sub with a toilet. Those aboard typically bring a sandwich for lunch, according to OceanGates website. Passengers are designated mission specialists while on board and are considered to be part of the crew. The company previously recalled working with engineers from Nasa to design Titan, boasting of its "multiple, redundant safety systems" that "can determine if the hull is compromised well before situations become life-threatening, and safely return to the surface". OceanGate said the Titan is outfitted with state-of-the-art lighting and sonar navigation systems plus internally and externally mounted 4K video and photographic equipment. It has sensors to analyse the effects of pressure as it dives, in order to assess the integrity of the structure. The company said: This onboard health analysis monitoring system provides early warning detection for the pilot with enough time to safely return to surface. Past wealthy clients to take the trip include James Cameron, director of the 1997 Titanic film, and Bill Price, the retired president of a travel company, who wrote in 2021: The Titanic expedition isnt for everyone. But if you are a risk taker, have a desire to learn about history and dive technology, want to play a hands-on role in an expedition, and are in a place in life where it makes sense financially, its a great fit. What is the latest on the rescue mission? US and Canadian ships and planes have swarmed the area about 900 miles (1,450km) east of Cape Cod, some dropping sonar buoys that can monitor to a depth of 13,000 feet (2,962 metres), US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said. It is a remote area and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area, Mr Mauger said. We are deploying all available assets to make sure that we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board, he said. Going into this evening we will continue to fly aircraft and move additional vessels. OceanGate Expeditions said on Monday that it was mobilising all options to rescue those on board. The US Coast Guard said a boat on the surface the Polar Prince lost contact with the Titan about one hour and 45 minutes after it began diving toward the site of the Titanics wreckage on Sunday morning. The 10,432kg Cyclops-class submersible is only capable of providing 96 hours of life support, according to OceanGates website. The Titanic wreckage lies about 3,800m (12,500ft) deep in pitch black water. T he UK government has said it is ready to assist in the search for a missing submersible that vanished while taking tourists to see the wreck of the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic. The 22ft Titan, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, disappeared on Sunday morning about one hour and 45 minutes into its expedition, around 370 miles from the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The US Coast Guard said five people were onboard. British billionaire Hamish Harding, UK-based businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman were among those on the vessel. Authorities on Tuesday said they are are expanding their search into deeper waters for the submersible. Missing explorer Hamish Harding / Instagram OceanGates CEO Stockton Rush and French submersible pilot, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, are also thought to be onboard. The 10,432kg Cyclops-class submersible is only capable of providing 96 hours of life support, according to OceanGates website. Downing Street said it was ready to provide support and assistance if needed. Shahzada Dawood was on the vessel with his son Suleman / World Economic Forum We are ready to provide assistance. At this stage Im not aware theyve specifically requested assistance from our capacity, which is based in Clyde in the the naval base there. Clearly it is a complex rescue mission at significant depth, the Prime Ministers official spokesman said. We would wait to see what may or may not be required. We are in contact with the relevant authorities and are ready to provide assistance, but clearly it is an unusual rescue operation given the depths involved. A spokesperson for Rishi Sunak said his thoughts are with the families of those involved in the missing vessel. The prime ministers official spokesman said: The families involved will be deeply concerned and his thoughts are with them and the Foreign Office is providing support. He said that the prime minister clearly wants to pass on his thanks to those that are responding to the situation. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said he hoped the missing submarine and its passengers would be swiftly found. Loading.... Speaking alongside US counterpart Antony Blinken, Mr Cleverly said the thoughts of the Government were with those individuals who are currently in the submersible in the North Atlantic. We wish them all the luck, and of course we hope that they will be swiftly found and returned to their loved ones, he said. US secretary of state Mr Blinken said: I can only echo that, James. Crews from Boston Coast Guard in the US are among those leading the search-and-rescue operation, with naval surveillance aircraft from the US and Canada also involved. The sub is built for five mission specialists - a pilot, guide and three visitors paying up to 96,000 each. During the eight-day excursions, operating from St Johns, Newfoundland, tourists are taken out into the Atlantic on large boats. When they reach the dive site, the submersible is released from the ship and dives down to the wreck. The round trip - descending to the ocean floor, exploring the wreck and ascending back to the surface - usually takes about eight hours in total. Submersibles differ from submarines as they are not self-sufficient nor capable of propelling themselves on long journeys. The Titanic passenger liner sank in April 1912 after striking an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. More than 1,500 people were killed. The wreck was rediscovered in 1985 after a decades-long search. P olish sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz has been celebrated with a Google Doodle on what would have been her 93rd birthday. Widely regarded as one of Polands most internationally acclaimed artists, Abakanowicz gained global critical acclaim for her pioneering textile sculptures of the human figure. She was part of a generation of artists whose childhood was heavily disrupted by the outbreak of World War II. In a blog post on Tuesday, 20 June, Google explained the design behind Abakanowiczs Doodle, writing: Is it a tapestry or a sculpture? Magdalena Abakanowiczs figures of woven fibre broke the mold when she pioneered a new category of art known as Abakans. Todays Doodle celebrates the Polish sculptor and multi-element artist. Who was Magdalena Abakanowicz? Born in 1930 into a landowning family of aristocratic heritage whose lineage could allegedly be traced back to Genghis Khan, Abakanowicz enjoyed an early life of privilege. However, her idyllic upbringing was uprooted at the outbreak of the Second World War. She was nine when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, and her family spent years living on the outskirts of Warsaw, becoming members of the Polish resistance. In 1943, a drunken soldier shot her mother, causing her to lose her right arm. Under the post-war communist doctrine, the Polish government officially decreed socialist realism as the only acceptable art form allowed to be created. Other forms being practiced at the time in the West, such as Modernism, were outlawed and heavily censored in all Communist Bloc nations, including Poland. After the end of the war, in 1948, Abakanowicz began studying at the secondary school for plastic arts in Gdynia. In 1954, she graduated from Warsaws Academy of Fine Arts. Abakanowicz at the Tate / Embryology 197880, Tate Of her time studying, she said: I liked to draw, seeking the form by placing lines, one next to the other. The professor would come with an eraser in his hand and rub out every unnecessary line on my drawing, leaving a thin, dry contour. I hated him for it. Much of Abakanowiczs early works were large gouaches painted on canvas, but she became able to experiment with other forms of media in the mid-1950s, as Polands government began to liberalise its attitude to the arts. From welded steel to textiles, Abakanowiczs art began to evolve and in 1962 she was encouraged by the weaver Maria Laszkiewicz to exhibit at the first International Tapestry Biennale in Lausanne, Switzerland. A few years later, she began to develop her own unique style of sculpting throughout the 1960s, transforming textiles into three-dimensional sculptures suspended from the ceiling. The installations were named Abakans, after herself. Magdalena Abakanowicz, Abakan Red, 1969 / Magdalena Abakanowicz, Abakan Red, 1969 (Magdalena Abakanowicz Foundation) In 1965, Abakanowiczs innovative approach was rewarded at the Sao Paulo International Art Biennale where her Abakans won her the top prize. It was one of the many awards she would go on to win during her career. She also won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sculpture Center in New Jersey, an award for Distinction in Sculpture from the Sculpture Center in New York, and the Commander Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta in Poland. By the mid-70s she had developed the works which would go on to become her most recognisable severed heads and headless bodies made from sacking. Museums and exhibitions across Europe, the Americas, Japan, and Australia have featured Abakanowiczs work. One of her collections called Agora, which is a group of 106 iron cast figures, enjoys permanent installation at Chicagos Grant Park. Abakanowicz died on 20 April, 2017 in Warsaw, Poland. The International Forum of Volunteers has started in Astana. The event takes place at the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation. Its symbol was a DNA fragment, personifying the "kindness gene". More than 400 volunteers from different regions of Kazakhstan and 34 countries of the world participate in the forum, Azernews reports. Yesterday an international volunteer center was opened in the capital. According to Vice Minister Daniyar Kadyrov, 54 projects have been launched this year to support volunteer organizations. A year ago, the Hub of Central Asian Volunteers was created, to which both Turkiye and Azerbaijan wish to join. Within two days, 50 foreign speakers will speak about their projects, initiatives and their vision of the volunteer movement. According to the organizers, the main goal is the development and support of the volunteer movement, the presentation of Kazakhstani experience, the establishment of close ties, the exchange of experience, and the strengthening of interaction in solving accumulated problems both in the regions and at the international level. Things have been going wrong for the Iraqi Kurds after big boosts over the past two decades, with their influence in Baghdad dwindling and other reverses. For us, the Kurdistan Region is not just a red line. It is also a death line roared Iraqi Kurdish nationalist leader Masoud Barzani last week as he blasted the decision by the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad to restrict the autonomous regions control over its finances. Its Kurdistan or death, he said. The former guerrilla chieftain who has sought to lead the Iraqi Kurds to independence from the rest of the country described the Iraqi political factions whose members voted for the decision contained in Iraqs new budget as chauvinistic and accused them of renegading on their pledges in agreements made prior to the formation of the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani in October. Barzanis thunderous remarks came amid a bitter divide in Iraqs federal legislature over the share of the Kurdistan Region in the national budget, which was voted for along factional lines as has been the case since the overthrow of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003. But Barzanis unprecedented lambasting of the federal parliament for allegedly undermining the constitutional rights of the Kurdistan Region also underscores an uneasy alliance between the Iraqi Kurdish leaders and the Shia groups that have controlled Iraqs politics since Saddams ouster. The crisis has also highlighted the Kurdish Question that has long haunted modern Iraq, reflecting the complex national-ethnic conflict that has given rise to the Kurdish resistance and independence movement. The Kurds in Iraq have been seeking statehood since the inception of the Iraqi state in 1922 following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Over time, their separatist movement has developed on a greater scale and moved from ideological mobilisation to military struggle. The Iraqi Kurds under the leadership of their two major parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), launched an armed rebellion against the central government in Baghdad with multiple ceasefires and political agreements broken and leading to a protracted conflict. In 1991, fighters from the two Kurdish factions succeeded in taking control of large chunks of the northern Kurdish enclave, seizing on the political and security vacuum in Iraq following Saddams defeat in the war with a US-led international coalition after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The turning point came when the KDP and PUK established a separate administration in northern Iraq after a No-Fly Zone was set up by the US, Britain, and France in the region to protect the Kurds against Saddams reprisals. The wind seemed to be at the Iraqi Kurds back, with the wings of destiny looking to carry their national cause aloft. For the first time in their turbulent history, the Kurds struggle for rights, autonomy, and even an independent Kurdistan was forging new national and geopolitical realities. The drastic change in the Iraqi Kurds lot in 1991 was so overwhelming that questions were asked about the errors committed by the Kurdish leaders that later saw them squander the political momentum brought about by this finest hour in the Iraqi Kurds history. With a wide swathe of northern Iraq under their control for the first time, KDP leader Barzani and PUK leader Jalal Talabani turned down Saddams offer for Kurdish autonomy with the introduction of democracy in Iraq. After several rounds of negotiations in Baghdad, various issues remained unsolved, including international guarantees and the borders of the proposed autonomous region, especially whether they would include the oil-rich province of Kirkuk. For the Saddam regime, which had granted limited autonomy to the Iraqi Kurds in 1970, the priority was to preserve Iraqs unity by preventing them from forming the nucleus of a future Kurdish state. Its bet was that the Kurdish leaders would fail to remain unified and would fail to change the long-term regional and international objections to Kurdish statehood. However, instead the Kurdish leadership, driven by their mistrust of Saddam and buoyed up by Western protection in the No-Fly Zone, opted to remain outside of Baghdads control and build their own governing space in the hope that the new status quo would enforce the case for future Iraqi Kurdish statehood. It was another missed opportunity by the Iraqi Kurdish leaders to resolve the conflict not only peacefully but also realistically by showing that they understood that autonomy was just one among others in a series of challenges. They succumbed to their hope that Saddams fall would pave the way for their dream of independence to come true. After the US-led invasion of Iraq and the collapse of the Saddam regime in 2003, the two main groups that had consolidated their grip on the Kurdish enclave in Iraq worked with the US Occupying Authority and Shia political allies to enshrine a federal Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraqs post-2003 constitution. But behind the facade of federalism, the two parties sought to build a semi-independent administration with foreign representation and turn the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters into an effective military force. They sought to enlarge their territorial control by annexing Kirkuk and hundreds of towns and villages in several other provinces. The ambitions of the Kurdistan Regions federal setup were so vast that it surpassed the large-scale land grabbing, control of the borders and energy resources, and extra constitutional powers its leadership gave themselves. The deliberate enhancement of the federal status of the region illustrated the path the Kurdish leadership had chosen which was eventually to leave Iraq. In order to pursue that goal, the Kurdish leadership, particularly the KDP, took the rest of Iraq into grinding conflicts with the aim of ultimately falling apart. A stable, democratic, prosperous and strong Iraq carries the potential of a costly and prolonged struggle for Kurdish independence. The Kurdish leadership then fought with Shia and Sunni factions in Iraq over the terms of sharing power and wealth in the new federal system. The formation of central governments became protracted and subjected to hard bargaining to ensure that the Kurds remained kingmakers. Annual federal budgets became venues for wrangling over the KRGs allocations and deal-making to avoid federal oversight. The Kurdish political groups in Iraq have not only remained party to many national conflicts, but their representatives in the central government in Baghdad have also failed to act effectively to stop the ruinous path of corruption, dysfunction, and cronyism taken by their political partners in the capital. These are all signs of Iraqs decay and it is difficult not to find much for Kurds to be hopeful about in the countrys bleak future which could justify their breakup from the country. As the Kurds political leaders have kept reimagining the domestic, regional, and international purpose behind their federal entity, they have continued to do so on their own terms and not for the sake of besting Iraq. The lingering financial and political disputes with Baghdad have made the country more fragile and have undermined its stability, leaving political turmoil and security voids increasingly exposing it to terrorist groups such as the Islamic State (IS) group. Worse still, while government forces and volunteers were fighting IS terrorists who had seized several towns in Iraq in a major offensive, the Barzani-led administration in the Kurdish Region sent in Kurdish Peshmerga forces to drive Iraqi army units out of Kirkuk. They took full control of Kirkuk and its oil fields and of other Kurdish-populated areas outside the official territory of the KRG. The series of miscalculations by Iraqi Kurdish leaders culminated in a decision by Barzani, then the KRGs president, to hold an independence referendum in October 2017, which was rejected by the Iraqi government as unconstitutional. The US and other Western nations and governments in the region also did not recognise the unilateral referendum. Errors, misjudgements, and arrogance have not only created mistrust of the Kurdish leaderships relationship with the rest of Iraq and doubts about their genuine belief in federalism, but they have also undermined any unity of purpose among the Kurds themselves. Since an autonomous Kurdistan government was established in the 1990s, it has been mutating into a rentier entity. The KDP and the PUK have been locked into a cycle of mutual recrimination and have established a state within a state in the areas under their control and fought for shares of revenue and power. The two parties have turned the two areas under their control into fiefdoms ruled by the Barzani and Talabani families. Corruption and nepotism have marked their reign, as they compete, and even fight, over revenues from oil, customs duties, taxes, and kickbacks from foreign businesses, leaving ordinary Kurds battling hardships or seeking refuge abroad. It is a painful irony that one political slogan that the Iraqi Kurdish parties have propagated since the inception of their insurgency against the government of General Abdel-Kareem Qassim in 1960 has been democracy for Iraq and autonomy for Kurdistan in order to avoid being accused of being separatists. But over more than six decades, the Kurdish leadership has made alliances with Iraqs most anti-democratic political forces, regional autocrats, and foreign powers with vested interests in order to consolidate their grip on the Kurdish Region and throw into doubt any intention to help build a democratic Iraq. Such flaws were laid bare in the three years state budget, which was passed by the Iraqi parliament last week. The Kurdish parties fought fiercely over allocations for the KRG but legitimised the ruling elites funneling of billions of dollars to their own groups in the rest of Iraq. * A version of this article appears in print in the 22 June, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: R eading has the magical ability to transport you to another world. It has not only helped to challenge our brains and improve our intellect, but it also allowed us to escape from our own thoughts for a moment or two. As mere tots, we were subtly taught the notion that journeys dont always have to be physically taken. Just as we can conjure up an image in our minds eye from the wonderful words we read on a page, stories can take us on a metaphorical journey within our own consciousness into a world of deeper, more universal understanding. While travel memoirs and essays have a unique power to take us somewhere very real through a writers own lived experiences, fictional novels which take place in unknown lands have the uncanny power to achieve the very same effect. As such, were not just going to include your classic travel memoirs in this article. Rather, well introduce you to a series of wonderful novels both fiction and non-fiction that you would have never expected to inspire a sense of wanderlust. Keep scrolling for a round-up of some of the best travel books of all time. Perhaps theyll inspire your next trip abroad, or perhaps theyll provide a transformative experience from the comfort of your own home. Either way, youre in for some self-searching and discovery. Shop now F rom Harry Styles bejewelled and bedazzled overalls worn throughout his incredible two-year tour, to Taylor Swifts casually cool rehearsal attire its safe to say that the dungaree is well and truly a la mode. With all things retro making a comeback over the last few decades, its certainly no surprise that the hard-wearing and stylish ensemble has made a return to the spotlight as it did in the 80s, 90s and early 00s. Whether paired with turtlenecks and plain white t-shirts, matching denim shirts or for the daring lot among us nothing at all, dungarees can be styles to reflect aesthetics from any decade of your choosing. The history of the dungaree goes much further back than you might think. Originating in 17th century India, the noun dungaree is a derivative of the Marathi dongri a special type of coarse calico cloth, which was used to make tough and robust workwear. The material is believed to have been named after Dongri Kapar, a harbour village near Mumbai, credited by historians as the birthplace of the style. Just when work overalls became entirely synonymous with denim is relatively unclear, though we can assume the association occurred in 1853, when Levi Strauss & Co. combined the tool bib and denim trousers to create the very first modern dungarees. With denim workwear taking off in the late 40s and early 50s during the war effort, the association between heritage denim from the likes of Lees, Dickies and Levis was solidified. Indeed, both female and male farmworkers and mechanics were known to sport the comfortable and practical ensemble during the Second World War and beyond. Getty Images Since then, dungarees have been fashioned with everything from linen and tweed, to cotton and corduroy. While the late 50s saw structured silhouettes with high, squared necklines, the 60s brought the top of the dungaree drop lower and lower with ever-thinning straps. Meanwhile, the 70s put their own spin on dungarees by adding a flared bottom, and the 80s and 90s made the entire silhouette a whole lot baggier. No matter what kind of aesthetic youre searching for when it comes to purchasing your very own dungarees, weve rounded up a selection of the best on the market. Keep scrolling for the most stylish and comfortable addition to your wardrobe. Shop now C atherine Tate has described her pairing with David Tennant on Doctor Who as an amazing accident of alchemy. The actress, who is currently starring in her new show Queen Of Oz, played companion Donna Noble in the beloved BBC series, teamed with Tennants Time Lord, who was the tenth Doctor. She first appeared in the closing scene of the shows 2006 series and as a special guest star in the subsequent Christmas special, before she returned as Donna for the duration of series four and in a subsequent Christmas and New Years special. She will now return alongside Tennant for the shows 60th-anniversary trio of specials later this year. Describing working with Tennant, Tate told ITVs Good Morning Britain: I think it was just an accident, an amazing accident of alchemy. Because we got on set, weve never acted (together) before, weve barely met each other, and it kind of just happened. And Russell (T Davies, the showrunner) captures I think our energy and our speech patterns and our dynamic. She added: Its joyous and it is real, and we love it, and I dont think either of us, in fact I know neither of us ever expected to get another bite of the Doctor. Tate said thinks the specials will air sometime in November, adding: I can say nothing, I cant even confirm Im in it. A teaser has revealed the first of the three specials will be titled The Star Beast, while the second is called Wild Blue Yonder and the third is named The Giggle. Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa is set to take over as the Time Lord after the three specials, alongside Coronation Street actress Millie Gibson, who is playing the Doctors companion Ruby Sunday. Gatwas first episode as the 15th Doctor will air over the festive period. The latest revamp of the series sees Its A Sin writer Davies return as showrunner, the man behind the 2005 revival of the long-running BBC show, succeeding Chris Chibnall, who introduced Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor. F ans of Glastonbury will soon discover a mystery band scheduled to headline the venerable music event. The main line-up has been announced including Guns N' Roses, Elton John and Arctic Monkeys, but one band, whose identity is only referred to as The Churnups is hidden. The Churnups are expected to perform from 6.15pm-7.30pm on Friday, June 23. Numerous theories have been put forth, as there are more than simply hidden sets at the festival. It also includes surprise visitors when other acts are performing. Here are some of the rumoured acts at this years Glastonbury. Who are the rumoured secret acts at Glastonbury? Foo Fighters Following frontman Dave Grohl's tweet from last week, the Foo Fighters appear to have taken over as the go-to choice. Fans have suggested that "The Churnups" are actually The Foos because of the use of the phrase "churning up." This unusual photograph shared on Twitter sparked suspicions that were first expressed a few weeks prior to the Instagram post. Pulp Given that Jarvis Cocker and band members are currently free over the Glasto weekend, many fans online initially speculated that the pseudonym belongs to Pulp, a band that has long been strongly rumoured to perform at this year's Glastonbury Festival. Pulp recently started their 2023 reunion tour. Sadly, Pulp drummer Nick Banks has turned to social media to refute the prevalent rumours. "Though its very tempting to tease you lot again. I know nothing of the Churnups band, he tweeted. Ok? Over and out. (For now)." Red Hot Chili Peppers Flea, the bassist for the band tweeted a picture that was extremely suggestive they may be performing at Glastonbury this weekend. Many saw this as a clear sign, but others wont so convinced. Blur Since last year, fans of Blur have been theorising that the bands tour dates point to a Glastonbury show. The band have not returned to the Glastonbury stage for over 13 years. The fact that the Country House boys have both Friday and Sunday free puts them in the hot seat. On Saturday, they have a performance in Dublin, although there may be time for a brief detour in the west country. Guest performances Eminem The festival usually includes secret guests during other acts performances. Eminem is one rumour that has started to gain notice. This is because the 8-mile star and Sunday nights headlining act Elton John have been well-known buddies for more than 20 years at this point. Additionally, the two frequently conferred when creating new albums and songs. Florence + the machine Florence and the machine have also kept their calendars free this weekend suggesting they could be performing as a guest. The band's next confirmed concerts aren't until Monday, June 26, when they'll play three nights in Ireland, possibly with time for a stopover in Somerset. This follows a performance on Thursday, June 21, in Italy. They last appeared on the lineup for Glastonbury in 2015, headlining the Pyramid Stage on the Friday night after Grohl, the frontman of the Foo Fighters, injured his leg. G ok Wan has shared his hopes to appear on the next instalment of Celebrity Masterchef although he admits his nerves might get the better of him. The broadcaster was catapulted into the limelight in the noughties in shows, How To Look Good Naked and Goks Fashion Fix, where he gave women the tools to feel their most confident selves both on the inside and out. In recent years however, the TV star has turned his attention to the kitchen regularly presenting This Mornings cooking segments as well as releasing two cookbooks and has fronted his own Food Network series, Gok Wans Easy Asian. And now it appears he is eyeing up his next cookery project Celebrity Masterchef just as the BBC series announced their latest famous line-up. While some would argue that Wan has the credentials to be a judge, the celebrity chef admitted that he wants to sign up as a contestant to impress Greg Wallace and John Torode but may have a tough time, as he recalled having his food critiqued during his time on Bake-Off. Speaking to The Standard, Wan, who recently partnered with Philadelphia UK, told us: I would love to go on [Masterchef]. I would love to do it. Wan is putting out hopes to appear on Celebrity Masterchef / Oliver Dixon Although my nerves get the better of me. When I did the Bake Off many years ago for Stand Up For Cancer, I found that one of the most stressful experiences of my life because Im really competitive and I dont like to get things wrong at all, and Im not very good with judgement. I kind of crumble when I think that people are judging me and when you go onto a program like that, which of course is a competition and the whole the format of the program is to be judged and your work to be judged, I crumbled. But Id give Masterchef a go. It always seemed inevitable that Wans passion for both broadcasting and cooking would collide, having grown up helping out at his parents restaurant in Leicester. Although he comes from a family of caterers, dont expect the presenter to open his own eatery any time soon, despite having come close several years ago after being inspired by his beloved French bulldog, Dolly Albertine Dishcloth. I really wanted to open up a kind of Shanghai-style cocktail bar called Dollys Dim Sum and serve delicious morsels and great cocktails, he recalled. It was at the height of Sex and the City so everybody was dressed up to the nines, looking for great food and cocktails. But the problem that Ive got with that is Im not very good at not being all over every project Im involved in and with a restaurant, having grown up in catering and seeing just how much of a tough job it is Its exhausting and it takes hundreds of hours a week, its all consuming. I would have to then give up something, and Ive never ever been very good at letting things go so maybe when I give everything else up at some point in my life then Ill open up a restaurant. The celebrity chef pictured with his dog Dolly / Instagram/Gok Wan Aside from cooking, Wan loves nothing more than spending time with his dog, Dolly, who he credits with changing my life, and regularly features on his social media. Knowing his admiration for animals and TV, could Wan see himself stepping into the late Paul OGradys shoes to front ITV series, For The Love of Dogs? Probably not, only because he couldnt leave the animals behind. The DJ shared: I mean what a show? How could anybody follow in the footsteps of the legend that is Paul? I was lucky to know him through friends. He was such a great man. While I love animals, I think theres probably people out there that will do a much better job because I would have to take all the animals home and theres no way I could. I remember Paul saying the most difficult part of the show is not taking those dogs home and I dont think I could do it. Id be heartbroken. Wan spoke to us as he partnered with Philadelphia UK for their Intense by Philadelphia pop-up tour and explained his love of hosting was at the heart of why he collaborated with the brand. He shared: I love hosting friends and family, especially for stand-out moments in life, so, getting involved with the Intense by Philadelphia pop-up tour is right up my street. The Intense by Philadelphia tour can be found alongside national cultural moments such as the Wimbledon, Glasgow Pride, and the Ashes in Leeds throughout the summer. M argot Robbie has revealed how she studied old Radox adverts for her shower scenes in her highly anticipated movie, Barbie. The Hollywood star made the revelation as she took Architectural Digest for a tour around the films movie set ahead of its release next month. Trying to be as true to the original dolls dreamhouse, Robbie revealed that there was no running water on the set nor in the movie, despite Barbie still showering. Demonstrating in the video how her character does this, the 32-year-old admitted she took inspiration from Radox ads from yesteryear which were known for their over-egged close-up shots of actors enjoying a hot shower. She shared: This is her shower. There is, of course, no water in Barbie Land, but she showers nonetheless. I would actually just look up old Radox commercials and try and replicate that. Recalling the moment she saw the set for the first time, Robbie said it was surreal. She continued: Id spent so long looking at the miniatures, and the models, and the drawings, and the design and then when you see it first time in real life and its all there... it was really exciting. Her tour comes after the company that provided the paint used for the set of the Barbie movie has responded to claims that it caused an international shortage of pink paint. During an interview with Architectural Digest, director Greta Gerwig and the films production designer Sarah Greenwood, spoke about the construction of Barbieland, which is decked out almost entirely in fluorescent pink. In the interview, Greenwood, a six-time Oscar nominee, claimed that the film had caused an international shortage of pink paint, telling the publication: The world ran out of pink. Now, Lauren Proud, vice-president of global marketing at Rosco, the paint company used by the film, has clarified Greenwoods remarks. Ms Proud confirmed the film used as much paint as we had, but explained that production on Barbie had coincided with wider global supply chain problems during Covid-19, as well as extreme weather in Texas in early 2021, which had affected vital materials used to create the paint. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, she said: There was this shortage and then we gave them everything we could I dont know they can claim credit, [but] they did clean us out on paint. The film, which stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, is due to be released in UK cinemas nationwide from July 26. S kyrora has begun testing its 3D-printed spacerocket engines in the UK. The company plans to run its rocket designs every week throughout the summer. This will involve a series of full-duration tests designed to emulate what is required for a rocket to reach the Earths orbit, 250 seconds of engine fire. The tests will take place at Skyroras site in Midlothian, Scotland, which sits in an abandoned quarry. The new models of 3D-printed engines are bringing Skyrora closer towards efficient commercial orbital launch. With our purpose-built rocket manufacturing and testing facilities in Scotland, we are proud to be localising as much of the launch value chain as possible, Skyrora CEO Volodymyr Levykin said. Skyrora has posted a video of one of the static engine tests in action on its YouTube channel. How are 3D-printed rocket engines made? Most of us associate 3D printing with plastic arts and craft creations, or enthusiasts using the tech to create replacement parts. However, Skyroras Skyprint 2 creates rocket components using Inconel, a nickel-chromium metal alloy able to withstand extremely high temperatures while retaining strength. Skyprint 2 was hailed the largest hybrid 3D printer in Europe at its launch in late 2021. Skyrora says this 3D-printed approach reduces the time taken to create core rocket components from 10 weeks to two weeks. It plans to get its 70Nm rocket design ready for full commercial launches of the Skyrora XL, a 22.7-metre-long rocket ship with payload capacity of up to 315 kilograms. These launches wont take place in Midlothian, though, but at the Shetland Islands SaxaVord Spaceport. Skyrora applied to the UK Civil Aviation Authority for a licence for this in August 2022. The company estimates this could take between nine and 18 months, although it could be approved any time now. Such flights will not be used for space tourism, but to carry objects such as satellites up into orbit. The state of UK space flight Skyrora is a bright hope for UK space tech, after Virgin Orbit filed for bankruptcy in April 2023. This followed the dramatic failure of the companys rocket launch in January 2023. Former Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said in February that the failure of the rockets launch may have been down to an 80 filter. Everything points to, right now, a filter that was clearly there when we assembled the rocket but was not there as the second stage engine started, Hart said during the SmallSat Symposium, as reported by SpaceNews. This is like a $100 part that took us out. Skyrora is a much smaller, and newer, operation than Virgin Orbit, which raised an estimated 370 million in funding. This included a 9.5 million grant from the UK Space Agency. Skyrora received an estimated 2.5 million in funding from the European Space Agency in March 2021 and a similar-sized grant in August 2022. This was on top of 25.5 million of earlier Series A venture capital funding, according to Crunchbase. Its impressive to see how innovative British-based companies such as Skyrora are using UK Space Agency funding to develop sector-leading technologies. The new 3D-printed engines are setting new standards in cost-effective sustainable design and manufacturing efficiency, said Dr Paul Bate, chief executive of the UK Space Agency. W e have a date! Samsung has confirmed that its next Galaxy Unpacked event will take place in Seoul, South Korea. With the Galaxy S23 already out, itll be foldables, wearables, and tablets in the spotlight. Heres what were expecting from Samsungs July 2023 Galaxy Unpacked event. When is Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023? Samsung has now confirmed the date of its upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event. Itll be on Wednesday, July 26 in Seoul. Hosting the event in Samsungs home country of South Korea means quite a timezone difference for interested parties in the UK. Fortunately, the local time of 8PM translates to a pretty sociable acceptable midday BST. How can I watch Samsung Galaxy Unpacked? Samsung has confirmed that the event will be streamed live on its Newsroom , Samsung.com and the companys official YouTube channel . What hardware are we expecting to see? With the Galaxy S flagship phones already out, this second Galaxy Unpacked event is likely to be devoted to foldables, wearables, and tablets. Heres what were expecting Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 It looks like itll be a case of more refinement for Samsungs flagship foldable phone. Yes, its set to get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset for a speed boost. But otherwise, its expected to be largely the same as its predecessors: a phone that unfolds like a book into a larger tablet. One persistent rumour is that its going to be thinner and lighter than before, thanks to a redesigned hinge which closes the gap between screens when closed. Its a small change on paper, but one that could be quite significant, as high price of entry aside bulkiness is the handsets main weakness. As for price, were not expecting Samsung to drop much from the 1,649 that the Z Fold 4 starts at. Given Googles Pixel Fold will come in at 100 more, theres not really much pressure on Samsung to come down at the moment. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, on the other hand, is due to get a substantial upgrade alongside the introduction of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Various leakers have claimed that, like the Motorola razr 40 Ultra , the phone is going to get a far larger external screen than previous generations. This would make it a lot more useful when its clamshell design is closed. Reports suggest the screen will go from a 1.9-inch strip to a 3.5-inch panel that covers most of the closed smartphone. As well as this, the phone is also set to benefit from an improved hinge, which could make the crease on the unfolded screen less visible, and hopefully less likely to leak onto the screen. Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Past summer Galaxy Unpacked events have showcased new Galaxy Watches, so a new set is expected here again. Rumours point to larger batteries, to make the Wear OS-powered wearables go longer between charges. But more excitingly, were expecting a return of the Classic model this time around. Historically, the Classic versions have had a rotating bezel for selecting apps a more elegant method of control than poking at the tiny touchscreen. But, for some reason, Samsung abandoned this with the Galaxy Watch 5. Its not clear if this expected return of the Classic is a direct replacement for the Pro model which appeared for the first time last year. However, we are expecting only two versions of the watch so it might not feature this year either way. Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 At the weekend, yet another leaked promotional image appeared this time of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9, via the tipster SnoopyTech. What can we learn from the picture? Well, firstly that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 is going to come in three sizes (hardly surprising, given the Tab S8 was available in 11-inch, 12.6-inch and 14.6-inch sizes) and still come with an S Pen for doodling and note-taking. But read between the lines, and theres something else hinted at here. See how the aforementioned S Pen is drawing a massive wave, and how there are splashes off the edge of the Tab S9 Ultra? Brands tend to do this only when they have water resistance to promote something Samsung hasnt offered in its premium tablets before. Yes, the Galaxy Tab Active 3 offered it in 2020, but that was a chunky and rugged tablet designed for perilous work conditions, rather than lounging at the beach. Beyond that and the annual chipset upgrade (Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 coming here, too), expect this to be a reasonably modest upgrade. However, the cheapest version is expected to inherit the OLED screen from the more expensive models this time around. S amsung has launched its self-repair initiative in the UK. It lets owners of Samsung Galaxy S20, S21 and S22 series phones have a crack at phone repair at home. One key benefit of schemes such as this is that you are guaranteed official replacement parts, not the lower-quality type you might receive from a local repair shop. Samsung will sell you display modules, including a battery, rear covers and charging port replacement PCBs. The trickiest part of fixing a modern smartphone is in removing the back cover, as it is typically glued in place. To that end, Samsung sells a Self Repair Tool Kit for 24.80. This includes a heat pack to loosen the adhesive, alongside plastic prising tools and a glass-gripping spudger. But is it worth doing the job yourself? That part is less clear. Lets take the Samsung Galaxy S22 as an example. According to the Samsung website the RRP for a screen repair for this phone is 164, rising to 209 if the repair includes frame repair and a new battery. From Samsungs self-repair portal, youll pay 145.52 for the display kit with battery, plus 9.35 in delivery charges. And you may incur additional customs charges, Samsung says. After adding the Self Repair Tool Kit, youre looking at an outlay of 179.67 before customs charges. That is roughly 30 less than Samsungs estimate for a professional repair, and its not clear if Samsungs repair kits include a new sidewall frame. How much does it cost to repair a phone? After searching for actual quotes online, we found some repair centres charge more than Samsungs suggested figures. For example, iSmash charges 215 for the Galaxy S22 service Samsung pegs at 209, but offers a super-fast two-four hour turnaround. Not bad at all. Timpson does not currently offer Galaxy S22 repairs, but will charge 309.95 for a battery and screen repair for a Galaxy S21, far higher than the 229 recommended repair cost published on the Samsung website. Our recommendation? Youll save yourself big potential headaches if you get a professional involved, but make sure they use official Samsung components to avoid giving your phone a downgrade. And do shop around a bit. How many gadgets can you repair at home? Samsungs Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360 laptops are also part of the self-repair programme. Parts available include batteries, upper and lower casing panels, displays and the rubber feet that sit on the laptops underside. The Samsung Self-Repair programme launched in the US in 2022. It then came to Samsungs home, South Korea, in May 2023. This may be seen as a response to Apples Self Service Repair scheme, which launched in the UK in December 2022. However, like Samsungs version, it does not include current-generation phones and may seem a little pricey to many. An iPhone 13 display bundle kit will cost 282.28, roughly half the amount of a refurbished phone in decent condition. Despite the good intentions and financial pledges of the Brussels conference, a comprehensive solution to the Syrian crisis remains elusive, writes Karam Said Brussels hosted the seventh Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region on 14 and 15 June. Attended by various European nations, Syrias neighbours, and delegates from the UN and other international organisations, the conference was primarily intended to galvanise financial, humanitarian and political aid, providing support to countries that host Syrian refugees. The Brussels conference, held at the European Parliament headquarters, announced an additional aid package of $10.3 billion to Syrians suffering from hunger, poverty, and the terrors of war in their homeland. The European Union also pledged to furnish an initial sum of $600 million in 2024, with a commitment to augment the allocation in the ensuing months, along with the addition of supplementary contributions. The conference was held amid a series of field and political developments in the Syrian arena. The most prominent of these are the reverberations of the devastating earthquake that struck northern Syria on 6 February, causing colossal losses in terms of both lives and infrastructure. The UN estimated that the total damages and losses inflicted by the earthquake in Syria are approaching a staggering $9 billion. Other estimates reported that recovery efforts in the affected areas require around $15 billion of funding. On 13 May, Amnesty International called upon the UN to continue providing aid through the border crossings between Syria and neighbouring countries, which constitute a lifeline for millions of people affected by the earthquake and are crucial for their survival. The Brussels conference also coincided with renewed popular protests in Syria, sparked by a decline in economic indicators, deteriorating living conditions, and a persistent devaluation of the local currency. Three UN organisations have described the needs in Syria as enormous, stating that only one-tenth of the required funding has been secured thus far for 2023 projects aimed at assisting Syrians in their country and those who have sought refuge in neighbouring regions. Against this backdrop, the Brussels summit was convened to provide support for Syria despite the Western powers hardline stance on the Syrian regime. While the US Treasury Department announced a new set of sanctions related to Syria in late May, targeting the Al-Fadel and Al-Adham exchange companies, the European Union said on the eve of the conference that its policy towards the Syrian regime will not change until a political solution to the crisis is reached. On 16 June, Josep Borrell, the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, announced that the European Union must maintain, too, our commitment to justice and accountability for the crimes committed over what is now more than a decade of conflict The EU is already considering how it can support a new mechanism that, we hope, will be created by the UN to discover the fate and the whereabouts of those missing, and to support victims families. Borrell added: Let me be clear: the conditions are not in place for the European Union to change its policy on Syria, Member States are united on that. It will maintain and has recently actually intensified its targeting by sanctions of the Syrian regime. Since the outbreak of the Syrian Revolution in 2011, Western powers have levied sanctions on individuals and entities affiliated with the Syrian regime, in addition to the declaration by Washington and European capitals of efforts to normalise relations led by some countries with the Syrian regime. Moscow had taken the lead in endeavours to normalise the relationship between Ankara and Damascus, and Arab-Syrian relations have recently seen notable improvements, as evidenced by Syrias reinstatement as a member of the Arab League, in addition to the advancement of Damascus ties with its Arab neighbours, much to the chagrin of Western powers. Despite the relative success Europe achieved in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Syria, the conference faces several challenges. Foremost among these is the deterioration of Syrian conditions at home and abroad. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said over 14 million Syrians have fled their homes since 2011, with approximately 6.8 million still displaced in Syria, where almost the entire population lives below the poverty line. Additionally, there are some 5.5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt. The UNHCR reported that the Syrian war has resulted in 500,000 deaths, and has displaced millions of individuals, both internally and as refugees. The second challenge facing the conference is the escalation of hardline Western positions towards the Syrian regime, as they endeavour to isolate and exert pressure on the Assad government. This is manifested in their continued support of the experiment of the autonomous administration, led by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in the regions east of the Euphrates, which could contribute to perpetuating the idea of a divided country, or at the very least reinforce the notion of Kurdish autonomy in northern Syria, thereby weakening the centralisation of the Syrian state. Western countries, including Germany, France, and the UK, reject any rapprochement with Bashar Al-Assad. In a joint statement issued last March, the three countries, along with Washington, declared that they would neither normalise relations with the Al-Assad regime nor lift the sanctions imposed upon it. The statement accused the Syrian regime of perpetrating crimes against its own people and allowing terrorists to threaten regional security. The German Special Envoy to Syria Stefan Schneck said in mid-May that sanctions against the Al-Assad regime remain in place, and that Germany has not normalised relations with Damascus due to its policy of supporting illicit drug trafficking in the region. Other challenges facing the Brussels conference include the continuing violence and counter-violence in Syria between the regime and its opponents, in addition to the proliferation of armed and terrorist groups that have recently resumed their activities. Together, these challenges pose a significant obstacle in the way of any efforts to assist Syria. Ongoing local protests that have arisen in response to dire economic conditions may further distract attention away from addressing these challenges, and instead focus efforts on internal concerns. Hence, while the Brussels conference is crucial for Syria, it is unlikely that it will put the brakes on the ongoing economic, political, and humanitarian deterioration. This is due to the continuing conflict between the regime and its opponents, as well as among various terrorist groups and theirs. In addition, the divergent visions and interests of international and regional powers involved in the Syrian crisis, each with its own unique and narrow agenda, have hindered the settlement of the Syrian crisis and prevented the realisation of a radical solution. The Syrian conflict has exhausted both Syrians and the region, but a comprehensive solution to the crisis remains elusive. * A version of this article appears in print in the 22 June, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: What makes for the perfect match when choosing representatives of the state at the beginning of the third millennium, asks Gihane Zaki Presentable is a common word used by the glamorous elite in both Western and Eastern societies, in fact all around the world, to compliment a government representative or diplomat nominated for a mission abroad. Frequently, members of this elite tend to use this qualification for those persons, holders of prestigious functions and either men or women, who meet certain criteria, such as their dress code, their ability to hold salty fireside chats, or their skill at delivering a speech around the dinner table. My argument here is quite provocative since it raises a number of questions that are pivotal for any objective brainstorming. What would be an appropriate definition for someone who is a presentable representative of the state? Who would be the perfect match to assume the mission of the national and/or international representation of a country, especially at the delicate time the world is presently going through? Pushing the argument further, should governments reconsider the selection criteria of front-line personnel in the light of global digital transformations and the instrumentalisation of culture in international strategy? Would multiple generational casting be beneficial? Should governments better train and follow up the development of this front-line personnel, with each member of it being considered as the special envoy of his or her country? At the turn of the millennium, a new generation was born, one which came into the world after the year 2000 when it was going through very fast, complex, and unprecedented changes. Baptised Generation Z by many demographic researchers, this generation grew up in the age of the iPhone and faced a global atmosphere full of unprecedented challenges. There were no taboos, and it had no fear, it announced, minimising the weight of what had been lived through before and what we used to call history. It put aside notions like tradition, cultural heritage, identity, or authenticity that sounded obsolete to it, even though such concepts had still been meaningful to members of the previous generation, the co-called Generation Y or millennials who were born between 1980 and 1996 and have been described as the first global generation and the first to grow up in the Internet age. There is also Generation X, whose members, born between 1965 and 1980, sometimes still loudly insist on values and traditions even though these may have been lost in translation and are not wholly part of the global digital transformation that has transformed their lives. The notion of a presentable representative is today often reduced to how a person is dressed and perhaps also to his or her ability to seduce the public, both of which are no doubt important and valid considerations when selecting an official representative, front-line diplomat, or high-ranking employee. However, these considerations are no longer sufficient for a successful mission today. In the light of the unprecedent challenges the world is facing, the question of presentability should be reconsidered. TIME TO GET SMART: Smart power in the 21st century is not about maximising state power or trying to preserve hegemony over neighbours, but is about finding innovative ways to combine various resources and articulate them into successful strategies within a new context characterised by the spread of information and the rise of new actors. No matter where a country lies on the international map, and no matter how its political and economic power is ranked, the selection of its front-line officials should be based on new criteria and on a range of skills and qualities that include basic education, university degrees, and the ability to speak more languages to ease interactions on a regional and international level. Being verbally fluent and concise in persuasion and debating skills as well as having the ability to listen and to compromise are nowadays considered to be a must and are no longer simply additional features of a successful high-ranking official. On many occasions, the famous US diplomat George Shultz underlined the fact that listening is an underrated way of acquiring knowledge, and he insisted on the importance of being animated by a passion for the art and craft of diplomacy. There was a need to have an abiding interest in international relations, he said, in which every detail about the world would receive attention. An awareness of cultural differences and similarities is a crucial component of success in the new world context, especially for those in charge of representing societies having significant cultural diversity. Studying history and appreciating the stories behind cultural heritage sites and traditions are important tools for the new diplomacy. A knowledge of history does illuminate choices and raise central questions of policy formulation and implementation, says Ernest May, a leading US historian of international relations, echoing the views of US political scientist Richard Neustadt. In the third decade of the third millennium, the world is characterised by new forms of powers and by revolutionary tools that can create new paths across the globe that are additional to traditional ones, with these including developments in digital technology and artificial intelligence. The international arena has become larger, more difficult, and more complex than it was during the last century. Hard power, exercised through military actions and armed responses, was very aggressive, even if it could be immediately effective when imposed by one political actor upon another. But today, hard power is ineffective when there is a deadlock between two nations, or a diplomatic rupture, especially if both have equal status on the world political map. Soft power could be much more efficient in these circumstances, and in fact the subtle art of influencing people throughout cultural events, art exhibitions, music festivals, podcasts by influential storytellers, glamorous films and new social media apps, among other things, has become a fundamental part of international strategies to influence the populations of other nations using persuasion and attraction rather than coercion or force. Studying history and raising the awareness of school pupils about the meaning and importance of soft power, which basically relies on history, civilisation, culture, art, and heritage, among other things, is crucial for the future and should be part of the checklist for selecting future front-line officials. The representatives of a country would then be presentable owing to their substance, experience, and knowledge as much as for meeting any other criteria. The writer is member of the House of Representatives, Foreign Relations Committee, and researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research Sorbonne University. * A version of this article appears in print in the 22 June, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Chamber of Deputies clears legislative proposal for establishment of National Museum of Roma History and Culture. The legislative proposal regarding the establishment of the National Museum of Roma History and Culture in Romania was passed by the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday, by a majority of votes, told Agerpres. The draft law regulates the establishment of the National Museum of Roma History and Culture in Romania, a public institution of national importance, with legal personality, under the National Agency for Roma. According to the draft law, the Museum aims to present and promote the history, culture and traditions of the Roma in Romania, to raise awareness at home and abroad of the contribution of this national minority to the development and modernization of Romanian society over time, to protect the memory of the victims of the enslavement and deportation to Transnistria, as well as to combat racism and discrimination. The bill was passed by the Senate, but the Chamber of Deputies is the decision-making body in this case. Courts, prosecutor's offices in Bucharest halt work over amended pension regulations. The Bucharest Court of Appeal, the Bucharest Courthouse, the Prosecutor's Office with the Bucharest Courthouse and the prosecutor's offices with the Bucharest City's district courthouses on Tuesday decided to halt their work indefinitely, told Agerpres. "The General Assembly of judges of the Bucharest Courthouse, meeting on Tuesday at the call of the chairman of the Bucharest Court, in the presence of 213 judges, unanimously decided that the imminent amendment of the legal provisions that enshrine the special state pension for judges is of the nature of violating independence and affect the constitutional status of the judges," reads a press statement released by the courthouse. The magistrates also decided by a majority to resort to a form of protest against the course of the legislative process, consisting in postponing all court cases indefinitely starting on June 21, with some exceptions. The decision to halt work was also taken by the meeting of the general assemblies of the Prosecutor's Office with the Bucharest Courthouse and the prosecutor's offices with the Bucharest City's district courthouses. The magistrates request that the points of view expressed by the entire body of magistrates in the meeting of the general assemblies on May 31 be taken into account in the legislative process of passing legislative changes in the magistrates' pensions. The General Assembly of the National Anti-Corruption Agency (DNA) decided to initiate a form of protest in case the proposals put forth by the Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM) and supported by Romania's attorney general regarding the bill on the magistrates' penions will not be considered by the legislature. It also decided that at a future meeting gradual forms of protest should be established. Also, the judges and clerks of the Bucharest Court of Appeal would initiate a similar form of protest. DefMin Tilvar draws attention on threat to regional security represented by the Russian Federation. The missile attacks on civil targets in Ukraine and the incidents with missiles registered in Poland and the Republic of Moldova underscore the threat to regional security represented by the Russian Federation, National Defence Minister Angel Tilvar stated on Monday, on the occasion of his participation in the European Air and Missile Defence Conference, which takes place in Paris, told Agerpres. According to a National Defence Ministry (MApN) press release on Tuesday, minister Tilvar pointed out that the Black Sea is one of the main platforms from where the Russian army is launching missile attacks over Ukraine. He mentioned that the aggression war of the Russian Federation in Ukraine highlighted the "extremely dynamic" nature of the European security environment, with a strong impact in the Black Sea region, a situation that requires a "more robust" development of air and anti-missile defence capabilities. Minister Tilvar also showed that defence and deterrence represent a common responsibility at NATO level, which can also be endorsed through complementary projects at the European Union level. "Romania is firmly supporting the development of the European Defence Industrial Base, through a balanced approach, aiming to integrate the small and medium enterprises in the European chains of supply. Moreover, acknowledging the fact that the new technologies are changing the manner in which we think of defence today, it is paramount to boost the efforts to support European research in the defence area and industrial capabilities with innovative potential, which might help the armed forces in tackling the main gaps of defence capabilities," Angel Tilvar stated within the conference. The Defence minister presented the specific of the security situation in the Black Sea area and "the strategic, coordinated and consistent commitment" of Romania to ensure resilience and promote the strengthening of the defence and deterrence efforts in the region. "By investing in advanced defence technologies and systems, we shall be able to counteract these threats and discourage aggressions, in an efficient manner, protecting the safety and security of our states. At the same time, we must take into account the lessons learned in the last 418 days of the brutal war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine," minister Angel Tilvar stated. Romania continues to have a coherent and continuous approach regarding the development and strengthening of collective defence. Our country's commitment is reflected through the substantial budget allocation in the defence area, of 2.5pct of the GDP for 2023, situation which creates the premises to increase capabilities, interoperability and the level of operationality of Romania's Army, the MApN representatives also conveyed. DefMin Tilvar meets Israeli counterpart Gallant in Paris. Romania's Defence Minister Angel Tilvar on Monday met his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on the sidelines of the Le Bourget Air Show in France, told Agerpres. According to the Romanian Defence Ministry (MApN), the two officials discussed bilateral defence co-operation, the state of Black Sea security and the Middle East. MApN says that highlighted during the meeting was the importance of defence and security ties, essentially coordinated under the Romania-Israel strategic partnership, along with prospects for the development of sectoral collaboration in the future. Voiced was Romania's interest in the continuation of the high-level bilateral political and military dialogue, as well as at the level of experts, for the development of joint training co-operation, strengthening co-operation in the technical-military fields and the defense industry, and also updating the bilateral legal framework. The two officials highlighted the opportunity for joint efforts and initiatives to be defined and implemented in line with the objectives and requirements of the process of modernising the departments and capabilities of the Romanian Army, including in terms of the opportunities provided by specific co-operation framework under the aegis of the EU. Tilvar commended Israel for its active and significant role as a partner in NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue, and Romania's importance and support for the consolidation of Israel's ties with the European Union was emphasised. President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu conferred on former Foreign Affairs Minister and current presidential advisor Bogdan Aurescu the Order of Honor. Maia Sandu took to Twitter on Tuesday to note that she awarded the high distinction to Bogdan Aurescu for his "exceptional dedication to strengthening bilateral ties and to Moldova's EU accession process." "I thank President Maia Sandu for this special honor, on my personal behalf, and because it represents a recognition of the efforts of the Foreign Ministry's team in support of strengthening the Strategic Partnership and the full integration of the Republic of Moldova with the EU!," Aurescu wrote on Twitter. The Republic of Moldova's Order of Honor is awarded for substantial contribution to strengthening the statehood and promoting reforms and democratic transformations, as well as for special merits in developing friendship and cooperation between Moldova and other states. AGERPRES Foreign Affairs Minister Luminita Odobescu had talks on Tuesday in Chisinau with Prime Minister Dorin Recean, Speaker of Parliament of Moldova Igor Grosu, counterpart Nicu Popescu and Minister of Justice Veronica Mihailov-Moraru, informs a press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) sent to AGERPRES. The Romanian minister "stated that the Bucharest authorities will continue to provide robust, priority support adapted to the needs of the Republic of Moldova". Minister Luminita Odobescu pointed out that Romania is taking consistent diplomatic steps to advance the process of European integration, with particular emphasis on the objective of opening as soon as possible the negotiations for the Republic of Moldova's accession to the European Union. She presented the stage of the training and technical assistance programmes carried out by Romania for the benefit of experts from the public administration of the Republic of Moldova. She stressed the importance of the new EU sanctions regime aimed at counteracting destabilising actions in the Republic of Moldova. Odobescu said that this instrument should be used whenever acts against democracy, constitutional order and sovereignty of the Republic of Moldova are found. As regards the meeting with Prime Minister Dorin Recean, Luminita Odobescu wrote on Twitter that the discussions focused in particular on strategic projects in the energy, transport and digital fields. The topic of the fourth ministerial conference of the Support Platform for the Republic of Moldova, which will take place in Chisinau in autumn this year and will be co-chaired by the foreign ministers of Romania, Germany and France, was also discussed during the consultations with Nicu Popescu. Discussions with Minister Veronica Mihailov-Moraru focused on the priorities of justice reform, strengthening the rule of law and fighting corruption. Luminita Odobescu appreciated the sustained reform efforts and the concrete progress made in all these directions, including the fulfillment of the relevant recommendations indicated by the European Commission at the time of granting candidate status to the Republic of Moldova. She assured that Romania will intensify its support for the reform objectives undertaken by the authorities in Chisinau. Minister Luminita Odobescu also had an in-depth exchange of assessments with Moldovan officials on the regional security situation. The Romanian Minister reiterated Romania's full and determined support for strengthening the overall security, stability and resilience of the Republic of Moldova. The US and China must manage their relations responsibly in order to minimise any risk of conflict, writes Hussein Haridy US Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid a two-day visit to Beijing on 18-19 June. The visit was supposed to take place last February, but Washington postponed it because of the silly balloon, as US President Joe Biden described it last month in Hiroshima where he was attending the G7 Summit, that the US shot down over Alaska in February this year. The last time a US secretary of state visited Beijing was in 2018, when the official concerned was Mike Pompeo. Relations between the US and China were a lot more stable and warmer than they are now. According to some reports in the US media, Blinken was received upon his arrival in Beijing in a frosty way. From the Chinese point of view, this kind of reception is understood as being natural as senior US officials have been criticising China and accusing it of bullying and coercing its neighbours. They have also been ignoring the US own meddling in Chinas domestic affairs. Last week, the top diplomats of China and the US also talked over the phone. The most important part of their conversation came when the Chinese foreign minister asked his US counterpart to show respect when talking about things Chinese. One serious mistake the US commits when communicating with the Chinese is either accusing China of being responsible for all the worlds ills or adopting a haughty attitude. This is something that makes Chinas leaders and senior officials angry. Both sides made clear before the arrival of Blinken in Beijing that their expectations of the talks were modest at best. For the US, maintaining open lines of communications between Washington and Beijing is important in order to reduce the risk of miscalculations. For China, it is important to talk face-to-face with senior US officials candidly and honestly about the way in which the Biden administration is managing US-Chinese relations. Those relations have not seen such a deterioration before. In fact, since as far back as 1972 when former US president Richard Nixon visited China the first US president to travel to the Middle Kingdom since 1949 when the Peoples Republic of China was established relations between the two countries have not reached such a high level of tension and mutual mistrust. The Blinken visit aimed at reducing that tension. However, regarding the mutual mistrust, it seems that the Biden administration still has its homework to do, not only with regard to the best means of managing its competition with China, but also and more importantly with regard to showing respect for China. If this can be got right, the Chinese will likely listen more attentively to the US administration. The talks between the two delegations lasted seven and a half hours, one hour longer than expected, on 18 June. The Chinese then held a working dinner later in the day where the two delegations resumed their talks. The two sides agreed on a future visit to Washington by Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. He is no stranger to the city as he was the Chinese ambassador to the US until late last year before he was appointed foreign minister. They also agreed on the resumption of working-level meetings in addition to an increase in commercial flights between the two countries and in student exchange programmes. According to a readout of the talks by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Qin Gang communicated Chinas clear demands regarding Taiwan and called on the US to honour its promise not to lend support to Taiwanese independence. The US State Department released a statement on 18 June stating that Blinken had emphasised the importance of diplomacy and maintaining open channels of communication across a full range of issues to reduce the risk of misperception and miscalculation. It said that Blinken had stressed that the US will work with its allies and partners to advance our vision for a world that is free, open, and upholds the international rules-based order. There was no mention of the question of Taiwan, even though the Chinese side had said that Gang had dwelt on Chinas clear demands on Taiwan. It is interesting to note that Chinese President Xi Jinping received co-founder of Microsoft Bill Gates a few days before Blinken arrived in the Chinese capital. Before him he had received Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, the biggest bank in the world by assets, as well as Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan and Twitter and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. A State Department source quoted in the Washington Post on 18 June said that given the $700 billion in annual trade between the US and China, the US business community remained focused on the importance of the relationship between China and the United States. Unlike leading US bankers and business leaders, some Congressmen are not happy with the visit of Blinken to China. Representative Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, quoted in the Washington Post, criticised Blinken for not imposing new penalties and export controls on China and accused him of pursuing what he termed fruitless talks in Beijing. The newspaper ran an editorial on 17 June that stressed that it is essential to renew dialogue especially military-to-military talks with China. Keeping channels of communication open is essential among adversaries and competitors, it said. A high-level visit, the kind that used to be routine, is a good place to start. It is to be hoped that Blinkens visit in fact achieves this in other words, that it functions as a good start to diplomatic re-engagement between two great powers who should revise their competition responsibly so that it does not veer into conflict. The visit of Secretary Blinken was capped by an important meeting with President Xi Jinping, a meeting that demonstrates that two great powers are eager to stabilise their relationship. The writer is former assistant foreign minister. * A version of this article appears in print in the 22 June, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: ForMin Odobescu, Moldova's Sandu discuss Moldova's European agenda, regional security. Romania's Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu on Monday evening was welcomed in Chisnau, Moldova, by Moldova's President Maia Sandu to discuss Moldova's European agenda and the state of regional security, told Agerpres. "I am happy to welcome the new Foreign Minister of Romania, Lumini ta Odobescu, to Chisinau to discuss reforms, Moldova's accession to the EU and our bilateral relationship. We will continue to work together to promote prosperity, stability and common values," Sandu wrote in a social media post. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE), Odobescu said that "the unprecedented openness in recent years in the bilateral framework allowed the rapid advancement of all co-operation initiatives, especially those with direct relevance to strengthening stability and supporting the overall development of Moldova." Odobescu gave assurance about "Romania's solid commitment to promoting an accelerating the pace of the assistance projects benefitting Moldova, respectively for its comprehensive connection to the European space, through Romania." She particularly appreciated Moldova's "substantial progress" with reform, in particular with reference to meeting the recommendations of the European Commission of June 2022, when Molodva became an EU candidate state. ForMin Odobescu: Romania is a supporter of Moldova's European path. Romania is a supporter of Moldova's "European path" and this process will be followed "together" by the two countries, Romanian Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu said in Chisinau on Tuesday, told Agerpres. She held a press conference with her counterpart Nicu Popescu. "This is an important moment, we are working together to achieve this goal. I believe that Romania has proved clearly and repeatedly in its dialogue with European partners that it is a supporter of the Republic of Moldova in this European path, and we will travel this path together," said the head of Romanian diplomacy, referring to the accession of the neighbouring country to the EU. Luminita Odobescu said that Romania supports as a priority "obtaining as soon as possible a favourable decision for the Republic of Moldova to start accession negotiations with the European Union." In this regard, Odobescu referred to the preparation of the transfer of expertise in the area of European Affairs, "with the participation of specialists from ministries and other governmental institutions in Bucharest, for the benefit of our colleagues in Chisinau." The Romanian minister also mentioned that her visit to Chisinau is also in preparation for the visit to Moldova of the Prime Minister and the President of the Senate, which will take place "soon." Minister Nicu Popescu spoke of the "excellent" cooperation with Romania, mentioning the support offered by Romania in the energy, political and financial areas, especially in the context of Russia's war in Ukraine. "Romania plays and has always played a leading role in managing and setting the European agenda towards the Republic of Moldova," Popescu said. He brought to mind that, at Romania's initiative and with Romania's support, the European Union has launched several initiatives that will support the Republic of Moldova, "including the adoption of the new sanctions regime against those who try to destabilise the Republic of Moldova." Nicu Popescu referred to the European Commission's new recommendations for his country in view of EU accession. "We hope and expect that by the end of this year the Republic of Moldova will obtain the recommendation to start the negotiations for the accession to the European Union," said the minister of Chisinau. Garanti BBVA Romania records 191 million RON in profit in 2022, up by 34 pct v 2021. Garanti BBVA, a bank part of the Garanti BBVA Romania Group, achieved a net profit of 191 million RON last year, up 34.3 pct compared to 2021, and net revenues of 550 million RON, 20.1 pct higher, according to a press release sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday. "In addition, the bank recorded solid results both in terms of the volume of loans and deposits, which reflects the attention paid to ensuring a solid and balanced portfolio," the bank's representatives claim. So, Garanti BBVA recorded in 2022 a total volume of loans worth 9 billion RON, up by 14.4 pct, and deposits of 10.2 billion RON, up by 15.8 pct. "The increase was propped up by the growth of all business segments: Corporate, Retail and SMEs, which demonstrates the trust of clients, both individuals and legal entities, in the bank. With these results, 2022 becomes Garanti BBVA's best year in Romania, performance registered despite the economic uncertainties," the press release states. At the level of the Garanti BBVA Romania group, which brings together the bank and the two IFNs, Garanti BBVA Credite de Consum and Garanti BBVA Leasing, consolidated net profit increased by 16.5 pct, while consolidated net revenues increased by 15.5 pct. The total volume of assets of the Group advanced by 17 pct compared to 2021, to 15.2 billion RON. In addition, Garanti BBVA's strategic direction, focused on customers and their needs, led to an increase in the total number of bank customers in 2022. Garanti BBVA also had a very good start to this year, with results in the first three months that confirm its resilient and sustainable strategy for adapting to the current economic reality. Therefore, the bank recorded a 14.7 pct increase in loans and a 15.1 pct increase in deposits, respectively, compared to the same period last year. The net profit rose to 72.2 million RON, almost double compared to the first quarter of last year. Garanti BBVA is part of the Garanti BBVA Romania Group, together with Garanti BBVA Leasing and Garanti BBVA Credite de Consum, which complete the bank's offer with specific leasing products, fleet management services, and consumer loans. Garanti BBVA Romania is owned by Garanti BBVA Turkey (TGB), the second largest private bank in Turkey. The majority shareholder of Garanti BBVA Turkey is the Spanish financial group Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA). IGPF: Over 104,000 people enter Romania on Monday, of whom approximately 13,600 Ukrainians. The General Inspectorate of the Border Police (IGPF) informs that, on Monday, a number of 104,192 people entered Romania through border points, of whom 13,323 were Ukrainian citizens, told Agerpres. According to a release sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday, approximately 226,600 people, Romanian and foreign citizens, with approximately 53,800 means of transport, completed the control formalities at the border crossing points nationwide, both on the way in and on the way out. As of 10 February 2022 (the pre-conflict period), a number of 4,619,810 Ukrainian citizens have entered Romania. In the relevant areas - the border crossing points and the "green border," the border policemen discovered 75 illegalities (27 offences and 48 misdemeanors) committed by both Romanian and foreign citizens, with the amount of fines enforced standing at 33,900 RON. Assets of an estimated value of approximately 569,000 RON were impounded. On Monday, a number of 22 foreign citizens were not allowed to enter the country because they didn't meet the requirements stipulated by the law, while a number of 34 Romanian citizens were not allowed to leave the country for various legal reasons. Luxury market to account for almost 20 pct of Romania's total housing supply in 2023 (analysis). The luxury market accounts for almost 20% of Romania's total housing supply this year, 90% of which is in Bucharest, say representatives of some real estate companies, told Agerpres. About 50% of real estate transactions were made in cash, and developers maintain that more than 70% of them were for medium-high and luxury apartments or for the most expensive homes in a complex, namely the exact opposite of the trend so far, shows data from the National Cadastre and Real Estate Publicity Agency (ANCPI) presented in the analysis. According to real estate market specialists, the most important criteria that make up the price of a luxury apartment are still the neighbourhood, its size and finishes. Unique details, on the other hand, make the difference, and customers are turning to homes that offer more special related amenities. In recent years, most developers of luxury residential projects choose to work with renowned architecture and design specialists. For example, Ecovillas has chosen an internationally award-winning architect, Maxim Calujac, for its latest luxury project in Pipera, with whom they have built a concept that is the first of its kind in Europe: houses in the form of a bookshelf. For the Epique home project, Ecovillas will also offer residents some luxury amenities that cannot be found in standard projects, such as a geothermal heat pump - a system that uses the renewable energy of the earth to provide heat through holes drilled deep into the ground, a new central vacuum system and a ventilation system with heat recovery, as well as infrastructure for electric car charging sockets and photovoltaic installations. According to the analysis, related amenities for luxury housing include: triple-layered hardwood flooring, marble, decorative natural stone, natural paint, ceramic tiles, decorative elements made of natural materials, "branded" gold or silver-plated utilities, custom sink faucets, silver mosaic, decorative elements made of stones, precious metals and natural fibres, precious metal-blown utilities Also on the list of amenities are: designer/branded furniture, extra amenities such as jacuzzi, air curtain at the entrance, vacuuming through the walls and custom architecture, i.e. loft-style houses, compartmentalization adapted to the client's lifestyle. Magistrates from several courthouses, courts of appeal, prosecutor's offices in the cities of Romania have decided to join the judiciary protest, initiated by their colleagues in Bucharest, as a result of the proposals to amend the law on service pensions. They decided to postpone the cases starting from Wednesday, with the exception of urgent ones, as a sign of protest against the anticipated changes to Law 303/2022 regarding the status of judges and prosecutors. Therefore, the list of courthouses, courts of appeal, prosecutor's offices is added to those in Bucharest, as follows: the Prahova Court and the Ploiesti Court of Appeal, the Braila Court, the prosecutors from the Prosecutor's Office with the Brasov Court, the Vrancea Court, the Bistrita-Nasaud Court, the Satu Mare Court, the prosecutors from Valcea, the judges from the Targu Mures Court of Appeal and from the nine courts from the counties of Mures and Harghita, the judges of the Court of Appeal in Oradea, the judges from the Court of Appeal in Sibiu, the Court of Appeal in Timisoara, the Alba Iulia Court of Appeal and the Alba Court and the Prosecutor's Office with to the Ploiesti Court of Appeal. Earlier on Tuesday, the Bucharest Court of Appeal, the Bucharest Court, the Prosecutor's Office with the Bucharest Court and the prosecutor's offices with the Bucharest City's district courts on Tuesday decided to halt their work indefinitely. "The General Assembly of judges of the Bucharest Courthouse, meeting on Tuesday at the call of the chairman of the Bucharest Court, in the presence of 213 judges, unanimously decided that the imminent amendment of the legal provisions that enshrine the special state pension for judges is of the nature of violating independence and affect the constitutional status of the judges," reads a press statement released by the courthouse.AGERPRES Over 42,000 employees of MAI and other structures, trained at Schengen Multifunctional Training Center. More than 42,000 employees of the Interior Ministry (MAI), the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), the Finance Ministry, the General Anticorruption Directorate (DGA), but also from other state structures, have participated in professional training and specialization courses in order to access the Schengen Information System (SIS), organized by the Schengen Multifunctional Training Center Buzau (CMPS), since the establishment of the institution in 2011 and until today, told Agerpres. According to the CMPS Buzau, one of the two centers of this type which is operating at national level, the need to train staff and public institutions involved in the accession to the Schengen area has led to the organisation of an integrated training system. "The need of a joint effort at national level regarding the training of staff, as well as the possibility for the institutions/structures involved in Schengen integration to work together in order to achieve their objectives, has led to the establishment of an integrated professional training system. The declared and implemented objective at the level of the unit is 'professional training of the staff of the authorities entitled to access the Schengen Information System'. Through four departments, since making it operational, i.e. from 11.03.2011 until now, the initiation courses and continuing professional training programmes have led to the training of a total number of 42,349 trainees," the CMPS told AGERPRES. The center provides training programmes for MAI personnel, but also for staff of the SRI, the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE), the Public Ministry, the Justice Ministry, the DGA. Training courses are organised in areas such as Schengen Acquis and Combating Transnational Crime, Schengen Information Systems and Police Cooperation, Foreign Languages and Professional Communication or Communications and Information Technology. Furthermore, in order to provide a suitable platform for teaching the courses, the center has made investments both through European funds, as well as with the help of amounts earmarked from the state budget. Only in the last five years, the budget allocated to the institution has exceeded the amount of 75,000 thousand RON, according to data provided by the CMPS. The educational offer of the CMPS for the period October 1, 2023 - September 30, 2024 includes a series of training courses and specializations, including courses in the area of operational management at the external border of the European Union (EU), detection and investigation of cross-border crimes, policies and strategies in the area of border control, visas, immigration and asylum, ways to fight cross-border crime, preventing and combating human trafficking and general Schengen training for the Traffic Police. According to the CMPS, the continuous training of trainers is ensured through documentation activities, including participation in webinars organised by the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEOPOL), the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (EUROPOL) and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX). PM Ciolacu makes several appointments to the Prime Minister's Chancellery. Several counselors to the Prime Minister's Chancellery have been appointed through decisions of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, which were published on Monday in the Official Journal, told Agerpres. Thus, there have been appointed as state counselor within the Prime Minister's Chancellery the following: Florin-Marian Spataru, Ruxandra Ivan, Nicolae Comanescu, Victoria Stoiciu, Carmen Orban, Minel Ivascu, Andrei-Ion Ungar, Mihaiela Frasineanu, Eugen Constantin. Furthermore, through a decision of the Executive head, Gabiela-Otilia Romascanu has been appointed as director of Prime Minister's Cabinet, with the rank of secretary of state within the Prime Minister's Chancellery. Through other decisions, the Prime Minister appointed Victor Negrescu as honorary adviser of the Prime Minister and Bogdan Mazuru, which will be special representative of Romania's Government for the promotion of remembrance policies and combat anti-Semitism and xenophobia. PM Ciolacu on World Refugee Day: Romanians, unprecedented solidarity since the start of the war in Ukraine. Romanians have shown unprecedented solidarity, offering a space of safety and peace for refugees from Ukraine, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Tuesday, in a World Refugee Day message, told Agerpres. "In March 2022, I saw what terror means in the streets full of craters, looking at the bombed blocks in Bucea and Irpin. And I understood the horror experienced by desperate families, forced to flee the war. More than 4.6 million Ukrainians have elected to take up shelter in Romania, with most of them being women and children. I have also seen how, from then until today, Romanians have shown unprecedented solidarity: a generous national effort that has built a space of safety and peace for refugees from Ukraine," Ciolacu wrote in a social media post. According to him, the Romanian people demonstrate, by what they have been doing since the start of the war in Ukraine, "support and generosity in the face of terror." "That's why, today, World Refugee Day, is a new moment of certainty that Romanians are an example for the whole world! Through what our people have been doing for almost a year and a half, we demonstrate what support and generosity in the face of terror really means. And I learned a sacred lesson from my family: when you do something good, God will surely return the favour to you!" Prime minister Marcel Ciolacu will pay a working visit to Chisinau on Wednesday, where he has scheduled meetings with the president of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, with prime minister Dorin Recean and with the president of the Moldovan Parliament, Igor Grosu, the Government informs. "The Government of Romania will remain the guarantor of the security and stability of the Republic of Moldova and will continue to support with all its strength its course of accession to the European Union," said prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, in a statement sent to AGERPRES by the Government. According to the program announced by the Government, the prime ministers of the governments of Romania and the Republic of Moldova will hold joint press statements around 12:30. In the context of the visit, the Romanian prime minister will also take part in a working lunch offered by his counterpart from Chisinau. Three interdependent variables and scenarios can help us think about the future of the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. The first variable that can help us think about the future of the countries of the Arabian Peninsula concerns leadership. Despite the wide scope of the power that the states of the Arabian Peninsula have achieved, and its large scale, their political economy remains largely controlled by very small circles, often revolving round a single man in each country, a vulnerability addressed in the third article in this series. We have already seen succession procedures put in place in several peninsula countries over the past few years. In the case of Saudi Arabia, we already know a lot about the heir to the thrones ambitions and direction of travel. In other countries, we know little about the future leaders. Since the highly concentrated ruling mechanisms in the peninsula will likely remain as they are in the foreseeable future, how this new cadre of leaders will rule and whether they will initiate major changes domestically or in their countries international positioning will prove highly consequential for each of them and for the Arabian Peninsula as a whole. Two scenarios stand out. In the first, we might see the leaders of the small states in the Gulf opting to focus on economics and living standards in their countries in the foreseeable future, at a time when Saudi Arabia, the behemoth of the peninsula, is cementing its place as the orchestrator of the peninsulas and the Levants most important geo-political and political-economy dynamics. In this scenario, the Arabian Peninsula will return to a geopolitical situation similar to that of the period from the early 1940s to the late 1960s, when Saudi Arabia exercised a decisive sway over the entire region. This scenario would augment Saudi Arabias influence in the Arab world and its position as a significant medium-sized power on the wider international scene. It could also lead to major changes in the peninsulas political economy. We might see the emergence of a single Arabian Peninsula currency, central bank, and perhaps even finance and foreign ministries. In this scenario, the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, inspired by the European Union and shepherded by Saudi Arabia, might gradually move in the direction of some sort of federation. But there is another scenario relating to leadership. In this second scenario, we might see ambitious and assertive leaders in some of the small but ultra-rich Gulf states deeming that the interests of their countries are different from those of the much bigger and more populous Saudi Arabia. Fuelled by tremendous liquid wealth, one or more of the small Gulf states might adopt economic and political policies in the region and beyond that differ, and perhaps even collide, with those of Saudi Arabia. In this scenario, the Arabian Peninsula could end up with conflicting constituents. Aspirations towards greater integration would then disappear, and the region might become mired in muted conflicts. These two scenarios will determine the Arabian Peninsulas relationship with its three key neighbours: Egypt, Iraq, and Iran. A closely cooperating and gradually integrating Arabian Peninsula, whether under the umbrella of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) or through a development of it, would exert significant force on Iraq and Egypt, two countries that have major potential but also restricting factors that relate to internal politics in the case of Iraq and socio-economic challenges in the case of Egypt. A cooperating and gradually integrating peninsula would also both limit Iranian aspirations for regional influence in the Gulf and the Levant, as well as subtly empower the liberal factions in Iran that prioritise economic over geo-political objectives. A peninsula mired in conflicts could give rise to exactly the opposite outcomes. Iraq would look elsewhere for anchors for its divided identities, and Egypt would be drawn to European, rather than Arab, frameworks of cooperation and development. However, the most consequential different outcome would be in the relationship with Iran. Some of the constituents of a divided peninsula, including influential and sizeable demographic segments particularly in some of the small Gulf states, would look to Iran as a counterweight to a rising and assertive Saudi Arabia in this scenario. Divisions that would appear in the peninsulas societies and politics would stir up Irans historical aspiration for expansion eastwards. Within Iran itself, nationalistic instincts would trump progressive liberal currents. Dynamics in the peninsulas neighbourhood will affect its countries global positioning. An increasingly integrated peninsula with strong socio-economic links to Egypt and Iraq and that triggers the best outcome in Iran would quickly become a serious medium-sized power on the international scene. The quest of the countries of the Arabian Peninsula for strategic autonomy (presented in the second article in this series) would have a much higher chance of realisation. On the other hand, a peninsula mired in conflicts and deprived of strategic depth in the Levant and North Africa could well find itself compelled to return to old types of relationships with the superpowers, offering whatever economic incentives the peninsula states have in return for protection and security. In a world where there are two assertive, forward-leaning superpowers the US and China such a dynamic would prove much more difficult to sustain than it was in the period from the 1950s to the second decade of the 21st century when the US was the primary superpower with important interests and an unrivalled presence in the peninsula. Integration or division in the peninsula will also depend on the evolutionary trajectory of its societies and politics. In addition to historical and cultural links, a key reason why the peninsula states have felt a strong affinity for each other since the beginning of their modern age in the early to mid-20th century was the fact that their ruling structures and prevailing political and economic systems shared many key characteristics. As discussed in the last article in this series, several domestic factors in some of the peninsulas countries are leading towards more popular representation and serious checks and balances on decision-making. Such developments, if they are allowed to progress, would entail certain challenges. Some countries will be faster on this development path than others. Some leaders and elites might attempt to stall such growth, while others might try to crush its drivers and the aspirations behind it altogether. The more the peninsulas paths diverge, the less will be the desire of influential groups within these countries to come closer together and the less realistic will be any integration measures. International stakeholders, particularly in Europe and the West in general, observe several parts of the Arab world today with trepidation, often fearing potential economic implosions and resulting waves of emigration. Often they are concerned about violence that they sense is linked to inherent factors. Distant observers, particularly in Asia, see in most of the Arab world a region that was at least on a par with their level of development some decades ago, but has now descended into shocking levels of disorder. For external observers, the states of the Arabian Peninsula are the exception in the Arab world. They have managed to generate serious potential out of the riches they have come to control. Most of them have put their societies on promising trajectories. But the factors that this series has presented the changing dynamics of the peninsula states political economy, their quest for strategic autonomy, and the key social and identity and political vulnerabilities that they have are bringing about a major transformation in the region. If this transformation leads to a stable, more prosperous, and more progressive peninsula, there will be positive impacts on the entire Arab world and its neighbours. But if it turns the peninsula into a theatre of conflicting ideologies and sociopolitical frames of reference, and of clashes between the international powers, the entire Arab world and its neighbours will experience seismic shocks. The writer is the author of Islamism: A History of Political Islam (2017) and Egypt on the Brink (2010). * A version of this article appears in print in the 22 June, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Scheduled events for June 20, 2023. SENATE: - Road Safety Forum, second edition GOVERNMENT: - PM Marcel Ciolacu meets Transport and Infrastructure Minister Sorin Grindeanu; representatives of retail chains DIPLOMACY: - Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu pays an official visit to Chisinau, at the invitation of Deputy PM, Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister of the Republic of Moldova Nicu Popescu DEFENCE: - Defence Minister Angel Tilvar pays official visit to France ECONOMY: - National Institute of Statistics releases data on April 2023 construction works Senator Ciuca: Romania should keep up focus, constant pace in meeting OECD memberships requirements. Senate Chairman Nicolae Ciuca on Tuesday welcomed the national coordinator for Romania's accession to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Luca Niculescu, saying that Romania should keep up "increased focus and a constant pace" to meet the requirements for becoming an OECD member state, and also to make more efforts to explain to Romanians the benefits the accession to the organisation can bring, told Agerpres. "Today, together with the national coordinator for the OECD accession process, Luca Niculescu, I reviewed the stages we have gone through and the steps to follow in order to achieve this important goal for our country. It is a work that takes time, but that will also bring important benefits to Romania. It was a technical evaluation, considering that I started the process last year when I was the prime minister of Romania, and now my involvement is different matching the role of Parliament as an institutional partner dedicated to the achievement of this major political objective of Romania," Ciuca wrote in a social media post. He added that the developments so far are good and that even at the level of the special committee supporting the OECD accession process, of which he is a part, things are on schedule. "We have to keep up increased focus and a constant pace of meeting the accession requirements because they do nothing but help Romania develop. At the same time, we have to make more efforts to explain - in less technical terms - to the citizens of Romania, the huge benefits that joining this prestigious organisation can bring. To Romania, it will certainly be, after its accession to NATO and the EU, a third factor of modernisation and development." World Vision Romania: 16pct of Ukrainian children in Romania are enrolled in the Romanian education system. 16pct of Ukrainian children in our country are enrolled in the Romanian education system, taking into account parents' reluctance, language barriers and the lack of knowledge of the legislation regarding equivalence and recognition of studies, according to a press release of the World Vision Romania sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday. A number of 7,353 Ukrainian children are enrolled in the Romanian education system. The number of Ukrainian children who have settled with temporary protection in our country, together with their parents, is about 47,000, according to official statistics, World Vision Romania announced on the World Refugee Day, told Agerpres. Besides the children enrolled in the education system, just over 16,000 Ukrainians are registered as unattached students to the Romanian school. The unattached student status means that the pupil will listen and be present in class and will be registered in school catalogues, but does not take tests and does not receive grades. The child can receive grades only if he/she officially enrolls as a student in the Romanian education system and follows the procedure of equivalence of studies done in Ukraine. World Vision Romania has offered this school year formal non-formal education contexts for 9,110 refugee children from Ukraine, in 13 locations across the country, through the Happy Bubble centers. Ukrainian children can go to the Happy Bubble centers in Bucharest, Constanta, Ramnicu Valcea, Baile Olanesti, Ocnele Mari, Calimanesti, Iasi, Suceava, Cluj Napoca, Brasov and Galati. Currently, more than 3,300 children are attending the Happy Bubble centers and are preparing to participate in the Summer School programmes. According to a survey conducted in February by World Vision Romania, more than 80pct of parents believe that their children have suffered learning losses because of the war. Broadway star Idina Menzel, known for her high-flying, full-throated performances of Defying Gravity in Wicked, is changing her tune with a new dance-pop album. Fans are getting a taste of Drama Queen when Menzel performs this summer at multiple Pride celebrations across this country, including her headlining spot at 5:15 p.m. June 25 at St. Louis PrideFest. Marty Zuniga, president of Pride St. Louis, says festival organizers typically contact artists through a booking agent. Menzels agents, however, reached out first. She said she was going to work with a handful of Prides to put together a performance to celebrate us, with everything going on in the world today, Zuniga says. Obviously, the state of Missouri, with everything going on politically what [would be] a better place to come and show her support for this community? Menzel says she is an ally to the LGBTQ community, and many of her best-known roles and songs reflect that. Her breakout Broadway role, Maureen in Rent, was a bisexual performance artist living in the East Village. Menzel originated and won a Tony Award for the role of green witch Elphaba in Wicked, viewed by some in the LGBTQ community as an icon. I felt like, through the years, through all the characters I played, ever since my first job in Rent, Ive had this wonderful acceptance and support from the community this beautiful reciprocity, if you will, Menzel says. More recently, in the hit Disney movie Frozen, Menzel voiced Queen Elsa, singing Let It Go. Along with the tracks instant success it rocketed to No. 5 on Billboards Top 100 Menzel says it was adopted as a song of empowerment for those not yet fully accepted by people around them. I had no idea that it would become the phenomenon that it did, she says. And then to have it on another level be this anthem for the queer community was just that much better. Drama Queen also pays homage to Menzels involvement in LGBTQ circles. She says that while making the album, which centers on themes of confidence and stepping into the literal and figurative spotlight, she realized that it might resonate with a larger audience. It became clear to me that it was going beyond just what I was experiencing in my own life and the things that I was contending with, Menzel says. [I] felt like perhaps there was a parallel to the LGBTQ+ community. The released single from the album, Move, showcases Menzels expansive vocal range, a little sassy, set over a strong, disco-pop beat. She says she took inspiration from other big-voiced artists who had disco moments: Barbra Streisand, Cher, Gloria Gaynor. Menzel is a regular performer at Heaven, a gay nightclub in London, which she says also influenced the genre of music that she was aiming for in Drama Queen namely, music that people would get up and dance to. Theres quite a unique energy at these clubs that I love so much, she says. I leave just buzzing. Were all laughing or crying. Were singing together. Were sweating together. I really just wanted to make an album that I could keep returning to those clubs and that I thought would be exciting to people. Drama Queen will be released Aug. 18. Menzel will perform multiple songs from the album at PrideFest, along with a few of her classics ones that if she didnt play, people would be mad, she says. Other festival headliners are Kat Graham (5:30 p.m. June 24), Betty Who (6:15 p.m. June 24) and CeCe Peniston (4:30 p.m. June 25). The Grand Pride Parade steps off at noon June 25 and travels west on Market Street between Eighth and 18th streets. Zuniga, who started planning for PrideFest in August, says organizers expect a large turnout but are also preparing for potential protests, due in part to recent legislation surrounding LGBTQ issues in Missouri and elsewhere. I think were going to see more folks coming to show their support, he says. Theres gonna be more of our community thats going to come out and be together and celebrate in a safe space. But then theres the opposite side of that, and youre gonna see folks who dont wish to see us gather and for us to have the ability to celebrate like this. Menzel is well aware of the animosity aimed at members of the LGBTQ community. She hopes her music can boost a group that has supported her. We are experiencing intense cruelty and hypocrisy and ignorance in our lives right now, and its vilifying the people that I love, she says. And I dont want to diminish that. But I also want people to feel like they can be joyous and celebrate. What St. Louis PrideFest When 11 a.m.-7 p.m. June 24, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. June 25 Where Streets surrounding Soldiers Memorial How much Free; $5 suggested donation More info pridestl.org While the Aperol spritz might have been the hot cocktail of recent summers past, this year is all about the Hugo. This lesser-known Italian cocktail features prosecco, elderflower syrup, and soda water. Its just as bright and bubbly as an Aperol spritz, and arguably even more refreshing, thanks to muddled mint leaves and a lime wheel garnish. The history of the Hugo It wasnt until my last trip to Italy this past summer that I saw the Hugo on cocktail menus all over the boot. Thats likely because its a fairly new addition to the roster of classic Italian cocktails. It was invented in 2005 by Roland Gruder in a bar in the region of Trentino-Alto Adige, also known as South Tyrol. This area of Northern Italy, which borders Austria, contains part of the Italian alps, where elderflowers bloom abundantly in the spring and early summer. Combining elderflower cordial or syrup with prosecco, soda water, and mint makes for a light and floral cocktail that feels right at home this time of year. While elderflower cordial or syrup is tradition (Belvoir Farms is a popular brand), if you have trouble finding it, St. Germain or another brand of elderflower liqueur can be used instead. If you do pick up a bottle of elderflower cordial or syrup, its a wonderful ingredient to play around with in both other cocktails and beyond. Try brushing it on cakes, tossing a bit with fruit salad, or combining it with seltzer for an easy mocktail. Hugo Cocktail Serves 1 2 sprigs fresh mint, divided 1/2 ounce (1 tablespoon) elderflower cordial or syrup 4 ounces (8 tablespoons) chilled prosecco or other dry sparkling wine 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) chilled club soda, seltzer, or sparkling water Ice 1 lime wheel 1. Pick the leaves from 1 fresh mint sprig and place in a wine glass. Add 1/2 ounce elderflower cordial or syrup and muddle gently with a muddler or wooden spoon to lightly bruise the mint leaves and release their oils. 2. Add 4 ounces prosecco and 2 ounces club soda. Top with ice. Gently stir to combine. Garnish with 1 lime wheel and the remaining mint sprig. Recipe note: You can substitute 1/2 ounce elderflower liqueur, such as St. Germain, in place of the elderflower cordial or syrup. Many Missourians are confused about the legality of birth control in the state and worried about future access, according to results released Tuesday of a survey of more than 1,000 residents. One in four Missourians do not believe or know that birth control pills are legal in the state, the survey found. More than half 53% do not believe or do not know that emergency contraception is legal; and 40% do not believe or know that intrauterine devices (IUDs) are legal. The survey was conducted as part of the The Right Time initiative, which involves a network of health centers across the state that provide free and low-cost birth control. The polling released today makes clear that correcting misperceptions about the legality of birth control is both important and urgent, said Kathleen Holmes, vice president of strategic initiatives at Missouri Foundation for Health. The foundation launched The Right Time in 2019 with the Missouri Family Health Council, a nonprofit that for more than 40 years has administered the states Title X family planning funds for low-income individuals. Michelle Trupiano, the councils executive director, blames the confusion over birth control on the fallout from the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling a year ago that removed the federally protected right to an abortion, setting off a wave of states banning or greatly restricting access to the procedure. Missouri banned abortion except in cases of medical emergencies that affect the life of a pregnant woman. Emergency contraceptives known as morning-after pills have often been confused with abortion and were mistakenly questioned after Missouris abortion ban went into effect. The one-dose pill, commonly known as the brand name Plan B, prevents pregnancy mainly by delaying ovulation, so an egg is not released until the sperm is no longer viable after unprotected sex. The new survey also found that residents worry birth control will become increasingly harder to get. Half of the respondents said they are concerned Missouri legislators will enact laws to restrict people in their choice of birth control. Before the abortion ban went into effect in Missouri, abortions had already become nearly non-existent in the state after years of misinformation about safety and a slew of restrictions passed by legislators that chipped away at access. Some fear access to contraception could follow the same path. A recent study by the University of Delaware found misinformation about the safety of birth control is often disguised as wellness content. Researchers analyzed 50 YouTube videos by lifestyle influencers and found nearly 75% talked about stopping their birth control and included inaccurate or incomplete information. The Missouri survey of also found: 72% of respondents including 74% of Republicans, 85% of Democrats and 87% of Independents think the Missouri legislature should pass policies that make birth control more affordable and accessible. 84% of respondents including 82% of Republicans, 90% of Democrats, and 85% of Independents support people aged 18-35 having access to all methods of birth control. More say they do not know how to get birth control online (48%) than those who say they are aware of online ordering (39%). The survey was conducted between April 27 and May 3 by independent research organization AYTM, and has a margin of error 3.6%. JEFFERSON CITY A Cole County judge Tuesday rejected an attempt by Missouris top lawyer to stop a constitutional amendment to restore abortion rights, and ordered him to approve the fiscal note summary within 24 hours of the ruling. In a 28-page ruling, Circuit Judge Jon Beetem said Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who has refused to sign off on the amendments potential cost estimate, has only a ministerial duty to approve the cost figure of a proposed ballot measure. (T)he attorney general has no authority to substitute his own judgment for that of the auditor regarding the estimated cost of a proposed measure, Beetem wrote. Beetem said Baileys maneuvering put state Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick in an absurd and preposterous legal position. The decision was part of a face-off between Bailey and Fitzpatrick, two Republicans who were elevated to statewide office by Gov. Mike Parson. A spokeswoman for Bailey said Tuesday that the decision will be appealed. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit brought by the Missouri ACLU, which is representing a client seeking to restore abortion rights in the state after the procedure was banned last June. During arguments before Beetem on June 7, ACLU attorney Anthony Rothert said the stand-off has left his client unable to move forward with the collection of signatures needed to place the amendment on the November 2024 ballot. Beetem acknowledged that Baileys delay tactics had impacted the groups ability to collect signatures, saying his involvement deprived the process of 50 days. Supporters need signatures from 8% of voters in six of the states eight congressional districts in order to get the abortion-rights measure on the 2024 ballot. But before they can begin, the ballot question needs to go through a process involving Fitzpatrick, Bailey and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft. In March, Fitzpatrick determined that passage of the amendment would have an estimated cost to state and local governments of at least $51,000 annually. In response, Bailey said the price tag could be $51 billion, including the possibility of losing all federal Medicaid health insurance funding, which is about $12 billion per year. Fitzpatrick rejected the claim, arguing that submitting an inaccurate fiscal note would violate his duty as state auditor. Beetem agreed. The Attorney General has no authority to return a fiscal note and fiscal note summary to the auditor if it complies with (state law,) Beetem wrote. Beetem said Baileys actions were unprecedented. The process for providing attorney general approval of the legal content and form of a fiscal note summary has worked consistently for over twenty-five years, the judge said. ACLU officials said Baileys actions were illegal. In recent months, the Attorney General has unveiled a reckless desire to impose his will on Missourians access to health care by violating the constitutional bounds the people of the state have granted the office to which he was appointed, Rothert said in a statement released Tuesday. Fitzpatrick said he appreciated Beetems decision to keep the current process intact. As someone who is steadfastly pro-life, I am personally opposed to these ballot initiatives and the taking of innocent lives, Fitzpatrick said. However, I firmly believe my personal stance cannot and should not impact the duty my office has to provide voters with an unbiased assessment of each measures fiscal impact. I appreciate the decision of the court to uphold the process that has been in place for decades so my office can continue to create fiscal notes that are as fair and accurate as possible, Fitzpatrick added. JEFFERSON CITY Republican Gov. Mike Parson will soon make his second appointment to the Missouri Supreme Court as one of the courts remaining Democratic appointees prepares to retire. Judge George W. Draper III plans to leave the high court Aug. 4, the day before his 70th birthday. The state constitution requires judges to retire when they turn 70. Draper, appointed to the bench in 2011 by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, is one of three Democratic appointees serving on the seven-person court after Nixon, the states last Democratic governor, left office in early 2017. Parson is set to also name a successor to Judge Patricia Breckenridge, appointed by Republican Gov. Matt Blunt in 2007. She has not announced her retirement date, but her 70th birthday is Oct. 14. The governor isnt the only official involved in filling the vacancy. The states nonpartisan court plan requires the state Appellate Judicial Commission to accept applications for the vacancies and present Parson with three finalists. The commission was accepting applications as of Tuesday and will be until noon on July 21, according to a news release. Parson will have 60 days to choose a replacement from the list, or the commission will fill the vacancy. A news release said the judicial commission would interview applicants between Aug. 21 and 23 at the Supreme Court Building in Jefferson City to determine the final three contenders. In addition to accepting applications, the Appellate Judicial Commission is also taking public nominations. Supreme Court judges must be at least 30, have a Missouri law license, be a U.S. citizen for at least 15 years and a qualified Missouri voter for at least nine years . Draper is the second African-American to serve on the court. Former Judge Ronnie White, appointed in 1995, was the first. In 2021, Parson named Judge Robin Ransom to the high court making her the third African-American to serve on the court, and the courts first Black woman. If Parson indeed appoints Drapers replacement, five judges will have been named to the bench by Republicans. Two Democratic appointees will remain: Chief Justice Paul Wilson and Judge Mary Russell. Teams of dancers, a procession of Jeep Wranglers and a massive shopping cart float snaked through the streets of North County during a Juneteenth parade Monday afternoon. But Reggie Jones, Dellwoods mayor, said the holiday isnt just about the celebrations. Its about making sure that we were doing things to draw attention to what this day really means in history, Jones said. Juneteenth commemorates when, in 1865, news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached enslaved people in Texas. The proclamation had been signed two years earlier. It became a federal holiday in 2021. At a pre-parade news conference, Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis, said residents should be taught the history of what slavery looked like in the St. Louis region. If we dont speak that history, then people wont understand why this day is so important, Bush said. Bush promoted her Reparations NOW Resolution, which calls on the federal government to pay reparations to descendants of enslaved Africans and fulfill what she described as a moral and legal obligation. For Dellwood Alderwoman Gwendolyn Artis, the holiday serves as a chance to learn about the first Juneteenth and all thats happened since then. Our ancestors are looking down and theyre smiling and theyre happy about this day, Artis said. And thats what its all about. Artis said she believes the parade will grow. We need to do more, much more, for this celebration, Artis said. But I believe as the time goes on, people will pick up, and its going to be a great, great, big one, just like the Annie Malone parade. Photos: St. Louis region celebrates Juneteenth with multiple events It is commonly said that Egyptians are averse to revolution. That is because they inhabit the banks of the eternal Nile, which nurtures them and the soil theyve tilled for thousands of years beneath clement skies, making them content with what nature brings, be it the harvest or the demands of the ruler. In the millennia since the end of the pharaonic era, invaders and conquerors have come and gone. Generally they relied on the labour of the Egyptian peasant and his inherited skills at calculating the agricultural seasons and weather conditions. Thus, the caesars could stock the imperial silos across the Roman Empire and Saladin could rest assured his forces would be fed as they did battle with the Crusaders. But the 19th century brought about an awakening. It began with the uprising led by Omar Makram which secured the rule of Mohamed Ali Pasha who, until then, had been just another Ottoman governor. The Orabi Revolution several decades later was more complicated. It was proof that the Egyptian nation was reborn. Modernism had given rise to new social classes and a shift in balance between Egyptians and the foreign ruling class. A multi-faceted political, economic and social elite was on the rise with intellectuals such as Abdullah Al-Nadim to articulate it. The 1919 Revolution marked the birth of the modern Egyptian state as we know it, even if it started out as a kingdom and not the republic it would become a few decades later. But even then in the early 20th century the world was growing more complex, and Egypt stood out for its modernity in a region still slumbering in ancient eras. The 1952 Revolution was not a revolution in the strict sense of the term. It was a blessed movement led by army officers set on ousting the British, who had overstayed their welcome. But the Free Officers Movement turned into a revolution that would spread its wings over the entire Arab region as it pursued industrialisation and agricultural reform at home. The revolutionary idea faded, apart from protest movements that arose in the aftermath of the 1967 defeat when university students took to the street to call for war against Israel. A revolution of a different sort erupted with the bread riots of 17-19 January 1977. That wave ultimately ended with the assassination of president Anwar Al-Sadat by the Muslim Brotherhood because he had concluded a peace treaty to liberate Egyptian territory. So Egypt has no mean record when it comes to making revolution. But the rarity of major grassroots uprisings when set against Egypts millennia-long history has made stability seem like eternal law. So when the revolutionary wave erupted on 25 January 2011, it seemed like a tsunami that would change things forever. The shock was profound and lasting, and it made Egypt look to the future much more than it had looked to the past. Then the Muslim Brotherhood appropriated the revolution. Sheikh Youssef Al-Qaradawi assumed the podium in Tahrir Square, bringing to mind the arrival of Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran. The Muslim Brotherhoods Guidance Bureau, their version of communist party politburos and their fascist counterparts, steered the process. It was renowned for its culture of blind obedience, so there is little that is worth mentioning in this regard apart from that fact that the Muslim Brotherhood platform of 2007 called for a revolution in Egypt modelled on the one in Iran. Suffice to say that the Egyptian people were worried by the scenes in Tahrir. So too were the Egyptian Armed Forces, by dint of their organic bond with the Egyptian people and their authentic identity. The year of Muslim Brotherhood rule turned out to be quite exciting after their masks were removed and they simultaneously revealed an incredible degree of incompetence. When the grassroots Tamarod movement started to collect signatures on a petition calling for early presidential elections, you could feel a new spirit being born. One was reminded of the peoples campaign to collect powers-of-attorney for Saad Zaghlul almost a century earlier. At the time I was at a dinner with Ambassador Mohamed Refaa Al-Tahtawi who was serving as chief of presidential staff. I asked him whether the Muslim Brothers would respond to the peoples demand. They (the Muslim Brotherhood) dont listen to anyone, he said. On 19 June, I received a phone call from Ambassador Omar Amer, the official spokesman for the presidency, asking me to meet with him at the Presidential Palace. When I arrived, he introduced me to Ayman Yasser, the head of the foreign relations office, who asked my opinion on the current situation. I said that, as I saw it at the time, the president had three possible courses of action: the golden route, which was to hold early elections; the silver route, which was to overhaul the cabinet and create an inclusive national front government; and the wooden route, which was to do nothing and let the situation go its own course, which meant revolution. On 23 June, I was invited to give a lecture as part of the Armed Forces fifth educational symposium on the challenges facing Egyptian national security. Afterwards, one of the attendees approached me to tell me how I had ruined his day with the bleak picture I had drawn depicting the threats looming over the country, especially that of the Brotherhood. I met Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi for the first time that day. He also spoke at the seminar, vowing that the army would never allow anyone to touch a hair on the head of the Egyptian people. The details of what happened next are innumerable, but the landmarks are the marches of the 30 June Revolution, the meeting of national political forces on 3 July and their roadmap, and the mandate the Egyptian people gave to the minister of defence and armed forces to end the anarchy and break up the Rabaa Adawiya sit-in. Egypt had set itself on a new path, one in which revolution was armed with a grand national project for progress, construction and sustainable development. Nor was Egypt alone. Our Arab siblings were with us on the same path, just as they had been several decades earlier in the October 1973 War, which the Egyptians and Arabs fought together with arms, oil and mutual aid. * A version of this article appears in print in the 22 June, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: In politics, promises are a dime a dozen. They come and go with the ebb and flow of electoral cycles. But there is something uniquely distressing about the breaking of a promise that carries with it the hope of a struggling community. This is the case with North St. Louis and the undelivered $37 million business grant program, a promise yet to see the light of day. Two years ago, the city embarked on an ambitious plan to distribute nearly half a billion dollars in federal pandemic aid. Among these initiatives was the grant program for the cash-strapped North Side: a lifeline thrown to a community grappling with a crumbling economy and the severe effects of the pandemic. Two years on, and not a single dollar from this fund has found its way to the intended beneficiaries. The reason? A tangle of bureaucratic squabbling, corruption ties, and questionable decisions that have left the grant program in a state of suspended animation. The promise of help was made, but to this day, it remains nothing more than empty words. Alderman Shane Cohn of Dutchtown, at the Tuesday Board of Aldermen meeting, called out this failing while also making a plea for South Side neighborhoods grappling with similar struggles. It is painfully clear that my colleagues are not familiar with the disinvestment that has occurred in southeast city, Cohn told the board. I have gunfire in front of my house every week right now. Alderwoman Shameem Clark Hubbard countered that there was nothing preventing creation of a separate program for the South Side, but that peeling off funds from the current program would be unfair to North Side residents who have endured generations of racially motivated disinvestment. We committed to them, she said. We should continue to commit to them. As the debate over the allocation of funds raged on, the irony wasnt lost on anyone present: The very communities the funds were intended for continued to gasp for economic breath. The bill Hubbard advanced Tuesday aims to set the program right, a noble effort. Yet, the need for such a bill is a stark reminder of the unfulfilled promise, and the very real consequences it has on the businesses and residents of North St. Louis. Each day the aid remains undelivered, businesses close, families struggle, and communities teeter on the brink of collapse. The disagreement between Cohn and Hubbard is, at best, a distraction from the larger issue at hand the failure to deliver on a promise that could revive the declining North Side communities. While the need for aid in struggling South Side neighborhoods is undeniable, the focus must remain on making good on the assurances given. The city of St. Louis is a tale of stark contrast, divided along the line of Delmar Boulevard. The citys thriving neighborhoods, all located in the citys central and southern parts, sharply juxtaposed against the struggling and long-neglected north, a divide thats widened by every unfulfilled promise. The grant program was a chance to bridge this gap, but its delayed action only serves to deepen the chasm. This debacle is more than a bureaucratic blunder. It is a reflection of a city government that has seemingly lost sight of its commitment to its most vulnerable residents. The cost of this neglect is borne by the residents and businesses of North St. Louis, whose hopes for a better tomorrow hang on a promise made but not kept. Its past time for decisive action. The aid must be delivered to those it was intended for. The back-and-forths, the diversions, and the political power plays have to stop. The livelihoods of thousands of residents are at stake. This is not a game to be played; its a promise to be fulfilled. Alderman Cohn is right about one thing: St. Louis, as a city, has a duty to support its citizens, to see that every resident, whether from the north or the south, is treated with equal regard and given an equal share of the opportunities. These promised funds for North St. Louis are a way to boost an area that has been left out for far too long as funds, investments, and the attention of City Hall have for decades poured into South St. Louis and the central corridor. The tale of two St. Louises can only end when the city government decides to honor its commitments, when it chooses to bridge the divide rather than widen it. In order for this city to have two equal halves, the north must be lifted up. Or both sides will meet at the bottom. The story of the city isnt just in the promises it makes, but in the promises it keeps. Only in doing so will the promise of the city and its potential revitalization actually be fulfilled. Antonio French is a Post-Dispatch columnist and Editorial Board member. EQS-Ad-hoc: MBH Corporation Plc / Key word(s): Miscellaneous MBH Corporation Plc: Issue of Equity 20-Jun-2023 / 06:54 GMT/BST Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. 20 June 2023 MBH Corporation Plc (MBH or the Company) Issue of Equity MBH Corporation Plc (AQSE:M8H), a diversified investment holding company, announces that it will be issuing 3,935,433 Ordinary Shares of 0.01 per share (New Shares) at a price of 0.30 per share, following the conversion of MBH listed bonds and loan notes totalling 1,180,630 under terms of an agreement entered into by the Company. The New Shares rank pari passu with existing shares in issue. Application will be made for the New Shares to be admitted to trading on the AQSE Growth Market and admission is expected to become effective, and dealings in the New Shares are expected to commence on or around 23 June 2023. Following this issue, the Company's issued share capital consists of 122,709,146 Ordinary Shares, each share carrying the right to one vote. This figure should be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules. The Company does not hold any shares in Treasury. The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement. Iran recently procured two Airbus A340-212 jet transports formerly used by the French Air Force. The French sold them to a company in Indonesia that turned out to be owned by Iranian Mahan Air. Economic sanctions prevent Iran from buying airliners legally, so Iran resorts to illegal deals, usually involving older Airbus and Boeing aircraft. The market for second-hand airliners is large but involves a lot of older aircraft that dont have much useful (flying) life left. Such was the case with the two A340-212s. Both are nearly 30 years old but are ideal for military use because they have exceptional range (13,800 kilometers) and four engines. This makes them safe for flying long distances to remote airports. France has interests in many African and South American nations and this made the A340-212s idea. France didnt discover that the Indonesian firm that bought the two airliners was secretly owned by Iran, as was the company in the central African nation of Mali where the aircraft were supposed to go. Instead, the aircraft landed in Iran and became part of Mahan Air, the state owned Iranian firm that operates a fleet of illegally obtained airliners. Mahan regularly flies weapons from Iran to Syria, Lebanon and even more distant destinations. The A340-212 are ideal for long distance work because they were designed for that sort of thing. Only 28 A340-212s were built in the 1990s and only six are still in use. Israel sometimes destroys Mahan air aircraft on the ground in Syria, after they had flown in missiles and other weapons from Iran. With the A340-212 Iran can fly military cargo to Syria, unload it at Damascus airport and then fly right back to Iran. Mindful of this sort of thing, Israel recently carried out an airstrike on the Damascus airport and damaged the main runway and other airport facilities. Mahan Air probably wont use the A340-212s for flights to Damascus but rather use them for longer flights to other more distant trouble spots where Iran is involved militarily or economically. PHILADELPHIA, PA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / abrdn plc today announced that its U.S. subsidiary abrdn Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire the healthcare fund management capabilities of Tekla Capital Management LLC (Tekla), a global specialist healthcare investment adviser based in Boston, Massachusetts. The deal includes four NYSE listed healthcare and biotech thematic closed-end funds, totalling c.$3bn[1]in assets under management (AUM), with c.$30m revenues in 2022. As part of the deal, Tekla's investment team will also be joining abrdn. With an impressive track record of over 20 years investing in the healthcare sector, the move will allow abrdn to draw on their expertise as it looks to build out its offering in this area. The transaction will also further strengthen abrdn's closed-end fund business, where it currently manages $30bn[1] in AUM in US and UK listed closed-end funds, making abrdn the third largest closed-end fund manager across the US and the UK. Stephen Bird, abrdn CEO, said; "We have been clear that we will continue to invest in opportunities where we see capabilities that we need and that offer compelling value, and this acquisition strongly meets our criteria. Tekla is a leader in a field that offers compelling long term growth prospects, supported by demographic trends and the growing role of technology in healthcare. With $3.1bn AUM, resilient revenue dynamics, and deep expertise in a market with attractive structural drivers, this deal represents another important step forward for our Investments business." The transaction provides key benefits to abrdn Enables abrdn to establish a firm-wide center of excellence for the healthcare and biotech sector within its developed markets business. Accelerates abrdn's strategic focus on specialist active management and thematic sectors underpinned by long term megatrends, especially the landscape for advances in biotech which is well positioned for expansion and growth. Integrates the investment expertise of the Tekla team, which has deep knowledge and specialization that can generate insights across the business and drive growth through the development of thematic products in healthcare and biotech. Offers a unique platform to deliver solutions and opportunities for clients. A leader in closed-end funds A key attraction of closed-end funds is the perpetual capital they bring into the business, generating typically higher margins. This transaction further builds on abrdn's recent acquisition of five closed-end funds from Macquarie Asset Management, four of which were merged into three existing abrdn funds. abrdn will transition the management of the fifth fund, Delaware National Municipal Income Fund, on 7 July 2023. Stephen Bird added; "Listed closed-end funds have been an area of real strength for abrdn over many years. Now the world's third largest closed-end fund manager across the US and the UK, we have successfully executed more listed closed end fund acquisitions than any other investment manager over the last 15 years, and this deal further cements our leading position in this space." Pending approval by each Tekla fund's Board of Trustees and shareholders and the satisfaction of certain regulatory approvals and closing conditions, the transaction announced today is expected to close during the second half of 2023. Ends Notes to editors 1. Healthcare as an asset class in in the US: US healthcare expenditure per capita has grown at a compound annual rate of 6% since the 1980's Aging populations combined with increased instances of obesity, diabetes and cancer are expected to further drive demand in the healthcare sector Over the long term, healthcare consistently outperformed broad debt and equity indices All subsectors of healthcare have benefitted from recent research and innovation, with demographic change accelerating technological advancement in the space (Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary, National Health Statistics Group; U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis; and U.S. Bureau of the Census, Morningstar.) 2. The names of the four NYSE listed funds are; Tekla Healthcare Investors (HQH) Tekla Life Sciences Investors (HQL) Tekla Healthcare Opportunities Fund (THQ) Tekla World Healthcare Fund (THW) More information can be found at www.teklacap.com UK Media enquiries to Duncan Young on 07920 868865 or email [email protected] US media enquiries to Prosek Partners at [email protected] About abrdn abrdn is a global investment company that helps clients and customers plan, save and invest for the future. Our purpose is to enable our clients to be better investors. abrdn manages and administers 500bn of assets for clients (as at 31 December 2022). Our strategy is to deliver client-led growth. We are structured around three businesses - Investments, Adviser and Personal - focused on their changing needs. The capabilities in our Investments business are built on the strength of our insight - generated from wide-ranging research, worldwide investment expertise and local market knowledge. Our teams collaborate across regions, asset classes and specialisms, connecting diverse perspectives and working with clients to identify investment opportunities that suit their needs. As at 31 December 2022, our Investments business manages 376bn on behalf of clients - including insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, independent wealth managers, pension funds, platforms, banks and family offices. abrdn.com Important Information In the United States, abrdn is the marketing name for the following affiliated, registered investment advisers: abrdn Inc., abrdn Investments Limited, abrdn Australia Limited, abrdn Asia Limited, Aberdeen Capital Management, LLC, abrdn ETFs Advisors LLC and abrdn Alternative Funds Limited. The information in this press release is for informational purposes only and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction pursuant to or in connection with the proposed transaction or otherwise, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. The 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 the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The value of investments, and the income from them, can go down as well as up and you may get back less than the amount invested. Past performance is not a guide to future results. Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each investor and may be subject to change in the future. We recommend that you seek financial advice prior to making an investment decision. [1] As of 31 December 2022 [1]As of 24 January 2023 SOURCE: abrdn Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / The Chemours Company ("Chemours") (NYSE: CC), a global chemistry company with leading market positions in Titanium Technologies, Thermal & Specialized Solutions, and Advanced Performance Materials, today announced the sixth edition of its annual Sustainability Report, outlining the company's progress toward meeting its ESG targets through its Corporate Responsibility Commitment (CRC) goals. The report showcases the company's global commitment and collective determination to responsible manufacturing of essential chemistries and significant-often industry-leading-progress toward its goals. Select report highlights from the company's 2022 operations include: Achieved an overall 30% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions since 2018-reaching the halfway point of our 2030 goal. Reached a 53% reduction in total process fluorinated organic chemical (FOC) emissions to air and water since 2018-surpassing the halfway point to our 2030 goal of a 99% reduction. Realized approximately 48% of revenue from offerings that make a specific contribution to the UN SDGs. Committed 36% of our $50 million investment in STEM, safety, and environmental initiatives across our local communities. Surpassed our Sustainable Supply Chain goal having assessed sustainability performance of 90% of our suppliers by 2022. Committed to setting official scope 1, 2, and 3 science-based targets for approval by the Science-based Targets Initiative (SBTi). Recognized as a "3+" Company by 50/50 Women on Boards" (50/50WOB), a global education and advocacy campaign driving gender balance and diversity on corporate boards. Titled "Essential. Responsible. Chemistry.," the report illustrates how Chemours brings to life its commitment to making chemistry as responsible as it is essential through environmental leadership, sustainable innovation and community impact while striving to be the greatest place to work for its 6,600 global employees. "At Chemours, sustainability is central to everything we do," said Mark Newman, President and CEO of Chemours. "That includes the products we make. While our chemistries are integral to everyday life and technologies enabling a new, green economy-from clean hydrogen and electric vehicles to advanced electronics and durable infrastructure, and so much more-they must also come with an unwavering commitment to responsible manufacturing. I'm incredibly proud of the collective effort of our teams, who have embraced Chemours' vision to create a better world through the power of chemistry." "To us, making our chemistry as responsible as it is essential means setting ambitious goals to back our innovative chemistries with responsible manufacturing, strict emissions control, and a focus on improving end-of-life management," said Dr. Amber Wellman, Chief Sustainability Officer. "We're proud of the incredible progress we've made toward our goals, reaffirming our ongoing support of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, and continuing to challenge ourselves to achieve more, going beyond what's required to do what's right." Click here to read Chemours' 2022 Sustainability Report. About The Chemours Company The Chemours Company (NYSE: CC) is a global leader in Titanium Technologies, Thermal & Specialized Solutions, and Advanced Performance Materials providing its customers with solutions in a wide range of industries with market-defining products, application expertise and chemistry-based innovations. We deliver customized solutions with a wide range of industrial and specialty chemicals products for markets, including coatings, plastics, refrigeration and air conditioning, transportation, semiconductor and consumer electronics, general industrial, and oil and gas. Our flagship products are sold under prominent brands such as Ti-Pure", Opteon", Freon", Teflon", Viton", Nafion", and Krytox". The company has approximately 6,600 employees and 29 manufacturing sites serving approximately 2,900 customers in approximately 120 countries. Chemours is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware and is listed on the NYSE under the symbol CC. For more information, we invite you to visit chemours.com or follow us on Twitter @Chemours or LinkedIn. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to a historical or current fact. The words "believe," "expect," "will," "anticipate," "plan," "estimate," "target," "project" and similar expressions, among others, generally identify "forward-looking statements," which speak only as of the date such statements were made. These forward-looking statements may address, among other things, the outcome or resolution of any pending or future environmental liabilities, the commencement, outcome or resolution of any regulatory inquiry, investigation or proceeding, the initiation, outcome or settlement of any litigation, changes in environmental regulations in the U.S. or other jurisdictions that affect demand for or adoption of our products, anticipated future operating and financial performance for our segments individually and our company as a whole, business plans, prospects, targets, goals and commitments, capital investments and projects and target capital expenditures, plans for dividends or share repurchases, sufficiency or longevity of intellectual property protection, cost reductions or savings targets, plans to increase profitability and growth, our ability to make acquisitions, integrate acquired businesses or assets into our operations, and achieve anticipated synergies or cost savings, all of which are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and expectations of future events that may not be accurate or realized, such as full year guidance relying on models based upon management assumptions regarding future events that are inherently uncertain. These statements are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements also involve risks and uncertainties that are beyond Chemours' control. Matters outside our control, including general economic conditions and the COVID-19 pandemic, have affected or may affect our business and operations and may or may continue to hinder our ability to provide goods and services to customers, cause disruptions in our supply chains such as through strikes, labor disruptions or other events, adversely affect our business partners, significantly reduce the demand for our products, adversely affect the health and welfare of our personnel or cause other unpredictable events. Additionally, there may be other risks and uncertainties that Chemours is unable to identify at this time or that Chemours does not currently expect to have a material impact on its business. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. Chemours assumes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement for any reason, except as required by law. CONTACTS: INVESTORS Kurt Bonner, Manager, Investor Relations +1.302.773.0026 [email protected] NEWS MEDIA Thom Sueta Director, Corporate Communications +1.302.773.3903 [email protected] View original content here. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from The Chemours Company on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: The Chemours Company Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/chemours-company Email: [email protected] SOURCE: The Chemours Company View source version on accesswire.com: NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES WATERLOO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Cloud DX Inc. ("Cloud DX" or the "Corporation") (TSXV:CDX), is pleased to announce that, further to its press release dated March 15, 2023, it has closed the final tranche of the private placement (the "Private Placement") of units of the Corporation (the "Units"). Pursuant to the final tranche, the Corporation issued 1,802,855 Units for aggregate gross proceeds of $252,400. Total aggregate gross proceeds under the Private Placement were $2,854,284. Each Unit is comprised of one common share in the capital of the Corporation (a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one additional Common Share at a price of $0.21 per Common Share for a period of three years following the issuance of such Warrant, subject to accelerated expiry as described herein. If, at any time, the closing price of the Corporation's Common Shares is greater than $0.42 per Common Share for 20 consecutive trading days, the Corporation may provide written notice (a "Warrant Acceleration Notice") to the holders that the expiry of the Warrants shall be accelerated to a date that is not less than 15 days from the date of the Warrant Acceleration Notice. The Corporation received an extension from the TSX Venture Exchange with respect to the Private Placement in order to confirm subscriptions with certain participants. The Common Shares and Warrants comprising the Units will be subject to a four month hold period. The Corporation intends to use the net proceeds of the final tranche of the Private Placement for repayment of accrued debts and general corporate purposes. The Corporation paid finders' fees of 8% in cash and 8% in broker warrants on a portion of the final tranche of the Private Placement to certain finders, in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Corporation issued a total of 32,000 broker warrants (the "Broker Warrants") and paid cash commissions of $4,480 in connection with the final closing of the Private Placement, such Broker Warrants being convertible into Common Shares. The securities of the Corporation have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any U.S. state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an available exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there by any sale of the securities referenced in this press release, in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. About Cloud DX Accelerating virtual healthcare's future, Cloud DX is making healthcare better for everyone. The Corporation's Connected HealthTM remote patient monitoring platform is used by healthcare enterprises and care teams across North America to virtually manage chronic disease, enable ageing in place, and deliver hospital-quality post-surgical care at home. Providers partnering with Cloud DX achieve better healthcare and patient outcomes, reduce the need for hospitalization/rehospitalization, and reduce healthcare delivery costs through more efficient use of resources. Cloud DX is the co-winner of the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, a 2021 Edison Award winner, a Fast Company "World Changing Idea" finalist, and one of "Canada's Ten Most Prominent Telehealth Providers." Social Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/CloudDX Facebook https://www.facebook.com/clouddxinc/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/cloud-dx/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cloud.dx/ For media inquiries please contact: Marketing Department 888-543-0944 [email protected] For investor inquiries please contact: Jay Bedard Cloud DX Investor Relations 647-881-8418 [email protected] Forward-Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Corporation to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release. In particular, this news release includes certain forward-looking statements concerning the anticipated use of proceeds, as well as management's objectives, strategies, beliefs and intentions. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Corporation has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, information concerning the receipt of approval from the TSX Venture Exchange and the use of proceeds. Although management of the Corporation has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Cloud DX Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: CLINTON, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / CPP Associates, a technology consulting firm based in Clinton, NJ, today announced it has been named the 2023 HPE GreenLake Solution Provider of the Year by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). Paul O'Dell Paul O'Dell, Principal Partner, CPP Associates Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) announced the winners of the HPE Partner of the Year Awards 2023 at its annual conference being held in Las Vegas, NV from June 20-23, 2023. The awards recognize HPE partners who exemplify commitment and success in delivering value to their customers on their digital transformation journey. This recognition has been given to HPE partners who have achieved exceptional results in financial performance, innovative solutions, and meaningful business results. "We are incredibly grateful for this recognition, especially given the prominence of the GreenLake solution in HPE's overall solution portfolio," said Paul O'Dell, CPP Principal Partner. "We have a tremendous team of professionals who work hard to stay on the top of their game in the rapidly evolving technology market. And, of course, special thanks to our loyal base of clients who have entrusted us to be their partner when it comes to leveraging cloud technology for business success." O'Dell attributes their success to their vendor-agnostic "Infrastructure Anywhere" assessment, which provides a concise cost comparison of all major infrastructure options available to an organization, while also factoring in other important considerations like compliance, security, scalability and speed. "It is a privilege to honor the winners of the 2023 HPE Partner Awards. These partners have successfully demonstrated the ability to innovate and execute business outcomes and outstanding experiences for customers," said Gilles Thiebaut, SVP of Worldwide Partner Ecosystem and Business Development, HPE. "Our partner ecosystem continues to be a top priority at HPE and these awards are one way we highlight some of the partners that are driving impressive results and outcomes for customers." Earlier this month, CPP Associates was named to the Computer Reseller News (CRN) Solution Provider 500 list for 2023 which ranks the top integrators, service providers and IT consultants in North America by services revenue (earned the prior year). More about CPP Associates An HPE Platinum Partner - the highest level of partnership with the global technology leader - CPP Associates, Inc. specializes in providing cloud, infrastructure solutions, data intelligence, networking/security, and managed IT services for mid-sized to enterprise organizations as well as state and local Government/public education (the SLED market). They are headquartered in Clinton, NJ and have an international presence in Galway, Ireland. In 2020, CPP was named the HPE North American Partner of the Year. For information, visit www.cppassociates.com. More About Hewlett Packard Enterprise Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is the global edge-to-cloud company that helps organizations accelerate outcomes by unlocking value from all of their data, everywhere. Built on decades of reimagining the future and innovating to advance the way people live and work, HPE delivers unique, open and intelligent technology solutions as a service. With offerings spanning Cloud Services, Compute, High Performance Computing & Al, Intelligent Edge, Software, and Storage, HPE provides a consistent experience across all clouds and edges, helping customers develop new business models, engage in new ways, and increase operational performance. For more information, visit: www.hpe.com. Contact Information Paul O'Dell Principal Partner [email protected] 201-988-5494 Barbara Higgins Senior Partner/Creative Director [email protected] 267-235-5309 SOURCE: CPP Associates View source version on accesswire.com: NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / This World Refugee Day, discover Gildan's refugee program activated at some of its yarn-spinning facilities in North Carolina. This program supports individuals from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Egypt, Syria, Iran, Uganda, Congo, Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Morocco, and Guyana, who have left their homes due to challenging conditions and are building their lives in a new place. Launched in 2022, this employee-initiated program was first mobilized by the Human Resources team in Salisbury in search of new talent. Given the refugee community in the region and individuals' interest in finding employment, Gildan turned to this group through partnerships with local organizations and NGOs and began recruiting interested candidates. "Within a short span of time, what began as a recruitment strategy grew into an initiative that strengthens our workforce locally," says Jim Powers, Director, Human Resources at Gildan. "More importantly, it allows us to meaningfully support and guide this group of individuals as they settle into their new lives in the U.S." As part of this program, interested applicants are invited to Gildan's facilities to fill out job applications, participate in an interview, and tour the yarn-spinning facility. If hired, individuals then undergo Gildan's regular employee onboarding, accompanied by rigorous health and safety trainings. Individuals leading this initiative locally are also given cultural sensitivity training to ensure that respect for different backgrounds is upheld and inclusivity is fostered in the workplace. In partnerships with NGOs and several regional organizations, Gildan also lends a hand to these individuals beyond work to help smoothen their transition to a new country. For instance, Gildan assists in securing housing, a valuable support in cases where individuals don't have an existing credit history. Another offering is increased access to English language courses. By far, one of the most beneficial aids the Company provides to this group of employees, as well as to those who may have migrated from other countries, is transportation assistance, increasing their ability to commute long distances, because acquiring a drivers' license in a foreign country can often pose a barrier. Finally, Gildan helps this group of employees with other areas of life, including providing food vouchers, and partnering with local banks to improve employees' access to financial services in the U.S. "I am incredibly proud of my HR team for bringing this initiative to life that has made a positive impact on both our organization and the individuals hired through it," continues Jim. "Navigating one's way through a foreign country is difficult, and we are glad that this program can help our employees feel both welcome and supported as they go through this big life change." Find out more about Gildan's respect for people here. Discover Gildan's Refugee Program on World Refugee Day View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Gildan Activewear on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Gildan Activewear Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/gildan-activewear Email: [email protected] SOURCE: Gildan Activewear View source version on accesswire.com: Christian Briggs and Special Guests Shed Light on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and Potential Consequences for Privacy and Freedom SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / The Hard Asset Money Show, a leading podcast in the financial industry, has released an insightful new episode delving into the topic of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and its implications for privacy and government control. The episode features special guests General Michael Flynn and Congressman Mark Green, providing a unique perspective on the subject. In this compelling episode, Christian Briggs, CEO of Hard Asset Management and host of the Hard Asset Money Show, engages in a candid conversation with Congressman Mark Green about the current state of CBDC and the role of FedNow as the initial step in the CBDC rollout. Congressman Green emphasizes the key distinction between CBDC and decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, highlighting that CBDCs are controlled by central banks, enabling greater regulation and surveillance by a single authority. FedNow, the digital payment system, will allow direct consumer transactions using digital currency. However, concerns arise regarding the potential negative consequences associated with increased government control and surveillance over individuals. The implementation of CBDC would grant the government the ability to track every transaction, including purchases made at grocery stores, leading to the potential establishment of a social credit score system akin to China's. Christian Briggs further emphasizes the implications of CBDC by stating, "Ultimately, this is an assault on freedom." The discussion brings to light the possible downgrading of an individual's social credit score based on government scrutiny of their purchases, such as excessive ammunition or investments in certain sectors. The second half of the episode features a compelling interview with special guest General Michael Flynn, providing an insider's perspective on his experiences and challenges during his tenure in the Trump administration. General Flynn sheds light on various decisions and policies, revealing his belief that he faced predisposition from the Clinton/Obama administration, which ultimately led to his ousting. This candid conversation offers listeners a fresh and insightful perspective on the dynamics of US politics. The latest episode of the Hard Asset Money Show promises to be an engaging and thought-provoking exploration of CBDC, government surveillance, and the complexities of US politics. To listen to the full episode and gain valuable insights from esteemed guests, visit: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hard-asset-money-show/id1576564099 HARD ASSET MONEY SHOW PODCAST: Broadcasting around the world, welcome to the Hard Asset Money show. Chaotic times call for a fearless examination of the things that matter. Your wealth, your money, your future and how to preserve and grow with the hard asset market. Hosted by Christian Briggs. BMCHAM.COM/PODCAST Contact Information John Grainer [email protected] 844-426-4653 SOURCE: Hard Asset Management View source version on accesswire.com: NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / International Paper Company This year and moving forward, our annual LIFE Month safety awareness campaign starts in June to align with National Safety Month in the U.S. LIFE stands for Life-changing Injury and Fatality Elimination. LIFE is broken down into five categories where the majority of our injuries occur across the company - Machine Guarding, Slips, Trips & Falls, Motorized Equipment, Driver Safety, and Harmful Substances & Environment. Safety remains our most important responsibility and will always be more important than production. We've made a lot of great progress in our safety journey, but we can't stop learning and improving. Help us celebrate LIFE month by sharing posts tagged #IPLifeMonth About International Paper International Paper (NYSE: IP) is a global producer of planet-friendly packaging, pulp and other fiber-based products, and one of North America's largest recyclers. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., we employ approximately 39,000 colleagues globally who are committed to creating what's next. We serve customers worldwide, with manufacturing operations in North America, Latin America, North Africa and Europe. Net sales for 2022 were $21.2 billion. Additional information can be found by visiting InternationalPaper.com. 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: [email protected] SOURCE: International Paper Company View source version on accesswire.com: The Russia and Egypt Under One Sun fine art exhibition commemorated the 80th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Egypt and Russia, reflects the influence of Egyptian civilization on Russian arts. The exhibition, which took place at the Russian Cultural Centre in Dokki under the sponsorship of the countrys embassy in Cairo, ended on 17 June. It featured the participation of a Russian artistic delegation headed by Daria Karacheva, the founder of the Diplomacy in the Eyes of the Artist project. Her works are displayed in the Kremlin and a number of Russian churches. She was joined by Olga Smirnova, a member of the Fine Artists Union in Russia and a professor of art history; Mikhael Rakov, a member of Russia's Union of Writers; and Artor Mirozian, an artist and film director; and artist Tatiana Dvoryadkna. The exhibition included a number of paintings by modern Russian artist Alexander Smirnov, a member of the Russian Academy of Arts and recipient of the Golden Medal of Arts. His works are on permanent display at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, which is considered the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world, and at the Russian Foreign Ministry. The Russian delegation had been participating in a long visit to Cairo and Alexandria, where they painted many pieces that depicted the unique Egyptian architectural style, especially in the old neighborhoods and historical palaces. One such palace was the Russian House Palace in Alexandria, which is considered one of the most beautiful palaces in the city. The Russian artists also visited popular neighborhoods in these cities and interacted with their residents. Karacheva emphasized that the creations of the Russian artists show how Egyptian civilization has been a source of inspiration and creativity for Russian arts. The Russian artists dedicated a number of their paintings to the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, within the framework of supporting joint cultural cooperation between Egypt and Russia. Search Keywords: Short link: Brands can authenticate the origin of complex manufactured goods and materials, and make immutable recordkeeping, and sharing of audit-defense records with all stakeholders, simple. LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / KYG Trade, Inc. (www.kygtrade.com) and FloraTrace, Inc. (www.floratrace.com) are joining forces on the KYG Trade SaaS platform and marketplace. KYG Trade is the world's first Trade and sustainability metrics attestation platform and marketplace. FloraTrace increases brand value by authenticating geographic origin of materials using science-based solutions and risk transfer solutions. The collaboration expands the services of both partners that are dedicated to facilitating trade compliance, sustainable supply chains, transparency and consumer trust. Logo Increasing global risks such as forced labor, environmental risk, deforestation, and free trade agreement requirements have heightened the demand for origin verification technologies. As companies focus on consumers' needs, stakeholder expectations, and compliance with trade laws, the complexities of compiling, tracking, verifying and sharing data have become overwhelming. Finding the right resource for origin verification and certification, along with readily available reports for compliance and other stakeholders has also proven challenging. But not anymore. KYG Trade's secure open platform simplifies the gathering of product attributes, including material origin, necessary for compliance requirements. FloraTrace will efficiently obtain product attributes from KYG Trade customers, permanently linking its proprietary isotopic-geographic origin testing and analytics results to a product's digital twin. The KYG Trade platform creates an immutable real-time snapshot and audit record of the FloraTrace findings and product origin data, facilitating future audits by financial stakeholders and customs regulators globally. FloraTrace solves the problem of proving the origin of a product and its material components, while KYG Trade ensures secure, efficient and cost-effective management of these attestations. Brands facing both challenges can utilize the KYG Trade ecosystem and leverage FloraTrace's innovative origin assignment technologies. "FloraTrace is a significant addition to the KYG Trade family of trade and sustainable sourcing metrics solutions, as human rights due diligence and origin verification marketplace experts," commented KYG Trade Founder CEO Todd R. Smith. "Not only are they using cutting-edge technology to authenticate origin, but they are also committed to the same sustainable, ethical and transparent supply-chain compliance that KYG is committed to. Our clients will have access to FloraTrace on our secure platform to further ensure compliance with trade laws and sustainable sourcing metrics initiatives." FloraTrace Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Kimberley Gunther expressed that "The collaboration with KYG Trade adds another layer of improved compliance for our customers. Not only do they have the origin and authenticity of their products verified by FloraTrace, but that verification can be easily and securely accessed by all stakeholders in the supply chain, as well as regulators, on a permissioned basis. The KYG Trade platform provides ease of use for our clients by eliminating the redundant emailing of our origin verifications to numerous players in and outside of the supply chain." About KYG Trade" KYG Trade is the world's first decentralized Trade Attestation Platform and Marketplace" providing AI-powered global trade and ESG compliance, collaboration, and workflow all in one place. Signing up for the KYG Trade platform enables secure access, recordkeeping, and audit defense of product attribute data for tax, trade, and ESG claims related to the cross-border movement of complex manufactured goods. KYG Trade's mission is to transform global trade compliance from a siloed, redundant, costly, and cumbersome grind into an automated, AI-powered collaborative modern experience. About FloraTrace" FloraTrace is a US company founded in 2020 by a team of scientists, engineers, and industry specialists to generate new levels of transparency for clients 'disclosure and accountability in supply chains. With its domestic laboratories, chain-of-custody protocols and secure storage, FloraTrace delivers fast analysis turnaround for its clients with the most cost-effective pricing for cutting-edge origin assignment technologies. FloraTrace specializes in risk transfer solutions, risk management science and risk assessment in trade compliance, legal/reputational risk mitigation, and sustainable sourcing metrics. Contact Information Leslie August CMO [email protected] +1-650-391-7759 Kimberley J Gunther Chief Strategy Officer [email protected] +1-916-806-7310 SOURCE: KYG Trade, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: LIMASSOL, CYPRUS / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / The updated Sponsored VPS service can assist brokers in attracting potential clients, incentivizing existing traders, and driving higher trading volumes. In just a few minutes, companies can set up a loyalty program for social and algorithmic traders to reward their potential or existing customers. Brokers can offer free reliable virtual servers to separate clients or user groups for round-the-clock trading. The service supports flexible allocation conditions, allowing business to tailor their offerings based on their specific goals. The wide range of settings enables the selection of user cohorts based on any desired attribute, from the source site and registration date to geographic location and account balance. The service can be sued to reward potential clients who are about to make their decision, as well as new users who have just opened a real account or experienced traders who have reached certain performance milestones. MetaTrader 5 Sponsored VPS Renat Fatkhullin, CEO of MetaQuotes, commented: "Free specialized hosting for automated trading is a valuable asset and a significant advantage over competitors. In a highly saturated and aggressive market, any compelling argument can tip the scales. We believe that the updated service will assist brokers in improving their business performance." Being natively integrated into the trading platform, the service requires no additional connections or configurations and can be activated in just a few clicks. It means that brokerage companies can launch ready-made loyalty programs within minutes. Furthermore, the service provides comprehensive statistics to monitor VPS usage, customer locations, deposits, and other essential metrics. Such transparency empowers extensive control and planning capabilities. By offering Sponsored VPS for traders, brokers can attract potential clients, expand their customer base, reward existing traders for performance results, and stimulate trading activity on their servers. MetaQuotes has been developing software applications for brokerages, banks, exchanges, and hedge funds for more than 20 years. Millions of users and thousands of financial institutions use the company's products every day. The MetaTrader 5 trading platform has become the industry standard, pushing outdated and inefficient platforms out of the market. MQL5.com, the largest algorithmic trading community, offers a variety of additional services, from algorithmic trading tools to VPS. With continued community support, the company has built an unparalleled infrastructure around MetaTrader 5, which is trusted by tens of millions of traders from all financial markets. Contact Information Mikhail Kirilin PR Manager [email protected] +35795564211 SOURCE: MetaQuotes View source version on accesswire.com: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Q Battery Metals Corp. ("Q Battery Metals" or the "Company) (CSE:QMET) is pleased to announce targeted rock sampling has been initiated on the La Corne South project, located north of Val d'Or, Quebec. The Q Battery sampling team will be exploring areas where prior sampling returned elevated lithium values from work programs that were not designed to test for lithium. The work is being guided by Dr. Mathieu Pich', a director and OGQ Geoscientist for Q Battery. In 2021 Q Battery conducted a work program to test outcrops for multi-element VMS potential. Rock sampling undertaken in the area of the Boily Berube' mineral showing returned a number of results over 100 ppm lithium and up to 468 ppm (see Q Battery news release dated March 7, 2023). The samples were taken from outcrop ridges that will be re-sampled during this current targeted program. The team will also attempt to better locate the Boily Berube' mineral showing that is described as a trench completed in 1989 exposing pegmatite containing molybdenite and bismuthinite. The rocks were not analyzed for lithium at that time. The targeted sampling will test this material for lithium, as well as sampling other trenches completed during the 1989 work program. Q Battery will also locate drill collars for holes completed by prior operators. This includes drill hole FIE 15-04-02 completed in 2004 by Falconbridge that returned elevated lithium (to 333 ppm) from core samples (see Q Battery news release dated June 12, 2023). None of the historic drilling was designed to test for pegmatite or lithium, with only a select number of hole samples analyzed for multiple elements to include lithium. Summary of lithium results from drill hole FIE-15-04-01 (Falconbridge, 2004) Hole id From (m) To (m) Sample id Length Li (ppm) (PPm) FIE 15-04-01 171.9 173.4 502575 1.5 106 FIE 15-04-01 174 175.5 502577 1.5 120 FIE 15-04-01 186.1 187.6 502580 1.5 333 Summary of 2021 Rock Sampling, elevated lithium SampleID Lithology Code Lithology Summary UTM_E UTM_N SampType Li B0116756 I4 (AM) GG Ultramafic, coarse grained 298678 5353828 Grab 468 B0116786 V3B Basalt 298676 5353877 Grab 374 B0116758 I3A GM Gabbro 298679 5353848 Grab 203 B0116769 I3A PO AM Gabbro with pyrrhotite 298893 5353864 Grab 153 B0116771 V3B Basalt 298743 5353654 Grab 103 B0116763 V3B Basalt 298682 5353906 Grab 94 This current targeted sampling program will assist in identifying areas for more intensive exploration to be undertaken during the summer. The intention of 2023 exploration on the La Corne South project is to identify potential lithium-bearing pegmatites that can be diamond drilled this coming fall and winter. The La Corne South Property is located over the southern portion of the La Corne Batholith. At least 14 lithium projects are associated with the margins of the La Corne Batholith within 20 kilometres of the QMET claims. Sections of the batholith are pegmatitic which host the lithium. Within 10 kms, the North American Lithium project is a historic lithium mine that now lists proven and probable mineral reserves estimated at 29.2 million tonnes (Mt), grading 0.96% Li2O, with contained Li2O of 280,300t. As well, the potential for VMS deposition containing Cu-Zn-Ag is evident on the La Corne South claims. Q Battery Metals exploration programs undertaken in Quebec are supervised by Dr. Mathieu Piche, OGQ, with office located north of Val d'Or. He is also a Q Battery Metals company director. The company has 100% interest in mineral claims within Quebec and British Columbia, with exploration targeting critical and precious metals. Perry Grunenberg, P.Geo, a "Qualified Person" as that term is defined under NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release. Cautionary Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions as of that date. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to exploration and development; the ability of the Company to obtain additional financing; the Company's limited operating history; the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations; fluctuations in the prices of commodities; operating hazards and risks; competition and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's Prospectus dated September 8, 2017 available on www.sedar.com. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions, and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information. On behalf of the Board of Directors Richard Penn CEO (778) 384-8923 SOURCE: Q Battery Metals Corp. View source version on accesswire.com: NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) today published its 2023 Global Citizenship & Sustainability Report, emphasizing the Company's ongoing commitment to creating timeless products that are made to live on responsibly, using materials in ways that reduce its products' environmental impact, and supporting people within its workforce, supply chain and communities. The 2023 report outlines progress across the Company's Citizenship & Sustainability approach, Timeless by Design, which ensures timelessness is embedded from inspiration through to products' every use and reuse across generations. "Ralph's vision of timelessness is apparent in the beautiful products we create, and it's our commitment to ensure this vision is carried into how we create and address our impact on the world," said Katie Ioanilli, Chief Global Impact & Communications Officer, Ralph Lauren Corporation. "Our approach is rooted in science, ambitious goals, collaboration and innovation that, together, will enable us to continue to inspire people to live the life of their dreams." As part of its Timeless by Design strategy, the Company continued over the past year to advance on its commitments across three pillars: Create with Intent, Protect the Environment and Champion Better Lives. Highlights include: Continuing to support the circular economy with the introduction of Ralph Lauren's Cradle to Cradle Certified Gold Luxury Cashmere Sweater, the first luxury cashmere C2C Certified product and the first of five iconic products that the Company committed to make C2C Certified by 2025; Expanding its efforts to create innovative products with sustainable attributes, including the POLO MIRUM sneaker and crossbody pouch, featuring Natural Fiber Welding's MIRUM components that are 100% plastic-free and made from plants and minerals; Establishing a roadmap to eliminate coal in its supply chain; Meeting its zero waste goal by diverting 92% of waste from landfill and incineration across its distribution centers; Achieving its goal to increase the number of women in factory leadership by at least 25% two years ahead of schedule, making progress on the path to gender parity in the supply chain; and The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation announcing a $25 million commitment to expand or establish five cancer centers in the U.S. aimed at reducing cancer care inequity in underserved communities and celebrating the opening of the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center as a part of this commitment. The full 2023 Ralph Lauren Global Citizenship & Sustainability Report and ESG Supplement are available for download on the Company's website. ABOUT RALPH LAUREN CORPORATION Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) is a global leader in the design, marketing and distribution of luxury lifestyle products in five categories: apparel, footwear & accessories, home, fragrances and hospitality. For more than 50 years, Ralph Lauren has sought to inspire the dream of a better life through authenticity and timeless style. Its reputation and distinctive image have been developed across a wide range of products, brands, distribution channels and international markets. The Company's brand names - which include Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Collection, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children and Chaps, among others - constitute one of the world's most widely recognized families of consumer brands. For more information, visit https://corporate.ralphlauren.com. SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release and the Global Citizenship & Sustainability Report contain goals, initiatives and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding, among other things, the Company's citizenship and sustainability goals and environmental, social and governance goals. Forward-looking statements are indicated by words or phrases such as "aim," "anticipate," "outlook," "estimate," "ensure," "commit," "expect," "project," "believe," "envision," "seek," "goal," "target," "can," "will," and similar words or phrases. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the future results, performance or achievements expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based largely on the Company's expectations and judgments and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, many of which are unforeseeable and beyond Company control. The factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to materially differ from forward-looking statements include, among others, the risk factors identified in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Media Contact: Corporate Communications [email protected] Read More View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Ralph Lauren Corporation on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Ralph Lauren Corporation Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/ralph-lauren-corporation Email: [email protected] SOURCE: Ralph Lauren Corporation View source version on accesswire.com: COLLINGWOOD, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / The Limestone Boat Company Limited ("Limestone" or the "Company") (TSXV:BOAT) - has called for a meeting of holders (the "Debentureholder Meeting") of its 10% Convertible Subordinated Debentures due May 14, 2024 (the "Convertible Debentures") to be held July 18, 2023, to consider its previously-announced proposal to amend the terms of the Convertible Debentures to permit the Company to convert the outstanding principal and interest thereunder into common shares of the Company ("Common Shares") at a conversion price of $0.071 per Common Share, subject to the definitive terms and conditions described in the associated documentation (the "Proposed Restructuring"). Limestone intends to implement the Proposed Restructuring by way of an Extraordinary Resolution passed either by written instrument approved by the Holders of not less than 66 2/3% of the principal amount of the outstanding Convertible Debentures (the "Requisite Consents") or at the Debentureholder Meeting by holders of not less than 66 2/3% of the principal amount of the outstanding Convertible Debentures attending such Debentureholder Meeting. The Company also announces the extension of the proposed closing of its previously-announced private placement issuance (the "Private Placement") of up to 120,000,000 subscription receipts ("Subscription Receipts") at a price of $0.05 per Subscription Receipt for gross proceeds of approximately $6.0 million. The Private Placement is now expected to close on or about July 21, 2023, or such other date as determined by the Company in its sole discretion. Upon satisfaction of certain escrow release conditions, negotiated in connection with the Private Placement (the "Escrow Release Conditions"), and without the payment of any additional consideration, each Subscription Receipt will convert into one Common Share. The gross proceeds from the sale of the Subscription Receipts will be held in escrow and released to the Company only upon the satisfaction or waiver of the Escrow Release Conditions. All securities issued in connection with the proposed Private Placement will be subject to a hold period expiring four months and a day from the date of their issuance. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Private Placement for general working capital purposes including repayment of certain existing indebtedness of the Company. Each of the Proposed Restructuring and the Private Placement remain subject to all applicable approvals, including those required from the TSX Venture Exchange and under corporate and securities laws. Upon completion of the Proposed Restructuring and the closing of the Private Placement, the Company intends to move forward with the construction of its 100,000 square foot purpose-built, state-of-the-art closed molding and vacuum infusion boatbuilding facility in Bayside, New Brunswick and to secure its training and transitional production facility in the Port of Bayside's existing facilities. Limestone expects that the new facility will be used to produce the Limestone L200 Centre Console and Runabout models, and new fully-electric EV model. The Company has also completed tooling for its new L290 Dual Console boat which is expected to commence in 2024. Its L270 Dual Console boat, presently in development, is expected to follow within the first year. In connection with the relocation of its manufacturing operations to New Brunswick, Canada, Limestone anticipates participation in certain Provincial and Federal development support initiatives including those offered by Opportunities New Brunswick and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. The Company continues to have strong dealer support throughout New England, the Great Lakes, and beyond. These are markets that can be effectively serviced from Atlantic Canada. About The Limestone Boat Company Limited The Limestone Boat Company Limited- owner and builder of Limestone Boats - is publicly traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker symbol "BOAT". They are headquartered in Collingwood, Ontario. For more information, please contact: Bill Mitoulas | Investor Relations 800-720-2395 [email protected] www.limestoneboatcompany.com Scott Hanson | CEO of The Limestone Boat Company Limited 800-720-2395 [email protected] 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. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release, and other publicly available documents including the documents referenced herein, constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively, "forward-looking information)". These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "believe", "could" "should", "would", "estimate", "expect", "forecast", "indicate", "intend", "likely, "may", "plan", "potential", "project", "outlook", "seek", "target", "trend" or "will" 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 parties' current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Examples of such forward-looking information include, without limitation, the Proposed Restructuring, the Private Placement, the intention to restructure the Company's assets and liabilities, funding support from any governmental program including those described herein, and any future manufacturing opportunities for the Company and the Limestone brand in Canada, and further expected changes to the Company's operations and long-term viability. Actual future results may differ materially. The Company is subject to a number of risks relating to integration and go-forward operations, certain of which are more particularly described in the Company's public filings available on SEDAR including, without limitation, the filing statement filed by the Company on February 23, 2021, and the Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2023. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the parties are not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. Many factors could cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. All the forward-looking information made in this press release is qualified by these cautionary statements and other cautionary statements or factors in this press release. There can be no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized or, even if substantially realized, will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. Unless required by applicable securities law, the Company does not intend and does not assume any obligation to update this forward-looking information. SOURCE: The Limestone Boat Company Limited View source version on accesswire.com: Partnership to Provide Enhanced Capabilities in Combating Ransomware Threats FAIRFAX, VA / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2023 / Global cybersecurity and analytics company, Visium Technologies, Inc. (OTC PINK:VISM), announced today a strategic partnership with Cybersecurity Assurance Services Caribbean, Ltd. ("CASC") to deliver Managed Information Technology Services (MSP) to small and medium businesses ("SMB") in Trinidad and Tobago ("TT"). This collaboration is structured to strengthen and improve cybersecurity defenses and empower organizations to combat the rising threat of ransomware attacks. The partnership will leverage the advanced capabilities of Visium's proprietary TruContextTM analytics platform. Ransomware attacks have become increasingly sophisticated and are posing significant risks to businesses in TT. These attacks can disrupt operations, compromise sensitive data, and result in substantial financial losses. Recognizing the urgent need for robust ransomware defense strategies, Visium Technologies and Cybersecurity Assurance Services Caribbean, Ltd have teamed up to deliver the TruContextTM platform with enhanced comprehensive protection against this critical cybersecurity threat. Richard Charles, CEO of CASC, expressed the importance of proactive cybersecurity measures in today's rapidly evolving threat landscape. He stated, "As cyber threats continue to evolve at an alarming pace, organizations worldwide are seeking robust and proactive measures to safeguard their critical assets. By joining forces with Visium, we aim to provide unparalleled expertise in cybersecurity solutions and consulting for Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean, and Latin America." Charles added, "We have seen tremendous enthusiasm from small and medium businesses and have begun the process of onboarding dozens of customers. In addition, we are targeting enterprise-level customers who have expressed a keen interest in the TruContextTM technology." The partnership will center around Visium's proprietary TruContextTM cybersecurity analytics platform, renowned for its world-class capabilities. By combining cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence ("AI"), machine learning, and behavioral analytics, this advanced solution enables organizations to achieve real-time threat detection, proactive incident response, and actionable insights for enhanced decision-making. Mark Lucky, CEO of Visium Technologies, said "Partnering with CASC is a significant milestone for Visium Technologies. Together, we are targeting the SMB market with world-class cybersecurity and offering our clients a comprehensive suite of cybersecurity consulting services coupled with the powerful capabilities of the proprietary TruContextTM analytics platform. The evolving threat landscape demands innovative approaches to combat ransomware attacks effectively. Last year, the Trinidad and Tobago Cybersecurity Incident Response Team (TT-CSIRT) of the Ministry of National Security reported a significant increase in attacks, especially ransomware. One of the most high-profile cases was the attack that forced Massy Group, one of TT's largest suppliers of consumer goods and pharmaceuticals to close its stores. Hackers froze the supermarket chain's system and extracted approximately 216 gigabytes of data. It was also reported that cyberattacks occur in TT at a rate of approximately 168 every minute, which underscores the critical need for enhanced cybersecurity capabilities in the Caribbean". In conclusion, Lucky added, "Significantly, we anticipate that Visium will see increasing monthly revenue from this partnership as we continue onboarding more clients, and we anticipate growing our footprint throughout Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean, and Latin America." The partnership will deliver the following key services: 1. Advanced Threat Detection: The TruContextTM proprietary platform employs cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence ("AI"), machine learning, and behavioral analytics to detect ransomware attacks at an early stage. By analyzing network traffic, user behavior, and system anomalies, the platform rapidly identifies potential indicators of compromise and flags suspicious activities. 2. Real-time Incident Response: TruContextTM enables organizations to respond swiftly and effectively to ransomware incidents. The platform provides real-time alerts, actionable insights, and automated incident response workflows, enabling security teams to contain and mitigate ransomware attacks promptly. This rapid response capability minimizes the impact and potential damage caused by such threats. 3. Behavioral Analysis: By leveraging behavioral analysis capabilities, TruContextTM helps organizations identify ransomware patterns and behaviors across their digital infrastructure. This proactive approach empowers security teams to detect emerging ransomware variants and develop preventive measures to protect critical systems and data. 4. Threat Intelligence Integration: TruContextTM seamlessly integrates with threat intelligence feeds to provide organizations with up-to-date information on known ransomware campaigns, tactics, and indicators of compromise. This integration enhances the platform's detection capabilities, enabling organizations to stay ahead of evolving ransomware threats. 5. Security Awareness Training: Visium Technologies offers comprehensive security awareness training programs that educate employees on best practices for identifying and mitigating ransomware risks. By cultivating a cybersecurity-conscious workforce, organizations can play a critical role in preventing successful ransomware attacks. By combining Cybersecurity Assurance Services Caribbean, Ltd's experience in managed services with Visium's cybersecurity expertise and the TruContextTM Cybersecurity analytics platform, organizations will benefit from a holistic and proactive approach to cybersecurity. This collaboration aims to empower clients with the knowledge, tools, and capabilities needed to effectively safeguard their digital infrastructure. About Cybersecurity Assurance Services Caribbean, Ltd Cybersecurity Assurance Services Caribbean executive team has over a combined fifty years of experience in providing solutions to businesses both from an IT and compliance perspective. Providing guidance and support in growth areas and sourcing technology and systems as needed. Cybersecurity Assurance Services Caribbean, Ltd has broughtto the region the latest in telecommunications software, forming alliances with providers like Airbrij that allows customers from being hybrid employees or office networks to community settings or improving the connectivity in rural areas. These services deliver key functionality that makes managing a network fast, affordable, and easy. About Visium Technologies, Inc. Visium Technologies (OTC PINK:VISM) is a cyber security solutions provider that uses graph database technology to deliver an analytics-driven, risk-based approach to cybersecurity that provides context to data so that users can make intelligent decisions in real time. Built for the US Army Cyber Command by MITRE Corporation (CyGraph), and then further developed by Visium, our world class TruContextTM technology provides visualization, advanced cyber monitoring intelligence, data modeling, analytics, and automation to help reduce risk, simplify cyber security, and deliver better security outcomes. TruContextTM plugs the gaps left by other security tools. For more information please visit www.visiumtechnologies.com and our YouTube Channel. Safe Harbor Statement: Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release includes forward-looking statements that reflect management's current views with respect to future events and performance. These forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and information currently available. The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "project" and similar expressions that do not relate solely to historical matters identify forward-looking statements. Investors should be cautious in relying on forward-looking statements because they are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, whether the reverse stock split will be beneficial to the Company and its shareholders, any inability to meet the NYSE American continued listing standards in the future for any reason, and those other factors described in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Any responsibility to update forward-looking statements is expressly disclaimed. CONTACT: Visium Technologies, Inc. Corporate: Mark Lucky, Chief Executive Officer [email protected] Follow us on Twitter and Instagram Twitter | Instagram Corporate Office: 4094 Majestic Lane Suite 360 Fairfax, VA 22033 Phone: 703-273-0383 SOURCE: Visium Technologies, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: LE BOURGET, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today Air Lease Corporation (NYSE: AL) announced long-term lease placements for two new Airbus A220-300 aircraft with Cyprus Airways, the national airline of Cyprus. Both new A220 aircraft are confirmed to deliver to the airline this month from ALCs order book with Airbus. ALC is pleased to announce this transaction for two Airbus A220 aircraft with our new customer, Cyprus Airways, said Steven Udvar-Hazy, Executive Chairman of Air Lease Corporation. As the first to introduce the A220 to the airline and the country of Cyprus, ALC looks forward to working with the Cyprus Airways team to develop and grow the flag carriers fleet with the most technologically advanced, fuel-efficient new aircraft. We are thrilled to work with the ALC team on the first implementation of the A220 in the Cyprus Airways fleet, said Paul Sies, Chief Executive Officer of Cyprus Airways. Seen as a game changer in the industry, the A220 will provide a new experience to our guests and marks our commitment towards sustainability. The A220 offers the newest technology on the market and gives great savings in fuel burn and direct operating cost. We look forward to a long and mutual beneficial relationship with ALC and hope to work with them on the further development of our fleet plan in the years to come. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including expected delivery dates. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about our future results, prospects and opportunities and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements will not be updated unless required by law. Actual results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. About Air Lease Corporation (NYSE: AL) Air Lease Corporation is a leading global aircraft leasing company based in Los Angeles, California that has airline customers throughout the world. ALC and its team of dedicated and experienced professionals are principally engaged in purchasing new commercial aircraft and leasing them to its airline customers worldwide through customized aircraft leasing and financing solutions. The company routinely posts information that may be important to investors in the Investors section of its website at www.airleasecorp.com. Investors and potential investors are encouraged to consult Air Lease Corporations website regularly for important information. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, ALCs website is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this press release. About Cyprus Airways Cyprus Airways, the flag-carrier of Cyprus, resumed operations in 2016. The airline operates an all-Airbus A320 aircraft fleet which are currently operating on an eighteen-scheduled destination network. Winter destinations include Athens, Beirut, Tel Aviv, Yerevan, Paris, Rome, Dubai, Milan-Bergamo, Prague and Zurich. Additionally, summer destinations include Basel, Santorini, Skiathos, Rhodes, Heraklion and Cairo. As mentioned above, the airline is in the process of upgrading its fleet with new more environmentally friendly aircraft that will offer up to 25% less CO2 emissions compared to previous generation aircraft, a lower noise footprint, and a totally new customer comfort standard. Learn more at: www.cyprusairways.com For media enquiries please contact: [email protected] View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620973444/en/ Investors: Jason Arnold Vice President, Investor Relations Email: [email protected] Media: Laura Woeste Senior Manager, Media and Investor Relations Email: [email protected] Ashley Arnold Senior Manager, Media and Investor Relations Email: [email protected] Source: Air Lease Corporation WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- CAVA Group, Inc. (CAVA), the category-defining Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant brand that brings heart, health, and humanity to food, today announced the closing of its initial public offering of 16,611,110 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $22.00 per share, including the full exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase up to 2,166,666 additional shares of common stock. CAVAs common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trades under the ticker symbol CAVA. CAVA intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund future new restaurant openings, with any remaining proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment of its delayed draw term loans used to finance construction and capital expenditures in respect of its new production facility in Verona, Virginia. J.P. Morgan and Jefferies acted as joint lead book-running managers of the offering, and J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, and Citigroup acted as representatives of the underwriters for the offering. Citigroup and Morgan Stanley acted as joint bookrunners for the offering. Piper Sandler, Baird, Stifel, and William Blair also acted as joint bookrunners for the offering. Capital One Securities, Blaylock Van, LLC, and Drexel Hamilton acted as co-managers for the offering. A registration statement on Form S-1 relating to the offering was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on June 14, 2023. Copies of the registration statement can be accessed through the SECs website at www.sec.gov. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation, or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that state or jurisdiction. Any offers, solicitations or offers to buy, or any sales of securities will be made in accordance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The offering was made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the prospectus related to the offering can be obtained from: J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, by telephone at (866) 803-9204, or by email at [email protected]; Jefferies LLC, Attn: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, 520 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022, by telephone at (877) 821-7388, or by email at [email protected]; or Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Attn: Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY, 11717, or by telephone at 800-831-9146. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts. The words believe, may, will, estimate, continue, anticipate, intend, expect and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the use of proceeds, are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described under Risk Factors under CAVAs registration statement relating to the offering. Except as required by law, CAVA has no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results or revised expectations. About CAVA CAVA is the category-defining Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant brand, bringing together healthful food and bold, satisfying flavors at scale. Rooted in our rich Mediterranean heritage, we bring a timeless approach to modern wellness through our authentic cuisine and vibrant brand experience. Guided by our mission, we believe food is a unifier for a more diverse and inclusive world for our guests, team members, and our grower and rancher partners, where all are welcome at our table. We believe that consumers should not have to choose between taste and health our innovative cuisine appeals to a wide variety of preferences, satisfying the modern consumers desires for flavorful, craveable, and nutritious food without compromise. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620982798/en/ Matt Milanovich, VP, FP&A and Investor Relations (202) 984-2558 [email protected] Source: CAVA Group, Inc. MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Columbia Seligman Premium Technology Growth Fund, Inc. (the Fund) (NYSE: STK) today held its 13th Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the Meeting) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Stockholders voted in favor of the recommendations of the Funds Board of Directors (the Board) on each of two proposals at the Meeting. Specifically, Stockholders elected four Directors, Ms. Janet Langford Carrig, whose term will expire at the Funds 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, and Mses. Patricia M. Flynn and Catherine James Paglia, and Mr. Brian J. Gallagher, each for a term that will expire at the Funds 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and all until their successors are elected and qualify. Stockholders also ratified the Boards selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Funds independent registered public accounting firm for the 2023 fiscal year. The Fund is managed by Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC. This material is distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., member FINRA. Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the Fund carefully before investing. You can obtain the Funds most recent periodic reports and other regulatory filings by contacting your financial advisor or visiting columbiathreadneedleus.com. These reports and other filings can also be found on the Securities and Exchange Commissions EDGAR Database. You should read these reports and other filings carefully before investing. The Fund is not insured by the FDIC, NCUA or any federal agency, is not a deposit or obligation of, or guaranteed by any financial institution, and involves investment risks including possible loss of principal and fluctuation in value. 2023 Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC. All rights reserved. AdTrax 5755298 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620961107/en/ Stockholder contact: Kevin Howley 617-385-9517 [email protected] Media contact: Carlos Melville 617-897-9384 [email protected] Source: Columbia Threadneedle Investments VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- D3 Security, the security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) vendor that does what others cant, today announced that it is a sponsor of the 2023 Infosecurity Europe conference. The event takes place at ExCeL London from June 20-22. At booth AA62, D3 Security will present the new capabilities of its Smart SOAR platform, including enhanced reporting and its unique MSSP client access portal. "We are thrilled to showcase our Smart SOAR platform at Infosecurity Europe 2023, Europe's most anticipated cybersecurity event, said Amardeep Dhingra, Director of Strategic Alliances at D3 Security. "We know security leaders at the event will be blown away by the latest advances in our SOAR platform, which make it easier than ever to enable an effective cybersecurity mesh architecture. Smart SOARs revamped Reporting and Analytics dashboard module provides security executives and managers with personalized dashboards, enabling them to monitor their SLAs and KPIs in real time. The innovative widget-based system and highly customizable dashboards offer security teams deep insights into their security posture. Also new to Smart SOAR is the MSSP Client Portal, which revolutionizes the interaction between MSSPs and their clients, fostering transparency, collaboration, and rapid response. By giving clients limited but meaningful access to their data on the SOAR platform, Smart SOAR empowers MSSPs to serve their clients more effectively while promoting shared security objectives. D3 Security invites all attendees to visit booth AA62 at Infosecurity Europe 2023, where the D3 team will be providing demos of Smart SOARs capabilities. Infosecurity Europe is the largest and most attended information security event in Europe. Infosecurity Europe 2023 promises to provide critical insights and updates, specifically tailored for C-level information security professionals. This year's event has an impressive lineup of keynote speakers, exhibitors, and workshops providing CPE and CPD credits. About D3 Security D3 Securitys Smart SOAR helps solve many of the most entrenched problems in cybersecurityincluding analyst burnout, alert overwhelm, and information silosby transforming separate tools into a unified ecosystem with multi-tier automation, codeless orchestration, robust case management, and environment-wide reporting. Smart SOAR performs autonomous triage and drastically reduces false positives so that enterprise, MSSP, and public sector security teams can spend more time on real threats. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620598802/en/ D3 Security Walker Banerd, Director of Communications and Content [email protected] Source: D3 Security Adriaansens said those understandings still have to be translated into regulations but that her country understands the importance of the measures. "We realize that we, the U.S., the Netherlands, Japan and Korea, are very strong in the semicon[ductor] value chain, supply chain, and we have a responsibility there," the minister said, echoing a statement made by Japan's trade minister in March. Adriaansens acknowledged that the negotiations with Washington have not been easy. "To be honest, the conversation has been intense, and is still intense," she said. "But we agreed already upon the main issues, with a good [mutual] understanding of what is the right thing to do." The U.S. subsequently asked allies including Japan and the Netherlands, which play key roles in the semiconductor supply chain, to introduce similar measures. "The main concern is [the chip-making technology] will be used in military products," Micky Adriaansens, Netherlands' minister of economic affairs and climate, told a group of journalists on June 8 at the Dutch Embassy in Washington. The U.S. said the measures were aimed at items that "could provide direct contributions to advancing military decision making" such as "designing and testing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), producing semiconductors for use in advanced military systems, and developing advanced surveillance systems that can be used for military applications and human rights abuses." The United States in October 2022 announced its own export control measures affecting advanced computing integrated circuits and certain semiconductor manufacturing items. The measures are likely to further restrict sales to China by Netherlands-based ASML, maker of the world's most advanced chip-printing machines, which last year disclosed the "unauthorized misappropriation of data" by a now former employee in China. The Dutch government is soon to join the United States and Japan in rolling out new semiconductor export control measures aimed at keeping sensitive technology away from China due to concern for potential misuse, the country's economic affairs minister told reporters on a visit to Washington. Japan Also Takes Steps Tokyo announced its own measures on March 31, saying that beginning in July, Japan will restrict 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment from being exported to China. "We are fulfilling our responsibility as a technological nation to contribute to international peace and stability," Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters. At the center of the Netherlands' semiconductor export control deliberations is ASML, a Dutch company with its headquarters in Veldhoven, about an hour and a halfs drive southeast of Amsterdam. The company was known as Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography in its early years but is now known as ASML. Europe's biggest high-tech firm by market capitalization, ASML is the worlds largest supplier of photolithography machines, which are used to produce computer chips. Its flagship products are the EUV, or extreme ultraviolet, and DUV, or deep ultraviolet, lithography machines that use advanced light technology to shrink and then print tiny patterns down to the nanometer level on silicon wafers, a critical and essential component of the semiconductor manufacturing process. Since 2019, ASML's world-exclusive EUV machines have been on the Netherlands' export control list, meaning they cannot be sold to China without government approval. In a statement issued in March, the company said it understood that the new export controls could be applied to its less-advanced DUV machines and other products as well. While Taiwan is its top customer, ASML has more than 1,000 employees working in 12 office buildings in major Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Last year, sales to China made up 14% of the company's total net systems sales. In its 2022 annual report, released on February 15 this year, the company disclosed that it had experienced "unauthorized misappropriation of data relating to proprietary technology by a (now) former employee in China." The incident may have led to the violation of certain export control regulations, the report said. The company said a comprehensive internal review has since been launched, but the nature and extent of the data that was misappropriated has not been publicly disclosed. Report Mentions Possible Leak Another possible leak of the company's proprietary information that happened in China was disclosed in the previous year's annual report. "Early in 2021, we became aware of reports that a company associated with XTAL, Inc., against which ASML had obtained a damage award for trade secret misappropriation in 2019 in the USA, was actively marketing products in China that could potentially infringe on ASML's IP rights," said the 2021 report. The second company was identified as Beijing-based DongFang JingYuan Electron, which was established in 2014 at about the same time as XTAL and controlled by the same people. ASML's annual report said the company had shared its concerns with the Chinese authorities and was monitoring the situation closely. In its case against XTAL, ASML told the court that a former Chinese employee working at an ASML subsidiary in the United States had stolen 2 million lines of source code for critical software. It said the theft was conducted on behalf of both XTAL and DongFang. ASML's representatives told the court that it took XTAL only two years to replicate a technology that ASML had spent $100 million and a decade developing, as first reported by Bloomberg. XTAL, which ASML's attorneys described in court proceedings as essentially the same as DongFang JingYuan, then tried to sell the technology to South Korea-based Samsung, a longtime client of ASML. In late March, ASML CEO Peter Wennink met with China's newly installed minister of commerce in Beijing. China is "firmly committed to high-level openness, willing to create favorable conditions for multinationals such as ASML to do business in China," Wang Wentao, the newly minted commerce minister, told the visiting CEO. "We hope ASML will affirm and strengthen its confidence in trading and investing in China and make proactive contributions to Sino-Dutch collaboration in trade and economics," Wang continued. It isn't clear whether the two sides discussed the intellectual property infringement issues described in ASML's 2021 and 2022 annual reports or if they did, what remedies Beijing may have proposed. 'Relentless Pursuit' Asked how the company plans to fend off future attempts to steal its trade secrets, a company spokesperson told VOA that ASML is committed to "relentless pursuit of individuals or entities that violate or threaten to violate our [intellectual property] in any way." While less well known for semiconductor manufacturing than Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. or U.S.-based Intel, ASML is often viewed as Europe's most valuable high-tech company, likely key to the Netherlands winning the bid to be the seat of NATO's newly established Innovation Fund. Employee responses earn the IT solutions provider its sixth Top Workplaces award FAIRFAX, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ECS, a leader in advanced technology, science, and engineering solutions, has won its sixth Top Workplaces award from The Washington Post. ECS is one of 199 organizations, across four size categories, to receive 2023 Top Workplaces recognition. To determine Top Workplaces award winners, The Post gathers input from tens of thousands of Washington-area employees through a 24-question survey. Employees rank their organizations on issues such as employee development, employee appreciation, pay, and work-life balance. ECS continuously invests in its employee experience. Every ECS employee receives a generous annual training and education budget. The company funds 11 different themed employee resource groups (e.g., Women Professionals, Black Professionals, LGBTQIA+ Professionals) that help maintain an inclusive, supportive culture. Employees can nominate charitable causes to support through quarterly fundraising drives, with the company matching all employee donations. And the annual ECS Pitch Day event has employees pitching new product and service ideas for a chance to bring those ideas to life. Receiving the Top Workplaces award is both an honor and a reminder of how thankful I am for our employees, said John Heneghan, president of ECS. With their hard work, their dedication to our mission, and their enthusiasm for collaborating, our people are continuously making ECS a great place to work. About ECS ECS, ASGNs federal government segment, delivers advanced solutions in cloud, cybersecurity, data and artificial intelligence (AI), application and IT modernization, science, and engineering. The company solves critical, complex challenges for customers across the U.S. public sector, defense, intelligence, and commercial industries. ECS maintains partnerships with leading cloud, cybersecurity, and AI/ML providers and holds specialized certifications in their technologies. Headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, ECS has more than 3,900 employees throughout the United States. For more information, visit ECStech.com. About ASGN Incorporated ASGN Incorporated (NYSE: ASGN) is a leading provider of IT services and solutions, including technology and creative digital marketing, across the commercial and government sectors. ASGN helps corporate enterprises and government organizations develop, implement, and operate critical IT and business solutions through its integrated offering of professional staffing and IT consulting. For more information, please visit asgn.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620398318/en/ Shab Nassirpour Vice President, Marketing and Communications [email protected] Source: ECS IR PARIS & MOULINS-SUR-TARDOIRE, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- One year after joining the French Tech Agri 20 program, Agri-tech company ELICIT PLANT has joined the circle of the 100 most strategic and innovative French companies for France by 2030, as part of the French Tech 2030 program. Following a rigorous selection process led by the French General Secretariat for Investment the body in charge of the France 2030 program with the help of all French government departments and Bpifrance, ELICIT PLANT, a pioneering company at the forefront of the fight against the impact of climate change on agriculture, and in particular on field crops (corn, wheat, soy and sunflower), has made a striking entrance into the first edition of the French Tech 2030 program. The initiative aims to provide great public support to one hundred or so innovative companies, in a context of highly aggressive international competition, so as to position them as world leaders by 2030, by providing: Financial support, provided by France 2030 operators, Extra-financial support measures: export, business opportunities, global economic influence strategy, increased visibility. This announcement adds to the legitimacy of the track record and international development of ELICIT PLANT, the developer of the first phytosterol-based ecological innovation for the agricultural industry, the only widely available technology scale that allows for significant field crop yield gains in an increasingly critical climatic context. Several French departements are being affected by drought even before the start of the summer season, leaving public authorities no other option but to impose water restrictions in certain areas. The risk of drought is now accepted as fact in a number of regions. This is cause for concern among scientists, who fear that the summer of 2023 will be even more difficult than 2022. ELICIT PLANT, the biotech that pioneers phytosterols to help the field crop industry combat water stress The flagship BEST-a product designed for corn production reduces water consumption by up to 20%, and is in high demand in France, Brazil and Ukraine, with over 100 cooperative customers. In 2023, the ELICIT PLANT innovation will be distributed to 100 coops and distributors, addressing a total potential of 100,000 corn growers and 10 million hectares of corn in France, Brazil and Ukraine. ELICIT PLANT has created at the heart of its open-field laboratory based in Moulins-sur-Tardoire a technological platform called EliTerra that will enable the company to develop new products designed for the culture of wheat and barley in Europe, of sunflower in Ukraine and of soybeans for the Brazilian market. Marketing authorization applications are also underway in the United States. We are very proud to join the French Tech 2030 program, Jean-Francois Dechant, Co-founder and CEO of ELICIT PLANT comments. Our mission is to help the field crop industry everywhere in the world address climate change. The French Tech 2030 project will accelerate our development in France and in the world (Brazil, Ukraine and North America). There is an urgent need to provide innovative solutions to growers, and we are proud to be able to contribute effectively to the necessary agricultural transition with high-performance, reliable products that respect our environment." About Elicit Plant: Elicit Plant is an agri-biotech company whose ambition is to become the champion of the ecological transition for agriculture and respond to the global challenges of the impact of climate change on row crops. EliTerra, Elicit Plant's proprietary technology, is based on the exogenous contribution of phytosterols, a set of molecules of plant origin, which increases the resistance of plants to stress by eliciting their natural defenses. Large-scale field trials - more than 500 trials on 3 continents - have demonstrated that the biosolutions from the Eliterra Platform are the only ones offering farmers a regular and sufficient return on investment for use on field crops, with an average yield gain of 12%. In 2022, Elicit Plant began marketing its BEST-a product line in France, particularly for corn crops, and has obtained marketing authorizations for Ukraine, Brazil and Europe. For more information: www.elicit-plant.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620520000/en/ [email protected] Source: ELICIT PLANT The cobot manufacturer will participate in the leading exhibition for smart automation and robotics by presenting a range of end-to-end solutions for multiple tasks, from quality control to surface treatment. SHANGHAI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The leading trade fair for smart automation and robotics returns to Munich on June 27-30 to bring together the latest developments in industrial automation. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619334181/en/ Thanks to its leading reach of up to 1900mm, the EC64-19 cobot arm ensures that no part is too big to be inspected flawlessly. (Photo: Business Wire) Elite Robots will present a range of cutting-edge end-to-end solutions, developed in collaboration with its local partners, at HALL B4 - Booth 311. The spotlight will undoubtedly be on the new top-of-the-line products launched by Elite Robots in 2023: EC64-19 and CS620. Making its European debut at Automatica, the CS620 is poised to impress the public. Its 20 kg payload, an industry-leading 1800 mm radius, a unique 5A output source, and a max TCP speed of up to 3.9 m/s (up to 35% faster than counterparts) make the latest addition to the CS series cobot lineup the perfect choice for efficiently performing medium to high payload applications such as palletizing and welding. Click here for more information on Elite Robots CS625. CS620 will soon be joined by Elite Robots new heavyweight champion, CS625. Powered by the same 5A output source, CS625 features a maximum payload of 25kg and a radius of 1500mm, slightly sacrificing reach for greater robustness, accuracy, and strength. Click here for more information on Elite Robots CS625. Like all other models in the CS series, the CS620 and CS625 robotic arms feature an IP68 degree of protection and ISO class 5 clean rooms, making the cobot suitable for both harsh environments and those requiring a high level of hygiene. The features of the new top-of-the-line EC series of collaborative robots from Elite Robots, primarily its leading reach of 1900mm, match perfectly with Shining3Ds FreeScan device to create the ultimate solution for quality control of large parts. With a leading reach of up to 1900mm, the EC64-19 robot ensures fast and accurate vision inspection and photography of products within a spherical space of 1.9 m without relying on external axes. Seamlessly attached to the EC64-19 robot, Shining3Ds FreeScan device can capture every intricate detail thanks to its unmatched scanning capabilities. Equipped with lightning-fast FPS and unrivaled accuracy, it effortlessly generates detailed point clouds even for the largest components. Click here for more information on EC64-19. The revolutionary Mantis Mini for fully automated 3D measurement and evaluation is another of the showcase highlights. Powered by the innovative NEXOS AIR Software by 11-Dynamics, this cutting-edge automated solution integrates the precision-engineered CS66 Cobot from Elite Robots, and the Simscan from Scantech 3D, boasting an accuracy up to 0.015mm. This synergy births the next generation of measuring arms, paving the way for unprecedented levels of efficiency, precision, and scalability. Last, but not least, is the integrated offline CAM programming solution developed by Go2CAM with the Elite Robots CS66 cobot arm for surface treatment, which brings greater flexibility and quality to deburring, grinding, and polishing applications in various industries. Experience this and more at HALL B4 BOOTH 311. About Elite Robots Elite Robots is a global automation solutions provider specializing in collaborative robots. With over 10,000 units deployed across more than 30 countries, the company has quickly gained a growing reputation in the robotic industry thanks to the reliability, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness of its cobots. Businesses of all sizes, including Fortune 500 companies, have placed their trust in Elite Robots. For more information, visit eliterobots.com and follow Elite Robots on Linkedin. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619334181/en/ Denis Baldoni Marketing, PR, and Business Development 0086-1580055-3869 [email protected] Source: Elite Robots WOKINGHAM, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ferguson plc (NYSE: FERG, LSE: FERG) (the Company) announces today that it purchased a total of 62,000 of its ordinary shares in the period from June 12, 2023 up to and including June 15, 2023 in connection with its $3.0 billion share repurchase program. Aggregated information about the purchases carried out during this period Trading day Aggregate daily volume (in number of shares) Daily weighted average purchase price of the shares Trading venue June 12, 2023 15,000 115.765059 XLON June 13, 2023 10,000 116.450000 XLON June 14, 2023 15,000 117.752397 XLON June 15, 2023 22,000 118.131558 XLON The Company intends to hold these shares in treasury. Following the purchase of these shares (including those purchased but not yet settled), the number of shares held by the Company in treasury will be 27,588,208. Following the purchase of these shares, the remaining number of ordinary shares in issue will be 204,582,974. The figure of 204,582,974 may be used by shareholders (and others with notification obligations) as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules. In accordance with Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (the Market Abuse Regulation), as it forms part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, and the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052, detailed information about the individual purchases can be found at Ferguson - Investors - Shareholder Center - Share Buy-Back Details - 2023 Share Buy-Back. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620596606/en/ For further information please contact: Brian Lantz, Vice President IR and Communications +1 224 285 2410 Pete Kennedy, Director of Investor Relations +1 757 603 0111 Source: Ferguson plc LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- HPE Discover 2023 Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) today announced a significant expansion of offerings and innovation across its HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform, hybrid cloud services, private cloud portfolio, and partner ecosystem. In 2019, we introduced our strategy to deliver everything as a service through HPE GreenLake. Since then, our strategy has been a winner, as customers increasingly seek to combine the modern cloud experience with the control, governance, performance, and predictability of hybrid cloud, said Antonio Neri, president and CEO, HPE. HPE GreenLake has led the way in this new category, and today we are extending our leadership by expanding the reach, choice, and capabilities of our hybrid and private cloud offerings. HPE GreenLake is the destination of choice for any organization seeking to drive a successful hybrid cloud strategy. OpsRamp integration with HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform and sustainability dashboard The HPE GreenLake platform provides customers and partners with a unified experience to simplify hybrid and multi-cloud IT operations and easily access cloud services. Organizations benefit from a single control plane from which to automate, orchestrate, and run their hybrid cloud. HPE continues to innovate on the HPE GreenLake platform by adding software from OpsRamp, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, as a SaaS offering. HPE GreenLake platform customers can leverage OpsRamp for full stack observability and automation of assets and applications across heterogenous, multi-vendor, and multi-cloud estates. These unique capabilities provide customers with a powerful tool to drive automation and simplicity, and lower costs, across hybrid cloud estates. Additionally, OpsRamp advances the capabilities of the recently announced sustainability dashboard, by providing visibility into IT assets and applications across multi-vendor and multi-cloud estates. The sustainability dashboard is now available in early access mode on the HPE GreenLake platform today. HPE also offers OpsRamp services and consulting through HPE Complete Care Service and HPE Managed Services. New and expanded HPE GreenLake hybrid cloud services HPE continues to expand the portfolio of SaaS and NaaS offerings on HPE GreenLake and add HPE SaaS offerings to the AWS marketplace. Expanded HPE GreenLake portfolio of modern private cloud offerings and partner ecosystem Today, organizations demand greater visibility, control, and predictability of their workloads and data at the edge, on-premises and in the public cloud. As a result, organizations are increasingly turning to private cloud offerings to modernize and digitally transform. A new report from Constellation Research found that organizations that moved to a private cloud model experienced 50% in cost savings, up to 65% in increased performance on private cloud workloads, and two times faster IT and development cycle times in hybrid environments.1 The Constellation Research study is based on input from senior IT leadership in corporations across North America and is consistent with the momentum behind HPE GreenLake. Since the release of HPE GreenLake for Private Cloud Enterprise last June, HPE continues to invest to give customers more choice with the expansion of its portfolio of private cloud offerings, to provide customers a simple, flexible, and intuitive experience for running modern private clouds. HPE GreenLake for Private Cloud Business Edition is the newest offering in the private cloud portfolio. The offering allows customers to spin up virtual machines (VMs) across hybrid clouds on demand and self-manage their private cloud from VMs to infrastructure with AIOps-driven simplicity. With an intuitive cloud operational experience for management and seamless integration for data protection, customers can store, manage and protect data across on-premises, edges and public clouds while providing industry-leading2 data availability and efficiency. The offering provides customers self-service flexibility as well as the option to pay up-front or pay-as-you-go. HPE GreenLake for Private Cloud Enterprise has added capabilities to address edge use cases by adding the ability to connect to thousands of distributed IT locations to provide managed services for cloud native and traditional applications. The offering will also add upcoming support to deploy Red Hat OpenShift. HPE GreenLake for Private Cloud Enterprise will also provide new hybrid and multi-cloud capabilities to easily self-provision workloads with Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, and VMware. HPE GreenLake for Private Cloud Business Edition is the newest offering in the private cloud portfolio. The offering allows customers to spin up virtual machines (VMs) across hybrid clouds on demand and self-manage their private cloud from VMs to infrastructure with AIOps-driven simplicity. With an intuitive cloud operational experience for management and seamless integration for data protection, customers can store, manage and protect data across on-premises, edges and public clouds while providing industry-leading data availability and efficiency. The offering provides customers self-service flexibility as well as the option to pay up-front or pay-as-you-go. HPE also supports customers looking to build a customized private cloud offering through HPE GreenLake Flex Solutions, which is built on standard modules to give customers more speed and simplicity. HPE and VMware continue their decades-long partnership by introducing an expansion of HPE GreenLake for VMware Cloud Foundation capabilities. HPE now provides pre-configured and tested cloud modules, optimized for VMware Cloud Foundation, in addition to the software licenses, installation, and ongoing management services, all delivered on a pay-per-use basis through HPE GreenLake. Management of VMware Cloud Foundation through HPE GreenLake enables enterprise IT to shift resources to meet changing business demands and avoid overprovisioning by providing customers with a secure, self-service hybrid cloud running on fully managed HPE infrastructure. HPE also announced today that its expanded private cloud portfolio will be pre-provisioned at Equinix data centers around the world. The expanded partnership with Equinix will give customers more choice and the ability to rapidly deploy modern private clouds. News Announced Onstage During HPE Discover 2023 Keynote Todays news will be announced onstage during the keynotes at HPE Discover 2023, the organizations flagship event, taking place June 20-22 at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas. Watch the Discover keynotes live online. Read more about each of the product innovations announced today in the following blogs: 1 Source: Constellation Research, The New 2023 Cloud Reality: A Rebalancing Between Private and Public 2 Source: Based on HPE internal testing conducted in October 2022 comparing HPE GreenLake for Backup and Recovery with four competing on-prem and AWS cloud native backup solutions. Includes 99.9999% data availability guarantee and up to 10X lower write latencies for data bases, with up to 8x more efficient backups than other solutions. About Hewlett Packard Enterprise Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) is the global edge-to-cloud company that helps organizations accelerate outcomes by unlocking value from all of their data, everywhere. Built on decades of reimagining the future and innovating to advance the way people live and work, HPE delivers unique, open, and intelligent technology solutions as a service. With offerings spanning Cloud Services, Compute, High Performance Computing & AI, Intelligent Edge, Software, and Storage, HPE provides a consistent experience across all clouds and edges, helping customers develop new business models, engage in new ways, and increase operational performance. For more information, visit: www.hpe.com. Red Hat, the Red Hat logo and OpenShift are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620232280/en/ Ben Stricker [email protected] Source: Hewlett Packard Enterprise This launch expands telemedicine abortion access not just to New England residents, but to those who travel to Massachusetts for abortion care NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, Hey Jane, the leading provider of telemedicine abortion care, announced the launch of its services in Massachusetts. While Massachusetts has been an abortion access leader since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, having put protections for both patients and providers into place while enshrining access to medication abortion, there are still significant gaps in access that Hey Janes safe, private, and affordable services will help to address. Currently 43% of counties in Massachusetts do not have an in-person abortion provider, leaving residents with long drives and in-person clinic appointment wait times, and fewer options overall. In fact, in 2021 the average wait time for in-person appointments in the state was eight days, which has only increased in a post-Roe v. Wade world, as more people from across the country travel to Massachusetts for care. While a beacon of access for many, fake clinics still outnumber real in-person clinics in the state, with at least 35 fake clinics still in operation in Massachusetts. Right now is a critical time for abortion access, making Hey Janes expansion into different regions of the country vital at this moment, said Kiki Freedman, Co-Founder and CEO at Hey Jane. While Massachusetts has gone above and beyond to protect abortion access, there are still critical gaps in the state that Hey Janes services will address. Through our services, patients in Massachusetts can receive safe, compassionate abortion care from the comfort of their home. This launch comes on the heels of Hey Jane becoming the first telemedicine abortion care provider to accept insurance and their focus on state expansionhaving nearly doubled their footprint in the past year, most recently by launching in Virginia. Massachusetts marks the 11th state where Hey Jane patients can now receive care, with several more state launches planned in 2023. These are two of the many initiatives Hey Jane has taken since Roe v Wade was overturned to expand access to as many people as possible. As a Massachusetts resident, I know firsthand the impact this launch will have on ensuring residents across the state can get the safe, effective, and compassionate care they deserve, said Gaby Santana, Chief Revenue Officer at Hey Jane. Hey Janes expansion can help to directly address these needs, especially as we see more people traveling from restricted states to Massachusetts to access care since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Having Hey Jane as an option is an important step forward. Discover more at https://www.heyjane.com/. About Hey Jane: Hey Jane is healthcare, on your own terms. As the most-trusted virtual clinic offering telemedicine abortion care, were proudly putting the power back in peoples hands by providing care thats private, safe, supportive, accessible, and convenientfor less than the average in-clinic cost of a medication abortion. Our innovative Complete Care model utilizes technology for unparalleled layers of support: medical, emotional, and social. Hey Jane has helped more than 30,000 patients get the care they need, and currently operates in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Virginia, and Washington. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620999349/en/ Kari Porter [email protected] Source: Hey Jane Email security leader unveils Themis Co-pilot for Microsoft Outlook: The first ICES solution with a fully generative AI phishing model, PhishLLM ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- IRONSCALES, the leading enterprise cloud email security platform protecting more than 10,000 global organizations worldwide, today announced the Beta launch of Themis Co-pilot for Microsoft Outlook, a GPT-powered chat assistant for self-service threat reporting. Powering Themis Co-pilot is PhishLLM, a cutting-edge large language model (LLM) hosted within the IRONSCALES infrastructure, which is the first in the IRONSCALES suite of generative AI apps for email security. The announcement comes at a time when rates of BEC and other advanced phishing attacks are climbing exponentially as they expose vulnerabilities in traditional email security solutions with social engineering tactics. A recent report from Osterman Research revealed that large organizations are expecting a 43% increase in BEC attacks in the next 12 months. In addition, cybercriminals specifically target the human element as it offers a convenient means of gaining unauthorized access to sensitive information, with phishing being one of their primary tactics. According to the 2023 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), 74% of breaches involved a human element. To combat the exponential rise in phishing, Themis Co-pilot, the first in a suite of generative AI apps, was designed to empower humans to be a critical cybersecurity defense. Built on top of PhishLLM, a proprietary, patent-pending large language model, these ground-breaking capabilities will allow enterprises to become more cyber resilient by enabling end-users, regardless of role, skill, or level, to detect sophisticated attacks. Unleashing Generative AI for Email Security Currently available through a public Beta, Themis Co-pilot for Outlook enables IT and security admins to: Empower end users and democratize email security: Mobilize your employees as a critical line of defense with the ability to question suspicious emails and gain real-time actionable insights to confidently report threats and take a more active part in threat hunting. Mobilize your employees as a critical line of defense with the ability to question suspicious emails and gain real-time actionable insights to confidently report threats and take a more active part in threat hunting. Reduce noise: Reduce the number of user-reported false positives and free up the security team for other important business initiatives. Reduce the number of user-reported false positives and free up the security team for other important business initiatives. Automatically stop emerging zero-day threats: As end-users leverage Themis Co-pilot to report emerging threats, proper classification will automatically remediate similar threats across the environment and train the IRONSCALES machine learning element to look for these threats in the future. Generative AI and the IRONSCALES Difference Generative AI is changing the cybersecurity landscape, both in the volume and velocity of phishing attacks, but also in the way organizations can leverage it to make more informed decisions regarding emails. IRONSCALES developed the industrys first AI-powered security analyst, Themis AI, which utilizes the data from millions of security events from users, devices, and threat intel signals, in a continuous reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) cycle. Adding to this powerful data set is the human insights collected from every mailbox user and 20,000+ security analysts across the IRONSCALES network of global admins. This massive dataset of human intelligence is used to stop breaches in real time. Only IRONSCALES brings this continuous feedback loop of AI and human insights together into the most powerful email security solution on the market. IRONSCALES has pioneered the use of artificial intelligence in email security to detect and remediate sophisticated phishing attempts. With the introduction of Themis Co-pilot, were delivering the next innovation that will help end users, of any skill level, improve their ability to stop attacks without adding additional cost or complexity to the organization, said Eyal Benishti, CEO of IRONSCALES. Our unique approach of combining AI and human insights is transforming email security. We believe our continuous feedback loop between our AI, human insights, and SAT capabilities is the most comprehensive approach to email security and remains unmatched by other vendors in the industry. To learn more and to be an early adopter of the Themis Co-pilot Beta program, visit: https://ironscales.com/beta/themis-copilot. About IRONSCALES IRONSCALES is the leading cloud email security platform for the enterprise and the industrys only solution that uses AI and human insights (HI) to stop advanced phishing. Its award-winning, self-learning platform continuously detects and remediates attacks like BEC, ATO, and VIP impersonation that bypass traditional security solutions. Powerful, simple, and adaptive, IRONSCALES helps enterprises reduce risk, boost security team efficiency, and increase cybersecurity awareness. IRONSCALES is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and is proud to support more than 10,000 global enterprises. Visit http://www.ironscales.com or @IRONSCALES to learn more. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620682980/en/ Doug De Orchis Scratch Marketing + Media for IRONSCALES [email protected] Source: IRONSCALES Company Ranks Fourth on Prestigious List of Forward-Thinking and People-First Organizations ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Jackson Healthcare, a family of highly specialized healthcare staffing, search and technology companies, today announced it has been named a winner in the 2023 Top 50 Inspiring Workplaces North America awards, ranking fourth overall on the recently published list of companies going above and beyond to create outstanding environments and experiences for their workforces. The organization is one of only three in Georgia to appear on the list and is the only Georgia-based company in the top 25. This annual awards program is powered by Inspiring Workplaces Group, a global organization championing positive change around the world both inside and outside the office. Now in its 9th year, the Top 50 Inspiring Workplaces list recognizes companies of all sizes and industries, including start-ups, nonprofits and government entities. Our associates are truly at the heart of what makes Jackson Healthcare a special place to work, and each individual plays a vital role in advancing our mission of improving the delivery of patient care and the lives of everyone we touch, shared Shane Jackson, president, Jackson Healthcare. We know that in caring for the holistic needs of our people, were creating a ripple effect that positively impacts the clinicians, clients and communities we serve. Thank you to Inspiring Workplaces Group for recognizing these collective efforts. Its a great honor to be named among the top people-first organizations in North America. Jackson Healthcare also earned third place in the large business category, receiving a best-in-class distinction for excelling in and achieving high scores across six areas considered critical to cultivating an inspiring workplace: culture and purpose, leadership, wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, communication and employee experience. A panel of independent judges also awarded the company special recognition in the focus areas of leadership, diversity and inclusion, and communication. Congratulations to the Top 50 Inspiring Workplaces throughout North America, said Matt Manners, founder, Inspiring Workplaces Group. The caliber of submissions this year is the strongest weve ever seen and has raised the bar considerably. This shows that business leaders really are putting their people first and reaping the rewards. It also shows that positive, meaningful change is being delivered throughout the world of work. About Inspiring Workplaces Change the World Inspiring Workplaces is headquartered in the UK and operates in North America, Africa and Australasia. Inspiring Workplaces believes in recognizing and shaping the new, forward-thinking organizations of the future. By shedding the light on these innovative workplaces, Inspiring Workplaces helps to encourage positive change in workplaces as well as provide a source of inspiration and education for those who seek it. About Jackson Healthcare Jackson Healthcare is a family of highly specialized healthcare staffing, search and technology companies. With a mission to improve the delivery of patient care and the lives of everyone it touches, it helps healthcare facilities across the country serve more than 10 million patients each year. Backed by over 2,600 associates and more than 20,000 clinician providers covering all 50 states, Jackson Healthcare is one of the largest U.S. healthcare staffing companies with more than $2 billion in annual revenue. In addition to being Great Place to Work certified, it is consistently named an employer of choice, having been nationally recognized as a best workplace in healthcare, a best workplace for women and a best workplace for millennials, as well as being named among the healthiest employers. Learn more at www.jacksonhealthcare.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620654041/en/ [email protected] Source: Jackson Healthcare This partnership will empower Keystone Bank to launch online business deposit account opening for the first time to better serve commercial customers and deliver a best-in-class digital experience NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Keystone Bank, one of the fastest-growing banks in Central Texas, today announced a partnership with MANTL, a leading provider of account origination solutions, to enhance its deposit onboarding experience for businesses and consumers and continue Keystones goal of becoming an industry leader in the digital space. Keystone Bank will leverage Consumer Deposit Origination by MANTL to enhance its online account opening process. With MANTL, Keystone Bank will remove friction from its current account opening process, empowering customers to open a new deposit account in less than three minutes with a superior digital experience. Keystone will also leverage Commercial Deposit Origination by MANTL to launch online business deposit account opening for the first time. Businesses will be able to seamlessly and securely open a new business account on any device or any channel, including in-branch, online, on a mobile app, or in the field. "This is an exciting time and a tremendous opportunity for our bank. The MANTL platform will allow us to effectively expand our brand to acquire both consumer and commercial relationships from a digital channel, said Ty Byrd, Vice President, Digital Banking Officer. We sought a partner who is tech-first, entrepreneurial, and has a forward-thinking mentality. In addition to transforming the front-end user experience, MANTL will dramatically streamline our operations, reduce friction, and eliminate duplication of processes. Keystone Bank grew deposits by $220 million or over 50% in 2022 with the expectation of continued deposit growth in 2023. This partnership will allow Keystone to quickly and effectively raise deposits at scale, reach new audiences and activate additional revenue streams. MANTL automates up to 97% of application decisions, so the Keystone Bank team can focus on providing customers with exceptional service and deepening existing banking relationships, even during periods of rapid growth. Keystone Bank is a tech-forward institution with a deep understanding of the changing banking landscape and customers increased expectations for modern digital experiences, said Nathaniel Harley, co-founder and CEO of MANTL. Keystones commitment to digitizing and providing its commercial and retail customers with the best deposit onboarding experience ensures that its customers will have an excellent digital experience from their very first touchpoint. For more information on Keystone Bank, please visit: https://www.keystone.bank/. For more information on MANTL or to schedule a demo, please visit: https://mantl.com/request-a-demo/. About Keystone Bank Keystone Bank launched in 2018 with a maverick and entrepreneurial approach to community banking that truly puts the client first. Based in Bee Cave with branches in downtown Austin and Ballinger, we are one of the fastest-growing banks in Texas and were recognized by Austin Business Journal on their Fast 50 list in 2022. Our services include private banking, commercial and residential real estate, and small business loans. Were more than just a bankwere great listeners, problem solvers and, most of all, community members who are dedicated to bringing a personal touch back to the banking relationship. For more information, please visit https://www.keystone.bank. About MANTL MANTL is a financial technology firm offering omnichannel account origination software for banks and credit unions. Consumer Deposit Origination by MANTL is among the fastest and most performant solutions on the market, empowering net-new prospects to open accounts in under three minutes, enabling existing account holders to open additional accounts with just one click, and reducing fraud by as much as 67%. Commercial Deposit Origination by MANTL is a first-of-its-kind solution that reimagines account opening for businesses of all sizes by automating up to 97% of application decisions. MANTLs customers have raised billions in core deposits to date. Founded in 2016, MANTL is a privately held company headquartered in New York with the backing of prominent venture capital investors. For more information, visit mantl.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620893808/en/ Jacquelyn Daane [email protected] Source: MANTL Groundbreaking Agreements Expand Technological Collaboration to Advance Freedom WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Purdue University's Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy recently welcomed Ambassador Bi-khim Hsiao, Taiwan's Representative to the U.S., initiating a groundbreaking advancement in strategic technological collaboration to promote freedom and trust globally. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620662056/en/ From left, Dr. Chi-Hung Lin, President of Taiwans National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU); Ambassador Bi-khim Hsiao, Taiwan's Representative to the U.S.; and the Honorable Keith Krach, Co-founder of the Krach Institute and former Under Secretary of State, at a discussion hosted by the Krach Institute. (Photo: Business Wire) The visit, a landmark in the Institute's international engagement, underscored the shared democratic values of Taiwan and the United States. Two Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) were signed, facilitating extensive collaboration between Purdue University and Taiwans National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) and National Chengchi University (NCCU), specifically in the vital field of semiconductors. Chairman of the Institute, Keith Krach, hosted a discussion with Ambassador Hsiao and NYCU President Dr. Lin, emphasizing the potential of technological collaboration to accelerate innovation and ensure the adoption of trusted technology. The Institutes CEO, Michelle Giuda, conducted an industry forum, underlining the necessity for public-private partnerships to develop technology responsibly. The delegation also had an exclusive tour of Purdues state-of-the-art Birck Nanotechnology Center and the Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering. These agreements will considerably enhance the U.S.-Taiwan ties, catalyzing technological innovation and strengthening Taiwan's sovereignty and international standing, said Keith Krach. "Our expanding partnership will turbocharge trusted technology and bolster freedom for us all." Ambassador Hsiao commended the shared democratic values that form the bedrock of Taiwan-U.S. relations and echoed her confidence in the upcoming collaboration with the Krach Institute, stating, We share a common goal of technological advancement that benefits humanity and is not weaponized by authoritarian regimes against us. I am grateful to President Mung Chiang and Chairman Keith Krach for hosting me and the Taiwanese delegation at the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue. Highlighting the responsibility of tech innovators, Dr. Lin stressed, Technological innovation holds great promise, but it also increases threats to our way of life from authoritarian regimes. High tech must be trusted to serve humanity and not abuse universal human rights. NYCU and the Krach Institute see the challenge the same way. We both understand the importance of trusted technology. We both seek to nurture talents as assets to society for they are the masters of the future. And we both put our philosophy in action to build a better and safer world. Securing freedom requires that we bring together in new ways high-tech private-sector know-how, technology expertise, such as the leading STEM students and researchers at Purdue or NYCU and NCCU, and foreign policy and national security expertise, said Michelle Giuda. That integrated expertise and partnership among public and private, partners and allies is required to secure freedom and secure high tech, and why we are so excited to strengthen our partnership with Taiwan. Longstanding Partnership The Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue and Taiwan have an enduring partnership, rooted in Purdue University's seven-decade-long history of engagement with Taiwan and Chairman Krachs strong commitment to Taiwan, punctuated by his historic visit in 2020 as the most senior State Department official in 41 years. Krach played a pivotal role in strengthening U.S.-Taiwan ties when he served as Americas top economic diplomat by establishing the Lee Economic Prosperity Partnership, concluding the Science and Technology Agreement, and orchestrating the landmark onshoring of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to the United States. The original $12 billion TSMC deal resulted in the CHIPS and Science Act, a legislation that Krach architected, generating more than $350 billion in domestic chip manufacturing investment and creating thousands of U.S. jobs. I first got to know Under Secretary Krach while he was at the State Department when I first arrived, and hes been instrumental in supporting a number of economic and science partnerships between Taiwan and the United States, said Ambassador Hsiao. His efforts to create a fusion between technology and diplomacy is very meaningful. About the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue The Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue is the worlds preeminent trusted technology accelerator. As the leader of a new category of Tech Diplomacy, the Institute integrates technology expertise, Silicon Valley strategies, and foreign policy tools to build the Global Trusted Tech Network of governments, companies, organizations and individuals to accelerate the development and adoption of trusted technology and ensure technology advances freedom. Follow the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Subscribe to the Institutes weekly newsletter Tech Diplomacy Now for the latest news at the intersection of high tech and foreign policy. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620662056/en/ James Nash Email: [email protected] Source: Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue The U.K. on Monday announced new sanctions against Syria's defense minister and its head of the armed forces, as part of new curbs targeting conflict-related sexual violence. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said Ali Mahmoud Abbas and Abdel Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim would be subject to asset freezes and travel bans. Abbas has a "commanding role of the Syrian military and armed forces, who have systematically used rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence against civilians," it said. Ibrahim, who is chief of the general staff of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces, "has been involved in the repression of the Syrian population through commanding military forces where there has been systematic use of rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence." TOULOUSE, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News: Latecoere (Paris: LAT), a leading aerospace tier one, announced today that it has won contracts with Boeing for the supply of wiring systems for the 737 and 767 programs, both for military and commercial variants. Manufacturing will begin in Q3 2023. Latecoeres Interconnection Systems Division will supply electrical wire bundles and junction boxes for the Boeing 737 program; and rack assemblies for the Boeing 767 program, a first in the cooperation history between both partners. The contracts signed in January 2023 address both commercial and military variants for the Boeing 737 (737 MAX and P-8 Multi-Mission Maritime Patrol Aircraft) and for the Boeing 767 (767-300 Freighter). The 737 MAXs wiring systems meet a high level of variability in order to meet the specific needs of airlines. Latecoere's expertise will be particularly useful in order to lead the successful industrialization of these complex references. Manufacturing will be operated at Latecoeres Hermosillo facility in Mexico from Q3 2023. The Group capitalizes on its North American footprint to address the needs of the local market with upper efficiency. Latecoeres Hermosillo operations is a rational choice for US based aerospace and defense firms looking for world class near-shore options. Greg Huttner, Latecoere Group Deputy CEO and Interconnection Systems Division CEO, stated: Capitalizing on our growing North American presence and building on our first EWIS (Electrical Wiring Interconnection Systems) cooperation for the 777X, Latecoere Interconnection Systems strengthens its business relationship with Boeing and further positions itself as a strategic EWIS partner for the future. More on the wiring systems: Electrical wire bundles are designed to deliver power and data to various systems throughout the aircraft. They are critical components that must meet rigorous safety and reliability standards to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the aircraft. Junction boxes are used to connect multiple wires together and provide a secure and reliable electrical connection. Rack assemblies are used to house and organize electronic equipment and other components in the aircraft. ________________________________________________________ About Latecoere Tier 1 to the worlds leading industry manufacturers (Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, Bombardier, Dassault Aviation, Embraer, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, Thales), Latecoere serves aerospace with innovative solutions for a sustainable world. The Group operates in all segments of the aerospace industry (commercial, regional, business, defense and space) in two business areas: Aerostructures (55% of sales): doors, fuselage, wings and empennage, struts & rods and customer services; Interconnection Systems (45% of sales): wiring, avionic racks, onboard equipment, electronic systems and customer services. As of December 31, 2022, the Group employed 5,918 people in 14 countries. Latecoere is listed on Euronext Paris - Compartment B, ISIN Code: FR0000032278 - Reuters: AEP.PA - Bloomberg: AT.FP View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619809236/en/ Thierry Mahe / Media Relations +33 (0)6 60 69 63 85 [email protected] Source: Latecoere Live solution now enabling automotive IoT as car manufacturers transition to digitised mobility BONN, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Mavenir, the Network Software Provider building the future of networks with cloud-native solutions that run on any cloud, today announces the deployment of its cloud-based Remote Packet Gateway to Deutsche Telekom IoT GmbH in North America, with the initial use case focused on delivering IoT connectivity to several industry-leading car manufacturers. Consumer behaviour within the automotive industry is shifting, with customers looking more for sustainable mobility and fewer people wanting to own a car as a status symbol. Electric Vehicles (EVs) and car sharing are currently key trends, and the advent of connected cars will ultimately lead to autonomous driving adding pressure on automakers and suppliers to make their supply chains resilient. All of these contributing factors are driving the industry need for automotive IoT. Deutsche Telekom IoT GmbH is deploying Mavenirs Remote Packet Gateway 4G and 5G non-standalone (NSA) solutions to enable localised data breakout, allowing traffic to be routed through two data centres in California and Virginia supporting IoT deployment applications across the continent. The Remote Packet Gateway uses the Converged Packet Core Session Management and User Plane Functionality, which function as 4G components replicating the Packet Gateway's control and user planes. This separation of control and user plane enables reduced latency for user data, reduced data transfers via transatlantic transmissions, and supports advanced connectivity services with different charging options in vehicles, including internet radios, in-car Wi-Fi, telemetry data, remote map and Short Wave upgrades. Additionally, Mavenirs solution empowers Deutsche Telekom IoT GmbH to provide capabilities and connectivity services internationally to multinational companies, without geographical or technological constraints. Ashok Khuntia, Mavenir President Core Networks, said, Mavenirs solution deployed with Deutsche Telekom IoT GmbH will create the foundation for the future of connected vehicles. The applications enabled by this partnership will allow car manufacturers to benefit from advanced connectivity and an improved customer offering serving the needs of today with a vision for the future. About Deutsche Telekom: https://www.telekom.com/companyprofile For more information: https://iot.telekom.com/en/networks-tariffs-overview About Mavenir: Mavenir is building the future of networks and pioneering advanced technology, focusing on the vision of a single, software-based automated network that runs on any cloud. As the industry's only end-to-end, cloud-native network software provider, Mavenir is focused on transforming the way the world connects, accelerating software network transformation for 250+ Communications Service Providers and Enterprises in over 120 countries, which serve more than 50% of the worlds subscribers. www.mavenir.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619685144/en/ Mavenir PR Contacts: [email protected] Emmanuela Spiteri Source: Mavenir STRASBOURG, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BrainTale, a French medtech deciphering white matter to enable better brain care, announces it has gathered 4.5 million from Capital Grand Est and MACSF, as well as business angels, to accelerate its development in Europe and the United States. With this fundraising, BrainTale aims to provide physicians and pharmaceutical companies with innovative solutions to improve the diagnosis, monitoring and prediction of neurological diseases and disorders, in particular Alzheimer's and Parkinsons disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and traumatic brain injury. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620730846/en/ Founded in 2018 and supported from the outset by LallianSe, the life sciences integrator, BrainTale has developed and commercializes an accessible, reliable and clinically validated brain measurement digital platform solution for drug developers and physicians - neurologists, neuroradiologists and intensivists. Today, the company has gathered 4.5 million from Capital Grand Est, MACSF, business angels and healthcare professionals, supplemented by a Deeptech plan from Bpifrance Grand Est. With its first customers in Europe including hospitals (Paris Region Greater Hospitals, Hopitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg) and biotech (Minoryx), as well as partners in the United States (Massachusetts General Hospital - Harvard), BrainTale aims an accelerating its expansion on both sides of the Atlantic. White matter, a "new frontier" to explore Long underestimated in neuroscience, white matter, which represents 60% of the human brain, plays a key role in its proper functioning, development, and aging, whether normal or pathological. The vast majority of brain diseases - such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, adrenoleukodystrophy or the consequences of coma - are linked to primary or secondary alterations in white matter. Of note, a prediction score of recovery in comatose patients derived from white matter measurements enables physicians to significantly improve the daily care of these patients. A medical frontier that had never been explored before. To explore this new continent of the brain, BrainTale is developing a measurement solution that improves diagnosis, monitoring and prediction with a non-invasive, pain-free, efficient and clinically validated approach. Co-founded by Professors Louis Puybasset (Intensivist, Paris Region Greater Hospitals, Paris), Damien Galanaud (Neuroradiologist, Paris Region Greater Hospitals, Paris), Lionel Velly (Intensivist, Hopital de la Timone, Marseille Hospitals, Marseille), Didier Cassereau (Research Professor, ESPCI), Vincent Perlbarg (Engineer and PhD in Medical Physics), and LallianSe, the life sciences integrator BrainTale today employs a dozen people who develop these innovative, patented and proprietary solutions, based on international prospective, multicentric clinical development by teams of physicians, notably from the Paris Region Greater Hospitals. A biomarker platform to measure the brain BrainTale-care is a software medical device available in SaaS (Software as a Service) mode to any physician or drug development player based on diffusion MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). The modular platform enables the identification of white matter alterations and can provide individualized prediction scores. The platform aims to actively contribute to the development of new drugs by drug development companies: BrainTale's proprietary biomarkers are developed to correlate with traditional clinical scores and can make a significant distinction between active and placebo arms, improving clinical trials and supporting treatment efficacy demonstration. The potential of BrainTale biomarkers has already been demonstrated in some demyelinating diseases such as adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). The availability of BrainTale's solution also enables real life understanding and observation supporting market access and paving the way for the companion biomarker principle in neurosciences. "After 15 years of academic research and 5 years of investment, the solutions developed by BrainTale are finally available to patients and my colleagues. Responding to the unmet medical need that has been the driving force behind this ambitious project since its inception is one of the major challenges of the coming years, and BrainTale's development is perfectly in line with this dynamic," comments Prof. Louis Puybasset, chairman of the scientific advisory board and co-founder of BrainTale. "LallianSe's unfailing support and the confidence shown in us by our investors now enable us to move up a gear. Our team will be able to accelerate our innovative developments to make BrainTale biomarkers a reference for the benefit of patients suffering from neurological disorders," adds Vincent Perlbarg, president, scientific director and co-founder of BrainTale. "This fundraising is a decisive step for BrainTale, and enables us to look forward with ambition to our next development milestones. The commitment of Capital Grand Est and MACSF by our side reinforces our strategy to establish BrainTale's brain measurement as a reference, in particular to enable drug developers to accelerate the development of new therapies in a more agile and efficient way, bringing a new dynamic in neurosciences," explains Julie Rachline, president of LallianSe, and CEO of BrainTale. "We are delighted to be able to support BrainTale in this acceleration phase alongside MACSF and an experienced and talented management team. BrainTale offers a disruptive product that combines digital health with cutting-edge fundamental research, key ingredients for success," affirms Virginie Miath, investment director at Capital Grand Est. "We are proud to include BrainTale in our portfolio of e-health start-ups. This investment is perfectly in line with MACSF's strategy of helping to improve the world of healthcare. BrainTale improves the practice of healthcare professionals and the quality of care by improving the prediction of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. This round of financing will enable BrainTale to enter a new phase in its development," states Sebastien Couvet, head of the MACSF Group's e-health portfolio. About BrainTale BrainTale is an innovative medtech company deciphering white matter to enable better brain care with clinically validated prognostic solutions. With non-invasive, sensitive and reliable measurements of white matter microstructure alterations, BrainTale offers a digital biomarkers platform to support clinical decision-making. BrainTale enables the identification of patients at risk, early diagnosis and monitoring of disease progression and the effectiveness of treatments in neurology, in particular for demyelinating diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and neurodegenerative diseases. Based on more than 15 years of research and development, BrainTale's products are developed to meet the medical needs and expectations of healthcare professionals for the benefit of patients. Since its inception in 2018, the company has implemented a comprehensive quality management system and is now ISO 13485:2016 certified, with a suite of products available on the European market under the European Medical Device Regulation (MDR). For more information, please visit www.braintale.eu About LallianSe Pioneer and initiator of the life sciences integrator concept, LallianSe transforms innovations into economic successes through the co-construction and execution of compelling investment theses. Immersed in care, LallianSe contributes to better health through its hospital-based coworking spaces, dedicated events, Experts and Entrepreneurs in Residence, specifically mobilized for each company and its education journeys. Braintale is LallianSe's flagship contribution. Contact www.lallianse.com About Capital Grand Est Capital Grand Est is an independent regional private equity company approved by the AMF. Since 2012, Capital Grand Est's 13-strong team has supported more than 60 companies in the Grand Est and Bourgogne Franche Comte regions. With close to 200 million in assets under management, spread across 5 investment vehicles, Capital Grand Est structures capital operations with different types of companies in the region, to accelerate their success. It offers young, innovative start-ups capital support at the seed stage. For more mature companies, we structure development capital operations to accelerate their growth, or transfer capital operations to support their capital evolution. Visit: www.capitalgrandest.eu Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/capitalgrandest About MACSF group As the leading insurer of healthcare professionals, MACSF (Mutuelle d'assurance du corps de sante francais) has been serving all healthcare professionals in France for over a century. It employs 1,600 people and generates sales of around 2 billion euros. True to its vocation as a professional mutual insurance company, MACSF insures the private and professional risks of over a million members and customers. To find out more: macsf.fr View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620730846/en/ BrainTale Press Contacts Laure Schlagdenhauffen [email protected] +33 6 30 11 97 50 Anna Casal [email protected] +33 6 50 61 55 71 MACSF Press Contacts Severine Sollier - 06 14 84 52 34 [email protected] Annie Cohen - 06 71 01 63 06 - [email protected] Source: BrainTale Christopher Chen Named Inaugural Recipient WALL, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- New Jersey Resources Corporation (NYSE: NJR) today hosted its inaugural Shareholder Appreciation Day. This event provided existing shareholders with the opportunity to meet senior management and to interact with leaders across the companys various business units. Steve Westhoven, President and CEO of New Jersey Resources said, Todays Shareholder Appreciation Day is an opportunity for us to say thank you to our shareholders for their investment and confidence in New Jersey Resources. At every level of our company, we are committed to rewarding that trust. At the event, Mr. Westhoven presented the companys first-ever New Jersey Resources Innovation Award to Christopher Chen, Manager of Business Development at New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG), the principal subsidiary of NJR. In his role for the company, Mr. Chen led the development of the first Green Hydrogen Blending Facility in New Jersey and on the East Coast. This cutting-edge pilot project blends carbon-free hydrogen into NJNGs distribution network to help decarbonize the energy it delivers to customers. We created the New Jersey Resources Innovation Award to recognize those who personify a commitment to developing transformative solutions that benefit our company, customers and the communities we serve," said Mr. Westhoven. We are pleased to present our first ever Innovation Award to Chris Chen. Chris and his team conceptualized, designed and successfully built our hydrogen facility during a pandemic. Since its launch, it has been actively delivering green hydrogen into our customers homes. It Is people like Chris that reflect and embody the way New Jersey Resources is leading through innovation. About New Jersey Resources: New Jersey Resources (NYSE: NJR) is a Fortune 1000 company that, through its subsidiaries, provides safe and reliable natural gas and clean energy services, including transportation, distribution, asset management and home services. NJR is composed of five primary businesses: New Jersey Natural Gas, NJRs principal subsidiary, operates and maintains over 7,700 miles of natural gas transportation and distribution infrastructure to serve over 570,000 customers in New Jerseys Monmouth, Ocean and parts of Morris, Middlesex, Sussex and Burlington counties. Clean Energy Ventures invests in, owns and operates solar projects with a total capacity of approximately 440 megawatts, providing residential and commercial customers with low-carbon solutions. Energy Services manages a diversified portfolio of natural gas transportation and storage assets and provides physical natural gas services and customized energy solutions to its customers across North America. Storage and Transportation serves customers from local distributors and producers to electric generators and wholesale marketers through its ownership of Leaf River and the Adelphia Gateway Pipeline, as well as our 50% equity ownership in the Steckman Ridge natural gas storage facility. Home Services provides service contracts as well as heating, central air conditioning, water heaters, standby generators, solar and other indoor and outdoor comfort products to residential homes throughout New Jersey. NJR and its over 1,300 employees are committed to helping customers save energy and money by promoting conservation and encouraging efficiency through Conserve to Preserve and initiatives such as The SAVEGREEN Project and The Sunlight Advantage. For more information about NJR: www.njresources.com. Follow us on Twitter @NJNaturalGas. Like us on facebook.com/NewJerseyNaturalGas. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620676991/en/ Media: Mike Kinney 732-938-1031 [email protected] Investors: Adam Prior 732-938-1145 [email protected] Source: New Jersey Resources Corporation A 1.5 million funding from Bpifrance Direction Regionale de Nantes as part of an R&D Innovation Loan program. Development of a companion diagnostic test to identify HLA-A2 positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients eligible for treatment with Tedopi in the next pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial under preparation. NANTES, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News: OSE Immunotherapeutics SA (ISIN: FR0012127173; Mnemo: OSE) today announced that the Company has received 1.5 million in non-dilutive funding from Bpifrance - Direction Regionale de Nantes. The R&D Innovation Loan program aims at supporting the development of a companion diagnostic for the pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of Tedopi in NSCLC second line treatment. The funding from Bpifrance aims at accelerating the development of an innovative companion diagnostic test based on a simple blood sample. The companion diagnostic is a unique test for a predictive immunological biomarker to identify patients with HLA-A2 genotype who are biological responders to Tedopi. The companion diagnostic will be used for the enrolment of the patient subpopulation in the upcoming registration pivotal Phase 3 of Tedopi. The objective of this final clinical development stage is to confirm the efficacy and safety of Tedopi in second line treatment post-immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) failure in HLA-A2 positive NSCLC patients. NSCLC accounts for 85% of all lung cancers and the HLA-A2 phenotype represents about 45% of the population. Based on selection of patients after ICI failure data, the targeted population for Tedopi in second line is hence considered as rare with high unmet medical needs. Up to 100,000 patients per year are estimated to potentially benefit from Tedopi in 7 major markets across the US, Europe, China and Japan. Tedopi has obtained an orphan drug status designation in the United States and is considered as a precision medicine in Europe for HLA-A2 positive patients. Nicolas Poirier, Chief Executive Officer of OSE Immunotherapeutics, comments: We warmly thank Bpifrance Direction Regionale de Nantes for funding the development of this unique companion diagnostic test to accelerate the final clinical development phase of our cancer vaccine Tedopi in preparation to support the regulatory registration in advanced NSCLC for the HLA-A2 patient subpopulation. ABOUT OSE Immunotherapeutics OSE Immunotherapeutics is a biotech company dedicated to developing first-in-class assets in immuno-oncology and immuno-inflammation. The Companys current well-balanced first-in-class clinical pipeline includes: Tedopi (immunotherapy activating tumor specific T-cells, off-the-shelf, neoepitope-based): this cancer vaccine is the Companys most advanced product; positive results from the Phase 3 trial (Atalante 1) in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer patients in secondary resistance after checkpoint inhibitor failure. Other Phase 2 trials, sponsored by clinical oncology groups, of Tedopi in combination are ongoing in solid tumors. (immunotherapy activating tumor specific T-cells, off-the-shelf, neoepitope-based): this cancer vaccine is the Companys most advanced product; positive results from the Phase 3 trial (Atalante 1) in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer patients in secondary resistance after checkpoint inhibitor failure. Other Phase 2 trials, sponsored by clinical oncology groups, of Tedopi in combination are ongoing in solid tumors. OSE-279 (anti-PD1): ongoing Phase 1/2 in solid tumors or lymphomas (first patient included). OSE-279 is the backbone therapy of the BiCKI platform. OSE-127 - lusvertikimab (humanized monoclonal antibody antagonist of IL-7 receptor); ongoing Phase 2 in Ulcerative Colitis (sponsor OSE Immunotherapeutics); ongoing preclinical research in leukemia (OSE Immunotherapeutics). - (humanized monoclonal antibody antagonist of IL-7 receptor); ongoing Phase 2 in Ulcerative Colitis (sponsor OSE Immunotherapeutics); ongoing preclinical research in leukemia (OSE Immunotherapeutics). FR-104/VEL-101 (anti-CD28 monoclonal antibody): developed in partnership with Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in transplantation; ongoing Phase 1/2 in renal transplant (sponsor Nantes University Hospital); Phase 1 ongoing in the US (sponsor Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.). OSE-172/BI 765063 (anti-SIRP monoclonal antibody on CD47/SIRP pathway) developed in partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim in advanced solid tumors; positive Phase 1 dose escalation results in monotherapy and in combination, in particular with anti-PD-1 antibody ezabenlimab; international Phase 1b ongoing clinical trial in combination with ezabenlimab alone or with other drugs in patients with recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). OSE Immunotherapeutics expects to generate further significant value from its two proprietary drug discovery platforms, which are central to its ambitious goal to deliver next-generation first-in-class immunotherapeutics: BiCKI platform focused on immuno-oncology (IO) is a bispecific fusion protein platform built on the key backbone component of anti-PD1 combined with a new immunotherapy target to increase anti-tumor efficacy. BiCKI-IL-7 is the most advanced BiCKI candidate targeting anti-PD1xIL-7. focused on immuno-oncology (IO) is a bispecific fusion protein platform built on the key backbone component of anti-PD1 combined with a new immunotherapy target to increase anti-tumor efficacy. BiCKI-IL-7 is the most advanced BiCKI candidate targeting anti-PD1xIL-7. Myeloid platform focused on optimizing the therapeutic potential of myeloid cells in IO and immuno-inflammation (I&I). OSE-230 (ChemR23 agonist mAb) is the most advanced candidate generated by the platform, with the potential to resolve chronic inflammation by driving affected tissues to tissue integrity. Additional information about OSE Immunotherapeutics assets is available on the Companys website: www.ose-immuno.com Click and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn Forward-looking statements This press release contains express or implied information and statements that might be deemed forward-looking information and statements in respect of OSE Immunotherapeutics. They do not constitute historical facts. These information and statements include financial projections that are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by OSE Immunotherapeutics management in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. These forward-looking statements include statements typically using conditional and containing verbs such as expect, anticipate, believe, target, plan, or estimate, their declensions and conjugations and words of similar import. Although the OSE Immunotherapeutics management believes that the forward-looking statements and information are reasonable, the OSE Immunotherapeutics shareholders and other investors are cautioned that the completion of such expectations is by nature subject to various risks, known or not, and uncertainties which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of OSE Immunotherapeutics. These risks could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in or implied or projected by the forward-looking statements. These risks include those discussed or identified in the public filings made by OSE Immunotherapeutics with the AMF. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. This press release includes only summary information and should be read with the OSE Immunotherapeutics Universal Registration Document filed with the AMF on May 2, 2023, including the annual financial report for the fiscal year 2022, available on the OSE Immunotherapeutics website. Other than as required by applicable law, OSE Immunotherapeutics issues this press release at the date hereof and does not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information or statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620511491/en/ OSE Immunotherapeutics Sylvie Detry [email protected] +33 1 53 198 757 Nicolas Poirier Chief Executive Officer [email protected] French Media: FP2COM Florence Portejoie [email protected] +33 6 07 768 283 Source: OSE Immunotherapeutics LAKE FOREST, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE: PKG) will hold a conference call on Tuesday, July 25, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss second quarter 2023 results. The conference call leader will be Mark Kowlzan. Second quarter earnings results will be released after the market closes on Monday, July 24, 2023. To access the conference call, you may pre-register for the conference by navigating to https://dpregister.com/sreg/10173951/f561e5615b. Once you have registered, you will receive your dial-in number. When dialing in the day of the call, please ask to join the Packaging Corporation of America earnings call. If you prefer not to pre-register, you may dial in the day of the call using these toll-free numbers: 866-777-2509 (U.S.), 866-605-3852 (Canada) or 412-317-5413 (International) by 8:45 a.m. (Eastern Time). Please ask to join the Packaging Corporation of America earnings call. A replay of the call will also be available from July 25, 2023 until August 8, 2023. To access the recording, please dial toll free 877-344-7529 (U.S.), 855-669-9658 (Canada) or (412) 317-0088 (International). The replay Access Code is: 8004934. This call will also be webcast and accessible at PCAs website at www.packagingcorp.com. Please go to the Investor Relations tab to access the call. PCA is the third largest producer of containerboard products and a leading producer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America. PCA operates eight paper mills and 86 corrugated products plants and related facilities. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620505440/en/ Barbara Sessions Packaging Corporation of America INVESTOR RELATIONS: (877) 454-2509 PCA Web Site: www.packagingcorp.com Source: Packaging Corporation of America The company will use the new funding to expand its product suite for large software teams and to accelerate migrations from legacy platforms to Render SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Render, the modern cloud for application developers and teams, today announced that it has raised $50M in Series B funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners with participation from existing investors Addition, General Catalyst, and the South Park Commons Fund. The company also announced Bessemers Elliott Robinson and Additions Todd Arfman will join its board of directors. The investment will allow the company to accelerate R&D hiring and expand its category-defining modern cloud to help developers and businesses ship products faster with industry-leading developer experience, flexibility, and reliability. Render launched in 2019, winning TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield the same year. From the beginning, the company has focused on making modern cloud technology accessible to application and frontend developers and improving the productivity of software teams building in the cloud. Through its unique end-to-end offering, Render has defined the modern application development platform category and continues to lead the space, with customers ranging from leading startups like Watershed to Fortune 500 companies like Red Bull. From the start, weve focused on making software developers and teams radically more productive in the cloud by giving them the perfect combination of features, reliability, and user experience and eliminating their worries about managing infrastructure. Our vision and execution have predictably led to rapid business growth, and this round further validates our strategy of building an end-to-end cloud from the ground up, said Anurag Goel, Renders founder and CEO. Elliott and the Bessemer team possess a rare mix of cloud expertise, intellectual humility, and service mindset. I could not be more excited to partner with them on our journey. The global PaaS market is estimated at $139B in 2023 and is expected to grow 22% in 2024. Compared to legacy PaaS solutions like Salesforce Heroku, businesses save up to 80% on cloud bills by building on Render while making their applications faster and more secure. The company has now grown to serve over 500,000 developers who have launched over two billion services on its modern cloud. Thanks to its scalable and reliable infrastructure, websites and applications on Render serve more than one billion monthly visits, and developers create half a million new workloads on the platform every month. The companys focus on developer experience has led to rapid growth in customers and revenue over the last year despite a slowing economic climate. Developer signups on the platform increased by 900% annually, and revenue increased by 400% as Render continued its impressive launch cadence and introduced significant new functionality, including new hosting regions, SOC 2 compliance, and disaster recovery for its fully-managed PostgreSQL database. Building on Render has been a superpower for Watershed. It lets us focus on what matters most: delighting our customers, rather than managing our infrastructure," said Avi Itskovich, Cofounder, Watershed. "Our team has scaled from one to over fifty engineers on Render's flexible platform, and developers have been able to ship features to customers in hours or days instead of weeks or months. Every startup should start on Render. "What makes Render special is its market-leading product that's focused on delivering an outstanding developer experience, robust feature set, and ability to power everything from a simple webpage to complex enterprise applications," said Robinson. "We've been impressed by Anurag and his team's technical leadership and proven track record, as well as the company's strong market pull to-date. Were thrilled to be partners with Render as they continue to build the best unified, modern cloud offering for developers." About Render Render is the leading modern cloud for application development teams who want to focus on bringing ideas to market faster. Render customers can quickly build and scale applications and websites on the industrys most advanced developer platform with a global CDN, DDoS protection, preview environments, private networking, and auto deploys from Git. The company won the 2019 TechCrunch Startup Battlefield and is privately held by world-leading venture firms, including Bessemer Venture Partners, Addition, and General Catalyst. About Bessemer Venture Partners Bessemer Venture Partners helps entrepreneurs lay strong foundations to build and forge long-standing companies. With more than 145 IPOs and 300 portfolio companies in the enterprise, consumer and healthcare spaces, Bessemer supports founders and CEOs from their early days through every stage of growth. Bessemers global portfolio has included Pinterest, Shopify, Twilio, Yelp, LinkedIn, PagerDuty, DocuSign, Wix, Fiverr, and Toast and has $20 billion of assets under management. Bessemer has teams of investors and partners located in Tel Aviv, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York, London, Hong Kong, Boston, and Bangalore. Born from innovations in steel more than a century ago, Bessemers storied history has afforded its partners the opportunity to celebrate and scrutinize its best investment decisions (see Memos) and also learn from its mistakes (see Anti-Portfolio). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620566248/en/ Anurag Goel [email protected] Source: Render Credit union partners with digital banking provider to advance digital transformation strategies, improve member self-service TROY, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Mahalo Banking, a CUSO that provides online and mobile banking solutions for credit unions, today announced a new platform launch with New Orleans-based RiverLand Federal Credit Union (RiverLand more than $300M in assets). The credit union is leveraging the Mahalo platform to accelerate its digital transformation while improving member self-service functionality. The Mahalo platform enables the credit union to enhance its digital experience by providing greater security, added self-service options and more modernized functionality. Some of the new features being implemented by RiverLand include card controls, P2P payments and credit score views. By adding these features, the credit union is able to offer its members greater independence within their digital banking experience, which will ultimately lead to more meaningful interactions between the staff and members when direct assistance is necessary. Our digital banking experience was outdated; it needed to be fresh and updated more frequently to better reflect our members financial needs, said George Lunsford, RiverLand President and CEO. It was important to offer our members greater financial autonomy and include features where they could better engage with the platform. When selecting Mahalo, we knew they would prioritize delivering platform updates to support the initiatives that are important to our membership base. Mahalo provides new features promptly and smoothly, allowing us to streamline our digital transformation process and meet member expectations. In addition, leveraging Mahalos technology allows RiverLand to deliver feature parity across the credit unions online and mobile banking experiences. This enables the credit union to create a more unified and cohesive digital banking experience for its members. Built by credit union industry natives, Mahalo Banking offers a digital banking platform that delivers intuitive, inclusive features that meet the needs of all members. The platform was recently enhanced to incorporate Thoughtful Banking, the industrys first and only online banking solution to fully integrate comprehensive neurodiverse functionality. Mahalos platform also provides a secure architecture, deep integrations into credit union cores and streamlined third-party integrations. Picking up the pace of innovation is a challenge for many credit unions today, and selecting the right digital banking partner is pivotal to this process, said Denny Howell, co-founder and COO of Mahalo. Regular platform updates are vital to our credit union customers ongoing digital transformation, which is why our team routinely delivers the features they need to remain innovative and member-first. Working with RiverLand offers our team yet another opportunity to strengthen a credit unions competitive edge in a constantly evolving digital landscape. About RiverLand Federal Credit Union RiverLand Federal Credit Union was founded in 1978 by employees of New Orleans Public Service, Inc, which is now Entergy. They have grown to $310 million in assets and serve more than 16,000 members with 8 offices across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. RiverLand is a member-focused financial cooperative and provides financial services at the lowest cost possible without sacrificing its high level of quality, credibility and efficiency. For more information about RiverLand, please visit www.riverlandfcu.org. About Mahalo Mahalo Banking provides online and mobile banking solutions for credit unions. Based in Troy, Mich., the Mahalo platform is designed and built on superior architecture with deep integration to core processing, providing security and a robust feature set across all delivery channels for a true omni experience. Mahalo offers the industrys first and only online banking solution to fully integrate comprehensive neurodiverse functionality directly into its platform. This inclusive approach allows credit unions to support and embrace all members and accommodate their unique needs. For more information about Mahalo Banking, please visit us at mahalobanking.com, follow us on Twitter or connect via LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620670086/en/ Angelo D. Jones II // Gabriela Lumpkin [email protected] // [email protected] 678.781.7230 // 678.781.7211 Source: Mahalo Banking Maerz originally joined the Salata team in 2021 as vice president of operations HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Salata, a leading built-to-order salad kitchen, announces the promotion of former vice president of operations, Michele Maerz, to president. Maerz joined the growing salad brand in 2021 and steps into her new role as Salata is poised for growth. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620812409/en/ Michele Maerz, President of Salata Salad Kitchen. (Photo: Business Wire) The role was previously occupied by Michelle Bythewood from 2019-2023; Bythewood was an integral part of selecting Maerz to step into the role after achieving what she came into the role to accomplish. On moving on from Salata, Bythewood says, While it is a very hard decision to leave Salata, I am confident that Michele, with her operational background, will continue to grow the brand in the right direction. My passion is rebranding companies and putting systems and processes in place for growth and franchisee expansion. When presented the opportunity to do just that with another brand out of California, I decided the time was right to make a move. Bythewood adds, Michele and I have had a great tandem working relationship since she joined the team and I feel confident that moving forward Salata is in the hands of someone who truly cares about the brand and can take it to the next level as they continue to grow. Michele Maerz brings over 30 years of restaurant industry experience to her role as president of Salata. During her time as vice president of operations of Salata, Michele and her team improved operational procedures; solidified a partnership that opens new revenue streams on major corporate campuses and facilities in Houston and Dallas; rolled out several new menu items including a Certified Angus Beef steak protein to the salad menu; and launched the Salata Mobile Kitchen to assist operations during restaurant remodels and create an opportunity for greater community involvement. Prior to joining Salata, Michele served as regional vice president of On The Border Grill & Cantina where she was responsible for leading operations of 39 casual dining restaurants operating in Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Prior to On The Border, Maerz spent 4 years at Lazy Dog Restaurants as regional director of the Texas and North California markets. Michele also served as area vice president with BJs Restaurants, Inc. opening 23 new restaurants across the country and overseeing operations of up to 45 restaurants from California to Florida. She broke into the industry serving 15 years at Brinker International, Inc. and credits executives at both BJs and Brinker for giving her a firm foundation on which to drive operational excellence and brand growth. In her role as president, Michele will be responsible for the overall strategic vision and leadership of the Salata brand and ensuring operational excellence across Salatas more than 90 corporate and franchised restaurants along with franchise expansion across the country. Im excited to step into this new role and take over where Michelle left off. I cant express my thanks enough to Michelle for her confidence, leadership, mentorship, and friendship built during our time together, says Maerz. My focus as president will be to carry the brand forward with quality as our compass, build upon operational efficiencies, and double our restaurant count over the next 5 years. Maerz adds, I am passionate about Salatas mission to make healthy, fresh, and customizable meal options more accessible to communities around the country and look forward to leading the charge as president. For more information on Salata, please visit www.salata.com. ABOUT SALATA: Founded in 2005, Houston-based franchisor Salata is a fully customizable, built-to-order salads and wraps concept with endless combinations tailored to any lifestyle. Salata has 92 corporate-owned and franchise locations in Texas, Georgia, Southern California, Louisiana, and North Carolina. For more information, visit salata.com or facebook.com/salatasalads. For franchising information, please visit salata.com/grow-with-us/franchising. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620812409/en/ Allie Lesiuk - [email protected] - 817-733-3766 Source: Salata MENTOR, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sapia.ai, the worlds only smart chat platform powered by deep-learning AI, has released a new function which will detect and flag responses sourced by generative AI, such as ChatGPT, in real time. A world first, the new function draws from Sapia.ais growing proprietary dataset of over one billion words -- collated from over 12 million responses from 2.5 million candidates that have used its platform. Global brands trust Sapia.ai to accelerate and enhance their recruitment and promotion processes. A conversational, Natural Language Processing (NLP) based chat AI interviews, assesses and screens for the best talent at scale via an easy to use messaging platform. In addition to improving diversity outcomes by eliminating unconscious bias, it also allows companies to reallocate thousands of hours spent screening talent towards higher value tasks. This new feature prevents candidates from using generative AI tools to respond to prompts from Sapia.ais platform. Candidates will be alerted in real-time as they respond when their answers are likely to be AI generated content (AGC), giving them an opportunity to change it ahead of the final submission. Failing this, it will then flag to the decision-maker the likely inclusion of AGC in the candidates response for further review. Barb Hyman, Sapia.ai CEO and founder, said: This is something our competitors cant do. Its our competitive moat. While it is possible to detect use of generative ChatGPT through analysis, were conducting it in real-time. Our data set also gives us the ability to readily adapt to new iterations of generative AI. Sapia.ais Chief Data Scientist Dr. Buddhi Jayatilleke added: We tested our AGC flag with thousands of generated answers from GPT-2, GPT-3 and ChatGPT on various prompts related to multiple role families. We were able to achieve a ROC-AUC of over 95%, which is a strong indicator of the accuracy of a classifier. This is due to our ability to distinguish the differences between human-written text and the formulaic nature of content coming from generative AI models, leveraging our large human-written response data set. About Sapia.ai Sapia's mission is to develop ethical AI for hiring that people love. Using the world's first Smart Interviewer, powered by the world's largest source of first-party proprietary text data and advanced Natural Language Processing, Sapia turns simple text conversations into unprecedented talent intelligence enabling organisations to interrupt hiring bias at scale. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619155808/en/ Sapia.ai Harrison Polites 0409 623 618 [email protected] Source: Sapia.ai The mercury in Seoul climbed to 34 degrees Celsius on Monday, prompting a heat wave advisory for the second day in a row. Some areas of mountainous Gangwon Province saw record temperatures for June, while parts of the east coast experienced their first tropical nights when temperatures never fall below 25 degrees. It is going to get even hotter. The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast higher temperatures than normal this summer as the Indian Ocean and Philippine Sea become warmer and strengthen high-pressure fronts around Korea. That tends to calm winds and lead to more clear days when the sun can roast every inch of the country. Iconic sangria-flavored, no-alcohol soda launches new logo and slogan, inviting consumers to Explore Every Moment EL PASO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Senorial, no-alcohol sangria-flavored soda steeped in rich Mexican heritage, introduces a fresh brand identity, with a new logo and brand design to spotlight the iconic taste and bottle shape consumers know and love. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620285994/en/ Senorial Unveils New Brand Identity (Photo: Business Wire) Senorials new slogan and brand campaign Explore Every Moment celebrates the brands core values, including culture and creating meaningful moments of connection with loved ones. Senorial has been a beloved staple in many households and restaurants for generations, and we are excited to continue to cater to loyal customers while also introducing this quintessential Mexican soda to new consumers as we continue to grow our footprint throughout the U.S., says Jorge Gamboa, brand manager of Senorial. Senorial is a sangria-flavored beverage, capturing the refreshing flavors and spices of traditional Spanish sangria without the alcoholic content. The Mexican beverages origin dates back to 1960, expanding into the United States in 1987. The bright sangria flavor and vibrant color of Senorial is a tribute to traditions and heritage that deserve to be preserved. As a non-alcoholic alternative, Senorial also appeals to a growing wave of mindful consumers exploring sober-curious experiences. Our product is rooted in community, connection, and curating special moments. Whatever the experience, big or small, familiar or new, our Senorial campaign, Explore Every Moment, encourages customers to be present and enjoy the journey, said Gamboa. Senorials updated logo and label nod to the original flavor with rich, jewel-toned sangria colors but offer modernized, sleek revisions to the lettering, font and design. Senorial will be promoting the Explore Every Moment campaign with paid media, influencer partnerships, events and in-store signage throughout the remainder of the calendar year. Senorial is part of the Novamex portfolio, one of the top Hispanic product exporters in the United States, alongside Jarritos soft drinks, Sidral Mundet apple soda, and Mineragua sparkling water. ABOUT SENORIAL Created in 1960, Senorial is a no-alcohol sangria-flavored soda from Mexico. Sold throughout the U.S., the brand encourages consumers to explore every moment. Senorial is committed to providing consumers with opportunities to connect through culture and community. The fruity and refreshing beverage is available in 8 presentations including an individual glass bottle, 4-pack, 12-pack, 30-pack and 1.5-liter, 750ML, 524ML, and 524ML/6-pack PET bottles. Find out more at https://sangriasenorial.com/ or on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620285994/en/ Gabrielle Asadoor [email protected] Source: Senorial DETROIT--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sharrow Marine, a subsidiary of Sharrow Engineering LLC, a leading manufacturer of revolutionary propellers for boats and ships, announced today the successful completion of a $30+ million series of debt and equity financings. This milestone was led by the family offices of John H. McFadden, Esq. and David Dolby, director of Dolby Laboratories and CEO of Dolby Family Ventures. The company plans to use the funds to accelerate its growth plans and to continue developing innovative propeller technology for the marine and aeronautical industries. "We are thrilled to have secured financing from McFadden and Dolby, distinguished investors with a remarkable track record of supporting innovative companies and technologies," said Greg Sharrow, CEO of Sharrow Engineering. "This funding empowers Sharrow to further invest in our technology, manufacturing capacity, expand our sales and marketing efforts, and ultimately, deliver unparalleled propeller solutions to our valued customers. With this support, were positioned to complete significant licensing arrangements to further penetrate new and existing markets." The Sharrow Propeller, a revolutionary patented technology, has garnered widespread attention for its innovative design, offering some of the most significant fuel efficiency and performance improvements the boating industry has ever seen. Sharrow Marines achievements were recognized at the 2020 Miami International Boat Show, where the companys flagship product, the Sharrow MX Propeller, won the coveted NMMA Innovation Awards. The Sharrow Propeller is currently available for all major outboard manufacturers: Yamaha, Mercury, Honda, Evinrude, Suzuki, Johnson, Nissan, OXE, and COX. "We are excited to partner with Sharrow Marine and support their mission of creating more sustainable and efficient propulsion systems for boats and ships," said John McFadden. "We believe in the team's vision and are confident in their ability to drive innovation in the marine industry." Sharrow Marine has already made significant strides in the market, having secured partnerships with leading marine manufacturers and operators, said David Dolby. The funding enables the company to expand its manufacturing capacity and accelerate its growth trajectory. About Sharrow Engineering Sharrow Engineering, LLC, is a nautical and aeronautical engineering company dedicated to the research and development of revolutionary high-performance propulsion technologies for the maritime and aeronautical industries. Sharrow Engineering is the parent company for Sharrow Marine, LLC, and Sharrow Commercial Marine, LLC. Company offices are headquartered in Detroit, MI. Sharrow Engineering, LLC, has assembled a team of the worlds top aeronautical, nautical, aerospace, and mechanical engineers to assist with the companys core mission to reinvent the methodologies and technologies used for propulsion in the 21st century. To learn more about Sharrow Engineering and its innovative products, go to www.sharrowmarine.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620691831/en/ [email protected] Source: Sharrow Marine JAKARTA, Indonesia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- PT Mega Buana Teknologi (MBT), a digital solutions provider and a subsidiary of the CTI Group, has officially entered into a strategic partnership with Stellar Cyber to provide integrated cybersecurity solutions in one Open XDR (Extended Detection and Response) platform. This collaboration is MBT's step in an effort to meet business needs in Indonesia for more integrated cybersecurity. Acceleration of technological developments and digitalization in the business environment, apart from driving business performance, also opens up many opportunities for cybercriminals in increasingly sophisticated and complex ways. According to a report from the PwC Digital Insights Survey: A Southeast Asia Perspective, remote working models are widespread (43%), and there has been accelerated cloud adoption (43%), increased use of the internet of things (34%), and increased supply chain digitization (32%); but these have not been matched by improved cybersecurity risk management strategies. Only 17% of companies in Southeast Asia have fully mitigated cybersecurity risks related to digitization and many have not implemented preventive measures to deal with cyberattacks. Seeing this challenge, MBT cooperates with Stellar Cyber and collaborates to help companies in Indonesia overcome the complexity in maintaining cybersecurity, due to increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks and the MBTs IT environment, which also continues to evolve as business increases. Stellar Cybers Open XDR is a cybersecurity solution integrated in one platform (all-in-one SecOps platform) which includes NexGen-SIEM, TIP, UEBA, NDR, SOAR, and other functions, thus offering efficiency and convenience for all business people in detecting, investigating and responding to cyberattacks. "We want to help the digital transformation journey of business people in Indonesia by modernizing IT infrastructure in the simplest way, including cybersecurity. Seeing the number of cases related to cybersecurity that are increasingly sophisticated and diverse, plus the bring your own device (BYOD) work model, further increase the gaps for attacks, so the cybersecurity team needs a more modern approach. The Stellar Cyber Open XDR platform enables integrated and automated security management, making it easier for companies to ensure data security," said Yuwono Pranata, CEO of MBT. Stellar Cyber Open XDR makes it easy to manage data security from various networks, endpoints, clouds, and logs in one repository. This solution can automatically detect and correlate early warnings (alerts) using a multimodal threat detection engine based on machine learning (ML) technology. As a result, the platform enables faster and more accurate threat tracking because it is supported by contextual data and correlated incidents. This results in an 8-fold improvement in Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) and a 20-fold improvement in Mean Time to Respond (MTTR). "As part of the CTI Group's expertise and extensive partner network, MBT is an ideal partner for us. With their support and services, we can offer innovative Open XDR solutions to a more extensive customer base, helping them mitigate risk by identifying and responding more quickly and accurately to cyberattack threats. This will provide cost efficiency while increasing productivity," said Ivon Susan of Stellar Cyber. Supported by a comprehensive range of MBT services, including assessment, implementation, 24/7 customer support and other services, MBT and Stellar Cyber are committed to empowering businesses with tough security measures and ensuring that customers' digital assets are protected. About MBT PT Mega Buana Teknologi (MBT) is an entity under PT Computrade Technology International (CTI Group) as one of the largest distributors of IT solutions in Southeast Asia. MBT was founded in 2020 with the aim of becoming a leading digital infrastructure solution provider and working with business partners to provide IT solutions and successfully help companies journey cloud, analytics, data storage, covered, data protection, service and file sharing in facing increasingly competitive markets. By having experienced IT engineers and professionals, MBT will also ensure customers get comprehensive services of the highest quality in modernizing IT infrastructure, including implementing, managing and evaluating their IT solutions. For details, visit www.megabuana.id About Stellar Cyber Stellar Cyber delivers comprehensive, unified security without complexity, empowering lean security teams of any skill to secure their environments successfully. With the Stellar Cyber Open XDR Platform, organizations reduce risk with early and precise identication and remediation of threats while slashing costs, retaining investments in existing tools, and improving analyst productivity, delivering an 8X improvement in MTTD and a 20X improvement in MTTR. The company is based in Silicon Valley. For more information, visit https://stellarcyber.ai. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619963592/en/ Stellar Cyber Charlie Rubin Story PR [email protected] Source: Stellar Cyber HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW) ("Tidewater" or the "Company") today announced that it intends to commence a private offering of USD denominated 5-year senior unsecured bonds, subject to market conditions. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the bond issue towards financing a portion of the purchase price to acquire 37 platform supply vessels from Solstad Offshore ASA, as announced on March 7, 2023, and other general corporate purposes. The bonds would be privately placed in the United States in accordance with U.S. securities laws and sold outside the United States pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933. The bonds have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933 or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and applicable state laws. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase the bonds or any other securities, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. This press release is being issued pursuant to and in accordance with Rule 135c under the Securities Act of 1933. About Tidewater Tidewater owns and operates one of the largest fleets of offshore support vessels in the industry, with more than 65 years of experience supporting offshore energy exploration, production, generation and offshore wind activities worldwide. To learn more, visit www.tdw.com. Forward-Looking Statements In accordance with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Tidewater notes that certain statements set forth in this press release contain forward-looking statements that reflect our current view with respect to future events and future financial performance. Forward-looking statements are all statements other than statements of historical fact, which can generally be identified by the use of such terminology as may, can, potential, expect, project, target, anticipate, estimate, forecast, believe, think, could, continue, intend, seek, plan, and similar expressions, and are not guarantees or assurances of future performance or events. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the timing, size and completion of our offering and our intended use of proceeds. All such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, and our future results of operations could differ materially from our historical results or current expectations reflected by such forward-looking statements. Investors should carefully consider the risk factors described in detail in the Companys most recent Form 10-K, most recent Form 10-Q, and in similar sections of other filings made by the Company with the SEC from time to time. The Companys filings can be obtained free of charge on the SECs website at www.sec.gov. Except to the extent required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect any change in the Companys expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based. Forward-looking statements and written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or its representatives after the date of this release are qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained in this paragraph and in other reports filed by the Company with the SEC. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230619891560/en/ Tidewater Inc. West Gotcher Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations +1.713.470.5285 Source: Tidewater Inc. Triton Digital Expands Audio Industry Leadership with Strategic Acquisition of Leading Advertising Intelligence Platform NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Triton Digital, the global technology and services provider to the digital audio, podcast, and broadcast radio industries, announced today that it has acquired Manadge, an advertising intelligence platform that specializes in programmatic advertising. Manadge will enable Triton Digital publishers and demand partners to see advertising-related data and analyze performance in real time via an intuitive analytics platform. With this acquisition, Triton Digital is diversifying its portfolio as Manadge offers analysis and comparison dashboards and KPIs for programmatic market participants as well as direct orders. Integrated with over 60 Supply Side Platforms (SSPs) and ad servers, Manadge offers real-time insights through its interactive business intelligence tools. True to Tritons audience measurement philosophy, Manadge provides agnostic and unbiased reporting that simplifies the recording and tracking of advertising revenues, leveraging an elegant UI, with expansive graphics and change alert notifications. Through this acquisition, we further demonstrate our commitment to providing robust tools to enable growth in the global audio industry, says John Rosso, President and CEO, Triton Digital. The Manadge platform will enable Tritons publisher, sales house, and demand partners to better analyze advertising data and use Manadges powerful UI to make data driven decisions for their business. At Manadge we give companies the ability to increase resources and support, expand into new markets, and innovate faster than they could before, says Nathan Venezia, Founder and CEO, Manadge. We are excited to be joining a team that truly understands our vision and to be providing Triton Digital a better way to analyze and track advertising revenue for all audio types. As part of the acquisition, the Manadge team will join Triton Digitals team, bringing a high level of talent and expertise to Tritons product and engineering efforts. About Manadge Manadge is an advanced analytics and automation platform designed for Publishers, empowering them to take control on all demand actors and maximize ad revenues. Sales and Ad Operations teams rely on the Manadge platform on a daily basis to gain a clear view of buyers, agencies, and advertisers. By leveraging Manadge technology, Publishers can identify advertising revenues and performance across Ad Servers and SSPs, strengthening their decision-making abilities. Based in Paris, Manadge collaborates with top-tier Publishers all over Europe. About Triton Digital Triton Digital is the global technology and services leader to the digital audio, podcast, and broadcast radio industries. Operating in more than 80 countries, Triton provides innovative technology that enables broadcasters, podcasters, and online music services to build their audience, maximize revenue, and streamline their day-to-day operations. In addition, Triton powers the global online audio industry with Webcast Metrics, the leading streaming audio measurement service and Podcast Metrics, one of the first IAB certified podcast measurement services in the industry. With unparalleled integrity, excellence, teamwork, and accountability, Triton remains committed to connecting audio, audience, and advertisers to continuously fuel the growth of the global audio industry. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620144600/en/ Moxie Communications Group for Triton Digital [email protected] Source: Triton Digital Hadley Harbor IV brings total capital raised to invest in late-stage private companies to over $6.6 billion since 2014 BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Wellington Management (Wellington or the Firm), one of the worlds largest independent investment management firms, today announced the close of its private late-stage growth strategy Wellington Hadley Harbor IV (the Fund or Hadley Harbor) with US $2.6 billion in commitments and over US$200 million in co-invest capacity to invest alongside the Fund. The Fund seeks to invest in late-stage private companies seeking capital to sustain or accelerate growth prior to a potential IPO or sale. Since launching its first late-stage growth fund in 2014, the team has successfully closed four funds, identifying opportunities to generate value for investors across industries including technology, consumer, healthcare, and fintech. Michael Carmen, CFA, co-head of Private Investments, at Wellington Management said, The Hadley Harbor team, along with the broader Wellington platform, brings decades of experience investing across both private and public equity markets. With companies staying private for longer, we are supplying capital to transformative, disruptive businesses to enable them to scale on their journey from the private to the public market. These companies are market leaders looking for experienced partners like Wellington to help them navigate the current economic volatility while accelerating their business growth. Matt Witheiler, Consumer/Technology Sector Lead, at Wellington Management said, We are thrilled to have exceeded our $2.5 billion fundraising target with commitments and support from valued limited partners. Our ability to successfully raise over $6 billion since the funds inception demonstrates the power of our platform, and our clients confidence in our ability to execute. The close of Wellington Hadley Harbor IV brings the total amount of capital raised to invest in late-stage private companies across all four vintages to more than US$6.6 billion since 2014. Hadley Harbor IV has made five investments thus far. The Funds global investor base includes public and private pension plans, insurance companies, corporations, a sovereign wealth fund and family offices. The Funds investment team consists of seasoned investment professionals with diversified sector expertise and extensive private market networks. They are supported by Wellingtons portfolio support resources including a dedicated ESG team who help evaluate private companies ESG readiness for public markets. In addition, the team offers strategic guidance by harnessing insights and access to relationships from its public market global industry analysts. About Wellington Management Wellington Management is one of the worlds largest independent investment management firms, serving as a trusted adviser to over 2,400 clients in more than 63 countries. The firm manages more than US$1.1 trillion for pensions, endowments and foundations, insurers, family offices, fund sponsors, global wealth managers, and other clients. Wellington aspires to provide excellent service to clients through a unique combination of independence enabled by its distinctive private partnership model, diverse perspectives through its unified, multi-asset investment platform, and relentless curiosity and intellectual rigor fostered by its enduring collaborative culture. About Wellington Management Private Investing The Wellington Private Investing platform has a dedicated team that invests across multiple sectors and stages of the private markets and leverages the firms more than 1,000 investment professionals located in offices around the world. From early-stage venture to late-stage growth, the team actively invests across the business lifecycle in the next generation of industry defining entrepreneurs and changemakers. The team has raised nearly US$8 billion in global assets to invest across geographies (Asia, Europe, and the Americas) and sectors (consumer, technology, health care, financial services, biotechnology, and climate technology). Wellingtons dedicated Private Investing team takes a long-term view and leverages both its deep private market expertise along with Wellingtons broader public market expertise, extensive network, and robust research across its global footprint to benefit both investors and entrepreneurs. For more information about Wellington Private Investing, please visit wellington.com/privateinvesting. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620331726/en/ Press Inquiries Wellington Management Robyn Tice, [email protected] Prosek Partners [email protected] Source: Wellington Management Renowned Celebrity Florist Jeff Leatham Introduces Lifelike Collection of Real Touch Floral Arrangements Designed to Last SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Williams Sonoma, a portfolio brand of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE: WSM), the worlds largest digital-first, design-led and sustainable home retailer, announced today the launch of a new collaboration with renowned floral designer, Jeff Leatham. Leatham has joined forces with Williams Sonoma to unveil an exquisite collection of faux florals that combines Leatham's signature artistic vision and contemporary designs with Williams Sonoma's commitment to quality and style. The new collaboration offers customers unparalleled quality in real touch floral arrangements that are designed to last with each component having an incredibly soft and lifelike feel. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620470047/en/ Jeff Leatham Launches New Collection of Real Touch Floral Arrangements with Williams Sonoma (Photo: Williams Sonoma) With his trailblazing creativity in floral design and innovative approach to every arrangement, Jeff Leatham has become a globally recognized name in the world of floristry. His captivating designs have graced the most prestigious events and enchanted numerous high-profile clients, from royalty to Hollywood celebrities. Now, Leatham brings his iconic touch to the realm of real touch florals, ensuring that everyone can embrace the beauty of nature in their homes, regardless of their location or time of year. From stunning long-stem bouquets to meticulously crafted faux floral arrangements, each piece from our collaboration with Jeff Leatham perfectly combines his artistry with Williams Sonoma's commitment to craftsmanship, said Williams Sonoma President Felix Carbullido. We are proud to offer our customers, Jeffs millions of followers and floral enthusiasts, the opportunity to have a long-lasting, lifelike version of the striking floral designs that Jeff is known for. "Partnering with Williams Sonoma to create this line of real touch floral arrangements has been an incredible journey as we've pushed the boundaries of permanent botanical design in order to bring lifelike artificial florals that are both visually striking and long-lasting to market, said Jeff Leatham. This collection allows individuals to immerse themselves in the world of flowers, forever capturing their essence within their own homes." To celebrate the new collaboration and the launch of Leathams latest book The Art of the Flower, Williams Sonoma will be hosting a book signing at the flagship Columbus Circle store in New York on Thursday, June 22nd from 6:00pm 8:00pm EDT. Customers can purchase tickets to the event and a copy of Jeffs book by visiting: http://jeffleathambooktour.squadup.com/ To learn more about the Jeff Leatham collaboration for Williams Sonoma, please visit: www.williams-sonoma.com/JeffLeatham. About Williams Sonoma Since its founding by Chuck Williams in 1956, the Williams Sonoma brand has been bringing people together around food. A member of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE: WSM) portfolio of brands, Williams Sonoma is a leading specialty retailer of high-quality products for the kitchen and home, providing world-class service and an engaging customer experience. Products include cookware, cooks tools, cutlery, electrics, bakeware, food, tabletop and bar, outdoor, cookbooks, as well as furniture, lighting and decorative accessories. Each store offers cooking classes and tastings conducted by expert culinary staff. A comprehensive gift registry program for weddings and other special events is available in stores and online. On williams-sonoma.com customers can find recipes, tips, and techniques that help them create delicious meals. Williams Sonoma can also be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube. Williams Sonoma is also part of The Key Rewards, a free-to-join loyalty program that offers members exclusive benefits across the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. family of brands. WSM-PR View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620470047/en/ Kendall Coleman Williams Sonoma [email protected] Madelyn Rollofson Williams Sonoma [email protected] Source: Williams-Sonoma, Inc. Yendo will expand access to affordable credit to the millions of Americans who have historically been excluded from the traditional credit system DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Yendo, the company that created the first-ever vehicle-secured credit card, today announced the closing of its $24 million in Series A financing, led by FPV Ventures, along with existing investors Human Capital and Autotech Ventures. This marks a significant milestone for Yendo, a company that provides a prime credit offering to the millions of Americans who previously lacked access to the financial system because of their credit score. The funding will fuel the next phase of growth for Yendo, enabling the company to make key hires, enhance the product experience and help more people by expanding into more states. As part of the deal, lead investor Wesley Chan will join the board. Yendo is on a mission to provide broader access to affordable credit so everyone has the opportunity to achieve their financial goals. With Yendo, consumers who own their car can tap into the value of their vehicle to gain access to up to $10,000 in revolving credit at a fixed, affordable rate, agnostic of their credit score. The company determines a persons credit limit based on factors including their income and expenses, as well as the value of their vehicle. This provides equal opportunity to people who have historically been excluded from the traditional credit system and gives them the ability to establish and build credit. This is important to Yendos customers, as 90% cite building credit as a significant driver for applying for the product. The current financial system is not set up to serve everyone. As a result, millions of Americans lack access to affordable lending options, leading many to rely on high-interest, non-bank financial products, which costs them billions of dollars annually, said Jordan Miller, CEO and co-founder of Yendo. We want to transform the way Americans interact with financial services by building a product that can expand access to affordable credit, regardless of consumers credit scores. Were confident this funding will help expedite our growth so we can continue to scale our business and product to help more people. We're excited to partner with Jordan and the Yendo team, said Wesley Chan, co-founder & managing partner of FPV Ventures. Jordan is a brilliant product developer who has created a product that provides access to affordable credit to a population of consumers who have historically had terrible lending options, if any. This helps level the playing field for consumers and we're thrilled to back this mission and team. Today, Yendo is saving its customers over $85,000 in interest each day and has grown its customer base by 15% week-over-week since launching last year. The Yendo card is the first of a suite of financial products being developed by Yendo to serve Americans who have been underserved by the current financial system. About Yendo Founded in 2021 by Jordan Miller, George Utkov, and Daniel Ashy, Yendo is the first-ever vehicle-secured credit card created for the millions of Americans who have historically lacked access to the financial system because of their credit score, or lack thereof. All customers need to get started with Yendo is a smartphone and a car. In less than 10 minutes, consumers can get up to $10,000 in revolving credit at a fixed, affordable rate, agnostic of their credit score. To learn more about how Yendo is making finances more accessible visit https://www.yendo.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620114153/en/ [email protected] Source: Yendo Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, ADQ, held talks with Wall Street investment bank Lazard (NYSE: LAZ) about a potential private acquisition, according to a Financial Times report today. According to people familiar with the matter, the negotiations took place this year between Lazard, led by CEO Ken Jacobs, and ADQ, led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who is the funds chair and Abu Dhabis powerful national security adviser. However, the discussions fell apart, and both parties walked away from the deal. Lazard had a strong focus on maintaining its operating independence. Lazard and ADQ declined to comment on the matter. This potential acquisition would have marked the end of Lazard's 175-year run as an independent financial house. Similar moves, such as the Rothschild family's privatization of Rothschild & Co and Japan's Mizuho's purchase of Greenhill & Co, have occurred recently in the financial industry. Since the failed talks, Lazard has initiated a succession process, with Peter Orszag, an economist and former official in Barack Obamas administration, set to become the new chief executive in October. During the last several years, the emirate has shown a desire to expand its presence in the financial services sector as part of its economic diversification plans. In the past, Tahnoon expressed interest in acquiring Silicon Valley Bank's UK subsidiary, but it was ultimately acquired by HSBC. Abu Dhabi's FAB previously attempted to acquire Standard Chartered Bank and a controlling stake in EFG Hermes of Egypt but the deals fell apart. By Davit Kirakosyan BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical technology company, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Surgical Instrumentation platform to STERIS (NYSE: STE) for $540 million . The divestiture will include V. Mueller, Snowden-Pencer and Genesis branded products and three manufacturing facilities located in St. Louis, Mo. , Cleveland, Ohio and Tuttlingen, Germany . Approximately 360 employees who support this platform will transfer to STERIS upon the completion of the transaction. The divestiture is expected to close within BD's fiscal year 2023, ending Sept. 30 , pending satisfaction of customary closing conditions and U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulatory approval. The Surgical Instrumentation platform is reported as part of the BD Surgery business within the BD Interventional segment. Strategic Rationale Divesting the platform advances the "Simplify" pillar of the BD 2025 strategy and is an important step in simplifying BD's product portfolio and manufacturing network. The platform has three dedicated manufacturing sites and about 20,000 SKUs in its portfolio. This strong value-creating transaction supports the achievement of BD's 2025 financial goals, including revenue growth and margin expansion. Cash proceeds will be deployed consistent with BD's capital allocation priorities to enable a continued durable growth profile. STERIS is a leading global provider of products and services that support patient care with an emphasis on infection prevention. With global sales of $5 billion , STERIS has more than 17,000 dedicated associates around the world working together to supply a broad array of infection prevention and other procedural products and services, focused primarily on health care, pharmaceutical, medical device and dental customers. BD's surgical instrumentation platform is complementary to STERIS's Healthcare segment and will allow them to better meet hospitals' and surgery centers' product and service needs. "The Surgical Instrumentation platform has a 120-year legacy of providing reliable and trusted high-quality products, and STERIS is well positioned to maximize the value of this extensive portfolio and is fortunate to be adding such a dedicated and talented team to its organization," said Rick Byrd , president of the Interventional segment at BD. "This transaction further advances the BD Interventional segment's focus on high-growth end markets. We look forward to continuing to address unmet needs in health care through a highly differentiated and innovative set of solutions and products." Transaction Information The assets included in the sale account for annualized revenue of approximately $170 million . If the transaction closes as expected within BD's fiscal year 2023, the impact to adjusted earnings per share (EPS) would be immaterial. Other terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Additional commentary regarding this transaction will be provided during the company's fiscal year 2023 third-quarter earnings conference call. Ropes and Gray, LLP were legal advisers for BD. Global training powerhouse, 3t Energy Group (3t), has announced the signing of a brand-new agreement that sees Horizon OilWell Academy operate as the Groups agent in Iraq. Utilising a diverse portfolio of solutions, learning tools, and training courses provided by global partners and suppliers, IWCF-accredited training provider, Horizon OilWell Academy, aims to help develop the next generation of petroleum professionals. Supporting the complete value chain within the industry, Horizon OilWell Academy promote training experiences that are designed to reflect real-world experiences. Bespoke training courses This latest agreement with 3t will see Horizon OilWell Academy adopt three of the Groups portfolio of businesses, including the provision of Drilling Systems' fully immersive simulator products, 3t Transforms ground-breaking and innovative VR technology, and bespoke training courses tailored to suit the requirements of the region, provided by AIS Survivex. This new agreement will see 3t continue to strengthen its global output, this agent agreement is a promising development that will allow the Group to grow its presence in Iraq and support the region with its world-class training and award-winning solutions. Discussing what this new agreement means for 3t, Ian Hunt, VP of Sales for Mena said: This is an incredibly exciting development for the Group that will allow 3t the chance to make a lasting impact on the standards of training within the region and the level of employee confidence and competence. Project pipeline "Working with Horizon OilWell Academy, it was clear that they have significant knowledge within the region after developing invaluable connections to local training institutions. As we look ahead to the future of this agreement, we have several exciting projects in the pipeline in collaboration with Horizon OilWell Academy that will allow us to show the capabilities of our blended learning solutions and immersive learning technology including our simulators and VR programmes. Murtada ALSayad, Horizon Oil Well's Iraq Business Development Manager, commented: Its great to have 3t Energy Group on board with us as we continue to improve workforce performance and support the future growth of our industry. Having previously used the Groups simulators and technology for previous training projects, we have seen first-hand the potential of this innovative technology and how it can drive transformative results. Our previous experiences with the Group have assured us that they are an excellent partner, and thanks to our experience in the region, we know that we can leverage our knowledge to get the Groups innovative, market-leading technology in front of the correct audience.-TradeArabia News Service Seoul is going to get another cable car to keep up with international trends and attract tourists. The new cable car will provide scenic views over the city as it sails from Myeong-dong to the top of Mt. Nam. It will be ready by 2025. The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Monday said the new landing platform will be in Namsan Yejang Park near Myeong-dong subway station, and 25 gondolas accommodating up to 10 passengers each will sail serenely some 800 m to the mountain top. American Airlines has signed a firm order with Embraer (NYSE: ERJ) for seven new E175s. The aircraft will be operated by American's wholly owned subsidiary, Envoy Air. With deliveries to begin Q4 2023, Envoy's fleet of E-Jets will grow to over 141 aircraft by the end of 2024. The contract value is US$403.4 million at list price and will be included in Embraer's 2023 Q2 backlog. "Our journey with Embraer began 25 years ago with the ERJ145, and our partnership continues to grow today as we take these additional aircraft and grow our all-Ejet fleet. Not only are our customers happy with the aircraft, but the jet's outstanding performance and reliability has allowed us to continue to provide excellent service to American Airlines and the thousands of customers we serve every day", said Pedro Fabregas, President & CEO of Envoy. This new order further demonstrates the importance of the E175 to connectivity across the United States , despite the constraints currently affecting the US regional sector. We thank American Airlines and Envoy for their long partnership with Embraer." said Arjan Meijer , CEO and President, Embraer Commercial Aviation, said, "It's hard to exaggerate the impact this hardworking aircraft has every day, delivering essential, dependable service, and an economic lifeline to communities across the North American market. The E175 is the backbone of the US regional network, with over 620 aircraft sold, and 86% market share since 2013". Entravision (NYSE: EVC), a leading global advertising solutions, media and technology company, today announced that Michael Christenson has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2023. We are excited to welcome Mike as Entravisions next CEO, said Paul A. Zevnik, Chair of Entravisions Board of Directors. Mike is a proven executive with operational and financial expertise and a track record of driving growth through operational execution and strategic acquisitions. We are confident that his skills and experience will help us unlock opportunities to expand our digital, television and audio segments, enhance our offerings and strengthen our competitive position in international markets. We are pleased that Mike will be joining our team to continue the mission that Walter Ulloa pursued in building the Company over many years and with the same core values that Walter instilled in the people of Entravision. Mr. Christenson joins Entravision with more than four decades of experience in helping companies navigate industry and technology transformation as a senior leader, investor and advisor. He previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of two public software companies, New Relic and CA Technologies, and as an investment banker with Allen & Company and Salomon Brothers. He has also served on the board of a number of high-growth public and private technology companies. I am honored to join the team at Entravision, said Mr. Christenson. Entravision is an industry leader with a unique value proposition and an impressive suite of digital marketing services across its global footprint. As a leading global advertising solutions, media and technology company, Entravision is well positioned for continued growth and I look forward to leveraging my expertise and working together with the talented team to reach even greater heights. Mr. Zevnik added, I want to thank our entire management team for working to continue the Companys outstanding performance and building on 2022, which was a record financial year for revenue and consolidated adjusted EBITDA. About Entravision Communications Corporation Entravision is a global advertising solutions, media and technology company. Over the past three decades, we have strategically evolved into a digital powerhouse, expertly connecting brands to consumers in the U.S., Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Our digital segment, the companys largest by revenue, offers a full suite of end-to-end advertising services in 40 countries. We have commercial partnerships with Meta, Twitter, TikTok and Spotify, and marketers can use our Smadex and other platforms to deliver targeted advertising to audiences around the globe. In the U.S., we maintain a diversified portfolio of television and radio stations that target Hispanic audiences and complement our global digital services. Entravision remains the largest affiliate group of the Univision and UniMas television networks. Shares of Entravision Class A Common Stock trade on the NYSE under ticker: EVC. Learn more about our offerings at entravision.com or connect with us on LinkedIn and Facebook. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which are included in accordance with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Companys actual results and performance in future periods to be materially different from any future results or performance suggested by the forward-looking statements in this press release. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from these expectations, and the Company disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statements made by the Company. From time to time, these risks, uncertainties and other factors are discussed in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620262501/en/ Kimberly Orlando ADDO Investor Relations 310-829-5400 [email protected] Source: Entravision Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited, (NYSE: FIHL) announced today the launch of its initial public offering ("IPO") of 17,000,000 of its common shares. The offering consists of 5,714,286 common shares offered by the Company and 11,285,714 common shares to be sold by certain of the Company's existing shareholders. In addition, the underwriters will have a 30-day option to buy an additional 2,550,000 common shares from the selling shareholders. The IPO price is currently expected to be between USD 16.00 and USD 19.00 per common share. The common shares are expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "FIHL." The Company intends to use the net proceeds it receives from the offering to make capital contributions to its insurance operating subsidiaries, which, together with other sources of liquidity, should enable the Company to take advantage of the ongoing rate hardening in the key markets in which it participates by writing more business under its planned strategy. The Company will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of its common shares by the selling shareholders. J.P. Morgan, Barclays and Jefferies are acting as Joint Lead Bookrunning Managers for the proposed offering. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, a Stifel company, BMO Capital Markets, Citigroup and UBS Investment Bank are acting as Joint Bookrunning Managers for the proposed offering. JMP Securities, A Citizens Company and Dowling & Partners Securities are acting as co-managers for the proposed offering. The proposed offering of the Company's common shares will be made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the preliminary prospectus, may be obtained from: J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Attention: Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue , Edgewood, New York 11717, by telephone at 1-866-471-2526 or by email at [email protected]; Barclays Capital Inc. c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 115 Long Island Avenue Edgewood, NY 11717, by telephone at (888) 603-5847 or by email at [email protected]; and Jefferies LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, 520 Madison Avenue , New York, NY 10022, by telephone at (877) 821-7388 or by email at [email protected]. A registration statement relating to the proposed IPO has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, but has not yet become effective. The common shares may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the common shares, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that state or jurisdiction. Any offers, solicitations or offers to buy, or any sales of securities will be made in accordance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fidelis-insurance-holdings-limited-announces-launch-of-initial-public-offering-301855265.html SOURCE Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited Hyundai Motor announced Tuesday that the Korean multi-national automaker plans to raise its average annual investment in electrification by nearly two thirds to $28 billion over the next decade to restructure its business in China and boost electric vehicle (EV) sales. Hyundai CEO Jaehoon Chang told investors that China, the world's largest vehicle market, had been very profitable up until 2016 but it was now the biggest risk as the automaker had lost market share to domestic rivals. The world's No. 3 auto group by sales, together with its affiliate Kia, also announced at their annual investor day on Tuesday a revised goal to sell 2 million EVs by 2030, up from their previous goal of 1.87 million. The increase would represent around one third of Hyundais total vehicle sales, up from 8% expected this year. Hyundai Motor is leveraging its heritage of innovation and knowledge accumulated over a long period of time amidst seismic change in the industry with competition intensifying in a bid for leadership in the electric vehicle (EV) market, the company said on its investor day. To meet its targets, Hyundai plans to ramp local production of EVs in the United States, Europe and South Korea. Three of the automakers key markets. In the United States, EV production will account for three quarters of its total vehicle production there by 2030 from just 0.7% now. Other plans include forging partnerships with specialized companies and startups, as well as establishing joint ventures with battery manufacturers to ensure a reliable and consistent supply. to ensure a reliable and consistent supply. "Joint research and equity investment in startups to accelerate the development of next-generation batteries is also under way," the company said. Its investment of 35.8 trillion won ($28 billion) in electrification is part of a 109.4 trillion won ($85 billion) budget Hyundai plans to spend through to 2032. By Michael Elkins | [email protected] Chinese electric automaker, NIO Inc. (NYSE: NIO) announced Tuesday that the company has entered into a share subscription agreement with CYVN Holdings, an investment firm majority owned by the Abu Dhabi Government with a focus on advanced and smart mobility. According to the agreement, CYVN will invest $738.5 million in cash to subscribe 84,695,543 newly issued Class A ordinary shares of the Company at a per share purchase price of US$8.72. The transaction is expected to close in early July 2023. In addition, NIO and CYVN agreed to cooperate to jointly pursue opportunities in NIOs international business. The strategic investments from CYVN Holdings demonstrate NIOs unique values in the smart electric vehicle industry. The Investment Transaction will further strengthen our balance sheet to power our continuous endeavors in accelerating business growth, driving technological innovations and building long-term competitiveness, said William Bin Li, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of NIO. In addition, we are excited about the prospect of partnering with CYVN Holdings to expand our international business. With the vision of Blue Sky Coming, we will continue to strive for technological breakthroughs and user experiences beyond expectations, contributing to a more sustainable future for the globe. Our strategic investments in NIO are driven by our appreciation of its leading brand, innovative and premium products, and proven technological capabilities in the smart electric vehicle market, said Jassem Al Zaabi, Chairman and Managing Director of CYVN Holdings. We are excited to develop strategic partnerships with NIO, and are fully committed to providing strategic value that will support NIOs international business growth. We will join hands with NIO to drive the global energy transition and sustainable growth for the whole humanity. Shares of NIO are down 1.17% in early trading on Tuesday. By Michael Elkins | [email protected] NIO Inc. (NYSE: NIO; HKEX: 9866; SGX: NIO) (NIO or the Company), a pioneer and a leading company in the premium smart electric vehicle market, today announced that it has entered into a share subscription agreement with CYVN Holdings L.L.C., an investment vehicle majority owned by the Abu Dhabi Government strategically focused on advanced and smart mobility (the Investor or CYVN Holdings), pursuant to which the Investor will invest an aggregate of US$738.5 million in cash to subscribe 84,695,543 newly issued Class A ordinary shares of the Company at a per share purchase price of US$8.72, being the volume weighted average price of Class A ordinary shares (as adjusted for the American depository share-to-Class A ordinary share ratio) on the New York Stock Exchange over the seven consecutive trading days immediately preceding June 19, 2023 (the Investment Transaction). The Investment Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and the closing is expected to take place in early July 2023. The share issuance is conducted as a private placement in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the Securities Act) to be exempt from registration. The Investor has agreed not to sell, transfer or dispose of any shares acquired in the Investment Transaction for six months after the closing. Concurrently, the Company is aware that the Investor has entered into a share purchase agreement with an affiliate of Tencent (the Existing Shareholder) pursuant to which the Investor will purchase 40,137,614 Class A ordinary shares of the Company beneficially owned by the Existing Shareholder (the Secondary Share Transfer). Upon the closing of the Investment Transaction and Secondary Share Transfer, the Investor will beneficially own approximately 7.0% of the Companys total issued and outstanding shares. Upon or after closing of the Investment Transaction, the Investor will be entitled to nominate one director to the Companys board of directors so long as it continues to beneficially own no less than 5% of the Companys outstanding share capital. Such appointment will be subject to the requirements of applicable laws, regulations, listing rules and the Companys articles of association. In addition, NIO and the Investor agreed to cooperate to jointly pursue opportunities in NIOs international business following the closing of the Investment Transaction. The strategic investments from CYVN Holdings demonstrate NIOs unique values in the smart electric vehicle industry. The Investment Transaction will further strengthen our balance sheet to power our continuous endeavors in accelerating business growth, driving technological innovations and building long-term competitiveness, said William Bin Li, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of NIO. In addition, we are excited about the prospect of partnering with CYVN Holdings to expand our international business. With the vision of Blue Sky Coming, we will continue to strive for technological breakthroughs and user experiences beyond expectations, contributing to a more sustainable future for the globe. Our strategic investments in NIO are driven by our appreciation of its leading brand, innovative and premium products, and proven technological capabilities in the smart electric vehicle market, said Jassem Al Zaabi, Chairman and Managing Director of CYVN Holdings. We are excited to develop strategic partnerships with NIO, and are fully committed to providing strategic value that will support NIOs international business growth. We will join hands with NIO to drive the global energy transition and sustainable growth for the whole humanity. Owlet (NYSE: OWLT, the Company), the pioneer of smart baby monitoring, announces clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of BabySat, the first medical pulse-oximetry device featuring its advanced, wire-free sock design. Owlet is a leader in infant health data, having monitored more than 1 million babies, and with BabySat, combines its consumer-first expertise with hospital-grade monitoring accuracy. Our mission is to provide caregivers with the right information at the right time to make informed decisions about their babys health, said Kurt Workman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder. Today, parents whose babies need additional monitoring are sent home with traditional solutions that can be restrictive and more cumbersome for parents. BabySat pushes forward the modernization of hospital-grade technology for at-home use, and underscores our commitment to transforming baby care solutions. Innovation in the baby care space matters because some of the largest issues facing caregivers and healthcare providers have yet to be solved. For example, there are roughly 92 million infant care visits covering a childs first four years of life, significantly straining the availability of hospital beds and quality of care. BabySat is a step forward in solving some of these exact challenges by bringing real-time medical grade infant monitoring into the home, while under the supervision of a physician. Available through prescription, BabySat uses pulse oximetry technology to provide a real-time display of their babys heart rate and oxygen saturation level (SpO2) and alerts parents when these readings fall outside of prescribed ranges. With access to this information and under the supervision of a physician, caregivers are enabled to feel confident in providing at-home care for their familieshelping to reduce the strain on our valued medical resources. The addition of the FDA-cleared BabySat device expands on Owlets existing portfolio of consumer products designed to bring peace of mind to caregivers. BabySat will be available in the U.S. only and is targeted to launch later this year. Customers can learn more and sign up to receive the latest information and details on product availability here: https://www.owletcare.com/babysat-fda-clearance Pratt & Whitney, an RTX (NYSE: RTX) business, today announced a $206 million investment plan to expand the capabilities and footprint of its Columbus, Georgia business, which supports commercial and military engine programs. The investment is expected to create around 400 new jobs by the end of 2028, and will go toward the purchase of new machinery, equipment and an 81,000 square foot expansion of the Columbus Engine Center. The footprint expansion will also increase overhaul capacity to 400 GTF engines per year. "Pratt & Whitney has been doing business in Georgia for nearly 40 years and in that time, our Columbus business has grown from a small manufacturing facility to a large, state-of-the-art manufacturing and overhaul center, where we employ approximately 2,000 employees," said Shane Eddy , president of Pratt & Whitney. "We remain committed to supporting manufacturing jobs in Georgia and see an incredible opportunity to expand our workforce and our company's capabilities in Columbus , aligned with our Industry 4.0 strategy. This investment will help ensure that we have the infrastructure, machinery and equipment upgrades in place to provide the best products and services to our customers worldwide. The tremendous support we receive from the community and state have contributed to our success in Georgia ." Pratt & Whitney will work in partnership with Georgia QuickStart to recruit and train new employees. "Not every state has the opportunity to announce new jobs and opportunities with an industry leader and great partner like Pratt & Whitney at the Paris Air Show," said Governor Brian Kemp . " Georgia is a top five exporter of aerospace products in the U.S. , totaling $9.2 billion in 2022, alone. From the flights that go through the world's most utilized airport to the engines in the very airplanes, the Peach State is crucial to the movement of goods and products. Pratt & Whitney's decision to expand will only further that reputation." "Economic vitality for our residents and area businesses has been and remains among my top priorities," said Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson . "This announcement of new jobs and new investment is an example of the economic growth that Columbus is poised to capture and we appreciate Pratt & Whitney, the Georgia Department of Economic Development, and the Development Authority of Columbus for their efforts to make this a reality." The Pratt & Whitney Columbus , Georgia business is located about 90 miles south of Atlanta and is comprised of the Columbus Engine Center and Columbus Forge , which operate on a single campus. The Columbus Engine Center maintains Pratt & Whitney GTF engines for the Embraer E-Jets E2, Airbus A220 and Airbus A320neo aircraft families along with F117 and F100 engines. Columbus Forge produces compressor airfoils and nickel and titanium forgings, which are machined into critical rotating components for Pratt & Whitney's commercial and military engines including the GTF as well as the F135 engine, powering the F-35 Lightning II fighter. About Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units. To learn more visit www.prattwhitney.com. To receive press releases and other news directly, please sign up here. Timber Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Timber" or the Company) (NYSE American: TMBR), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of treatments for rare and orphan dermatologic diseases, today announced that interim pharmacokinetic (PK) analyses from the Phase 3 ASCEND study indicate minimal systemic absorption of isotretinoin or its major metabolites in patients with moderate to severe forms of congenital ichthyosis (CI) who were treated with TMB-001 0.05% ointment. Full PK results will be presented during the Society for Pediatric Dermatologys Annual Meeting to be held July 13-16, 2023, in Asheville, North Carolina. Many dermatologists are familiar with oral isotretinoin, but high-dose and chronic oral isotretinoin therapy required in the treatment of CI cannot be tolerated by many patients due to systemic toxicity, said Alan Mendelsohn, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Timber. We are advancing innovative clinical research evaluating TMB-001, a topical isotretinoin formulated using our proprietary IPEG delivery system that enables targeted delivery to the epidermis and dermis with the potential to minimize systemic drug absorption, which we hope will translate into better safety and lower systemic toxicity while still maintaining high degrees of efficacy. The Phase 3 ASCEND study (https://ichthyosistrial.com/about_ascend_study.htm) is an ongoing double-blind, vehicle-controlled randomized 12-week study followed by 12 weeks of open label treatment of patients who are greater than 6 years of age with moderate to severe X-linked recessive CI (XLRI) or autosomal recessive CI (ARCI). The primary endpoint is the difference in proportions of treated patients with 2-point Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA) scaling/fissuring score improvement from baseline at 12 weeks. A subset of patients is also participating in a 12-week open label Maximal Use Study (MuST) that includes the collection of PK data as well as safety and efficacy data. The interim PK analyses include the first nine patients who completed 15 days of the MuST study. The results indicate minimal absorption of isotretinoin when TMB-001 0.05% is applied to 75-90% of the body surface area. The 9 subjects (7 ARCI, 2 XLRI; ages 12-62) demonstrated mean plasma concentrations (ng/mL) of isotretinoin at Day 14 of 4.83 (range: 1.46-16.59), 4-oxo-isotretinoin of 13.71 (6.52-47.86), tretinoin of 0.08 (0-0.66) and 4-oxo-tretinoin of 0. The dry, thickened, and scaling skin that people living with these rare genetic keratinization disorders must deal with can be seriously debilitating, especially in the most severe cases of XLRI and ARCI, said Joyce M.C. Teng, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Director of Pediatric Dermatology, Stanford University. If we can overcome toxicity challenges of oral treatment with a novel topical formulation of isotretinoin, we may be able to provide better care for our patients. These interim PK data are encouraging, especially when we compare the results to plasma isotretinoin concentrations that we typically see on the labels of oral therapies, which are as high as 862ng/mL with a single dose of 80mg of isotretinoin. Timber has received both Breakthrough Therapy Designation and Fast Track Status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for TMB-001. Worthington Industries, Inc. (NYSE: WOR) announced today that the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals supported Worthingtons position in concluding that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) 2021 ban of non-refillable refrigerant cylinders is invalid because the EPA overstepped its authority granted by Congress. We applaud the D.C. Circuits decision, which ensures that Worthington can continue to provide American-made, reliable, safe and affordable cylinders that are critical to the domestic refrigeration industry, while recognizing EPAs authority to advance our shared goal of phasing out certain potent greenhouse gases under the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, said Worthington Industries President & CEO Andy Rose. We encourage EPA to accept the decision and quickly take steps to comply with the Courts directive, removing the cylinder ban from EPAs regulations. Rose continued, This decision not only benefits Worthington, but also our customers the thousands of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration system (HVACR) installers around the country, the tens of thousands of retail and commercial establishments who depend on refrigeration and cooling and American homeowners who need their air conditioning units serviced. Since EPA proposed these regulations as part of implementing the AIM Act in April 2021, Worthington repeatedly tried to work with EPA to find a better solution, but EPA ignored the Companys requests and finalized a ban that Congress never authorized. Worthington was forced into this lawsuit, and fortunately, the Court agreed with Worthingtons analysis. Worthington will request that EPA, in keeping with the Courts ruling, publish a direct final rule that restores certainty for Worthington and its customers. In addition, the Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), which had proposed regulations that would have aligned with EPAs now invalid refrigerant cylinder ban, should withdraw their proposed rule in light of the Courts ruling. The EPA could request an en banc hearing at the D.C. Circuit Court or directly petition the Supreme Court of the United States. Worthington believes it is in the best interest of the American people for EPA not to appeal and the Company stands ready to take the necessary actions to uphold the Courts decision. The actor Bryan Cranston has made public the date of the end of his career. In an interview in the magazine GQ, he mentioned that he is planning to retire in 2026, once he turns 70. He plans to escape to France with his wife to live a life without scripts and telephone calls. For the last 24 years, Robin has led her life holding onto my tail. Shes been the plus one, shes been the wife of a celebrity. Shes had to pivot and adjust her life based on mine. She has tremendous benefit from it, but were uneven. I want to level that out. She deserves it, he says. His declarations provoked a small cataclysm. Cranston has not spent his life in the spotlight. Fame reached him late, but just two roles Hal, the disastrous father of Malcolm in Malcolm in the Middle (2000-2006) and Walter White in Breaking Bad (2008-2013) have turned him into a beloved actor. The news of his planned retirement sparked so many headlines that he was forced to explain that he was not planning to retire completely, but take a pause in his career. Hey everyone, he wrote on his Instagram account. Some news came out that wasnt entirely clear even to me. So I wanted to set the record straight. I am not retiring. What I am going to do is hit the pause button for a year after I reach my 70th birthday in 2026. In the text, he again mentions that he owes his wife some time, and he adds that he believes that his career needs a reset, but he knows that his hyperactivity wont let us miss him. Several films are coming out soon that Im very proud of, I am producing a few stories for TV that I really love, and I am circling my attention on returning to Broadway, he added. Bryan Cranston in 2023. Andreas Rentz (Getty Images) Rick Moranis, the protagonist of Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (1989) and Ghostbusters (1984), also took a break to focus on his family. After his wifes death by breast cancer in 1991, he began moving away from the screen to take care of his two young children. By 1997, his presence was limited to dubbing. I was working with really interesting people, wonderful people. I went from that to being at home with a couple of little kids, which is a very different lifestyle. But it was important to me. I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever. My life is wonderful, he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015. He rarely gives interviews, but he spoke at the insistence of Ghostbusters fans who hoped to find him again in the series remakes. Just like Sigourney Weaver and Bill Murray, he received an offer to participate, but he declined the invitation: I hope its terrific. But it just makes no sense to me. Why would I do just one day of shooting on something I did 30 years ago? In the same interview, he denied that his retirement was definitive. I took a break, which turned into a longer break. But Im interested in anything that I would find interesting. That role has arrived this year, thanks to Disneys remake of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. 26 years after his last film, we will once again see him as the inventor Wayne Szalinksi. Rick Moranis, in a still from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. gtresonline Cameron Diaz was not even conscious that she was not working until she mentioned it during a reunion with her castmates from The Sweetest Thing (2002). Since appearing in the 2014 remake of Annie with Jamie Foxx, she has not appeared in any movies. The protagonists of hits like My Best Friends Wedding (2011) and Theres Something About Mary (1998) was in the news more for her private life than her films. Her marriage with Benji Madden, guitarist in the group Good Charlotte, and her daughter became her principal activity. I couldnt imagine being a mother, now where Im at, with my daughter in her first year, and having to be on a movie set that takes 14 hours, 16 hours a day away from her, she said on the show Quarantined with Bruce. Diaz has combined motherhood with more laid-back hobbies, such as promoting her vegan wine, Avaline, and writing books about wellness. Eight years after her last role, her co-protagonist and friend Jamie Foxx convinced her to take to the spotlights again. At the end of the year, we will see her in the Netflix film Back in Action. Cameron Diaz in 2014. Stuart C. Wilson (Getty Images) While Diaz was forced into retirement by the insignificance of her recent roles, Daniel Day-Lewis, her castmate in Gangs of New York (2002), was knocked out by the intensity of his own. During the production of My Left Foot (1989), in which he played Christy Brown, a painter with cerebral palsy, he learned to write and paint with his toes, which gave him his first Oscar and a hip injury. For The Last Mohican, he learned to track and skin animals and for Gangs of New York to throw knives. A career full of complex roles has given him three Oscars, but none of them shook him as much as that of Reynolds Woodcock from Phantom Thread (2018): Before making the film, I didnt know I was going to stop acting. I do know that Paul and I laughed a lot before we made the movie. And then we stopped laughing because we were both overwhelmed by a sense of sadness, he told W Magazine. In 2017, after discussing it with his wife, the filmmaker Rebecca Miller, he released a statement announcing his retirement. He knew it was uncharacteristic to put out a statement, he said, But I did want to draw a line. I didnt want to get sucked back into another project. Daniel Day Lewis in 2013. Jason Merritt (Getty Images) Debra Winger does not need a statement. Her exit from Hollywood was the subject of Rossana Arquettes Looking for Debra Winger (2002), the documentary about how difficult it is for actresses to find good roles. One day Winger realized that all her peers looked younger than she did. Michelle [Pfeiffer] and I are about the same age. We came up in the business together, but now she looks like my younger sister, she told New York Magazine in 2002. She wasnt interested in participating in a cosmetic surgery competition: the problem was the scripts, not the face that reflects her true age. In 1995, at 40 years old, at the peak of her career and after three Oscar nominations, the actress, acclaimed by the public and adored by critics (Pauline Kael described her as a major reason to go on seeing movies in the eighties), bade farewell to big productions. She returned sporadically with low-profile roles on television series like The Ranch (2016-2020), where she played Ashton Kutchers mother, and Mr. Corman (2021). The protagonist of Shadowlands (1993) says that, contrary to popular belief, it was not misogyny per se that drove her away from Hollywood, but the lack of interesting roles: I stopped because I ceased being challenged, she declared to The Telegraph. In An Officer and a Gentleman, they starred in a passionate love story, but in real life Richard Gere and Debra Winger couldnt stand each other. The actress has compared her co-star to a brick wall. Cordon Press Misogyny was the reason behind the career ending of the most successful stars in nineties cinema: Meg Ryan, the perfect mix of Judy Holliday and Carole Lombard, perhaps the most typecast actress in history, a genre in herself. In an interview with the New York Times, the actress said that her separation from Hollywood was mutual, though anyone who follows the gossip press knows her backstory. After years in a relationship with the unfaithful Dennis Quaid, once her marriage was already broken, Ryans relationship with Russell Crowe during the filming of Proof of Life took over the tabloids. Viewers never forgave her for not being a perfect girlfriend, either on or off the screen. And they didnt forgive her for her aesthetic retouches, though they wouldnt have stood to see her age, either. Meg Ryan in 2010. Pascal Le Segretain (Getty Images) Audiences dont like to see their idols age, as demonstrated by the disproportionate reaction to photos in which Gene Hackman is unrecognizable, meaning, in Hollywood language, that he looks his age: 93 years old. The surprise may come more from the fact that Hackman has stayed away from photos for the last two decades. The actor retired after growing fed up with all that stardom entails. I havent held a press conference to announce retirement, but yes, Im not going to act any longer. Ive been told not to say that over the last few years, in case some real wonderful part comes up, but I really dont want to do it any longer, said the star of Mississippi Burning (1988). He decided to focus on writing, and since then, he has published three historical fiction novels with the archaeologist Daniel Lenihan and a few police novels, a vocation that he finds more relaxing. I miss the actual acting part of it, as its what I did for almost 60 years, and I really loved that. But the business for me is very stressful. The compromises that you have to make in films are just part of the beast, and it had gotten to a point where I just didnt feel like I wanted to do it anymore. Gene Hackman. Vera Anderson (WireImage) In 1971, after the premiere of Diamonds Are Forever, Sean Connery, who died in 2020, affirmed that never again would he play James Bond. Twelve years later, he starred in Never Say Never, as the adaptation of Operation Thunder was ironically named. In 2003, he opted to be less bombastic in retiring: he said goodbye with the failed The League of Extraordinary Men, an attempt to redeem himself from his refusal to play Gandalf, despite Peter Jacksons insistence, and thus lose box-office earnings that would have surpassed $350 million. His Allan Quatermain was not memorable, but his Ramirez in Highlanders (1986) and his William of Baskerville in The Name of the Rose (1986), as well as his role as the charismatic father of Indiana Jones, were. Added to his disappointment at the films lack of success were a series of health problems, including the extraction of a benign tumor in his kidney. At the 2006 American Film Institute ceremony, in which he received a lifetime achievement award, he announced that he had retired forever. In April 1999, Sean Connery left his prints on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. HECTOR MATA (AFP) One of the most-missed retirees in the industry is Jack Nicholson, although not everyone laments his absence. His ex-partner Angelica Huston recently confessed that she prefers to see him retired than in the kind of role that Robert De Niro plays. I dont want to see Jack doing Meet the Fockers, she told Vulture. If hes not being offered anything as delicious as he has done in his past, why would he [keep working]? He has enough money to live three lifetimes more. Nicholson seems to think similarly. In 2013, three years after his last movie, the James L. Brooks comedy How Do You Know, he told The Sun that he didnt have any memory problems. I have a mathematicians brain, he said. He admitted having lost interest in acting. Im not going to work until the day I die. Thats not why I started, he said. Since then, he has been followed by speculation about serious health problems, which seems to have been debunked by his recent return to his seat at the Lakers game. Jack Nicholson in 2012. Kevin Winter (Getty Images) The newest member of the retired actors club is Jim Carrey, who gave a surprising statement to Access Hollywood during the promotion of Sonic 2 (2022). Im going to retire, he said, before adding, probably. He wont close the door to the right project, though: If the angels bring some sort of script thats written in gold ink, that says to me that its going to be really important for people to see, I might continue down the road. But Im taking a break. The motives are the same as anyones: I really like my quiet life and I really like putting paint on canvas and I really love my spiritual life and I feel like and this is something you might never hear another celebrity say as long as time exists I have enough. Ive done enough. I am enough. Jim Carrey in 2017. Christopher Polk (Getty Images for AFI) The need to take some time off isnt just for veterans. Emma Watson, who played Hermione in Harry Potter, has not made a film since she finished Little Women in 2018. The actress has preferred to take some time away from acting. I wasnt very happy, if Im being honest. I think I felt caged, she told The Financial Times in an interview in which she talked about her new projects, among them the creation of an artisanal gin. She has not definitively left the industry: last year she directed a campaign for Prada, and she has said that she will act again. But, she added, Im happy to sit and wait for the next right thing. Emma Watson in 2023. Jamie McCarthy (Getty Images for Elton John AIDS) Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition FILE PHOTO: Pump jacks operate at sunset in an oil field in Midland, Texas U.S. August 22, 2018. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil futures eased in choppy trading on Tuesday on forecasts for slower oil demand growth in China, the world's second-biggest oil consumer, and disappointment with the size of cuts in China's key lending rates. Adding to the bearish market sentiment, traders noted crude supplies from Iran and Russia have increased in recent weeks. The price drop, however, was limited by expectations that oil demand will grow in China and India in the second half of the year. Brent futures for August delivery fell 19 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $75.90 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for July delivery fell $1.28, or 1.8%, to settle at $70.50 on its last day as the U.S. front-month. The more active WTI contract for August delivery, which will soon be the U.S. front-month, was down about 1.0% at $71.93 a barrel. The crude price decline was led by near 3% losses in U.S. gasoline and diesel futures. "Oil locked in on anything and everything that has to do with China. This week, energy traders are seeing oil weakness emerge on disappointing stimulus efforts," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at data and analytics firm OANDA. China cut its benchmark loan prime rates (LPR) for the first time in 10 months, with a smaller-than-expected 10-basis-point reduction in the five-year LPR. The rate reduction followed recent economic data showing China's retail and factory sectors were struggling to sustain momentum from earlier this year. "Oil traders may need to see a materialised strong economic rebound in China to improve their outlook on oil demand," said Tina Teng at CMC Markets in Auckland. An expert at China National Petroleum's (CNPC) research arm said China's crude demand will grow less than previously expected as strong interest for electric vehicles weighs on gasoline use. China's fuel oil imports dipped in May after hitting a decade high in April, while exports of low-sulphur marine fuels rose, General Administration of Customs data showed. The Chinese government met last week to discuss measures to spur economic growth and several major banks cut their 2023 economic growth forecasts for China amid fears that its post-COVID recovery is faltering. Despite forecasts for less growth in oil demand, consumption in both China and India are still expected to rise in coming months. Analysts at Eurasia Group, a consultancy, said "Demand growth may get a boost in the second half if Beijing introduces new stimulus measures to bolster economic expansion." "Indias booming aviation sector will also contribute to overall demand growth," analysts at Eurasia said. India dominated the Paris Airshow as Air India finalised a huge order for 470 planes from Airbus SE and Boeing Co. On the supply side, Iran's crude exports and oil output have hit new highs this year despite U.S. sanctions. Russia is also set to increase seaborne diesel and gasoil exports this month, outweighing cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia itself. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino in New York; Additional reporting by Noah Browning in London, Katya Golubkova in Tokyo and Andrew Hayley in Beijing; Editing by David Goodman, Matthew Lewis, Jonathan Oatis and Nick Zieminski) FILE PHOTO: Chinese electric vehicle start-up Nio Inc. company logo is on display on its initial public offering (IPO) day at the NYSE in New York, U.S., September 12, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo (Reuters) -CYVN Holdings, a firm backed by the Abu Dhabi government, will invest about $738.5 million in Nio Inc, the Chinese electric vehicle maker said on Tuesday, as it looks to bolster the company's balance sheet. Nio and peers Xpeng and Li Auto are among those competing to grab a larger EV market share in the world's largest automotive market dominated by BYD. Under the deal, Nio will issue about 85 million new Class A shares at $8.72 per share to CYVN Holdings. The news sent Nio's U.S.-listed shares down about 1% at $9.30. CYVN has also entered into a deal with an affiliate of Tencent Holdings, under which it will pick up some shares of Nio. Upon closing of both deals, CYVN will own 7% stake in Nio, the EV maker said, adding that the holding will entitle the investment firm to nominate one director to Nio's board. Nio said it will pursue global business opportunities jointly with CYVN following the closing of the investment deal. The EV maker's deliveries rose about 20% in the first quarter from 25,768 units handed over to customers, a year earlier. Its cash and cash equivalents fell to 14.76 billion yuan ($2.15 billion) in the first three months of the year from 19.89 billion yuan at end of the fourth quarter of 2022. (Reporting by Akash Sriram and Tanya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber) VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arras Minerals Corp. (TSX-V: ARK) (Arras or the Company) is pleased to announce the commencement of a regional field program across the more than 3,300 square kilometer license package it controls in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan. This program is a follow-up to the Companys inaugural field program in 2022. Highlights of the Planned 2023 Regional Field Program: Planned soil sampling program to follow-up with 2022 program results focusing at Akkuduk, Besshoky, Nogurbek, Elemes, Aimandai and Bozshakol South licenses. More than 50,000 soil samples are planned, which will be analyzed using a portable X-ray fluorescent (pXRF) analyzer. Target Mapping will quickly follow up anomalies identified by the soil program. Where applicable, and to gain a deeper understanding of the geology and any identified mineralization, trenching will also follow up anomalous areas. An airborne geophysics (magnetics) program across the three newly acquired licenses (Besshoky, Aimandai and Bozshakol South) is planned for later this year. Tim Barry, CEO of Arras, commenting on the upcoming 2023 Regional Field Program, stated, We were very pleased with the success of our inaugural field program last year and as a result have identified new, high-quality targets to be followed up on. With the lack of modern exploration activity across much of our license package and in many cases no known exploration activity at all over the past 30-40 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, we are very excited about advancing on newly identified targets in the Bozshakol-Chingiz Magmatic Arc. The belt is proven to be productive with three known copper porphyries, two of which are highly profitable mining operations to go alongside Arras Beskauga deposit. While much of the belt possesses shallow unconsolidated cover, the soil sampling program has proven to be very effective on the licenses where there is some outcrop or subcrop that can be targeted and our geological understanding of the region has subsequently continued to expand rapidly since last year. The Company has continued drilling this year on the Beskauga license with one core rig operating focused on expanding the mineral resource at Beskauga Main as well as testing additional targets on the license. The current drill program will pause in the coming weeks to allow for technical information and assays to catchup and be analyzed before a re-start of drilling commences either at Beskauga or potentially pivoting for a program at one of the other license areas. Figure 1. Arras Minerals License Package in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan Figure 2. The Bozshakol-Chingiz magmatic arc is an Ordovician aged belt which contains the Bozshakol mine and Arras Minerals Beskauga deposit, and is the focus of Arrass 3,300 square kilometer license package Qualified Person: The technical information of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Tim Barry, a Chartered Professional Geologist MAusIMM CP(Geo), and a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101. Appointment of Market Maker The Company wishes to advise that, subject to regulatory approval, it has engaged the services of Independent Trading Group ("ITG") to provide market-making services in accordance with TSX Venture Exchange TSXV policies. ITG will trade shares of the Company on the TSXV and all other trading venues with the objective of maintaining a reasonable market and improving the liquidity of the Company's common shares. Under the agreement, ITG will receive compensation of CAD$5,000 per month, payable monthly in advance. The agreement is for an initial term of three months and will renew for additional one-month terms unless terminated. The agreement may be terminated by either party with 30 days' notice. There are no performance factors contained in the agreement and ITG will not receive shares or options as compensation. ITG and the Company are unrelated and unaffiliated entities and at the time of the agreement, neither ITG nor its principals have an interest, directly or indirectly, in the securities of the Company. About Independent Trading Group Independent Trading Group (ITG) Inc. is a Toronto based IIROC dealer-member that specializes in market making, liquidity provision, agency execution, ultra-low latency connectivity, and bespoke algorithmic trading solutions. Established in 1992, with a focus on market structure, execution and trading, ITG has leveraged its own proprietary technology to deliver high quality liquidity provision and execution services to a broad array of public issuers and institutional investors. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Tim Barry" Tim Barry, MAusIMM (CP(Geo))Chief Executive Officer and Director INVESTOR RELATIONS: +1 604 687 5800 [email protected] Further information can be found on the Companys website https://www.arrasminerals.com or follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arrasminerals About Arras Minerals Corp. Arras is a Canadian exploration and development company advancing a portfolio of copper and gold assets in northeastern Kazakhstan, including the Option Agreement on the Beskauga copper and gold project. The Company has established the third-largest license package in the country prospective for copper and gold (behind Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group). The Companys shares are listed on the TSX-V under the trading symbol ARK. Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors concerning estimates of Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resources: This press release uses the terms measured resources, indicated resources, and inferred resources which are defined in, and required to be disclosed by, NI 43-101. The Company advises U.S. investors that these terms are not recognized by the SEC. The estimation of measured, indicated and inferred resources involves greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic feasibility than the estimation of proven and probable reserves. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that measured and indicated mineral resources will be converted into reserves. The estimation of inferred resources involves far greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic viability than the estimation of other categories of resources. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that estimates of inferred mineral resources exist, are economically minable, or will be upgraded into measured or indicated mineral resources. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. Disclosure of contained ounces in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations, however the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute reserves by SEC standards as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. Accordingly, the information contained in this press release may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies that are not subject NI 43-101. Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and Arras future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Exchange Act, and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding plans and expectations of the exploration program Arras is in the process of undertaking, including the expansion of the Mineral Resource, and other aspects of the Mineral Resource estimates for the Beskauga project. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about Arras exploration projects, the industry in which Arras operates and the beliefs and assumptions of Arras management. Words such as expects, anticipates, targets, goals, projects, intends, plans, believes, seeks, estimates, continues, may, variations of such words, and similar expressions and references to future periods, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond managements control, including undertaking further exploration activities, the results of such exploration activities and that such results support continued exploration activities, unexpected variations in ore grade, types and metallurgy, volatility and level of commodity prices, the availability of sufficient future financing, and other matters discussed under the caption Risk Factors in the Management Discussion and Analysis filed on the Companys profile on SEDAR on March 30, 2023 and in the Companys Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed on February 24, 2023 available on www.sec.gov. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by the Company in this release is based only on information currently available and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise. Photos accompanying this announcement are available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fedaa184-6696-45cb-be3d-088ac674f3cahttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/34dbd96d-4db4-4ee5-983c-8c478206b924 Figure 1 Arras Minerals License Package in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan Figure 2 The Bozshakol-Chingiz magmatic arc is an Ordovician aged belt which contains the Bozshakol mine and Arras Minerals Beskauga deposit, and is the focus of Arrass 3,300 square kilometer license package Source: Arras Minerals Corp. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- All media outlets are invited to a news conference hosted today by the BC Metis Federation to discuss UBCIC Resolution no. 2023-39, a resolution that BCMF President Keith Henry says is hate speech. Details: When: 9:30 a.m. Pacific, Tuesday, June 20, 2023 Where: 390 3665 Kingsway Vancouver, BC Who: Keith Henry, President of the BCMF / Malcolm Macpherson - Partner with Clark Wilson LLP The press conference will be webcast live via Facebook for those who cannot attend in person: http://www.facebook.com/BCMetis Speakers will be available for interviews following their comments. BACKGROUND The UBCIC (Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs) Chiefs Council passed Resolution no. 2023-39 on June 8, 2023, which states that the Metis have failed to be good guests in their territories, are engaged in a colonial pursuit, and hold no constitutionally protected rights in British Columbia. These statements are patently inaccurate and contrary to the historical record, and their effect, whether intended or not, promotes intolerance and hatred towards the Metis in British Columbia. Keith Henry is the President of the BCMF, one of the Metis groups targeted by the UBCIC Resolution no. 2023-39. Henry states: Our communities are shell shocked by UBCIC Resolution no. 2023-39. It is inconceivable to us that in 2023 we would see such an ill-spirited resolution passed which amounts to hate speech. Denying our Section 35 protected rights and our continued existence in British Columbia prior to effective control by the British Crown is dehumanizing. Make no mistake, the intention of Resolution no. 2023-39 is to turn government and public opinion against us and erase us from the collective memory of the building of modern-day British Columbia through the fur trade and other economic pursuits. Henry further states: Equally shocking is how extreme Resolution no. 2023-39 is. It is calling, in a public way, for our demise. Youd think that in 2023, we wouldnt be subjected to this kind of vitriol and what amounts to a type of Indigenous cannibalism. The UBCIC Chiefs Council appears to view resource sharing and Indigenous rights recognition as a zero sum game, when clearly it is not. Everybody knows Canada is a tapestry of co-existing rights which are reconciled against each other for the collective betterment. Id like to think that the UBCIC Chiefs Council does not reflect the majority view of First Nations in British Columbia as their position is so extreme and damaging. Malcolm Macpherson is a partner with Clark Wilson LLP who represents the BCMF. Macpherson states: Resolution no. 2023-39 is troubling as it promotes intolerance and has the effect of negatively targeting the BCMFs dignity and very identity. To say to an Indigenous person or community in a public forum what amounts to you are a fraud and dont have constitutionally protected rights is to put into question their very existence. This is contrary to what the UBCIC says it does on its website, where it states it upholds the principles and standards articulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) for the establishment and maintenance of a universal framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity, well-being and rights of Indigenous Peoples. Media contacts: Keith Henry Malcolm Macpherson President, BCMF Partner, Clark Wilson LLP P: (778) 388-5013 P: (604) 928-4202 E: [email protected] E: [email protected] Source: BC Metis Federation NEW HAVEN, Conn., June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BIOASIS TECHNOLOGIES INC. (OTCQB:BIOAF; TSX.V: BTI) (the Company or Bioasis), a multi-asset rare and orphan disease biopharmaceutical company developing clinical stage programs based on epidermal growth factor and a differentiated, proprietary xB3 platform for delivering therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders in areas of high unmet medical need, today provided an update on its financial condition and operations. As previously disclosed, the termination of the Companys proposed merger with Midatech Pharma PLC (now Biodexa Pharmaceuticals PLC) (Biodexa) in January 2023 left the Company with limited cash and significant liabilities, including a C$350,000 bridge loan from Lind Global Macro Fund, LP (Lind), a US$500,000 bridge loan from Biodexa and approximately C$3.3M owing to Lind under the 2021 convertible security funding agreement between the Company. All of these debts are secured by liens over all of the Companys assets (with Lind holding first-ranking security) and the bridge loans (including accrued and unpaid interest) mature on June 30, 2023. Bioasis is currently, or will be, in default of its obligations to Lind and Biodexa and they are, or will be, entitled to take actions in accordance with their loan and security documents with Bioasis to enforce their rights as secured lenders. Since the termination of the merger, Bioasis has pursued numerous strategic alternatives to preserve and enhance shareholder value, including: mergers; the sale of all or portions of the Company or its assets; partnerships licensing and joint venture transactions; and third party financings. In pursuing these transactions, Bioasis was assisted by third party advisors, including Shadow Lake Group and Maxim Group. Since the end of January, Bioasis and its advisers have contacted numerous potential counterparties, several of whom entered into non-disclosure agreements with the Company and engaged in active discussions with the Company regarding potential transactions. The Company has recently signed a non-binding term sheet with Swiss Biotech Advisors (SBA), a group consisting of certain of the vendors of the EGF therapy platform that Bioasis acquired in June 2022 (the EGF Assets), for an exclusive worldwide license by Bioasis to SBA of the EGF Assets along with the right to apply the Companys xB3 platform to the EGF Assets. In return, Bioasis would receive certain milestone payments, a 5% royalty on net sales from products developed based on the licensed technology, along with a share of any sublicensing revenue generated by SBA from the licensed technology. The transaction is subject to certain conditions, including the execution of a definitive license agreement. The current economic environment and market conditions for small-cap development stage biopharmaceutical companies continue to be very challenging. Although the Company is still pursuing certain potential strategic alternatives, other than the potential transaction with SBA (which is not expected to generate any cashflow for the Company in the short term) the Company does not currently have any actionable alternatives, is almost out of cash and is no longer in a position to continue funding its operations. As a result, the board of directors has made the difficult decision to suspend all of Bioasis operations. Given the Companys limited cash resources, it has been unable to pay its auditors to produce audited financial statements for its financial year ended February 28, 2022. As a result, the Company will not be in a position to file its audited annual financial statements and related managements discussion and analysis for that financial year prior to the June 28, 2023 deadline for doing so. The Company anticipates that this will result in the British Columbia Securities Commission issuing a cease trade order in respect of its shares and a suspension of trading of its shares on the TSX Venture Exchange. Finally, the Company announces that Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A. (Chiesi) has advised the Company that, Chiesi does not intend to continue to pursue the potential development of xB3 and will be terminating the non-exclusive research collaboration and licensing agreement between the Company and Chiesi. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Bioasis Technologies Inc. Deborah Rathjen, Ph.D., Executive Chair of the Board Follow on:FacebookInstagramLinkedInTwitter About Bioasis Bioasis is a multi-asset rare and orphan disease biopharmaceutical company developing clinical stage programs based on epidermal growth factor and the xB3 platform, a proprietary technology for the delivery of therapeutics across the blood brain barrier and the treatment of CNS disorders in areas of high unmet medical need. The delivery of therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier represents the final frontier in treating neurological disorders. The in-house development programs at Bioasis are designed to develop symptomatic and disease-modifying treatments for brain-related diseases and disorders. For more information about the Company, please visit www.bioasis.us. Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects, 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 statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of Bioasis to control or predict, that may cause their actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein, including, but not limited to, the state of domestic and international capital markets; Bioasis ability to obtain financing; changes in general market conditions; and other risks and uncertainties relating to Bioasis and its business described more fully in Bioasis filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Bioasis undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. Such forward-looking information represents Bioasis best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: Deborah Rathjen, Ph.D., Executive Chair of the Board[email protected]203-533-7082 Source: Bioasis Technologies Inc. TORONTO, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Canadian Investor Relations Institute (CIRI) is pleased to report that, at its Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on May 29, 2023, 13 nominees were elected as Directors. Adam Borgatti, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development & Investor Relations, Aecon Group Inc. continues as Chair for the second of his two-year term and is joined by four new Directors: Kevin Hallahan, Vice President, Marketing & Investor Relations, Linamar Corporation; Jennifer McCaughey, Director, Investor Relations, Calian Group Ltd.; Scott Parsons, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, Alamos Gold Inc. and Curtis Pelletier, Director, Investor Relations, Graham Corporation. It gives me great pleasure to announce that four accomplished individuals Kevin, Jennifer, Scott and Curtis will be joining the CIRI Board. They bring extensive investor relations and capital markets expertise that will be an asset to the organization as we work together to advance the investor relations profession, commented Adam Borgatti, Chair, CIRI Board. Kevin Hallahan, CPA, CMA has led IR at Linamar Corporation since 2019 and is the Vice President, Marketing & Investor Relations. He has had the opportunity to experience a very broad range of functions and projects over his career, including marketing, sales, strategy development and M&A. As the voice of the shareholder, Mr. Hallahan has been the primary internal advocate for ESG and sustainability matters. Jennifer McCaughey, F.CIRI is an IR professional with over 25 years of experience, currently serving as the Director of Investor Relations at Calian Group Ltd. She has held investor relations roles in several public corporations, including TC Transcontinental, Bombardier and Resolute Forest Products. Ms. McCaughey has also done investor relations consulting for several publicly listed companies. She started her career as a sell-side analyst at Cormark Securities and worked in financial consulting at Deloitte and Arthur Andersen. Ms. McCaughey was presented with the Belle Mulligan Award for Leadership in Investor Relations by CIRI in 2014 and named CIRI Fellow in 2021. Scott Parsons, CFA has nearly 20 years of capital markets, finance and investor relations experience, primarily in the mining industry. This includes 10 years working in investor relations at Alamos Gold where he was appointed Vice President, Investor Relations in 2015 and Senior Vice President, Investor Relations since the start of 2023. Over this time, Mr. Parsons has overseen all of Alamos Golds investor relations activities as well as contributing to several other areas of the Company, including serving as a member of its corporate development committee. Prior to joining Alamos Gold, Scott was an Equity Research Associate and Analyst in the mining group at TD Securities. Curtis Pelletier is the Director of Investor Relations at Graham Corporation. He has over 15 years of experience in corporate communications, capital markets and regulatory disclosure across a broad range of industries. Prior to joining Graham, he held progressively senior investor relations positions with Alberta based publicly listed companies including Canadian Western Bank and Parallel Energy Trust. Between 2017-2022, Curtis served as the Chief Compliance Officer for Gracorp Capital Advisors Ltd. having managed the organizations regulatory compliance and exempt market activity. The following individuals will serve as Directors of CIRI: Adam Borgatti, CFA, CPIR, ICD.D Senior Vice President, Corporate Development & Investor Relations, Aecon Group Inc. Alison Dwoskin, CPIR Director, Investor Relations, Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc. David Frost Partner, McCarthy Tetrault LLP Lisa Greatrix, CPA Board Member, Neighbourly Pharmacy Kevin Hallahan, CPA, CMA Vice President, Marketing & Investor Relations, Linamar Corporation Marc Lepage, CPIR Vice President, Business Development, GFG Resources Inc. Yvette Lokker President & CEO, CIRI Claire Mahaney Lyon, CFA President, Real Asset Strategies Inc. Jennifer McCaughey, F.CIRI Director, Investor Relations, Calian Group Ltd. Scott Parsons, CFA Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, Alamos Gold Inc. Stacey Pavlova, CFA Vice President, Investor Relations and Communications, Faraday Copper Corp. Curtis Pelletier Director, Investor Relations, Graham Corporation Quentin Weber, CPIR Senior Advisor, Investor Relations, WSP Global Inc. The Board looks forward to engaging with fellow members and continuing to deliver value through professional development events, resources networking opportunities and issues education and advocacy. Janet Craig, Founding Partner, Endeavour IR; Laurie Gaborit, Vice President, Investor Relations, Dore Copper Mining Corp. & Corporate Director; Meghan MacNicol, Director, Corporate Access, TD Securities; Nathalie Megann, CPIR, former Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Affairs, Chorus Aviation Inc.; and Ashley Nuell, CPIR, Senior Director, Investor Relations, Westport Fuel Systems Inc. are retiring from the Board. These individuals have dedicated their time volunteering for the organization and have made a tremendous contribution. I want to thank our outgoing Board members Janet, Laurie, Meghan, Nathalie and Ashley for their active involvement on the CIRI Board. They have been instrumental in advancing CIRIs mandate and their counsel will be missed, said Adam Borgatti, Chair, CIRI Board of Directors. About CIRICIRI is a professional, not-for-profit association of executives responsible for communication between public corporations, investors and the financial community. CIRI contributes to the transparency and integrity of the Canadian capital markets by advancing the practice of investor relations, the professional competency of its members and the stature of the profession. With close to 500 members and four Chapters across the country, CIRI is the voice of IR in Canada. For further information, please visit CIRI.org. For further information, please contact:Yvette Lokker President & CEOCanadian Investor Relations Institute(416) 364-8200 ext. 101[email protected] Source: Canadian Investor Relations Institute (CIRI) MONTREAL and SAN FRANCISCO, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Coveo (TSX: CVO), a leader in AI platforms that transform digital experiences with intelligent search, recommendations, 1:1 personalization, and merchandising, today released its annual Workplace Relevance Report which found that businesses have entered an era where the majority of their workers are digital natives. Theyve had access to computers and smartphones almost their entire lives not only does technology not intimidate them, their expectations are driven by the consumerization of IT. This years Workplace Relevance Report surveyed 4,000 people, across generations, who work with computers in the U.S. and UK. It found many generational nuances within larger themes: Most are hindered from finding needed information, with an increase in those unable to find critical data on a weekly basis. Many are stymied by not knowing where to look across multiple applications; overall, they spend 3 hours in an average workday searching across four or more data sources. Workers are unsure if the information they found is correct or even permissible to be shared. As a result, most feel less confident about either the quality of their work or about sharing the information externally. Your workforce is the lifeblood of your business, said Cynthia Connors, General Manager, Platform at Coveo. Leaders must create an environment that not only enables them to do their daily tasks, but encourages them to flourish and innovate. But not all of your employees have the same needs, or are facing the same frustrations. For example, our survey showed that the cohort of employees just starting their careers devoted more time searching for information than their peers with longer tenure. Luckily, we now have the ability to use AI to deliver a 1:1 personalized experience that suits needs across your diverse workforce. AI can proactively suggest content and information to employees which means your employees may not have to search at all, instead receiving personalized and relevant recommendations at the time and place of need. By establishing good content governance practices, leaders can help ensure their domain experts (those in functional roles such as marketing and HR) are involved in content management, search quality, and empowered to improve the search experience for their users. 2023 Workplace Relevance Report key findings include: Workers estimate they now spend approximately 3 hours in an average workday searching for information, compared to 4 hours last year. Overall 89% of employees search between 1 to 6 sources (up from 82% last year). Generation Z (NET 76%) struggles more to find information than their co-workers. Workers identified as Baby Boomers were least likely to say the intranet is irrelevant. Gen Z reports that 49% of information is irrelevant compared to Boomers at 39%. Almost 3-in-10 workers are unable to find urgently needed information on a weekly basis, a significant increase since last year. Millennials and Gen Z had the strongest reaction to inadequate content findability compared to other generations: 47% (Millennials), 49% (Gen Z) said it makes them feel less qualified to do their work and 35% (Millennials) and 36% (Gen Z) said it makes them feel burnt out. Gen Z, digital natives, struggle the most to find information, putting companies at risk of losing out an innovative, future cohort for management and leadership. Arlington Research conducted an online survey of 4,000 adults across the U.S. and UK aged 18+ who use a computer as part of their work in companies with 250+ employees. Responses were captured between January 1225, 2023. Download the full report here. About Coveo Solutions We believe AI is a competitive imperative to deliver the delightful and relevant digital experiences people expect, while maximizing profitability. Coveo accelerates the application of AI platforms in enterprises, helping them personalize and profitize every experience at scale. The Coveo Relevance Cloud platform is a market-leading AI platform that enhances search, recommendations, personalization, and merchandising intelligence in digital experiences across commerce, service, website, and workplace applications. Coveos platform includes analytics, AI model testing capabilities, and can easily integrate into almost any digital user experience a large enterprise delivers. Our platform is cloud-native SaaS, multi-tenant, API-first, and headless. Coveo has been a pioneer in the application of AI within the enterprise. Our Coveo Relevance Generative Answering capability, which integrates LLM technologies with Coveo's platform to feed generative AI with a common, secure unified index and real-time content, helps to drive relevance at scale, consistent factuality, secure sources of truth across all channels, and specifically solves the key challenges found with other generative AI platforms for the enterprise. We help hundreds of the worlds leading brands create tangible financial value. We believe our platform is differentiated by its sophisticated applied AI, designed to deliver highly relevant, bespoke digital experiences that drive superior business outcomes. In addition, our platforms scalability, rapid time to value, enterprise-grade security and compliance, and native integrations with other third-party technology applications set us apart. We are a Salesforce Summit ISV Partner, an SAP Endorsed App, and an Adobe Accelerate Exchange Partner. Coveo is a trademark of Coveo Solutions, Inc.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. Highwire PRCoveo[email protected]+1 418-263-1111 Forward-Looking Information This press release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, forward-looking information). This forward-looking information is identified by the use of terms and phrases such as may, would, should, could, might, will, achieve, occur, expect, intend, estimate, anticipate, plan, foresee, believe, continue, target, opportunity, strategy, scheduled, outlook, forecast, projection, or prospect, the negative of these terms and similar terminology, including references to assumptions, although not all forward-looking information contains these terms and phrases. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, intentions, projections, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent managements expectations, estimates, and projections regarding future events or circumstances. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on a number of opinions, estimates, and assumptions that we considered appropriate and reasonable as of the date such statements are made. Although the forward-looking information contained herein is based upon what we believe are reasonable assumptions, actual results may vary from the forward-looking information contained herein. Certain assumptions made in preparing the forward-looking information contained in herein include, without limitation: our ability to capitalize on growth opportunities and implement our growth strategy; our ability to attract new customers, both domestically and internationally; the success of our efforts to expand our product portfolio and market reach; our ability to maintain successful strategic relationships with partners and other third parties; our future capital requirements; the available liquidity under our revolving credit facility; the accuracy of our estimates of market opportunity and growth forecasts; our success in identifying and evaluating, as well as financing and integrating, any acquisitions, partnerships, or joint ventures; our ability to execute on our expansion plans; the significant influence of our principal shareholders; and the future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to macro-economic uncertainties and the risk factors described under Risk Factors in the Companys most recently filed Annual Information Form available under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, prospective investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information, which speaks only as of the date made. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. Although we have attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other risk factors not presently known to us or that we presently believe are not material that could also cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking information. You should not rely on this forward-looking information, as actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those contemplated by this forward-looking information as a result of such risks and uncertainties. Additional information will also be set forth in other public filings that we make available under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com from time to time. The forward-looking information provided in this press release relates only to events or information as of the date hereof, and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, we do not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/39ac19a4-6212-4777-b5f1-7f77c831886f Coveo Workplace Relevance Report 2023 The Growing Generation Gap: Is Innovative Talent at Risk? Source: Coveo Solutions Inc. LOS ANGELES, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- David Giron, a first-generation Salvadoran American, dedicated public servant and environmental advocate, announced his candidacy for California State Assembly District 52 today. Giron, a lifelong renter, has been at the forefront of developing policies to raise wages, prioritize climate resilience, increase affordable housing, and improve mobility and transit access for all. David Giron grew up in Los Angeles and was raised by a dedicated, tough single mother. At an early age, the values of personal responsibility, hard work and social justice were instilled in David by his mom, a custodian for over 33 years and founding member of the SEIU union created by custodians and security guards. Davids mom often had to work 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet, and they both faced economic scarcity, environmental inequity, and housing instabilityall sources of real-life experiences that helped guide David throughout his career in public service. Our campaign is about taking care of people locally, with an eye towards developing statewide policy to lift up working people and protect our environment, said Giron. I know firsthand that successful policies are designed with people in mind. For the challenges and crises we face, Sacramento needs to hear from the people and through our campaign, they will hear from us. Our campaign is about the air we breathe, the jobs we work, the transit we take and the rent we pay. For over 12 years, David has been sharply focused on improving government access, creating environmental equity and providing economic resilience for working-class families. From leading the effort to have the State significantly increase funding for people experiencing homelessness to implementing the LA voter-approved HHH initiative or fighting for increased wages for HERO pay during COVID-19, Davids actions highlight his commitment to improving the region. I believe in workers rights, good-paying jobs, affordable housing, small business success, access to government for all communities, and I am driven with an urgent focus on fighting the climate crisis, added Giron. Davids policy work led him to run the City Councils Energy and Environment Committee, which resulted in the landmark LA100 plan, a nation-leading policy that will make the City of Los Angeles use 100% carbon-free and renewable energy by 2035. Davids work has resulted in the City getting serious about substantially expanding electric vehicle infrastructure while implementing green energy in buildings citywide. David also fought to eliminate oil rigs and drilling in Los Angeles, ensuring even more carbon emission protections for the public and our most vulnerable communities. While David ran the City Councils Energy and Environment Committee, the Council adopted the Styrofoam and plastics elimination policy, which is being implemented. Over ten years ago, David worked for then Councilmember Paul Koretz on the plastic bag ban; David then worked on the plastic straw ban just a few years later. David is a lifelong Angeleno, having received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with an emphasis in Constitutional Law from California State University, Northridge (CSUN). Throughout his life, he attended public schools, from Hobart Blvd Elementary School to Berendo Middle School and Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies (LACES). A passionate community advocate who has worked closely with residents, community organizations, labor unions, social justice organizations, and small business owners. David also served as Board Vice-President for the Salvadoran American Leadership and Educational Fund (SALEF) and led delegation trips in 2018, 2019 and early 2020 to assist the migrant crisis at the southern border and in Tijuana, Mexico. Davids work led to over $50,000 being raised to feed, clothe, and provide medical assistance to Central America, Caribbean, South American and other refugees awaiting asylum. Assembly District 52 encompasses much of Northeast Los Angeles (including the neighborhoods of Highland Park, Eagle Rock, Montecito Heights, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, City Terrace, Silver Lake, East Hollywood, Los Feliz, Atwater Village, Glassell Park, Echo Park), East Los Angeles, and the southern section of the City of Glendale, which are the neighborhoods of Adams Square, Tropico, Pacific Edison, Mariposa, Somerset, Citrus Grove, Vineyard, and City Center / Downtown Glendale. For more information, visit:https://www.davidgiron2024.com Instagram @DavidGironLA Facebook @DavidGironLA Media Contact: Kian Kaeni, [email protected] Source: David Giron For California Assembly Electrify Expo is the nations largest EV festival, a full weekend of fun for all ages, where you can ride, drive and demo the world's top electric cars & trucks, e-motorcycles, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards and more This will be the festivals first time in the Bay Area and the second stop of the seven-city tour, marking the first time Volvos new EX90 will be on display to the public Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 24 and Sunday, June 25, tickets can be purchased online and in person SAN FRANCISCO, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Electrify Expo, North Americas largest electric vehicle (EV) festival, is bringing fun for all ages to the San Francisco area this weekend for an action-packed all-electric event, June 24-25, at Alameda Point. Attendees at this years Electrify Expo will ride, drive and demo the world's top electric cars and trucks alongside electric motorcycles, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards and more. This is the first time that Electrify Expo will stop in the San Francisco Bay area, which the S&P Global recently reported is the first major U.S. metropolitan area in which more than half the new vehicles registered are either electric or gas-electric hybrids. This is the Bay Areas best opportunity to experience and feel the thrill of the wide selection of electric vehicles that now exist, said BJ Birtwell, founder and CEO of Electrify Expo. With multiple demo courses to enjoy including electric cars, trucks, e-bikes, e-motorcycles, e-scooters, and even a huge kids zone, there is no shortage of fun to be had. Electrify Expo San Francisco will be the first time ever that the Volvo EX90 fully-electric SUV is on display to the public. The EX90 features Safe Space Technology powered by lidar with serene Scandinavian interior to offer a driving experience out of the ordinary. Additionally, Ford will have the Mustang Mach-E 1400, an electric vehicle demonstrator with one-of-a-kind 1400 horsepower prototype developed in collaboration with RTR Vehicles to highlight the performance capability of electric vehicles, at the new Thrill Zone Experience at Electrify Expo in San Francisco. Electrify Expo attendees will have the opportunity to experience an exhilarating thrill ride with a professional driver in the Mustang Mach-E 1400. To be eligible, registrants must engage in a hot lap in the Mustang Mach-E GT, or take a test drive of the Mustang Mach-E or F-150 Lightning in the Ford Ride & Drive Zone. Whether you're looking for a high performance demo or a comfortable street cruise, Electrify is the one-stop shop to kick the tires on all things electric including: BMW: i7, iX xDrive50, iX M60, i4 eDrive 35, i4 eDrive 40, i4 M50 Ford: Mach-E, F150 Lightning Kia: EV9 and EV6 Lexus: RZ Mitsubishi: Outlander PHEV Polestar Tesla: Models S, 3, X, Y Toyota: Rav4 Prime, Prius, Tundra Hybrid, bZrx, Mirai Volvo: EX90, All-electric XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge; Plug-in Hybrid XC60 Recharge and XC90 Recharge Vinfast: VF8, VF9 Volkswagen: ID.4 In addition to automakers, San Francisco attendees will experience exciting e-bike, e-scooter, and other micromobility products on two and four wheels from top brands including: Arcimoto Gazelle Bulls Gocycle Riese & Mueller NIU Rayvolt and many more For a full brand lineup, visit www.electrifyexpo.com. Electrify Expo gates will open at 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, June 24-25, with a full day of fun concluding at 5 p.m. each day. Tickets for Electrify Expo are available to purchase in person and online. Media interested in attending may request credentials by emailing [email protected]. About Electrify ExpoElectrify Expo is North America's largest outdoor electric vehicle (EV) festival showcasing the latest technology and products in electrification including startup and legacy EVs, electric motorcycles, bikes, scooters, skateboards, boats, surfboards and more. The festival addresses one of the most challenging barriers to mass adoption of electric vehicles - first hand experience with the product - with meaningful demonstrations and test rides. Top brands from around the world exhibit and attend Electrify Expos events to meet consumers at all stages on their path to electrification. 2023 events will take place in Long Beach and San Francisco, Calif., Washington DC, New York, Seattle, Miami, and Austin, Texas. To stay up to date on the latest news and announcements from Electrify Expo, visit www.electrifyexpo.com and follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Media ContactSkyya PR[email protected] A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/71a4c716-f065-4e86-b3e5-c194176a585e Electrify Expo San Francisco Electrify Expo comes to San Francisco for the first time this weekend, June 24-25 Source: Electrify Expo Emergex and Brazils IBMP to co-fund Phase II and Phase III studies of Emergexs Dengue Fever and Betacoronavirus T cell-priming immune set-point therapeutic candidates in Brazil, with potential to expand to additional indications IBMP has made an equity investment in Emergex, contributing to the funding of Phase II clinical trials ABINGDON, United Kingdom, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Emergex Vaccines Holding Limited (Emergex, or the Company), a clinical-stage biotechnology company addressing major global infectious diseases through the development of fully synthetic T cell-priming immune set-point candidates, today announced a multi-level collaboration agreement with the Molecular Biology Institute of Parana (IBMP) in Brazil. IBMP is a commercial organization embedded within Fiocruz, the Brazilian national institution for research and production of biopharmaceuticals and vaccines, linked to the Ministry of Health. Fiocruz has a strong commercial track record in the healthcare space, with expertise in the development, manufacturing, regulatory approval, and commercialization of medicines and medical diagnostics in Brazil. Emergex and IBMP have agreed to co-fund Phase II and Phase III studies in Brazil of Emergexs T cell-priming set-point candidates for Dengue Fever and Betacoronavirus, known respectively as DengueTcP (trademark application submitted) and CoronaTcP (trademark application submitted). Both clinical trial product candidates have successfully completed Phase I+ clinical trials in Switzerland and are nearing submission and evaluation by ANVISA, the Brazilian health regulatory agency. Per the terms of this agreement, Emergex will conduct clinical-stage manufacturing of the products with the planned transition to IBMP for commercial scale manufacturing in the region. IBMP will obtain exclusive marketing and commercialization rights of the two candidate products in Brazil and South America. A Joint Steering Committee with representatives from both Emergex and IBMP will oversee the collaboration and commercialization of the select immunotherapies. The agreement also allows for future expansion into additional indications. This arrangement potentially encompasses shared development and commercialization of Emergexs T cell-priming set-point candidates targeting Chikungunya, for which development is underway, Influenza A (including pandemic strains), for which Emergex has advanced to cGMP manufacturing and is ready to initiate Phase I clinical trials in the U.S., and Yellow Fever. At the end of 2022, Emergex announced the generation of a Chikungunya ligandome, which is expected to progress into Phase I human trials in 1Q24. IBMP has also made an early equity investment into Emergex, which has potential for future expansion pending the completion of its ongoing due diligence process. Additionally, IBMP will fund Emergexs share of the costs for Phase II trials in Brazil for Dengue, Betacoronavirus and Universal Influenza A in return for additional equity, subject to shareholder approval. Professor Thomas Rademacher, Co-founder, and CEO at Emergex, commented: Following the successful Phase I trials for our Dengue Fever and Coronavirus candidates in Switzerland we look forward to progressing into a Phase II trial in Brazil, where Dengue is endemic. We have been working closely with the team at IBMP for several years, so it is wonderful to formalize our relationships with this agreement. Pedro Ribeiro Barbosa, CEO at the Molecular Biology Institute of Parana (IBMP) in Brazil, added: My team and I look forward to initiating this important international collaboration and progressing the Emergex Dengue candidate into Phase II. Dengue presents a serious disease burden in Brazil with hundreds of thousands of cases across the country each year and hundreds of deaths, so there is urgent need for new therapies. For further information, please contact: EmergexStorme Moore-Thornicroft, Executive DirectorPhone: +44 (0) 1235 527589Email: [email protected] Media InquiriesRachelle BabbPhone: +1 (929) 325-7559Email: [email protected] About Emergex Emergex is a clinical-stage, privately-held biotechnology company, headquartered in Abingdon, UK, with an operating subsidiary in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, USA. The company is pioneering the development of 100% synthetic, T cell-priming immune set-point therapeutic candidates that harness and direct the bodys natural T cell immune response to destroy and to clear pathogen-infected cells, using cytopathic or non-cytopathic mechanisms, in order to provide protection against some of the worlds most urgent health threats. Emergex first indications being pursued are against infectious diseases: [i] viral infectious diseases, amongst which are Betacoronavirus, Dengue Fever and Universal Influenza A, including pandemic influenza, as well as [ii] intra-cellular bacterial infectious disease, such as Francisella tularensis. In the near future, other disease applications will follow. Find out more online at www.emergexvaccines.com.Visit our LinkedIn page or Twitter account for updates. About IBMPWith a broad and modern manufacturing plant, the Molecular Biology Institute of Parana (IBMP) works in applied research, technological development, innovation and industrial production of inputs and diagnosis kits for health. The institution integrates and contributes to the development of the Economic and Industrial Complex of Health (Complexo Economico e Industrial da Saude CEIS) and comprehends the development of Science and Technology as the best access to health products, services, and fundamental for the economic dynamism in the country. Its activities are intended to supply the health network with safe and quality products. Find out more online at https://www.ibmp.org.br/en-us/. Source: Emergex Vaccines Holding Ltd In the country of haute cuisine, and in the suburbs of one of its most renowned gastronomic cities, a dish was born at the beginning of this century that typifies modern France: tacos. From there, it has become almost a national dish. The French taco shares little more than a name with the Mexican version. It originated in Lyon, or in Grenoble, according to some theories, and consists of a wheat tortilla in which are wrapped all manner of foodstuffs: meat, salad, chips, and cheese sauce. It is popular, fast, calorific, cheap, solid, robust food. After eating one, you feel like taking a nap, says a 20-year-old student in a restaurant belonging to the OTacos chain in downtown Lyon. With 300 restaurants nationwide, OTacos is the McDonalds of the French taco world. The taco, at the same time, belongs to what could be called symbolic food: we are what we eat, and the success of tacos in recent years reflects profound changes in French society, as Jerome Fourquet and Jean-Laurent Cassely explain in the essay La France sous nos yeux. Economie, paysages, nouveaux modes de vie (France before our eyes. Economy, landscapes, new ways of life). Fourquet and Cassely define the taco as a true product of cultural and culinary hybridization. The taco is multicultural, and this is what makes it different, says Emmanuelle Nemili, who, together with Nasser, her husband, runs Mister Tacos in Villeurbanne, on the outskirts of Lyon. In our case, the taco has a Tunisian touch and a French touch. Emmanuelle is French-Lebanese; Nasser, Tunisian. They have been at the helm of Mister Tacos for almost two decades, an obligatory stop on any tour of the origins of the French taco. Tacos were served here before they were famous: 15 years ago, there were already lines outside the store. Karim Benzema and Tony Parker, global and local sporting icons, have eaten their fill of tacos here. Benzema and Parker queued up like everyone else, Nasser confirms. Nasser Nemili and his wife Emmanuelle at Mister Tacos. Samuel Aranda I add a touch of cumin to the merguez sausages, I marinate the meat cutlets with curry and add a little turmeric, Nasser explains as he unfolds the choreography of the taco: the tortilla spread out and the filling with the ingredients, before folding it all up and putting it in the oven (in his case a pizza oven and not a griddle). And here is the cheese sauce; a classic in all tacos. Emmanuelle reels off the ingredients: Emmental, mustard, salt, pepper and cream. There is no single recipe for the French taco, however. Nasser explains that the format allows for all combinations. You could go to the restaurant every day for the or the rest of your life and never have the same taco twice. On this occasion, Emmanuelle and Nasser serve us a taco with merguez and chicken, in addition to fries, homemade touches and chakchouka, a Tunisian sauce based on onion, bell pepper and tomato concentrate, and another with chicken, goat cheese and honey. First observation: it is fragrant, juicy. Second: it is dense, a sort of compact brick. Third: at least at chez Emmanuelle and Nasser, who use fresh produce, the taco is fast food but it is definitely not junk food. Merguez, chicken, chips and cheese taco prepared to go at Mister Tacos. Samuel Aranda OTacos: the French taco, supersized Speaking from Dubai, Patrick Pelonero explains the history of OTacos. Pelonero, the son of Italian immigrants in the Alpine city of Grenoble, left school at the age of 16 and went to work with his father in construction. But in the winters, there was little to do and eventually he began to think about starting a business. The logical thing was a pizzeria, but one day a friend took him to eat at a place called Tacos de Lyon. For Pelonero, it was a road to Damascus moment. It was 2007 and Pelonero, 21 at the time, made the decision that changed his life, and the history of fast food in France. He opened a restaurant called Tacos des Allies, which he would later expand to the suburbs of Paris. He then teamed up with a school friend who had opened a restaurant in Bordeaux: OTacos was born. Pelonero, who sold his stake in OTacos to an investment fund and now lives in Dubai, explains that the key to success was, above all, the product: Their mission is to fill you up for not a lot of money. Its phenomenal value for money, compared to the competition in fast food. The other key, as important as the first, is marketing. What explains OTacos success is control of social networks, having been the first brand to use influencers. It went viral, Pelonero recalls In the lines in front of the restaurants, young people were making content for Snapchat. You had to eat at OTacos. An O'Tacos chain restaurant in the Place des Terreaux, Lyon. Samuel Aranda There is a generational component to the taco, according to Fourquet and Cassely. If kebabs, which had their heyday in France in the 1990s and 2000s, are the millennial dish par excellence, tacos take the place of kebabs for generation Z, they write. A survey by the Ifop polling institute indicates that the younger the French are, the fonder they are of tacos: 4% of people born before 1955 like them compared to 29% of those born between 1971 and 1985 and 47% of those born after 1996. It is a product that appeals to youth, and to the suburbs, which attracts young Muslims thanks to its halal meats, does not repel female consumers unlike the kebab, which is mostly consumed by men, and has a cooler and more modern image than independent snacks and hamburger brands. While the first mystery about the French taco is whether it was invented in Lyon or Grenoble (there is a documentary dedicated to answering this question), the second is the secret of its success. According to Nasser, of Mister Tacos, it has nothing to do with the recipe or marketing. It is something else: A blend of flavors and memory. Im going to tell you about the secret, he confides. The secret doesnt come from the food. The secret comes from the soul. Thats why you like whatever your mom cooks for you, even if its a fried egg. Because shes put her soul in there. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, HONG KONG OR THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN. Reference is made to the stock exchange release by Havila Kystruten AS (the "Company") on 19 June 2023 regarding completion of a private placement (the "Private Placement") of new shares in the Company and that the Company is considering a subsequent offering of up to 60,000,000 new shares at the same subscription price as in the Private Placement (the "Subsequent Offering"). Date on which the terms and conditions of the Subsequent Offering were announced: 19 June 2023 Last day including right: 19 June 2023 Ex-date: 20 June 2023 Record date: 21 June 2023 Maximum number of new shares: 60,000,000 Subscription price: NOK 1.10 per share Other information: The Subsequent Offering is subject to i) the resolution by the Company's extraordinary general meeting, expected to be held on 27 June 2023, ii) the publication of a prospectus in appropriate form and iii) the prevailing market price of the Company's shares following the Private Placement. The Board may decide that the Subsequent Offering will not be carried out in the event that the Company's shares trade below the subscription price in the Subsequent Offering at adequate volumes. The Subsequent Offering will not be available for shareholders resident in a jurisdiction where such offering would be unlawful, or for jurisdictions other than Norway, would require any filing, registration or similar action. This information is published in accordance with the requirements of the Euronext Growth Oslo Rule Book and published by Arne Johan Dale, CFO of Havila Kystruten AS, on 20 June 2023 at 08:00 CET. Contacts: CEO Bent Martini, + 47 905 99 650 CFO Arne Johan Dale, +47 909 87 706 LAKE ELSINORE, Calif., June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via IBN -- IGEN Networks Corporation (OTC: IGEN), a leading innovator of asset management and supply-chain solutions with its exclusive technology partner Prolog, announces the development of the industry's first Artificial Intelligence (AI) based commercial fleet solutions. IGEN and Prolog (Companies) have chosen four categories of software algorithms, the manufacture and development of low-cost AI video cameras, and finally the financing of these initiatives through the recently announced reverse-split of IGEN issued and outstanding shares. The four categories of patent-protected software algorithms will include sensor data analysis, route optimization, predictive maintenance, and driver behavior analysis: Sensor data analysis will correlate readings from all sensors resident in a commercial vehicle including fuel usage, emissions, locations, and vehicle health to determine patterns, anomalies, and to provide valuable real-time decision-making tools for example is the vehicle (tires, engine, fuel usage) prepared to complete a long-haul destination under predictable weather conditions. Route enhancement and optimization algorithms will determine safest, quickest, and most cost-effective delivery routes with real-time adjustments based on traffic conditions, weather, and load-restrictions. Predictive Maintenance algorithms will analyze and correlate vehicle codes for possible cause-effect scenarios, such as alerting to "yet-to-fail" components that potentially could impact critical vehicle operation and driver safety. Driver behavior data algorithms will correlate real-time face analysis with historical driver performance based on the same route, time, and weather conditions potentially to activate real-time risk mitigation, such as blocking the accelerator or re-routing to rest areas. In addition to the development of AI software algorithms, the Companies will develop and manufacture low-cost AI video cameras and devices that will be integrated with proprietary firmware designed to support any AI commercial fleet service providers. The specialized AI video hardware will be manufactured in Mexico and marketed throughout North America distribution channels independent of any wireless carrier or commercial fleet service provider. Neil G. Chan, CEO of IGEN stated, "Developing AI capabilities into our software platforms is an integral part of our patent portfolio and we will be the first to deploy these capabilities in the commercial fleet industry. The recent announcement for the 10:1 reverse-split of our issued and outstanding shares will be an important part of our ability to execute and claim industry leadership. The re-structuring of debt and capital will enable us to re-finance in a meaningful way on a non-dilutive basis." Juan Ignacio Avila, CEO of Prolog/CTO of IGEN stated, "As pioneers in developing supply-chain solutions, we have the distinct first-mover advantage in taking the industry to the next stage of development. We have collected millions of data points over the last 20 years that makes us uniquely qualified to evolve AI capabilities and decision -making tools for a more productive and safer environment within the commercial fleet industry." About IGEN Networks Corporation IGEN Networks Corporation creates software services for the consumer automotive and commercial asset management industries enabling their customers to better manage their assets and protect their drivers. IGEN is a fully reporting company in the United States and publicly traded on the OTC Markets under the symbol IGEN. For more information, please visit: www.igennetworks.net About Prolog Prolog is a technology development and logistics consulting company with over 25 years of experience in the development of supply-chain, logistics, telematics, and asset management solutions. Prolog operates in Mexico, Spain, and Central America with more than 1200 clients, 80 distribution centers, and 250,000 vehicles utilizing its asset management platforms. For more information, please visit: www.prolog.com.mx Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities law. The terms and phrases "goal", "commitment", "guidance", "expects", "would", "will", "continuing", "drive", "believes", "indicate", "look forward", "grow", "outlook", "forecasts", "intend", and similar terms and phrases are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by IGEN in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that IGEN believes are appropriate in the circumstances, including but not limited to statements regarding investment liquidity, financing options and long term goals of the Company, general economic conditions, IGEN's expectations regarding its business, customer base, strategy and prospects, and IGEN's confidence in the cash flow generation of its business. Many factors could cause IGEN's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to competition; IGEN's reliance on key personnel; IGEN's ability to maintain and enhance its brand; and difficulties in forecasting IGEN's financial results, particularly over longer periods given the rapid technological changes, competition and short product life cycles that characterize the mobile application industry. These risk factors and others relating to IGEN that may cause actual results to differ are set forth in the under the heading "Risk Factors" in IGEN's periodic filings with the British Columbia Securities Commission and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (copies of which filings may be obtained at www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on IGEN's forward-looking statements. IGEN has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Contact: IGEN Networks Corporation Neil G. Chan [email protected] 1(855)912-5378 IBN Los Angeles, California www.InvestorBrandNetwork.com 310.299.1717 Office [email protected] Source: IGEN Networks Corporation Network Sunsets, Satellite Communications and eSIM Realise New Opportunities for Wholesale Managers LONDON, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kaleido Intelligences IoT Roaming: Market Strategies & Forecasts 2023 predicts a 16% average annual growth in wholesale IoT roaming revenues between 2023 and 2028, as shifts in the ecosystem status quo underline the importance of roaming to support international IoT connectivity requirements. Several market shifts are currently underway including the acceleration of 2G and 3G network sunsets, the emergence of a simplified eSIM specification for IoT as well as direct-to-satellite communications networks. Combined, these factors offer a key opportunity for the industry to enhance the wholesale value proposition, although notable barriers remain in place. ACCESS THE REPORT Accelerated Migration to BCE Forced by Shifts in Ecosystem Status Quo Take-up of BCE (Billing and Charging Evolution) for modernised billing and settlement for IoT monetisation has been slow, particularly as operators are resource-constrained owing to VoLTE roaming requirements and migration to 5G. However, as network 2G and 3G network shutdowns accelerate, large-scale migrations to cellular LPWAN roaming connectivity are expected. This demand will be compounded by the emergence of direct-to-satellite IoT connectivity use cases, which target NB-IoT radios at the outset. Kaleido forecasts that growth in IoT roaming connections consuming less than 10MB per month will grow at 22% between 2023 and 2028, reaching 59% of the total IoT roaming connection base by the end of the forecast period. This growth will enforce an accelerated migration to BCE as a result of needing to provide differentiated billing based on Radio Access Technology, in addition to the need for a much-streamlined settlement process. Monetisation Challenges Dominate IoT Roaming With IoT connectivity now viewed as a commodity, pricing at both retail and wholesale level has steadily dropped over the years: Kaleido anticipates that annual wholesale revenue per connection will average at only around $8 by 2028. Aside from applying BCE, the report found that the simplification of the eSIM ecosystem (through the SGP.31/32 specification) in addition to a pressing need for IMSI sponsorship by tier 2/3 MNOs and IoT MVNOs offers incremental revenue opportunities. Wholesale monetisation for eSIM in particular is a current point of focus for several operators, and even under the new specifications, is likely to continue to rely on roaming architecture in many instances. Steffen Sorrell, Research Lead at Kaleido Intelligence, added: Enterprises suffer from significant challenges in securing a desired international connectivity footprint due to the need to establish multiple contracts and technical integrations. The expansion of eSIM and sponsored roaming solutions from individual providers forms a critical part of reducing this pain point, and offers wholesale business units with a new revenue stream opportunity. Obtain insight into the impact of roaming traffic and revenues in your market by requesting an interview with Kaleido Intelligence. About Kaleido Intelligence Kaleido Intelligence is a specialist consulting and market research firm with a proven track record of delivering telecom research at the highest level. Kaleido Intelligence is the only research company addressing mobile roaming in its entirety, covering: Data Forecasts by Market Historical & Forecast Viewpoints Competitive Intelligence Strategic Insight Trend Analysis Research is led by expert analysts, each with significant experience delivering telco research and insights that matter. Contact details: [email protected] +44 20 3983 9843 A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2bad84d7-d7be-44ac-a947-8a15ece2a458 NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medinotec Inc (OTCQX: MDNC), based in Nevada, focused on airway and cardiac medical devices, today announced that Stavros Vizirgianakis, Chairman, will present live at the Life Science Investors Forum, hosted by VirtualInvestorConferences.com, on June 22nd , 2023. DATE: June 22nd TIME: 10:30 AM ET LINK: https://bit.ly/3OhWy3NAvailable for 1x1 meetings: June 22 This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time. If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available after the event. It is recommended that online investors pre-register and run the online system check to expedite participation and receive event updates. Learn more about the event at www.virtualinvestorconferences.com. Recent Company Highlights Recently quoted on the OTCQX Markets Recently obtained DTC Eligibility to start trading the security. Concluded a successful private placement in the past twelve months to enable the launch of the Trachealator in the market of the United States Obtained FDA approval for its innovative non-occlusive airway dilation device the Trachealator About Medinotec Inc Medinotec Inc. is a US-based company with a primary investment in DISA Medinotec ("Medinotec"), a South African medical device manufacturing and distribution company, which in managements opinion is a global leader in tracheal non-occlusive airway dilation technology and medical device design. The Group has experience in establishing facilities for the manufacturing and design of niche medical devices and establishing international distribution networks to commercialize these devices. Medinotec Inc. is seeking to expand sales and distribution operations into the US market. About Virtual Investor ConferencesVirtual Investor Conferences (VIC) is the leading proprietary investor conference series that provides an interactive forum for publicly traded companies to seamlessly present directly to investors. Providing a real-time investor engagement solution, VIC is specifically designed to offer companies more efficient investor access. Replicating the components of an on-site investor conference, VIC offers companies enhanced capabilities to connect with investors, schedule targeted one-on-one meetings and enhance their presentations with dynamic video content. Accelerating the next level of investor engagement, Virtual Investor Conferences delivers leading investor communications to a global network of retail and institutional investors. CONTACTS:Medinotec IncPieter van NiekerkCFO+27 87 330 2301[email protected] Virtual Investor Conferences John M. ViglottiSVP Corporate Services, Investor AccessOTC Markets Group (212) 220-2221[email protected] Source: Virtual Investor Conferences Dubai, UAE, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Crypto Expo Asia, hosted in Singapore on the 7th and 8th of June, was a spectacle of innovation and progress in the blockchain and crypto world. Amidst a confluence of industry leaders and pioneers, Millionero stood out, capturing the attention of attendees with its user-friendly trading platform and earning the esteemed 'Best Crypto Platform 2023' award. The two-day event was marked by high-level networking and the showcasing of trailblazing technologies. Millionero, with its engaging and interactive booth, offered attendees a firsthand experience of their platform's unique features, as well as its advanced security measures. Many attendees, who initially believed crypto trading to be an intricate process, were struck by the ease and simplicity that Millionero's platform offers. Feedback from the attendees echoed this sentiment, indicating that the platform's user-centric design successfully dispelled the notion of crypto trading being a complex realm, replacing it with the vision of a well-paved path open to everyone. A pivotal element of Millionero's platform is its robust security protocols. At the Expo, these advanced measures were a significant point of interest, highlighting the platform's emphasis on ensuring the security and reliability of its users' assets and personal data. Millionero's achievement at the Crypto Expo Asia extended beyond receiving the 'Best Crypto Platform 2023' title. The positive reception and palpable enthusiasm from attendees signaled that Millionero's goal to democratize crypto trading resonated strongly with the audience. This validation reinforces Millionero's commitment to enabling everyone, regardless of their trading expertise, to leverage the potential of digital assets. While this award is a significant milestone for Millionero, it marks just the beginning of their journey. The acknowledgement and praise received at Crypto Expo Asia fuel their determination to continually innovate, enhancing their platform, and making crypto trading even more accessible. Heartfelt appreciation is extended to everyone who visited Millionero's booth at the Crypto Expo Asia, and to the distinguished judges who recognized the platform's potential. This award is not only an addition to Millionero's trophy cabinet, but also a testament to the trust its users place in them. As Millionero continues to blaze a trail in the digital asset trading space, they extend an open invitation to all to join their thriving community. Be a part of the journey with Millionero and step into the exciting world of digital asset trading. Embrace the potential of financial freedom with Millionero today! Contact Info: Messaoud Boukoufallah messaoud(at)millionero.com Dubai, UAE. Source: Millionero LONDON and NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Navigator Holdings Ltd. (Navigator and the Company) (NYSE: NVGS), the owner and operator of the worlds largest fleet of handysize liquefied gas carriers, announces that its 2023 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (the Annual Meeting) was held at 9 a.m. local time on June 20, 2023 at the offices of Baker Botts LLP, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, New York, 10112, U.S.A.. The following proposals were approved: To elect Dag von Appen, Yngvil Asheim, Dr. Heiko Fischer, David Kenwright, Dr. Anita Odedra, Peter Stokes and Florian Weidinger to serve as members of the board of directors of the Company (the Board) until the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders; and To approve the Companys 2023 Long-Term Incentive Policy. Andreas Sohmen-Pao, who joined Navigators Board in April 2022 as designee of BW Group Limited, and who served on the Companys Remuneration Committee, retires from the Board with effect from the date of the Annual Meeting. Dag von Appen, Navigators Non-Executive Chairman, commented: On behalf of the Board, I would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to Andreas for his considerable contributions and service to the Company. We have been very fortunate to have had the benefit of Andreas extensive knowledge and experience during his tenure as a director. About Navigator GasNavigator Holdings Ltd. is the owner and operator of the worlds largest fleet of handysize liquefied gas carriers and a global leader in the seaborne transportation services of petrochemical gases, such as ethylene and ethane, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and ammonia and owns a 50% share, through a joint venture, in an ethylene export marine terminal at Morgans Point, Texas on the Houston Ship Channel, USA. Navigators fleet now consists of 56 semi- or fully-refrigerated liquefied gas carriers, 25 of which are ethylene and ethane capable. The Company plays a vital role in the liquefied gas supply chain for energy companies, industrial consumers and commodity traders, with its sophisticated vessels providing an efficient and reliable floating pipeline between the parties, connecting the world today, creating a sustainable tomorrow. Navigators common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NVGS. Navigator Gas Attention: Investor Relations [email protected] and [email protected] Address: 333 Clay Street, Suite 2400, Houston, Texas, U.S.A. 77002 Tel: +1 713 373 6197 and +44 (0)20 7340 4850 Investor Relations / Media AdvisorsNicolas Bornozis / Paul LampoutisCapital Link New YorkTel: +1-212-661-7566Email: [email protected] Category: General Source: Navigator Holdings Ltd. TORONTO, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Workers gathered in front of Osgoode Hall this morning as the Court of Appeal began the latest Bill 124 proceedings. Beginning today, the Court will hear the appeal of the Superior Court of Justices decision to strike down Bill 124. Bill 124 caps public sector compensation at one per cent. Since it was introduced in 2019, it has had a devastating impact on workers especially as the cost-of-living has skyrocketed. Last November, the Superior Court found that the Bill violated the fundamental constitutional rights to collectively bargain and to strike. A month later, the Ford government chose to appeal the decision. As we have said repeatedly: Bill 124 hurts workers and it hurts our public services, said Patty Coates, Ontario Federation of Labour President. Earlier this month, thousands of Ontarians mobilized to demand action on the simultaneous cost-of-living and health care crises. Instead of responding to these demands, this government is back in court using public dollars to fight workers." At todays media event, leaders from unions representing hundreds of thousands of workers impacted by Bill 124 shared their disappointment with the Ford governments decision to appeal the Superior Courts ruling, highlighting the impact the Bill has had on the provinces public services. According to the governments own documents, Bill 124 has worsened the staffing crisis in Ontarios struggling health care system, said Coates. She added, The Ford government is determined to continue starving our public services while sitting on billions in excess funds, referring to last weeks report by the Financial Accountability Office that the province will have $22.6 billion in excess funds over the next few years. Were fed up with the Ford government making bad situations even worse. Todays speakers underscored that unions are confident in the public consensus that Bill 124 must go. We know that Bill 124 is unconstitutional, and we know that Ontarians are feeling its effects, added Coates. Enough is enough, its time for Bill 124 to be scrapped for good. The Ontario Federation of Labour represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. For information, visit www.OFL.ca and follow @OFLabour on Facebook and Twitter. For more information, please contact:Melissa PalermoCommunications DirectorOntario Federation of Labour[email protected] | 416-894-3456 Source: Ontario Federation of Labour Seattle, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pervasip Corp. (OTCPK: PVSP) (Pervasip or the Company), a developer of companies and technologies in high value emerging markets, such as Artizen Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary, today announced that it will begin to harvest and distribute its Artizen quality cannabis at its new Oregon location following its first harvest in August. Located in Ashland, the cultivation site offers Dynamic VPD via a next generation set of technology that is responsible for producing Artizen quality cannabis flower. Recently, Pervasip announced its intention to expand into Oregon and target the states $1.1B recreational cannabis market and looking to take full advantage of the worlds largest cannabis market by bridging Washington state via Oregon into California. Now the company is ready to harvest and distribute in Oregon starting August 2023 while also rapidly expanding its retail footprint throughout the Beaver State. In April we announced our entry into the Oregon recreational cannabis market and now our intentions are becoming reality for our shareholders less than two months later with this announcement of our first harvest in August, said German Burtscher, President and CEO of Pervasip Corp. Our team has updated and readied our new cultivation center at a rapid pace over the past 2 months. Our wholly owned subsidiary, Artizen Oregon, is now focused on leveraging our cultivation and distribution expertise to operate this modern grow and processing facility in Ashland, Oregon which is strategically located for us geographically speaking. Utilizing our sites substantial technology advantage, we will be able to grow the same high quality cannabis customers in Washington have grown to expect from us. Although current production will be limited to 280 lights, allowing for a measured market entry, Burtscher said it will be supplemented with value added products sourced through local partnerships. In addition, harvest schedules are being developed, product localization is under way and initial distribution plans are getting developed. Pervasip Corporation Pervasip Corp., a developer of companies and technologies in high value emerging markets, owns Artizen Corporation and its subsidiary, Zen Asset Management LLC, a diversified asset management company founded to acquire, develop, and support companies and technologies in the cannabis industry. ZAMs existing clients operate four licensed cannabis cultivation and one processing facility in Washington. Most of the biomass produced by these independent cultivators has been sold historically under the Artizen brand, including all-time top selling products in flower in Washington state. Additional information on Artizen-branded products is available online at www.artizencannabis.com . Pervasip additionally owns 5% of KRTL Biotech, Inc., a developer of biotechnologies with a focus on pharmaceutical applications of cannabinol and psilocybin. Additional information on KRTL is available online at www.krtlbiotech.com . Additional information on Pervasip can be found at www.pervasip.net Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains statements and information that, to the extent that they are not historical fact, may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information may include financial and other projections, as well as statements regarding future plans, objectives, or economic performance, or the assumption underlying any of the foregoing. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as may, would, could, will, likely, except, anticipate, believe, intend, plan, forecast, project, estimate, outlook, or the negative thereof or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Examples of such statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the objectives and business plans of the Company; ability to realize benefits from its recent corporate appointments; ability to retain its key personnel; the intention to grow the Companys business and operations; the competitive conditions of the industries in which the Company operates; and laws and any amendments thereto applicable to the Company. Forward-looking information is based on the assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, but which may prove to be incorrect. The material factors and assumptions used to develop the forward-looking information contained in this news release include, but are not limited to, key personnel and qualified employees continuing their involvement with the Company; and the Companys ability to secure financing on reasonable terms. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, risks relating to the future business plans of the Company; risks that the Company will not be able to retain its key personnel; risks that the Company will not be able to secure financing on reasonable terms or at all, as well as all of the other risks as described in the Companys periodic disclosure statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking information. Further, any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Companys management to predict all of such factors and to assess in advance the impact of each such factor on the Companys business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking information to reflect information or events after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law, including securities laws. Calgary, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On World Refugee Day, Primacorp Ventures proudly announces its substantial contribution to a refugee mental health program in partnership with the Catholic Calgary Immigration Society (CCIS). As part of its ongoing commitment to supporting refugees in their transition to their new homes, Primacorp Ventures has made significant strides in empowering and assisting refugees. Since 2021, over 100 students have been granted access to bursaries for educational programs, and over 4,000 refugees have received accommodation and nutritious meals through collaborations with CCIS and IRCC. Primacorp Ventures reaffirms its dedication by pledging $60,000 for the second consecutive year to the Centre for Refugee Resilience. This partnership aims to provide accessible, culturally-appropriate services that address trauma and support immigrants, refugees, and their families. The public can find more information about the Centre for Refugee Resilience at ccisab.ca. Refugees often face mental health challenges from their traumatic experiences before and during displacement. Primacorp Ventures aims to contribute to their overall well-being and successful integration into Canadian society by focusing on mental health support. "Nurturing refugee mental health is paramount," says Najib Rae, Vice President of Business and Strategy at Primacorp Ventures. "Investing in these programs positively impacts individuals and their families and creates a ripple effect within our communities. It fosters a more inclusive and supportive society, enabling refugees to rebuild their lives and become integral contributors to Canada's social and economic fabric. In addition, we are proud to announce that by the end of 2023, Primacorp Ventures will provide $5 million in scholarships to refugees, further empowering them on their journey to success." "We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Primacorp Ventures for their past contributions to this vital initiative and for their ongoing commitment," expresses Gordana Radan, CEO of CCIS. "Their support has been instrumental in the success of this project, aiding refugees in their transition to Canadian society." One refugee shared their testimonial, emphasizing the program's transformative effect on their journey toward Canadian integration - "I changed a lot and learned ways to cope better. The program coordinator helped me remember how to prioritize my emotions. She helped me focus on my well-being and reminded me how to take care of myself even while being a mom." As Primacorp Ventures continues its unwavering support for refugees and newcomers, they stand united with refugees, reaffirming the commitment to a brighter, more inclusive future. ### About Primacorp Ventures Inc. Primacorp Ventures is Canadas largest independent provider of private post-secondary education with a primary focus on changing lives through education, service, and care. Dedicated to creating meaningful employment for individuals with cognitive disabilities and a strong advocator for autism awareness, Primacorp Ventures participates in a variety of community initiatives and philanthropic work. For more information: Laura Guzman[email protected] Primacorp Ventures Inc. Attachment Laura Guzman Primacorp Ventures Inc. 6049157288 [email protected] Source: Primacorp Ventures Inc. Highlights: Scandium enriched laterite formation defined at Woodlong prospect within the Honeybugle Exploration Licence 7977 area, where 32 vertical air core holes were drilled during first quarter 2023 in an approximately 300m x 400m area. Notable laterite intercepts: 28 meters of 320 ppm Sc starting at 1m (EHAC-080) 21 meters of 355 ppm Sc starting at 1m (EHAC-083) 17 meters of 454 ppm Sc starting at 1m (EHAC-084) 9 meters of 569 ppm Sc starting at 2m (EHAC-087) 11 meters of 632 ppm Sc starting at 1m (EHAC-090) 10 meters of 537 ppm Sc starting at 1m (EHAC-092) 13 meters of 500 ppm Sc starting at 2m (EHAC-094) 13 meters of 517 ppm Sc starting at 2m (EHAC-099) (composite of 2 intervals) Potential for additional saprolite mineralization beneath the laterite zone. Shallow nature of mineralization 24 kilometers away from the Companys Nyngan Scandium Project adds flexibility for future developments as the scandium market develops. RENO, Nev., June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Scandium International Mining Corp. (TSX:SCY) (Scandium International or the Company) is pleased to announce the results of its recently completed air core drilling campaign at its Honeybugle property in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The drilling program consisted of 32 drillholes in an approximately 300 x 400 meter area as a follow up to previous scout drilling programs completed during 2016 and 2018. Drillhole Location Map at Woodlong Peter Evensen, CEO of Scandium International commented, We are very excited to announce the discovery of this scandium enriched laterite at Woodlong. With SCYs renewed focus on its scandium portfolio announced in 2Q 2022, discovering a scandium enriched laterite formation less than two meters from surface only 24 kilometers from the Nyngan Scandium Project opens up significant potential for long-term development of the Companys scandium portfolio. Woodlong Laterite Assays by Sc ppm (other figure intercept length) The laterite mineralization, consisting of both hematite and limonite, lies less than 2 meters below the surface. The laterite zone appears to thicken to both the west and south. The scandium grades are reasonably consistent within the central portion of the laterite at >300ppm Sc. The underlying saprolite zone is considerably thinner but contains reasonable grades of scandium (>200ppm Sc). Additional metallurgical testing is required on the saprolite mineralization to determine suitability for potential economic extraction. Laterite Zone Assay Intervals at Woodlong The entire log of laterite zone assay intervals at Woodlong is disclosed below. Holes EHAC076 107 were drilled as part of the 2023 program. Note: Grid coordinates are Grid Datum Australia 1994, MGA94, Zone 55 DrillholeID East North From(m) To(m) Int(m) Sc (ppm) EHAC037 495,082 6,477,252 0 EHAC038 495,058 6,477,199 0 EHAC039 495,023 6,476,931 0 12 12 353 EHAC040 494,931 6,476,951 6 12 6 343 EHAC041 494,954 6,476,827 3 15 12 125 EHAC049 494,882 6,477,003 0 EHAC050 494,894 6,476,928 1 21 20 106 EHAC051 494,864 6,477,067 0 EHAC052 494,955 6,477,037 0 EHAC053 495,048 6,477,007 2 4 2 335 EHAC054 494,988 6,476,896 1 6 5 154 EHAC055 494,979 6,476,975 1 8 7 404 EHAC056 495,104 6,476,872 4 12 8 636 EHAC057 495,184 6,476,905 0 5 5 160 EHAC058 495,086 6,476,939 2 5 3 393 EHAC059 495,137 6,476,979 0 2 2 170 EHAC060 495,219 6,477,001 1 2 1 100 EHAC076 495,103 6,476,698 3 12 9 144 EHAC077 495,150 6,476,700 3 12 9 137 EHAC078 495,202 6,476,700 4 20 16 152 EHAC079 495,049 6,476,749 1 27 26 144 EHAC080 495,101 6,476,750 1 29 28 320 EHAC081 495,150 6,476,751 1 27 26 258 EHAC082 495,049 6,476,800 2 18 16 183 EHAC083 495,099 6,476,800 1 22 21 355 EHAC084 495,149 6,476,800 1 18 17 454 EHAC085 495,000 6,476,868 2 9 7 237 EHAC086 495,050 6,476,870 1 16 15 289 EHAC087 495,149 6,476,870 2 11 9 569 EHAC088 494,979 6,476,933 1 9 8 421 EHAC089 495,131 6,476,935 1 4 3 447 EHAC090 494,942 6,476,975 1 12 11 632 EHAC091 495,051 6,476,975 1 4 3 333 EHAC092 495,101 6,476,977 1 11 10 537 EHAC093 494,949 6,477,007 1 3 2 435 EHAC094 494,999 6,477,007 2 15 13 500 EHAC095 495,099 6,477,007 1 3 2 300 EHAC096 494,949 6,477,057 0 EHAC097 495,000 6,477,058 1 7 6 328 EHAC098 495,050 6,477,058 0 2 2 145 EHAC099 495,102 6,477,059 2 21 13 517 EHAC100 494,999 6,477,102 0 EHAC101 495,049 6,477,102 0 EHAC102 495,100 6,477,102 0 EHAC103 495,150 6,477,055 2 7 5 418 EHAC104 495,011 6,476,977 1 9 8 345 EHAC105 495,198 6,476,933 0 EHAC106 494,939 6,476,869 1 17 16 124 EHAC107 495,199 6,476,869 1 8 7 250 EL7977 HONEYBUGLE The Companys Honeybugle tenement, EL7977, contains areas of lateritic material common to the region and is situated 24 kilometers south of EMCs Nyngan Scandium Project area. The property itself is located in semi-arid broad-acre wheat farming country and is routinely planted. Farming is the largest industry in the area, although other mining activity is evident, past and present. The tenement encompasses 34.7 square kilometers, and includes four prospects identified by distinct magnetic anomalies that reflect underlying mafic to ultramafic bedrock: Seaford, Woodlong, Yarran Park and Mallee Valley. These prospects were tested by companies exploring principally for platinum, nickel and cobalt during the 1980s, but scandium was of little interest at that time. Surface soil and rock chip sampling conducted by previous explorers and the Company detected anomalous scandium values (20-30 ppm Sc) on each of the four prospects. Sample Preparation & Analysis The drilling, sampling, packaging and transport of the drill samples was carried out to industry standards for QA/QC. Scandium International employed an independent local geology consulting and drill supervisory team, RME Geological Services Pty. Ltd., of Orange, NSW, Australia (RMEGS), to manage the drilling program on-site. Bulk samples of drill returns were collected at one-meter intervals from a cyclone mounted on the drilling rig and stored in polythene bags. A separate three-tier riffle splitter was used on site to obtain 2.0-4.5kg samples collected over 1-meter intervals, for assay. Individual sample identifiers were cross-checked during the process. The samples for assay were placed in sealed polyweave bags that remained in RMEGSs possession until the completion of the drilling program, at which time they were transported to the RMEGS offices in Orange. There, the sequence of sample numbers was validated and the assay samples were submitted to Australian Laboratory Services (ALS) laboratory in Orange. The remnant bulk samples were taken to secure long term storage in Orange. Sample preparation at ALS consisted of weighing, drying, crush & pulverize entire sample to better than 85% passing 75m, splitting. The analytical technique consisted of fusion XRF for laterite material (ALS code ME-XRF12n), with a detection limit of 0.001% for Scandium. Qualified Person Statement Mr. John Thompson, BE, FAusIMM and Vice President Project Development, and a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101, has verified the data, by checking assay data against assay lab certificates, and has approved the technical information in this news release. For inquiries to Scandium International Mining Corp, please contact: Peter Evensen (CEO)Tel: (775) 355-9500 Harry de Jonge (Comptroller)Tel: (702) 703-0178 Email: [email protected] This press release contains forward-looking statements about the Company and its business. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and include but are not limited to statements regarding the Offering, the use of proceeds, and closing of the final tranche of the Offering. The forward-looking statements in this press release are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, opinions and expectations of the Company's management at the time they are made, and other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update its forward-looking statements if those beliefs, opinions or expectations, or other circumstances, should change. Images accompanying this announcement are available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fb38f789-3fac-47b7-a41c-3e5159104d43 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6fc8a86c-b77b-46d0-82bb-42990b54f198 Drillhole Location Map at Woodlong Drillhole Location Map at Woodlong Woodlong Laterite Assays by Sc ppm (other figure intercept length) Woodlong Laterite Assays by Sc ppm (other figure intercept length) Source: Scandium International Mining Corp. The logo of Binance U.S. is seen at a stand during the Bitcoin Conference 2022 in Miami Beach, Florida, on April 6, 2022. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Binance have reached an agreement in court that lets the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange continue to operate in the United States as it battles SEC fraud charges. Under a consent order filed Saturday, the defendants in the June 5 lawsuit agreed to repatriate all assets held for the benefit of Binances U.S. trading customers. The SEC alleges Binance broke U.S. law by operating as an unregistered securities exchange. It filed similar charges against the worlds other top cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, nearly simultaneously. But Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, face additional charges of diverting customer funds - concealing the fact that it was commingling billions of dollars in investor assets and sending them to a third party that Zhao also owned. As a result, the SEC asked that the assets of Binances U.S. platform be frozen. The order signed by Washington, D.C. federal judge Amy Berman Jackson prevents the defendants from spending corporate assets other than for ordinary business expenses. It also requires SEC oversight on any spending and prohibits the defendants from destroying records, the agency said in a statement. The consent order obliges Binance to create new digital wallets for U.S. customers and transfer assets to them within two weeks. The cryptocurrency industry has been marred by scandals and market meltdowns. Industry leaders say the SEC crackdown signals that U.S. regulators believe cryptocurrency has no room in the traditional financial system. In August 2021, SEC chair Gary Gensler said investors werent adequately protected in crypto markets, calling them more like the Wild West. The collapse of crypto prices last year, as well as the demise of several notable crypto companies including FTX exposed investors to billions of dollars in losses. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition HERNDON, Va., June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ShorePoint Inc., an industry-leading cybersecurity services company protecting federal customers critical assets, today announced that its Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Ryan McCullough, and Technical Program Manager, Michael Morton, will co-present an educational session on enterprise security data integration at the National Laboratories Information Technology Summit 2023. Designed to support the exchange of IT service management best practices, NLIT Summit 2023 will bring together professionals from across the 17 U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories June 27 30 at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ShorePoint is also staffing Booth #219 at the event, to facilitate conversations about cybersecurity, Zero Trust Architecture frameworks and enterprise IT modernization. The DOE National Laboratories are solving some of the worlds most complex challenges, said Matt Brown, co-founder and chief executive officer of ShorePoint. Were excited for NLIT Summit 2023, where well exchange some of the cybersecurity best practices that are helping to ensure continued success of the DOE National Laboratories vital work. McCullough and Morton will co-present a session with speakers from the National Nuclear Security Administration and Sandia National Laboratories. EDUCATIONAL SESSION TITLE: NNSA Enterprise Security Data Integration: Modernizing Security Operations WHEN: Wednesday, June 28 | 1:00 1:40 pm PRESENTERS Ryan McCullough, Executive VP and Chief Strategy Officer, ShorePoint Michael Morton, Technical Program Manager, ShorePoint Jacob Caswell, Technical Project Manager, Sandia National Laboratories Robert Mastrovito, Executive Director and Solutions Architect, NNSA Steven McAndrews, Deputy Associate Administrator for Information Management and Chief Information Officer, NNSA SESSION DESCRIPTION The Office of Information Management and the Chief Information Officer for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NA-IM) is expanding enterprise visibility into actionable cyber data. This requires increasing the volume and types of data sources while enabling correlation across the disparate feeds. This will be accomplished through an Enterprise Cybersecurity Data Integration architecture that drives Lab/Site/Plant sustained data ownership while enabling analytics across an integrated Data Mesh. Foundational to this initiative is the selection of the right set of Enterprise Tools that can seamlessly generate this usable security intelligence. We will leverage work already started at the National Labs, like Sandia, which has developed a way and process for identifying and recommending enterprise tools at their Laboratory. NA-IM is eager to establish a Tiger Team to achieve the same level of assessment at an enterprise level for the benefit of all of the M&Os. A major requirement of NA-IM with enterprise tools is to ensure they are deployed in such a manner to allow the data to be collected and shared with all who need to have access to this data. NA-IM has brought on board ShorePoint to help with the collection of data to meet these objectives and are currently running a pilot at LLNL. For highlights of the session, visit McCullough, Morton and other ShorePoint representatives at booth #219. About ShorePoint As an elite cybersecurity firm, ShorePoint continuously disrupts adversaries and targets their evolving tactics to provide a heightened level of security for federal civilian, defense and intelligence community clients. While defending against a surging number of cyber threats, clients count on ShorePoints team of cybersecurity and digital transformation experts to maximize cyber resilience, lower risk and drive efficiency. ShorePoint is a fast-growing, privately held firm in Herndon, VA. www.shorepointinc.com Contact: Joyce Bosc On behalf of ShorePoint 301-717-9529 [email protected] Source: ShorePoint SANTA BARBARA, CA, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SunHydrogen, Inc. (OTC: HYSR), the developer of a breakthrough technology to produce renewable hydrogen using sunlight and water, today announced the approval of Project NanoPEC, a 3-year initiative that will bring the Company together with six partners at the cutting edge of industry and science in Germany to rapidly move SunHydrogens technology toward commercialization. Coordinated by the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics, the objective of Project NanoPEC is to bring SunHydrogens patented technology to a demonstration plant scale and develop manufacturing technology to support automated production on a 1000-unit scale, among other key goals. We are thrilled to announce the approval of Project NanoPEC and we believe this cooperation will be highly complementary to our teams ongoing work to bring our technology to commercialization, said SunHydrogens CEO Tim Young. While our internal goals are unchanging and we remain well-capitalized to meet the milestones we have set, we believe working with some of the most innovative leaders in German industry and science can accelerate our progress and allow us to view challenges from all angles. I first met with Fraunhofer Group Manager Dr. Christian Hagendorf and Project Manager Dr. David Adner at their Halle (Saale) laboratory in September 2021 after being introduced by our partner, Schmid Group, Mr. Young continued. We are extremely grateful to the teams at Fraunhofer and Schmid for pursuing this funding and bringing together an incredible group of project partners to aid in the process. Project NanoPEC is supported with approximately $3.1 million in funding by the Federal Government of Germanys 7th Energy Research Program. In 2021, the 7th Energy Research Program issued a funding announcement for innovators in the renewable energy space whose technologies can support Germanys larger goal of greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045. Per the grants criteria, Project NanoPECs operations will be carried out in Germany. In addition to Fraunhofer and Schmid, the full list of project partners includes WAVELABS Solar Metrology Systems GmbH; ECH Elektrochemie Halle GmbH; Zahner-Elektrik; and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin. SunHydrogens Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Syed Mubeen will serve as the team representative for the Company. Each project partner brings highly advanced expertise in areas including but not limited to device testing and measurement; design; manufacturing technology; solar simulation; electrochemical analytics; photoelectrode scale-up; and catalyst materials. Through phased work, Project NanoPEC will look to: Scale SunHydrogens existing manufacturing process to demonstration plant size. Develop manufacturing technology to support automated production on a 1000-unit scale. Create and validate a SunHydrogen panel with at least 12 hydrogen generators, where each generator contains roughly 100cm of active area. The above metrics are significantly larger than those of SunHydrogens most recent prototype, which featured 16 hydrogen generators at a scale of 25cm of active area each. In the first 12-month work phase, SunHydrogen will continue the ongoing efforts at its Iowa headquarters, and with its existing industrial and university partners, to develop the necessary laboratory processes to fabricate its nanoparticle technology at larger scales. Also during this phase, the Company will develop optimized laboratory specifications as a basis for industrial implementation, and will further improve performance of its catalysts and protective coatings. Our team is committed to pursuing the most efficient path forward to scale our technology, and we are extremely excited to be working with some of the brightest innovators in the industry to accelerate our goal of bringing renewable hydrogen to the world, Mr. Young concluded. About SunHydrogen, Inc. SunHydrogen is developing breakthrough technologies to make, store and use green hydrogen in a market that Goldman Sachs estimates to be worth $12 trillion by 2050. Our patented SunHydrogen Panel technology, currently in development, uses sunlight and any source of water to produce low-cost green hydrogen. Similar to solar panels that produce electricity, our SunHydrogen Panels will produce green hydrogen. Our vision is to become a major technology supplier in the new hydrogen economy. By developing, acquiring and partnering with other critical technologies, we intend to enable a future of emission-free vehicles, ships, data centers, aircrafts and more. To learn more about SunHydrogen, please visit our website at www.SunHydrogen.com. Safe Harbor Statement Matters discussed in this press release may contain forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "may," "intend," "expect" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. Forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties and other factors, known and unknown, including the risk factors described from time to time in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements contained herein are applicable only as of the date on which they are made, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as may be required under applicable law. Press Contact: [email protected] COLUMBIA FALLS, Me., and TULSA, Ok., June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, national nonprofit Wreaths Across America (WAA) is proud to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Patriot Guard Riders (PGR) in an effort to build a stronger awareness for each groups common missions, while supporting events throughout the nation. Founded in 2007, and headquartered in Columbia Falls, Maine, WAA is best known for its annual wreath-laying ceremonies each December. The organizations yearlong mission is to Remember the fallen, Honor those who serve, and Teach the next generation the value of freedom. Now in nearly 4,000 communities across the country, WAA volunteers are committed to sharing the mission through education and stories of service and success. Founded as a national nonprofit in 2005 to shield families of fallen heroes from those that would disrupt the services of their loved ones, the Patriot Guard Riders has grown to include thousands of members across all 50 states. As the organizations membership has grown, so has the scope of its mission. PGR also honors first responders as well as military veterans. Additionally, the organization has an active Help on The Homefront (HOTH) program, which aids our veterans and their families. The signed MOU between the two groups focuses on engagement with PGR members and WAA volunteers to create opportunities for joint community service activities that bring awareness to both groups missions. PGR will expand its participation in the WAA Group Sponsorship Program there are already more than 120 PGR groups participating nationwide which raises awareness and sponsorships to place wreaths and support programming while offering PGR an option for fundraising for the important work they do in their communities year-round. Since WAA was founded, Patriot Guard Riders have been involved in the mission and its members play an important part in ensuring respect for our veterans and their families, said Karen Worcester, executive director of WAA. Our combined efforts will no doubt help to shape and inform the next generation of patriots. National President of PGR, Bob Dorey said, Our membership is very supportive of the families of the fallen, as is Wreaths Across America! We are looking forward to working more collaboratively as we support these families and remember and honor their loved ones. This year, National Wreaths Across America Day will take place on Saturday, December 16, 2023, at over 3,700 participating locations nationwide. The experience of placing a wreath at the final resting place of one of our nations veterans and understanding the healing that this simple gesture has for so many families and the opportunity it provides to share the stories of these heroes, makes this an important partnership, Bob concluded. # # # About Wreaths Across AmericaWreaths Across America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery begun by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester in 1992. The organizations mission Remember, Honor, Teach is carried out in part each year by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies in December at Arlington, as well as at thousands of veterans cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond. For more information or to sponsor a wreath please visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org. About the Patriot Guard Riders.Founded in 2005 to shield families of fallen heroes from those that would disrupt the services of their loved ones, the Patriot Guard Riders has grown to include thousands of members across all 50 states in the US. We are a 100% volunteer 501(c)(3) organization. To learn more, please visit https://www.patriotguard.org/ NOTE TO MEDIA AND PRESS MATERIALS:Interviews are available upon request. WAA Media Resource Page Attachment Amber Caron Wreaths Across America 2075136457 [email protected] Source: Wreaths Across America New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - June 19, 2023) - Billy Lerner, his wife Marcella De Martin, and the Billy4Kids foundation mark their third year of supporting the Liberty Children's Home in Belize. Since their first visit in 2019, Marcella, Billy, and co-founder of the foundation, Alexson Roy, have provided hundreds of shoes to the Liberty Children's Home in the fight against parasitic disease. The Liberty Children's Home in Belize Non-profit organization Billy4Kids continues to support the Liberty Children's Home through the supply of hundreds of canvas shoes over the past three years. With a lack of infrastructure and access to adequate footwear, the children housed here are often barefoot and vulnerable to parasitic disease contracted from the soil and dirt pavements. Hookworm, the most prevalent parasitic disease in Belize, impacts 55% of the population followed by roundworm (30%), both of which can lead to respiratory and gastrointestinal problems (Aimpun and Hshieh, 2004). Newly appointed as the ambassador of Billy4Kids, Marcella De Martin has been eminent in ensuring the foundation continues their partnership with the children's home, providing them with shoes and protection against soil borne infections. Beginning in February 2019, the Billy4Kids foundation has repeatedly donated shoes to the Ladyville region of Belize. This donation not only helps in preventing parasitic disease but also aids in impeding associated illnesses such as skin rashes, abdominal pain, and anaemia. It in turn, enables the children to engage in more fun activities without the harsh barefoot exposure to the soil. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, Marcella De Martin ensured that the Billy4Kids foundation continued their supply of shoes to the children's home through both 2021 and 2022. In their most recent visit to Belize, the Billy4Kids foundation donated over 200 pairs of shoes to the Liberty Children's Home, having a huge impact on the health and lives of these children. Canvas Shoes Image: Canvas Shoes supplied by Billy4Kids, Courtesy of Bill Lerner and wife Marcella De Martin Founded in 2005, the Liberty Children's home is a purpose-built sanctuary, housing over forty children who have been orphaned or have experienced neglect and abuse. The home provides a safe place for these children, who otherwise are vulnerable to becoming involved in drugs, violence, and prostitution. With almost 50% of all children in Belize living in poverty (UNICEF and The Statistics Institute of Belize, 2017) many have little alternative but to engage in these activities to supply their basic needs. Located in Ladyville Belize, the Liberty Children's Home aims to reduce the number of children forced into this life by providing them with shelter, clothing, food, and access to education. Marcella De Martin, wife of Billy Lerner To date, Marcella De Martin and the Billy4Kids foundation have donated hundreds of shoes to the Liberty Children's Home, aiding in the prevention of soil borne parasitic diseases. Adequate shoes donated by the foundation have made a tremendous impact on the lives of the children of the Liberty Children's Home. Sources: Aimpun P, Hshieh P. (2004) Survey for intestinal parasites in Belize, Central America. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. UNICEF & The Statistics Institute of Belize. (2017) 'BELIZE Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2015 Key Findings August, 2016'. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/belize/sites/unicef.org.belize/files/2019-09/MICS_Belize_Booklet_v3_Childfriendly_version.pdf Published in partnership with Billy4Kids Inc. Contact: Alexson Roy Email: [email protected] Website:https://billy4kids.org/ Phone: 1-855-472-7569 SOURCE Billy4Kids Inc. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170001 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - On May 25th 2023, the first inaugural Canadian Out-of-Home Awards commenced and brands, agencies, and out-of-home (OOH) operators were celebrated industry-wide for their strategic use of the OOH medium. With an attendance of over 400 guests, the gala provided extensive opportunities for big brands and agencies to connect with media owners and operators. Presenters included Amanda Dorenberg, President of COMMB, Justin Senior, Co-Founder of POCAM (People of Colour in Advertising and Marketing), Alison Simpson, President & CEO of the Canadian Marketing Association, and Michele Erskine, CEO of OUTFRONT Canada, alongside category presenters from both operator and agency sides of the OOH industry. The venue used a display of lasers, atmospheric lights, projections, and the showcasing of partner logos from Derooted Immersive. Canadian Out-of-Home Awards 2023 Reflecting on the transformation, Elizabeth Crisante, Executive Producer of the awards commented, "Derooted Immersive's professionalism, unparalleled creativity, and unique use of technology were instrumental in shaping the visual spectacle that elevated the gala. Their technical skill and artistic vision brought a new level of depth and excitement to the event, underscoring our celebration of innovative out-of-home campaigns. We were truly impressed by the immersive environment they created, which we believe played a significant part in making the event memorable for all attendees. We are thrilled to announce Derooted Immersive as our experiential agency of record for the inaugural Canadian Out-of-Home Awards and look forward to the creative masterpiece they will unveil at next year's gala." The red-carpet experience included 360-degree photo booth proffered a platform for immortalizing memories, a DJ, and culinary offerings and signature cocktails. The Canadian Out-of-Home Awards 2023 winners and runners-up are as follows: Best Creative Concept Winner: Canadian Tire, for Premier Paint - TruSnap by Leo Burnett Toronto, Touch!, NOVUS Media, and Statements Media Runner Up: Grand Marnier's "Binaural Audio Experience" by Derooted Immersive Best Use of Multi-Media Winner: Christian Dior's "Distillery Winter Village" Campaign by Dentsu and Eat it Up Media Runner Up: IKEA's "Bring Home to Life" Campaign by Carat, Dentsu, and Branded Cities Best Use of Classic OOH Winner: KFC's "Steaming Hot Sandwich" Campaign by Wavemaker, Kinetic, and PATTISON Outdoor Runner Up: McDonald's "Grand Opening" Campaign by Cossette Best Use of Digital OOH Winner: FritoLay/PepsiCo Canada's "Made for the Moment" Campaign by Astral/Bell Media and OMD Canada Runner Up: Veterans Affairs Canada for their "Remembrance Day" Campaign by Cossette and Hivestack Best Client-Direct Concept Winner: Telus World of Science "Out of the Depths" Campaign by Branded Cities Runner Up: Air Miles' "Back to School Bonus Miles" Campaign by Media Experts and Stingray Advertising Best Experiential Campaign Winner: Fizz's "Greenscreen Transit Shelter" Campaign by Quebecor Runner Up: Coca-Cola "Dreamworld Experience" Campaign by EssenceMediacom, Kinetic, and Eat It Up Media Best International Campaign Winner: Warner Brothers' "The Matrix Resurrections" Campaign by DIVE Billboards Runner Up: Alpha Foods "Chickenflation" Campaign by Mischief @ No Fixed Address and Branded Cities Best Innovative Campaign Winner: Canadian Tire Pet Foods, "The Paw-fect Match" Campaign by Touche!, TAXI, Studio AM, and Branded Cities Runner Up: Canadian Tire, for Premier Paint - TruSnap by Leo Burnett Toronto, Touche!, NOVUS Media, and Statements Media Best Data-Focused Campaign Winner: HSBC's "Punch Above the Weight" Campaign by Touche! and Broadsign Runner Up: La Cordee's "OOH vs. Out of Stock" Campaign by Jungle Media, OUTFRONT Media, and PATTISON Outdoor Best High-Impact Campaign Winner: IKEA's "Toronto Downtown XS Store Launch" Campaign by Carat and PATTISON Outdoor Runner Up: Canadian Tire Pet Foods "The Paw-fect Match" Campaign by Touche!, TAXI, Studio AM, and Branded Cities Community Involvement Award Winner: Fred Victor's "Share the Warmth" Campaign by Grassroots, DIVE Billboards, and OUTFRONT Media Runner Up: Veterans Affairs Canada "Remembrance Day" Campaign by Cossette and Branded Cities Brittany Khan, Group Director of Strategy at Touche! attended the first annual Canadian Out-of-Home Awards and is looking forward to the years to come. "At Touche!, we strongly believe in the power of OOH advertising, and we were thrilled to attend the 1st Canadian Out-of-Home awards gala this year! Our client Canadian Tire was shortlisted five times for our work on MotoMaster, Premier Paint and Canadian Tire Pets. In true Canadian Tire fashion, we brought home the gold for Best Creative Concept and Best Innovative Campaign." "Creativity and innovation are at the heart of everything that we do at our agency, and we couldn't be more grateful for our clients who are always willing to break through the mold," she continues. "We also want to thank our creative partners at Leo Burnett and TAXI who helped to make these big wins possible. The gala left us truly astounded by the atmosphere it created. Every aspect of the event was flawless! Our excitement for next year's gala is already building, as we eagerly anticipate another unforgettable experience." To view the shortlist, top creative entries, and event photos & videos from the 2023 Canadian Out-of-Home Awards, visit COMMB.ca/Awards. ABOUT THE CANADIAN OUT-OF-HOME AWARDS The Canadian Out-of-Home Awards gala is an all-encompassing industry celebration recognizing the creative, technical, and strategic achievements of agencies and advertisers for their out-of-home campaigns. Winning categories are focused on innovation, data, use of programmatic/digital technology, audience targeting, 360 planning, and more. ABOUT COMMB COMMB is the national not-for-profit organization for the Canadian out-of-home (OOH) industry. Our membership base is comprised of advertisers, agencies, programmatic tech stacks, and OOH companies, large and small. COMMB is responsible for the collective marketing and measurement efforts for the OOH industry, developing proprietary audience measurement methodologies for a variety of OOH media formats, and ensuring the voice of OOH is at the forefront of media via broad marketing and communications initiatives. COMMB.ca For more information, please contact: Lara Menzies - Director, Marketing & Partnerships [email protected] To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170516 Dieppe, New Brunswick--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Colibri Resource Corporation (TSXV: CBI) (OTC Pink: CRUCF) ("Colibri" or the "Company") is very pleased to report the results of geological mapping and outcrop sampling at the Pavo Real target on the Plomo property, EP Gold Project, Caborca Gold Belt ("CGB"), northwestern Sonora. Results have confirmed and expanded the footprint of gold ("Au") in tourmaline altered diorite at Pavo Real and include a high of 9.48 grams per tonne ("g/t") Au. Ron Goguen, President & CEO of Colibri commented, "We are very encouraged by the results of our inaugural exploration work program on the Plomo property, which we acquired in March. This work represents the first steps in the evaluation of Plomo's large and highly prospective land position within the EP Gold Project. Colibri will continue to aggressively advance towards a maiden drill program at Plomo". PAVO REAL HISTORY & RESULTS Historical work at the Pavo Real target documents widespread tourmaline alteration including tourmaline in NW trending structures reported to be traced over a 600 m strike length and containing anomalous gold values including 5.82 g/t Au. Due diligence reconnaissance field work, conducted earlier in year, confirmed the presence of tourmaline-quartz alteration (commonly forming overprinting stock work and breccia textures) and sampling confirmed the presence of Au with several grab samples greater than 1 g/t Au and a high-grade grab sample of 9.94 g/t Au. A selected area at Pavo Real, approximately 1/2 km x 1/2 km, was mapped and 90 grab samples were collected for Au analyses (see Map 1). Au was detected in all but 11 of the samples, 38 of the samples returned values greater than 0.1 g/t Au, 13 samples returned values greater than 1.0 g/t Au with the highest grade sample being 9.84 g/t Au. Mineralized samples (> 0.1 g/t Au) are characterized by quartz-tourmaline breccia matrix and stockwork overprinting a quartz, sericite, tourmaline, pyrite (Fe-oxide) altered felsic host rock. The higher-grade samples also commonly include veinlets mapped as jasperoid which in thin section was determined to be a very fine grained assemblage of limonite and hematite and interpreted to possibly be derived from a primary Fe-carbonate bearing vein assemblage. The mineralized tourmaline bearing breccia and stock work samples are massive to strongly foliated where foliation consistently has a north-northwest strike and moderate northeast dip. Northwest and northeast trending structures and associated apparent grade directional trends are evident on the Plomo property (as well as Evelyn). These structural orientations are important in the regional geological evolution and control the occurrence of major gold deposits in the Caborca Gold Belt. Illustration 1: Grab samples and geology on topo contour map, Pavo Real Target area To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4269/170682_fc47a144841dbaea_001full.jpg EP PROJECT NEXT STEPS The Company continues to evaluate both the Evelyn and Plomo properties of the EP Gold Project with the objective of advancing prospects and prioritizing drill targets. The Company will continue to evaluate mineralized domains at the Pavo Real target, as indicated by mapping and sampling to date, and anticipates continued exploration to include geological mapping as well as trenching with a mechanical shovel. Assays are pending from geological mapping and sampling also recently completed at the Banco de Oro and La Bonancita targets. On the Evelyn side, the Company is currently planning a RC drilling program to follow up on positive soil geochemistry results north and south of the Main Zone a well as west of El Sahuaro ABOUT PLOMO The newly acquired Plomo property is contiguous with the Company's Evelyn Property and collectively they comprise the Company's EP Gold Project covering a total area of 4,766 Ha. The EP Gold Project is located in the 500 km long, northwest trending Caborca Gold belt which includes the > 15 million ounce La Herradura Mine, located 30 km west of Plomo, the > 2-million-ounce Noche Buena Mine located approximately 8 km southwest of Plomo, and the past producing Soledad-Dipolos Mine (> 3 Moz Au) located approximately 32 km to the northwest (see attached map 2). Highlights of the Plomo Property include: The historical database, totaling 1,853 surface rock samples, includes 524 samples greater than 0.1 grams per tonne ("g/t") Au, 132 samples greater than 1.0 g/t Au, and 15 high grade samples greater than 10 g/t Au. Surface exploration including prospecting, mapping, and rock sampling since 2007 has resulted in the identification of 9 target areas on the Plomo property (see Map 3) Underground sampling completed in the adit at the Banco de Oro prospect in 2008 are reported to have included 298.0 g/t Au over a chip length of 2.4 metres The Plomo property has been the subject of only very limited exploration drilling, completed in 2008, with a total of 1,570 meters completed in 10 holes. Highlights of the drilling are 0.66 g/t Au over an intersection length of 11.65 metres ("m") and 0.92 g/t Au over an intersection length of 4 m. The Plomo property has had small scale artisanal mining including pits, adits, and placer mining dating back to the 18th century. The first recorded exploration was in 2006 and the property has been the subject of only episodic exploration since that time. Mapping completed by Colibri geologists confirmed vein style mineralization consisting of veins, veinlets, and vein stockworks, altered host rocks that include intense silicification, sericite, disseminated pyrite, and locally tourmaline bearing stockworks and breccias. Sampling by Colibri completed during its due diligence evaluation confirmed the historical distribution of high-grade samples at Plomo and included twenty-five grab samples with values > 1.0 g/t Au, including 6 samples with values > 5 g/t Au. A total of 62 grab samples taken by Colibri during due diligence sampling returned Au assay values > 0.1 g/t Au. Illustration 2:Location of the Evelyn & Plomo ("EP") properties within Caborca Gold Belt To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4269/170682_fc47a144841dbaea_002full.jpg Illustration 3: Evelyn & Plomo Outcrop & Trench Grab Samples To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4269/170682_fc47a144841dbaea_003full.jpg QAQC Assays for the Plomo mapping and sampling program have been completed at ALS Laboratories (ALS) with sample preparation completed in Hermosillo, Sonora and Atomic Absorption and Fire Assay analyses completed in Vancouver, Canada. Colibri employs industry standard QAQC protocol including the use of control samples (Certified Standards and Blanks) and check assays. Jamie Lavigne, P. Geo has supervised the drilling program at Evelyn. 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 holds seven high potential precious metal projects of which six have planned exploration programs for calendar 2023. For more information about all Company projects please visit: 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, [email protected] To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170682 Del Mar, California--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Defense Technologies International Corp. (OTC Pink: DTII) is pleased to announce its subsidiary, Passive Security Scan Inc. (PSSI), will be attending the annual state-wide GSSHSC Conference in Athens GA June 19-21. 2023 Georgia School Safety & Homeland Security Conference June 19-21, 2023, | Athens, GA | The Classic Center To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2003/170621_0ad73cb674764a97_002full.jpg For more information please visit: https://www.gaschoolsafety.com/ PSSI's Michele Mase the Public Relations Director and Eric Forrest the PSSI Distributor for Georgia, will be showcasing the Passive Security Scan Technology with the latest Passive Portal on display at the GSSHSC Conference. A great opportunity to publicly demonstrate our unique and new technology that is in use for the past twelve months with flawless performance as designed and expected by our technology. For more information on the Passive Security Scan Technology and the Passive Portal, visit www.passivesecurityscan.com. "I am pleased that PSSI is represented by our Public Relations Director Michele Mase and our Distributor Eric Forrest of VICTIMS WITHOUT VOICES (VWV) presenting our unique technology at the GSSHSC Conference by introducing our 'ZERO-RADIATION' Passive Portal Walk-Through Weapons Detector at the State of Georgia School Safety Conference. Eric Forrest of VWV and Michele Mase will without any doubt, be a driving force to secure our company's place as a 'Modern' safety and security system," says President Merrill Moses. About DTII and its subsidiary 'Passive Security Scan, Inc' (PSSI). Defense Technologies Intl Corp. (OTC Pink: DTII) - is a security technology company known for their Patented 'Passive Scanning Technology"' (US Patent 7408461) and their 'Passive Portal"', a non-invasive, passive, walk-through advanced body scanner, which detects subtle changes in the Earth's magnetic field caused by the presence of weapons (guns, knives, etc.) that may be concealed by an individual. The Passive Portal produces ZERO-RADIATION and poses no human health risk. For more information please see: https://www.passiveportal.com/safety. The EBT Station, DTII's latest technology, features Elevated Body Temperature and optionalmask detection, which scans people's temperature with zero contact and can provide contacttracing of the people scanned. The Passive Portal" and the EBT Station are crucial tools inthe fight against Terrorism, violent crimes, and infectious disease spread.For more information about Defense Technologies International,please visithttp://defensetechnologiesintl.com/. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking" statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Contact: Defense Technologies International Merrill W. Moses, President & CEO Phone: 800 520-9485 Email: [email protected] To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170621 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Dynasty Gold Corp. (TSXV: DYG) (FSE: D5G1) (OTC Pink: DGDCF) ("Dynasty" or the "Company") is pleased to report assay results received from new sampling of previously unsampled sections of core from holes DP22-02 and DP22-03 from the last drill program. Mineralization in DP22-03 has been extended from 51 meters to 73.5 meters at an average grade of 8.42 g/t gold, which includes 6.5 meters of 72.23 g/t gold. Additionally, the recalculated assays in DP22-02 have improved the average grade from 189 meters to 223.5 meters to 5.98 g/t gold (See Table 1 below). "We are pleased to receive these new assays from unsampled sections of the previously reported holes which significantly increase the grade and length of intersected mineralization. The Property has the geological characteristics consistent with an orogenic gold system. Historical drilling was primarily focused on near surface mineralization. Our last drilling program was designed to start testing the depth potential with our deepest holes drilled to date. We are excited to start our next drill program. This will give us a chance to expand on the known high-grade gold zones and test further at depth," states Ivy Chong, Chief Executive Officer. Drill holes DP22-02 and DP22-03 were drilled in open areas down-dip from drill hole TC07-02 that was drilled by Teck Resources Limited and returned 1.5 meters of 16 g/t gold. Mineralization generally correlates with magnetic "highs" as identified in the drone magnetic survey conducted in 2022. The 2022 drill holes demonstrate potential continuation of the high-grade gold mineralization in quartz-veined mafic metavolcanic rocks. For further details, please refer to the Company press release of January 10, 2023. Table 1. Assay Results: Hole # New Assay and Revised Assay Results Previously Reported (January 10, 2023) From - To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) From - To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) DP 22-02 189.0 - 223.5 34.5 5.98 189 - 214.5 25.5 5.37 DP 22-03 Including: 88.5 - 162.0 118.5 - 125.0 73.5 6.5 8.42 72.23 88.5 - 139.5 - 51.0 - 7.35 - Table 2. Drill Collar and Hole Information NAD83 Zone 15 Hole ID Easting Northing Elevation (m) Azimuth Dip Depth (m) DP22-02 534263 5471425 448 180 -60 300 DP22-03 534264 5471423 448 160 -60 201 The true widths of drill intercepts are not known. The 2023 drill program will be focused on testing for lateral and vertical extensions of the higher-grade gold mineralization as well as extending the Pelham zone to both the east and west. Quality Assurance & Quality Control The core was logged geologically and sample intervals selected in Dynasty's core shack in Dinorwic, Ontario. They were securely transported and diamond sawed in the presence of the Company's consulting geologist, and personally delivered to the ALS Global Geochemistry Laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Dynasty used ALS Global for Au-AA23 gold fire assays and the ME-ICP61 33 multi-elements packages for the minor element analyses. Oreas standards, blanks and duplicates were inserted into the sample stream to check on the comparative accuracy of the gold assays received. Gold fire assays and 4-acid-dissolution geochem analyses were conducted on the samples at the ALS Global Geochemistry Laboratory in Vancouver, B.C, and all gold values higher than 10 g/t were re-assayed by using Au-GRA21 gravimetric fire assays. The technical information in this release has been reviewed by Peter Holbek, P.Geo, M.Sc., an independent consultant and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. About Dynasty Gold Corp. Dynasty Gold Corp. is a Canadian exploration company currently focused on gold exploration in North America with projects located in the Manitou-Stormy Lake greenstone belt in Ontario and in the Midas gold camp in Nevada. The Company is currently advancing its Thundercloud gold resource in northwest Ontario. A NI 43-101 Independent Technical Report, September 27, 2021 can also be found on the Company and SEDAR websites. The 100% owned Golden Repeat gold project in the Midas gold camp in Elko County, Nevada, is surrounded by a number of large-scale operating mines. For more information, please visit the Company's website www.dynastygoldcorp.com. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DYNASTY GOLD CORP. "Ivy Chong" _________________________________ Ivy Chong, President & CEO For additional information please contact: Vancouver Office: Ivy Chong Phone: 604.633.2100. Email: [email protected] This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170667 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Eastern Platinum Limited (TSX: ELR) (JSE: EPS) ("Eastplats" or the "Company") announces that, further to its news releases dated April 24, 2023 and May 12, 2023, it has formed a special committee (the "Committee") consisting of two independent directors, George Graham Dorin and Xin (Alex) Guan. The Committee has commenced, together with independent special counsel retained by the Committee, an investigation and review of certain unproven whistleblower allegations, including allegations of undisclosed related party transactions pertaining to the sale of chrome concentrate at discounted prices. The Committee's investigation is well underway with information and documents obtained from management and interviews conducted with the CEO and CFO, respectively. Further, the Committee is engaging an e-discovery specialist to conduct a document discovery of the Company's servers to ensure that the Committee may review all relevant documents. Once this process is in place, the Committee will assess next steps. About Eastern Platinum Limited Eastplats owns directly and indirectly a number of PGM and chrome assets in the Republic of South Africa. All of the Company's properties are situated on the western limb (Crocodile River Mine) and eastern limb (Kennedy's Vale, Spitzkop Mareesburg) of the Bushveld Complex, the geological environment that hosts approximately 80% of the world's PGM-bearing ore. Operations at the Crocodile River Mine currently include re-mining and processing its tailings resource to produce PGM and chrome concentrates from the Barplats Zandfontein tailings dam. For further information, please contact: EASTERN PLATINUM LIMITED Wylie Hui, Chief Financial Officer & Corporate Secretary [email protected] (email) (604) 800-8200 (phone) Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This press release contains "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the investigation of the Committee and the engagement of an expert to conduct a document discovery. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "will," "plan," "intends," "may," "could," "expects," "anticipates" and similar expressions. Further disclosure of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and other forward-looking statements are discussed in the Company's Annual Information Form and Management's Discussion and Analysis which are available under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com. All forward-looking statements in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, the "Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information" section contained in the Company's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis available under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date they are given and, except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation, and does not undertake, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR THROUGH U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170657 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - MTB Metals Corp. (TSXV: MTB) (OTCQB: MBYMF) (FSE: M9U) ("MTB" or the "Company") has commenced field work in preparation for drilling the Telegraph porphyry copper-gold project. The MTB project shares geological features with four nearby world-class porphyry deposits, all being advanced by majors. The first phase of this program will be aimed at more precisely defining the targets for this initial drill plan. Interpretations of the results from last season and prior work will be confirmed with further field observations to optimize the drill hole locations. Other prospective targets are also being advanced on the 310 sq km property. Historic and more recent exploration has resulted in the discovery of numerous mineralized copper and gold showings throughout the Telegraph property, and together with the wide spread alteration noted in the area, confirms the presence of an extensive hydrothermal system that is interpreted to indicate the presence of one or more porphyry mineralization centres. Since the last field season, the exploration team's focus has been to better understand the spatial distribution of the mineralization and alteration and to understand how the various mineral showings fit into recognized porphyry models. This insight is being used to guide the upcoming exploration and drilling program. Lawrence Roulston, CEO of MTB, noted: "Multiple exploration approaches have been applied by MTB and previous operators. The close alignment of the various results on the Dok Trend make this a prospective drill target in any setting. The geologic setting, hydrothermal alteration, geochemistry, and geophysics combine to define a compelling target. Having this alignment of characteristics in the same area and the same geological setting as four known world-class porphyry deposits makes it even more compelling. Other targets are also looking very promising. In addition to the primary drill target, we plan to have other targets ready for an initial drill test." Recent work by MTB has greatly enhanced the understanding of this extensive geological system: Inversions of the historic airborne magnetic geophysics data has led to a better understanding of the geometry of the identified as well as the inferred intrusions that potentially host porphyry mineralization (Figure 1). Evaluation and re-examination of geochemical results from the historic and recent programs, including element ratios and porphyry indicator ratios, has helped to determine the alteration zoning and potential fertility within the hydrothermal system. Short Wavelength InfraRed (SWIR) analysis of samples collected during the last two seasons was used to identify chlorite, clays, and white mica. The white mica crystallinity has helped vector toward the hotter centre of potential porphyry hydrothermal systems. Hyperspectral data from Sentinel and Aster 2 satellite imagery was used to identify clay and phyllic alteration as well as to identify hot vs cold white mica (Figure 2). Samples from the host stratigraphy and local intrusions are being dated through uranium-lead zircon geochemistry. Knowing the ages for the various geological units will help distinguish units on site and correlate to regional units. In addition, the zircons can be used as porphyry indicator minerals. Results from these studies have identified numerous porphyry targets within extensive zones of alteration. The geological team's objective for this field season is to ground-truth and rank the identified targets followed by testing priority targets with drilling. The geologists will have a handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer on site, which will provide real-time estimates of lithology, pathfinder and ore elements including copper. A field spectrometer will also be on site to help characterize alteration assemblages and mineralogy. These devices will result in a more efficient field program and the ability to make decisions on drilling without having to wait for assays from the lab. Figure 1: Magnetization Vector Inversion (MVI) following depth slice at -300 metres with 2014 drill collar locations and trace of Induced Polarization (IP) chargeability anomaly. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5332/170652_c754271dc423faf6_001full.jpg Figure 2: A property wide hyperspectral survey was conducted. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) images were interpreted to identify phyllic alteration, an important aspect of the porphyry alteration halo. The survey identified alteration areas that overlap with favourable geochemistry and deep magnetic features. Subarea windowed from the project area of interest that shows examples of ASTER white mica analysis overlain on the true color image with the file name "TG_S2_TrueColor". Values are shown where the muscovite mineral maps indicate a high likelihood of muscovite being present. TOP LEFT: The 2200 nm feature location in the area showing a gradient between paragonitic (blue) and phengitic (red) white mica. TOP RIGHT: Muscovite crystallinity index indicates multiple high temperature muscovite anomalies in the area. BOTTOM LEFT: Linear stretch image of the phyllic alteration index. Red circles show coincident highs between the 2200 nm feature, muscovite crystallinity and phyllic index. The observed signatures are consistent with porphyry alteration. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5332/170652_figure_2.jpg Lucia Theny, Vice President Exploration commented: "Looking at several of the datasets together and with different lenses has helped us refine our areas of interest. Hitting the ground with a pointed approach will facilitate quick evaluation and expediate several showings to drill ready targets. I am very excited for the upcoming quick paced field season!" About MTB MTB has six active projects spanning 670 square kilometres (67,587 hectares) in the prolific Golden Triangle of northern British Columbia. With the focus on the Telegraph project, discussions are now underway leading to joint ventures and/or spinouts of other projects. Telegraph is located in the vicinity of 4 world-class porphyry deposits being advanced by major mining companies: Galore (Teck / Newmont), Schaft (Teck), Saddle (Newmont) and the operating Red Chris copper-gold mine (Newcrest / Imperial Metals). Field work by MTB on its 310 square kilometre property, together with earlier results, provides compelling evidence for the presence of one or more porphyrys, similar to others in the area. The American Creek project is centered on the historic Mountain Boy silver mine. The project is road accessible and 20 km from the deep-water port of Stewart. There are multiple silver, gold and copper occurrences on the property, including a 2006 drill hole that encountered 5 kgs of silver over 5 metres. Red Cliff is a past producing gold and copper mine in which the Company holds a 35% interest. On the BA property, 182 drill holes have outlined a substantial zone of silver-lead-zinc mineralization located 4 km from the highway. Several targets with high-grade silver potential remain to be tested. Surprise Creek, to the north, hosts the same prospective stratigraphy. On the Theia project, work by MTB and previous explorers has outlined a silver bearing mineralized trend 500 metres long, highlighted by a 2020 grab sample that returned 39 kg per tonne silver (1,100 ounces per ton). Two other zones on the property produced copper values over 5%. Southmore is in the midst of some of the largest deposits in the Golden Triangle. It was explored in the 1980s through the early 1990s and was overlooked until MTB consolidated the property and carried out airborne geophysics and field work which confirmed several zones of gold and copper, with values up to 20% copper and 35 g/t gold. On behalf of the Board of Directors: Lawrence Roulston President & CEO For further information, contact: Caroline Klukowski [email protected] 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 may contain certain "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this news release 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/170652 Spain wants to show off before the worlds major investors. In October, Madrid will host the annual meeting of the International Forum for Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF), an association that includes representatives of the investment vehicles of the Persian Gulf monarchies. Event organizers have already booked the Prado Museum, the Royal Collections Gallery (which King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will inaugurate next week) and the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Art, monarchy and Real Madrid to seduce the petrodollars. Spain joined this London-based organization only three years ago. The IFSWF does not include all of the worlds big investment vehicles (for example, Norways mega Government Pension Fund is missing), but it does include the investment branches of the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Investment Corporation of Dubai, Mubadala), Qatar, Oman, China (CIC, China Investment Corporation), Singapore (GIC), Australia, France... Meeting of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds in Marrakesh in 2018. The October event in Madrid is being organized by Cofides (Compania Espanola de Financiacion del Desarrollo), a public-private joint stock company that offers financial support to viable private projects in emerging or developing countries in which there is a Spanish interest. For Cofides president Jose Luis Curbelo, it is a unique opportunity to show off Spains status as a very attractive destination for investment to the leaders of some of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world. 37 members In addition to the large funds from the Persian Gulf, China and Singapore, there are some 20 public or semi-public investment vehicles from countries in Africa, Asia, America and Oceania. There is also an investment fund from Alaska. The group was created in 2008 to agree on a series of commitments on governance issues and, in recent years, has steadily added new countries. Its members manage investments totaling 5.2 trillion, representing 80% of all money channeled through sovereign wealth funds. The organization of the IFSWF annual meeting will coincide with Spains presidency of the Council of the European Union during the second half of the year. The great unknown is who will be representing the Spanish government at the time, since the early election on July 23 could end Prime Ministers Pedro Sanchez term in office. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Getchell Gold Corp. (CSE: GTCH) (OTCQB: GGLDF) ("Getchell" or the "Company") is pleased to announce significant additions to its corporate development team and strategic partnerships to enhance and manage its marketing initiatives. The Company has engaged Blue Summit Ventures as its social media marketing partner, appointed Fairfax Partners as corporate development consultants, and welcomes Daniel Southan-Dwyer as Vice President of Corporate Development. In line with the Company's commitment to leveraging digital platforms for effective marketing, Getchell has partnered with Blue Summit Ventures, a social media marketing agency. Blue Summit will oversee Getchell's social media campaigns, harnessing the power of various platforms to raise awareness of Getchell, engage with stakeholders, and communicate the Company's ongoing advancements in the mineral exploration sector. Fairfax Partners, a renowned consulting firm specializing in corporate development and growth strategies, has been selected by Getchell to provide their expertise in managing corporate development initiatives. With a strong track record of assisting companies in achieving sustainable growth, Fairfax Partners will play a pivotal role in shaping Getchell Gold's long-term strategic vision and continued development. Getchell Gold is also pleased to welcome Daniel Southan-Dwyer as VP of Corporate Development. Mr. Southan-Dwyer has an impressive background in corporate finance and business development. He brings a wealth of experience to the Company and his expertise in identifying strategic opportunities, executing partnerships, and driving growth initiatives will be instrumental in strengthening Getchell's position within the industry. "We are delighted with our engagement of Fairfax Partners and Blue Summit Marketing, and welcome Daniel Southan-Dwyer to our team. These strategic moves align with our commitment to expand our corporate development efforts and enhance our marketing capabilities. With their exceptional expertise, we are confident that we will achieve new milestones and unlock the full potential of Getchell Gold." said Mike Sieb, President. Blue Summit has agreed to provide investor relations and communications services to the company in exchange for an aggregate amount of CAD $175,000. The services will include continuing social media consultation regarding engagement and enhancement, social sentiment reporting, social engagement reporting, discussion forum monitoring and reporting, corporate video dissemination, and investor relations services. The initial term of the Blue Summit agreement is for a period of 6 months. As of the date hereof, to the Company's knowledge, Blue Summit (including its directors and officers) do not own any securities of the Company. About Getchell Gold Corp. The Company is a Nevada focused gold and copper exploration company trading on the CSE: GTCH and OTCQB: GGLDF. Getchell Gold is primarily directing its efforts on its most advanced stage asset, Fondaway Canyon, a past gold producer with a significant in-the-ground current resource estimate. Complementing Getchell's asset portfolio is Dixie Comstock, a past gold producer with a historic resource and two earlier stage exploration projects, Star (Cu-Au-Ag) and Hot Springs Peak (Au). Getchell has the option to acquire 100% of the Fondaway Canyon and Dixie Comstock properties, Churchill County, Nevada. For further information please visit the Company's website at www.getchellgold.com or contact the Company at [email protected]. On Behalf of the Board, Bill Wagener Chairman and CEO Getchell Gold Corp. 1-647-249-4798 [email protected] The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed this press release and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Certain information contained herein constitutes "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the use of proceeds. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "will" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Although management of Getchell have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The Company will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170666 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Goldstorm Metals Corp. (TSXV: GSTM) (FSE: B2U) (the "Company" or "Goldstorm") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Jeff Rowe to the board of directors of the Company. Additionally, the Company announces that Mr. Sean Pownall has resigned as a director of Goldstorm but will remain involved serving the Company as a technical advisor. Mr. Rowe, P.Geo. has specialized in mineral exploration for more than 40 years, focusing on precious and base metals, primarily in British Columbia, the Yukon, and Mexico. Mr. Rowe was employed by Cordilleran Engineering Ltd. for more than 15 years and subsequently joined C.J. Greig & Associates Ltd., a geological consulting services team highly regarded for its technical expertise. Through these associations he has provided professional assistance to a number of public companies, including geological field work, property evaluations and technical reports. In particular, Mr. Rowe was involved in the discovery of the Silvertip deposit in northern BC, one of the highest-grade silver-zinc-lead operations in the world currently owned by Coeur Mining, as well as the discovery and development of the Elk deposit in southern BC, a high-grade gold vein system that produced direct-smelter-shipping ore from open pit excavations in the 1990's, currently being developed by Gold Mountain Mining Corp. Ken Konkin, President and CEO, comments, "It is my pleasure to welcome the addition of Jeff Rowe to the company's board of directors. We are delighted to have Jeff join our team, and eagerly anticipate his valuable contributions in his new role with the board as we continue to advance our Crown and Electrum properties, located in the prolific Golden Triangle Region of British Columbia." Goldstorm is also pleased to announce that it has engaged Ringler Consulting and Research GmbH (Carsten Ringler) as its Head of Investor Relations. Under the terms of the contract, Ringler Consulting will receive up to 3,500 per month and 100,000 incentive stock options subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval and policies for investor relations consultants. About Goldstorm Metals Goldstorm Metals Corp. is a new precious and base metals exploration company with a large strategic land position in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia, an area that hosts some of the largest and highest-grade gold deposits in the world. Goldstorm's flagship Crown Project covers approximately a total of 16,469 hectares; situated directly south of Seabridge's KSM gold-copper deposits and Newmont's Brucejack gold mine. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF GOLDSTORM METALS CORP. "Ken Konkin" Ken Konkin President and Chief Executive Officer For further information, please visit the Company's website at https://goldstormmetals.com/or contact: Chris Curran Head of Corporate Development and Communications Phone: (604) 559 8092 E-Mail: [email protected] or Carsten Ringler Head of Investor Relations and Communications Phone: +49 151 55362000 E-Mail: [email protected] 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 Statements This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding future estimates, plans, objectives, timing, assumptions or expectations of future performance, including without limitation, the statement regarding the expectation geologists are expected to complete a compilation study this winter once all assay results are received. Such statement is forward-looking statements and contains forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "occur". Forward-looking statements are based on certain material assumptions and analysis made by Goldstorm and the opinions and estimates of management as of the date of this press release, including that geologists will complete a compilation study this winter once all assay results are received. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Goldstorm to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Important factors that may cause actual results to vary, include, without limitation that geologists will not complete a compilation study this winter or at all. Although management of Goldstorm has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Goldstorm does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170718 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - IMAGINE LITHIUM INC.(TSXV: ILI) (OTCQB: ARXRF)(the "Company" or "Imagine") is pleased to announce the start of its 2023 summer drill program at the Jackpot lithium project following the recent closing of a $9.1 million private placement (April 28, 2023 press release).The program will consist of a minimum of 10,000 metres of diamond drilling on the Jackpot lithium property. The Jackpot property is located within the rapidly emerging lithium camp in the Georgia Lake Area, approximately 140 km north-east of Thunder Bay, Ontario (Figure 1). The initial drill target is a newly identified lithium bearing pegmatite that has been traced at surface for more than 500 m of strike. This target has been sampled but not drilled to date and the Company intends to drill a minimum of 8 holes to confirm its depth and strike extension. Once complete, Imagine Lithium will focus on expansion of the Jackpot Main Zone to the east, plus several new lithium bearing pegmatite targets to the west, northwest, and northeast, covering a trend of more than 3 km (Figure 2). J.C. St-Amour, President of Imagine, commented, "With a bolstered treasury and great drill results from our winter program, I am excited to implement our extensive exploration plans on Jackpot; testing new lithium pegmatites that have not been drilled as well as expanding our Main Zone at Jackpot. In addition to drilling, we have also deployed a team of geologists to prospect the entirety of the vast Jackpot land package." Figure 1:Jackpot Property located next to Trans Canada Highway, power, port, railroad, and workforce. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2962/170676_43e07f2f54a119c9_001full.jpg Figure 2:Map of drill target areas to be investigated in 2023 near the Main Jackpot Zone. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2962/170676_43e07f2f54a119c9_002full.jpg Qualified Person The technical content of this news release was approved by Michel Boily, PhD, P.Geo, an Independent Qualified Person as defined by the National Instrument 43-101. About Imagine Lithium Inc. Imagine is a junior mining exploration company focused on seeking and acquiring world-class mineral projects. The company holds the Jackpot lithium property located in the Georgia Lake area about 140 km NNE of Thunder Bay, Ontario, is approximately 12 km by road from the TransCanada Highway (Hwy 11), and is in proximity to sources of power, railroads, and ports. The property contains known lithium-bearing granitic pegmatite dikes, of which two provided estimated historical resources of 2 million tons at 1.09% Li 2 O and 750,000 tons at 1.38% Li 2 O*. * The estimates presented above are treated as historical information and have not been verified or relied upon for economic evaluation by the Company. These historical mineral resources do not refer to any category of sections 1.2 and 1.3 of NI-43-101 such as mineral resources or mineral reserves as stated in the 2010 CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. The explanation lies in the inability by the Company to verify the data acquired by the various historical drilling campaigns. The Company has not done sufficient work yet to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "J.C. St-Amour" J.C. St-Amour, President FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Telephone: +1-604-683-3995 Toll Free: 1-888-945-4770 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, 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. Investors 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. These forward -looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at WWW.SEDAR.COM). To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170676 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - IMPACT Silver Corp. (TSXV: IPT) ("IMPACT" or the "Company") is pleased to provide a corporate update on the Company's recently acquired, high-grade Plomosas zinc-lead-silver mine located in Chihuahua State, Mexico. Following the completion of the Plomosas mine acquisition (see IMPACT news release dated April 3rd 2023), the Company immediately commenced an extensive program at site to revitalize and upgrade operations and equipment, and bring on new technical and supervisory staff. Planned upgrades will allow for an expansion of production and an aggressive exploration program has been prepared to potentially grow the size of the existing resource. Mine, Mill and Plant: The Company expects to initially restart production in 2H/2023 at levels that allow management to consider further modifications and efficiencies, where required. More meaningful production levels approaching design capacity as well as associated revenue is expected in 1H/2024. Mine planning and rehabilitation have been ongoing while the Company replaces and repairs underground equipment including scooptrams and underground trucks. The Company is in the process of replacing mill foundations while upgrading the ball mill, conveyor and crushing systems, and flotation cells. Design capacity of the mill is 150 tpd with plans to expand. Plans are in place to expand the existing tailings pond and concurrently, a new larger tailings pond is in the design and permitting stages. These efforts will provide some additional capacity to re-establish and grow output at the mill in the near-term, while providing the Company with substantial tailings capacity for future production increases. Substantial cost saving options are potentially available to the Company as management considers alternate electric power options as well as various changes in mining methods and mineral processing technologies. Exploration: The Company is preparing stations for an underground drill program in the mine and drilling permits have been submitted for the upcoming surface program. One Company-owned surface drill rig has arrived on site, and a second (underground) rig is currently being manufactured and is expected to be delivered mid-summer. In addition to the high-grade resource already established at Plomosas, substantial exploration potential exists across the 6km long structure on the property with just 600m having been explored to date. The current JORC mineral resource 1 by the previous operator totals 215,000 tonnes grading 13.5% zinc, 6.3% lead and 34.0 g/t silver (indicated), and 772,000 tonnes grading 13.1% zinc, 3.0% lead and 19.0 g/t silver (inferred), at a 3% zinc cut-off at December 2021. In recent years, a significant amount of the mill feed came from outside the known resource, providing encouragement that exploration drilling may substantially increase the Plomosas' resource over time. The Company expects to deliver drill results later on in 2023 and early 2024 from its maiden exploration programs. Other exploration targets on the property include untested intrusion-related gold-copper targets with historical high-grade grab samples from surface prospecting. Photo 1. Ongoing Work at Plomosas Mill To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4729/170691_5ce21878c430085c_003full.jpg ABOUT IMPACT SILVER IMPACT Silver Corp. (TSXV: IPT) is a successful intermediate mineral producer and explorer with multiple mining projects in Mexico. Royal Mines of Zacualpan Silver-Gold District: IMPACT owns 100% of the 211 km2 Zacualpan project where four underground silver mines and one open pit mine feed the central 500 tpd Guadalupe processing plant. To the south, the Capire Project includes a 200 tpd processing pilot plant adjacent to an open pit silver mine with an NI/43-101 inferred mineral resource of over 4.5/million oz silver, 48 million lbs zinc and 21 million lbs lead. (see IMPACT news release dated January 18, 2016, for details and QP statement below, and Footnote 3 for report reference). Company engineers are reviewing Capire for a potential restart of operations to leverage improving commodity prices. Over the past 17 years, IMPACT has developed multiple exploration zones into commercial production and has produced over 12 million ounces of silver, generating revenues of more than $241 million. Plomosas Zinc-Lead-Silver District: Plomosas is a high-grade zinc-lead-silver producer with exceptional exploration upside potential. The Company aims to recommence operations in the near term followed by plans for expanding operations. Exploration potential at Plomosas is exceptional with only 600m of the 6 km-long structure having been explored to date. This is in addition to other exploration targets on the 3,019-hectare property including untested copper-gold targets with high-grade surface prospecting samples2. Regionally, Plomosas lies in the same mineral belt as some of the largest carbonate replacement deposits in the world. Additional information about IMPACT and its operations can be found on the Company website at www.impactsilver.com. Follow us on Twitter @IMPACT_Silver and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/impactsilver Qualified Person and NI 43-101 Disclosure George Gorzynski, P.Eng., a Director and officer of IMPACT Silver Corp., is a "Qualified Person" within the meaning of NI 43-101, and has approved the technical information contained in this news release. On behalf of IMPACT Silver Corp. "Frederick W. Davidson" President & CEO For more information, please contact: Jerry Huang CFO | Investor Relations (604) 664-7707 or [email protected] (778) 887 6489 Direct 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. Footnotes: 1. Plomosas mineral resources were reported by the previous mine owner, Consolidated Zinc Ltd. (CZL:ASX), on their website (https://www.consolidatedzinc.com.au) under the Australian JORC (2012) Code as mineral resources "depleted as at December 2021". IMPACT's Qualified Person has reviewed but not verified in detail these current reported mineral resources and is only reporting them as material recent mineral resources reported by CZL and available in the public record. IMPACT believes the estimates are relevant and reliable, given they are reported to Australian JORC standards; however, IMPACT's Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify them as current Canadian NI 43-101 mineral resources. 2. Reference: Alexandri, A. Gonzalez, H., & Salas, H. (2022). Plomosas Project (CZL), Field Visit Report. IMPACT Silver Corp. private report on field visits and compilation of historic and recent data, 56 pages. 3. Reference: Ristorcelli, S.J. & Gorzynski, G. (2016). Technical Report on Mineral Resources for the Capire Silver-Lead-Zinc Project, Pedro Ascencio Alquisiras Municipality, Guerrero, Mexico. Prepared for IMPACT Silver Corp. by Mine Development Associates, Reno, Nevada. 82 pages. Available on www.sedar.com. Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements This IMPACT News Release may contain certain "forward-looking" statements and information relating to IMPACT that is based on the beliefs of IMPACT management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to IMPACT management. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "planned", "expect", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intends", "believe", "potential", and similar expressions, or describes a "goal", or variation of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "should", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the potential for defining and extending the known mineralization at Plomosas, and plans for drilling and future operations at the Company's projects. Such forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks and assumptions, including with respect to, without limitations, exploration and development risks, expenditure and financing requirements, title matters, operating hazards, metal prices, political and economic factors, competitive factors, general economic conditions, relationships with vendors and strategic partners, governmental regulation and supervision, seasonality, technological change, industry practices, and one-time events. Should any one or more risks or uncertainties materialize or change, or should any underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and forward-looking statements may vary materially from those described herein. IMPACT does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement. The Company's decision to place a mine into production, expand a mine, make other production related decisions or otherwise carry out mining and processing operations, is largely based on internal non-public Company data and reports based on exploration, development and mining work by the Company's geologists and engineers. The results of this work are evident in the discovery and building of multiple mines for the Company and in the track record of mineral production and financial returns of the Company since 2006. Under NI 43-101 the Company is required to disclose that it has not based its production decisions on NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource or reserve estimates, preliminary economic assessments or feasibility studies, and historically such projects have increased uncertainty and risk of failure. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170691 Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Resverlogix Corp. (TSX: RVX) ("Resverlogix", or the "Corporation") today held its Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the "Meeting") in Calgary, Alberta. During business proceedings at the Meeting, shareholders elected five (5) Board members until the next annual meeting. The voting results of shares represented at the Meeting for individual directors were as follows: Votes For Votes Withheld Percent For Percent Withheld Donald J. McCaffrey 122,884,287 11,547,550 91.41% 8.59% Shawn Lu 123,340,266 11,091,571 91.75% 8.25% Kelly McNeill 127,204,762 7,227,075 94.62% 5.38% Siu Lun (Dicky) To 127,856,904 6,574,933 95.11% 4.89% Kenneth Zuerblis 129,096,743 5,335,094 96.03% 3.97% Resverlogix shareholders approved all resolutions outlined in the Notice of Meeting and Management Information Circular dated May 10, 2023 (the "Information Circular"). The Information Circular is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and on the Resverlogix website at www.resverlogix.com. A webcast archive of the executive presentation portion of the Meeting will be available HERE. About Resverlogix Founded in 2001, Resverlogix is a Calgary-based, late-stage, biotechnology company and the world leader in epigenetics, with the goal of developing first-in-class therapies for the benefit of patients with chronic disease. Our new class of epigenetic therapies are designed to regulate the expression of disease-causing genes. We aim to improve patients' lives by restoring biological functions - altered by serious illnesses such as cardiovascular disease - back to a healthier state. The Company's clinical program is focused on evaluating our lead candidate apabetalone for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and associated comorbidities, and post COVID-19 conditions. Resverlogix common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RVX). Follow us: For further information please contact: Investor Relations Email: [email protected] Phone: 403-254-9252 www.resverlogix.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170764 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Sabre Gold Mines Corp. (TSX: SGLD) (OTCQB: SGLDF) ("Sabre Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") on the 100% owned Copperstone Mine ("Copperstone" or "Project") in Arizona, USA. The study has resulted in robust post-tax economics which, due to pre-existing infrastructure on surface and underground, result in both low initial capital and an overall low capital intensity ratio on a per ounce basis. The project benefits from its significant tax assets and recently reduced royalty encumbrance while also having potential for resource expansion and further exploration success. The Preliminary Economic Assessment supports a high-grade gold underground mining operation at Copperstone producing an average of 40,765 payable oz gold per year for just over a 5-and-a-half-year mine life. Sabre Gold's management worked with Hard Rock Consulting, LLC ("HRC") to complete the PEA, which included comprehensive reviews of the construction, operations and costs, to provide confidence for potential project commencement and completion within budget and schedule. Trade off studies will continue on initial capital items and initial earthworks will commence as soon as the Company moves towards a formal construction decision. The Company will also continue to have discussions with potential providers of initial construction capital. In accordance with National Instrument 43-101, the Company has engaged HRC to complete a technical report in support of the PEA, which will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of this news release. The Company notes that mineral resources are not mineral reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability. The Company notes that a preliminary economic assessment is preliminary in nature, it includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic consideration applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized. The PEA base case assumes a gold price of $1,800 per oz and the PEA also presents project sensitivities using a range of spot gold prices between $1,600 to $2,000 per oz. All currency references herein are in US$. Highlights from the Preliminary Economic Assessment Consistent Production - Models an underground mine operation that will process 198,000 tonnes of ore at 544 tonnes per day ("tpd") over the 5.6-year mine life ("LOM"). Models an underground mine operation that will process 198,000 tonnes of ore at 544 tonnes per day ("tpd") over the 5.6-year mine life ("LOM"). Excellent Payback Period - The mine plan sequences the high-grade portions of the resource in early years to optimize grade and cash flow resulting in a payback period of less than 2 years and generating nearly $90m in after-tax cumulative undiscounted cash flow. - The mine plan sequences the high-grade portions of the resource in early years to optimize grade and cash flow resulting in a payback period of less than 2 years and generating nearly $90m in after-tax cumulative undiscounted cash flow. Low Initial Capital - Significant site infrastructure, such as pre-existing tailings and processing facilities, surface buildings and rehabilitated underground development allow for reduced upfront construction cost and low initial capital per payable gold ounce produced over the LOM. - Significant site infrastructure, such as pre-existing tailings and processing facilities, surface buildings and rehabilitated underground development allow for reduced upfront construction cost and low initial capital per payable gold ounce produced over the LOM. Fully Licensed and Permitted - Permits are in place for initial construction and subsequent operation of the project as well as the necessary water and surface rights. Minor modifications required for the revised mine plan and flow sheet as a result of the PEA will be addressed as required in the coming months by the Company. - Permits are in place for initial construction and subsequent operation of the project as well as the necessary water and surface rights. Minor modifications required for the revised mine plan and flow sheet as a result of the PEA will be addressed as required in the coming months by the Company. Base Case Financial Results: Base Case $1800/oz Au Valuation Sensitivity at $2,000/oz Au After- tax NPV (5%) $61.2 million $88.7 After-tax IRR 50.3% 71.0% Payback Period 1.8 years 1.3 years Initial Capital $36.3 million $36.3 million Sustaining Capital $52.1 million $52.1 million LOM Cash Cost per oz gold payable $1,016 $1,036 LOM All-in sustaining per oz gold payable ("AISC") $1,290 $1,310 Pre-tax cumulative undiscounted free cash flow(1) $88.8 million $130.1 million After-tax cumulative undiscounted free cash flow (1) $85.9 million $120.8 million Abbreviations include: NPV = net present value, IRR = internal rate of return, LOM = life of mine, AISC = all-in sustaining cost. "With the completion of the Preliminary Economic Assessment, the Copperstone project is now advancing towards detailed engineering, financing and a final construction decision. The results published today support the construction of our first mine. We believe there are further opportunities to optimize the project economics through possible capital reductions and to also increase the mineral resource. It is our belief that with the restart of drilling at the Project, there is potential to add significant ounces to the mine design and mine life at Copperstone," commented Andrew Elinesky, CEO & President. "There are very few gold projects that are fully permitted and licensed to commence construction and operations while also being located in a favourable jurisdiction such as the Copperstone Project. The Preliminary Economic Assessment reflects a tremendous amount of rigour and work required to move the project towards financial due diligence. We are very pleased to deliver this important milestone for our shareholders, employees, the local communities, and other stakeholders. We believe the Preliminary Economic Assessment provides a well-designed, comprehensive plan." Location, Access, Physiography, Infrastructure The Copperstone property is located 125 miles west of Phoenix, Arizona and is accessed via Interstate I-10 to the town of Quartzsite, Arizona. The site access road is located about 9 miles north of Quartzsite along US Highway 95. The access road is a well-maintained gravel road, Cyprus Mine Road, that travels west for 5.5 miles to the project site. The Project is situated on the flat, sandy desert terrain of the La Posa Plain, at the northeastern end of the Dome Rock Mountains, and is surrounded by a natural desert scrub environment. Major supply centres and ample skilled and unskilled labour is available locally, in Phoenix and in Yuma. Access to the Sante Fe rail line is available nearby, and international air service and railway access are both available in Phoenix. Property, History, Geology, Mineralization The Copperstone Project encompasses approximately 13.8 square miles of surface area and mineral rights in La Paz County, County, Arizona. The Project is wholly owned by Sabre Gold, which controls the 546 federal unpatented mining claims and two Arizona state mineral leases which together comprise the Copperstone Project area. Prior production at Copperstone included open pit mining with a 2,500 tpd carbon-in-pulp heap leach from 1987 to 1993 with reported production of 514,000 oz of gold from 5,600,000 tons of ore grading 0.089 oz/t (2.8 g/t) of gold. In 2011, a 450 tpd floatation mill was built on site and in 2012 underground mining commenced from two declines that were previously developed in the bottom of the open pit. Operations took place from January 2012 to July 2013 with reported production of approximately 16,900 oz of gold from 163,000 tons of ore grading 0.104 oz/t (3.2g/t) of gold. Sabre Gold owns 100% of the Copperstone Project which is situated at the northern tip of the Moon Mountains in west-central Arizona, regionally within the Basin and Range geo-physiographic province, and within the westernmost extent of the Whipple-Buckskin-Rawhide detachment system. Mid-Tertiary low-angle normal faults (detachment faults) are recognized as significant regional structures in this portion of the Basin and Range, where major detachment faults are associated with mylonitization of lower-plate rocks and brittle faulting and rotation of upper-plate rocks. Mineral Resources The Preliminary Economic Assessment provides a revised mine plan from the previously completed studies, including revised resource estimates, mining methods, mining dilution and recovery assumptions. The revised resource estimate uses high yield restriction methodology to ensure that the influence of the high-grade samples did not extend beyond their observed range of continuity. 2023 Copperstone Resource Estimate Tonnes Au (g/t) Au (koz) Measured 750,000 8.12 196,000 Indicated 457,000 7.09 104,000 Measured & Indicated 1,207,000 7.74 300,000 Inferred 970,000 6.30 197,000 Mineral Resources have an effective date of February 15, 2023. The Qualified Person responsible for the Mineral Resource estimate is Mr. Richard A. Schwering, P.G., SME-RM, an employee of Hard Rock Consulting, LLC. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Inferred mineral resources are that part of a mineral resource for which the grade or quality are estimated on the basis of limited geological evidence and sampling. Inferred mineral resources do not have demonstrated economic viability and may not be converted to a mineral reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of Inferred mineral resources could be upgraded to Indicated mineral resources with continued exploration. The mineral resource is reported at an underground mining cut-off of 0.092 oz/ton (3.15 g/t) Au beneath the historic open pit and within coherent wireframe models, and for estimated blocks which meet the criteria of a minable shape. The cut-off is based on the following assumptions: a gold price of $1,800/oz; assumed mining cost of $90/ton ($99.21/tonne), process costs of $47/ton ($51.81/tonne), general and administrative and property/severance tax costs of $15.00/ton ($16.53/tonne), refining and shipping costs of $12.00/oz, a metallurgical recovery for gold of 95%, and a 3.0% gross royalty. Rounding may result in apparent differences when summing tonnes, grade and contained metal content. Tonnage and grade measurements are in Metric units. Contained metal is reported as troy ounces. Initial and Sustaining Capital The initial capital cost of the project is $36.3 million, to be incurred over a 14-month period including construction and ramp up to full production. Initial capital intensity is quite low when compared to the gold ounces produced during the life of mine and is calculated as $158 per payable gold ounce produced. Cumulative sustaining capital(1) is estimated at $52.1 million with over 60% spent in operating years 1-3 for the underground mine development and tailings management facilities. Metric ($ million) Initial Sustaining Total LOM Underground Mine Development $9.2 $24.4 $33.6 Tailings Management Facility - $4.4 $4.4 Mineral Processing Plant $11.6 - $11.6 On-site Infrastructure $8.9 $17.7 $26.6 Total Direct Costs $29.7 $46.5 $76.2 Owner Costs and Reclamation $0.6 $1.2 $1.8 Project Indirect Costs $1.7 - $1.7 Contingency $4.3 $4.4 $8.7 Total Indirect Costs $6.6 $5.6 $12.2 TOTAL $36.3 $52.1 $88.4 Operating, Cash and All-in Sustaining Costs Operating Costs $/oz Au $/t Ore Mining $512.88 $105.58 Processing $253.69 $52.23 Site G&A $85.05 $17.52 Transportation & Refining $12.84 $2.65 CASH OPERATING COSTS $864.46 $177.98 Royalties and Stream $143.10 $29.46 Production Taxes $8.76 $1.81 TOTAL CASH COSTS $1,016.32 $209.25 Reclamation $5.26 $1.08 Sustaining Capital $268.65 $55.30 ALL-IN SUSTAINING COSTS $1,290.33 $265.63 Free Cash Flow The average annual after-tax free cash flow is $15.3 million and the cumulative LOM after-tax free cash flow are estimated at $85.9 million. The Company has a large tax asset base which significantly reduces the tax impacts on cash flow. Project Sensitivities At base case prices and a 5% discount rate, the after tax NPV and IRR are most sensitive to gold prices and to a much lesser extent capital ("CapEx") and operating expenditures ("OpEx"). Sensitivity Table Gold Price After Tax NPV (millions) After Tax IRR $1,500 $14.9 16.5% $1,600 $31.06 28.4% $1,700 $47.2 39.8% $1,800 (Base Case) $61.2 50.3% $1,900 $75.0 60.8% $2,000 $88.7 71.0% $2,100 $102.4 81.2% Sensitivity Table Movement OPEX NPV (millions) OPEX IRR Initial CAPEX NPV (millions) Initial CAPEX IRR -20% $84.3 65.5% $74.5 76.3% -10% $73.0 58.1% $68.0 61.8% Base Case $61.2 50.3% $61.2 50.3% 10% $49.4 42.3% $54.4 41.2% 20% $35.9 33.2% $47.8 33.8% Mining Operations Due to historic underground mining that has taken place on the property in 2012 and 2013 and an exploration drift established in 2017, there is currently approximately 4,000 meters of underground access development, most of which was rehabilitated in the fall of 2021. Copperstone will be a mechanized ramp access, underground mine, producing a designed average of 544 tonnes (600 tons) per day. The mine plan is for Cut and Fill mining using Rock Fill ("RF") and Cemented Rock Fill ("CRF"). The mine design is based on a cut-off grade 3.34 grams per tonne (0.107 opt) with 28.9% internal dilution, 10% external dilution and an ore recovery of 95% and is composed of 46% Measured, 18% Indicated, and 36% Inferred Mineral Resources. Plant Flowsheet The plant flowsheet is for a 544 tonne per day capacity, consisting of two-stage crushing and grinding, followed by whole ore leaching with Merrill Crowe recovery to produce dor bars. Surface Infrastructure Existing infrastructure at the Copperstone Project includes office facilities, warehouse, equipment maintenance shop and assay laboratory buildings, a change house, 10 trailer house hook-ups, a septic system, and a variety of shipping containers which provide for secure core storage. Incoming commercial 69 kV overhead electrical power is delivered to an on-site power substation. Water is currently delivered from three water wells to a 375,000-gallon storage tank in the mineral processing area. Potable water is delivered by truck. Mine communications are supported by cellular and satellite phone and internet service. Government Permits All major permits for operations for the State of Arizona are in place with minor modifications required for the revised mine plan and flow sheet, Aquifer Protection Permit, Air Quality Permit and Storm Water Multi Sector General Permit. The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) permit, Mine Plan of Operation (MPO) is in place but requires modifications to mainly remove equipment from the existing permitted flow sheet process plant. The right to extract and use groundwater from the aquifer within the La Posa Plain is authorized by the Arizona Department of Water Resources pursuant to A.R.S. Section 45-514. Existing surface rights and right of ways are sufficient for all proposed exploration, mining, and processing activities, including tailings and waste storage and disposal areas. The Reclamation Plan has been approved by the State of Arizona and no amendments are expected to be required. Sabre Gold is required by the Aggregate Mine Land Reclamation Act to obtain an Inspector's approval of the MPO amendment addressing new infrastructure and disposal facilities and plans for post-mining reclamation of those facilities. Project Schedule and Next Steps Management has been working with a number of groups to arrange debt financing and will continue to evaluate all available options to raise the required initial capital. Management will continue to work on potential optimizations of plant and equipment including the potential sourcing of used plant and equipment. The Company will also continue to incorporate any site development activities alongside site maintenance currently being performed on the Project. The Copperstone Project will take approximately 14 months for construction and ramp up to full production. These timeframes do not take into account possible further disruptions to the labour market and global supply chain interruptions due to current supply chain markets. The Project Management team has significant construction and operating experience in underground mines within the Americas. Opportunities to Enhance Value Management has identified several opportunities to enhance value for the Copperstone Project that will be further evaluated during the development phase. Management is considering various engineering, procurement, construction and management approaches including hybrid models to incorporate internal expertise and capabilities that provide an efficient transition from development to operations. Further opportunities include: Expand Resources - The two priority areas for expansion would focus on additional drilling along the down dip plunge of the C and D zones within the main Copperstone shear, the South Zone and the Footwall zone. The second area of priority would follow up drilling between the A and B zones where previous drilling encountered high grade mineralization but has not been investigated further. - The two priority areas for expansion would focus on additional drilling along the down dip plunge of the C and D zones within the main Copperstone shear, the South Zone and the Footwall zone. The second area of priority would follow up drilling between the A and B zones where previous drilling encountered high grade mineralization but has not been investigated further. Mining - Will further investigate if marginal grade material can be added to the stopes if the stope access cost is excluded due to the stope already being developed. Continue to look at the optimization of the mine design including the number of access points, internal raises to improve ventilation, stope height and width. - Will further investigate if marginal grade material can be added to the stopes if the stope access cost is excluded due to the stope already being developed. Continue to look at the optimization of the mine design including the number of access points, internal raises to improve ventilation, stope height and width. Process Plant - The Company will evaluate opportunities for increasing plant throughput to the extent mining rates can be increased from the current mine plan and potential resource expansion. - The Company will evaluate opportunities for increasing plant throughput to the extent mining rates can be increased from the current mine plan and potential resource expansion. Used Equipment - Evaluate options for used equipment to reduce initial cost and lead time. Exploration Potential Several identified opportunities remain to enhance the value of the Copperstone Project and will be further evaluated during the construction phase. Drill test for the presence of the footwall zone at depth and underneath the D zone. Historic drill hole CS-266 intercepted gold mineralization (3.4 grams/tonne over 3.0 metres) approximately 200 meters southwest of the Copperstone pit and has not been followed up. Continued drilling to define and expand the southwest zone which is 760 meters southwest of the Copperstone pit. Historic drill hole 06CS-20 intercepted gold mineralization (20.5 grams/tonne over 1.5 metres), approximately 900m southwest of the Copperstone pit and has been neither been followed up on nor has there been any drilling within 150m of the drill hole. Qualified Persons and QA/QC Mike Maslowski, CPG Vice President Chief Operating Officer of Sabre Gold, is the Qualified Person ("QP") who reviewed and approved this news release. The Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) team includes HRC QPs, Richard A. Schwering, P.G., SME-RM, Jeffery W. Choquette, P.E., Jennifer J. Brown P.G., and Dr. Deepak Malhotra, Ph.D. who are the Independent Qualified Persons for the 2023 PEA and who have prepared the scientific and technical information on the Copperstone project and reviewed the information that is summarized in this press release. The qualified persons preparing the PEA report have followed industry accepted practices for verifying that the data used in the study is suitable for the purposes used. Site visits by three of the qualified persons (including Mike Maslowski from Sabre Gold and Richard A. Schwering, Jennifer J. Brown, and Jeffery Choquette from HRC) is part of the data verification procedures. A more detailed description of data verification undertaken by the qualified persons will be included in the relevant sections of the technical report that will be filed within 45 days of this press release. (1) Non-IFRS Financial Measures The Company has included certain non-IFRS measures in this document as discussed below. The Company believes that these measures, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, provide investors an improved ability to evaluate the underlying performance of the Company. The non-IFRS measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. These measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS, and therefore may not be comparable to other issuers. Cash cost ("Cash cost") per ounce Cash cost per ounce is a non-IFRS measure. In the gold mining industry, this metric is a common performance measure that does not have a standardized meaning under IFRS. Cash costs include direct costs (including smelting, refining, transportation and selling costs), royalties and production taxes, general and administration costs and changes in finished goods inventory. All-in sustaining costs ("AISC") per ounce AISC per ounce are non-IFRS measures. These measures are intended to assist readers in evaluating the total cost of producing gold from operations. While there is no standardized meaning across the industry for AISC measures, the Company's definition conforms to the definition of AISC as set out by the World Gold Council. The Company defines AISC as the cash operating costs (as defined above), reclamation cost accretion, mine site expensed exploration, and sustaining capital expenditures. For the purpose of the PEA, AISC does not include corporate general and administration costs or mine site expensed exploration. Free cash flow In the mining industry, free cash flow is a common performance measure with no standardized meaning. The Company calculates free cash flow by deducting cash capital spending (capital expenditures, net of expenditures paid through finance leases) from net cash provided by operating activities. The Company discloses free cash flow as it believes the measure provides valuable assistance to inventors and analysts in evaluating the Company's ability to generate cash flow after capital investments and build the cash resources of the Company. Initial and sustaining capital Initial and sustaining capital are non-IFRS measures. Initial capital is defined as capital required to develop and construct to bring the mine to commercial production and sustaining capital is defined as the capital required to maintain operations at existing levels. Both measurements are used by management to assess the effectiveness of an investment program. About Sabre Gold Mines Corp. Sabre Gold is a diversified, multi-asset near-term gold producer in North America which holds 100-per-cent ownership of both the fully licensed and permitted Copperstone gold mine located in Arizona, United States, and the Brewery Creek gold mine located in Yukon, Canada, both of which are former producers. Management intends to restart production at Copperstone followed by Brewery Creek in the near term. Sabre Gold also holds other investments and projects at varying stages of development. Sabre Gold's two advanced projects have approximately 1.5 million ounces of gold in the Measured and Indicated categories, and approximately 1.2 million ounces of gold in the Inferred category. Additionally, both Copperstone and Brewery Creek have considerable exploration upside with a combined land package of over 230 square kilometers that will be further drill tested with high-priority targets currently identified. Sabre Gold is led by an experienced team of mining professionals with backgrounds in exploration, mine building and operations. For further information please visit the Sabre Gold Mines Corp. website: (www.sabre.gold). Andrew Elinesky CEO and President 416-904-2725 Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking information under Canadian securities legislation including statements concerning the Company's expectations with respect to the proposed optimization work and other value enhancing activities and their impact on the economics of Copperstone; the potential that resources at Copperstone can be expanded through additional exploration drilling, expectations regarding a construction decision and the timing thereof, the construction timeline of Copperstone, the potential to obtain the necessary financing to bring Copperstone into production and the ability to obtain the necessary amendments to the permits for the Copperstone project. These forward-looking statements entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations, are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such statements. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to: the assumptions used in the preparation of the PEA for the Copperstone project, basing a construction decision on the results of a PEA and not on a feasibility study of mineral reserves, demonstrating economic and technical viability; the price of gold; operational, funding, and liquidity risks; reliance on third parties, exploration risk, failure to upgrade resources, the degree to which mineral resource and reserve estimates are reflective of actual mineral resources and reserves; the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are present, and the risks and hazards associated with underground operations and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry. Risks and uncertainties about Sabre Gold's business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure materials, including its annual information form and MD&A, filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and available at www.sedar.com and readers are urged to read these materials. Sabre Gold assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such statements unless required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170647 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - Silver Dollar Resources Inc. (CSE: SLV) (OTCQX: SLVDF) (FSE: 4YW) ("Silver Dollar" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has entered into a formal surface rights agreement with the local Ejido Pea, who collectively own the land covering the area of the high-grade Nora silver-gold property (the "Property") in the state of Durango, Mexico. The agreement allows for surface exploration and drilling on the Property. Figure 1: Location of Nora property and other mines and deposits in the region. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://silverdollarresources.com/images/Nora/MX-Map-Nora-LR.jpg "Engaging local stakeholders is always our priority, and we look forward to working with the Pena community to advance the Nora project responsibly and respectfully," said Michael Romanik, president of Silver Dollar. "Our team has visited the Property on four occasions since acquiring it in late April, and we have commenced the drill permitting process now that the surface rights agreement is in place." Silver Dollar can acquire a 100% interest in the Nora property under the option agreement with Canasil Resources Inc. Located in the Eastern Sierra Madre sub-province in the transition to the high plateau of Mexico, the Property lies centrally within the "Silver Trend" that runs from the northwest to the southeast through Durango State. Significant deposits in the region include Endeavour Silver's Guanacevi mine and Fresnillo's San Julian mine on-trend to the northwest, with Endeavour Silver's Pitarrilla Project approximately 50 kilometres (km) to the east. Pitarrilla is one of the largest undeveloped silver deposits in the world and was discovered by Perry Durning and Frank (Bud) Hillemeyer, Silver Dollar's technical advisors. Figure 2: Nora property looking north at the main outcrop of the Candy vein structure. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://silverdollarresources.com/images/Nora/Nora-Tour_052023.jpg The geological setting is a Tertiary-aged volcanic flow-dome complex. Gold-silver mineralization is hosted within two structurally-controlled epithermal veins, Candy and Nora. Drilling by Canasil in 2020 and 2021 was the first on the Property, with 3,296 metres drilled over 13 holes to test the Candy vein structure. All 13 drill holes cut the mineralized vein structure, returning wider high-grade gold and silver intercepts within the central 200-metre zone tested. Only 500 m of the potential 3-km strike of the Candy vein structure has been drill tested, and only to a depth of 250 m below surface. The consistently high gold and silver grades and relatively low base metal values, confirm the upper levels of a robust gold-silver mineralized system within the Candy structure, which is open for significant expansion along strike and to depth where grade and thickness appear to be increasing. See Silver Dollar's news release of May 24, 2023, for selected highlights of drill results and additional information on the exploration targets on the Property. Mike Kilbourne, P.Geo., an independent Qualified Person (QP) as defined in NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release on behalf of the Company. The QP and the Company have not completed sufficient work to verify the information on the Nora Property, particularly regarding historical exploration, neighbouring companies, and government geological work. About Silver Dollar Resources Inc. Silver Dollar is a mineral exploration company that completed its initial public offering in May 2020 and is fully funded for its 2023 exploration plans with approximately $5 million in the treasury. The Company's primary projects lie within the prolific Durango-Zacatecas silver-gold belt and include the advanced exploration stage La Joya Silver Property and the recently discovered Nora Silver-Gold Property, both located in the state of Durango, Mexico. The Company has an aggressive growth strategy and is actively reviewing potential acquisitions with a focus on drill-ready projects in mining-friendly jurisdictions. For additional information, you can download our latest presentation by clicking here and you can follow us on Twitter by clicking here. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Signed "Michael Romanik" Michael Romanik, President, CEO & Director Silver Dollar Resources Inc. Direct line: (204) 724-0613 Email: [email protected] 179 - 2945 Jacklin Road, Suite 416 Victoria, BC, V9B 6J9 Forward-Looking Statements: This news release may contain "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this news release 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. The Canadian Securities Exchange (operated by CNSX Markets Inc.) has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170557 Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed Stillwater Critical Minerals (OTCQB: PGEZF) (TSXV: PGE) ("the Company"), a critical minerals exploration company focused on its flagship Stillwater West Ni-PGE-Cu-Co + Au project in the iconic and famously productive Stillwater mining district in Montana, USA. CEO of the Company, Michael Rowley, joined Stock Day host Kevin Davis for a comprehensive overview of the company, its main assets and growing demand for domestic supply of critical minerals. Davis began the interview by asking about the Company's background and current projects. "We're focused on advancing a new critical mineral supply of truly world-class scale, from an active US mining district that has produced these commodities for decades," explained Rowley. "We renamed the company to Stillwater Critical Minerals about a year ago, which reflects our focus on critical minerals in the historic Stillwater district," continued Rowley. "Our vision is to become a primary source of low carbon battery and precious metals in the US," he said. "We took a big step closer towards that goal with our second resource estimate, which was just a few months ago," shared Rowley, adding that the report defines 1.6 billion pounds of nickel, copper, and cobalt, and 3.8 million ounces of platinum group elements and gold. "That is a world-class deposit and we have lots of room to grow it." "Who do you have on your team driving this project forward?", asked Davis. "We've been able to attract a truly world-class team," said Rowley, before elaborating on the wealth of talent and knowledge throughout the Company's management team. "About 13 months ago, we attracted two of Ivanhoe's top geologists," he shared, noting that they each bring 20 years of experience and believe in the potential of the Stillwater project. The conversation then turned to the Company's goals over the next six to twelve months. "We are ramping up for an expansion drill campaign," said Rowley. "We're going to focus on three of our deposit areas and focus heavily on high-grade nickel and nickel sulfide," he continued. "For the long-term, we will focus on growth," he said, adding that the Company will also complete metallurgy and economic studies for the asset during this time. Davis then commented on the challenges many junior mining companies face with regards to economics and federal policies, and asked how these factors affect the Company. "We are less concerned with recession talk because the supply and demand fundamentals are so strong for our metals, however it is more a concern about the market and general sentiment in the short-term," said Rowley. "There is significant interest for metal supply within continents and for us that is in North America, which is continued by major mining companies but also automakers." To close the interview, Rowley encouraged listeners and shareholders to keep up-to-date on the Company's key upcoming news as they continue to advance their critical metals project in the historic Stillwater mining district. To hear Michael Rowley's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/8320755-stillwater-critical-minerals-ceo-michael-rowley-discusses-evolving-critical-metals-industry-wit Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/ About Stillwater Critical Minerals Corp. Stillwater Critical Minerals (OTCQB: PGEZF) (TSXV: PGE)is a mineral exploration company focused on its flagship Stillwater West Ni-PGE-Cu-Co + Au project in the iconic and famously productive Stillwater mining district in Montana, USA. With the recent addition of two renowned Bushveld and Platreef geologists to the team, the Company is well positioned to advance the next phase of large-scale critical mineral supply from this world-class American district, building on past production of nickel, copper, and chromium, and the on-going production of platinum group and other metals by neighboring Sibanye-Stillwater. An expanded NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate, released January 2023, delineates a compelling suite of critical minerals contained within five Platreef-style nickel and copper sulphide deposits at Stillwater West, which host a total of 1.6 billion pounds of nickel, copper and cobalt, and 3.8 million ounces of palladium, platinum, rhodium, and gold, and remains open for expansion along trend and at depth. Stillwater Critical Minerals also holds the high-grade Black Lake-Drayton Gold project adjacent to Treasury Metals' development-stage Goliath Gold Complex in northwest Ontario, currently under an earn-in agreement with Heritage Mining, and the Kluane PGE-Ni-Cu-Co critical minerals project on trend with Nickel Creek Platinum's Wellgreen deposit in Canada's Yukon Territory. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Michael Rowley, President, CEO & Director Email: [email protected] Phone: (604) 357 4790 Web: http://criticalminerals.com Toll Free: (888) 432 0075 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. About The "Stock Day" Podcast Founded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America. SOURCE: Stock Day Media StockDayMedia.Com (602) 821-1102 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170681 IRVINE, Calif. (PRWEB) June 20, 2023 Fairview Microwave, an Infinite Electronics brand and a leading provider of on-demand RF, microwave and millimeter-wave components, has announced the launch of a new series of RFID antennas. The devices are designed to enhance the performance of RFID applications in inventory management, asset tracking, ID verification and more. The newly launched antennas operate within the optimal 900 MHz and 2400 MHz frequency bands, ensuring efficient and uninterrupted RFID tag reading. Featuring SMA female, N female and RP TNC male connectors, these antennas offer remarkable compatibility with most RFID readers on the market. In addition, the antennas employ right hand circular polarization (RHCP) to ensure greater signal reception and accurate data extraction. This feature, coupled with high-gain performance, low voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) and wider beamwidth, optimizes the antennas' reading range and enhances the overall performance of RFID systems. "We understand the importance of reliable and efficient RFID tag reading in various sectors. Our new antennas are designed to address these needs, providing a dependable solution for effective data collection," said Kevin Hietpas, Product Line Manager. Fairview's new RFID antennas are in stock and available for same-day shipping. For inquiries, call +1-949-261-1920. About Fairview Microwave: A leading supplier of on-demand RF and microwave products since 1992, Fairview offers immediate delivery of RF components including attenuators, adapters, coaxial cable assemblies, connectors, terminations and much more. All products are shipped same-day from the company's ISO 9001:2015-certified production facilities in Lewisville, Texas. Fairview Microwave is an Infinite Electronics brand. About Infinite Electronics: Based in Irvine, Calif., Infinite Electronics offers a broad range of components, assemblies and wired/wireless connectivity solutions to the aerospace/defense, industrial, government, consumer electronics, instrumentation, medical and telecommunications markets. Its brands are Pasternack, Fairview Microwave, L-com, MilesTek, ShowMeCables, NavePoint, INC Installs, Integra Optics, PolyPhaser, Transtector, KP Performance Antennas, RadioWaves and Aiconics. Infinite serves its customers with deep technical expertise and support. Its broad inventory is available for immediate shipment, fulfilling unplanned demand for engineers and technical buyers. Infinite Electronics is a Warburg Pincus portfolio company. Read the full story at https://www.prweb.com/releases/fairview_microwave_launches_series_of_optimized_rfid_antennas/prweb19398928.htm PLANO, Texas (PRWEB) June 19, 2023 JPAR - Real Estate, a leading real estate franchising company, announced today that it has been selected as a winner for the prestigious 2023 [email protected] Awards by Franchise Business Review. The company was ranked third, receiving the bronze award, in the category of franchise business employers with less than 25 employees. Franchise Business Review recently conducted the industry-wide [email protected] Employee Engagement Benchmarking Study, which provided invaluable data to help franchise companies understand and improve their culture, engagement, and retention practices. All corporate franchise employees were invited to participate, and their responses played a crucial role in this recognition. Participants in the survey were asked various questions related to job satisfaction, engagement, skills and experience, management, brand leadership, and culture. JPAR - Real Estate is dedicated to providing outstanding services and support to its employees, brokers, and agents. Its mission is to empower real estate professionals with the tools, technology, and training they need to succeed in today's competitive real estate market. This recognition as a bronze award winner for the [email protected] Awards highlights the company's unwavering commitment to creating positive and inclusive environments. The [email protected] Awards exclusively honor companies that have excelled in fostering a positive and inclusive culture, prioritizing employee engagement and well-being within the franchise sector. "At a time when recruiting and retaining quality employees is everything, these companies have set themselves apart as top employers in franchising through their commitment to employee satisfaction, asking for feedback, and involving their teams in driving the success of their culture," said Michelle Rowan, President and COO, Franchise Business Review. "Being selected as a finalist, then named an award winner for the [email protected] Awards is an incredible honor for JPAR - Real Estate and a testament to our commitment to our brokers, agents, and employees," said Laura O'Connor, President and COO, JPAR Real Estate Franchising. "At JPAR, we empower all and embrace a holistic approach as a whole health organization. Our unique delivery sets us apart with leadership that truly listens and a business model focused on high service and support. We strive to educate, engage, and empower our team members to unlock their full potential. This recognition verifies that our efforts to create a supportive and engaging workplace have not gone unnoticed." About JPAR Real Estate: JPAR Real Estate (http://www.jpar.com) is a full-service real estate brand and franchise platform offering a highly competitive transaction fee-based model and agent-centric culture. The JPAR platform provides agents seven (7) days-per-week support, a comprehensive tech stack, marketing, lead generation, training, and mentoring. JPAR affiliated owners benefit from compliance review, 1-on-1 consulting, recruiting support, and a peer network of influential industry leaders. The company boasts more than 4,000 agents operating in 64 offices across 24 states and closes $7.8B annually in sales volume. About Franchise Business Review: Franchise Business Review (FBR) is a leading independent market research firm specializing in benchmarking franchisee satisfaction and employee engagement. FBR provides franchise companies with valuable benchmarks and best practices to improve satisfaction, employee engagement, and retention. Over the years, FBR has partnered with more than 1,200 top-performing franchise companies, helping them drive franchise growth and achieve greater success through data-driven insights. To discover more about FBR's research, please visit GoFBR.com. Read the full story at https://www.prweb.com/releases/2023/6/prweb19399669.htm Palestinians take cover during fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants outside of a hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin, Monday, June 19, 2023. Israeli military forces raided a refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Monday, igniting the fiercest day of fighting in years as Palestinian militants detonated roadside bombs and Israeli helicopter gunships struck Palestinian gunmen to rescue troops trapped in the hourslong firefight. At least five Palestinians were killed, including a 15-year-old boy, and over 90 others were wounded, Palestinian health officials said. Seven Israeli soldiers were also wounded, the army said. The Israeli military said forces stormed into the Jenin refugee camp in the early morning to arrest two wanted militants. They faced fierce resistance. Palestinian militants said they ambushed Israeli armored vehicles with explosive devices, disabling several vehicles with troops trapped inside. Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht described Palestinian militants use of at least one powerful roadside bomb as very unusual and dramatic. Five mangled vehicles were stuck in the firefight for hours, requiring the military to dispatch helicopters as part of an elaborate evacuation operation. It was the first such use of a helicopter gunship in the occupied West Bank since the second Palestinian uprising around two decades ago, Israeli media reported. The Jenin refugee camp, long a militant stronghold, witnessed some of the biggest battles at the time. At least one Apache helicopter fired missiles at Palestinian gunmen to try to clear the area while security forces worked to extract the trapped vehicles, the Israeli army said. The local branch of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad based in Jenin said its fighters opened fire at the combat helicopter. The group praised its fighters and warned Israel to reconsider its calculations before its soldiers set foot on Jenins land. The Israeli army said that the Palestinian gunfire caused minor damage to the spinning tail rotor of a helicopter. Witnesses described the nearly 10 hours of fighting as a bedlam of gunfire and explosions. They were shooting at anything and everything that moved, hospital director Tawfik al-Shobaki said of Israeli forces. As the Israeli military eventually withdrew its damaged vehicles from the camp in the late afternoon, Palestinians ventured out to assess the heavy damage and bury their dead. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified those killed as Khaled Asasa, 21, Qassam Abu Sariya, 29, Qais Jabarin, 21, Ahmed Daraghmeh, 19, and 15-year-old Ahmed Saqr. Of the 91 Palestinians wounded, at least 12 were in critical condition, hospital officials said. Wissam Bakar, director of Jenin Government Hospital, said a 15-year-old girl was among the critically wounded. Islamic Jihad claimed two of the dead as its fighters Qais Jabarin and Qassam Abu Sariya. A Palestinian cameraman, Hazem Nasser, wearing a clearly marked press vest, was among those seriously wounded in the fighting. His colleagues said he was shot when a building where journalists had camped out to cover the clashes came under Israeli fire. Of course there was a lot of shooting and explosions, but everyone knew we were journalists covering it, fellow freelance journalist Alaa Badarneh said. All of a sudden we were surrounded and the army started shooting toward us. An Associated Press journalist at the scene said that he saw the military shoot directly at Nasser. The Israeli military didnt immediately respond to a request for comment on the shooting. Last year, prominent Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed while covering an Israeli military raid into the Jenin refugee camp. The army has said Abu Akleh was likely killed by Israeli fire. The Israeli military said that seven members of the paramilitary border police and the army suffered light and moderate wounds. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a visit to wounded troops in the hospital. He praised the forces and said that Israel was striking terror with strength and determination. The Palestinian leadership and other Arab states sharply condemned the Israeli raid. Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Palestinian official, accused Israel of waging a fierce and open war against the Palestinian people. Egypts Foreign Ministry denounced what it called Israels continued escalation against the Palestinians, saying the violence undermined efforts to reduce regional tensions. The escalation was the latest in more than a year of near-daily violence that has wracked the West Bank. Israel and the Palestinians have been gripped by months of violence, focused mainly in the West Bank, where 124 Palestinians have been killed this year. The city of Jenin has been a hotbed of Palestinian militancy. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians seek those territories for a future independent state. Israel has been staging near-nightly raids in the West Bank in response to a spasm of Palestinian violence early last year. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have surged during that time. Israel says most of the dead were militants, but stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killed. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed at least 20 people this year. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Paid press release content from The Financial Capital. The StreetInsider.com news staff was not involved in its creation. Orico Networkable Hard Drive Enclosure is revolutionizing data storage with its affordable price and beginner friendly features. Orico, a leading technology company, is excited to introduce the Orico Networkable Hard Drive Enclosure. This beginner-friendly solution will revolutionize how users store, share, and protect their valuable data. With its exceptional features, affordability, and versatility, the Orico Networkable Hard Drive Enclosure is poised to become the go-to choice for anyone seeking a reliable and convenient storage solution. In today's digital age, individuals and professionals across various fields and industries face common challenges regarding data storage. Limited storage space on devices such as phones, computers, and tablets often leads to frustration and the risk of losing important data. With the Orico Networkable Hard Drive Enclosure, those concerns have become a thing of the past. With storage capacities of up to 8TB, this innovative product offers abundant space to store photos, videos, documents, and more securely. Users can capture and preserve every beautiful moment, knowing ample storage is available. In fact, just 1TB provides enough space for an astounding 57,600 photos, 2,560 minutes of video, or 64,000 songs. Data loss is a nightmare scenario for individuals and businesses alike. The Orico Networkable Hard Drive Enclosure mitigates this risk by offering automatic data backup functionality. The automatic backup functionality provides peace of mind, knowing that data is protected against unforeseen events. Users no longer need to worry about losing their important data due to device changes, errors, software corruption, hardware destruction, theft, or computer viruses. The product provides peace of mind with its efficient and reliable backup system. Furthermore, with the added advantage of a private cloud, users can rest assured that their data is securely stored and accessible whenever and wherever they need it. The Orico Networkable Hard Drive Enclosure is designed to meet the increasing demands of data storage with its powerful Quad Core Cortex-A55 CPU NAS storage. This capable processor ensures that the enclosure operates smoothly and efficiently, handling large volumes of data without any lag or slowdown. With Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, users can enjoy lightning-fast network speeds, facilitating seamless file transfers and sharing. Whether it's transferring files between devices or streaming media content, the enclosure's high-speed network connectivity ensures a seamless and uninterrupted experience. The inclusion of a USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C interface further enhances the enclosure's capabilities. This interface allows for high-speed data transfers, enabling users to save time and boost productivity. With transfer speeds of up to 5Gbps, backing up computer data becomes a quick and efficient process, even considering the affordability of the product. The Orico Networkable Hard Drive Enclosure combines powerful performance, lightning-fast network connectivity, and high-speed data transfer capabilities, making it an ideal choice for individuals and businesses seeking efficient and cost-effective storage solutions. Sharing and transferring data has never been easier than with the Orico Networkable Hard Drive Enclosure. Its portability and compatibility with multiple devices make sharing data among colleagues, friends, and family members effortless. Bloggers, creators, and employees can collaborate seamlessly, regardless of their location or device. The Orico Networkable Hard Drive Enclosure is the ultimate tool for working in different locations and easily sharing data. It is the time to say goodbye to the limitations of physical storage devices and embrace the freedom of flexible and efficient data sharing. The Orico Networkable Hard Drive Enclosure also addresses the challenge of finding specific files in a vast sea of data. With its intelligent search capabilities, users can easily locate and retrieve files. This intelligent search feature intelligently organizes and categorizes the files to make the search process smooth and efficient. Classifying photo albums, videos, and documents makes it a breeze to find the data needed. No more wasting time scrolling through endless folders and filesnow, everything is conveniently organized and easily accessible, saving users valuable time and effort. To celebrate the launch of the Orico Networkable Hard Drive Enclosure, from June 14th to June 21st, customers can enjoy a 20% discount using the provided promo code. This limited-time offer serves as an enticing opportunity for individuals and businesses alike to seize the advantages of this innovative and groundbreaking product, further enhancing its appeal and value for all. The Orico Networkable Hard Drive Enclosure is now available for purchase on Amazon , the world's leading online marketplace. Amazon ensures a seamless and secure purchasing experience as a trusted and reliable platform. For inquiries or to learn more about the Orico Networkable Hard Drive Enclosure, users are encouraged to contact the company at [email protected] The Orico team will be delighted to assist and provide all the information one may need to enhance the data storage experience. Orico is here to provide its customers with the cutting-edge solutions they've been searching for. Follow Orico on Social Media: Instagram: @oricoamazon Tiktok: @orico_amazonofficial About the Company: Established in 2009, Orico has emerged as a global leader in manufacturing computer peripherals and digital accessories. With its innovative concept of "Easy Your PC," the company is dedicated to providing a wide range of smart life accessories, including hard drive enclosures, chargers, USB hubs, power strips, and power banks. With over 14 years of experience in consumer electronics, Orico has garnered a user base of over 100 million across 70+ countries. Contact Info: Name: Nicole Hu Email: Send Email Organization: Orico Website: https://orico.cc/us Release ID: 89100255 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. SEATTLE , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ACT Capital Advisors, a leading mergers and acquisitions firm, is pleased to announce that its client, Advanced Government Services, Inc. ("AGS") has partnered with ATS Traffic, Ltd. ("ATS Traffic"). AGS is an award-winning traffic control company based in Tacoma, Washington that has delivered traffic control and road safety services in Washington and Oregon since 2003. ATS Traffic is Canada's leading traffic safety provider. This transaction marks ATS Traffic's first-ever move into the United States , marking a significant milestone in its history. Their long-standing ambition to expand south of the Canadian border, particularly in the Pacific Northwest , has finally become a reality. The partnership between these two industry leaders will introduce new customized offerings, enhanced service delivery capabilities, and streamlined customer engagement for AGS's customers in the region. Arti O'Brien , President of AGS commented: "We're eager to grow together and forge a reciprocal relationship that will ultimately create exponential growth and deliver a new standard of road safety solutions to the region." Arti will continue to lead as the President for AGS in the Pacific Northwest . Matthew Latimer , Managing Director of ACT Capital, lauded the deal: "We are pleased to have been a trusted advisor to AGS throughout this transaction. The partnership of AGS and ATS Traffic combines two best-in-class in traffic control service and technology companies to deliver on customer needs throughout a growing and competitive traffic control and road safety industry." ACT Capital Advisors' deal team consisted of Managing Director Matthew Latimer and Associate Jack Welch . AGS's Press Release About Advanced Government Services, Inc. Based in Tacoma, Washington , Advanced Government Services has delivered traffic control and road safety services since 2003. We come to work every day with one goal: "To get people through our work zones safely and efficiently. We're committed to Working Hard at Playing It Safe.TM" For more information, visit www.advancedgovernmentservices.com. About ATS Traffic Since 1966, ATS Traffic has helped organizations and communities keep workers, motorists, and pedestrians safe on our roads. With 9 locations across Canada and over 15,000 products in its inventory, ATS Traffic designs and implements customized safety solutions for traffic control, On-Street Services, and work zones for specific industries and project scopes. As a 3M Authorized Fabricator and Certified Digital Fabricator, ATS Traffic is Canada's leading sign and barricade manufacturer as well as an award-winning provider of installation services, consulting, procurement and logistics, asset management, ITS solution architecture, and drafting and design services. For more information, visit www.atstraffic.ca. About ACT Capital Advisors ACT Capital Advisors is a premier mergers & acquisitions firm representing middle-market companies across all industries. ACT has a 30-year history of deal-making, closing 250+ transactions, and unlocking over $2.0 billion in wealth for its clients. For more information, visit https://actcapitaladvisors.com . View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/act-capital-advisors-represents-advanced-government-services-inc-in-its-strategic-partnership-with-ats-traffic-ltd-301855849.html SOURCE ACT Capital Advisors - Under the theme 'Decarbonising. Faster. Together.', ADIPEC 2023 will be a platform for industry collaboration and accelerated action on energy and climate challenges ahead of COP28 in the UAE - Over 160,000 attendees will convene as Abu Dhabi unites the world of energy, including energy producers, consumers, and leaders from government, finance, and technology, to secure energy for a lower-carbon, high-growth future ABU DHABI , Dubai , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Themed 'Decarbonising. Faster. Together.', ADIPEC 2023 will be held in Abu Dhabi from 2-5 October to accelerate the practical action and credible solutions needed to tackle the biggest challenges in energy and climate. Taking place seven weeks before COP28 , ADIPEC will gather over 160,000 attendees, including energy leaders and influential figures from government, finance, and technology, to provide a platform for collective industry action. Being held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan , President of the UAE , and hosted by ADNOC, ADIPEC 2023's focus areas include methane and carbon emissions elimination, assuring energy security and investment in the global south, and scaling up clean energies and decarbonisation technologies. With 350+ conference sessions, 1,500 speakers, and a new Hydrogen Strategic Conference, the event will foster discussions on cleaner and more secure energy strategies. The 140,000 sqm exhibition will feature four industry zones: Decarbonisation, Digitalisation in Energy, Maritime and Logistics, and Manufacturing and Industrialisation. Tayba Al Hashemi , Chair of ADIPEC 2023 and CEO of ADNOC Offshore, said: "The global challenge of climate change calls for urgent, game-changing solutions to eliminate emissions. Every government, industry, business and individual has a role to play in decarbonising quicker, and creating the future of energy, faster, while safeguarding energy security and ensuring nobody is left behind. ADIPEC 2023 will be a progressive force for energy transformation and leadership. It will unite the expanding and increasingly diverse world of energy and help us work together to transform, decarbonise and future-proof our industry." Christopher Hudson , President of dmg events, organisers of ADIPEC 2023, said: "ADIPEC 2023 will actively support the transformative global energy agenda. As climate challenges intensify, the energy sector's responsibility to lead the necessary progress on decarbonisation is greater today than ever before." In 2022, ADIPEC generated an estimated US$8.2 billion in business for exhibitors and contributed approximately US$200 million to the UAE economy. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2106180/ADIPEC.jpg Media contact: ADIPEC Media Team [email protected] [email protected] +971 565 8855 78 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/adipec-2023-to-accelerate-collective-industry-action-to-decarbonise-energy-301855233.html SOURCE ADIPEC Company earns IRMA 50 Rating for Salar de Atacama Lithium Site in Chile CHARLOTTE, N.C. , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), a global leader in providing essential elements for mobility, energy, connectivity and health, today announced that it achieved an IRMA 50 level of performance in an independent third-party assessment of its lithium brine extraction and concentration site in the Salar de Atacama, using the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance's (IRMA) comprehensive mining standard. This marks a new milestone for Albemarle, as it is the first lithium producer and only the third mine site globally to complete an independent audit and have its audit report published by IRMA, continuing the company's commitment to transparent and responsible management of its resources. The assessment process covers 26 areas, including water management, human rights, greenhouse gas emissions, fair labor, terms of work, among others. Forty percent of these standards require active engagement with nearby communities to ensure dialogue, transparency, and collaboration on key issues such as emergency response, grievance mechanisms, and mine closure planning. A third-party auditor corroborated that the company met 70% of over 400 rigorous IRMA requirements at the Salar de Atacama site. "We are proud to be the first lithium producer to complete an IRMA audit and publish our report. This third-party audit shares with our communities, stakeholders, customers, employees and investors that we are committed to doing the right things, the right way," said Ellen Lenny-Pessagno , Global VP of External Affairs and Sustainability for Albemarle Energy Storage. "We have made many positive changes in how we operate, engage with the community and transparently share information, and we are committed to continuous improvement against this standard. This new era of lithium requires responsible mining to achieve a just transition to electrification and digitalization globally." "We congratulate the entire Albemarle team who undertook this IRMA audit," said Aimee Boulanger , Executive Director of IRMA. "It demonstrates Albemarle's commitment to transparency and community engagement, and their intention to continue to improve social and environmental performance at their Salar de Atacama operation." The IRMA scoring system recognizes four levels of performance: IRMA Transparency, in which a mine is third-party-assessed and publicly shares its scores; IRMA 50 or 75, signifying that a mine shares its scores and furthermore meets a core set of critical requirements together with at least 50 percent or 75 percent achievement of the possible score in each of the four principles of the Standard for Responsible Mining (business integrity, planning for positive legacies, social and environmental responsibility); and IRMA 100, which means the mine meets all of the Standard's requirements. Albemarle shareholders, customers, employees, and the public can visit the Mines Under Assessment page of IRMA's website for updated information on the site's third-party audit. On-site auditors interviewed mine management, functional leaders, mine workers, and external community stakeholders. The report of the assessment conducted by ERM Certification and Verification Services (ERM CVS), is publicly available on the IRMA website. The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) oversees the only independent, comprehensive and transparent process for assessing individual mines' performance against an equally governed, best-practice standard and for measuring their subsequent progress in reducing social and environmental impacts. The rigorous IRMA process invites all those currently or potentially affected by a mine to share their experiences and perspectives with the third-party auditing team. For more information, please visit www.responsiblemining.net. Albemarle's Sustainable Commitments Albemarle's IRMA 50 rating at the Salar de Atacama site is just one of the company's many sustainable commitments and efforts in Chile and at its sites around the globe, including: Albemarle is committed to the development of a new lithium era by collaborating with others to explore bringing desalinated seawater to the Salar de Atacama basin and researching new lithium production technologies. Albemarle's freshwater rights at the Salar de Atacama site make up 0.5% of all freshwater rights in the basin. Of those rights, the company uses only nine L/s for its camp, to produce potassium chloride, and to rinse equipment. The company has committed to reducing the intensity of freshwater use by 25% by 2030 in areas of high-water risk including the Antofagasta region. region. Albemarle shares 3.5% of revenues from its Chilean operations with local indigenous communities through an agreement with the Council of Atacameno Peoples, signed in 2016. Albemarle monitors brine and freshwater levels jointly with the indigenous community to verify whether brine pumping has adverse effects on the water systems. The results of the hydrogeological data are shared with regulatory authorities and local communities and confirm that brine pumping does not affect the upstream groundwater levels. Albemarle remains committed to carrying out an IRMA third-party audit at additional mine sites in Western Australia and the United States . About Albemarle Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) leads the world in transforming essential resources into critical ingredients for mobility, energy, connectivity, and health. We partner to pioneer new ways to move, power, connect and protect with people and planet in mind. A reliable and high-quality global supply of lithium and bromine allow us to deliver advanced solutions for our customers. Learn more about how the people of Albemarle are enabling a more resilient world at albemarle.com and on Twitter @AlbemarleCorp. Albemarle regularly posts information to its website, including notification of events, news, financial performance, investor presentations and webcasts, non-GAAP reconciliations, Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") filings and other information regarding the company, its businesses and the markets it serves. About IRMA Developed through a decade of public consultations, with input from more than 100 companies and organizations, the IRMA Standard and assessment process recognize the concerns of Indigenous rights holders, communities and mine workers, as well as environmental and human rights advocates and other representatives of civil society giving them an equal voice alongside mining companies, purchasers of mined materials and investors. Independent audits conducted against the IRMA standard, by reviewing mines' performance with transparent notice and opportunities for public engagement, help foster dialogue on further improvements companies can make to support those affected by their operations. For more information: www.responsiblemining.net. Forward-Looking Statements Some of the information presented in this press release, including, without limitation, information regarding the publishing of the IRMA audit report, sustainability goals and commitments, targets and timelines for achievement, environmental impact reduction goals, sustainability priorities, and all other information relating to matters that are not historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from the views expressed. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the outlook expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement include, without limitation: changes in economic and business conditions; adverse changes in liquidity or financial or operating performance; changes in the demand for our products or the end-user markets in which our products are sold and the other factors detailed from time to time in the reports we file with the SEC, including those described under "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. We assume no obligation to provide any revisions to any forward-looking statements should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/albemarle-becomes-first-lithium-producer-to-complete-independent-audit-and-publish-irma-report-301855202.html SOURCE Albemarle Corporation LONDON , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ancora Alternatives LLC (together with its affiliates, "Ancora" or "we"), the third largest shareholder of Avon Protection PLC (LSE: AVON) ("AVON" or the "Company"), owning approximately 5.1% of the Company's outstanding stock, has today issued the following letter to the Company's Board of Directors to urge an immediate review of strategic alternatives: June 20, 2023 Avon Protection PLC Hampton Park West Semington Road Melksham Wiltshire SN12 6NB The Board of Directors of Avon Protection PLC, Letter to urge an immediate review of strategic alternatives 70% decline in share price in three years Significant loss of shareholder value and long-term underperformance Urgent action critical to protect against uncertain future of the business Review of strategic options recommended Ancora Alternatives LLC (together with its affiliates, "Ancora" or "we") is the third largest shareholder of Avon Protection PLC (LSE: AVON) ("AVON" or the "Company"), owning approximately 5.1% of the Company's outstanding stock. Ancora has a long and successful track record of creating value for its portfolio companies through a hands-on investing approach, with the ultimate goal of creating value for the benefit of all stockholders. Significant loss of shareholder value and continued underperformance We originally invested in AVON because of the Company's range of market-leading products in respiratory and head protection vital equipment that protects military and first responder personnel as well as the robust industry tailwinds for these types of products. We consider AVON's strong relationships with the US Department of Defense ("DoD"), the NATO Support and Procurement Agency ("NSPA"), and the global first responder agencies give the Company a substantial competitive advantage. However, despite AVON's strong market position, enviable product suite and world class customer roster, the Company has lost more than 70% of its equity value over the last 36 months. AVON has also significantly underperformed the FTSE 250 along with its Aerospace and Defense peers over the same period, as shown in the Total Shareholder Returns table below: AVON Total Shareholder Return (TSR) AVON vs. YTD 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year FTSE 250 -16.9 % -6.1 % -49.4 % -78.2 % A&D Peer Avg.(1) -21.7 % -22.0 % -71.0 % -113.8 % Source: FactSet as of 6/16/ 2023 Insufficient urgency taken by the Board to address AVON's underperformance Since becoming a shareholder in AVON, Ancora has engaged in a private dialogue with AVON's Board of Directors (the "Board"), as well as holding multiple meetings with Board Chair Bruce Thompson , to discuss AVON's underperformance, business strategy, historical missteps, executive leadership, governance, and potential avenues to maximize value. We have intentionally kept our communications private in an effort to maintain a constructive relationship with the Board while AVON's executive leadership transition unfolded. However, due to the Board's clear failure to date to address our concerns over the future of the Company and the material risks (operational and execution) it faces, we have concluded that we have no alternative other than to express our views publicly. The Company's half-year earnings, published 23 May 2023 , have only heightened our trepidation that AVON's business model is no longer suitable for a standalone public entity. The results merely served to validate our conviction that AVON would be better positioned for long-term success as part of a larger organization that can capitalize on AVON's market-leading positions in the respiratory and head protection industries. We acknowledge CEO Jos Sclater has started to lay the groundwork to improve accountability, revenue growth, margins, and free cash flow since his appointment to the role, but we estimate there are still meaningful execution risks that could impede value creation as AVON's business is restructured over the next several years. Considering the path to restoring AVON's credibility and public market valuation is long, arduous, and fraught with risk, we believe urgent action is required to secure value for shareholders. Review of strategic options recommended to secure future of the business In conclusion, we believe the Board should immediately commence a full and fair strategic alternatives review to maximize value and, critically, prevent further losses for shareholders, which have been significant already. The outcome of this review should be considered, on a risk-adjusted basis, alongside the Board's turnaround plan. We believe there would be multiple potential strategic acquirers for AVON who would be willing to pay a meaningful premium to the current share price while also presenting a compelling transaction structure that would allow AVON's shareholders to participate if a combination were to be consummated. Summary and next steps urgent action advised As long-term shareholders, we are highly concerned with the sheer magnitude of value destruction that has unfolded under the incumbent Board's stewardship. We believe that the Board, as a matter of urgency, should retain a leading investment bank to commence a review of strategic alternatives in order to maximize shareholder value. We look forward to your engagement on these matters and your commencement of the necessary course of action. Sincerely, Frederick DiSanto James M. Chadwick Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman President and Portfolio Manager Ancora Holdings Group, LLC Ancora Alternatives LLC Ancora is publishing this letter solely for the information of other shareholders in AVON. This letter is not an offer to, or solicitation of, any potential clients or investors for the provision by Ancora of investment management, advisory or any other comparable or related services. This letter is provided merely for general informational purposes and is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as (i) investment, financial, tax or legal advice, or (ii) a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security or other investment, or to pursue any investment style or strategy. Neither the information nor any opinion contained in this letter constitutes an inducement or offer to purchase or sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase or sell any securities or other investments in AVON or any other company or an offer to arrange any transaction, or to enter into legal relations. No representation is made as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained herein, and the recipient accepts all risk in relying on this information for any purpose whatsoever. Without prejudice to the foregoing, any views expressed herein are the opinions of Ancora as of the date on which this letter has been prepared and are subject to change at any time without notice. Ancora does not undertake to update this information. Any forward-looking statements herein are inherently subject to material business, economic and competitive risks and uncertainties which are beyond Ancora's control. In addition, these forward-looking statements are subject to assumptions with respect to future business strategies and decisions that are subject to change. Nothing in this letter should be relied upon as a promise or representation as to the future. About Ancora Ancora Alternatives LLC is the alternative asset management RIA of Ancora Holdings Group, LLC. Founded in 2003, Ancora Holdings Group, LLC offers integrated investment advisory, wealth management and retirement plan services to individuals and institutions across the United States . The firm's comprehensive service offering is complemented by a dedicated team that has the breadth of expertise and operational structure of a global institution, with the responsiveness and flexibility of a boutique firm. For more information about Ancora, please visit https://ancora.net. Enquiries Greenbrook Matthew Goodman / Sofia Newitt +44 (0)207 952 2000 [email protected] 1 Aerospace and Defense Peers include: CDRE, MSA, BOS-CA, AJRD, AVAV, BAB-LON, BA-LON, BWXT, CHG-LON, CW, DCO, GD, HEI, HXL, HWM, HII, KTOS, LHX, LDOS, LMT, MRCY, MOG.A, NOC, PSN, RADA, RTX, TXT, TDG, TGI Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105338/Ancora_Logo.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ancora-sends-letter-to-board-of-directors-of-avon-protection-plc-to-urge-an-immediate-review-of-strategic-alternatives-301854601.html SOURCE Ancora Alternatives LLC DUBAI, UAE , June 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AugmentLabs DAO has recently launched AugmentDEX, a decentralized exchange that aims to provide USC holders with a seamless trading experience. While existing platforms like Uniswap and PancakeSwap already offer USC swaps, AugmentDEX takes decentralization to the next level by focusing on user experience and fostering a stronger sense of community ownership. Boasting a combined liquidity of over 3,000,000 USDT, AugmentDEX creates a tailored and efficient trading environment for cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Recent events involving Binance and its stablecoin, BUSD, highlight the risks of centralized platforms and third-party custodianship, as emphasized by the SEC's regulatory actions. To address these concerns, AugmentLabs DAO offers a decentralized option for USC holders, ensuring transparency, security, and control over one's digital assets. AugmentDEX, the decentralized exchange created by AugmentLabs DAO, enables direct trading of USC and other tokens from users' wallets. This eliminates intermediaries and centralized custody, providing a secure and transparent trading environment. The significant transaction volume, approximately 1,000,000 USDT within the liquidity pools demonstrates the growing adoption of USC. AugmentLabs DAO's launch of AugmentDEX caters to the increased trading activity between USDT and USC, showcasing their commitment to a decentralized platform that meets the demands of the thriving USC ecosystem. AugmentDEX offers users full control and custody of their funds, ensuring the safety of assets through decentralization's inherent security measures. By solidifying its position as a leader in decentralized finance, AugmentLabs DAO provides a secure and transparent platform for USC and token trading. The high turnover between USDT and USC reflects the trust and confidence users have in the USC ecosystem. AugmentDEX empowers users to participate in the decentralized economy, take control of their financial transactions, and embrace the benefits of decentralized finance. Explore AugmentDEX at dex.augmentlabs.io. USC Visa Debit Card AugmentLabs DAO has also launched the USC Visa Debit Card, revolutionizing the way users access and spend USC cryptocurrency globally. This innovative card serves as a testament to AugmentLabs DAO's commitment to decentralization and user-centric financial solutions. By offering the USC Visa Debit Card, AugmentLabs DAO empowers individuals to have a seamless and secure experience while embracing the benefits of decentralized finance. With the USC Visa Debit Card, users have the flexibility to deposit both USC and USDT, allowing them to manage their digital assets according to their preferences. AugmentLabs DAO envisions a future where the card supports other stablecoins, positioning USC as a valuable decentralized stablecoin option. This feature-rich card sets itself apart from centralized alternatives by granting users complete custody and control over their USC holdings, ensuring the highest level of security and promoting self-sovereignty within the digital finance realm. AugmentLabs DAO has designed the USC Visa Debit Card with a strong focus on lifestyle-related use cases. In addition to its worldwide fiat withdrawal capability at any Visa-supported ATM, the card offers exclusive benefits to enhance the user experience. Users enjoy a generous 2.5% cashback on purchases, providing a rewarding incentive for their transactions. Furthermore, cardholders can enjoy purchase rebates on popular platforms like Netflix or Spotify, subject to specific terms and conditions. These unique features elevate the value and utility of the USC Visa Debit Card, differentiating it from traditional debit cards and aligning with AugmentLabs DAO's mission to become the leading lifestyle coin of the future. To obtain a USC Visa Debit Card, interested users must register for an account and successfully pass the KYC verification process via the dedicated website: card.augmentlabs.io. Once the card is activated, users can deposit cryptocurrency and commence transactions in USC, unlocking a world of possibilities and experiencing the full potential of this innovative financial tool. Staking and Use Cases AugmentLabs DAO demonstrates its unwavering commitment to fortifying the USC ecosystem by introducing a staking program that presents an impressive annual percentage yield (APY) of 10% for USC holders. Through staking USC, users have the opportunity to earn passive income and maximize the potential of their digital assets, effectively leveraging the USC Visa Debit Card as a valuable tool for financial growth. AugmentLabs DAO's pursuit of innovation extends beyond conventional boundaries into the gaming industry. Upcoming game releases serve as a testament to the versatility and extensive potential of USC, transcending traditional use cases. These developments underscore AugmentLabs DAO's unwavering dedication to pushing boundaries and reshaping the cryptocurrency landscape through immersive gaming experiences. Looking towards the future, AugmentLabs DAO remains committed to expanding the use cases of USC across diverse industries such as marketplaces, cybersecurity, finance, health, and F&B, cementing its position as a widely accepted stablecoin cryptocurrency. To achieve this, AugmentLabs DAO will forge strategic partnerships with key players in these sectors, further augmenting the reach and applicability of USC. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/augmentlabs-dao-launches-augmentdex-and-usc-visa-debit-card-to-provide-usc-holders-with-a-seamless-trading-experience-301854807.html SOURCE AugmentLabs LE BOURGET, France , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Avolon, the international aircraft leasing company, today announced an order for 40 737 MAX airplanes at the Paris Air Show. "Today's announcement reaffirms our long-standing partnership with Boeing and our support for their 737 MAX program. We are confident in the long-term demand from our customers for the 737 MAX, and this order extends our delivery pipeline out to 2030," said Andy Cronin , CEO, Avolon. "The transitioning of the global fleet to more fuel-efficient new-technology aircraft is a priority for our industry, and we are looking to play a leading role by supporting airlines achieving their sustainability objectives." The 737 MAX will provide Avolon's customers with greater flexibility across their network, while reducing fuel use and emissions by 20% compared to the airplanes they replace. On average each airplane will save up to 8 million pounds of CO 2 annually compared to airplanes it replaces. "This order demonstrates the popularity of the 737-8 among the leasing community and the demand they are seeing from their customers for this airplane model," said Stan Deal , president and CEO, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "Avolon has a long-standing relationship with the 737 MAX program and took delivery of the 1,000th 737 MAX last year. We look forward to building on this strong relationship with a key leasing partner as they grow their Boeing portfolio of airplanes." This order was previously unidentified on the Boeing Orders & Deliveries website. The 737-8 models, seating 162 to 210 passengers depending on configuration and with a range of 3,500 nautical miles, is the market's most versatile single-aisle airplane, capable of operating profitably on short and medium-haul routes. Boeing customers have placed more than 1,000 orders and commitments for the company's new commercial airplanes since July 2022 . This includes over 750 737 MAX airplanes, reflecting the value of the family's versatility and commonality. About Avolon Headquartered in Ireland , with offices in the United States , Dubai , Singapore and Hong Kong , Avolon provides aircraft leasing and lease management services. Avolon is 70% owned by an indirect subsidiary of Bohai Leasing Co., Ltd., a public company listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SLE: 000415) and 30% owned by ORIX Aviation Systems Limited, a subsidiary of ORIX Corporation which is listed on the Tokyo and New York Stock Exchanges (TSE: 8591; NYSE: IX). Avolon is a global leader in aircraft leasing with an owned, managed and committed fleet, as of 31 March 2023 of 830 aircraft. www.avolon.aero About Boeing As a leading global aerospace company, Boeing develops, manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defense products and space systems for customers in more than 150 countries. As a top U.S. exporter, the company leverages the talents of a global supplier base to advance economic opportunity, sustainability and community impact. Boeing's diverse team is committed to innovating for the future, leading with sustainability, and cultivating a culture based on the company's core values of safety, quality and integrity. Join our team and find your purpose at boeing.com/careers. Contact Boeing Media Relations [email protected] Douglas Keatinge Avolon Head of Communications [email protected] T: +353 86 037 4163 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/boeing-avolon-announce-order-for-40-737-max-jets-301854818.html SOURCE Boeing GALE is now the largest agency to have committed to refusing work with fossil fuel companies. CANNES, France , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- GALE CEO Brad Simms took to the stage today at The Next Level Climate Summit at Cannes Lions 2023 to announce the agencies will sign the Clean Creatives pledge, making GALE the largest agency to commit to refusing work with fossil fuel companies. GALE's pledge to Clean Creatives makes it the largest agency to commit to refusing work with fossil fuel companies. With its global workforce of 750+ with people in New York , Toronto, Bengaluru and more, GALE's pledges guarantee that the agency will decline any future contracts with fossil fuel companies, trade associations, or front groups. "GALE signing the Clean Creatives pledge is a commitment to the most important thing we have: our planet. Refusing to work with fossil fuel companies is the least we can do to support our future. This pledge represents our commitment to sustainability and progress in climate change and we hope it inspires other agencies to do the same," Brad Simms , CEO, GALE. "GALE's commitment to not work with fossil fuel companies shows that creative leadership and climate leadership go hand-in-hand. Great agencies are grounded in great talent, and pledging to not work with major polluters is a crucial part of providing an environment where young creatives can thrive. We are grateful to GALE's leadership on this urgent issue, and I hope that others follow their lead." Duncan Meisel , Executive Director, Clean Creatives. Advertising and PR industry campaign group, Clean Creatives, is an ongoing movement calling for an industry-wide refusal to work with fossil fuel corporations. The campaign aims to increase awareness of the harmfulness of greenwashing strategies deployed by fossil fuel companies and the agencies working with them while uniting industry professionals. There are over 600 agencies, creatives and freelancers globally that have committed to the Clean Creatives pledge. The GALE pledge announcement was during the 'The Power of Coming Clean: Agency CEOs on the Clean Creatives Pledge at the Next Level Climate Summit' event hosted by Meisel, which explored how the pledge can empower industry leaders by becoming part of a wider community of agencies refusing work from Big Oil. The event was part of a day-long programme of activity at the Next Level Climate Summit produced in partnership between Clean Creatives, Creatives for Climate, the Embassy of Dutch Creativity, Purpose Disruptors, and Scope3 to focus on the strategies and teams that will make the creative industry a leader in transforming the culture of the climate conversation. To join GALE in signing the Clean Creatives pledge, visit cleancreatives.org. About GALE GALE is a Business Agency. Founded in 2014, the agency currently has offices in New York , Singapore , Toronto , Denver , Los Angeles , London , Austin , Kansas City and Bengaluru. GALE has received top industry awards including Ad Age's A-List, Ad Age's Data & Analytics Agency of the Year, Adweek's Fastest Growing Agency and Adweek's Breakthrough Media Agency of the Year. For information on GALE, its customer data platform Alchemy and its consumer research capability ASK GALE, visit: https://gale.agency/ . About Clean Creatives Clean Creatives has mobilised over 600 agencies and 2000 individuals to pledge not to work with fossil fuels, including Top 150 UK-ranked Hope&Glory, strategic design studio Bruce Mau Design, global creative services company The Moon Unit, and TRIPTK from the holding group Havas, brand commitments range from Everlane to Gentleman Farmer to S'well and more. Clean Creatives created an open letter signed by 273 creative professionals under 30 who promised they would not work for fossil fuel clients. In partnership with the Union of Concerned Scientists, Clean Creatives also released a letter from 450 scientists condemning the advertising and PR industry's work with fossil fuels. Clean Creatives Website: cleancreatives.org Clean Creatives Twitter: @CleanCreatives Clean Creatives Instagram: @clean_creatives Clean Creatives Executive Director Duncan Meisel Twitter: @duncanwrites CONTACT Lindsay Bennett [email protected] 917 497 5582 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/breaking-cannes-2023-gale-signs-clean-creatives-pledge-in-major-commitment-to-sustainability-301855132.html SOURCE Stagwell Inc. In the news release, Advancing Health Equity: Deloitte Launches 'Illustrate Change' Medical Illustration Library, issued 20-Jun-2023 by Deloitte Consulting LLP over PR Newswire, we are advised by the company that in the first paragraph, first sentence, "Illustrate Change" now includes the hyperlink https://www.illustratechange.com. The complete, corrected release follows: Advancing Health Equity: Deloitte Launches 'Illustrate Change' Medical Illustration Library In collaboration with renowned Nigerian medical illustrator Chidiebere Ibe , Illustrate Change aims to address the lack of representation in medical imagery amongst individuals in underrepresented racial and ethnic groups NEW YORK , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Deloitte is proud to announce the launch of "Illustrate Change," a project that seeks to build momentum around representation in medical illustrations and reduce health disparities among people of color, in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson. With its launch, Illustrate Change will immediately make available 25 diverse medical illustrations. The illustrations showcase the work and unique vision of Chidiebere Ibe . Ibe's impactful Black fetus-in-womb illustration sparked a global conversation about representation in medical images in 2022. His work, alongside that of many other noteworthy medical illustrators, inspired this collaborative effort. Illustrate Change aims to build the largest library of diverse medical illustrations and demonstrates a commitment to address the lack of representation in medical imagery. "The launch of Illustrate Change marks a step forward toward a more representative medical education system. Illustrations are an important visual tool used in both medical and patient education," said Chidiebere Ibe , chief medical Illustrator of Illustrate Change. "I'm proud my illustrations will play a vital role in continuing to raise awareness of gaps in the representation of medical images. Closing these gaps helps avoid implicit bias within healthcare settings and increases awareness of how conditions present on different skin tones, which could have very critical implications for health outcomes. I hope these images inspire future generations of medical illustrators." Currently, less than 5% of medical images show dark skin. Only 8% of medical illustrators identify as people of color. The Illustrate Change digital library, made possible by a grant from the Johnson & Johnson 'Our Race to Health Equity' commitment, will house a collection of diverse medical illustrations across a range of health conditions. The library will continue to grow and evolve, reflecting a more representative patient population. The initial 25 images will represent 23 conditions across dermatology, maternal health, eye disease, oncology, general health, orthopedics, and hematology. The Deloitte Health Equity Institute, in collaboration with Deloitte Digital, played a crucial role in helping to bring Illustrate Change to life. Inspired by the power of illustrations such as Chidiebere Ibe's Black fetus in-womb, the Deloitte Digital team saw the need for a digital library that would increase diversity in the world of medical illustrations. Driven by the movement, the team connected the Deloitte Health Equity Institute and Johnson & Johnson with the proposal and led the development of the digital library. Healthcare leaders within the Deloitte Health Equity Institute shaped the strategic direction of the program, led cross-sector collaboration, and facilitated the medical review process alongside Johnson & Johnson. "Illustrate Change is essential in addressing health disparities and achieving health equity. By increasing diversity in medical illustrations, we can help improve medical education, reduce bias, and ultimately provide better, safer, and higher quality care for everyone," said Dr. Jay Bhatt , managing director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions and Deloitte Health Equity Institute. "Deloitte is proud to be part of this much needed movement and to contribute our unique expertise across creativity, healthcare, and digital innovation." To further support the mission of Illustrate Change, Johnson & Johnson has engaged the Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI) to offer the AMI Diversity Fellowship. This fellowship program will nurture the training and education of 10 medical artists, encouraging them to create 100 new medical illustrations featuring patients of color over the next year. "The lack of representation in medical imagery is an issue that directly impacts communities of color and their relationship with the healthcare system. This can lead to feelings of not being seen, and continue potential mistrust among communities of color," said Vanessa Broadhurst , executive vice president of Global Corporate Affairs for Johnson & Johnson. "The AMI Diversity Fellowship is a unique component of Johnson & Johnson's commitment to addressing racial biases in medicine, increasing representation in healthcare, and promoting health equity so that all communities can thrive." "Nurturing the training and education of medical artists from diverse backgrounds will naturally result in healthcare visuals that more accurately reflect the diverse patient population," said Jill Gregory , president of the Association of Medical Illustrators. "Over time the Fellowship will endeavor to bring greater visibility to issues of health equity and increase the pipeline of medical and scientific illustrators from under-represented communities of color. This fellowship can not only amplify the voices of underrepresented communities but also contribute to the promotion of health equity and improved patient care." The Deloitte Health Equity Institute was established because of the stark inequities illuminated by COVID-19 and businesses had to lean in with other stakeholders to advance health equity as a moral and economic imperative. DHEI is addressing disparities in the drivers of health, racism/bias, and structural flaws in the health system. DHEI is focused on investing in programs to directly improve people's lives, drive new approaches and tools to advance health equity, and activate key decision makers to help ensure that our health ecosystem is advancing health equity as an imperative. By advancing health equity, Deloitte aims to help everyone achieve their full potential in health and well-being, fostering a more equitable society. About Deloitte Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500 and more than 7,000 private companies. Our people come together for the greater good and work across the industry sectors that drive and shape today's marketplace delivering measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to see challenges as opportunities to transform and thrive, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthier society. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them. Building on more than 175 years of service, our network of member firms spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte's approximately 415,000 people worldwide connect for impact at www.deloitte.com. Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. In the United States , Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the "Deloitte" name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/advancing-health-equity-deloitte-launches-illustrate-change-medical-illustration-library-301855051.html SOURCE Deloitte Consulting LLP Central in Lima is named The World's Best Restaurant 2023, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna in is named 2023, sponsored by & Announced this evening at an awards ceremony in Valencia , the 2023 list includes restaurants from 24 territories in five continents worldwide and introduces 12 restaurants making their debut , the 2023 list includes restaurants from 24 territories in five continents worldwide and introduces 12 restaurants making their debut Pia Salazar of Nuema, Quito , receives The World's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Sosa of Nuema, , receives The World's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Sosa The Beronia World's Best Sommelier Award is presented to Miguel Angel Millan of Diverxo, Madrid of Diverxo, Fyn in Cape Town wins the Flor de Cana Sustainable Restaurant Award in wins the Flor de Cana Sustainable Restaurant Award Table by Bruno Verjus (No.10) in Paris takes homes the Highest New Entry Award, sponsored by Aspire Lifestyles (No.10) in takes homes the Highest New Entry Award, sponsored by Aspire Lifestyles Atomix (No.8) is awarded the Villa Massa Highest Climber Award , as the New York restaurant climbs 25 places from the 2022 list (No.8) is awarded the , as the restaurant climbs 25 places from the 2022 list Alchemist (No.5) in Copenhagen wins the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award (No.5) in wins the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award goes to Julien Royer of Odette, Singapore VALENCIA, Spain , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The world of gastronomy came together in Valencia, Spain , tonight to celebrate The World's 50 Best Restaurants awards 2023, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna , with Lima's Central named The World's Best Restaurant 2023, as well as The Best Restaurant in South America 2023. The awards ceremony, held at the city's Les Arts Opera House , honours the pinnacle of gastronomic talent from 24 territories across five continents. For the full 1-50 list, please see the attached graphic or see the bottom of this release. Central, the flagship Lima restaurant of chefs Virgilio Martinez and Pia Leon, is crowned in the No.1 position, taking over from the 2022 winner, Geranium, Copenhagen , which is now elevated to the Best of the Best hall of fame. Placed at No.2 in the 2022 list, Central is an ode to Peru , with a menu that celebrates the unique biodiversity of the country's indigenous ingredients guided by its research arm, Mater Iniciativa along with its traditions and history, whilst championing sustainability. Central is followed by Disfrutar (No.2) in Barcelona and Diverxo (No.3) in Madrid . William Drew , Director of Content for The World's 50 Best Restaurants, comments: "It gives me great pleasure to share the list of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2023 and celebrate the fantastic achievement of Central as the new No.1. Virgilio Martinez , Pia Leon and the whole Central team have truly paved the way in celebrating indigenous ingredients through their innovative dishes and warm hospitality. Their commitment to research, respect for their country's heritage and promotion of Peru's unique biodiversity is unmatched, and we're honoured to name Central as The World's Best Restaurant, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna . This year's list continues to show the breadth of culinary talent across the globe, and we look forward to seeing how it evolves even further in 2024 and beyond." South America further strengthens its position in global gastronomy, with the continent boasting nine restaurants overall including two new entries: Pia Leon's Kjolle, (No.28) in Lima and El Chato (No.33) in Bogota. Asia follows with seven restaurants on the list, including Singapore's Odette named The Best Restaurant in Asia (No.14) along with new entries Le Du (No.15) and Gaggan Anand (No.17) in Bangkok and Sezanne, Tokyo (No.37). Two Dubai restaurants make the list for the very first time, with Tresind Studio (No.11) named The Best Restaurant in Middle East & Africa , ahead of Orfali Bros Bistro (No.46). The Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award is presented to Copenhagen's Alchemist (No.5). An almost mystical dining experience in a remote, industrial corner of the city, an evening here is divided into several 'acts' where guests of head chef Rasmus Munk and his team are led through different locations, types of art and storytelling moments, alongside exquisite food born from Munk's obsessive search for the finest ingredients. Pia Salazar of Nuema, Quito , is the recipient of The World's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Sosa. Already crowned Latin America's Best Pastry Chef 2022, the Cuenca -born chef is helping put Ecuador on the culinary map with her experimental creations, turning fruit and vegetables into sweet masterpieces, like coconut with umami-rich yeast and black garlic, or leek and vanilla with cedron, a herb resembling lemon verbena. In its second year, the Beronia World's Best Sommelier Award is presented to Miguel Angel Millan, sommelier of Madrid's Diverxo. He expertly curates pairings to match chef Dabiz Munoz's ever-changing menu and takes the restaurant's beverage programme to an exceptionally high level, establishing himself as one of the most important sommeliers on the international restaurant scene. The winner of the Highest New Entry Award, sponsored by Aspire Lifestyles, is Table by Bruno Verjus (No.10). The self-taught French chef serves simple, seasonal, no-fuss cuisine at this Paris restaurant, which has developed a loyal following among the city's gourmands and is rapidly becoming an international dining destination. Atomix (No.8) is awarded the Villa Massa Highest Climber Award and named The Best Restaurant in North America , after the New York favourite climbed 25 places from its position in last year's ranking. The intimate 14-seat tasting menu restaurant from husband-and-wife team Junghyun 'JP' and Ellia Park won the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award as part of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2022 and its progressive and distinctive Korean food has been widely acclaimed. Julien Royer of Odette (No.14) in Singapore wins the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award. Voted for the world's leading chefs, this special prize is awarded to a chef who has had a significant positive influence on the culinary community. Royer's restaurant, Odette, in the city's National Gallery, is also named The Best Restaurant in Asia 2023. The Flor de Cana Sustainable Restaurant Award is this year bestowed on Cape Town's Fyn (No.75), where founding chef Peter Tempelhoff's mission is to blur boundaries by interpreting South Africa through techniques largely rooted in Japanese cooking. This award is independently audited by the Sustainable Restaurant Association, which rates establishments based on a wide range of criteria, including environmental and social responsibility, community involvement and staff welfare. The evening also celebrated those honoured with pre-announced special awards, including the Champions of Change winners Nora Fitzgerald Belahcen, founder of Moroccan social enterprise Amal, and Othon Nolasco and Damian Diaz , the duo behind food-security project No Us Without You LA. Elena Reygadas , winner of The World's Best Female Chef Award, Andoni Luis Aduriz of Mugaritz, winner of the Icon Award, and New York restaurant Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi , winner of the Resy One To Watch Award, were presented with their trophies on stage. The World's 50 Best Restaurants awards 2023, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna , held at Valencia's Les Arts Opera House , marks the 21st year of the prestigious global gastronomic ranking. The Voting Process The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2023 list is voted for by 1,080 international restaurant industry experts and well-travelled gourmets who make up The World's 50 Best Restaurants Academy. The gender-balanced Academy comprises 27 separate regions around the world, each of which has 40 members including a chairperson. No sponsor from the event has any influence over the voting process. Professional services consultancy Deloitte independently adjudicates The World's 50 Best Restaurants list, including the ranking from 51-100. This adjudication ensures that the integrity and authenticity of the voting process and the resulting lists are protected. Best of the Best Those in the elite group of No.1 ranked restaurants (listed below) have more than proved their worth and will now be forever honoured as iconic dining destinations in the Best of the Best hall of fame. The chefs and restaurateurs who have led their restaurants to the pinnacle of the list have expressed their desire to invest in the future of the sector and 'give back' to the food world through new projects and initiatives. The following restaurants have been named No.1 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants since the list's inception and were therefore not eligible for voting in 2023 and beyond: El Bulli (2002, 2006-2009) The French Laundry (2003-2004) The Fat Duck (2005) (2005) Noma original location (2010-2012, 2014) El Celler de Can Roca (2013, 2015) Osteria Francescana (2016, 2018) Eleven Madison Park (2017) (2017) Mirazur (2019) Noma current location (2021) Geranium (2022) EDITOR'S NOTES: The World's 50 Best Restaurants: Position Restaurant Location 1 Central Lima 2 Disfrutar Barcelona 3 Diverxo Madrid 4 Asador Etxebarri Atxondo 5 Alchemist Copenhagen 6 Maido Lima 7 Lido 84 Gardone Riviera 8 Atomix New York 9 Quintonil Mexico City 10 Table by Bruno Verjus Paris 11 Tresind Studio Dubai 12 A Casa do Porco Sao Paulo 13 Pujol Mexico City 14 Odette Singapore 15 Le Du Bangkok 16 Reale Castel di Sangro 17 Gaggan Anand Bangkok 18 Steirereck Vienna 19 Don Julio Buenos Aires 20 Quique Dacosta Denia 21 Den Tokyo 22 Elkano Getaria 23 Kol London 24 Septime Paris 25 Belcanto Lisbon 26 Schloss Schauenstein Furstenau 27 Florilege Tokyo 28 Kjolle Lima 29 Borago Santiago 30 Frantzen Stockholm 31 Mugaritz San Sebastian 32 Hisa Franko Kobarid 33 El Chato Bogota 34 Uliassi Senigallia 35 Ikoyi London 36 Plenitude Paris 37 Sezanne Tokyo 38 The Clove Club London 39 The Jane Antwerp 40 Restaurant Tim Raue Berlin 41 Le Calandre Rubano 42 Piazza Duomo Alba 43 Leo Bogota 44 Le Bernardin New York 45 Nobelhart & Schmutzig Berlin 46 Orfali Bros Bistro Dubai 47 Mayta Lima 48 La Grenouillere La Madeleine-sous- Montreuil 49 Rosetta Mexico City 50 The Chairman Hong Kong For media centre access, please visit: https://mediacentre.theworlds50best.com 50 Best Social Media About The World's 50 Best Restaurants Since 2002, The World's 50 Best Restaurants has reflected the diversity of the world's culinary landscape. The annual list of the world's most prestigious restaurants provides a snapshot of some of the best destinations for unique culinary experiences, in addition to being a barometer for and a pioneer of global gastronomic trends. The 50 Best family also includes Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, Middle East & North Africa's 50 Best Restaurants, The World's 50 Best Hotels, The World's 50 Best Bars, Asia's 50 Best Bars, North America's 50 Best Bars, 50 Best Discovery and the #50BestTalks series, all of which are owned and run by William Reed . 50 Best aims to bring together communities across the hospitality sector to foster collaboration, inclusivity, diversity and discovery and help drive positive change. About the host destination: Visit Valencia Valencia is the third largest city in Spain with more than 800,000 inhabitants. Bathed by the waters of the Mediterranean, it is clean and green, thanks to multiple urban parks, and boasts more than 300 days of sunshine a year. Its rich Mediterranean cuisine is based on local produce from the orchard that surround the city and nourish its markets, bars and restaurants. In addition, Valencia is the birthplace of the most international Spanish dish: paella. It is a perfect city to enjoy at any time of the year thanks to all its Unesco Heritage attractions such as: the Lonja de la Seda, the Tribunal de las Aguas or the Fallas. Valencia is at the forefront of sustainable projects that have earned it several international awards such as European Smart City 2022, as well as European Green Capital 2024. About the main sponsor: S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna are the main partners of The World's 50 Best Restaurants and 50 Best for Recovery. S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna are the leading natural mineral waters in the fine dining world. Together they interpret Italian style worldwide as a synthesis of excellence, pleasure and well-being. Our partners: Visit Valencia Official Host Destination Partner Official Host Destination Partner S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna Main Partner & Official Water Partner; sponsor of The World's Best Restaurant & Main Partner & Official Water Partner; sponsor of Estrella Damm Official Beer Partner; sponsor of the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award Official Beer Partner; sponsor of the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award American Express Resy Official Credit Card & Booking Platform Partner (Resy); sponsor of the Resy One To Watch Award Gin Mare Official Gin Partner ; sponsor of the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award Official ; sponsor of the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award Flor de Cana Official Rum Partner; sponsor of the Flor de Cana Sustainable Restaurant Award Official Rum Partner; sponsor of the Flor de Cana Award Sosa Official Ingredients Partner; sponsor of The World's Best Pastry Chef Award Beronia Official Wine Partner; sponsor of the Beronia World's Best Sommelier Award Best Sommelier Award Aspire Lifestyles Official Concierge Partner; sponsor of the Highest New Entry Award Dassai Sake Official Sake Partner Tequila Ocho Official Tequila Partner illycaffe Official Coffee Partner The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. Official Whiskey of the World Partner Official Whiskey of the World Partner Techlam Official Premium Worktop Partner Cinco Jotas Official Iberico Ham Partner Nude Glassware Official Glassware Partner Kaviari Official Caviar Partner Fundador Brandy Official Brandy Partner Official Villa Massa Official Limoncello and Amaretto Partner; sponsor of Villa Massa Highest Climber Award Official Limoncello and Amaretto Partner; sponsor of Culinary Roots Castilla la Mancha Official Partner Asturias Official Partner Official Partner Jaen Seleccion Official Olive Oil Partner Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2106885/50_Best.jpg PDF - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2103914/50_BEST_pdf.pdf Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2076144/World_50Best_Rest_2023_Logo.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/central-in-lima-is-named-no1-in-the-list-of-the-worlds-50-best-restaurants-2023-301856009.html SOURCE 50 Best The Islamic extremists drove up to the American missionarys home in Niger under the cover of evening, gunning down two guards who stood watch. Jeff Woodke recalls seeing the muzzle blasts and hearing the screams before being thrown into a pickup truck that then sped away. So began more than six years of captivity, a period in which he says he was beaten, locked in chains for hours a day and pressured repeatedly to convert to Islam and endured self-imposed hunger strikes. It was hell, said Woodke, 62, who was released in March. I think the hardest part was knowing that my family, if they were alive, they were suffering too. As time progressed, he said, he began to feel that its better for me to be dead than continue putting them through suffering. And that feeling grew and grew and grew. The last year I was there, I was asking them to kill me. But the ordeal, he and his wife say, was compounded by years of frustrating interactions with the U.S. government back home. They say they believe FBI officials withheld information about negotiations with the captors and provided what they felt was inadequate help and guidance about raising money for a ransom. The agitation boiled over in a Zoom call weeks before Woodkes release when his wife, Els, said she vented to Secretary of State Antony Blinken about a ransom process she asserted favored the rich. I said, if it was you that had been kidnapped, you would be free in a week because your wife is free to take from your money and buy you free, she recalled saying. So because you are rich, you can pay the ransom. But a poor person is never able to do that. The Woodkes spoke recently to The Associated Press in a joint interview in which they shared previously unreported details about his captivity, the familys conversations with U.S. officials and his more recent challenges reintegrating into society. At a time when the plight of detained Americans is receiving unprecedented attention, the couples frustration shows the governments uneven success in navigating relationships with hostage families, despite a 2015 policy overhaul designed to improve communications and to ease concerns that ransom payments could result in criminal prosecution. Their statements represent a rare public airing of the delicate and tense interactions that often precede a detainees release. The FBI declined to address the Woodkes specific claims but said it had worked tirelessly to bring Woodke home and was happy he was reunited with his family: We are committed to continuing to support Jeff and his family. The State Department confirmed Blinken and Els Woodke had had multiple conversations but declined to discuss the substance. American officials have said little about the circumstances of Woodkes release, noting only that it was a collaborative effort and that the U.S. government did not pay a ransom or make other concessions. Woodke was freed alongside a French journalist, Olivier Dubois, even as other hostages remain in the area. Woodke was similarly circumspect, saying that he doesnt know with certainty what led to his release but that he was recovered by French forces. Woodkes work as a missionary and aid worker in some ways made him a natural kidnapping target, especially in the vast, semiarid expanse below the Sahara Desert known as the Sahel, where Islamic extremists have long used abductions and ransom money to fund jihadi operations. As a result, he had taken precautions over his three decades in the area, including maintaining contact with the State Department and local embassy about security risks. Still, on the evening of Oct. 14, 2016, he was ambushed at home in Abalak, Niger, by extremists who killed two guards at the property. He said he tried to run but wound up being seized, dragged by the wrist, his body scraping against the ground, and tossed into a truck that drove toward the border with Mali. He spent his captivity traded among extremist groups operating under the umbrella of JNIM, an al-Qaida-aligned insurgent organization. He kept track of time through a sundial during the day and stars at night, though he says he was given a watch near the end of his detention. He initially prayed eight hours a day. That amount dwindled as time passed, when he began praying for death. He said he spent hours chained in isolation under a tree You ever had a lightning storm with chains on your feet? Thatll get you, he said ruefully and spent time in a tiny hut. When they were nice to me was only because they were preaching, Woodke said. They told me repeatedly, Well be nice to you if you convert. The chains will come off if you convert. Early in his captivity, he said he recorded the first of several proof-of-life videos for his family as his wife interacted with FBI crisis negotiators working the case. But Els Woodke and the private hostage negotiator she was working with, Robert Klamser, said in the interview that they felt the FBI kept them at bay during negotiations, misleading them about the scope of demands and withholding information as they and a third-party government they did not identify worked to communicate with the militants and receive their conditions. Klamser said they learned in 2021, belatedly, that the captors had demanded as part of the negotiations a ransom payment of 3 million euros and the release of prisoners from West African jails. He said negotiators acting without the familys input succeeded in getting the demand for the prisoner release dropped, achieving on one hand a U.S. policy objective but also resulting in a doubled ransom demand of 6 million euros an even more untenable amount for Els Woodke, a teachers assistant. As she embarked on raising a ransom, she said she was told she was free to do so but had to personally approach potential donors, a requirement she considered overly burdensome. She said the FBI would not offer written reassurances that no one involved in raising the ransom would be prosecuted, which she and Klamser said was important for prospective donors. She never paid a ransom, lamenting during a 2021 appearance in Washington that government restrictions had hindered her ability to raise a sufficient sum. I tried. I wrote letters personally to people, the people that I knew, she said in the interview. I tried because I wanted to try anything and not leave one stone unturned. The Obama administration, reacting to the beheading deaths of Western hostages by Islamic State operatives, crafted in 2015 a new policy meant to at least tacitly reassure families that though the U.S. government does not condone ransom payments, it also would not prosecute families who made them. While no families have faced charges, hostage relatives in surveys over the last decade have nonetheless cited lingering confusion over the policy. The release, under circumstances neither the White House nor the French government fully explained, came March 20, when Woodke said he was driven in a Toyota pickup truck with Dubois, the French hostage, to the western border of Niger and set free. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby described it as the culmination of hard, grueling, deliberate work. Woodke has returned home to McKinleyville, California, but adjustments have been hard. Hes grappling with leg injuries and steep bills for medical and dental treatment. Even something as simple as acquiring a drivers license took months. He says he hasnt felt sufficiently helped by the government, though he says the office of the State Departments special envoy for hostage affairs has provided support. Klamser says there are plans to raise money from friends and supporters to offset the cost of mounting expenses. Were not things, were not bargaining chips, were not cases were people, Woodke said. We dont want to sit under trees in chains. Our families dont want to have to suffer. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition BEIJING , June 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday, the second and last day of the top U.S. diplomat's visit to China . During the meeting, Xi urged actions to stabilize and improve China - U.S. relations, and emphasized that whether the two countries can find the right way to get along bears on the future and destiny of humanity. "Planet Earth is big enough to accommodate the respective development and common prosperity of China and the United States ," he said. The Chinese, like the Americans, are "dignified, confident and self-reliant" people, and they both have the right to pursue a better life, Xi stressed. The common interests of the two countries should be valued, and their respective success is an opportunity for each other, not a threat, he said. 'World needs stable China - U.S. ties' Noting that the international community is concerned about the current state of the relations, Xi said it does not want to see conflict or confrontation between China and the U.S. or choose sides between them. "The two countries should act with a sense of responsibility for history, for the people and for the world, and handle China - U.S. relations properly," urged the Chinese leader. "In this way, they may contribute to global peace and development, and help make the world, which is changing and turbulent, more stable, certain and constructive," he added. Blinken said U.S. President Joe Biden believes that the U.S. and China have an obligation to responsibly manage their relations, which is in the interest of both countries and the world. Translating Bali common understandings into actions When Xi and Biden held their first in-person talks as heads of state on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G20) Summit on the Indonesian island of Bali last November, both sides agreed to take actions to take China - U.S. relations back to the track of stable development. During Monday's meeting with Blinken, the Chinese president reiterated that the two countries need to remain committed to the common understandings he and Biden had reached in Bali , and translate the positive statements into actions so as to stabilize and improve China - U.S. relations. He noted that major-country competition does not represent the trend of the times, much less can it solve America's own problems or the challenges facing the world. " China respects U.S. interests and does not seek to challenge or displace the United States ," said Xi. "In the same vein, the United States needs to respect China and must not hurt China's legitimate rights and interests." China always hopes to see a sound and steady China - U.S. relationship and believes that the two major countries can overcome various difficulties and find the right way to get along based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, he added. Blinken said the U.S. is committed to returning to the agenda set by the two presidents in Bali . The United States stands by the commitments made by Biden, namely it does not seek a new Cold War, it does not seek to change China's system, its alliances are not directed at China , it does not support " Taiwan independence," and it does not seek conflict with China , reiterated Blinken. He added, the U.S. side looks forward to having high-level engagement with the Chinese side, keeping open lines of communication, responsibly managing differences, and pursuing dialogue, exchanges and cooperation. Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China, told CGTN on Monday that it was an important step for China and the U.S. to stabilize their relations as both sides agreed to take the business and people-to-people exchanges back to normal following Blinken's visit. Monday's meeting was the first time a U.S. secretary of state had met the Chinese president since 2018. Blinken is the senior most U.S. official to visit China since Biden took office in early 2021. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-06-19/Xi-Jinping-urges-actions-to-stabilize-and-improve-China-U-S-relations-1kLNJcMwSwE/index.html View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cgtn-xi-jinping-urges-actions-to-stabilize-and-improve-china-us-relations-301854870.html SOURCE CGTN The Colicchio Kitchen and Top Chef's Head Judge Tom Colicchio Capture the Taste of Summer With New Branding and Product Expansion WINDERMERE, Fla. , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Jersey Tomato Co., in partnership with chef and restaurateur Tom Colicchio, announced that they will debut the Colicchio Kitchen premium tomato sauces, formerly The Jersey Tomato Co. sauces, as well as an expansion into condiments and dressings at the 2023 Summer Fancy Food Show. The Colicchio Kitchen branding reflects increasing consumer demand for chef-trusted, clean, fresh ingredients with superior taste. "I originally partnered with the Jersey Tomato Co. because I had never tasted anything that came as close to my grandmother's 'summer sauce'," says Colicchio. "We've captured the taste of summer. Nothing really added, you get the natural flavor of the tomato." Colicchio joined The Jersey Tomato Co. in 2020 and continues to drive innovation to provide home chefs with authentic, healthy sauces including the ultra-premium Colicchio Collection cooking and pairing sauces and the expansion to condiments and dressings under the Colicchio Kitchen brand. "We are excited to expand our partnership with Tom Colicchio and build upon the original Jersey Tomato Co. summer sauce with a brand evolution to Colicchio Kitchen," said Mike Hagan , CEO of KEEN Growth Capital's Emerging Brands Portfolio. "With increasing demand for healthy, time saving solutions the premium Colicchio Kitchen line and ultra-premium Colicchio Collection cooking and pairing sauces will become a cornerstone of the home kitchen." The Colicchio Kitchen brand will debut at retail stores and online fall of 2023. The ultra-premium Colicchio Collection cooking and pairing sauces are available as a subscription with unique member benefits and as a one-time purchase of $48.00 for a set of three 16 oz. jars on colicchiocollection.com or 1-800-Flowers.com. Visit Booth # 5950 June 25 through June 27 at the 2023 Summer Fancy Food Show at the Javits Center, New York, NY . Chef Tom Colicchio will be sharing Italian-inspired creations on Monday, June 26 from 11am to 2pm . For more information, follow @colicchiocollection and @tomcolicchio on Instagram. About The Jersey Tomato Co. The Jersey Tomato Co. is a KEEN Growth Capital portfolio company dedicated to healthy and functional foods featuring clean-label sauces, dressings, and condiments in collaboration with Chef Tom Colicchio , restaurateur, food activist and head judge on Bravo's Top Chef. The Colicchio Kitchen premium sauces, formerly The Jersey Tomato Co., and the Colicchio Collection ultra-premium cooking and pairing sauces are inspired by Tom Colicchio's belief that everyone can cook authentic cuisine. Learn more at colicchiocollection.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chef-tom-colicchio-to-unveil-the-colicchio-kitchen-sauces-at-the-summer-fancy-food-show-301855807.html SOURCE The Jersey Tomato Co. Cognigenics and Brand Institute, the global leader in pharmaceutical and healthcare-related name development, announce a collaboration for branding and name development for the Cognigenics lead compound, RCA-101 MIAMI , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Brand Institute is proud to announce that it has entered into a collaboration with Cognigenics to develop names for its lead compound, RCA-101, and for its library of follow-on compounds, which will be developed from the Cognigenics proprietary platform. "The entire Brand Institute and Drug Safety Institute Team congratulates Cognigenics on the progress the company has made in working toward developing a new generation of genetic medicines to treat a range of important mental illnesses." said Brand Institute's Chairman and CEO, James L. Dettore . "Mental illness, such as chronic anxiety and depression, affects millions of people worldwide. The Cognigenics approach could represent a revolutionary advancement in treating these disorders." Founded in 2019, Cognigenics is a privately held pre-clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on developing genetic medicines that address mental illnesses at their root cause, versus treating only the symptoms. RCA-101 is a unique CRISPR based RNA vector compound that can be intranasally delivered, reaching key areas of the brain implicated in anxiety and depression. The company expects to announce results of their pre-clinical studies shortly. About Brand Institute and its wholly owned subsidiary, Drug Safety Institute Brand Institute has a portfolio of over 5,000 marketed healthcare and consumer brands for more than 1,600 clients. The company partners on over 75% of pharmaceutical brand and nonproprietary name approvals globally every year. Drug Safety Institute is composed of former naming regulatory officials from global government health agencies, including the FDA, European Medicines Agency (EMA), Health Canada, American Medical Association (AMA), and the WHO. These regulatory experts co-authored the name review guidelines with their respective agencies, with many responsible for ultimately approving (or rejecting) brand name applications. Now working for a private company, these professionals provide Brand Institute's clients with industry-leading guidance pertaining to drug name safety (i.e., preventing medication errors), packaging, and labeling. Contact: [email protected] www.brandinstitute.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cognigenics-announces-branding-and-naming-partnership-for-unique-intranasally-delivered-crispr-based-rna-vector-for-genetic-medicines-in-mental-health-301854638.html SOURCE Brand Institute, Inc. NAIROBI, Kenya , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Sultan Al Jaber , COP28 President-Designate, meets with H.E. William Ruto , President of the Republic of Kenya , and African energy ministers and leaders at Africa Energy Forum in Nairobi . , President-Designate, meets with , President of the , and African energy ministers and leaders at in . President Ruto commends UAE , its leadership and the COP Presidency on its long-standing support for sustainable development and climate action and jointly commits towards the necessary tripling of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030. , its leadership and the COP Presidency on its long-standing support for sustainable development and climate action and jointly commits towards the necessary tripling of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030. Joint working group launched between Africa Climate Summit and COP28 to focus on just energy transition and unlocking climate finance to accelerate green growth in Africa to focus on just energy transition and unlocking climate finance to accelerate green growth in "We don't need to wait for the global stock-take to plan our response to the global stock-take." "We must lay the groundwork now preparing for the highest possible ambition in the negotiated outcomes "We must complement whatever is decided inside the negotiations with an equally powerful action agenda outside the negotiating rooms in the real world." "First, we must recognize that the energy system of the future will not build itself. We need every country, every region, every part of society, including businesses, governments and NGOs, working together in solidarity, in a unified effort to make it happen." " Africa's potential as a clean energy giant is massive. Developing that potential will require political will, visionary ambition and lots of capital." potential as a clean energy giant is massive. Developing that potential will require political will, visionary ambition and lots of capital." "And we need to end the rhetoric that puts a false division between North and South that says that one region has all the answers, while another region is not equipped to contribute. The truth is some countries in the Global South are setting the pace." "Here in Kenya , 80 per cent of the country's electricity is provided by renewable energy placing this nation of 50 million people well on its way to meeting the goal of transitioning to 100 percent clean power by 2030." , 80 per cent of the country's electricity is provided by renewable energy placing this nation of 50 million people well on its way to meeting the goal of transitioning to 100 percent clean power by 2030." " Africa is rich in clean energy resources including wind, solar, hydro and geothermal giving it huge potential for low-carbon growth and sustainable development." is rich in clean energy resources including wind, solar, hydro and geothermal giving it huge potential for low-carbon growth and sustainable development." Clean energy investment in Africa represents only 2 percent of what is invested globally and less than 10 percent of the $120 billion dollars a year that is the baseline requirement. represents only 2 percent of what is invested globally and less than 10 percent of the a year that is the baseline requirement. "As a first step, the long overdue 100-billion-dollar pledge needs to be fulfilled this year." pledge needs to be fulfilled this year." "We know that the current international financial architecture is not fit for purpose. IFIs and MDBs are not distributing concessional finance anywhere near quickly enough." "The UAE has deployed over 12 billion dollars in investments in renewable projects across Africa through public/private partnerships." COP28 President-Delegate, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, met H.E. William Ruto , President of the Republic of Kenya , along with energy ministers and leaders from other African nations, at the Africa Energy Forum in Nairobi , where he emphasized the importance of making climate finance more available, accessible, and affordable to enable countries in the continent to achieve their clean energy potential. In a joint statement with the President-Designate, President Ruto commended the UAE , its leadership and the COP Presidency on their long-standing support for sustainable development and climate action. Kenya and COP28 will jointly champion actions to triple installed renewable energy capacity by 2030, and will cooperate on policy and scaling finance. A joint working group has also been launched through the Africa Climate Summit and COP28 to focus on a just energy transition and unlocking climate finance to accelerate green growth in Africa . With abundant clean energy resources, including wind, solar, hydro and geothermal sources, and precious metals, Africa "has the potential to emerge as a hub for renewable energies, and a significant driver of clean growth for the world," the President-Designate said. "But one major obstacle stands in its way. And that is a lack of available, accessible and affordable finance." Clean energy investment in Africa represents only 2 percent of what is invested globally and less than 10 percent of the 120 billion dollars a year that is the "baseline requirement," Dr. Al Jaber said. "We need to be candid about the issues and determined to fix them," he stated. The President-Designate repeated calls for developed nations to meet their historic commitment of delivering $100 billion a year in climate finance for developing nations, and reiterated the need for reform of international financial institutions (IFIs) and multilateral development banks (MDBs). "We know that the current international financial architecture is not fit for purpose. IFIs and MDBs are not distributing concessional finance anywhere near quickly enough," he said. "Reform is urgently needed," and if this is not possible in time, "we must explore new mechanisms for lowering risk and massively expanding the flow of private investment to build a pipeline of bankable, sustainable clean energy projects." Harmonizing standards for voluntary carbon markets could also help Africa to attract capital, while countries should also look at supportive policies and regulations to "help develop a favorable investment climate for the private sector," the President-Designate said. Dr. Al Jaber hailed Kenya's success in providing 80 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources. "That didn't happen by accident," he said. "It happened because visionary government policies combined with smart investments met practical-minded people of action." Kenya will be a regional champion in the drive to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, the President-Designate said. " Africa's potential as a clean energy giant is massive," Dr. Al Jaber said. "Developing that potential will require political will, visionary ambition and lots of capital. Some of this is already happening through evidence-based energy transition plans. The AFDB is spearheading innovative, blended public and private finance solutions to expand clean growth through Africa 50. And the UAE has deployed over US$12 billion in development and renewable projects across Africa through public/private partnerships." During his meeting with President Ruto , Dr. Al Jaber discussed adaptation & mitigation efforts, including the transition to green energy and COP28 's action plan that aims to build bridges nurturing collaboration between the global north & south. The President-Designate also met with H.E. Davis Chirchir , Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum, to discuss the need for accelerated partnerships on renewable energy, in the lead up to the Africa Climate Summit, taking place in Nairobi in September, and COP28UAE. Dr. Al Jaber also attended a ministerial roundtable on the energy transition, attended by ministers from more than 15 nations, and took part in a townhall discussion with representative of youth, indigenous peoples', and civil society. In one of his visit's highlights, Dr. Al Jaber met young social entrepreneurs from M-KOPA, a company developing innovative financial products that are helping home-grown, clean tech businesses get off the ground. For all media enquiries and requests for interviews, please contact [email protected] For up-to-date COP28 news, follow us on Twitter @COP28_UAE Notes to Editors: COP28 UAE : COP28 UAE will take place at Expo City Dubai from November 30-December 12, 2023 . The Conference is expected to convene over 70,000 participants, including heads of state, government officials, international industry leaders, private sector representatives, academics, experts, youth, and non-state actors. from . The Conference is expected to convene over 70,000 participants, including heads of state, government officials, international industry leaders, private sector representatives, academics, experts, youth, and non-state actors. As mandated by the Paris Climate Agreement, COP28 UAE will deliver the first ever Global Stocktake a comprehensive evaluation of progress against climate goals. The UAE will lead a process for all parties to agree upon a clear roadmap to accelerate progress through a pragmatic global energy transition and a "leave no one behind" approach to inclusive climate action. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2106516/COP28_UAE.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cop28-president-designate-calls-for-climate-finance-reform-to-unlock-africas-clean-energy-potential-301855634.html The beauty industry's leading B2B trade show in the Americas is primed for its annual event this July - a not-to-be-missed experience! LAS VEGAS , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cosmoprof North America will host its highly anticipated 20th edition at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) in Las Vegas, NV , from July 11-13, 2023 . The beauty business has never been bigger and better, and Cosmoprof North America stands at the heart of this dynamic industry. As the premier platform for new beauty brands, supply chain innovations, and product launches setting industry trends, Cosmoprof North America celebrates two decades of excellence. The event has established a reputation for connecting brands with top retailers, distributors, suppliers, and media professionals. In 2023, the beauty industry continues to thrive, attracting 44% of first-time attendees to Cosmoprof North America, eager to expand their business networks and explore collaboration opportunities. The beauty business has never been bigger and better, and Cosmoprof North America stands at the heart of this dynamic industry. It is undeniably the place to be. The 20th edition will return to a one-hall format (the West Hall in LVCC) to ease navigation between different product sectors. Cosmoprof will feature finished products for retail in the following categories: Hair Care, Skin Care & Makeup, and Nails in addition to Country Pavilions and special areas, including Discover Beauty, Discover Beauty Spotlights, Discover Black-Owned Beauty, Discover Green, and The Beauty Vanities. Cosmopack, the only event that features solutions for the entire beauty supply chain, will include raw materials and ingredients, private label and contract manufacturing, primary and secondary packaging, machinery, and other solutions. "We are proud of our exclusive programs, such as Country Pavilions, which are supported by foreign governments (such as Italy and South Korea ), who recognize the importance of creating exposure for their brands in the US," says Enrico Zannini , General Manager of BolognaFiere Cosmoprof. "The professional beauty space is growing and innovating like never before," shares Nina Daily , Executive Director of the Professional Beauty Association, "and Cosmoprof North America allows leading brands the prime opportunity to pave the future for the beauty industry as a whole." Ed McNeill , SVP of USA Beauty LLC, adds, "This year's edition boasts an unprecedented number of sponsored buyers, retailers, and distributors, both domestic and international, such as Bloomingdale's , Walmart, Nordstrom, Costco, Neiman Marcus, Macy's, The Detox Market, Belk, Thirteen Lune, and Sally Beauty." Attendees can look forward to several event highlights, including: Education and Trends: CosmoTalks features a series of seminars and panels on various topics in the beauty industry. Highlights include a state of the business presentation by Circana's Larissa Jensen and the "Disrupted Beauty Retail Part 1" panel featuring beauty retailers and disruptors SpaceNK, Thirteen Lune, and CVS Health and moderated by WSL Strategic Retail's Wendy Liebmann . Entrepreneur Academy focuses on workshops that center on product creation, marketing strategies, and winning approaches for budding beauty entrepreneurs, while Cosmopack Education offers complimentary sessions exclusively on the beauty supply chain. NEW! Press, Influencers, Social Media, and Marketing: Free for attendees and exhibitors alike is the CosmoTalks panel "The Evolution of Influencer Marketing on Social." The discussion, moderated by CEW's Andrea Nagel , features prominent influencers such as Jasmine Nguyen (@jasmineNguyen), Ian Michael Crumm (@ianmcrumm), and Monica Ravichandran (@monicas_makeuptips). They will share valuable insights on successful marketing strategies across multiple platforms, helping brands build awareness and achieve next-level success. The Cosmoprof North America 20th Anniversary Soiree The Soiree, hosted on the first day of the event, will celebrate two decades of bringing the beauty industry together and will feature a presentation of the Cosmoprof North America & Cosmopack North America Awards winners. For the first time, this year's winners, along with all global Awards winners, will be presented and displayed at Cosmoprof Bologna in March 2024 . Also, in strategic partnership with BEAUTYSTREAMS is CosmoTrends, which highlights the latest trends and cutting-edge innovations in the beauty market and will be supported through a CosmoTalks session and an onsite installation. Returning Partnership with City of Hope Cosmoprof North America is delighted to announce the return of its partnership with City of Hope, one of the country's top ten comprehensive cancer centers, ranked by U.S. News and World Reports. City of Hope will co-locate its renowned Beauty Industry Spirit of Life Celebration with Cosmoprof North America, kicking off the biggest week in beauty at Resort's World on July 10th . The event will honor long-time Cosmoprof North America partner, Dr. Farouk Shami , Chairman & Founder of Farouk Systems, inc. REGISTER NOW! Cosmoprof North America offers 3 ticket options: a 1-day show pass, a 3-day show pass, or an Entrepreneur Academy Package, which includes a 3-day show pass and all sessions in Entrepreneur Academy. PBA members receive the added benefit of a 25% discount. Register now at www.cosmoprofnorthamerica.com/las-vegas/ Plan your visit: www.cosmoprofnorthamerica.com/las-vegas/plan-your-visit/ ; www.cosmoprofnorthamerica.com/hotel-travel/ Exhibitor listing: https://cosmoprof2023.smallworldlabs.com/exhibitors Learn More About City of Hope's Spirit of Life Event: https://e.givesmart.com/events/wcC/ Informa Markets creates platforms for industries and specialist markets to trade, innovate and grow. We provide marketplace participants around the globe with opportunities to engage, experience and do business through face-to-face exhibitions, targeted digital services, and actionable data solutions. We connect buyers and sellers across more than a dozen global verticals, including Boating, Pharmaceuticals, Food, Fashion, and Infrastructure. As the world's leading market-making company, we bring a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, please visit: WWW.INFORMAMARKETS.COM . BolognaFiere Group is the world's leading trade show organizer in cosmetics, fashion, architecture, building, art, and culture. The Group has more than 80 international exhibitions within its portfolio, notably Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, the most important meeting point in the world for beauty professionals, established in 1967 and held in Bologna, Italy . For the 2023 edition, Cosmoprof registered more than 250.000 attendees from 153 countries in the world, and 2,984 exhibitors from 64 countries. Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna 2024 is scheduled from March 21 to 25, 2024 , in Bologna Italy . Cosmoprof B2B format is constantly able to support companies and stakeholders in their business all over the world with specific tools and initiatives adapting to each market. The Cosmoprof platform extends throughout the entire world, with Cosmoprof North America, Cosmoprof CBE ASEAN, Cosmoprof India, and Cosmoprof Asia. For more information, please visit: WWW.COSMOPROF.COM . The Professional Beauty Association (PBA) is the largest and most inclusive trade organization representing the entire beauty industry. PBA exists to elevate, unite, and serve the beauty industry and the professionals who improve people's lives and is the only national organization to represent the entire beauty industry. Our members include manufacturers, distributors, salons, spas, schools, independent practitioners, students, and industry suppliers. PBA is dedicated to advocating and fighting for the rights of the beauty industry, enhancing professionalism, and committed to the long-term success of the stylist and the businesses that employ and support them. For more information on membership, please visit: WWW.PROBEAUTY.ORG/JOIN . View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cosmoprof-north-americas-20th-edition-is-set-for-an-exciting-anniversary-exhibition-301855418.html SOURCE Cosmoprof North America THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- DigiKey, a leading global commerce distributor offering the largest selection of technical components and automation products in stock for immediate shipment, has partnered with GroupGets to launch the "Get MADE" crowdfunding initiative, a collaboration that promotes and funds hardware creators. This program will allow startups to get hardware funded, produced and sold on DigiKey's website. GroupGets is a crowd purchasing platform for group buying technology products that helps businesses and individuals launch their products by promoting, funding and distributing electronic devices across the world. Through the "Get Made" program, GroupGets and DigiKey will cross promote qualifying devices through content, design, distribution and partial funding through DigiKey. Upon successful funding, GroupGets will work with the creators to manufacture the platforms and then DigiKey will list the platforms for sale on its website. "The 'Get MADE' program stemmed from the longtime supply partnership between DigiKey and GroupGets and became a call to action to further support makers trying to enter the market," said David Sandys , senior director of technical marketing at DigiKey. "By partnering together, we can bring interesting new solutions to market and fuel innovation in the hardware space." "I made GroupGets to originally 'hack minimum order quantities' and put every maker on an equal level playing field with big technology companies," said Ron Justin , co-founder of GroupGets. "We've been a DigiKey fan since we were electrical engineering students in college and are proud to be further supporting the maker community through assisting them in their funding goals, as well as with production and distribution." Interested creators can learn more about eligibility requirements and apply at www.groupgets.com/getmade. For more information on DigiKey, visit the DigiKey website. To learn more about GroupGet's supply partnership, visit their supplier center page. About DigiKey DigiKey, headquartered in Thief River Falls, Minn. , USA, is recognized as the global leader and continuous innovator in the cutting-edge commerce distribution of electronic components and automation products worldwide. We get technical by providing more than 14.9 million components from over 2,400 quality name-brand manufacturers with an industry-leading breadth and depth of product in stock and available for immediate shipment. DigiKey also supports engineers, designers, builders and procurement professionals with a wealth of digital solutions, frictionless interactions and tools to make their jobs more efficient. Additional information can be found at digikey.com and on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn. Editorial Contact Megan Derkey Bellmont Partners +1 612-255-1115 [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/digikey-partners-with-groupgets-to-enable-hardware-startups-to-bring-products-to-market-301855557.html SOURCE DigiKey SAN FRANCISCO , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Financial institutions and technology vendors have repurposed their strategies on digital paymentsmore soon the back of a dip in physical cash. Add to it the technological innovations that have leveraged online banking. Cash may still be the king; electronic payment, however, is giving a run for the money. An exponential rise in smartphone usage, surging internet penetration and growth in e-commerce have made electronic payment a force to reckon with. Meanwhile, the luxury of contactless and fast payments comes with caveatsenvironmental, social and governance challenges. Amidst climate change, a volatile economy and the Russia - Ukraine war, society, businesses and governments have exhibited a strong commitment to foster an inclusive workplace, accentuate low-carbon energy solutions, bolster transparency and create long-term value. Several financial institutions have started carbon offset programs, providing rewards and loyalty points. In September 2021 , Ascenda joined forces with Patch to enable consumers to redeem their rewards points for carbon offsets, helping reduce and eliminate GHG emissions. Learn more about the practices & strategies being implemented by industry participants from the Digital Payments Industry ESG Thematic Report, 2023, published by Astra ESG Solutions PayPal Propels Science-Based Targets (SBTs) Carbon footprints from the digital payment ecosystem have prompted financial institutions to up their sustainable strategies. A study from Cambridge inferred that Bitcoin used 80% more energy consumption in 2021 compared to the preceding year. Digital wallets reportedly consume less energy vis-a-vis cryptocurrencies, offering opportunities galore. In March 2022 , Helpful rolled out digital wallets that it claims can save up to 80% of the CO2 produced from payment transactions. The potential risks posed by adverse weather conditions on facilities have encouraged companies, such as PayPal to underscore science-based GHG emission reduction targets. The Fintech player achieved 100% renewable energy sourcing for its data centers in 2021, while it reached 90% total energy use in 2022. The American giant formed science-based emission reduction targetsto minimize absolute operational GHG emissions by 25% by 2025. In 2022, the company set the goal to engage 75% of its suppliers (in terms of spending) to SBTs by 2025 and Its IT asset management team retired 338 metric tons of IT hardware across the data center services. Global Payments Underscores Philanthropic Activities The social criterion emphasizes a shifting business environment where companies are gearing up to enhance workplace diversity, financial literacy, social equity and health & wellness. In 2021, Global Payments Plano, Texas office teamed up with the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) and collected USD 1,600 for charity. Besides, the Lindon, Utah team formed a canned food drive to donate 2,500 cans to a local food bank. Taking the philanthropic work further, the company doled out USD 5 million in 2021 to underpin several organizations, such as Red Cross, the American Heart Association, UNCF, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Susan G. Komen and Mercer Medical School. To reinforce financial literacy and economic inclusion, the Fintech company offers around 4 million (especially small and medium-sized businesses) locations globally with digital commerce solutions, allowing acceptance of more than 140 payment methods. Meanwhile, the U.S. -based company has propelled its DEI strategies to augment female representation to 47% and boost the number of people of color to 39% by 2025. Is your business one of participants to the Digital Payments Industry? Contact us for focused consultation around ESG Investing, and help you build sustainable business practices JP Morgan Embeds Transparency and Accountability Corporate governance has become a value proposition to impel ethics & compliance, board diversity, transparent work culture, independence and anti-corruption activities. In 2021, directors at JP Morgan were offered education on DEI, cybersecurity, its climate risk management framework and technology. The Board in the financial service company has ramped up corporate culture and values, boosting diversity in leadership positions. As of April 2022 , Out of ten, there were four women directors and one black director. Further, women accounted for 37% of seats on the Operating Committee (as of December 2021). While digital solutions have become invaluable in the economy, data privacy and cybersecurity threats have sent alarm bells to stakeholders. The Global Cybersecurity and Technology Controls organization analyzes changes in global threats and monitors JP Morgan's operations. In 2022, the company was involved in policy issues, such as software bills of materials, evolving U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), zero trust and notification. The need to protect the global financial system and underpinning cybersecurity will help companies achieve ESG goals. Fintech players have expedited their strategies to undergird climate solutions and build financial confidence among underserved and vulnerable communities. In the 2021-2022 ESG Report, American Express announced an infusion of USD 3 billion toward DEI initiatives and underrepresented groups through 2025. During the Earth Month of 2022, the financial service company asserted that at least 70% recycled or reclaimed plastic would be used to make most plastic cards by 2024. The rising footprint of contactless- and card payments against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic has made electronic payment the next big thing. The global digital payments market size stood at USD 68.61 billion in 2021 and will expand at a CAGR of 20.5% between 2022 and 2030, reports Grand View Research. Browse more ESG Thematic Reports from the Technology Sector, published by Astra - ESG Solutions About Astra ESG Solutions by Grand View Research Astra is the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) arm of Grand View Research Inc. - a global market research publishing & management consulting firm. Astra offers comprehensive ESG thematic assessment & scores across diverse impact & socially responsible investment topics, including both public and private companies along with intuitive dashboards. Our ESG solutions are powered by robust fundamental & alternative information. Astra specializes in consulting services that equip corporates and the investment community with the in-depth ESG research and actionable insight they need to support their bottom lines and their values. We have supported our clients across diverse ESG consulting projects & advisory services, including climate strategies & assessment, ESG benchmarking, stakeholder engagement programs, active ownership, developing ESG investment strategies, ESG data services, build corporate sustainability reports. Astra team includes a pool of industry experts and ESG enthusiasts who possess extensive end-end ESG research and consulting experience at a global level. For more ESG Thematic reports, please visit Astra ESG Solutions, powered by Grand View Research Need expert consultation around identifying, analyzing and creating a plan to mitigate ESG risks related to your business? Share your concerns and queries, we can help! Contact: Michelle Thoras Sales Specialist, USA Astra ESG Solutions - Powered by Grand View Research, Inc. Phone: 1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Web: https://astra.grandviewresearch.com/ Email: [email protected] LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/astra-esg-solutions/ View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/digital-payments-industry--esg-sets-to-prompt-sustainable-future-for-digital-payment-ecosystem-finds-astra-esg-solutions-301854941.html SOURCE Astra ESG Solutions GenCyber Girls campers part of historic ceremony MADISON, S.D. , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Dakota State University and ArmyCyber (ARCYBER) have signed an Educational Partnership Agreement (EPA) at a ceremony held at DSU on June 19 . This agreement will "promote joint research, collaboration, educational programs, and professional projects for both parties' mutual advantage," said the document, by forging a cooperative relationship to further the educational, research, and service missions. This is the first partnership of its kind for ARCYBER because it encompasses all five of its mission objectives, to operate, defend, attack, influence, and inform. "We are proud and excited to broaden our relationship with Dakota State University," said Lt. Gen Maria Barrett , Commanding General of the U.S. Army Cyber Command. "DSU's students and faculty have proven to be innovative, skilled, and forward-thinking just the kind of talented, focused, and driven young minds our nation needs in its cyber workforce to counter our cyber adversaries and defend the networks and critical infrastructure that are vital to our nation." As this relationship progresses throughout the five-year agreement, Dakota State and ArmyCyber will develop a deeper understanding of each other's needs and capabilities, said DSU President Jose-Marie Griffiths . Through this awareness, students will be able to see cyber career paths they may not be aware of, such as civilian roles available with the military. They may also be on the front lines with jobs that haven't been created yet. "Dakota State is leading the new security frontier which is cyber and this agreement will provide us with distinctive opportunities to contribute to our nation's security while providing cutting-edge workforce experience for our students," she stated. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem said, "In South Dakota, we become the best and then we do it again. We break our own records, we beat ourselves, we create a new precedent. We set the bar, and then we raise it." "I have seen this kind of work ethic demonstrated by the folks at DSU time and time again. And this Educational Partnership Agreement is yet another opportunity to raise the bar. It's raising the bar for universities across the country who are getting involved in the cyber security field. But it is also raising the bar for our students, and for students all over the country. DSU is giving students the kind of career opportunities that they can't get anywhere else," Noem stated. This event provided a timely example for potential DSU students. Over 100 middle school girls attending Dakota State University's GenCyber Girls in CybHER camp were at the signing ceremony. Barrett, Noem, and U.S. Senator Mike Rounds explained the significance of this agreement to the campers, and described what doors the EPA can help open for rising cyber careers in these students' future. "Dakota State University is a nationally recognized leader in the field of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence," said U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and co-chair of the Senate Artificial Intelligence Caucus. "While today is a great day for DSU and our nation, it has been long in the making. I appreciate the work of Dr. Michael Sulmeyer , the Army's Principal Cyber Advisor, whose visit to DSU at my request helped pave the way for the signing of this agreement," he stated. "Additionally, I am grateful for the visionary leadership of Dr. Jose-Marie Griffiths , who continues to find ways to take DSU to the next level as a top institution for cybersecurity. This agreement opens up a world of possibilities for DSU students and is another opportunity for South Dakota to play a critical role in maintaining the defense of our country." Dakota State University (DSU) is located in Madison, S.D. Founded in 1881, DSU offers undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs through its colleges of arts and sciences, business and information systems, computer and cyber sciences, and education. DSU has a special focus on the development, application, implications, and impacts of computing, information technologies and cyber security in all areas of human endeavor. DSU has received multiple Center of Academic Excellence designations in education, research and regional resource development from the U.S. National Security Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. DSU is home to the Madison Cyber Labs (MadLabs), a cyber R&D hub with labs and institutes that explore and advance technology application, workforce development, business expansion, economic growth, and policy improvement across multiple disciplines and fields. For more information, contact [email protected], 605-270-3816, or visit the DSU website at dsu.edu. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dsu-army-cyber-sign-partnership-agreement-301855853.html SOURCE Dakota State University DURHAM, N.C. , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Beginning in the fall 2023 semester, Duke University will provide full tuition grants for undergraduate students admitted to Duke from North Carolina and South Carolina whose family incomes are $150,000 or less. For Duke students who are residents of the Carolinas with family incomes of $65,000 or less, Duke will provide full tuition grants, plus financial assistance for housing, meals and some course materials or other campus expenses, without the need for student loans. "This additional financial support for undergraduates reflects Duke's commitment to our students from the Carolinas," President Vincent Price said. "By providing even more equitable access to a Duke education, and ensuring students have the resources they need to truly thrive while here at Duke, we will also make our campus community stronger." All current undergraduates from the Carolinas who qualify will be eligible for the additional assistance immediately. Qualifying first-year students, sophomores, juniors and seniors from the Carolinas will receive financial aid statements by July 1 that reflect this new commitment. About 340 students are expected to benefit in the next academic year. "We want to make it easier for families to choose Duke," said Gary Bennett , dean of Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, which admits about 80 percent of Duke's undergraduate students. "Attending college can expand a family's opportunities for generations, and we aim to make the Duke experience as widely accessible as we can." Duke students from military families who meet the income requirements and whose legal residence is in the Carolinas will also qualify, even if they are stationed elsewhere. Duke has more undergraduate students from North Carolina than from any other state. In the 2022-23 academic year, 1,131 North Carolina residents from 65 counties were enrolled as undergraduates, representing 16 percent of the undergraduate student body. More than half attended public high schools. A further 160 are from South Carolina . "This is our home, and it's where we have our most longstanding commitment," Price said. "We want families in the Carolinas to know that a Duke education can be affordable, and that we will provide support and resources so all students who are admitted to Duke can have an exceptional college experience." This expansion of financial support will be funded through university resources, and is expected to increase grant assistance to North and South Carolina students by about $2 million for the 2023-24 academic year. "We know that students with greater financial constraints are more likely to choose colleges that are closer to their homes, and that many of those students will also choose to stay closer to home after they graduate," Bennett said. "Retaining talent is critical to our region's success; Duke's commitment to these students is also a commitment to the North and South Carolina communities they call home." Duke expects to enroll more eligible students from the Carolinas over the next five years and anticipates investing an additional $6 million to $7 million per year to provide the increased assistance. The new program adds to Duke's array of financial and structural support for students, including more than $130 million each year in financial aid grant assistance, and the Duke LIFE program to support first-generation and lower-income students. Duke is committed to providing qualifying students the financial resources that help them get to Duke, as well as additional programming and resources to support them throughout their time at Duke. More details about the program and eligibility requirements can be found at financialaid.duke.edu. Media Contact: Gregory Phillips [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/duke-university-to-provide-full-tuition-for-nc-and-sc-families-with-incomes-below-150-000--301854769.html SOURCE Duke University CINCINNATI , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- EdgeEnergy, an innovative energy conversion technology that makes it cheaper and faster to install ultra-fast EV (Electric Vehicles) charging stations, today announced the appointment of Keith Teichmann as Chief Technology and Revenue Officer. With over 30 years of experience, Mr. Teichmann is the recipient of the world's most recognized industrial design awards The Good Design Award, Core 77, and the Edison Award. In addition to these achievements, he has authored 24 international patents for hardware, software, cloud, and networking across multiple industries. Prior to joining EdgeEnergy, Mr. Teichmann served as both Chief Technology Officer and Chief Marketing Officer for Delta Energy and Communications, Inc., where he developed and launched a patented smart grid, smart city infrastructure system utilizing a pioneering Wi-Fi mesh architecture. Before working with Delta, Mr. Teichmann served as Vice President and Worldwide Director of Marketing and Project Management for ITT's Interconnect Solutions business and Vice President and Director of Innovative Networks & Marketing for Xylem (spun off from ITT). Prior to joining ITT, he held several senior level management and engineering positions at International Paper, United Technologies, and Pratt & Whitney. Keith holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and advanced Engineering and Business degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University. "We are thrilled to welcome Keith to our leadership team. His extensive knowledge in product development and commercialization will be instrumental as we enter the next phase of our growth," said Greg York , President, and Founder of EdgeEnergy. "Keith is a fantastic addition to EdgeEnergy's leadership team. Our team has extensive experience in the EV charging, energy, utility, and financial industries. I am confident that with this group in place EdgeEnergy will continue to capitalize on the momentum we have created and the enthusiasm around our products and the solutions we provide," continued York. "I could not be more excited to join the EdgeEnergy team," said Teichmann. "Their unique and innovative solution will speed up the rollout of ultra-fast EV charging across the U.S. , reduce the impact on the grid, lower costs and increase reliability. I am looking forward to continuing to build on the success the team has experienced already and capitalize on the many opportunities for our products." About EdgeEnergy Founded in 2020, EdgeEnergy designs and manufactures proprietary phase conversion hardware that allows for the installation of DC fast chargers on single-phase power infrastructure. Their technology works with any charger or network and eliminates the need for three-phase power upgrades in many locations and allows for faster and lower cost installation of ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure. Forward Looking Statements This press release includes "forward-looking statements." The Company's actual results may differ from its expectations, estimates and projections and consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as "expect," "estimate," "project," "budget," "forecast," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "may," "will," "could," "should," "believe," "predict," "potential," "continue," "aim" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the Company's expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions, or strategies for the future. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. Most of these factors are outside the Company's control and are difficult to predict. The Company cautions not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, including projections, which speak only as of the date made. The Company does not undertake or accept any obligation to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based. www.edgeenergyev.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/edgeenergy-adds-product-design-and-commercialization-expert-keith-teichmann-as-chief-technology-and-revenue-officer-to-help-drive-next-stage-of-growth-301855822.html SOURCE EdgeEnergy Sonneberg is a small German city located at the foot of the Thuringian forest. Its 23,000 inhabitants walk through a pleasant center, which isnt particularly pretty. It houses the German Toy Museum, which attracts some tourism to this municipality. This nondescript city once part of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), or East Germany has recently found its way into the headlines of the Berlin press. This is because of some predictably anodyne elections in the regional district (of which Sonneberg is the capital), which have ended up rattling Germanys national politics. On June 11, Robert Sesselman candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to be the district administrator took 47% of the vote. He ended up 10 points ahead of his rival from the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Jurgen Kopper. The results caused some surprise and much concern. Was Sonneberg going to have the dubious honor of being part of the first district with 56,500 inhabitants in total to be run by the extreme right in the entire country? With its quaint hundred-year-old town hall, the small city has placed itself at the center of a political earthquake one that has caused the dizzying rise of the once-marginal AfD in recent weeks. At the national level, the far-right party has climbed to reach second place in the polls, either tied with Chancellor Olaf Scholzs Social Democratic Party, or surpassing it, depending on the polling firm in question. Never since its creation back in 2012 has it generated so much support between 17% and 19% today, according to public opinion surveys. While this isnt enough to take power on the national scale, what truly worries the rest of the parties is whats happening in the eastern Lander the five states of the former communist GDR that reunified with the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990. The Forsa Institute has carried out the exercise of polling which party East Germany (excluding Berlin) would vote for if elections were held today. According to surveys, the AfD would win them handily, with 32% of the vote. So much effort to promote tourism and now were going to be known as the city of the extreme right, laments a municipal employee. Above all, one word is heard in the center of the town, near the also-popular Teddy Bear Museum: discontent. Its the first thing that social worker Anja May, 54, mentions when asked why her neighbors have voted en masse for the AfD. Money is scarce they see that its not used for what it should be used for: education, nurseries, care for the elderly. People are fed up with [the government] and everything theyre doing wrong in Berlin, she says. May is surprised, because its the second time in just a few days that a journalist has approached her on the street. In Germany, political gatherings and analysis spaces in newspapers speak of nothing else: whats happening in eastern Germany? Whose fault is it? Can anything be done before next years regional elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg? Its precisely in these three regions that the AfD is strongest, points out Franco Delle Donne, who holds a doctorate in Political Communications from the Free University of Berlin and has co-authored a book on the rise of the extreme right. In addition, this year, there are local elections. That is, theres a campaign going on the AfD rhetoric is circulating. A family walks through the center of Sonneberg, on June 15, 2023 Elena Sevillano The far-right party which is being monitored by German intelligence services for being suspected of threatening constitutional values has entered a third phase. It started out as a eurosceptic movement in the heat of the financial meltdown, but then evolved into an anti-immigration party following the 2015 refugee crisis. With the pandemic, it tried to take advantage of the protests against the restrictions, but failed. Since then, Delle Donne notes, its become known as a party that capitalizes on discontent. Several factors are behind the AfDs vote: disappointment with the government, fear of the negative effects of the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis and disenchantment with the other parties. In the east, moreover, surveys about satisfaction with democracy reveal significantly lower levels of enthusiasm than in the rest of the country. Theres a huge disappointment with politics in general people dont want to vote for the usual parties, says Norbert Leipold-Beck, 72, in front of the city hall. A retired couple who are CDU voters take turns explaining that, right or wrong, their neighbors are fed up. But if the AfD came to power, people would realize what they voted for and would regret it, Im sure. I understand the frustration, but the AfD is too dangerous, too dangerous, the couple repeats. They prefer not to give their names. A young woman also wishes to remain anonymous shes the only resident of Sonneberg that EL PAIS spoke with who admitted to voting for the extreme right. Shes 25-years-old and assures this newspaper that theres nothing for German citizens you work and work and the end of the month comes and you have no money left. There are more and more foreigners. I have nothing against them, but our country gives them everything for free. You see them with new cell phones, new shoes very chic, they go out to eat here and there. Our land. Our rules. Shes sitting in front of a kebab restaurant, with her two-year-old son in the stroller, while she waits for a takeaway order to be served. On the street are AfD election posters, where a smiling Sesselman promises: Our land. Our rules. Almost all the restaurants in the center are run by residents of foreign descent. I have nothing against them; they work and earn what they have, she says, pointing to the boy, of Turkish origin, who calls her to pick up the bag of food. As an example of the misuse of public funds, she cites one that is close to her heart her sons nursery costs 250 euros a month. She believes that the AfD will care more about German citizens. One of the many food and hospitality businesses in Sonneberg run by residents of foreign origin Elena Sevillano Social worker Gabi Kohler-Terz, 55, admits that the AfD is xenopohic, but that the majority of its voters are not. In Germany everything is much more expensive. People no longer know how to pay for heating. Gasoline prices are through the roof. And the extreme right makes big promises. This city is open and tolerant people dont have far-right ideas, I dont think so. They vote like this as a protest, she says, at the headquarters of an association Miteinander which, among other things, is dedicated to housing migrant adolescents who have no family in Germany. She and other members of her organization have never felt afraid or have been attacked in any way: Theres more racism in other places although its true that, here, if you dont have a German surname, it costs ten times more to rent a flat. The protest vote explains the support for the AfD in the east, a trend that has accelerated, explains Peter Matuschek, head of Political and Social Research at the Forsa Institute. But this is by no means a new phenomenon. In the last general elections, in September of 2021, the AfD won the most votes in the states of Thuringia and Saxony. Although there are still some economic differences (average salary, pension, unemployment, etc.) between the former two Germanys, the key is more grounded in different political cultures. In the east, Matuschek explains, theres less support for NATO and the EU, along with a certain amount of rejection of the post-materialist West. The data also shows that, in the east, theres more xenophobia, despite the fact that the immigration rate is lower. In Sonneberg, all the parties have agreed to support the CDU candidate in the second round of the district elections, which has been triggered by the fact that none of the candidates exceeded 50% in the first round. The runoff is set to be held on June 25. The veto on the extreme right remains unshakable in Germany, where, this past week, the leader of the Christian Democrats Friedrich Merz forcefully stated (again) that his party will never enter into a coalition agreement with the AfD, neither in the European Parliament, nor in the Bundestag, nor in the regional parliaments. The city and the rest of the region have a lot at stake. The mayor of Sonneberg the independent Heiko Voigt believes that citizens have voted thinking more about federal issues, rather than district-wide ones. He points to the lessons to be drawn from what happened in the first round: What the result makes clear to me is that politicians have to take the fears of the population very seriously. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition ORLANDO, Fla. , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As young people head off to college this fall, 214 of them from communities across Florida will receive financial help for their costs through scholarships from Florida Realtors Education Foundation Inc. A not-for-profit corporation established by the state Realtor association, the Florida Realtors Education Foundation Inc. provides real estate-related educational scholarships. The Foundation's Board of Directors awarded $235,200 in scholarships to help pay for higher education expenses for 214 young people in the 2023-2024 school year. All recipients are Florida residents and will attend community colleges, four-year universities, graduate programs or law schools, both in state and out-of-state. Some students are considering careers in real estate. "For 13 years now, the Florida Realtors Education Foundation Student Scholarship Program has helped 1,807 young people realize their dreams for the future by continuing their education," said Meighan Harris , chair of Florida Realtors Education Foundation Inc. "Florida Realtors has awarded a total of $2,502,500 in scholarships to help these students and their families with financial support for college. These scholarships are an investment in the future. Realtors across the state are honored to support these deserving young people and give back to our communities through this program." Scholarship recipients are enrolled at institutions of higher learning throughout the state, such as the University of Florida, Florida State University, University of Central Florida, Florida Atlantic University, Florida A&M University College of Law, Embry/Riddle, Ringling College of Art and Design, Flagler College, Stetson University and Tallahassee Community College, as well as other colleges throughout the U.S. , including Yale University, University of Michigan, University of Chicago and Louisiana State University to name a few. A variety of criteria was considered for successful applicants including academic achievements, financial need, relationship to the Realtor family and contributions to family, school and community. Florida Realtors serves as the voice for real estate in Florida . It provides programs, services, continuing education, research and legislative representation to 238,000 members in 51 boards/associations. Florida Realtors Newsroom website is available at http:// floridarealtors.org/newsroom. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/florida-realtors-education-foundation-awards-235-200-in-scholarships-301855692.html SOURCE Florida Realtors IFS extends capabilities with Poka connected worker technology to empower factory and field workers to work smarter, safer and drive productivity and efficiency. The acquisition positions IFS as the only vendor with leading ERP, EAM and FSM capabilities now able to digitally connect workers across the end-to-end value chain in its core industries. LONDON , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- IFS, announces it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Poka, Inc. (Poka) the market leading Quebec based provider of a connected worker platform. Poka enables factory and field workers to be more efficient across all aspects of their jobs from training and development to troubleshooting. This capability enables businesses to measure productivity across machinery and operators globally and therefore provides a clear insight into profitability. Poka also provides actionable insights for companies to stay compliant and provide safer working conditions as part of their ESG goals. Over the past decades companies have invested trillions of dollars enabling back office workers to do their jobs. With the massive focus on efficiency, industry 4.0 and the merging of the physical and digital worlds to drive automation, companies are now looking to enable factory and field workers to work smarter, safer and more efficiently. The acquisition puts IFS at the nexus of this trend as it now combines its ERP / FSM / EAM technology with Poka and extends its value all the way to the actual user empowering them at every step. Founded in 2014 by Alexandre Leclerc and Antoine Bisson the company has customers in 55 countries which include brands such as Nestle, Tetra Pak, Mars, Bosch, RioTinto, Coty, Alcoa, Hitachi Energy, Mahle, and more. For companies such as these, recent global events have created a heightened degree of complexity, and uncertainty in labor availability as well as impacted supply chains and raw material sourcing. To address these business challenges, organizations are doubling down on their efforts to achieve faster digital transformation. At the heart of this renewed focus is the need to empower their own employees making the Connected Worker a key focus. Connected Worker technologies go beyond delivering a software application to help workers do their jobs better. When frontline workers are digitally connected, companies are better able to gather and share critical operational data real-time, leading to optimized work systems where insights are contextualized and responsive. IFS CEO, Darren Roos, commented: "The concept of a connected worker is synonymous with the augmented worker because of the direct impact on improving productivity and operational efciency. With a potential manufacturing skills gap in the U.S. alone which could result in 2.1 million unfilled jobs by 2030*, closing this gap, it is as much a technology need as it is a change management and worker empowerment need. Improving access to information and knowledge means workers can become part of an integrated continuous improvement cycle." Roos added: The concept of connecting every single worker was historically overlooked as part of digital transformation journeys yet, giving workers the ability to get information whenever and wherever they are in the factory not only improves their experience, it is fundamental to building manufacturing agility something we understand very well at IFS." Alexandre Leclerc , CEO of Poka commented: "We are incredibly proud of the best-in-class platform we've built and our pioneering leadership in the Connected Worker space. Becoming part of IFS will enable us to further innovate and extend the value we create for manufacturers" He added: "As the global workforce crisis deepens, more companies are looking to scale their digital factory projects across the enterprise Leclerc concluded: "With the help of IFS's global presence and industry experience, Poka will be better equipped to deliver on its mission at scale." Poka was the recipient of an Open Bosch Award in recognition of outstanding innovation and was distinguished as a top Connected Worker vendor in Gartner's Hype Cycle for Manufacturing Operations Strategy, four years in a row. For more information about IFS Cloud for Manufacturing, PSO, MES and EAM and FSM, please visit: www.ifs.com IFS expects the acquisition of Poka to complete in Q3 2023 *Deloitte 2021 "Creating pathways for tomorrow's workforce today" About IFS IFS develops and delivers cloud enterprise software for companies around the world who manufacture and distribute goods, build and maintain assets, and manage service-focused operations. Within our single platform, our industry specific products are innately connected to a single data model and use embedded digital innovation so that our customers can be their best when it really matters to their customers - at the Moment of Service. The industry expertise of our people and of our growing ecosystem, together with a commitment to deliver value at every single step, has made IFS a recognized leader and the most recommended supplier in our sector. Our team of over 5,500 employees every day live our values of agility, trustworthiness and collaboration in how we support our thousands of customers. Learn more about how our enterprise software solutions can help your business today at ifs.com. About Poka Poka is a connected worker platform built specifically for manufacturers. The company's mission is to provide a hub for operational knowledge in factories by empowering workers to learn, share and collaborate right from the production floor. Poka was the recipient of the 2020 Open Bosch Award in recognition of outstanding innovation and was distinguished as a top Connected Worker vendor in Gartner's Hype Cycle for Manufacturing Operations Strategy, four years in a row. Poka is trusted by leading global manufacturers including Nestle, Danone, Bosch, Kraft, and Tetra Pak. For additional information, visit www.Poka.io Contact information: EUROPE / MEA / APJ: Adam Gillbe IFS, Director of Corporate & Executive Communications Email: [email protected] Phone: +44 7775 114 856 NORTH AMERICA / LATAM: Mairi Morgan IFS, Director of Corporate & Executive Communications Email: [email protected] Phone: +1 520 396 2155 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Public/855/3790555/9fcd03cc4ffc3338.pdf IFS Acquires Poka - Press Release - PDF https://news.cision.com/ifs/i/ifsxpoka,c3192155 IFSxPoka View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ifs-acquires-poka-301855484.html SOURCE IFS SACRAMENTO, Calif. , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pride Month celebrates and honors the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan each June. The Stonewall Uprising was monumental for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States . Pride Month celebrates everyone who champions LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and other related identities such as Two-Spirit. The percentage of U.S. adults who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or something other than heterosexual has increased to 7.2%, according to a 2022 Gallup poll. Generation Z adults, born between 1997 and 2004, are the most likely subgroup to identify as LGBTQ, with one in five adults doing so. Allies support the LGBTQIA+ community and advance LGBTQIA+ rights and acceptance. Being an active ally means taking intentional actions to advocate for and uplift the voices and rights of LGBTQIA+. Active allyship demonstrates a commitment to dismantling systemic injustices and actively promoting inclusivity. Allyship for the LGBTQIA+ community goes beyond simply displaying a rainbow sticker or symbol. While these symbols can be meaningful and visibly show support, true allyship requires ongoing learning, actions, and efforts to create a more inclusive and accepting society. Here are 10 tips on how to be an active ally and why it's crucial: Educate yourself. Start by educating yourself about the diverse experiences, challenges, and histories of the LGBTQIA+ community. Read books, articles, and personal stories. Watching documentaries and shows, We're Here, RuPaul's Drag Race, reading books, All about Love: New Visions and The Book of Pride: LGBTQ Heroes Who Changed the World, and listening to podcasts, Queer as Fact, provides deep insights for all generations. Attend workshops or webinars that delve into LGBTQIA+ issues. Engage with LGBTQIA+ activists, organizations, and community leaders. Do not rely on your LGBTQIA+ friends to educate you. Understanding their struggles and triumphs will help you develop empathy and knowledge to stand as an ally. Listen and amplify. Actively listen to the stories and experiences shared by LGBTQIA + individuals. Give them the space to express themselves without judgment. Amplify their voices by sharing their stories, art, or advocacy work on social media or within your network. Encourage others to do the same. Use inclusive language. Familiarize yourself with inclusive terminology and various pronouns. Respect and use individuals' pronouns and gender identities. Avoid assumptions or offensive language that might perpetuate stereotypes or invalidate their experiences. By using inclusive language, you create a more welcoming and respectful environment. Speak out against discrimination. The LGBTQIA + community is commonly affected by discriminatory remarks, actions, or policies. Use your privilege to address and dismantle homophobic, transphobic , or biphobic attitudes. Be prepared to have difficult conversations, offering factual information and personal perspectives to counter prejudice. Support LGBTQIA+ organizations and creators . Donate to LGBTQIA + organizations or volunteer your time. These organizations advocate for LGBTQIA + rights, provide resources, and offer safe spaces for community members. Be active in civic engagements. Engage with representatives who champion LGBTQIA + rights and equality. Advocate for inclusive policies and legislation. Practice intersectionality. Recognize that LGBTQIA + individuals can also face additional discrimination based on their race, religion, disability, or socioeconomic background. Embrace an intersectional approach, acknowledging and addressing the interconnected nature of multiple identities and experiences. Create safe and supportive spaces. LGBTQIA + individuals often face hostility and exclusion, leading to higher rates of mental health challenges, self-harm, and suicide. As an ally, you can create safe and supportive environments where LGBTQIA + individuals feel seen, heard, and valued. Your support can significantly impact their well-being, fostering a sense of belonging and acceptance. Celebrate and show up for LGBTQIA+ . Attend local events. Be conscious of your presence. Try not to overstep or overshadow others. Give yourself grace. Part of being a better ally is a willingness to keep learning. If you get someone's pronouns wrong, correct them and allow yourself space to relearn. Punishing yourself for mistakes will make it harder to learn and grow. Allyship is an ongoing process, not just a one-time gesture. It requires consistent support and effort, even after Pride Month. Allies commit to learning, growing, and challenging their own biases continuously. They recognize that their support is needed year-round, and they actively engage in creating long-lasting change. Being an active ally for the LGBTQIA+ community is not just about tolerance; it's about actively promoting acceptance, understanding, and equality. Active allyship empowers the LGBTQIA+ community and inspires others to join the cause, fostering a collective movement towards a more equitable and accepting world. Visit mindpath.com to learn more about gender-affirming mental health care treatment options. This article was written by Kiana Shelton , LCSW, a licensed clinical social worker with Mindpath Health in Katy, Texas . Mindpath Health is a leading provider of high-quality outpatient behavioral health services, offering in-person and telehealth visits. We coordinate care with primary care physicians and referring providers to ensure a focus on total health. Visit mindpath.com to partner with us. We have locations in Arizona , California , Florida , Minnestoa, North Carolina , South Carolina , and Texas . We offer TMS in California , North Carolina , and Florida . Learn how TMS can help here. We offer Mindpath On Demand in North Carolina , providing urgent therapy and psychiatry. Schedule an appointment at mindpath.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mindpath-health-releases-10-tips-to-become-an-active-ally-for-the-lgbtqia-community-301855468.html SOURCE Mindpath Health Two-thirds say the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will not be resolved soon, while 4 in 10 (39%) say it does not get attention it deserves from the Arab world Reflecting shifting geopolitical allegiances, Arab youth say Turkey and China are the top non-Arab allies of their country but the US still dominates Middle Eastern affairs Most Arab youth oppose normalisation of ties with Israel but a majority in the UAE , Egypt and Morocco favour closer diplomatic relations with the country DUBAI, UAE , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Around two-thirds of young Arabs (60%) say that relations between Iran and Israel and the West will deteriorate into military conflict. Many expect the Iranian regime to become even more authoritarian in the future, with nearly a third saying Iran will experience more civil unrest and possibly a coup. The findings this year also highlight the shifting geopolitical allegiances in the Arab world, with the region's youth saying they view Turkey and China as stronger allies of their country than traditional powers such as the United States and Russia . These are some of the key insights from the landmark 15th annual ASDA'A BCW Arab Youth Survey, unveiled today by ASDA'A BCW, the Middle East & North Africa's leading communications consultancy. The survey is the largest study of its kind of MENA's largest demographic, its 200 million plus youth. This year's findings show young Arab men and women 'Living a New Reality', the overarching theme of the 2023 survey. ASDA'A BCW commissioned SixthFactor Consulting, a leading research company, to conduct face-to-face interviews with 3,600 Arab citizens aged 18 to 24 in their home nations from March 27 to April 12, 2023 . The largest sample in the survey's history was equally divided between men and women in 53 cities across a total of 18 Arab states, including for the first time South Sudan . The interviews were deliberately conducted face to face rather than online to maximise the accuracy of the research and to reflect the nuances of Arab youth opinion across the region as much as possible. The 75-year Palestinian-Israeli conflict won't be resolved soon Arab youth are also pessimistic about the prospects for peace in the Palestinian Territories, with most surveyed saying the 75-year conflict between Palestinians and Israelis won't be resolved within the next five years. Although a majority (60%) of GCC citizens said a positive resolution is 'likely', over two-thirds (69%) in Levant, and more than half (57%) in North Africa , say it is 'very unlikely' or 'somewhat unlikely' that the conflict will be resolved soon. Moreover, nearly four in 10 (39%) young Arabs overall believe that with rising national priorities, the conflict does not receive adequate attention from the Arab world, rising to more than half (51%) in the Levant region, which includes the Palestinian Territories. A divergence of views on closer ties with Israel Most Arab youth oppose the normalisation of ties between Arab countries and Israel but a majority in United Arab Emirates , Egypt and Morocco favour closer diplomatic relations with the country. When young Arabs were asked whether they supported or would endorse their government's decision to normalise diplomatic ties with Israel , three-quarters (75%) in the UAE , a signatory of the Abraham Accords, said they supported normalisation. A third in Bahrain , the first country to sign the agreement, said the same. In Sudan , however, the fourth Arab nation to establish full diplomatic ties with Israel , 94% oppose it. Despite the Abraham Accords signalling a thaw in relations between Israel and several Arab countries, 86% of Arab youth overall say they view Israel as a 'strong enemy or somewhat of an enemy', while 57% say the same about Iran . Shifting geopolitical allegiances Among non-Arab nations, 82% of Arab youth named Turkey as a 'strong ally' or 'somewhat of an ally of their country', followed by China (80%), the United Kingdom (79%), Germany (78%) and France (74%). The US ranked seventh, with 72% votes, just below India at 73%. The US and UK , however, continue to be seen as a 'strong ally' by more than half of those surveyed, while two-thirds (66%) said America would be a stronger ally of their nation than Russia or China in the next five years. Russia , a top-three ally in last year's study, now ranks in ninth place, rated as an ally by 63% of respondents, below Pakistan (69%). At the same time, they say the US continues to exert the most influence in the Arab world. Compared to only 3% naming Turkey as having the most influence, and 4% identifying China , a third of young Arabs (33%) say the US is the most influential, followed by the UAE (11%), Saudi Arabia and Israel (both on 10%), and Russia (8%). However, most would like the US to be less involved in Middle Eastern affairs, with nearly two-thirds across the GCC, North Africa and the Levant countries saying they 'strongly or somewhat support' US disengagement from the region. Views on 'model nations' For the 12th consecutive year since young Arabs were asked to name the countries they consider 'model nations', they have said the United Arab Emirates is the country they would most like to live in and the one they would most like their own to be like. The United States and Canada were ranked second and third, respectively, for the third year running. Significantly, three GCC nations, the UAE , Saudi Arabia and Qatar , appear in Arab youth's top-five list of model nations for the first time in nine years. Young Arab men and women now say they would rather live in Qatar than the United Kingdom , while Saudi Arabia ranks joint-fifth with the UK in their list of countries they most want their own to emulate. Nearly one in four Arab youth (24%) named the UAE as the country they would most like to live in, followed by the US (19%), Canada (19%), Qatar (14%) and the United Kingdom (13%). The UAE was also named the country most Arab youth want their own to emulate, again for the 12th straight year. The UAE was identified by 22% of young Arab men and women overall, ahead of the US (19%), Canada (16%), Qatar (15%) and Saudi Arabia and the UK in joint fifth place (11%). As in previous surveys, a variety of factors account for the UAE's favoured-nation status. According to Arab youth in the 18 states surveyed this year, its top-five attributes are its safety and security (41%), growing economy (28%), effective and 'visionary' leadership (24%), clean environment (22%), and ease of starting a business (20%). Sunil John , President, MENA, BCW and Founder of ASDA'A BCW, who has led the survey over the past 15 years, said: "The annual ASDA'A BCW Arab Youth Survey has proven to be an indispensable resource for global decision makers in government and business seeking a clearer understanding of a region that is increasingly influential in world affairs, yet still an enigma for many. Once again, the study sheds new light on the Arab world's changing geopolitical landscape." "While several conflicts in the region, such as in Iraq , Syria , Libya and Yemen are ebbing, the longest-standing concern - the Palestinian-Israeli issue - continues to be in a deadlock. This is further exacerbated by the engagement of Iran in the region, in addition to the recent civil unrest in Sudan ," said John. "But the overall de-escalation of conflicts points to the fact that countries across the Middle East are overcoming their differences through dialogue. This will help unlock the true potential of the region, a strong economic bloc of over 400 million people." In the coming weeks, ASDA'A BCW will publish insights under the other five themes covered in the study: My Politics, revealing what young Arab say about the performance of their government; My Livelihood, detailing their views on education, jobs, and their finances; My Identity, covering religion and issues of personal identity; My Aspirations, the hopes of young Arabs for the future; and My Lifestyle, highlighting their habits, pastimes, and the media they consume. Findings on climate change, mental health and gender rights will also be disclosed, making this year's study the most extensive in the survey's history. The overall theme of the 15th edition of the ASDA'A BCW Arab Youth Survey is 'Living a New Reality'. To know more about the findings, log on to arabyouthsurvey.com Notes to Editors: About the ASDA'A BCW Arab Youth Survey The annual ASDA'A BCW Arab Youth Survey, now in its 15th year, is the largest study of its kind of the Arab world's largest demographic, its over 200 million youth. The survey fills a vital gap in critical data and insights on this very important demographic segment. The evidence-based insights inform governments, the private sector, multilateral institutions and academics on policymaking and business strategy. The 15th annual ASDA'A BCW Arab Youth Survey explores the hopes, fears and aspirations of young Arabs in 53 cities in 18 states in the Middle East and North Africa region. The face-to-face interviews were conducted by professional interviewers from March 27 to April 12, 2023 , covering 3,600 young Arabs aged 18 to 24. The cohort was split equally between men and women. The survey covered five Gulf Cooperation Council states ( Bahrain , Kuwait , Oman , Saudi Arabia and the UAE ), North Africa ( Algeria , Egypt , Libya , Morocco , Sudan , Tunisia and South Sudan newly added this year), and the Levant region ( Jordan , Iraq , Lebanon , Palestinian Territories, Syria ) and Yemen . www.arabyouthsurvey.com Follow, like, share on Facebook; Twitter; Instagram; YouTube, LinkedIn and TikTok About ASDA'A BCW ASDA'A was founded in 2000 as an independent communications firm by Sunil John , who leads the agency in its 24th year. In 2008, WPP (NYSE: WPP) acquired a majority stake in ASDA'A and merged it with BCW, one of the world's top three communications firms. The agency has a team of nearly 200 professionals across its seven wholly owned offices. With an additional 11 affiliates, ASDA'A BCW covers 16 countries across the Middle East and North Africa . The agency serves over 100 retained clients and is the leading PR consultancy in the MENA market. www.asdaa-bcw.com Follow, like, share on Facebook, Twitter; Instagram; YouTube and LinkedIn. About BCW BCW, a leading global communications agency, is in the business of moving people on behalf of clients. BCW partners with clients in the B2B, consumer, corporate, crisis management, healthcare, public affairs, purpose and technology sectors to set strategic direction for all communications and create powerful and unexpected ideas that earn attention. Through an Earned-Plus offer earned media plus paid media, creative technology, data, AI and an expanding suite of innovative capabilities BCW moves people with power and precision to move its clients forward. BCW is a part of WPP (NYSE: WPP), a creative transformation company. www.bcw-global.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105568/ASDA_A_BCW_Arab_Youth_Survey.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105571/ASDA_A_BCW_Arab_Youth_Survey.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nearly-two-thirds-of-young-arabs-say-the-tensions-between-iran-and-israel-and-the-west-will-lead-to-military-conflict-15th-annual-asdaa-bcw-arab-youth-survey-301854672.html SOURCE ASDA'A BCW Properties are comprised of small bay industrial multi-tenant assets in Tampa and Orlando DALLAS , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NexPoint , a multibillion-dollar alternative investment platform, today announced the acquisition of four multi-tenant small bay properties in Central Florida . The acquisition consists of 13 buildings totaling 419,946 square feet of multi-tenant warehousing and industrial space. These types of facilities are typically smaller in size and are commonly referred to as "small bay properties." The properties were indirectly acquired by NexPoint Small Bay I DST, a Delaware statutory trust seeking to raise $59.5 million in equity from accredited investors via a private placement offering. The properties, which are located in Orlando and Tampa , are comprised of: Presidents Plaza , a 44,269 square-foot, two-building, multi-tenant complex in Tampa ; , a 44,269 square-foot, two-building, multi-tenant complex in ; Brandywine Business Center , a 79,124 square-foot, two-building, multi-tenant complex in Tampa ; , a 79,124 square-foot, two-building, multi-tenant complex in ; Corporex Plaza , a 100,265 square-foot, three-building, multi-tenant complex in Tampa ; and , a 100,265 square-foot, three-building, multi-tenant complex in ; and Orlando International Business Center , a 196,288 square-foot, six-building, multi-tenant complex in Orlando . The addition of these small bay properties builds on NexPoint's existing portfolio of industrial multi-use commercial real estate in markets that are experiencing significant demand for this sub-sector, driven by low supply, high occupancy rates and flexible use cases for tenants that may need smaller units with logistical loading and receiving bays. "We continue to witness increasing demand for prime industrial properties located in growing markets where companies and small businesses are looking for flexible space to better serve local customers," said Taylor Colbert, Director of Real Estate for NexPoint Real Estate Advisors. "We believe there are significant tailwinds to support further growth, and we are committed to scaling our footprint in this notable sector." NexPoint currently owns 1.6 million net rentable square feet of industrial real estate across Texas and Florida and is partnering with a privately held and vertically integrated real estate owner and operator, Basis Industrial, to manage the newly acquired properties. "We are thrilled with our expanding partnership with NexPoint and are looking forward to implementing our hands-on management approach to optimize the performance of this prime industrial portfolio," said Dan Weinstein, CEO of Basis Industrial. "These assets have strong fundamentals, and we are excited to add them to our growing portfolio of owned and managed assets." Basis uses its subsidiary management company, WMG Small Bay Management, LLC d/b/a/ BaySpace, to manage the company's industrial assets. About NexPoint NexPoint is a multibillion-dollar alternative investment firm comprised of a group of investment advisers and sponsors, a broker-dealer, and a suite of related investment vehicles. NexPoint provides differentiated access to alternatives through a range of investment solutions, including public and private real estate investment trusts, tax-advantaged real estate vehicles, merger arbitrage and event-driven strategies, other private real estate investments, closed-end funds, interval funds, and a business development company. NexPoint is based in Dallas, Texas and is part of a network of affiliates with expertise across the asset management and financial services spaces. For more information, visit nexpoint.com. About Basis Industrial Basis Industrial is a vertically integrated real estate owner and operator formed by industry veterans and sponsors Jay Massirman , Stephen Garchik and Daniel Weinstein . Basis currently owns over 2.5 million square feet of self-storage and industrial real estate and is scheduled to close on another one million square feet in 2023. Active markets for Basis include South Florida , Pennsylvania , New Jersey , New York, Texas , Boston , Los Angeles and select urban markets nationwide. BaySpace is the property management arm of Basis. For more information, visit www.basisindustrial.com or www.bayspace.com. Important Disclosures Only "accredited investors" (as that term is defined in Rule 501 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933) who meet certain minimum requirements may invest. Investing in NexPoint Life Sciences II DST interests involves a high degree of risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Before investing, please review the applicable offering materials, including NexPoint Small Bay DST's Confidential Private Placement Memorandum as amended or supplemented from time to time, including the "risk factors" noted therein. Contacts Media Relations Mike Geller, Prosek Partners for NexPoint [email protected] Investor Relations Kristen Thomas , NexPoint [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nexpoint-expands-industrial-real-estate-footprint-with-acquisition-of-four-small-bay-multi-tenant-properties-in-central-florida-301852785.html SOURCE NexPoint New AI-powered platform delivers proactive insights and strategic recommendations to consumer goods brands on Amazon without needing to be queried TEL AVIV, Israel , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Noogata , the AI-powered eCommerce growth platform, launched their proactive AI assistant that allows CPGs, digital brands, and eCommerce teams to monitor millions of data points and generate actionable recommendations and strategies for pricing, advertising, and sales growth. Amazon is the largest eCommerce retailer in the world, with nearly 4 in 10 items bought online in the U.S. passing through its platform. Competition in the marketplace has become fierce, with over 600 million items listed . Companies have struggled to increase digital shelf visibility for product listings when basic search terms like 'women's face mask' can return over 30,000 results. Today, brands have access to massive amounts of data, viewed through an array of dashboards and analytics tools, to gain a competitive edge in their categories. But most tools are reactive and require immense time commitments to discover insights, then 'actionize' them quickly and at scale. The Noogata AI assistant is built for eCommerce brands and consumer packaged goods companies selling on the Amazon marketplace. Noogata feels less like an analytics tool and more like an always-on AI team member; one that is plugged into a brand's eCommerce data, correlates data points, and delivers insights and strategies quickly for eCommerce professionals to act on in just a few clicks. For eCommerce brands of any size, Noogata's AI maps the entire Amazon marketplace, monitoring competitors to deliver intelligence that lets brands outperform the competition by reverse engineering their Amazon digital shelf strategies. " 70% of shoppers view three or fewer pages of product listings, which means that sellers whose products are not optimally positioned get left behind," said Oren Raboy , co-founder and CEO of Noogata. "Instead of manually scanning data and dashboards in search of specific insights, our AI answers the questions large consumer brands didn't know to ask, and proactively delivers undiscovered insights that substantially impact sales and market share." Noogata's AI growth assistant is powered by tools such as: AI Insights Feed - An AI-powered console that centralizes discovered insights, allowing professionals to prioritize, assign tasks, and pair with actionable strategies. It leverages Noogata's suite of digital shelf tools to generate recommendations for proactive responses to market signals and competitor changes. - An AI-powered console that centralizes discovered insights, allowing professionals to prioritize, assign tasks, and pair with actionable strategies. It leverages Noogata's suite of digital shelf tools to generate recommendations for proactive responses to market signals and competitor changes. Ad Booster - Increase the impact of ad spend and keep advertising costs down by using AI to identify effective keywords and discover unique opportunities for a competitive advantage, going beyond automatic campaigns and generic recommendations. Perfect Content - Easily optimize Amazon product content with recommended keywords to improve visibility for hundreds of products at scale, then measure potential performance with a real-time scoring meter. Noogata's eCommerce platform is already used by major global brands, including multinational CPGs like Colgate-Palmolive, TaylorMade, and FocusCamera. Discover more information about the new AI growth assistant by visiting Noogata online . "Knowing our brand's positioning in the Amazon ecosystem, viewing our competitors, and making improvements in one platform lets my team do much more with much less," said Chassy Kirzner , Amazon Manager at FocusCamera. About Noogata Noogata is an AI-powered eCommerce platform providing insights and strategic guidance for CPGs and digital brands to help grow their eCommerce Amazon business. The AI Assistant simplifies insight discovery and strategy with competitive intelligence, brand comparisons, and digital shelf tools to make an impact fast. With an eCommerce AI assistant, eCommerce teams can supercharge content, advertising, and pricing to grow sales and outperform competitors across the digital shelf. Noogata was founded in 2019, with headquarters in New York City and Tel Aviv . The company is also backed by leading VCs Team8 and Eight Roads. To learn more about Noogata's eCommerce AI, visit www.noogata.com . Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2106213/Noogata_Logo.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/noogata-launches-human-like-ai-growth-assistant-to-help-brands-outperform-in-the-ultra-competitive-amazon-marketplace-301855299.html SOURCE Noogata OKLAHOMA CITY , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE: OGE) announced today that it has received notice of an unsolicited mini-tender offer by TRC Capital Investment Corporation ("TRC Capital") to purchase up to 3,000,000 shares of OGE Energy Corp. ("OGE Energy") common stock from OGE Energy shareholders. The offer represents approximately 1.5% of OGE Energy's shares of common stock outstanding as of the June 16, 2023 offer date. TRC Capital's offer price of $34.95 per share is approximately 4.38% lower than the $36.55 closing price of OGE Energy common stock on the NYSE on June 15, 2023 . OGE Energy does not endorse TRC Capital's unsolicited mini-tender offer and recommends that shareholders do not tender their shares in response to TRC Capital's offer because the offer is at a price that is significantly below the current market value of OGE Energy common stock. OGE Energy urges investors to obtain current market quotations for their shares, consult with their broker or financial advisor, and exercise caution with respect to TRC Capital's offer. OGE Energy urges shareholders who have not responded to TRC Capital's offer to take no action. Shareholders who have already tendered their shares may withdraw them at any time by providing written notice as described in the TRC Capital mini-tender offer documents prior to the expiration of the offer, currently scheduled for 12:01 a.m. , New York City time, on July 18, 2023 . OGE Energy encourages shareholders to review carefully the "Withdrawal Rights" section of the offer documents. OGE Energy is not associated in any way with TRC Capital, its mini-tender offer or its mini-tender offer documents. As noted in the offer documents for this mini-tender, TRC Capital is not generally subject to the information filing requirements of the Securities Exchange Act and is not generally required to file reports, proxy statements, and other information with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") relating to its business, financial condition, and otherwise. TRC Capital has made similar unsolicited mini-tender offers for shares of other companies. New mini-tender offers, such as this one, seek to acquire less than 5% of a company's shares outstanding, thereby avoiding many disclosure and procedural requirements of the SEC. As a result, mini-tender offers do not provide investors with the same level of protections as provided by larger tender offers under U.S. securities laws. The SEC has cautioned investors that some bidders making mini-tender offers at below-market prices are "hoping that they will catch investors off guard if the investors do not compare the offer price to the current market price." The SEC's cautionary advice to investors on mini-tender offers is available at sec.gov/investor/pubs/minitend.htm. OGE Energy encourages brokers and dealers, as well as other market participants, to review the SEC's letter regarding broker-dealer mini-tender offer dissemination and disclosure at sec.gov/divisions/marketreg/minitenders/sia072401.htm and National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. Notice to Members 99-53, issued July 1999 , regarding guidance to members forwarding mini-tender offers to their customers, which can be found at finra.org/sites/default/files/NoticeDocument/p004221.pdf. OGE Energy requests that a copy of this news release be included in any distribution of materials relating to TRC Capital's mini-tender offer for OGE Energy common stock. About OGE Energy OGE Energy Corp. is the parent company of OG&E, a regulated electric company with approximately 890,000 customers in Oklahoma and western Arkansas. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oge-energy-corp-recommends-shareholders-reject-mini-tender-offer-by-trc-capital-investment-corporation-301855955.html SOURCE OGE Energy Corp. TULSA, Okla. , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE: OKE) will participate in investor meetings at the J.P. Morgan Energy, Power and Renewables Conference on June 21, 2023 , in New York . ONEOK's latest investor materials are available at www.oneok.com. ONEOK, Inc. (pronounced ONE-OAK) (NYSE: OKE) is a leading midstream service provider and owns one of the nation's premier natural gas liquids (NGL) systems, connecting NGL supply in the Rocky Mountain , Permian and Mid-Continent regions with key market centers and owns an extensive network of gathering, processing, fractionation, transportation and storage assets. ONEOK is a FORTUNE 500 company and is included in the S&P 500. For information about ONEOK, visit the website: www.oneok.com. For the latest news about ONEOK, find us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Analyst Contact: Megan Patterson 918-561-5325 Media Contact: Brad Borror 918-588-7582 View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oneok-to-participate-in-jp-morgan-energy-power-and-renewables-conference-301855689.html SOURCE ONEOK, Inc. STERLING, Va. , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- REI Systems, a leading provider of digital transformation solutions to the federal government, has been named the winner of the prestigious ACG National Capital Growth Award for 2023 Growth Company of the Year. The ACG Corporate Growth Awards recognize exceptional growth and innovation in the business community and celebrate the achievements of companies that have demonstrated outstanding performance and success. REI competed against many rapidly growing government contracting firms, including finalists Agile Defense, ShiftMed, and Steampunk. The ACG National Capital Growth Awards, organized by the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) National Capital Chapter, are regarded as one of the most prestigious accolades in the region. The awards program highlights the accomplishments of companies with significant growth, strategic vision, and strong leadership. REI Systems was selected as a winner in the $75M-250M category for its exceptional growth of 31% per annum over the last three years. REI Systems has more than doubled in size since 2020. The company's unwavering commitment to innovation, customer satisfaction, and industry leadership played a crucial role in securing this distinguished honor. "We are thrilled to receive the ACG National Capital Growth Award in recognition of our outstanding performance and growth," said Shyam Salona , REI Systems' CEO. "This award is a testament to our talented team's hard work and dedication, whose pursuit of excellence has propelled us to new heights. Our growth has been strictly organic to date. I look forward to seeing our future growth as we incorporate the inorganic element into our strategy." About REI Systems REI Systems provides reliable, effective, and innovative technology solutions that advance federal, state, local, and nonprofit missions. Our technologists and consultants are passionate about solving complex challenges that impact millions of lives. We take a Mindful Modernization approach in delivering our application modernization, grants management systems, government data analytics, and advisory services. Mindful Modernization is the REI Way of delivering mission impact by aligning our government customers' strategic objectives to measurable outcomes through people, processes, and technology. Learn more at REIsystems.com. Contact [email protected] About ACG National Capital ACG National Capital is a chapter of the international association, ACG (Association for Corporate Growth) that serves Washington, D.C. , northern Virginia and southern Maryland . The chapter is part of a vibrant community of 15,000 middle market corporate growth professionals, working and thriving in a variety of roles, markets and industries with a focus on M&A within the middle market. ACG National Capital's veteran leadership and its membership of more than 400 executives and business leaders have participated in nearly every recent M&A transaction completed in the D.C. metro region. For more information, visit www.acgcapital.org or the ACG online publication at www.acgcapitalblog.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rei-systems-recognized-for-outstanding-growth-achievement-301855447.html SOURCE REI Systems FALLS CHURCH, Va. , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded Sierra7 and their partner AvaSure a contract to provide a turnkey TeleCare Companion solution to seven Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Medical Centers within the Veterans Integrated Services Network (VISN) 9 region. VHA is the largest integrated healthcare network in the United States , with 1,506 healthcare facilities, including outpatient sites, that serve 9 million enrolled Veterans each year. Sierra7 and AvaSure's TeleCare Companion solution delivers safe, cost-effective observation, communication, and analytics that enhance patient safety and facilitate patient care. At the core of our Telecare Companion approach for the VHA is AvaSure's TeleSitter solution, an evidence-based and data-driven approach to connecting caregivers more closely with patients, thereby improving the quality of care. The TeleSitter solution enables patients to be monitored remotely by using mobile video and audio devices. This helps to reduce adverse events such as falls, while freeing up clinical and support staff so they can devote more time to the patient. Currently used in over 30 VA/Government medical facilities nationwide, VHA attributes the TeleSitter solution with more than a 60% reduction in falls since its deployment in their medical facilities. "The implementation of advanced telehealth technologies has proven beneficial particularly as it relates to the patient experience, safety, and most importantly increased quality of care for veterans," said Chief Growth Officer Gina Gallagher . "We are proud that our partnership with AvaSure, one of the leading providers of acute virtual care solutions, will support VHA with the centralization of patient observation and ensuring patient safety at medical centers throughout VISN 9." AvaSure's CEO, Adam McMullin, added, "We salute the VA for their unwavering commitment to supporting our nation's Veterans. In partnership with Sierra7, our solution will help create a solid foundation for continuous innovation, advancements in patient care and increased staff productivity, satisfaction and retention." The VISN 9 award includes the installation of mobile and fixed ceiling hardware devices, performing site assessments, clinical education and training, and ongoing clinical and technical support. About Sierra7 Sierra7, Inc. is a leading consultant to healthcare and federal agencies nationwide providing IT solutions, consulting services, and citizen engagement support. As a Service-Disabled Veteran- Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and CMMI-SVC Level 3-appraised member of the government technology and services industry, Sierra7 holds critical federal government prime contracts including T4NG, VHA-IHT, GSA VETS 2, NIH CIO-SP3, NASA SEWP V, VA TeleCare Companion, and several GSA schedules. In 2022, Sierra7 achieved AWS Select Partner status in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN), ranked No. 457 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest- growing private companies in America, recognized as a Vet100 honoree, and as a Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Midsize Patriot Employer of the Year. To learn more, visit: https://sierra7.com Contact: For any media and or public relations inquiries contact, Rachel Thomas, Marketing Manager, at [email protected] . About AvaSure AvaSure provides the leading hospital virtual care platform to systems with nursing and staffing shortages that are challenged to significantly reduce labor costs without sacrificing patient health outcomes. Recently recognized by KLAS Research as the leader in reducing the cost of patient care, AvaSure is the pioneer in providing best-in-class, video-based AvaSure TeleSitter and TeleNurse solutions. As a trusted partner of more than 1,000 hospitals, AvaSure combines remote patient monitors, virtual nurses and other providers on a single platform to enhance clinical care without placing any additional burdens on existing staff. To learn more about AvaSure, visit: www.avasure.com Media Contact: Marcia Rhodes , Amendola Communications [email protected] . View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sierra7-inc-and-partner-avasure-awarded-the-telecare-companion-contract-for-veterans-integrated-services-network-visn-9-va-medical-centers-301853843.html SOURCE AvaSure Water flows over the collapsed Kakhovka Dam in Nova Kakhovka, in Russian-occupied Ukraine, Wednesday, June 7, 2023. The Kremlins spokesman said Monday that U.N. aid workers who want to visit areas ravaged by the recent Kakhovka dam collapse in southern Ukraine cant go there because fighting in the war makes it unsafe. The United Nations rebuked Moscow on Sunday for allegedly denying aid workers access to Russian-occupied areas where residents are stranded amid devastating destruction. The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement that her staff were engaging with both Kyiv and Moscow, which control different parts of the area, in a bid to reach civilians in need. They face a shortage of drinking water and food and a lack of power. Brown urged Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law and let them in. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov didnt explicitly admit that Russia had blocked U.N. access, but told a conference call with reporters that Ukrainian attacks made a visit too risky. There has been constant shelling, constant provocations, civilian facilities and the civilian population have come under fire, people have died, so its really difficult to ensure their security, Peskov said. His comments came amid varying accounts by survivors of the quality of assistance that Russia is providing in areas it controls. The dam lies on the Dnipro River, which forms the front line between Russian and Ukrainian forces on the eastern and western banks, respectively. Many evacuees and residents accuse Russian authorities of doing little or nothing to help. Some civilians said that evacuees were sometimes forced to present Russian passports if they wanted to leave. On the Ukrainian side, rescuers are braving Russian snipers as they rush to ferry Ukrainians out of Russia-occupied flood zones. Ukraines presidential office said Monday that the Kherson region affected by the flooding endured 35 Russian attacks over the previous 24 hours. Exclusive drone photos and information obtained by The Associated Press indicate that Moscow had the means, motive and opportunity to blow up the dam, which was under Russian control, earlier this month. The explosion occurred as Ukraine mustered for a counteroffensive. Kyivs forces have intensified attacks along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line recently. Some analysts saw the dam breach as a Russian effort to thwart Ukraines counteroffensive in the Kherson region. The U.K. Defense Ministry said Monday that Russia had recently redeployed several thousand troops from the banks of the Dnieper to buttress its positions in the Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut sectors, which reportedly have seen heavy fighting. The move likely reflects Russias perception that a major Ukrainian attack across the Dnipro is now less likely following the dams collapse, the ministry said in a tweet. Ukrainian forces have advanced up to 7 kilometers (4 miles) into territory previously held by Russia, she said. Russias Defense Ministry didnt confirm losing any ground to the Ukrainian forces. It wasnt possible to independently verify battlefield claims by either side. Russia is also pursuing offensive actions, according to Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar. Russia has concentrated a significant number of its military units, and particularly airborne assault troops, in Ukraines east, she said. They are stepping up Moscows offensive around Kupiansk in Ukraines northeastern Kharkiv province and Lyman in the eastern Donetsk province, Maliar said on Telegram. Ukrainian forces may have put their counteroffensive operations on hold as they review their tactics, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank. It noted that Kyiv has not yet committed the majority of its available forces to counteroffensive operations and has not yet launched its main effort. Russia attacked south and southeast Ukraine overnight with cruise missiles and self-exploding drones, Ukraines air force reported Monday. Four Kalibr missiles and four Iranian-made Shahed drones were shot down, it said. According to regional officials, the southern province of Odesa and the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region were targeted by the attack. No casualties or damage were immediately reported. Three civilians were wounded by artillery fire in the Beryslav district of the Kherson province Monday, local officials said. A 64-year-old woman was in critical condition, according to their Telegram post. At least five residential buildings, two private residences and an administrative building sustained damage. Officials in Russias southern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said Monday morning that seven people, including a child, were wounded in Ukrainian drone attacks over the previous 24 hours. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition PARIS and TOYOTA, Japan , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SkyDrive Inc. (hereinafter "SkyDrive"), a leading Japanese eVTOL aircraft (*1) manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Japan , announced at Paris Air Show 2023 on June 19 that the company had signed a basic agreement with Suzuki Motor Corporation (hereinafter "Suzuki") for cooperation in manufacturing "SKYDRIVE" eVTOL aircraft (*2). Logos: https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105850/202306166391/_prw_PI1fl_U99Vm2eA.png?_ga=2.266065487.1997240702.1686531031-1438572707.1685531252 Image1: From left, Hidetoshi Kumashiro (Managing Officer and Executive General Manager, Suzuki) and Tomohiro Fukuzawa (CEO, SkyDrive) https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105850/202306166391/_prw_PI2fl_UjP0x874.jpg?_ga=2.266065487.1997240702.1686531031-1438572707.1685531252 SkyDrive will establish a wholly owned subsidiary (hereinafter "the manufacturing subsidiary") for the purpose of manufacturing its eVTOL aircraft "SKYDRIVE." With Suzuki, the manufacturing subsidiary will utilize a production facility owned by the Suzuki Group in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan , and aims to start building the SkyDrive "SKYDRIVE" eVTOL aircraft by spring of 2024. Suzuki will also cooperate with the manufacturing subsidiary in securing human resources and making other preparations for the start of manufacturing. More specific terms and conditions will be agreed upon through ongoing discussions. The "SKYDRIVE" eVTOL aircraft, to be built at Suzuki's production facility, is a three-seat, electric-powered lightweight aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing capabilities. Image2: "SKYDRIVE" eVTOL https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105850/202306166391/_prw_PI3fl_M6w4m5c8.jpg?_ga=2.266065487.1997240702.1686531031-1438572707.1685531252 Image3: "SKYDRIVE" Interior https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105850/202306166391/_prw_PI4fl_1HLamGBC.jpg?_ga=2.266065487.1997240702.1686531031-1438572707.1685531252 Comment by Toshihiro Suzuki , Suzuki Motor Corporation President "We are excited to cooperate with SkyDrive as we ambitiously work towards creating valuable products that contribute to the realization of a world where people use the sky for their daily transportation." Comment by Tomohiro Fukuzawa , SkyDrive Inc. CEO "At Suzuki, all manufacturing activities are based on a concept, 'Smaller, Fewer, Lighter, Shorter, and Neater,' and SkyDrive is developing lightweight air mobilities. Suzuki and SkyDrive have been collaborating since March 2022 and we are very excited that SkyDrive will utilize the production facility of Suzuki to build our eVTOL 'SKYDRIVE.' In our pursuit to consistently manufacture safe and high-quality aircraft for the world, we are grateful for the valuable know-how we will learn from Suzuki, a global leader in automobile mass production. Suzuki and SkyDrive will work closely towards the shared goal." About SkyDrive Inc. SkyDrive was formally established in July 2018 after testing flying car concepts and prototypes from 2014 with the mission of "taking the lead in the once-in-a-century mobility revolution." Its vision is to create a future where everyone has access to eVTOLs as their daily transportation in Japan and across the world. The company succeeded in the first crewed flight test in Japan in 2019 and its eVTOL "SKYDRIVE" is in the process of acquiring its Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) certification. SkyDrive has been selected as a company to participate in the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) project at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan . SkyDrive is headquartered in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture. Tomohiro Fukuzawa is the CEO of the company. For more information, please visit: https://en.skydrive2020.com/ About Suzuki Motor Corporation Suzuki Motor Corporation is one of Japan's leading carmakers and a global motorcycle manufacturer. The company's non-vehicle products include outboard motors for boats and motorized wheelchairs. It builds its lineup on its own and through numerous subsidiaries and joint ventures outside Japan . Suzuki, established in 1920, is headquartered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture. Toshihiro Suzuki is the President of the company. For more information, please visit: https://www.globalsuzuki.com Editor's note: (*1) eVTOL is short for electric vertical takeoff and landing. eVTOL aircraft are characterized by electrification, a fully autonomous autopilot, and vertical takeoff and landing. It is also called Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) or Urban Air Mobility (UAM). The above information is sourced from Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT): https://www.mlit.go.jp/common/001598463.pdf (dated March 2023 , in Japanese) (*2) Related Press Release: https://en.skydrive2020.com/archives/9455 View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/skydrive-reaches-basic-agreement-with-suzuki-to-build-evtol-aircraft-aiming-to-start-operation-in-spring-2024-by-utilizing-suzuki-groups-plant-301854886.html SOURCE SkyDrive Inc. WHIPPANY, N.J. , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. (NYSE: SPH), a nationwide distributor of propane, renewable propane, renewable natural gas, fuel oil, and related products and services, as well as a marketer of natural gas and electricity and investor in low carbon fuel alternatives, today teamed up with the American Red Cross and athlete-activist-entrepreneur, Eric LeGrand , to boost awareness for sickle cell disease in the Company's home state of New Jersey . The event took place at the Northern New Jersey location of the American Red Cross in Fairfield . Eric LeGrand attended the event, which included a blood drive, and spoke about the need for more blood donations to fight sickle cell disease. The Mayor of Fairfield , William Galese was also in attendance. In the United States , it is estimated that over 100,000 people have sickle cell disease and may require frequent blood transfusions throughout their lifetime as many as 100 units of blood per patient each year. Unfortunately, frequent transfusions can make finding compatible blood types more difficult when patients develop an immune response against blood from donors that are not closely matched to the blood of the recipient. One in three African American blood donors is a match for people with sickle cell disease. To help ensure patients have the blood products they need, the American Red Cross is working with partners in the Black community to grow the number of blood donors who are Black. "Suburban Propane is honored to team up with our longtime partners at the American Red Cross and with hometown hero, Eric LeGrand , to increase awareness for such an important cause," said Nandini Sankara , Spokesperson, Suburban Propane. "We are continuously inspired by Eric, the American Red Cross, and their work within our local community to help others overcome some of the toughest moments in life, and we hope that today will inspire others to become blood donors." The endeavor is part of the Company's SuburbanCares initiative which is dedicated to supporting community efforts across the United States . Recently, SuburbanCares has undertaken charitable endeavors in numerous underserved communities including Syracuse, NY ; Key West, FL ; Spokane, WA ; Boston, MA ; Lake Worth, FL ; Boston, MA ; Helena, MT ; Charlotte, NC ; Lewes, DE ; San Diego, CA ; Albany, NY ; Dayton, OH ; Philadelphia, PA ; Santa Fe, NM ; Santa Rosa, CA ; Columbia and Charleston, SC ; New Brunswick, NJ ; and fed healthcare professionals in 2020 in some of the most COVID-19 affected regions in the nation, including Florida , California , Texas , Maryland , New Jersey , New York and Washington, D.C. "Blood transfusion is an essential treatment for sickle cell diseasethe most common genetic blood disease in the U.S. and primarily affecting Black and African American individuals," said Rosie Taravella , CEO, American Red Cross New Jersey Region . "We appreciate Suburban Propane and Eric LeGrand helping bring awareness to the need for blood donation to help Sickle Cell patients with their treatment." "Suburban Propane has been a longtime champion of Team LeGrand, and I'm honored to support their partnership with the American Red Cross and its mission to help raise awareness of sickle cell disease here in New Jersey ," said LeGrande. "It is great to see Suburban Propane and the American Red Cross team up to host a blood drive in Fairfield and raise awareness for sickle cell disease," said Fairfield Mayor William Galese ." The generous act of donating blood saves lives, and Fairfield is grateful for the work being done to support the community." About Suburban Propane: Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. ("Suburban Propane") is a publicly traded master limited partnership listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Headquartered in Whippany, New Jersey , Suburban Propane has been in the customer service business since 1928 and is a nationwide distributor of propane, renewable propane, renewable natural gas ("RNG"), fuel oil and related products and services, as well as a marketer of natural gas and electricity and producer of and investor in low carbon fuel alternatives, servicing the energy needs of approximately 1 million residential, commercial, governmental, industrial and agricultural customers through approximately 700 locations across 42 states. Suburban Propane is supported by three core pillars: (1) Suburban Commitment showcasing Suburban Propane's 95-year legacy, and ongoing commitment to the highest standards for dependability, flexibility, and reliability that underscores Suburban Propane's commitment to excellence in customer service; (2) SuburbanCares highlighting continued dedication to giving back to local communities across Suburban Propane's national footprint; and (3) Go Green with Suburban Propane promoting the clean burning and versatile nature of propane and renewable propane as a bridge to a green energy future and investing in the next generation of innovative, renewable energy alternatives. For additional information on Suburban Propane, please visit www.suburbanpropane.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/suburban-propane-boosts-sickle-cell-awareness-through-blood-drive-event-with-the-american-red-cross-and-eric-legrand-301855920.html SOURCE Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. SUGARLAND, Texas , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle , Amir Rasheed is acknowledged as a Top Pinnacle Healthcare Professional for his contributions to the fields of Oncology and Hematology. Dr. Rasheed pursued his medical education at Dow Medical College where he earned a medical degree. He then relocated to the United States to complete a residency in internal medicine at the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn . He capped his scholarship at North Short University Hospital where he finished a fellowship in oncology and a fellowship in hematology at the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn . Known for his compassionate care and clinical excellence, Dr. Rasheed has dedicated his life to delivering the highest standard of quality care to his patients. Dr. Rasheed is board certified in medical oncology and hematology by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), a physician-led, non-profit, independent evaluation organization driven by doctors who want to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world. Hematology is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause prognosis treatment and prevention of diseases related to blood and oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the prevention diagnosis and treatment of cancer. A hematologist-oncologist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis treatment or prevention of cancer; malignant blood diseases, such as leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma; and blood disorders, such as iron-deficiency anemia; clotting; abnormalities; hemophilia; and sickle-cell disease. A leader in his field, Dr. Rasheed is affiliated with Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital; Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital; Houston Methodist West Hospital; Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center; Houston Methodist Continuing Care Hospital Memorial; Hermann Sugar Land Hospital Memorial; Hermann Southeast Hospital; East Houston Regional Medical Center; and St. Luke's Health-Patients Medical Center. He has been recognized by his peers and patients with the Compassionate Doctor Award 5 Year Honoree (2018, 2017, 2016); Compassionate Doctor Recognition (2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012); and On-Time Doctor Award (2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015). Contact: Katherine Green , 516-825-5634, [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-inner-circle-acknowledges-amir-rasheed-as-a-top-pinnacle-healthcare-professional-for-his-contributions-to-the-fields-of-oncology-and-hematology-301855848.html Organization stands as the only fertility platform with a Chief Compassion Officer, offering comprehensive mental health resources to patients and employees. HOUSTON , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In recognition of Men's Health Week and in the spirit of Father's Day , The Prelude Network (Prelude), North America's most comprehensive network of fertility clinics, is unveiling a series of initiatives aimed at prioritizing mental health for both patients and employees. As the only network with a dedicated Chief Compassion Officer, Prelude and its parent company, Inception Fertility (Inception) underscores the importance of mental well-being in fertility and reproductive health. Recognizing the importance of mental well-being in the fertility journey, Inception has implemented free monthly evening webinars for all Prelude patients. The series of webinars tackle a variety of topics including lifestyle habits and infertility, enhancing couple communication, managing stress during fertility treatment, coping with pregnancy loss, and tips on best practices in third-party reproduction. "At Inception, we believe that holistic patient care is crucial to successful fertility treatments," says TJ Farnsworth, Founder and CEO of Inception Fertility. "Our commitment to patient mental health, led by our Chief Compassion Officer, Dr. Alice Domar , uniquely positions us to offer the empathetic and comprehensive support needed throughout this journey." Taking the lead in leveraging technology, Inception dramatically improves the patient experience by offering everything a patient could need under one roof. "Studies consistently show the connection between mental health and fertility outcomes," says Dr. Alice Domar , Chief Compassion Officer at Inception. "As part of our commitment to comprehensive patient care, we're making mental health a priority, offering resources that help patients manage stress and cultivate resilience during their fertility journey." This encompasses their extensive family of brands, including The Prelude Network, Pathways Fertility, MyEggBank, Bundl Fertility (Bundl), and HavenCryo. Complementing our mental health initiatives, we offer our proprietary patient app, Prelude Connect. As the only fertility network with such a tool, this app serves as a vital companion for patients at every stage of their fertility journey. With its intuitive design and enhanced functionality, Prelude Connect provides more than a transactional experience. It gives patients exclusive access to an extensive library of content, offering crucial relaxation strategies, stress management techniques, and coping methods. This integrated approach underscores our dedication to holistic patient care and support. Fueled by the belief that the best way to improve patient care is through research, the newly established Inception Research Institute is pioneering research on patient-centered care. The institute is currently studying the impact of stress on IVF outcomes, weighing the benefits of remote versus in-person physician visits, and taking part in trials that explore the most effective and patient-friendly approaches to care. Moreover, 2023 is designated as the "Year of the Employee" at Inception. This commitment to employee well-being includes stress-management webinars, regular clinic visits from the Chief Compassion Officer, orientations about the psychological impact of infertility, and compensation for assisting with research. In addition, Inception is training physicians across its North American clinics in empathic communication, shown to enhance the quality of patient care. "Inception's commitment to the mental health of our patients and employees underscores our dedication to going above and beyond in fertility care," says Farnsworth. "Our goal is to revolutionize the fertility experience, making it as supportive and stress-free as possible." About Inception Fertility Inception Fertility (Inception) is a family of fertility brands committed to helping patients build their own families. Built by patients for patients, Inception's purpose is to achieve the highest bar in experience, science and medicine in an effort to enhance each patient's experience and achieve better outcomes. Inception's medical experts are leading pioneers in fertility care. Our doctors are some of the first to use breakthrough assisted reproductive technologies (ART) including in vitro fertilization (IVF), preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) and fertility preservation services and they continue to lead the industry by building on these technologies by through development, research and thought leadership. Through its growing family of national organizations which includes The Prelude Network , the fastest-growing network of fertility clinics and largest provider of comprehensive fertility services in North America; Pathways Fertility , clinics that provide affordable, individualized and high quality care; MyEggBank , one of the largest frozen donor egg banks in North America; BUNDL Fertility , a multi-cycle fertility service bundling program; HavenCryo , a long-term reproductive preservation and storage solution provider and NutraBloom , a premium lifestyle brand with expertly formulated supplements to support individuals' health and wellness goals for preconception Inception is working to deliver on its promise to push the envelope of what is possible for exceeding patient expectations. About The Prelude Network The Prelude Network (Prelude), the fastest-growing network of fertility clinics and largest provider of comprehensive fertility services in North America , is the clinic network of Inception Fertility a family of fertility brands that touches every part of the fertility journey, including diagnostics and treatment to financial accessibility. Each clinic, as part of the Prelude Network, is committed to delivering the highest level of personalized fertility care by the nation's leading reproductive endocrinologists, embryologists, and practitioners by focusing on an excellence in science, medicine and the patient experience. The growing Prelude Network has over 40 total locations nationwide, offering a wide range of fertility services including egg freezing, IVF, genetic testing and egg/embryo storage, among others. MEDIA CONTACT: Mia Humphreys Krupp 239-297-6592 [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-prelude-network-reinforces-commitment-to-mental-health-with-unparalleled-patient-support-programs-301855615.html SOURCE The Prelude Network ARLINGTON, Va. , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Eagle Hill Consulting has been named one of The Washington Post's Top Workplaces 2023 in the midsize company category. This is the sixth time Eagle Hill has earned top workplace accolades by The Washington Post, demonstrating the company's steadfast commitment to cultivating a work environment that places an equal importance on client and employee satisfaction. Eagle Hill Consulting is one of The Washington Post's Top Workplaces 2023 in the midsize category. Earlier this year, Eagle Hill earned top workplace and consulting awards from Forbes and Vault. ALM recently named Eagle Hill an employee well-being innovator. "This year's recognition shows were are consistent in our commitment to a culture that deeply values its employees," says Melissa Jezior , president and chief executive officer of Eagle Hill Consulting. "The last several years haven't been easy for employees and employers. But we have remained intentional about listening to our employees and taking action to ensure we have a workplace that meets their needs." "For example, we have been intentional about strengthening our employee connections in four key areas self, team, leadership, and Eagle Hill through communications, in-person and virtual gatherings. Our program already is showing results, with employee connection to the company up 18 percent in just six months. In the end, our clients are best served when our workforce feels connected, fully engaged, empowered, and fulfilled by their work," Jezior said. Conducted in partnership with employee engagement firm Energage, LLC, the survey asked employees about the companies they work for to identify the highest ranked workplaces in the region. More than 6,865 organizations were invited to participate, and top companies were selected based on survey responses from employees on topics ranging from employee development to innovation. Read more about the award here. Read more about career opportunities at Eagle Hill here. Eagle Hill Consulting LLC is a woman-owned business that provides unconventional management consulting services in the areas of Strategy, Performance, Talent, and Change. The company's expertise in delivering innovative solutions to unique challenges spans across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. A leading authority on employee sentiment, Eagle Hill is headquartered in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, with employees across the U.S. and offices in Boston and Seattle . More information is available at www.eaglehillconsulting.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-washington-post-again-names-eagle-hill-consulting-a-top-workplace-301855517.html SOURCE Eagle Hill Consulting ARLINGTON, Va. , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Trident Maritime Systems ("Trident"), a leading maritime systems and solutions provider and portfolio company of investment affiliates of J.F. Lehman & Company ("JFLCO"), announced today that it has acquired the assets of Custom Alloy Corporation ("CAC") through one of its subsidiaries. CAC is a leading, vertically integrated provider of highly specialized alloyed forgings, fittings, and pipe to defense and industrial end users. With a strong reputation for complexity, quality, and on-time delivery, CAC is a critical supplier to the U.S. Navy on key programs, including nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers. Trident was the prevailing bidder in a Section 363 bankruptcy auction for the assets of CAC. Tom Eccles , Chief Executive Officer of Trident, commented, "We are very excited to welcome the Custom Alloy Corporation employees into the Trident family. The success that the CAC team has achieved in penetrating the U.S. Navy market is a testament to the quality of their products and their deep technical expertise. We look forward to integrating CAC's capabilities and services into the Trident platform and delivering even more value to our customers." "The acquisition of CAC expands our presence on key U.S. Navy nuclear vessel programs, a critical element of our growth strategy," said Alex Harman , Chairman of Trident and Partner at JFLCO. "Trident's growing scale and breadth of offerings allow us to more holistically partner with our shipbuilding customers to efficiently deliver the solutions required by them and the U.S. Navy." Headquartered in Arlington, VA , Trident is a systems and solutions provider to government and commercial shipbuilders and ship operators across the globe with a comprehensive suite of complex, integrated maritime systems and service offerings. The company maintains operating locations strategically positioned near major naval and commercial shipbuilders across the U.S. and internationally. Blank Rome and Keller Benvenutti Kim provided legal counsel to Trident. SSG Capital Advisors served as financial advisor to CAC and Rabinowitz, Lubetkin & Tully and Cole Schotz provided legal counsel to CAC. About J.F. Lehman & Company, Inc. Founded in 1992, J.F. Lehman & Company focuses exclusively on investing in the aerospace, defense, maritime, government and environmental industries. The firm has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. http://www.jflpartners.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trident-maritime-systems-acquires-assets-of-custom-alloy-corporation-301855869.html SOURCE J.F. Lehman & Company Trusted Name in Drain and Sewer Services Set to Support Local Property Managers, Contractors, Plumbers and Homeowners with 24/7, 365 Drainage Solutions PITTSBURGH , June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Zoom Drain a leading operator of drain and sewer services opened its newest franchise in Pittsburgh on June 13 . Located at 119 Ormsby Ave. , Zoom Drain of Pittsburgh will proudly serve Gibsonia , Wexford , Allison Park , Coraopolis and the surrounding areas. Currently, there are seven Zoom Drain franchise locations in Pennsylvania , with 47 total nationwide. The owner of this new location is Mark Puzas , a Pittsburgh native and seasoned entrepreneur. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Accounting and Finance, Puzas began a career in corporate accounting as well as real estate investing. After leaving accounting behind and putting his full focus on real estate investing, he continued to keep his eye out for additional business opportunities. With his experience in real estate, he knew he wanted to open a business that would work in tandem with the industry, so when he came across Zoom Drain, it was a perfect fit. "As a seasoned real estate professional, I know how big of an issue drain problems can be," said Puzas, owner of Zoom Drain in Pittsburgh . "The synergy between Zoom Drain and my current business was obvious. Besides providing essential and expert service, I was immediately struck by their energy, their commitment to what they do, and their strong and specific business model." Zoom Drain provides around the clock residential and commercial service centering on drain and sewer cleaning, sewer pipe video inspections, grease trap maintenance and much more. From clogged sinks and bathtubs to main sewer line blockages, Zoom Drain utilizes five different drain cleaning machines and a custom hydro-jetter to tackle any sewage issue that arises. Customers include commercial property managers, contractors, plumbers and homeowners in need of immediate solutions to drain and sewage issues. Zoom Drain prides itself on always providing swift, dependable service by expertly-trained specialists for both emergency and planned maintenance service needs everything that has to do with wastewater management. Zoom Drain is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and there's never any additional cost for "off hours" service such as nights, weekends, or even holidays. "We are thrilled to have Mark Puzas join the Zoom Drain team and bring his expert services to Pittsburgh ," said Jim Criniti , CEO of Zoom Drain. "Drain and sewer emergencies are a nightmare for anyone, so offering skilled and reliable services to the Pittsburgh community is a priority for us and we're looking forward to growing our brand in the area and beyond." To learn more about Zoom Drain, visit https://www.zoomdrain.com/ About ZOOM DRAIN: Zoom Drain is an operator and franchisor of drain and sewer services, focusing on repair, maintenance and installation everything "below the drain." If it deals with wastewater, Zoom Drain deals with it, providing expertly-trained specialists to respond to both emergency service and planned maintenance, cleaning more drains in a year than most plumbers clean in their career. Headquartered in Philadelphia , Zoom Drain currently has 47 locations across the U.S and continues to grow! For more information about, please visit https://www.zoomdrain.com/. Media Contact: Maeve Devitt , Fishman Public Relations, [email protected] or 847-945-1300 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zoom-drain-opens-first-franchise-location-in-pittsburgh-pa-301849243.html SOURCE Zoom Drain By Abdi Sheikh and Abdiqani Hassani MOGADISHU (Reuters) -At least 36 people died on Tuesday in violence across Somalia that involved heavy fighting in the semi-autonomous state of Puntland and bomb explosions in the country's Lower Shabelle region, witnesses said. In Puntland, heavy fighting broke out early Tuesday in the state capital Garowe as the local parliament debated changes to the voting system. At least 26 people died in that fighting and 16 of those were soldiers, while 30 others were injured, Dr. Abdirsak Ahmed, who works at Garowe Public Hospital where some of the bodies were taken, told Reuters. Three other witnesses described heavy fighting that erupted after opposition groups accused Puntland's leader, Said Abdullahi Deni, of seeking constitutional changes that would extend his term in office beyond January next year, or help tip the ballot in his favour. The Puntland government said on Facebook that the regional parliament had voted to consider amendments to the constitution, and that further debates and votes would take place. Reuters was not immediately able to reach local or federal officials for comment on the violence in Puntland, which lies along the country's northeast Indian Ocean coast. "Fighting erupted immediately after the Puntland parliament voted for a one-man-one-vote election with multiple political parties," local elder Farah Osman said. "The lawmakers are still in the house, and a heavy exchange of fire is rocking the town. It is a very fierce battle". "Garowe is full of opposing forces. All roads are closed, all business closed", Osman added. Another witness, Seinab Omar, a mother of three children, told Reuters she had seen at least two dead civilians and seven others who had bullet wounds. It was unclear whether the bodies and the injured victims Omar had seen were among those the doctor said had been brought to the hospital. In separate violence in Somalia's Lower Shabelle region at least ten people died after remote-controlled bombs exploded in Bariire village about 50 kilometres (31 miles) southwest of Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Tuesday, residents and a soldier said. "First a bomb exploded killing several civilians. Then many civilians and we the soldiers came to rescue victims from the first blast, when many people converged, the second remote bomb went off," Nur Diriye, the soldier, told Reuters, adding the death toll may rise. (Reporting by Abdi Sheikh; Writing by Hereward Holland and Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Estelle Shirbon, Conor Humphries and Frank Jack Daniel) By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australians would support responding to a Chinese attack on Taiwan with economic sanctions, arms supplies or using the navy to prevent a blockade, but don't support sending troops, an opinion poll to be released Wednesday finds. Canberra says it is opposed to any unilateral attempt to change the status quo in Taiwan, while the United States has long stuck to a policy of "strategic ambiguity" over whether it would respond militarily to an attack on the island, which Beijing has refused to rule out. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Asia's top security meeting in June that Australia supports dialogue between the United States and China because a conflict in the Taiwan Strait would be "devastating for the world". The annual Lowy Institute poll of public attitudes to the world found 82% of those surveyed supported the security alliance with the U.S., although three-quarters also think that means Australia would be drawn into war in Asia. The prospect of a military conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan was seen as a "critical threat" by 64% of Australians surveyed, worrying twice as many people as two years ago. The top threat cited, by 68% percent of respondents, was cyber attacks from other countries. Ryan Neelam, director of public opinion at the foreign policy think tank, said the poll showed Australians are "cautious about conflict", but willing to support Taiwan without becoming a ground combatant. "When it comes to a specific scenario where Taiwan is under military threat and the U.S. is engaged, Australians feel quite forward leaning about taking action to support Taiwan when it comes to accepting refugees, imposing sanctions on Beijing, sending arms and supplies, even getting the navy involved, but that doesn't extend as far as putting boots on the ground," he said. Eighty percent support accepting Taiwanese refugees, 76% support "imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions on China", 64% support "Australia sending arms and military supplies to the Taiwanese government", and 61% support "using the Australian Navy to help prevent China from imposing a blockade around Taiwan". Only 42% supported sending "Australian military personnel to Taiwan to help defend it from China". Eighty-seven percent said they were concerned that China could open a military base in the Pacific islands. The poll also reflects stabilising ties between Australia and China, who are major trading partners; 56% said resuming diplomatic contact was in the national interest. Lowy Institute executive director Michael Fullilove said Australian trust levels in China remain "strikingly low", with 15% saying they trusted China to act responsibly in the world, compared with half five years ago. The poll is based on surveys of 2,000 people in March and 4,000 in April. (Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney. Editing by Gerry Doyle) U.S. President Joe Biden, Governor of California Gavin Newsom and other officials attend a panel on Artificial Intelligence, in San Francisco, California, U.S., June 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque By Trevor Hunnicutt and Kanishka Singh SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -The risks of artificial intelligence to national security and the economy need to be addressed, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday, adding he would seek expert advice. "My administration is committed to safeguarding Americans' rights and safety while protecting privacy, to addressing bias and misinformation, to making sure AI systems are safe before they are released," Biden said at an event in San Francisco. Biden met a group of civil society leaders and advocates, who have previously criticized the influence of major tech companies, to discuss artificial intelligence. "I wanted to hear directly from the experts," he said. Several governments are considering how to mitigate the dangers of the emerging technology, which has experienced a boom in investment and consumer popularity in recent months after the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT. Biden's meeting on Tuesday included Tristan Harris, executive director of the Center for Humane Technology, Algorithmic Justice League founder Joy Buolamwini and Stanford University Professor Rob Reich. Regulators globally have been scrambling to draw up rules governing the use of generative AI, which can create text and images, and whose impact has been compared to that of the internet. Biden has also recently discussed the issue of AI with other world leaders, including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak whose government will later this year hold a first global summit on artificial intelligence safety. Biden is expected to discuss the topic with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his ongoing U.S. visit. European Union lawmakers agreed last week to changes in draft rules on artificial intelligence proposed by the European Commission in a bid to set a global standard for a technology used on everything from automated factories to self-driving cars to chatbots. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in San FranciscoWriting by Kanishka SinghEditing by Chris Reese, Alistair Bell and Matthew Lewis) Photographs dating from June 1940 have recently been discovered, among them one showing a long line of people walking through the main streets of the Polish town of Tarnow, near Krakow. They are seen leaving the bathhouse, passing by small stores, and walking up a ramp to a waiting train. Their destination, unannounced, was Auschwitz. The images, found by a collector and donated to the museum at the former concentration camp, are believed to show the first deportation in history to what would become the enduring symbol of Nazi infamy. In the hands of totalitarian power, the image became a lethal instrument. Propaganda, one of the key elements in the rise of the Nazi Party, was elevated by the political police to a new visual category of terror. As the Third Reich took hold and Heinrich Himmler, the all-powerful Minister of the Interior, connected all the forces of law and order and placed them under his control, graphic reportage was incorporated into his working methodology. The images narrate the crucial moment for which those shock forces had been created: deportation to the concentration camps. They were the control group, a test sample of a program that would be repeated hundreds of times. Proud, smiling, the cadres of the occupation police posed and showed their security colleagues how they were to carry out the operation. Punishment manuals, the photographic albums of the various branches of the SS, followed a strict protocol of brutality. They were the essence of deportation, the handing over of prisoners from one chain to another, all the way to the camps. Very few of these reports were preserved after the war, reduced to inspection visits to the camps, to high society, and to the Nazi hierarchy itself. Prisoners are loaded onto trains bound for Auschwitz. Cortesia Marek Tomaszewski (Auschwitz Memorial) The discovery of one of these albums is always important, but if it is the first deportation convoy to Auschwitz, it has undoubtedly historical significance. Its discoverer, Marek Tomaszewski, the first to identify it, downloaded it digitized in an email from a collector in Canada, as he explains in his recent book Tarnow-KL Auschwitz: The First Transport to Hell. The album contained 96 excellent-quality images that he decided to donate to the Auschwitz Memorial Archive and Museum for preservation. There they continue to study in depth a material of great importance for European history. A battalion of German guards at Auschwitz. Cortesia Marek Tomaszewski (Auschwitz Memorial) Major discoveries serve to confirm what we already know, what we were already looking for. Other smaller discoveries, which seem casual and often go unnoticed, can end up changing our vision of the past. These images mark a point of no return in the expansion of the German concentration camp program: 83 years ago, on June 14, 1940, the first transport of Polish prisoners left for Auschwitz. At that time, it was nothing more than a former prison that the Nazis had incorporated into their network of labor and concentration camps Konzentrationslager, or KL long before it was turned into the most infamous extermination center of the war. Behind those orderly rows of prisoners was a lot of groundwork. The beginning of the Nazi occupation, the partition of the country with the Soviets, the establishment of a new administrative demarcation called the General Government and, above all, the use of information and of seized documentation. Population censuses, files, and photographic records themselves served to draw up lists that of people who were filling the camps all over the map of the new German order. On this one there were students, soldiers, teachers, workers, doctors, lawyers, priests and professional athletes. All of them were men, accused of belonging to organizations opposed to the new government: opposed, in short, to the German occupation. They were placed in protective custody, a legal measure that had already been used in Austria and Czechoslovakia, by which they passed from the Army into the hands of the Gestapo. German soldiers guarding prisoners.. Cortesia Marek Tomaszewski (Auschwitz Memorial) These photos immortalize that transfer, images that have never before been seen among the millions of documents collected by the Allies as evidence of Nazi crimes. They are all that remains of their last contact with life, as they knew it until then. Ordinary people, classified and deported as political prisoners to an SS concentration camp. But at the time, they were unaware of this. Puzzled by the strange helmets of the guards, some of them looking directly at the camera, they clutched their hats and placed their hands in their coats, pretending to be in a hurry. They were carrying suitcases: they had been ordered to pack for a trip. There were no Jews among them, or at least not in the front rows, where the 10 cm star Jewish people were obliged to wear is not visible. The records provide the full picture. Of the 728 Poles who were transported in that convoy, 292 were killed, among them 11 Jews: 325 survived and 111 are still listed as missing. Prisoners arriving at Auschwitz. Cortesia Marek Tomaszewski (Auschwitz Memorial) The line advances along Tarnows main street. The photographer also captures the German commanding officer. He sets the pace of the procession and is unarmed, walking alongside the prisoners. He doesnt see them; he just follows the streetcar rails, knowing that they will end up on the trains. From the heart of medieval cities to the camps themselves, the logistics devised by Adolf Eichmann connected the German war machine through a system of industrial exploitation based on forced labor and the destruction of lives. The journey was not a long one. They walked down to the platform in rows of four until they reached the old prison on foot. A sign in German gothic script announced their arrival at a place none of them had heard of: Auschwitz. A full battalion of guards was waiting for them at the entrance. Some shook their heads, eager to receive a human commodity they knew to be inexhaustible. In just five days, another Polish convoy would arrive. As the war dragged on and their task turned to the Final Solution, the photographs, evidence of their involvement in deportations or at the camps, disappeared. But some remained, hidden, to be found decades later. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition U.S. President Joe Biden holds virtual talks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin amid Western fears that Moscow plans to attack Ukraine, during a secure video call from the Situation Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., December 7, 2021. /The W By Trevor Hunnicutt and Nandita Bose (Reuters) - President Joe Biden said on Monday the threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is "real", days after denouncing Russia's deployment of such weapons in Belarus. On Saturday, Biden called Putin's announcement that Russia had deployed its first tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus "absolutely irresponsible". "When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado river drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy," Biden told a group of donors in California on Monday. "They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. It's real," Biden said. Last week, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country has started taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, some of which he said were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The deployment is Russia's first move of such warheads - shorter-range, less powerful nuclear weapons that could be used on the battlefield - outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. The United States has said it has no intention of altering its stance on strategic nuclear weapons in response to the deployment and has not seen any signs that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon. In May, Russia dismissed Biden's criticism of its plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, saying the U.S. had for decades deployed such nuclear weapons in Europe. The Russian deployment is being watched closely by the United States and its allies as well as by China, which has repeatedly cautioned against the use of nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Atherton, California and Nandita Bose in Washington; editing by Robert Birsel) FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, June 19, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis/Pool/File Photo By David Brunnstrom, Yew Lun Tian and Martin Quin Pollard WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - The first trip to China by a U.S. secretary of state in five years may have eased tensions that many saw escalating to dangerous levels, but the lack of progress on core issues means the relief will likely only be temporary. The limited achievements of Antony Blinken's two days of talks in Beijing were underscored on Tuesday when Washington again called for Beijing to reopen military communication channels and Blinken signaled concern about reports that China plans a military training facility in Cuba, an island 100 miles (160 km) south of the U.S. state of Florida. At one of the most significant U.S.-China exchanges since U.S. President Joe Biden took office, Blinken and Xi met on Monday. The two sides appeared entrenched over issues from Taiwan to trade - including U.S. actions toward China's chip industry - plus human rights and Russia's war against Ukraine. China and the U.S. did commit to keep talking, with further high-level visits expected in coming months, including possible trips to China by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and a visit to Washington by Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. Those exchanges could clear the way for meetings between U.S. President Joe Biden and China's President Xi Jinping at the September G20 meeting in India and the November APEC summit in San Francisco. Both Xi and Biden said progress had been made with Blinken's visit, but few observers are optimistic that even higher-level interactions will alter the course of the U.S.-China relationship, or calm fears that the two could one day find themselves in conflict over the Chinese-claimed island of Taiwan. "The fundamentals of the U.S.-China relationship remain as bad as theyve been in decades," said Benjamin Herscovitch, a research fellow at the Australian National University. "No amount of high-level discussion is likely to overcome the deepening distrust on both sides of the Pacific," he said, adding that the prospects for bilateral ties was likely to get gloomier ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign during which the debate about China policy was likely to feature prominently. A SEAT AT THE TABLE? Blinken's hosts did not appear eager to convey warmth toward the United States. In the meeting between Xi and Blinken, China's president sat at the head of the table with the America's top diplomat off to the side, a departure from precedent that sparked speculation in Chinese social media and among China watchers of a possible snub. Previous U.S. secretaries of state visiting Beijing, going back at least two decades and including Donald Trump's secretary of state Mike Pompeo, have sat side-by-side with the president, in cream white armchairs, or on opposite sides of the table. Just days earlier, Xi had welcomed another American, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and sat side-by-side with him, calling him an "old friend." Jacob Stokes, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security argued against taking too negative a view of the meetings, saying that simply by meeting Blinken, Xi signaled that China is invested in improving relations with the U.S. "Beijing clearly seeks to engage, even when they say otherwise publicly," said Stokes. "If Xi wanted to tank the process, he would have skipped the meeting with Blinken." China has reasons to push for better relations. The world's second biggest economy is struggling with flagging consumer demand, raising the pressure to seek improved trade ties with major western economies, and China leaders see a need to reassure its neighbors that it can manage the contentious U.S. relationship. John Delury, professor of Chinese studies at South Koreas Yonsei University, said Xi's meeting with Blinken appeared to be message to the world "to want to appear to be committed to a good relationship with the United States." "I think there's an awareness of that's what the world wants, thats what the region wants. Obviously, the big question is, how long does this stick?"Yang Tao, director-general for North American and Oceanian affairs at the Chinese foreign ministry, was blunt in portraying Blinken's trip - which the U.S. diplomat originally had planned to make in February but postponed after a suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over the United States - as a victory for China. Yang said it was made possible after the U.S. side repeatedly said it wanted to look forward and turn the page of tense relations aggravated by the balloon incident and Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen's transit in the United States in April. "The U.S. obviously blinked first in this round of strategic confrontation," he said in a commentary posted on Tuesday on the official WeChat account of the Chinese embassy in France. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Yew Lun Tian and Martin Quin Pollard; Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Don Durfee and Alistair Bell) MADRID (Reuters) - A pregnant woman died trying to reach Spain's Canary islands, the country's coastguard said on Tuesday, after her body was found on a dinghy carrying around 50 migrants near the Atlantic coast of Lanzarote. A fishing boat had spotted the migrants near Lanzarote's Los Cocoteros beach, the coastguard added. The woman's body was found in a boat with 42 men, seven women and three children on board, who received red blankets and medical attention after disembarking from a rescue vessel. Regional TV footage showed emergency services carrying the body of the pregnant woman on a stretcher at the port. Enrique Espinosa, manager of the Lanzarote security and emergencies consortium, told local TV the migrants were lucky the fishing boat found them because they were adrift. "There might be more alerts (of arrivals)," he added, as good weather usually increases the number of migrants trying to reach Europe. On Monday, another trawler spotted a migrant boat near Mogan, in Gran Canaria, with 53 people on board. Three of them were in poor health, the coastguard said. At least 5,914 people reached the Canary islands between Jan. 1 and June 15 this year, according to Spanish government figures, a 31.5% drop compared with the same period in 2022. (Reporting by Elena Rodriguez; Additional reporting by Joan Faus; Writing by Emma Pinedo; Editing by Alexandra Hudson) By Brendan Pierson (Reuters) - A Christian-owned wellness center is exempt from the federal law prohibiting employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. The unanimous three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Braidwood Management, which runs an alternative health center in Texas, cannot be sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over its policy that employees who engage in homosexual or gender non-conforming conduct will be fired. Circuit Judge Jerry Smith wrote for the majority that without the shield, the company would be forced to "comply wholeheartedly" with policy it sees as "sinful," upholding a ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth. However, the court reversed O'Connor's ruling that Braidwood could bring the case as a class action on behalf of other religious businesses. That means the exemption now only applies directly to Braidwood. Smith was joined by Circuit Judges Edith Clement and Cory Wilson. All three judges were appointed by Republican presidents. The EEOC and a lawyer for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Braidwood sued the EEOC after the agency updated its enforcement guidance in 2021 to reflect the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which said bias against gay and transgender workers is a form of unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The company said it was run according to Christian beliefs, including opposition to homosexuality and upholding specific gender roles. It had sought a court order shielding it from EEOC enforcement under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a 1993 federal law limiting government agencies' ability to burden anyone's religious freedom. The company is separately suing the Biden administration over the Affordable Care Act's requirement that health insurance plans, including those funded by employers, cover preventive care services including HIV-preventing drugs, which Braidwood also says violates its beliefs. O'Connor, who is also presiding over that case, ruled in the company's favor in that case, though the order is partly on hold for now. (Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi & Shri Navaratnam) FILE PHOTO: Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin shake hands with Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz during a meeting in Moscow, Russia June 13, 2023. Sputnik/Dmitry Astakhov/Pool via REUTERS HAVANA (Reuters) - A delegation of high-level Cuban officials wrapped up an extended visit to Russia, according to state-run media reports on Tuesday, following up on the nearly 30 trade agreements signed between the allies in Havana in May. Longtime political allies Cuba and Russia - both subject to U.S. sanctions - have sharply increased economic ties by facilitating trade and investment to circumvent those restrictions. The 11-day trip by Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero and Foreign Vice Minister Gerardo Penalver came on the heels of a trade forum in May in which the allies agreed to work together to boost Cubas sugar and rum exports, assure coveted wheat and crude oil supply to the Communist-run island and overhaul crumbling tourist facilities. "We must look for new avenues to carry out our economic relations outside the scope of ... the (U.S.) dollar, which is giving way more and more to a multipolar world, and where other actors such as China, India and Russia acquire greater relevance," Penalver told state-run media outlet CubaDebate upon returning to Havana. Marrero met with his Russian counterpart Mikhail Mishustin as well as with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Communist-run Cuba has been under a wide-reaching U.S. trade embargo since shortly after Fidel Castros 1959 revolution. Those restrictions, reinforced by then-U.S. President Donald Trump, have contributed to a nearly unprecedented economic crisis that has led to shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Russia is ready to supply Cuba with 1.64 million tonnes of oil and oil products annually, Russian news agencies reported last week, citing Marrero. Fuel, especially, has been in short supply in Cuba since March, forcing the government to ration and prompting days long queues for gasoline, further crippling the economy. Penalver said the second half of 2023 would see Russian airline Aeroflot renew flights to the island and bring 1,200 employees of Russian state-run oil firm Rosneft to relax and receive medical check-ups. (Reporting by Dave Sherwood in Havana; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) FILE PHOTO: An attendant walks past EU and China flags ahead of the EU-China High-level Economic Dialogue at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China June 25, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU leaders are set to call on China next week to help bring an end to the war in Ukraine, engage in global challenges, such as climate change, and rebalance its economic relations with the European Union, a senior EU official said on Tuesday. EU leaders meet for a summit in Brussels on June 29-30, with China and economic security among the main topics. The call to China is set out in draft conclusions prepared ahead of the summit, which could still change. The official said the draft conclusions were in line with the Group of Seven (G7) declaration from May, but with more specific EU-China issues, such as rebalancing the economic relationship and the need for reciprocity. "I think it's important that we set the notion of de-risking in stone and diversification," the official said, referring to an EU policy to reduce its economic reliance on China. The official said leaders were likely to focus their discussions on the role of China towards Russia's invasion of Ukraine and economic ties. Western leaders have urged China to use its influence over Russia to stop the conflict. Earlier on Tuesday, the European Commission presented a new economic security strategy, advocating stronger control of exports and outflows of technology. The Commission did not name China, but the country was clearly a focus of its thoughts. The official said some EU member states were currently quite cautious on the proposal, given that granting of export licences and security are national competences. (Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Jonathan Oatis) By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union executive presented on Tuesday its economic security plan which seeks to convince the bloc's 27 states to agree stronger controls on exports and outflows of technologies that could be put to military use by rivals like China. The European Commission sees exporting and sharing emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing as a potential security risk, as it could allow "countries of concern" to use them for military purposes. The European Economic Security Strategy paper presented at a press conference in Brussels advocates stronger export controls and screening of outbound investments for a range of key technologies, confirming a draft seen by Reuters on Monday. The document does not name China, but stresses partnering with like-minded countries and uses the phrase "de-risking", its policy of reducing economic reliance on China. It also called on EU members for an extra 10 billion euros($10.9 billion) to help industry develop strategic technologies. Its presentation marks the start of the commission's efforts to convince EU nations to back its proposals. EU leaders will hold a debate on relations with China at a summit in Brussels on July 29-30. Nations though will be reluctant to relinquish their powers to grant export licences and weigh security interests. "It's really now for the countries to step up," said Maria Demertzis, senior fellow at think-tank Bruegel. "But it's not clear whether there can be agreement. Coordination in security is very new." A diplomat of one EU country said it would be a challenge to agree on what the risks were in the first place, let alone whether fresh measures were needed. "Only then can we have a clear view of possible gaps that might require new instruments," the diplomat said. Germany, which hosted Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday, is mulling a new, tougher China strategy, even though China is Germany's largest trading partner and a key market for German companies to export goods and procure materials. The EU strategy document comes just after the United States, which has pressured the EU to adopt its firmer stance towards Beijing, sought to stabilise the intense rivalry during a rare visit to Beijing by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. ($1 = 0.9162 euros) (Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Emma Rumney and Emelia Sithole-Matarise) FILE PHOTO: The logo for Goldman Sachs is seen on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, New York, U.S., November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo By Jody Godoy (Reuters) - Former Goldman Sachs banker Brijesh Goel's trial on insider trading charges drew to a close on Tuesday, with his attorney saying he was framed by his friend and a prosecutor saying Goel had lied to a New York jury. Goel, a former Goldman Sachs vice president, faces securities fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges for allegedly tipping his friend Akshay Niranjan to deals the bank was considering funding in 2017 and 2018. Prosecutors say Goel gleaned the information on six companies targeted for deals - including Spirit Airlines Inc and drugmaker Patheon - from internal Goldman emails, and then tipped Niranjan over games of squash. Niranjan, a former trader at Barclays, testified at the trial that he traded on information he received from Goel and agreed to split around $280,000 in profits. Prosecutors agreed not to charge him in exchange for cooperation in the case, including secretly recording his conversations with Goel. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Naftalis said recordings of Goel urging Niranjan to delete messages about the trades prove his guilt. "Innocent people don't huddle in stairwells whispering and deleting text messages," he said. Goel said on the stand that he suggested deleting the messages in an initial state of "panic and shock and confusion" after being contacted by investigators. Goel's attorney Reed Brodsky called Niranjan's story a "complete and utter fabrication" to "frame" Goel. Niranjan had stolen information from Goel and at least once from his own employer, Brodsky said. A spokesperson for Barclays declined to comment. A Goldman Sachs spokesperson has called Goel's alleged conduct "egregious" and said the bank is cooperating with authorities. Goel worked at private equity firm Apollo Global Management at the time he was charged. A spokesperson for Apollo said Goel was placed on indefinite leave. The case was one of several U.S. Attorney Damien Williams announced last summer as part of an insider trading crackdown. The case is U.S. v. Goel, No. 22-00396, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. (Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Sonali Paul) An oil production site run by Civitas Resources is seen near Broomfield, Colorado, U.S, December 2, 2021. REUTERS/Liz Hampton/FILE PHOTO By David French (Reuters) - Civitas Resources Inc is nearing a deal to acquire oil and gas operations in the Permian basin from private equity firm NGP Energy Capital Management LLC for close to $5 billion, including debt, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The deal would transform Civitas, currently valued at $5.6 billion, expanding its operations beyond Colorado's Denver-Julesburg (DJ) basin into the lucrative Permian basin in Texas and New Mexico, considered the heart of the U.S. shale industry. Civitas is in advanced discussions with NGP to buy Hibernia Resources as well as much of Tap Rock Resources, the sources said. The company will fund the deal using a mixture of cash and newly-issued Civitas shares, although the precise ratio could not be learned from the sources. If the negotiations conclude successfully, an agreement could be announced as early as Tuesday, the sources said, requesting anonymity because the matter is confidential. Civitas, NGP, Tap Rock and Hibernia did not respond to requests for comment. Reuters reported in April that NGP was exploring a sale of Tap Rock and Hibernia. Civitas, created in 2021 through the combination of three smaller DJ basin producers, bills itself as Colorado's first carbon-neutral energy producer. It uses carbon offsets and renewable energy credits to compensate for emissions it cannot eliminate from its energy production operations. The Denver-based company currently operates on more than 500,000 net acres and produces roughly 160,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed), according to its website. Tap Rock, among the largest private equity-controlled oil producers left in the Permian, is producing more than 100,000 boed from the Delaware portion of the basin in New Mexico, according to its website. Hibernia, which does not disclose the level of its production, operates in the Midland part of the Permian basin in Texas. Cashing out on Tap Rock and Hibernia would help NGP with its bid to raise its 13th natural resources fund - the first flagship fund from the firm since 2018. (Reporting by David French in New York; Editing by Sonali Paul) By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The number of New Zealanders who see China as a threat fell over the past year, although only 30% of those surveyed viewed the country as friendly towards New Zealand, according to a survey released on Wednesday by the Asia New Zealand Foundation. The survey, which the foundation has conducted annually for 26 years, found 37% of the New Zealanders surveyed consider China to be a threat, down from 58% in a mini-poll done in 2022. New Zealand, part of the Five Eyes Alliance - an intelligence partnership that includes Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States - has historically been more conciliatory towards its biggest trading partner, but it has grown increasingly critical of Chinese diplomatic efforts in Pacific Island nations since Beijing and the Solomon Islands signed a security pact. The United States and its allies are seeking to deter other Pacific Island nations from forming security ties with China, a rising concern amid tension over Taiwan and trade. "New Zealanders are alert to geopolitical developments in Asia, with many New Zealanders concerned about the possibility of great-power conflict over Taiwan," said Asia New Zealand Foundation Executive Director Simon Draper. Asia New Zealand surveyed New Zealanders about the situation in Taiwan for the first time this year and found that nearly two-thirds of them were at least "fairly concerned" about the possibility of conflict over the island. China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has not renounced the use of force to bring it under its control. Taiwan strongly objects to China's claims and says only its people can decide their future. Last year's poll was taken after China's then Foreign Minister Wang Yi - now Beijing's top diplomat - had visited the Solomon Islands. New Zealand's Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is leading a trade mission to China later this week. His visit comes after a rare visit to Beijing by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken where China and the United States agreed to stabilize their intense rivalry. (Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Tom Hogue) The silence imposed around the shipwreck of the Adriana, a fishing trawler loaded with more than 700 migrants that capsized on June 13 in waters off southern Greece, is triggering questions about the role of Greek authorities in one of the worst migrant shipwrecks on record in the Mediterranean Sea. Both the Greek Coast Guard and the Ministry for Migration have tried to prevent the survivors from talking about their experience. After the ship sank on its way to Italy from Libya, only 104 people were rescued 47 Syrians, 43 Egyptians, 12 Pakistanis and two Palestinians, all men. The search teams found two bodies in an advanced state of decay on Monday, bringing the number of recovered bodies to 80. There are no traces of the other passengers, including around 100 women and children. During their stay in the port of Kalamata, the survivors had limited mobility and access to communications. The Coast Guard confined them inside a fenced compound that they were not allowed to leave. Later, screens were installed next to the portable toilets to prevent journalists from asking questions from the other side of the fence. A few relatives managed to greet and hug their family members, but Coast Guard agents, as well as the special police unit OPKE, watched over the perimeter and kept the press away. The commander of the Coast Guard, Sotiris Tsoulos, did not clarify why the survivors were subjected to limitations more typical of a prison regime than an aid post for shipwreck victims. Restrictions of movement are routinely imposed on economic migrants and asylum seekers in Greece for days or even weeks. Complaints from humanitarian organizations, who say there is no legal basis for it, fall on deaf ears. Since Friday, the survivors of the shipwreck have been confined in Malakasa, a refugee camp near Athens. They are no longer in the custody of the Coast Guard but of the Ministry for Migration and Asylum. Its interim incumbent, in office until the elections to be held next Sunday, is Daniel Esdras, former special envoy to Greece for the United Nations International Organization for Migration. Under his command, restrictions on journalists and migrants have remained in place. A man speaks with survivors at a migrant camp in Malakasa, north of Athens, on Monday, June 19, 2023. Petros Giannakouris (AP) Ahmed is a Syrian living in the U.K. who, after hearing about the shipwreck, traveled first to Kalamata and then to Malakasa to meet his cousin. From this center near Athens, he explained by phone about the limitations imposed on his relative. He is fine, he is in good condition. But they dont allow them to go out and they watch them all day, he says. They can use telephones to communicate with their families, the camp managers allow it, he adds. Greek authorities maintain that the occupants of the fishing boat refused at all times to be helped. According to this version, they only asked for food because their goal was to reach Italy. The Coast Guard said that two oil tankers, two frigates and two patrol boats approached to observe the trawler from a distance, but the few testimonies that have emerged question the way in which the Coast Guard vessels approached the Adriana. The Greek Coast Guard threw a line at us and thats when the boat started to sink, a survivor told the German outlet Syria Direct. Last Thursday, several migrants took advantage of the visits by Alexis Tsipras, former prime minister and leader of the leftist Syriza party, and Krypton Arsenis, a former MEP from the Mera25 party, to mention to the media, for the first time, that the Coast Guard had thrown a line at the fishing boat before it sank. BrirmI Jihed, an investigator dedicated to documenting violence at the Greek borders, traveled from the French city of Marseille to Greece after learning of the shipwreck. Jihed published an interview with a survivor on his Twitter account on Monday. According to his translation, the interviewee said: The Greek Coast Guard arrived and said that they would take us to Italian waters. But the ships engine broke. This is what, according to Jihed, the survivor described: They were dressed in black and they were masked. They tied up our boat with a blue rope. Then they left quickly. While we were on the ship, we felt that something was not right. [...] We were in front of them and they were pushing us from the right and left. Our ship capsized. I spoke to other survivors and we are 100% convinced that the Coast Guard sank us, but we dont know if it was intentional or a mistake. Although in a first version the Coast Guard did not mention any lines in their approach to the Adriana, later they recognized the launch of a beacon. The spokesman for the Coast Guard, Nikos Alexiou, said in statements to the public television ERT: This maneuver lasted just a few minutes and after the rope was untied by the migrants themselves, the patrol boat moved away and observed the vessel from up close. There was no attempt to tow the boat. The survivor told Jihed that they saw hooded men dressed in black aboard the Greek ships. The clothing that he described has already been documented by victims of immediate deportations practiced by Greece. The conservative government of New Democracy officially denies the existence of this type of practice, but during the campaign it has constantly made references to the Coast Guard, convinced that its voters applaud a strong hand against migrants. The trickle of statements by survivors raise even more questions about the lack of transparency of the Greek authorities. What did they intend with that maneuver? Were they trying to move the fishing vessel away from the maritime search and rescue area of responsibility (SAR zone) assigned to Greece? Did they intend to tow it to the coast? What happened to make the old ship capsize and sink in just 15 minutes? According to the Coast Guards version, the fishing boat refused their help and was heading towards Italy. So why did they need to tie it up if it was really sailing on its course? And theres more. After the shipwreck, it was the crew of a luxury yacht that ended up taking the survivors on board. Why wasnt the Greek Coast Guard performing this job? Meanwhile, in Kalamata, the nine Egyptian migrants accused of smuggling defended their innocence at a court hearing on Monday, according to the newspaper Kathimerini. Sources close to the defense have revealed that one of their arguments is that they paid to travel on the Adriana. One of them planned to argue before the judge that he was identified after a fight that arose in the old fishing boat when one of the nearby oil tankers threw bottles of water at them, upon which dozens of thirsty and desperate people pounced. Greek authorities have not yet made public the list with the names of the 104 survivors, nor have they identified the 80 bodies recovered from the water. Almost a week later, hundreds of families still do not know if their loved ones are alive. FILE PHOTO: Denis Muryga, a purported member of the Aidar Battalion fighting as part of the Ukrainian armed forces who reportedly surrendered in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, attends a court hearing in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, October 18, 2022. (Reuters) - A former deputy commander of a Ukrainian militia unit was sentenced by a Russian court on Tuesday to 16 years in a penal colony for taking part in what Moscow considers an illegal armed group and receiving "terrorist" training, Russian media reported. Denis Muryga was a senior member of Aidar, one of dozens of volunteer battalions that emerged in Ukraine after fighting broke out in 2014 with Russian-backed groups that declared breakaway "republics" in the east of the country. The units, some with ultra-nationalist roots, were later absorbed into Ukraine's armed forces. Muryga was detained in spring 2022 on the Russia-Ukraine border. Russian military news outlet Zvezda published video of him listening with his head bowed to the sentence, which was slightly less than the 18 years prosecutors had demanded. The Ukrainian military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case. (Reporting by Mark Trevelyan; editing by Mark Heinrich) (Reuters) -An explosion and fire at a gunpowder factory in Russia's central Tambov region killed five people on Tuesday, TASS news agency quoted the regional Investigative Committee as saying. The report said a fifth person, a worker at the facility, had died in hospital. Earlier reports had put the toll at four dead and two injured. News reports quoted the regional governor, Maxim Yegorov, as ruling out any notion of an attack or sabotage. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Alex Richardson, Ron Popeski and Richard Chang) French Minister for Economy, Finance, Industry and Digital Security Bruno Le Maire leaves following the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, June 7, 2023. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier PARIS (Reuters) - French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday he was sticking for now with the government's forecast of 1% economic growth for 2023. "I confirm the growth forecast for 2023," Le Maire told France 2 television. "I am lucid about the economic environment with several of our neighbours in recession...so we will keep on monitoring the situation closely," he added. Pointing out that the government would present a public finances bill at end-September, he said: "We will see then what is our forecast." French statistic institute INSEE said earlier this month that the euro zone's second biggest economy is projected to expand by 0.1% in the third quarter and 0.2% in the fourth, making for an annual GDP figure of 0.6%. (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten) BELGRADE (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban urged Serbian authorities on Tuesday to release three Kosovo policemen arrested last week in a border area between the two countries. Orban also said it he found it unacceptable that the international community accepted Kosovo's April local elections, which drew less than a 4% turnout, as being legitimate. The three Kosovo policemen have been in detention since the arrest. Both Belgrade and Pristina gave different locations for their arrest, accusing each other of crossing the border illegally. The detentions were the latest in a series of developments that have raised tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, sparking fears of renewed violence between the former wartime foes. Following a joint session of the two governments in the city of Subotica in northern Serbia, Orban said the release of the three policemen "would surely help Serbia". He had asked Vucic to "consider his request" at the joint press conference. Vucic has not replied directly to Orban but said:" Victor you are asking difficult questions." (Reporting by Gergely Szakacs and Krisztina Than; Editing by Jon Boyle and Ed Osmond) FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov speaks on the phone before a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is not worried about potential U.S. attempts to influence China's policy towards Moscow, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, commenting on U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's visit to Beijing where he held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. During a rare visit to Beijing by Blinken, China and the United States agreed on Monday to stabilise their intense rivalry so it did not veer into conflict, but failed to produce any major breakthrough. Blinken said however that he had asked the Chinese government to be very vigilant about the possibility that Chinese firms may be providing Russia with technology that it could use in its war in Ukraine, something Moscow calls a "special military operation." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Beijing had the sovereign right to forge ties with other countries and that the process of trying to build predictable relations between China and the United States was an important one. Russia did not think there was a risk of U.S.-China talks causing problems for Moscow, he said. "Our strategic partnership relationship with China make us confident that (Beijing's) development of relations with other countries will never be aimed against our country," Peskov said. Hit with sanctions by the United States and the European Union over Ukraine, Russia has sought in Beijing a market for its energy exports and a partnership in a global anti-Western axis that would challenge the existing world order. Xi visited Russia in March, pledging friendship, but maintaining an "impartial position" on the Ukraine conflict. A peace plan proposed by Beijing has so far produced no breakthrough. (Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Andrew Osborn) FILE PHOTO: People demonstrate against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist coalition government's judicial overhaul, near the home of Aharon Barak, the Former President of the Supreme Court of Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel May 4, 2 By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli lawyers held a leadership election on Tuesday with an eye on candidates' potential influence over the make-up of a panel for selecting judges, which is at the core of a contested bid by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to overhaul the courts. The Israel Bar Association provides two of the Judicial Appointments Committee's nine members. The others are a mix of Supreme Court justices, cabinet ministers and parliamentarians meant to encourage give-and-take in bench picks. Netanyahu's religious-nationalist coalition wants to expand the panel to give the government more clout - among reform proposals that have sparked unprecedented nationwide protests and brought unusually intense public scrutiny of the Bar's role. Among candidates for Bar chairman are Amit Becher, who has openly identified with the anti-reform demonstrations, and Efi Naveh, a confidant of a conservative former justice minister who championed reining in perceived over-reach by the Supreme Court. Netanyahu has not commented on the Bar election, whose results are due on Wednesday. It has been front-page news in Israel and featured a spray of campaign robocalls and text messages - including to non-lawyers - by at least one candidate. 'COMBATIVE CHAOS' Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich came out against Becher, branding him "a prominent leftist, among leaders of... the unbridled, extremist, quarrelsome and combative chaos on the streets in recent months", in remarks to reporters on Monday. Becher denies having a partisan objective, saying lawyers of all stripes back his pledge to prevent a "political takeover by the government of the Judicial Appointments Committee". Naveh has said that, if elected, he would be nobody's "proxy". Netanyahu announced he would resume the judicial overhaul this week after suspending it in March to enable compromise negotiations - so-far fruitless - with opposition parties. They accuse Netanyahu of seeking to restrict the courts even as he argues his innocence in a long-running corruption trial. The coalition argues that the reforms would balance out the branches of government, and plans on Wednesday to begin work on a fresh bill to limit some Supreme Court powers. (This story has been refiled to correct the spelling of candidate's name in paragraph 4) (Writing by Dan Williams) The logo of Lockheed Martin is pictured at the Eurosatory international defence and security exhibition in Villepinte, near Paris, France June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/ FILE PHOTO By Valerie Insinna PARIS (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin has raised concerns with the U.S. Defense Department and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about L3Harris's acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne, Lockheed's chief operating officer said on Tuesday. Frank St John told Reuters that Lockheed, Aerojet's biggest customer, wanted L3Harris to ensure access to rocket motors, fair pricing and IP protections, adding that it had received "little response" from L3Harris over its concerns. "To date, we've been unable to gain a commitment from L3Harris for those provisions as a merchant supplier," St John said in an interview at the Paris Airshow. "This is really concerning to us because they are going to be vital to meeting the increasing demand that we're seeing on multiple weapons systems," such as the Javelin missile launcher and Patriot air defense system. If L3Harris continues to be unresponsive, Lockheed wants the Defense Department or FTC to put in place a mechanism to guarantee access to technology, St John said. A spokesperson for L3Harris did not comment on the concerns raised by Lockheed directly but said: "We are in an FTC process and expect the transaction to close the second half of 2023." The FTC declined to comment, Aerojet Rocketdyne referred requests for comment to L3Harris and Defense Department did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. L3Harris said in December it would buy Aerojet for $4.7 billion in cash as it looks to tap into rising demand for missiles because of the Ukraine conflict. Lockheed previously attempted to buy Aerojet in a $4.4 billion deal, but walked away from the acquisition in February 2022 after the FTC sued to block the deal, citing concerns that Lockheed could hinder competitors' fair access to Aerojet products. RTX executives, who opposed Lockheed's failed bid for Aerojet, have signalled they would not do the same in L3Harris' case, with RTX CEO Greg Hayes saying that L3Harris is not a competitor in the missile business in an interview with trade publication Defense One. RTX Chief Operating Officer Chris Calio told Reuters in an interview on Monday that "any transaction that can bring investment, capability and capacity would be helpful. I don't think status quo is an option." (Reporting by Valerie Insinna; Editing by Mark Potter and Barbara Lewis) FILE PHOTO: A relative of one of the 43 missing students of Ayotzinapa College Raul Isidro Burgos takes part in a protest to demand the removal of Director of Criminal Investigations,Tomas Zeron, outside the Attorney General's Office (PGR) headquarters in By Brendan O'Boyle MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's president said on Tuesday that he had asked Israel for a second time to extradite a former official accused of torture in the Latin American country. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requesting help extraditing Tomas Zeron, head of Mexico's criminal investigation agency between 2014-2016 under the previous administration. Zeron led the heavily criticized investigation into the disappearance of 43 student teachers in southwestern Mexico in 2014 under a government to which Lopez Obrador was opposed. The current Mexican government accuses Zeron of torturing witnesses and tampering with evidence and says he went to Israel to evade a probe into his handling of the investigation. "It can't be that Israel protects a torturer under any circumstance," Lopez Obrador said in a regular press conference. Zeron has previously denied allegations of wrongdoing. Lopez Obrador, who made a similar extradition request in September 2021, said he expected Mexico's Jewish community to support the effort to extradite Zeron. Mexico's top human rights official last year said the government's involvement in the 2014 disappearances across federal, state and local levels was a "state crime." Israel's embassy in Mexico declined to comment on Lopez Obrador's remarks. (Reporting by Brendan O'Boyle in Mexico City; Editing by Matthew Lewis) SYDNEY (Reuters) - New Zealand said on Wednesday it would free up its annual intake of highly skilled migrants and chart a faster route to giving them permanent residency, as rich nations compete to lure the best global talent. Several developed economies have boosted annual migration numbers or eased visa rules to help key businesses recruit staff to fill shortages after the COVID-19 pandemic brought tighter border controls and kept foreign workers out. "The changes ... to ensure there is no cap on skilled migrants removes an artificial constraint in the old system," Immigration Minister Michael Woods said in a statement. He was referring to a yardstick setting an indicative number of residence places each year that kept skilled migrants from settling in New Zealand even if there was a demonstrable need. "We know many industries are calling for workers as the global labour shortage bites," Woods added. From October, the government will also simplify its points-based system used to select skilled migrants, so helping to speed scrutiny of visa applications and give migrant workers more certainty regarding eligibility. New Zealand does not have a formal limit on the annual number of skilled resident visas, but manages the process in a so-called planning range that limits the numbers securing permanent residency. The move comes as the labour market stayed tight, with the unemployment rate near a record low, while the labour force participation rate hit its highest in the March quarter since the series began in 1993. "The government has heard from businesses that giving certainty that skilled migrants and their families will be able to gain residence in New Zealand will be a big draw card for attracting skilled workers," Woods said. (Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) FILE PHOTO: A small toy figure and gold imitation are seen in front of the Newmont logo in this illustration taken November 19, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo (Reuters) - Newmont said on Tuesday it would defer making an investment decision about its Yanacocha Sulfides expansion project in Peru by at least two years. Last year, the company deferred the decision deadline for the $2 billion project that is expected to extend the life of Newmont's Yanacocha gold mine beyond 2040 to the second half of 2024. The world's biggest gold miner, which did not specify when it would make the decision, said the deferral would help it cut its expenditure by at least $300 million in 2024. Newmont is in the process of acquiring Australia's Newcrest Mining for $17.8 billion, which would lift the company's gold output to nearly double that of its nearest rival, Barrick Gold. (Reporting by Tanay Dhumal in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi) It is often said that Morena, the name of Mexicos ruling political party, not only stands for Movimiento de Regeneracion Nacional (National Regeneration Movement), but also alludes to Mexicos Catholic national patroness the Virgin of Guadalupe, known as La Morena. In recent weeks, Morena politicians appear to have forsaken their devotion to La Morena in favor of earthly worship of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), who is basking in a steady stream of fervent praise from followers who bow before him and swear lifelong allegiance. At stake is the partys nomination for the presidency. To gain an advantage in the contest, candidates to succeed President Lopez Obrador have relied on declaring their loyalty and indebtedness to him. This takes on various forms, ranging from overt displays of reverence to assertions that electing the Morena candidate is tantamount to a second term for the current administration. Former Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard has even offered the presidents son a position in his hypothetical government. However, such efforts appear to have had mixed success. Ebrard, for instance, has proposed creating a secretariat to perpetuate Mexicos Fourth Transformation, which refers to the presidents 2018 campaign promise to do away with the privileged abuses that have plagued Mexico for decades. To head the new department, Ebrard is eyeing the presidents son, Andres (Andy) Manuel Lopez Beltran, who he views as young and talented. But last year, Andy Lopez issued a statement that said, Since my dad became president, I have withdrawn from politics and public life. I am now focused on my ranch and my business. After hearing about Ebrards proposal, he issued another statement on June 19. Although I appreciate the generous offer, I prefer to stay on the sidelines, he said. Andy Lopez is not the only member of the presidents family to come up in this competition. Ebrard has garnered support for his candidacy from Pio Lopez Obrador, the presidents brother. Recently, the two were photographed together at Ebrards book launch in Chiapas (southern Mexico). Another brother, Jose Ramiro Lopez Obrador, publicly supports Claudia Sheinbaum. Youd be hard-pressed to decide which candidate is more fervent in praising their leader. Adan (Adam) Augusto Lopez was so dismayed about stepping down from his position as Interior Minister to launch his candidacy, that his letter of resignation had biblical overtones. Adam, what are you doing? said the voice of Lopez Obrador from the heavens one day in March 2005. I am here, defending you against all the injustices they want to do to you, answered the protege. Adam, come help me, asked the voice. So Adam left everything behind and swore fealty to his leader. As long as I have breath in my lungs, I will uphold my oath. And hes doing just that, as the resignation letter says. I intend to carry on tenaciously with your history-making pledge. Then theres the man Mexican journalists have dubbed the prodigal son. Ricardo Monreal finally swallowed his pride and met with the president at the National Palace, mending a two-year estrangement between the former friends. The often-critical Monreal now spouts everlasting oaths like, Ill be with Morena until death do us part, and Id rather be a nobody than betray the president. Lopez Obrador has emphasized the importance of unity among those who seek to succeed him in office. During a recent gathering of his apostles, he stressed the need to remain united against adversaries, critics, unfriendly media and negative energy. His followers share a deep love for both the leader and his vision, and while they may not always agree, they all rally behind the goal of advancing the presidents mission. But the president never asked them to love your leader above all others. I am committed to fulfilling the goal of our movement and continuing the transformation initiated by President Lopez Obrador, said Claudia Sheinbaum during her campaign launch. The former head of government of Mexico City (equivalent to a state governor) made this promise to follow in AMLOs footsteps in a symbolic setting Mexicos Monument to the Revolution. The landmark and monument commemorating the Mexican Revolution is also the burial site of former President Lazaro Cardenas, a giant of left-wing politics in Mexico. Lopez Obrador openly admires and sometimes compares himself to Cardenas. But for Sheinbaum, there is none better than the current president throughout Mexicos modern history, and promised to walk arm in arm with him. On March 18, during the annual celebration of the nationalization of the oil industry, the president gave a speech in Mexico Citys Zocalo plaza in front of a large crowd that included all the presidential hopefuls. In his speech, he pledged to continue working for the people and the nation, and promised that any Morena candidate would uphold the commitment. Continuity is assured, he told the crowd. The power of Mexican presidents sometimes extends beyond their own political stripe, but despite his popularity in public opinion polls, Lopez Obrador has endured forceful attacks. When he came down with Covid for the second time, the barrage on social media was fierce. Some political adversaries have raised serious doubts about his health, while criticism of his children has often gone beyond the no-holds-barred political pale. In response to these assaults, AMLOs followers tirelessly praise him all the day long as they jockey for position. Its rare to hear a speaker at the morning briefing who doesnt start by saying, As our president has directed... Then there are those who humbly eschew the presidency, like Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez, who just wants to remain by her leaders side. I asked our president, the best weve had in recent times, for the privilege of continuing to serve in his Cabinet. Thats all. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition By Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam KHUIRATTA, Pakistan-administered Kashmir (Reuters) -Muhammad Yasin borrowed almost $8,000 to reach Europe by boat to try to build a better life for his young children. Now they are being DNA tested by Pakistan to see if their father is among the scores who died when their boat sank off Greece last week. Most of the people on board were from Egypt, Syria and Pakistan and paid thousands of dollars to people traffickers like 28-year-old Yasin did. Hundreds more than the 81 confirmed victims are feared to have died. "He thought his kids' future would be better," Yasin's brother Muhammad Ayub told Reuters as the two children, Subhan, 3, and 1-year-old Zulekha sat in his lap. "We've no idea where he is. If he's alive or dead." In the hilltop town of Khuiratta, where the family was being tested, authorities know of at least 28 people who are either dead or missing. The town, in the Pakistan-administered Himalayan region of Kashmir, like in some other parts of Pakistan, is known for people going to Europe to try to earn a better living. "Each family is giving at least two samples - father, mother or son or daughter," the area's assistant commissioner Mushtaq Ahmad said. "Some of the women don't know their sons are missing, so we haven't told them." The exact circumstances of the vessel sinking while it was being shadowed by the Greek coastguard are still unclear. The boat is thought to have set off from the Libyan city of Tobruk on June 10. Witness accounts suggest between 400 and 750 people had packed into the fishing boat that sank about 50 miles (80 km) from the southern coastal town of Pylos. Police in Pakistan say 800 were on board. Fourteen people in Pakistan have been arrested on suspicion of alleged trafficking. Nine suspected smugglers have been detained by Greece, all from Egypt. Yasin had borrowed money to pay 2.2 million rupees ($7,660) to an agent to reach Europe, Ayub, a construction worker, said. "There is widespread unemployment," he said. "So, for that reason, people run abroad for work." He was among dozens of people waited for hours crammed at the town's hospital for the sampling, including Muhammad Aslam, who was hoping that giving his DNA would help find answers about his son. "He had just one mission: to go to Europe," said Aslam, holding a picture of his 26-year-old son Shajid Aslam, who had made multiple attempts to get to Europe even after being deported from Turkey two years ago. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told Reuters that DNA samples were also being collected in other parts of the country from families who wanted to come forward voluntarily. They will be sent to Greece to help with identification. A massive search and rescue operation continued, but hopes were dwindling of finding any more survivors from the boat which sank in some of the deepest waters of the Mediterranean. Only 104 people are known to have survived. ($1 = 287.1000 Pakistani rupees) (Writing by Asif Shahzad;Editing by Alison Williams) FILE PHOTO: A person uses the phone near a Pirelli logo during the 150th anniversary celebration of Italian tyremaker in Milan, Italy, January 28, 2022. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo By Giulio Piovaccari MILAN (Reuters) -Pirelli investor Camfin has proposed Andrea Casaluci as the new CEO of the Italian tyremaker, promoting him from a general manager role days after the Italian government intervened to limit Chinese influence on the company. The nomination of Casaluci on Tuesday comes as Pirelli deputy CEO Giorgio Bruno, who had been lined up for the top job, decided to pursue his own business interests, Camfin said in a statement. Camfin is the investment vehicle of Marco Tronchetti Provera, who has led Pirelli since 1992, and will propose that he stay as its executive vice chairman at a July 31 shareholder meeting. China's Sinochem is Pirelli's largest investor with a 37% stake but the Italian government stepped in last week to ensure that Camfin, which owns only 14.1%, appoints the CEO to retain key influence. Bruno, 63, and Casaluci, 13 years his junior, have both been close associates of Tronchetti Provera in Pirelli, supplier of tyres to Formula One motor racing and one of Italy's famous business brands. However an investor, who asked not to be named, said Bruno had always appeared as a low-key figure, with little contact with shareholders. Casaluci, on the other hand, has long been at Tronchetti Provera's side at Pirelli presentations, appearing as the one who would ensure continuity with his strategic line, the investor said. "They're both excellent managers, but Casaluci, not Bruno, appears the obvious successor of Tronchetti". Last week, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government said it had taken measures to limit the influence of Sinochem on Pirelli under "Golden Power" rules aimed at protecting strategic assets for the country, at a time when relations between China and Western countries have entered a tenser phase. The intervention, although not imposing a freeze on voting rights or stake reductions on Sinochem, allowed Tronchetti to keep his hold on Pirelli. As part of the measures, Camfin retained the power to designate Pirelli's CEO and set strategies, with limited power for Sinochem to interfere in the group's management. Rome also said Sinochem would pick eight members of Pirelli's 15-strong board, leaving four to Camfin. (Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari;Editing by Keith Weir and Emelia Sithole-Matarise) FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis leads the Angelus prayer from his window at the Vatican, June 18, 2023. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis held talks on Tuesday with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who is making a rare trip to the West, as police kept a small demonstration demanding respect for human rights on the communist-run island away from the Vatican. A Vatican statement did not give any details on what was discussed during 40 minutes of talks but said that in Diaz-Canels subsequent talks with Holy See diplomats the topic was the current situation in Cuba, with particular attention to the Cuban Church's charity activities. This appeared to be a reference to the country's dire financial situation. Cuba is suffering a near unprecedented economic crisis, with widespread shortages of food, fuel and medicine that have prompted a record-breaking outflow of migrants to the United States in the last year. A Cuban embassy statement said Diaz-Canel expressed support for the pope's efforts to achieve peace, protect the environment, promote nuclear disarmament and defend the poor. Diaz-Canel, who was also due to meet Italian President Sergio Mattarella and officials of U.N. food agencies in Rome, rarely travels to Western nations. Last November, he travelled to China and Russia to meet with presidents in each country. Pope Francis visited Cuba in 2015 and met with ailing revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, who died in 2016. As the pope and Diaz-Canel met, about a dozen demonstrators opposed to the Cuban government held a protest near the Tiber River about six blocks away. They had planned to hold it outside St. Peter's Square but police did not allow them. The protesters held up Cuban and Italian flags and demanded the release of those they say are political prisoners. They held up a large banner reading "Respect Human Rights in Cuba". Communist-run Cuba has faced sharp criticism from rights groups, the United States and the European Union following the imprisonment of hundreds of protesters after the July 11, 2021, riots, the largest since Castro's 1959 revolution. Some of those who took to the streets, angered by blackouts and shortages amid the coronavirus pandemic, cried "freedom" and demanded a change in government. Authorities in Cuba have said those jailed following the 2021 demonstrations are guilty of crimes including public disorder, resisting arrest, robbery and vandalism. They have wavered little from those arguments despite growing international pressure. But during an unusual visit to Cuba early this year, Cardinal Benjamin Stella, an envoy of the pope, said he had discussed a potential prisoner release with Diaz-Canel. (This story has been refiled to add the dropped hyphenated last name of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel) (Additional reporting by David Sherwood in Havana; Editing by Christina Fincher) FILE PHOTO: Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa attends a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during the European leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium February 9, 2023. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/Pool/File Photo By Sergio Goncalves LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal plans to swap the entire 140 million euro ($152.91 million) debt it is owed by Cape Verde for investments in the archipelago's environmental and climate fund, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Tuesday. Such "debt-for-nature" swap deals are a way to resolve the dilemma of how and who will foot the bill for actions to "counteract the impact of climate change and to accelerate the transition energy of developing countries," Costa said in a joint address in Lisbon with Cape Verde's Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva to announce the plan. Cape Verde, an archipelago off Western Africa which was a Portuguese colony, already suffers from rising sea levels and biodiversity loss due to increasing ocean acidity caused by global warming. The two countries had already agreed in January to swap 12 million euros of debt repayments scheduled until 2025 and then assess the effectiveness of this mechanism in concrete projects. "We are sure the assessment we will make in 2025 will be positive and that we will be able to extend this mechanism to all 140 million euros of debt throughout its maturity," Costa said. Cape Verde's Silva said the investments will increase the country's resilience and achieve sustainable development goals. He said his country plans to invest 520 million euros by 2030 in energy transition projects - such as wind, solar and green hydrogen - "of which 65% will be financed through these debt-to-nature swaps and by public-private partnerships". Cape Verde is 80% dependent on imported fossil fuel energy, which has risen sharply in price following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. ($1 = 0.9156 euros) (Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Inti Landauro and Susan Fenton) FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears by video conferencing before Justice Juan Merchan during a hearing before his trial over charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, i By Karen Freifeld (Reuters) - Donald Trump's bid to oust the judge overseeing the criminal case against him over a hush-money payment to a porn star should be rejected, the Manhattan District Attorney's office said in a filing on Tuesday. Trump has a "history of baselessly accusing state and federal judges around the country of bias," prosecutors wrote in opposing Trump's motion for New York state Justice Juan Merchan to remove himself from the case. A lawyer for Trump declined to comment. The former Republican president has said Merchan is conflicted because his daughter has worked for Democrats and stands to benefit financially from a conviction in the case. He has also said Merchan pushed former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg to cooperate with prosecutors, which he alleged showed the judge's bias, during the criminal tax fraud case against the company. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 criminal counts of falsifying business records tied to a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors said the payment was meant to buy her silence about a sexual encounter she claims she had with Trump. Trump has denied the encounter. In opposing Merchan's recusal, prosecutors cited a Reuters report of a recent Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics opinion that mirrored the facts of the case, without identifying the judge. The opinion said a judge's impartiality "cannot reasonably questioned based on the business and/or political activities of the judge's first-degree relative," when there was no sign the case would affect the relative or the business. Trump also questioned $35 in political donations made by Merchan, including $15 to a group that supported Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Prosecutors said the modest amount did not warrant recusal, and that adopting Trump's arguments would effectively let Trump hand-pick a judge by excluding judges appointed by Democrats. They also said "at no point" did Merchan "induce" Weisselberg to cooperate against Trump. Finally, prosecutors said, Trump's history of attacking courts and judges, "makes clear that this motion is based on tactics, not ethics." (Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Ukrainian servicemen of the 30th Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi Separate Mechanized Brigade fire from a T-80 main battle tank captured earlier from Russian troops, in a field near the front line town of Bakhmut, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, U KYIV (Reuters) -Russia on Tuesday struck military and infrastructure targets in Ukraine's capital Kyiv and across other parts of the country, including western areas far from the front lines, Ukrainian officials said. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised Ukraine's air defences for downing more than 30 drones and defiantly said that Ukraine's forces were destroying Russian forces in the two main theatres of the conflict, the east and south. His commander of land forces and the deputy defence minister reported successes with a counteroffensive in both areas. Russia's Defence Ministry said that Russian forces hit and destroyed eight ammunition warehouses across Ukraine in the prior 24 hours and repelled Ukrainian attacks in three areas. It said Ukrainian forces had tried to attack the Russian-held eastern city of Donetsk and the southern Zaporizhzhia region, but had been repelled. Zelenskiy's office said drones attacked the Kyiv region in several waves over more than four hours. Also on Tuesday, Ukrainian forces struck the Russian-controlled town of Nova Kakhovka in the southern Kherson region with drones, killing a women and wounding four civilians, local Russian-appointed authorities said. FOCUS ON COUNTER-OFFENSIVE The Russian attacks took place as attention has been focused on Ukrainian actions against Russia's defensive positions in the south and east - the initial stages of a counteroffensive seeking to push President Vladimir Putin's troops back from territory seized since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Kyiv says it has recaptured 113 square km (44 square miles) of land and eight settlements from Russian forces. But the latest strikes showed that Russia was capable of waging war beyond the front lines. In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces "in the south and east are actively destroying the enemy, physically cleansing Ukraine. "A defence against terror means destroying terrorists. And it is a guarantee that the state of evil will never have the opportunity to bring evil to Ukraine." General Oleksander Syrskyi, Ukraine's commander of land forces, said on Telegram that his troops were making progress on the flanks of the shattered eastern city of Bakhmut, which fell to Russian mercenaries last month after months of fighting. Ukrainian troops, he said, were repelling increasingly intense Russian attacks near Kupiansk in the northeast. Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces in the south were "gradually, in small steps, but very confidently, making advances. We could even use the allegory that we are carving up every metre of land from the enemy." Maliar said Russian forces had mined vast areas, including towns. Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, accused Russia of "mining" the pond used to cool reactors at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Zelenskiy's office said several commercial and administrative buildings and some private houses were damaged in the Russian drone attacks on the Kyiv area. There was no mention of any casualties in the overnight air strikes. A "critically important facility" was struck in Lviv, far from the front lines and around 70 km (43 miles) from the border with Poland, regional governor Maksym Kozytskiy said, without giving details. The air force said Ukrainian air defences had been in action, mostly in the Kyiv region, where more than two dozen Iranian-made Shahed drones were destroyed. The Energy Ministry said debris from falling drones damaged power lines in the Kyiv region and also in the Mykolaiv region in the south, cutting electricity for hundreds of residents. The air force said Russia had also targeted infrastructure in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia with Iskander and S-300 missiles. Ukraine's military said Russia had fired seven missiles at Zaporizhzhia. Reuters could not independently verify the reports. RUSSIAN MINISTER: UKRAINE WANTS TO HIT CRIMEA Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow had information that Ukraine was planning to strike Russian-controlled Crimea with longer-range U.S. and British missiles and warned Russia would retaliate if that happened. Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula on the Black Sea from Ukraine in 2014, but considers it to be outside the scope of its "special military operation" in eastern and southern Ukraine. "The use of these missiles outside the zone of our special military operation would mean that the United States and Britain would be fully dragged into the conflict and would entail immediate strikes on decision-making centres in Ukraine," Shoigu told a meeting of military officials. Shoigu also said Ukrainian armed forces had carried out 263 attacks on Russian forces' positions since June 4, referring to what Moscow regards as the start of Ukraine's counteroffensive. But it had "not accomplished its goals", he said. Ukraine says it has recaptured eight villages. (Reporting by Olena Harmash in Kyiv and Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Angus MacSwan, Mark Heinrich, Ron Popeski and Cynthia Osterman) FILE PHOTO: Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu attends a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, June 15, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo (Reuters) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that Moscow had information that Ukraine was planning to strike Russian-controlled Crimea with longer-range U.S. and British missiles and warned Russia would retaliate if that happened. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, but considers it to be outside the scope of what it calls its "special military operation" which is focused in eastern and southern Ukraine where Ukraine is fighting to retake territory. Kyiv, which says it is battling for its survival in a war of colonial conquest, says it wants to reclaim all of its territory however, including the Crimean peninsula which hosts Russia's Black Sea naval base. Shoigu told a meeting of military officials that Moscow had information that Ukraine planned to strike Crimea with U.S.-supplied HIMARS long-range rocket systems and with British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles. "The use of these missiles outside the zone of our special military operation would mean that the United States and Britain would be fully dragged into the conflict and would entail immediate strikes on decision-making centres in Ukraine," said Shoigu. Ukrainian generals and politicians have said many times they do not announce their military plans ahead of time. Shoigu said Ukraine's armed forces had carried out 263 attacks on Russian forces' positions since June 4, referring to what Moscow regards as the start of Ukraine's counteroffensive. "Thanks to the smart and selfless actions of our units all of them (the attacks) have been repelled, the enemy has not accomplished its goals," said Shoigu. Ukraine says it has recaptured eight villages in the early stages of its counteroffensive and a defence official has promised that Kyiv's "biggest blow" lay ahead despite tough resistance from Moscow's troops. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Andrew Osborn) (Reuters) - A Russian pilot has been sentenced to six years in prison after a plane he was flying made a rough crash-landing at a Moscow airport in 2019, killing 41 passengers, the general prosecutors office said on Tuesday. Denis Evdokimov was operating an Aeroflot passenger flight from Moscow to the northern city of Murmansk on May 5, 2019 when lightning struck the plane. He returned to the capitals Sheremetyevo airport for an emergency landing. Television footage showed the Sukhoi Superjet 100 bouncing along the tarmac before the rear part of the aircraft burst into flames. Forty-one out of 78 people aboard died, including two children. The surviving passengers escaped using the aircrafts emergency slides. "After the decision was made to return to the airport of departure, (Evdokimov) made, without observing the procedure for operating the aircraft, a very rough landing, allowing the aircraft to bounce", the prosecutors office said. "As a result, the main landing gear collapsed and the aircraft structure was destroyed with a spill and ignition of the fuel, the office said. Evdokimov was charged in 2019 with violating traffic safety rules resulting in the negligent death of two or more people. In addition to his prison sentence, Evdokimov is banned from operating aircraft for three years. He pleaded not guilty, Interfax reported. It was not immediately clear if he intended to appeal. The aircraft was owned by VEB-Leasing Joint-Stock Company, the prosecutor's office said. Experts have warned of safety risks as Russian airlines, including state-controlled Aeroflot, are stripping jetliners to secure parts they can no longer buy due to Western sanctions. Russian aviation safety has improved in recent years but accidents, especially involving ageing planes in far-flung regions, are not uncommon. According to Russian newspaper Novye Izvestia, there were more than 130 accidents involving civil and military aircraft in Russia in 2022, including 28 planes that crashed, excluding those related to the war in Ukraine. (Reporting by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel) FILE PHOTO: Rwandan genocide suspect Fulgence Kayishema appears at the Cape Town Magistrates' Court where 54 new charges were added against him, in Cape Town, South Africa June 9, 2023. REUTERS/Nic Bothma/File Photo CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Former Rwandan police officer Fulgence Kayishema, accused of participating in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, has abandoned his application for bail and applied for political asylum in South Africa, prosecuting authorities and his lawyer said on Tuesday. Arrested last month under a false name on a grape farm outside Cape Town, Kayishema has been on the run since 2001, when the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) indicted him for genocide. He stands accused of ordering the death of 2,000 people seeking refuge in a church. He has denied any involvement in violence during the genocide but has said he was "sorry" for the killings. Kayishema is currently facing 54 charges in South Africa, mainly related to contravening the Immigration Act but including several counts of fraud, and could face additional charges, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said in a statement. The NPA said the 62-year-old accused "has abandoned his bail application and will instead launch an asylum application today". "My client fears for his life, if and when extradited, hence the very reason for his asylum application which has been filed today," Kayishema's lawyer, Juan Smuts, told Reuters in an emailed response. He said further details would be revealed in his client's asylum application to officials at the Department of Home Affairs. The state prosecutor will oppose any bail application on domestic charges should the accused consider applying in future, the NPA said, adding the asylum application had no bearing on the court case. Kayishema remains in custody and the case was postponed to Aug. 18 for further investigation. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Angus MacSwan) By Xinghui Kok SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore-based Grab Holdings, Southeast Asia's leading ride-hailing and food delivery app, is cutting 1,000 jobs or 11% of its workforce, its CEO said on Tuesday, citing the need to manage costs and ensure more affordable services long term. In a letter sent to employees late on Tuesday and seen by Reuters, chief executive Anthony Tan said the cuts, the biggest since the start of the pandemic, were not "a shortcut to profitability" but a strategic reorganisation to adapt to the business environment. "Change has never been this fast. Technology such as generative AI (artificial intelligence) is evolving at breakneck speed. The cost of capital has gone up, directly impacting the competitive landscape," Tan said in the letter. "We must combine our scale with nimble execution and cost leadership, so that we can sustainably offer even more affordable services and deepen our penetration of the masses." Tan said that even without layoffs, Grab had managed costs and should hit its target for group adjusted EBITDA breakeven this year. The "superapp", founded in 2012, offers deliveries, rides and financial services in eight Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its shares were up 4.7% premarket after Tan's announcement to staff. The stock had climbed as much as 5.6% premarket, extending earlier gains on a Bloomberg News report of the cuts. The layoffs follow a similar move last year by Indonesian tech firm GoTo, which offers rides, e-commerce and financial services. It has undergone strict cost-cutting, including axing 12% of its workforce in 2022. It laid off a further 600 staff in March. Its incoming CEO is planning to head the firm only temporarily and quit after improving profitability, sources told Reuters last week. In May, Grab reported a quarterly loss of $250 million but said revenue in the first quarter of this year rose 130.3% to $525 million from a year ago. In February, it issued an upbeat forecast for full-year revenue for 2023 and brought forward its profitability timeline. The U.S.-listed Grab's last job cuts were in 2020, when 360 people were laid off in response to the impact of the pandemic. The company had 11,934 staff as of the end of 2022, including about 2,000 from its acquisition of a grocery chain last year, its latest annual report said. In September last year, it said it had no plans to undertake mass layoffs despite the weak market. In December, Tan told staff the company was freezing most hiring, payrises for senior managers, and cutting travel and expense budgets. (Additional reporting by Lavanya Ahire in Bengaluru and Chen Lin in Singapore; Editing by Martin Petty and Barbara Lewis) At the age of 103, Gertrud Erdstein sleeps hugging a crocheted turtle given to her by her grandchildren. Her long, slender fingers caress the memory of another turtle, Otilia, with whom she fled Vienna under the Nazi occupation. It was 1939, Gertrud was 18 years old and had just finished high school. She did not yet understand the horror that was coming and that still haunts her today. It was all over at an age when everything was supposed to begin, Gertrud told her granddaughter, Magdalena Goyheneix, when she was finally ready to tell her story. One day, without explanation, we Jews were made to stand in a separate line at school. Oma, as her entire family calls her, refused to discuss that part of her life for decades. But Magdalena, her eldest granddaughter, awakened something in her that made her change her mind. Since then, the family has been trying to piece together Omas story, before she arrived in Buenos Aires in 1941. Her father, Hermann Erdstein, was the founder of a chocolate factory that gave his family a comfortable life in 1930s Vienna, one of the most progressive cities in Europe, before the Nazis dispossessed them of their business and home a building in one of Viennas most luxurious neighborhoods that the family still claims to this day. At that time, Gertrud was engaged to a young man named Harry, the same age as her, and they planned to study medicine and travel the world together. She loved going to the opera, dancing, reading. She was beginning to develop a feminist way of thinking that she would retain throughout her life. Gertrud Erdstein's birth certificate. Cortesia But between 1938 and 1940, 117,000 Jews were forced to flee the country after Hitler annexed Austria. In 1939, Hermann and Minna Erdstein, Gertruds parents, knew they would not survive in a city where they were spat on, made to clean the streets, thrown out of places they once frequented, and where many of their friends no longer spoke to them. After the confiscation of their property, they tried to liquidate what valuable assets they had left to raise money and escape overseas. I remember sitting in the living room of my house and seeing people buying our paintings and tapestries for a handful of coins, Gertrud told her grandchildren years later. At one point, I rebuked a woman who offered a ridiculous price for the grand piano and she looked at me and said with contempt: What do you want it for if youre going to be dead soon, Jewess? Her brother Erich, nine years her senior, managed to escape to Brazil as a stowaway. Her parents fled to Argentina, but Gertrud could not accompany them. Being separated from my parents was heartbreaking. I was 18; it was the first time I had traveled alone and I didnt know if I would ever see them again, she told her grandchildren. With a small suitcase and her turtle, Otilia, Gertrud ended up in London, where a family friend was waiting for her. When she arrived, she was refused shelter and sent to a refugee home, which between 1938 and 1940 would receive more than 10,000 Jewish children and young women fleeing from the countries occupied by the Third Reich. Some were cared for; others were exploited as domestic servants. Teenage girls like Gertrud remained in England on a special visa to work as domestic servants. She was quickly assigned to a house where she was made to work more than 15 hours a day, going out into the fields in freezing temperatures to chop wood. Gertrud Erdstein and her husband Erwin Forro in 1942. Cortesia In Argentina, meanwhile, her parents had settled in a boarding house in San Telmo, a tenement neighborhood in southern of Buenos Aires. Her father set himself up a cloth merchant and her mother found work as a seamstress. After two years, they were able to raise enough money to bring their daughter from England. Gertrud was no longer that teenager they had left behind in 1939. The image I had when I saw them for the first time was very disturbing. I couldnt believe how our lives had changed, she recalled years later. But she refused to feel sorry for herself. With her four languages and her academic background, she soon found work as a nanny in the home of an English family living in a residential neighborhood in Buenos Aires, where, years later, she herself would go to live and where she remains to this day. She took Argentinean citizenship and vowed never to return to Austria. She met Erwin Forro, a Jewish immigrant who had fled Hungary, and the couple married a year later, in 1942, in Montevideo. She had two daughters whom she decided to give a bilingual and international education. Erwin did very well in business, after several failed ventures. He traveled around the country and in the north of Argentina, he discovered the origin of his fortune: orange plantations that gave him the idea of founding a juice concentrate company, a novelty at the time and a very successful one. Many Jews who escaped the Holocaust found their way to Argentina, but so too did Nazis who took refuge throughout the country after the fall of the Reich. The fear never left, Gertrud confessed. And since Argentina is Catholic and we were not practicing Jews, I felt it was best for my daughters to be brought up with the culture of this country. I did not want them to experience the persecution and suffering that we had. Gertrud Erdstein celebrating her 98th birthday. Cortesia Her marriage to Erwin lasted more than four decades, until she was widowed in 1987. She now has seven grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren who take care of her and, for the past few years, have been helping her to reconstruct these memories. Until the Covid-19 pandemic, Gertrud played bridge and took classes in gymnastics, music, and pottery and even learned to use Facebook, where she found Harry, her first love, whom she had never forgotten. He was living in the United States, was a photographer and had married a woman named Gertrud. He visited her on her 85th birthday. They didnt talk about the past, but their eyes filled with tears as they looked at each other again. Gertrud is no longer able to talk as she once did, or to go for walks with her grandchildren. The pandemic affected her cognitive faculties but she is surrounded by love and care, which makes her days placid and peaceful. But at night, the ghosts return in the form of nightmares. She dreams that her house is occupied by Nazis who want to take her away. She wakes up in terror, clutching the crocheted turtle her grandchildren gave her. Then she feels relief, but a happy life today is not enough to bury so much pain from the past, even though she is still fighting. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Slovakia's President Zuzana Caputova delivers a statement after meeting with current Prime Minister Eduard Heger at the Presidential Palace, in Bratislava, Slovakia, May 7, 2023. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa/ File photo (Reuters) -Slovak President Zuzana Caputova, a liberal voice in the European Union country's polarised politics, will not seek reelection for a second term next year, she said on Tuesday. The former human rights lawyer won her first five-year term in 2019 and has been a strong voice in favour of European integration, minority rights and a supporter of neighbouring Ukraine in its defence against Russia. On Tuesday, she said she had to estimate her strength to take on another term. "With my decision not to run, I am not giving up the ideal and trust in values that I have dedicated my professional and personal life to," she said. "I tried to help democracy and justice in Slovakia before my presidential mandate, during it, and I will do so after." Caputova's announcement may prompt other potential candidates to declare they will run. So far, several largely fringe figures have declared interest. Slovak presidents do not wield many executive powers but have a strong role in forming governments and shaping public debate. The central European country, a member of the euro zone, faces a snap parliamentary election in September and a presidential vote in March next year. Caputova is the most popular Slovak politician, with a confidence rating of 42.9%, ahead of opposition leader Peter Pellegrini at 36.3%, according to a poll by the IPSOS agency for news media www.dennikn.sk on Tuesday. Caputova, 49, has frequently been criticised for her liberal stance by opposition leader and former prime minister Robert Fico, who has claimed, without proof, she was a U.S. puppet and stood for interests of U.S. financier George Soros. Caputova said last month she would take legal action against Fico, whose Smer party leads opinion polls, for what she called lies. She has said that both she and her family have been a target of death threats. (Reporting by Jan Lopatka in Prague; Editing by Alex Richardson and Christina Fincher) FILE PHOTO: An employee walks past a logo of Samsung C&T Corp at the company's headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, July 16, 2015. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji By Joyce Lee SEOUL (Reuters) -The South Korean government has been ordered to pay hedge fund Elliott about $108.5 million, Elliott and the Ministry of Justice said on Tuesday, in an dispute settlement case stemming from the 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates. The tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague partly accepted Elliott Investment Management's claim for about $770 million, after the U.S. activist fund sued the South Korean government for the state-run National Pension Service's (NPS) role in approving the $8 billion merger between Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T. Elliott was a minority stakeholder in Samsung C&T and opposed the deal, deeming the terms of the merger unduly unfavourable to the company. The NPS, which approved the merger, held a larger stake in Samsung C&T and was viewed as a casting vote. In 2022, South Korea's Supreme Court confirmed a jail sentence for Moon Hyung-pyo, a former health and welfare minister, for pressuring the NPS into approving the merger in connection with a corruption scandal involving former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who was removed from office. The arbitration tribunal ordered the South Korean government to pay Elliott about $53.6 million in damages, plus delayed interest, as well as $28.9 million in legal fees, the justice ministry said, without elaborating. The ministry said it would announce its future plans later. Elliott welcomed the decision in a statement, and urged South Korea to "pay the ultimate award rather than pursue baseless legal proceedings to challenge the Tribunal's decision". (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Sandra Maler) MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish judge has charged a 74-year-old man suspected of sending several parcel bombs targeting government, diplomatic and defence industry institutions in late 2022 with two counts of aggravated terrorism, a high court document showed on Tuesday. Pompeyo Gonzalez Pascual was arrested in January after allegedly sending six parcels with homemade explosives addressed to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Defence Minister Margarita Robles, the embassies of Ukraine and the United States in Madrid, an air force base and a weapons manufacturer between Nov. 24 and Dec. 2 of last year. Most were defused, although a security employee at the Ukrainian embassy was slightly injured when one detonated. Investigating magistrate Jose Luis Calama, speaking in the High Court in Madrid, said the two charges of terrorism and manufacturing explosive devices for terrorist purposes were warranted even if there was no evidence that Gonzalez belonged to or colluded with an organised terrorist group. They were justified due to the nature and context of the acts, the use of explosive devices, as well as his political motives - such as disrupting public order and forcing the government to stop supporting Ukraine in the war against Russia, Calama added. Both were considered aggravated offences because two of the parcels expressly targeted high-ranking government officials - Sanchez and Robles. The judge had released Gonzalez on bail in April citing his age, his lack of a criminal record and the fact that the evidence-gathering phase of the investigation had ended. His passport was seized and he was barred from leaving the country. He must also appear at the nearest court every week and keep the judge informed of his whereabouts at all times. Gonzalez is a retired former civil servant who lives in Miranda del Ebro in the northern province of Burgos. During the investigation, police found traces of DNA matching Gonzalez's on the explosive devices. Records supplied by online retailer Amazon showed Gonzalez had bought precursor materials for explosives, copper wires, adhesive tape and lettering templates in June and July 2022. (Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by David Latona and Angus MacSwan) Demonstrators protest against Colombian President Gustavo Petro's reforms in the health, retirement, employment and prison sectors, in Bogota, Colombia June 20, 2023. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez BOGOTA (Reuters) - Thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched through Colombia's major cities on Tuesday to protest the economic and social reforms pushed by the government of leftist President Gustavo Petro. Petro, who took office last August as Colombia's first left-wing president, won election on promises to cut poverty and inequality and also roll out a policy of "total peace" to end the country's almost six decades of armed conflict which has killed at least 450,000 people. Petro is facing an uphill battle in Congress to push labor, health, and pension reforms after his majority coalition disintegrated due to the government's refusal to make changes to the proposals. The protests were the opposition's response to marches that Petro called earlier this month, where he asked Congress to approve his proposed reforms. Opponents to Petro's pension reforms argue they could negatively impact Colombia's finances and hurt job creation. A crowd of some 5,000 people marched through capital Bogota on Tuesday according to local authorities, where some protesters carried banners emblazoned with slogans such as "No more Petro" and "Petro out." "This is a manifestation of popular discontent because you cannot destroy what has been done in more than 50 years and worse still, with resentment," economist Yesid Garzon said in Bogota while protesting. Peaceful protests also took place in cities including Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla and Bucaramanga, according to police. "Our greatest duty is to protect them, so that nothing happens to any protester. That's the expression of the spirit of democracy, that people can express what they want ... against the same government without anything untoward happening," Petro said during a police ceremony earlier on Tuesday. Petro has recently been caught up in a scandal over accusations of alleged illegal financing during his election campaign, which he denies. The president's approval fell to 33.8% in May, from 50% in November, while his disapproval rating rose to 59.4% from 43%, according to a recent survey by polling company Inmaver. (Reporting by Herbert Villarraga and Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Oliver Griffin, Editing by Alistair Bell) KAMPALA (Reuters) - Parents of students missing after an attack on a school in western Uganda are flocking to the local police station to submit DNA samples that could identify their children among the 42 bodies that have been recovered. One of Uganda's biggest massacres in recent decades occurred Friday night at Lhubirira Secondary School. Assailants set a dormitory full of boys alight, then attacked a dormitory full of girls, hacking victims to death with machetes and knives. Six students were also abducted by the attackers, who the authorities say were fighters from an Islamic State-affiliated group based across the border in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Regional police commander Tai Ramadhan said many of the dead bodies were charred beyond recognition, forcing investigators to use DNA samples from relatives to try to identify them. Simon Kule, who had come to Bwera Police Station to give a DNA sample, was still looking for his son, Philmon Mumbere. "So they should help us to know - either these people are still there or they are in the mortuary so that we should prepare in time." Solomon Mulekya was looking for his daughter, Trephine Kaghuo. "We are not happy, because we have lost our children," he said. "I'm there in suspense, whether the rebels they have taken her or we don't know they killed her along the way." Authorities said on Monday that 20 suspected "collaborators" of the attackers, including the school's head teacher, had been detained for questioning. (Writing by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Aaron Ross and Peter Graff) Ukrainian servicemen stand next to an AN/TWQ-1 Avenger mobile air defence missile system during their combat shift, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Anna Voitenko KYIV (Reuters) - Kyiv repatriated three Ukrainian prisoners of war from Hungary after a group of POWs was transferred there from Russia without coordination with Kyiv, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. Hungary, which under Prime Minister Viktor Orban has forged strong political and economic ties with Moscow, said on June 9 that Budapest had received a group of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war from Russia. "The Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest managed to bring back three Ukrainian prisoners of war from Hungary," Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko wrote on his Facebook page. Nikolenko said they were already back on Ukrainian soil and were receiving the support they needed. He said Ukrainian diplomats and other relevant Ukrainian authorities were working to try to bring back the remaining prisoners of war. Ukraine said on Monday that Hungary has been ignoring its requests for contact with the prisoners of war. It has cast the transfer of the POWs to Hungary as a publicity stunt by Orban. Hungarian and international media quoted Orban's chief-of-staff Gergely Gulyas as saying the soldiers arrived in Hungary of "their own free will" and that Kyiv was informed after their transfer. (Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka and Kyiv newsroom; Editing by Tom Balmforth and Alison Williams) By Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) - A member of a U.N.-mandated independent commission of inquiry said on Tuesday that increasing Jewish settler violence in the occupied West Bank was a "major concern" and announced plans to investigate further. The West Bank, among territories taken by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and which Palestinians seek for a state, has seen an increase in violence over the past 15 months with stepped-up Israeli raids amid a spate of Palestinian street attacks. On Tuesday, Palestinian gunmen opened fire near an Israeli settlement, killing four people. U.S. and European officials have also repeatedly raised the issue of settler attacks on Palestinians, which reached record levels last year and has continued to increase since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's religious-nationalist government took office in January and accelerated settlement expansion. "We are very disturbed that violent settler activity has considerably increased in the last months and it's... becoming, in fact, the means through which (Israeli) annexation is insured," said Miloon Kothari, a member of a Commission of Inquiry mandated by the U.N. Human Rights Council. The COI addressed the Geneva-based Human Rights Council earlier on Tuesday, accusing Israel's government of placing growing restrictions on Palestinian civil society groups. Israel, which left its seat empty, said in a statement by its Foreign Minister Eli Cohen that the COI was a "stain on the U.N. and on the Human Rights Council". At the same meeting, Israel's closest ally the United States issued a statement on behalf of 27 countries criticising the COI which, unusually, has an open-ended mandate. The United States left the body in 2018 over what it described as its "chronic bias" against Israel, and only fully rejoined last year. "We believe the nature of this COI is further demonstration of long-standing, disproportionate attention given to Israel in the Council, and must stop," said U.S. Ambassador Michele Taylor. Kothari later riposted: "As long as the occupation continues, the United Nations needs to continue to rigorously investigate the situation and therefore, we would like to see a sunset of the Israeli occupation." The COI was opened in 2021. The council cannot make legally binding decisions but evidence collected by the inquiries it establishes is sometimes used by international courts. (Reporting by Emma Farge; editing by Mark Heinrich) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a press conference in Beijing American Center at the U.S. Embassy, in Beijing, China, June 19, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis/Pool LONDON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that the United States would have deep concerns about Chinese military activities in Cuba, after the Wall Street Journal reported that Beijing was planning a new training facility there. Speaking at a press conference in London after wrapping up a trip this week to Beijing, Blinken said he made clear to his Chinese counterparts "that we would have deep concerns about PRC intelligence or military activities in Cuba". Blinken added: "This is something we're going to be monitoring very, very closely and we've been very clear about that. And we will protect our homeland, we will protect our interests." The Wall Street Journal, citing current and former U.S. officials, reported on Tuesday that China and Cuba are negotiating to establish a joint military training facility on the island that could lead to the stationing of Chinese troops just 100 miles off Florida's coast. Discussions for the facility are at an advanced stage but have not concluded, and President Joe Biden's administration has contacted Cuban officials to try to stop the deal, the newspaper reported. The White House National Security Council and the Cuban government did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report. Washington said last week it has made its concerns known to Cuba about hosting Chinese spy operations. The U.S. government has long suspected that China runs an intelligence gathering operation in a village near Havana, on Cuba's northern coast. China denies it uses Cuba as a spy base. Cuba says the only military incursion in its territory is the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, which belongs to the United States. (Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar with additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Dave Sherwood; writing by Muvija M; Editing by Sarah Young and Alistair Bell) FILE PHOTO: A technician fixes a VW sign in the assembly line of German carmaker Volkswagen's electric ID. 3 car in Dresden, Germany, June 8, 2021. REUTERS/Matthias Rietschel/File Photo (Reuters) -Volkswagen is in talks with its joint venture partner SAIC about whether to conduct an independent audit of its plant in Xinjiang, China, the company confirmed on Tuesday. The comment comes after German business Handelsblatt reported that preparations for an audit were already underway. Volkswagen declined to confirm this. It was in "good discussions" on the topic, a spokesperson said, including with SAIC. Volkswagen investors are placing pressure on the carmaker to carry out an audit of its plant in Xinjiang, a region where rights groups have documented human rights abuses including mass forced labour. China has denied that human rights abuses take place in the region. The carmaker is holding a capital markets day on Wednesday, where investors expect the subject to be discussed. (Reporting by Anna Mackenzie, Jan Schwartz, Victoria Waldersee, Editing by Friederike Heine) 0001467845 edits to financials 2023 Q1 true 0001467845 2022-05-01 2022-07-31 0001467845 2023-06-17 0001467845 2022-07-31 0001467845 2022-04-30 0001467845 2021-05-01 2021-07-31 0001467845 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2021-04-30 0001467845 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2021-04-30 0001467845 KUSA:ShareSubscriptionsReceivableMember 2021-04-30 0001467845 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2021-04-30 0001467845 2021-04-30 0001467845 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2021-07-31 0001467845 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2021-07-31 0001467845 KUSA:ShareSubscriptionsReceivableMember 2021-07-31 0001467845 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2021-07-31 0001467845 2021-07-31 0001467845 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2021-10-31 0001467845 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2021-10-31 0001467845 KUSA:ShareSubscriptionsReceivableMember 2021-10-31 0001467845 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2021-10-31 0001467845 2021-10-31 0001467845 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2022-01-31 0001467845 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2022-01-31 0001467845 KUSA:ShareSubscriptionsReceivableMember 2022-01-31 0001467845 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2022-01-31 0001467845 2022-01-31 0001467845 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2022-04-30 0001467845 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2022-04-30 0001467845 KUSA:ShareSubscriptionsReceivableMember 2022-04-30 0001467845 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2022-04-30 0001467845 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2021-05-01 2021-07-31 0001467845 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2021-05-01 2021-07-31 0001467845 KUSA:ShareSubscriptionsReceivableMember 2021-05-01 2021-07-31 0001467845 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2021-05-01 2021-07-31 0001467845 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2021-08-01 2021-10-31 0001467845 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2021-08-01 2021-10-31 0001467845 KUSA:ShareSubscriptionsReceivableMember 2021-08-01 2021-10-31 0001467845 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2021-08-01 2021-10-31 0001467845 2021-08-01 2021-10-31 0001467845 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2022-02-01 2022-04-30 0001467845 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2022-02-01 2022-04-30 0001467845 KUSA:ShareSubscriptionsReceivableMember 2022-02-01 2022-04-30 0001467845 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2022-02-01 2022-04-30 0001467845 2022-02-01 2022-04-30 0001467845 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2022-05-01 2022-07-31 0001467845 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2022-05-01 2022-07-31 0001467845 KUSA:ShareSubscriptionsReceivableMember 2022-05-01 2022-07-31 0001467845 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2022-05-01 2022-07-31 0001467845 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2022-07-31 0001467845 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2022-07-31 0001467845 KUSA:ShareSubscriptionsReceivableMember 2022-07-31 0001467845 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2022-07-31 iso4217:USD xbrli:shares iso4217:USD xbrli:shares xbrli:pure Table of Contents UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 10-Q/A Amendment No. 1 ( Mark One) QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the quarterly period ended or TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the transition period from __________ to__________ Commission File Number: 333-161240 Kashin, Inc. (Exact name of registrant as specified in it's charter) Nevada 26-4711535 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) 112 North Curry Street , Carson City , NV 89703-4934 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code) (626) 429-2780 (Registrant's telephone number, including area code) _____________________________________________________________ (Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report) Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes No Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes No Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer" and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. Large accelerated filer Accelerated filer Non-accelerated filer Smaller reporting company (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) Emerging growth company If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes No APPLICABLE ONLY TO ISSUERS INVOLVED IN BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS DURING THE PRECEDING FIVE YEARS: Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed all documents and reports required to be filed by Sections 12, 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 subsequent to the distribution of securities under a plan confirmed by a court Yes No APPLICABLE ONLY TO CORPORATE ISSUERS: As of June 17, 2023, the Company had 53,560,745 common shares issued and outstanding. EXPLANATORY NOTE This Amendment No. 1 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q is being filed due to the issuance of additional shares to Carl Maybin during the first quarter that were note forwarded to the accounting department for recordation thus having to amend all the reports to current. TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 KASHIN, INC CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS July 31, 2022 Unaudited 3 PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION Item 1. Financial Statements KASHIN, INC CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS Unaudited July 31, 2022 April 30, 2022 ASSETS CURRENT ASSETS Cash $ 0 $ 0 TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS $ 0 $ 0 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT) CURRENT LIABILITIES Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $ 5,233 $ 4,876 Other Payables 30,351 28,501 Notes Payable 0 0 TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES $ 35,584 $ 33,377 STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT) Capital stock Authorized 75,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.001 par value, issued and outstanding 53,561 28,561 Additional Paid in Capital 494,019 494,019 Accumulated deficit ( 583,164 ) ( 555,957 ) TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY/(DEFICIT) ( 35,584 ) ( 33,377 ) TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY/(DEFICIT) $ 0 $ 0 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements 4 KASHIN, INC fka ONE CLEAN PLANET, INC. CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS Unaudited 3 months ended 3 months ended July 31, 2022 July 31, 2021 REVENUE Revenues $ $ Total Revenues EXPENSES Office and general 27,207 357 Professional Fees Total Expenses, before provision of income taxes 27,207 357 Provision for income taxes NET LOSS $ ( 27,207 ) $ ( 357 ) BASIC AND DILUTED LOSS PER COMMON SHARE $ $ WEIGHTED AVERAGE NUMBER OF COMMON SHARES OUTSTANDING 53,560,745 28,560,745 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements All share and per share information has been retrospectively restated to reflect the 35:1 reverse split 5 KASHIN, INC fka ONE CLEAN PLANET, INC. CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY Unaudited Common Stock Additional Paid-in Share Subscriptions Accumulated Shares Amount Capital Receivable Deficit Total Balance, April 30, 2021 28,560,745 $ 28,561 $ 494,019 $ $ ( 534,073 ) $ ( 11,493 ) Net profit (loss) for the period ended July 31, 2021 ( 357 ) ( 357 ) Balance, July 31, 2021 28,560,745 $ 28,561 $ 494,019 $ $ ( 534,430 ) $ ( 11,850 ) Net profit (loss) for the period ended October 31, 2021 ( 12,357 ) ( 12,357 ) Balance, October 31, 2021 25,680,745 $ 28,561 $ 494,019 $ $ ( 546,787 ) $ ( 24,207 ) Net profit (loss) for the period ended January 31, 2022 (13 ) (13 ) Balance, January 31, 2022 25,680,745 $ 28,561 $ 494,019 $ $ ( 546,800 ) $ ( 24,207 ) Net profit for the year ended April 30, 2022 ( 9,157 ) ( 9,157 ) Balance, April 30, 2022 28,560,745 $ 28,561 $ 494,019 $ $ ( 555,957 ) $ ( 33,377 ) Stock issued new 25,000,000 25,000 25,000 Net profit for the year ended July 31, 2022 ( 27,207 ) ( 27,207 ) Balance, July 31, 2022 53,560,745 $ 53,561 $ 494,019 $ $ ( 583,164 ) $ ( 35,584 ) 6 KASHIN, INC fka ONE CLEAN PLANET, INC. CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS Unaudited 3 months 3 months ended ended July 31, 2022 July 31, 2021 OPERATING ACTIVITIES Net loss $ ( 27,207 ) $ ( 357 ) Adjustment to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: Stock issued for consulting services Expenses paid on company's behalf by related party 1,850 Increase (decrease) in accounts payable 357 357 NET CASH PROVIDED BY (USED IN) OPERATING ACTIVITIES ( 25,000 ) FINANCING ACTIVITIES Proceeds from sale of common stock 25,000 Notes Payable Loan from Related Party NET CASH PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES 25,000 NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH CASH, BEGINNING OF PERIOD CASH, END OF PERIOD $ $ Supplemental cash flow & noncash financing activities: Common stock issued in exchange of payable assignment/settlement $ $ Cash paid for: Interest $ $ Income taxes $ $ The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements 7 KASHIN, INC. NOTES TO THE INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Unaudited July 31, 2022 NOTE 1 CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS The accompanying financial statements have been prepared by the Company without audit. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (which include only normal recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly the financial position, results of operations, and cash flows at July 31, 2022, and for all periods presented herein, have been made. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America have been condensed or omitted. It is suggested that these condensed financial statements be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto included in the Companys April 30, 2022 audited financial statements. The results of operations for the periods ended July 31, 2022 and the same period last year are not necessarily indicative of the operating results for the full years. The Company changed its name on July 27, 2015 to Kashin, Inc. having received FINRAs approval. Since the company has been dormant for over two years, the company now has a Shell status. NOTE 2 GOING CONCERN The Companys financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles applicable to a going concern. This contemplates the realization of assets and the liquidation of liabilities in the normal course of business. Currently, the Company has a working capital deficit of $ 35,584 , an accumulated deficit of $ 583,164 and net loss from operations since inception of $583,164. The Company does not have a source of revenue sufficient to cover its operation costs giving substantial doubt for it to continue as a going concern. The Company will be dependent upon the raising of additional capital through placement of our common stock in order to implement its business plan, or merge with an operating company. There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in either situation in order to continue as a going concern. The Company funded its initial operations by way of issuing Founders shares. The officers and directors have committed to advancing certain operating costs of the Company, including Legal, Audit, Transfer Agency and Edgarizing costs. NOTE 3 CAPITAL STOCK The Companys capitalization was reduced to 75,000,000 common shares with a par value of $ 0.001 per share, on July 27, 2015. No preferred shares have been authorized or issued. As of July 31, 2022, the Company has not granted any stock options and has recorded 25,000,000 stock-based compensation. On July 31, 2022, the Company had 53,560,745 common shares issued and outstanding and on April 30, 2022 the Company had 28,560,745 common shares issued and outstanding. NOTE 4 RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS The Company does not have any related party transactions NOTE 5 RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS The company has evaluated all the recent accounting pronouncements and believes that none of them will have a material effect on the companys financial statement. NOTE 6 SUBSEQUENT EVENTS On May 6th Carl Maybin resigned as Officer and Director of KUSA and appointed Caren Currier as President and Director. Along with his resignation, Carl Maybin acknowledged that he is no longer owed any past compensation and forever cancels any and all indebtedness in both principal and interest. 8 Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. This section of this report includes a number of forward-looking statements that reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance. Forward looking statements are often identified by words like: believe, expect, estimate, anticipate, intend, project and similar expressions or words which, by their nature, refer to future events. You should not place undue certainty on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this report. These forward looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or our predictions. Overview On July 27, 2015, the Company approved and effected a name change to Kashin, Inc. Kashin, Inc. fka Singular Chef, Inc. ("the Company", "our" or "we") was incorporated in the State of Nevada as a for-profit company on April 09, 2009. The Company is a development stage company that intends to provide specialized step-by-step cooking tutorials through the website we are currently developing for monthly subscribers and on pay-per-view basis. Results of Operations The Company has not yet generated any revenue from its operations and has generated no revenues unrelated to its operations. Expenses for the three months ended July 31, 2022, were $27,207 resulting in a net loss of $27,207 as compared to expenses for the three months ended July 31, 2021 of $357 resulting in a net loss of $357. The net loss of $27,207 for the three months ended July 31, 2022 is a result of Revenues of $Nil, Office and general expenses of $357 consisting primarily of transfer agent fees and Professional Fees of $nil as compared to the net loss of $357 for the three months ended July 31, 2021 resulting from Office and general expenses of $357 and Professional Fees of $25,000. Capital Resources and Liquidity Our auditors have issued a "going concern" opinion, meaning that there is substantial doubt if we can continue as an on-going business for the next twelve months unless we obtain additional capital. No substantial revenues are anticipated until we have implemented our plan of operations. With the exception of cash advances from our sole Officer and Director, our only source for cash at this time is investments by others. We must raise cash to implement our strategy and stay in business. For the period ended July 31, 2022 and July 31, 2021, the Company had cash of Nil. Accounts payable and accrued liabilities for the period ended July 31, 2022 were $5,233. The funds available to the Company will not be sufficient to fund the planned operations of the Company and maintain a reporting status. As of July 31, 2022 and April 30, 2022, the Company has received $NIL in loans and payment of expenses from a related party. As of July 31, 2022 and April 30, 2022, a second related party has paid expenses of $NIL respectively, on behalf of the Company. Off-balance sheet arrangements Other than the situation described in the section titled Capital Recourses and Liquidity, the company has no off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect or change on the company's financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources that are material to investors. The term "off-balance sheet arrangement" generally means any transaction, agreement or other contractual arrangement to which an entity unconsolidated with the company is a party, under which the company has (i) any obligation arising under a guarantee contract, derivative instrument or variable interest; or (ii) a retained or contingent interest in assets transferred to such entity or similar arrangement that serves as credit, liquidity or market risk support for such assets. Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk. The Company is a smaller reporting Company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Act of 1934 and we are not required to provide the information under this item. 9 Item 4. Controls and Procedures. Disclosure Controls and Procedures Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time period specified in the SEC's rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is accumulated and communicated to management including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In connection with this quarterly report, as required by Rule 15d-15 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, we have carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our company's disclosure controls and procedures. This evaluation was carried out under the supervision and with the participation of our company's management, including our company's principal executive officer and principal financial officer. Based upon that evaluation, our company's principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that subject to the inherent limitations noted in this Part II, Item 9A(T) as of July 31, 2022, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective due to the existence of material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting. Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) or 15d-15(f)) during the quarter ended July 31, 2022 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal controls over financial reporting. 10 PART IIOTHER INFORMATION Item 1. Legal Proceedings. The Company is not a party to any pending legal proceedings, and no such proceedings are known to be contemplated. No director, officer, or affiliate of the Company and no owner of record or beneficial owner of more than 5.0% of the securities of the Company, or any associate of any such director, officer or security holder is a party adverse to the Company or has a material interest adverse to the Company in reference to pending litigation. Item 1A. Risk Factors. We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Act of 1934 and are not required to provide the information under this item. Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Securities and Use of Proceeds. None Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities. None Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures. None Item 5. Other Information. (a) None 11 Item 6. Exhibits. __________ * Included in Exhibit 31.1 ** Included in Exhibit 32.1 12 SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized. Kashin, Inc. (Registrant) Date: June 20, 2023 By: /s/ Caren Currier Caren Currier President and Director Principal and Executive Officer Principal Financial Officer Principal Accounting Officer 13 ATTACHMENTS / EXHIBITS CERTIFICATIONS CERTIFICATIONS XBRL SCHEMA FILE XBRL CALCULATION FILE XBRL DEFINITION FILE XBRL LABEL FILE XBRL PRESENTATION FILE IDEA: R1.htm IDEA: R2.htm IDEA: R3.htm IDEA: R4.htm IDEA: R5.htm IDEA: R6.htm IDEA: R7.htm IDEA: R8.htm IDEA: R9.htm IDEA: R10.htm IDEA: R11.htm IDEA: R12.htm IDEA: R13.htm IDEA: R14.htm IDEA: kashin_i10qa-073122_htm.xml IDEA: Financial_Report.xlsx IDEA: FilingSummary.xml IDEA: MetaLinks.json Text in which the author defends ideas and reaches conclusions based on his / her interpretation of facts and data The movements of the tectonic plates of international politics are leading us to the configuration of a system of multiple complexity with different speeds and scopes in its three dimensions: military, economic and cross-cutting issues. The renowned professor Amitav Acharya has baptized this as Multiplex, comparing it to a cinema. We are therefore observing several films at the same time, which are determined by the power, geographic scope, leadership and time dimension of the actors involved. Their repercussions at the local level are continuous and delineate the broad lines along which Latin America will have to manage its external relations in the future. In this context, a recent example that warrants mention is the demand by Latin American academics and progressive personalities for Washington to implement a new continental pact. This should favor, according to its authors, the development conditions of the region and redefine the old theories under which the inter-American relationship was maintained in the past. In other words, they demand serious political dialogue and a new system of coexistence with new rules that contribute to development, climate change and the protection of biodiversity. This represents a mature and proper approach in the exercise of a non-aligned foreign policy. Decades ago, paradoxically, the anti-American sentiment of sectors mainly associated with the left in Latin America set the tone and flew its banners against the Washington Consensus, the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and the embargo on Cuba. History has now shifted and we have moved from systematic rejection to a new approach, in a constructive spirit of dialogue It is clear that we are now operating under a new scenario, marked not only by the hegemonic decline of the Cold War powers, but also by strategic competition and the need to redefine the course of relations on the American continent, based on a comprehensive, constructive agenda that benefits all parties. Hegemonic decline The transition from the West to the Asia-Pacific region is leading the globe into a new historical era in which Washingtons hegemonic role is undergoing a process of change and global power is being shared. Despite internal political tensions and social inequalities, the United States continues and will continue to play a very important leadership role. It will do so in economic, political, military, and intellectual terms. The central issue as Fareed Zakaria points out is not the decline of America but the emergence of other actors. Bipolarity between the U.S. and China, accompanied by revisionist countries such as Russia and Iran, will set the tone in a world undergoing configuration. The terms and scope of soft power, credibility, and the ability to network and influence will be under scrutiny. Strategic competition between China and the United States This trend has been accentuated in recent years as Beijing has become increasingly open, active and confrontational in its approach to Latin America. Beijing has openly invited countries in the region to join strategic projects for its global projection, such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative. The economic and commercial emphasis has been on obtaining natural resources and primary goods, opening new markets, and investing in infrastructure, innovation, technology and telecommunications. This strategy has allowed it to become Latin Americas second-largest trading partner after the United States, to flood local markets with consumer and intermediate goods, and to develop an important influence in terms of foreign direct investment in strategic sectors, such as electricity. The figures speak for themselves: trade between the two regions grew by 11% in 2022 and reached $469 billion. Since 2000, Beijing has invested over $172 billion in Latin America. For its part, the U.S. has maintained a relationship with China characterized by engagement and deterrence, which are intertwined and applied depending on the context. Tensions have increased with the Covid-19 pandemic and the rise of President Xi Jinping and his more ambitious vision of illiberal democracy, greater control and repression, and state capitalism. Competition and rivalry will be the order of the day, as will decoupling. For some analysts, such as Wang Huiyao, president of the Center for China and Globalization in Beijing, this process has become irreversible and may lead to the breaking of the system into two parts. In response, President Bidens administration has shown interest in regaining lost ground in Latin America, especially in terms of dialogue and influence, and in advancing the consolidation of a hemispheric community around respect for, and promotion of democracy, human rights and sustainable development goals. The Alliance for Development in Democracy between Costa Rica, the United States, Panama and the Dominican Republic is a good example of this. The U.S. remains the regions main trading partner and has positioned itself, along with the European Union, as one of the largest foreign investors with 34% of total FDI. However, Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at French investment bank Natixis, believes that while Chinas influence may seem unstoppable, the reality is that both the U.S. and the European Union have made it very easy for China. Both economic blocs have not taken the importance of reaching trade and investment agreements with Latin America seriously enough and have lost ground in the region. In short, China has seized the opportunity and filled an empty space, by omission of a third party, and it has done so astutely and decisively. New hemispheric relations For the vast majority, the last Summit of the Americas was a historic opportunity to relaunch hemispheric relations in a period marked by the serious aftereffects of the pandemic. It was time to look again to Latin America in order to re-engage and launch a major program of inter-American collaboration on cross-cutting issues. This would provide the United States with an opportunity to reach out to the pink tide and to jointly build a long-term vision. It would also give it a comparative advantage, by turning its attention back to issues in which Chinas foreign policy has traditionally been absent or uninterested in engaging. Despite the efforts deployed in Los Angeles and the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity agreement, some question the results obtained and the lack of implementation. It is therefore necessary to strengthen dialogue and cooperation under a comprehensive and pragmatic agenda that involves both the public and private sectors. It is an exercise in reinvention and the projection of interests that leaves ideological differences aside and takes into consideration the heterogeneity, priorities and enormous political complexity of Latin America. Among the central elements for Washingtons regional, sub-regional and bilateral engagement should be: growth with equity, climate change and energy transition, digital transformation, infrastructure, education, health, trade, relocation and investment, migration, drugs and transnational crime. It is about building a positive and strategic agenda that transcends traditional issues and provides alternatives. It must also be accompanied by new tools that promote cooperation over confrontation. Democracy, as a pillar of our relationship, requires a special chapter and a multilateral approach, given the progressive deterioration of some regimes in the region and their populist and authoritarian tendencies. The political situation in certain countries cannot be understood under the notion of building a narrative of authoritarianism, as it was presented a few days ago. Reports from the United Nations, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Human Rights Watch, in addition to investigations by the International Criminal Court, speak volumes. The final blow was provided by presidents Gabriel Boric of Chile and Lacalle Pou of Uruguay at the last South American summit in Brazil, when they openly disputed this approach. From different political shores, they acted in unison and ratified an unquestionable reality. The defense of democracy in the region has no political color or flag. It is everyones duty and responsibility. Dialogue, the strengthening of institutions and a clear vision of the future will be decisive in this stage. The call for a new inter-American agenda is a collective aspiration to strengthen collaboration with the option of exercising a role of greater autonomy and independence on the part of Latin America. We must move from the Washington Consensus toward a new Global South Consensus. In the development of this hemispheric agenda, multilateral financial organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank, CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, and the World Bank, have an essential role to play, providing not only resources for projects with high social and economic impact, but also innovative solutions, technical support and relevant knowledge. Concluding remarks Latin America has the urgent task of undertaking a series of internal reforms to address the most pressing development problems within the framework of the 2030 Agenda. This is its own task, the design and implementation of which corresponds to the region. Its success or failure cannot be attributed to outsiders. There can be no excuses. Without constructive leadership, greater growth and regional integration, there is a serious risk of international irrelevance, which is already becoming evident in some global forums. The region also faces the strategic challenge of balancing its relationship with the United States and China, and not falling into a trap. These are not mutually exclusive options. On the contrary, they are valid and compatible alternatives that can coexist simultaneously and contribute each from its strengths and virtues to well-being. New reliable partners, markets and quality investments will always be welcome. In short, we are facing a tense tango for three: the U.S., Latin America, and China. This is a dance that, since its late 19th-century origins in the Rio de la Plata, has been a response to and a lively expression of the search for identity and freedom. It has as does international politics diverse steps and movements, actors and instruments, hopes and even passions. We must return to the past to remember the present and, above all, to think about the future. Andres Rugeles is a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University and a member of the Advisory Board of the Global South Unit at the London School of Economics. FALSE 0001488139 0001488139 2023-06-13 2023-06-13 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 FORM 8-K CURRENT REPORT Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): Ameresco, Inc. (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter) Delaware 001-34811 04-3512838 (State or Other Juris- diction of Incorporation) (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.) 111 Speen Street, Suite 410, Framingham, MA 1701 (Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code) Registrants telephone number, including area code: ( 508 ) 661-2200 (Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report) Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions: Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1033 (230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (240.12b-2 of this chapter). Emerging growth company If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o Item 5.07. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders. The Company held its 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders on June 13, 2023 (the 2023 Annual Meeting). At the 2023 Annual Meeting, holders of the Companys Class A and Class B common stock, voting together as a single class: elected Claire Hughes Johnson, Charles R.Patton and Frank V. Wisneski to serve as the Companys class I directors until the Companys 2026 annual meeting of stockholders and until their successors are elected and qualified; ratified the selection of RSM US LLP as the Companys independent registered public accounting firm for 2023; approved, on a non-binding advisory basis, the compensation of the Company's named executive officers; and approved, on a non-binding, advisory basis, a proposal to include an advisory vote on executive compensation in its proxy statement every three (3) years. Holders of the Companys Class A common stock are entitled to one (1) vote per share and holders of the Companys Class B common stock are entitled to five (5) votes per share. Holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock voted together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders at the Annual Meeting. The matters acted upon at the 2023 Annual Meeting, and the voting tabulation for each matter, are as follows: Proposal 1: The election of the following nominees for class I directors for a term of three years: Nominee Votes For Votes Withheld Broker Non-Votes Claire Hughes Johnson 102,295,809 13,390,154 4,492,077 Frank V. Wisneski 99,686,696 15,999,267 4,492,077 Charles R. Patton 115,111,477 574,486 4,492,077 Proposal 2: Ratification of the selection of RSM US LLP as the Companys independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023: Votes For Votes Against Abstain Broker Non-Votes 119,184,565 976,097 17,378 Proposal 3 : Advisory vote on the approval of the compensation of the Companys named executive officers: Votes For Votes Against Abstain Broker Non-Votes 99,002,214 16,649,980 33,769 4,492,077 Proposal 4 : Advisory Vote on the Frequency of Future Advisory Votes on Executive Compensation One Year Two Years Three Years Abstain Broker Non-Votes 23,238,251 32,516 92,389,368 25,828 4,492,077 Based on the recommendation of the Board of Directors in the Companys Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting and the voting results from Proposal 4, the Company will include an advisory vote on executive compensation in its proxy statement (say-on-pay vote) every three years until the next required vote on the frequency of a say-on-pay vote. SIGNATURE Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized. AMERESCO, INC. June 20, 2023 By: /s/ David J. Corrsin David J. Corrsin Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary ATTACHMENTS / EXHIBITS XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION SCHEMA DOCUMENT XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION LABEL LINKBASE DOCUMENT XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION PRESENTATION LINKBASE DOCUMENT IDEA: R1.htm IDEA: amrc-20230613_htm.xml IDEA: Financial_Report.xlsx IDEA: FilingSummary.xml IDEA: MetaLinks.json false 0001084991 0001084991 2023-06-20 2023-06-20 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 FORM 8-K CURRENT REPORT Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported): NATURAL GAS SERVICES GROUP, INC . (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter) Colorado 1-31398 75-2811855 (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation) (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.) 404 Veterans Airpark Lane, Suite 300 Midland , TX 79705 (Address of Principal Executive Offices) ( 432 ) 262-2700 (Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code) N/A (Former Name or Former Address if Changed Since Last Report) Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions ( see General Instruction A.2. below): Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)). Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-14(c)). Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of each class Trading Symbol Name of each exchange on which registered Common Stock, Par Value $0.01 NGS NYSE Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (240.12b-2 of this chapter). Emerging growth company If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o Item 5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers. As described in Item 5.07 of this Current Report on Form 8-K, on June 15, 2023, at the 2023 annual meeting of shareholders (the Meeting) of Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (the Company), the Company's shareholders approved the Companys proposal for the election of three individuals to serve as directors of the Company for the terms set forth below or until their respective successors are elected and qualified. Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders. The Meeting was held on June 15, 2023, at which the Companys shareholders voted on the proposals identified below. These proposals were described in detail in the Companys definitive Proxy Statement for the Meeting filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 1, 2023. At the close of business on April 18, 2023, the record date for the Meeting, 12,416,275 shares of Common Stock were issued and outstanding and entitled to vote at the Meeting. Shareholders owning a total of 10,407,774 shares of Common Stock were represented at the meeting, which represented approximately 83.8% of the shares of the Common Stock outstanding as of the record date for the Meeting. Proposal 1 - Election of Directors Each of the three nominees for director was duly elected by the Companys shareholders, with votes as follows: Director Nominee For Against and Authority Withheld Abstentions Broker Non-Votes Stephen C. Taylor (1) 6,752,737 2,519,857 39,413 1,095,767 Justin C. Jacobs (1) 9,212,755 85,336 13,916 1,095,767 Donald J. Tringali (2) 9,034,810 263,281 13,916 1,095,767 (1) Elected for a three year term expiring at the 2026 annual meeting of shareholders, or until his respective successor is elected and qualified. (2) Elected for a two year term expiring at the 2025 annual meeting of shareholders, or until his respective successor is elected and qualified. Proposal 2 - Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation The shareholders approved, on an advisory basis, the compensation of the Companys named executive officers, by the following vote: For Against Abstentions Broker Non-Votes 6,159,016 2,320,725 832,266 1,095,767 Proposal 3 - Advisory Vote on the Frequency of Future Advisory Votes on Executive Compensation The shareholders approved on an advisory basis to hold future advisory votes regarding the compensation of the Companys named executive officers on an annual basis. The Company has determined, consistent with the stockholder vote, to hold future advisory votes regarding the compensation of the Companys named executive officers on an annual basis until the next vote on the frequency of such advisory votes occurs: For Against Abstentions Broker Non-Votes 7,900,221 15,001 986,206 410,579 Proposal 4 Ratification of Appointment of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm The shareholders ratified the appointment of Ham, Langston & Brezina LLP as the Companys independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal year 2023 by the following vote: For Against Abstentions 10,252,204 12,006 143,564 SIGNATURE Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized. NATURAL GAS SERVICES GROUP, INC. Date: June 20, 2023 By: /s/ Stephen C. Taylor Stephen C. Taylor Interim President and Chief Executive Officer ATTACHMENTS / EXHIBITS XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION SCHEMA DOCUMENT XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION LABEL LINKBASE DOCUMENT XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION PRESENTATION LINKBASE DOCUMENT IDEA: R1.htm IDEA: ngs-20230615_htm.xml IDEA: Financial_Report.xlsx IDEA: FilingSummary.xml IDEA: MetaLinks.json 0001064728 false 0001064728 2023-06-20 2023-06-20 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 8-K CURRENT REPORT Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): PEABODY ENERGY CORPORATION (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Delaware 1-16463 13-4004153 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) (Commission File Number) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) 701 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63101-1826 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code) Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (314) 342-3400 Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions: Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share BTU New York Stock Exchange Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (240.12b-2 of this chapter). Emerging growth company If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. Item 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure. On June 20, 2023, Peabody Energy Corporation (the Company) issued a press release regarding an incident at the Companys Shoal Creek Mine. The information set forth in and incorporated into this Item 7.01 of this Current Report on Form 8-K is being furnished pursuant to Item 7.01 of Form 8-K and shall not be deemed filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference into any of the Companys filings under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, whether made before or after the date hereof and regardless of any general incorporation language in such filings, except to the extent expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing. The filing of this Item 7.01 of this Current Report on Form 8-K shall not be deemed an admission as to the materiality of any information herein that is required to be disclosed solely by reason of Regulation FD. Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits. (d) Exhibits. Exhibit No. Description of Exhibit 99.1 Press Release, dated June 20, 2023. 104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document). 2 SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized. PEABODY ENERGY CORPORATION June 20, 2023 By: /s/ Scott T. Jarboe Name: Scott T. Jarboe Title: Chief Administrative Officer and Corporate Secretary 3 ATTACHMENTS / EXHIBITS EX-99.1 XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION SCHEMA DOCUMENT XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION LABEL LINKBASE DOCUMENT XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION PRESENTATION LINKBASE DOCUMENT IDEA: R1.htm IDEA: btu-20230620_htm.xml IDEA: Financial_Report.xlsx IDEA: FilingSummary.xml IDEA: MetaLinks.json 0001453593 false 0001453593 2023-06-18 2023-06-18 iso4217:USD xbrli:shares iso4217:USD xbrli:shares UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 8-K CURRENT REPORT Pursuant to Section 13 OR 15(d) of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): XTANT MEDICAL HOLDINGS, INC. (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Delaware 001-34951 20-5313323 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.) 664 Cruiser Lane Belgrade , Montana 59714 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code) (406) 388-0480 (Registrants telephone number, including area code) Not Applicable (Former name or former address, if changed since last report.) Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions: Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered Common stock, par value $0.000001 per share XTNT NYSE American LLC Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (240.12b-2 of this chapter). Emerging growth company If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement. On June 18, 2023, Xtant Medical Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the Company), entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (the Asset Purchase Agreement) with Surgalign Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the Seller), pursuant to which, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Asset Purchase Agreement, the Company agreed to acquire certain assets of the Seller and its subsidiaries on an as-is, where-is basis, including specified inventory, intellectual property and intellectual property rights, contracts, equipment and other personal property, records, all outstanding equity securities of the Sellers international subsidiaries, and intangibles related to the business of designing, developing and manufacturing hardware medical technology and distributing biologics medical technology, as conducted by the Seller and its subsidiaries (collectively, the Assets), and assume certain specified liabilities of the Seller and its subsidiaries (collectively, the Liabilities and such acquisition of the Assets and assumption of the Liabilities together, the Transaction) for a total purchase price of $5 million in cash (the Purchase Price). The Company will deliver 10% of the Purchase Price to an escrow agent, which may be returned to the Company in the event of specified trigger events, including termination of the Asset Purchase Agreement, subject to certain exceptions relating to a breach of the Asset Purchase Agreement by the Company. The Seller, together with certain of its subsidiaries, is a debtor in a voluntary Chapter 11 case before the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (the Bankruptcy Court), which commenced on June 19, 2023. Upon Bankruptcy Court approval, the Company will be designated as the stalking horse bidder in connection with a sale of the Assets under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. The Transaction will be conducted through a Bankruptcy Court-supervised process pursuant to Bankruptcy Court-approved bidding procedures and is subject to the receipt of higher or better offers from competing bidders at an auction, approval of the sale by the Bankruptcy Court, and the satisfaction of certain conditions. Subject to Bankruptcy Court approval, if the Asset Purchase Agreement is terminated because the Seller sells the Assets to a competing bidder at the auction, the Seller may be required to pay the Company a break-up fee equal to 3% of the Purchase Price plus a capped expense reimbursement. The Company can give no assurances of the outcome of the Transaction and whether the Company will be successful in acquiring the Assets pursuant to the Asset Purchase Agreement. The Asset Purchase Agreement contains customary representations, warranties and covenants of the parties for a transaction involving the acquisition of assets from a debtor in bankruptcy, and the completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of customary conditions, which, among others, include the entry of an order of the Bankruptcy Court authorizing and approving the Transaction, the performance by each party of its obligations under the Asset Purchase Agreement and the material accuracy of each partys representations. The Asset Purchase Agreement contains certain termination rights for both the Company and the Seller, including the right to terminate the Asset Purchase Agreement if the Transaction is not consummated by September 1, 2023 or the Seller enters into a transaction with a competing bidder. The foregoing summary of the Asset Purchase Agreement is not complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Asset Purchase Agreement, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 2.1 and is incorporated herein by reference. The representations, warranties and covenants set forth in the Asset Purchase Agreement have been made only for purposes of the Asset Purchase Agreement and solely for the benefit of the parties thereto, and may be subject to limitations agreed upon by the contracting parties, including being qualified by confidential disclosures made for the purposes of allocating contractual risk between the parties to the Asset Purchase Agreement instead of establishing these matters as facts. In addition, information regarding the subject matter of the representations and warranties made in the Asset Purchase Agreement may change after the date of the Asset Purchase Agreement. Accordingly, the Asset Purchase Agreement is included with this Current Report on Form 8-K only to provide investors with information regarding its terms and not to provide investors with any other factual information regarding the Company, its subsidiaries, the Assets or Liabilities, or the Companys or its subsidiaries respective businesses as of the date of the Asset Purchase Agreement or as of any other date. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The statements contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as intends, expects, anticipates, plans, believes, estimates, continue, future, will, potential, going forward, similar expressions or the negative thereof, and the use of future dates. The Company cautions that its forward-looking statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially depending on a variety of important factors, including, among others: the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the right of the Company or the Seller to terminate the Asset Purchase Agreement; the possibility that the Transaction is not completed or, if completed, that the anticipated benefits of the Transaction are not realized when expected or at all, including as a result of the impact of, or problems arising from, the integration of the Assets and assumption of the Liabilities; the possibility that the Transaction may be more expensive to complete than anticipated; diversion of managements attention from ongoing business operations and opportunities; operating costs and business disruption following the Transaction, including adverse effects on employee retention and the Companys business relationships with third parties, including physicians, independent sales representatives and distributors; and exposure to potential litigation. Additional risk factors are contained in the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 7, 2023 and subsequent SEC filings by the Company, including without limitation its most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2023 filed with the SEC on May 4, 2023. Investors are encouraged to read the Companys filings with the SEC, available at www.sec.gov, for a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits. (d) Exhibits. Exhibit No. Description 2.1* Asset Purchase Agreement, dated as of June 18, 2023, by and between Surgalign Holdings, Inc. and Xtant Medical Holdings, Inc. (filed herewith) 104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document) * All exhibits and schedules to this exhibit have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K. The Company will furnish the omitted exhibits and schedules to the SEC upon request by the SEC. SIGNATURE Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized. XTANT MEDICAL HOLDINGS, INC. By: /s/ Sean E. Browne Sean E. Browne President and Chief Executive Officer Date: June 20, 2023 ATTACHMENTS / EXHIBITS ex2-1.htm XBRL SCHEMA FILE XBRL LABEL FILE XBRL PRESENTATION FILE IDEA: R1.htm IDEA: form8-k_htm.xml IDEA: Financial_Report.xlsx IDEA: FilingSummary.xml IDEA: MetaLinks.json The commander of the closest U.S. fighter base to North Korea received a final salute from his troops Tuesday as he relinquished his two-year post during a ceremony at Osan Air Base. Air Force Col. Joshua Wood transferred command of the 51st Fighter Wing to Col. William McKibban and departed for Georgia, where he will retire from military service to become a commercial pilot, wing spokeswoman 1st Lt. Michelle Chang told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday. Osan is about 25 miles from Seoul and 55 miles from the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South Korea. The base is also headquarters for the U.S. 7th Air Force and Space Forces Korea, as well as South Koreas Air Force Operations Command. Osan is home to squadrons of A-10C Thunderbolt II attack aircraft and F-15C/D Eagle tactical fighters. The base provides combat ready forces for close air support, air strike control, forward air control-airborne, combat search and rescue, counter air and fire and interdiction, according to its website. Wood thanked the roughly 5,500 service members and Defense Department employees formerly under his stewardship and said they all played a key role on the Korean Peninsula. "Dont ever forget that your job here matters, no matter where you are and what you do, Wood said in a speech to about 300 people at Osans weapons-load training hangar, according to a video recording from the wing. Your physical presence deters North Korean aggression. On June 1, Wood and his wife, Bonnie, were made honorary citizens of Pyeongtaek city by Mayor Jung Jang-seon. The two were recognized for orchestrating volunteer events and for making active efforts to develop the relationship between [U.S. Forces Korea] and Pyeongtaek city, Jungs spokesman told Stars and Stripes by phone on June 13. Since 2003, 48 of the 95 people honored with the appreciative gesture were U.S. service members, according to the spokesman. South Korean officials regularly speak to the media on the customary condition of anonymity. McKibban was previously the 52nd Fighter Wings vice commander at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. McKibban in his remarks said he was honored to be selected for the position and echoed Woods remarks about the importance of the wing. This fighter wing remains essential to regional peace and stability, and we recommit our energies today and are focused [on] all that that requires, he said. More importantly, thank you for being here in [South Korea] during these dynamic and dangerous times for this theater and for our world. GRAFENWOEHR, Germany The largest Army overseas command charged with training U.S. troops and getting them ready to fight alongside allies gained a new leader during a ceremony Tuesday. Brig. Gen. Steven Carpenter, the former deputy commanding general for the 1st Cavalry Division in Fort Cavazos, Texas, took command of the 7th Army Training Command from Brig. Gen. Joseph Hilbert. The scheduled change comes as the command and the sprawling training grounds in Bavaria have risen in prominence, following Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year and NATOs expanded efforts to reinforce its eastern flank. The 7th ATC provides the resources for multinational troops, including Ukrainians learning how to use Western weaponry, to hone their combat skills. Carpenter is a father of five who brings with him a wealth of professional experience, having commanded units in Iraq and Afghanistan. As we build toward the Army of 2030, [Carpenter] is the perfect man for the job, Gen. Darryl Williams, U.S. Army Europe and Africa commander, said at the ceremony. I look forward to facing these challenges with you. Carpenter in his remarks called being in the Army the ultimate team sport, the ultimate performance profession, where winning matters. In this game, youre either winning, or youre losing, he said. Better said, youre either winning or youre dying, especially as weve been in large-scale combat, which is absolutely unrelenting. Hilbert had commanded the 7th ATC since June 2021 and is headed to Washington to become the Armys director of force development. Hilbert delivered part of his speech in German, thanking the community and distinguished guests, just after expressing appreciation to several soldiers and units. But he reserved a special dedication for Lt. Gen. Yevhen Moisiuk, deputy commander of Ukraines military. Training with your armed forces has been absolutely the highlight of my time here. We are honored to be able to endeavor with you, and I promise you as I depart, when I head back to the United States, I will tell your story. Slava Ukraini, said Hilbert, using the phrase for Ukraines national salute, which translates to Glory to Ukraine. Fathers Day can be difficult for active-duty military personnel who are thousands of miles from their fathers or children, but one father-daughter duo got to celebrate together last weekend while serving abroad. Army Master Sgt. Jason Minyard and his daughter 1st Lt. Beth Minyard are serving on deployment at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. They are attached to the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment, which is headquartered in Searcy, Ark., and they are working with the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing at PSAB. While the Minyards deployment was special, they were even more fortunate Sunday as they got to celebrate Fathers Day together. The experience put the holiday into perspective for the pair. It kind of just makes me feel bad for most people who deploy that dont get to be with their fathers, or who have newborn babies or kids that they dont get to see, 1st. Lt Minyard said in an Army news release. It just makes me really grateful. She added that it was the best gift her father could receive on deployment. It never hit me until now how privileged I am to have her here for Fathers Day, Master Sgt. Minyard said. For Master Sgt. Minyard, Sunday was just a culmination of the blessing that is getting to serve with his daughter. She gave me the best hugs when I first got here, Master Sgt. Minyard said in the release. I realize now that I (have) something that other people dont. Beth Minyard called serving with her father a unique experience. Youre lucky if you have a friend on a deployment, she said in the release, but I think youre even more fortunate if you have a family member. The Minyards have a history of military service that predates Jason Minyards enlistment in 2007, according to the release. His great-uncle served in the Army during World War II, and his father was a military policeman during the Korean War. Master Sgt. Minyard said he encouraged both of his daughters to join the military because of the impact serving has had on his life. The Army turned my life around by giving my life structure, discipline and a sense of self-worth, he said in the release. The admiration 1st Lt. Minyard had for her father and his service played a crucial role in her own decision to join the Army. I thought it was cool that he was in the Army, she said in the release. We always joke that Im like the son he didnt have because I was always the one to do what he did. Freedom Road is the new moniker for a street at the Armys main garrison in Bavaria, which previously was named after the Confederacys most renowned general. The change from Lee Street to Freedom Road at the Grafenwoehr Training Area marks the latest move by the military to remove all dedications to the Confederacy and its installations at home and overseas. We are not erasing history, U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria commander Col. Kevin A. Poole said during a renaming ceremony last week, according to a statement. I see it as reframing history and looking at it through a different lens. Poole said troops can study the history of Gen. Robert E. Lee and glean lessons from his soldiering skills and examples of leadership. But I think it probably ends there, Poole said. There is a difference between revering [Confederate generals] and memorializing them. The renaming ceremony, held June 14, also served as a celebration of the Juneteenth holiday, which commemorates the end of slavery. In recent months, the military has renamed some of its most prominent bases. The former Fort Hood in Texas is now Fort Cavazos, named after Gen. Richard Cavazos, who earned combat awards and led troops during the Korean War and in Vietnam. Fort Bragg, N.C., became Fort Liberty, and the former Fort Benning, Ga., is Fort Moore, named after Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and his wife, Julia. The list goes on and includes the renaming of smaller sites, such as the former Lee Street at Grafenwoehrs Tower Barracks. Another three streets within the garrison will be renamed. The name Freedom Road commemorates the freeing of slaves in 1865, the Army garrison statement said. Although President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier, it wasnt until after the Confederacys defeat that freedom came for all. This dedication ceremony represents a step forward in acknowledging our complex past while celebrating our future and our inclusivity in fostering a unified community, Poole said. WASHINGTON The Navy will take out the fuel pipelines at the Red Hill facility in Hawaii as part of its shutdown of the site, a move that the service said Thursday will prevent storing hazardous liquids there and avoid more leaks into the nearby water supply. This key update demonstrates [our] commitment to never use the tanks for storage of fuel or other hazardous substance storage, the Navy said. The services Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility on Oahu, about 5 miles northwest of downtown Honolulu, was closed a year ago after jet fuel was found in a well that supplies water to tens of thousands of people in military communities in the area, such as Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Some military families said they became sick after drinking contaminated water and filed legal complaints against the Navy, which are still ongoing. Closing the facility, however, will be a lengthy process that includes removing several million gallons of fuel from the tanks. In December, the Defense Department decided to close Red Hill in place, which means the tanks will simply remain empty and dormant after the fuel is removed. But some members of the Oahu community and advocates are still concerned the military might reopen the site and store fuel there in the future, especially with the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region and potential national security threats from China. The Navy on Thursday filed an update to the closure plan that promised to also dismantle Red Hills three fuel pipelines, which carried fuel to and from a pump room at Pearl Harbor a few miles away. Taking out those pipelines would make it much more difficult for the Navy to resume fuel storage at Red Hill. Previously, the Navy was planning only to clean out the pipelines. With the pipelines removed, the tanks cannot be refilled with fuel, the 12-page update to the Navy plan states. Thus, pipeline removal is a clear and tangible demonstration of [our] commitment to the public, regulatory agencies, and other stakeholders that the Red Hill facility will never be used again for storage of fuel or hazardous chemicals. Ernie Lau, the manager and chief engineer of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply and a major opponent of storing fuel at Red Hill, said previously that as long as the pipelines were still there, the Navy could again store fuel there one day. He called the Navys updated plan promising and a positive step. Meredith Berger, assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations and the environment, said the updated plan continues to prioritize the Navys commitment to the safety of the Oahu community and environmental health, and reinforces our assurance of transparency. Entirely removing the pipelines, the Navy said, provides three other major benefits it completely removes residual fuel from the pipes, it creates more space for future non-fuel reuse and it cuts out long-term maintenance costs. The Navy hasnt said much yet, however, about what could be the future non-fuel reuse of the Red Hill site. Officials have said the defueling process at Red Hill is expected to take until at least January. The final closure of the site will take about three years and cost roughly $120 million. The Navy said dismantling the pipelines will not affect the schedule. Last year, the Navy also considered three other options for closing the Red Hill facility, all of which were more expensive and would take longer to complete. A contractor analyzed all four options and agreed with the Navy that closing Red Hill in place was the best one. While encouraged by the Navys updated plan, Lau said he would have no concerns if the Navy took two more steps in closing Red Hill shutting down the pump room in Pearl Harbor and removing the steel liners in all 20 storage tanks. Because there could also be trapped fuel behind the quarter-inch steel plate thats been gathering there for the last 80 years, he said. Lau also recommended filling the 20 empty storage tanks at Red Hill with an inert material to ensure they cant store fuel in the future. Pulling the steel liners and filling the tanks with a safe material, however, have already been rejected by the Navy. Both were suggested separately as two of the other closure options that the Navy considered. The contractors analysis in December said the option to refill the tanks with an inert material would cost $443 million and take five years to complete and the option to remove the steel liners would take $581 million and seven years. The Hawaii Department of Health and Environmental Protection Agency still must sign off on the Pentagons Red Hill closure plan. The states health department said it is reviewing the plan, which it received Wednesday. This article first appeared in Stars and Stripes, Nov. 29, 2004. It is republished unedited in its original form. FORWARD OPERATING BASE SUMMERALL, Iraq What in the world has gone wrong in Bayji? By Iraqi standards, this crossroads city of 125,000 on the Baghdad-Mosul highway used to be peaceful. But military leaders worry that a spate of recent attacks have eroded months of U.S. work to rebuild the region. Attacks against U.S. forces averaged fewer than one a day in the 80-by-60-mile region around Bayji, patrolled by the 1st Infantry Divisions Task Force 1-7. Then on Nov. 9, all hell broke loose. That day, insurgents attacked Task Force 1-7 patrols in several parts of the city at once and turned Bayjis main north-south artery, Highway 1, into a shooting gallery. The firefight lasted more than five hours. There were no U.S. casualties, but about 25 enemy fighters died. On Nov. 13, rebels blew up the center support of a crucial bridge along a city bypass near FOB Summerall, forcing convoys supplying the base to roll through the heart of the city. The next day, the rebels provoked another firefight that lasted all morning and caused more destruction to Bayjis business district. And on Nov. 17, a suicide car bomber attacked an Army Bradley fighting vehicle, killing a dozen Iraqis and injuring more than 20 other people, including three U.S. soldiers. The last two weeks have been pretty intense, said 1st Sgt. Michael Grinston, 36, of Jasper, Ala., the senior noncommissioned officer in Task Force 1-7s Battery C. During the first three weeks of November, insurgents attacked coalition military or civilian targets 82 times in the Bayji region. That was more than double the previous record of 37 attacks, set in July and equaled in October. Task force commanders were most surprised by a big jump in roadside bombs. Soldiers have gotten better at both finding them and protecting against them; theyve defused nearly half of the 56 bombs discovered this month before they detonated, and injuries have been few. Tactically, the Bayji battles have been a huge victory for the U.S. forces. No Americans have died, and only a few have suffered injuries, while dozens of insurgents have been killed. But Lt. Col. Kyle McClelland, the task force commander, said the battles have eroded months of strategic progress in rebuilding Bayji especially its downtown shopping thoroughfare, which Americans call Market Street into a busy commercial hub. He said the insurgents have staged most of their battles from the Market Street shops, because few Iraqis live there and American vehicles make easy targets on the narrow street. The fighting has left the downtown in ruins. Those shops not shattered by rockets and gunfire now rarely open up for business. Since the car bombing, McClelland has shut down traffic on Highway 1 from early morning until late afternoon each day so U.S. supply convoys can get through safely. Youre not winning the hearts and minds of anybody this way, McClelland, 41, of Chicopee, Mass., said sadly. All the work weve accomplished in nine months was basically destroyed in two days. McClellands troops are working to restore some semblance of normalcy to the strategic city, which is home to Iraqs largest oil-refinery and two major power plants that together generate about one-third of the countrys meager power supply. First Lt. Mark Dilts, 31, is supervising a 22-member team of Ohio National Guardsmen from the 216th Engineer Battalion that is building a gravel bypass road around the bombed-out bridge. His soldiers and 10 pieces of heavy equipment have worked sunup to sundown each day, spreading rock and constructing a new railroad crossing while Task Force 1-7 soldiers guard them from attack. Its almost a mile of road that weve built, Dilts said. The road, which Dilts hopes to have open in a few days, would let trucks bypass the city again and would allow McClelland to reopen Bayjis main road to traffic. Like all military units in Iraq, Task Force 1-7 has funded construction of schools and medical clinics in the city. On Thursday, soldiers placed concrete barricades in front of the showpiece project, a gleaming, new $700,000 bank. Two new turbines also are being installed at one of the power plants, which should begin boosting the countrys electrical capacity before the end of the year, according to a 1st ID news release. For the most part, we are making forward progress. We meet roadblocks, and we overcome them, McClelland said. Well leave [Bayji] better than we found it. The lines of communication between Beijing and Washington have been rebuilt, as reflected by the trip this weekend by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the Chinese capital, capped by his meeting with President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People. Relations between the two biggest superpowers had deteriorated in recent months, especially since the downing of the Chinese spy balloon that crossed U.S. airspace last February and the subsequent suspension of Blinkens scheduled official trip to China around those dates. This is the first trip by a U.S. secretary of state to the Chinese capital since the 2018 visit by Mike Pompeo, the incumbent under the presidency of Donald Trump. Halfway through Bidens presidency, the cancellation of Blinkens trip introduced an anomaly that reflected the lowest point in bilateral relations since these were established in 1979. The trade and tariff war started by Trump and largely continued by Biden, Chinas benevolent attitude towards Putins war of Russian aggression against Ukraine and, above all, the dispute over Taiwan have been the catalysts for increasingly frosty relations that were heading, at least until now, in the direction of a new confrontation, and even posed the risk of an eventual armed incident in the airspace or international waters off the South China Sea, as nearly occurred between planes and ships of both armies just 20 days ago. A tense cordiality has surrounded Blinkens meetings with Foreign Minister Qing Yan and with the head of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party and true top representative of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi, more focused on reviewing the repertoire of disputes and on the agenda of shared interests than in the usual escalation of grievances of recent months. It is a minor step, but it favors a detente against a backdrop of war in Ukraine. The final meeting with Xi Jinping, which was not on the official agenda, sends a message of Chinese approval of Blinkens talks, also expressed in the subsequent statements by spokespersons and in the perspective of a meeting between Biden and Xi Jinping in November in San Francisco on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group of nations. Perhaps it is only the beginning of an incipient and fledgling dialogue, but in any case, communication channels have been re-established and a common language has been accepted that allows both governments to express their strong discrepancies, allowing a dialogue that had never interrupted in the past but which many had almost given up on in recent times. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition American 4-year-olds in western Japan will be able to go to school this fall as part of a new plan that could eventually benefit 6,100 children across the Department of Defense Education Activity, according to school officials. M.C. Perry Primary School in Iwakuni is first in line to offer universal prekindergarten to U.S. military families stationed overseas, DODEA said. All eligible military-connected children at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni who turn 4 on or before Sept. 1 may enroll in prekindergarten, according to a June 6 announcement posted on the schools website. The announcement says school begins at 7:55 a.m. Monday to Friday and students are dismissed at 1:30 p.m. every day except Thursday, when the day ends at 1:15 p.m. Education, health, nutrition, family involvement and social services comprise the program, according to the schools website. DODEA now is awaiting funding approval to expand its preschool offerings. President Joe Bidens proposed 2024 budget includes $66.4 million in universal prekindergarten funds for students in 60 military communities served by DODEA schools worldwide, agency spokesman Will Griffin said in an email earlier this month. Universal preschool generally sets age as the sole criterion, rather than limiting eligibility to income or other factors. DODEA officials have said providing all eligible families access to prekindergarten will build a solid foundation for later success in college and careers while supporting military and family readiness. In a separate proposal, the White House in its 2024 budget wants to fund a federal-state partnership that provides universal, free preschool to all 4-year-olds in the setting of a parents choice, such as public schools, with child-care providers or through Head Start. Growing data indicates that preschool may benefit children throughout their school years and beyond. A study published in May 2021, for example, on the long-term effects of universal preschool in Boston by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that 54% of preschoolers ended up going to college about eight percentage points higher than their peers who didnt go to preschool. Researchers said they were intrigued to see that outcome coupled with no correlation to higher standardized test scores, according to a report on the study on National Public Radio. That combination indicates to researchers that preschool can have behavioral or socio-emotional benefits, such as improving discipline or motivation, they told NPR. For military families, especially those overseas, offering a preschool program could help alleviate chronic on-base child-care shortages, military family advocates have said. DODEA is using its 2023 budget to pay for prekindergarten for about 95 to 100 students at Iwakuni, where existing classrooms and facilities required minimal changes to meet requirements, Griffin said. Early implementation at Iwakuni allows DODEA to test and validate procedures and plans as it develops a wider rollout, Griffin added. If funding is approved, DODEA would strive to add more preschools next school year in the first phase of a three-phase rollout, Griffin said. Locations for each phase havent been determined and some areas may require building construction or significant renovations, he said. To support universal prekindergarten, DODEA expects to hire more than 440 full-time employees, to include certified teachers, paraprofessional aides and substitute teachers, Griffin said. Part-day prekindergarten already is available at all DODEA stateside installations, to include on Guam and Puerto Rico, Griffin said. Universal prekindergarten will expand all half-day preschools to full day and expand access to all eligible families overseas, he said. Once the program is available, students must be 4 years old by Sept. 1 to attend in the current school year. CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa A U.S. airman remained jailed Tuesday following her weekend arrest by Japanese police on suspicion of driving drunk and crashing into a garage at someones home. Staff Sgt. Noelia Silva, 25, of Kadena Air Base, was taken into custody around 12:15 p.m. Sunday in the Takahara section of Okinawa city, a prefectural police spokesman said by phone Tuesday. Police allege Silva drove drunk and failed to report the crash. The spokesman said Silva was westbound in her white Toyota bB on Takahara-Goya Line Road when she struck the garage door and a concrete facade about seven miles east of Kadena. No one was injured in the crash, the spokesman said. Some Japanese officials are required to speak to the media only on the condition of anonymity. Police found Silva near the crash site after a witness reported a foreign woman had crashed into a house and fled, the spokesman said. A Breathalyzer at the scene measured Silvas blood alcohol content at 0.12%, four times the legal limit for driving in Japan, the spokesman said. By comparison, all 50 U.S. states have set 0.08 as the legal limit for driving under the influence or while impaired. Silvas car, impounded at the Okinawa city police station Tuesday, had extensive front-end damage and both airbags were deployed. The metal garage door in Takahara was dented. Police forwarded Silvas case to prosecutors on Monday, the spokesman said. If convicted of violating Japanese traffic law, she faces a maximum five years and three months in prison or a $7,400 fine. CAMP ZAMA, Japan An infantry commander who last worked in Poland, where he helped Ukrainian troops battling invading Russians, is the new leader of U.S. ground forces in Japan. Maj. Gen. David Womack took command of U.S. Army Japan from Maj. Gen. Joel JB Vowell during a Tuesday ceremony presided over by Gen. Charles Flynn, commander of U.S. Army Pacific, at Camp Zama, 26 miles southwest of central Tokyo. Your recent position in Poland conducting operations to support U.S. and NATO operations against the Russians in Ukraine will be of great value, Flynn told Womack, who recently left a job as V Corps deputy commanding general of maneuver stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany, with duty in Poznan, Poland. The Roanoke, Va., native took charge of about 3,000 U.S. soldiers at 17 posts in Japan involved in a wide range of missions, including military intelligence, missile defense, sea transport, aviation and cyber warfare. Japan is our most critical and important ally in this region, Flynn told about 200 dignitaries gathered for the command change, including U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel. Unfortunately, today there are shared dangers from those seeking to destabilize the region, Flynn said. Those acting irresponsibly by threatening others national sovereignty and by violating their territorial integrity. A 1992 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, Womack commanded 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment and 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, and has served in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. Your leadership has ensured we are prepared to support our allies here and across the Indo-Pacific, Womack told Vowell. North Korea fired more than 90 missiles last year, a record, and Russia is flying nuclear-capable bombers around Japan. However, the long-term challenge is China, Vowell said. China is on another long march to first dominate the region and then supplant us around the globe, he said. The Armys mission is to work with Americas allies to prevent war and, if need be, to fight and win, said Vowell, who goes next to lead Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, Iraq. There is a woman in France who is concerned about the mental health of the children. She has a message she takes wherever she goes: we need an educational revolution and to change the way we treat children. Recent neuroscientific advances indicate that punishing, yelling and threatening not only do not work, but actually end up affecting the brain of minors, causing permanent changes that, in the long run, generate problems such as depression or anxiety. Thus, it is critical that many modify their relationship with kids. This is a widespread belief. Opinions abound on this matter; everyone has their own. As much as we adore them, sometimes it is hard to refrain from shouting; self-control is not an easy thing. Meanwhile, the gurus of the so-called positive education have millions of followers on social media, although some are not aware that this sector is experiencing a scientific boom. The French woman with a message is Catherine Gueguen, who has been a pediatrician for 28 years at the Franco Britannique - Levallois Perret Hospital in Paris. As part of her discourse, Gueguen includes global data from UNICEF: four out of five children are subjected to a verbal or physically violent education. A staggering 80% receive some kind of corporal punishment. She also shares the results of a recent survey (from October 2022), carried out in France, in which 79% of 1,314 heads of family admitted using psychological violence when educating their children. You may think that violence is not widespread, but trust me, it is, she says. As a pediatrician, I have heard many parents tell me that when they lose their temper, they punish, threaten or even hit their children. Gueguen was 44 years old in 1994, when a book that revolutionized what we knew about our minds was published: Descartes Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain, by Portuguese neurologist Antonio Damasio, recipient of the 2005 Prince of Asturias Technical and Scientific Research Award. In it, the neuroresearcher gave our emotions and feelings the role they deserve in our behavior. We used to consider it unimportant, says Damasio. And yet, emotions are essential. I wanted to give them their appropriate role; they are what make us human. The message of the book is that Descartes was wrong when he stated I think, therefore I am. In Damasios view, the correct statement should be I feel, therefore I think. He described the functioning of the prefrontal cortex, an area of gray matter several millimeters thick that is above the eye sockets, which connects different parts of the brain with others that determine our motor and psychological response. He showed that emotions and feelings play a key role in our rationality. To arrive at this conclusion, he measured the magnetic fields that produce the electrical currents that pass through our minds. An adult plays with two children at a beach in Royan, France, in a photograph from 1982. Jean Gaumy ( Magnum Photos / ContactoPhoto) In the past, this type of research could only be carried out by opening a skull with a scalpel. However, with the last two decades of advances in the material that helps to study this crucial organ, the information available has increased significantly. From different parts of the world United States, Canada, northern Europe, Australia, China neuroscientific studies on some aspect of the plasticity of our brain are published every week. Here, we will focus on those that deal with the effects of the so-called negative education (in which minors are constant victims of some type of betrayal of the trust they place in their caregivers) on the brain of the child. To be clear: we are talking about abuse, understood as verbal attacks that seek to humiliate, denigrate or cause fear to the child, or emotional abuse that causes feelings of shame or guilt, in addition to other forms of physical abuse such as beatings. In its early years, neuroscience studied the most serious cases; orphaned children or victims of severe abuse. But, little by little, we have been getting closer to more common families, says Dutch neuroresearcher Sandra Thijssen, an expert in child development at the Institute of Behavioral Sciences of Radboud University. In 2018, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a list of recommendations warning of the dangers of a harsh upbringing. There is a network of American universities that carry out this type of research and share their results to increase the knowledge. Martin Teicher, professor of psychiatry at Harvard University and director of the Developmental Biopsychiatry Research Program at McLean Hospital in Boston, is one of the pioneers of this network. He tells EL PAIS that, in his opinion, learning about how children and teenagers should be treated should be included in the secondary school curriculum, so that young people can acquire some notions of the real risks that minors face. Neuroscientific studies indicate that when minors who are frequently verbally abused reach adolescence, they are less creative and curious, they are less capable of acquiring new knowledge and more prone to experience sadness and depression, says David Bueno i Torrens, a biologist specialized in genetics and neuroscience and director of the first chair in neuroeducation in Spain, at the University of Barcelona. The same areas of the brain are activated, explains the biologist; what changes is the relationship between the different areas. With negative education, the brain amygdala becomes more reactive to negative emotions, and the area that manages emotions, the prefrontal, becomes less capable of managing anxiety and stress, he continues. Those minors, more apathetic, have a harder time finding motivation. In their search for stimuli, they may fall into drug use. Australian psychiatrist and psychologist Sarah Whittle, from the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, found that growing up in a poor or disadvantaged neighborhood causes changes in the childrens cognitive function and mental health. She surveyed 7,500 children from different social classes and suggested that it would be useful if both their parents and their teachers received support so they understand that smiling frequently at children and making them feel loved when they are angry or throwing a tantrum can compensate for other negative aspects of their living environment. What happens when we punish? What goes on in the brain of a minor that is being punished? As psychologist, doctor in education and author Rafa Guerrero has written, the lower areas of the brain, the ones that have to do with survival, activate in the child. Large doses of adrenaline and cortisol are released, prompting action and preventing thinking. In other words, punishment blindly invites revenge. Since the part of the brain basement (instincts and emotions) is hyperactivated, it is difficult to connect with the brain attic (critical thinking, reasoning, executive functions, etcetera). We cannot be aware or think about what happened, and we only obey our most instinctive and emotional part. There is no real learning; for this, love, respect, patience and kindness are essential. But if we cannot punish our children, how can we make them understand the rules that we are trying to teach them? Thats the key, says Guerrero. There will always be people who maintain that some spanking, or locking a two-year-old child in a room, will help improve their behavior, says the French psychoanalyst Caroline Godman. However, neuroscience points in a different direction. Neuropsychologist and expert in education Alvaro Bilbao explains that between the extremely lenient parents who never establish any boundaries and the traditional heavy-handed parents there is a large intermediate group that does sets firm limits, or at least tries to, helping minors gain self-confidence. Gueguen, thrilled about the scientific progress that has been taking place in recent years, took a while to find out about Damasios book; but after reading it she realized that, given the evidence that humans are influenced by feelings, it was imperative that steps be taken so that many parents have a healthier relationship with their own children. She is concerned about what she calls the unconditional fidelity of children towards their parents. In other words, parents that were educated harshly or with signs of abuse often replicate that model. Doubting your own parents can be very painful, says Gueguen. Many appropriate phrases like thisll teach you, this is how youll get better, as they are punished. For five years, the pediatrician has been training childhood professionals such as doctors, psychologists, educators and midwives, and directs a diploma program on parenting support at the Sorbonne. In 2018 she published Heureux dapprendre a lecole: Comment les neurosciences affectives et sociales peuvent changer leducation (Happy to learn at school: How affective and social neuroscience can change education). Gueguen explains what is expected of a parent who tries to educate their child the right way: they are, above all, persons who are empathetic and kind towards themselves; who are connected with their own emotions, know how to express them and talk about them with their child. They know that raising a child is a source of happiness, but it can also be extremely difficult; that they will make mistakes, and that seeing your parents acknowledge them and apologize is very educational for the child. When parents develop this self-kindness, they know how to pass it on to their child and they, in turn, flourish, she says. An appeal Gueguen was among the experts who were paying close attention when the World Health Organization and UNICEF published an appeal to governments asking for the implementation of a minimum of five parenting support sessions for parents or guardians of minors. Unfortunately, the appeal was published in the midst of the post-Covid-19 wave, and it was not as promoted as expected. They were based on more than 200 trials published in the last 20 years, and maintain that providing educational assistance to parents when they take their minors to get vaccinated would have immensely positive effects on the mental health of the kids. We believe it because it has been proven, says Benjamin Perks, a UNICEF deputy representative. We have the data right under our noses. It is time to implement these support programs. The damage caused by these practices is widespread, and the data shows that it is possible to prevent it. In the US and Europe, approximately 1.2 trillion [$1.3 trillion] are spent to deal with this problem. For a fraction of that, we could infinitely improve the situation, concludes Perks. Parents and educators need to be accompanied throughout their lives and professions, insists Gueguen. They need to be understood, she says, not blamed, and to know that taking care of a minor can be very difficult and very demanding, and that they will often make mistakes and need support. What does neurologist Antonio Damasio, the man who opened our eyes, think the next step in the investigation should be? The awareness of ourselves and others is very much related to our emotions, not our intellect, he says. And I think what we should start to investigate is: what role does awareness really play in our brain? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition The Biden administration is conducting indirect bilateral talks with Iran that it hopes, at a minimum, will curtail Tehrans nuclear program short of weapons development, end its proxy attacks on U.S. forces in Syria and bring home three longtime American prisoners in exchange for limited access to some of Irans billions of dollars frozen overseas. Begun several months ago, the talks are not a revival of negotiations over restoring the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, according to U.S., European and Middle Eastern officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the sensitive issue. Until President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018, it eased U.S. sanctions on Iran in exchange for verifiable nuclear restrictions. President Bidens attempts to reinstate the deal ended last fall, after more than a year of sporadic negotiations, when Iran rejected what the United States and its European partners believed was a viable offer. Instead, the current discussions are an attempt to draw clear red lines and reverse what has been a steady escalation in Iranian aggression and tensions, exacerbated by Tehrans crackdown on protests and weapons shipments to Russia for use in Ukraine. U.S. negotiators have warned that further attacks in Syria, the most recent of which took place in March, and continued high-level uranium enrichment that has come dangerously close to weapons grade levels will elicit a response including military action that neither side wants. Administration officials have tried to downplay the scope of the diplomatic effort since reports that a new U.S.-Iran agreement was imminent first surfaced in Israeli media earlier this month. While not denying indirect contacts with Iran, U.S. officials have rejected any characterization of a pending deal. White House and State Department officials declined to comment on the ongoing talks. But the media reports have led to outspoken criticism by the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some U.S. lawmakers. House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said in a Thursday letter to Biden that he was deeply disturbed that the administration was reengaging with Tehran, and that the results of these discussions have included the apparent greenlighting of sizable payments to Iran. Hours after McCaul released his letter, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that some of the reports that weve seen about an agreement about nuclear matters and detainees are simply not accurate or not true. The talks are part of the administrations efforts to use quiet, high-level diplomacy to address problems in the Middle East and Persian Gulf, where China and Russia have expanded their presence as U.S. influence and interest have been perceived to be waning. Those efforts also include increased outreach to Saudi Arabia to nudge it toward relations with Israel and promote a settlement of the war in Yemen. Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared last week to signal his approval for some sort of arrangement with the West, saying it was not a problem, as long as the countrys nuclear infrastructure was not changed, according to video footage of his remarks during a meeting with scientists and officials working in Irans nuclear industry. Khamenei also said that Iran should maintain cooperation and communication with the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, while reiterating his longtime position that Iran was not pursuing nuclear weapons, which he said were contradictory to religion. A senior European diplomat long involved in talks with Iran said the administrations European partners were not entirely sure of the contours of the current discussions, but noted that it is clear that they are aware that if the Iranian nuclear program continues at full speed the crisis is unavoidable. Representatives from Britain, France and Germany, who were signatories to the original nuclear agreement along with Russia and China, met in the United Arab Emirates last week with Irans chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani. Heightened concerns about breakout time U.S. officials insist they have offered nothing to Iran in exchange for progress on the nuclear and Syria fronts beyond refraining from retaliation and the prospect of more substantive diplomatic discussions. The talks are meant to be deescalatory, said one person familiar with them. Nobody in this administration wants anything bad to happen in the next year and a half, as the United States approaches elections in 2024. Everybody agrees that the JCPOA as written is not going to come back, this person said, referring to the 2015 accord officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Were not going to get a new agreement based upon some magic breakout time. Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to limit uranium enrichment to 3.67% purity, with strict international monitoring that U.S. intelligence said would prevent any breakout development of weapons-grade fuel for at least one year. Since U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, Iran has enriched and stockpiled uranium at 60% purity, following a path that its government laid out in 2020. Breakout is now estimated at a few weeks, and inspectors in February discovered traces enriched to about 84% barely below the 90% required for nuclear weapons although the IAEA suggested the small amount might have been a mistake. Were never going to get 3.6% enrichment caps again, the person familiar with the talks said. That was a one-time opportunity that we took. On the other hand, I see no rationale for 60%. ... So it would be good to work to see if you could get the 60% ... blended to 20 or 19.9%. ... I think trying to go beyond that is just a fools errand. Still, the person said, I think doing something is better than doing nothing. Others disagree. Olli Heinonen, who oversaw the IAEA inspections of Irans nuclear program in the 2000s, said the restrictions that have been described in news accounts that the administration would be willing to settle for 60% enrichment would barely blunt Irans ability to build a nuclear weapon quickly if it decides to do so. With Tehrans current stockpile and vast underground assemblages of centrifuges, the timeline for a weapon would remain quite short, he said. And it might be impossible for outsiders to tell if the regime has made a decision to build a device. The IAEA has been wrangling with Iran to restore full compliance with inspections and monitoring. Without that, it is an open question whether inspectors could spot a small enrichment plant that might be the size of a supermarket, said Heinonen, now a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank. An escalating, dangerous back-and-forth The talks began several weeks after a March 23 drone attack on U.S. forces in Syria that killed an American contractor. Within hours, the United States had responded with an airstrike on an Iranian facility in Syria that killed a number of Syrian proxy fighters. Iran, which has maintained a channel of direct communications between its U.N. ambassador and Robert Malley, the chief U.S. negotiator to the now-defunct JCPOA talks, then sent indications it wanted to talk at a higher level. Two meetings have since taken place between Iranian officials and Brett McGurk, the top Middle East official on the National Security Council, with the Persian Gulf sultanate of Oman serving as the venue and go-between and nearby Qatar also playing a role. According to people familiar with the talks, McGurk told them that on the current path Tehran was on with enrichment at 60% and inspectors being blocked from crucial tasks there was no chance for renewed diplomacy that might lead to a reduction in sanctions. Negotiations over the detainees Iranian American businessmen Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz and Siamak Namazi imprisoned on what the United States considers bogus espionage charges, are technically separate and conducted through Swiss officials. But McGurk has reiterated the administrations long-standing position that it could not envision real progress on other issues until the prisoners are released and Iran accounts for the 2007 disappearance there of retired FBI agent and CIA contractor Robert Levinson, who is presumed dead. It is on the detainee issue that officials, and reports from the region, have indicated some progress. I can say they are close, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi said in an interview Wednesday with Al-Monitor, a Washington-based website covering the Middle East. This is probably a question of technicalities, he said. They need to have a framework [and] a time frame of how this should be orchestrated. I think theyre ironing those things out. Those things, Albusaidi made clear, referred to a potential release tied to the release of a portion of Iranian funds that have been held overseas for years under U.S. sanctions in conjunction with freeing of the detainees. He spoke just a day after Iranian Finance Minister Ehsan Khandouzi said that at least some money would be released in the coming weeks, according to Iranian media reports. Khandouzi made no reference to a prisoner release. A political time bomb Allowing frozen Iranian assets to flow to Tehran is particularly fraught in political terms. The release of billions of frozen Iranian dollars concurrent with the freeing of U.S. hostages and implementation of the JCPOA in January 2016 brought harsh criticism for the Obama administration, which Republicans charged had handed over pallets of cash that Iran would use to fund terrorists. The money under discussion would come from about $7 billion held in two South Korean banks under an arrangement initially authorized by the Trump administration that allowed for sanctioned purchases of Iranian oil, as long as payments for it were deposited in banks to which Iran had no access. Under current regulations, theoretically, the money could be released to pay third parties for non-sanctioned Iranian humanitarian purchases, such as food and medicine, a pathway that India and other Iranian energy customers have used. But South Korean banks have declined to release any of the funds without explicit and unequivocal U.S. agreement that until now has not been forthcoming. Although any agreement is believed to be months away, if it even can be reached, the Treasury Department is studying an arrangement under which the money would be transferred from South Korea to a U.S.-monitored account in a third country. Iran would apply for funds to go directly to a humanitarian organization, with each individual transaction being approved by Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control. None of the money would pass through the U.S. or Iranian financial systems. But while Biden could claim credit for freeing the detainees, even the closely monitored release of funds would encounter strong political head winds, both at home and in Israel. Israels security establishment has been bracing for an announcement of a U.S. deal with Iran since media accounts began to emerge. Netanyahu, who encouraged Trump to pull out of the original accord in 2018 and warned that restoring the agreement could force Israel to act militarily against Iran, has repeated those warnings in recent days. Referring to a recent phone call with Blinken, Netanyahu told his cabinet last week, I reiterated our consistent position that returning to the nuclear agreement with Iran will not stop the Iranian nuclear program and will only enable Iran to channel funds to the terrorist organizations that it sponsors in the Middle East and around Israels borders. In private, however, the prime minister reportedly has downplayed the likely impact of the more limited discussions taking place in Oman. At a closed door briefing for the Knessets Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday, Netanyahu characterized that potential agreement as more palatable to Jerusalem than the original nuclear accord, saying its not a nuclear deal, its a mini-deal, according to reports in Hebrew-language media that cited participants in the meeting. We will be able to handle it, Netanyahu reportedly said. Israels ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, in recent remarks to a Jewish group in Washington, said Israel will reserve its right to freedom of action, meaning to strike Iran if it senses an imminent threat. But he also offered praise for Washingtons efforts to negotiate with Tehran. As far as were concerned, diplomacy in and of itself, and such understandings, are not necessarily bad to the extent that they can help deescalate a situation, Herzog said, according to the Times of Israel. Hendrix reported from Jerusalem. Kareem Fahim in Istanbul and Michael Birnbaum in Washington contributed to this report. (Tribune News Service) George Thomas Keeney, 76, a veteran of the Vietnam War, was due to receive his Air Medal from the U.S. Army on Nov. 6, 1966 but it never came. On Monday 57 years later Keeney, now bedridden, was finally presented the award in his living room in New Windsor, Md., where he is receiving hospice care for heart failure and prostate cancer. This is going to make my day, Keeney said, surrounded by his children and grandchildren. If I die tomorrow, Ill be happy. Though sick and confined to his bed, Keeney was talkative, animated and overjoyed to receive a medal he never thought he would get. I feel great, Keeney said. I never expected this. When I left from over there, the first six months I kept saying, I aint getting nothing. I did what I was told, and they made these promises, and then they spit on me. Keeney, like many Vietnam veterans who returned home from the war, did not receive a heros welcome, but was sometimes treated poorly or scorned by society for fighting an unpopular war. Keeney was finally honored Monday for his service. On hand to pay tribute to Kenney were Jason R. Sidock, executive director of the Carroll County Veterans Independence Project, a nonprofit organization that provides services to veterans; state Sen. Justin Ready, who represents both Carroll and Frederick counties; Carroll County Commissioner Tom Gordon III; and representatives from BridgingLife, a nonprofit that provides hospice care. Sidock presented Keeney with a Welcome Home Vietnam Veteran coin, while thanking him for his service to the country. Sidock credited BridgingLife for alerting his organization to the fact that Keeney had never received his Air Medal, which was long overdue, he said. The Air Medal is a military decoration of the U.S. Armed Forces, established by an executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 11, 1942. It is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Ready pinned the medal on a smiling Keeney, who said he was tickled to finally get it. This is long overdue, said Ready, who added that all Vietnam veterans deserve the medals they were entitled to. I want to thank you for your service. You were drafted, and you did your job. It is unclear why Keeney never received his Air Medal, because top military officials signed a certificate authorizing the award on Nov. 6, 1966. By direction of the president the Air Medal is presented to Private First Class E3 George E. Keeney United States Army, for distinguishing himself by meritorious achievement while participating in sustained aerial flight in support of combat ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam during the period 29 July 1966 to 9 August 1966, the certificate states. The certificate goes on to praise Keeney for his more than 25 aerial missions over hostile territory in support of counterinsurgency operations. Gordon, who represents District 3, also presented Keeney with a special coin. Thank you is not enough, Gordon said. Thank you from all of us. This is from Carroll County. Thank you, sir. Belinda Eaton, Keeneys daughter, described the presentation as overwhelming. She said her father was shocked when he learned that the Air Medal was finally coming. Keeney served in the Army six years and was sent to Vietnam in 1966, where he served two years. He was also in the U.S. Army Reserves. He was an Army Sergeant E5 with the 229th Aviation Battalion when he when was discharged. Keeney and his family said his battle with cancer and heart failure is a byproduct from his time as a helicopter crew chief, spreading the chemical compound Agent Orange on the fields and jungles of Vietnam. From 1962 to 1971, the U.S. Air Force sprayed nearly 19 million gallons of herbicides in Vietnam, of which at least 11 million gallons was Agent Orange, according to the National Library of Medicine website. Agent Orange was a toxic chemical herbicide used by the U.S. military to clear foliage during the Vietnam conflict. I sprayed Agent Orange, and unless you saw it, you dont know how powerful it was, Keeney said. 2023 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (Tribune News Service) Jay Streit grew up in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and was introduced to sailing by his father. They took family trips to Florida and sailed Hobie Cats along the coast. Streit enlisted in the United States Navy in 1984 and served 16 years before retiring with a medical discharge. He spent 14 days in a coma as a result of diabetes and there have been lasting effects. When I came out of the coma I tried to stand up and fell flat on my face, said Streit, who has worn braces on both legs ever since to help with stability. Streit served as a search and rescue air crewman aboard Huey helicopters and was deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for three years. He was working as a flight engineer toward the end of his service. After leaving the Navy, Streit accepted a civilian job as a federal employee with the U.S. Army and was stationed at Camp Panzer Kaserne in Kaiserslautern, Germany, for five years. He returned to the United States and accepted a position that brought him to Maryland. Living in Severn and wanting to get back into sailing, Streit discovered Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating while doing research on the internet. He reached out and began sailing with the organization in 2017. CRAB, founded in 1991, is an organization that provides the therapeutic benefits of sailing to persons with disabilities, recovering warriors and youth from underserved communities. CRAB is a fantastic organization that allows veterans and those with disabilities to get out on the water and show their abilities while racing and competing, Streit said. I love sailing and being able to go where I want with no limits. Streit showed off his sailing skill and steering ability by winning the 26th annual Don Backe Memorial Regatta, which took place June 10 on Annapolis Harbor and hosted by Annapolis Yacht Club. Local J/24 and J/105 sailor Warren Richter served as tactician for Streit, who won two of five races in totaling 10 points three better than runner-up Tim McGee. This was the second Don Backe Memorial Regatta for Streit, who had his girlfriend Dee Perry aboard as jib trimmer and Jeff West as mainsail trimmer. Communication and teamwork were the keys, Streit said. We all worked together to keep the boat moving fast. Streit is a cruising sailor who berths a Jeanneau 349 at Anchorage Marine in Baltimore. He tries to go sailing each weekend with Perry and his beloved, loyal service dog Warren, a black Labrador. Richter, who has volunteered as a guest tactician for CRAB for three years, said Streit has developed into an outstanding helmsman. Jay did a fantastic job steering and we were able to keep the boat going fast, Richter said. It was very puffy and shifty and we changed gears really well. We also did a good job of managing the many obstacles within the harbor. This years Don Backe Memorial Regatta was much easier to manage now that CRAB has moved into its Adaptive Boating Center near the mouth of Back Creek. Previously, executive director Paul Bollinger and his team of volunteers had to move the organizations fleet of six Beneteau First 22-foot adaptive sloops from Sandy Point State Park to Annapolis Yacht Club. This time around, the boats were loaded at the Adaptive Boating Center and only needed to make the short journey into Spa Creek to the start-finish line near the AYC clubhouse. The 2023 Don Backe Memorial was a competitive regatta with only four points separating the top three boats. McGee, the 2021 winner, was hurt by a fifth-place finish in Race 1. John Tarrant placed third with 14 points. Peter Gordon served as principal race officer for Annapolis Yacht Club, which has always provided on-water support for the regatta. He was able to complete five solid races with winds up to 10 knots (11.5 mph). Most of the races were triangles with the fleet heading out the harbor to a turning mark along the Naval Academy sea wall, then crossing Spa Creek to another mark set off Horn Point, then back to the start-finish line. Some races were two laps around the course with three being held in the morning and two in the afternoon following a break for lunch. Maryland Department of Disabilities secretary Carol Beatty attended the awards ceremony and presented a proclamation from Gov. Wes Moore declaring June as Adaptive Boating Month in Maryland. It really encourages me that anyone can go out there on the same platform and compete on even terms while thoroughly enjoying themselves. Its great fun and great competition, Streit said. I would like to thank CRAB and all the volunteers that get us out onto the racecourse. I would also like to thank Annapolis Yacht Club and its fine race committee and express my appreciation for the other CRAB competitors. (c)2023 The Capital (Annapolis, Md.) Visit capitalgazette.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. In the romantic film Before Sunrise (1995), the protagonists spend a night together in Vienna and know that they will have a hard time keeping in touch once each returns home. But if the story were to unfold today, almost 30 years later, the situation would be very different. They would exchange Instagram or Telegram profiles or talk via WhatsApp to keep in touch despite the distance. Maybe the end of the movie would be different, since as we know, social media makes it much easier to stay connected. Its a win for the fictional couple. But what about when you want the exact opposite? What happens when what you want to end the relationship, but you are closely connected online? Breakups today are also projected in online life. A few years ago, a story claiming that an estimated 28 million couples broke up because of social media went viral. Although it turned out to be fake there is no data on how many couples may have broken up for this reason we do know that how a person acts on social media can trigger jealousy and insecurities and that, when trust is shaken, these feelings can blow up and end up breaking the relationship. Breaking up over WhatsApp is an increasingly common option. Some people see it as disrespectful or cowardly, while others think face-to-face breakups are overrated. For the person who wants to break up, ending a relationship via a message makes it easier for them to express their intention, and this can prevent a dying relationship from dragging on as they wait for the right moment to end things. For the person who is being left, receiving a breakup message lets them manage the emotional impact of the news in private. And if they want to respond, they can also do so thoughtfully, in writing, where there is less likelihood of descending into arguments or dramas. The breakup will be painful, but not necessarily more so than if it were done in person. In the end, how things are done is more important than the medium used. You can end a relationship via WhatsApp and write a reply to the breakup message, but what if the other person has blocked you? It is not uncommon for something like this to happen, and if the goal is to disengage, its not a bad move. Keep in mind that simply writing a response to the breakup message is therapeutic; the ex-partner doesnt really need to read it. Sometimes breaking off all contact is the best way to get over a relationship. Victor Dyomin (Getty Images) When a relationship ends, there is the question of what to do on social networks. I dont want to block him on Instagram, we can still be friends, is a phrase I hear regularly from patients. Breaking all contact is a step that often makes it easier to overcome the sadness of the breakup. Continuing to see your former partners Instagram stories makes you feel closer to that person as you are witnessing their day-to-day life. There is also the risk that you may misinterpret messages, thinking a post is a hint or aimed specifically at you. This can make you feel confused about your own, and other peoples, feelings. When two people have shared a very strong bond, its advisable that they unfollow one another on social media. And if there really is a good feeling and an intention to remain friends, this can be done in a healthy way by communicating to the other person that a time of disconnection is needed. After that period, which varies for each person, you can recover contact in networks. Following and unfollowing are reversible. I no longer talk to him/her, but if he/she writes to me, I will answer, is another phrase I hear. Be careful with this because you are leaving control of the communication in someone elses hands. To overcome a breakup, you need to take the reins. In cases where there is emotional dependency, or if the breakup is not clear, more forceful action may be advisable, i.e. blocking the ex-partner. If you are in a relationship with someone, you are likely to have photos together on Instagram and other social media sites. When the relationship is over, we should not forget the nice moments we shared, and the good things that it brought. But some choose to delete every trace of that happiness from social media after the breakup. And it makes sense, since it can help us to turn the page. This is called sanitizing, and it also involves deleting photos taken by your ex, posts that remind you of him or her, muting common friends so that you dont see them with their new partner, deleting playlists made with your ex... It should not be done from a place of resentment, but rather as something you are doing for your own benefit. Zero contact is a good way of disengaging, getting over the breakup, and following ones own path. But it can be complicated, and even more so when social networks make it so easy to connect. Falling into the temptation of stalking your ex is another risk of Instagram that will not help you move on. You have to stand firm and overcome temptations. Maybe when the necessary time passes, you will talk again and, who knows, perhaps you can start the relationship in a different way. Or maybe not. There are many fish in the sea and new and beautiful stories to create. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Robert Coombes (46) also had six trays of sleeping tablets in the stitching of a face mask when a garda searched him after his arrest A man had deals of crack cocaine hidden in an inhaler when gardai caught him in a suspicious transaction outside Dublins GPO. Robert Coombes (46) also had six trays of sleeping tablets in the stitching of a face mask when a garda searched him after his arrest. Judge Bryan Smyth gave him a six-month suspended sentence. Coombes, with an address at Kylemore Avenue, Ballyfermot, pleaded guilty to possession of drugs with intent to sell or supply. Dublin District Court heard on the morning of January 12 last year, a garda was on duty at the GPO, OConnell Street, dealing with a separate incident when he saw the accused and an unknown woman in a suspicious transaction. When approached, they both fled in different directions. The garda followed Coombes, who dropped a plastic bag on the ground. When he examined this, the garda found deals of crack cocaine hidden inside a Ventolin inhaler. The accused was arrested and taken to a garda station where six trays of Zopiclone were found inside the stitching on a face mask, the garda said. The accused had previous convictions. Solicitor Paul Byrne said Coombes appearance was much improved since the garda met him. He asked the judge to be as lenient as he could in the circumstances. Judge Smyth said a prison sentence was warranted but he suspended it for a year. Thank you, your honour, Coombes said. The judge said it had been a fatal attack of a "ferocious nature A WOMAN who stabbed a father-of-seven to death during a psychotic episode has been given an eight-year jail sentence for his manslaughter. Christina Anderson had the sentence for killing Gareth Kelly handed down at the Central Criminal Court today. Judge Karen O'Connor sentenced her to 11 years imprisonment but suspended three years. The judge said it had been a fatal attack of a "ferocious nature" and the court had to mark the damage caused to those left behind. She said Anderson's behaviour had been "highly dominated by her mental condition" and this was the most significant mitigating factor." Anderson, a mother-of-three of Brownsbarn Wood, Kingswood, Dublin 22, stabbed Mr Kelly five times as he tried to start his car outside her home at about 7am on the morning of February 25, 2020. The victim (38) had never met Anderson (41) and was trying to start his car on his way to work when she approached him and stabbed him five times, fatally injuring him. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of insanity and a murder charge was withdrawn by the prosecution. At a pre-sentence hearing last month Mr Kelly's partner Maria Murphy described the deceased as a loving dad with a "cheeky smile" who was adored by his children. A jury had heard that a central issue was whether Anderson's actions when she repeatedly stabbed Gareth Kelly were driven by mental illness or by cannabis intoxication. The State accepted that Anderson was undergoing a psychotic episode at the time of the killing and cannabis intoxication "does not feature" in the case. Anderson currently remains in the Central Mental Hospital undergoing treatment. Declan Rooney (38) got out and started striking the other drivers car, damaging it, during a roadside argument after he cut in front of the victim. A motorist lost the head and attacked a car with an umbrella in a classic case of road rage, a court has heard. Declan Rooney (38) got out and started striking the other drivers car, damaging it, during a roadside argument after he cut in front of the victim. Judge David McHugh adjourned the case at Blanchardstown District Court for payment of compensation. Rooney, of Oranmore Road, Ballyfermot, pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage to the mans car. The court heard the incident happened at New Nangor Road, Clondalkin, on October 26, 2022. Garda Sergeant Maria Callaghan said the victim was driving in traffic at 5.30pm when Rooney tried to overtake him, cutting in front of him. The two drivers got into an argument, during which Rooney got out of his car and walked toward the other man, who was still in his car. The accused started hitting the car with an umbrella, causing damage to the drivers side panel. He was captured on dashcam footage and the victim had been quoted 1,569 to repair the damage, Sgt Callaghan said. Rooney later went to Clondalkin Garda Station, made a voluntary cautioned statement and was apologetic and co-operative. The accused intended to pay for the damage but he expected it to be a lot lower and would need some time, his barrister said. Rooney, who had had a serious alcohol addiction, could not really remember what happened. It was a classic case of road rage, he lost the head completely and thats an understatement, the accuseds barrister said. Although he queried the cost of the repair, he accepted a good deal of damage was done and held his hands up. The judge said he was measuring compensation at 1,200 and adjourned the case to October. If the money was paid, he said he would fine Rooney 100. Richard Askin (44) of Ballynakelly Edge, Newcastle, Co. Dublin, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale or supply A Dublin Circuit Criminal Court judge has told a taxi driver who had over 6,800 of cocaine in his possession to take the considerable chance of a suspended prison sentence. Richard Askin (44) of Ballynakelly Edge, Newcastle, Co. Dublin, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale or supply at the same address on May 6, 2021. The court heard that Askin was spotted by gardai handing over a package to a male cyclist on April 29, 2021. Gardai followed the cyclist, but he escaped. Askin was then seen handing over a package to a man, who was a known cocaine user, close to his address two days later. A search of Askin's home was carried out by gardai on May 6, 2021. In total, 97.3g of cocaine with a value of 6,813 was seized during the search. A weighing scales and a Nokia phone were also found. The court heard Askin returned to the house during the search and seemed nervous while speaking to gardai. He initially told gardai there were no drugs in the house and said he did not know who owned the phone. When shown the cocaine and asked what it was, he replied: What does it look like? Richard Askin Askin was arrested and nothing of evidential value was obtained during interview. He has seven previous convictions, all for road traffic offences. The investigating garda agreed with Sarah Jane O'Callaghan BL, defending, that her client did not cause any trouble for gardai. He also agreed that Askin, a taxi driver, has not come to any garda attention since this incident. Ms O'Callaghan said her instructions were that Askin developed a cocaine addiction and was low level dealing for another individual to reduce a drugs debt. The garda said he had no information about this. Defence counsel noted this was a very serious offence. She submitted to the court that her client was low level dealing for another individual and was servicing a drugs debt, not making money. Urine analysis was handed to the court. Askin has five children. A number of references and other documents were handed into the court. Sentencing him today, Judge Martin Nolan said Askin's activities brought him to the attention of gardai. He said he accepted Askin had his own problems with drugs and the suggestion that he was dealing for another individual could be true. He noted Askin's work history, his efforts to deal with his addiction and lack of similar convictions. Judge Nolan handed Askin a three-year suspended prison sentence, adding that he would have imposed a custodial sentence if there were previous similar convictions. Addressing Askin directly, Judge Nolan warned him that if he is caught again for this, he would go to prison and there is no getting around that. He told Askin he was receiving a considerable chance and he should take it. If you are caught in the next three years, you will come back before this court. I will remember you and you will probably go to prison, the judge added. He put on an Oscar-worthy performance of upset in the box... Aidan Lawless was killed when the car he was in with wife Cathleen was struck by hit-and-run driver Jason Gormley THE family of a father-of-two who was killed by a drink-driver businessman who fled the scene said he put on an Oscar-worthy performance as he successfully applied for his licence back six years early in a recent court hearing. Jason Gormley (52), Woodhaven, Kilrush Road, Ennis, Co. Clare, was jailed for three years and banned from driving for 20 years after being convicted of dangerous driving causing the death of Tipperary father-of-two Aidan Lawless (52) at Ahabeg, Ballysimon, Co Limerick on October 4, 2009. He fled the scene of the accident but was eventually tracked down by gardai 16 hours later. Jason Gormley speaking to reporter Alan Sherry Gormley, who was convicted in 2010, has served 13 years of his driving ban, but three weeks ago he successfully made an application to Limerick Circuit Court to have his licence returned from next January six years before the 20-year ban is up after the court heard he hasnt driven since and the judge said he felt his remorse was genuine He broke down a number of times in the witness box and apologised to the family. Gormley told the Sunday World this week that he deeply regrets applying for his licence back after realising the pain he has caused the victims family. Aidan Lawless was killed when the car he was in with wife Cathleen was struck by hit-and-run driver Jason Gormley However, Mr Lawlesss daughter Rachel who attended the court told the Sunday World that she didnt believe his remorse was genuine as he is still denying he deliberately fled the scene. He put on an Oscar-worthy performance of upset in the box and, I perhaps, would have fallen for it only for a few moments later he went on to lie to the court under oath when it was put to him that he fled the scene. He tried to say he didnt flee the scene intentionally, which was against the evidence in the trial. The aggravating factor was he did flee the scene and I couldnt believe my ears when he was denying that at this stage. He had done the big dramatic scene of the crying but it switched off immediately and he went to oh I didnt flee the scene. Cathleen Lawless, widow of Aidan Lawless Mr Lawless, a former teacher from Rathronan, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, was driving home with his wife Cathleen after dropping Rachel back to college in Limerick when the crash occurred. Gormley had drank eight pints in ONeill pub in Boher, Co Limerick before he agreed to drop Brian Quinn, who he had been drinking with, into Limerick. Mr Lawless was driving on the N24 near Ahabeg when Gormley veered onto the wrong side of the road and crashed into his car at 100kmh. Mr Lawless died at the scene while his wife Cathleen was trapped injured in the car. Cathleen told the Sunday World that Gormley never offered to help her while she was trapped in the car beside her husband. She got a smell of burning and heat and thought the car was going to ignite but Gormley fled the scene. He left us there and didnt give a damn what happened to us, Cathleen said. Rachel confronted Gormley in court about denying he intentionally fled the scene after he successfully applied for his licence back. As I was leaving the courtroom I said youre a liar, you left my dad there to die alongside my injured mother. I said he was a scumbag and left the room. For some people to be able to forgive someone must be some way helpful for yourself internally but we couldnt because you cant forgive someone who is not sorry, because theyre not accepting full responsibility and he proved that in the court. A motorist, who arrived at the scene said he tried to stop Gormley from leaving but Gormley told him to f*** off twice. Gormley then paid another passing motorist 50 to drive him to Limerick. Gormley said he doesnt remember the crash and the aftermath was a blur and doesnt remember telling the motorist to f*** off. I hit that other car at 100kmh. Are you telling me you think normally after that has happened to you? I remember being dropped home to her [his partner at the time] in a state. However, he didnt just flee the scene and return home, he went to another house after that to evade gardai as he knew they would track him down by his car. [Another person] came over and collected me from the house because she [his partner] couldnt deal with me at that stage. He went along and said, go into the room and lie down and Ill deal with the scenario. He came back and said and theyve questioned [Gormleys partner at the time] and [the guards] are on the way over. Gormley said he went out to hide in a back shed before the gardai arrived and he fled after they entered the house. They came in and hurled him to the ground and it frightened the sh*t out of me and at that stage I went up the back field. He went to an area near Ardnacrusha Power Station but was seen by an off-duty garda 16 hours after the crash, and was subsequently arrested. At the time Gormley had property in Dubai and Spain and his then-partner was six months pregnant with their child, but he was initially denied bail as he was considered a flight risk. He was subsequently jailed for three years. He added that there hasnt been a day gone by that he hasnt thought of Mr Lawless and said he prays every day and has returned to the scene of the accident on numerous occasions since his release. However, Mr Lawlesss family do not accept his remorse. Cathleen said she was devastated to learn he was applying for his licence back. It brought it all back. I couldnt go to court, I thought about it but I think Id just feel like going up and hitting him one good slap in the face because thats what I think of him. He got such a lenient sentence to begin with. He got three years and he did two of them and that was it. Gormley said he wont take his licence back next January and will now see out the 20-year ban. Id like to say how deeply sorry I am in relation to the scenario. I should never have reapplied for the licence. I dont want [it]. I came out of there and that poor girl thinks she lost because I get my licence back. I havent won. If they want the licence they can have it, I dont want it back. Theres a family there who are deeply distraught and I dont want to upset them in any form going forward and if I knew what I know now I would have never gone and asked for the stupid licence back. His partner left him after the trial and now lives in the UK with his son who he visits a few times a year. Since his release, he has set up a business in Ennis. He said he was unaware any of Mr Lawlesss family would be present when he reapplied for his licence and now accepts he shouldnt have done it. I went down to her after I got my licence back and said from the bottom of my heart Im deeply sorry I never went along and got up that day to hurt anybody. I looked into her eyes and I seen the hurt and I caused it. She was extremely hurt and she doesnt want my apology. The hardest thing was to face that girl that day. I was afraid of no guy in prison, they cant hurt me the way she can. Im deeply religious, I pray constantly all the time. Theres no time I dont think of the accident. We make decisions in life. We make good decisions that put us in good places and bad decisions that put us in bad places. I made a horrific f**king decision. For Mr Lawlesss loving family the passage of time has not healed their wounds. "We were in Wales this week where we had always gone on holidays with my husband and the children when they were small and I picked up pebbles on the beach to bring to his grave. I had 14 pebbles in my hand which is how many years it will be in October. Its a long time now but its still there every day. Edel Campbell says she has "borne the burden of Ms O'Doherty's vitriol" while she and her family have been trying to grieve It is claimed Gemma O'Doherty (pictured) used an image of the late Diego Gilsenan in an article which wrongly stated he died as a result of the Covid-19 vaccination The mother of a teenager who died by suicide has told the High Court that she is the target of an online campaign of intimidation and harassment after she commenced a legal action against Gemma O'Doherty. The claim has been made by Edel Campbell, who says she has "borne the burden of Ms O'Doherty's vitriol" while she and her family have been trying to grieve for her late son. Earlier this year, Ms Campbell launched a High Court action aimed at restraining Ms O'Doherty trading as 'The Irish Light' from using or publishing the image of Ms Campbell's late son Diego Gilsenan for any purpose without the plaintiff's consent. Ms Campbell claims Ms O'Doherty is a journalist and the publisher of The Irish Light, a free periodical newspaper, and the publisher/editor of the irishlightpaper.com website. Following Mr Gilsenan's death in August 2021, it is claimed that Ms O'Doherty used her son's image in an article which it is claimed wrongly stated that he died as a result of the administration of the Covid-19 vaccination. Ms Campbell, from Kingscourt, Co Cavan, claims that despite making several pleas to Ms O'Doherty to cease using her son's image, the defendant has allegedly refused to do so, and has denied that the use of the image is unethical. Ms Campbell claims that the unauthorised and repeated use of her son's image amounts to a harassment and breach of her constitutional rights, and has caused her emotional pain, suffering and harm. As part of her action against Ms ODoherty, Ms Campbell is seeking an injunction against the defendant. Ms Campbell is represented by David Kennedy SC, with Paul Comiskey O'Keeffe Bl, instructed by solicitor Ciaran Mulholland. The orders have been sought on the grounds that since commencing the action in May, it is alleged that the defendant's conduct towards Ms Campbell in social media posts has been "exponentially worse" than before. It is alleged that Ms O'Doherty has "deluded herself" into thinking that the action amounts to a "psy-op" by the "secret state". She claims Ms O'Doherty has "defamed her" and has also directed abuse at her solicitor, describing the firm representing her as "a MI5 grade-operation," "a freemason" and a "Sinn Fein outfit". She also claims that as a result of an alleged direct call for action by Ms O'Doherty, anonymous-attack accounts have been set up on social media in an attempt to target Ms Campbell. She claims that her own image has been published in one account, accompanied with false and defamatory claims, including one claim by Ms O'Doherty that her late son was a drug dealer and had been murdered. It is alleged that Ms O'Doherty has stated in an online video that she has put her assets beyond the reach of possible creditors, and that she is untouchable. She has further stated that she "will be going nowhere near any court". As a result, Ms Campbell has asked the High Court for orders restraining the defendant from publishing anything about the plaintiff or her son, including their images and medical records. She also seeks an injunction preventing the defendant, and her servants and agents, from harassing, communicating, intimidating, or coming near Ms Campbell's home and place of work, and that Ms O'Doherty not encourage or incite anybody else to do so. She further seeks orders requiring the defendant to remove any images of her son from websites in her control and not to publish false articles or information about Ms Campbell and her deceased son. The matter came before Mr Justice Brian O'Moore today, who on an ex-parte (only Ms Campbells side represented) granted permission to serve short notice of the injunction proceedings on Ms O'Doherty The matter will return to the court later this month. Seeking the order, Mr Kennedy said that his client was doing so "very much as a last resort, due to the ongoing campaign being waged against her by the defendant and others. Ms Campbell has also made a complaint to the gardai about the harassment, and has sought the help of elected representatives, counsel added. Isaac Horgan died after a stab wound to his leg cut an artery and he bled to death at his home. A violent offender has been jailed for six and a half years for killing a 52-year-old man who bled to death after being stabbed in the leg in his own home. The victim, Isaac Horgan, was himself cleared of manslaughter following a trial at the Central Criminal Court 17 years ago. The court heard yesterday that the defendant Noel Lennon (49), who has 12 previous convictions, is deemed by the Probation Service to be at high risk of re-offending. Remarking that it was "not the best" probation report he had ever seen, sentencing judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt said: Some people are clued in enough to tell probation what the judge wants to hear, but Mr Lennon doesnt fall into that category. Lennon, of Alexandra Court, Dundrum, Dublin was originally charged with the murder of Mr Horgan at his home in Markievicz House, Townsend Street, Dublin 2, on March 29, 2021. However, when his case came before the Central Criminal Court last year, the accused pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter and the State accepted this plea. Mr Horgan died after a stab wound to his leg cut an artery and he bled to death at his home. Lennon claimed the deceased had attacked him with a claw hammer and said a struggle ensued during which he stabbed Mr Horgan in the leg. Isaac Horgan However, the court heard there was nothing to suggest Lennon had been involved in a struggle with Mr Horgan other than the stab wound sustained by the deceased. Imposing the sentence at the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Hunt said that the aggravating factors in the case were the effect on Mr Horgans young son and the fact that the deceased was killed in his own home. Mr Justice Hunt said the court would never truly know what happened in that flat, as the deceased is no longer around and there was only Lennons word as to what happened. He said that the crime had a significant impact on Mr Horgans young child, and there would be terrible difficulty for those who care for him. This is an aspect of this crime that will continue to have to be addressed as they get older, he said. The court previously heard a victim impact statement from the child, which was prepared with the help of an allocated social worker. The court was told the nine-year-old has an acquired brain injury which occurred in utero and has been diagnosed with autism. He has lived with foster parents whom he calls 'Mam and Dad' since shortly after his birth. The child was described in the report as a fun and friendly boy and the report noted the loss of his father will have a lasting impact on him. The statement said that while the child has never met his birth mother, he had had consistent contact with his father, Mr Horgan, until he was seven. The social worker who prepared the report said the little boy understands that "Daddy Isaac is in heaven" and said he is "very sad" that he will never see his daddy again. Mr Justice Hunt said the effect on the child was a main aggravating factor in this case, as was the fact that Mr Horgan was in his own home, where people are entitled to feel safe. The hospitality that Mr Lennon availed himself of appears to have been abused. "Only he truly knows what happened in that flat, said Mr Justice Hunt, adding that Lennon had made certain allegations about how the tragic situation came about. It is safe to say, I have concerns about the accuracy of him as a historian given his record to date and the general history outlined in the probation report, he said. He went on to say that Lennon has a disposition to violence, which was a matter of concern for the future. Concerning any mitigating factors, Mr Justice Hunt said that Lennon made some attempt to obtain assistance in the immediate aftermath of the stabbing, although he said this was not as good as it could have been. He also noted that Lennon had tried to get others to dispose of SIM cards and knives connected to the case. He was going to hand himself in the next morning, but I take that with a pinch of salt. "It seems that on more than one occasion, he was about to do something when authorities intervened, said the judge. He said that the offence lay towards the top of the manslaughter category and should attract a headline sentence of nine years. "He says hes willing to deal with the probation services in custody and post release, and hed better do so, as society is entitled to a lengthy silence and good behaviour from him, said Mr Justice Hunt. Mr Justice Hunt reduced the nine-year sentence by 18 months, bringing it to seven and a half years, then suspended the last year for a post-release period of four years. "Hed better behave himself, because if I have anything to do with him and he comes back here, he will go to jail for that last year, said Mr Justice Hunt, backdating the sentence to the date Lennon went into custody, March 30 last. Defence counsel Damien Colgan SC said that his client had limited insight about the need to address his core criminality and the probation service has placed him at a high risk of reoffending. Mr Justice Hunt said it was not the best probation report he had ever seen. Some people are clued in enough to tell probation what the judge wants to hear, but Mr Lennon doesnt fall into that category, he said. A co-accused, Lisa Lee, was previously found guilty of discarding the knife used to stab Mr Horgan. Lee, of no fixed abode and formerly with an address at Depaul Homeless Hostel, Little Britain Street, Dublin 7, was jailed for two years by Mr Justice Hunt having been convicted by a jury at the Central Criminal Court last December. In July 2005, Mr Horgan walked free from the Central Criminal Court after a jury found him not guilty of the manslaughter of Scottish national Douglas McManus. The accused had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr McManus (36), at Fatima Mansions in Dublin's south inner city on June 17, 2002. He also denied assaulting Mark Holmes, originally from Ranelagh, Dublin, at the same location on the same date. During the trial, presiding judge Mr Justice Paul Butler withdrew a charge of murder from the jury and directed that the case proceed with a manslaughter charge. He also directed the jury to find the accused not guilty of assaulting Mr Holmes. He argued that he lived a blameless life until the murders and has maintained his morals ever since Double murderer Malcolm MacArthur has said that he believes he suffered a temporary insanity when he killed two people more than 40 years ago. The Meath man denied that the murders of Bridie Gargan and Donal Dunne in 1982 werent acts of madness but were simply the outcome of a criminal episode he had been experiencing at the time. Speaking to author Mark OConnell for his book A Thread of Violence, MacArthur said that he doesnt want to be remembered for the notorious killings, which were described as grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented by former Taoiseach Charlie Haughey. He argued that he lived a blameless life until the murders and has maintained his morals ever since. I lived a blameless life until 1982. Entirely blameless, he told OConnell. If you were to plot my life along a graph, morally speaking, you would see a very flat line for the first 37years, then one very sharp spike in the middle, followed by another completely flat line right up until the present day. I have committed the act of murder. I am somebody who has unlawfully killed. Thats an action that took place, at one point, in my life of 75 years. MacArthurs conversation with OConnell is reported in an article written by the author in the Guardian newspaper today. In 1982, MacArthur a well-known socialite - had just landed back in Ireland from Tenerife after blowing through his inheritance money and needed cash quick. He planned to rob a bank but had no funds to purchase a car or a gun, so took matters into his own hands. On July 22, he walked around Phoenix Park searching for a getaway vehicle and found his first victim, Bridie Gargan, sunbathing. Bridie Gargan, the 27-year-old nurse murdered in Phoenix Park, was Macarthur's first victim Pointing a fake gun at the 27-year-old nurse, he demanded she give him her silver Renault and bludgeoned her with a hammer when she was uncooperative. She died in hospital four days later after being driven there in her car by MacArthur. He then set off to Offaly after spotting a newspaper ad for a shotgun, meeting farmer Donal Dunne on July 25. MacArthur couldnt pay the 1,100 asking price, so allegedly shot and killed Dunne with the weapon he was trying to sell. The killer fled in Dunnes car - first to the Killiney home of diplomat Harry Beiling, whom he held hostage for several hours before Beiling escaped, and then to the house of Patrick Connolly, Ireland's Attorney General. When asked about why he killed two innocent people in the summer of 1982, MacArthur said that there was a financial problem to be solved. You must remember that this was a financial situation. It wasnt what you might call irrationality, or lack of control. There was a problem to be solved. And you might well ask, well, why solve it using this particular technique? And thats a legitimate question. But it wasnt an act of madness. On what he may have been thinking at the time of the murders, the 75-year-old said: I recall thinking, in the time before I embarked on the criminal venture, that if and the word if is very important here if I were to apply myself to some important project, and if I were to achieve something of significance, something that might be worth writing about, the inclusion, in the narrative, of an account of the mundane activity of having to make a living by earning money would, aesthetically speaking, constitute a blemish, or an imperfection, on that narrative. Therefore the solution was criminality. And I dont mean aesthetically in what I would regard as the superficial, Wildean sense of the word, but in the deeper, philosophical sense. This aesthetic sense of my life as a narrative, and that the narrative had to be untainted by earning money. Because that was, in my mind, an inferior activity. Time not given to the higher pursuits, the intellectual pursuits, would have seemed to me to be degraded time. He continued: Now the crucial thing, again, is that the sentence begins with if. If I were to achieve something important. Had that sentence begun with when, then we would be in the realm of personality disorder. Of grandiosity, megalomania, and so on. And there was none of that. It was a disorder not of personality, but of thinking. I believe it was a form of temporary insanity, quite frankly. OConnell asked the convicted killer if believing that the murders were the result of a thinking disorder allowed him to separate himself from his actions. Morally, yes, of course it does, he said. Thats why every day, in prison, I knew that I was not the type of person to have done that. MacArthur admitted to murdering Gargan in Phoenix Park but was not tried over Dunnes death as the state entered a plea of nolle prosequi meaning a prosecution would not take place. This led to a petition of 10,000 signatures calling for MacArthur to be put on trial for the second murder. The petition was ultimately unsuccessful and MacArthur received a life sentence for just one murder, serving 30 years before his release in 2012. Why didnt the PSNI share this with the family? Investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre has posed a series of questions online regarding the investigation into the disappearance of teenager, Noah Donohoe. The 14-year-old was found dead in a storm drain in June 2020, six days after he went missing. This week, the Sunday World revealed how Noah Donohoe snuck out of his Belfast home at 3.30am on the day he would disappear and returned almost 35 minutes later after an unexplained and secret trip. Secret footage, captured just 14 hours before his disappearance, was only revealed to lawyers working for mum Fiona Donohoe more than two years after her sons tragic disappearance. Now crime reporter and documentary maker, Donal MacIntyre, wants to know why footage of the youngster leaving his home in the middle of the night was not shared with the boys family. Why didnt the PSNI share this with the family? When did they share this with the Coroner? Did both parties keep the family in the dark? Why were expert witnesses not given this key information? Donal asked on Twitter. Donal MacIntyre. Mr MacIntyre posted further questions which he wants answered, specifically relating to the young boys state of mind. When did the Coroner know about the CCTV? At the outset he said he knew everything that being the case why did he instruct Oxford prof. to review Noahs mental health without informing Prof of Noahs secret trip? Clearly critical to any Psyc evaluation! Donal wrote. Noah snuck out of his Belfast home at 3.30am on the day he would disappear and returned almost 35 minutes later. The teenager left his home at Fitzroy Avenue in South Belfast in pouring rain and wearing a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops and carrying headphones. When he returned at 4.05am, just as dawn was breaking, he was captured on CCTV soaking wet and without the headphones and the Marks and Spencer flip-flops. The law firm who represent the family only received the footage detailing Noahs late-night journey last October. His mother Fiona insists she had no idea he had left their home and can throw no light on where he may have gone. I had no idea. I havent seen the footage; it is simply too distressing, but my legal team has, and it is shocking and truly concerning. We still have no idea where he was going, if he was meeting anyone or what was the purpose of the trip, Fiona said. CCTV of Noah Mum Fiona has previously raised concerns that Noah may have been coerced into some kind of county lines illicit activity and that this may have played a part in his unusual journey the next day to a part of North Belfast he was not familiar with. Read more Noah Donohoe inquest delayed by questions over CCTV footage and forensics MacIntyre has been investigating the case for months and put together an independent team of experts to unravel the mystery. The group has been conducting a full review of the case with the support of the family for over two years, and a new TV documentary will be broadcast later this year. The journalist revealed that the CCTV of Noah leaving the small block of flats where he lived, leads him to believe PSNI have only disclosed a fraction of the imagery they have of Noahs early morning trip. Donal MacIntyre's appeal for Noah Donohoe documentary support The PSNI have not given any coherent explanation as to why this material was denied the family, and apparently the coroner, for more than two years, said MacIntyre. Noah is then seen returning to the flat at 4.05am soaking wet and this time without his headphones and Marks and Spencer flip-flops. The PSNI has given no indication to the family what other enquiries it has made about this mysterious journey, the investigative journalist added. Coroner, Joe McCrisken, said at the start of the inquest process into the death that there was no evidence of third-party involvement in the events. I consider that, based upon all of the evidence before me at this stage, and the evidence includes extensive CCTV footage and witness statements, that Noah acted alone when he travelled to Northwood Road and entered the drain system, he said at the Belfast Coroners Court. Anyone wishing to donate to the independent investigation can do so at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/the-independent-noah-donohoe-investigation People join arms during a reconciliation revival, part of an event to mark Juneteenth, in Minneapolis (Minnesota), on June 19, 2020. ERIC MILLER (Reuters) Juneteenth was first recognized as a federal holiday in 2021 when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. This historic event marked the first new federal holiday since the adoption of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983. Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, specifically on June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger issued an order proclaiming freedom for slaves in Texas. Initially, Juneteenth was recognized only by certain communities, but it has since grown to become one of the most significant dates for Black Americans. End of slavery During the American Civil War, on September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, a presidential proclamation and executive order that declared enslaved African Americans in Confederate states to be freed. The final Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863. It stated: I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States [in rebellion against the U.S.], and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free The proclamation affected South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, and North Carolina. The Proclamation declared that the executive branch, including the Army and Navy, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. It applied to more than 3.5 million enslaved people in the country. Approximately 25,000 to 75,000 individuals were immediately emancipated in regions of the Confederacy where the U.S. Army was present. However, the enforcement of the Proclamation was not immediate everywhere. Texas, the most remote state of the former Confederacy, had 250,000 slaves. Many planters and slaveholders had migrated to Texas to avoid the war and had brought their slaves with them. News of the Proclamation reached Texas after its issuance, and while many slaves knew about Lincolns order emancipating them, they were not freed since the Union army had not yet reached Texas to enforce the Proclamation. On April 9, 1865, Confederate General-in-Chief Robert E. Lee surrendered, followed by the surrender of the western Confederate Army of the Trans-Mississippi on June 2. On June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived on the island of Galveston to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation with General Order No. 3, which freed all remaining slaves. He also oversaw Reconstruction after the war, nullifying all laws passed within the state during the war by Confederate lawmakers. While it is widely believed that Granger or his troops proclaimed the ordinance by reading it aloud, historians suggest that copies of the Ordinance were more likely posted in public places, including the church attended by Black Americans. The Order read: The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere. A handwritten record showing General Orders, Number 3, issued by United States Major General Gordon Granger, June 19, 1865. It reads "The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere." Interim Archives (Getty Images) The event has come to be celebrated as the end of slavery. However, emancipation for the remaining enslaved individuals in the Union border states of Delaware and Kentucky did not occur until December 18, 1865, with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. Juneteenth as a holiday In Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1866, one year after General Grangers arrival, the first annual commemoration known as Jubilee Day was organized. Other observances took place on January 1 (the day the Emancipation Declaration was issued) or January 4. Some of these early celebrations served as political rallies to provide freed African Americans with instructions for voting. In 1867, Black leaders in Austin, Texas, raised funds to purchase 10 acres of land, now known as Houstons Emancipation Park, to celebrate the holiday. In subsequent years, the event drew thousands of attendees. During the early 1890s, the Black community began using the word Juneteenth instead of Jubilee Day. The word derives its name from combining June and nineteenth. One of the earliest records of its use dates back to 1909 when The Current Issue, a Texas periodical, employed the term. Members of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation hold a ceremony on Juneteenth, to show support against racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Oakland (California), on 2020. KATE MUNSCH (Reuters) Although most early celebrations occurred in Texas, Black Americans who had left the state continued to commemorate Juneteenth wherever they relocated. By the second half of the twentieth century, most states had established Juneteenth celebrations. Texas was the first state to declare Juneteenth a state holiday in 1980. By the end of the century, only three states officially observed the day. Over the next two decades, it gained recognition as an official observance in all states, except South Dakota, until it became a federal holiday under the Biden Administration. Texan Opal Lee and other Black Americans campaigned for decades to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Each year, Lee led 2.5-mile walks, symbolizing the 2.5 years it took for news of the Emancipation Proclamation to reach Texas (although the news had arrived, slaves werent freed until the Union took control of the state). During the bill signing ceremony that designated Juneteenth as a federal holiday, she was an honored guest, and President Joe Biden knelt down on one knee to greet her. Thanks to the holiday, federal government employees now have the day off every year on June 19. If the date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, they have the closest Friday or Monday off, respectively. Junteenth celebrations in 2023 Americans across the country celebrated Juneteenth over the weekend with festivals, parades, cookouts, and friends or family reunions. The relatively new holiday has gained more recognition in various communities. However, some states are attempting to prevent certain aspects of the history of the end of slavery from being taught in public schools. In Memphis, where Juneteenth will also be recognized as a state holiday, local residents and visitors participated in a multi-day festival that included food, music, cultural exhibitions, and more. To commemorate the holiday, the National Civil Rights Museum, the site where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, offered free admission on Monday. Nevertheless, the holiday was not without its incidents. In Chicago, a shooting took place at a Juneteenth celebration, resulting in one fatality and 22 injuries. The incident is still under investigation, and the motives behind it remain unknown. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Fairview Park is fast becoming a no-go area for Inner City families. Loud scramblers churning up grass and drug dealers on e-bikes greet the elderly, dog walkers and young families on a daily basis in Dublins Fairview Park, with a local councillor demanding action from the guards. North Strand Parkside Residence group met this week with Fine Gael Cllr Ray McAdam to discuss ongoing issues in the north inner city. The gardai must up the ante in terms of their visibility, Mr McAdam said. Scrambler bike A residents spokesperson spoke in detail about how difficult it is to live in a building site where rubbish accumulates regularly. The scramblers are an ongoing issue, everyone is afraid an accident will occur and that one of these riders will mow down a child. We have had a lack of engagement from Dublin City council over the issue, they burn up and down on the main roads too. Drug dealing takes place in certain sections, specifically beneath the big bridge over on East Wall road and by the outdoor gym machines on the foot path by the river. It wears you down, gangs along the canal too. Canal gangs On top of that, we live in a building site, rubbish accumulates and it becomes broken windows syndrome, the spokesperson said. Cllr McAdam agreed with locals that an effective solution to the problems needs to be implemented urgently. Over the last six months, having worked with North Strand families, I have reiterated to gardai, including the Assistant Commissioner of the need for a more proactive, targeted policing approach to the scourge of scrambler bikes in Fairview Park, he said. Coupled with blatant drug misuse, anti-social behaviour and a general unkemptness, Fairview Park is fast becoming a no-go area for Inner City families along the North Strand, but also Ballybough and East Wall too. The gardai must up the ante in terms of their visibility in the park and Dublin City Council needs to make the Park cleaner and examine how to make it more difficult for scrambler bike users to access Fairview Park also. Inner city rubbish The residents are desperate to see the aesthetics of the area improve, with the sort of amenities seen in other areas. We have been asking for plant boxes and planting for I dont know how long, there are no trees. There was supposed to be a tea rooms being built. There are all these concentration of apartments going up, what about facilities in terms of amenities, schools and community centres for people? If you walk the Clontarf promenade, just count the number of bins you see, its not the same here. " The fire station areas are constant dumping grounds. It just feels like get everything built and sort problems out later. History just repeats itself. Dereliction The residents group highlighted how concerts in Fairview Park leave the grass completely destroyed for the rest of summer whilst bringing noise pollution. "North Strand doesnt have the black signs you see in other areas which actually define it as a place. This is another part of the problem, the spokesperson concluded. Councillor McAdam said there is a new Dublin Development Plan which includes the north inner city but that funding must be spent accordingly. Residents along the North Strand are effectively living within a building site at present. Regular water outages, traffic restrictions, access to their homes are all things they are experiencing as part of the new cycle way works along North Strand Road. Grass ruined by concerts While these will be fantastic improvements, once complete, Dublin City Council needs to ensure basic services to be provided locally, including better street cleaning, weed removal and the provision of more on street litter bins. Im also asking the North Inner City Greening Strategy team to work with local residents to agree on and deliver local tree-planting and other greening initiatives that can be provided through funding I secured as Chair of the Dublin Central Area Committee, Mr McAdam added. NCA investigators believe the gang has facilitated the trafficking of numerous migrants over several months NCA officers in the UK arrested three men on Monday. Photo: NCA/Twitter The UKs National Crime Agency (NCA) has dismantled an alleged Albanian organised crime group who smuggled migrants into the country in small boats and HGVs. The suspected ringleaders, 34-year-old man from Grays, Essex and a 34-year-old man from Dagenham, were both arrested on Monday morning on suspicion of assisting unlawful immigration. NCA investigators believe the gang has facilitated the trafficking of numerous migrants over several months, charging between 2,500 (2,920) and 7,500 (8,761) each time. ARRESTS A suspected Albanian organised crime group who trafficked migrants to the UK in small boats and in HGVs has been dismantled today after NCA officers arrested three men today. Full story https://t.co/ZqwodMGeI4 pic.twitter.com/cXSKeCYJV4 National Crime Agency (NCA) (@NCA_UK) June 19, 2023 One incident that the group is believed to be responsible for involved the attempted smuggling of 46 migrants, most of whom were Albanian nationals, on a small boat which left from the French coast and was intercepted in British waters last August. Passengers were removed from the boat and taken to a holding centre by Border Force officers. One of those on board was a convicted rapist who had previously been deported from the UK and has since been deported again. The NCA worked closely with Border Forces Small Boats Operational Command to investigate the incident. NCA officers later identified three further incidents involving an HGV believed to be linked to the group in October and November 2022. The truck is believed to have travelled from Coquelles, France, on three separate occasions before stopping at service stations in Cobham and Thurrock, England to drop off migrants. The HGV driver, a 55-year-old man from Belgium, was arrested when his lorry was stopped in the port town of Folkestone yesterday. Two other men were also arrested on suspicion of unlawful entry to the UK at an address in North London. All of those arrested remain in custody to be questioned by NCA officers. Chris Farrimond, Director of Threat Leadership at the NCA, said: We have dismantled a suspected organised crime group behind a number of dangerous migrant crossings last year. People smugglers do not care about the safety of those they transport, they seek to exploit them for profit. Tackling organised immigration crime is a priority for the NCA and we have more than 90 ongoing investigations into networks based here and overseas causing the highest harm. As we target callous organised criminal gangs, we will not hesitate to also pursue HGV drivers complicit in helping them. Gavin Pepper, who has been at the forefront of several marches and demonstrations opposing asylum seekers in Ireland, made the claims on Twitter Anti-immigrant campaigner Gavin Pepper has claimed that gardai investigating the Sandwith Street fire last month raided his Finglas home but is blaming People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy. Mr Pepper, who has been at the forefront of several marches and demonstrations opposing asylum seekers in Ireland, made several claims and allegations in two videos posted on Twitter. The 37-year-old claims he is being blamed for the fire at the Sandwith Street encampment in Dublin which was burnt to the ground after refugees who had been seeking shelter there had been forced out by protestors. He also alleges that Mr Murphy was behind the raid on his family home. As you may, or may not be aware, me house was raided at 6.30am this morning, he begins the video that is recorded as he sits in a car. The kids ma is hysterical. I opened the door and there was a load of them at the door and one of them had a battering ram, a steel thing. And I says, whats with that battering ram, and he (the Garda) said, well, if you didnt answer the door we were gonna batter it down. With that they came in, they didnt show a warrant and they took me into the sitting room and told me to sit down. They took my kids ma upstairs where the kids were and they raided through the house. They seized me phone and me Gym King jacket and I kept asking, whats this for. And he kept saying, well, the Sergeant will be down in a minute, hell talk to ya. So, it went on for ages and I was talking to them and I said this is because Im running as a councillor, isnt it, like, this is Paul Murphy and (the other politician) thats after getting this done. I says, why are you raiding me house, so he (the Garda) walked out the door and he finally says, this is the warrant, but he just flashed it at my face and he goes, see, Sandwith Street and took it away. Paul Murphy He added: I says, but I was gone from Sandwith Street when that fire happened, so obviously thats to do with Paul Murphy, a politician in Ireland. He was blaming me for this particular incident. Pepper then warns that he will be holding Paul Murphy responsible because he was threatening me on Twitter. As hes a politician he must be allowed, politically, to do that, going around knocking at doors asking about me and all that, Pepper adds. So, these people are all connected, theyre all in the one line, and then my house gets raided. So, the reality of it is, is that this is political policing and theyre trying to get me to back down because Im gonna run as an independent (councillor), Pepper continues. Im not gonna let Paul Murphy away with this. The judicial system is broken, its now picking on me, for no reason, so Im not allowing it to go. So, Paul Murphy, Im holding you personally responsible for this, no matter who gave the orders, no matter what judge signed off on it, I dont really care, he adds gesturing to the camera. In response to Mr Peppers claims, Paul Murphy said that he doesnt, in fact, have any power over the gardai. And if I did, I would have directed the gardai not to arrest me and the other water charge protestors, who were arrested, he said. Sandwith Street set alight He also said he had no involvement whatsoever in any Garda raids on peoples houses. And, of course, Gavin Pepper and others like him are free to stand for election and let the people decide, Deputy Murphy added. But Im very confident people will reject the hate and division that Gavin and others are trying to spread. They have a right to those views, of course, and I dont know if Gavin Pepper was involved or not in the fire at Sandwith Street, but nobody has the right to burn asylum seekers out. Mr Murphy who has had people protest outside his own home added: People are free to disagree with my opinions. But I would encourage people not to protest at my family home, or other peoples family homes and to instead bring their protests to more appropriate places, such as the Dail. And I would say that the same applies to the homes of asylum seekers too, he added. Of course, people are free to protest, as I am myself. But I would discourage people from protesting outside these places as it hard not to imagine that this is not to intimidate or harass as opposed to having a public and political debate. Paul-Henri Nargeolet, believed to be the pilot of the missing Titanic tourism sub, has family in Cork. New 3D scans of the Titanic lying at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean were published recently. Photo: Atlantic Productions/Magellan Rescue teams are continuing the search for a submersible tourist vessel which went missing during a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck with five people on board. It comes sundayworld.com can reveal that along with a British billionaire explorer, one of the other people on board has family living in Ireland. Paul-Henri Nargeolet, believed to be the pilot of the missing Titanic tourism sub, has family in Cork. The renowned diver (77) has a grandson still being educated in the city, as well as two adult children. His son was recently with him on a research trip in the United States. The gentle and generous scientist gave a talk at University College Cork on his Titanic work in October 2019, just before Covid, with all proceeds going to the benefit of his grandsons school. Hamish Harding Another of those on board, Hamish Harding, is chairman of private plane firm Action Aviation, which said he is one of the mission specialists on the five-person OceanGate Expeditions vessel called Titan reported overdue on Sunday evening about 435 miles south of St Johns, Newfoundland. Titanic tourists can pay $250,000 to travel to the wreck in the submersible. Search for submersible tourist vessel near Titanic wreck Also believed to be taking part in the expedition is with Stockton Rush, CEO of the OceanGate Expedition. A major search and rescue operation, which is being led by the US Coast Guard and involving military aircraft 900 miles east of Cape Cod, was continuing on Tuesday. The last ping from the submersible, which needs another vessel to tow it, unlike a submarine, which can move under its own power, came from just above the Titanic wreck, at 12,500ft deep. Stockton Rush Titanic wreckage This would be too deep for a military submarine to perform a rescue, according to experts, with air on board thought to be enough to last until about noon on Thursday. However, a remote control submarine, which could reach 20,000ft, could be of assistance, some experts believe. The US Coast Guard said the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince and 106 Rescue wing will continue to conduct surface searches while the US Coast Guard sent two C-130 flights to search for the missing submersible. This photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the companys Titan submersible (OceanGate Expeditions, AP) Rear Adm. John Mauger, a commander for the U.S. Coast Guard, said additional resources would arrive in the coming days. It is a remote area and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area," he said. "But we are deploying all available assets to make sure we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board. According to the Coast Guard, the craft submerged Sunday morning, and its support vessel, the Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later. The Polar Prince will continue to do surface searches throughout the evening and Canadian P8 Poseidon aircraft will resume their surface and subsurface search in the morning, the Coast Guard said on Twitter. The submersible was operated by OceanGate Expeditions. David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate, said the submersible had a 96-hour oxygen supply starting at roughly 6 a.m. Sunday. In an email to The Associated Press, Concannon said he was supposed to be on the dive but could not go due to another client matter. He said officials were working to get a remotely operated vehicle that can reach a depth of 6,000 meters (about 20,000 feet) to the site as soon as possible. OceanGates expeditions to the Titanic wreck site include archaeologists and marine biologists. The company also brings people who pay to come along, known as mission specialists. They take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible. The Coast Guard said Monday that there was one pilot and four mission specialists aboard. OceanGate said its focus was on those aboard and their families. We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible, it said in a statement. Hamish Harding British businessman Hamish Harding was one of the mission specialists, according to Action Aviation, a company for which he serves as chairman. The companys managing director, Mark Butler, told the AP that the crew set out on Friday. There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission, there is equipment on board for survival in this event, Butler said. Were all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound. The Titan submersible lost contact with the surface after one hour and forty-five minutes into its freefall on Sunday. This means its last ping was sent to the mother ship when the Titan capsule was about two miles deep. Veteran ocean expert, Paul-Henri Nargeolet who spent 25 years in the French navy, was previously involved in the discovery of the RMS Carpathia, 120 miles off Irelands southwest coast. In 2012, Forbes magazine called him Titanics Greatest Explorer, and he has visited the wreck of the Titanic more times than anyone else believed to on at least 40 occasions. More recently P. H., as he is widely known, discovered a cold coral reef close to the Titanic wreck, which is to be named after him. For many years Mr Nargeolet had believed that the large echo image he had personally discovered was another shipwreck until he had time to explore the formation in detail last year. P. H. has also been involved in the discovery of various shipwrecks, including missing French naval vessels. In addition, he led an Atlantic expedition to search for the wreck and black box of Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. In April a French court acquitted Air France and Airbus of corporate manslaughter over the 2009 mid-Atlantic crash that killed all 228 people on board, including three medics. Dr Jane Deasy (27) from Dublin; Dr Aisling Butler (26) from Roscrea, Co Tipperary, and Dr Eithne Walls (28) from Co Down, had been on a holiday to celebrate their graduation. Mr Nargeolet is based in Greenwich, Connecticut, but has visited Ireland on a number of occasions, taking also an interest in the wreck of the Lusitania, which sank in 300ft of water off the Old Head of Kinsale when torpedoed by the German submarine U-20 on Friday May 7, 1915, in the course of World War One. The P. H. Nargeolet lecture on his exploration of the Titanic wreck was sold out. It funded an accommodation extension to his grandsons school. Mr Nargeolet also has a relative working in the tech sector in Dublin. The Sunday World is not naming family members at this time because of the sensitivity of the continuing search for the missing mariner. Harding is a billionaire adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. In March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origins New Shepard rocket. Harding was looking forward to conducting research at the Titanic site, said Richard Garriott de Cayeux, the president of The Explorers Club, a group to which Harding belonged. New 3D scans of the Titanic lying at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean were published recently. Photo: Atlantic Productions/Magellan "We all join in the fervent hope that the submersible is located as quickly as possible," he said in a statement. The expedition was OceanGates third annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew. Since the wreckages discovery in 1985, it has been slowly succumbing to metal-eating bacteria. Some have predicted the ship could vanish in a matter of decades as holes yawn in the hull and sections disintegrate. The initial group of tourists in 2021 paid $100,000 to $150,000 apiece to go on the trip. Unlike submarines that leave and return to port under their own power, submersibles require a ship to launch and recover them. OceanGate hired the Polar Prince to ferry dozens of people and the submersible craft to the North Atlantic wreck site. The submersible would make multiple dives in one expedition. The expedition was scheduled to depart from St. Johns, Newfoundland, in early May and finish up at the end of June, according to documents filed by the company in April with a U.S. District Court in Virginia that oversees Titanic matters. CBS journalist David Pogue, who went on the trip last year, noted his vessel got turned around looking for the Titanic. Theres no GPS underwater, so the surface ship is supposed to guide the sub to the shipwreck by sending text messages, Pogue said in a segment aired on CBS Sunday Morning. But on this dive, communications somehow broke down. The sub never found the wreck. The submersible, named Titan, is capable of diving 4,000 meters or 13,120 feet with a comfortable safety margin, OceanGate said in its court filing. It weighs 20,000 pounds (9,072 kilograms) in the air, but is ballasted to be neutrally buoyant once it reaches the seafloor, the company said. The Titan is made of titanium and filament wound carbon fiber and has proven to withstand the enormous pressures of the deep ocean, OceanGate stated. OceanGate told the court that Titans viewport is the largest of any deep diving submersible and that its technology provides an unrivaled view of the deep ocean. In a May 2021 court filing, OceanGate said the Titan had an unparalleled safety feature that assesses the integrity of the hull throughout every dive. At the time of the filing, Titan had undergone more than 50 test dives, including to the equivalent depth of the Titanic, in deep waters off the Bahamas and in a pressure chamber, the company said. During its expedition in 2022, OceanGate reported that the submersible had a battery issue on its first dive, and had to be manually attached to its lifting platform, according to a November court filing. In the high sea state, the submersible sustained modest damage to its external components and OceanGate decided to cancel the second mission for repairs and operational enhancements, the filing stated. More missions, however, followed. The company reported that 28 people visited the wreck site last year. Experts said Monday that rescuers face steep challenges. Alistair Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London, said submersibles typically have a drop weight, which is a mass they can release in the case of an emergency to bring them up to the surface using buoyancy. If there was a power failure and/or communication failure, this might have happened, and the submersible would then be bobbing about on the surface waiting to be found, Greig said. Another scenario is a leak in the pressure hull, in which case the prognosis is not good, he said. If it has gone down to the seabed and cant get back up under its own power, options are very limited," Greig said. While the submersible might still be intact, if it is beyond the continental shelf, there are very few vessels that can get that deep, and certainly not divers. Even if they could go that deep, he doubts they could attach to the hatch of OceanGate's submersible. There is so much noise around women and what they should and shouldnt be and at what age they should tick all the boxes Presenter Elaine Crowley revealed she might have acted differently had she known she would have early menopause. The TV star opened up about life, family, happiness and everything in between during an honest and inspirational interview in Thailand. Speaking with RSVP magazine, Elaine gave insightful thoughts on mental health and ageing, whilst looking incredible on the beach. The Cork woman spoke about her past battles with low mood and how she has dealt with that issue. I know I have spoken openly about depression, but it wasnt that, I was basically in the doldrums. I was full of woe is me, thinking I dont have a husband, I dont have children, I dont have everything I imagined I would have at this stage. Elaine at the IFTAs. Picture: Brian McEvoy Yes, I dont have my own house, yes, I am renting, but I have a job, I have a roof over my head, I have money in the bank and, most importantly, I have a family that I absolutely adore. That is all that matters: the health and happiness of my family. Its an easy trap to fall into. I dont know, maybe it has something to do with being in my 40s as well. There is so much noise around women and what they should and shouldnt be and at what age they should tick all the boxes, she said. Elaines older brother, who is in his 50s, recently had a child. That is not anything that a woman can do naturally, so there are different life paths for men and women and we are on a different time frame. It would be too tiring to parent on my own. Im 45 and am exhausted as it is, imagine running after a child? I had early menopause and because of that, when I wanted children, it was too late for me. If I knew Id have menopause in my 30s I might have acted differently. Elaine and her sister Maggie Crowley. Picture by Frank McGrath Elaine enjoys all the positive aspects of being a single woman but she highlights both sides of the coin. You have one spin on this planet and you need to make the most of it, and I dont ever want to be miserable and lonely in a relationship ever again. Single people have the beauty of celebrating themselves every Sunday morning with brunch if they want to. There are pluses and minus in that. Some of my friends would love to be able to sit around all weekend in their PJs, and if that is what I want to do for a few days, I can do it, and I love that. Its swings and roundabouts, there are lonely times being single and without kids too. "There will always be times when other scenarios are more desirable, its human nature that far away hills are often greener, Elaine added. She previously told RSVP that meeting someone was not a priority and that she wasnt a big fan of dating apps. That wouldnt be for me. If you meet someone, you meet them, what happened to meeting someone and having a conversation? Dating apps, from what I have seen, just seems like another full-time job! she said. Elaine also opened up about ageing and the death of loved ones, something every person has to contend with. I worry about getting older: will I be on my own, who will be around me, what will happen to all of the people I love and what will happen to me? Im looking at 10 or 20 years into the future. I know that I cant go on like that, life is as good as it gets now, there are ups and downs, but what worries me is the future, not about any ups and downs from the present. My trip to Thailand showed me that I must refocus my thinking on the present and sharpen what is important to me and, more importantly, what isnt. Speaking about the loss of her beloved mother Mary V in November 2021, Elaine says she is still deeply grieving. When you lose your mother, it is a pain you will always have, she was 80 and had a good life, and Im grateful for that. As devastating as it is, losing your mother isnt unique to me, it is part of life. None of us know how long we are going to be here for, I know I have no regrets when it comes to my mother. I miss her terribly, I miss my dad 22 years later. Dry July, now in its 11th year, is set to make an impact as it calls upon Kiwis to take part in a month-long alcohol-free campaign. This powerful initiative not only challenges participants but also addresses the soaring demand for crucial cancer support services across the nation. By participating in Dry July, individuals not only provide vital funding for essential services that support cancer patients as they navigate their lives beyond treatment but also challenge themselves to give up alcohol for one month. The demand for these support services has never been more urgent. Dry July empowers cancer patients with the tools, resources, and sense of belonging needed to navigate their post-treatment journey. This year, Dry July pledges its support to three major cancer support charities: Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand PINC&STEEL Cancer Rehab Foundation of NZ Look Good Feel Better Each of these organisations plays a vital role in enhancing the lives of New Zealanders facing cancer by offering practical services that address the physical and emotional toll of the disease. Prostate Cancer Foundation of NZ Chief Executive Peter Dickens sheds light on the emotional and financial distress experienced by cancer patients. He acknowledges the vital assistance provided by Dry July funds to patients and families through their nationwide network of exercise classes known as Prost-FIT, as well as counselling services and welfare grants. 'Dry July is a fantastic campaign that utilises a unique way to engage the public and bring hope to those diagnosed with prostate cancer all across Aotearoa New Zealand, says Peter. PINC&STEEL Cancer Rehab Foundation of NZ founder Lou James is the leading force behind the cancer rehabilitation movement in New Zealand and Australia. Thanks to her incredible work, thousands of people affected by cancer have been supported in their recovery to reclaim their lives and thrive beyond cancer. The trained physiotherapist and mother-of-two was inspired to start the program after seeing first-hand the emotional and physical toll cancer had on her clients and their families. 'People were suffering and didn't know how to find the support and rehab they needed that would allow them to live a normal life post-cancer treatment, says Lou. 'The more people I saw in my own clinic suffering, the more I realised I had the skills needed to help change lives. 'The aftermath of treatment can present a range of physical, emotional, and financial burdens that continue long after the last chemotherapy or radiation treatment." Look Good Feel Better General Manager Clare O'Higgins expresses gratitude for the continued overwhelming support received from New Zealanders. She emphasises that through the generosity of individuals participating in Dry July, Look Good Feel Better has expanded its reach to provide over 380 programmes, both in-person and online, for individuals at any stage of cancer. "The level of support shown by New Zealanders is truly incredible," says Clare. "Together, we can make a difference and create a better life for those impacted by cancer." Dry July stands as a powerful movement that not only benefits personal health but also bridges the gap in cancer support services, ensuring that no New Zealander fights this disease alone. By committing to Dry July, participants show empathy for Kiwis living with cancer and provide them with a new lease on life through these transformative programs. Registration for Dry July 2023 are now open. Whether signing up, sponsoring a friend, or joining as a team or workplace, interested individuals can visit www.dryjuly.co.nz to get involved and make a lasting impact. About Dry July The Dry July campaign challenges people to give up alcohol for the month of July and raise funds for people affected by cancer. People can participate as individuals or may choose to create a team or participate as a workplace team. Dry July started in Australia in 2008, when three mates decided to abstain from alcohol for a month to raise money for a cause close to their hearts. Hoping to raise $3,000 to buy a TV for their local hospital's waiting room, the initial campaign was a huge success and ended up raising over $250,000. The Dry July campaign launched in New Zealand in 2012, run by the Dry July NZ Trust, and has since had over 61,000 people take part, and raised over $9 million to support cancer patients, their families and carers. English Language Partners would like to acknowledge all of their 90 volunteer home tutors for the valuable work they do supporting the migrant community, on this National Volunteer Week. Te Wiki TAao A-Motu National Volunteer Week is on from June 18-24, to honour the collective energies and mana of volunteers in New Zealand. The theme this year is he wA pAataata time to shine' and the week is a great way to get out there and volunteer your time to a plethora of great causes. 'We are now welcoming new volunteers to train to become ESOL tutors and help our new New Zealanders to settle into life in this new country, says English Language Partners BOP manager Philippa Cairns. Training starts on July 21. No prior teaching experience is needed, and full support and resourcing is given. This NZQA-approved certificate course is followed by matching up with a suitable learner, and meeting once-a-week for up to two hours in the learner's home. This is a great opportunity to learn about new cultures in-depth and help someone settle effectively in the community. English Language Partners is the largest settlement agency in New Zealand for refugees and migrants, with 22 centres around the country, with nearly 2000 volunteers. Email them at: philippa.cairns@englishlanguage.org.nz for more information or phone: 07 571 4181. When the water started rising at WaihA Beach last month, local RSA manager and community volunteer Mel Gearon was ready to rescue flooded residents - and give them a hot meal and a place to rest. It was raining hard on May 29 at the beach when Mel had a call from a friend about 2pm saying it was starting to flood. Mel is a trained volunteer firefighter so she raced to the station where they were getting call after call from anxious residents. Their first callout was to people trapped in a flooded car, but an off-duty firefighter had already rescued them so they raced off to the pensioner flats in Beach Road. They don't flood often, but on this day the elderly residents were watching the water rise rapidly. 'We got people out as it was already knee deep, but within minutes it was waist deep as water came pouring through," says Mel. The WaihA brigade had also arrived, and St John, so we double checked that everyone was out and had to persuade some that they had to go. 'I called Mike the chef at the RSA and told him to bring the van down to collect people and take them back to the evacuation centre at the RSA, got someone to pick up my two children after school and began checking houses along Brighton Road. Back at the RSA they made lists of who was there, who needed alternative accommodation and who needed dry clothes. 'That's something we'll be adding to our existing emergency kits - track pants and tops and blankets. We already have some medical items, radio and other things in a big bin. 'I also had to check on my staff and make sure they were ok. The council was brilliant and St John had blankets for wet people. We fed everyone and then took them where they needed to go. Helping where she's needed is second nature to Mel. She's been with the fire service for eight years and has been volunteering for 16 years, starting with Playcentre, Parents Centre, the surf club and then working in events and promotion for the town. 'I've learned useful skills with the fire service and over time I have enough phone numbers and contacts of people who can help in a crisis. If you can help, why not. 'It's exhausting, but satisfying and I don't like seeing people who are in need. If I have the knowledge to help, why not pass it on. I don't want to be that person who doesn't know what to do in a crisis. She also uses her interest in volunteering when choosing her staff, and raising her children. 'I look for that volunteering on their CV. If you can find space in your life for those around you then you should volunteer. I tell my kids, do something to contribute. It's your community. Te Wiki TAao A-Motu National Volunteer Week honours the collective energies and mana of volunteers in New Zealand. They grow our people, open minds, open hearts and create joy. Running from June 18-24, National Volunteer Week is a great way to get out there and volunteer your time to a plethora of great causes. The theme this year is he wA pAataata time to shine'. TAao Aotearoa Volunteering New Zealand is encouraging people to celebrate how our communities are stronger when we all work together. Post your volunteer celebrations and activities to social media with the hashtag #NVW2023 to share! For more information about National Volunteer Week and additional resources, visit: nationalvolunteerweek.nz To find a volunteer role in the Bay of Plenty go to the Volunteering Services website to find a role that suits you. Cabinet has agreed to a market study into competition in the banking sector for personal banking services to ensure the market is working well for New Zealanders. Kiwis need to know they can trust their bank with their finances, says Finance Minister Grant Robertson. 'The cost-of-living is top of mind for many Kiwis and we need to ensure there's a competitive market among banks providing personal loans, mortgages, credit cards and other banking services so that people have confidence they are getting the best deal possible when doing their banking. 'There have been long standing concerns that the market is not working well for New Zealanders. Banks have consistently made high profits over a number of years and their returns have outperformed their peers in other countries." Robertson says New Zealand's banking sector is dominated by a small number of big players. "Four major banks make up around 85 per cent of the mortgage and other lending market, and hold a 90 per cent share of total bank deposits. Loans by smaller lenders are growing but remain small in comparison. 'There has not been an in-depth look into competition issues in New Zealand's banking for some time, and New Zealand lags other countries such as Australia and the UK into doing a detailed analysis into banking services." The Minister says he wants to be clear this study is not about bank conduct and culture. "The Financial Markets Authority and Reserve Bank carried out an investigation in 2018 into this issue which has already resulted in a number of measures to protect consumers." This market study is the first step in understanding banking competition issues, says Commerce and Consumer Minister Duncan Webb. 'The Commerce Commission will focus on examining barriers to new competitors entering or expanding in the market, the introduction of innovative products and services and consumers' ability to switch between banks," says Webb. 'As part of the study, the Commission will examine banks' profitability and other financial measures to assess competition in the sector." Webb says the study will be completed by the end of August 2024 and will determine any actions needed to make sure competition is working for bank customers. 'In the interim, the Commission is expected to release a preliminary issues paper in August this year. I expect this paper will describe the structure of the industry and provide early indications on the nature of competition. It will set a clear signal of direction for the study and may uncover discrete issues which the Government could take steps to resolve, ahead of the final report. 'Separately, we are getting on with our work on open banking and establishing a consumer data rights regime by releasing a draft Bill for consultation this week." Open banking will put consumers in the driver's seat of how their data is used and shared. 'While consumers already share their data, this will allow people to do so in a safe and secure manner between trusted providers," says Webb. 'This will set rules and regulations for providers to follow in handling and securing consumer data and make the sharing of that data safer, faster and easier." Investigators look over the scene of an overnight mass shooting at a strip mall in Willowbrook, Ill., Sunday, June 18, 2023. Mass shootings and violence killed and wounded people across the United States this weekend, including four people found dead of gunshots in a small Idaho town, a Pennsylvania state trooper killed in an ambush, multiple people firing guns into an Illinois holiday crowd and bullets flying among teenagers partying in Missouri. The shootings happened in cities and rural areas alike, following a surge in homicides and other violence over the past several years that accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic. This weekend also brought mass shootings in Washington state, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Southern California and Baltimore. Theres no question theres been a spike in violence, said Daniel Nagin, a professor of public policy and statistics at Carnegie Mellon University. Some of these cases seem to be just disputes, often among adolescents, and those disputes are played out with firearms, not with fists. Researchers disagree over the cause of the increase. Theories include the possibility that violence is driven by the prevalence of guns in America, or by less aggressive police tactics or a decline in prosecutions for misdemeanor weapon offenses, Nagin said. Only the Idaho killings fit the definition of a mass killing in which four or more people die, not including the shooter. However, the number of injured in most of the weekend cases matches the widely accepted definition for mass shootings. Heres a look at the shootings this weekend: Kellogg, Idaho Police in Idaho arrested a suspect in a shooting that killed four people on Sunday at a home behind a church. Responding officers found four people, all dead from gunshot wounds, at a residence in Kellogg, according to the Shoshone County Sheriffs Office and news reports. Idaho State Police said a 31-year-old man was detained, KXLY-TV reported. A neighbor at the scene told the TV station that there had been an ongoing dispute between neighbors at the location. It happened behind the Mountain View Congregational Church, the Shoshone News-Press reported. Willowbrook, Illinois At least 23 people were shot, one fatally, early Sunday in a suburban Chicago parking lot where hundreds of people had gathered to celebrate Juneteenth, authorities said. The DuPage County sheriffs office described a peaceful gathering that suddenly turned violent as a number of people fired multiple shots into the crowd in Willowbrook, Illinois, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. A motive wasnt immediately known. Sheriffs spokesman Robert Carroll said authorities were interviewing persons of interest, the Daily Herald reported. We just started hearing shooting, so we dropped down until they stopped, a witness, Markeshia Avery, told WLS-TV. The White House issued a statement calling the violence a tragedy and saying the president was thinking of those killed and injured. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement that he was monitoring the investigation. Gathering for a holiday gathering should be a joyful occasion, not a time where gunfire erupts and families are forced to run for safety, Pritzker said. Washington State Two people were killed and two others were injured when a shooter began firing randomly into a crowd at a Washington state campground where many people were staying to attend a nearby music festival on Saturday night, police said. The suspect was shot in a confrontation with law enforcement officers and taken into custody, several hundred yards from the Beyond Wonderland electronic dance music festival. A public alert advised people of an active shooter in the area and advised them to run, hide or fight. The festival carried on until early Sunday morning, Grant County Sheriffs Office spokesman Kyle Foreman said. Organizers then posted a tweet saying Sundays concert was canceled. Central Pennsylvania One state trooper was killed and a second critically wounded just hours apart in central Pennsylvania on Saturday after a gunman attacked a state police barracks. The suspect drove his truck into the parking lot of the Lewistown barracks about 11 a.m. Saturday and opened fire with a large-caliber rifle on marked patrol cars before fleeing, authorities said Sunday. Lt. James Wagner, 45, was critically wounded when he was shot after encountering the suspect several miles away in Mifflintown. Later, Trooper Jacques Rougeau Jr., 29, was ambushed and killed by a gunshot through the windshield of his patrol car as he drove down a road in nearby Walker Township, authorities said. The suspect was shot and killed after a fierce gunbattle, said Lt. Col. George Bivens, who went up in a helicopter to coordinate the search for the 38-year-old suspect. What I witnessed ... was one of the most intense, unbelievable gunfights I have ever witnessed, Bivens said, lauding troopers for launching an aggressive search despite facing a weapon that would defeat any of the body armor that they had available to them. A motive was not immediately known. St. Louis An early Sunday shooting in a downtown St. Louis office building killed a 17-year-old and wounded 10 other teenagers, the citys police commissioner said. St. Louis Metropolitan Police Commissioner Robert Tracy identified the victim who was killed as 17-year-old Makao Moore. A spokesman said a minor who had a handgun was in police custody as a person of interest. Teenagers were having a party in an office space when the shooting broke out around 1 a.m. Sunday. The victims ranged from 15 to 19 years old and had injuries including multiple gunshot wounds. A 17-year-old girl was trampled as she fled, seriously injuring her spine, Tracy said. Shell casings from AR-style rifles and other firearms were scattered on the ground. Southern California A shooting at a pool party at a Southern California home left eight people wounded, authorities said Saturday. Authorities were dispatched shortly after midnight in Carson, California, south of Los Angeles, KABC-TV reported. The victims range in age from 16 to 24, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department said in a statement. They were taken to hospitals and two were listed in critical condition, the statement said. Authorities said they found another 16-year-old boy with a gunshot wound when they responded to a call about a vehicle that crashed into a wall nearby. Baltimore Six people were injured in a Friday night shooting in Baltimore. All were expected to survive. Officers heard gunshots in the north of the city just before 9 p.m. and found three men with numerous gunshot wounds. Medics took them to area hospitals for treatment. Police later learned of three additional victims who walked into area hospitals with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. The wounded ranged in age from 17 to 26, Baltimore Police Department spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge said. San Francisco Six people were injured after a car-to-car shooting in the streets of San Francisco on Sunday evening, police said. Two victims sustained gunshot wounds, one with life-threatening injuries, in the moving shootout beginning shortly before 7 p.m., San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said at a news conference Sunday. Suspects in two cars, a black SUV and a white sedan, drove very recklessly and chased each other while engaged in gunfire near the northern waterfront, Scott said. The area includes Fishermans Wharf, one of the citys busiest tourist areas. Three victims were injured by glass shards caused by errant gunfire, Scott said, with none of the injuries considered to be life-threatening. Two girls, ages 10 and 16, were struck by one of the two vehicles while walking their bicycles across the street. The younger girl was injured and transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries while the older girl was not injured, Scott said. It appears that this was an isolated incident and these individuals were targeting each other. We dont believe this was random at all, he said. Philadelphia A 4-year-old boy was among five victims of a shooting in south Philadelphia Saturday night. Police responded to the block shortly before 8 p.m. Saturday and found a 58-year-old woman with gunshot wounds to the legs, a 54-year-old woman with gunshot wounds to her wrist and leg, and the boy, who was brought to Presbyterian Hospital with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. A 30-year-old man also arrived at the hospital with a gunshot wound to the wrist and a 40-year-old man was brought in with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The last victim was listed in critical condition; all others were said to be in stable condition. Police said the shooter was an unidentified person wearing dark clothing. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition On Wednesday, June 21, a significant date in Tauranga's history, a few hundred people are expected to gather at dawn at the Te Ranga battle site. The public are invited to attend the 159th commemoration of the Battle of Te Ranga, with parking available on the Te Ranga Reserve which is located at the corner of Pyes Pa Road and Joyce Road. Everyone is also welcome to place a wreath or floral tribute, and some will be planting a native tree. Commemorations will begin at 7.30am with Western Bay of Plenty District Council Mayor James Denyer as the guest speaker this year. Morning tea refreshments at Aquinas College will follow with a chance to see the future plans for the development of the reserve . The Te Ranga battle is significant in shaping Tauranga due to its outcome, in that many see that the loss of lives was consequential in terms of the leadership at that time. Some say that it's like New Zealand after the first World War, when a whole of generation of future leaders was lost; it was the same for this battle for Tauranga Maori. And then not long afterwards followed the confiscation of the land. In 1864, following their humiliating defeat at the battle of Gate Pa which shocked New Zealand's European settler community and its military and political establishment, some of the British force at Tauranga returned to Auckland. Lieutenant-General Duncan Cameron also returned to Auckland, leaving Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Greer in command of a large British garrison on the Te Papa peninsula. Greer was ordered to attack immediately should Maori forces begin constructing another pa in the district. Meanwhile their opponents, led by Rawiri Puhirake and comprising fighters from Ngai Te Rangi, Ngati Ranginui, Ngati Rangiwewehi and Ngati Pikiao from Rotorua, and Ngati Porou from the east coast, began building a pa at Te Ranga, five kilometres inland from Gate Pa. Unfortunately for the Maori, British reconnaissance discovered this fortification before it was completed. On the morning of June 21, Greer left Camp Te Papa, now the Tauranga CBD, with a force of 600 -700 men. Five kilometres inland from Gate Pa, the British force discovered the 500 to 600 Maori working on the defensive earthworks at Te Ranga. Early that afternoon, following the arrival of reinforcements, Greer ordered men from the 68th and 43rd regiments and 1st Waikato Militia to advance. The 43rd mad for revenge' for their losses at Gate Pa 68th and 1st Waikato regiments stormed the rifle pits. The battle that followed has been described as among the bloodiest of the New Zealand campaigns. In desperate hand-to-hand fighting, British troops exacted terrible vengeance for Gate Pa. The Maori garrison was unable to hold the incomplete defences and slowly withdrew. When Puhirake, the hero of Gate Pa himself was killed, the retreat became a rout. British cavalry gave chase, but could not penetrate the nearby bush. More than 100 Maori, including the chivalrous Henare Taratoa, were killed or mortally wounded at Te Ranga, as were 13 British troops. The visiting iwi suffered heavy casualties, which contributed to their subsequent enthusiasm for the Pai Marire insurgency. The Maori defenders including Puhirake were buried in the trenches at Te Ranga. Twenty-seven severely wounded Maori were taken to hospital at Te Papa camp. Fourteen did not long survive the battle and were buried at Mission Cemetery. Among the mortally wounded was Te Tera of Ngai Te Rangi, the only one to be identified in official reports. The one-sided battle at Te Ranga largely crushed resistance in the vicinity of Tauranga Harbour. Some Ngai Te Rangi and Ngati Ranginui surrendered arms to the British at Camp Te Papa in ceremonies on July 21 and 25. Much of their land was subsequently confiscated. Peace came to Tauranga although this was far from the surrender' the British claimed it to be. Redevelopment of the land where the Battle of Te Ranga took place has been underway with plans to create a special place of remembrance and storytelling. Drone shot of Battle of Te Ranga site. Photo: Supplied. Plans to restore the reserve were developed during the Te Papa Spatial Plan process. The Pukehinahina Charitable Trust, in partnership with NgAi TamarAwaho, received funding from Tauranga City Council as part of an initiative to upgrade the historic site and provide more opportunities for the community to engage with the stories of Tauranga Moana. Tauranga City Council allocated $531,000 for the project through the Long-Term Plan (LTP), and a further $114,000 was provided for site preparation, consultation, and planting. The funds are allocated for use over 2022 and 2023 with the project due to be completed in 2023. Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council have also contributed funds. Everyone is welcome to attend the 159th commemoration of the Battle of Te Ranga at the Te Ranga Reserve at 7.30am on Wednesday June 21. A council-police community safety plan fails to address the root cause of crime - poverty, a councillor believes. Rotorua Lakes councillor Lani Kereopa has spoken out over the plan which is being developed to cut crime and antisocial behaviour in the city - including violent offending, shoplifting, graffiti and theft from cars. Kereopa told Local Democracy Reporting she supports the plan and partnership between Rotorua Lakes Council and police. But in her view: 'My issue is that it's focused on being an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. Areas such as Fordlands and Kuirau were in the 10 per cent most deprived in the country, ranked as decile 10 on the 2018 New Zealand Index of Deprivation. Rotorua Lakes Deputy mayor Sandra Kai Fong at the April 5 council meeting. Photo: Laura Smith. Kereopa says children resorted to stealing food and clothing to survive, and it continued into adulthood. She believes victims of child abuse and violence sometimes 'learn a disregard for the bodies of others, and it could result in future offending. The plan, in her view, should therefore have a 50/50 split of resources to nourish and protect children and to catch and punish youths who turned to crime. 'That should be the starting point and we should have a timeline by which we expect to move to 80 per cent resourcing going towards improving social equity and 20 per cent towards catching criminals. She likens the focus on catching criminals to when iwi and police met to address the meth epidemic she says ravaged the city's communities a decade ago. She says iwi did not think sending its people to jail is the answer and it needs resourcing and support to help whAnau with addictions to provide sustainable solutions to both meth and crime issues. The first-time councillor also believes equity in council services across its communities is important for making them safer, including for fair and effective public services such as transportation, cleaning and lighting, water supply and recreation services across all suburbs. The plan needs to recognise that communities within Rotorua have different levels of advantage and required different approaches and resources to get equitable service outcomes, she says. 'That also includes equity in decision-making relating to things like consenting of liquor and gambling licences and commercial and industrial zoning. 'Obviously, all these things are connected to the health and wellbeing of communities and have been shown to directly correlate with the safety or otherwise of communities. She says the council did not outline in the plan how it would support local social services to grow and build on work in the communities with the most need. Therefore she believes the plan should include strategies, resourcing and timelines to ensure appropriate support for things like addictions and mental health. 'Many of the crime and safety issues we are currently experiencing here in Rotorua have been caused by the actions of government departments as part of their emergency housing strategies. Collectively, she says the council, police and local social service providers should be calling for targeted funding for Rotorua to address the social needs of the homeless, 'who have ended up here as a direct result of government departments channelling of people with social issues from around the country here. In response, acting mayor Sandra Kai Fong says community safety was of top priority for the new council. 'We're well aware of social issues that were exacerbated by the number of emergency housing motels in and around Fenton St and our CBD. 'This is why within two months of being elected we had negotiated and signed the Rotorua Housing Accord with a goal of significantly reducing emergency housing motels, and therefore reducing social issues. She says the council was limited in what it could do in the community safety space, which is why it is working with police to combine resources. 'We've had great success already from this partnership and we are working on longer-term solutions for community safety which require resourcing and a comprehensive plan between multiple government and community agencies. She says the council's Child Equity Programme is well established and hundreds of children had access to what they needed to thrive because of it. A final strategy document will be presented to councillors in the coming months. Rotorua area commander inspector Herby Ngawhika. Photo: Laura Smith Rotorua police area commander Inspector Herby Ngawhika says police are focused on keeping communities safe and continue to deploy staff to the times and places it knows it needs to have a presence in. 'We also know we need collaboration and community partnership to address the underlying causes of crime, and the plan will address that. He says it recognised not all issues were for police to manage alone. 'This is why we are partnering with Rotorua Lakes Council and will continue to work with other community partners on local solutions for what are complex social issues. Housing Minister Megan Woods and Police Minister Ginny Andersen were approached for comment. - Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air Javier F. Barrera Granada Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Telegram The Hidden Alhambra is the headline on the cover of this June's National Geographic magazine printed over a stunning photograph of the interior of the Comares tower. The caption says that 'in the tower of Comares, built in the 14th century by Yusuf I and used as a throne room, is the emir's small private oratory, with its 'mirhab' facing Mecca, horseshoe arch and inscriptions'. The magazine's summary, on page 3, explains how "the Nasrid dynasty wrote the best chapters of its history on the Alhambra. But this part of the palatine city remains hidden from the eyes of those who do not know how to decipher the scripts. Access to areas closed to the public, the restoration work carried out in the Hall of the Kings and its exceptional paintings, and a tour of the pieces housed in the museum, reveal the ancient Nasrid splendour". The first part of the text explains that "we enter the heart of the last fortress of Al-Andalus in search of its secret corners". It is a journey that begins as follows: "The end of January. It is raining in Granada. It is not usual, but precisely because of this the dissuasive weather allows access to a different Alhambra, practically on your own". Ampliar This month's issue of June. Pepe Marin Magic and gloom From there, the text takes the reader to the Lindaraja viewpoint, "which retains neither its original name nor the landscape for which it was conceived". This is followed by photos showing part of the canalisations, specifically the Tendilla cistern. All magic and gloom. The magazine's maps and infographics hold a surprise. On a double page, there is an infographic entitled 'Written in the Alhambra'. "Verses, blessings, dynastic slogans, praises to God and the sultan, reminders of victories.... The Red Fortress is a poem palace on whose walls the Nasrid dynasty wrote the best chapters of its history before disappearing. An Alhambra still hidden from the eyes of those who do not know how to decipher them". The text continues. It mentions the 'Escalera del Tiempo', the 'Sala de las Camas', the 'Silo Grande del Secano' which is under the Alhambra, sprinkled with meaningful phrases. "Ask the nights for what you want and decide what you want for the days", for example, in the courtyard of the Harem. The texts have been written by Emma Lira, a Spanish journalist, writer and traveller. The photos are by Jose Manuel Navia, considered one of the most important contemporary photographers in Spain. KYODO NEWS - Jun 20, 2023 - 07:55 | Feature, All, Japan As the problem of abandoned homes grows more serious across Japan, innovators are devising methods to repurpose aged wood from Japanese-style homes and rundown merchant buildings to give it a second life as modern timber products. A think tank in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, where industry flourished in premodern times thanks to shipping trade and mining operations, has embarked on a project to make practical use of the quality wood used to construct many houses in the region. The company, called Everyplan Co., is involved in revitalizing western Japan's Chugoku region by demolishing old traditional homes to prepare the wood for processing. Japan faces major issues because of its aging society and population drain in rural areas. Inside a vacant house in the mountain town of Kawamoto, a two-hour drive from the prefectural capital of Matsue, Motoki Moriyama, 41, of Everyplan looks up at the sturdy pine beams supporting the ceiling. "You can no longer get something of such quality," Moriyama said. Despite this, the house itself is in ruins, with part of the roof caved in. "We must hurry with the demolition. If the house collapses, we won't even be able to reuse the timber." Everyplan began the initiative as a project to "revive the value of vacant houses" while subsidized by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry at the end of last year. In Shimane and other areas, forlorn grand old houses remain as vestiges of the prosperous shipping and mining industries along the Sea of Japan route built during the Edo (1603-1868) and Meiji (1868-1912) periods. After tearing down the houses, Everyplan sells the beams, pillars, floorboards and other wooden structures. Millions of yen are needed to demolish an old house. Everyplan pays a portion of the costs, depending on the quality of timber, which is processed into furniture and modern interior building materials. In general, the large pieces of timber are sold as is, and it is still rare for the wood to be milled for ease of use. The company intends to exhibit the products at domestic and international trade fairs and sell them to construction companies. Everyplan sees opportunities to popularize the use of old timber, which was considered expensive until the surge in prices of imported lumber from the so-called "wood shock" caused by a global decrease in supply in recent years. With an initial capital investment of 30 million yen ($214,000) including the ministry's subsidy, the company has targeted 20 million yen in sales in fiscal 2023. "Good Japanese traditional houses collapse while studies are being conducted on how to utilize them. I thought I should do something to prevent this," Moriyama said. Born in Oda, Shimane, Moriyama majored in architecture at Kyoto University and became an assistant professor at his alma mater after conducting research about the traditional townscape of the ancient Japanese capital. He also studied towns in Shimane and recognized their value. Alarmed by the ever-advancing decay he saw, he quit the university and joined Everyplan in 2018 in a bid to build a business that addressed the problem. Participants in the project include Hajime Wilds, a 32-year-old furniture worker born in the city of Izumo, who works with Moriyama on conjuring up ideas. Wilds learned furniture design in his father's native country, the United States. "In reality, it would be best if people continue to live in the houses, but as they are now, they're just rotting away," Wilds said. Moriyama hopes that his project will serve as a catalyst to rethink the tendency to build and tear down homes in Japan. "A long passage of time makes towns and architecture attractive. I want to help lots of people recognize the value of tradition," he said. Related coverage: Kyoto eyes empty homes tax to stem exodus of young people 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. Taylour L. Leone recently joined Advance Media New York as a senior healthcare account executive in their sales division. Leone earned a bachelor of arts degree in television-video production/broadcast journalism from SUNY Plattsburgh and an MBA in business administration and management from SUNY Empire State College. The Shikoku Shimbun - Jun 20, 2023 - 16:33 | All, Japan Takamatsu Red Cross Hospital has just completed a renovation project that spanned about a decade, ushering in a new era as a base hospital that underpins medical services in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, and its surrounding area. A grand opening ceremony was held at the hospital on June 17, with medical professionals from nearby areas invited to preview the hospital's facilities. The project involved the construction of the hospital's central medical treatment building in 2014 and the main building's helipad-topped North Tower, which went into service in 2020. The completion of a parking lot in May this year capped the extensive work. About 70 people, including the heads of other hospitals nearby, attended the commemorative ceremony. In his remarks, Kagawa Gov. Toyohito Ikeda, who doubles as head of the Kagawa chapter of the Japanese Red Cross Society, said, "This renewal has improved the hospital's usability. We would like to provide elevated levels of medical service to the people so they can live safely and with peace of mind." Yasuki Kihara, head of the Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, delivered a keynote speech. During a preview session, medical professionals in the region toured an operating room that has consolidated angiography and computed tomography functions, a device called a linear accelerator, or linac, that destroys cancer cells with high-energy X-rays, as well as the da Vinci surgical assistance robot. The newly built parking lot has meant additional parking space for about 80 vehicles, including 10 for people with special needs, according to the hospital's general affairs division. As an anti-disaster measure, an underground fuel tank has been built, providing the hospital with up to three days of emergency electrical power. "We intend to make further contributions to protecting the health and lives of local people," hospital director Kazunobu Nishimura said. The Shikoku Shimbun Related coverage: Cycling event showcases Tosan region's scenic beauty Restauranteur using farmed salmon to promote famous art island Naoshima Udon "Maranic" event held in western Japan New York Air National Guards 174th Attack Wing, headquartered at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, held a ceremony to welcome a new commander during a formal change-of-command ceremony at the Syracuse site on Sunday, June 4. Col. John R. OConnor, a Rochester resident, formerly assigned to the 107th Attack Wing, will replace Cazenovia resident Col. William McCrink III as the commander of the 174th Attack Wing. McCrink will be retiring after 27 years of military service. Syracuse, N.Y. - Firefighters fought to keep flames from spreading from one house to another Monday as a fire swept through an attic in Syracuse, firefighters said. Around 5:31 p.m., firefighters were dispatched to 1114 S. Geddes St., for a reported house fire, said Capt. Matt Craner, a spokesman for the Syracuse Fire Department. On scene, firefighters could see heavy smoke coming from the second floor and attic of the two-and-a-half story, two-family home, Craner said. Firefighters discovered the bulk of the fire was coming from the attic, Craner said. Everyone inside the home evacuated before firefighters were on scene, Craner said. Craner said firefighters initially stretched hoses into the home to fight the fire, but extreme heat and heavy smoke at the top of the attic stairs forced them to fight the flames from the outside. Deputy Chief Zachary Smith said the fire department had to use booms, aerial waterways on the top of engine trucks, to get a lot of water into hard to reach spots from the outside of the home. After firefighters knocked the bulk of the fire down from the outside, they went back into the home with hoses to fight the flames on the inside, Smith said. The home next door at 1112 S. Geddes St. sustained water damage as firefighters worked to keep the fire from spreading, Craner said. The home the fire started in sustained extensive fire, water and smoke damage, he said. Craner said one firefighter suffered minor burns and was taken to a local hospital for evaluation. Their injuries are not considered serious, he said. Nine people three from 1114 S. Geddes St. and six from 1112 S. Geddes St. were displaced from the homes. None of them were injured during the fire, Craner said. All occupants were assisted by the American Red Cross, he said. Craner said the fire took 80 minutes to put out. How the fire started is still under investigation, he said. Staff writer Darian Stevenson covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at dstevenson@syracuse.com Richland, N.Y. - A man and three teen boys were taken to a Syracuse hospital Sunday evening after they were injured in a crash in Oswego County, troopers said. Around 3:43 p.m., officers responded to a two-vehicle crash at State Route 3 and Hager Drive in the town of Richland, according to a news release Monday from State police. Nathanial W. Hunter, 20, of Brownville, was driving north at a high rate of speed on State Route 3 when he passed several vehicles in a no passing zone, troopers said. Hunters 2017 Mitsubishi Lancer then hit the driver side of a 2000 Chevrolet Prizm when he attempted to make a left turn onto Hager Drive, they said. More than 800 poor Syracuse students will continue to receive free food over the weekends after donors contributed more than $160,000 after learning the service was in danger of ending. A syracuse.com | The Post-Standard story reported in April that the Syracuse program of Blessings in a Backpack, a national charity, was set to close for the year due to a lack of contributions. I read the paper pretty religiously and that article was so moving, said Pastor John Carter of Abundant Life Church in East Syracuse. My sister saw it about the same time I saw it and we both felt, Yeah, we need to do this. Instantly. The same day Carter read about the plight of Blessings in a Backpack, Mercy Works, a non-profit created by the church, donated $38,000. That was the amount Blessings needed to keep the service going for the rest of the school year. Weekend food was suspended for two weeks before being revived by the contributions. Other donors stepped up, resulting in Blessings receiving enough money to return for all of next school year. Community Foundation of Central New York donated $40,000. In all, 450 donors contributed with donations as small as $10. Blessings serves 850 students at 20 Syracuse schools. The national charity distributed nearly 3.2 million bags of ready-to-eat food to children at 1,118 schools in 46 U.S. states and the District of Columbia during the 2021-2022 school year, according to its website. Syracuse students are served free meals during school hours Monday through Friday. Blessings fills the weekend void. Syracuse had the highest child poverty in the nation among cities with at least 100,000 people, according to census data released last year. Its a good feeling to see people stepping up and making sure that our families and our students are good, Superintendent Anthony Davis said. Donations over $1,000: CNY Community Foundation - $40,000 Mercy Works - $38,000 The Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation - $25,000 Charles T. Reller - $5,000 Deborah S Haines- $5,000 John Powers- $5,000 Dairy Farmers of America- $1,022.80 Shelly Casterline- $1,022.80 William Gottschalk-Fielding- $1,022.80 Estate of Albert Pisegna- $1,000 Evangelical Lutheran Church of The Good Shepherd- $1,000 Ginny Grieb- $1,000 Jerilyn E. Costich- $1,000 Tom Paul- $1,000 Watchdog/Public Affairs reporter Melissa Newcomb covers education, including Syracuse University and the city schools. For tips, contact her anytime at mnewcomb@syracuse.com, 315-679-1068, or @melissarnewcomb on Twitter. By Tim Balk | New York Daily News The New York State Assembly is set to return to Albany on Tuesday to dig into some unfinished business little more than a week after it wrapped up its regular session. The special session is not expected to be ambitious in scope, and the Assembly is not poised to revisit housing after Albanys ruling Democrats came up short of any home-creation accord and gave up earlier this month. KYODO NEWS - Jun 20, 2023 - 13:48 | World, All, Japan Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako offered flowers Tuesday at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery, which honors those who fought for Indonesia's independence, during their visit to the country. Among those buried at the cemetery in Jakarta are 28 former Japanese soldiers who remained in Indonesia after the end of the Japanese occupation and joined the fight for independence from the Dutch Empire. The offering came a day after the emperor and the empress met with four descendants of some of the former Japanese soldiers who remained in the country. Second-generation Japanese Heru Santoso Eto, 63, who acts as chairman for Yayasan Warga Persahabatan, an organization made up of descendants, expressed gratitude at the meeting. His father died in 2003 at the age of 84 and is buried in Kalibata. According to the YWP, around 1,000 Japanese soldiers remained to fight for Indonesia's independence, of which half died or went missing. Japan branded them deserters, but Indonesia awarded them Indonesian nationality and medals for their services in 1965. Yoga Kusuma Barata, 24, said his great-grandfather Kaneo Ueda decided to remain in Indonesia because he fell in love with an Indonesian woman, whom he later married, and "he had a new responsibility." "The responsibility defeated his longing for his homeland, Japan," Yoga told Kyodo News in a recent interview, saying it was part of the Bushido samurai principles practiced by his great-grandfather. "Because of this, he is my role model until now," Yoga added. Indonesia, a former Dutch colony, was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army for around three and a half years during World War II. The nation declared independence in 1945 after Japan surrendered in the war and then fought against the Dutch until 1949. "It is important to remember those who lost their lives, deepen an understanding of past history and cultivate love for peace," the emperor said during a press conference ahead of his visit. The visit is the second overseas trip for the emperor and the empress since his ascension, their first being to attend the funeral of Britain's Queen Elizabeth. The couple received an invitation from the Indonesian president in July last year. Related coverage: Japan emperor in Indonesia hopes people exchanges further friendship Japan emperor, empress travel to Indonesia for 1st goodwill visit 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. 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. ChiragM Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,520 Thanked: 17,160 Times Re: Porsche partners with Microsoft to celebrate 75th anniversary; reveals limited-edition Xbox seri Quote: RahulNagaraj Originally Posted by All the liveries will be reinterpreted to fit on the outside of the Xbox hardware. The liveries will further make their way onto the wireless controllers as well. The limited-edition Porsche-themed Xbox Series will not be sold, but rather raffled off as part of a sweepstakes that Porsche fans can enter until October 8, 2023. Also, the sweepstakes will be available only to customers in the US, UK & Germany. The Xboxes will also be part of the brand's major auto & gaming-themed events across the globe. I am in the market for a Xbox Series X which I plan to get by the end of the year. Since it is part of the sweepstakes, I would not mind getting home one of these. In fact, being a Porsche fan and since it is a limited edition, I would love to get one of these home. That said, I do agree with the general comments saying that it is ugly. To me, 3 of them are very ugly, but No. 26, 23, and 43 (Martini livery) are ones I like and would wish to get them home. I also wish that Porsche had added the Gulf livery instead of the green one. The point here is that these are not for sale, they part of sweepstakes.I am in the market for a Xbox Series X which I plan to get by the end of the year. Since it is part of the sweepstakes, I would not mind getting home one of these. In fact, being a Porsche fan and since it is a limited edition, I would love to get one of these home.That said, I do agree with the general comments saying that it is ugly. To me, 3 of them are very ugly, but No. 26, 23, and 43 (Martini livery) are ones I like and would wish to get them home. I also wish that Porsche had added the Gulf livery instead of the green one. KYODO NEWS - Jun 20, 2023 - 21:49 | All, Japan The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday convicted a married couple of the 2021 murder of an 18-year-old high school girl in Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. The court sentenced Shohei Komori and his wife Izumi to 23 and 18 years in prison, respectively, for the abduction and murder of the Tokyo girl, who was strangled with a rope and stabbed several times in the back with a knife at a storage shed. The court found their acts "brutal and well-planned." Presiding Judge Takenobu Someya said Shohei Komori had developed an obsession with the girl, whom he met on social media, and killed her out of fear of police finding out that he had abducted her. The court judged that Izumi Komori, 30, had gone along with her 29-year-old unemployed husband from Gunma Prefecture, north of Tokyo, in the crime due to her psychological dependence on him. But the court rejected her defense team's claim that she was in a state of diminished capacity. While she had a psychological dependence disorder, its influence on her behavior was limited and she was mentally competent at the time of the crime, the court said. According to the ruling, the couple conspired to send messages to the girl's cell phone and abducted her on Aug. 28, 2021, after luring her into a car at a parking lot in Tokyo. She was murdered two days later in Yamanashi. A lawyer representing the girl's parents said at a press conference following the ruling that her life had been "treated too lightly." Prosecutors had sought 25- and 22-year prison sentences for Komori and his wife, respectively. The father of the victim, who had been allowed to make a statement earlier in court and had requested the death penalty, was present in the courtroom Tuesday and shouted out that the sentence was "too light" immediately after it was delivered. Related coverage: Couple arrested after missing Tokyo high school girl found dead Couple indicted for murder of Tokyo high school girl in Aug. WTF?! It seems that Apple really wants people to think of the Cupertino company whenever they see an image of the fruit - and not just one with the iconic bitemark. The tech giant is trying to trademark images of actual apples around the world. Wired UK writes that Switzerland's oldest and largest fruit farmer's organization, Fruit Union Suisse, has used a symbol of a red apple against a white cross for most of its 111-year history. But it might be forced to change that logo due to Apple's quest to trademark the fruit. Apple has been trying to trademark depictions of apples in Switzerland since 2017 when it submitted an application to the Swiss Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI). It wants the IP rights for a realistic, black-and-white depiction of a generic Granny Smith apple. Apple's request included a list of potential uses - electronic, digital, and audiovisual consumer goods and hardware but only some were granted as generic images of common goods like apples were considered to be in the public domain. The company appealed the decision in the spring as it looks to secure the rights for common uses of the apple image, such as audiovisual material meant for television and other transmissions. The case is still proceeding through the courts. "We have a hard time understanding this, because it's not like they're trying to protect their bitten apple," Fruit Union Suisse director Jimmy Mariethoz says. "Their objective here is really to own the rights to an actual apple, which, for us, is something that is really almost universal [] that should be free for everyone to use." Mariethoz says that there are concerns over the case as nobody knows what type of apple images the iPhone maker will pursue if it believes them to be infringements on its trademarks. It's not just Switzerland where Apple is making requests for these types of trademarks. World Intellectual Property Organization records show it has tried the same thing in dozens of countries and has found success in Japan, Turkey, Israel, and Armenia. Apple isn't just focused on trademarking images of its namesake fruit. The company launched a trademark lawsuit in 2020 against tiny app developer and fitness startup Super Healthy Kids over claims the logo used in its Prepear recipe app a pear - was based on Apple's logo. Prepear eventually changed the image (above), altering the pear leaf slightly to settle the dispute. Masthead: Suzy Hazelwood What just happened? Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, has warned that when it comes to the production of electric vehicles, the United States is still not ready to compete with China. Speaking about China's EV industry during an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, Ford said "They developed very quickly, and they developed them in large scale. And now they're exporting them [...] They're not here but they'll come here we think, at some point, we need to be ready, and we're getting ready." The US automaker in February announced that it would be investing $3.5 billion in building an electric vehicle plant in Michigan. Reuters writes that the deal will use technology from Chinese battery company Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd, which led to Senator Marco Rubio asking the Biden administration to review the deal. Ford says the Michigan battery plant is a chance for Ford engineers to learn the technology and use it for themselves. "It [Michigan] is a wholly owned Ford facility. They'll be our employees, and all we're doing is licensing the technology. That's it." Ford said. In May, China said it had become the world's biggest exporter of cars after overtaking Japan in the first three months of the year. The country exported 1.07 million vehicles in the period, an increase of 58% compared to the first quarter of 2022, partly due to extra demand from Russia. For comparison, Japan's exports during the first three months of 2023 were 954,185, up 6% year-on-year. Elon Musk's Shanghai Tesla plant is a big exporter of EVs. It passed the million-vehicles-made milestone last August and is expected to increase its yearly production capacity from 1.5 million. On Sunday, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the US must take step steps to cut China's advantage in EV batteries, and that building the refining capacity for key materials is "addressable." Buttigieg added that the US must build relationships domestically and internationally for raw materials and refining capacity. Chinese firms make up more than half of the EV battery market and provide as much as 90% of the demand for some battery materials. An independent think tank report from earlier this year concluded that China was ahead of the US when it comes to research in 37 out of 44 crucial and emerging technologies, including electric batteries, one of the areas that China has a high risk of monopolizing. What just happened? Nvidia has reportedly requested a sample of the next-generation High Bandwidth Memory (HBM3E DRAM) from South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix, aiming to evaluate its impact on GPU performance. If everything proceeds as anticipated, the company plans to use the new technology in its future GPUs for AI and HPC. The DigiTimes report comes almost a month after SK Hynix announced that its 5th-generation 10nm process, 1bnm, has completed the validation process and is ready to power next-gen DDR5 & HBM3E solutions. The company also revealed that Intel's Xeon Scalable platform has already been certified by the American chipmaker to support DDR5 products built on the 1bnm node. Back in January, it received Intel certification for the 4th-gen 10nm (1anm) DDR5 server DRAM. SK Hynix also announced that in test runs, DDR5 products built on the 1bnm node ran at 4.8Gbps; the maximum speed of DDR5 stipulated in the JEDEC standards is 8.8Gbps. According to a report by Tom's Hardware, the HMB3E memory will significantly increase the data transfer rate from the current 6.40 GT/s to 8.0 GT/s, thereby increasing the per-stack bandwidth from 819.2 GB/s to 1 TB/s. However, it's not immediately clear if the new technology will be compatible with the existing HBM3 controllers and interfaces. SK Hynix is preparing HBM3E product samples for the second half of this year with the goal of getting it into mass production by the first half of 2024. The company already has a partnership with Nvidia, providing its HBM3 product for the latter's H100 Hopper Compute GPU. With a 50 percent share of the total global market, SK Hynix is currently the HBM market leader ahead of Samsung, which has a 40 percent overall market share. If Nvidia approves its latest technology, this could help the company extend its lead over Samsung in the HBM sector. It remains uncertain which of Nvidia's compute GPUs will utilize SK Hynix's HBM3E memory if the deal is successful. However, speculation suggests they could be integrated into team green's next-gen products, expected to be released in 2024. There's also speculation that Nvidia may dump HBM3 entirely in favor of HBM3E for its Hopper-Next GPUs, but this has yet to be officially announced by either party. Meanwhile, Samsung is also said to be working on its own Snowbolt HBM3P memory offering up to 5 TB/s bandwidth per stack, so it will be interesting to see how that compares to SK Hynix's HBM3E in real-life performance. Why it matters: A new European mission will soon depart for its deep space destination, providing scientists here on Earth with a very advanced exploration tool. Its mission: to finally solve the mysteries hiding beyond dark matter and dark energy. Named after the Greek mathematician thought to be the father of geometry, Euclid is an upcoming space exploration mission which will soon depart aboard a Falcon 9 Block 5 reusable rocket. Developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Euclid Consortium with a 1 billion budget, the space telescope will study visible to near-infrared electromagnetic radiation to provide scientist with a better understanding of what dark energy and dark matter actually are. The Euclid mission was initially planned to launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket, but the invasion of Ukraine forced the ESA to stop its collaboration with the Russian space agency (Roscosmos). The telescope will now depart Earth on a SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, launching from Cape Canaveral on July 1, 2023 weather conditions permitting. After launch, Euclid will have to travel 1.5 million kilometers to reach its destination, the second Lagrange point. The orbit, which is the same used by the James Webb Space Telescope, will let the space observatory peek into the cosmos with the Sun, Earth, and Moon orbits behind it. According to Stephen Wilkins, an astronomer at Sussex University, Euclid has the same resolving power as the venerable Hubble Space Telescope with the additional ability to survey a third of the night sky at the same time. Therefore, Euclid will provide an "incredibly detailed" map of the observable universe, Wilkins said. The two main scientific instruments aboard Euclid are VIS, a camera operating at visible wavelengths, and NISP, which includes detectors sensitive to near-infrared light radiation. Together, the tools will study the universe by exploiting a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing, collecting light which has been distorted and deflected by the gravitational field of the gargantuan cosmic structures they passed through. Dark matter is the theoretical form of matter which pervades the universe, perhaps making up 85 percent of all matter while avoiding interaction with the electromagnetic field. Dark matter has had a strong influence on the structure and evolution of the universe, scientists think, while dark energy is an unknown form of energy which affects the universe on the largest scales and is seemingly accelerating its expansion. Andy Taylor, astrophysicist and professor at Edinburgh University, highlighted the importance of the Euclid mission for studying and understanding the universe. We cannot possibly say that we know what the universe actually is if we don't understand the fundamental nature of its elusive "dark components" (ie dark matter and dark energy), Taylor said. One thing that not many people know about EVs is aside from the fact that they're charged differently and use electricity as opposed to gas, they also come with smart abilities, which can be improved with the help of the right operating system. This is what the partnership between Polestar ad Xingji Meizu is trying to accomplish. Polestar is Partnering with Xingji Meizu to Create a Special OS for Its Own Chinese EVs Now, Tesla has its own operating system and this has long helped the company release its own updates and improve the software of the car remotely. There have been certain problems with the EV that the company has fixed through a simple software update. According to the story by Tech Crunch, Polestar cars that were sold in China previously lacked its own dedicated operating system. Previously, they used Android Automotive OS for all their vehicles since they didn't have one for themselves. The company is now working with Xingji Meizu to create a special OS for its own Chinese EVs. This comes as the company has to reduce its use of Google because of the Chinese government's restrictions. China's Importance in the EV Market Google reportedly has a very small marketshare in China due to the restrictions, although Polestar integrated its Android Automitve OS to power its vehicles infotainment systems. Now, the company is partnering with Xingji Meizu to create its own operating system. The report by Tech Crunch details that this shows exactly how important China is for Polestar, due to it being the leader in EV sales. Xingji Meizu also has a lot of experience in the EV and automobile space, especially due to its founder. Eric (Shufu) Li, the founder of Xingji Meizu, also serves as the founder and chairman of Geely, a Chinese auto giant. It was noted that over the last decade, the company has been trying to become the Chinese rival of Android. Xingji Meizu Created the Flyme Auto OS, Which Already Powers Several EVs Xingji Meizu previously created the Flyme Auto OS, which can already be used by several EVs. This includes the Lynk & Co 08 EVs. Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath gave a statement regarding China's importance in the EV market. Ingenlath also commented on how China's market had very specific consumer trends, which improved the integration between vehicles and consumer electronics devices. The CEO noted that through their partnership with Xingji Meizu, a company it described as having strong complementary competence, they will be able to offer what both drivers and passengers expect. Read Also: Volkswagen Group Achieves New Milestone for Producing 1 Million MEB-Based EVs Polestar, Volvo, and the Majority of Meizu are Owned by Geely Polestar, which is reportedly also owned by Geely, expects to be transferring around 130 commercial staff in China toward its new company. The new company would be the sole entity responsible for handling Polestar's sales and service in China. An article by Electrek, also noted how Geely, the parent company of Polestar and Volvo, bought out a majority stake in Meizu. Now, Geely reportedly owns 79.9% of Meizu as it looks to expand its digital platform offerings. Related Article: Tesla Conducts Cybertruck's Final Winter Testing in New Zealand 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Repairing one's phone can be both inconvenient and very expensive, depending on the prices of local repair shops. Sometimes, even getting a repair from the brand itself can be difficult, especially if owners don't have a warranty. Samsung Self-Repair Kits for UK Customers This is where self-repairs start to gain popularity as it involves kits, complete with instructions, that help gadget owners perform repairs on their own devices themselves. As major companies have already started to launch self-repair kits, Samsung is expanding the availability of its self-repair kits in the UK, according to the story by Engadget. As detailed, Samsung has reportedly just announced a self-repair program that would finally be available in the UK and other European countries. This comes after it was previously launched in the US in 2022. It was noted that Samsung owners would be able to access tools, parts, and instructions needed to fix supported devices. So far, the supported devices were still limited to the Samsung Galaxy S20, S21, and S22 smartphones. The Program was Designed to Optimize Performance of Users' Devices Regarding laptops, it was noted that the models included include the Galaxy Book Pro regular as well as the Galaxy Book Pro 360 laptops. Samsung's Head of Mobile experience and President TM Roh gave a statement regarding the situation. As per Roh, Samsung was working on extending the overall lifecycle of their devices. This was in order to encourage users to experience optimized performance with their own Galaxy devices "for as long as possible." It was also noted that the company was committed to scaling its self-repair program worldwide, which means it could also be planning on expanding to other locations and offering its self-repair solutions to other places as well. Other Places Already Offer the Samsung Self-Repair Program Aside from the UK, Samsung also makes the program available in places like Belgium, France, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, Spain, and even Sweden. To do this, the company partnered with iFixit in the US. When it comes to Europe, Samsung will be partnering with ASWO and 2Service for the handling of sales and distribution of its repair kits within the location. It was noted that so far, the program is already available in certain places in Europe and will be expanding to other regions, including the UK, before July. The report by Engadget details that owners of Samsung Galaxy S20, S21, and S22 series devices would be able to replace critical parts of their devices. These include the phone screen, back glass, and even the device's charging ports. Read Also: Weibo Rumors Claim OPPO Find N3 Will Have Wireless Charging Support Owners can Check the UK Support Page to Learn More Should buyers need a Galaxy Book Pro, they will reportedly have access to seven different parts. These parts include the case front, case rear, display, touchpad, battery, power key with fingerprint reader, and even the rubber feet. Samsung owners that want to learn more about the UK self-repair program can check out the official Samsung UK support page. Related Article: iPhone 15 Models Will Have 48 MP Camera, New Rumor Claims 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Apple is known to go to any extent to try and protect its trademarks, especially its apple-shaped logo. However, the only exception this time is that the tech giant has gone a bit too far to safeguard its trademark. According to a report published by Wired, the Cupertino tech giant is trying to get IP (intellectual property) rights over the depiction of apples, the fruit, in Switzerland. This has caused Fruit Union Suisse, a 111-year-old farmers organization that has been promoting the interests of Swiss fruit growers, to worry, as they may no longer be able to use an apple to promote its products if Apple wins the case. The company will be forced to change its logo. For most of its history, Fruit Union Suisse has represented itself with a red apple logo along with a white cross the Swiss national flag placed over one of its most common fruits. We have a hard time understanding this, because its not like theyre trying to protect their bitten apple. Their objective here is really to own the rights to an actual apple, which, for us, is something that is really almost universal that should be free for everyone to use, Jimmy Mariethoz, Director of Fruit Union Suisse, told Wired, referring to the companys iconic logo. Mariethoz also added that there is no clarity on what uses of the apple shape Apple will try to protect. Were concerned that any visual representation of an apple so anything thats audiovisual or linked to new technologies or to media could be potentially impacted. That would be a very, very big restriction for us. Theoretically, we could be entering slippery territory everytime we advertise with an apple, Mariethoz continued. Apple first tried to protect the fruit trademark in Switzerland in 2017, wherein the Cupertino giant submitted an application to the Swiss Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) requesting the IP rights for a realistic, black-and-white illustration of a Granny Smith apple. It applied for an entire apple image rather than its trademark apple with a bite. Apple also submitted an extensive list of potential uses, mostly centered on electronic, digital, and audiovisual consumer goods and hardware. Following a prolonged back-and-forth between both parties, the IPI partially granted Apples trademark request, saying that Apple could have rights relating to only some of the goods it wanted, citing a legal principle that considers generic images of common goodslike applesto be in the public domain. However, in April 2023, Apple filed an appeal against the decision to win the rest of the rights. Since the court proceedings are still pending and require consent from Apple, the IPI couldnt disclose details of its request but includes common uses such as audiovisual footage meant for television and other transmission. Further, according to the World Intellectual Property Organizations records, similar requests have been made to dozens of IP authorities around the world, with authorities in Japan, Turkey, Israel, and Armenia complying with the request. Whether Apple has a chance of winning its legal battle remains to be seen. In the event it does, it could have widespread repercussions on many industries beyond the tech world. This could also set a dangerous precedent for other companies to pursue similar legal battles over common items. A 2022 investigation by the Tech Transparency Project, a non-profit that researches Big Tech, discovered that Apple filed more trademark oppositions than Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, and Google combined between 2019 and 2021. KYODO NEWS - Jun 20, 2023 - 19:49 | World, All Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi, 78, has spent her third birthday in a row under detention following the ouster of her democratically elected government in a military coup. Suu Kyi, whose birthday fell on Monday, faces a total of 33 years in prison -- essentially a life sentence -- after being tried on 19 charges, including corruption and election fraud. According to sources familiar with her situation, Suu Kyi is in a relatively healthy state. She has been held in a small building in the compound of a prison in the capital Naypyitaw since June last year, after being under house arrest. Suu Kyi's younger son, Kim Aris, issued a video statement ahead of her birthday calling on the junta to release her and return power to a democratically elected government. "This is an appeal firstly to the Burmese military to release my mother and all political prisoners and to commit to a ceasefire whilst opening negotiations to hand power back to the democratically elected government," Aris, who lives in Britain, said in the statement released Saturday. Along with Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, other senior members of her government as well as other pro-democracy activists and politicians were arrested by the military after the coup, most of whom remain in detention. Suu Kyi's now-dissolved political party, the National League for Democracy, on Monday urged the junta to hold dialogue with her to resolve political problems arising from the coup. "We will work effectively in collaboration with allied countries and allied forces both inside and outside the country for the immediate release of all political prisoners without exemption, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," the party said in a statement, employing an honorific used for older women in Myanmar. Activities to mark Suu Kyi's birthday have been held in areas controlled by the pro-democracy People's Defense Force, such as the Sagaing region of central Myanmar, as well as in other countries, local media reports said. Many of her supporters in Myanmar posted photos of themselves with flowers in their hair -- similar to those often worn by Suu Kyi -- on social media Monday, in celebration of the democracy icon's birthday and as a peaceful protest to call for her release. In the video statement, Aris also accused Japan and India of supporting the Myanmar military. "It is disappointing, to say the least, that countries such as Japan and India which is supposed to be the largest democracy in the world will have anything to do with the junta," he said. Aris said he is especially saddened as he has fond memories of having lived in both Japan and India as a child. Activists and opposition groups have been criticizing India for reportedly selling arms to the military even after the coup. The military is being accused of using excessive force against anti-junta resistance forces in the ongoing conflicts across the country. The activists and groups have also condemned the Japanese government for not imposing sanctions on the junta, although many Japanese businesses have either left the country or gradually suspended their operations since the coup. Related coverage: At least 50 killed by Myanmar junta airstrike: reports Myanmar junta dissolves ousted leader Suu Kyi's party Myanmar's junta leader vows to crush anti-military resistance forces FUZHOU, June 19 (Xinhua) -- "We earn a lot of money from mushroom. It has changed our life." Agriculture experts attending a symposium in China's Fuzhou have spoken highly of China's Juncao technology for helping people in developing countries shake off poverty. #GLOBALink Produced by Xinhua Global Service These are the best roads in the Balearic Islands to travel on foot Origin of life: Have you cracked the mother of all questions, Ulrich Schreiber? Two years after the "Burrow Painter" came out of the circle: no longer collecting waste and pursuing the dream of oil painting 60 years since Barbie came to Sweden: "A reflection of the outside world" Driving during the flood season needs to be cautious Vehicles are flooded, these self-rescue knowledge should be learned! Where to go during the summer? Digging for "treasure spots" from textbooks He contributed to the establishment of the Arab Socialist Baath Party and the unity of Syria and Egypt. Michel Aflaq the Syrian who Saddam erected a statue for him Al-Budaiwi talks to Al Jazeera about the achievements of the Cooperation Council for the Gulf States and its position on Sudan, Syria and Yemen The Palacios Group asks not to consume its tortillas sold in Carrefour, El Corte Ingles, Dia and 9 other supermarkets "To give the viewer a sense of a person, the world around him": 85 years since the birth of Alexei German Sr. Sayo Ichikawa, who has been selected to win the Akutagawa Prize, has a special corner at a local Yokohama bookstore Kabuki "Heisei Nakamura-za" to perform in Kitakyushu for the first time in 4 years Kankuro Nakamura's press conference The latest of them is the Englishman Maguire, defender of Manchester United. Players stripped of the captain's armband Vingegaard and the shadow of doping: "I wouldn't take anything I couldn't give my daughter" The pioneers of the Spanish women's team: "My father used to tell me: 'Aren't you ashamed, in the midst of so many children, a woman alone?'" Hong Kong volunteers at the Chengdu Universiade: I want to show the world the style of Chinese college students Shohei Ohtani contributed to three consecutive wins against the Yankees with four walks, including no hits "It seems that a victory has been won, but there are nuances": FIG allowed Russian gymnasts to compete in neutral status Stina Blackstenius: "It's tough to see people you care about go through that" (Women's World Cup) preview: Canada and Spain are expected to get off to a "good start" As "individual neutral athletes": World federation wants to allow Russian gymnasts again from 2024 Report: The level of national financial literacy in China varies greatly in different regions In the first half of the year, the export performance of the "new three things" was good, and the green characteristics of China's industrial economy are outstanding 10% increase in electricity on 1 August: the result of opening up to competition? After the release of the central heavy document, Ma Huateng and Lei Jun spoke out GDP growth rate forecast for this fiscal year is 1.3% in real terms, the highest level in 32 years Cabinet Office The Supreme Court refuses to annul the adoption of a child that was hidden from his biological father A gas explosion in a five-story building in Stupin was staged by a tenant who decided to kill his wife and children "I was like paralyzed": Enedis condemned to replace the Linky meter of an electro-sensitive woman Three activists arrested for sneaking into Ibiza airport sticking to a private jet and spraying it with paint Activists of Futuro Vegetal spray paint on the megayacht of the Walmart heiress docked in Ibiza The astonishing data of the time trial in which Vingegaard swept Pogacar: "He scored more watts than expected" Striving to strengthen the army under the banner of the Party: A review of the leadership and party building of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core to promote the people's army in the new era Antonov: The United States does not have the courage to admit that plans to defeat Russia are failing Vingegaard and the shadow of doping: "I wouldn't take anything I couldn't give my daughter" RaHDit hackers published the routes of ships from which they could hit the Crimean bridge Communities 2019 - Privacy The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them. BEIJING, June 20(Xinhua) -- A selection of the best press photos from Xinhua. Attendees sing the national anthem at the 19th national congress of the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) in Beijing, capital of China, June 19, 2023. The CYLC convened its 19th national congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan) This aerial photo taken on June 19, 2023 shows the newly built part of Xiamen North Railway Station on the Fuzhou-Xiamen high-speed railway in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province. The newly built part of Xiamen North Railway Station, with a construction area of 250,000 square meters, is located on the north side of the current Xiamen North Railway Station. After the completion of the newly built part, the Xiamen North Railway Station will have 13 platforms and 27 rail tracks in total, with an annual passenger volume of 50 million. The new Fuzhou-Xiamen high-speed railway is the country's first cross-sea high-speed railway. With a designed speed of 350 km per hour and eight stations along the route, it is expected to slash the travel time between the two cities to just one hour. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan) This photo taken on May 15, 2023 shows a night view of Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Institute in Jingdezhen, east China's Jiangxi Province. Jingdezhen is a world-famous "porcelain capital" in east China's Jiangxi Province. The city has four national-level industrial heritage sites. In the past few years, Jingdezhen has advanced the protection and utilization of industrial heritage, injecting new vitality to the city's development. The old workshops in Taoxichuan industrial heritage complex have been transformed into art museums, galleries, livestreaming workshops, traditional ceramic workshops, restaurants and hotels. Cultural relics unearthed from the imperial kiln site, an industrial heritage site which dates back to the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911), are on display at the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Institute, which is located next door to the imperial kiln relics site. (Xinhua/Lu Zhe) This aerial photo taken on June 15, 2023 shows people visiting the Slender West Lake scenic spot in Yangzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. China's Grand Canal, a vast waterway connecting the northern and southern parts of China, was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. Yangzhou, a scenic city through which the Grand canal runs, has been known for canal-side attractions like Slender West Lake and Sanwan canal scenic area. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng) This aerial photo taken on June 18, 2023 shows a view of Sanjiangyuan area in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province. The Sanjiangyuan area, known as China's "water tower," contains the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers. Located at an average altitude of more than 4,700 meters, Sanjiangyuan National Park is the world's highest national park covering a total area of 190,700 sq km and boasts one of the highest concentrations of biodiversity in the world at high altitudes. (Xinhua/Zhang Long) People dressed in Santa Claus costumes celebrate during the 4th Santa Claus National Encounter at Pier Maua in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 18, 2023. (Photo by Claudia Martini/Xinhua) An artist paints with chalks during Pasadena Chalk Festival in Pasadena, Los Angeles County, the United States, June 18, 2023. The weekend of June 17-18 marked the 30th Annual Pasadena Chalk Festival. Over 500 artists from all over the world came together to celebrate the unique art form. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua) Members of a Civil War re-enactment troop are seen in front of the Lincoln Memorial during Juneteenth celebrations in Washington, D.C., the United States, on June 19, 2023. Celebrated on June 19, the holiday marks the day in 1865 when Union Major General Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 in Galveston, Texas, emancipating the remaining enslaved people in the state. For enslaved Americans in Texas, freedom came two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Front) is seen at a UN high-level conference of heads of counter-terrorism agencies of member states at the UN headquarters in New York, on June 19, 2023. The international community should focus on prevention as the most effective approach to ending the global menace of terrorism, Guterres said on Monday. (Manuel Elias/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua) Models present creations of SHANGHAI TANG Spring/Summer 2024 collection during Milan Men's Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, on June 19, 2023. (Xinhua/Jin Mamengni) SHANGHAI, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The Global Exhibition CEO Shanghai Summit opened Monday in the eastern Chinese city after a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19. The three-day event is being hosted by the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association (SCEIA). It is focusing on hot topics such as embracing digitalization, innovating venue services, and better helping small and medium-sized enterprises to go global through exhibition platforms. The resumption of the summit is an important sign of the full recovery of China's convention and exhibition industry and its return to the center of the global exhibition market, bringing new opportunities to the global convention and exhibition industry, said Chen Xianjin, an official from the SCEIA. Over the past decade, China has been the fastest-growing exhibition market and almost all internationally renowned exhibition enterprises have set up subsidiaries in Chinese cities such as Shanghai, according to Chen. Since the beginning of this year, Shanghai's convention and exhibition industry has recovered rapidly. Data from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce shows that the city's main exhibition venues plan to hold nearly 300 exhibitions this year, with an exhibition area of more than 14 million square meters. The Global Exhibition CEO Shanghai Summit was held annually from 2014 to 2019, attracting more than 1,000 corporate executives and government officials from over 20 countries and regions over the years. A China-funded water resource protection project was inaugurated on Sunday in Cambodia's Koh Kong province. "I hope it will help control and protect water resources, and I'd like to thank China for supporting our village's development," said a local resident. Produced by Xinhua Global Service LSU is the first university in the nation to receive funds from the National Security Agency for a cybersecurity clinic. The $1.5 million NSA grant will go towards helping the clinic protect small businesses in Louisiana from cybersecurity attacks. Jeffrey Epstein offered to help the daughter of the former Barclays chief executive Jes Staley win a place at a prestigious US university, it has been claimed. The paedophile financier said he could introduce Staley to the president of Columbia University at Davos in a bid to secure his daughter a place on a PhD course, according to a previously confidential report. Epstein also reportedly offered to get in touch with various officials at Columbia on behalf of Staleys daughter. Former JPMorgan executive James Jes Staley had to resign as CEO of Barclays in 2021 following an investigation by British regulators into how he had characterised his prior relationship with Epstein. Credit: Bloomberg The allegations were made in a 22-page internal review by JPMorgan, where Staley was once a senior banker responsible for wealthy clients including Epstein. Staley left the US lender in 2013 and took over Barclays two years later. The head of Victorias oldest university has called for the reintroduction of free education for all domestic students. In his annual address to staff, University of Melbourne vice chancellor Professor Duncan Maskell said it had become sadly fashionable to assume students would take out loans to pay university fees. University of Melbourne vice chancellor Professor Duncan Maskell. Credit: Elke Meitzel But he said the cost of education was a policy choice by governments, and other countries chose to make higher education largely free for their citizens. The Albanese governments universities accord is currently examining issues of funding, access and affordability in higher education. McLeish afterwards labelled the premier a serial bully, and he certainly has form in bringing the rough stuff to his opponents in the contest of ideas. Six foot-plus Andrews would regularly refer to diminutive former opposition leader Matthew Guy as my little friend in question time and Matthews successor John Pesutto, not a tall man either, has copped the same treatment, with the premier saying Pesutto should be given a little box to stand on in parliament. In 2016 Andrews apologised for making a fat joke about Liberal Andrew Katos in question time, which left the Geelong MP feeling awful. Looks like the legacies of the likes of Gough Whitlam and Paul Keating among Labors great political wits are safe for now. SUB FEUD Speaking of Keating, his strident views on AUKUS, Australias China relationship and reports on the subject published by this masthead are no secret. Indeed, the former PM took his rage over The Ages Red Alert series examining the prospect of conflict with China straight to the Prime Ministers Office, according to documents released under freedom of information. Mr Keating has asked me to pass across to you a statement he is releasing taking the Sydney Morning Herald, Age and Peter Hartcher to task for their capricious and inflammatory material published this morning, read an email from Keating to Anthony Albaneses office sent on day one of the series. Two days later came a longer, angrier statement about the reporting, containing sniping at the fool [Hartcher], which his office dutifully sent to Albaneses chief of staff Tim Gartrell. Keatings views on AUKUS didnt impress the Labor caucus, and the former PMs vitriolic performance at the National Press Club a week later fell on deaf ears. In the months before that policy fallout, things were far more cordial. An email exchange from February shows the PMO even sent Keating an advance draft of Albaneses speech to the National Press Club, hours before the PM was due on stage. Did Albo solicit advice from Labors finest orator? If he did, his office wouldnt tell us. CHASE CASE The spectacular fallout between comedian Julian Morrow and former business partner Nick Murray ended with a bruising Court of Appeal loss for the Chaser founder and his high-flying barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC. The near-four-year legal battle began when the ABC canned the pairs consumer affairs show The Checkout. In the aftermath, Murrays production company CJZ agreed to sell its share in the joint venture to Morrows Giant Dwarf for a measly $50. What Murray didnt know was that Morrow had been in talks with ABC management about a new, eerily similar consumer affairs show. When Murray got wind, he refused to sign a deed of release for the joint venture, effectively nuking the new show. Morrow sued Murray for breaching that sale agreement, with the producer counter-claiming that his former partners actions amounted to misleading and deceptive conduct. Morrow also sued Murray for defamation over four angry emails to ABC management, including one that likened the bald comedian to Lord Voldemort. Loading Last year, Supreme Court judge James Stevenson found in favour of Morrow on the defamation aspect but against him on the commercial case. A draw of sorts. But not even a star-studded list of character references including Arts Minister Tony Burke, former senator Kristina Keneally, ex-Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deputy chair Delia Rickard and the ABCs resident coronavirus obsessive Norman Swan could save Morrow from the Court of Appeal. On Tuesday, justices Julie Ward, Anna Mitchelmore and Christine Adamson chalked back Morrows defamation win, finding Murrays emails were covered by the qualified privilege defence, and upheld Stevensons finding on misleading and deceptive conduct by Morrow and breaching his directors duties. It leaves Morrow on the hook for Murrays legal bills totalling about $2.5 million. We imagine Chrysanthou didnt come cheap either. Murray called the case a disastrous farce that never should have happened. Morrow said he was very disappointed by this outcome. We need to absorb the decision and work out whats best from here, he added. SHARE WAVES Mondays stock market raid on Southern Cross Media (SCM) owner of Triple M by rival ARN, which has the KIIS and The Edge stations in its stable, brought a silver lining for outgoing SCM chief executive Grant Blackley. The former Network Ten chief who steps down from SCM next Friday has been given credit for keeping the outfit, which was drowning in debt when he took over in 2015, afloat, but Blackley was unable to reverse the long-term decline in revenue and earnings. Thorpes opposition to the Voice puts her in a strange alliance with Hanson, arguably her greatest foe in the Senate, in their shared bid to see the referendum defeated. Hanson, who this week sought to justify actions taken in stolen generations while speaking against the Voice in the Senate, has described the proposal as a smokescreen to establish a separate Aboriginal state within Australia, while Thorpe has argued the body will be powerless. Thorpe confirmed on Tuesday she absolutely wanted to be involved in writing the official No pamphlet, which could see her join a process with Hanson and Coalition MPs to develop the wording. Ill be there. Im looking forward to it. Were going to just sit in a room with people that we dont normally get along with, Thorpe said. During the press conference, Thorpe would not say whether she would accept donations from Pay The Rent an organisation that asks Australians for contributions for living on Aboriginal lands to campaign against the Voice. Loading Pay The Rent was set up to address the effects of genocide so Pay The Rent pays for funerals, she said. I dont have any details to any bank accounts. Ive never been a signatory to any bank accounts. You have to follow that up with the Pay The Rent crew. Thorpes office later clarified Pay The Rent had not provided any donations to Thorpe for the No campaign or the black sovereignty movement. Thorpe was involved in the early days of Pay The Rent and appears on the organisations website promoting it, but stepped back when she became a senator in September 2020. Her sister, Meriki Onus, has been a director of the organisation and her uncle, Robbie Thorpe, has also been involved. According to leaked documents obtained by this masthead, Pay The Rent raised more than $1.1 million in donations in its first 10 months of operation, from January to October 2020, and distributed $328,000 to assist First Nations people with funerals and sorry business, and other grassroots initiatives. The organisation did not respond to detailed questions and referred to information on its website. Under the rules governing the Voice referendum, the Australian Electoral Commission must distribute an official booklet to about 12.5 million households at least 14 days before the vote, outlining in 2000 words each, the cases for and against the referendum. The respective cases will be authorised by the majority of politicians who voted Yes or No to the constitutional alteration bill, which passed the parliament this week. Hanson has already declared her desire to be involved in writing the No case a process that will be steered by the Coalition, which comprised the majority of MPs who voted against the bill. The Yes pamphlet will be overseen by the government, which has resolved to set up a committee-style process, chaired by Burney, that will consult pro-Voice MPs from the opposition and crossbench. Loading AEC commissioner Tom Rogers wrote to MPs on Tuesday to advise they had 28 days to provide the Yes and No cases to the agency before the deadline of the 11.59pm on July 17. Although a longtime staunch critic of the Voice, Thorpe had until this week maintained that she would not campaign against the referendum, telling this masthead last month she was uncomfortable with the racist rhetoric of a No campaign. I am not part of the No camp. Ive never been part of the No camp, and I dont intend to be part of a No camp, she said in May. Pressed on Tuesday why she had changed her mind, Thorpe said the government had failed to meet her demands to implement recommendations from the decades-old royal commissions into Aboriginal deaths in custody and the stolen generation. Among those accompanying Thorpe in Canberra on Tuesday was Warlpiri elder Ned Hargraves, from the remote town of Yuendumu in the Northern Territory. He said the Voice was not the answer and the proposal was not well understood in Aboriginal communities. People out in the communities really dont know what is the Voice. What is it? he said. Fred Hooper, a Murrawarri elder from Queensland, said the Voice was worthless and claimed they didnt consult all of the First Nations in regards to this Voice. Hooper was part of a small group, which included Thorpe, that walked out of the Uluru Dialogues in protest. More than 250 Indigenous delegates at the dialogues issued the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which framed the request for a First Nations Voice in the Constitution as an invitation for Australians to walk with us. Because for all that Johnson loved about London and its myriad attractions, theres more in Latin America. Theres so much more theres everything. Theres good, bad, ugly and amazing. Theres thrilling, shocking, heart-warming and frightening. Theres colour and passion. Theres history and tradition. Theres beauty and grit. Heres my version: when a traveller is tired of Latin America, they are tired of life. Or at the very least, they are tired of travel. Its a line thats often quoted, and one Ive mangled for my own purposes just as frequently, usually as Im moving around a completely different part of the world. When a man is tired of London, Samuel Johnson famously wrote, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford. Im here to tell you that for travellers, it doesnt get any better than Latin America. This is travel at its essence. Sure, you will find certain destinations that are as good. But as a whole, as a massive area to explore and experience, Latin America is as good as it gets. Stay with me here while we at least define this sprawling regions boundaries. Latin America isnt a continent but a cultural concept, a notional grouping that spreads from Mexicos northern border all the way down Central America, and on through South America to Cape Horn. Thats 26 countries (give or take, depending on your definition), more than 600 million people, countless languages and dialects, endless cultures and sub-cultures. To travel through these lands is to understand just how thrilling and rewarding travel can be. Theres just no way to avoid full immersion here. There is no chance you will leave any country in Latin America and not know what this place is truly like. A friend of mine, Steve Madgwick, a fellow writer whose name also frequently appears in these pages, is right now on an overland adventure through Central America, from Guatemala to Panama, and watching his journey via social media has stoked all sorts of feelings of envy and excitement. This, I always think when I see his posts, is what travel is about. This is the good stuff. Kyiv: Ukraines military intelligence chief accused Russia on Tuesday of mining the cooling pond used to keep the reactors cool at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraines south. The six-reactor complex, Europes biggest nuclear plant, has been under occupation since shortly after Moscows forces invaded in February last year. Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Credit: AP Most terrifying is that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was additionally mined during that time ... namely the cooling pond was mined, Kyrylo Budanov, head of the GUR agency, said on television, without providing evidence for his assertion. Reuters requested comment from the Russian defence ministry. KINSHASA, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has already initiated the withdrawal of its mission in the country, said MONUSCO chief Bintou Keita late Monday. The withdrawal is made "on the basis of the achievement of the minimum conditions of the most important milestones of the transition plan," the UN envoy said at a joint press conference with the Congolese Minister of Communication and Media Patrick Muyaya. The exact timeline was not specified, added Keita, who is the UN secretary-general's special representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to Muyaya, the Congolese government granted the request for the departure of MONUSCO, while stressing that the process must be done "in an organized, civilized and structured manner." "We cannot set a date, because there may be several unforeseen and imponderables," he said. The UN peacekeeping mission has been present in the country since 1999. It is one of the largest and most expensive in the world, with an annual budget of around 1 billion dollars. From the depths of the Mariana Trench to the rigours of space, Hamish Harding, the British adventurer, is no stranger to traversing boundaries. The Cambridge-educated jet pilot and aircraft broker holds 16 air speed records, including the Guinness World Record for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth via the North and South poles by an aircraft. But now he is among the five people who went missing aboard a tourist submarine visiting the shipwreck of the Titanic on Monday morning, his family has confirmed. British millionaire Hamish Harding is now missing after a life of adventure. Credit: Twitter Last year, the 58-year-old became the first Briton to travel on Blue Origins fifth human spaceflight mission, making him one of a handful of tourists to have crossed the Karman line marking the beginning of space. New York: The real estate listing that appeared briefly in Brooklyn last week sounded beguiling: two spacious, sun-drenched, full-floor apartments in a wide brick townhome in Fort Greene with spectacular outdoor spaces and period details. The wonderful vegan landlord, the broker wrote, had only one house rule: no meat/fish in the building. Andrea Kelly, a broker for Douglas Elliman, explains the landlords no-cooking-meat rule to a prospective tenant of a building in the Fort Greene neighbourhood of Brooklyn. Credit: Desiree Rios/The New York Times Even in a city where renters will pay mansionesque prices to live in an apartment with a bathtub in the kitchen or a studio so narrow you can touch both walls at once, the meatless walk-up is unusual. But at a by-appointment-only open house Sunday, the steady stream of prospective tenants only some of whom said they were vegetarians indicated that the rule was not an automatic deal-breaker. Nor, apparently, was the price: The apartments, both one-bedrooms, are renting for $US4500 and $US5750 ($6600 and $8450) per month. Wellington: A man with an axe attacked random diners at three neighbouring Chinese restaurants in New Zealand, wounding four people, police and witnesses said. Police said the man began the attack at about 9pm on Monday in the north Auckland suburb of Albany. Police tape cordons off a restaurant in Auckland, New Zealand after an axe attack late on Monday. Credit: AP Police arrested a 24-year-old suspect at the scene and charged him with wounding with the intention of causing grievous bodily harm. The man, a Chinese national, made a brief court appearance Tuesday. Police did not immediately offer a motive for the attack but said they had no evidence it was racially motivated. RAMALLAH, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye on Monday urged the United States to take serious measures to protect the two-state solution and recognize the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Ishtaye made the appeal during a meeting with a U.S. delegation headed by Barbara Leaf, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs at the U.S. State Department, according to an official statement. He called on Washington to support Palestine to join the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and support the Palestinian approach in seeking "full membership" in the United Nations. UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi (2nd R) addresses the high-level event to mark the second anniversary of the International Day for Countering Hate Speech, at the UN headquarters in New York, on June 19, 2023. (Mark Garten/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua) UNITED NATIONS, June 19 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for renewed efforts to counter the "toxic and destructive phenomenon" of hate speech, in a message to mark the second anniversary of the International Day for Countering Hate Speech. "Hate speech is used to stoke fear and division, often for political gain, and at immense cost to communities and societies," he said. Guterres said hate speech incites violence, exacerbates tensions, and impedes efforts to foster mediation and dialogue. It is one of the warning signs of genocide and other atrocity crimes. The UN chief's message was delivered by Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide, at a high-level event to commemorate the international day, which is officially observed on June 18, at the UN headquarters in New York. Speaking at the event, UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi said that countering hate speech is a key component of atrocity prevention, calling for more global action towards eradicating it. "Hate speech is an attack on human dignity and one of the most toxic forms of misinformation. We must address it because we know that hate speech leads to hate crimes," he said. Korosi noted that the International Day for Countering Hate Speech encourages everyone to do their part by identifying hate speech early, confronting it directly and halting it immediately. In July 2021, the UN General Assembly highlighted global concerns over "the exponential spread and proliferation of hate speech" around the world and adopted a resolution on "promoting inter-religious and intercultural dialogue and tolerance in countering hate speech." The resolution proclaimed June 18 as the International Day for Countering Hate Speech. BEIJING, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) on Tuesday ordered the arrest of Fan Yifei, a former vice governor of the People's Bank of China, for suspected bribe-taking. Fan's case was investigated by the National Commission of Supervision before being handed over to prosecutors. Further handling of the case is underway. CANBERRA, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has outlined a roadmap to help the country become a renewable energy superpower. Madeleine King, the Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia, on Tuesday released the Critical Minerals Strategy 2023-2030. Under the plan, Australia will become a globally producer of raw and processed critical minerals and boost economic opportunities. According to King, Australia is a leading producer of lithium, rare earths, cobalt, copper and some other critical minerals, which are crucial for low-emissions technology such as electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels and wind turbines. The strategy earmarks 500 million Australian dollars (340.2 million U.S. dollars) in funding from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility to support critical minerals projects. King said the strategy makes it clear that Australia can play a crucial role in delivering the processed minerals the world needs for a clean energy future. "While the potential is great, so too are the challenges," King said in a statement. "The Strategy makes it clear our natural minerals endowment provides a foot in the door, but we must do more to create Australian jobs and capitalise on this unique opportunity." The strategy highlights focus areas including growing a skilled workforce, with some of its objectives are to build sovereign capability in critical minerals processing. The Daily News will sit down with your top performance player from the Week #7 Batavia Muckdogs games and talk baseball! Keep an eye out for our Week #8 poll, running next week (Tuesday - Friday)! You voted: HANGZHOU, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The 19th China International Cartoon and Animation Festival (CICAF) began on Tuesday in Hangzhou, a bustling animation hub in east China's Zhejiang Province. The five-day event includes a variety of activities, including an international animation game business conference, a Cosplay event and a voice actor contest. The Golden Monkey King Award, the highest honor for Chinese animation, will also be unveiled at this year's CICAF. Organized by the National Radio and Television Administration, China Media Group and Zhejiang provincial government, the event has attracted 459 enterprises and institutions from 59 countries and regions, as well as thousands of exhibitors and merchants. Inaugurated in 2005, the festival has been held in Hangzhou annually. 5 People Onboard Missing Titanic Submarine Expedition Likely in Dire Situation This undated photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File) The five people onboard the tourist submarine that went missing on June 18 while exploring the Titanic shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean are likely very uncomfortable and in a dire situation, an expert has warned. The 21-foot submersible, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, was reported missing on Sunday about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. Johns, Newfoundland, after it failed to return to the Polar Prince, the Canadian research ship from which it was launched, according to officials. Officials said the submersible lost contact with the crew of the Polar Prince approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes into the vessels dive. A joint search and rescue mission, led by Coast Guard crews from Boston, is currently underway for the vessel which was carrying five people onboard, including British billionaire Hamish Harding. The circumstances behind the submersibles disappearance are unclear, however officials have warned that it only carries a 96-hour oxygen supply. John Mixson, a retired U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant commander, told Fox News on June 19 that those on board are likely going through a dark experience, noting that the submersible is not designed for long-range, multi-day excursions and oxygen levels are likely running low. So its going to be a very, very uncomfortable, dark experience with a lot of hope and prayers, Mixson said. I would say it is extremely serious. Its a dire situation. But on the other side of that fact, it is still considered classified as a search and rescue mission, which should give everyone hope, including the family members and friends of the people on board the vessel. The port bow railing of the Titanic lies in 12,600 feet of water about 400 miles east of Nova Scotia in an undated file photo. (Reuters/File Photo) Something Very Tragic Took Place Mixon noted that the vessels disappearance is not a common occurrence at all and that something very rapid and very tragic took place but that researchers likely will not be able to determine the cause of its disappearance until it is recovered. Its hard to say whenever you just lose total communications in a situation like that what actually happened until you find the vessel, Mixon said. According to OceanGate, the submersible is a Cyclops-class vehicle designed to take five people to a maximum depth of 13,100 feet (4,000 meters) to survey the site of the Titanic shipwreck. It is also used for research and data collection and to film movies and other productions. A tour guide typically accompanies the pilot and three passengers in the 22-foot (6.7-meter) carbon-fiber vessel, which is lighter in weight and more cost-efficient to mobilize than any other deep diving submersible. OceanGate notes that the vessel is equipped with Real Time Hull Health Monitoring systems that provide an unparalleled safety feature and early warning detection for the pilot with enough time to arrest the descent and safely return to surface. In a statement published Monday, OceanGate said it is exploring mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely. Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families, the company said. We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible, it continued. We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers, the company added. A U.S. Coast Guard vessel sits in port in Boston Harbor across from the U.S. Coast Guard Station Boston in Boston on June 19, 2023. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images) Who Is Onboard? While OceanGate has not revealed the identities of those on board the missing vessel, billionaire Harding, who is the current chairman of Action Aviation, a global sales company in business aviation, is thought to be among them. In an Instagram post on June 17, Harding, an adventurer who holds three Guinness World Recordsincluding the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vesselsaid he was proud to join the expedition which, owing to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years was likely going to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. Hardings post noted the team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s including PH Nargeolet, referring to diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, although it is not yet clear if Nargeolet is onboard the missing vessel. Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, were also on board, according to a statement from their family. Shahzada Dawood serves as trustee on the boards of both the Engro Foundation, which works to provide quality health care services to communities in need, and The Dawood Foundation, a not-for-profit educational foundation. We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety, the familys statement said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Abbott Vows Crackdown on Rogue DAs Who Refuse to Prosecute Certain Crimes Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has pledged to rein in rogue prosecutors after signing a bill that allows courts to remove district attorneys for misconduct if they opt to not pursue certain types of crimes. A new law I signed will help rein in rogue district attorneys, Abbott said in a tweet Monday. Abbott signed House Bill 17 (pdf) into law earlier this month, with the measure going into effect on Sept. 1. Those who want to work in Texas law enforcement must uphold the laws and protect Texans, he said in the tweet. If not, they will be held accountable. The measure seeks to hold elected prosecutors accountable by prohibiting the refusal to prosecute certain types of offenses. Specifically, it treats such refusal as an act of official misconduct that is grounds for removal from office. Abbott signed the bill as part of a broader package of eight public safety bills, including one that enhances criminal penalties for certain types of crimes and provides law enforcement with additional tools. Rogue DA Bill House Bill 17 was introduced by Republican state Sen. Joan Huffman earlier this year and it passed the Senate in early June in a 2011 vote after passing both legislative houses in April. Unfortunately, certain Texas prosecutors have joined a trend of adopting internal policies refusing to prosecute particular laws, Huffman said at a committee hearing in April. These actions set a dangerous precedent and severely undermine the authority of the Legislature. Democrats and some civil rights groups opposed the measure, arguing that it undermines the separation of powers and that prosecutors should be able to decide which cases to prosecute and which not. Texas state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, a Democrat from Austin, called the bill one piece to an unsettling pattern of top-down power-grabbing. Tools like prosecutorial discretion are criticalespecially in a state like Texas, where our local district attorneys are directly elected by the people, Eckhardt said. Under the bill, Texas residents who have lived in a county for at least six months may file a petition against a prosecuting attorney accusing them of misconduct if they fail to prosecute a class or type of criminal offense, or if they instruct law enforcement to refuse to arrest individuals suspected of committing a class or type of offense. A public statement from the prosecuting attorney stating that they plan to adopt or enforce a policy in which they fail to enforce certain laws creates a rebuttable presumption that the prosecuting attorney committed official misconduct, and means they can face a removal trial for official misconduct, per the bills text. The legislation also removes pretrial diversion programs which allow for conditional dismissals of cases when permissible under state law. If a district attorney is found guilty under the bills provisions, a judge may order them to be removed from office. Once such a rogue prosecutor has been removed, the governor can appoint a replacement until the next election yields a successor. If a rogue district attorney wants to be in law enforcement, they have to start by enforcing the laws of the State of Texas, Abbott said in a June 6 statement after signing the bill into law. Disruption to Criminal Justice The legislation to hold district attorneys more accountable came after a group of attorneys nationwide, including five from Texas, signed an open letter (pdf) stating that they would refuse to prosecute any cases that criminalize abortion in the wake of the Supreme Courts decision in June 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade. Abortion is a felony under Texas law, with an exception being cases where the mother is suffering from a life-threatening physical condition or there is a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function. Some prosecutors have also said they do not plan to pursue charges of low-level thefts or first-time marijuana offenses. Experts told The Epoch Times in earlier interviews that a new breed of DAsvariously called rogue prosecutors, de-prosecutors, or Soros-funded prosecutorshas taken district attorneys offices by storm in recent times. They believe that the criminal justice system is excessively punitive and racially biased and that it is irredeemable, Sean Kennedy, a criminal justice expert at the Maryland Public Policy Institute, told The Epoch Times. So theyre trying to undermine it from the inside. BERLIN, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday proposed tackling climate change as one of the guiding principles for China-Germany cooperation in the future. The two countries should promote cooperation in green technology and industry, and explore the establishment of a rational and orderly division of labor in the green energy industry chain, Li said while meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. AI Bias and Prejudice Is the Theme at Upcoming Biden Meeting in Silicon Valley President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with leaders of his federal emergency preparedness and response team to receive the annual briefing on extreme weather preparedness in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on May 31, 2023. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) President Joe Biden will meet with activists, academics, and tech executives on June 20 to discuss artificial intelligence. The latest of many recent Biden AI moves, its another signal of his administrations continued focus on race and algorithmic discrimination in its attempts to control the evolution of the burgeoning technology. In a June 19 statement to the press, a White House official said Bidens summit in San Francisco would include experts known for being outspoken on the impact of AI on jobs, children, bias and prejudice, [and] the risks posed by AI if it isnt properly regulated. The official noted that it would also include those who understand the benefits it [AI] provides for education and medicine if this technology is built safely from the start. Ai-DA, the worlds first robot artist, paints portraits of the headline acts in the Ai-DA Robot Booth in the Shangri La Field, during day two of Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, Pilton in Glastonbury, England on June 23, 2022. (Leon Neal/Getty Images) The White House Chief of Staff office is overseeing a process to rapidly develop decisive actions we can take over the coming weeks. White House principals have met to discuss this issue 2-3 times a week in addition to ongoing daily work being done across the White House and agencies, the official added. Those likely to take part include Joy Buolamwin, founder of the Algorithmic Justice League. Unchecked, unregulated and, at times, unwanted, AI systems can amplify racism, sexism, ableism, and other forms of discrimination, the Leagues website reads. Other probable participants include frequent Democratic donor Tristan Harris, the founder of the Center for Humane Technology. In 2020 testimony before Congress, Harris warned of conspiracy theories spreading absent stronger regulation of tech. Alex Jones InfoWars conspiracies were recommended 15 billion times before being removed, he said. Alex Jones of InfoWars talks to reporters in Washington in a file image. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) The Biden White House official noted that Stanford University political science professor Rob Reich was also expected to attend the meeting. 2015, 2016 rolls around. Brexit, the Trump election, Cambridge Analytica, and the bloom is starting to come off the rose of Silicon Valley. Were all now aware of algorithmic bias of automation that displaces people from work, of privacy violations, of misinformation and disinformation in our news feeds, of hate speech thats algorithmically amplified, and on and on, Reich told a heavily masked audience in a 2021 talk. The Rob Reich at Stanford should not be confused with an identically named influential liberal academic at a nearby university, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich participates in a discussion at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, in Washington on March 5, 2019. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Oren Etzioni, another tech insider expected to participate in the event, and the son of Israeli-born communitarian theorist Amitai Etzioni, has been even less shy in voicing anti-Trump sentiment. In a November 2020 video post to Twitter, Etzioni jokingly described a deep fake of the former president as a video of Trump leaked from the White House day care. Etzioni donated thousands to Biden during that election cycle. Jim Steyer, the founder of Common Sense Media and brother of billionaire Democrat mega-donor Tom Steyer, will also be at the summit, according to the White House official. From left, Democratic presidential candidates, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and businessman Tom Steyer, greet on another on stage at the end of the Democratic presidential primary debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, S.C. on Feb. 25, 2020. All the candidates but Biden and Sanders have since dropped out. (Patrick Semansky/AP Photo) Biden Focus on AI The meeting comes amid a media-enabled hype cycle around AI. The latest bout of enthusiasm was touched off by innovative new generative AI platforms, most prominently OpenAIs ChatGPT. AI is a top priority for the President and his team. Generative AI tools have increased significantly [sic] in the past several months and we dont want to solve yesterdays problem, the official said. The Biden-Harris administration has focused on this issue since taking office. U.S. government agencies have ramped up their authorities to protect Americans from the risks posed by AI, including fraud and discrimination. Vice President Kamala Harris met with top tech CEOs several weeks ago to talk about responsible AI. That came months after an executive order from Biden in which he maintained that the government should use AI systems in a manner that advances equity. A May 23 report from the Department of Education on AI lays great emphasis on equity and related concerns over disparate outcomes between demographic groups. The department holds that biases in AI algorithms must be addressed when they introduce or sustain unjust discriminatory practices in education, the report states. Vice President Kamala Harris stands on stage with California Gov. Gavin Newsom at the conclusion of an event at the IBEW-NECA Joint Apprenticeship Training Center in San Leandro, Calif., Sept. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) It ranked algorithmic discrimination of the highest importance among the potential risks from AI. Congress has also sought to make sense of ChatGPT, including in separate March 8 hearings in both the House and Senate. One speaker, University of Michigan intermittent lecturer and AI ethicist Merve Hickok, proposed a possible Algorithmic Safety Bureau to address bias and other issues from the technology. The San Francisco meeting comes after some tech leaders, most notably Elon Musk, have cooled on the commander-in-chief ahead of his reelection bid. Silicon Valley was a major source of donations to Biden in the 2020 election cycle. The close ties between Big Tech and the Democrats, though arguably now fraying at the edges, were strengthened under Bidens predecessor from that party, former President Barack Obama. Top donors to Bidens previous bid included Facebook billionaire Dustin Moskovitz as well as accused cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried. Samuel Bankman-Fried departs Manhattan federal court in New York on Feb. 9, 2023. (John Minchillo/AP Photo) Biden held a multi-day meeting with 150 top Democratic donors in late April of this year. Airbus Wins Largest Aircraft Order in History From Indias IndiGo A logo of Airbus at Airbus headquarters in Blagnac near Toulouse, France, on Feb. 14, 2019. (Regis Duvignau/Reuters) An Indian airline signed a deal for the largest ever aircraft order in the history of the airline industry with French aerospace firm Airbus this week. The aircraft manufacturing firm announced on June 19 that discount Indian airline IndiGo had placed an order for 500 of its family of A320 commercial jets, which are to be delivered between 2030 and 2035. The deal sets the record for the biggest single purchase agreement in the history of commercial aviation, Airbus said in a statement. The latest purchase brings the total number of Airbus planes ordered by IndiGo to 1,330. The historic purchase agreement was signed by Rahul Bhatia, managing director of IndiGo; Dr. Venkataramani Sumantran, chairman and non-executive independent director of IndiGo; Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo; Guillaume Faury, CEO of Airbus; and Christian Scherer, Airbus chief commercial officer, at the Paris Air Show 2023, announced the aerospace firm. Indian Airline Rapidly Expands Airfleet An IndiGo Airways aircraft prepares to land at Mumbai airport in India on Jan, 12, 2011.(Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images) Founded in 2006, IndiGo is the largest airline in India by market share, according to its website, flying 86 million customers in the last financial year. The Indian airline was already a major Airbus customer and had ordered 830 A320 aircraft from three previous purchases in 2011, 2014, and 2019, in addition to the 500 new orders waiting to be delivered. The major deal was rumored to be in the works in the days leading up to the Paris Air Show and exceeds the $68 billion 470 plane order from Boeing and Airbus by Air India in February. You can imagine how proud the moment this is for us at Airbus, and truthfully, for me personally, to be sitting here in such great company. Its been 18 years from nothing to where IndiGo is today. And, of course, we at Airbus are just incredibly, incredibly gratified and proud of this association that has brought democratization of air travel to India, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer said. Were super proud of the very high degree of integrity and efficiency with which IndiGo is running the airline and its fleet of A320s and A321s. And, of course, today marks just another landmark moment transaction in a relationship that is far greater than just airplane deals. IndiGo projects that its international share of orders will grow to nearly 30 percent in the coming years. Sixty-nine of IndiGos outstanding Airbus orders are for the A321XLR, which completed its first test flight one year ago and is expected to enter into service next year. IndiGo was not the only airline to place an order during this years Paris Air Show. Air Mauritius also ordered three Airbus A350 aircraft for its fleet, bringing its future A350 fleet to seven, while the Saudi airline Flynas ordered 30 Airbus A320neo family aircraft, including ten A321XLRs. As of June 19, Airbus rival Boeing has yet to announce any orders. The Epoch Times has reached out to Airbus for comment. South Asian Nation Seeing Massive Growth IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers, said that the order would help the company fulfill its mission to continue to boost economic growth, social cohesion, and mobility in India. About 75 percent of IndiGos flights travel to domestic destinations in India. Elbers explained that Indias expanding economy and rising disposable incomes continue to add millions of first-time flyers to a booming aviation market. Aviation companies are eager to capitalize on Indias strong economy and its booming population, which may well translate into higher demand for air travel further down the line. Meanwhile, major tech companies are rushing to do business in India, with many planning to expand production and open new stores there, to take advantage of the booming market. The International Monetary Fund in April said that India will be one of the best performing economies this year, with 5.9 percent growth in GDP. The United Nations also estimated that month that the South Asian nation was on track to overtake China as the worlds most populous nation by mid-2023, with 1.43 billion people. AMC Cancels Documentary Detailing Long-Term Health Implications of Gender Transitioning After Backlash People walk by the AMC 34th Street theater in New York on March 5, 2021. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) AMC Theatres has canceled screenings of a documentary film detailing the negative side effects and risks of so-called gender-affirming surgeries following backlash from a trans-led organization. The 90-minute documentary, titled No Way Back: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care, was set to premiere at AMC throughout the United States beginning June 21, according to a press release from Panacol Productions and Deplorable Films, the distribution companies behind the documentary. It features interviews with five young people discussing the medical treatments and care they received for gender dysphoria, and how they subsequently realized they were given the wrong treatment, according to the press release. Additionally, the documentary features input from 12 experts in pediatrics, mental health, sociology, and endocrinologyamong them an Oxford professorwho collectively have decades of clinical practice examining the pros and cons of the current practices surrounding medical transitioning for adolescents and young adults. The press release states that the documentary is also produced by lifelong California Democrats and LGBT activists and takes a non-religious, non-political, and non-ideological look on the subject of gender-affirmative medical practices, the risks and side effects of cross-sex hormones, surgeries, and the long-term health implications of gender medicalization. Following the announcement of the premiere, the Queer Trans Project, which describes itself as a black and trans-led organization on a mission to provide gender-empowering resources to LGBTQ+ individuals all across the world protested the screening and demanded it be canceled. Documentary Branded Anti-Trans In a series of Instagram posts, the organization claimed that AMC were caving to the right-wing backlash by showing the anti-trans documentary in theaters across the nation and called on supporters to take urgent action by calling AMC executive leadership and demanding they block the documentary from being shown. On June 17, the organization announced the documentary had been pulled from AMC theaters nationwide. We did it! Our communitys swift action is a testament to the power of advocacy and the importance of raising our voices against harmful content, the organization said in a statement. Your collective efforts have made a significant impact, and the decision to pull No Way Back from AMC theaters is a step towards fostering a more inclusive and respectful environment. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to creating positive change. AMC has not commented on the move, however Deplorable Films also confirmed in a statement that the documentary had been pulled in response to what it said were recent histrionic and intolerant calls for screenings of this important film to be canceled. The distributors also took aim at the absurd claim that the film is right-wing, noting that the filmmakers, some of whom are gay or have gay children, are dedicated, life-long, Liberal Democrats. The film is not anti-trans people, nor is it even anti-sex change surgery; there are trans people in the film speaking against the sudden rush to powerful drugs and major surgeries that are have [sic] increased exponentially in the past decade, and which have statistically caused far more pain and suffering than theyve prevented, the statement reads. It is quite evident that those undertaking this crusade against this film have not had the courtesy of seeing it before taking such extreme actions to silence it, it added. A book, Beyond the Gender Binary, shipped to children from the Queer Trans Project, photographed April 25, 2023. (The Epoch Times) Suppressing Free Speech Speaking about the documentarys cancellation in an interview with Fox News, Laura Becker, a detransitioner featured in the film, said it was tantamount to surpressing free speech. I think its incredibly dangerous to set this precedent of suppressing free speech, suppressing viewpoints that basically are just unpopular or difficult to deal with, said Becker, who began transitioning from female to male as a teenager. Becker stressed that the documentary has no political agenda and that filmmakers are instead trying to raise awareness regarding mental health issues and medical ethics. I think that there is a large-scale eradication of boundaries and common sense, especially when it comes to childrens developmental health, she continued. They are being fast-tracked on a conveyor belt-like system to getting surgery and hormones which create permanent damages instead of addressing their actual mental health concerns. The cancellation of the documentary comes amid an ongoing debate regarding gender-affirming care among minors. While multiple major medical organizations like the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychological Association have all voiced support for gender transition care among minors, arguing that it is safe and effective, other studies have found that transgender surgeries do not necessarily improve mental health and can actually make people feel lonelier. The Epoch Times has contacted AMC Theatres for comment. ANALYSIS: Byelection Results Show Peoples Party and Greens Getting Squeezed by Larger Parties People's Party of Canada supporters hold up a banner as Maxime Bernier speaks to the crowd during a demonstration against COVID-19 meausres and restrictions, in Toronto on May 15, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Chris Young) Following byelections in Quebec, Manitoba, and Ontario that saw the Conservatives and Liberals hold on to their seats, pollsters and analysts say the lacklustre results for the Green Party and Peoples Party of Canada (PPC) show they are being squeezed by the larger parties on both sides of the political spectrum. Theyre having more difficulties in this configuration of major parties, where the Conservatives are a little more populous than they have been in the pastwhich kind of squeezes the PPC. And for the Liberals, being very environmentally focused, it squeezes the Green Party, Nik Nanos, chief data scientist and founder of the Nanos Research Group of Companies, told The Epoch Times. So this configuration of major parties is just very difficult for those parties that are smaller because theyre just getting squeezed on both sides of the spectrum. The June 19 byelection results saw the seat configuration in the House of Commons remain unchanged, as the Liberals took Winnipeg South Centre and Notre-Dame-de-GraceWestmount, while the Conservatives kept Oxford and PortageLisgar. The four seats have long been considered safe for the respective parties. In PortageLisgar, Branden Lesliethe campaign manager of former Tory MP for the riding Candice Bergenwon with 45 percent of the vote, while PPC Leader Maxime Bernier received 17 percent. Back in 2021, PPC candidate Solomon Wiebe won 22 percent compared to Bergens 52 percent. Nanos says the results from PortageLisgar mean that perhaps the wind in the PPCs sales is not as strong as it was back in 2021. He also said the results were good news for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who may have managed to pull some PPC voters over to his camp. Elliot Hughes, a senior adviser at Summa Strategies, said the results of the byelection certainly did not go in the right direction for Bernier. Hughes said the results could be partially attributed to the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health measures, which Bernier was highly critical of. Hughes said the Conservatives under Poilievre may have also done well at cementing voter support on the right, which could have contributed to the results in PortageLisgar. My view would be that Pierre Poilievre has done more than enough to attract the types of voters who, in another election perhaps, would feel more comfortable in Berniers camp, he said. Green Party In the riding of Notre-Dame-de-GraceWestmount, which has been open for a byelection since former cabinet minister Marc Garneau stepped down in March, Liberal candidate Anna Gainey won with 50 percent of the vote. The Green Partys Deputy Leader Jonathan Pedneault received just over 13 percent of the vote. Nanos said while the Green Party performed marginally better in the byelection, the riding is so overwhelmingly red that if the Liberals ever lose that riding, that means that its the beginning of the end. He said a big challenge for the Green Party is that the Liberals and New Democrats have proven to have more focus on environmental policies in recent years. I think its hard for the Greens to cut through the clutter, even factoring in a star candidate like having their co-leader throwing their hat in the ring in this Liberal stronghold, he said. Lessons Tim Powers, vice-chairman of Summa Strategies and managing director of Abacus Data, said the Conservatives will need to study the results of the Oxford byelection intensely. Conservative Arpan Khanna won 43 percent of the vote, while Liberal David Hilderley garnered 36 percent. Back in the 2021 election, longtime Conservative Dave MacKenzie won 47 percent of the vote to Liberal Elizabeth Quintos 20 percent. Powers said the closeness of the byelection results could be attributed to the unique circumstances surrounding the race. MacKenzies daughter Deb Tait ran for the Conservative nomination in the riding, but Khanna, the co-chair of Poilievres leadership campaign in Ontario, won the nomination instead. Tait then endorsed the Liberal candidate. I mean, do you dive really deep into this and ask the question: Are there other parts of the Conservative Party that have a frustration that goes beyond Mr. Mackenzies frustration, or was this such a localized thing you dont want to overplay analyzing it? he asked. There was some wrangling around the nomination issue, but [the Conservatives] created all of that. Does that exist in the next election campaign? Is there some carryover effect that maybe limits their opportunity to grow there? Regarding Winnipeg South Centre, where Liberal Ben Carr, son of the late former Liberal cabinet minister Jim Carr, took 55 percent of the vote to Conservative Damir Stipanovics 24 percent, Powers said, It would have been a hard riding to take for anybody but the Liberals in this campaign. He said the Conservatives are likely disappointed they didnt gain more votes in the riding, especially since they will need to do better in similar ridings in order to win the next election. Powers said out of the many byelections he has seen over the years, only two or three had significance for Canadas overall political stage. There have been dozens upon dozens that were not significant. And I think, by and large, these were not significant byelections. But theres always a few little morsels you can glean from them, he said. Profiles in History: An ongoing series of lesser known but significant figures who shaped our world Andrew Higgins (18861952) was born to be an inventor and entrepreneur. His drive to create and be self-sufficient began when his father, John, died when he was 7 years old. Within two years of his fathers death, Higgins began a lawn service and took on several paper routes to help the family. By the time he was 12, he had built his first boat in the basement of the family home in Omaha. Boat building and designing would become his forte. He was introduced into the lumber business in 1906 after moving to Mobile, Alabama, and became the manager of a lumber import company in New Orleans four years later. In 1922, Higgins decided to personally meet the lumber needs of various businesses and individuals. He launched Higgins Lumber and Export Co., which resulted in his acquiring a large fleet of various vessels and building his own shipyard. New Orleans soon presented Higgins with another opportunity. Along the Gulf Coast and rivers in Louisiana, none more prominent than the Mississippi, pilots, trappers, and oilers struggled to reach shallow waters. He began tinkering with the idea of a propeller-powered flat bottom boat. By 1926, he resolved the issue by designing and building the Eureka boat. Andrew Higgins at the event celebrating the making of 10,000th Higgins Boat was held on Sunday, July 23, 1944. (Public Domain) The Eureka Boat As the economy took a harsh downturn, Higgins shuttered Higgins Lumber and Export Co. and opened Higgins Industries, which specialized in building tugs, barges, and the Eureka boat for various clients, including the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard would use the Eureka boat to chase rum runners during Prohibition. Rumors remain that Higgins would build Eureka boats for rum runners that were faster than those of the Coast Guard. Higginss ingenuity and innovation for sea vessels eventually caught the attention of what would become his biggest client: the federal government. As the 1930s progressed, war began to break out in Europe and Asia. The Navy and Marine Corps sought a craft that could quickly land troops on shores. They contacted Higgins in 1938 and tested out his Eureka. The military liked what they saw, except for one aside. Troops had to climb over the sides of the boat in order to disembark, leaving them open to enemy fire. The military discussed with Higgins how the Japanese had built a landing craft that lowered its front end to allow soldiers to quickly disembark. Within the month, and to the delight of the U.S. military, Higgins Industries had created a landing craft that met their requirements. The Higgins Boat The military offered Higgins Industries a contract to build its landing craft vessels. The company would build the Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP), famously known as the Higgins Boat. These boats, capable of maneuvering in less than a foot of water, were absolutely essential to the June 6, 1944 D-Day Invasion along the beaches of Normandy. The day that turned the tide of World War II in the favor of the Allies. Higgins Industries would go on to develop several variations of the landing craft, including the Landing Craft, Mechanized (LCM), which had the capacity to haul and land a 30-ton tank. The story goes that the Navy wanted to see design plans for its development within three days. Higgins said he would not just have a design, but a prototype ready. The Navy suggested it wasnt possible to create the craft in 72 hours. Higgins replied, You just be here in three days. When the Navy brass arrived, the first LCM was ready. The Higgins Boat would become most famous for the Normandy invasion, but it would also be used in other amphibious invasions, including in Italy, Africa, and the Pacific Islands. Higgins died in 1952, but in 1964, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had been supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe, reflected on the importance of the Higgins Boat and stated, Andrew Higgins is the man who won the war for us. Artificial Intelligence to Replace Editors in Radical German Media Shakeup Screens displaying the logos of OpenAI and ChatGPT, in Toulouse, southwestern France, on Jan. 23, 2023. (Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images) Artificial intelligence will step in for a swathe of editorial roles as part of an overhaul of Germanys largest newspaper title, Bild. The tabloid publication is undergoing a significant shakeup of its operations following a pledge from the publisher, Mathias Dopfner, to make the brand digital only. On June 19, the German publishing company that owns Bild, Axel Springer, told staff that redundanciesestimated to be in the hundredswould be underway. The company said it would part ways with colleagues whose jobs will be replaced by AI and/or automated processes in the digital world, or who do not find themselves in this new line-up with their current skills, according to an email obtained by German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine. Roles such as editors, print production journalists, proofreaders, photo editors, and assistants will no longer exist like they do today. The move also comes amid cuts to regional titles and the shutting of smaller newsrooms. Axel Springer is Europes largest publisher and acquired U.S. news titles, Politico and Business Insider in 2021. In March, CEO and publisher Dopfner issued a stark warning to staff on the impact of AI. Artificial intelligence has the potential to make independent journalism better than it ever wasor simply replace it, he said in an internal letter to employees. Understanding this change is essential to a publishing houses future viability, Dopfner added. Only those who create the best original content will survive. In response to the latest changes, the German Journalists Association was scathing. If Mathias Dopfner wants to slaughter the cash cow of the group, thats not only unfair to the employees but also economically extremely stupid, said Frank Uberall, federal chairman of the Association, in comments from The Telegraph. Less regional reporting means less service for the readers and therefore fewer readers. AIs Impact on Media and Wider Society The emergence of ChatGPT in recent times, a widely accessible AI-powered tool that can engage the public in all sorts of conversations, has spurred questions over AIs role across many industries. Key questions include what impact AI will have on employment, whether AI-generated information is accurate and broader, and existential questions like whether AI will surpass or supersede humans (or achieve singularity). In the media space, U.S. publishing giant Gannett and newswire service Reuters have said they would include AI in story production but only with human oversight. The desire to go fast was a mistake for some of the other news services, said Renn Turiano, senior vice president and head of product at Gannett, in comments obtained by Reuters. Were not making that mistake. While media mogul Barry Diller, who co-founded the Fox Broadcasting Company, was blunt in his assessment of the technology. Unless publishers say, You cannot do that until there is a structure in place for publishers to get paid. You will see another wave even more destructive, he told the Sir Harry Evans Global Summit on Investigative Journalism. Diller compared the impact of AI to that of online news on the traditional media industry, saying there was enormous destruction of newsrooms. Governments worldwide are now grappling with developing regulations to control the development of AI. Tech entrepreneur and Tesla founder, Elon Musk, has been the most prominent critic of uncontrolled AI innovation. AI is more dangerous than, say, mismanaged aircraft design or production maintenance or bad car production in the sense that it has the potentialhowever, small one may regard that probability, but it is non-trivialit has the potential of civilisational destruction, he told Tucker Carlson. Musk joined over 1,000 other tech experts in calling for an immediate pause to AI development. In a joint letter, they warned that companies have been locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no onenot even their creatorscan understand, predict, or reliably control. Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable, it said. At Least 6 Teens Shot After Milwaukee Juneteenth Celebration Ends Milwaukee police investigate a shooting along North King Drive near Locust Street, in Milwaukee, Wis., on June 19, 2023. (Bill Glauber/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP) MILWAUKEEAt least six teenagers were shot Monday afternoon around where Milwaukees Juneteenth celebration had just wrapped up, according to police and fire officials. The shooting happened about 4:20 p.m. outside Greater Philadelphia Church of God in Christ, according to witnesses and a Facebook Live video taken by a bystander in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, according to local media outlets. Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said six teens were shot, including a 17-year-old who may have been a gunman himself and is in custody. Police were still seeking additional suspects who hadnt yet been identified. Police said the victims, four girls, and two boys, ranged in age from 1419. Norman said the shooting may have stemmed from a fight among a number of girls and young women, but he didnt know what sparked the dispute. The injuries of those wounded varied but did not appear life-threatening, the chief said. Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson stressed that Mondays Juneteenth observance itself was a safe and growing event, calling the subsequent violence totally, totally unacceptable. We had thousands and thousands of people here celebrating and bringing themselves together and having a sense of community. Thats a powerful thing. Thats the true story about what this day is, said Johnson, a Democrat. A man who identified himself as T. Jenkins told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that a fight between two women preceded the shooting. A young man pulled out a gun and everyone scattered, Jenkins said. The man did some of the shooting, he said. Jenkins provided aid to a young woman with a neck wound. A Facebook Live video taken in the immediate aftermath of the shooting shows at least two young people with gunshot wounds being treated by paramedics on the pavement. The person who filmed the Facebook Live said in the video that a teenage girl or young woman had suffered a gunshot wound to the neck. Only about 20 minutes after the festival had officially ended, hundreds of people were still walking along the street. Thousands of people packed King Drive for the festival, which ran from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Vendors selling food and wares lined the street along with community organizations offering resources, snacks, and free giveaways. Music thumped from booths and food trucks offering refreshing treats in the heat drew long lines. Youth dance groups, marching bands, and drill teams entertained crowds in a parade along King Drive earlier in the day. Police officers were stationed in several places along the route. At Least One Dead After School Shooting in Southern Brazil Police tape blocks off a street near Professora Helena Kolody public school in Cambe, Parana, Brazil, on June 19, 2023, in a still from video. (Reuters/Screenshot via The Epoch Times) SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIROAt least one student has died after a school shooting in Brazils southern city of Cambe on Monday, the Parana state government said in a statement, adding that another wounded student has been hospitalized. The perpetrator has been arrested and is a former student of the Professora Helena Kolody public school who entered its premises saying he wanted to request his school records, the government said. Governor Ratinho Junior declared three days of mourning and sent his public safety and education secretaries to Cambe, a city of 108,000 people located some 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Paranas capital city of Curitiba. Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said it is crucial that the country finds a way to build peace in schools. Another young life taken by hatred and violence that we can no longer tolerate inside our schools and in society, Lula said in a Twitter post. Earlier this year, a man armed with a small axe climbed over a wall into a creche in Southern Brazil and killed four children, while in a Sao Paulo school a 13-year-old student stabbed a teacher to death and wounded five others. Justice Minister Flavio Dino said after the attack that this type of violence that has been implanted in Brazil is unacceptable, adding that violence was once again perpetrated in the most sacred place for children. Barebones Hunter Biden Indictment Contrasts With Treatment of Paul Manafort FILE - In this Thursday, June 27, 2019 file photo, Paul Manafort arrives in court in New York. President Trump's former campaign manager is to be arraigned on state mortgage fraud charges. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020 issued pardons and sentence commutations for 29 people, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, in the latest burst of clemency in his final weeks at the White House. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) After the Department of Justice (DOJ) secured a guilty plea from Hunter Biden to two misdemeanor counts of tax evasion, some commentators contrasted the DOJs treatment of the presidents son with that of former Trump 2016 campaign chair Paul Manafort. Much like Hunter Biden, Manafort, a career campaign operative, had his foreign business dealings scrutinized by the government. But unlike Manaforts, the indictment of Biden reveals nothing about his foreign business dealings. According to GOP congressional investigations, Biden and his business partners operated dozens of shell companies that appeared to be designed to obfuscate movements of money from people and entities with ties to foreign governments, including those of China and Ukraine. Since the FBIs investigation into Hunter Biden began nearly five years ago, I and my colleagues in Congress have uncovered extensive government and bank records indicative of money laundering as well as foreign business schemes that, in any other circumstance, would raise serious criminal and counterintelligence concerns, commented Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in a release. Hunters laptop, which the FBI has had since 2019, contains records corroborating much of this evidence, as well as evidence of other serious criminal violations. Republican lawmakers stressed that they havent been able to find a legitimate business of Hunter Bidensneither product nor servicesave for his ability to facilitate access to and potentially favors from his father, especially during Joe Bidens terms as vice president. Yet the indictment, at barely two pages, offers no detail on Hunter Bidens activities. It merely states that he willfully failed to pay somewhere above $200,000 in taxes on income exceeding $3 million from 2017 and 2018charges so light he may avoid prison altogether. It mentions nothing about what made the behavior willful, not to mention where the money came from, or even exactly how much money was involved. Biden also faced a separate charge for illegal gun possession, but was allowed to resolve it through pre-trial diversion, a program that allows him to avoid both incarceration and a criminal record. By contrast, Manaforts 2017 indictment spent 30 pages describing in detail how he hid from tax collectors millions of dollars in foreign bank accounts. It explained where the money came fromRussia-aligned Ukrainian politicians and entities. It listed companies Manafort used to transfer the money. It listed individual transactions. It even specified that Manafort used the money to buy luxury goods and services for himself and his extended family. Manafort was hit with charges of failing to register as a foreign agent, lying, conspiracy to commit said crimes, as well as a conspiracy to launder money. He was sentenced to more than 7 years in prison. Courts also ordered his cash and property confiscated. President Donald Trump pardoned him in 2020. Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson scoffed at the charges against Hunter Biden, calling them pretty much nothing. He noted the governments willingness to go after people in Trumps orbit for violating the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA), but not after Biden. If it was a fair system, Hunter Biden would be first on the list of those next to be charged with the FARA violation. In fact, many of them, he said during his June 20 show. Trump adviser Stephen Miller also used the Manafort comparison. They gave Manafort the equivalent of a life prison term for alleged tax improprieties, he said in a tweet, complaining that the DOJ is shielding the Bidens. President Biden, responding to shouted questions from reporters about his sons plea deal, replied with six words: Im very proud of my son. Biden Admin Misses Deadline to Reveal Intelligence Findings on COVID-19 Origins President Joe Biden addresses the nation on averting default and the Bipartisan Budget Agreement, in the Oval Office of the White House on June 2, 2023. (Jim Watson/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) A June 18 deadline for President Joe Bidens administration to declassify and release documents pertaining to the origins of COVID-19 has come and gone without a clear response. In March, lawmakers passed the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023 with overwhelming bipartisan support. The legislation passed unanimously in the Senate before a 419-0 voice vote in the House of Representatives. Biden signed the bill into law on March 20, just 20 days after its formal introduction. The COVID-19 Origin Act gave the Biden administration 90 days from the day the president signed the bill into law to declassify and make available to the public as much information as possible about the true origin of COVID-19. The 90-day deadline gave the Biden administration until Sunday, June 18 to meet the declassification requirements. The law would have forced a closer look at the intelligence underlying the theory that COVID-19 resulted from a laboratory leak. The law specifically calls for the U.S. intelligence community to reveal if the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in Wuhan, China was conducting research on behalf of the Chinese regimes Peoples Liberation Army, and whether the virology lab was researching or experimenting with coronaviruses. The legislation also called for the intelligence community to reveal the names of any WIV researchers who fell ill in the autumn of 2019, whether they were involved in coronavirus experimentation or not, and specific dates for when their symptoms began. Reminder Sent Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who sponsored the COVID-19 Origin Act, sent a letter to Biden on June 14, reminding Biden administration officials that they had just four days to meet the laws declassification deadline, and that the administration had not yet provided any indication of when the relevant material will be declassified. Hawley and Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) reminded the president not only of the deadline, but that they were seeking the greatest degree of transparency possible with the declassification and public release of the documents. The senators noted that the COVID-19 Origin Act only allowed minimal redactions to protect intelligence sources and methods. Your Administration should comply with the law as written and not undermine clear congressional intent to provide as much transparency to the American people as possible, Hawley and Braun wrote in their letter (pdf). We introduced the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023 earlier this Congress to hold China accountable for its obfuscation during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the beginning of the pandemic, China appears to have taken every effort to hide COVIDs origins from the world. The American people deserve to know how this pandemic began, and their democratically elected representatives have expressed their will unanimously. I urge you not to stand in their way. Still No Answer Biden originally said he was pleased to sign the COVID-19 Origin Act into law. In a March 20 statement upon signing the bill, Biden said: I share the Congresss goal of releasing as much information as possible about the origin of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID19). In 2021, I directed the Intelligence Community to use every tool at its disposal to investigate the origin of COVID-19, and that work is ongoing. We need to get to the bottom of COVID-19s origins to help ensure we can better prevent future pandemics. My Administration will continue to review all classified information relating to COVID19s origins, including potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. In implementing this legislation, my Administration will declassify and share as much of that information as possible, consistent with my constitutional authority to protect against the disclosure of information that would harm national security. Despite this early show of support for the declassification effort, the Biden administration has offered no follow-up comments. NTD News reached out to the Biden White House after Hawley and Brauns June 14 letter, but the White House did not respond. NTD news reached out again after the June 18 declassification deadline passed, but the White House still had not responded by the time this article was published. NTD News also reached out to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which provides oversight of the U.S. intelligence community. The intelligence office also did not respond. Hawley condemned the lack of response from the Biden administration in a Tuesday-morning post on Twitter, stating, This isnt optional. Its the law. Release the intelligence now. In an statement emailed to NTD News, Braun noted that the Biden administrations decision to ignore the declassification deadline coincided with Secretary of State Antony Blinkens visit to China last weekend and his meetings with Chinese counterparts. The White House is now overdue to declassify their COVID lab leak intel, and there is no Secretary of State is meeting with Xi Jinping exception in the law President Biden signed, Braun said. We need to know the truth about how this pandemic started and Chinas role in covering it up, and the White House must respect the text of the law passed unanimously in both chambers by the peoples representatives. From NTD News TEHRAN, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Army's Navy Commander Shahram Irani said regional cooperation and convergence are necessary for safeguarding maritime security in the Indian Ocean region. Irani made the remarks in an interview with the official news agency IRNA published on Tuesday, when asked about his ongoing visit to Pakistan. The commander said that the regional countries have gained the necessary capabilities to ensure their own security, stressing that Iran and Pakistan will stand by each other in guarding the world's economic lifelines. He added that given the regional and global status quo, Iran and Pakistan should enhance bilateral cooperation in educational, industrial, military and scientific areas. Irani noted that the two countries are willing to promote regional convergence and cooperation, particularly in the military sector. Heading a senior military delegation, Irani arrived in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Monday for a three-day visit at the invitation of Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi, chief of the naval staff of the Pakistan Navy, to discuss ways to expand bilateral military cooperation. Earlier this month, Irani announced that Iran plans to form a new regional and transregional naval alliance to ensure security in the regional waters. He listed the countries willing to join the alliance as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Iraq, among others. Biden Makes First Public Remarks About Sons Guilty Plea Deal President Joe Biden delivers remarks following a briefing on Interstate-95 highway emergency repair and reconstruction efforts, in Philadelphia, Pa., on June 17, 2023. (Julia Nikhinson/AFP via Getty Images) President Joe Biden responded to reporters questions about his son Hunter Bidens guilty plea on Tuesday, saying, Im very proud of my son. Reporters shouted questions at the president while at a meeting in California on the implications of AI. The White House has issued a response to Hunter Bidens guilty plea to federal crimes. The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life, White House spokesperson Ian Sams told The Epoch Times in an email. We will have no further comment. The Guilty Plea Hunter Biden reached an agreement with the Justice Department regarding charges of neglecting to pay federal income tax and illegally possessing a firearm, according to the letter (pdf) filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware. According to the June 20 letter, Hunter Biden will plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses and is anticipated to reach an agreement with prosecutors on the felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user, according to the agreement, which was made public on Tuesday. It is not common for a federal criminal case to be resolved at the same time as the charges are filed in court, but it is not impossible. The agreement concludes a lengthy Justice Department investigation into Bidens second son, who has admitted to struggling with addiction since his brother Beau Bidens death in 2015. It also prevents a trial that would have generated days or weeks of distracting headlines for a White House that has worked hard to maintain a distance from the Justice Department. Christopher Clark, an attorney for Hunter Biden, said in a statement that, to his knowledge, the five-year investigation has concluded. In a statement to media outlets, Clark said that Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement. What the Charges Mean Earlier reports indicated that Hunter Biden, in 2018, knowing that he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance did knowingly possess a firearm, that is, a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver with serial number RA 551363, said firearm having been shipped and transported in interstate commerce, according to the indictment. If certain criteria are met, pre-trial diversion programs permit defendants to have charges dropped. According to the Department of Justice, the programs goals include preventing future criminal activity and promoting rehabilitation. The news comes as congressional Republicans investigate almost every aspect of Hunter Bidens business dealings, including his foreign payments and other financial matters. The news also broke days after the 37-count indictment of former President Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents on his Florida estate, a case with even more dramatic political implications. The firearms charge alleges that Hunter Biden, for 11 days in October 2018, possessed a Colt Cobra 38 special handgun despite knowing he was a drug user. The offense carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, but according to the Justice Department, Hunter Biden has reached a pre-trial agreement. Complete information was not immediately available. Bidens Previous Statements In the weeks preceding Hunter Bidens plea agreement, rumors circulated that the presidents son would soon be charged with a crime. The U.S. attorneys office in Delaware is investigating the tax affairs of Hunter Biden. In 2020, the presidents son stated that he was treating the investigation seriously but was optimistic about a positive outcome. I take this matter very seriously, but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisers, Hunter Biden said in a statement issued by the Biden-Harris transition team in December 2020. The Associated Press and Tom Ozimek contributed to this report. President Joe Biden discusses his administrations commitment to seizing the opportunities and managing the risks of Artificial Intelligence at 4:00 p.m. ET in San Francisco on June 20. Blinken Says China Assured It Wont Send Weapons to Russia Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers remarks during an event honoring the 2023 Trafficking in Persons Heroes at the Harry S. Truman department headquarters in Washington, on June 15, 2023. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) China has assured the United States and other countries that it wont supply Russia lethal aid that could be used against Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on June 19. Blinken, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Beijing since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, said there was no evidence suggesting that the Chinese regime has transferred weapons or provided lethal aid to Russia. With regard to lethal aid to Russia for use in Ukraine, we and other countries have received assurances from China that it is not and will not provide lethal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine, he told reporters. Blinken acknowledged that Beijing had provided similar assurances in recent weeks, not just during his visit. However, the U.S. diplomat said there were concerns about Chinese firms providing Russia with technology that could be used against Ukraine and urged the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to be vigilant on that. What we are concerned about is private companies in China that may be providing assistance, in some cases dual use, in some cases clearly directed at enhancing Russias military capacity in Ukraine, he said. That is a concern, and its something that I pointed out to our Chinese counterparts and urged that they be vigilant in policing that, Blinken added. Chinese leader Xi Jinping (R) receives U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken prior to their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 19, 2023. (Leah Millis/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) Blinken met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on June 18 before holding talks with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on June 19. Unlike talks with Qin and Wang, which lasted several hours, his meeting with Xi lasted about 35 minutes. The Biden administration has long feared that the CCP could choose to provide lethal aid to Russia in addition to the economic and diplomatic support it already gives the Kremlin. Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said on Feb. 24 that while there was no evidence of China directly sending weapons to Russia, the CCP had not ruled out such a possibility. Such a decision, he said, would indicate that Chinese communist authorities seek to destroy Ukraine outright, and would needlessly extend the continued suffering and death of innocent Ukrainians. Broadly speaking, what you would be seeing is a country like China, which clearly has advanced capabilities and munitions, [and] which has publicly declared its neutrality, to now take a side and say we want to be in the camp thats looking to extinguish Ukraine as a nation, Ryder said. It would prolong this conflict. It would cause needless suffering among innocent Ukrainians, he added. US Wont Provide Technology to China Blinken said that Washington will not provide China access to its technology due to national security concerns. He made clear that the decision was not aimed at cutting economic relations with China. But at the same time, as I said, its not in our interest to provide technology to China that could be used against us, Blinken told reporters in Beijing. At a time when its engaged in a buildup of its nuclear weapons program in a very opaque way, when its producing hypersonic missiles, when its using technology for repressive purposes against its own people, how is it in our interest to provide those specific technologies to China? And other countries feel the same way, he added. The CCP has refused to resume direct military communication with the United States despite Blinkens repeated efforts to raise the issue during his two-day trip. Asked why Washington would want to continue engaging with China despite the apparent unwillingness to have open military communications from the other side, Blinken argued that such efforts are necessary to make changes happen. Were not going to have success on every issue between us on any given day, but in a whole variety of areason the terms that we set for this trip, we have made progress, and we are moving forward, he said. Relations between the United States and China have soured over several issues, including Hong Kong and particularly Taiwan, a self-governing island that China regards as its own and has vowed to seize by any means necessary. Earlier this month, a Chinese warship came within 150 yards of colliding with a U.S. destroyer during a Canada-U.S. joint sailing mission through the Taiwan Strait. Washington described the naval maneuver as unsafe, while Beijing defended its actions by accusing the countries concerned of deliberately provoking risks. Andrew Thornebrooke, Eva Fu, Dorothy Li, and Frank Fang contributed to this report. Blinkens Message Could Embolden China to Make a Move Against Taiwan: Expert A China Central Television (CCTV) news broadcast shows footage of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, on a giant screen outside a shopping mall in Beijing on June 19, 2023. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinkens message during his trip to China this week could embolden China to make a move against Taiwan, according to Michael Sekora, founder and director of Project Socrates, a U.S. intelligence community program established under the Reagan White House. After he met with Xi Jinping in Beijing on June 19, Blinken told reporters that he had a robust conversation with the Chinese leader and other top diplomats, ending a two-day trip. While Blinken and Xi both expressed a willingness to continue the communication, theres little indication that the Chinese regime is prepared to bend from its positions on issues such as Taiwan. Blinken said at a June 19 press meeting that the United States will continue to advocate its One China policy, under which Washington officially recognizes Beijing rather than Taipei. However, Blinken noted that the Taiwan Relations Act makes clear that the U.S. decision to establish diplomatic ties with China instead of Taiwan rests upon the expectation that the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means. On Taiwan, I reiterated a longstanding U.S. One China policy. That policy has not changed. Its guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, three Joint Communiques, the Six Assurances. We do not support Taiwan independence. We remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side. We continue to expect the peaceful resolution to cross-state differences, he said. We and many others have deep concerns about some of the provocative actions that China has taken in recent years, going back to 2016, he told reporters. The reason that this is a concern for so many countries, not just the United States, is that, were there to be a crisis over Taiwan, the likelihood is that that would produce an economic crisis that could affect quite literally the entire world. According to Sekora, Blinkens message means that the Biden administration supports communist Chinas unification of Taiwan as long as it does not resort to military action. So theyre sitting on the fence, and theyre giving China just a little more maneuvering room to move things forward, Sekora told China in Focus on NTD, the sister media outlet of The Epoch Times. In many ways, this administration has backed down from a strong position on defending Taiwan. Weak China Policy According to Sekora, the fact that the Biden administration had repeatedly asked Beijing to reestablish normal communications sparked concern among Americans as they see it as a weak China policy and are concerned about the impact on U.S. allies. Theyre looking for a strong leadership to push back on China. They dont see the pushback on China, number 1, and the second thing is, which is just as damning, is that theres a lot of concern about whats going on with our allies. And those people who are not necessarily an ally, but theyre not adversarial, and theyre sitting on the fence Ive been told by some of the countries that we deal with, theyre looking at the U.S. on the decline, and China on the rise, he said. The U.S. weakness would have a bad impact on allies decisions on which side to support, Sekora said. If they [allies] see the United States in a very weak position, and not willing to push it, theyre [allies] siding more with China, not necessarily with getting in bed with them, as they say, but rather not perturbing them [China] in any way, he said. Americans see that because we know that so much of Americas strength always comes from our allies, Australia, Europeans, places like that. And if we see that these people are pulling further and further away from us, that makes most Americans more and more nervous about the future with China, he added. Stand Strong Against China Sekora urged the United States to defend democracy defend the countries who are willing to not bow to Chinas pressure. And that includes all the various countries. And as we know, for the longest time, China was very soft in their approach to these countries, but now its getting harder in terms of making more demands on the sites theyve gotten in terms of the various locations for deployment, and theyre pushing harder and harder. And America needs to be able to stand strong against China, he said. The Epoch Times reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment. Dorothy Li and Frank Fang contributed to this report. California to Spend $95 Million to Help Illegal Immigrants Affected by Storms Winter storms that deluged California this year flooded crops and homes along small agricultural and beach communities, leaving thousands of illegal immigrants working as field and service workers without shelter or jobs as summer approaches. Most of them cant qualify for federal unemployment assistance, even though they pay payroll taxes. And while charitable organizations were able to fill a small gap, a new state program is expected to provide aid to many such workers and small business owners who are still without work or a place to live. Its been horrible, Susan True, CEO of the Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, a nonprofit charity, told The Epoch Times. I feel like the storms are gone and people forgot that some people are not OK yet. Gov. Gavin Newsoms administration announced this month a plan to spend $95 million to help the immigrants affected. The California Department of Social Services will provide the funds to several regional nonprofit organizations to dispense. Qualifying adults will receive $1,500, and children under 18 will receive $500, with a maximum of $4,500 per household. In Santa Cruz County, in central California, the storms especially impacted seniors living in low-income housing, people living in the mountains, and many field workers who are illegal immigrants, True said. The storms, which began in December and lasted through April, created massive floods in the agricultural fields. Although that time of year is usually slow for agricultural work, many workers were not able to plant berries, lettuce, and kale, for instance, she said. Very quickly, undocumented workers felt the sting of lost wages, True added. Then, about 2,000 residents on the border of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties in Pajaro, California, were evacuated just before a levee broke in March leaving most homes and businesses in the town under several feet of water. About 500 homes were lost, leaving thousands of migrants without a safety net, according to True. Philanthropy stepped in and really filled the time gap but its so small compared to whats needed, True said. Although summer has nearly arrived in the Golden State, many families and workers are still without work or places to live. The states help came somewhat late, according to one local official. Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo pleaded for the governor on Twitter on May 4 to follow through on a promise to assist Pajaro flood victims who are illegal immigrants and dont qualify for federal emergency aid. California must do better for its flood victims, especially in disadvantaged communities! Alejo wrote. We must deploy disaster assistance more expeditiously than this! The funding will be available in most counties this month, according to the Department of Social Services. The program will remain available through May 31, 2024, or until all funds are spent. The one-time assistance will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. The state is working with several local nonprofits, including several Catholic Charities organizations, in affected counties throughout California to provide applications and assistance in applying. Applicants will be interviewed in person by the nonprofits and, if approved, will be given a pre-loaded debit card or check. Canadian Military Members Killed in Helicopter Crash Northwest of Ottawa, Says Trudeau A Canadian Forces Military Police officer watches the water on Black Bear Beach near Garrison Petawawa in Petawawa, Ont. on June 20, 2023. The Royal Canadian Air Force is currently searching for two missing RCAF 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron members following a CH-147F Chinook early morning crash near Garrison Petawawa. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby) Without specifying the number of casualties, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that members of the Royal Canadian Air Force were killed on June 20 in a helicopter crash near a town northwest of Ottawa. Initial reports from the Department of National Defence (DND) said the crash left two military members injured and another two missing. Speaking to reporters that morning in Ottawa, Trudeau said there would be significant investigations to determine the cause of the crash and added that he was still receiving information from Canadas chief of the Defence Staff, Gen. Wayne Eyre. Trudeau spoke to reporters again in the afternoon and said he has expressed his condolences to the families and colleagues of the members killed. The fact is there will be a thorough investigation, he said. There will be answers to give, but right now were focusing on notification of the families and support. The prime minister did not provide any further information. The Epoch Times reached out to the DND for clarification of the prime ministers comments but did not hear back before press time. DND said earlier in the day that four RCAF members were on board a CH-147 Chinook helicopter just after midnight near the Ottawa River close to Petawawa, Ont. when the crash occurred. The department added that the members were on board the helicopter as part of a training flight, and said that two of them were found by first responders and taken to a hospital in Pembroke, Ont. The other two were still missing. DND said around 50 Canadian military members were searching for the two missing RCAF members on shore and in the water and being assisted by an Ontario Provincial Police unit as well as the Petawawa and Pembroke Fire Departments and several military rescue aircraft. Trudeau said that his government was hoping for the best, but braced for the worst. My thoughts go out to the entire Canadian Armed Forces, the members of the 450 Squadron who are obviously very deeply affected by this, he said. The Canadian Press contributed to this report. Careful Who You Connect With on LinkedIn: CSIS Details How CCP Targets Canadians The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is telling Canadians what signs to look for to avoid becoming a target of the Chinese regimes intelligence services. Canadians beware, said CSIS on June 20. The Peoples Republic of Chinas Intelligence Services (PRCIS) are targeting Canadian citizens inside and outside of China. In a series of social media posts, CSIS explains how targets are approached and cultivated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and other foreign state actors. The agency says Canadians have to be wary on social media. According to the spy agency, the first step is online targeting. The PRCIS identifies Canadian recruitment targets by using proxies, also known as targeters. These individuals identify Canadians who are actively looking for jobs in strategic sectors or who have high-value credentials. CSIS indicates that targets are approached under cover via LinkedIn, posing as anything from an HR recruiter to a security consultant. The communication is then moved to secondary platforms at the earliest opportunity, such as WeChat, WhatsApp, or email. The PRCIS undercover agent then asks targets to write reports for client consultants in exchange for payment. Targets do not know the true motive, warned CSIS. Targets may also be invited to meetings with clients. Both the consultant and the client are in fact intelligence officers, says the agency. It notes these meetings could be virtual or in-person so the target could be formally introduced to the fake client. The new targeted recruit then begins to receive payments in exchange for confidential, privileged information that is of interest to the PRC, said CSIS. Intelligence Officers may or may not reveal their true affiliation in order to preserve targets plausible deniability. The agency warns: Dont become a target of PRCIS recruitment. Be careful who you connect with on LinkedIn, and all other online platforms. In 2022, key national security threats facing Canada all accelerated and evolved, CSIS said. The agency added that while threats of foreign interference are not new, the threats have increased in scale, scope, and complexity. Foreign Interference On May 4, the agency released its 2022 Public Report, which said that foreign interference is targeting Canadas sovereignty, democratic institutions, prosperity and communities. We are seeing foreign states and their proxies target elected officials, communities, and the press in order to covertly influence Canadian policy, public opinion and our democratic institutions. To advance their economic interests, foreign states are undermining Canadian innovation and industry including by targeting our open academic and research entities, said the report. It notes that other countries are exploiting social media to influence their intended targets. The report said foreign actors cultivate witting or unwitting individuals to assist them, in addition to monitoring, intimidating, and harassing diaspora communities in Canada. In recent months, evidence of the CCPs targeting of Chinese Canadians and dissidents have prompted calls and mounting public pressure, as well as calls from opposition politicians, for the Liberal government to implement a foreign agent registry and hold a public inquiry. In 2022, it was reported that sub-national affiliates of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) Ministry of Public Security (MPS) had set up three overseas police stations in Canada, without permission from the Government of Canada, said the report. CSIS indicated it has observed instances where representatives from various investigatory bodies in China have come to Canada, often without notifying local law enforcement agencies, and used threats and intimidation in attempting to force fugitive Chinese Canadians and permanent residents to return to China. These threat actors must be held accountable for their clandestine activities, said CSIS. China Seeks to Punish Online BullyingBut Journalist-In-Exile Says Beijing is Directing It All A sign above an office of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) is pictured in Beijing, China, on July 8, 2021. (Thomas Peter/Reuters) China issued its draft guideline for punishing cyber violence and online crimes recently after a high-profile bullying case emerged on the Chinese internet. However, Chinese journalist-in-exile Zhao Lanjian commented that there is effectively no online bullying in China. Instead, Zhao says, the crimes are concerted acts carried out by the communist regime and its peripheral companies in the course of its online public opinion management process. When such acts are overdone and tragedies of different kinds occur, the regime blames ordinary Chinese netizens. The draft guideline is a typical tactic of the regime: blaming the Chinese public for its own misdeeds, Zhao said. A veteran Chinese journalist and photographer now living in exile, Zhao Lanjian told The Epoch Times the inside story of how the issue of Chinese cyberspace bullying has been crafted to fit the authorities instructions on guiding public opinion. Its a business that caters to the needs of the authorities, Zhao said. The goal is to maintain a stable and harmonious internet ecosystem for the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), he said, by drowning out the normal and logical cognitive functions of ordinary citizens with massive quantities of false arguments. The authorities, in this case, are Xi Jinpingthe Communist Party leaderand his loyal followers in the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission (or the Commission). According to Zhao, Chinese cyberspace appears to be a network of netizens communicating and commenting on events. However, Zhao says that this network is, essentially, fabricated. Issues trending on the Chinese internet and popular posts online are actually being pushed and amplified according to orders from the Commissionwhich is how Communist Party offices, local authorities, and private businesses in China physically manipulate the perception of public opinion online. The so-called netizens opinion is directed by the authorities, he said, and its a money-making business. Its All a Business The Chinese Internet is a gigantic information-management industry, with trillions of items of information manipulated and exploited by three entities, Zhao said: the communist authorities, both state and private media, and public relations companies. Zhao used to work for a major internet company in China, and he used his former employer as an example. Zhaos former company had a department that engaged in software development and implementationwith the goal of facilitating the systemic management and direction of public opinion. The elder brother of his departments leader was a deputy state-level official, he said. According to Zhao, Chinese internet company CEOs are well connected to their overlords in Zhongnanhaithe political center of the Chinese Communist Party. Zhao said that as much as 10 years ago, agencies at all levels in the Chinese regime were equipped with his companys softwareand four major Chinese internet companies were involved in providing ancillary services required to operate it. At that time, manual intervention played a major role, as artificial intelligence (AI) was not as advanced as today. The software searched for negative information on the internet and on Chinese social media, such as WeChat, Weibo, blogging platforms, and more. The software screened the posts and information it found against lists of major officials in the communist regime, serving as a fire extinguisher to eliminate any posts that might have a negative impact on those officials. The authorities and the local cyberspace management departments operated multiple access points for direct connection to the information found on the Chinese internet. Designated public relations companies also helped filter out problematic content. Zhao said, These public relations companies are whats known as the Internet Fire Brigade. He explained that Chinas internet operates as a business. The PR companies hire individuals to manage multiple fake accounts, spreading posts of well-crafted contentwith the mission of interpreting and guiding the direction in which a given topic should go. The companies would also pay popular bloggersverified Weibo bloggers with more than 500,000 followers, known as Big Vto repost and assist the trending process. The Big V receive a lot of money from the PR companies, he said. Finally, theres a team of people in charge of deleting censored posts. What is trending online in China is all man-made, he said, including the keywords its all planned, none of it is objective or regular. Its all controlled. Zhao Lanjian, a veteran Chinese journalist-in-exile, is recognized for his work in uncovering the identity of the chained woman, a mother of eight children and a victim of child trafficking, on September 17, 2022. (Chang Chun/The Epoch Times) The Instructions Zhao said that the CCP developed both the philosophy and the means required to control online opinion years ago. In 2015, the Peoples Daily Press published a training manual titled Work Guide for Network Public Opinion, which was written for cadres in leadership, spokespersons, commentators, and public opinion analysts. The guide presented strategies and plans to manipulate online contentaccording to images captured from the manual. Zhao used a recent online bullying incident in China as an example to illustrate how the authorities there claim they are fighting online bullyingand to show what can actually happen behind the scenes. Chinese media blamed the suicide of a young mother in Wuhan, central China on June 2 on the social media-led criticism of her intention to become an online celebrity. The young woman announced her intentions after the death of her six-year-old sonwho was run over by a teachers car in his school compound. Chinese media claimed that netizens then bullied and scorned the woman online, with comments such as her son was no good, the mom was acting, etc. As a result, the media claimed, she jumped from a high-rise building about 10 days after her son was killed on May 23. The authorities said she had died due to online violenceand deleted the malicious comments and accounts. However, a video later emerged that showed the mother complaining about how she was being harassed by a local police officer named Zhou Jun. According to Zhao Lanjians analysis, police officer Zhou was likely acting on orders as part of a concerted plan of online opinion management. Local authorities dispatched a large police force to the school where her son had died when the mother was expressing, on internet platforms, her hopes that the school would apologize for the wrongful death of her son. However, reports suggest that the teacher involved in her sons death belongs to a privileged family in the district. Zhao said he believes it was easy for the authorities to conduct police coercion on the young mother to keep her quiet, while flooding the Chinese internet with negative posts to drown out the womans voice. He said, I know it can be done, because it was part of my work in the past. Zhao said that the Chinese public has become blind to the CCPs tactics, making it second nature for them to accept the claims of the regimeand acknowledge its claims of online violence. Haizhong Ning and Luo Ya contributed to this report. China Urges German CEOs to Lead Risk Prevention Amid Trade Tensions New Chinese Premier Li Qiang waves at his first press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 13, 2023. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images) Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday told German business leaders that companies should take the lead on managing risk after Germany published its national security strategy, which described China as a systemic rival. Li met with representatives of German companiesincluding Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benzin Berlin ahead of government consultations on Tuesday at the start of his first official trip overseas. During the meeting, Li said he hopes that German companies will continue to contribute to developing bilateral ties between China and Germany while upholding the principles of win-win cooperation. Enterprises have the most direct and acute sense of risk and know how to avoid and respond to it, Li was quoted as saying by Chinese state-run media Xinhua News Agency. Failure to cooperate is the biggest risk, and failure to develop is the biggest insecurity. The fact that his first trip overseas started in Germany underscores the weight of the ties between Asia and Europes largest economies. China is Germanys largest trade partner and is a key market for German companies to export goods and procure materials. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he wants to avoid overreliance on Chinese trade and diversify Germanys supply of key goodswhich he called deriskingwhile rejecting the idea of decoupling from China. The position was echoed last month by the Group of Seven leading industrial powers, most of which are heavily dependent on trade with China. Lis visit came after Germany published a 76-page national security strategy on June 14, which describes China as a partner, competitor and systemic rival, Politico reported. According to the report, Germany said, China is trying in various ways to reshape the existing rules-based international order, is increasingly aggressively claiming regional supremacy, and is repeatedly acting in contradiction to our interests and values. Regional stability and international security are increasingly being put under pressure, and human rights are being disregarded. China is deliberately using its economic power to achieve political goals, it added. German-China Talks German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang attend a joint press conference at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on April 14, 2023. (Photo by Suo Takekuma/Pool/Getty Images) Earlier in April, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Beijing and met with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on April 15. Wang asked Germany to support the reunification of mainland China and Taiwanas he claimed the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had previously supported the unification of East Germany and West Germany. While Baerbock did not respond directly to Wangs remarks on Taiwan, she told a joint press conference with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on June 14 that Germany cannot accept the use of force against Taiwan. The CCP claims Taiwan as a Chinese province even though Taiwan is a de facto independent country with a military, democratically-elected government, and constitution. China has never ruled out the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwans de-facto ambassador to Germany, Shieh Jhy-wey, rejected the CCPs use of German reunification as an analogy for Taiwan, and pointed out the fallacies in Wangs claim in a statement on Facebook. Miles Yu, director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute and previously the chief adviser on China policy under the Trump administration, also criticized Wangs remarks. Yu, now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said in a tweet that East and West Germany made democratic decisions to reunite, while the CCP has repeatedly threatened to use force against Taiwan. Alex Wu, the Associated Press, and Reuters contributed to this report. Comer Downplays Importance of Hunter Biden Plea Deal, Says Focus Remains on Presidents Business Deals Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, speaks to reporters on his way to a closed-door GOP caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 10, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) downplayed the significance of Hunter Bidens pending plea deal with the Department of Justice, saying that his focus remains on uncovering President Joe Bidens business dealings. Hunter Biden, 53, agreed to plead guilty to federal crimes in a deal with the U.S. government, prosecutors said on June 20. The presidents son admitted to intentionally failing to pay federal income tax, U.S. Attorney David Weiss said in a letter to the U.S. court in Delaware. Hunter Biden plans to plead guilty in an upcoming hearing to violations of a law that forbids people from willfully fail[ing] to file tax returns or pay taxes. Biden will also submit a guilty plea for illegal possession of a firearm, which was prohibited to him due to his addiction to controlled substance drugs. President Joe Biden (L) waves alongside his son Hunter Biden after attending Mass at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Johns Island, S.C., on Aug. 13, 2022. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images) Despite the charges, Comer says he remains focused on his mission to uncover the truth of Bidens business dealings with foreign nationals. Evidence unearthed by a trusted FBI informant alleges that the president accepted at least $5 million as a bribe from a foreign national, but more recent allegations put that figure at at least $10 million, in part through the use of shell companies. This is an investigation of Joe Biden, Comer said. So what happened today [with Hunter Biden] really doesnt matter. Comer made the comments ahead of a 4 p.m. meeting in the House sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) where he is set to review another FD-1023 form, a form from an FBI informant making allegations of potentially criminal conduct. With respect to things, weve still got people coming in that we hope to depose in the next weeks and months, said Comer. And we also have more bank records coming in. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has often repeated a claim that under President Donald Trump, Attorney General Bill Barr looked into the same allegations and dismissed them as lacking in substance. But Barr told the Epoch Times that this claim was untrue, and that the investigation remained open upon his leaving the Department of Justice (DOJ). One reporter asked Comer what he might find that other investigators could not find. What could you find that [Trumps DOJ] didnt find? They looked into a lot of these issues. I dont know. I would ask the U.S. attorney, did you look into the shell companies? Did you look at the money laundering? Did you consider the fact thatlets say Joe Biden had nothing to do with this moneythen would that not make the presidents son an unregistered foreign agent? What about wire fraud? How do you justify taking wires that were laundered through shell companies from foreign nationals? In my opinion, thats three crimes you got wire fraud, youve got money laundering, youve got racketeering. However, the DOJ investigation into the younger Biden is reportedly ongoing. Nevertheless, Comer expressed dissatisfaction with the length of time taken for the investigation, which he said should have been easy in view of the charges. We dont know exactly what the U.S. attorney was investigating, Comer said. Weve known for seven years, and he was investigating the fact that the presidents son didnt pay taxes for two years. Thats an easy investigation. He had a W-2 and failed to pay taxes. I dont know why it took seven years to come up with a plea deal. But, regardless, the very last line says this investigation is ongoing, which is what the FBI told me. Sweetheart Deal The right-wing of the House Republican conference was critical of Bidens deal with the DOJ, with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) describing it as a sweetheart deal. Hunter Biden was given a sweetheart deal to try to justify both the DOJs lack of interest in the Biden familys corruption and the political prosecution of President Donald J. Trump, Gaetz said in a Twitter post. Theyve had the evidence that Hunter Biden lied when he purchased a gun for years now. Why did they wait until now to charge Hunter? Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) agreed, characterizing it as a stunt. Hunter Biden pleading guilty to a gun charge and misdemeanor tax charges with no jail time is a stunt to make him look like he is just cooperating with the DOJ, Greene said. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks to the press after meeting President Joe Biden to discuss the debt limit at the White House in Washington, on May 22, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times) Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) described it as part of a deflection scheme to keep attention off Special Counsel John Durhams upcoming testimony to Congress about unlawful uses of surveillance and law enforcement authority against Trump and his allies. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told the Epoch Times that Republicans would not be dissuaded by the charges against Hunter Biden from continuing their investigation into his business dealings. It will not keep us away from any truth, McCarthy said. Its a real concern to me, that it just shows what weve been complaining about for quite some time about a two justice systemheres an individual who, because hes the son of the president, looks like he just gets a slap on the wrist. But it will not stop any of our investigation into the Biden family the millions that they received from foreign entities to move through shell companies to pay their families. The other thing thats even more interesting, it can only make us work harder because theres no excuse now from the DOJ not to provide the information that we need to pick up. Zachary Stieber contributed to this report. Chien Ming-pao, an agricultural technician from Taiwan, is seeking his own career development while helping promote rural revitalization in the Chinese mainland. Produced by Xinhua Global Service Connecticut Officials Used a Bear to Skirt Warrant Requirements, Spy on Landowners An unusual civil rights case has been filed in federal court involving a state agency that affixed a camera to a bear to catch residents feeding it. The case may sound comical, but legal experts say it will be an important test about how far the government can go in conducting surveillance of citizens without a warrant. Turning wild animals into roving surveillance tools violates our fundamental right to be secure on our property. Its outrageous government overreach, Robert Frommer, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice told The Epoch Times. Frommer is also the director of the organizations Fourth Amendment Project. The Fourth Amendment is part of the U.S. Constitution that protects Americans against unreasonable search and seizure by the government. Carol and Mark Brault, the couple targeted by the warrantless bear cam, own 118 acres of land in the town of West Hartland. Frommer said while the century-old Open Field Doctrine established by the U.S. Supreme Court has permitted the government onto large parcels of land without a warrant, he said he doesnt believe it was intended to protect the government from turning bears into agents of the government. Once you slap a camera on a bear with plans to use images captured by the bear, its an agent of the government, he said, and that bear could go anywhere. It might come right up to your windowtheres no way for the officers to control that bear, he said. According to the suit, the Connecticut Department of Economical and Environmental Protect (DEEP) caught a bear and then put a camera on it in order to catch the Braults violating a cease-and-desist order the town of West Hartland issued to stop them from feeding bears. It is against the town ordinance to feed bears in West Hartland. The Braults, which designated their large tract of land a nonprofit wildlife sanctuary, were feeding them to attract them so they could be photographed. It remains unclear why a state agency got involved in a town issue in the bear controversy. In its complaint, the town admitted it used footage captured by a camera the department put on a bear they tagged as Bear 119 and released near the Braults property. A department spokesman Paul Copleman told The Epoch Times that it has no comment on active litigation in response to inquiries about the unusual case. DEEP is the same agency that recently campaigned for a bill that would create a bear hunt by lottery in Connecticut. Lawmakers abandoned the bill after a huge outcry from the public against it. However, it recently passed a modified version of the bill that allows both the agency and homeowners to kill bears that pose a threat or, as the law is written, are perceived to potentially pose a threat. The law also established a statewide ban on intentional feeding of bears in the New England state. Connecticut, like most northeast states, is populated by black bears. According to the North American Bear Center, they rarely hunt. They eat mostly berries, nuts, and plants and according to the center, typically only eat meat if they happen to come across an already dead animal. Young men are 167 times more likely to kill someone than a black bear, the center said in a statement. Most attacks by black bears are defensive reactions to a person who is too close, which is an easy situation to avoid. As part of their lawsuit, the Braults produced their own camera footage showing that the DEEP-camera outfitted bear came within 200 yards of their property. To Frommer, that is a clear indication the government was spying on the Braults and violating the open-field doctrine. The case has caught the attention of several civil rights organizations and constitutionalists. Foundation for Economic Education, which is handling several cases involving the governments use of drones to conduct surveillance of private property without a warrant, said that putting a camera on a bear known to frequent private property is no different than placing a hidden camera on private property without the owners permission. Government warrantless searches for outdoor areas have become a growing issue for lawmakers. Last year, Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a law that overturned a state ban on warrantless police search of household garbage put out on the street for pickup by city trash collectors. The open-field doctrine has been used to catch landowners poaching and illegally hunting on their property. In Tennessee, a landowner was recently fined after being caught on camera secretly placed on his land by state government officials without a warrant. Several states have passed laws against outdoor warrantless searches including Mississippi, Montana, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Florida. In their lawsuit against the DEEP, the Braults alleged that the agency violated their Fourth Amendment rights and trespassed on their property by way of a bear. They have asked the court to order all footage captured by the camera to be destroyed and that the camera be removed from the bear. Neither the town of West Hartland nor its attorneys responded to inquiries from The Epoch Times. There are around 750,000 black bears in the United States. They have an average lifespan of 21 years but rarely make it past the age of 3. They mostly die of starvation or are shot, according to the North American Bear Center. According to the Humane Society of the United States, about 50,000 bears are killed a year as part of government-sanctioned trophy hunting, which exists in 33 states. Conservatives Again Call for Withdrawal From Beijing-Linked Infrastructure Bank Canada has halted all government led activity in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. (VCG via Getty Images) The Conservatives have renewed their call for Canada to pull out of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). During Question Period in the House of Commons on June 16, Conservative MP Michael Chong said the June 14 resignation of AIIB executive Bob Pickard, a Canadian, shows the bank is dominated by the Chinese Communist Party. The bank is a tool of the Chinese Communist Party to spread its authoritarian model of governance throughout the Indo-Pacific region, said Chong. The bank has said its willing to lend to Myanmars military junta, whove been targeting the Rohingya minority. And there are suggestions it is willing to resume lending to Russia. What more proof does the government need to conclude that this bank runs contrary to Canadas interest and values? Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance Rachel Bendayan responded that the federal government has halted all government-led activity at the bank. The minister of finance has instructed the Department of Finance to lead an immediate review of Canadas involvement, she said. The Canadian government is currently discussing this issue with its allies and partners that are also members of the bank. Canada became a member of the AIIB in 2018, and has pledged a total of $995 million, according to the bank. The AIIB was set up to finance infrastructure projects in Asia, and has 106 member governments, including Australia, Canada, Russia, France, and Britain. Japan and the United States are not members. Chong added there have been other voices calling for Canadas withdrawal. Just a couple of years ago, Global Affairs Canada advised the government that the bank is an example of how Beijing promotes perspectives on governance, economic security, and human rights that diverge in fundamental ways from Canadas, he said. And just two years ago, the finance committee recommended the government withdraw from the bank. Former Solicitor General and Finance Chair Wayne Easter said the recommendation should serve as a wake-up and smell-the-roses moment for the government. So, when will the prime minister heed the advice of Global Affairs Canada, heed the advice of senior Liberals, and withdraw Canada from the bank? On June 15, the AIIB said in a statement that it welcomed the review announced by the federal government. We welcome this review and will be cooperating fully. Transparency is essential to the trust of our 106 members, our multilateral peers, our development partners, our community of civil society organizations, and the citizens we serve, said the statement. In announcing his resignation on Twitter last week, Pickard said, As a patriotic Canadian, this was my only course the Bank is dominated by Communist Party members and also has one of the most toxic cultures imaginable. I dont believe that my countrys best interests are served by its AIIB membership. In another post, Pickard said, The Communist Party hacks hold the cards at the Bank. They deal with some board members as useful idiots I believe my government should not be a member of this PRC instrument. The reality of power in the bank is that its CCP [Chinese Communist Party] from start to finish. Pickard had been the banks director general of global communications. In a June 14 statement, the AIIB called Pickards comments about the banks leadership baseless and disappointing. And in its June 15 statement, the bank added that AIIB will also be conducting its own internal review of the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Bob Pickard, and the allegations he has made. The review will be conducted in line with the Banks governance frameworks and policies, it added. Its not the first time the Conservatives have called for Canada to step back from the bank. In 2021, the Tories demanded the government stop funding the AIIB, given the detention of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. Chong said the latest allegations reiterate that point. The resignation of a Canadian executive from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank confirms what weve long been saying, he said. DeSantis Responds to Hunter Biden Case: Sweetheart Deal Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to guests during a campaign event in Pella, Iowa, on May 31, 2023. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis condemned a reported Hunter Biden plea agreement and claimed that it shows there is a two-tiered standard of justice in the United States. Looks like Hunter received a sweetheart deal and is not facing any charges on the massive corruption allegations. If Hunter was not connected to the elite DC class he would have been put in jail a long time ago, DeSantis, a GOP presidential candidate, wrote on Twitter Tuesday. If Hunter were a Republican, he would have been in jail years ago, DeSantis added. Hours earlier, Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, confirmed via a lawyer that he would plead guilty to federal tax offenses but avoid prosecution on a separate gun charge in a deal with the Department of Justice (DOJ). With the sentencing guidelines, it means he likely will not spend any time behind bars. Hunter Biden, 52, will plead guilty to the misdemeanor tax offenses as part of an agreement made public Tuesday. The agreement will also likely avoid prosecution on a felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user, as long as he adheres to conditions set by prosecutors. Its somewhat unusual to resolve a federal criminal case at the same time charges are filed in court but not unheard of. The deal ends a long-running Justice Department investigation into Bidens second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden. It also averts a trial that would have generated days or weeks of distracting headlines for a White House in what Republicans said is a politicized move on behalf of the DOJ. The agreement requires the younger Biden to admit guilt, and the deal is narrowly focused on tax and weapons violations rather than anything broader or tied to the Democrat president. It doesnt touch on allegations from Republicans that Hunter Biden, who previously had a lucrative position as the board member of a Ukrainian gas company, and his family allegedly profited on influence-peddling and bribery schemes will Joe Biden was vice president. Trump, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, likened the Hunter Biden deal to a mere traffic ticket, adding, Our system is BROKEN! Christopher Clark, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, said in a statement that it was his understanding that the five-year investigation had now been resolved. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life, Clark said. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, wrote that the younger Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist with the charges. Comer again this week alleged that the FBI and DOJ sat on evidence that allegedly shows members of the Biden family may have profited from spurious business deals overseas. While other House Republicans made similar statements about the Biden plea deal, Democrats said that they believe it shows the DOJ is independent of influence. This development reflects the Justice Departments continued institutional independence in following the evidence of actual crimes and enforcing the rule of law even in the face of constant criticism and heckling by my GOP colleagues who think that the system of justice should only follow their partisan wishes, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said in a statement Tuesday. The U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Delaware has confirmed that the investigation into the younger Biden is still ongoing, meaning that more charges could be brought in the future. Meanwhile, polls show that DeSantis is still behind Trump in the 2024 polls. A CNN survey published on June 20 found that Trump is ahead of DeSantis by about 21 percentage points, while other polls show a wider chasm between the two. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Federal Election Grants May Have Helped Democrats in 2020, Say Republicans The U.S. flag at the dome of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington on May 12, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times) A 2002 federal election law and the agency it created may have played a role in turning out votes for Joe Biden in the 2020 election, according to House Republicans. The stated mission of the two taxpayer-funded federal initiativesthe Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and the Election Assistance Commission (EAC)is to improve voting. Both came under fire from House Republicans last week for what happened in California just before the 2020 election. On Aug. 27, 2020, the Associated Press reported that Golden State election officials signed a $35 million contract with a Washington-based public affairs firm for the purpose of getting people to vote during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. A screenshot of a website showing an election contractors partisan views in 2020. (Courtesy of Bryan Steil) According to AP, the firms managing director was Anita Dunn, a senior strategist for the Biden campaign. At a June 14, 2023, hearing of the House Committee on Administration, Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) riled up the panels Democrat members by displaying a blown-up screenshot from the companys website that openly bragged about its support for Biden. Steil identified the company, SKD Knickerbocker (SKDK) as the contractor. He used the visual aid to support his allegation that a state government spent federal grant money for political purposes. The state of California was awarded $35 million in federal funds. California spent that money on a Get-Out-the-Vote campaign, alleged Steil. Pointing to the blown-up screenshot displayed on an easel, Steil alleged SKD Knickerbocker was Bidens campaign advisory firm. A Conflict of Interest? They listed themselves as a part of Team Biden. If thats not a conflict of interest, I dont know what is. It is a violation of federal law to use HAVA grant funds for get-out-the-vote activity, he alleged. EAC Chairperson Christy McCormick, a witness invited to testify before the committee, agreed that get-out-the-vote efforts are not an appropriate use of HAVA funds, but contended that SKDK used state money, not federal dollars, to fund its activities in California. U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) speaks at a hearing with the House Administration subcommittee on Elections in Washington on June 24, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) In response, Steil cited figures from the California Secretary of States office showing that $11.8 million paid to SKDK were federal funds. He said the public becomes concerned any time they see political activity funded with federal taxpayer dollars. Steil also alleged the so-called voter education campaign targeted specific voters and said the contract was awarded through an expedited process. Democrats Respond Before he began his rebuttal of Steils assertions, Ranking Member Joseph Morelle (D-N.Y.) jokingly said that he was impressed with the screenshot and asked the chairman to place it behind him during his remarks, implying that he also was proud to be on Team Biden. Morelle then told the committee that the agreement was not a sole-source contract and that SKDK was one of several bidders. Congressman Joe Morelle, who represents New Yorks 25th Congressional District, in an undated file photo. (Courtesy of Joe Morelle) He stated that the Inspector General of the EAC investigated the SKDK situation and determined that the California Secretary of State had executed the contract in accordance with EAC guidelines and the funds were not used for unallowable purposes. McCormick asserted that in her overall experience, the EAC has found no misuse of HAVA funds. Steil criticized the HAVA for not dealing with terms like voter registration drive, voter education, and get-out-the-vote efforts, leaving the law open to subjective interpretation and potential abuse. Chairman Steil granted Congressman Bob Good (R-Va.), who is not a member of the administration committee, a chance to address the hearing. Good referenced a report from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency that identified nine vulnerabilities in the leading makes of voting machines. He also said he hoped eventually to bring to a future committee hearing a tech expert who demonstrated how easy it is to hack into a voting machine connected to the internet. Good said that at a recent roundtable gathering in Virginia the technician, before our very eyes, added and subtracted votes, changed votes, and reversed the outcome of a mock election. Though maintaining that todays voting machines are not connected to the internet, McCormick conceded that there are times on election night the machines are connected to the internet for result-reporting purposes. Vulnerabilities Can Be Exploited McCormick said, Anomalies happen in the system. Vulnerabilities can be exploited for sure, but added that EAC did not see any vulnerabilities exploited in 2022. McCormick expects the system to be even more secure in 2024. There are security concerns with the older machines, said EAC commissioner Donald Palmer. He said the EAC uses penetration testing to assure the systems are accurate and reliable. EAC vice-chairman Benjamin Hovland testified that across the country local election administrators are enduring chronic resource issues. He said it is unfortunate our election officials have to be dependent on billionaires due to a failure of government. Grant funding is crucial, he said. Poll Workers Leaving in Droves McCormick told the committee that about 1 million poll workers operate election sites in more than 3,000 counties. She said that in some jurisdictions whole election committees have resigned under the pressure of increased threats and inadequate funding. Hovland said staffing challenges are aggravated by the local units inability to pay competitive wages. EAC Commissioner Thomas Hicks testified that the No. 1 request of local election jurisdictions nationwide is for additional funding. Hicks said the current environment is pitting tiny local jurisdictions against nation-stateseven superpowersin a war of misinformation and disinformation. For years EAC was underfunded, said Morelle, who accused some Republicans of wanting to eliminate EAC. EAC Inspector General Brianna Schletz, who oversees a staff of six and said she has no plans of expanding her department, pledged to safeguard federal expenditures through transparent and independent oversight. She said her office is determined to do the best job possible with the funds it is allocated. Schletz, who has been the IG since November 2021, told the hearing that in the past fiscal year, her team has dealt with 374 unique complaints. Five Audits Underway The IG offices hotline received more complaints in the first six months of 2023 than in all of 2022. Of these, more than 60 percent were determined to be nonviable, 13 percent were referred to the Department of Justice, and 22 percent were sent to the states for resolution, Schletz said. She testified that her department was currently conducting five audits, with another seven in the pipeline. Schletz confirmed to the committee that SKDK had received nearly $12 million in grant funding through its contract with the California Secretary of State in 2020. Steil stated that EAC has the responsibility of taking measures to prevent situations like that from happening again. He said the way to increase voter turnout is to increase voter confidence that the election process is fair. Federal Prosecutor Says Investigation Is Ongoing After Securing Hunter Biden Guilty Plea Hunter Biden attends a Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony honoring 17 recipients, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on July 7, 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) David C. Weiss, the U.S. Attorney for Delaware who handled a long-running tax investigation into Hunter Biden, said that investigation is ongoing even after the presidents son agreed to a plea deal. Weiss notified the U.S. District Court for Delaware that Hunter Biden intended to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts for willful failure to pay his taxes. Weiss said Hunter Biden also agreed to enter a pretrial diversion agreement for obtaining a firearm at a time that he was actively using or addicted to a controlled substance, which is illegal. The tax charges each carry a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison. The firearm charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison but the pretrial diversion agreement could allow him to avoid a criminal conviction and a related criminal punishment. In a comment to CBS News on Tuesday, Hunter Bidens attorney Chris Clark addressed his clients plea agreement, stating, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved. While Clark said the matter involving his client is resolved, Weiss said in his own press statement on Tuesday that the investigation is ongoing. The Epoch Times reached out to Clarks offices for further details about what aspects of the investigation may remain active, but he did not respond by the time this article was published. The Epoch Times also reached out to Weisss office but did not receive any additional comment about the ongoing investigation. Republicans Question Hunter Biden Plea Deal Several Republican lawmakers have criticized the plea deal for President Joe Bidens son as overly lenient. Former President Donald Trump, who was recently indicted on allegations of mishandling classified information, described the plea deal for his 2020 rivals son as a mere traffic ticket' punishment. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) also spoke out against the plea deal. Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery, Comer said in a Tuesday press statement. These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committees investigation. We will not rest until the full extent of President Bidens involvement in the familys schemes are revealed. Comer has been leading efforts in the Republican-controlled House to investigate claims of corruption and influence peddling tied to the Biden family. Last month, Comer described a possible money laundering scheme in which $10 million flowed from private clients, corporations, and foreign governments, to dozens of limited liability companies controlled by members of the Biden family. Comers investigative efforts have also unearthed allegations Joe Biden was involved in a foreign bribery scheme. By continuing to investigate even after securing a plea deal from Hunter Biden, Weiss could uncover previously unknown activity involving Hunter Biden or other individuals with whom the presidents son is connected. The Joe Biden bribery allegation could be a possible area of focus for Weisss office. Earlier this month, former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr refuted claims he had terminated an investigation into the bribery allegations against the president, saying, On the contrary, it was sent to Delaware for further investigation. President Stands by Son Hunter Hunter Biden first revealed he was the subject of a federal tax investigation in December of 2020. At the time, the presidents son said he was taking the investigation seriously but said he was confident that the investigation would show he handled his affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors. The president has continued to express faith that his son acted appropriately ever since the December 2020 announcement. In a May 5 interview with MSNBC, the president insisted that my son has done nothing wrong. Following the plea deal announcement on Tuesday, White House spokesperson Ian Sams said, The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. Sams then said, We will have no further comment. From NTD News Feds Wont Provide Statistics on How Many Times Government Ads Are Found to Be Partisan The federal governments public works department will not provide statistics on the number of occasions that federal advertisements break rules on partisan promotions. In a briefing note, the government said the number was not relevant. Advertising is also not regulated by any act of Parliament, although Ad Standards reviews government advertising and whether it is objective and factual, free from political party slogans and identifiers, and free from political party bias and affiliation, among other criteria. How many times has the review process flagged ads that are partisan? was the question asked at a hearing of the Commons public accounts committee, according to Blacklocks Reporter on June 19. The number of times that issues were flagged by Ad Standards in the initial review does not provide any relevant information. When this has occurred the issues were addressed in the final review, said the note. It was also asked what the purpose is of advertising by the federal government. The government has an obligation to inform Canadians about policies, programs, services, rights and responsibilities as well as to alert them to environmental, public health and safety issues. Advertising is one of the means of communications used to achieve this and is an important way for the government to get timely information to Canadians, said the note. In 2016, the Treasury Board, in a Directive on the Management of Communications, warned that all federal advertising should be non-partisan, specifically free from political party slogans, images, identifiers, bias, designation or affiliation, including the use of a primary colour associated with the governing party or any name, voice or image of a minister, MP or senator. At the time, Treasury Board President Scot Brison said at a news conference, We want to make it absolutely clear from this day forward that government advertising using tax dollars is unacceptable. The directive stated that all federal marketing campaigns that spent more than $250,000 had to be reviewed by Advertising Standards Canada to flag for partisan content. A department briefing note said that the process was optional for advertising campaigns with budgets under the established threshold. In 2021, the federal government spent $140.8 million on advertising, the highest amount recorded. Half that spending, roughly $62 million, was related to COVID-19 messaging. Public Works prepared an annual report on the federal governments advertising activities, noting that the Covid-19 pandemic remained a high priority. In 2019, an election year, the government spent $50.1 million on ads. In 2015, the total spent on ads was $42.2 million. In 2013, the Liberal caucus introduced a private bill C-544, An Act to Amend the Auditor General Act, which if passed would have appointed a federal commissioner to review advertising and monitor government spending. The bill didnt progress through Parliament and, after the Liberal Party won the election in 2015, was never revived. Each quarter, the federal government publishes the results of Ad Standards reviews against the rules. From Jan. 1 to March 31, 531 creative ads were reviewed, and eight had modifications recommended, which were allowed to pass a final review before being published. Fired Orange County Power Authority CEO Receives Large Severance, in Part, for Silence The Orange County Power Authority has moved on from their former Chief Executive Officer Brian Probolksyand paid extra to do soafter facing scrutiny for months under Probolskys leadership, which led to his firing in April. In documents obtained by the online news outlet Voice of OC, a copy of the former CEOs severance agreement showed he will receive $450,000 for his without cause termination, provided he does not speak poorlyindefinitelyabout the agency. Both Executive and OCPA agree that they shall not make, directly or indirectly derogatory or disparaging oral, written, and/or electronic statements about the other relating to OCPAs products, services, and business policies, the agreement which Probolsky signed reads. More specifically, the issue applies to all communications of Probolskys, whether it be in a new job interview, on social media, to the media, to colleagues, or to anyone, according to the agreement. In his employment agreement, also obtained by the news outlet, Probolsky was promised six months salary in the event of such a termination, which would have equaled $119,500. The rest of his severance package, nearly four times as much as his initial contract, came from a few sources including an Additional Cash Consideration of $119,500, according to the document. Nearly $42,000 was also added for unused vacation time and for insurance coverage for a year and another $161,000 for Probolksys agreement to only speak amicably of the agency. Probolsky also agreed to drop his whistleblower complaint against the OCPA he filed last June alleging the agencys former board of directors attempted to wrongfully hire former Huntington Beach City Councilman Mike Posey, according to multiple media reports. In his complaint, Probolsky accused board members of working together to replace him with Posey, who previously served on the board of the green energy agency. OCPA Board Member Tammy Kim, who is also the vice mayor of Irvine, told The Epoch Times the additional payout of $161,000 was to essentially save time from any potential legal battles and to move forward with a fresh start. Referring to his complaint she said, whether we felt he had a case or notwe didnt feel he really had a casewhat we were essentially paying for was really for our own boards time staff time and just moving forward with a clean slate. She said without doing so, Probolskys complaint would have dragged on and taken away important time from the agencys mission of providing clean energy. First formed in 2020 as a greener alternative to Southern California Edison (SCE), the OCPA has been criticized for a lack of transparency and inexperienced management. Several audits of the agency have been issued, including by an Orange County Grand Jury last June, the Orange County Auditorat the request of Orange County Supervisorsin December, and the California State Auditor in February. The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to withdraw their unincorporated areas from receiving power from the agency last December, and Huntington Beach voted to exit in May. Leading up to Probolskys eventual firing, the California State Auditor released findings that the former CEO improperly executed agreements worth $1.8 million to marketing and financial services, while skirting required board procedures in the process last year. First US Law Countering Beijings Forced Organ Harvesting Enacted in Texas Falun Gong practitioners take part in a rally to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the start of the Chinese regime's persecution of spiritual group, on the National Mall in Washington on July 21, 2022.(Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Texas has signed into law a bipartisan bill to combat the Chinese regimes criminal practice of forced organ harvesting, making it the first U.S. state to counter the abuse through legal means. As of Sept. 1, it will be illegal in the state for health insurance providers to fund organ transplants using organs originating from China or any other country thats known to have involvement in the practice of forced organ harvesting. The bill (SB 1040), which was approved unanimously in both the states legislative chambers in May, was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott on June 18. Under the Chinese regimes watch, the practice of forcibly harvesting vital organs from living individuals for profit has grown into a flourishing industry and has added to the abuse of vulnerable groups such as detained adherents of the spiritual discipline Falun Gong, a faith group with tens of millions of followers that has faced a relentless persecution campaign by Beijing since 1999. While we in Texas do not have the full power to stop this practice globally, I wanted to make sure we begin to do everything we can control to cut off the demand and money that is fueling this in China and other countries, the bills lead author, state Sen. Lois W. Kolkhorst, told The Epoch Times. Shes hopeful that the bill, having received unanimous support by Republicans and Democrats alike, will inspire Congress and other states to act with similar legislation. Texas state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst speaks at a press conference highlighting the Chinese regimes forced organ harvesting, in Austin, Texas, on March 29, 2023, in a still from a video. (The Epoch Times) Republican state Rep. Tom Oliverson, a primary sponsor of the legislation, praised Abbott for allowing Texas to be the first to take a strong stand against the immoral and detestable practice of forced organ donations in China. With this law, we send a strong message to Beijing that all human life is precious and worthy of protection, he told The Epoch Times. Oliverson recalled having met years ago with Falun Gong practitioners, who showed him websites of hospitals in China advertising to the world that live donors were standing by as the countrys medical sector looked to attract organ transplant tourists. I was just horrified. Just absolutely, unbelievably horrified, he said. While Oliverson has worked to advocate for organ transplantation ethics in the United States to make sure that people are voluntary donors, he said he has never seen a case where somebody who was conscious, awake, and able to sign a consent on their own was being forced to be an organ donor. That just sounded like something out of a movie, he said. Kolkhorst has worked with witnesses who shared their encounters with forced organ harvesting. One victim, she said, had shared her personal experience in public hearings with such detail that everyone who heard her in the room was moved to tears. Her story will stay with me forever, she said. Since his meeting with Falun Gong adherents, Oliverson has since worked to advance several other measures, including SCR 3, a resolution that was unanimously adopted in April 2021 to condemn Beijings vile practice of forcibly removing human organs for transplant. In March, he co-introduced TX HB3914, a bill aiming to bar the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, the states cancer research funder, from giving grant money to an applicant who might source an organ from a hospital in China. Texas state Rep. Tom Oliverson speaks at a press conference highlighting the Chinese regimes forced organ harvesting, in Austin, Texas, on March 29, 2023, in a still from a video. (The Epoch Times) Oliverson said that stopping health insurers from putting their funding behind China-sourced organs is key in shutting off such nonconsensual organ transplant tourism. Having organ transplant surgery is so expensive that an overwhelming majority of Americans rely on health insurance to do so. The idea, he said, is to basically choke off the ability for someone to get paid for participating in the abuse in China or anywhere else in the world. The best way to be successful in terms of shutting it off is to make it not economically successful for a country that doesnt view human beings as human beings, but obviously sees them as a source of revenue, he said. Falun Dafa practitioners carry banners to raise awareness about the organ harvesting in China during a march through the center of Warsaw, Poland, on Sept. 9, 2022. (Mihut Savu/The Epoch Times) Kolkhorst believes that the newly enacted anti-forced organ harvesting bill, which built on SCR 3, has brought about badly needed awareness among the general public. I received many comments from constituents that they had no idea that this was happening anywhere in the world and they were almost in disbelief, she said. We must do more to bring attention to this horrific atrocity occurring in our modern world. Its almost unthinkable that the United Nations and the World Health Organization would not be at the forefront of condemnation. The issue has been gaining more attention beyond the human rights circle. In late March, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill to punish perpetrators in forced organ harvesting. The Texas senator said she was pleased to see such developments. Quite frankly, I cannot believe that this legislation would not pass in the US Senate and be signed into law by President Biden, she said. Congress needs to repudiate the wrongful imprisonment and forced organ harvesting of Uyghurs and other Muslims, members of Falun Gong, House Church Christians, and other religious peoples by the Chinese regime. Anything short of this is a condoning of these horrific, unthinkable acts. Adherents of Falun Gong reenact the forced organ harvesting of prisoners of conscience by the Chinese regime at a protest in Vienna, Austria on Oct. 1, 2018. (Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images) But the lawmakers see more work to be done. Oliverson hopes that other states will enact their own versions of this law to combat this abuse of fellow humans. He said he wants to bring this legislation to conferences of state legislatures and present it as model legislation for other states to consider. Id like to see this be something that passes in all 50 states. That would be my ultimate goalto have all Americans standing united against this detestable practice, he said. If all 50 states have this prohibition, then essentially no American dollars will be going to Chinese hospitals that are participating in organ trafficking, so they wont be able to pay for it. Ford Reveals His Choice for Mayor in Toronto Election Ontario Premier Doug Ford attends a news conference at Bramalea GO Station, in Brampton, on May 11, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Chris Young) Ontario Premier Doug Ford has endorsed Mark Saunders for the next mayor of Toronto. Speaking to reporters on June 20, Ford confirmed his support of the former Toronto police chief when asked why he has the candidates sign on his front lawn in Etobicoke. I put Marks sign on my lawn, Im proud to have his sign on the lawn, the premier said. News of Saunders sign spotted on Fords lawn was first reported by the Toronto Sun on June 19. Ford maintains that he is staying out of the race. I have the right, like anyone else, to put a sign on my lawn, he told reporters in rural Ottawa, adding that he will cast his ballot for Saunders in the citys mayoral byelection on June 26. Ill be voting for Mark, the premier said. But vote whoever you want to vote for. Thats your choice. Thats not up to me or anyone else to tell you who to vote for. Ford said Saunders would be the best mayor. Thats just my opinion, he added. Saunders served as Torontos police chief from 2015 to 2020. His attempt to enter politics failed last June when he could not secure a seat for Fords Progressive Conservatives in Don Valley West, losing to Liberal candidate Stephanie Bowman. With the mayoral election just days away, Ford is faced with the possibility of working with former NDP MP Olivia Chow, who currently takes the lead in the race, according to polls. The two have clashed in the past, including during the 2014 Toronto mayoral race when both were running as candidates. Ford had said Toronto would be toast with a left-wing mayor. If a lefty mayor gets in there, God help the people of Toronto, he said in February. Chow has said shell raise taxes but has not said by how much. On June 20, the premier said he will work with Chow if she becomes Torontos mayor. When we go through the democratic process and she gets elected, Ill work with her and well sit down and come up with common ground, Ford said. I want to do whats best for the people and hopefully the mayor will do whats best for the people and not raise taxes and attract businesses. Ford added he doesnt believe the polls. The only poll that counts is election day. The Canadian Press contributed to this report. Fox News Reveals Moderators of First GOP Presidential Debate Ronna McDaniel secures a fourth two-year term as Republican National Committee (RNC) chair after a three-day meeting at a luxury resort in Dana Point, Calif., on Jan. 27, 2023. (Mei Li/The Epoch Times) FOX News Media President and Executive Editor Jay Wallace announced on June 20, that anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will co-moderate the first Republican presidential primary debate of the 2024 election. The debate will be broadcast exclusively on FNC, 911 p.m. ET, on Aug. 23 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. FNC will announce additional special programming surrounding the debate at a later date. We are extremely proud to have Bret and Martha moderating the first debate of the 2024 presidential election season as Americans learn more about the candidates ahead of exercising their constitutional right to vote, Wallace said, according to the Fox News press release. The network lauded the moderators qualifications saying, Throughout their tenures at the network, Baier and MacCallum have each played pivotal roles in the coverage of every major political event. Most recently, they co-anchored special programming for President Joe Bidens 2023 State of the Union address, the 2022 midterm elections, the 2020 presidential election and the 2018 midterms. Notably, their unrivaled political coverage has ranked number one in all of television, outpacing cable news and broadcast coverage for the past five years. Baier is the principal political correspondent and executive editor of cable news highest-rated newscast, Special Report with Bret Baier (67 p.m./ET), while MacCallum anchors and is the executive editor of The Story with Martha MacCallum (34 p.m./ET), the highest-rated news program in its time slot. Debate Details Earlier this month, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel unveiled the details for the first Republican presidential primary debate, disclosing the criteria that candidates must meet in order to qualify for the event. The qualifications are divided into four categories: candidate status, polling, fundraising, and candidate pledging, according to an RNC press release on June 2. If the number of qualifying candidates necessitates, a second debate will be held on Aug. 24: I am excited to announce the criteria for our first presidential primary debate in Milwaukee on August 23, McDaniel said. The RNC is committed to putting on a fair, neutral, and transparent primary process, and the qualifying criteria set forth will put our party and eventual nominee in the best position to take back the White House come November 2024. Candidates must have officially announced their campaign, filed a current Statement of campaign and Statement of Organization with the Federal Election Commission, and identified themselves as Republican nominees. In terms of polls, applicants must meet certain requirements. They must get at least 1 percent in three national polls or 1 percent in two national polls and 1 percent in one early state poll from two carve out states that the RNC recognizes (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina). These polls must talk to at least 800 registered Republican voters who are likely to vote, using a mix of live calls, IVR, online groups, and/or text messages, among other testing methods. When it comes to collecting, candidates must show that at least 40,000 different people have given money to their main presidential campaign committee or exploratory committee. There must be at least 200 different givers in each state or territory, and there must be at least 20 states and/or regions. Candidates must show the RNC proof that they have raised this amount of money at least 48 hours before the first debate. In addition to meeting other requirements, the candidates must also make certain promises. For example, they must sign a contract saying they wont take part in any debates that the RNC doesnt organize for the rest of the election cycle and they must promise to back the partys choice. The qualified candidates will be placed on stage based on where they stand in the polls, with the candidate with the most votes in the middle. Trumps Hesitance Former President Donald Trump, who is believed to be the Republican frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential cycle, has thus far not indicated whether he plans to attend the debates. Trump suggested that he might skip out on GOP primary debates during the 2024 presidential cycle. In a late April post on Truth Social, Trump said the RNC never talked to him or his campaign about the rules and arrangements for debates, indicating his hesitance to participate. I see that everybody is talking about the Republican Debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump Campaign, before announcing them, Trump wrote on Truth Social. McDaniel told Fox News Sunday, in early May, Thats his choice. And every candidate is going to make that calculation, What I think the American people want to see is these candidates; they want to see what theyre articulating, and especially, what is your plan to take us out of the misery of Joe Biden. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to The Epoch Timess request for comment about the choice of moderators. However, a representative for the Trump campaign previously told The Epoch Times that the former presidents opinions about the debate have not changed since his most recent public statements. DAMASCUS, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Syria's annual wheat yield this year seems promising but could have been much better if the U.S. forces and their allied militias weren't present in agriculture-rich areas in northeastern Syria, an official told Xinhua in an interview. Abdul Latif al-Amin, director general of the Syrian Grain Foundation, said that the preliminary data have suggested the wheat output this year could be better than last year. Al-Amin expressed optimism that Syrian wheat production has started to recover, noting that the agriculture ministry is working to utilize desert lands to plant wheat. The official attributed the estimated promising wheat harvest to the government's support for farmers and producers by securing all production requirements for guaranteeing a high wheat yield to meet domestic needs. However, al-Amin mentioned that the crops could be much better if the northeastern province of al-Hasakah, a pivotal breadbasket of Syria, were well under the control of the government. He said the presence of the U.S. forces and its allied Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in al-Hasakah is impeding the flow of the province's gain to the government. Al-Amin said although the government has established three centers in government-controlled parts of al-Hasakah to buy the harvest from the farmers, "the so-called SDF is preventing the farmers from selling their crops to the state-run centers." The official condemned the U.S. forces and the SDF for imposing tough conditions on farmers who want to sell their harvest to the government. "Syria is an integrated agricultural country and the conducts of the U.S. and the SDF created a crack in the integration or self-sufficiency of agricultural production in Syria," he said. In addition to the presence of ground forces in resource-rich areas in Syria, al-Amin also spoke of the negative impact of the economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Syria. He said the sanctions are affecting the production requirements and the imports of spare parts necessary to keep agricultural machinery running. Calling the sanctions, known as the Caesar Act, "unfair," al-Amin said the act has deprived Syria of "reaching many of the production requirements and accessing the spare parts for industrial establishments and consequently has damaged Syria's overall economy." Earlier this month, Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous said the country's wheat yield this year is expected to reach one million tons. The prime minister noted that the wheat quality this year is good, as shown by indicators including the complete maturity of the grain and the specific weight in hard and soft varieties, which tell the plumpness of grains. Despite hopes for a good harvest, it's still way below the pre-war average grain harvest of 4.1 million tons. Due to the civil crisis, Syria, a country that used to be self-sufficient in wheat, now has to import wheat from abroad to meet domestic demands. In his interview with Xinhua, al-Amin said he didn't think that there would be wheat exports from Syria this year. Global Affairs Says It Is Seeking Information on Death of Canadian in Germany A German flag in front of the newly-completed LNG terminal near Wilhelmshaven, Germany, on Nov. 15, 2022. (David Hecker/Getty Images) Global Affairs has confirmed the death of a Canadian citizen in Germany, after police in the Kempten district said a woman was pushed to her death last week by an American man at a popular tourist attraction. In response to a query from The Canadian Press about the reported killing of 21-year-old Eva Liu, a spokesperson for Global Affairs said it is aware of the death of a Canadian in Germany and is seeking more information as consular officials stand ready to assist the family. Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed, Charlotte MacLeod said in an email. International media reports have identified Liu as an American who grew up in Naperville, Ill., but a Facebook profile apparently belonging to her says she is from Waterloo, Ont. Although Global Affairs cant disclose details of such cases, it does respond to media inquiries to confirm when it is aware of a Canadians death abroad. German authorities have said that two female tourists from the U.S. were hiking near Neuschwanstein castle in southern Germany on June 14 when they encountered a 30-year-old American man on the path. He allegedly lured them onto a trail leading to a viewpoint, and attempted to sexually assault one of them before pushing her off a cliff. When the womans friend tried to intervene, she was pushed off the cliff as well, authorities said. The American man has been detained, authorities said. German police did not release any names, but those who knew the victims identified them as Liu, and 22-year-old Kelsey Chang. Chang survived the attack and was heading home to the U.S. on Tuesday, The Associated Press reported. Liu and Chang had reportedly just graduated together from the University of Illinois. The Rev. Mark Zhang of Living Water Evangelical Church in Naperville told AP that Liu and her parents attended the church and Lius parents told him that she had been killed. Its a very tough situation, Zhang said. Our words are powerless. We just mourn together with them and pray for them. When one family suffers, our whole church suffers. Google Hit With Lawsuit Over Monopoly Allegations A Google sign is seen at the company's office in San Francisco, Calif., on April 12, 2023. (Jeff Chiu/AP Photo) Google and its parent company Alphabet have been sued by the publisher of USA Today over allegations that the tech giant abused its dominant position in the advertising technology market. Gannett Co., which owns over 500 digital news and media brands, said in a complaint filed Tuesday that Googles monopolistic control of how publishers sell their ad slots has hurt the companys bottom line and is bad for consumers of news. It forces publishers to sell growing shares of that ad space to Google at depressed prices, the complaint reads. The result is dramatically less revenue for publishers and Googles ad-tech rivals, while Google enjoys exorbitant monopoly profits. Googles publisher ad server, DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), controls over 90 percent of the publisher-ad-server market. It also controls over 60 percent of the ad exchange market with its DoubleClick Ad Exchange (AdX) platform, while setting rules that prohibit buyers from participating in any other exchange. With control over the largest ad exchange and ad serverboth of which Google acquired rather than developedGoogle has carried out a sophisticated, anticompetitive, and deceptive scheme for well over a decade, the complaint alleges. Thanks to its grip on the ad exchange and server, Google has been wildly profitable, Gannett said. Google made around $30 billion in 2022 alone from auctioning off ad space across the internet, which Gannett alleged was done in a way that is manipulative. Thats around six times more than all U.S. news publications made from digital advertising combined, according to the lawsuit. Google, as middleman, has dwarfed the content creators that invest in journalists, editors, photographers, and many others to produce important news content, the complaint reads. Googles unlawful monopolization must be stopped, the plaintiffs attorneys wrote. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York, and the case is 1:23-cv-5177. In a statement to The Epoch Times, Google highlighted its longstanding support for journalism and called Gannetts claims simply wrong. Google said it plans to demonstrate in court how its ad products benefit publishers and help them bring in much-needed ad dollars. More Details Gannett said that despite the fact that the digital advertising market is worth around $200 billion per year, Googles unfair monopolistic practices have squeezed news publications ad revenue. The digital ad revenue that news publications bring in has plummeted around 70 percent since 2009, even though the market has increased ninefold since then. As a result, newspaper employment has dropped by more than half since 2009, and more than 20 percent of Americas newspapers have shut down. Over the past four years alone, more than 170 Gannett publications have been shuttered. The result is less news where it is needed most, the complaint states. Communities throughout the United States now do not have a suitable local paper to advise on local events, hold local officials to account, or encourage the civic bonds that are paramount in an increasingly polarized country. Since Google has tied its ad exchange to its publisher ad server, the U.S. publishing industry cannot reach around 60 percent of buyers without using Googles platforms. With monopolistic control over ad serving, Google drives down prices for publishers inventory, thinning their profits, the complaint alleges. Google prohibits publishers from soliciting competitive bids from rival exchanges, while at the same time rigging AdXs bids by trading on inside information from DFP, the complaint states. Gannett said that this is not what should be happening in a properly functioning, competitive market. The complaint asks the court to declare Googles actions illegal and award Gannett as yet undetermined damages and reimbursement of legal costs. Google disputed Gannetts claims. These claims are simply wrong, Dan Taylor, vice president of Google Ads, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. Publishers have many options to choose from when it comes to using advertising technology to monetize, Taylor continued, noting that Gannett uses dozens of competing ad services. And when publishers choose to use Google tools, they keep the vast majority of revenue, Taylor added. Well show the court how our advertising products benefit publishers and help them fund their content online, he said, signaling that the company is gearing up for a court battle. Google further said in a statement provided to The Epoch Times that top news publishers retain over 95 percent of ad revenue and that its tool, Confirming Gross Revenue, lets companies verify the absence of hidden fees in digital ad transactions. The lawsuit is one of several launched against Google in recent years. In 2020, for example, a group of attorneys general led by Texas filed a lawsuit accusing Google of anticompetitive practices related to its ad tech products. This year, attorneys general from eight states alleged that Google had subverted competition in digital ad technology. And in the European Union, Google has been accused of breaching antitrust rules, with regulators saying in a preliminary assessment that the only solution is to force Google to break up. In all cases, Google has disputed the allegations, arguing that its ad tech has helped merchants reach customers and grow their business while expanding choices for customers and lowering their costs. Republicans Seek to Cut Woke Programs Out of Pentagons Proposed Budget President Joe Biden meets with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (2nd L), Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger (L), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley (R), members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and combatant commanders in the Cabinet Room of the White House, on April 20, 2022. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) House Republicans are expected to support three amendments calling for the Pentagon to audit and eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training programs when the House Armed Services Committee convenes June 21 to begin vetting the proposed $874.2 billion fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (FY24 NDAA). Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) revealed on Fox Businesss Mornings With Maria early on June 20 that he would sponsor the three amendments, confirming reports first posted by CQ/Roll Call that a defund DEI initiative would surface during the first public hearing on the annual defense budget, filed as House Bill 2670, before the full 59-member House committee. Here are the three amendments, he said, waving three pieces of paper for viewers to see. We are very interested in getting wokeism out of the military. The amendments, which had not been formally filed by midafternoon on June 20, would prohibit the Department of Defense (DOD) from using any FY24 NDAA allocations for the Pentagons Countering Extremism Working Group targeting extremism; freeze salary and operational monies for a deputy inspector general for diversity and inclusion and extremism in the military position authorized under the FY21 NDAA; and mandate an audit assessment of staffing within the Pentagons DEI office. We got to eliminate these, what they call diversity, equity and inclusion programs [and] these investigations into what they call extremists in the military, Alford said. These are patriots who love our Constitution, who love our institutions, love how voting is supposed to be. They want nothing more than to show patriotism in their country, and theyre being rooted out, maybe because they dont get the vaccine. They get kicked out of the military. These are not reasons to be kicking them out for extremism. Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) (United States House of Representatives) Two Years of Mounting Angst Conservatives have argued for years that DEI training, as it was being implemented in the military, was a misguided attempt to impose political correctness with little relevance in the ranks and was, in fact, hurting morale and exacerbating tensions, potentially degrading force readiness. That angst has been pin-pricked by a series of executive orders issued by President Joe Biden since 2021, beginning with a directive issued the day of his inauguration that revoked a September 2020 order issued by former president Donald Trump, lifting its restrictions on DEI-related training in the military. That was followed by a Biden executive order revoking a Trump-era ban on transgender people enlisting in the military and an ensuing 22-page DOD instruction outlined rules for in-service transition for transgender service members. A later 2021 Biden directive required federal employees [including DOD], managers, and leaders to have knowledge of systemic and institutional racism and bias against underserved communities and have increased understanding of implicit and unconscious bias. Conservatives were further agitated when Bidens newly appointed secretary of D]defense, former U.S. army general Lloyd Austin, ordered a 60-day stand down to address extremism in the ranks in the wake of the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. That criticism has intensified in 2023 with Republicans in 2022 midterms regaining a narrow House majority and the militarys most significant recruiting shortfalls in the half-century history of the all-volunteer force. Through winter and spring, congressional Republicans have maintained the militarys recruiting shortfalls can be at least partly attributed to negative publicity generated by requiring DEI training and point to the U.S. Navys digital ambassador elevation of a petty officer who moonlights as a drag queen as glaring evidence of a disconnect between marketing and the most likely prospective recruits. The DOD and service branch chiefs have attributed the shortfalls to a strong job market, residual post-pandemic upheaval, perceived quality-of-life issues, and the facts that only 23 percent of eligible-aged Americans are fit to serve and only 9 percent are willing to consider doing a stint in armed forces. Alford said the amendments are critical to eliminating the wokeness in our military and getting rid of the unnecessary extremism working group would stop the Pentagon from wasting man-hours and taxpayer dollars on programs that do nothing to benefit our military but rather hamper recruitment and retention efforts. Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill with members of the American Legion in Washington, on June 16, 2021. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images) Amendments Encoded in Proposed Warrior Act The amendments appear similar to initiatives included in HB 3278, The Warrior Act, co-sponsored by representatives Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) and Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.). Waltz told The Epoch Times that his Working to Address Recruiting and Retention to Improve Our Readiness (Warrior) Act will provide much-needed reforms to prevent the Biden administration from further politicizing the Department of Defense and improve military readiness. Like Alfords amendments, the proposed Warrior Act would require DOD to institute a hiring freeze of Equal Opportunity and Equal Employment Opportunity personnel, require an audit of DEI programs including a description of how many man-hours were spent participating in the program and the total costs associated with each program. Joint chiefs of staff chair Army general Mark Milley in 2022 estimated the armed forces dedicated nearly six million hours and about $1 million in additional expenses to training sessions focused on these issues in 2021. This averages to just over two hours per service member in a total force of 2.46 million members and is comparable to other Joint Force periodic training requirements, Milley wrote in a letter. During the March 28 House hearing, Veterans on Duty, Inc. chair Jeremy Hunt testified that the Pentagons DEI program subjects some service members to 11-week resident DEI training classesdespite the militarys history of leading the fight against discrimination. He said in 2022, the army alone spent $114 million on DEI in 2022 and in some cases we are paying these DEI bureaucrats $200,000 a year, despite there being no data to determine if it actually works, which we know it doesnt, and whether there was any type of underlying data that necessities the dramatic increases of this programs. Waltz said he filed the bill in May after hearing numerous complaints from the ranks about how divisive DEI training is and how much time is being wasted on the programs. As the first Green Beret ever elected to the House, Waltz also is a West Point graduate and 26-year Army combat veteran who continues to serve as a colonel in the Florida National Guard. In the Army, I never had enough time to train my men in all their military tasks, he said. He said congressional Republicans are not trying to impose a conservative will on the Pentagon. They are merely trying to blunt a pervasive progressive politicization of the military, not being imposed from within but by civilians in the Biden administration promoting an agenda over national defense. Just the latest turn, just this week, Waltz told The Epoch Times in early June, a three-star general of the Space ForceI want to have some nuance herespeaking at a pride event. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, he said. Where that lkieutenant general crossed the line was, while in uniform, commenting negatively on laws passed by state legislatures restricting abortion. That is unethical by long-standing military regulation and tradition, Waltz said, warning if the armed forces allow active duty members to seek transfers from bases in states where they disagree with state laws, it becomes a slippery slope. The winds can shift, and we can have military members saying. I dont feel safe, or my family members dont feel safe, being assigned to a base in a state without gun control laws, he said. Dont be cherry-picking political issues. That can backfire. Perhaps it already has, Alford said. House Republicans warned Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley across more than four months of hearings that you guys got to start acting more like generals and not politicians, number one. U.S. Navy task force exercises in the Western Pacific. (U.S. Navy) Nearly $1 Trillion Other Issues The DEI amendments will certainly not be the only items on the agenda when the House Armed Forces Committee meets at 10 a.m. June 21 to begin ferreting through the proposed 412-page FY24 NDAA in the first of a summer of defense budget hearings. The committees six subcommittees on June 13and a seventh on June 14quickly and unanimously adopted their components of the proposed $874.2 spending plan. The Senate is debating its own version of the NDAA. The defense budget, as with all elements of the fiscal year 2024 federal spending plan, will be deliberated into September in both chambers. Ideally, the budget will be adopted before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. The NDAA spells out $874.2 billion in spending, with $841.5 billion tabbed for the DOD, an increase of nearly $26 billion, or 3.2 percent, over fiscal year 2023s enacted NDAA, and $32.26 billion for the Department of Energys (DOE) nuclear weapons programs. The ultimate defense budget, once spending by other federal departments, such as the Department of Education and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is factored in, could top $890 billion. The Biden administrations March budget request called for $886 billion in total defense spending. Among issues that will be raised in NDAA hearings is an amphibious warship the Marine Corps lobbied for, but the Navy did not request; discord between Colorado and Alabama over the headquarters of the Space Force; boosted funding for the air forces F-15s and F-16s; a 5.2 percent pay raise for those serving in the armed forces; and about imposing more scrutiny, if not shutting down, funding for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) is not one of the 31 Republicans on the House Armed Forces Committee, but she said shell be paying attention to discussions over Ukraine funding. I will be a hard NO if [money for Ukraine] doesnt get ripped out of the NDAA, she wrote in a tweet on June 20. The NDAA has $300 million for Ukraine in it and an extension of the one-year lend-lease programa weapons loan that has no accountability and wont get paid back. No push for peace while the bloodshed continues! GOP Presidential Candidates Weigh In on Hunter Bidens Plea Deal As news spread on June 20 of Hunter Bidens plea bargain with federal prosecutors, expressions of anger and frustration with the nations broken justice system were common among the Republican presidential primary fieldor at least among those contenders who said anything at all. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday that the first son will plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges of willfully failing to pay income taxes and enter a pretrial diversion agreement to potentially avoid conviction on a third felony firearm offense. Responding to the news via Truth Social, former President Donald Trump wrote: Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket. Our system is BROKEN! People are going wild over the Hunter Biden Scam with the DOJ! the leading Republican candidate said in another post. The news was, in fact, met with contempt from several GOP presidential contenders, including Trumps closest rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who derided the plea bargain as a sweetheart deal. Looks like Hunter received a sweetheart deal and is not facing any charges on the massive corruption allegations, DeSantis wrote in a Twitter post. If Hunter was not connected to the elite DC class he would have been put in jail a long time ago. Likewise, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said the deal was a slap on the wrist with kid gloves from a Justice Department that throws the kitchen sink at political opponents. Political talk radio host Larry Elder said Bidens lack of jail time was just another example of our two-tiered, partisan justice system. Former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley also doubted the fairness of the American justice system, telling The Epoch Times in an email that the deal only raises further questions about Hunter Bidens crimes and the double standard of justice in our federal government. There is clearly a lot more the Biden family has to answer for, she added. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy agreed, calling the deal a joke meant to distract from ongoing investigations into allegations of bribery against President Joe Biden. The real target is the audio tapes of the alleged bribe for Hunter & Joe Biden from the Ukrainian executive of oligarch-owned Burisma. And the hundreds of billions of U.S. taxpayer funds kicked back to Ukraine to make good on the favor. Dont buy the deflection, its just a smokescreen, Ramaswamy wrote in a tweet. In that same vein, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told The Epoch Times: The resolution in this case once again raises more questions than answers. Being an addict is not an excuse for lining your pockets with cash from our countrys adversaries by using your fathers name and connections. The American people deserve to know exactly who was paying Hunter et al.; why they were paying him and his family, and exactly what was used to induce these payments. We need answers! Different Takes The White Houses response to the news on Tuesday was brief, with spokesperson Ian Sams telling The Epoch Times: The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment. But while most of the Republican candidates who released statements on the matter expressed disgust with the outcome of U.S. Attorney David Weisss investigation, there were others in the race who had a different reaction. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, for example, was measured in his response, holding that Hunter Bidens admission of guilt was an important step but that there was more work to be done. It is important for our country to have the whistleblower allegations answered and the U.S. Attorney and the Department of Justice should be transparent in stating clearly the status of the investigation; the reason for a five-year delay in reaching todays result; and how the investigation will continue and who is leading it, he said in a statement. If David Weiss, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, has concluded the investigation, then the obvious question is whether a special prosecutor is needed to investigate the whistleblower allegations. There is a legitimate public interest in making sure all allegations are investigated and dealt with under the law. According to Weisss press statement, the investigation is ongoing. Former Rhode Island Gov. Steve Laffey, on the other hand, took a completely different tack from his fellow Republicans. Rather than taking aim at Biden or the Justice Department, Laffey set his sights squarely on Trump. After five years of investigation, the Hunter Biden case is finally coming to an end, he said in a statement. My Republican rivals have chosen to hide behind this case, to avoid talking about the real problem: Donald Trump and his stolen classified documents. Now, President Bidens son will be pleading guilty to federal charges. I implore the former president to consider this path. Donald, its time to plead guilty. But we all know a narcissist never will. On June 13, Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 felony charges related to his storage of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida. His trial date has been set for Aug. 14. I applaud U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon for setting a quick trial date for the former president, Laffey said in a separate statement. The sooner the trial begins, the sooner Donald Trump is locked up and off the campaign [trail]. The Sound of Silence Noticeably absent from the conversation Tuesday were former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, two Republican presidential contenders who used to be aligned with Trump. As of press time, neither candidate had responded to The Epoch Timess requests for comment. Both Pence and Christie are relatively new to the presidential race, having declared their respective candidacies early this month. Since doing so, they have both been openly critical of the 45th president, holding that new leadership is needed in the Republican Party. It remains unclear whether that shared sentiment played a role in the candidates silence on Tuesday. Tom Ozimek contributed to this report. Government To Remove Plans to Ban New Coal Mines A general view of the former Woodhouse Colliery site where West Cumbria Mining is planning to once again extract coal, in Whitehaven, England, on March 16, 2021. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) The UK government is moving to remove a ban on the opening and licensing of new coal mines from one of its major net zero laws. On Tuesday, the government said that a complete ban on new coal mines isnt appropriate and will oppose an amendment that was added to the Energy Security Bill, now known as the Energy Bill, by peers in the House of Lords in April. The bill contains wide-ranging reform and regulation of the UKs energy supply to support its legal obligation to hit net zero by 2050. Prohibiting The original amendment said that the prohibition of new coal mines must take place within six months of the day on which the bill is passed, with the Secretary of State prohibiting the opening and licensing of new coal mines. A new amendment was added on Tuesday that says that the prohibition of new coal mines will be removed. A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson told The Epoch Times by email: The Energy Bill will ensure we have cleaner, cheaper and more secure energy for the future. While our reliance on coal is rapidly diminishing, there is still a need for it in industries such as steel and cement so now is not the right time to make changes. We will continue to listen to representations made by Members as the passage of the bill continues but oppose this amendment because a complete ban isnt appropriate and risks meeting future demand from our own resources, she added. The reason peers House of Lords peer Lord Teverson attempted to add the ban to the bill was due to the decision to allow a new coal mine to go ahead for the first time in decades. Last December the UK government granted planning permission for the countrys first new coal mine in 30 years. The coking coal mine on the edge of Whitehaven in Cumbria is expected to extract nearly 2.8 million tonnes per year. In April, Teverson said: I am very proud of Britains reputation in terms of climate change. That is why it is absolutely wrong that we should trash that reputation by one decision, which is to open a new UK coal mine. And who knows if that happens once it can happen again. Tory former Cabinet minister Lord Deben, chairman of the Climate Change Committee which advises the government, was also incensed about the coal mine at the time. Theres no doubt whatsoever that allowing this coal mine undermines our international ability to lead the world to a solution, which alone will stop this existential threat of climate change, he said in April. If it wants to uphold that it cannot allow any new coal mines and it must find a way to stop mining, which will increase the emissions from the most damaging means of generation, Deben said. This is an emergency and when you deal with the emergency you dont light an ancillary fire, you dont do something which manifestly runs wholly against everything else you have said, he added. Coal UK Minister for Energy Efficiency Minister Lord Callanan previously warned that coal will be required for steel production for some time, with a steel industry that still employs many tens of thousands of people. Callanan also said that he favoured phasing out of coal-fired power plants as a more proportionate response than an outright prohibition on coal mining. The planning inspector Stephen Normington who recommended the West Cumbria Mining sites approval wrote at the time that the development would have an overall neutral effect on climate change. He said the amount of coal used in steelmaking would be broadly the same with or without the mine. Consequently, I consider that the proposed development would have a broadly neutral effect on the global release of GHG (greenhouse gas) from coal used in steel making whether or not end-use emissions are taken into account, he wrote. The Energy Bill is currently making its way through Parliament. Ofgem In June, it was announced that Britains energy regulator Ofgem, under a new specific duty, will now have to support the government to meet its legal obligation to get to net zero by 2050. The role of Ofgem is historically to regulate the monopoly companies which run the gas and electricity networks and takes decisions on price controls and enforcement. It already has a duty to consider a reduction in greenhouse gases, but under the new duty, it will be tasked with supporting the government to reach its 2050 net zero target, as required by the Climate Change Act 2008. The duty will mean everyday decisions Ofgem makes as the regulator will have to assist the secretary of state in meeting the UKs net zero targets and carbon budgets. PA Media Alexander Zhang contributed to this report. A new COVID-19 variant, Omicron XBB. 1.16, also called Arcturus, was first discovered in January 2023. One of the characteristics of Arcturus infection is conjunctivitis, otherwise known as pink eye. It is spreading rapidly in many countries, including the United States, the UK, Australia, Singapore, China, and India. American virology expert Dr. Sean Lin discussed on the program Health 1+1 that emerging new COVID-19 variants were inevitable. He said although it would be hard to forecast the trend of a virus and pathogenicity, the public should be concerned but does not need to panic. Origin and Spread of Arcturus In November 2021, the SARS-CoV-2 variant B. 1.1.529 strain first appeared in South Africa, which the World Health Organization (WHO) later named Omicron. Omicron quickly spread worldwide. Since then, the Omicron strain continued to mutate, transforming into Omicron BA. 2, BA. 5, BA. 2.75, BQ. 1.1, and XBB strain. As of April 2023, the XBB.1.5 strain, a descendant of the Omicron XBB strain, has proliferated worldwide, and the new variant XBB. 1.16 (Arcturus) has been widespread in various countries. Lin stated Arcturus was 36 times more contagious than B.1.1. In laboratory studies, Arcturus had an additional mutation in the spike protein, which was more contagious. Global Risks of Arcturus On May 3, 2023, Lancet Infectious Diseases published a study conducted at the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Tokyo in Japan. The study found that XBB.1.16 demonstrates a greater growth advantage in the human population than XBB.1 and XBB.1.5. However, similar to XBB.1 and XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16 exhibits significant immune evasion capabilities. Japanese medical researchers also discovered that Arcturus had potent resistance to various new COVID-19 antibodies. On April 20, the Central Epidemic Command Center of the National Health Command Center, Taiwan, held a news conference on the latest mutation. Lo Yi-chun, a center spokesperson, said the analysis of global variants revealed that the mainstream virus strain was still the XBB strain, accounting for 77 percent of all COVID-19 variants. Among these variants, XBB. 1.5 variants accounted for 47.9 percent. Arcturus rose from 1 to 4 percent, with an increasing trend in the United States. The variant was still under observation as of May 21, 2023. How to Know If You Have Arcturus Lin stated symptoms of Arcturus include fever, sore throat, runny nose, body aches, diarrhea, fatigue, and shortness of breath. In severe cases, hypoxic saturation and respiratory distress syndrome were found. Fever, cough, and conjunctivitis were also observed in children with Arcturus. Vipin Vashishtha, a pediatric director and consultant at Mangel Hospital and Research Centre and a former official of the Advisory Committee on Vaccine and Immunization Practices at the Indian Academy of Pediatrics, wrote on Twitter on April 2023 about presentations in pediatric cases. In children, cases of itchy conjunctivitis or sticky discharge in the eyes were on the rise and included symptoms of high fever, cough, and flu. Some of these symptoms were not seen during the pandemic. Children Vulnerable to New Mutation According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), conjunctivitis (pink eye) is a suspected symptom of the Arcturus subvariant, especially in children. If your childs eyes are itchy and red, AAO advises parents not to panic, as this is a common eye condition at any age and can also be allergy-related. However, parents should perform nucleic acid testing on their children to be sure. How Arcturus Impacts Public Health A study published in Nature Communications in December 2022 revealed the adverse impact of the COVID-19 virus on the eyes. Researchers observed infected mice with COVID-19 and found that the mices retinal thickness increased significantly by 1.62 times. In the study, SARS-CoV-2 could spread to the brain and eyes through the trigeminal and optic nerves, resulting in retinal inflammation, pro-inflammatory cytokine production, and reduction in depth perception. Available Vaccines Versus Variants Lin reminded viewers that people with long COVID should remain vigilant of the new contagious variant. Arcturus has a potent resistance to poly antibodies, and these antibodies will be less effective against Arcturus. Current observation suggests monoclonal antibodies have lost their comprehensive effect on XBB. 1.5 and Arcturus. Hence, it is evident that the development of the new virus has outpaced the progress of current vaccines. People who were previously Omicron-infected may have other antibodies that may work against the current variant, Lin said. Dr. Lin highlighted that Arcturus, along with XBB.1.5, has shown significant resistance to multiple antibodies. Given the current circumstances, monoclonal antibodies are no longer effective against these variants and have struggled to keep pace with the viruss evolution. Furthermore, Dr. Lin mentioned that individuals previously infected with the Omicron variant during its initial stages may possess other antibodies that could still be effective against the current variant. In light of these findings, Dr. Lin advised individuals with long Covid to exercise caution and take extra measures to protect their health. How to Prevent Arcturus Lin recommends ivermectin to prevent Arcturus. He said ivermectin helps reduce the chances of infection, providing more ideal treatment results and benefiting those with mental symptoms. Indian data show ivermectin reduces infection rates among health care workers. Lin specified ivermectin was not promoted initially due to commercial interests. However, not only is ivermectin affordable, but it is also becoming more recognized in preventing and treating COVID-19. Satoshi Omura, an honorary professor at Kitasato University, Japan, won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for inventing ivermectin. Lin suggested ivermectin, if available for purchase, would increase immunity tolerance against the virus during the pandemic. What topics would you like to read about? Please let us know at health@epochtimes.nyc Follow the series The Invisible Hazards in Your Hands here. Since Motorola introduced the first cordless handheld phone in the early 1970s, cellphones and wireless devices have become ingrained in our lives. They have evolved significantly, from basic texting to streaming videos and games. Telecommunication networks, which use electromagnetic radiation to transmit information, have also advanced from the now-defunct 1G, which only supported voice calls, to the latest 5G promising high-speed data transfers. However, alongside these advancements, concerns have emerged regarding potential health effects, with 5G being particularly controversial. While telecommunication companies and regulatory agencies assert that no scientific evidence links cellphone radiation to health problems, many experts disagree. In 2017, 180 international scientists and doctors petitioned the European Union to conduct an independent assessment of the potential health risks associated with 5G. But how severe are these risks? Doubts About Wireless Telecommunication Even Before 5G Studies conducted since the 1970s have suggested possible links between cellphone radiation and health issues such as infertility (pdf), neuropsychiatric problems, cancer, and inflammation. Questions About Funding However, studies on the effects of cellphone radiation have yielded inconsistent findings, with some variations depending on the funding sources of the studies. Research professor Henry Lai from the University of Washington had previously examined 200 studies on the biological effects of cellphone-related radiation. He found that approximately half of the studies reported no biological link, while the other half indicated a possible association. When you look at the non-industry sponsored research, its about three to onethree out of every four papers shows an effect, Lai said. Then, if you look at the industry-funded research, its almost oppositeonly one out of every four papers shows an effect. Animal Studies Animal studies have implicated potential health risks in 2G, 3G, and 4G technologies. A study published in 2018 by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences found that high levels of 2G and 3G radiation were associated with an increased risk of cancer and adverse effects on DNA in rats (pdf). The study found that rats and mice exposed to that type of radiation exhibited DNA damage in their brains and blood cells, clear evidence of heart tumors, and lower birth weights in the case of prenatal exposure. But the study acknowledged limitations due to the use of abnormally high radiation levels that dont reflect real-life exposure scenarios. The exposures used in the studies cannot be compared directly to the exposure that humans experience when using a cellphone, said John Bucher, a senior scientist at the National Toxicology Program and co-author of the study. However, increasing exposure levels can expedite research on long-term risks without requiring lifelong studies, Martin Pall, professor emeritus of biochemistry and medical sciences at Washington State University, told The Epoch Times. Still, most studies havent found conclusive evidence linking cellphone radiation to adverse health effects. Brain Tumors Studies on cellphone radiation published before the 5G rollout in 2019 demonstrated that placing phones near the ear resulted in the absorption of radiation by brain tissues inside the skull (pdf). Some research has suggested a potential correlation between high cellphone usage and glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer. According to a Swedish analysis, long-term cellphone users, those whove had phones for more than 10 years, face an elevated risk of developing benign tumors. Notably, the risk is highest on the side of the head that comes into contact with the phone. Nevertheless, the causal relationship remains uncertain. Studies investigating residents living near cellphone towers and base stations have reported complaints of neuropsychiatric problems, including headaches, memory issues, dizziness, depression, and insomnia. Is 5G Worse Than Its Predecessors? Is 5G worse than its predecessors? The short answer is scientists dont know. While 2G, 3G, and 4G transmit radio frequency and microwave radiation, 5G emits millimeter wave radiation. Millimeter wave radiation differs from microwave and radio wave radiation, operating at a higher frequency and facilitating faster signal transmission. However, the potential health effects of millimeter wave radiation remain unknown due to a lack of government-funded studies. What scientists do know is that, unlike microwave cellular radiation, millimeter waves cant deeply penetrate the body. Consequently, many scientists believe that 5G is safe. While millimeter waves offer faster speeds, their high frequency makes them weaker and thus susceptible to blockage by leaves, rainwater, and walls. To ensure complete coverage, telecommunication companies must deploy more 5G antennas. However, since these antennas also transmit 2G, 3G, and 4G signals, the extensive rollout of 5G poses a potential health risk. Magda Havas, who has a doctorate in environmental toxicology, is an emerita professor specializing in the health effects of electromagnetic radiation, and is a signatory of the EU moratorium, expressed concerns regarding 5G rollouts. What theyre doing is theyre rolling out antennas every roughly 100 meters in urban areas, she told The Epoch Times. People are going to be exposed to much higher levels of the normal [3G and 4G] frequencies that they were already exposed to, plus the additional millimeter waves that have not been tested for any kind of long-term health effects. Health Effects of 5G Millimeter Waves The health effects of 5G are still a topic of debate, but Pall and Havas suggest that its millimeter radiation might have the potential to induce health issues. Although 5Gs millimeter waves may be unable to penetrate the body, they can still be absorbed by the skin. Havas said that ultraviolet lights dont penetrate the body but can cause skin melanomas. A study conducted in 2020 on 5G radiation demonstrated that the waves could penetrate the skin by approximately 0.9 millimeters when transmitted from 10 centimeters (4 inches) away. Although this depth is shallower compared to 4G and 3G, the radiation intensity was significantly higher. Furthermore, 0.9 millimeters may not even be considered shallow. According to a 2008 study on millimeter waves, a penetration depth of 0.65 millimeters is sufficient to affect most skin structures located in the epidermis and dermis, the authors wrote. Its been shown in a number of different studies that if you look at different kinds of cellsand we have many different types of cells in our bodyyoull find that some cell types are much much more sensitive to EMF (radiation) than others, Pall said. He further emphasized that biological heterogeneity must be considered and that simple physics cant be used to make accurate predictions about biological effects. While the long-term health effects of 5G remain unknown, Pall has conducted research showing that millimeter waves can trigger biological responses by altering the cells electrical charges. As telecommunications networks evolve and 5G promises faster speeds and greater connectivity, the need to understand the effects on human health becomes increasingly important. The debate surrounding the potential health effects of 5G technology continues to be a subject of concern and controversy. Next: Some experts observed an increase in microwave syndrome in recent decades. Is it an actual disease, and does it relate to the cellphone radiation surrounding us? What topics would you like to read about? Please let us know at health@epochtimes.nyc Emissions of COVID-19 among asymptomatic individuals are relatively low, according to the findings of a new experimental study that intentionally infected patients. The study was published in the weekly peer-reviewed The Lancet medical journal on June 9. The research was conducted at the quarantine unit at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust in London, UK, between March 6 and July 8, 2021, with the aim of understanding exactly when infected individuals are generally contagious and how to detect or predict contagiousness in order to reduce transmission in future pandemics. As part of the study, researchers recruited 36 healthy participants (10 female and 26 male) aged 1830 who were unvaccinated against COVID-19 and were not previously known to have been infected with the virus. Researchers then infected the participants with the pre-alpha wild-type SARS-CoV-2, a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, by spraying viral particles up their noses, and quarantining them in individual negative pressure rooms for a minimum of 14 days, conducting nose and throat swabs daily. Viral emissions were also collected from the air and the surrounding environment in the room, such as the surfaces on bedside cabinets, on a daily basis using an air sampler. All of the samples were then tested for COVID-19 using PCR tests, lateral flow antigen tests, and other testing devices. Participants, meanwhile, self-reported their symptoms three times a day. A total of 18 of the participants became infected with the virus, researchers said, adding that they developed mild-to-moderate symptoms of COVID-19 within just days after their incubation period began. SARS-CoV-2 viruses binding to ACE-2 receptors on a human cell. (Shutterstock) Study Findings Specifically, viral RNA was detected in 25 percent of 252 air samples from 16 participants between 3 and 14 days post-inoculation; 43 percent of the 252 mask samples from 17 participants between 2 and 14 days after inoculation; and 27 percent of the 252 hand swabs from 16 participants between 3 and 13 days after inoculation. In all 18 infected participants rooms, viral RNA was detected in 371 (29 percent) of 1,260 surface swabs, including 74 (29.4 percent) of 252 overbed table swabs, 62 (24.6 percent) of 252 bed frame swabs, 80 (31.7 percent) of 252 bedside table swabs, 68 (27 percent) of 252 television remote control swabs, and 87 (34.5 percent) of 252 bathroom swabs, between 2 and 14 days after inoculation. Of the 18 study participants who developed infections, researchers found that males emitted a large proportion of the airborne virusapproximately 86 percenton just one or two days of quarantine, while the majority of viral emissions occurred during the symptomatic period. They also found that very few emissions occurred before the first reported symptom (7 percent) and hardly any before the first positive lateral flow antigen test (2 percent), meaning that emissions among asymptomatic respondents into the air and environment were low. Those findings are in sharp contrast to health officials warnings throughout the pandemic that individuals who do not display symptoms of COVID-19 could transmit the virus. Previous studies have found similar results. However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends that individuals who were infected but asymptomatic isolate for at least five days after testing positive for the virus. A worker prepares to take swab sample from a man before quarantine for a government event at a hotel in Beijing on April 7, 2022. (Ng Han Guan/AP Photo) No Real Way to Predict COVID-19 Spreaders Even within this small cohort and highly controlled study design, we observed heterogeneity in the timing, extent, and routes of viral emissions, the researchers wrote. We observed short windows of high airborne viral emission, with two (11 percent) infected participants contributing 86 percent of the airborne virus over three individual time points, giving support to the phenomenon of super spreading individuals or events. However, the three high emission timepoints were not associated with greater human marker (18S rRNA) and the highest emitter of the cohort did not produce especially high outputs of the human marker, the researchers continued. Predicting or identifying people who might be high virus emitters, perhaps even before they are infected, is of interest because they could be prioritized for interventions to block transmission. Our analysis suggests both host (eg, sex, BMI, mechanics of breathing) and viral factors (eg, timing, extent, or anatomical site of virus) might contribute to overdispersion, they concluded. Infectious disease researcher Anika Singanayagam at Imperial College London, a co-author of the paper, told Nature that the findings are similar to those that she and her colleagues have observed with naturally acquired infections. Commenting on the study findings, Dr. Monica Gandhi, head of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine at UCSF Health, said on Twitter that they show there is no real way to predict who is most likely to have high nasal viral loads and able to spread COVID more efficiently; makes it even harder to control. Gandhi added that the findings show why it is important that individuals acquire immunity. Still, the researchers plan to conduct further work to understand the findings, including similar studies with more recent COVID-19 variants. Nonetheless, our findings support measures such as hand washing and surface cleaning in close indoor settings where there has been a case of COVID-19, as one of a combination of non-pharmaceutical interventions to reduce transmission risk, they added. What topics would you like to read about? Please let us know at health@epochtimes.nyc Scientists reported a breakthrough in creating synthetic human embryos without the use of eggs or sperm but now face legal and ethical issues. They claim to have created model embryos using stem cells and that those embryos resemble early stages of human development, which can be used in the studies of human genetic disorders. We can create human embryo-like models by the reprogramming of [embryonic stem] cells, said professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz from the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology, describing scientists work in a plenary address at the International Society for Stem Cell Researchs annual meeting in Boston. However, this groundbreaking work was quick to bring up serious legal and ethical issues, as in the UK and other countries, such lab-grown entities go against current local legislation. 14-Day Rule So far, scientists are legally able to do scientific research in the lab only until the human embryo is 14 days old. After that period, they can monitor an embryos course of development only via pregnancy scans or if the embryo was donated for research. The Warnock Committee proposed this rule in 1984, arguing that within 14 days of fertilization, the embryo could be regarded as a collection of cells. Scientists call these 14 days a black box period, as its very difficult to monitor the human embryos development in its initial stages, which is needed to find answers to many questions regarding abnormalities, diseases, and so forth. Hence, their motivation to create a synthetic human embryo. How Its Done So far in their work, Zernicka-Goetzs team and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel have shown that they can create from mice stem cells embryo-like structures with beating hearts, intestinal tracts, and the beginnings of a brain. Efforts are now in place to replicate this success with embryos derived from human stem cells. The full details of this latest work at the CambridgeCaltech lab are yet to be published in a journal paper. At her talk, Zernicka-Goetz explained that her team grew from a single stem cell the model structures of an embryo at the stage known as gastrulation, which is when the embryo starts to form multiple layers and sets up the human bodys basic axes. Although at this stage the human embryo doesnt yet have the beginnings of a brain, gut, or beating heart, the tested model embryo shows the presence of cells that are egg and sperm precursors. Our human model is the first three-lineage human embryo model that specifies amnion and germ cells, precursor cells of egg and sperm, Zernicka-Goetz said. Previous efforts to implant synthetic mice embryos into the wombs of female mice didnt result in the development of live animals. The result with synthetic embryos from monkeys proved similar. Thus, scientists dont know if the normal development of synthetic embryos is possible and whether the obstacles are just technical or have a more fundamental biological base. Legal and Ethical Issues However, these achievements are facing legal and ethical issues. Currently, its illegal to use human synthetic embryos clinically, as its against the law to implant such embryos into a patients womb. If such human synthetic embryos are to develop into embryo-like structures that lead to forming fetuses and mature human beings, we would be confronted with the question of what their moral status would be, which is what the scientific community is also concerned about. Some key points to consider are as follows: Status and rights: Determining the moral and legal status of synthetic human embryos is complex. The question arises as to whether they should be granted the same rights and protections as natural human embryos. Determining the moral and legal status of synthetic human embryos is complex. The question arises as to whether they should be granted the same rights and protections as natural human embryos. Human dignity: Synthetic human embryos may be created solely for research purposes, and there are concerns about treating human life as a mere resource or commodity. Critics argue that the creation and manipulation of embryos for experimentation undermines human dignity and respect for life. Synthetic human embryos may be created solely for research purposes, and there are concerns about treating human life as a mere resource or commodity. Critics argue that the creation and manipulation of embryos for experimentation undermines human dignity and respect for life. Consent and informed choice: Synthetic human embryo research, requiring genetic material donors, prompts informed consent queries. Synthetic human embryo research, requiring genetic material donors, prompts informed consent queries. Safety and potential harms: The risks and potential harms associated with creating and manipulating synthetic human embryos need to be carefully evaluated. The risks and potential harms associated with creating and manipulating synthetic human embryos need to be carefully evaluated. Implications for human reproduction: The development of synthetic human embryos could have significant implications for human reproduction, including assisted reproductive technologies, genetic engineering, and potential applications in cloning, which raise ethical concerns about the potential for misuse, exploitation, or unintended consequences. Difference Between Synthetic Embryos and Cloning Synthetic embryos and cloning are both related to the field of reproductive biology and involve the creation of organisms, but theyre distinct processes with different goals and methods. In broad terms, synthetic embryos are used for the purpose of research and may not result in the production of a whole organism, whereas the purpose of cloning is to reproduce the entire organism. However, there may still be ethical discussions surrounding the use of human cellular material and the potential applications of synthetic embryos. Synthetic embryos are typically created through a combination of cellular reprogramming techniques, such as induced pluripotent stem cell technology, and various laboratory procedures to mimic the developmental processes of a natural embryo. Cloning involves the replication of an entire organism or specific parts of it. The most well-known method of cloning is somatic cell nuclear transfer, by which the nucleus of a somatic (nonreproductive) cell is transferred into an egg cell that has had its own nucleus removed. This reconstructed egg is then stimulated to develop into an embryo and, under certain conditions, implanted into a surrogate mother for further development. Particularly when applied to humans, cloning raises numerous ethical questions and concerns. These include issues related to individuality, identity, consent, the potential for exploitation, and the moral status of cloned individuals. Both synthetic embryos and cloning are active areas of scientific research, and their regulations can vary across different jurisdictions. Ethical and moral considerations are crucial factors to be considered, especially in todays society. Ildem Akerman, associate professor of functional genomics at the University of Birmingham, said: These findings [on synthetic human embryos] suggest that we would soon develop the technology to grow these cells beyond the 14 day limit. Nevertheless, the ability to do something does not justify doing it. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here. What topics would you like to read about? Please let us know at health@epochtimes.nyc UNITED NATIONS, June 19 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged the Israeli government to "immediately and completely" end all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, a UN spokesman said. Guterres was deeply troubled by Sunday's decision by the Israeli government to amend settlement planning procedures, said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the UN chief, in a statement. Haq noted that the changes can be expected to expedite the advancement of Israeli settlement plans in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Guterres was also deeply alarmed by the anticipated advancement next week of over 4,000 settlement housing units by Israeli planning authorities, Haq said. "The secretary-general reiterates that settlements are a flagrant violation of international law," said the spokesman. "They are a major obstacle to the realization of a viable two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace." The expansion of these illegal settlements is a significant driver of tensions and violence and deepens humanitarian needs, he said. It further entrenches Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory, encroaches on Palestinian land and natural resources, hampers the free movement of the Palestinian population, and undermines the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and sovereignty, said Haq. "The secretary-general urges the government of Israel to halt and reverse such decisions and to immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory and to fully respect its legal obligations in that regard," he said. Home Office Bans Rich Chinese Couple From UK for Alleged Political Donations on Behalf of CCP The Home Office has accused a wealthy Chinese couple of making political donations on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and banned them from re-entering the UK, it has emerged. Former Home Secretary Priti Patel informed the couple of the decision in March 2022, according to a legal document published recently by an immigration appeals tribunal. The couple, whose identities are protected under an anonymity order, also had dealings with Christine Lee & Co Solicitorsthe law firm founded by Christine Ching Kui Lee, who MI5 named as a CCP agentthe Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) ruling (pdf) said. The couple, a 60-year-old woman identified as C17 and her 62-year-old husband C18, were both from Guangdong, a southern Chinese province that borders Hong Kong. The family lives in Hong Kong and they had been in and out of the UK before the COVID-19 pandemic, the document shows. C17 obtained in 2012 a Tier 1 Investor Visa, which required at least 1.7 million of investment in UK share capital or UK-registered companies. According to the document, C17 told the tribunal she had withdrawn her investment in 2017 as it was not doing well. C17 and the couples two younger sons had been granted indefinite leave to remain (ILR). C18 had limited leave to remain, and the couples eldest son, who attended school and university in the UK, has British citizenship. C17 brought a two-bedroom flat in Cambridge, where the eldest son lived during his study. The flat was rented out from February last year, and the couple was seriously considering sending their youngest son to a school in England, the document said. It said evidence given to the tribunal said C18 has many companies with some 200300 employees and over 10 secretaries. The ruling included parts of Patels letters to the couple, informing them that Patel had personally directed they should be excluded from the UK due to involvement in providing financial donations to UK political figures on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). We therefore deem your presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good, the letters said, warning them they would be refused entry if they attempted to travel to the UK. The letter to C18 also said his limited leave to remain had been cancelled. Its unclear which political figures they allegedly donated to. The couples appeal of the decision was submitted late because they had not seen the letter until May last year; in the judgment handed down earlier this month, the SIAC deemed it would be unjust not to grant them extensions. The document also noted that the couple had dealt with Christine Lee & Co Solicitors on a number of occasions in relation to their own visas, entry clearance and leave to remain in the UK, as well as that of their children. The Home Offices letters to bar the couple from the UK were sent two months after the MI5 named Lee in an unusual move. The spy agency issued an alert in January last year, saying Lee had been knowingly engaged in political interference activities on behalf of the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It said Lee had been facilitating financial donations to political parties and politicians, and warned that anyone contacted by her should be mindful of her affiliation with the Chinese state and remit to advance the CCPs agenda in UK politics. A month after issuing the alert, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said the agency was forced to name Lee as British law was too outdated to deal with a covert agent of a foreign power. The Home Office declined to comment. Christine Lee & Co Solicitors didnt immediately respond to The Epoch Times request for comment. Hong Kong Tycoon Jimmy Lai Loses Appeal Against Phone Search Media mogul Jimmy Lai, founder of Apple Daily, leaves the Court of Final Appeal by prison van in Hong Kong on Feb. 9, 2021. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters) HONG KONGA Hong Kong appeal court on Monday blocked jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lais bid to challenge in the citys highest court a warrant obtained by national security police to scrutinize the contents of his mobile phones. Lai, 75, is the founder of the now shut pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily and is due to face trial in September on three charges under the citys sweeping national security law, including collusion with foreign forces. He also faces a charge under the British colonial-era sedition law. Lai is one of the most prominent Hong Kong critics of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership, including CCP leader Xi Jinping. The tycoon has been challenging police scrutiny of two of his mobile phones seized during his arrest at his home in August 2020, partly on the basis that they contained journalistic material. The High Court rejected challenges in August and October last year, when Lais lawyers argued that such searches could have a chilling effect on Hong Kongs press freedom. Three Court of Appeal judges on Monday ruled that they could not allow Lais lawyers to appeal to Hong Kongs highest court as they had raised points not covered earlier and had failed to make a proper case. Even though police had already searched the phones, the issues involved great public interest, his lawyers had argued. It is not clear if Lais legal team would attempt any further steps. Lai lost a bid to end his national security trial in May. He could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted. Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 after months of pro-democracy protests. The law punishes acts including so-called subversion, collusion with foreign forces, and terrorism with up to life in prison. Critics say the law is part of an effort by the CCP to end dissent and freedoms guaranteed to the city for 50 years when it was handed over to China from British rule in 1997. Lai is already serving a five year, nine month sentence for fraud after his conviction for violating a lease contract for the Apple Dailys headquarters. He denied the charge. President Joe Bidens son Hunter Biden has reached a plea agreement with the Justice Department on tax charges, according to a letter filed in the U.S. District Court in Delaware on Tuesday. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer criticized the deal and said it wouldnt impede the investigation into the Biden familys business dealings by House Republicans. House lawmakers hold a media availability at 4:30 p.m. ET on June 20 to discuss the latest on Biden documents and the Durham report. Commentary Marriage is an institution uniquely apt for the rearing and nourishing of children, an open-ended task calling parents to assume an attitude of love and commitment toward children. Conversely, divorce undermines the family unit and deprives children of an intact biological family. Karl Marx recommended the abolition of marriage in his Communist Manifesto, stating it would naturally bring with it the dissolution of the system of free love, which he called public and private prostitution. In other words, Marx thought that marriage was nothing but a form of private prostitution. Inspired by such teachings, in the 1980s, the Australian Union of Students issued a Policy Statement arguing that prostitution takes many forms and is not only the exchange of money for sex Prostitution in marriage is the transaction of sex in return for love, security, and housekeeping. This idea that marriage is a form of prostitution is accepted by a number of feminist scholars. In 2014, on ABCs program Q+A, British-born feminist Jane Caro stated: I would argue that traditional marriage is basically selling [womens] bodies and their reproductive rights to their husbands as a form of prostitution. The radical feminist promotion of sexual liberation rests on the application of Marxist forms of critical analysis to groups of people who are identified by gender and then urged to overthrow their oppressors. Patriarchal is the word often used to describe the traditional conventions observed by respectable members of society, which are dismissed as oppressive. A fan shows a sign reading Girl Power during day two of the Unibet Premier League at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, on Feb. 13, 2020. (Alex Pantling/Getty Images) Therefore, Marxism holds that the institution of marriage, within its attendant sexual morals, must die out and be replaced by free unions of love. For a woman to be a housewife is considered shameful, and some feminists will go so far as to suggest that children will be better off by being raised by the state in public facilities rather than at home with their biological parents. Sexual politics introduced what American feminist Camille Paglia describes as the Stalinist style of feminist criticism. This type of feminism, according to Paglia, strides into great literature and arts with jackboots on and red pen in hand, checking off racist, sexist and homophobic, peremptorily decreeing what should remain and what should be discarded. Breaking a Sacred Vow Without Consequence, but With Reward With the rise of radical feminism in the late 1960s, a significant slice of popular culture came to associate marriage with oppression and the suppression of freedom. Another part of the strategy to undermine marriage was the creation of no-fault divorce in the early 1970s. By subjecting marriage to critical Marxist analysis, no-fault divorce is advocated as a means to achieve womens sexual liberation. Of course, the idea was not quite promoted like that, but as a humanizing effort to allow irretrievably broken marriages to be terminated without any finding of guilt. Once something is embodied in the law, it also becomes part of the moral reality of human society, thus shaping attitudes and expectations. The purpose of the law was once to instruct citizens to aspire to a virtuous life. Take care of your marriagecontinue to share and talkand perhaps your empty nest years will be even more fun. (Westend61/Getty Images) Prior to the no-fault divorce in 1975, an element of fault in divorce encompassed adultery, desertion, habitual intoxication, cruelty, and the like. The innocent party, on credible grounds, was able to justify his or her divorce and be compensated for the damage caused by the other party, both morally and financially. But the no-fault revolution changed these compensatory grounds, and it turned marriage into an easily revocable contract. This, of course, naturally reducedperhaps even removedthe expectation for a permanent lifelong commitment. It is one thing to allow no-fault for a marriage where both spouses agree that divorce is really what they want. But it is quite another when divorce occurs with no mutual consentwhen one of the spouses decides to unilaterally leave the marriage contract. Accordingly, the primary effect of the present laws is to disempower the victimised spouse by depriving him or her of leverage to bargain over the terms of settlement of property and financial matters. No-fault divorce is part of the phalanx of laws that allows the state to invade our domestic affairs and harass people. The system involves the intrusive presence of state agents forcibly removing people from their homes, seizing their property, and separating them from their children. It inherently abrogates not only the inviolability of marriage but also the very idea of having a private life. According to Jennifer Roback Morse, founder of the Ruth Institute, the current divorce regime is a unilateral divorce regime. Anyone who wants a divorce gets to have one: The State always takes sides with the party who wants the marriage the least. The State incentivizes disloyalty and infidelity between spouses. And when things go wrong, the State empowers itself to clean up the mess, Roback Morse argues. Why Should Marriage Be the Only Contract to Be Breached With Impunity? Under no-fault, the deserted spouse is often treated the same way as the unfaithful one who abandoned their family. For example, a conscientious husband, who is not guilty of any misconduct, is made vulnerable by the prospect of losing access to the biological children he has loved, protected, and helped raise. The husband will also be forced to maintain the guilty ex-wife and their now-separated child. He may be forced to pay the mortgage charges but must leave the family home and pay rent for a separate residence. As can be seen in this hypothetical example, the abandoned spouse is doubly victimised. They have largely lost their children, home and lost a large part of their income. The prospects of mending this shattered and impoverished life, re-partnering and perhaps having more children are negligible. New homes line a street in the Sydney suburb of Moorebank in Australia on May 26, 2017. (Jason Reed/Reuters) It is clear that the no-fault revolution, in allowing the marriage contract to be breached without any legal consequences (though there are serious and unavoidable consequences), has undermined the value we place on marriage to the detriment of Australian society. Therefore, at the very least, marriage should always be treated as a normal contract. The courts routinely award damages for non-economic loss in personal injury claims and damages for loss of reputation in defamation claims. Accordingly, any fault for divorce should be followed by the award of damages and for weighting the division of family property. Why should marriage be the only contract that may be breached with impunity? Above all, this radical, Marxist feminist approach must be condemned, and it should be a major public policy goal to protect marriage by restoring its full contractual nature. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Hunter Biden Plea Deal Is an Insult to Our Intelligence Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, attends an event at the White House on April 18, 2022. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) Commentary How many insults to our intelligence can we take? A few days ago, it was the dilution of the indictments against Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX. And now, on June 20, the feds finally have made a plea deal with the presidents son Hunter for charges of tax evasion that essentially amounts to little more than a slap on the wrist. He will also receive what amounts to less than community service for buying a gun while being a certifiable drug addict. Pretty good deal, no? The deeper intentions couldnt be more obviousto shove allegations of influence peddling to foreign nationsseveral of the sworn enemies of our country and whats left of its values, down the infamous memory hole. And theres a second intention that presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamyoften quicker than his opponents with responsesgot precisely right in his Twitter post: Its no accident that the farcical Hunter Biden plea deal comes right after the Trump indictment: its the perfect fig leaf to pretend that no one is above the law, while absolutely putting certain people above the law. Its an Orwellian gesture that gives the news media exactly the level of cover that they needed. Amazing to see how this game is played. Well, maybe not so amazing at this point. The question is, where are we? What country is this? I got a metaphoricalor was it mysticalanswer this morning when making out my quarterly IRS payment, to discover that my check number was 1984. And yet we are in a situation, given the immense technological powers of government and its Big Tech allies, that not even George Orwell, author of 1984, or Aldous Huxley could have conceived. What is most feared by these people is a possible new Trump administration, which is the proximate cause of this ongoing miscarriage of justice. That administration would yield an unprecedented loss of powerin our country anywayamong a ruling class (aka deep state) with concomitant immense loss of money and status. This is true, again obviously, for politicians, but also for media and a fair percentage of business leaders. This yields yet another potent indication of what a growing number say is truethat we are in the midst of a non-shooting civil war. (Lets hope it stays that way.) We are, like it or not, all in an intellectual war. The old expression You snooze, you lose applies, and then some. I am giving myself the homework of rereading Franz Kafkas The Trial. No one knew more about the workings of justice than he. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Hunter Biden to Plead Guilty to Federal Charges Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, at the White House on April 18, 2022. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) President Joe Bidens son has agreed to plead guilty to federal crimes in a deal with the U.S. government, prosecutors said on June 20. Hunter Biden, 53, has admitted to intentionally failing to pay federal income tax, U.S. Attorney David Weiss said in a letter to the U.S. court in Delaware. Hunter Biden plans to plead guilty in an upcoming hearing to violations of a law that forbids willfully [failing] to file tax returns or pay taxes. Hunter Biden received more than $1.5 million in taxable income in 2017 and more than $1.5 million more in 2018, according to an indictment. He was required by law to pay more than $100,000 in income tax for his earnings each of those years. But he did willfully fail to pay the tax. The counts are misdemeanors. Each carries up to one year in prison. No hearings have been scheduled as of yet, according to the court docket. Hunter Biden said in late 2020 that authorities were investigating his tax affairs. He said, [I am] confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately. A subpoena, made public in 2022, showed that Weiss was compelling JP Morgan Chase Bank to release Hunter Bidens bank records. IRS agents later came forward to allege the investigation wasnt being handled properly. From left to right: U.S. President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Hunter Biden, and Ashley Biden attend an event at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on May 15, 2023. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) Another Charge Separately, Hunter Biden, in 2018, knowing that he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance did knowingly possess a firearm, that is, a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver with serial number RA 551363, said firearm having been shipped and transported in interstate commerce, an indictment states. The law in question forbids people convicted of a crime punishable by a prison term of more than one year or who illegally use or are addicted to a controlled substance as defined in the Controlled Substance Act from possessing firearms. Several outlets have reported that Hunter Biden possessed a gun in 2018 and that his then-girlfriend, Hallie Bidenthe widow of Hunters brother, Beauthrew the gun into a garbage can before it was recovered by authorities. Hunter Biden has said in his autobiography that he was using crack cocaine that year. Hunter Biden has agreed to enter a pretrial diversion agreement on that charge, according to Weiss. U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David Weiss in a file image. (Department of Justice via The Epoch Times) Pretrial diversion programs enable defendants to get charges dismissed if they meet certain criteria. The objectives of the programs include preventing future criminal activity and promoting rehabilitation, according to the Department of Justice. The charge carries up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Christopher Clark, a lawyer representing Hunter Biden, declined to comment. The president and first lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life, Ian Sams, a White House spokesperson, told news outlets in a statement. We will have no further comment. Joe Biden has claimed in the past that his son did nothing wrong. I trust him. I have faith in him, the president said on MSNBC in a recent interview. Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on June 13, 2023. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Trump Reacts Former President Donald Trump, who was recently charged with 37 counts, said that the new information indicates that the justice system is broken. Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket. Our system is BROKEN! Trump wrote on Truth Social. The Department of Justice didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Weiss was appointed by Trump in 2017 and confirmed by the Senate the following year. He is one of the few U.S. attorneys from the Trump administration to be retained by Joe Biden. Trump has said in the past that he believed that to make the federal case against him look fair, Hunter Biden would be charged with something small. Republicans decried the announced deal. Bidens DOJ is treating Hunter with kid gloves, giving him a deal that only the Presidents son could receive, Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) said in a statement. [The deal] will not stop our investigation into the Biden crime family. Anyone can see Bidens DOJ went easy on Hunter Biden, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said. House Republicans have been probing Biden family financial dealings and uncovered bank records that they say show a complex money laundering scheme. The White House has stated that Joe Biden wasnt influenced by the payments made to the then-vice presidents family members. Huntington Beach to Consider Screening Childrens Library Books for Obscene Content Library books that have been pre-ordered await pick-up at the Westminster Library in Westminster, Calif., on Sept. 22, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Huntington Beach Mayor Pro Tem Gracey Van Der Mark claims there are obscene and pornographic books available to children in city libraries and is asking the council to consider screening such books in an upcoming city council meeting. It has been a longstanding problem in public education that children are being exposed to obscene, and age-inappropriate material by adults, many of whom are educators we have entrusted with our children, Van Der Mark stated in an ordinance to be presented at the June 20 council meeting. Our city libraries should not be engaged in infecting our children with obscenity or pornography, she said. Van Der Mark told The Epoch Times she recently discovered a book called The V Word, which describes oral sex and sex acts in explicit detail. I dont want to infringe on anybodys First Amendment rights, freedom of speech, or the right to have access to these books, she told The Epoch Times. What we would like to do is put some safeguards in place so that children dont have access to them. Its starting the process of coming up with ideas of how to make our libraries safer for our youth. Van Der Mark also said in 2020, she discovered a book called Gender Queera graphic illustrated memoir recounting the authors exploration of sexuality from adolescence onwardin the teen section of her local city library. She posted pictures of the book online that showed the book both discussing and visually depicting characters dealing with gender dysphoria, masturbation, sex toys, and sex acts. One scene, posted but censored by Van Der Mark, illustrates full nudity as characters engage in oral sex. In her Facebook post, she wrote that she filled out a form requesting the library staff re-evaluate the book for children and urged others to do the same. If approved by the city council, Van Der Marks proposal would require the city attorney and city manager develop an ordinance requiring the citys libraries to screen books that can be accessed by minors for obscenity or pornographyand to ban such material from being accessed by that age group. Her ordinance also instructs the city attorney to ensure the ordinance complies with the First Amendment, and to consider the definition of obscenity within its context. The ordinance also directs the city manager to look into the process to part ways with the American Library Association. Were going to look into the commitment we have with them and see what kind of materials they are supporting, Van Der Mark said. And if its a good match, then great. If its not, then we have to look into parting ways. Everything is just a preliminary phase of finding solutions to make our libraries safer, so were looking at every option right now. Huntington Beach has five public libraries. Councilman Pat Burns told The Epoch Times in an email that he supports the ordinance. I am not into banning books but there are some subject matters that do not need to be encouraged or have children needlessly exposed to, he said. There are so many influences in society that should be up to the parents sex of any exposure is not for a child. Let them grow and mature before such an important and vital part of life. Sexual subjects and childrens exposure has gone too far and needs to be pulled back to a sensible level and regulated by parents. Councilors Tony Strickland, Casey McKeon, Dan Kalmick, Natalie Moser, and Rhonda Bolton were not immediately available for comment. IN-DEPTH: Conservatives Wonder Who Navy Is Trying to Recruit With Petty Officer Drag Queen Stunt U.S. Navy sailors walk past the USS Iwo Jima docked on the Hudson River during Fleet Week in New York on May 22, 2009. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) It was a rough summer for drag queens, with uproars over public library story hours and bruising boycotts against Jack Daniels for promoting drag shows in its advertisements routinely making news. Meanwhile, conservative across the country, as they prepared to vote in 2022 midterms, were expressing discomfortand for some alarmover what many saw as a seemingly-pugilistic promotion of transgender and LGBTQ+ rights, vowing to restore normalcy, if possible, with their ballots. It was also a rough year for military recruiting. Of three of the U.S. militarys largest branches, only the Air Force met its 2022 recruiting goal. The Army missed by 15,000 and the Navy fell shy even after lowering its quota, increasing its enlistment age to 41, and relaxing other standards. So when the Navy in October chose to promote a sailor who weekends as a drag queen as one of its social media digital ambassadors as part of its recruitment strategy, many questioned how the sea serviceso reliant on signal intelligencedidnt see all the blinking red lights, or hear all the bells, all the whistles, all warning this just might not be a good marketing idea. As things turned out, the Navy did, in fact succeed in making Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley the face of a well-publicized campaign. But instead of promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) as a recruiting tool, as the Navy apparently intended, YN2 Kelley became Congressional Republicans favorite poster prop in arguing that his celebration is why many young Americansespecially those among conservative constituenciesare turning away. Called Onto Congressional Carpet During a March hearing before the House Armed Services Committee Military Personnel Subcommittee, Chair Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), a Navy veteran, said when asked why a sailor who sidelines as a drag queen was used in a recruitment marketing program, the Navys response was that the digital ambassador program didnt exist. We are facing a historic recruitment crisis and instead of focusing efforts on strengthening our force, the Biden administration is forcing wokeness on our service members, the congressman said. Navy leadership knew this was a ridiculous and embarrassing stunt, and that is why they initially denied involvement with the program. In a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Banks and Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) demanded to know why the Navy incomprehensibly believed that this woke campaign should become the defining face of the service and warned that perception is driving reality, and both current and former service members are alarmed at a culture putting wokeness before training and combat effectiveness. Banks and Alford requested that DOD provide instructions that govern performing in or authorizing drag shows and any rules and regulations for service members engaging in such activity while actively serving in the armed forces. In a May 3 letter to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Ted Budd (R-N.C.) requested more information regarding the Navys use of a TikTok drag queen to help reach potential recruits on social media. Rubio and Budd also chastised the Navy for the promotion of a banned app in its digital ambassador TikTok videos than ran until April. The No TikTok on Government Devices Act was signed into law Dec. 29, 2022. The senators expressed concern regarding behavior that many deem inappropriate in a professional workplace and could also potentially push misinformation or narratives favoring the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Where does the Navy draw the line on promotion of the personal activities of its influencers? Rubio and Budd ask. Would the Navy enlist burlesque dancers or exotic dancers to reach possible recruits? The Navys only response has been a blanket statement: Much like the country we serve, our Navy is stronger when we draw upon our diverse resources, skills, capabilities and talents. We remain committed to an inclusive environment. But the pressure could be forcing changes in the Department of Defense (DOD) and within the individual branches, the conservative Heritage Foundation Center for National Defense Director Thomas Spoehr told The Epoch Times. Just the other day, Lloyd Austin decreed there would be no more drag queen shows on military installations. That came as a surprise to me, I thought they were heading down the path that were going to have drag queen story hour at the installation library. In-Service Transitions During an October Heritage Foundation forum, a National Independent Panel on military service and readiness, chaired by Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) and featuring former Trump administration National Security Adviser, retired Army Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, took aim at the politicization and the progressive policies that civilian officials in the [Biden] administration are imposing on the military. Those policies were initiated by a series of Biden executive orders, most notably two that revoked former President Donald Trumps September 2022 order restricting DEI-related training in the military and banning transgender people from enlisting. The revised policies restored the DODs 2016 policies that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or an individuals identification as transgender. In April 2021, the DOD followed with the 22-page Instruction 1300.28 that outlined rules for in-service transition for transgender service members. The instruction states the DOD and the branches will institute policies to provide service members a process by which they may transition gender while serving. These policies are based on the conclusion that open service by transgender persons who are subject to the same high standards and procedures as other Service members with regard to medical fitness for duty, physical fitness, uniform and grooming standards, deployability, and retention is consistent with military service and readiness. To qualify for transition, an active-duty service member must be diagnosed with gender dysphoria, which is a mental health condition in which people believe their biological sex and gender identity do not match. Gender transition begins when a service member receives a diagnosis from a military medical provider indicating that gender transition is medically necessary, and then completes the medical care identified or approved by a military mental health or medical provider in a documented treatment plan as necessary to achieve stability in the self-identified gender, the DOD instruction states. Detransition advocates meet outside of the annual Pediatric Endocrine Society conference held in San Diego, Calif., on May 6, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) None of This Makes Sense None of this makes sense, the Heritage Foundation panel said. Allowing individuals suffering from gender dysphoriaproven to be medically pre-disposed to severe anxiety and who attempt suicide at rates 10 times the general populationto enter service with no regard for consequences was reckless. It may have satisfied a campaign promise but at the expense of reduced military readiness, the panel said. A 2016 RAND Corp. analysis titled Assessing the Implications of Allowing Transgender Personnel to Serve Openly estimated there were about 2,450 transgenders in the 1.4 million active-duty force. Of those, relatively few will seek to transition, RAND surmised, estimating that each year, between 29 and 129 service members in the active component will seek transition-related care that could disrupt their ability to deploy. It projected health care costs for transgenders to amount to an additional $2.4 million to $8.4 million annually. And still, none of this makes sense as a recruiting angle, Waltz told The Epoch Times. I would love for them to present me data that shows there is a large body of transgender soldiers out there who want to join so much. Where is their data that documents that? Spoehr, a former Army Lieutenant General, said the military has been in the leading bastion of societal change since before President Harry Truman issued an executive order de-segregating the armed forces in 1948. Sometimes for good and sometimes for bad. Sometimes, they get ahead of society in implementing programs before generally accepted, he said. But thats whats happening here, Spoehr said. In this case, clearly DEI and transgender policies are catering to political factions, he said. Bluejacket Of The Year YN2 Joshua Kelley has been universally praised by his superiors for professionalism, earning a Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and is a respected petty officer among shipmates. (Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, Dahlgren, Virginia) YN2 Kelley is an openly gay weekend drag queen but he is not transgender. He was also a bit of a 7th Fleet celebrity for his drag performances as Harpy Daniels while deployed as an administrative assistant for a squadron aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, as recounted in a 2018 Military Times article. Kelley was later celebrated in a June 2020 LGBT Pride Month Profile posted by the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia. Both items note Kelley was performing as Harpy Daniels before he joined the Navy in 2016 and that his superiors have universally lauded his professionalismhe was named Bluejacket of the Year by his former squadron, has earned a Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and is a respected petty officer among shipmates. A sailor who is a drag queen on liberty gets shrugs from many Navy veterans, usually followed with a tale thatll shocktop that. But building a military recruiting campaign around one has raised eyebrows. The Navy League, Naval Reserve Association, and Naval Order of the United States (NOUS) are among advocacy groups that opted not to discuss YN2 Kelley with The Epoch Times. But several Navy veterans offered personal insight. I dont mind that we have a petty officer who makes extra money as a drag queen on weekends, said retired Navy Capt. Frederick J. Passman, Continental Commander of NOUS. That shouldnt be the highlight, Passman said, stressing he was not speaking on behalf of the apolitical and nonpartisan NOUS. Kelley was selected as a digital ambassador because hes an outstanding petty officer with a good track record. If he can inspire others to come aboard, everything else is irrelevant, Passman said. That being said, he added: No need to market to people who want to be drag queens, few of which want to be in the military anyway. Im not faulting or judging them, but if my hobbies are not consistent with my service, either find a new hobby or new service. Paul Gagne of the Massachusetts NOUS, an old chief raised by old chiefs, agreed. If you are going to recruit, dont target trannies and drag queens or whatever they want to be called, he said. The reality is, the people you need to recruit are going to turn away. Bud Light made the same mistake. Spoehr said that while the marketing misfire vexes sailors the most, it reflects also on the other services. Im kind of, If you are in your house and wherever, its your business. Im generally okay with that, he said. But dont bring it into the classrooms, dont symbolize the service [with it], dont [make] it be part of marketing. YN3 Joshua Kelley performs for sailors aboard the carrier USS Ronald Reagan in 2017. (MC3 Tyler D. John/Navy) Target The Three Types Passman said the Navy has a great story to tell and doesnt need to target fringe communities to fill its ranks. The mission is to continue to move towards the best use of talent. I think the focus should be on opportunities for personal and professional growth. There is no better place to really come into yourself than service to your country, he said. It gives them an opportunity to level the playing field, Passman continued, and understand what it means to be part of something greater than themselves. Stick to your demographic, Gagne said. Dont spend time and money appealing to 2-percent of your target demographic. You cant have recruiting ads that are inclusive when you are targeting 2-percent of the population instead of the 98 percent that have make your ranks for 200 years. There are three types of people who historically join the Navy, he said, and thats where the future Navy should be built. They are: People who want college money; people who want to get out of their [bad] situations, out of the hood or backwaters of Arkansas; and people who do it out of a sense of duty. You have to appeal to the more traditional, more conservative demographic [to recruit the latter]. Thousands gather at the gates of Dodger Stadium to protest against the Los Angeles Dodgers decision to honor an anti-Catholic drag queen group at its annual LGBT celebration in Los Angeles on June 16, 2023. (Courtesy of Catholic Vote) Gagne said there was a fourth category when he joined the Navy in 1988 that disappeared over time. People with criminal convictions, trying to avoid jail or prison. That is another thing they should bring back, he said. The military, and the Navy in particular, is either your cup of tea or it is not, Passman said. But requiring all 18-19 year olds to do two years of service for the nation, not necessarily in the military, would be a service to them as well. He recalled that former Sen. Gary Hart (D-Colo.) absolutely had a great plan unveiled during his 1988 Democratic presidential run. The plan died with his campaign in the Donna Rice scandal. Civics must again be a public education emphasis, Passman said. We dont teach citizenship anymore. We dont teach them how to be citizens greater than themselves. We dont teach our children the importance of being a citizen of a nation. Im not surprised when they turn 18-19 that joining the military is not on their radar. Keep it simple and they will come, Passman said. Sell the ability to learn things that they wouldnt be able to do anywhere else, including leadership and technical skills, world travel that is unique in the Navy, he said, not rainbow coalition stuff. IN-DEPTH: Jan 6 Prisoners Defend Themselves as Government Targets Crowdfunding Accounts A Jan. 6 prisoner is preparing to defend himself against government efforts to confiscate crowdfunding dollars by filing a complaint against a federal judge. According to the draft of the complaint (pdf), obtained exclusively by The Epoch Times, Jan. 6 prisoner Jeremy Brown is accusing Magistrate Judge Sean Flynn of the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, of judicial misconduct concerning events that transpired during his criminal prosecution. It is my reasonable belief that Magistrate Flynn violated the Erie Doctrine; the Fifth, Sixth, and Tenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the jurisdiction of the state of Florida, and Floridas trust laws, Browns draft complaint states. In his handwritten presentencing notes, Brown says he was provided a revised presentence investigation report one working week before his April 7 sentencing date, well beyond the Mid-March deadline for changes. A March 2 presentence report (pdf) had set Browns total assets at $189.92 and advised he did not presently have the ability to pay a fine, and is unlikely to become able to pay a fine. The total assets for Jan. 6 prisoner Jeremy Brown, according to court documents. (Screenshot/The Epoch Times) Notice of ability to pay a fine for Jan. 6 prisoner Jeremy Brown in court documents. (Screenshot/The Epoch Times) The amended March 30 presentence report (pdf) suggested Brown has the ability to pay a fine because the government now set his total assets at $170,114.92 because of a sudden increase of $169,925the exact amount Brown says prosecutors discovered in his GiveSendGo crowdfunding account. The updated total assets for Jan. 6 prisoner Jeremy Brown, according to court documents. (Screenshot/The Epoch Times) Capitol Terrorist Exposers Browns crowdfunding account was discovered by a monitoring group dedicated to turning in Jan 6 protesters. In a Feb. 9, 2022, letter to Assistant U.S. Attorney Risha Asokan obtained by The Epoch Times (pdf), a representative of a monitoring group called the Capitol Terrorist Exposers (CTE) said they could provide information regarding Browns GiveSendGo account. The CTE representative, whose name was redacted in the letter, acknowledged that Browns GiveSendGo account created on his behalf is controlled by a trust beyond his control. The writer also said the account represented that it was a Campaign Created by: Jeremy Brown as late as Jan. 30, 2022, but has been altered to say that it presently reads Campaign Created by: Patriots.' Where it once said checks can be received by Browns girlfriend, Tyleen Aldridge, at a specific P.O. Box, it has been revised to simply provide the P.O. Box address. Both The New York Times and the New Yorker have cited the research by Capitol Terrorists Exposers, describing them as an online group that monitors conservatives and has played a key role in identifying those who participated in the Jan. 6 protests. In May 2022, NBC reported that CTE is part of Sedition Hunters, an online community tracking and locating Jan. 6 suspects. CTE has since had its Twitter account suspended. The Confiscation of Crowdfunding Money As previously reported by The Epoch Times, the U.S. government has spent over two years pursuing everyone it can find who participated in the U.S. Capitol protests on Jan. 6, 2021. To this day, the FBI is actively seeking the publics assistance in identifying individuals who were involved in any way with the events of that day, warning that they have deployed their full investigative resources and are working closely with our federal, state, and local partners to aggressively pursue those involved in these criminal activities. J. Edgar Hoover FBI building in Washington on March 28, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times) A review of court records by The Associated Press showed that prosecutors in over 1,000 Jan. 6 cases have asked judges to impose fines with dollar amounts set specifically to consume the entire amount donated by supporters. According to calculations, the government has used its judicial arm to snatch more than $390,000 in fines slapped on at least 21 Jan. 6 defendants. Amounts range from $450 to over $71,000. In the case of Daniel Goodwyn, The Epoch Times reported that prosecutors asked for a fine of $25,676.25, the exact amount of money his mother said was in his Donorbox account. While Brown admits he doesnt have full visibility on what prosecutors are currently doing to Jan. 6 defendants, he does know they are going after their GiveSendGos and setting their fines for the exact amount thats in their account. Theyve been doing this to me throughout the entire course of my trial, Brown told The Epoch Times from Citrus County jail, where he is currently incarcerated. Its almost like they tested legal theory to see if they could get away with it and if it worked they were going to try it on the others. I was their test case. Now it looks like theyre moving forward with it. I think its a dangerous precedent. But I dont think it would survive Supreme Court scrutiny. Lets Just Start With the Facts Carol Stewart, the attorney representing Aldridge as the trustee, describes the turn of events as a show of amazing viciousness by the government and Flynn. Lets just start with the facts, Stewart told The Epoch Times. Were in Florida. This account is an oral trust, which is allowed in Florida. It was set up by friends. His girlfriend, Tyleen Aldridge, is in charge of the oral trust. Jeremy is in jail. He has no title to the money. The money never touches his accounts. It goes to her. I worked with her to set up a trust account for it that goes to his benefit. Thats what the GiveSendGo says. Its to his benefit. At a March 25 hearing, the government grilled Stewart for four hours, she said. Tylene Aldridge and Jeremy Brown in an undated photo. (Courtesy of Tylene Aldridge) I know they were trying to get Tyleen or someone else on fraud and I told them to stop, Stewart recalled. Its discretionary. She can decide what happens to the money. Shes paying attorneys in D.C. because he has charges there also. This should have been done in a Florida civil court. I told the judge he did not have subject matter jurisdiction over this. Stewart said what the transcript (pdf) shows is a corrupt magistratewho was told he had no jurisdiction over the trust and knew he could not order trust disbursement, and who knew Jeremy had no title or control of the fundswho still illegitimately ordered Jeremy to pay over $12,000 public defender funds or be in criminal contempt of court. As Stewart explained, donations from the GiveSendGo account go into a Florida trust account in a Florida bank. If you want to seize that money, you would have to get an order in a Florida Civil Court. But the judge chose to ignore Florida law, Stewart said. Precedence of State Law Then theres the Erie Doctrine. When theyre doing something outside of case law and its regarding something relevant to the state, they have to follow state law, Stewart said about the Erie Doctrine, adding that Florida state law says trust disputes must be handled through a Florida Circuit Court. Chris Hedges, an attorney assisting Brown in preparing his case against Flynn, agrees that Flynn had no authority to make a determination on Browns trust. Judge Flynn violated the Erie Doctrine, he insisted. He also violated the 10th Amendment. I believe he also violated Floridas Trust and Estate jurisdiction. Hedges even drafted a letter (pdf) to the offices of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody in April, to inform them of Flynns violation of Floridas laws. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody speaks at a press conference in Brandon, Fla., on Nov. 18, 2021. (Jann Falkenstern/The Epoch Times) Moodys office responded about a month later (pdf). Basically, they said, Theres nothing we can do. Sorry. But heres how you file a case against a federal judge.' Hedges recalled. I wasnt looking to file a case against a federal judge. I was looking for the State of Florida to file an amicus brief because they would have standing with a 10th Amendment violation. The State of Florida is supposed to be a buffer that ensures the federal government doesnt do what its not supposed to do, like invade trust and estate laws in a federal court. In the meantime, Brown says he is waiting for his appeal to play out in the 11th Circuit Court. If it goes the way theyre expecting, he said, theyll throw everything out. Then well be able to sue under civil rights violations through a 1983 filing. The Laws As explained by Shouse California Law Group, A Section 1983 lawsuit permits you to seek financial compensation for violations of your constitutional rights by state and local government officials, such as police officers or prison guards, while they were acting under color of law. While Section 1983 lawsuits can be filed in state or federal court for monetary damages or to seek an injunction to stop the improper conduct, petitioners will have to overcome the qualified immunity defense to be compensated for monetary damages. Qualified immunity is a legal tenet that shields government officials from lawsuits seeking monetary damages. Technically, Section 1983 is a procedural tool based on a federal statute, which provides federal courts with jurisdiction over civil rights cases, the law group said. While no one can be held liable under Section 1983, it opens the door to having a respondent face liability for violating other federal laws. This explains why the alleged violation of another lawsuch as the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Eighth Amendment, 14th Amendment, or the Social Security Actis always included in 1983 cases. Florida Trust Law is an estate planning tool that provides people with the ability to manage their property and assets while living to facilitate an easy transition after death. Florida has various types of trusts in which the beneficiary can be a family member, a friend, a charity, or a beloved pet. Trusts can be created through the transfer of property to another person as a trustee during a persons lifetime or to be transferred to another person upon their death. Overreaching Tyranny Stewart said she is appalled by what she describes as the malicious, vindictive, and evil way the Department of Justice and its prosecutors are going after every January 6 defendant. Not only are they abusing the domestic terrorism charges, they are sending out inquiries to Google, Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, and airlines. They have DHS put them on the highest domestic terrorist watchlist and then they send their information to TSA so when they fly they get strip-searched and have people following them around the airport. They want to ensure that these people lose their businesses. They get banks to shut down their accounts and get credit card companies to cancel their cards. Ultimately they want to force them into bankruptcy, unemployment, and homelessness, she said. Now, if anyone has donations to help them keep their families in their homes while they are in prison, theyre going after that money, too, Stewart added. Hedges agrees. This is the overarching tyranny of the federal government, he said. But when its all said and done, Jeremy will have one hell of a civil rights case. MOSCOW, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Washington's military biological projects around the world grant the United States access to potential biological weapon agents, said the Russian Defense Ministry on Monday. The defense ministry studied the activities of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, particularly its role within two military biological projects, namely U-Pi-1 and U-Pi-2. The Institute has foreign branches equipped with high-level isolation laboratories and a large network of divisions around the world, which are used for sampling and transporting the strains. With its presence worldwide, the U.S. military is able "to gain access to epidemically significant variants of pathogens that are potential agents of biological weapons," Igor Kirillov, the head of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Forces of the Russian Armed Forces, said during a Monday briefing. He said that these pathogen variants include the Marburg and Ebola viruses, malaria, and Rift Valley Fever. Irvine to Prioritize Hiring Local Construction Workers Who Are Union Members Construction workers smooth tar as they pave a road in San Francisco, Calif., on Oct. 5, 2018. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Irvine construction workers may have a better chance of getting work locally, if theyre part of a union, after Irvine city councilors voted unanimously on June 13 to adopt an agreement with an organization that represents 48 local unions in 14 trades. The agreement will prioritize the hiring of local Irvine residents for construction projects in the city that are estimated at over $500,000, as well as outlaw construction companies from not following workplace standards. Under the agreement, contractors must first prioritize local residents for work, which will be referred to them by the local unions. If none are available, priority will be given to construction workers that are Orange County Veterans, graduates from a union-run apprenticeship program, and finally, union workers living in Orange County. The agreements goal is to have 30 percent of the total work hours on each construction contract coming from local residents. The agreement comes after a three-year effort initiated by Mayor Farrah Khan where city staff negotiated the terms of the agreement with the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council. She highlighted that the agreement also encourages recruiting and developing workers through an apprentice training program administered by contractors and the trades council. I support this agreement because it supports apprentices from a training program with a true record of graduating individuals that are then going to be earning journey-level wages and get benefits, Khan said during the meeting. Over a dozen residents spoke during public comment at the meeting in favor of the agreement. This agreement would allow skilled tradesmen and women to work on projects closer to home rather than commuting to other counties, said a union representative for 2,400 electricians and 200 electrical contractors in Orange County. He also highlighted that under the agreement apprentices in Irvine would have a better chance of getting work locally. Kenny Williams, president of the Orange County Labor Federation, which represents 97 unions and 276,000 workers, also voiced support, especially for the agreements apprenticeship program. The apprenticeship program trains these folks to work safely, to keep them safe and your community members safe during construction, he said. Additionally, an ironworker with a union based in Norwalk said he has been driving recently to San Diego, saying there hasnt been any work locally. For the past 10 months or so I was driving from my home in Orange about 125 miles every single day to San Diego, he said. He asked the city to adopt the agreement so that workers could make a living closer to home [so] that we may spend more time enjoying the fruits of our labor with our family and our own communities, he said. But not everyone was in support. A representative from the Associated Builders and Contractorsa trade organization representing 23,000 construction firms nationwide, including some in Southern Californiaasked the city council to revise the agreement to allow all state-approved apprentices to work in Irvine. But the city council was not swayed. Another resident, Dave Everett with the Western Electrical Contractors Associationa nonprofit representing electrical contractors, their employees, and electrical apprenticesaccused the agreement of discriminating against non-union apprentices. He said such an agreement means apprentices that are not union members in the city wont be able to get projects in Irvine. He also claimed that 86 percent of construction workers in California are non-union, saying the agreement would discriminate against the majority of workers by prioritizing those in unions and excluding those who are not. According to a 2019 trades-commissioned study, which used unpublished U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, less than a fifth of California construction workers were unionized in 2017. Jim Caviezel Calls Sound of Freedom His Most Important Film Since The Passion of the Christ Image from the the movie "Sound of Freedom," starring Jim Caviezel, to be released nationwide on July 4, 2023. (Courtesy of Angel Studios) Actor Jim Caviezel is known for his dozens of roles on the big screen, including his most notable performance as Jesus Christ in The Passion of the Christ in 2004. In his latest film, Sound of Freedom, Caviezel plays Tim Ballard, a former Department of Homeland Security agent who rescues a young boy from child sex traffickers. When Ballard learns that the boys sister is still being held captive, he makes it his mission to save her. Its the best thing Ive done since that film, Caviezel told The Epoch Times in an interview. Quality-wise, acting-wise, theres not a flaw. The Angel Studios production is based on the true story of Ballard, a special agent who quit his job to save children from trafficking. Ballard and several other government agents left their careers in 2013 to found Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.), a 501(c)(3) that works to dismantle child trafficking organizations and rescue children from slavery and exploitation across the globe and in the United States. He is also a husband and father of nine children. Sound of Freedom is scheduled for release in theaters nationwide on July 4. About the Film Moviegoers can expect a thrill ride that will keep them on the edge of their seats, and they will also leave the theater with insight into human trafficking, the fastest-growing criminal enterprise in the world, Tim Ballard told The Epoch Times. [Human trafficking] produces $150 billion in revenue every year, Ballard said, adding that many people do not believe child sex trafficking happens in the United States, but it is a top destination for child trafficking victims, according to UNICEF. About 2 million children are exploited in the global sex trade each year, Caviezel said in the movie trailer, asking that 2 million people watch the film and help bring awareness to the crimes against children. Image from the movie Sound of Freedom, which will be released in theaters on July 4, 2023. (Courtesy of Angel Studios) We know this is heartbreaking, and it hurts to look at, but the first step in helping these children is hearing their story, Caviezel said. Not enough people know this problem exists, and even fewer people are willing to do anything about it. Caviezel said the goal is to inspire 2 million people to attend the films opening weekend to represent the 2 million trafficked children around the world. Of the more than 25,000 cases of runaway children reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an estimated 1 in 6 were likely victims of child sex trafficking. Human trafficking cases have been reported in all 50 states. Gods children are not for sale, Caviezel declared in the film trailer. Divine Timing Sound of Freedom was filmed five years ago, Ballard explained, but it passed through many hands, and there was a movement to prevent this film from coming out. The film was rejected by several studios, including Fox, Disney, and others, but Ballard said he did not give up. Ballard said he knew the film was really good, describing Caviezel as extremely talented and the best actor in the world, so he had to come to peace with Gods timing. Finally, the film was acquired by Angel Studios earlier this year. It is the studio behind the popular TV series The Chosen. Sound of Freedom is respectfully and stunningly filmed, based on real events of undercover heroes bringing hope to many, said Neal Harmon, CEO of Angel Studios, in a press release. This film will keep audiences on the edge of their seats with suspense and encourage all of us to take action. Ballard told The Epoch Times he believes people were not ready for the movie five years ago. It was just [that] the time wasnt right, he said. We needed Angel [Studios] to be ready as well. So, honestly, its divine timing. Who Else Is in the Movie? Mira Sorvino plays Katherine Ballard, Tim Ballards wife. Sorvino is best known for her role in the 1995 film Mighty Aphrodite, which earned her an Academy Award for best supporting actress. Bill Camp plays Batman, Tim Ballards right-hand man. He has had roles in movies including Lincoln, Vice, and many others. Bill Camp is Batman in the film Sound of Freedom, which will be released in theaters on July 4, 2023. (Courtesy of Angel Studios) Pay It Forward Caviezel asked movie watchers to buy their tickets early and reminded them that money should not prevent anyone from seeing this important film. Angel Studios has developed a pay it forward system that allows people to purchase tickets that can be donated to others who would otherwise not be able to see the movie. I am so proud to be a part of this impactful film, Caviezel said. In fact, Id say this is the second most important film Ive done after The Passion of the Christ.' Sound of Freedom is produced by Eduardo Verastegui and directed by Alejandro Monteverde. It is rated PG-13. Journalist Defends Reporting on Election Interference Investigative journalist Sam Cooper arrives to appear before the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC) on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 20, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang) A journalist whose reporting helped raise concerns about possible Chinese meddling in Canadian democracy told a committee of MPs on June 20 that he stands by his work. Sam Cooper, who recently left Global News to start his own online news site, told MPs that other countries, such as Australia and the United Kingdom, have faced similar disclosures about Chinese attempts to influence elections, and have followed up with laws designed to counter foreign interference. But in Canada, said Cooper, that has not happened. Canada is facing the same, or worse threat, and most concerning, our diaspora community membersmany of them have stated openly they feel they are not protected, he told MPs on the Procedure and House Affairs committee. Most concerning to me more than any is that Canadians are under fear that they cannot speak openly about matters, because a growing power from a foreign state is impacting lives in Canada, he said. Cooper said he stands by his reporting that there is evidence of efforts to influence both the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. So, with regards to your questiondid Beijing fund candidatesits my understanding they funded a network, which is directed to support Beijings preferred candidates, he said. Conservative MP Luc Berthold asked in French what Cooper thought about the federal governments reaction to the stories about possible Chinese interference. The existence of what you confirmed has indeed been proven to be true. The Chinese police stations here, we learned that [MPs] Michael Chong, Erin OToole, Jenny Kwan have also been intimidated but it would seem that the ministers and the prime minister have ignored all of this, said Berthold. Cooper said he agrees with calls for a public inquiry because it will clear the air. A public inquiry will remove the partisan bickering, the point-scoring on either side, said Cooper. There will be an independent, deep, rigorous public study of not only what happened, but what can we learn from Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, and other nations, by the way, that are taking this very seriously. Some of Coopers work was questioned by Liberal MPs on the committee. Ryan Turnbull pointed out that the governments now-resigned special rapporteur on election interference, former governor general David Johnston, raised questions about some of Coopers stories. How could you with any degree of journalistic integrity publish an article that is surely just based on unfounded allegations? asked Turnbull. The story stands, replied Cooper. I will not speak to identification of sources. I will not speak to editorial processes, and I want the member to remember I will not speak to legal processes surrounding this story. That line of questioning was also picked up later by Liberal MP Ruby Sahota. Do you think you possibly could have gotten it wrong? she asked. No. The story stands, replied Cooper. And later he added, The stories starting in November 2022 meet the highest standards of public interest and public interest reporting. Cooper added he was warned in 2021 that his reporting was drawing attention. I myself, a journalist, received a CSIS defensive threat brief in 2021, the same time period where other MPs weve learned were being subject of disinformation in WeChat channels, said Cooper. The former head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) also testified before MPs. Ward Elcock was asked why information about possible foreign interference seemed to get lost within the federal government. Were not a country that has much concern about national security, Elcock replied. Most Canadians have very little concern about national security and little interest its not surprising, then. Sometimes the flow of information beyond the intelligence agency is not as good as it should be if people have no interest, he said, adding what might need to change is for Canadians themselves to start becoming more concerned about national security. If Canadians demand that people pay attention to those issues, then there will inevitably be more discussion of them and we will perhaps arrive at a place that most of our allies arrived at years ago, said Elcock. But while Elcock seemed concerned about Canadian attitudes, he cautioned there is no magic solution to foreign interference. Foreign interference is a very large problem, he said. Action sounds simple, but its not necessarily easy. For example, a [foreign interference] registry makes a great deal of sense [but] a lot of the problems of foreign interference will not be solved by a registry, he said. The reality is that the things that we need to do are broader than simply registries we need more counterintelligence work, because you need to identify all of the activities, which means more funding probably for CSIS, he said. In response to questions from MPs, Cooper said he believes people who have passed on information about foreign interference are motivated by the desire to see action. There are whistleblowers that dont believe that the adequate laws are in place to investigate and prosecute foreign interference, said Cooper. Judge Sets Trial Date in Trumps Classified Documents Case Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks during an event following his arraignment on classified document charges, at Trump National Golf Club, in Bedminster, N.J., on June 13, 2023. (Amr Alfiky/Reuters) Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to go on trial in August, according to an order handed down on June 20. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon notified Trump, 77, and U.S. prosecutors of the scheduled date in a six-page order. This case is hereby set for a Criminal Jury Trial during the two-week period commencing August 14, 2023, or as soon thereafter as the case may be called, Cannon, a Trump appointee, wrote. The trial will likely end up happening later than August, Politico reporter Kyle Cheney said, based on a review of how Cannon has handled other criminal cases. She has always set a super fast trial date, as a matter of practice, and then repeatedly continued it as trial matters arose. In every single case, big and small, save for a few quick plea deals, Cheney wrote on Twitter. Timothy Parlatore, who has represented Trump in the past, told Axios recently that I wouldnt foresee this thing getting tried within a year. Defendants are recognized in the U.S. court system as being entitled to a trial in a reasonable amount of time, or 180 days from an initial appearance for defendants who are not in pretrial detention. But the parties can ask the court for additional time, as has happened in a number of cases through the years. Cannon instructed the parties to file what are called speedy trial reports, or reports that could lead to delays in the trial happening, every 21 days. She also said any motions for additional time must include certain details, including whether the reasons for granting such a motion would outweigh Trumps right to a speedy trial. Other Parts of Order A calendar call, or a meeting that involves lawyers representing Trump and co-defendant Waltine Nauta and prosecutors working with the judge to hammer out trial details, including the trial date, was scheduled for Aug. 8. Parties were told to file all pretrial motions and motions in limine by July 24. Prior to the calendar call, Cannon wants the lawyers to submit lists of proposed witnesses and exhibits for presentation at the trial. Cannon also said lawyers should be prepared to outline what questions they want asked of potential jurors and that they should give her, before the call, proposed jury instructions. Any change in plea must be made on the last business day before the trial is scheduled to begin. In this courtroom sketch, attorney Todd Blanche stands as he enters a plea of not guilty on behalf of former President Donald Trump, second from right, in federal court in Miami, Fla., on June 13, 2023. From left are: Stanley Woodward, Walt Nauta, Blanche, Trump, and Chris Kise. (Elizabeth Williams via AP) First Appearance Trump and Nauta pleaded not guilty during their arraignment on June 13 in the U.S. courthouse in Miami, Florida. Trumps plea was entered by Todd Blanche, one of his lawyers. We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty, Blanche said. Trump did not speak during the arraignment. Prosecutors presented evidence that Trump violated federal law by holding onto sensitive documents after leaving office in 2021, showing the documents to people who lacked security clearance, and obstructing the investigation into the documents by having Nauta move boxes around Mar-a-Lago instead of handing over all of the materials to authorities. A grand jury approved the charges. Trump has on social media and in interviews maintained hes innocent. I AM AN INNOCENT MAN! he wrote in one social media post. The ridiculous and baseless indictment of me by the Biden administrations weaponized Department of Injustice will go down among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country, Trump told a rally in Georgia. Trump defended himself further during an interview with Fox News on Monday, saying he did not transfer all of the boxes of records he possessed because he was taking the time to go through them to sift out personal documents. Before I send boxes over, I have to take all of my things out. These boxes were interspersed with all sorts of things, Trump said. I was very busy, as youve sort of seen. Jack Smith Special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the case, said that the charges are serious but emphasized that Trump and Nauta are innocent until proven guilty. To that end, my office will seek a speedy trial in this matter, consistent with the public interest and the rights of the accused, Smith said after the indictment was unsealed. We very much look forward to presenting our case to a jury of citizens in the Southern District of Florida. President Joe Biden has said he did not direct or suggest the Department of Justice charge Trump while Attorney General Merrick Garland, a Biden appointee, defended Smith as a veteran prosecutor who has assembled a group of experienced and talented prosecutors and agents who share his commitment to integrity and the rule of law. Kevin McCarthy Says Hunter Bidens Plea Deal Could Create Even More Legal Trouble (LR) President Joe Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar attend the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon on St. Patrick's Day at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on March 17, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images) House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said that the Department of Justices deal with Hunter Biden could trigger more legal trouble for the presidents son after he bargained to plead guilty to three federal charges on Tuesday. Hours after the agreement was announced, McCarthy said that the DOJs investigation isnt linked to House Republicans probes into the younger Bidens overseas business deals that Republicans allege involve bribery and influence-peddling. Several weeks ago, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee were embroiled in a battle with the FBI over information that came from a paid FBI informant through an FD-1023 tip sheet. That document claimed that Hunter Biden and President Joe Biden each took $5 million in bribes from an executive at a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma Holdings, from an executive as the younger Biden sat on the companys board. This does nothing to our investigation, McCarthy told reporters Tuesday. It actually should enhance our investigation because the DOJ should not be able to withhold any information now saying that theres a pending investigation. They should be able to provide Chairman [James] Comer with any information that he requires. McCarthy, like other Republicans on Tuesday, criticized the DOJ for what they described as a slap on the wrist for the younger Biden. The U.S. attorney who is leading the case against Biden, David Weiss, said in a statement that the DOJ is currently conducting an ongoing investigation in the case. When asked about the Department of Justices investigation, McCarthy said that its merely an attempt to allow the agency to continue to keep details from House Republicans. He suggested the agency can say that it cannot divulge any information or details because of an ongoing investigation. How can Hunter Biden plead guilty, no jail time, and the DOJ say theres still an investigation [and] try to withhold information to the House? Thats unacceptable and will not stand, McCarthy told reporters. You cannot plead guilty, say youre not going to do jail time, and then say you cant give papers to the U.S. House of Representatives. Thats not going to stand. Thats not going to work. Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, attends the ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nations highest civilian honor, during a ceremony honoring 17 recipients, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on July 7, 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) McCarthy and other Republicans said Tuesday that the DOJ plea deal suggests there is a two-tiered justice system in the United States, coming in light of the recent federal charges laid out against former President Donald Trump. Special counsel Jack Smiths office alleges that Trump mishandled classified documents and obstructed justice, leading to an unprecedented FBI raid targeting his Mar-a-Lago residence last year. Last week, Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was also charged in April by the Manhattan District Attorneys office in a separate case involving alleged payments made during the 2016 campaign. Because the question is, is it equal justice? McCarthy asked. So you have one leading opponent of the current president that is now indicted [and] is supposed to do jail time. You have a presidents son that the investigation went on for a very long time that now has to do no jail time. At the same time, recent polls show that Trump is the leading 2024 Republican presidential candidate, easily besting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the rest of the GOP fray. On social media, Trump has said the charges against him are tantamount to election interference. In late 2020, the New York Post reported on contents that were sourced from a laptop that Hunter Biden later confirmed belonged to him. Messages and emails show, in part, that the younger Biden allegedly called his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, the big guy and said he was due to receive 10 percent from a lucrative Chinese energy venture. A former associate of Hunters, Tony Bobulinski, came forward in October 2020 and asserted that the big guy was referring to Joe Biden. On Tuesday morning, Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to tax crimes and unlawful possession of a weapon, according to the DOJ and his attorneys. Biden lawyer Chris Clark said in a statement that he believes that the matter is resolved. With the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the United States Attorneys Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved, Clark said. Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement. A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government, Clark added. When The Epoch Times contacted Clark on Tuesday, he declined to comment. Laguna Beach Officials Discuss Student Safety in Joint Meeting A boy rides an E-Bike with his surfboard along the beach in Huntington Beach, Calif., on May 20, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) In an annual joint meeting on June 6 between the Laguna Beach Unified School District and city council, members of the Police Department reviewed recent advancements in electric bikealso known as e-bikessafety for students traveling to school. Over 120 students at Thurston Middle School in Laguna Beach, California, have received education in the safe operation of e-bikes, bike maintenance, and rules of the road from city police officers in an effort to reduce collisions. According to a presentation to the joint council meeting, Captain Mike Peters reported the data shows the program has successfully led to a decrease in e-bike related accidents, calls for service, and tickets. The programwhich began last summerhas held four classes since it began in the summer of 2022. Peters said the citys police department is recognized by the Office of Traffic Safetythe state agency which takes efforts to reduces vehicle related crashesas leaders in e-bike safety, according to Peters. E-Bike safety is probably a bigger problem in coastal cities but its a problem everywhere, Peters told the council during the Monday meeting. A Laguna Beach Police Department vehicle in Laguna Beach, Calif., on Dec. 15, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) One of several recent crashes reported included the death of a 12-year-old girl, Molly Steinsapir, who died in February 2021 after losing control of her e-bike and crashing onto the pavement on Enchanted Way in Laguna Beach. The use of e-bikes has increased in California coastal cities since 2019, according to a 2021 report by the North American Bikeshare Association. E-bikes have a motor to assist with the riders pedaling, which increases the potential speed of these bikes to around 28 mph, allowing the user to travel for longer and farther distances. However, according to Peters, this increases risks for crashes and injury. Participants of the e-bike safety program must receive a classroom presentation with a test of e-bike safety skills to receive a permit to park their bikes on campus. Police are also attempting to ensure all students at Laguna Beach High School will have training in CPR and Stop the Bleedskills to know how to stop active bleeding in an open wound or resuscitate someone whose breathing or heartbeat has stopped. According to Peters, every freshmen will be trained in these skills by next year, and in four years, the entire student body will know these basic life-saving techniques. Thurston Middle School in Laguna Beach, Calif., on Oct. 15, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) The police department also has two officers to provide a police presence on school campuses as a deterrent to school violence, to provide students with an opportunity to build relationships with students, and gather important information for the awareness of criminal and non-criminal behaviors in the citys schools. Its about that relationship that is built between the students, the faculty, and parents, Peters told the joint council. When one of our school resource officers was giving me a tour of the high school, kids were running up to him and giving him an immediate hug. The only way we get that is through the kids trusting us, talking to them, and joking with them. The Orange County Intelligence Assessment Centera collaboration between Orange County Agencies to analyze safety risks to the publicregularly evaluates city school sites to make recommendations for where school officials can improve safety regulationsincluding the availability of school resource officers. Peters reported they are currently waiting for this years report to be released from the center so they can understand where they can improve safety and the prevention of gun violence in their schools. LGBT Education Group Receives 400,000 in Government Funds in 2 years A newly donated LGBT book is displayed in the library at Nystrom Elementary School in Richmond, Calif., on May 17, 2022. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) A group providing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) education in Scottish schools has received almost 400,000 in government funding. The latest accounts for Glasgow-based Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) show it received the six-figure sum in three grants from 2020 to 2022. The registered charitywhich faced closure in 2019 according to the BBCprovides services and teaching resources to both primary and secondary schools across the country. The group also runs the governments main national platformlgbteducation.scotwhich supports teachers tackling prejudice through education. The funding boost saw the groups total income soar from just 8,000 to 409,000 within two years. In 2021, Scotland became the first country in the world to have LGBT education embedded in the curriculum, with TIE becoming the main educational provider. But since launching its services, the charity has been accused of a lack of transparency surrounding teaching materials. According to a number of Scottish-based campaign groups, parents are struggling to access material being used to educate their children on LGBT issues. They also claim that resources already made available dont reflect what children are being taught. TIE says all its curriculum resources are available online to anyone. Publicly Available Marian Calder, a director of the rights group For Women Scotland, said parents have complained of a lack of transparency around the government-funded sex and relationship material. If you look online at the TIE web page there are materials there, and they have put up a few more than they had before, she told The Epoch Times. But that is not what Im hearing corresponds to being what is taught in school. Parents have raised concerns that what they do when they come into schools is different than what were actually seeing on the things that theyre sharing. The Scottish Feminist Network has also raised issues of transparency around LGBT teaching materials. We have lots of complaints from parents who are slowly becoming aware that something is being taught in schools and they just want to know what it is, a spokesperson told The Epoch Times on Tuesday. And theyre struggling to get their hands on it because the teachers feel that they cant share or they shouldnt share. Or theres intellectual property involvement. We know that parents are struggling to try and get their hands on it, so its frustrating. In a statement to The Epoch Times, TIE denied that any of its resources was unaccessible to parents. Claims that curriculum resources used by teachers are not accessible by parents or carers are simply untrue, a spokesperson said. All curriculum resources related to LGBT Inclusive Education are publicly available for anyone, including parents and carers, to access and read. They can be accessed on lgbteducation.scot and this is how teachers in Scotland access the resources too. Gender Identity According to its latest Outcomes Report (pdf) TIE received 380,000 in grants from the Scottish government between 2020 and 2022. In the same period, it spent 383,219 on providing LGBT education material and resources for state schools curriculum out of a total income of 409,000. The group spent 197,827 on staff salaries, 104,265 on educational resources and 26,942 on travel and accommodation costs. On Thursday, a motion is set to go before Glasgow City Council to back the work of TIE. SNP Councillor Christina Cannon will ask that the council supports its positive working relationship with TIE in order to engage the citys headteachers, heads of department and officers from Education Services to promote the opportunities that the new national platform can bring. It will also highlight Scotland becoming a world first in the implementation of LGBT into the national school curriculum. In March, a group called Concerned Adults Talking Openly About Gender Identity Ideology held an event at an Edinburgh library voicing concerns over gender identity in schools. The event caused controversy after the City Of Edinburgh Council said the group needed to pay 600 for security after a counter-protest was organised. The meeting organisers said they wanted to break the silence around how children are taught about gender and discuss their concerns about the pressures schools were facing to remove single-sex toilets. A campaign by Feminist Fundraisers to raise the 600 for security secured 954, according to its GoFundMe page. We are a small group of local people who only want to ensure that there is open discussion without intimidation and threat, they said. But we have been faced with a determined campaign to stop discussion and ban the meeting. Around 100 counter-protesters stood outside the event with placards. Rebecca Suton, a protester who attended with a friend, told the PA news agency: Trans rights are something people have fought for for so many years now and to think that there are still people who hold meetings like this is just making it harder. I support trans rights and its important that everyone gets behind it. Trans people have it hard enough as it is, without continuing to have to protest to defend themselves and to defend their rights from people who dont understand. We should all be supporting them. Trans rights activists take part in a demonstration outside Portobello Library in Edinburgh on March 14, 2023. (PA Media) Gender Reform Bill Scotland has faced a raft of controversies surrounding gender identity since the beginning of the year. In January, the UK government blocked the Scottish Parliaments passing of a gender reform bill that would allow anyone over the age of 16 to self-ID via a statutory declaration to obtain a new birth certificate. In February the case of transgender double rapist Isla Brysonborn Adam Grahamcaused a political row after it was revealed the predator was sent to an all-female prison after being convicted of serious sexual assaults. Brysons case caused major controversy over the issue of housing transgender criminals in female prisons. After being convicted, he was initially sent to a segregation unit at an all-female prison at Cornton Vale Prison in Stirling. Scotlands then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon came under pressure from campaigners, MPs, and Downing Street after they expressed concerns that the transgender rapist was set to be sent to a female jail to await sentencing. Sturgeonwho abruptly resigned earlier this yeareventually backed down and confirmed that Bryson would not be held in a womens prison. In April, the Scottish government announced it will challenge Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks decision to block its gender reform bill in court. Current First Minister Humza Yousaf confirmed his government will go to court to challenge the UK governments decision. He said legal action is now our only means of defending our Parliaments democracy from the Westminster veto. Sunak said his governments decision to block the bill had been made after taking very careful and considered advice. He added that the government had concerns about how Scotlands gender recognition act would interact with reserved powers, about the operation of the Equalities Act, the protection of women elsewhere in the UK as well. Critics of the gender legislation say that a self-identification system could be exploited. Womens groups as well as the U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, have raised grave concerns that it will open up womens services and private spaces to abuse. PA Media contributed to this report Macron Urges EU to Avoid US Reliance, Develop Own Air Defense System French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference as part of a working lunch meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on June 20, 2023. (Christophe Petit Tesson/AFP via Getty Images) French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized the importance of European independence by calling on Frances European Union allies to look at a more homegrown air defense strategy in order to avoid overreliance on systems purchased outside of Europe. When we talk about air defense, we would be wrong to rush into [increasing] capacity, he said at a press conference in Paris after meeting with defense ministers and other representatives of 20 European countries. The question is, first of all, strategic. It consists of knowing the state of the threats, what we can realistically defend, and which strategy we want to pursue. And then, what we, as Europeans, have the capacity to produce and what we must then buy. Because if we have an approach based solely on capacity, we would right away buy whats available even if its not usefuland that generally means buying massive amounts of non-European products. Macrons one-day meeting with ministers was held on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show, the worlds largest aviation event, with a focus on the space industry and air defense. Among the countries that took part in the meeting were Germany, the UK, and Sweden, as well as Ukraine neighbors Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. Representatives of NATO and the EU also attended. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu (center) poses with his counterparts during the European Air Defense Conference at Les Invalides monument in Paris on June 19, 2023. (Geoffroy Van der Hasselt/AP Photo) Macron encouraged EU defense equipment manufacturers to build independent military systems and relocate production on the continent. He also called for enhanced European standards. Why do we still need to buy American too often? Because Americans have standardized much more than we have, and they themselves have federal agencies that provide massive subsidies to their manufacturers, he said. Macrons move to emphasize EU sovereignty follows Germanys deal to jointly purchase air defense systems that partly come from the United States and Israel. Not Convinced The German-led plandubbed the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI)was spearheaded by Berlin in October 2022 and unites 17 EU states and the UK. The initiative will allow all participants to jointly develop air and missile defense systems using a multinational and multifaceted approach, offering a flexible and scalable way for nations to strengthen their deterrence and defence in an efficient and cost-effective way, a NATO statement reads. The French government has been openly critical of Germanys initiative because France believes that the project doesnt preserve the EUs sovereignty. The ESSI is expected to largely feature U.S. and Israeli military industries, such as Israels Arrow 3 system and the already-existing U.S. Patriot missile systems. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who also attended the Paris meeting, said on June 20 that Berlin is not convinced by Macrons vision for Europes air defense capabilities. His comments come a day after Macron announced that five European countriesFrance, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, and Hungarysigned a letter of intent for the joint purchase of Frances infrared homing short-range air defense system, dubbed Mistral. Macrons conception seems to be: We are not in such a hurry that we need to build on bridge technologies and we can wait until what we develop in Europe is ready. We, along with several others, are not convinced about that, Pistorius said. We wont move away from that deal and we dont buy anything because of tradition or history. We buy that system because its just very good and the best thing I know. We will stay with it. How long? I cant give you guarantees for the next two decades, but anyway, as long as we are responsibleand that means the next [few] yearswe will stay with Arrow because its very good. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who was joined by Pistorius at a press conference at Germanys Jagel Air Base on June 20, said he believes that EU states should be able to decide independently which kind of air defense systems they want to purchase. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (C) and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L) sit in a Eurofighter Typhoon during their visit to the NATO Air Defender 2023 exercise in Jagel, Germany, on June 20, 2023. (Martin Ziemer/Getty Images) Its a national decision by each and every ally exactly what kind of system they decide to invest in. So thats a German decision, he said. But what we do at NATO is that we agree to capability targets. So we have agreed that allies need to invest more in air defense, and therefore I welcome the German initiative. Spending on defense has been a recurrent point of contention between the two countries, with France complaining that Germany wasnt doing enough in the area for years, until the war in Ukraine led Berlin to announce a major boost to military spending. It also isnt the first time that Macron called on Frances EU allies to think twice before investing in military equipment manufactured outside of Europe. On several occasions in recent months, he has urged EU states to move toward developing their own strategic autonomy, rather than relying on the United States through NATO. Macron said on June 19 that the FrancoItalian MAMBA anti-missile system is now deployed and operational in Ukraine. The delivery of the system to Kyiv was announced by Paris and Rome in February. The MAMBA system is part of NATOs integrated air and missile defense. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. From NTD News Man Armed With Knife Arrested at San Diego Taco Shop SAN DIEGOA man allegedly armed with a knife inside a San Diego taco shop in Barrio Logan was taken into custody on June 20 after a short standoff with police. Police received a report at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday of a man threatening people with a knife in the Logan Heights Family Health Center at 1809 National Avenue, according to Lt. Nicholas Dedonato of the San Diego Police Department. When officers arrived, the man walked out into the street waving the knife around, the lieutenant said. Then he started running toward the 664 TJ Birrieria Taco Shop, throwing chairs and a fire extinguisher at officers, Dedonato said. The suspect ran inside the taco shop still brandishing a knife, then went into the kitchen threatening staff and throwing food around, the lieutenant said. He allegedly climbed on some kitchen equipment as officers evacuated restaurant patrons. After a short standoff, officers were able to talk the man out of the restaurant and peacefully took him into custody. No officers or patrons were injured. Mark Cuban Backs Vaccine Scientist Challenged to Debate RFK Jr. Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA Dallas Mavericks, speaks during the Wall Street Journal Digital Live (WSJDLive) conference at the Montage hotel in Laguna Beach, Calif., on Oct. 20, 2015. (Mike Blake/Reuters) Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban criticized popular podcast host Joe Rogan after he asked Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine scientist, to debate 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a long-time critic of childhood vaccines. Trying to bully Dr. Hotez is ridiculous. You have producers that will prepare you and you get to control the conversation. @RobertKennedyJr also has a staff ready to prepare him, and these topics are what he talks about in every speech, Cuban said in a June 18 tweet. He went on to claim that Rogan and Elon Musks Twitter represent everything supposedly wrong with mainstream media (MSM). You both do this on a daily basis. Dr. Hotez works every day to try to find ways to help people. You are driven by self interest. Just like the MSM always has been accused of dont lie to yourselves and all of us and tell us you are different. You arent. The conflict between Hotez and Rogan began June 17 when Hotez tweeted a link to a Vice article that criticized Rogan for vaccine disinformation. The article discussed Rogans podcast interview with Kennedy during which the duo suggested that COVID-19 vaccines are ineffective, injuring, and causing the death of a large number of people. In his tweet, Hotez called the podcast absurd. Rogan then invited Hotez to a debate with Kennedy. If you claim what RFKjr (Kennedy) is saying is misinformation, I am offering you $100,000.00 to the charity of your choice if youre willing to debate him on my show with no time limit, Rogan said in a June 18 tweet responding to Hotez. However, Hotez did not commit to a debate. Tom Nichols, a staff writer at The Atlantic, criticized Rogan for asking Hotez to debate Kennedy. In a June 18 tweet, Nichols said that the debate elevates the conspiracy guy, demeans the medical professional, and will only convince the kooks out there that RFK [Jr.] is right because a real doctor took the time to debate him. In a June 18 reply to Nichols, Rogan wrote: That would be a great suggestion if you could assure that the industry you were representing wasnt completely captured by heartless monsters who have a history of some of the biggest criminal fines in human history because their deception has cost hundreds of thousands of people their lives. Mark Cuban then responded to Rogans reply to Nichols. Cubans defense of the vaccine scientist comes after he recently claimed that going woke is good for business. There is a reason almost all the top 10 market cap companies in the United States can be considered woke. Its good business, he said in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on June 11. Most CEOs have enough experience to know to just wait out the news cycle until they go to the next one. His comments came amid backlash over brands like Anheuser-Busch and Target that promoted transgender ideologies through their business. Target had introduced controversial LGBT-themed childrens items, some of which it later withdrew. COVID-19 Vaccine Harms Even though pro-vaccine supporters dismiss concerns about the harms of COVID-19 vaccines, multiple studies have shown that vaccination has resulted in significant injuries. A study of more than 44 million individuals from South Korea who had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines found that 19.8 percent of all vaccination-related myocarditis (VRM) found in this group were severe. Vaccination-related myocarditis incidence was highest in males between the ages of 12 and 17 years (5.29 cases per 100 000 persons), the June 2 study said. Eight out of 21 deaths were sudden cardiac death (SCD) attributable to VRM proved by an autopsy, and all cases of SCD attributable to VRM were aged under 45 years and received mRNA vaccines. A June 6 study published in the journal Pediatrics found that 104 children under the age of six years had suffered a seizure within 42 days of receiving a COVID-19 shot. The children had received mRNA vaccines. mRNA vaccines have also been linked to a higher risk of vaginal bleeding among females aged 12 and 74, according to a May 3 study in the British Medical Journal. Authors of the study attempted to downplay the findings, stating that the research does not provide any substantial support for a causal association between COVID-19 vaccinations and bleeding disorders. In an interview with The Epoch Times, Dr. Shelley Cole, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Texas, slammed the researchers for downplaying the study results. There was a 26 percent increase in menstrual disturbances in the 1-7 day timeframe. Yet, they cannot draw any conclusions about a causal relationship with the vaccine? Maybe they need to think just a little bit harder. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses a UN high-level conference of heads of counter-terrorism agencies of member states at the UN headquarters in New York, on June 19, 2023. (Manuel Elias/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua) UNITED NATIONS, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The international community should focus on prevention as the most effective approach to ending the global menace of terrorism, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday. "Prevention means more than just foiling attacks and disrupting plots," he told a UN high-level conference of heads of counter-terrorism agencies of member states. It means addressing the underlying conditions that can lead to terrorism in the first place, such as poverty, discrimination, disaffection, weak infrastructure and institutions and gross violations of human rights, said Guterres. Prevention also means inclusion and "placing human rights and the rule of law at the core of all that we do," he added. The UN chief also outlined other areas of focus to step up counter-terrorism efforts, including the lack of funding. The United Nations is facing a worsening funding crunch, with assessed contributions to the organization going unpaid, he said. "This shortfall will have serious implications, both for our peacekeeping efforts and for the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism." He called on all member states to fulfill their funding commitments and ensure that "we have the resources to help take on this common challenge." Terrorism affects every region, and festers in the complex crises engulfing the world, Guterres noted. "When it comes to combatting terrorism, we must stand as one against this global threat," he said. "In the names of all those who have suffered and continue to suffer, and in the names of all victims and survivors, let's intensify our work to create a future without terrorism." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Front) is seen at a UN high-level conference of heads of counter-terrorism agencies of member states at the UN headquarters in New York, on June 19, 2023. (Manuel Elias/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua) Marxist Radical a Key Actor Behind The Voice Mayo's speeches expose communist party's deliberate infiltration of Indigenous activism Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese surrounded by members of the First Nations Referendum Working Group (including Thomas Mayor on the right of Albanese) speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on March 23, 2023. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) A prominent Indigenous activist and advocate of changing Australias Constitution has been revealed praising communisms influence in the struggle of Aboriginal people, talking about punishing politicians, and pushing for reparations to be paid to Indigenous Australians. Thomas Mayo (or Mayor) is the national Indigenous officer of the Maritime Union of Australia. He was the author of the Voice to Parliament Handbook and is a member of the prime ministers referendum working group for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Mayo has written for major newspapers and spoken on Indigenous rights to institutions like the National Australia Bank. Later this year, Australians will vote at a national referendum to decide whether to alter the Constitution to change its preamble to recognise Indigenous peoples and to also set up an advisory body to Parliament. This near-permanent advisory body would have the power to make representations to the executive and legislative arms of government on all matters deemed relevant to Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. Advocates see The Voice as the latest advancement in reconciliation and dealing with chronic issues in Indigenous communities, such as unemployment, domestic violence, alcoholism, youth crime, and welfare dependency. Mayo Issues Threats of Punishment, Says Rent Should be Paid to Indigenous Australians According to a series of videos uncovered by the No campaign group, Advance Australia, Mayo can be seen discussing and drawing upon Marxist ideas of class struggle in his vision for The Voice. In the Address to the Search Foundation in August 2021, Mayo says the body would help decide what laws and funding are needed for Aboriginal communities and also to punish politicians that ignore our advice. While in another speech on March 2022, Mayo spoke about the impact and influence of communism on Aboriginal activism. I learned a lot about the importance not just of the Communist Party, about unions to my own peoples struggle, he told the Address to the Search Foundation, Snapshots of Communists in Australian History, which celebrated 100 years of communism in Australia. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, surrounded by members of the First Nations Referendum Working Group (Thomas Mayo to his right), speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on March 23, 2023. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) I know you comrades that are listening today will continue to support our struggle, and you are an important part of the struggle just like our communist elders have been an important part of our struggle, he said. There is nothing that we can do that is more powerful than building a First Nations Voice, a black institution, a black political force to be reckoned with that has power and authority over our own affairs, our own political prioritising. In February 2020, Mayo said The Voice and Uluru Statement from the Heart was just the first step before talking about future taxpayer-funded reparations to Indigenous communities. [The Voice and Uluru Statement] doesnt say this is the answer, it says this is how we can get there,' he told the Address to the Search Foundation. Pay the Rent, for example, how do we do that in a way that is transparent and that actually sees reparations and compensation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people beyond what we say and do at a rally? He also said that a Truth-telling inquiry would eventually lead to the abolishment of the old colonial institutions. Mayo would tell a Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020 a similar message. People march in solidarity with protests in the United States in Melbourne, Australia on June 6, 2020. (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images) I know that we must turn this action into votes, we must turn it into changing the rulebook of the nation so that our voice will always be heard in the centre of decision-making and we make sure that black lives matter, he said. He also railed against former Prime Minister John Howard for the dissolution of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. Every time, comrades, that we have established a voice as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the bastards have taken it away from us, Mayo said. And let me tell you a story about how we can relate to that. John Howard, do you remember that bastard? Do you think he wants normal people, workers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to have a voice? he told a May Day Rally in Port Kembla in 2023. Yet Indigenous leader Warren Mundine, a former Labor Party president, has said the Commissions 2005 removal was due to its lack of impact on the ground and the falling number of Indigenous people taking part in the voting for its members. In response to Mayos videos, Indigenous Country Liberal Senator Jacinta Price said this was the reason why more information and clarity were needed around voting for The Voice. Nationals Northern Territory Senator Jacinta Price prior to being interviewed by television at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on July 28, 2022. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) Its the reason why the Albanese government will not provide any detail on what The Voice actually will be, she told Sky News Australia. Because there is an underlying agenda. Mayo said his videos were part of his travels around the country speaking to different people to help bridge the gap by helping them to see it from their perspective. I stand by this referendum being a unifying proposal, it is about peace and love, and that is purely my interest for this country, he told The Australian newspaper. Indigenous Activism a Cover for Communist Infiltration of Australia Meanwhile, the emergence of Mayos speeches also highlights the rarely discussed links between communist party members and their deliberate infiltration of Indigenous activism. Former Communist Party of Australia member Geoff McDonald exposed how the Aboriginal land rights movement was a target of Marxists. People hold up placards at a Black Lives Matter protest to express solidarity with U.S. protestors in Melbourne on June 6, 2020. (William West/AFP via Getty Images) I do not disagree with the concept of special areas of land being kept for Aboriginals. But the issue is not really about land rights, as I learned first during my training with the Communist Party, he wrote in his book Red Over Black (1982). McDonald, now deceased, said he heard communist leaders and politicians Jack Miles and Lance Sharkey talk about how this was the first step towards making Australia a Communist country. Communists describe the Aborigines as victims of colonial imperialism and claim that they must be liberated. But only to enable the eventual establishment of communist internationalism to triumph. Part of the strategy, which has played out around the world, is to gradually weaken the existing institutions of government through internal division and for it to eventually be taken over by a different ideology or regime. To defend against this, McDonald said Australia needed to embrace commonly held values and stand by those ideals. The views of McDonalds were echoed by Albanian expatriates to Australia, Dr. Zekri and Tina Palushi, who said The Voice proposal carried echoes of Marxism. The class system was implemented in order to incite Albanian citizens to hate and fight against each other, and I must admit that the strategy worked very well for the Albanian Communist Party. Because in this way, they managed to keep the people divided while [the party] worked together further pushing their agenda, said Dr. Zekri. Thats why we see The Voice not as a gesture of kindness but as a Marxist movement with specific goals that, if successful, will see the good Aboriginal people become the greatest losers, he previously told The Epoch Times. Mobile Home Fire Kills 5 in North Carolina, Including a Couple, Their Friend and His Boys Two fire trucks in Broadway, N.C., in November 2021. (Google Maps/Screenshot via The Epoch Times) BROADWAY, N.C.Authorities have identified five people who died in a mobile home fire in a rural North Carolina town Sunday as a husband and wife, a family friend and his two young sons. The Harnett County Sheriffs Office identified the victims as homeowners Michael Breymeyer, 74, and his wife, Tammy Breymeyer, 58; Daniel Garner, 39, and Garners two sons. Their names and ages werent immediately released. Kayla Gonzalez, who works in town, said the deaths will have an impact in the close-knit community, where everyone knows each other. Tammy Breymeyer was there for anybody if you needed it. She always had something positive to say and a good outlook on whats to come, Gonzalez told WTVD-TV. It happened so unexpectedly. Life is precious and time is really short. The sheriffs office told news outlets that the fire marshals office has joined its investigation into the cause of the fire in the Broadway community, about 45 miles southwest of Raleigh. MPs Back Parliamentary Report Criticising Boris Johnsons Conduct Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson listens during a tour after a meeting with Gov. Greg Abbott at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on May 23, 2023. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images) MPs have voted to back a Parliamentary report that found former Prime Minister Boris Johnson committed repeated contempts of Parliament. The Privileges Committees report, published last week, said Johnson deliberately misled Parliament over illegal parties held in Downing Street during COVID-19 lockdowns. It also found the former prime minister guilty of attempting to undermine the democratic process and being complicit in the campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the committee. The committee recommended that Johnson should have faced a 90-day suspension had he not already resigned in advance of its judgment and be banned from holding a pass to access Parliament. The former prime minister called it a deranged conclusion and accused the committee of lying. On Monday, the report was backed by MPs, with 354 voting in favour and just seven against. Most Tories Abstained Conservative MPs were given a free vote on the Partygate report, with 118 backing the report and the majority opting to stay away, including Rishi Sunak, the current prime minister. Johnson loyalists such as former culture secretary Nadine Dorries had previously warned that Tory MPs could face deselection by their local Conservative associations if they backed the report. In the debate preceding the vote, Conservative former Prime Minister Theresa May said backing the Privileges Committees conclusions would be a small but important step in restoring peoples trust in Parliament. In a veiled swipe at Sunaks absence from the chamber, she urged her party to show that we are prepared to act when one of our own, however senior, is found wanting. But her fellow Conservative MP Nick Fletcher said he would vote against the motion, saying MPs should remember Johnson is human and that he nearly died during the pandemic. Former Cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, a staunch Johnson ally, said the Privileges Committees proposed sanctions were vindictive and ridiculous. Cowardly Cop-Out Sunaks official spokesman said he missed the vote because he had afternoon meetings on Monday, including hosting his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, before attending a dinner in the evening. Sunak claimed his reticence about publicising his view on the reports conclusions was because he wouldnt want to influence anyone in advance of the vote. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomes Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to 10 Downing Street, London, on June 19, 2023. (James Manning/PA Media) But opposition MPs criticised the prime minister for staying away from the vote. Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said: Tonight Rishi Sunak committed a cowardly cop-out. His failure to vote says all you need to know about this prime ministers lack of leadership. Sunak promised integrity yet when push came to shove, he was too weak to even turn up. A Labour Party spokesperson said: Rishi Sunak is too weak to lead a party too divided to govern and working people are paying the price. Rather than distance himself from his disgraced predecessor, Rishi Sunak has repeatedly demonstrated hes just more of the same Conservative failure weve had to put up with for 13 years now. Its time for a change. Caravan Has Got to Move On Downing Street said on Tuesday that the prime minister respects the decision made by MPs to back the Privileges Committees report. Sunaks official spokesman said: The prime minister thanks the committee for their thorough work and fully respects the decision of the House on this matter. He has made clear it was rightly a matter for Parliament and not for government. Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride told Times Radio he hopes Boris Johnson and the current Cabinet can all row together now and focus on what people really care about. He told the BBC, I think really the caravan has got to move on from Boris Johnson, with respect. PA Media contributed to this report. NCA Boss Says Agency Had No Power to Prosecute Russian Cyber Gang A computer keyboard is lit by a displayed cyber code in this picture taken on March 1, 2017. (Kacper Pempel/Illustration/Reuters) Russian hackers who were sanctioned for targeting hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic couldnt be prosecuted because the National Crime Agency (NCA) lacks the legal power, the head of the agency said. NCA Director General Graeme Biggar told a joint committee of parliamentarians that the agency would very much like its extraterritorial jurisdiction expanded so it can extradite foreign cybercriminals. In February, the UK issued its first cyber sanctions with the U.S. government against seven Russian cyber criminals who had been associated with the development or deployment of a range of ransomware strains and malware including Conti, Diavol, Ryuk, Trickbot, Anchor, BazarLoader, and BazarBackdoor. According to a joint statement issued at the time by a number of government departments, the NCA had identified 149 British victims including British schools, local authorities and firms. Other victims of the ransomware included U.S. healthcare providers, Irelands Health Service Executive, and the Costa Rican government. Speaking to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, Biggar said, What were not in a position to dobecause they are based overseas, they are not UK citizens, and they werent using UK infrastructureis to have arrest warrants out against them. Biggar told the committee its currently very hard to get a case taken to court if the suspect is not a citizen or resident of the UK and not using UK infrastructure, meaning perpetrators of the vast majority of online crime cant be prosecuted. So we would really very much like the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the CMA to be expanded to allow us to do that in a way that many other countries, including the Americans, can, he said. He noted that a suspect would need to be arrested in a jurisdiction that would extradite them to the UK, citing an example of a relatively major cyber criminal who was arrested after travelling to Switzerland. In November last year, CNN said Swiss authorities had confirmed that Vyacheslav Penchukov, a Ukrainian hacker wanted by the FBI, was arrested in Geneva and was awaiting extradition to the United States. Sanctions Do Work Noting concerns that ransomware groups were able to rebrand and develop new strains to evade sanctions, crossbench peer Lord Dannatt asked if the NCA wanted more weapons other than sanctions, to which Biggar said while its preferable to arrest them and put them in prison. Given what is possible, we do think it is a useful tool. Rob Jones, NCAs director general of operations, told the committee that sanctions have bigger effects on criminals than people think. Citing the example of Maksim Yakubets, a Russian hacker wanted by the FBI, whos known for his playboy lifestyle including driving a Lamborghini and keeping a tiger as a pet and whos allegedly the leader of Evil Corp, Jones said: By being able to publicize them, call them out, restrict their travel, prevent them from being able to spend their money and travel around the world, that starts to bear down on the incentives for criminality. It does matter to those individuals whether they can travel, whether they can spend their money, and whether they can access a Western lifestyle, he said. Unfortunately, most of that measurement effect is classified, because we collect it through classified sources. But were content that that effort made a difference. Other powers Biggar also called on the legislators to give the NCA more powers by criminalising data theft and increasing the sentencing for cyber crimes. According to Biggar, there is currently no offence the NCA can use against data theft. Nor is it an offence to handle stolen property if it is data, he said. Those are major impediments for us in being able to investigate and disrupt the crime, because data is the currency of the modern age and there is a massive value to that. So to not criminalize the theft of it or the handling of it is just wrong, he argued. The directors also argued that the sentencing in existing legislation, such as the Computer Misuse Act, needs to be higher, both to fit the crimes, and to give the NCA more snooping powers. Jones said the 1990 law was designed to deal with people stealing each others passwords or doing stupid things on computers, not elite Russian-speaking actors targeting the UK and extorting millions of pounds. Low sentences for cyber crimes, often a maximum of two years, also mean the NCA cant use covert powers, such as hacking the suspects equipment because they can only use those powers on crimes serious enough to warrant sentences of more than three years, Jones said. New Asian American Advisory Committee Launched in Mount Hope (Left to right) Mela Wu, Li Li, Chris Cheng, Sean Lin, and Jim Zhang announce a new Asian American Advisory Committee at the Dragon Boat Festival in the Town of Mount Hope, N.Y., on June 18, 2023. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) A new advisory committee was announced on June 18 to connect the growing Asian population with local resources in the Town of Mount Hope and surrounding areas. Mela Wu, president of Mount Hope Chinese Association, unveiled the committee along with several local officials during the Dragon Boat Festival at the Mount Hope Town Park. This is exciting. This has been in the works for quite a few months, Wu said. I am so honored and so grateful for the wonderful support I get. Local resident Luis Abramson suggested the idea to Wu, who then got support from Otisville village Trustee Lance Davoren, village Mayor Brian Carey, and Mount Hope Supervisor Matthew Howell. Mela said the committee would not only inform new Asian immigrants of available resources but also encourage participation in local affairs to give back to the community. It is great that we can bring our community together, learn from each other, and make everything in the area a better place for everyone to live, Howell said at the announcement. Councilwoman Amanda Davis is the towns liaison to the advisory committee. Carey said he and Davoren looked forward to working with the committee members to help with the needs they might have. Four inaugural committee members were also announced at the festival: Mount Hope resident Chris Cheng, Port Jervis resident Sean Lin, and Middletown residents Li Li and Jim Zhang. Cheng, a senior leader in acquisitions and corporate development at multinational conglomerate 3M, has lived in the United States for 22 years and moved to Mount Hope about two years ago. He told The Epoch Times that aside from the language barrier, he also wanted to help new immigrantsespecially those from vastly different countries such as communist Chinalearn the cultural and social norms of a free society. A corporate strategist at AT&T, Li came to the United States more than 30 years ago and moved to Middletown in 2019. She said she would introduce Asian newcomers to education and workforce development resources and local government mechanisms such as town hall meetings. Zhang, owner of Home2Suites in Middletown and vice president of Gan Jing World, a fast-growing online platform, moved to Middletown from Canada two years ago. This is our home. We want to work together to build a better community together, he said. Lin, a former U.S. Army microbiologist and an assistant professor at Feitian College in Middletown, said the Dragon Boat Festival was a fitting occasion to announce the committee. To make a dragon boat race successful, you need a very united team effort, he said. Hopefully, through our joint efforts, we can better serve the community. A Chinese tradition, the Dragon Boat Festival is held each spring to commemorate the ancient poet and patriot Qu Yuan and often features a dragon boat race. Instead of a boat race on water, a running race among teams carrying handmade dragons was held at the Dragon Boat Festival at Mount Hope Town Park this year. The festival had about 70 vendors and attracted more than 1,000 visitors, according to Wu. New Zealand PM to Meet CCP Leader Xi Jinping Amid Recession Minister Chris Hipkins looks on during Labour Party Congress at Te Papa in Wellington, New Zealand, on May 27, 2023. (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images) New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will lead a delegation of 29 people to China next week to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other high-ranking Chinese officials. Since becoming Prime Minister, Ive prioritised working in partnership with business to boost export growth in order to grow our economy, Hipkins said. China represents nearly a quarter of all our exports, was our second largest source of tourists pre-COVID and is a significant source of international students, so its a critical part of our economic recovery. This marks the first visit to China by a New Zealand prime minister since former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who visited Beijing just before the COVID-19 pandemic. Chinese leader Xi Jinping and former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern shake hands before the meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on April 1, 2019. (Kenzaburo Fukuhara/Pool/Getty Images) Hipkins will visit Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai between June 25 to 30 and take part in a range of events, including giving a keynote address at Peking University and launching a tourism partnership in Shanghai. East China is an important hub for New Zealand businesses. I am looking forward to connecting with their China teams and partners in Shanghai and to showcasing our innovative, world-class products and services in one of the worlds largest consumer markets, he said. The business delegation will include representatives from New Zealands tourism and education sector as part of the Labour governments efforts to breathe some life back into the economy. It comes after Stats NZ recently revealed that New Zealand had slipped into a technical recession, which is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative real GDP growth. Figures show that the economy fell 0.1 percent in the March quarter after a 0.7 percent fall in the previous December quarter. A downfall in activity in business services was the biggest downward driver, particularly management consulting and advertising services. Finance Minister Grant Robertson downplayed the news, saying that it was not a surprise. Todays outcome fits the definition of a technical recession by the barest of margins. But the resilience of the New Zealand economy, including historically low unemployment, means it will not have the impact that would normally be associated with this term, he said on June 15. Remaining Tied to China When first announcing his visit, Hipkins noted that in 2022, exports to China were valued at $21 billion (US$13 billion), or one-quarter of exports. But he denied that New Zealand was putting its eggs all in one basket in the light of warnings to diversify trade partners. Of course, China is an existing trading partner and a valuable one to New Zealand, he said during a post-cabinet press conference on June 12. But the work that we have been doing around the EU free-trade agreement, the UK free-trade agreement, and our other trade discussions in a range of different contextsincluding, significantly, the CPTPPare a part of our really concerted effort to diversify our overall export market shares. When addressing New Zealands balancing act with Beijing, Hipkins said New Zealand has always prided itself on having a stable and consistent position. That means that where we have human rights concerns, we will raise them; where we have concerns around trade or any other foreign-policy issue, we will raise those, he said. So our relationship with China has always been based on setting out clearly our position and, you know, being consistent in our position, and well continue to do that. On June 9, New Zealand also banded together with the United States, the UK, Canada, Australia, and Japan to condemn economic coercive practices. We have a robust, ongoing dialogue with China, and weve always been very clear in our opposition to economic coercion. We believe in a rules-based system. That is what New Zealand has consistently spoken in favour of, and well continue to do that, Hipkins said. Any country that seeks to use economic coercion is the target of that statement. New Zealand has watched its closest neighbour, Australia, be the ongoing target of economic coercion by the Chinese regime. Blinken Visits China Amid Tensions Hipkinss visit follows U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinkens meeting with Xi on June 19 amid strained relations between the U.S. and China and was the highest-ranking official visit to China within the Biden administration to date. Speaking to the press, he said that the relationship was clearly at a point of instability. Were not going to have success on every issue between us on any given day, but in a whole variety of areas, on the terms that we set for this trip, we have made progress, and we are moving forward, Blinken said. He also reiterated that the United States continues to advocate its One China policy, but raised concerns about Beijings recent provocative actions. The reason that this is a concern for so many countries, not just the United States, is that were there to be a crisis over Taiwan, the likelihood is that that would produce an economic crisis that could affect quite literally the entire world, he said. The U.S. decision to establish diplomatic ties with Beijing over Taipei was based on the expectation that the future of the self-governing island will be determined through peaceful means, Blinken said. But China expert Feng Chongyi, an associate professor at the University of Technology Sydney, warned that engagement with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was like dancing with fires. [The CCP] still wants to continue to parasitize the capital market. Its like this virus that cannot survive without its host or capital, Feng told The Epoch Times. NZ Prioritising Maori, Pacific Island Patients in the Name of Equity New Zealands National and ACT parties have decried the Labour government for promoting racial discrimination after it was revealed that surgery waitlists in Auckland take ethnicity into consideration when prioritising healthcare. Nationals health spokesperson, Dr Shane Reti, has called on the government to drop the ethnicity requirements immediately. While there has been historical inequity that has disadvantaged Maori and Pasifika people, the idea that any government would deliberately rank ethnicities for priority for surgery is offensive, wrong and should halt immediately, he said. Reti said rather than simply disadvantaging other ethnic groups, Maori and Pasifika health is better addressed through housing, education, and lowering the cost of living. As a doctor, I would refuse to rank patients based on their ethnicity, and I completely side with surgeons who are alarmed and affronted by this priority tool implemented by Health New Zealand, he said. A National government would not rank patients by ethnicity. It comes in response to a report by Newstalk ZB which revealed that Auckland surgeons had been required to prioritise Maori and Pacific Island patients since February. Health officials have said ethnicity was one of five factors when prioritising people on a surgery waitlist. Maori and Pasifika are given priority, while Indians and Chinese are pushed down the list. One surgeon anonymously told Newstalk ZB that he was disgusted by the new system. Its ethically challenging to treat anyone based on race; its their medical condition that must establish the urgency of the treatment, the surgeon said. Theres no place for elitism in medicine, and the medical fraternity in this country is disturbed by these developments. ACT Leader David Seymour said this revelation was just another example of what is happening across the New Zealand bureaucracyarguing over identity rather than solving problems. If the first four criteria of clinical need, time already waited, geographical location, and economic deprivation are doing their job, then racial discrimination is not needed, he said. The only possible effect of racial discrimination is to make sure a person in greater need waits longer for an operation and may die on a waiting list because they had the wrong ancestors. A person who is in great clinical need, has waited a long time, lives far from major medical facilities, and is poor could be Maori, European, Pacific, Indian or Chinese, and they should all be treated equally. Seymour expressed his disappointment that similar policies derived from the increasing presence of identity politics have caused massive anguish and hurt to the New Zealand people. New Zealanders are sick and tired of race and the Treaty [of Waitangi] being injected into everything from water infrastructure and resource management to healthcare and education, he said. Answering Discrimination With Discrimination Health Minister Ayesha Verrall said the new reforms were implemented to address historic inequalities against Maori and Pasifika people, who have shorter life expectancies and poorer health outcomes. The New Zealand Association of General Surgeons says in its mission statement that it is committed to prioritising Indigenous health to better meet the health needs of Maori and Pacific Islander peoples. The New Zealand Society of Anaesthetists (NZSA) have also come forward in support of the policy. This is an attempt to try and achieve more equity, rather than give any advantages, NZSA President Dr Morgan Edwards said. Many Maori patients are likely to have experienced health inequalities before even reaching surgical waitlists. At a basic fundamental level, when a Maori patient hits that surgical waitlist, theyre already far behind their non-Maori counterparts. This is a small step to address that inequity. Meanwhile, Green MP Chloe Swarbrick urged people to step back and remember that ethnicity was just one of five factors. I think we should hear those concerns of those surgeons and those within the medical profession, but again, Im really concerned whenever were having a political debate based on so few facts that we end up completely misinforming the public debate, she told the AM show. But in light of the increased scrutiny of the policy, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has asked the health minister to review the equity tool for discrimination. At the moment, there is clear evidence, Maori, Pasifika, rural, and low-income communities have been discriminated against by the health system, and they are working to address that, he told reporters on June 19. Ive seen the concerns that are being raised about the mechanism and Ive asked the minister of health to look at that to make sure there is a reassurance that were not replacing one form of discrimination with another. Hipkins emphasised that clinical need has always been, and will always be, the first and foremost factor in decisions around clinical care. But he added that the policy was about ensuring everybody is treated equally and recognising that that was currently not the case. However, Seymour says the tool is doing exactly what Hipkins saidreplacing discrimination with more discriminationand called for its abolishment. The health ministers review of Te Whatu Oras waitlist equity adjuster tool must end the policy of moving sick patients up and down health waitlists based on their race, he said. No Seats Change Hands in Federal Byelections There were no upsets in the four by-elections held across Canada on June 19. With almost all of the polls reporting, all of the ridings stayed in the hands of the party that held them before. Perhaps the most watched contest was in the southern Manitoba riding of Portage-Lisgar. Thats where Maxime Bernier, leader of the Peoples Party of Canada (PPC), was trying to win his partys first seat in Parliament. Instead, Branden Leslie of the Conservatives easily held the riding. With most of the polls in, Leslie held a commanding lead of more than 63 percent of the vote, compared to about 18 percent for Bernier and the PPC. Thats a bigger margin of victory than former Conservative Leader Candice Bergens win in 2021, when she took about 52 percent of the vote in Portage-Lisgar. Bergen stepped down earlier this year, prompting the by-election. Losing the riding would have been a significant blow for the Tories, and a big victory for the PPC. Its a setback for Bernier, a former cabinet minister in the government of Stephen Harper. The Quebec politician had hoped to make a breakthrough in the rural Manitoba riding. In a broadcast on Facebook, Bernier told supporters neither he nor his party plan on fading away. We can be proud of our campaign, said Bernier. Of course, the result is not the one we would have preferred. However, Bernier said the campaign was a way to make his partys policies better known and understood. When the general election comes, we will be better prepared than ever before, because I can tell you already: We are not going [anywhere] We are not fading away. We are in fact stronger than ever. Leslie will serve as the MP for Portage-Lisgar until the next general election, expected no later than 2025. In Manitobas other by-election, the Liberals have held onto the riding of Winnipeg South Centre, left vacant after the death of Liberal cabinet minister Jim Carr last year. His son Ben Carr, a school principal, held the riding for the Liberals, with about 52 percent of the vote, compared to 24 percent of the vote that went to Conservative Damir Stipanovic. The riding has voted Liberal for 10 of the last 11 elections. The Winnipeg South Centre by-election is also remarkable because there were 48 candidates on the ballotthe most candidates in a single riding in Canadian history, according to Elections Canada. Most of them were Independents. The Montreal riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grace-Westmount has long been a Liberal stronghold, and that did not change with the election of Anna Gainey, who won about 48 percent of the vote. The runners-up were the Green Party and the NDPboth of whom took around 14 percent of the vote. Gainey is a former president of the Liberal Party of Canada, and a policy adviser to two ministers of national defence. The by-election was called after the retirement of former cabinet minister and astronaut Marc Garneau. The mostly rural riding of Oxford in southwestern Ontario has been a fairly safe Conservative seat. That did not change, with the election of Conservative Arpan Khanna. With about 80 percent of the polls in, Khanna had about 42 percent of the vote, or a lead of some 1,500 votes, edging out Liberal Dave Hilderley, who received about 36 percent of the vote. The by-election was triggered when former Conservative MP Dave MacKenzie stepped down earlier this year. The by-election results mean none of the 338 seats in Parliament will change party affiliation. Currently, the minority Liberals govern through a confidence and supply agreement with the support of the NDP. President Joe Bidens son will plead guilty to federal tax offenses but avoid a full prosecution on a separate gun charge in a deal with the Justice Department that likely spares him time behind bars. Hunter Biden will plead guilty to the misdemeanor tax offenses as part of an agreement made public June 20. Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to go on trial in August, according to an order handed down by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. Special counsel John Durham testified before the House Intelligence Committee in a closed-door hearing on his report that found the Justice Department and FBI should not have launched the Trump-Russia investigation in 2016. The missing submersible that took tourists to see the Titanic wreckage has less than 40 hours of air left, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Authorities are stepping up search and rescue efforts. Over 100 Mexican Firefighters Have Been Deployed to Help Battle Wildfires in Ontario Wildland firefighters from Mexico pose for a group portrait in an undated handout photo. (The canadian Press/HO-Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services) More than 100 Mexican firefighters have arrived in Ontario, the first round of international support to help battle the raging wildfires in the province this season. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry says the firefighters arrived on Monday afternoon in Thunder Bay, with 52 wildland fires continuing to burn around the province 19 of which are not yet under control. The international support comes as 1,910 firefighters have been deployed across Canada this season, part of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) and its member agency additional resource-sharing agreements with the United States, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand and Costa Rica. The agreement allows a province or country to request CIFFC for equipment to fight fire at the ground level, aircraft assistance, incident management teams or for fire personnel and seek support from international partners. Currently across Quebec and Alberta, international support from the United States, Spain, Portugal, France, South Africa, Chile, Costa Rica, New Zealand and Australia have been deployed to help fight the flames. The ministry says the Mexican firefighters are waiting on a provincial briefing before being assigned to fires in the northwest and northeast regions of Ontario. A worker sorts thorn pears at a fruit processing enterprise in Longli County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 23, 2018.(Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) GUIYANG, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The thorn pear, as its name suggests, is a wild fruit species that is adorned with thorns in its natural state. However, when juiced, it reveals a blend of sourness and subtle sweetness. This plant, which has the Latin name Rosa roxburghii, has long been a hidden gem. Thriving in the mountainous province of Guizhou in southwest China, the fruits were largely dismissed as nourishment for the wildlife and juggling balls for the cowherds. "The thorn pears 'live' in rocky nooks, nestled amidst thistles and thorny shrubs," said Ren Guangwei, a 51-year-old resident of Jiaxi Village. "In the past, the fruit was rarely consumed, let alone cultivated." Now, this unassuming wild fruit has become a catalyst for prosperity among local farmers. More than 2.1 million mu (about 140,000 hectares) of land are given over to thorn pear cultivation in Guizhou, making it the leading region in the country. The overall output value has surged from nearly 3.69 billion yuan (about 500 million U.S. dollars) in 2019 to 15 billion yuan last year. The local proverb, "when thorn pears are in the market, the imperial physician can take it easy," speaks volumes about the medical value of this wild fruit. According to the Dictionary of Chinese Medicine, the flowers, fruits, leaves and seeds of thorn pears possess medicinal properties, particularly beneficial for digestive health. The root bark, meanwhile, is known for its anti-diarrheal effects. Also, scientific research has revealed that the vitamin C content per 100 grams of thorn pear fruit ranges from 1,980 mg to 3,750 mg, surpassing that of many other fruits and vegetables. Yang Yongjun, vice president of a Guizhou-based thorn pear processing enterprise, aptly describes the thorn pear as a "fruit nutrition bank," drawing from studies and research, especially that conducted by companies. "The growing of thorn pears has very special requirements regarding temperature and environmental conditions," Yang said, adding that Guizhou boasts a remarkable combination of factors and is one of the world's finest producing regions for thorn pears. The karst landform found around the 25 degrees north latitude offers unparalleled climatic conditions, fostering the cultivation of high-quality thorn pears. Now, Guizhou is home to 78 production and processing enterprises centered on thorn pear products, with a collective processing capacity of about 320,000 tonnes of fresh fruit annually. Ren's decision to transfer 22 mu of his land to a thorn pear company has proven to be fruitful. With an annual rent of 400 yuan per mu, he has not only secured a stable income but has also found employment at a thorn pear base, earning an additional 100 yuan per day. Reflecting on the past, Ren said the vast potential of thorn pear cultivation and its nutritional and economic value were previously unknown to him. "However, the flourishing industry has enabled my family of five to live a more prosperous and fulfilling life," Ren said. Farmers pick thorn pears in Gujiao Town of Longli County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 22, 2018.(Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) A farmer picks thorn pears in Gujiao Town of Longli County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 22, 2018.(Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) A farmer washes thorn pears at a cooperative in Gujiao Town of Longli County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 18, 2021.(Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) Farmers dry thorn pears at a cooperative in Gujiao Town of Longli County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 18, 2021.(Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) A farmer picks thorn pears in Gujiao Town of Longli County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 18, 2021.(Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) Planned Parenthood CEO Wants Insurance Firms to Fund and Promote Elective Abortions The CEO of the United States largest abortion provider is pushing for insurance companies to fund and become advocates for elective abortions. Alexis McGill Johnson, the CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, wants insurance firms to include abortion without deductibles in their health plans, she said in a recent interview with MedCity News at the AHIP (Americas Health Insurance Plans) 2023 conference in Portland. A deductible is the amount that an individual pays for their health care services before insurance kicks in. For instance, a person with an insurance plan having $1,000 in deductible will have to first pay the $1,000 of a medical bill themselves. After that, the insurance companies take on the cost. Most health insurance plans do not cover any elective, or non-emergency, procedures, including abortion. During a discussion at the conference, Johnson asked for states to extend their Medicaid postpartum coverage to 12 months. She also questioned whether insurance coverage will be available for over-the-counter birth control pills when they hit the market. Johnson also called for normalizing the practice of abortioninsisting that it is a fairly normal medical common experience that people have to navigate. The Epoch Times has reached out to Planned Parenthood for comment. Abortion Insurance Coverage According to the Guttmacher Institute, eight states require abortion coverage in private health insurance plans as of June 1. While 11 states have laws that, in effect, restrict insurance coverage of abortion in all private insurance plans written in the state, 25 states restrict abortion coverage in plans offered through health insurance exchanges. In 21 states, abortion coverage in health insurance plans is restricted to public employees. Twenty states have one of the above restrictions in effect. Insurance costs for abortions depend on the duration of pregnancy and the type of abortion. A medical abortion, which terminates a pregnancy within 12 weeks using oral medication, can cost $300 to $700 without any insurance. A surgical abortion with vacuum aspiration is performed in a clinical setting for up to 16 weeks of pregnancy. Costs can start from $575 without insurance. For surgical abortion by dilation and evacuation that is available for up to 24 weeks pregnancy, costs can range from $895 to $3,000. Data from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) shows that abortion is banned in 14 states. In 24 states and the District of Columbia, abortion is available and there are no telehealth medication abortion restrictions. In 12 states, while abortion is available, there is at least one telehealth medication abortion restriction. Defunding Planned Parenthood In June last year, the Supreme Court handed back to states the right to regulate aspects of abortion that are not codified under federal law, following which several states reimposed stricter rules on such procedures. Planned Parenthood has been working to reverse the effect of the decision. In a May 14 interview with MSNBC, Johnson said, We need to see expanded courts from the lower courts all the way up to the Supreme Court. We need to see term limits. The reason why the abortion provider called for changes to the Supreme Court is an attack on our democratic rights and our democratic freedoms, she said while specifically highlighting the attack on abortion rights. Republicans are pushing for stopping government funding of Planned Parenthood. In January, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) proposed a draft bill aimed at defunding the billion-dollar abortion provider. The bill, Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2023, has garnered support from organizations like Students for Life of America, Concerned Women for America, and Heritage Action. Deceitfully, Planned Parenthood guises their business model as one that helps women while their latest annual report shows they made $633 MILLION from taxpayers while ending 383,460 little lives in that same time frame, Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, said in a statement Theres no single entity that stands to make a profit off the violence of abortion more than Planned Parenthood. Porcfest Is the Event That Cannot Be Canceled Commentary In the spring of 2020, when most of the country was going utterly bonkers about the invisible enemy, acting as if a virus had never before vexed a living person so the only thing to do is destroy the social order, most everything shut down. One event that did not was Porcfest, the annual gathering of thousands in the black mountains of New Hampshire. It went on anyway, much to the shock and horror of the local and national media. But the people who run this event, an extension of the Free State Project, are rather used to this kind of nonsense. They have been attacked in the media for the better part of 20 years. The line is always the same. This is a movement that is seeking to disrupt the politics of the state with a focus on the liberty of individuals, meaning low taxes, 2nd Amendment rights, personal freedoms, and privacy. The idea is that if enough people who care about these things come to the state, they can make a difference in the political environment. The strategy just keeps working. As someone told me last night, the stories in the press always backfire and end up being inadvertent advertisements for the event. This year, Brownstone institute has decided to go all in on the event, and it is where I am today. Yesterday was Monday of a week-long event. Usually not much happens so early on. Yesterday the whole campground was already teeming with life. Our own tent was crowded early on. I had scheduled a 4:30pm speech on my column on Epoch from yesterday but had every expectation that no one would show up. I was wrong. There was standing-room only. And that was only day one. We are extremely thrilled to be joined by the FLCCC for a major series of talks on health, pharma, policy, and the future. These doctors and researchers had been correct from the beginning on the great COVID threat so they make natural allies with Brownstone. Already I can tell that the COVID response is a major topic among the many thousands of attendees. After all, this was the biggest attack on liberty in our lifetimes. We are still trying to figure out what happened, why, and what to do about it. My own speech on Saturday evening will focus on this, with some discussion of how weve all been changed. The before times seem like a distant memory, and we are all thinking through how our understanding of the world has been rocked. One of the speakers here is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.. All credit to him for coming. The New Hampshire Democratic Party sent out a news blast telling him not to speak here. As a candidate for the presidency and a figure who commands considerable public attention, your presence at PorcFest will be seen as an endorsement of the Free State Project and its radical goals, the party bosses wrote. Your presence will lend legitimacy to an extremist movement that aggressively works against the interests of New Hampshire residents. It went on and on with the usual tripe. But RFK was having none of it, and wrote on Twitter: The Democratic Party Bosses who promote censorship, who have stripped New Hampshire of its rightful First in the Nation primary status, who have shut down debate, who refuse to campaign in New Hampshire, are in no position to tell me who to talk to. Im going to speak at Porcfest because I believe in freedom, unity, healing the divide, and truth.#LiveFreeorDie. Then he went further, again in his own words: This trend of canceling anyone who appears at the wrong event or speaks with the wrong person is antithetical to the democratic ideal of debate and the free exchange of ideas. You can say that again, a million times over. We are all fed up with being school-marmed and hall-monitored out of exercising our rights and freedoms. Im certain that not everyone here will agree with RFK but they dont agree with each other either. What prevails at Porcfest is an old-fashioned idea: when we have freedom and rights, we can all co-exist together in peace and prosperity. Put that way, the notion does not seem that radical at all. Indeed, the theory is the foundation of the American experiment. Isnt it simply incredible that it would be a Kennedy who would be called up to remind the country of its core values? The truth is that for three years and three months, this man has done more for the cause of liberty and human rights than all the think tanks, universities, and major mainstream media venues combined. His major masterpiece is The Real Anthony Fauci which is a reconstruction and retelling of 60 years of the rise of the biomedical security state. He knows more about this subject than probably any living person. Last week, a major brouhaha broke out when Joe Rogan invited the famed pharma propagandist Peter Hotez on his show to debate RFK. The prize money for Hotez to agree grew from $100K to more than $1M. But even then, Hotez will not do it. He told MSNBC that he would not because science doesnt debate. Oh. Hotez further explained that he did not want to give a platform to RFK but this is a bit weird. The latest polls show that RFK is the single most popular politician in the United States, beating out everyone else in both major political parties. If anything, it would be RFK giving a platform to Hotez but that is precisely what worries the supposed scientist. He is willing to face the current discrediting now rather than make it worse by having Kennedy expose him even further. The attempt to cancel RFK has been going on for years now. Just yesterday, and incredibly, YouTube took down a historic and fascinating interview between Jordan Peterson (arguably the worlds most influential intellectual) and RFK, arguably the worlds most popular politician. Do you see what is happening? The walls are closing in. Once Kennedy stepped into the political arena with a direct challenge to Biden it got worse, to the point of being absolutely cacophonous. Its made absolutely no difference. Its even helped the campaign! At this point, RFK is truly antifragile, the neologism meaning someone or something that gains strength from being attacked. In many ways, this is true of Porcfest and the Free State Project too. Anyone who these days attempts to live out their lives in peace and freedom is under assault from myriad sources out there. Such are the times in which we live. But what are we to do? Just give in and watch all our liberties slip further and further away? May it never be so. There are many millions of Americans who are determined to be free despite all the attempts to shut freedom down forever. This event is living proof of that. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Hong Kong Woman Recovers From Terminal Uterine Cancer After Practicing Falun Dafa Hong Kong Police threatened to send her to mainland China for organ harvesting Hong Kong citizen Ah Hong was diagnosed with late-stage cancer 10 years ago, and the doctor gave her a maximum of six months to live. After practicing Falun Gong, her body miraculously recovered. The photo shows Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong practicing together. (Adrian Yu/The Epoch Times) Ah Hong, a 59-year-old woman, had pursued fame and fortune recklessly in her youth without considering the consequences. Halfway through her life, she had an empty bank account and was diagnosed with late-stage cancer ten years ago. It wasnt until then that she began to reflect on the gains and losses in her life. By chance, Hong began practicing Falun Gong. This patient, who had been given a maximum of six months to live by a doctor, experienced a miraculous recovery. Hong said that practicing Falun Gong promotes spiritual cultivation. Hong admitted that following the practices methods helped improve her mindset, making her generous and able to forgive everything, which she felt so grateful for and treated as a gift from God. Practicing Falun Gong, Cure the Cancer Around 2000, Hong saw a display board at a Falun Gong truth clarification site in Hong Kong for the first time. The board showed bloody images of practitioners being beaten by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). She believed the CCP could do such things but bypassed the display board many times without delving deeper into it. Later on, while visiting her relatives in Beijing, Hong heard that a female executive at a state-owned enterprise who was also an overseas-educated doctor had been arrested by the CCP for practicing Falun Gong. Her company leaders and family members advised her to write a guarantee letter promising not to practice Falun Gong anymore so she could be released from prison. Her leaders even promised to promote her and raise her salary after her release if she complied with their request. However, she insisted on continuing to practice Falun Gong despite these offers. At that time, Hong already had a question in her mind, How can there be a person in the world who doesnt care about promotion and wealth? How can they be so foolish? When Hong visited Chongqing, China, to see her relatives, her father mentioned that the government had recently arrested many Falun Gong practitioners and claimed that these practitioners had guns. Hong couldnt help but argue based on common sense, The CCP controls the society so strictly. Where did these people go to get the guns? What could they do with the guns? Life is unpredictable. In 2011, when 47, Hong was diagnosed with uterine fibroids and underwent surgery to remove them. Three months later, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer, and cancer cells had spread throughout her body. She could no longer undergo surgery. Hong searched for doctors in Hong Kong and mainland China but was advised to rest at home. Her family asked her to return to Chongqing for treatment but worried she might not survive the trip. From then on, Hong suffered from severe sleep disorders and often couldnt fall asleep. The after-effects of her previous surgery also caused her to experience urinary incontinence. The doctor secretly told her family that she was already in the late stages of cancer and that her life might only last three to six months. Hong described how she gradually became unclear when her condition worsened, When my condition was very serious, I often saw deceased relatives talking to me at my bedside. She believed some people could communicate with deceased loved ones before passing away. By chance, a Falun Gong practitioner in Hong Kong introduced Falun Gong to Hong several times. With a trial-and-error mindset, Hong read Falun Gong books, bought instructional DVDs, and tried practicing at home. On the first day of practicing Falun Gong, Hong only read a few pages of the book and did a few exercises. She said, I slept until dawn and didnt need to take sleeping pills anymore. It was very comfortable! Before that, I woke up every 10 to 20 minutes. After half a month of practicing Falun Gong, my body felt different. I felt I didnt need to take medicine anymore, Hong said. When she went for a follow-up with her doctor, he was amazed at how much her condition had improved and asked, What did you eat? Did you see any other doctor? The lumps on your body are much less than before. Hong gladly replied, I have been practicing Falun Gong, and this would be my last visit. Since starting the practice, Hongs various ailments, such as rheumatism, stomach problems, anemia, and diabetes, have disappeared, and she hasnt taken any medication since. Spiritual Sublimation Through Practice Practicing Falun Gong has brought physical health to Hong and spiritual sublimation. From 2010 to 2011, Hong faced financial difficulties and lost many loved ones; meanwhile, she also battled cancer. At that time, she began to reflect on the gains and losses in life. Before practicing Falun Gong, Hong was an atheist who spoke recklessly without fear of consequences. I had a strong ego and believed I must succeed in everything. She also pursued money relentlessly and thought that money could buy everything. If I want something done, I will do whatever it takes. However, after practicing Falun Gong, Hong started to believe in the existence of gods and Buddha. She became peaceful and understood the importance of going with the flow of life rather than being obsessed with money. Due to her severe illness, the Hong Kong government provided Hong with monthly disability payments of around HK$5,000 and other benefits such as transportation discounts. However, under the teachings of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance by Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi, Hong realized that as a healthy person now, she should not receive these benefits anymore according to the practice of becoming Truthful. Therefore, she voluntarily applied to cancel these benefits, shocking the government officials who asked her multiple times, Have you made up your mind? Once it is canceled, reapplying is difficult. Hong firmly replied, I am now healthy, so I dont need that. Today, Hong volunteers for the Epoch Times and has distributed newspapers since 2015. She says, As practitioners, we are easily satisfied and dont need much money. Witnessing the Brutality of CCPs Family Planning Policy Hong said, Falun Gong was demonized by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP); after witnessing the miraculous effects of the practice, I began to reflect more deeply on the CCPs lies and my own experiences in mainland China. Hong grew up in mainland China and immigrated to Hong Kong in the 1980s. Before that, she had witnessed firsthand the bloodshed and cruelty of CCPs family planning policy. She recounted how family planning workers would barge into peoples homes and forcibly abort pregnant women, treating them like criminals. If there were no one at home, these workers would take away valuable items from the house, even taking away chickens if there were any. If the house had no valuable items, they would at least make holes in the walls. Hong also described, If they couldnt catch women, they would catch men and forcibly sterilize them like pigs. Hong felt ridiculous about her experience of being ruled by the CCP, The rural people value sons over daughters. In the roadside public toilets in my hometown, I saw many abandoned baby girls strewn about in the toilets, some of them not yet dead and crying. Letting Go of Resentment Toward Police After moving to Hong Kong, Hong found that what she had learned in mainland China was very different from what she had experienced in Hong Kong. She saw what a normal society is. However, she also lamented that Hong Kong has become much similar to mainland China within just over 20 years since 1997. Hong had an unpleasant experience at a police station in Hong Kong. On July 1, 2020, the day after CCP imposed the Hong Kong National Security Law, she was arrested by police for distributing free copies of The Epoch Times. Hong refused to wear prison clothes or sign her confession statement as she insisted on her innocence. A male Superintendent of police threatened her by saying, If you dont sign your name or wear the clothes, well send you back to mainland China for organ harvesting. When he finished speaking, Hong recounted, the male police officer probably realized he had said something wrong and was livid. He immediately put on a mask and stopped talking. At that time, Hong felt very sad and couldnt help but cry. I turned to the higher-ranking male police officer and asked him, How many people have you sent back to mainland China for organ harvesting? Have you done it yourself? If you have, admit it. Dont wear a mask. I will remember you, and I will tell the world. Hong then looked at the police officers present and said, Do all of you agree with such an evil act as organ harvesting? At that time, the male Superintendent was very embarrassed. Over a hundred police officers were present, everyone looking at each other without saying a word, she added. Hong said she hated police officers because of their violence during the anti-extradition protests and her unpleasant experience with them in Hong Kong. However, her resentment slowly disappeared under the teachings of Falun Gongs principles. Calmly Confronting the Hong Kong of Today After the deterioration of Hong Kongs environment, many Hong Kong people emigrated to foreign countries. Hong said that she would always stay in Hong Kong. She lamented that Falun Gong practitioners had been through so much in Hong Kong over the years, but if the CCP were to do anything unjust towards them again, they would still face it calmly. Falun Gong still exists in Hong Kong, which also comforts Hong Kong people. No matter what happens in the future, I will face it calmly. Many Hong Kong police officers grew up in a free environment and understood some truths. They wont persecute Falun Gong practitioners like the CCPs public security personnel do. Compared with the CCPs public security personnel, Im not worried about Hong Kong police officers and government officials. She finally emphasized, The CCP is not having an easy time either; they should consider their future. They shouldnt cross certain lines because how will they return when they fall from power one day? What about all those bad things they have done? They are very pitiful. Progressive Leaders Encouraged to Buy Media Outlets to Boost Influence Over Americans: Report A recent report encourages progressive leaders in the United States to buy or collaborate with media outlets and influence channels in order to counter the supposed dominance of conservative media in the country. The report (pdf), released this month, characterizes the demise of left-wing outlets such as BuzzFeed News and the bankruptcy of Vice Media as signs of a time of extreme transition in the world of news and media. Citing an Economist/YouGov survey, the report points out that liberal or progressive media reaches the lowest share of Americans and reaches less than half of the number of consumers reached by conservative media. It calls for liberal supporters to make more investments in for-profit media companies and social media influencers. One of the reports authors is Arkadi Gerney, a longtime Democratic operative. Co-authors include Sarah Knight, a former director at the George Soros-backed Open Society Foundation, and Tim Hogan, a presidential campaign communications director for Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) in 2020. Titled Analysis of the Changing U.S. News Media Landscape and Strategies Toward Delivering Civic Value, the 85-page report was prepared for a gathering in May of progressive leaders in Washington, according to the media outlet Semafor. The increased concentration of media among wealthy and conservative ownersand particular local mediapresents significant risks that political information will become both more scarce and more skewed toward right-wing perspectives, the report states. Gerney told Semafor in an interview that he hoped the report will be used by centrist and left-leaning investors to counter the reach of conservative media. While the report characterizes U.S. media as being dominated by conservative forces, a July 2021 study published at ResearchGate found that journalists in the West, including from the United States, are mostly biased in favor of the left. Compared to the general population of voters, journalists prefer parties that have more left-wing positions overall, and that are associated with certain ideologies, namely environmentalism, feminism, social liberalism, socialism, and support for the European Union, it reads. The report suggests that progressive supporters collaborate with online creators and individual journalists who are engaging greater shares of the American public with news, explainer content, opinion, and personal narrative. It recommends that progressive supporters invest in profitable local TV networks to expand the reach of progressive ideologies. We believe that many of the best opportunities for cause-motivated investors lie in diverting a share of the investment thats going into exclusively cause-funded nonprofits toward sponsored content and into direct investment in hybrid and for-profit enterprises with large audiences, it reads. Likewise, rather than continuing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on TV ads, we believe that there is more long-term value for nonprofit investors in diverting a share of that investment into sponsoring topical reporting in a for-profit, or simply in buying some of the stations on which they are now advertising. Sinclair Group, Leftist Bias in Media The report highlights the influence of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which has an overtly conservative tilt to its local news coverage. Maryland-based Sinclair is the second-largest television station operator in the United States, with 185 stations in 85 markets. Sinclairs TV stations are affiliated with ABC, CBS, Fox, CW, and NBC, among others. Political scientists from Stanford and Emory have found that Sinclairs purchase of news stations across the country causes a significant right-wing shift in content and increased discussion of national politics, the report states. In recent years, progressives have attempted to counter right-leaning local news outlets through new initiatives. For instance, Hogan is the executive director of a new regional digital newsroom called Heartland Signal thats linked to WCPT 820AM, a progressive radio station in Chicago. Among major news organizations, conservative media outlets such as Fox News attract more viewers than progressive outlets such as CNN. According to data from Statista, Fox News is the top cable news network in the United States as of February, attracting 2.26 million primetime viewers; CNN garners only 587,000 primetime viewers. There also is a heavy bias found among reporters in U.S. media when compared with the public, according to a July 2022 Pew Research survey. While 76 percent of the general populace said that journalists should always strive to give every side equal coverage, only 44 percent of U.S. reporters agreed with that statement. Instead, 55 percent of reporters believed every side does not always deserve equal coverage. Among reporters who said the audience of their news organization leans left, 69 percent reported that they didnt believe that every side deserves equal coverage. On the other hand, 42 percent of reporters working for news outlets with a right-leaning audience said the same. Proposed Hate Speech Law in Michigan Threatens First Amendment Rights, Conservatives Warn A bill moving through the Democrat-controlled Michigan State Legislature would make it easier for prosecutors to bring felonious hate crime charges against dissident speech. The possible implications for preachers, school administrators, teachers, parents, politicians, and citizen activists have alarmed conservatives concerned about the effect the bill may have on free speech. The proposed legislation, HB 4474, would amend the states Ethnic Intimidation Act of 1988 in order to consider it a hate crime if a person is accused of causing severe mental anguish to another individual by means of perceived verbal intimidation or harassment. The amendment defines the words intimidate or harass as a willful course of conduct, involving repeated or continuing harassment of another individual that would cause a reasonable individual to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested A Vague and Subjective Standard Words are malleable, Attorney David Kallman of the Great Lakes Justice Center (GLJC), a non-profit legal organization dedicated to preserving liberty in America, told The Epoch Times. They can be redefined by whoever is in power. Under the proposed statute, intimidate and harass can mean whatever the victim, or the authorities, want them to mean. The focus is on how the victim feels rather than on a clearly defined criminal act. This is a ridiculously vague and subjective standard, he said. The absence of intent makes no difference under this law. You are still guilty of the crime because the victim felt uncomfortable. The bill will lead to the prosecution of conservatives, pastors, and parents attending a school board meeting for simply expressing their opposition to the liberal agenda, Kallman said. Criminal Penalties for Speaking Out A convicted violator could receive a fine of up to $10,000, up to five years in prison, or both. The bill does provide the court with the option of an alternative sentence. The text reads in part, An alternative sentence may include an order requiring the offender to complete a period of community service intended to enhance the offenders understanding of the impact of the offense upon the victim and wider community. Community service under this subdivision must be performed with the consent ofand in support ofthe community targeted in the violation. This option, said Kallman, amounts to being sentenced to a Soviet-style dissident reeducation camp. Making Prosecutions Easy On June 6, the bills sponsor, State Rep. Noah Arbit, a Democrat, testified at a hearing of the House Criminal Justice Committee that crimes motivated by sexual orientation cannot currently be prosecuted as a hate crime in Michigan. He said facilitating prosecutions and increasing penalties were necessary to stem what he called rising hate crimes. Too many people in Michigan are confronted with the attitude People like you are not welcome, according to Arbit. Elected to the legislature in the 2022 mid-terms, Arbit became the youngest LGBT person to serve there. The Attorney General Weighs In Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, testified that Michigan has the fifth-highest number of hate crimes committed per capita in the United States, with many more incidents not reported. She stated that HB 4474, and similar early judicial intervention measures, can help prevent initial non-violent hate crimes from escalating into murder. You can literally save lives, Nessel, a lesbian, told the committee. Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Kim Worthy, a Democrat, called the existing Ethnic Intimidation Law woefully inadequate. She testified that HB 4474 was a useful tool that would make it easier to prosecute real hate crimes and send a message that they are absolutely intolerable in this state. We have to protect our victims of hate crimes, Worthy said. Civil Actions and Damages Arbit further testified that Hate is a social ill. These bills are no substitute for tackling a social ill. We are not criminalizing hate. We are criminalizing hate when it dovetails with a criminal act. Arbits bill would allow civil action to be brought against defendants even if they were acquitted of criminal hate crime charges. If successful in the civil suit, the plaintiff could be entitled to three times actual damages or $25,000, whichever is greater, plus attorney fees. Prof. William Wagner, founder of the Great Lakes Justice Center. (Courtesy of William Wagner) Silencing Dissent William Wagner, law professor, former Assistant U.S. Attorney, and founder of the GLJC, said in written testimony submitted to the House Criminal Justice Committee, The proposed speech law is wholly inconsistent with fundamental principles of constitutional good governance under the rule of law. Wagner told The Epoch Times that fear of prosecution would chill free speech and result in self-censorship by people who may express the belief that sex is based on biology and determined by a persons chromosomes, and that marriage is a sacred union between one man and one woman. Make no mistake about it: those with an anti-Christian agenda will wield a weapon capable of extinguishing Christian expression in the state of Michigan. Wagner testified that the harassment provision permits authorities to make moral determinations and arbitrarily transforms a citizens protected political expression or sincerely held faith-based beliefs into a prosecutable offense. Hate Speech Equals Violence Nessel assured the committee that the provisions of the bill would withstand any challenge on constitutional grounds. Arbit told the committee that he and his co-sponsors were considering dropping the word harass from the language of the bill. The tweaking or even the dropping of one word does not change the fact that this is a poorly written, vague, subjective, and oppressive unconstitutional regulation of speech, said Kallman. Make no mistake, people pushing this bill equate speech with violence and define hate speech as You disagree with me. Residential Schools National Monument to Be Built on Parliament Hill Governor General Mary Simon speaks during the site selection ceremony of the Residential Schools National Monument on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 20, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick) The Steering Committee for the Residential Schools National Monument has announced a prominent location on Parliament Hill where the future memorial site will be built. The announcement follows calls from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRCC) for the federal government to commission and install a publicly accessible, highly visible, Residential Schools National Monument in the City of Ottawa to honour Survivors and all the children who were lost to their families and communities. The federal government announced in August 2021 that it would allocate $20 million to build the national monument. The announcement ceremony took place on June 20 near the location on the west side of Parliament Hill where the monument will be established. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Governor General Mary Simon, and House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota attended the ceremony, along with a number of TRCC members. Simon delivered a speech, saying that the monuments placement allows as many Canadians as possible the opportunity to see it, adding that it will also serve as a constant reminder to parliamentarians that the policies and laws they create, debate, legislate, and enforce have consequences. Simon also said the future monument will represent Canadas true history. It is a reminder that we must never again let anyonenot indigenous people, not anyonesuffer the consequences of racism and inequality, of cruelty and neglect, Simon said. Trudeau did not deliver any remarks at the ceremony. The planned monument comes around two years after the Tkemlups te Secwepemc First Nations said ground-penetrating radar had found burial sites of 215 children at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in May 2021. A number of other similar announcements have since been made about other residential schools across Canada. No excavations have yet been done to investigate or recover remains on any of the sites so far. Matthew Horwood contributed to this report. YouTube Removes RFK Jr. Interview for Vaccine Misinformation Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visits "The Faulkner Focus" at Fox News Channel Studios in New York City on June 2, 2023. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images) A recent interview featuring presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was deleted by YouTube for allegedly promoting vaccine misinformation. Kennedy appeared on the June 5 episode of the Jordan B. Peterson Podcast to discuss an array of topics, including his campaign, vaccines, the environment, and gender dysphoria. Weeks later, he discovered that the episode had been removed. What do you think Should social media platforms censor presidential candidates? My conversation with @JordanBPeterson was deleted by @YouTube, the Democrat posted on Twitter on June 18. What do you think Should social media platforms censor presidential candidates? My conversation with @JordanBPeterson was deleted by @YouTube. Luckily you can watch it here on @Twitter (thank you @elonmusk). #Kennedy24https://t.co/PJFKWH6zmd Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) June 18, 2023 In an emailed statement, a YouTube spokesperson clarified that the interview had violated the platforms vaccine misinformation policy. We removed a video from the Jordan Peterson channel for violating YouTubes general vaccine misinformation policy, which prohibits content that alleges that vaccines cause chronic side effects, outside of rare side effects that are recognized by health authorities, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that YouTubes Community Guidelines apply equally to all creators on our platform, regardless of political viewpoint. The company did not respond to a request for further details as to which statements violated the cited policy, but according to Kennedys campaign, no such violation took place. The passage in question did not make direct claims about vaccines per se; it was a conversation about the vaccine conversation, his campaign told The Epoch Times in an email. YouTube has made the entire topic verbotenat least when it is broached by people who do not share the orthodox viewpoint. YouTube is not the first digital media platform to censor Kennedy, an outspoken skeptic of the COVID-19 vaccines. Until as recently as June 4, he was banned from Instagram, and he remains banned from TikTok. Decrying the latest attempt to silence his views as election interference, the candidate asked his followers on Twitter: Do you really need Big Tech censors to decide what you should hear? Or would you prefer to be treated as a competent adult who can listen to various viewpoints and come to his or her own conclusions? He also urged his supporters to voice their opinions of his de-platforming on YouTube. Thats democracy in action! Vaccine Comments For years, Kennedy has been a well-known skeptic of the safety of vaccines in general. But amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he became a leading voice among those who were wary of the potential side effects of the jabs. During the interview, Peterson asked Kennedy for his perspective on why Democrats, who had traditionally opposed the pharmaceutical industry, abandoned that long-held skepticism during the pandemic to push vaccines on the public. Tracing the partys general shift toward the pharmaceutical industry back to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Kennedy said attitudes on vaccines really began to change during former President Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. During his campaign, on several occasions, he mentioned that he believed that vaccines were causing autism, he said. And this was completely anecdotal to him. He had three friends who were women who were mothers whose children had been completely healthy and had lost their language, and had regressed into stereotypical behavior associated with autism after receiving MMR [measles, mumps, rubella] vaccines. Because Trump took that stance, Kennedy said leading Democrats felt forced to align themselves with the opposite position, making vaccine support a tribal issue. If you thought vaccines caused autism, it made you a Republican, and if you thought they definitely did not and thats been proven beyond any doubt, you were a Democrat. And there was no in-between, there was no dialogue, there was no room for dissent or debate. The Democrat also recounted two instances where news stories he was involved with that reflected negatively on vaccines were killed by leadership at major news outlets. In the latter case, he said he had worked for weeks with Jake Tapper, now an anchor at CNN, to develop a documentary for ABC on a secret meeting between 75 vaccine manufacturers about how to hide from the American public the links between autism and vaccines. But while Tapper was reportedly excited about the project, upper management was not. The night before the piece was supposed to run, he called me up and said, The piece just got killed by corporate. All my career, I have never had a piece killed by corporate and Im so mad. Kennedy said he tried to reach Tapper again the next day but the reporter went dark and he hasnt heard from him since. Soup of Toxic Chemicals Another taboo topic Kennedy touched on with Peterson was gender dysphoriaa subject that arose in response to Petersons claim that climate alarmism was taking a toll on childrens mental health. The apocalyptic climate narrative [that] were destroying the planet and doom is nigh has demoralized young people to a degree thats almost incomprehensible, Peterson said, linking that narrative to rising rates of depression and anxiety among young people. Kennedy, a long-time environmentalist, said he believed there was no single cause for those rates. However, he added, I think a lot of the problems we see in kidsand particularly boysits probably under-appreciated how much of that is coming from chemical exposures, including a lot of the sexual dysphoria that were seeing. Kids today, Kennedy said, are swimming through a soup of toxic chemicals, including endocrine disruptors, which interfere with the bodys production of hormones. According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, one such chemical is atrazine, a common herbicide that Kennedy said can be found throughout our water supply. A 2010 study conducted by the University of California, Berkeley found that frogs exposed to atrazine in a tank experienced chemical castration and complete feminization to the point where 10 percent of the male frogs developed into functional females that produced viable eggs. Citing that study, Kennedy said, If its doing that to frogs, theres a lot of other evidence that its doing it to human beings as well. Wall-to-Wall Censorship Over the years, Kennedy has faced widespread censorship for his viewsa fact he pointed out in the interview. Ive been censored in the corporate media for 18 years, Kennedy noted. So, since 2005, Ive been actively censored, not just for vaccine articles but for all of my articles. While he added that his exclusion from traditional media had increased gradually over the past two decades, he stressed that it had now reached the level of wall-to-wall censorship. Particularly during the last three years, weve had to figure out ways to get around that censorship. And so, weve done that by using non-traditional media. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, those non-traditional outlets, like social media platforms, became more restrictive regarding what speech they considered permissible to post. Instagram, for example, banned Kennedys account, cutting him off from his more than 1 million followers. In fact, it was only after he drew attention to his continued suspension on June 1 via Twitter that Instagram reinstated his account on June 4. Twitter, Kennedy said, was one of the few places where he had recently found refuge following Tesla CEO Elon Musks takeover of the company late last year. During the pandemic, I was mainly posting, you know, kitty cats and rainbows and unicorns because if I talked about what I was thinking about, I wouldve been de-platformed. But once Elon took over, they unshackled me. YouTube was another platform Kennedy said he was wary of. Ironically, Peterson said the video-sharing website had been completely hands-off with his content. YouTube has left me alone, Peterson said. Its quite surprising because Ive said things many times that, in principle, should have got me in trouble on YouTube, but they havent even put any strikes against my channel. Two weeks later, that would seem to no longer be the case, as according to Peterson, the platform has also removed his interviews with The Daily Wires Matt Walsh and Irish journalist and author Helen Joyce. Commenting on the removal of his June 5 podcast via Twitter, Peterson accused YouTube of interfering with Kennedys presidential campaign and criticized the legacy media for their silence on the matter. If there were any real journalists left among the legacy media theyd be up in arms about this, he said. If they dont think the commissars at @YouTube will sell them out in a second when the tables inevitably turn theyre either terminally naive or wilfully blind. Russian Hacking Group Claims Execution of Reddit Attack, Threatens Leaking Censorship Data The Reddit app is shown on a smartphone, on July 13, 2021. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters) Social media site Reddit reported a hacking incident for which the ALPHV Russian ransomware group has now claimed to be the perpetrator. The group threatens to leak censorship and other sensitive, stolen information in relation to Reddit if the company does not pay $4.5 million. Reddit had reported the data breach on February after an employee fell victim to a phishing attack, giving passwords that allowed access to a part of the companys files. The ransomware group ALPHV, also known as BlackCat, claimed the attack on Saturday, BleepingComputer reported. BlackCat claimed to have stolen 80 gigabytes (GB) of data from Reddit, including internal documents, source code, employee data, and advertiser data. After successfully obtaining a single employees credentials, the attacker gained access to some internal docs, code, as well as some internal dashboards and business systems, said Reddit chief technology officer Christopher Slowe in a post. We show no indications of breach of our primary production systems (the parts of our stack that run Reddit and store the majority of our data). BlackCat has posted an article on its data leaking website and says it plans to leak the data if Reddit does not pay $4.5 million. The hacking group said it contacted Reddit in April and June, asking for the money. I told them in my first email that I would wait for their IPO to come along. But this seems like the perfect opportunity! We are very confident that Reddit will not pay any money for their data, BlackCats post says. But I am very happy to know that the public will be able to read about all the statistics they track about their users and all the interesting confidential data we took. Did you know they also silently censor users? Along with artifacts from their GitHub! The hacking group also demanded the withdrawal of a pricing change Reddit recently did for third-party use of its website. Reddit did not comment on the hacking groups post. The company said that no user passwords, accounts, or credit card information were stolen. It also said the attack was similar to a phishing attack on a video games company that allowed hackers to steal games source code. The hacking group BlackCat did not encrypt, or lock, data for the Reddit attack, even though it is a ransomware group. Australian Attack BlackCat has also infiltrated the Australian law firm HWL Ebsworth, obtaining information from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), a client of the firm, according to a June 15 report. One of the biggest business law companies in Australia, HWL Ebsworth, offers expert assistance to the OAIC. This comes after AlphV stole four terabytes of corporate data, including personnel information, in April. On June 8, the hacker collective was reported to have released more than 1.45 terabytes of sensitive data on the dark web. However, since HWL Ebsworth has a variety of governmental and business clients, it is unclear what information has been released. Cyber criminals who accessed our systems have now claimed to have published around one-third of the total data they say has been exfiltrated from our firm, a company spokesman told the Ausstralian Associated Press. We are investigating this claim and are seeking to identify what data may have been published. The same hacking group released screenshots of stolen data from an attack on computer drive manufacturer Western Digital in March 2023. BlackCat taunted the company about the attack, which caused an outage to its cloud service. Western Digital sent notifications to online customers in May, telling them their data had been stolen during the attack, BleepingComputer reported. Attack on Federal Agencies The nations cyber watchdog agency reported on June 15 that the U.S. government was the target of a global hacking campaign that exploited a vulnerability in a widely used software. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a statement that several federal agencies had been compromised after the discovery of a vulnerability in the file-transfer software MOVEit. CISA did not identify the affected agencies or specify how they were affected. The online extortion group Cl0p has claimed responsibility for the MOVEit breach. The group wrote that government agencies, cities, and police services should not worry because they had already erased the data. Microsoft Attack Microsoft also said on Friday that the outages that affected certain services of the company through some of the earlier days of this month were the result of cyberattacks, but said it saw no evidence of any customer data being accessed or compromised. Beginning in early June 2023, Microsoft identified surges in traffic against some services that temporarily impacted availability,' the company said in a blog post. Microsoft said it opened an investigation and began tracking the DDoS activity by the threat actor it refers to as Storm-1359 after it identified the threat. DDoS attacks work by directing high volumes of internet traffic toward targeted servers in a relatively unsophisticated bid to knock them offline. Microsofts 365 software suite, including Teams and Outlook, were down for more than two hours for more than thousands of users on June 5 ,and a brief recurrence the following morning. That was the fourth such outage for Microsoft in a year. Savannah Hulsey Pointer and Reuters contributed to this report. Russian Opposition Leader Navalny Urges Anti-Kremlin Campaign as His New Trial Begins A TV Screen showing Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny (2nd left), between his lawyers in a courtroom, via video link provided by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, during a preliminary hearing, in Melekhovo, Vladimir region, about 260 kilometers (163 miles) northeast of Moscow, Russia, on June 19, 2023. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo) MELEKHOVO, RussiaImprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny urged his supporters Monday to begin a broad campaign against Moscows actions in Ukraine as he went on trial on new charges of extremism that could keep him behind bars for decades. The trial began inside a maximum security penal colony in Melekhovo, 250 kilometers (150 miles) east of Moscow, where Navalny, 47, is serving a nine-year sentence for fraud and contempt of courtcharges he says are politically motivated. Soon after it started, the judge closed the trial despite Navalnys demand to keep it open. In a statement posted on social media by his allies, Navalny declared that the decision to close the trial was a sign of fear by President Vladimir Putin, and he announced the start of a campaign against Moscows decision to send troops to Ukraine. Navalny said the effort must reach out to millions to explain the disastrous impact of the fighting and combat Putins lies and the Kremlins hypocrisy. He argued that despite a relentless crackdown on dissent, such a campaign could be efficiently conducted on messaging apps outside the authorities control. No one but us could enter this fight for our citizens hearts and minds, so we need to do it and win, Navalny said. Navalny, who exposed official corruption and organized major anti-Kremlin protests, was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. Wearing his prison garb, Navalny looked gaunt at the session but spoke emphatically about the weakness of the states case and gestured energetically. Navalny has said the new extremism charges, which he rejected as absurd, could keep him in prison for another 30 years. He said an investigator told him that he would also face a separate military trial on terrorism charges that potentially carry a life sentence. The Moscow City Court, which opened the hearing at Penal Colony No. 6, didnt allow reporters in the courtroom and they watched the proceedings via video feed from a separate building. Navalnys parents also were denied access to the court and followed the hearing remotely. Navalny and his lawyers urged the judge to hold an open trial, arguing that authorities are eager to suppress details of the proceedings to cover up the weakness of the case. The investigators, the prosecutors and the authorities in general dont want the public to know about the trial, Navalny said. Prosecutor Nadezhda Tikhonova asked the judge to conduct the trial behind closed doors, citing security concerns. The judge agreed and reporters were asked to leave the premises. Asked about the decision to close the trial, Navalnys father, Anatoly, told reporters it showed the utter lack of shame, conscience, and dignity. Russias state news agencies and other media reported on the trial, but the most- watched government-controlled TV stations didnt cover it. The new charges relate to the activities of Navalnys anti-corruption foundation and statements by his top associates. His allies said the charges retroactively criminalize all the activities of Navalnys foundation since its creation in 2011. One of Navalnys associates, Daniel Kholodny, was relocated from a different prison to face trial alongside him. Navalny has spent months in a tiny, one-person cell, also called a punishment cell, for purported disciplinary violations such as an alleged failure to properly button his prison clothes, properly introduce himself to a guard or to wash his face at a specified time. Navalnys associates and supporters have accused prison authorities of failing to provide him with proper medical assistance and voiced concern about his health. As Navalnys trial began, the Prosecutor Generals office declared the Bulgaria-based Agora human rights group to be an undesirable organization. It said the group poses a threat to the constitutional order and national security by alleging human rights violations and offering legal assistance to members of the opposition movement. Russian authorities have banned dozens of domestic and foreign nongovernmental organizations on similar grounds. In Berlin, the German government criticized the trial of Navalny and reiterated its call for his immediate release. In case of of the opposition politician Alexei Navalny, the Russian authorities keep looking for new excuses to extend his imprisonment, government spokesman Wolfgang Buechner told reporters. The German government continues to demand of the Russian authorities that they release Navalny without delay, he added. Navalnys imprisonment is based on a politically motivated verdict, as the European Court of Human Rights concluded back in 2017. Asked whether Germany could provide any assistance to Navalny or observe the trial, Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner said German officials were doing what they could on the few channels that we have, but acknowledged it was very difficult at the moment given the current state of relations with Russia. School District in Utah Faces Backlash After Banning the Bible: Part I The Bible is read aloud at the Utah Capitol on Nov. 25, 2013. (Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP) SALT LAKE CITYControversy has sprung up in Utah after the Davis County School District Review Committee decided on May 22 to remove the Bible from elementary and middle school libraries. The committee deemed the Bible not suitable for young children because of its vulgarity and violence. Their decision came after the bill HB374, known as the sensitive material law, was passed in 2021 and implemented in 2022. The purpose of the bill was to remove pornographic, inappropriate material from K12 libraries and classrooms. On June 7, over 100 people held a rally at the Utah State Capitol to protest the committees decision. People at the rally and elsewhere expressed disapproval of the banning of the Bible. Brad Probst, a former candidate for the Utah State Senate and a resident of Salt Lake City, told The Epoch Times, This country is in big trouble when a school district would ban the Bible but allow all sorts of other perverse books into the classroom that are so detrimental to our young people. Jacey Davis, a mother of five and a local resident of Farmington in Davis County, told The Epoch Times that she wonders if this problem could be settled better by enforcing local obscenity laws that each community already has in place, which make it illegal for anyone to create or view obscene or pornographic material on school property. She was referring to Utah State Code 76-10-1235. The Bible is far from the category of obscene. While the Bible does have some stories telling of inappropriate things happening, they are a warning and lesson for us not to do such things, whereas true indecent, obscene, or pornographic materials are promoting those things, Davis said. I am disappointed by attempts to censor the Bible by people, especially in the state of Utah, which was founded on the principles of religious liberty. Gayle Ruzicka, rally organizer and state president of the long-standing conservative organization Utah Eagle Forum, said that the protesters consisted of parents, grandparents, children, religious leaders, advocates, and elected representatives, many carrying their Bibles and some holding signs that read God Cannot Be Canceled, The Bible Is the Original Textbook, and Remove Porn, Not the Holy Bible. Ruzicka told The Epoch Times about some of the speakers at the rally, including Karlee Vincent of Davis County, who stood with her three young children, all holding their Bibles. Vincent said that school districts should ban certain books containing controversial materials, but not religious texts like the Bible. She said: We love the Bible. We love God. And we need God in our nation. Christina Boggess, a Utah State School Board member, spoke at the rally and called the book a seminal text of the American founding. Nichole Mason, president of Utah Parents United, also spoke at the rally and questioned how the Bible could be removed when other books with graphic images arent. Ruzicka told the audience, By removing the Bible from our educational institutions, we risk severing the foundation of our society, legal system, moral compass, and commitment to self-governance. Utah Rep. Ken Ivory, the sponsor of HB374, told The Epoch Times that he wanted Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to add this issue to the agenda for a special legislative session this summer so lawmakers can tweak the law and resolve this issue. Its up to the Legislature to close that gap so that this [banning of the Bible] doesnt happen in any other district, Ivory said. Ruzicka said it is only when the governor calls for a special legislative session that legislators can actually vote to change an already passed bill. To be continued in Part II. NEW DELHI, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government on Tuesday decided to immediately send medical teams to the heat wave-affected states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where nearly 100 people have died over the past few days. While 54 people have died in Uttar Pradesh, 44 people have lost their lives due to the extremely hot weather in Bihar so far, according to local media reports. As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD) data, the maximum temperature in several parts of the two states was recorded at 42.2 degrees Celsius on Friday, which was said to be 4.7 degrees above normal. In at least 11 districts of Bihar, the temperature surged past 44 degrees Celsius on Saturday. Sheikhpura town of Bihar remained the hottest place recording 45.1 degrees Celsius on Sunday. In Uttar Pradesh, Ballia has been one of the worst affected districts, with at least 400 people admitted to a district hospital during the last three days with complaints of fever, breathlessness and other health complications, said a media report by India Today. At a high-level meeting in the national capital, federal Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that health experts will be deployed to the two states amidst the rising number of deaths due to heat stroke. "A team of experts from the union health ministry, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will visit the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to support them in public health response measures to address heat-related illnesses," said the federal health minister. He also directed the ICMR officials to conduct research on how to minimize the effect of heat waves on health with specific action plans. Besides, the IMD has been asked to issue daily weather forecasts in a manner that can be easily interpreted and disseminated. School District in Utah Faces Backlash After Banning the Bible: Part II Continued from Part I The following is some background on what caused the Davis County School District to remove the Bible from elementary and middle school libraries. Chris Williams, the communication director for the Davis School District, told The Epoch Times how the Bible banning got started. He said, Someone who claimed to be a parent of a high school student in the district, but wished to be anonymous, filed a request to the Review Committee back [on] December 11, 2022. To be able to make a request to remove a book, one has to have standing; that is, one must be a parent or a student in the district, be a district employee with a professional responsibility, or be a school board member over the school where constituents are enrolled. Williams said that the parents Dec. 11 letter requested that the Bible face the same review process under the same districts policy as all other books. The person sent a list of sexual references in various chapters and verses of the Bible containing such things as incest, bestiality, prostitution, genital mutilation, and rape. Williams believes the request was really a protest against HB374, the sensitive material bill passed in 2021 that is now being enforced in all of the school districts in Utah. Some people are calling HB374 a book banning bill. He thinks the parent who wrote the request was actually trying to make the bill so unpopular that people would turn on the bill and throw it out. Ken Ivory, the author of the bill, told The Epoch Times and other media: HB374 is not a book banning bill. It merely addresses age appropriateness, requiring that all instructional materials in all school settings be age appropriate and not contain obscene and indecent materials. Sensitive Materials Review Committees Williams sent information that explained how the review committee process works. There can be more than one review committee. Each must have an odd number of voting members (preferably seven). A committee includes a non-voting facilitator who is selected by the District Teaching and Learning Director. The facilitator oversees and supports the review process. The makeup of the committee must include at least one administrator working in a district department or school; a licensed teacher who is teaching English or another relevant subject in a district school; a librarian who works in a district school; and a minimum of four parents, selected at random, with students enrolled in district schools. When making decisions about what constitutes sensitive material, the committees consider the definitions of pornographic or indecent materials according to the Obscenity Utah Code Ann. 53G-10-103, as well as whether the material contains vulgarity or violence that may make it not age-appropriate. So far, the committees have been requested to review 101 books and have completed 60 initial reviews. They also have 8 appeals and 16 pending appeals. The Decision Regarding the Bible Williams said that the Dec. 11 request to remove the Bible was sent to one of these review committees. The committee examined the selected passages mentioned in the request letter, and after several months deliberation, on May 22, they made their decision. The Bible was to be banned from all libraries and classrooms in elementary and middle schools in the Davis County district. However, the committee members did not believe it qualified as obscene or pornographic under the sensitive materials law or state obscenity laws (Utah State Code 76-10-1235), so at their own discretion they allowed it to stay in high school libraries and classrooms. Williams said that there was an appeal on May 31 by a parent (who also wants to remain anonymous) who would like the Bible retained at all levels. That appeal is still pending. It will be handled by three Davis school board members, who will make a recommendation to the full seven-member school board, who will vote to make the final decision. Williams said that the superintendent of the Davis School District, Dan Linford, is getting all sorts of criticism and backlash from people around the state and nation for letting the Bible be banned in his school district, but Linford really had nothing to do with the decisions made by the review committee and the school board. The superintendent mainly just has an administrators position and does not vote on the board. Request to Ban the Book of Mormon Williams said another significant request was made by another anonymous person just a little more than a week after the decision on the Bible. On June 2, the review committee received a request to also ban the Book of Mormon, the other book of scriptures that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints hold sacred. According to the request, the Book of Mormon contains stories of wars, a story of a man being burned at the stake, and other tales of violence. Brad Probst, the former Utah State Senate candidate quoted in Part I, told The Epoch Times: As with the Bible, the stories in the Book of Mormon are lessons for us to learn from so we will not repeat the mistakes of the past. The stories are not condoning these practices or promoting them as with pornographic or obscene materials. The Book of Mormon decision is still pending, as is the decision to reinstate the Bible in all the public libraries and schools in Davis County. There are sessions of the State Legislature taking place to address these issues, and Ivory has expressed hope that the banning of scriptures will not occur in any other district. She was a young leftist who believed republicans were all bad people, but following the election of Donald Trump in 2016 Ashley Smith would bail the progressivist ship and wash up a new person on right-leaning shores. She became an influencer on social media, sharing her freshly-discovered conservative viewpoints with marked accuracy and wit. Today, Smith, 31, produces short, punchy clips, about her fascinating, yet gut-wrenching, exodus from the left toward having a much more well-rounded view of the realities of the world. She also has a fair bit of fun dismantling progressivist positions that dont stand up to logic along the wayleaving the leftist house of cards in a heap. Here is a tidbit from that dismantling content: People ask me all the time, why people on the left are angryyou know, coming from the left, I guess Im a fairly good source, Smith said. Cognitive dissonanceonewhich if you dont know is the discomfort one feels from having contradicting thoughts or beliefs. Also, every issue on the left is made into an emotionally charged issue. Its all a form of some type of injustice. And if you actually believe there are all these types of injustice is going on in the world you are going to be angry about it. How It Started: Victim Mindset, Leftist Tears, and Trump Her heart started out in the right place. Adopted by family members after her parents died, growing up really poor, Smith came to believe everyone is a victim of their circumstances. Following her adoptive dads death, she and her mom lost their house and pretty much everything. The idea of socialism started sounding pretty good. Twenty-something Smith believed in compassion. She wanted others to be cared for the way she wasnt. The first hairline fractures in Smiths worldview appeared after her husband voted for Trump in 2016. He told me after the election results came in, and it was because I was, like, hysterical, she told The Epoch Times. When they finally called it, I just broke down. Though nowhere near as far left as she, hed also made a political shift. Now he wanted to have productive conversations with his wife. It really felt like every time I was proven wrong about something the rug was being pulled out from under me, she said. I went through this process where my entire worldview, essentially, was crumbling around me. (Courtesy of Ashley) Years later, in a video, Smith responded to a commenters question: Why dont you break up with your difference of opinion boyfriend? Smith answered: Did you know that cult school encourage their members to exile people out of their life if they dont agree with whatever they say? Youre just promoting echo chambers here. Did you ever think that sometimes people just love each other and they dont want politics to get in the way of their relationship? You know what the real fear is? The real fear is that you start having conversations, and then you start questioning. That might lead to doing research, which might lead to ones changing their mind. She adeded, And if theres one thing the left doesnt want you to do, its change your mind. In her earlier years, whenever Smith came across leftist ideas she often thought, Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, Im just going to go with that, but never stopped to probe deeper to the granular level to inspect the truth herself. Now, with her husband, she forced herself to listen. I started really exposing myself to other perspectives, she said, mentioning voices she once despised, like Ben Shapiro. I thought they were bad people, but I made myself listen to genuinely understand what was being said. Social media influencer Ashley Smith and her husband. (Courtesy of Ashley) One of the big hairline fractures to be utterly torn asunder for Smith came upon her hearing a debate on Second Amendment rights. Once a big proponent of gun reform, she now started astutely researching facts and claims about the matter herself. She had an epiphany. The majority of gun deaths are actually suicide, she said. Statistics revealed that in 2021, there were 26,328 gun-related suicides in the United States, comprising 54% of the nations deaths caused by firearms. By contrast, in the same year, there were 20,958 gun-related murders, comprising 43% of the total. Then there was the notorious fault line overlaying what she now calls weaponized compassion, related to the issue of immigration. During her leftist years, Smith recalls, the raging issue of the day was the war in Syria with the thousands of refugees flooding into Europe or seeking to migrate to the United States. She was all for it then, but not now. There is the potential for criminals, theres the potential for a lot of human trafficking, and drug smuggling, she said. I didnt think of any of that. I just thought of, Well, the poor people are trying to escape and come here for a better life. For leftist Smith, it was just another knee-jerk reaction. How Its Going: Trump or DeSantis? Turning to world events of today, Smith says she does not support United States involvement in the war in Ukraine. So much of our money is being wasted which could be put to far better use here, she said. It could go toward our veterans or protecting our border. As for the ever-divisive split on politics and elections, we queried Smithwho maintains loyalty to no political party and identifies as an independent conservativewhether she supports either Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis as GOP presidential candidate. She said she likes the one with decorum, who leads by example. I think DeSantis has shown a good track record in Florida, the southern Michigan mom said. I think that he is a bit less divisive, and I think Trump is pretty egotistical. Ive never enjoyed the way he talks. She said, I would vote for [Trump as president if he were to win the Republican nomination]. It would just not be my preference. The ex-leftist has all the complexity and nuance of someone who isnt pretending. Yet with all the fakers on TikTok, there is plenty of reason to be skeptical. Smith gets her share of detractors. One commenter accused her of lying about not being a Christian to get internet clout. Ashley Smith, her young son and daughter, and her husband. (Courtesy of Ashley) In her usual surgical manner, she dismantles the criticism thusly: I dont really fault you, because a whole lot of people do lie online for attention, she said in her clip. But my first thought would be: I must not be very devout in any type of faith or religion if I would lie about that and deny that for the sake of attention online. Once a self-described militant atheist, since making her political shift, Smith has revamped her religious stance. Its only been within the last two years that Ive come to a much more neutral place and calling myself agnostic, because I do think there is a possibility of something governing the universe; but what that is, I dont know. Ive met a fair number of agnostic conservatives. They do exist. The name Smith is a pseudonym. She asked that her last name not be published for security reasons. For someone prying apart the leftist war machine from within, doxing is a real issue with risks. A mom of two, Smith has nevertheless shared photos of herself and her family. She is a proponent of the nuclear family and the traditional gender roles of husband and wife. Its not possible for everyone and every family, but I think it produces the best outcomes for children, for families in general, she said. Im a stay-at-home mom I love that arrangement, and I think that my kids do much better with me around all the time and being able to attend to their needs. 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 Sikh Leader Who Advocated for Separate Sikh State Shot Dead Outside Surrey, BC, Temple The president of a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C., who advocated for a Sikh state independent of India, was found murdered in his vehicle outside in the parking lot after evening prayers at his place of worship. Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent member of the Sikh community, was fatally shot in what police have said is a targeted and deliberate killing, just before 8:30 p.m. local time on June 18, soon after prayers ended at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, a local temple. The attack occurred as Nijjar was leaving the temple, alone in his pickup truck, in what Surrey RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards said was a brazen and appalling murder. The Sikh Community of BC/Salish Land said on Twitter on June 18 that the B.C. Sikh community has suffered an immeasurable loss tonight at the hands of spineless cowards. Edwards said police were still investigating possible motives, and called on the community to help police in their investigation as they search for suspects. Were not going to let people come into this community and do these things anywhere, let alone in a house of worship, said Edwards. Were not going to stand for it. Everybody whos a witness comes forward. Everybody who has dashcam video. Everybody who hears something comes together, and we bring it forward to advance the investigation. Sgt. Tim Pierotti of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said investigators are aware that Nijjars death has led to community speculation about the motive for the killing. Local Indian news reports suggest that the Indian government wanted Nijjar extradited from Canada on charges related to extremism and terrorism from an alleged bombing in 2007. The Times of India alleged at the time that Nijjar was part of a group near Mission, B.C., that planned to engage in attacks in Punjab. Punjab is a Sikh-majority state, the only one in India, with an approximately 30 million population. Nijjar said he was innocent and strongly denied allegations of terrorism. B.C. Premier David Eby expressed shock at the death. Like many people in Surrey and many British Columbians, Im profoundly disturbed that somebody was murdered in our community on the grounds of a place of worship in front of many witnesses, said Eby on June 19. After the murder, with RCMP vehicles still present, a large group gathered outside the temple, chanting in Punjabi, Long live Khalistan, We want a separate Khalistan, and Death to India. In a news release on June 19, the World Sikh Organization of Canada alleged the killing of Nijjar was an assassination. The Canadian Press contributed to this report. South Korean Lawmakers Call for Expulsion of Chinese Ambassador Over Comments A TV screen shows a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 31, 2022. (Lee Jin-man/AP Photo) Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming sparked controversy after indirectly criticizing Seoul for siding with Washington instead of Beijing. The incident has led to calls for his expulsion from the country. In a June 8 meeting with Lee Jae-Myung, head of the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea, Xing said: Some people bet on the United States to win and China to lose, but this is clearly the wrong judgment. What can be said with certainty is that those who bet on Chinas defeat will surely regret it later. The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned him the next day and issued a warning over his senseless and provocative remarks. The ministry accused him of violating diplomatic protocols and interfering in domestic affairs. South Korean Office of National Security Director Cho Tae-yong said on June 9, Mutual respect is the foundation of inter-state relations. Yonhap News Agency reported that on June 13, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol criticized Xings remarks in a closed-door meeting at the Yongsan Presidential Office. Yoon said, Judging from the attitude of Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming, it is doubtful whether he is committed to a relationship of mutual respect and friendship as a diplomat. Sources in the presidential office told reporters the presidents office took Xings criticism very seriously. In addition, Seoul has increased pressure on Beijing over this incident. A senior official from the South Korean presidential office said at a press conference on June 13 that he was waiting for the Chinese side to consider the issue thoroughly and take appropriate measures and that South Korea was waiting for comprehensive measures from the Chinese regime. Yonhap News Agency revealed that Seoul had not requested specific measures from Beijing and believes it is up to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to resolve the matter. During a press briefing on June 13 in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin avoided answering questions on the South Korean governments request for appropriate measures; instead, he accused Seoul of hyping the topic. More Lawmakers Call for Xings Expulsion A growing number of parliamentarians from the ruling People Power Party have urged the government to designate Xing as persona non grata and expel him from South Korea. Lee Chul-gyu, the secretary general of the People Power Party, said at a meeting held at the National Assembly on June 13 that Xings remarks were offensive and should be considered a major incident that warrants reconsidering his status as a diplomat. Lee said that four months after he took office in May 2020, Xing pressured the South Korean government through media interviews to support Hong Kongs national security law formally and that he publicly opposed then-presidential candidate Yoons support of Koreas THAAD anti-ballistic missile defense system during the 2021 election campaign, sparking controversy over Xings alleged interference in the election. Lee also referred to recent media reports about Xings alleged acceptance of free luxury accommodations, which violated South Koreas pandemic prevention measures, and alleged tax evasion by the Chinese Embassy. He said that if the allegations were true, Xing would have violated international conventions. Lee further pushed for Xings designation as persona non grata by the ruling party. Kang Min-guk, the chief spokesman of the People Power Party, publicly refuted the editorial of the CCPs mouthpiece, Global Times, which called South Koreas diplomacy insecure, weak, and immature. Kang said, Is it truly reasonable for a countrys state media to belittle another country like that? Moreover, after Beijing ignored Seouls request to take appropriate measures against Xing, South Korean veteran groups staged a demonstration in front of the Chinese Embassy on June 13, expressing anger at the Chinese ambassadors behavior, which they believed undermined the sovereignty of South Korea. 90 Percent of South Koreans Are Anti-China A survey on U.S.-China competition conducted by the Eurasia Group, a U.S. political risk consulting firm, revealed that most respondents preferred the United States over China. One in 10 South Koreans have a favorable opinion of China, while 8 out of 10 have a favorable view of the United States. The survey, released on Dec. 12, 2022, was conducted on 1,500 respondents aged 18 to 65 in South Korea, the Philippines, and Singapore. All three countries are members of the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) and the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). South Koreans led in their favorability toward the United States at 82.6 percent, followed by 81.6 percent for the Philippines, and 48 percent for Singapore. The percentage of those with a favorable view of China was 56 percent in Singapore, 30.2 percent in the Philippines, and 14.8 percent in South Korea. Stefanik Proposes 15-Week Federal Ban on Abortion U.S. House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on June 8, 2022. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, says a robust national debate on abortion is vital for moving America forward. Toward that end, she proposes a 15-week federal ban as a minimum limitation on the procedure. Beyond that, state legislatures would be free to further restrict abortion based on the will of the people. Whats important, at both the federal and state level, those are elected officials making the decision, who are elected by the American people, rather than radical judges, who, frankly took the voice away from the American people, Stefanik said referring to the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision and the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization decision, which overturned it. We rightly have that [voice] back, Stefanik told attendees at a June 20 event at the National Press Club in Washington. Stefanik also favors exceptions to the national ban for cases involving rape, incest, or a threat to the life of the mother, along with federal support for families, including the child tax credit, childcare subsidies, and other measures. Stefaniks proposal lands in a political and social environment fraught with deep emotion and even violence, one year after Dobbs returned the matter of abortion to state legislatures for the first time in 50 years. Pro-abortion demonstrators outside the United States Supreme Court on June 24, 2022. (Jim Bourg/File Photo/Reuters) Post-Dobbs After Roe v. Wade, abortion was considered a constitutional right. While state legislatures were able to place some restrictions on the procedure, they could not outlaw it. Following the Dobbs decision, the abortion landscape changed virtually overnight. Some states had laws in place that took effect immediately and prohibited abortion with very few exceptions. Other states moved quickly to pass new abortion restrictions. More than 100 bills restricting abortion were introduced in state legislatures. Other states aimed to clarify that abortion either was, or was not, a protected right under their states constitution. Ballot initiatives codifying a right to abortion passed in California, Michigan, and Vermont. Initiatives to the contrary failed in the normally conservative states of Kansas and Kentucky. A Montana law requiring physicians to give life-saving care to survivors of an abortion procedure was rejected by voters. The result is a checkerboard of abortion legislation in which the procedure is largely illegal in some 14 states, highly restricted in others, and enshrined as a right in still others. At the same time, crimes against both abortion clinics and pro-life pregnancy care centers and churches increased following the Dobbs decision. Political Reactions Given the possibility of reshaping the abortion map in the post-Dobbs era, a number of political figures have played to their base, burnishing their pro-life or pro-choice credentials. Among presidential candidates, President Joe Biden, a practicing Catholic, has vocally supported abortion as a right. Former Vice President Mike Pence has called himself unapologetically pro-life and has said that ending abortion is a primary goal. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed into law a ban on the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. Some other candidates have been reluctant to state a definitive position on the subject, perhaps believing that the national mood has not yet settled. Axias Mobile Pregnancy Resource Truck takes the non-profits services to Texas cities. (Courtesy photo/Axia ) Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said during a televised interview that because neither party has enough votes to pass a federal abortion law, it would be unrealistic and divisive to discuss the matter. Former President Donald Trump would not directly state whether or not he would sign a federal abortion ban, telling a town-hall audience on May 10, We want to do whats right for everybody. Trump later referred to Floridas six-week ban as too harsh. Moment of Opportunity Stefanik sees the post-Dobbs crisis as a moment of opportunity. While those in the media want to portray Americans as viscerally divided on this issue, I believe there is far more consensus than the media would like to admit, Stefanik said, pointing to a Harvard-Harris poll indicating that 72 percent of voters, including 60 percent of Democrats, would support an abortion ban at the 15th week of pregnancy. The finding is consistent with a Gallup poll conducted in May, which shows that 69 percent of Americans believe abortion should be allowed in the first trimester of pregnancy, but only 37 percent would allow it in the second trimester and 22 percent in the third. Protecting life and defending the unborn are not extreme positions, Stefanik said. They are fundamental to human rights and the American dream. It is Democrats in Congress and in state governments, along with the Biden administration, who are wildly out of step with the values of the American people, she added. By proposing a 15-week federal ban on abortion with some exceptions, Stefanik, who has a reputation for bipartisanship, plays to the broad middle of the American public. By leaving states the option to impose greater restrictions on the procedure, the idea maintains the possibility of further progress for the pro-life agenda. I truly believe that the Supreme Court entrusted all of us with the responsibility of taking an important and deeply personal issue and building consensus to provide every child, mother, family, and especially the unborn children, this truly precious and sacred opportunity at life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, Stefanik said. More than 50 abortion-related bills are now pending in Congress. Janice Hisle contributed to this report. Stop-and-Search Powers Should Be Ramped Up, Says Home Secretary Police officers stop and conduct searches on football supporters arriving to attend the UEFA Champions League Group D football match between Tottenham and Olympique de Marseille, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in London, on Sept. 7, 2022. (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images) Stop-and-search police powers are not too controversial and should be ramped up to crackdown on violence, Home Secretary Suella Braverman has told MPs. Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, Braverman said that the stop-and-search tactic can be used effectively with sensible safeguards. Stop and search typically refers to the statutory police powers to stop and physically search an individual when there is a reasonable suspicion of a specific illegal activity or possession of a prohibited or illegal item. The tactic has been criticised largely for allegedly singling out young black men. Braverman rejected that idea, saying that young black men are disproportionately more likely to be victims of violent crimes. They are the ones most in need of protection. This is about saving the lives of young black men, she told MPs. Braverman referred to crime statistics, saying that while black people account for about 3 percent of UKs population, almost a third of under-25s killed by knives are black. It is always bad policy to place unsubstantiated theories ahead of demonstrable factin this case, it would be lethal, the home secretary argued. In an open letter sent earlier to 43 police chiefs in England and Wales, Braverman indicated that the police had her full backing to ramp up use of the tactic. She asked the chief constables to ensure that officers have the confidence to appropriately use all stop-and-search powers, including the use of suspicionless powers. Home Secretary Suella Braverman arrives for a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London on June 20, 2023. (Leon Neal/Getty Images) Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said it was up to the police to decide where and when to use the tactic. If its contentious to politicians, well brief them about why were doing it and try and persuade them why it makes sense to try and get their support. But if theyre not supportive, and were absolutely sure its the right thing, well still do it, Rowley told The News Agents. The commissioner added that he didnt take Bravermans show of support as an order. Braverman also told MPs that the government will amend the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which establishes the powers of the police to combat crimes while protecting the rights of the public. The government seeks to clarify when the police should report cases of the use of suspicionless powers. Braverman added that she has mandated research on stop and search to collect more data and use it to hold the police accountable. Blunt Tool In the year ending March 31, 2022, the Home Office recorded more than 526,000 stop and searches in England and Wales. In more than 66,000 cases, the tactic led to an arrest, with the arrest rate increasing by 13 percent compared to the year before. Labour MP Dawn Butler questioned the effectiveness of stop-and-search powers in yielding offensive weapons or items linked to burglary, as well as the governments urge to ramp up the use of the tactic. Crime statistics show that increased use of stop and search is driving the continuing increase in police-recorded possession-of-bladed-weapon offences, helping the police to save lives, Braverman responded. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper argued that the governments response to knife crime was wholly inadequate. Stop and search is an extremely important tool in the fight against knife crime but it isnt the whole strategy, Cooper told Braverman, adding that too little is being done to divert young people away from violence and crime. Another opposition MP, Florence Eshalomi, called the stop-and-search powers on their own a blunt tool, and said that framing knife crime as a black issue is lazy and a dangerous narrative. The Home Office data show that for the year ending March 31, 2022, individuals from a black or black British background were searched at a rate 6.2 times higher than that of those from a white ethnic group. The home secretary told the MPs that stop-and-search powers are not a disproportionate or a racist tool. What is disproportionate is that black people are four times more likely to be murdered than white people. What is disproportionate is that young black men are more likely to be victims of knife crime than young white men, she said. Stop Talking With Communist China, Start Defending America U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (4th L) attends a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping (R) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 19, 2023. Xi hosted Blinken for talks in Beijing on June 19, capping two days of high-level talks by the U.S. secretary of state with Chinese officials. (Leah Millis/Pool/AFP/Getty Images) Commentary Veni, vidi, vici. Secretary of State Antony Blinken came to Beijing, saw and kowtowed to Xi Jinping, and yet another American diplomat was conquered by communist Chinas endless delay negotiating strategy. I know this negotiating strategy all too well from my four years in the Trump White House trying to negotiate an end to Beijings unfair trade, cyber attacks on the United States, suppression of Hong Kong, and various other forms of aggression and Chinese imperialism. Indeed, on more than one occasion, I sat across the table from stone-faced diplomatic dalliersand Xi himselfknowing that their only goal was to induce more delay in any definitive U.S. action. In his latest display of diplomacy, the deepness of Blinkens kowtow was startling. Blinken needlessly renounced any U.S. support for Taiwans independence. He also made the absurd claim, despite abundant evidence to the contrary, that Chinas broad economic success is also in our interest. Memo to the Biden administration: Communist China continues its relentless economic aggression against the United States, which has already lost tens of thousands of factories and millions of jobs to what Ive accurately described as Chinas seven deadly sins. These sins begin with the relentless hacking of American businesses, government, and, yes, personal computers. They include massive intellectual property theft, counterfeiting and piracy, the forced transfer of American technology in exchange for market access to China, equally massive government subsidies that cripple the ability of American businesses to compete fairly, Chinese state-owned enterprises that use predatory pricing to crush foreign competitors, and highly corrosive currency manipulation. Last, and most deadly, communist China continues to export tons upon tons and barrels upon barrels of the toxic chemicals used by the Mexican drug cartels to produce the fentanyl thats now killing more than 50,000 Americans per year. In the face of this relentless aggression, theres really nothing to negotiate about on the economy. If communist China doesnt immediately cease this aggression, the United States must equally immediately begin to decouplenot de-risk and diversify as the Biden administration would have it. Along these lines, theres also nothing to negotiate with respect to the Trump tariffs I helped design. They remain in place and, if anything, should be raised and extended to other products. These Trump tariffs must endure because communist China continues to commit its seven deadly sins of economic aggression. As for Xis arming of the Russian military to crush Ukraine, Blinken tip-toed around it. This is nothing short of tragic because heres the real game afoot: Xis cooperation with Vladimir Putins Russian Bear is his own quid pro quo for Russian support of what will inevitably be communist Chinas invasion of Taiwan. Thats inevitable unless Taiwan peacefully submits to going under the Chinese boot. Theres likewise nothing to negotiate with respect to communist Chinas human rights abuses. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is committed to cultural genocide and ethnic cleansing in Xinjiang and Tibet, and itll brook no interference whatsoever in this brutalityeven as it censures Christians and slaughters Falun Gong practitioners. Of course, if American negotiators even dare raise this particular issue, the CCP will throw back in our face all of the various racial and religious divides in our country, as if there were any moral equivalence in communist China. There isnt! Finally, there are the very alarming issues of a massive spy balloon that flew across our countrys sensitive military installations and the incredibly dangerous Cuban fortress that China is now buildingneither was even mentioned in Blinkens presser. This was a huge oversight as the Cuba fort, in particular, poses an existential threat. Itll be used not just to monitor American communications and surveil our shipping traffic but also to facilitate offensive cyber and electronic warfare attacks against our networks and infrastructure should our two countries ever go on a war footing, for example, over Taiwan. Here, we should simply tell communist China to get the Hades out of Cuba and dont expect anything in return. Follow Peter Navarro at PeterNavarro.Substack.com, where this article originally appeared. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. On an extraordinary journey among Spains most beautiful islands to appreciate their sea, customs, fiery sunsets, and diverse cultures, we will visit Ibiza, Formentera, Gran Canaria, and Tenerifea fascinating and comprehensive journey. Supreme Court Declines Appeal From Christian School in Transgender Housing Case Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court pose for their official photo at the Supreme Court in Washington on Oct. 7, 2022. (Front LR) Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Samuel Alito and Justice Elena Kagan. (Back LR) Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images) The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear an appeal from a Missouri Christian university that filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its transgender housing policy. The justices issued a brief, unsigned order declining to take up a case filed by the College of the Ozarks, which appealed a lower courts decision that found the university had no standing to challenge the policy. That court, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, ruled that the school lacks standing because the federal government never tried to enforce the mandate against the school. On the day President Joe Biden took office in early 2021, he signed an executive order that told federal agencies to interpret sex-discrimination provisions in federal laws. Weeks later, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a memo (pdf) that updated the 1968 Fair Housing Act (FHA), claiming anti-discrimination laws can protect transgender individuals throughout the federal government. In its challenge, College of the Ozarks said that the federal governments rulemaking clashed with the schools ability to house people based on their biological sex. Because the colleges faith teaches that sex is based on male-female biology, not gender identity, the college assigns its dorms, roommates, and intimate spaces by sex and communicates that policy to students, College of the Ozarks told the Supreme Court. Lawyers added that the result of the policy has mammoth implications, according to court filings. If HUD gets away with rewriting the FHA via the Directive, it has no incentive to ever go through the rule-making process. That eliminates judicial review until after an enforcement proceeding is complete and the regulated entity has already been harmed, it said. Williams Memorial Chapel, College of the Ozarks, Point Lookout, Missouri on April 30, 2016. (Nan Fry via Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 2.0) The Justice Department (DOJ) previously argued that College of the Ozarks also has a religious exemption to such policies. It said that because of the exemption, the DOJ likely wont enforce the FHA rule. Petitioner has not alleged any past, current, or threatened enforcement of the Memorandum or the FHA against it or any similarly situated college indeed, as the court of appeals emphasized, HUD has never filed a charge of sex discrimination based on a housing policy against an educational institution where, as here, the Department of Education has recognized that institutions entitlement to a religious exemption under Title IX, the Justice Department said in court papers. The Biden administration has told the Supreme Court, in papers filed last month, that the early 2021 HUD guidance doesnt itself require the school or another housing provider to do or refrain from doing anything. It added that the college, meanwhile, has not alleged any past, current, or threatened enforcement. When the 8th Circuit Appeals Court ruled on the matter in 2022, it wrote that an earlier district court ruling found that the college lacked standing to establish a case or controversy and dismissed the action for lack of jurisdiction, saying that it affirms that decision. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a nonprofit advocacy group, has been representing the college. They argue that the college might be forced to have women share private spaces with biological men who claim to be transgender women, and the group said that HUD may levy a hefty, six-figure fine against the college. College of the Ozarks should be free to follow the religious tradition on which it was founded and young women should not be forced to share private spaces with men. The government cant strip a faith-based institution of its constitutionally protected freedoms because it disagrees with its views about marriage and sexuality, ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy John Bursch said in a news release in March. He added that multiple states, colleges, and other organizations have rallied in support of College of the Ozarks ability to bring a legal challenge to protect its freedom to operate its school according to its religious beliefs. In one instance, the state of Missouri filed an amicus brief (pdf), which 18 other states joined, arguing that this case involves an expansion of federal power and the federal governments outright failure to address, let alone balance, antidiscrimination policy and interests with religious beliefs. In response to the courts decision on Tuesday, ADF senior counsel Marie Blake told the Washington Examiner that the justices left this issue unresolved and said it will likely be challenged. Though the high court chose not to review this case, we are hopeful it will soon take up related casesboth challenges to the broad overreach of the Biden administration and the governments repeated attempts to remove from law any real distinctions between males and females, Blake said. The Epoch Times has contacted the ADF for additional comment on Tuesdays Supreme Court decision. Suspect in Jail After 4 People Fatally Shot at Residence in Idaho, Police Say The 500 block of West Brown Ave. in Kellogg, Idaho, in September 2021. (Google Maps/Screenshot via The Epoch Times) KELLOGG, IdahoA 31-year-old man detained at the scene of a shooting in northern Idaho that left four people dead on Sunday has been booked into jail on probable cause for murder and is a neighbor of the victims, state police said. In a news release late Monday afternoon, Idaho State Police said they were still investigating the shooting deaths in the 500 block of West Brown Ave. in the small city of Kellogg, about 36 miles east of Coeur dAlene, after working through the night. This is a tragic situation that will affect the Kellogg community. Detectives continue working to establish a timeline and what led to the shooting, Lieutenant Paul Berger, a detective with the Idaho State Police, said in the news release. Investigators are releasing that the suspect is the neighbor of the victims, the news release said. However, neither the relationships between the parties nor the suspects motive will be confirmed by law enforcement until after the initial court appearance when records become available through the courts. The bodies of the four victims are in the custody of the Shoshone County Coroners Office, according to the news release. The detained suspect was being held at the Shoshone County Jail. Crime scene tape on Monday blocked off parts of an apartment complex in Kellogg, KXLY-TV reported. The shooting occurred at multi-dwelling units behind the Mountain View Congregational Church on Sunday, The Shoshone News-Press reported on the newspapers Facebook page. Around 7:20 p.m. on Sunday, the Shoshone County dispatch center received a 911 call indicating that multiple people had been killed inside a residence in Kellogg, state police said Sunday night in a news release. Law enforcement officers found four people dead when they arrived and detained a 31-year-old male believed to be connected with the deaths, according to the release. The Shoshone County Sheriffs Office, which said in a Facebook post that it responded to the scene with the Kellogg Police Department, said the four people died of gunshot wounds. The Kellogg Police Department did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking additional information. SAN FRANCISCO, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Officials of San Francisco, U.S. state of California, on Monday called a gunbattle in the city over the weekend that left six hurt an illustration of violence rattling cities throughout the nation. "We have a problem with guns in this country, and San Francisco is not immune," San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said on Monday. Police have apprehended two people following the "car-to-car" shooting on Sunday along the Embarcadero near the Fisherman's Wharf area, a famous tourist attraction of the city. At least one of the people detained is from Pittsburg, Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said. "It's horrific, it's unthinkable," he said, adding that "no innocent bystanders were killed or critically injured, which is kind of amazing with a one-mile running vehicular gunbattle in a totally crowded area." Supervisor Joel Engardio called for "swift arrests and strong prosecution of criminal acts." Oakland also saw a string of shootings during the weekend, one of which left a 6-year-old wounded in the crossfire. A mass shooting happened last week in the city's Mission District that injured nine people. Such incidents have been relatively rare in the city, though violence has accelerated in recent years, The San Francisco Chronicle said in a report. In 2020, the most recent year with complete nationwide data available from the FBI, San Francisco police reported 544 violent crimes per 100,000 city residents, ranking 14th among 23 cities with 750,000 people or more. Violent crime increased in San Francisco in 2021 and 2022, inching back toward pre-pandemic levels. Through June 11, violent crime was up 4 percent in 2023 when compared with the same period last year, according to city records. The mass shooting was part of a spate of gun violence over the weekend that killed and wounded people across the United States, including at least 60 shot in the Chicago area alone, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. This weekend, four people were shot dead and a suspect was arrested in the small town of Kellogg, Idaho. A Pennsylvania state trooper was slain and a second critically wounded after an ambush at a police barracks by a man who was then killed in a gun battle. Poverty, unemployment, and an inadequate social safety net have left many people angry and alienated, leading relationships to fray and tensions to flare, UC Berkeley law Professor Jonathan Simon said, adding that escalations of assaults and shootings can have ripple effects for years. Suspected Gang Leaders Arrested for Smuggling Illegal Immigrants on Small Boats A group of illegal immigrants are brought by a Border Force vessel to Dover, Kent, on May 19, 2023. (Gareth Fuller/PA Media) The National Crime Agency (NCA) has arrested three alleged members of an Albanian organised crime group that has facilitated illegal entry of numerous immigrants into the UK. The suspected group ringleaders, a 34-year-old man from Grays, Essex, and a 34-year-old man from Dagenham, London, were arrested on Monday. The illegal entry of immigrants was allegedly carried out via small boat and HGV transfers. The crime ring has been reportedly charging immigrants between 2,500 and 7,500 for crossing into the UK. This includes the case of 46 immigrants who in August last year were intercepted in British waters after leaving the French coast on a small boat. The NCA reported that most of them were Albanian nationals and included young children, as well as a convicted rapist, who has now been deported twice from Britain. The agency believes three more events to be linked to the organised crime group in question. An HGV travelling from Caquelles in France has reportedly dropped off immigrants in Cobham, Surrey and Thurrock, Essex, on three separate occasions in autumn 2022. A 55-year-old lorry driver from Belgium was arrested on Monday in Folkestone, Kent, while two other men were apprehended at an address in north London. We have dismantled a suspected organised crime group behind a number of dangerous migrant crossings last year. People smugglers do not care about the safety of those they transport, they seek to exploit them for profit, said director of threat leadership at the NCA, Chris Farrimond. Farrimond identified tackling organised immigration crime as a priority for the agency, adding there were more than 90 ongoing investigations into networks based in the UK and abroad. As we target callous organised criminal gangs, we will not hesitate to also pursue HGV drivers complicit in helping them, he added. All of the arrested individuals are currently in custody and will be questioned by NCA officers. Unsustainable Numbers The 46 immigrants removed from a small boat last year were placed at a holding centre by Border Force officers. The NCA collaborated with the Border Forces Small Boats Operational Command (SBOC) to investigate the case of illegal crossing. The SBOC, which came into force on Jan. 31, is part of the governments response to curb small boats crossings to the country. At the moment of its launch, the SBOC announced it would recruit 730 additional staff and introduce the use of drones, land-based radar, and cameras to track vessels on the water. The initiative came following several months with high recorded numbers of small boats arrivals into the UK. Over 45,000 people arrived in the country by small boats in 2022, with more than half crossing in the three months of August, September, and October. Last year we saw an unsustainable and unacceptable number of people risking their lives to reach the UK illegally. This simply cannot continue and that is why we are taking immediate steps to tackle the evil people-smuggling gangs behind these deadly crossings and get our immigration system under control, a government spokesperson said at the launch of the SBOC in January. Delivering a statement on illegal immigration in June, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak argued that it was the government who should decide who comes here, not criminal gangs. He added that since the government launched operations to curb illegal immigration earlier this year, small boat crossings had dropped 20 percent compared to 2022. The UK government signed an agreement on illegal immigration with Albania at the end of last year. Since then over 1,000 Albanian nationals have been returned to Albania, including failed asylum seekers, foreign national offenders, and voluntary returns. Under current government plans, illegal immigrants are to be housed on vessels like barges and in alternative sites, in order to cut high accommodation costs. According to the government, accommodation of illegal immigrants at hotels comes at great expense to the taxpayer, and is currently estimated at 6 million a day. Whitehalls policy has been criticised by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, among others, who argued that placing illegal immigrants on barges raises concerns about the safety, health, and wellbeing of people fleeing appalling circumstances. Canadas Tax Freedom Day Falls on June 19 This Year: Think Tank Tax Freedom Day in Canada falls on June 19 this year, according to the Fraser Institute. Tax Freedom Day refers to when Canadians would theoretically start working for themselves if they paid all their taxes to the government up front starting on Jan. 1. If the average Canadian family had to pay its taxes up front, it would have worked until June 18 to pay the total tax bill imposed on it by all three levels of government (federal, provincial, and local), the institute said in a June 19 news release accompanying the full report. This year, it comes eight days later than in 2019, the last year before the pandemic, and four days later than 2021 when it fell on June 15, said the report. The tax burden equals more than five months of income earned, according to the Institute. In 2023, the average Canadian household will earn $140,106 in income, and have to pay an estimated 46.1 percent of that, $64,610, in taxes to the government, according to the report. Each year, the Fraser Institute calculates Tax Freedom Day to shed light on Canadians overall tax burden. Hidden Taxes The institute said that its difficult for ordinary Canadians to find out how much cumulative tax they pay. It said that while most households can figure out how much income tax they pay from their paystubs, there are a number of other taxes that are not so obvious, for example, the hidden taxes built into the price of goods and services. If Canadians paid all their taxes up front, they would work the first 169 days of this year before bringing any money home for themselves and their families, said Jake Fuss, associate director of fiscal studies at the Fraser Institute. The think tank provided a breakdown of the typical total tax bill, with 15.3 percent going to income taxes, 9.7 percent allocated to payroll and health taxes (including the Canada Pension Plan), and 6.8 percent to sales taxes like GST. The average family also pays 3.4 percent of their income to property taxes, 5.4 percent to profit taxes, 1.7 percent to sin taxes (for example, on tobacco and alcohol), and 1.4 percent to fuel, vehicle, and carbon taxes. An additional 2.4 percent goes to other taxes, for a total of 46.1 percent of income going to the government. There are import duties, natural resource fees, excise taxes, motor vehicle license fees, and a host of other levies, notes the report. Historically, the earliest Canadians celebrated Tax Freedom Day in the last 13 years was on May 29, 2020. In all other years since 2010, Tax Freedom Day came in June. Tax Freedom Day in 2023 comes one day earlier than in 2022, when it fell on June 20. This change is due to the expectation that the incomes of Canadians will increase faster than the total tax revenues forecasted by Canadian governments, said the report. The Fraser Institute warns that the tax burden could become more substantial as time goes on. Canadians should also be worried about the $47 billion in deficits the federal and provincial governments are forecasting this year, because they will have substantial tax implications in future years, said the news release. There is some variation in when Tax Freedom Day comes for each province, depending on the local and provincial taxes levied. For example, Manitoba households pay their tax burden by June 6, while Prince Edward Island and British Columbia finish on June 9. New Brunswick can celebrate on June 12, Alberta on June 14, and Ontario and Nova Scotia both have their day on June 18. Saskatchewan comes on June 22, while Newfoundland and Labrador, and Quebec, will work until June 26 and June 30 respectively. The California Budget and Newsoms Presidential Ambitions Commentary As I have been writing in The Epoch Times, everything Gov. Gavin Newsom does now advances his ambition to move into the White Houseprobably as early as Jan. 20, 2025. So watch how he handles negotiations with the California Legislature over the budget for fiscal year 2023-24, which begins on July 1. Unlike last year, when he and the Democratic supermajority enjoyed a nearly $100 billion surplus, this year the deficit is at least $31.5 billion. But there are ways to finesse that. In longtime Sacramento parlance, theyre called gimmicksaccounting tricks to shift spending around, especially into the future, to reduce current spending or advance revenues. It used to be a budget impasse could last weeks, even months. In 2008, as the Great Recession dug in, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a budget 85 days late. But he was a Republican, likely the last of that party to hold the post in a long time. Gov. Jerry Brown avoided such delays by being not only a Democrat, but the most experienced governor the state ever had due to his having been governor in the 1970s, and with a father who was governor in the 1960s. He knew how to push all the right political buttons in the process. A key element is Proposition 25, passed by voters in 2010. It dropped the threshold for passing a budget in each house of the Legislature from two-thirds to a majority vote, except for tax increases. That has effectively cut Republicans out of the budget process, even when they have risen above one-third of the seated legislators, which currently they have not. In return, the voters were promised prompt passage, by the June 15 deadline, of budgets not only on time, but meeting the constitutional requirement of being balancedor the legislators pay would be withheld if there was any delay. In 2011, Controller John Chiang actually docked legislators pay for their tardiness, branding the budget miscalculated, miscounted or unfinishedan apt description of every budget Ive written about for 36 years! But then Sacramento Superior Court Judge David Brown threw it out as an unwarranted intrusion into the Legislatures budget deliberations. His final ruling came in April 2012. That actually makes sense. In our system of divided governmentlegislative, executive, and judicialyou cant have the legislatures salaries determined by the executive branch, in this case the controller. Legislators were still worried about constituents becoming even more cynical over new budget delays. So, ever creative, the legislators realized they could just pass what some call sham budgets, balanced and on time, at least as presented, to be adjusted later with trailer bills. Newsoms Ambitions Thats where we stand now. On June 15 the Legislature sure as tootin passed a balanced budget. Now legislative leaders are negotiating with Newsom. But keep this in mind: Everybody knows theres a good chance hell be in the White House, doling out many thousands of patronage jobs, from cabinet secretaries to sub-department heads. And he will reward his California friends more than any others with the dream jobs all political operatives lust after. So they will play along to get alongall the way to D.C. The Bee reported Friday; note the tax-shift gimmick: Assembly Budget Chair Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), on Thursday said lawmakers and the administration are very close to an agreement, which he expects will come together in the matter of days. During floor discussions, Republicans raised concerns about $42 billion in anticipated tax receipts that have been delayed until October. California residents in areas affected by severe winter storms received a tax-filing extension, which means leaders are not certain exactly how much revenue they will get this fall. Sticky issues also include what to do about the $31.5 billion deficit and transportation funding. But at this point, those are just details. In a Newsom Presidency, could Ting become the Director of the Office of Management and Budget? Certainly possible. For their part, the super-minority Republicans objected that the budget isnt anywhere near being balanced. Said Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher (R-Chico): While regular folks have to make hard choices to deal with Californias affordability crisis and weak job market, Capitol Democrats are relying on gimmicks and borrowing to continue spending like theres no tomorrow. Californians deserve a real budget that controls spending, helps the economy and makes our state a better place to live. This spending plan isnt it. True enough. But the aim of the budget is to get Newsom through this cycle unscathed before the 2024 presidential primaries. If he ends up having to wait until 2028 to run, then no sweat. But if Biden drops out for whatever reasonsomething I covered in April in the Epoch Timesthen Newsom is tanned, rested, ready, and with a balanced budget. Newsom is scoring 20 cents to be the Democratic nominee on the PredictIt site, which takes bets on political and other events, second and rising to Bidens 72 cents. Thats why Newsom is eager to get the budget wrangling over with. He wants go back to Florida to campaign against Gov. Ron DeSantis, currently running second to Donald Trump as a potential GOP nominee for president. At this point, for Newsom, California politics is just an afterthought. John Seilers email: writejohnseiler@gmail.com Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. The One UN Representative Fighting for Womens Rights United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Reem Alsalem (L) and U.N. Human Rights Officer Orlagh McCann (R) address a press conference in Ankara, Turkey, on July 27, 2022. (Aden Altan/AFP via Getty Images) Commentary Were constantly told that trans women pose no threat to biological womenthis is simply not true. Womens rights activists are regularly targeted and physically assaulted by aggressive trans activists. This fact isnt lost on Reem Alsalem, a humanitarian who was appointed United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls back in 2021. As I reported last month, Alsalem recently released a strongly worded statement (pdf) condemning the many ways in which members of the trans community continue to intimidate biological women. Alsalems decision to release such a statement was a brave one. She has been targeted by trans activists in the past. Moreover, her current employer, the United Nations, is big on political correctness. When it comes to championing trans-friendly issues and trans-friendly jargon, the intergovernmental organization is only too happy to oblige. The UN regularly releases statements lamenting the scourge of transphobia, and what steps must be taken to make the world a more trans-inclusive place. Today, it seems, all we talk about are the rights of trans people. But what about the rights of all the other 7+ billion people who dont identify as trans? What about the rights of biological women, for example? This brings us back to Alsalem, who has spent the best part of 25 years fighting for the rights of women and girls all across the world. I reached out to her for comment on this rather important matter. She told me that she released the powerful statement because she was inundated with stories of women, girls, and their allies being punished for expressing their views on sex, gender, and gender identity. These stories, she said, kept emerging on screen and multiplying. Moreover, said Alsalem, she couldnt ignore the level of noise, sabotage, threat of violence, or actual use of violence that kept becoming louder and louder. Its odd that many of the people and organizations attacking Alsalem are eager to champion the rights of women in Afghanistan and Iran, but less eager to champion the rights of the women in their own countries. Make no mistake about it: Attacks on biological females are real. They have been occurring for years. Alsalem mentioned a few examples, including Helen Steel, who was attacked at the London Anarchist Bookfair in 2017 for helping women who were distributing gender critical leaflets. Meanwhile, in France, in 2021 a group of female survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse were attacked by activists and had eggs thrown at them. Similarly, in Spain, said Alsalem, from year to year, the 8th of March is accompanied by outbursts of attacks from transgender activists on women who advocate for single-sex protections for women. In March of this year, in Auckland, New Zealand, British activist Kellie-Jay Keen was attacked at the Let Women Speak Event. While I do not agree with some of the views and sentiments of Ms. Keen, commented Alsalem, we must acknowledge her right to speak without violence or intimidation. In the United States, around the very same time Keen was being attacked, Riley Gaines, a swimmer who regularly advocates for female-only categories in sports, was ambushed and hit by screaming trans activists. Far-left transgender activistsnow known as TRANTIFA, a portmanteau of trans and ANTIFApose a significant threat to the public. I asked Alsalem to define the word woman. She wasted no time in responding: adult human female. At least thats what it used to mean up until very recently, she added. Female, clearly relating to biological sex, has been considered an equivalent of woman, reflecting many other non-English languages where the distinction between female and woman doesnt exist. For example, Alsalem explained, in some Indo-European languages, female reproductive biology is even embedded in the word woman, which can be traced to the word life (as in, giving life, giving birth). Think of the famous slogan Jin, Jiyan, AzadiWomen, Life, Freedomwhere Jin (Woman) and Jiyan (Life) have the same root. This global, universal, and historical understanding of woman being equivalent to female, she told me, is what informed the recognition that women have faced discrimination due to their sex, which is at the heart of international human rights frameworks such as the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) convention. In recent times, however, with categories of personal identification changing and expanding, and new terms constantly being introduced into the common lexicon, the word woman, like so many other words, has been corrupted. All of this leaves us asking one rather important question: Can anything be done to bridge the divide between the trans community and the non-trans community? First of all, responded Alsalem, we have to remember that we are speaking of some radical trans activists that do not speak for nor represent the entire trans community. Many trans persons and their allies, she added, dont support them or their questionable agendas. Alsalem believes that there are many things that can and should be done to bridge the aforementioned divide. These include opening up spaces that allow everyone to speak to the issues in a respectful, dignified manner, without anyone jumping to injure or cancel them. The issues at stake are too important, far reaching, and complex not to be discussed and debated by the whole of society, said Alsalem. Finally, she argues that this process of discussion, reflection, and legislation shouldnt be left only to parliaments or political parties and their political bartering but wider and more representative, consultative, and inclusive processes of consulting citizens in any given society. Perhaps these matters should be voted on in a referendum, since they have implications for broader society. Recently, in the Financial Times, Martin Wolf, a UK-based journalist, discussed how the introduction of citizen juries or assemblies could reinvigorate liberal democracies and help decide contentious issues. He referenced their use to decide on the scope of abortion rights in my home country of Ireland. On trans-related matters, something similar could be employed. Alsalem likes the idea, as do I. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Popcorn and Inspiration: Older films that can speak to us today NR | 1 h 32 min | Drama, Comedy | 1953 On screen, judges usually sit, speak little, summon people to their bench or chamber, and are rarely seen outside court. But Judge Priest (Charles Winninger) is no ordinary judge. He stands and talks and walks a lot, especially outside court. Priest presides over a town riven with class and color prejudices, where hes seeking re-election. Hes bound by his judicial duty to adjudicate matters in court but bound by his conscience to settle others out of court. But townsfolk (would-be voters) and his electoral rival Maydew (Milburn Stone) are judging Priests every step. Will he practice the values of law, order, and justice that he professes? Meanwhile, two persons who return to town after years away test Priests resolve, but differently: courageous Ashley Corwin (John Russell) and an unnamed prostitute (Dorothy Jordan), who turns out to be the mother of Corwins love interest, schoolteacher Lucy (Arleen Whelan). Corwin towers in defending the defenseless, and in what would have been a challenge for the 6-foot-3-inch actor, he kneels to say a prayer. Charles Winninger plays Judge Priest in The Sun Shines Bright and is seen here in a scene from Showboat. (MGM) Caricaturish opening scenes, including of Priest playing the trumpet to someones banjo, arent meant to be viewed literally, but as a comical sketch of Priest, more at home with his glass of whisky than with his gavel. He respects tradition, willingly honoring a color guard for a rival political camp. But he thumbs his nose at pomposity devoid of a humane center. And he wont give over his verdicts to the highest bidder. Winninger undercuts his perfect gesturesspeeches, oaths, and flag-bearingwith the imperfect. His cheeks billow at a trumpet that doesnt blow on the first try. He keeps asking for medicine to get his heart started, but his is the heart that beats loudest here. Stone plays an unsavory rival but lacks the screen time to seriously challenge Priest. Thats left to Grant Withers, who excels as county bully, Buck Ramsey. In a scene thats a lesson in courage, Priest stands up to Ramseys mob out to lynch a young black man Woodford (Elzie Emanuel), falsely accused of rape. When law officers bring Woodford in on grounds that bloodhounds chased him down, Priest suspects a cover-up by the real culprit and, fearing for Woodfords life, takes him into protective custody. He makes it clear that sometimes a man is running away from lawlessness not the law; his running doesnt mean the law must blindly give him chase. Standing Up to Injustice Marquee Western movie posters often sport 6-and-a-half-feet tall gunmen. All of 5 feet and 9 inches, chubby Winninger wouldnt scare a cat, even with a loaded .45 Colt. Umbrella in one hand, smoking pipe in another, hes more like a Santa-for-rent than a sheriff. Yet he stands alone against a gang that isnt too different from a pack of bloodhounds. Priest doesnt make up his brand of justice on the hoof; instead, he takes his court out to the streets, serving justice where it needs to be. His aide, anxious about the mob, suggests he telegram to get some soldiers. Priest shouts back, Aint got time for soldiers! John Ford, director of The Sun Shines Bright. (Public Domain) Cinematically, Ford weaves the shame associated with ostracized colors or classes into his motif of Lucys status as an illegitimate daughter. He interrogates then redefines respectability by spotlighting Priest himself as an outcast, a kindred spirit to other outcasts. Priest never pulls rank on the victimized, but he rages against vested interests trying to bully justice into subservience. He pleads for tolerance toward those more hesitant to approach the bench for the fear of their lowly station, fear that their poverty, their dependence, or their joblessness is already a crime in the eyes of the influential. In one heated courtroom exchange, he stands up for whorehouse madam Mallie Cramp. Maydew, contemptuously: Mallie, on your feet! Alright, Mallie. What do you plead? Priest is furious, One moment, Mr. Maydew. Standing up, he rebukes Maydew, and respects Mallie with a single gesture, Please be seated, Mrs. Cramp. Like Cobb, Ford must have wondered why the biblical verse Matthew 5:45 so dispassionately declares that Gods sun shines on the just and the unjust. Ford, who often pondered the Civil War, wonders here why the war against injustice should be so lonely. A scene with no dialogue has Priest trudging toward the camera, handkerchief at his brow. Hes alone in a corridor, having just explained to voters why they must search their conscience before voting, unlike bloodhounds, blindly following a scent thrown to them by their masters. Later, in another wordless scene, his handkerchief is at his brow. But this time hes trudging away from the camera, alone again. Judge Priest delivers justice in The Sun Shines Bright. (Republic Pictures) The Sun Shines Bright Director: John Ford Starring: Charles Winninger, John Russell, Arleen Whelan Not Rated Running Time: 1 hour, 32 minutes Release Date: May 2, 1953 Rated: 3 stars out of 5 Three Years After Galwan Valley Clash, Towns Along IndiaChina Border Get an Upgrade Instant urbanization will bolster China's military status along the disputed border, experts say Indian Army soldiers demonstrate positioning of a Bofors gun at Penga Teng Tso ahead of Tawang, near the Line of Actual Control (LAC), neighbouring China, in India's Arunachal Pradesh state on Oct. 20, 2021. (Money Sharma/AFP via Getty Images) NEW DELHIThree years after the bloody Galwan Valley clash, experts say Chinas upgrade of two sparsely populated areas in Tibet is intended to bolster its military status along the hotly contested IndiaChina border. The Galwan Valley clash in June 2020 was the first deadly bloodshed between the two superpowers in 45 years. Fought with sticks and stones rather than guns and tanks, the melee left 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese fighters dead. Despite negotiations following the clash, China has continued to bulk up its presence along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC) that runs between the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and Indias state of Arunachal Pradesh. Satellite images from February 2023 provide evidence that China has been constructing villages and military infrastructure near the LAC. The elevation of Milin and Cuona to cities on April 3 is part of this effort, experts say. The new cities, although minuscule in terms of population, have strategic importance in light of the border dispute. New Cities Strengthen Chinas Forward Position Milin and Cuonawhich were previously called either towns or counties in Western media reportslie on the contentious border between China and India. The population of Milin is only 24,665, while that of Cuona is 13,932, according to the upgraded cities respective websites. Milin, also known as Mainling, covers 115 miles of the Indian frontier. Despite its small size, it is a transport hub that links by rail to the regional capital of Lhasa. It lies on a route that links Tibet and Xinjiang, as well as having its own airport. Cuona, also known as Cona, borders Bhutan to the southwest and lies across the disputed border from Tawang, one of Indias holy sites. A portion of the area that China claims as part of the new city is currently controlled by India, noted a South China Morning Post report. The Chinese media described the Indian territory across these counties as a part of China, while Indian experts decried the move as an attempt to strengthen the Chinese Armys forward position on the border. According to a report by Sohu, the Beijing-based Chinese version of Yahoo, the original Milin and Cuona counties were abolished and renamed as county-level cities: Milin City and Cuona City. The Chinese report refers to 90,000 square kilometers of Chinese territory [that] is still illegally occupied by India. The 90,000 square kilometers in the eastern Himalayas that the Chinese claim is actually Arunachal Pradesh, which also shares a border with Bhutan and Burma. The Chinese regime, however, insists that sovereignty over the area is disputed and has included it in Chinese political maps as part of the Tibet Autonomous Region. History of Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh was known during the British colonial era as the North East Frontier Agency. The area was part of Assam until it was made a federally governed (union) territory of India in 1972 and renamed Arunachal Pradesh. In 1987, it was given the status of a state under the Indian constitution. Arunachal Pradesh is a seat of Vajrayana Buddhism and houses the four-century-old Tawang monastery, one of the biggest Buddhist monasteries in Asia and one of Indias most popular pilgrimage sites. Milin [Mainling] and Cuona [Cona] counties in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) along the border with Indias Arunachal Pradesh were upgraded to cities on April 3, 2023. (Screenshot of Google map) Following the SinoIndian war of 1962, relations between China and India deteriorated and border disputes emerged. These have escalated in recent years with the Doklam standoff in 2017 and 2020s deadly clash in the Galwan Valley. Despite Arunachal Pradeshs status as an Indian state, since 2006, China has claimed it and refers to it as Zangnan, or South Tibet. In its continuous attempts to claim the territory, it standardized geographical names for 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh in April. The Chinese regime had already done this for various places in Arunachal Pradesh over the last few years. The first batch of six modified names was issued by China in 2017, in what Indian media called a retaliatory move following a visit by the Dalai Lama. Another 15 locations were renamed in 2021. In the past few years, Chinese and Indian soldiers have engaged in several minor altercations in this region. In the United States, there has been strong support for India in the ongoing dispute. In a rare show of solidarity, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the U.S. Congress on Feb. 16 reaffirming Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India, and condemning Chinese aggression and security threats against India. Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, the former chief of Indias Integrated Defense Staff, told the Epoch Times in a written message that by claiming Arunachal Pradesh, China aims to secure its own periphery. Historically, peripheral areas have created problems for the Middle Kingdom by remaining independent countries. China had to fight wars to gobble them up, he said. An Indian Buddhist monk approaches the Thupten Gatsal Ling Gunpa, a branch of Tawang Monastery, in Itanagar, capital of Arunachal Pradesh, northeast India, on October 11, 2009. (Diptendu Dutta/AFP via Getty Images) Enhancing Control, Strengthening Defense Further, Indian experts believe that upgrading the frontier areas into cities is a strategic move to build the Chinese armys forward defense. Abhishek Darbey is a research fellow in the Chinese Research Program at the Center for China Analysis and Strategy (CCAS), based in New Delhi. Darbey told The Epoch Times that the new cities will be directly administered by the CCP administration of Tibet. This should allow the regions central government to fast-track infrastructure development on the border. In fact, the whole exercise of upgrading the border counties to cities is to bring the LAC areas directly under the jurisdiction of the TAR government from the prefectural level administration, said Darbey. Other counties claimed by China and sharing borders with Arunachal Pradesh include Medog County, Chayu County, and Lang County. Its likely that these will also be transformed into cities, allowing the entire border region can be developed in faster mode to further PLAs military operation plans, said Darbey. Darbey said that Milin and Cuona can serve as strategic points in a future struggle against India. As infrastructure development is followed by migration from neighboring areas, the demography of the areas will gradually change. Such a scenario might enhance the civil-military integration in the frontier and it [will] strengthen defense and security of the borders, he said. Sinha said that building a city-level infrastructure near the border gives legitimacy to Chinese claims on the territory, which became a part of China only after Mao annexed Tibet in 1950. In the future, China can claim that our people have been living here for so long. It is an important factor to claim ownership. These areas are motorable and tourists have been driving along. There are proper rest houses for tourists to stay overnight, he said. Chinas Urbanization Drive Arbitrarily changing a communitys status may seem foreign to Westerners, but it has been a Chinese practice for decades. As part of an urbanization drive, China converted many counties into cities in the 1980s and 1990s, but in the past two decades, only a few counties have been successfully transformed into cities. These counties are mainly concentrated in frontier and minority areas. In China, city is a designation indicating that a certain area is under the jurisdiction of a municipal-level government. There are six levels of city denoting levels of autonomy, from the lowest, a county-level city, to the highest, a special administrative region municipality (such as Hong Kong). There are currently over 300 county-level cities in China. Darbey warned that it is urgent for India to understand the reasons behind the upgrades along the LAC. Further, it is imperative that India strengthen its defense and security in this region. Increasing the Indian population of the region is a start, he said. Paving roads close to [the LAC] and opening these areas for tourism can be [a] good action. A lot is happening already, particularly in Ladakh. Now it would probably be happening in the northeast as well, said Sinha. He referred to Indias northeast, which is frontiered by the eastern Himalayas and includes multiple Indian states, including Arunachal Pradesh. A top Democrat joins Republicans calls for the FBI to clarify if President Joe Biden is under investigation. Democrats say the FBI says no, while the GOP says otherwise. A judge Monday restricted what former President Donald Trump can say about the Mar-a-Lago investigation. Trump can no longer talk openly about evidence in the case. A top pollster joins us to explore the major trends in polling numbers on Trump and Biden. How has their popularity fluctuated since the 2020 election? Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping. What did the two talk about, and why do some experts call it a win for the Chinese Communist Party? Retired Air Force General Robert Spaulding reacts to Blinkens meeting with top Chinese officials. Who has the upper hand in the negotiations? Winner of Torontos Mayoral Race Could Finish With Record-Low Votes: Analyst (L-R) Toronto mayoral candidates Josh Matlow Olivia Chow, Mitzie Hunter, Brad Bradford, Mark Saunders, and Ana Bailao take the stage at a mayoral debate in Scarborough, Ont. on May 24, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young) Torontonians elected right-leaning mayors in the last two elections, but so far the polls show that a left-wing front-runner is leading the race for the mayors chair as the city heads toward election day on June 26. Toronto is a balance of right and left, Mike McGregor, an associate professor of politics and public administration at Toronto Metropolitan University, told The Epoch Times. Some areas, such as Etobicoke, are very conservative, he said. We kind of get a back-and-forth between left and right that you dont see in some places. That heterogeneity shows in recent polls with former NDP MP Olivia Chow taking the lead, but a more modest one than any previously elected mayor. Some of the other front-runners in the ideologically opposite camp, such as Mark Saunders and Anthony Furey, are saying they are the only ones who can beat Chow, in a bid to rally more votes to their base. The ideological diversity, combined with other factors such as voter turnout, could lead to the winner becoming mayor with record-low margins. McGregor says the winner will have possibly only a third of votes cast by a small portion of voters if turnout is low. But while becoming mayor with potentially the smallest margin of votes in Torontos history, the winner would have the most power compared to predecessors thanks to the new strong mayor powers created by the provincial government. Its a fascinating contrast, McGregor said. Provincial legislation approved in December 2022 gives the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa strong mayor powers to enact certain bylaws with only a minority of councillors in favour. Other powers include the ability to hire and fire department heads and to prepare the citys budget instead of it being done by council. Voter Turnout Its especially hard to predict voter turnout this time around, McGregor said, because this election is unique. We dont know anything about a mayoral byelection in a big city like Toronto, right? We have no historical precedent here. So anybody who talks about turnout, its just speculating, and thats what Im doing. Former mayor John Tory resigned in February over revelations that he had an affair with a former staffer, and council called a byelection to replace him. Usually, the mayoral election is part of citywide elections including city councillors and other positions. Theres also usually an incumbent in the mayoral race, and they tend to get a large portion of the votes. Without an incumbent, this race was more open from the start, Nelson Wiseman, political science professor at the University of Toronto, previously told The Epoch Times. Since April, Chow has had the lead in public polls. If voters think she is sure to win, they may be less likely to cast their ballot, McGregor said. They may think their vote wont have an impact on the mayoral race, while there are no other positions to vote on. Although advanced voter turnout was relatively high, McGregor said thats no indication that turnout will be high overall. Advanced voting is about a group of voters who were sure to vote deciding to do so early, he said, adding he doesnt think that an uptick in advanced voting means overall turnout is going to increase. With a small number of votes, a majority of Torontonians may have a hard time getting behind the new mayor. I think that a lot of people want a mayor to be seen as legitimate to win a big majority, McGregor said. I think if you have a situation like this, where someone wins all of the power with a small minority of the vote, people start to question our electoral institutions. Thats when conversations begin about changing the electoral system, forming parties, or having fewer candidates running, he said. Trump Responds to Charges Against Hunter Biden Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on June 13, 2023. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans on June 20 denounced the criminal plea deal that federal authorities reached with President Joe Bidens son, Hunter Biden. An attorney representing Hunter Biden said his client was taking responsibility for offenses that occurred while he struggled with drug addiction. Trump and others decried the agreement for letting Hunter Biden off easy. In a post on his Truth Social platform on June 20, Trump said the Department of Justice gave the presidents son a free pass. Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket. Our system is BROKEN! Trump wrote. People are going wild over the Hunter Biden Scam with the DOJ! President Joe Biden (L) waves alongside his son Hunter Biden after attending mass at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Johns Island, S.C., on Aug. 13, 2022. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images) In an agreement made public Tuesday, Biden will avoid prosecution for illegally possessing a firearm if he admits to charges involving tax filings. A White House spokesman said that President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. No further comments will be made, the spokesman said. Christopher Clark, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, said: I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. Trump and others had previously claimed that Hunter Biden, who has been under investigation for years, would receive special treatment because of his fathers status as the current U.S. president and former vice president. Last week, Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges involving classified documents. In March, he pleaded not guilty to 34 business records charges in a New York state court. Trump pleaded not guilty in both unprecedented cases. Additional charges could be filed against the former president in pending investigations in Georgia and Washington; both probes involve fallout from Trumps challenge of the 2020 election results. Sweetheart Deal? Several prominent Republicans described the agreement with Bidens son as a sweetheart deal. If a judge follows prosecutors recommendations, it may result in no jail time for Hunter Biden, 53. The misdemeanor offenses involving tax filings and weapons violations would be minor when stacked against allegations concerning the Biden familys multimillion-dollar dealings with foreign interests. Congressional probes into those allegations of influence peddling are continuing. Under the headline, President Trump Was Right, the Trump campaign issued a statement showing that the former president recently predicted leniency for Hunter Biden. Theyll hit Hunter with something small to make their strike on me look fair,' Trump said in a June 6 Truth Social post. Former Chief of Staff to the Department of Defense Kash Patel speaks during a campaign rally at Minden-Tahoe Airport in Minden, Nevada, on Oct. 08, 2022. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Kash Patel, who served in the Trump administration and now is a commentator for Epoch TV, said the plea deal is proof of a two-tier system in the Justice Department. Patel had previously said that the charges against Hunter Biden would be light. Called it: the two-tier system of justice has now established its permanency under Biden admin, Patel said. Never in my career as a federal public defender and national security prosecutor have I ever seen such disparate treatment based on your last name. This is no celebration I told you so moment, but the completion of weaponized justice in America by FBI and DOJ leadership. 2024 Race Trump claims authorities have been criminally investigating and charging him in an attempt to torpedo his 2024 presidential bid. He points to climbing or steady ratings in opinion polls, showing hes the frontrunner for the Republican nomination and has an edge over Biden. Biden and Democrats are using the DOJ & FBI against me to [rig] the 2024 election, Trump wrote in his June 6 post. Later in the day, Trump wrote another Truth Social post, saying: The Hunter/Joe settlement is a massive coverup & full-scale election interference scam the likes of which has never been seen in our country before. A traffic ticket & Joe is all cleaned up & ready to go into the 2024 presidential election. Meanwhile, Trump said, the crooked DOJ, state & city prosecutors, Marxists & communists all hit me from all sides and angles with bull.! Make America Great Again!!! The former president also shared posts from political activist Jack Posobiec, who wrote: 100-year charges for Trump over paperwork filing, a plea deal for Hunter over the laptop. Are you paying attention yet? Legal scholar Jonathan Turley wrote on Twitter: Years of investigation into Hunter appear to have evaded any serious inquiry into the influence-peddling operation of the Biden family. For critics, it will be like ticketing the get-away driver after a bank holdup. Attorney Mike Davis, who heads a constitution-advocacy organization, tweeted that Hunter Bidens plea could open important doors for congressional investigators. Silver Lining: Hunter Biden can no longer plead the Fifth, Davis wrote. House Republicans should issue subpoenas immediately for his documents and testimony. President Biden, in response to a reporters shouted question at a meeting in California, said Im very proud of my son. Emel Akan and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Trump Reveals What He Told Vladimir Putin to Halt Ukraine Invasion Former President Donald Trump revealed what he told Russian President Vladimir Putin in what he says was an attempt to delay Russias invasion of Ukraine by several years. During an interview on Monday night with Fox News, Trump said that he told Putin several years ago that a potential invasion would be a catastrophe and that there would be hell to pay. Trump made the remarks when he was asked about how he would end the RussiaUkraine war, which started in February 2022, within 24 hours. In previous interviews, Trump said that he believes the war should be ended because the true death toll isnt being reported. Im telling you, within 24 hoursthats what I did. I became very rich by doing deals. Very rich. And you know what? Much more so than people even understand. And thats what I do, the former president said. I would have a deal done in 24 hours from the time we started. And I would tell [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy something and I would tell Putin something, and Id get him into a room, and Id tell him again, and again, Trump said. With Putin, I have a very good relationship. I mean, I havent spoken to him in a long while, but I had a very strong relationship, he said, adding again that Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if he remained president of the United States. He wouldnt have done it if it were me. He did it after I left, Trump continued. I thought he might do it, Trump said in full. Look, I talked to him. I said, If you do it, theres going to be hell to pay. Its going to be a catastrophe. Dont do it.' According to the former commander-in-chief, Putin told Trump on one occasion that he did not believe Trump would take any action if he invaded. I told him I was going to do something. He said, No, no, no, you will not do that. I said, I will, Vladimir, I will do it. Im going to do it,' he added. Zelenskyy Statement It comes as Zelenskyy this week publicly criticized some GOP candidates who have signaled a reluctance to provide military aid to Ukraine. In an interview with NBC News, Zelenskyy was asked about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis characterization of the war as a territorial dispute and Trumps 24 hours comments. If any candidate thinks supporting Ukraine is too costly, are they ready to go to war? Are they ready to fight? Send their children? Die? Zelenskyy said in response to a question about the statements that DeSantis and Trump made. They will have to do it anyway if NATO enters this war, and if Ukraine fails and Russia occupies us, they will move on to the Baltics or Poland or some other NATO country. And then the U.S. will have to choose between keeping NATO or entering the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint press conference with Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 10, 2023. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo) Zelenskyy criticized Trump and said that he wasnt able to end the war in Ukraine while he was in office, without elaborating. Russia invaded Ukraine about a year after Trump departed the White House, and its not exactly clear what the Ukrainian president was referring to. Why didnt he do that earlier? He was president when the war was going on here, he explained, appearing to refer to the territorial skirmishes between Ukraines forces and Russian loyalists in the Donbas region. I think he couldnt do that. I think there are no people today in the world who could just have a word with Putin and end the war. Later on in the interview, Zelenskyy said that American voters will choose the most worthy president but he said that specific groups and politicians calling for diminished support of Ukraine does worry us. Other than Trump, Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called for a peaceful resolution between Russia and Ukraine. We will offer to withdraw our troops and nuclear-capable missiles from Russias borders. Russia will withdraw its troops from Ukraine and guarantee its freedom and independence, Kennedys campaign website says. [United Nations] peacekeepers will guarantee peace to the Russian-speaking eastern regions [of Ukraine]. We will put an end to this war. We will put an end to the suffering of the Ukrainian people. That will be the start of a broader program of demilitarization of all countries. Trump, DeSantis, and Kennedy have not publicly responded to Zelenskyys comments. Meanwhile, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, in a recent Twitter video, claimed that federal prosecutors and Democrats have effectively colluded to try and stop Trump by arresting him in connection to the classified documents case last week. Carlson asserted that the reason why government officials are targeting Trump is because of his stance against U.S. foreign wars. Its been inevitable since February 16, 2016, Carlson remarked, referring to the day in which Trump said the intelligence community lied about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction, launching the 2003 invasion. Thats the day Donald Trump made a blood enemy of the largest and most powerful organization in human history, which would be the federal Government. RAMALLAH, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Six Palestinians were killed and dozens injured on Monday in a new wave of tension in the West Bank, medics and security sources said. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that Zakareya Al-Za'oul, 20, died after being shot in the head by Israeli soldiers in the village of Husan in west of the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Palestinian eyewitnesses and local sources said that during clashes that broke out between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soldiers in the village, the demonstrators threw stones at the soldiers who opened fire and killed Al-Za'oul. There was no Israeli authorities' comment on the incident of Al-Za'oul's death. However, Israel Radio reported that an Israeli army force opened fire at a group of young men who threw Molotov cocktail bombs at the soldiers. On Monday, five Palestinians were killed and 91 others injured with 23 of them in serious condition, after an Israeli army force, backed by bulldozers and a helicopter, stormed the northern West Bank city of Jenin, according to the health ministry. An Israeli army spokesman said in a press statement that seven of its soldiers were injured during the operation in Jenin and the condition of the injured ranged from light to moderate. The statement said that helicopters opened fire after gunmen were spotted, the first incident of its kind in 20 years. Militants groups affiliated with Palestinian factions announced that their members engaged in clashes with the storming Israeli forces in more than one place and managed to damage several vehicles and cause casualties among the soldiers. Tension between Israel and the Palestinians has been flaring in the West Bank since January, following daily Israeli army raids on Palestinian cities, towns, villages and refugee camps to arrest Palestinians wanted by Israeli security forces. Trump Says China Owned US Until He Took Office Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on June 13, 2023. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Former president Donald Trump said his administration was not owned by communist China, unlike many of its predecessors. They owned us. Until I came along, they just owned every president, including the presidents I like, Trump said about China in an interview with Fox Newss Brett Baier aired on June 19. The former president pointed to his record of slapping tariffs on hundreds of billions worth of Chinese goods and having China sign a trade deal in January 2020. If elected president in 2024, Trump said he would maintain the China tariffs. I would keep the China tariffs on, Trump said. Absolutely. It is a tremendous power thing. Unlike his predecessors, who pursued a policy of engagement with China, Trump decided to confront the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) head-on, pushing back against its malign and hostile behaviors. Trump began hitting China with tariffs after a U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) investigation in 2018 found that the communist regime was engaging in illegal practices, including excessive government subsidies and intellectual property theft. Beijing retaliated by slappings tariffs on U.S. goods before the two sides signed a trade deal in January 2020. Then-Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and then-U.S. President Donald Trump during the signing of phase one of a trade deal, surrounded by officials, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Jan. 15, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) The Department of Justice under the Trump administration launched the China Initiative program, resulting in a surge in prosecutions against Chinas state-sanctioned theft of trade secrets. The program has since been terminated under the Biden administration, though a Republican congressman has introduced legislation to revive the initiative. The Trump administration also thwarted Chinas 5G ambitions, as the United States and many other countries decided not to use equipment made by Chinese telecom Huawei over security concerns. Meanwhile, security and privacy concerns surrounding Chinese apps, such as TikTok and WeChat, started to be made headlines in the United States when Trump was president. Trumps State Department was the first to sanction a Chinese official over his involvement in gross human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners in China, and designated the communist regimes repression of Uyghurs as genocide. The Biden administration has agreed with the designation and sanctioned a second Chinese official for persecuting Falun Gong. Taiwan During his Fox interview, Trump declined to reveal whether he would support Taiwans independence. The issue is now under scrutiny after Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the United States does not support Taiwan independence in a press conference after meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping in China on June 19. We remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side. We continue to expect the peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences, Blinken said. We remain committed to meeting our responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act, including making sure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself. Chinese leader Xi Jinping receives U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken prior to their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 19, 2023. (Leah Millis/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) Baier asked Trump, Should Taiwan be independent? Trump replied, So if I tell you an answer, its going to hurt me in negotiations on the assumption that I win. Later, Baier asked, If China invaded Taiwan, would you go to war to defend Taiwan? Trump responded, I dont want to say that because that hurts me in negotiations with regard to President Xi. China sees Taiwan as a part of its territory and has never renounced the use of force to annex the island. Internationally, Taiwan is widely recognized as a de facto independent state with its own military, constitution, and democratically elected government officials. Washington and Taipei are not formal allies, and the United States has maintained a policy of strategic ambiguitymeaning that the United States is deliberately vague on whether it would come to Taiwans defense. Blinkens comment on Taiwan has since drawn criticism from some Republican lawmakers. The Biden administration is giving China a green light to increase its intimidation of our ally, Taiwan, Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) wrote on Twitter. This is a dangerous display of weakness towards our adversaries on the world stage. Rep. Lisa Mcclain (R-Mich.) wrote in a tweet that Blinken couldnt be more wrong, before adding, We must always stand by Taiwan, especially as they face blatant #CCP aggression. News Flash: #Taiwan is already independent. Just because @SecBlinken chooses to deny that obvious reality doesnt make it any less true, wrote Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) via Twitter. US Has Deep Concerns About CCP Base in Cuba: Blinken Chinese leader Xi Jinping (R) receives U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken prior to their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 19, 2023. (Leah Millis/AFP via Getty Images) The Biden administration is voicing its concerns about proposed Chinese military facilities in Cuba after downplaying the existence of such facilities in recent weeks. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that he raised the issue with Chinas communist leadership during a trip to Beijing over the weekend. This is something were going to be monitoring very, very closely and weve been very clear about that, Blinken said during a June 20 press conference in London. We will protect our homeland. We will protect our interests. Blinkens comments referred to reports that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which rules China as a single-party state, is working to develop a spying facility and military training base in Cuba, 100 miles off the coast of Florida. Blinken said that he expressed to CCP leadership that the United States would have deep concerns about [Chinese] intelligence or military activities in Cuba. Chinese Troops on Americas Doorstep Blinkens comments follow several revelations as to the extent of the Chinas presence in Latin America and the Caribbean. Earlier in the month, a Wall Street Journal report said that the CCP was in negotiations to develop a massive spy base in Cuba, which would allow the regime to illicitly intercept American communications. The White House initially pushed back on the report, claiming that it was inaccurate and denying any knowledge of such a deal. Just days later, however, the administration acknowledged that a CCP spy facility had been operating in Cuba since 2019. New reports have now highlighted that the regimes ambitions go beyond spying, and the White House has acknowledged reports that Beijing is in negotiations with Cuba to develop a military base to train Cuban soldiers. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby acknowledged the development, but shrugged off the possibility of Chinese troops in Americas backyard, saying that there was nothing surprising about a CCP training facility in Cuba. Its no secret or surprise that [China] has been trying to improve their reach and their intelligence capabilities in the Western hemisphere, Kirby said during a June 20 press call. That includes the relationship they have had for quite some time with Cuba. Kirby did not acknowledge the specifics of the CCP-Cuba deal. The Wall Street Journal, which originally broke the story, reported that the military training facility could lead to the stationing of Chinese troops in Cuba, and claimed that the Biden administration was taking steps to try to prevent its construction. The lack of transparency about CCP military activities so close to the U.S. homeland has raised alarm bells in Congress, with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) blaming a lack of leadership at the executive level for allowing the current state of affairs to come to pass. We cannot allow China to build something like that this close to our land, McCarthy told The Epoch Times. That shows a real lack of leadership from the aspect that they would even think about doing this. Especially when you have Secretary Blinken sitting in China right now and China have already sent a balloon across our country. Blinken Visit Stalls Freefall in Relations Blinken is the highest-level U.S. official to set foot in China since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, is the first secretary of state to visit since 2018, when his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, visited China for one day. Blinken had previously said that his China trip was aimed at building on the productive discussion that President Joe Biden and Xi had in November, when the two leaders met on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. However, his originally scheduled trip to China in February was postponed in response to the discovery of a Chinese surveillance balloon flying over several states, which was shot down by the U.S. military. At the time, Blinken said the incident created the conditions that undermine the purpose of the trip. The Biden administration and CCP have tentatively agreed to stabilize relations following Blinkens trip to Beijing. No breakthroughs were reached during the secretarys two days in communist China, but CCP leader Xi Jinping claimed the meeting was progress, and the two reportedly agreed that open conflict between the nations would be catastrophic. Yang Tao, a senior official from Chinas foreign ministry, said after the talks that China would continue its military communications blackout so long as U.S. sanctions on critical technologies and CCP personages continued. When asked what progress the two sides had made, Yang said that China and the United States had agreed to prevent a further downward spiral in relations. Chinas foreign minister, he added, would visit the United States in the future. Biden said later on June 19 he thinks relations between the two countries are on the right path, and indicated that progress was made during Blinkens trip. Jackson Richman, Frank Fang, and Reuters contributed to this report. US Trafficking in Persons Report Ranks Hong Kong as Tier 2, Still Below Minimum Standard Foreign domestic helpers group stayed on the skybridge to take a rest with their weekend in Hong Kong on May 29, 2023. (Adrian Yu/Epochtimes) On June 15, the U.S. State Department released the 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report, upgrading Hong Kong from the Tier 2 Watch List to Tier 2. The report also mentioned last years scams to individuals traveling from Hong Kong to Southeast Asia. The report categorizes countries or regions around the world into different categories, including Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2 Watch List, Tier 3, and Special Cases. Tier 1 countries have relatively better situations. Hong Kong was upgraded from the Tier 2 Watch List to Tier 2 and is on par with countries such as Albania, Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, and Kenya. The report criticized the Hong Kong government for not fully meeting the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so than the previous reporting period. The report pointed out that foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong still remained at high risk of trafficking and that the government has not taken adequate measures to protect them and prevent trafficking. There are also insufficient efforts to identify trafficking victims who may be arrested and deported by the government for offenses related to entry or prostitution. In addition, the report criticized inadequate protection for foreign domestic helpers who employers or employment agencies may exploit. For example, employment agencies may charge extra recruitment fees to foreign domestic helpers, and the governments regulation needs to be revised. Employment agencies may even lend money to foreign domestic helpers. The report also criticized the Hong Kong government for continuing to publicly deny that human trafficking is a widespread problem in Hong Kong, not convicting any labor traffickers for four consecutive years, and not imposing sufficient sentences on sex trafficking offenders. The report mentioned that after the imposition of the National Security Law, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other civil society organizations have become more cautious in their engagement with the government, including on issues related to human trafficking, because criticizing the government may be considered incitement. The report recommended that the Hong Kong government strengthen its work in identifying trafficking victims, legislate all forms of trafficking as crimes defined set forth in the 2000 UN TIP Protocol, strengthen investigations and prosecutions of related behaviors, and severely punish those involved. The Hong Kong government responded, saying it strongly disapproved of and firmly rejected the reports unsubstantiated remarks. The government claimed in a statement that TIP is never a prevalent problem in Hong Kong and pointed out that about 1,200 frontline government personnel received training on anti-human trafficking last year. In approximately 7,600 initial screenings, a record-breaking 32 TIP victims were identified. The report also mentioned the human trafficking incident in Southeast Asia, where under the pandemic, some human traffickers offered fraudulent recruitment in multiple regions, including Hong Kong, ultimately forcing job seekers to engage in online fraud and subjecting them to abuse such as confiscating their documents, restricting their freedom, communication, and food, physical assault and even electric shocks. There were even reports of victims being killed. According to a document submitted by the Hong Kong government to the Legislative Council at the end of November 2022, from January to Nov. 28, 2022, the Immigration Department received a total of 46 cases of assistance from Hong Kong people regarding work scams in Southeast Asian countries, of which 42 Hong Kong people have been confirmed safe, and 30 have returned safely to Hong Kong with the assistance of overseas Hong Kong residents groups coordinated by the Immigration Department. In addition, China maintained its Tier 3 status in 2023, on par with Afghanistan, Belarus, Myanmar, Cambodia, Iran, North Korea, Macau, Russia, and South Sudan. The report criticized the Chinese government for not making significant efforts on this issue and pointed out that there are government policies or models of forced labor in mainland China, including continuing to arbitrarily detain ethnic minorities such as Uyghurs under the guise of vocational training and deradicalization in Xinjiang. Victorian Premier Refuses to Apologise to Female MP for Halfwit Jibe Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media in Melbourne, Australia, on Oct. 17, 2021. (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images) Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is refusing to apologise for labelling a female Liberal MP a halfwit grub, declaring he was defending a Labor colleague. Opposition womens spokeswoman and Eildon MP Cindy McLeish says the premier made the remark in state parliament on Tuesday before withdrawing it. Those comments were deeply offensive to me, but I probably wasnt surprised because this is a pattern of behaviour we continue to see from the premier, she told reporters. Hes a serial bully and treats women terribly. In 2016, Andrews denied allegations he made disparaging comments about former Liberal MP Donna Bauer in 2014 when she was battling bowel cancer. McLeish and Opposition Leader John Pesutto demanded Andrews say sorry during question time, but the premier said there was nothing to apologise for. Ive defended the member for Northcote (Kat Theophanous) and I will not be apologising for doing that, he said. The lower house was voting on a coalition-backed bill to crack down on lobbyists following a corruption watchdog report into Theophanous father, former state Labor minister Theo Theophanous. McLeish questioned whether it was appropriate for Theophanous to vote on the bill, given it related to her family and the funding of her election campaign. Speaker Maree Edwards dismissed the point of order. The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission in February found that Theophanous father failed to declare he was lobbying for Australian Education City (AEC) as the preferred developer of a proposed precinct in East Werribee. The watchdog said he misused his role as a Victorian Planning Authority board member to lobby senior ministers and department officers in exchange for donations and other in-kind contributions to his daughters 2018 election campaign. There was no evidence Theophanous was aware of the circumstances behind the donations, and no adverse findings were made about her or the Chinese-backed development consortium. The $31 billion project was ultimately shelved in 2019. Victorian Senator to Leave Parliament, Resign From Liberal Party Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations A combined diptych image created on Thursday, June 15, 2023 of ***Liberal senator David Van makes his first speech in the Senate Chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Tuesday, Tuesday, September 10, 2019. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) NO ARCHIVING ***AND*** Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Thursday, June 15, 2023. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) NO ARCHIVING Embattled Senator David Van is expected to leave parliament after he resigned from the Liberal Party amid accusations of sexual harassment. The Liberal senator recently came under fire after independent Senator Lidia Thorpe and former Liberal Senator Amanda Stoker alleged he had inappropriately touched them. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton also revealed there was another individual who also accused Van of sexually harassing them. On June 16, Dutton called on Van to quit parliament altogether. But before a committee could discuss the allegations, the Victorian senator quit the party. In a letter to Victorian Liberal Party president Greg Mirabella, Van criticised the Liberal Party for trampling upon the very premise on which our justice system is predicated. Given the Liberal Partys wholesale disregard for due process and natural justice in relation to allegations made against me, I write to resign my membership effective immediately, he wrote on Saturday. This is a travesty of justice, and I reiterate that I deny the accusations made against me. I resign also acknowledging the cruel irony of doing so amidst public discourse about the weaponisation of allegations and the role of the rule of law which has at its centre the presumption of innocence. The Victorian senator added that he was deeply distressed and hurt and had not been afforded procedural fairness in the sexual harassment claims. I will continue to fight for what I thought were the Partys valuesjust not under its banner. Labor And Nationals MPs Back Duttons Decision Agriculture Minister Murray Watt also called on Van to seriously consider his position, saying the allegations against him were very serious. It is a matter for David Van and the Liberal Party as to how they handled these allegations when they were first raised and what efforts were undertaken, he told AAP. Im not going to pretend the parliament is a perfect workplace. Theres always work to be done. Nationals leader David Littleproud also echoed the sentiment. He was elected on the Liberal party [Senate ticket] [if] he wants to remove himself from the Liberal party, then he should probably also remove himself from the Senate, Littleproud told Nine Network in an interview on Sunday. Nationals Senator Bridge McKenzie said on Sunday the rumours had been circulating in parliament about Van, but she didnt know the details of the allegations. McKenzie backed Duttons decision by Dutton to expel Van from the party room in the wake of the allegations. Van will now sit in the Senate on the crossbench. The situation spiralled after Independent Senator Thorpe interjected when Van was speaking in the upper House about the rape allegations of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins. Thorpe said she felt really uncomfortable when a perpetrator is speaking about violence. She called Van a perpetrator. I cant because this person harassed me, sexually assaulted me, and the prime minister had to remove him from his office. And to have him talking about this today is an absolute disgrace on the whole party. Stokers Allegations Meanwhile, Stoker said in her media statement that Van inappropriately touched her during a social event in 2020, reported Nine News. In November 2020, Senator Van inappropriately touched me at an informal social gathering in a parliamentary office, Stoker said. He did so by squeezing my bottom twice. By its nature and by its repetition, it was not accidental. That action was not appropriate. It was unprofessional and uninvited. I raised the matter with Senator Van at a meeting the following day. I described the action, told him it was unacceptable, and that it was not to be repeated. He apologised and said he would never do it again. I accepted his apology and his undertaking. Contemporaneous notes of the meeting were taken, and it never happened again. AAP contributed to this report. Citizen Group Calls for Clarification After RCMP Denies Investigation of PM Over SNC-Lavalin Affair Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 2, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick) A non-governmental watchdog organization is asking for clarification on why the RCMP had said in a correspondence to the group in May that it was investigating the prime minister and members of his cabinet in relation to the 2018 SNC-Lavalin affair, only to later deny it. The RCMPs story doesnt add up because they are contradicting themselves about when the allegations were being investigated, and when decisions were made to end the investigation, Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch, said in a statement on June 20. If the investigation ended in January 2023, then why did the RCMP refuse to disclose 86 pages of their investigation documents just a few weeks ago because, they said, the allegations were still under investigation? Democracy Watch filed an Access to Information Act request on July 7, 2022, and received a response on May 25 of this year. It indicated the RCMP was investigating Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former finance minister Bill Morneau, some members of their staff, and former Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick over allegations of obstructing justice in the SNC-Lavalin case. But after Democracy Watch went public about the May 25 correspondence on June 19, the RCMP said that they were not investigating allegations of political interference in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion to secure a remediation agreement for SNC-Lavalin. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Christy Veenstra told The Epoch Times that the May 2023 Access to Information Release was sent using information available at the time. Veenstra said via email that the RCMPs Sensitive and International Investigations unit had conducted an assessment of the allegations, which included speaking with a variety of sources in the most thorough, objective and professional manner. But the RCMP determined there was insufficient evidence to substantiate a criminal offence and they closed the file. The conclusion of that file was communicated to the original complainant in a letter in January 2023 and was also to be released via several Access to Information Requests received, she said. Conacher said a public statement from the RCMP denying investigation of the case was weirdly vague and raises even more questions than the letter sent to Democracy Watch on May 25. He questioned why the RCMP redacted 86 pages due to an investigation when the decision to end the investigation was made in January, and why the decision was not communicated to the RCMP Access to Information unit staff for five months. To clear up this matter, the RCMP must answer those questions, and disclose the 86 pages that they refused to disclose, he said. SNC-Lavalin Scandal In 2015, SNC-Lavalin Group and two of its affiliates, SNC-Lavalin Construction and SNC-Lavalin International, were charged with corruption of a foreign public official and fraud stemming from business dealings in Libya. SNC-Lavalin had unsuccessfully pressed the director of prosecutions to negotiate a special settlementknown as a remediation agreementout of concern the company could be barred from federal contracts for a decade if convicted of criminal charges. In early 2019, the Globe and Mail reported that prime ministerial aides leaned on Jody Wilson-Raybould, who was the federal attorney general at the time, to ensure there was a deal that would avoid prosecution. Wilson-Raybould resigned from cabinet days later and was subsequently ousted from the Liberal caucus. Wilson-Raybould later told a parliamentary committee that in September 2018, Trudeau asked her to find a solution for the company. When she inquired if he was asking her to politically interfere with the case, he denied he was. She also told the justice committee that between September and December 2018, she experienced a consistent and sustained effort by many people within the Trudeau government to politically interfere in the case and secure a deferred prosecution agreement with SNC-Lavalin. In August 2019, then-ethics commissioner Mario Dion found that Trudeau violated Section 9 of the Conflict of Interest Act by pressuring Wilson-Raybould to stop the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. Opposition parties called for the RCMP to investigate the issue at the time, but the RCMP said in August 2019 that it was looking into the issue, without confirming or denying whether it was investigating it. In December 2019, SNC-Lavalin pleaded guilty to a single count of fraud and agreed to pay a $280 million fine over the course of five years, as well as a three-year probation order. The company also agreed to engage an independent monitor who would release regular reports and could order changes to the companys compliance and ethics programs. The Prime Ministers Office did not respond to an Epoch Times request for comment before press time. The Canadian Press contributed to this report. White House Responds to Hunter Biden Guilty Plea Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden attend the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, on April 10, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) The White House has issued a response to President Joe Bidens son Hunter Bidens guilty plea to federal crimes. The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life, White House spokesperson Ian Sams told The Epoch Times in an email. We will have no further comment. Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to intentionally failing to pay federal income tax, U.S. Attorney David Weiss said in a letter to the U.S. court in Delaware. The law in question prohibits the willful failure to pay taxes or file tax returns. Hunter Biden also struck a deal with prosecutors relating to a felony gun charge. His attorney, Christopher Clark, said in a statement to media outlets that Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement. Clark clarified that the firearms charge is not part of the plea agreement but will instead be subject to a separate pretrial diversion agreement. Under a pretrial diversion agreement, defendants could get charges dismissed or face lighter punishment if they meet certain criteria. A memorandum detailing the terms of the plea deal will be submitted at or in advance of the hearing, which is expected in the coming days, per Weiss letter. The plea deal must still be approved by a federal judge. Each of the two tax charges carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison while the gun charge carries up to 10 years behind bars. Unconfirmed reports citing anonymous sources say that prosecutors will likely recommend probation instead of jail time on the tax charges. I Trust Him In the weeks leading up to Hunter Bidens plea deal, rumors swirled that the presidents son would soon face charges. The U.S. attorneys office in Delaware has been investigating Hunter Bidens tax affairs. The presidents son said in 2020 that he was taking the investigation seriously but was confident of a favorable outcome. I take this matter very seriously, but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors, Hunter Biden said in a statement issued by the Biden-Harris transition team in December 2020. At the time, the transition team issued a statement describing the president-elect as deeply proud of his son, who has fought through difficult challenges from which he has emerged stronger. Hunter Biden had acknowledged in the past that he made mistakes, but insisted that he hadnt committed any crimes. Several weeks ago, the president was asked during an interview on MSNBC what impact there would be on the Biden presidency if Hunter Biden were to be federally charged. It impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him, Biden said in the interview. He also expressed confidence that his son had done nothing wrong. I trust him. I have faith in him, the president said. Details of Charges Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of failing to file and pay federal income taxes on time in 2017 and 2018. He received more than $1.5 million in taxable income in 2017 and more than $1.5 million more in 2018, according to court documents filed Tuesday. He was legally required to pay more than $100,000 in income tax for his earnings each of those years but he did willfully fail to pay the tax. Both counts are misdemeanors with a possible penalty of up to one year in prison for each. No court dates have been scheduled as of yet, according to the court docket. Hunter Biden also faces a separate charge for buying a handgun illegally in 2018. An indictment states that Hunter Biden, in 2018, knowing that he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance did knowingly possess a firearm, that is, a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver with serial number RA 551363, said firearm having been shipped and transported in interstate commerce. an indictment states. The law in question forbids people convicted of a crime punishable by a prison term of more than one year or who illegally use or are addicted to a controlled substance as defined in the Controlled Substance Act from possessing firearms. The charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000. Several news outlets have reported that Hunter Biden possessed a gun in 2018 and he said in his autobiography that he was using crack cocaine that year. Hunter Bidens attorney said in a statement that his client believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward, Clark added. Reactions House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) reacted to Hunter Bidens plea deal on Tuesday morning, telling ABC News it continues to show the two-tiered system in America. If you are the presidents leading political opponent, the DOJ tries to literally put you in jail and give you prison time, McCarthy said. If you are the presidents son, you get a sweetheart deal, he added. Former President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket. Our system is BROKEN! Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a tweet that Hunter Biden received a sweetheart deal and managed to avoid jail thanks to his connections to the elite DC class. Several other presidential candidates reacted to the news. The deal only raises further questions about the presidents son and a double standard of justice in the federal government, Nikki Haley said in a statement to CNN. There is clearly a lot more the Biden family has to answer for. Asa Hutchinson said in a statement that, the admission of guilt is an important step, while Vivek Ramaswamy called the plea deal a joke and farcical. Its no accident that the farcical Hunter Biden plea deal comes right after the Trump indictment: its the perfect fig leaf to pretend that no one is above the law, while absolutely putting certain people above the law, he told CNN in a statement. Zachary Stieber contributed to this report. STATE VISIT PRIME Minister Mr. Narendra Modis agenda on his first-ever state visit to the United States is heavy with detail and purpose. Not only has it attracted the attention of every Indian all over the world but also has generated much interest in the global diplomatic community. For, what is involved in this visit is not just bilateral relations between India and the United States, but a whole range of issues that would affect the global discourse over the next few years. For, when heads of Governments of two of the worlds most important democracies meet, they discuss a wide-ranging agenda that encompasses almost every current issue. That is how the world is looking at Mr. Modis official visit to the United States on a special, official and personal invitation from US President Mr. Joe Biden -- with much expectation, much anticipation, and possibly with much anxiety for differing reasons and perceptions. Despite the push and pull of diplomacy over the past few years through successive presidencies, India has been able to maintain high-profile relations with the US. The reason is simple: India stature in the world arena has been growing for different reasons, the most important being its growing economic prowess and its heightened strategic perceptions and actions to pursue its global goals. Known for their shrewdness, the Americans realised the growing power of Indian position in the global scenario and started cozying up with the Indian leadership. This may have happened over time, all right, but the pace of this development increased with the advent of Mr. Narendra Modi as Prime Minister who altered the manner in which diplomacy was handled. The current state visit of Mr. Modi to the US is the outcome of that process initiated by theWhite House under President Mr. Barack Obama. President Mr. Donald Trump and President Mr. Joe Biden only signed on the dotted line. Some political observers attribute ulterior motives to this American approach. However, there is nothing amiss or wrong in it since every nation follows its own interests to the hilt, no matter the individualised perception. There also are some political analysts who suspect that the Americans may have laid a trap for Mr. Modi to fall prey to and get out of him some sly agreement that may hurt the Indian interests in the long run. There also are some speculators who suspect that the Americans are looking for some pliable Indian leader who would do things to their bidding. And therefore, they wish to have somebody else in the place of Mr. Narendra Modi. Such speculations have got no meaning -- since they either appear to be loaded with some agenda, or loaded with ignorance of how the Indian diplomacy has shaped since the advent of Mr. Modi as Prime Minister. The past nine years have seen an altogether changed Indian narrative in the domestic as well as diplomatic arenas. The sense of independence that this narrative communicates is well beyond the grasp of many politically-immature analysts whose range of thought does not go beyond small gains whose worth is decided on the basis of immediacy of outcome. No matter all the crap such people dish out -- particularly against the backdrop of the perceived smartness and shrewdness of the Americans -- Mr. Narendra Modi and his close associates in diplomacy, headed, of course, by the very shrewd Dr. S. Jaishankar, are very deep thinkers and operators. Their goals are both, clearly defined and dynamic. The so-called American smartness of whatever level will never be able to lay diplomatic booby-traps for the legendary Indian Prime Minister and his team. Mr. Modis visit to the US, thus, is being looked forward to by India, the US and the world with much informed interest, therefore. Closer defence ties top agenda forPM Modis US visit from June 21 NEW DELHI, PM Modi will also make a State visit to Egypt on June 24 and 25 STEPPING up defence cooperation, India and the US are poised to unveil a roadmap for industries in the sector to partner closely in co-production, co-development and maintaining supply change during Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to the US beginning June 21. Prime Minister Modi, during his first State visit to the US, will also hold discussions with President Joe Biden on bettering trade and investment relations, besides forging closer ties in the techn o l o g y d o m a i n comprising telecom, space and manufacturing. Addressing a press conference here, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said the Prime Minister will also be on a state visit to Egypt from June 24-25 at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisiduringwhichhe isalsoscheduled to visit 11th Century mosque Al-Hakim, whichwas refurbished and renovated by the Bohra community. The Foreign Secretary said the Defence Industrial Cooperation Roadmap was expected to be one of the key outcomes ofPMModis visittotheUS.It essentially focuses on all aspects of defence co-productionandco-development.It also talks about how defence industrial ecosystems ofthe two countries could cooperate much better, how the supply lines in the field could al so interface with each other much better,he said.Kwatra described defence cooperation as a key pillar of Indias relationship with the US. If you look at the complete matrix of the India-US defence partnership,itis very robust,very dynamic, it has all the significant elements that make it so important. We conduct a large number of bilateral military exercises both bilateral as also regional in nature. Armed forces have staff-to-staff engagement. India is also the deployer of the US equipment and platforms. Some of them are used by India, he said. Modi will begin the visit to the US from New York, where he will lead the InternationalYoga Day celebrations at the United Nations headquarters and meet prominent personalities and leaders onJune 21.Hewilltravel to Washington the same day and join President Biden and first lady Jill Biden for a private engagement. Dacoity case accused alleges torture by cops Staff Reporter An accused in dacoity case alleged before the JMFC at Saoner that the in-charge of Khaparkheda police station subjected him to severe torture while in police custody. The allegation prompted the Judge to order a medical examination of the accused. The accused persons were arrested by the police for stealing four iron plates from WCL mine and a case under Sections 395, 353, 332 and 506 of Indian Penal Code was registered against them. The accused were produced in the court last week as their police custody was ended. One of the accused, identified as Kush Santosh Sinha (22), a resident of Sillewada, told the court that he was subjected to a horrific act of torture. His clothes were forcibly removed and the genital hair were set on fire by the police official. TOKYO, June 20 (Xinhua) -- A Japanese government report said on Tuesday that 93.9 percent of respondents surveyed in Japan think it is normal for people with disabilities to live close to them. The survey is included in the 2023 white paper on government measures for persons with disabilities, which was approved at the day's cabinet meeting. "It shows that people are interested in the elimination of disability-based discrimination," said a Cabinet Office official. Japan will legally oblige companies to provide necessary services and infrastructure to assist people with disabilities from April 2024 by ensuring they set up measures such as sloped access points for wheelchairs. Prior to the revision to the law, only government institutions were required to do so, while businesses were merely obliged to make efforts. The survey was conducted by mail by the Cabinet Office from November to December 2022, with questionnaires being sent to 3,000 people aged 18 and older, resulting in 1,765 providing valid responses. IPS officer Ravi Sinha appointed RAW chief NEW DELHI, SENIOR IPS officer Ravi Sinha, widely respected in the intelligence community for his professional competence and an expert on Indias n e i g h b o u r i n g countries, was appointed as the head of external spy agency RAW on Monday. He will succeed Samant Goel who completes his four-year stint on June 30. Being the number two in the organisation, where he has served for more than two decades, Sinha has been credited with making a significant progress in employing modern technology in the process of Intelligence gathering. In his new role, Sinha is expected to integrate technological and human intelligence dimensions to address the challenges of todays times. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of 59- year-old Sinha, a 1988-batch IPS officer of Chhattisgarh cadre, as the Secretary RAW for a tenure of two years, according to an order issued by the Ministry of Personnel. Considered a specialist on countries in Indias immediate neighbourhood, Sinhas appointment comes at a time when Pakistan is politically and economically unstable, Sikh extremism is being fanned from abroad and attempts are being made in the North-East, especially in Manipur, to promote violence. Sinha is at present heading the operations wing of the Researchand Analysis Wing (RAW).His batch mateTapan Deka is heading the Intelligence Bureau. An alumnus of St Stephens College in Delhi, Sinha has worked in a wide range of fields and brings to his new role an impressive bank of experience and know ledge. He is known to haveasound grip on developments in Indias neighbourhood, besides Jammu and Kashmir, Northeast and areas hit by the LeftWing Extremism where he has severed at different points in time. His predecessor Goel was appointed RAW chief fortwo years in June 2019. He was later given two extensions of one year each in 2021 and June 2022. Goel is believed to have played a key role in planning the February 2019 surgical strike in Pakistans Balakot. Man chained, forced to bark like dog in Bhopal Staff Reporter BHOPAL, IN A shocking incident, a man in Bhopal was chained and forced to bark like a dog. A disturbing video of the incident went viral on social media where the 24-year-old youth can be seen tied to a leash and being made to bark. Also the accused were threatening him with a belt and forcing him to repeat as they say. The victim youth was also asked in the video to convert to another religion. The matter came to light after the victim himself took to social media and shared his story. He also claimed that police took no action on his complaint. The video was shot on May 9, but the victim kept mum on the issue until he felt he was unable to bear their torture anymore, claimed the 24-yearold in his message. The State Home Minister Narottam Mishra took cognisance of the incident and ordered the local SHO Anurag Lal to be sent to police lines. Mishra condemned the incident and ordered the NSA to be invoked against the accused. Besides, the encroachments in front of the houses of the accused will be removed, he said on Monday. The police swung into action following Mishras intervention and arrested three of the six accused and also took them out in form of a rally near the police station. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) UmeshTiwari said that the remaining three accused of the case are absconding and they will bearrested soon. In the video, the victim canbe heard saying Sahil Bhai ismy brother and accused tell him to say Faizan bhai is hisfather. One of the accused canbe heard forcing the victim toact like a dog for some objectionable social media post. On the other hand the victim is apologising for somesocial media post and claimedthat he did it all on insistenceof one Shahrukh. He claimsthat he is ready to become aMuslim if they say so, in thevideo. The video went viral onMonday and it soon triggered reactions from all quarters. Members of Bajrang Dal reached the Teela Jamalpura police station and demanded strict action against the accused. On the other hand the accused Samir, Sajid and Faizan were arrested immediately and ate am of districta dministrationalsorazed their encroachment. The victim informed police that he is a resident of Lalghati and he was returning from a marriage on the day when Faizan, SahilBaccha andSamirmethim. They forced him tositon theirtwo-wheeler and took him to PGBT road where they tied him to a leash. He said Bilal, Mukul DIG and Mufid were also there and all of them began assaulting him. They snatchedhismobileandcashRs700-800 from his trouser. They threatened to kill the victim and forced him to become a Muslim and eatBadaashelacks courage. The accused had shot the video of the incident at the time, said police. BERLIN, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Germany rejects all forms of decoupling and "de-risking" is not "de-sinicization," said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz here on Tuesday. The German side welcomes China's development and prosperity, which is conducive to world peace and stability, he said during a meeting with visiting Chinese Premier Li Qiang. He also pledged that Germany is committed to developing stable relations with China, and is willing to further strengthen bilateral exchanges, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and forge more consensus for cooperation in addressing climate change and boosting green development, among others. Germany supports two-way investment and will provide a sound business environment for Chinese enterprises to invest in the country, he said. Palestinian protesters run to take cover from tear gas canisters fired by Israeli soldiers during clashes following a protest against the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank village of Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, on June 16, 2023. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) RAMALLAH/GAZA, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinians strongly condemned the Israeli government's decision to expedite the process for building settlements in the West Bank. During a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, the Israeli government authorized pro-settlement Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to assume main responsibility for settlement planning and construction in the West Bank, and shortened political approval process for settlement planning and construction that had been in place for 25 years. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesman of the Palestinian presidency, told reporters on Sunday that the Palestinian leadership rejects the Israeli government's decision to accelerate settlement construction in the West Bank. An Israeli soldier fires a tear gas canister at Palestinian protesters during clashes following a protest against the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank village of Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, on June 16, 2023. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) He added that the Palestinian leadership also rejects the Israeli government's authorization of Smotrich to be in charge of making decision for settlement planning and construction, stressing that all settlements are "illegal" and "Israel has violated international laws and signed agreements." "Every construction on the occupied territories is illegal, rejected, and will be legally pursued everywhere," he added. "Israel is playing with fire, whether in the Jerusalem or settlement issues, despite fully aware that these are Palestinian, Arab, and international red lines," Abu Rudeineh said, adding that "such a behavior will lead to more tension on the ground." Abu Rudeineh held the U.S. responsible for allowing Israel "to cross the red lines," adding that "Israel cannot set up a single stone without an American decision." A Palestinian protester kicks back a tear gas canister fired by an Israeli soldier during clashes following a protest against the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank village of Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, on June 16, 2023. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) Israel took control of the West Bank in 1967 and established dozens of settlements there, which are considered as violations of international law. The settlement issue is one of the most prominent aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and one of the main reasons for halting the previous round of U.S.-sponsored peace talks between the two sides in 2014. In Gaza, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said in a statement on Sunday that "the settlement expansion projects will not give the occupation legitimacy on our land and that our people will resist them with all available means." Hamas called on the international community and the UN "to take serious and urgent steps to stop these projects that will bring more escalation in the region and threaten peace and security." Spokesman of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Tariq Selmi warned on Sunday the Israeli government of the consequences of the decision "which will be confronted with more Palestinian resistance and steadfastness." SYDNEY, June 20 (Xinhua) -- A Monash University-led study has shown that prolonged daily aspirin use may increase the risk of anaemia in healthy elder people, especially for those aged 70 and above. The study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, followed 18,153 initially healthy older adults in Australia and the United States and recorded incidents of anaemia over an average 4.7 years, according to a news release from Monash University on Tuesday. Half of the participants took a placebo while the other half took a daily low dose of 100 mg of aspirin, said the release. The risk of developing anaemia was found to be 20 percent higher in the aspirin group compared to that in the placebo group, it said. Anaemia is commonly experienced by older adults, potentially affecting overall function and increasing fatigue, disabilities, depressive symptoms and cognitive problems. It is estimated that 30 percent of people aged 75 years or older are anaemic worldwide, mostly attributed to iron deficiency, medical comorbidities and inflammation, said the release. However, the cause in about a third of cases is still unknown, it added. "This study gives a clearer picture of the additional risk of becoming anaemic with aspirin use and the impact is likely to be greater in older adults with underlying diseases, such as kidney disease," said Zoe McQuilten, lead author of the study and associate professor from Monash University's School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. She urged patients to follow the advice of their doctors about their daily use of aspirin and not to change their aspirin regimen without doctors' permission. In addition to a higher risk of anaemia, the study also unveiled that the aspirin group suffered a faster decline of haemoglobin and reduced ferritin levels in blood tests compared to the placebo group, said the release. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP Get Rating) was the target of a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,070,000 shares, a growth of 9.2% from the May 15th total of 10,140,000 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the companys shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 6,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, May 15th. Barclays dropped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $160.00 to $141.00 in a report on Thursday, March 23rd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. Finally, Societe Generale upgraded ConocoPhillips from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $136.32. Get ConocoPhillips alerts: Insider Activity In other news, Director Caroline Maury Devine sold 1,000 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.08, for a total value of $102,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 849 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $86,665.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows ConocoPhillips Price Performance Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Whalerock Point Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter worth about $204,680,000. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 205.8% during the 4th quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 149.5% during the 4th quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 227 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 93.4% during the 4th quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 236 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 80.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Shares of COP traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $104.92. The stock had a trading volume of 9,928,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,407,482. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $78.30 and a 52 week high of $138.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firms 50 day moving average price is $102.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.89. The company has a market capitalization of $126.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.31. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The energy producer reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $15.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.06 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 32.75% and a net margin of 20.21%. ConocoPhillipss revenue for the quarter was down 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.27 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 26th. ConocoPhillipss payout ratio is 16.32%. ConocoPhillips Company Profile (Get Rating) ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; various LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects. Read More Receive News & Ratings for ConocoPhillips Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ConocoPhillips and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Partners Group (OTCMKTS:PGPHF Get Rating) is one of 1,136 publicly-traded companies in the Asset Management industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Partners Group to similar companies based on the strength of its dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, earnings and profitability. Institutional & Insider Ownership 28.4% of Partners Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.6% of shares of all Asset Management companies are held by institutional investors. 17.9% of shares of all Asset Management companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. Get Partners Group alerts: Profitability This table compares Partners Group and its peers net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Partners Group N/A N/A N/A Partners Group Competitors 369.87% 7.79% 5.02% Dividends Earnings & Valuation Partners Group pays an annual dividend of $4.71 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Partners Group pays out 35.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, Asset Management companies pay a dividend yield of 6.9% and pay out 619.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. This table compares Partners Group and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Partners Group N/A N/A 71.41 Partners Group Competitors $494.20 million $11.68 million 6.14 Partners Groups peers have higher revenue and earnings than Partners Group. Partners Group is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry. Analyst Ratings This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Partners Group and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Partners Group 0 4 2 0 2.33 Partners Group Competitors 1061 4453 5652 88 2.42 Partners Group presently has a consensus price target of $1,225.00, indicating a potential upside of 28.57%. As a group, Asset Management companies have a potential upside of 36.45%. Given Partners Groups peers stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Partners Group has less favorable growth aspects than its peers. Summary Partners Group peers beat Partners Group on 11 of the 13 factors compared. About Partners Group (Get Rating) Partners Group Holding AG is a private equity firm specializing in direct, secondary, and primary investments across private equity, private real estate, private infrastructure, and private debt. The firm also makes fund of funds investments. It seeks to invest in distressed, special situations, later stage, mature, early venture, mid venture, late venture, industry consolidation, buyouts, recapitalizations, emerging growth, and seed capital. For direct private equity investments, the firm invests directly into healthcare, consumer, media & telecommunications, education, information technology, industrials, infrastructure/energy & utilities, financial and business services and real estate operating companies. For its private real estate direct investment practice, it focuses on seeking out properties globally. It also makes investments in private real estate secondaries and primaries and focuses on distressed assets in United States, Europe, and Japan. Under private debt, the firm provides senior debt financing, mezzanine financing, alongside secondaries and primaries, and also participates in add on acquisitions. It seeks to invest in middle market in Americas, Europe, and Asia. In energy infrastructure, the firm seeks to invest in the areas of midstream, power generation, gas transportation, gas export infrastructure, renewable energy including wind and solar energy. The firm seeks to invest globally with a focus on South Africa, China, India, Philippines, Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, Brazil, and Chile. It seems to invest between 500,000 ($685,010) and 100 million ($137 million) in equity investment in companies with enterprise value between 100 million ($137 million) to 2 billion ($2740 million). The firm is a value-add investor targeting majority and minority stake in its investee companies. While investing in funds, it invests in venture capital, mezzanine, private equity, real estate, distressed, turnaround, and secondary funds. Partners Group Holding AG was founded in 1996 and is based in Baar, Switzerland with additional offices across North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Receive News & Ratings for Partners Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Partners Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. OLIO Financial Planning lowered its position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH Get Rating) by 9.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,656 shares of the business services providers stock after selling 1,746 shares during the period. Booz Allen Hamilton makes up approximately 0.8% of OLIO Financial Plannings portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. OLIO Financial Plannings holdings in Booz Allen Hamilton were worth $1,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Utah Retirement Systems increased its position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 23,441 shares of the business services providers stock worth $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 4,952 shares of the business services providers stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 531 shares of the business services providers stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 5,495 shares of the business services providers stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,585 shares of the business services providers stock worth $1,733,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.45% of the companys stock. Get Booz Allen Hamilton alerts: Insider Activity at Booz Allen Hamilton In other Booz Allen Hamilton news, EVP Elizabeth M. Thompson sold 27,925 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $2,764,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,474 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,026,926. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Susan L. Penfield sold 22,600 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total value of $2,277,628.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,793 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,994,738.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. Thompson sold 27,925 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total value of $2,764,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,474 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,026,926. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,642 shares of company stock valued at $5,474,488 in the last three months. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Booz Allen Hamilton Stock Down 0.4 % A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Booz Allen Hamilton from $107.00 to $108.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 31st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Booz Allen Hamilton in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a hold rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Booz Allen Hamilton from $115.00 to $120.00 in a report on Monday, June 12th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from $105.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 7th. Finally, 51job reissued a maintains rating on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton in a research report on Wednesday, May 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $109.25. Shares of Booz Allen Hamilton stock traded down $0.45 on Tuesday, reaching $108.16. 141,627 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,055,197. The company has a market cap of $14.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.59. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $97.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.37. Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. has a 1-year low of $81.76 and a 1-year high of $112.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.79, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 26th. The business services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.39 billion. Booz Allen Hamilton had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 53.60%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year. Booz Allen Hamilton Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Booz Allen Hamiltons dividend payout ratio is presently 93.07%. About Booz Allen Hamilton (Get Rating) Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation provides management and technology consulting, analytics, engineering, digital solutions, mission operations, and cyber services to governments, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations in the United States and internationally. It also focuses on artificial intelligence services comprising of machine learning, predictive modeling, automation and decision analytics, and quantum computing. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BAH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Booz Allen Hamilton Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Booz Allen Hamilton and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Guardian Capital Group (OTCMKTS:GCAAF Get Rating) is one of 1,136 publicly-traded companies in the Asset Management industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Guardian Capital Group to related companies based on the strength of its earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends. Insider and Institutional Ownership 15.9% of Guardian Capital Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.6% of shares of all Asset Management companies are held by institutional investors. 17.9% of shares of all Asset Management companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. Get Guardian Capital Group alerts: Dividends Guardian Capital Group pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Guardian Capital Group pays out 9.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, Asset Management companies pay a dividend yield of 6.9% and pay out 619.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Analyst Ratings Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Guardian Capital Group 0 0 1 0 3.00 Guardian Capital Group Competitors 1061 4453 5652 88 2.42 This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Guardian Capital Group and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com. Guardian Capital Group currently has a consensus price target of $49.00, suggesting a potential upside of 47.06%. As a group, Asset Management companies have a potential upside of 36.12%. Given Guardian Capital Groups stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Guardian Capital Group is more favorable than its rivals. Valuation and Earnings This table compares Guardian Capital Group and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Guardian Capital Group N/A N/A 26.54 Guardian Capital Group Competitors $494.20 million $11.68 million 5.07 Guardian Capital Groups rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Guardian Capital Group. Guardian Capital Group is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry. Profitability This table compares Guardian Capital Group and its rivals net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Guardian Capital Group N/A N/A N/A Guardian Capital Group Competitors 369.87% 7.79% 5.02% Summary Guardian Capital Group rivals beat Guardian Capital Group on 8 of the 13 factors compared. About Guardian Capital Group (Get Rating) Guardian Capital Group Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company in Canada, the Untied States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through Investment Management, Wealth Management, and Corporate Activities and Investment segments. It provides investment management and advisory services. The company also offers wealth management services to high-net-worth families, foundations, and charities. In addition, it manages institutional assets for pension plans, broker-dealer third-party platforms, insurance company segregated funds, exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, endowment funds, and foundations. Further, it provides private banking services. Guardian Capital Group Limited was incorporated in 1962 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Receive News & Ratings for Guardian Capital Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Guardian Capital Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. First Republic Bank (OTCMKTS:FRCB Get Rating) and Friendly Hills Bancorp (OTCMKTS:FHLB Get Rating) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations. Analyst Ratings This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for First Republic Bank and Friendly Hills Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat. Get First Republic Bank alerts: Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score First Republic Bank 0 0 0 0 N/A Friendly Hills Bancorp 0 0 0 0 N/A Institutional & Insider Ownership Profitability 59.1% of First Republic Bank shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of First Republic Bank shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth. This table compares First Republic Bank and Friendly Hills Bancorps net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets First Republic Bank 20.45% 11.26% 0.72% Friendly Hills Bancorp -8.76% -4.00% -0.33% Earnings and Valuation This table compares First Republic Bank and Friendly Hills Bancorps gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio First Republic Bank $6.75 billion 0.01 $1.67 billion 7.48 0.04 Friendly Hills Bancorp $11.04 million 2.60 -$990,000.00 ($0.45) -19.44 First Republic Bank has higher revenue and earnings than Friendly Hills Bancorp. Friendly Hills Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Republic Bank, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. Volatility and Risk First Republic Bank has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Friendly Hills Bancorp has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Summary First Republic Bank beats Friendly Hills Bancorp on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks. About First Republic Bank (Get Rating) First Republic Bank provides private banking, private business banking, and private wealth management services to clients in metropolitan areas in the United States. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. About Friendly Hills Bancorp (Get Rating) Friendly Hills Bancorp. operates as a bank holding company. Its products include deposits, loans, savings and checking plans, cash management, mobile and online banking, business professional services, and other additional financial services. The company was founded on September 18, 2006 and is headquartered in Whittier, CA. Receive News & Ratings for First Republic Bank Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for First Republic Bank and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Panchen Erdeni Chos-kyi rGyal-po visits Cering Nyenzin (2nd L) and his family in Naixi Township of Mangkam County, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, June 8, 2023. Panchen Erdeni Chos-kyi rGyal-po completed a 13-day tour of Buddhist and social activities in Qamdo City, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.(Photo by Chogo/Xinhua) LHASA, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Panchen Erdeni Chos-kyi rGyal-po completed a 13-day tour of Buddhist and social activities in Qamdo City, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. Panchen Rinpoche, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, vice president of the Buddhist Association of China, and president of the association's Tibet branch, arrived in Qamdo's Jomda County on June 5. During his tour of Qamdo, Panchen Rinpoche visited monasteries of different sects of Tibetan Buddhism, where he held prayer meetings and expounded on the Buddhist sutras. He also gave head-touching blessings to more than 130,000 people. It marked the second time Panchen Rinpoche visited the city to conduct Buddhist and social activities. In Qamdo, Panchen Rinpoche also visited several other locations, including a station of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway under construction and an economic development zone, among others. He arrived in the regional capital Lhasa on Sunday and will continue to undertake a series of Buddhist and social activities during his stay in Tibet. Panchen Erdeni Chos-kyi rGyal-po holds a prayer meeting at Champa Ling Monastery in Qamdo City, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, June 12, 2023. Panchen Erdeni Chos-kyi rGyal-po completed a 13-day tour of Buddhist and social activities in Qamdo City, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.(Photo by Chogo/Xinhua) Panchen Erdeni Chos-kyi rGyal-po waves to locals in Gamtog Township of Jomda County, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, June 5, 2023. Panchen Erdeni Chos-kyi rGyal-po completed a 13-day tour of Buddhist and social activities in Qamdo City, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.(Photo by Chogo/Xinhua) StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Golden Minerals (NYSEAMERICAN:AUMN Get Rating) (TSE:AUM) in a research report report published on Saturday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the basic materials companys stock. Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a buy rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Golden Minerals in a research report on Wednesday, March 15th. Fundamental Research set a $19.25 price target on shares of Golden Minerals and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 4th. Get Golden Minerals alerts: Golden Minerals Price Performance NYSEAMERICAN AUMN opened at $2.25 on Friday. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $4.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.76. Golden Minerals has a 12 month low of $2.02 and a 12 month high of $9.72. The company has a market capitalization of $387.38 million, a P/E ratio of -37.50 and a beta of 0.86. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Golden Minerals ( NYSEAMERICAN:AUMN Get Rating ) (TSE:AUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 22nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter. Golden Minerals had a negative return on equity of 94.48% and a negative net margin of 42.54%. The business had revenue of $4.59 million during the quarter. Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AUMN. State Street Corp increased its stake in Golden Minerals by 62.4% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 255,615 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 98,236 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC increased its stake in Golden Minerals by 264.2% in the 1st quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 153,867 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 111,616 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Golden Minerals by 275.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 148,408 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 108,858 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Golden Minerals by 49.5% in the 3rd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 341,788 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 113,100 shares during the period. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Golden Minerals by 126.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 274,079 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 152,974 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.73% of the companys stock. About Golden Minerals (Get Rating) Golden Minerals Company, a precious metals exploration company, mines, constructs, and explores for mineral properties containing precious metals. It explores for gold, silver, zinc, lead, and other minerals. The company holds a 100% interest in the Rodeo gold mine situated in Durango State, Mexico; and a 100% interest in the Velardena and Chicago gold-silver mining properties and associated oxide and sulfide processing plants located in the State of Durango, Mexico. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Golden Minerals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Golden Minerals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Grupo Comercial Chedraui (OTCMKTS:GCHEF Get Rating) is one of 61 public companies in the Grocery Stores industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Grupo Comercial Chedraui to related companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, risk and earnings. Institutional and Insider Ownership 10.9% of Grupo Comercial Chedraui shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.2% of shares of all Grocery Stores companies are owned by institutional investors. 22.8% of shares of all Grocery Stores companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth. Get Grupo Comercial Chedraui alerts: Analyst Recommendations This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Grupo Comercial Chedraui and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Grupo Comercial Chedraui 0 1 0 0 2.00 Grupo Comercial Chedraui Competitors 1108 2753 3008 113 2.30 Earnings and Valuation As a group, Grocery Stores companies have a potential upside of 21.43%. Given Grupo Comercial Chedrauis higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Grupo Comercial Chedraui is more favorable than its competitors. This table compares Grupo Comercial Chedraui and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Grupo Comercial Chedraui N/A N/A 3.03 Grupo Comercial Chedraui Competitors $30.46 billion $637.68 million 188.95 Grupo Comercial Chedrauis competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Grupo Comercial Chedraui. Grupo Comercial Chedraui is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry. Profitability This table compares Grupo Comercial Chedraui and its competitors net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Grupo Comercial Chedraui N/A N/A N/A Grupo Comercial Chedraui Competitors 1.96% 14.38% 4.60% Summary Grupo Comercial Chedraui competitors beat Grupo Comercial Chedraui on 10 of the 11 factors compared. About Grupo Comercial Chedraui (Get Rating) Grupo Comercial Chedraui, S.A.B. de C.V. operates selfservice stores. The company operates through three segments: Retail in Mexico, Retail in the United States, and Real Estate. Its stores sell electronic goods, perishables, cloths, groceries, and general merchandise. The company also leases commercial space to third parties; and operates and maintains shopping centers. It operates 306 stores, including 198 tiendas chedraui, 60 super chedraui, 15 super che, and 33 supercito stores; and 7 distribution centers in Mexico, as well as 125 self-service stores, such as 64 El Super and 61 Fiesta stores in the United States. The company was founded in 1920 and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico. Receive News & Ratings for Grupo Comercial Chedraui Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Grupo Comercial Chedraui and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Canadian Western Bank (OTCMKTS:CBWBF Get Rating) is one of 194 public companies in the BanksRegional industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Canadian Western Bank to related companies based on the strength of its risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, earnings and valuation. Insider and Institutional Ownership 38.6% of Canadian Western Bank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.9% of shares of all BanksRegional companies are held by institutional investors. 13.7% of shares of all BanksRegional companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. Get Canadian Western Bank alerts: Dividends Canadian Western Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Canadian Western Bank pays out 28.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, BanksRegional companies pay a dividend yield of 11.3% and pay out 15.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Canadian Western Bank lags its competitors as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio. Analyst Recommendations Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Canadian Western Bank 0 2 1 0 2.33 Canadian Western Bank Competitors 1075 3249 3204 34 2.29 This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Canadian Western Bank and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com. Canadian Western Bank currently has a consensus target price of $31.00, indicating a potential upside of 65.33%. As a group, BanksRegional companies have a potential upside of 48.41%. Given Canadian Western Banks stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Canadian Western Bank is more favorable than its competitors. Valuation & Earnings This table compares Canadian Western Bank and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Canadian Western Bank N/A N/A 6.94 Canadian Western Bank Competitors $1.83 billion $466.87 million 380.63 Canadian Western Banks competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Canadian Western Bank. Canadian Western Bank is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry. Profitability This table compares Canadian Western Bank and its competitors net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Canadian Western Bank N/A N/A N/A Canadian Western Bank Competitors 35.28% 10.21% 0.95% Summary Canadian Western Bank competitors beat Canadian Western Bank on 10 of the 13 factors compared. Canadian Western Bank Company Profile (Get Rating) Canadian Western Bank provides personal and business banking products and services primarily in Western Canada. The company offers current, savings, notice, cash management, US dollar, and chequing accounts, as well as organization, business trust, and trust fund investment accounts. It also offers commercial lending and real estate, and equipment financing and leasing products; agriculture lending products; mortgages; lines of credits; registered retirement savings loans; consolidation, and vehicle loans; and credit cards. In addition, the company offers cash management services; life and disability insurance products; and ATM, mobile, and online banking services, as well cheque order services. Further, it provides investment products comprising guaranteed investment certificates, US dollars investments plans, registered retirement income funds, tax-free savings accounts, registered education savings plans, and mutual funds, as well as personal and business planning services. Canadian Western Bank was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada. Receive News & Ratings for Canadian Western Bank Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian Western Bank and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:AGG Get Rating) by 14.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 78,529 shares of the companys stock after selling 13,460 shares during the period. iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF accounts for about 2.4% of Affinity Capital Advisors LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Affinity Capital Advisors LLCs holdings in iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF were worth $7,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AGG. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF by 145.5% during the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 6,590 shares of the companys stock valued at $705,000 after acquiring an additional 3,906 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF by 36.2% during the first quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 52,003 shares of the companys stock worth $5,570,000 after purchasing an additional 13,829 shares during the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF during the first quarter worth about $241,000. Finally, West Michigan Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF by 2.0% during the first quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 14,640 shares of the companys stock worth $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. 80.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF alerts: iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF Stock Performance Shares of AGG stock traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $98.43. 2,006,198 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,986,445. iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF has a one year low of $93.20 and a one year high of $104.39. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $98.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.83. About iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF IShares are index funds that are bought and sold like common stocks on national securities exchanges as well as certain foreign exchanges. iShares are attractive because of their relatively low cost, tax efficiency and trading flexibility. Investors can purchase and sell shares through any brokerage firm, financial advisor, or online broker, and hold the funds in any type of brokerage account. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AGG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:AGG Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS Get Rating) has been assigned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the five analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $154.71. Several equities analysts have recently commented on KOS shares. StockNews.com began coverage on Kosmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a sell rating on the stock. Peel Hunt assumed coverage on Kosmos Energy in a report on Friday, March 10th. They issued an add rating and a $8.94 price target on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Kosmos Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Kosmos Energy from $10.75 to $10.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 15th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Kosmos Energy from a c rating to a b- rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 23rd. Get Kosmos Energy alerts: Kosmos Energy Stock Performance The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.71. Kosmos Energy has a one year low of $4.64 and a one year high of $8.55. The company has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 2.79. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $6.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.86. Insider Activity at Kosmos Energy Kosmos Energy ( NYSE:KOS Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 9th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $393.87 million for the quarter. Kosmos Energy had a net margin of 15.16% and a return on equity of 51.10%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kosmos Energy will post 1.07 EPS for the current year. In other news, Director Deanna L. Goodwin sold 112,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.69, for a total transaction of $749,280.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 99,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $665,869.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kosmos Energy Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kosmos Energy by 143.6% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,579 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 2,110 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Kosmos Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Kosmos Energy by 50.1% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 4,394 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,467 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kosmos Energy in the first quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Kosmos Energy by 33.0% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 7,054 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the companys stock. About Kosmos Energy (Get Rating Kosmos Energy Ltd. engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas properties along the Atlantic Margins in the United States. The company's primary assets include production projects located in offshore Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, as well as a gas projects located in offshore Mauritania and Senegal. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Kosmos Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kosmos Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger (NYSE:KR Get Rating) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday morning. Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Stephens lowered their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 6th. Roth Capital reissued a neutral rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, March 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Kroger from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 3rd. Northcoast Research raised Kroger from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Kroger from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $52.41. Get Kroger alerts: Kroger Stock Performance KR stock opened at $46.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.13 billion, a PE ratio of 13.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.47. Kroger has a 12-month low of $41.81 and a 12-month high of $52.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $47.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.52. Insiders Place Their Bets Kroger ( NYSE:KR Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 15th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $45.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $45.26 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 30.96% and a net margin of 1.71%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. In other Kroger news, VP Christine S. Wheatley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.49, for a total value of $1,187,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 126,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,024,866.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Kroger news, VP Christine S. Wheatley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.49, for a total value of $1,187,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 126,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,024,866.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 23,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $1,102,850.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 194,956 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,348,140.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 132,206 shares of company stock worth $6,402,118. Corporate insiders own 1.38% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KR. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,869 shares of the companys stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 29,150 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,672,000 after acquiring an additional 6,764 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 14,673 shares of the companys stock valued at $842,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,443,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 7,703 shares of the companys stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.73% of the companys stock. About Kroger (Get Rating) The Kroger Co engages in the operation of supermarkets and multi-department stores. Its brands include Big K, Check This Out?, Heritage Farm, Simple Truth, and Simple Truth Organic. The company was founded by Barney Kroger in 1883 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, OH. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Kroger Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kroger and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Citigroup lowered shares of NexTier Oilfield Solutions (NYSE:NEX Get Rating) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, The Fly reports. The brokerage currently has $9.75 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $9.50. NEX has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of NexTier Oilfield Solutions in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of NexTier Oilfield Solutions from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $8.50 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, April 18th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of NexTier Oilfield Solutions from $8.00 to $7.00 in a report on Friday, June 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of NexTier Oilfield Solutions from $18.00 to $13.00 in a report on Thursday, June 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of NexTier Oilfield Solutions from $14.00 to $13.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $12.08. Get NexTier Oilfield Solutions alerts: NexTier Oilfield Solutions Stock Down 7.1 % NEX stock opened at $8.84 on Friday. The firms fifty day moving average is $8.13 and its 200 day moving average is $8.72. NexTier Oilfield Solutions has a one year low of $6.66 and a one year high of $11.36. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 3.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 2.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.21. Institutional Investors Weigh In On NexTier Oilfield Solutions NexTier Oilfield Solutions ( NYSE:NEX Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. NexTier Oilfield Solutions had a net margin of 15.80% and a return on equity of 63.92%. The firm had revenue of $935.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $926.41 million. On average, research analysts forecast that NexTier Oilfield Solutions will post 2.53 EPS for the current year. A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NEX. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in NexTier Oilfield Solutions by 131.8% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 247,528 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,832,000 after buying an additional 140,742 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in NexTier Oilfield Solutions by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 55,112 shares of the companys stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,059 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of NexTier Oilfield Solutions by 149.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 37,971 shares of the companys stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 22,720 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in NexTier Oilfield Solutions by 120.4% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 34,346 shares of the companys stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 18,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in NexTier Oilfield Solutions by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,845,153 shares of the companys stock worth $72,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,246,804 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.09% of the companys stock. About NexTier Oilfield Solutions (Get Rating) NexTier Oilfield Solutions, Incis an oilfield service company. It offers completion solutions, hydraulic fracturing, wire line, pump down, coiled tubing, cementing, rig services, special services, and fluids management services. The company operates through the following segments: Completion Services, Well Construction and Intervention Services, and Well Support Services. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for NexTier Oilfield Solutions Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for NexTier Oilfield Solutions and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC Get Rating) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,641 shares of the financial services providers stock, valued at approximately $247,000. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 718,566 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $20,551,000 after acquiring an additional 20,885 shares during the period. My Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 17,229 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 922,916 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $26,395,000 after buying an additional 9,084 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 151,122 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $4,322,000 after buying an additional 9,170 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 24.3% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 38,113 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,065,000 after buying an additional 7,449 shares during the period. 67.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Bank of America alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Bank of America from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Bank of America from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Bank of America from $52.00 to $45.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $36.77. Bank of America Stock Down 1.5 % BAC traded down $0.43 on Tuesday, reaching $28.76. The companys stock had a trading volume of 12,563,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 52,718,758. The stock has a market cap of $229.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $26.32 and a 1 year high of $38.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The businesss 50 day moving average is $28.64 and its 200 day moving average is $31.25. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $26.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.28 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 21.85%. Bank of Americas revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year. Bank of America Dividend Announcement The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 1st. Bank of Americas payout ratio is 26.43%. Bank of America Company Profile (Get Rating) Bank of America Corp. is a bank and financial holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and nonbank financial services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth and Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, Global Markets, and All Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers credit, banking, and investment products and services to consumers and small businesses. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Bank of America Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of America and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM Get Rating) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday. Piedmont Office Realty Trust Trading Up 0.4 % NYSE PDM traded up $0.03 on Monday, reaching $7.10. 1,982,300 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,389,816. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $6.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $877.84 million, a P/E ratio of 10.29 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 3.63, a quick ratio of 3.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Piedmont Office Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $5.99 and a fifty-two week high of $13.94. Get Piedmont Office Realty Trust alerts: Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $142.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $143.71 million. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a return on equity of 4.70% and a net margin of 15.00%. Analysts forecast that Piedmont Office Realty Trust will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Piedmont Office Realty Trust About Piedmont Office Realty Trust Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 5,281 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 49,418 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 23,132 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,819 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 296,221 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $5,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,414 shares during the last quarter. 82.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. (Get Rating) Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: PDM) is an owner, manager, developer, redeveloper, and operator of high-quality, Class A office properties located primarily in major U.S. Sunbelt markets. Its approximately $5 billion portfolio is currently comprised of approximately 17 million square feet. The Company is a fully integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) with local management offices in each of its markets and is investment-grade rated by S&P Global Ratings (BBB) and Moody's (Baa2). Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Piedmont Office Realty Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Piedmont Office Realty Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shell (LON:SHEL Get Rating) had its target price upped by Barclays from GBX 3,300 ($42.23) to GBX 3,500 ($44.79) in a report released on Friday morning, The Fly reports. Several other equities analysts have also commented on SHEL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Shell from GBX 2,987 ($38.22) to GBX 2,854 ($36.52) in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Shell to an overweight rating and reduced their price target for the company from GBX 2,625 ($33.59) to GBX 2,405 ($30.77) in a report on Tuesday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an overweight rating on shares of Shell in a report on Thursday, June 8th. Berenberg Bank reduced their price objective on Shell from GBX 3,000 ($38.39) to GBX 2,850 ($36.47) and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a GBX 2,900 ($37.11) price objective on Shell in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Shell currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of GBX 2,898.55 ($37.09). Get Shell alerts: Shell Stock Performance LON:SHEL opened at GBX 2,340 ($29.94) on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 2,377.57 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 2,387.22. Shell has a fifty-two week low of GBX 1,908.60 ($24.42) and a fifty-two week high of GBX 2,613.50 ($33.44). The firm has a market cap of 159.59 billion, a PE ratio of 483.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 43.54, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.47. Shell Announces Dividend About Shell The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 18th. Shells dividend payout ratio is currently 1,900.83%. (Get Rating) Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, the United States, and Rest of the Americas. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Marketing, Chemicals and Products, and Renewables and Energy Solutions segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver gas to market. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Shell Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Shell and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. This photo taken on June 20, 2023 shows boats moored at Kalamis Marina in Istanbul, Turkiye. (Photo by Omer Kuscu/Xinhua) ISTANBUL, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Turkiye needs to boost the capacity of its marinas to address the growing need for mooring boats, local media reported, citing an industry insider. "Turkiye has 25 to 30 marinas at the moment, with a capacity of around 6,500 berths," economic daily Dunya Tuesday quoted Murat Bekiroglu, president of the Turkish Yacht and Boat Industry Association, as saying. Bekiroglu suggested expanding the capacity by at least 50 percent in the first stage. The industry leader said the limited capacity to harbor boats has caused a spike in the cost of mooring yachts, making captains opt for other destinations abroad. According to Bekiroglu, mooring a 42-meter-long yacht along Turkiye's famed Gocek beaches costs 1,200 euros (1,312 U.S. dollars) daily, while it is around 650 euros in Monaco in the high season. Gocek is widely known for its islands and large bay, which boost yachting tourism. The resort has four marinas to host luxury boats from around the world. In Bodrum, a hot spot for scuba divers in Turkiye, the same yacht costs 700 euros for mooring per day, whereas the cost is only 35 euros in Greece, said Bekiroglu. Turkiye, bordering four seas, is a popular destination for tourists buckling up for a perfect summer. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Shinhan Financial Group (NYSE:SHG Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday morning. Several other research firms also recently issued reports on SHG. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Shinhan Financial Group from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Shinhan Financial Group from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Sunday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Shinhan Financial Group from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their target price for the company from $38.46 to $32.31 in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. Get Shinhan Financial Group alerts: Shinhan Financial Group Stock Performance Shares of SHG stock opened at $27.33 on Friday. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $26.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.75. The company has a market cap of $14.28 billion, a PE ratio of 4.19, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Shinhan Financial Group has a 12-month low of $22.98 and a 12-month high of $36.64. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shinhan Financial Group Shinhan Financial Group ( NYSE:SHG Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The bank reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.25. Shinhan Financial Group had a net margin of 17.86% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The firm had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter. Analysts expect that Shinhan Financial Group will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Shinhan Financial Group by 88.3% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,936 shares of the banks stock worth $585,000 after purchasing an additional 9,815 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Shinhan Financial Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 37,453 shares of the banks stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Shinhan Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,501,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Shinhan Financial Group by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 21,167 shares of the banks stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 6,753 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shinhan Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $401,000. 2.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Shinhan Financial Group Company Profile (Get Rating) Shinhan Financial Group Co, Ltd. provides financial products and services in South Korea and internationally. The company operates through six segments: Banking, Credit Card, Securities, Life Insurance, Credit, and Others. It offers retail banking services, including demand, savings, and fixed deposit-taking; checking accounts; mortgage and home equity, and retail lending; electronic banking and automatic teller machines (ATM); and bill paying, payroll and check-cashing, currency exchange, and wire fund transfer services. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Shinhan Financial Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Shinhan Financial Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Independent Hajj Reporters (IHR) has expressed disappointment on the recurring spat between the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and some states' Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards and Agencies over the Hajj Saving Scheme, (HSS). When it was first launched, the HSS was welcomed by all stakeholders and was seen to be the perfect solution to the lingering issue of Hajj operations planning and executions. Since the launch about three years ago, however, IHR notes that both the apex Hajj regulatory body, which is NAHCON and the states have found it difficult to work smoothly on the project. Central to the cause of the conflict is the accusation by states that NAHCON is usurping their powers by registering pilgrims, while the commission consistently denies these accusations and points to the implementation process of the Scheme as run under Jaiz Bank. The issue has always been about accommodating pilgrims who paid their Hajj fare through the HSS. Many states prefer to register pilgrims who paid their fare through them before even considering those that paid through HSS, the result being, many are eventually left out even though both HSS and Pilgrims Boards pilgrims are from the state. After a series of meetings, NAHCON and the states had announced that an agreement is reached whereby pilgrims who registered through states will constituencies 60% while the remaining 40% will go to HSS. However, some states appeared to have reneged on this agreement by refusing to register HSS pilgrims which led to NAHCON rebuking them publicly. The Kaduna State Pilgrims Agency did not take kindly to NAHCONs rebuke and reacted fiercely also publicly. IHR, in a statement on Tuesday, by its National Coordinator, Ibrahim Mohammed said the continued attacks and counter attacks about the HSS is unhealthy for the Hajj industry in Nigeria. It is difficult to understand why it has become impossible for people entrusted with handling the affairs of the guests of Ar-Rahman will find it difficult to keep to agreements reached. At the centre of this all is the hapless pilgrim who chose to trust relevant officials and does as directed only to be denied the chance to fulfil one of the pillars of Islam, the statement said. IHR cautions officials to always keep at the back of their minds that their duties transcend beyond the normal call of duty because, by their actions or inaction, they tend to either curry favour or incur the wrath of Allah SWT. It is in the interest of all concerned to ensure they stick to agreements reached in 9rder to find favour in the eyes of Allah. The pilgrims who paid their fare either through HSS or states must not be deliberately denied the chance to undertake Hajj We, therefore, call on relevant stakeholders to wade into the matter and resolve it as quickly as possible, to avoid causing further disharmony within Nigeria Hajj Industry, IHR said. Signed Ibrahim Muhammed National Coordinator For: Independent Hajj Reporters 20th June 2023 Nigeria's Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has decorated Kayode Egbetokun as the new acting Inspector General of Police. Shettima performed the short ceremony in his office at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday Among his previous appointments, the new acting IGP had served as Commissioner of Police in Lagos State. Shettima was assisted with the decoration by Egbetokuns wife at the event that was witnessed by senior government officials, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume. A session of the intergovernmental conference on marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction is held at the UN headquarters in New York, on June 19, 2023. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua) UNITED NATIONS, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Monday adopted a historic agreement for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction which cover over two-thirds of the ocean. "The ocean is the lifeblood of our planet. And today, you have pumped new life and hope to give the ocean a fighting chance," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a session of the intergovernmental conference on marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Guterres noted that two decades in the making, the adoption of the agreement "demonstrates the strength of multilateralism." "By acting to counter threats to our planet that go beyond national boundaries, you are demonstrating that global threats deserve global action," said the UN chief. He called on all states to act without delay to sign and ratify the agreement as soon as possible. The agreement will be open for signature at the UN headquarters in New York for two years from Sept. 20, 2023, and will enter into force after ratification by 60 states, according to a UN press release. Waters which lie beyond national jurisdictions, known as the high seas, comprise nearly two-thirds of the ocean's area. However, figures from the World Wide Fund for Nature show that only about 1 percent of this huge swath of the planet is protected. The newly-adopted agreement, under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, is expected to significantly strengthen the legal framework for protecting high seas. Among the key issues it addresses, the agreement sets up a framework for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from activities with respect to marine genetic resources and digital sequence information on marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction, ensuring that such activities benefit all of humanity, the UN said. It will enable the establishment of area-based management tools, including marine protected areas, to conserve and sustainably manage vital habitats and species in the high seas and the international seabed area. Such measures are critical for archiving the "30 by 30" global target to effectively conserve and manage at least 30 percent of the world's terrestrial and inland water areas, and of marine and coastal areas by 2030, as agreed in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the UN said. "The finalization of this agreement is no small feat," UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi said in his remarks to the intergovernmental conference. The agreement complements the pivotal decisions aiming at global transformation including the 2030 Agenda, he said. It lays the foundation for a better stewardship of the seas, ensuring their survival for generations to come, and "testifies to the power of multilateralism," said Korosi. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Front) addresses a session of the intergovernmental conference on marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction at the UN headquarters in New York, on June 19, 2023. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua) According to a new report by the global research and advisory firm Oxford Business Group (OBG), it has explored the role that Nigerias services sector is playing in driving non-oil growth as the countrys efforts to diversify its economy gain pace. The report: Nigeria 2023 provides key analysis of the many economic segments that are ripe for expansion, such as the financial services, transport and logistics, and telecommunications. In the report, there are interviews with several high-profile personalities, including Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; President, ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray; Acting Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Africa, Antonio Pedro among others. Speaking after the launch, Editor-in-Chief, OBG, Oliver Cornock, noted that while hydrocarbons still accounted for a significant part of government revenue in Nigeria, the non-oil sectors contribution to GDP was on the rise, with the digital economy a key driver of new growth. He said, Looking ahead, we expect Nigeria to continue strengthening its ICT ecosystem through enhanced connectivity, particularly in rural areas, paving the way for segments such as fintech and e-commerce to expand, while encouraging further innovation and an increase in start-ups. Similarly, Harry van Schaick, OBGs Managing Editor for Africa, noted that as the continents most populous nation, with an abundance of natural resources, Nigeria was well placed to pursue its economic expansion plans. The Report: Nigeria 2023 which was produced with the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Deloitte, signifies the culmination of more than six months of field research by a team of analysts from OBG. Also, it is available online and in print. It is one of several highly comprehensive, go-to research tools being produced by OBG, which include Future Readiness and ESG Intelligence reports, alongside a range of Growth and Recovery Outlook articles and interviews. A record of $364.6 million in foreign direct investment (FDI), the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) attracted inflows into the country from 2020 to the first quarter of 2023, further creating over 30,741 jobs. This was disclosed by NEPZA Managing Director, Prof. Adesoji Adesugba, yesterday, while addressing journalists on the agencys key performance indicators (KPIs) in Abuja. He said, During this time, the governing board was also reconstituted and headed by a knowledgeable chairman, Adamu Abdu Fanda, who dedicated his time and energy to assist in driving the success of the SEZ scheme in Nigeria. He also argued that there was a need for a review of the NEPZA Act 63 of 1992 to meet the agencys demand in the 21st century: An up-to-date legal and regulatory framework is crucial to support the current SEZ landscape. The current NEPZA Act, established almost 30 years ago, does not conform to the realities of modern SEZ regulation and administration both locally and internationally. And it has created many challenges in zone operations. The act does not provide incentives that support skills acquisition and technology transfer to the domestic market nor enterprises to drive backward linkages to the customs territory, which is the key to economic development. China, US see progress in Blinken visit but close no gaps BEIJING: Chinese leader Xi Jinping said yesterday (June 19) he saw headway in the strained relationship with the United States on a rare visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but the rival powers remained at odds over their core disputes. Chinesepolitics By AFP Tuesday 20 June 2023 12:37 PM US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) shakes hands with Chinas President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday (June 19). Photo: AFP In a symbolic sign of lowering the temperature after soaring tensions, President Xi received Blinken in the vast Great Hall of the People and said the two powers had made progress and reached agreement on unspecified issues. I hope that Secretary Blinken, through this visit, can make positive contributions to stabilising China-US relations, Xi told the top US diplomat, the highest-ranking American official to travel to Beijing in nearly five years. US President Joe Biden, in brief remarks to press during a trip to California, reacted hours later by saying, Were on the right trail. Both sides had played down prospects for breakthroughs, with Blinken saying his more than 11 hours of talks over two days were more about restoring dialogue. We have made progress and we are moving forward, Blinken told reporters in Beijing, while adding: None of this gets resolved with one visit. Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang agreed to pay a return visit to the United States but Blinken acknowledged limited progress on jumpstarting communication with Chinas military, a key priority for the United States as tensions simmer over Taiwan. Direct engagement and sustained communication at senior levels is the best way to responsibly manage differences and ensure that competition does not veer into conflict, Blinken told reporters. I heard the same from my Chinese counterparts. We both agree on the need to stabilise our relationship, he added. Blinken said the worlds two largest economies would work together to expand flights - still at a bare minimum since the COVID-19 pandemic - and would explore ways to discuss Chinese exports of chemicals that make fentanyl, the painkiller behind an addiction epidemic in the United States. End downward spiral At the ornate Diaoyutai State Guesthouse earlier yesterday, Chinas foreign policy supremo Wang Yi told Blinken that the United States and China need to make a choice between dialogue and confrontation, cooperation or conflict. We must reverse the downward spiral of China-US relations, push for a return to a healthy and stable track, Wang said, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Wang also issued a warning on Taiwan, the self-ruling democracy claimed by Beijing. In the past year, China has launched live-fire military drills twice near the island in anger over meetings between top US lawmakers and Taiwanese leaders. On this issue, China has no room to compromise or concede, Wang told Blinken. Speaking later to reporters, Blinken voiced concern about Chinas provocative actions over Taiwan but insisted that nothing has changed in US policy, including its opposition to a formal declaration of independence by Taipei. US officials, fearing that China in the coming years will try to seize Taiwan, insist that Washingtons sales of weapons to the island are meant only to preserve the status quo. Blinken said he also raised concern about Chinas treatment of the Uyghur and Tibetan minorities and of Hong Kong, where Beijing has severely curbed free expression, although he spoke publicly only after meeting Chinese officials, who are highly sensitive to criticism on human rights on their own soil. Quarrelling lovers Tensions between China and the United States have soared in recent years, with both Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump calling Beijing the most serious threat to long-term US global primacy. Biden has kept Trumps hard line on China and in some areas gone further, including banning exports of high-end semiconductors to the rising power. Responding to Beijings heated criticism of the move, Blinken insisted the United States was not seeking economic containment of China. But at the same time, he said, its not in our interest to provide technology to China that could be used against us. On the streets of the Chinese capital, Sun Yi, 26, said she hoped Blinkens trip would improve the relationship. I think the two countries right now are like quarrelling lovers. Both sides have their own personalities and interests and are not willing to compromise, she said. Xi met Biden in November in Bali on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit, raising cautious hopes for a thaw. Blinken abruptly shelved a February trip, which was agreed in Bali, after the United States said it detected - and later shot down - a Chinese spy balloon hovering over the US mainland. Biden and Xi will next have an opportunity to meet in September at the latest G20 summit in New Delhi. DOHA, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced Monday the reopening of their respective embassies and consulates with immediate effect. The detente was broadly welcomed by regional leaders and analysts. Qatar's embassy in Abu Dhabi and its consulate in Dubai, as well as the UAE's embassy in Doha, will reopen on Monday, according to the Qatar News Agency (QNA). Both sides stressed that the significant step reflects the determination of the leaderships of both countries and contributes to the advancement of joint Arab initiatives, fulfilling the aspirations of the two brotherly peoples, QNA said. In a phone conversation on Monday, Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, and UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan congratulated each other on the resumption of their diplomatic representation, according to a separate QNA report. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) also welcomed the restoration between the two member states. GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi praised the "blessed step which embodies ... the unity of the GCC countries and the support for the joint Gulf action," QNA reported. Kheir Diabat, a professor from the International Affairs Department of Qatar University, said the decision to restore diplomatic ties signifies that both sides have pushed their relations a step forward to normalization and cooperation. "It means there is an opportunity for the two parties to coordinate their positions and political visions towards Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Sudan. In addition, this rapprochement will also be reflected in the strength of the GCC, which has suffered in recent years from apparent weakness due to the Gulf crisis," he said. The thaw is yet another fruit of the wave of regional de-escalation since the Al-ula summit, Adel Abdel Ghafar, director of the Foreign Policy and Security Program of the Middle East Council on Global Affairs in Doha, told Xinhua. In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt announced the severing of diplomatic ties with Qatar, citing Qatar's alleged support for terrorism and destabilization of the region. Qatar has denied these accusations. In 2021, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt announced the restoration of diplomatic relations with Qatar on the sidelines of the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia. However, due to a lack of consensus on certain issues, the process of full normalization has been delayed. House to meet within 15 days BANGKOK: The formal opening of the new parliament is expected to take place within 15 days, as the Election Commission (EC) has endorsed all 500 MPs elected in the May 14 general election, a source said yesterday (June 19). politics By Bangkok Post Tuesday 20 June 2023 09:05 AM Lawmakers attend a parliament session. Photo: Bangkok Post / File Under Section 121 of the constitution, the first parliament meeting must be convened within 15 days from the day the EC endorses at least 95% of all MPs-elect, added the source. The selection of the new House speaker and his two deputies is expected to take place on the first day of the new parliamentary session, but the parliamentary selection of Thailands next prime minister will take place only after the selection of the House speaker gets royal endorsement, said the source. The selection of the House speaker will be scheduled after the state opening of parliament, which marks the formal start of the new parliamentary year, said the same source. The 500 MPs-elect endorsed by the EC yesterday hail from 67 parties - 400 of whom are MPs elected in the constituency system and the other 100 in the party-list system, reports the Bangkok Post. The endorsement contradicted previous media reports, which said 71 MPs-elect in 37 constituencies might be suspended over election fraud complaints, said the source. EC secretary-general Sawang Boonmee, meanwhile, said the EC resolved to endorse all MPs-elect because it came to the conclusion that it wont be able to ensure fairness for all sides if it has to rush its investigation into complaints lodged against the results of the election and wrap it up within the given 60-day time frame. Under Section 138 of the 2018 organic law on the election of MPs, the EC still has the authority to continue investigating these complaints for up to a year after receiving them, according to Mr Sawang. And if the EC has sufficient evidence to believe an MP had committed or been involved in an election fraud as accused, the EC can still petition the Supreme Court to retrospectively forfeit their right to contest an election and vote in one, he said. All MPs who stand accused of election fraud will be allowed sufficient time to defend themselves against the allegations to ensure justice for them, too, he said. When asked if the EC will next seek the Constitutional Courts interpretation of Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrats alleged ineligibility to contest the election after also endorsing his MP status, Mr Sawang said the ECs fact-finding committee is still investigating the case. The EC is being pressured by several senators to call on the court to rule whether Mr Pitas past holding of 42,000 shares in iTV Plc made him ineligible to contest the election from the beginning. Mr Pita has insisted he only served as executor of his late fathers estate, of which the shares were a part. The MFP leader reportedly transferred the shares last month. Mr Sawang said the EC would not mix its responsibility to investigate claims against Mr Pita with politics; hence whether or not the investigation will be concluded in time before the selection of the countrys new prime minister takes place isnt something that concerns the EC. In the way we work, all facts deemed necessary for the ongoing investigation must be completely extracted first and even if the process has to be expedited later, it will still have nothing to do with politics, he said. Mr Pita is the sole prime ministerial candidate of the MFP and is expected to become the next prime minister. All MPs who have been endorsed by the EC will be able to pick up their letter of endorsement from the EC from today until Saturday. The document must be shown to the Secretariat of the House of Representatives upon reporting for the first time as a new MP, said Mr Sawang. Pornpith Phetchareon, secretary-general of the House of Representatives, said new MPs may report to the House from today onwards. Pheu Thai Party secretary-general Prasert Chantararuangthong said he now expects to see the formation of the new coalition and the selection of the new prime minister to happen sooner than previously thought. Considering the EC timeline for endorsing the election results, he said he personally believes Thailands new prime minister will be officially named before the end of next month. Patong Hill road claims another life PHUKET: A passenger van collided with a motorcycle on the road leading to the east side Patong Hill early this morning (June 20), killing one of the two women on the motorbike. tourismtransportSafetyaccidentsdeathpolice By Eakkapop Thongtub Tuesday 20 June 2023 02:28 PM Kathu Police were informed of the collision, near the shooting range on Phra Baramee Rd before the road starts climbing the east side Patong Hill, at about 7:35am. Police and emergency responders from the Kathu Municipal Rescue Unit arrived at the scene to find a silver Nissan van with impact damage to its front right. The van was fitted with Phuket-issued yellow licence plates, meaning it is legally registered to operate as a taxi. By the side of the road was black-red motorcycle registered in Surat Thani. Lying in the middle of the road nearby were the two women who were travelling on the motorbike when it was struck by the van. One of the women had suffered critical injuries. Rescue workers were unable to confirm she had a pulse and began administering CPR. The woman was rushed to Patong Hospital but later pronounced dead. Officers from Kathu Police Station confirmed they were continuing their investigation into the collision. Phuket airport to hold public shooting safety drill PHUKET: Phuket International Airport will hold a safety drill simulating a public shooting emergency on Friday (June 23). tourismtransportSafety By The Phuket News Tuesday 20 June 2023 09:53 AM Image: Phuket International Airport The exercise, called the Full-scale exercise of Phuket International Airport Emergency Plan (PEMEX 2023), will be held on the second floor of the Domestic Terminal. The exercise will start at 10pm and end at midnight. Management at Phuket Airport have asked the public to refrain from taking pictures and recording any videos of the training exercise to prevent misunderstandings among the public. Police question Freedom Beach dope smokers PHUKET: The two men who provided marijuana to two tourists who suffered adverse reactions to ingesting smoke from the herb at Freedom Beach last Friday (June 16) have been brought in by police for questioning. transportCannabishealthpolice By The Phuket News Tuesday 20 June 2023 06:22 PM The tourists explain to police their version of what happened on Freedom Beach last Friday (June 16). Photo: Phuket Provincial Police Mr Sophon and Mr Komsan explain to police their version of what happened on Freedom Beach last Friday (June 16). Photo: Phuket Provincial Police Mr Sophon and Mr Komsan were brought in to explain to police their version of what happened on Freedom Beach last Friday (June 16). Photo: Phuket Provincial Police The news follows Phuket Tourist Police issuing a public warning for tourists to beware people offering free tokes of marijuana on the beach amid concerns that the people offering the free tokes might well rob the tourists of valuables. Phuket Tourist Police said the warning was issued after two Thai tourists suffered severe adverse reactions to inhaling marijuana smoke, rendering both of the tourists, a man and a woman on holiday from Chiang Mai, unconscious. In a public statement issued through the official Phuket Provincial Police Facebook page yesterday (June 19), Phuket Provincial Police reported that on learning of the incident the Superintendent of the Karon Police dispatched officers and brought two suspects in for questioning on Saturday (June 17) to try to determine what had happened to the tourists, named as Thanawit Lamjuan and Nuntini Tanfu The suspects brought in for questioning were named as Sophon Wandee and Komsan Khongwatmai. The suspects told police that the couple were walking along Freedom Beach at about 4pm last Friday when they came across the two men, who were inhaling marijuana through bamboo bongs. The men said that both tourists then asked to smoke. They were not deceived or persuaded in any way, said the statement. However, both became extremely intoxicated, the men said. Neither of the couple had ever smoked marijuana through a bong before, they added. When recovering at Patong Hospital, it was found that Mr Thanawit did not have his wallet with him, leading to the presumption that it had been stolen. However, the wallet was later found after the couple had returned to their hotel room, police noted. The police statement specifically noted that Mr Komsan said he was aware that smoking marijuana in public could be construed as causing a public nuisance. The statement made no mention of whether Mr Sophon was aware of the same. Smoking marijuana in public was made illegal under Section 27 of the Public Health Act following an announcement by the Ministry of Health last year, the statement noted. People can report incidents to local officials, who can order the perpetrator to cease and desist from causing the nuisance, the statement said. However, only if the perpetrator refuses to comply with an order can they be prosecuted, the statement explained. If found guilty, the perpetrator faces up to three months in jail or a fine of up to B25,000, or both, in accordance with Section 74 of the Public Health Act, the statement continued. However, the statement by Phuket Provincial Police made no mention of whether Mr Sophon or Mr Komsan would face any penalty for smoking marijuana in a public area. Both Mr Sophon and Mr Komsan acknowledged the potential legal consequences of smoking marijuana in public and were ready to cooperate for the good image of Phuket tourism in the future, the statement said. Of note, the statement was issued as a Facebook post only, with no official named specifically as responsible for issuing the statement. Thais face uphill task to make last eight VOLLEYBALL: The Thai women ended the second week of the 2023 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) without a single win after losing to Croatia in Brazil on Sunday (June 18). Volleyball By Bangkok Post Tuesday 20 June 2023 09:21 AM Ajcharaporn Kongyot (right) plays against Croatia. Photo: volleyballworld.com via Bangkok Post World No.26 Croatia defeated No.15 Thailand 25-17, 25-21, 25-20 at Brasilias Nilson Nelson Stadium. Thailand had earlier lost to Germany, the USA and Serbia in the second week of the VNL, reports the Bangkok Post. After two weeks, Thailand are 13th in the 16-team competition, just one place above Croatia, with both having two wins and six defeats. Danai Sriwacharamaytakuls team had two wins against Canada and South Korea and two losses to holders Italy and Poland in the first week in Turkey. Poland and the USA have seven wins, while Turkey, China, Brazil and Germany have six wins. The preliminary phase features three weeks of competition, with each of the 16 teams playing 12 matches. The top-eight teams after the preliminary round qualify for the final phase, which will be held in Arlington, Texas, in the US from July 12-16. The Americans are already guaranteed a spot. Bangkok will be a venue in the third week from June 27-July 2 when Thailand meet the Netherlands, Turkey, Japan and Brazil in Pool 6. Last year, Thailand made history as they entered the top-eight tournament for the first time. They must now get good results at home if they are to repeat the feat. Meanwhile, Thailand have been criticised by sections of their own fans after they squandered a two-set lead to lose 3-2 to Serbia and then were defeated by VNL debutants Croatia. Thai star Ajcharaporn Kongyot said after the match against Croatia that the team need moral support instead of criticism. Dont lose hope in us, Ajcharaporn said. In Hong Kong, in front of over 10 thousand spectators, hosts China took a one-set lead twice against Italy, but the defending champions came back to achieve a 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22, 15-12) victory in the last game of the Pool 3 programme on Sunday. Yacht Sales Co Regatta prepares to set sail SAILING: The weather forecast is predicted as looking good and anticipation is high as The Yacht Sales Co Regatta prepares to get underway this coming weekend (June 23-25). Sailing By Scott Duncanson Tuesday 20 June 2023 01:55 PM Organised by the Phuket Yacht Club, the three-day event will see a number of multihulls competing, including past winners such as James Hastes Bonza and Dan Fidocks Fugazi as well as Roger Diggelmanns Saffron and Glwyn Rowlands Twister 2, both Stealths built in Phuket by Asia Catamarans. Andrew McDermotts trimaran Trident with a predominately female crew will also compete. Two Fireflies, John Newnhams Twin Sharks and George Eddings Blue Noze, will be competing against each other in the multihull class. Both were built in Phuket by designer Mark Pescott and boatbuilder Mark Horwood. They are always fun to watch scattering around Chalong Bay as is Dirk Wieblens interesting No Fear, a VLVP YG25 MOD, which is also entered in the regatta. Two monohulls, James Burys Alright, a Sydney 40, and Neils Degenkolws Phoenix, an X , have also officially entered the regatta. The weather forecast is looking good, particularly on race days two and three with 12-17 knots expected in Chalong Bay. Principal Race Officer Simon James from Regattas Asia is hoping to get in three races a day. The event, known as the Multihull Solutions Regatta for the past decade has changed its name and concept to the The Yacht Sales Co. Regatta. Previously, it was the only regatta in the region which strictly focused on multihulls. However, since the mother company Multihull Solutions started Yachts Sales Co, which brokers used monohulls, it is changing its image and rebranding itself to the Yacht Sales Co in this part of the world, and so it only made sense to rename the regatta. In the past, this event has sometimes been seen as a feeder event for Phuket Raceweek, traditionally held a few days later, but since that regatta has been canceled The Yacht Sales Co Regatta is now the main event for the summer sailing season in the region. This being the 10th year of sponsoring the event is already a significant landmark in itself, which now also coincides with the re-branding of our Company and indeed this Regatta, said Paul Stamp, General Manager of The Yacht Sales Co in Souteast Asia. We have expanded our portfolio of new boat brands, which we now represent and as such are very pleased to have a new Dufour 61 on show at The Yacht Sales Co Regatta this year too, he added. Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to both Peter Dyer and Scott Duncanson of Phuket Yacht Club for their continued effort and support in making this event a success. The Phuket Yacht Club deserves to be commended for not missing a beat during the COVID-19 pandemic. The club held its three annual regattas (Sailors, Yacht Sales Co/ Multihull Solutions and Jai Dee) throughout the pandemic, adhering closing to health regulations and never canceling one event. Supporting sponsors for this regatta include: Regattas Asia, SEA Yachting, Phuket Boat Lagoon, Octopus Electrical, East Marine Asia & Really Good Deli. All the regatta entries are live on the website: www.phuketyachtclub.com Results can be found at www.results.sailingscoreboard.com/index.php/results/index XIAMEN, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Xu Ming, former deputy head of the then State Administration of Grain, was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years imprisonment for accepting bribes. According to the verdict issued by the Intermediate People's Court of Xiamen in Fujian Province, Xu was also fined 4.1 million yuan (about 572,658 U.S. dollars). Xu's illegal gains from bribery and the interest it generated will be confiscated and handed over to the state treasury. The court has found that, between 1995 and 2021, Xu took advantage of the various positions he previously held to seek benefits for others in project contracting, business approval, case handling, and job arrangements, among other matters. In return, Xu accepted money and valuables worth more than 51.2 million yuan, said the court. Considering facts, including that Xu confessed to his crimes during the investigation and was cooperative in returning all his illegal gains, he was granted a lenient sentence, according to the court. CPI team leaves for Delhi | IMPHAL, Jun 20: A 30-member team of CPI Manipur State Council left Imphal for Delhi today. Seeking urgent restoration of peace and normalcy in Manipur, the CPI would submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister. Copies of the same memorandum would also be submitted to leaders of different political parties, said CPI Manipur State Council secretary L Thoiren at Imphal today before leaving for Delhi. He said that they would hold peace demonstrations at Delhi from June 23 to June 26. Meira Paibis present factual account of Manipur to PM | NEW DELHI, Jun 20 NEW DELHI, Jun 20 Since the Prime Minister has no time to visit the State which is burning since May 3, we have come to Delhi to meet him, said Meira Paibis representing the Khwairamband Ema Keithel Joint Coordinating Committee for Peace.A day after a protest demonstration was staged at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, the 75 Meira Paibi (women) posed a series of questions to the Prime Minister on the Centre's failure to bring peace and restore normalcy in Manipur and talked about a memorandum they submitted yesterday.Even after more than 45 days, the Central Government has failed to contain the violence and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "not spoken a single word on the Manipur crisis," said the womenfolk."While Manipur has been suffering since May 3, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has no time to visit the State. He has not said a single word. Since he has no time to come to Manipur, we, 75 women representatives of the Khwairamband Ema Keithel Joint Coordinating Committee For Peace have therefore come to Delhi to meet the Honble Prime Minister," they said.The people of Manipur are completely dismayed by the silence being maintained by the Prime Minister, they said.In the memorandum they submitted to the PM yesterday, the committee said that the violence that started on the day of ATSUM's so-called "Solidarity March" on May 3 has killed nearly 120 people and injured more than 500. Hundreds of houses have been burnt down and more than 50,000 displaced people are staying in more than 360 relief camps opened across Manipur without adequate support from the Government of India.Puncturing the claims and reports that the conflict was 'Meitei Vs Tribal' and 'Hindu Vs Christian', the committee pointed out that no other community was/is involved in the conflict.ATSUM's 'Solidarity March' was staged in all hill (tribal) districts. While the present tension between the Meiteis and the Kukis was triggered when the march turned violent, it was peaceful in nonKuki dominated tribal areas of Manipur, said the committee.Talking about the Centre 'lopsided measures and intervention', the committee said the failure on part of the Union Minister of Home Affairs to regulate and control the Kuki armed groups under SoO (Suspension of Operation) and bring back normalcy despite his 3 days stay in Manipur from May 29 to June 1 has made the people of Manipur more apprehensive."We, the mothers of Manipur strongly condemn Union Home Minister Amit Shah's exclusivist talks with elected Members of Manipur Legislative Assembly (MLAs) on community line i.e the meeting held with Naga MLAs and Kuki MLAs in the recent past," the committee said.Further, the 'prejudiced role' being played by the Central Security Forces including the Assam Rifles and Rapid Action Force has worsened the situation. Despite the recent deployment of more than 40,000 Central Security Forces, peace continues to be elusive. A section of the Central Security Forces is regularly seen obstructing the normal functioning of the State Police. They have also reportedly 'sided' with the Kukis and remained as mute spectators when Kuki armed miscreants attacked villages. These are apparently 'no more mere allegations' as the video and photographic images showing the prejudice of the Central Forces are available in plenty in the public domain, the committee said.Manipur is facing a humanitarian crisis at present and the Central Government has completely failed to even lift the blockade imposed on the National Highways depriving the people of all communities of their right to life, food, medicine and livelihood. The involvement of Kuki armed groups under SoO, and Kuki public in continued blocking of the lifeline like National Highway-2 for more than 40 days calls for a befitting condemnation and strict action, the committee said.For the democratic and economic prosperity of every community co-inhabiting Manipur, time has come for shedding exclusive ethnic demands and communal laws as espoused in the name of Zo-Kuki. The Zo-Kuki greater homeland mobilisation is among the key causes of the present tension not only in Manipur but also in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and North East India as it challenges the historically established political bodies in the region, it said."The case of Manipur is even more significant in this case. Manipur became a part of the post-British State of India in 1949. Manipur enacted its own independent Constitution in 1947, conducted democratic elections in 1948 and subsequently had a democratic Government until it was merged into the Union of India on October 15, 1949. Manipur was an established Asiatic power having international treaty relations with the British, the Avas and the Ahoms. There are 35 historically coexisting ethnic communities in Manipur including tribes belonging to Kukis. These ethnic communities belong to the same ethno-linguistic family and are typographically intertwined and connected. The history of ethnic distrust in Manipur is rather nascent largely due to the British colonial division of hill and valley and subsequent appropriation by the post-colonial State in India."With 3 million population, Manipur is in a fragile geo-political environment having an international border of 398 Km with Myanmar. Moreover, the North Eastern region of India is a landlocked and economically less developed mountainous borderland having nearly 1600 Km international border with Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, and Myanmar. The North East region is poorly connected to mainland India by a mere 22 Km stretch called the chicken neck. Manipur is a hill State with an approximate 8% low lying area also known as the valley. It is, therefore, infeasible, and uncalled for to divide Manipur into hill and valley in the hill State of Manipur," said the committee.Manipur has been facing a unique problem with all of the State's 90 percent of the population residing in the 10 percent of the valley land in Imphal and surrounding areas. While people of all communities in Manipur can stay and buy land in the valley region, the Meiteis cannot buy any land in the hills, which constitutes 90 percent of the State's land. This imbalance in the right to possession of land has caused a rift between the valley dwellers Meiteis and the hill dwellers created by the 'discriminatory and divisive laws' enacted by the Government of India, the committee said.Asking if Manipur is not a part of India, the committee urged the Government of India to ensure peace in the State and protect its territorial and administrative integrity.The Government must hold the Kuki militants accountable for the present violence by withdrawing from the tripartite SoO and it should disarm Meetei youths only after abrogating SoO with Kuki militants. The Government must stop divisive politics and dividing people on community line in Manipur, said the committee. The unfolding KukiMeitei conflict in Manipur | Pushpita Das (Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses) Summary While the High Courts directive to the Manipur Government to submit its recommendation on the inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe list was the immediate trigger for the violence between the Meiteis and the Kukis, anger against the Meitei-dominated State Government was simmering amongst the Kuki community for quite some time. Crackdown on drug cultivation and eviction drives against illegal migrants attracted large-scale protests in the Kuki-dominated districts. The demand for a separate Kukiland has also been long-standing. Manipur witnessed large scale ethnic violence in the first week of May 2023, in the aftermath of the Tribal Solidarity March organised by the All Tribal Students Union Manipur (ATSUM) in the ten Hill Districts of Manipur on 3 May 2023. While the protest marches across the State started peacefully, a march in the Torbung area of Churachandpur district turned violent as an armed mob attacked people of the Meitei community. Many believe that Kuki militants were involved in the attack. In retaliation, the Meiteis attacked the Kukis and burnt down their property. Soon violence spread to the Kuki and Meitei dominated districts of the State. At least over 100 people have been killed, 231 injured and 48,000 rendered homeless in the rioting. More than 1,700 houses, including religious places, were burnt. As violence spread, the Union Government acted swiftly and sent in additional soldiers from the Indian Army and the Assam Rifles. Even the Indian Air Force (IAF) was pressed into service. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) appointed Kudiep Singh, former Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) as Security Advisor to the Manipur Government. The State Government clamped curfew in the affected districts, suspended internet and shoot-at-sight orders were issued to deter violent mobs from indulging in looting and arson. While the situation was gradually brought under control, sporadic incidents of violence have also been reported subsequently. The Tribal Solidarity March which triggered the current round of ethnic violence in Manipur was called on 27 April 2023 by ATSUM following a meeting of the tribal students organisations held on 21 April 2023 in which the students organisations felt the need to express dissent against the Meitei communitys demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Accordingly, they resolved to organise the marches in all hill district HQs under the theme, Come Now Let Us Reason Together. The meeting of the tribal students organisations was called following a High Court order of 19 April 2023, wherein a single bench Judge, after hearing a petition by eight people representing the Meetei Tribe Union (MTU), directed the Manipur Government to submit its recommendation on the inclusion of the Meitei community in the ST list, preferably within a period four weeks. The order has since been stayed by the Supreme Court which termed it as a factually wrong judgement. Demand for ST Status by Meitei Community The demand for inclusion of Meitei in the ST list by the Meitei community has existed for quite some time. The demand first came up in 1981 when the then Chief Minister of Manipur, Rishang Keishing raised the matter in the State Legislative Assembly. The discussions on the issue did not lead anywhere as there were dissenting voices within the Meitei community against getting ST status. In 1995, the Meitei community was given the status of Other Backward Class (OBC). Two groups within the Meitei communityChakpas (previously known as lois) and Thoubal Khunous (previously Yaithibis)were already identified as Scheduled Castes (SC) in 1956. Nevertheless, the Meitei community intensified its demand for ST status with the formation of the Scheduled Tribes Demand Committee, Manipur (STDCM). The STDCM submitted a memorandum to Governor Gurbachan Jagat in November 2012, and also met the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2013 to reiterate their demand for a ST status. On 29 May 2013, the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs asked the Manipur Government to submit a formal recommendation along with the latest socio-economic survey and ethnographic report for the inclusion of Meitei community in the ST list. The State Government, however, did not reply to the letter. In April 2022, the MTU once again submitted a representation to the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry to consider inclusion of Meitei community in the ST list. The Ministry, on its part, forwarded the letter to the Manipur Government in May 2022. Once again, the State Government did not respond to the letter. In 2023, Mutum Churamani and seven others of the MTU filed a writ petition in the High Court urging the Honble Court to issue a writ mandamus to the Manipur Government to reply to the letter of Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The High Court order was issued in response to this writ petition. Here it is important to note that while both the Kuki and Naga communities are opposed to the demand of ST status of the Meitei community, the solidarity marches in Naga-dominated areas remained peaceful in contrast to the Kuki-dominated areas. In fact, the Naga community has distanced itself from the violent protests and claimed that the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), which was involved in various violent activities, does not represent all tribes people of Manipur. Reasons for the MeiteiKuki violence While the High Courts directive to the Manipur Government is the immediate trigger for the violence between the Meiteis and the Kukis, anger against the Meitei-dominated State Government was simmering amongst the Kuki community for quite some time. The Manipur Government over the past few months had taken few actions and decisions which have generated a sense of discrimination and insecurity among the Kuki community. To begin with, Chief Minister Biren Singh has been claiming that many illegal migrants from Myanmar have settled in the State, mostly in the Reserved and Protected Forests. Such is the anxiety of illegal migrants from Myanmar that his Government reportedly suspended the Free Regime Movement (FMR) with Myanmar and detained 410 illegal migrants from Myanmar. Furthermore, the Biren Singh Government also carried on with the land survey of Reserved Forests, Protected areas, wetlands and wildlife. During the survey, the State Government identified the encroachers, and served them eviction notices. Since some of these evictions were forcible, clashes between villagers and the forest and police officials took place. These drives against illegal encroachers from Myanmar are interpreted by the Kukis as action against their own community because they identify the Chin refugees from Myanmar as members of their own tribe, i.e., the Chin-Kuki tribe. However, the Manipur Government had claimed that of the total 291 encroachers removed from Manipurs forests between 1 January 2017 and 18 April 2023, 160 belonged to Meitei community, which shows that the Kuki community was not exclusively targeted. But it appears that the Kuki community continues to remain aggrieved. In addition, the Manipur Government had also launched the War on Drugs campaign in the State in 2017. The hills of Ukhrul, Senapati, Kangpokpi, Kamjong, Churachandpur and Tengnoupal districts were especially targeted as large-scale illegal cultivation of poppy was being carried out. The Government states that of 2,518 people arrested under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act between 2017 and 2023, only 873 were from Kuki-Chin community, while 1,083 were Muslims, 381 Meiteis and 181 from other communities. This despite the fact that Kuki-Chin community cultivated poppy in 13,121.8 acres of land and the Naga Community only in 2,340 acres. (To be contd) What is the method behind the silence ? Manipur continues to burn | The PM has not spoken. A case of indifference ? Or a case of the Prime Minister so engrossed in working out a formula that would not displease anyone on either side of the clash divide, but from which Manipur and by extension India will emerge the winner, that he has not found the time to even ask, what is happening ? Has the Prime Minister even spoken to the Chief Minister on the phone to get a first hand account of the ethnic clash here ? May 3 was not yesterday. In fact it has been over 45 days since the clash erupted and hundreds have lost their lives. Thousands have been left homeless and the shelter home is now the place they call home, that is if a school or a structure that provides them shelter from the rain and Sun can be called a home. Hundreds of houses have been razed to the ground and the Imphal-Dimapur route has been practically cut off and it will take more than the understanding of time for Meiteis to feel free and safe to go by road to Dimapur and Guwahati. To many Kukis, Imphal will no longer be the place they used to call home and for the students and others earning their livelihood outside Manipur, Imphal will no longer be the place they return to during their Summer break and during the Christmas holidays. Gun fights continue to ensue at the foothills and houses continue to be torched with regularity that it has sort of crossed the alarming stage ! Night vigils continue at different places and there is nothing to suggest that Manipur has taken its first step towards normalcy. Ironic it is that the loud reports of gunshots seem to be punctuated only by the deafening silence of the Prime Minister. Not that anyone here in Manipur expects a magic concoction to come from the Prime Minister, but the least that may be done is to show that New Delhi is concerned about the ongoing clash and will put in its best foot forward to work out a solution that would be acceptable to either side. All it would have taken to bring the 10 Kuki-Chin MLAs to abide by the oath they took as elected Members of the House would have just been a word or two from the office of the Prime Minister but the longer the separate administration demand they had raised is allowed to hang in limbo, the more complicated the demand they had raised can become. Not surprising that the separate administration call of the 10 Kuki-Chin MLAs is now the rallying point for many in Imphal. How serious are they in raising this demand or have they done this at the instance of the powers that be, just so that the real reason for first lighting the match at Torbung on May 3 could be given the much needed boost ? Only the ten MLAs and those who have orchestrated the violence at the foothills of Manipur and whose writ now runs along the Imphal-Dimapur Highway at Kangpokpi can answer this but an honest answer is not something which anyone would expect. This is where an observation from a lawyer friend becomes interesting. Separate administration on the ground that they cannot live together with the Meiteis is something of a farce, given the fact that the Meiteis cannot buy land in the hills. The Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act is not extended to the hills so they already live under a separate arrangement. The tribal customary law is alive and kicking in their midst. So what do they mean by separate administration are the posers raised by the said lawyer friend during a discussion and this is a question which only the said 10 MLAs can answer. Simple, rudimentary questions but for which no one expects any intelligible answer for reasons which should be obvious to all. First attack a village, set their houses on fire just because they belong to the Meitei community, at Torbung for the record, play the victim card and accordingly raise the separate administration call and continue firing at the villages in the foothills. To stop this tragic farce, the PM needs to open his mouth. This aerial photo taken in July 2022 shows an exhibition hall with the theme of starry sky culture, as well as a stargazing camping base in Changhong Township of Kaihua County, Quzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province.(Xinhua) HANGZHOU, June 20 (Xinhua) -- When Chen Yingquan, a 50-year-old farmer from east China's Zhejiang Province, worked in the city, he often recalled the night sky views in his hometown -- where standing on a slender balk in the fields and looking up, he could see the Milky Way shimmering on the dark canvas. His hometown, Zhenzikeng Village in Kaihua County of Zhejiang, is located in a national park at the source of the Qiantang River. The park was included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas last December. As China's urbanization process accelerated during the past decades, the young people in this village, like many traditional Chinese villages, moved to the cities, leaving the elderly to live in their ancestral homes. Chen, who has now returned to his hometown, found the village had witnessed the opposite trend in recent years. "More and more young people drove to the remote village to camp, just to see the starry sky," Chen said. Zhenzikeng Village administers four unincorporated villages, among which Gaotiankeng Village, free of light pollution, boasts a transparent sky and excellent conditions for astronomical observation. This year, the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation set up a dark sky reserve in the village. "Looking into the star-studded sky, which is long-lost and of breathtaking beauty, you can imagine that there are many creatures in the dense forest running and flying in the dark," said members of the Hangzhou Astronomical Society on social media after they returned to the city following a visit to the village. However, the village once faced "the dirty, chaotic, and poor" situation, with mud roads and piles of garbage. In June 2003, Zhejiang launched the Green Rural Revival Program, which planned to renovate about 10,000 incorporated villages and transform about 1,000 central villages among them into examples of moderate prosperity in all respects. Thanks to the promotion of the program, great achievements have been made in the area of human settlements in the village during the last two decades. In 2016, Changhong Township in Kaihua, which administers Gaotiankeng Village, aimed to turn the village into a stargazing resort. To this end, the township focused on cleaning up the rural areas to improve the local ecological environment and support "dark sky" economy development. Kaihua invested nearly 30 million yuan (about 4.19 million U.S. dollars) to establish a planetarium integrating science popularization and astronomical observation in the village. Dong Keli, an official of the township, said the village has over the years also built a dark night park and an exhibition hall with the theme of starry sky culture, as well as a stargazing camping base, creating a rural living space featuring the integration of stargazing, tourism and art. The featured "dark sky" industry is transforming the ancient village from a state of decay to vibrant revitalization, attracting around 30,000 visitors a year. The increase in tourists has provided a new business opportunity for elders like Yu Kunhua in Gaotiankeng. Yu, in her 60s, used to run the village's only small shop. She has now opened a homestay, which can secure her a yearly income of about 80,000 yuan. Currently, an ancient village protection and development project promoted by the Changhong Township government is underway in the village, and it will be completed by the end of this year. Dong said on the premise of not changing the overall style of the ancient village buildings, they will only carry out unified modernization of interiors to make the buildings more comfortable to live in. Local authorities are renting more than 40 of the 88 ancient dwellings in the village to create a star-themed homestay cluster, and have integrated more star-related concepts, such as star streetlamps, and a starry sky bookstore and bazaar, to further promote the village's development and increase the income of locals through the cultural tourism industry. "By then, more than half of the ancient houses will have been transformed from decaying empty houses into income-generating assets," Dong said. The change of the economic development mode has also greatly improved the local ecological environment. In the ponds in front of every house in Gaotiankeng, wild groupers now swim freely in the water. "Without quality water, the groupers can't live," Chen said. "We have passed the stage of development at the expense of ecological resources. Now everyone here, from the cadres to the masses, knows that deforestation and hunting are not allowed," Dong said. "We hope that social capital can join in the project investment in the future to drive the sustainable development of the ancient villages here," Dong added. This photo taken on June 6, 2023 shows well-preserved ancient dwellings in Zhenzikeng Village of Kaihua County, Quzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province.(Xinhua/Duan Jingjing) This file photo taken on Sept. 20, 2014 shows the starry night sky in Zhenzikeng Village of Kaihua County, Quzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province.(Xinhua) Country United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize 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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 WELLINGTON, June 20 (Xinhua) -- China's Hainan Airlines has relaunched its regular flight operation between New Zealand's Auckland and China's Shenzhen. Currently, Hainan Airlines flies twice per week from Auckland to Shenzhen, on Tuesday and on Saturday. The first flight after the relaunch was on June 17, according to a statement of the airlines on Tuesday. New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said on Monday that the direct airline connectivity between New Zealand and China is expected to return to around 75 percent of pre-COVID levels in the second quarter of 2023. Previously, airlines such as Air New Zealand, Air China and China Southern Airlines have been operating direct fights between the two countries. This aerial photo taken on June 18, 2023 shows straw checkerboards, a local method to prevent the sand from moving, in the Ulan Buh Desert in Dengkou County in Bayannur, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Situated in the central and western part of Inner Mongolia, the city of Bayannur has rich agricultural resources as the Yellow River flows through the city. The Hetao Irrigation Area, located in the city of Bayannur, has been diverting water from the Yellow River. (Xinhua/Peng Yuan) This aerial photo taken on June 18, 2023 shows the Sanshenggong Water Control Project in Dengkou County in Bayannur, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Situated in the central and western part of Inner Mongolia, the city of Bayannur has rich agricultural resources as the Yellow River flows through the city. The Hetao Irrigation Area, located in the city of Bayannur, has been diverting water from the Yellow River. (Xinhua/Peng Yuan) This aerial photo taken on June 18, 2023 shows the Hetao irrigation area in Dengkou County in Bayannur, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Situated in the central and western part of Inner Mongolia, the city of Bayannur has rich agricultural resources as the Yellow River flows through the city. The Hetao Irrigation Area, located in the city of Bayannur, has been diverting water from the Yellow River. (Xinhua/Peng Yuan) This aerial photo taken on June 19, 2023 shows the Wuliangsu Lake in Bayannur, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Situated in the central and western part of Inner Mongolia, the city of Bayannur has rich agricultural resources as the Yellow River flows through the city. The Hetao Irrigation Area, located in the city of Bayannur, has been diverting water from the Yellow River. (Xinhua/Peng Yuan) This aerial photo taken on June 19, 2023 shows the Wuliangsu Lake in Bayannur, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Situated in the central and western part of Inner Mongolia, the city of Bayannur has rich agricultural resources as the Yellow River flows through the city. The Hetao Irrigation Area, located in the city of Bayannur, has been diverting water from the Yellow River. (Xinhua/Liu Lei) This aerial photo taken on June 18, 2023 shows the Hetao irrigation area in Dengkou County in Bayannur, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Situated in the central and western part of Inner Mongolia, the city of Bayannur has rich agricultural resources as the Yellow River flows through the city. The Hetao Irrigation Area, located in the city of Bayannur, has been diverting water from the Yellow River. (Xinhua/Liu Lei) This aerial photo taken on June 19, 2023 shows the city view of Bayannur, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Situated in the central and western part of Inner Mongolia, the city of Bayannur has rich agricultural resources as the Yellow River flows through the city. The Hetao Irrigation Area, located in the city of Bayannur, has been diverting water from the Yellow River. (Xinhua/Peng Yuan) This aerial photo taken on June 17, 2023 shows fields in Xinhua Town in Linhe District of Bayannur, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Situated in the central and western part of Inner Mongolia, the city of Bayannur has rich agricultural resources as the Yellow River flows through the city. The Hetao Irrigation Area, located in the city of Bayannur, has been diverting water from the Yellow River. (Xinhua/Peng Yuan) This aerial photo taken on June 18, 2023 shows the Sanshenggong Water Control Project in Dengkou County in Bayannur, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Situated in the central and western part of Inner Mongolia, the city of Bayannur has rich agricultural resources as the Yellow River flows through the city. The Hetao Irrigation Area, located in the city of Bayannur, has been diverting water from the Yellow River. (Xinhua/Peng Yuan) This aerial photo taken on June 14, 2023 shows a state forestry area in Linhe District of Bayannur, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Situated in the central and western part of Inner Mongolia, the city of Bayannur has rich agricultural resources as the Yellow River flows through the city. The Hetao Irrigation Area, located in the city of Bayannur, has been diverting water from the Yellow River. (Xinhua/Liu Lei) This aerial photo taken on June 19, 2023 shows the Wuliangsu Lake in Bayannur, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Situated in the central and western part of Inner Mongolia, the city of Bayannur has rich agricultural resources as the Yellow River flows through the city. The Hetao Irrigation Area, located in the city of Bayannur, has been diverting water from the Yellow River. (Xinhua/Peng Yuan) This aerial photo taken on June 18, 2023 shows the city view of Bayannur, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Situated in the central and western part of Inner Mongolia, the city of Bayannur has rich agricultural resources as the Yellow River flows through the city. The Hetao Irrigation Area, located in the city of Bayannur, has been diverting water from the Yellow River. (Xinhua/Peng Yuan) BEIJING, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has lately replied to a letter from a Belgian friendly personage, encouraging him to push for stronger China-Belgium and China-Europe friendship. In his letter to Eric Domb, president and founder of the Pairi Daiza Zoo in Belgium, Xi said that the development of China-Belgium relations cannot be achieved without the long-term efforts and selfless dedication of friendly personages from all walks of life in both countries. He voiced confidence that Domb and other friendly personages will continue to sow the seeds of friendship, attract more people, not least those of the younger generation, to actively participate in the cause of friendship so as to make new contributions to advancing China-Belgium and China-Europe relations. BEIJING, June 20 (Xinhua) -- China is the world's largest industrial market, and Siemens highly values the opportunities offered by the development of the Chinese market, said Roland Busch, president and CEO of Siemens AG, in a recent interview here with Xinhua. Noting that the Chinese market is "very attractive" to Siemens, Busch told Xinhua that Siemens will continue to expand its manufacturing capacities in China, strive to provide better products and services to more Chinese partners, improve research and development (R&D) efforts, and actively participate in the high-quality development of China's economy. Digitalization plays a crucial role in the global economy and will transform the market from sectors of industrial manufacturing, energy system, infrastructure and healthcare, said Busch, noting that China is the largest industrial market in the world and has "huge potential" to tap. With the transformation to digitalization in all sectors, China has the potential to develop into "a leading market in driving the digitalization of the industry," said Busch, underscoring that the high adoption rate of digital technologies and the acceptance of using digital technologies is so high in China. "We see the Chinese market also is an innovation-leading market," said Busch, believing that China plays a key role in the global transition to the digital economy and will lead the digital transformation in the industrial sector. Describing the Chinese market as "innovation-leading," Busch said "We are investing more because local development of solutions is of essence you have here." While continuing to invest in China to increase production capacity, Siemens is also deploying local R&D centers and increasing R&D efforts, so as to be closer to customers and better meet market demands. In addition, Siemens has also built a digital factory in China to promote the development and implementation of a large number of application software products in China. This is Busch's second visit to China this year as he participated in the Siemens Digital Economy Forum which opened in Beijing on Wednesday. At the forum, Siemens announced the launch of the fourth-phase expansion project of the Chengdu digital factory, with an investment of 140 million euros (153 million U.S. dollars) in new fixed assets, which is expected to greatly increase the factory's production capacity after it is put into operation. When asked about the expansion, Busch said that "Our strategy is based on the market opportunities." The expansion is part of the strategy to "serve the local growth opportunities in China, for China," according to the company. Noting that there are more than 48 million small and medium size enterprises in China and they have a huge demand for digital transformation, he said Siemens is optimistic about this vast market. The company launched the open digital business platform Siemens Xcelerator at the China International Import Expo last year, hoping to benefit more Chinese small and medium size enterprises by providing a complete technical framework. The Chinese market is promoting digital transformation and sustainable development, and the comprehensive automation, digitalization, and low-carbon products and solutions launched by Siemens are very consistent with the needs of the Chinese market, said Busch. For some time now, it has been evident that the military-backed regime in Bangkok and the autocratic one in Phnom Penh are the prime sponsors of Myanmar within the Association of Southeast Asian nations. By deciding now to host Myanmars foreign minister at a meeting, to be attended only by Cambodia, Thailand has drawn criticism ~ veiled, from its Asean partners, but strident, from human rights groups ~ on several counts. The meeting is being organised nearly two years after Asean decided to end engagements with Myanmars generals for failing to honour an agreement to commence talks with opponents including the National League of Democracy led by incarcerated leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The other reason for criticism of course is that the regime in Bangkok rules in a caretaker capacity. For while the contours of a successor government may still be fuzzy, it is abundantly clear that the people of Thailand overwhelmingly rejected Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his party in recent elections. Thus, those conducting talks with Myanmars foreign minister would quite clearly lack the mandate to arrive at conclusions. Thailand claims that the talks are aimed at complementing, and not supplanting, Asean initiatives, but this is not something its partners in the alliance are buying. Indonesia, the Asean chair, has refused to attend, while Singapores articulate Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has made it clear that it would be premature to re-engage with the junta at a summit level or even at a foreign minister level. Advertisement Cambodia, which has close ties with China, just as the regime in Myanmar does, may have received a nudge from Beijing to attend. Indeed, it is Cambodia that has often batted for Myanmar within Asean, especially after the military overthrew the civilian government in 2021, and locked up prominent leaders including Ms Suu Kyi. What might Thailands mandate-less regime be hoping to accomplish with its decision to host talks? For one, many in the Thai establishment and those who support it, have strong business connections with Myanmar. This is the reason Prime Minister Prayuts government has been ambivalent in its responses to the coup. They would be concerned by the stance of the Move Forward Party, which leads an eightparty coalition bidding to take power in August. The party has often spoken out strongly against the coup and has even called for sanctions on Myanmars military rulers. Move Forwards leader Pita Limjaroenrat has said he will change the countrys policy towards Myanmar, to align it with those countries that have called for a restoration of democracy. But if Thailands current rulers are able to midwife Myanmars return to Aseans fold, or at least lay the groundwork for the process, before they lose power, it could provide a breather to the junta. Mohammed Abu Halima works in a corn field in Beit Lahia town in the north of Gaza Strip, on June 18, 2023. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) GAZA, June 20 (Xinhua) -- For Mohammed Abu Ziada, a businessman, it was a dream come true to see red corn planted in his hometown Gaza Strip. "For more than seven years, I traveled to China for trading, moving between different cities. Two years ago, I tasted red corn for the first time in southeast China's Quanzhou City," the 39-year-old man told Xinhua. "Initially, I thought it merely differs in color from the variety in Gaza. But then, I found that it can provide many health benefits," Ziada said. "The corn provides fiber that regulates the digestive tract, vitamin A that maintains organ functioning and calcium that builds strong bones," he explained. In addition, the corn kernels offer other crucial nutrients to the human body, such as iron, potassium, manganese, zinc, phosphorus, and magnesium, Ziada noted. Intrigued by the many benefits, the businessman decided to introduce the grain to Gaza, benefiting his fellow townsmen. However, bringing the seeds back was no easy task as it presented many challenges, including a long trip and permission from border officials after rounds of questioning. Despite a lack of farming experience, Ziada found a solution by cooperating with a local farmer. He rented his land to the farmer and agreed to share the yield equally. Although determined to promote Chinese products and food, Ziada said it has been "a real adventure bringing the red corn seeds back and cultivating them." Ziada's attempts inspired Mohammed Abu Halima, a local farmer from Beit Lahia town in the north of Gaza, who also decided to plant the grain on one dunam of his land. Succeeded in growing red corn, Abu Halima told Xinhua that "cultivating red corn was easier compared to other crops, as it requires less water and fertilizer and can be planted in all seasons of the year." He is set to harvest his red corn in a week and plans to distribute half of the production free of charge to locals to promote the new crop while selling the other half to cover the costs. Both Abu Zaida and Abu Halima have received positive receptions from locals, with more farmers asking about the new crop. The businessman said he hoped to introduce more types of colored corn to the enclave so as to meet consumers' diversifying demand in the local market. Mohammed Abu Ziada checks a corn field in Beit Lahia town in the north of Gaza Strip, on June 18, 2023. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) The Prime Ministers visit this week to the USA will be historic. The interest it has generated within the US as also the pomp and show being accorded, including a state dinner, culminating with an address to Congress, indicates that the hosts view the visit as special. It has been unofficially reported all departments have been instructed to make this visit a success. The number of high-level US visitors to India in recent days adds credence to this input. With agreements pertaining to sale of major equipment, transfer of technology and joint ventures are expected to be inked, Indias military integration with the US will move forward leaps and bounds. Simultaneously, there will be a decrease in military cooperation with Russia. Also expected is a joint statement which will mention an open and free IndoPacific, increased cooperation within the Quad, criticise Chinese hegemonistic attitudes and bullying as also violations of a nations territorial integrity. There would be other relevant issues including climate change that could also be mentioned. It is unlikely that China or Russia will be named but references to them will be evident. Advertisement The American intent is to provide India the capability to challenge Chinese domination in the region. Military cooperation including transfer of technology is unlikely to come with major end-user agreements and monitoring as with some nations. Increased military collaboration is a signal of closer integration in countering joint threats, not necessarily as a military ally. It is also a signal of India moving into the western camp, reducing cooperation with Russia, though officially India claims strategic autonomy in its diplomacy. IndoRussia relations were marked more by military and energy collaboration rather than trade. As per the Indian embassy in Moscow, trade between the two nations was barely $8.1 billion in 2020-21, while with the US it was $190 billion. In diplomacy, a weak India banked on Russian support in the UN whenever it faced hostility. Russia in turn controlled the Indian defence market and partially its foreign policy. Over a period of time, there were other nations which stood by India, including France and the US. Now, there are almost none who can accuse India in the UNSC and get away. Every time China tried on Pakistans behalf, it failed. Russia was also the go-between, playing a silent game in healing IndoChina differences. Currently Russia claims neutrality. Its Ambassador, Denis Alipov, recently stated, This (dispute along the LAC) is entirely a bilateral matter between India and China and we dont interfere with that. India displayed neutrality in the Russo-Ukraine conflict more because of its dependence on Russia for military weaponry and energy resources rather than age-old ties. The Russian pretext for its actions in Ukraine could be replicated by China in the case of Taiwan or even along the LAC. Hence, PM Modi stating this is not an era of war was intended at conveying that wars are unacceptable and differences should be resolved by dialogue, hinting at China. India changing the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) leaders summit to virtual mode was a sign of wanting to reduce anti-US statements in the summit. The growing China-Russia proximity is an added cause for India to gravitate towards the US. India currently is concentrating on self-reliance in the defence sector. One of the takeaways from the Ukraine conflict is the impact on weapon supply chains in a crisis. The supply of the S-400 missile systems and critical spares from Russia have been impacted by the war and resultant sanctions. Ukraine, which supplied India with ship engines, has been unable to fulfil its obligations. India faced similar restrictions during the Kargil war from both Russia and the US, lessons of which we failed to imbibe. India will also attempt to exploit the conflict by establishing facilities for repairing Russian equipment in the region with Moscows approval, as Russia remains under sanctions. For self-reliance, India needs technology which would largely flow from the West. With the US taking the lead, other nations would follow. The US has proposed adding India to NATO plus to basically open up transfer of key weapon technologies. Germany and France are already in talks to participate in major Indian defence modernisation programmes. Israel is a close defence partner. Increased Western weapon systems imply closer integration in their employment as also tactics. After initial hesitation, the West comprehended Indias stand on the Ukraine crisis and has also exploited Indias ongoing relations with Russia on critical occasions including export of Ukrainian grain and stalling Russian actions on Ukraines nuclear power plants. The recent phone conversation between the Ukrainian presidents chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, and the Indian NSA, Ajit Doval, on seeking support for Ukraines peace formula emphasises global acceptance of the Indian viewpoint. Closer Indo-US ties also benefit the US. India is a regional power and its cooperation is essential for keeping Chinese pressures at bay. India remains the fastest growing economy. Though India has no intention of antagonising China and worsening an already depleting relationship, it does have the ability to support Asean nations in building their capacity to challenge China. Indias soft power enables it to challenge China in the Pacific as also Africa This benefits the West, which is working to contain China. India should now use its influence to alter US views in its immediate surroundings, mainly in Bangladesh and Myanmar. The growing Indo-US relation and the gravitation of India into the Western camp was summed up by the Indian ambassador to Washington, Taranjit Singh Sandhu. He stated, today, we are talking about the stuff which was unimaginablenow youre talking about critical and emerging technologies, and data and AI that include semiconductors, quantum 5G, and 6G telecom sector. Technology also reflects trust and confidence between the two sides. And I think this aspect is the one which is going to really show the deepening of our relationship. India may claim strategic autonomy and remain in global forums alongside Russia and China, however it is moving deeper into the US camp. It may not become a military ally but will be a strategic partner. The US has succeeded in wooing India and drawing it strategically away from Russia. (The writer is a retired Major-General of the Indian Army.) Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has strongly condemned the Governors decision to celebrate the Foundation Day of the State of West Bengal on June 20. In a letter to the Governor, she wrote In so far as any communication of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India on this subject is concerned, we hereby strongly protest against this a historical, unconstitutional and unilateral decision of the Government of India to commemorate the so-called Foundation Day of the State of West Bengal on 20 June. She requested the Governor not to hold any such programme which will rekindle the bitter memories of crores of people in West Bengal and re incite undesirable forces. She referred to the telephonic discussion on Monday when the Governor had admitted that a unilateral and non-consultative decision to declare the foundation day is not warranted. Miss Banerjee wrote that the West Bengal government was carved out of the undivided West Bengal in 1947 through a most painful and traumatic process. The process involved the uprooting of millions of people across the border and the death and displacement of innumerable families. The economy of West Bengal was destroyed and devastated and the truncated state of West Bengal suffered sudden disruption of communication and infrastructure too. The state was not founded on any particular day, least of all on 20 June. Contrarily the state was formed through the infamous Radcliffe Award, which was given legitimacy by the departing colonial/ imperial government. Advertisement At a time when chief minister Mamata Banerjee has instructed all the civic bodies to take stringent action against those filling up water bodies in their area, hectic work is on to fillup a tank in Howrah. The Statesman had reported an incident about filling up of a water body in Howrah on 5 July, 2011. Miss Banerjee, who became the chief minister in May 2011, took special interest and the work was stopped by the Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC). Taking advantage of the condition on HMC, where civic elections have not taken place after the tenure of the earlier municipal body came to an end and a governmentappointed administrator is now in charge, the builder is filling up the water body with renewed effort. A special puja was held some time ago and soil testing was done last week. The water body is situated at 129, NS Dutta Road, under Ward 23 of HMC. The area of the tank is 15 cottah and the adjoining land is 9 cottah. Advertisement The original owner of the property, Dr Ananta Mullick, an eye surgeon, left Howrah after selling his property. A visit to the area revealed that the promoter is felling trees to cover up the water body and also the old method of filling of the water body with soil is followed. Inquiry revealed that the builder is planning to construct a nine-storey building. Local people had approached the Bantra police station, but no action had been taken. A senior civic official said when the water body is totally filled up with rubbish, the builder will approach the civic body to say that the water body has become a centre for mosquito breeding ground. As there is no civic board, the builder is taking advantage of the situation. He is doing everything in haste. The soil test was hurriedly done and also the bhoomi pujan was held two months ago. Local people said there was a time when local people used to take holy dip after conducting certain rituals. They alleged that if a nine-storey building is set up, the smooth passage of natural air will be stopped. The civic officials remained tight-lipped and refused to make any comment. It may be mentioned that opposite the Power House in Kadamtala, a nine-storey building has come up without leaving any side and back space open. The civic laws say that if the height of the building is more than 14.5 meters, provision to keep side and back open is mandatory Today a control room was started at Raj Bhavan, the West Bengal Governors residence and office, so that grievances related to the upcoming rural elections in the state could be lodged by people directly. The idea emerged during reports of political clashes and violence in different parts of the state and after Governor CV Ananda Bose visited several of the spots and spoke to the affected. The twenty-four-hour service intends to register the grievances and inform the State Election Commission (SEC) and the state government about the details so that the issues could be redressed. This is in keeping with the Governors earlier statement that action would be taken after his visit to Canning and Bhangar, where violent clashed had taken place. The email id for lodging the complaints is OSD2w.b.governor@gmail.com and the phone number is 03322001641. Political pundits, while praising the initiative are cynical of the rate of its success. Its a great venture but will it really work? There is a will but the way is fraught with difficulties, says Tarun Ganguly, Bengal political expert. Advertisement Todays opening of the control room is reminiscent of the hotline that was started by the Trinamool government called Didi ke Bolo or Tell Didi (literally meaning elder sister which is how West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is popularly known.) Launched on July 29, 2019 after the Parliamentary elections that year, it was the brainchild of political strategist Prashant Kishore, who was hired by Trinamool to counter chief political rival, BJPs increasing voteshare in the state before the next state elections. The campaign was a success in terms of the fact that hundreds of people did call up the helpline to lodge complaints and grievances. However, the redressal was not always as smooth as the outreach programme intended it to be. The way the complaint cell worked was that as soon as the team member (comprising 250 dedicated call center executives) received a call, he or she was expected to log the call with details of the persons name, address, phone number and nature of complaint and create a digital file which would be sent to the chief ministers grievance cell created specifically for the purpose of dealing with the issues that came up. The executive gave the complainant a timeframe of not more than 48 hours of his or her call to receive a response. Within this time the corporate office of the poll strategist hired by the state government would contact the complainant for additional details. This would be followed up by the corporate executive creating a file of complaint and action taken which would then be sent to the various governmental departments for action. The departments would be expected to respond, within 48 hours, of actions taken and within seven days of the receipt of the complaint by the department, a solution to the problem would have to be devised. Though the intention to solve the problems speedily was indeed a very laudable cause and it gave a great deal of motivation and hope to the complainant but in certain cases the problems were complex and could not be solved easily within seven days, according to several reports, Ganguly says. However the campaign, which was very visible, with hoardings and posters depicting Didi on the other end of a phone call, received widespread recognition. And even if all problems did not get solved, the idea that their chief minister was available and a phone call away did, clearly, work to motivate the electorate which voted their elder sister back to power in the state elections. It is to be seen how successful the Governors Public Peace Room is in the coming days. Ruling Trinamool has scoffed at it and questioned whether the Governor had the jurisdiction to launch such a control room. However the Trinamool would be reminded that when the party was in the Opposition and fighting for the cause of Singur and Nandigram against the then Left government, it welcomed any such intervention from then Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi. If the Governor at that time had jurisdiction, why not now? And if the Peace project works to redress grievances, it should be welcomed by all irrespective of political ideology. In a setback to West Bengal government, the Supreme Court, while observing on Tuesday that the conduct of election is not a licence to commit violence, refused to interfere with Calcutta High Court order directing the State Election Commission (SEC) to requisition and deploy the Central forces across the state in pursuance to the panchayat elections for 75,000 seats. Reaffirming the June 15 high court order issuing directions to the State Election Commission, a vacation bench of Justice B V Nagarathna and Justice Manoj Misra said it is the responsibility of the State Election Commission to conduct free and fair elections, where from the forces come it is not its concern. We are wondering, it is the responsibility of the State Election Commission to conduct free and fair elections. Where from the forces come, it is not your concern, the bench said adding that the forces may come from within the State, the Centre or the neighbouring State, they come to the aid of the SEC. Forces come to the aid of SEC to conduct free and fair elections. Advertisement The vacation bench said that even according to the State government, its own police force is inadequate to meet the situation as panchayat elections are being held in one go (one day) and that is why you have requisitioned forces from half a dozen states. The bench further said that the High Court has said that instead of requisitioning forces from half a dozen states, take central forces and the expenses too would be borne by it (Central government.) Justice Nagarathna said, The conduct of election is not a licence to commit violence. We dont think you can have a reservation on the High Court direction (given) the history of the State (poll related violence) and the ground realities. The top courts observations came in the course of the hearing of two petitions by the West Bengal government and one by the State Election Commission challenging June 15, Calcutta High Court order directing the State Election Commission to requisition and deploy Central forces in all the districts. Appearing for the SEC, senior advocate Meenakshi Arora told the bench that it (SEC) has no jurisdiction to requisition the security forces for deployment during the conduct of the election. Arora said that SEC can only tell the State government of its requirement of the forces and it is for the State government to arrange for them. She also said that deployment of security forces is polling booth wise and not district wise. She said that only 184 polling booths have been identified as sensitive, requiring more deployment of the forces. Defending the High court order, senior advocate Harish Salve appearing for Suvendu Adhikari and Dipankar Rit respondents in the petitions by the West Bengal government and the State Election Commission respectively told the vacation bench that though the election schedule for panchayat was announced on June 8, but there was no assessment of the requirement of the security forces. Senior advocate Anand Grover appearing for the West Bengal government argued that the requisition of security forces required by the State Election Commission can only be done by the State government and no authority can arrogate that authority to itself. Civil aviation fleet in India has risen 75 per cent since 2013-14 to about 700 and is likely to rise towards 1500-2000 in the next half a decade, said Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia a day after Indigo announced the 500 aircraft mega deal with Airbus. Capability of the Indian civil aviation sector is immense, Scindia said speaking to ANI and noted the latest orders by the Indian airlines are way more than the total fleet size of 2013. Further, speaking about a number of operational airports, heliports, and aerodromes, he said they doubled under this current government 74 in 2014 to 148 in 2023 and are projected to go up to 220 in the next 4-5 years. India should become a civil aviation hub, he said, adding the government is working on it. Indias aviation industry has experienced significant growth in the past nine years under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. The government argues this growth can be attributed to the governments consistent efforts to improve overall airports and aviation infrastructure. One such initiative is the Regional Connectivity Scheme Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN), under which 469 routes connecting 74 airports have been made operational, providing affordable air travel options for millions of Indians. The UDAN scheme has recently completed five years. The scheme was initiated in October 2016 with the objective of fulfilling the aspirations of the citizens, with an enhanced aviation infrastructure and air connectivity in tier II and tier III cities. Advertisement Meanwhile, Scindia also lashed out at opposition leaders who labelled allegations on the government that airfares in India were out of control. In an apparent attack on Congress leader KC Venugopal and P Chidambaram, who recently raised questions on airfares, Scindia said Those who want to do politics the public has shown them the mirror many times. The airline operator Go First had in early May filed for voluntary insolvency and since then its operations were kept stalled, which led to the hike in airfare on some routes. Scindia said earlier that a portion of the routes that were served by GoFirst, which is under stress now, have already been allotted to other airlines. Congress leader KC Venugopal in a long tweet recently slammed Scindia, saying the current government has been incapable of curbing this price rise and preventing predatory behaviour on the part of airlines. According to Michael Jain, CEO, of Belair Travel, I definitely think this is a short-term phenomenon especially because of certain airlines not operating at the moment and certain demand and supply mismatch. Jain reiterated the recent rise in airfare was purely due to demand and supply mismatch. The capital city of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla now has 20 more electronic buses. With this, the total number of e-buses operational in the city has gone up to 70. Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri on Monday flagged off the new fleet of 20 e-buses from Chaura Maidan in Shimla. These new buses will ply within a radius of 30 to 40 kilometers in Shimla city. Around 200 electric buses have now joined the Himachal Pradesh Transport Corporation (HRTC) fleet in Himachal. Diesel buses are being replaced with the slogan Green Himachal, Clean Himachal, an official release said. Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu said that these buses will be replaced by old diesel buses in a phased manner. With the increase in the number of electric buses in the depots of Shimla, the pollution from diesel buses will reduce and this will further improve the climate of the city. He said that electric bus charging stations have also been made in different parts of the city. Advertisement We have made it clear during the Budget and had set a target to make Himachal Pradesh a green state. I am happy that earlier we launched 15 E-buses in Dharamshala and today we are dedicating 20 buses to the people of Shimla. The 1500 fleet of HRTC will be replaced with Electric buses. Our objective is that we are replacing electric buses and there will be combinations of both Electronic and diesel, said the Chief Minister. Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who is also the transport minister, said that after the formation of the Congress government, around 200 new buses have been purchased for the HRTC fleet. Because HRTC has more than three thousand buses, out of which 1000 to 1200 buses have completed their life. Those are being replaced with new buses. In Himachal, a target has been set to electrify 80 per cent of buses by 2026. With the introduction of 20 new electric buses in the city, where the pollution will reduce, the passengers will also get rid of the old buses which are getting damaged again and again, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said. Both the Chief Minister and the deputy along with another cabinet, colleagues, and legislators travelled from Chaura Maidaan to Secretariat in an electric bus which was flagged off here on Monday. The Deputy Chief Minister who is also the transport minister said that the diesel buses will be replaced by Himachal Pradesh Transport Corporation in a phased manner. The electric bus drivers are pleased to drive pollution-free buses in the smart city and state capital. This is a good initiative; trials for these buses were taken earlier. The electric bus is pollution free for the city, I am happy to drive this bus. This is good for Himachal and these are smart buses for smart cities. This is safe also if the door is open we cant run the bus. We can drive this bus for 120 km after getting charged for once and we can drive it 200 km after charging here in the city, said Vinod Kumar, bus driver while speaking to ANI. The local residents are happy and want the government to replace all diesel-run buses with Electric buses. This is good and beneficial for the environment here, earlier there were very few buses in the city. Now there is an advantage of this bus, here we have trees and this will help to keep more pollution free. It would be good if the government replaced all diesel buses with E-buses, said Roop Ram, a local resident. The mayor of Shimla city who has planned to make Shimla pollution free and decongestion the vehicular traffic from the city said that this is a very good imitative and will help Shimla to make clean and green said that these buses will add more to make Simla and Himachal green and clean city and state. HRTC became a pioneer among State Transport undertakings in the entire country to introduce electric mobility in the State of Himachal Pradesh, when 25 E-buses were first purchased in the year 2017. At present HRTC has a fleet of 90 Electric buses out of which 17 E-buses are being plied at the Kullu unit, five at the Mandi Unit, three at Bilaspur, and 50 E-buses are being plied at the Local unit Dhalli. Recently in the month of May 2023, 15 more E-buses have been added to the HRTC fleet at Dharamshala. With this new addition of 20 E-buses at Shimla, the total fleet of E-buses will be 110. The operational cost would be less by approximately Rs.25/km as compared to diesel buses. The salient feature of these buses is that with a single charge, they can travel up to 150 km in, ease of comfort with air suspension at the rear, and safety features like GPS, a Panic button, and CCTV cameras fitted in the bus. These buses are purchased with financial assistance from Shimla Smart City Ltd. In addition to the above 110 E-buses, HRTC has recently floated a tender for 75 Type-1 E-buses to be plied in Shimla Local and Hamirpur, Nadaun as per the announcement of the Chief Minister during the budget speech 2023-24. Also for 225 Type-II E-Buses, the Technical specification of E-buses required for replacement of existing Type-II diesel buses have been finalized, and the tender of which will be released by the end of this month. With this, HRTC will also become the first state in the entire country to have Type-ll E-buses suitable for operation in hilly terrain. On the eve of International Yoga Day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accused the Central government of shutting down Yoga classes where 17,000 people used to practice Yoga. Kejriwal said on Tuesday that for him, Yoga Day would be the day when he would start free Yoga classes again for the people of Delhi. Tomorrow is International Yoga Day. This day inspires us to do Yoga. Advertisement Two years ago the Delhi government started free Yoga classes for the people of Delhi. About 17,000 people started doing Yoga in these every day. Last year They got these Yoga classes stopped. Who benefits from this? Should public welfare programs like this be stopped? Yoga day for me will be the day when I will again start free Yoga classes for Delhiites. But if you have good intentions then God also supports you. They stopped us in Delhi, we started free Yoga classes in Punjab. I am glad it is getting overwhelming support from people in Punjab, Kejriwal tweeted. The International Day of Yoga has been celebrated across the world annually on June 21 since 2015, following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014. A minor brother-sister duo, aged 10 and 8, was allegedly molested by a 66-year-old man living in the same building in Delhi, the police said on Tuesday. The accused has been arrested by the police. According to the police, on Monday, a woman lodged a complaint with the police, alleging that her neighbour, who stays on the first floor of the same building, had molested her eight-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son on June 15 and 17. Advertisement The incidents occurred when the children went to give food to the neighbour, as his family members were away from Delhi during that time. His family members had requested the complainant to give food to him in their absence, said a senior police officer. A case under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 6/10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act has been registered against the accused. Medical examination of both the children has been conducted. As part of the ongoing investigation, the alleged perpetrator has been arrested, the officer said. The Directorate of Vigilance has issued show-cause notices to Public Works Department (PWD) officials in connection with the alleged expenditure on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals residence case, an official statement said on Sunday. The resident of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is situated on 6, Flagstaff Road in Civil Lines. The notice has been issued by the Directorate of Vigilance to seven PWD officials. The PWD officers have been given 15 days time to respond to the notice, the statement read. Notably, this comes after BJP alleged Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal of spending Rs 45 crores on the renovation of his official residence. In April, hundreds of BJP leaders and workers staged a massive demonstration against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the alleged Rs 45 crores renovation of his official residence. Advertisement BJP leader Harish Khurana said that they were protesting against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly spending crores of rupees on the renovation of his official residence in the national capital. It is questionable that a person who claims to be Kattar Imaandar spends 45 crores rupees on the renovation of the official residence. He spent 11 cr on his wardrobe, obviously, questions will be raised, he said. Meanwhile, Former Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said that CM Kejriwal allegedly spent Rs 45 crores of public funds on his luxurious bungalow, including extravagant items like Dior polish Vietnam marble, expensive curtains, and high-end carpets. He said that the CM has been accused of reportedly spending public funds on a lavish 7-star residential facility for himself during the COVID-19 pandemic. Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, has been accused of reportedly spending public funds on a lavish 7-star residential facility for himself during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to official records, a total of Rs. 44.78 Cr. was spent on the Addition/Alteration of his accommodation at Flagstaff Road, he tweeted. Passenger banned from flying for using fake papers The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has banned a woman from travelling by air for 12 months for using fake papers to travel. The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has banned a woman from travelling by air for 12 months for using fake papers to travel. Illustrative photo The passenger who comes from Gia Lai Province will be banned from both domestic and international flights from June 25, 2023 to June 24, 2024. She will also be asked to go through a physical check-in for a further six months. CAAV currently imposes flight bans of up to a year for travelers who disrupt order on flights or in airports, make bomb threats or use fake papers to travel. Repeat offenses are subject to an indefinite ban. Report of the Assyrian-European Delegation to Iraq (AINA) -- Recently by initiative of the Assyria Foundation, the Netherlands, a delegation from Europe went to Iraq to discuss the alarming situation of the Assyrians with politicians, government officials, ministers and NGOs in Baghdad and Arbil. During their fieldwork mission, focus was on the following points: Safety The security situation of Iraqi Assyrians in their own residential area, the Nineveh plains, is deplorable. There are no checkpoints and no police is visible. This not only creates an unsafe feeling; the actual everyday life is lacking proper security. Budget During ISIS presence, many houses, churches and roads have been destroyed. The reconstruction happens on the initiative of the inhabitants and no budget is made available to the Assyrian region. The national government will have to earmark funds to the Nineveh plains, in order to take the issues of the inhabitants seriously and have them gain perspective for a hopeful future. Development Education and healthcare sectors must improve. Support the Nineveh University, to protect the Assyrian language from further threats. A hospital is necessary for the everyday and intensive medical care of Nineveh civilians. Genocide To give the people hope and to be recognized, it is necessary to recognize the genocides that residents of the Nineveh plains have experienced: 1915 Genocide, 1933 Simmele and 2014 ISIS. Protection of history and heritage There is an urgent need for the protection of Assyrian heritage in Nineveh, Nimrud, Arbil and Babylon. The Assyrians at the time of antique Assyria constructed sights such as the walls of Nineveh, the castle in Arbil, the castles of Nimrud and Babylon. These are the treasures of antiquity, and they are neither taught nor preserved. The delegation spoke to Assyrian political parties as well, who are seen by the Assyrians in Iraq as their spokespersons. They too have shared alarming messages with the delegation. As far as they are concerned, a political and cultural genocide is now taking place in Iraq. In the appendix one finds the delegation's report, a summary of the conversations the delegation held in Iraq in May 2023. KABUL, June 20 (Xinhua) -- These days mark the busiest time of the year for Safiullah, a 37-year-old Afghan carpet weaver in Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan, as he is trying to produce as many carpets as possible. According to Safiullah, China could be a lucrative market for hand-woven carpets as Afghan carpet weavers are satisfied with interacting with Chinese partners and exporting their products to the Chinese markets. Safiullah expressed optimism as he happily shared his accomplishment of producing two 12 square meter hand-woven carpets in the past three months, while confidently stating that there is high demand for them in Chinese markets. "The demand for hand-woven and high-quality carpets is on a constant rise in the market," Safiullah told Xinhua, suggesting that the promotion of carpet weaving art could help low-income families improve their living conditions. Businesses, which include carpet weaving, pine nut processing, and other products, are expected to create more job opportunities in Afghanistan. Safiullah's impoverished family sees this as a great chance to overcome their economic hardship thanks to China, considered one of the most suitable markets for Afghan products. The business for Afghan carpet weavers dramatically dropped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Angela, 23, said the obstacles upon export added to her family's economic burden. A direct flight route between Kabul and the northwestern Chinese city of Urumqi resumed on May 24 following a three-year hiatus, further boosting trade and economic cooperation between Afghanistan and China. Angela said she would weave more carpets and help the impoverished women gain regular income. According to experts, expanding the carpet weaving industry could create more job opportunities for the Afghan people. "Export of Afghan carpets to China has significantly increased, leading us to sell more carpets and thus facilitating us to hire more workers in the industry," Sayed Bilal Farooqi, a member of the Afghan Carpet Union, told Xinhua. Afghanistan, according to the Union of Carpet Producers and Exporters, has exported more than 1 million square meters of carpets to China over the past two years. Like carpet, pine nut has also become a major export item of Afghanistan as the country's Ministry of Economy estimates that the government will earn some 2 billion U.S. dollars annually from pine nut exports, mainly to China. Ram Charan and Upasana Kamineni Konidela celebrated the joy of becoming parents as they welcomed their first child, a baby girl, on June 20th. The couple, who had been married for nearly a decade, received an outpouring of congratulatory messages as they embarked on this new chapter in their lives. Superstar Chiranjeevi and his wife Surekha, the delighted grandparents, made a visit to the hospital in Hyderabad to meet their newborn granddaughter. Notably, Ram Charan and Upasana had been seen entering the hospital the day before. Lets take a look at the timeline of Ram Charan and Upasana Konidelas relationship, spanning over ten years, as the entire family revels in happiness and excitement over the arrival of their baby. College Days: Ram Charan and Upasana, coming from different backgrounds, initially met through mutual friends during their college days. As they got to know each other, a strong bond developed between them. Although they went their separate ways after graduation, they remained in touch. Overseas Revelation: It was when Ram Charan went abroad that they realized their deep love for each other. The distance and time apart seemed to solidify their connection. Love Blossoms: In 2008, Ram Charans film Magadheera hit the screens, and it marked the beginning of their love story. The movies success coincided with the blossoming of their romantic relationship. Engagement: After dating for a couple of years, Ram Charan and Upasana surprised everyone with their engagement in December 2011. The private ceremony took place in Hyderabad, attended by close friends and family members. Wedding Bells: A year later, in June 2012, the couple tied the knot in a private wedding ceremony. The wedding was followed by a grand reception, attended by family, friends, and members of the film industry, creating a star-studded affair. And now, with the arrival of their precious baby girl, Ram Charan and Upasana have entered the exciting journey of parenthood. Their families and well-wishers are overjoyed and showering them with love and blessings as they embark on this new phase of their lives. Advertisement The national President of Sarva Brahmin Mahasabha, Suresh Mishra, has demanded a ban on the film Adipurush starring Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali Khan with immediate effect. Claiming that a conspiracy has been hatched to insult Hanuman ji and other deities through Adipurush, Mishra slammed the poor usage of computer graphics for the main characters of the film. Mishra also said that all the dialogues in the film are baseless. Advertisement On the recent statement of writer Manoj Muntashir about changing dialogues of the film, Mishra said, Changing the dialogues will not stop our protest. The film should be banned with immediate effect. Misrepresentation of Ramayana is beyond tolerance. The film is sending a very contradictory message to the society. Movies impact peoples mind. Thats why special care should be taken so that films dont tamper with religion and culture. The looks of the mythological characters and their dialogues in the film are sub-par. The film wrongly depicts the characters of Lord Rama, Hanuman, Sita and Ravan. The film is an insult to Ramayana. It is like playing with the faith of crores of Hindus, Mishra said. Gods and goddesses have been shown in a fictional manner in the film, which is absolutely wrong. We will not tolerate this. The Sarva Brahmin Mahasabha had sent a notice to the films director, Om Raut, through advocate Kamlesh Sharma a year ago. At that time, Raut had said that nothing wrong will be shown in the film. But we now see that all the characters of Ramayana have been made fun of in the film, he added. Mishra demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to ban the film with immediate effect, and appealed to the general public to boycott the film. An appeal to this effect has also been filed in the court, Mishra said. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarks on his highly anticipated visit to the United States, in response to an invitation from President Joe Biden, the media spotlight shines brightly on his itinerary. People are eagerly curious about the places he will visit, the agendas he will present, the individuals he will meet, and the activities he will undertake during his visit. Lets take a closer look at the details of his schedule. Day 1: On June 21, Prime Minister Modi will take charge of the International Day of Yoga celebrations at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Alongside this event, he will also engage with other notable personalities in New York before departing for Washington DC later that day. In Washington DC, an important program awaits him, with a focus on skilling for the future. This initiative aims to prioritize skill development and capacity building for the younger population. Following this, there will be a private engagement between Prime Minister Modi and President Biden. Advertisement Day 2: June 22 marks a day of formal bilateral meetings. The Prime Minister will be welcomed at the White House, followed by crucial discussions between representatives from both countries, including a delegation of foreign policy experts. To highlight the significance of the visit, Prime Minister Modi will address the US Congress, which will be followed by a reception. The day will culminate in a ceremonial state dinner, graciously hosted by President Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden. Day 3: On June 23, the Prime Ministers agenda includes meetings with entrepreneurs, CEOs, and representatives from various companies. He will also be hosted at a state lunch yard by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Later, he will engage with influential figures and leaders from civil society at the Kennedy Center. Additionally, Prime Minister Modi will interact with community leaders before departing for Egypt, responding to an invitation from President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. This visit marks Prime Minister Modis first official state visit to the United States. While he has visited the country six times before in bilateral or multilateral capacities, this particular trip holds immense significance for strengthening ties and addressing important issues between the two nations. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said his Ministry is working on 100 projects in Haryana which are expected to be completed by December 2024. Addressing the Gauravshali Bharat Rally organised on the completion of nine years of the Central government at Sonipat on Tuesday, Gadkari said out of these 100, 51 projects of 2,200 kilometers (km) worth Rs 47,000 crore have been completed while 30 of 830 km worth Rs 35,000 crore are in progress. He said among 19 other projects of 756 km worth Rs 20,000 crore, a detailed project report of 14 projects is being prepared. Advertisement The Union minister said works on projects involving an investment of Rs 2 lakh crore would be carried out in Haryana by December 2024. These projects would change the image of Haryana and the roads of the state would be developed at par with America, he added. On this occasion, Gadkari inaugurated 11 flyovers on the eight-lane national highway from Delhi to Panipat constructed at a cost of Rs 890 crore, including six lanes of service roads on both sides. Conceding the demand of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Gadkari announced to give Rs 300 crore under the Setu Bharatam Yojana for the construction of bridges to make Haryana free of railway level crossings. He said the Central government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sh Narendra Modi, in the last nine years, has done work two times than what Congress could not do in 60 years. He said 30 crore people in the country are getting the benefit of Ayushman Bharat Yojana. Apart from this, 10 crore gas connections have been given under the PM Ujjwala Yojana. Under the Jan Dhan Yojana, 49 crore bank accounts of the poor have been opened. Also, 12 crore toilets have been constructed under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge has accused the BJP of spewing venom and spreading communal disharmony in the country and lodged a complaint against BJP National President J P Nadda and others for malicious posts against Rahul Gandhi. The Karnataka minister for Information Technology and Biotechnology on Monday lodged a police complaint against Nadda, the BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya and the partys Chandigarh president Arun Sood for releasing a malicious animated video of Rahul Gandhi. For a long time, BJPs IT handles have been spewing venom, spreading communal disharmony and spreading false news. So its high time that these people need to be reigned in, including their IT head, Kharge said. In his complaint to the High Grounds Police Station in Bengaluru, Kharge alleged that the video circulated on June 17 on Malviyas Twitter handle had been posted with the malicious intent of not only tarnishing the reputation of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress but also to instigate communal discord and misrepresent the party and its leaders persona. Advertisement Whatever they put up on June 17 is highly malicious and we are going to take action against that. So we have complained today. I have registered a complaint today and we will take it to the logical end, Kharge said In his complaint, it is said that the video claimed that Congress and Rahul Gandhi are indulging in the balkanization of the country and indulging in anti-national activities. In the backdrop of the fake certificate controversies involving SFI leaders, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Tuesday said that becoming a member of a particular student organisation means you have a passport to do all kinds of illegal things in the state Criticising the Students Federation of India(SFI), the students union of CPI-M, Governor Khan said one can indulge in any illegal activity after becoming a member of a particular student organisation. The Governors response came in the backdrop of reports of alleged fake certificate cases and malpractices involving activists of the SFI for securing admission in colleges , securing jobs and winning student union elections. Advertisement Speaking to media persons here, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said the quality of higher education sector in Kerala is declining and he also expressed his concern over the increasing crime rate in Kerala. The higher education sector in Kerala is inching towards a collapse, forcing talented students leaving the state, he said Stating that the collapse of higher education is a more serious matter than the collapse of law and order , he said we are playing games with the future of our coming generations. Meanwhile, SFI, the student organisation of CPI-M, on Tuesday expelled its member Nikhil Thomas, who is accused of producing a fake degree certificate to get MCom admission at Milad-E-Sherif Memorial (MSM) College in Kayamkulam. Earlier, MSM College had suspended Thomas for possessing a fraudulent graduation certificate for PG admission at the college, Thomas submitted a degree certificate from Kalinga University in Chhattisgarh, which reportedly was fake. The Kayamkulam Police has registered a cheating-forgery case against Nikhil over the matter. Meanwhile, the Kalinga University informed that a student named Nikhil Thomas did not study there. The University Registrar informed that legal action will be taken against Nikhil Thomas. The high-level inquiry committee, constituted to probe the massive inferno on 12 June that gutted the state government directorate Satpura Bhavan in Bhopal, has stated in its report that the fire occurred due to short-circuit, ruling out the possibility of any foul play, and caused an estimated damage of Rs 24 crore. The committee, headed by Home Department Additional Chief Secretary Rajesh Rajora, submitted its 287-page report to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan yesterday. According to the state government officials, the probe panel inspected 3 affected spots and recorded 32 statements. The report includes the investigation report of the State-level Forensic Science Lab Sagar, the technical report of the Chief Electricity Inspector and his investigation team and the report of two sub-committees of the Public Works Department formed to assess the damage. Advertisement It is mentioned in the investigation report that according to the report received from the State Forensic Science Laboratory, Sagar, the effects of internal heat arising from short circuit are present in the electric wires present in the MCB (miniature circuit breaker) installed in the room of an official, located on the third floor of Satpura Bhawan. Hence, the probable cause of the fire on the third floor appears to be an electric short circuit. The report says that after Thin Layer Chromatographic and Gas Chromatographic tests by the state laboratory, eight sample items obtained from the accident site do not have any residues of inflammable petroleum hydrocarbons (petrol, diesel and kerosene). All these samples have been kept safe in view of any investigation in future. The inquiry committee has clarified in its conclusion that the fire that broke out on June 12 in Satpura Bhavan, West Wing, started from a short circuit in the third floor. The committee has said in its conclusion that there is no suspicious role of any person in the incident intentionally or as a mischief, the state government officials said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi left on Tuesday morning on a state visit to the United States, saying the visit at the invitation of President Joseph Biden and First Lady Dr Jill Biden is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies. In a departure statement, he said he will commence his visit in New York, where he will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on 21 June at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community. I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported Indias proposal in December, 2014 to recognize an International Day of Yoga, he said. Advertisement He will thereafter travel to Washington DC where he and President Biden will have an opportunity to meet several times since his last Official Visit to the USA in September 2021. This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership, he said. India-US ties are multifaceted with deepening engagements across sectors, he said. USA is Indias largest trade partner in goods and services. We collaborate closely in science & technology, education, health, defence and security fields, he said. The initiative on Critical & Emerging Technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration to defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, Artificial Intelligence and biotech sectors, he said. Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, he said. My discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders will provide an opportunity to consolidate our bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and IPEF, he said. I will also have the pleasure of joining President Biden and First Lady Dr Jill Biden for the State Banquet along with a number of dignitaries, he said. The prime minister said the US Congress has always provided strong bi-partisan support to India-US ties. During my visit, I will address a Joint Session of the US Congress at the invitation of Congressional leadership, he said. Strong people-to-people linkages have been instrumental in developing the trust between our countries. Modi said he looked forward to meeting the vibrant Indian-American community that represents the best of the two societies. I will also meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating our trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains, the prime minister said. I am confident that my visit to the US will reinforce our ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges, he said. Modi will travel to Cairo from Washington DC at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. I am excited to pay a State Visit to a close and friendly country for the first time, he said. We had the pleasure of receiving President Sisi as the Chief Guest at our Republic Day celebrations this year. These two visits in the span of a few months is a reflection of our rapidly evolving partnership with Egypt, which was elevated to a Strategic Partnership during President Sisis visit, he added. The prime minister further said, I look forward to my discussions with President Sisi and senior members of the Egyptian Government to impart further momentum to our civilizational and multi-faceted partnership. I will also have the opportunity to interact with the vibrant Indian diaspora in Egypt. Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed at the New York airport on Tuesday to the chants of Modi-Modi by the members of the Indian community to welcome him. This is the first leg of his US tour. On Tuesday, PM Modi will be seen at the International Yoga Day event at the United Nations Headquarters. Subsequently, PM Modi will hold bilateral talks with the US President Joe Biden. Advertisement After PM Modi landed, he received a huge welcome from the people of Indian-origin in the US, waving the Indian Tricolour at the airport. Through the visuals that were witnessed, Prime Minister Modi was seen shaking hands with members of the Indian community. Some members of the Indian community were seen waiting outside The Lotte New York Palace to greet him. Smita Mickey Patel, one of the members of the Indian community told ANI, I think his visit will make a great impact on the US as he is doing a really great job globally as well. He is helping out the whole world with his pure heart and is making India proud. Several other people said that they have taken leave from office to welcome PM Modi. Indias foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said Monday Its a milestone in our relationshipIt is a very significant visit, very important visit, A big achievement that may be showcased is in the area of defence cooperation. This is special between the military industries of the two countries India and the US. Kwatra said, now that India wishes to produce more weapons and equipment at home for itself and also for export. During the visit, PM Modi will be hosted by Biden for a state dinner and a private family dinner. He will also attend lunch with Vice-President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Apart from this, he will address a joint session of Congress for the second time in nine years. Glenn Carle, the former CIA agent said, India and the US coming together is owing to the fact that China is the trouble-maker and US and India have to come together. Even as the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi was about to leave for his US visit, he left a statement about his intent in undertaking this trip. I am travelling to the United States of America on a State Visit at the invitation of President Joseph Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. This special invitation is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies, he stated. He further stated, I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community. I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported Indias proposal in December 2014 to recognize an International Day of Yoga. Advertisement He added, I will thereafter travel to Washington D.C. President Biden and I have had the opportunity to meet several times since my last official visit to the USA in September 2021. This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership. India-US ties are multifaceted, with deepening engagements across sectors. USA is Indias largest trade partner in goods and services. We collaborate closely in science & technology, education, health, defence and security fields. The initiative on Critical & Emerging Technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration to defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, Artificial Intelligence and biotech sectors. Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. My discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders will provide an opportunity to consolidate our bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and IPEF. I will also have the pleasure of joining President Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden for the State Banquet along with a number of dignitaries, PM Modi stated. The US Congress has always provided strong bi-partisan support to India-US ties. During my visit, I will address a Joint Session of the US Congress at the invitation of Congressional leadership. Strong people-to-people linkages have been instrumental in developing the trust between our countries. I look forward to meeting the vibrant Indian-American community that represents the best of our societies. I will also meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating our trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains. I am confident that my visit to the US will reinforce our ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges. I will travel to Cairo from Washington D.C. at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. I am excited to pay a State Visit to a close and friendly country for the first time, PM Modi stated. We had the pleasure of receiving President Sisi as the Chief Guest at our Republic Day celebrations this year. These two visits in the span of a few months is a reflection of our rapidly evolving partnership with Egypt, which was elevated to a Strategic Partnership during President Sisis visit. I look forward to my discussions with President Sisi and senior members of the Egyptian Government to impart further momentum to our civilizational and multi-faceted partnership. I will also have the opportunity to interact with the vibrant Indian diaspora in Egypt. DAR ES SALAAM, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania's central bank on Tuesday reminded local residents to stop making domestic payments for goods and services using foreign currencies. The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) said in a statement that it has recently observed violations of the directive. According to the statement, the government issued a public notice prohibiting domestic payments for goods and services using foreign currencies for local residents respectively in August 2007 and December 2017. BoT would like to remind the general public that the government's directives are still valid and should be adhered to at all times, said the statement. It said all prices of goods and services in Tanzania should be quoted in Tanzanian shillings, including rent for land, housing and office, fees for education, medical services, equipment and reagents, transport, logistic and port services, electronic equipment, and telecommunication services. The statement said prices to be paid by tourists or non-resident customers may be quoted and paid in foreign currency. These include services such as accommodation, travel, airport and visa, transit trade and cargo handling, said the statement, adding that tourists and non-residents who pay in foreign currencies must provide their identification documents such as passport and certificate of incorporation for companies for proper capturing and classification of statistics. The exchange rate which will be used for making payment therein above should be displayed and should not exceed the prevailing market exchange rate, said the statement. "Any resident of the United Republic of Tanzania should use only Tanzanian shillings and not be forced or obliged to make payment to another resident of the United Republic of Tanzania for any good or service in foreign currency," said the statement. The statement said the Tanzanian shilling is the only legal tender in the country, adding that any act of refusing payment in Tanzanian shilling amounts to a violation of the Bank of Tanzania Act 2006. Punjab Assembly on Tuesday passed the Sikh Gurudwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 to make the transmission of Gurbani from Golden Temple in Amritsar free-to-air for broadcasters all over the world. Wrapping up a discussion on the Bill on the floor of Punjab Assembly, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the Bill aims at freeing the undue control of a particular family (read Badals) over the rights to telecast sacred Gurbani. He said it was a paradoxical situation that Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) under the influence of a family (Badals) that controls its affairs, had given intellectual property rights of telecasting the sacred Gurbani to a channel owned by them. Advertisement Mann asked how these rights of Gurbani which are repository of knowledge and faith can be given to any one channel. The CM said the Bill is in no way interference in religious affairs, rather it is a simple step to ensure that Gurbani reaches every household. He said in the Sikh Gurudwaras Act, 1925, after section 125, section 125-A will be inserted for live telecast of Gurbani free of cost. Mann said the Act stipulates that it will be the duty of the Board (SGPC) to propagate the teachings of the Gurus by making uninterrupted (without any on screen running advertisements, commercials and distortion) live feed (audio or audio as well as video) of holy Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) available free of cost to all media houses, outlets, platforms, channels etc. whoever wishes to broadcast it. He claimed that the state government was competent to amend this Act as the Supreme Court had already through a judgment ruled that this Act is not an interstate Act. A single family had dominated in the affairs of the SGPC since long due to which an irreparable damage had been made to the Sikh panth. He further alleged that playing a dirty game the Badals tried to cash in on the religious sentiments of Sikhs by giving exclusive rights of telecast of Gurbani to their blue eyed channel whereas no mention of word telecast or broadcast was there in the Act. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut has petitioned the United Nations to declare June 20 as World Traitors Day to mark the day 40 legislators from Shiv Sena, including the current Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray to split the Shiv Sena into two factions. I am writing to you with an appeal to observe June 20 as World Traitors Day. Sir, I represent a party called Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and am a parliamentarian from the Upper House in India. My party Shiv Sena (UBT) hails from Maharashtra, a prominent state in western India. It was started by Mr Balasaheb Thackeray in 1966 who championed the cause of local youth in Mumbai. (erstwhile Bombay), Raut said in his letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that he posted on his Twitter. My party is now being led by Mr Uddhav Thackeray and he was the CM of Maharashtra from November 28, 2019 to June 29, 2022, Raut said. Raut noted how the 40 MLAs including Eknath Shinde left Mumbai and moved to Gujarat on June 20 after being instigated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and alleged BJP for the downfall of the Mahavikas Aghadi government led by Uddhav Thackeray in Maharashtra. Advertisement On June 20, a huge group of 40 legislators from our Shiv Sena left us after being instigated by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Each of them is said to have taken Rs 50 crores to defect. The BJP used all their might to ensure that the Mahavikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra led by Uddhav Thackeray fell, he saod. The 40 MLAs who stabbed us were led by a leading legislator Mr Eknath Shinde (who is now the CM of Maharashtra). Alongwith them 10 more Independents supporting the MVA government left us, he added. He further said that the MLAs have taken advantage of Uddhav Thackerays illness who was ailing due to two major surgeries he underwent on November 12 and 19, 2021 and appealed to make June 20 as World Traitors Day. The process of leaving began on June 20 when Eknath Shinde and others left Mumbai for a neighbouring state of Gujarat. They desorted Uddhav Thackeray who was an ailing man and underwent two major surgeries on November 12 and November 19, 2021. Each one of them took advantage of his illness, Raut said in his letter. Hence, I am appealing to you to make June 20 as World Traitors Day just as June 21 is observed as World Yoga Day. This must be done so that World remembers Traitors, he further added. With Punjab Assembly passing the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 to make the transmission of Gurbani from Golden Temple in Amritsar free-to-air for broadcasters all over the world, the Shiromani Akali Dal on Tuesday described it as a provocative and brazen interference in the religious affairs of the Khalsa Panth (community that practices Sikhism) and an assault on the Sikh religious institutions. Addressing a press conference, senior Akali leaders Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra and Dr Daljeet Singh Cheema said the Bill was passed at the behest of the anti-Sikh Arvind Kejriwal (Aam Aadmi Party chief) who is out to fulfill the long cherished agenda of enemies of the Panth (Sikh religion) to control and dilute Sikh institutions and Sikh heritage. The SAD said the issue of Gurbani telecast was a mere excuse being used by the anti-Sikh forces through the AAP government. Their real intent is to usurp control of Sikh shrines and dilute the religious history, heritage , traditions and narrative of the Khalsa Panth. But we accept this challenge thrown at us by a stooge of anti-Sikh Arvind Kejriwal and we are ready for the fight, Bhunder said. The Akali leaders cautioned the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann against pushing an already anarchy-stricken Punjab state into the flames of communal fire. The Akali leaders said it was surprising the CM defied and disrespected the strong advice of the Jathedar of Sri Akal Takhat Sahib, Raghbir Singh, asking the state government to stop interfering in the religious affairs of the Sikhs. The Akali leaders, the CM knew the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) had already invited all the channels for deciding the next course of action on Gurbani telecast and a crucial meeting in this regard is scheduled for 21 July. Advertisement Then, where was the need for this hurriedly convened session of the Punjab Assembly? He (Mann) knew that the SGPPC was already in the process of implementing the suggestions made by Jathedar Sahib in this regard. But the CMs motive was to create a confusion among the Sikh masses ., Prof Chandumajra said. The Akali leaders said the party would explore all avenues including meeting the Union Home Minister as well as the National Commission for Minorities. But if we dont get justice there, then the Shiromani Akali Dal knows how to fight for justice. We will hit the streets if this attack on our religion is not stopped, Dr Cheema said. The Foundation Day of West Bengal State was celebrated here on Tuesday at Raj Bhavan under the chairmanship of State Governor Anandiben Patel. The Governor said that in order to make the Prime Ministers vision of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat a reality, today the foundation day of the state of West Bengal is being organized here at the Raj Bhavan in UP. The state of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have unbreakable ties. A large number of residents of West Bengal have been settled in Uttar Pradesh for several generations. Our culture is our heritage. We have to preserve it. While extending greetings and best wishes to everyone on West Bengal Foundation Day, the Governor said that the state of West Bengal is not only known for its history and beauty, but it is also home to Kolkata, the second largest city of India, which is known as the cultural capital of India. The culture of West Bengal is such an Indian culture, whose roots lie in Bengali literature, music, fine arts, drama, theater and cinema, etc. The culture here is rich in festivals. Durga Puja is the main festival of the state. Along with this, festivals like Dolyatra, Rath Yatra, Rakhi Purnima, Lakshmi Puja and Saraswati Puja are celebrated with great pomp, she said. Referring to the rich literary heritage of Bengali language, the Governor recalled writers like Bankim Chand Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore and Sharad Chand Chattopadhyay. She said that renaissance took place in West Bengal with social reforms under the leadership of Ram Mahen Roy, Swami Vivekananda, etc. In this sequence, she also remembered great poets like Rabindranath Tagore, who composed the national anthems of India and Bangladesh. The Governor said that many great personalities of West Bengal have brought laurels to the country by becoming Nobel Prize winners. The Governor also informed about West Bengal getting Indias first underwater metro, free LPG gas connections to more than 90 lakh there under Ujjwala Yojana of the Central Government. Discussing the diversity of a vast country like India, the Governor said that in view of the diversity of the country, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisaged Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat on the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the objective of which is to create a vast country like India. While conducting the ceremony, the representative of the Bengali community and the President, Board of Trustees, Kalibari Trust, Abhijit Sarkar informed about the notable contributions of various personalities of the Bengali community living in UP in the fields of literature, art, culture, academics and business and organized the event. Later a cultural programme was held to commemorate the occasion. Mandeep Kaur, also known as Mona or Daku Haseena, has become the talk of the town as news of her arrest spreads like wildfire. Along with her husband, she was apprehended by authorities while they were en route to Gurdwara Hemkund Sahib, a revered Sikh place of worship situated in the picturesque Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. The circumstances surrounding her capture, including an intriguing trap set up by the Punjab Police at the pilgrim site, have captured the attention of the public and piqued their curiosity about the enigmatic figure, Daku Haseena. Daku Haseena, a notorious criminal and seasoned robber in India, has found herself in the limelight due to her involvement in a high-profile heist that netted a staggering amount of Rs. 8.49 crore. The audacious crime took place on June 10 in Ludhiana, where a gang of armed men targeted a cash truck and made off with the massive sum. Leading the operation to apprehend Daku Haseena, the Punjab Police launched a mission codenamed Lets catch the queen bee. Their efforts paid off when they successfully devised a clever plan to expose the criminal couples true identities. By offering them packaged fruit juice, secretly provided by the police, the couple unwittingly unveiled their faces, leading to their swift arrest. Advertisement Daku Haseena, who recently tied the knot with her husband Jaswinder Singh in February, was the mastermind behind the meticulously planned heist. Her insatiable quest for wealth and fortune propelled her down a path fraught with financial struggles. To sustain herself, she resorted to taking loans and engaged in various occupations, including working as an insurance agent and providing assistance to a lawyer, all in the pursuit of material success. Currently in police custody, Daku Haseena faces a slew of charges, including robbery and other related offenses. The authorities have foiled her plans of fleeing to Nepal with her husband, who also faces the consequences of his involvement in criminal activities. As news of Daku Haseenas arrest spreads, the public eagerly awaits further developments in her case. The dramatic events leading to her capture and the unraveling of her criminal history have captivated the attention of the nation. With Daku Haseena now in custody, the legal process will determine the fate that awaits this notorious figure and her partner in crime. Prime Minister Narendra Modi who on Tuesday departed for a historic State visit to the United States said there is unprecedented trust between the leaders of the US and India as ties between New Delhi and Washington are stronger and deeper than ever, according to an interview in the Wall Street Journal. India moves to secure what PM Modi sees as its rightful place on the world stage at a moment of geopolitical turmoil and overall, his message was thatfrom Indias role in global politics to its contributions to the world economythe countrys time has come, the US publication said in the interview published today. He sought to portray New Delhi as the natural leader of the global South, in sync with and able to give voice to developing countries long-neglected aspiration, according to the WSJ. India deserves a much higher, deeper and wider profile and a role on the world stage, the Prime Minister said in the interview with the Wall Street Journal at his residence in New Delhi taken ahead of his first official State visit to the US. Advertisement We do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world, PM Modi said. PM Modi called for reforms to global institutions such as the United Nations to make them more representative in a multipolar world order and of the worlds less affluent countries from the consequences of climate change to debt reduction. When asked whether India would like to be a permanent member of the Security Council, PM Modi said there has to be an evaluation of the current membership of the council and The world should be asked if it wants India to be there. He said that Indias time has come in contributing to global politics and to the world economy as well. Relating many of the worlds problems, such as terrorism, proxy wars and expansionism, to the failure of the UN, PM Modi said that global institutions such as the UN must change. Look at the membership of key institutionsdoes it truly represent the voice of democratic values? the PM asked, adding, A place like Africadoes it have a voice? India has such a huge population and is a bright spot in the global economy, but is it present? The Prime Minister underscored Indias role as a contributor of troops for peacekeeping operations around the world. PM Modi also said that India not only tolerates but also celebrates its diversity. He said, For thousands of years, India has been the land where people of all faiths and beliefs have found the freedom to coexist peacefully and prosper, adding, You will find people of every faith in the world living in harmony in India. On the economic front, PM Modi has received acclaim for eliminating bureaucracy, easing regulations, and creating more favourable conditions for foreign direct investment. India is now the most populated country in the world, surpassing China. Additionally, it has a young population, which indicates a substantial demographic dividend. PM Modi-led government has made significant investments in infrastructure and education, and as global corporations try to diversify their supply chains in a time of geopolitical unrest, the government stands to benefit, according to the WSJ report. Regarding this PM Modi said, Let me be clear that we do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world, adding, The world today is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. To create resilience, there should be more diversification in supply chains, Wall Street Journal reported. Japan has joined the list of countries determined to break Apple and Googles monopoly on the app stores on their respective mobile operating systems. Recently, the Japanese government held its seventh Digital Market Competition Conference, with the main output being a Final Report on the Competitive Evaluation of Mobile Ecosystems, reports The Register. According to the report, mobile ecosystems have become critical infrastructure, but more options for consumers are required, as well as an equal and equitable competition environment. Advertisement The report also mentioned that Apple and Google should allow third-party payment services to access their app stores so that developers can offer users more payment options. In addition, Japan wants the two tech giants to stop giving privileged treatment to their own apps in their digital tat bazaars, and make them easier to remove from devices instead of giving them preference. Moreover, the report said that the reforms are intended to lower the price Japanese consumers pay for apps, possibly by encouraging third-party app stores to charge lower fees than Apples 30 per cent and Googles variable rates. Both companies claim that the fees they charge cover the costs of their app stores as well as reasonable profits. However, neither has any real competition and both make enormous profits, regulators believe there is almost certainly a margin to be cut, the report mentioned. In 2022, South Koreas National Assembly passed legislation prohibiting app store operators such as Google and Apple from forcing developers to use their in-app payment systems, making it the first country in the world to do so. A radio station in the US has made history by becoming the first in the world to feature a full-time DJ powered by artificial intelligence (AI). US-based Alpha Medias KBFF Live 95.5 FM has used Futuri Medias RadioGPT software to create an AI/synthetic version of their midday host, Ashley Elzinga, for the midday show, reports Fox Business. Radio GPT allows us to showcase our content creators in more instances, with more frequency, and curate more timely, topical, and robust information for Alpha audiences and clients than previously possible, Alpha Media EVP of Content Phil Becker was quoted as saying. Advertisement He said AI will allow the radio station to be more agile than ever. Last week, the radio station posted a Tweet of Elzinga sharing the new AI host with her listeners. In the video, the hosts comments can be heard being played back by the AI as if it were a straight recording. I guess I have the day off, Elzinga jokes. Another video showed AI Ashley informing a caller that they have won tickets to a Taylor Swift concert. The AI voice sounds uncannily similar to the host it is modelled after, coming across as conversational and relaxed. The station insists that it will not replace the real Ashley, which alleviates some of the concerns of many local DJs, and that Elzinga will continue to receive her regular pay, the report said. Meanwhile, music streaming platform Spotify has rolled out its AI feature called DJ for premium customers in the UK and Ireland. This feature was first made available to premium subscribers in the US and Canada in February. Congressman Jim Himes has agreed to support a bill introduced in the US Congress to declare Diwali as a federal holiday. The Diwali Day Act, introduced by New York Congresswoman Grace Meng last month, would make the Festival of Lights the 12th federally recognised holiday in the US when it is passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. Himes support came after his meeting with prominent members of Global Organization of People of Indian Origin-Connecticut Chapter (GOPIO-CT) last week. Advertisement Led by GOPIO Chairman Thomas Abraham, the delegation also discussed Prime Minister Narendra Modis upcoming state visit from Wednesday to Friday. The visit includes a state dinner as well as an address to the Joint Session of the Congress on Thursday. Himes, who serves Connecticuts fourth Congressional district, also discussed shortage of workers in hospitality and healthcare sectors, and delays faced by Indians in getting permanent resident cards, according to a GOPIO release. Recently, the New York State legislature passed a Bill, led by Indian-American assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, to make Diwali a school holiday in the city. New York Governor Kathy Hochul is expected to sign the bill to make it a law, following which Mayor Eric Adams would be able to designate Diwali as a school holiday for an estimated two lakh students from these communities who celebrate it. Earlier this year, Pennsylvania became the first US state to officially recognise Diwali as a public holiday. The state introduced the Diwali holiday ahead of other states like California, Texas, Illinois, New York and New Jersey with a high concentration of Indian-Americans. Michigans Indian-American state representative Ranjeev Puri, also introduced a bill last week to make Diwali, Vaishakhi, Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Adha and Lunar New Year as state-recognised holidays in the state. A young couple from the city, who had planned to illegally enter the United States of America, has been held hostage in Iran by a Pakistani agent. The man is demanding a hefty ransom for the release of Pankaj Patel and his wife Nisha Patel (both 29 years old), according to a police official. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Chaitanya Mandlik stated that an FIR regarding the incident is being lodged at Krishnanagar Police Station in the Naroda area. The Ahmedabad city crime branch has initiated an investigation into the matter. Advertisement However, since the incident occurred outside the country, the crime branch will approach the Indian Embassy in Iran, providing them with all the necessary details to secure the safe release of the captive couple a resident of Naroda, a locality in Ahmedabad city. As per information shared by the couples family with the Krushnanagar police, Pankaj Patel and Nisha Patel had sought assistance from a Hyderabad-based agent to facilitate their illegal entry into the United States. The agent arranged their air tickets, and their plan involved landing in Tehran, Iran, before proceeding further as instructed. Unfortunately, upon their arrival at Tehran airport a few days ago, a Pakistani agent intervened and took the couple to a hotel, where they were held captive. The captors subjected Pankaj Patel to physical assault and sent a distressing video to his family, demanding a significant ransom for the release of the couple. The crime branch and the concerned agencies are coordinating their efforts to ensure the safe return of the two. The Indian Embassy in Iran will be approached promptly to establish necessary communication and work towards securing the release of the couple. The investigation is underway, and efforts are being made to resolve the situation swiftly. Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivers a speech while attending the closing ceremony of the 11th China-Germany Economic and Technical Cooperation Forum with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, Germany, June 20, 2023. Li and Scholz also attended a roundtable with entrepreneurs from both countries before the forum on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao) BERLIN, June 20 (Xinhua) -- China and Germany should work together to deepen economic and technical cooperation, so as to set an example and lead the way in strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Europe and promoting global development, visiting Chinese Premier Li Qiang said here on Tuesday. Li made the remarks when attending the 11th China-Germany Economic and Technical Cooperation Forum with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. More than 200 representatives from the Chinese and German economic and business communities attended the forum. Li said that under the current changing and turbulent situation, strengthening cooperation is the right way to mutual benefit and win-win results, and is also the right thing that we should do with all efforts. He also noted the necessity to take economic and technological cooperation as an important cornerstone of international cooperation, grasp the trend of economic globalization, firmly support free trade, and promote the common prosperity and development of mankind. Li said that the achievements and experience of China-Germany economic and technological cooperation are invaluable. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties more than 50 years ago, the two countries have carried out extensive and in-depth friendly cooperation, with the economic and technological cooperation being the most dynamic and active, and has gradually formed a new pattern of all-round and multi-field cooperation. The key to the success of China-Germany cooperation lies in the spirit of mutual respect, seeking common ground while shelving differences, mutual benefit and win-win, pragmatic and innovative cooperation, he added. Scholz said that Germany will not take the path of anti-globalization, will adhere to the open policy, continue to strengthen cooperation with China and accelerate the development of bilateral cooperation after the pandemic. Germany is willing to solve the problems in bilateral cooperation through communication and dialogue with China, Scholz added. Before attending the China-Germany Economic and Technical Cooperation Forum, Li and Scholz attended a round table for more than 30 representatives of Chinese and German entrepreneurs. Cooperation is the only way out and the best way to deal with difficulties and challenges, said Li, adding that the government should create a sound environment and stable expectations for companies to operate so that they can evaluate and deal with risks in accordance with market and economic laws, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results in opening up and cooperation. From a new starting point, China will keep expanding the high-level opening up to foster a market-oriented, world-class business environment governed by a sound legal framework, Li said. He expressed the hope that the German side will keep its market open, and create a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies to invest in Germany. Noting that China and Germany enjoy broad space and great potential for cooperation in such fields as digital economy, artificial intelligence and green development, Li said that it is believed that with the joint efforts of the countries' entrepreneurs, China-Germany cooperation will continue to achieve new results. The entrepreneurs attending the round table said that China and Germany are important cooperation partners, the business communities of the two countries support the policy of opening up. They advocated giving full play to the role of the China-Germany economic advisory committee and other mechanisms to enhance exchanges and mutual learning, and deepening cooperation in areas including innovation, digital economy and green development to achieve mutual benefit, win-win results and common development. Wu Zhenglong, among others, was present at the events. A submersible with five people onboard has been missing in the North Atlantic Ocean since Sunday. The submersible was taking tourists to view the wreck site of the Titanic ocean liner. Two of the individuals on board are Shahzada Dawood, a Pakistani businessman. Shahzada, and his son Suleman Dawood. Shahzada Dawood is known as one of the wealthiest individuals in Pakistan. He became a member of the Engro Corporation Board in 2003 and presently holds the position of Vice-Chairman. He is highly regarded for his efforts in establishing important international networks and contacts. Advertisement As the Vice Chairman of Dawood Hercules Corporation, a part of the Dawood Group, Shahzada is involved in a family business that spans over a century. Since joining the business in 1996, he has specialized in corporate governance and the revitalization of industries in Pakistan. At 48 years old, Shahzada Dawood serves on the Global Advisory Board for Prince Charles Charity, Princes Trust International. Additionally, he has joined the Board of Trustees of the SETI Institute, a nonprofit research organization located near NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. The Dawood Hercules family business encompasses a wide range of industries, and Shahzada has played a pivotal role in identifying growth and innovation opportunities. He has facilitated mergers, acquisitions, and divestments in energy, agri-nutrients, consumer foods, petrochemicals, and textiles for various publicly listed companies. Shahzada possesses a Master of Science degree in Global Textile Marketing from Philadelphia University in the United States, as well as a Bachelor of Laws degree from Buckingham University in the United Kingdom. After Shahzada Dawood and his son went missing, Engro Corporation released a statement indicating that they have limited information about the situation. They urged people not to speculate and requested prayers for the safety of Shahzada, Suleman, and all other passengers on board. Shahzada lives in the United Kingdom with his spouse, Christine, and their two children, Sulaiman and Alina. Alongside their family, they share their home with their beloved pets: Stig, a dog, and Proteus, a cat. Shahzada has a keen interest in photography and is renowned for his affection towards animals. Saint-Laurent, CA (H4T1V6) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 80F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to cloudy skies and rain overnight. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Greek court questions smuggling suspects over migrant ship disaster, as new survivor accounts emerge Nine men suspected of crewing a migrant smuggling ship that sank off Greece leaving more than 500 missing have appeared in court for questioning UNITED NATIONS, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Refugees need and deserve support and solidarity, not "closed borders and pushbacks," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday. "Refugees represent the very best of the human spirit," Guterres said in a message to mark the World Refugee Day, which falls on June 20. He cited the "startling statistic" of more than 100 million people living in countries rocked by conflict, persecution, hunger and climate chaos, who have been forced to flee their homes. These are individual women, children and men making difficult journeys, often facing violence, exploitation, discrimination and abuse, Guterres said. He stressed that the international community has the duty and obligation to protect refugees and open more avenues of support. Guterres highlighted solutions to resettle refugees, calling for greater international support for host countries to boost access to quality education, decent work, health care, housing and social protection. "And we need much stronger political will to make peace, so refugees can return safely to their homes," said the UN chief. Noting this year's theme of the world day is "Hope Away from Home," Guterres called on the international community to harness the hope that refugees carry in their hearts. "Let's match their courage with the opportunities they need, every step of the way," he said. JERUSALEM, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a gas station near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank on Tuesday, killing at least four and injuring four others, Israeli military said. The military said in a statement that two Palestinian men armed with M16 rifles arrived by car at a gas station adjacent to the settlement of Eli and opened fire on civilians who were sitting at a restaurant there. One of the gunmen was shot and killed by a civilian at the scene. The other fled, prompting a manhunt. As part of the pursuit, "blockages have been set up in the area," the army said. The Homefront Command issued a statement requiring the residents of Eli to stay indoors and lock doors and windows. "No exits allowed until the conclusion of the event (the manhunt). Driving in and out of the area is forbidden until further notice," it said. Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said in a statement that four deaths were declared at the scene, while the four injured, one with critical injuries, two moderate and the other slight, needed hospital care. Israel's state-owned Kan TV news reported that the killed gunman was identified as Muhand Shada, a 25-year-old resident of the village of Urif near the West Bank city of Nablus and a member of Hamas, the ruling Islamist movement of the Palestinian enclave Gaza Strip. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's office said in a statement "an operational situation assessment" meeting will be convened in the evening with the army chief-of-staff, the director of the Shin Bet internal security service and additional senior officials. The meeting will take place amid growing calls in the far-right government for launching a large-scale military campaign in the West Bank. The attack came a day after Israeli forces, supported by a rare use of attack helicopters, killed six Palestinians, including a 15-year-old teenager, and injured at least 90 others, in an hours-long gunbattle in Jenin in the northern West Bank. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz holds a welcome ceremony for visiting Chinese Premier Li Qiang before their talks in Berlin, Germany, June 20, 2023. The seventh China-Germany inter-governmental consultation was co-chaired by Li and Scholz in Berlin on Tuesday. Li and Scholz held talks before the consultation. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao) BERLIN, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday said China and Germany should work more closely, make more contributions to world peace and development, play the role of stabilizer in the midst of changes, and speed up the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. Li made the remarks when co-chairing the seventh China-Germany inter-governmental consultation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. They heard reports on the progress of China-Germany cooperation in relevant fields from the heads of 22 departments including foreign affairs, economy and trade, industry, finance, justice, transport, education, science and technology, health, environmental protection and development. Li said that the consultation was efficient and pragmatic, and achieved fruitful results. Under the current circumstances, the two sides should seize the opportunity of green transformation and promote the upgrading of cooperation. Li proposed that China and Germany should become partners in green development, strengthen communication and coordination on green and environmental issues, promote green energy technology development and industrial technology upgrading, and deepen cooperation in such fields as new energy vehicles, green finance, and third-party markets. China and Germany should adhere to a pragmatic and open attitude to better achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, Li said, saying the two countries should also strengthen cooperation in global economic governance, ensure the stability of international industrial and supply chains, and promote an early recovery of the world economy. Scholz said the inter-governmental consultation mechanism reflects the special significance of the relations between the two countries. The German side is willing to maintain close communication with China on all issues between the two countries and to jointly address global challenges such as climate change, food security and debt problems, he said. Germany, Scholz said, has no intention to decouple from China, and is ready to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation with China to promote world development and prosperity. The two sides agreed that bilateral cooperation is solidly based and dynamic, and that it is in the interests of both sides to deepen cooperation at a higher level, with higher standards and higher quality, and to jointly maintain the stability of the global production and supply chains, which is also of great global significance. The two sides also agreed to set up a dialogue and cooperation mechanism on climate change and green transition, hold the third China-Germany High Level Financial Dialogue as well as new editions of Sino-German Environmental Forum and health dialogue, and continue to deepen cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, investment, automobile manufacturing, high-tech, new energy, digital economy and humanities. After the consultation, Li and Scholz witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents in the fields of climate change response, innovation, advanced manufacturing and vocational education, and met with the press together. Prior to the consultation, Li held a meeting with Scholz. Li pointed out that the economic and trade cooperation between China and Germany has been developed for more than half a century, and it is not easy for the two sides to achieve today's results, which have brought real benefits to the two peoples. He hopes the German side will continue to keep an open mind, uphold the independent policy, and properly handle relevant issues on the basis of international rules and in the principle of the spirit of contract. The two sides should vigorously promote the facilitation of personnel exchanges and strengthen people-to-people exchanges, he said. Li proposed tackling climate change as one of the guiding visions for China-Germany cooperation in the future, adding that the two countries should promote cooperation in green technology and industry, and explore the establishment of a rational and orderly division of labor in the green energy industry chain. Scholz said the German side welcomes China's development and prosperity, noting that Germany rejects all forms of decoupling and "de-risking" is not "de-sinicization." Germany is committed to developing stable relations with China and is willing to further strengthen bilateral exchanges, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and reach more cooperation consensus in addressing climate change and green development, he said, adding that Germany supports two-way investment and will provide a sound business environment for Chinese enterprises to invest in Germany. The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern. Before the meeting, Scholz held a grand welcome ceremony for Li at the square in front of the Federal Chancellery. With a military band playing the national anthems of both countries and Chinese and German flags flying high, Li, accompanied by Scholz, reviewed the guard of honor. Wu Zhenglong, among others, was present at the events. Visiting Chinese Premier Li Qiang and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz co-chair the seventh China-Germany inter-governmental consultation in Berlin, Germany, June 20, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Lin) Visiting Chinese Premier Li Qiang, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and persons attending the seventh China-Germany inter-governmental consultation pose for a group photo in Berlin, Germany, June 20, 2023. The seventh China-Germany inter-governmental consultation was co-chaired by Li and Scholz in Berlin on Tuesday. Li and Scholz held talks before the consultation. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen) Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in Indian healthcare are emerging as game-changing instruments, particularly within the diagnostic industry. PPP can overcome the current diagnostic challenges in India and shape the country's healthcare landscape for the next decade. In an industry predicted to reach $32 billion by 2025, according to a KPMG report, the potential impact of PPPs is colossal. The model's strength is its ability to combine the technological sophistication, operational efficiency, and service capabilities of the private sector with the regulatory authority, scale, and equity focus of the public sector. Some existing noteworthy public-private alignments include: Maharashtra signed an MOU with a multi-discipline healthcare organisation in March 2023. With an investment of over $24 million (INR 200 crores), this PPP aims to establish advanced diagnostic centres across Maharashtra, potentially reaching over 60 million people. In 2022, Maharashtra and Apollo Hospitals signed an agreement to set up diagnostic centres across the state offering various services, from basic blood tests to complex genetic testing, at affordable prices. In 2021, Rajasthan and SRL Diagnostics Partnered to launch telemedicine and teleradiology services in the state's district hospitals. Karnataka collaborated with Manipal Hospitals in 2021 to launch the Mobile Health Bus service with advanced diagnostic facilities at an initial investment of $0.241 million (INR 2 crore). In 2020, Punjab and Max Healthcare Partnered to establish a 100-bed super-speciality hospital at Mohali's Civil Hospital premises. This hospital provides diagnostic services using state-of-the-art imaging technology alongside other medical services. Delhi and Dr Lal PathLabs , established a PPP initiative in 2019 with a budget of $6 million (INR 50 crore) to facilitate affordable diagnostic services for Delhi's economically disadvantaged population, which has conducted over 2 million tests. Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) Partnered with a Diagnostics company in 2019 to train more than 100 lab professionals in advanced diagnostics, building a pool of skilled laboratory personnel. Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and C-CAMP partnership facilitated the K-Tech, BIRAC Regional Entrepreneurship Centre (BREC) launch in Bengaluru in 2016. BREC provides startups and entrepreneurs access to high-end diagnostic product development and validation equipment. Tamil Nadu partnered with Metropolis Healthcare to establish state-wide diagnostic facilities in government hospitals. Looking Ahead: Recommendations for the Future To fast-track the PPP-driven transformation of India's diagnostic sector, the government should focus on three key areas: policy framework development, capacity building, and fostering sustainable partnerships. A comprehensive policy framework must outline the roles, responsibilities, and revenue-sharing structures. The policy framework should provide legal and financial clarity. It should enhance the confidence of private players, who often contribute significantly to the overall investment in these projects. Capacity building is crucial to address the demand-supply gap. Therefore, the government should encourage private entities to invest in training centres as part of the PPP model. Given the projected CAGR of 15% for the diagnostic sector until 2025, this will provide a trained workforce ready to meet this expansion. Nurturing sustainable partnerships necessitates a collaborative ecosystem where the private sector's concerns are addressed, contributions appreciated, and regular dialogues maintained. As the PPP model gains momentum, these key areas will generate tremendous impact - Advanced Diagnostic Infrastructure: PPPs can focus on building advanced diagnostic centres that offer high-quality services ranging from radiology to pathology. Equipped with cutting-edge technology, they will enhance the accuracy and speed of diagnosis and improve healthcare delivery. Remote Healthcare Services: There are still significant gaps in healthcare services in India's rural and remote regions. PPPs can bring diagnostics to these underserved regions by setting up permanent diagnostic facilities or mobile diagnostic units. Tele-Diagnostics: PPPs can also help develop tele-diagnostics services, leveraging digital technologies to deliver diagnostic services like online consultations, remote monitoring, and digital transmission of radiology or pathology images to remote areas. Specialised Diagnostic Services: There is a growing demand for specialised diagnostic services in cancer screening, genetic testing, and infectious diseases. PPPs can play a crucial role in creating specialised diagnostic centres. Workforce Training and Development: There is a significant shortage of trained healthcare professionals and, therefore, tremendous scope for enhancement. Research and Development: PPPs can promote research and development in the diagnostics sector, leading to the development of new diagnostic techniques and tools. The potential of Public Private Partnerships in transforming the Indian diagnostics industry over the coming decade is enormous. A proactive stance from the government will undoubtedly illuminate the path for diagnostics in India. Jatin Mahajan Jatin Mahajan is a highly-reputed healthcare industry influencer. He holds various roles in industry bodies CII, ASSOCHAM, Association of Diagnostics Manufacturers of India (ADMI), Global MedTech Advocacy and Advisory Forum (GMAAF), Association of Indian Medical Devices Industry (AIMED), and the Delhi Management Association. He is also the managing director of J Mitra & Company. PORT LOUIS, June 20 (Xinhua) -- After a three-year suspension due to health restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dragon Boat Festival of Mauritius resumed Sunday with its 15th edition, attracting large crowds on the waterfront in the Mauritian capital of Port Louis. Eight teams from all over Mauritius competed in a dragon boat race, the major event of the day. After three rounds of competitions, the Kwong Hwa Lion's Group and the Chung Tan Society from Rodrigues were declared joint winners of this year's race. Organized for the first time in 2006, this festival is a major celebration of the Chinese community in Mauritius, just like the Spring Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival, said Mike Wong, president of the Dragons and Lion Dance Federation in Mauritius, co-organizer of the festival. "As early as in the 1900s, dragon boat demonstrations were organized at Les Salines, south of Port Louis. It was on the initiative of a former minister, Emmanuel Leung Shin, that the Dragon Boat Festival was born. He wanted this highly significant festival to have national resonance," said Wong. The organizers have had to turn down a number of applications this year, with only eight teams selected for the final. "It's impossible to accept more applications because otherwise, we don't have enough time to organize elimination events," explained Wong. In addition to the dragon boat race, there were also demonstrations and performances of Chinese culture, including dragon and lion dances, Chinese martial arts and traditional Chinese songs and dances, which won the applause of visitors and tourists from around the world. A Mauritian national, who identified himself as Iqbal only, came to the seafront with his family for the festival. He said the sharing of culture is something that is experienced every day. "The Chinese community (in Mauritius) has very colorful festivals and China Town is always very lively. The Dragon Boat Festival is an opportunity to discover another facet of our compatriots of Chinese origin. The children loved watching the boat competitions." Rajshree and her two daughters, who came specially from Mahebourg, at the other end of the island, were equally delighted. "We're used to having traditional pirogue regattas in Mahebourg. The Dragon Boat Festival is different, because the boats are not powered by sails, but by arms." For Ralph and Zita, a tourist couple from Belgium on their first trip to Mauritius, it was a wonderful discovery. "We came to discover the capital, and then we came across this boat race. Back home, we have rowing competitions, but the boats aren't as pretty," admitted Ralph. Originating in China thousands of years ago, the dragon boat race is one of many traditions in celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival, which commemorates the Chinese patriotic poet Qu Yuan (about 340 BC-278 BC) on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month of the Chinese calendar. The festival, now a national holiday in China, falls on June 22 this year. People always enjoy Zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) for the day. The Indian Ocean island nation's Dragon Boat Festival was sponsored by the Dragon and Lion Dance Federation of Mauritius, in collaboration with the Ministry of Arts and Cultural Heritage of Mauritius, the Chinese Cultural Center of Mauritius, and the Chinese Embassy in Mauritius. "It's a festival that Mauritians look forward to every year," said Arvind Boodhun, director of culture at the Mauritian Ministry of Arts and Cultural Heritage. "It's a festival for the Chinese community first and foremost, but there are also other Mauritians from different communities who come to enjoy the Chinese culture that has been passed down from generation to generation." "We have a population that comes from different horizons, different continents to make a united country today. It's important to celebrate this special heritage and build this cultural bridge," he said. Google is on the lookout for securing partnerships with suppliers in India for moving some part of the production of its Pixel smartphones, in what appears to be a bid to shift away from China. According to a Bloomberg report, Google has initiated early conversations with potential partners, including Lava International Ltd, Dixon Technologies India, and Foxconn Technology Group's Indian unit Bharat FIH. The company is in talks with Indian firms that have secured Prime Minister Narendra Modi's production-linked financial incentives. A few executives of Google, including operating chief of its consumer hardware arm Ana Corrales, and Maggie Wei, a senior director of global sustaining product operations, were in India recently for the partnership talks. Last month, Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had met with Google CEO Sundar Pichai in California. The conversation reportedly revolved around the Indian government's local manufacturing drive. Google's move to diversify beyond China is similar to the recent bid by Apple Inc. to boost its supplier base in India. Budget airline Indigo is already the undisputed leader in India's aviation industry; its market share hit a record 61.4 per cent in the domestic market in May. But, Monday's mega order for 500 aircraft clearly indicates it has a far bigger appetite in a market, which remains under-penetrated, yet few have managed to survive in the long run. Exactly 18 years ago, Indigo, little known then, made a statement of intent by placing an order for 100 aircraft from plane maker Airbus at the Paris Air Show. On Monday, Indigo was back at the Paris Air Show, with a bigger show of strength, with the $50 billion order for the 500 planes, which will be a mix of A320neo, A321neo and A321XLR aircraft. The airline already operates over 300 aircraft and has pending orders totalling 480, which are to be delivered between now and the end of 2030. The latest order means it has almost 1,000 aircraft yet to be delivered well into the next decade. With rival Go First suspending operations since last month, Indigo is cashing in on the domestic demand. Its order trumps the recent 470-airplane order by Tata-owned Air India, which has also outlined big expansion plans. Why is Indigo ordering so many planes? "An order book now of almost 1,000 aircraft well into the next decade, enables IndiGo to fulfil its mission to continue to boost economic growth, social cohesion and mobility in India," Pieter Elbers, CEO of Indigo said. While Indigo continues to expand its domestic operations, adding new routes and increasing capacity on existing ones, its also been focusing on growing its international business in recent times. With its code-share arrangement with Turkish Airlines, Indigo now provides connections to multiple European destinations. Recently, Indigo has also announced new flights to African and Central Asian countries. It will also provide connections to North America through its partnership with Turkish. The A321XLR aircraft it has ordered will help it penetrate further into Europe and East Asian markets, say analysts. "The order implies that Indigo will continue with its single-aisle strategy despite a deeper international foray. This highlights the continuation of the low-cost business model even in the international segment, which should result in consistent cost expectations. A321XLR will offer an extended range deeper into Europe and East Asia," said Ansuman Deb, research analyst at ICICI Securities. By sticking with plane maker Airbus for the new order, Indigo has ensured that there will be a commonality in its fleet. This has its advantages in terms of service and spares, and manpower utilisation among other things. Also, the newer aircraft are more fuel efficient, which will also provide a cost advantage to the airline. "IndiGo can maintain operational cost reduction, fuel efficiency, and sustainability goals with the fuel-efficient A320neo family aircraft, enabling the fast-growing airline to sustain growth for years to come," noted Jinesh Joshi, an analyst at broking firm Prabhudas Lilladher. According to Indigo, it has realised a CO2 reduction of 21 per cent between the financial years 2016 and 2023. The new fuel-efficient planes will further aid the airline to build up on its sustainability ambitions, it said. The new order further defines Indigo's long-term future into the next decade and would provide a steady supply of aircraft between 2030 and 2035, said analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services. "The A320neo family aircraft would help Indigo lower its operating costs and deliver fuel efficiency with high standards of reliability," the analysts agreed. India is among the fastest-growing aviation market globally. By 2030, it is estimated that there will be 450 million domestic flyers, a 300 per cent jump from the 145 million currently. But, it also remains a tough market to survive. The Wadia Group owned Go First last month suspended operations citing troubles with its Pratt and Whitney engines. Jet Airways, which was acquired by the Jalan Kalrock consortium after its resolution plan for the bankrupt airline was approved back in 2021, is also yet to restart operations. Meanwhile, existing carriers - Indigo, Air India (including Vistara) and Akasa continue to expand. The late billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Akasa, which began flying in August 2022, is also reportedly in talks with plane maker Boeing to expand its fleet of 737 Max jets. SpiceJet also recently announced plans to expand its fleet by inducting 10 new Boeing narrow-body aircraft starting September 2023. The central government will send a team of health experts to both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the two states worst hit by heatwave, to assist the state governments in addressing the situation. The announcement was made by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya who chaired a high-level meeting on Tuesday to review public health preparedness to deal with heatwave conditions. "A team of experts from the Union Health Ministry, ICMR, IMD and NDMA will visit the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to support them in public health response measures to address heat-related illnesses," the minister said. Claiming that the Centre had taken timely measures ahead of the summer season to address the heatwave-related illness, Mandaviya also directed the ICMR to conduct a research on how to minimise the effect of heat waves on health, with specific short, medium and long-term action plans. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting to review preparedness ahead of the summer season in March while the Union Health Ministry issued a heat wave advisory in February where States were advised to review health facility preparedness in terms of essential medicines, intravenous fluids, packs, ORS, drinking water as well as dissemination of necessary IEC materials," he said. Mandaviya urged states and central agencies to enhance awareness among people regarding preventive measures through multi-media IEC campaigns. "Sensitization of masses is important, but sensitization and capacity building of medical officers, health staff, and grass-root level workers on heat-related illness, its early recognition and management is also important," said the minister. Niti Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Dr Rajiv Bahl and India Meteorological Department (IMD) experts were present at the meeting. Over the past few days, deaths due to heat stroke have been reported from different parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. Amid heatwave situation, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will chair a high-level review meeting on Tuesday. According to officials, Niti Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Dr Rajiv Bahl and India Meteorological Department (IMD) experts will join the meeting. Over the past few days, deaths due to heat stroke have been reported from different parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. However, the health officials are yet to confirm if heatstroke was the real reason behind the deaths. An expert team had launched an investigation into the deaths. Reportedly, over 70 people had lost their lives due to extreme heatwave in UP's Ballia and Bihar. The deaths were mostly among elderly and those with co-morbidities. "All hospitals have been directed to immediately provide necessary treatment to the patients. As the weather is improving, I am hopeful that we will see an improvement in this. All hospitals are on alert. It cannot be said that all deaths that happened in Ballia were due to heat stroke as some of them were suffering from serious diseases. We appeal to people to go out less and drink water regularly, UP Health Minister Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh told ANI. IMD on Monday said that heatwave or severe heatwave conditions are likely to continue in some parts of UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Telangana over the next two days. IMD predicts Heavy Rainfall Light/moderate rainfall at most place with isolated Heavy to Very Heavy rainfalls very likely to continue over Northeast India and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim during the next 5 days, tweeted IMD. Isolated extremely heavy rainfall also likely over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim till 21st and Assam and Meghalaya on 19th and 20th June, said IMD. CM to take aerial survey in Rajasthan Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will conduct an aerial tour of the areas affected by Cyclone Biparjoy. He will also meet the cyclone-affected people. Gehlot is expected to tour Barmer, Jalore and Sirohi. CM will reach Chauhtan village in Barmer, Sanchore in Jalore and Abu Road in Sirohi to meet the affected people on Tuesday. The heavy rains in the state had impacted over 15,000 people, according to the Disaster Management and Relief Department. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday expressed hope that the Congress will clear its stand on the Centre's ordinance on the control of administrative services in the national capital at the June 23 meeting of non-BJP parties in Patna. The Friday meeting of opposition parties has been called by Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar to chalk out a joint strategy to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. At a press conference here, Kejriwal, who is also the AAP national convener, said he will speak to the other leaders in the meeting about how such an ordinance can be brought for even full-fledged states. He said he will "explain the dangers of this ordinance to each and every party present over there". "I will take the Constitution of India with me and explain how this ordinance makes a mockery of it. Just because this has only been promulgated in Delhi, which is often considered a "half-state", it does not mean that it cannot be promulgated in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Maharashtra. "By promulgating such ordinances, the Centre can end up dissolving all the matters that come within the concurrent list of the Constitution of India like education, electricity," he asserted. "I hope that the Congress will make its stand clear, as all the other political parties in that meeting will ask the Congress about its stand. The ordinance will be the first issue that will be discussed at the meeting," Kejriwal said. The Centre had on May 19 promulgated an ordinance to create an authority for the transfer and posting of Group-A officers in Delhi, with the AAP government calling the move a deception with the Supreme Court verdict on control of services. The ordinance came a week after the Supreme Court handed over the control of services in Delhi, excluding police, public order and land, to the elected government. It seeks to set up a National Capital Civil Service Authority for the transfer of and disciplinary proceedings against Group-A officers from the DANICS cadre. Transfer and postings of all officers of the Delhi government were under the executive control of the lieutenant governor before the May 11 verdict of the apex court. Following the ordinance, Kejriwal has been reaching out to leaders of non-BJP parties to garner their support against the ordinance so that the Centre's bid to replace it through a Bill is defeated when it is brought in Parliament. Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for his landmark visit to the US on Tuesday morning. Though Modi has been to the US on numerous occasions before and met President Joe Biden on the sidelines of multilateral events, this is the PM's first state visit to the US. A state visit holds more significance than other official visits and is seen as the highest form of bilateral exchange. According to experts, a state visit is reserved for 'closest allies or friends', and Modi's US visit is expected to strengthen ties and improve key strategic partnerships in the areas of technology, defence and clean energy. The state visit to the US will involve more pomp and glamour, with elaborate ceremonies including the 21-gun salute and exchange of diplomatic gifts, besides bilateral discussions and agreements. President Biden will welcome the PM at South Lawn of the White House with the gun-salute in the presence of over 7,000 Indian-American attendees. The highlight of the state visit is the state dinner, to be hosted by the US President and First Lady Jill Biden at the White House, on June 22. The state dinner is meticulously curated keeping in mind the guest's culinary restrictions, while blending in heritage of both the countries. According to reports from US media, renowned plant-based chef Nina Curtis has been chosen as the state dinner's chef. Modi is the third global leader, after France's Emmanuel Macron and South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol, to be invited by Biden for a state visit and dinner. Modi's schedule The PM is on a tight schedule during the four-day trip to the US. This involves meetings with Indian expats and business leaders, a special International Yoga Day session and a rare address to the joint session of the US Congress. This is the second time Modi addresses the US Congress, making him the first Indian prime minister to do so twice. Modi will begin his engagements from New York on Wednesday, where he will lead the Yoga Day celebrations at the UN headquarters. Hundreds of Indian-Americans are expected to gather along iconic locations in the US to welcome the PM. Modi will head to Washington on the same day when Biden and his wife Jill Biden will host a private dinner for the PM, ahead of the state dinner on June 22. Later on June 23, US Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will host a state luncheon. PM Modi will also address Indian-American community leaders at the Reagan Centre, and will meet members from think tanks, young entrepreneurs, businesspersons at the Kennedy centre. Modi will depart from the United States on June 24 and travel to Egypt's Cairo where he would be on a state visit on June 24-25. Punjab Assembly on Tuesday passed the Sikh Gurudwaras (amendment) Bill 2023 making the telecast of Gurbani from Golden Temple free for all, with no tender required. Gurbani is for all and I want to ensure that everyone can hear and see it on any channel they like, said Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in the Assembly. Making an amendment in the Sikh Gurudwara Act, 1925, a section was added in the Act to broadcast Gurbani free for all. Presently, the telecast rights are with PTC, a Punjabi television network owned by SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal under an 11-year contract signed by the SGPC in 2012. Rabindra Narayan, the managing director and president of PTC Network tweeted that Gurbani is "already free". He also announced a reward of Rs 1 crore if they bring any one customer who had to pay a fee to subscribe to Gurbani across the country. GURBANI IS ALREADY FREE. All PTC Network channels are designated as FREE TO AIR channels by Government of India. No cable operator, DTH operator charges any money. It is also available for free on YouTube and Facebook. So how are they claiming to make Gurbani Free To Air? We pic.twitter.com/IEYNuuPnke Rabindra Narayan (@RabindraPTC) June 20, 2023 "GURBANI IS ALREADY FREE. All PTC Network channels are designated as FREE TO AIR channels by Government of India. No cable operator, DTH operator charges any money. It is also available for free on YouTube and Facebook. So how are they claiming to make Gurbani Free To Air? We challenge the whole cabinet to bring one single customer bill where anyone has had to pay to subscribe to Gurbani across the country!! REWARD ONE CRORE RUPEES!," Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced on Sunday that the government will amend the Act, a move opposed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex religious body for Sikhs, and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). SGPC had said that the 1925 Act is a central legislation and can be only amended by Parliament. SGPC chief H. S. Dhami said the Punjab government should not interfere in the religious matters of Sikhs and that it has no right to amend the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925. Stating the need of the hour is to disseminate the 'Sarb Sanji Gurbani' across the globe, Gurbani should be telecast free of cost rather than confining it to a single channel, Mann had said. He also said that the move will go a long way in offering an opportunity to the 'Sangat' to listen to Gurbani while sitting at home, even in foreign countries. The chief minister said it will also allow people to get a glimpse of the Sri Harmandar Sahib on their TVs and other electronic gadgets. The 146th Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath commenced on Tuesday morning in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city amid tight security as lakhs of devotees flocked the 18-km route of the procession to catch a glimpse of the deity. The Gujarat Police have for the first time in the Rath Yatra used 3D mapping technology to monitor the entire route and also deployed anti-drone technology to ensure no unauthorised drones are used during the event, as per a senior police official. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in the morning performed 'Pahind Vidhi', a symbolic ritual of cleaning the way for the chariots using a golden broom, following which the chariots of Lord Jagannath, his brother Balbhadra and sister Subhadra embarked on the yatra from the 400-year-old Jagannath Temple in Jamalpur area. Before the annual event started, Union Home Minister Amit Shah performed 'mangla aarti' (auspicious ritual to pay obeisance to the deity) in the temple early Tuesday morning. Besides the three chariots, the procession comprised nearly 15 decorated elephants, 100 trucks with tableaux and singing troupes. The Rath Yatra is taken out every year on Ashadhi Bij, the second day of Ashad month, as per the Hindu calendar. The procession will return to the temple by 8.30 pm on Tuesday after passing through the Old City, including some communally sensitive areas like Jamalpur, Kalupur, Shahpur and Dariyapur. More than 26,000 personnel drawn from the city police, Home Guards, State Reserve Police and para-military forces were deployed at strategic locations along the 18-km-long yatra route to prevent any untoward incident, as per officials. Thousands of devotees arrive in Puri Thousands of devotees have congregated at this seaside pilgrim town for Lord Jagannath's annual 'Ratha Jatra' on Tuesday for which the Odisha government has made elaborate arrangements, officials said. As many as 180 platoons (1 platoon comprises 30 personnel) of security forces were deployed in Puri, said Transport Commissioner Amitabh Thakur. A total of 125 special trains will travel to Puri during the festival, an official said, adding, a large number of CCTV cameras assisted by drone cameras will function during the 'Rath Yatra'. Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief administrator Ranjan Kumar Das said it is expecting a congregation of around 10 lakh people in Puri on Tuesday when the chariots of Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath are pulled till the Shree Gundicha temple. "The state government has made elaborate arrangements keeping in view the hot and humid weather conditions in Puri. Volunteers will sprinkle water on devotees, and a green corridor has also been formed for any health emergency," chief secretary P K Jena said. With only around three days of reserve oxygen estimated to be left onboard, each hour has now become crucial, to locate the tourist submersible that went missing in the North Atlantic while voyaging to the wreck of the Titanic. OceanGate Expeditions, a Washington-based deep-sea exploration company, owners of the submersible, lost contact with the submersible on Sunday morning. United States and Canadian rescue teams were involved in the search for the submersible carrying five people. According to Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander of the First Coast Guard District, the authorities are still trying to identify those onboard. They are yet to give the details on the pilot and four "mission specialists" aboard. Two aircraft from the US and Canada were involved in the search, along with a commercial ship, and further assets will be added as the pursuit continues into the night, said Mauger at a news conference. The operation's location- about 900 miles wast of Cape Cod and up to 13,000 feet deep- complicates the task, as does the need to look both on the surface of the water and below. It is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area, he said. "But we are deploying all available assets to make sure that we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board," he added. The Coast Guard said that two searches by C-130 aircraft had been completed and the mission would continue through the night. This undated photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible | AP 21-foot submersible named "Titan", which left from St. John's, began its dive Sunday morning. The Polar Prince and @Rescue106 will continue to do surface searches throughout the evening. Two C-130 flights have been completed from @USCG CG Air Station Elizabeth City.@hfxjrcc Surface/subsurface search by Canadian P8 Poseidon aircraft to continue in the morning. USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 20, 2023 Reportedly, the Polar Prince, the Canadian ship supporting the watercraft, lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later. The company's expeditions to the Titanic wreck site include archaeologists and marine biologists. Oceangate also brings people who pay to come along, known as "mission specialists". "We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible," Oceangate said. "We are working toward the safe return of the crew members." Mauger said that the submersible has a 96-hour emergency sustainment capability, that includes the oxygen and fuel. "So we anticipate that there's somewhere between 70 and full 96 hours available at this point," he said. The Titanic wreckage is believed to lie 12,500 feet deep. Meanwhile, Action Aviation through a social media post said that its company chairman British businessman Hamish Harding, based in United Arab Emirates, was one of the travellers onboard. Before starting the expedition he had wrote that "I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on sub going down to the Titanic." The Titanic, the ship hailed as "unsinkable" hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage in April 1912. Over 15,000 people died when the ship sank in the North Atlantic Ocean. Commericial ships and aircrafts that use sonar are also involved in the search efforts. "We've been in touch with additional commercial vessels that are operating in the area as well as initiating the movement of additional Canadian Coast Guard assets and US Coast Guard surface assets into the area over the course of the next couple of days," Mauger said. (With agency inputs) Cash-strapped Pakistan has constituted a negotiation committee to finalise a deal with the UAE for handing over its Karachi port terminals as it seeks to raise an emergency fund amid uncertainty over the revival of a stalled loan from the IMF, according to a media report on Tuesday. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday chaired the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions. The meeting decided to set up a committee to negotiate a commercial agreement between the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and the UAE government, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. It quoted the decision of the meeting that the negotiation committee has also been permitted to finalise a draft operation, maintenance, investment, and development agreement under the government-to-government arrangements with a nominated agency of the UAE for handing over the Karachi port terminals. The negotiation committee set up to finalise a framework agreement will be headed by the Minister for Maritime Affairs, Faisal Sabzwari. The committee members include the additional secretaries of Finance and Foreign Affairs, the special assistant to PM Jehanzeb Khan, the Chairman of the Karachi Port Terminal (KPT), and the general managers of the KPT. The UAE government had shown interest in acquiring the Karachi port terminals that were under the administrative control of the Pakistan International Containers Terminals (PICT) last year. This move to constitute the negotiation committee may lead to the first intergovernmental transaction under a law enacted last year to raise emergency funds. Last year, Pakistan's coalition government enacted the Intergovernmental Commercial Transactions Act, aimed at selling state assets on a fast-track basis to raise funds. The country is in dire need of additional money amid uncertainty over the revival of the $6.5 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which was initially signed in 2019 and is set to expire by the end of this month. Sources indicate that the government needs to be extra careful when finalising a deal with the UAE, as it will be the first transaction of its kind, and the outgoing operator is also posing some challenges, the report said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting with the ambassadors of key countries to get support for the revival of the stalled IMF deal. The government is making a last-ditch effort to get the unpaid portion of the $6.5 billion packages, which was signed in 2019 and would terminate on June 30. The Express Tribune newspaper reported that the government on Monday invited the ambassadors of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the European Union, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The prime minister apprised the foreign ambassadors about the efforts that Finance Minister Dar and he personally made during the past many months, a participant of the meeting told on condition of anonymity. The prime minister again stressed that the government was keen to get at least the $ 1.2 billion IMF loan tranche out of the remaining $2.6 billion, which is attached with the completion of the pending 9th review of the program, said the sources. Some ambassadors sought clarifications from the government but assured that they would communicate Pakistan's position to their capitals, according to another participant of the meeting. The ambassadors are also in touch with the IMF staff, reported the paper. The government has not issued any official statement after the meeting. CAIRO, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit and Deputy Chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council Malik Agar discussed on Monday the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and the international and regional initiatives to resolve the ongoing armed conflict in the country. During a meeting in the Egyptian capital Cairo, Agar briefed Aboul-Gheit on the developments in Sudan, including the field situation and the challenges facing the Sudanese Armed Forces in restoring security and control in the capital Khartoum, the AL said in a statement. Agar also called for coordinated efforts in the region and internationally to enable an end to the tensions and to preserve the integrity, stability and unity of Sudan. For his part, Aboul-Gheit stressed the commitment of the AL to work for the stability of Sudan and its territorial integrity, preserving the capabilities of the Sudanese people and protecting its institutions, as well as its readiness to provide all forms of support to achieve security and stability in the African country. He also asserted the need for international action and initiatives to work for the benefit of Sudan and its people, in cooperation and coordination with the government of Sudan. Aboul-Gheit called for serious work to achieve more harmony among these initiatives, adding that the AL would present ideas in this regard to various parties. He highlighted the importance of working to reach arrangements that allow dealing with the deteriorating humanitarian situation in areas witnessing armed clashes through the ceasefire that is agreed upon during the Jeddah meetings. Agar's visit came amid a 72-hour truce between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which started Sunday morning, and relatively restored calm in the country. The two forces' deadly clash has claimed hundreds of civilian lives and displaced millions more across the country since it broke out on April 15. Days after Russia confirmed positioning tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, US President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin's threat of using nukes is real. Biden had earlier said he does not think the Russian president would resort to using nuclear weapons in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine which approaches its 500th day. "When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado river drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy," Biden told a group of donors in California on Monday."They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. It's real," Biden said. Speaking at Russia's flagship economic forum in St Petersburg on Saturday, Putin said that transferring the tactical nuclear warheads to Belarus, Russia's key ally in the invasion against Ukraine, would be completed by the end of the summer. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said earlier this week that Russian tactical nuclear weapons included some three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Japan in 1945. This is Russia's first deployment of such warheads outside its borders since the fall of the Soviet Union. The Russian deployment is being watched closely by the United States and its allies as well as by China, which has repeatedly cautioned against the use of nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine. Analysts look at Putin's move as a warning for the Westto force NATO allies to reduce supplies of weapons to Ukraine. Overnight drone attacks Russia launched an overnight drone attack on Kyiv and the surrounding regions, officials revealed on Tuesday, as Ukraine claimed it has retaken eight villages in the counter-offensive. Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar Russia had concentrated its units in the east, including air assault troops, but that Ukrainian forces were preventing their advance. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the efforts of the troops and said he would continue talks with Western allies to get ammunition supplies to them as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Russia claimed it has repelled numerous assaults and it released a video showing a French-made tank reportedly seized in the eastern Donetsk region. Putin said last week that Western-supplied hardware such as German-made Leopard tanks were regularly destroyed and if Kyiv got US-made F-16 fighter jets from its allies, they would go up in flames too. UK military sources have said that both Russia and Ukraine are suffering heavy casualties as Kyiv puts up a tough fight to dislodge Kremlin's forces from occupied areas. British MPs have voted 354 to seven to approve a House of Commons committee report that found former prime minister Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament about Covid lockdown law-breaching parties at Downing Street. The 59-year-old, whose exit from 10 Downing Street last year had been hastened by the 'partygate' scandal, had repeatedly denied that lockdown rules were broken within government quarters when asked in the Commons. Johnson has already resigned as Member of Parliament (MP) from West London after the findings of the Privileges Committee report were known to him. He will now lose the privilege of special access to Parliament accorded to former MPs. Many of his colleagues and Opposition members gathered in the Commons on Monday to debate the report's findings and a majority condemned the former prime minister's actions. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, along with several other Tory MPs, chose not to attend the debate or comment on the report's findings, something several Opposition Labour Party MPs called out during the session that ran into hours. "It's a crying shame that the prime minister of this country cannot even express how he would vote if he were to turn up today. In my view, that is dereliction of duty," Labour Party's Jess Phillips said. Johnson's staunch allies lined up to defend the former Conservative Party leader and attacked the cross-party Privileges Committee. "For some reason the Privileges Committee thinks it is in Communist China and we must kowtow," Tory MP and former minister in the Johnson Cabinet, Jacob Rees-Mogg, said. He insisted that it is "absolutely legitimate" to criticise the conduct and make-up of the Privileges Committee, which wrote the report, because "our politics is adversarial". "Outside this chamber, freedom of speech is paramount, we are allowed to say what we like," Rees-Mogg, who was given knighthood in Johnson's controversial resignation honours list, said. However, several Tory members, including former prime minister Theresa May, were scathing in their criticism of Johnson. They said MPs must be seen to hold their own to account, to show the public there is "not one rule for them and another for us". Earlier, Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt, speaking on behalf of the government, told the House that the government respects the important constitutional principles of the committee. "The Privileges Committee exists to defend our rights and privileges in this place," Mordaunt had said, confirming that she would be voting in favour of its report. Johnson had hit out at the committee as a "kangaroo court" which was on a witch-hunt against him as he resigned earlier this month. The report highlighted specific instances over the course of 2020 and 2021, during successive Covid lockdowns in the UK, when the House of Commons could have been misled by Johnson's claims that "no rules or guidance had been broken". Bengaluru, Karnataka, India & London, United Kingdom & Minneapolis, United States- Business Wire India Capillary Technologies, a global leader in customer engagement and loyalty solutions, proudly announces its success at the esteemed International Loyalty Awards. The company's unwavering commitment to innovation and excellence has garnered them six prestigious accolades at this year's International Loyalty Awards, an annual event that recognises and pays tribute to brands building lasting and profitable customer relationships. Held in London for 2023, ILA brings together the leaders in loyalty, to celebrate innovation, creativity and brilliance. Capillary Technologies won three awards and two commendations for work with its esteemed customers like Jotun, Vishal Mega Mart, Shell Go+ and Al-Futtaim Group. Joe Doran, SVP of Loyalty, Capillary Technologies was recognized under the 30 under 40 list of Loyalty Royalty, awarded to incredible talent flourishing in the loyalty space. Heres the list of awards for Capillary: 1. Best Use of Gamification to Enhance Loyalty for Jotun 2. Best Loyalty Programme of the year - Food Retail & Non Retail for Vishal Mega Mart 3. Regional Winner Asia including the Indian sub-continent and all areas East for Vishal Mega Mart 4. 30 Under 40: Joe Doran, SVP of Loyalty, Capillary Technologies 5. Highly Commended: Al-Futtaim Group, Blue Rewards 6. Highly Commended: Shell Go+, Shell Indonesia The Loyalty Awards 2023 covered 18 categories in all and were adjudicated by judges from across the world. The winners were announced at a gala awards dinner held at Old Billingsgate in London, UK recently. Sameer Garde, CEO of Capillary Technologies, expressed his enthusiasm for the company's achievements, stating, "We are absolutely thrilled and honored to have such great recognition at the International Loyalty Awards this year. Weve been relentlessly helping our clients achieve three key outcomes: dramatically reducing CAC (cost of customer acquisition), increasing RoI on loyalty programs, and demonstrating RoI via analytics. And these awards are a testament to value that our customers are deriving through the Capillary platform and the teams consultancy practice. We are proud and excited to keep serving our customers better and driving many more such results!" Dian Kusumadewi, Vice President of Mobile Marketing at Shell said, Listening to what consumers seek and need is at the heart of what we do, and that fueled us to take the leap of faith to move our Loyalty platform from card-based to app-based last year. The result has been amazing, we tripled member active rate and accelerated member acquisition tremendously from bringing in compelling offers that delight consumers, thanks to Capillary and all the stakeholders involved. Huynh Tran Nam, Marketing Director of Jotun Vietnam stated, This award is a testament to our unwavering dedication to our partners/ painters. By blending the excitement of gamification, weve experienced unparalleled levels of engagement and deeper connections with our valued partners/ painters. This recognition reaffirms our commitment to them and solidifies our position as industry leaders. We are deeply grateful for the remarkable honor and will continue to push boundaries and set new benchmarks with gratitude and enthusiasm. Gunender Kapur, Investor CEO at Vishal Mega Mart said, Vishal Mega Mart is on a mission to make aspirations affordable for all its customers. When we launched our loyalty program Shop for Free back in 2012, we were amongst the first few that went mobile only. Since then, we have grown to become one of the largest programs with 100M+ satisfied shoppers who visit our ever increasing number of stores across the length and breadth of the country. We have leveraged analytics at scale to deliver value to our shoppers. Our campaigns are personalized for individual shoppers based on their preferences of when and what they buy, helping us fulfill their aspirations. We are proud to partner with Capillary Technologies. They clearly understand our mission, and have enabled us to engage effectively with our shoppers. Receiving the 'Best Long-Term Loyalty Initiative Award' is an honour that underlines our commitment to customer satisfaction and loyalty," said Himanshu Shrivastava, Chief Technology Officer at Al-Futtaim Group. "Through our partnership with Capillary Technologies, we've designed the Blue Rewards program to provide significant value and experiences to our customers, cementing their loyalty to our diverse portfolio of brands. The recognition from the International Loyalty Awards is a strong validation of our strategy and execution, and it motivates us to continue innovating for the benefit of our valued customers. Speaking about the 30 under 40 Loyalty Royalty recognition, Joe Doran, SVP of Loyalty at Capillary said, "It is extremely exciting to be included in this list of digital innovators & loyalty ambassadors across globally-recognized companies. Capillary is the global leader in loyalty and truly enables its leaders to be trusted advisors, delivering on brand promises built on data strategies & custom loyalty experiences. This recognition is a testament to our commitment to our clients as we continue to push the boundaries of loyalty and digital solutions. Cheers to the future of loyalty! These recognitions come on the back of an eventful 2023 for Capillary- Firstly, Capillary was named a Leader on the Forrester Wave for Loyalty Technology Solutions Q1, 2023 Report. Post this, Capillary announced the acquisition of Texas-based Brierley and then went on to announce a $45 million Series D fund raise. Most recently, the company acquired US and UK based Teneritys Digital Connect Assets to strengthen Capillarys rewards network and is now firmly poised to become the best loyalty company in the globe. About Capillary Technologies Founded in 2012, Capillary Technologies has a presence across the United States, India, the Middle East, and Asia, in particular, South East Asia. Capillary is an end-to-end customer loyalty platform that offers a comprehensive view of consumers, and unified, cross-channel strategies that deliver a real-time omnichannel, personalized, and consistent experience for customers. Powering 100+ loyalty programs, across 30+ countries, Capillary works with 250+ brands including the likes of Tata, PUMA, Shell, Al-Futtaim, Petron, Dominos, Kanmo Group, and Marks & Spencer. With a massive reach of 1Bn+ consumers and processing 5Bn+ annual transactions, the company has the backing of Warburg Pincus, Sequoia Capital, Avataar Ventures, and Filter Capital. For more information, visit www.capillarytech.com. (Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with Business Wire India and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR PWR IMF delegation offers sacred Chadar from Dargah Ajmer Sharif at Mazar of Shaikh M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen in the USA IMF launches its third international chapter in the USA PHILADELPHIA and CHANDIGARH, India, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As the day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historic state visit to the United States of America (USA) 21st June 2023 is approaching, the excitement level and spirits of the Indian Diaspora are lifted. In this regard, a multi-faith delegation of the Indian Minorities Foundation (IMF) comprising religious and community leaders, and philanthropists belonging to different minority communities participated in prayers at USA's oldest Mazar of the Sufi saint Shaikh MR Bawa Muhaiyaddeen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The multifaith delegation was led by Ahamed Muhaiyadeen Jonathan Granoff, President Global Security Council, Special Representative to the United Nations for the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates and Ambassador for Peace and Security of the Parliament of the World's Religions along with IMF Convener and Chancellor Chandigarh University Satnam Singh Sandhu. Ahead of the much-anticipated state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US, the minority communities in the Indian diaspora living in the USA are thrilled about it. They have expressed eagerness to see PM Modi holding talks in the USA and addressing the US Congress. Ahamed Muhaiyadeen Jonathan Granoff, President Global Security Council, said, "India has given the message of 'world as a family' and I believe this stands out when we talk about PM Modi. The American community along with the Indian diaspora here is awaiting his arrival." Ahamed Muhaiyadeen Jonathan Granoff, who is also an ambassador for Peace and Security of the Parliament of the World's Religions, said, "I understand that over the parliament of India is the verse of Maha Upanishad the world is a family and that is a message that we need in America and the world because this is the truth. We welcome PM Modi here with that heart as a family." IMF Convener and Chancellor Chandigarh University Satnam Singh Sandhu said, "Minority communities in India were a mere source of vote bank and to appease them the governments during the 65 years since independence made promises which were never kept." He further said, "PM Narendra Modi walked the path to fulfill the aspirations of minority communities and resolved their long pending issues". During his address at the Ziyarat, Satnam Singh Sandhu said that during PM Modi's nine years, the minority communities in India flourished, and a new wave of peace and communal harmony spread throughout the country. He further added that "Unlike previous governments, PM Modi left no promise and delivery gap during the last nine years in India which led to all-inclusive development in the country and has elevated the minority communities in the country." Sacred Chadar from Ajmer Sharif Dargah India offered at Mazar Shaikh M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen as a message of peace and humanity on-behalf of 1.4 billion Indians The multifaith delegation comprising Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Jains, and Buddhists took part in the mass prayers held for the propagation of the message of world peace, stability, and success of PM Modi's US visit for strengthening the relationship between the two nations. During the prayers by the IMF delegation, Sacred Chadar brought by IMF Convener Satnam Singh Sandhu and IMF Founder Prof Himani Sood from Ajmer Sharif Dargah Khawaja Garib Nawaj India was offered at the Mazar of Shaikh M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen which is the sacred resting place of Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, the Sufi saint, and founder of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship. While offering the Sacred Chadar at Mazar, IMF Convener and Chancellor Chandigarh University said, "We have brought the message of humanity, peace, and brotherhood from India to the United States. This is the message of 1.4 billion Indians which our beloved Prime Minister Narendra Modi is bringing to the United States during his state visit which begins this week". This is the first of its kind of mass prayer attended by a delegation comprising of multifaith communities at the Mazar of Philadelphia. Philadelphia chosen for multifaith delegation keeping its historic importance in mind says Satnam Singh Sandhu "We had intentionally chosen Philadelphia for the multifaith delegation to offer prayers for world peace and humanity keeping in mind the historic importance of the city. This is the city where a strong foundation of inclusive & equal society of United States of America was laid in 1787," said Satnam Singh Sandhu. The US Constitution which guarantees freedom of right to practice his or her own religion was written and signed in Philadelphia in the Assembly Room of the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall. During his address, Satnam Singh Sandhu said that, "During PM Modi's nine years, the minority communities in India flourished, and a new wave of peace and communal harmony spread throughout the country. Pending issues of Minority Communities such as the Opening of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor after 7 Decades, ensuring Justice for 1984 Anti-Sikh Riot Victims after 3 Decades for the Sikh Community, abolition of Triple Talaq, FCRA Registration for Harimandir Sahib, and the creation of Ladakh as separate UT were all resolved during the 9 years of PM Modi's tenure." Pakistani Muslims living in the USA praise PM Modi for inclusive policies "Working for improving the living standards of every citizen irrespective of their caste, religion or community has been the mark of PM Modi's 9 years in tenure. Through various initiatives Prime Minister Narendra Modi has infused the spirit of inclusivity, equality, and belongingness amongst every Indian, especially amongst the people belonging to different minorities' communities," said Mehmood, a Pakistani Muslim living in the United States and originally hailing from Lahore. He further added, "No matter what religion one belongs to, we are all one, and shall live together in peace and harmony. India is a perfect example of unity in diversity with different religions flourishing alongside each other. Further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a secular leader who respects all religions. Through his works over the years, he has ensured equality and unity among all in the country, and worked for establishing peace and harmony between the communities." IMF launches its USA chapter; aimed at connecting the Indian diaspora with their motherland The Indian Minorities Foundation (IMF) which has been established by NID Foundation launched its third international chapter in the United States (US), on June 18, at The Green Barn Gallery in Pennsylvania, USA, during the IMF delegation's visit to the Mazar of the Sufi saint Shaikh MR Bawa Muhaiyaddeen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The launch of this chapter is aimed to provide a common platform for Indian minority communities living in the country to address their issues and act as a bridge between them and the Indian government. Earlier IMF launched its international chapters in Australia and New Zealand. It was launched by Ahamed Muhaiyadeen Jonathan Granoff, President Global Security Council who also serves as a Special Representative to the United Nations for the Permanent Secretariat of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates along with IMF convenor and Chancellor Chandigarh University, Satnam Singh Sandhu; Prof Himani Sood; Michael Green, an American Sufi artist based in Pennsylvania among other religious leaders and preachers were present on the occasion. Meanwhile, IMF convenor, Satnam Singh Sandhu, during the launch ceremony in Pennsylvania, said that IMF's prime objective is to prepare a roadmap for the role and contribution of minority communities in India's vision of making India a developed nation by 2047 that is Amrit Kaal. Pakistani women appreciate welfare measures taken by PM Modi to strengthen the rights of Muslim Women in India; Hope for other Muslim nations to follow in their footsteps. "Muslim women have raised their voice all over the world for equal rights for many decades but Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 took the bold and decisive step to establish a strong law to abolish Triple Talaq," said Saba Malik, a Pakistani Muslim woman. Muslim women from all over the world are grateful to PM Modi who has walked the path of giving Muslim women the equal rights they deserve. Saba Malik hoped that other nations especially Muslim countries will follow in the footsteps shown by Prime Minister Modi in the future. Another young Muslim girl from Pakistan Hazel said, "Abolition of Triple Talaq has infused new confidence in every Muslim Woman who can now stand up to raise their other issues." Another group of Muslim women comprising of Hiba, Wajiha, and Aayesha who hail from Pakistan said, "PM Modi enjoys a global following and hence we are confident that taking a cue from his actions to protect the rights of Muslim Women, other nations across the world will understand the importance of the women rights." About India Minorities Foundation India Minorities Foundation, a non- government organization, founded by Satnam Singh Sandhu, Chancellor Chandigarh University, is committed to promote patriotism and national pride among minority groups and support to empower individuals and communities. IMF is working to promote a sense of belonging and inclusion. The main objective of IMF is to foster a sense of national pride with a sense of national pride among minority groups by highlighting their shared history, culture, and contributions to the nation, and by encouraging active participation in civic life. Website: http://minorities.foundation/ About Chandigarh University Chandigarh University is a NAAC A+ Grade University and an autonomous educational institution approved by UGC and is located near Chandigarh in the state of Punjab. It is the youngest university in India and the only private university in Punjab to be honoured with A+ Grade by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council). CU offers more than 109 UG and PG programs in the field of engineering, management, pharmacy, law, architecture, journalism, animation, hotel management, commerce, and others. It has been awarded as The University with Best Placements by WCRC. Website: https://www.cuchd.in/ Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2106014/CommunityleadersofferingsacredChadar.jpg (Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR PWR AHMEDABAD, India, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Vasant Awadhi Garam Masala is launched from the house of Vasant Masala for food connoisseurs who love an exclusive aroma and unique taste in their food. The newly launched, innovative blended spice marks a new feather in the cap that promises to open a fresh and new market segment for the brand, Vasant Masala. The Awadhi Garam Masala is available in convenient packaging of 10Rs., 20Rs., 100g, 200 g, and 500g quantities, throughout the retail markets. The Awadhi Garam Masala is launched through a 30-day road show, Jashn-e-Awadhi, across three states. Vasant Masala, is an established brand with a legacy of 53 years and 80 different spices. Especially blended and prepared in the typical Awadhi recipe, each spice of the Vasant Awadhi Garam Masala is first roasted and then grinded at a controlled temperature that maintains the oil levels, nutritional value, and other essential ingredients of raw spices for a longer duration. Speaking at the launch, Shri Chandrakant Bhandari (Vasant Masala, CMD) said, "The Awadhi Garam Masala has an exclusive, unique taste and aroma that elevates the flavour. We take extreme measures to blend and pack Awadhi Garam Masala to offer the appropriate taste of Awadh to the connoisseurs, and it is an important ingredient used to prepare over 100 delicacies." In addition to the taste and aroma, the Awadhi Garam Masala is a blend of spices that have health benefits too. The Awadhi Garam Masala launch road show, named Jashn-e-Awadhi is a 30-day tour covering 20 main cities in Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. During Jashn-e-Awadhi, a unique launch event, a character of the Nawab along with his entourage met with retailers and distributors and gifted them packs of Awadhi Garam Masala. Shri Rajkamal Bhandari (Director - Marketing) mentioned, " Vasant Awadhi Garam Masala has a unique taste of Awadh hence its tagline - 'Taste Lajawab, Khaye Har Nawab' resonates the same for the connoisseurs of Awadhi food. This being an innovative product, its market launch 'Jashn-e-Awadhi' is also a first of its kind of launch road show in Indian spices market. With Vasant Awadhi Garam Masala, we continue to penetrate newer customer segments, thus expanding our portfolio in every kitchen across our markets." Vasant Masala the brand from Gujarat and a mark of purity, has been the favourite brand of customers for more than five decades across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and western India markets. The brand produces packaged spices in a state-of-the-art plant in Gandhinagar (Ahmedabad), adhering to international standards and norms with certifications that qualify products and packaging from FSSC 22000, FSSAI, SPICE BOARD of INDIA, AGMARK and Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI Scheme 2020). About Vasant Masala: Vasant Masala has been delighting millions of families across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and beyond for the past 53 years. With its diverse range of products such as blended spices, Hing, basic spices, whole spices, and powdered spices, Vasant Masala has gained recognition on a global scale. Exported to five continents, Vasant Masala is known for its unparalleled quality and widespread popularity. This trusted brand has consistently provided customers with the finest spices, making it the top choice of housewives for the last five decades due to its unmatched flavor and health benefits. For Trade, Marketing & Other enquiries: E-mail: info@vasantmasala.com Telephone: 079 26850140 Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105880/VasantAwadhiGaram_Masala.jpg (Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR PWR This is Batch 16 of the 12-month programme, aimed at helping senior professionals with 10+ years work experience, as well as business owners and entrepreneurs in becoming influential business leaders, competent at leading cross-functional strategies Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Business Wire India In todays rapidly evolving business landscape, effective leadership has become more crucial than ever. To prepare the next generation of influential business leaders, the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM Calcutta), a leading business school, along with Emeritus, a global pioneer in offering accessible and affordable high-quality education to individuals and organisations, announced the roll-out of their Executive Programme in Leadership & Management. This 12-month comprehensive programme is designed for senior professionals looking to excel at leading business transformation and become more competent at leading cross-functional strategies as influential business leaders, as well as business owners, entrepreneurs, and promoters seeking to enhance their strategic thinking and leadership capabilities to improve business growth and profitability. The programme will take place via live online sessions by expert IIM Calcutta faculty, as well as on-campus sessions for peer-to-peer networking opportunities. Organisations with strong leaders are 2.3 times more likely to financially outperform peers, as per a Deloitte 2022 finding. To help business leaders develop an edge, IIM Calcuttas Executive Programme in Leadership & Management is aimed towards helping senior management professionals enhance their strategic leadership and business management abilities, anticipate and respond to challenges, and position their organisations for long-term growth and profitability. The programme curriculum is designed to help participants visualise strategic moves, identify allies, induce collaborations, manage fast growth, create organisational resilience, and nurture people, amongst other learnings. This programme is delivered through an interactive pedagogy that integrates case studies, simulations, and a capstone project, interspersed with two on-campus immersions to interact with leading IIM Calcutta faculty. The past participants who benefitted from the programme in taking their leadership skills to the next level largely included senior professionals with 10-15 years of experience (65%) and 16-20 years of experience (22%), hailing majorly from the sectors of IT and services, banking and financial services, energy, consulting, among others. Commenting on the launch of the programmes latest batch, Mr Mohan Kannegal, CEO, India and APAC, Emeritus, said, The role of a leader today is not confined to only a particular skill but involves upskilling and abridging themselves with the latest industry developments, as per changing business demands. It is essential for business leaders of today, more than ever before, to upskill and keep pace with the changing business demands. The high demand witnessed for the programme over the past 15 Batches is a testament to the impact we are able to deliver through our partnership with leading institutions such as IIM Calcutta. This programme is just what Corporate Indias senior leaders need in order to attain a competitive edge in their domain through industry-leading insights from leading IIM Calcutta faculty. Through the programme, we are confident of nurturing many successful business leaders and organisations." The 12-month programme is set to begin on June 30, 2023, and the application deadline is June 22, 2023. The fee for the programme is INR 6,35,000 + GST. Upon successful completion of the programme, participants will receive a certificate of completion from IIM Calcutta and the prestigious IIM Calcutta Executive Education Alumni Status. Visit the programme page to apply. About IIM Calcutta The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM Calcutta) was established as the first national institute for Post-Graduate studies and Research in Management by the Government of India in November 1961 in collaboration with Alfred P. Sloan School of Management (MIT), the Government of West Bengal, The Ford Foundation and Indian industry. During its initial years, several prominent faculty formed part of its nucleus, including Jagdish Sheth, J. K. Sengupta, among others. IIM Calcutta is the first business school in India to complete triple accreditation by being recognised by three globally reputed business school accreditation organisations: Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) and Association of MBAs (AMBA). It is also the only Indian business school that is a member of the Global Alliance in Management Education (CEMS). IIM Calcutta has been regularly ranked in all-important ranking organisations in India and overseas. IIM Calcutta's flagship programme, the 2-year MBA, was ranked 17th in the world, 1st in India and 2nd in Asia in FT MIM 2019 ranking. The vision of the Institute is to emerge as an International Centre of Excellence in all the facets of management education, rooted in Indian ethos and societal values. Over the past four decades, IIM Calcutta has blossomed into one of Asia's finest business schools. Its strong ties to the business community makes it an effective mechanism for the promotion of professional management practices in Indian organisations. Today, IIM Calcutta attracts the best talent in India - a melting pot of academia, industry and research. The best and brightest young men and women pursue its academic programmes. About Emeritus Emeritus Executive Education offers customised and open programmes in India, Singapore, Dubai and other global locations in collaboration with IIM Lucknow Executive Education, IIM Calcutta Executive Education, ISB Executive Education, Harvard Business School (HBS), MIT Sloan, Columbia Business School, Kellogg Executive Education, Berkeley Executive Education, and Wharton Executive Education, amongst other leading Institutes. Our world-class executive education programmes, supported by eminent programme experts, provide an immersive learning experience integrated with actionable insights and practical business applications. The meticulously curated programmes are delivered in a different range of formats; in-class, online, as well as blended programmes. Our extensive portfolio also includes short 2-4 day in-class workshops, online courses of 2-3 months duration as well as comprehensive learning journeys that run over 6-9 months, customised to an organisations requirement. The Emeritus Group has more than 1,400 employees globally and offices in Mumbai, New Delhi, Shanghai, Singapore, Palo Alto, Mexico City, New York, Boston, London, and Dubai. Following its $650 million Series E funding round in August 2021, the company is valued at $3.2 billion, and is backed by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Leeds Illuminate, Prosus Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, Bertelsmann, Accel and SoftBank Vision Fund 2. (Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with Business Wire India and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR PWR BANGALORE, India, June 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Did you know, it takes about an hour to process a standard unit of alcohol, which is generally 10 grams?* As part of its ongoing commitment to promote responsible consumption, and drinking better, not more, Royal Challenge Packaged Drinking Water has launched its latest campaign, "Choose Bold. Choose Water", which emphasizes on the importance of staying hydrated when consuming alcohol. Through this campaign, the company aims to promote responsible drinking with a simple yet compelling narrative: Often, choosing water is the bold choice. Harking back to the Diageo motto of "Drink better, not more", Royal Challenge Packaged Drinking Water through this campaign and its social engagement is playing an active role in the prevention and reduction of harmful use of alcohol, while also driving awareness on mindful consumption and encouraging individuals to stay hydrated during social occasions. The latest campaign film shares the importance of timely water breaks during moments of alcohol consumption to take care of one's body. Talking about this campaign, Ruchira Jaitly, Vice-President, Marketing & Portfolio head, Diageo India said, "At Diageo, we believe in drinking better, not more. And a good way to do this is by ensuring hydration during drinking occasions. Royal Challenge Packaged Drinking Water wants to drive recognition for this life-changing message with the Choose Bold, Choose Water campaign. By focussing on hydration, we want to foster a culture where we celebrate life responsibly and ensuring the well-being of our consumers." As one of the prominent packaged drinking water brands, Royal Challenge aims to set a positive example for consumers and to shape behaviour by promoting responsible drinking by choosing hydration for moderation. You can view the video here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CtJVYICs7px/ *Source : https://www.drinkiq.com/quiz/en-in/ ABOUT DIAGEO INDIA Diageo India is one of the country's leading beverage alcohol company and a subsidiary of global leader Diageo Plc. The company manufactures, sells and distributes an outstanding portfolio of premium brands such as Johnnie Walker, Black Dog, Black & White, VAT 69, Antiquity, Signature, The Singleton, Royal Challenge, McDowell's No1, Smirnoff, Ketel One, Tanqueray, Captain Morgan and Godawan, an artisanal single malt whisky from India. Headquartered in Bengaluru, our wide footprint is supported by a committed team of over 3000 employees, 37 manufacturing facilities across states and union territories in India, a strong distribution network and a state-of-the-art Technical Centre. Incorporated in India as United Spirits Limited (USL), the company is listed on both the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in India. For more information about Diageo India, our people, our brands, and our performance, visit us at www.diageoindia.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, http://www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practices. AGENCY CREDENTIALS Agency: DDB Mudra South Creative Team Nitin Pradhan Creative Head, DDB Mudra Deepak Thammaiah Creative Director Navine Samuel Group Head, Design Account Management Sujay Ghosh EVP & Business Partner Namrata Bohre - Group Director Brand Communications Akanksha Mishra - Client Solutions Director Sriradha Mohanty - Client Solutions Partner Itisha Agarwal - Brand Solutions Executive Strategy Menaka Menon - National Strategy Head Ketan Rambhia Strategy Director Sanjana Chetan Strategist Production House Fat Free Films Director - Bibartan Ghosh Producer - Rathi Rajkumar Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105121/RCDiageoIndia.jpg (Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR PWR Chandigarh, Jun 20 (PTI) Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday dedicated 11 flyovers on the eight-lane National Highway from Delhi to Panipat. The project with a length of 24 km has been completed at a cost of about Rs 900 crore. Gadkari also announced giving Rs 300 crore under the 'Setu Bharatam Yojana' for the construction of ROB and RUB to make Haryana free of railway level crossings. Speaking at an event in Sonipat on the occasion, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar thanked Union Minister for giving the gift of road projects to the people of the State. According to an official statement, Gadkari said that his Ministry is working on 100 projects in Haryana which are expected to be completed by December 2024. Out of these, 51 projects of 2200 km worth Rs 47,000 crore have been completed whereas, 30 projects of 830 km worth Rs 35,000 crore are in progress, he said. He said that among 19 other projects of 756 km worth Rs 20,000 crores, a detailed project report of 14 projects is being prepared. Gadkari assured the Chief Minister that works on projects involving an investment of Rs 2 lakh crore would be carried out in Haryana by December 2024. These projects would change the image of Haryana and the roads of the State would be developed at par with America, he said. Nitin Gadkari said that the Central Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the last nine years, has done work two times than what Congress could not do in 60 years. The Central Government has provided various benefits to about 100 crore people of the country through 32 schemes. The Government is working for the welfare of every section of the society be it the poor, labourers and farmers, he said. The Union Minister also said that providing an e-rickshaw to about one crore rickshaw pullers in the country is one of the revolutionary steps of the present Government at the Centre. I am confident that under the leadership of Narendra Modi, we will be successful in creating a self-reliant India, a happy, prosperous, powerful India and providing employment to the youth of the country, said Gadkari. At another event in Karnal, Gadkari laid the foundation stone for the construction of the Rs 1,690 crore Karnal Greenfield 6-lane Ring Road project at a programme organised in the village Kutail of the district. Gadkari said that the foundation stone of the 35-kilometre-long Ring Road project to be built at a cost of about Rs 1700 crores has been laid. This road would be constructed from Shamgarh on NH-44 of Karnal upto Barota Road and would significantly help in reducing the congestion of Karnal city, he added. Gadkari said that Indian Oil has started an industry in Panipat to make one lakh tonnes of bio-ethanol and 150 tonnes of bio-bitumen from stubble. A lot of work is being done on roads in India. Ring road is being constructed in Delhi and after December, it will take only three hours to reach Jaipur, he said. Earlier, it used to take 4.5 hours to travel from Meerut to Delhi but now it takes only 45 minutes. Similarly, now it will take two hours to travel from Delhi to Dehradun and 1.5 hours from Delhi to Haridwar, he said. On the occasion, Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala was also present. New Delhi, Jun 20 (PTI) Air India on Tuesday signed agreements with Airbus and Boeing for acquiring 470 planes for an estimated USD 70 billion at list prices. The Tata Group-owned airline had announced that it will buy 470 aircraft, including wide-body planes, in February this year. The "firm orders include 34 A350-1000, 6 A350-900, 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 10 Boeing 777X widebody aircraft, as well as 140 Airbus A320neo, 70 Airbus A321neo and 190 Boeing 737MAX narrow-body aircraft," the airline said in a release. The purchase agreements were signed on the sidelines of the ongoing Paris Air Show. Air India said the agreements go "one step further in its USD 70 billion (based on list prices) fleet expansion program that it announced in February this year". The Airbus A350 will lead the deliveries of the new aircraft later this year, with the bulk of the order to arrive from mid-2025 onwards, it said. N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons and Air India, said the landmark step further positions Air India for long-term growth and success that, "we have every hope, will come together to represent the best of modern aviation to the world". Air India has already started taking delivery of 11 leased B777 and 25 A320 aircraft to accelerate its fleet and network expansion. Campbell Wilson, Air India CEO and MD, said its ambitious fleet renewal and expansion programme will see the airline operate the most advanced and fuel-efficient aircraft across its route network within five years. Satair, an Airbus company, and Boeing Global Services will support Air India with a broad range of solutions, including parts and maintenance provisioning, digital applications, and modification services. New Delhi, Jun 20 (PTI) India and the US are discussing ways to resolve six trade disputes bilaterally, without going through the mechanism of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), an official source said on Tuesday. These discussions assume significance as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a three-day visit to the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The source, who is aware of the discussions, said that there are six trade disputes for which talks are going on and positive outcomes are expected. As per the WTO norms, both countries can resolve the issues amicably and on mutually agreed terms and later inform the Geneva-based multilateral organisation about the same. The trade disputes between the two countries include the US complaint against certain export-subsidy measures by India. In 2019, A WTO dispute panel had ruled that India's export measures are inconsistent with global trade norms. Another dispute is related to the imposition of customs duties on certain steel and aluminium products by America. In 2018, India approached the Geneva-based WTO against these duties. In 2018, the US imposed 25 per cent and 10 per cent import duties on certain steel and aluminium products, respectively, on the grounds of national security. In retaliation to the imposition of duties by the US, India increased customs duty on a number of American products such as almonds, walnut, iron and steel items. According to trade experts, the prime minister's visit would give a major boost to the trade and economic ties between the two countries. The US is the largest trading partner of India. In 2022-23, the bilateral goods trade increased to USD 128.8 billion as against USD 119.5 billion in 2021-22. According to WTO rules, a member country can file a case in the Geneva-based multilateral body if they feel that a particular trade measure is against the norms of WTO. Bilateral consultation is the first step to resolving a dispute. If both sides are not able to resolve the matter through consultation, either of them can approach the establishment of a dispute settlement panel. The panel's ruling or report can be challenged at WTO's appellate body. Interestingly, the appellate body is not functioning because of differences among member countries to appoint its members. Several disputes are already pending with this body. The US has been blocking the appointment of the members. Tunisian President Kais Saied (R) meets with visiting French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin (L) and German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (C) at the Carthage Palace in Tunis, Tunisia, on June 19, 2023. (Tunisian Presidency/Handout via Xinhua) TUNIS, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian President Kais Saied Monday met with visiting French and German interior ministers, Gerald Darmanin and Nancy Faeser, to discuss bilateral cooperation and the issue of illegal immigration. According to a statement released by the presidency, the meeting focused on the strategic cooperation and partnership relations between Tunisia and the European Union in various fields. "The president and the ministers confirmed their keenness to strengthen and develop relations between Tunisia and the EU towards broader horizons in line with new visions and perceptions," read the statement. During the meeting, Saied said Tunisia would not be a guardian of Europe's borders in preventing the flow of illegal immigrants as the country will only guard its own borders. "Tunisia will not accept the settlement of immigrants on its soil," the president said, calling for a collective approach to eliminating the root causes of illegal immigration. Earlier on Monday, the French interior minister revealed at a press conference in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, that his country would offer 25.8 million euro (28.2 million U.S. dollars) to Tunisia to stop illegal immigrants from reaching European shores. This visit came a week after a previous one by a delegation of President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte to discuss relations between Tunisia and the EU and ways to combat illegal immigration. Located in the central Mediterranean, Tunisia is one of the most popular transit points for illegal immigration to Europe. Although Tunisian authorities have adopted rigorous measures to tackle the problem, the number of illegal immigrants from Tunisia to Italy has been on the rise. Tunisian President Kais Saied (R) shakes hands with visiting French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin (L) at the Carthage Palace in Tunis, Tunisia, on June 19, 2023. (Tunisian Presidency/Handout via Xinhua) Tunisian President Kais Saied (R) shakes hands with visiting German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser at the Carthage Palace in Tunis, Tunisia, on June 19, 2023. (Tunisian Presidency/Handout via Xinhua) Mumbai, Jun 20 (PTI) The Mumbai police will soon file a chargesheet in the alleged frame-up of actor Chrisann Pereira and the document will mention DJ Clayton Rodrigues who was also apparently targeted by accused Anthony Paul, an official said on Tuesday. Pereira (27) spent nearly a month in a Sharjah jail after a small quantity of a drug was found concealed in a memento given to her by the accused in an alleged set-up. DJ (disco jockey) Rodrigues (37) was arrested in Sharjah and a court there last month sentenced him to 25 years in jail. During our investigation, the probe team found that both Chrisann and Rodrigues were framed by the accused in drugs cases and we are going to put this fact before the court in the chargesheet, said a senior police official. The findings of the probe could help DJ Rodrigues, he said. After filing the chargesheet before the court in Mumbai, it can be translated into Arabic by Rodriguess family and they can send it to their lawyer for further legal process in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), he said. The family through their lawyer has appealed against the conviction, he said. Pereira, who acted in Mahesh Bhatt-directed Bollywood movie Sadak 2, was apprehended at the Sharjah airport on April 1 following the discovery of a drug in a memento that the accused had asked her to hand it over to someone in the UAE. After her arrest, Anthony Paul and another accused Ravi Bobhate allegedly demanded Rs 80 lakh from her mother. The actor was released after the Mumbai police sent the case-related documents to the authorities in UAE. Rodrigues was also the victim of Anthony Pauls plot, the official said. As they probed into the Pereira alleged frame-up case, the Mumbai police also investigated four similar matters, including that of Rodrigues, in which victims were sent to Sharjah by the accused persons. Rodriguess wife had met the crime branch officials and filed a complaint against the accused alleging that they framed the DJ. Police did not register a separate case in the DJs alleged frame-up as he was convicted, but will mention in the chargesheet how he was deceived like Pereira by the accused and was not aware that drugs had been planted in a cake that he was carrying to Sharjah, he said. Toronto, Jun 20 (PTI) Canadian police have found a body which they believe is of a 20-year-old Indian student from Gujarat who went missing last week, according to media reports. The body was found near the Assiniboine River and the Highway 110 bridge, just east of Brandon City in the Manitoba province on Sunday evening. Family members of Vishay Patel reported him missing to Brandon police Saturday morning, CBC News reported on Monday. Members of Patel's family who were searching the area found clothing near the Assiniboine River and Highway 110 bridge Sunday evening. Emergency service workers searched the area and found a deceased man, the report said. "A body has been found near the Assiniboine River and the team believes it to be of Vishay Patel, a student at the Assiniboine community college who was reported missing since Friday morning," a senior officer from the police team was quoted as saying by The Brandon Sun newspaper on Monday. Patel was caught on home video surveillance leaving his residence in a grey Honda Civic car, the report said, adding that the authorities have not confirmed the identity of the individual as yet. An eyewitness told police that they possibly saw Patel walking towards the Riverbank Discovery Centre grounds. By early Saturday afternoon, the authorities had told the public through social media that they should avoid the riverbank area due to an ongoing search and rescue operation. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said that authorities will be continuing the investigation, although there are no signs of foul play at this time. Talking to the newspaper on Monday, a family friend said that Patel had been attending Assiniboine Community College as an international student for the last couple of years. Berlin, Jun 20 (AP) Trade, climate change and the war in Ukraine are on the agenda on Tuesday as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz meets Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who is on his first foreign trip since taking office. The meeting in Berlin is the seventh time Germany and China have held high-level government consultations and comes a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, indicating an effort by Beijing to reach out to the West and improve frosty relations. Li, a former Communist Party secretary for Shanghai who took office in March as China's No. 2 official, met on Monday with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and had dinner with Scholz at the Chancellery before the start of formal talks. Germany is keen to maintain good ties with China, its biggest trading partner, despite wariness over Beijing's growing assertiveness and refusal to criticise the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Germany's recently published national security strategy describes China as a partner, competitor and systemic rival. Scholz has said he wants to avoid overreliance on Chinese trade and diversify Germany's supply of key goods an approach he called derisking while rejecting the idea of decoupling from China. The position was echoed last month by the Group of Seven leading industrial powers, most of which are heavily dependent on trade with China. Still, Germany has acknowledged that major global problems such as climate change can only be resolved together with China, and the official motto of Tuesday's meeting is Acting sustainably together. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wengbin said last week that the choice of Germany as Li's first stop fully reflects the high importance China attaches to China-Germany relations. He said China looked forward to sending positive signals to the world to strengthen dialogue and cooperation and joining to address challenges so as to promote the prosperity and development of the world economy. After visiting the European Union's biggest economy Li travels to France the second-biggest where he will attend the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, which is being held at French President Emmanuel Macron's initiative. (AP) PY PY Islamabad, Jun 20 (PTI) Key leaders of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) are holding meetings to sort out their disagreement over budget amid rumours of intensifying discord between the two major parties of the coalition government ahead of the general election, according to media reports. The attempt by the PML-N and PPP to sort out their differences made some headway but remained inconclusive on Monday, with both sides likely to sit together again on Tuesday, the Dawn newspaper reported. At Monday's meeting, the PML-N side was represented by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Economic Affairs Minister Ayaz Sadiq, while the PPP delegation consisted of Syed Khursheed Shah, Naveed Qamar and Sherry Rehman. Sources in both parties told Dawn that a meeting was held at the Prime Minister's House, but Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif did not take part. The report said the PPP delegation laid some of its reservations before the PML-N members and demanded that adequate funds be provided for flood victims of Sindh. They said Prime Minister Sharif had visited flood areas and promised to allocate the required funds for the flood-affected people of the province. However, no funds were earmarked in this regard in the budget 2023-24, they added. Sources said the government side had agreed to provide Rs 25 billion for flood victims, but the decision required the consent of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. The report also said the PPP demanded the holding of general elections at their scheduled time in November this year. The current National Assembly will complete its five-year term on August 12 and the fresh general election must be conducted within 60 days as laid down in the Constitution of Pakistan. The meeting later decided that the government side will apprise the prime minister of the outcome of the meeting, while the PPP team will relay their decision to Bhutto-Zardari. Meanwhile, the PPP chairman denied the impression that there was any political difference between his party and the PML-N, hoping that the politics of both parties would be carried forward according to the Charter of Democracy. "I dont see any disagreement with the PML-N in the future as well, Bilawal told media persons in Karachi. The rumours of differences between the two parties spread after Foreign Minister Bhutto-Zardari, the scion of the Bhutto dynasty, in a public gathering in Swat on Saturday accused the ruling coalition government of ignoring the provinces that bore the brunt of last years devastating floods in the proposed budget. Responding to Bilawal's remarks, PML-N senior leader Ahsan Iqbal stressed that the coalition partners should sort out all issues in cabinet meetings and not in public rallies. Earlier, Bilawal had said his party will abstain from endorsing the recently-announced budget in the National Assembly unless the commitments made to the party regarding areas affected by flooding are honoured. Differences among PPP and PML-N are intensifying, Ary News reported. The PML-N is giving preference to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) over the PPP due to which the working relationship between both parties remains no longer ideal', it said quoting sources. PPP alleged that PML-N is compensating JUI-F with the record development projects and the funds in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. PPP ministers and assistants are being neglected in KP, the sources claimed. It has further emerged that the reservations have been taken up with the PML-N and JUI-F by the PPP leadership several times but they remain unaddressed. The growing tension between the PML-N and PPP may prompt Asif Zardari, the PPP Co-chairman who is currently in the UAE, to intervene and return earlier than planned, Geo news said citing sources. While this attempt at rapprochement was underway, the National Assembly saw PPP lawmakers continuing their criticism of the PML-Ns budget. Beijing, Jun 20 (AP) The United States and China may be back to talking at a high level, but their battle for global power and influence remains unchecked and mutual suspicion still runs deep. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken set low goals for his visit to Beijing this week, and he met them. About the most the rivals can hope for these days is to stop things getting much worse. Blinken pointed to difficult days ahead, while China's foreign ministry warned the relationship was in a downward spiral. It was clear coming in that the relationship was at a point of instability, and both sides recognised the need to work to stabilise it, Blinken said of the reason for his trip. And specifically, we believe that it's important to establish better lines of communication, open channels of communication, both to address misperceptions, miscalculations and to ensure that that competition doesn't veer into conflict. The two-day visit to the Chinese capital helped restore top-level ties, but China rebuffed a US request to resume military-to-military contacts. Neither government appears convinced of the other's honesty. While the two countries say they're not enemies intent on harming each other, they're not pretending to be friends. After meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, Blinken acknowledged entrenched differences. We have no illusions about the challenges of managing this relationship. There are many issues on which we profoundly, even vehemently, disagree, he said. Xi sounded a similar note, but suggested that the rivalry could be overcome. The competition among major countries is not in line with the trend of the times and cannot solve the problems of the United States itself and the challenges facing the world, he told Blinken. China respects the interests of the United States and will not challenge or supplant the United States. Similarly, the United States should also respect China and not harm its legitimate rights and interests. Danny Russel, the top US diplomat for Asia during the Obama administration who is currently vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York, said these so-called negative assurances - that China respects the US and is not looking to displace the United States and that the US is not trying to contain or hinder China - are important to prevent a collapse in ties. Both sides clearly used the visit to help stabilise the relationship, which has been lurching toward dangerously intense confrontation, he said. And, although both the US and China mentioned specific disagreements, especially about Taiwan, Russel said that the public statements by the two sides were notably positive, particularly by recent standards. But Washington and Beijing remain deeply suspicious of each other's actions and intentions. From the US perspective, China's rise has challenged its global position. Washington is racing to repair and shore up its relationships in regions where China has made inroads, particularly Africa and the Indo-Pacific, where the US has opened or plans to open at least five new embassies this year. Behind the scenes, the US believes China has ulterior and perhaps nefarious motives. An internal US State Department document prepared earlier this year that focuses on China's role at the United Nations and other international organisations said Beijing believes that the People's Republic of China must dominate and shape international institutions, standards and values in order to advance both its domestic and global agenda. It views the established rules and norms in the UN system and other international organizations as privileging Westerns countries, supporting liberal democratic principles, and posing a threat to its monopoly on domestic political power and assertive global ambitions, said the document, which is marked SBU, which means sensitive but unclassified and was obtained by The Associated Press. The document accuses China of having undertaken a systematic campaign to subvert existing principles and standards, promote authoritarian ideology and policy (and) reprioritize economic development over human rights and democratic governance. In addition, it says China is working to undermine or reshape international law and standards, institutions, and values to legitimize its own development and governance models, including related to human rights (and) using its economic and political influence to compromise institutions' transparency, effectiveness, independence and alignment with foundational norms and values. From the Chinese perspective, the US is clinging to fading glory as the world's lone superpower, and seeking to sabotage China's development and growing international stature by sowing mistrust about Beijing's intentions. China's top diplomat Wang Yi demanded on Monday that the US stop hyping the China threat theory'" and urged the United States not to project on China the template that a strong country must seek hegemony. He also said China should not be judged in the vein of traditional Western powers, concluding that a change of perspective is the key on whether the US policy towards China can truly return to objectivity and rationality. The rivals are now trying to negotiate more visits: Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang agreed in principle to an invitation to visit Washington and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plans to visit China later this summer, while there are also discussions about a new meeting between Xi and President Joe Biden. But it's not clear if China and the US have found any issue of substance they can negotiate about. More talks could help with short-term easing of tensions, but it's unlikely to change the fact of a global rivalry.(AP) RUP RUP London, Jun 20 (PTI) Hamish Harding, a British businessman who collaborated with the Indian government to reintroduce eight wild cheetahs from Namibia to India, is among five people who went missing in the Atlantic Ocean aboard a tourist submersible on a mission to view the wreckage of the iconic ocean liner the Titanic. British-Pakistani billionaire businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman were also on the sub, the BBC reported on Tuesday. Contact with the small sub was lost about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive in the mid-Atlantic on Sunday. OceanGate Expeditions, a company offering eight-day missions to see the Titanic debris for USD 250,000 per person, confirmed that its submarine was lost at sea with crew members on board. The companys chief executive, Stockton Rush, previously described the craft as rock solid, is also believed to be on board. The company said in a statement that it is exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely. French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet is also thought to be on board, according to a Facebook post by Harding before the dive started. Harding also worked on a project to launch a regular business jet service to the Antarctic, working with a company called White Desert, and also collaborated with the Indian government on a project to reintroduce eight wild cheetahs from Namibia to India in September last year, under the auspices of the Explorers Club. He had arranged a customised Boeing 747-400 aircraft for the mission. Harding is known for his exploratory escapades across the globe. The trip to Titanic's wreckage was the latest in a string of adventures. He has visited the South Pole multiple times, flown into space in 2022 onboard Blue Origin's fifth human-crewed flight, and set three world records - including the longest time spent at full ocean depth during a dive to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. Over the weekend, Harding said on social media that a ship had set off from the city of St John's, in Newfoundland, Canada, for the destination of the Titanic wreck. From there, he and the crew were planning to start diving operations in the submersible down to the wreck at around 04:00 local time on Sunday morning. He wrote on Facebook that he was "proud to finally announce" that he would be aboard the mission to the wreck of the Titanic. Due to the "worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years," he said, "this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023". "A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow." Action Aviation said on Sunday that the sub had had a successful launch and Harding was "currently diving". Later, his stepson Brian Szasz said in a now-deleted post on Facebook: He "has gone missing on (the) submarine." Patrick Woodhead, the founder of British tour operator White Desert Antarctica, said Harding was an "incredible" aviation explorer and a great advocate for discovering new pathways to make the world a better place. Harding had travelled with them to Antarctica a number of times, he said, including with US astronaut Buzz Aldrin. On an inquiry about Harding, a spokesperson from the UK's Foreign Office said it was "in contact with the family of a British man following reports of a missing submarine off the coast of North America." In a statement released on Tuesday, the Dawood family in Pakistan said: "Our son Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, had embarked on a journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. "As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available," BBC quoted the statement as saying. The Dawood family, who live in Surbiton, southwest London, are in Canada for a month. Shahzada Dawood, from one of Pakistan's richest families, is a trustee of the Seti Institute, a research organisation in California, according to its website. It says he lives in the UK with his wife, Christine, and his children Suleman and Alina, and is in the Founder's Circle of the British Asian Trust. He is also vice chairman of Dawood Hercules Corporation, part of the Dawood Group, a conglomerate of various businesses owned by the family. In their statement, his parents said: "We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety." It went on to say the family was well looked after and were praying for the safe return of their family members. Military planes, a submarine and sonar buoys have so far been used in the search for the vessel. Washington, Jun 20 (PTI) Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar would be escorting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his historic joint address to the US Congress on June 22. The first-time Democratic Congressman, who represents the 13th Congressional District of Michigan, has also been invited by President Joe Biden for the White House State Dinner hosted in honour of Prime Minister Modi on the same day. It is the second time that Prime Minister Modi is addressing the joint session of the US Congress, a first for any Indian prime minister. The prime minister had earlier addressed the US Congress in 2016. "(Spouse) Shashi (Thanedar) and I are looking forward to the Prime Minister's visit to the United States; this is a historic event for the Prime Minister. I hope to stress upon the Prime Minister the need for stronger US-India ties," Thanedar, 68, said. Thanedar, a Democrat, said he and his wife are honoured to accept President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden's invitation to the State Dinner on June 22. This invitation serves as a testament to their commitment to public service and their dedication to fostering international cooperation, he said. The Congressman said he has been entrusted with the distinct pleasure of escorting the Indian Prime Minister to his joint address to Congress, as requested by United States Congressional leadership. This role holds special significance for Congressman Thanedar, who recognises the importance of the United States as a diverse nation built by immigrants, a land of opportunity, and a symbol of democracy. Reflecting on his personal journey, he said, "I grew up in poverty and only came to America with a dream, stated Congressman Thanedar. I was fortunate to achieve my American Dream; The United States is a country of immigrants, a land of opportunity, and this diversity makes our country strong." Moving forward, Thanedar reaffirmed his commitment to advocating for stronger ties between the United States and India. He will focus on crucial areas such as education, defence, space, technology, medicine, and other pressing issues that impact both nations. By nurturing the relationship between the world's strongest democracy and the largest democracy, Thanedar aims to address shared challenges and harness mutual opportunities for growth and progress. Washington, Jun 20 (PTI) A group of American lawmakers on Tuesday wrote to US President Joe Biden, asking him to raise directly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi "areas of concern" and discuss with him the full range of issues important to a successful, strong, and long-term relationship between the two countries. "As longtime supporters of a strong US-India relationship, we also believe that friends can and should discuss their differences in an honest and forthright way," read the letter signed by 75 lawmakers, including Indian-American lawmaker Pramila Jayapal. "That is why we respectfully request that - in addition to the many areas of shared interests between India and the US - you also raise directly with Prime Minister Modi areas of concern," the letter read. Describing India as an important member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad) and a crucial partner for stability in the Indo-Pacific, the letter said that the lawmakers support the deepening strategic partnership between the two countries. "You have once again made respect for human rights, press freedom, religious freedom, and pluralism core tenets of American foreign policy. Moreover, these tenets are necessary to the functioning of true democracy. In order to advance these values with credibility on the world stage, we must apply them equally to friend and foe alike, just as we work to apply these same principles here in the United States," it said. The letter mentioned reports about "the shrinking of political space, the rise of religious intolerance, the targeting of civil society organizations and journalists, and growing restrictions on press freedoms and internet access" in India and also referred to the State Department's 2022 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in India. "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, who gave his life in pursuit of building the beloved community here in the US, was an ardent student of the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, known in India as the 'Father of the Nation.' Both King and Gandhi had the vision of building a more perfect union among people from different backgrounds, races and faiths Gandhi in India, and King in the US. We share their vision. We join you in welcoming Prime Minister Modi to the US," they said. The lawmakers said they want a close and warm relationship between the people of the United States and the people of India and added that the friendship should be built not only on shared interests but also on shared values. "We do not endorse any particular Indian leader or political party that is the decision of the people of India but we do stand in support of the important principles that should be a core part of American foreign policy. And we ask that, during your meeting with Prime Minister Modi, you discuss the full range of issues important to a successful, strong, and long-term relationship between our two great countries," the letter added. Meanwhile, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urged President Biden to address issues of religious freedom and other related human rights in India during Prime Minister Modis state visit. "With Indias upcoming state visit, the Biden administration has a unique opportunity to explicitly incorporate religious freedom concerns into the two countries bilateral relationship, said USCIRF Commissioner David Curry. Washington, Jun 20 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi is able to build relationships with various stakeholders in the US and his visit sends a strong message that the bilateral relationship is pivotal and the most defining partnership of the 21st century, the leadership at a leading India-US advocacy group have said. Prime Minister Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. They will host Modi at a state dinner on June 22. The visit also includes an address to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. It is an honour to have Prime Minister Modi back in the United States. He has been a role model for many of us around the world with Digital India and how he brings those benefits to every citizen across the country, US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) Chairman John Chambers said in a statement. Modi is able to build relationships with various stakeholders in the United States and focuses on the win-win aspect. Prime Minister Modi has the ability to inspire hope and translate hope into vision and vision into results and those benefits are well evinced. I look forward to hearing Prime Minister Modi address a joint session of Congress, Chambers said. Modi's invitation to address a joint session of Congress makes him one of the few world leaders to have been offered the chance to address a joint session of Congress on two different occasions. Delighted and honoured that Modi is set to visit the United States, USISPF president Mukesh Aghi said this historic and important state visit sends a strong message that the US-India relationship is critical and pivotal and the most defining partnership of the 21st century. Modis state visit will reaffirm the strength of the strategic partnership and cement our relations in defence, energy, healthcare, technology, and education. This relationship is best epitomised by the concept that these are two democracies, sharing a common vision, Aghi said. Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to meet a prominent cross-section of personalities while he is in the US, both in New York and in Washington DC. This would include some prominent CEOs also, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said in New Delhi on Monday. Palghar, Jun 20 (PTI) An injured dolphin that was rescued after being stranded on a beach in Maharashtras Palghar district has died during treatment, forest officials said on Tuesday. The marine mammal was rescued from the Vadvan beach on Sunday and taken to a treatment facility at Dahanu, nearly 140 km from Mumbai. The male dolphin had a surface injury and was alive at the time of its rescue, said Madhumitha S, deputy conservator of forests from Dahanu. However, it died on Monday during treatment, she said. A post-mortem report indicated that the Dolphin died due to internal injuries, the official added. BANGKOK, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Election Commission (EC) on Monday officially announced results from last month's general election, paving the way for the parliament to convene and choose a new prime minister. The polling body has endorsed all 500 members in the House of Representatives, which includes 400 constituency seats and 100 party-list seats, EC secretary-general Sawaeng Boonmee told a news conference. According to the approved vote results from the May 14 election, a total of 18 political parties have won seats in the House of Representatives. The Move Forward Party secured the highest number of seats, with 151, followed by the Pheu Thai Party, which won 141 seats, Bhumjaithai with 71 seats, Palang Pracharath with 40 seats, and United Thai Nation with 36 seats. Despite endorsing the newly elected MPs, EC retains the right, as per the electoral law, to investigate any election fraud allegations within a year, Sawaeng said. Under the Thai constitution, the parliament must convene to vote for the House speaker within 15 days after the endorsement of the new MPs. In a joint sitting of the parliament, 500 MPs in the lower house, together with 250 senators in the upper house, will elect a new prime minister of Thailand. Aurangabad, Jun 20 (PTI) A 32-year-old `go-rakshak' (cow vigilante) was killed in an attack in Maharashtra's Nanded district after he and his friends sought to intercept a vehicle on suspicion that it was smuggling cattle, police said on Tuesday. Local Hindu right-wing organizations called for a Bandh over the incident but later withdrew the call. The incident took place near Shivni village in Kinwat tehsil around 11.30 pm on Monday, said superintendent of police Shrkrishna Kokate. Seven men from Shivni and Chikhli villages were returning from a program in neighbouring Telangana in a car when they saw a vehicle and suspected that it was transporting cattle illegally, he told PTI. When they tried to stop it, about 10-15 men from the vehicle allegedly attacked them with sticks and sharp weapons, the police official said. Shekhar Rapeli (32) died due to the injuries while four others who were with him were seriously injured and undergoing treatment at the Nanded government hospital, he said. A case of murder and rioting was registered at Islapur police station and police were looking for the suspects, the SP said. Some right-wing organizations in Nanded called for a Bandh on Wednesday over the incident but after police held a meeting with them, they agreed to give police time for probe and withdrew the call, he said. Kolkata, Jun 20 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the BJP and Governor C V Ananda Bose of using the "State Foundation Day" for political purposes and promoting a narrative favoured by the saffron camp. Banerjees comment comes a day after a strongly worded letter to Bose expressing her reservations to observing the state's foundation day. "I was born in this Bengal, just like others. We have spent our entire life in this state, but never heard about any 'State Foundation Day'. Nothing of this sort has ever been celebrated in our history, nor has any Act passed by the assembly," she told reporters at state secretariat Nabanna. Bose, who organised the state's 'Foundation Day' programme at the Raj Bhavan despite objections by Banerjee, said the state government's concern would be "treated with all seriousness." Banerjee said the BJP should be aware that other parties will not abide by the saffron camp's decision on when to celebrate the state's foundation day. "The BJP is mistaken if they believe that whatever they decide to celebrate, the other parties must agree. I have already written to the Governor regarding this. I believe one should not play politics with the chair of the Governor of Bengal. They are trying to push a narrative for political reasons," she said. Condemning the "new practice", the feisty TMC boss said this is being done solely to defame the state. "It is being done to defame the soil of Bengal and insult its people. What sort of 'Foundation Day' are you celebrating if the state's people do not know about it? It is not only us who are objecting to this celebration; even the Left Front and Congress are unaware of this so-called foundation day," she said. The TMC boss wondered why the BJP-led central government is sitting on the decision passed in the West Bengal assembly to rename the state when they are keen on observing its foundation day. Meanwhile, the BJP legislative party led by Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari took out a rally from the assembly to Red Road commemorating the state's foundation day. "What is wrong in observing the state's foundation day? Does the state government want us and future generations to forget history? The Trinamool government behaves as if West Bengal is not a state but an independent country," he said. In a letter to Bose on Monday, Banerjee had expressed "shock" at his "unilateral" decision to commemorate the state's foundation day. Banerjee pointed out that the pain and trauma of partition was such that people in the state have never commemorated any day as foundation day since India's independence. On June 20, 1947, two meetings of separate sets of legislators in the Bengal Assembly were held. One of those who wanted West Bengal as part of India voted in favour of the resolution by a majority. The others were legislators of areas which eventually became East Pakistan. For the district of Sylhet, which was part of Assam, it was decided to conduct a referendum. Nearly 2.5 million people were displaced from both sides, and properties worth crores of rupees were burnt down in post-partition rioting. The British Parliament passed the India Independence Act on July 15, 1947, without any clarity on the borders of the two states being torn apart - Bengal and Punjab. Kolkata, Jun 20 (PTI) West Bengal Foundation Day was celebrated in several states on Tuesday despite strong opposition by the home states Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, who termed it a political move by the saffron camp. While West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose organised the state's 'Foundation Day' programme at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata, his Bihar counterpart Rajendra Arlekar took part in a function in Patna where he said people of various states were like brothers and sisters as they had "the same mother - Bharat Mata". Arlekar paid rich tributes to the contributions of Bengal in the country's freedom struggle and social and cultural reforms, and recalled the famous saying "what Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow". He added, "in spite of the diversity, the whole of India was one and the spirit of unity must always be kept alive". Senior officials and eminent Bengali citizens living in Bihar were present on the occasion, which was marked by a function showcasing the rich culture of the eastern state. In Ranchi, Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan termed West Bengal as the cradle of art and tradition. He said while the contribution of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in the freedom struggle has been unique, the land has produced many great thinkers, writers, poets and revolutionaries. He said, "Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat" is a visionary initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the West Bengal Foundation Day was organised under this initiative at the Raj Bhavan. He said West Bengal has produced many writers of international repute including Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Mahasweta Devi, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Ashapurna Devi, among others. He said people of West Bengal celebrate their festivals with great devotion, passion and grandeur and the Bengali community is not only rooted in their traditions, but they are also known for their modern and progressive outlook. Meghalaya Governor Phagu Chauhan emphasized the historical significance of Bengal and its journey as a torchbearer of renaissance, socio-cultural awakening, and nationalistic development, despite enduring oppressive conditions during British rule. Addressing a gathering at the Raj Bhavan in Shillong, the Governor highlighted how West Bengal, despite enduring the painful consequences of religious divisions, emerged as an integral part of India. Arunachal Pradesh Governor Lt Gen K T Parnaik urged the state's people to celebrate the vibrant, bold and multicultural spirit of West Bengal, which has been the harbinger of modernisation in fine arts, textiles and traditional cuisines. Participating at the West Bengal Foundation Day function at the Raj Bhavan in Itanagar, the Governor greeted the people of the eastern state and conveyed the best wishes of the people of his state. Parnaik recalled the contribution of socio-cultural reformists such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Swami Vivekananda, cultural exponents - Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nurul Islam and Satyajit Ray and freedom fighters - Subhas Chandra Bose and Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. The Governor said there is much for the people to learn and imbibe from West Bengal, the cultural capital of India. Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria said the Bengal region stood against its purported assimilation into East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), during India's Independence. "Amidst the tumultuous era of India's independence, when our great nation faced the agonizing division, the steadfast region of Bengal stood against its purported assimilation into East Pakistan, now known as Bangladesh, he said in Guwahati. He said Bengalis have long been revered as stalwarts of literature, art, music and theatre, with a rich cultural heritage that dates back centuries. NAC NAM JOP TR MNB New Delhi, Jun 20 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday expressed hope that the Congress will clear its stand on the Centre's ordinance on the control of administrative services in the national capital at the June 23 meeting of non-BJP parties in Patna. The Friday meeting of opposition parties has been called by Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar to chalk out a joint strategy to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. At a press conference here, Kejriwal, who is also the AAP national convener, said he will speak to the other leaders in the meeting about how such an ordinance can be brought for even full-fledged states. He said he will "explain the dangers of this ordinance to each and every party present over there". "I will take the Constitution of India with me and explain how this ordinance makes a mockery of it. Just because this has only been promulgated in Delhi, which is often considered a "half-state", it does not mean that it cannot be promulgated in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Maharashtra. "By promulgating such ordinances, the Centre can end up dissolving all the matters that come within the concurrent list of the Constitution of India like education, electricity," he asserted. "I hope that the Congress will make its stand clear, as all the other political parties in that meeting will ask the Congress about its stand. The ordinance will be the first issue that will be discussed at the meeting," Kejriwal said. The Centre had on May 19 promulgated an ordinance to create an authority for the transfer and posting of Group-A officers in Delhi, with the AAP government calling the move a deception with the Supreme Court verdict on control of services. The ordinance came a week after the Supreme Court handed over the control of services in Delhi, excluding police, public order and land, to the elected government. It seeks to set up a National Capital Civil Service Authority for the transfer of and disciplinary proceedings against Group-A officers from the DANICS cadre. Transfer and postings of all officers of the Delhi government were under the executive control of the lieutenant governor before the May 11 verdict of the apex court. Following the ordinance, Kejriwal has been reaching out to leaders of non-BJP parties to garner their support against the ordinance so that the Centre's bid to replace it through a Bill is defeated when it is brought in Parliament. Panaji, Jun 20 (PTI) A group of G20 delegates, who have gathered in Goa for two crucial tourism track events, visited the historic Fort Aguada site and experienced a flavour of the Portuguese past of the coastal state. The visit took place Monday evening, and delegates from several member countries and guest nations of the influential bloc were given a guided tour of the part of the fort, which has been converted into a jail museum. The G20 delegates were treated to jazz music with a Konkani flavour and some of the traditional Goan food such as fish dangar quesadilla, choriz pao, local jackfruit tostada, and choicest desserts. The fort was built around 1612 to defend the Portuguese hold on Goa, and is situated on the Sinquerim hillock at the mouth of River Mandovi, opening to the Arabian Sea. It is among the unconquered forts in Goa and has two levels -- Upper Fort Aguada and Lower Fort Aguada. In Portuguese, 'Agua' means water and the fort gets its name from the huge freshwater tank in the upper area, according to a plaque installed at the site. The Lower Aguada Fort lies along the coastline and is fortified with 24 cannons placed along the fortification, transporting visitors to another era. "While India got Independence in 1947 from the British rule, Goa was liberated in 1961 from the Portuguese rule, during which the site was also used as a jail by the colonial rulers. From Goa's liberation to as recently in history as 2015, this site was used as Goa's Central Jail," an official said. Now, the site has been reused as a museum and a cultural and recreational space, and it was being showcased to the G20 delegates, she said. A plaque installed at the site reads that Fort Aguada Jail Museum was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 19, 2021 to mark 60 years of Goa Liberation Day. "A live jazz performance by a band was organised for the delegates inside one of its historic rooms, the walls of which were adorned with rare archival photographs of some of the great jazz musicians from Goa who achieved global fame later. We sourced these photographs from family members of the musicians," the official told PTI. Goa has rolled out a red carpet for the G20 delegates who have gathered in the coastal state to attend the fourth G20 Tourism Working Group Meeting and and the G20 Tourism Ministerial Meeting from June 19-22. On Monday, side events were held on cruise tourism to promote sustainability. The actual TWG meeting will begin on Tuesday where Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy will also be addressing the delegates. "A part of the interior of the Fort Aguada Museum has been given a feel of a forest, and even sitting tables had an abundant display of fruits and vegetables when the delegates sat for high tea. This is in line with sustainability and green tourism that G20 Tourism Working Group has been discussing over the past few months in its meetings," a senior official of the tourism ministry told PTI. Goa Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte and several senior officials of the ministry also visited the jail museum site. The site was decked up with vibrant G20 themed posters. "It is a beautiful fort and well preserved. We had a discussion on cruise tourism as a model to promote sustainable and responsible travel in the morning, and then visiting Fort Aguada was another experience in itself. Indus has so much to offer culturally through tourism," an Australian delegate told PTI during the visit to the fort. Delegates from Germany, Mauritius, Spain, and the US were delighted to visit the Portuguese-era fort and experience a rich layer of history of Goa. The opening event on Monday was held at Cidade de Goa, a classic hotel run by the Taj group. The structure was designed originally by famed architect Charles Correa with a Portuguese theme. The landscaping and nomenclature of rooms and restaurants of the hotel with Arabian Sea beach literally at its doorstep, virtually transports guests to the Portuguese era. After sightseeing, a sumptuous dinner was hosted for them at the Taj Holiday Village Resort, with many rooms built in style of Goan villas nestled amid lush greenery, on Monday night. Union Tourism Minister Reddy, Union Minister of State for Tourism S Y Naik, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Goa Tourism Minister Khaunte, and several top officials of the tourism ministry and the Goa government were present on the occasion. Reddy also tweeted pictures from the visit of G20 delegates to Fort Aguada site. New Delhi, Jun 20 (PTI) Two men -- a Thai national and an AISATS staffer -- have been arrested for allegedly smuggling gold into India valuing about Rs 58 lakh at the international airport here, a customs official said on Tuesday. AISATS, an airport services provider, is a 50-50 joint venture between Air India Limited (a part of the TATA group) and Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS). A case of smuggling was registered on June 12 against the Thailand national, who had arrived here from Dubai, he said. The accused passenger planned to go back to Bangkok on the same day, the officer said. During investigation, it emerged that he smuggled the gold in paste form by handing it over to an airline staff, who further acted clandestinely to take it outside the airport without declaring it to the customs and with the intention to evading payment of customs duty, according to a statement issued on Monday by the customs department. A total of 1.12 kg of gold, valued at Rs 57.65 lakh, has been obtained from the gold paste, it said. The gold was seized and both the accused were arrested, the statement said. A senior customs officer said the accused worker is employed with AISATS as its customer service junior assistant. The employee was allotted to "Vistara airline pool", he said. The official said the customs department has written to AISATS about the involvement of its staffer in the gold smuggling case. New Delhi, Jun 20 (PTI) Two members of 'Nandu gang' wanted in the murder of local BJP leader Surender Matiala were arrested from Mohali in Punjab, police said on Tuesday. The accused have been identified as Rohit Sharma (27) and Sanju Kadyan alias Sushant Rana (24), both residents of Jhajjar district in Haryana, they said. Sharma is the main henchman of the Nandu gang who had conducted a recce of the office of Matiala and also arranged shooters, motorcycles and weapons for the murder. He was in direct contact with Nandu through encrypted applications and was passing on instructions to the shooters present at the spot, police said. A pistol, four live cartridges, a stolen motorcycle and two mobile phones used in communicating with Nandu and other gang members were seized from their possession, they said. A senior police officer said the accused were also planning to eliminate their rival gangster Manjit Mahal, who is presently lodged in Tihar Jail. "On Friday, police got a tip-off and rushed to Mohali. Sharma was nabbed in the evening. Later, his associate Sanju was also apprehended," Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) H G S Dhaliwal said. Sharma has two brothers -- Mohit and Sohit -- and both of them have been arrested in Matiala's murder case, police said. Kadyan was tasked to provide hideouts to the shooters in Matiala's murder. Sharma was found involved in six criminal cases, they said. Earlier, six people, including two juveniles, were apprehended in connection with the killing of Delhi BJP Kisan Morcha leader Surendra Matiala in Dwarka's Bindapur area on April 14. New Delhi, Jun 20 (PTI) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday referred to the success of Delhi government school students in JEE Mains and Advanced to claim that it was proof of the stupendous success of the city's education revolution. According to data shared by him, 720 students of Delhi government schools cleared JEE Mains while 104 students qualified in JEE Advanced in 2023. "These figures are proof of the stupendous success of Delhi's education revolution. Children from government schools in Delhi have excelled in JEE Mains and Advanced exams. In the last three years, the number of children studying in government schools in Delhi has doubled," Kejriwal said in a tweet. "Delhi's excellent education model has now given wings to the dreams of children studying in government schools. Now the child of a poor family is also becoming a big engineer after studying at IIT. Many congratulations to all children, parents and team education of Delhi for this success," he added. A total of 1,80,372 candidates across India appeared in both papers of IIT-JEE Advanced of which 43,773 have qualified. JEE-Main, which is the admission test for engineering colleges across the country, is the qualifying exam for JEE-Advanced. Shimla, Jun 20 (PTI) Members of the Sirmaur taxi union held a protest outside the deputy commissioner's office here on Tuesday, accusing Rural Development Minister Anirudh Singh of bias over his comment against guides from the district working in Shimla. The taxi union members of Shimla and Sirmaur were involved in a scuffle last week over an ongoing dispute between the two bodies on fares. Five people were injured in it. In an attempt at pacifying the Shimla taxi union, Anirudh Singh on Monday said all those involved in the scuffle would be arrested and asked the taxi drivers to be patient. He, however, said guides from Sirmaur who approach tourist vehicles in Shimla town would be removed. The Sirmaur taxi union protested against the statement on Tuesday, saying Singh is a minister of the entire state and not just Shimla. Politics of bias towards a district will not be tolerated, they said. Lending support to the protest, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur issued a statement saying Anirudh Singh's statement was an attack on the federal structure and was aimed at breaking the state. He alleged that police were not even registering complaints of injured members of the Sirmaur taxi union. The law-and-order situation in the state has deteriorated in the past six months and the chief minister has no control over his ministers, Thakur added. Meanwhile, Shimla Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi told PTI that 10 people were arrested and 16 vehicles impounded following last week's scuffle and FIRs were registered based on complaints from both sides. A committee has been constituted to ensure that the situation does not go out of hand, he added. Trouble started when a driver of the Sirmaur taxi union showing hotel rooms to a tourist near Auckland Tunnel in Shimla town's Lakkar Bazaar area was allegedly thrashed by some people of the Shimla taxi union. The Shimla union members, however, claimed that it was the taxi driver of Sirmaur who used abusive language and started the fight. New Delhi, Jun 20 (PTI) The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will form committees in government veterinary hospitals that will work with "dog lovers" to resolve the problems of stray and abandoned animals in Delhi, Mayor Shelly Oberoi said on Tuesday. The MCD will also ensure that NGOs do not face any problems and steps will be taken to address issues linked to stray dog population like ensuring proper sterilisation and treatment. For a permanent solution to the issues related to the issue of street dogs in Delhi, Oberoi held a meeting with the officials of the Veterinary Department and NGOs at MCD Headquarters on Tuesday. Oberoi shared (in the meeting) that committees will be formed in government veterinary hospitals to solve the problems of these abandoned and stray animals in Delhi, the MCD said in a statement. These committees will work with the dog lovers of the area to solve the issues pertaining to the dog population. This will help in the treatment and sterilization of street dogs as well, it added. Oberoi suggested the involvement of dog lovers to help with the sterilisation campaign. She also stressed the need to increase public participation in the "ABC" (Animal Birth Control) programme. Dr. Shelly Oberoi stated that to solve the issue of street dogs, three elements - workers, participation and infrastructure - are necessary. "To solve the issues of street dogs in Delhi, MCD will ensure that NGOs do not face any problems. People's notion that street dogs are not treated properly while sterilising them will be changed in the process, the statement read. 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. COLOMBO, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Labor and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara announced on Tuesday the government plan to digitize the entire foreign employment service center in a bid to combat human trafficking. According to a statement from the President's Media Division (PMD), the move is expected to liberate the South Asian country's foreign employment service center from the clutches by traffickers. The minister said in the statement that this initiative will empower the Sri Lankan foreign employment bureau to thwart unnecessary interference and combat illegal activities effectively. The Ministry of Finance has set up a committee to oversee the implementation of this program, he said. Jaipur, Jun 20 (PTI) Union Minister of State for Animal Husbandry and Dairying Sanjeev Kumar Balyan on Tuesday indicated that the ministry may withdraw the draft Live-stock and Live-stock Products (Importation and Exportation) Bill, 2023 in view of the public sentiments. "There was some perception about this (draft Bill) in the country that the government wants to export livestock... so consideration is going on," he told reporters here. Balyan further said that public sentiments were paramount for the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The government's intention was to promote livestock products. Now that everyone's opinion has been received, the ministry is trying to consider public sentiment and the idea is that perhaps it may be withdrawn," the minister said. Balyan was replying to a question on an outcry over the draft Bill that was uploaded by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying of the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying on its website to seek suggestions and comments from stakeholders, importers, and exporters. He said that even after so many years of Independence, some laws made by the British are continuing and the Livestock Importation Act, 1898 is one of them. Balyan said the prime minister had instructed that all pre-Independence laws need to be changed. "Accordingly, we had prepared a draft proposal under which suggestions were sought from the general public," he said. New Delhi, Jun 20 (PTI) A metropolitan court Tuesday remanded two people, arrested for allegedly killing a student on the south campus of the Delhi University, in custody of the city police for five days for interrogation. Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Anamika allowed the application by the Investigating Officer (IO) seeking custodial interrogation of Rahul and his friend Haroon for five days. Nikhil Chauhan, a first-year BA (political science) student of the university's School of Open Learning, was stabbed to death by five people on Sunday outside Aryabhatta College for allegedly having objected to a woman friend being harassed a few days back. An altercation had reportedly ensued and, according to media reports, Chauhan was accosted and fatally stabbed on Sunday. The court, while sending the two accused to police custody, said the offences they were accused of having committed were "serious", and the other the co-accused were yet to be arrested. In its remand application, Delhi Police had sought the court's permission to quiz the arrested accused in custody to take forward the investigation and to recover the weapon used to kill Chauhan, an aspiring model who was very active on social media. Acting swiftly, the city police had arrested the two on Monday. Sikar, Jun 20 (PTI) An MBBS student was found dead behind a hostel in Sikar district of Rajasthan on Tuesday, police said. Hanimesh Khant (20), a resident of Banswara district, was a first-year student of the Shri Kalyan Medical College, they said. Police said the matter was being probed from all angles, including ragging and murder. The body was shifted to the mortuary of the district hospital and police have questioned some students who live in the hostel, an official said. "Investigation is underway. Possibility of ragging and murder cannot be ruled out," he said. Jammu, Jun 20 (PTI) A man allegedly jumped into a river and drowned following an argument over a land parcel in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district, police said on Tuesday. Five persons have been arrested for abetment to suicide, they said. Shabir Ahmed Chopan allegedly had an argument with locals over a land in the Bismina village of the Warwan Valley and jumped into the river near Margi on Sunday, the police said. Chopan hailed from Larnoo village in Anantnag district. Acting on the information, a police rescue team rushed to the spot to recover the body. A case has been registered against 16 people at Warwan police station under Section 306/34 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code, the police said. Five accused have been arrested in this connection, they said. The Senior Superintendent of Police (Kishtwar) has ordered a special investigation, to be headed by the Subdivisional Police Officer (Marwah). According to preliminary information, Chopan had a dispute over land with villagers of Bismina and the matter is sub-judice, the police said. Nagpur, Jun 20 (PTI) A 52-year-old man was knocked down and killed by a speeding motorcycle in Maharashtra's Nagpur city, police said on Tuesday. The incident took place in MIDC area around 5.30 am on Monday, when the victim Laxman Kisanrao Dhage was out on a morning walk, an official said. The two-wheeler knocked the man down and sped away, he said. The victim was rushed to the Government Medical College and Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries, the official said. A case under sections 279 (rash driving or riding), 304(A) (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant provisions the Motor Vehicle Act against the accused motorcyclist, he added. Two Israeli soldiers were injured in a car-ramming attack in northern Shomron on Monday evening. The attack occurred near the Arab village of Nazlet Zeid, where IDF troops were manning a checkpoint. The IDF reported that a Palestinian-owned car, which appeared suspicious, accelerated toward the soldiers. In response, the soldiers fired live ammunition, the IDF said, noting that the suspects were struck. Rescuers Without Borders, an emergency service, confirmed that one of the soldiers received treatment for a sprained leg at the scene. The second soldier, a 38-year-old, was transported by the Magen David Adom ambulance service to Hillel Yaffe Hospital in Hadera for treatment of a shrapnel wound. The MDA reported that the soldiers condition was listed as good. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, two men from the car, who were shot at by Israeli troops, were taken to a hospital in Jenin. One of them was listed in critical condition. The incident took place hours after a heavy gun battle occurred between Israeli troops and Palestinian terrorists in Jenin that also saw IDF helicopters bombing the town. Eight IDF soldiers were wounded during the clashes, including in an incident involving a roadside bomb detonated near an army vehicle. Five Palestinians lost their lives, and nearly 100 were injured in the confrontations. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) A Jewish middle school teacher in Massachusetts has chosen to resign after enduring antisemitic harassment from a 12-year-old student, including Nazi jokes and a disturbing drawing of Adolf Hitler. Morrison Robblee, 25, who taught social studies at Nessacus Regional Middle School in Dalton, shared his experience with the Berkshire Eagle, stating that the student began making offensive comments after learning about his Jewish identity in February. The incident escalated when the student directed slurs at Robblee during a class interruption, prompting the teacher to remove him from the classroom. In an attempt to address the issue, school officials organized a restorative circle involving the student, Robblee, and an administrator to reflect on the incident. However, the meeting proved ineffective as the student remained silent, hinting at the ongoing problem. In April, the situation worsened when Robblee wore a yarmulke to class. This prompted the student to make hateful remarks, according to Insider. A few days later, the student handed Robblee a sketch depicting Hitler standing over a deceased person labeled Jew, accompanied by swastikas and canisters labeled gas. Insider said it has viewed the disturbing drawing, which included the words Sorry Jew in what the student called an apology letter. Despite the students subsequent suspension and removal from Robblees class, the harassment continued in the hallways, with the student making inappropriate jokes about the Holocaust, including references to gas chambers. Additionally, the student sent insulting emails regarding Robblees teaching. The boy, whose name remains undisclosed due to his age, is facing a misdemeanor charge of criminal harassment. In May, Robblee filed a complaint with his union, citing an unsafe work environment, and sent a letter to the Central Berkshire Regional School District expressing concern that the students exposure to hate might lead to further radicalization and violence. The district responded by placing Robblee on administrative leave based on the students allegations that the teacher made a face at him in the hallway. Robblee admitted to sticking his tongue out at the student in a moment of frustration after the student swore at him. The teacher denied speaking about the student in front of other children, an allegation made against him. Feeling that his concerns were not being taken seriously by administrators, Robblee made the decision to resign. The districts Superintendent, Leslie Blake-Davis, declined to comment on the incidents, citing confidentiality. Blake-Davis also revealed plans to introduce the No Place For Hate Club, a student-led initiative at Wahconah Regional High School, to the middle school. The district aims to involve student voice and leadership in addressing these issues effectively. The Dalton Police Department has filed charges against the student in Pittsfield Juvenile Court, and a show-cause hearing will determine the next steps in the case. The Berkshire District Attorneys Office said it is collaborating with the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish Federation of the Berkshires to develop strategies that prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) Rescuers in a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean raced against time early Tuesday to find a missing submersible carrying five people on a mission to document the wreckage of the Titanic. The carbon-fiber submersible named the Titan, part of a mission by OceanGate Expeditions, carried a pilot, a renowned British adventurer, two members of an iconic Pakistani business family and a Titanic expert. Authorities reported the vessel overdue Sunday night about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. Johns, Newfoundland, according to Canadas Joint Rescue Coordination Center. Every passing minute, however, puts the Titans crew at greater risk. The submersible had a 96-hour oxygen supply when it put to sea at roughly 6 a.m. Sunday, according to David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate. It is a remote area and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area, said Rear Adm. John Mauger, a commander for the U.S. Coast Guard, which also is searching for the Titan. Mauger told NBCs Today show on Tuesday that his crews were working to prioritize underwater search efforts and get equipment there that can be helpful to the search. Were working very, very hard to make sure that we bring all assets to bring leading technical experts to understand what capability is available, what capability we can get to the team, he said. The Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, which was supporting the Titan, reportedly lost contact with the vessel about an hour and 45 minutes after it submerged. The Polar Prince was to continue to do surface searches throughout the night and a Canadian Boeing P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft will resume their surface and subsurface search in the morning, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Twitter. Two U.S. Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft also have conducted overflights. The Canadian military also dropped sonar buoys to listen for any possible sounds from the Titan. Ship-tracking satellite data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed by The Associated Press showed the Polar Prince some 430 miles (690 kilometers) southeast of St. Johns on Tuesday morning. The Bahamas-flagged cable layer Deep Energy was nearby as well, likely assisting in the surface search. In an earlier email to the AP, Concannon said he was supposed to be on the dive but could not go. He said officials were working to get a remotely operated vehicle that can reach a depth of 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) to the site as soon as possible. OceanGates expeditions to the Titanic wreck site include archaeologists and marine biologists. The company also brings people who pay to come along, known as mission specialists. They take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible. The Coast Guard said Monday that there was one pilot and four mission specialists aboard. However, OceanGates website suggests that the fifth person aboard may be a so-called content expert who guides the paying customers. OceanGate said its focus was on those aboard and their families. We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible, it said in a statement. Authorities have yet to formally identify those on board, though some names have been confirmed. British businessman Hamish Harding, who lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, was one of the mission specialists, according to Action Aviation, a company for which Harding serves as chairman. The companys managing director, Mark Butler, told the AP that the crew set out on Friday. There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission, there is equipment on board for survival in this event, Butler said. Were all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound. Harding is a billionaire adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. In March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origins New Shepard rocket. Harding was looking forward to conducting research at the Titanic site, said Richard Garriott de Cayeux, the president of The Explorers Club, a group to which Harding belonged. We all join in the fervent hope that the submersible is located as quickly as possible, he said in a statement. Also on board were Pakistani nationals Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, according to a family statement sent to the AP. The Dawoods belong to one of Pakistans most prominent families. Their eponymous firm invests across the country in agriculture, industries and the health sector. We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time, the statement said. The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members. Shahzada Dawood also is on the board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute that searches for extraterrestrial intelligence. French explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet also was on board, according to David Gallo, a senior adviser for strategic initiatives and special projects at RMS Titanic. Gallo identified Nargeolet, a friend who has led multiple expeditions to the Titanic, on Tuesday during an interview with CNN. The expedition was OceanGates third annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew. Since the wreckages discovery in 1985, it has been slowly succumbing to metal-eating bacteria. Some have predicted the ship could vanish in a matter of decades as holes yawn in the hull and sections disintegrate. The initial group of tourists in 2021 paid $100,000 to $150,000 apiece to go on the trip. OceanGates website had described the mission support fee for the 2023 expedition as $250,000 a person. Unlike submarines that leave and return to port under their own power, submersibles require a ship to launch and recover them. OceanGate hired the Polar Prince to ferry dozens of people and the submersible craft to the North Atlantic wreck site. The submersible would make multiple dives in one expedition. The expedition was scheduled to depart from St. Johns, Newfoundland, in early May and finish up at the end of June, according to documents filed by the company in April with a U.S. District Court in Virginia that oversees Titanic matters. CBS journalist David Pogue, who went on the trip last year, noted his vessel got turned around looking for the Titanic. Theres no GPS underwater, so the surface ship is supposed to guide the sub to the shipwreck by sending text messages, Pogue said in a segment aired on CBS Sunday Morning. But on this dive, communications somehow broke down. The sub never found the wreck. The submersible, named Titan, is capable of diving 2.4 miles (4 kilometers) with a comfortable safety margin, OceanGate said in its court filing. It weighs 20,000 pounds (9,072 kilograms) in the air, but is ballasted to be neutrally buoyant once it reaches the seafloor, the company said. In a May 2021 court filing, OceanGate said the Titan had an unparalleled safety feature that assesses the integrity of the hull throughout every dive. During its expedition in 2022, OceanGate reported that the submersible had a battery issue on its first dive, and had to be manually attached to its lifting platform, according to a November court filing. More missions, however, followed. OceanGate has described the submersible as a state-of-the-art vessel that is lighter, more spacious and more comfortable than any other deep-diving submersible exploring the ocean today. But the custom-built, titanium-domed Titan represented a risk. Pogue and another passenger, a writer and producer for the cartoon series The Simpsons named Mike Reiss, noted how the liability waiver for the trip included stark safety warnings. Pogue in his CBS piece also highlighted how much of the improvised submersible, about the size of a minivan, operated with a single button, a video game-style controller, a makeshift toilet and material from an RV retailer. Experts said Monday that rescuers face steep challenges. Alistair Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London, said submersibles typically have a drop weight, which is a mass they can release in the case of an emergency to bring them up to the surface using buoyancy. If there was a power failure and/or communication failure, this might have happened, and the submersible would then be bobbing about on the surface waiting to be found, Greig said. Another scenario is a leak in the pressure hull, in which case the prognosis is not good, he said. If it has gone down to the seabed and cant get back up under its own power, options are very limited, Greig said. While the submersible might still be intact, if it is beyond the continental shelf, there are very few vessels that can get that deep, and certainly not divers. Even if they could go that deep, he doubts they could attach to the hatch of OceanGates submersible. (AP) HANOI, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam earned more than 500 million U.S. dollars from durian exports in the first five months of the year, equivalent to a jump of 18 times from a year ago, Vietnam News Agency reported on Tuesday. The country exported more than 65,000 tons of durian during the January-May period, up 41 percent from the total of 2022, with China buying 97 percent of the shipment, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Vietnamese durian entered its harvest season in May, thus the export value of the fruit hit a record high of 332 million dollars, more than 10 times higher than in April. China's appetite for tropical fruit is enormous. Last year, the country imported 825,000 tons of durian, according to Chinese customs data. The Southeast Asian country currently has 293 farming areas and 115 durian packing facilities granted with official quotas to export to China. China remained the biggest market for Vietnamese fruit and vegetables in the January-May period with 805 million dollars worth of shipments, accounting for 59 percent of Vietnam's total export turnover, higher than 53 percent in the same period last year, according to the Vietnam Fruit & Vegetable Association. Vietnam's fruit and vegetables would likely rise by about 20 percent to 4 billion dollars this year as the country is expected to see exports to China widening to 2.5 billion dollars, said general secretary Dang Phuc Nguyen from the Vietnam Fruit & Vegetable Association. The country's durian exports are forecast to reach 1 billion dollars in 2023. The head of the Revolutionary Guards intelligence services, General Mohammad Kazemi, claimed that the secret services of about 20 countries were involved in supporting the nationwide protests in Iran that began with the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in 2022. Investigations carried out by the intelligence services of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) indicate that around 20 countries were involved in the riots, he said in a media interview, his first since his appointment to the top position in July 2022. Kazemi named 18 countries that supported the protests: the US, the UK, UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Canada, Belgium, Austria, Albania, Australia, Iceland, Italy, Kosovo, Norway, Bahrain, New Zealand and Israel. Kazemi also claimed that Israeli and Emirati intelligence services held periodic meetings in an Arab country to back the troubles in Iran, without elaborating, AFP reported. Iran recently resumed diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia after a seven-year hiatus. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) The second Eli terrorist who fled the scene of the attack was killed by IDF special forces in the town of Tubas on Tuesday evening. The Hamas terror group stated that both terrorists are members of the group. Three of the four victims of the terror attack near Eli have been identified. The victims are Harel Massoud, Hyd, a 21-year-old resident of Yad Binyanim, Elisha Anteman, hyd, a 17-year-old resident of Eli and a 12th-grade student of Bnei Akiva Eli, and Ofer Fierman, hyd, a 64-year-old resident of Eli. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a video statement after the attack, saying that all options are open. We will continue to fight terror with all our power and we will defeat it. Numerous reports say that senior security officials believe that a limited operation in northern Shomron is inevitable. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) Following the operation in Jenin on Monday, which left eight soldiers wounded, many military analysts commented that Jenin has turned into Lebanon and a major operation must be launched in northern Shomron. The calls grew stronger after the deadly terror attack in Eli on Tuesday, during which four Israelis were murdered and four were injured. Apart from the constant shooting attacks, Israeli security officials are very concerned about the gradual increase in northern Shomron of explosives terrorism the production of IEDS which are used against IDF forces during operations in Yehudah and Shomron. Kan News reported on Monday evening that security forces believe that the terrorism in Jenin has become increasingly sophisticated at the behest of Iran, which provides terror groups with both funds and know-how. It is believed that Iranian operatives instructed the terrorists in carrying out the incident in Jenin, which left seven IDF soldiers injured, including using a wired charge, placing it in a strategic location, and activating it when the convoy of rescue forces arrived. According to Israeli security officials, the terrorists plant the explosives on the side of the road, and in some cases, under the road, which the IDF vehicles will use to exit the area, and activate them by remote control. Kan News reported that the IDF has begun fortifying the bottoms of jeeps used by elite special forces who operate in Jenin and Shechem. Security officials believe that the goal of terrorist elements acting under Iranian direction is to turn the northern Shomron into Gaza and Lebanon to deter Israel from operating in the region. Therefore, security officials believe that at least a limited operation in Jenin and Shechem is inevitable. Following the botched operation in Jenin, journalist Caroline Glick stated: Roadside bombs in Jenin? Two months after the side bomb that Hezbollah sent a terrorist to place at the Megiddo junction, we have the event in Jenin, which means that northern Shomron is turning into Lebanon 2. Either something will be done immediately, or a disaster will happen here. Likud MK Danny Danon said: Northern Shomron is becoming similar to southern Lebanon in the scope and quality of the attacks against Jewish residents and the security forces. This is the time to give the green light to the IDF forces to act and clean out the nests of terrorism. Many reports indicate that the IDF is very close to launching a broad military operation in northern Shomron. Following the operation in Jenin and the attack in Eli, both IDF Chief of Staff Yoav Gallant and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the same thing: All options are on the table. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) There were eight Israelis wounded in a shooting attack on Highway 60 at a gas station near the yishuv of Eli on Tuesday afternoon. The deaths of four victims, Hyd, were pronounced shortly later. The four remaining victims, one in serious condition, two in moderate condition, and one in light condition, were evacuated in ICU mobile units to hospitals in Jerusalem and Petach Tikvah. The shooting attack was carried out in several areas near the yishuv of Eli in Binyamin. According to a preliminary investigation, terrorists arrived by car near Eli and one terrorist opened fire at the security guard and moderately injured him. The terrorist then continued to the Chummus Eliyahu restaurant at a nearby gas station and opened fire on the diners and then proceeded to the gas station, where he shot additional people. An armed Israeli civilian opened fire and eliminated the terrorist. However, security forces believe that one or more terrorists are on the loose. IDF forces launched a manhunt and are being aided by IDF helicopters. A terrorist infiltration warning was issued to the residents of Eli, who have been ordered to stay inside and lock their doors and windows. Do not leave the building until you receive notification of the end of the incident. Movement in the area is prohibited and entry is prohibited until further notice, the Home Front Command stated. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) A heinous terror attack was carried out on Tuesday near the city of Eli in the Binyamin region, when a pair of terrorists opened fire at a gas station before shooting at diners at a nearby restaurant. Both terrorists were eventually eliminated one by a civilian and the second by the IDF but tragically, four Jews had already been killed, and another four were injured. Authorities have identified the niftarim as: Elisha Antman HYD, 18 A resident of Neveh, Elisha was a student in the Bnei Akiva yeshiva in the town of Eli. He worked at Chummus Eliyahu, the restaurant at which the terrorists opened fire. His kevurah took place Tuesday night in his hometown. Harel Masoud HYD, 21 Harel was a longtime resident of the Nachal Shurk community in Yad Binyamin, and more recently resided in Givat Ohavia. His community in Yad Binyamin said there are no words to express our shock and pain. His kevurah took place in the town of Yitzun. Ofer Fairman HYD, 60 Ofer was a resident of Eli, where he resided in the Naot Ilan neighborhood. His levaya and kevurah will take place on Wednesday morning. Nachman Shmuel Mordoff HYD, 17 The youngest of the victims, Nachman Shmuel lived in the town of Achya in the Binyamin region. Details of his levaya have not yet been announced. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) A single friend of mine is having a recurring problem when dating. When John is out on a date, everything goes well to begin with. He impresses his potential love interests with tales of a diplomatic career thats taken him all around the world, his numerous interests and great singing voice. Its all looking good until he is inevitably asked where he lives. John, who is 35, currently lives at home with his parents. It is fair to say his dates are not impressed. You do know having your own place is a fundamental mark of success? hes invariably told, in not so many words. It shows youre independent. But why? John asks back. John is the epitome of independent. He lived abroad for more than a decade, and has supported himself financially ever since he went out and got a job straight from university. Sharing the costs: In the UK, taboo still remains around adults living in the family home. But it is often an enjoyable way to live with real benefits for all family members But he also likes his family and especially after years away enjoys living with his parents and sharing the household costs. If youre looking for someone independent, thats me, John explains. But I am also someone who is loyal, values family and being able to spend time with people I care about. In the UK, a taboo still remains around adults living in the family home. But why? Why is there such hesitancy to admit that it is often an enjoyable way to live with real benefits for all family members? Im sure some parents look forward to an empty nest, but many are happy to continue living as a family unit. Take, for example, reader Sandra Dew from Leominster, Herefordshire, 65, who told me this week that her youngest daughter and partner and her grandson moved in with her three years ago and it suits all of them well. We split the bills, I help out with childcare and they look after my dogs when I go on holiday, says Sandra. The rising cost of living means that, had they not moved in and shared the bills, Sandra would have struggled to keep the heating on and pay for groceries. My great grandmother lived with her daughter and son-in-law after losing her husband in World War I until her death in 1974, she adds. If you get on, I think the idea of living with grandparents is the way forward. Sure, not all families get on as well as Johns and Sandras but why should they be made to feel embarrassed when they do? And why is it so much more socially acceptable for family members to live together when one or more needs looking after than when they are in good health? Globally, adults living with their parents is often the norm. In countries such as Malta, Croatia, Italy and Greece, young adults dont tend to leave home until they hit their 30s. In China and India its more taboo to have other people looking after your elderly parents than forming multi-generational households. And in the UK, it is increasingly common for adults to live with their parents. Close to five million do an increase of 15 per cent in a decade. Young adults who live at home are often on a faster track to home ownership than those renting by themselves or with friends. After all, they are likely to be in a better position to save for a deposit if they dont pay private rental costs. Of course, it is not always out of choice. It is sad when people cannot live where and with whom they choose because of financial pressures. But when that happens, its not because theyve failed its because weve failed them. Weve created an economy where tenants in the UK have to fork out 28 per cent of their pre-tax pay on rent on average, according to figures released by property portal Zoopla yesterday. And weve ended up in a situation where the number of first-time buyers in the UK dropped by 11 per cent last year as the average deposit required soared to 62,500, according to data from Halifax. Growing numbers of households could be forced to move in with other family members and share costs as mortgage payments continue to rise. Its time to rethink how we judge people who live with family whether theyve chosen to or have no other option. John looks forward to finding someone who appreciates the fact he lives at home and his mum looks forward to meeting them. Let me know your experience Id love to hear your stories. r.rickardstraus@dailymail.co.uk I set up a standing order of 550 a month to pay off my buy-to-let mortgage with Barclays. Twelve monthly payments were sent to Barclays Bank, using the correct sort code and account number. On receiving our annual statement in January, I was shocked to see that no payments had been credited. I discovered that I had given the wrong mortgage reference number when setting up the standing order and, as a result, my money had been credited to another customers account. I have spoken to Barclays on four occasions to sort this out, each time waiting over an hour to get through, and it still has not been resolved. Please help. N. P., London. Wrong reference: A reader sent a year's worth of mortgage payments - totalling - 6,000 - to the wrong account Sally Hamilton replies: I asked Barclays to investigate what had gone wrong and to retrieve your missing 6,600 pronto. It seems that you made the mortgage payments into a general account at Barclays, which many mortgage customers make payments into. Payments are then redirected to the correct customers mortgage account, based on the loan reference numbers they give. In your case, you had made a small slip with the reference number when setting up your standing order. As bad luck would have it, the number matched another borrowers mortgage account. Had the reference number you gave not matched that of any customers, the payments would have been rejected and landed back in your account, allowing you to rectify the reference error. I wonder why the accidental recipient of your funds didnt query these monthly windfalls. Perhaps they believed the mortgage fairy had visited. Or maybe, like you, they simply didnt notice. However, on my intervention, Barclays upped its efforts and soon put things right, crediting your 6,600 to your loan. A Barclays spokesman says: We have every sympathy with our customer who mistakenly made mortgage payments to an incorrect account. The funds were recovered and applied to the correct account. He adds: We encourage customers to always double check that they have the correct details before arranging standing orders. Ill second that. Insurance refund went to cancelled card I am trying to recover 459 owed to me as a refund from a motor insurance policy. My 72-year-old husband has terminal cancer and has months to live. To reduce my outgoings, I decided to downsize to a cheaper car and so cancelled the insurance on our old vehicle on February 17. The insurer sent a refund to the credit card I used to buy the cover, which was our John Lewis Partnership card. However, this card was cancelled when John Lewis changed its card provider from HSBC to a new firm. I have contacted HSBC numerous times over the past few weeks but it says the refund cant be retrieved. Please can you help us get this money back? S. W., Epsom, Surrey Sally Hamilton replies: John Lewis faced an avalanche of complaints from disgruntled customers when it changed the provider of its John Lewis Partnership branded credit card from HSBC to New Day last year. The gripes centred on a range of issues from long-standing customers being rejected by the new card issuer to having their spending limits cut. Anyone who stopped using the card, whether by force or choice, could have ended up in a situation like yours if a refund was due to them and was sent after their account had been closed. This is a fairly common occurrence for cardholders who have cancelled a credit card, and the process for returning the money should be routine. The usual arrangement is for the money owed to go into a holding account with the original provider. The issuer should then arrange directly with the customer what to do with the payment, which might be to refund it to the new card if it is simply a replacement with the same issuer or, if not, usually a cheque is sent out to the customer. Something went wrong in your case, and HSBC was taking an inordinately long time to organise your refund. You and your husband have enough on your plate to worry about without having to chase up money that is rightfully yours. I approached John Lewis for help, which in turn contacted its old HSBC pals to escalate your case urgently. I am pleased to say this did the trick and your 459 was swiftly returned. You were also sent a bunch of flowers as an apology. An HSBC spokesman says: We work hard to ensure that any refunds issued to customers closed accounts are processed in a timely manner. We apologise for the delay in getting this matter resolved. I wish you and your husband all the best at this difficult time. Straight to the point I asked Three to move my phone contract to pay as you go on April 25 but it says the transfer is stuck. I have contacted Three but nothing has been done. Im 77 and worry I will miss a message from my doctor or bank. D.A., via email. Three says the delay was due to a technical issue with your new number, which has now been resolved. It has offered you a 200 gesture of goodwill, which you have accepted. *** I booked a one-night stay at the Sofitel Hotel, Gatwick Airport for July 2020 through Holiday Extras Ltd. Our stay was cancelled due to the pandemic and we were given a voucher for 149.99. As we are not in good health and are unlikely to travel abroad in the future, I asked for a refund but havent had a response. R.N., Essex. Holiday Extras has apologised for the delay and you have since received a full refund. *** In April I paid 254 for a desk and chair from IKEA, which would be delivered to my home the following week. When the order arrived the desk was missing. I have contacted IKEA multiple times but cannot get the issue resolved. M.C., via email. Ikea apologises for the issue and has offered you a full refund and 75 voucher as a gesture of goodwill. *** I sent a parcel of baby clothes to my son in the U.S. on March 13 via Parcel Force. The clothes were worth 129 and the postage cost 54. It has still not arrived. Please help. K. H., via email. When you contacted Parcel Force you were told the service used provides an estimated delivery speed and does not guarantee delivery. Your son has since received the package, 77 days after you posted it. *** In April I returned an item of clothing to Zara in Brighton. I should have been refunded 19.95 but instead my card was charged 37.05. I contacted customer services but I still havent had my money back. S. C., via email. Zara apologises for the delay in refunding you, which it says falls below its usual standards. You should receive your refund within four working days. *** In December I received an email from Virgin Money saying that because I spent more than 20,000 on its Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card in a year I am entitled to a reward voucher. However, I cant seem to claim it, can you help? C. B., Glasgow. Virgin says the voucher was added to your account on May 6. It has extended the expiry date for another six months and it is now valid until June 30, 2025. SThree has reported a drop in net fees as the recruiter suffers a more cautious permanent hiring environment amid recession fears. The group, which focuses on so-called STEM jobs, or those in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, said net fees fell 2 per cent to 208.6million in the six months to the end of May. Companies around the world have cut back on full-time hires, with permanent net fees down by almost a fifth compared to last year, when recruitment experienced a post-pandemic boom. Hiring slowdown: Companies cut back on permanent hiring but took on more temporary staff The drop in permanent hiring was particularly felt in the life sciences sector, and reflected 'both market conditions and tough comparatives', according to the company. However, this was partly offset by employers taking on more temporary staff, with contract net fees 3 per cent ahead of last year. The US suffered the biggest drop, with net fees down 11 per cent, as companies have trimmed their workforce to brace for a slowdown. In the UK fees were flat compared to last year, while Germany, the company's largest markets, saw fees drop 1 per cent and the Netherlands saw a rise of 3 per cent. SThree shares were down 1 per cent to 363.5p in late trading on Tuesday. They have lost around 12 per cent of their value since the start of the year but remain 8 per cent higher than a year ago. Last week, rival Robert Walters issued a profit warning on the back of hiring delays, triggering a sell-off in recruitment firms' shares. SThree chief executive, Timo Lehne, described the company's performance as 'resilient'. 'The macro-economic environment has remained uncertain with varied effects across our markets impacting new placements,' he said. 'However, a continued healthy extensions performance has seen our Contract business (now representing 81 per cent of group net fees) grow 3 per cent as our clients remain committed to retaining highly sought after skills. 'This demonstrates the strength of our well-established strategy, focused on STEM and flexible talent.' The London Metal Exchange had alternative options other than to cancel thousands of nickel trades when the metal's price skyrocketed in March 2022, claimants have told a court. Lawyers for hedge fund Elliott Associates and market maker Jane Street Global Trading have accused the LME of behaving unlawfully when it suspended and cancelled nickel trades made on 8 March last year. Nickel prices soared by 230 per cent to more than $100,000 a tonne at the time amid concerns that the Ukraine war's escalation would severely disrupt Russian nickel supplies. Claim: Lawyers for Elliott Associates and Jane Street Global Trading have accused the LME of behaving unlawfully when it cancelled nickel trades made on March 8 last year Elliott subsequently sued the LME for 365million, claiming it acted 'unreasonably and irrationally', while Jane Street launched a 12.2million lawsuit under the premise that the suspension negatively affected the 'integrity of the markets'. On Tuesday, Elliott's lawyer Monica Carss-Frisk told London's Royal Court of Justice that the move to cancel transactions was 'a wholly unprecedented decision for the LME or, indeed, any other commodities exchange'. 'It is really no exaggeration to say this decision sent shockwaves through commodities markets here and elsewhere,' she added. But the LME has claimed the market's closure was necessary; otherwise, margin calls totalling almost $20billion would have led to multiple clearing members going bankrupt at the same time and threatened a collapse of the metals market. 'The claims involve an attack on the expert, multi-factorial decision-making of a specialist body... involving complex judgement calls made with the utmost urgency in a unique and fast-moving situation,' the LME's lawyers said in a document. They said fresh analysis has shown the situation was 'even more dire than it appeared at the time', with losses on defaulting positions at $2.6billion, putting the LME's default fund $220million in the red. Elliott argues the exchange's clearing house, LME Clear, could have used a much lower closing price of a day earlier to set margins for trades on 8 March. That would have resulted in additional margin calls of $570million instead of $19.7billion, it said. 'Whatever the (LME's) motivations, the reality is that there were many other tools available to the LME to respond to the events of 8 March,' Thomas Houlbrook, a commodities portfolio manager at Elliott, said in a witness statement. Another option was to let the trades stand but adjust the prices, according to the hedge fund. LME rejected this option on the basis that the parties involved may not have agreed to the modified prices. 'This too would have avoided or adequately mitigated the perceived detrimental effects,' Elliott said. The hedge fund executed trades to sell 9,660 metric tons of nickel through three different LME brokers on 8 March. Houlbrook suggested that the LME's own financial exposure was the reason the exchange decided to cancel trades rather than use its default fund. The exchange denies this, saying its motivation was the possible default of LME members and systemic risk for the market as a whole. The exchange said the lawsuit raises questions about the viability of regulated exchanges, which have a duty to maintain market order and the power to cancel trades in exceptional situations. 'It is almost inevitable that any exercise of those powers will be controversial and will have serious financial consequences for those affected,' a filing by the LME said. 'This is territory ripe for opportunistic recrimination and the application of wisdom after the fact.' There is a lot of interest in the mortgage market right now its on the front pages and is the subject of significant political debate. Rising mortgage rates create concern among mortgage holders and people looking to get on the housing ladder. Cost-of- living pressures and higher rates, coupled with steep house prices, are affecting affordability. People are looking at their finances closely and making decisions about what they can afford. Most mortgages are fixed rates about 80 per cent of residential mortgages are fixed so those borrowers dont see any immediate change in their monthly payment if Bank Rate rises. Support: UK Finance chief executive David Postings (pictured) says people are looking at their finances closely and making decisions about what they can afford Around 800,000 of these are due to end later this year and a further 1.6m in 2024. For those looking to get a new mortgage or re-mortgage, there is understandable frustration when lenders pause or withdraw products. The reason they do this is to manage service levels as they are dealing with large volumes of applications and responding to pricing factors outside their control. However, industry-level data shows there is still good mortgage availability across all loan to value bands. Rishi Sunak has highlighted how there is support available for people worried about their mortgage. The Prime Minister is absolutely right. Anyone who is worried should contact their lender at the earliest possible opportunity. People often leave it too late, but its much better to do this before missing a payment. Contacting your lender to find out the options available wont impact your credit score, but missing payments will. There has also been concern around arrears and repossessions with some alarmist headlines. But the number of households in arrears remains close to historic lows, which tells us that the majority of homeowners are keeping up with their payments. Similarly, while repossessions are increasing, they are also doing so from a very low base and the numbers are much lower than in previous years. Over the past year lenders have helped nearly 200,000 borrowers who cannot meet their full mortgage payments by providing tailored forbearance. This could be a period of reduced payments, a period of zero payments or a temporary switch to interest-only. Lenders have teams of experienced and understanding advisers who will develop a solution tailored to your individual circumstances. We are in the midst of a really challenging economic environment, and there could well be more pain ahead. Lenders stand ready to help. David Postings is chief executive of UK Finance TOKYO, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Local seafood businesses in Japan's Fukushima said Tuesday the Japanese government has not yet provided a sufficient explanation of the planned release of radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. About 30 people, including owners of fish stores, restaurants and other seafood-related businesses in Iwaki city, Fukushima Prefecture, invited government officials to a study session at the city's central wholesale fish market on Tuesday, in a bid to seek a full explanation about the release plan, public broadcaster NHK said. A government official said the effects of the release will be minimal for humans and the environment, while a participant said fish stores will face questions from consumers about the safety of seafood, according to the NHK. Another attendant said the government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) should think closely about why people are skeptical about the safety of marine products caught in waters near the plant, said the report. The president of a fisheries company, Koji Suzuki, who organized the session, said people in seafood-related businesses have not been given an explanation on the planned release, adding that although he is opposed to the plan, he needs additional information that he can share with his customers. NHK report said TEPCO began trialing the equipment for discharging the nuclear-contaminated water into the Pacific on June 12. The test run of the discharge facility is expected to last around two weeks. Your Ultimate Investing Toolkit Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools: Portfolio Monitoring Top Stock Lists Premium Reports Stock Screeners Live News Feed Premium Support Free for your first month. AdvanSix Inc. (NYSE:ASIX Get Rating) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 376,900 shares, a decline of 6.6% from the May 15th total of 403,400 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the companys stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 164,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Insiders Place Their Bets In other AdvanSix news, insider Christopher Gramm sold 1,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total value of $35,090.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,254,256.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Achilles B. Kintiroglou sold 3,335 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.27, for a total transaction of $117,625.45. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 36,269 shares in the company, valued at $1,279,207.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher Gramm sold 1,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total transaction of $35,090.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,254,256.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,335 shares of company stock worth $228,425 in the last quarter. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Get AdvanSix alerts: Institutional Investors Weigh In On AdvanSix A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ASIX. Raymond James & Associates bought a new stake in AdvanSix during the first quarter worth about $2,682,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in AdvanSix by 28.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 455,488 shares of the companys stock worth $23,270,000 after purchasing an additional 101,119 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in AdvanSix during the 1st quarter worth approximately $221,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in AdvanSix by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 27,585 shares of the companys stock worth $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in AdvanSix by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,967 shares of the companys stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.20% of the companys stock. AdvanSix Stock Performance Shares of ASIX opened at $35.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.25. AdvanSix has a twelve month low of $30.69 and a twelve month high of $44.57. The firm has a market cap of $982.87 million, a P/E ratio of 7.16 and a beta of 1.84. The firms 50 day moving average price is $36.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.62. AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 5th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.29. AdvanSix had a net margin of 7.70% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The business had revenue of $400.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $411.23 million. On average, analysts forecast that AdvanSix will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year. AdvanSix Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 16th were issued a $0.145 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 15th. This represents a $0.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. AdvanSixs dividend payout ratio is currently 11.65%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research analysts have recently commented on ASIX shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of AdvanSix in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of AdvanSix from $54.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 16th. About AdvanSix (Get Rating) Advansix, Inc engages in the development and production of nylon resin products and other additives. The firms products include nylon resin, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate fertilizer and chemical intermediates. It offers products to carpet, engineering plastic, food packaging, building and construction, composites, plant nutrition, paints and coating markets. Read More Receive News & Ratings for AdvanSix Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AdvanSix and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The following companies are subsidiares of Sonic Automotive: AM GA LLC, AM Realty GA LLC, AnTrev LLC, Arngar Inc., Autobahn Inc., Avalon Ford Inc., Car Cash of North Carolina Inc., Cornerstone Acceptance Corporation, ECHOPARK: AM GA LLC, ECHOPARK: AM Realty GA LLC, ECHOPARK: EP Realty NC LLC, ECHOPARK: EP Realty SC LLC, ECHOPARK: EchoPark AZ LLC, ECHOPARK: EchoPark CA LLC, ECHOPARK: EchoPark Driver Education LLC, ECHOPARK: EchoPark FL LLC, ECHOPARK: EchoPark NC LLC, ECHOPARK: EchoPark Realty TX LLC, ECHOPARK: EchoPark SC LLC, ECHOPARK: EchoPark TX LLC, ECHOPARK: Echopark Automotive Inc., ECHOPARK: SAI DS LLC, ECHOPARK: SAI DS Realty TX LLC, ECHOPARK: SAI Vehicle Subscription Inc., ECHOPARK: TT Denver LLC, ECHOPARK: TTRE CO 1 LLC, FAA Beverly Hills Inc., FAA Capitol N Inc., FAA Concord H Inc., FAA Concord T Inc., FAA Dublin N Inc., FAA Dublin VWD Inc., FAA Holding Corp., FAA Las Vegas H Inc., FAA Poway H Inc., FAA Poway T Inc., FAA San Bruno Inc., FAA Santa Monica V Inc., FAA Serramonte H Inc., FAA Serramonte Inc., FAA Serramonte L Inc., FAA Stevens Creek Inc., FAA Torrance CPJ Inc., FirstAmerica Automotive Inc., Fort Mill Ford Inc., Franciscan Motors Inc., Frontier Oldsmobile-Cadillac Inc., Kramer Motors Incorporated, L Dealership Group Inc., Marcus David Corporation, Massey Cadillac Inc. (TN-MI), Mountain States Motors Co. Inc., North Point Imports LLC, Ontario L LLC, Philpott Motors Ltd., SAI AL HC1 Inc., SAI AL HC2 Inc., SAI Ann Arbor Imports LLC, SAI Atlanta B LLC, SAI Broken Arrow C LLC, SAI Calabasas A LLC, SAI Chamblee V LLC, SAI Charlotte M LLC, SAI Chattanooga N LLC, SAI Clearwater T LLC, SAI Cleveland N LLC, SAI Columbus Motors LLC, SAI Columbus T LLC, SAI Columbus VWK LLC, SAI Conroe N LLC, SAI Denver B Inc., SAI Denver C Inc., SAI Denver M Inc., SAI FL HC1 Inc., SAI FL HC2 Inc., SAI FL HC3 Inc., SAI FL HC4 Inc., SAI FL HC7 Inc., SAI Fairfax B LLC, SAI Fort Myers B LLC, SAI Fort Myers H LLC, SAI Fort Myers M LLC, SAI Fort Myers VW LLC, SAI GA HC1 LLC, SAI Irondale Imports LLC, SAI Irondale L LLC, SAI Long Beach B Inc., SAI MD HC1 Inc., SAI McKinney M LLC, SAI Monrovia B Inc., SAI Montgomery B LLC, SAI Montgomery BCH LLC, SAI Montgomery CH LLC, SAI Nashville CSH LLC, SAI Nashville H LLC, SAI Nashville M LLC, SAI Nashville Motors LLC, SAI OK HC1 Inc., SAI Oklahoma City C LLC, SAI Oklahoma City H LLC, SAI Oklahoma City T LLC, SAI Orlando CS LLC, SAI Peachtree LLC, SAI Pensacola A LLC, SAI Philpott T LLC, SAI Riverside C LLC, SAI Roaring Fork LR Inc., SAI Rockville Imports LLC, SAI Rockville L LLC, SAI S. Atlanta JLR LLC, SAI SIC Inc., SAI Santa Clara K Inc., SAI Stone Mountain T LLC, SAI TN HC1 LLC, SAI TN HC2 LLC, SAI TN HC3 LLC, SAI Tulsa N LLC, SAI Tulsa T LLC, SAI Tysons Corner H LLC, SAI Tysons Corner I LLC, SAI VA HC1 Inc., SAI VS GA LLC, SAI VS TX LLC, SAI Vehicle Subscription Inc., SAI West Houston B LLC, SRE Alabama 2 LLC, SRE Alabama 5 LLC, SRE Alabama 6 LLC, SRE California 10 LBB LLC, SRE California 11 PH LLC, SRE California 1 LLC, SRE California 2 LLC, SRE California 3 LLC, SRE California 4 LLC, SRE California 5 LLC, SRE California 6 LLC, SRE California 7 SCB LLC, SRE California 8 SCH LLC, SRE California 9 BHB LLC, SRE Colorado 1 LLC, SRE Colorado 2 LLC, SRE Colorado 3 LLC, SRE Colorado 4 RF LLC, SRE Colorado 5 CC LLC, SRE Florida 1 LLC, SRE Florida 2 LLC, SRE Georgia 4 LLC, SRE Georgia 5 LLC, SRE Georgia 6 LLC, SRE Holding LLC, SRE Maryland 1 LLC, SRE Nevada 2 LLC, SRE North Carolina 2 LLC, SRE North Carolina 3 LLC, SRE Ohio 1 LLC, SRE Ohio 2 LLC, SRE Oklahoma 1 LLC, SRE Oklahoma 2 LLC, SRE Oklahoma 5 LLC, SRE South Carolina 2 LLC, SRE South Carolina 3 LLC, SRE South Carolina 4 LLC, SRE Tennessee 6 LLC, SRE Tennessee 7 LLC, SRE Tennessee 1 LLC, SRE Tennessee 2 LLC, SRE Tennessee 3 LLC, SRE Tennessee 4 LLC, SRE Tennessee 5 LLC, SRE Texas 10 LLC, SRE Texas 11 LLC, SRE Texas 12 LLC, SRE Texas 13 LLC, SRE Texas 14 LLC, SRE Texas 15 LLC, SRE Texas 16 LLC, SRE Texas 9 LLC, SRE Texas 1 LP, SRE Texas 2 LP, SRE Texas 3 LP, SRE Texas 4 LP, SRE Texas 5 LP, SRE Texas 6 LP, SRE Texas 7 LP, SRE Texas 8 LP, SRE Virginia - 1 LLC, SRE Virginia 2 LLC, SRM Assurance Ltd., Santa Clara Imported Cars Inc., Sonic 2185 Chapman Rd. Chattanooga LLC, Sonic Advantage PA LP, Sonic Automotive - 1720 Mason Ave. DB LLC, Sonic Automotive 2424 Laurens Rd. Greenville Inc., Sonic Automotive 2752 Laurens Rd. Greenville Inc., Sonic Automotive Aviation LLC, Sonic Automotive F&I LLC, Sonic Automotive Support LLC, Sonic Automotive West LLC, Sonic Automotive of Chattanooga LLC, Sonic Automotive of Nashville LLC, Sonic Automotive of Nevada Inc., Sonic Automotive of Texas LP, Sonic Automotive 1495 Automall Drive Columbus Inc., Sonic Automotive 1720 Mason Ave. DB Inc., Sonic Automotive 2490 South Lee Highway LLC, Sonic Automotive 3401 N. Main TX LP, Sonic Automotive 4701 I-10 East TX LP, Sonic Automotive 6008 N. Dale Mabry FL Inc., Sonic Automotive 9103 E. Independence NC LLC, Sonic Calabasas M Inc., Sonic Development LLC, Sonic Divisional Operations LLC, Sonic FFC 1 Inc., Sonic FFC 2 Inc., Sonic FFC 3 Inc., Sonic Fremont Inc., Sonic Houston JLR LP, Sonic Houston LR LP, Sonic Momentum B LP, Sonic Momentum JVP LP, Sonic Momentum VWA LP, Sonic Resources Inc., Sonic Santa Monica M Inc., Sonic Santa Monica S Inc., Sonic Walnut Creek M Inc., Sonic Wilshire Cadillac Inc., Sonic eStore Inc., Sonic of Texas Inc., Sonic Buena Park H Inc., Sonic Cadillac D LP, Sonic Calabasas A Inc., Sonic Calabasas V Inc., Sonic Camp Ford LP, Sonic Capitol Cadillac Inc., Sonic Capitol Imports Inc., Sonic Carrollton V LP, Sonic Carson F Inc., Sonic Carson LM Inc., Sonic Clear Lake N LP, Sonic Clear Lake Volkswagen LP, Sonic Denver T Inc., Sonic Downey Cadillac Inc., Sonic Fort Mill Chrysler Jeep Inc., Sonic Fort Mill Dodge Inc., Sonic Fort Worth T LP, Sonic Frank Parra Autoplex LP, Sonic Harbor City H Inc., Sonic Houston V LP, Sonic Integrity Dodge LV LLC, Sonic Jersey Village Volkswagen LP, Sonic LS Chevrolet LP, Sonic LS LLC, Sonic Lake Norman Chrysler Jeep LLC, Sonic Las Vegas C West LLC, Sonic Lloyd Nissan Inc., Sonic Lloyd Pontiac Cadillac Inc., Sonic Lone Tree Cadillac Inc., Sonic Lute Riley LP, Sonic Massey Cadillac LP, Sonic Massey Chevrolet Inc., Sonic Mesquite Hyundai LP, Sonic Newsome Chevrolet World Inc., Sonic Newsome of Florence Inc., Sonic North Charleston Dodge Inc., Sonic North Charleston Inc., Sonic Plymouth Cadillac Inc., Sonic Richardson F LP, Sonic Sanford Cadillac Inc., Sonic Shottenkirk Inc., Sonic Stevens Creek B Inc., Sonic Volvo LV LLC, Sonic West Covina T Inc., Sonic Williams Cadillac Inc., Stevens Creek Cadillac Inc., The Sonic Automotive Family Emergency Fund (SAFE), Town and Country Ford Incorporated, and Windward Inc.. Read More National Bank of Greece S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in Greece, the United Kingdom, North Macedonia, Romania, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Malta, Egypt, and Luxembourg. It operates through Retail Banking, Corporate & Investment Banking, Trouble Assets Unit, Global Markets and Asset Management, Insurance, International Banking Operations, and Other segments. The Retail Banking segment provides deposit, investment, bancassurance products, mortgage loans, consumer and small business lending, debit and credit cards, prepaid cards, and other traditional products and services for individual customers, professionals, and small-medium and small sized companies through its network of branches and digital businesses. The Corporate & Investment Banking segment offers financial and investment advisory services, deposit accounts, loans, foreign exchange, and trade services for corporate customers; and lending services for large and medium-sized companies, as well as shipping finance services. The Trouble Assets Unit segment manages various loans. The Global Markets and Asset Management segment is involved in treasury activities; and provision of asset management, custody, private equity, and brokerage services. The Insurance offers various insurance products. The International Banking Operations segment offers traditional commercial banking, such as commercial and retail credit, trade financing, foreign exchange, and deposits; shipping finance; investment banking; and brokerage services through its foreign branches. The Other segment engages in the real estate management and warehousing businesses. National Bank of Greece S.A. was founded in 1841 and is headquartered in Athens, Greece. CNA Financial Corporation provides commercial property and casualty insurance products in the United States and internationally. It operates through Specialty, Commercial, International, Life & Group, and Corporate & Other segments. The company offers professional liability coverages and risk management services to various professional firms, including architects, real estate agents, and accounting and law firms; directors and officers, employment practices, fiduciary, and fidelity and cyber coverages to small and mid-size firms, public and privately held firms, and not-for-profit organizations; professional and general liability, as well as associated casualty coverages for healthcare industry; surety and fidelity bonds; and warranty and alternative risks products. It also provides property insurance products, such as standard and property, marine, boiler, and machinery coverages; casualty insurance products comprising workers' compensation, general and product liability, commercial auto, umbrella, and excess and surplus coverages; specialized loss-sensitive insurance programs and total risk management services; and run-off long term care policies. In addition, the company offers long-tail exposures comprising commercial automobile liability, general and medical professional liability, other professional and management liability, and assumed reinsurance run-off and products liability; and short-tail exposures, such as property, commercial automobile physical damage, marine, surety, and warranty. It markets its products through independent agents, brokers, and general underwriters to small, medium, and large businesses; insurance companies; associations; professionals; and other groups in the marine, oil and gas, construction, manufacturing, life science, property, financial services, healthcare, and technology industries. The company was founded in 1853 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. CNA Financial Corporation is a subsidiary of Loews Corporation. The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property. The Personal Lines segment writes insurance for personal autos and recreational vehicles (RV). This segment's products include personal auto insurance; and special lines products, including insurance for motorcycles, ATVs, RVs, watercrafts, snowmobiles, and related products. The Commercial Lines segment provides auto-related liability and physical damage insurance, and business-related general liability and property insurance for autos, vans, pick-up trucks, and dump trucks used by small businesses; tractors, trailers, and straight trucks primarily used by regional general freight and expeditor-type businesses, and long-haul operators; dump trucks, log trucks, and garbage trucks used by dirt, sand and gravel, logging, garbage/debris removal, and coal-type businesses; and tow trucks and wreckers used in towing services and gas/service station businesses; as well as non-fleet and airport taxis, and black-car services. The Property segment writes residential property insurance for homeowners, other property owners, and renters, as well as offers manufactured homes, personal umbrella insurance, and primary and excess flood insurance. The company offers policy issuance and claims adjusting services; and acts as an agent to homeowners, general liability, workers' compensation insurance, and other products. It also provides reinsurance services. The company sells its products through independent insurance agencies, as well as through mobile applications and over the phone. The Progressive Corporation was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in Mayfield Village, Ohio. OSLO, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Norway has announced to provide 250 million Norwegian kroner (23 million U.S. dollars) this year to support nuclear safety and security efforts in Ukraine, according to Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt. "A nuclear accident in Ukraine would have consequences not only for Ukraine itself, but also beyond the country's borders," she said in a press release on Monday. Of the allocated funds, 100 million kroner will be used in support to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This financial assistance will help ensure the continued presence of IAEA experts in Ukraine, said the release. IAEA experts are present at the Chernobyl site, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and Ukraine's three other operational nuclear power plants. Norway will also increase its funding for nuclear safety and security cooperation with Ukraine by 150 million kroner, said the release. (1 Norwegian krone = 0.093 U.S. dollar) The Southern Company is a leading gas and electric utility holding company based in the southern United States. With its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, and executive offices in Birmingham, Alabama, the company has established itself as one of the largest energy providers in the country. Serving approximately 9 million gas and electric utility customers across six states, The Southern Company's subsidiaries operate in various segments of the energy industry. The mission of The Southern Company is to deliver clean, safe, reliable, and affordable energy to its customers while fostering innovation and sustainability. The company aims to meet the energy needs of the present and future generations by embracing new technologies, investing in renewable energy sources, and promoting environmental stewardship. The Southern Company offers products and services to meet the diverse energy requirements of its customers. Its subsidiaries include regulated regional electric utilities such as Alabama Power, Georgia Power, and Mississippi Power, which serve specific territories in their respective states. Additionally, Southern Power focuses on wholesale power generation, while Southern Company Gas serves gas utility customers and operates natural gas pipelines. The key customers of The Southern Company comprise residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. The company caters to the energy needs of households, businesses, and various industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, education, and more. The Southern Company has established long-standing customer relationships by providing reliable and affordable energy solutions. The Southern Company has made significant strides in renewable energy development. The company operates or develops renewable facilities across the United States, including solar, wind, and biomass projects. It has also embarked on a notable milestone by constructing the country's first nuclear power units in 30 years at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, Georgia. These initiatives showcase The Southern Company's commitment to a diverse energy portfolio and its dedication to meeting the evolving energy demands of the market. The leadership team at The Southern Company is composed of experienced professionals who bring a wealth of expertise to their respective roles. Led by Executive Chairman Thomas A. Fanning, the management team drives the company's strategic direction and oversees its operations. Thomas A. Fanning plays a crucial role in the success of The Southern Company. With extensive experience in the energy industry, he has held various leadership positions within the company before assuming the role of Executive Chairman. Fanning's visionary approach and strategic acumen have been instrumental in shaping The Southern Company's growth and expansion. Other key management team members include Christopher C. Womack, the Chief Executive Officer and President. Womack brings a deep understanding of the energy industry and has significantly contributed to the company's operations and customer-focused initiatives. The Southern Company has exhibited healthy financial performance in recent years, reflecting its ability to meet customer demand and drive profitability. The company's revenue has demonstrated a positive long-term trend, indicating consistent growth and a robust customer base. This steady revenue growth showcases The Southern Company's market presence and ability to provide essential energy services to millions of customers. Earnings metrics have also shown a positive trajectory, underscoring the company's profitability and efficiency in managing its operations. The Southern Company's consistent earnings growth is a testament to its strong market position and effective cost management strategies. The net profit margin, a key financial indicator, has remained healthy. This metric highlights The Southern Company's ability to generate profits relative to its revenue. The company's ability to maintain a favorable net profit margin reflects its commitment to operational excellence and efficient utilization of its resources. The Southern Company's valuation metrics should be compared to its industry peers to gain insights into its market position and investor sentiment. The company's growth potential, financial performance, and market perception drive its valuation. Various factors, including industry trends, regulatory developments, and market conditions, can influence investor sentiment. Monitoring changes in investor sentiment provides valuable information for understanding the market's perception of The Southern Company and its prospects for future growth. The Southern Company operates within the broader electric services industry. As a leading utility holding company, it faces competition from other players in the industry who provide similar gas and electric services. However, The Southern Company has established a strong competitive position due to its extensive infrastructure, reliable service, and customer-focused approach. One of the advantages The Southern Company possesses is its diversified energy portfolio. The company operates in both the gas and electric sectors, allowing it to cater to a wide range of customer needs. This diversification reduces dependence on a single energy source and provides flexibility in meeting changing market demands. Additionally, The Southern Company has significantly invested in renewable energy projects, positioning itself as a leader in clean energy generation. By embracing renewable sources such as solar and wind power, the company contributes to environmental sustainability while capitalizing on the growing demand for clean energy solutions. The Southern Company also benefits from its strong regional presence. Operating in states like Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, the company has established a deep understanding of the local market dynamics and regulatory frameworks. This localized knowledge enables The Southern Company to effectively adapt its services and strategies to meet each region's unique requirements. However, the industry presents challenges and disadvantages that The Southern Company must navigate. The regulatory environment can be complex and subject to change, requiring the company to stay abreast of evolving regulations and compliance requirements. Furthermore, technological advancements and shifts in consumer preferences pose challenges as the industry transitions to a more decentralized and sustainable energy landscape. The Southern Company has several growth opportunities in the evolving energy market. The increasing focus on renewable energy presents a significant avenue for expansion. By continuing to invest in renewable energy projects and exploring new technologies, The Southern Company can capitalize on the growing demand for clean energy solutions and reduce its carbon footprint. The transition to electric transportation also provides growth potential for The Southern Company. As the adoption of electric vehicles increases, the company can play a pivotal role in supporting the infrastructure needed for widespread charging stations and grid integration. Moreover, The Southern Company can leverage its expertise in nuclear energy to contribute to expanding the clean energy sector. The company's ongoing nuclear projects demonstrate its commitment to nuclear power as a reliable and sustainable energy source. While The Southern Company has positioned itself for growth, it faces certain risks and challenges. One of the primary risks is the potential impact of regulatory changes. Changes in regulations and policies can affect the company's operations, costs, and profitability. Adapting to evolving regulatory frameworks and maintaining compliance is crucial for The Southern Company to mitigate regulatory risks. The energy industry also faces uncertainties related to environmental concerns and climate change. Increased emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to cleaner energy sources may require significant investments and operational changes for The Southern Company. Adapting to these changes while ensuring the affordability and reliability of energy services poses a challenge. Another risk is the volatility of commodity prices, including natural gas and fuel costs. Fluctuations in these prices can impact The Southern Company's profitability and cost structure. Effective risk management strategies, including hedging and fuel cost recovery mechanisms, are essential for mitigating these risks. The Southern Company must also navigate technological disruptions and maintain its competitive edge in an increasingly digitized energy landscape. Embracing technological advancements, such as smart grid solutions and digital customer engagement, can enhance operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. The Coca-Cola Company is one of the worlds most recognized brands. Founded in 1886, the company today is vastly different from its creator's original intent. The original formula was invented by John Stith Pemberton as a health drink, energy boost, and patent medicine following his time in the Civil War. The name is derived from two of the original ingredients coca leaves and kola nuts, although those ingredients are not used today, and was intended to be sold in pharmacies. Pemberton sold his formula and brand in 1889 to Asa Griggs Candler who then embarked on a nationwide advertising campaign. By 1895 Coca-Cola was being sold in every state in the union and it wouldnt be long before the beverage was being enjoyed worldwide. By 1889 the company was operating under a franchised distribution system that is still in effect today. Today, the Coca-Cola Company primarily makes syrups that are shipped to bottler/distributors who command exclusive territories. The Coca-Cola Company retains ownership of the largest US bottler, Coca-Cola Refreshments but there are many others around the world. Coca-Cola Femsa, of which The Coca-Cola Company owns 28%, is located in Mexico and is the worlds largest bottler of Coca-Cola The Coca-Cola Company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and operates as a beverage company worldwide with sales in over 200 countries. The company manufactures, markets, and sells various nonalcoholic beverages and has expanded well beyond soda and pop. After years of expansion and acquisitions, The Coca-Cola Company is represented in verticals from sparkling soft drinks to flavored water, enhanced water, sports beverages, juice, dairy, tea, and coffee. Brands under the Coca-Cola umbrella include Fanta, Fresca, Schweppes, Sprite, Dasani, Gold Peak, Minute Maid, Simply, BODYARMOR, FUZE TEA, and Powerade brands. The Coca-Cola Company first went public in 1919 and it began paying a dividend in 1920. The company has raised its dividend every year since 1962 making it a Dividend King. To put the companys growth and scale into perspective, one share of KO purchased at the IPO price of $40 was worth nearly $10 million in 2012 and the stock price has nearly doubled since then. Underwriters of the original IPO received $100,000 worth of shares in compensation for the deal and were able to sell it for $2 billion at that time. The Coca-Cola Company is also a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average holding its position from 1932 to 1935 and from 1987 to the present. Genuine Parts Company is a leading distributor of office products, automotive and industrial replacement parts, and electrical/electronic materials. The company was founded in 1928 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with operations in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Africa. GPC's mission is to provide quality products and services that exceed customer expectations and enhance shareholder value. GPC operates through four business segments: Automotive Parts Group, Industrial Parts Group, Office Products Group, and Electrical/Electronic Materials Group. The Automotive Parts Group provides replacement parts, accessories, and supplies for automobiles, trucks, and other vehicles. The Industrial Parts Group includes replacement parts, equipment, and supplies for industrial applications such as mining, manufacturing, and construction. The Office Products Group provides businesses and consumers with office supplies, furniture, and technology products. The Electrical/Electronic Materials Group provides electrical and electronic components, wire and cable products, and data communication products to customers in various industries. GPC's target market includes commercial and retail customers across various industries, including automotive repair shops, industrial facilities, government agencies, and schools. The company's key customers include NAPA Auto Parts, Motion Industries, S.P. Richards, and EIS Inc. GPC has achieved several key milestones over the years, including its inclusion in the Fortune 500 list and recognition as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. The GPC management team is led by Paul D. Donahue, who has been Chief Executive Officer since 2016. Donahue has been with GPC for over 40 years and has held various leadership positions. GPC reported that total revenues and net income had increased over the past few years. GPC has a high debt level but also enough assets to cover the debt. GPC's current price-to-earnings ratio is slightly below the industry average, and the price-to-sales ratio is below the industry average. GPC's dividend yield is above the industry average. GPC's stock has performed well over the past few years. The stock experienced a COVID-19 pandemic drop in Q1 of 2020, dropping the price to about $50. The stock has since rebounded to over $150 per share. The automotive and industrial parts distribution industry is highly competitive, with several prominent players competing for market share. GPC's main competitors include O'Reilly Automotive, Inc., Advance Auto Parts, Inc., and W.W. Grainger, Inc. The industry is subject to regulatory and political risks, such as changes in environmental regulations or trade policies. GPC is competitive in the industry due to its scale, product range, and distribution capabilities. The company has also invested heavily in technology and digital capabilities to enhance customer service and supply chain efficiency. Genuine Parts Company has several growth opportunities that could help it expand its business and increase revenue. One of the key areas of focus for the company is its e-commerce platform, which has become increasingly important in recent years. The company has invested heavily in its online capabilities, including launching new websites and improving its mobile app. In 2021, the company launched a new e-commerce platform called PartsTech, which allows customers to search for and order parts from various suppliers quickly. The company also expands its footprint in the automotive aftermarket industry through acquisitions. In 2020, the company acquired Todd Group, a leading automotive aftermarket parts and supplies distributor in the Pacific Northwest. This acquisition helped expand the company's regional presence and provided access to new customers and markets. Another growth opportunity for Genuine Parts Company is international expansion. The company operates in over 30 countries, focusing on Europe and Australasia. In 2021, the company announced plans to expand its footprint in Australia by acquiring Inenco Group, a leading distributor of industrial parts and supplies in the region. This acquisition will help the company establish a more substantial presence in the Australian market and provide access to new customers and markets. Genuine Parts Company has several competitive advantages that give it an edge. One of the company's key strengths is its extensive distribution network, which includes over 3,100 locations worldwide. This network allows the company to reach various customers, from independent repair shops to large national chains. While Genuine Parts Company has several strengths, some risks and challenges could impact the company's performance. One of the company's biggest challenges is the increasing competition in the automotive and industrial markets. The company competes with a range of other distributors, including national chains and online retailers, which could pressure pricing and margins. Genuine Parts Company is exposed to regulatory and political risks, particularly in international markets. Regulation changes or political instability could impact the company's ability to operate in specific regions or increase costs. Genuine Parts Company has implemented several risk management strategies to mitigate these risks, including diversifying its product offerings and supplier base, investing in its supply chain capabilities, and maintaining a solid balance sheet. SPDR Gold Trust (the Trust) is an investment trust. The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trust's expenses. The Trust's business activity is the investment of gold. The Trust creates and redeems Shares from time to time, but in one or more Baskets (a Basket equals a block of 100,000 Shares). The Trust issues Shares in Baskets to certain authorized participants (Authorized Participants) on an ongoing basis. The creation and redemption of Baskets is only made in exchange for the delivery to the Trust or the distribution by the Trust of the amount of gold and any cash represented by the Baskets being created or redeemed, the amount of which will be based on the combined net asset value of various Shares included in the Baskets being created or redeemed determined on the day the order to create or redeem Baskets is properly received. LISBON, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Portugal and Cape Verde on Tuesday signed a deal to create a 12-million-euro (13.08 million U.S. dollars) Environmental Climate Fund, using the African country's debt to the Portuguese state. According to the bilateral memorandum of understanding inked by the two countries, the Portuguese government will "contribute to the consolidation of Cape Verde's sustainable development process, supporting strategic investments that promote the fight against climate change in that country." Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said in a joint statement with his Cape Verdean counterpart Ulisses Correia e Silva that the fund could grow. "The debt that would be paid by Cape Verde until 2025 will be integrated into an environmental and climate fund so that the Cape Verdean state can support financing and invest in the country's climate transition," said Costa. In 2025, an assessment of the progress of the operation will be made, and a decision taken as to whether the entirety of Cape Verde's debt will be converted into the climate fund. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollars) The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company is a leading global biopharmaceutical company with a long and impressive history of innovating and developing medicines that improve the lives of patients around the world. Founded in 1887 when William McLaren Bristol and John Ripley Myers purchased the Clinton Pharmaceutical Company, the company was initially named Bristol, Myers and Company. Its first nationally recognized product, Sal Hepatica, was released in the 1890s. Bristol Myers-Squibb offers chemically synthesized drugs and biologics administered through injections or infusions to patients. The company's pharmaceutical portfolio includes a large number of well-known products. BMS's primary research and development sites are in New Jersey, California, Spain, Massachusetts, New York, Belgium, Japan, India and Massachusetts. The company's products sell to wholesalers and distributors around the world. Bristol Myers-Squibb has a robust pipeline of investigational medicines in its pipeline. In addition, the company has established strategic collaborations and partnerships with various companies, successfully launching new products. These partnerships and investments generate portions of the company's revenue. Bristol Myers-Squibb has acquired several companies over the years, including Medarex in 2009, ZymoGenetics in 2010, Inhibitex Inc. in 2012, Amylin Pharmaceuticals in 2012, iPierian in 2014, Flexus Biosciences in 2015, Cardioxyl in 2015, Padlock Therapeutics in 2016, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals in 2017, IFM Therapeutics in 2017, Celgene in 2019, Otezla in 2019, Forbius in 2020, MyoKardia in 2020 and Turning Point Therapeutics in 2022. In 2005, the company divested individual consumer products and its subsequent consumer products businesses. In December 2014, the company received FDA approval for its cancer drug, Opdivo, used to treat skin cancers that do not respond to drug therapies. In 2019, the company divested its consumer health business, UPSA, to Taisho. The company has also faced several scandals, lawsuits and investigations over the years, the biggest of which is the ongoing $1 billion lawsuit from Guatemala for the company's role in a 1940s experiment that infected hundreds with syphilis. In 2001 BMS faced an accounting scandal that resulted in a restatement of revenues from 1999 to 2001. In 2002, BMS faced a lawsuit based on illegally maintaining a monopoly on Taxol, a chemotherapy medication. The former head of the pharma group and the ex-CFO were indicted for federal securities violations in 2005. In July of 2006, an FBI raid on the company's corporate offices revealed that the company took steps to delay the release of a generic version of one of its drugs. BMS began a significant restructuring in 2009, focusing on the pharmaceutical business and biologic products, productivity initiatives and cost-cutting. The U.S. attorney forced the company into oversight and appointed a monitor as part of a deferred prosecution agreement. Lou Schmukler joined Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2010 as global product development and design president. In 2013, Forbes magazine ranked the company as the drug company of the year. Dr. Giovanni Caforio took the reigns as CEO in 2015. In 2017, reports began to surface that activist investor Carl Icahn took a stake in the company, widely seen as a signal for a potential future takeover. As Bristol-Myers Squibb continues to experience success and growth, the company is committed to delivering innovative treatments to patients and staying ahead of the curve in the biopharmaceutical industry. With its focus on research and development and a long and rich history of delivering innovative medicines, BMS offers an excellent long-term investment opportunity. Salesforce, Inc. is a cloud-based SaaS company founded by former Oracle exec Marc Benioff in 1999. Mr. Benioff founded the company with 3 partners who will remain active in management until nearly 2020. Larry Elison, a co-founder of Oracle, is a noteworthy early investor who helped propel the company to its success. The company is a leader in CRM or customer relationship management and is largely responsible for the proliferation of digitized CRM solutions that is ongoing today. The company was not immune to the DotCom bubble bursting and had to cut back its workforce and plans but the event is nothing but a blip on the radar now. Even then, the company could sustain a hyper-growth rate that saw revenue skyrocket from $0 in 1999 to over $100 million by the end of 2003. The company held its IPO in 2004 and raised $110 million. The hypergrowth continued until 2014 driven by the growing recognition among C-suite executives that digital CRM was the path to accelerated revenue and earnings growth. The company made multiple small acquisitions in the period leading up to 2014, but it was then that investment in other technology accelerated. Total spending in 2016 topped $5 billion and led to the acquisition of Slack in 2020. The company was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, instantly becoming the largest technology company in the index. The Slack acquisition came under some criticism due to the elevated cost the company paid. The track record of growth that includes sustained sequential growth through the end of 2022 put an end to the criticism. Today, Salesforce.com provides customer relationship management technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. It is the 1st cloud stock to reach $1 billion in revenue, hitting that target in 2009. It is the worlds largest enterprise-level software provider and the 61st-largest company by market cap. In regards to US businesses, it is ranked 136th on the Forbes Fortune 500 list for 2022 when revenue topped $7.7 billion. The company offers its services via the Customer 360 platform. The platform is designed to deliver connected experiences for a business's customers in a way that delivers sales. Revenue is generated in 2 channels that include Sales and Service. The Sales offering stores data, monitors leads and tracks traffic progression through the sales funnel. It can forecast and provide other analytics as well as deliver quotes, contracts and invoices. The Service segment allows companies to provide personalized services and support at scale. Scale is the fundamental quality that drives Salesfoce.coms success because it has been able to scale and aid its clients when they scale. Among Services many offerings is the ability to create apps with a drag-and-drop builder tool. This segment also includes Slack which permits easy communication among business associates. Salesforce.com Ventures is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Salesforce.com. It is in business to invest in start-up and early growth phase businesses and has invested more than $5 billion since 2009. United Parcel Service, Inc. is a global package delivery and logistics company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The company was founded in 1907 and has since become a significant player in the logistics industry. UPS operates in more than 220 countries and territories, with a network of over 500,000 employees worldwide. UPS's primary business is package delivery, but the company also provides supply chain solutions and specialized transportation services. In recent years, UPS has expanded into e-commerce, offering services like same-day delivery and order fulfillment for online retailers. In addition to its delivery services, UPS also operates a freight division that provides air and ground transportation for commercial shipments. UPS has been recognized for its commitment to sustainability, with initiatives such as alternative fuel vehicles and a carbon offset program for shipping. Fortune magazine has also named the company one of the World's Most Admired Companies for several years. UPS is led by CEO Carol Tome, who joined the company in 1995 and became CEO in 2020. Tome has extensive finance experience and served as The Home Depot's CFO before joining UPS. In addition to Tome, UPS's executive team includes Executive Vice President and President of U.S. operations, Nando Cesarone, Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer Kevin Warren, and Chief Financial Officer Brian Newman. UPS has reported stable revenue over the past several years. UPS's profit margins have remained steady, with an average gross profit margin of 56.4% and an operating margin of approximately 9.3%. UPS has a strong balance sheet, with total assets of $69.4 billion and total liabilities of $43.4 billion as of the end of 2022. The company's debt-to-equity ratio is higher than the industry average but within a reasonable range. UPS's valuation metrics are generally in line with industry peers, and overall, UPS's valuation suggests that the market views the company as fairly valued. UPS's stock performance has been robust in recent years, with the company's share price increasing by 33% from 2020 to 2022. This outperformed the S&P 500 index, which increased by 26% over the same period. Trading volume for UPS has been relatively stable, with an average daily volume of around 2.83 million shares. The logistics industry is highly competitive, with several large players vying for market share. In addition to traditional competitors such as FedEx and DHL, UPS competes with newer players in the e-commerce space, such as Amazon and Shopify. The industry is also subject to regulatory and political pressures, such as changes in trade policies and labor regulations. Despite these challenges, the logistics industry is expected to grow in the coming years. E-commerce, in particular, is driving demand for package delivery and supply chain solutions, and UPS is well-positioned to benefit from this trend. UPS has several potential growth opportunities in the coming years. The company's expansion into e-commerce has been a significant growth driver, and this trend is expected to continue. UPS's recent acquisition of Roadie, a same-day delivery platform, could also help the company capture more business in the rapidly growing same-day delivery market. In addition to e-commerce, UPS is investing in technology to improve its operations and customer experience. The company is testing drone delivery in specific markets and has developed digital tools to help customers manage their shipments. UPS has also announced plans to expand its presence in healthcare logistics. The company has already invested in specialized facilities and services for pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, and this market is expected to continue growing in the coming years. UPS faces risks and challenges like any company that could impact its future performance. One critical risk is the potential for increased competition, particularly from newer entrants in the e-commerce space. These companies may have lower overhead costs and more agile business models, making it more difficult for UPS to compete on price and speed. Another risk for UPS is the potential for regulatory or political changes that could impact the logistics industry. Changes in trade policies or labor regulations could increase costs for the company or limit its ability to operate in certain markets. Chinese Premier Li Qiang attends a seminar with representatives of the German business community in Berlin, Germany, June 19, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Lin) BERLIN, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday called on the German business community to uphold economic globalization and China-Germany win-win cooperation. Enterprises should be re-put in the driving seat in terms of risk prevention, and risk prevention and cooperation are not opposites, Li said while attending a seminar with representatives of the German business community. He also cautioned against simply equating interdependence with insecurity. Representatives of German companies including Siemens, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Schaeffler, BASF, Covestro, Wacker Chemie, Merck, SAP and Allianz attended the meeting. As proposed by Li, the participants had open and candid discussions as well as in-depth exchanges on how to view the current international economic and political situation, China's economic development, prospects of future technological development, and the so-called "de-risking" and "cutting the degree of dependence" initiated by some countries. After listening to the speeches of the representatives, Li said that face-to-face communication can deepen the understanding and trust between people. In a world of turmoil and transformation, the more serious and complex the situation, the more necessary it is to think calmly and grasp certainty amid uncertainties, Li said. He called for actively following the objective law and the underlying trend of the times, in particular the historical trend of economic globalization, the general trend of China's long-term economic development for the better, and the grand trend of win-win cooperation between China and Germany. Confidence needs to be strengthened to overcome difficulties, Li said, calling for accelerating the recovery of the world economy through openness and cooperation. Noting that it is understandable that all parties have their own security concerns, Li said that what is important is how to reasonably define and guard against risks. If not handled properly and the risks are amplified, more and bigger problems will only be created, he said, adding that enterprises have the most direct and acute sense of risk and know how to avoid and respond to it. Failure to cooperate is the biggest risk, and failure to develop is the biggest insecurity, he noted. With economic globalization, the world economy has become interconnected, which entails a dialectical view of dependence, Li said. That means refraining from exaggerating the degree of dependence or even simply equating interdependence with insecurity, he added. As for some specific problems, Li urged all parties to analyze them case by case, and jointly prevent and respond to them through consultation and cooperation. Li expressed his hope that entrepreneurs from both countries could follow the trend and continue to pursue openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, and maintain the stability of industrial and supply chains through high-quality and high-level practical cooperation. Li called for seizing the opportunities and making prompt actions to push for more outcomes in cooperation in such emerging areas as innovation and green and low-carbon development, making the pie of the two countries' converging interests even bigger. He also expected them to continue to serve as the envoy of the China-Germany friendship, and make greater contributions to the well-being of their people, the development of bilateral ties, and the friendly cooperation between China and Europe. Noting that Germany and China are close partners of cooperation, German business representatives said that great success has been achieved with the deepening of the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. To eliminate risks, it is necessary to strengthen international cooperation, and decoupling will not work, they said. The German business community is optimistic about China's economic outlook and has every confidence in China, they added. Expressing their belief that China will adhere to opening up, they said that they are ready to continue to increase investment in China and deeply exploit the Chinese market. They also noted that they are willing to further deepen Germany-China cooperation in coping with climate change, strengthening research and development capabilities, and advancing digital transformation, so as to achieve manufacturing in China, research and development with China, and win-win with China. Russia launched a widespread overnight air attack on Ukraine on Tuesday, targeting military and infrastructure facilities in Kyiv and other cities, officials said on Tuesday. Ukraine said it had shot down 32 out of 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched from Russias Bryansk region and the Azov Sea. There was no mention of any casualties in the latest air strikes launched by Moscow since Kyiv began a counteroffensive in which it says it has recaptured 113 square km (44 square miles) of land from Russian forces. The air force said on the Telegram messaging app that air defences had been in action in most regions of Ukraine. However, the main direction of attack by Iranian drones was the Kyiv region. More than two dozen Shaheds were destroyed here, its said on the Telegram messaging app. Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv military administration, said the air alert in the capital lasted over three hours. He gave no details of any damage. An unspecified critical infrastructure facility was hit in Lviv, around 70 km (43 miles) from the border with NATO member Poland, and some tram routes were altered during the morning rush hour, officials said. They hit a critically important facility. There were three hits, said regional governor Maksym Kozytskiy. The air force said Russia had also hit the southeastern industrial city of Zaporizhzhia with Iskander and S-300 missiles. Yuriy Malashko, head of the military administration of the Zaporizhzhia region, said Russia had targeted telecommunication infrastructure and agriculture and farming properties. Ukraines military said that, according to preliminary information, Russia had fired seven missiles at Zaporizhzhia. Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Russia. SOURCE: REUTERS SAN FRANCISCO, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Police in the U.S. state of Idaho said on Monday they were investigating a shooting that left four people dead in the small city of Kellogg, and one person was in custody. The Shoshone County dispatch center received a 911 call Sunday evening, indicating that multiple people had been killed inside a residence in Kellogg, Idaho State Police said in a news release. Law enforcement officers found four people dead when they arrived and detained a 31-year-old male believed to be connected with the deaths, according to the release. Police blocked off parts of an apartment complex in Kellogg. According to local media reports, the shooting occurred at multi-dwelling units behind the Mountain View Congregational Church on Sunday. Law enforcement has not yet identified the victims or the suspect, and they believe that there is no additional threat to the community, state police said. Ukraine has countermeasures against Russias Bal missile, says military 20 June, 02:55 PM Russian Bal mobile missile complex with the Kh-35 anti-ship missile (Photo: ) Ukraine has mechanisms to counteract the Bal missile system currently deployed on the Russian border, said Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine spokesman Yuriy Ihnat on June 20. The Bal is a Russian coastal mobile missile system using the Kh-35 anti-ship missile as its base. It was adopted in 2008 and designed to control territorial waters and strait zones. It has a range of 120 km with the Kh-35 missile, and 260 to 500 km with the Kh-35U, with a launch interval of just over 3 seconds. Video of day "If the enemy uses the Bal system it means that the Russians have a certain shortage of Kalibr missiles, Kh-101/Kh-155, Iskander, and Kinzhal missiles," he said Ihnat said the Bal coastal defense missile system has not yet been used, but that Ukraine's military leadership already possesses certain means to counter the new Russian threat. He added that the Russian units are also conducting active aerial reconnaissance along the entire front line, with drones monitoring the movement of Ukrainian troops. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine warned of the threat of the Russian military using Kh35/Kh35U missiles against seven regions of Ukraine after Bal coastal missile systems were moved into Bryansk region, located along Ukraines northeastern border. Will you support Ukraines free press? Dear reader, as all news organizations, we must balance the pressures of delivering timely, accurate, and relevant stories with requirements to fund our business operations. As a Ukrainian-based media, we also have another responsibility to amplify Ukraines voice to the world during the crucial moment of its existence as a political nation. Its the support of our readers that lets us continue doing our job. We keep our essential reporting free because we believe in our ultimate purpose: an independent, democratic Ukraine. If youre willing to support Ukraine, consider subscribing to our Patreon starting from 5$ per month. We are immensely grateful. Please help us continue fighting Russian propaganda. Truth can be hard to tell from fiction these days. Every viewpoint has its audience of backers and supporters, no matter how absurd. If conscious disinformation is reinforced by state propaganda apparatus and budget, its outcomes may become deadly. There is no solution to this, other than independent, honest, and accurate reporting. We remain committed to empowering the Ukrainian voice to push against the muck. If youre willing to stand up for the truth consider supporting us on Patreon starting from 5$ per month. Thank you very much. Will you help tell Ukraines story to the world? Twenty years ago, most people hadnt even heard of Ukraine. Today, the country is on everyones lips and everyones headlines. War pushed us on the front page. But there are many other things we do that we are proud of from music and culture to technology. We need your help to tell the world Ukrainian story of resilience, joy, and survival. If youre willing to back our effort, consider supporting us on Patreon starting from 5$ per month. We are immensely grateful. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News The US special envoy for Northern Ireland Joe Kennedy III has said that there is still excitement from US businesses in investing in Northern Ireland despite the ongoing stalemate of its powersharing institutions. He said that the US is still eager to continue to bet on the people of Northern Ireland, adding that it wasnt the only place in the world having challenges with the smooth running of government. Mr Kennedy was speaking at Iveagh House, the offices in Dublin for Irelands the Department of Foreign Affairs, having met with Irish deputy and minister for foreign affairs Micheal Martin. Mr Martin said the Stormonts party leaders had expressed a desire to restore the Executive and Assembly. He said that DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson had indicated there are still outstanding issues with the Windsor Framework to be resolved with the British government, but he believed they could be addressed. Speaking to reporters, Mr Kennedy said he was looking forward to meeting with the Stormont party leaders during his visit to Belfast. When asked whether the prolonged delay to restore the Stormont Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive would affect the investment opportunities from US businesses, Mr Kennedy said there was still an interest. From all of my interactions and engagements with businesses that are looking to invest or are eager to hear more about opportunities in Northern Ireland, theres an excitement, he said. Theres a recognition that theres been a lot in the news on Northern Ireland as of late, particularly with the agreement around the Windsor Framework. Theres still obviously some work to be done around the formation of an Executive, but given the 230 businesses that already have operations in Northern Ireland and the stories that they can tell, the success they can demonstrate, theres a real eagerness to invest. I will also say that Northern Ireland isnt the only area in the world that has been having challenges in having their government run smoothly these days. So we are hopeful and optimistic obviously of this process moving forward. Im eager to to make good on the Presidents promise to bring a trade delegation to help show off the opportunities in Northern Ireland and the benefits that I can bring to the people of Northern Ireland. Is there some short term challenges that they have to get through? Of course, as I said, theres short term challenges in a lot of places. The United States has bet on the people of Northern Ireland now for decades. Were eager to continue that. Mr Martin added that the Irish government were aware of the outstanding issues the DUP have with the Windsor Framework, but added I believe they can be resolved. When asked what the outstanding issues were, he said: I think the issues are ones the DUP are working with the British government on and I think if we learn anything from the successful completion of the Windsor Agreement, running commentaries on discussions dont always achieve agreement, so Im prepared to allow those discussions to take place. I think all of us have created space to allow those issues to be resolved, he added Our ultimate objective is the restoration of the Assembly and the Executive. As I have said so consistently over a decade, when elections happen, I think the people deserve the formation of an assembly or the parliament, and the formation of a government or in this case, the executive, so that their mandate can be fulfilled, and that is fundamental to democracy. And also the growing budgetary challenges in Northern Ireland is such that its very clear from meeting with parties a fortnight ago that they also accept the earlier restoration of the executive and assembly would enable them to deal with budgetary issues in a more effective way than if it was to be prolonged indefinitely. So thats adding further rationale to get these issues resolved as soon as we possibly can, he said. The Taoiseach has said that he hopes investment in an Ulster University campus will strengthen cross-border links, while another senior minister said it sought to deliver on the campaigning of John Hume. Leo Varadkar insisted that there was no ulterior motive to 44.5 million euro being provided to build a new 5,000 metre squared teaching and student services building on Ulster Universitys Magee campus. This is part of the Irish Governments 56 million euro funding from the Shared Island Fund, aimed at cross-border investments. Minister for further and higher education Simon Harris said that the investment see more lecture and seminar spaces, computer labs, and on-campus student services. Its also going mean we increase the number of students on the campus by 1,250, he said, adding that the plans had been in the works for a number of years, but the funding allowed Ulster University to press go. This is not the end of our engagement, far from it. Were very keen to continue to work to find and identify partnership opportunities for education in the northwest of these islands. And I know one of the areas that were going to work very closely on is this idea of cross-border professor appointments between Ulster University and Atlantic Technological University. He added: I think we all think of the legacy of John Hume today, a man who, for so many years, highlighted the need for real education opportunity in Derry and I think today is a very significant step forward to try to achieve that dream. Speaking at Government Buildings in Dublin on Tuesday, Mr Varadkar said that the funding was part of the New Decade, New Approach agreement that aimed to restore powersharing institutions in Northern Ireland after a three-year hiatus. So, long before there was a Shared Island Unit, we were making a contribution to infrastructure projects that benefit Northern Ireland, but also has a cross-border element as well, and Shared Island really is the development of that. And Im very straightforward, very genuine about this: theres no ulterior motive here. Were doing this because we want there to be more north-south cooperation. We want more cross-border cooperation. We want for example, to have a much bigger university campus in Derry, that students from all over the island, and people from Britain and other parts of the world, come to and I hope that happens. We want to improve connectivity, whether its the Dublin Belfast railway line, whether its the A5, and these are things that benefit Northern Ireland. These are things that benefit people in Ireland as a whole and thats why were doing them. Tanaiste Micheal Martin said: The Shared Island initiative is not a short-term project with a fixed end date, rather its an idea and a set of principles that will continue to underpin the approach of the government on building relationships, enhancing connectivity and driving prosperity on our island. Our commitment to one billion euro up to 2030 demonstrates a determination to make a positive difference but it does not and cannot end there. A new youth forum will also be set up as part of the Shared Island initiative, which will ask 80 young people both north and south of the border to set out their vision for the island from September. June 20, 2023 The possibility of machines eventually taking over jobs isnt a new idea. People have known since the Industrial Revolution (News - Alert) that their jobs may become obsolete as a result of machines doing them faster and more efficiently. Now, artificial intelligence has entered the chat but we dont need to panic about this trend just yet, because there are still many tasks that AI cant perform. The advancement of AI changes the jobs that people have, rather than putting them out of work. Hassan Taher is a prominent author and expert in the field of AI technology who shared his insights into the growing role of AI in the workplace. The field of AI technology is constantly evolving, Taher said, and staying up to date on the latest developments is crucial to staying relevant and competitive. Can AI Really Replace Humans? A report published by Goldman Sachs in March 2023 estimated that AI could complete at least one-fourth of all tasks that humans currently perform. It also predicts that employees in the United States and the United Kingdom will lose 300 million jobs to automated processes. Says the report, Our estimates intuitively suggest that fewer jobs in EMs [emerging markets] are exposed to automation than in DMs [developed markets], but that 18% of work globally could be automated by AI on an employment-weighted basis. Furthermore, this report explores the effect of AI taking over all of these jobs at once. It could affect hundreds of millions of families and adversely impact many labor systems in addition to the global economy. However, financial analysts also report that AI is still unable to perform tasks that require distinctly human intelligence, which should ease many concerns about AI. Hassan Taher writes about this possibility at length in his book The Rise of Intelligent Machines. But all hope for human work isnt gone. Human Advantages AI doesnt possess emotional intelligence, nor can it think beyond its programming. Imagine for this example that AI software has been programmed to clean up its files each day but encounters a problem during this process. If the program hasnt been taught a solution to this problem, files will continue accumulating on the computer. Depending on the contents and size of those files, it could damage the computer before anyone notices. Taher says, I believe that AI technology has the potential to bring about significant positive change in the world, but many people are hesitant to embrace it fully. He adds that achieving this outcome will require responsible use. What Types of Jobs Are Safest? Jobs that require creativity are generally safer from AI replacement than those that dont. Within the IT industry, graphic designers and publishers are more likely to be safer than computer programmers and machinists. People with jobs that require skills not easily replicated by machines may feel more secure, but they should also understand the exceptions to this rule. For example, AI can duplicate a creative design by coincidence, which can then be used unless the human creator has protected it through a patent or trademark. Health care jobs are another area that will be difficult for AI to take over, as these jobs typically require people to interact with patients on a close, personal level. Taher discusses the role of health care in his blog post The Future of Work in an AI-Powered World. He believes AI has the potential to significantly impact patients lives by revolutionizing their care and outcome. Additional examples of jobs that require a high level of human interaction include business consultants, journalists, and mental health professionals, making these roles relatively safe from AI replacement for the time being. Many other jobs are also tricky for AI because they require workers to think on their feet and make quick decisions. Some experts believe AI will never take over the trade industry, no matter how much technology advances. However, Taher believes that AI can change the way people in these industries communicate with their customers. For example, a platform that uses AI could help connect people with expertise with those who need it. Government Response Researchers at Princeton University recently studied the future effects of AI on regulated industries. They concluded that jobs like telemarketers and language and literature teachers are apt to be affected by AI. This study also found that those who work in certain roles like lawyers, police officers, and teachers would be the hardest to replace. As a result, governments should concede the gains AI has already made and begin creating new jobs to replace those that AI has made obsolete. The U.S. government has historically played a crucial role in negotiating these types of changes in the employment landscape, so it isnt a stretch to assume that it would do so again for AI. These changes offer potential benefits such as lower production costs and increased demand for products and services, so the effects of AI in the workplace wont all be bad. The penetration of AI into most jobs is inevitable, so the real question is how quickly these changes will occur. Hassan Taher believes that ethical considerations should drive this process to maximize the positive effects of AI on workers across industries. And he should know. Born in Beaumont, Texas, on Feb. 3, 1965, to his father Ali, an engineer, and mother Fatima, a high school mathematics teacher, Taher has a younger sister, Lila, a pediatrician. His parents supported and cultivated Tahers interest in science and technology from a young age. He developed an early interest in science fiction novels, especially those about AI. These books fueled a passion for his own storytelling when he joined his schools writing club. In addition, Taher became an avid violinist, maintaining this interest throughout his life, joining a community orchestra while attending the University of Texas at Dallas. Taher met his future wife, Sarah, at college; she became a graphic designer. The couple has two children, Adam and Leila, and the family travels often and usually plans vacations around nature exploration, especially hiking. Hassan Taher is also a photography enthusiast and an advocate for environmental preservation. Taher founded Taher AI Solutions, which allows him to influence the use of AI technology in many industries. Hes dedicated his professional life to educating the public and raising awareness of the ethical and responsible use of AI. This work has earned Hassan Taher the respect of the AI community, inspiring others to learn more about this field. Taher has written several nonfiction books about AI, including The Rise of Intelligent Machines. This book set the stage for his career as an author, speaker, and consultant in the AI sector. Taher is currently writing a book that will explore AIs potential in overcoming environmental challenges. [June 19, 2023] Department of Health - Abu Dhabi, M42 and AbbVie enter a strategic partnership to advance personalised medicine and genomics Tweet ABU DHABI, UAE, June 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Department of Health Abu Dhabi (DoH), the regulator of the healthcare sector in the Emirate, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AbbVie Biopharmaceutical and M42 to elevate collaborative efforts in tailoring personalised medicine and genomics in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). M42 is a first-of-its-kind, tech-enabled, integrated healthcare company created through the coming together of G42 Healthcare and Mubadala Health. The MoU was signed by Dr. Asma Al Mannaei, Executive Director of the Research and Innovation Center at the Department of Health Abu Dhabi (DoH), Francesco Redivo, Senior Director at G42 Healthcare, a M42 company, and Hala Dalle, Medical Director Gulf & Levant at AbbVie Biopharmaceutical at the AbbVie Bioresearch Center in Boston. The three parties aim to advance precision medicine in the diagnosis and treatment of multiple myeloma and non-small cell lung cancer. DoH seeks to drive research that will contribute to policy changes and guideline implementation which will enable broader patient access to innovative approaches in healthcare. The strategic cooperation aims to maximise on the Emirate's unique genomics programme and translate scientific advancements into tangible patient benefits, focusing on precision medicine tailored to individual needs. Dr. Asma Al Mannaei, Executive Director of the Research and Innovation Center at the Department of Health Abu Dhabi (DoH), said: "It is with no doubt that personalised medicine and genomics hold the transformative potential to reshape the delivery of care and improve outcomes. Abu Dhabi continues to harness the power of these field to unlock a new era of healthcare where every patient's journey is guided by their own genetic blueprint, leading to enhanced quality of life and a brighter future for generations to come. We are proud to witness yet another collaboration with prestigious partners in the biopharma industry during our participation at BIO 2023." Hassan Sabbah, General Manager AbbVie Gulf & Levant said: "This partnership aims to advance precision medicine in the diagnosis and treatment to help enable broader patient access in UAE to innovative therapies. Our efforts are progressing to launch several initiatives that support research and clinical trials and develop innovative solutions to deal effectively with local and regional health needs, challenges, and burdens." As part of its preventive healthcare efforts, Abu Dhabi launched the region's first Personalised Precision Medicine Programme for oncology in 2022. The programme integrates predictive, personalised and precision medicine using genomics to transform diagnostics, drug therapy and prevention and tailor it to the needs specific to individuals. Francesco Redivo, Senior Director at G42 Healthcare, a M42 company said: "I am proud to witness how our vision of realising personalised healthcare is progressing forward as we strengthen our commitments with like-minded pharma businesses like AbbVie who are known to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that enhance people's lives. Our collaboration will be built on joint efforts to advance precision medicine by harnessing real world evidence capabilities, shaping innovative solutions around access to care and translating scientific advancements into tangible patient benefits by maximizing the potential of Emirati Genome Programme." To learn more, visit: https://www.doh.gov.ae/en/Abu-Dhabi-a-regional-life-science-hub About Department of Health Abu Dhabi (DoH): The Department of Health (DoH) is the regulatory body of the healthcare sector at the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and ensures excellence in healthcare by monitoring the health status of the population. DoH defines the strategy for the health system, monitors and analyses the health status of the population and performance of the system. In addition, DoH shapes the regulatory framework for the health system, inspects against regulations, enforce standards, and encourages adoption of world-class best practices and performance targets by all healthcare service providers in the Emirate. DoH also drives programmes to increase awareness and adoption of healthy living standards among the residents of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in addition to regulating scope of services, premiums and reimbursement rates of the health system. For further information on DOH, visit https://www.doh.gov.ae/ and follow on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2105468/M42_and_AbbVie_MOU.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/department-of-health--abu-dhabi-m42-and-abbvie-enter-a-strategic-partnership-to-advance-personalised-medicine-and-genomics-301854543.html SOURCE The Department of Health - Abu Dhabi [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] Gannett Files Federal Lawsuit Against Google Tweet Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) the largest publisher in the United States including USA TODAY and over 200 local publications, today filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Google for monopolization of advertising technology markets and deceptive commercial practices. The lawsuit seeks to restore competition in the digital advertising marketplace and end Google's monopoly, which will encourage investment in newsrooms and news content throughout the country. As more Americans read the news online, publishers depend on digital advertising revenue to provide timely, cutting-edge reporting and content that communities across the country rely on. Google's practices have depressed revenue and impacted local newsrooms adversely by monopolizing the markets for important software and technology products that publishers and advertisers use to buy and sell ad space. Google controls 90% of the market for "publisher ad servers," which publishers use to offer ad space for sale. Google also controls over 60% of the market for "ad exchanges," which run auctions among advertisers bidding for ad space on publishers' websites. Google controls the largest source of advertisers bidding on exchanges. For Gannett, 60% of all buyers come through Google. The result is Google unfairly controlling selling, buying, and the exchange that matches sellers and buyers - and manipulating all aspects of online advertising transactions. "Google has monopolized market trading to their advantage and at the expense of publishers, readers and everyone else. Digital advertising is the lifeblood of the online economy. Without free and fair competition for digital ad space, publishers cannot invest in their newsrooms," said Michael Reed, Gannett Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "For more than a hundred years, Gannett has been a tireless advocate for freedom of the press empowering communities to thrive. This lawsuit seeks to ensure we can continue our mission for hundreds of years more." In 2022, Google made upwards of $30 billion in revenue from the sale of ad space on publishers' websites which was six times the digital advertising revenue of all U.S. news publications, combined. In December 2020, a bipartisan group of 17 State Attorneys General filed a lawsuit against Google raising similar allegations of ad-tech monpolization. The U.S. Department of Justice, joined by a bipartisan coalition of 17 additional States, filed its own ad-tech lawsuit against Google earlier this year. Both lawsuits have withstood Google's best efforts to get the cases dismissed. And, last week, the European Union's competition authority filed a related ad-tech case based on the same underlying conduct. The DOJ and EU are rightly seeking a breakup of Google's ad-tech business, in addition to monetary damages and fines. The full text of the complaint can be found here and additional information here as well as Mike Reed's Opinion Editorial in USA TODAY here. ABOUT GANNETT Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) is a subscription-led and digitally-focused media and marketing solutions company committed to empowering communities to thrive. With an unmatched reach at the national and local level, Gannett touches the lives of millions with our Pulitzer Prize-winning content, consumer experiences and benefits, and advertiser products and services. Our current portfolio of media assets includes USA TODAY, local media organizations in 43 states in the U.S., and Newsquest, a wholly owned subsidiary operating in the United Kingdom with more than 150 local news media brands. Gannett also owns digital marketing services companies branded LocaliQ, and runs one of the largest media-owned events business in the U.S., USA TODAY NETWORK Ventures. To connect with us, visit www.gannett.com. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release are or may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the Company's action against Google, the purpose and reason for the action, any anticipated damages related to the action, the costs to the Company related to the action, the outcome of the action, the risks placed upon the Company in connection with the action, and the timing of the action. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "develop," "expect," "opportunity," "pursue," "seek," "will," and similar expressions. These statements are based on management's current views and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements, including the uncertainty of the outcome of the action against Google and any damages or amounts received in connection with the action, if any, and the uncertainty of the costs associated with and timing of litigation, in general. For a discussion of some of the additional risks and important factors that could cause actual results to differ from such forward-looking statements, see the risks and other factors detailed from time to time in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Furthermore, new risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict or assess the impact of every factor that may cause its actual results to differ from those contained in any forward-looking statements. There is no guarantee that any of the events anticipated by the Company's forward-looking statements will occur. Except to the extent required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620098231/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 19, 2023] RS Group releases report on its activities and strategy for Environmental, Social and Governance Tweet Distributor details progress towards its 2030 ESG action plan For a Better World SINGAPORE, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- RS Group plc (LSE: RS1), a global provider of product and service solutions, has unveiled its ESG Report for 2022/23, detailing its overall strategy, achievements and future actions required in the area of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). RS' overarching business purpose is 'making amazing happen for a better world' to deliver results for people, planet and profit. In November 2021, RS launched its 2030 ESG action plan, entitled 'For a Better World', which has four global goals and 15 ambitious actions for 2030. The approach also supports six of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and lays the foundation for the Company's long-term vision to 2050. The four key goals are in the areas of advancing sustainability, championing education and innovation, empowering people, and doing business in a responsible way. These four key pillars of RS' ESG action plan are further defined as: Developing sustainable operations and product and service solutions for customers and suppliers with a commitment to achieve net zero in direct operations by 2030 Partnering with education providers, building skills and fostering innovative solutions that improve lives with a target to work with 1.5 million young engineers and innovators Empowering people to create a safe, inclusive and dynamic culture where everyone can thrive and grow with a commitment to working toward 40% of the Company's leaders being women and 25% being ethnically diverse Doing business responsibly by ensuring the highest ethical and environmental standards throughout the business and global value chain and embedding ESG targets in employee awards, sustainability-linked loan and supplier objectives The ESG report includes details on the Company's progress in all these areas. For example, RS has reduced its Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 58% since 2019/20 with progress made in the year through distribution centre energy efficiencies and renewable electricity. It has also reduced its Scope 3 transportation emissions intensity[1] by 28% since 2019/20, threby achieving its 2029/30 goal seven years early. This has been made possible through modal shifts from air to sea or air to road and optimising its supply chain to source, store and ship more products locally. Through its global education programme, the Company has reached 471,000 young people across 10 countries globally and approximately 4,400 educational institutions. In addition, RS is supporting its suppliers in working towards and achieving their own ESG goals by launching a supplier ESG action plan and handbook. Furthermore, RS is making significant efforts to help its customers develop more sustainable products and solutions with the launch of its 'Better World' product range that are supported by trusted sustainability certifications. The initiative currently includes 20,000 products that make it easier for individuals and businesses to make more informed decisions about the sustainability and potential positive environmental impact of different products from RS' suppliers and partners. RS is also aspiring to grow this range to 100,000 products globally by 2024/25. RS is also developing service solutions such as RS Industria, which uses data and analytics in conjunction with our technical product and maintenance knowledge to help customers improve the efficiency of their operations, reduce energy consumption and cut carbon emissions. "ESG is absolutely core to our purpose and in how we operate as a business in conjunction with our employees, our suppliers and our customers," said Andrea Barrett, VP of Social Responsibility and Sustainability at RS. "We see the release of our 'For A Better World' report as a key part of the process of transparency for the benefit of all our stakeholders as we state our position, our future and our hopes, and how we view our place and responsibilities not only in terms of the environment and society but also how we govern ourselves as an organisation in a more sustainable manner." A short video explaining RS' ESG solutions is available here. [1]Tonnes of CO 2 e due to Scope 3 transport emissions per tonne of product sold RS Group RS Group plc provides product and service solutions that help our customers design, build, maintain, repair and operate industrial equipment and operations, safely and sustainably. We stock more than 750,000 industrial and electronic products, sourced from over 2,500 leading suppliers, and provide a wide range of product and service solutions to 1.1 million customers. We support customers across the product lifecycle, whether via innovation and technical support at the design phase, improving time to market and productivity at the build phase, or reducing purchasing costs and optimising inventory in the maintenance, repair and operation phase. We offer our customers tailored product and service propositions that are essential for the successful operation of their businesses and help them save time and money. RS Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange with stock ticker RS1 and in the year ended 31 March 2023 reported revenue of 2,982 million. For more information, please visit https://www.rsgroup.com/. Further information is available via these links: Twitter: @WeAreRSGroup; @RSdesignspark LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wearersgroup/ DesignSpark www.rs-online.com/designspark RS Group plc https://www.rsgroup.com/ View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/rs-group-releases-report-on-its-activities-and-strategy-for-environmental-social-and-governance-301854224.html SOURCE RS [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 19, 2023] Sector Lead Pioneers Africa's First Zero Waste Green Smart Sustainable Federal Capital Territory Tweet FCT, Nigeria and BERLIN, June 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ...Deploys Waste to Energy Technologies in Nigeria In a world grappling with the dual challenges of waste management and sustainable energy generation, SECTOR LEAD LLC, a visionary innovative company, has embarked on a groundbreaking waste to energy initiative in Nigeria. With its Innovative waste to energy project, SECTOR LEAD is set to transform the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja into Africa's first zero-waste green smart sustainable hub. Nigeria, like many developing countries, faces significant waste management challenges. Rapid urbanization, population growth, and changing consumption patterns have led to an increase in waste generation, overwhelming existing waste management infrastructure. Furthermore, Nigeria, like many African nations, struggles to meet its energy demands. The need for sustainable solutions that address both waste management and energy production is paramount. SECTOR LEAD is set to tackle these interconnected challenges through its innovative waste to energy initiative. In a statement from GREENPLINTH AFRICA, Strategic Partners to SECTOR LEAD, the Waste to Energy Initiative is a national project, programmed for Abuja and the 36 tates of the federation. SECTOR LEAD is championing innovative waste management in Nigeria; with a combo of technologies, this initiative holds tremendous promises, offering a tangible solution to waste management challenges, while simultaneously contributing to Nigeria's energy transition and sustainable development goals. According to Mr. Adedayo Mustapha, Chief Executive Officer of SECTOR LEAD, the company is well prepared to revolutionize the waste management landscape in Nigeria through its Innovative Waste to Energy Project. SECTOR LEAD is ready to implement this initiative which aims to transform the nation's abundant waste resources into clean energy across Nigeria, starting with Abuja. The Abuja project will deliver an innovative system for waste management, to better the environment, and create value for all waste generated, including the production of a minimum 50 Megawatts of clean electricity, and the pioneering of The First Zero Waste Green Smart Sustainable Federal Capital Territory in Africa. The project holds significant benefits for the FCT and serves as a model for sustainable development across Africa. The Director General of Nigeria's National Council on Climate Change, Dr. Salisu Dahiru, also expressed optimism about its potential impact. He stated, "This transformative project represents a significant milestone in Nigeria's journey towards sustainable development and Net Zero. By harnessing the power of waste, we can address pressing environmental challenges while creating a cleaner, greener, and more prosperous future for all Nigerians." Speaking further, he revealed that Nigeria is currently at the forefront of regulating Methane Emissions in Africa. "This project has a lot of Methane-to-Market potential that will be of great economic benefit to the project's promoters, investors and Nigeria. The investment opportunities in this project are enormous," he concluded. Contact: Juddie Passion ***@greenplithafrica.com +1(917) 775 - 7187 Photos: https://www.prlog.org/12969930 Press release distributed by PRLog View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sector-lead-pioneers-africas-first-zero-waste-green-smart-sustainable-federal-capital-territory-301854819.html SOURCE GreenPlinth Africa LTD [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] FDH Aero Announces New Distribution Agreement with Leach International Corp Tweet Agreement further strengthens FDH Aero's newly consolidated Electronic Products Group COMMERCE, Calif., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FDH Aero ("FDH"), a global provider of supply chain solutions for the aerospace and defense industry, announced today a new distribution agreement between its Electronic Products Group ("FDH EPG") and trusted military-aerospace (mil-aero) supplier Leach International Corp. The agreement makes FDH Aero one of a select few distributors offering the full range of Leach's electromechanical power and distribution products, including relays, contactors, switches and circuit breakers. Moreover, the agreement highlights the continuing investments FDH Aero is making to simplify the supply chain for customers in the mil-aero market. "Our expanded partnership with Leach leverages the existing relationship with FDH's recent acquisition of BJG Electronics and broadens the solutions that FDH can deliver its mil-aero customers," FDH EPG President Mitch Enright said. "FDH Aero is dedicated to delivering quality, agility and critcal parts to the aerospace and defense industries and this distribution agreement is further evidence of our commitment." With a focus on white-glove customer service and partnership agreements with the industry's trusted component brands, FDH Aero has become a leading supply-chain solutions partner. The company delivers a full range of hardware, electrical, chemical and consumable products and value-add services to the world's aerospace and defense customers. "FDH Aero's Electronic Products Group comprises mil-aero brands that are well-known for their superior customer service and that we've had the pleasure of working with before," said Elijah Dobrusin, Leach Vice President of Sales & Marketing. "We're confident this alliance will provide outstanding support to mil-aero companies that rely on Leach parts every day for their critical power distribution needs." About FDH Aero FDH Aero is a trusted global supply chain partner for aerospace and defense companies. With more than 55 years of experience, it specializes in c-class components that include hardware, electrical, chemical, and consumable products and services for global OEM and aftermarket customers. FDH is headquartered in Commerce, California, and has operations across North America, Europe, and Asia. FDH Aero has locations in 14 countries across the globe, with more than 1,000 best-in-industry employees and over 650,000 square feet of inventory space. For more information, please visit the FDH Aero website. About Leach International A leader in power distribution since 1919, Leach sets the standard for the design and manufacture of electrical relays, contactors, power distribution assemblies, electrical switches, relays, and control devices. With prominent customers in aviation, space, military, and railway systems, Leach has established a reputation as power distribution experts creating quality products built for longevity and mission-critical performance that meet customer schedule requirements. For more information, please visit the Leach website. Contact Heather Rosenow Vice President, Global Marketing & Communications [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fdh-aero-announces-new-distribution-agreement-with-leach-international-corp-301854651.html SOURCE FDH Aero [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] Dassault Aviation and Dassault Systemes Partner to Bring Secure, Sovereign Collaboration on the Cloud to Next Generation Defense Programs Tweet Dassault Systemes (Euronext Paris: FR0014003TT8, DSY.PA) and Dassault Aviation (Euronext Paris FR0014004L86, AM.PA) today announced at the Paris Air Show, the next step in their long-term collaboration aimed at bringing the highest levels of security, sovereignty and collaboration on the cloud to major defense programs. Dassault Aviation will use Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud to develop its next-generation fighter, a key project in the Future Combat Air System industrial collaboration to ensure the future of European autonomy and sovereignty in defense and security. This cloud environment will be localized in Dassault Aviation premises and operated by Dassault Systemes through its OUTSCALE brand, whose SecNumCloud qualification is the highest security recognition given by the National Cybersecurity Agency of France. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform provides a dedicated sovereign defense cloud in which Dassault Aviation and its partners can develop the fighter with greater agility in a highly secured and scalable environment. Users will benefit from continuous software developments by Dassault Systemes that deliver the latest capabilities in systems engineering, program management, design, simulation and other disciplines. "France and Europe need to build up a sovereign Cloud capability, so that they can develop collaborative defense programs with the best possible functionality. Initiatives are already in place outside Europe. We need to stay in the race. In Europe, we are fortunate to have the world leader in digital solutions for the development of industrial products in the Cloud. For our part, we're an industrial architect, a custodian of sovereignty technologies and experienced in prime contracting for major military programs, both in France and in multinational cooperation. This partnership between Dassault Aviation and Dassault Systemes provides the first collaborative engineering solution adapted to the cyber regulations required for defense programs, and evolving at the speed of the Cloud," said Eric Trappier, Chairman and CEO, Dassault Aviation. As part of Dassault Aviation's ongoing digital transformation, Dassault Systemes will also extend this infrastructure to all of Dassault Aviation's new programs, to provide a consistent, secure environment for seamless, compliant programs. "Society today is faced with profound challenges requiring defense programs that can ensure a safer future for citizens. In this context, industry innovators working with highly sensitive data must transform their programs - and how they work with their ecosystems - to secure every phase of development," said Bernard Charles, Chairman and CEO, Dassault Systemes. "Today, our ongoing partnership with Dassault Aviation is reaching new heights - positioning us as key actors in the emergence of a Eurpean sovereign cloud with the highest level of security. As the strategic, sovereign cloud partner for governments and companies, we can bring the same security in defense to other industries such as health care and public services." Dassault Aviation will rely on the "Winning Concept," "Program Excellence," "Co-Design to Target" and "Ready for Rate" industry solution experiences based on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, which simplify and streamline the development of highly complex systems and programs to meet budget, schedule and performance targets. Social media: Connect with Dassault Systemes on Twitter Facebook LinkedIn YouTube For more information: Dassault Systemes' industry solution experiences for Aerospace and Defense: https://www.3ds.com/industries/aerospace-defense/aerospace-defense-solutions Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE platform, 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions: http://www.3ds.com About Dassault Systemes Dassault Systemes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, is a catalyst for human progress. We provide business and people with collaborative virtual environments to imagine sustainable innovations. By creating virtual twin experiences of the real world with our 3DEXPERIENCE platform and applications, our customers can redefine the creation, production and life-cycle-management processes of their offer and thus have a meaningful impact to make the world more sustainable. The beauty of the Experience Economy is that it is a human-centered economy for the benefit of all -consumers, patients and citizens. Dassault Systemes brings value to more than 300,000 customers of all sizes, in all industries, in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit www.3ds.com Dassault Systemes. All rights reserved. 3DEXPERIENCE, the 3DS logo, the Compass icon, IFWE, 3DEXCITE, 3DVIA, BIOVIA, CATIA, CENTRIC PLM, DELMIA, ENOVIA, GEOVIA, MEDIDATA, NETVIBES, OUTSCALE, SIMULIA and SOLIDWORKS are commercial trademarks or registered trademarks of Dassault Systemes, a European company (Societas Europaea) incorporated under French law, and registered with the Versailles trade and companies registry under number 322 306 440, or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. About Dassault Aviation With over 10,000 military and civil aircraft (including 2,700 Falcons) delivered in more than 90 countries over the last century, Dassault Aviation has built up expertise recognized worldwide in the design, development, sale and support of all types of aircraft, ranging from the Rafale fighter, to the high-end Falcon family of business jets, military drones and space systems. In 2022, Dassault Aviation reported revenues of 6.9 billion. The company has 12,700 employees. www.dassault-aviation.com twitter.com/dassault_onair linkedin.com/company/dassault-aviation facebook.com/dassaultaviation HD photos: mediaprophoto.dassault-aviation.com HD videos: mediaprovideo.dassault-aviation.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620937818/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] 14 Relief Programs To Consider When Youre Behind on Bills ArtistGNDphotography / Getty Images Especially in the wake of a pandemic, being unable to pay bills is a reality that many Americans face. Whether it be once in a while, or an unfortunate recurrence, sometimes payments cannot be made. SNAP Schedule 2023: When June Payments Are Coming Learn: How To Build Your Savings From Scratch This is especially harmful when it comes to healthcare. Not being able to afford medicine and service can be a life or death situation. Fortunately, there are public and private programs that people can turn to when they need some extra support. Prescriptions and Medical Bills The prospect of not being able to pay for your medicine is a scary one thankfully, there are programs that can help. 1. Prescription Manufacturers If a prescription is too expensive, sometimes the manufacturers themselves will offer coupons or rebates to save money. Companies like GoodRx and WellRx can help you locate those coupons so you dont have to pay full price. You can also try visiting the prescription manufacturers website to see if they offer any coupons or rebates that you can scan at the pharmacy. The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company is another option for big discounts on life-saving drugs. Im a Financial Planning Expert: Here Are 5 Things You Should Never Spend Money on If You Want To Be Rich 2. State Agencies and Local Healthcare Centers Most likely, there are organizations local to you that specialize in helping residents get medicine for cheap or free. Check your countys health department website to see if there are patient assistance programs that can help negotiate the price of your prescriptions for you. You can also find resources there to obtain care and medicine if you dont have insurance. 3. Medicare Social Security manages the enrollment program for Medicare. Generally, Medicare is available for people who are 65 or older, people with disabilities and people with End Stage Renal Disease. You can choose a plan within Medicare that offers additional drug coverage, so you wont pay as much for medicine. Medicare also offers access to pharmaceutical assistance programs that can bring the cost of prescriptions down. In addition, you can apply to Extra Help, a program that caters to low income residents to ensure you never pay more than $10.35 for a prescription. The Medicare Savings Program can also help pay for your monthly Medicare premium, if you qualify for assistance. 4. Medicaid and CHIP Medicaid and Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are medical programs available to people and their children primarily based on income. Medicaid offers a number of programs including the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program which also serves Medicare recipients that help make medicine more affordable and accessible. Both Medicaid and CHIP provide help to pay off medical bills, as well. 5. Health Insurance Marketplace If you dont have access to insurance, you can visit Healthcare.gov also known as the health insurance marketplace to choose a plan to purchase. Depending on your income and state, you may qualify for discounted plans so your monthly cost isnt so high. 6. Community Clinics Some clinics will charge little or nothing to patients depending on their income. You can be treated for medical, dental and vision purposes in addition to receiving free or discounted prescriptions. Check here to find a free clinic near you based on your state. 7. Local Hospital Charity Care Some hospitals and healthcare facilities will offer free or discounted care to those who cannot afford to pay for medical care. This is known as charity care. Most of the time, youll need to apply before seeking care. Qualifications and processes differ by state. Utilities Keeping the lights on can be a struggle, but these organizations can help. 8. Lifeline Lifeline is a federal program that helps decrease the cost of phone and internet services for those who cant afford the full price. You can check lifelinesupport.org to see if you qualify and how to apply for assistance. 9. Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) LIHEAP helps eligible low-income households with their heating and cooling energy costs, bill payment assistance, energy crisis assistance, weatherization and energy-related home repairs. If youre already enrolled in SNAP or TANF, you might be automatically eligible. Find more eligibility info here. Food Stamps: Do People on SNAP Need To Work Full Time? 10. Local Social Service Agencies and Nonprofits Nonprofits and other organizations near you might offer programs that can lower your utility bills based on how much you make. Check NeedHelpPayingBills.com to find agencies near you that might be of service. General Assistance Setbacks happen and can have a variety of ramifications, so dont be ashamed to reach out for help. 11. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) TANF, also known as Welfare, helps families get back on their feet after experiencing difficult situations. Each state has its own set of qualifications for TANF. If you do qualify, you can get access to food, housing, utilities assistance, child care and job training. You can contact your nearest TANF office here. Rent and Housing Costs Keeping a roof over your head is second only to food and water. Take a look at these options if youre struggling to afford housing. 12. Emergency Rental Assistance for Renters and Landlords The U.S. Department of Treasury has established a program that helps renters pay utilities and rent if they fall on hard times. Your qualifications are based on what state you live in. You can find out more information on how to qualify here. 13. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) HUD offers assistance to those who are having issues affording housing. HUD offers counselors who can help you if youre struggling to make rent or mortgage payments. You can talk to a HUD housing counselor by calling (800) 569-4287 or visiting this website. HUDs Find Shelter tool can also help if youre in immediate need of housing, food, medical care or clothing. 14. Call 211 If you need immediate housing assistance, you can dial 211. This line will also give you information on finding food and job training if youre in need. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 14 Relief Programs To Consider When Youre Behind on Bills [June 20, 2023] Indian Minorities diaspora participates in large number during Ziyarat organized at USA's oldest Mazar ahead of PM Modi's US State Visit Tweet IMF delegation offers sacred Chadar from Dargah Ajmer Sharif at Mazar of Shaikh M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen in the USA IMF launches its third international chapter in the USA PHILADELPHIA and CHANDIGARH, India, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As the day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historic state visit to the United States of America (USA) 21st June 2023 is approaching, the excitement level and spirits of the Indian Diaspora are lifted. In this regard, a multi-faith delegation of the Indian Minorities Foundation (IMF) comprising religious and community leaders, and philanthropists belonging to different minority communities participated in prayers at USA's oldest Mazar of the Sufi saint Shaikh MR Bawa Muhaiyaddeen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The multifaith delegation was led by Ahamed Muhaiyadeen Jonathan Granoff, President Global Security Council, Special Representative to the United Nations for the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates and Ambassador for Peace and Security of the Parliament of the World's Religions along with IMF Convener and Chancellor Chandigarh University Satnam Singh Sandhu. Ahead of the much-anticipated state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US, the minority communities in the Indian diaspora living in the USA are thrilled about it. They have expressed eagerness to see PM Modi holding talks in the USA and addressing the US Congress. Ahamed Muhaiyadeen Jonathan Granoff, President Global Security Council, said, "India has given the message of 'world as a family' and I believe this stands out when we talk about PM Modi. The American community along with the Indian diaspora here is awaiting his arrival." Ahamed Muhaiyadeen Jonathan Granoff, who is also an ambassador for Peace and Security of the Parliament of the World's Religions, said, "I understand that over the parliament of India is the verse of Maha Upanishad the world is a family and that is a message that we need in America and the world because this is the truth. We welcome PM Modi here with that heart as a family." IMF Convener and Chancellor Chandigarh University Satnam Singh Sandhu said, "Minority communities in India were a mere source of vote bank and to appease them the governments during the 65 years since independence made promises which were never kept." He further said, "PM Narendra Modi walked the path to fulfill the aspirations of minority communities and resolved their long pending issues". During his address at the Ziyarat, Satnam Singh Sandhu said that during PM Modi's nine years, the minority communities in India flourished, and a new wave of peace and communal harmony spread throughout the country. He further added that "Unlike previous governments, PM Modi left no promise and delivery gap during the last nine years in India which led to all-inclusive development in the country and has elevated the minority communities in the country." Sacred Chadar from Ajmer Sharif Dargah India offered at Mazar Shaikh M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen as a message of peace and humanity on-behalf of 1.4 billion Indians The multifaith delegation comprising Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Jains, and Buddhists took part in the mass prayers held for the propagation of the message of world peace, stability, and success of PM Modi's US visit for strengthening the relationship between the two nations. During the prayers by the IMF delegation, Sacred Chadar brought by IMF Convener Sanam Singh Sandhu and IMF Founder Prof Himani Sood from Ajmer Sharif Dargah Khawaja Garib Nawaj India was offered at the Mazar of Shaikh M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen which is the sacred resting place of Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, the Sufi saint, and founder of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship. While offering the Sacred Chadar at Mazar, IMF Convener and Chancellor Chandigarh University said, "We have brought the message of humanity, peace, and brotherhood from India to the United States. This is the message of 1.4 billion Indians which our beloved Prime Minister Narendra Modi is bringing to the United States during his state visit which begins this week". This is the first of its kind of mass prayer attended by a delegation comprising of multifaith communities at the Mazar of Philadelphia. Philadelphia chosen for multifaith delegation keeping its historic importance in mind says Satnam Singh Sandhu "We had intentionally chosen Philadelphia for the multifaith delegation to offer prayers for world peace and humanity keeping in mind the historic importance of the city. This is the city where a strong foundation of inclusive & equal society of United States of America was laid in 1787," said Satnam Singh Sandhu. The US Constitution which guarantees freedom of right to practice his or her own religion was written and signed in Philadelphia in the Assembly Room of the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall. During his address, Satnam Singh Sandhu said that, "During PM Modi's nine years, the minority communities in India flourished, and a new wave of peace and communal harmony spread throughout the country. Pending issues of Minority Communities such as the Opening of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor after 7 Decades, ensuring Justice for 1984 Anti-Sikh Riot Victims after 3 Decades for the Sikh Community, abolition of Triple Talaq, FCRA Registration for Harimandir Sahib, and the creation of Ladakh as separate UT were all resolved during the 9 years of PM Modi's tenure." Pakistani Muslims living in the USA praise PM Modi for inclusive policies "Working for improving the living standards of every citizen irrespective of their caste, religion or community has been the mark of PM Modi's 9 years in tenure. Through various initiatives Prime Minister Narendra Modi has infused the spirit of inclusivity, equality, and belongingness amongst every Indian, especially amongst the people belonging to different minorities' communities," said Mehmood, a Pakistani Muslim living in the United States and originally hailing from Lahore. He further added, "No matter what religion one belongs to, we are all one, and shall live together in peace and harmony. India is a perfect example of unity in diversity with different religions flourishing alongside each other. Further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a secular leader who respects all religions. Through his works over the years, he has ensured equality and unity among all in the country, and worked for establishing peace and harmony between the communities." IMF launches its USA chapter; aimed at connecting the Indian diaspora with their motherland The Indian Minorities Foundation (IMF) which has been established by NID Foundation launched its third international chapter in the United States (US), on June 18, at The Green Barn Gallery in Pennsylvania, USA, during the IMF delegation's visit to the Mazar of the Sufi saint Shaikh MR Bawa Muhaiyaddeen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The launch of this chapter is aimed to provide a common platform for Indian minority communities living in the country to address their issues and act as a bridge between them and the Indian government. Earlier IMF launched its international chapters in Australia and New Zealand. It was launched by Ahamed Muhaiyadeen Jonathan Granoff, President Global Security Council who also serves as a Special Representative to the United Nations for the Permanent Secretariat of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates along with IMF convenor and Chancellor Chandigarh University, Satnam Singh Sandhu; Prof Himani Sood; Michael Green, an American Sufi artist based in Pennsylvania among other religious leaders and preachers were present on the occasion. Meanwhile, IMF convenor, Satnam Singh Sandhu, during the launch ceremony in Pennsylvania, said that IMF's prime objective is to prepare a roadmap for the role and contribution of minority communities in India's vision of making India a developed nation by 2047 that is Amrit Kaal. Pakistani women appreciate welfare measures taken by PM Modi to strengthen the rights of Muslim Women in India; Hope for other Muslim nations to follow in their footsteps. "Muslim women have raised their voice all over the world for equal rights for many decades but Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 took the bold and decisive step to establish a strong law to abolish Triple Talaq," said Saba Malik, a Pakistani Muslim woman. Muslim women from all over the world are grateful to PM Modi who has walked the path of giving Muslim women the equal rights they deserve. Saba Malik hoped that other nations especially Muslim countries will follow in the footsteps shown by Prime Minister Modi in the future. Another young Muslim girl from Pakistan Hazel said, "Abolition of Triple Talaq has infused new confidence in every Muslim Woman who can now stand up to raise their other issues." Another group of Muslim women comprising of Hiba, Wajiha, and Aayesha who hail from Pakistan said, "PM Modi enjoys a global following and hence we are confident that taking a cue from his actions to protect the rights of Muslim Women, other nations across the world will understand the importance of the women rights." About India Minorities Foundation India Minorities Foundation, a non- government organization, founded by Satnam Singh Sandhu, Chancellor Chandigarh University, is committed to promote patriotism and national pride among minority groups and support to empower individuals and communities. IMF is working to promote a sense of belonging and inclusion. The main objective of IMF is to foster a sense of national pride with a sense of national pride among minority groups by highlighting their shared history, culture, and contributions to the nation, and by encouraging active participation in civic life. Website: http://minorities.foundation/ About Chandigarh University Chandigarh University is a NAAC A+ Grade University and an autonomous educational institution approved by UGC and is located near Chandigarh in the state of Punjab. It is the youngest university in India and the only private university in Punjab to be honoured with A+ Grade by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council). CU offers more than 109 UG and PG programs in the field of engineering, management, pharmacy, law, architecture, journalism, animation, hotel management, commerce, and others. It has been awarded as The University with Best Placements by WCRC. Website: https://www.cuchd.in/ Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2106014/Community_leaders_offering_sacred_Chadar.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/in/news-releases/indian-minorities-diaspora-participates-in-large-number-during-ziyarat-organized-at-usas-oldest-mazar-ahead-of-pm-modis-us-state-visit-301855113.html [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] TurnKey Internet Expands to Europe with Latest Server Models Tweet TurnKey Internet, a Colohouse Company and leading provider of colocation, cloud, bare metal and managed services, debuts its first European location to better service customer needs. The company's carrier-neutral Amsterdam location is connected to over 115 networks and peering exchanges, including AMS-IX. TurnKey Internet launched its latest enterprise servers featuring the 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, adding cloud VPS. This allows for the expanded workload of applications and a new dedicated server product line designed to exceed the current and future demands of the company's fast-paced customer base. "Our European-based customers are creating agile and mission critical environments that require 24/7 multi-cloud and multi-geolocation. With the combined resources of TurnKey Internet and Colohouse, we were able to launch our new anchor site in the Netherlands," said Kyle Verzello, Chief Operating Officer at TurnKey Internet, a Colohouse Company. "We know location matters regardingcustomer servers and data. Our enterprise series servers are built on a solid bare metal foundation to provide best-in-class features in multiple state-of-the-art data centers across the United States and now in Europe." "Deploying our cloud and bare metal server product line in Amsterdam allows lower latency connectivity to customers in the EU along with multi-continent redundancy and disaster recovery services to our existing customers in the US. This is a huge step forward in our company's continued growth and expansion under Colohouse," said Joe Schoonbeck, VP of Hosting at Colohouse. "The TurnKey Internet team puts its customers first and this expansion to Amsterdam is no exception. Our customers hosted in Amsterdam can expect the same level of industry-leading service, automation, and uptime as our US-based customers have come to expect and experience. Combined with the powerhouse performance and efficiency of the new R650xs, this new location provides a true TurnKey all-in-one platform." TurnKey Internet plans to continue its expansion efforts in Europe and Asia throughout 2023 and beyond with new product plans on the horizon. To learn more about TurnKey Internet's services or to configure servers in Amsterdam, please visit wwww.turnkeyinternet.net/datacenters/Amsterdam. About TurnKey Internet Founded in 1999, TurnKey Internet is a full-service IT Hosting Solutions provider specializing in Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) to clients in more than 150 countries. Services offered include Cloud Hosting, Dedicated & Bare Metal Servers, Backup & Disaster Recovery, Online Storage, Web Hosting, Managed Hosting, and Hybrid Solutions. Headquartered in New York's Tech Valley Region, TurnKey Internet takes pride in its customer focused 5-star experience that exceeds expectations by delivering outstanding quality, reliability, and value. TurnKey Internet always puts the customer experience first. TurnKey Internet is a Colohouse Company. For more information, please call (518) 618-0999 or visit www.turnkeyinternet.net. About Colohouse Colohouse provides a digital foundation that connects our customers with impactful technology solutions and services. Our managed data center and cloud infrastructure paired with key edge locations and reliable connectivity allow our customers to confidently scale their applications and data while optimizing for cost, performance, and security. For more information about Colohouse, please visit www.colohouse.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620275856/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] WealthRocket Survey Finds 59% of Canadians Willing to Use a Central Bank Digital Currency, But Many Have Concerns Tweet 59% of Canadians are willing, to varying degrees, to use a CBDC if one ever becomes available. 56% of Canadians are concerned about the potential for fraud with a CBDC, as well as risk of cyber attacks (53%), and potential misuse of personal data (44%). with a CBDC, as well as risk of cyber attacks (53%), and potential misuse of personal data (44%). 51% of Canadians are somewhat confident in the Bank of Canada to safeguard their privacy if a CBDC is implemented, while 25% aren't confident at all. TORONTO, June 20, 2023 /CNW/ - A new survey conducted by WealthRocket reveals the majority of Canadians (59%) are willing, to varying degrees, to use a central bank digital currency (CBDC) but cite concerns around transaction anonymity, potential for fraud, and misuse of personal data, among others. With the Bank of Canada (BoC) exploring the idea of launching a CBDC and recently fielding a public consultation on the topic, more education may be needed before Canadians can weigh the potential pros against their concerns. Canadians mixed on the Bank of Canada's ability to safeguard privacy The survey, which polled 1,500 Canadians ages 18 and older, sheds light on the public's current perception of CBDCs. While 51% of respondents expressed some level of confidence in the Bank of Canada's ability to safeguard their privacy, 25% had no confidence at all. Top privacy concerns for Canadians polled include: Potential for fraud (56%) (56%) Risk of cyber attacks (53%) Lost control over personal finances (39%) CBDC's potential impact on cash transactions While the BoC maintains that cash isn't going anywhere a CBDC would be used alongside our bills and coins WealthRocket asked Canadians if they would be willing to use a CBDC in place of cash: 25% said yes 12% said no 38% said maybe 25% said they'd use cash alongside a CBDC Survey methodology Data was collected via an online Pollfish survey of 1,500 Canadians ages 18 and older conducted between May 25 and 30, 2023. The estimated margin of error for a survey of this size is +/- 3%. About WealthRocket WealthRocket is a Canadian personal finance website focused on credit cards, banking, investing, budgeting, and more. Our mission is to empower Canadians to make informed financial decisions and get the most out of their money. SOURCE WealthRocket [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] Radian to Host Investor Day Today Tweet Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN) will host an Investor Day today, Tuesday, June 20, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. EDT and ring the Closing Bell at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City. The company's senior leaders will provide details on Radian's business strategy, priorities, key business and product initiatives and financial metrics. The event will be broadcast live over the Internet at https://www.radian.com/who-we-are/for-investors/webcasts. To learn more, visit the company's Investor Day webpage at https://www.radian.com/who-we-are/for-investors/investor-day. A replay of the webcast will be available at https://www.radian.com/who-we-are/for-investors/webcasts following the live broadcast, for a period of one year. To watch Radian ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange, visit its website livestream before 4:00 p.m. EDT. A recording of the bell ringing will also be made available on the New York Stock Exchange website. Photos of the event will also be available on LinkedIn and Twitter and easily available via #RadianInvestorDay2023. About Radian Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN) is ensuring the American dream of homeownership responsibly and sustainably through products and services that include industry-leading mortgage insurance and a comprehensive suite of mortgage, risk, title, valuation, asset management and other real estate services. We are powered by technology, informed by data and driven to deliver new and better ways to transact and manage risk. Visit radian.com and homegenius.com to learn more about how Radian and its pioneering homegenius platform are building a smarter future for mortgage and real estate services. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620408777/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] Saama Launches Industry's First AI-driven Data Platform to Accelerate Clinical Development Tweet Saama, a provider of AI- and ML-based solutions that accelerate clinical development and commercialization, announced today the launch of its unified platform of SaaS-based products to accompany its existing portfolio of customized solutions and services. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620784884/en/ Vivek Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, Saama (Photo: Business Wire) When using Saama's advanced solutions, clinical trial sponsors and CROs reduce query identification and generation times by as much as 90% per query, realize up to 50% time savings for study data transformations, reduce time from data entry to analysis by more than 35%, and more. The new Saama platform deploys its proven artificial intelligence (AI)- and machine learning (ML)-enhanced solutions to automate key clinical development processes and provide a holistic view of trial operations and patient progress in one location. "Life science companies face significant headwinds in terms of the complexity and cost of conducting clinical research and bringing new treatments to market," said Vivek Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, Saama. "Saama's unified platform demonstrates to trial sponsors and CROs the power of automation to drive efficiencies as well as enable greater visibility into clinical data to deliver novel treatments to patients." Today's clinical research and development environment is faced with many challenges, including the cost o developing novel treatments, pressure to bring a greater number of therapies to market faster, the increasing volume and velocity of patient data, and a shortage of talent to bring life-changing therapies to patients who need them. By applying AI and advanced analytics to key clinical development processes, Saama's platform eliminates manual, resource-intensive activities, allowing life science organizations to optimize productivity as well as gain deeper insights into patients' behaviors and their real-time response to treatments. AI models take years and millions of data points to train accurately. Saama has nearly a decade of AI research with 90+ models built for life sciences and trained on over 300 million data points. These models are embedded directly within the Saama platform, allowing for the fast and seamless deployment of new models within existing products as the platform continues to evolve and scale to meet the needs of customers. "We have the ability to fundamentally change the way we run clinical trials - to be more efficient and to transform how we collect and analyze data," said Lisa Moneymaker, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Product Officer, Saama. "By unifying our product suite into the Saama platform, we have the foundation to support clinical trials in a repeatable and scalable way. We will continue to build on this infrastructure to unleash new products that help to speed new treatments through the drug development process and into the hands of the patients that need them most." The Saama platform supports the full spectrum of clinical development with its portfolio of AI-enabled SaaS solutions comprised of: Data Hub - the most robust solution available today that centralizes and standardizes clinical, operational, financial, and more data in a single location. - the most robust solution available today that centralizes and standardizes clinical, operational, financial, and more data in a single location. Operational Insights - provides a holistic view of trial operations, in real time, to all team members and seamlessly visualizes clinical, operational, and financial data, including EDC, CTMS, and eTMF data. - provides a holistic view of trial operations, in real time, to all team members and seamlessly visualizes clinical, operational, and financial data, including EDC, CTMS, and eTMF data. Patient Insights - centralizes and visualizes patient data in a single location - as well as applies AI to patient data in real time - allowing researchers to predict patient behavior, track progress, and even accelerate clinical signal discovery. - centralizes and visualizes patient data in a single location - as well as applies AI to patient data in real time - allowing researchers to predict patient behavior, track progress, and even accelerate clinical signal discovery. Source to Submission (S2S) - automates the complex SDTM transformation process with advanced AI/ML allowing sponsors to simplify and accelerate their regulatory submissions. - automates the complex SDTM transformation process with advanced AI/ML allowing sponsors to simplify and accelerate their regulatory submissions. Smart Data Quality (SDQ) - automates data cleaning, review, and reconciliation processes for data managers, reducing query generation times by as much as 90% per query. To learn more about the Saama platform and its custom solutions and services or to schedule a personalized demonstration, visit saama.com. We invite you to visit us in Booth 903 at the DIA 2023 Global Annual Meeting from June 25-29 in Boston, Massachusetts to learn more. About Saama Saama develops life science solutions that accelerate the delivery of therapies to patients. With innovative AI/ML technologies, Saama drives breakthrough intelligence into clinical and commercial operations. The Saama platform powered the clinical trial that led to the world's first COVID-19 vaccine. Headquartered in Campbell, CA, with employees around the globe, Saama is committed to helping customers save and improve lives. Discover more at saama.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620784884/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] CodeMettle Wins U.S. Army Contract to Provide Software Licenses for Integrated NetOps Battalion and Below (INB2) Tweet INB2 is the first multi-vendor, waveform agnostic NetOps software application to allow monitoring and management of the Integrated Tactical Network (ITN) from Company to Division. ATLANTA, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CodeMettle, an innovative developer of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) NetOps software, has been awarded a contract to provide software licenses for the INB2 Program that will be used to field and manage disparate and interconnected radio networks. This contract marks the software's initial program deployment, which concludes a five-year Middle Tier Acquisition (MTA) process that started at a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 5 and is now at a TRL of 8. CodeMettle demonstrated the software's performance and reliability during the Army's Capability Set Operations Demonstration and Adversary Assessment with the 2nd Calvary Regiment as well as Pacific Pathways with the 82nd Airborne Division. "The Army can now monitor and manage tactical radios in conjunction with the Lower Tactical Tier (LTT) netwoks quickly and with ease knowing they're using a tool that was developed through agile practices and continuous feedback loops through multiple Soldier touch points," said Richard Graham, CEO of CodeMettle. "We are certain all Army units, other U.S. military branches, and even federal law enforcement have similar requirements and that they will be able to easily implement and deploy this solution to modernize and better manage their radio networks as well." CodeMettle's NetOps capability is a first-of-its-kind, platform-agnostic implementation utilizing software architectures to provide distributed common management and operational views of multi-vendor, Disconnected, Intermittent, and Limited (DIL) radio networks. It provides an intuitive, user-friendly interface, integrates with virtually any tactical radio type and waveform, reduces the time it takes to keep radio networks up and running, and requires minimal training to operate effectively. CodeMettle is continuing to advance its INB2 solution to meet the Army's LTT requirements within the Unified Network Operations (UNO) Program of Record and is looking forward to supplying more licenses to the Army as it continues to field the solution. About CodeMettle CodeMettle serves defense, government, and commercial partners through innovative and scalable commercial software products. Our agile solutions solve the most complex data integration, network operations, and process challenges. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, CodeMettle provides a suite of distributed and scalable Network Operations products that enable enterprises to analyze, organize, and consolidate complex data, processes, and operations. Learn more at www.codemettle.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/codemettle-wins-us-army-contract-to-provide-software-licenses-for-integrated-netops-battalion-and-below-inb2-301854642.html SOURCE CodeMettle [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] Worldwide Spending on the Internet of Things is Forecast to Surpass $1 Trillion in 2026, According to a New IDC Spending Guide Tweet Worldwide spending on the Internet of Things (IoT) is forecast to be $805.7 billion in 2023, an increase of 10.6% over 2022, according to a new International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Internet of Things Spending Guide. Investments in the IoT ecosystem are expected to surpass $1 trillion in 2026 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.4% over the 2023-2027 forecast period. "The last few years have shown that connecting with a digital infrastructure is no longer a luxury, but a necessity," said Carlos M. Gonzalez, research manager for the Internet of Things at IDC. "For organizations to excel in data-driven operations, investing in IoT projects is essential. Connecting devices to data networks to gather insight, expand operations, and increase performance are the hallmarks of executing an IoT ecosystem." Discrete and Process Manufacturing are the industries that will see the largest investment in IoT solutions in 2023 and throughout the forecast period, accounting for more than one third of all IoT spending worldwide. Professional Services, Utilities, and Retail are the next largest industries in terms of overall IoT spending with roughly 25% of the worldwide total. State/Local Government and Telecommunications will deliver the fastest spending growth over the five-year forecast with CAGRs of 12.0% and 11.7% respectively. A graphic illustrating worldwide IoT spending by the top 5 industries in 2023 is available by viewing this press release on IDC.com. IoT investment is a key building block to supporting an increasingly digital and distributed organizational footprint. Most of these investments are seeking solutions that can help organizations achieve a specific business goal or customer challenge, such as cost savings or supply chain efficiency. As such, use cases are the focus of most IoT investment plans. The two IoT use cases that will receive the most investment in 2023 are both closely tied to the manufacturing industries: Manufacturing Operations ($73.0 billion) and Production Asset Management ($68.2 billion). The next largest use cases - Inventory Intelligence ($37.6 billion), Smart Grid (Electricity) ($36.9 billion), and Supply Chain Resilience ($31.6 billion) - will benefit from strong investments from the Retail and Utilities industries. The use cases that will experience the fastest spending growth represent the diverse application of IoT technologies - Electric Vehicle Charging (30.9% CAGR), Next Generation Loss Prevention (14.5% CAGR), Agriculture Field Monitoring (1.9% CAGR), and Connected Vending and Lockers (13.8% CAGR). "Updates to the IoT use case taxonomy in this release of the IoT Spending Guide reflect the evolving Digital Transformation investment objectives of enterprises. Thematically, greater investment in goods production and supply chains resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and global reactions that caused massive business and societal disruptions are evident in the new use cases. These production and supply chain related use cases can be seen in the Discrete Manufacturing, Process Manufacturing, Retail, and Transportation industries," said Marcus Torchia, research vice president with IDC's Data & Analytics Group. "Meanwhile, digital business investments are ramping up in other industries such as the Resource Industries. For example, IoT is helping to improve upstream supply chain processes in Agriculture, such as growing, harvesting, and delivering higher quality produce to market." This release of the IoT Spending Guide also includes a Video Analytics overlay forecast that is intended to provide high-level insight into a broadly adopted use case (i.e., found in most or all enterprise industries). Video analytics refers to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced algorithms to recognize, detect and analyze live or stored video feeds in a variety of uses, including business analytics, security surveillance, and other rapidly evolving adaptations of this technology. These uses are found in numerous settings (e.g., business analytics in manufacturing and retail, in government for crowd management and traffic congestion management, and broadly for security surveillance). Video analytics requires IP networked capable cameras to support the advanced software whether embedded in hardware or provided by third party vendors. IDC expects spending on Video Analytics solutions across all industries to be more than $23.5 billion this year. Future releases of the IoT Spending Guide will include additional broadly adopted use cases, such as smart buildings. From a technology perspective, IoT services will be the largest area of spending in 2023 and through the end of the forecast, accounting for nearly 40% of all IoT spending worldwide. Hardware spending is the second largest technology category, dominated by module/sensor purchases. Software will be the fastest growing technology category with a five-year CAGR of 11.0% and a focus on application and analytics software purchases. Western Europe, the United States, and China will account for more than half of all IoT spending throughout the forecast. Although Western Europe and the United States currently have similar levels of spending, Western Europe will expand its lead with an 11.0% CAGR over the 2023-2027 forecast, compared to an 8.0% CAGR for the United States. China's IoT spending is forecast to surpass the United States by the end of the forecast due to its 13.2% CAGR. The Worldwide Internet of Things Spending Guide (V1 2023) forecasts IoT spending for 18 technology categories and 70 named use cases (87 including sub-use cases) across 19 industries in nine regions and 53 countries. The spending guide also includes an IoT connectivity forecast for cellular, Low-Power Wide Area Networks, and other connectivity (e.g. wired, satellite). This provides tech buyers and providers with a tool to understand how the plethora of IoT use cases call for multiple connectivity types, driven by different expectations in terms of latency, bandwidth, and data frequency. About IDC Spending Guides IDC's Spending Guides provide a granular view of key technology markets from a regional, vertical industry, use case, buyer, and technology perspective. The spending guides are delivered via pivot table format or custom query tool, allowing the user to easily extract meaningful information about each market by viewing data trends and relationships. For more information about IDC's Spending Guides, please contact Marcus Torchia at [email protected]. Click here to learn about IDC's full suite of data products and how you can leverage them to grow your business. About IDC International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,300 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology, IT benchmarking and sourcing, and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly owned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading tech media, data, and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter at @IDC and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the IDC Blog for industry news and insights. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620731001/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] ADvantage Therapeutics Secures Approvals for Clinical Trial of AD04 in Alzheimer's Disease Treatment in Poland, Bulgaria, and Slovakia Tweet MIAMI, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ADvantage Therapeutics, Inc. (ADvantage or the Company), a pioneer in developing therapies for neurodegenerative conditions with a focus on Alzheimers disease, today announced that regulatory authorities in Poland, Bulgaria, and Slovakia have approved its Clinical Trial Application (CTA) to conduct a clinical trial on its lead candidate, AD04 for the treatment of mild Alzheimers disease (AD) in each respective country. The Phase 2b study authorized in these countries will be a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial aimed at confirming proof-of-concept and establishing the safety and efficacy of AD04 in patients with mild AD. The 12-month study will evaluate various outcomes including hippocampal volume as a primary objective and biomarker endpoint. The primary endpoint is to be composite score integrating ADAScog and ADCS-ADL Other measured outcomes include hippocampal volume, CDR-sb, the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), the Alzheimers disease Assessment scale cognition 13-item scale (ADAScog13), the Alzheimers Disease Cooperative Study Activities of Daily Living Standards (ADCS-ADL), and the patient Quality of Life-Alzheimers disease, all of which are reported either by study subjects or by their caregivers. The Company plans additional European study sites, incorporating additional countries such as France, Germany, and Austria. In a previous study, a 2mg dose of AD04 used in a control arm exhibited a statistically significantly slower decline in cognitive and quality of life measures compared to other arms of that trial. The AD04 control group also showed slower decline in MRI-measured hippocampal volume as a biomarker of AD progression. Preclinical studies have indicated that AD04 decreased the number of inflammatory microglial cells in the hippocampus of mouse models. Inflammation and hyperproliferation of microglial cells are pathological immunological events observed in the brain of Alzheimers patients. Recently, the Company received an Innovation Passport for the treatment of AD under the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP) for AD04 in the United Kingdom. This allows for close collaboration with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) and NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I). In addition, patients are also considered key partners and the patient voice is integrated at every development stage. IAP incorporates the concepts of innovation and patient need according to the MHRA. Achim Schneeberger, M.D., chief medical officer of ADvantage Therapeutics, commented, This represents an important milestone in the launch of our confirmatory trial. We are grateful to the regulatory agencies in Poland, Bulgaria and Slovakia for their collaboration, as we believe that AD04 has the potential to completely change the approach to the treatment of Alzheimers disease. We look forward to evaluating the outcomes in this multi-national study specifically designed for AD04 outcomes and providing updates on the course of the study, as well as its eventual results. ADvantage Therapeutics is dedicated to advancing the science of neurodegenerative diseases and committed to developing innovative therapies that can make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients. For more information on ADvantage Therapeutics, Inc., please visit www.advantagetherapeutics.com About AD04 ADvantage Therapeutics is developing AD04 as a novel immunotherapy for mild Alzheimers Disease. The compound has been used as an adjuvant in human and animal vaccination programs. In a previous trial, AD04 serving as a control against another compound appeared to demonstrate statistically significantly slower decline over other treatment groups in cognitive and quality life clinical measures. AD04 also showed slower decline in hippocampal volume as a biomarker. The Company believes that rather than being limited to a specific aspect of AD pathology, such as amyloid beta or tau, AD04 may address immunological mechanisms in the brain and at the periphery. The Company believes AD04 may function as an immunomodulator, stimulating and/or regulating the immune system to reduce AD pathology. About Alzheimers Disease About forty-four million people worldwide suffer from Alzheimers Disease, and it is the sixth leading cause of death in industrialized countries. In 2019, the World Health Organization estimated the total worldwide cost of dementia at $1.3 trillion and expects this cost to rise to $2 trillion by 2030. While the FDA provisionally approved an anti-amyloid-beta antibody, Aducanumab, in 2021, widespread coverage has not been granted, nor have European countries approved the product. The socio-economic burden of Alzheimers Disease is enormous. AD devastates the lives of patients and their families. They lose their memories and independence, and the loss of a loved relation leaves behind guilt, grief, and anger. Alzheimers Disease is a high unmet medical need as there are currently no disease-modifying drugs approved worldwide. The availability of a safe, effective, affordable drug would transform the life of an AD patient from accepting a debilitating disease to the retention of personality, independence, and dignity. About ADvantage Therapeutics Headquartered in the Wynwood neighborhood in Miami, ADvantage Therapeutics is developing therapies to treat neurodegenerative conditions with a central focus on Alzheimers disease. The Companys lead compound AD04 is an injectable therapy in the process of entering into a confirmatory Phase 2b clinical trials in Europe to evaluate safety and efficacy of the product in mild Alzheimers Disease. The Company believes that AD04 may function as an immunomodulator, stimulating and regulating the immune system to reduce AD pathology, rather than limiting therapy to the aggregation of the proteins present once pathology is present. The Company is also exploring additional approaches to mitigating neurodegenerative disease, which it believes will eventually have an overall impact on longevity. About ADvantage Therapeutics GmbH ADvantage Therapeutics GmbH, founded in 2021, is the Vienna BioCenter-based subsidiary of ADvantage Therapeutics, Inc., where the Company conducts early research and drug development. ADvantage is developing therapies to treat neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimers Disease (AD) and is currently preparing for clinical trials in Europe and in the U.S. Safe Harbor-Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements of potential mode of action, potential clinical effect, potential safety, and ADvantages potential clinical development program and pipeline program. ADvantage is in the early stages of developing and testing its AD04 compound and may not receive regulatory approval to conduct the contemplated Phase 2b trial. The described clinical effect of our lead compound AD04 is primarily based on results of a Phase 2 study designed to evaluate a different compound. The described results need to be confirmed for proof of concept, might not be representative of larger scale clinical trials, and do not guarantee future regulatory approval or clinical success. Any preclinical results presented here are interim. The mechanism of action of AD04 as potentially determined in our future investigations, particularly in future clinical trials with patients with Alzheimers Disease, might differ from the one presented. Contacts: For ADvantage Therapeutics 195 NW 40th Street Miami, FL 33127 Jeffrey Madden CEO [email protected] (305) 846-9027 David Buchsbaum CFO [email protected] (305) 846-9027 For Media: Jules Abraham JQA Partners, Inc. [email protected] (917) 885-7378 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] ResultsCX Earns 2023 Great Place To Work Certification in Four Countries Tweet FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ResultsCX is excited to announce recertification as a Great Place To Work. Not only has the companys U.S. operation been Certified by Great Place To Work for the second year in a row, but initial certification has now been achieved for company operations in Honduras, Mexico, and the Philippines. Most importantly, this prestigious award is based entirely on what current employees say about their experience working at ResultsCX. This year, 84% of employees surveyed across the four countries said ResultsCX is a great place to work. Great Place To Work is the global authority on workplace culture, employee experience, and the leadership behaviors proven to deliver market-leading revenue, employee retention and increased innovation. "Great Place To Work Certification is a highly coveted achievement that requires consistent and intentional dedication to the overall employee experience," says Sarah Lewis-Kulin, the Vice President of Global Recognition at Great Place To Work. She emphasizes that Certification is the sole official recognition earned by the real-time feedback of employees regarding their company culture. By successfully earning this recognition, it is evident that ResultsCX stands out as one of the top companies to work for, providing a great workplace environment for its employees." The expansion of ResultsCXs Great Place to Work Certification demonstrates how we make employee experience a top priority every day, across our global operations, said ResultsCX CEO Rajesh Subramanian. He added, Our employee engagement efforts include employee recognition programs, frequent brand celebrations, and regular communication and feedback opportunities. The exceptional experiences we create for our clients customers would not be possible without the team of dedicated, engaged employees at ResultsCX. We celebrate our great people and thank them for bringing this incredible recognition to the company. According to Great Place To Work research, job seekers are 4.5 times more likely to find a great boss at a Certified great workplace. Additionally, employees at Certified workplaces are 93% more likely to look forward to coming to work, and are twice as likely to be paid fairly, earn a fair share of the companys profits, and have a fair chance at promotion. WERE HIRING! Looking to grow your career at a company that puts its people first? Visit the ResultsCX careers page at https://careers.resultscx.com/. About ResultsCX ResultsCX is a leading provider of transformational Customer Experience Management (CXM) solutions to 75+ global brands, including Fortune 100 and 500 companies. For 30+ years, we have been driving superior customer and business outcomes for brands across Healthcare, Media, Telecom, Fast Growth technology, Retail, Banking and Financial Services, and other industries. Our award-winning approach helps brands prioritize investments and build digitally influenced customer journeys, creating high-value impact across three areas: Revenue Acceleration, Cost Optimization, and Enhanced Experience. Supported by 23,000+ colleagues and 25+ engagement hubs worldwide, our innovative solutions and services solve persistent customer experience challenges, making life easier for millions of consumers. About Great Place to Work Certification Great Place To Work Certification is the most definitive employer-of-choice recognition that companies aspire to achieve. It is the only recognition based entirely on what employees report about their workplace experience specifically, how consistently they experience a high-trust workplace. Great Place to Work Certification is recognized worldwide by employees and employers alike and is the global benchmark for identifying and recognizing outstanding employee experience. Every year, more than 10,000 companies across 60 countries apply to get Great Place To Work-Certified. About Great Place To Work As the global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work brings 30 years of groundbreaking research and data to help every place become a great place to work for all. Their proprietary platform and For All Model helps companies evaluate the experience of every employee, with exemplary workplaces becoming Great Place To Work Certified or receiving recognition on a coveted Best Workplaces List. Learn more at greatplacetowork.com and follow Great Place To Work on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Contact Stephen McClure Director, Marketing ResultsCX [email protected] (954) 668-3165 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] Six million stolen payment cards found on the dark web - 3.5 million (58%) are from the US Tweet LONDON, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Even though banks and other financial institutions do a lot to protect their customers from payment card fraud, criminals still find their way into victims wallets. The newest research by NordVPN analyzed 6 million stolen payment cards found on the dark web. Two in three cards came bundled with at least some private information, such as an address, phone number, email address, or even Social Security number (SSN). As many as 3.5 million (58.1%) analyzed payment cards belonged to Americans, making the US the most affected country globally. Researchers also estimated that the average price of American cards on the dark web is $6.86. American payment cards are prone to fraud: According to NordVPNs card fraud risk index, on a scale from 0 to 1, Americas payment card fraud risk index is 0.79. The cards researchers found are just the tip of the iceberg. The information sold alongside these cards makes it much more dangerous, says Adrianus Warmenhoven, a cybersecurity advisor at NordVPN . In the past, experts linked payment card fraud to brute-forcing attacks when a criminal tries to guess a payment card number and CVV to use their victim's card. However, most of the cards we found during our research were sold alongside the email and home addresses of their victims, which are impossible to brute force. We can therefore conclude that they were stolen using more sophisticated methods, such as phishing and malware. Identity theft through payment card fraud By selling the database analyzed in the research, cybercriminals could earn more than $18.5 million in total. If purchased, these payment card details could net criminals much more than they originally paid for them. Two million payment cards for sale included their American owners' home address and telephone number, one million cards included email addresses, and around 100,000 cards included their owners date of birth and even SSN. If a data breach or hack exoses users card details as well as their addresses and other personal information, it can lead to identity theft. Once the attacker has obtained the victims name, home address, and email address, they may even abuse legal methods (such as using the GDPRs right to access for more personal information ) in furthering the identity theft scheme or committing other malicious activities. 58.1% of stolen cards issued in the US Over half of the 6 million stolen credit card records analyzed came from the US, most likely due to its high rates of card penetration, sizable population, and strong economy. However, stolen US cards commanded a comparatively low price ($6.86 as opposed to the $7.01 global average) on dark web marketplaces the most valued cards (at $11.54 on average) were from Denmark. Malta, Australia, and New Zealand at the top of the risk index, US in 5th place Based on their findings, NordVPN researchers have calculated the risks posed by credit card theft and related cyberattacks to residents in 98 countries. Malta, Australia, and New Zealand came at the top of the risk index, with the US closely following in 5th place. On the other end of the spectrum, Russia had the lowest risk score, and China was 3rd from last. These findings seem to confirm prevailing hypotheses regarding the location of large-scale hacking operations and the purposeful targeting of Anglo-European countries. How to protect yourself from payment card fraud Few criminals now use brute force to steal payment card information. This means that techniques are becoming more sophisticated. However, this also means that informed users have less chance of being affected, says Adrianus Warmenhoven. He has provided the following tips to help users feel more secure online. Use impenetrable passwords : Use different passwords for each account and store your passwords in an encrypted password manager, such as NordPass. Make sure your passwords consist of at least 20 letters, numbers, and symbols. : Use different passwords for each account and store your passwords in an encrypted password manager, such as NordPass. Make sure your passwords consist of at least 20 letters, numbers, and symbols. Download your banks app: Use it to track your money, paying particular attention to any unusual deductions. Some apps will notify you of every transaction in real time just make sure to look. Use it to track your money, paying particular attention to any unusual deductions. Some apps will notify you of every transaction in real time just make sure to look. Respond to data breaches: Change your username and password immediately if a company informs you that your details were involved in a data breach. If youve used the same one elsewhere, change it there too. Change your username and password immediately if a company informs you that your details were involved in a data breach. If youve used the same one elsewhere, change it there too. Use anti-malware software: Anti-malware software (such as NordVPNs Threat Protection) will ensure that you do not download malicious files to your device and will protect you from info-stealing viruses. Methodology The data was compiled in partnership with independent researchers specializing in cybersecurity incident research. They evaluated eight key marketplaces on the dark web to retrieve the details of over 6 million cards. The data NordVPN received from these third-party researchers did not contain any information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual (such as names, contact information, or other personal information). The study did not determine the exact number or analyze the entirety of payment card details sold on the whole of the dark web NordVPN only examined the set of statistical data provided by independent researchers. After receiving the statistical information, NordVPN researchers analyzed it and created the risk index to evaluate the data objectively. Full methodology can be found here: https://nordvpn.com/research-lab/6-million-stolen-credit-cards-analyzed/ ABOUT NORDVPN NordVPN is the worlds most advanced VPN service provider, used by millions of internet users worldwide. NordVPN provides double VPN encryption and Onion Over VPN and guarantees privacy with zero tracking. One of the key features of the product is Threat Protection, which blocks malicious websites, malware during downloads, trackers, and ads. NordVPN is very user friendly, offers one of the best prices on the market, and has over 5,000 servers in 60 countries worldwide. For more information: nordvpn.com. Contact: Darija Grobova [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] (Bloomberg) -- Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ held preliminary talks to buy boutique investment bank Lazard Ltd., according to people with knowledge of the matter, highlighting the emirates continued interest in acquiring a major financial institution. Most Read from Bloomberg Officials from the emirates third-largest sovereign wealth fund met their Lazard counterparts several months ago, but the discussions quickly fell apart over differences about the future independence of the 175-year old Wall Street firm, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Lazard has a market capitalization of about $3.6 billion and owns an asset management business, which manages about $235 billion of assets globally. Its shares have fallen 7.4% this year. Representatives for ADQ and Lazard declined to comment. The Financial Times first reported the discussions earlier on Tuesday. Following a period of higher crude prices, the capital of the United Arab Emirates is keen to use its oil revenues to further diversify its economy and assume a greater role in the global financial sector. ADQ, a conglomerate that owns some of Abu Dhabis key assets, has in recent years emerged as one of its most active entities. In 2020, it purchased a 45% stake in agricultural trade Louis Dreyfus Company. The funds chairman is Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, a powerful royal family member who also chairs the countrys largest lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, and its biggest sovereign wealth fund, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Earlier this year, FAB said it had explored a bid for Standard Chartered Plc but that it no longer planned to make an offer for the British lender. In 2022, it launched an unsolicited bid to buy Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes for $1.2 billion. FAB later withdrew its bid for after facing lengthy regulatory delays in Egypt, Bloomberg reported. --With assistance from Archana Narayanan. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. [June 20, 2023] Town of Apex Looks to Enhance Community Services Through Digital Transformation with Infor and RPI Consultants Tweet NEW YORK and BALTIMORE, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Infor, the industry cloud company, and RPI Consultants, an ERP implementation and optimization firm focused on delivering best practices through technology, systems integration, and process redesign, have teamed up to successfully implement new business process software for the Town of Apex, North Carolina. In an effort to enhance the lives of its 70,000 residents, the Town of Apex, a municipality in Wake County, North Carolina, has elected to implement Infor's cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, in partnership with RPI Consultants. With RPI leading the Infor Government Essentials implementation, Apex will be able to work through a single provider and operate with greater efficiency. Apex recently introduced an intern program aimed at encouraging young people to get excited about local government. The new Infor system aligns with the town's goals of inspiring future generations to engage with policy and community interests. "A modern town calls for a modern system," Erika Sacco, Apex director of IT, said. "After a thorough request-for-proposal process and review involving all affected departments, we look forward to partnering with RPI and Infor to implement a cloud-based ERP." The Town of Apex also sees the digital transformation as an opportunity to bolster support for its constituents. "With our residents' expectations growing all the time, we wanted to do everything we could to ensure future community success," Sacco said. The new alliance with Apex solidifies RPI's and Infor's xpertise in the public sector. "I'm thrilled to partner with Infor to help the Town of Apex bring its ambitions of creating a more forward-thinking community to life," RPI Consultant's managing partner, Keith Wayland, said. "This is the beginning of a great relationship, and I can't wait for this project to kick off." "Infor's ongoing innovation empowers state and local agencies with government software applications that ensure transparency, adapt to regulations, and provide efficient services constituents demand," said Matt Breslin, Infor executive vice president and general manager. As part of Infor's Government Essentials package, Apex will receive the latest version of Infor CloudSuite Public Sector applications, and implementation services by RPI. The program hosts financial, procurement, payroll, workforce management, and other HCM applications built for city, state, and government needs. With streamlined solutions for helping growing communities modernize their staffing and constituent services, the package ensures a successful implementation foundation that Apex can build upon for years to come. About RPI Consultants RPI Consultants is an ERP implementation and optimization firm with over 20 years of experience delivering best practices through technology, systems integration, and process redesign. As a premier Infor CloudSuite implementation partner, RPI prides itself on providing customers with the expertise and strategic thought leadership they need to be successful. For more information on RPI, visit www.rpic.com. About Infor Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. We develop complete solutions for our focus industries. Infor's mission-critical enterprise applications and services are designed to deliver sustainable operational advantages with security and faster time to value. Over 60,000 organizations in more than 175 countries rely on Infor's 17,000 employees to help achieve their business goals. As a Koch company, our financial strength, ownership structure, and long-term view empower us to foster enduring, mutually beneficial relationships with our customers. Visit?Infor.com. For more information: Christina Ledger Infor [email protected] 312-662-2135 Michaela Fallon RPI Consultants [email protected] 610-360-9696 Copyright 2023 Infor. All rights reserved. The word and design marks set forth herein are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Infor and/or related affiliates and subsidiaries. All other trademarks listed herein are the property of their respective owners. www.infor.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/town-of-apex-looks-to-enhance-community-services-through-digital-transformation-with-infor-and-rpi-consultants-301854850.html SOURCE Infor [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] Team8's Annual CISO Summit With More Than 130 Global CISOs and Cyber Leaders to Take Place in Tel Aviv, Israel This Week Tweet Team8 Group's Annual CISO Summit, the flagship event of their CISO Village, will be held this week in Tel Aviv. Over 130 senior cyber executives from leading enterprises are meeting in Israel, including representatives from Oracle, Walmart, Microsoft, BNY Mellon, General Motors, Danone, Schneider Electric, Repsol, and Unilever, among others. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620622615/en/ (Right to Left): ADM. Mike Rogers, Former Head of the NSA and Operating Partner at Team8, Nadav Zafrir, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Team8, Chris Inglis, Former National Cyber Director of the White House, Susan Chiang, Deputy CISO at Cloudflare (Photo: Business Wire) Notable speakers at the conference include senior executives and government officials from the global and local cyber sectors including Chris Inglis, the recently retired National Cyber Director of the White House; Yossi Cohen, Former Head of the Mossad; Aviv Kohavi, Former Chief of Staff of the IDF, as well as C-level executives from a number of prominent organizations and companies. The weeklong event will include peer-to-peer discussions around this year's theme, 'Resilience', primers on Generative AI, and a unique 'War Room' simulation of a cyber attack. One of the summit highlights will be a conversation with Joe Sullivan, the former CISO of Uber, who will be making his first public appearance since being convicted in a high-profile industry case. The guests will also take part in an 'Innovation Night' alongside leading Israeli startups in the cybersecurity sector, including Gem Security, Ox Security, Talon Cyber Security, Dig, Ionix, Transmit Security, Seemplicity, Astrix, Torq, Silverfort and Salt Security. They will also enjoy a series of dinners and receptions with prominent business leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs in the Israeli high-tech industry. Nadav Zafrir, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Team8 speaking ahead of the summit, added, "We are proud to host a global summit of cyber leaders in Israel which will take place over a week of learning, connections, and inspiration. Today's dynamic geopolitical reality, along with technological advancements, primarily in Generative AI, will change the world as we know it and create multifaceted challenges and opportunities requiring collaboration, speed, flexibility, and creativity on a daily basis". The conclusion of the summit will culminate with 'Rethink: Optimism,' Team8's official opening event of Tel Aviv University's Cyber Week in Israel. The event will be hosted by Team8 together with industry partners Deloitte, Meitar Law Firm, Discount Tech, and Dave Dewalt's Night-Dragon, which recently opened an office in Israel. Among the speakers at the event will be Jeffrey Katzenberg, Co-founder and Managing Partner at WndrCo, former founder of DreamWorks Animation Studios, and former Chairman of The Walt Disney Company; and Tal Ben-Shahar, Harvard University Professor on Happiness, Best-Selling Author, and Global Expert on Happiness and Positivity. About Team8 Team8 is a venture group that builds and invests in the most innovative technologies in the fields of fintech, cyber, data, and digital health. We leverage deep domain expertise, cutting-edge technology, and first-hand company-building experience to partner with entrepreneurs in founding globally-successful companies, while also investing in early-stage companies that are active in the Group's fields of interest. Visit www.team8.vc to learn more. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620622615/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] EnsembleIQ Recognized as a Top Workplace for Career Growth Tweet CHICAGO, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EnsembleIQ , North Americas leading source of insightful information and actionable connections in retail, healthcare and hospitality, has been recognized by workplace evaluation firm Comparably in its Best Companies for Career Growth category for outstanding career growth opportunities. This prestigious honor is based on ratings voluntarily and anonymously submitted to Comparably by EnsembleIQ employees between May 2022 and May 2023 about how they feel about the companys professional development opportunities in areas including meaningful career advancement, mentorship, challenging work, and frequency of valuable feedback from direct managers on how to improve. Our employees are the lifeblood of our company. As our most valuable asset, we are committed to investing in their careers. We believe in creating a positive culture that encourages, supports and celebrates our employees. Promoting from within boosts morale, energizes employees and enhances our organizational intelligenceimproving our performance, said EnsembleIQ Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Litterick. We are proud to be recognized by Comparably as a top company for career growth. Previously, EnsembleIQ was honored by Comparably as a Best Place to Work in Chicago , where the company is headquartered in the United States, and in the Best Leadership Teams category, for driving positive culture change. In addition, in Canada, EnsembleIQ is featured in The Career Directory 2023 , which tells recent graduates that EnsembleIQ is a great place to start their careers. To learn more about EnsembleIQ, click here , and view open positions at EnsembleIQ here . About Comparably Comparably , now a ZoomInfo company, is a leading workplace culture and corporate brand reputation platform with more than 20 million anonymous employee ratings of 70,000 companies. With the most comprehensive data on large and SMB organizations in nearly 20 different workplace categories--based on gender, ethnicity, age, experience, industry, location, and education--it's one of the most used SaaS platforms for employer branding, and a trusted third-party site for workplace culture and compensation. For more information on Comparably and its Best Places to Work Awards, visit www.comparably.com . About EnsembleIQ EnsembleIQ is the premier resource of actionable insights and connections powering business growth throughout the path to purchase. We help retail, technology, consumer goods, healthcare and hospitality professionals make informed decisions and gain a competitive advantage. EnsembleIQ delivers the most trusted business intelligence from leading industry experts, creative marketing solutions and impactful event experiences that connect best-in-class suppliers and service providers with our vibrant business-building communities. To learn more about EnsembleIQ, visit ensembleiq.com . Media Contact Joe Territo Chief Strategy Officer EnsembleIQ [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] Arkon Energy Bolsters Global Expansion with $26 Million Capital Raise Tweet Strategic investment to accelerate global expansion, reinforcing Arkon's position as a leader in Data Center Infrastructure MELBOURNE, Australia, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Arkon Energy Pty Ltd (Arkon), a global data center infrastructure company, today announced the successful completion of a $26 million capital raise with new funding being provided by Sandton Capital Partners, a global credit-oriented asset manager and participation from JGB Management, an existing lender to Arkon. The investment into Arkon is set to bolster the company's strategic growth and expansion on an international scale. The funds procured from the capital raise will be utilized to acquire exceptional data centers with deep value, and ensure the delivery of world-class data center services to institutional-scale clients. "This successful raise of $26 million marks a significant milestone for Arkon Energy and will act as the linchpin for our aggressive expansion into North America. The Arkon Energy team is currently active on several proprietary and value-accretive opportunities on the North American continent, and we expect this raise and our subsequent acquisition to be the first of several over the next 12 months," said Joshua Payne, CEO of Arkon. "We appreciate the trust our capital partners have placed in us and are eager to explore the additional new opportunities this funding will unlock." The capital raise comes at a time of incrased complexity in the financial landscape, particularly for firms like Arkon operating in the intersection of data center infrastructure and digital currencies. The industry faces challenges and opportunities at the same time as the industry matures. "Raising capital in the current climate, particularly amidst a crypto downturn and increasing regulatory scrutiny, was indeed a challenge. However, the uncertain market landscape also presents very well priced buying opportunities for those that are able to navigate the storm and protect the downside" remarked Payne. "With this $26 million capital injection from Sandton Capital Partners and existing investors, we have demonstrated that there is strong investor confidence in our business model, operational efficiency, and long-term vision." Barker's Point Capital Advisors acted as exclusive financial advisor to Arkon Energy in connection with arranging financing for the transaction. Cohen & Company Capital Markets, a division of J.V.B Financial, LLC, serves as M&A advisor to Arkon Energy in connection with the acquisition of North American assets. About Arkon Energy Arkon Energy Pty Ltd, based in Melbourne, Australia, is a global leader in data center infrastructure, delivering sustainable and exceptional services. Arkon's data centers are diversified across various stable jurisdictions, offering robust revenues and growth potential. Leveraging low-cost renewable power, Arkon is focused on meeting the evolving needs of its institutional-scale clients, particularly in the Bitcoin sector. By fostering the viability of renewable electricity projects, Arkon is contributing to the global energy transition. With facilities in Norway, Australia, and the United States, Arkon is continually expanding its global presence. For more information, visit https://www.arkonenergy.com/. CONTACT: [email protected]com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/arkon-energy-bolsters-global-expansion-with-26-million-capital-raise-301854298.html SOURCE Arkon Energy [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] The Washington Post Names Deltek a Top Workplace in the D.C. Metro Area, Ranked No. 4 Among Large Companies Deltek has been included on the list of top large companies for the seventh time HERNDON, Va., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Deltek, the leading global provider of software and solutions for project-based businesses, has been named one of The Washington Post's 2023 Top Workplaces in the D.C. metro area. Selection is based solely on employee feedback gathered through an anonymous third-party survey administered by research partner Energage, LLC, which measured several aspects of workplace culture, including alignment, execution and connection. This year's honorees include government contractors, real estate firms, health service providers, and tech companies. "For the past ten years, the Top Workplaces list has been a credible guide to companies, old and new, in the D.C. region where employees feel valued," said Washington Post Top Workplaces editor Bronwen Latimer. "As a new generation enters the workforce, the Post is more committed than ever to highlighting the chaging landscape of work and how these companies are thriving in it." "Being named a Top Workplace for the seventh time is a tremendous honor for the entire team at Deltek and we are thrilled to be ranked number 4 this year among large companies! Our employees are the best in the world, and the foundation of Deltek's continued leadership and success. Our team comes to work every day to be the best partners for our customers and the passion they bring to work is a direct reflection of Deltek's core values," said Mike Corkery, President and CEO at Deltek. "I'm proud to accept this award on behalf of Team Deltek, both near our Northern Virginia headquarters and around the globe. It's because of our team that Deltek continues to be recognized as a Top Workplace year after year, and why we are the leading provider of solutions purpose-built for project-based businesses." The Washington Post hosted an awards ceremony on Thursday, June 15 to recognize the top-ranked companies. Learn more about The Washington Post's Top Workplaces and see the full list of this year's honorees here. About Deltek Better software means better projects. Deltek is the leading global provider of enterprise software and information solutions for project-based businesses. More than 30,000 organizations and millions of users in over 80 countries around the world rely on Deltek for superior levels of project intelligence, management and collaboration. Our industry-focused expertise powers project success by helping firms achieve performance that maximizes productivity and revenue. www.deltek.com About The Washington Post The Washington Post is an award-winning news leader whose mission is to connect, inform, and enlighten local, national and global readers with trustworthy reporting, in-depth analysis and engaging opinions. It combines world-class journalism with the latest technology and tools so readers can interact with The Post anytime, anywhere. About Energage Making the world a better place to work together.TM Energage is a purpose-driven company that helps organizations turn employee feedback into useful business intelligence and credible employer recognition through Top Workplaces. Built on 16 years of culture research and the results from 27 million employees surveyed across more than 70,000 organizations, Energage delivers the most accurate competitive benchmark available. With access to a unique combination of patented analytic tools and expert guidance, Energage customers lead the competition with an engaged workforce and an opportunity to gain recognition for their people-first approach to culture. For more information or to nominate your organization, visit energage.com or topworkplaces.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-washington-post-names-deltek-a-top-workplace-in-the-dc-metro-area-ranked-no-4-among-large-companies-301855389.html SOURCE Deltek [June 20, 2023] Black & Veatch Launches Front-End Engineering Study for DG Fuels Tweet Critical human infrastructure solutions leader Black & Veatch and DG Fuels LLC - an emerging leader in cellulosic drop-in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) - today announced they signed and began a binding agreement for Black & Veatch to perform a front-end loading (FEL-3) engineering report for DG Fuels' launch project to be located in Louisiana. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620159392/en/ The report involving a possible low-emission fuel manufacturing facility in St. James Parish along the Mississippi River is expected to be completed in eight to nine months, consistent with Washington, D.C.-based DG Fuels' goal of reaching a final investment decision (FID) on the project in early 2024. "The DG Fuels facility is expected to create more than 600 new permanent union operating jobs and up to 2,100 construction jobs over three years," said Michael C. Darcy, CEO of DG Fues. "If fully scaled up, the initial facility is projected to have a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production capacity of approximately 180 million gallons per year, which represents a carbon dioxide (CO2) savings of approximately 1.65 million metric tons compared to conventional jet fuel." DG Fuels has developed an innovative design system for utilizing renewable energy sources, such as agricultural and timber waste feedstock, to reduce aviation fuel's carbon intensity score by 140 percent when compared to industry standards. DG Fuels estimates the facility would produce 120 million gallons of SAF per year on average, which would remove approximately 1.5 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere annually. This project aligns with the federal government sponsored SAF Grand Challenge, which aims to help reduce cost, enhance sustainability and expand production of domestic SAF. The program looks to produce 3 billion gallons domestic sustainable aviation fuel per year, achieving a minimum of a 50 percent reduction in life cycle greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) compared to conventional fuel by 2030 and 100 percent projected aviation jet fuel use - or 35 billion gallons of annual production - by 2050. "Developing and expanding infrastructure in decarbonization and this important project involving biomass and creating clean, sustainable aviation fuel are key aspects of a global energy transition," said Doug Miller, a Black & Veatch vice president and managing director. "Black & Veatch remains committed to delivering solutions that lower carbon footprints in air travel, leveraging our experience from across the energy industry to more clean transportation fuels for the future." About Black & Veatch Black & Veatch is a 100-percent employee-owned global engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company with a more than 100-year track record of innovation in sustainable infrastructure. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people around the world by addressing the resilience and reliability of our most important infrastructure assets. Our revenues in 2022 were US$4.3 billion. Follow us on www.bv.com and on social media. About DG Fuels DG Fuels is building a low-CO2 life cycle emissions synthetic fuel system based on high carbon conversion technology that is targeting a 97% efficiency. The DG Fuels' technology does not require the development of new engines or types of distribution infrastructure. DG Fuels' innovative technology produces hydrogen via water electrolysis and biomass derived carbon replacement fuel for aircraft, and potentially for locomotives, vessels and trucks as well. DG Fuels delivers a significant value proposition to end-customers, including meaningful environmental benefits and the ability to materially address sustainability goals. If successful, DG Fuel's carbon efficient solution will tie together all critical elements to power, fuel, and provide SAF to its customers. Learn more at www.dgfuels.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620159392/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] Lookout Services, Inc. Debuts New I-9 Intelligence Software Tweet HOUSTON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lookout Services, Inc., a Houston-based company that specializes in I-9 compliance solutions is excited to debut an enriched I-9 intelligence software system designed to streamline the employment verification process. "Lookout Services, Inc. was one of the first vendors to provide I-9 verification software to clients, and as times have changed, so have we. To remain responsive, we recognize we have to be resilient. Our new version of the I-9 intelligence software enhances an employer's ability to cope with modern day onboarding challenges more seamlessly," said Arden Morley, President of Lookout Services, Inc. Our new version of the I-9 Intelligence software enhances an employer's ability to onboard employees more seamlessly The 1986 Immigration and Reform Control Act is still in effect today and mandates that employers have their new hires complete a Form I-9 to confirm their identity and eligibility to work in the United States. The I-9 form completion process is ditated by a series of stringent guidelines and deadlines and requires careful attention to detail in order for a company to maintain compliance with federal law. Lookout Services new version of digital I-9 software still assists with minimizing human error and omission, delivering timely reminders when an action is required, tracking expiration dates of documents, securely archiving forms, compliance reporting, and seamlessly interfacing with E-Verify, eliminating data entry and duplicate tracking. However, the new version of software also offers additional workflows that allow remote hire capabilities, improved access, enhanced monitoring, and updated Form I-9 practices. Comprehensively, these software features are designed to help users achieve and maintain compliance with federal law. This will help employers avoid costly violations and fines. "Lookout Services, Inc. takes great pride in assisting clients with the onboarding of employees, maintaining I-9 compliance, and offering audit support. We believe we have developed the most comprehensive I-9 intelligence resource for employers today, and we are here to help them keep their companies compliant," Morley concluded. About Lookout Services, Inc. Lookout Services, Inc. was founded in 1998 by employment verification attorneys who recognized the complexities of I-9 compliance. With a thorough understanding of the strict laws regarding deadlines and record keepingand the hefty fines non-compliant companies faceLookout Services, Inc. helps their clients streamline the I-9 process. Visit www.i-9intelligence.com for more information. Media Contact: Beth Guide 281-389-5117 [email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lookout-services-inc-debuts-new-i-9-intelligence-software-301855693.html SOURCE Lookout Services, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 20, 2023] FBI approves QIAGEN's NGS-based ForenSeq MainstAY workflow for the U.S. National DNA Index System (NDIS) Tweet Venlo, the Netherlands, and San Diego, California, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QIAGEN (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) announced today that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has approved its ForenSeq MainstAY workflow. This allows accredited forensic DNA laboratories to process DNA casework samples and search resulting profiles against the U.S. National DNA Index System (NDIS) CODIS database containing 20 million offender profiles and used by authorities across the U.S. to help solve criminal investigations nationwide. The ForenSeq MainstAY workflow has been developed and commercialized by Verogen, a QIAGEN company. It is composed of the high-throughput ForenSeq MainstAY kit, the MiSeq FGx Sequencing System and the ForenSeq MainstAY Analysis Module in the Universal Analysis Software. The workflow was submitted for NDIS approval by the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services Laboratory System. This standardized workflow supports volume casework and sexual assault cases and is a cost-effective alternative to analyzing short tandem repeats (STR) with capillary electrophoresis (CE). Utilizing next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, it supports high-throughput processing of up to 96 samples in one run, provides improved sensitivity resulting in increased profiling efficiency, higher resolution and is extensible for applications such as forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG), phenotyping, and additional capabilities such as body fluid identification. This approval by the FBI is a testament to the high-quality NGS-based forensic products developed by Verogen, said Richard Price, Vice President and head of the HID and Forensics business at QIAGEN. ForenSeq MainstAY advances QIAGENs commitment to deliver cost-competitive NGS workflows that allow forensic laboratories to navigate the transition from capillary electrophoresis without extending their budgets. NDIS compatibility paves the way for the forensics community to begin this change and provides them access to federal funding for validation and implementation of NGS. Launched in 2021, the ForenSeq MainstAY workflow targets 52 forensically relevant autosomal and Y-STR DNA markers that support both identity confirmation and familial searching. Optimized to overcome typical challenges faced by forensic laboratories such as inhibitors, low levels of DNA input and degradation, it meets CODIS and European standards, supporting inter-database compatibility and the highest discrimination of any commercially available STR kit. Furthermore, when used in combination with the ForenSeq Kintelligence workflow, it supports end-to-end forensic investigative genetic genealogy from lead generation to identity verification. Importantly, it enables public labs to solve more cases, identify the unidentified and exonerate the innocent in accordance with forensic quality and accreditation requirements. The approval builds on the NDIS approval of the MiSeq FGx Forensic Genomics Systm in 2019, encompassing the ForenSeq DNA Signature Prep Kit workflow which allowed forensic scientists to analyse up to 231 genomic DNA markers simultaneously, supplying significantly more actionable data than commonly analysed using older methods. QIAGEN has a leading position in the human identification and forensics market, having pioneered the introduction of commercial DNA purification kits for forensic casework samples in the late 1990s. Its comprehensive range of solutions, including sample collection and preparation kits, DNA profiling tools, and workflow automation products, are trusted by forensic science laboratories and investigators worldwide. In early 2023, QIAGEN acquired Verogen, a leader in the use of NGS technologies to further drive the future of human identification and forensic investigation. Both companies had previously been commercialization partners through a distribution agreement. This acquisition has enabled QIAGEN to offer the most complete workflow in the human identification and forensics market, solidifying its leading position. Learn more at: https://www.qiagen.com/us/products/human-id-and-forensics/nextgeneration-sequencing/verogen-forenseq-mainstay-kit Disclaimer: For forensics, human identification or paternity/kinship use only. Not for use in diagnostic or therapeutic applications. About QIAGEN QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands-based holding company, is the leading global provider of Sample to Insight solutions that enable customers to gain valuable molecular insights from samples containing the building blocks of life. Our sample technologies isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins from blood, tissue and other materials. Assay technologies make these biomolecules visible and ready for analysis. Bioinformatics software and knowledge bases interpret data to report relevant, actionable insights. Automation solutions tie these together in seamless and cost-effective workflows. QIAGEN provides solutions to more than 500,000 customers around the world in Molecular Diagnostics (human healthcare) and Life Sciences (academia, pharma R&D and industrial applications, primarily forensics). As of March 31, 2023, QIAGEN employed more than 6,200 people in over 35 locations worldwide. Further information can be found at http://www.qiagen.com. Forward-Looking Statement Certain statements contained in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. To the extent that any of the statements contained herein relating to QIAGEN's products, including those products used in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, timing for launch and development, marketing and/or regulatory approvals, financial and operational outlook, growth and expansion, collaborations, markets, strategy or operating results, including without limitation its expected adjusted net sales and adjusted diluted earnings results, are forward-looking, such statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that involve a number of uncertainties and risks. Such uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, risks associated with management of growth and international operations (including the effects of currency fluctuations, regulatory processes and dependence on logistics), variability of operating results and allocations between customer classes, the commercial development of markets for our products to customers in academia, pharma, applied testing and molecular diagnostics; changing relationships with customers, suppliers and strategic partners; competition; rapid or unexpected changes in technologies; fluctuations in demand for QIAGEN's products (including fluctuations due to general economic conditions, the level and timing of customers' funding, budgets and other factors); our ability to obtain regulatory approval of our products; difficulties in successfully adapting QIAGEN's products to integrated solutions and producing such products; the ability of QIAGEN to identify and develop new products and to differentiate and protect our products from competitors' products; market acceptance of QIAGEN's new products and the integration of acquired technologies and businesses; actions of governments, global or regional economic developments, weather or transportation delays, natural disasters, political or public health crises, including the breadth and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the demand for our products and other aspects of our business, or other force majeure events; as well as the possibility that expected benefits related to recent or pending acquisitions may not materialize as expected; and the other factors discussed under the heading Risk Factors contained in Item 3 of our most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F. For further information, please refer to the discussions in reports that QIAGEN has filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Source: QIAGEN N.V. Category: Corporate John Gilardi QIAGEN N.V. +49 2103 29 11711 [email protected] Phoebe Loh QIAGEN N.V. +49 2103 29 11457 [email protected] Thomas Theuringer QIAGEN N.V. +49 2103 29 11826 Daniela Eltrop QIAGEN N.V. +49 2103 29 11676 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Here's the problem with local hacks . . . Tragically, even local journalists mistakenly think that people are hang on their every word. Here at TKC we understand the reality that NOBODY CARES and local democracy is strictly a low-turnout, low-info niche affair. And so . . . Given that KCMO elections are mostly just popularity contests . . . We share a peek at today's battle royale with PICTURES and more than a bit of snark that hopes to summarize the fundamental question voters must decide today. Let's make it hot . . . First District Chris Gahagan vs. Nathan Willett: Northland battle of the mean tweets. First District At-Large Incumbent Councilman-at-Large Kevin O'Neill vs. Ronda Smith: EPIC Union Cash & MAGA sacrifice. Second District Wes Rogers is running unopposed because . . . Most KCMO suburbanites already have an escape plan to Liberty, MO. Second District At-Large Lindsay French vs. Jenay Manley Basic vs. extremist in contest paid for by our betters. Third District Incumbent Third District Council Member Melissa Robinson vs. Sheri Purpose Hall Your joke is funnier & meaner than mine . . . Third District At-Large Incumbent Councilman Brandon Ellington vs. Melissa Patterson Hazley Politico competes with rising star enthusiastically supported by coalition of East side legacy families. Fourth District Incumbent Councilman Eric Bunch vs. Henry Rizzo Bike lanes or back to basics?!?! Fourth District At-Large Crispin Rea vs. Justin Short Legal eagle or LGBT Commish?!?! Fifth District Incumbent Fifth District Councilmember Ryana Parks-Shaw is running unopposed because Bannister Mall & Cerner HQ have more in common than anyone would dare imagine. Fifth District At-Large Darrell Curls vs. Michael Kelley East side legacy spends big bucks to move past eager rep for local activists. Sixth District Dan Tarwater vs. Johnathan Duncan Middle-Of-Road public servant against social justice crusader . . . Sixth District At-Large Incumbent Sixth District-at-Large Council Member Andrea Bough vs. Jill Sasse Elite cowtown power player unafraid of lonely success by stomping MAGA granny. Kansas City Mayoral Contest For voters who are unaffiliated this Mayoral contest is tougher than it seems. Thoughtful people might have a heavy conscience endorsing the mayor who presided over the bloodiest years in Kansas City history and proved unable to live up to promises to fix the crisis. However . . . Primary numbers prove that Clay Chastain's campaign is, in fact, a long shot. Mayor Q might not finish his term in order to chase better opportunities but that doesn't seem to bother people any more than Clay's dual residency in Virginia. Clay Chastain is undoubtedly part of Kansas City's history and his work has saved historic monuments like Union Station and inspired grandiose dreams about public transit access for all. Meanwhile . . . Mayor Q represents hope for change and real progresses in order to build a better more equitable future for our neighborhoods & our nation. And then this tag just came to mind . . . Aldi-Brand Obama Vs. Out-Of-Towner. Here at www.TonysKansasCity.com we have the luxury of not having to endorse anybody . . . And so . . . You decide . . . Right now hottie Maya inspires our glimpse at pop culture, community news and top headlines. Check TKC news gathering . . . KCFD Rescue Today Kansas City firefighters rescue one person, two pets from house fire The Kansas City Fire Department rescued one person and two pets from a fire at a boarded-up house on Park Avenue Tuesday morning. Rigged Prize Trumpeted Kansas City International Airport named nation's best airport - Kansas City Business Journal TravelAwaits, a website for travelers 50 and older, put Kansas City International Airport atop its ranking of the best airports in the United States. It also included KCI among the 16 best airports in the world. Tragic Postmortem Family of doctor found dead in Ozarks lake insists it was not suicide The detail pertains to the mysterious death of John Forsyth, and was offered up by the late physician's brother Monday - three weeks after Forsyth's dead body was found floating in a lake in Arkansas. Rock Chalk Pandemic Postscript In post-pandemic Kansas, burnout affects everybody. We can help one another thrive. - Kansas Reflector I think everyone can safely say that these last several years of the pandemic have been a tiny bit stressful. Law enforcement has dealt with it in their own way, pastors have dealt with it in their own way, schools have dealt with it in their own way, and hospitals have dealt with it in [...] Tyreek's Revenge Awaits Arrowheadlines: ESPN analyst believes the Dolphins could be the next rival of the Chiefs Chiefs headlines for Tuesday, June 20 Hottie Fashions New Look Love Island's Maya Jama sizzles in a plunging cut-out dress In scenes that will air on Tuesday the stunner, 28, showcases her jaw-dropping figure in the frock as she makes her dramatic entrance. White House Nuke Warning Threat of Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is 'real,' Biden warns President Joe Biden has warned that the threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is "real," as Ukraine's counteroffensive rolls on. First Son FAIL Hunter Biden agrees to plead guilty in federal tax, gun case Hunter Biden is expected to plead guilty in the years-long federal investigation into his tax affairs, Fox News Digital has confirmed. MAGA Court Date Arranged Judge sets tentative trial date for Trump documents case The date of Aug. 14, 2023, is almost certain to be pushed back to give both sides more time to prepare for the historic case. Far East Moves Closer China negotiating with Havana about joint military training facility in Cuba It's unclear if Beijing and Havana have already struck a deal, or when one would be completed. Fashionably Nasty Inside the Fashion World's Dark Underbelly of Sexual and Financial Exploitation: 'Modeling Agencies Are Like Pimps For Rich People' Esmeralda Seay-Reynolds had just turned 15 years old when she was scouted by Click Model Management in New York. But the agency told the 5-foot-11, 130-pound hopeful that she wasn't right because s... Old Country Crisis Heat, drought and fire: Europe's year of extremes in 2022 will not be a 'one-off,' new report finds | CNN Last summer was the hottest on record for Europe and caused more than 16,000 excess deaths, according to the report. Midtown Shows Pride LGBTQ-owned businesses cultivate inclusive environment in Westport In Westport a lot of the attention goes to bars and businesses located west of Broadway, but east of one of KC's most popular streets lies popular businesses creating an inclusive environment. Ozone Threat Redux Another sunny & hot day could lead to poor air quality This sunny and hot pattern continues until the weekend Doja Cat - Attention is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now. (Reuters) -European antitrust regulators are preparing to launch a formal investigation into software giant Adobe's $20 billion buyout deal for cloud-based designer platform Figma later this year, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. EU authorities plan to push forward with a detailed investigation, over anti-competition concerns, which could take many months and may ultimately derail the deal altogether, FT said, citing people with knowledge of the move. These moves underline global regulators' worries that large tech firms acquiring smaller innovative rivals could throttle competition. Adobe is in the preliminary phase of the regulatory process and having constructive discussions with British, EU, and U.S. regulators about the deal while Figma looks forward to continued conversations with regulators, the companies said in separate emailed statements to Reuters. The report comes after Britain's competition watchdog said last month that it was looking into the Adobe-Figma deal, while Bloomberg reported in February that the U.S. Justice Department was preparing an antitrust lawsuit to block the deal. EU regulators have earlier said that Adobe would need to secure antitrust approval for the Figma deal even though the deal falls short of the bloc's turnover threshold for a review. (Reporting by Lavanya Ahire; Additional reporting by Anusha S and Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Rashmi Aich and Dhanya Ann Thoppil) Robinson Huron Treaty leadership announce proposed settlement and next steps in Treaty annuities court case 'The compensation from this settlement will ensure a stronger and brighter future for our People and our Nations' ReportLinker The Africa Aviation MRO Market size is expected to grow from USD 1,449.31 million in 2023 to USD 1,672.82 million by 2028, at a CAGR of 2.91% during the forecast period (2023-2028). The COVID-19 pandemic devastated African economies and brought air connectivity across the continent to a virtual standstill. New York, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Africa Aviation MRO Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2023 - 2028)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06469592/?utm_source=GNW The Africa Aviation MRO Market size is expected to grow from USD 1,449.31 million in 2023 to USD 1,672.82 million by 2028, at a CAGR of 2.91% during the forecast period (2023-2028). The COVID-19 pandemic devastated African economies and brought air connectivity across the continent to a virtual standstill. The reduced flight activity is expected to translate into a weaker MRO demand in the region. At the same time, business aircraft and on-demand service providers witnessed better flight movements than the aircraft of scheduled airlines. Cargo demand rose in 2021 due to companies aiming at loss reduction by becoming more active in the cargo transport sector and converting some of their passenger aircraft to freighters. Furthermore, the African aviation industry lags behind the rest of the world in terms of both demand and supply. By the end of 2021, Africa was the region that had the least commercial aircraft on order in the world. The fleet growth is expected to be constrained over the next decade by geopolitical tensions, unreliable safety records, high airport fees, and high taxes on jet fuel. There is currently a limited local infrastructure to support the aviation MRO aftermarket in Africa. Only a handful MROs in the region can perform all types of MRO services. Although the MRO industry in the region is smaller than in other regions of the world, the existing MROs are trying to increase their capabilities through strategic partnerships and expansion activities. Foreign players are trying to expand their footprint in the region and find opportunities by capitalizing on the shortcomings in the regions MRO capabilities. Africa Aviation MRO Market Trends Fixed-wing Aircraft Held the Largest Market Share in 2021 The average age of the fixed-wing aircraft fleet operating in Africa is over 15 years, signifying a potential struggle for fleet modernization and aviation infrastructure development.? To capture the growing market opportunities, companies are robustly expanding their services in various countries in the region. For instance, in March 2022, Egyptair Maintenance & Engineering announced that it had begun to provide line maintenance services at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana. Also, some countries are procuring new aircraft to strengthen their defense fleet. For instance, in June 2022, the Libyan Air Force (LAF) signed an agreement with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSA?) to acquire the Hurku?-C light trainer and combat aircraft. The aircraft is motorized by a PT6A-68T turboprop and has an extreme cruise speed of over 570 km/h, with a range of nearly 1,500 km. Furthermore, there are several outstanding orders for fixed-wing aircraft from many countries, which is expected to increase the aircraft fleet in the region in the future. Nevertheless, new aircraft orders in Africa are expected to be constrained over the next decade by geopolitical tensions, unreliable safety records, high airport fees, and high taxes on aviation fuel.? As the fleet ages, annual MRO expenditure toward retrofitting general, military, and commercial aviation fleet is expected to increase. Egypt Dominated the Market in 2021 The growing airline industry in Egypt is generating significant demand for MRO services.? The Middle East is the largest market for passenger flows to and from Egypt, followed by Europe and Africa. The countrys geographic location has also helped it emerge as a major aviation MRO hub in Africa, with several foreign MRO players having facilities in Egypt.? Egyptair Maintenance & Engineering, a subsidiary of the Egyptair Holding Company, is one of the major MRO providers in the Middle East and Africa. The company has the capability to service and maintain several Airbus, Boeing, and Embraer aircraft. Its hangars can accommodate up to 12 slots for narrow-body and wide-body aircraft. The company provides line maintenance services for over 100 aircraft operators at eight domestic outstations in Egypt and 14 international outstations.? In March 2022, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) renewed its approval for the companys facilities at Cairo Airport. Egypt also has the largest fleet of military aircraft in Africa, comprising 338 combat aircraft, 313 combat helicopters, 11 special mission aircraft, 59 transport aircraft, and 341 trainer aircraft.? Over the last five years, the Egyptian Air Force has upgraded its inventory and has placed several orders for new aircraft and helicopters to enhance the aerial combat and surveillance capabilities of its Air Force.? For instance, in January 2022, The United States approved the sale of 12 Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules airlifters to Egypt for USD 2.2 billion.? Thus, with the growth of the fleet in the coming years, and the modernization plans for the existing aircraft fleet, there may be a significant demand for military aircraft MRO from Egypt during the forecast period.? Furthermore, the business jet market has emerged in Egypt over the last decade. The growth in business jet flight activity and increase in fleet size is likely to generate demand for MRO services in Egypt in the years to come.? Africa Aviation MRO Industry Overview The African aviation MRO market is fragmented, with the presence of many local and foreign MRO providers offering various types of services to the aircraft operators in the region.?Raytheon Technologies Corporation, Safran SA, Lufthansa Technik, Leonardo SpA, and Airbus SE are some of the prominent players in the market. Over the last few years, there has been an increase in investments by foreign players aiming to increase their geographic footprint in Africa.? Several local players are partnering with OEMs to gain technical expertise and the MRO certification required to perform on-site MRO services.? For instance, Caverton Offshore Support Group PLC, one of the leading providers of marine, aviation, and logistics services in Nigeria, commenced the operations of its MRO facility in Lagos, Nigeria, in the second half of 2021. With the increasingly competitive environment in the MRO sector, the local players are enhancing the efficiency of their MRO processes. The market opportunities of the MRO sector in Africa and the growing investments of players are expected to rapidly increase the competition in the market in the coming years.? Additional Benefits: The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format 3 months of analyst support Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06469592/?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. __________________________ CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 The Prime Minister says that the offer by the U.S. to assist the region and this country in By Jeff Murphy, June 19, 2023 University of Central Missouri Professor of Political Science James B. Staab profiles Supreme Court Justices Hugo Black, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas in a new book about their "originalist" jurisprudence. WARRENSBURG, MO A new book by a University of Central Missouri professor profiles three prominent United States Supreme Court originalists suggesting that in actual practice this approach to legal decision making does not deliver on its promise of being free of personal philosophy and discretion. While originalists have looked to the text and original meaning of the Constitution as a clear and objective approach for jurisprudence, the author notes that these three originalist justices would likely have come to different conclusions on a variety of legal matters if they all served on the same court together. Just as the framers of the Constitution had different perspectives on various constitutional issues such as separation of powers, judicial review, the scope of executive power, federalism and the importance of a bill of rights, so do these three originalists, wrote the author, James B. Staab, Ph.D., J.D. Staabs 453-page book dives into the decisions, influences and philosophies of these three prominent originalists. Titled, Limits of Constraint: The Originalist Jurisprudence of Hugo Black, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas, the book was published by University Press of Kansas in Lawrence in August 2022. Staab is an award-winning professor of political science who has taught at UCM since 1998, specializing in public law, including American constitutional law, judicial politics, and civil rights and liberties. A seasoned educator and a scholarly writer on many law-related matters, his latest book follows his 2006 publication, The Political Thought of Justice Antonin Scalia: A Hamiltonian on the Supreme Court (Lanham, MD.: Rowman & Littlefield). In his newest book, Staab continues to expand on a wealth of research about Scalia. Serving on the court from 1986 to 2016, this conservative justice popularized originalism within the legal community, and was known for his philosophical approach to law inspired by one of the U.S. founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton. After reading Staabs first book, Scalia accepted the authors invitation to speak at UCM in 2008, which was a rare opportunity considering the former justice seldom spoke at higher education institutions without law schools. It was also an opportunity for the audience to hear firsthand the longtime justices comments on originalism, which became his signature legal approach. In the same manner that Staabs book includes biographical information about Scalia and the influences that shaped his personal and professional life and contributed to his jurisprudence, the author also sheds light on the lives and careers of Hugo Black (1937-1971) and Clarence Thomas (1991 to present) and the influences that may have impacted their service on the bench. A significant theme in Limits of Constraint challenges the belief espoused by defenders of originalism that this approach to constitutional interpretation constrains judicial discretion, as compared to a more activist jurisprudence among justices who promote a living Constitution one that evolves based on changes in society without the necessity and challenges of formal amendments. Staab notes, however, that there are numerous examples in which Justices Black, Scalia and Thomas arrived at different conclusions when interpreting the same constitutional provision. Such examples help demonstrate that originalism does not completely constrain judicial behavior as its supporters have claimed. This, of course, does not mean that the search for original meaning is unimportant or illegitimate. The text of the Constitution and its historical meaning are the essential starting places for any honest interpretation of that document. But the defenders of originalism have made their case too strongly, Staab wrote. Staab stated that the three originalists have defended their legal decision-making approach as the best way to prevent judicial discretion, but like other human beings justices are not infallible, and are subject to external influences. One commonality these justices share is their belief that the tools of originalism, using text and history, would prevent them from making policy decisions that are better left to the political branches of government. This notion has been supported in the writings of these three justices during their tenure on the court. Influenced by Thomas Jefferson, Black was the fifth longest-serving Supreme Court justice in U.S. history, and while neglected in the literature on originalism, he is the first full-throated originalist and a strong defender of the high wall theory of the establishment clause, according to Staab. During his judicial service, when the court was asked to resolve a number of social and economic issues (e.g., minimum wages, maximum hours, child labor) under the due process clause Black advocated for the power of states or Congress to resolve these matters. He noted that his preference is to put my faith in the people and their elected representatives to choose the proper policies for our government to follow, leaving to the courts questions of constitutional interpretation and enforcement. Staab wrote that Scalia defended originalism because it establishes a historical criterion that is conceptually quite separate from the judges preferences. In his writings, the justice stated that the main danger in judicial interpretation of the Constitution is that the judges will mistake their own predilections for the law. A libertarian who was greatly influenced by his maternal grandfather as a child, Thomas defended originalism in a 1996 speech as the best way to help ensure impartiality in legal decision making. He wrote, The popular idea that Justices and judges somehow make the law or represent the interests of certain constituencies (or help the Constitution evolve) is a dangerous idea that is at war with the very concept of impartial judging and the rule of law. In the fifth chapter of Limits of Constraint, Staab outlines both the similarities and differences of opinions shared by Justices Black, Scalia and Thomas, citing a number of different writings and court cases. One such example has to do with the scope of executive power, which in a famous debate with James Madison, Hamilton interpreted as giving the president broad discretionary authority to decide how to execute the laws. Justice Black, according to the author, flatly rejected Hamiltons broad interpretation of Article II by noting, In the framework of our Constitution, the Presidents power to see that the laws are faithfully executed refutes the idea that he is to be a lawmaker. Justices Scalia and Thomas, however, have endorsed Hamiltons broad definition of executive power. Another example of the justices differing opinions relates to church and state issues and the use of taxpayer money to support religious schools. Justice Black believed not one penny of taxpayer funding should be used for this purpose. Justices Scalia and Thomas, on the other hand, have supported federal aid to religion via school vouchers. The three justices also had dramatically different interpretations of the Second Amendment. Justice Black joined the unanimous decision in United States v. Miller (1939), which connected the right to keep and bear arms to state militias. In sharp contrast, Scalia and Thomas led the constitutional revolution to find that the Second Amendment protected an individual right to bear arms for self-defense. Staab has incorporated into his book many other relevant examples that help support a better understanding of originalism in action and its limited impact on judicial constraint. From constitutional issues such as legal standing, separation of powers, freedom of speech (particularly related to national security), libel, obscenity, religious freedom, administrative searches, Miranda rights, the right to counsel, Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and the integration of public schools, property rights, racial gerrymandering, and reapportionment, he strives to help readers gain a much better understanding of the originalist jurisprudence of Justices Black, Scalia and Thomas. Originalism, Dr. Staab claims, is a minority perspective in the U.S. today; however, four of the current members of the Roberts Court (Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett) describe themselves as originalists. Justice Samuel Alito, the author of last years Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade (1973), calls himself a practical originalist. Staab believes it is important for readers to consider how this growing group of like-minded decision makers could possibly impact future jurisprudence. Asked about his objective in writing the book, Staab stated that it represents a challenge to originalism, both in terms of the basic idea that text and history limit discretion, because in many respects they do not. Just as importantly, however, originalism is inconsistent with the common law tradition in the U.S. I dont think the framers of the Constitution wanted the Constitution to be interpreted based on their own views, he said. The language of the Constitution, Staab added, is written in what Justice Robert Jackson called majestic generalities: abridging the freedom of speech, due process of law, unreasonable searches and seizures, cruel and unusual punishments, equal protection of the laws. To me, its very hard to say that when you write language like that it is supposed to be tied to that particular time, but yet, we have a court that is now dominated by that philosophy, which in some ways is counterintuitive. I dont think that is what the authors of the Constitution would have wanted or was their basic purpose and design. Why would they want to restrict future generations of Americans to interpreting the Constitution based on their own views? As Chief Justice John Marshall famously remarked, It is a constitution we are expounding, one that is intended to endure for ages to come, and, consequently, to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs. In addition to teaching at UCM, Staab also continues to write about the Supreme Court and the judicial system. A letter he wrote was published in May 2023 in The New York Review of Books, and in June The Kansas City Star published a guest essay contributed by Staab about the impact of originalism on Roe v. Wade. Individuals who want to know more about Limits of Constraint: The Originalist Jurisprudence of Hugo Black, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas are welcome to contact Staab at staab@ucmo.edu. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine demands to immediately allow the Ukrainian consul to visit 11 Ukrainian war prisoners handed over by Russia to Budapest, who are being held in isolation by Hungary. Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said this in a statement on Facebook, Ukrinform reported. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has once again appealed to the Hungarian side to immediately allow the Ukrainian consul to visit Ukrainian prisoners of war so that he can assess their physical and psychological condition, inform them of their rights, and provide urgent consular assistance," noted Nikolenko. He noted that all attempts by Ukrainian diplomats in recent days to establish direct contact with Ukrainian citizens have been unsuccessful. Read also: Ukrainian journalists draw list of Putinism agents in 19 European countries "This, as well as information received from the relatives of some of them, indicates that the assurances of the Hungarian authorities about the allegedly free status of Ukrainian defenders in Hungary are not true," the Foreign Ministry spokesman stated. According to him, the Ukrainian citizens handed over to Budapest by Russia are being held in isolation, do not have access to open sources of information, communicate with their relatives in the presence of third parties, and are denied contact with the Ukrainian embassy. "Unfortunately, the Ukrainian side's attempts to establish a constructive dialogue with the Hungarian authorities through official diplomatic channels have been ignored. Such actions by Budapest call into question its declared humanitarian motives for the transfer of Ukrainians to Hungary. In addition, they can be qualified as a violation of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms," the Foreign Ministry spokesman emphasized. He assured that Ukraine is waiting for the return of its defenders and is ready to provide them with maximum assistance in reuniting with their families and ensuring the necessary rehabilitation. As reported, on June 9, the Charge d'Affaires of Hungary was invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and handed an appeal demanding detailed information about the Ukrainian prisoners of war transferred by Russia to Budapest and immediate access to them for the consul. The Ukrainian government was not informed of the relevant negotiations between the Hungarian and Russian sides. The Ukrainian side found out that Russia had handed over eleven Ukrainians of Hungarian origin to Budapest from public statements by Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Szemien to the Hungarian media. The Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest took three Ukrainian prisoners of war out of Hungary to Ukrainian territory. "The Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest managed to take three Ukrainian prisoners of war out of Hungary. They are already in the Ukrainian territory, they are provided with all kinds of support," Oleg Nikolenko, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, posted on Facebook. He added that Ukrainian diplomats, together with the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and other involved bodies of Ukraine, continue to take active measures to bring home the rest of the Ukrainian defenders deported from Russia to Hungary. As reported, on June 9, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine invited the Charge d'Affaires ad interim of Hungary and gave him a request to provide detailed information about the Ukrainian prisoners of war handed over by Russia to Budapest and to immediately ensure consular access to them. Read also: MFA demands to allow consul to visit Ukrainian prisoners held in isolation by Hungary It was also reported that the Ukrainian government was not informed about the relevant HungaryRussia negotiations. The Ukrainian side found out about the fact that Russia handed over eleven Ukrainians of Hungarian origin to Budapest from the public statements made by Deputy Prime Minister of Hungary Zsolt Semjen to the Hungarian mass media. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the Parliament of Slovakia for recognizing the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide against the Ukrainian people. I am grateful to the Parliament of Slovakia for recognizing the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide against the Ukrainian people. Timely decision, significant contribution to restoring historical justice and honoring millions of innocent victims, the Head of State posted on Twitter. As reported, on June 14, President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Luxembourg for recognizing the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide against the Ukrainian people. AI Answers the Age-Old Question: What Came First, the Chicken or the Egg? It's not every day that an artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT, ventures into the territory of eternal philosophical conundrums. However, when a user posed the chicken-or-egg paradox on Reddit, the chatbots one-worded response became an instant sensation, with over 7.5K upvotes in 24 hours. The question, despite being wrapped in the garb of simplicity, seeks to probe the complex cycle of causality: What came first, the chicken or the egg? Asked to answer in a single word, ChatGPT didn't miss a beat: "Egg." When prompted for an explanation, the AI replied with a succinct, "Evolution." Just like that, an AI had taken a potentially infinite loop of question-and-answer and distilled it to its very essence. Source: Reddit First presented by Plutarch back in the first century, the chicken-or-egg conundrum is a philosophical stand-in for queries about cause and effect, time and existence, and cycles of life. The quandary lies in the fact that while a chicken hatches from an egg, the egg is laid by a chicken. This scenario creates a circular paradox that has left thinkers, philosophers, and laypersons scratching their heads for centuries. Arbitrum to Retry Vote Citing Chicken and the Egg Problem as ARB Falls However, science has helped settle the issue. Philosophically speaking, NYU professor Roy Sorensen explains, Although it is indeterminate as to which particular egg was the first chicken egg, we can know that whichever egg that may be it precedes the first chicken. Scientists also tend to agree. Just a few days ago, Michael Benton, a British palaeontologist, and professor at the University of Bristol explained told NPR that, yeah, well, the quick answer is the egg, noting that there is more to that story if you want to dig deeper into technicalitieslike what could be considered as the egg were referring to. So, ChatGPT's laconic "egg" response stands up to scientific scrutiny. AIs continuing capacity to inform, simplify, and amuse us appears boundless. Perhaps it's time we start asking more philosophical questions like "Why did the chicken cross the road?" Humanity might not be ready for that revelation yet. Alaska Airlines reopens renovated D Concourse Lounge in Seattle as part of an overall $30 million investment in upgrading our Lounges We welcome back members and guests to our popular D Concourse Lounge on June 21 with 50% more seating and improved amenities; other major projects on the horizon SEATTLE, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- We keep showing our Lounges lots of love because we know our members and guests love them so much. And we've been busy. Alaska Airlines has substantially increased the footprint of our Lounges and invested $30 million in improvements in the past five years. We remain focused on fresh upgrades and new amenities to make the spaces bigger and better than ever. Alaska Airlines newly renovated D Concourse Lounge in Seattle reopens on June 21. At our hometown airport in Seattle, our well-loved and historically most popular D Concourse Lounge is set to reopen after a massive makeover lasting more than five months the site's first full renovation in nearly 20 years. It's now on par with our terrific N Concourse and C Concourse Lounges. It's sure to unleash a few ooohs and ahhhs when service resumes on Wednesday, June 21: The newly revamped space has 50% more seating including our popular loungers on the mezzanine level for sitting back, relaxing and taking in terrific views. A new barista station is conveniently located on the first level so members and guests can grab a quick, hand-crafted espresso beverage or brewed coffee to go (a big request by travelers on their way to their gate), or they can simply hang out for a bit. There's a better layout that's easier to move through with a proper bar space to order complimentary craft brews, and West Coast wines and spirits. We're also expanding our hot food options that are served throughout the day. The redesigned Lounge features artwork by influential Coast Salish artist and renowned advocate for cultural artists, Louie Gong (Nooksack). His unique style merges traditional Coast Salish art with influences from his mixed heritage and urban environment to create work that resonates widely across communities and cultures. "We take tremendous pride in making sure each of our Lounges is a relaxed, calm escape for our members and guests an oasis of good food and drink presented with the care we're known for along with amazing views," said Sangita Woerner, senior vice president of marketing and guest experience at Alaska Airlines. "The revamped D Concourse Lounge in Seattle will be a huge hit with all those travelers who visit. We added thoughtful touches from being able to quickly grab a delicious hand-crafted espresso beverage to more comfy chairs to relax in." In addition to making substantial improvements at the D Concourse Lounge, we also expanded our C Concourse Lounge in Seattle by 3,000 square feet and added 60 more seats. In Portland, we opened a new patio space at Concourse C Lounge along with an 'express lounge' at the newly renovated Concourse B. That's a 60% increase in Lounge seating at both airports. There's still more for us to do in the years ahead. In San Francisco, we're finalizing plans for a new lounge at Harvey Milk Terminal 1 as we move our operations to that part of the airport in 2024. The all-new Flagship Lounge for Portland in the spirit of our award-winning Flagship Lounge at the N Concourse in Seattle is currently scheduled to open in the 2025-26 timeframe with more than 10,000 square feet of space. The Alaska Lounge Membership Program offers two options for guests to choose from: a standard Alaska Lounge membership includes access to all our Lounge locations, and an Alaska Lounge+ membership includes access to all our Lounges plus more than 90 partner lounges around the world. Alaska operates nine Lounges at six airports: Anchorage; Los Angeles; New York JFK; Portland (two locations); San Francisco; and Seattle (three locations). We offer a generous access policy. Lounge members are welcome to bring their immediate family members or up to two guests into the Lounge at no additional charge. Alaska MVP Gold, Gold 75K and Gold 100K members can enjoy Lounge access when they travel on a oneworld member airline to a destination outside of the U.S., Canada or Mexico. We also offer access to our Lounges for First Class guests on flights of more than 2,100 miles that other airlines do not. Those guests traveling on a paid or award First Class ticket on long-haul and coast-to-coast flights have same-day access to our Lounges. About Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines and our regional partners serve more than 120 destinations across the United States, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico. We strive to be the most caring airline with award-winning customer service and an industry-leading loyalty program, Mileage Plan. As a member of the oneworld alliance, and with our additional global partners, our guests can travel to more than 1,000 destinations on more than 25 airlines while earning and redeeming miles on flights to locations around the world. Learn more about Alaska at news.alaskaair.com and follow @alaskaairnews for news and stories. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group. Alaska's newly revamped D Concourse Lounge in Seattle includes our popular loungers. At Alaska's D Concourse Lounge in Seattle, a new barista station is conveniently located on the first level with hand-crafted espresso beverages and brewed coffee. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alaska-airlines-reopens-renovated-d-concourse-lounge-in-seattle-as-part-of-an-overall-30-million-investment-in-upgrading-our-lounges-301854869.html SOURCE Alaska Airlines Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai to take over as chairman as Daniel Zhang steps aside to focus on cloud business Daniel Zhang Yong, the 51-year-old Chinese business executive, has announced his resignation as Alibaba Group Holding chairman and chief executive to focus on Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of the group. Zhang will be succeeded as chairman by Joseph C. Tsai, who is currently executive vice-chairman, and Eddie Wu Yongming, chairman of Taobao & Tmall Group, will become CEO. Zhang will continue on at the company as chairman and CEO of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. The change will take effect September 10. Zhang took over as CEO in 2015 and as chairman in 2019, after Jack Ma relinquished his corporate roles at the e-commerce giant he started in 1997. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post, and Tsai is chairman of the newspaper. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. "This is the right time for me to make a transition, given the importance of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group as it progresses towards a full spin-off," Zhang said in a company statement. Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang Yong seen during AliDay in May. Photo: Weibo alt=Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang Yong seen during AliDay in May. Photo: Weibo> In an internal memo seen by the Post, Zhang said that it would be "inappropriate" for him to continue serving as chairman and CEO of both Alibaba and Alibaba Cloud as the cloud unit prepares for an initial public offering. "From a corporate governance perspective, we also need clear separation between the board and management team as Cloud Intelligence Group proceeds down the path to becoming an independent public company," he wrote in the letter. Zhang "has made exceptional contributions to the development of Alibaba Group since joining the company in 2007", Tsai said in the company statement. "He demonstrated extraordinary leadership in navigating unprecedented uncertainties affecting our business over the past few years. We believe there is no better leader than Daniel to steer Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group into the next chapter of its journey and future growth." Alibaba shares were down 1.6 per cent in Hong Kong to HK$88.25 (US$11.29) by mid-day Tuesday. Wu, another Alibaba co-founder, was the chief technology officer for several of the e-commerce giant's key businesses, including taking the role in 2004 at Alipay, the popular mobile payment app now operated by the fintech spin-off Ant Group. He also spearheaded the launch of the Taobao mobile app. Wu became chairman of Taobao & Tmall Group in May, after the business became an independent business unit under the restructuring, a role he will keep after taking over as Alibaba CEO, the company said. The new leadership comes after Alibaba's largest ever restructuring in March, when it announced plans to split into six independently run entities, each free to pursue its own fundraising through initial public offerings. The corporate shake-up is meant to inject new competitive pep into the company. During an informal meeting in May, Ma advised the company to refocus its efforts on Taobao, the online marketplace made up of third-party sellers, in order to weather fierce competition and economic headwinds, Chinese media reported. Zhang personally took over the cloud unit last December after a major service breakdown in Hong Kong. Under the corporate restructuring, Alibaba will spin off the cloud unit at some point in the next year through a "stock dividend distribution to shareholders", turning its cloud business into an "independent, publicly-listed company". Cloud computing has been a particular bright spot for Big Tech firms in recent years, and Zhang has repeatedly said in the past that Alibaba Cloud has high potential. In a conference call in February, Zhang emphasised the company's commitment to cloud computing, noting the impact of new technologies like virtual reality and generative artificial intelligence. "We expect to see exponential growth in the demand for compute power, so for us as a cloud vendor, I think the story is just getting started," he said at the time. Employees often refer to Zhang as Xiaoyaozi, meaning the "free and unfettered one", in reference to a character from a wuxia novel by Chinese martial arts writer Louis Cha. Zhang previously served as chief financial officer at Taobao Marketplace, president at Tmall and as Alibaba's chief operating officer, before succeeding Jonathan Lu Zhaoxi as CEO. Zhang, a Shanghai native, first joined Alibaba in 2007 and played a key role in driving Taobao to profitability. He is best known for starting Singles' Day, the country's largest shopping festival. Originally taking place on November 11, and sometimes referred to as "Double 11", the event now typically runs from late October to mid-November. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Protecting against online scams, phishing, and identity theft Dr. Joshua James, Regional Counter-Cybercrime Coordinator for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, UNODC, introduces the KNOWSCAM regional campaign on online scams, phishing, and identity theft Bangkok (Thailand), 20 June 2023 - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has launched a multi-tiered regional campaign entitled KNOWSCAM #BEAWAREOFSCAMS, focusing on online scams, phishing, and identity theft in Southeast Asia to raise awareness amongst governments, the private sector, and the public for a safer digital environment. The prevalence of online scams in Southeast Asia is a cause for serious concern, with many individuals falling victim to fraudulent activities. A shocking report on 1,615 Southeast Asian respondents found that 52% of users had their money stolen, and 72% of users had experienced at least one form of online scam involving digital payments. These scams can take place in many different forms and happen at any time, from phishing emails with malicious software to fake websites. With flashy job advertisements and too-good-to-be-true terms and conditions advertised through social media or messaging applications, thousands of people have also been trafficked, detained, and forced to work in call centres as scammers around the region. At the same time, scammers have been using the latest technological developments to access personally-identifiable information (PII). With over 400 million internet users in Southeast Asia as of 2022, the public needs to #BeAwareOfScams and equip itself with the necessary knowledge to recognize red flags. In response, the KNOWSCAM regional campaign, funded by the Government of Japan, focus on the impact of online scams, phishing, and identity theft with the aim to provide governments, the private sector, and the public with awareness and preventative measures. UNODC recognizes the importance of informing the public about basic safety measures and tips to protect information online via the production of infographics, non-fiction stories based on real-life situations, and animated videos, which are translated into Thai, Bahasa Malay, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and Laos, available on the campaigns landing page. Dr. Joshua James, Regional Cybercrime Coordinator for UNODC, mentioned that "Online scams, phishing and identity theft is a growing threat to individuals, businesses, and governments worldwide. It is essential that we work together to raise awareness about the dangers of online scams, phishing, and identity theft and share best practices to combat these crimes. Panel discussion moderated by Mr. Himal Ojha, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer, UNODC (from the left), followed by panelists Mr. Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky; Police Colonel Naughtakid Phromchan, Director of the Cyber Operation Office at the National Computer Emergency Response Team, National Cybersecurity Agency (NCSA) in Thailand; Aaron Boyd, Vice President Global, Payment Security and Risk, Cyber and Intelligence, Mastercard; Police Colonel Jessada Burinsuchat, Superintendent of the Cyber Security Unit at the High-Tech Crime Division, Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, Royal Thai Police; and Mr. Akbar Akhtar, Head of Investigation, APAC, Binance The campaign importantly includes a number of actions to raise awareness and motivate people to take action. Activities incudes the regional Silent Comic Contest, inviting young artists from Southeast Asia to participate and engage with the public on the issue of cybercrime, and an online webinar followed by an on-site event in Bangkok with experts from across the region, discussing the latest trends in cybercrime and exploring potential ways to combat them. Looking Ahead: 2023 and Beyond In the fast-approaching era of the Metaverse and the ever-increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and deep fakes, the necessity for a collaborative approach and strategy has never been greater. Governments and the private and public sectors need to work together to address this continuously evolving cyber threat landscape to ensure a safe and secure digital future for all. UNODC will continue to work with governments, private sectors, and the public to promote awareness and prevention tactics on online scams, phishing, and identity theft including cybercrime in general. To learn more about scams, phishing, and identity theft in Southeast Asia visit the UNODC website. Click here to read the UNODC report: Darknet cybercrime Threats to Southeast Asia Click here to read more about Cybercrime and COVID-19 in Southeast Asia: an evolving picture Click here to learn more about UNODC's Regional Programme and work on cybercrime Click here for information about the UNODC Global Cybercrime Programme (@ChaudhryMAli88) The European Commission has reviewed the draft EU budget for the 2024-2027 period and asked member states to increase it by 66 billion euros ($72 billion), mostly to fund assistance for Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th June, 2023) The European Commission has reviewed the draft EU budget for the 2024-2027 period and asked member states to increase it by 66 billion Euros ($72 billion), mostly to fund assistance for Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday. "We are asking our 27 member states to equip us with 66 billion euro to deliver on these three priorities I have just described: Ukraine, migration and competitiveness," von der Leyen told a press conference. Out of the 66 billion euros, 50 billion euros is earmarked for loans and grants for Ukraine, 15 billion euros for migrant and refugee programs, and 1 billion euros for improving the EU's competitiveness, von der Leyen added. In 2020, the EU adopted a 1.1 trillion euro budget for the period of 2021-2027. Additionally, the bloc approved a 750-million-euro rescue fund aimed at helping EU member states mitigate the economic effects of COVID-19 restriction measures. (@ChaudhryMAli88) The production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Russia's Yamal LNG plant is expected to be less than 20 million tonnes in 2023, with two lines being in service, Leonid Mikhelson, the chairman of Russia's gas producer Novatek, said on Tuesday ST. PETERSBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th June, 2023) The production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Russia's Yamal LNG plant is expected to be less than 20 million tonnes in 2023, with two lines being in service, Leonid Mikhelson, the chairman of Russia's gas producer Novatek, said on Tuesday. "Last year, we produced over 20 million tonnes at Yamal LNG, but there was not a single halt. Currently, the second liquefaction line is in service. In August, the third line will be in service for three weeks, so less than 20 million tonnes are expected (to be produced) throughout the year," Mikhelson told a press briefing on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). Novatek is currently concluding new long-term deals for the supply of LNG from its Arctic LNG 2 project, the company's chairman said, adding that investment in the project would increase and exceed $22 billion due to the reconfiguration of energy supply. Mikhelson also noted that Novatek would receive two or three LNG tankers in 2023 and may also receive five Zvezda gas carriers in 2024. (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 20th Jun, 2023) LATAKIA, 20th June, 2023 (WAM) The fourth UAE aid ship today arrived at Syria's Port of Latakia carrying over 2,000 tonnes of aid. The shipment was facilitated by the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) as part of Operation Gallant Knight 2 to support the recovery of the Syrian people. The initiative aligns with the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to help Syrians overcome the aftermath of the recent earthquake. The Ministry of Defences Joint Operations Command said the shipment is an extension of the UAEs ongoing efforts to provide aid, continuously delivered through an air bridge established since the earthquake hit on 6th February, 2023. The largest to be sent to Syria, the fourth ship carried 2,823 tonnes of aid, comprising 1,662 tonnes of food supplies, 321 tonnes of food baskets, 41 tonnes of dates, and 777 tonnes of relief materials, in addition to 15 tonnes of building materials, which will be distributed in coordination with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to earthquake-affected areas. Hamoud Abdullah Al Junaibi, ERC Secretary-General, highlighted the UAE's commitment to improving its humanitarian and developmental response to mitigate the fallout of the earthquake that hit Syria, adding that the UAE's initiatives are making a significant difference in relief, development and reconstruction efforts, especially in the most affected provinces. The ERC is working on multiple fronts to ease the suffering caused by the disaster, he added, pointing out that rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes in affected areas are being carried out alongside urgent relief and emergency assistance programmes. The ERC has ambitious plans to expand the scope of beneficiaries of this years Adahi (sacrifices) project, marking Eid Al Adha, and distribute Eid clothing in several Syrian provinces, he explained, affirming that relief supplies will continue to be delivered by air and sea to Syrians to provide further essential humanitarian assistance to those affected. Tayseer Habib, Chairman of the Latakia Governorate Council in Syria, expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the UAE, represented by the ERC, to support quake-affected Syrians since the first day of the disaster, which include the provision of food supplies and other essentials through the on-going air bridge, as well as additional support through the arrival of the fourth aid ship today. "The UAE was among the first countries to stand by Syria after the earthquake, and this honourable stance is not surprising, as it reflects its solidarity with Arab countries and leading role in assisting all countries worldwide during natural disasters and crises," Habib said. He also acknowledged the Ministry of Defences Joint Operations Command for launching Operation Gallant Knight 2, which involves search and rescue teams and the dispatch of humanitarian aid by air and sea, expressing his gratitude to the UAE and government and people for their continuous humanitarian efforts to support the Syrian people. The Emirati ship carried food parcels, including dates, infant milk, juices, canned goods and liquid soap, as well as living essentials, such as clothing, blankets, bedding, carpets, building materials and various other supplies. (@FahadShabbir) Geneva, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jun, 2023 ) :Donors at a UN conference on Monday pledged close to $1.5 billion to combat the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and help its neighbours host refugees fleeing the fighting. Sudan is descending into death and destruction at unprecedented speed, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned as he urged donors to step in and curb the unfolding catastrophe. The conference comes midway through a three-day ceasefire which appeared to have brought calm to the capital Khartoum, after the failure of earlier truces to secure aid corridors. "Today, donors have announced close to $1.5 billion for the humanitarian response to Sudan and the region," the UN's humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said, closing the conference hosted in Geneva. "This crisis will require sustained financial support and I hope we can all keep Sudan at the top of our priorities." UN refugees chief Filippo Grandi added: "It is very important these contributions be clearly allocated and disbursed as quickly as possible because we're really short of funds." More than two months into the fighting, the United Nations is worried the crisis could spill over and destabilise neighbouring African states. "The scale and speed of Sudan's descent into death and destruction is unprecedented," UN Secretary General Guterres told the conference. "Without strong international support, Sudan could quickly become a locus of lawlessness, radiating insecurity across the region." (@FahadShabbir) Kabul, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jun, 2023 ) :A convicted murderer was shot dead Tuesday in a grounds in provincial Afghanistan, officials said, the second public execution since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. "He was executed in public in the town of Sultan Ghazi Baba, centre of Laghman province, so that he could suffer and become a lesson for others," said a statement from provincial information officers. Although public executions were common during the Taliban's first rule from 1996 to 2001, the only other one they have carried out since returning to power was in December last year in Farah province. There have been regular public floggings for other crimes, however, including theft, adultery and alcohol consumption. Officials named the murderer as "Ajmal, son of Naseem", adding he had killed five people. Beijing, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jun, 2023 ) :Chinese leader Xi Jinping said Monday he saw headway in the strained relationship with the United States on a rare visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but the rival powers remained at odds over their core disputes. In a symbolic sign of lowering the temperature after soaring tensions, President Xi received Blinken in the vast Great Hall of the People and said the two powers had "made progress and reached agreement" on unspecified issues. "I hope that Secretary Blinken, through this visit, can make positive contributions to stabilising China-US relations," Xi told the top US diplomat, the highest-ranking American official to travel to Beijing in nearly five years. US President Joe Biden, in brief remarks to press during a trip to California, reacted hours later by saying, "We're on the right trail." Both sides had played down prospects for breakthroughs, with Blinken saying his more than 11 hours of talks over two days were more about restoring dialogue. "We have made progress and we are moving forward," Blinken told reporters in Beijing, while adding: "None of this gets resolved with one visit." Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang agreed to pay a return visit to the United States but Blinken acknowledged limited progress on jumpstarting communication with China's military, a key priority for the United States as tensions simmer over Taiwan. "Direct engagement and sustained communication at senior levels is the best way to responsibly manage differences and ensure that competition does not veer into conflict," Blinken told reporters. "I heard the same from my Chinese counterparts. We both agree on the need to stabilise our relationship," he added. Blinken said the world's two largest economies would work together to expand flights -- still at a bare minimum since the Covid-19 pandemic -- and would explore ways to discuss Chinese exports of chemicals that make fentanyl, the painkiller behind an addiction epidemic in the United States. Athens, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jun, 2023 ) :Greece's coastguard on Monday said it had found three bodies during a search for survivors after last week's tragedy in which at least 78 migrants died in the Ionian Sea. A coastguard spokeswoman said the bodies "were in a state of decomposition" and their gender could not be immediately identified. They were found in the sea west of the Peloponnese peninsula, the area where an overloaded trawler capsized and sank early Wednesday, she told AFP. Coastguard vessels have not stopped looking for possible survivors. They have so far rescued 104 people from the trawler, which rescuers said was carrying "hundreds" of migrants. Nine Egyptian men have been detained as suspected smugglers. They will be taken before a magistrate on Tuesday. The coastguard could not confirm the two bodies belonged to victims of the shipwreck when asked by AFP. Officials say the migrants had departed from Libya towards Italy. FILE PHOTO: An Air India Airbus A320 aircraft takes off as an IndiGo Airlines aircraft waits for clearance at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad (Adds graphic) By Aditi Shah and Tim Hepher NEW DELHI/PARIS (Reuters) - Record plane orders by India's top two carriers show the country's untapped potential for air travel and its rise as an aviation superpower, but recent airline failures and rows over regulations suggest progress may not be smooth. Indian budget airline IndiGo announced at the Paris Airshow on Monday the biggest ever plane order by number of aircraft with a deal for 500 Airbus narrowbody jets. A day later, rival Air India firmed up an order for 470 Airbus and Boeing aircraft that, until Monday, had been the industry leading plane deal. With a total of almost 1,000 jet orders between them, IndiGo and Air India are betting an economic boom and growing middle class will spur demand for domestic air travel, and new jets will help them grab a bigger share of international traffic. The number of domestic air passengers in India is expected to surge to 350 million by 2030, up from 144 million in 2019, with international air travellers up to 160 million from 64 million in 2019, according to aviation consultancy CAPA India and government data. The number of airports in India is also set to climb to 200 over the next five years from 150 today, as the government looks to connect the country's remotest areas by air. "It is time to seize the skies," civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday, adding the new planes would help Indian airlines expand at home and across continents. IndiGo, which operates a fleet of 300 planes, is yet to take delivery of some 500 jets from previous orders with Airbus. This puts the total deliveries by planemakers to Indian carriers at more than 1,500 over the next decade and beyond - double India's existing fleet of 700 planes across all airlines. That makes India a key market for planemakers, especially Airbus which has bagged the bulk of new orders, outdoing U.S. rival Boeing, and engine manufacturers whose wares will be put to test. LEASING CONCERNS But while the opportunity in India is big, so are the risks, says Ameya Joshi, an independent aviation analyst. The recent failure of Go First, the third Indian airline to go under in 11 years, has exposed a gap in local regulations over the protection of rights of foreign leasing firms that finance many large plane deals. Indian budget carrier SpiceJet is also facing the ire of lessors over unpaid dues. Leasing companies warn that restrictions on repossessing their assets in case of defaults will drive up costs for all Indian airlines - even for IndiGo and Air India. "There needs to be a huge regulatory revamp to protect lessors' interests. It will eventually help Indian airlines by lowering risk and moderating lease rental costs," said Joshi. India is a critical market for lessors. Sale-and-leaseback deals - where airlines sell planes to lessors to free up capital and then rent them back - accounted for 75% of plane deliveries in India from 2018 to 2022, compared with a global average of 35%, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows. This is causing concerns among some leasing companies that fear being too exposed to a market fraught with risks. Some analysts also say that the airlines could be over-ordering jets in pursuit of the same passengers. The bullish outlooks from IndiGo and Air India, which together control about 80% of the domestic market, suggest both are starting to benefit from their scale compared to rivals. Joshi expects annual passenger growth in India to taper to 6%-10% going forward, coming off highs of 20% seen in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic. But he thinks the market will stabilise as weaker airlines will fall by the wayside. "India is moving towards becoming a stable market where growth will not be as high but airlines will be profitable and connectivity will be better despite higher fares," he said. (Reporting by Aditi Shah and Tim Hepher; Additional reporting by Joanna Plucinska in Paris; Editing by Mark Potter) (@FahadShabbir) Guayaquil, Ecuador, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jun, 2023 ) :Six people were killed and eight wounded Monday in an apparent gang shootout in Guayaquil, a port city in Ecuador terrorized by a wave of violence blamed on a spiraling drug war, authorities said. Police Colonel Marcelo Castillo told AFP that six people had died in Guayaquil's second mass shooting this month, which appeared to have been a settling of scores between rival gangs. The prosecutor's office later said eight others had been wounded and taken to local hospitals, while no one had so far been arrested. Such attacks have become ever-more frequent in Ecuador, especially in Guayaquil, as rival gangs ramp up the fight for drug markets and routes in the country's overcrowded prisons and on the streets -- leaving a trail of corpses in their wake. More than 420 prisoners have died in vicious fighting between rival criminal groups in Ecuadoran prisons since February 2021, many beheaded or burned alive. Widespread corruption among guards has allowed inmates to obtain guns and explosives. As the lawlessness spreads, there have been several car bomb explosions in Ecuadoran cities, and bodies discovered hanging from pedestrian bridges -- some without heads. The country is also increasingly plagued by sadistic kidnappings, with criminals sending hostages' fingers to their loved ones to pressure them into paying more ransom. In Monday's shooting, Castillo said the attackers arrived in a black vehicle in a populated neighborhood in the early hours. "Four or five got out" and opened fire, despite several people being in the street. "It is pure retaliation for previous acts of violence," the police colonel said. "They kill each other without mercy."He added that one of those killed had a record of "criminal association" and one of the wounded was known for involvement in drug trafficking. Some 132 spent cartridges were found at the scene, said Castillo. (@Abdulla99267510) The prime minister says under difficult economic situation, Pakistan is up again for an investment of 4.8 billion dollars from China in this project, which sends message that Pakistan is a place where Chinese companies and investors continue to show their trust and faith. ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-June 20th, 2023) Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif says the signing of Memorandum of Understanding for 1200 Megawatt Chashma-V Nuclear Power Plant is a great step forward of economic cooperation between Pakistan and China. Addressing the signing ceremony of Memorandum of Understanding for construction of Chashma-V Nuclear Power Plant in Islamabad on Tuesday, he said we will kick start it without any further delay. He said under difficult economic situation, Pakistan is up again for an investment of 4.8 billion Dollars from China in this project, which sends message that Pakistan is a place where Chinese companies and investors continue to show their trust and faith. He said the Chinese companies gave concession of 30 billion dollars to Pakistan in two phases in implementation of this project. He said when Pakistan is faced with economic challenges, and we are also engaged with IMF to finalize 9th Review and met all conditions required by the IMF, China once again came to our help and rescue. Shehbaz Sharif also lauded great brotherly countries Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar for extending help to Pakistan. The Prime Minister said we are deeply obliged to President XI Jinping, and the Chinese leadership for their generous help to Pakistan. Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Energy Khurram Dastgir, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, the Chinese Charge d'affaires Ms Pang Chunxue representative of Chinese companies and other higher authorities of Pakistan and China were also present on this occasion. WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st June, 2023) US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that he is "very proud" of his son when he was asked about Hunter Biden's plea deal. "I am very proud of my son," Biden told reporters during a meeting on Artificial Intelligence with civil society leaders. BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th June, 2023) China highly appreciates and is ready to contribute to African countries' efforts toward finding a political resolution to the conflict in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Tuesday. "As the facts show, war and sanctions cannot solve problems, dialogue and negotiations are the only possible way. China is ready to work with all parties, including African states, to create favorable conditions for resolving the crisis," Mao told a briefing. She noted that such efforts fully reflect the call of the international community for a ceasefire, cessation of hostilities and eventually a sustainable resolution. "China supports any efforts aimed at resolving the Ukrainian crisis, highly appreciates the active role of African countries such as South Africa," she said. A group of African countries came up with a peace initiative on Ukraine in May. A top-level delegation visited Ukraine and Russia late last week to discuss the 10-point plan based on security guarantees, freedom of Black Sea grain exports, release of prisoners and start of peace talks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told them no peace talks would be possible until Russia withdraws its forces. Russian President Vladimir Putin said some of the points of the African initiative were aligned with Moscow's stance and the discussion should be continued. WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st June, 2023) A Federal jury in New York City has convicted three individuals of stalking Chinese citizens in the United States and conspiring to act as illegal agents of the Chinese government, the US Justice Department said on Tuesday. "(A) federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, convicted three defendants on multiple counts of a superseding indictment charging them with acting and conspiring to act in the United States as illegal agents of the People's Republic of China (PRC), without prior notification to the Attorney General," the Justice Department said in a press release. Michael McMahon, 55, of Mahwah, New Jersey, was convicted of acting as an illegal agent of China and of participating in a conspiracy to commit interstate stalking and interstate stalking, the release said. Congying Zheng, 27, of Brooklyn, New York, was convicted of conspiracy to commit interstate stalking and interstate stalking, the release said. Zhu Yong, 66, of Queens, New York, was convicted of conspiracy to act and acting as an illegal agent of China, conspiracy to commit interstate stalking and interstate stalking, the release said. According to court documents, McMahon - a retired New York Police Department sergeant working as a private investigator - and Zhu knowingly acted at the direction of Chinese government officials to conduct surveillance and engage in a campaign to harass and stalk residents of the United States to return to China, the release added. McMahon faces up to 20 years in prison; Zhu faces up to 25 years in prison; and Zheng faces up to 10 years in prison, according to the release. WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st June, 2023) US House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin will view two additional FBI documents related to allegations of bribery against US President Joe Biden and his family, Fox news reported on Tuesday. The House Oversight Committee is conducting a probe into allegations of corruption and influence peddling by the Biden family, including claims by an FBI informant that then-Vice President Biden and his son Hunter Biden received millions of Dollars from a Ukrainian businessman to help end a probe into his energy company. The allegations stem from a FBI FD-1023 form, which details the confidential informant's claims about the Biden family's corruption. Lawmakers on the panel have previously been granted access to information from the FD-1023 form. The two new documents the panel heads will view were referenced in footnotes of the FD-1023, the report said, adding that there is no additional information on what they may contain. Earlier on Tuesday, the US Justice Department said its own probe into Hunter Biden continues despite a tentative deal to avoid prison time in exchange for pleading guilty to two misdemeanor tax offenses, as well as entering into a pre-trial diversion agreement on a felony firearm offense. The plea deal will not impact the House Oversight Committee's probe into the Biden family's alleged criminal activity, Comer said in a statement. CCE Announces Recipients of 2023-24 Conville Endowment Award Tue, 06/20/2023 - 01:03pm | By: Christy Kayser The Center for Community Engagement (CCE) at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) has announced four recipients of the 2023-2024 Conville Endowment Award for the support of initiatives related to community engagement and service-learning. Mac Alford, professor in the School of Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences, was awarded funding for the creation and placement of educational interpretive plant signs developed by students in his Plant Systematics class. These informational signs are developed based on students observations and interactions with staff and visitors during in-class visits to local trails and parks and after students conduct research on important facts such as plants historical uses and unique aspects of their biology. I am delighted that this award will put some of the students great work into public view and highlight how what they learn can be translated into service for the community, said Alford. Sherita Johnson, associate professor of English and director of The Center for Black Studies, received funding to support her service-learning project with the Historic Bay Springs School. Built in 1925 and located in the Kelly Settlement area of Forrest County, the Bay Springs School is one of the few remaining rural Rosenwald Schools in Mississippi designed for the purpose of educating African Americans during segregation. Students in Johnsons Service Learning in Black Studies class will assist with documenting and preserving the history of the Bay Springs School. This work will lay the foundation for a new community-engagement partnership between the Center for Black Studies and the caretakers of the Bay Springs School, with the long-term goal of maintaining the school as a cultural heritage site open to educational programming. This project will bring attention to the local efforts made by African Americans to achieve a quality education in rural areas even during segregation, said Johnson. The Bay Springs School is a very important cultural heritage site in South Mississippi that unfortunately has not yet received the recognition it deserves. Laura S. Malone, assistant director of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development, received funding for in-class activities to promote teambuilding and community among students in her UNV 110 class and to increase engagement opportunities with her community partner, the Institute for Disability Studies. UNV 110 is an integrative experience for students in the RISE (Reaching, Including, Supporting and Educating) program to learn alongside first-year university students about areas such as mental, physical, and emotional health, academic and professional success, and recreation and leisure. The class provides an opportunity for traditional first-semester freshmen as well as RISE participants to learn about Hattiesburg and the University of Southern Mississippi communities, with students working together to develop a final project beneficial to future RISE participants and first-semester freshmen. It is extra special to receive the Conville Endowment Award because it was in Interpersonal Communication (CMS 605), taught by Dr. Conville, in which I first participated in a service-learning project, said Malone. This award will benefit students in University Studies (UNV 110) and will help facilitate student-group teambuilding, strengthen the student-community partner connection, and foster learners sense of community and belonging. John Winters, assistant professor of history, was awarded funding for a project with the Ellisville State School (ESS), a historic residential school for persons with mental and developmental disabilities. The project will result in a Master Preservation Plan (MPP) for the schools on-site cemetery which will aid preservation efforts and increase accessibility for the ESS, residents, and families. Student interns from USM will help catalogue the cemetery, photograph and take rubbings of faded headstones, develop a site map to identify those interred, and catalogue headstones and gravesites in need of more substantial restoration. The plan includes the eventual creation of a map for the historic cemetery that would be posted on the ESS website for relevant public, ESS, and family use. Students involved in this project will receive training with hands-on preservation, planning, and disability sensitivity that will be of use in their future careers. The Conville Endowment for Community Engaged Teaching and Research Award was established to honor Dr. and Mrs. Richard L. Conville and to support and reward excellence in community-engaged teaching and research. The award is funded through the Richard L. Conville and Mozella P. Conville Center for Community Engagement Fund for Excellence and provides funding for conducting or developing community-engaged or service-learning research; implementing and planning a new, significant, and sustainable community engagement initiative; advancing and promoting service-learning or community engagement at USM; integrating service-learning or community engagement into a college or department degree plan; developing or re-designing a service-learning class; or collaborating across disciplines or institutions on community engagement initiatives The Center for Community Engagement promotes service and service-learning on The University of Southern Mississippi campus and throughout the Hattiesburg community. Visit the CCE website at Southern Miss or call 601.266.6467 for more information. USMs Fabrication Shop Supports Rapid Prototype, Marine Research Center Mission Tue, 06/20/2023 - 02:07pm | By: Gabriela Shinskie The University of Southern Mississippis (USM) Prototype Fabrication Shop at its Marine Research Center (MRC) in Gulfport shows great promise in its mission to provide state-of-the-art fabrication in support of blue technology innovation in the Gulf of Mexico. The Prototype Fabrication Shop, which opened in early 2023, features $1.8 million in RESTORE (Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States) Act-funded equipment, including a CNC 5-axis mill, a plasma table, hybrid laser/router table, and 3D printers, among a variety of others. Anita Arguelles, Content and Brand Manager at the Center for Ocean Enterprise, said extensive research was initiated with tours to different fabrication shops along the East Coast. We wanted to offer fabrication services quickly responding to requests to build, modify or repair equipment so that users can get back on the water with minimal delay. Ocean explorers and engineers designed the Marine Research Center and created the list of equipment for the Prototype Fabrication Shop to support professionals that need to get their technology into the marine environment. We have everything in our shop to help researchers do their work, said Arguelles. A new start-up company that is refining a design or established companies that want support for low volume manufacturing of blue technology products, we are here to help. USMs new fabrication shop has been commended for being a world-class shop for its capabilities in machining, welding, bending, and other types of fabrication. It also supports our strategy to support the uncrewed maritime systems hub of the Gulf of Mexico. To do that, we must support blue technology innovators, said Arguelles. As an example of its modern cutting-edge services, one can bring a thumb drive with files for generating parts and let the shop machine do the rest. The Prototype Fabrication Shop is operated by Glenn Myers, who is the Prototype Equipment Service Center Director for the Ocean Enterprise Team. He has nearly 40 years of experience managing shop equipment, including with aerospace, oil and gas, medical machines; his specialty is the CNC 5-axis mill, which he has been working with for 15 years. My favorite piece of equipment is definitely the 5-axis mill, Myers said. It is a milling machine that will cut in all five directions at once. Its the most complex. Theres nothing cooler than going and modeling it up on the computer and then going out on the machine and seeing it actually made. Chris Kirby, research program and business manager at the Center for Ocean Enterprise, said the need for the shops services is great, and hes glad USM has put resources into making it a reality. This Marine Research Center is set up as a service center, said Kirby. This means that someone can come in and rent space -to work on their technology, talk to Glenn and get approved to operate equipment. Someone can go in there [the shop], under shop supervision, and work on their project. This is also great for [our] graduate students to have real-world experience working turning their designs into real-world solutions using these state-of-the-art machines before they graduate. An added advantage of the fabrication shop is its unique access to the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in an easier process to test equipment in a real-time setting, compared to other coastlines with greater restriction to larger bodies of water. As a result, easy access has been an attractive feature for uncrewed maritime systems and start-up companies in the blue economy. Kirby said the shop has already proven its worth as a manufacturer of products and parts locally in the United States. As an example, clients like Idaho State University have engaged its services to produce equipment for conducting underwater research. Vantage Market Research, The North Star for the Working World WASHINGTON, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Global Anti-Corrosion Coatings Market is valued at USD 29.6 Billion in 2022 and is projected to reach a value of USD 41 Billion by 2030 at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 4.8% over the forecast period 2023-2030. One of the most significant economic areas is the Anti-Corrosion Coatings business, and consistent expansion is projected going forward. Despite the industry's turmoil, numerous things could affect its development or demise. This study assesses both the current trends and the anticipated future changes to provide a full insight of the sector. Additionally, it provides details on the significant industry players and their expansion strategies. The report provides a thorough analysis of international producers and suppliers, as well as their current situation and future prospects. It also goes into detail about the global drivers of the demand for Anti-Corrosion Coatings, including rising investment requirements, developing technology, and new laws. Get Access to Free Sample Research Report with Latest Industry Insights @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/anti-corrosion-coatings-market-0329/request-sample Market Overview According to Vantage Market Research, some of the key factors anticipated to accelerate the Anti-Corrosion Coatings market growth over the forecast period. One of the main factors that favorably affect the demand for Anti-Corrosion Coatings is the increase in demand from end-use industries such as oil & gas, marine, and construction. These industries require high-performance coatings that protect their equipment, structures, and assets from corrosion, leading to safety hazards, downtime, and costly repairs. Additionally, the increasing focus on sustainability and environmental regulations has led to the adoption of eco-friendly and low VOC (volatile organic compounds) coatings, which also drives the demand for anti-corrosion coatings. The Asia Pacific Anti-corrosion coatings market is witnessing significant growth due to rising demand from end-use industries like oil & gas, marine, power generation, and manufacturing. The increasing investment in infrastructure development and rapid industrialization in emerging nations such as China, India, and Japan also drive market growth. Moreover, the growing stringency of regulations related to environmental protection and safety concerns is creating the need for advanced and eco-friendly anti-corrosion coatings, which further boosts the market growth. Additionally, the development of innovative and technologically advanced anti-corrosion coatings by manufacturers is expected to create new growth opportunities in the market. The key players operating in the market are focusing on strategic partnerships, collaborations, and mergers & acquisitions to enhance their market share. Market Dynamics Growth in Automotive Industry to Boost the Market The automotive industry has been steadily growing and evolving with advancements in technology and innovation. With the increasing demand for automobiles, there has been a surge in the production of cars worldwide. Anti-corrosion coatings are essential in the automotive industry as they protect the car's metal parts from rust and deterioration caused by moisture, chemicals, and other environmental conditions. The growing demand for anti-corrosion coatings in the automotive industry can be attributed to their ability to enhance the lifespan of vehicles and improve their overall performance. As the automotive industry continues to grow, the demand for effective anti-corrosion coatings will likely increase, thereby driving the growth of the anti-corrosion coatings market. Increasing Demand from the Oil & Gas Industry to Impact the Market The anti-corrosion coatings market is expected to see increased demand from the oil & gas industry due to the increasing need to protect equipment and infrastructure from corrosion caused by harsh operating environments and corrosive materials. High investments in oil & gas exploration and production activities also drive the demand for anti-corrosion coatings. Additionally, regulations mandating using environment-friendly coatings push the industry towards innovative and sustainable coating solutions. The need for anti-corrosion coatings will likely grow in the coming years as the oil & gas industry expands globally. Top Players in the Global Anti-Corrosion Coatings Market PPG Industries Inc. (U.S.) Akzo Nobel N.V. (Netherlands) The Sherwin-Williams Company (U.S.) Axalta Coating Systems LLC (U.S.) BASF SE (Germany) Hempel A/S (Denmark) Ashland Chemicals (U.S.) Jotun (Norway) RPM International Inc. (U.S.) Kansai Paint Co. Ltd. (Japan) Axalta Coating Systems LLC (U.S.) Budget Limitation? Contact us for Special Discount and Pricing Top Trends in Global Anti-Corrosion Coatings Market One trend that Vantage Market Research (VMR) expects to see in the Anti-Corrosion Coatings industry is the shift toward powder coatings. The use of powder coatings is gaining popularity due to their ease of application, durability, and eco-friendliness. The growth in the powder coatings market is expected to drive the anti-corrosion coatings market further. Another trend that VMR predicts will continue in the Anti-Corrosion Coatings industry is technological advancements. Advanced coating technologies such as nano-coatings and smart coatings are gaining popularity. These coatings offer improved corrosion protection and longer lifespan. Top Report Findings Based on the Type, the Epoxy segment holds a significant share in the global anti-corrosion coatings market due to its unique properties like high adhesion, chemical resistance, and durability. It is widely used for industrial applications in the automotive, construction, and marine sectors. The increasing demand for eco-friendly and solvent-free epoxy coatings drives the market's growth. Based on the Technology, the Solvent-borne category in the global anti-corrosion coatings market will likely grow in the coming years. This type of coating is composed of organic solvents and resins, which provide excellent adhesion, durability, and protection against corrosion. Solvent-borne coatings are widely used in the automotive and industrial sectors due to their high resistance to harsh environmental conditions. Based on the End-User, the Infrastructure category controls most of the Anti-Corrosion Coatings market's revenue. Anti-corrosion coatings are widely used in building and construction industries, such as bridges, tunnels, airports, and railway stations. These coatings provide long-lasting protection against corrosion, which enhances the structural integrity and lifespan of infrastructure assets. The increasing demand for infrastructure development and renovation projects in developing countries is driving the growth of the anti-corrosion coatings market in the infrastructure segment. Buy this Premium Research Report with Discount | Immediate Delivery @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/buy-now/anti-corrosion-coatings-market-0329/0 Top 10 Players Generates Most of the Revenue of Global Anti-Corrosion Coatings Market The market is highly competitive and fragmented, with numerous players operating. The report found that the most prominent players in the Anti-Corrosion Coatings market include PPG Industries Inc. (U.S.), Akzo Nobel N.V. (Netherlands), The Sherwin-Williams Company (U.S.), Axalta Coating Systems LLC (U.S.), BASF SE (Germany), Hempel A/S (Denmark), Ashland Chemicals (U.S.), Jotun (Norway), RPM International Inc. (U.S.), Kansai Paint Co. Ltd. (Japan), and Axalta Coating Systems LLC (U.S.). Moreover, the key players focus on product innovation, developing new technologies, and expanding into new geographies to maintain their market position. As per the latest report published by Vantage Market Research, the top 10 companies are responsible for generating most of the revenue of the global market. Acrylic Material Category in Anti-Corrosion Coatings Market Expected to Generate Nearly Half the Total Global Segment Revenue The Acrylic segment in this market is expected to observe significant growth due to the increasing demand for high-performance coatings with excellent weatherability and durability. Acrylic coatings offer excellent resistance against corrosion, UV degradation, and chemicals, making them ideal for use in harsh environmental conditions. They are also easy to apply, have good adhesion properties, and provide an attractive finish. The growth in the construction industry is also expected to drive the demand for acrylic coatings in the anti-corrosion coatings market. The growth in the construction of residential & commercial buildings in developing countries, coupled with the need to protect infrastructure from corrosion, is expected to increase the demand for anti-corrosion coatings in the construction industry. North America and Europe are the major markets for anti-corrosion coatings, with a significant presence of major manufacturers in these regions. However, the Asia Pacific region is projected to grow substantially due to the booming construction industry and increasing industrialization in countries such as China and India. The acrylic segment is expected to grow strongly in this region due to the rising demand for anti-corrosion coatings in the marine and oil & gas industries. Browse market data Tables and Figures spread through 143 Pages and in-depth TOC on Anti-Corrosion Coatings Market Forecast Report (2023-2030). Global Anti-Corrosion Coatings Market Segmentation By Type Epoxy Acrylic Alkyd Zinc Polyurethane Chlorinated Rubber Other Types By Technology Solvent-borne Waterborne Powder Coating By End-User Oil & Gas Marine Infrastructure Industrial Automotive & Transportation Power Generation Other End-User Industries By Region North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa Read Full Report with TOC @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/anti-corrosion-coatings-market-0329 Scope of the Report: Report Attributes Details Market Size in 2022 USD 29.6 Billion Revenue Forecast by 2030 USD 41 Billion CAGR 4.8% from 2023 to 2030 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 to 2030 Key Players PPG Industries Inc., Akzo Nobel N.V., The Sherwin-Williams Company, Axalta Coating Systems LLC, BASF SE, Hempel A/S, Ashland Chemicals, Jotun, RPM International Inc., Kansai Paint Co. Ltd., Axalta Coating Systems LLC Customization Options Customized purchase options are available to meet any research needs. Explore customized purchase options https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/anti-corrosion-coatings-market-0329/request-sample Buy this Premium Research Report with Discount | Immediate Delivery @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/buy-now/anti-corrosion-coatings-market-0329/0 Browse More Reports from Vantage Library: Powder Metallurgy Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/powder-metallurgy-market-2107 Self-healing Materials Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/selfhealing-materials-market-2100 Paraffin Wax Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/paraffin-wax-market-2096 Textile Recycling Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/textile-recycling-market-2094 Fire Resistant Lubricants Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/fire-resistant-lubricants-market-2091 Silanes Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/silanes-market-2090 About Vantage Market Research: We, at Vantage Market Research, provide quantified B2B high quality research on more than 20,000 emerging markets, in turn, helping our clients map out constellation of opportunities for their businesses. We, as a competitive intelligence market research and consulting firm provide end to end solutions to our client enterprises to meet their crucial business objectives. Our clientele base spans across 70% of Global Fortune 500 companies. Follow Us on: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube Contact us Eric Kunz 6218 Georgia Avenue NW Ste 1 - 564 Washington DC 20011-5125 United States Tel: +1 202 380 9727 Email: sales@vantagemarketresearch.com Website: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/ Latest Vantage Market Research Press Releases Latest Vantage Market Research Blog Vantage Market Research All Reports Blog: World Refugee Day, celebrated around the world every June 20, serves as a day to pay tribute to people who have been compelled to flee their homes. Those who leave their home countries seeking safety are known as refugees or asylum-seekers. In the United States, there are notable distinctions between these two statuses. While the terms are often used interchangeably, there are significant differences under U.S. immigration law when pursuing these statuses. Who is a refugee? The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program has established specific priorities for processing individuals and groups with special humanitarian concerns who seek entry into the United States. The individuals referred by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, U.S. embassies, or certain non-governmental organizations receive the utmost priority, P-1. Groups of special humanitarian concern are next in priority, P-2, followed by family reunification cases, P-3. Applicants go through a pre-screening process at one of a handful of Resettlement Support Centers scattered around the world. This is followed by an interview conducted by a U.S. immigration officer, multiple security checks, and a medical examination to determine their eligibility for resettlement in the United States. Once approved, an applicant is assigned to a sponsoring resettlement agency that provides assistance with services such as housing and employment upon the refugee's arrival in the U.S. Refugees receive employment authorization and can request documents to travel outside the United States. After one year, refugees may apply for lawful permanent status, also known as a green card. Five years after obtaining a green card, they can apply for U.S. citizenship. Is it possible to count how many people are refugees worldwide? According to a report released by the UNHCR, 110 million people are displaced worldwide, an increase of 19 million people compared with the end of 2021. That means 1 in every 74 people around the world has been forced to flee. That number includes those displaced internally, which means they cant go home but they have not left their country, asylum-seekers, and refugees. Who is an asylum-seeker? U.S. federal law allows people from other countries to seek asylum in the United States if they fear persecution at home. They must be present in the U.S. and prove a fear of persecution on one of five grounds: race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social class (the vaguest of the five categories, it can include things like sexuality or caste). To be granted asylum, applicants must meet three requirements laid out by the U.N. Convention on Refugees in 1951 and adopted by the United States. Applicants must prove: They have a reasonable fear of persecution in their home country. Reasonable fear is defined by the United Nations as at least a 10% chance of persecution. They must fear persecution on one of the five grounds. They must prove the government of their home country is either involved in the persecution or unable to control it. Are those at the U.S.-Mexico border refugees or asylum-seekers? They are asylum-seekers. According to immigration lawyers, migrants are legally allowed to walk to a port of entry and ask for asylum from a U.S. immigration officer. But currently, to manage the flow of migrants at the border, the U.S. government requires migrant to use the CBP One app to register and schedule arrivals at official U.S. points of entry. Migrants arriving at the border are processed under Title 8, the U.S. law governing immigration. That law allows migrants to seek asylum or other forms of relief within the United States if they have a legitimate fear of persecution in their home country. Those who cross the border outside of official entry points without authorization will be apprehended. They will either be swiftly removed from the United States or go through a lengthy deportation proceeding overseen by an immigration judge. The latter typically applies to families, while single adults will generally undergo the fast removal process unless they can establish a credible fear of returning to their countries. Can the government deny asylum cases? Yes. The government can deny asylum by finding that an applicant failed to meet one of the requirements, by finding that conditions in their country have significantly changed since the application was made, or by finding the applicant could live safely in another part of their own country. It is incumbent upon the asylum-seeker to show that their persecution derives from membership in one of the five categories and that the persecution or threats come from the government or forces the government can't control. What issues can cause an asylum claim to be rescinded? Waiting more than one year after entry to the U.S. before filing an application for asylum, having been involved in persecution of another group of people, committing a serious crime, or being a threat to U.S. security can derail an asylum claim. Three men were convicted of various charges Tuesday in a trial showcasing U.S. claims that China has engineered pressure campaigns on American soil to bully expatriates into returning home, part of an effort called "Operation Fox Hunt." American private investigator Michael McMahon and two Chinese citizens living in the U.S. Zheng Congying and Zhu Yong all were accused of taking part in scare tactics aimed at a former Chinese official. He was living quietly in New Jersey, and Beijing wanted him back. Zhu was convicted of acting as an illegal foreign agent, stalking, interstate stalking conspiracy and conspiring to act as an illegal foreign agent. Zheng was convicted of stalking and stalking conspiracy but acquitted of the other charges. McMahon was convicted of all except conspiracy to act as a foreign agent. The Brooklyn federal court trial was the first to result from a spate of U.S. prosecutions scrutinizing China's Operation Fox Hunt, a nearly decade-old initiative that Beijing characterizes as a pursuit of fugitives from justice. U.S. authorities view it, at least sometimes, as an exercise in "transnational repression," or deploying government operatives to harass, threaten and silence critics living abroad. China has denied trying to force repatriations through intimidation and says the U.S. is maligning an effort to fight crime. Prosecutors say pressure from Beijing was brought to bear in suburban New Jersey, where former Wuhan city official Xu Jin and his family moved in 2010. China has accused him and wife, Liu Fang, of taking bribes; they deny it and say they were targeted because he got crosswise with China's Communist power structure. According to prosecutors, Zhu, Zheng and McMahon took part in a yearslong, multipronged effort to goad Xu into going back to China. The country couldn't officially compel him to do so, as it has no extradition treaty with the U.S. The defense acknowledged that Zhu, Zheng and McMahon took various actions but said the three had no idea that Beijing was allegedly behind it all. McMahon said he was "devastated by the verdict," insisting that all he had done was his job as a private investigator. Zheng and Zhu left court without speaking to reporters. Messages seeking comment were sent to their attorneys. McMahon, a former New York City police sergeant, conducted surveillance and data searches to smoke out Xu's carefully guarded address and information about his loved ones. Zhu, a retiree who also goes by Jason Zhu and Yong Zhu, helped hire McMahon and equip him with details to get started. Zheng later went to Xu's home and left an ominous note: "If you are willing to go back to the mainland and spend 10 years in prison, your wife and children will be all right. That's the end of this matter!" "Before I saw this, I felt that the threats from the Chinese Communist Party was only a mental threat to me. However, when I saw that note, I realized that it had become a physical threat," Xu testified, through a court interpreter. The defense said McMahon, Zheng and Zhu were told they were helping to collect a debt or achieve some other end for a company or individuals not for China. "They were used, cheated, misguided by a foreign government to work for them," Zhu's attorney, Kevin Tung, said in a closing argument. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Heeren said the three "agreed to participate in something that went way, way over the line ... a line that all three defendants knew they were crossing." Prosecutors said the arm-twisting included derogatory Facebook messages to friends of Xu's adult daughter and an onslaught of letters to a relative in New Jersey. At one point, a Chinese prosecutor even flew Xu's unwilling, octogenarian father to New Jersey to lean on his son to return to their homeland, according to prosecutors and trial testimony. The trial unfolded at a fraught time in U.S.-China relations. The two powers have been at odds in recent years over a growing list of issues: trade, industrial espionage, human rights, Taiwan, the South China Sea, Russia's war against Ukraine, U.S. allegations of Chinese spying, and Washington's claims that Beijing is tracking and harassing dissidents overseas. China announced Operation Fox Hunt in July 2014 as an effort to go after corrupt officials and criminals who had fled the country. However, Beijing's wanted list has included people whose political and cultural views conflicted with those of China's ruling Communist Party. U.S. prosecutors have brought several criminal cases involving alleged Operation Fox Hunt endeavors. In one, a pregnant U.S. citizen was held in China for eight months and pressured to persuade her mother to return to the country, prosecutors said. Somalias government says 43 al-Shabab militants, including two senior commanders, were killed by Somali National Army forces during a weekend airstrike about 14 kilometers from the Jamame District in the Lower Juba region. The airstrike successfully eliminated key al-Shabab leaders Aden Abdirahman Aden and Idris Abdirahim Nur, who was of Kenyan national origin, and a total of 43 al-Shabab fighters, the Somali National News Agency (SONNA) reported on Monday. SONNA said the attack, carried out by Somalias international partners, happened Friday as militants and their commanders gathered to plan attacks against government soldiers at the Barsanguni military base, which is home to the Somali National Army and local forces. The statement did not specify the foreign partner that conducted the airstrike, but often, U.S Africa Command drones carry out attacks on Somali militant targets. The successful disruption of this planned attack demonstrates the effectiveness of the ongoing efforts to combat al-Shabaab and protect the people of Somalia, the statement added. The news comes as Somalias Council of Ministers nominated Brigadier General Ibrahim Sheikh Muhyadin Addow as the new commander of the Somali National Army. A spokesman for the Somali Defense Ministry said the appointment follows a proposal to remove General Odawa Yusuf, who has held the position since March 2019. General Addow brings a wealth of experience to his new role. He has previously held various military positions, including Commander of the National Presidential Guard Brigade, the nomination statement said. These military developments come at a time when the army, with the help of forces from neighboring countries, is up for the second phase of an offensive against al-Shabab. In a clear sign that India is increasingly crucial for the United States, the White House will be rolling out its full pageantry on Thursday for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official state visit and state dinner. President Joe Biden has only twice previously extended such an invitation, the highest-ranking and most prestigious of White House visits, to French President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, leaders of U.S. treaty allies. Even the term "official state visit" is distinctive. As heads of government, prime ministers are usually invited on an "official visit" instead of a "state visit," which is given to heads of state such as monarchs, as well as presidents of countries where he or she is also the head of government. The White House has not responded to queries about why Modi is given this exception. Protocol-wise, it will be a step up compared to his previous White House visits in 2014, 2016 and 2017, which were a "working visit," "working lunch," and "official working visit," respectively. In a statement released before he left New Delhi, Modi said Bidens invitation was a a reflection of the vigor and vitality of the partnership between our democracies." Key partner For more than two decades, U.S. administrations have treated India as a key partner. Successive American presidents from Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump have made the 15-hour flight to New Delhi. Trump even campaigned for Modi, heaping praise on the Indian leader in front of tens of thousands of Indian Americans at a "Howdy, Modi!" 2019 rally in Texas. Modi reciprocated by hosting the "Namaste Trump" 2020 event where Trump was cheered on by a crowd of more than 100,000 in Ahmedabad, Modi's political homeland. But no American president has granted Modi what Biden will this week maximum display of White House respect and hospitality, including a full honor guard arrival and departure ceremony, lavish dinner reception and accommodation at Blair House, the official guest house located across the street from the White House. It will be the same full-on pomp that Obama rolled out in 2009 for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Modi also will be invited to speak to a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday, his second time speaking to American lawmakers following his speech in 2016. His predecessors, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Singh, delivered addresses in 2000 and 2005. Geostrategic interests Biden has at least two reasons to roll out the red carpet for Modi: to bolster India's role in the region to counterbalance China and to wean it off Russian arms. India is the only country that has engaged in open conflict with China in the past decades. From Washington's perspective, a robust partnership with New Delhi is critical to realizing the U.S. vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, said Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, at a recent event at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank working on defense and national security policies. "A stronger India that can defend its own interest, and its sovereignty is good for the United States," he said. Modi said India and the U.S. are collaborating to further shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. Local media have reported that during his visit, Modi will sign a $3 billion deal to purchase more than two dozen armed Predator drones for surveillance along India's border with China and Pakistan. Another potential deliverable a technology transfer by American company General Electric for state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to produce engines for Tejas military fighter jets at its facility in Bengaluru. Critical and emerging technologies In an effort to diversify supply chain away from China, the administration announced the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) with India last year. As part of iCET, earlier this month during National Security Adviser Jake Sullivans visit to New Delhi, India and the U.S. unveiled a road map for enhanced collaboration in high-technology areas, with a focus on addressing regulatory barriers and aligning export controls for smoother trade and deeper cooperation in critical areas. "India is also seeking sensitive, critical and emerging technologies that the U.S. is often loath to share," said Donald Camp, chair in U.S.-India policy studies at the Center of Strategic and International Studies during a recent briefing at the nonprofit research organization. "So, they will be talking about cooperation in artificial intelligence and quantum computing." Micron Technology Inc. is reportedly close to committing at least $1 billion toward setting up a semiconductor packaging plant in India a deal blessed by the administration as it seeks to diversify the supply chain of chips away from China. Tensions with China and Pakistan have long driven India to become the world's largest arms importer. From 2018 to 2022, it purchased 11% of the world's weapons, almost half of it from Russia, according to the international arms transfer report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. It's one of the reasons why India has been reluctant to condemn Moscow's invasion, said Aparna Pande, director of the Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia at the Hudson Institute. The war on Ukraine, she told VOA, has provided the Biden administration a "once in a lifetime opportunity" to wean India away from its dependence on Moscow. "Because the equipment is not as easily available, spare parts are not coming through, and it's not really performing that well." Russia was also the largest supplier of arms to India from 2013 to 2017, accounting for 64% of total Indian arms imports. It fell to 45% during the period from 2018 to 2022 due to increased domestic Indian arms production, and since 2022, constraints related to its invasion of Ukraine. Global South This year, India holds the presidency of the G20, a group of 20 developing and developed economies, including the G7, the world's seven richest democracies. It will host the G20 summit later this year, with an agenda heavy on the interests of the so-called Global South, shorthand for low- and middle-income countries. Biden is expected to consult with Modi on the G7's outreach to the Global South, which is partly based on concerns about China's heavy footprint across the developing world, which is creating unsustainable levels of infrastructure debt in some countries, as well as Beijing's clout over supply chains and critical minerals. A proposal is being pushed by Modi to give the African Union permanent membership at the G20. The move could be strategic to regain ground lost to China and Russia countries that have taken a head start in forging relations with the group's 55-member nations, Beijing with its infrastructure loans and Moscow with its arms export. Modi will also likely discuss with Biden the awkward task of finalizing the G20 guest list whether to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country is a member. Amid threats of G7 leaders' boycott, last year's G20 president, Indonesia, navigated the diplomatic headache by convincing Putin to send his foreign minister and inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to attend virtually as an observer. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday the United States and China have an obligation to manage their relationship responsibly, and that he told Chinese leaders during meetings in Beijing that direct engagement is the best way to ensure disagreements do not turn into conflict. Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Blinken said he had candid and substantive discussions Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi. "I would expect additional visits by senior U.S. officials to China over the coming weeks," Blinken said during a news conference. He added that Washington welcomes further visits by Chinese officials to the United States. Xi called on the U.S. side to adopt a rational and pragmatic attitude, and work with China in the same direction, according to a statement issued by the Chinese government. While both sides agreed on the need to stabilize communication, Blinken will not return to Washington with an agreement from the Chinese side to set up military-to-military communication channels. "At this moment, China has not agreed to move forward with that," Blinken said. Washington says military communication lines should remain open in the event of a crisis. Ali Wyne, a senior analyst with Eurasia Group's Global Macro-Geopolitics practice, said in an email to VOA that while it is concerning that China did not accept Blinkens proposal to establish military communication channels, Xis decision to meet with Blinken "suggests that China, not just the United States, appreciates the importance of slowing the deterioration of U.S.-China ties." "The trip will not and was not expected to change the fundamentally and intensely competitive nature of U.S.-China relations, but it will give the two countries an opportunity to increase the frequency and broaden the scope of high-level dialogues," he said. Blinken said he raised U.S. concerns about provocative Chinese actions in the Taiwan Strait. He said he reiterated that the United States does not support Taiwan independence and that it continues to expect the peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences. US ready to cooperate, says Blinken For decades, the U.S. has been clear that its decision to establish diplomatic relations with China in 1979 rested on the expectation that "the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means," as stipulated in the Taiwan Relations Act. Moritz Rudolf, a research scholar at Yale Law School's Paul Tsai China Center, told VOAs Mandarin Service in a phone interview that Blinkens comments on Taiwan were "key for the Chinese side" to hear. He said that while expectations were low for Blinkens visit and there were no major breakthroughs, the talks did not go "as bad as some people might have anticipated." "I think it went fairly well because this visit laid the foundation for more visits and more exchanges in the future," he said. Blinken told reporters he also raised human rights issues, including international concerns about the treatment of people in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, as well as the wrongful detention of U.S. citizens in China. Blinken also said the United States is ready to cooperate with China on issues of mutual interest. He said those include climate change, macroeconomic stability, public health, food security and counter-narcotics efforts. The United States and China have also agreed to set up "a working group" of joint efforts to address the illicit flow of fentanyl, according to Blinken. Blinken, who arrived in Beijing Sunday, is the highest-level U.S. official to visit China since 2018. His trip was rescheduled from February after a Chinese surveillance balloon flew through U.S. airspace and was shot down. Americans wrongfully detained in China Children of Americans who the U.S. considers wrongfully detained by Chinese authorities had asked Blinken to raise their fathers cases with his Chinese counterparts. "Behind every hostage is a family suffering every day," the Bring Our Families Home Campaign said in a tweet on Sunday. "This Sunday will be the 7th time I've missed Fathers Day with my dad," said Harrison Li. "Releasing my dad is one of the easiest things that the Chinese government can do to show they are serious about normalizing relations." Harrison Lis father, Kai Li, is an American citizen who has been detained in China since September 2016. He was later sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage, a charge his family rejects. Alice Lin is the daughter of American pastor David Lin, who was detained under unclear circumstances in 2006 and later sentenced to life in prison on charges of contract fraud. Lin's family staunchly maintains his innocence. Lin's sentence was later reduced, and he is expected to be released in 2029. "Secretary Blinken, we miss my dad. Please do everything possible to bring him home," Lin told VOA. Taiwan Washington has said Chinas military escalation in the Taiwan Strait was "a global concern." A senior State Department official told VOA it is an "abiding interest" of the U.S. to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. China is seen as ramping up economic coercion targeting Taiwan ahead of its presidential election. In May, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told senators that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could halt the world's largest advanced semiconductor production, wiping out up to $1 trillion per year. "I will say this number is way too small," because it only costs about 6% of China's gross domestic product, said Chen-Yu Li, chief economist of Taishin Financial Holdings in Taiwan. Li said a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait will affect other Asian economies such as Japan and South Korea, whose GDP totals at least $5 trillion. He also cited the market value of tech giants such as Apple, Nvidia and AMD, which Li estimates is at least $3 trillion. "If Taiwan is under attack, the stock market in the U.S. may vanish $3 trillion," Li said during a May 12 event hosted by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "If I am Xi Jinping, I'll be very happy to attack Taiwan. It's just 6%," Li said. Some information for this story came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb and Si Yang of VOAs Mandarin Service contributed to this report. Britain and the United States pledged support Tuesday for rebuilding Ukraine following the vast damage wreaked on the country from Russias 16-month-old invasion. Ukraines reconstruction needs are and will be immense," British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in London. "Through our new measures today, were strengthening the U.K.s sanctions approach, affirming that the U.K. is prepared to use sanctions to ensure Russia pays to repair the country it has so recklessly attacked. This week is very much about creating the conditions necessary for public sector money, of course, but predominantly private sector money to fund their reconstruction, Cleverly said. I'm not going to prejudge exactly what vehicles will be used to unlock both the public and the private money that Ukraine will need," he said. Ultimately, we want to ensure that the investment that goes into Ukraine is safe from further conflict and deployed as effectively as possible through robust and reformed Ukrainian institutions. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States would continue to support Ukraine. We will continue to deliver on that commitment, including through a new robust U.S. assistance package that I'll be able to announce [Wednesday]," Blinken said. Blinken met with his British and Ukrainian counterparts ahead of a Ukraine Recovery Conference on Wednesday and Thursday that is focused on fostering international support for helping Ukraine recover from the effects of the Russian invasion. As part of World Refugee Day Tuesday, Blinken and Cleverly toured a center in London set up to help Ukrainians who fled the war get the advice and support they need to adapt to life in Britain. After bilateral talks with Cleverly, Blinken met later with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Blinken said the 50-country, aid-for-Ukraine conference was a show of the powerful and enduring support for Ukraine, not only militarily but also economically, and also in everything were trying to do to build the strongest possible democracy. So, were very pleased to be part of this and very pleased that Ukraine and our friends here are hosting this conference. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke by telephone Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of the conference. It was a unique opportunity to underline the strong public and private sector support for Ukraine, and demonstrate the countrys transformation and ongoing reform, the leaders agreed, Sunaks office said in a statement. Britain is the second-largest donor of military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022, trailing only the United States. Zelenskyy said he expects the conference will consolidate various recovery efforts, and that the recovery should demonstrate to the world that freedom is invincible. Zelenskyy, in his nightly address Monday, also praised Britain for new legislation that would allow redirecting Russian funds frozen under sanctions to help pay for Ukraines rebuilding. No media source currently available The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. June 20 marks the UN-designated World Refugee Day, reminding the world that seeking safety is a universal right grounded in the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. World Refugee Day, which falls each year on June 20, celebrates the strength, perseverance, and courage of millions of people, who flee from their home country to escape conflict or persecution. One young former refugee and entrepreneur has sought to turn the refugees' stories into something inspiring that empowers others who have fled their homes. Mohamed Malim, a 27-year-old former Somali refugee turned social entrepreneur, is the director of the fashion apparel brand Epimonia, a small Minnesota-based company that he founded in 2018. The company collects life jackets that refugees have worn, and the remains of flimsy build-it-yourself rafts from Greek beaches, and turns these pieces of the refugee journey into something more tangible. "We take life jackets that refugees have worn crossing the Mediterranean Sea and turn them into fashion pieces to bring awareness of the global refugee crisis, and to support refugees' arts, and designers," Malim told VOA Somali. The signature of Epimonia's products is a vibrant orange bracelet manufactured out of the scraps of discarded life jackets that refugees used on their trip. Malim says bracelets have been finding their way onto the wrists of young people in the U.S, especially in Minnesota, generating profit that partially goes back to the refugees. "We support refugees through providing employment, spreading awareness, and donating 50% of our profit to U.S. organizations that support refugees with opportunities for education and advancement," said Malim. Over the weekend, at a small space in Washington D.C., Malim used a pile of life jackets and boat materials to celebrate this year's World Refugee Day. "It is something that I am very passionate [about]," said Malim. "Something that I am very inspired [about]. "It is an ability that God gave me to use my talent to make an impact in the life lives of the refugees through a unique medium: fashion." A former refugee, Malim was born in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. He was 4 years old when his family immigrated to the U.S. in 1999. "We first settled in Texas and then moved to Minnesota, where my personal journeys inspired me to make a difference in the world, especially for other refugees," he said. "I am really very grateful to be in this position where I can help my fellow refugees achieve their dreams and materialize their hopes." During the Washington event where Malim showcased his latest art exhibit, a young Somali-American poet, Elias Yabarow, better known as ALAKKUU, gave a live performance of an original piece reflecting the Story of Deeja, a fictional young Somali girl who risked her life to migrate from Mogadishu to Europe. "The idea behind the story of Deejah is basically about the migration of young people, and the message elaborates the factors that force these young people to venture out on hazardous journeys to escape unbearable situations in their countries of origin," Yabarow told VOA. "Even though, the story does not feature if Deeja survived or not, this is the story of how a young woman crossed the coast, this is a story of hundred million people who were all in a same boat," said Yabarow. Elias Yabarow is the son of VOA Somali chief Abdi Yabarow, who was not involved in reporting or editing this story. French investigators searched the headquarters of Paris Olympic organizers on Tuesday in a probe into suspected corruption, according to the national financial prosecutors office. The Paris organizing committee said in a statement that a search was under way at their headquarters in the suburb of Saint-Denis, and that "Paris 2024 is cooperating with the investigators to facilitate their investigations. It would not comment further. Paris becomes the third straight Summer Games organizer implicated in investigations led by anti-corruption authorities in the French capital. Vote-buying allegations linked to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Games previously removed several members of the International Olympic Committee from that organization. An official with the financial prosecutors office said Tuesday the searches are linked to two preliminary investigations related to the Paris Olympics that had not previously been made public. The official was not authorized to be publicly named according to prosecutor's office policy. One of the probes was opened in 2017 the year Paris was picked by the IOC as the 2024 host into suspected embezzlement of public funds and favoritism, and concerns about an unspecified contract reached by Paris organizers, the prosecutor's office said. The other was opened in 2022 following an audit by the French Anti-corruption Agency. The prosecutor's office said that case targets suspected conflict of interest and favoritism involving several contracts reached by the organizing committee and Solideo, the company in charge of Olympic facilities. The Paris Olympics are scheduled for July 26-Aug. 11, 2024. The raids unfolded at the same time as the IOC executive board began a two-day meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, expecting to praise Paris organizers for their progress. IOC president Thomas Bach told reporters early Monday the meeting "of course will be about Paris, where we have some good news after the visit of the coordination mission and after my visit to France, to President Macron, and also the organizing committee. The IOC said it expected to release a statement Tuesday about the raids in Paris ahead of a previously scheduled online news briefing once its meeting closed for the day. Auto tycoon Ghosn files $1 billion lawsuit in Lebanon against Nissan over his imprisonment in Japan BEIRUT (AP) Auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn has filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Nissan and about a dozen individuals in Beirut over his imprisonment in Japan and what he says is misinformation spread against him, Lebanese officials said Tuesday. According to the officials, Ghosns lawsuit accuses Nissan and the individuals of defamation and of fabricating charges against him, which eventually put him behind bars in Japan. The lawsuit was filed last month, the judicial officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the case. The officials did not identify the individuals that Ghosn is accusing. Ghosn was arrested in Japan in November 2018 on charges of breach of trust, misusing company assets for personal gains and violating securities laws by not fully disclosing his compensation. According to Judge Sabbouh Suleiman, who is at the Beiruts prosecutors office, a hearing date in the case was set for September. The judicial officials who spoke to The Associated Press said that Nissan and the accused individuals are expected to send representatives to Beirut or name a Lebanese lawyer to represent them. The 69-year-old Ghosn, who for two decades was the head of Nissan and Renault, has repeatedly said he is innocent. In December 2019, he jumped bail in Japan in a daring escape by hiding in a box spirited aboard a private jet out of the country. Prosecutors in Japan have charged three Americans with helping Ghosn escape the country. He now lives in Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan and does not extradite its citizens. Renault and Nissan have both been distancing themselves from the Ghosn scandal. Ghosn has citizenship in Lebanon, France and Brazil. Lebanon has received three notices from Interpol based on arrest warrants in Japan and France for Ghosn. In France, he is facing a number of legal challenges, including tax evasion and alleged money laundering, fraud and misuse of company assets while at the helm of the Renault-Nissan alliance. U.S. President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden has reached an agreement with the Justice Department to plead guilty on three federal tax and firearm charges in a deal in which he is unlikely to be imprisoned. According to a court filing on Tuesday, the 53-year-old son of the president, long troubled by crack cocaine addiction and the focus of investigations of his overseas business transactions, will plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges for failing to pay his 2017 and 2018 taxes on time, and agree to probation. In addition, the court filing said the Justice Department would charge Biden but agree not to prosecute him in connection with his purchase of a handgun in 2018 when he was using drugs, even though he claimed on a purchase document that he was drug-free. The deal calls for Biden to remain drug-free for two years and agree to never again own a firearm. The agreement was hashed out over several months between lawyers for Hunter Biden and David Weiss, the chief U.S. prosecutor for the eastern state of Delaware, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump but was retained after Trumps reelection defeat to the elder Biden in 2020 to continue to handle the politically sensitive case. In a statement, Hunter Bidens lawyer, Christopher Clark, said, With the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the United States Attorneys Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved. Weiss later said the investigation was ongoing. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life, Clark said. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. The agreement must still be approved by a federal judge. Hunter Biden is expected to appear soon in a federal court in Delaware, where the Biden family lives when they are not in Washington, and plead guilty to the misdemeanor tax charges. If there are no last-minute complications, he is unlikely to be sentenced to prison. "The president and first lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment," White House spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement. Trump and Republicans in the House of Representatives have long sought to tie Hunter Biden's overseas business deals in Ukraine and China to alleged Biden family financial wrongdoing. Representative James Comer, who has been leading an investigation of Biden family finances, assailed the plea deal. "Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery," he said. Republicans have alleged that Hunter Biden was only able to secure lucrative overseas business deals by trading on the importance of his father's vice presidency and then being elected president. Hunter Bidens work for the Ukrainian energy company Burisma from 2014 to 2019, for which U.S. media outlets say he was paid tens of thousands of dollars a month, played a role in the first impeachment case against then-President Trump. In July 2019, with Biden looming as a possible Democratic presidential opponent, Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to look into the business and political activities of both Bidens in Ukraine. A week before the call, Trump had withheld millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine. The U.S. House of Representatives impeached Trump over the phone call, but the Senate acquitted him. On Tuesday, after the Hunter Biden plea deal became known, Trump complained that the Justice Department had given him a mere traffic ticket. Jabrallah Tia was a teacher in Sudan in 2011 when a brutal war forced him to flee to a refugee camp in newly established South Sudan. Thirteen years later, Tia is still in a camp but with a new career: journalist. The Ajuong Thok camp in the Ruweng Administrative Area is home to almost 40,000 refugees and displaced people, most from Sudan. Another influx is expected soon, after a fresh conflict broke out in April. Its terrible now when Sudan has started another war. Were expecting more people to come from Sudan, as theyre fleeing the war there, Tia told VOA in a video interview over Zoom. He knows what thats like. Tia had to leave everything behind when he fled his home in South Kordofan state. But he said he has found new meaning in his journalism work. The change came in 2016, when the international media nonprofit Internews offered reporting training for refugees. Now he works for Jamjang FM, a radio station based inside a camp and run by the nonprofit Community Engagement Network. With four reporters and a station manager, Jamjang broadcasts to two huge camps in the region and local host communities. Most broadcasts are in Arabic, the language of the Sudanese refugees, but a weekly show is hosted in the local South Sudanese language, Dinka. Normally we are focusing on humanitarian works and the service thats being provided to the refugees, he said. We broadcast awareness, like protection from [gender-based violence]. We talk on issues regarding health. Fighting falsehoods In the sprawling camps, rumors and fake news can spread fast. Tia said he is proud at how his work helps raise awareness and fights disinformation. During the coronavirus pandemic, he said, we have actually played a big role. And when the vaccine has arrived also, this is where we actually took much effort in order to sensitize the community, he said, explaining that many people initially wrongly believed the vaccine to be unsafe. Rumors sometimes can be spread [around] the camp, and it can disturb people, Tia said. So, the station plays a fact-checking role. We will verify whether its true or not. In the camps, Tia said, residents often have little formal education. So, one method that works well is fictional radio dramas where scenarios are enacted to send a message, and health is always an important topic for the reporters. Jamjang FM broadcasts a program on HIV and sexually transmitted diseases and a segment called With a Refugee, in which journalists speak about refugee issues. Other shows focus on gender-based violence and womens issues, or broadcast programs on child protection that seek to encourage parents to send their children to school instead of to work in the market. Tia and the other reporters also go around the camp speaking to residents to collect their views and ideas, which they sometimes broadcast. Making radio waves Radio as a way of getting news dominates in the camp, Tia said, as there is little access to TV or newspapers. Most of [the camp residents], they dont have radios, but they can listen to the FM through the phone. They have small phones, he said. These arent smartphones, however, so access to news on social media like Facebook, while common elsewhere in Africa, isnt prevalent. Charlotte Hallqvist, UNHCRs external relations officer in South Sudan, said the work done by Tia and other journalists is invaluable. Community-based radio stations and local journalists in refugee camps with limited connectivity are a vital lifeline to accurate information for refugee communities, she said via email. These journalists build a sense of community, raise awareness, spread news and information, and foster collaboration between refugees and host communities, while giving the communities themselves a voice, Hallqvist said. As someone with an interest in news, where does Tia get his own? Al Jazeera, Sky News Arabia and sometimes CNN, he said, adding that hes been following the war in Ukraine with interest. His three children under age 8 all listen to his broadcasts, Tia said with pride. His son wants to work in journalism like his father, while his daughter has set her sights on becoming a doctor, he said. Tias own favorite stories to write center on education, a throwback to his pre-refugee days as an English teacher in South Kordofan. He also appreciates that journalism can be an educational tool in itself. Journalism, it is the work that provides information to the people, and information is the key, he said. Misunderstandings can be cleared through giving the right information out. Thats why Tia says he enjoys his work: Its a good job, although its hard. India has said it will give a naval warship to Vietnam in the latest signal of tightening defense ties between the two countries, which share concerns about China's assertiveness. The announcement that New Delhi will deliver the Indian Missile Corvette INS Kirpan to the Vietnamese navy was made following a meeting between Indian Defense minister Rajnath Singh and his Vietnamese counterpart, General Phan Van Gang, in New Delhi on Monday. "A missile corvette is a small warship used mainly for the purpose of coastal defense," according to Rahul Bedi, an independent defense analyst. In a statement, the Indian government said that giving the warship to Hanoi would be "a milestone in enhancing the capabilities of Vietnam People's Navy." The focus of the Vietnamese defense minister's visit was on building military ties with New Delhi. He also discussed ways to enhance defense industrial capabilities by cooperation in defense research and joint production, according to the statement. Although the two countries have had a strategic partnership since 2016, it has gained momentum since last year when they signed a landmark military logistics pact that would enable their militaries to use each other's bases for repair and replenishment of supplies and make it easier to arrange visits of warships, military aircraft and personnel to each other's shores. India also gave 12 high-speed guard boats to Vietnam last June under a $100 million line of credit extended by India. Building defense cooperation with Vietnam is part of New Delhi's efforts to maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific region, according to analysts. India has been engaged in a military standoff with China along the disputed Himalayan borders for the last three years and is also concerned about Beijing's expanding footprint in the Indian Ocean where China has built infrastructure projects in countries like Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Pakistan. In Hanoi, there are worries about Chinese warships and survey vessels entering Vietnam's exclusive economic zone. Based on what Beijing says are old maps, China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territory including waters that are claimed by Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries. Last month, Vietnam urged China to withdraw a survey ship and escorting coast guard vessels that entered its waters. They left after operating for almost a month. "China's aggressive behavior in South China Sea and even along India's border, has alerted every country in the Indo-Pacific on how best to add to their capabilities to handle China," according to Chintamani Mahapatra, founder of the Kalinga Institute of Indo Pacific Studies in New Delhi. "The underlining factor is that China has sent alarm bells to all countries. And since no country can defend itself alone against Beijing, it is natural that middle powers like India, Vietnam and Australia, would forge security ties between themselves and with a bigger power like the United States so that they are not bulldozed by China." India had also proposed selling its indigenously developed supersonic missile systems to Vietnam several years ago, but progress on that deal has been slow, according to defense analyst Bedi. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping; progress in the hunt for the perpetrators of a massacre at a school in Uganda; a new film that looks at the Iranian communitys response to the protests in Tehran, plus tens of thousands of dolphins are dying in Ukraine. A U.S. federal judge in Florida on Tuesday set August 14 for the start of the trial of former President Donald Trump on charges he mishandled classified national security documents when his presidency ended. Legal analysts say the complexity of the case could easily delay the first-ever criminal trial of a U.S. leader. Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, in announcing the 37-count indictment against Trump two weeks ago, called for a "speedy trial," but Trump has yet to hire a full legal defense team in the southern state of Florida where Judge Aileen Cannon presides, and the trial would occur. In her order, Cannon, a 42-year-old jurist appointed to the federal bench by Trump shortly after his 2020 reelection loss, told Justice Department prosecutors and Trump's lawyers to file all pre-trial motions by July 24. Last week, she directed the lawyers involved in the case to start filling out a federal government document to secure security clearances so they can view the classified documents that Trump kept at his oceanside Mar-a-Lago estate. Because of the complexity of the case, numerous legal analysts have predicted the trial won't start for a year, and possibly not until after the November 2024 presidential election. Trump, according to national polling, is the leading Republican contender for the party's presidential nomination. Trump was required by U.S. law to turn his presidential documents over to the National Archives when his four-year term ended in early 2021, but he did not, and aides say he often referred to them as "my papers." Last week, at his arraignment in Miami, he pleaded not guilty to the criminal allegations. The indictment alleges that Trump illegally retained 31 documents that "included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack." As his presidency ended on January 20 two years ago, the indictment said, "Trump was not authorized to possess or retain those classified documents." At various times, the indictment alleges that Trump stored boxes of the documents in a bathroom and shower stall at Mar-a-Lago, on a ballroom stage, and in a bedroom, an office and a storage room. As a former president, Trump could have sought a waiver of the requirement that only people with a "need to know" could continue to retain and look at the documents, but the indictment said that the former president "did not obtain any such waiver after his presidency." The 37-count indictment against Trump also alleges that the country's 45th president conspired with a personal aide, Walt Nauta, to hide the documents from Trump's attorney, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the grand jury that was hearing evidence in the case. Nauta faces six charges. Among the other charges, Trump is accused of making false statements to investigators and ordered that boxes be moved to various locations at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida so that his lawyer would not be able to locate all the documents that federal authorities had subpoenaed. In two instances, the indictment alleged that Trump displayed a couple of the classified documents in front of people without security clearances. But in an interview with Fox News on Monday, Trump said that in one of the instances cited in the indictment, he was holding news articles, not classified material. "There was no document," Trump said. "That was a massive amount of papers talking about Iran and other things." Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday he is naming current Labor Minister Luisa Maria Alcalde to replace the previous interior minister, who recently resigned to run for the ruling party's presidential nomination. Alcalde, 35, will become one of the youngest people to hold the post, which has traditionally been one of the most powerful positions in the Mexican Cabinet. Lopez Obrador praised her record, including seeing through several minimum wage hikes, and said it was important to give opportunities to up-and-coming politicians. "She is young, it's very important to think about the generational transition, give the youth a chance," Lopez Obrador told his daily news conference. Alcalde has led the Labor Ministry since Lopez Obrador took office in late 2018. In that time, she oversaw historic changes to Mexican labor law, underpinning tougher worker protections in a new trade deal with the United States and Canada. Lopez Obrador said her appointment would maintain a strong presence of women in the Cabinet, and that she would this week meet with Alejandro Encinas, the interim head of the Interior Ministry, to discuss the transition to the new post. Mexico's last interior minister, Adan Augusto Lopez, stepped down last week to campaign for the presidential nomination of Lopez Obrador's National Regeneration Movement. Chinese Premier Li Qiang has started a visit to Germany and France that comes as Europe seeks to balance concerns over economic dependence on China and about its stance toward Ukraine and Taiwan, with a desire to engage Beijing on issues such as climate change. Li, on his first trip abroad since taking office, was received by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday. He and a large delegation of Chinese ministers will meet with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and their German counterparts on Tuesday, the seventh time the two countries have held such government consultations. Top officials from both sides also will meet business representatives. Li, a former Communist Party secretary for Shanghai, took office in March as China's No. 2 official. It was part of a once-a-decade change of government that installed loyalists of Chinese leader Xi Jinping to enforce his vision of tighter political control over the economy and society. The visit comes as Europe and Germany consider how best to handle an increasingly assertive China. Scholz has advocated a balanced approach, calling for "derisking" seeking to avoid overreliance on Chinese trade and material by diversifying Berlin's partners but roundly rejecting the idea of "decoupling." The Group of Seven leading industrial powers echoed that position last month. "The G-7 has no interest in impeding China's economic rise, and at the same time, we are looking closely to avoid dangerous economic dependencies," Scholz said Monday. China has been Germany's biggest single trading partner in recent years, though it was only just ahead of the United States in this year's first quarter. In Germany's first national security strategy, presented last week, the government says it views China as "a partner, competitor and systemic rival." It says that "elements of rivalry and competition have increased in recent years; at the same time, China remains a partner without which many of the most pressing global challenges can't be solved." German officials point to combating climate change as a particularly important point of potential cooperation. The official motto of Tuesday's meeting is "Acting sustainably together." The German government is still drawing up a detailed separate strategy on China, though it isn't clear when that will be ready. Li's arrival in Berlin coincided with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to Beijing, aimed at reducing tensions with China. Scholz welcomed that visit as "a good sign for an urgently needed normalization of relations." The chancellor traveled to Beijing in November to meet Xi, who warned against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons. Scholz frequently portrays that as a success against the backdrop of China's refusal to criticize the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Just before that trip, Scholz's government resolved an internal disagreement over a Chinese shipping company's investment in a German container terminal. The company, COSCO, was limited to a stake just below 25%, meaning it wouldn't have the power to block the operator's decisions. On Monday, the Hamburg port authority announced that that the agreement for COSCO to take a stake in the Tollerort terminal had been signed "following the completion of the investment screening process." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wengbin said last week that the choice of Germany as Li's first stop "fully reflects the high importance China attaches to China-Germany relations." He said China looked forward to "sending positive signals to the world to strengthen dialogue and cooperation" and joining to address challenges "so as to promote the prosperity and development of the world economy." Li is following his visit to Germany, which has the EU's biggest economy, with a stop in France, the second biggest. While there, Li plans to attend a "Summit for a New Global Financing Pact" that is being held at French President Emmanuel Macron's initiative. Pakistan and China signed a $4.8 billion deal Tuesday to build what would be the seventh Chinese nuclear power plant in the South Asian nation. The 1,200-megawatt project will be installed in the central Pakistani city of Chashma, where Beijing already has built four nuclear power generation units with a collective output of nearly 1,230 megawatts. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif oversaw Tuesday's signing of the memorandum of understanding between China National Nuclear Cooperation and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. According to the agreement, the Chinese company will employ its HPR 1000 technology, known as HPR1000 or Hualong One, to construct the nuclear power unit. It will be the third facility in Pakistan to feature the HPR 1000, or pressurized water reactor technology. "Investment from China in this project to the tune of $4.8 billion sends a loud and clear message that Pakistan is a place where Chinese companies and investors continue to show their trust and faith," Sharif said. He thanked Beijing for offering a more than $100 million discount for what is named the Chashma 5 power plant. The work on the project was initially planned to start a couple of years ago, but Sharif said the Chinese partners had not rescheduled costs despite the long delay. "This project is part of our energy security plan to diversify the energy mix with a focus on ensuring the provision of cheap electricity to the industry & relief to the common man, the Pakistani prime minister wrote on Twitter after the ceremony. Sharif's coalition government is struggling to deal with unprecedented economic challenges facing Pakistan, including a balance of payments crisis. China has recently also constructed two nuclear power plants in the southern port city of Karachi, each with a 1,100-megawatt generation capacity. Pakistani officials say the two Chinese-supplied third-generation Hualong One reactors, known as K2 and K3, cost roughly $10 billion. They are equipped with "advanced safety and foolproof security features" and have enhanced Pakistan's nuclear energy production to more than 3,500 megawatts. "K2 and K3 are fully functional and supply 2,200 megawatts of electricity to the national grid. Similarly, nuclear power plants at Chashma are contributing more than 1,300 megawatts," a PAEC spokesman told VOA on Tuesday. Canada helped Pakistan build its first nuclear power plant in 1972 in Karachi, producing about 80 megawatts of electricity. It is expected to be shut down soon after having served its purpose for about the full extent of the planned operation. China maintains close defense and economic relations with staunch ally Pakistan. It has invested more than $20 billion in building road networks, power plants, and ports over the past decade under what is known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC. Officials in both countries say the collaboration, an extension of Beijing's global Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, has created tens of thousands of jobs and ended Pakistan's crippling energy crisis. In a race against the clock on the high seas, an expanding international armada of ships and airplanes searched Tuesday for a submersible that vanished in the North Atlantic while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic. U.S. Coast Guard officials said the search covered 10,000 square miles (26,000 square kilometers) but turned up no sign of the lost sub known as the Titan. Although rescuers planned to continue looking, time was running out because the vessel would have less than two days of oxygen left if it is still intact and functioning. "This is a very complex search, and the unified team is working around the clock," Captain Jamie Frederick of the First Coast Guard District in Boston told a news conference. Frederick said the crew would have no more than about 41 hours of oxygen remaining as of midday Tuesday. That means its air supply could run out Thursday morning. He added that an underwater robot had started searching in the vicinity of the Titanic and that there was a push to get salvage equipment to the scene in case the sub is found. Three C-17 transport planes from the U.S. military have been used to move commercial submersible and support equipment from Buffalo, New York, to St. John's, Newfoundland, to aid in the search, a spokeswoman for U.S. Air Mobility Command said. The Canadian military said it provided a patrol aircraft and two surface ships, including one that specializes in dive medicine. Authorities reported the carbon-fiber vessel overdue Sunday night, setting off the search in waters about 700 kilometers (435 miles) south of St. John's. At the helm was pilot Stockton Rush, the CEO of the company leading the expedition. His passengers were British adventurer Hamish Harding, two members of a Pakistani business family, and a Titanic expert. The submersible had a four-day oxygen supply when it put to sea around 6 a.m. Sunday, according to David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate Expeditions, which oversaw the mission. CBS News journalist David Pogue, who traveled to the Titanic aboard the Titan last year, said the vehicle uses two communication systems: text messages that go back and forth to a surface ship and safety pings that are emitted every 15 minutes to indicate that the sub is still working. Both of those systems stopped about an hour and 45 minutes after the Titan submerged. "There are only two things that could mean. Either they lost all power or the ship developed a hull breach and it imploded instantly. Both of those are devastatingly hopeless," Pogue told the Canadian CBC network on Tuesday. The submersible had seven backup systems to return to the surface, including sandbags and lead pipes that drop off and an inflatable balloon. One system is designed to work even if everyone aboard is unconscious, Pogue said. Eric Fusil, director of the University of Adelaide's Shipbuilding Hub, said there are other scenarios that could cut communications, including an electrical fire that could create toxic fumes and render the crew unconscious. Another possibility is that Titan became entangled in the wreck of the Titanic and is stuck there, Fusil said. "What I would like to believe ... is that Titan suffered from a power loss, but they could still go back to the surface" and be spotted by aircraft and ships, he said. Experts said the rescuers face steep challenges. Alistair Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London, said submersibles typically have a drop weight, which is "a mass they can release in the case of an emergency to bring them up to the surface." "If there was a power failure and/or communication failure, this might have happened, and the submersible would then be bobbing about on the surface waiting to be found," Greig said. Another scenario is a leak in the pressure hull, in which case the prognosis is not good, he said. "If it has gone down to the seabed and can't get back up under its own power, options are very limited," Greig said. "While the submersible might still be intact, if it is beyond the continental shelf, there are very few vessels that can get that deep, and certainly not divers." The Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, which was supporting the Titan, was to continue conducting surface searches with help from a Canadian Boeing P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft, the Coast Guard said on Twitter. Two U.S. Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft also conducted overflights. The Canadian military dropped sonar buoys to listen for any sounds from the Titan. OceanGate's expeditions to the Titanic wreck site include archaeologists and marine biologists. The company also brings people who pay to come along. They take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the submersible. Rush told The Associated Press in June 2021 that the Titan's technology was "very cutting edge" and was developed with the help of NASA and aerospace manufacturers. "This is the only submersible crewed submersible that's made of carbon fiber and titanium," Rush said, citing a design that includes 5-inch-thick carbon fiber and 3.25-inch-thick titanium. Passengers included Harding, who lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates; Pakistani nationals Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, whose eponymous firm invests across the country; and French explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet. Greg Stone, a longtime ocean scientist based in California and a friend of Rush, called the lost submersible "a fundamentally new submarine design" that showed great promise for future research. Unlike its predecessors, the Titan was not spherical and instead relied on a cylindrical shape that tapers at one end. "Stockton was a risk taker. He was smart ... he had a vision. He wanted to push things forward," Stone said. The expedition was OceanGate's third annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew. The wreckage was discovered in 1985 and has been slowly succumbing to metal-eating bacteria. OceanGate's website described the "mission support fee" for the 2023 expedition as $250,000 a person. Recalling his own trip aboard the Titan, Pogue said the vessel got turned around looking for the Titanic. "There's no GPS underwater, so the surface ship is supposed to guide the sub to the shipwreck by sending text messages," Pogue said in a segment aired on "CBS Sunday Morning." "But on this dive, communications somehow broke down. The sub never found the wreck." Aden Abdulahi overcame many challenges growing up in Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp, where he fled after declining a call to join the al-Shabab militant group in Somalia. Today he is a journalist, working with the UNHCR-supported refugee community radio station Radio Gargaar. As the world marks Refugee Day, Juma Majanga spoke with Abdulahi about his work and his dreams. (Bloomberg) -- Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders launched an investigation into charges of unsafe working conditions at Amazon.com Inc. warehouses across the US, raising the possibility of high-profile hearings on complaints over the retailers treatment of employees. Most Read from Bloomberg Safety issues at Amazons warehouses have been a flashpoint between the company and labor activists. The Labor Departments Occupational Safety and Health Administration in February cited the company for violations of safety laws at warehouses in three states. Sanders, who chairs the Senate committee with jurisdiction over labor laws, portrayed the company as maintaining its position as one of the worlds most valuable companies at the expense of its workers well-being, saying Amazon employees suffer higher injury rates than comparable workers elsewhere. Sanders, a Vermont independent who is a leading champion of progressive causes, asserted the company endangers its workers by requiring them to navigate narrow warehouse aisles, lift heavy boxes and engage in repetitive movements without adequate breaks. The companys quest for profits at all costs has led to unsafe physical environments, intense pressure to work at unsustainable rates, and inadequate medical attention for tens of thousands of Amazon workers every year, Sanders said in a letter Tuesday to Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy. Amazon spokesperson Steve Kelly defended the companys safety record, saying the retailer has invested more than $1 billion in safety initiatives over the past four years and reduced injuries 23% in US operations since 2019. Amazon is the nations second-largest private employer, after Walmart Inc. Weve reviewed the letter and strongly disagree with Senator Sanders assertions, Kelly said in an emailed statement. Sanders in his letter cited data that found Amazon workers sustained nearly 39,000 workplace injuries in 2022, 95% of which caused them to lose work hours or modify their duties. The rate of injuries is 6.6 injuries per 100 workers, more than double the rate at non-Amazon warehouses, according to a report from the Strategic Organizing Center, a coalition of major labor unions. If Amazon can afford to spend $6 billion on stock buybacks last year, it can afford to make sure that its warehouses are safe places to work, he wrote. Its the second time this year that Sanders has taken on a major company over its labor-related practices. In March, Starbucks Corp.s recently departed chief executive officer, Howard Schultz, testified under threat of subpoena before Sanders committee. Schultz forcefully defended the companys response to union organizing, rejecting a labor-board judges ruling that the company had committed egregious violations of the law. Sanders announced his panel has set up a web page for Amazon employees to make confidential reports of the companys safety performance, a sign the committee is seeking cases to highlight in public testimony or reports. --With assistance from Leah Nylen and Diego Areas Munhoz. (Updates with Amazon statement in seventh paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Amid unresolved wrangling with Taliban authorities over womens right to work and education and a decline in donor funding, the United Nations has cut its humanitarian aid request for Afghanistan by more than $1 billion, forcing aid agencies to stop giving critical assistance to millions of people. In March, the U.N. belatedly launched a Humanitarian Response Plan, or HRP, for Afghanistan, asking donors for $4.6 billion in funding to assist more than 23 million of the most vulnerable Afghans this year. The appeals launch was delayed for two months following a Taliban announcement in December banning Afghan women from working at U.N. agencies. Women in Afghanistan are barred from education and work indefinitely due to religious and cultural considerations, Taliban officials say. Several aid agencies suspended operations in response to the ban on womens work as donors warned there would be consequences for the Taliban regime. A mid-year review of the HRP has resulted in significant adjustments in the required funding and the number of beneficiaries it will assist. The revised HRP aims to reach 20 million people with multi-sectoral assistance between June and December 2023, requiring $2.26 billion in new funding, the U.N. said last week. Consequently, the revised funding appeal now totals just over $3.2 billion, including $942 million (with $850 million carried over from last year) that has been already expended to aid 17.3 million people between January and May of this year. Only a fraction of the appeal has been responded to favorably, so that's the reason that the program had to be cut, Richard Hoffman, director of ACBAR, a coordination platform for NGOs in Afghanistan, told VOA. Taliban restrictions are contributing to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the responsibility for the consequences lies with the Taliban leadership, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday. Drop in donor funding As of June 20, donors have given or pledged less than 15% ($467.5 million) of the required funding for the HRP, according to the U.N. In March, Roza Otunbayeva, U.N. special representative for Afghanistan, had warned that funding for Afghanistan is likely to drop if women [are] not allowed to work. Several Western donors that gave more than $2 billion in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan in 2022, before the Taliban imposed their ban on womens work for the U.N., now appear to have cut aid to the country. The United States, which contributed more than $1.2 billion to the humanitarian appeal last year, has given $74 million as of this past June. Similarly, the United Kingdom, another major donor, allocated $522 million in 2022 but has only contributed around $30 million thus far in 2023. Germany's funding has dropped from $444 million to $34 million during the same period, according to U.N. figures. Western donors blame the Taliban for impeding humanitarian operations in the country by adopting misogynistic and intrusive policies. The U.S. government remains committed to helping the Afghan people through the humanitarian and economic crisis that the Taliban created and have exacerbated with the discriminatory NGO edict, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State told VOA in written comments. Last week, the United States announced $920 million in additional humanitarian aid for Syria, taking its total assistance to Syria and the region to $1.1 billion in 2023 and nearly $16.9 billion since the start of the 12-year crisis there. The State Department spokesperson did not answer a question about the disparity in U.S. assistance to Syria and Afghanistan. The Taliban, however, accuse donors of politicizing aid to Afghanistan, saying the group has facilitated a safe environment for aid agencies to operate. I think it's fair to say that there are consequences for the [Taliban] government's decisions and actions, said Hoffman from ACBAR. When I meet government officials, the first thing that they mentioned is always that they are grateful for the assistance that NGOs bring to Afghanistan and I'm quite open in saying that, you know, we will be able to deliver that aid more effectively and efficiently if female NGO workers can work alongside their male counterparts, Hoffman said. Needs persist The shortage of funding has already forced the World Food Program (WFP) to cut much-needed food aid to 8 million Afghans over the past two months, including for 1.4 million children and mothers who face risks of malnutrition. Removing 8 million poor Afghans from assistance over less than 60 days is an immense shock for over a million families already struggling to meet their daily food needs, a WFP spokesperson wrote to VOA in written comments. The agency said it requires $900 million in the next half of the year to deliver life-saving aid to millions of households across the country. Aid agencies also warn about cuts in other critical areas such as health, shelter and education. Without an urgent injection of funding, the country could spiral into famine-like conditions, Save the Children, an international NGO operating in Afghanistan, said in a statement on Monday. The legacy of decades of conflict, a third consecutive year of drought, the international communitys suspension of development assistance and imposition of sanctions since August 2021, and a worsening economy, are contributing to the suffering of the Afghan people, the statement added. At a time of growing hostility toward refugees, the United Nations is marking World Refugee Day to honor the courage and contributions to society of people forcibly uprooted from their homes by war, persecution, human rights abuses, climate change and other horrors. This year's World Refugee Day shines a light on the plight of 35.4 million refugees and asylum seekers, on their needs and legal rights for international protection. In marking the day, United Nations officials are calling for concrete steps to improve conditions for refugees and their host communities. They also are advocating for solutions that would offer refugees the opportunity to build a viable future for themselves and their families. "I am here to tell the rest of the world that we can and must do more to offer such hope, opportunities and solutions to refugees, wherever they are and whatever the context," said Filippo Grandi, U.N. high commissioner for refugees at a World Refugee Day event in Kalobeyei, Kenya. Speaking at a ceremony held at the Kakuma Refugee Camp, the world's largest, Grandi praised the Kenyan government for its plans "to roll out innovative and inclusive policies." He said, "this will allow many of the half a million refugees and asylum-seekers it hosts to work and live side by side with Kenyans and encourage self-reliance, grow the economy, and reduce dependence on humanitarian aid." This year's theme "Hope away from Home" focuses on the power of inclusion and solutions for refugees, many of whom have been living in limbo for decades because they lack the opportunity to rebuild their lives in host countries or in countries of resettlement. "Refugees are often portrayed as being either a drain on society or passive recipients of humanitarian aid, charity and good will," said Matthew Saltmarsh, UNHCR head of news and media. "We want to very much move away from that pre-conception." Saltmarsh told VOA, "When refugees are given the opportunity to work and to contribute to a society, they nearly always jump at the chance. They are very motivated," he said. "Their priority is to get themselves on their feet, to support their families, to educate their children," he said, "but more often than not to contribute to their new society as a way of being able to thank that society for helping them when they needed that help." However, Saltmarsh noted that when refugees are parked in a settlement or camp in a remote area without access to livelihoods, "they will remain passive recipients of humanitarian handouts." "But if they are given the opportunity to integrate or to be included in their society, they then can become so much more and contribute so much more to that society," he said. Numbers growing UNHCR's annual Global Trends in Forced Displacement report found that a record 108.4 million people had been forcibly displaced at the end of 2022, with the war in Ukraine being the top driver of displacement last year. That number has since risen to more than 110 million forcibly displaced, largely due to the outbreak of conflict April 15 in Sudan. Fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has triggered the exodus of more than half a million refugees to neighboring countries and caused 1.42 million to become newly displaced inside the country. Belying common perceptions, the UNHCR reports that 76% of the world's refugees are hosted in low-and middle-income countries, not in wealthy nations, and that sub-Saharan Africa hosts one in five of all refugees globally. Saltmarsh notes that anti-refugee and anti-immigrant sentiment has grown as the number of forcibly displaced has increased. This, he said, has led to a rise in xenophobia and hate speech. "Refugees are often scapegoated, particularly when a domestic situation becomes more difficult. When an economy turns down, it is quite easy to point a finger and blame an outsider." He said the dramatic rise in refugee numbers also has resulted in stiff competition for scarce resources to fund humanitarian operations, noting that African refugee operations are among the most severely underfunded in the world. This, he said, has forced the UNHCR to cut back on many essential programs. "So, for example, last year when there was an outbreak of Ebola in Uganda, we were unable to source at that time any hygiene and soap and cleaning supplies for the refugees in that country. There also had to be some cutbacks in basic assistance for health care in Uganda for the UNHCR." He said, "We have seen similar examples for other parts of Africa. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we have had to cut our women's engagement programs as well as some of our self-reliance, economic inclusion programs and even some very basic humanitarian assistance like housing and settlements." In a message for World Refugee Day, U.N. Secretary General, Antonio Guterres described the perseverance of refugees in the face of adversity as "inspiring." He said, "Refugees represent the very best of the human spirit. They need and deserve support and solidaritynot closed borders and pushbacks." And he added, "We need much stronger political will to make peace so refugees can return safely to their homes." The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Chinas mass arrests of Uyghurs and ethnic minorities in Xinjiang has been condemned by the West. One VOA journalist witnessed the repression and fear of arrest firsthand. VOAs Elizabeth Lee has more. An attorney for 16 young plaintiffs urged a judge Tuesday to strike down as unconstitutional a Montana law that prohibits state agencies from considering the environmental effects when it weighs permits allowing the release of greenhouse gases. Attorney Nate Bellinger made the plea in his closing argument at the end of a seven-day trial. Plaintiffs say state officials violated their right to a clean and healthful environment, part of the Montana Constitution, by allowing companies to build power plants and expand coal mines, among other things. "Like other monumental constitutional cases before, the state of Montana comes before this court because of a pervasive systemic infringement of rights," Bellinger said. During the trial, plaintiffs testified about how increased heat, smoke from wildfires and drought affect their activities and mental health. Native Americans said climate change affects their ceremonies and traditional food sources, and climate experts warned the window to address the environmental damage is rapidly closing. Montana Assistant Attorney General Michael Russell said Tuesday that the climate change issue is much larger than Montana can address on its own and that the legislature had the right to enact the law that limits greenhouse gas reviews. He said that the calls by plaintiffs to take the lead in addressing climate change were a social statement, not a legal argument. A ruling from state District Judge Kathy Seeley is expected sometime after the parties file their proposed findings in the case, which are due in early July. If Seeley sides with the plaintiffs and declares the state law unconstitutional, it would be up to the Republican-led legislative and executive branches of the Montana government to respond. Representatives of Governor Greg Gianforte's administration indicated during the trial that there is no basis under state law for rejecting permits for projects, even if their climate impacts are disclosed. That means a ruling for plaintiffs could increase political pressure on state officials, but it would not have any immediate consequences, said James Huffman, a former professor and dean emeritus at Lewis & Clark Law School who is now living in Montana. "Republicans in Montana seem pretty fixed in their ways, and I don't think a decision by this district court is going to change the way that they think about these issues," Huffman said. A decision against the state also could establish new legal precedent and add to the small number of rulings that have established a government duty to protect citizens from climate change. However, only a handful of states including Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts have similar environmental protections in their constitutions. Emily Flower, a spokeswoman for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, described the trial as a "publicity stunt staged by an out-of-state organization that is exploiting well-intentioned children." The plaintiffs were represented by attorneys for Our Children's Trust, an Oregon environmental group that has filed similar lawsuits in every state since 2011 and raised more than $20 million in contributions. None of the previous cases had reached trial. "Anyone who has [a] question about the legitimacy of our plaintiffs' claims wasn't listening at trial last week," Julia Olson, the group's founder, said in response to Flower's statement. She noted that the evidence presented by the young people and by scientists for the plaintiffs was largely uncontested by the state's attorneys. "The trial has shown the facts are irrefutable," Olson said. Latest developments: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday he asked the Chinese government to be very vigilant about Chinese firms providing Russia with technology that it can use in the war in Ukraine. Russia's TogliattiAzot chemical fertilizer producer is suffering "colossal losses" due to the shutdown of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline to Ukraine, since the beginning of Russia's invasion, the Russian state news agency TASS cited its parent company, Uralchem, as saying Monday. Russia has repeatedly said that a reopening of the pipeline is a precondition of renewal of the U.N. brokered Black Sea grain deal. The European Union is stepping up efforts to deliver arms and ammunition to Ukraine, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said Sunday in an interview with French daily Le Parisien. "We are preparing for the war to last several more months, or even longer," he said. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Monday that Ukraines forces have retaken eight settlements during the past two weeks, including Piatykhatky in the Zaporizhzhia region. Since the start of Ukraines counteroffensive aimed at reclaiming control of areas seized by Russian forces, Maliar said Ukraine had freed 113 square kilometers of territory. Ukrainian soldiers held up yellow and blue national flags in a video posted on social media, saying they were inside Piatykhatky. The settlement is close to one of the most heavily fortified Russian positions in the south. Separately, the Russian-backed head of part of Ukraine's Donetsk region controlled by Moscow's forces, Denis Pushilin, said Monday that Ukrainian shelling killed a six-year-old girl and injured 20 civilians in the town of Volnovakha. The Reuters news agency could not verify his assertions, and there was no immediate comment from Ukraine on Pushilin's allegations. Earlier, Russian officials said shelling in Russia's Belgorod region, located next to the border with Ukraine, injured seven civilians and damaged several residential buildings. Another Russian official alleged Ukrainian shelling hit two villages in the Kursk region. Reuters could not verify these reports. Britain's defense ministry said in its latest assessment Monday that Russia has "highly likely" redeployed thousands of troops from the eastern banks of the Dnipro River to serve as reinforcements to Russian forces in the Bakhmut and Zaporizhzhia areas. The defense ministry said the move "likely reflects Russia's perception that a major Ukrainian attack across the Dnipro is now less likely following the collapse of the Kakhovka dam and the resulting flooding." Ukraine reconstruction Ukraine is seeking $40 billion in funding for the first phase of a "Green Marshall Plan" to repair its economy. During a two-day meeting in London starting Wednesday, politicians and investors will discuss Ukraine's short-term and long-term economic reconstruction which includes developing a coal-free iron and steel industry. The deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office, Rostyslav Shurma, told Reuters, "If you have to rebuild, it is logical to rebuild green in line with new technologies. ... Our vision is to build a 50 million tons green steel industry in Ukraine," he said. Doing so could allow the country to become the world's cheapest supplier of so-called "green" steel made without the use of fossil fuels and a major support to Europe's efforts to decarbonize, driven by an investment push in new wind, solar, nuclear and hydro power, Reuters reports. According to the World Bank, Ukraine's reconstruction will cost upward of $400 billion, three times the country's gross domestic product. Since Russia's invasion in February 2022, external backers have poured $59 billion into Ukraine to support it during the war. One of the issues expected to be discussed during the two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference is whether the estimated $300 billion of frozen Russian central bank reserves will go to Ukraine. Britain Monday introduced legislation that will allow it to keep sanctions against Russia in place until Moscow pays compensation for the cost of its invasion on Ukraine. "Ukraine's reconstruction needs are and will be immense," British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said. "Through our new measures today, we're strengthening the UK's sanctions approach, affirming that the UK is prepared to use sanctions to ensure Russia pays to repair the country it has so recklessly attacked." U.S. lawmakers from both the Republican and the Democratic parties introduced a bill Thursday that would make it easier for Ukraine to fund its fight against Russia by using seized and frozen Russian assets. Kakhovka dam The Kremlin said Monday that Russia's decision to decline U.N. help in areas of Russian-held Ukraine flooded by the Kakhovka dam breach was because of security concerns. "There is constant shelling there, constant provocations, civilian objects and people are being shelled, people are dying," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. The United Nations reported Sunday that Moscow declined its requests to help residents affected by the dam collapse and pledged to continue engaging to seek the necessary access. "We urge the Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law," the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said Sunday in statement. "Aid cannot be denied to people who need it. The U.N. will continue to do all it can to reach all people including those suffering as a result of the recent dam destruction who urgently need life-saving assistance, no matter where they are," she noted. So far, more than a dozen people have died while 31 are still missing after the floods caused by the dam's destruction, Ukraine's interior ministry said. Almost 900 homes remain under water and more than 3,600 people have been evacuated. "The most likely cause of the collapse" of Ukraines Kakhovka dam, according to a New York Times report, was the placement of an explosive in the structures passageway or gallery, that the publication said, "runs through the concrete heart of the structure." The Times assessment was based on the expertise of "two American engineers, an expert in explosives and a Ukrainian engineer with extensive experience with the dams operations." Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. Margaret Besheer NEW YORK The international community pledged $1.5 billion Monday toward tackling the massive humanitarian crisis in Sudan, as fighting between forces led by rival generals has only been punctuated by brief truces and no political solution appears close at hand. The scale and speed of Sudans descent into death and destruction is unprecedented, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the conference. Without strong international support, Sudan could quickly become a locus of lawlessness, radiating insecurity across the region. SEE ALSO: Since fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted on April 15, thousands of civilians have been killed and injured and 2.1 million people have fled the fighting. Nearly half a million have crossed into neighboring countries. The situation in Darfur and Khartoum is catastrophic, Guterres added. Fighting is raging with people attacked in their homes and on the street. He said the only way to end the crisis is through a return to peace and the restoration of civilian rule through the transition to democracy. But until a meaningful dialogue is opened and a sustainable cease-fire is achieved, humanitarians are trying to assist the nearly 25 million people in need in Sudan and in neighboring countries. They are hampered by insecurity on the ground, bureaucracy holding up visas and travel permits, and perhaps most importantly, a lack of cash. U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said aid workers are having extraordinary difficulties reaching the 8.6 million people in Darfur who need humanitarian aid and protection. To expand access to people in all areas and to increase the flow of aid, we are actively exploring all modalities including cross-border operations, he told donors. SEE ALSO: He also warned that the coming planting season is in jeopardy if seeds from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization do not reach farmers. He said this could further complicate the food security situation. Malnutrition is already on the rise in Darfur. Separately, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned that only about 20% of the medical facilities in the capital, Khartoum, are still functioning, and Sudans other essential services are under tremendous strain. Despite these obstacles, the U.N. and its partners have reached 1.8 million people with aid since the fighting started. The pledging conference in Geneva was co-hosted by the United Nations with Egypt, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the African Union and the European Union; more than 80 governments and organizations participated. Until Monday, of the $3 billion needed, less than 17% had been received. Griffiths said the $1.5 billion pledged would be a lifeline for millions of people living in the worlds most dangerous and difficult conditions. Some of the $1.5 billion total includes funds pledged before Mondays donor event, however, several significant new pledges were made, including $171 million in new contributions from the United States, bringing to $550 million its overall contributions this fiscal year to the situation. Germany announced $219 million, and Qatar announced $15 million on top of the $100 million it has already contributed. The United Nations announced an additional $22 million from its own emergency fund. On Sunday, Uganda began burying the victims of a brutal attack on a school. The assailants are suspected of belonging to the Allied Democratic Forces militants with ties to the Islamic State group. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said in a statement that their attack was criminal, desperate, terrorist and futile. Most of the victims were students at Lhubiriha Secondar School, close to Ugandas border with Congo. Forty-two people were killed. Eight people were wounded, but one of them has now died. Officials say they believe at least six students were abducted by the militants and taken into Congo. Some villagers in the surrounding areas have moved away from their homes following the attack on the school. Thuso Khumalo As the world marks World Refugee Day today, a group of refugees in South Africa says the United Nations High Commission for Refugees is letting them down. The group was evicted from camping in front of the UNHCR offices in Pretoria where they demanded to be resettled in another country after they were displaced by xenophobic violence in 2019. From a distance, the abandoned three-room building looks well-built. However, one refugee says conditions inside the refugee center at a farm in Bronkhorstspruit, 50 kilometers east of Pretoria, are heartbreaking. Mothers, fathers and children are crammed inside the three rooms. Their luggage is piled along the walls, with some around them to demarcate each familys living space. These are the spaces they use for bathing, dining and sleeping with zero privacy. About 100 refugees, many from the Democratic Republic of Congo, were taken to the farm in April after South African police evicted them from a camp in front of the UN refugee agencys offices in Pretoria. They had been demanding that UNHCR resettle them in other countries to escape xenophobic violence in South Africa. Refugee Lukombo Kiese told VOA they have been treated like animals at the farm. The condition is very bad because this is a bush. There is no one living here and there is no water here. The toilet is not working. We are just making the toilet in the bush here the way you see. One student who did not want to be named told VOA that there is no school for them. l feel unsafe, traumatized and l just feel so bad. The area is about 15 kilometers from the nearest communities. Johnny Ruso, who has three children at the camp, blames UNHCR for refusing to move them to another country. He is still traumatized by xenophobic violence he says he has experienced since 2019. Those people, when they are coming, they will attack you. Some of them are coming not to steal; no! to sabotage. They burnt my car. They're gonna burn everything they find. If you make a mistake, they're gonna kill you. Over the past several years, South Africa has seen waves of anti-foreigner protests and attacks, driven in part by the countrys weakening economy and unemployment rate, which tops 30 percent. When the refugee camp was broken up in April, Laura Padoan, a UNHCR spokesperson, disputed allegations the agency wasnt helping the protesters. We will be working with authorities closely following up and carefully monitoring the situation to ensure that the refugees are given proper advice, counseling, and protection that they need. The government has also urged the refugees to reintegrate into local communities, but the group insists on going to another country. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Ms Patience Takaona, the chairperson of the Refugee Welfare Committee, deliberating her message on World Refugee Day at Dukwi Camp in Botswana. She said children should be assisted in getting scholarship and enrolling in other programs. (Video: Shingi Madondo) The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Women on the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe are finding creative ways to make a living and protect the environment. Oscar Medeiros spoke to some of them in this story narrated by Barbara Santos. (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Infosys Ltd. co-founder Nandan Nilekani will donate $38.5 million to his alma mater Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, making one of the largest such gifts by an alumnus of an educational institution in the country. Most Read from Bloomberg The grant takes the technologists total donations to the school to 4 billion rupees ($49 million) and is intended to foster research in emerging areas while supporting a deep-tech startup ecosystem, Nilekanis office announced on Tuesday after a memorandum signing by the two parties. Nilekani, who shot to prominence after founding the IT services pioneer Infosys, in 1973 joined whats become known as the countrys pre-eminent engineering and technology learning institution. He helped establish Infosys in 1981, a few summers after graduating from whats often called Indias MIT. Its a tribute to the place that has given me so much and a commitment to the students who will shape our world tomorrow, Nilekani, now Infosyss chairman, said in the announcement. Nilekani and his peers in Indias $245 billion IT outsourcing industry have leaned toward education in their philanthropic efforts. In 2019, billionaire Azim Premji of Wipro Ltd. donated company shares worth billions of dollars to his education-focused charitable arm, which runs the Premji University. Narayana Murthy, another Infosys co-founder, donated over $5 million to Harvard University toward the study of Indias literary heritage. And Shiv Nadar, founder of HCL Ltd., donated more than $12 million to a foundation that backs education initiatives. IIT Bombay intends to set up centers to help startups in areas such as artificial intelligence, green energy and quantum computing, according to Tuesdays announcement. It aims to raise $500 million over the next five years including from alumni, it said. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. According to the authorities in Kiev, the Ukrainian army launched "a vast counter-offensive against the Russian aggressor" on June 8. Theres no such thing as a counter-offensive Military literature prefers to speak of a counter-attack rather than a counter-offensive. A counter-attack consists in taking advantage of the enemys momentary weaknesses to launch an assault. We think of Napoleon at Austerlitz, who had some of his troops beaten back in order to trap his adversaries, from which he emerged victorious. Choosing the term "counter-offensive" is not neutral. Its a communication device suggesting that the Russians have launched an "offensive" to seize Ukraine. In fact, they fought at the capitals northern airport before withdrawing. In reality, the Russians have never attempted to take Kiev and have no intention of invading Ukraine. Thats what their president, Vladimir Putin, said in the first week of his "special operation". Taking a military airport, even one north of Kiev, is just a battle to give the Russians air superiority. It does not indicate that they intended to take the capital. The term "special operation" is not neutral either. Moscow is stressing that it is not waging a war of invasion, but is implementing its "responsibility to protect" the populations of the Donetsk and Lugansk oblates, who had officially been the targets of a punitive operation by Kiev, since 2014. To question the validity of the Russian special operation would be like questioning the French armys operation to put an end to the massacres in Rwanda. Both special operations were authorized by resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (resolutions 929 of June 22, 1994 and 2202 of February 17, 2015). Except that the resolution on which Moscow is relying was not taken in a hurry. It is the one that endorses the Minsk agreements and gives Germany, France and Russia the ability to intervene to enforce them. From a communications point of view, the term "counter-offensive" has the advantage of making us forget that for eight years, Kiev waged a war against its own citizens, killing between 14,000 and 22,000 people, depending on the count. For months, Kiev begged for and obtained a large quantity of Western weapons. It also trained its soldiers to handle them. Meanwhile, Moscow fell back on the lines it had accepted during the peace negotiations, conducted in Belarus and then Turkey, before being denounced by the Verkhovna Rada (the Kiev parliament in which Washington has installed an office of permanent advisors from the State Department and USAID). Moscow went further, abandoning the right bank of Kherson (but not the left), making the Dnieper River the natural border between Ukraine and Novorossia. The inhabitants of this region having joined the Russian Federation by referendum, Moscow built two defense lines, stretching from the mouth of the Dnieper to the Donbass (Lugansk and Donetsk). These are two lines of dragons teeth (fortifications preventing the passage of armoured vehicles) and trenches. The Atlantic Alliance, which is providing the weapons and strategies, has given the order to launch the counter-offensive at a time when Kiev has no control over the air and little ammunition. During the previous year, the Ukrainian army was able to use drones to monitor its adversarys movements. Today, it can no longer do so, as the latter jams all communications on "its" territory and a little beyond. In theory, Kiev has an impressive array of land-based weaponry, the likes of which no country has ever had. In practice, however, many of the weapons delivered have disappeared, bound for other climes, with or without the agreement of the generous donors. As for ammunition, it cannot be stored in Ukraine without being destroyed by Russian hypersonic missiles. They are also warehoused in Poland and Moldavia, crossing the border only to reach the front line. For two weeks, Ukrainian forces have been trying to break through Russian defensive lines, but without success. The troops are amassing in front of these lines and are being fired on by Russian artillery. When they decide to withdraw, the Russians send drones scattering mines on their way home. The only thing Kievs forces can do is take the villages that lie a few kilometers in front of the defense lines. Meanwhile, enemy aircraft are bombing their arsenals, sometimes deep inside Ukraine. The most effective anti-aircraft protection systems, the Patriots, were destroyed as soon as they were installed. Theres not much left, just enough to reach old missiles. The Ukrainian General Staff claims to have destroyed six Kinzhal missiles, which, given their speed (10 mach), is impossible. The mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, released a photograph of himself posing in front of a Kinzhal wreckage. Unfortunately, the wreckage does not correspond at all to this weapon. Morale among Ukrainian troops is at an all-time low. The Ministry of Defense assures us that there are plenty of men left in the rear. However, the Ivano-Frankivsk oblast has decreed the mobilization of all men aged 18 to 60. Exemptions are rare. The reality therefore seems to be that there are no combatants left ready for action. The Atlantic Alliance has deployed all its AWACS to remotely monitor the battlefield. It cannot ignore the scale of the defeat. Strangely, it continues to push the Ukrainians into battle, or rather, into death. Kiev doesnt want a good offices mission Washington still hopes that Kiev will win, giving President Joe Biden a resounding re-election. It could, however, back down and rely on the two good offices missions of China and the African Union. However, at Washingtons urging, the Verkhovna Rada has forbidden anyone to negotiate with the invader. China has published 12 principles which it believes should underpin any peace agreement. Beijings special envoy, Li Hui, refuses to discuss their implementation until they have been approved by both parties. This has now been done. But Westerners are not fooled. We can only pretend to share these principles by continuing the lies we have been developing for three decades. Otherwise, they will lead us to recognize the validity of Russias position, and thus to wish for Kievs defeat. The African Union and Fondation Brazaville have sent four heads of state. Azali Assoumani (Comoros and current President of the African Union), Macky Sall (Senegal), Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa) and Hakainde Hichilema (Zambia). All the others failed to show up. Egypts President sent his Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly. Ugandas Yoweri Museveni, suffering from Covid, sent his former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ruhakana Rugunda. Congos Denis Sassou-Nguesso was represented by Florent Ntsiba, Minister of State at the Presidency. On arrival, the entire delegation was invited to visit Boutcha, where their hosts explained that the Russian occupiers had committed atrocities. The Africans did not meet the international investigators who established, on the contrary, that the massacres had been perpetrated with darts; (ammunition widely used during the First World War). Above all, the Russians left Boutcha on March 30, 2022. The local mayor saw nothing unusual. Then, the following day, the full nationalists of the Azov battalion entered the town but the bodies werent found till April 4. Clearly, then, this was a scene of civil war, in which the Integral Nationalists executed fellow citizens they believed to have collaborated with the Russians. In any case, Africans know all about such situations and are not easily fooled. When they arrived in Kiev, the sirens went off. But these leaders were not impressed. They saw that the capital had not been bombed, but only a few military targets. During the final press conference, Comorian President Azali Assoumani declared: "The path to peace must involve respect for the United Nations Charter, and Africa is ready to continue working with you in the search for lasting peace (...) Even if the road to peace may be long, there is hope that talks are possible". To which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky replied: "Today I made it clear during our meeting that allowing any negotiations with Russia now, when the occupier is on our land, means freezing the war, freezing the pain and suffering. After this rejection, the Africans travelled to Saint Petersburg to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. Of course, Putin was far more forthcoming. Not only did he have nothing to lose, he also had a massive argument in his favor. He presented the delegation (see video) with the text of the peace treaty and addendum negotiated by the Ukrainians in March 2022, and signed by the head of their delegation. He even explained that, in application of this project, Russian troops had left the oblasts of Kiev and Chernihiv, and that the Ukrainians had not only refused to ratify these texts, but had adopted a law prohibiting the continuation or resumption of peace negotiations. It remains to be seen, at the Africa-Russia summit scheduled for July 26-29, which of the two heads of state will have appeared more sincere in the eyes of the African Union delegation. Kievs interest in missions of good offices is as false as its counter-offensive. (Bloomberg) -- Binance.US, the American affiliate of the worlds largest crypto exchange, is quickly losing market share in the advent of a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit alleging fraud and the illegal sale of unregistered securities. Most Read from Bloomberg Binance.US now accounts for only 1.5% of the total weekly trading volume among US crypto exchanges, down from 8.2% at the beginning of the year and its peak of 22% in late March, according to data from Kaiko. The sharp decline comes as Binance.US battles a number of challenges: its banking and payments partners are cutting off support, its liquidity is drying up and customers have been withdrawing funds from the platform. So what we are seeing here is sort of the collapse of Binance.US, said Clara Medalie, director of research at Kaiko, in an analyst call Tuesday. Can Binance.US survive in a post-SEC world? I think the jury is still out on that, but looking at the data, I think its very unlikely. While it reached an agreement with the SEC to avoid a total asset freeze, Binance.US is preparing for a multi-year and very costly litigation process, which resulted in an unspecified number of job cuts last week. Coinbase Global Inc., the biggest US crypto exchange which was also sued by the SEC, saw a smaller hit to its market share, which has fallen to 51% in late June from 56.5% at the beginning of the year, according to Kaiko. Exchanges including LMAX, Bitstamp and Kraken are gaining shares in the US, Kaiko said. Both Binance.US and Coinbase have denied allegations by the SEC. Binance, the global platform, also lost more than half of its market share in crypto trades denominated in euros this year. Last week, Binance said its leaving the Netherlands after failing to register with the countrys financial authorities. Meanwhile, it had an on-site visit by French authorities, which have been investigating the firm for alleged illegal provision of digital-asset services and acts of aggravated money laundering. A Binance spokesperson declined to comment on specifics of law enforcement or regulatory investigations. Kraken has grown its market share in euro-based trades to 53% in June from 41% at the start of the year. Binance Probed by France for Alleged Illegal Practices Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. American pop superstar Taylor Swift will visit Australia next year for five concerts in Sydney and Melbourne as a part of her world tour, sending local fans into a frenzy of delight and anxiety over whether they will secure a ticket. In a social media post on Wednesday morning, Swift unveiled international dates for The Eras Tour, including Australian shows in February. Swift will perform two shows at the MCG and three at Sydneys Accor Stadium. Swifts popularity has reached stratospheric levels after she embarked on her tour in the United States in March. Liveried doormen, in-house cocktail bars and velvet-lined change rooms at luxury flagship stores are losing their buffed allure for select shoppers. Customers who once hesitated buying jeans on eBay are now comfortable online clicking with their credit cards for diamond engagement rings, handbags and prestige cars. With e-tailer Net-a-Porter offering $79,000 watches from Piaget, Hermes selling $22,860 leather coats on its website and Diors $15,000 Lady Dior handbag sold out online, a broader range of luxury brands is now investing in the digital experience. IRL vs. online: a model in Cartiers two-level Oceania flagship in Sydney and a customer looking at the Mercedes-Benz vehicles online showroom. Credit: Janie Barrett, Supplied Last year Cartier launched its 749-square-metre Oceania flagship in Sydney, with a private bar serving opal martinis, but managing director Alban du Mesnil was sure to include an e-commerce fulfilment centre on the lower ground floor. Its more than a boutique, du Mesnil said before the opening. Its a full brand platform connecting all the channels. Bitcoin rose and Ether fell during Tuesday afternoon trading in Hong Kong, while most of the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization closed mixed. Bitcoin touched US$27,000 briefly but slipped as crypto investor appetite remained weak. See related article: Weekly Market Wrap: Crypto lawsuits, Hinman and a rare rate hike pause Bitcoin up, Ether down, top 10 cryptos mixed Bitcoin inched up 0.01% from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong to US$26,770. Ether fell 0.46% in the same timeframe, to US$1,726. Bitcoin, the worlds largest cryptocurrency, briefly rose to US$27,053 in afternoon trade before falling below US$27,000. Solanas SOL token was the days biggest gainer in the top 10, rising 2.8% to US$15.90, followed by Polygons Matic token that strengthened 1.32% to US$0.6063. Crypto investor appetite remained weighed down by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissions lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, which were filed two weeks ago. Many associate the future growth in Bitcoins value with the halving event scheduled for April 2024, Karlen Danielian, investor and founder of play-to-earn game 2040world, wrote in a statement shared with Forkast. I believe that we are currently replicating the historical cycle of 2015-2017, and we will likely see growth starting from the fall of 2023. By April 2024, we should be around the US$50,000 mark for Bitcoin, followed by an increase until mid-summer or fall 2025. The total crypto market capitalization over the past 24 hours rose 0.64% to US$1.07 trillion and market volume increased 44.64% to US$28.82 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin NFT sales gain for second consecutive day as Ethereum NFT sales rise The Forkast 500 NFT index fell 0.59% to 2,861.58 points in the 24 hours to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong and declined 3.41% during the week. Bitcoins 24-hour non-fungible token (NFT) sales rose for a second consecutive day, rising 62.87% to US$3.1 million, as sales for Uncategorized Ordinals increased 4.43% to US$1.3 million, according to CryptoSlam data. Ethereums 24-hour NFT sales rose 9.39% to US$13.57 million, after a weak Monday. Sales for the largest Ethereum-native collection, the Bored Ape Yacht Club, rose 4.43% to US$1.7 million, while Mutant Ape Yacht Club sales also gained 2.05%, generating US$1.08 million for the network. Asian equities strengthen as China cuts key interest rates Image: Getty Images Major Asian equities were mixed as of 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong, following news that Chinas central bank cut two benchmark interest rates, pumping billions into financial markets to stimulate the struggling economy. Despite the decision, investors remain concerned that Beijing has not done enough to bolster the countrys economic recovery. Japans Nikkei 225 inched up 0.055% and the Shenzhen Component Index rose 0.28%. Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index fell 1.54% and the Shanghai Composite decreased 0.47%. Investor confidence picked up after data showed that annual inflation in Hong Kong fell to 2% in May from 2.1% in April and exceeded economist expectations of 2.3%. U.S. stock futures weakened as of 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong as markets resumed trading after Mondays holiday. The S&P 500 futures index fell 0.81%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 futures fell 0.57% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures decreased 0.40%. The Fed projects interest rates to rise to 5.6% in 2023, indicating two more rate hikes within the year. New York Fed President John Williams will be speaking on Tuesday and may make further comments on the Feds fight with inflation. He is one of several Fed leaders making comments this week that could give an indication of the health of the economy. See related article: Crypto industry reacts to SECs lawsuit against Binance (Updates with equities section.) A year into the pandemic, vaccines became available. A miracle of science, technology, global co-operation and speed. And yet, Australia was confronted with a powerful One-Two. One, negative press on the AstraZeneca vaccine and the speed of the roll-out. Two, pathetic advertising. Meantime, in other parts, the creators of AstraZeneca were receiving a standing ovation at Wimbledon and the world was producing some brilliant and highly persuasive advertising. The French and New Zealand campaigns come to mind. Everyone was asking the same question: Where is the Australian ad campaign powerful enough to prick both the negativity bubble and Aussie shoulders and speed up the roll-out, even though Scott Morrison infamously said it wasnt a race. After way too much time, the public, business, philanthropists, corporates and brands all recognised they had a role to play. The music industry united to sell the idea that if you want live music again, then get yourself vaccinated. The #VaxTheNation campaign brought 400 artists together and had 10 million impressions, thanks to Powderfinger donating the use of their My Happiness track. French firm Neoen will build a mega battery in Collie after winning a two-year contract to smooth out energy supply and demand in Western Australias south-west grid, which is under strain from soaring midday peak supply from rooftop solar and ageing coal-fired power stations. The battery, to be constructed from 224 Tesla Megapacks, can store 219 megawatts of energy for four hours during the day and discharge it back to the grid during high demand in the evening when solar generation falls. The new battery will link to existing transmission capacity built for Collies three coal-fired power stations. Credit: Bloomberg The investment comes as the South West Interconnected System that stretches between Kalbarri, Kalgoorlie and Albany needed to use last resort expensive diesel generation on most days in June due to unexpected shutdowns at two coal-fired power stations in Collie run by state-owned Synergy. The contract from the Australian Energy Market Operator that manages the SWIS requires the new battery to be operational from October 1, 2024, just 15 months away. 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 Whats the go with aliens? Is United States President Joe Biden a robot? And why didnt the prime minister return Erin Molans text messages? Welcome to Anthony Albanese on FM radio, where the prime minister regularly reveals more about himself to the likes of 2DayFMs Hughesy, Ed & Erin, KIISs Kyle & Jackie O or Foxs Fifi, Fev & Nick than he does in serious radio interviews on the AM dial. (For the record, he likes The X-Files but has not been briefed on aliens, Biden is a human, and Albanese appeared again on Molans show soon after she complained he wasnt responding to texts.) A decade ago, Albanese was asked by conservative commentator Andrew Bolt why he kept appearing on the latters Sky News television show, even though Bolt was anathema to many in Labor. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with Kyle Sandilands at the radio hosts wedding this year. Credit: Twitter I certainly think that weve got to argue our case in every forum possible. Thats the approach that I have taken, Albanese said on May 19, 2013. An analysis by this masthead of every transcript released by Albaneses office of his TV and radio interviews in the 12 months from May 21, 2022 the day he was elected prime minister clearly shows the effort he makes to speak to FM radio and commercial AM radio audiences. Advertisement All told, he has held 172 press conferences and doorstops across the country and overseas, given 89 TV interviews and 128 radio interviews. The John Howard playbook Ben Fordham, host of Sydney radio station 2GB (owned by Nine, which also owns this masthead), says: Albo is a Sydney boy who lived through years of John Howard dominating politics in Australia, so he has taken a leaf out of Howards book and then added in the FM dial. Albanese is the author of his own media strategy, personally maintaining relationships with key opinion makers across radio, TV and print with texts and phone calls. Hes a relationships guy. The prime ministers choice of whom he speaks to and when are part of a deliberate strategy to secure multiple terms in office which this mastheads Resolve Political Monitor polling currently suggests he is on track to achieve, given his consistently high popularity. He has been on the high-rating breakfast TV programs Sunrise (Seven) and Today (Nine) 14 times each, and the ABCs News Breakfast on which his predecessor Scott Morrison rarely appeared 11 times. Advertisement Albanese has also regularly been on the ABCs premier current affairs show, 7.30 another program Morrison avoided as well as Tens The Project and Sky News First Edition, Afternoon Agenda and Sunday Agenda, though he rarely appears on the ABCs Insiders. So far, thats pretty much what youd expect. But its radio, the most intimate medium, that is most revealing about Albaneses media strategy. In Victoria, Albanese has appeared most often on the ABCs Melbourne Mornings with Virginia Trioli and Melbourne Drive with Raf Epstein, though he also fronts up on 3AW (owned by Nine) to speak to talkback king Neil Mitchell and chats to FM stations like KIIS and Fox. Mitchell, who has had Albanese on his show fewer times than Trioli but who commands higher ratings, praises the PM for turning up. When [Queen Elizabeth] died, I texted him at 4am, thinking he would see it when he wakes up, but he replied straight away and said righto [and appeared that morning], Mitchell says. Advertisement There is a bit of Howard in it [Albaneses media strategy], Mitchell notes, in that radio allows the interviewee to go over the head of the Canberra press gallery and straight into peoples ears. Trioli, who has hosted several ABC radio programs, agrees with Fordham that Albaneses approach is much like Howards. Howard would show up, he was comfortable in his own skin, he could take talkback, he was well briefed, and he could range across topics. Anthony Albanese is similar in that regard, she says. As this term of government goes on and things get harder, it will be interesting to see if he remains open to doing so much radio. Why not every state is created equal Outside Victoria, the Albanese strategy is notably different. Advertisement In NSW, Western Australia and South Australia, Albanese appears far more regularly on commercial AM and FM radio: along with 2GBs Fordham, he talks to Chris OKeefe in the Drive spot, and does a swag of high-rating breakfast shows. Albanese recently attended Kyle Sandilands wedding, which surprised some in Labor circles given how crude the FM shock jock can be he recently attributed the rise in ratings to his co-hosts weight loss and promised to masturbate live on air if ratings kept going up and has been on Hughesy, Ed & Erin (Molan, whose texts he had been ignoring) more than once. In Queensland, Albanese spends more time in Brisbane on commercial AM and FM breakfast programs than the ABC as in most other states, but he does speak to regional Queensland ABC stations more regularly, reflecting how de-centralised the state is. Those stations also broadcast into seats hed like to win in the next election. In WA, Albaneses favourite radio spots are 6PR Drive (owned by Nine) with Oliver Peterson, 6PR Mornings and Nova 93.7s Nathan, Nat & Shaun. Peterson says Albanese began talking to him close to a decade ago, when he was opposition transport spokesman and few others bothered to appear on Perth commercial radio. He knows without WA he wouldnt be governing in majority in his own right, but it started out by chance, Peterson says. Advertisement How does Titan work? The 10-day Titanic expedition is operated by Seattle-based firm OceanGate and is the only one of its kind. The voyage sets off from St Johns, Canada, taking mission specialists to view the shipwreck that claimed the lives of 1500 people after it struck an iceberg more than 100 years ago. A ticket on the carbon fibre and titanium Titan costs $US250,000 ($367,875) a person to cover mission training and support. The OceanGate vessel is described as similar in size to a minivan. It usually carries a pilot, three paying guests and a content expert. The cramped vessel has one viewing portal 53 centimetres in diameter, allowing two passengers to look outside. There is also a small toilet. While OceanGate bills the Titan as the only crewed submersible in the world that can take five people as deep as 4000 metres, a CBS report last year raised questions about the vessels technological features, which include the use of a video game controller. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in a scene from the 1997 blockbuster film, Titanic. Credit: AP CBS journalist David Pogue last year climbed aboard the Titan, noting that he couldnt help noticing how many pieces of this sub seemed improvised, with off-the-shelf components. Those components included lighting purchased from a camping shop, construction pipes being used as ballast and an off-the-shelf video game controller, which was used to pilot the vessel. Pogue also read from paperwork provided by OceanGate, stating that the experimental vessel had not been approved by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death. During the interview, chief executive officer of OceanGate, Stockton Rush, rejected the suggestion that the vessels technology seemed improvised. I dont know if Id use that description of it, Rush told CBS. The pressure vessel is ... where we worked with Boeing and NASA and the University of Washington. Everything else can fail, your thrusters can go, your lights can go. Youre still going to be safe. OceanGate has not confirmed any of the passengers on board the missing vessel, however some media reports have suggested Rush was among them. Who is on the Titan? British millionaire Hamish Harding is among the five people who went missing aboard a tourist submarine visiting the shipwreck of the Titanic. Credit: Instagram Four tourists and one pilot are on board the missing submersible, among them prominent British billionaire businessman and explorer Hamish Harding. The Dubai-based, Cambridge-educated jet pilot and aircraft broker holds 16 air speed records, including the Guinness World Record for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth via the North and South poles by an aircraft, and last year took part in the fifth human space flight by Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos. Just hours before embarking on the voyage, Harding announced that a weather window had opened, and he would be among the mission specialists to make the descent to the Titanic wreck. I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic, he wrote on social media. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. We started steaming from St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do. Harding had earlier posted that Paul Henry Nargeolet, a French expert on the Titanic, was also expected to be on the vessel, The New York Times has reported. Hardings family, as well as the managing director of his company, Action Aviation, also confirmed on Monday that he was one of the five people missing aboard the Titan. The billionaires stepson posted on Facebook that Harding had gone missing on submarine and asked for thoughts and prayers before later deleting the post. Where are they? The submersible began its journey roughly 1450 kilometres from the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. US and Canadian ships and planes were canvassing the area in a major operation, with some dropping sonar buoys that could monitor to a depth of 3962 metres, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said on Monday. The shipwreck of the Titanic rests 3.7 kilometres beneath the surface, which takes about two hours to reach by submersible. Early reports suggested the vessel had lost contact with its Canadian expedition ship on the surface, MV Polar Prince, one hour and 45 minutes into the dive. The luxury liner sank in April 1912, but the elusive ship remained undiscovered until 1985, when a team of undersea robots exploring the North Atlantic Ocean floor located the Titanics wreck less than 643 kilometres from Newfoundland. OceanGate has released a statement confirming the missing submersible was among their fleet and that a rescue operation had been launched. The company said it was exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely. Why are deep sea rescues so difficult? If the Titan is located on the ocean floor, rescuers will face an even greater hurdle to reach it due to the extreme depths. International oceanographer and explorer David Gallo said rescuers working to locate the vessel faced conditions most people had never experienced, describing the ocean depths as being like a visit to another planet. Its not what people think it is. Its a sunless, cold environment, high pressure. And so yes, its one thing to get there, but the second thing is to understand the situation ... what the problem is with the sub and then go to work and try and extricate it, he told CNN. Gallo said the search was unlike that for missing aircraft such as Air France 447 or Malaysian Airlines 370 because surface ships would have a reliable record of the subs last known position. Even if the sub had experienced difficulty and drifted, it would be moving at a pace of about 3km/h, so the search area should be small ... it means that you can focus on a very tight area and bring your sonars in and cameras in, Gallo said. University of Delaware marine science Professor Arthur Trembanis said ABC NewsRadio on Tuesday that the ocean depths were the most unwelcoming environment on Earth. Its easier to get to space than it is to get to the deep ocean, he said. Its like Apollo 13 but underwater. How dangerous is the pressure at extreme ocean depths? On top of the quickly depleting 96 hours worth of air supply, occupants on board the Titan also face dangers of the potentially deadly pressure of extreme ocean depths. Air inside submersibles is commonly recycled, meaning carbon dioxide is removed and oxygen is added. However, as time goes on, the vessel will lose the ability to scrub enough carbon dioxide, and the air inside will no longer sustain life, according to The New York Times. The submersible before its journey. Credit: Instagram Also critical to survival is the continued running of the vessels batteries, which run heaters that maintain warmth in the freezing depths. If the Titans batteries run down, passengers inside can become hypothermic and the situation eventually becomes fatal. Whats the difference between a submersible and submarine? The missing Titan is considered a submersible and not a submarine because it does not function as an autonomous craft. Rather it relies on a support platform to deploy and return. On its website, OceanGate states that the vessel is one of three types of crewed submersibles it operates. It uses a platform similar to the dry dock of a ship. The platform is used to launch and recover manned submersibles by flooding its flotation tanks with water for a controlled descent to a depth of 9.1 metres to avoid any surface turbulence, it says. At the conclusion of each dive, the sub lands on the submerged platform and the entire system is brought to the surface in approximately two minutes by filling the ballast tanks with air. with Reuters, AP (Bloomberg) -- Canadas banking regulator imposed higher capital requirements on the countrys largest banks for the second time in about six months, signaling concern about economic and financial risks that lie ahead. Most Read from Bloomberg The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions said its lifting the domestic stability buffer to 3.5% of risk-weighted assets from its current 3% level. The buffer is a rainy-day fund to protect banks in the event of future problems. The regulator increased it by the same amount in December. The change means the six largest Canadian banks will be required to hold Common Equity Tier 1 capital of at least 11.5% of risk-weighted assets. All six are currently above that level; Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is closest to the minimum. The S&P/TSX Commercial Banks Index dropped 0.6% as of 10:05 a.m. in Toronto, the biggest intraday decline since June 7. Current vulnerabilities, including high household and corporate debt levels, the rising cost of debt, and increased global uncertainty around fiscal and monetary policy, coupled with Canadas financial sector showing strength throughout the winter and spring has presented the opportunity for OSFI to build more resiliency in the system, the bank watchdog said in a statement. The new capital requirement comes into effect Nov. 1. Canadas banks are profitable, sound, generating ample capital, making this a good time to raise the buffer, Peter Routledge, the superintendent of financial institutions, told reporters. Loan delinquencies and unemployment remain low, he added. Rate Anxiety The shift underscores anxiety in Canada about how households will handle the increase in borrowing costs in the years ahead and the likelihood that banks loan losses will go up from current low levels. Last month, in its annual review of the financial system, the Bank of Canada said a rising number of homeowners have mortgages that consume at least a quarter of their income, and some are relying on credit cards to meet expenses in the face of steeper payments. The regulator sets the stability buffer based on its view of financial risks, including levels of debt and economic forecasts. OSFI is trying to build even more resiliency into the Canadian banking system as it faces a host of key vulnerabilities, including high household and corporate debt levels, the rising cost of debt, and increased global uncertainty around fiscal and monetary policy, Desjardins economist Royce Mendes said in a note to investors. Elevated office vacancies are also raising concerns that banks may be forced to take losses on commercial real estate loans. Commercial property represents about 10% of the loan portfolios of Canadas six largest banks, surpassed only by residential mortgages, according to a recent analysis by National Bank of Canada analyst Gabriel Dechaine. While real estate risks at Canadian banks are growing, particularly in the office category, existing reserves are large enough to absorb losses, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Paul Gulberg and Ethan Kaye said in a June 14 note. The updated capital requirements apply to the two Canadian lenders on the list of global systemically important banks, Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank. It also applies to the four other institutions on OSFIs list of domestic systemically important banks: CIBC, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal and National Bank of Canada. Shares of CIBC declined the most among Canadian banks Tuesday morning, down 1.4%, after a report by the Globe and Mail newspaper that its facing regulatory scrutiny over mistakes in its mortgage department. The errors, which involve thousands of clients, are not expected to have a material financial impact on the bank, the newspaper said. What Bloomberg Intelligence Says The Canadian bank regulators decision to increase the lenders capital requirement is prudent and credit positive, we believe, given still-elevated systemic vulnerabilities. The increased hurdle will cut the banks Common Equity Tier 1 capital surplus by C$12 billion, and the lenders may increase their CET1 ratio target to 12.5%. Bloomberg Intelligence credit analysts Himanshu Bakshi and Nicholas Beckwith --With assistance from Geoffrey Morgan and Erik Hertzberg. (Updates with index move in fourth paragraph, quotes from Desjardins and Bloomberg Intelligence analysts, and additional information on CIBC in final paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Under the sponsorship of the Customs Cooperation Fund of Japan (CCF-Japan), the World Customs Organization organized, in close cooperation with Japan Customs, a Pre-Accreditation Workshop for Technical and Operational Advisors (TOAs) on Risk Management (RM) for the America and Caribbean Region. The event was held in Guatemala City 12th to 16th June 2023, and was attended by 12 Customs officials from 10 Customs administrations in the region. This workshop was organized as part of the strategic approach taken by the WCO aiming at expanding the pool of WCO experts in order to respond to the needs expressed by the WCO Members on RM in a time manner. At the opening ceremony, Mr. Werner Ovalle Ramirez, Intendente de Aduanas (DG of Guatemala Customs), warmly welcomed all participants. In his remarks, he emphasized the growing role of the AMS Experts in supporting the needs of WCO members in terms of technical expertise. The use of Spanish language is additional value to enrich the activities provided in the official languages of WCO (EN and FR). The workshop was attended by twelve participants selected in the AMS region. They were assessed on their relevant technical knowledge and application, presentation and facilitation skills, communication and advisory skills, overall knowledge on key WCO tools and instruments and their team working capabilities. Throughout the intensive five-day workshop, a good number demonstrated their knowledge, skills, techniques and, most importantly, enthusiasm to contribute to the capacity building activities to be made by the WCO in the future. Successful participants at the workshop will be invited to the next stage of the WCO expert accreditation process, an in-field mission. It is expected that those participants who successfully complete the accreditation process will be added to the pool of experts and work together with the WCO for the benefit of Members who request technical assistance from the WCO in the area of RM. Having acceded to the RKC in 2019, Brazil is obliged to implement the obligatory Standards of the General Annex (GA) within a period of 36 months and the Transitional Standards within a period of 60 months. With the financial support of the WCO Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF) China, the World Customs Organization (WCO) conducted a national workshop for Brazil on the issues and concerning implementation of the RKC. With a special focus on chapters 1 to 6 of the GA to the RKC, the 5-day workshop was held from 12-16 June 2023 in Brasilia, Brazil. At the opening of the workshop, the Under-Secretary of Customs Administration of the Special Secretariat of the Federal Revenue of Brazil (FRB), Jackson Aluir Corbari, expressed optimism that the workshop would assist Brazil in pointing out areas in its national law that need to be addressed for better implementation of the RKC. The Under-Secretary added that the administration was developing a new system aimed at better handling of imports with a detailed component on risk management and is expected to be fully operational by December 2023. In conclusion, the Under-Secretary highlighted the issue of double degree of jurisdiction (in relation to appeals) as one of the main challenges affecting Brazils implementation of the RKC. In addition, the Coordinator-General of Customs Administration, Mirela Batista, emphasized the importance of utilizing the workshop to understanding the RKC better, adding that in the end, it is expected to collate those pieces of national legislation that would need to be modified to achieve a higher level of the implementation of the RKC. The workshop brought together officials from various business units such as risk management, Authorized Economic Operators (AEO), and border control. During the highly interactive sessions of the workshop, the participants were exposed to presentations on the organizational structure, reform and modernization updates by RFB; instruments and tools of the WCO; technical discussions on the relevant chapters of the GA to the RKC and a practical session on how to conduct an implementation assessment using the RKC Tool Kit for Quality Implementation Assessment. Following a detailed comparative analysis of the provisions of the RKC (Chapters 1to 6 of the GA) and Brazils national legislation, conducted during break-out sessions, it emerged that Brazils national legislation was robust enough to enable a high level of implementation of the RKC. For those standards of the RKC that are not being implemented by Brazil, an action plan on how to incorporate them in the national legislation for purposes of implementation was developed. The action plan includes the business units responsible and the specific actions to be taken by each of them. Once achieved, it is expected that Brazil would attain a higher level of implementation of the RKC. For further information, please contact us at RKCReview@wcoomd.org. From 29 to 31 May 2023, the Asia-Pacific Plastic Waste (APPW) Project held its final meeting in the margins of the 24th WCO Asia/Pacific (A/P) Regional Heads of Customs Administrations Conference in Perth, Australia. The meeting brought together representatives of the eight participating Customs administrations (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam) as well as observers, and discussed outcomes and possible ways forward. The APPW Project, which began in April 2020 with the financial support of the Government of Japan, is implemented by the WCO Secretariats Compliance and Facilitation Directorate, as part of the WCO Environment Programme. During the APPW Project meeting, presentations were given by the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Basel and Stockholm Conventions Regional Centre for Southeast Asia, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Customs Enforcement and Compliance Working Group. These presentations provided food for thought for the ensuing panel discussions. After reiterating the added value offered by the Project activities and outputs, the participants approved the recommendations for the A/P region and laid them down in a Regional Action Plan. The actions foreseen under this Regional Action Plan are structured around five main objectives: Establish a sufficient mandate and legal basis for Customs administrations to assume their responsibility in the plastic waste trade; Design a joint and uniform response to illegal trade in plastic waste, to avoid port hopping and evasive behaviour; Reduce the administrative burden and clearance times and facilitate legal trade in plastic waste and scrap; Strengthen Customs-to-Customs and Customs-to-Other Government Agencies cooperation and communication; Awareness raising and capacity building support on the provisions and regulations related to plastic waste trade. The APPW Project was also presented at the 24th WCO A/P Regional Heads of Customs Administrations (RHCA) Conference on 31 May 2023 in Perth, Australia. The RHCA Conference welcomed the successful implementation and valuable outcomes of the Project and agreed to have the issue of the implementation of the Regional Action Plan as a standing Agenda item for future WCO A/P RHCA meetings. I would like to thank the participating countries in the A/P region for their contribution to the important work on plastic waste. The steady implementation of the Regional Action Plan would be the next step. Based on the interest expressed by Members of the region, the scope of the Project could be further expanded, said the WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya. The WCO considers plastic waste as an issue having a dramatic environmental impact that needs to be addressed and which falls within the Green Customs focus area of the WCO Strategic Plan 2022-2025, he added. About the APPW Project The APPW Project aims to strengthen the capacity of Customs administrations to mitigate and respond appropriately to environmental threats in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly on issues related to plastic waste and illegal shipments thereof. The WCO Members participating in the Project are the national Customs Administrations of Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam, while Australia takes part as an observer. The Project has delivered several guidance materials, including a diagnostic tool serving as a self-assessment checklist for plastic waste; the Basel Convention section in the Environmental Guide for Frontline Customs Officers; a Training Framework for Customs administrations on plastic waste; and a new chapter on plastic waste in the WCO Coordinated Border Management Compendium (CBM), introducing the core elements of the Basel Convention. For more information, please visit our APPW project webpage or contact: appw@wcoomd.org The World Customs Organization organized, with the support of the Customs Cooperation Fund of Japan(CCF/JAPAN), and in collaboration with Thai Customs and the Regional Office for Capacity Building of Asia Pacific Region, a Sub-regional Workshop on Customs Valuation for the benefit of ASEAN Members. Twenty four Customs officials, including four observers, took part. The participants from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, who included 11 women and 13 men, attended the workshop held at the RTC in Bangkok, Thailand from 29 May to 2 June 2023. The Workshop was co-facilitated by an expert from WCO Secretariat and two pre-accredited expert trainers on Customs valuation from Japan. The Deputy Director of Thai Customs, Mrs. Nunthita Sirikup, who officially opened the Workshop highlighted the importance of Customs valuation in revenue collection and the opportunity that this workshop provides to enhance the knowledge of Customs officials of the region in this area. She also expressed her deep appreciation to the WCO Secretariat and to the CCF/Japan in supporting this workshop. The Workshop covered a range of fundamental topics related to Customs valuation, including the principles of WTO Customs Valuation Agreement, the transaction value method as well as the alternative methods and an introduction to transfer pricing and Customs valuation. Participants examined case studies and national implementing challenges to reinforce and apply the knowledge gained during the workshop. Participants were encouraged to apply what they learned from the workshop in their work and share the knowledge gained to their colleagues in their respective administration. Ghosn to fight 'to the end' as sues Nissan in Lebanon Fugitive former car executive Carlos Ghosn, gestures as he talks during an interview with Reuters in Beirut By Tom Perry, Maya Gebeily and Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) -Carlos Ghosn said on Tuesday he will fight "to the end" in a $1 billion lawsuit the former Nissan chairman has brought against the Japanese carmaker, marking his first such challenge. Ghosn's lawsuit, which he filed in Lebanon and a copy of which was seen by Reuters, includes allegations of defamation, slander, libel and the fabrication of material evidence by Nissan as well as 12 individuals and two other firms. A Nissan spokesperson said it will not be commenting. "We have a long battle in front of us. We are going to fight it to the end," Ghosn told Reuters in Lebanon, where he has lived since fleeing Japan hidden in a box aboard a private jet. Ghosn's lawsuit seeks $588 million in lost remuneration, and another $500 million in moral damage. "What I am asking for is only a little compensation compared to what they've done to me," the 69-year-old, wearing a blue open-necked shirt, said during an interview in Beirut. Once a global car industry titan, Ghosn was arrested in Japan in late 2018 and charged with under-reporting earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds. He denied the charges and said his detention was part of a plot against him by Nissan. Ghosn fled Japan in December 2019 as he awaited trial and after arriving in his childhood home of Lebanon said he was escaping a "rigged" justice system and would clear his name. Tokyo prosecutors have previously said Ghosn's allegations of a conspiracy were false. 'HAVE TO PAY' Asked whether he would expand his legal action to include Renault, part of the alliance with Nissan which he masterminded, Ghosn said his focus was currently on Nissan. "I'm not precluding anything for the future. Today we are concentrating on the Nissan plot," he said. If found guilty, Nissan "will have to pay", Ghosn said. "It's a large company and they have assets everywhere and you can go after their assets anywhere, so this is not a joke," he said. "I hope they are going to provision this amount of money and I hope they are going to talk to their shareholders about what is happening and why this is happening," he said. Ghosn, who holds French, Lebanese and Brazilian citizenships, said he has not left Lebanon since 2019 because of an Interpol Red Notice issued by Japan. "I'm stuck here. I cannot make a complaint of this size in another country," he said, adding that putting his case together had taken his legal team time as they reconstituted the facts. A judicial source in Lebanon said the prosecutor has scheduled a court session on Sept. 18 to begin proceedings. Ghosn said documents had been taken from his home in Lebanon under false pretences on the day of his arrest in Japan and shared with Japanese authorities. His lawsuit alleges that "the sanctity of a residence" had been violated and says crimes were committed in Lebanon, Japan, France, Brazil, the United States and the Netherlands. "I have the intention get my rights back, to repair my reputation," he said. "I am going to dedicate all the time necessary for the truth to prevail." (Reporting by Maya Gebeily, Laila Bassam, Tom Perry in Beirut and Daniel Leussink in Japan; Writing by Tala Ramadan and Tom Perry; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Louise Heavens, David Goodman and Alexander Smith) A class action lawsuit has been filed after human remains kept at Harvard Medical School's morgue were allegedly sold by its now-former manager. The lawsuit comes just days after multiple people were indicted, including Joshua Taylor of Spring Township, Berks County. Authorities said Taylor bought some of the stolen remains and allegedly resold them. The class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of families who say the remains of their loved ones donated to Harvard Medical School were stolen and sold. The lawsuit alleges the morgue's former manager, Cedric Lodge, "unlawfully and negligently disturbed, mishandled, displayed, dissected, and/or sold hundreds of parts of donated cadavers that had been entrusted to Harvard and Harvard Medical School for medical research and anatomical study" while he worked there. The plaintiff said this caused severe emotional distress. Lawyers addressed the lawsuit late last week. "And so, when this kind of thing happens, it strips that person who, even though no longer on this earth, deserves dignity," said Jeff Catalano of Keches Law Group. The lawsuit also says Lodge allowed third parties into the morgue to view cadavers and decide from which ones to purchase parts. Investigators said Taylor was given access by Lodge. Lodge allegedly stole remains between 2018 and earlier this year. According to authorities, Taylor resold remains including to Jeremy Pauley, 41, of Bloomsburg. The lawsuit alleges Harvard and Harvard Medical School "breached its duty of care and was negligent when it failed to take reasonable steps in the hiring, training, supervision, and retention" of Lodge as the morgue manager. "There's deep wounds that have been reopened by the recent revelations," said Jonathan Sweet of Keches Law Group. "And we believe in bringing this case that we can help these families achieve peace and closure to understand what exactly happened." When asked for comment, Harvard Medical School said to see a section of its website about its anatomical gift program and a community email issued last week. That read, in part, "We are appalled to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus a community dedicated to healing and serving others." China is now importing more Russian oil than ever before - and Europe has almost entirely stopped buying crude from Moscow Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony before Russia - China talks in narrow format at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 21, 2023. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via Reuters China's crude imports from Russia hit an all-time high of 2.29 million barrels per day in May. Shipments were up 15.3% last month compared to the same time last year. Meanwhile, Europe has slashed Russian oil imports by 90% since the war in Ukraine began. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has reshaped global energy markets since February 2022, with China emerging as a top trade partner to Moscow and Western nations distancing themselves from the warring nation. In May, Beijing imported a record high of Russian crude, new customs data cited by Reuters Tuesday show. Arrivals from Russia to China hit 2.29 million barrels per day last month, marking a 15.3% increase from the same time last year and a 32.4% increase from April's average of 1.73 million barrels a day. China as well as India has been able to buy barrels at a discount from Moscow, and much of the purchases can be traced to private refiners. The 400,000-barrel-a-day refinery, Hengli Petrochemical, for example, took in its first Urals crude shipment of 730,000 barrels in early May, per Reuters. Smaller refiners, also called teapots, enjoyed larger margins thanks to their purchases of banned cargoes coming from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela. Meanwhile, European Union member states have slashed Russian fuel imports by 90% since last year's trade embargo, Eurostat data published Monday shows. In the three years leading up to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, EU members imported an average of 15.2 million tons of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia every month. By March, that average dropped to 1.4 million tons. To compensate for the missing barrels, the EU has ramped up trade with the US and Saudi Arabia. The EU banned seaborne imports of Russian crude in December and refined products in February, while imports via pipeline continued. By 2027, the EU plans to cut off all Russian fuel imports. Read the original article on Business Insider Coming together in a matter of hours to honor their brother. I didn't see a bridge without a flag on it it was amazing people where everywhere out there, said Sgt. David Bentz of Exeter Township Police. Police, EMS, Firefighters and others lined I-78 in Hamburg to pay their respects for fallen state trooper 29-year-old Jacques Rougeau Jr as his body was transported to Lehigh Valley Hospital Cedar Crest for an autopsy. Pay their respects as the body moved across the highway it was very rewarding very refreshing to see that support for law enforcement and more importantly we wanted to honor that trooper, said Sgt. Bentz. Police say Rougeau was killed in a gun battle with 38-year-old Brandon Stine of Thompsontown, Juniata County. State Police Lieutenant 45 year old James Wagner was critically wounded in a separate encounter with Stine. Saved the public saved other lives just by getting out there and getting it done, Bentz said. It's a harsh reminder of the sacrifices police officers make every day. It was pretty humbling too we obviously waited a while for the procession to come through the support of the general public honking horns and waving stopping to ask what was going on it was just outstanding, said Sgt. Bentz. Donations to help the families of these troopers are being taken through the PA State Troopers Association Survival Fund and Troopers Helping Troopers. Show that their sacrifice means something to a lot of people, Bentz said. If you would like to help the families of the troopers, visit Troopers Helping Troopers and Pennsylvania State Troopers Association. BETHLEHEM, Pa. - A Lehigh Valley chiropractor is accused of making child pornography. Bethlehem police say they have an arrest warrant for Dr. Philip O'Brien, 52. He works at the O'Brien Clinic, a chiropractic office, in Bethlehem Township. Investigators say O'Brien had produced child sexual exploitation material, otherwise known as porn, of a female child. Police say the child's identity is known. O'Brien is charged with two counts of sexual abuse of children, one count of unlawful contact with a minor, and one count of corruption of minors. He has not yet been arraigned, police said Monday, however police say they know where he is and anticipate his arrest in the near future. Anyone with information on other incidents or victims involving O'Brien should contact the City of Bethlehem tip line at 610-691-6660. A final ride, Monday for a fallen first responder killed in the line of duty over the Juneteenth and Father's Day weekend. A procession carrying the body of a slain Pennsylvania State Trooper passed through Berks and Lehigh counties Monday. That trooper was killed in the line of duty over the weekend, following an ambush on a barracks in the central part of the state. His body was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital - Cedar Crest for an autopsy. Police and Fire came together for a procession to honor Trooper Jacques Rougeau Jr. The dozens of first responder vehicles were seen traveling to the hospital and to the airport. Trooper Rougeau would've celebrated his 3-year anniversary of becoming a trooper on June 29th. Investigators say Trooper Rougeau was ambushed and killed by a gunshot over the weekend by the gunman, Brandon Stine, who attacked the Lewistown state police barracks and later shot and killed himself after a manhunt. Another trooper, Lt. James Wagner, was critically wounded in a separate encounter. "What I witnessed ... and I'll tell you in many years with the PSP and many serious situations, was one of the most intense, unbelievable gunfights I have ever witnessed," said Lt. Col. George Bivens, deputy commissioner of operations, who went up in a helicopter to coordinate the search. The trooper headed home with a final ride in the Lehigh Valley. The brothers in blue making sure the procession traveled with him to the airport. "There are some things all of us should be doing right now, but we're here to support our brother. It's above the rest," said President David Kennedy of the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association, an organization made up of 4,300 active and retired troopers. Lieutenant Wagner was flown to Hershey Medical Center and is listed in critical condition. BETHLEHEM TWP., Pa. - The former Young's Pharmacy property in Bethlehem Township has been sold for $1.2 million. The sale of the 3708 Freemansburg Ave. property was recorded June 14, according to Northampton County property records. Young's closed in 2018. The CVS chain acquired the business and transferred pharmacy files, insurance information and inventory to a store at 4950 Freemansburg Ave., a CVS spokesperson said at the time. Some employees of Young's went to work at the nearby CVS. Bethlehem Township told 69 News that no plans have been submitted for the site. County records say the buyer is 3708 Freemansburg LLC. That company has a mailing address in Osprey, Florida. The seller was Salameh Properties, a limited liability corporation. Salameh bought the property in 2021 for $950,000, according to county records. The two-story building has 10,908 square feet of floor space and sits on three-tenths of an acre lot. The building was constructed in 1950. It has parking areas in front of the building and at the rear. The former Young's is in a retail stretch along Freemansburg Avenue. Across the street is the Heights Market & Deli, and the Friendly Food Mart is just to the east. Another convenience store has been proposed for the site of the former Heights Community Federal Credit Union at 3530 Freemansburg Ave., across the street from Geakers Tacos. HARRISBURG, Pa. - The state Senate approved legislation introduced by Sen. Jarrett Coleman (R-16) that would rename a portion of state Route 143 in Lynn Township in honor of two local firefighters who lost their lives in December 2022. Colemans Senate Bill 770 would rename part of state Route 143 in Lynn Township from the intersection of state route 309 to the Berks County border in honor of deceased New Tripoli firefighters Zachary Paris and Marvin Gruber. Paris and Gruber died in the line of duty Dec. 7, 2022, when they became trapped while fighting a house fire in West Penn Township, Schuylkill County. The bill now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration. ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The man who owns the Allentown building of the hookah lounge where a 29-year-old was stabbed to death early Sunday morning says he wants the business out as soon as possible. Buzzy Labriola tells 69 News he had given the business owners 90 days' notice before their lease was up May 18 that he was not planning to renew with them. He says it's due to all of the disturbances Synergy Hookah Lounge has been causing in the neighborhood. But when the lease expired in May, Labriola says the business owners hadn't paid the May rent, but promised to pay May and June if he let them stay until July 2. Now, in light of the stabbing, Labriola tells 69 News that he plans go to the magistrate on Tuesday to expedite the eviction. He says he'll pay the business owners back whatever he may owe if they are evicted before the end of the month. In Sunday's incident, Allentown police say Isiah Yeager, 23, stabbed 29-year-old Kevin Tarafa during a fight inside the lounge. Tarafa was later found dead outside. Yeager was charged with homicide. HELLERTOWN, Pa. - A Northampton County woman is facing charges for not paying her estate sales clients, authorities say. Amy Richline, who owns Top Notch Estate Sales, is accused of stealing more than $25,000 from at least seven Lehigh Valley clients over the last few years, the county district attorney said on Tuesday. The investigation began when a Bethlehem Township resident contacted police and said he was never paid for the proceeds of the sale of his mother's home on April 29, the DA said. Authorities then found out the 49-year-old Richline withheld funds from at least six other people from as far back as 2020, the DA said. The other clients who reported that they hired Top Notch Estate Sales but were never paid are from Bethlehem, Coopersburg, Coplay, and Allentown. Investigators say all of the victims tried contacting Richline multiple times, and if she replied, she used the same statements: Theyre checking to see if it has been cashed, or if its been returned to their mail room. This is the 1st step. Because its certified funds, its not as simple as cutting another check because the funds have already been taken from my account. Richline, of Hellertown, was arraigned Friday on seven counts each of deceptive or fraudulent business practices, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property. She's out on 10% of $50,000 bail, according to online court records. Since there are alleged victims in both Lehigh and Northampton counties, the Lehigh County DA's Office gave jurisdiction to the Northampton County DA. Anyone who thinks they have been a victim should contact Bethlehem Township Police Det. Ed Fox at 610-419-9646 or efox@bethlehemtwp.com. WIND GAP, Pa. At just 24 years old, Jake Mosca of Dunellen, New Jersey, has miles under his belt. "It's been 1,280 so far," Mosca told 69 News. And those miles, especially the ones in Pennsylvania, add up. "A lot of hikers call it 'Rocksylvania,' and it seems like all the rocks are placed at the perfect angle to hurt your feet," Mosca joked. He is hiking the Appalachian Trail and documenting his mission the necessities packed, the pitfalls and more on Facebook. He's in Wind Gap, Northampton County now, but he started at the beginning on Springer Mountain in Georgia. "It goes all the way up to Mount Katahdin in Maine," he explained of the trail. People who travel south to north are known as "NOBOs," which stands for northbound. It's been three months on the trail so far. When all is said and done, Mosca will have crossed 14 states. "Definitely audiobooks help a lot, 'cause when you're walking out there, it gets very quiet," Mosca said. He also has a friend, John, by his side. "When I can, I like to stop and play guitar. I have been through many strings so far," Mosca said. "The nice thing about breaking a string is it gets a little lighter on the pack when it happens." The hobbies and views come secondary, though. Mosca is on a mission to raise money for the Alzheimer's Association and spread awareness of the disease his grandfather, James Mosca Sr., battled. "I saw his spirit and love for life and joy, and to see someone like that suffer from something like Alzheimer's left a scar on me as a young man," the 24-year-old stated. "It killed me." He says he would have loved to have "Grandpa Jim" by his side during his angsty teenage years when teens have lots of questions about life. Mosca started his hike with a goal of raising $5,000. Since that's been hit, the bar is only higher. "Now, I've decided to raise it up to $10,000," Mosca said, "and fingers crossed that can happen." It's his way of honoring people battling the illness and celebrating their greatest adventures. He hopes to complete the journey by August 8, which is his 25th birthday. "I always wonder what his response would be to me doing this hike, and I know he'd be proud," Mosca said of his grand father. "The least I can do to honor him to raise some money to try and get rid of the thing that got rid of him." Mosca's tribute page can be found here: Alzheimer's Association. BALLIA, India (AP) A scorching heat wave in two of Indias most populous states has overwhelmed hospitals, filled a morgue to capacity and disrupted power, forcing staff to use books to cool patients, as officials investigate a death toll that has reached nearly 170. In the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, 119 people have died from heat-related illnesses over the last several days while neighboring Bihar state reported 47 fatalities, according to local news reports and health officials. So many people are dying from the heat that we are not getting a minutes time to rest. On Sunday, I carried 26 dead bodies, Jitendra Kumar Yadav, a hearse driver in Deoria town, 110 kilometers (about 70 miles) from Ballia, told The Associated Press. Other residents said they were scared of going outside after midmorning. The largest hospital in Ballia district in Uttar Pradesh is unable to accommodate more patients. Officials said the morgue was full after 54 people, all of whom were elderly suffering from various health issues, died during the heat wave. Some families were asked to take the bodies of their relatives home. On Sunday, the state health minister, Brajesh Pathak, said a two-member team will look into what caused the large number of deaths and investigate how many of them are directly related to heat. While northern regions of India are known for sweltering heat during the summer months, temperatures have been consistently above normal, according to the Indian Meteorological Department, with highs reaching 43.5 degrees Celsius (110 degrees Fahrenheit). A heat wave is declared in India if temperatures are at least 4.5 C above normal, or if the temperature is above 45 C (113 F). We have been issuing heat wave warnings for the past few days, said Atul Kumar Singh, a scientist at the IMD. Despite the warnings, government officials did not ask people to brace for the heat until Sunday, when the death toll began to increase. Adding to the heat stress are consistent power outages across the region, leaving people with no running water, fans or air conditioners. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the government was taking measures to ensure an uninterrupted power supply. He urged citizens to cooperate and use electricity judiciously. Every village and every city should receive adequate power supply during this scorching heat. If any faults occur, they should be promptly addressed, he said Friday night in a statement. Inside the Ballia district hospital, the chaotic scenes were reminiscent of the coronavirus pandemic, with families and doctors scrambling as many patients required urgent attention. The corridors smelled of urine, garbage and medical waste, and hospital walls were stained with betel leaf spit. All our staff has been here for three days straight and are completely overworked, said Dr. Aditya Singh, an emergency medical officer. The wards in the hospital had no functioning air conditioners, and cooling units that were installed were not working properly due to power fluctuations. Attendants were fanning patients with books and wiping their sweat in an attempt to keep them cool. Officials said more severe cases were being shifted to hospitals in bigger cities nearby such as Varanasi, and more doctors and medical resources were being sent to the district hospital to deal with the heat-induced crisis. Climate experts say that heat waves will continue and India needs to prepare better to deal with their consequences. A study by World Weather Attribution, an academic group that examines the source of extreme heat, found that a searing heat wave in April that struck parts of South Asia was made at least 30 times more likely by climate change. Plans for dealing with heatwaves are essential for minimizing their effects and preserving lives. These plans include all-inclusive approaches to dealing with high heat occurrences, such as public awareness campaigns, the provision of cooling centers, and healthcare assistance, said Aditya Valiathan Pillai, an associate fellow at a New Delhi-based think-tank, Centre for Policy Research. Arasu reported from Bengaluru, India. Associated Press writers Biswajeet Banerjee in Lucknow, India, and Indrajit Singh in Patna, India, contributed to this report. Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about APs climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. (Bloomberg) -- China agreed another decades-long liquefied natural gas deal with Qatar in a further move to safeguard its energy security. Most Read from Bloomberg China National Petroleum Corp. signed a 27-year LNG purchase agreement for 4 million tons annually with QatarEnergy on Tuesday. Supply will begin in 2026 and CNPC will take a 5% equity stake in a production train at Qatars North Field East expansion project, the countrys energy minister and boss of QatarEnergy Saad al-Kaabi said at a signing ceremony in Doha. CNPC is looking to strengthen energy cooperation with Qatar during Chairman Dai Houliangs visit to the Middle East this week. China is on track to be the worlds largest LNG importer this year, with Shell Plc saying the nations demand could nearly double through 2040. The new LNG deal one of the industrys longest-ever supply pacts delivers advantages for both nations. China needs to secure fuel at an affordable rate to meet rising energy demand, while Qatar needs buyers for the gas from a massive expansion scheduled to come online in the middle of this decade. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., also known as Sinopec, signed a similar 27-year deal with Qatar last year. Sinopec also took a stake in the Qatar expansion project earlier this year. At the signing ceremony in April, Kaabi said QatarEnergy was prioritizing long-term strategic partners from China. Qatar is also close to signing additional deals with buyers in France, Italy and the UK, said Kaabi. Qatar has been sending less LNG to Europe this year after ending its commitment to avoid diverting cargoes it was contractually allowed to send elsewhere. The pledge was made to help out the gas-strapped continent following Russias invasion of Ukraine. --With assistance from Walid Ahmed and Verity Ratcliffe. (Updates with details throughout with QatarEnergys confirmation of agreement.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. In a race against the clock on the high seas, an expanding international armada of ships and airplanes searched Tuesday for a submersible that vanished in the North Atlantic while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic. U.S. Coast Guard officials said the search covered 10,000 square miles (26,000 square kilometers) but turned up no sign of the lost sub known as the Titan. Although rescuers planned to continue looking, time was running out because the vessel would have less than two days of oxygen left if it is still intact and functioning. This is a very complex search, and the unified team is working around the clock, Cpt. Jamie Frederick of the First Coast Guard District in Boston told a news conference. Frederick said the crew would have no more than about 41 hours of oxygen remaining as of midday Tuesday. That means its air supply could run out Thursday morning. He added that an underwater robot had started searching in the vicinity of the Titanic and that there was a push to get salvage equipment to the scene in case the sub is found. Three C-17 transport planes from the U.S. military have been used to move commercial submersible and support equipment from Buffalo, New York, to St. Johns, Newfoundland, to aid in the search, a spokeswoman for U.S. Air Mobility Command said. The Canadian military said it provided a patrol aircraft and two surface ships, including one that specializes in dive medicine. Authorities reported the carbon-fiber vessel overdue Sunday night, setting off the search in waters about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. Johns. At the helm was pilot Stockton Rush, the CEO of the company leading the expedition. His passengers were British adventurer Hamish Harding, two members of a Pakistani business family and a Titanic expert. The submersible had a four-day oxygen supply when it put to sea around 6 a.m. Sunday, according to David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate Expeditions, which oversaw the mission. CBS News journalist David Pogue, who traveled to the Titanic aboard the Titan last year, said the vehicle uses two communication systems: text messages that go back and forth to a surface ship and safety pings that are emitted every 15 minutes to indicate that the sub is still working. Both of those systems stopped about an hour and 45 minutes after the Titan submerged. "There are only two things that could mean. Either they lost all power or the ship developed a hull breach and it imploded instantly. Both of those are devastatingly hopeless, Pogue told the Canadian CBC network on Tuesday. The submersible had seven backup systems to return to the surface, including sandbags and lead pipes that drop off and an inflatable balloon. One system is designed to work even if everyone aboard is unconscious, Pogue said. Eric Fusil, director of the University of Adelaides Shipbuilding Hub, said there are other scenarios that could cut communications, including an electrical fire that could create toxic fumes and render the crew unconscious. Another possibility is that Titan became entangled in the wreck of the Titanic and is stuck there, Fusil said. What I would like to believe ... is that Titan suffered from a power loss, but they could still go back to the surface and be spotted by aircraft and ships, he said. Experts said the rescuers face steep challenges. Alistair Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London, said submersibles typically have a drop weight, which is a mass they can release in the case of an emergency to bring them up to the surface. If there was a power failure and/or communication failure, this might have happened, and the submersible would then be bobbing about on the surface waiting to be found, Greig said. Another scenario is a leak in the pressure hull, in which case the prognosis is not good, he said. If it has gone down to the seabed and cant get back up under its own power, options are very limited, Greig said. While the submersible might still be intact, if it is beyond the continental shelf, there are very few vessels that can get that deep, and certainly not divers. The Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, which was supporting the Titan, was to continue conducting surface searches with help from a Canadian Boeing P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft, the Coast Guard said on Twitter. Two U.S. Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft also conducted overflights. The Canadian military dropped sonar buoys to listen for any sounds from the Titan. OceanGates expeditions to the Titanic wreck site include archaeologists and marine biologists. The company also brings people who pay to come along. They take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the submersible. Rush told The Associated Press in June 2021 that the Titans technology was very cutting edge and was developed with the help of NASA and aerospace manufacturers. This is the only submersible crewed submersible thats made of carbon fiber and titanium, Rush said, citing a design that includes 5-inch-thick carbon fiber and 3.25-inch-thick titanium. Passengers included Harding, who lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates; Pakistani nationals Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, whose eponymous firm invests across the country; and French explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet. Greg Stone, a longtime ocean scientist based in California and a friend of Rush, called the lost submersible a fundamentally new submarine design that showed great promise for future research. Unlike its predecessors, the Titan was not spherical and instead relied on a cylindrical shape that tapers at one end. Stockton was a risk taker. He was smart ... he had a vision. He wanted to push things forward," Stone said. The expedition was OceanGates third annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew. The wreckage was discovered in 1985 and has been slowly succumbing to metal-eating bacteria. OceanGates website described the mission support fee for the 2023 expedition as $250,000 a person. Recalling his own trip aboard the Titan, Pogue said the vessel got turned around looking for the Titanic. Theres no GPS underwater, so the surface ship is supposed to guide the sub to the shipwreck by sending text messages, Pogue said in a segment aired on CBS Sunday Morning. But on this dive, communications somehow broke down. The sub never found the wreck. Associated Press writers Danica Kirka, Jill Lawless and Sylvia Hui in London, Rob Gillies in Toronto, Olga R. Rodriguez in San Francisco, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) California Gov. Gavin Newsom says there's no chance on God's green earth he's running for president in 2024, but he wants to make clear that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running, is weak and undisciplined and will be crushed by Donald Trump." DeSantis, meanwhile, likes to mock Newsom's apparent fixation on Florida while insisting that the Democratic governor's leftist government" is destroying California. Welcome to one of the fiercest rivalries in U.S. politics, featuring dueling term-limited governors who represent opposite ends of the ideological spectrum and lead two of the nation's largest and most influential states. Newsom and DeSantis almost certainly won't face each other on any ballot in 2024, but in many ways, they are defining the debate from their corners of America as the presidential primary season gets underway. Newsom addressed both his contempt for DeSantis and loyalty to President Joe Biden even after Tuesday's revelations that the president's son, Hunter, reached a deal with federal prosecutors on federal tax offenses and a gun charge in an interview just as the Florida governor launched a two-day fundraising trek spanning at least five stops across California. The Golden State has become one of DeSantis' favorite punching bags as he tries to avoid a direct confrontation with his chief Republican presidential rival, Trump, and the former president's escalating legal challenges. He's taking his eye off the ball," Newsom said of DeSantis' escalating attacks against him. And that's not inconsistent with my own assessment of him, which is he is a weak candidate, and he is undisciplined and will be crushed by Donald Trump, and will soon be in third or fourth in national polls. Representatives for DeSantis did not make the governor available for an interview. Beneath the war of words, however, strategists in both parties suggest there may be a mutually beneficial dynamic at play. As they jab at each other's policies and personalities through comments in the press and on social media, the governors are scoring points with their respective political bases, raising money and expanding their national brands. Both men issued fundraising appeals Monday going after the other by name. But it's not all helpful. Newsom, in particular, is facing nagging questions about his presidential ambitions less than a week after DeSantis dared him to stop pussyfooting around and launch a primary challenge against Biden. The California governor, whose second and final term concludes at the end of 2026, has seen his national profile grow since he easily beat back a recall attempt in 2021 and cruised to reelection last fall. He finished the midterm campaign with roughly $16 million in the bank. And in March, he channeled $10 million to a new political action committee he's calling the Campaign for Democracy. All the while, Newsom's team has been moving deliberately to avoid the perception that he's running a shadow presidential campaign just as Biden ramps up his political activities. For example, Newsom's new PAC is initially focusing on challenging Republican leaders in deep-red states that are largely irrelevant in the 2024 presidential race. He campaigned in Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi in April on his first trip associated with the PAC. Newsom is expected to avoid battleground states or key presidential primary states for the foreseeable future, his allies say. At the same time, the California governor and his team have been in regular contact with Biden and his top aides, including Jen O'Malley Dillon, who managed the president's 2020 campaign and serves as deputy White House chief of staff. A Biden campaign official said the president's team coordinates closely with Newsom. Newsom is not going to run against Joe Biden and never would. But life is long, and Newsom is one of the prominent national Democrats. Its part of that role to have these big national battles, longtime Newsom adviser and friend Nathan Ballard said of the feud with DeSantis. There is the 2024 election, and then there is a 2028 election, Ballard added. Indeed, veteran Democratic consultant Roy Behr, whose clients included former California Sen. Barbara Boxer, said the two governors are engaged in what could become an early preview of the 2028 presidential contest. Its not inconceivable that four years from now, these two guys could be their respective parties nominees, he said. In tangling with DeSantis, who is 44, the 55-year-old Newsom is building his national brand and visibility and is certainly trying to create opportunities for himself. Sacramento-based Democratic consultant Andrew Acosta said he expected the ongoing rivalry to continue given that its beneficial for both politicians with their core supporters. He described Newsom and DeSantis as frenemies." "They both get points off it, Acosta said. There is a hard core of voters on both sides who think this is great. While polling shows that many Democrats dont want the 80-year-old Biden to seek a second term, Newsom said there are no circumstances in which he would challenge the sitting president of his own party. Not on Gods green earth, as the phrase goes, Newsom said in the weekend interview, adding that he would be with Biden on Monday and hosting a fundraiser for him Tuesday. "I have been pretty consistently including recently on Fox News making the case for his candidacy. On Tuesday, Newsom reaffirmed his support for Biden shortly after news surfaced that the president's son, Hunter, reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors on charges he failed to pay federal income tax and illegally possessed a weapon. Hunter changes nothing, Newsom told the AP, noting that he was spending the day with Biden. DeSantis did not plan to make any public appearances during his California fundraising tour, which included stops in Sacramento and the Bay Area on Monday and continues Tuesday with events planned for San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles. Over the weekend in Nevada, DeSantis noted that he's seen a surge of disgruntled Californians moving to Florida. Why would you leave like a San Diego to come to say, Jacksonville, Florida? I see people doing that, DeSantis told thousands of conservative activists at a weekend gathering close to the California border. Its because leftist government is destroying that state. Leftist government is destroying cities all over our country. Its destroying other states. Former Nevada attorney general Adam Laxalt, who hosted the weekend event and leads the pro-DeSantis super PAC, said the policy contrast between the leaders of Florida and California is a debate that our whole country needs to have. California has been the model for many leftist policies. I would take the contrast between Floridas policies and its results led by Gov. DeSantis and the California policies, any day of the week," Laxalt said in an interview. We can already see what leftist policies do. Both DeSantis and Newsom took office in 2019 and won reelection for their second and final terms in 2022. While in office, both have been buoyed by multiple billion-dollar budget surpluses and the help of statehouses controlled by their own party that supercharged their agendas. In California, Newsom expanded the states Medicaid program to cover all eligible adults, regardless of their immigration status. He signed a raft of legislation to make it easier to get an abortion, including authorizing $20 million in state spending to help people from other states travel to California. When the U.S. Supreme Court declined to strike down an abortion law in Texas that was enforced by private lawsuits, Newsom signed a similar law in California only he made it about guns. And earlier this month, he proposed amending the U.S. Constitution to institute what he called a reasonable waiting period for all gun purchases, a ban on so-called assault rifles, universal background checks and raising the minimum age to buy a firearm to 21. I think Gavin Newsom is a very useful foil for Ron DeSantis, quite frankly, said Lanhee Chen, a California Republican who attended one of DeSantis five California fundraisers this week. The more kinds of crazy things that Newsom does at least, crazy in the eyes of Republican voters the more I think Ron DeSantis frankly benefits as somebody who's seen as a counterweight to that. In Florida, DeSantis has leaned into cultural conservative issues in what he calls his war on woke. Earlier this month, his administration flew groups of migrants from Texas to Sacramento to draw attention to the influx of Latin American immigrants trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. He did the same last fall, sending dozens of immigrants from Texas to Marthas Vineyard, which he often highlights during his stump speeches. DeSantis also signed and then expanded the Parental Rights in Education bill known by critics as the Dont Say Gay law, which bans instruction or classroom discussion of LGBTQ+ issues in Florida public schools for all grades. He seized control of Disney Worlds governing body after the company publicly opposed the law. The Florida governor this year also signed a law banning abortions at six weeks, which is before most women realize theyre pregnant. And he took control of a liberal arts college that he believed was indoctrinating students with leftist ideology. While DeSantis does not have the legal entanglements that Trump faces, Newsom said Democrats may be wrong to assume the former president would be an easier candidate to defeat in the 2024 general election. I see deep weakness I refer to it often weakness with DeSantis masquerading as strength," Newsom said. "I think hed be a more favored candidate. But Ill leave that judgment to more objective minds. Associated Press writers Adam Beam in Sacramento and Michelle Price in New York contributed. This story has been corrected to delete a reference to Hunter Biden pleading guilty to a gun charge. He has reached a deal with prosecutors on the gun charge but is not pleading guilty. The president's son will plead guilty to criminal charges in a plea deal with federal prosecutors. Hunter Biden faced two misdemeanor charges for not paying more than $200,000 in federal taxes in 2017 and 2018. He also faced a felony charge for lying on a background check to buy a gun, hiding the fact that he was addicted to drugs at the time. At this point Biden has paid the tax money to the IRS, and prosecutors have only recommended probation as punishment, but Muhlenberg College Political Science Professor Chris Borick said that's likely not enough for Republican members of Congress. "I think that's what you'll see from Republicans saying that this isn't gone far enough in terms of punishing him and he's getting a break because he is the president's son," said Borick. Sure enough, mere hours after the plea deal was announced, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters this is not the end. "This does nothing to our investigation. It actually should enhance our investigation, because the DOJ should not be able to withhold any information now," said Speaker McCarthy. Borick said don't expect House Republicans to let up until the election in 2024. "Members of the House, where the Republicans control, will continue to use their oversight powers, investigation powers to move forward as far as they can on anything related to Hunter Biden, because it does, in a political sense, help them as they move to election 2024," said Borick. McCarthy said continuing the investigation isn't just about politics, it's about exposing corruption. "You make millions of dollars from foreign entities, and they pay every, almost numerous members of your family through shell companies. The minute the money comes in, it moves to another shell company, which moves to the payment of the family. That raises questions that I think have to be answered," said Speaker McCarthy. Hunter Biden will have a sentencing hearing where a judge will have the final say on whether he sees any jail time. The White House Counsel's office said in a statement that the President and First Lady Jill Biden "Love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life." (Bloomberg) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang called for de-risking decisions to be taken by companies rather than governments during a trip to Germany thats designed to stabilize ties with the European economic powerhouse. Most Read from Bloomberg Enterprises have the most direct and acute sense of risks and they know how to avoid and handle them, Li told representatives from about a dozen German companies in Berlin on Monday afternoon, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. So, enterprises should be given back the leadership role in preventing risks. The Chinese premier added that risk prevention and cooperation are not mutually exclusive, according to the report. Representatives from companies including Siemens Ltd, Volkswagen AG, Mercedes-Benz Group AG, BMW AG, Schaeffler AG, BASF SE, Covestro AG, Wacker Chemie AG, Merck KGaA, SAP and Allianz SE attended the meeting. President Joe Biden and his European allies stated desire to de-risk from the Chinese economy has resulted in a push to strip China from high-tech supply chains with potential military applications. Western democracies have also increasingly been looking to friend-shore manufacturing since the pandemic and amid rising geopolitical tensions. The German government has tried to influence business decisions by cutting certain subsidies and guarantees for firms investment in China, but the decision where to invest still lies with individual companies. China doesnt see the difference between de-risking and decoupling, with Foreign Minister Qin Gang saying at a press conference in Germany last month: If the EU seeks to decouple from China in the name of de-risking, it will decouple from opportunities, cooperation, stability and development. Li has chosen Germany one of Europes more pragmatic nations on the China risk as the first stop of his inaugural overseas trip as premier. On Monday, he met with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier before dining with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, ahead of the seventh China-Germany inter-governmental consultation on Tuesday. His visit has raised concerns that Chinese officials will try to influence the final wording of Berlins updated China strategy, which is due to be presented at the beginning of next month. China is stepping up efforts to engage business leaders from nations that Beijing is sparring with on everything from trade to Taiwan. President Xi Jinping last week told Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates that the foundation of bilateral ties between China and the US lies among the people. Senior Communist Party leaders last month rolled out the red carpet for a slew of luminaries including the chief executive officers of Tesla Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., Elon Musk and Jamie Dimon, respectively. That engagement comes as foreign direct investment into China has plummeted, with investors pulling $30 billion out in the first quarter. The Chinese premier will also head to France this week for talks with President Emmanuel Macron, according to Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He could also have the opportunity to speak to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Paris, as both are scheduled to attend a development finance summit in the French capital. --With assistance from Michael Nienaber and Arne Delfs. (Adds context on German de-risking strategy in sixth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D Get Rating) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 7,105 shares of the utilities providers stock, valued at approximately $397,000. Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Dominion Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. AXS Investments LLC bought a new stake in Dominion Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH bought a new stake in Dominion Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Dominion Energy by 49.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 394 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new stake in Dominion Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 69.58% of the companys stock. Get Dominion Energy alerts: Insiders Place Their Bets In related news, COO Diane Leopold sold 6,250 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.16, for a total value of $307,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 100,115 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,921,653.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Dominion Energy Trading Up 0.5 % A number of equities research analysts have commented on D shares. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Dominion Energy from $54.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 16th. 51job reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Dominion Energy in a research report on Friday, June 9th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Dominion Energy from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 27th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Dominion Energy from $60.00 to $57.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Dominion Energy from $69.00 to $63.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $62.55. NYSE D traded up $0.29 on Tuesday, hitting $53.62. 1,420,322 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,455,412. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.44. Dominion Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.47 and a 52-week high of $86.28. Dominion Energy (NYSE:D Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. Dominion Energy had a net margin of 7.05% and a return on equity of 12.67%. Dominion Energys quarterly revenue was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Dominion Energy, Inc. will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year. Dominion Energy Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 1st. Dominion Energys payout ratio is 186.71%. Dominion Energy Profile (Get Rating) Dominion Energy, Inc engages in the production and distribution of energy. It operates through following business segments: Dominion Energy Virginia, Gas Distribution, Dominion Energy South Carolina, Contracted Assets, and Corporate and Other. The Corporate and Other segment focuses on corporate, service company, non-controlling interest in Dominion privatization, and non-regulated retail energy marketing operations. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding D? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Dominion Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dominion Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO Get Rating) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,581 shares of the companys stock after selling 485 shares during the period. Affinity Capital Advisors LLCs holdings in Altria Group were worth $249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,134,691 shares of the companys stock worth $6,425,858,000 after buying an additional 1,275,790 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 71,579,128 shares of the companys stock worth $2,957,671,000 after acquiring an additional 513,208 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,066,327 shares of the companys stock worth $2,000,861,000 after acquiring an additional 3,516,646 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,184,122 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,606,259,000 after acquiring an additional 218,861 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,517,169 shares of the companys stock valued at $990,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192,266 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.38% of the companys stock. Get Altria Group alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research firms have commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, April 13th. They issued a buy rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.50 to $47.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $44.67. Altria Group Stock Performance Shares of MO stock traded down $0.33 on Tuesday, hitting $43.74. The companys stock had a trading volume of 2,387,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,908,459. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.35 and a fifty-two week high of $51.57. The stocks 50 day moving average is $45.52 and its 200-day moving average is $45.84. The company has a market capitalization of $78.08 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group (NYSE:MO Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.01). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 245.43% and a net margin of 22.44%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current year. Altria Group Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.60%. Altria Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 120.90%. Altria Group Company Profile (Get Rating) Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company provides cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; cigars and pipe tobacco principally under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco products and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; and on! oral nicotine pouches. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Altria Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Altria Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Banco Bradesco S.A. (NYSE:BBD Get Rating)s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $3.51, but opened at $3.60. Banco Bradesco shares last traded at $3.61, with a volume of 4,265,956 shares changing hands. Analysts Set New Price Targets Separately, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Banco Bradesco from $3.50 to $3.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $11.93. Get Banco Bradesco alerts: Banco Bradesco Price Performance The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $3.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.83. The stock has a market cap of $38.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Banco Bradesco Increases Dividend Banco Bradesco ( NYSE:BBD Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The bank reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $0.07. Banco Bradesco had a net margin of 9.54% and a return on equity of 11.66%. The firm had revenue of $9.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Banco Bradesco S.A. will post 0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.0039 per share. This is an increase from Banco Bradescos previous monthly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Banco Bradescos dividend payout ratio is 9.68%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Banco Bradesco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $115,000. Thomas White International Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Bradesco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,864,000. Profund Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Banco Bradesco by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 234,602 shares of the banks stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 58,867 shares during the last quarter. Single Point Partners LLC bought a new position in Banco Bradesco in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $128,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Bradesco by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 168,408 shares of the banks stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 99,614 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.54% of the companys stock. Banco Bradesco Company Profile (Get Rating) Banco Bradesco SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services to individuals, corporates, and businesses in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Banking and Insurance. It provides current, savings, click, and salary accounts; real estate credit, vehicle financing, payroll loans, mortgage loans, microcredit, leasing, and personal and installment credit; debit and business cards; financial and security services; consortium products; auto, personal accident, dental, travel, and life insurance; investment products; pension products; real estate and vehicle auctions; cash management, and foreign trade and exchange services; capitalization bonds; and internet banking services. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Banco Bradesco Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Banco Bradesco and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. (Bloomberg) -- Mankind Pharma Ltd. has garnered the most analyst coverage of any new Indian stock in at least 12 years, as investors rush to buy the drug and condom makers shares following a blockbuster initial public offering in May. Most Read from Bloomberg The companys stock has surged more than 60% since listing, driving its market value to about $8.5 billion. It has already drawn nine buy ratings and one hold recommendation. Thats the most coverage in a similar span of time for an Indian stock that raised more than $500 million since November 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It is a domestic pharma company, grown organically, with solid fundamentals, said Shrikant Akolkar, an analyst at Asian Markets Securities Pvt. Investors love a story like that. Condom Maker Surges 32% on Debut in Worlds Most Populous Nation Though most of the analysts covering the company recommend buying it, the consensus price target is already more than 10% below the current level amid the stocks stellar run. The shares are trading at about 54 times trailing 12-month earnings, compared with 31 times for Indias benchmark pharmaceutical index. Mankinds stock jumped almost 32% in its debut. Everyone was waiting to buy the stock as their valuations during the listing made sense, said Vishal Avinash Manchanda, vice president of institutional research at Systematix Group, who has the only hold rating on the stock. But I think they are a bit stretched now. In its favor, Mankind has name recognition among Indian consumers and investors due to its popular line of consumer products. Akolkar also notes it has minimal reliance on exports, shielding it from some issues faced by exporting peers. US inspectors have recently uncovered wide-ranging problems at factories run by Indian pharmaceutical firms. Mankind gets 97% of its sales from India, the highest percentage among the nations drugmakers of a similar size or larger. About 8% of its domestic sales is from consumer healthcare products, including condoms, for which it has the largest market share in the nation of 1.4 billion people. In addition to winning over analysts, the stock continues to gain backing from institutional investors. SBI Funds Management and Nippon Life India Asset Management are among firms that bought Mankind shares in May. --With assistance from Filipe Pacheco and Chiranjivi Chakraborty. (Updates price-related data throughout; adds funds buying stock in last paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. cut its holdings in The Bank of New York Mellon Co. (NYSE:BK Get Rating) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,834 shares of the banks stock after selling 299 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon comprises approximately 1.6% of Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc.s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc.s holdings in Bank of New York Mellon were worth $4,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BK. Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new position in shares of Bank of New York Mellon in the 1st quarter worth about $216,000. Stolper Co boosted its holdings in Bank of New York Mellon by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Stolper Co now owns 76,852 shares of the banks stock worth $3,492,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of New York Mellon by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 34,033 shares of the banks stock worth $1,546,000 after buying an additional 961 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in Bank of New York Mellon by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,164 shares of the banks stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its holdings in Bank of New York Mellon by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 13,036 shares of the banks stock worth $592,000 after buying an additional 980 shares during the period. 81.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Bank of New York Mellon alerts: Bank of New York Mellon Trading Down 1.2 % Shares of Bank of New York Mellon stock traded down $0.53 on Tuesday, hitting $44.12. The stock had a trading volume of 601,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,616,676. The Bank of New York Mellon Co. has a one year low of $36.22 and a one year high of $52.26. The stock has a market cap of $34.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $42.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.68. Bank of New York Mellon Dividend Announcement Bank of New York Mellon ( NYSE:BK Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 18th. The bank reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.03. Bank of New York Mellon had a return on equity of 11.45% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Bank of New York Mellon Co. will post 4.74 EPS for the current year. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 27th. Bank of New York Mellons payout ratio is 46.84%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of analysts recently issued reports on BK shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Bank of New York Mellon from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Bank of New York Mellon from $52.00 to $51.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Bank of New York Mellon from $49.00 to $46.00 in a report on Friday, May 12th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Bank of New York Mellon in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a hold rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Bank of New York Mellon from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $51.82. Bank of New York Mellon Profile (Get Rating) The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation provides a range of financial products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Securities Services, Market and Wealth Services, Investment and Wealth Management, and other segments. The Securities Services segment offers custody, trust and depositary, accounting, exchange-traded funds, middle-office solutions, transfer agency, services for private equity and real estate funds, foreign exchange, securities lending, liquidity/lending services, and data analytics. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Bank of New York Mellon Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of New York Mellon and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI Get Rating) (TSE:CNR) had its price target decreased by CIBC from C$185.00 to C$183.00 in a research report released on Friday, The Fly reports. A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on CNI. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $137.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Monday, March 27th. Desjardins lifted their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from C$178.00 to C$180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Canadian National Railway from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $139.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, May 22nd. Finally, Argus decreased their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $155.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $143.67. Get Canadian National Railway alerts: Canadian National Railway Price Performance CNI stock opened at $118.95 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $118.41 and a 200-day moving average of $119.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Canadian National Railway has a 12 month low of $103.79 and a 12 month high of $129.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.90. Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend Canadian National Railway ( NYSE:CNI Get Rating ) (TSE:CNR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 30.61% and a return on equity of 25.00%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Canadian National Railway will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 9th will be given a $0.5835 dividend. This represents a $2.33 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 8th. Canadian National Railways dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.30%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian National Railway Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,762,307 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $2,350,111,000 after acquiring an additional 800,108 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,375,062 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $2,400,975,000 after acquiring an additional 188,460 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 12,333,700 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $1,655,948,000 after acquiring an additional 625,000 shares during the period. Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd boosted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd now owns 9,556,511 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $1,126,080,000 after purchasing an additional 70,386 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 8,513,991 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $1,004,396,000 after purchasing an additional 75,087 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.89% of the companys stock. Canadian National Railway Company Profile (Get Rating) Canadian National Railway Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in rail and related transportation business. The company offers rail services, which include equipment, custom brokage services, transloading and distribution, business development and real estate, and private car storage services; and intermodal services including temperature controlled cargo, port partnership, transloading and distribution, logistic parks, customs brokerage, trucking, and moving grains in containers. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Canadian National Railway Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian National Railway and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO Get Rating) by 64.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,858 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 4,631 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLCs holdings in Altria Group were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 26,693 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,220,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 49,299 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,253,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,113 shares of the companys stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 21,586 shares of the companys stock valued at $987,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covington Capital Management boosted its stake in Altria Group by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Covington Capital Management now owns 31,688 shares of the companys stock worth $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.38% of the companys stock. Get Altria Group alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades MO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. They issued a buy rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.50 to $47.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $44.67. Altria Group Stock Down 0.8 % MO traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.72. 2,564,556 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,910,100. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.35 and a 52 week high of $51.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.59. The companys 50-day moving average is $45.52 and its 200 day moving average is $45.84. Altria Group (NYSE:MO Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.01). Altria Group had a net margin of 22.44% and a negative return on equity of 245.43%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. Altria Groups revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Altria Group Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. Altria Groups payout ratio is currently 120.90%. Altria Group Profile (Get Rating) Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company provides cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; cigars and pipe tobacco principally under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco products and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; and on! oral nicotine pouches. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Altria Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Altria Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lessened its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Get Rating) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,926 shares of the companys stock after selling 1,553 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NAs holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $2,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kwmg LLC increased its position in Philip Morris International by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 3,161 shares of the companys stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Means Investment CO. Inc. grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 39,184 shares of the companys stock worth $3,966,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,381 shares of the companys stock worth $1,658,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,600 shares of the companys stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investment Services LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 4,871 shares of the companys stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.43% of the companys stock. Get Philip Morris International alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth PM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $109.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. Citigroup raised shares of Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $109.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. They set a buy rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $111.40. Philip Morris International Price Performance Shares of PM traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $95.57. The stock had a trading volume of 1,059,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,428,481. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.85 and a 52-week high of $105.62. The businesss fifty day moving average is $95.00 and its 200 day moving average is $98.31. The firm has a market cap of $148.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.68. Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 20th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.80% and a negative return on equity of 128.55%. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. Philip Morris Internationals quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.19 EPS for the current fiscal year. Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 23rd will be given a dividend of $1.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 22nd. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.32%. Philip Morris Internationals dividend payout ratio is presently 90.88%. Philip Morris International Company Profile (Get Rating) Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products that are sold in markets outside the United States. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Philip Morris International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Philip Morris International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Delaware Investments National Municipal Income Fund (NYSE:VFL Get Rating) announced a monthly dividend on Friday, June 9th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 23rd will be paid a dividend of 0.0325 per share on Friday, June 30th. This represents a $0.39 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 22nd. Delaware Investments National Municipal Income Fund Stock Performance Shares of NYSE VFL opened at $9.93 on Tuesday. Delaware Investments National Municipal Income Fund has a one year low of $9.89 and a one year high of $12.70. The companys fifty day moving average is $10.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.58. Get Delaware Investments National Municipal Income Fund alerts: Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delaware Investments National Municipal Income Fund A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. US Bancorp DE purchased a new stake in Delaware Investments National Municipal Income Fund during the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delaware Investments National Municipal Income Fund during the second quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Delaware Investments National Municipal Income Fund in the 1st quarter worth approximately $145,000. Susquehanna International Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Delaware Investments National Municipal Income Fund by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 14,537 shares of the companys stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,956 shares during the period. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Delaware Investments National Municipal Income Fund during the second quarter worth about $178,000. 33.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Delaware Investments National Municipal Income Fund Delaware Investments National Municipal Income Fund is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Delaware Management Holdings, Inc The fund is managed by Delaware Management Business Trust. It invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. The fund primarily invests in investment grade municipal obligations, the income from which is exempt from federal income taxes. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Delaware Investments National Municipal Income Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Delaware Investments National Municipal Income Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ethernity Networks Ltd. (LON:ENET Get Rating) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as GBX 2.42 ($0.03) and last traded at GBX 2.50 ($0.03), with a volume of 470022 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2.60 ($0.03). Ethernity Networks Stock Down 3.8 % The company has a market capitalization of 3.42 million, a P/E ratio of -32.50 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 4.43 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 6.69. About Ethernity Networks (Get Rating) Ethernity Networks Ltd. provides technology solutions for telecom, mobile, security, and data center markets in Asia, Europe, Israel, and the United States. The company develops and delivers data processing technology and solutions for carrier Ethernet switching, including broadband access, mobile backhaul, carrier Ethernet demarcation, and data centers. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Ethernity Networks Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ethernity Networks and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Albany International (NYSE:AIN Get Rating) and Shenzhou International Group (OTCMKTS:SHZHY Get Rating) are both industrial products companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk. Earnings & Valuation This table compares Albany International and Shenzhou International Groups gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Get Albany International alerts: Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Albany International $1.03 billion 2.72 $95.76 million $3.03 29.79 Shenzhou International Group N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Albany International has higher revenue and earnings than Shenzhou International Group. Profitability Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Albany International 8.96% 14.14% 7.38% Shenzhou International Group N/A N/A N/A Institutional & Insider Ownership This table compares Albany International and Shenzhou International Groups net margins, return on equity and return on assets. 98.5% of Albany International shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Albany International shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. Analyst Ratings This is a summary of current ratings for Albany International and Shenzhou International Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Albany International 0 2 1 0 2.33 Shenzhou International Group 0 0 0 0 N/A Albany International presently has a consensus price target of $105.33, indicating a potential upside of 16.71%. Given Albany Internationals higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Albany International is more favorable than Shenzhou International Group. Summary Albany International beats Shenzhou International Group on 8 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks. About Albany International (Get Rating) Albany International Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the textile and materials processing business. The company operates in two segments, Machine Clothing (MC) and Albany Engineered Composites (AEC). The MC segment designs, manufactures, and markets paper machine clothing for use in the manufacturing of papers, paperboards, tissues, towels, nonwovens, building products, tannery, and textiles. This segment offers forming, pressing, and drying fabrics, as well as process belts; and engineered fabrics. The AEC segment 3D-woven and injected composite components for aircraft engines composite airframe and engine components for military and commercial aircraft. It operates in the United States, Switzerland, Brazil, China, France, Mexico, Italy, and internationally. The company was incorporated in 1895 and is headquartered in Rochester, New Hampshire. About Shenzhou International Group (Get Rating) Shenzhou International Group Holdings Limited, an investment holding company, manufactures, processes, and sells knitwear products in Mainland China, European Union, the United States, Japan, and internationally. It produces and sells sportswear, casual wear, and lingerie wear. The company is also involved in the import and export of commodities; print and sale of knitwear products; aircraft leasing; and property management activities. Shenzhou International Group Holdings Limited was founded in 2000 and is based in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Receive News & Ratings for Albany International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Albany International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Investor AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:IVSBF Get Rating) is one of 1,136 publicly-traded companies in the Asset Management industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Investor AB (publ) to related businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, valuation and earnings. Institutional & Insider Ownership 20.4% of Investor AB (publ) shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.6% of shares of all Asset Management companies are held by institutional investors. 17.9% of shares of all Asset Management companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth. Get Investor AB (publ) alerts: Dividends Investor AB (publ) pays an annual dividend of $5.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 28.4%. Investor AB (publ) pays out 8.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, Asset Management companies pay a dividend yield of 6.9% and pay out 619.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Investor AB (publ) is clearly a better dividend stock than its rivals, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio. Analyst Recommendations Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Investor AB (publ) 0 1 0 0 2.00 Investor AB (publ) Competitors 1061 4453 5652 88 2.42 This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Investor AB (publ) and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com. As a group, Asset Management companies have a potential upside of 36.07%. Given Investor AB (publ)s rivals stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Investor AB (publ) has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals. Earnings & Valuation This table compares Investor AB (publ) and its rivals revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Investor AB (publ) N/A N/A 0.29 Investor AB (publ) Competitors $494.20 million $11.68 million 5.07 Investor AB (publ)s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Investor AB (publ). Investor AB (publ) is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry. Profitability This table compares Investor AB (publ) and its rivals net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Investor AB (publ) N/A N/A N/A Investor AB (publ) Competitors 369.87% 7.79% 5.02% Summary Investor AB (publ) rivals beat Investor AB (publ) on 11 of the 13 factors compared. Investor AB (publ) Company Profile (Get Rating) Investor AB (publ) is a venture capital firm specializing in mature, middle market, buyouts and growth capital investments. It is operating through four business areas including core, private equity, operating, and financial investments. For core investments, the firm invests in health care, financial services, IT and fintech sectors and considers investments in listed companies in leading minority positions. The firm seeks to invest globally and acquire a board seat. For its operating investments, the firm seeks to focus on medium-sized to large companies headquartered in Northern Europe. It acquires controlling interest or minority position with significant influence in its portfolio companies within operating investments. The firm considers majority or minority investments in both listed and unlisted companies. Within private equity, the firm makes venture capital and buyout investments. For venture capital, it seeks investments through its subsidiary, Investor Growth Capital, which is focused on investments in the information technology, technology, engineering, financial services, and healthcare sectors in Europe, the United States, and Asia. It seeks to invest in companies ranging from startups to companies that are about to enter an expansion stage and its investment commitment range between SEK 20 million ($2.94 million) and SEK 200 million ($29.43 million). In its venture capital investments, it acquires minority stakes in its portfolio companies and the ownership horizon varies from three to seven years. For buyouts, the firm makes fund investments through its subsidiary, EQT that makes buyout investments in medium-sized mature companies in Northern Europe and Greater China. The firm seeks to exit its private equity investments between three years and seven years. The firm seeks to take board membership in its portfolio companies. For financial investments, it acquires minority ownership in financial holdings for shorter horizon. Investor AB (publ) was founded in 1916 and is based in Stockholm, Sweden with additional offices in Amsterdam, Netherlands; Beijing, China; Menlo Park, California; Hong Kong, China; New York, New York; and Tokyo, Japan. Receive News & Ratings for Investor AB (publ) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Investor AB (publ) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX Get Rating) by 13.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 795,423 shares of the medical equipment providers stock after buying an additional 93,712 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC owned 0.06% of Boston Scientific worth $39,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its position in Boston Scientific by 56.7% in the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 636 shares of the medical equipment providers stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA purchased a new position in Boston Scientific in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Boston Scientific in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. CVA Family Office LLC raised its position in Boston Scientific by 952.6% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the medical equipment providers stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the period. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company purchased a new position in Boston Scientific in the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.20% of the companys stock. Get Boston Scientific alerts: Boston Scientific Trading Down 0.7 % Shares of BSX traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $53.94. 1,848,464 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,459,436. Boston Scientific Co. has a 12 month low of $35.91 and a 12 month high of $54.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The companys fifty day moving average price is $52.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.88. The company has a market capitalization of $75.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.80. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Boston Scientific ( NYSE:BSX Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 26th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.04. Boston Scientific had a net margin of 6.91% and a return on equity of 14.57%. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Boston Scientific Co. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. A number of brokerages recently commented on BSX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Boston Scientific from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Boston Scientific from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $54.00. Insiders Place Their Bets In other Boston Scientific news, EVP Wendy Carruthers sold 11,671 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.24, for a total value of $621,364.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,847 shares in the company, valued at $3,878,374.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Wendy Carruthers sold 11,671 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.24, for a total value of $621,364.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,847 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,878,374.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jonathan Monson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,868 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,743,400. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 190,688 shares of company stock worth $10,019,132. Company insiders own 0.53% of the companys stock. About Boston Scientific (Get Rating) Boston Scientific Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices for use in various interventional medical specialties worldwide. It operates through MedSurg and Cardiovascular segments. The company offers devices to diagnose and treat gastrointestinal and pulmonary conditions; devices to treat various urological and pelvic conditions; implantable cardioverter and implantable cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators; pacemakers and implantable cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers; and remote patient management systems. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BSX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Boston Scientific Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Boston Scientific and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Global Business Travel Group, Inc. (NYSE:GBTG Get Rating)s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $7.02, but opened at $7.23. Global Business Travel Group shares last traded at $7.57, with a volume of 40,976 shares traded. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of analysts recently commented on GBTG shares. Credit Suisse Group reiterated an outperform rating and set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Global Business Travel Group in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Global Business Travel Group from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Global Business Travel Group from $6.50 to $7.50 in a research report on Sunday, March 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $8.68. Get Global Business Travel Group alerts: Global Business Travel Group Stock Up 6.3 % The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Insider Activity at Global Business Travel Group Global Business Travel Group ( NYSE:GBTG Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by ($0.03). Global Business Travel Group had a negative net margin of 1.30% and a negative return on equity of 2.09%. The firm had revenue of $578.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $555.50 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Global Business Travel Group, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year. In other Global Business Travel Group news, CEO Paul G. Abbott acquired 8,147 shares of Global Business Travel Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $6.25 per share, with a total value of $50,918.75. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 2,537,225 shares in the company, valued at $15,857,656.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GBTG. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Global Business Travel Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $170,437,000. ETF Managers Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Business Travel Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,656,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Global Business Travel Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,173,000. Dendur Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Global Business Travel Group by 42.7% during the 4th quarter. Dendur Capital LP now owns 1,734,773 shares of the companys stock worth $11,710,000 after purchasing an additional 518,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new position in Global Business Travel Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,127,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.65% of the companys stock. Global Business Travel Group Company Profile (Get Rating) Global Business Travel Group, Inc provides business-to-business (B2B) travel platform in the United States and internationally. The company's platform offers a suite of technology-enabled solutions to business travelers and clients; travel content suppliers including airlines, hotels, ground transportation, and aggregators; and third-party travel agencies. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Global Business Travel Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Global Business Travel Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Deutsche Bank has applied for a digital asset custody platform license with the German finance regulator, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), according to a Bloomberg report. Speaking at a conference earlier this week, Deutsche Banks global head of corporate bank David Lynne said that the bank is building out our digital assets and custody business, and confirmed that it had put in an application to BaFin for a digital asset license. The German bank has reportedly been working on a crypto asset custody platform since late 2020, with a view to establishing a minimum viable product in 2021 while exploring global client interest for a pilot initiative. With assets worth $1.3 trillion, per S&P Global data of largest banks in 2023, Deutsche Bank is the largest bank in Germany in terms of total assets, and Europes ninth largest bank. Deutsche Bank Readying Crypto Custody and Trading Platform The bank did not respond immediately to Decrypts request for comment. Its enthusiasm for digital asset custody marks something of an about-face for Deutsche Bank, which in a 2021 research note described Bitcoins value as being entirely based on wishful thinking. Are German regulators crypto-friendly? Germany has taken a broadly welcoming stance towards the crypto industry. In 2019, German lawmakers introduced a bill to enable crypto custody and trading services across German banks and other licensed institutions by amending the European Unions Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive. New law makes Germany crypto heaven According to BaFin, by December 2022, it had issued four licenses for crypto custody and provisional permits to 14 institutions. Coinbase Germany was the first company to secure a BaFin license for operating a crypto custody platform in June 2021. In March 2023, the German regulators recently granted custody and trading services licenses to Boerse Stuttgart Digital, the countrys stock market operator, and Finoa, a cryptocurrency trading platform. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores (NYSE:AVAL Get Rating) and Banco Itau Chile (NYSE:ITCL Get Rating) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation and institutional ownership. Dividends Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.8%. Banco Itau Chile pays an annual dividend of $0.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores pays out 64.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Banco Itau Chile pays out 24.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Get Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores alerts: Risk & Volatility Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Banco Itau Chile has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Institutional and Insider Ownership Profitability 0.3% of Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.2% of Banco Itau Chile shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. This table compares Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores and Banco Itau Chiles net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores 4.63% 6.99% 0.74% Banco Itau Chile 11.23% 12.85% 1.04% Valuation and Earnings This table compares Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores and Banco Itau Chiles gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores $6.60 billion 0.42 $496.58 million $0.25 9.40 Banco Itau Chile $2.94 billion 0.78 $487.62 million $0.70 5.07 Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores has higher revenue and earnings than Banco Itau Chile. Banco Itau Chile is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. Analyst Ratings This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores and Banco Itau Chile, as reported by MarketBeat. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores 0 0 0 0 N/A Banco Itau Chile 0 0 0 0 N/A About Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores (Get Rating) Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores S.A. provides a range of financial services and products to public and private sector customers in Colombia and Central America. It offers traditional deposit services and products, including checking accounts, savings accounts, time deposits, and other deposits. The company also provides commercial loans comprising general purpose loans, working capital loans, leases, loans funded by development banks, corporate credit cards, and overdraft loans; consumer loans, such as payroll loans, personal loans, automobile and other vehicle loans, credit cards, overdrafts, leases, and general purpose loans; and microcredit and mortgage loans. In addition, the company offers pension and severance fund management services; investment banking, including services relating to capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and project finance transactions; mobile and online banking services; and bancassurance, insurance, trust, bonded warehousing and brokerage transactions, real estate escrow services, merchandise and document storage and deposit, customs agency, cargo management, surety bond and merchandise distribution services, and payment and collection services. Further, it is involved in equity investments in various sectors, including infrastructure, energy and gas, agribusiness, and hospitality; and treasury operations. The company was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Bogota, Colombia. About Banco Itau Chile (Get Rating) Banco Itau Chile engages in the provision of banking and financial services. It specializes in banking products such as financing, leasing, loans, insurance and credit cards. It operates through the following geographical segments: Chile and Colombia. The Chile segment consists of commercial and corporate banking, real estate and construction, large companies, retail banking, personal banking, small business, retail companies, Banco Condell consumer banking, international and treasury and other financial services. The Colombia segment offers commercial and retail banking and treasury and international business operations. The company was founded in 1871 and is headquartered in Las Condes, Chile. Receive News & Ratings for Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. GenWealth Group Inc. boosted its position in iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:IWP Get Rating) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 157,570 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF comprises 4.4% of GenWealth Group Inc.s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. GenWealth Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF worth $14,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of IWP. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 415 shares of the companys stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in shares of iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Get iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF alerts: iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF Price Performance Shares of IWP stock traded down $1.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $94.28. 146,269 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 677,049. iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has a 12-month low of $75.88 and a 12-month high of $96.30. The company has a market cap of $12.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $90.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.15. About iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF, formerly iShares Russell Midcap Growth Index Fund (the Growth Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Russell Midcap Growth Index (the Growth Index). Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Jiangxi Copper Company Limited (OTCMKTS:JIAXF Get Rating) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 31,500 shares, a drop of 7.4% from the May 15th total of 34,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 78.8 days. Jiangxi Copper Price Performance Shares of Jiangxi Copper stock opened at $1.59 on Tuesday. Jiangxi Copper has a 1 year low of $1.13 and a 1 year high of $1.85. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $1.69. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Jiangxi Copper Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Jiangxi Copper and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Masonite International Co. (NYSE:DOOR Get Rating) have been given a consensus rating of Moderate Buy by the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $106.43. A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DOOR. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Masonite International from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Wednesday, May 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Masonite International from $102.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 10th. StockNews.com raised Masonite International from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Masonite International from $110.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 10th. Get Masonite International alerts: Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, insider Alexander Albert Legall sold 1,700 shares of Masonite International stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.01, for a total transaction of $156,417.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,257 shares of the companys stock, valued at $299,676.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Catherine Anne Shellabarger sold 803 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total value of $75,080.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $352,401.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alexander Albert Legall sold 1,700 shares of Masonite International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.01, for a total value of $156,417.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,257 shares in the company, valued at $299,676.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.21% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Masonite International Stock Performance Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DOOR. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Masonite International during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in Masonite International by 421.9% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 381 shares of the companys stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Masonite International by 55.0% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 513 shares of the companys stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Masonite International by 3,100.0% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 416 shares of the companys stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Masonite International during the first quarter worth about $46,000. Masonite International stock opened at $98.71 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 3.39. Masonite International has a one year low of $65.71 and a one year high of $104.17. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $93.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. Masonite International (NYSE:DOOR Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 8th. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.30. Masonite International had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 6.40%. The firm had revenue of $726.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.89 earnings per share. Masonite Internationals revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Masonite International will post 7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year. About Masonite International (Get Rating Masonite International Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes interior and exterior doors for the new construction and repair, renovation, and remodeling sectors of the residential and non-residential building construction markets worldwide. It offers molded panel, flush, stile and rail, steel, and fiberglass residential doors, as well as medium-density fiberboard (MDF) and architectural interior doors. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Masonite International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Masonite International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. McLean Asset Management Corp reduced its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS Get Rating) by 8.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 723 shares of the investment management companys stock after selling 71 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corps holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GS. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 727.3% during the 3rd quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 91 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Tower View Investment Management & Research LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 224.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 81 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 109.3% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 90 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 76.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get The Goldman Sachs Group alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $420.00 to $390.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 3rd. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $384.00 to $425.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $440.00 to $437.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $389.17. The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded down $7.74 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $330.57. 642,299 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,599,569. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day moving average of $331.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $342.22. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $277.84 and a 12 month high of $389.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 18th. The investment management company reported $8.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $8.14 by $0.65. The company had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.66 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 9.84%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.76 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 31.57 earnings per share for the current year. The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $2.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 31st. This represents a $10.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The Goldman Sachs Groups payout ratio is 35.60%. Insider Activity In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.66, for a total transaction of $1,012,980.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,052 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,082,458.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.66, for a total transaction of $1,012,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,052 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,082,458.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 101,526 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.43, for a total transaction of $652,812.18. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,980,553 shares of the companys stock, valued at $109,184,955.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,935,026 shares of company stock worth $647,273,318 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.54% of the companys stock. About The Goldman Sachs Group (Get Rating) The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, a financial institution, provides a range of financial services for corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals worldwide. It operates through Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions segments. The Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial advisory services, including strategic advisory assignments related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense activities, restructurings, and spin-offs; and relationship lending, and acquisition financing, as well as secured lending, through structured credit and asset-backed lending and involved in resale agreements. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for The Goldman Sachs Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for The Goldman Sachs Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Dfpg Investments LLC increased its position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT Get Rating) by 83.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,731 shares of the medical technology companys stock after acquiring an additional 17,593 shares during the period. Dfpg Investments LLCs holdings in Medtronic were worth $3,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,861,994 shares of the medical technology companys stock worth $10,001,857,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056,995 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Medtronic by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 115,998,561 shares of the medical technology companys stock valued at $9,366,883,000 after buying an additional 5,620,477 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Medtronic by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 58,989,713 shares of the medical technology companys stock valued at $4,802,998,000 after buying an additional 928,929 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Medtronic by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,222,300 shares of the medical technology companys stock valued at $2,112,247,000 after buying an additional 423,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Medtronic by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 19,374,686 shares of the medical technology companys stock valued at $1,564,508,000 after buying an additional 4,816,172 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.48% of the companys stock. Get Medtronic alerts: Medtronic Stock Performance Shares of MDT opened at $89.15 on Tuesday. Medtronic plc has a one year low of $75.76 and a one year high of $95.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $86.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.62. The stock has a market cap of $118.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.61, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.81. Medtronic Increases Dividend Medtronic ( NYSE:MDT Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 25th. The medical technology company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $8.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.25 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current year. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 23rd will be given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. This is a positive change from Medtronics previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 22nd. Medtronics dividend payout ratio is 96.45%. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Medtronic from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Medtronic from $90.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Friday, May 26th. 92 Resources reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Friday, May 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $100.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Friday, May 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $89.53. Medtronic Company Profile (Get Rating) Medtronic plc develops, manufactures, and sells device-based medical therapies to healthcare systems, physicians, clinicians, and patients worldwide. Its Cardiovascular Portfolio segment offers implantable cardiac pacemakers, cardioverter defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices; cardiac ablation products; insertable cardiac monitor systems; TYRX products; and remote monitoring and patient-centered software. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MDT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Medtronic Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Medtronic and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management cut its holdings in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA:EEM Get Rating) by 19.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,697 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 18,555 shares during the quarter. iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF makes up 1.9% of Parisi Gray Wealth Managements portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Parisi Gray Wealth Managements holdings in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF were worth $3,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EEM. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF by 125,500.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 144,937,968 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $5,493,149,000 after buying an additional 144,822,572 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF by 112.2% during the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,244,119 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $47,152,000 after buying an additional 11,466,025 shares in the last quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF during the 4th quarter worth $324,358,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 39,172,754 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,484,647,000 after buying an additional 6,765,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF by 371.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,133,070 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $118,743,000 after buying an additional 2,468,243 shares during the period. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF alerts: iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF Stock Down 2.2 % Shares of NYSEARCA:EEM traded down $0.88 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.00. 16,217,083 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,835,555. iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has a 1-year low of $33.49 and a 1-year high of $42.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.38. About iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF, formerly iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (the Fund), seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of publicly traded equity securities in global emerging markets, as measured by the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (the Index). Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O Get Rating) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 519,598 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after buying an additional 10,536 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a. owned about 0.08% of Realty Income worth $32,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Realty Income during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Realty Income during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Realty Income during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Realty Income by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 727 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, CI Investments Inc. grew its stake in Realty Income by 1,004.1% in the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 806 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.52% of the companys stock. Get Realty Income alerts: Realty Income Trading Down 0.8 % NYSE O traded down $0.51 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,170,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,692,370. The company has a market capitalization of $40.99 billion, a PE ratio of 43.23, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.25. Realty Income Co. has a twelve month low of $55.50 and a twelve month high of $75.11. Realty Income Increases Dividend Analysts Set New Price Targets The firm also recently announced a jun 23 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 14th. Investors of record on Monday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.2555 per share. This is a boost from Realty Incomes previous jun 23 dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 30th. This represents a yield of 5%. Realty Incomes payout ratio is presently 215.49%. A number of research firms recently issued reports on O. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Realty Income in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a sell rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Realty Income from $71.00 to $71.25 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Scotiabank upgraded Realty Income from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating and set a $69.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Realty Income from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Realty Income from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $71.47. About Realty Income (Get Rating) Realty Income Corp. is a real estate company, which engages in generating dependable monthly cash dividends from a consistent and predictable level of cash flow from operations. The company was founded by William E. Clark, Jr. and Evelyn Joan Clark in 1969 and is headquartered in San Diego, CA. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding O? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Realty Income Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Realty Income and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. HSBC cut shares of SoftBank Group (OTCMKTS:SFTBY Get Rating) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday morning, The Fly reports. SFTBY has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of SoftBank Group in a report on Tuesday, April 25th. They set an equal weight rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of SoftBank Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, June 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold. Get SoftBank Group alerts: SoftBank Group Price Performance Shares of SFTBY opened at $23.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.27 billion, a PE ratio of -3.83 and a beta of 1.26. SoftBank Group has a 1-year low of $16.86 and a 1-year high of $24.85. The companys fifty day moving average price is $19.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.80. About SoftBank Group SoftBank Group Corp. provides telecommunication services in Japan and internationally. It operates through Investment Business of Holding Companies, SoftBank Vision Funds, SoftBank, Arm, and Other segments. The company offers mobile communications and solutions to enterprise customers, and broadband services to retail customers; and sells mobile devices and software tools, as well as related services. Read More Receive News & Ratings for SoftBank Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for SoftBank Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Swiss Life Holding AG (OTCMKTS:SWSDF Get Rating)s stock price shot up 0.5% on Monday . The company traded as high as $602.50 and last traded at $602.50. 100 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 0% from the average session volume of 100 shares. The stock had previously closed at $599.30. Swiss Life Price Performance The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $613.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $585.70. Swiss Life Company Profile (Get Rating) Swiss Life Holding AG engages in the provision of life insurances, pensions, and financial solutions. It operates through the following segments: Switzerland, Germany, France, International, and Asset Managers. The Switzerland, France and Germany segments provide life insurance operations and distribution units. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Swiss Life Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Swiss Life and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Tesla's founder and CEO Elon Musk has lost one of the companys leading in-house litigators, according to a document filed in federal court today. As it happens, the change in lineup comes after a letter from Musks legal team was leaked to New York Post last week. The publication described the correspondence as a nasty missive. Adam Gabor Mehes, the departing attorney, has motioned for leave to withdraw counsel in Musks $258 billion lawsuit relating to an alleged Dogecoin (DOGE) market manipulation case. The Manhattan lawyer had been on board for a little under one year, actively participating in a wide variety of legal actions the former CEO of Twitter was involved in. And on Friday, there was another court filing: Teslas legal team was adding a new attorney to the team that is representing Musk in the lawsuit: Allison Huebert. Huebert was most recently a litigation associate for the Quinn Emanuel law firm. Elon Musk Denies Owning Dogecoin Stash Linked to Insider Trading Musk tweeted last year his company was building a hardcore litigation department, recruiting Gabor Mehes a few months later, reported Bloomberg Legal. Embroiled in a lengthy and controversial class-action lawsuit, Musk has repeatedly denied allegations of market manipulation and insider trading involving the meme coin. A group of DOGE investors accuse him of leveraging his social media account to pump the coin after his appearance on NBCs Saturday Night Live. Last week, another of Musks attorneys, Alex Shapiro, denied allegations that the billionaire owning several digital wallets containing millions of dollars worth of Dogecoin, according to the New York Post. The legal actions against Musk himself have not been an impediment for him to use Teslas company litigators for his personal defense. The billionaire mogul has not shied away from the controversy, either, creating an email address dubbed justice@tesla.com. What additional litigation remains to emerge from the self-proclaimed Dogefather and Dogecoin CEO is anybodys guess. We can expect, however, for his legal team to be well-staffed and prepped for action. Telia Company AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:TLSNY Get Rating) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $4.36 and last traded at $4.37, with a volume of 171291 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.51. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of Telia Company AB (publ) in a report on Thursday, June 1st. They set a buy rating for the company. Citigroup upgraded shares of Telia Company AB (publ) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report on Friday, May 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $33.25. Get Telia Company AB (publ) alerts: Telia Company AB (publ) Trading Down 3.1 % The companys fifty day moving average price is $4.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. Telia Company AB (publ) Cuts Dividend Telia Company AB (publ) ( OTCMKTS:TLSNY Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 26th. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter. Telia Company AB (publ) had a negative net margin of 15.36% and a negative return on equity of 17.59%. On average, equities analysts predict that Telia Company AB will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 11th were issued a $0.0644 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 10th. Telia Company AB (publ)s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -37.14%. Telia Company AB (publ) Company Profile (Get Rating) Telia Company AB (publ) provides communication services to businesses, individuals, families, and communities in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia. It offers mobile, broadband, television, and fixed-line services; and networking, cloud and security, mobility, enterprise mobile network, contact center, managed mobility services, collaboration solutions, enterprise telephony, Internet of Things (IoT), carrier ethernet, dedicated internet access, wavelengths, IP Transit, dark fiber, and colocation solutions. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Telia Company AB (publ) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Telia Company AB (publ) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Transocean (NYSE:RIG Get Rating) to a sell rating in a research note released on Friday. A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on RIG. Clarkson Capital raised Transocean from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $7.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Transocean from $4.00 to $8.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Compass Point upgraded shares of Transocean from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $7.50 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 22nd. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Transocean from $7.50 to $12.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Transocean from $5.50 to $6.50 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $6.98. Get Transocean alerts: Transocean Stock Up 0.2 % NYSE:RIG opened at $6.23 on Friday. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $6.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.99. Transocean has a 52-week low of $2.32 and a 52-week high of $7.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.93. The company has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.94 and a beta of 2.91. Insider Transactions at Transocean Transocean ( NYSE:RIG Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 1st. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.16). Transocean had a negative net margin of 34.53% and a negative return on equity of 6.80%. The business had revenue of $649.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.28) earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Transocean will post -0.5 EPS for the current year. In other news, CAO David A. Tonnel sold 12,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.53, for a total transaction of $78,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 476,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,113,517.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 13.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Archer Investment Corp grew its stake in Transocean by 8,124.0% in the 1st quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 4,112 shares of the offshore drilling services providers stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 4,062 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. acquired a new position in Transocean in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Transocean by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 5,440 shares of the offshore drilling services providers stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new position in Transocean in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Transocean in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.49% of the companys stock. Transocean Company Profile (Get Rating) Transocean Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells worldwide. It contracts its mobile offshore drilling rigs, related equipment, and work crews to drill oil and gas wells. It serves integrated energy companies, government-owned or government-controlled energy companies, and other independent energy companies. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Transocean Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Transocean and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lessened its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,196,725 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 68,865 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLCs holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $44,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 254,542 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $10,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108 shares in the last quarter. Ulysses Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ulysses Management LLC now owns 50,000 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,011,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 6,216 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,119 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.11% of the companys stock. Get Wells Fargo & Company alerts: Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance WFC stock traded down $0.47 on Tuesday, reaching $41.71. The company had a trading volume of 4,903,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,918,402. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $35.25 and a 1 year high of $48.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The companys fifty day moving average is $40.37 and its 200 day moving average is $41.98. The company has a market cap of $156.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.09, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.12. Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend Wells Fargo & Company ( NYSE:WFC Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $20.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.06 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 10.07% and a net margin of 15.93%. Wells Fargo & Companys revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current year. The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 4th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Wells Fargo & Companys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.38%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of brokerages have weighed in on WFC. Barclays lowered their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $54.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $49.00 to $45.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 10th. StockNews.com began coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $48.71. Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile (Get Rating) Wells Fargo & Company, a diversified financial services company, provides banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WFC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Wells Fargo & Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Wells Fargo & Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund Inc. (NYSE:PAI Get Rating) announced a dividend on Friday, June 16th, investing.com reports. Investors of record on Friday, June 23rd will be paid a dividend of 0.0465 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 22nd. Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund has decreased its dividend by an average of 6.5% annually over the last three years. Get Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund alerts: Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund Price Performance Shares of PAI opened at $11.65 on Tuesday. The businesss 50 day moving average is $11.76 and its 200 day moving average is $11.93. Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund has a 12-month low of $10.74 and a 12-month high of $13.58. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund About Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund by 27.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 41,810 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $569,000 after buying an additional 9,104 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund in the 1st quarter worth approximately $355,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund by 36.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 28,371 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 7,642 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 24,291 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 3,889 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new position in shares of Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $232,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 17.03% of the companys stock. (Get Rating) Western Asset Income Fund is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Western Asset Management Company. It is co-managed by Western Asset Management Company Limited. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It primarily invests in investment grade debt, including government securities, bank debt, commercial paper, and cash or cash equivalents. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Xinyuan Real Estate (NYSE:XIN Get Rating) in a research note published on Saturday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the financial services providers stock. Xinyuan Real Estate Stock Performance Shares of XIN opened at $3.64 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 24.87, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. Xinyuan Real Estate has a 12 month low of $2.95 and a 12 month high of $9.26. Get Xinyuan Real Estate alerts: Institutional Inflows and Outflows An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Xinyuan Real Estate stock. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. (NYSE:XIN Get Rating) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 478,629 shares of the financial services providers stock, valued at approximately $536,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. owned about 0.90% of Xinyuan Real Estate at the end of the most recent quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.62% of the companys stock. Xinyuan Real Estate Company Profile Xinyuan Real Estate Co Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the acquisition, investment, and development of real estate properties. It operates through the following geographical segments: Henan Region, Shandong Region, Shanghai Region, Sichuan Region, Beijing Region, Hainan Region, Hunan Region, Shaanxi Region, Guangdong Region, Hubei Region, Liaoning Region, and the United States. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Xinyuan Real Estate Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Xinyuan Real Estate and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. A trader selling products from Vietnam at the 5th China Xizang Tourism and Culture Expo in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, June 18, 2023. The expo is one of the most important events on Tibet's cultural calendar. [Xinhua/Jigme Dorje] Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing, capital of China, June 19, 2023. [Xinhua/Li Xueren] BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhua) Chinese President Xi Jinping met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Great Hall of the People on Monday. Noting that the world is developing and the times are changing, Xi said the world needs a generally stable China-U.S. relationship, and whether the two countries can find the right way to get along bears on the future and destiny of humanity. Xi pointed out that the vast expanse of the Earth is big enough to accommodate the respective development and common prosperity of China and the United States. The Chinese, like the Americans, are dignified, confident and self-reliant people, Xi said, adding that they both have the right to pursue a better life. "The common interests of the two countries should be valued, and their respective success is an opportunity instead of a threat to each other." Xi said the international community is generally concerned about the current state of China-U.S. relations. "It does not want to see conflict or confrontation between China and the United States or choose sides between the two countries, and it expects the two countries to coexist in peace and have friendly and cooperative relations." The two countries should act with a sense of responsibility for history, for the people and for the world, and handle China-U.S. relations properly, Xi said, adding that in this way, they may contribute to global peace and development, and help make the world, which is changing and turbulent, more stable, certain and constructive. Xi stressed that major-country competition does not represent the trend of the times, still less can it solve America's own problems or the challenges facing the world. China respects U.S. interests and does not seek to challenge or displace the United States, and in the same vein, the United States needs to respect China and must not hurt China's legitimate rights and interests, said Xi. "Neither side should try to shape the other side by its own will, still less deprive the other side of its legitimate right to development." Xi said China always hopes to see a sound and steady China-U.S. relationship and believes that the two major countries can overcome various difficulties and find the right way to get along based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, calling on the U.S. side to adopt a rational and pragmatic attitude and work with China in the same direction. Xi pointed out that the two sides need to remain committed to the common understandings he and President Biden reached in Bali, and translate the positive statements into actions so as to stabilize and improve China-U.S. relations. For his part, Blinken conveyed President Biden's greetings to President Xi. He said President Biden believes that the United States and China have an obligation to responsibly manage their relations, adding that this is in the interests of the United States, China and the world. The United States is committed to returning to the agenda set by the two presidents in Bali, Blinken said, adding that the United States stands by the commitments made by President Biden, namely that the United States does not seek a new Cold War, it does not seek to change China's system, its alliances are not directed at China, it does not support "Taiwan independence," and it does not seek conflict with China. The U.S. side looks forward to having high-level engagement with the Chinese side, keeping open lines of communication, responsibly managing differences, and pursuing dialogue, exchanges and cooperation, he added. Xi asked Blinken to convey his regards to President Biden. Wang Yi and Qin Gang, among others, were present at the meeting. Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing, capital of China, June 19, 2023. [Xinhua/Li Xueren] Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing, capital of China, June 19, 2023. [Xinhua/Wang Ye] Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing, capital of China, June 19, 2023. [Xinhua/Li Xueren] Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing, capital of China, June 19, 2023. [Xinhua/Wang Ye] (Source: Xinhua) Weather Alert ...FLOOD WATCH NOW IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING... * WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible. * WHERE...Portions of southern Illinois, western Kentucky and southeast Missouri, including the following areas, in southern Illinois, Alexander, Franklin, Hardin, Jackson, Johnson, Massac, Perry IL, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Union and Williamson. In western Kentucky, Ballard, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Crittenden, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Livingston, Lyon, Marshall, McCracken, Todd and Trigg. In southeast Missouri, Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Mississippi, Perry MO and Scott. * WHEN...Through Thursday morning. * IMPACTS...Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - While rainfall from heavy rain and storms late tonight through Thursday morning will be around an inch with locally higher amounts, locations which experienced torrential rainfall this week have ground conditions susceptible to additional flooding. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible Flood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding, and especially those who experienced flooding Tuesday night into Wednesday, should be prepared to take action should flooding develop. && (Reuters) -Tesla scored a series of victories for its charging technology on Tuesday, capped by Texas saying it would require electric vehicle charging companies to include both Tesla's standard as well as the nationally recognized CCS if they want to be part of a state program to electrify highways using federal dollars. Earlier in the day, Reuters was first to report both that electric pickup truck maker Rivian was backing Tesla and that charger maker BTC Power would support the standard. Those announcements follow decisions by GM and Ford to add Tesla charging technology, shunning efforts by the Biden administration to make the Combined Charging System (CCS) the dominant charging standard in the United States. Texas home to Tesla's headquarters and a new car factory complex is the first state that will mandate Tesla's charging technology, giving a boost to CEO Elon Musk's hope of making it the national charging standard. "The decision by Ford, GM, and now Rivian to adopt NACS changed requirements for Phase 1" of the rollout, the Texas Department of Transportation said in an email to Reuters on Tuesday, adding that it would require direct current fast chargers to have one CCS and one North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector. In this July 13, 2018 photo, a Tesla Model X is plugged into a charging station in West Tilbury, Mass. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) Texas's decision will put a ton of pressure on other states to adopt Tesla's NACS, said Lew Cox, director of business development at MD7, which helps companies deploy chargers. "Itll effectively make an NACS the new charging standard," Cox said. The U.S. Department of Transportation earlier this year said that charging companies must provide the CCS to be eligible for up to $7.5 billion in federal funding to build new, high-speed chargers on 7,500 miles (12,070 km) of the nation's busiest highways. The Federal Highway Administration on Tuesday acknowledged the industry was rapidly evolving. The growth of the nation's EV industry is a sign that public investments are paying dividends, but the policy is always under review, said a Federal Highway Administration spokesperson. "Our technical experts are having active conversations with automakers, charger manufacturers, and standards setting bodies to ensure federal investment continues to support a reliable, convenient, and user-friendly charging experience for all drivers," the spokesperson said. The federal dollars are flowing through the states, which are empowered to tailor their own guidelines as long as they meet minimum federal standards. States are expected to award the first round of funding through the remainder of the year. Since the Ford and GM announcements, top U.S. charging companies like ChargePoint and EVgo said they would look to add the same standard to their U.S. chargers. Others states like California, Iowa and Michigan are reviewing the shifting charging market. And at least one other state is considering giving applicants bonus points on applications if they include the Tesla charging ports. Tesla shares were 4.3% lower by late morning Wednesday, after closing up 5.3% on Tuesday. Tesla said in the U.S. there are approximately 2,000 Supercharger locations and more than 21,000 Supercharger stalls, which represents approximately 60% of the fast-charging plugs operational in the country. (Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia and Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Sonali Paul) The Australian federal Senate has for several months held an inquiry, The national trend of school refusal and related matters, with the findings to be published later this month. Submissions and testimonies provided to the inquiry have shed light on yet another serious problem that has emerged within the crisis-stricken public education systemthe inability or unwillingness of large numbers of children to regularly attend school. Those Who Disappear: the Australian education problem nobody wants to talk about [Photo: University of Melbourne] The exact scale of school avoidance is unknown, as no national standardised data is kept. One 2019 report, Those Who Disappear: the Australian education problem nobody wants to talk about, authored by University of Melbourne researchers, found: Conservative estimates are that at least 50,000 children and young people of school age have detached from any educational program or institution, across the country at any given time. Other statistics suggest this number may just be the tip of an emerging iceberg. Megan Gilmour, the chief executive of the Missing School organisation, which works to raising awareness of the educational issues facing children who miss school because of critical or chronic illness, spoke to the Senate inquiry panel. She cited another study that estimated that 1.2 million students across the countrythat is, a quarter of the estimated 4 million children enrolled in Australian schoolsmay be in a well-being, medical or disability crisis serious enough to affect their attendance and educational outcomes. A 2017 study by the Grattan Institute reported that a staggering 40 percent of Australian students were disengaged from learning and falling two years behind their peers. Submissions to the Senate inquiry pointed to the complex and diverse reasons for school avoidance, such as bullying, safety, and experience with disabilities and mental health issues including post-traumatic stress disorder and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Importantly, testimonies also raised the impacts of an increasingly narrow school curriculum and the pressure to attain high academic scores. A parent Facebook group, School Cant, founded in 2012, changed its name from School Refusal Australia because the term refusal implied kids were simply being obstinate. But it goes a lot deeper than that, Louise Rogers, an administrator of the group, explained. Children are experiencing distress and they dont know what to do with it. Professor Kitty te Riele from the Australian Association for Flexible and Inclusive Education commented, Its essential that schools operate in ways that fit kids rather than expecting kids to fit in with them. Specialist schools can provide a possible solution but cost and location are prohibitive for most families. While school avoidance occurs across all socio-economic groups, the public system is the least able to meet the needs of its students. The submission from the Australian Secondary Principals Association stated, government schools are not funded at a level which matches the mental, social and well-being needs of their students. An empty Australian school class room. [Photo: University of Melbourne] The decades-long cutbacks to funding government schools are bipartisan Labor and Liberal Party policy. Between 2009 and 2018, total income to private schools rose by 16.9 per cent but by just 2.1 per cent for public schools. The preferential funding for private schools has continued with the Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Its latest budget cut real spending for public schools while continuing the resource advantage for private and Catholic schools. Other submissions to the Senate inquiry pointed out that only one-third of children with mental illness receive professional help at school. Only 4 percent of primary schools in Australias most populous state, New South Wales, have a school counsellor on site daily. Only half of all children aged 4-11 years who have a mental illness receive any form of treatment. Nationally, one counsellor is funded per 800 to 900 students. Chronic underfunding in government schools has led to a rise in private school enrolments and concentrations of disadvantage in the public system. Of all public school enrolments, 46 percent of students are classed as either disadvantaged, low socioeconomic background, indigenous, disabled or living in a remote area. The equivalent proportion in private schools is just 20 percent. Inquiry submissions noted the inflexibility and narrowness of the curriculum. The introduction of the high-stakes National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests in 2009 by the previous Labor government has led to public schools becoming testing factories, increasing stress levels for students, parents and teachers alike. Dianne Giblin, CEO of the Australian Council of State Schools Organisation told the Senate, Some of our kids, particularly our ASD and autistic kids are very creative very artistic and very musical (but) we tend to worry about their literacy and numeracy. Professor Jim Watterston , co-author of the Those Who Disappear: The Australian education problem nobody wants to talk about, pointed to the disincentives for schools to accept high needs students. He noted that they often become collateral damage in the quest for higher academic performance and enhanced reputation. Watterston cited one school that had attempted to re-engage students but had its government funding reduced because the schools literacy and numeracy test results were not reaching requirements. Several submissions and testimonies noted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple studies have detailed the rise in mental health issues among young people since 2020. Missing Schools Megan Gilmour told the Senate about the experience of one child: Owen is a student in year 9 with ASD and anxiety who, after COVID, was too anxious to go to school, missing over a year. His self-esteem plummeted, his anxiety from missing classes grew; and he stopped eating enough, lost muscle tone and eventually could no longer leave home at all. Owen is now non-verbal. Powerful sections of the ruling elite have sought to exploit the youth mental health crisis to rail against lockdowns and other necessary public health restrictions. The real issue is that big business and finance capital want to ensure no further measures that impinge on the generation of profittemporary school closures have been denounced by corporate and media figures because they necessarily involved the removal of childrens parents from their workplaces. Last year, the Shergold Review, which was promoted by the press, insisted that schools must remain open in any future pandemic. The issue is not simply lockdowns, as is asserted by the establishment. Instead, it is the impact of a pandemic, for which the governments had not prepared, on top of the systematic defunding of public education and healthcare over decades. To the extent that issues emerged with online learning, it was yet another symptom of this assault on public education, together with the consequences of rampant social inequality. The political establishments expressed concern for young peoples wellbeing amounts to nothing but hot air. Nowhere is any consideration made of the terrible mental health consequences that would have accompanied unchecked COVID infections in 2020, including through countless children being orphaned as a consequence of pre-vaccine mass infection. Likewise there has been no consideration of how proper public resourcing for online psychological services and related supports could have minimised the challenges experienced by young people during lockdown periods. It can be safely anticipated that when the Senate report on school refusal is published on June 21, the Labor, Liberal and Green parliamentarians on the panel will not include any investigation of the crisis of the public education system nor properly address the shortfall of psychologists and other support services. The ruling elite is responsible for the disaster in the public education system that has fuelled the phenomenon of school cant, and it will not implement measures leading to its solution. Contact the Committee For Public Education: By Lisa Baertlein LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - FedEx on Tuesday said it will merge its contractor-based Ground delivery operations in Canada into its company-operated Express unit and convert contractors into employees. The move, set to be phased in starting in April 2024, comes as the global delivery company is revamping its business to boost profits and better compete with rivals like United Parcel Service, Amazon.com and regional delivery firms. Combining the Canadian delivery operations would yield an annualized cost savings of more than $100 million upon completion in fiscal 2025, FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam said on an earnings call with investors. FedEx made a similar change in the U.S. states of Alaska and Hawaii last year. Still, the company said there will be U.S. markets where packages shift from Express to Ground, its outsourced delivery arm. In those cases, the company said it would continue to use delivery contractors as part of its "hybrid" worker model. Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx in April said it planned to combine the two delivery units to reduce costs and streamline service. Rival UPS, known for tightly controlling expenses, operates just one delivery network. FedEx's effort to combine operations is part of a wider effort to slash $4 billion in costs by the end of its 2025 financial year. FedEx announced that cost-cutting plan in June 2022, about two weeks after activist investor D.E. Shaw won two additional board seats. (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Leslie Adler, Lisa Shumaker and Chris Reese) Text AUTO to (866) 847-1086 to sign up for text updates from the Autoworkers Rank-and-File Network or to discuss building rank-and-file committees. You can also fill out the form at the end of the article. More than 500 Clarios workers in Holland, Ohio returned to work late Sunday and Monday for the first time since the end of their 40-day strike at the Toledo-area auto battery manufacturing plant. Their powerful walkout was ended after United Auto Workers Local 12 and UAW International officials pushed through a concessions-laden contract, which workers had decisively rejected two times before. Striking Clarios workers on first day of strike May 8, 2023 Clarios workers who spoke to the WSWS described the conditions when they returned to work Monday. One worker who spoke to the WSWS at length explained, When we came back, the plant manager was at the gate, welcoming us, giving high fives and passing out coffee and donuts. I dont know whats worse, the company retaliating against us or being too nice while they stick us with this rotten contract. Theyre going to be working a lot of us 12 hours a day, with no overtime. I always say, if they could get away with it, they wouldnt pay us anything. All they care about is the bottom line. During the work stoppage, Clarios had brought in strikebreakers and management personnel and shifted production to other plants in the US and Mexico to fill orders for GM, Ford, Stellantis and other automakers. Although this produced widespread opposition from rank-and-file autoworkers, the UAW International, led by new President Shawn Fain, gave the auto companies a green light to use batteries produced by scab labor. Clarios workers took a courageous stand against the worlds largest auto battery manufacturer, but their struggle was sabotaged by the UAW bureaucracy. Despite its rhetoric about the new, democratic UAW, the Fain administration resorted to the same dirty tricks as its predecessors to push through a pro-company contract. This included starving workers out with $500 a week in strike pay, releasing phony highlights instead of the full contract, and forcing workers to vote on the same contract three times until it passed. In a livestreamed event Friday, Fain falsely claimed that Clarios workers and other UAW members at Constellium and the University of Washingtonwhose strikes were also shut down by the UAW bureaucracyhad won massive gains. In fact, the new three-year deal at Clarios includes an insulting 3 percent annual wage increase and allows the company to introduce a new 2-2-3 work schedule with 12-hour workdays and no overtime payments. When we got there at 6 a.m. Monday, the place was a disaster, the Clarios worker continued. Trash was overflowing where the scabs had been working in the formation and shipping departments and no one cleaned up. They said the supervisors tidied up a bit, if they had time. We were told that the scabs did not have access to our uniforms. That was a lie. They broke in and stole our boots and our tools. All the scabs are gone, except for UAW members who crossed the picket line. Theyve still got all their seniority and UAW rights and didnt face any consequences for crossing the picket lines. Thats BS, if you ask me. The worker continued: Growing up, you thought getting a UAW job was the best thing ever, that you would get a pension and retire in comfort. I used to be proud to be a UAW worker at Johnson Controls [which ran the Holland plant before Johnson Controls spun off its battery division in 2015]. You worked hard but you knew you were part of something bigger. Now I cant stand being a Clarios employee, there is so much anxiety. This company runs off our blood, sweat and tears treats us like slaves. The guys are also taking bets on how many workers are going to quit after they get their bonus checks. The company wants to get rid of the higher-paid workers and replace us with low-paid employees. We used to give them 120-150 percent every day. They will be lucky if they get 80 percent from us now. Were not robots, were people with bills and families. They already lost Fords aftermarket batteries and could lose the original equipment batteries too. GM is also building its own batteries. If something happens and Clarios tries to close this plant, nobody would ever take over the property because it is so contaminated with lead and other toxic chemicals. If that is going on in the ground, can you imagine what is going on in our bodies? Pointing to the toll on workers health and lives, he explained, In the more than a decade Ive worked here, Ive seen so many people die. Its usually right after or right before they retire. We work with lead, acid, asbestos and other deadly chemicals, 12 hours a day. But, according to the company, were not allowed to make a decent living even though these jobs are literally killing us. I give props to my brothers and sisters at Ford, Jeep and the other plants. Theyre hardworking like we are but they havent worked in a battery factory. We wear PPE and shower and change clothes after work every day because we might bring lead home and expose our families. We have no air conditioning. We have horrible conditions and are not getting paid for it. All UAW members should be on strike at once The worker voiced his support for a common struggle by all autoworkers in the US and workers internationally. The Big Three workers are preparing for a strike this summer. We will have their backs. In fact, all UAW members should be on strike at once. The money-greedy corporations are the root of all evil. Workers will never be treated humanely in a system that is only concerned with the bottom line. Workers across the world should stop working. What would the companies do without us? Honestly, being a billionaire should be a no-no. They should only be allowed to make a certain amount and the rest should go to the workers. Clarios made $9 billion in revenues last year, and they claim they cant pay their employees across the world a decent wage. The worker then reviewed the treacherous role of the UAW bureaucracy during the Clarios strike. If you sit here and claim the UAW supports its members, then you should have experienced what we did in this strike. I was very proud of my Clarios brothers and sisters who stood up to the company. But the UAW International threw us under the bus. I have an issue with the new president Shawn Fain and the UAW leaders telling the Big Three that they could use batteries made by scab labor at our plant. These officials need to be put in their place. We cant let the UAW officials throw the GM, Ford and Stellantis workers under the bus like they did us. Workers have to be prepared for this, and make sure it doesnt happen. I want to give some advice to Big Three autoworkers facing their own contract struggle this September. I would advise them not to believe a word that comes out of the UAW officials mouths. They forced us to accept a 3 percent raise, which was a slap in the face after all the pay cuts we took. The union boasted they reduced the wage progression from seven to four years. But workers should get top pay in two years or less. I started out making $15-16 an hour more than 10 years ago. Now theyre starting out at $13. Whats next$11 an hour? McDonalds is paying $16. Why put your health and your body on the line here? They brought the same contract back to us three times until it got passed. All they did was change a little wording. Now were stuck with this contract for three years. They tell us we cant break the contract when they break it all the time. Thats what they did when they cut our pay twice by increasing the quotas that we need to hit to get our hourly pay increased. Some of us were making $35 an hour and they cut us to $24. Then they cut us to $18.06 an hour. But the union said we couldnt strike even when workers were losing up to $15 an hour. During the informational meetings, the UAW officials were saying if we voted this down again, Clarios was going to close the shop for 30 days, fire us all, and then rehire anybody that would come to work. Workers cant let them hold a gun to our heads. If the UAW officials threaten your jobs, dont fall for it. Stand up and fight the companies and the union. In the more than 10 years I worked for Johnson Controls and Clarios, I never saw the union do a damn thing to protect workers. You go to the union, thinking they could help, and all you get is, No, I cant help you. The union is made up of yes men for the companies. My advice to autoworkers is band together outside of the UAW. Talk with each other and organize. Dont let the UAW officials push you around. Get together by yourselves and dont rely on the shop stewards, the plant chairman or any other UAW officials. If you have to stand up against your own union, then you have to do it. During the strike, workers built a rank-and-file committee to fight for what we needed. We need to build these rank-and-file committees in all the plants so we can represent and fight for ourselves. Text AUTO to (866) 847-1086 to sign up for text updates from the Autoworkers Rank-and-File Network or to discuss building rank-and-file committees. You can also fill out the form below. This is the fourth and final part of a four-part series. Read Part 1 here, Part 2 here and Part 3 here. Criminal silence from the corporate media and pseudo-left The mass suffering and deaths from Chinas second COVID-19 wave have been met with virtually complete silence in the corporate media internationally. Even in the regional press in China and throughout East Asia, outside of a handful of local media outlets reporting on Dr. Zhong Nanshans projection of 65 million weekly infections by the end of June, there has been no coverage of this catastrophe. The South China Morning Post published two brief reports in June that simply repeated the official monthly figures from the Chinese CDC, which vastly underestimated the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. These articles also parroted the lies and deliberate misinformation from health care officials downplaying the scope and impact of the current wave. One of the only recent articles on COVID-19 in China by the Western corporate media was published on June 6 in the Washington Post titled China abandoned zero covid. But some dont want to leave it behind. The article maligns Chinas Zero-COVID policy and people who continue to adhere to strict measures to protect themselves, while drastically minimizing the impact of Chinas second COVID-19 wave, as well as its first. Nowhere do the words death or Long COVID even appear. The Post interviews a handful of people, whom they refer to as zero covid holdouts, including Gugu, who wears a face mask outside. While noting that Gugu has diabetes and high blood pressure, so she felt safe under zero covid, the Post slanders this policy that once protected people with underlying conditions like Gugu as Chinas notoriously strict approach to keeping the virus out. Another person interviewed in the same article, Lin Yiwu, is concerned about the consequences of multiple reinfections, which will be hard to avoid under current circumstances. He said, If possible, avoid catching it at all. Delaythe later you get it the better. And as much as possible, reduce the number of times you catch it. Delay, reduce and avoid. Lin is part of an online community formed by like-minded people where they share tips on how to build an air purifier at home or what face masks are more breathable. The Washington Post attempts to present these people who remain careful about COVID-19 as crazy and refers to them as evidence of the long shadow that the zero-covid approach still casts on China. However, this vilification cannot cover up the existing and growing social concerns over the prospect of unending waves of the pandemic. Even more damning than the silence of the corporate media is that of the international pseudo-left organizations, which claim to be socialist or in some cases even Trotskyist. Not a word has been said about the deepening social disaster in China by any of these political tendencies, all of which had advocated for the lifting of Zero-COVID. These include but are not limited to Socialist Alternative, La Izquierda Diario, the International Marxist Tendency, International Viewpoint, Socialist Appeal, Committee for a Workers International and Jacobin. A browse through these organizations websites reveals that most of their coverage on the COVID-19 pandemic stopped altogether in January. For over two years prior to the lifting of Zero-COVID in China, virtually every pseudo-left tendency continuously denounced the Zero-COVID policy as draconian and demanded that it be lifted immediately. In late November 2022, these tendencies hailed the white paper protests, a series of small, choreographed anti-Zero-COVID protests at universities and cities across China, which were seized upon by the CCP to fully scrap Zero-COVID on December 7, 2022. Now that China has joined the rest of the world in the horrific forever COVID policy of repeated waves of mass infection, death and debilitation, all these pseudo-left tendencies have gone silent about their complicity in this public health disaster. The real political orientation of the pseudo-left stands thoroughly exposed. In no way do they speak for or represent the interests of the working class. Rather, they give voice to the individualist and self-centered politics of the affluent middle class, who largely view anti-COVID public health measures as interruptions to their lifestyles. Conclusion Contrary to the depictions of Zero-COVID as oppressive and widely resented, it was understood within broad sections of the Chinese population that these measures, despite their inconvenience and sometimes bureaucratic excesses, were necessary to protect their health and lives. In a poll conducted just prior to the lifting of Zero-COVID in China, only 11.9 percent of the population supported large-scale adjustment to the policy. Even today, when almost all public health measures have been revoked, a section of the population that sees the real danger of the virus and used to actively support Zero-COVID measures still strives to protect themselves through strict infection control measures. They are joined by millions of people globally who continue to shield themselves from COVID-19 to the greatest extent possible through indoor masking in public places, limiting social contact, testing and other measures. At the same time, the individual struggles of these Zero-COVID holdouts underscore the impossibility of combating a global pandemic on an individual basis without any public health infrastructure or global coordination. Fundamentally, the pandemic can only be stopped through the building of a mass movement of the international working class, in unity with principled scientists, fighting for a global elimination strategy. The necessity for this strategy was underscored in a significant interview conducted by the World Socialist Web Site last week with COVID-19 researcher Arijit Chakravarty, whose team at Fractal Therapeutics has produced among the most far-sighted and critical papers throughout the pandemic. In the interview, Chakravarty warned of the immense dangers of letting COVID-19 spread completely unchecked, which increases the likelihood that a far more dangerous variant will evolve. He stated: I cant predict the outcome of the next wave. I cant predict the outcome of the next five waves. But, at the rate that we are going, a prediction can be made with a high degree of certainty that something bad will happen sooner than later along these lines. Keep this pandemic running for another five years, and youll face a debacle on a scale that you havent yet seen. Thats a given. Commenting on the ending of the Public Health Emergency declaration by the World Health Organization last month and the false claims that the pandemic is overwhich he characterized as Orwellian NewspeakChakravarty said that global society now has nothing in place to protect against a more dangerous variant. He stressed: In that kind of reactive strategy what will happen is billions will be infected before we realize something is wrong. And thats too late to do anything about it. So not only is the pandemic very much not over, but by creating the impression that the pandemic is over in the face of rampant viral spread and continuing rapid viral evolution, we are essentially sticking our chin out and asking the virus to do its worst. Chakravarty is one of the best-informed scientists on the pandemic, and his warnings must be heeded. The complete scrapping of Zero-COVID in China and global adoption of a forever COVID policy are only accelerating the process of viral evolution. The coronavirus now has a home among 8 billion people throughout the world in which it will continue to mutate and evolve. The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered global society, exacerbating the preexisting contradictions of world capitalism and exposing the bankruptcy of this social system in the eyes of masses of workers. It has accelerated the eruption of a new imperialist redivision of the world through the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine, while at the same time propelling the working class into struggle on every continent. The same process is now taking place in Chinese society, which confronts the horrific reality of perpetual waves of mass infection, death and Long COVID and the growing threat of military conflict with US imperialism. It is essential that the Chinese working class orient to its international brothers and sisters and initiate a global struggle to stop the pandemic, as well as the escalating danger of a nuclear World War III, climate change and other existential threats confronting mankind. This requires world socialist revolution, which only the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), the genuine Trotskyist movement, is fighting for. From the beginning of the pandemic, the ICFI is the only political party in the world which defended Chinas Zero-COVID policy and fought for the international working class to expand this comprehensive public health strategy to every corner of the globe. It is essential for the Chinese working class to draw the necessary conclusions from the experiences of the past six months and take up the fight to build a Chinese section of the ICFI. Concluded A group of 42 migrants arrived in Los Angeles by chartered bus last Wednesday, after being sent there as part of a reactionary political stunt by Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott. The migrants, who are from Central and South America, departed the Texas Rio Grande Valley 23 hours earlier and, after enduring the 1,600 mile trip without food, were met at Union Station in Los Angeles by immigration rights workers. The Los Angeles Times reported that the migrant group included eight children. Defending his act of cruelty, which violates the fundamental rights of the migrants, Abbott wrote in a social media post, Small Texas border towns remain overrun & overwhelmed because Biden refuses to secure the border. He added, LA is a city migrants seek to go to, particularly now its leaders approved its self-declared sanctuary status. Immigrants at the Central Processing Center in McAllen, Texas [Photo: US Customs and Border Protection] That the governors actions are aimed at stirring up anti-immigrant hatred within the US population is evident is the false claim that Biden is refusing to secure the border. Coinciding with the lifting of the Title 42 expulsion rulesimplemented by the Trump administration to summarily remove asylum seekers on the basis of cynical public health considerations at the start of the pandemicthe Biden White House has put into place an immigration policy at the southern border that is seeking to more effectively ban migrants from entering. Governor Abbott said this was the 1st bus sent to LA, although his office did not respond immediately to requests for more information about whether more buses would be dispatched. After stopping at Union Station, the migrants were taken to a nearby church where they were greeted by representatives of the Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights-Los Angeles. Even though the governor did not disclose publicly until Wednesday the forced relocation of the migrants, CHIRLA had been tipped off about the buses pending arrival on Tuesday. Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesperson for CHIRLA, told the Times the migrants were from Venezuela, Guatemala and Honduras, as well as two of African origin. Cabrera said that at least one of the Guatemalan migrants had a court date scheduled in New York City. He said, Thats where the cruelty of this process is unbounded. Thats why Los Angeles made sure that we were coordinated and prepared to deal with the human beings behind this political charade. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, said in a statement, It is abhorrent that an American elected official is using human beings as pawns in his cheap political games. In keeping with the position of the entire Democratic Party, Bass said nothing about the penchant of Abbott, or anyone else in the Republican Party, for openly fascist politics. Once the migrants arrived at the church welcome center, they were able to rest, eat and speak with immigration attorneys. Cabrera said, We know that theyre traumatized and they need a number of services. This is not the first time that Governor Abbott has used buses in this manner. He has reportedly sent tens of thousands of migrants to bus stations in Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia, and also dropped some off near the residence of Vice President Kamala Harris at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. In one incident, passengers on a bus bound for Philadelphia last year included a 10-year-old girl who was suffering from dehydration and a high fever and needed to be hospitalized. Earlier this month, the government of the Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, paid to drive dozens of migrants from El Paso, Texas, to a small airport in New Mexico before flying them to Sacramento, Califronia. DeSantis, who is a contender for the Republican Party 2023 presidential nomination, has himself been in the forefront of the campaign to prey on the most vulnerable. Like Abbott, he advances a fascistic program of blaming migrants for the deepening economic and social crisis facing tens of millions of people in states across the country. The Biden administration is seeking to make concessions to the extreme American nationalist agenda of the Republican Party by limiting the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to 300,000 people from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal. Under the terms of the measure the migrants, who are asylum seekers, will be allowed to stay in the US only another 18 months. The changes introduced by the Biden White House last Tuesday barred the immigrants with TPS from obtaining work permits. It also excluded migrants from Guatemala, one of the poorest and most violence-ridden countries in the region. The Department of Homeland Security said that it would halt TPS renewals after the extension. This essay was submitted to the WSWS by Maxim Goldarb, the chairman of the Union of Left Forces (For a New Socialism) party, which has been banned by the Zelensky government because it opposes the US-NATO proxy war in Ukraine against Russia. An independent judiciary is one of the fundamental features and principles of bourgeois democracy. As far back as in the 18th century, Charles Montesquieu clearly outlined the division of state branches of power into three: legislative, executive and judicial, and argued each of them should be independent of the others. In turn, any regime that tries to become dictatorial, first of all makes efforts to destroy the independence of the judiciary. Over the past 10 years, the judicial system of Ukraine has undergone four cardinal reforms, countless changes, and judges have undergone endless attestations and recertifications, dismissals, rotations and even persecution. The attempts of the authorities to destroy the remnants of judicial independence and completely subjugate the judiciary have reached their apogee during the presidency of Volodymyr Zelensky. Back in 2021, Zelensky tried to take control of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU), a judicial body that evaluates the constitutionality of decisions of the president and parliament. In 2020, the Constitutional Court declared the judicial reform which was initiated by Zelensky and subsequently adopted by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) to be partially unconstitutional. The CCU also declared several articles of the Law On the Prevention of Corruption unconstitutional. All this provoked anger on the part of Zelensky and threats from his office against the judges of the Constitutional Court. The president does not have the authority to dismiss judges of the Constitutional Court. They are supposed to be independent, and decisions on early termination of the powers of judges are taken only by the Constitutional Court itself, in a few cases expressly stipulated in the Constitution. However, in order to remove judges not under his control from the court, the president issued a decree in March 2021 by which he tried to dismiss the head of the Constitutional Court Alexander Tupitsky and judge Alexander Kasminin. At the same time, Zelensky issued a decree canceling the presidential decrees from 2013, by which these judges, in accordance with the Constitution, were appointed judges of the Constitutional Court. This criminally exceeded his powers and grossly violated the law. US President Joe Biden and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev. [Photo: @POTUS Twitter] The illegality of such actions by Zelensky was so obvious and blatant that the Supreme Court recognized them as illegal and canceled the relevant decrees. In retaliation for this, on May 27, 2022, at the request of the prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General, the chairman of the Constitutional Court, Tupitsky, was put on the international wanted list on charges ofattention!a supposedly illegal departure from Ukraine in March 2022, although there is no legal basis whatsover for such a charge. The very wording of the groundless accusations against the head of the Constitutional Court testifies to the obvious involvement of the authorities in this case of illegal persecution of the judge. Clearly, the Zelensky government sought to create a precedent to intimidate any other Ukrainian judge who is trying to go against the president. The work of the Constitutional Court was, in fact, blocked in 2022. And no one, neither the citizens of Ukraine nor the subjects of constitutional appeal, can actually use their right to apply to the Constitutional Court to check the constitutionality of presidential decrees and parliamentary laws. In an even more extreme case, the authorities attacked the District Administrative Court of Kiev (OASK), whose judges opposed acting as servants of the presidents office. The OASK was the court responsible for considering the legality of acts of the highest officials of the state, including the president. Thus, the District Administrative Court at one time canceled the decision to increase electricity tariffs; declared it illegal to increase the price of gas for the population; canceled the decision to rename Moskovsky Prospect and General Vatutin Avenue in Kiev into Stepan Bandera Avenue and Roman Shukhevych Avenue, respectively, in honor of the leaders of Ukrainian nationalists who collaborated with the Nazis; designated the symbols of the SS Galicia division as Nazi symbols; and made many other decisions objectionable to the authorities. Then, on December 13, 2022, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine voted for bills No. 5369, developed by the office of the president, on the liquidation of the Kiev District Administrative Court, and No. 5370, on the formation of the Kiev City District Administrative Court instead. In this way, the president and parliament simply eliminated an independent court. The Kiev City District Administrative Court, created by the new law, has not yet begun its work. As a result, citizens are effectively denied the opportunity to appeal against decisions of the president and other higher authorities that restrict their rights. Moreover, two key bodies that make decisions on the appointment of judges are not working at all any more. In particular, the High Qualifications Commission of Judges (HQJC), due to changes in legislation adopted in November 2019, had not been working for 26 months by February 24, 2022. In addition, a very important constitutional body, the High Council of Justice (HJC), was paralyzed, because 10 of its members all resigned on February 22, 2022, two days before the beginning of the war. About 60 state functions, which they collectively carried out, were stopped. The HJC is the body responsible for the appointment of judges and may punish and dismiss judges. Almost the entire judicial system is in the hands of this body. The reason for the collective resignation of 10 members from the High Council of Justice was the creation by the Zelensky government of the so-called Ethics Council. This was supposedly designed to establish the compliance of a candidate for the position of a member of the High Council of Justice with the criteria of professional ethics. But half of this Ethical Council consists of foreign citizens from Western countries. This was openly demanded by the authorities of the United States and other Western countries in a clear effort to control the judicial system of Ukraine through their representatives in the Ethics Council. The High Council of Justice quite rightly insisted that the powers of the Ethics Council have no constitutional basis. Moreover, according to the Constitution, citizens of other countries generally do not have the right to participate in the formation of public authorities in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war, the authorities, hiding behind the concept of military secrets, also began to actively close access to citizens to the register of court decisions. On February 24, 2022, the State Judicial Administration, the body responsible for the operation of the register and the reflection of court decisions in it, completely closed access to the register. It was resumed in June 2022, but human rights activists found that almost all criminal convictions over the past three years have disappeared from public access. Thus, for example, in the Kharkiv region, only 30 sentences for 2022 remained in the court register, and only 19 for the whole of 2021. If you believe the court register, then for the whole of 2020, all the courts of the Kharkiv region (with a population of more than 2 million people) issued only four verdicts, which is clearly impossible. On December 21, 2022, human rights organizations filed an open appeal with the State Judicial Administration (SCA), in which they demanded it stop the practice of restricting access to documents in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions, to restore access to the adopted court decisions and to ensure the timely submission of procedural documents to the register. The SCA did not have the authority to seize open-access court decisions just because they had data on the location of legal entitiespublic authorities, as well as critical infrastructure. This is a direct violation of the Law of Ukraine On Access to Court Decisions. The Unified State Register of Court Decisions is an important source for journalists who investigate corruption offenses and abuses of power, which become doubly dangerous for the country during the war. In addition, access to court decisions is a daily necessity in the activities of lawyers, law enforcement officers, public activists and human rights defenders. As a result of this severe pressure exerted by the authorities on the judiciary, a lot of absurd and frankly illegal decisions are made by courts. For example, people are sentenced for unpatriotic and anti-state mobile phone conversations, and all opposition parties in Ukraine were banned on the basis of fabricated, blueprinted judgments. In this way, the courts have been transformed into tools for the suppression of democratic rights and dissent. Particularly severe sentences are passed against anti-war activists. One of the most infamous such cases is the story of the pacifist Ruslan Kotsaba. Several years ago (2015), he publicly called for an end to the war in the Donbas and for a refusal to mobilize. Kotsaba was then accused of treason and obstruction of hostilities and arrested. He spent 524 days of arrest in custody. By the decision of the Ivano-Frankivsk city court, he was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison and released only after pressure from international human rights organizations. This systematic destruction of an independent judiciary in Ukraine, backed by the NATO powers, is yet another clear refutation of the lie that the war in Ukraine against Russia is waged in defense of democracy. The Australian Senate yesterday passed, by 52 votes to 19, the Albanese Labor governments legislation to hold a referendum, sometime this year, to entrench in the countrys 1901 Constitution an indigenous Voice, an advisory body, to make representations to parliament and the executive government. Australian PM Anthony Albanese (centre with red tie) with Voice Working Group in Canberra, 23 March 2023. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has staked his personal political position, and that of his government, on securing a yes vote, but polling indicates increasingly that the referendum is likely to fail. Now that the bill has passed both houses of parliament, the government must set a referendum date, no sooner than two months away and no later than six months. According to media reports, Albanese will probably set the date for mid-October. Yet there are growing doubts that a yes vote will reach the constitutionally necessary majority of voters, and separate majorities in four of the six Australian states. At a media conference after the Senate vote, Albanese vowed to be front and centre in the referendum campaign, saying he and his government were all in. At the same time, he and other government leaders sought to boost the flagging support for the proposal by downplaying the Voice plan itself. They presented the referendum as simply one about recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution for the first time. Albanese and Labor ministers declared they had confidence and faith that the Australian people would vote yes. But the government has shifted its ground, to avoid referring to the Voice as much as possible. That is because the more people learn about this proposed unelected institution at the heart of the existing political order, the more they distrust it. The Voice has become more widely seen, including among ordinary indigenous people, as an elite project, backed by big business and other establishment voices, that will do nothing to address the appalling conditions of most indigenous people, whether in remote communities, regional towns or working-class suburbs of the major cities. In fact, the Voice will further integrate a privileged indigenous layer of CEOs, entrepreneurs and senior academics into the capitalist political establishment, which is presiding over a deepening cost-of-living crisis and declining conditions of the working class as a whole. Soaring prices, home mortgage payments and rents are having a devastating impact on all working-class households, aggravated by sharply falling real wages, staff shortages and intolerable workloads. Media polls have shown a decline in support for the Voice, down below 50 percent, over the past year since Albanese first announced the referendum plan in his May 2022 election victory speech. A defeat would be a blow to the government. Albanese has made the Voice absolutely central to Labors agenda, which consists of escalating war preparations against China, delivering income tax cuts for the wealthy, axing all remaining COVID-19 safety measures and further cutting public health and education spending. Yesterday, most Liberal Party senators joined hands with their Labor and Greens counterparts, as well as three crossbench senators, to vote for the bill. But many Liberals, including party leader Peter Dutton, are calling for a no vote, which is the partys official position. Several Liberals voted against the bill, in order to participate in writing the no case in the official referendum pamphlet to be mailed out across the country. Also voting against were the rural-based Nationals, the far-right Pauline Hansons One Nation and Lidia Thorpe, a former Greens, now independent, indigenous senator who opposes the Voice from a black nationalist standpoint. The Labor government is systematically burying all reference to a report by Marcia Langton and Tom Calma, two prominent indigenous figures, setting out the proposed structure of the Voice. That is because the report outlines plans for an unelected 24-member body, chosen by the existing bodies and vested interests, such as land councils and government-funded service providers, that have presided over the social misery suffered by most indigenous people, augmented by a growing number of indigenous business owners. Likewise, the multi-million dollar corporate-funded yes advertising campaign does not even mention the Voice. Instead, it makes a vague reference to giving indigenous people a real say and recognition in the Constitution. At the media conference, Albanese again presented a yes vote as an act of national patriotism. It will be a moment of national unity, a chance to make our nation even greater, he insisted. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lift our great nation even higher. That message is part of the governments efforts to manufacture a new image of national unity, above all for war purposes, under conditions of ever-widening social inequality. It is connected to its call, issued in its Defence Strategic Review in March, for an all of nation effort to transform the economy into one prepared for war, including by pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into military weaponry, such as AUKUS nuclear-powered attack submarines and long-range missiles. Albanese also asserted that the Voice referendum was something that has not arisen in Canberra. It was the culmination of years of discussion, consultation and patient hard work by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people themselves. That is utterly false. Far from arising from a grassroots movement, it originated from the very topa 2015 meeting between selected indigenous leaders and then-Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott at his official Sydney harbourside residence. As documented in a book by two central advocates of the Voice scheme, Megan Davis, an Aboriginal law professor, and fellow law professor George Williams, rather than a movement from below, the Voice project originated as, and remains, a bid by members of an indigenous elite, including Davis and right-wing lawyer Noel Pearson, to head off anger and disaffection among ordinary indigenous people, especially after Abbotts government slashed funding for indigenous services. Today, most of all, the Voice plan seeks to prevent that ongoing discontent from linking up to the growing unrest throughout the working class as a whole, as workers and their families suffer the greatest cuts to their living conditions since World War II. Albanese further claimed that recognition of this continents first people in our nations constitution would mean making concrete practical change that makes a difference to peoples lives. He has previously ruled out, however, extra funding to redress the shocking social conditions, including in remote settlements and town camps denied basic facilities. As with previous initiatives, such as Labors 2008 parliamentary apology to the Indigenous Stolen Generations who were forcibly removed from their parents, the Voice will provide a supposedly progressive gloss over a stepped-up onslaught on welfare and other social rights of working people as a whole. And the health, housing, education and living conditions of the majority of indigenous people, as one of the most vulnerable sections of the working class, will continue to decline, as they have throughout the official Closing the Gap program since the 2008 apology. Moreover, recognition in the colonial-era 1901 Constitution means strengthening the very capitalist state apparatus and socio-economic order that has been responsible for the more than two centuries of massacres, dispossession, separations and suppression inflicted on the indigenous population. Speaking against the referendum bill during the final debate in the Senate, Thorpe declared it was happy assimilation day. An advocate of treaties between Australian governments and indigenous groups, she denounced the Constitution as an illegal document. She declared that sovereignty was never ceded by indigenous people and this sovereignty would mean dissolving the colonial, violent institution that were all in right now. Behind this seemingly radical rhetoric, Thorpe demanded a place at the table for the black sovereignty movement and real power. This is basically a call for greater privileges and resources for the indigenous elites along the lines of the Treaty of Waitangi process in New Zealand. There, hundreds of millions of dollars have been distributed to Maori tribal corporations, fostering a wealthy layer of Maori entrepreneurs, politicians, lawyers, academics and bureaucrats, at the expense of Maori workers, one of the most oppressed sections of the New Zealand working class. Ideologically, Thorpe and those backing the Voice share a similar outlook. Both are proponents of Aboriginal identity politics, which insists that race, not class, is the fundamental division in society. While racism certainly exists, and is fostered by the ruling class to seek to divide workers along racial lines, the source of the oppression of the indigenous people, as it is with the rest of the working class, is the capitalist private ownership of societys resourcesrelations that Thorpe and the other identity politics representatives defend. Exactly the opposite is requireda unified struggle of the working class, indigenous and non-indigenous, in Australia and internationally, to overthrow the capitalist profit system as a whole, and replace it with a socialist society, based on genuine equality and democracy. That is the only way to rectify and overcome the historic and ongoing crimes of this social order. Dr. Peter Hotez, Dean of the Baylor College of Medicine National School of Tropical Medicine [Photo: Agapito Sanchez, Baylor College of Medicine] On Sunday, as he was getting a cake for his father on Fathers Day, vaccinologist Dr. Peter Hotez was stalked at his home by two fascists, who followed him to the door of his house while shouting accusations that he was injuring the population with vaccines. This incident is part of an escalating campaign, spearheaded by the fascist right, against experts who specialize in COVID-19 research and are fighting for a scientific response to the pandemic, aimed at terrorizing them into silence. Dr. Hotez regularly receives threats, along with antisemitic hate speech. He is not alone. One prominent scientist who spoke to the WSWS described receiving repeated death threats targeting himself and his children and being sent an envelope of white powder in the mail. In America, the land of the free, scientists fighting deadly infectious diseases must do their work under siege. For these scientists, publicly advocating basic scientific truths means placing ones life in danger. More than 1.1 million Americans have died from COVID-19. Throughout the course of the pandemic, scientists like Hotez have urged measures to reduce the spread and severity of COVID-19, including vaccines, masking and social distancing, to save countless lives. Hotez is a Nobel Prize-nominated scientist, who led efforts to develop a low-cost, patent-free vaccine for COVID-19. For years, he has been a prominent public opponent of right-wing pseudoscience. He accurately labeled advocates of anti-vaccine propaganda as neo-fascist and correctly referred to the Wuhan lab conspiracy theory, which claims that scientists created COVID-19, as a witch-hunt. Hotez condemned the promotion of pseudoscience by leading American newspapers, accusing the Washington Post editorial board of engaging in old school Hearst-Pulitzer yellow or tabloid journalism. These courageous statements have made him a target. Over the past week, leading figures of the fascist right, including Stephen Bannon, the oligarch Elon Musk, podcaster Joe Rogan and anti-vaccination conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have intensified their campaign to vilify, threaten and harass Dr. Hotez. On June 12, Bannon posted on the Gettr social media network, Hotez is a criminal, prompting an outpouring of overtly antisemitic responses from his supporters and a wave of denunciations of Hotez from the entire fascist right. Scientists who are merely stating basic truths are vilified and threatened, even having to fear for their very lives. What is the environment that has made this possible? The extreme right feels emboldened under conditions in which the entire political establishment and the media have legitimized and promoted the most extreme and unfounded claims. Even as the virus continues to spread and evolve new strains, the Biden administration has abandoned all measures to fight the pandemic and has systematically downplayed the threat posed by COVID-19. On May 11, the Biden administration ended the national COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE). This triggered the move by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to end reporting of COVID-19 cases, meaning there is no official data about the prevalence of the disease in the population. According to wastewater data, the level of COVID-19 infection remains higher than that during most of 2020. The Biden administration has ended federal funding for COVID-19 vaccines and tests, meaning uninsured individuals will now have to pay out of pocket for these life-saving treatments. Biden has encouraged the population not to wear masks, declaring in May 2021, Take your mask off. Youve earned the right. The Biden administration has also promoted the Wuhan lab conspiracy theory, which was invented by fascist ideologue Steve Bannon. FBI Director Christopher Wray falsely claimed in February that COVID-19 most likely originated from a lab incident in Wuhan, China. In other words, the Biden administration has embraced all elements of Donald Trumps COVID-19 policy, from Trumps call to slow the testing down to the claim that the virus originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The legitimization of this fascist COVID-19 conspiracy theory has been aided and abetted by leading media outlets in the United States, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, which have deemed Bannons Wuhan lab lie credible. The Intercept and Jacobin magazine have also promoted this conspiracy theory. The day after Bannon called Hotez a criminal, Michael Shellenberger and Matt Taibbi published an unsourced article in the Intercept advancing the Wuhan Lab conspiracy theory, prompting follow-on reports on Fox News and in Forbes. Shellenberger and Taibbi claimed that three leading coronavirus researchers at the Wuhan Institute of VirologyBen Hu, Yu Ping and Yan Zhugot COVID-19 in November 2019, citing only anonymous sources within the US government. Amid the torrent of lies and misinformation emanating from the government and media, the lunatic fringe is setting the tone. The fascist right is thriving in the muck created in the broader political climate, in which every form of anti-scientific backwardness can flourish. Confronted by the growth of opposition in the working class, the American ruling elite is promoting every form of ignorance, backwardness and bigotry. In concluding the World Socialist Web Sites October 24, 2021 webinar with leading scientists, WSWS Editorial Board Chairman David North declared the appreciation of the socialist movement for all the scientists, those who are here with us today and the many others working in the background, who are trying desperately to come up with answers to this crisis. But in the final analysis, science cannot stand alone. It requires the support of a powerful social force, and that is the working class. The World Socialist Web Site calls on all workers, students and professionals to oppose the efforts of the fascist right, the US media and political establishment to promote anti-scientific bigotry and take a stand in defense of scientists. The blame for the horrendous toll of the pandemic lies not with scientists, who have sought to warn the public, but with governments that willfully disregard science to implement a policy of mass infection and death. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a two-day visit to China yesterday after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and holding hours of talks with the countrys foreign affairs officials. Blinkens trip was a cynical attempt to put the US confrontation with China on hold and ease mounting tensions with Beijing as a drastic US-NATO military escalation is being prepared in the war against Russia in Ukraine. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, China, Monday, June 19, 2023. [AP Photo/Leah Millis/Pool Photo] Since taking office, the Biden administration has only intensified the diplomatic, economic and military measures taken under Obama and Trump to contain and weaken China in preparation for conflict. The deterioration in US relations with China was underscored in February when Blinkens planned visit to Beijing was cancelled after the US Air Force shot down a Chinese balloon over US airspace on unsubstantiated claims that it was spying on military bases. Blinken arrived in Beijing declaring hypocritically that the US did not seek to contain or want conflict with China. Prior to meeting with Xi, he assured that Washington would join with Beijing in stabilizing the relationship between the two countries. In other comments, Blinken stated that the US would responsibly manage that competition so that the relationship does not veer into conflict. A modicum of diplomatic decorum was maintained during the two days. However, none of the bilateral points of contention that have been deliberately inflamed by the US was resolved. And public comments pointed to the angry exchanges that took place behind closed doors in what Blinken described in diplomatic language as candid, substantive, and constructive discussions. Blinken met with Chinas top foreign affairs official Wang Yi for three hours on Monday. According to a statement from Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang had demanded that the US stop hyping up the China threat theory, lift illegal unilateral sanctions against China, abandon suppression of Chinas technological development, and refrain from arbitrary interference in Chinas internal affairs. The Biden administration has not only maintained tariffs imposed under Trump on some $360 billion in trade with China, but extended unilateral sanctions on Chinese officials allegedly associated with human rights abuses and imposed unprecedented export controls on the sale of advanced semi-conductors in a bid to cripple Chinese industries technologically. Far from making any concessions, Blinken defended the decision on grounds of national security despite the sweeping scope of the export controls. Nor did Blinken make any move to defuse dangerous tensions over Taiwan that the US has deliberately stoked by accelerating closer political and military ties with Taipei, undermining the One China policy that is the bedrock of diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing. Under the One China policy, which it increasingly observes in name only, the US de facto recognises Beijing as the legitimate ruler of all China, including Taiwan. In its statement, the Chinese foreign ministry blamed Washingtons erroneous perception of China, leading to incorrect policies towards China for the current low point in relations between the two countries. Blinkens visit, it warned, coincided with a critical juncture in China-US relations, and it is necessary to make a choice between dialogue or confrontation, cooperation or conflict. It called on the US to halt the spiralling decline of China-US relations to push it back to a healthy and stable track. Very little of substance was agreed during the talks. Five hours of talks between Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang ended with what were described as modest gainsan agreement to meet again and to organise working-level meetings on specific challenges. Qin said the two had discussed increasing passenger flights between China and the US, and encouraging more exchanges of students, scholars and businesspeople. Qin accepted an invitation to visit Washington later in the year. Later, Xi indicated that he might meet with Biden during an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders summit in San Francisco in November. However, Blinken acknowledged that one of his priorities during the visit had been the re-establishment of a military-to-military communications channel between the two countries, which had not been agreed. The US claims that such a mechanism is essential to avoid dangerous incidents in waters and airspace around China. The US, however, has deliberately heightened the dangers by carrying out provocative naval and air operations in the name of freedom of navigation in the South China and East China Seas, including through the Taiwan Strait. Washington had used the US-NATO war against Russia to heighten tensions with China over its failure to condemn Russias invasion of Ukraine. In late February, Blinken confronted Wang on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, accusing China of considering providing lethal aid to Russia. China responded by freezing important diplomatic exchanges. On Monday, Blinken acknowledged that China had reassured the US and other countries that it had not and would not provide lethal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine. We appreciate that, and we have not seen any evidence that contradicts that, he told reporters. Without offering a shred of evidence, he nevertheless expressed concerns that Chinese firms might be providing technology to Russia that could be used for the war in Ukraine, and called on the Chinese government to be very vigilant. The limited outcome of Blinkens visit, the first by a US secretary of state since 2018, underlines the fact that it was a tactical manoeuvre to stabilise relations with China as the US escalates its war with Russia in Ukraine. The strategy of US imperialism remains focussed on China as the chief threat to its global economic and military dominance, as the US military build-up in Indo-Pacific continues apace. A recent comment in Foreign Policy by former Assistant Secretary of State A. Wess Mitchell bluntly set out the thinking in American security circles known as sequencingfirst the military defeat and subordination of Russia, and then a war to crush its chief rival, China. In the article entitled A drawn-out Ukraine war should not change US strategy, Mitchell argued the US should still pursue the approach he elaborated last year to deal decisively with the weaker of its two big-power adversaries before the stronger of the pair was ready for a full-scale challenge. Responding to criticisms that the war in Ukraine was dragging on without achieving US objectives, Mitchell declared that sequencing remains the best strategy for the United States to handle the two-front challenge from China and Russia. After noting that the US estimates China was not ready for a war over Taiwan for two to five years, he praised the galvanising effect of the conflict in Ukraine in accelerating the US militarys accumulation of vital stocks and overall preparedness for warnot to mention prompting greater defense seriousness among US allies in Europe and Asia. These comments make clear that Blinkens trip to Beijing is no more than an attempt to buy time for the US to inflict a decisive blow against Russia before once again escalating its drive to war against China. The sheer recklessness of US imperialist policy in plunging humanity towards a global conflagration involving nuclear armed powers can only be countered through a unified movement of the international working class to put an end to the bankrupt capitalist system that is the root cause of war. New NATO member Finland swears in government regarded as country's most right-wing in decades The new Government of Finland led by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo pose for a family picture in Helsinki, Finland on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. First row, from left, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah, Minister of Finance Riikka Purra, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Minister of Education Anna-Maja Henriksson. Second row, from left, Minister of Labour (split into two-year posts) Arto Satonen, Minister for Local and Regional Government Anna-Kaisa Ikonen, Minister for Culture and Science (split into two-year posts) Sari Multala, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Kai Mykk'nen, Minister of Defence Antti H'kk'nen, Minister for Social Security Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, Minister of Justice Leena Meri and Minister for Europe and Corporate Governance Anders Adlercreutz. Third row, from left, Minister of Social Affairs and Health Kaisa Juuso, Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen, Minister of Economic Affairs (divided into two-year posts) Vilhelm Junnila, Minister for Sport, Physical Acticity and Youth (split between the SPP and CD for two-year posts) SPP's Sandra Bergqvist, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio, Minister for Transport and Communications Lulu Ranne and Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva via AP) HELSINKI (AP) Finland, which recently became NATO's 31st member, swore in a new coalition government Tuesday that is considered the most right-wing one in the Nordic countrys modern history. President Sauli Niinisto appointed the 19-member Cabinet of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, the leader of the conservative National Coalition Party, after Finnish lawmakers approved the lineup of ministers. The National Coalition Party won the most seats in an April 2 parliamentary election. Following seven weeks of coalition talks, the party announced a deal to form a government with three other parties, including the far-right, euroskeptic Finns Party. The two junior partners in the coalition are the Christian Democrats and the Swedish Peoples Party of Finland. Due to the dominance of the two senior partner parties, Finnish media described Orpos government as national conservative in nature. The four parties hold a majority of 108 seats in the 200-member Parliament. Political analysts said the new Cabinet was Finlands most right-wing government since World War II. Finland's economy was the central issue in April's election. While campaigning, conservative candidates accused the center-left Cabinet of former Prime Minister Sanna Marin of excessive spending, contributing to rising state debt and other economic problems. Despite Marin's personal popularity and high international profile, voters shifted their allegiances away from her Social Democratic Party and to parties on the political right. The Social Democrats finished third in the election, after the National Coalition Party and the Finns Party. Orpo, a 53-year-old veteran politician, is a former finance and interior minister and has headed the NCP, Finlands main conservative party, since 2016. The party's other key Cabinet posts include Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen and Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen, who is the NCP's vice chair. Hakkanens post is particularly significant since Finland joined NATO in April. The country of 5.5 million, which shares a long border with Russia, is in the process of integrating its military systems and infrastructure into the alliance. Russias invasion of Ukraine prompted Finland to abandon decades of military non-alignment and to seek NATO membership together with Sweden in May 2022. Under Marin's leadership, Finland was one of Ukraine's most vocal and active European supporters in terms of military and civilian aid. Hakkanen offered assurances that the new government would not change Finland's position toward Ukraine. Finland's support to Ukraine will continue to be very strong. There will be no changes to this policy," he told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the new Cabinet's first news conference. The populist Finns Party, which follows a largely nationalist and anti-immigration agenda, received several important Cabinet posts. Party leader Riikka Purra was made finance minister in the new government, and other party members were named to lead Finland's interior and justice ministries. While Finland's strategy on Ukraine may stay the same, Orpos Cabinet is expected to carry out major social policy and labor reforms, as well as budget cuts, over the next four years. It seeks to substantially decrease Finlands government debt and is taking a hard stance on immigration, including tightening the requirements for residence permits and citizenship. Hundreds of bitcoiners flocked to the swanky Chelsea Hotel in downtown Toronto on June 17 and June 18 to attend the first ever Canadian Bitcoin Conference. It wasn't the first Bitcoin-exclusive event in the Great White North, but it was the first conference with that specific name. The event featured talks from podcast host Stephan Livera, a build your own open-source Bitcoin miner workshop by Quebecan mining service provider D-Central, and a sneak preview of the new mobile wallet by bitcoin exchange Bull Bitcoin. The event was organized by Bitcoin enthusiast couple Daniel and Manuela Carlin, with the help of roughly a dozen volunteers. It attracted over 300 attendees who each parted with anywhere from 180 to 498 Canadian dollars (about $136 to $377) depending on the type of ticket purchased. Despite a bear market that has dragged on since last year, the introduction of a more stringent regulatory regime responsible for the exodus of large marquee exchanges like Binance from the country, and prior public ridicule of the dominant cryptocurrency by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the inaugural launch of the Canadian Bitcoin Conference is proof that the country's Bitcoin ecosystem remains intact, and may even be thriving. Bitcoin adoption has been steadily growing over the last number of years and that will continue. I think it will accelerate, Daniel Carlin told CoinDesk in an interview. One day well wake up and itll just be a big green candle to the moon. Highlights of the conference Bull Bitcoin mobile wallet Bull Bitcoin CEO Francis Pouliot discussed self-custody before unveiling a beta version of the new Bull Bitcoin mobile app. The app is a non-custodial bitcoin wallet that is fully integrated with the Bull Bitcoin exchange. The integration allows users to purchase bitcoin (BTC) from the Canadian exchange directly from within the app. Still a bunch of work to do before I'm happy with a release, Pouliot later tweeted. But testing is still appreciated! Bull Bitcoin mobile wallet (Frederick Munawa) Last week, Jack Dorseys FinTech company Block (SQ) also launched beta testing for its new self-custody bitcoin wallet, Bitkey. The wallet will allow bitcoin purchases from the app via an integration with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) and Blocks financial services platform Cash App. Read more: Jack Dorsey-Backed Bitcoin Wallet Bitkey To Integrate With Coinbase and Cash App The catastrophic implosions of decentralized finance platforms like Celsius and BlockFi, the shocking unraveling of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and now the SECs lawsuits against Coinbase and fellow crypto exchange Binance, have all triggered a flight from centralized platforms billions worth of crypto deposits to self-custody wallets like the ones being tested by Block and Bull Bitcoin. Panties for Bitcoin One of the few Bitcoin startups at the conference not directly involved in technology was underwear manufacturer Panties for Bitcoin. The companys booth featured oversized banners with images of scantily clad supermodels donning orange panties and bras. The Panties for Bitcoin founder who only goes by Pablo, is an Argentinian industrial engineer who immigrated to Canada. Pablo says hes a 50-year veteran of the underwear manufacturing industry and now proudly runs his new Bitcoin startup with the help of his son Michael. Panties for Bitcoin booth at the 2023 Canadian Bitcoin Conference (Frederick Munawa) Before Bitcoin I was a panty manufacturer, Pablo told CoinDesk. Now I'm a Bitcoin nerd who manufactures panties. Michael says their panties and bras are high quality undergarments manufactured in Italy, and that the company is planning to expand its product line soon. So we have one style of bra and three styles of panties, Michael said. The next step will be to get a boxer around the time of Pacific Bitcoin. Stephan Livera and D-Central The conference concluded with Livera delivering a lively talk on self-custody, contributing to the Bitcoin ecosystem in non-technical ways, and the future of Bitcoins two primary use cases digital payments and acting as a store of value. He also denounced the plethora of speculative tokens and affiliated platforms which he cheekily branded sh*tcoin casinos. If you sit by the bank of the river long enough, you can watch the bodies of your enemies float by, Livera said, quoting ancient philosopher Sun Tzus famous book, Art of War. So I think well see that with some of these sh*tcoin casinos. After it was all said and done, D-Central led a small exclusive group of Bitcoin mining hobbyists in a 3-hour build your own open-source Bitcoin miner workshop. Participants purchased premium tickets for the exercise and received kits with BM1397 Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chips that they eventually turned into working bitcoin miners. 2023 build your own open-source Bitcoin miner workshop by D-Central (Frederick Munawa) Canadian Bitcoin Conference origin story Carlin was born and raised in Ireland, but after the 2007-2009 Great Recession, the mechanical engineer was laid off and given a meager severance package. He used that money to immigrate to Canada with his wife Manuela, where the couple eventually stumbled across Bitcoin circa 2016. I took the money and said let's go to Canada, Carlin said. So we packed up, sold everything, came to Canada, and started a life here. That was back in 2009. While in Canada, Carlin took a liking to the ideas of finance journalist Max Keiser. One of those ideas was buying bitcoin. I was listening to a lot of Max Keiser, Carlin explained. Investing in gold and silver and eventually bitcoin. Despite being an engineer, Carlin didnt contribute to the Bitcoin ecosystem in a technical way. Instead, he leveraged his people skills while Manuela brought her event management expertise, and the couple created the countrys first Canadian Bitcoin Conference. I wanted to give something back and use my skills to contribute to the community, Carlin said. Manuela, my wife, she's a professional event manager. So we combined forces and said, Look, this is something we can do. UPDATE (June 20, 2023, 15:15 UTC): Clarifies that it wasn't the first Bitcoin-exclusive event in Canada. A young child was hit and killed by a car during a family trip to a state park in South Carolina, officials said. The boy a 1-year-old visiting from the mountain town of Asheville, North Carolina was walking toward the parking lot with his relatives. Thats when the child darted out ahead from between two vehicles and was struck, according to the Oconee County Coroners Office of South Carolina. The boy died at the scene. He was identified in a news release as 19-month-old Benny Esquivel. The crash was reported just before 2 p.m. on June 17, the day before Fathers Day. Officials said it happened at Devils Fork State Park, in the Salem area and roughly 40 miles west of Greenville. The park is a gateway to Lake Jocassee, a popular area for fishing and waterfall viewing, according to the S.C. State Parks website. The S.C. Highway Patrol, which reportedly joined the coroners office in investigating the childs death, didnt immediately respond to McClatchy News request for additional information on June 19. 3-year-old fatally struck by moms car during preschool drop off, SC officials say Car hits 6-year-old boarding school bus, causing life-threatening injuries, NC cops say Ocean Gate Titanic Ocean Gate Titanic.jpg - Credit: OceanGate Expeditions Authorities announced that efforts to locate the Titan submersible, which failed to return Sunday from an expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic, have not yielded any results at a Boston press conference Tuesday afternoon. Capt. Jamie Frederick, response coordinator for the First Coast Guard District said that searchers have covered an area of 7,600 square miles so far, an area larger than the size of Connecticut. He added that, based off initial reports that the vessel carried 96 hours worth of breathable air when it submerged, the passengers on board have a little over 40 hours of air left. This is a very complex search, and the unified team is working around the clock to bring all available assets and expertise to bear as quickly as possible, Frederick said. Len Hickey, public affairs officer at the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which is assisting with the search, told Rolling Stone on Tuesday that Canada is sending more ships to the search area, including the Royal Canadian Navy ship HMCS Glace Bay, which will provide a specialized dive medicine team and a six-person hyperbaric recompression chamber. More from Rolling Stone The Titan submerged Sunday morning 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland on a journey to the wreckage of the Titanic. According to the Coast Guard, the Titan lost contact with its support ship at the surface one hour and 45 minutes into the dive. The search, involving multiple agencies, aircraft, boats, and sonar equipment, has been a race against time since the start, since the craft reportedly had 96 hours worth of oxygen available when it disappeared below the surface of the Atlantic. Previous reports on the search for the missing submersible have stated that the Navys manned rescue craft can only descend about 2,000 feet underwater, and that if the divers were discovered closer to the 14,000 foot depth of the Titanic wreckage, an underwater drone would be the only way of reaching them. Story continues The Titan is a 21-foot-long craft from the tourism company OceanGate Expeditions. Its a Cyclops-class vehicle with a single porthole for observation, designed to take paying customers on deep-sea adventures. In a statement, OceanGate said, Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families, adding, We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely. The company also offered thanks for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible. The four passengers onboard alongside a pilot have been identified. The Pakistan-based Engro Corporation announced Tuesday that the companys vice chairman, Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, were among the divers. The father and son embarked on a journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic before contact was lost with their submersible craft, the announcement stated. A representative confirmed to the press that French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet was also onboard. Nargeolet has reportedly been on over 35 dives to the Titanic wreck site, including the first voyage to the wreckage in 1987. Finally, Hamish Harding, chairman of Dubai-based Action Aviation, posted on social media expressing his excitement about joining the expedition. Harding has also reportedly traveled to space on a mission with Jeff Bezos Blue Origin rocket company. The fifth person aboard the boat, its pilot, has not been identified. Best of Rolling Stone Click here to read the full article. At a press conference on Tuesday, United States Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick said search efforts have not yielded any results" Alamy Stock Photo OceanGate submersible Titan Passengers aboard the missing submersive in the Atlantic Ocean could have less than two days to go until they run out of oxygen, according to authorities. The Titan, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, was in the area of the Titanic wreckage in the North Atlantic when it disappeared on Sunday, officials said. At a press conference in Boston on Tuesday, United States Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick said search efforts have not yielded any results. If the vessel is intact, time is running out to reach the sub, which started with about 96 hours worth of oxygen. There's about 40 hours of breathable air left, based on that initial report, Frederick explained. Related: 'Titanic'-Bound Submarine Goes Missing, Search Underway: 'Our Entire Focus Is on the Crewmembers' The search for the Titan began shortly after they lost all communication with Canadian expedition vessel Polar Prince approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes into the dive on Sunday, Frederick said at Tuesdays press conference. The vessel was attempting to dive to the Titanic wreck when it vanished. Alamy Stock Photo The Polar Prince conducted an initial search, and requested assistance from the Coast Guard after failing to locate the missing vessel. Working with the Canadian Coast Guard, the U.S. Coast Guard in Boston assumed the role of search-and-rescue mission coordinator. According to maritime law, this jurisdiction is technically covered by the Coast Guard of Boston. Alamy Stock Photo OceanGate submersible Titan Aboard the submersible were Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, their family and King Charles' Princes Trust International confirmed to PEOPLE on Tuesday. According to ITV and the BBC, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet and British billionaire Hamish Harding were also aboard. Princes Trust International has a longstanding relationship with Shahzada Dawood and his family, DEO Will Straw said in a statement. We are shocked by this awful news, praying for a rescue and sending our thoughts to his family during this deeply challenging time. Story continues Shahzadas father, Hussain Dawood, was a Founding Patron of Princes Trust International, and has been an advisor to Princes Trust International in various capacities. Related: Everything to Know About the 'Titanic'-Bound Sub That Went Missing 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 celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. One of search and rescue crews main concerns is getting the proper equipment to the site before the timeline runs out. Frederick said there is a full court-press effort to get equipment on the scene as soon as possible. Were talking about very heavy equipment, the captain explained. Its a complicated transport operation, but the best professionals in the world are working it. However, the Coast Guard itself does not have the proper equipment to conduct the search, and is relying on other agencies and companies for assistance. It is also a difficult process to get the proper assets to the search area, which is about 900 miles east of Cape Cod and 400 miles south of St. Johns, Newfoundland, Frederick explained. Alamy Stock Photo OceanGate submersible Titan This is a very complex search, and the unified team is working around the clock to bring all available assets and expertise to bear as quickly as possible in an effort to solve this very complex problem, the Coast Guard captain told reporters on Tuesday. The Coast Guard is doing everything possible to locate the Titan, and has engaged in a constant search for the missing submersible since they were alerted to the situation, Frederick said. Multiple agencies are assisting in the search, including the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards, the U.S. Navy, and OceanGate, Frederick said. Several civilian ships have offered their assistance, and numerous private vessels with ROV capabilities are preparing to join the search as well. Related: Billionaire Father and Son Among 5 People on Board Missing 'Titanic' Sub as Desperate Search Continues More than 7,600 square miles of ocean was searched as of Tuesday morning, and the area searched is larger than the state of Connecticut, the captain said. A 194-meter vessel named Deep Energy arrived at the scene on Tuesday, Frederick said. A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dive has commenced at the Titans last known position, he added. Meanwhile, a Canadian P-3 aircraft is conducting a six-hour search of the area, with another P-3 and several C-130 aircrafts scheduled to fly later Tuesday. All of our efforts are focused on finding the sub, Frederick told reporters at Tuesdays press conference. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. [Source] A man has been arrested after allegedly attacking diners with an axe at three neighboring Chinese restaurants in Auckland, New Zealand, on Monday night. How it started: The mans rampage in the suburb of Albany reportedly started at around 9 p.m. The targeted businesses identified as Maya Hotpot, Yues Dumpling Kitchen and Zhangliang Malatang belong to a cluster of restaurants on a street that offer low-cost options of Chinese food. The aftermath: A total of four people were wounded in the attacks, which are believed to be random. Police arrested a 24-year-old Chinese man at the scene. His alleged axe was located on the sidewalk. As of Tuesday, one of the victims remained at a hospital in stable condition. What witnesses are saying: A diner at one of the restaurants managed to block the mans axe, but his friend was unfortunate and suffered serious injuries. More from NextShark: Attacked Above and Below: Demonstrators Protest Anti-Asian Train Attacks in NYC "I was in shock," the friend told the New Zealand Herald. "When I realized what was happening, he tried to target me. I blocked his axe with my hand. He was also trying to target my head, so I blocked the axe with my hand. Meanwhile, a ramen chef from a nearby restaurant described the aftermath to Radio New Zealand as a war zone. "I saw a young person, around their 20s, with blood on their head. They stood for a moment and then collapsed to the ground," he was quoted saying. What happens next: The attackers identity is being withheld under New Zealands legal system. He reportedly appeared in court with an interpreter on Tuesday. His motive remains unknown, but police believe it was not racially motivated. He was charged with wounding with the intention to cause grievous bodily harm and is expected to face more charges. More from NextShark: Filipino American Nurse, 66, Beats COVID-19 After 8-Month Battle Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark! Man sentenced for vandalizing Vancouver's Chinese Cultural Centre with 'kill all' message BTS ends final Permission to Dance on Stage concert by teasing new album Queen of bounce music Big Freedia has released her new single El Nino featuring Lil Wayne and Boyfriend. In a true full-circle moment, Freedia performed at Waynes Weezyana Festival in 2015, and is now collaborating with the fellow NOLA legend on wax. El Nino is about going hard in any storms that come in your life and conquering them! Big Freedia shared in a press release. Its one of my favorite songs on this record, it features my longtime collaborator Boyfriend, and its also my first collab with Lil Wayne, who Ive wanted to work with for a long time. We put it down for our city, and this song is gonna have everyone blowin down! Big Freedia performs at Lil WeezyAna Fest at Champions Square on August 28, 2015 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The single, which hails from her forthcoming album Central City, sees Freedia, Weezy and Boyfriend lyricize standing tall during challenges and weathering any storms in their path. Boyfriend dashes in between verses with, This bi**h bout to be gone with the wind/ Coming at you with category 10/ This bi**h is really on one again/ This bi**h bout to be gone with the wind, as Freedia repeatedly warns, Im bout to go El Nino! Weezy comes in strong on the track delivering a fire verse as he raps, Im bout to go El f**king nino/ Im bout to go Hurricane Katrina/ The top of my cup light purple/ Looking just like Megan Rapinoe/ The stick long like El Camino, it stay within arms reach/ If I step a foot on yall street, Ill be the wolf on yall street. Listen below: El Nino is the fourth single from Big Freedias second studio album set to release this Friday (June 23). Created through her own imprint Queen Diva (ADA Worldwide), the 16-track LP includes features from the aforementioned along with Faith Evans, Ciara, Kelly Price, Kamaiyah, Sonyae, and The Soul Rebels. Freedia has also notoriously worked with Beyonce, Drake and more. In addition to her big album release, Big Freedia is also set to go on tour this summer. The Central City trek will kick off in Brooklyn, NY on June 23 before concluding late in August in Columbus, Ohio. Story continues Check out tour dates below and find tickets here. 6/23: Brooklyn, NY at Ladyland Festival 6/24: San Francisco, CA at Great Northern Pink Block Party 6/25: Denver, CO at Denver Pride 7/13: Chicago, IL at Millennium Park 7/15: Detroit, MI at Soundboard at Motor City Casino Hotel 7/20: Asheville, NC at The Grey Eagle 7/21: Knoxville, TN at The Bijou Theatre 7/22: Memphis, TN at Growlers 7/23: Little Rock, AR at Black Pride 7/28: Napa, CA at Blue Note Jazz Festival 8/4: Newport Jazz Festival 8/5: Montgomery, NY at City WInery 8/19: Charlotte, NC at Charlotte Pride 8/25: Columbus, OH at Wonderbus Music and Arts Festival More from VIBE.com Click here to read the full article. [Source] Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared the United States does not support Taiwanese independence during a press conference held in Beijing on Monday. Status quo on Taiwan: While Blinken mentioned Chinas escalating aggression towards Taiwan, he assured the Chinese government that the US opposes any change in the countrys current stance, emphasizing the various agreements and acts that support the One-China policy. I raised U.S. concerns, shared by a growing number of countries, about the PRCs [Peoples Republic of China] provocative actions in the Taiwan Strait as well as in the East and South China Seas. On Taiwan, I reiterated the longstanding U.S. One China policy. That policy has not changed. Its guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint Communiques, the Six Assurances. We do not support Taiwan independence, we remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side. We continue to expect the peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences. We remain committed to meeting our responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act, including making sure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself. More from NextShark: NYC man pleads guilty to killing senior can collector because hes Asian Mirroring his Chinese counterparts: Prior to Blinken's press conference, he participated in a series of diplomatic meetings that aimed to establish a more cooperative relationship with China, including discussions with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping and Chinese foreign policy czar Wang Yi. Blinken's remarks coincide with those made by Yi, who had previously expressed a similar sentiment on Taiwanese independence during his meeting with Blinken. According to a readout of the discussion from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Yi emphasized China's firm stance on the issue, stating that there is no room for compromise or concession and that the U.S. must adhere to the One-China policy and oppose Taiwanese independence. Story continues More from NextShark: 24-year-old man arrested for throwing pipe bomb at Japan PM Kishida Contradicting Biden's statements: Blinkens position appears to contradict President Joe Biden's previous statements that the U.S. would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion. Advocates of the One China policy have long emphasized its success in preventing open hostilities between China and Taiwan. However, opponents argue that the policy lacks coherence, given the U.S.' interest in defending Taiwan and its tacit recognition of Taiwan's right to self-determination. Critics reactions: Some conservative critics of the Biden administration expressed frustration with Blinken's statement. More from NextShark: California man arrested for dismembering his mothers body and disposing of her in dumpster Rep. Jim Banks, (R, IN-3), who serves on the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party, viewed the stance as a form of "weakness." Meanwhile, senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council Michael Sobolik said Blinken had contradicted his previous commitment to engaging with China on the subject. On May 26, 2022, @SecBlinken promised the US would never engage with Beijing in exchange for walking away from our principles. Today, in Beijing, Blinkens comments contradict that commitment. Raising vague issues of concern is not standing for our values. pic.twitter.com/r9BBfuTgr1 Michael Sobolik (@michaelsobolik) June 19, 2023 Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R, TN-23) criticized the Biden administration for not standing up to "bullies." To answer the question posed by the title of his new book Who Needs Gay Bars?, sociologist Greggor Mattson visited more than 300 of them across 39 states. He undertook this journey as a death knell seemingly sounded for bars serving LGBTQ+ people; by Mattsons count, 50% of all gay bars shuttered in the 19 years from 2012 to 2021. Gentrification, broader social trends, and the rise of hookup apps have all played some role in this winnowing, but there is ultimately no single explanation for the precarity facing the vast array of queer bars dotting the country. The book, which is subtitled Bar-Hopping Through Americas Endangered LGBTQ+ Places, is organized into sections that address particular themes (like ambivalence toward gay bars and whos welcome in them) and types of bars (including lesbian and fetish bars). Each chapter tells the story of a bar that Mattson visited, from Troupe429 in Norwalk, Connecticut to The Raven in Anchorage, Alaska. Some bars are the only oasis serving queer people for miles around, while those in big cities may be competing for attention with an entire gayborhood. I did my best to go out of my way to places where I could hear stories that I didnt know, Mattson tells Them. Beneath the structural factors affecting gay bars, Mattsons title provokes a perhaps more existential question: Who is the we who need gay bars? Our community is so diverse, and answers to that question come from particular points of view, Mattson says. We may gravitate toward gay bars when were lonely, or when we move to a new city or we may not feel comfortable in them at all. But if we want them to be there when we do need them, that means we, as a community, need to think about our spaces, Mattson says. Gay bars have played an integral role in the LGBTQ+ rights movement, not only during flash points like the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan, but in quieter, enduring ways too, such as in rural areas, where Pride events and other community outreach efforts are often organized inside the local bar. Given the hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ bills working their way through statehouses across the country, the stakes of coming together, both to fight and find joy, are escalating every day. Story continues Below, Mattson speaks to Them about the insights he gathered while putting 10,000 miles on his car, sharing what he learned from talking to gay bar owners and patrons about everything from straight people in their midst, strategies for keeping the doors open, and why bars that welcome the entire community are the way of the future. Who Needs Gay Bars? by Greggor Mattson $28.00, Bookshop You cover an expansive range of bars, both in terms of geography and the function they serve in their communities. How would you describe, in particular, the role of a gay bar that may be the only one for miles around? I called them outposts, or bars that are more than an hours drive from the next nearest gay bar. I was surprised by both how similar these bars were to each other and how long they had deliberately integrated with straight people. Theyre not specialists; they serve all of the LGBTQs in very broad regions, with people driving from more than an hour away. Queer people in these areas wanted a place that was welcoming to their family, friends, and co-workers. Almost all of these bars were in red counties in conservative states, where there seemed to be something radical about living an openly queer life alongside people who may be voting for politicians who dont share your interests. Thats a contradiction that I didnt find an easy answer to. You found that the growing number of straight people in gay bars signals some interesting social dynamics. On one hand, it can be considered a sign of greater acceptance of LGBTQ+ people within the broader culture. On the other, their presence may also dilute the feeling of community. Can you talk about some of the ambivalence you discovered around the question of straight patrons in gay bars? I think straight people need to have a conversation about why their bars are so broken and straight women dont feel safe there. Many of the white gay men who complain about women in gay bars also bring their own girlfriends along, so they need to look in the mirror. And whos to say which people at the bar are actually straight? Bisexuality and pansexuality are the fastest growing LGBTQ+ identities. One of the things I love about a gay bar is the presumption that everyone is queer until they prove otherwise. If theyre queer for the night, thats fine with me. And if people arent following our queer norms, we can help educate them on how to be good guests in our spaces in a welcoming way. Even in bigger cities like New York and San Francisco, theres a move toward bars that are less specialized and more welcoming of the broader queer community. Can you talk about the development of that shift and what it suggests? One of the most notable trends over the last 40 years has been the decline of gender segregation in gay bars. The two kinds of bars that have declined the most are cruisy mens bars and lesbian bars. The biggest rise, and by far the most common type of bar, is one where all genders, or at least men and women, party together. I think thats partly due to our politics; we have been organizing for quite some time as an LGBTQ+ community, and it seems natural that we would have friends who dont share our exact queer identity. Its also a smart decision business-wise; and for justice, its the right thing to do. But even queer bars that are deliberately trying to support all facets of our community can still host pop-up parties that cater to specific demographics and interests. LGBTQ+ places are not going away. The question is: what kind of places will we make? You found that bars serving queer people of color have been on an especially steep decline. What are some of the particular challenges that QPOC bars face? If youre serving a multiply marginalized community, youre already starting with people who have less money to support you. And many bars are quite segregated. As I traveled the country, I was reading the Census Bureau's statistics for each county and seeing that bars didnt reflect that diversity. Even in some of the biggest cities that are half people of color, you go to a bar and its all white folks. One of the problems is white folks only wanting to hang out in white spaces, and the money follows them. Another challenge I found facing QPOC bars was appealing to a broad range of ages, serving elders as well as the newly 21. The issue of safety comes up a lot in the book as well, both in terms of intra-community pressures, like racism and transphobia, and increasingly from outside threats. What were some of your findings about the contested safety of gay bars? I am very ambivalent about calling gay bars safe spaces. I understand that its a place where you can express erotic interest and your gender identity without fear of violence. But bars are not outside society racism, transphobia, ageism are all present. Those of us who are fat are going to be body shamed at some point. I often wonder who has the luxury of safety, not just in a gay bar, but out on the streets? We know that trans women of color are not accorded that luxury in many places at all. So to me the question is: how can I help make my space safe for all of us? Even while Im having fun, can I look out for other people hoping that they will also look out for me? Some bars you visited arose out of a need for community and mutual support among LGBTQ+ people, including during the AIDS epidemic. The community is in another moment of crisis, given the legislative attacks were facing right now. What role do you see gay bars playing as that continues to unfold? Gay bars have often been catalysts to activism. Local Pride celebrations are often organized out of gay bars, whether its from a conversation that blossoms into something larger, or the bar physically gives over the space for the banners to be sewn and the floats to be decorated. Our places have the potential to be sites for social change. And no less important, there is precious little queer joy in the world. These places dont always have to be freighted with politics. Just being happy with other queer people, and meeting strangers who see you for who you are that is a political intervention in the world, too. And I hope we dont lose the moments of queer joy that we need, especially in these times of crisis. From Texas to Utah, Take a Life-Changing Road Trip Through Queer, Red State America As part of the *them.* x W Hotels Summer Book Club, were reading *Real Queer America,* a travel memoir about the beauty of LGBTQ\+ communities in conservative places. Sponsored by W Hotels. You found that the rate of gay bar closures remained steady during the first two years of COVID-19, and that theres actually been a rebound since 2021, though not quite to pre-pandemic levels. What is your read on where we are right now? Are gay bars in crisis or having a moment, or both? There has been a rebound, mostly in larger cities. And there have been changes in the kinds of gay bars that are making it. The number of lesbian bars nearly doubled between 2021 and 2023, while bars that serve mainly men tanked, from about 45% of all gay bars to about 25%. Now, bars that serve all genders account for more than 60% of all gay bars. That doesnt bode well for cruisy men's bars, some of which are learning to adapt. But its consistent with the finding that lesbian bars tend to welcome all genders, including trans and nonbinary folks, and even straight cis men. So we can look to lesbian bars for a model of how do you run an all-gender space that still centers and celebrates part of our community. Weve heard repeatedly during the COVID pandemic, from our elders who lived through HIV/AIDS, that crisis is an opportunity for community. Im not sure that that lesson was heeded. But rather than sit on our hands at home, we can choose to go out and make our spaces welcoming in a way that serves all of us. This new pandemic reminded queer folks that we need each other, and that there is something special about being in the presence of other humans. LGBTQ+ places are not going away. The question is: what kind of places will we make? Get the best of whats queer. Sign up for Thems weekly newsletter here. Originally Appeared on them. The actress, who's also appearing in Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie' movie this summer, opened up to PEOPLE about her career achievements during Netflix's Tudum fan event in Brazil Alexandre Schneider/Getty Nicola Coughlan Nicola Coughlan is feeling proud of her achievements. The actress knows her teenage self would be thrilled to see where adult Nicola is now in her career, which has gone from strength to strength over the last few years. Oh my God, Id be so, so happy, Coughlan, 36, told PEOPLE on Saturday at Netflixs Tudum: A Global Fan Event in Sao Paulo. Coughlan rose to fame playing Clare Devlin in British comedy Derry Girls, before landing the role of Penelope Featherington in the Netflix period drama Bridgerton. This year she will also star as Diplomat Barbie in Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. A character poster of the star shows her wearing a sparkly pink dress with large tulle sleeves alongside the words, This Barbie is a diplomat. Related: 'Bridgerton' 's Nicola Coughlan Compares Fame to 'Being a Dog on the Tube': It's 'The Same Energy' Warner Bros Nicola Coughlan in the Barbie movie Coughlan told PEOPLE that her life now is what Ive always wanted and I think something about it happening to me not in my 20s, it makes me look at it with a different lens, and I appreciate it so much. I mean ... my job gets to bring me to Brazil and to meet all these people. I never thought Id get to do something like that, and its really special. Coughlan also raved about attending the Netflix fan event on Sunday via a series of snapshots on her Instagram showing herself wearing a black off-the-shoulder dress with sculptured sleeves and blue gloves. TUDUM Show Day , she wrote. Im not sure Ill ever be able to process being on stage in front of 15,000 of you but Brazil you could not have given me a warmer welcome and its been beyond an honour to meet so many of you and feel the love you have for Bridgerton. Now can we have a little commotion for the dress? Story continues She captioned a video of herself on the red carpet simply with the Portuguese word for "thank you": "Obrigada." Related: 'Bridgerton' First Look: See Penelope and Colin Exchange Loving Looks in Season 3 Laurence Cendrowicz/Netfli At the event, the streaming service teased whats in store for Bridgerton and released a few glamorous glimpses at season 3. The next season of the Regency drama will follow the relationship of Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Coughlans character as she continues to lead a double life as Lady Whistledown, the anonymous writer who details the gossip of "the ton" and who is voiced by Dame Julie Andrews. At the end of season 2, Penelopes best friend Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) discovered that she was Lady Whistledown, which caused tension in their friendship. In one image from season 3, which started filming last July, Colin is seen smirking at a giddy Penelope, while another shot shows the duo gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. Liam Daniel/Netflix 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. Seasons 1 and 2 of Bridgerton and its spinoff Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story can be streamed in full on Netflix. Barbie hits theaters on July 21. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. (Bloomberg) -- Germany will finance a subsidy package worth 10 billion ($10.9 billion) for a planned Intel Corp. chip facility in Magdeburg via its special climate and transformation fund, according to people familiar with the plans. Most Read from Bloomberg Chancellor Olaf Scholzs ruling coalition established the 178-billion fund in July last year to pay for Germanys transformation to a more sustainable economy and for climate protection measures. Financed partly by income from emissions trading and carbon pricing, money from the fund was also allocated to ease the burden on consumers and companies from high energy prices. Spokespeople for the Economy Ministry in Berlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Intel plans to invest about 30 billion in the semiconductor site in the former communist east, which Scholz said Monday represents the single largest foreign direct investment in German history. The US company initially agreed to build the facility at a cost of about 17 billion with just short of 7 billion in government aid but postponed the start of construction due to economic headwinds. The enlarged subsidy package will include both traditional support in the form of financial subsidies as well as price caps on energy, people familiar with the deal have said. Speaking at an industry lobby conference in Berlin on Tuesday, Economy Minister Robert Habeck argued that the government is getting more value for money with the revised agreement. People can of course tell me not to spend any money but when we spend less for more investment it seems to have been pretty well negotiated, he said. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Some of our posts include links to retailers. If you buy something from clicking on one, G/O Media may earn a commission. Because editorial staff is independent of commerce, affiliate linking does not influence our editorial content. Photo: NDZ/STAR MAX/IPx (AP) CBS Mornings Gayle King noticed a certain co-host being absent on Mondays episode, which coincided with Juneteenth. Tony Dukoupil was sarcastically called out by the legendary media personality for having the day off, which is about Black folks finally being freed from slavery. Gayle King, alongside Black anchors Nate Burleson and Vladimir Duthiers, mentioned on-air that they showed up to work on the federal holiday when Dukoupilwho is whitedid not. Read more Truth be told, I was thinking the same thing. Just didnt expect @GayleKing to say it out loud #HappyJuneteenth pic.twitter.com/ivrTSaWKeQ Ed Brockenbrough (@DrEdBrock) June 19, 2023 Is it lost on anybody that the only white guy at the table is off today to celebrate Juneteenth, and we are still here, King remarked. Glad to be here. I hope Tony is celebrating his Juneteenth holiday! Welcome to CBS Mornings! Burleson and Duthiers couldnt hold back their laughter as King simply stated what the hosts were thinking. Burleson jumped in and quickly remarked Tony, we love you. King chimed in to add We do. Dokoupil has co-anchored the morning show since 2019. King has been at CBS Mornings since 2011 and Burleson joined in 2021. Juneteenth became a federal holiday after President Biden signed it into law in 2021. The Root has chronicled various aspects of Juneteenth all month, including why its important, the way businesses have gotten it wrong and which Black entertainers deserve reparations. Story continues Even the White House threw a Juneteenth party to remember last week. Antjuan Seawright wrote for The Root why its important to consider Juneteenth an American holiday instead of just a Black one. Honest history mattersand Juneteenth matters because the struggle means something; because bigotry cant hide unless we let it; because whether you were born a slave or a planters son, were all Americans now...thenceforward and forever free, Seawright stated. But remember: freedom is also earned in every election. Thats not just a Democratic messageits the American message. 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. Taylor Swift announced a series of Latin and South American tour dates for her The Eras run earlier this month, and Chilean President Gabriel Boric is hoping to get the superstar to add Chile to her list. Boric who is a self-proclaimed Swiftie shared in a video posted to YouTube that he reached out to Swift. I wrote to her not too long ago, lets see if she responds, so that one day she can include us in her Latin America tour, he says in the clip, translated to English. One day, shell listen to the Chilean Swifties and I have no doubt shell come to Chile. Hopefully sometime within the next three years. More from Billboard The total number of Latin American Eras Tour shows now stands at 12, each of which will see support from Sabrina Carpenter. The leg kicks off on August 24 in Mexico City, Mexico, where Swift will play four shows before heading to Buenos Aires Argentina on November 11 for three nights. On November 18, shell head down to Brazil to play two shows in Rio de Janeiro and three shows in Sao Paulo. Earlier on Tuesday (June 20), Swift also announced more international dates in Europe, Asia and Australia. EXCUSE ME HI I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY, Swift wrote on Instagram revealing the news. I cant wait to see so many of you on The Eras Tour next year at these new international dates! See below for Chilean President Borics thoughts on Swift potentially performing in Chile below. Best of Billboard Click here to read the full article. Portraying "Weird Al" Yankovic on screen was not on Daniel Radcliffe's bucket list. "It was not something I could have predicted," the British actor tells EW's The Awardist podcast of playing the Grammy-winning singer and parody songwriter in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. "But that's the joy of my job, that sometimes you get something like this and go, 'Wait, what?'" To be clear, the Roku Channel movie is not a true biopic for starters, the Harry Potter star is some seven inches shorter than the man he plays. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 01: "Weird Al" Yankovic and Daniel Radcliffe attend the "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story" New York Premiere at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on November 01, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images) Theo Wargo/Getty 'Weird Al' Yankovic with 'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story' star Daniel Radcliffe at the New York premiere in Nov. 2022 "The world's first reaction to hearing that I had been cast as Weird Al was my first reaction on being offered the part," Radcliffe says of the questions surrounding the casting news. "But then as I read it, I was like, 'Oh, right, I see why this can work, why it works with me.' It was not predicted but a lovely surprise." That surprise includes lots of fictionalization and few facts. While Radcliffe's Weird Al is still a parody songwriter, plays the accordion purchased by his family from a door-to-door salesman, and recorded "My Bologna" (a play on "My Sharona") in a public restroom on his college campus, the story co-written by Weird Al himself along with the movie's director, Eric Appel throws everything else out the door for an absurdly funny plot involving a relationship between Al and Madonna (Evan Rachel Wood), who is kidnapped by drug lord Pablo Escobar (Arturo Castro), after which Al becomes an action hero of sorts in an attempt to save her. WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story The Roku Channel Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna and Daniel Radcliffe as Weird Al in 'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story' "[Daniel] is such a great actor that can play both drama and comedy," Appel says of thinking of Radcliffe for the role. "Obviously he's carried a movie franchise, as the lead actor. Al and I both were big fans of his, and Al had seen Dan singing 'The Elements' song on television, on the Graham Norton Show that's what really sealed the deal for him. But we were just such big fans of his entire body of work and felt that he would really understand what we were going for. What we really needed was him to lean into the drama of this character in an absurd way, and that's what's gonna make it really funny. He just really checked all the boxes for us." Story continues One of the boxes, of course, was the performance aspect. In addition to that bit on Graham Norton, Radcliffe also rapped Blackalicious' "Alphabet Aerobics" on The Tonight Show, and has performed in the Broadway musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. So to take the stage as Weird Al, Radcliffe says, wasn't necessarily out of his comfort zone. "I definitely was really relishing in it, and there was something about the environment and the costume and everything that just really helps you to commit to all of it," says Radcliffe, who elsewhere says that the trifecta of Weird Al's wig, Hawaiian shirt, and accordion was "the complete package." The performance scenes were filmed in a big theater, which encouraged him to "fill [the] space and be as big as it [is]. And we had a very game group of background [actors] who were giving me a lot off camera and were doing a lot of cheering and making it feel like a concert." WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY Everett Collection Daniel Radcliffe in 'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story' Radcliffe also got to tap back into his 10-plus years spent on the set of the Harry Potter movies for a pivotal action scene at a diner, where Escobar's men capture Madonna just after Al has confessed that he's hitting rock bottom and doesn't know what he'd do if anything happens to her. He jumps into action, throwing punches and metal napkin holders, flipping burly men over his shoulders, snapping dish towels, and dodging cast iron skillets like it's his job. "The things Potter taught me about stunt work was concentrating and all of that stuff, but just putting yourself in the hands of the stunt team and working with them 'cause they know what they're doing," he says of the stunt team, including "amazing" coordinator Jake Huang and his "brilliant" stunt double Andrew Franklin. "That scene would not have happened were not for the both of them and how great they were. But yeah, it was super fun. I love getting to do that kind of stuff because I got to do so much of it on Potter. I don't get to do as much of it anymore, but I got to do a lot of it actually on this film as Weird Al." Hear more of our conversation with Radcliffe and Appel, including his writing process with Yankovic and how they landed the movie's many cameos, in the full podcast below. Check out more from EW's The Awardist, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights leading up to all the major award shows. Related content: Prosecutors and defense lawyers could still file motions that could delay the proceedings Alex Wong/Getty Images Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers a speech during the evening session on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The criminal trial of Donald Trump for his alleged retention of classified documents (and what prosecutors say was a conspiracy to obstruct justice) has been scheduled for Aug. 14. On Tuesday morning, a Florida federal judge scheduled the jury trial which will be held in U.S. District Court in Fort Pierce "during the two-week period commencing August 14, 2023, or as soon thereafter as the case may be called." It's unclear, however, if the trial will actually begin on Aug. 14, as prosecutors and/or defense lawyers may still seek to file motions prior to that time which could delay the proceedings. Related: Donald Trump Charged with Violating the Espionage Act in Historic Federal Indictment Trump, 77, is accused of 37 criminal offenses: 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information (a violation of the Espionage Act); one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice; one count of withholding a document or record; one count of corruptly concealing a document or record; one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation; one count of scheme to conceal; and one count of false statements and representations. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts. Each of the charges against the former president carry potential prison sentences, with the obstruction charges carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years per count. Violating the Espionage Act carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years, and both the conspiracy and false statements charges carry sentences of up to five years per offense. In an unsealed, 38-count indictment, prosecutors allege Trump retained over 100 classified documents with some of the most sensitive topics originating from seven intelligence agencies, including the CIA, NSA and Department of Defense. According to the indictment, documents about some of the most sensitive topics were stored in "a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, [Trumps] bedroom, and a storage room," all at Mar-a-Lago. Story continues Related: The Trump Indictment Charges and Allegations: Full Recap The indictment comes after the FBI conducted a search at the former president's Mar-a-Lago home on Aug. 8 as part of a criminal investigation that began after the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) revealed in February 2022 that officials had removed from the property 15 boxes of documents that should have been handed over at the end of the Trump presidency. 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 celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Earlier this week, a federal judge on Monday issued a protective order barring Trump or his attorneys from disclosing evidence in the case on the news, or on social media. What's more, the order stipulates that Trump can only view evidence in the case if he's being supervised by one of his attorneys. The Discovery Materials, along with any information derived therefrom, shall not be disclosed to the public or the news media, or disseminated on any news or social media platform, without prior notice to and consent of the United States or approval of the Court," the order, portions of which were published by outlets including ABC News, reads. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Eugene Levy initially passed on the offer for "The Reluctant Traveler," which would take him outside of his comfort zone. Now he wants a Season 2. (Pat Martin / For The Times) Comedian Eugene Levy is a nature lover, which is why his arm is shoulder-deep in an elephants rectum. Thats where youll find him in Episode 6 of his Apple TV+ show The Reluctant Traveler. Its not for laughs and its not for love, its just the 76-year-old Schitts Creek" star taking a stool sample from an ailing pachyderm, something he never would have thought of doing sitting at home, which is generally where hed rather be. Instead, the series has him circling the globe in episodes set in Finland, Costa Rica, the Maldives, Venice, Utah, Lisbon, South Africa and Tokyo. Each one features five-star resorts, A-list cuisine and activities tied to local customs. In Finland, he goes ice fishing and tastes reindeer meat. I really didnt like it but I chewed it and said, This is pretty good! And they got all happy and that was great, he recalls from his home in Toronto. I could have said, Honestly, I knew I wouldn't like it.' Read more: A visibly nervous Eugene Levy is the best part of TV's latest travel show Its not a show about a grouchy old neurotic who learns to love to travel. Instead, its a show about a grouchy old neurotic who learns to deal with it. The scariest elements arent the deadly big five of the African savanna lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo. No, for Levy the most frightening thing of all is playing a role hes never played before himself. I was nervous about it because I never really wanted to be myself on camera, he says. As a character actor in comedy, I put on looks. I can take it as far as I want to take it because its not me. But hosting this thing and being yourself, talking about traveling and food and meeting people, that was completely new territory for me. Which is why Levy was so reluctant to participate in The Reluctant Traveler. But executives at Apple TV+ were huge Schitts Creek fans and thought the man who played Johnny Rose, co-manager of the sitcoms Rosebud Motel, would be perfect to introduce audiences to many of the worlds finest hotels. When Levys agent first mentioned it, the comedian flatly rejected the offer. And when executive producer David Brindley insisted on a phone meeting, Levy took the call intending to politely list all the reasons he was passing. Story continues They said this is actually a better show because its with somebody whos got a lot of issues about traveling, he recalls. So, when the idea was pitched back to me, I said OK, I get that. If I can be myself and not have to pretend to be excited about every single thing, that made sense to me. The first episode takes him to the frozen north of Finland, where he looks cold and uncomfortable and hardly happy to dine on reindeer. But by the fourth episode he inches toward embracing adventure. His fear of heights freezes him on a suspension bridge in the Costa Rican rainforest, and terrifies him during a desert copter flight in Utah. But at the same time, he begins to warm to the people around him, whether it's Milo, a member of the Navajo tribe who invites him to his nephews traditional dance performance, or Alessandro, a third-generation Venetian gondolier who, nearing retirement, is preparing to hand his boat down to his son. I understand family, I totally get it, Levy says, having co-created Schitts Creek with his son, Dan. The two co-starred as father and son while his daughter Sarah played cafe owner Twyla Sands. The Levys shepherded the show through six seasons, winning a record nine Emmy Awards in a single season for a comedy series and two Golden Globes. (Pat Martin / For The Times) Read more: The 2023 Emmys BuzzMeter predicts the nominees I was just delighting in watching him work, he says of his son. And my daughter, I got such a kick out of watching both of them on camera. But I also got a big kick watching him in the writing room and how he started taking over the room, how quickly he developed into a really topnotch showrunner in such a short time. Just a lot of pride in that experience. Born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Levy was in his 20s when he auditioned for the touring production of Godspell, which was casting from nearby Toronto for performances north of the border. He and his buddy Martin Short tried out, as did such young hopefuls as Gilda Radner, who would go on to "Saturday Night Live" fame, and actor Victor Garber (Titanic). It was our very first professional show, Levy recalls. The call-back auditions are still so memorable to Marty and me. We still talk about it a lot, seeing Gilda Radner for the first time auditioning. Her audition song was Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, and we though how cute is this girl? How sad that she doesnt know what to audition with. Little did we know thats all she needed. It was an amazing show, our first show. And the most exciting thing about it was we got a check every single week, $160 bucks. Also in the show were Andrea Martin and Dave Thomas, both of whom later joined Levy, Short and John Candy in the cast of the Canadian sketch comedy show SCTV. It ran from 1976 to 1984, launching the careers of numerous comic greats and winning Levy two Emmys for his writing. Its the subject of the upcoming An Afternoon With SCTV, a long-awaited Netflix documentary directed by Martin Scorsese. I know he loved the show, which is why he wanted to do it, Levy says of the renowned filmmaker. It was a great show. I know I was in it but I have enough objectivity to know it really was a great show. With the film tied up in post-production, Levy says he hopes to see it before he dies. Or at least before the second season of The Reluctant Traveler. Im more confident being on camera now than I was when the show started, he says. The basic principle of this is dont be afraid to try something when it comes to traveling. I was always the one to say, Knowing me, Im not going to like it. So why would I even bother? And now at least I can say I was there. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Gannett, the countrys largest newspaper publisher, has sued Google, accusing the tech giant of having an illegal monopoly over the technology that powers online advertising. The allegations, which mirror those lodged by the Department of Justice in a suit that seeks to break up the Alphabet-owned company, opens another front in a sprawling legal battle Google is fighting across the globe over its dominance in the digital ad market. In the complaint filed Tuesday in New York federal court, Gannett says Google has carried out a sophisticated, anticompetitive, and deceptive scheme for well over a decade to control the tools that publishers and advertisers use to buy and sell online ad space. The company alleges Google is taking a monopolistic cut of revenue, leading to underinvestment in newsrooms and newspapers going out of business. While the online ad market generates $200 billion a year, publishers have seen revenue drop by nearly 70 percent since 2009, according to the complaint, which notes that 170 Gannett publications have shuttered in the past four years. More from The Hollywood Reporter In 2022 alone, Google made $30 billion from manipulating auctions for ad space across the internet, states the suit. That is six times more revenue than every single U.S. news publication made from digital advertising, combined. Google, as middleman, has dwarfed the content creators that invest in journalists, editors, photographers, and many others to produce important news content. The complaint is the latest in a series of suits Google faces over its ad business. In January, the government and 17 state attorneys general filed an antitrust complaint against Google looking to split up the company, as did the European Commission last week. U.K. antitrust enforcers have found that Googles ad practices harm publishers, pointing to its ability and incentive to exploit its position on both sides of a transaction to favour its own sources of supply and demand. Story continues In a statement, Dan Taylor, vice president of Google Ads, disputed the allegations. These claims are simply wrong, he says. Publishers have many options to choose from when it comes to using advertising technology to monetize in fact, Gannett uses dozens of competing ad services, including Google Ad Manager. While stressing that publishers keep the vast majority of revenue, he adds, Well show the court how our advertising products benefit publishers and help them fund their content online. Google made $209 billion in ad sales in 2021, accounting for 81 percent of its revenue, according to the complaint filed by the Justice Department. The core of the case and our position is that Google abuses its control over the ad server monopoly to make it increasingly difficult for rival exchanges to run competitive auctions, said Gannett CEO Mike Reed in opinion piece published Tuesday by company-owned USA Today. Further, Googles exchange rigs its own auctions so Googles advertisers can buy ad space at bargain prices. That means less investment in online content and fewer ad slots for publishers to sell and advertisers to buy. Google always wins because it takes a growing share of that shrinking pie. Virtually every publisher in the country uses an ad server to manage their inventory of ad space, or so-called impressions. The ad server identifies when an impression is available for sale, solicits bids and chooses the winning offer. By controlling the platform publishers use to sell their ad slots, Google forces them to sell growing shares of that ad space at depressed prices, Gannet alleges. Google in 2007 paid $3.1 billion to acquire DoubleClick, which had the industry-leading publisher ad server at the time of its purchase. The deal provided Google with direct access to website publishers, including their ad inventory, in addition to a significant presence with advertisers. DoubleClick now controls over 90 percent of the publisher ad server market, according to the complaint. Gannett also claims Google controls the ad exchange market, which organizes real-time auctions among potential buyers for ad space. While Googles exchange controls more than 60 percent of the market, competitors have shares in the single digits, the suit says. Gannett alleges that Google largely bars buyers using its exchange from participating in any others. By tying its services together, Google has effectively ensured that publishers have to go through the company to reach the majority of buyers, according to the complaint. Additionally, Gannett accuses Google of rigging bids in its exchange by trading on inside information from its ad server. To take one example: Google prohibits publishers from communicating publisher-owned data about readers to rival exchanges, which results in rival exchanges returning substantially lower bids, the suit states. Then, [DoubleClick Ad Exchange] trades on those depressed bids by returning bids that are a penny higher, even though [DoubleClick] buyers originally submitted substantially higher bids to [DoubleClick] for the same ad slot. That means Google wins more inventory at depressed prices. Gannett argues Google pursued a string of acquisitions to cement its position as the dominant intermediary between advertisers and publishers. Since 2009, Google has acquired AdMob, which allows mobile app publishers to sell ads; Invite Media, which enables advertisers and agencies to bid in real time on display ad space; and AdMeld, which helps publishers field ad offers from advertisers. In June, hundreds of journalists across two dozen newspapers owned by Gannett walked off the job to protest deep cuts to their newsrooms and low pay. They criticized the companys merger with GateHouse Media in 2019, urging a vote of no confidence against Reed to company shareholders in a letter that stressed his sky-high pay of $7.7 million in 2021. The deal loaded Gannett up with debt and forced it to slash hundreds of millions of dollars off its books. In its first quarter earnings report, Gannett said it generated $10.3 million in profit and surpassed two million digital subscriptions. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Click here to read the full article. Screen legend Harrison Ford, who has a reputation for being guarded during interviews, briefly let that guard down during a BBC Radio 1 conversation on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Ford, who turns 81 next month, has said its his final movie as the character hes portrayed since he first donned the iconic fedora in 1981s Raiders of the Lost Ark. Toward the end of the interview, BBC Radio 1s Ali Plumb asked Ford about Indys enduring legacy and why the character and the movies resonate so much with fans. I think the thing that I most admire about them is the depth and subtlety of the emotion, and the importance of emotion in these films, he said. He added: As this last one concerns age and frailty and changing nature of life, it was especially compelling to me because I am of that age and I wanted it to feel real for the audience. I wanted them to see the complexity of that experience with someone theyve spent 40 years with. Plumb replied with a message no doubt shared by many fans. Can I just say on behalf of all the fans, thank you. Its been such an adventure, Plumb said. We love you so much. I dont want to make you blush or anything, but you mean the world to us and thank you. Ford seemed at a loss for words at first. And I must say to you thank you sincerely, he said. It means the world to me. So I think I made Harrison Ford cry (a bit) He certainly made me cry, I'll be honest with you pic.twitter.com/DCRIqWLv83 Ali Plumb (@AliPlumb) June 19, 2023 Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny opens on June 30. Ford has been busier than ever lately, with roles on both the big and small screen. Hes taking over the Thaddeus Thunderbolt Ross role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe starting with next years Captain America: Brave New World. Story continues Hes also starring with Helen Mirren in 1923, the Yellowstone prequel airing on Paramount+, and many expect him to get an Emmy nomination for his role on Shrinking on Apple TV+. Both shows have been renewed for a second season. See the full BBC Radio 1 interview, which includes Dial of Destiny co-stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen and Boyd Holbrook, below: The supermodel and photographer talks to PEOPLE about her experience working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in honor of World Refugee Day UNHCR/Hector Perez Helena Christensen has spent decades in front of the camera. But the time shes spent behind itphotographing displaced people and sharing their stories as a partner to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugeeshas also made a lasting impact. Its the biggest honor and privilege, says the 54-year-old Copenhagen native. The way it influences and inspires me on a personal level is the greatest gift. Recently Christensen traveled to Colombia, where more than 2.5 million Venezuelan migrants have sought sanctuary. Here she recounts her trip, timed to World Refugee Day on June 20. UNHCR/Hector Perez UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Helena Christensen buying jewelry from the women in the Quibdo community How have your experiences with the UNHCR impacted you? I started volunteering in 2015 and became an ambassador in 2019. Almost every year Ive gone to camps, where Ive taken photographs and talked to refugees and displaced people and shared their stories. It puts everything in perspective. We live in our little safe worlds, but these people only have their realities- and its way more hardcore than we can even begin to understand. I am learning in my own way. Every time I go, I try to absorb as much as I can. UNHCR/Hector Perez Christensen photographing displaced people in the Quibdo region (above) How was your trip to Colombia? I met with a trans woman and learned more about her hardships and those of her community. I also met the Indigenous tribes [in Villanueva] and photographed some of the women. And I reconnected with a woman whom I first met eight years ago, who is still dealing with displacement. UNHCR/Helena Christensen Christensen's photograph of the beadwork displaced people in the Quibdo region craft and sell to make ends meet (above) What was the reunion like? Shes still in the same place. I knocked on her door, and we fell into each others arms. Her kids are eight years older, and theyre still so caring and loving. Shes still so beautiful. Their situation is complex, but I can see the ways the UNHCR makes a difference in the lives of people like them. UNHCR/Hector Perez Helena Christensen walking with some of the women in the Quibdo region What can people do to get a better understanding of the refugee crisis? How can we help? Story continues Read stories. Volunteer locally. Make a small or big donation or travel and work in a refugee camp for a few months. There are so many refugees traveling all over the world- escaping one place, fleeing to another. We need to open our minds and arms to these people by integrating them into our communities. It is the power of all of us that will make a difference. For more information, visit unrefugees.org For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. The 'Titanic'-bound submersible included five passengers, including an operator and four mission specialists EVARISTO SA/AFP via Getty; Victoria Sirakova/Getty; OceanGate OceanGate has given a new update on the five passengers aboard the Titan, a Titanic-bound submersible, after it went missing on June 18. On June 22, the company shared a statement with PEOPLE announcing that the five people onboard the missing submersible are believed to have died. "We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost," the company said in a statement. "These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the worlds oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew," the statement continued. Operated by OceanGate Expeditions, the submersible first set out on Sunday morning, June 18. However, nearly two hours into the dive, the crew of the Canadian expedition vessel Polar Prince lost contact with the submersible, per the United States Coast Guard. A search for the Titan began shortly after. During a press conference held on June 20, United States Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick confirmed there were five passengers on board, including an operator and four mission specialists. EVARISTO SA/AFP via Getty; Victoria Sirakova/Getty; OceanGate Among them included Shahzada Dawood, who worked with the Princes Trust International and The British Asian Trust, set up by King Charles, and French diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet, who had a long-standing history with the Titanic. Heres everything to know about the passengers of the Titan. Hamish Harding Victoria Sirakova/Getty British businessman Hamish Harding was on board; he previously shared on Instagram on June 17 that he would be a part of the trip. Harding was a British businessman and pilot based in the United Arab Emirates. He previously told Business Aviation Magazine that he grew up in Hong Kong with his parents before qualifying as a pilot in the mid-1980s while studying at Cambridge University. Story continues The owner of global sales company Action Aviation, Harding had been on several explorations over the years, including visiting the South Pole several times (once with Buzz Aldrin) and going to space as part of the suborbital Blue Origin NS-21 mission in June 2022. Shortly after the Titan went missing, Hardings stepson Brian Szasz, from his wifes previous relationship, confirmed that Harding was aboard the vessel as he asked for thoughts and prayers in a since-deleted post. Szasz later shared a series of emotional videos on his Instagram Story on June 22, just hours before the vessels breathing air supply was expected to run out. Shahzada and Suleman Dawood SETI Institute Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood were both aboard the submersible, their family and King Charles' Princes Trust International confirmed to PEOPLE on June 20. Shahzada was a trustee at the SETI Institute, a non-profit research organization on life and intelligence in the universe. Per his bio on the website, he has an M.Sc. in Global Textile Marketing from Philadelphia University, USA, and an LLB from Buckingham University, UK. The website also states that Shahzada, a British citizen, lived "in the UK with his wife, Christine, his children Sulaiman and Alina as well as their dog and cat. He also worked with the Princes Trust International and The British Asian Trust, set up by King Charles. Princes Trust International has a longstanding relationship with Shahzada Dawood and his family, DEO Will Straw said in a statement. We are shocked by this awful news, praying for a rescue and sending our thoughts to his family during this deeply challenging time. Paul-Henry Nargeolet JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images French diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet was also on board. Born in Chamonix, France, Nargeolet lived in Africa for 13 years with his family before returning to France to complete his studies. Afterward, he joined the French Navy where he eventually became a Commander before retiring in 1986 after 22 years of service. Nicknamed Mr. Titanic, Nargeolet had a long history with the vessel as he was part of the first expedition to visit it in 1987, and had visited it many times since. He also served as the Director of Underwater Research for E/M Group and RMS Titanic, Inc. Per his bio on E/M Group, P.H. has led several expeditions to Titanic, completed 37 dives in the submersible himself, and supervised the recovery of 5,000 artifacts, including the recovery of the big piece a 20-ton section of Titanics hull (now on display in Las Vegas). During a 2019 interview with the Irish Examiner, Nargeolet discussed his involvement with the Titanic wreckage and whether he ever got scared traveling so far down in the ocean. If you are 11m or 11km down, if something bad happens, the result is the same, he told the outlet at the time. When youre in very deep water, youre dead before you realize that something is happening, so its just not a problem. Stockton Rush OceanGate OceanGate CEO and co-founder, Stockton Rush, was among the five passengers aboard the submersible as a member of the crew. In addition to being the CEO of OceanGate, Rush is the co-founder and member of the Board of Trustees of OceanGate Foundation, a non-profit organization which aims to catalyze emerging marine technology to further discoveries in marine science, history, and archaeology, per the companys website. The website adds that before founding OceanGate, Rush became the youngest jet transport rated pilot in the world when he obtained his DC-8 Type/Captains rating at the United Airlines Jet Training Institute in 1981 at the age of 19. Additionally, he served as a DC-8 first officer while studying mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University, before joining the McDonnell Douglas Corporation as a Flight Test Engineer on the F-15 program in 1984. A previous Princeton feature on Rush reported that he went on every one of OceanGates dives. In the feature, he also spoke excitedly about the Titanic expeditions. Part of what we do is get people to appreciate that most of human history is underwater, he said. If you think about it from an archeological perspective, if you had a caravan of precious items records, books, gold, or whatever and you were snowed in on the passes of Mongolia, all that stuff got stolen, pillaged. If you were in a ship carrying King Herods possessions to Rome and you sank, [its] still there. Rush's wife Wendy Rush who is director of communications at OceanGate is also the great-great-granddaughter of Isidor and Ida Strauss, two first-class passengers who died when the Titanic sank in 1912, according to archival records cited by The New York Times. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. What was Simon Pegg doing when Tom Cruise rode a motorbike off a cliff in Norway on the first day of the shoot for Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One (out July 12)? The British actor was on set, watching his co-star disappear into the wild blue yonder, and chewing on his cuticles. "All the cast that were in Norway at the time, we all went up there together," says Pegg, who plays the character of Benji Dunn in the Mission: Impossible movies. "It was a genuinely nail-biting experience." Impossible 7 star Simon Pegg calls Tom Cruise bike stunt a 'nail-biting experience' David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty, Monica Schipper/WireImage Simon Pegg and Tom Cruise The stunt took place on Sep. 6, 2020, and found Cruise, who portrays Impossible Mission Force leader Ethan Hunt in the franchise, riding a custom-made Honda CRF 250 off a ramp on the side of Norway's Helsetkopen mountain. Cruise then fell 4,000 feet before opening his parachute a mere 500 feet from the ground. "Obviously, you hear the idea and you get an idea of what it is in your head," Pegg says. "But it wasn't until I got up there on the mountain that I realized just how death-defyingly awesome the whole thing was. For all his preparation, for all the parachute jumps he did, for all the motocross training he did, there is still always a degree of uncertainty with something like that. He went off the cliff and then vanished out of shot, and we just stood there and waited for the radio to tell us he was okay and that his shoot was open. That gap between him vanishing behind the rock to that radio message felt like an eternity. We could be facing losing our leading man. It was genuinely a fear. But, my god, it was exciting." Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie on the set of 'Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning - Part One' Christian Black Tom Cruise and director Chris McQuarrie on the set of 'Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning - Part One' Pegg reveals that Cruise not only fell through the air for more than half a mile but delivered dialogue while doing so. "When we see the stunt in the trailers, all we see is Tom go off and go down," the actor says. "Tom delivers a line in free fall. I mean, who's ever done that? Who's ever BASE-jumped and acted at the same time? Nobody." Story continues Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Rebecca Ferguson in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning - Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance. Christian Black 'Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning - Part One' Pegg was first cast as Dunn in 2006's J.J. Abrams-directed Mission: Impossible III after the Brit's eye-catching turn as a zombie-battling Londoner in filmmaker Edgar Wright's 2004 horror-comedy Shaun of the Dead. The actor has now reprised the character in four more franchise entries: 2011's Abrams-produced Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol; 2015's Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation; 2018's Mission: Impossible Fallout; and the new movie, which, like the previous two entries, is directed by Christopher McQuarrie. (The filmmaker is also overseeing Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part Two, which is set for release in June 2024.) "When I first played Benji 17 years ago, he was a lab technician," the actor recalls. "Then J.J. called a year later and said, 'How would you like it if Benji was a field agent?' I was immediately enthused by that idea. Then here I am on my fifth film." Pegg describes how Dunn has evolved over time: "He's grown up. He's a lot less wet behind the ears. He's a more capable, more mature member of the team, but no less human in his responses to the crazy stuff that goes on. He's maintained that position of being the heart of the group. It's really fun to play him, particularly after Fallout, where he was almost killed. I feel like he's taken all that on board and he's a little bit more battle-weary than you've seen him in previous installments." Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning - Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance. Christian Black Pegg and Cruise are joined in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One by series regulars Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, and Vanessa Kirby. The film also features newcomers Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, and Captain America actress Hayley Atwell. The latter plays a thief named Grace who falls into the orbit of the IMF team. "Hayley's character is not part of their world," says Pegg, whose other credits include Scotty in the Star Trek film franchise and the father of Jack Quaid's character on The Boys. "She's not a spy, [but] she's not a Kate Capshaw-in-Temple-of-Doom fish out of water. She's very capable, she's her own thing. The crackle of chemistry between her and Tom is so, so fun. Hayley has great comedic chops to the point where I was like, Hey, whoa, that's my job!" While shooting Mission: Impossible has occupied most of Pegg's time over the last few years, the actor reveals he has been mulling future projects. These include a possible re-team with Edgar Wright, with whom he wrote Shaun of the Dead, as well as 2007's Hot Fuzz and 2013's The World's End, both of which also starred the actor. "I haven't been writing recently because I'm on strike in that regard," he says. "But, yeah, Edgar and I have been getting together and having talks about stuff. That will happen when we can sync up our diaries and manage to get our most recent commitments out of the way. I'm always working in my head if nowhere else." Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One will be released in theaters July 12. Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more. Related content: CLINTON, Conn., June 20, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GoNetspeed today announced that residents and businesses throughout Clinton may now sign up for service installation and construction has officially begun in Westbrook to bring service to homes and businesses throughout the communities. Through GoNetspeeds fully funded $3.8 million investment in Clinton and Westbrook, residents and businesses will soon have access to high-speed, symmetrical upload and download speeds that support working, learning, gaming, and streaming online with speed and ease. As construction progresses throughout Clinton and Westbrook, more residents and businesses will gain access to service. Once complete, more than 7,300 homes and businesses in Clinton and Westbrook will have the opportunity to experience GoNetspeeds fast, reliable 100% fiber internet service. Residents and businesses interested may visit gonetspeed.com to sign up for priority installation once service is available in their area. "We are thrilled to soon be able to add two more communities to our fiber optic network. With access to high-speed fiber internet, the lives of thousands will be changed through access to faster, more reliable internet speeds," said Tom Perrone, GoNetspeed Chief Operating Officer. "Clinton and Westbrook will soon be equipped with an infrastructure that will grow with their towns and with the needs of their homes and businesses. GoNetspeed is grateful for the support weve received, and we look forward to being a member of Clinton and Westbrook for many years to come." GoNetspeed is continuing to ensure that more communities throughout Connecticut have access to a high-speed 100% fiber internet infrastructure. Currently, more than 30 communities throughout the state have access to GoNetspeeds service along with many communities that are well on their way to having access to GoNetspeeds fiber internet. With a legacy of innovation and a commitment to customer service, GoNetspeed is excited to accelerate expansion of fiber networks throughout nine states, including Connecticut. GoNetspeed continues to deliver more fiber, more access, more speed, and better reliability to residents and businesses throughout our footprint. With access to 100% fiber internet, customers have access to symmetrical upload and download speeds, ranging from 500 Mbps to 1 Gbps (1,000 Mbps). Learn more about GoNetspeed at gonetspeed.com. About GoNetspeed: GoNetspeed, a high-speed fiber internet provider, serving residential and business customers in Maine, Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and West Virginia, formed a partnership with Oak Hill Capital ("Oak Hill") in January 2021, allowing GoNetspeed to accelerate the expansion of its fiber network throughout the Northeastern U.S. Adding thousands of new service areas every year, GoNetspeed is one of the largest independent internet providers in the east. For more information about GoNetspeed, or to inquire about service in your residence, business or community, visit gonetspeed.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620482963/en/ Contacts Katie Custer 502.821.6784 Katie@RunSwitchPR.com President Joe Bidens Democratic challenger Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will participate in a live town hall with NewsNation on June 28. The 90-minute broadcast, which will air from 9-10:30 p.m. ET and be simulcast on NewsNationNow.com, will mark the presidential candidates first town hall with a national news network. He will field questions from a live audience comprised of voters in partnership with the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. Additionally, voters in the key states of South Carolina and New Hampshire will have the opportunity to ask questions. Kennedy Jr. launched his presidential campaign in Boston on April 19. Aside from him being a member of the Kennedy family and anti-vaxx activist, hes also an environmental lawyer, who has described himself as a teller of truths who will end the division in the U.S. Also Read: NewsNation Anchor Markie Martin Says Viewers Are Ready for a Change From Cable News Echo Chamber The town hall will be moderated by Elizabeth Vargas, anchor of Elizabeth Vargas Reports. She has conducted high profile interviews with numerous lawmakers and presidential candidates on both sides of the political aisle, including presidential candidates Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Will Hurd, United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, Senator J.D. Vance, Rep. Nancy Mace, Rep. Gloria Johnson, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, former chief medical adviser to the president Dr. Anthony Fauci, and former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. Previously, Vargas served as co-anchor of ABCs World News Tonight and hosted the popular newsmagazine show 20/20 for 15 years. She also hosted Americas Most Wanted on Fox TV and helmed A&E Investigates, a series of documentaries that air on Hulu. She currently anchors iCrime, a half-hour syndicated crime series broadcast on WPIX-TV in New York and other stations nationwide. The town hall will be followed by a special edition of Cuomo, as well as an encore presentation of the event that will be available at 11 p.m. ET. Also Read: YouTube Takes Down RFK Jr. Interview Suggesting Chemicals in Water Supply Might Feminize Children Like They Do Frogs Oscar-winning filmmaker-turned-in-flight-movie-critic Oliver Stone has a bone to pick with John Wick: Chapter 4. The Platoon director flew to Romania to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Transilvania Film Festival. During his flight, he watched the latest Keanu Reeves kill fest and he was not impressed. Oliver Stone, John Wick 4 Andreas Rentz/Getty Images; Murray Close/Lionsgate Oliver Stone; Keanu Reeves in 'John Wick 4' "I saw John Wick 4 on the plane. Talk about volume. I think the film is disgusting beyond belief. Disgusting. I don't know what people are thinking," Stone told Variety. "Maybe I was watching G.I. Joe when I was a kid. But [Keanu Reeves] kills, what, three, four hundred people in the fucking movie. And as a combat veteran, I gotta tell you, not one of them is believable. I realize it's a movie, but it's become a video game more than a movie." This may sound strange coming from the man who wrote Scarface, which famously ends in an orgy of blood, and directed Natural Born Killers, a source of controversy for its depiction of violence, which was later linked to so-called "copycat crimes." "I never had experienced the level of animosity and aggression or disdain from journalists. They were so so mad at us! Like, we were at fault!" Natural Born Killers' star Juliette Lewis told EW in 2019 of the backlash. "But when you started getting the stories of where you blame [the film for crimes] I don't go to criminals to get their excuses." But Stone's issues with John Wick seem to derive not from the violence, but the lack of realism in the violence. "It's lost touch with reality. The audience perhaps likes the video game. But I get bored by it," he continued. "How many cars can crash? How many stunts can you do? What's the difference between Fast and Furious and some other film? It's just one thing after another. Whether it's a superhuman Marvel character or just a human being like John Wick, it doesn't make any difference. It's not believable." Story continues So he's saying a man killing 400 people with his bare hands or early-00s hip-hop and R&B stars driving a car rocket into space isn't believable? How dare he. Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more. Related content: "Everybody could potentially experience some benefit from napping," a researcher from University College London said Getty Woman napping Taking regular naps can be beneficial for one's brain, a new study says and make it larger for longer! According to researchers from University College London and University of the Republic in Uruguay, brain health can be preserved from daytime napping, which also can slow the rate at which one's brain shrinks. To come to the conclusion, scientists analyzed data from participants between the ages of 40 to 69. The study was published in the journal Sleep Health. "We are suggesting that everybody could potentially experience some benefit from napping," Dr. Victoria Garfield told BBC, adding that the findings are very new and very exciting. Napping is vital for infant development but decreases as we age. After retirement, around 27% of individuals over 65 nap during the day. While the impact of napping on preventing diseases like Alzheimers is uncertain, further research is needed. Brain shrinkage is a natural part of aging, and maintaining good overall brain health is crucial in guarding against dementia, which is associated with poor sleep quality. Researchers propose that inadequate sleep may lead to brain inflammation and disruptions in neural connections over time. Related: People Who Regularly Take Naps Are Happier and More Productive: Study Therefore, regular napping could protect against neurodegeneration by compensating for deficient sleep, researcher Valentina Paz said. Scientists conducted a natural experiment based on our DNA that we inherit at birth. Previous studies have identified 97 bits of our DNA that make us more likely to be nappers or non-nappers. In the UK Biobank project, they analyzed data from 35,000 people from 40 to 69 and compared those who had the genetic napper and non-napper traits. "The brains of nappers were 15 cubic centimeters (0.9 cubic inches) bigger than those of non-nappers," the BBC reported, which is equivalent to slowing down aging by three to six years. Story continues I like short naps on the weekends and this study has convinced me that I shouldnt feel lazy napping. It may even be protecting my brain, Prof Tara Spires-Jones, from the University of Edinburgh and the president of the British Neuroscience Association, told the BBC. She said the study was interesting and showed a small but significant increase in brain volume." She added that it adds to the data indicating that sleep is important for brain health." The researchers did not directly study having a big sleep in the middle of the day, but they said the science suggested a limit of half an hour. The advice: take naps, but make them shorter than 30 minutes, as longer naps may have negative effects. Related: New Research Shows People Who Nap Frequently May Be More at Risk for High Blood Pressure Dr. Margaret Blattner, clinical instructor, department of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, previously told PEOPLE that habitual daytime naps can indicate problems with the quality of nighttime sleep or even overall health. "Frequent or prolonged daytime naps can disrupt healthy nighttime sleep. Napping during the day may make it harder to fall asleep at night or cause nighttime sleep to become fragmented," Blattner said. "Missing out on nighttime sleep either because busy schedules don't allow sufficient sleep opportunity, or because of a problem with the quality of sleep itself can cause severe daytime sleepiness." 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 celebrity news to compelling human interest stories Quality sleep is healthy and restorative for the body, Blattner said, so a change in sleep habits, either needing more sleep at night or naps during the day, might signal an underlying health problem. "Often, prolonged naps are less restorative than more brief daytime naps, people often wake up unrefreshed or "groggy" after a long nap," she adds. "Additionally, long daytime naps take away time from other healthy things that people enjoy during the day: spending time with family, enjoying hobbies, and exercise." For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. As the class of 2023 prepares to take on the real world, a new report has shown that Generation Z is having a harder time adapting to in-person workplaces. For recent graduates, most of their college career was upended by the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to virtual classes and online internships. As a result, many Gen Zers have begun taking courses in order to brush up on their work skills, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ found that many companies, universities, and recruiters are training new hires on developing their soft skills common interpersonal skills or traits that allow workers to interact harmoniously with others in the workplace. At KPMG, one of the worlds biggest accounting firms, full-time hires this summer are expected to attend the firms training facility in Florida, where they will practice talking in person through sample scenarios. The company told the WSJ that theyve found new hires are stiff, talk too fast, or rely too much on filler words like um as they presented. At the training facility, Gen Z workers will receive training on how to maintain eye contact and take pauses during conversations. Graduates disrupted college experience might mean they struggle with the basics reading colleagues cues or navigating a meeting, Heidi Brooks, a senior lecturer in organisational behavior at Yale Universitys School of Management, told the outlet. Other major companies have needed to inform young workers on appropriate office culture, according to the WSJ. At Protiviti, a global consulting firm, executive vice president of global human resources Scott Redfearn said theyve had to remind new employees about avoiding casual clothing, like ripped jeans, in the office. The company has also included a series of small-group virtual meetings in its onboarding process. Some meetings focus on developing conversational skills, followed by in-person social gatherings so Gen Zers can put their training to the test. Story continues Meanwhile, Michigan State University has begun requiring business students to take classes on soft skills in the workplace, after observing that students are more awkward and unsure while networking than they were before the pandemic. While many Gen Z workers may need extra support in adapting to workplace culture, an April survey by TimelyCare found that 53 per cent of 2023 graduates said they wanted a fully in-person job, with only 21 per cent saying they wanted to work fully remotely. Another recent survey of 1,300 managers suggested that Gen Z is harder to work with than other generations, so much so that 65 per cent of employers said they have needed to fire them more than employees of other generations. In addition, one in eight managers said theyve fired a Gen Zer within just a week of their start date. Although Gen Zers are eager to enter the workforce, many adults of older generations have recently criticised Generation Z the group of people born between the late 1990s and the early 2010s for some of their social media habits. John Catsimatidis, the billionaire owner of New York City grocery stores Gristedes Foods, recently claimed Gen Z was too busy on TikTok to work on their careers. In an interview, Catsimatidis said he used to work 70 hours a week at a supermarket and ridiculed young workers for not doing the same. Thats one of the problems we are having in our country these days, the kids are busy playing TikTok, he said. If youre working 100 hours a week, and its not working, youd better work 120. You cant win if youre afraid of losing. A New York University professor also received backlash after saying that young people should never be home if they want to be successful. You should never be at home. Thats what I tell young people. Home is for seven hours of sleep and thats it, said marketing professor Scott Galloway. The amount of time you spend at home is inversely correlated to your success professionally and romantically. You need to be out of the house. However, many reports suggest that Gen Zers simply view the workplace differently from previous generations. A McKinsey report from last October found that employed Gen Z respondents are more likely to report that the pay they receive for their work does not allow them a good quality of life and are less likely than others to report feeling fairly recognised and rewarded for their work. While Gen Z employees may need additional training when it comes to soft career skills, some Gen Zers have gone viral for sharing the nontraditional ways they sign off emails in the workplace. In a video posted to TikTok last year, one Gen Z employee signed off their email with thats all, while another simply wrote, hehe, bye. A third rejected use of commas, writing, alright alright alright, while one employee went so far as to tell his colleague: F**k you, Im out. Trevor Noah is moving into podcasting. The former Daily Show host has partnered with Spotify on a weekly podcast that will see him blend his signature humor and razor-sharp wit with his global perspective to deliver a unique take on the hottest and most captivating topics of the moment. More from Deadline Launching later this year, the as-yet-untitled weekly show will include in-depth conversations between Noah and some of the most influential and interesting figures around the world, according to Spotify, which has podcast partnerships in place with the likes of Louis Theroux and Alex Cooper. The news was just revealed during an in conversation between Noah and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek at the Cannes Lions ad market in France. It comes a few months after South African comic Noah left Comedy Centrals The Daily Show after seven years in December 2022. Spotify is the ultimate audio destination, and partnering with Trevor Noah, one of the worlds most brilliant and distinctive voices, will make for captivating storytelling that will delight our more than 100 million podcast listeners around the world, said Julie McNamara, Spotifys VP and Head of Global Podcast Studios. Noah broke through on South African TV and radio and moved to the U.S. in 2011, becoming the first South African comic to appear on The Tonight Show one year later. He has appeared on several other shows since and also wrote a bestseller, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood. Noah has featured on podcasts before including Archetypes from Meghan Markle and Prince Harrys Archewell and Spotify. His new podcast has been unveiled just days after Spotify ended its $20M relationship with the royal duo, with Spotify Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetisation labelling them grifters after they made just 12 audio episodes as part of the multi-year deal. Story continues Spotify and Archewell Audio have mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together, Spotify and the couples Archewell Audio said Thursday in a joint statement. 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. Russian troops appear to be making a push in the east. There are indications that Russian forces have launched offensive operations of their own around in eastern Luhansk Oblast. While it is unclear at the moment how successful this is or how far the Russians might be advancing, it would appear to be another challenge facing Kyiv's counteroffensive. The influential Russian Archangel of the Special Forces Telegram channel claims Russian counteroffensive operations are currently taking place in the Donbas. https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1670856185472507904?s=20 The offensive of the 76th Airborne Division is underway, Archangel of the Special Forces channel wrote. The enemy has heavy losses in manpower, there is a massive failure of the armaments and military equipment. Ukraine was not aware of our upcoming offensive, since they interact poorly with [electronic warfare] EW and [remote] REM units, they did not receive advance information about the planned air and missile attack. In statements on her Telegram channel, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar acknowledged some level of Russian offensive activity, especially by airborne units, in that general part of the front lines. The situation in the east is now difficult, she said. The enemy has raised its forces and is conducting an active offensive in the Lyman and Kupiansk directions, trying to seize the initiative from us. High activity of enemy shelling is recorded. Hot battles continue. https://twitter.com/JulianRoepcke/status/1670879627181453331 Lyman, a small town in northern Donetsk Oblast, is about 16 miles east of Kreminna. The enemy does not abandon his plans to reach the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, said Maliar. Currently, this is the enemy's main offensive line. Therefore, he concentrated a significant number of his units in the east, in particular the airborne assault units. Ukrainian forces, she added, act courageously in the face of the enemy's superiority in forces and means and do not allow the enemy to advance. Story continues But Ukraines advance, however, is quite difficult, she said, because the enemy threw all their forces to stop the offensive. As a result, Maliar cautioned about reading too much right now into how much territory Ukraine has recaptured. It is not necessary to measure the result of the work of the defense forces exclusively by settlements and kilometers traveled, she said. Because there are much more criteria for the effectiveness of military operations. Still, she offered some hopeful news about operations in the southern part of the front lines in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. In the course of two weeks of offensive operations in the Berdiansk and Melitopol directions, eight settlements were liberated by units of the 'Tavria' [operational group]: Novodarivka, Levadne, Storozheve, Makarivka, Blagodatne, Lobkovo, Neskuchne, Pyatikhatky, she said. All told, in that area, Ukraine advanced up to 7 km and freed an area of 113 square kilometers, she said. https://twitter.com/Feher_Junior/status/1670740240674193408 But, in keeping with Ukrainian assessments we reported on last week - and in line with reporting by The Wall Street Journal and others about a seeming pause in operations as Ukraine figures out what to do next - Maliar said the biggest push is yet to come. https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1670649154601713664?s=20 The ongoing operation has several tasks and the military is carrying out these tasks, she said.They move as they were supposed to move. And the biggest blow is yet to come. Before we head into the latest from Ukraine, The War Zone readers can catch up on our previous rolling coverage here. The Latest Regardless of what is happening on the front lines, Ukraine is continuing to conduct strikes well behind those lines. Ukraine appears to have hit a major Russian ammo depot in the town of Rykove in occupied Kherson Oblast. That's about 105 km behind the front lines. https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1670778593020895235 https://twitter.com/bradyafr/status/1670878953819578373?s=20 There are increasing warning signs about the massive flow of weapons to Ukraine. The New York Times on Monday reported that Ukraine has "paid contractors hundreds of millions of dollars for weapons that have not been delivered, and some of the much-publicized arms donated by its allies have been so decrepit that they were deemed fit only to be cannibalized for spare parts." Kyiv had paid arms suppliers more than $800 million since the Russian invasion in February 2022 for contracts that went completely or partly unfulfilled, the newspaper reported, citing Ukrainian government documents. Some of the missing weapons had eventually been delivered, and in other cases brokers had refunded the money, two people involved in Ukraines arms purchasing told the Times. "But as of early this spring, hundreds of millions of dollars had been paid including to state-owned companies for arms never materialized, one of these people said." We did have cases where we paid money and we didnt receive, Volodymyr Havrylov, a deputy defense minister working on arms procurement, told the Times in a recent interview. He said the government this year had begun analyzing its past purchases and excluding problematic contractors. https://twitter.com/Harry_Boone/status/1670822842366140416?s=20 Another wild video emerging on social media Monday showed a Ukrainian tank crew survive being hit by a Russian rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). As the T-64BV tank belonging to the Ukrainian 35th Marine Brigade approached a trench near a tree line in Storovzheve, Donetsk Oblast, Russian troops fired two rocket-propelled grenades in rapid succession, the video showed. https://twitter.com/CalibreObscura/status/1670538984563376131 You can see the first RPG, possibly a PG-7VR high explosive anti-tank round, whiz by the tank. The first of two RPGs fired at a Ukrainian tank narrowly missed. (Twitter screencap) Seconds later, you can see a second RPG round apparently hit the tank somewhere on the right side. There is a small flash of an explosion, followed by bits of debris flying through the air and then a puff of grayish-white smoke. The damage appeared to be minimal. The second RPG hit the tank, but appeared to cause little damage. (Twitter screencap) A longer video from which this clip was taken shows that tank apparently recovered with some damage to its right front fender. It was likely saved by the explosive reactive armor on its right side, an armor expert tells us. If the RPG took out the T64BV, that would be incredibly lucky, said the expert, a U.S. official with years of armor operations experience speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations. The T64 and newer tanks operated by Ukraine can easily survive a hit by an RPG on the front and sides of the turret, said the expert. An RPG can knock it out if it hits on the side hull and the rear. The turret can theoretically stand up to 100mm older armor-piercing rounds. It easily defeats a small shape-charge round. Most Ukrainian tanks have side ERA, said the expert. So thats why it survived. The tank and its crew of Ukrainian Marines from the 35th Marine Brigade were apparently engaged in fighting a few miles south of Velyka Novosilka, near the Mokri Yaly River during Ukraines push through western Donetsk Oblast near the Zaporizhzhia Oblast border. The Ukrainian troops in this video below were not quite as fortunate. They apparently were hit by a Russian tank shell as they entered a house in the village of Piatykhatky in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. It is unclear what happened to the troops. https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1670840207027970048?s=20 Ukraine sources say they eventually liberated that village while a number of Russian Telegram channels say it changed hands several times over the past 24 hours but remains in Russian control. https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1670681261302480897?s=20 And speaking of wild videos, rumors are bubbling that Russian propagandist Semyon Pegov, the man behind the influential Russian WarGonzo Telegram channel, was badly wounded during the Ukrainian special ops attack on a Russian trench, which you can read about in our recent report here. While there appears to be a likeness, we have no way of knowing at the moment whether that's true. For what it's worth, there's nothing about this on WarGonzo's channel today. https://twitter.com/NAFOKnocking/status/1670844523663048734?s=20 With mines remaining a huge obstacle for Ukraine to overcome, more video has emerged of one of its UR-77 Meteorit mine-clearing vehicles rocket-assisted line charges apparently being used to clear a path. But those systems have also been used as offensive weapons in the past. You can read more about them here. https://twitter.com/2uwmp/status/1670799125959389188?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW- A donated Leopard 2A4 main battle tank was recently seen rumbling down a path in the southern section of the front lines. Where it was coming from or where it was going remains unknown, but it sure was moving in a hurry. https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1670536235251560449?s=20 Images also emerged of a U.K.-donated Challenger tank in service with the Ukrainian armed forces. https://twitter.com/CalibreObscura/status/1670884416166457344?s=20 Images have emerged on social media purporting to show a U.S.-donated M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle launching its Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) tank-busting missiles. It is unclear from the video the outcome of the engagement. https://twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1670766461248307202?s=20 First Person Video drones remain a huge threat to both sides. The video below shows a very up close and personal attack on Russian troops in a trench, though where and when is unknown. https://twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1670182733954383872?s=20 The French-donated AMC-10 RC wheeled armored vehicles are getting good marks from Ukrainian troops who are using them. MX-10 RC were given to us by France, and have already proven themselves in the war, the Ukrainian Deep State Telegram channel reported Monday. Many have seen Russian manipulative footage of the unsuccessful use of this machine, but this wheeled tank, as many classify it, performs the excellent role of a gun that has high accuracy. But Deep State offered one caveat. The main thing is not to use them for frontal assaults, it reported. The vehicle although lightly armored, has a gun like a sniper rifle." https://twitter.com/ralee85/status/1670850088305037312?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW-A Despite that praise, it appears that Russia has captured at least one of them, complete with a technical manual. https://twitter.com/michaelh992/status/1670678587010084865 More images have emerged on social media of Ukraine using its U.S.-donated Zuni unguided rockets on Su-25 Frogfoot attack aircraft. You can read more about them in our story here. https://twitter.com/GuyPlopsky/status/1670453922736279553?s=20 Mobility is a key factor in battlefield success and this Ukrainian sniper has apparently come up with one option for getting around in a hurry - some kind of electric unicycle. Initially, the sniper fires from the prone position, then while in motion. How effective that is, and whether this was all done just for show is unknown, but it's interesting nonetheless. https://twitter.com/igorsushko/status/1670602902031966209 The Russians too are innovating for mobility, but in the case of these images below, going a little old school. Russian troops appear to be using a Kornet anti-tank guided missile system mounted on a motorcycle sidecar. Ukraine has been employing missile teams using motorcycles with sidecars for over a year now. https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1670841928529723409?s=20 The Associated Press, citing "exclusive drone photos and information" it obtained, claims "Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to bring down the Nova Kakhovka dam that was destroyed earlier this month while under Russian control." "Two officials said Russian troops were stationed in a crucial area inside the Kakhovka Dam where the Ukrainians say the explosion that destroyed it was centered," AP reported. "Images taken from above and shared with the AP also appear to show an explosives-laden car atop the structure. Its not clear the car ever exploded and any such bomb would not have been powerful enough to bring down the dam, but Ukrainian officials say the photos show the Russians intent to rig it, and that they had the access and control to do so." https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1670815445518290944?s=20 An anti-Russian Crimean Tartar partisan group claims that Russian troops are showing signs of cholera in the wake of the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam. Our informants from the military hospitals of the Kherson region and the Crimea report that every day they receive a lot of military forces of the Russian Federation with suspicion of cholera, the Atesh group reported on its Telegram channel. Entire units from the Kherson direction located along the North Crimean Canal lose their combat capability and are taken to the rear for treatment. Several Russian soldiers died. Atesh suggests that the cause is most likely due to the use of water from open sources, because there are difficulties with the delivery of bottled or simply purified water to the occupiers. Naturally, the explosion of the Kakhovskaya dam caused enormous damage to nature, revealing many diseases that we will hear about. Atesh warned residents of the Kherson Oblast and Crimea to be especially attentive to the water that you eat. https://twitter.com/Defense_North/status/1670307231751983105 Meanwhile, water levels in the area surrounding the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) remain low. However, while certainly troubling, there appears to be no immediate danger, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Last week, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi assessed the impact of the destruction on the safety of ZNPP. The plants large cooling pond and different channels at or near the site hold sufficient reserves to be able to provide cooling water in the short to medium term in case the reservoir can no longer be used, according to the IAEA. At the moment, water from the discharge channel of the nearby Zaporizhzhia Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP) supplies the ZNPPs spray ponds, which cool the six shut-down reactors and spent fuel, and also keeps the separate cooling pond full, mainly compensating for evaporation. The breach of the dam has identified vulnerable points in the plants water supply chain and there is a need to adapt the entire system to the new situation. But I could also see that the plant is taking concrete steps to address these challenges, stabilize the situation and enable the plant to ensure sufficient cooling water also in the future. The situation is serious, and it requires our continuous close monitoring. But, for now, it is being controlled, he said. The ZNPP is continuing to operate one of the six reactors in hot shutdown to produce steam needed for wastewater treatment and a steam-driven cooling system that provides air conditioning for rooms equipped with instrumentation and control systems important to nuclear safety and security, according to IAEA. In the interim, the plant is also exploring alternative ways to meet the sites needs for generating steam and providing essential cooling. The five other units remain in cold shutdown. https://twitter.com/Tatarigami_UA/status/1670426979856777216?s=20 And finally, even in a war as brutal as this one, there are down moments where troops try to have a little fun and take their minds off the fighting. Such is the case with these Ukrainian troops, who organized a "fashion show" when they had time, not Russians, to kill. https://twitter.com/intermarium24/status/1670768066345463813?s=20 That's it for now. We'll update this story when there's more news to report about Ukraine. Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com Boygenius | Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Indie supergroup Boygenius have covered Dan Reeders Stay Down, Man during a live set at a radio station at the weekend. The trio comprised of Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers, and Julien Baker stopped by the offices of SiriusXM to play through a couple of tracks from their recent album The Record. They played through Cool About It and Not Strong Enough from the album, and then turned their attention to Reeders Stay Down, Man, giving the cult folk artists track a distinctly Boygenius makeover. Watch it below. Boygenius: Stay Down, Man The track comes off Reeders 2020 album Every Which Way, the follow-up to 2010s This New Century. Reeder, a musician and instrument maker born in Louisiana and now based in California, broke out with his self-titled album in 2004. While hes never been a massive commercial success, hes earned a reputation as one of Americas finest modern songwriters. Boygenius are currently on tour in support of The Record theyre locked in to headline the All Things Go festival later this year alongside Lana Del Rey and Maggie Rogers. No word yet on any Australian tour dates on the horizon; Phoebe Bridgers just wrapped up a tour of the country with Laneway earlier in the year. Watch the band perform Cool About It and Not Strong Enough below. Further Reading Phoebe Bridgers Review Disarming Melancholy and Gleeful Rebellion in Melbourne Boygenius Announce Full-Length Album And Share Three Singles The National and Phoebe Bridgers Share New Song Your Mind Is Not Your Friend The post Watch Boygenius Cover Dan Reeders Stay Down, Man appeared first on Music Feeds. The Flaming Lips and the cast of 'Beverly Hills, 90210' in the mid-'90s. (Photos: Getty Images) Popularity is a funny thing, muses Wayne Coyne, the charismatic frontman of venerable Oklahoma eccentrics the Flaming Lips, as he reflects on She Dont Use Jelly which took more than a year after its June 22, 1993 release on the Lips surprise breakthrough album, Transmissions From the Satellite Heart, to become the bands only major radio hit. Once something is kind of popular, it has the potential to grow and grow and grow. When Beverly Hills, 90210 called us, if this would have been a year earlier, or six months earlier, we probably would have thought, No, were too cool; we dont do those sorts of things. Nowadays, hipster bands think nothing of promoting their music via television placements and cameos. But a quarter-century ago, when the Flaming Lips performed She Dont Use Jelly in front of Dylan McKay and DJ David Silver at the Peach Pit After Dark aka Valerie Malones fictional teen nightclub it was a baffling pop-culture moment. It occurred to us that [going on 90210] would be ridiculous and absurd and funny. It didnt really matter if it was artistically good or bad or whatever, says Coyne. He actually remembers thinking the 90210 shoot was such a debacle that he assumed the episode, titled Love Hurts, would be shelved. We did kind of talk amongst ourselves [on the set that day], like, It seems weird that the one episode that were on is such a disaster that theres no way it will air. It just didnt seem possible that it could work! Coyne chuckles. We saw them saying lines, and they would do them five or six times, and everybody at the end of the badly done from our perception, anyway takes, everybodyd kinda be like, Yeah, whatever. Yay. No big celebration. It just kind of felt like yet another grueling day on the set. And we thought, That probably wont air, and nobody will see us. And three weeks later, its on TV and it looks wonderful! All the things we thought seemed like a disaster were just business as usual. Story continues Even before 90210 came along and introduced the shaggy-haired psych-rock band to millions of impressionable teens, the Lips had a hunch that She Dont Use Jelly which eventually cracked the top 10 of the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart and even went to No. 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 might be their breakthrough single. I remember even when I played it the first time, playing it for [band multi-instrumentalist] Steven [Drozd], he was like, Oh, yeah that little [musical] turnaround? That's you. You're gonna be able to do that, and people are gonna get that, says Coyne. However, it still took a while for the band (whod already released four albums on indie label Restless Records and one on Warner Bros.) to realize just how big a quirky tune about tangerine hair dye and Vaseline on toast, accompanied by a low-budget, fisheye-lensed music video starring Coynes then-wife Michelle lolling around in a backyard kiddie pool, would become. Transmissions From the Satellite Heart out in 1993, but it wasn't until the end of 1994 where She Don't Use Jelly started to be played on Beavis and Butt-head and alternative radio stations and all that sort of stuff. It didn't surprise us that it was working a little bit. But then it always is kind of weird when it starts working better than you're think. It's like, Oh people are really liking this little song. Coyne fully realized the little song was clicking with the mainstream once he started playing it night after night for uninitiated audiences on an unlikely tour with third-tier grunge band Candlebox, who were extremely popular at the time. Were out there playing our noisy little songs, and we would, most nights, start to play and the audience there would absolutely hate us, he recalls. Theres a certain energy you get from that kind of hatred, and it can be quite fun to play to people who want to kill you; it gives you a kind of a power. But we would play She Dont Use Jelly even to that audience, and they would, even in the flow of their hatred, say, Oh, we like that one! Coyne adds with a wry chuckle: And then wed play the next song, and theyd go back to being outwardly hateful. Despite their conversion of a few Candlebox fans, the Lips were determined to keep experimenting and keep moving away from conventional alt-rock. However, the success of She Dont Use Jelly ironically afforded them the luxury of pursuing one of the most unique careers in rock one that has included Zaireeka, a recording experiment that required the listener to play four CDs, on four separate stereo systems, at the same time; limited-edition music released on USB sticks submerged in gummy-candy fetuses, brains, and skulls; the ultimate funeral anthem, Do You Realize??; a musical based on the 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots; an utterly bizarre sci-fi holiday movie, Christmas on Mars, starring Fred Armisen and an army of giant marching vulvas; a track-by-track recreation of Pink Floyds The Dark Side of the Moon featuring Peaches and Henry Rollins; a surprise collaborative album with one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz; and COVID-safe bubble concerts at height of the pandemic. Theyve even managed to pick up three Grammy Awards along the way. And much of their strange path can be traced back to one of the strangest cameos in teen TV history. The Flaming Lips on 'Beverly Hills, 90210' in 1995. (Photos: YouTube) Going back to the bands surreal experience on the Beverly Hills, 90210 set, Coyne remembers that one unnamed female cast member made it obvious that she disliked the Flaming Lips even more than some of those above-mentioned fickle Candlebox fans did. (It was at the end of a long week, and she probably didnt like the episode anyway, he shruggingly says of her bad attitude.) But he recalls that another 90210 actor was a bit friendlier. For good reason, they had a lot of restrictions about what could be backstage [during the Peach Pit scene] there could be no pot, no drugs, no alcohol, or any of that. But some of the people involved in the Flaming Lips are pretty determined and imaginative in how they want to spend their day, so there was some ruckus about that, Coyne laughs. Some of the cast members were really fans, and really fun, and some couldnt kind of care less and just wanted the day to be over with. There was a blond dude who talked to us all day. But I think mostly he wanted to get wasted with Steven [Drozd]. I think he was like, Whered you get the booze? I think that bonded their friendship even more. That blond guy may have been Ian Ziering, whose Steve Sanders character uttered the most infamous, iconic, and immortal line of the Love Hurts episode, probably echoing the thoughts of mainstream radio listeners who gave the Lips a chance at the time: You know, Ive never been a big fan of alternative music but these guys rocked the house! Coyne giggles, still incredulous that the 90210 episode actually made it onto Fox. These were really lines! Even when you say it now, it feels like this is not a finished phrase for a real actor in a real show to put into the world. And yet, when [Ziering] says it I kind of believe him. Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: Follow Lyndsey on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon WWE Fastlane Results WWE Fastlane is coming to Indianapolis. Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, former SmackDown commentator Pat McAfee shared the news that WWE Fastlane will be held at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, on October 7. "@WWE Fastlane will be coming to Indianapolis.. WWE brings relevancy to Indianapolis and Indianapolis brings relevancy to WWE" @HeymanHustle #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/AMw9sS7Pjb Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 20, 2023 Paul Heyman, the Special Counsel to Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, commented on the news by noting that WWE brings relevancy to Indianapolis, and Indianapolis brings relevancy to WWE. In a press release, WWE confirmed the news and confirmed that Fastlane will stream on Peacock in the United States and WWE Network Elsewhere. Tickets will go on sale Friday, July 14 at 10 a.m. ET at https://www.ticketmaster.com/. More information about pre-sale opportunities can be found here. WWE Fastlane Priority Passes will be available starting Wednesday, June 21 at 9 a.m. ET through WWEs partnership with On Location. WWE Fastlane 2023 is set to be the companys first premium live event in Indianapolis since WWE Night of Champions 2016. WWE introduced Fastlane to the pay-per-view calendar in 2015, and it returned the following year. It was held as a brand-exclusive show for the next two years. Fastlane came back in 2019, but it was not part of the schedule in 2020. WWE last held Fastlane on March 2, 2021. WrestleZone will provide more information as it becomes available. The post WWE Fastlane 2023 Date And Location Announced appeared first on Wrestlezone. Kim Petras was photographed by Yu Tsai in Los Angeles. Swimsuit by Heavy Manners. Earrings by Alexis Bittar. With the new Barbie movie (starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling) set to release on July 20th, there is no better time than the present to embrace the trendy Barbiecore aesthetic. Now, you may be asking yourself: what exactly is Barbiecore? All pink ensembles are definitely required, but also think playful and nostalgic patterns in vibrant and neon hues. People everywhere, from celebrities to fashion designers, are embracing the dopamine-inducing trend, and we think you should too! Weve rounded up some swimsuit picks that will transform you to into beach Barbie in no time. Bikinis Made in Brazil, this bandeau style bikini features tortoise shell ring details and is made from stretch lycra fabric. The top has built-in boning on the sides for extra support and removable padding. Have you ever seen a swimsuit that screams "Barbie" more? This Norma Kamali bikini is modern take on the classic Barbie one piece. If you are looking for a more sophisticated interpretation of "Barbiecore", this is it. We'll call this one the skimpy Barbie. With extra long ties, and minimal coverage both on top and on bottom, this is suit is perfect for the days when tanning is the main objective of your beach day. Heart-shaped buckles is enough to sell us, but if you need any extra convincing that this suit is the perfect "Barbiecore" suit, just look at Hailey Clauson wearing the Thea Bikini in her 2023 SI Swimsuit shoot in the Dominican Republic. A classic silhouette in a retro, barbie-fied pattern. Featuring the sweetest butterfly detail, the Britney Bikini is intended to be worn multiple ways, with long strings that can easily transform the top into numerous different fits. Story continues This classic triangle suit feel like it would be Barbie's go-to suit, with the unique graphic and hot pink combo. This playful suit is a limited edition, small batch print hand made in Toronto by swim brand, Bareminimale. The underwire top is perfect for a larger bust, and double lined for extra support. This lilac and bubblegum color combo checks all of the boxes. Not only is the color contrast adorable, this bikini can also be paired with other swimsuits in your collection, because of its superior mismatch-ability. Serve ultimate poolside glam in this sequined microkini. The Tri Top and Crochet Tie Pant are available in five different patterns. The paddle print feels like a popsicle on a hot summer day, but the Bahama pattern and Sea Me pattern equally scream fun in the sun. The crochet suits are artisanally made from 100% cotton. One-Pieces A fashion-forward option, The Grace Tank One Piece is a modern take on a vintage one-piece. This option can take your barbie-core aspirations from the beach straight into the night, working effortlessly as a bodysuit. More like a work of art, this swimsuit that has hand embroidered Swarovski. The brand recommends sizing up if you are in between sizes. Another option that is versatile enough to be worn in the city or by the sea, this one piece is an elevated look with mesh paneling and a unique, off the shoulder neckline. The Frankies Bikinis x Pamela Anderson collab may be, dare we say it, the best of the Summer. With a flattering hip-hugging fit and high leg cheeky cut and plunging open back this suit is subtly sexy. As seen on SI Swimsuit cover girl, Kim Petras, this is for the ballerina Barbie inside all of us. The Anne Marie Belt offers a classic feel without having to compromise style. The fabric is so buttery and the belt adds flattering dimension. As we know, Barbie does it all, so we had to find an option for Surfing Barbie. This wetsuit by Cynthia Rowley is made using green technology, contributing to a gentler environmental impact. Tweedy, Browne, an investment management firm, released its first quarter 2023 investor letter, a copy of which can be downloaded here. Tweedy, Browne has entered into a voluntary agreement, whereby they will waive the fees associated with the International Value Fund whenever the Fund's average daily net assets ("ADNA") surpass the threshold of $6 billion. The performance of the Fund would have been lower if fees were not waived during specific periods. Spare some time to check the funds top 5 holdings to know more about their top bets for 2023. In its Q1 2023 investor letter, Tweedy, Browne mentioned Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 1998, Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based financial services company with a $232.6 billion market capitalization. Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) delivered a -11.87% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -8.55%. The stock closed at $29.19 per share on June 16, 2023. Here is what Tweedy, Browne has to say about Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) in its Q1 2023 investor letter: "The Funds received very little in the way of return contributions from many of their financial, energy, media, and healthcare holdings. While it would appear that a crisis was avoided by the quick intervention of bank regulators in the US and Switzerland, some uneasiness still remains in the global banking community. This turmoil couldn't help but have a negative impact on investor sentiment and in turn on Fund bank holdings such as Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)." 5 Most Profitable Industries in America in 2023 Pixabay/Public Domain Our calculations show that Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) was not able to secure a spot on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) was in 78 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2023, compared to 87 funds in the previous quarter. Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) delivered a 4.92% return in the past 3 months. Earlier this year, we also discussed Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2023 page. Suggested Articles: Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Can you feel it? Sense the tension looming in the air? Following the Surf Ranch showdown, theres been vocal discord amongst the World Surf Leagues fans and athletes regarding questionable judging. First, Gabriel Medina called out the judging panel; then, his Brazilian comrades followed; then, WSL CEO Erik Logan penned a response; then, Griffin Colapinto, who was inadvertently on the other side of the debate, offered an olive branch; then there was more controversy following the recent event in El Salvador. But nownow things are about to get really interesting as the CT heads to Brazil home of the surfers at the center of the controversy, and home to the most outspoken and critical fans in the judging debate for the VIVO Rio Pro. And ahead of the event, the WSL has released the video above assumedly an attempt to clear the air (and prevent anything crazy from going down at Saquarema). The video caption reads: To help add clarity and perspective to the scoring and priority, former Head Judge Richie Porta shares his decades of experience and breaks down what may be happening in the judges' tower. From last years event, the video shows Carissa Moore copping a near-perfect 9.50 in the final for two turns something Richie Porta applauds for the combination of maneuvers. Then we see Italo Ferreira with an 8.67 for a tail-high backside full rotation. One single move. Next up, Filipe Toledo with a floater to turn combo in the final for another 8.67. Then, Filipes perfect 10 from a monstrous backside full rotation. So, it sounds like big airs and smooth combinations of maneuvers are what Richie is getting at. Thats what the judges wanna see. But will the controversy continue? Will there be riots on the sand if someone is seemingly underscored? How will the judges react to the increased scrutiny? Stay tuned to find out. The VIVO Rio Pro runs June 23rd - July 1st. *** Don't miss another headline from SURFER! Subscribe to our newsletter and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of surfing. We're always on the lookout for amusing, interesting and engaging surf-related videos to feature on our channels. Whether you're a professional surfer or just an amateur, we want to see your best footage and help you share it with the world. Submit your video for a chance to be featured on SURFER and our social channels. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch high-quality surf videos. This is what we can do when government at all levels come together to get the job done." Getty Images Interstate 95, which was damaged in Philadelphia earlier this month, has reopened. This is what we can do when government at all levels come together to get the job done," Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said of the earlier-than-expected reopening on Friday. "Let this serve as an example to all that Pennsylvania can do big things. When we come together, when were determined, we can do big things in this city and in this Commonwealth and this is proof. According to Philadelphia's 6abc, traffic started flowing at 12:30 pm ET. The collapse occurred last weekend after a truck caught fire on the Route 73/Cottman Avenue ramp, causing the roadway to partially collapse and heavily damaging the southbound roadway. Following that, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation set up detours to route travelers around the damaged road, which it detailed on a special section of its website. The closure of the road had the potential to cripple summer travel and road trips on the East Coast. In fact, more than 150,000 vehicles travel on the highway each day, Biden noted on Saturday after he and Shapiro took an aerial survey of the site. To help expedite the repairs, the U.S. Department of Transportations Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released $3 million in quick release Emergency Relief funds to use as a down payment by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to offset costs of repair work. On top of that, Biden promised the state would be getting a lot more federal funding out the door in the coming weeks. For more Travel & Leisure news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Travel & Leisure. Drag queens from Palmas Tropical Escape bar, wave to the crowds Saturday, June 18, 2022, in Columbus. Thousands turned out Saturday for Stonewall Columbus' Pride parade Downtown. It was the first in-person event since 2019 and a welcome sight for many. Thousands are expected in Downtown this weekend as part of the Stonewall Columbus Pride Festival and March. The festival and resources Fair will kick off Friday, and the Pride March will follow on Saturday. Stonewall Columbus anticipates about 18,000 marches and over 700,000 visitors. The festival will feature 200-plus vendors, two performance stages, a DJ and dancing pad, a community wellness area, many community resources and more. Here's everything you need to know about the events. When and where are the Stonewall Columbus Pride Festival and March? Festival: 4-10 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. on Saturday in Goodale Park, 120 W. Goodale St. March: Starts at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday at the intersection of High and Broad streets. Participants will march down High Street up to the Buttles Avenue intersection. Event organizers plan for the march to take roughly two hours. Who is performing at the Stonewall Columbus Festival? Headliners include Tundre Olaniran, Siena Liggins and Mariah Counts. Social media influencer and entrepreneur Alli Bellairs will be Saturday's mainstage host, with reality TV star Austin Armacost co-hosting. A full festival itinerary is available on the Stonewall Columbus Pride guide. Who is the Stonewall Columbus Festival and March grand marshal? Stonewall Columbus' 2023 Patron of Pride is Caleb Mikayla Goins-Robinson, a drag entertainer who helped "establish Ohio's first community center for young LGBT people of color," per the Stonewall Columbus website. Pride photos: A look back at the Stonewall Columbus Pride Parade through photos What will the weather be like for the Stonewall Columbus Festival and March? According to the National Weather Service, Friday's high will be 75 with a low of 55, with partly sunny skies and a 30 percent chance of rain during the day hours. Sunny skies and a high of 80 are expected on Saturday. What streets will be closed for the Stonewall Columbus Festival and March? The following street closures will start at 8 a.m. on Saturday, according to the Columbus Police Department: Story continues High Street between Buttles Avenue and Rich Street Dennison Avenue between Goodale Street and Buttles Avenue Park Street between Buttles Avenue and Goodale Street Buttles Avenue between Dennison Avenue and High Street High Street between Main Street and Broad Street Rich Street between 3 rd Street and Front Street Town Street between High Street and Front Street State Street between 3rd Street and Front Street The street closures will remain in place until event cleanup has concluded. Where is parking available for the Stonewall Columbus Festival and March? Stonewall Columbus published a parking, transportation and lodging guide online. The organization recommends using ParkColumbus or SpotHero. Stonewall Columbus advises those looking for disability parking to see attendants at the Greater Columbus Convention Center North Lot at 50 E. Goodale St. What safety measures are in place for the Stonewall Columbus Festival and March? Zac Boyer, director of community programs and marketing at Stonewall Columbus, said that there is an increasing concern for safety with the appearance of Nazis and Proud Boys at recent Pride events, along with the canceling of the Drag Queen Story Hour in Worthington last year and the appearance of people dressed as Nazis at the Kaleidescope Youth Center fundraiser at Land Grant brewery. On May 30, Stonewall Columbus executive director Denisl Porteous released a blog statement outlining increased safety measures in place for this year's festival and march in response to recent "incidents involving extremist and domestic terrorist groups targeting LGBTQ+ events." The safety measures highlighted in the statement are "enhanced security presence", "vigilant threat assessment" and "collaborative partnerships" with government agencies and LGBTQ+ organizations. Stonewall Columbus representatives are reluctant to sharing more specific details, because they want to keep their exact plans away from harmful groups, Boyer said. Dispatch reporters Belinda M. Paschal and Arianna Smith contributed to this story. JNimesheim@dispatch.com @JackNimesheim This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Stonewall Columbus Pride Festival and March 2023 information PARIS Vestiaire Collectives move to take fast fashion out of its brand mix has resulted in a boost in the positive environmental impact from its resale model, according to its latest impact report. Last November the company moved to ban fast fashion brands, including Asos, Shein, Burton, Fashion Nova, Pretty Little Thing, Missguided, Topman, Topshop and Tezenis, among others. More from WWD According the the impact report, 80 percent of respondents said that they are investing in higher-quality pieces as a result and 58 percent said they are buying fewer fast fashion items as an upscaling knock-on effect of purchasing better items. Its a positive sign to say, You know what, you can live without fast fashion, and move on to better made and more sustainable brands, Vestiaire Collective cofounder and president Fanny Moizant told WWD. The platform surveyed 3,500 customers from its markets, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, U.K., U.S., Australia and Hong Kong. Eighty-five percent of respondents also said they are willing to buy fewer, but high-quality, items going forward, putting the less is more ethos into practice. Eighty-two percent said that because of their purchase on Vestiaire Collective, they did not buy a new item, a jump from just 70 percent last year. Only 16 percent of sellers said they use their proceeds to buy new items; instead, the majority are reinvesting in other high-end resale items. The survey is good news for brands that are looking to build long-term care into their business models, with 53 percent reporting they repair items to prolong their life and 60 percent reporting they take better care of their items knowing they can resell them later. After initially removing 20 brands from sale, the company will roll out two additional phases before 2025. The reaction from users has been positive, with 70 percent of respondents upgrading their purchases as a result. They are continuing to research this number to assess if the additional 30 percent will return. Story continues The challenge now is to define how we enter phase two and phase three, to work with experts to define a methodology and to be able to define fast fashion. There is no clear definition and so defining the criteria and making sure we apply them to the entire catalog of Vestiaires more than 10,000 brands, said Moizant. Criteria they are considering are garment quality, the labels volume of production, marketing that promoted over-consumption, as well as social impact and what regulations they produce under. The company expects to be able to reveal the second round of brands by the end of 2023. The company will continue its educational efforts to raise awareness of the environmental effects of the disposal of fast fashion, in conjunction with The Or Foundation. Seeing the damage it has caused in the Global South really awakened some of our customers, said Moizant of the campaign. They understood a bit better the damage of over-consumption on the population of Ghana, for example. It drove a lot of questions and discussions. It was well received. In October 2022, the Or Foundation hosted a group of Vestiaire Collective employees in Kantamanto, Ghana, the largest reuse and upcycling economy in the world. This inspired the ban. The awareness seems to be working. Fifty-two percent of respondents said they are using Vestiaire Collective not just in pursuit of labels, but to reduce their environmental impact, and 56 percent said that knowing the lower environmental impact of reused items encourages their purchases. Moizant noted that previously affordability was the driving reason customers went to Vestiaire Collective, with sustainability dead last. This year that changed sustainability moved up to the second spot. Moizant said this negates any arguments that resale is just another kind of overconsumption. Its how do we basically slow down an industry that is over-consuming? We have no power on production, but on consumption, we can definitely try to help people slow the pace by investing in quality and making it last longer, she said. They are also working on tracking how many times an item re-enters the Vestiaire Collective marketplace, to get a better understanding of how truly circular the platform is. While its difficult to track a single item, anecdotal evidence from the companys authentication process shows that items are being resold multiple times. We do see, at the end of the day, the more qualitative item you buy, the better the lifespan will be. They partnered with Chloe this year to launch a digital ID with product and material information, as well as resale options. Its a sign of things to come for Vestiaire, which is working on similar partnerships in the future. The company is also collaborating quietly with other brands, providing durability data obtained from products sold through Vestiaires authentication service. As we have the product in hand, we are able to check the quality and tell [a brand], On this bag or this dress, we often see the seams being a bit damaged here, and so on. Brands are eager to receive that qualitative feedback that they were never able to have before because it is post-consumer purchase, said Moizant. We are closing a loop that will help in the longer term produce even more durable items. It has been created very organically, because our common DNA is in standing for craftsmanship and quality and durability. The company is also supporting the Extended Producer Responsibility for textiles at the EU legislative level and advocating for fair distribution on how its fees are applied at end of life. If the product ends up in Ghana, the money shouldnt stay in the Global North. Theres a fairness to be defined at the policy level, she said. Last year Vestiaire crossed the net positive threshold meaning that emissions avoided by purchasing second hand from the site exceed the ones the company generates and that rate has increased nearly three times this year as the company has grown. Moizant said they are not slowing down, and will accelerate their resale as a service division. She expects to unveil several big new brand partnerships in the second half of the year. Thats what we call systemic change, she added. Best of WWD Click here to read the full article. Hunter Biden, President Biden's son, has reached a tentative deal with the U.S. attorney in Delaware, agreeing to enter guilty pleas to two misdemeanor tax charges and admitting to felony gun possession, according to a Justice Department filing. Hunter Biden's plea will include an acknowledgement that drug use was a contributing factor in his gun crime and is entering into a pretrial diversion agreement, according to the filing. A source with knowledge of the agreement said it is expected to mean that for two years, Hunter Biden must remain drug-free and can't commit additional crimes. If Hunter Biden fulfills this successfully, the gun count would be dismissed. This does not amount to a guilty plea. At an event in California on Tuesday afternoon, President Biden responded to questions about Hunter Biden by saying, "I am very proud of my son." An earlier statement from a White House spokesman said, "The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment." A federal judge in Delaware must approve the deal. Hunter Biden is expected to enter a plea to the charges specified in the agreement at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Wilmington. A hearing has not yet been scheduled. Chris Clark, an attorney for Hunter Biden, said during a Tuesday afternoon appearance on MSNBC that his "expectation, at least with regard to after that proceeding, is that he'll be released without conditions." "I think the judge is going to do what's fair, and I think what's fair is, you know, my client gets on with his life," Clark said. The two misdemeanor tax charges relate to his willful failure to pay taxes for 2017 and 2018. A filing indicates Hunter Biden had more than $1.5 million in income each year. He has since fully repaid back taxes and fines, including $2 million reportedly paid to the federal government last year, with the help of a loan from his personal attorney. The felony gun charge relates to his possession of a handgun by a drug user in 2018. The filing identifies Biden's handgun as a Colt Cobra 38SPL, and Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss said in a statement that Hunter Biden had it for 11 days in October 2018. Story continues Weiss' office said in the statement Tuesday morning that the investigation is ongoing. Earlier in the day, Clark said in a statement to CBS News, "it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved." "Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement. A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government," Clark said. "I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward." Clark was asked during his MSNBC appearance if he would have agreed to a plea agreement if he believed future charges were possible. "Would I make a deal? No, I wouldn't," Clark said. Sources close to the president's son said the decision to enter into a plea agreement stemmed from Hunter Biden's acknowledgment that there were consequences for his drug abuse which was extensive during the period his taxes went unpaid. The investigation was led by Weiss, who was appointed by then-President Donald Trump in 2018. President Biden kept Weiss in the position, apparently to avoid even the appearance of interference in the ongoing investigation into the president's son. The Justice Department has gone to great lengths to protect Weiss's independence, even as it was sharply criticized by Republican lawmakers and others about why the probe had dragged on for so long. The tentative plea agreement comes at a time when Republican candidates for president and members of Congress have been taking aim at a Justice Department that they say has been "weaponized" by the Biden administration against Republican opponents. And it comes a week after a Special Counsel appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland obtained a federal grand jury indictment against Trump on felony charges stemming in part from his alleged "willful retention" of classified documents. The White House has denied any political interference. Republican Rep. James Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, tells CBS News he expects Weiss to testify to either his committee or the House Judiciary Committee. "He needs to explain whether or not his investigation is concluded," Comer said of Weiss. "He needs to be transparent with congressional investigators as to what exactly he's investigating moving forward." Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley accused the Justice Department on June 12 in a Senate floor speech of using "every resource to investigate candidate Trump, President Trump and former President Trump," but "haven't nearly had the same laser focus on the Biden family." A spokesperson for a political action committee associated with Trump said Trump would appoint a "truly independent special prosecutor" if he's elected in 2024. "As President Trump predicted, Biden's Justice Department is cutting a sweetheart deal with Hunter Biden in order to make their bogus case to 'get Trump' appear fair," said Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Make America Great Again Inc. "Meanwhile, Biden's DOJ continues to turn a blind eye to the Biden family's extensive corruption and bribery scheme." The investigation into Hunter Biden dates back to at least 2018. Sources told CBS News in October 2022 that the FBI believed it had forwarded sufficient evidence to federal prosecutors to warrant charges. Earlier this year, a whistleblower IRS supervisory agent told CBS News that prosecutors were taking unusual steps to slow-walk a high-profile political case, which sources identified as the one against the president's son. Testimony from the whistleblower, 14-year IRS veteran Gary Shapley, in the form of a transcript and some other documents he provided to the House Ways and Means Committee, will be made public as early as this week, according to a source familiar with the committee's discussions. For a time, it appeared the investigation had broader scope, ranging across Hunter Biden's many international business dealings. But the source familiar with the terms of agreement with prosecutors said Hunter Biden's legal team is anticipating the deal will stipulate that those matters are now closed. A 2019 federal subpoena obtained by CBS News sought banking records for Hunter and the president's brother, James, as well as two business partners. The subpoena demanded they turn over records for transactions with the Bank of China dating back to 2014, when Joe Biden was vice president. A December 2020 subpoena requested documents as far back as January 2017, "regarding (Hunter) Biden's income, assets, debts, obligations, and financial transactions ... and all personal and business expenditures." The subpoena also requested "all federal, state, local and foreign tax documentation related to (Hunter) Biden." Prosecutors investigating Hunter Biden also subpoenaed documents from a paternity lawsuit that included his tax records, according to documents and an attorney involved in the matter. "They wanted every record relating to Hunter Biden we had," lawyer Clint Lancaster told CBS News in April 2022. Lancaster represented Lunden Roberts, a woman who sued Hunter Biden in 2019 alleging he was the father of her child. A DNA test confirmed he is the father and he agreed to pay child support. Throughout, Hunter Biden appeared as a frequent guest at his father's White House events, and President Biden has defended his son, telling MSNBC recently: "My son has done nothing wrong. I trust him. I have faith in him, and it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him." Mr. Biden has also said he was never involved in his son's business dealings. "I have not taken a penny from any foreign source, ever, in my life," Mr. Biden said in October 2020 at a presidential debate. From the start, the effort to dissect the business dealings of a man whose father served as a senior U.S. senator, vice president, and candidate for the presidency, faced unusual challenges. The investigation unfolded as Hunter Biden became the subject of repeated political attacks from the right, including the leaking of his laptop computer into the public sphere, and continued as Hunter Biden waged a counter-offensive, filing civil lawsuits against his political critics. In recent months, questions about the pace of the federal criminal probe were raised by whistleblowers. In October 2022, sources inside the FBI told CBS News and other news outlets that agents in the bureau believed they had months earlier provided Weiss with sufficient evidence to charge Hunter Biden. Six months later, in April 2023, allegations of undue interference from the Justice Department surfaced when the attorney for an IRS criminal supervisory special agent asked Congress for whistleblower protections to speak out about allegations that a sensitive political investigation had been hindered by "preferential treatment and politics," according to a letter obtained by CBS News. Sources later confirmed the critique pertained to the Hunter Biden probe. Melting Himalayan glaciers pose serious dangers to humans, report finds Titanic expedition leader discusses missing sub search U.S. and China work to "stabilize" fraught relationship Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Hunter Biden has reached a tentative deal to plead guilty to two tax crimes and admit to the facts of a gun case, the Justice Department said Tuesday in a court filing. President Joe Bidens son, 53, agreed with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges of willful failure to pay in 2017 and 2018, and admit to the illegal possession of a gun purchased in 2018. The deal remains subject to the approval of a federal judge, and its not yet clear when Hunter Biden will appear in court. Three-Ring Circus as Hunter Biden Paternity Case Swamps Small Arkansas Town Sources familiar with the agreement told NBC News that the deal stipulates that the U.S. attorney has agreed to recommend probation for the tax charges. The court filings also state that Biden has agreed to enter a Pretrial Diversion Agreement in relation to the felony gun charge. Such diversion agreements typically involved a charge being dismissed as long as a defendant complies with certain legal conditions, though the filings in Bidens case do not state what those conditions could be. The agreement comes after five years of investigation by federal investigators into Bidens activities. Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weisswho was nominated by Donald Trump in 2018negotiated the deal. With the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the [United] States Attorneys Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved, Bidens attorney Chris Clark told NBC News in a statement. Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement. A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government. Clark added that he knows Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life and that he looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. Story continues According to sources cited by The Washington Post, Bidens combined tax liability was around $1.2 million in 2017 and 2018. He has since fully repaid his back taxes. The firearm charge stems from a 2018 handgun purchase during a time when, by his own admission, Biden was using crack cocaine. Court filings say he bought the Colt Cobra revolver knowing that he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance. The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life, White House spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement following news of the agreement. We will have no further comment. The deal indicates that prosecutors did not find reason to bring charges on other allegations of wrongdoing, which have involved foreign lobbying, money laundering, and other possible crimes. Republican lawmakers have accused Biden of being involved in much more serious criminality involving international businesses, including in Ukraine, and dealings with people with links to the government of China. They have also been critical of the justice system for allegedly attempting to avoid bringing charges against members of the Biden family for political reasons. Some conservatives have been particularly aggrieved about the perceived gentle treatment of Biden in contrast with the more serious accusations and potential punishments currently being faced by the GOPs 2024 frontrunner, Donald Trump. The former president himself pushed that narrative again himself on Tuesday following news of the deal. Wow! Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket. Our system is BROKEN! 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. 1. This is George Hackenschmidt, the man credited with inventing the bench press: Swole folks all over the world, light a candle for Georgy boy. Pa Images Archive / PA Images via Getty Images 2. For a brief but wondrous moment in time, you could get potatoes from a vending machine: Hulton Deutsch / Corbis via Getty Images 3. Whiskey, too: It was all downhill from here. Ron Case / Getty Images 4. This is Chandra Bahadur, the shortest man in recorded history: He stood just 21.5 inches tall. Anadolu Agency / Getty Images 5. And here is Chandra Bahadur next to the world's tallest man, Sultan Kosen: Sultan stands 8 feet 3 inches. Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images 6. This is what the end of the eastern portion of the Great Wall of China looks like: Chill place to repel foreign invaders, for sure. Nbc Newswire / NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Getty Images 7. This is what a bunch of fossilized dinosaur eggs look like: Gotta get a mad scientist in that living room to bring those back to life. u/cryobanksy / Via reddit.com 8. There's an abandoned island sitting off the coast of Nagasaki in Japan: It's called Hashima Island and it used to be home to over 5,000 people. It was abandoned in the 1970s. Aflo Co. Ltd. / Alamy Stock Photo 9. This is Selma Burke, the woman who designed the portrait of Franklin Roosevelt that's still on the dime to this day: Science History Images / Alamy Stock Photo 10. There's a breed of horse known as a Bashkir Curly that has, well, curly hair: Shutterstock 11. I simply must pet: imageBROKER / Alamy Stock Photo 12. This is the Swiss mini-gun, the smallest working pistol in the world: It's two inches long and completely illegal in the United States. youtu.be 13. This is what an ultraviolet picture of the sun looks like: In this particular image, the red parts are cooler while the green and blue parts are much hotter. Science History Images / Alamy Stock Photo 14. This is the Peel P50, the smallest car ever produced: It measured "54 inches long, 41 inches wide and 47 inches tall." Central Press / Getty Images 15. This is what the back of the Price Is Right wheel looks like: This might be the most mind-blowing thing I have ever seen. u/seahawks1991 / Via reddit.com 16. This is the Murchison meteorite, a meteorite found in Australia that formed over seven billion years ago That makes it over two billion years older than our solar system. u/bpoag / Via reddit.com 17. And, while we're at it, this is what a super tiny meteorite looks like next to a quarter: 18. This is what a professional cyclist's leg looks like after a race: My goodness! instagram.com / Via Jani Brajkovic 19. Some blood drives will let you know exactly when and where your blood is used to help save a patient: 20. This is a typewriter built specifically for writing musical notation: 21. This is what the view from the top of Mount Rushmore looks like: Standing on the literal shoulders of giants. u/particle_wombat / Via reddit.com 22. And, finally, one of the more ridiculous inventions of the 19th century was this, a "mass shaving machine" designed to shave a bunch of men all at once: My truck is the thing I eat most in, on, near, beside, and with; I spend enough time dining with it to consider it a close friend, writes Danny Palumbo. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) Ive never been one to get sentimental over a vehicle, but saying goodbye to my dads 2006 midlife-crisis white Dodge Charger a few months back got me teary. Two years ago I inherited the car and drove it from western Pennsylvania to Los Angeles on a solo, cross-country food tour. I ate Indis fried chicken in the drivers seat in Louisville, Ky., and pulled a muffuletta from the glovebox when the hunger pangs hit between New Orleans and Austin, Texas. I stashed greasy pork cracklins in the front console leaving Lafayette, Ark., buckled El Paso Tex-Mex safely in the passenger seat, and discovered the wonderful joys of eating fried catfish, tacos, brisket, beignets, queso, pizza, corn dogs, fried tomato sandwiches and nopales all using the sturdy trunk like a high top. But too many winters of salted, snowy, Pennsylvania roads rusted the brake lines irreparable, and now I need a new car. And, friend, I hate looking for a new car. Read more: L.A. loves salad. We ranked the top chains from best to meh I reckon Im downright awful at selecting an automobile that speaks to my person. I've driven that Charger and a Subaru, each of which would regularly prompt bad jokes about owner stereotypes (What are you, a cop? was one). Years of seemingly driving the wrong vehicle have since raised a principal internal investigation what am I exactly? Im a food writer living in Los Angeles, so I decided to buy a pickup truck. I'm a food writer living in Los Angeles, so I decided to buy a pickup truck. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) Despite every effort to boost usage of the Metro system, and even with improvements in bicycle infrastructure, Los Angeles is terminally a driving culture. And by proxy, an eating and driving culture. As Jonathan Gold said in the 2015 documentary City of Gold, Im an L.A. guy. I drive. I am my truck. My truck is me. The pickup truck is perfect for those who trust that their vehicle isnt merely transportation, but a mobile dining room meant to lug around this bounteous city. Trucks, and the people eating in them, thrive throughout Los Angeles, particularly in parking lots near taquerias. Story continues At Leos Tacos Truck on Western and Sunset, Anthony Lopez, 22, and Yenifer Ceron, 23, sit spread out in the back of a tan 2020 Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport around dinner time. Lopez sits halfway up the truck bed, his back resting on the wheel well and his feet comfortably stretched across to the other side. Ceron, meanwhile, sits with her legs crisscrossed on the gate. Between them is an onslaught of sopes, salsas, radishes, limes and grilled peppers. Read more: Gilberto Cetina's Holbox is The Times' 2023 Restaurant of the Year Its like your own private section. Its more intimate. Romantic, Ceron says as she nods over to Lopez, who grins shyly. I point out that there are plenty of foldable tables and chairs next to Leos, but Lopez is fine without them. Its comfortable. Its like being at home. There are nearly 10 million people living in Los Angeles County. As of 2021 , the California Department of Motor Vehicles lists 6,386,830 registered vehicles, with seemingly all of them stuck on the 5 (Bing! Hows everybody doing tonight?). And according to the Southern California Assn. of Governments, the average L.A. driver now loses over 100 hours every year stuck in traffic. Pretty bleak wording for a government website. If Im going to be trapped in a vehicle for 100 hours every year, its going to be a vehicle that I want to be in. Its going to be a truck, and Im going to be eating in it. Read more: Two of L.A.'s most exciting pop-ups unite Mexican and Indian flavors at this under-the-radar taqueria My truck is the thing I eat most in, on, near, beside, and with; I spend enough time dining with it to consider it a close friend. When there are no empty chairs at the pupuseria, when I dont feel like sitting at a wobbly table that prohibits elbows, when I want to stand and blather with friends outside while waving around a burrito for emphaticness the truck fulfills and accomplishes in ways traditional dining accommodations simply cannot. In fact, when asked if I prefer indoor or outdoor seating, I choose truck. Truck snack: The dashboard as table accommodates chips from Roma Market and a taco from El Huarache. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) A pickup truck reaches peak convenience at places where there's simply no seating. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) Though in Los Angeles, a pickup truck reaches peak convenience at places where theres simply no seating, like Roma Market in Altadena. I often pull my Tacoma up to the idealized Italian deli on a Saturday morning for the sandwich, a bag of Tims jalapeno chips and a blood orange soda. A lesser known secret about Roma is that on Saturdays they also have fried cannoli, which youll find scattered across the grocers wide refrigerated section like Easter eggs. Using the back gate of my Toyota like a TV dinner tray, the sandwich, chips, soda and cannoli fit spaciously. It should also be noted that this specific experience at Roma Market sitting outside on the edge of a vehicle with an arrangement of deli treats is one of the more perfect morning-after dates in Los Angeles. And if alone, the neat sandwich in its cozy pink-paper wrapper is exemplary hand-held food for driving across the 134, though the flakes of Sicilian bread reign down on my pants like carbohydrate confetti. There are those who rebuff eating and driving as a messy and improper compulsion, but I dont believe those people have experienced the pure joy of eating an original Fatburger behind the wheel of a car with expired tags, or speedily finishing the flaky and tart erbazzone at Cecis Gastronomia while merging lanes on Sunset. Pulling up to Joe's Mini Market for a midday tailgate break. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) When I see a fellow motorist chowing down behind the wheel, I nod in solidarity. Were the same, I mutter to a stranger biting into a jelly doughnut at a redlight. In a single day, I have seen a guy eating a breakfast banana in his Ford leaving the Fern Dell entrance of Griffith Park, a woman in a parked Civic eating a full burrito for lunch near South Pasadena, and another blurred stranger speeding down the 101 in their banged up Corolla, hastily chomping into a sandwich. I have also glimpsed at a few others visibly reaching into their front console to pull out a couple of fast food fries before they go cold and soggy a pro move if there ever was one. Some foods, like French fries, are inarguably best consumed in a vehicle. A cohesive, glued together smashburger is also perfect driving food as opposed to its more floppy, thick-burger counterpart. And though tacos are nearly impossible to fully enjoy behind the wheel (imagine squeezing a lime while driving), a tightly wrapped breakfast burrito with a napkin on your lap isnt the most reckless thing in the world. Salads are decidedly not truck (though your vehicle should have disposable utensils at all times), and ice cream cones are a high wire act best left to the outdoors. Although, I recently put a Butterfinger Twister from Fosters Freeze directly into my cupholder, taking spoonfuls of crunchy, candied soft serve at every stop, excitedly looking forward to traffic jams and red lights to sneak in a bite. The perfect Roma Market sandwich, in its cozy pink wrapper. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) In Los Angeles, you cannot separate your car from your person if you tried, which is why I finally bought a vehicle that Ive always thought would best represent my character I wanted to feel whole in a city that isnt mine. My 2009 four-cylinder, two-door, white Toyota Tacoma isnt unique. Its not vintage or chic. Its utilitarian. Ubiquitous in Los Angeles. The pickup truck, in L.A., is the working-class vehicle of necessity. Of the many people I spoke to eating in trucks across various parking lots in L.A., a lot of them worked construction or landscaping, an integral part of the fabric of the city. Currently, there are two other white Toyota Tacomas parked on Loma Linda Avenue in Thai Town. One of them is full of scrap metal, the other is stocked with pool cleaning equipment and barrels of substances, one with the word calcium written crookedly in marker. I dont haul calcium. My Tacoma is mostly empty, save for an empty bottle of tamarind Jarritos that I forget is there until I hear it clanging around the truck bed as I drive down Los Feliz Boulevard in the morning. I dont schlep lumber or tow concrete; my cargo is pastrami, chili cheese fries, burgers and banh mi. As an L.A. transplant, I will tell you that one of the first things I was struck by is the communal power of a pickup truck here. A truck calls people to hang, and hang hard. All across the city, I notice that people socialize, loiter, consort, mingle, hover and post up near trucks. Outside of taco stands, near burger joints, parked in yellow zones at sandwich shops the truck is simply a water cooler filled with motor oil. To finish up a pickup softball game in the early days of summer and retreat to the back end of a truck to drink a few beers with friends is decidedly American, but given the weather here, maybe more so Californian. Over at Angels Tijuana Tacos in Eagle Rock, I caught up with Matthew Bockal, 40, who half-sits casually on the bed of his 2001 Tacoma, ready to devour a chicken quesadilla and a tall Coke. Bockal works as a camera assistant, and he came to Angels right after work. Its just a perfect table, he says as the sun illuminates his weathered vehicle, and, its beautiful out. Food tastes better outside. Bockal tells me that his truck has 301,000 miles on it. He pauses for a second, then laments, My girlfriend hates it. I bought this truck to eat through Los Angeles. But, more importantly, I bought it for you, reader. My truck is an open invitation to make an unrestrained, hospitable mess. Bring your muddy shoes, your sand, your wet dog. By all means, eat a hamburger in there. Unfurl the light foil wrapper, let the smell of the steamed bun permanently infiltrate the cushioned seats. Smoke a cigarette, take your shoes off, listen to whatever you want. Food and vehicles are two things that I have found are best shared, and shared messily. A vehicle for eating across Los Angeles: "It's just a perfect table," says one truck owner. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) Danny Palumbo is a writer and cook living in Los Angeles. He most recently wrote Come for the halo-halo, stay for the ha-ha-ha for The Times. Sign up for L.A. Goes Out, a weekly newsletter about exploring and experiencing Los Angeles from the L.A. Times. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Carlos Alvarez - Getty Images "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Spain's Queen Letizia and Jordan's Queen Rania are two of the most glamorousif not the most glamorousqueens in the world today. Naturally, they looked extremely in sync as they stepped out together during a visit to the National Heritage Institution at the Royal Palace in Madrid. Carlos Alvarez - Getty Images Queen Letizia wore a dress by Diego Estrada with an abstracted floral pattern and accessorized with hot pink Carolina Herrera slingback pumps, while Queen Rania opted for an embroidered Dior dress from their 2024 Resort collection and Manolo Blahnik suede pumps. She's turned to the French brand on many major occasions recently, including at her son Prince Hussein's wedding to Princess Rajwa at her daughter Princess Iman's wedding. Shop Now Women's Black Sl 276 Mica Transparent Pink $340.11 lyst.com For the outing, the Jordanian queen also wore Saint Laurent sunglasses. Courtesy Royal Hashemite Court Queen Rania is on a royal visit to Spain with her husband, King Abdullah II, and their youngest son, Prince Hashem. It marks a reunion for the Spanish and Jordanian royals for the first time since King Charles's coronation in May, as King Felipe and Queen Letizia were not among the guests at the royal wedding in Jordan earlier this month. Instead, the former king Juan Carlos and former queen Sofia, represented the Spanish royal family. After Queen Rania visited the National Heritage Museum with Queen Letizia, they had a lunch together at the Royal Palace with their husbands and Rania's son Prince Hashem. Carlos Alvarez - Getty Images "So much has happened in the world over the past eight years since we last visited your lovely country, yet despite the crisis, the conflicts, the pandemic and so much more, the relationships and the warm friendships between our families, our peoples and our countries have stayed true and continue to grow from strength to strength," Abdullah said in remarks at lunch. You Might Also Like Galaxy Z Flip 5 renders open and closed Editor's note [June 20]: This article originally featured an image from MySmartPrice that have now been removed. We have removed the images accordingly. The copy remains unchanged. Samsung Galaxy Unpacked is slated to happen in late July in Seoul, but we may already have a good idea of what's coming thanks to a series of leaked renders originally published by Evan Blass. The renders, showing the Galaxy Z Flip 5, Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra and Galaxy Watch 6, can no longer be found on Blass' Twitter profile since the images were removed, seemingly under a DMCA claim from Samsung itself (which is why we've not included them here). Fortunately for us, these images can still be seen (at the time of writing) in a post by Fabrizio Degni. Almost all the leaked pictures shared by leaker Evan Blass (@evleaks) for promo images the expected Galaxy Unpacked event taking place in #Seoul, South Korea (it seems on July 27).Sincerely #Samsung should take care more about the leaks...#SamsungGalaxyZ5 #GalaxyZFold5 #leaks pic.twitter.com/z69ZzbJMd5June 19, 2023 See more The big new reveal from this leak is the Galaxy Tab S9 series of tablets, specifically the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. This is anticipated to be the second in Samsung's line of super-size tablets with incredible specs (and pricing to match) after the current Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, and should offer excellent performance and a redesigned body with official dust/water resistance ratings. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 makes an appearance too, in a fetching shade of cyan/aqua. The smaller of Samsung's expected two foldable phones has had official-looking renders leaked already, and it's good to see the two match. It backs up the presence of upgrades like an enlarged outer screen on the Z Flip 5, a feature that's been crying out for improvement since the original Z Flip. Story continues The last headliner product visible in these promo shots is the Galaxy Watch 6, which also recently had press renders leaked. These and the new renders showing off the revised design with seemingly smaller bezels and a number of different-colored straps. There are also renders of the larger Classic model that features a rotating bezel as well as extra screen space. Interestingly, there are also some unidentified wireless earbuds in one of the images. It's possible that these are just there to illustrate the Galaxy ecosystem, and could explain why they blend into the background while the other devices are shown in fun colors. Equally, perhaps Samsung is bringing some new earbuds to the Unpacked show, perhaps successors to the Galaxy Buds 2, Galaxy Buds 2 Pro or even to older Samsung 'buds like the Galaxy Buds Plus or Galaxy Buds Live. A notable omission Surprisingly, there is no sign of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 in this latest collection of images, though we've already seen leaks before that give us a good idea of how it may look. And how it may look is quite similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 4, except with a new camera block design and a tighter-closing hinge. Samsung's still not given a precise date for the next Galaxy Unpacked event, but based on what it's already said we're probably a little over a month out. That gives us time for more leaks for all of these devices to appear, but not too long to wait until everything's hopefully confirmed on stage. KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gourmet Black Box Challenge 2023 was an event organised by Brand 21 in collaboration with BERJAYA University College (BUC) as the Official Venue Partner and Samonyu as Official Hosting Partner. In conjunction with VIP Fine Dining in the evening, the event kicked off with an inter-cooking competition in the afternoon. Ten teams from BUC which comprised of two Culinary Arts students per team have showcased their signature dishes. Six prominent judges were invited to taste the dishes by determining the finest and winning creations. The invited judges were Puan Sri Nisa Bakri from Nisa Bakri Gourmet, Chef Fadzly Che Omar from Gastronomy Association of Malaysia, Puan Zaidah from Tsuka Dining, Chef Gunawan Wu a renowned celebrity chef, Ms Elva Koh from Samonyu and Dr Moses Wong from World Consumers' Protection Chamber of Commerce. The participating teams applied innovation and creativity into their signature dishes featuring a Starter and a Main Course using a base item namely fresh salmon which was fully sponsored by Samonyu. Group Photo of the Gourmet Black Box Challenge 2023 Gourmet Black Box VIP Fine Dining was held in the late evening at BUC's fine dining restaurant, Samplings on the Fourteenth which was located on the 14th floor of Berjaya Times Square Hotel Kuala Lumpur. The elegant decor with red-and-black themed table settings at Samplings on the Fourteenth were beautifully done by staff and students from the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism (FHT) alongside a full course menu fully prepared by the chefs and students from the Faculty of Culinary Arts (FCA). The VIP dinner was graced by two Guests of Honour, namely YBhg. Datin Rafidah Idris from Tourism Malaysia and Puan Norlela Binti Baharudin from Berjaya Corporation Berhad who also presided over the certificate presentation ceremony. The dishes were judged based on creativity, plating and flavour. The winners were Alliza Hanim and Claudia Quah with the starter "Salmon & prawn tartare with salmon jerky & spicy mango along with pickled radish & cucumber" and the main course "Pan fried salmon topped with garlic breadcrumbs served with pomme puree along with avocado sauce & sauteed vegetables". Gourmet Black Box Challenge 2023 proved to be a resounding success, captivating guests and organisers alike with a day brimming with excitement, culinary marvels and unforgettable moments. A special thank you goes out to the main hosting partner, Samonyu for hosting the Gourmet Black Box VIP Fine Dining as well as sponsoring the gourmet ingredients. The founder of Samonyu, Ms. Elva Koh delivered the keynote address and helmed the stage for launching the new Halal product better known as Salmon Jerky. All guests had exceptional dinner reception full of joy and happiness by witnessing the remarkable ceremony with young culinary talents showcased by the participating teams in this extraordinary occasion. All VIP guests were given a precious door gift which they could savour the signature Salmon Jerky with family members and love ones. The huge success of the Gourmet Black Box Challenge 2023 will definitely leads to upcoming campaigns between Brand 21 and Berjaya University College (BUC) towards showcasing young talented culinary skills as well as promoting Malaysia's diverse gourmet experiences. Meanwhile, Cision PR Newswire is Gourmet Black Box Challenge 2023's official news distribution partner. About Brand 21 Media Services:- Brand 21 Media Services is the industry leading community driven organization focuses on four main pillars namely educational, learning development, lifestyle and wellness initiatives. Ever since its inception back in the year of 2019, the company has gained extensive recognition among industry partners and clients. Particularly in year 2019, Brand 21 Media Services was awarded Business Excellence Certification by World Confederation of Businesses. To-date, Brand 21 Media Services has successfully launched numerous campaigns namely 100 Series Live Pitching 2019 and 2021, Brand 21 Cultural Trade Mission 2019, Affluent Women Personalities Engagement Series 2022, Affluent Wellness Walk 2022, National CSR Excellence Conference 2022, Market Outlook Roundtable 2023 and the most recent Gourmet Black Box Challenge 2023. About Berjaya University College Kuala Lumpur:- Malaysia's premier University College specialising in Business, Culinary Arts, Communication & Media Arts, Hospitality, Tourism and Services Industries with emphasis on experiential learning. Through our strong global and local industry networks presented through our various faculties, BERJAYA UC students are uniquely exposed to the dynamic worlds that they are being prepped for in our city campus. At BERJAYA UC, we pride ourselves on consistently producing well-rounded, professional and competent young adults through our inter-disciplinary and immersion teaching methodologies, as well as our distinct focus on language proficiency and personal poise. Our vision is to become the most renowned university in Asia Pacific, and we will do so through the merit of our high-calibre graduates that are highly sought-after by employers across the globe for their intellectual prowess, as well as their practical know-how. About Samonyu Sdn Bhd:- Samonyu Sdn. Bhd offers a wide variety of Salmon products, both wild catch and farmed raised in fresh water and takes care of the import and distribution to all region in the country. We are renowned for being a reliable food supplier with Halal certification by Jakim that offers Muslim friendly food products. With our expertise and experience in handling salmon fish, we are one of the preferred suppliers for salmon fish in Malaysia. We equip our business associates in the food and beverage industry with Salmon fish supply and industry connections, and provides them the advantages to stay at the forefront of the culinary profession. Samonyu Sdn. Bhd have built a reliable network in the supply chain. We provide customized and personalized services such as food processing and packaging according to our customers' specification. We engage flexible scale of order quantity with a wide range of food experience to fulfil our customer's requirement and their specific industrial needs with competitive pricing. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/gourmet-black-box-challenge-2023-successfully-held-in-conjunction-with-gourmet-black-box-vip-fine-dining-301855081.html SOURCE Brand 21 Media Services (Photo credit: DenGuy / Getty Images) Youd think a rescue dog would be in need of saving. However, a rescue dog in Savannah, Georgia, is the one doing the saving. The canine hero extended the life of another rescue pup simply by giving blood. Dog gives blood to save another pup Carlton is a 1-year-old Hound mix. He is currently living at Renegade Paws Rescue, where he is available for adoption. Recently, another dog being cared for by the rescue needed blood. The dog, named Breeze, had an intensive exploratory surgery coming up, and needed to increase his red blood cell count. Executive Director Jennifer Taylor suggested that Carlton be the donor. Despite a significant blood draw, Carlton came through spectacularly. Breeze also did well during his surgery, which uncovered why he was bleeding internally. It was only because of Carltons donation that his fellow rescue mate survived and is on the mend. According to WSAV News, the dog is eating well and keeping food down. Breezes dog dad, Butch Krishnamurti, is very grateful to Renegade Paws Rescue and hero dog Carlton for the gift of blood and life, according to the news outlet. Heroic dog seeks forever home Carlton, who was abandoned last year while still a puppy, is seeking a forever home. Until he finds one, the rescue is looking for a foster home. In the meantime, he is staying at Renegade Paws Rescues boarding facility called Boop and Board. The rescue says, he could really use a home to grow and thrive in, whether its a temporary foster or a permanent home. Carlton is good with other dogs as well as kids. Hes active, affectionate, and fun. Oh, and he is technically a lifesaver! Potential foster parents can fill out a foster application here. Make sure to indicate Carlton as the dog you want to foster. If you are interested in adopting Carlton, visit this page to apply (and check out his adorable picture gallery). We also encourage you to take a look at the other adorable pups needing homes at Renegade Paws Rescue while youre there! The post Savannah Shelter Dog Gives Blood, Saves a Dogs Life appeared first on DogTime. A 19-year-old Korean man who tried to open a plane door mid-flight tested positive for drugs following an investigation by the Incheon Airport police. Police told CNN they conducted a simple drug test with the consent of the man after his abnormal behavior. The man spoke incoherently to media when he was heading to attend his arrest warrant hearing on Tuesday, June 20. I felt I was being attacked, he said to reporters who asked why he attempted to open the planes door. The passenger was on a red-eye flight from Cebu in the Philippines to Seoul, South Korea, when he began acting strangely about an hour into the flight. As a result, he was moved to the front row of the plane close to the exit door where staff could monitor him, officials from Jeju Airlines said. He also complained that he felt pressure on his chest, the airline said. After moving seats, the man suddenly ran towards the emergency door and tried to open, but he was immediately subdued by the crew, who used a lasso rope and tie wraps to keep him controlled for the rest of the flight, a Jeju Airlines official said. The door stayed closed and the plane was left undamaged, and none of the 180 passengers on board were harmed in the incident, the airline added. The passenger was handed over to police at Seouls Incheon Airport at 7:30 a.m. local after the plane landed on Monday, June 19. An arrest warrant was issued for the passenger and he is accused of violating the Aviation Security Act, police said. The mans hair and urine samples have been sent to the National Forensics Service for a full analysis on the type and amount of drug was taken, police said, adding the results are expected within a week or two. While the passengers attempt was foiled this time, the incident comes barely a month since someone actually opened a plane door on a Korean carrier. Last month, a man in his 30s managed to open an aircrafts emergency door just before landing at Daegu, sending strong gusts of wind through the planes cabin as terrified passengers on the Asiana Airlines flight gripped their armrests. In 2016, low-cost Korean Air subsidiary Jin Air was forced to turn back 40 minutes into the flight after discovering one of the planes doors wasnt completely shut. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Getty Images When I was a teenager, my parents went on a trip to Ireland and returned home with the most thoughtful souvenir gifts. Among them was a European edition of the latest Harry Potter book for me and a gorgeous wool-knit fishermans sweater for my sister. Im sure they didnt realize it at the time, but their sincere thoughtfulness and the personalization of each present served as a masterclass on giving great souvenir gifts, and I was taking notes. Unfortunately, buying souvenir gifts can be something of an afterthought for a lot of travelers. Of course, you are in no way obligated to buy presents for anyone, ever, and it truly is the thought that counts. If you do want to spoil your loved ones back home with unique mementos from your travels rather than buying a bunch of last-minute gifts from an airport shop, read on to learn what the experts say on how to give great souvenir gifts. What makes a good souvenir gift? A good souvenir gift is one that holds personal meaning or significance to the individual receiving it, says the founder of Happy Family Blog, Cristy Stewart-Harfmann. While you're traveling, keep an eye out for crafts, artwork, or locally made products that remind you of the tastes, style, and interests of special people you'd like to get souvenir gifts for. You can also consider the phase of life your gift recipients are in, according to Poppy Gifting founders Willa Callahan and Peggy OBrien. This can give you a better guideline for the types of items youre looking for and helps ensure that the gift makes sense for the recipient. At Poppy, we like to think about souvenirs that are fitting to the recipients needs or an upcoming milestone, Callahan and OBrien explain. Say youre traveling to Ireland, and you have a daughter expecting her first baby. You might consider an Irish wool baby blanket or knit cap. Whether it's Brazilian coffee, a woven bowl from Kenya, or an Italian leather wallet, [the goal is to gift loved ones something they will] frequently use. Story continues However, if you're nearing the end of your vacation and you still haven't found the right souvenir gift, it may be better to get nothing at all than to buy a subpar gift just to say you bought something. A bad souvenir gift holds no meaning to the recipient, is clearly mass-marketed, low-quality, easily disposable, or provides little value or long-lasting enjoyment, says Stewart-Hoffman. Should you buy consumable souvenirs? If your recipient enjoys foodie gifts, then bringing back a box of chocolate, candy, or bottle of wine that's specific to the region you've visited can be an excellent souvenir gift. But there are some best practices to follow. Before you buy anything, make sure the bakery or shop you're purchasing from is reputable this can be as simple as reading their reviews online. Also, check the items best by date and temperature requirements. For wine, liquor, produce, and meat, be sure youre able to travel with these items or inquire about the vendors direct shipping capabilities, say Callahan and OBrien. Not all food items are permitted when traveling internationally, so Stewart-Harfmann strongly advises checking for any customs or import regulations regarding food items or beverages. Pack your suitcase accordingly If you're planning to buy souvenir gifts on your vacation, you'll need to sacrifice a little suitcase space to do so. Make sure you leave extra room in your luggage when you pack for your trip. You can also stash a small duffel or shoulder bag in your suitcase, because whether youve shopped for personal items or gifts for loved ones at home, youll likely need extra space, say Callahan and OBrien. Extra storage can also come in handy if youre traveling with fragile or delicate items, as you'll want to make sure they're securely wrapped. You can use clothing or padded materials to prevent breakage during transportation, suggests Stewart-Harfmann. You Might Also Like The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has intervened in a worker rights complaint from Mexican garment workers who allege that their employer, a denim manufacturer, is engaging in union-busting activities. Ambassador Katherine Tai this week announced that the U.S. has asked Mexico to look into claims from workers at an Industrias del Interior (INISA) garment facility in the state of Aguascalientes, who say that they are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The USTR and the Secretary of Labor, who co-chair the Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement (ILC), received a Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) petition from a Mexican labor organization and a union representing workers at the factory on May 12, asking for intervention in resolving the issue. More from Sourcing Journal This marks the 10th time that a RRM has been formally invoked by the U.S. under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMA) trade agreement, and the first time the U.S. has intervened in a complaint from the garment industry. The ILC found that there was sufficient, credible evidence that the denim manufacturer interfered with the unions internal affairs, and attempted to coerce workers to accept the terms of its revisions to a collective bargaining agreement. Now, ILC is asking the Mexican government to review those findings. The country has until the end of next week to agree to conduct the review, and 45 days to complete it. This announcement demonstrates again the Biden-Harris Administrations commitment to using the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism to safeguard the rights of workers and the promises enshrined in the USMCA, Tai said. Todays action highlights the United States focus in ensuring workers in all sectors have freedom of association and collective bargaining rights. Story continues As in previous matters, we look forward to working closely with the Government of Mexico to address the issues present in this case, she added. Employer interference in union internal affairs and coercion of workers to sidestep newly elected union leadership is unacceptable, said Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs Thea Lee. The Mexican government has indicated its support for full implementation of the labor reform. Working together, we can address the issues in this case and protect the rights of workers. As a part of the review request, Tai has directed the Secretary of the Treasury to suspend the final settlement of customs accounts on entries into the U.S. from the INISA denim factory. Click here to read the full article. Londons Natural History Museum is famous throughout the world both for its collections and the architectural sweep of the building itself. Anddddddd because Leticia Bufoni kickflipped over a dinosaur there! Even with a history as rich and deep as a place like this, it's no surprise that a group of skateboarders rolled through to make some history of their own for one memorable night. Open since the 1880s, the museum is a stones throw from the Royal Albert Hall (which was the location of Red Bull's 2016 Hold The Line contest), so when the unique opportunity to skate the place arose, they were all in. From Argentina, Belgium, the Philippines and Brazil four Red Bull riders answered the call to skate one of the worlds most famous locations for one night only. Enter: Margie Didal, Leticia Bufoni, Lore Bruggeman and Aldana Bertran. Converged for a never-to-be-repeated session inside the fabled hallsand promising not to break anythingthe session began. With just a few minor mods required and an injured Margie in charge of hype duties, this squad bagged as much footage as they could from an almost unbelievably photogenic environment. Peep this once-in-a-lifetime experience and get a front row seat to this unbelievable session! This is really something else... Video / @redbullskate Don't miss another headline from TransWorld SKATEboarding! Subscribe to our newsletter and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of skateboarding. We're always on the lookout for amusing, interesting and engaging skate-related videos to feature on our channels. Whether you're a professional or just having fun, we want to see your best footage and help you share it with the world. Submit your video for a chance to be featured on skateboarding.com and our social channels. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more quality skate content. Emerson Miller Season one of 1923 ended in dramatic fashion, with the Dutton family ranch under attack and Spencer and Alex torn apart on their way to help save it. Unfortunately for fans of the Yellowstone prequel, the resolutions to those plot lines and other cliffhangers aren't coming anytime soon. Due to the Writers Guild of America strike, which is now in its second month, it seems unlikely that we're getting season 2 this year. Season one of 1923 ended in dramatic fashion, with the Dutton family ranch under attack and Spencer and Alex torn apart on their way to help save it. Unfortunately for fans of the Yellowstone prequel, the resolutions to those plot lines and other cliffhangers aren't coming anytime soon. The first season premiered in December of 2022, and hopes were high that the second season would follow that schedule. That now seems unlikely, due to the Writers Guild of America strike, which is now in its second month. James Minchin According to NBC Montana, production was supposed to begin in Butte earlier in June. The production company had a contract to rent out the Butte Civic Center for film sets and storage, but Civic Center manager Bill Melvin told NBC Montana that the project has been "delayed indefinitely" due to the strike. Filming of season 1 shut down the Civic Center for most of 2022, with the production company paying $75,000 a month to rent the facility, according to KXLF Butte. Emerson Miller What's more, cast members of the show have confirmed that season 2 will be its last. Brandon Sklenar, who portrays Spencer Dutton, confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter. The actor said, "It's still limited, but I think of it as one piecetheres just a split in the middle, but its all one piece. It will conclude." This news comes on the heels of what's been a very tumultuous year for the Yellowstone universe. Contract disputes with star Kevin Costner have lead to the end of the original series (the second half of the final season is set to air in November), and a new yet-to-be-named series will pick up where that show lets off. Story continues Stay tuned for more news on the Yellowstone front. You Might Also Like PATRICK T. FALLON - Getty Images Kevin Costner claims his estranged wife Christine Baumgartner is refusing to move out of the $145 million California compound they shared. According to court documents obtained by TMZ and NBC News, the Yellowstone stars wife had 30 days to leave the home per their prenuptial agreement. Christine has taken the position that she will not move out of Kevins separate property residence unless and until Kevin agrees to various financial demands, Costners legal team wrote. Kevin Costner claims his estranged wife Christine Baumgartner is refusing to move out of the California home they shared, and where their children grew up, amid their divorce. Seeing as the $145 million compound exists off the coast of Santa Barbara, its not hard to imagine why. According to court documents obtained by TMZ and NBC News , the Yellowstone stars wife had 30 days to leave the home per their prenuptial agreement. Christine has not moved out, despite multiple requests that she do so and despite Kevins offers to assist her financially in relocating to a new residence, Costners legal team wrote in the documents, Today reports. Instead, Christine has taken the position that she will not move out of Kevins separate property residence unless and until Kevin agrees to various financial demands. PATRICK T. FALLON - Getty Images Costner purchased the Carpinteria, California, home in 1988 before he officially tied the knot with Baumgartner in 2004 . Before they wed, he expressed that he wouldnt get married again without clarity that [his] separate property residences would remain [his] to live in no matter what happened in [their] marriage, per the documents. Baumgartner responded to the claim through lawyers in a court document obtained by Insider, which states that Costner has no legal basis for his request. "This RFO (request for order) seeks to kick Christine and their three children out of the house that the children have lived in for their entire lives," the filing read. "Although the legal basis for Kevin's request to kick his wife and children out of their home is all but nonexistent, this is still a matter of critical importance for Christine." Story continues A judge has not made a ruling on the issue yet. Luckily, Costner's real estate portfolio comprises many other residencesincluding a 160-acre ranch in Aspen, Coloradothat he can frequent in the meantime. You Might Also Like Texas Oncology opens new, expanded comprehensive cancer center in Amarillo Texas Oncology has opened a new 50,000-square-foot cancer center in Amarillo, significantly expanding the capacity of the practice to meet the growing need for cancer care in the Texas Panhandle region. Located at 1826 Point West Pkwy., the comprehensive cancer center provides medical oncology, hematology, gynecologic oncology, radiation oncology, breast imaging, surgical oncology, and colon and rectal surgery. As the population of the Texas Panhandle region continues to grow, this new facility will help ensure that cancer patients in Amarillo have access to high-quality care, said Steven Paulson, M.D., president and chief executive officer. By providing innovative and individualized care to patients in Amarillo and its surrounding communities, Texas Oncology reinforces its commitment to being the first choice for cancer care across Texas. Texas Oncology has opened a new 50,000-square-foot cancer center in Amarillo, located at 1826 Point West Pkwy. Texas Oncology has opened a new 50,000-square-foot cancer center in Amarillo, located at 1826 Point West Pkwy. In addition to multi-disciplinary cancer care, the center provides a full-service medically integrated pharmacy, access to clinical trials, genetic testing and evaluation, educational services, and support groups to address patients psychological and emotional health. The center also provides 2D and 3D screening and diagnostic mammography through Texas Breast SpecialistsAmarillo, which is designated by the American College of Radiology as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence. Texas Oncology has opened a new 50,000-square-foot cancer center in Amarillo, located at 1826 Point West Pkwy. Texas Oncology has opened a new 50,000-square-foot cancer center in Amarillo, located at 1826 Point West Pkwy. Texas Oncology has deep roots in the Amarillo community, and were proud to have served this region for nearly two decades, said Praveen Tumula, M.D., medical oncologist and area medical director, Texas OncologyAmarillo Cancer Center. We want patients and their loved ones to walk into this new facility and feel confident they have the comprehensive care and support they need through every stage of their cancer journey. Texas Oncology has opened a new 50,000-square-foot cancer center in Amarillo, located at 1826 Point West Pkwy. Texas Oncologys Amarillo staff includes 10 physicians and more than 100 additional clinical and support team members connected to a medical practice comprising of more than 530 physicians and nearly 6,000 employees across the state. The new Amarillo facility is part of a more than $150 million investment by Texas Oncology in capital improvements statewide over the past six years. Learn more at TexasOncology.com. Story continues Brown & Fortunato announces new attorneys Brown & Fortunato is pleased to announce that Megan Israelitt and Trey Dumler have joined the firm. Israelitt is a member of B&Fs Labor and Employment and Litigation Groups. She is currently a member of the State Bar of New Mexico and the District of Columbia Bar. Megan Israelitt She graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership and a minor in Business Administration, and from the Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law. While in law school, Israelitt was an elected representative to the Student Bar Association, appointed to the Honor Council, and involved in the Constitutional Jurisprudence Clinic. Israelitt also clerked for a civil rights firm in Long Beach, California, where she helped advocate for First and Second Amendment issues. In 2019, Israelitt's independent research article, Is Treason Applied as the Founders Intended? was published online by the National Law Review. Dumler joined B&F as a member of the Corporate Group where he advises clients on general business matters, including entity formation, corporate governance, business transactions, and contract drafting and negotiation. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Oklahoma Bar Association, the Amarillo Area Bar Association, the Amarillo Area Young Lawyers Association, and the American Bar Association. Trey Dumler Born and raised in the Oklahoma panhandle, Dumler received his Bachelor of Science in Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences with distinction from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Centers (OUHSC) College of Allied Health. Following his undergraduate studies, Dumler received his Professional MBA from The University of Oklahomas Gene Rainbolt Graduate School of Business with a certificate in Healthcare Administration from OUHSCs College of Public Health. He went on to earn his J.D. from the University of Oklahomas College of Law with a certificate in Business and Transactional Law. During law school, Dumler contributed more than 100 pro bono hours to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma. USDAs Farm Service Agency in Potter County now accepting applications for wildfire recovery assistance U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Executive Director Adam Acker on June 12 announced that applications for the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) are now being accepted to address damages from recent wildfires. ECP signup began Monday, June 12, and ends on Friday, July 14. The approved ECP practices under this authorization include restoring permanent fences and removing debris in preparation for fence restoration. Approved ECP applicants may receive up to 75 percent of the cost of approved restoration activity. Limited resource, socially disadvantaged and beginning farmers and ranchers may receive up to 90 percent cost share. Dealing with the impacts of natural disasters is never easy, especially when you have to consider the health and safety of livestock, so if you have an immediate need to begin restoring fences and want to receive ECP assistance, its imperative that you call our office for approval before you take any action, said Acker. FSA county committees will evaluate applications based on an on-site inspection of the damaged land, taking into consideration the type and extent of the damage. The 2018 Farm Bill increased the payment limitation for ECP to $500,000 per natural disaster event. For more information on ECP, please contact the Potter-Armstrong County FSA office at (806) 468-860, ext. 2 or visit farmers.gov/protection-recovery. WT engineering professor publishes research into enigmatic knots in DNA, protein chains CANYON A West Texas A&M University researchers joint study with a faculty member at the University of Texas may help scientists learn more about a knotty problem in humans and animals. Dr. Mona Ozmaian, WT assistant professor of engineering in the College of Engineering, and Dr. Dmitrii Makarov, UT professor of chemistry, published Long-lived metastable knots in polyampholyte chains June 14 in PLOS ONE, an international scientific research journal. Ozmaian and Makarov are researching knots that can form in strands of DNA or protein, similar to the tangled wires of headphones. These knots were first observed in biology labs, and scientists believe that many biological chains might develop knots, Ozmaian said. However, the role of these knots is not yet entirely understood. Ozmaian joined WT in 2022 after earning a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering, a masters in mechanical engineering and solid mechanics, and a Ph.D. in nanoscience and nanotechnology from Sharif University in Tehran. Makarov, who earned a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the Institute for Chemical Physics in Moscow, has been on UTs faculty since 2001; he also serves as a core faculty member at the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering & Sciences. Innovation Outpost will address transformative power of Artificial Intelligence at three-day conference, June 26-28 The Innovation Outpost will present a three-day conference in June focusing on the transformative power of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which has the potential to drive growth, productivity, and innovation for businesses of all sizes across the Texas Panhandle. Texas Panhandle Summit: AI@Work takes place from 3-6 p.m. on June 26, 27 and 28 at the Innovation Outpost, 1220 S. Polk St. The event will feature a dozen esteemed speakers and special guests industry leaders and local experts. For more information, to purchase tickets, or to become a sponsor, please visit the website. The first days keynote speaker, Todd McLees, Managing Partner at Innovation Outpost, will kick off the event with his address on Being Human in the Age of AI. Gary Bolles, Chair for the Future of Work at Singularity University and author of The Next Rules of Work, will also deliver an enlightening talk on the impact of AI at Work. The second-day centers on the role of AI in optimizing operations, featuring practical insights from local experts, including Rich Gagnon, Assistant City Manager & CIO for the City of Amarillo, and Michael Keough, CTO at Region 16. Michael Shepherd, Sr. Distinguished Engineer, Office of the CTO at Dell, will also take the stage to share his vast experience and forward-thinking perspective on AI technologies. The final day delves into the expansive realm of machine learning, exploring its potential to redefine business strategies across industries. The day includes a virtual panel of renowned AI company CEOs and industry strategists such as Jean Belanger, Founder & CEO of Cerebri AI, and Maya Mikhailov, Co-Founder & CEO of SAVVI AI. The Innovation Outposts acknowledges these Summit sponsors: Amarillo College, Amarillo Economic Development Corporation, BOC Bank, the City of Amarillo, and the Innovation Hub at Texas Tech University. This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo area business news for the week of June 18, 2023 A typical Ohio residential customer taking supply from Duke Energy Ohio and using 1,000 kWh per month will see a monthly increase of approximately $37.00 beginning this month. Ohio has a deregulated energy market, which means that utility customers can select the company that supplies their energy under the states Energy Choice Ohio program. For our electric customers in Southwest Ohio, that choice is between Duke Energy Ohio or any one of the nearly 100 competitive suppliers active in our service territory, most of which do not have a physical presence in the region. Consistent with prior law, Duke Energy Ohio sold our power plants and no longer generates the power needed to serve our customers. Instead, we conduct competitive auctions to purchase the needed power supply a process that is replicated throughout the state. Every June, we adjust our supply charges with the approval of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. These charges reflect what we pay for power supply; there is no company mark up or profit. Our recent auction results reflect the significant volatility in the commodity or fuel markets weve experienced over the past few years. Extreme weather conditions, the war in in Ukraine, global demand, and supply chain constraints have all impacted power prices. What does this mean for you? A typical Ohio residential customer taking supply from Duke Energy Ohio and using 1,000 kWh per month will see a monthly increase of approximately $37.00 beginning this month. As a result, we expect to see a rise in marketing activities and solicitations. Because competitive suppliers marketing activities can be persistent and confusing, were reminding customers to be informed as they weigh options that could have long-term financial consequences. You may notice representatives from competitive suppliers either knocking on your door or calling you and promising to lower your Duke Energy Ohio bill. While these entities may be legitimate businesses that can offer a lower energy price for some period, Duke Energy Ohio does not endorse or "partner" with any of these entities. And they are not acting on our behalf. To avoid surprises, we urge you to do your research on Ohios Apples to Apples website before signing up with any supplier. We also encourage you to pay close attention to the conditions of the offer and understand the type of rate you may be agreeing to, contract length, automatic renewal provisions, and any monthly or cancellation fees that may apply. As always, never give your personal and financial information out to anyone you dont know or trust. Story continues Four times a year, we provide a list that competitive suppliers use to solicit new customers. If you wish to have your information excluded from this list, we must be notified by July 13, 2023. You may contact us online at duke-energy.com/customerchoice, by mail at Duke Energy, P.O. Box 960, Mail Drop EX300, Cincinnati, OH 45201, or by phone at 800.544.6900. Regardless of the entity you choose to supply your power, Duke Energy Ohio will continue to deliver your energy and remain your local electric company. We will read your meter and respond to all service concerns, emergencies or power outages. Well continue to support our customers and communities, as weve done for the last 185 years. Energy consumption varies by household, and a more efficient home can make a difference in your bill, especially as summer temperatures rise. We offer money-saving programs and tips at duke-energy.com/SummerBills. If you are struggling financially to pay your utility bill, contact 800.544.6900 or visit duke-energy.com/Help4You. There may also be state and federal assistance programs available. We stand by our commitment to provide safe, reliable energy for Greater Cincinnati. That commitment includes being transparent about bill impacts and being here to help. We continue to stay focused on controlling our own costs within our company and keeping our rates competitive as we know you depend on us every day to power your homes and businesses. Amy Spiller is president of Duke Energy Ohio and Kentucky. Amy Spiller, president of Duke Energy Ohio and Kentucky. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Beware of misleading energy supply offers | Opinion COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho, June 20, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) announced the suspension of operations at the Casa Berardi mine again due to the forest fires in the Abitibi and Eeyou-Istchee region of the James Bay area. This suspension follows the directives of Quebecs Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests to close certain forest lands and access roads. All mine personnel are safe, and the infrastructure has not been impacted. Operations at Casa Berardi were suspended earlier in the month due to forest fires, with the mine re-starting operations on June 15th. The Company is complying with the directives of the Ministry and is in close contact with the authorities. ABOUT HECLA Founded in 1891, Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL) is the largest silver producer in the United States. In addition to operating mines in Alaska, Idaho, and Quebec, Canada, the Company is developing a mine in the Yukon, Canada, and owns several exploration and pre-development projects in world-class silver and gold mining districts throughout North America. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230620272459/en/ Contacts Anvita M. Patil, Vice President Investor Relations and Treasurer Cheryl Turner, Communications Coordinator 800-HECLA91 (800-432-5291) Investor Relations Email: hmc-info@hecla-mining.com Website: www.hecla.com A curious bear found itself on the edge of a two-story fall when the animal tried to escape from a Steamboat Springs home it broke into via a second-floor window Heidi Hannah/AMAZING ANIMALS+/TMX A Colorado bear found itself dangling from the window of a home it broke into on Wednesday, and it was all captured on video. The bear let itself into a Steamboat Springs home through a ground-floor window and explored the abode, eventually making it to the second story. In a clip of the wild encounter filmed by Heidi Hannah, the bear tries to escape the home through an upstairs window. Unsure about the drop once outside, the animal hangs onto the windowsill. The bear seemingly contemplates leaping to land several times before deciding against the jump. The video ends with the wild animal pulling itself back inside the house. The bear eventually leaves through the ground floor window it used to enter the home earlier. Homeowner Ryan MacFarlane told Fox31 he was at work when he learned a bear broke into his home. "He got his nails in there and just ripped that window right open and got inside and helped himself to my pork chops I had out for dinner that night, got some snacks out of the pantry, and knocked over the plants nothing too crazy," MacFarlane explained. Related: WATCH: Florida Black Bear Seen Wandering Around Tampa International Airport Before Being Safely Captured Heidi Hannah/AMAZING ANIMALS+/TMX The bear tried to escape through the upstairs window because it locked itself inside the primary bedroom, MacFarlane said. A police officer went into the house and opened the door so the animal could leave, MacFarlane told Fox31. According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife Area Wildlife Manager Kris Middledorf, the bear has been involved in at least three attempted home break-ins. "If the bear is captured, it will be euthanized," Middledorf told Steamboat Radio, adding that there have been "at least three attempts to capture it," "When a bear poses a risk to human health and safety or is known to have caused previous conflict activity, it is often euthanized in accordance with CPW directives," reads a statement on Colorado Parks and Wildlife's website. "Euthanasia is often used to remove bears that have caused bodily harm to people, livestock, broken into homes or structures, exhibited repeated aggressive behavior, or exhibited aggressive behavior one time and it is deemed necessary to euthanize by a wildlife officer." Story continues Related: Three Orphaned Bear Cubs Move to California Wildlife Center for a Second Chance CPW advises residents to make their homes "bearproof" and never to approach a bear. If one comes close to your home, the agency recommends making loud noises, like blowing a whistle or clapping your hands, to scare the animal away. Residents should keep bear-accessible windows and doors closed and locked and never feed bears on purpose, CPW says. Since food is a common thread among human-bear interactions, trash or recyclables should not be left out overnight in areas with bears, the agency notes. 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. Bears have been seen breaking into homes in other parts of the country. In May 2020, four bears broke into a cabin in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, after one unlocked a door. Michelle Eberhart, who was staying at the rental home with a friend, told WATE the bears stole "5 pounds of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and a pound of M&M's and two pounds of Sour Patch Kids and two bags of potato chips." The bears also took the group's drinks and Eberhart's allergy medicine. "It was just almost surreal, it was just a fight-or-flight, like I just have to remove us from this situation and make sure that we're at least in a safe place," Eberhart told WATE. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. UPDATE: Donald Trump offered a fusillade of unfounded claims and falsehoods in his interview with Fox News Bret Baier, who seems to have gone into the sit down with a strategy to challenge the former president on certain topics and move on at other moments. Why did you have this very sensitive national security defense documents, like the war plans for a strike on Iran? Baier asked, referring to a central claim by federal prosecutors in last weeks indictment. More from Deadline Trump responded, So like every other president, I take things out, and in my case I took it out pretty much in a hurry but people packed it up and we left. I had clothing in there. I had all sorts of personal items, and they are much, much stuff. He then went on to bashing his former attorney general William Barr, insisting that he fired him because he didnt have the courage to go after so many different things. He was a coward. Baier later noted that according to the indictment, you then tell this aide to move to other locations after telling your lawyers to say you had fully complied with the subpoena, when you hadnt. Trump responded, But, before I send boxes over, I have to take all of my things out. These boxes were interspersed with all sorts of things, golf shirts, clothing, pants, shoes. There were many things. Baier interjected, Iran war plans? Not that I know of, but, not that I know of, Trump responded. Baier later noted that the indictment cites a recording where Trump is recorded saying the document was secret, adding that you could have declassified it while you were president, but quote Now I cant. You know, this is still secret, highly confidential.' Story continues Baier added, And the indictment cites the recording and the testimony from people in the room saying you showed it to people there that day. So, you say on this on tape. Trump responded, I didnt, later insisting there was no document. That was a massive amount of papers and everything else talking about Iran and other things. At one moment, when Baier asked him about winning women independent suburban voters, Trump insisted that he won the 2020 presidential election and when into unfounded claims of ballot box stuffing. Baier told him, You lost the 2020 election. There were recounts in all of the swing states. There was not significant widespread fraud, Baier said. Trump said, We were trying to get recounts, real recounts. Baier then told Trump, There were investigations of widespread corruption. There was not a sense of that. There were lawsuits, 50 of them, by your lawyers, some in front of judges, judges that you appointed, that came up with no evidence. Trump continued to insist that Wisconsin practically admitted that it was rigged. Baier then noted that fewer than 475 cases of voter fraud were found in six battleground states. You know why? They were not looking at the right things. They were counting ballots, not the authenticity of the ballots, Trump insisted. Baier then tried to press Trump, Are you going to go tell this to that independent suburban voter? In April, Fox News settled a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million. Dominion claimed that some Fox personalities and Trump allies amplified claims that the election systems company was involved in rigging the 2020 election. The networks news side, however, declared Biden the winner the Saturday after the election. During the interview, Fox News also ran clips of Trump from 2016, where he talked of the importance of protecting classified information. Baier also ran through a list of Trumps attacks on members of his own administration, mentioning the former presidents insults on figures including John Kelly, Rex Tillerson, Elaine Chao and James Mattis. So, why did you hire all of them in the first place? Baier said. Because I hired 10-1 that were fantastic, Trump said. PREVIOUSLY: Fox News has released a preview clip of anchor Bret Baiers interview with Donald Trump, the former presidents first sit down since he was indicted last week on federal charges related to his withholding of classified documents. According to the clip (watch it below), Trump offered another explanation for why he didnt just return the classified material, even in response to a subpoena: He was too busy to sort through the boxes where they were kept. Baier also asked Trump about a central claim of the indictment: That he had an aide move the boxes to other locations after telling his attorneys he had fully complied with the subpoena. At least in the clip, Trump did not challenge that version of events. The first part of the interview will air on Fox News Special Report at 6 p.m. ET on Monday, and the second part the following evening. In the clip, Baier noted to Trump that the National Archives and Records Administration asked for the return of the documents. No. And I gave them some, Trump said. Baier responded, And then they said they went to DOJ to subpoena you to get it. Trump responded, Which theyve never done before. Baier then asked, Why not just hand them over then? Because I had boxes. I want to go through the boxes and get all my personal things out. I dont want to hand that over to NARA yet. And I was very busy as you have sort of seen. Baier added, Yeah, but according to the indictment, you then tell this aide to move to other locations after telling your lawyers to say youd fully complied with the subpoena when you hadnt. Trump responded, Before I send boxes over, I have to take all my things out. These boxes were interspersed with all sorts of things. In an interview with Martha MacCallum on Monday afternoon, Baier said that during the hour-long sit down, Trump denied flatly some aspects of the indictment, including its account of a 2021 recording in which he acknowledged that documents were still classified and that he could no longer declassify them because he was out of the White House. He also denied having a document with war plans, Baier said. The Fox anchor noted that even though the magistrate judge talk Trump not to talk about the specifics of the case with a list of potential witnesses, he talked extensively about specifics during the interview. Baier said that Trump continued to bash Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, now his chief rival for the GOP nomination. When presented with an extensive list of former Trump cabinet members no longer supporting him, Trump said that they were just the wrong people for the job. This was Trumps first interview with Baier since 2018. Trump also participated in a Fox News town hall in 2020 that was moderated by Baier and MacCallum and held at the Lincoln Memorial. 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. A baron looking landscape with fumes rising from rocks. A long-slumbering "supervolcano" in Italy is getting closer to a potential eruption for the first time since 1538, a new study warns and the consequences could be catastrophic. The Campi Flegrei volcano, near Naples in southern Italy, has a crust that is becoming weaker and more prone to rupturing, "making an eruption more likely", scientists behind a new study have said. More than 1.5 million people live above the vast underground volcano complex, and half a million people have their homes inside its 7-mile-long (11 kilometers) caldera, which was formed after an enormous eruption 39,000 years ago. Related: Satellites watch Russian volcano erupt and blanket villages in ash If Campi Flegrei were to reenact its largest previous eruption, it would punch molten rock and volcanic gases high into the stratosphere, unleash 100-feet-high (33.5 meters) tsunamis and spread a plume of sulfur and toxic ash that could plunge Earth into global winter for years killing crops and causing mass extinctions. The researchers published their findings on June 9 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. "Our new study confirms that Campi Flegrei is moving closer to rupture," study lead-author Christopher Kilburn, a professor of Earth Science at University College London, said in a statement. However, he cautioned that "this does not mean an eruption is guaranteed. The rupture may open a crack through the crust, but the magma still needs to be pushing up at the right location for an eruption to occur." Campi Flegrei, which means "burning fields" or "fiery fields," is a sprawling, mostly-hidden network of 24 craters and edifices that stretches from its vast caldera opposite Vesuvius at the western edge of Naples into the nearby Gulf of Puzzuoli. Aerial view of the landscape surrounding the volcano. A 2016 satellite image showing the "breathing" landscape of Campi Flegrei pockmarked by craters. (Image credit: Copernicus Sentinel 2017/Orbital Horizon/Gallo Images/Getty Images) Story continues Though Campi Flegrei is commonly referred to as a supervolcano, this hasn't been established for certain. Supervolcanoes are volcanoes that can produce eruptions of the highest magnitude an 8 on the Volcano Explosivity Index expelling more than 240 cubic miles (1,000 cubic kilometers) of material in the process. Yet Campi Flegrei's biggest-ever eruption ejected up to 70 cubic miles (285 cubic km) of material, ranking it as a still-disastrous category 7. One of the hazardous chemical elements that would be unleashed in the eruption's cloud is fluorine, which in sufficient quantities can kill plants and cause a disease called fluorosis in animals. The volcano has been stirring since the mid-20th century, with bursts of heightened activity in the 1950s, 1970s and 1980s. Another period of unrest began in the last decade and is still ongoing, during which the ground below Pozzuoli, a town located on the volcano's roof, has risen by 4 inches (10 centimeters) each year, adding up to a total change in elevation of 13 feet (4 m) since the 1950s. Campi Flegrei is also experiencing persistent small earthquakes, with more than 600 detected in April breaking its largest monthly total ever recorded in the region. The subterranean ferment is likely being driven by volcanic gas seeping into the crust 2 miles (3 km) beneath Campi Flegrei's surface, which soaks it up like a sponge, the researchers said. This causes the crust to stretch, warp and slip, sending earthquakes rumbling to the surface. If enough volcanic gas enters the crust, the heat and pressure it provides can push the rocks beyond "critical degassing pressure," rupturing them and opening up a crack for the magma beneath to burst outwards in an eruption. a baron landscape with bubbling pools. White and gray puffs of sulfur seep out from beneath the ground inside a fumarole in the Campi Flegrei caldera. (Image credit: Carmine Minopoli/AFP via Getty images) Related stories: Record-breaking Tonga undersea volcano disrupted satellite signals in space Eruption of Italy's Stromboli volcano spotted from space Space volcanoes: Origins, variants and eruptions To see how likely an eruption may be, the researchers combined seismic readings with measurements of ground uplift to map estimates of the changing tensile strength of the region's crust (the maximum stress a material can take before breaking) and its proximity to rupture. The researchers' model suggests that the crust beneath Campi Flegrei is breaking and not bending under pressure. Deep beneath Earth, the churn of underground gas and magma has been slowly flexing and weakening Campi Flegrei's crust since the 1950s, reducing its tensile strength to just a third of what it was in 1984, according to the study. This means that even though the earthquakes in the region are not as powerful as they were in the 1980s, the weaker rock has the potential to rupture under smaller strains, giving seismologists fewer detectable earthquakes and people less notice to evacuate. Related: Earth's layers: Exploring our planet inside and out Despite this, scientists say this doesn't mean a gigantic eruption is now inevitable. For volcanoes to blow, gases must build up faster than they can escape, and magma also needs to be able to move rapidly through the crust where a crack has formed two conditions that scientists cannot know for certain have been met until an eruption takes place. The same can also be said for the size of Campi Flegrei's potential eruption, which is difficult to predict but is much more likely to be small than large, according to the scientists. "It's the same for all volcanoes that have been quiet for generations. Campi Flegrei may settle into a new routine of gently rising and subsiding, as seen at similar volcanoes around the world, or simply return to rest," Stefano Carlino, a researcher at the Vesuvius Observatory, said in the statement. "We can't yet say for sure what will happen. The important point is to be prepared for all outcomes." WASHINGTON Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of tax evasion in federal court in Delaware and participate in a pretrial program for a firearm offense, after a multi-year investigation into his tax matters, a case with implications for President Joe Biden's reelection campaign and dealings with congressional Republicans. U.S. Attorney David Weiss filed a letter in federal court Tuesday citing the charges and the plea agreement. In one case, the president's son will plead guilty to the tax charges, which allege willful failure to pay federal income tax. In another case, he agreed to enter a pretrial diversion agreement for the gun offense, in which he acknowledged unlawful possession of a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver, despite being addicted to drugs. The Justice Department will recommend probation for tax charges, according to The Associated Press, based on an unnamed source. The diversion program could eventually lead to dismissal of the gun charge. Weiss asked the court a judge has not yet been assigned to set a date to formally process the plea agreements. Weiss began in 2018 with questions about taxes on overseas business deals, after his work in Ukraine and China drew federal scrutiny. Biden's lawyer, Christopher Clark, said his understanding is that the agreements resolve the five-year investigation. "Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement," Clark said. "I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward." Biden himself disclosed the inquiry in December 2020. Asked Tuesday if he had spoken with his son, President Biden said, "Im very proud of my son." The White House has previously said the president hasn't discussed the investigation with Attorney General Merrick Garland or the Justice Department. Story continues The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life," Ian Sams, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement. "We will have no further comment. The case has political implications. Former President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have attacked Hunter Biden as a potentially bad influence on his father. Trump appointed Weiss. IRS agents say they were removed from the probe. Hunter Biden has sued a laptop repairman for allegedly distributing private personal information to Trump supporters and reporters. Here is what we know about the inquiry: Hunter Biden, right, meets and speaks with his father President Joe Biden, and proceeds to walk back inside of the White House after the President and First lady Jill Biden welcomed and greeted people at the annual Easter Egg Roll on Monday, April 10, 2023. What are the tax charges? One of the court filings explained the basis for the tax charges against Hunter Biden. He allegedly received more than $1.5 million in taxable income during 2017, when he lived in Washington, D.C., and owed the federal government more than $100,000, according to a court record. He was required to pay the tax by April 2018 but didn't, according to the document filed by Leo Wise and Derek Hines, two special assistant U.S. attorneys in Weiss's office. Biden again received more than $1.5 million in 2018 and failed to pay his taxes by April 2019, according to the document. IRS investigators recently removed from probe Congressional Republicans have questioned Biden's overseas business deals. A whistleblower at the Internal Revenue Service, which has been investigating Biden for potential tax violations, told lawmakers in May his entire team was removed from the probe, according to a letter from his lawyers obtained by USA TODAY. Mark Lytle, the attorney for the IRS whistleblower, wrote to lawmakers that his client has information about a failure to mitigate clear conflicts of interest in the ultimate disposition of a criminal investigation related to Bidens taxes and whether he made a false statement in connection with a gun purchase. The letter said the IRS criminal supervisory special agent "was informed that he and his entire investigative team are being removed from the ongoing and sensitive investigation of the high-profile, controversial subject about which our client sought to make whistleblower disclosures to Congress." The Justice Department informed the whistleblower about the change. Another charge involves allegedly false statement when buying a gun Another charge in Weiss's inquiry alleges Biden made a false statement on a federal form when he bought a gun in 2018. The Gun Control Act prohibits drug users from possessing firearms. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ruled the ban applies to "a conviction for use or possession of a controlled substance within the past year." Biden filled out a federal form when he bought a handgun in October 2018 in which he replied no to a question of whether he was an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance," according to the Washington Post. By his own account in his memoir Beautiful Things, Biden battled drug addiction and for periods during 2018 smoked crack every 15 minutes. But Biden could potentiallly challenge the law under his Second Amendment right to bear arms. The Supreme Court overturned a New York gun law in June 2022, in a decision that threatened a variety of firearms regulations. How does Hunter Biden's laptop figure into the probe? A laptop became a focal point of congressional inquiries because it contained a trove of documents and pictures of Hunter Biden. When Trump raised questions about the laptop at a 2020 presidential debate, Joe Biden initially replied that it was Russian disinformation. The laptops legitimacy has since been confirmed by CBS News and The Washington Post, but the contents remain under investigation. Biden drug addition: Hunter Biden's drug use back in public eye as criminal charges could be around the corner A computer repairman, John Paul Mac Isaac, gave the laptop information to the FBI after Hunter Biden failed to pick up the MacBook Pro following repairs in April 2019. Mac Isaac later gave a copy of the laptop's contents to Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who shared the material Trump's political supporters and with reporters. Hunter Biden filed a claim in federal court alleging Mac Isaac violated his privacy, took part in a conspiracy and helped others invade his privacy. The filing was in response to a $1.5 million lawsuit for alleged defamation that the repairman filed in Delaware Superior Court against Biden, CNN, Politico and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. The case has been moved to U.S. District Court in Delaware. Rep. James Comer, R-KY., is seen during the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing on Protecting Speech from Government Interference and Social Media Bias, Part 1: Twitters Role in Suppressing the Biden Laptop Story," on Feb. 8, 2023 in Washington. Biden became lightning rod for political conflict between father's administration and House GOP The inquiry carried political implications from the start because of his father's ambition as a former vice president to return to the White House and because of clashes with congressional Republicans. House Republicans led by Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., have argued that Hunter Biden peddled influence on the administration through lucrative business deals and the sale of art. For example, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee released a report in March saying Hunter Biden and other relatives received $1.3 million from a business associate after he received a wire transfer from a Chinese company. Biden paternity case: How the Biden family name became latest wrinkle in Hunter Biden's paternity battle Comer called the charges a "slap on the wrist" and said they reflect a "two-tiered system of justice." "Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery," Comer said. "These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committees investigation. We will not rest until the full extent of President Bidens involvement in the familys schemes are revealed. Trump, who has been indicted on federal charges over classified documents and New York state charges over business records, said in a post on Truth Social the Justice Department gave Hunter Biden "a mere 'traffic ticket.' Our system is BROKEN!" The White House has dismissed the inquiries into Hunter Bidens business deals as hyperpartisan and politically motivated. Joe Biden has defended himself and his son from attacks by Trump since the 2020 campaign. Attorney General Merrick Garland has told Congress that the departments decisions in the case would not be politicized. I stand by my testimony, and I refer you to the U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware, who is in charge of this case and capable of making any decisions that he feels are appropriate, Garland said at an unrelated news conference May 2. Contributing: The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hunter Biden to plead guilty to tax charges, resolve gun case: DOJ Most American adults including two-thirds of those identifying as Catholics or Christians disagree with religious-based denial of medical care, employment, or other services to LGBTQ individuals, a national poll has found. The results reflect Americans increasing support of LGBTQ rights and protections, in sharp contrast to a growing wave of legislation and legal action nationwide chipping away at such rights and protections. Chris Erchull, attorney for GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), said the findings show most Americans believe in treating each other fairly. This poll shows that the current campaign of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and efforts to weaken existing nondiscrimination protections is out of step with what the majority of Americans want," Erchull said. ".... Targeting one community with harmful legislation is not a winning political strategy long-term and runs contrary to core principles in our democracy. Similar sentiments were expressed by Christy Mallory, legal director for the Williams Institute and one of the study's authors. Recent efforts by some state legislatures to expand religious exemptions from LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination laws are largely out of alignment with the views of most Americans, she said in a release accompanying the findings. A record number of anti-LGBTQ bills As of May 23, the Human Rights Campaign, the nations largest LGBTQ civil rights group, had tallied a record 520 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in legislatures this year, with more than 40% of those targeting transgender and nonbinary people. More than 125 bills would ban transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming care. Additionally, a recent report found the number of LGBTQ-hostile states on the rise, reflecting the growing amount of legislation targeting gender-affirming care, reducing protections for transgender people, and limiting discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is expected to rule this year in the case of Colorado web designer Lorie Smith, who is asking the state not to compel her to create web pages for same-sex weddings, which she said conflict with her religious beliefs. LGBTQ advocates fear a decision in Smith's favor could have more far-reaching consequences. Story continues Activists wave progress pride flags as they and hundreds of others march toward the Capitol in a Queer Capitol March on Saturday, April 15, 2023, in Austin. Activists gathered to protest recent anti-LGBTQ legislation in Texas. The survey findings were gleaned from a national poll of 1,003 U.S. adults conducted in September 2022 and commissioned by nonpartisan research firm NORC at the University of Chicago in partnership with the Williams Institute, a think tank dedicated to gender identity and sexual orientation research at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law. More than 8 in 10 respondents (84%) opposed allowing medical professionals to cite religious beliefs as a reason to deny care to LGBTQ people, while 74% said they were against letting employers deny jobs to LGBTQ individuals. About 7 in 10 (71%) said they objected to business owners citing religious beliefs as a reason for denying LGBTQ people service. The majorities were consistent across political affiliations, religions, race, ethnicity and gender, the poll found. Women, people of color and Democrats were most likely to say they opposed discrimination against LGBTQ people on religious grounds, including more than 80% of Black respondents. Democrats were far more likely (92%) than Republicans (71%) to oppose religious-based discrimination against LGBTQ individuals in terms of medical care, as well as business services (90% to 52%) and employment (89% to 54%). In terms of gender differences, women were likelier (86%) than men (81%) to oppose religious-based discrimination by medical professionals, as well as by business owners (76% to 67%) and employers (79% to 69%). Opposition to bias lowest among the most religious When broken down by religious attendance, those regularly frequenting religious services were least likely to oppose religious-based denial of such services to LGBTQ people, though those who did still represented a majority of the group. Just 53% of that category opposed religious-based discrimination against LGBTQ people on the part of business owners, while 59% opposed such bias from employers and 71% from medical providers. Opposition was highest among those who never attended services, with at least 8 in 10 among that group objecting to allowing religious-based discrimination by medical professionals (89%), employers (82%) and business owners (80%). The findings, the study authors said, should give pause to policymakers, business owners and service providers given the growing pattern of restrictions against LGBTQ people. While LGBTQ people are not explicitly protected from discrimination at the federal level, laws banning sex-based discrimination have been interpreted to extend to members of the LGBTQ community. Additionally, 33 states and the District of Columbia also provide discrimination protections in areas such as employment, housing and public accommodations. Earlier this month, Human Rights Campaign issued its first "state of emergency" in its more than 40-year history after more than 75 anti-LGBTQ bills had been passed in state legislatures in 2023. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LGBTQ people: Americans largely oppose religious-based discrimination A petition has been launched in Australia calling for a ban on Donald Trump Jr from visiting the country for a right-wing event next month. By Monday nearly 15,000 people had signed the Change.org petition protesting against the former presidents eldest son attending the Turning Point Australia event. The group is affiliated with right-wing provocateur Charlie Kirks Turning Point USA, which aims to reach the next generation of conservatives. Nigel Farage is expected to join Mr Trump on his trip. Donald Trump Junior is a far-right agitator who spreads bigotry wherever he goes, Omar Hassan of the Campaign Against Racism & Fascism said in a statement. His visit is likely to be a magnet for far-right and neo-Nazi groups across Melbourne, so we will be there in numbers to send the message that people here reject and despise everything they stand for. And he added: Trump Jr is a prominent far-right spokesperson, famous for his aggressive racist and transphobic campaigning. He was an instrumental part of his fathers 2016 presidential run, and has since been part of attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including the violence on January 6. Were protesting him to stand against white supremacy, transphobia, and misogyny. Activists say that if Mr Trump is allowed into Australia a protest will take place on 11 July at the State Library of Victoria. Documents released Monday state a Clermont County father had planned to kill his three sons for months before they were shot at their home Thursday. Chad Doerman, 32, is charged with aggravated murder of the boys, ages 3, 4 and 7. Here's what we know about the killings. What happened Thursday The Clermont County Sheriff's Office said it received multiple 911 calls Thursday just after 4 p.m. One caller screamed that her "babies had been shot," another caller said there was young woman running down the street yelling that "her father was killing everyone." Deputies swarmed the home in the 1900 block of Laurel Lindale Road in Monroe Township and found the three boys in the front yard, police said. Prosecutors said Doerman had lined his children up and executed them with a rifle. When one of the boys tried to flee, he "hunted" him down, brought him back to the house and killed him, the prosecutor said. The boy's mother was shot in the hand trying to stop Doerman, officials said. A childs bike, along with evidence markers, in the front yard of the home in Monroe Township where three brothers, ages, 3, 4 and 7, were killed, execution style according to Dave Gast, Clermont County's chief prosecutor. He said Doerman has admitted to using a rifle to kill his sons. What the body camera shows Footage from the body-worn cameras of two deputies has been released. It shows deputies approaching Doerman while he sat on a step outside his house. The bodies of the boys were scattered in front of him in the grass. A rifle is on the ground next to him. A deputy approached Doerman and pulled him down on his stomach to handcuff him as his dog barks in the background. "I ain't gonna hurt nobody," Doerman said calmly. He also told the officers his dog wouldn't bite them. As a deputy is walking him to a cruiser, Doerman asks him to take his wallet out of his back pocket. "Shut up, dude," the deputy replies. "You have the right to remain silent. F---ing use it." Doerman's past Other than traffic citations and one decade-old domestic violence charge, Doerman has no other serious criminal offenses, according to court documents and statements from his public defender. Story continues The domestic violence charge stems from Doerman allegedly choking his father in 2010, according to court records. The case ultimately was dismissed, apparently after the alleged victim identified as Keith Doerman, Chad Doerman's father failed to appear as a prosecution witness. The community rallies At least two prayer events were hosted by New Richmond area churches over the weekend. A third event is planned for Sunday, June 25 and is meant to remember both the slain children and honor first responders. Residents have said the killings have left them shaken. This is the second family shooting in the community. In February, a murder-suicide left a man, his son and another relative dead before Theresa Cain took her own life. The New Richmond Exempted School District offered grief counselors to the community on Friday. A GoFundMe campaign to help the surviving mother and daughter has raised over $200,000. What's next Doerman could face the death penalty, but prosecutors have not said whether they intend to seek it. Investigators have not shared any details about a possible motive. He appeared in Clermont County Municipal Court on Friday wearing shackles and thick green vest used by corrections officers to prevent people from attempting to kill or harm themselves. Doerman did not speak, but appeared to become emotional at one point during the hearing. His bond was set at $20 million. Prosecutors said they know of no other person who is a greater threat to the community. They said they would seek to hold him without bond as soon as they are able. Doerman is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on June 26. Due to the felony level of the charges, a grand jury will be convened to decide what charges, if any, Doerman will be indicted on. If Doerman is indicted, his case will be moved to Clermont County Common Pleas Court which addresses felony offenses. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Planned for months: What we know about killing of three Ohio brothers Republican lawmakers and presidential contenders are not satisfied after federal prosecutors unveiled a plea agreement with the president's son Hunter Biden after a nearly six-year investigation. Biden, 53, is copping to two misdemeanor tax evasion charges and one firearm offense, according to a court filing Tuesday in Delaware. Under the agreement, Biden will be charged but not prosecuted in connection with buying a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver in 2018 when he was abusing drugs. For years, Republicans have been making a public case that the presidents son committed various crimes that should result in prison time. Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight Committee, tweeted Tuesday. WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 08: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., questions witnesses during the first public hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on March 08, 2023 in Washington, DC. Comer, armed with subpoena power, has been the lead congressional investigator who has used the megaphone of committee hearings to antagonize President Joe Biden through the 2024 election. The White House has dismissed allegations against the president as partisan innuendo. The case and plea deal have political implications as congressional Republicans, joined by former President Donald Trump and other right-leaning activists, have kept a drumbeat for years that Hunter Biden represents a corrupting force in his father's inner circle. "Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere 'traffic ticket,'" Trump said on Truth Social. "Our system is BROKEN!" GOP: Plea is a 'sweetheart deal' for Bidens House Speaker Kevin McCarthy didn't hold back his misgivings about prosecutors' decision to offer Hunter Biden a plea deal, saying it spotlights a "two-tier" legal justice system when compared with Trump's federal arraignment a week earlier. Story continues "If you are the president's leading political opponent, the DOJ tries to literally put you in jail and give you prison time," McCarthy told reporters Tuesday. "If you are Biden's son, you get a sweetheart deal." The speaker vowed Tuesday's announcement won't stall congressional investigations and emphasized that it, "actually should enhance our investigation because the DOJ should not be able to withhold any information now." The Republican National Committee cast the plea agreement in the same way. "It is clear that Joe Biden's Department of Justice is offering Hunter Biden a sweetheart deal," the RNC said in a statement. FLASHBACK: Joe Biden: "My son's done nothing wrongit impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him."pic.twitter.com/GKzWXVfwWg GOP (@GOP) June 20, 2023 Other GOP lawmakers called out how the plea deal was announced a week after Trump was arraigned on federal charges related to the classified documents seized at his Mar-a-Lago estate. "Its no coincidence that less than a week after President Trump is arraigned by the DOJ, Hunter Biden is pleading guilty to a sweetheart deal with no jail time," Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn, of Tennessee, said in a tweet Tuesday. Blackburn added that "after years of slow walking their investigation," federal prosecutors went after "low-hanging fruit" by charging Hunter Biden with a gun felony and two tax misdemeanors. Its no coincidence that less than a week after President Trump is arraigned by the DOJ, Hunter Biden is pleading guilty to a sweetheart deal with no jail time. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) June 20, 2023 Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., pinned his outrage partially on the news media, asking in a tweet if followers could "imagine the wall to wall media coverage if one of Presidents Trumps children had been convicted of a crime" during his White House tenure. "We would have never heard the end of it," Banks said. Congressional Republicans have long questioned Hunter Biden's overseas business deals and have argued that he peddled influence on the administration through lucrative business deals and the sale of art. The White House has said the president had no role in those deals. Republicans point out how after Joe Biden became vice president in 2009, Hunter Biden established business relationships with foreign interests that raked in millions. Coupled with Hunter Bidens personal problems, including a battle with substance use, that has opened Joe Biden up to years of attacks by political adversaries. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee released a report in March spotlighting how Hunter Biden and other relatives received $1.3 million from a business associate after he received a wire transfer from a Chinese company. What are 2024 candidates saying? The Republicans looking to boot Joe Biden from the White House didn't spare the president's son. "If Hunter were a Republican, he'd have been in jail years ago," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for president, tweeted Tuesday. The Hunter Biden plea deal is a joke," said Vivek Ramaswamy, an Ohio entrepreneur running for president. "Its a feigned retreat and reveals theyre even more scared than ever of scrutiny for the real crimes." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump, Republicans lawmakers react to Hunter Biden plea deal A new Equifax Canada survey says small businesses are increasingly using their credit cards to maintain their operations, a worrying trend. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Small businesses are increasingly turning to high-interest debt such as credit cards to keep the lights on, according to a new survey from Equifax Canada. I think what we're really starting to see now in the economy is the fallout of the pandemic. A lot of small businesses have a lot of debt accumulated from a pandemic, Jeff Brown, head of commercial solutions at Equifax Canada, said in a phone interview. Were seeing this in terms of the usage of their financial products. Theyre using a credit card to grow, or at least as a way to keep the lights on. Business credit card balances ballooned 15 per cent and lines of credit rose 11 per cent in the first quarter year-over-year, the survey released on Tuesday found. Meanwhile, small businesses owed a collective $12.9 billion in bank-issued installment loans, a small 2.4 per cent decline compared to last year. Equifax suggests companies may be shifting credit products to avoid having a fixed payment schedule, a move that could hinder their ability to grow and make larger investments in the long term. Brown says its okay if business owners are paying their credit card bills off in full every month, but thats not the case for many. If you're a revolver and you're accumulating debt, it's a slippery slope. So the more credit card usage there is, the more likelihood that there are going to be more revolvers hitting the market, he said. He adds its a sign of struggle to come if small businesses arent paying down their debt burdens while the economy shows signs of stabilization and consumer spending is robust. The average bank loan size for a small business is typically between $40,000 and $50,000, Brown says. Small businesses that also took advantage of the federal governments pandemic-related Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) are about to see debt service costs go up. CEBA loans will begin incurring five per cent annual interest starting in the new year. So far, the government has allowed businesses to carry those loans interest free. Story continues I think there's maybe not enough attention being brought to these CEBA loans, the fact that there's the $49 billion of debt that's been issued out. I think there's a lot of small businesses across Canada right now, just hoping that there's gonna be some sort of forgiveness or bailout from the government, Brown says. But we're not hearing or seeing any signs of that. So I think small businesses kind of have hope as a strategy to a certain degree because we're just not seeing the payback of those loans the way they should be. Michelle Zadikian is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow her on Twitter @m_zadikian. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. One of the defendants at the centre of the Harvard University morgue scandal boasted about his skull collection in a resurfaced article published more than 15 years ago. Tattoo artist Mathew Lampi, 52, is among five people charged with stealing and selling human remains donated to Harvard Medical School for research. Prosecutors revealed in shocking court filings last week that a morgue manager, his wife, a mortician, a creepy doll collector and Mr Lampi were part of a multi-state ring that exchanged and sold heads, brains, skin and bones. The scheme, which is part of a larger black market, is alleged to have gone on from 2018 to 2022. Mr Lampi, who owned a now-closed tattoo shop in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, is accused of exchanging over $100,000 in online payments with a supplier from Pennsylvania, who obtained the body parts from a morgue worker supposed to cremate the remains. According to the complaint, Mr Lampi allegedly purchased genitals, hearts, swaths of skin, skulls and the body of a stillborn baby boy, among other body parts. But a resurfaced magazine article from 2008 hints at Mr Lampis alleged particular interest in collecting skulls. The article published in the February issue of Skin Deep and unearthed by The Pioneer Press delves into Mr Lampis fascination with the human form and what lies under the skin and the twisted and macabre [inspiration] from the dark recesses of his mind. My mind never relaxes. I am always in a constant state of flux. When I am not tattooing or designing, I collect items. My collection consists of several tantric Kampalas, human skulls, a morticians make-up kit (previously used of course) and a customers toe, Mr Lampi is quoted saying. Mr Lampi also said at the time that he became bored with the traditional style of tattooing, noting that his style was a mix between realism and illustration. Pennsylvania police were tipped off last summer about the packages sent to Mr Lampi. He then reportedly asked his contact, 41-year-old Jeremy Pauley, what law enforcement was onto. Story continues ... in the end the only thing that mattered was nothing was proved grave robbed or stolen out of a morgue, Mr Pauley reportedly texted Mr Lampi, according to court documents obtained by the Pioneer Press. Mr Lampi has not entered a plea in his case. Mr Lampi, Harvard Medical School Morgue manager Cedric Lodge, 55, and his wife Denise, 63, were arrested on 14 June along with Katrina Maclean, 44, of Salem, Massachusetts who owns a store in nearby Peabody called Kats Creepy Creations that specialises in creepy dolls, oddities and bone art and Joshua Taylor, 46, of West Lawn, Pennsylvania. Mr Pauley and Candace Chapman Scott of Little Rock, Arkansas, were previously indicted for buying and selling stolen body parts intended for cremation and pleaded not guilty. They face up to 15 years in prison on charges of conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods. The Independent has reached out to all the defendants attorneys for comment. Ms Maclean is accused of selling remains stolen by Mr Lodge to other buyers in multiple states, including to Mr Pauley, to whom she allegedly shipped a package of human skin in 2021 having engaged his services to tan the skin to create leather, after which he sent it back to her, according to The New York Times. According to the federal indictment, Mr Lodge would spirit the dissected body parts away from the HMS morgue and store them at his home in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Mr Lodge, who was hired by Harvard in 1995, allegedly allowed potential buyers into the morgue to choose which body parts they wanted. He and his wife would then sell them as part of a national network of traffickers trading in human remains, conducting transactions on Facebook and PayPal and making use of the US Postal Service. Some crimes defy understanding, United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam said in a statement. The theft and trafficking of human remains strikes at the very essence of what makes us human. It is particularly egregious that so many of the victims here volunteered to allow their remains to be used to educate medical professionals and advance the interests of science and healing. (Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds that deploy a basket of computer algorithms for trading are gaining popularity in China after many investors got burned by human stock pickers. Most Read from Bloomberg Firms including Shanghai Black Wing Asset Management Co. and Shanghai Minghong Investment Management Co. are among those ramping up multi-strategy quant offerings to tap growing investor demand. A key sector underpinning quants out-performance has been equities, where managers generated a 10% return in six months to May 12, beating active funds 7.4% advance, according to Shenzhen PaiPaiWang Investment & Management Co. data of 110 stock-focused hedge funds managing at least 5 billion yuan ($700 million). Discussions about star managers have faded over the past two years, Howbuy said in an April 27 report. Investors are starting to develop a belief in quants, while becoming skeptical toward active management. Read More: Hedge Funds at War for Top Traders Dangle $120 Million Payouts The disappointing performance of some of the best human-run hedge funds are adding to the notion that machines are better at navigating Chinas often capricious markets. Quant funds are locked in an arms race to develop products based on multiple strategies, betting on investor interest as the market matures in the fashion of western peers, where these strategies are becoming more accessible for pension funds and wealthy clients. In China, local investors are looking for an edge after domestic stocks slumped, while uncertainty over the economy pushes more people to shift cash into overseas assets. Chinas main equity gauge has gained just 1.5% this year, badly trailing most global indexes, after slumping 22% last year. The out-performance of quants since last year has put multi-strategy in the spotlight, said Yi Weidong, general manager of custody at China Merchants Securities Co., the largest custodian for hedge funds. Multi-strategy will become the next battlefield for fund managers. The automated trades are often based on a combination of quant strategies ranging from long only, which bets on stock gains, enhanced index bets, commodities, credit, and market neutral wagers. One such firm that has outperformed benchmarks is Shanghai Black Wing, which runs about 15 billion yuan. It delivered a 2.7% gain last year after fees for its Selected Multi-strategy No. 1 fund that combines enhanced stock index and commodities trading. By comparison, the CSI Smallcap 500 Index, which the product tracks, slumped 20%. The total annualized return has been 23.5% since its April 2019 inception. The company boosted the share of multi-strategy quant products to more than 50% of assets under management, with the majority of new inflows coming from high-net-worth individuals channeled via securities firms and banks. Multi-strategy is like the holy grail of quant investing, Black Wing Chief Strategist Wang Jun said. Competitor Shanghai Minghong is seizing the opportunity to raise money for its Multi-strategy No. 1 fund, which returned an annual 18.1% before fees since inception in 2015. The company declined to specify a fund-raising target. The product, which combines long-only, market-neutral, event-driven and commodities strategies, has delivered gains every year. Multi-strategy is the best at sailing through bull and bear markets for the long term, said Qiu Huiming, founder of Shanghai Minghong, which manages nearly $10 billion in assets. The company is considering expanding its trading capacity by adding US stocks to further diversify its strategies. Minghong has seen interest spike since last year, marking a change from the past when most deemed multi-strategy too complex and were unconvinced about its performance. Its clients now span from wealthy individuals who keep adding investments, to endowment funds from Peking University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Inno Asset Management, which started multi-strategy offerings in 2015, added a new product line last year and expects to see a relatively large increase in their share in assets this year, founder Xu Shunan said. Single Strategy In good years, single-strategy products are able to capture bigger returns if the managers bet on the right stocks. That also means bigger risk in down-cycles. Actively managed long-only stock products averaged an almost 20% loss in 2022, with fewer than 5% of them making a profit, according to PaiPaiWangs analysis on funds running more than 10 billion yuan. Shanghai Panjing Investment Center, which manages more than 10 billion yuan, apologized to investors in December for steep losses after it was blindsided by Chinas policy moves. By comparison, multi-strategy quants can narrow losses in volatile years. These quants gained a total of 64% in the five years ended 2020, according to PaiPaiWang. While that trailed long-only quants by about 6.8 percentage points, their biggest annual loss during the period 0.2% in 2018 was much smaller than the 12% decline by the more popular category. After many were burned last year, Chinese retail and high-net-worth investors are starting to appreciate diversified strategies for sustainable returns. Multi-strategy allocations could iron out the volatilities and give investors a more stable experience, said China Merchants Yi. Globally, hedge funds that focused on multi-strategy, macro and commodities strategies outperformed and most of them grew their assets last year, even as the top leagues combined size dropped 5%, according to a With Intelligence report on funds running at least $1 billion each. Citadel, one of the three multi-strategy firms among the top 10 managers, saw the biggest asset growth among the group. Entry Barrier The entry barrier for quants can be high. To perform well, hedge funds need data and coding expertise to produce algorithms for various types of strategies. Mingshi Investment Management, which runs about 150 million yuan of these products, divides its research like an assembly line into five areas factors, artificial intelligence, optimization, risk control and trading. Others are trying to compete. Beijing-based Paradox Asset said in November its abandoning its focus on liquor stocks to embrace quants. Shanghai-based Minority Asset Management told investors in April its been increasing the use of computer models in stock selection for three years, managing to reap returns that beat benchmarks this year. As the Chinese market becomes more and more efficient, the reward-to-risk ratio of single strategies has declined significantly, Inno Assets Xu said. (Updates with Innos growth and hedge fund performance details) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. This jail booking photo released by the Chatham County Sheriff's Office in Savannah, Ga., shows Tyquian Terrel Bowman, a rapper also known as Quando Rondo. Bowman was jailed on gang and drug charges on Friday, June 16, 2023. If you are sending a Letter To the Editor, please be sure to follow these rules: Letters have a firm 200-word limit and will be edited for grammar, clarity and accuracy. The person who signs the letter must be the author. Anonymous letters will not be considered. Letters must address the editor, not a third party. We will not print form letters, libelous letters, business promotions or personal disputes, poetry, open letters, letters espousing religious views without reference to a current issue, or letters considered in poor taste. Letters reflect the opinion of the writer. The Yakima Herald-Republic cannot verify the accuracy of all statements made in letters. Writers are limited to one published letter per calendar month. Amid geopolitical tension between China and the US, Hong Kong needs to look beyond US markets and court the Middle East as a source of capital as it seeks to burnish its position as an international finance centre, according to the chairperson of the Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies. "I think we have an issue in Hong Kong today, in the fact that despite the infrastructure [in the financial system], there is a lack of capital flow coming from the US," Catherine Leung, who is also co-founder and partner with MizMaa Ventures, said at a conference on Tuesday. "[The US] represents the biggest and the deepest pool of capital in the world." Hong Kong needs to be proactive in finding other sources of capital if the city wants to be an international financial centre, and not just a financial centre, Leung added during a panel discussion at the Post's China Conference at the St Regis hotel. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. "There is some hedge fund money from the US, but not much," she said. "And so, we are caught in the geopolitics of it all ... I think the Hong Kong government, if I may say so, needs very urgently to have a Middle East strategy." (L to R) Peggy Sito, deputy business editor at South China Morning Post, Lyndon Chao, Catherine Leung, and Rocky Tung, engage in a panel disussion during the South China Morning Post's China Conference at The St. Regis Hong Kong in Wan Chai on June 20, 2023. Photo: May Tse alt=(L to R) Peggy Sito, deputy business editor at South China Morning Post, Lyndon Chao, Catherine Leung, and Rocky Tung, engage in a panel disussion during the South China Morning Post's China Conference at The St. Regis Hong Kong in Wan Chai on June 20, 2023. Photo: May Tse> The government needs to establish a system in the Middle East and work to develop long-term relationships, because sources of capital there will not just "give you money", she said, adding that two-way partnerships are preferred. Hong Kong also needs to stop hesitating over what Beijing may or may not want in terms of policy, and should instead embrace its history as an open financial centre, said Lyndon Chao, managing director and head of equities and post trade with the Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association. Based on recent meetings with the CSRC (China Securities Regulatory Commission), "the doors are open, regulators are very constructive and the market will continue to be open", Chao said. "[Beijing] wants Hong Kong to grow, they want Hong Kong to be capitalistic," he added. But now it's up to Hong Kong, he said. Rather than thinking about what Beijing may think, "be yourself", he advised. "Be the international financial centre that you've been for decades." Hong Kong must also continue to embrace English to maintain its role as an international finance centre, Chao argued, noting that during his career he has noticed a decline in English usage in the sector in Hong Kong. "To be a welcoming international financial centre, you really need to embrace the dominant language and the two largest global economies. the US and China," he said. Rocky Tung, director and head of policy research with the Financial Services Development Council, said the industry must go beyond mere understanding of language. "I believe that Hong Kong being an international hub is not only about finance, not about corporates being here, but also the people," he said. "Therefore I think we should adopt an international [outlook], where we not only speak the language, but also understand the culture." That goes for mainland China as well, Leung said. "Hong Kong people need to be in China and understand how to work there," she said. The industry should embrace mainland counterparts to work together as one family on a range of issues, such as blockchain implementation. "If we are presenting these opportunities that are big, and prosperous, the money will come," she said, adding that doing business in Shenzhen and Shanghai is not just about speaking Mandarin, but about being immersed and knowing the culture. Asked whether embracing the Middle East would mean turning away from the US permanently, Leung said that capital is boundaryless. "Just because we may move to the Middle East from the US now because of geopolitics doesn't mean Hong Kong is moving from the US for good," she said. "[It's] simply moving to where the investment opportunities are." Hong Kong should not pick sides, Chao agreed. "It's a multipolar world," he said. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. How the White House is moving into the action phase of its effort to regulate AI Leaders on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue appear ready to move in the coming weeks in efforts to regulate artificial intelligence as officials warn about the dangers of the technology. President Biden was focused on the issue Tuesday as he convened a meeting in San Francisco that gathered voices who are pushing for a much more muscular response to AI's possible impact in the years ahead in areas from the workplace to raising children to civil rights. "We need to manage the risks," Biden said in brief remarks Tuesday. Today's event, said a White House official, will be followed in the days ahead by "a process to rapidly develop decisive actions we can take over the coming weeks." President Joe Biden, sitting next to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, delivers remarks before a meeting on managing the risks of artificial intelligence during in San Francisco on June 20. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) On Capitol Hill, additional heat on the sector could come later this week when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) unveils new details of his own AI-related plans. A White House stance on AI that began with educate us Back in May, the Biden administration brought the CEOs of Alphabet (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), and others to the White House for what it described as a conversation about AI, while also underlining its "expectation that companies like yours must make sure their products are safe before making them available to the public." President Biden swung by that meeting and, in a short video released by the White House, warned of the "enormous danger" that the technology could pose. But he was solicitous overalland even went so far as to say he wanted the assembled CEOs to "educate us" about the technology. To date, actions from the White House on the issue have largely been limited to things like investments in AI research and an AI bill of rights. But the meeting this week came with the promise of stronger actions to come. "Social media has already shown us the harm that powerful technology can do without the right safeguards in place," Biden said Tuesday. He compared the AI issue to another part of the tech sectorsocial media, for example that has led to considerable tension between between political and business leaders for years now. After his remarks, the president then turned to solicit ideas on what to do next from a host of big techs loudest critics. Tristan Harris, a longtime social media critic, was one of the leaders at the table with the president. Harris, who was previously a design ethicist at Google, now studies how tech companies, he has said, "wield dangerous power over our ability to make sense of the world." Additionally, he was featured in the 2020 Netflix documentary "The Social Dilemma" and serves as the co-founder and executive director of the Center for Humane Technology. Common Sense Media CEO Jim Steyer was also set to attend the meeting. He's been notable for pushing Washington to take a tougher stance toward AI. (Steyer has previously led a far-reaching campaign encouraging advertisers to boycott Facebook owner Meta.) Others who took part in the discussion: Fei-Fei Li of Stanfords Human-Centered AI Institute is set to discuss the possible benefits of AI in sectors like medicine, while Khan Academy founder Sal Khan will likely discuss how AI could change education. Li, previously Google Clouds chief scientist of AI and machine learning, has also been vocal about the necessity of improving diversity in AI. Additionally, Stanfords Rob Reich, who has been calling for an established code of conduct among AI developers, is expected to attend the meeting, as is UC Berkeleys Jennifer Doudna, an expert in gene editing and its ethical parallels to AI. The Algorithmic Justice Leagues Joy Buolamwin, an expert in algorithmic bias and its real-life effects, and Oren Etzioni, founding CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, were also set to meet with President Biden. During this trip, Biden has also crossed paths with other key AI players, notably Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott, who has been vocal about AI and its possibilities. The executive and his wife hosted a fundraiser for the presidents re-election campaign on Monday afternoon. "Shannon and Kev, thank you very, very much," Biden said at the event at the couples home in Los Gatos, Calif., on Monday night before launching into his stump speech. The fundraiser was co-hosted by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in 2016 in a $26.2 billion deal. Supporters wave at President Joe Biden's motorcade as it drives past on the way to a fundraiser in Los Gatos, Calif. (Nhat V. Meyer/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images) A range of ideas from across Washington Of course, it remains to be seen what specific actions the White House will undertake and whether they have an impact on the fast-expanding sector. But there is movement and, apparently, urgency. Last year, the Biden administration convened a National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee under the direction of the Commerce Department to provide recommendations on the issue. A May report from the group presented 24 ideas for action from Washington. Examples include spearheading national standards around AI risk management, retraining displaced workers, and diplomatic efforts against possible malicious AI from places like China. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a recent interview her goal was to be thoughtful about "the most complicated tech policy discussion, possibly, that we've ever had," adding that many of the threats of AI may not even be understood today. Elsewhere in Washington, a parallel process is underway on Capitol Hill, led by Sen. Schumer. The Senate Majority Leader will deliver a speech Wednesday to unveil a plan that he hopes will become the framework for a comprehensive and bipartisan approach to the issue. Schumer also recently announced three Senator-only briefings over the coming months to educate lawmakers on the issues around artificial intelligence. After the first briefing, Schumer described the mood on Capitol Hill as "a mix of urgency and humility; urgency because AI is developing so damn fast, and humility because AI is stupendously complex." Schumer himself has signaled much of his focus will be on the national security implications of the technology and he is rolling out his plan at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. - Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Allie Garfinkle is a Senior Tech Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Click here for politics news related to business and money Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance 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. Accident rutier in Eforie Nord! Primele informatii In urma cu cateva momente, Inspectoratul pentru Situatii de Urgenta Dobrogea a fost solicitat sa intervina azi, 20 iulie in Eforie Nord, judetul Constanta.Din primele informatii este vorba despre un accident rutier. Un autoturism a intrat intr o cutie de gaz. La locul accidentului au fost trimise echipaje [citeste mai departe] (Bloomberg) -- Hunter Biden, President Joe Bidens son, will plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax crimes and enter an agreement with prosecutors to potentially avoid a charge for possessing a gun while addicted to an illegal drug, according to the US attorneys office in Delaware. Most Read from Bloomberg The deal, announced in a government letter in federal court on Tuesday, appears to mark the end of a politically charged five-year probe while raising new allegations by Republicans that the deal is too lenient. Bidens participation in a federal diversion program could lead to the weapons offense being dropped if he complies with certain conditions for a period of time. Defendants who enter into these agreements with the government typically need to accept responsibility for their conduct, but dont plead guilty. The plea agreement, which has not been disclosed yet, calls for the US attorneys office to recommend a sentence of 24 months probation and also makes clear that the deal resolves the entire investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter who wasnt authorized to discuss nonpublic information. The diversion program conditions, which will require Hunter Biden to stay clear of any drugs or firearms, are expected to cover the same 24-month period, the person said. It is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved, said Chris Clark of Clark Smith Villazor, Bidens lawyer. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. The investigation has been led by US Attorney David Weiss of Delaware, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump and kept on by Attorney General Merrick Garland. The plea deal sparked a quick partisan reaction amid the 2024 presidential race and Republican criticism of the recent indictment of Donald Trump the GOP front-runner taking on the president over his handling of classified documents. House and Senate Republicans blasted the agreement as a sweetheart deal with the Justice Department that wont affect their ongoing congressional investigations into alleged corruption by the president and his family. The White House pointed to an earlier statement on the case, noting that President Biden hasnt been involved at all or discussed it with Garland or the Justice Department. The president and first lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life, White House spokesman Ian Sams added in a statement Tuesday. Tax Charge Prosecutors claimed Biden failed to pay more than $100,000 in income tax on at least $1.5 million in income he received in 2017 and 2018. The misdemeanor offenses of willful failure to pay tax carries maximum penalties of one year in jail and a $100,000 fine. The diversion agreement allows Biden to avoid pleading guilty to a gun charge that includes a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the filing. The charges were reported earlier by the AP. Federal prosecutors have been investigating Hunter Biden for possible tax and gun-related crimes since 2018. Earlier in the probe, the government was also looking into Bidens foreign business dealings. The probe has become a litmus test for how the Justice Department would handle such a politically explosive case. Former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade said Weisss presence at the top of the investigation is the publics best assurance that the deal is fair. President Biden left him in place to avoid the appearance of partisanship and allow him to complete his investigation, said McQuade. Im sure political opponents will howl at the US attorneys use of misdemeanors, but there is nothing to suggest that this resolution is outside the realm of usual practice. Biden acknowledged in December 2020 that the Delaware US attorneys office was investigating his tax affairs. I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisers, Biden said in a statement at the time. Even with the resolution, the case is likely to continue to cast a shadow over Joe Bidens presidential reelection campaign. House Republicans have vowed to continue investigating business dealings by Biden, his son and associates. House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer complained that Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist. Comers committee has been focusing on allegations that include unsubstantiated claims Joe Biden while vice president was involved in a bribery scheme with a foreign national. There is no court date set for Bidens first appearance. The judge will have final say on any sentence regardless of any possible deal on recommended prison time. --With assistance from David Voreacos, Erik Larson and Billy House. (Updates with source confirmation of plea agreement details.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. JUNE 20 IN HISTORY 1857 - Moldovan patriots issue a protest against measures taken by then acting foreign ruler /kaymakam to hinder the election of the unionists in the ad-hoc Assembly CITESTE SI Ministry of Justice announces launch of selection procedure for three positions of European delegated prosecutor in Romania 19/06/2023 8 Phishing/scam attacks targeting Transelectrica company 19/06/2023 28 Electrica draws non-refundable financing worth 57 million euros for development and modernization of distribution grid 19/06/2023 7 Draft law on establishment of Film and Citeste articolul mai departe pe stiripesurse.ro Sursa articol si foto: stiripesurse.ro CITESTE SIofannounces launch of selection procedure for three positions ofdelegated prosecutor in19/06/2023 8/scam attacks targetingcompany 19/06/2023 28 Electrica draws non-refundable financing worth 57 million euros for development and modernization of distribution grid 19/06/2023 7law on establishment of Film and Cultural Investment Office approved by Stiri pe aceeasi tema - Autoritatile atrag atentia ca circula o tentativa de frauda in numele unei companii cunoscute, astfel ca romanii trebuie sa fie foarte atenti la facturile la energie. Echipa DNSC va supune atentiei un nou val de atacuri de tip phishing/scam propagate prin intermediul SMS-urilor catre utilizatori din - PM Ciolacu makes several appointments to the Prime Minister's Chancellery. Several counselors to the Prime Minister's Chancellery have been appointed through decisions of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, which were published on Monday in the Official Journal, told Agerpres. CITESTE SI USR's Drula: - USR's Drula: We approach all rounds of elections with the desire to win. National chairman of the Save Romania Union (USR) Catalin Drula on Monday said that USR wants toapproach all the rounds of elections in 2024, including the presidential one, with the desire to win them, told Agerpres. CITESTE - Directoratul National de Securitate Cibernetica atrage atentia in legatura cu o campanie de tip phishing/scam care foloseste numele companiei Transelectrica. Echipa DNSC va supune atentiei un nou val de atacuri de tip phishing/scam propagate prin intermediul SMS-urilor catre utilizatori din Romania. - The Ministry of Justice announced on Monday the start of the selection procedure for candidates for three more positions of European delegated prosecutor in Romania.Following the selection procedures carried out so far, the Ministry of Justice has selected 17 candidates, and on Monday it launched - The National Cyber Security Directorate draws attention to a phishing/scam campaign targeting the Transelectrica company."The DNSC team brings to your attention a new wave of phishing/scam attacks propagated via text message to users in Romania. The campaign impersonates the Transelectrica company - Senators adopted on Monday the draft law for the approval of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 39/2023 on the establishment of the Film and Cultural Investment Office, as well as for the establishment of certain institutional measures relating to the management of the state aid scheme to support film - Romania will be a clear provider of solidarity and responsibility, which only confirms its constructive and responsible conduct in managing the migration issue at the European Union level, said on Thursday in Luxembourg the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI), Alexandru Marcoci, (Bloomberg) -- Indias federal government will send teams to assist and advise heat-affected states, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday, as local authorities and hospitals in the countrys north and east grapple with sweltering temperatures. Most Read from Bloomberg Government officials have resisted directly connecting high humidity and temperatures around 43C to 44C (109F to 111F) to an apparent rise in fatalities, and authoritative data are limited. But administrators have begun to draw attention to the needs and health distress of people struggling with extreme conditions. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a powerful firebrand, is among those who have not directly commented on the loss of life, but has ordered officials to ensure rapid treatment of people suffering from heat-related symptoms, plus the provision of power and water supplies. This summer has not smashed last years blistering records, but India has for weeks been dealing with highs close to 46C in some regions, as climate change makes extreme weather events more common. Combined with high humidity, even less brutal temperatures can create fatal conditions, and anecdotal accounts point to a devastating impact. Read More: How Extreme Heat and Humidity Test Survival Limits: QuickTake In Ballia, a district of more than three million in Uttar Pradesh, nearly 100 people have died in government hospitals since early June due to heat, according to Vivek Pandey, president of Sewa Sansthan, a local non-profit that works on providing care for women, children and the elderly. Others reported fluctuating power supplies. Ballias District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar didnt respond to calls and an email seeking comments. The neighboring Deoria district has seen about 150 people die at the main government hospital so far this month, including 65 since June 17. According to the hospitals administration, though, just four of these could be linked to heat. The districts chief medical officer, Rajesh Jha, added sufficient medicines, ambulances, hydration solutions and separate wards for heat-stroke cases had been made available. Part of the trouble in India and elsewhere is that while heat and humidity can lead to dehydration, plus increase the risk of heart attack, stroke and respiratory problems, its often hard to definitively attribute a persons death to high temperatures. The picture in India is made more murky because official records can be spotty, and many people dont use clinics. The summer heat has been worse than Covid. We didnt have these many deaths in our village during the pandemic, said Pankaj Rai, a farmer, speaking by phone from Ballia. Last month, his 60-year-old father collapsed and died after making the two-kilometer walk home from his land for lunch. It was his daily routine, Rai said. He was absolutely fit. In the Nalanda Medical College Hospital in Patna, the capital of neighboring Bihar state, more than two dozen people have died in the past two days, according to a medical official who didnt want to be named as he is not authorized to speak to the media. Most of the patients are coming with high fever and diarrhea common symptoms of heatstroke. Read More: Indias Coal Pits Fuel the Heat Waves That Threaten Millions Ajay Kumar Sinha, associate professor of medicine at the hospital, played down the impact, saying they had seen about twenty admissions of people with heat-related illnesses in the past week, of which four had died. Two had co-morbidities, he added. On the ground, others were less eager to brush away a problem and questions about preparedness. If the government says these deaths are not due to heat waves, it should give us data to show theres no unusual spike, Akhilanand Tiwari, a former journalist in Ballia said by phone. And if theres a spike, the government should explain it. India has found itself especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which include acute pre-monsoon heat waves, but also other extreme weather. While states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha are suffering high heat, Indias north eastern state Assam is experiencing floods and western state of Rajasthan has been hit by heavy rains. Read More: Insurance for the Climate Age Protects Against Extreme Heat Sweltering conditions are likely to continue in some parts of the country, including eastern areas of Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, on Tuesday before gradually abating, according to the India Meteorological Department. Millions of poor people have to earn their livelihoods even in extremely hot and humid weather conditions and the state governments can do a lot more to protect them, according to Niranjan Sahoo, a senior fellow at the New Delhi-based think tank Observer Research Foundation. When there is no public outcry and political costs to be paid, these deaths dont become an electoral issue. --With assistance from Pratik Parija and Atul Prakash. (Updates with expert comment in the last paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Nationally, the demand for real estate for sale decreased by 42% on an annual basis between January and May. There were no significant regional differences within this, but other characteristics can be found in the data provided by ingatlan.com, according to business daily Vilaggazdasag. "There are no exceptions, the data indicates a drop in demand close to the average in all counties; significantly, nowhere do you see either a greater stagnation or a greater spin than what is typical for the entire country," Laszlo Balogh, the leading economic expert of Ingatlan.com, summed up the results of the regional analysis. The 51% drop in demand among newly built apartments was higher than average, but it is compared to the high base caused by the buying fever generated by the green loan opportunity last year. Hungary will vote against the European Commissions proposal to reform the European electricity market, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said in Luxembourg on Monday, adding that the reform would take away the right of EU member states to keep utility prices low. Peter Szijjarto told a press conference on the sidelines of an EU meeting on energy affairs that due the war in Ukraine and related sanctions the situation on the EU energy market was still rather fragile, with natural gas prices starting to ratchet up again. Gas prices are way above a historic average, even if they are below last years peak. He said the bloc was not fast enough in building sufficient capacities to receive liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet demands that gained impetus after the coronavirus-related restrictions were lifted in East Asia. Weather can also be a serious factor that can create uncertainty not only around next winter but as regards water consumption needs this summer. In this situation the government has a dual goal and responsibility. First, it must ensure that Hungary has stable energy supplies; second, it must also ensure that low utility prices are protected, he said. The foreign minister referred to serious attacks directed recently at Hungarys utility cuts by Brussels, adding that over the rejection of the commissions proposal put forward on Monday, Hungary had also faced yet another attack. The proposal would take away from member states the right to protect their citizens against high energy prices, Szijjarto said, adding that Brussels sought to seize the right to decide when to declare an energy crisis-related emergency and allow a member state to cut utility prices in such a situation. This is nonsense, because one of the main lessons learnt in the recent past is precisely that the realisation of the situation and quick response can help, he said, adding that rather lengthy and bureaucratic decision-making in Brussels was not a solution to problems. Szijjarto noted that Hungary had previously won a lawsuit in the European Court of Justice in that regard, which he said also went to show that Brussels had no right to take away this national competence. He said Hungarians paid the lowest energy bills in Europe, and we will uphold this situation. It is utterly unacceptable of Brussels to take away this right from us, so of course we will vote no to the draft reform of the electricity market. Regarding the controversies around nuclear energy, Szijjarto said that while attacks have not subsided, a strong pro-nuclear energy coalition had been formed with the French leadership, of which Hungary was also a partner. European energy security and environmental protection goals are impossible to achieve without nuclear energy, he said. Meanwhile, Germany has once again come up with a proposal to impose sanctions on Russian state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom, he said. Rosatom leads the upgrade of Hungarys only nuclear plant, which covers half of the countrys electricity consumption, he noted. Should the proposal be formally tabled, Hungarys government will oppose it vehemently, Szijjarto said. Germany argues that such a sanction would serve the interests of Ukraine. We respect the interests of Ukraine but think that EU member states interests should weigh more in EU decision-making than that of non-members, he said. Regarding gas reserves, Szijjarto said that Hungary had already stored enough gas to cover 39% of its needs next winter, against the EU average of 22%. Szijjarto also called for the protection of critical energy infrastructure, especially of the TurkStream pipeline. He said it was nonsense that everyone conspicuously seems to be avoiding investigating the terrorist attack on the NordStream pipeline a few months ago. He said that developing transit routes in south-east Europe was key to energy diversification. Since this is a physical question rather than that of political pipedreams, the European Commission has a responsibility here, he said. He also called for EU action against certain EU member states and third countries which have raised transit fees by utterly unfair proportions in a way that seems coordinated, he said. This is not a friendly or fair gesture, or one that suggests cooperation based on mutual respect, he said. Meanwhile, Szijjarto had talks with Peter Dovhun, Slovakias minister of economy, in Luxembourg, and discussed issues around energy policy. Szijjarto said on Facebook that Hungary and Slovakias energy interests largely coincided. Unfortunately, a debate has again flared up in Brussels about whether or not to impose sanctions on the nuclear industry. Therefore we have reinforced our alliance and will not surrender to pressure. We insist that defining the energy mix of a country should stay a national competency, and we will not allow the nuclear industry to be sanctioned, he said. Many people know that the first Sunday in May is Mothers Day in Hungary, but fewer know that the third weekend in June is Fathers Day, which is celebrated in an increasing number of families. Several family organizations have celebrated the occasion, and the Single Parents Center has announced a new program for single fathers. In a statement sent to MTI on Sunday, the center said: In Hungary today, approximately 40,000 fathers are raising their children alone. On Fathers Day, a new series of programs will be launched to support fathers raising their children alone and to raise awareness of the importance of the role of fathers in the family. The center highlighted that around 14% of single parents in Hungary are men, and we rarely talk about them and the problems and feelings they are facing. This is why the Week by Week Fatherhood initiative was born. From the end of June onwards, participants will receive a short weekly letter with questions to consider and small exercises that are easy to do. A supportive Facebook group will also be set up and online meetings will be organized from time to time to chat and share experiences with other fathers. The new program was created by the center with Gergo Suveges, founder of Apakulcs. In the announcement, it was mentioned that Apakulcs is the only Hungarian-language book, online help and training system that helps fathers in any situation in life to connect with their children in a stronger and healthier way. Today, around 300,000 families are missing a parent in Hungary. The Single Parents Center in Pest was opened in May 2018, to provide practical support and a community for families where only one parent is raising a child. In March 2022, a second Single Parents Center opened in Buda, next to the Deli railway station, which is easily accessible for single parents and their children living in the suburbs as well. The Association for Young Families also remembered fathers on Sunday, stressing in a statement sent to MTI that the presence of fathers is very important for a family. This is how a father and his child can pay attention to each other and how a father can become a role model for his child. They also welcomed the Hungarian governments efforts to help fathers to be better financially valued by giving them the opportunity to claim the childcare fee (GYED), childcare benefit (GYES) and family tax allowance. A game on the associations Facebook page invited photos of fathers with their children with a positive message and a positive mood. The Secretary of State for Families of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation also greeted fathers on her Facebook page. Agnes Hornung pointed out that the government has taken several measures to help men to fulfill their role as fathers, as their role in the development of children and their personalities is of paramount importance. She added that the family is also a physical and mental health factor for men, and the division of tasks within the family makes the everyday life of those raising children easier. Recently, the Graze Master Group hosted a group of college students on a farm tour to discuss soil health and opportunities to maximize profitability while working in tandem with the environment. As part of our discussion, we always dig into the history of agriculture in relation to soil and water resources. Part of that discussion is also about historical events or periods that have impacted agriculture and in particular farm and ranch family businesses. While civilizations have risen and fallen because of their agricultural practices and impact on natural resources, other economic occurrences have also dramatically impacted the health or demise of ag businesses. The U.S. Farm Crisis is one of those often-overlooked occurrences impacting our agricultural, social, and economic fabric. Its so overlooked in fact, that it is being historically erased from the public consciousness. We found this to be true when we asked the question on the last tour, How many of you have heard of the Farm Crisis? Not a single one of the college students present raised their hand. At this point we knew a history lesson was in order. Many of the students were farm kids as well. This tells me the issue of the Farm Crisis was buried or simply tiptoed around or forgotten. Yet, its a history that vastly shaped the agricultural system we live with today. It begs the question; can we incorporate the history of the U.S. Farm Crisis into curriculum all across the country? I know in Nebraska we learned extensively about our state in the fourth grade. Perhaps this would be a natural time to incorporate a series on the Farm Crisis and its impact on culture, community, and the economy overall. Iowa PBS produced a provocative documentary about the Farm Crisis that is available online for viewing at: www.iowapbs.org/iowapathways/mypath/2422/farm-crisis-1980s. This is a great effort by the producers to bring some of the Farm Crisis story out of the shadows. For those unaware of the details of this period that continues to impact agriculture today, the website gives an overview that I will share here, The Farm Crisis of the 1980s completely altered the fabric of rural America. During the 1980s, American farmers confronted an economic crisis more severe than any since the Great Depression. Agricultural communities throughout the Midwest and across the nation were devastated. Families were forced from the land, lenders collapsed, and businesses on rural main streets closed many to never reopen. It was a decade of turmoil and of activism. The website also outlines the impact on small communities during the crisis as well as the increase in rural murders and suicide and the lasting effects on the farm family, The Farm Crisis of the 1980s accelerated a long-established trend of farmers leaving the land and farms being consolidated. In 1935, the number of farms in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 6.8 million. By 1990 there were only 2.1 million farms.Years have passed since the 1980s Farm Crisis. Most farmers who struggled and survived those tumultuous times remember the decade as a nightmare from which they could not awaken. The generation born and raised during this period are waking up to the aftermath of this nightmare. We are raising families today, some of them on farms and ranches. If youre an educator, I welcome a discussion about how we can constructively introduce the Farm Crisis to the next generation in an academic environment. We also need to record stories that are deep inside the people who faced this crisis. Those who made it through the crisis are still with us and hearing about their journeys is important. Young people are also trying to understand why farming and ranching is so difficult to get into and the course the ag industry took. We owe ourselves and our descendants the information and resources they need to avoid at least some of the future crises we can control. Nearly everyone, if asked if they know about WWII, the Depression, or other significant periods in our nations history, would most likely raise their hands. The Farm Crisis should be no different and continues to impact our lives and sustenance every day. When were informed about the past, we can farm, ranch, and lead rural communities through future crises and challenges more effectively. Donald Lee Maronde died June 18, 2023 in York at the age of 85. He was born to Walter and Lydia (Rahrs) Maronde on November 26, 1937, in York, at the original York General Hospital. Don was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul Lutheran Church north of York. He was a member of St. Paul until it closed in the 1960s. Don graduated from York High School in 1955. He was very involved in FFA, Campus Crier Yearbook, Booster Club and National Honor Society. At York High School Don met the love of his life, Joyce Mason. Donald Lee Maronde and Joyce Janet Mason were united in marriage on June 7, 1958 The hottest day of the Year!, at St. Paul Lutheran Church. An air conditioned wedding reception was held in the basement of the York City Auditorium to cool the guests. Don and Joyce just celebrated 65 years together on June 7, 2023. Don and Joyce have four children, Denise, Darren, Danielle and Dianne. Emmanuel Lutheran Church in York is where Don and Joyce took their kids to church every Sunday. It was important to go to church services and participate in Sunday School, Bible School and Confirmation Class. Don showed his children faith in God will get you through each week. From 1954 to 1967 Don was a member of the Nebraska Air National Guard based in Lincoln, Nebraska. Traveling the U.S. and working on all types of military aircraft as a mechanic, fuel man, and aircraft marshaller. After high school Don farmed and raised fat cattle with his dad until the 1980s. He loved John Deere equipment and everything green from toys to tractor restoring. He read his Green Magazine from cover to cover looking for a deal. Don reinvented himself at the age of 50 as a long haul truck driver. Don owned and operated KTC trucking for 25 years, hauling loads and loads of pipe and products for Kroy Industries in York. He made many friends with clients all over the U.S. and Canada. Emmanuel Lutheran Church in York had Dons membership for over 59 years. He was on many boards for church and loved being part of the National Cattlemens Association going to conventions with friends. Watching his grandkids show cattle and hogs all over Nebraska made him very proud. He and Joyce went to as many school activities as possible, and did the small town county fair tour with his family when Ben Figure 8 raced for years. He loved animals and made sure his grandkids had what they needed to have them. In 2019 after living at the same acreage on road N, in York County, for over 80 years, Don and Joyce moved to Willow Brook Assisted Living in York. Many good times were had at Willow Brook with new friends and sleeping in his recliner. The family appreciates the care from Midwest Covenant Home in Stromsburg and York General Hearthstone of York. He was always a good patient for his caregivers, and always asked How is Grandma? before any visits, putting her first on his priority list. Surviving Dons passing are his wife, Joyce Maronde; children, Denise (Rupert) Blum, Darren (Kelly) Maronde, Danielle (Kim) Kaliff, Dianne (Irv) Smith; grandchildren, Benjamin (Tiffany) Blum, Penny (Josh) Givens, Atlanta Maronde, Allee Maronde, Ansley Maronde, Linden Kaliff, Logan Kaliff, Lauren Kaliff and Dalton Smith; great-grandchildren, Lilly Wilson, Cooper Givens and Knox Givens. Preceding Don to heaven are his parents, Walter and Lydia Maronde; mother and father-in-law, Floyd and Eva Mason Sr.; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Floyd and Jackie Mason Jr. Funeral services are scheduled for 10 a.m., Monday, June 26, 2023 at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in York, with the Reverends Ben Kaiser and Mike Neidow officiating. Interment with military honors will follow at St. Paul Cemetery, north of York. Visitation will be held from 1-8 p.m. on Sunday, with the family greeting friends from 6 7:30 p.m., all at Metz Mortuary in York. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Emmanuel Lutheran Church or York Adopt A Pet. Condolences may be left for the family at www.metzmortuary.com. Metz Mortuary in York is handling the arrangements. The Kerala government's proposal for developing a Rs 3,411 crore greenfield Sabarimala international airport in Kottayam district has received a shot in the arm with a Union Environment Ministry panel recommending it for the grant of Standard Terms of Reference (TOR) for airports. The TOR was recommended by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the ministry, which met in New Delhi, last month. This will enable the project proponent, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) Limited, to plan and design an Impact Assessment (EIA), besides providing a format and structure for the project, official sources said. The airport is proposed to be set up on around 2,570 acres of land in Erumeli, Kottayam District, commonly known by the name Cheruvally Estate. "The EAC observed that the proposed site appears to be the best alternative among the sites examined and recommended the proposal for the grant of Standard TOR for airports", a source said. The project is expected to provide employment to 600 people in the operation phase. During their presentation, the KSIDC and its consultant made a detailed presentation before the EAC of the three alternative sites they had considered for developing the project, which was planned mainly to serve the pilgrims of the famous Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala and provide a fillip to the tourism and local economies of Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, and Idukki districts. The proponent also informed the EAC that the project site is outside the Eco Sensitive Area (ESA) of the Western Ghat and submitted a certificate from the Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Environment), Government of Kerala, to this effect. cre Trending Stories Ecologically Sensitive Zone of Periyar Tiger Reserve falls outside the 10 km radius of the proposed airport project. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in April this year, welcomed the Civil Aviation Ministry's site clearance for a greenfield airport project at Kottayam and termed it as a "great news for spiritual tourism". The Civil Aviation Ministry had on April 13 informed the KSIDC about the site clearance for the airport that would come up close to the famed Lord Ayyappa shrine at Sabarimala. The ministry also asked the KSIDC to proceed with the preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) and to send that along with an application for grant of 'in-principle' approval to it for further necessary action. Last month, a draft of the Social Impact Assessment of Land Acquisition prepared for the project recommended mitigation and compensation of the possible negative impacts of the proposed land acquisition from Erumeli South and Manimala villages of Kottayam district for the construction of the Greenfield Airport. It had found that the acquisition of land for the airport could result in the displacement of local communities, including farmers and other landowners, and this could lead to the loss of livelihoods and social disruption, as well as the potential loss of cultural heritage and traditions associated with the affected communities. The study further said the acquisition of land for the airport could lead to the loss of property rights for local communities. This could have significant social and economic impacts, particularly for marginalised or vulnerable groups that may be less able to assert their rights. Considering this, the study has recommended compensation for the project affecting land owners as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act 2013 and as per the 2015 rules framed by Kerala, besides resettlement procedures issued by the Kerala Revenue Department in 2015 and 2017. Also read - Go First Unable To Fly Again, Cancels All Flights Till June 22 Due To Operational Reasons The proposed project requires 1039.8 ha of land from Erumeli South and Manimala villages of Kanjirapally taluk in Kottayam district, and the government has proposed to acquire 916.27 ha of land from Cheruvally Estate and 123.53 ha of land from both Manimala and Erumeli South villages of Kanjirapally taluk. The site is centrally located near the proposed SH59 (Hill Highway), 50 km from Pamba, an important pilgrimage place closely connected to Sabarimala temple, and 40 km from Kottayam town. The location is close enough for easy connectivity to Pamba but far enough to ensure no disturbance to the Sabarimala temple and its activities. KSIDC has said the geotechnical investigations done on the project site have confirmed that the site is suitable for setting up an airport. If commissioned, the project will be the fifth international airport in Kerala. Following a competitive bidding process and approval from the government, KSIDC has engaged Louis Berger Consulting Pvt Ltd as the consultant for undertaking the TEF study and EIA study for the project, and to facilitate necessary clearances from the central government and other agencies for the project. New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday announced the arrest of Maharashtra-based businessman Sagar Maruti Suryawanshi, related to a Rs 429 crore bank fraud case. The arrest was made in connection with the ongoing investigation into the Seva Vikas Co-operative Bank fraud case, in which the bank suffered a loss of Rs 429 crore across 124 non-performing asset (NPA) loan accounts. This led to the bank going bankrupt, causing losses to thousands of small depositors. cre Trending Stories The ED initiated the PMLA investigation based on multiple FIRs registered in Pune against loan defaulters, including Amar Mulchandani (the former chairman of the bank), its directors, and officials. "Investigation has revealed that the bank was being run like a family proprietorship by Amar Mulchandani without following any prudent banking norms. Loans were sanctioned in return for massive kickbacks. More than 92 per cent of the loan accounts had turned into NPAs, which ultimately led to the collapse of the bank. The RBI has cancelled the bank's license," said an ED official. The ED found that Suryawanshi and his relatives had defrauded the bank for an amount of Rs 60.67 crore across 10 NPA loan accounts. They obtained loans in connivance with Amar Mulchandani, without having sufficient creditworthiness or repaying capacity. After the arrest, he was produced before a special PMLA Court in Mumbai, which has sent him to ED's custody until June 26. Earlier, properties worth Rs 122.35 crore were provisionally attached in this case. New Delhi: The Chinese billionaire and the founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma, gave his first teaching class to the diverse batch of students on June 12, 2023 at the University of Tokyo after he joined the institute as the visiting professor. Jack Ma engaged in a meaningful discussion with participating students for over two-hour seminar to disperse his rich experience and pioneering knowledge of entrepreneurship and innovation. Tokyo college, quoted in the press release, and the University of Tokyos Global Leadership Program (GLP) office jointly held a special innovation and entrepreneurship seminar. It was focused on management philosophy and how the younger generation can achieve success in the future. Professor Jack Ma spoke at this seminar, primarily for the GLP-GEfIL, Global Education for Innovation and Leadership program students. The students were diverse and global in representation, including from Japan, China, India, Malaysia, and other countries, the press release added. cre Trending Stories Who Is Jack Ma? Jack Ma is the founder of Chinese behemoth Alibaba which is engaged in several sectors from IT to E-commerce to cloud computing. He stepped down from Alibabas CEO position in 2013 and was succeed first by Jonathan Lu. The latter was replaced by Zhang. Though Ma remained the chairman until 2019, which he quit to depart from the company completely. Since the step down, Jack Ma spends most of his time in philanthropist and activities not linked to Alibaba. He recently joined the University of Tokyo as a visiting professor, going back to the profession from which he started his career. Jack Mas Success Story Jack Ma was an English teacher by profession. He applied for KFC when it came to China but was rejected. Interestingly, all 24 applicants were selected but him. He then visited the USA with friends and learned about the computer and its potential. He brought the insights to China and applied them to create Alibaba. A day after Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead in Canada by two bike-borne assailants, Twitter is abuzz with claims that Sikh For Justice chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has been missing for 48 hours. Nijjar was the top leader of the Khalistani Tiger Force (KTF). He was the third Khalistani terrorist who got killed in recent months. In May, news emerged regarding the killing of Paramjit Singh Panjwar, a 63-year-old Khalistani terrorist based in Pakistan. Panjwar held a prominent position as one of the key figures within the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF). Recently, Avtar Singh Khanda, a pro-Khalistani leader involved in plotting an assault on the Indian Embassy, passed away in the United Kingdom. According to reports, he was suffering from blood cancer. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun Missing Many Twitter user claimed that Pannun is missing for more than 48 hours. However, there is no official report or confirmation available in this regard. Some users also claimed that Pannun has gone underground due to fear after the recent killings of Khalistani terrorists. As per recent reports, the unexpected demise and elimination of prominent Khalistani leaders have resulted in a decline in the size and influence of Khalistani terror organizations operating in the United Kingdom and Canada. The government has placed significant efforts into apprehending Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, a key figure in these outfits. It has been reported that a team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is currently in the United Kingdom, addressing the matter through diplomatic channels. cre Trending Stories Modi ji on his way to USA and Khalistani terrorist #SFJ Gurpatwant Singh Pannu is missing from USA ? #ModiInUS #ModiUSVisit2023 #KhalistanReferendum #KhalistaniTerrorist June 20, 2023 Gurpatwant Singh Pannu Missing. Khalistan ke sapne dekhte dekhte khud khali hogaye pic.twitter.com/vLowBtRzbo Tushar (@Tushar_KN) June 20, 2023 Gurpatwant Singh Pannu Darr de maare Canada vich underground ho gaya si. Big Mouth (@BadkaBakait) June 20, 2023 India has actively raised concerns regarding the support received by these terrorist groups in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Demands have been made for appropriate actions to be taken against such groups in order to curb their activities and ensure regional security. India had approached Interpol seeking a red notice against Pannun but the demand was rejected as Interpol cited a lack of documentary support. Who Is Gurpatwant Singh Pannun? Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer by profession, is said to be born in Khankot, a village located in Punjab's Amritsar district. Pannun is the founder of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which was established in 2007 in the United States. The primary objective of SFJ is to advocate for the creation of an independent state called Khalistan, separate from India. Utilizing his legal expertise, Pannun began filing cases against Indian political leaders who visited the United States or Canada starting in 2014. His legal actions targeted various individuals, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Shiromani Akali Dal's Sukhbir Singh Badal, and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2018, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun gained significant attention when he made an announcement in London regarding a "Referendum 2020" aimed at "liberating Punjab," which he claimed was currently under Indian occupation. However, the following year, the Indian government took action and banned Pannun's organization, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). This move was made to prevent any activities or associations that were deemed unlawful or posed a threat to national security. (Bloomberg) -- Indonesia will stop exporting copper concentrates as soon as Freeport Indonesia and Amman Mineral Internasional finish building smelters next year. Most Read from Bloomberg If these two big companies complete their smelters, that means we will no longer export raw copper because it will be processed domestically to become copper cathodes, said President Joko Widodo in a speech on Tuesday. He expects both facilities to start producing in May 2024. Read More: Gold Miner Said to Raise $715 Million in Jakartas Top 2023 IPO Copper is set to follow nickel as Indonesias next focus in the countrys push for more onshore refining as it seeks to climb up the commodities value chain. The government has had to push back its plans for an export ban several times as the local unit of Freeport McMoRan Inc., the worlds top copper producer, kept seeking extensions for a smelter that was started in 2021. Last week, Indonesia granted both Freeport and Amman export recommendations to continue shipping copper concentrates until their smelters are finished. --With assistance from Eko Listiyorini. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. New Delhi: A media report said a top US Coast Guard official stated that a tourist submarine with five people on board, which disappeared on June 18 while diving to the Titanic`s wreck in the Atlantic, has around 70 hours of oxygen left, and a huge search and rescue operation is ongoing. Rear Adm John Mauger of the US Coast Guard told the media on Monday: We estimate there is somewhere between 70 and the full 96 hours available at this point, the BBC reports. He also said that two aircraft, a submarine and sonar buoys were part of the search for the vessel but noted the area where the search is happening was remote, making operations hard. Rear Adm Mauger said the rescue teams were taking this personally and were doing everything they could to bring those on board home safe. The lost vessel is thought to be tour company OceanGate`s Titan submersible, a truck-sized sub that holds five people and usually dives with a four-day emergency supply of oxygen. Tickets cost $250,000 for an eight-day trip including dives to the wreck at a depth of 3,800m. cre Trending Stories According to the US Coast Guard, contact with the submarine was lost about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive on June 18. In a statement on Monday, OceanGate said its entire focus (was) on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families, the BBC reported. We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible, it added. The Titanics wreck lies some 700 km south of St Johns, Newfoundland, though the rescue mission is being run from Boston, Massachusetts. Hamish Harding, a 58-year-old British billionaire businessman and explorer, is among those on the lost submarine, his family said. On social media over the weekend, Harding said he was proud to finally announce that he would be aboard the mission to the wreck of the Titanic but added that because of the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. He later wrote: A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow (June 18). New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed pleas challenging a Calcutta High Court order directing the State Election Commission (SEC) to requisition and deploy central forces across West Bengal for the upcoming panchayat elections. A vacation bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Manoj Misra, while dismissing the petition, said the fact remains that the tenor of the high court order is ultimately to ensure free and fair elections in the state since it is conducting local body polls on a single day. The Supreme Court passed this order while responding to a plea challenging the Calcutta High Court's order regarding the deployment of central forces in panchayat elections. "No interference is needed in the orders of the high court's order. Central forces can be deployed in the state. There is no wrong in the high court's order of deployment of central forces in the panchayat elections," the top court said. cre Trending Stories The bench in its order said, "The fact remains that the tenor of the order of the High Court is ultimately to ensure that a free and fair election is conducted for the entire State of West Bengal since State is conducting the election for local bodies on a single day and having regard to the volume of booths which are being set up. We find that the order of the HC does not call for any interference. SLP stands dismissed." The high court had on June 15 directed the SEC to requisition and deploy central forces across West Bengal for the panchayat elections within 48 hours. The court had noted that no appreciable steps had been taken ever since it passed an order on June 13 to deploy central forces in sensitive areas for the poll process. The high court had directed the SEC to requisition central forces for deployment in all the districts of the state that were rocked by violence during the filing of nominations for the July 8 panchayat elections. Meanwhile, the ruling Trinamool Congress said that it is their primary responsibility to conduct fair elections and they will be providing adequate forces for that. Multiple incidents of violence and arson have been reported in the state during the nomination process of the panchayat poll and nine people have died so far. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for the United States on a landmark 'State Visit' - the highest diplomatic reception reserved for closest allies. An unprecedented deal on jet engine technology transfer is also expected during the visit. PM Modi also took to Twitter and tweeted, "Leaving for USA, where I will attend programmes in New York City and Washington DC. These programmes include Yoga Day celebrations at the @UN HQ, talks with @POTUS @JoeBiden, address to the Joint Session of the US Congress and more." Leaving for USA, where I will attend programmes in New York City and Washington DC. These programmes include Yoga Day celebrations at the @UN HQ, talks with @POTUS @JoeBiden, address to the Joint Session of the US Congress and more. https://t.co/gRlFeZKNXR Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 20, 2023 cre Trending Stories This is PM Modi's sixth visit to the country as India's Prime Minister. PM Modi's schedule for the next four days will involve a rare address to the joint session of the US Congress, meetings with business leaders and Indian expats, and a state dinner at the White House with US President Joe Biden. The address to the US Congress on Thursday will be a second for the Prime Minister. The invitation to deliver the speech was extended by the House of Representatives and the Senate. The visit is expected to give India access to critical American technologies that Washington rarely shares with non-allies, strengthening a new bond that is underpinned by not just global politics but also business and economics. India and the US are also poised to unveil a roadmap for industries in the sector to partner closely in co-production, co-development and maintaining supply change during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US beginning June 21. Modi-Biden Talks On Bilateral Trade, Investment, Technology Transfer Prime Minister Modi, during his first state visit to the US, will also hold discussions with President Joe Biden on bettering trade and investment relations, besides forging closer ties in the technology domain comprising telecom, space and manufacturing. Addressing a press conference here, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said the prime minister will also be on a state visit to Egypt from June 24-25 at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during which he is also scheduled to visit 11th Century mosque Al-Hakim, which was refurbished and renovated by the Bohra community. The foreign secretary said the Defence Industrial Cooperation Roadmap was expected to be one of the key outcomes of Prime Minister Modi's visit to the US. "It essentially focuses on all aspects of defence co-production and co-development. It also talks about how defence industrial ecosystems of the two countries could cooperate much better, how the supply lines in the field of defence industry could also interface with each other much better," he said. Kwatra described defence cooperation as a "key pillar" of India's relationship with the US. "If you look at the complete matrix of the India-US defence partnership, it is very robust, very dynamic, it has all the significant elements that make it so important. "We conduct a large number of bilateral military exercises, both bilateral as also regional in nature. Armed forces have staff-to-staff engagement. India is also the deployer of the US equipment and platforms. Some of them are used by India," he said. Also top on the minds of Biden and Modi would be the challenges posed by the incidents such as the attempts to incite violence outside the Indian embassy in Washington. "The underlying intent and the goal of such attacks is something which we are concerned (about) and we have shared those concerns very actively and very completely with the countries where such organisations function," Kwatra said. PM To Lead Yoga Day Events PM Modi will begin the visit to the US from New York, where he will lead the International Yoga Day celebrations at the United Nations headquarters and meet prominent personalities and leaders on June 21. He will travel to Washington the same day and join President Biden and first lady Jill Biden for a private engagement. State Dinner For PM Modi Prime Minister Modi will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22, which will be followed by a formal bilateral meeting with Biden. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will also host a state dinner in honour of Modi on Thursday evening. On Friday, the Prime Minister will interact with select Chief Executive Officers of leading companies. Later, US Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Bilnken will host a state luncheon. Prime Minister Modi will also address the Indian-American community at the Reagan Centre. "It is a milestone in our relationship. It is a very significant visit, a very important visit, a visit on which there is a genuine, widespread and deep interest in the US," Kwatra said, adding that Modi has visited the US six times since 2014. On planned protests against PM Modi's visit to the US, Kwatra said India viewed the visit from a very different frame of reference. "We sense deep and widespread positive interest in the US on the visit. We are aware, evidence-based, of the positive things we have done in the relationship. We are determined and targeted to move to the new domains of strategic partnership, which are crucial not just for partnership between our two societies, two countries, two systems, which would also be net positive contributors to developments in the world," Kwatra said. He said the extent of enthusiasm across the various cross-section of the US system was palpable. "You can see it well spread in the pages of the media and determine what is the frame of reference in which the two systems are looking at the relationship," Kwatra said. On the situation in Myanmar, Kwatra said India's position on Myanmar has always been clear and the US side was appreciative of it. "Let us not forget we have a large border with Myanmar. Myanmar is our neighbour. The kind of framework in which we deal with our relationship in Myanmar is very different. We have continued with our extensive humanitarian assistance and development cooperation with Myanmar, even when the times that Myanmar was troubled, so to speak,'' the foreign secretary said. "Being a neighbour, we have always tried, we have wished and we make an effort in that direction so that the country remains peaceful and stable," Kwatra said. NOIDA/SAHARANPUR: The Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday attached gangster Haji Iqbal's allegedly ill-gotten properties worth over Rs 500 crore across Lucknow, Noida and Saharanpur, a senior officer said. These include properties worth Rs 200 crore in Saharanpur, land for a proposed township estimated worth around Rs 300 crore in Greater Noida in Gautam Buddh Nagar district and a bungalow worth Rs 7 crore in Lucknow, Senior Superintendent of Police (Saharanpur) Vipin Tada told PTI. Haji Iqbal, around 60 years of age, features in the Uttar Pradesh Police's list of mafia gang leaders from Saharanpur district. Iqbal is accused in 36 criminal cases including those of illegal mining, land encroachment, women abuse, cheating, encroaching government property, etc, according to UP police records. "Haji Iqbal's brother and three sons are already in jail. Currently he and his wife are at large. Proceedings against him were underway as per the provisions of the Gangsters' Act. During investigation, his properties worth over Rs 500 crore were identified and proposal for their attachment made to the Saharanpur district magistrate and consequently the properties have been attached by the police," SSP Tada said. cre Trending Stories The action has been taken under Section 14 (1) of the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act which allows attachment of illegal properties, in order to effectively curb gangsters, mafias and criminals and their associates, he said. The officer said among the attached assets there are "hundreds of acres" of land in Saharanpur estimated worth around Rs 200 crore, a bungalow worth Rs 7 crore in the posh Gomti Nagar area of Lucknow and over 80,000 sq metre of land worth Rs 300 crore in Greater Noida. "The land in Greater Noida is located in the Knowledge Park V area where his associates had proposed to develop a township. He had floated a company there (Greater Noida) for the township project which has also been seized," Tada told PTI. He said the police teams are working to identify more ill-gotten properties belonging to Iqbal and legal action would be taken against him accordingly. New Delhi/Amritsar: The AAP government in Punjab will introduce a bill in the state assembly on Tuesday for free broadcast of Gurbani from the Harminder Sahib or Golden Temple in Amritsar. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday said that Gurbani is everyone's right and it should be free of cost. "With the blessings of God, we are going to make a historic decision tomorrow, as per the demand of all devotes, we are adding a new clause in the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925 that the transmission of Gurbani from Harminder Sahib will be free for all... no tender required... tomorrow in the cabinet... on June 20, a vote will be taken in the state assembly," his tweet read. Meanwhile, the Punjab Cabinet has approved the proposal to amend The Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 and to insert Section 125 A in the Act thereby casting duty on the SGPC to ensure free-to-air live telecast of the Holy Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib. CM Mann said the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 will pave the way "for eliminating the undue control of 'Modern Day Masands' over the free-to-air telecast of the sacred Gurbani". Addressing the media after the Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister said that the amendment has been made with the objective that the entire humanity is able to listen to and see the live telecast of Holy Gurbani free of cost. According to a Punjab government release, Bhagwant Mann said that this move is aimed at ensuring that Holy Gurbani is not commercialized in any manner. cre Trending Stories The Chief Minister said that this Act will be called the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Act, 2023 and will come into force on and with effect from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. He said that in the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, after section 125, section 125-A will be inserted for the live telecast of Gurbani free of cost. Bhagwant Mann said that the Act stipulates that it will be the duty of the Board to propagate the teachings of the Gurus by making uninterrupted (without any on-screen running advertisements/commercials/distortion) live feed (Audio or Audio as well as Video) of Holy Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib available free of cost to all media houses, outlets, platforms, channels, whoever wishes to broadcast it. The Chief Minister said that as a humble and devotee Sikh, he is a votary of free-to-air telecast of the Gurbani across the globe. Bhagwant Mann wondered how this was an attack on Panth "as he was just opposing the control of a particular channel over the telecast of Gurbani, which is totally unwarranted and unjustified". He said that this move is not aimed at giving rights to any particular channel of government or of any single individual but it is aimed at spreading the message of Gurbani across the globe. The Chief Minister asserted that the state government is fully competent to amend this act as the Apex court had already through a judgment ruled that this act is not an inter-state Act. He said that "a single family had dominated the affairs of the SGPC since long due to which an irreparable damage had been made to the Sikh Panth". According to the release, Bhagwant Mann said that "playing a dirty game this family tried to encash the religious sentiments of Sikhs by giving exclusive rights of telecast of Gurbani to their blue-eyed channel whereas no mention of word telecast or broadcast was there in the Act". The Chief Minister said that as people wish to listen to Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib so they had to subscribe to this channel. However, he said that "the package of this channel is given along with other channels which are too expensive". Bhagwant Mann said that SGPC, which was constituted by Sikh Gurudwara Act 1925, was entrusted with the task of spreading the message of Gurbani, but it has forgotten its duty while acting as a stooge in the hands of their master family. The Chief Minister said that 11 years have passed and the SGPC elections have not taken place in the state. He said that it is surprising that "the acting President of the SGPC is removing the acting Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib just because he is not toeing the line of the master family". SGPC Opposes Move Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami condemned Bhagwant Mann over his remarks that they will amend the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 for free telecast rights of 'Gurbani' from Golden Temple and said that the AAP government in the state is trying to politicise the issue and have no right to make such changes. "Punjab Government can't interfere in any manner. They don't have the right...They are trying to politicise this and I strongly condemn this. I urge Bhagwant Mann to not do anything like this," Dhami told ANI. Dhami, who also addressed a press conference, said changes in the Act can only be made by Parliament and a resolution pertaining to a proposed change is passed by SGPC. "They are giving a political colour to a religious matter to please their political bosses sitting in Delhi. Don't make this SGPC versus government. We request the government to not interfere otherwise they would be responsible for the consequences...If anyone has ever interfered even a little, they had to regret it," he said. Leaders from Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress said that the state government is not entitled to make such changes. Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former Punjab Education Minister Daljeet Cheema said the move is unconstitutional. The US Coast Guard is searching for OceanGate's submarine Titan, that disappeared with five people on board after it plunged toward the decaying wreck site of the Titanic cruise ship. The vessel went missing in the North Atlantic Ocean, where the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in 1912, leaving only about 700 survivors out of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew. The goal of OceanGate's expeditions has been chronicle the Titanic's deterioration as well as the underwater ecosystem that shipwrecks often spawn. Here are 10 things to know about the Titanic-bound submarine: The tourist submarinewith five people on board, which disappeared on June 18 while diving to the Titanic`s wreck in the Atlantic. The submarine was lost about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive on June 18. cre Trending Stories The vessel has around 70 hours of oxygen left, and a huge search and rescue operation is ongoing. The lost vessel is thought to be tour company OceanGate`s Titan submersible, a truck-sized sub that holds five people and usually dives with a four-day emergency supply of oxygen. Also Read: Missing Titanic Tourist Submarine With 5 Onboard Has Only 70 Hrs Of Oxygen Left: Report Tickets cost $250,000 for an eight-day trip including dives to the wreck at a depth of 3,800m. In a statement on Monday, OceanGate said its entire focus (was) on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families The Titanics wreck lies some 700 km south of St Johns, Newfoundland, though the rescue mission is being run from Boston, Massachusetts. There was one pilot and four 'mission specialists' aboard. 'Mission specialists' are people who pay to come along on OceanGate's expeditions. They take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible. Also Read: Submarine Used To Take Tourists To See Titanic Wreck Goes Missing; Search Underway Hamish Harding, a 58-year-old British billionaire businessman and explorer, is among those on the missing submarine. Harding is an adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records, including longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. In March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket. Titan is capable of diving 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) with a comfortable safety margin. In a May 2021 court filing, OceanGate said the Titan had an 'unparalleled safety feature' that assesses the integrity of the hull throughout every dive. At the time of the filing, Titan had undergone more than 50 test dives, including to the equivalent depth of the Titanic, in deep waters off the Bahamas and in a pressure chamber, the company said. NEW YORK: China has blocked a proposal by India and the United States at the United Nations to designate Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Sajid Mir, wanted for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, as a global terrorist. Notably, Sajid Mir, one of India's most wanted terrorists, is wanted for his involvement in the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. Mir served as the chief planner of the attacks, directing preparations and reconnaissance, and was one of the Pakistan-based controllers during the attacks. "Beginning on November 26, 2008, and continuing through November 29, 2008, ten attackers trained by the Pakistan-based foreign terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) carried out a series of coordinated attacks against multiple targets in Mumbai, including hotels, cafes, and a train station, killing approximately 170 people. Six Americans were killed during the three-day attacks," the FBI website reads. Earlier in 2022, India at the UN counter-terror meet in Mumbai revealed in detail Pakistan's role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack by playing Pakistan-based terrorist Sajid Mir's audiotape. In the audio clip, he is heard directing the attack on Chabad House during Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks. Playing the audio clip, India presented undeniable evidence against Pakistan. The clip was played by a senior Intelligence Bureau officer, Pankaj Thakur at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) meeting at Taj Mahal Palace. cre Trending Stories It exposed Sajid Mir directing terrorists from Muzaffarabad, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir where he is giving instructions to terrorists who were at Chabad House during Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks. Thakur made this revelation in the presence of several foreign ministers and diplomats from over 15 countries. Meanwhile, China, in recent months, has blocked several bids to designate several terrorists based in Pakistan. In October last year, Beijing put on hold a proposal to list Talha Saeed, son of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed. This bid was moved by India and co-supported by the US, under the 1267 sanction regime. It was the fifth time that China has blocked an India-US proposal in recent months, Lashkar-e-Taiba member Shahid Mahmood in October, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Sajid Mir in September, LeT and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) leader Abdul Rehman Makki in June, as well as Abdul Rauf Azhar in August, the brother of Jaish-e Mohammed (JEM) chief Masood Azhar, were protected by Beijing. When the South Korean carmaker - Kia, entered the Indian market, the Seltos was its first offering. It indeed received a warm response from the audience. The Seltos received immediate love from Indian buyers for its SUV stance, butch styling, premium interior, long feature list, and a host of engine-gearbox combinations. At its debut, the Seltos was priced rather aggressively, which made it an attractive option amongst its rivals. The Seltos has been in the market for a couple of years now, and it is ready to receive a mid-cycle refresh. The facelifted model will be breaking the covers in India on July 4. What changes does it get? Read on to find out. 2023 Kia Seltos Facelift: All-New Design? cre Trending Stories The answer to the above question is no. The Seltos in its facelifted avatar is revised in terms of looks. It will now get a revamped nose with a new grille, redesigned headlamp cluster, and reprofiled bumper. The design for the alloy wheel will be all-new as well. Going by the leaked images, these changes will certainly be present on the car. In addition, a set of new tail lamps and bumper could also do the duties here. The body shell of the Seltos will remain unchanged. Thus, the silhouette will retain its familiarity. 2023 Kia Seltos Facelift: Fresh Interior? Going by the Kia Seltos facelift that is on sale in international markets, there are a few changes expected on the inside as well. The Seltos could get a new all-digital instrument cluster, slimmer AC vents, rotary-style gear knob for automatic trims and more. There could also be a large panoramic sunroof and ADAS tech on offer in the Seltos facelift. Furthermore, it is likely to receive a new theme for the interior. 2023 Kia Seltos Facelift: Powertrain & Transmission The Seltos in the facelifted avatar will be sold with the existing 1.5L NA petrol and 1.5L turbo-diesel engines. However, the 1.4L turbo-petrol will be replaced with a 1.5L turbo-petrol motor that has recently been added to the bin. Also, the transmission options will include a 6-speed MT, 6-speed iMT, 6-speed AT, and 7-speed DCT. New Delhi: Some Hindu groups staged a protest outside a multiplex in Delhi alleging that "Adipurush" twisted facts of the epic Ramayana and demanding that the film's screening be stopped. According to a statement issued by the United Hindu Front, activists of the organisation and the Nationalist Shiv Sena staged the protest outside the Vikas Cine Mall in Shahdara in east Delhi. They alleged that the film played with the sentiments of millions of Hindus by twisting facts of the Ramayana and using indecent dialogues. The protesters raised slogans against the film and demanded that its screening be stopped. A senior police officer said there was a protest outside the theatre but the film's screening was underway without any interruption. Jai Bhagwan Goyal of the United Hindu Front said that the film should be banned across the country until its controversial dialogues and scenes are removed. Some seers in Haridwar in Uttarakhand also demanded a ban on the film. cre Trending Stories Mahamandaleshwar Swami Prabodhanand of Juna Akhara said the film has been made under an "international conspiracy" to defame the Sanatan culture and the dialogues of the characters of Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman were condemnable. "The Government of India should immediately ban this film so that there is no major chaos in the country," he said. Mahamandaleshwar Swami Santoshanand, while demanding strict action against the makers of "Adipurush", said the portrayal of the film's characters was against the Sanatan tradition. 'Adipurush', a retelling of the epic Ramayana, was released on Friday. The film, directed by Om Raut and fronted by Prabhas and Kriti Sanon, has come under attack for its dialogue, colloquial language and representation of some characters from the epic Ramayana. NIOS Result 2023: The NIOS Results 2023 are scheduled to be released this week. The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) will soon announce the NIOS Results 2023 Date and Time. Students who took the NIOS board exam in 2023 can view and get their NIOS results from the official website- results.nios.ac.in. Students are urged to keep their admit card nearby until the results are released. NIOS Result for the April session exam was held from April 6 to May 8. The result of both classes loth and 12th will be issued together for both classes 10th and 12th. After the results are declared, the NIOS results will be posted on the official website. To access the NIOS Marksheet, students must input their registration number. cre Trending Stories NIOS Result 2023: Steps to check scores here 1. Visit the official website-results.nios.ac.in. 2. On the appeared homepage, click on the NIOS Result link (will be available after the result is announced). 3. A new login page would open. 4. Enter the roll number and other details as asked. 5. Access the result and download the same. 6. Take a print out for the future references Candidates must check the details such as the Candidate's name, Date of Birth, Enrollment number, Course/Class, Examination schedule, Total Marks, Qualifying Marks, Mother's name, Father's name, and others after downloading the marksheet. TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corp said on Tuesday it had reached an agreement with SkyDrive Inc to make "flying cars". The companies will use a Suzuki Group factory in central Japan to make electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and aim to begin production by around spring next year, Suzuki said in a statement. SkyDrive will establish a wholly owned subsidiary to make the aircraft and Suzuki will help with preparations for the manufacturing, including securing talent, the automaker said. Headquartered in the city of Toyota in central Japan, SkyDrive has trading house Itochu Corp, tech firm NEC Corp and a unit of energy company Eneos Holdings Inc among its main shareholders. The two companies signed a deal in March last year to team up in research, development and marketing of flying cars. (Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; editing by Robert Birsel) New Delhi: Highlighting the "alarming" surge in crimes, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has proposed a meeting of the cabinet with the Lieutenant Governor to discuss the matter. In a letter dated June 19, he wrote to LG V K Saxena over the rising crimes in the national capital and the dire need to deliberate on the issue. "The seriousness of the situation can be gauged from the heart rending fact that four murders have taken place during last 24 hours in different parts of Delhi," read the letter. "As a responsible citizen and representative of over 2 crore Delhi residents, I express my willingness to extend full cooperation in ensuring the rule of law and safeguard the interests of the people in the NCT of Delhi," it said. In his letter, the chief minister urged the Lieutenant Governor to take immediate and effective measures to restore the faith of the citizens in the security and safety of their lives. "Such serious crimes have shaken Delhi. It is high time that those entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of city residents be not seen as failing time and again in their mandatory duty," the letter read. cre Trending Stories Also Read: Arvind Kejriwal Lauds Government School Students Success Rate In NEET 2023 Kejriwal also drew attention to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, adding that it should have served as a wake-up call for the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Lieutenant Governor, both of whom "bear direct responsibility for maintaining law and order in Delhi". Regretably, no substantial action has been taken based on this report, which reveals that Delhi alone accounted for 32.2 per cent of total crimes against women among 19 metropolitan cities in India, he noted. "Given such alarming figures, urgent preventive steps on crimes against women were required, but unfortunately for the reasons best known to the MHA and your goodself, nothing changed on the ground," the letter said. The AAP supremo alleged "lack of urgency" by the LG and the MHA to deal with the issue. Also Read: MP Assembly Elections: Former Minister Akhand Pratap Singh Joins AAP, Calls Arvind Kejriwal 'Mahapurush' He also pointed out the rise in the number of private security guards hired by residents due to shortage of Delhi Police personnel. "I am constrained to state that the kind of urgency required for prevention of crimes in Delhi is completely missing on the part of decision makers responsible for the maintenance of law and order here," he alleged. Stressing on the need for immediate measures such as enhanced police patrolling during night hours, Kejriwal called for an open dialogue with Delhiites to seek their input on improving the law and order situation. "I propose a meeting of my cabinet colleagues with your goodself for a meaningful discussion on this important issue," he added. He further suggested that police officers should engage in joint meetings with elected MLAs, councillors, and resident welfare associations (RWAs) to explore effective strategies for crime reduction in the city. He also called for the revival of thana-level committees, which previously served as platforms for regular and active engagement between the police, public and elected representatives until 2013. NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has proposed to retain the number of assembly seats in Assam at 126 and the Lok Sabha constituencies at 14 as it released on Tuesday the draft delimitation document for the northeastern state. According to an official statement, the EC has proposed that the assembly seats reserved for Scheduled Castes be increased from eight to nine and for Scheduled Tribes seats from 16 to 19. A parliamentary seat has been proposed to be named Kaziranga. The EC draft on delimitation proposes to reserve 19 assembly and two parliamentary seats for STs, and nine assembly and one parliamentary seats for SCs. The poll body proposed that the number of assembly seats in the autonomous districts of West Karbi Anglong be increased by one and in Bodoland autonomous council areas by three (from 16 to 19). The draft delimitation published by ECI today stipulate that the current Jalukbari constituency, which I have represented since 2001, will no longer exist as it has been divided into three parts. I am feeling very saddened by this news. Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) June 20, 2023 cre Trending Stories The EC has retained Diphu and Kokrajhar parliamentary seats reserved for ST and continued the Lakhimpur parliamentary seat as unreserved. According to the proposals, there will be one unreserved assembly seat in Dhemaji district. Two parliamentary seats have been proposed for the Barak Valley districts -- Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel are slated to visit Assam in July for a public hearing on the draft proposal. The delimitation exercise was carried out on the basis of 2001 census. The last delimitation was done in Assam in 1976. Seeking to make the delimitation exercise fair and equitable, the poll panel devised the guidelines and methodology keeping in mind the constitutional and legal provisions and the suggestions received in representations. The EC visited Assam from March 26-March 28 this year and held interactions with political parties, public representatives, civil society members, social organisations, members of public and officers in the state including chief electoral officer, deputy commissioners of all districts and district election officers regarding delimitation exercise in the State. In total, representations from 11 political parties and 71 other organisations were received and considered. The lowest administrative unit shall be 'village' in rural areas and 'ward' in urban areas. Village and ward have been kept intact and have not been broken anywhere in the state. The draft proposal has been prepared based on administrative units i.E., development block, panchayats and village in rural areas and municipal boards, wards in urban areas. The EC has made efforts to keep all constituencies, as far as practicable, as geographically compact areas with regard been given to the physical features, population population, existing boundaries of administrative units, facilities of communication and public convenience, the statement said. It said deviation to certain extent has been allowed due to huge inter-district variation in geographical features, population density, means of communication, public convenience, contiguity of the areas. It has also been allowed in some cases to meet the necessity of avoiding the breaking of administrative units as constituencies cannot be delimited having exactly equal population in all cases, the EC said. In Assam, since last delimitation (1976), the number of districts have increased from 10 to 31 and similarly number of administrative units at development block and gram panchayat levels have undergone drastic changes. Taking all these factors into account, the EC has categorised all 31 districts in three broad categories A, B and C giving margin of (+/-) 10 per cent of average population per assembly constituency, while proposing allocation of the constituencies to the districts. The average population density of the state is 338 persons per sq.Km. A population density range of 304 (subtracting 10 per cent from the average population density) to 372 (adding 10 per cent to the average population density) has been established and on this basis, the above said three categories have been made. 'A' category districts are those having population density less than 304 persons per sq. Km., while 'B' category are those with population density having between 304 to 372 persons per sq. Km. The 'C' category districts are those having population density more than 372 persons per sq. Km. The term of the current Assam legislative assembly will end on May 20, 2026. The state currently has 14 Lok Sabha, 126 assembly and seven Rajya Sabha seats. On February 28, 2020, the central government cancelled its earlier notifications which deferred delimitation in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh due to security issues, saying the exercise could be carried out "now" as the previous circumstances cease to exist. Later in March 2020, a delimitation commission was formed under former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai to redraw Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies of the Union Territory Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland. But when the delimitation panel was given a one-year extension on March 3, 2021, a Law Ministry notification said that now the panel would look only into the delimitation of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. "In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Delimitation Act, 2002 ... The Central Government hereby makes the following amendments in the notification . . . Dated the 06th March 2020, namely:- In the said notification, (i) in the opening paragraph, (a) the words, and the States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland, shall be omitted," the notification had read. Sources had then attributed various reasons, including court cases, for the omission of the four northeastern states from the delimitation exercise. Later, in its letter dated November 15, 2022, the Law Ministry requested EC to conduct the delimitation of parliamentary and assembly constituencies in Assam. The EC said some groups were in favour and some against the exercise to be carried out on the basis of 2001 census. Reliance Industries: Anil Ambani, who was once among the richest men in the world, is currently facing a dire predicament. A horrible moment arrived for this once-billionaire who was surrounded by billions of dollars of debt, and in 2019, the equity value of his entire company fell to 4292 crore ($523 million). In 2008, Anil Ambani, who had inherited his wealth and had been named chairman of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (Reliance ADAG), rose to become the 6th richest person in the world, according to Forbes, with a net worth of 3447 thousand crore ($42 billion). Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, Reliance Power, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Naval, and Reliance Home Finance were a few of the well-known companies that make up the Reliance ADA Group. Dhirubhai Ambani, the father of Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani, founded the family's multibillion dollar business empire. Dhirubhai, who came from modest origins and rose to become the perfect representation of the Rags to Riches story, began his career as a petrol pump station attendant in Yemen. The precise opposite, as the current scenario suggests, appears to have occurred with Anil Ambani, his younger son. Anil Ambani: The Beginning cre Trending Stories Anil Ambani became co-CEO of his father's company, Reliance Industries, in 1983. Anil Ambani was a well-educated businessman who had earned a Masters in Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1983. He is renowned for his contributions to the growth of the Indian financial sector, including his role in introducing bonds, convertible securities, and global depositary receipts to the world capital markets. Reliance Industries raised $2 billion from the worldwide financial market under the direction of Anil Ambani. In 2004, Anil Ambani was also chosen to serve as a Rajya Sabha member. Also Read: Most Generous Indian: This Gujarati Billionaire Remains India's Top Philanthropist Split With Mukesh Ambani Dhirubhai Ambani passed away in 2002 without leaving a will. Anil was appointed managing director of Reliance Industries following the death of his father. Mukesh was appointed chairman of the company, which at the time was a business empire worth Rs 28,000 crore. A small amount of conflict between the brothers started to build in 2005. The brothers' disagreement over the gas supply resulted in a court battle, which caused the corporation to be divided in half. Mukesh received the oil-refining and petrochemicals companies, while Anil took over the telecom, power generation, and financial services sectors. Until 2010, they also agreed to a "non-compete pact." Anil Ambani: The Success Story Anil Ambani received numerous business honors, and his total wealth surpassed Rs. 4 lakh crore in 2007. Reliance Communications served as the catalyst for this fame and wealth. In addition to this, he made history in 2008 by securing a full subscription for the Reliance Power IPO in less than 60 seconds. It was, at the time, the biggest IPO the Indian market had ever seen. Also Read: Father-Son Duo Who Sold Bags On The Street Of Mumbai Now Owns A 250-Crore Company Anil Ambani Misfortune Anil Ambani had to deal with the effects of the 2008 financial crisis, which was the first of many difficulties that lay ahead of him. Numerous upcoming projects were backed by the record-breaking Rs. 11,563 crore raised during the Reliance Power IPO. The 2008 financial crisis made it difficult to obtain natural gas at a reasonable price, which was necessary to launch the projects. Anil Ambani: 3 Reason Of Downfall 1. His financial success was greatly aided by Reliance Communications, but it struggled to compete in the telecommunications sector and was eventually shut down in late 2017. This was due to the company's inability to upgrade to 4G networks, its debt-trapped situation, and its reliance on risky commercial ventures to stay afloat. His elder brother Mukesh Ambani's Jio 4G network posed a significant threat as well. 2. Anil Ambani purchased Pipavav Defense, which already had debts totaling Rs. 7000 crore, in a disastrous move. Additionally, due to Pipavav's inability to pay its debts, IDBI Bank and IFCI brought it before the NCLT for an insolvency action. 3. Due to his loan defaults, Anil Ambani's relationships with other banks and lenders were also harmed. He was eventually hauled before the courts, where he filed an appeal and claimed that he had run out of assets to sell. Anil Ambani seemed to have experienced everything, from his journey from riches to rags to dealing with court summonses and attempting to pay off his obligations. His wealth has fallen from Rs 4 lakh crore during the financial crisis of 2008 to Rs 250 crore as of 2023. Experts have also claimed that his poor business judgement and incapacity to compete in a cutthroat economic environment were to blame for this sudden decline. Anil Ambani's situation appears to be far from over, and only time will be able to reveal what lies ahead for him. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India has a core belief in respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, observing the rule of law and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. In an interview with "Wall Street Journal", prior to his departure for a state visit to the US, PM Modi said that at the same time, India is fully prepared and committed to protecting its sovereignty and dignity. All countries should respect international law and the sovereignty of countries. Disputes should be resolved with "diplomacy and dialogue," not war, he noted. "Some people say that we are neutral. But we are not neutral. We are on the side of peace," he was quoted as saying. "The world has full confidence that India`s topmost priority is peace," the Prime Minister said in the interview. India-US Ties Stronger, Deeper: PM Modi cre Trending Stories PM Modi also stressed that the ties between India and the US are stronger and deeper than ever and there is unprecedented trust between the leaders of both nations. The Prime Minister added that India deserves a much higher, deeper and wider profile and role on the world stage at a moment of geopolitical turmoil. "We do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world," Prime Minister Modi was quoted as saying in the interview. The world today is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. To create resilience, there should be more diversification in supply chains, he said. On UNSC Membership Touching upon the UN Security Council member, PM Modi said that there has to be an evaluation of the current membership of the council and the world should be asked if it wants India to be there. India will do whatever it can and supports all genuine efforts to bring an end to the conflict and ensure enduring peace and stability, the Prime Minister added. For normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential, he said. On Trade Ties In his interview, the Prime Minister said growing defence cooperation between the two countries was "an important pillar of our partnership" that extended to trade, technology, and energy. On China PM Modi also responded to questions about China, amid border tensions that have frequently flared up in recent years. "For normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential," said PM Modi. PM Modi said in the course of the interview that he is the first prime minister to be born in free India, "And that`s why my thought process, my conduct, what I say and do, is inspired and influenced by my country`s attributes and traditions. I derive my strength from it". "I present my country to the world as my country is, and myself, as I am," he said. PM Modi Leaves For US Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday, emplaned for the United States for his first historic State visit. The visit will commence in New York where the Prime Minister will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21. PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22 and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening, according to a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The PM will also address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress on June 22. The invitation to deliver such a historic speech was extended by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, demonstrating bipartisan support and respect for Prime Minister Modi in the United States. He would be the first Indian Prime Minister to address a joint session of the United States Congress twice. The invitation letter from the President and First Lady praised PM Modi's last historic address seven years ago, which helped cement the connection between the two countries. An unprecedented deal on jet engine technology transfer to power advanced light combat aircraft and the purchase of high-altitude armed predator drones from the US is expected during the visit. On International Day of Yoga renowned spiritual leader Sadhguru, Founder-Isha Foundation, will address a special Yoga Day event at the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris, France, on June 21. The event, which will comprise of Sadhgurus address on Crafting a Conscious Planet will be followed by a guided meditation and yoga session. Around 1300 people consisting of Ambassadors of different countries, dignitaries from the Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO, UNESCO staff, global leaders from the worlds of fashion, music, and business, and the general public will attend the event. The event will be livestreamed in 14 languages including Hindi, English, Marathi Telugu, and Tamil amongst other Indian and global languages across the world and anyone can join the livestream at 6:30 pm IST. cre Trending Stories Youtube Live Streaming Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81J_pa88Mi4 The Yoga Day special event is presented by the Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO, the Ministry of Ayush, and UNESCO. It will also feature an address from Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General of UNESCO. Talking about the real essence of Yoga, Sadhguru says If someone utters the word Yoga, people think of impossible physical postures. This is a very distorted idea of what Yoga is. Yoga is not about bending and twisting your body or holding your breath. Yoga is a technology. If you learn to use it, it works- no matter where you come from or what you believe in or do not believe in. Instagram Live Streaming Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ctduh3fOoTX/ Prepare For International Day Of Yoga As part of the International Day of Yoga celebrations, Isha Foundation is offering free online Yoga sessions throughout the month of June through which anyone without any prior yoga experience can join the 45-minute guided sessions and begin their yoga journey. To receive continuous yoga support, they can also download Sadhguru app, which is available in 12 languages, and offers an array of wisdom videos, free guided meditations, and yoga practices. The Yoga sessions are also being organised at corporate organisations, medical institutions, schools and colleges across India and the world. Learn Free Yoga: https://www.instagram.com/p/CtJH8kTu2O8/ Isha Foundation has also opened up the opportunity to become a Yoga Veera, who is a volunteer willing to be trained to offer simple yogic practices for health and wellbeing in their organisations, neighbourhoods, to friends and families. There are no specific age, gender, or background requirements to become a Yoga Veera and completion of Isha programs is also not necessary. Guided by Sadhguru, Isha Foundation has been offering the ancient science of yoga in its purest form for more than 30 years. Supported by 17 million volunteers in 300 centers worldwide, Isha Foundations activities address all aspects of human well-being. From its powerful yoga programs for inner transformation to its inspiring projects for society, environment, and education, Isha's activities are designed to raise human consciousness and foster global harmony through individual transformation. Sign up to join Sadhguru Live from UNESCO, Paris on June 21, 2023 at 6.30 PM IST To know more about Sadhguru and Isha Foundation, visit: https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en New Delhi: In a major move in its investigation into the Odisha triple train tragedy, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday sealed the rented house of Soro Section signal junior engineer (JE). According to reports, a CBI team reached the rented house of JE Amir Khan near Annapurna Rice Mill in Soro on Monday, and found that the house was locked. Later, they sealed the house of Khan. A source said that two CBI personnel are also keeping a watch on the house. The CBI had earlier questioned him during the course of their investigation at an undisclosed location. Also Read: Flashback: Like Odisha, Huge Sabotage Claims Were Made On 2016 Kanpur Train Accident- What Came Out? cre Trending Stories However, the signal JE and his family are reportedly missing from the rented place after the tragic accident at Bahanaga that resulted in the deaths of 292 passengers so far. Also Read: Days After Balasore Train Tragedy, Six Labourers Run Over By Goods Train In Odisha's Jajpur Meanwhile, the CBI officials have also visited the house of Bahanaga station master for investigation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a rousing welcome as he arrived here on Tuesday on the first leg of his maiden state visit to the US during which he will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters and hold bilateral talks with President Joe Biden in Washington. "Landed in New York City. Looking forward to the programmes here including interaction with thought leaders and the Yoga Day programme tomorrow, 21st June," Modi tweeted. Landed in New York City. Looking forward to the programmes here including interaction with thought leaders and the Yoga Day programme tomorrow, 21st June. pic.twitter.com/6V5gHglLCg Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 20, 2023 The prime minister was received at the airport by Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu and India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj. Prime Minister Modi received a rousing welcome upon his arrival here with Indian-American community members cheering him and raising slogans in his favour. Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, who will host him at a state dinner on June 22. The visit includes an address by the prime minister to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. cre Trending Stories In his departure statement, Modi had said this "special invitation" from President Biden and the First Lady for a state visit is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between the democracies. "I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community," the prime minister said. "I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported India's proposal in December 2014 to recognise an International Day of Yoga," he said. #WATCH | Members of the Indian community cheerfully welcome PM Modi on his arrival in New York, US pic.twitter.com/8N0rx3hrhh ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 Nine years after Prime Minister Modi first proposed from the United Nations General Assembly podium to mark International Yoga Day as an annual commemoration, the Indian leader will for the first time be at the UN Headquarters to lead the yoga session in a historic commemoration of the day. From New York, Modi will travel to Washington D.C. Where he will hold talks with President Biden. The prime minister noted that President Biden and he have had the opportunity to meet several times since his last official visit to the US in September 2021. "This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership," Modi said. Modi said his discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders will provide an opportunity to consolidate bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad and IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity). #WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in New York on first leg of his official State visit to the United States During his visit to New York, PM will meet CEOs, Nobel laureates, economists, artists, scientists, scholars, entrepreneurs, academicians,health sector pic.twitter.com/fZeWUo2ttU ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 The prime minister said he will also join President Biden and the First Lady for the state banquet along with a number of dignitaries. Noting that the US Congress has always provided strong bi-partisan support to India-US ties, Modi said that during his visit, he will address a joint session of the US Congress at the invitation of the Congressional leadership. "Strong people-to-people linkages have been instrumental in developing the trust between our countries. I look forward to meeting the vibrant Indian-American community that represents the best of our societies," he said. "I will also meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating our trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains," Modi said. Modi will also meet business leaders, interact with the Indian community and meet thought leaders from different walks of life. "We seek to deepen India-USA ties in key sectors like trade, commerce, innovation, technology and other such areas," he said. The US is India's largest trade partner in goods and services, and the two countries collaborate closely in the fields of science and technology, education, health, defence and security, the prime minister said. The initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration in defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, artificial intelligence and biotech sectors, he added. "Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific," he said. Modi expressed confidence that his visit to the US will reinforce ties between the two countries based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. "Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges," Modi said in his statement. From the US, Modi will travel to Egypt at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. NEW DELHI: India deserves a much higher, deeper and wider profile and role at the global stage, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday as he embarked on a landmark state visit to the US, asserting that ties with Washington were stronger than ever. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal ahead of his first state visit, Modi also talked about the India-China relationship, saying peace and tranquillity in the border areas are essential for normal bilateral ties. "We have a core belief in respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, observing the rule of law and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. At the same time, India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity," he told the US newspaper. The Prime minister also asserted that India was not "supplanting any country" and was aiming at gaining its "rightful" position in the world. His remarks came as a response to WSJ's view that India, which has invested enormously in education and infrastructure, was poised to gain as multinationals look to diversify manufacturing and supply chains in an era of geopolitical tension. Modi, who left for the US this morning, said ties between New Delhi and Washington are stronger and deeper than ever. There is an "unprecedented trust" between the leaders of the US and India, Modi said. Modi also pointed out that he is the first Prime Minister to be born in free India. "And that's why my thought process, my conduct, what I say and do, is inspired and influenced by my country's attributes and traditions. I derive my strength from it," he said. cre Trending Stories "I present my country to the world as my country is, and myself as I am," he said. On the Ukraine conflict, Modi said,"Some people say that we are neutral. But we are not neutral. We are on the side of peace." "All countries should respect international law and the sovereignty of countries," he said. Disputes should be resolved with diplomacy and dialogue, not war, he added. Modi said he has spoken several times to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He said he recently spoke to Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan in May. "India will do whatever it can" and supports "all genuine efforts to bring an end to the conflict and ensure enduring peace and stability", he said. The US daily said Washington has put pressure on India to reduce its dependence on Moscow for arms, and some in the US have criticised Modi's government for not taking a more forceful stance against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "I don't think this type of perception is widespread in the US," said Modi, referring to criticism of India's stance on Russia. "I think India's position is well known and well understood in the entire world. The world has full confidence that India's topmost priority is peace." In his interview, Modi linked many of the world's problems, such as terrorism, proxy wars and expansionism, to a failure of global institutions created during the Cold War to adapt, saying that smaller and regional groupings have emerged in the vacuum. He said global institutions such as the UN must change. He said, "Look at the membership of key institutions -- does it truly represent the voice of democratic values?" "A place like Africa -- does it have a voice? India has such a huge population and is a bright spot in the global economy, but is it present?" Signalling India's desire to be part of the UN Security Council, the prime minister pointed to the country's role as a contributor of troops to peacekeeping operations around the world. There has to be an evaluation of the current membership of the council and the world should be asked if it wants India to be there, he said. The US daily said the Indian government has invested enormously in education and infrastructure, and it is poised to gain as multinationals look to diversify manufacturing and supply chains in an era of geopolitical tension. It also gave examples of Apple and Foxconn Technology Group among the companies making significant new investments in India. "Let me be clear that we do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world," Modi told the newspaper. "The world today is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. To create resilience, there should be more diversification in supply chains," he said. Jeffrey Epstein 'offered to help former Barclays boss get daughter into Columbia' It also claimed that Epstein regularly gave personal and business advice to Mr Staley, including setting up meetings with senior officials in foreign governments. - Stephanie Keith Jeffrey Epstein offered to help the daughter of the former Barclays chief executive Jes Staley win a place at a prestigious US university, it has been claimed. The paedophile financier said he could introduce Mr Staley to the president of Columbia University at Davos in a bid to secure his daughter a place on a PhD course, according to a previously confidential report. Epstein also reportedly offered to get get in touch with various officials at Columbia on behalf of Mr Staleys daughter. The allegations were made in a 22-page internal review by JP Morgan, where Mr Staley was once a senior banker responsible for wealthy clients including Epstein. Mr Staley left the US lender in 2013 and took over Barclays two years later. It also claimed that Epstein regularly gave personal and business advice to Mr Staley, including setting up meetings with senior officials in foreign governments. The report, written in 2019 after Epstein killed himself in a jail cell and first reported by the Wall Street Journal, said that he had appeared to establish close ties with senior executives and government officials including the New Labour politician Lord Mandelson. Epstein then tried to connect these associates to Mr Staley and JP Morgan for business deals and international expansions, it added. Lord Mandelson told the Journal that his connections to Epstein were already known and that he very much regrets ever having been introduced to the billionaire, adding they never had any kind of professional or business relationship. Last week, JP Morgan agreed to pay $290m (232m) to settle a lawsuit alleging that the bank knowingly benefited from its former client Jeffrey Epsteins sex-trafficking. The US bank said it had reached an agreement in principle to settle the proposed class action launched by an unnamed Epstein victim late last year. JP Morgan is still facing a similar lawsuit brought by the US Virgin Islands (USVI), where the financier had a private retreat where he brought several of his victims. The US bank is also still pursuing its own case against Mr Staley. It has said Mr Staley should be held responsible for any damages it incurs over its ties to Epstein as he managed the banks relationship with the paedophile financier during his time there. Epstein was a client of JP Morgans for 15 years until 2013, including a period following his 2008 child sex conviction. The ongoing USVI lawsuit against JP Morgan has claimed that Epsteins behaviour was so widely known at JP Morgan that senior bankers joked about his interest in young girls. Mr Staley had a personal relationship with Epstein when he was a client of the bank and visited the late paedophile on his Caribbean island. Unsealed emails allege that Mr Staley drank white wine in a hot tub on Epsteins private Caribbean island while he was under house arrest for child sex offences. Although both legal claims cite Mr Staleys relationship with the disgraced financier to argue that JP Morgan knew about the sex trafficking, neither names the former bank chief as a defendant. Mr Staley has repeatedly denied knowledge of Epsteins sexual abuse. A spokesman for Columbia University said: There was no meeting between the president and Staley. Nor did the president know Epstein, then or later. There is no factual basis for these assertions. JP Morgan declined to comment. A lawyer for Mr Staley was contacted for comment. Last week, JP Morgan said: We all now understand that Epsteins behavior was monstrous, and we believe this settlement is in the best interest of all parties, especially the survivors, who suffered unimaginable abuse at the hands of this man. Any association with him was a mistake and we regret it. We would never have continued to do business with him if we believed he was using our bank in any way to help commit heinous crimes. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer. New Delhi/Amritsar: The Punjab Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill introduced by the AAP government for the free broadcast of sacred Gurbani from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had on Monday said that Gurbani is everyone's right and it should be free of cost. The Punjab Cabinet earlier approved the proposal to amend The Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 and to insert Section 125 A in the Act thereby casting duty on the SGPC to ensure free-to-air live telecast of the Holy Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib. Punjab Assembly passes Sikh Gurudwaras (amendment) Bill, 2023. The Bill aimed to make broadcast and telecast of 'Gurbani' from Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) free for all, no tender required. ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023 cre Trending Stories CM Mann earlier said the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 will pave the way "for eliminating the undue control of 'Modern Day Masands' over the free-to-air telecast of the sacred Gurbani". Addressing the media after the Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister said that the amendment has been made with the objective that the entire humanity is able to listen to and see the live telecast of Holy Gurbani free of cost. CM Bhagwant Mann said that this move is aimed at ensuring that Holy Gurbani is not commercialized in any manner. The Chief Minister said that this Act will be called the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Act, 2023 and will come into force on and with effect from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. He said that in the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, after section 125, section 125-A will be inserted for the live telecast of Gurbani free of cost. Bhagwant Mann said that the Act stipulates that it will be the duty of the Board to propagate the teachings of the Gurus by making uninterrupted (without any on-screen running advertisements/commercials/distortion) live feed (Audio or Audio as well as Video) of Holy Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib available free of cost to all media houses, outlets, platforms, channels, whoever wishes to broadcast it. The Chief Minister said that as a humble and devotee Sikh, he is a votary of free-to-air telecast of the Gurbani across the globe. Bhagwant Mann wondered how this was an attack on Panth "as he was just opposing the control of a particular channel over the telecast of Gurbani, which is totally unwarranted and unjustified". He said that this move is not aimed at giving rights to any particular channel of government or of any single individual but it is aimed at spreading the message of Gurbani across the globe. The Chief Minister asserted that the state government is fully competent to amend this act as the Apex court had already through a judgment ruled that this act is not an inter-state Act. According to an official release, Bhagwant Mann said that "playing a dirty game this family tried to encash the religious sentiments of Sikhs by giving exclusive rights of telecast of Gurbani to their blue-eyed channel whereas no mention of word telecast or broadcast was there in the Act". The Chief Minister said that as people wish to listen to Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib so they had to subscribe to this channel. However, he said that "the package of this channel is given along with other channels which is too expensive". Bhagwant Mann said that SGPC, which was constituted by Sikh Gurudwara Act 1925, was entrusted with the task of spreading the message of Gurbani, but it has forgotten its duty while acting as a stooge in the hands of their master family. The Chief Minister said that 11 years have passed and the SGPC elections have not taken place in the state. He said that it is surprising that "the acting President of the SGPC is removing the acting Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib just because he is not toeing the line of the master family". Don't Interfere In Religious Matters, Warns SGPC Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami condemned Bhagwant Mann over his remarks that they will amend the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 for free telecast rights of 'Gurbani' from Golden Temple and said that the AAP government in the state is trying to politicise the issue and have no right to make such changes. "Punjab Government can't interfere in any manner. They don't have the right...They are trying to politicise this and I strongly condemn this. I urge Bhagwant Mann to not do anything like this," Dhami told ANI. Dhami, who also addressed a press conference, said changes in the Act can only be made by Parliament and a resolution pertaining to a proposed change is passed by SGPC. Leaders from Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress said that the state government is not entitled to make such changes. Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former Punjab Education Minister Daljeet Cheema said the move is unconstitutional. Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday departed for a landmark State Visit to the United States which will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of the Indo-US partnership and asserted that together the two countries stand stronger in meeting shared global challenges. PM Modi said that he is travelling to the US on a State Visit at the invitation of President Joseph Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, and this "special invitation" is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between the democracies. It is the second time that Prime Minister Modi is addressing the joint session of the US Congress, a first for any Indian prime minister. The prime minister had earlier addressed the US Congress in 2016. Upon his arrival in the US, influential Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar would be escorting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his historic joint address to the US Congress on June 22. Who Is Shri Thanedar? cre Trending Stories Shri Thanedar is the first-time Democratic Congressman, who represents the 13th Congressional District of Michigan. Thanedar represents the 13th District of Michigan. Prior to being elected to Congress in 2022, Congressman Thanedar served in the Michigan House of Representatives. Shri Thanedar immigrated to the United States in 1979 from Belgaum, India to obtain his PhD in polymer chemistry from the University of Akron (1982) after receiving a Master's Degree at the University of Bombay (1977). He then worked as a post-doctoral scholar at the University of Michigan (1982-1984). Shri worked as a Polymer Synthesis Chemist and Project Leader at the Petrolite Corporation in St. Louis, MO (1984-1990). Shri Thanedar is also an award-winning entrepreneur creating hundreds of jobs and best-selling author. Shri is married to Shashi Thanedar. His sons Neil and Samir graduated from the University of Michigans Ross School of Business. He has also been invited by President Joe Biden for the White House State Dinner hosted in honour of Prime Minister Modi on the same day. The Congressman said he has been entrusted with the distinct pleasure of escorting the Indian Prime Minister to his joint address to Congress, as requested by United States Congressional leadership. This role holds special significance for Congressman Thanedar, who recognises the importance of the United States as a diverse nation built by immigrants, a land of opportunity, and a symbol of democracy. "(Spouse) Shashi (Thanedar) and I are looking forward to the Prime Minister's visit to the United States; this is a historic event for the Prime Minister. I hope to stress upon the Prime Minister the need for stronger US-India ties," Thanedar, 68, said. Thanedar, a Democrat, said he and his wife are honoured to accept President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden's invitation to the State Dinner on June 22. This invitation serves as a testament to their commitment to public service and their dedication to fostering international cooperation, he said. Reflecting on his personal journey, he said, "I grew up in poverty and only came to America with a dream. I was fortunate to achieve my American Dream; The United States is a country of immigrants, a land of opportunity, and this diversity makes our country strong," he said. Thanedar To Form 'Hindu Caucus' In US Congress Indian-American Congressman has announced plans to form a 'Hindu Caucus' in the US Congress that will bring like-minded lawmakers under one umbrella to ensure that there is no hate and bigotry against Hindus in the country. Moving forward, Thanedar reaffirmed his commitment to advocating for stronger ties between the United States and India. He will focus on crucial areas such as education, defence, space, technology, medicine, and other pressing issues that impact both nations. By nurturing the relationship between the world's strongest democracy and the largest democracy, Thanedar aims to address shared challenges and harness mutual opportunities for growth and progress. Congressional caucuses are groups of members of the US Congress that meet to pursue common legislative objectives. Caucuses are formed as Congressional Member Organisations through the US House of Representatives and governed under the chamber's rules. Gorakhpur: The Gorakhpur-based Gita Press, which is the world's largest publisher of Hindu religious texts, has declined to accept a Rs 1 crore cash award for the Gandhi Peace Prize amid a political row over its selection for the prestigious honour. On 18 June, a jury headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi unanimously decided to select Gita Press as the recipient of the Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2021, in recognition of its outstanding contribution. Know All About Gita Press cre Trending Stories Gita Press is a 100-year-old publisher of Hindu religious texts. It was started by businessmen Jai Dayal Goenka, Ghanshyam Das Jalan, and Hanuman Prasad Poddar on April 29, 1923, in Gorakhpur. It has published around 41.7 crore books in 14 languages, including 16.21 crore Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. The Gita Press has been chosen as the recipient of the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 in recognition of its outstanding contribution towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violent and other Gandhian methods. What Are Its Main Objectives? Its main aim is to publish and distribute Hindu religious texts, particularly the Bhagavad Gita. Other titles, primarily in Hindi, include the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Upanishads, Vedas, Puranas, Agamas, Yoga texts, various Samhitas (compilations) and a monthly magazine called Kalyan. The total number of books published by Gita Press: is 417100000. The publisher is known for its affordable prices and making religious literature accessible to everyone. The Gita Press was established to promote the principles of Sanatan Dharma. The website of the publishing house claims, "Gita Press archives contains over 3,500 manuscripts including over 100 interpretations of the Bhagwad Gita. Who Manages The Gita Press? The Governing Council (Trust Board) of the publishing house manages the Press. "The institution neither solicits donations nor accepts advertisements in its publications. The deficit is met by the surplus from other departments of the society which render services at a reasonable cost, in accordance with the objects of the society, its website says. What's The Controversy Surrounding The Gita Press? The Gorakhpur-based Gita Press has declined to accept the Rs 1 crore cash award for the Gandhi Peace Prize amid a political row over its selection for the prestigious honour. The trustee board of the press has said that it was a matter of ''great honour'' to be conferred the award for 2021 but would not accept the Rs one crore cash component that comes with the prize keeping with its tradition of not receiving any kind of "donations". The publisher thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Culture Ministry for conferring the award on Gita Press that was founded in 1923 by Jaya Dayal Goyanka and Ghanshyam Das Jalan for promoting the ''principles of Sanatan Dharma.'' "It is a matter of great honour for us. It is our principle not to accept any kind of donations, so the trustee board has decided not to take the award in any monetary form. However, we will certainly accept the award," Gita Press manager Lalmani Tripathi told reporters in Gorakhpur. Political Blame Game Over Gita Press The main opposition party - Congress - has slammed the Centre alleging that the decision to honour Gita Press with the Gandhi Peace Prize is "really a travesty" and "it's like awarding Savarkar and Godse. Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh made these remarks while referring to Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse. Hitting out at the Congress, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said nobody has any objection to its selection except those who consider Muslim League a secular organisation. "Gita Press is associated with India's culture, our ethos and Hindu belief, and it produces affordable literature which reaches every household," Singh said replying to questions at a press conference at the BJP headquarters in Delhi. The Congress forgot that it was the Muslim League, which gave two nation theory, got India partitioned and took credit for the creation of Pakistan, the senior BJP leader said. The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) condemned the Congress criticism, saying the grand old party has 'insulted' Indian spiritual literature and the country with its 'cheap' reaction on the issue. Gandhi Peace Prize The Gandhi Peace Prize is an annual award that was instituted by the government in 1995 on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi as a tribute to the ideals espoused by the Father of the Nation. The award is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, language, caste, creed or gender. It carries a cash prize of Rs 1 crore, a citation, a plaque and an exquisite traditional handicraft/handloom item. New Delhi: Renowned actor Ram Charan and his wife Upasana Kamineni Konidela have welcomed their first child, a baby girl at Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad. As per reports, the baby arrived on June 20, i.e. Tuesday at the newly personalized wing of the Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad. The report further mentioned that both the baby and mother are doing well. It is to be noted that the couple became proud parents after 11 years of their marriage. Megastar Chiranjeevi and the family visited the couple in the early hours of Tuesday morning to welcome the new addition to their family. Hospital News Bulletin The bulletin read, "Miss Upasana Kamineni and Ram Charan Konidela had a baby girl on 20th June 2023, at Apollo hospital Jubilee Hills Hyderabad. The baby and mother are doing well." The Konidela and Kamineni families are elated at the arrival of the baby. Fans across the globe have already started celebrating the arrival of the #megaprincess. On June 17, Upasana took to Instagram to reveal that they have received a special handcrafted cradle made by survivours of sex trafficking. cre Trending Stories She wrote, "We are honoured & humbled to receive this heartfelt gift from the incredible young women of #PrajwalaFoundation. This handcrafted cradle holds immense significance, symbolizing strength, resilience, and hope. It represents a journey of transformation and self-respect that I want my child to be exposed to from birth (sic)." Also Read: Adipurush Controversy: Protest Held In Delhi, Seers In Haridwar Demand Ban On Film Screening Ram Charan and his wife Upasana announced their pregnancy in December 2022. "With the blessings of Shri Hanuman Ji, we are delighted to share that Upasana & Ram Charan are expecting their first child. With love & gratitude Surekha & Chiranjeevi Konideli, Shobana & Anil Kamineni (sic)," the couple announced. The news of them expecting their first child was also shared by the family, including Ram's father, veteran actor Chiranjeevi, in December last year. Since then, the couple has had multiple baby showers in Hyderabad and Dubai and also travelled to the US for Oscars 2023 and a 'babymoon'. Ram Charan and Upasana tied the knot on June 14, 2012, in a grand ceremony. Recently, the two celebrated 11 years of togetherness. Also Read: Salman Khan's co-star Hema Sharma Claims She was Manhandled On Dabangg Sets On the work front, Ram Charan will be seen in director Shankar's upcoming action film 'Game Changer' opposite actor Kiara Advani. 'Game Changer' will release in three languages - Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. The film also features SJ Suryah, Jayaram, Anjali, and Srikanth, and is slated to release this year. A look at all the details of the most expensive car currently in a Tallahassee showroom A new 2022 redesign Mercedes-Benz AMG SL 63 convertible with a price tag of $199,785 at Capital Eurocars Mercedes-Benz is the most expensive vehicle on display in a Tallahassee showroom. Sales Manager Angus Thomas says there have been about 25 prospective buyers for the car in the three months it has been available, and that Tallahassee has shown a high demand for AMG performance models when they become available at the dealership. Thomas said this AMG SL 63 is the most expensive car ever featured in their inventory. The previous record price vehicle was an AMG SL 55 Roadster model at $158,650, which Thomas says sold quickly last year. Most buyers are more likely to pay cash in-full for these cars, Thomas told the Tallahassee Democrat. Capital Eurocars has served Tallahassee for 25 years and has other high-end manufacturer dealerships in the capital city, including Porsche and BMW. The 2022 Mercedes-Benz AMG SL 63 model on display in Capital Eurocars costs $198,785. More: FSU launches program to encourage faculty-founded startups. 'A gamechanger for faculty' Business news: A second Culver's location may be coming to Tallahassee The AMG performance model is set apart from other Mercedes-Benz vehicles by its handcrafted V8 engine and rear axle steering. As far as Mercedes-Benz is concerned, their attention to detail is at a higher level than other luxury brands, certified client advisor Justin Harrison told the Tallahassee Democrat inside the dealership showroom at 3705 W. Tennessee St. Thats what makes it a $200,000 car. While the model on display is a redesign from 2022, the car has never been owned before and is brand new. 2022 redesign Mercedes-Benz AMG SL 63 convertible: A roadster with all the fine details The 2022 Mercedes-Benz AMG SL 63 model on display in Capital Eurocars costs $198,785. The AMG model is in the color moonlight metallic white with a black Nappa leather interior. The convertible coupe seats five and has high-end safety, technology, and aesthetic features that Harrison says are incomparable. One of the most important features for people who are looking for high performance is the rear axle steering, Harrison said. It almost feels like youre driving a spaceship. The AMG model was assembled in Germany with a handcrafted Biturbo V8 engine and a built-in advanced artificial intelligence system to assist drivers. The AMG 63 exclusive rear axle steering feature allows the driver to turn easier with the rear wheels automatically turning at a 5-degree angle. The car, featuring the 577-horsepower engine, can reach a top speed of 200 miles per hour. Most consider that car to be a weekend vehicle, Harrison said, It is classified as a roadster. Harrison says Tallahassee drivers that come to see the car are looking for a casual fun ride with high performance. However, the cars safety features also make it attractive for an everyday drive. With all the safety features that come with the car, it ultimately makes it easier to drive, Harrison said of its performance. The car comes equipped with a predictive feature which will automatically set on the emergency brake when sensors in the rear predict a collision to minimize damage to the car. Other safety features include automatic braking, lane assist and collision assist. The AMG performance model is set apart from other Mercedes-Benz vehicles, which is important to high-end shoppers. Angus Thomas 2023 When we get them, they sell pretty quick, and its a toy basically, Thomas said. But its a $200,000 car so they have to like everything about the car. It has to suit them and how they feel in the car. With all Mercedes-Benz AMG purchases, buyers gain access to the AMG private lounge at the Mercedes-Benz factory in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, where owners have digital VIP access to exclusive content and events. Drivers can also test AMG performance, traction, suspension, and speed on the on-road and off-road test tracks at the factory with certified driving instructors. Contact Democrat writer Alaijah Brown at ABrown1@gannett.com and on Twitter at @BrownAlaijah. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee Mercedes-Benz dealership lists most expensive car in market Meal Vouchers & Employee Benefits Solutions Market to Hit USD 346.65 Billion by 2030 | With a CAGR of 6.6% Fortune Business Insights The global meal vouchers & employee benefits solutions market size covered major segments by Product Type [Meal Vouchers (Book Card and Digital Card) and Employee Benefits (Meal, Gift, Travel, and Others)] and Regional Forecast, and Regional Forecasts, and Others. Pune, India, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The meal vouchers & employee benefits solutions market size was valued at USD 214.36 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow from USD 221.99 billion in 2023 to USD 346.65 billion by 2030, exhibiting a CAGR of 6.6% during the forecast period. This information is published by Fortune Business Insights, in its report titled, Meal Vouchers & Employee Benefits Solutions Market, 2023-2030. Get a Free Sample Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/meal-voucher-and-employee-benefit-solutions-market-104412 List of Key Players Profiled in the Meal Vouchers & Employee Benefits Solutions Market Report: Edenred SA (France) Sodexo Group (France) Circula GmbH (Germany) CIRFOOD (Italy) Monizze NV SA (Belgium) Spendit AG (Germany) Alelo Brasil (Brazil) Axis Bank Ltd (India) Rakuten Group Inc. (Japan) Unum Group (U.S.) Cinqo Group (Bahrain) Report Scope & Segmentation: Report Attributes Details Forecast Period 2023-2030 Forecast CAGR 6.6% 2030 Value Projection USD 346.65 Billion Market Size in 2022 USD 214.36 Billion Historical Data 2019-2021 No. of Pages 125 Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Company Profiles, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors and Latest Trends Segments Covered By Product Type By Region Regions Covered North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East and Africa Meal Vouchers & Employee Benefits Solutions Market Growth Drivers Increasing Percentage of Working-Class Population to Augment Market Progress Growing Awareness of Financial Benefits to Boost Market Growth Browse Detailed Summary of Research Report with TOC: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/meal-voucher-and-employee-benefit-solutions-market-104412 Report Coverage: The research report provides a detailed analysis of the market and focuses on crucial aspects such as leading companies and product types. Besides, the report encompasses the latest market trends, market segments, and highlights vital industry developments. In addition to the factors mentioned above, the market analysis encompasses several factors that have contributed to the markets growth in recent years. Drivers and Restraints: Growing Awareness of Financial Benefits to Boost Market Growth The meal voucher system is profitable for both employees and employers as it has several fiscal benefits. Employers' social insurance changes can be waived if they offer a voucher, and the employee can enjoy tax benefits by using these vouchers. Additionally, such programs have proved to increase employee productivity due to superior quality meals and other advantages offered such as discounts on train/bus tickets or gift vouchers and holidays. Consequently, employers play a vital role in boosting employee engagement at their workplace and presenting benefits that will accelerate the meal vouchers & employee benefits solutions market growth. However, the high prices of meal vouchers & employee benefits solutions might restrict their demand among small-sized enterprises. Furthermore, data security concerns with respect to using digital meal vouchers might also limit the demand for meal voucher solutions. COVID-19 Impact: COVID-19 Pandemic-Induced Restaurant Closures Hindered Market Growth The COVID-19 pandemic compelled many restaurants, food courts, and hotels to shut down their business. Due to this, working professionals found it difficult to dine in restaurants and cafeterias. This factor had a negative impact on the companies revenues from such services and the market of meal vouchers & employee benefits solutions observed a slowdown in revenue generation. Segments: Employee Benefits Segment to Lead due to High Demand from Business Organizations Based on product type, the market is segmented into meal vouchers and employee benefits. The employee benefits segment is expected to hold a dominating meal vouchers & employee benefits market share as organizations are increasingly demanding employee benefits solutions to satisfy their employees needs and improve their purchasing power and motivation level. The global market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and the Middle East & Africa. Get a Quote Now: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/get-a-quote/meal-voucher-and-employee-benefit-solutions-market-104412 Regional Insights: Europe Market to Show Notable Growth Due to Supportive Government Policies Europe is predicted to capture the largest meal vouchers & employee benefits solutions market share as the regional governments are introducing favorable policies to promote the implementation of meal vouchers and employee benefits solutions. Many leading players in this market are trying to expand their presence across Europe by acquiring the regions top employee benefit solution providers. These factors will fuel the regional market growth. The North America market is anticipated to account for a major market share during the forecast period as the region has a vast presence of leading employee benefit solution providers. Many American companies are also becoming aware of employee perks, further accelerating the regional market expansion. Detailed Table of Content: Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions Executive Summary Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities Emerging Trends Key Insights Overview of the Parent/Related Markets Industry SWOT Analysis Supply Chain and Regulatory Analysis Recent Industry Developments - Policies, Partnerships, New Product Launches, and Mergers & Acquisitions Qualitative Analysis (in relation to COVID-19) Impact of COVID-19 Supply Chain Challenges Potential Opportunities due to COVID-19 Global Meal Vouchers & Employee Benefits Solutions Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2019-2030 Key Findings / Summary Market Size Estimates and Forecast By Product Type (Value) Meal Vouchers Employee Benefits Ring By Meal Vouchers (Value) Book Card Digital Card By Employee Benefits (Value) Meal Gift Travel Others By Region (Value) North America Europe Asia Pacific South America Middle East & Africa TOC Continued...! Speak to Our Expert: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/meal-voucher-and-employee-benefit-solutions-market-104412 Competitive Landscape: Key Companies to Execute Merger & Acquisition Strategies to Cement Their Market Positions The top companies involved in the market are focusing on expanding their business operations by signing merger & acquisition agreements to cement their market positions. For example, in May 2020, Edenred announced the acquisition of Brazil-based Cooper Cards client portfolio, which specializes in offering employee benefits solutions. The acquisition was expected to strengthen Edenreds position in the South America market. These initiatives will help the leading market players expand their geographical presence. Key Industry Developments: October 2021: Edenred Benefits, a prominent meal vouchers & employee advantages solutions in the U.S for meal cards and mobility solutions, introduced Edenred Guaranteed Rides, a program that offers employees a wide range of transportation choices. Read Related Insights: Photobook and Album Market to Hit USD 4.39 Billion by 2030 | With a CAGR 3.9% Comic Book Market to Hit USD 22.37 Billion by 2030 | With a CAGR 4.85% Video Games Market Size to Worth USD 307.19 Billion by 2029 | With a 6.3% CAGR About Us: Fortune Business Insights delivers accurate data and innovative corporate analysis, helping organizations of all sizes make appropriate decisions. We tailor novel solutions for our clients, assisting them to address various challenges distinct to their businesses. Our aim is to empower them with holistic market intelligence, providing a granular overview of the market they are operating in. Address: Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd. 9th Floor, Icon Tower, Baner, Mahalunge Road, Baner, Pune - 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US: +1 424 253 0390 UK: +44 2071 939123 APAC: +91 744 740 1245 Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com Follow Us: LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter Santiago, Chile - (NewMediaWire) - June 20, 2023 - Santiago-based mining and exploration company Metal Strong has unveiled its strategic plan for simultaneous acquisitions. These acquisitions mark a significant step forward in Metal Strong's expansion strategy and will further solidify its position as a key player in the global mining sector. The successful completion of these simultaneous acquisitions has been made possible through substantial investment and support from Belize-based financial institution Richardson Scott LP. This strategic partnership signifies the shared vision of both companies to unlock new opportunities and leverage the potential of mineral-rich regions worldwide. Metal Strong's acquisitions encompass a diverse range of mining assets in strategic locations, with a focus on cobalt, lithium and nickel mines in both Chile and Mexico. The company's meticulous evaluation process has identified several highly prospective assets, providing Metal Strong with a unique opportunity to enhance its resource base and maximize long-term value for its shareholders. Luis Heras Gonzlez, CEO of Metal Strong, expressed his enthusiasm regarding the acquisitions, stating, "With the clean energy revolution in its early stages and the pressures ramping up we are entering an unprecedented metals demand period in the coming two decades - as much as 3 billion tonnes." "This will no doubt over time bring new base levels to the price of key metals and strong revenue and profit to our operations and future plans for years to come." Metal Strong's expanded portfolio includes mining assets in key regions known for their mineral-rich deposits. The acquisitions demonstrate Metal Strong's dedication to diversifying its resource base, mitigating risk, and positioning itself for long-term success in an evolving global market. As Metal Strong integrates the newly acquired assets into its operations, the company remains steadfast in upholding its commitment to responsible mining practices, environmental stewardship, and community engagement. Metal Strong prioritizes sustainable development, ensuring that its mining activities have a positive impact on local communities and contribute to the socioeconomic growth of the regions in which it operates. The completion of these acquisitions will represent a significant milestone in Metal Strong's journey towards becoming a global mining powerhouse. The company is well-positioned to leverage its expanded resource base, technical expertise, and operational efficiency to create substantial value for its shareholders while driving sustainable growth in the mining sector. Contact Info: Name: Luis Heras Gonzlez Email: luisheras@metal-strong.com Organization: Metal Strong Website: https://metal-strong.com Country: Chile (Bloomberg) -- A piece of European Union legislation that forced financial firms to separate the cost of investment research from that of trading could be reversed under plans being championed by member states. Most Read from Bloomberg In upcoming negotiations with the European Parliament aimed at revising MiFID II a set of broader reforms that came into force in 2018 the states will seek a near total U-turn on the rules behind so-called unbundling. Their proposals would mean an investment firm would only have to inform clients whether they are paying for research and trading jointly, and record the charges attributable to each. Thats a dramatic shift from current regulations, which separated the two in a bid to eliminate conflicts of interest that could distract money managers from seeking the cheapest transaction costs for investors. But evidence suggests research provision across the region has suffered as a result. The EU states plan is laid out in their agreed position for talks with the European Parliament, published last week. The final shape of any regulatory changes will be decided in the negotiations, and the exact timetable for a conclusion is not yet clear. The prospect of a major rollback of the rules comes at a key moment for the research industry globally. In the US, a waiver that has allowed brokers to charge European clients separately for trading and research is about to expire, forcing them to finally adapt to the regulatory mismatch between the regions. Meanwhile, the UK is undertaking a review of investment research thats expected to lead to its own easing of unbundling rules. Read more: Wall Street Faces Fresh Fight Over MiFID II With SECs Gensler The EUs Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, known as MiFID II, upended the world of sell-side research in 2018 when it banned the common Wall Street practice of bundling trading commissions with the cost of analysis. But putting an explicit price tag on research resulted in reduced stock coverage, raising concern that the rules are hurting Europes financial markets especially its small-caps. In response, the European Commission the EUs executive body in December suggested a partial easing of the rules surrounding research. But the published stance of the Council of the European Union, which represents member states, goes much further. The research unbundling rules need to be further adjusted to offer the investment firms more flexibility in order to ensure sufficient coverage especially of small- and mid-caps, according to the groups mandate for negotiations. This would however require to maintain a necessary transparency vis-a-vis the client. Harmful Market Disruptions The debate comes as the industry braces for fresh MiFID II-related upheaval when a Securities and Exchange Commission no-action letter tied to the legislation expires in the US on July 3. Without that exemption from domestic rules, brokers in the worlds biggest economy have to figure out how to take payment for research from their MiFID-bound clients. Under US law, receiving cash for such services could mean registering as Investment Advisers, bringing a whole new set of compliance obligations. Last week, the Global Financial Markets Association which is made up of industry groups in the US, Europe and Asia urged the SEC to extend the waiver until any eventual changes to MiFID are implemented. That could happen later this year or next if there is political agreement over the coming few months, it said. We are writing you to urge you to work together to avoid harmful market disruptions that might arise in connection with any changes to the MiFID II unbundling requirement, including a loss of access to critical research from US brokers to MiFID-compliant managers, the group wrote in a June 12 letter to the US regulator, the UK Treasury and the European Commission. The EU in 2021 allowed rebundling of trading and research costs for analysis of stocks worth up to 1 billion ($1.1 billion). But the move had little impact as most firms dont want to introduce two separate systems for invoicing, the Commission noted in December. At that time it proposed lifting the limit to include research on companies with a market cap of up to 10 billion. Meanwhile, the UKs review of the investment industry, which is ending this month, is part of Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunts plan to boost the financial sector. Changing research is not going to be a panacea in and of itself, but in order to support the capital formation process, you need to create economic incentives for people to produce research, said Neil Scarth, principal at Frost Consulting, which advises money managers on sell-side research. Governments are now starting to understand this. --With assistance from Kevin Whitelaw. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Nissan's fugitive ex-CEO is suing the company for $1 billion in reputational damages Fugitive former car executive Carlos Ghosn, gestures as he talks during an interview with Reuters in Beirut, Lebanon Carlos Ghosn, who was booted out as chief of Nissan in 2018 for alleged financial wrongdoing and then fled to Lebanon to avoid trial, has now launched a legal battle against his former employer. The fugitive ex-CEO filed a lawsuit against Nissan in Lebanons Court of Cassation on May 18, according to a Bloomberg report, and is seeking $1 billion in damages. Read more In the filing, obtained by Bloomberg and translated from Arabic to English, Ghosn claims that due to the serious and sensitive accusations leveled by Japanese authorities, he will suffer from them for the remainder of his life, as they have persistent and lingering impacts, even if based on mere suspicion. It is but the latest development in an ongoing saga between the embattled executive and the Japanese automaker, which dates back to 2018. Five years ago, Ghosn made a slippery escape from house arrest in Tokyo to Beirut, evading prosecution for allegedly under-reporting millions of dollars in earnings. Since then, Ghosn has also been charged by Japanese authorities with aggravated breach of trust, misappropriation of funds, and a host of other financial crimes. To date, the embattled executive faces both criminal and civil charges in Japan, but has remained in Lebanon, where he holds citizenship and is safe from extradition. Ghosn is also wanted in France, another country where he holds citizenship (he also holds a Brazilian passport) over suspected payments worth nearly 15 million ($16.3 million) between an Omani company and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. Ghosn claimed his innocence. Quartz contacted Nissan for comment on Carl Ghosns lawsuit. Carl Ghosns lawsuit, by the digits $588 million: Ghosns claimed loss in compensation and costs, as reported by Bloomberg $500 million: Ghosns claimed punitive damages A non-exhaustive timeline of the Carlos Ghosn-Nissan saga 1999: Nissan and French carmaker Renault form an alliance. Ghosn, an executive at Renault, joins Nissan as COO and aims to turn around the debt-saddled company. 2000: Ghosn, who has reached celebrity status in Japan for his aggressive Nissan Revival Plan, becomes the first non-Japanese CEO of Nissan. 2017: Ghosn steps down as CEO, passing the baton to Hiroto Saikawa, but stays on as chairman. 2018: Ghosn touches down in Tokyo via private jet, where he is arrested by Japanese authorities on allegations of financial misconduct. Nissans board fires Ghosn following the arrest. 2019: Ghosn flees house arrest in Tokyo, reportedly hiding inside a large music box to be transported to a private plane. He reportedly flies from Osaka to Istanbul, and then on to Beirut. 2020: Nissan sues Ghosn for $90 million in damages for his corrupt practices. 2022: France issues international arrest warrant for Ghosn. 2023: Ghosn files a lawsuit against Nissan for $1 billion in damages to his finances and reputation. Related stories Toyota has been accidentally sharing personal data for millions of Japanese users over the last decade SoftBank halved its loss last year, but only because it sold a chunk of its Alibaba stake Electrification and Brexit are killing the British car industry More from Quartz Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE: NVO) announced that introducing its obesity drug Wegovy in most European countries will experience delays, and the drug is not expected to be available in developing nations for an extended period. Semaglutide is a peptide sold by Novo Nordisk under Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy for the long-term treatment of type 2 diabetes or obesity. Chief Executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen assured stakeholders of their commitment to meet patient expectations over time, despite the current challenges in fully meeting demand, Reuters reported. The World Health Organization also said it is considering adding obesity drugs to its "essential medicines list," used to guide government purchasing decisions in low- and middle-income countries, including Novo Nordisk's Saxenda, Wegovy. Also, the British government is set to launch a pilot program to explore the use of new weekly weight-loss shots, such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, for obese patients outside of specialized services. The market launch of the drug remains uncertain. Novo Nordisk has also faced production issues at a contracted manufacturer. Camilla Sylvest, the executive vice president of commercial strategy and corporate affairs, acknowledged that the launch in other European nations would be slower than initially planned. Jorgensen highlighted the significant challenges posed by infrastructure limitations, such as inadequate cold chain technology, in many developing countries, making it unlikely for Wegovy to become available there for a considerable period. Price Action: NVO shares are down 1.13% at $159.46 during the premarket session on the last check Tuesday. Don't miss real-time alerts on your stocks - join Benzinga Pro for free! Try the tool that will help you invest smarter, faster, and better. This article Novo Nordisk Faces Delayed Obesity Drug Wegovy Launch In New Markets Amid Surging Demand originally appeared on Benzinga.com . 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. (Bloomberg) -- The search for a diving vessel that was headed to the wreck of the Titanic has shifted underwater after air efforts failed to find the craft, which has five people onboard and about 40 hours of oxygen left. Most Read from Bloomberg The US Coast Guard and the Canadian Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, have been conducting surface search missions overhead in the North Atlantic since Monday afternoon. OceanGate Expeditions, the operator of the mission, is leading underwater search efforts because of its knowledge of the site, Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said. There is a full-court press effort to get equipment on scene as quickly as we can, US Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick said at a news briefing in Boston Tuesday. The Titan submersible vessel was designed to have an oxygen supply of as much as 96 hours in case of an emergency, according to the Coast Guard. Frederick said the 40-hour estimate of breathable oxygen remaining is based on that number. France has dispatched a research vessel, the Atalante, equipped with an underwater robot that can reach as deep as 4,000 meters (13,123 feet). French pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet is reported by several newspapers to be aboard the Titan, a 6.7-meter-long craft made of carbon fiber and titanium. The idea and our wish is for the ship to arrive as soon as possible, which should be Wednesday at 8 p.m. local time, Herve Berville, French secretary of state in charge of the sea, told BFMTV, a French CNN affiliate. The US Transportation Command is sending three C-17 transport jets from Buffalo, New York, to St. Johns, Newfoundland, carrying commercial equipment considered useful for the search, according to a command spokesman. The New York Air National Guards 106th Rescue Wing is assisting the Coast Guard, Governor Kathy Hochul said. The Coast Guard received a call Sunday from the submersibles command ship, the Polar Prince, saying it lost contact with the vessel about 900 miles (1,450 kilometers) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, according to Lt. Samantha Corcoran, a Coast Guard spokesperson in Boston. A C-130 plane with radar capability was dispatched to search the area Sunday, and was joined Monday by a Canadian P-8 Poseidon, an aircraft designed for anti-submarine warfare. Were focused on the search and hoping to safely locate all five individuals, Corcoran said. OceanGate Expeditions said in a statement it was exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely. The Titan carries a pilot and four crew to a maximum depth of 4,000 meters and can monitor their health in real time. The system provides early warning detection for the pilot with enough time to arrest the descent and safely return to surface, according to OceanGates website. Among those also missing is Hamish Harding, chairman of Action Aviation, according to Mark Butler, managing director of the Dubai-based aircraft brokerage. In a Twitter post Sunday, the company said the sub had a successful launch and Hamish is currently diving. Two other members of the crew, Engro Corp. Vice Chairman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, are from one of Pakistans most prominent business families. A statement from the Dawood family said there was little information about what had happened. Stockton Rush, the founder and chief executive officer of OceanGate is also on board piloting the craft, the company said. Harding posted on social media two days ago that the area was experiencing its worst weather in 40 years. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow, he wrote. This mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. The guests pay $250,000, according to the New York Times, which first reported the rescue operation. OceanGate says it offers 10-day expeditions to the Titanic site, providing qualified explorers the opportunity to join as mission specialists, surveying the wreckage and documenting the sunken vessels condition, as well as flora and fauna inhabiting the wreck site. The fees underwrite their training and the participation of the science team exploring the ship that sank in 1912 on its maiden transatlantic voyage after hitting an iceberg. Everett, Washington-based OceanGate ran expeditions to explore the wreck in 2021 and 2022, according to its website. A photo of a submersible and the Titanic dive operations was posted on its Twitter feed on June 1. --With assistance from Faseeh Mangi and Tony Capaccio. (Updates with Coast Guard comments starting in first paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- PJT Partners Inc. has hired Anand Narayan, who was previously JPMorgan Chase & Co.s most senior banker covering the infrastructure sector, people with knowledge of the matter said. Most Read from Bloomberg Narayan is set to to join PJT as a partner focused on global infrastructure deals, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Bloomberg News reported in March that Narayan, who was most recently head of JPMorgans infrastructure coverage, was leaving the firm after about 17 years. The London-based banker previously worked at ABN Amro Bank NV and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., his LinkedIn profile shows. A representative for PJT didnt have an immediate comment. Narayan helped bolster JPMorgans relationships with some of the worlds largest infrastructure investors, helping them source and finance potential transactions. The sector has been one of the rare bright spots for dealmaking as investors continue to deploy capital tempted by long-term, predictable returns. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP agreed in April to buy Triton International Ltd., the worlds largest owner of intermodal shipping containers, for $4.7 billion. Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte last month announced an investment in Messer SE valuing the industrial gas maker at more than 12 billion including debt. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- This years much-anticipated rebound in air travel is sputtering, with profound implications for the global oil market. Most Read from Bloomberg In Asia, Chinas unimpressive economic recovery and Russian airspace restrictions have hampered the revival. Europes return to the skies, meanwhile, has been held back by a shortage of pilots and air traffic controllers. And while the US is witnessing a travel boom, jet fuel use still lags pre-pandemic levels thanks to more efficient airplanes. All of that is bad news for oil producers and bullish energy traders. The return of overseas holidays and business trips after the end of Covid-19 curbs had been widely regarded as the biggest driver for global growth in crude demand in 2023. But the Northern Hemispheres peak summer travel season is likely to disappoint oil bulls, putting further pressure on prices despite recent OPEC+ efforts to support the market via production cuts. Global jet demand as a whole will likely remain weak relative to 2019 levels until 2024, said Koen Wessels, an analyst with consultancy Energy Aspects Ltd. Long-haul flights involving China and its neighbors account for the largest incomplete share of the return to 2019 activity, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency. The Paris-based group predicts jet fuel demand will account for 45% global demand growth this year. Jet fuel is still leading oil consumption growth this year, contributing more than 1 million barrels a day, according to Eugene Lindell, head of refined products at industry consultant FGE. However, airlines are expected to use 700,000 barrels a day less in 2023 compared with 2019, he said, citing the reduction to international flights involving China and aircraft fuel efficiencies. The biggest weakness is coming from China, said Mayur Patel, head of Asia for OAG Aviation, adding the impact was feeding into the wider region. Whats more, one of the worlds most fuel-intensive routes linking US and China has been kept to a minimum due to Russias airspace restrictions. Flight capacity from North America to China is still more than a third below 2019 levels, according to consulting firm Bain & Co. These flights were historically operated by some of the largest aircraft which consumed large volumes of fuel, Allan Schulte, Bains head of Asia-Pacific airlines, logistics and transportation, said in an interview. It could be three years before jet fuel demand is at pre-pandemic levels, he added. In Europe, pilot and air traffic control shortages are expected to limit a recovery in jet fuel consumption in the region, according to Energy Aspects Wessels. Demand is forecast to be 8% lower than 2019 levels over April to September, he said. Within the US, where the number of air travelers are at a five-year seasonal high, jet fuel demand simply isnt keeping pace. Demand in early June fell to 15% below 2019 levels, and government forecasters just cut expectations for this year to 4% below the pre-pandemic level seen four years ago. All of this is taking place against the backdrop of operational changes in the aviation industry taking a toll on fuel use. Some US air traffic control towers are allowing fuel-saving measures known as continuous climbs and descents, which are more efficient than staggered altitude changes. Another tactic involves using larger aircraft for regional routes. This trend is picking up after a shortage of US air traffic controllers prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to request carriers use bigger planes, which are generally more fuel efficient than smaller ones. Read More: Delta, United Eye Schedule and Congestion Cuts in Deal With FAA Airplanes have already become more efficient over the decades through designs that take into account factors like ergonomics and using airframe and engine materials that minimize drag. The pressures of the pandemic have accelerated the trend. Fuel efficiency improvements are tempering the recovery in US jet fuel demand back to pre-pandemic levels, said Linda Giesecke, head of demand analysis with consultancy ESAI Energy LLC. Fuel efficiency across US fleets improved by 4% in 2021, double the typical annual average, according to John Heimlich, chief economist at industry group Airlines for America. Thats because Covid travel restrictions brought a sharp drop in demand, forcing many older aircraft into early retirement. Aircraft coming into service today are on average 15% to 20% more fuel efficient than the current fleet, and improvements will double in the next 15 years, Alejandro Block of industry group IATA said in an interview. Despite such advances, he anticipates jet fuel use will remain robust. Growth in air travel has outpaced fuel efficiency improvement, said Block, manager of new energies and technologies at IATA. Thats why were still burning more jet fuel, for a few more years at least. --With assistance from Jack Wittels and Ben Sharples. (Adds analysts comment in 15th paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- Royal Bank of Canada is under new pressure to bolster its capital levels after the countrys financial regulator raised the minimum buffer for the largest banks. Most Read from Bloomberg Canadas six biggest domestic banks must have a common equity tier 1 capital ratio of at least 11.5% by November, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions said Tuesday. Its decision to boost the requirement from 11% forces banks to build a larger rainy-day fund to absorb losses heading into a possible recession. In practice, OSFIs rule means banks will want to operate with a CET1 ratio of 12% or more. RBCs is expected to fall to about 12% from 13.7% when it completes its C$13.5 billion ($10.2 billion) deal for HSBC Holdings Plcs Canadian unit, now expected in early 2024. It was something that came a bit earlier than expected, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Mike Rizvanovic said of the regulators higher capital requirement. In a note to clients, Rizvanovic said the new rule is a negative surprise for investors and will place added pressure on RBC. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce also faces additional scrutiny with the lowest CET1 ratio of the six banks at 11.9%. Read More: Canada Bank Watchdog Toughens Capital Rule With Risks Rising CIBC is most at risk of a capital shortfall, although we dont believe any of the Big Six will need to raise equity to meet the new minimum unless there is meaningful deterioration in the economy that results in a sizable increase in risk-weighted assets, the KBW analyst wrote. Its a tie on whos the least capitalized right now, iA Investment Management portfolio management Daneshvar Rohinton said of CIBC and RBC. Like Rizvanovic, he doesnt see an equity raise coming from either bank because they have six months to build up capital through retained earnings before the new capital requirement takes effect. RBCs current ratio is well above regulatory minimums, spokesperson Gillian McArdle said. We continue to prudently manage our capital taking into account multiple factors, including OSFIs latest DSB requirement, she said. A spokesperson for CIBC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Bank stocks slid in Toronto as investors weighed the new capital levels. The S&P/TSX Commercial Banks Index fell 0.9%. Shares of all six major banks declined, led by CIBCs 2.1% drop. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. fizkes / Getty Images/iStockphoto sturti / Getty Images Price It Right "If you want to get a house sold fast, the best way to do it is to price it right from the start," said Corey Chappell, a closing options analyst with 181-Close-Now. "The majority of agents go for the easy deal. That means every morning they look to see which houses just hit the market and look like good deals. If the house is priced right, these agents will attack you in droves the first few days, and you may end up with multiple offers." A home that's priced too high for its neighborhood and comps simply won't sell quickly. "You need to know what has sold and hasn't in your neighborhood so you understand how to price your home right from the start so it won't sit on the market as stale inventory," said Renee Kuperman, a realtor with Best Homes Miami Beach. Housing Market 2023: Prices Are Now So High That Banks Are Losing Money on Mortgages I'm a Real Estate Agent: Here Are the 5 Best Cities To Buy a Home This Summer RyanJLane / Getty Images Consider Getting a Home Inspection Before Selling Home inspections can delay the closing process if it turns out that there are many issues that need to be repaired. If you want to sell your home fast, preempt this holdup by getting the inspection done before even listing it. A home inspection typically will cost around $325, according to HomeAdvisor. "Getting a home inspection ahead of time and addressing any issues is a smart investment," said Lara Cox, a realtor with Heidel Realty in Las Vegas. Take Our Poll: Are You Planning To Buy or Sell a House This Year? gradyreese / Getty Images Sell When Inventory Is Low There are times of the year when there are more buyers than inventory, and capitalizing on this is a good way to sell your home quickly, said Alison Bernstein, founder of the real estate firm The Suburban Jungle. "Late summer and late fall are both great times to throw your listing on the market," she said. "Even though it is not prime selling season, your home will be sure to stand out." Peopleimages / Getty Images Work On Your Home's Curb Appeal Buyers make quick judgments, and the first impression they have about a home will be based on its curb appeal. "I advise clients to stand out on the street and imagine they are shopping for a home, and look at their house with a critical eye," Cox said. "Trimmed landscaping, clean lighting and sidewalks, and a flowering potted plant can work wonders on a first impression." MyrKu / Getty Images/iStockphoto Add a Fresh Coat of Paint "Paint is relatively inexpensive and can make a big difference," Cox said. "A new coat of paint in a trendy neutral color can make a house feel fresh." The average cost to have a professional paint the exterior of a home is $2,816, according to HomeAdvisor. The investment could be well worth it if it gets your home off the market faster. Jason Finn / Getty Images/iStockphoto Don't Neglect the Front Door Even if your lawn is perfectly groomed and the exterior walls have a fresh coat of paint, an unsightly front door can turn off potential buyers. "Many sellers paint the front of the house but leave the front door untouched. This is a big mistake," said Benjamin Ross, a Realtor, investor and owner of My Active Agent. "Be sure your front door looks great. Buy a new one if you have to." Having a new front door installed will set you back around $1,000, according to HomeAdvisor. Find: 10 Places To Live Abroad So Cheap You Could Quit Your Job Miodrag Kitanovic / Getty Images/iStockphoto Consider White Paint for Interior Walls Don't go crazy choosing paint colors for the interior to get your home market-ready -- white is always a good option. "This makes the whole [home] look clean and new and gives a sense of more light," said Rafael Feldman, an agent with Warburg Realty. "It can often make it appear larger as well. Dark colors shrink the size of the space and can diminish the effects of natural light. Dated colors and wallpapers also give a feeling of 'old' and may cause buyers to feel the [home] needs more work than it really does." Depending on the size of your home and how many rooms need to be painted, expect to spend between $965 and $2,729 on average to have professionals repaint your interior walls white, HomeAdvisor estimates. However, you can save a lot of money if you DIY this upgrade. Jorge Villalba / Getty Images/iStockphoto Make (Inexpensive) Upgrades To Set Your Home Apart From Others on the Market Jerryll Noorden, owner of We Buy Houses in Connecticut, flips up to five houses at a time, so he has become a pro at getting homes off the market quickly. "When we flip houses, we make sure to add little things to the renovation that are evident and stand out," Noorden said. "It gives the impression we went beyond the minimum requirements, and people feel like they are getting a ton of value." For a recent flip, he added tiki torches to an outdoor deck. The torches cost just $9 each, and they were definitely worth the small investment. "We obviously did not have to do this," he said, "but the gesture makes an impression that we went beyond what we had to do." JodiJacobson / Getty Images/iStockphoto Declutter "Think about what you don't need and throw it away or give it away," Kuperman said. "That extra clutter is making your home look smaller and that can have a significant impact on the purchase price. Bigger place equals bigger price." FollowTheFlow / Getty Images/iStockphoto Remove Personal Items "The goal here is to help the potential buyer see the home as theirs," Ross said. "That is pretty tough to do with wedding pictures and footprints of your babies' feet displayed on the wall." Anatoli Igolkin / Getty Images/iStockphoto Leave the Staging to Professionals Robert Taylor, a rehabber in the Sacramento, California, area who typically sells homes in less than a week, said that having your home professionally staged is one of the best ways to sell it fast. "Don't try to use your own knick-knacks or furniture to stage your home," said Taylor, known as The Real Estate Solutions Guy. "Use a professional stager who is aware of what the current colors and styles are. Not only do they have different styles, but a professional stager will have different sizes of furniture. Stagers will choose chairs, beds and tables that make the rooms of your house look larger." Although this can be a major investment -- staging costs an average of $2,000 to $2,400 a month -- it can definitely pay off. According to Realtor.com, staged homes sell 88% faster and for 20% more than those that are not staged. Real Estate Transfer: Baby Boomers Secure Generational Wealth by Transferring Property to Children NoSystem images / Getty Images Leave the Photography to Professionals, Too "Buyers choose to either view or cross your house off of their list based almost exclusively on what the pictures look like on the internet," Taylor said. "If you want buyers to leave their home and go see your house, be sure to hire a professional photographer to take pictures of your staged home. "Don't let your real estate agent convince you that their phone's pictures are sufficient. For less than $150, you can hire a professional photographer who will have the correct lighting and lenses to make your home look its best." agrobacter / Getty Images Advertise Your Home on Social Media "One of the best ways to sell a home quickly is by utilizing Facebook ads to target an audience that might potentially be interested in the house," said Russell Volk, a real estate agent with RE/MAX Elite who serves the Bucks County, Pennsylvania, area. "My last listing had over 600 targeted users looking at details, and it sold in three days. One of the leads from a Facebook ad bought the house." Shutterstock.com Don't Neglect Traditional Ways To Market Your Home "Basic marketing can help get a property off the market fast," said Than Merrill, CEO of the real estate investing company FortuneBuilders. "This means letting people know it's for sale by putting signs in the yard, ensuring the listing is on real estate websites and hosting an open house." kali9 / Getty Images Prep an Informational Pamphlet About Your Home Providing information about your home in the form of pamphlets and professional printouts is one way to make your home stand out, Ross said. "Use more images and fewer words," he said. "Make it skimmable with awesome pictures. The presentation can almost be as important as the content. This also ensures [prospective buyers] leave your house with a physical item, which will make it easier for them to not confuse your house with the competition. If your content is exceptionally well done, your house will stand out over others." See: Why Home Prices Are Plummeting in These 6 Cities isil terzioglu / Getty Images Make a Promotional Video "Video is currently king, so when my team and I list a property for sale, we shoot a video -- not just of the house, but of the community where the property is located," said Aaron Bowman, a Realtor with eXp Realty. "We cover the best places to eat, shop and [enjoy a] night out with friends and family. It really helps sell the home." The average cost of hiring a videographer is $710 to $1,000, according to Thumbtack. RgStudio / Getty Images Personally Contact Buyers' Agents "It does not hurt to make the effort to personally contact the agents that work that market and are known to have the best pipeline of buyers," said Glenn S. Phillips, CEO of the real estate brokerage Lake Homes Realty. "Call -- don't bulk email -- and have a very short message that can be the call alone or fit in a 25-second voicemail." kate_sept2004 / Getty Images Hold at Least Two Open Houses Each Week Michael Edlen, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker, said holding open houses regularly is essential to getting a home off the market quickly. He said to aim for at least two a week, ideally on Saturday and Sunday. KatarzynaBialasiewicz / Getty Images/iStockphoto Make Sure Your Space Is Well-Lit "Good lighting is really important to make your place show better and to look nicer overall," Kuperman said. "LED and smart bulbs are a great choice when you don't have natural lighting. This is a simple trick that makes such a huge difference." You can buy LED light bulbs for as little as $4 a bulb, so this is a cheap and easy way to get your home to sell faster. alabn / Getty Images/iStockphoto Make Sure Your Home Is Spotless "No matter how nice your home is, if it is not clean, it loses tons of value in the eyes of a buyer," Ross said. "People can overlook some things, but not dirt, dust, mildew and grunge." In addition to doing the basics such as making beds and emptying the wastebaskets, pay attention to less obvious areas as well. "I will give you a tip: Clean the inside of your shower curtain," Ross said. "Many sellers do not do this and believe me, buyers look. Do the same for your cabinets and drawers. Even if a buyer is not all that interested, they will still open the cabinets and drawers. "Also, get a ladder and clean the dirt that accumulates around the HVAC vents. Many times sellers will let this go because it can be very inconvenient to clean. Unfortunately, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Buyers will immediately wonder what else is not clean, especially if they are on the fence about buying a new home or a pre-existing one. Take your time to do this; you will be glad you did when payday comes." I'm a Real Estate Agent: Here Are 8 Renovations Buyers Want the Most in 2023 Shutterstock.com Make Any Necessary Repairs Go beyond a deep clean and make sure everything the buyer will see is in good shape. "Making small repairs will give [your home] a stronger impression than if you simply list as is," said Gill Chowdhury, a former broker with Warburg Realty. "If your outlets are hanging off the wall, fix them." RyanJLane / Getty Images Don't Have Your Pets in the Home During Open Houses It's best to leave pets with a family member or friend during showings. "Pets and home-selling are a terrible combination," Ross said. "Even if a pet is clean and groomed, it is a distraction. Do you want buyers to notice your pets or notice your house? The best thing to do is to remove the pets during an open house." Dahin / Getty Images/iStockphoto Don't Underestimate the Power of Scent "The goal is to have a clean smell with a hint of fragrance in the background," Ross said. He advises to not use overpowering scents. And if you are using air fresheners to achieve a "clean" smell, make sure they are out of view. "Buyers want to know the house smells that way 'naturally,'" Ross said. Rawpixel / Getty Images/iStockphoto If People Pass on Buying the Home, Ask Them Why There could be a flaw or undesirable trait of your home that you're not seeing, which could prevent it from selling quickly. After all, you're likely attached to your home and have gotten used to its shortcomings. It's best to get an outside perspective to find out why your home might not be selling as quickly as you hoped it would. "Interview some who decided not to buy it, and find out why," Edlen said. "Then fix it." hikesterson / Getty Images/iStockphoto Sell Your Home Furnished "People love the convenience of turnkey," Bernstein said. "We are seeing many new construction homes in high-end markets such as the Hamptons and NYC that are impeccably staged, offering buyers the option to purchase fully furnished." More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Real Estate Agents Reveal Their Secrets To Get Your Home Off the Market Fast (Bloomberg) -- Corporate Japan is bracing for a record number of shareholder proposals at their annual general meetings later this month as investors demand more returns and better governance. Most Read from Bloomberg The jump in proposals comes as Tokyo Stock Exchange urges Japanese firms to take steps to bolster their valuations. Expectations of increased shareholders returns have helped propel a rally in Japanese equity prices this quarter, with the Nikkei 225 Stock Average posting the biggest gains among major markets. A record 90 Japanese listed companies have received proposals from shareholders, according to analysts at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp. They include calls for more share buybacks, higher dividends and, in some cases, control of the board. In total, firms with a combined market capitalization of 81 trillion yen ($571 billion) face such proposals, up from 33 trillion yen last year. While activist shareholders are pushing Japanese managers for more changes at AGMs that in the past faced little opposition from stock owners, the number of proposals still lags the bigger US market. AGMs at Russell 3000 companies saw shareholder proposals rise 3.3% from a year earlier to a record 682 in the first five months of 2023, as diversity issues and anti-ESG sentiment fueled activism, according to a report from ISS Corporate Solutions. Company executives in Japan are also facing increased threats of being voted out by shareholders as they demand more diversity in the board. Fujio Mitarai, longtime chairman of Canon Inc., almost got voted out at the camera-makers AGM in March, scraping by with a wafer-thin majority of 50.59%. More than a quarter of listed Japanese firms hold their AGMs on June 29 while another 17% will meet on June 23. Here are three key themes to watch for: SHAREHOLDER RETURN Secom Co. (June 27): Dalton Investments is calling for share buybacks of up to 180 billion yen. Obayashi Corp. (June 28): Silchester International Investors proposed special dividend of 12 yen per share. GOVERNANCE Cosmo Energy Holdings Co. (June 22): City Index Eleventh is opposing reappointment of President Shigeru Yamada and a poison pill provision proposed by the companys management to prevent investors getting controlling stakes. Toyo Construction Co. (June 27): Yamauchi No. 10 Family Office, run by Nintendo Co.s founding family, is making a tender offer for the firm and is looking to reshuffle the board. Hokuetsu Corp. (June 29): Oasis Management is calling for the ouster of CEO Sekio Kishimoto Kumagai Gumi Co. (June 29): Oasis Management is calling for voting against President Yasunori Sakurano. Its also proposing a share buyback of up to 20% of its outstanding shares and higher dividend payouts. CROSS-SHAREHOLDINGS Banks (Mizuho Financial Group Inc., on June 23, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. on June 29): Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services is recommending voting against the reappointment of top executives of MUFG, SMFG, and Mizuho for allocating too much capital on cross-shareholdings. OTHERS Iyogin Holdings Inc. (June 29): An individual investor is demanding the company to keep buying back shares every year until its price-to-book ratio rises above one. The investor is also making a satirical proposal to change the banks name to Iyogin Putting-Internal-Reserve-First Real Estate Co. Limited, saying the company management is interested in capital spending for buildings and ignoring shareholders. (Adds chart.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Tweedy, Browne, an investment management firm, released its first quarter 2023 investor letter, a copy of which can be downloaded here. Tweedy, Browne has entered into a voluntary agreement, whereby they will waive the fees associated with the International Value Fund whenever the Fund's average daily net assets ("ADNA") surpass the threshold of $6 billion. The performance of the Fund would have been lower if fees were not waived during specific periods. Spare some time to check the funds top 5 holdings to know more about their top bets for 2023. In its Q1 2023 investor letter, Tweedy, Browne mentioned Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 1852, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) is a San Francisco, California-based financial services company with a $158.2 billion market capitalization. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) delivered a 2.16% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 9.62%. The stock closed at $42.18 per share on June 16, 2023. Here is what Tweedy, Browne has to say about Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in its Q1 2023 investor letter: "The Funds received very little in the way of return contributions from many of their financial, energy, media, and healthcare holdings. While it would appear that a crisis was avoided by the quick intervention of bank regulators in the US and Switzerland, some uneasiness still remains in the global banking community. This turmoil couldn't help but have a negative impact on investor sentiment and in turn on Fund bank holdings such as Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC)." Wells Fargo WFC Rob Wilson / Shutterstock.com Our calculations show that Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was not able to secure a spot on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was in 78 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2023, compared to 87 funds in the previous quarter. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) delivered an 11.71% return in the past 3 months. Earlier this year, we also discussed Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2023 page. Suggested Articles: Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Roadrunner says it will expand service again in the third quarter. (Photo: Roadrunner) Less-than-truckload service provider Roadrunner announced Tuesday the addition of eight lanes into Las Vegas and markets in Virginia. The new lanes provide inbound service to Richmond, Newport News and Virginia Beach, Virginia, from origination points in San Francisco and Southern California. In addition, multiple origination points in the Midwest as well as Philadelphia will have direct service into Las Vegas. Using routing optimization tools, Roadrunner (OTC: RRTS) continues to build out long-haul lanes of 1,000 miles or more in and out of major markets. The recent additions provide expedited service at standard LTL rates, a news release said. We are trying to build the best possible network that brings the most value to our customers, stated Shari Leon, vice president of linehaul operations. We anticipate these improvements will continue throughout the summer and beyond. Roadrunner recently announced a similar service into Denver and plans to launch inbound routes to Kansas City during the third quarter. The company announced it had reduced transit times on 149 different lanes last month. In January, it launched one-day service between Southern California and Chicago for shipments dispatched on Fridays. Following a financial and operational restructuring, the company has improved delivery times on 279 freight lanes over the last two years. We use our proprietary network technology to continuously identify opportunities for faster, more-reliable transit in our network, said Phil Thalheim, director of linehaul analytics. We work in lockstep with our Service Center team in vetting these opportunities to ensure they are implemented flawlessly on the first day we make them available to our shippers. More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden Rejection rates, freight volumes inflect slightly in June The post Roadrunner adds lanes into Virginia, Las Vegas appeared first on FreightWaves. SoftBank's Son says he is 'heavy user' of ChatGPT FILE PHOTO: A journalist raises her hand to ask a question to Japan's SoftBank Group Corp Chief Executive Masayoshi Son during a news conference in Tokyo By Sam Nussey TOKYO (Reuters) -SoftBank Group Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said on Tuesday he is a "heavy user" of ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot from Microsoft backed startup OpenAI. "I am chatting with ChatGPT everyday - I am a heavy user," Son told shareholders of the group's telecoms subsidiary. Amid excitement over AI, Son has stepped back from public pronouncements in recent months to focus on the planned listing of chip designer Arm as his technology investment conglomerate books heavy loss due to the sliding value of its portfolio. Son also said he is speaking "almost everyday" to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who made high-profile visits to Tokyo this year as he looks to capitalise on interest in generative AI and exert influence on regulation of the burgeoning technology worldwide. The San Francisco-based startup is supported by investment from Microsoft, which is seen as a leader in AI adoption and has begun a host of AI upgrades. SoftBank will hold its annual general meeting on Wednesday with the market looking for details of Son's investment outlook at a time when interest in AI is driving capital expenditure around the world. Son has long argued that AI is the driving force behind his investing activity but has had to contend with high-profile stumbles such as office-sharing firm WeWork and weakness in valuations of the high-growth startups he favours. A successful listing of Cambridge, England-based Arm would be seen as providing a much-needed win for the indebted Japanese conglomerate, whose long-term credit rating was last month cut by S&P Global Ratings citing its exposure to unlisted companies. As observers debate Son's ability to pick winners in an economy expected to be increasingly powered by AI, his group's shares have been swept up in a frenzy for chip and AI-related stocks, gaining around 30% quarter-to-date. (Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Christopher Cushing) 'Something has to be done': An alarming number of working Americans are making one massive mistake when they switch jobs here's what you should do instead 'Something has to be done': An alarming number of working Americans are making one massive mistake when they switch jobs here's what you should do instead A shocking number of Americans are making the same mistake when they switch jobs and its putting their financial futures at risk. Just over 2-in-5 (41.4%) of employees choose to cash out their defined contribution 401(k) plans early, according to a study from the UBC Sauder School of Business. Don't miss While this type of account is a go-to retirement savings tool for millions of Americans, the researchers who wrote the UBC Sauder study believe the challenging exchanges around job changes are whats driving workers to dip into these critical funds from their 401(k)s. But cashing out your 401(k) early whether it's because youre changing employers or desperately need the funds is something personal finance experts consider one of the worst financial fumbles. Heres why it gets the experts so heated and what you should be doing instead. Whats at stake if you cash out your 401(k) early? The UBC study used a data set of 162,360 terminated employee contribution records from 28 employers and 28 retirement plans. Of the 41.4% of workers who withdrew their retirement savings, about 85% drained their accounts completely with 64% taking a one-time total cashout and 21% depleting their 401(k) balances in two or more withdrawals within eight months. Cashing out your 401(k) early is problematic for multiple reasons: youll have to pay taxes and penalties, youll lose out on the benefits of compound interest and, ultimately, you may not save enough money to retire. It also creates a larger systemic issue, UBC Sauder associate professor Yanwen Wang said in a news release. Thats because 401(k) contributions from the currently employed are used to fund the withdrawals of retired workers. When those funds leak out of the system, it jeopardizes everyones retirement security. To discourage people from cashing out before the legal age of 59.5 years old, the Internal Revenue Service imposes a 10% penalty for what they call pre-retirement leakage. The three main sources of leakage are defaults on loans from retirement accounts, hardship and non-hardship withdrawals during active employment and cash distribution upon job termination, researchers say. Read more: Americans refuse to let higher prices derail their travel plans 10 tactics to keep your summer vacation on budget Why are Americans withdrawing their retirement funds? So if its not a matter of need, whats driving the leakage now? The experts behind the study suggest that when people quit their jobs, the money in their 401(k) transforms from a perceptually illiquid source of long-term retirement security into a psychologically liquid pile of cash. In other words, your hard-earned retirement savings turn into a tempting windfall fund thats easy to spend especially if youre currently job hunting and without a source of stable income. The study shows that this mentality often shines through when employers offer generous 401(k) matching programs, helping employees to substantially grow their retirement funds. For example, if the employer does a one-to-two match, where for every $1 you contribute your employer will match $2, it can change the psychological sense of ownership of those 401(k) accounts, said Wang, who co-authored the study with Muxin Zhai of Texas State University and John G. Lynch, Jr. of the University of Colorado. So instead of your own saved money, its like a windfall. And then it feels more touchable, and more legitimate to spend it when you change jobs. What should you do instead of cashing out? Many Americans will work a number of different jobs throughout their lives, but that doesnt mean you have to cash out your 401(k) every time you make a move. You can keep the money in your employers plan, or you can transfer your assets to your new employers plan. Alternatively, you can roll your balance to an individual retirement account (IRA) where you can continue growing your retirement savings tax free until you make withdrawals in retirement. IRAs are playing an increasingly important role in helping Americans save for retirement, especially as workers now change jobs more frequently over the span of their careers. More than four in 10 U.S. households had IRAs in mid-2022, according to a recent Investment Company Institute study. With $11.7 trillion in assets, IRAs represented 34% of U.S. total retirement market assets, compared with 24% two decades ago and 18% three decades ago. However, Americans still need more education on the benefits of 401(k) rollovers and the consequences of cashing out, according to Wang. If there is no assistance for quitting employees, theres an unintended nudging for people to take the money out, especially if there is a large match, says Wang. Something has to be done not to control peoples 401(k)s, but to provide enough knowledge so theyre aware of the consequences of their actions. What to read next Here's how much the average American 60-year-old holds in retirement savings how does your nest egg compare? 'Now is not the time': Suze Orman warns these 4 financial blunders will set you back in a big way here's how to 'be strong' with your money Owning real estate for passive income is one of the biggest myths in investing but here is 1 simple way to really make it work This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. Starmer must drop support for flagship 20bn nuclear power station, says former Gordon Brown adviser Keir Starmer has backed existing plans for nuclear power stations as part of a wider drive to achieve Britain's net zero commitments - Ben Birchall/PA Wire A former adviser to Gordon Brown has urged Labour to drop its support for the 20bn Sizewell C nuclear power station because of concerns the French design is unreliable. Nick Butler, who advised Mr Brown when he was prime minister and was an executive at BP, pointed to delays building the Hinkley Point C power station, in Somerset, and warned that using the same technology at Sizewell C, in Suffolk, was a mistake. Both projects are being developed by EDF, the state-owned French giant, which has opted to use its own European pressurised reactor (EPR) design for each. EPR reactors in various countries have suffered delays and cost overruns. Hinkley Point C was originally set to cost 18bn and come online by 2025 but is now expected to cost up to 32bn and may not enter service until 2028. Mr Butler urged Sir Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband, Labours shadow energy secretary, to withdraw their support for Sizewell C and back the type of small modular reactors being developed by Rolls-Royce and others instead. Rolls-Royce has designed standardised small modular reactors that can be produced more quickly and cheaply than larger projects - Rolls-Royce Speaking at a panel event alongside Mr Miliband at Kings College London, Mr Butler, who is a visiting professor at the college, said: On Sizewell, I hate to disagree with Ed but I think that the choice of the EPR French nuclear reactor is a mistake. It was a mistake at Hinkley still not built, supposed to be on stream by 2027, probably now 2030. And to sink so much money, 20 billion, into one project where you cant trust the technology is really a mistake. We should be looking much more positively at the small nuclear reactors that Rolls Royce are developing, because that could be a British technology which could sell around the world. He added that small modular reactors would also have a much lower environmental impact than bigger nuclear power stations such as Sizewell C. EDF on Tuesday insisted that Sizewell Cs planned reactors used a proven design and that both that project and Hinkley Point C enjoyed strong political support. Earlier this month, Sir Keir visited Hinkley and told construction workers that the scheme represented the future of nuclear power. An EDF spokesman said: When construction of Sizewell C gets underway next year, it will be after many years of planning and using a detailed design already approved by the UKs nuclear regulator. It will deliver similar industrial and economic benefits to Britain while protecting the environment and boosting local biodiversity. Both projects have strong political support because they will strengthen energy security, lower consumer bills and help in the fight against climate change by generating reliable low carbon electricity for decades to come. EDF plans to build the Sizewell C nuclear power plant next to its existing plant Sizewell b in Suffolk - Matthew Horwood/Getty Images Rishi Sunaks government has given its backing to Sizewell C, while Labour confirmed its continued support in an energy document that was published by the party on Monday. A review of the Governments net zero plans by former energy minister Chris Skidmore also said investing in new nuclear power stations was a no regrets option. However, potential financial backers of Sizewell have so far snubbed the project, despite moves by the Government to class it as sustainable and introduce a more generous payback mechanism. Legal & General, Britains biggest money manager, has said the changes will not alter its opposition to large nuclear schemes, while the BT Pension Scheme and NatWest have previously ruled themselves out as well. At the Kings College event, Mr Miliband said Labour was aware of the concerns about potential financing and was in talks with EDF. He said: Were supportive of Sizewell as, if you like, the next part of the nuclear journey after Hinkley. Well obviously have to look at those issues of financing and were in discussions with Sizewell about the project. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer. State Stimulus: There Is $899 Million in Tax Rebates Going to Residents in This State How Much Do You Qualify For? valentinrussanov / iStock.com Montana taxpayers will soon be getting a boost to their bank accounts thanks to tax rebates approved by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Greg Gianforte. Explore: 7 States Considering More Stimulus Checks in 2023 Discover: 6 Things Millionaires Are Doing With Their Money To Prep for an Economic Downturn A total of $899 million in rebates have been approved, the Montana Free Press reported. Two buckets of rebates were passed one for income taxes and the other for property taxes. The rebates were made possible by a budget surplus. Full-year Montana residents who paid state taxes on 2020 and 2021 income by the filing deadline are eligible to receive rebates of up to $1,250 each for 2021 taxes. If you meet those requirements but paid less than $1,250 in 2021, the entire payment should be refunded. The $1,250 cap applies to taxpayers who filed as single taxpayers, heads of household or married taxpayers who filed separately, according to the Free Press. Married couples who filed jointly are eligible for up to $2,500. The Montana Department of Revenue will send rebates automatically to qualifying taxpayers, so you dont need to apply. Rebates will either be deposited in your bank account electronically or mailed. The first income tax rebates will be issued in July 2023 and should all be sent by Dec. 31. Taxpayers who didnt file taxes as full- or part-year residents in 2020, or who paid their 2020 or 2021 taxes late, wont be eligible for rebates. The property tax rebate of up to $675 is available to homeowners for their 2022 and 2023 property taxes on their principal residences. In this case, a principal residence is defined as the home where youve lived for at least seven months of the year. If you paid less than $675 in property taxes in either year, you are eligible for a refund of the entire payment. The 2022 property tax rebate applies to November 2022 and May 2023 payments, while the 2023 rebate applies to November 2023 and May 2024 payments. Youll need to apply to get the property tax rebate, the Free Press noted. You can apply for the 2022 property tax rebates through the Department of Revenues online TransAction Portal or by using a paper form. The application period runs from Aug. 15, 2023, to Oct. 1, 2023. A second application period for 2023 rebates will be open during the same time period in 2024. The tax rebates were approved in March as part of a larger tax relief package, according to a press release on the State of Montana website. At the time, Gianforte also urged action on a proposed permanent, refundable $1,200 per child tax credit for working families. Take Our Poll: Are You Expecting an Inheritance? The proposed CTC is intended to help Montana families with whatever expenses they incur, including the rising cost of childcare, which varies among families based on their needs and preferences, the press release said. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: State Stimulus: There Is $899 Million in Tax Rebates Going to Residents in This State How Much Do You Qualify For? Nicosia, Cyprus--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2023) - As college costs continue to creep upward, Studybay is excited to announce its 2023 scholarship contest. The "Annual Essay Contest" was created to ease some of the financial burden faced by high school and college students. Studybay Essay Content To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8871/170283_studybay-essay-contest.jpg The competition is open to high school and college students who are legal residents of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Participants are required to submit an essay and to adhere to the guidelines laid out on the Studybay website (and detailed below). To be eligible, a student must be: Enrolled full-time at an accredited college, community college, or high school 18 years of age or older A graduating high school senior or undergraduate/graduate college student To participate in Studybay's essay contest, contestants must choose a topic from the list provided. Topic choices include: Future of AI: Fascinating or Terrifying? Distractions Everywhere: Is E-Learning Effective? How Media Affects Culture Why Do People Fall for Fake News Which Literary Work Do You Think Is Most Culturally Significant, and Why? Why Life Skills Should Be Taught in School How Do You Keep Pace with an Ever-Changing World? The Dangers of Social Media Has Cancel Culture Gone Too Far? These are broad essay topics, so students are encouraged to choose the one that interests them most and to add a creative spin to their papers. The chosen subject does not have a bearing on who is selected as the award recipient; rather, the selection committee will determine the winner based solely on the quality of the writing. All submissions must be written in American or British English and be between 550 and 1000 words. They should not contain any AI content and be free of plagiarism, as Studybay has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Submissions must be sent in either .doc or.docx formatting and adhere to MLA formatting rules, with a properly formatted Works Cited. This should have at least three sources cited. All file names should be formatted as "Studybay Annual Essay Contest_Your Surname." The application window closes on July 1, 2023. The winner and any runners-up will be notified shortly after the window closes and will receive a one-time payment made directly to them within five days after the decision is made. These essays will not only be posted on the short essay scholarships page for Studybay but will also be promoted across Studybay's social media accounts. Students are encouraged to share this competition and the results on their own social media pages as well. This essay contest is a phenomenal opportunity for students to showcase their writing skills and receive significant funding to pursue their collegiate dreams. Says Angelina Grin, a creative writer and blog editor at Studybay: "For nearly a decade, we have joyfully provided unwavering support to students from all over the world. We are excited to continue giving back to the community by offering scholarship essay competitions to help students in need of financial aid." About Studybay: Studybay is an online assignment help service that connects ambitious students with top experts. The company operates globally, including in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. Studybay's platform is the perfect place for high school and college students to collaborate with academic professionals in all subjects to excel in their studies. Contact: Max Malak support@studybay.com 1-855-407-7728 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/170283 Fans who pull up to the pump have the chance to receive a gas gift card, Kinder Bueno bars, and summer essentials, plus fans nationwide can win more prizes by entering the #SavorYourSummerSelfie contest PARSIPPANY, N.J., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kinder Bueno is kicking off the busy road trip season with the return of "Summer Gets Bueno," an annual program that helps travelers transform an ordinary road trip into an extraordinary journey. Building on the success of last year's program, "Summer Gets Bueno" helps people get to where they need to go and savor their trips by taking a crispy, creamy Kinder Bueno along for the ride. Summer Gets Bueno by Kinder Bueno Returns with Themed Rest Stop to Help Roadtrippers Savor the Journey At this year's Kinder Bueno "Summer Gets Bueno: Savor the Journey" rest stop takeover in Connecticut, fans can expect a one-of-a-kind white glove experience that makes pumping gas feel anything but ordinary. Participating fans also have the chance to receive a gift card with up to $25 worth of free gas (while supplies last), free Kinder Bueno and limited-edition Kinder Bueno White Chocolate bars, plus a slew of fun road trip necessities. Just in time for the Fourth of July weekend, consumers can stop by 211 Post Road in Darien, Connecticut 06820 on Thursday, June 29 from 10:00 AM ET 2:00 PM ET and Friday, June 30 from 10:00 AM ET 2:00 PM ET, while supplies last. "According to a survey by the National Confectioners Association (NationalCandyMonth.com), 94 percent of people headed on a road trip this summer will bring chocolate and candy with them. We also know that rising airline costs mean more travelers are choosing road trips over flying this summer. Back by popular demand, the "Summer Gets Bueno" program gives travelers a special trip experience that they can savor, thanks to crispy, creamy Kinder Bueno chocolate." said Shalini Stansberry, Vice President of Marketing, Kinder Snacking. Travelers will also have the chance to receive $1.00 off their purchase of a pack of Kinder Bueno or Kinder Bueno White Chocolate bars during both days at six other locations in Connecticut, all of which are great starting points for a variety of road trip locationsincluding: 464 N Main St, Danbury, CT 06811 419 Main St, Danbury, CT 06810 818 Federal Rd, Brookfield, CT 06804 831 S Main St, Cheshire, CT 06410 460 Oakland St, Manchester, CT 06042 263 Roosevelt Dr, Derby, CT 06418 In addition to the "Summer Gets Bueno" rest stop takeover, Kinder Bueno is hosting a nationwide #SavorYourSummerSelfieContest now through August 13, 2023, where consumers can enter for a chance to win an unforgettable one-week road trip experience in a custom RV, plus hundreds of other summer prizes. Entrants who are 21 years of age or older with a valid Instagram account and/or Twitter account and valid U.S. driver's license can participate from 12 a.m. ET on 4/24/23 through 11:59 p.m. ET on 8/13/23. For more information on the sweepstakes rules, please visit www.summergetsbueno.com. Kinder Bueno is a unique chocolate with a taste experience that defies expectation, available in shareable packaging that is perfect for when you're on the go all summer long. Share your summer fun with Kinder Bueno by using #SummerGetsBueno and tagging @KinderBuenoUS. About Kinder Bueno Kinder Bueno is a crispy, creamy chocolate bar that comes with a creamy hazelnut filling in a crispy wafer, enrobed in milk chocolate and a dark chocolate drizzle. The limited-edition Kinder Bueno White Chocolate is a delicious take on the classic favorite, containing real white chocolate, creamy hazelnut filling, crispy wafer and finely decorated cocoa bits. Since launching in the U.S., Kinder Bueno has reached more than 15 million households and is ranked in the Top 10 of 2020 Food and Beverage New Product Pacesetters by IRI1. Kinder Bueno is available nationwide at retail, grocery, drug and convenience stores. For more information on the Kinder Bueno brand and where to find Kinder Bueno in stores, please visit www.Kinder.com. You can also check out Kinder Bueno Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages for additional updates. About Ferrero Ferrero began its journey in the small town of Alba in Piedmont, Italy, in 1946. Today, it is one of the world's largest sweet-packaged food companies, with over 35 iconic brands sold in more than 170 countries. The Ferrero Group brings joy to people around the world with much-loved treats and snacks including Nutella, Kinder, Tic Tac, and Ferrero Rocher. More than 38,000 employees are passionate about helping people celebrate life's special moments. The Ferrero Group's family culture, now in its third generation, is based on dedication to quality and excellence, heritage and a commitment to the planet and communities in which we operate. Ferrero entered the North American market in 1969 and has grown to more than 5,100 employees in 15 plants and warehouses, and eight offices in North America across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. It has expanded its presence and portfolio with the addition of iconic brands such as Butterfinger, CRUNCH, Keebler, Famous Amos, Mother's Cookies, and other distinctive cookie and chocolate brands. Follow @FerreroNACorp on Twitter and Instagram. www.ferreronorthamerica.com. Media Contact Amanda Yodice Ayodice@golin.com Summer Gets Bueno by Kinder Bueno Returns with Themed Rest Stop to Help Roadtrippers Savor the Journey Summer Gets Bueno by Kinder Bueno Returns with Themed Rest Stop to Help Roadtrippers Savor the Journey (PRNewsfoto/Ferrero North America) Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/summer-gets-bueno-by-kinder-bueno-returns-with-themed-rest-stop-to-help-roadtrippers-savor-the-journey-301854771.html SOURCE Ferrero North America The health-care software firm Olive has backed off plans to turn the former Anthem building at 6700 N. High St. in Worthington into its headquarters. The health technology firm Olive is canceling plans to develop a headquarters in Worthington. The company, which has had significant layoffs over the past year, notified the city that it will not pursue the project, which called for converting the former Anthem office building at 6700 N. North High St. in Worthington into Olive's headquarters. "No doubt, this is a big disappointment," said Worthington's Assistant City Manager and Economic Development Director David McCorkle. "It would have replaced a long-vacant building with a fast-growing company and hundreds of jobs." McCorkle said Olive told the city it was not pursuing the project after it returned the building to its previous owners in March. The company did not respond to requests for comment. Olive announced plans last April to convert the 219,000-square-foot building into its headquarters and event space. The company, based in Downtown Columbus, planned to move workers into the building, and then renovate the building, which has been one of the largest vacant office buildings in the region. (First Bank of Central Ohio has recently leased about 8,000 square feet of the building.) A digital rendering shows what Olive's headquarters in Worthington would have looked like had the company moved forward on the plan. Olive, whose technology links health care providers and insurance companies with customer information, expanded rapidly during the pandemic while allowing most of its staff to work from home. The company in 2021 was valued at about $4 billion. Within months of the Worthington announcement, however, Olive faced sharp cutbacks. In July, the company announced it was laying off 450 of its approximately 1,300 workers to focus on the most-profitable portions of its business. In February, Olive announced a second round of layoffs, this time of 209 workers. Olive joined a long list of once-booming central Ohio technology companies to lay off workers, including CoverMyMeds, Lower.com, Root and Upstart. The Worthington City Council approved a tax incentive package for Olive's plan worth up to $3 million, based on the company adding up to 425 workers at the site. That agreement was terminated, but McCorkle said the property is still in a Community Reinvestment Area, which provides tax advantages for developers or tenants. The owners, Lawyers Development Corp., also own adjacent properties that could be developed separately or together. Anthem's former building has sat largely empty since 2018, when the insurance company vacated the space. It single-handedly accounts for about 10% of Worthington's vacant commercial space, said McCorkle. "That property is a major priority for the city," McCorkle said. jweiker@dispatch.com @JimWeiker This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Olive health tech company abandons Worthington headquarters project New study cited as evidence of the need for more drug hair testing for truck drivers. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves) The latest update to a multiyear study commissioned by 10 major trucking companies concludes that urinalysis is missing 90% of habitual drug use among truck drivers. The Trucking Alliance-backed study is based on drug test results of nearly 1 million drivers between 2017 and 2022. Testing for drugs using hair samples detected 25 times more opioid users than testing through urinalysis, 23 times more cocaine users, 13 times more amphetamine/methamphetamine users and five times more marijuana users, among other drugs. The results underscores the prevalence of hard drug use among drivers, the study asserts. The study also found that hair tests yielded more positive drug tests across all drugs for every age group and every state. The Trucking Alliance points to the results as evidence that the U.S. Department of Transportation should be allowing hair testing as a stand-alone option for weeding out potential drug abusers as part of preemployment screening. This study concludes that our family and friends are driving alongside thousands of truck drivers who use illegal drugs, said Trucking Alliance Managing Director Lane Kidd. If airline pilots had similar drug test data, all planes would be grounded. 2022 pre-employment drug screen results Source: Doug Voss, Joe Cangelosi, and Ming Li, University of Central Arkansas, 2023 study Doug Voss, one of the study researchers from the University of Central Arkansas, said the study provides ample evidence supporting the effectiveness of hair testing for drugs in trucking, given the large sample size and the disparity in positivity rates between hair and urine testing for various drugs. At some point its like arguing whether the sun will rise tomorrow, he said. The study notes that federal regulators do not currently allow carriers to submit hair test results to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse without a corresponding positive urine or saliva test. That means carriers who choose to administer hair tests voluntarily as a safety precaution are at a cost disadvantage to other companies due to additional testing expenses. Further, drivers who fail a hair test can go to work for a carrier that only employs urine testing without completing the federally mandated rehabilitation process, the study points out. Previous research by Voss and his colleagues found that if all truck drivers submitted hair drug tests to FMCSA, an additional 276,500 drivers would be prohibited from driving. Allowing hair testing as an accepted method to screen for drugs has been widely unpopular among owner-operators. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has consistently opposed its use by federal regulators, citing costs and a lack of safety evidence. Asked to comment on the latest study commissioned by the Trucking Alliance, OOIDA questioned the research behind it, contending that previous studies backed by the group supported false narratives in the hair-testing debate. We suspect these latest findings are the result of more dubious research, OOIDA said in response. Theyre probably hoping no one takes a closer look, but thats exactly what OOIDA will do to expose the flimsiness of their claims. OOIDA also pointed to recent confirmation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of its plans to reissue the hair testing guidelines as a proposed rule rather than a final rule as evidence that there are still unresolved scientific and technical questions for this method of drug-use detection. HHS latest proposed guidance is expected shortly. Related articles: Click for more FreightWaves articles by John Gallagher. The post Trucking group: Study supports greater use of hair tests for drivers appeared first on FreightWaves. (Bloomberg) -- Two ex-employees of Wirecard Asia Holdings Pte were handed prison terms in Singapore for their roles in conspiring to misappropriate money. Most Read from Bloomberg James Aga Wardhana was sentenced to 21 months in jail and Chai Ai Lim to 10 months by a Singapore state court on Tuesday. The two former finance executives were active participants and not merely the proverbial arms and legs of the scheme, deputy public prosecutor Vincent Ong said. The criminal convictions are the first related to the massive fraud at the payments firm. In April, EYs German business was banned for two years from accepting major new audit mandates after it failed to uncover fraud at Wirecard AG. Wirecard AG filed for bankruptcy in 2020 after acknowledging that 1.9 billion euros ($2 billion) it had listed as assets probably didnt exist. The German firms units that operated in Singapore had been asked to cease their payment activities in 2020. (Adds comment from prosecutor in second paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Good morning, Peter Vanham here in Geneva, filling in for Alan. While the U.S. enjoyed a federal holiday yesterday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was working overtime in China, a trip that culminated with a meeting with President Xi Jinping on Monday. Blinken's visit sought to stabilize U.S.-China relations after years of trade wars, COVID blame, and tension over Ukraine and Taiwan. The U.S.'s principal goal, observers said, was to get China to help bring Russia to the peace table in Ukraine, and to re-open communication lines to prevent misperception and miscalculation on other vital geopolitical pain points, such as Taiwan. Beijing, meanwhile, seemed to have a different rationale for re-engaging with the U.S.: the need to steady its faltering post-COVID economy and address youth unemployment that's over 20%. If engaging with the U.S. can help boost Chinese growth and employment, Beijing is all ears. But the U.S. must respect China and not harm Chinas legitimate rights and interests, Xi told Blinken after their meeting. Taiwan, thus, better not be part of any U.S.-China reset conversation. It is the most prominent risk in Sino-American relations, Foreign Minister Qin Gang previously warned. Many business leaders, too, seem amenable to that deal. Tim Cook, Elon Musk, and Jamie Dimon returned to China for the first time in four years in the spring. Xi welcomed his old friend Bill Gates on Friday to send a message of hope in the American people." Ken Griffin of Citadel is the latest U.S. business leader to visit Hong Kong. Others are likely to make the trip later this summer, as Blinken and Qin agreed to increase flights between China and the U.S. Even so, some businesses have had enough of tensions with China. European pharma giant AstraZeneca started drafting plans to break out its China business and list it separately in Hong Kong, the FT reported yesterday. AstraZeneca may be one of the first to ponder such a move, but it won't be the last. U.S. companies no longer regard China as the primary investment destination it once was, VOA reported earlier this year. If that trend solidifies, Chinas future may not be as bright as it once was. But for now, trade still flows, and where trade goes, so do business leaders. More news below. Peter Vanham peter.vanham@fortune.com @petervanham This story was originally featured on Fortune.com More from Fortune: 5 side hustles where you may earn over $20,000 per yearall while working from home Looking to make extra cash? This CD has a 5.15% APY right now Buying a house? Here's how much to save This is how much money you need to earn annually to comfortably buy a $600,000 home Ukraine downs Russian drones but some get through due to gaps in air protection A serviceman pays his last respects at the coffin of volunteer soldier Ivan Shulga, a sound producer in TV channels and musician, killed in a battle with the Russian troops near Bakhmut, during a farewell ceremony in Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, June 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Ukrainian air defenses downed 32 of 35 Shahed exploding drones Russia launched early Tuesday, most of them in the Kyiv region, officials said, in a bombardment that exposed gaps in the countrys air protection after almost 16 months of war. Russian forces mostly targeted the region around the Ukrainian capital in a nighttime drone attack lasting around three hours, officials said, with Ukrainian air defenses shooting down about a dozen of them. The attack was part of a wider bombardment of Ukrainian regions that extended as far as the Lviv region in the west of the country, near Poland. The Shahed drones made it all the way to Lviv because of the inability of air defense assets to cover such a broad area, Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said. Air defense systems are mostly dedicated to protecting major cities, key infrastructure facilities, including nuclear power plants, and the front line, he said. There is a general lack of air defense assets to cover a country like Ukraine," according to Lviv Gov. Maksym Kozytskyi. Russia also struck the southern Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine with ballistic missiles. Ukraines air defenses have been reinforced with sophisticated weapons from its Western allies, increasing the success rate at knocking down incoming drones and missiles. Previously, a winter bombardment by Russia damaged Ukraines power supply, though speedy repairs blunted that Kremlin effort. The latest aerial assaults behind Ukraines front line coincided with the early stages of a Ukrainian counteroffensive, as it aims to dislodge the Kremlins forces from territory they've occupied since a full-scale invasion in February 2022. The counteroffensive has come up against heavily mined terrain and reinforced defensive fortifications, according to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraines armed forces. Russia has also mustered a large number of reserves, Zaluzhnyi said in a post accompanying a video of him visiting front-line positions with other senior officers. Heavy battles are taking place in eastern Ukraine, around Bakhmut, Lyman, Avdiivka and Marinka, the Ukrainian armed forces said. Russia shelled 15 cities and villages in the eastern Donetsk region, wounding five civilians, including three in Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut, according to Ukraines presidential office. Ukraine's deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, reported Tuesday that in the south, Ukrainian soldiers are advancing in some places but in others, the enemy is advancing." She cautioned against measuring progress in the counteroffensive solely by kilometers or the number of liberated settlements," without stipulating what criteria would be more accurate. Russia has relocated about 20,000 troops from the areas in the Kherson region after flooding from the recent Kakhovka Dam collapse made it impossible for Ukraine to conduct an offensive there, Ukrainian military analyst Roman Svitan said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported late Tuesday in a video address that earlier in the day, in Kherson, Russian artillery shelling killed one flood rescuer and wounded several others. The flooding removed the need for the Kremlins forces to protect about 300 kilometers (180 miles) of the more than 1,000-kilometer (680-mile) front line, according to Svitan, and allowed Moscow to increase its military density in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions where intensive fighting is occurring. Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to breach the dam earlier this month while under Russian control, according to information obtained by The Associated Press. Svitan said the Zaporizhzhia region appears to be the focus of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, seeking to smash through Russias land corridor with the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. In other developments: Russias Foreign Intelligence Service, known by its acronym SVR, invited Ukrainian diplomats stationed abroad to come to Russia with their families to avoid returning to Ukraine. It claimed many Ukrainian diplomats are unwilling to return home after their tours and want refugee status in the European Union and Asian countries where they worked. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu alleged that Ukraine plans to use U.S.-made HIMARS and U.K.-provided Storm Shadow missiles to attack Russian territory, including Crimea. He warned that using those missiles on targets outside the current war zone would trigger immediate strikes on the decision-making centers on the territory of Ukraine. He didn't elaborate and didnt provide any evidence to support his claim, similar to his government's earlier threats objecting to deployment of other Western weapons. Ukraines military intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov announced on Ukrainian television that Russia had mined the cooling system of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. If they blow this up, theres a high probability well suffer heavy consequences, Budanov warned. The plant's six reactors are shut down but still need cooling. His claim couldn't be confirmed. The Russian parliaments lower house, the State Duma, on Tuesday approved a bill envisaging pardons for criminal convicts who join Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, a move aimed at boosting troop numbers during the first stages of Ukraine's counteroffensive. Another bill passed by the Duma on Tuesday eases restrictions on volunteer soldiers, allowing ex-convicts to sign contracts with the military during a period of mobilization. The legislation next goes to the parliament's upper house, then to President Vladimir Putin for expected final approval. Even before passage of the legislation, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the millionaire owner of the Wagner Group military contractor, has been allowed to recruit criminal convicts as mercenaries, promising them pardons if they survive six months of fighting. Budanov contradicted statements from Putin and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko that Russian tactical nuclear weapons already have been deployed to Belarus. The process of preparation to their possible movement is continuing," Budanov said on television. "The storage facilities are being prepared, but not a single warhead has been moved yet. Putin first said the weapons would be deployed after the storage sites for them are prepared in July, then Lukashenko declared last Tuesday that some had already been moved to Belarus. On Friday, Putin himself said some have been deployed as a deterrent against Western efforts to defeat Russia in Ukraine. ___ Yuras Karmanau contributed from Tallinn, Estonia. Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine MILAN (Reuters) - UniCredit can keep rewarding investors at the current pace for at least another two years, its chief executive said on Tuesday as the bank prepared to launch its second share buyback this year. After walking away from a rescue deal for state-owned rival Monte dei Paschi, CEO Andrea Orcel has bet on shareholder remuneration to lift UniCredit's share price. Despite gaining 136% in value since Orcel took over in April 2021, the stock trades at a discount to book value, lagging peer Intesa Sanpaolo. By cancelling shares bought at a discount, UniCredit can lift its trading multiples and reduce the gap. "At some point somebody will discover that and then the attraction of the stock will increase," Orcel told a Mediobanca investor conference. UniCredit on Tuesday said it would conclude by the end of June the 2.34 billion euro ($2.55 billion) share buyback it launched in April, and kick off a second 1 billion euro tranche immediately after. "I do absolutely think it's sustainable," Orcel said. UniCredit has been returning 60% of its annual capital generation to shareholders, primarily via buybacks but also through dividends. Distribution as a proportion of income has been falling since 2021, however, thanks to rising profits. Orcel has focused on capital-light businesses to maximise returns adjusted for the amount of capital deployed. "Certainly we've indicated that we will sustain it in 2024 ... We distribute what we can afford, from 2025 onwards organic capital generation will align more with profitability," he said, adding UniCredit would then review whether it made sense to keep buying its own shares. The boost to earnings, dividends and tangible book per share from the buyback sets the bar for bolt-on acquisitions, which UniCredit can consider in markets where it could expand its presence such as Romania, but only if they beat the buyback, Orcel said. ($1 = 0.9174 euros) (Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Conor Humphries) The US this year dropped further behind other countries in closing the gender gap among several measures, according to new data from the World Economic Forum. The country ranked 43rd in gender equality out of 146 countries, down from 27th place last year, according to the WEFs 17th annual Global Gender Gap report. Overall, it will take 131 years to close the gender pay gap across the world economy, the report found, a marginal improvement from the previous estimate of 132 years. Its still a delay of three decades compared to the WEFs estimate from before the pandemic. While the level of gender parity has regained the progress it lost during the pandemic, converging economic and political crises are creating an uneven landscape worldwide, the WEF said, with progress slowing down overall and AI posing an additional risk. While there have been encouraging signs of recovery to pre-pandemic levels, women continue to bear the brunt of the current cost of living crisis and labour market disruptions, WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi said in a press release. An economic rebound requires the full power of creativity and diverse ideas and skills. We cannot afford to lose momentum on womens economic participation and opportunity. The 'Fearless Girl' statue which stands in front of Wall Street's Charging Bull statue is seen in New York, U.S., March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton In the US Each year, the WEF publishes an annual Global Gender Gap which measures progress towards gender parity using a numeric index with four pillars: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. The US saw one of the largest drops among the 50 highest-ranked countries, with the WEF reporting a 2.1- percentage-point decline in its gender parity score. The country experienced the largest drop in its political empowerment rating driven by the share of women ministers dropping to just 33%, as measured by the UN. The US has also never had a female head of state. According to the WEF, health parity also worsened, while the US improved in wage equality for similar work and estimated earned income. The country has nearly closed the gender gap in terms of its literacy rate and enrollment in primary and higher education, but it lags behind in secondary education. Coupled with the 0.2 percentage point decline in Canada's overall gender parity score, it would take 95 years to close the gender gap in North America given the current rate of progress, the report found. While there have been encouraging signs of recovery to pre-pandemic levels, women continue to bear the brunt of the current cost of living crisis and labour market disruptions, WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi said in a press release. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images) Global gender parity Overall, educational attainment saw the most improvement in 2023 surpassing pre-pandemic levels while the WEF warned that progress on political empowerment was stagnating and economic participation among women has worsened. For instance, the rate of women's participation in the labor force registered at the second-lowest level since the first WEF report in 2006. Across all 146 countries that were listed by the WEF, none has achieved full parity. Iceland was the country with the greatest progress for the 14th year in a row, having closed 91.2% of the gender gap. Its score is due to the high levels of female leadership in government and level of education attainment, the WEF said. Rounding out the top five countries were Norway, Finland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The increasing levels of women in leadership that are seen in the best-performing countries stand in contrast to the globe as a whole. For the first time in eight years, the share of women hired into leadership roles declined in 2023, returning to 2021 levels, the WEF reported. Afghanistan, the lowest-ranked country on the list, is the only one to have made it less than halfway to the end of its gender gap. "Accelerating progress towards gender parity will not only improve outcomes for women and girls but benefit economies and societies more widely, reviving growth, boosting innovation, and increasing resilience," Zahidi wrote in the executive summary. Gender and AI For the first time this year, the WEF reported a new metric on the gender gap in the AI workforce, which is exploding across industries. According to this metric which uses data from LinkedIn only 30% of AI workers are female, despite a six-fold increase in the share of professionals who work in AI from 2016 to 2022. The WEF warned that the rise of AI could exacerbate the progress that is being lost in economic participation among women. When womens perspectives, experiences, and insights are not adequately incorporated into AI development and deployment, biased algorithms and technologies may be perpetuated, risking biased and suboptimal solutions to emerging challenges, WEF wrote in the report. Jared Mitovich is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @jmitovich Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Gannett (GCI), the United States' largest newspaper publisher by circulation, has joined a handful of domestic and overseas regulators in claiming that Google's (GOOG, GOOGL) online ad tech empire is an illegal monopoly. In a civil lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal district court on Tuesday, the publisher alleges that the Alphabet-owned tech giant is wielding its dominance in the ad tech market to force Gannett and other publishers to sell ad space to Google at artificially low market rates. Gannett owns roughly 500 digital news brands, 200 local news publications and the nationally-circulated USA Today. The practice, the suit claims, is responsible for a 70% decline in news publication's advertising revenue since 2009 despite a nine-fold increase increase in the online digital advertising market to $200 billion. The lawsuit is somewhat unique in that it raises a company's challenge to Googles stronghold in the ad tech market, which so far has predominantly been attacked in suits by state and federal regulators, and in investigations by regulators overseas. The headquarters of USA Today owned by Gannett Co. is seen June 17, 2022 in McLean, Virginia. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) In April, a journalist and former tech editor for UK news publisher The Guardian filed an antitrust complaint against Google. On behalf of UK publishers, the lawsuit alleges that Google's ad tech practices of preferencing its own products violate UK competition law. A consulting group, Sterling International, alleged in a purported class action case filed in 2020 that Google was illegally operating its ad server business, though no activity has been filed in the case since February 2021. On June 14, the European Commission (EC), the EU's antitrust watchdog, said in a preliminary report summarizing its investigation into Google's advertising businesses that it wants Google to divest parts of that business to cure anti-competitive concerns. In January, the US Justice Department (DOJ) and eight US states brought an action saying Google unlawfully leveraged its monopoly in the ad tech market to block competitors from entering. Nine additional states have since joined in that litigation. The DOJ says Google should be required to divest a host of entities that allow it to carry out the allegedly offending behavior. 'Demolished' competition Gannett's claims are similar to those of regulators in that they allege Google is unfairly leveraging its control of online ad technology tools that advertisers and publishers use to buy and sell online ad space. Specifically, Gannett says Google's practices are giving publishers no choice but to sell to Google at prices lower than those available to Googles competitors. "The result is dramatically less revenue for publishers and Googles ad-tech rivals, while Google enjoys exorbitant monopoly profits," the complaint states. Gannet says Google has monopolized both the ad server market which identifies space available for sale, solicits bids, and picks a winner as well as the pool of available ad buyers, largely blocking buyers from participating in competing ad exchanges. Google's digital ad exchange, DoubleClick Ad Exchange, controls more than 60% of the exchange market, and its ad server, DoubleClick for Publishers, controls more than 90% of the ad server market. "These claims are simply wrong. Publishers have many options to choose from when it comes to using advertising technology to monetize in fact, Gannett uses dozens of competing ad services, including Google Ad Manager, Dan Taylor, vice president of Google Ads said in response to the lawsuit. "And when publishers choose to use Google tools, they keep the vast majority of revenue. We'll show the court how our advertising products benefit publishers and help them fund their content online." In Google's most recent quarter, its ad revenue totaled $54.5 billion. Approximately $6.7 billion of that revenue was generated by YouTube. Roughly $7.5 billion in ad revenue was generated by the companys Google Network segment, which includes revenue earned by its ad tech businesses. Other lawsuits from regulators and news organizations have gone after Google's dominance in the online search and search advertising markets. In 2020, the US Justice Department filed a civil antitrust complaint against the company, alleging its monopolies in search and search advertising unfairly blocked competition. That litigation is scheduled for a trial in September 2023. Dozens of US news organizations and publishers have sued Google on similar grounds. In 2021, a string of separate cases made claims that Google used its dominance in the markets to usurp ad revenue that should have flowed to the news outlets. On Tuesday, Gannett CEO and chairman Mike Reed published an opinion piece in USA Today saying, "Our lawsuit seeks to restore fair competition in a digital advertising marketplace that Google has demolished... Today, 86% of Americans read the news online. As a result, news publishers depend on digital ad revenue to provide timely, cutting-edge reporting and content that communities across the country depend on." Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on Twitter @alexiskweed. Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance (Bloomberg) -- Analysts are rushing to raise target prices on Japanese trading companies as Warren Buffetts increased holdings drive their shares to record highs. Most Read from Bloomberg Four of the top 10 firms that saw the steepest target increases among Japans largest companies were trading houses, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The nations Topix Wholesale Trade Index, which includes the five biggest trading companies, was the top performing sector Tuesday, after Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said it raised its stake further in the firms to an average of over 8.5%. Mitsubishi Corp., the biggest trading firm, climbed 3.7% in Tokyo, compared with a 0.3% decrease in the Topix index. Its peers Mitsui & Co gained 3.3%, while Sumitomo Corp., Marubeni Corp. and Itochu all rose by more than 1%. Mitsubishi saw analysts lifting their price target by 18% over the past month. The target price of Sumitomo and Marubeni rose by an average of 12.3%, compared with 5.5% for Japans 50 largest firms by market value. Trading houses have soared since Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire, said in April during a trip to Japan that the firm would boost its holdings. He clearly has further dismissed the common negative biases about investing in Japanese value stocks, said John Vail, chief global strategist, Nikko Asset Management in Tokyo. Quite obviously he is interested in commodities, but also in the diversified business acumen of these companies. Berkshire plans to increase investments to up to 9.9% of each of the five Japanese firms, the company said Monday. While Berkshires stakes are getting closer to this level, we could equally argue there is still room for more buying, SMBC Nikko analyst Akira Morimoto wrote in a note after Berkshires announcement, adding that share prices for trading companies bounced in the past after additional buying was announced. Chip-related stocks Advantest Corp. and Tokyo Electron Ltd. were the two companies that saw the biggest target price change over the month. Their shares rallied amid a global jump in semiconductor stocks and investment plans in Japan amid geopolitical tensions between the US and China. There are signs of overheating in the trading-house sector. The Topix Wholesale Trade Index, which has soared about 42% this year to become the best performing sector in the countrys stock market, has been trading in technically overbought territory since earlier this month. The broader Topix Index has gained more than 20% this year, outperforming a 15% rise in the S&P 500 Index. --With assistance from Naoto Hosoda. (Updates with Topixs year-to-date performance in final paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. 'We're investing in more security guards': Home Depot CEO warns that theft is a 'big problem' for retail and says he even has to lock up small $50 items. What's behind the alarming trend? 'We're investing in more security guards': Home Depot CEO warns that theft is a 'big problem' for retail and says he even has to lock up small $50 items. What's behind the alarming trend? Retail giants have always had to deal with petty theft, but a growing trend of organized retail crime is now not just eating into company profits, its threatening the safety of workers. Its a big problem for retail, Home Depot (NYSE: HD) CEO Ted Decker told CNBCs Squawk Box. This isnt the random shoplifter anymore. Don't miss The home improvement has faced the loss of two employees Gary Rasor, 83, and Blake Mohs, 26 who were killed during separate theft incidents over the past year. Rasor died on Dec. 1 after a shoplifter wheeling out three pressure washers worth over $800 from a Home Depot store in Hillsborough, North Carolina shoved him to the concrete floor when he approached to ask for a receipt. Tragedy struck again in April, when California Home Depot security guard Blake Mohs was shot in the chest while trying to stop the theft of a small electrical item. Organized retail crime and theft are growing in both scope and complexity across the country, according to a study from the National Retail Federation to the extent that former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli recently described it as an epidemic spreading faster than COVID. Whats behind this alarming trend? Theft at Home Depot stores has been growing double-digit year over year, the retailers VP of asset protection, Scott Glenn, told ABC News earlier this month. More and more were seeing the risk being brought into the stores, and people being hurt or people even being killed in many cases because these folks, they just dont care about the consequence, Glenn said. Home Depot isnt alone in experiencing an uptick in organized retail crime, which the National Retail Federation defines as the large-scale theft of retail merchandise with the intent to resell the items for financial gain. About 70% of retailers believe the threat of organized retail crime has increased over the past five years, according to the 2022 National Retail Security Survey. To reduce the risk of theft and other crimes in its stores, Home Depot has started locking up high-value items, some of which Decker says may surprise customers. Theyre not all big theyre not all power tools and generators. You can have a circuit breaker [worth] $50, $60, $80 those are all high-theft items. When asked if Home Depot would have to shutter certain stores following the footsteps of other retail giants the CEO says the retailer has so far managed to avoid that. However, Decker says the company is increasingly concerned over the safety of their employees and customers. As a result, theyve invested more in security guards, more lighting in their parking lots and recording towers. Its not a place in retail that many of us thought we would be, he said. Read more: 3 big mistakes people make with cash back credit cards that cost them every time they swipe Avoiding stolen goods online When it comes to organized retail crime, a lot of this product is [re-sold] on online marketplaces, Decker said. To counter this, the retail giant has been working with local, state and federal governments to help them understand the problem and come up with a viable solution. Late last year, Congress passed the INFORM Consumers Act. The act requires online marketplaces to collect, verify and disclose certain financial and identifying information from high-volume third-party sellers those with more than 200 transactions and $5,000 in revenue in a 12-month period. INFORM Consumers, which took effect June 27, aims to increase the transparency of online transactions, while also deterring criminals from using online marketplaces to sell stolen, counterfeit or unsafe items. Decker said hes super happy the bill passed as its going to make those marketplaces vet their sellers. In the meantime, the big-name retailer must continue to manage its theft challenges and cope with the pressure on [its] gross margin, the CEO added. What to read next Here's how much money the average middle-class American household makes how do you stack up? 'They might have attacked me': A Montana real estate agent faces an intruder during a home tour 2 ways to invest in property without any 'terrifying' troubles Millions of Americans are in massive debt in the face of rising rates. Here's how to get your head above water ASAP This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. The logo of the ANZ Bank is seen at Lambton Quay, in Wellington New Zealand to investigate profitability, competition at banks The logo of the ANZ Bank is seen at Lambton Quay, in Wellington SYDNEY (Reuters) - New Zealand said on Tuesday it would examine the profitability of the country's banks and investigate whether competition in the sector was working well for consumers. The banking sector is dominated by four banks making up around 85% of mortgage and other lending, and 90% of deposits, government data showed. Loans by smaller lenders have been rising but remain small in comparison. "There have been long standing concerns that the market is not working well for New Zealanders," Minister of Finance Grant Robertson said in a statement. "Banks have consistently made high profits over a number of years and their returns have outperformed their peers in other countries." New Zealand's four largest banks - ANZ Bank New Zealand, ASB Bank, Bank of New Zealand and Westpac New Zealand - are owned by Australia's "Big Four" banks. Robertson said the government aimed to set up a more competitive market for personal loans, mortgages and credit cards so consumers get the best deal as households struggle with higher living costs. "There has not been an in-depth look into competition issues in New Zealand's banking for some time, and New Zealand lags other countries such as Australia and the UK into doing a detailed analysis into banking services," he said. But Robertson said the investigation will not check on the conduct of banks and culture. It will focus on whether barriers exist for new competitors entering or expanding in the market, the introduction of innovative products and services, and consumers' ability to switch between banks. The government aims to finish the probe by August 2024 and will then determine whether any action is needed. The New Zealand Banking Association said it "will engage constructively" with the government's move. "We believe the enquiry will ease any concerns in the community about competition and innovation in the banking industry," said association CEO Roger Beaumont. (Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Christopher Cushing) Some days I fantasize about pulling up roots and traveling America in an RV to explore all of its gems, from major cities to rugged geographical landmarks. Other times, I envision myself backpacking across Europe on foot, absorbing the history and culture and staying in simple hostels across the continent. In both scenarios, I earn a living as a famous travel writer, or Gen-X social media influencer (is that a thing?) and Ive eschewed my high-maintenance, scented lotion-loving lifestyle in order to rough it out in the world. Then I shake off my daydream, make a cup of coffee, and plop down in air-conditioned comfort to travel vicariously through others who actually do this in real life. Never say never, though! Here are some travel memoirs and novels to fuel your own armchair escape: Driving the Green Book: A Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance by Alvin Hall. With his friend Janee Woods Weber and a copy of The Negro Motorist Green Book in hand, award-winning broadcaster Alvin Hall embarks on an epic journey to explore Americas tumultuous racial past. For so many Americans, travel has been fraught with danger, especially during the era of Jim Crow. Black travelers used the Green Book to identify places in both the North and South where they could safely sleep, get gas, shop, or eat. Hall and Weber use the Green Book to explore landmarks from New York to New Orleans, and everything in between, that welcomed Black Americans. During their journey, they collect stories from some of the last living witnesses for whom traveling with the Green Book was necessary for survival, and Hall contributes his own experiences. The Couples Trip by Ulf Kvensler. Thanks to an overactive imagination and reading too many thrillers set in the wilderness, youre more likely to find me on the beach than backpacking in the mountains. In Kvenslers award-winning debut, Anna, Henrik, and Milena are about to set off on their annual hiking trip to commune with nature. When Milena asks if her boyfriend Jacob can tag along, the others can hardly say no. They dont know Jacob, and it quickly becomes evident that Jacob doesnt quite fit in. Suddenly their relaxing vacation becomes a game of psychological suspense. The Catch Me If You Can: One Womans Journey to Every Country in the World by Jessica Nabongo. Nabongo, whose blog The Catch Me If You Can aims to inspire a love of travel, was the first Black woman on record to travel to all 195 countries of the world as of October 2019. In this tantalizing travelog filled with many of Nabongos own photographs, you can sit back and feel as if youre living her experiences of traveling the world. She crashes a scooter in the least-visited country Nauru in Micronesia, goes dog-sledding in Norway, swims with humpback whales in Tonga, and experiences the community surrounding the Hazrat Ali Mazar mosque in Afghanistan. Through Nabongos adventures, youll meet people and experience a diversity of cultures from around the globe. Silver Alert by Lee Smith. This road-trip novel with a twist is the perfect summertime read. An exuberant woman named Renee is hired by wealthy retiree Herb Atlas to provide pedicures to his wife Susan, who has Alzheimers. With her optimism and enthusiasm, Renee can connect with Susan in a way others are no longer able to. But Herb is also struggling with his health, and soon Herb and Susans children descend on their home to insist they move into assisted living. Suddenly Renee, who is really called Dee Dee, is without a job and has her own hidden reasons to skip town. When Herb suggests one last spin in his Porsche before saying goodbye, the unlikely pair keeps going north, setting off a Silver Alert. In the Shadow of the Mountain by Silvia VasquezLavado. Fans of Cheryl Strayeds Into the Wild will appreciate VasquezLavados memoir of rising above an abusive childhood to confront her difficult past through the physical and mental rigor of mountain climbing. As an adult, VasquezLavado is a shining star in Silicon Valley, yet she privately struggles with alcohol abuse, hiding her sexuality from her family, and repressing childhood sexual and emotional abuse. When shes called home to Peru, VasquezLavado knew she needed a change, and started mountain climbing as a way to process her trauma. She then gathers a group of female abuse survivors to tackle Mount Everest, The Mother of the World, as its known in Nepal. Along with her companions, VasquezLavado dared to brave the brutal trek and confront her past. National Dish: Around the World in Search of Food, History, and the Meaning of Home by Anja von Bremzen. James Beard award-winning von Bremzen, author of several books on various world cuisines, travels to six famed culinary capitals to explore the connection between food and identity. Von Bremzen visits France, Italy, Japan, Spain, Mexico, and Turkey, seeking to discover the truth behind the old cliche we are what we eat. She meets with everyone from world-famous chefs to strangers in bars, starting with Paris and ending in Istanbul, wanting to understand how food becomes national heritage. With a sense of humor and fascinating detail, von Bremzen tells the story of the best-known cuisines and their relationship to history and politics. Have you signed up for Summer Reading at Central Rappahannock Regional Library yet? Visit librarypoint.org/summer to get started logging your reading and completing fun activities for the chance to win prizes. An 84-year-old Orange County woman was killed Thursday in a crash in the Locust Grove area, police said. Virginia State Police Sgt. Brent Coffey said the crash took place at 11:50 a.m. on Germanna Highway (State Route 3), less than a mile east of Pilgrim Church Road. Coffey said a 2007 Cadillac PTS pulled out of a parking lot and was crossing Germanna Highway when it went into the path of a westbound tractor-trailer. The tractor-trailer driver was unable to avoid colliding with the Cadillac, police said. The impact caused the car to run off the road and strike the guardrail and several trees. The Cadillac driver, Joanne C. Gibbons of Rhoadesville, was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where she died later that day. The tractor-trailer driver, a 41-year-old North Chesterfield woman, was not injured. Both drivers were wearing seat belts. Coffey said police are still investigating the incident. Families can now find local summer meal sites by texting Food or Comida to 304-304 and then typing in their ZIP code. No Kid Hungry Virgina, the state branch of a national campaign to end childhood hunger, announced the service earlier this month. Six percent of youth under age 18 living in the jurisdictions served by the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank are food insecure, according to Feeding America, the nationwide network of food banks and food pantries. During the school year, free and reduced-price meals help meet child hunger needs, but summer can be challenging for some families. The U.S. Department of Agriculture funds a Summer Meals program that is operated by school districts and local organizations, but according to No Kid Hungry, just 15% of Virginia kids who rely on free meals are accessing the Summer Meals program. For students who rely on school meals, summer is one of the hungriest times of the year, said Sarah Steely, director of No Kid Hungry Virginia. Fortunately, meal sites across Virginia are opening to ensure that no child goes hungry while school is out. By sharing the texting line with friends and family, you can help more people know about free summer meals in their community. Locally, the Food Bank is operating a summer feeding program with sites in Caroline and Spotsylvania counties. Stafford and Fredericksburg public schools also have summer meal programs. Some sites will serve grab-and-go meals while others require kids to eat at the location. All children and teens 18 and under can receive meals free of charge, with no registration or proof of residency or citizenship needed. The Fremont City Council on June 13 approved adopting an Emergency Action Plan for Flood Response, a report and action plan prepared by city officials in conjunction with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies. The more than 100-page report included detailed maps of local waterways that could flood, locations of levees, potential evacuation routes, locations of critical facilities, as well as a list of hoped for continued improvements in the plans details and recommended future training for city staff of all levels. Following the presentation and before the council voted 7-0 to adopt the plan, Mayor Joey Spellerberg stated how intensive the process was to create the plan. I was a part of this process since 2022. There are so many people at the city who helped, Spellerberg said. We all know a plan is only as good as its implementation. It was a tremendous amount of work. We are prepared in Fremont and Dodge County. We hope it never happens again. Lottie Mitchell, a customer service specialist with the City of Fremont, introduced the report to the council during their June 13 meeting, stating that since the disastrous floods of 2019, the city and the Nebraska Silver Jackets had worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to create a better flood response action plan in the event another catastrophic flood occurred in the future. After Mitchells brief comments, Derek Schriner, an engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, detailed the Emergency Action Plan to the council, noting that in 2019 more than $19 million in damages were incurred due to the floods. Levee over-topping (in 2019) resulted in the city becoming an island, Schriner said. Fremont is very vulnerable to flooding from the Platte River and Rawhide Creek, and in rare instances the Elkhorn River. Schriner said numerous meetings were hosted involving a range of stakeholders from the region from October 2021 through January 2023, capped by a large tabletop exercise simulating potential future flood events and how officials would react. Partners in the planning included the Dodge County Office of Emergency Management; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Nebraska Emergency Management Agency; and the National Weather Service. From the City of Fremont, he explained that Spellerberg, City Administrator Jody Sanders, Planning Director Jennifer Dam as well as staff from the 9-1-1 emergency dispatch center, the Fremont Police Department and Fremont Fire Chief were all involved. It was an amazing attendance for something like this, Schriner said of the citys involvement. The plan is available online at the City of Fremonts website, under the area of agendas and then City Council agendas for the date June 13. According the plans authors, there were multiple areas of concern that were recommended for, future development, which included the following: Develop standard operating procedure for sandbagging efforts; identify lead person and employees responsible; how many sandbags should be on standby; where to store sandbags; where to fill sandbags; traffic control, officials stated in the plan. Develop post flood event plans; FEMA 101 class for department heads covering documentation, billing, reimbursement; educate public on flood preparedness including pet sheltering, what to pack and take with you; consider agreements for hotels, translation services, contractor services and large equipment contractors; work with dispatch on best practices for utilizing 2-1-1; research billboard on 23rd Street for public messaging opportunity. Other areas listed for consideration included assessing whether or not the city was capable of all employee texting; are library officials researching power banks for city use during an emergency; are there social media graphics to use for each flood stage; the requesting and reviewing of emergency plans for local large vendors such as grocery stores; and expanded wording and explanations to include what the citys liability is during evacuations and at the airport. The document also included a list of critical facilities in the city, as well as a list of 45 companies or firms that deal with hazardous materials. However, the list of those businesses and sites was blacked out and redacted from public view, with the names of firms, what types of hazardous materials they house or deal with and their locations completely redacted. A detailed game plan for communicating emergency information to the public was also included, with the mayor being listed as the main spokesperson whose face should be on broadcasts and television reports when possible. KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Ukrainian air defenses downed 32 of 35 Shahed exploding drones Russia launched early Tuesday, most of them in the Kyiv region, officials said, in a bombardment that exposed gaps in the countrys air protection after almost 16 months of war. Russian forces mostly targeted the region around the Ukrainian capital in a nighttime drone attack lasting around three hours, officials said, with Ukrainian air defenses shooting down about a dozen of them. The attack was part of a wider bombardment of Ukrainian regions that extended as far as the Lviv region in the west of the country, near Poland. The Shahed drones made it all the way to Lviv because of the inability of air defense assets to cover such a broad area, Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said. Air defense systems are mostly dedicated to protecting major cities, key infrastructure facilities, including nuclear power plants, and the front line, he said. There is a general lack of air defense assets to cover a country like Ukraine," according to Lviv Gov. Maksym Kozytskyi. Russia also struck the southern Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine with ballistic missiles. Ukraines air defenses have been reinforced with sophisticated weapons from its Western allies, increasing the success rate at knocking down incoming drones and missiles. Previously, a winter bombardment by Russia damaged Ukraines power supply, though speedy repairs blunted that Kremlin effort. The latest aerial assaults behind Ukraines front line coincided with the early stages of a Ukrainian counteroffensive, as it aims to dislodge the Kremlins forces from territory they've occupied since a full-scale invasion in February 2022. The counteroffensive has come up against heavily mined terrain and reinforced defensive fortifications, according to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraines armed forces. Russia has also mustered a large number of reserves, Zaluzhnyi said in a post accompanying a video of him visiting front-line positions with other senior officers. Heavy battles are taking place in eastern Ukraine, around Bakhmut, Lyman, Avdiivka and Marinka, the Ukrainian armed forces said. Russia shelled 15 cities and villages in the eastern Donetsk region, wounding five civilians, including three in Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut, according to Ukraines presidential office. Ukraine's deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, reported Tuesday that in the south, Ukrainian soldiers are advancing in some places but in others, the enemy is advancing." She cautioned against measuring progress in the counteroffensive solely by kilometers or the number of liberated settlements," without stipulating what criteria would be more accurate. Russia has relocated about 20,000 troops from the areas in the Kherson region after flooding from the recent Kakhovka Dam collapse made it impossible for Ukraine to conduct an offensive there, Ukrainian military analyst Roman Svitan said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported late Tuesday in a video address that earlier in the day, in Kherson, Russian artillery shelling killed one flood rescuer and wounded several others. The flooding removed the need for the Kremlins forces to protect about 300 kilometers (180 miles) of the more than 1,000-kilometer (680-mile) front line, according to Svitan, and allowed Moscow to increase its military density in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions where intensive fighting is occurring. Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to breach the dam earlier this month while under Russian control, according to information obtained by The Associated Press. Svitan said the Zaporizhzhia region appears to be the focus of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, seeking to smash through Russias land corridor with the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. In other developments: Russias Foreign Intelligence Service, known by its acronym SVR, invited Ukrainian diplomats stationed abroad to come to Russia with their families to avoid returning to Ukraine. It claimed many Ukrainian diplomats are unwilling to return home after their tours and want refugee status in the European Union and Asian countries where they worked. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu alleged that Ukraine plans to use U.S.-made HIMARS and U.K.-provided Storm Shadow missiles to attack Russian territory, including Crimea. He warned that using those missiles on targets outside the current war zone would trigger immediate strikes on the decision-making centers on the territory of Ukraine. He didn't elaborate and didnt provide any evidence to support his claim, similar to his government's earlier threats objecting to deployment of other Western weapons. Ukraines military intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov announced on Ukrainian television that Russia had mined the cooling system of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. If they blow this up, theres a high probability well suffer heavy consequences, Budanov warned. The plant's six reactors are shut down but still need cooling. His claim couldn't be confirmed. The Russian parliaments lower house, the State Duma, on Tuesday approved a bill envisaging pardons for criminal convicts who join Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, a move aimed at boosting troop numbers during the first stages of Ukraine's counteroffensive. Another bill passed by the Duma on Tuesday eases restrictions on volunteer soldiers, allowing ex-convicts to sign contracts with the military during a period of mobilization. The legislation next goes to the parliament's upper house, then to President Vladimir Putin for expected final approval. Even before passage of the legislation, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the millionaire owner of the Wagner Group military contractor, has been allowed to recruit criminal convicts as mercenaries, promising them pardons if they survive six months of fighting. Budanov contradicted statements from Putin and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko that Russian tactical nuclear weapons already have been deployed to Belarus. The process of preparation to their possible movement is continuing," Budanov said on television. "The storage facilities are being prepared, but not a single warhead has been moved yet. Putin first said the weapons would be deployed after the storage sites for them are prepared in July, then Lukashenko declared last Tuesday that some had already been moved to Belarus. On Friday, Putin himself said some have been deployed as a deterrent against Western efforts to defeat Russia in Ukraine. Yuras Karmanau contributed from Tallinn, Estonia. Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine King Soopers has temporarily closed its store at 2910 S. Academy Blvd. "out of an abundance of caution," a news release states, after recent testing indicated the possible existence of asbestos at the store, which is being remodeled. King Soopers has hired independent experts to address the issue, the release said. "Additionally," it said, "King Soopers is working in full cooperation with the appropriate state agencies including the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment who are aiding in the evaluation and guiding future action." The store will remain closed "until there is full confidence that all concerns have been addressed," the statement said. King Soopers operates a dozen stores in the Colorado Springs area. The release pointed shoppers at the South Academy location to stores at 1750 W Uintah St., 815 Cheyenne Meadows Road and 7915 Constitution Ave. The Gazette Chinese premier calls for upholding economic globalization, China-Germany win-win cooperation Xinhua) 08:07, June 20, 2023 Chinese Premier Li Qiang attends a seminar with representatives of the German business community in Berlin, Germany, June 19, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Lin) BERLIN, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday called on the German business community to uphold economic globalization and China-Germany win-win cooperation. Enterprises should be re-put in the driving seat in terms of risk prevention, and risk prevention and cooperation are not opposites, Li said while attending a seminar with representatives of the German business community. He also cautioned against simply equating interdependence with insecurity. Representatives of German companies including Siemens, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Schaeffler, BASF, Covestro, Wacker Chemie, Merck, SAP and Allianz attended the meeting. As proposed by Li, the participants had open and candid discussions as well as in-depth exchanges on how to view the current international economic and political situation, China's economic development, prospects of future technological development, and the so-called "de-risking" and "cutting the degree of dependence" initiated by some countries. After listening to the speeches of the representatives, Li said that face-to-face communication can deepen the understanding and trust between people. In a world of turmoil and transformation, the more serious and complex the situation, the more necessary it is to think calmly and grasp certainty amid uncertainties, Li said. He called for actively following the objective law and the underlying trend of the times, in particular the historical trend of economic globalization, the general trend of China's long-term economic development for the better, and the grand trend of win-win cooperation between China and Germany. Confidence needs to be strengthened to overcome difficulties, Li said, calling for accelerating the recovery of the world economy through openness and cooperation. Noting that it is understandable that all parties have their own security concerns, Li said that what is important is how to reasonably define and guard against risks. If not handled properly and the risks are amplified, more and bigger problems will only be created, he said, adding that enterprises have the most direct and acute sense of risk and know how to avoid and respond to it. Failure to cooperate is the biggest risk, and failure to develop is the biggest insecurity, he noted. With economic globalization, the world economy has become interconnected, which entails a dialectical view of dependence, Li said. That means refraining from exaggerating the degree of dependence or even simply equating interdependence with insecurity, he added. As for some specific problems, Li urged all parties to analyze them case by case, and jointly prevent and respond to them through consultation and cooperation. Li expressed his hope that entrepreneurs from both countries could follow the trend and continue to pursue openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, and maintain the stability of industrial and supply chains through high-quality and high-level practical cooperation. Li called for seizing the opportunities and making prompt actions to push for more outcomes in cooperation in such emerging areas as innovation and green and low-carbon development, making the pie of the two countries' converging interests even bigger. He also expected them to continue to serve as the envoy of the China-Germany friendship, and make greater contributions to the well-being of their people, the development of bilateral ties, and the friendly cooperation between China and Europe. Noting that Germany and China are close partners of cooperation, German business representatives said that great success has been achieved with the deepening of the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. To eliminate risks, it is necessary to strengthen international cooperation, and decoupling will not work, they said. The German business community is optimistic about China's economic outlook and has every confidence in China, they added. Expressing their belief that China will adhere to opening up, they said that they are ready to continue to increase investment in China and deeply exploit the Chinese market. They also noted that they are willing to further deepen Germany-China cooperation in coping with climate change, strengthening research and development capabilities, and advancing digital transformation, so as to achieve manufacturing in China, research and development with China, and win-win with China. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) One person has been taken to the hospital following a two-car collision on Colorado Springs's east side Tuesday morning, according to the Colorado Springs Fire Department. According to officials, the crash was reported just after 6 a.m., Tuesday near the intersection of Platte Avenue and Circle Drive. Police said the accident occurred when one driver was heading eastbound on Platte Avenue while another vehicle was making a right turn on Circle Drive. The vehicles collided, forcing one onto its side. Despite receiving a significant amount of front-end damage, the second vehicle managed to pull into a nearby parking lot. Officials said although the crash partially shut down Platte Avenue, a tow truck was moving the overturned vehicle as of 7:15 a.m. According to police, one person was taken to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Its unclear at this time which car ran the red light. Three years after Colorado lawmakers repealed the death penalty, the state Supreme Court has clarified that defendants accused of crimes formerly subject to capital punishment are now eligible to be released on bail. The Colorado Constitution generally grants criminal defendants the right to bail pending trial, but carves out an exception for "capital offenses" where there is substantial evidence of guilt. The question for the Supreme Court was whether the abolition of capital punishment necessarily meant there are no more "capital offenses" in Colorado and every crime is now bail eligible. The answer, said the court, is yes. "First and foremost, the phrase 'capital offenses' plainly and unambiguously refers to offenses for which the General Assembly has statutorily authorized the imposition of the death penalty," wrote Justice Richard L. Gabriel in the June 20 opinion. "Thus, if the death penalty is not statutorily authorized for an offense, then, by definition, the offense is not a capital offense." Traditionally, the prohibition on bail for capital offenses was to ensure an accused person would appear for trial when the harshest punishment their life was at stake. In the case before the court, Jerrelle Aireine Smith was allegedly involved in the murder of Ryan Dillard in October 2021 in connection with a payroll scam. Charged with first-degree murder, an Adams County judge denied bail to Smith on the grounds that the end of the death penalty did not end the prohibition on bail for "capital offenses." 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. Adams County prosecutors, in arguing against recognizing a right to bail for the most serious criminal offenses, cited a 1972 decision in which the state Supreme Court, without elaboration, wrote that murder is within the "class of crimes" for which pretrial release is not an option. On the other hand, the New Mexico Supreme Court in 2018 addressed its own legislature's abolition of the death penalty and rejected the Colorado court's logic as "ungrounded in principle." Although the members of the current Supreme Court did not overrule the 1972 interpretation of "capital offense," Gabriel minimized its impact, noting the legislature's abolition of the death penalty was a game changer. He added that the death penalty still exists in limited scope, specifically for first-degree murder offenses charged before July 2020, when the repeal took effect. Justice Carlos A. Samour Jr. wrote separately to suggest the legislature review all of the provisions of state law that reference "capital offenses," as the court's decision may affect how the law is now applied to former death penalty-eligible crimes beyond the right to bail. During oral arguments last month, the defense attorney for Smith conceded the effect of making first-degree murder eligible for bail may not bring about major changes after all. A high dollar figure for pretrial release, said Adrienne R. Teodorovic, may render bail out of reach for defendants. "Its going to be difficult for many of the people we represent," said Teodorovic, "because they are considered indigent and below the poverty line." The case is People v. Smith. People rise or fall riding on the stories that they tell themselves. Or stories they are told. The stories that we believe are most often based on the knowledge that we have at the time. History can show us this process. Let me give you an example of getting late, but accurate information. And the good it can do. Come with me to Texas in 1865 to Galveston Bay. This harbor city was off the coast of Texas where ships could take on or unload cargo. Exporting was the mainstay of this busy island port. Galveston was the largest city in Texas with 7,200 residents. That was big for the 1800s. This commercial center based on this island revolved around exporting cotton. And managing the slaves statewide it took to get the cotton, picked, prepped, and shipped from the harbor. Which was against the law. Kind of Years earlier at the beginning of 1863, Abraham Lincoln had signed an executive order known as the Emancipation Proclamation. The order had declared that all persons held as slaves are, and henceforward shall be free. But in Galveston, nothing changed. Texas, a state of the South secession, did not recognize the authority of the president. Just a side note the Emancipation Proclamation wasnt legislation from Congress, so citizens in the North didnt have to obey its order, either. This order was symbolic, released for effect since Congress could not be cajoled into creating legislation to be enforced by law. Without winning the Civil War no one had to actually obey the executive order. But we did get slavery stomped out. Eventually. Anyway, in Galveston it was business as usual. The prevailing story in Galveston was that slavery was the way that it had to be. An entire state was dependent upon the toxic economic system. Until June 19, 1865. 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. On this day, Union Gen. Gordon Granger and 2,000 troops arrived bearing news that would change Galveston forever. Messengers were sent by horseback, choosing locations where citizens could gather to hear General Order 3 as it was called. The order read, The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The spreading story of freedom had a slow but strong effect on all who heard it. Former slave owners suddenly realized that wages had to be paid or theyd lose everything they had accumulated. Despite the order telling the freed men to stay and work, many left Texas seeking what theyd lost to the slavery system. Some stayed and sued slaveholders for lost wages as they realized that they should have been paid. Many migrated to other states hoping to reunify with their families. Im sure that these folks sorely lamented losing two additional years of freedom because of having the wrong information. The people who had accepted slavery now refused to live under it. Energized, since literacy was against the law for slaves they rushed to establish schools. Others got elected and worked to change laws to be fairer. It would take us another century to get those laws fully changed (and enforced) but we did get there. In 1965. Former slaves rose riding on the story that not only were they free according to the law, but that the law would be enforced. Transformed the new citizens could never accept forced work without pay ever again. On that first 19th of June in 1865 with new information, they nurtured a new belief that they could control their own lives. Isnt that what freedom is? Now the story is spreading. For 156 years Galveston Bay has celebrated calling the holiday Juneteenth. In 2021, it became a federal holiday. In 2022, Colorado made it a legal holiday. Lets rise together telling good stories. Like this one. Juneteenth reminds us of how our nation has grown over the past 150 years in making life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness available to everyone. Rachel Stovall is an event manager, entertainer and community advocate. More than 3,600 Colorado kids are in foster care around the state, and hundreds more await placement. The numbers of children vary from year to year, as do the specific circumstances of each child; the common thread is they come from broken backgrounds and desperately need a fresh start in a safe place. The foster families who take them in are among Colorados unsung heroes. Like the kids they foster, each family has its own back story its own special reason for reaching out and offering a new lease on life to youths looking for a home to thrive in. Their common thread is they seem to have an extra reserve of love and compassion; often, they already have raised children of their own, as well, yet want to give more. Sundays Gazette featured one such family a foster household that has given so much of itself to Colorados kids that it has won accolades from the state. Stan and Cora Krol have brought in more than 130 kids as many as 11 at a time to their home just outside Pueblo and have raised them over a period of 34 years. At present, the Krols, now in their 70s, are hosting six children as young as 6 and as old as 14. The Colorado Department of Human Services recently recognized them for what they do. In an announcement marking National Foster Care Month, the departments director called the Krols examples of ordinary Coloradans doing something extraordinary. As noted in The Gazettes profile, the couples decades of foster service they first were licensed in 1989 stand out. Commonly, folks close their home after two years, a foster care official with the state told The Gazette. Youre considered an experienced foster parent after five years. 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. Children come to the Krols, as to foster care in general, with wide-ranging needs and posing daunting challenges. The Gazettes account points out the Krols foster kids have committed crimes, stealing cars and more. Theyve brought home drugs. Theyve had knives. Their mental and emotional burdens are heavy. There also have been foster children who dont want to fight they want a hug. Theyve come to the Krols beaten and hungry, scared and tired. They are bullied but trying their best in school. You cannot have a heart and not want to do something, Cora Krol said. Foster children coming to the Krols home are greeted by 40 acres in a peaceful country setting. Theres a creek and fruit trees as well as ponies and crowing roosters nearby. Pets wander the house it all makes for a setting thats therapeutic for foster kids typically leaving rough lives behind. Many of them have been abused or witnessed abuse of others. They have experienced other trauma. The Krols are giving these children new hope as well as warm beds, wholesome meals, structure, responsibility, help with homework you name it. It all boils down to a sense of belonging, of being loved. And while the Krols are exemplary, many other foster families across Colorado have displayed a similar degree of dedication. We owe all of them a debt of gratitude for restoring the building block of everyones life family to kids who will be part of Colorados future. Editors Note: This authors name has been changed to a pseudonym to protect the authors privacy. I never thought Id consider leaving the U.S. Air Force Academy after working so hard for my appointment, but here I am contemplating whether this is the Air Force to which Im willing to commit myself. The first day of basic cadet training was full of chaos, but I remember with intense clarity taking the oath where I promised to support and defend the Constitution not any person or political agenda against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The military is supposed to be an impartial actor for the commander in chief. Our occupation and work environment are supposed to be devoid of political agendas and the influence of radicals. And yet, anywhere one looks, the radical liberal and, dare I say, communist propaganda has infiltrated our ranks, classrooms, and even the minds of future officers. Coming from a military family, including Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Silver Star recipients, I have always valued meritocracy. I worked extremely hard to ensure I was qualified, based on merit, for acceptance into the academy. It would be both demeaning and a disservice to my nation to only be at the academy because I am a minority female. Anything but a system based on merit is less than optimal and weakens our defense. We all want to serve with airmen who are the best at what they do, not just airmen that met the quota for skin color, sexual preference or other characteristics. As cadets, and especially as impressionable young freshmen, we are forced to sit through hours of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) briefs. We all understand that respect is of vital importance, but categorizing people as oppressors and victims based on skin color is just plain wrong. Beyond this is the observed scope of the alleged problem. It would seem a problem of this magnitude would be obvious to nearly all cadets ... but it isnt. And frankly, in terms of cost-benefit analysis, the effort is doing more harm than good as it directly undermines unit cohesion and morale. I see many bright young cadets who know that what is going on is wrong but are too afraid to speak up. Many times during our DEI briefs, even if 90% agree that what were being taught is wrong, cadets will hold back and politely nod their heads for fear that what they have to say might offend even one person. 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. Perhaps this reluctance to speak up stems from being in an environment where the leadership seems grossly out of touch with the American public. Being politically correct has somehow become the most crucial part of our training. I pray our adversaries are wasting as much time on this as we are. Leadership erroneously believes these meetings unite us as a team, but in fact, cadets walk out whispering and shaking their heads, feeling more divided than ever. We are continually told that we are in the business of killing people and breaking things, but when it comes to talking about issues within our own ranks, we are all about safe spaces and time-outs. This apprehensive atmosphere has led to record low morale. The heart-wrenching fact that three Air Force Academy cadets died this past semester alone should be a sobering enough statistic to force leadership to adjust their heading. Low morale can also be seen in the significant drop in both recruitment and retention rates. How can we be a force ready to take on our adversaries if we cant effectively recruit and retain service members? If the mission of DEI is to attract, recruit, develop and retain, it is failing miserably. Our nation must wake up and realize that the more our politically selected leadership espouses such divisive ideologies, the deeper the divisions, and the greater the damage to our nations defense. Its not about skin color, ethnic background or sexual preference its about the mission, service to our nation, and defense of the republic. I now have a decision to make: Do I decline to serve because of the ongoing push of this radical ideological agenda, or do I stay and fight for what is right? The fundamental freedoms our forefathers fought and died for are priceless. I will fight. As Abraham Lincoln said, America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. The author is a U.S. Air Force Academy cadet. Colorado Springs first supportive apartment complex for homeless young adults ages 18-24 received approval Monday to move forward with development. The 50-unit Launchpad Apartments project has been awarded $1.2 million of federal 9% low-income housing tax credits from the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, said Shawna Kemppainen, executive director of The Place, which operates the only shelter for homeless teens in Colorado Springs. The state agency on Monday approved 12 of 26 applications in this go-round for tax credit financing, for a total of $14.4 million, according to an award summary. This sort of housing and help is whats going to help young people turn their lives around, so they wont end up in adult homelessness, Kemppainen said. Cohen-Esrey Development Group, based in Kansas with an office in Denver, has a contract to purchase 1.32 acres of land on the westside, near 19th and Uintah streets, said Lisa Sorensen, development director. The company has specialized in developing low-income housing using tax credits for 20 years, she said. Sorensen calls Launchpad a very unique and special project, adding that its the companys first youth-specific project that will be built specifically to serve at-risk young adults. About 350 youths were homeless in Colorado Springs in March, with 150 of those identified as unsheltered, according to the Pikes Peak Continuum of Care, a group that works on eliminating homelessness. What we see typically is nearly half of unsheltered youth are waiting for housing, Kemppainen said, Nearly half are in life and health circumstances that require in-depth services and a healing-housing type of environment. Construction on Launchpad Apartments will begin later this year and is expected be completed in the first half of 2024, Kemppainen said. The Place will manage the new complex and provide supportive services for residents that include assistance with education and employment, mental health treatment from Peak Vista Community Health Centers, and activities such as mindfulness and yoga classes. This is really housing and health stability, Kemppainen said. Well have diverse options for young people to get engaged because thats what works not forcing anything but providing so many options people will want to get engaged. Based on surveys from existing youth clients and staff at The Place, the complex will feature a community space, reading or gaming nooks, a communal kitchen, an outdoor courtyard and trauma-informed design by Shopworks Architecture in Denver. 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. Theyre thinking about how the space is laid out to be inviting and joyful, roomy, safe and encouraging, Kemppainen said. Its a launch pad, she said. Imagine your first apartment, Im on my own. Theyll be on their own, but theyll have as much support as theyd like. Residents will receive the services and housing free of charge, with vouchers from the Colorado Division of Housing paying the rent. The location will be convenient for residents, Sorensen said. The site will specifically serve the youth in that it is a truly walkable site the youth will be able to walk to the grocery store and Walgreens, its on a bus route and on a city bike path, she said. Kemppainen has dreamed of building a campus for homeless youths for about five years, with the organization's board giving the go-ahead a year ago. The Place for a decade has been housing youth who have come into its program from homelessness in nearly 50 transitional rental units scattered throughout the city, working with private landlords and other nonprofit organizations to ensure participants succeed in becoming self-sufficient, she said. Half of youth experiencing homelessness need more than transitional housing, she said. This longer-term help over the course of time when their minds are developing and changing is life-changing. Cohen-Esrey has another project in Colorado Springs in the works. A 133-unit affordable workforce housing complex, Panorama Heights, will break ground this summer southeast of Academy and Fountain boulevards, Sorensen said. It will house residents who earn 30%, 50% and 70% of the area median income. There is a very significant demand for affordable housing in all the markets we work in, Sorensen said. Silver Key Senior Services in Colorado Springs also received $1.3 million of 9% low-income housing tax credits on Monday, for the organization's first housing development: 50 affordable apartments adjacent to its headquarters on South Murray Boulevard. Thirteen units will be designated for homeless military veterans and paid for with state housing vouchers. Low-income seniors earning 40% to 60% of the area median income will fill the other units and also will receive supportive services. DECORAH Celebrate Sami Dreams: Portraits of Resilience in the Norwegian Arctic, the newest exhibition at Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School, from 1 -3 p.m. July 1 with a special reception and gallery talk by exhibit curator Randall Hyman. There will be free museum admission during the event. The reception will take place in the lobby of the museums main building. Light refreshments will be served. Welcome and exhibit comments by Randall Hyman will be at 1:30 p.m. in the third-floor exhibit gallery. During the talk, Hyman will tell the stories behind the pictures and describe the portrait sitters, their interviews, their role in the overall theme of the exhibit, and how the photos were taken. This exhibit is open through Oct. 31 and features 18 photographic portraits of Sami men and women in Scandinavia along with recorded interviews by researcher Randall Hyman that touch on indigenous rights, climate change, reindeer husbandry, art, and other topics. Hyman has traveled the globe on magazine assignments for nearly four decades covering natural history and travel topics from Northern Europe to South America to Asia to Africa. Check vesterheim.org for information about an upcoming online presentation by Randall Hyman. This exhibit and programming are made possible by generous gifts to the Vesterheim Annual Fund from the friends and family of Harley and Norma Refsal. Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School, welcomes people of all ages and backgrounds to engage in the conversation of the American immigrant journey through the lens of the Norwegian-American experience. Vesterheim offers innovative and interactive exhibits, classes, and programs, both at the dynamic campus and park in scenic Decorah, Iowa, and online at vesterheim.org and Vesterheim social media. For more information on exhibits, classes, programs, tours, membership opportunities, and ways to donate and volunteer, connect at vesterheim.org, (563) 382-9681, and Vesterheim, 502 W. Water St., P.O. Box 379, Decorah, IA, 52101-0379. More than 60 people who serve Mitchell County as emergency responders participated in training from the University of Iowa Simulation in Motion-IA program held in St. Ansgar on Thursday. Personnel from the Mitchell County Regional Health Center emergency department, providers, and EMS personnel, along with St. Ansgar EMS and the Mitchell County Sheriff's Office participated in the training SIM-IA is a cutting-edge mobile education program that brings high-quality, evidence-based clinical education to EMS and hospital professionals across the state. Each fully equipped mobile simulation truck features a simulated emergency bay, ambulance box, and video recording for analysis and debriefing, as well as four patient simulators. Brian Rechkemmer, who directs the program through the University of Iowa College of Nursing, says the first truck, which hit the road in July, is the first of three trucks purchased through an $8 million endowment from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. "With this simulation vehicle, we're able to come right to (rural communities') front door, right at their location and everybody can get the exact same training." The training in St. Ansgar was hosted with the support of St. Ansgar residents Gary G. Gerlach and Karen Ann "Kacie" Conner. Kacie and I are pleased and honored to host the SIM-IA training team and the big and beautiful SIM-IA truck in our town, Gerlach said in a statement. Rural communities like St. Ansgar dont often have ready access to the best of the best. Our volunteer and professional health care workers are all looking forward to a fabulous training event. Gerlach continued, Kacie and I are especially proud that the UI College of Nursing is home to an undergraduate merit scholarship program in honor of my sister, St. Ansgar native LuAnn Gerlach. LuAnn was a student in the College of Nursing when she died tragically in 1965, at age 20. Over 100 merit scholarships have been awarded to UI nursing students in LuAnns honor." In it's first year, the truck runs four to five days a week, this being the 126th event in 52 counties. The truck is based in Iowa City, but future trucks will provide coverage based out of Sioux City and Des Moines, allowing the program to reach all 99 of Iowa's counties by 2024. The truck is fitted with four high-fidelity patient manakins: one adult male, one adult female who can give birth, one school-aged child, and one newborn infant. The two rooms can simulate either a fully equipped emergency room bay or the ambulance treatment box for treating patients at the scene, and are capable of running dozens of training scenarios -- from heart attacks and traumatic injuries to airway obstruction and medication errors -- in order to provide safe training environment for emergency personnel. Thursday's simulation ran two scenarios: a tractor rollover resulting in an arm dismemberment, and an incident in which a vehicle struck a child. David Husmann is lead educator for the truck and says he makes scenarios as immersive as possible. "Not only do our techs have to know and control the vitals of the patient, but they have to be a bit of an actor as well," Husmann said. "Children are going to be scared and their parents may or may not be around, so it's important [we] portray that voice to give the students the full experience of the seriousness of the emergency." Beth Trees, chief nursing officer at MCRHC, said after undergoing the training, "It's very impressive, very lifelike." Mitchell County Sheriff's Deputy Luke Irvin said his training in the past has "tried to be as lifelike as possible, but this is actually giving you feedback in real-time ... you get a pretty good way to gauge yourself." This training provides first responders credit hours toward their re-certification. The University of Iowa says that there are 11,770 certified EMS providers in Iowa, and 70% of Iowa hospitals are critical-access hospitals. Three questions What are the biggest challenges you face in your everyday life? One of the biggest challenges of small-town life is not having supplies readily accessible. How do you see Iowas government affecting your life? As a teacher, the states decisions affects many aspects of my career, including funding, quality of education and broadband access. What issues do you wish the government paid more attention to? Iowa should concentrate on areas such as rural development, mental health services and maintaining youth. What issues do you wish the government paid less attention to? State government should focus less of their attention on national topics and conflicts and instead concentrate on laws that will directly affect the day-to-day lives of Iowans. Understanding the IIMB EPGP: Curriculum: International Immersion: Eligibility Criteria: Career Development Services: Networking Opportunities: Conclusion: Frequently Asked Questions on - IIMB EPGP Executive MBA course What is the IIMB EPGP program? How is the curriculum structured? Does the program include an international immersion? How does the program support career development? How does the program help in building a strong professional network? What are the benefits of being part of the IIMB alumni network? How does the program develop leadership skills? Who is the ideal candidate for the IIMB EPGP program? Are there any specific eligibility criteria for the EPGP program? Can I continue working while pursuing the EPGP program? An IIT Delhi IIM Ahmedabad alumni initiative Alpha Education Abroad is an initiative by IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad alumni. The firm helps students get admitted to top universities overseas in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, and many other countries. It allows students to apply for graduation as well as post-graduation courses abroad. It also helps students get admitted to top 1 year MBA programs such as ISB and IIM Ahmedabad in India. The Executive Post Graduate Program (EPGP) from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) is a highly acclaimed 1-year MBA program for executives. This course is designed for mid-career professionals seeking to upscale their skills and propel their careers to new heights. In this article, we'll provide an in-depth overview of the IIMB EPGP to help you understand the unique offerings of this prestigious program.Program Structure:The IIMB EPGP is a 1-year, full-time residential program. The course is split into four terms, interspersed with an international immersion module. This structure provides a rigorous and immersive learning experience, equipping students with the necessary skills and perspectives to excel in leadership roles.The EPGP curriculum is comprehensive and dynamic. It covers core business principles in the first two terms, while the latter part of the program offers a wide array of electives. The curriculum culminates with a Capstone project that allows students to apply their learnings to real-world business challenges.A key highlight of the IIMB EPGP is the international immersion module, providing students an opportunity to understand global business practices. This experience fosters an appreciation for cross-cultural business nuances, making the program truly global in nature.To apply for the IIMB EPGP, candidates need a minimum of 5 years of professional experience, along with a valid GMAT or GRE score. The selection process includes a Statement of Purpose (SoP), Letters of Recommendation (LoR), and a personal interview.IIMB provides extensive career support to its EPGP students. The Career Development Services (CDS) offers industry interactions, leadership talks, and personalized career guidance, ensuring that students are well-prepared to make strategic career moves.As an IIMB EPGP student, you join a diverse cohort of experienced professionals from varied sectors. Moreover, you become part of the expansive IIMB alumni network, offering lifelong opportunities for networking and collaboration.The IIMB EPGP is an excellent investment for mid-career professionals seeking to accelerate their career growth. It provides a comprehensive understanding of business management, equips students with leadership skills, and offers a global perspective through its international immersion module. If you're ready for a challenging and enriching academic experience, the IIMB EPGP could be the ideal choice for your next career leap.If you need any further assistance, feel free to reach out to Alpha Edu Abroad for advice! Follow us on Instagram and Facebook!The IIMB EPGP (Executive Post Graduate Program) is a one-year, full-time residential Executive MBA course offered by the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB). It is designed for mid-career professionals who seek to enhance their managerial and leadership skills.The EPGP curriculum at IIMB covers a wide range of subjects including core management disciplines such as finance, marketing, operations, and strategy. It also includes specialized courses like leadership, entrepreneurship, and business analytics. The program incorporates case studies, simulations, group projects, and industry interactions to provide a holistic learning experience.Yes, the IIMB EPGP program offers an international immersion component. It provides an opportunity for participants to gain global exposure and understand business practices in an international context. The duration and destination of the immersion may vary each year.The IIMB EPGP program focuses on developing participants' managerial and leadership skills to accelerate their career growth. It offers career development services such as career counseling, industry-specific workshops, resume building, and interview preparation. The program also facilitates networking opportunities with industry leaders and alumni.The IIMB EPGP program provides ample opportunities for networking with industry professionals, peers, and IIMB alumni. It includes guest lectures, industry visits, networking events, and workshops conducted by experienced practitioners. The diverse cohort of professionals from various industries further enhances networking prospects.As an EPGP participant, you become part of the prestigious IIMB alumni network, which includes successful professionals from diverse sectors. This network can be invaluable for career advancement, mentorship, and business collaborations. It offers access to exclusive events, job opportunities, and continued learning through alumni knowledge sharing.The IIMB EPGP program focuses on developing participants' leadership abilities through dedicated courses and experiential learning opportunities. It emphasizes self-awareness, team dynamics, decision-making, and strategic thinking. The curriculum incorporates case discussions, leadership workshops, simulations, and real-world projects to foster leadership skills.The IIMB EPGP program is designed for mid-career professionals with a minimum of five years of work experience. It is suitable for individuals seeking to enhance their managerial competencies, accelerate their career growth, or transition into leadership roles. The program welcomes participants from diverse industries, backgrounds, and functions.Yes, the eligibility criteria for the IIMB EPGP program include a bachelor's degree or equivalent, a valid GMAT/GRE score, and a minimum of five years of full-time work experience after graduation. The selection process also considers factors such as academic performance, professional achievements, and leadership potential.The IIMB EPGP program is a full-time residential program that requires participants' complete commitment for one year. The rigorous nature of the program and its focus on experiential learning makes it challenging to balance with a full-time job. Most participants take a career break or sabbatical to fully immerse themselves in the program.This Post was originally Published on: Alpha Edu Abroad Blog Two scholarships of $500 each were presented to Amelia Brumfield, from Gretna High School, and MacKenzie Harris, from Tunstall High School, at the May meeting of Pittsylvania County Retired Teachers Association. Both are 2023 graduates who plan to attend college in preparation for a career as teachers. Scholarship Chair Mable Scott challenged the recipients to never stop aiming for the stars as they pursue their goals because they are capable of reaching them. A memorial service honored 30 former Pittsylvania County Schools employees who have died since last May. A poem, Teachers Rainbow by Carla Ekman, compared the qualities of a teacher gifts from God to the colors of the rainbow. Each is a different hue, but together they make a beautiful display that unites teacher and student. A candle was lit in remembrance as each name and date of death was read. A business meeting followed with reports on the March District E Meeting and the VRTA spring Conference from Scott who will be serving as District E president and VRTA vice president for the 2023-25 term. She encouraged all members who have access to internet to sign up to receive the VRTA Newsletter online in order to defray the cost of mailings. Rosa Chambers was chosen as PCRTAs nominee for VRTAs Most Active Member due to her many hours of volunteer work in the community. Portia Fitzgerald was recognized for the recent honorary degree she received from Danville Community College for her long-time service to the community and to DCC. She is also a vital part of PCRTA in encouraging volunteerism and in reporting to the state organization. The door prize for the meeting was donated by the NAACP Youth Council and was won by Chambers. The meeting was held at Liberty Baptist Church with lunch catered by Midtown Market. The inmate who escaped Saturday from the Danville Adult Detention Center was captured Monday, Danville authorities reported. Nicholas Spence disappeared from a work detail on the facilitys grounds at 1000 South Boston Road, according to police. He was found in Pittsylvania County by the Danville Police Department with help from members of the Virginia State Police. It was not immediately clear when Spence was located, but authorities announced his capture shortly after 6 p.m. Monday. Department spokesperson Matt Bell would not say how many inmates were on the work detail when he escaped when asked earlier in the day by the Register & Bee. This is an ongoing investigation and we cannot get into any further details, Bell told the Danville Register & Bee on Monday. Officers discovered Spence, 40, missing at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Incarcerated on a shoplifting charge, Spence walked away from a work crew cutting grass, Danville police reported in a news release. He was last seen in the U.S. 58 east area. Now facing a charge of escaping custody without force, hes being held in Danville City Jail, police reported. The Danville Police Department wishes to thank the community for their tips and assistance in this case, police wrote in a news release. Building a new home in a post-pandemic world is anything but fast and easy. But Danville-based Gods Pit Crew has it down to a science. In fact, volunteers set out June 11 heading to Nunnelly, Tennessee, to construct a home for a family who lost everything in August 2021s disastrous flooding. Come Friday, Gods Pit Crew plans to reveal the move-in ready house. Our hearts were broken for everyone in Tennessee when they were affected by the devastating flooding two summers ago, Randy Johnson, president and founder of Gods Pit Crew, said in a statement. We want the people to know that they have not been forgotten, and that hope and help are still out there for them. The Ellis family will receive a fully furnished home nearly two years after they lost their house, vehicles, tools and lawn equipment in the flooding. Very little was salvaged, Vickie Ellis said in a news release recounting the impact the flood had on her family. We lost everything we have ever worked toward that day. Crews with Gods Pit Crew deploy to areas hard hit by Mother Natures wrath to help survivors. They often take tractor-trailer loads of supplies including their trademark Blessing Buckets, a 5-gallon pail packed with non-perishable food, hygiene items, first-aid, a Bible and a handwritten and encouraging note. After a flood, they help to clean out homes. If a tornado strikes, they are there to help residents clear away debris. The goal is to bring aid and relief amid utter devastation. Sometimes they identify a family with help of local organizations and give the ultimate gift: a new house. The most recent two-week home building blitz is possible because of the months of planning and thousands of volunteers who know how to get the job done. The Ellis familys new home started in Gods Pit Crews warehouse in Danville. Thats where homes are fully framed, taken apart and put on haulers, Carly Brashears, a spokesperson for the organization, explained to the Register & Bee. Each piece is numbered for quick reassembly on-site. Materials are ordered at the earliest possible moment from local organizations near the build site, and then delivered to the build site once GPC teams are on ground, Brashears said when asked if construction delays hinder the groups efforts. When it comes to permits, construction coordinator Warren Johnson oversees that process. As soon as Gods Pit Crew decides to build a home, he springs into action to start getting the needed permits. Sometimes its as easy as walking into an office and coming out minutes later with all of the appropriate paperwork. Other times its not as fast. But it still gets done. Gods Pit Crew team members go to the build site months in advance to meet with inspectors and local officials to make sure that the project can progress as fast as possible, Brashears explained. A small army more than 1,000 of volunteers are skilled craftsmen in things like plumbing, electrical and painting. Thats how the final touches can go together in just a few hours. These volunteers, they just amaze me on every single trip that we do, Warren Johnson said. They just do what it takes to make these projects happen. It also goes without saying that a faith-based organization also relies heavily on the power of prayer to pull off the quick turnaround. On June 11, the local crew pulled out of Danville with all of the needed supplies. In a matter of days, the foundation was laid and walls started going up. A few days ago, the drywall was being applied. This makes the second home the Danville disaster relief organization has built this year. Two more are planned later in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. Thank you to everyone who helps us in providing hope, healing, and restoration to hurting people in their times of need, Johnson said. Projects like this wouldnt be possible if it werent for our wonderful volunteers, donors and supporters. NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Jeb Burton, of nearby Halifax County, and his father, Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton, are scheduled to lend a helping hand this week ahead of weekend racing at Nashville Superspeedway. RALEIGH - Governor Roy Cooper announced last week that 29 local governments in rural areas across the state have been awarded grants from the Rural Transformation Grant Fund, a robust source of support for rural economic development projects in North Carolina. Reidsville was among those selected to receiver a portion of the total of $8 million will be issued in this third round of grantmaking from the Fund, which helps local governments overcome challenges that limit their economic competitiveness. The North Carolina Department of Commerce and its Rural Economic Development Division administers the fund. These transformative grants can make a real difference in rural communities by reviving downtowns and strengthening neighborhoods, said Governor Roy Cooper. These funds, with the support of our rural development team at the Department of Commerce, will bring more economic opportunity to people across the state. The Rural Transformation Grant Fund, the centerpiece of a broader Rural Engagement and Investment Program from Commerce, addresses a wide variety of needs, from revitalizing downtown districts, building the capacity of local government staffs, revitalizing neighborhoods, fostering small business recovery, and generally supporting economic growth initiatives. The Rural Transformation Grant Fund awarded grants in four categories last week The Downtown Revitalization category supports downtown development initiatives that help grow and leverage a communitys commercial core into an asset for economic growth and prosperity. The Resilient Neighborhoods category offers grants focused on community development and quality of life improvements, such as eliminating food deserts, creating healthy living initiatives, and increasing access to affordable housing options, among other initiatives. The Community Enhancements for Economic Growth category provides grants to local governments to smooth the way for economic development opportunities, such as the acquisition of land and buildings, the preparation of business sites, and the removal of structural and physical barriers that may be limiting development. The Rural Community Capacity Building (RC2) category provides educational and professional development opportunities for local government staffs, with the additional ability for local governments to then apply what theyve learned by developing funding proposals for projects in their local areas. The Rural Transformation Grant Fund, established in March of last year, has now awarded its total available funds of $48 million. In that time, even greater community needs were identified, as local jurisdictions submitted for consideration projects totaling $165 million. In this third round of grantmaking, Commerce received project applications totaling $44 million, and therefore could not meet the entire demand, given the available funding. The need in our rural communities is great, but Im pleased weve been able to meet some of these needs with this transformative grant program, said North Carolina Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders. Im proud of the programs strong track record of success, managed by Commerces experienced rural development team and grounded in tried-and-true best practices that we know work well. Local governments awarded project grants in the third round of grantmaking from the Rural Transformation Grant Fund include: Downtown Revitalization Category City of Albemarle: $270,000 City of Archdale: $180,000 City of Burlington: $425,000 City of Clinton: $350,000 City of Morganton: $450,000 City of Mount Airy: $475,000 City of Whiteville: $400,000 Town of Belhaven: $380,000 Town of Boiling Spring: $195,000 Town of Canton: $390,000 Town of Jefferson: $270,000 Town of Franklinton: $230,000 Resilient Neighborhoods Category City of Reidsville: $250,000 Town of Bethel: $200,000 Town of Faison: $180,000 Town of Hildebran: $300,000 Town of Hudson: $250,000 Town of Nags Head: $650,000 Town of Star: $200,000 Town of Williamston: $180,000 Community Enhancements Category City of Hamlet: $400,000 Town of Cameron: $400,000 Town of Cramerton: $400,000 Town of Elizabethtown: $150,000 Town of Wagram: $70,000 Rural Community Capacity (RC2) Category Town of Carthage: $49,999 Town of China Grove: $49,999 Town of Hildebran: $49,500 Town of Marshville: $49,999 Town of Vass: $49,999 These economic development grants will bring new vitality to many rural communities, said Kenny Flowers, the Commerce Departments Assistant Secretary for Rural Economic Development. I look forward to working with these communities as we work to transform the economy in rural North Carolina. A description of each of the awarded projects above is available at the Commerce website. More information about the Rural Transformation Grant Fund is available at commerce.nc.gov/transform. RALEIGH - North Carolina has received approval for a $7.5 million federal workforce grant to help workers who were affected by the Pactiv Evergreen layoffs in Canton and Waynesville, Governor Roy Cooper has announced. $2.5 million will be made available immediately, and the remainder will be distributed as needed to support workforce development efforts in the weeks and months to come. This grant will provide new resources for our continuing effort to support people in the region around Canton who are dealing with the devastating impact of the paper mills closure, Governor Cooper said. Working with local partners on the ground, we will keep bringing services to the affected workers to help them find new job opportunities and pivot to new careers with workforce training. On March 6, Pactiv Evergreen announced plans to shut down the paper mill in Canton and substantially reduce operations at its facility in nearby Waynesville. These actions have resulted in almost 1,100 employees losing their jobs. Most of the layoffs occurred on June 9. The Canton mill has been in operation for more than a century and was the largest employer in Haywood County. Its closure is expected to economically impact other companies that serve the paper mill, such as trucking companies, rail lines and the forestry industry, as well as the grocery stores, restaurants, healthcare providers, and other small businesses that have served Evergreen employees. The North Carolina Department of Commerces Division of Workforce Solutions (DWS) requested the new funds, which were awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor as an Employment Recovery Dislocated Worker Grant. Our Workforce Solutions team and our local NCWorks partners have made it a priority to respond to these layoffs in a coordinated, compassionate way, said N.C. Department of Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders. With this new grant from our federal partners and other available resources, we will continue helping talented workers to gain new skills and connect with employers who are hiring. Through the grant, eligible dislocated workers may receive: Career Services, to help them make employment plans and informed decisions about jobs and education, based on local and regional economic conditions Training Services, including On-the-Job Training (OJT) or other work-based learning opportunities with area employers, entrepreneurship training, and occupational skills training at community colleges or other providers, to prepare for in-demand careers; and Supportive Services, which can address barriers that may prevent individuals from participating in employment and training. To administer this grant, DWS will partner with Southwestern Workforce Development Board (which serves Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties) and Mountain Area Workforce Development Board (which serves Buncombe, Henderson, Madison and Transylvania counties). The grant is intended to serve approximately 885 people living in the region. Through the Rapid Response program, DWS, local workforce boards, Haywood Community College and other partners have collaborated to support the impacted workers and the community since March. They and others have held several job fairs and hiring events in the region, which will continue. NCWorks Career Centers (primarily the center in Haywood County) are already providing employment services to affected Evergreen employees, including career counseling, job search help (including resume assistance), tuition assistance for training, and veterans services. I appreciate Governor Cooper and everyone involved from DC to Raleigh in helping bring this grant to our community, said Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers. This grant will give these workers the resources they need to chart their own path and their future. These people and their families deserve respect, and every opportunity to pursue their dreams after this nightmare closing of Pactiv Evergreen, which has damaged not only our economy but our soul. Supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, National Dislocated Worker Grants temporarily expand the service capacity of dislocated worker training and employment programs at the state and local levels by providing funding assistance in response to large, unexpected economic events that cause significant job losses. DWS and local workforce development boards have administered federal grants of this type in the past, including grants that came in the wake of devastating hurricanes and another to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. People who are interested in receiving workforce services funded by the grant should contact their local NCWorks Career Center, which can be found at www.NCWorks.gov. Governor Cooper has also launched a page on his website to share information for people in western North Carolina who are looking for jobs, news about the closure, mental health resources and more. The White House confirmed Friday what had become one of its recent worst-kept secrets the nomination of Dr. Mandy Cohen as director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cohen served nearly six years as North Carolinas health secretary. During the initial 21 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cohen became the calming face of the states response, in particular during Democratic Gov. Roy Coopers press conferences. President Joe Biden said in a news release that Cohen is one of the nations top physicians and health leaders with experience leading large and complex organizations, and a proven track record protecting Americans health and safety. There was no comment from Cohen in Bidens statement. Biden praised Cohens ability to develop innovative and nationally recognized programs that improved the health and lives of families across the state. Her leadership through the COVID-19 crisis drew bipartisan praise, as did her successful transformation of North Carolinas Medicaid program and pivotal role in the bipartisan passage of Medicaid expansion that concluded with Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper signing the legislation into law on March 27. Biden also cited Cohens previous work as the CDCs chief operating officer and chief of staff in the Obama administration, helping to implement the federal Affordable Care Act programs, including expanding insurance coverage and protections. Dr. Cohen has been recognized by leaders from both parties for her ability to find common ground and put complex policy into action, Biden said. I look forward to working with Dr. Cohen as she leads our nations finest scientists and public health experts with integrity and transparency. The anticipated nomination of Cohen drew outspoken criticism from several North Carolina Republican elected officials, foremost U.S. Sen. Ted Budd, U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop and state Treasurer Dale Folwell. Budd and Bishop were among six Republican U.S. senators and 22 Republican House representatives who submitted a letter Tuesday to the Biden administration of their opposition to Cohens nomination. Budd spokesman Curtis Kalin said Friday that the senators views on Dr. Cohen are best explained in the letter. Dr. Cohen is unfit for the position ... given her strong affiliation with the Democrat(ic) Party and the COVID-19 lockdowns, according to the letter. It will be difficult for the American people to trust Dr. Cohen to run the CDC as a nonpartisan actor who makes objective decisions rooted in scientific data, and not in political expediency. Shortly after Biden disclosed his nomination of Cohen, a statement was released by U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee. We need a culture change at the CDC, and Mandy Cohen needs to show quickly that she is up to the task, said Cassidy, who is a medical doctor. Its not going to happen over Zoom, Cassidy said. We need a leader, in-person in Atlanta, who understands public health and is independent from political interests. CDC has to become more nimble, transparent and collaborative to quickly respond to threats and save lives. Respect, criticism of Cohen When Cohen announced in November 2021 her plans to step down as health secretary on Jan. 1, 2022, she received praises from Gov. Roy Cooper and legislative leaders from both parties. Coopers office said in November 2021 that, under Cohens leadership, North Carolina has been a model for best practices to provide equitable access to COVID-19 testing and support to families so that they could safely quarantine and isolate; been recognized as best in the nation for data quality for vaccinations by race and ethnicity; and eliminated a vaccination gap between Hispanic and non-Hispanic North Carolinians and narrowed the gap for Black/African American communities. Kody Kinsley, who replaced Cohen as N.C.s health secretary, referred Friday to comments earlier in June in which he said Cohen is a talented leader and passionate public servant. Her deep experience in government and implementing public health interventions on-the-ground in all communities will contribute much to the CDC. Senate leader Phil Berger, Rockingham, said in a November 2021 statement that Cohens leadership throughout her tenure at DHHS has helped our state navigate turbulent times. She made herself available to legislators to answer questions and kept us informed about issues facing the department. Meanwhile, Folwell wasted little time expressing his displeasure with the expected nomination of Cohen as head of the CDC. Folwell was one of the first statewide elected officials to call for the reopening of the states economy just two months after the COVID-19 pandemic surfaced in mid-March in North Carolina. Over the past three years, Folwell frequently criticized how Cooper and Cohen handled the pandemic. Folwell tweeted on June 2: Pray for our country. As a member of the N.C. Council of State, my observation is that the actions of Dr. Mandy Cohen during COVID resulted in more disease, death, poverty and illiteracy. As N.C. governor, I would be hard pressed to ever follow her lead at CDC if chosen by the POTUS. On June 5, Folwell, who is running for the Republican governors nomination in 2024, doubled down on his tweet in a response to the Winston-Salem Journal. I tried for months during COVID to get the Council of State to convene with Dr. Cohen to explain the lack of transparency in the data used to shut down our economy and our schools, Folwell told the Journal. These decisions disproportionately hurt lower- and fixed-income adults and kids. By closing schools and the economy, it closed opportunity and upward mobility for students and citizens. The damage is generational. A review of Twitter responses to Folwells Cohen tweet found the majority were critical of his stance, questioning the value of his advice as a non-medical person, and defending Cohens oversight. GREENSBORO Food entrepreneurs take note, theres a new commercial kitchen being built for hourly rental. The 477-square-foot kitchen will be located inside the Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship at 1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Lisa Hazlett, the centers president, said she hopes to have the kitchen operating within six months. And the location has a bonus onsite business planning and development classes and assistance with finding financing. The hourly rental price has not yet been determined. Located in the former headquarters building for Carolina Steel, Hazlett said officials had hoped to open two kitchens in the space. However, Guilford County health department officials said the limited space would put appliances too close to each other. No meat will be allowed in the kitchen, though fruits, vegetables, eggs and dairy products are OK. The three products that are super-regulated are meat, dairy and eggs, Hazlett said. And if you produce with any of those three items, you cannot cook out of your home if you have a pet. It requires a specially certified kitchen. Allowing meat as an ingredient at kitchen would require a U.S. Department of Agriculture representative to be onsite, she said. Hazlett anticipates sauces, dry rubs, jams and jellies will be produced at the kitchen. Most of the stuff that you're buying at farmer's markets, she said. And they can make cheese. Though the kitchen is open to anyone, Hazlett said research shows that the majority of tenants in shared commercial kitchens are minorities, women and refugees. Guilford County recently relocated its Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise Program to the Nussbaum Center. The location which is deemed a food desert also will increase the availability of local affordable food and food-related employment in the area, according to a news release from the center. The release announced a $10,000 grant from Cone Health Foundation for the project, bringing it to within just a few thousand dollars of the $95,400 goal. The Crescent Rotary Club Foundation, the North Carolina Business Incubation Association, Pinnacle Financial Services and the Stanley and Dorothy Frank Family Foundation also have committed money to the project. Hazlett said the kitchen is creating a buzz among entrepreneurs and the center already is getting inquiries weekly about using the space. I don't think we're going to have to do any marketing its happening organically for us, she said. I think our bigger challenge is that we're going to have a waiting list for people that want to use the space. An annual half-hour walking tour across UNCGs campus on Juneteenth revealed the depth of African Americans contributions to the school, something that many community members say they had never fully realized. Some of those on Mondays tour read and listened for the first time to stories deeply embedded within the walls of 11 buildings they had spent time in as faculty, staff and alumni of the University. UNCG, whose student population is 28% Black, has undergone a significant transformation from its status as a college for white women in the early 20th century. The change began when Elizabeth JoAnne Smart and Bettye Tillman, the first two African American students, enrolled in 1956. The two were forced to room in Shaw Hall, in a wing that was segregated to house only Smart and Tillman. Mondays tour guided visitors through the renovated building. I never really knew about this history and how its in most of the buildings on campus, said Faith Kirkpatrick, who graduated from UNCG in May. Shay Bracewell, a training specialist with UNCGs Human Resources department heard about the tour from her colleagues and decided that she should learn about many of the historical markers across the grounds. Those on the tour were able to see historic pictures of the first African American workers on campus, the trumpet Miles Davis used to record Kind of Blues, the bestselling jazz album of all time. The trumpet was donated by Davis friend Buddy Gist to commemorate their friendship. Visitors also were able to see the lounge of the historic Neo Black Society, a student organization founded in 1968, and a display of the accomplishments of Olympian Paul Chelimo, a graduate of UNCG. The 30-minute journey through history had a unique connection to public health and wellness that the organizers of the tour say is central in African American culture and the civil rights movement. Weve seen the cultural significance of walking throughout African American history, said Dr. DeAnne Brooks, an associate professor and graduate program director in the department of kinesiology. During the (1960) sit-in protests, both students at the womens college and local high schools walked to lunch counters. We know that physicality and being mobile was central to the importance of the Underground Railroad. The tour culminated in a presentation that encapsulated the African American contribution to UNCG. When Christina Yongue and the other members of the UNCG Juneteenth Committee stood before a full room of those willing to learn and commemorate the African American contribution to the school, there was a feeling of pride. I knew there was history there. Its been hidden, and not talked about, said Yongue, who is the director of undergraduate studies at UNCGs department of Public Health Education. This tour encourages our whole community to know Black history, and I want Black people specifically to know about what theyve done and to take pride in it. Silverman Law Office PLLC invites the community to celebrate the grand opening of its new Helena location with an evening of appetizers, drinks, networking activities and the chance to win some prizes. In coordination with the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce, the Business After Hours and Ribbon Cutting celebration will be held from 4-6 p.m. Thursday at Silverman Law Offices new location at 2620 Colonial Drive. The event is free and open to the public. Chili OBriens will cater the appetizers, and Lakeside on Hauser will provide the bar. Guests will have an opportunity to compete in various games for fun prizes, and the first person to complete a scavenger hunt around the office will win a JBL Partybox portable party speaker. The winner of a business card drawing will take home a new Yeti Tundra cooler. Silverman Law Office has served more than 7,000 Montanans since it was founded in 2012 by attorney Joel Silverman. With offices in Helena and Bozeman, the law firm specializes in tax law, estate planning, business law, liquor and gaming law, real estate transactions and more. The Business After Hours and Ribbon Cutting celebration is intended to help promote local business, foster professional connections, and strengthen partnerships within the Helena community. For more information, contact Silverman Law Office Marketing Manager Jesse Chaney at jesse@mttaxlaw.com or call 406-449-4829. Attorneys for the state of Montana opened their case Monday in the widely watched climate trial unfolding in Helena, which is expected to wrap up Tuesday. The state is on defense in Held vs. Montana, a case filed in 2020 by a group of 16 young plaintiffs who argue the state is responsible for contributions to climate change that violate their right to a clean and healthful environment as enshrined in the Montana Constitution. The plaintiffs called their final witnesses Friday, and Monday the state's attorneys called only three witnesses to fortify their defense. Two officials from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality testified for the state that they are bound by the plain language in statute enacted by the state Legislature. The third and final witness for the state, economist Terry Anderson, testified Montana's contribution to the global greenhouse gas emissions in recent years have been mere hundredths of a single percent of the total. Anderson's numbers, however, were quickly thrown into question on cross examination when plaintiff attorney Phil Gregory highlighted significant corrections Anderson made to his reports ahead of trial. Gregory displayed both Anderson's original and corrected reports side-by-side on a screen in the courtroom Monday. The first report listed Montana's emission projections by sector such as residential, commercial, transportation and electric power while the corrected report showed those same numbers represented a five-state region. When pressed on the report, Anderson noted he brought only his erroneous report on the witness stand, and was at times uncertain about where he drew some of the figures he relayed in his testimony. He did maintain that his projections for the five-state "Mountain Region" in the corrected report did help put Montana's figures into perspective. Gregory made a motion to strike Anderson's testimony given the unstable footing on his evidence. District Court Judge Kathy Seeley declined the motion, but said the discussion had "raised some questions about the numbers." Earlier Monday, the state's attorneys called DEQ Director Chris Dorrington as their first witness. Dorrington, having sat through the testimony of the youths during the plaintiffs case last week, said during his own testimony that he admired their "grit." Dorrington said he did not understand, however, as to why the state agency was a defendant in the case. The Legislature enacts laws and policy, he said, while DEQ in the executive branch merely executes those laws. In this context, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change are not in statute as passed by the Legislature, and so the agency cannot reject permits because of those factors, he said. "Really what we'll permit is what is submitted to us and fully complies with the law," Dorrington testified. "We have no authority to do otherwise." Melissa Hornbein, an attorney for the plaintiffs, pushed back on cross examination that permitting coal and gas extraction projects is at odds with the constitutional right raised by the plaintiffs. She asked Dorrington whether DEQ considers the clean and healthful environment provision in the Constitution when permitting these projects. "If you're asking if there's a checkbox that says does this follow the Constitution, then no," Dorrington replied. The plaintiffs' case turns on the Montana Environmental Policy Act, which until recently barred the state from considering greenhouse gas emissions or climate change outside of Montana's boundaries during the permit process. Under House Bill 971, passed by the Legislature earlier this year, the state can consider impacts outside of Montana, but not contributing factors to climate change inside or out of Montana. The plaintiffs are asking a judge to strike that provision from the law. The state is arguing that if the plaintiffs want Montana agencies to consider climate impacts in their permitting decisions, theyve challenged the wrong statute. During a Thursday back-and-forth with one of the plaintiffs expert witnesses, Deputy Attorney General Thane Johnson reiterated the states position that MEPA is a procedural law, not a permitting one. The state has also argued throughout the trial is that Montana's emission levels are small enough to be negligible, while the the plaintiffs have countered that every ton of carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere will boost the likelihood of extreme weather events in Montana. Sonja Nowakowski, the DEQ administrator of the Air, Energy and Mining Division and formerly a longtime bill drafter for environmental regulations, testified Monday that MEPA does not allow the agency to modify or deny a project without the underlying regulatory authority. "DEQ does not have the authority to deny a permit because of greenhouse gas emissions," she said. Nowakowski testified that several emissions levels are in flux. Emissions from the electric power industry in 2020 were down 37% from their levels in 1990, she said, while emissions from agriculture are up more than 7%, according to Montana-specific figures from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Nowakowski, in a nod to Montana's agricultural heritage, called the industry a "sacred cow" in jest, but said the case at hand appeared to focus narrowly on one industry. "If we're talking about 'every ton matters,' then the state of Montana may need to have some difficult conversations," she said. " It's a broader discussion than just fossil fuel activities, although I agree that fossil fuel activities is the largest contributor in Montana." Attorneys for both sides said Monday they expect the trial to conclude by noon on Tuesday after brief closing arguments. DECATUR Although he isnt in school right now, 9-year-old Silas Livingston spent Monday morning learning about his familys African American and Civil Rights past. I do like when my grandpa talks about this stuff, because I like learning about my history, he said. His grandfather, Joe Roundtree, 80, wants his grandchildren to know as much as possible about Americas Black History. So he brought them to the Mobile Museum of Tolerance on Monday as the bus was parked in the parking lot of the African American Genealogical Society on Eldorado Street. Its very educational, but Ive lived through lots of it, he said. But its real nice for the people that dont know the history of it. And its nice for me to go in and get reacquainted with it. The visit was made possible by the Decatur Memorial Hospital and The Community Foundation of Macon County. Mobile Museum of Tolerance locations in Decatur Tuesday, June 20 from 1 to 7 p.m. at Decatur Memorial Hospital Wednesday, June 21 and Thursday, June 22 from noon to 6 p.m. at Decatur Memorial Hospital Friday, June 23 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Decatur Memorial Hospital As an education associate, Elizabeth Blair has been traveling with the Mobile Museum of Tolerance to various locations in Illinois. The bus will remain in Decatur throughout the week at the Decatur Memorial Hospital. We tell them a little bit about the bus, then they have the option of choosing between three different videos, she said. People realize how important this is, the truths being taught. According to Blair, the Mobile Museum of Tolerance began touring the state in 2021, stopping in school and library parking lots. It is the only mobile unit in the country. New York will have its own soon. Created through the Museum of Tolerance in California, the bus holds approximately 30 people. Even as a military serviceman, Roundtree lived through many of the struggles his family has seen and heard in the exhibits. The struggles we had and are still having today, he said. Julia Livingston, his daughter, makes sure her children listen and understand the trials their grandfather had while growing up and as a young adult. To have this multi-generational approach, my little boys have the chance to hear directly as he tells it, Livingston said. Its not that far back in history. Its good to see the history on the walls and in the pictures, but I saw that in person, Roundtree said. Its not out of a book, its right there in person. The Mobile Museum of Tolerance is free to the public offering videos and images from the past. Along with Civil Rights newsreels, viewers can learn more about Anne Frank and modern antisemitism. Each video is approximately 10 minutes long. Along with the Civil Rights movies, Silas and his family also watched the video on Anne Frank. I wasnt familiar with her, his grandfather said. It showed me some things. The first day the mobile unit was opened to the public was on Juneteenth, June 19. Decatur had various celebrations during the previous weekend, including a banquet on Friday at Richland Community College, a festival on Saturday in Central Park, and a lakeside event on Sunday at the Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater. And today is here at the African American museum, said Evelyn Hood. As the executive director of the African American Cultural and Genealogical Society in Decatur, Hood organized Friday and Saturdays events. Volunteers made the work easier she said, including The Big Sisters Federated Club. But its a lot of hard work, she said. 10 notable Juneteenth celebrations across the US How Juneteenth is being celebrated across the US Juneteenth and Beyond Guided Tours - Galveston, Texas Opal's Walk for Freedom - Fort Worth, Texas Memphis Juneteenth Festival - Memphis, Tennessee Juneteenth Music Festival - Philadelphia Macknificent Freedom Fest - Fort Wayne, Indiana 52nd Juneteenth Street Festival - Milwaukee Las Vegas Juneteenth Festival - Las Vegas 7th Annual Juneteenth Freedom Festival - Columbia, South Carolina Omaha Freedom Festival - Omaha, Nebraska FABA Fest - Barbados DECATUR Mobile classrooms are being considered as the temporary home for Dennis Lab School students this fall. The mobile classrooms, six in all, would be located on the Garfield Learning Academy campus, according to the agenda for a special Decatur Public Schools Board of Education meeting set for Wednesday. The special open session meeting is set for 5 p.m. in the MacArthur High School auditorium, 1499 W. Grand Ave. The meeting follows the district's announcement last week that both Dennis Lab School buildings the Mosaic campus, 1499 W. Main St., and the Kaleidoscope campus, 520 W. Wood St. will be closed for the 2023-2024 school year due to structural concerns. The Mosaic campus the original footprint for Dennis needs its original staircase fully repaired or replaced, consultants found. At the Kaleidoscope campus, engineers have recommended partial demolition and replacement of the original 1913 three-story building. Agenda items for the meeting is as follows: Public Participation Report from administration: Dennis Lab School Short-term Plan Board Discussion Roll call action item: Six (6) classrooms mobile modular layout with standard restroom on the Garfield Campus for Dennis Lab School Garfield Learning Academy is located in South Shores and houses the district's alternative education program. During an appearance last week on the Byers & Co. radio program, Superintendent Rochelle Clark said all options for housing the displaced Dennis students are on the table. Options she mentioned included renting the former Kroger in Fairview Park Plaza and assigning Dennis students to other district buildings for the coming year. District staff and parents of Dennis students have made it clear that it would be preferred if all of the students could be housed in one place. No other information was available Monday, so it is unclear if the mobile classrooms would achieve this goal. In addition to its other attendance centers, the district owns several other buildings that could fit into the mix. District officials have previously said they were hoping to have a decision before June 27, so the staff and families of the more than 500 Dennis School students could begin planning for the new school year that starts on Aug. 14. The examination of the buildings by an engineer followed numerous complaints about the building by its staff. According to a timeline of events released by Decatur Public Schools following the closure announcement, discussions between Clark and Dennis administration on the future of Dennis Lab School began in October 2022. In February 2023, Dennis staff raised concerns to administration about issues with the heating, ventilation and cooling systems, ceiling leaks, wood damage under carpet and more. Officials then began discussing the need to schedule a structural analysis on both buildings, but according to the district, they wanted to do so on a day with little to no students in attendance. The district said the engineering review was attempted to be scheduled on early release dates of March 22, April 19 and May 17, but engineer and/or DPS staff schedules did not align. An initial structural analysis was completed on May 30, the last day of the school year for students. The following day, the district announced it would be temporarily losing both Dennis buildings. A Quincy engineering firm completed an in-depth study on each Dennis building on June 1. Those studies revealed the serious structural concerns in the schools. It was the first comprehensive structural investigation of the buildings since 2013. All public school buildings are required to undergo a health life safety inspection every 10 years, meaning both buildings were due for such an inspection this year. While deficiencies were noted during the 2013 inspection, none reached the level of concern as those found recently. A new building may eventually have to be constructed if neither existing building can be saved, and the district has already attempted to get the wheels turning on a new school within the Dennis boundary. But those attempts failed. In the past year, the school board considered and rejected the site of the former Woodrow Wilson Junior High for a new building that would bring all Dennis students under one roof. It then attempted to make a deal with the Decatur Park District to buy Lincoln Park instead, but the park district decided not to sell. Instead, the district has opted to use COVID relief funds to construct a new magnet school on the site of the former Oak Grove School to replace the American Dreamer STEM Academy, now located on North Taylor Avenue. LOOKING BACK: Decatur's Dennis School HISTORY CORNER: A LOOK BACK History Corner: A Look Back HISTORY CORNER: A LOOK BACK HISTORY CORNER: A LOOK BACK HISTORY CORNER: A LOOK BACK HISTORY CORNER: A LOOK BACK HISTORY CORNER: A LOOK BACK 2019 2019 2019 2013 DECATUR As new details emerge about accused theft teams of foreign ancestry targeting customers of Decatur Walmart stores, a check of police reports shows its not the first time Central Illinois has been hit by similar criminal groups. In the latest case, a man of Romanian origin, Eugen F. Pribegeanu, 36, is accused of working with a 29-year-old woman who lists an address in California to distract Walmart shoppers in store parking lots and steal credit and debit cards. Pribegeanu has been charged with aggravated identity theft and is due to appear in Macon County Circuit Court for a preliminary hearing June 28 with the help of a Romanian translator. He was arrested June 10 and released from the Macon County Jail on Saturday after posting a $15,000 bond on bail set at $150,000. The woman was booked on preliminary charges of money laundering, burglary and aggravated identity theft and is yet to be formally charged. She was released from jail Friday after posting a $4,000 bond on bail set at $40,000. In August of 2018, Mount Zion Police reported disrupting a sophisticated criminal team of Romanian origin who stole thousands of dollars from victims using doctored Visa gift cards at ATMs. Speaking at the time, Police Chief Adam Skundberg said the arrested suspects, a 20-year-old man and three teenagers, were part of a much larger criminal enterprise that committed similar crimes all over the country. The adult male, who later skipped bail, had told police he worked for a Chicago-based crime figure and would loot customer accounts using counterfeit credit/debit cards that were supplied to him. A sworn affidavit said he told police he was paid between $600 and $700 in return for stealing around $5,000 from ATMs in just 48 hours. Detective Sgt. Brian Earles with Decatur police said the latest arrests of Pribegeanu and the woman had sparked intense interest from law enforcement agencies and other groups across the nation investigating similar crimes. Ive had all kinds of people call me from all over the place about those two, he said, speaking Tuesday. I talked to the director of investigations for a fairly large retail chain who called and she had been tracking them for a couple of years. She said she could tell when they would start and when they would stop (committing crimes) just by following them around the United States from the reports she was getting. A quick Internet search shows Romanian organized crime groups linked to thefts, robberies and swindles that especially target elderly victims. Two Romanian nationals charged in March in San Diego are accused of laundering more than $1.4 million from such crimes. Earles said it has been difficult for local police to interdict roving criminal groups in the past because, by the time the crimes were reported, the criminals had gone. They would be off to their next city and on their way, he said. But now technology is giving police a new edge to fight back. Pribegeanu and the women accused with him were said by police to be involved in at least three thefts from Decatur Walmart customers from May 23 through June 8, only this time police were soon hot on their trail. Sworn affidavits said detectives had been alerted about similar crimes and a suspect vehicle to be on the lookout for in bulletins received from police in Iowa. Officers there use the same sophisticated license plate camera monitoring system as Decatur police, who quickly discovered the suspect vehicle had been recorded here when they checked their own cameras. More detective work using this information led to the vehicle being found parked outside a motel in Champaign and Pribegeanu and the woman were arrested in adjoining rooms on the night of June 9 in a police raid. To protect themselves from similar crimes, Earles urged shoppers to always exercise caution, especially at vulnerable times when they are loading groceries in their vehicles and a person approaches claiming to seek directions or information. These recent thefts targeted elderly people whose guard was down, he added. They just didnt see them coming. 2023 mugshots from the Herald & Review Lourash Hirstein Phillip Gehrken Joseph A. Williams Jetrevius O. Jarrett Edwards King-Woods Wilson Derrickson Colby J. Park Sen. Steve McClure is a Republican who resides in Springfield and represents the 54th Senate District. He is a former Sangamon County prosecutor and is serving his second four-year term in the Illinois Senate. McClure is the floor leader for the Senate Republicans. Key votes State budget: No. Withhold state funds from libraries that ban books: No. Permitting all-gender, multi-occupancy bathrooms: No. Barring deceptive practices from anti-abortion pregnancy centers: No. Lifting moratorium on new nuclear plants: Yes. Bills sponsored Senate Bill 188: Allows parents of developmentally disabled kids aged 12 to 17 access to medical records without a court order. (passed) Senate Bill 1916: Places temporary moratorium on construction of pipelines carrying carbon dioxide. (did not pass) Senate Bill 1969: Increases share of cannabis tax revenue going toward the Local Government Distributive Fund from 8% to 15%. (did not pass) Successes from session McClure said hes proud of two bills he passed. One closes a loophole in state law that has forced parents of developmentally disabled children between the ages of 12 and 17 to go to court to access their childs medical records. The second would require dental offices to provide patients at least 30 days notice before closing in order to provide ample time to collect records. These arent things that are going to change the world, but these are things that are going to make somebodys day better in the state of Illinois. So to do those bills, I was very proud to get them passed. Disappointments from session If you go from district to district across the state, and I mean every Senate district, they want us to tackle crime, cost of living (and) corruption. Those are the three big things that were hearing about all the time. And I dont feel like they were really addressed. McClure criticized Democrats for pursuing criminal justice reforms that reduce sentences instead of tough-on-crime bills proposed by Republicans. He also said energy policies pursued by the majority party were driving up energy prices. McClure is the Senate Republican floor leader. An earlier version of this article identified him as an assistant floor leader. About this story This story is part of a series looking at area lawmakers' takeaways from the recent legislative session. Sen. Sally Turner is a Republican who resides in Beason and represents the 44th Senate District. She was the Logan County Clerk for 24 years. She was appointed to the Illinois Senate in 2021 and elected to her first full term in 2022. Key votes State budget: No. Withhold state funds from libraries that ban books: No. Permitting all-gender, multi-occupancy bathrooms: No. Barring deceptive practices from anti-abortion pregnancy centers: No. Lifting moratorium on new nuclear plants: Yes. Bills sponsored Senate Bill 73 : Makes it a Class X felony for anyone to sell or distribute a scheduled drug, such as Adderall or Vicodin, that is laced with a detectable amount of fentanyl. (did not pass) Senate Bill 279 : Would make school zone speed apply during the whole school day instead of just when children are present. (did not pass) Senate Bill 1376 : Prior to referring a homeless family with school age children to a shelter, an agency must consider the military status of any member of the family to determine eligibility for state and federal benefits. (passed) Successes from session Turner said she was satisfied with increases in funding for K-12 schools and state universities. She was also glad to see line items increase for the need-based Monetary Assistance Program and the merit-based Aim High Grant Program. She said the budget process was much better this year than in past years. We didnt get all the issues addressed that we wanted, but at least our budgeteers Sen. Chapin Rose and Sen. Don DeWitte were there. And that, I think, is something that is refreshing to see. But we still need to work together for all the issues of Illinoisans, not just the ones that (Democrats) choose to address. Disappointments from session Turner said she wanted to see a larger increase in hourly wages for direct service professionals, who work in group homes that serve the developmentally disabled. She also wanted to see more guidelines for wind and solar projects to mitigate the impact on rural communities. And she wanted to see business-friendly changes to the states toughest-in-the-nation biometric privacy law. We need to make sure that we keep bringing businesses into the state of Illinois and retain them. Thats extremely important for our tax base. We want to be a welcoming state for business. And I think BIPA was something that was very important that we missed out on. Photos: Pritzker sworn in for second term Justice Amy Coney Barretts majority opinion for the Supreme Court in Haaland v. Brackeen is conservative in the good old-fashioned sense of the word. In upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act, the court reaffirmed precedent and declined an invitation to revolutionize the law with a reactionary constitutional holding. Along the way, Barrett demonstrated a style of doctrinal confidence and aphoristic clarity reminiscent of her old boss, Justice Antonin Scalia. The opinion marks a step in her bid to inherit Scalias role as the leading conservative voice on the court. Meanwhile, in a separate concurrence joined by the courts two most liberal members, Justice Neil Gorsuch continued his laudable effort to tell the truth about the history of U.S. oppression of Native Americans in the courts official records, known as the U.S. Reports. The conservative judicial revolution isnt over, not by a long shot. Expect further conservative activism in the days to come. And Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote separately to suggest that the court might still in the future strike down some of the Indian Child Welfare Act's key provisions as violating the equal protection clause. Nonetheless, the decision in Haaland v. Brackeen can tell you something about what a sane conservative court could look like. The provisions of the ICWA at stake in the case essentially require that, when a Native American child needs an adoptive placement, the state court considering the issue place the child with a family member if possible, or failing that, with a fellow tribal member or at least an American Indian. A non-American Indian family is the final resort. As Gorsuch pointed out, the law, enacted in 1978, was designed as a very partial repair to the terrible history of Native American children being forcibly taken from their families. The practice started in the 19th century with mass placement of Native American kids in boarding schools designed to rob them of their culture, and continued through the 1970s with forcible legal separations and adoptions by white parents that were thinly justified by the excuse that children would be better off if taken from their parents., The parties in the Brackeen case challenged the adoption provisions of ICWA in two ways: by claiming the law was outside Congress constitutional authority to pass in the first place, and by asserting that the law is racially discriminatory. The parties contended it treats Native American children differently from white children, and Native American adoptive parents differently from white adoptive parents. Barrett firmly rejected the notion that Congress lacked the power to legislate for the welfare of Native American children. Relying on caselaw, Barrett wrote that Congress power in the field was muscular, subject only to the limitations placed by the Constitution. (In a Scalian touch, she quipped that like the rest of its legislative powers, Congress authority must derive from the Constitution, not the atmosphere.) Responding to the suggestion that family law is always a matter for states, not the federal government, Barrett called the argument a non-starter, noting that the Constitution does not erect a firewall around family law. And as to the claim that Congress can legislate with regard to American Indians collectively but not individually? A dead-end because of contrary precedent. In a sharp retort to the parties who wanted to limit Congress power, Barrett made short shrift of their claim that state-run family courts could not be made to obey federal law. This argument runs headlong into the Constitution, she wrote, citing the supremacy clause of the Constitution. End of story. When it came to the potentially most revolutionary aspect of the case, the argument that ICWA racially discriminates in violation of equal protection, Barrett declined to address the issue. Instead, the court held that the parties lacked standing to raise the issue on technical grounds. The effect was to leave the issue for another day. In this opinion, Barrett, who has adopted kids of her own (as does Chief Justice John Roberts), showed legal mastery, common sense and judicial flair as well as respect for the basic, precedent-based structure of the relationship between the federal government, the tribes and the states. I expect to see more radical decisions on issues like abortion, affirmative action, the environment and church and state. But the Brackeen case offers a glimpse of what can happen when the conservative Gorsuch is guided by his heart and the conservative Barrett is guided by traditional conservative legal values like judicial restraint. The practical takeaway is that ICWA is safe for now, and potentially for a long time to come. Thats good news for tribes and for the legal continuity that comes from respecting precedent. On June 23 the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority board of directors will meet to consider more than $23 million in proposed grant awards, including three for Southwest Virginia. The authoritys full board will conduct a public meeting and consider public comments before voting on the recommended awards. The meeting will be held virtually at 3 p.m. Earlier this month a committee of the authority voted to recommend more than $23 million in awards to 76 Virginia cities and counties, according to a written statement. The vote represents the first major allocation of awards from the OAA since Virginia received its first set of national settlement payments from manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids last year, according to the statement. The payments from the various settling companies are expected to continue for at least 16 more years and will exceed $1 billion in total funding. This money is needed urgently across the state to save lives, state Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Abingdon and chairman of the authority. The OAA carefully reviewed every application to make sure 100% of these funds are going to combat the addiction crisis that is stealing lives across Virginia. Among the recommendations were grants totaling more than $2 million for Southwest Virginia. Smyth County could receive $1 million for a partnership including Smyth, Bland, Carroll, Grayson and Wythe counties plus the city of Galax. Funds will be used to expand Office Based Opioid Treatment, or OBOT, services and medication for opioid use disorders and assist in providing region-wide transitional recovery housing. Washington County, fiscal agent for a partnership with the city of Bristol Virginia, is recommended to receive $745,000 to purchase the Mended Women residential treatment center for women. Wise County, fiscal agent for a partnership including Wise, Lee and Scott counties plus the city of Norton, is expected to get $346,222 to fund an intensive outpatient treatment facility for youth. Dr. Sarah Thomason, a clinical pharmacist who chairs the OAAs Grants Committee, said that Virginia is one of the first states to develop grant criteria for localities and to make awards based on those criteria. It is truly exciting to see these funds being invested at the community level in programs that are evidence-based and focused on saving lives, she said. Many of our cities and counties have developed projects ready for initiation and we expect grants from the OAA will allow those projects to start making a difference quickly. The proposed awards include grants to thirteen individual cities or counties and 26 grants to partnerships in which multiple cities and/or counties have committed to a regional approach. Projects vary based on the identified needs of each community, and range from expansion of medication-assisted treatment programs, to recovery housing, to in-patient services. In 2022 Attorney General Jason Miyares announced the first round of finalized settlements worth more than $500 million for the Commonwealth spread over the course of eighteen years, and predicted the total will increase to more than $1 billion as additional settlements are finalized. The OAA was established by the General Assembly in 2021 to oversee the distribution of 55% of Virginias total settlement funds. Of the remainder, 30% is distributed directly to cities and counties, and the remaining 15% to the commonwealth. The use of funds is restricted by court orders and state statute, with the restrictions aiming for the funds to be used for opioid abatement efforts. Information regarding the June 23 meeting can be found at www.voaa.us LENOIR Cathy Swanson, retiring chief executive officer of Amorem, was looking for a career that would not require her to work nights or weekends when she stumbled across Caldwell Hospice, now Amorem. Initially, Swanson had applied to be a business manager at Legacy Caldwell when the executive director at the time, Gibbie Harris, encouraged her to accept a position as a medical social worker for the organization. Though she held the appropriate qualifications, Swanson had never imagined working in health care, especially with terminally ill patients and their families. After reflecting on the potential opportunities at Caldwell Hospice and realizing that this position would provide a flexible schedule to raise her three children, Swanson knew that Caldwell Hospice was exactly where she needed to be. She quickly made the call to accept the position as a medical social worker and in August of 1988, Swanson was hired as a team member. Within the first 17 months, Swanson fell in love with the work that the organization accomplished. I can still drive around Caldwell County and remember where particular patients resided, says Swanson. I have been blessed by the most incredible experiences with patients and their families. Swanson had never expected to become a leader with a 35-year tenure at the organization. When the executive director role became vacant in late 1989, the Legacy Caldwell board processed many applications and struggled to find the right fit for the position. The board decided to wipe the slate clean and start the hiring process over from the beginning. On this second attempt to find their new executive director, the staff encouraged Swanson to apply. She was appointed as the executive director of Caldwell Hospice on Jan. 16, 1990, and moved into the office she has called her own for the past 33 years. Tony Deal, a former board member, said the board was looking for stability, someone who could keep the ship afloat. Little did we know that we had selected a visionary, a leaders leader, a business whiz, a go-getter and someone who, for the next 33 years, would transform hospice beyond anything charter board members would recognize, Deal said. In preparation to thrive as a leader, Swanson pursued extended knowledge and earned a Master of Public Health degree at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2000. Swanson was the recipient of the 2002 Peter Keese Award which recognizes devotion to hospice care, advocacy on the state and local levels and a vision for what the future of care can look like. Having served over 30 years on Amorems board of directors, I have had the privilege of working with Cathy Swanson the same number of years, says current board member Marc Carpenter. Cathy has proven to be a superlative leader. She is innovative and always looking into the future to anticipate needed changes, even before they become apparent in many cases. Cathys greatest strength, in my mind, is that she leads with both head and heart. Swanson gained strength and renewed passion in her line of work after experiencing hospice care for her younger brother in December 2017. Her brother was able to die at home as he desired, with his dog, mother, siblings and his son by his side. He was comfortable and the entire family was supported by the hospice team. This is the experience that carried Swanson through the next tumultuous five years of building projects, the merger and COVID-19. Under Swansons leadership, Caldwell Hospice operated the first free-standing patient care unit in the state of North Carolina, purchased the Ashewood property where Amorem Grief Support Services operate, expanded and renovated its Stevens Patient Care Unit, built the Jack and Shirley Robbins Center which housed Forlines Patient Care Unit the organizations second patient care unit, expanded services into the High Country of North Carolina, became one of the four founding hospices of the TELEIOS Collaborative Network, built a palliative care center in Boone, merged with Burke Hospice and Palliative Care to create Amorem and launched a capital campaign to bring a patient care unit to the High Country. Each of Amorems patient care units were opened debt free thanks to contributions from the community. During Swansons years in the hospice and palliative care industry, she was an active participant on many committees and shared her heart for hospice through many affiliations. Swanson served on the board of directors for Hospice of the Carolinas, the Accreditation Commission for Health Care, Appalachian State University Healthcare Management Advisory Council, Carolinas Center for Hospice and End of Life Care and for TELEIOS Collaborative Network. HICKORY One of Oakwood Elementary Schools exceptional fifth-grade students, Jeremiah Miller, has been selected as one of the annual Farm to School calendar art competition winners. Thirteen young artists from across North Carolina were chosen to represent the states thriving agricultural industry in this celebrated initiative. The Farm to School calendar showcases students artwork across the state, and each month highlights a different theme related to North Carolina agriculture. The calendar also features daily facts about agriculture and its role in food production. Jeremiah Millers artwork stood out among the 3,500 entries received from public school students in 67 counties across the state. His exceptional talent and creativity, nurtured under the guidance of his teacher, Teresa Bently, have earned him a spot in the calendar. Additional recognitions from Oakwood Elementary include: Finalist, Nadia Ordaz Uribe, fifth grade Honorable mention, Lily Hartley, fifth grade Honorable mention, Causey White, fifth grade The ability to have a calm, comforting voice in the midst of a crisis is an essential skill for a telecommunicator. Summer Andrews knows that well. Andrews, 47, has been a telecommunicator for nearly 20 years. Her career started at the Baton Rouge Police Department in Louisiana. She worked at that department for 11 years. She said Baton Rouge had around 1,500 officers. Thats more than 10 times the size of the Hickory Police Department. Andrews is the telecommunications supervisor for Hickory police. She has worked in Hickory for eight years. The Hickory Police Department has 15 telecom positions slotted. Andrews said 10 of the positions are filled. Three additional people are currently in training, she said. In 2022, the Hickory Police Departments communications center took more than 15,000 emergency calls, averaging out to 41 calls per day. The center also answered an average of 315 non-emergency calls each day, totaling more than 115,000. Andrews is originally from Livingston, Louisiana. She said she moved to North Carolina for the mountains. She eventually settled in Hickory because it was close to some of her friends, she said. Andrews discussed her most memorable calls and other details of her career. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. What is telecommunications? We answer 911 calls and administrative calls from citizens of the city that we work in. We dispatch the officers to calls that citizens need help with. We take information from officers when they stop a vehicle, a traffic stop. We run drivers license histories, checks, vehicle checks and anything else the officers need from us. We also enter warrants, subpoenas and stolen items into the database. Most memorable call In Baton Rouge, we had this taxi driver who called us all the time. He would finish his route and he would go home and drink, then he would call us. He just liked to talk. So, we would just sit on the phone with him, let him talk, let him say whatever he was going say, and then hed hang up and we wouldnt hear from him for a few days. Then the same thing, he would get home after a shift and get to drinking again, and then hed call. I think he just wanted to talk to people. He ended up moving to Oklahoma and he would still call us. He would talk about anything, politics, the people he drove that day, just anything. Most stressful call One of the motorcycle officers, in Baton Rouge, was involved in a wreck on duty. His partner called on the phone because they couldnt get out on the radio. I answered the phone. It was a bad wreck. The officer did not survive. That was probably the most stressful call that Ive taken. I didnt know the officer. Baton Rouge was so big that we didnt interact with the officers like we do here in Hickory. We didnt really know any of them there. During stressful calls, your training kicks in and its not emotional at the time. You just go through the information that you need. This job can weigh heavy at times. But for the most part, were just to remember that its not our situation. Were just here to help them. Being able to provide help is what makes us want to do this job. Best advice received My original trainer at Baton Rouge told me, We are the lifeline. Anything that anybody needs help with, thats what were here to do. I like to help people and that just sticks with me. During my first busy shift when I was still in training, another telecommunicator was trying to step in and take over my radio because it was the first time Id ever had a busy shift. My trainer said, No, this is hers. Let her do it. The best way to learn is by doing. Another piece of advice that is important to me is when I told my family, friends and coworkers in Baton Rouge that I wanted to move to the mountains, everyone was supportive and told me to follow my dreams. Hickory vs. Baton Rouge The biggest difference would be that in Baton Rouge, the communications center is split up with call takers and dispatchers. When you are answering phones from citizens, you did not have to dispatch the officers. It wasnt as much of a multitasking job as it is here. I like it here better because it is smaller and it is more family oriented. We have relationships with the officers. We see them every day and during holidays we sit down and eat together. Sometimes on Sundays they come in and we would just have Sunday dinner together. The relationship with everybody at the department is better than at Baton Rouge. It was so big there that you didnt know anybody. Distinctive descendants Gen. Burwell Baxter Bell III and Dr. Amelia Rector Bell Knight are descendants of the Revolutionary War patriots William Walton Sr. and Jr. of Morganton. Both Bell and Knight have dedicated themselves to serving their country, just as their patriot ancestors did. Bell enjoyed a 39-year US Army career in which he retired as a four-star general, according to his biography. A native of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Bell earned a bachelors degree in business administration from the University of Chattanooga (now the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga) and a Master of Science in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. He also graduated from the ROTC program at the University of Chattanooga. Bell was commissioned into the US Army in 1969 as an armor/tank second lieutenant. He completed the armor officer basic and advanced courses, the National War College and Ranger School. He patrolled the Iron Curtain dividing Germany during the Cold War and held a variety of command positions. He served as a senior military fellow on the Council on Foreign Relations in 1994, and as Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.s executive officer in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He also was chief of staff for the US Army-Europes forward headquarters in Hungary during Operation Joint Endeavor in the Balkans. After serving as an assistant division commander for the First and Third Infantry Divisions in Germany, Bell finished his career as chief of staff of V Corps and US Army-Europe. He retired in 1999. Knight, also a native of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, earned a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Chicago and taught at the University of Rochester in New York, according to her biography. She and her husband, James, conducted field research with the Tuareg of Niger, (Africa), her biography reads. This initial African adventure began a lifetime passion for travel and experiencing different cultures throughout the world. The couple moved to Washington DC to work for the US Department of States Foreign Service Institute. Amelia has lived in eight African countries, as well as Paris and London, according to the biography. Her work with the Department of State took her to almost every country in Africa and numerous others worldwide. Amelia, who speaks French and Portuguese, has had the great honor of representing the United States as ambassadors wife when James was appointed US Ambassador to Benin, and while he served as US Ambassador to Chad. The Knights retired from public service to Tennessee, where Amelia is a member of her local chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. A 28-foot fishing boat lost power off the Outer Banks, and high winds took four passengers on a wild ride that ended with the vessel running aground at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. It happened in the early evening hours of Sunday, June 18, northeast of Hatteras Village, according to the National Park Service. It can happen to even the most experienced captain, the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum wrote on Facebook. The Carol-Ina lost power (Sunday) afternoon about 150 meters past the breakers. Her captain dropped anchor, but with the uptake in wind and wave height, the anchor wasnt enough to keep her from washing ashore. Photos show the Buxton-based fishing boat adrift parallel to the beach when it hit land and began being pounded by crashing waves. There were no reported injuries to the four people who were on board the vessel when it came to shore, the National Park Service reported. The park reports its working with the boats owner to have the vessel moved. An excavator was called in Monday and used straps to pull the boat out of the relentless surf. North Carolinas Outer Banks are notorious for hosting a treacherous combination of winds and strong currents that can ground or sink helpless boats. The northbound Gulf Stream and southbound Labrador Current collide off North Carolina, creating shoals that can trap vessels in shallow sand. " " This detail of the T. Dart Walker illustration "Assassination of President McKinley" portrays the moment American anarchist Leon Czolgosz shot the president at the Pan American Exposition on Sep. 6, 1901. Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images When you think of important U.S. Presidents, names such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy come to mind. But chances are that you'll have to think awhile before you come up with the name of William McKinley, who occupied the White House from March 4, 1897 to Sept. 14, 1901. McKinley has receded so much in the national consciousness, in fact, that he owns the dubious distinction of being the only president to have his name taken off a mountain. In 2015, President Barack Obama renamed what had officially been known as Mount McKinley since 1917, reverting the name of the highest mountain peak in North America to Denali, the name used for centuries by native Alaskans. McKinley's face last appeared on a U.S. postage stamp back in 1938, and he so far has yet to appear as one of the Racing Presidents at Washington Nationals games. Advertisement But historians hold him in somewhat higher regard. In C-Span's 2021 Fourth Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership poll, scholars ranked McKinley as the 14th-best U.S. president up two spots from his 16th place in 2017, the last time the survey was conducted. It also secures him in the second quartile of the 44 commanders in chief that were considered. "I think President McKinley's ranking has risen a bit over the last 10 years or so as more study is done about his presidency," Christopher Kenney, director of education for the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum in Canton, Ohio, said via email when we originally talked to him in 2018. "As historians are looking into issues of today, some of the concerns we're facing [are] issues that were first faced during the presidency of William McKinley." " " Thoreau believed in practicing what he preached. He refused to pay a poll tax because it went to a government that supported slavery and spent a night in jail for his protest. It formed the seed of his book Civil Disobedience. Bettman/Getty Images/HowStuffworks Henry David Thoreau is one of America's most beloved and misunderstood writers. He's famous for retreating to a rustic cabin at Walden Pond in the Massachusetts woods for two years to ruminate on nature and philosophy, but Thoreau wasn't a hermit or a cranky misanthrope. He was, in a word, a "questioner," says Jeffrey S. Cramer, curator of collections at the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods, and author or editor of nearly a dozen books about Thoreau and his Transcendentalist friend Ralph Waldo Emerson. "Thoreau is constantly asking questions in his own writings, both to himself and to his reader, that make you evaluate your life and how you're living it," says Cramer. "If you ask yourself some of the questions that Thoreau asks in his writing and try to answer them honestly, it will, I believe, direct you toward being a better human being." Advertisement Born in 1817 in Concord, Massachusetts, Thoreau never married and worked as a teacher, lecturer, handyman, pencil-maker (his father's business) and a writer. His best-known works, "Walden" (1854) and "Civil Disobedience" (originally titled "Resistance to Civil Government" in 1849) weren't bestsellers in his lifetime, but have since become classics of American prose and guidebooks for truth-seekers of all ages. The few surviving photographs of Thoreau show a dour-looking man with tousled hair and a neck beard, but Cramer says that Thoreau was far from a sourpuss. He had a tremendous sense of humor, was beloved by children for telling wild stories and even played pranks on his buddy Emerson. If you're still on the fence about Thoreau (pronounced "Tho-row," by the way, with the accent on the first syllable), read the following five quotes that exemplify the straight-talking depth of one of America's most influential thinkers and writers. Talking about sustainable advancements in agriculture can feel like trying to hit a moving target, especially with so many entities involved along the supply chain from farmers to consumers. To make real change that works for everyone, those organizations must be able to work together effectively and respectfully. That was the takeaway that attendees of the Animal Agriculture Alliance Summit heard in a panel discussion of a dairy farmer, a dairy processor, and a retailer who have come together to work toward the sustainability goals each of them has set. There is change coming out there, and we need to be ready to harness that opportunity, said Matt Fry, who dairy farms on Marylands Eastern Shore. His familys farm joined the pilot sustainability program offered by Danone, who they sell their milk to, because they saw it as a good way to get involved in the space. Choosing the right partner for their sustainability journey was critical because their time was already directed toward running the farm. Fry recommended that farms work with a company that is responsive, persistent, and clear about what information they need. The reports the farm receives back about their environmental journey are not so much of a deciding factor in the day-to-day operations, Fry said, but rather, they provide a larger picture so the family can guide the ship in the direction they want. The data has strengthened partnerships with their landowners, regional groups, and even when talking with legislators. He described the biggest hurdle as simply getting started, but once you are comfortable with your system, it is a tool that can help you be the producer your milk buyer doesnt want to be without. A key of Danones program is that Fry had the choice to join. Its a voluntary program that wont work for every partner, but its useful for those who are interested, shared Katherine Staiger, who manages the program. They dont feel like its a mandate; its an opportunity. Farmer buy-in is very important for the program to be successful, she continued. That occurs when the milk buyer is a partner and not a parent. They must recognize that there is no silver bullet for regenerative success on a dairy and trust that the farmers know what will work on their land. Staiger explained that has helped their program grow from 12 dairies and 26,000 acres when they began in 2017 to now encompassing more than 100,000 acres. Once milk leaves the farm, milk buyers must then work with their customers to meet sustainability goals that are often the most consumer-facing of the supply chain. For Danone, one of those customers is Starbucks. We may be a coffee company, but we are really a dairy company as well, said Angela Anderson, the organizations director of sustainable dairy. Anderson described that they quickly realized when developing their sustainability goals that their future was going to be tied to the farmers producing their commodities. Dairy was near the top of that list as she explained it represented 22% of their carbon footprint and 5% of their water use. They can accelerate change in the industry when they invest in the industry, Anderson explained. Starbucks is currently looking at the footprint of their fluid milk, but in the future, they plan to evaluate the butter and cheese they use, too. While theyve been talking about sustainability for years, that conversation hadnt always made it to the sales level. That is now changing because of consumers, and it means every part of the supply chain has a place in making improvements. Dairy absolutely has the opportunity to be a solution, not problem for us, Anderson said. If a farm is doing great sustainable work, we need to listen. To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com. (c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2023 May 18, 2023 Warm, wet weather creates an environment where salmonella-causing bacteria thrive. That means we are entering into the peak season for salmonella infections on many farms. During a recent episode of the Hoards Dairyman Herd It Here podcast, we discussed treatment options for cattle sickened by salmonella. Most of the treatment, though, comes in the form of supportive care. Keith Poulsen, D.V.M., a clinical assistant professor at the University of Wisconsins School of Veterinary Medicine and director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, said that supportive care is far and away the most important component of treatment for adult dairy cattle infected with salmonella. This commonly includes oral and intravenous (IV) therapy. There are also many probiotics and prebiotics on the market that can be fed to dairy cows. These products are designed to support the normal flora in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract so they can outcompete the salmonella pathogens. Poulsen said that antimicrobials are only used in complicated cases, or in situations where the animal is immunocompromised. A similar philosophy is used for people battling salmonella infections. When caring for calves, we have the same treatment goals. Calves with salmonella often have scours, so it is critical to keep them hydrated. Calves that are seriously dehydrated because of scours will experience a pH drop caused by lactic acidosis, and these calves become very weak. The intensity of fluid therapy will depend on the age of the calf and the level of dehydration. If caught early, when the calf is still standing and nursing, Poulsen said it is much easier to treat. In more severe cases, calves may lose their suckle reflex and eventually wont be able to stand. Then fluids would need to be administered in the form of subcutaneous (SQ) or IV therapy. Poulsen noted this can be more challenging and expensive as it requires expertise to safely place those needles in the calf. Nonsteroidal drugs might be used in some cases, and in extremely sick calves, antibiotic treatment is needed. The most important part of oral electrolytes is to read the label instructions, Poulsen said. There are many good products on the market, so talk to your veterinarian about what product will work best for your farm. Consistency is also key. Poulsen said to establish standard operating procedures for administering electrolytes so that everyone feeding calves follows the same process. Additionally, he also said to mix the product according to the label. We tend to think that if a little is good, maybe more is better, but that is certainly not the case with oral electrolyte solutions, Poulsen explained. If the solution is too concentrated, he said it can draw too much fluid into the gut and cause more problems than it is solving. Poulsen noted that electrolytes should not be mixed into milk. Milk should be fed as long as the calf still has GI motility, but it needs to be offered in a separate meal. For more advice on salmonella treatment and prevention, listen to the full Herd It Here podcast episode, titled The ins and outs of salmonella. This episode was sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health. To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com. (c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2023 May 25, 2023 France, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia and Hungary have signed a memorandum of understanding on the joint procurement of Mistral air defense systems. The news was confirmed by a well-informed source at a meeting of defense ministers in Paris. The purpose of the meeting was to coordinate European efforts to strengthen air defense capabilities within the continent in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that French President Emmanuel Macron called on Europe to develop an air defense strategy before buying equipment, in a tacit opposition to Germanys plan to buy a missile defense system with the help of Israeli and American companies. Mondays meeting of defense ministers in Paris was partly a response to Germanys European air defense system, which calls for a multi-layered anti-missile shield that could cost up to 17 billion euros. The purpose of the shield is to protect Germany as well as neighboring countries from missile attacks. At least 15 countries mainly within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have signed a declaration of intent to join the program. Cover image: Getty Images (the image is an illustration) Dell Australia has been found guilty of misleading consumers over the price of some of its products, admitting that the discount prices listed on its site for monitors were often fake or inaccurate. The Federal Court ruled by consent that Dell Australia made false and misleading representations on its website from August 2019 to December 2021 regarding the prices of add-on monitors and in the strikethrough prices listed on its website. The situation occurred when a consumer selected a desktop, laptop or notebook on the Dell Australia website, and were then shown several compatible monitors and presented with an offer of bundling one of these in the purchase with the computer, typically for a discounted price. The monitor was often shown with a higher strikethrough price that had been replaced with the discounted one, aiming to represent a significant saving if the items were bundled together. But Dell Australia has admitted that the strikethrough prices listed were not typically what the monitors were sold for during most of the relevant period, and that in some examples the add-on price of the product was more expensive than if the consumer had simply purchased it by itself from the same company. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) instituted the court proceedings against Dell in late 2022. We brought these proceedings because we were concerned that Dell Australia had misled its consumers with false representations about its pricing and discounts, ACCC Commissioner Liza Carver said. In some cases, consumers paid more for the add-on monitor advertised as discounted than they would have paid if they had bought it as a stand-alone product, which is shocking. As the Court noted, price and discounts are key differentiating factors for consumers deciding between product offers, and this case reinforces the importance of retailers displaying genuine was/now pricing and accurate savings. The court also ruled that Dell Australia had made misleading statements about the discounted price of the add-on monitors on its website, through lines such as total savings, discounted price and get the best price for popular accessories when purchased with this product. Dell Australia sold 5,300 add-on monitors worth more than $2 million during the relevant period and has now agreed to refund or partially compensate 4,250 people impacted by this. The company will also likely face penalties and costs over the issue, with submissions on these matters to be heard by the court at a later date. This case serves as an important reminder to businesses that suggestive upselling or bundling of products must not mislead consumers to the deal they are getting, Carver said. Dell Australia has also been ordered to appoint an independent compliance professional to review its compliance program and to issue a corrective notice to all consumers that purchased a monitor from them during this time. Dell Australia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dell Technologies and is headquartered in New South Wales. Dell Technologies is a US-based tech company that operates globally and develops, sells, repairs and supports computers and other tech products. Concord received some national exposure as it was highlighted as part of Fortunes newly-released list of the 50 Best Places to Live for Families. Concord, which was ranked No. 20, was selected as the best place to live for families in North Carolina. Charlotte Business Journal was the first to report on the story. Concord feels like a reprieve from the new construction and swelling population of its metropolitan neighbor Charlotte, while still offering lots to keep you busy, Fortune wrote. In a short descriptor of the city, Fortune noted Concord is home to various attractions including Charlotte Motor Speedway and Concord Mills and that 51 percent of its schools rank above average for quality education, according to GreatSchools.org. Were quite excited about that, Mayor Bill Dusch said of the recognition. A lot of good things have been happening in the past few years. This just adds to the list of things that were proud about, of being a city that people want to come to. Concord has exploded in population in the past two decades, from roughly 56,000 people in 2000 to around 110,000 people today. The city has also grown increasingly more diverse over the years, as about 22 percent of residents are Black while 14 percent of residents are Hispanics, according to current U.S. Census data. Fortune said the cities on the list share a range of qualities that can act as antidotes to loneliness, which increased among individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. In our analysis of nearly 1,900 cities across the country, the best places to live scored high on assets like health care, education, and resources for seniors all of which can help fight isolation and build social ties, Fortune wrote. The top five cities were Cambridge, Massachusetts; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Silver Spring, Maryland; Tualatin, Oregon; and Middletown, Delaware. Fortunes ranking focused on the top places where multigenerational families, many of whom are both raising their children and caring for aging parents, are most likely to have access to critical resources, such as public schools, assisted living facilities and nursing homes. While Cabarrus County Schools students and teachers are enjoying their summer vacation, central office staff are busy preparing for the start of the upcoming school year in early August. For the human resources department, this includes hiring new employees to offset existing vacancies. This is the busiest season, said Director of Human Resources Marion Bish. As of Thursday morning, Cabarrus County Schools had 17 percent of buses without a permanent driver assigned to them (45 out of 272). This includes both regular buses and exceptional childrens buses. The lack of bus drivers, a consistent problem for districts across the state (there were 1,300 driver vacancies at the start of the 2022-23 school year), has resulted in CCS using double routes and hiring substitute drivers. Weve been as creative as we can get to be, Bish said. Unlike some smaller districts, it helps that CCS bus drivers work full time and receive health benefits a major advantage when trying to recruit prospective drivers. CCS also covers the cost for drivers to receive their commercial drivers license. So we then are doing everything we can to make sure there are no barriers to people being able to get the CDL, Bish said. Besides drivers, the school district also has a seven percent vacancy in licensed employees, including teachers, counselors, social workers (184 out of 2,582) and a six percent vacancy among classified staff, such as cafeteria workers, custodians and teacher assistants (114 out of roughly 1,918). These numbers were accurate as of Thursday morning, though they should likely fluctuate throughout the summer, Bish said, with new staff being hired combined with current employees retiring or leaving the district for other opportunities. Its very much a moving target, she said, noting any little change, such as the opening of an apartment complex in a certain part of the county, can wiggle the Jell-O. Bish and her staff are working to make sure the vacancy numbers are as close to zero as possible by the time school starts in August. I want them all at zero, she said. Were going to keep working. Anything less than that is not on our radar. There are still some pockets of need within the district, especially high school math teachers and exceptional childrens teachers, Bish said. Overall, though, she is confident, noting the school district has been meeting with more candidates to fill open positions than it did last year, when businesses were still dealing with impacts from the Great Resignation. A ransomware gang which attacked the well-known social news aggregation site Reddit has expanded its demands, asking the company to reverse announced hikes in the prices for using its API. Alphv members said the initial intrusion took place on 5 February and claimed to have stolen 80Gb of data. On their web site on the dark web, the group said that it had sought a US$4.5 million (A$6.56 million) from Reddit in exchange for deleting the stolen data. The Alphv group said it had told Reddit that it had been initially willing to wait for the company's proposed IPO to settle the data theft issue. It claimed to have contacted Reddit twice: on 13 April and again on 16 June. "We are very confident that Reddit will not pay any money for their data. But I am very happy to know that the public will be able to read about all the statistics they track about their users and all the interesting confidential data we took. Did you know they also silently censor users? Along with artifacts from their GitHub!" the group wrote. Reddit has been mired in a stoush with its users for a while after it said it would be imposing costs for accessing its data. About 9000 subreddits have gone dark since the protest began. Third-party developers rely on the API to build their own apps which can provide access to features not found in the official Reddit app, especially in the case of content moderation and accessibility aids. The Alphv gang said: "As we also stated, if we had to make this [the stolen data] public, then we now demand that they also withdraw their API pricing changes along with our money or we will leak it." Reddit chief executive Steve Huffman told The Associated Press he would not back down on the API changes. "Protest and dissent is important, he said. "The problem with this one is its not going to change anything because we made a business decision that were not negotiating on. According to the AP, "Reddit says supporting third-party developers is too expensive and the new policy is necessary [for it] to become a self-sustaining business." The Medibank Group is again in the news in connection with an intrusion, though this time the company says it has not been affected. The health insurer was known to be using the secure managed file transfer software MOVEit Transfer which was used as a vehicle for intrusion by the Cl0p ransomware gang. A Medibank spokesperson said: "We were advised by the vendor Ipswitch about some vulnerabilities discovered in MOVEit a software system we use to share information with external parties and have promptly applied all the vendors recommended security patches. "We continue to investigate and work closely with the vendor, and at this stage we are not aware of any of our customers data being compromised." The spokesperson said the company was aware of the latest advisory issued by Progress Software Corporation, the firm that makes MOVEit. In that advisory, dated 15 June, Progress advised users to disable all HTTP and HTTPS traffic to the MOVEit Transfer environment. #Medibank, the Australian health insurer which was previously experienced a massive breach, was using #MOVEit. The company has not yet been listed by #Cl0p and it's unclear whether it has been affected by this incident. #Auspol 1/3 pic.twitter.com/I3SD9qk8GL Brett Callow (@BrettCallow) June 19, 2023 It also provided a number of ways to guard against being exploited. Last week, it came to light that a number of US Federal Government agencies had been breached through the vulnerability in MOVEit Transfer. The Medibank Group was hit by a ransomware attack in October 2022. In March this year, a New York resident was arrested on charges of allegedly running the BreachForums web site where stolen data from the insurer was posted. Conor Brian Fitzpatrick was supposed to appear in court later that month. In April, there were unconfirmed reports that he had attempted to take his own life. Christopher Budd, senior manager, Threat Research, at security firm Sophos, commented: Since attacks began before a patch was available, all MOVEit customers should check for signs of compromise beyond those publicly discussed, as attacks could have happened before patching using methods not yet publicly identified. "Also, its important to note that patching will not remove any webshells or other artefacts of compromise. This makes it critical that MOVEit customers include a check for compromise after deploying patches in addition to deploying patches. Patching alone is not sufficient. John Field, field chief technology officer at the same company, added: "This latest round of attacks is another reminder of the importance of supply chain security. While Cl0p has been linked to this active exploitation, it is probable that other threat groups are prepared to use this vulnerability as well. Exploited vulnerabilities are the number one root cause of ransomware attacks. Any organisation that is using or has supply chain partners that use the MOVEit Transfer software need to immediately disable this software, isolate any machines that may still be running it from the rest of the network, apply the patch, and investigate for potential compromise." Southeast Europe telecommunications operator United Group and telecommunications provider Parallel Wireless have trialled Open RAN in Bulgaria by using Vivacoms network, which an operator owned by United Group. The trial in Bulgaria will include ORAN 2G, 4G, and 5G and will see a cluster of sites that demonstrates the implantation of ORAN networks in both urban and rural environments. The purpose of the trial is to show improved performance compared to traditional radio access networks (SRAN). The trial will consist of both lab and in-field tests to ensure the technology can perform across Bulgaria and on Vivacoms existing network. This technology will provide flexibility and competitiveness for operators, and improved services for customers. We hope this trial will be the first step in delivering ORAN technology to Bulgaria, said Vivacom CEO Nikolay Andreev. Parallel Wireless said mobile network operators had to rely on vendors to supply the full RAN infrastructure including hardware and software, which ORAN disaggregates. It grants MNOs flexibility to build their networks using non-proprietary subcomponents from a variety of different vendors. Bulgaria is a great place to showcase the benefits of ORAN demonstrating its flexibility and agility, allowing United Group & Vivacom the freedom to choose its vendors without being locked in with one specific vendor, said Parallel Wireless founder and CEO Steve Papa. COMPANY NEWS: Avaya, a global leader in customer experience solutions, today announced that new platform integrations and capabilities, along with expanded strategic alliances with Google and Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, are helping redefine the cloud journey for customers. These enhancements enable customers to immediately benefit from cloud capabilities, including new features and functionality of Avaya Experience Platform, while preserving their existing on-premise environments. Avayas innovation without disruption strategy sets it apart from competitors because it gives organisations the freedom to embrace the cloud journey at their own pace while protecting their existing investments and not disturbing their proprietary voice implementations, said Avaya global vice president and general manager of Avaya Experience Platform Ahmed Helmy. By seamlessly integrating cloud innovations with Avaya Experience Platform, Avaya enables customers to embark on their cloud journey confidently and effortlessly. Unlike pure cloud vendors, Avaya allows customers to seamlessly layer innovative cloud capabilities onto their existing infrastructure to enhance customer and employee experiences while avoiding significant risks associated with typical rip and replace approaches. Avayas innovation without disruption strategy facilitates mixed-estate deployments in which on-premise and cloud-based solutions seamlessly co-exist. This co-existence is typically critical within large, complex deployments, particularly within highly sensitive and /or regulated situations, such as critical care hospitals, financial services and banking, governmental agencies, across many geographies throughout the world. Avaya Experience Platform Connect Avaya has introduced a suite of hybrid Avaya Experience Platform services, Avaya Experience Platform Connect, which empowers organisations to leverage their existing on-premises infrastructure for voice routing, call handling, and more, while accessing omnichannel voice and digital channels from the cloud. Call Centre Elite voice agents can now leverage advanced functionalities such as WebRTC voice, AI Noise Removal, and personalised unified agent desktops through Avaya Experience Platform Workspaces. The flexibility and adaptability of Avaya solutions enable customers to augment and enhance agent and customer experiences through every interaction by: Connecting digital touchpoints throughout the entire customer journey from email, messaging, chat, social, etc. as well as offering organisations the flexibility to Bring Your Own Channel (BYOC). Seamlessly expanding agent capacity for voice and digital channels from the cloud. Introducing new channels to agents at a speed that is commensurate with their capacity and performance, helping organisations to embrace omnichannel adoption, while reducing anxiety and improving customer satisfaction. Leveraging unified 360-degree views of the customer journey and analytics across all communication channels to provide much-needed customer engagement data to power the next generation of AI-enabled functionality. When growth is reliant on experiences, businesses cant afford to keep riding the roller-coaster of rip, replace and wait, said Constellation Research vice president and principal analyst Liz Miller. Revenue is on the line; rolling the dice isnt a strategy. This is why Avaya has doubled down on a commitment to their customers: Avaya will keep delivering innovation, but no customer gets left behind as the market continues to navigate the journey to the cloud. Avayas approach centres around respecting the pace of change and reducing the amount of investment required for organisations to add best-in-cloud technologies onto their Avaya contact centre platform and into their larger customer experience processes to drive better business outcomes and enterprise-wide value. The Avaya Experience Platform provides end-users, agents, supervisors, business analysts, administrators, and developers with tools to create powerful, efficient and intuitive experiences for their customers. Some recent key features that will benefit all stakeholders include: End customers: Over 130 languages are now available to the Automation DialogFlow, expanding automated services to customers and enabling tailored services for a global audience. For agents: Enriched customer calls with context data and streamlined CRM integration, enhancing collaboration and enabling personalised customer interactions. For supervisors and business analysts: Upgraded reporting with cutting-edge data visualisation and new KPIs, empowering data-driven decision-making and optimised team management. For administrators: Enhanced orchestration and self-service capabilities, granting administrators greater agility in managing customer engagement workflows. For developers: Released Customer Journey APIs and enhanced self-service APIs for complex automation, along with Queue Metrics Synchronous API to provide real-time insights into queue metrics, bolstering data accessibility and enabling efficient workflow automation. Expanded partnerships with Google Cloud and Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Avaya has continued to invest and strengthen strategic alliances with leading technology companies to enhance its cloud capabilities. Collaboration with Google Cloud has resulted in next-generation contact centre AI solutions, leveraging Avaya's industry-leading contact centre technology with Google Cloud's AI and machine learning capabilities. Additionally, Avaya Experience Platform is now formally certified for contact centre under the Chrome Enterprise Recommended program for ChromeOS, which helps organisations find applications that make working on the web and in the cloud even better. Together, ChromeOS and Avaya Experience Platform boost agent productivity and enhance security. Avayas partnership with Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise is also helping customers across the globe continue to achieve their digital transformation goals. Our partnership with Avaya helps both our companies accelerate our customers' transformation to the cloud by delivering differentiated end user experiences, particularly in mission critical situations, said Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise chief business officer Rukmini Glanard. Avaya Experience Platform is a powerful portfolio that can help businesses of all sizes transform their communications. Avaya Experience Platform and Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Digital Age Networking combine our complementary world-class enterprise solutions to support our customers digital transformation. We believe that this partnership will really help our customers to succeed in the digital age." By expanding its cloud capabilities and delivering innovative solutions, Avaya reaffirms its commitment to enabling customers on their cloud journey while protecting their on-premise investments and driving exceptional customer experiences. For more information on Avaya Experience Platform, click here. About Avaya Businesses are built by the experiences they provide, and every day, millions of those experiences are delivered by Avaya and its affiliates. Avaya is shaping the future of customer experiences, with innovation and partnerships that deliver game-changing business benefits. Our communications solutions power immersive, personalised, and memorable customer experiences to help organisations achieve their strategic ambitions and desired outcomes. Together, we are committed to helping grow your business by delivering Experiences That Matter. GUEST OPINION: The United Arab Emirates has become one of the most desired tourist destinations in the world. Its luxurious resorts and rich culture attract hundreds of thousands of visitors every month, creating a perfect environment for a thriving short-term vacation rental industry. Many investors are already gathering the fruits, while others are actively working on launching an Airbnb in the UAE. The good news is that there are still many potentially profitable locations available in the region. Best Cities in the United Arab Emirates for Launching an Airbnb There are not so many cities in the United Arab Emirates that are worth considering when looking for a place to start a short-term vacation rental business. But even with such a limited number of options, there is still a decent variety of markets: some of them are perfect for a safe investment, some of them have a great potential for the future, while others are high-risk, high-reward destinations. Dubai Of course, Dubai opens the list of potentially decent destinations for launching an Airbnb. It is by far the most popular city in the United Arab Emirates, and it already has one of the largest short-term vacation rental markets in the world. It offers the most stable conditions for launching a business that will become successful from day one, while the obvious drawback to this city is the intense competition it has. At the time of writing, there are more than 22,000 active vacation rentals listed in Dubai. The size of the market is almost unprecedented, yet most of the properties remain viable and profitable thanks to the steadily growing flow of visitors who come to explore Dubai. Out of all these properties, 85% are entire home listings with an average number of 1.5 bedrooms and an average capacity of 3.8 guests at a time. With such intense competition, it is vital for a new investor to approach the matter safely. The business has to be perfect from the day of its launch, and this guide will help aspiring entrepreneurs achieve that goal. As for the performance metrics, they are surprisingly decent in Dubai. The Average Daily Rate in the city is $165, while the Occupancy Rates average 58% throughout the year. The business here is seasonal, and the demand reaches its lowest point in summer every year, as it gets incredibly hot outside. The average Revenue generated by an Airbnb in Dubai is $1,834, which is the best result on this list. Sharjah Sharjah is the next obvious option for launching an Airbnb in the United Arab Emirates. It is located right next to Dubai and is being actively developed just like the first city on this list. The city manages to attract a decent amount of tourists on its own, but it also benefits from the constant growth of Dubais popularity thanks to its close proximity to the major metropolis. In total, there are around 650 active rentals in Sharjah, and most of them are concentrated around the shore. Unlike in Dubai, only 50% of properties in Sharjah are entire homes, while most other listings are private rooms. This results in a decrease in the average number of bedrooms, which is only 1.5 here, and in capacity: local rentals can accommodate up to 4.1 guests at a time on average. The Average Daily Rate in Sharjah is significantly lower than in Dubai, as it only reaches $94. This is connected both to the lower number of visitors the city gets and the larger portion of private rooms in its rental market. The Occupancy Rate only averages 27% here, but the properties still manage to generate $632 worth of monthly Revenue on average. Even though these metrics are not very impressive, it is still a place with huge growth potential. As the market of Dubai continues to expand, some visitors will choose to stay in Sharjah instead, as the experience is fairly similar. Abu Dhabi Next on the list is Abu Dhabi, which is also a city with a growing tourism industry. Its market is obviously not as huge as the one of Dubai, but the conditions are rather stable, and the real estate prices are significantly lower than in the UAEs most trending metropolis. Right now, there are a bit more than 1,000 active vacation rentals available in Abu Dhabi, 60% of which are entire homes. On average, the properties in this city have 1.4 bedrooms and can accommodate up to 3.4 guests at a time, meaning the rentals are actually smaller here than in Sharjah. There are several major clusters of Airbnbs located in different parts of the city, right next to its most popular tourist attractions. The Average Daily Rate in Abu Dhabi is $131, while the Occupancy Rates stay at the level of 35%. This is partially related to the rapid growth of the market, which reaches 22% every quarter. The Revenue generated by an average property in Abu Dhabi every month is $1,072. Ras Al Khaimah The next city that might be interesting for aspiring investors in Ras Al Khaimah. It is a high-risk, high-reward option that was mentioned at the beginning of the article. This city is located in the northern part of the country and has a fairly small rental market, but the properties that operate here manage to generate some decent revenues. At the time of writing, there are almost 100 active Airbnbs in Ras Al Khaimah, 69% of which are entire homes. The competition here is not as intense, allowing local hosts to have the Average Daily Rate on level of $278. Of course, it also has an effect on the Occupancy Rate, which is only 26% here, but the Revenues reach $1,724 per month here. Fujairah Fujairah is the last of the best Airbnb investment destinations in the United Arab Emirates. Being the only city in the eastern part of the country featured on this list, Fujairah has a market that is very similar to the one of the previous city, but it is even smaller: there are only 64 listings here. The Average Daily Rate in Fujairah is $255, and the Occupancy Rates stay at 29% throughout the year. An average property in this city generates $1,422 worth of Revenue every month. Even though the data sample is very small for Fujairah, the potential the city holds is still clear. Hardware, software and services provider Lenovo has promoted Luke Skinner to the role of ANZ head of commercial channel and distribution. "Luke has played a key role in establishing the Lenovo 360 framework in Australia and New Zealand and has significantly strengthened our connections across the region," said Lenovo's newly promoted Greater Asia Pacific One Channel lead Sunny Gandhi. "With his unwavering commitment and acute understanding of the ANZ landscape, I couldn't be more confident of the success his leadership will bring to Lenovo, our valued partners, and distributors. I am excited to collaborate with our dedicated teams across Asia Pacific, fostering synergy, and propelling Lenovo to new heights.". Skinner joined Lenovo in 2021 as head of distribution. He previously worked for WatchGuard as ANZ channel and distribution manager; Ingram Micro, most recently as senior software business unit manager; Next Technologies as senior technology advisor; CSW-IT as New South Wales business development manager; Ingram Micro as New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory business development manager for Lenovo; and in sales roles at WhiteGold Solutions and Ingram Micro UK. Skinner holds a diploma in IT systems administration from TAFE NSW. "I am excited to take on such a crucial role within Lenovo and lead our commitment to the success of our valued local partners even further. I am proud of the strides we have made with Lenovo 360 in ANZ and can't wait to continue this journey, driving operational excellence, innovation, and delivering exceptional results for our entire partner ecosystem. I look forward to working alongside a talented team to seize new opportunities and solidify Lenovo's position as a leader in the industry," said Skinner. include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> GET ARGUS' DAILY SMILES TO YOUR INBOX. SIGN UP FOR THE JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here. Paul McCartney announced he's going to employ Artificial Intelligence to produce an exact copy of John Lennon's voice to use as vocals when he records one final Beatles song. I think we need to hear more from the departed. Patrick Swayze died fourteen years ago and he still hasn't made Ghost II. Arnold Schwarzenegger in his Netflix series raves about his son Joseph Baena whom he had by his housemaid years back amid a domestic scandal resulting in his divorce, but the boy turned out great. The kid is half Mexican and half German. There's not a border in the world that can stop this kid. The Los Angeles Dodgers hosted a Pride Night Friday which honored a sacrilegious transgender nun parody group that deeply offended the team's Roman Catholic fans. It won't stop there. To offer equal time, next weekend Dodger Stadium will outrage Episcopalians by serving red wine with fish. Ron DeSantis ripped sex education for grade schoolers Friday. It's a daunting task. You have to explain the birds and bees, the bees and bees, the birds and birds, bees that used to be birds, birds that used to be bees, the birds that look like bees, and the bees that look like birds, but they've still got stingers. The Wall Street Journal said Donald Trump making fun of Biden in his post indictment speech could cause the DOJ to double down efforts to jail him. I could be next. If poking fun of presidents gets you indicted, the best I can hope for is someday my gravestone will read He Was a Model Prisoner. President Biden ended a ringing campaign speech to donors and voters in Connecticut Saturday by shouting God Save the Queen. My apologies to Donald Trump and Bobby Kennedy but Joe just figured out the only way he could win my vote next year. I can't believe I'm a Southern Democrat again. President Biden was in California Monday to enjoy presidential campaign fundraisers hosted by Microsoft and Linked In executives. Right now the Golden State is in a surly mood. The economy in California is so depressed even the forest fires have moved to Canada for less regulation and lower taxes. The Denver Post reported that the infamous Unabomber Ted Kasczynski died in the Colorado at age 82 last week Super Max Prison where he'd been since 1996. You talk about a man ahead of his times. It would be fair to say that Ted Kascyzinki will go down in history as the Father of Mail In Voting. Fox News reported an Arizona man was killed by an unprovoked bear attack Friday. The Forest Service warns hikers and campers and hunters never to pose for a selfie with a bear. The selfie may give you a sense of being one with nature, but it gives the bear a chance to posts a photo of his rib dinner. (COMMENT, BELOW) MATTOON John and Donna Craig spent nearly 40 years putting "sparkle" in people's lives through their Shimerz Glass & Bath Design Center. "We did some unique jobs," said John Craig, who appreciated the challenges and variety that came with bathroom projects ranging from converting closets to outfitting mansions. "Doing bathroom layouts was really fun. It was work and a lot of time and hours, but it was fun. There was always something different." Now, the Craigs are preparing to retire and to close their custom glass and bath business after being unable to find someone to carry on this trade in Mattoon. With the closure being set for the end of June as they sell their design center building at 1616 Lake Land Boulevard, the Craigs are holding big a going out of business sale. "We badly wanted someone to take this whole thing," Donna Craig said, adding that it would have been a fully operational business for an entrepreneur. John Craig, a Mattoon native, said he got started in this trade more than 40 years ago with the help of a high school friend, Allen Hall, whose father ran a local glass company. John Craig said he initially focused on storefront windows, but soon grew tired of working in winter weather conditions. "It got too cold outside, so I decided to get into the mirror business," John Craig said. The Shimerz business name was inspired by them seeing shimmering lights in the windows of tall buildings during a nighttime visit to Chicago, Donna Craig said. Their first Shimerz location was in a storefront at 2023 Western Ave., where Villa Pizza is currently located, at the west end of downtown Mattoon. Shimerz moved in 2007 to its present location, a renovated former Walker's supermarket building. John Craig said they purchased the property from Melvin Johnson, whose Mel's Diner had stood on this site before being demolished to make way for this supermarket. "We loved it," Donna Craig said, adding that she preferred using an older building rather than a newly constructed one on Illinois Route 16. "I didn't want something brand new. I wanted something that would have a little nostalgia." Donna Craig said they were needing more space to house their stock of art glass, and the cavernous former supermarket building provided room for their business to grow. She said they opened a design center at the suggestion of their friends, Bob and Karen Walters of Effingham, to help her husband better put his expertise to work. The new location enabled Donna Craig to add a large selection of home decor items to the stock at Shimerz. She said the decor added another aspect to the glass and mirror business' motto of "We want to put the sparkle in people's lives." At the new location, the Craigs said they stayed busy as they provided needed work for contractors during the 2007-2008 national recession and later catered to the boom in home improvement projects during the COVID-19 pandemic's shutdowns. In retirement, the Craigs said they look forward to moving to North Carolina to be closer to their children and grandchildren there. The two said they plan to take some of their Shimerz supplies with them for possible future craft uses, as well as many great memories from operating their business for four decades. "It's been a joy, a total joy," Donna Craig said. Her husband added that they thank all of their customers for their support over the years because, "They are the ones who make this happen." More information is available by contacting Shimerz at 217-235-2011. Close Visitors walk through a corridor of quilt during the third annual Outdoor Quilt Show on Saturday at Lytle Park in Mattoon. Cathy Hiser of Charleston, Chrissy Leitch of Mattoon, Evelyn Webb of Decatur, and Beth Covington of Mattoon look over a display of small quilts during the annual Outdoor Quilt Show on Saturday morning at Lytle Park in Mattoon. Bloomington/Normal Modern Quilt Guild Membership Chair Noemi Bowers, at center, talks to Jan Booker of Charleston and Norma Himes of Mattoon about the guilds display of miniature quilts during the annual Outdoor Quilt Show on Saturday morning at Lytle Park in Mattoon. Bloomington/Normal Modern Quilt Guild President Lisa Baermann, seated, takes viewers' choice nominations and raffle tickets from Debby Schoonover of Mattoon and Louise Duncan of Trowbridge during the annual Outdoor Quilt Show on Saturday morning at Lytle Park in Mattoon. The raffle was for the guild's 64-by-82-inch "Into the Light" quilt, seen behind them. Jan Booker of Charleston talks about the adjacent student-made quilt during the annual Outdoor Quilt Show on Saturday morning at Lytle Park in Mattoon. Her son, Jason Booker, and his classmates at Mattoon's Columbian Elementary made this quilt for retiring teacher Jane Edgar in the early 1980s. 2023 Outdoor Quilt Show at Lytle Park The Mattoon-based Prairie Stitchers and the Bloomington/Normal Modern Quilt Guild held their annual Outdoor Quilt Show on Saturday at Lytle Park in Mattoon. Visitors walk through a corridor of quilt during the third annual Outdoor Quilt Show on Saturday at Lytle Park in Mattoon. Cathy Hiser of Charleston, Chrissy Leitch of Mattoon, Evelyn Webb of Decatur, and Beth Covington of Mattoon look over a display of small quilts during the annual Outdoor Quilt Show on Saturday morning at Lytle Park in Mattoon. Bloomington/Normal Modern Quilt Guild Membership Chair Noemi Bowers, at center, talks to Jan Booker of Charleston and Norma Himes of Mattoon about the guilds display of miniature quilts during the annual Outdoor Quilt Show on Saturday morning at Lytle Park in Mattoon. Bloomington/Normal Modern Quilt Guild President Lisa Baermann, seated, takes viewers' choice nominations and raffle tickets from Debby Schoonover of Mattoon and Louise Duncan of Trowbridge during the annual Outdoor Quilt Show on Saturday morning at Lytle Park in Mattoon. The raffle was for the guild's 64-by-82-inch "Into the Light" quilt, seen behind them. Jan Booker of Charleston talks about the adjacent student-made quilt during the annual Outdoor Quilt Show on Saturday morning at Lytle Park in Mattoon. Her son, Jason Booker, and his classmates at Mattoon's Columbian Elementary made this quilt for retiring teacher Jane Edgar in the early 1980s. Reynolds American Inc. will have its fourth top executive under British American Tobacco Plc ownership as part of a massive management shakeup announced Monday. The shakeup comes about five weeks after the sudden appointment of Tadeu Marrocos as BATs chief executive on May 15. David Waterfield has been promoted as Reynolds president and chief executive, effective July 1, while Guy Meldrum is stepping down June 30. Waterfield will join BATs executive management team as Meldrum departs. BAT did not provide details on Waterfield, who has been serving as its western Europe top executive. BAT is the worlds largest publicly traded tobacco manufacturer. It completed acquiring full ownership of Reynolds on July 25, 2017. Reynolds, its largest global subsidiary, has between 2,000 and 2,500 employees in Forsyth County, primarily at its 2 million-square-foot manufacturing plant in Tobaccoville and its downtown Winston-Salem headquarters. Marroco made it clear in BATs fiscal first-half 2023 earnings warning release on June 6 that our performance in U.S. combustibles (traditional cigarettes) has been disappointing. Returning combustibles to consistent value creation is critical to our multi-category strategy in the U.S. We are taking action, and while it will take some time to carefully and thoroughly implement our plans, our volume share has grown sequentially since the start of the year. Rae Maile, tobacco analyst at Panmure Gordon, told The Financial Times that the shake-up was Marroco stamping his mark on the manufacturer. This is putting in place his team to support him with his objectives, Maile said. The board structure had also got horrifically complicated so this is a long overdue simplification. Maile said a refreshed approach would probably be welcomed by investors. Meldrums departure represents the seventh chief executive change at Reynolds since its July 2004 purchase of BAT subsidiary Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. that led to the formation of Reynolds American as the holding company. BAT did not provide a reason for Meldrums departure, but said it has started searching for his successor. The departure of Meldrum was announced Monday as part of 11 BAT and Reynolds executive management changes. Meldrum has been with BAT for nearly 30 years, including serving in senior roles in the Australasia, the North Asia Area, Russia and Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions. I would like to thank Guy for his significant contribution across many markets and geographies over the last two decades, Marroco said in the news release. Previous departures Debra Crew was Reynolds chief executive when BAT took full ownership in July 2017. She was replaced within five months of the changeover and lasted just a year overall in the role. Ricardo Oberlander was named as Reynolds chief executive in January 2018, becoming the first non-U.S. top executive at Reynolds. Oberlander stepped down in August 2020 after nearly three decades the BAT, including seven years on the management board. A major shakeup of BATs executive management has been commonplace in recent years, with each new chief executive putting their choices into key roles. Jack Bowles resigned suddenly and immediately as president and chief executive May 15 after four years. This refreshed management board structure is critical to my commitment to build a progressive and agile organization with a collaborative and inclusive culture, enabling simultaneous performance and transformation, Marroco said Monday. Other key hires, as effective July 1, include: Johan Vandermeulen as chief operating officer; Fred Monteiro as head of its Americas (non-U.S.) & Europe division; Michael Dijanosic as head of its Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa division; Kingsley Wheaton in the new role of chief strategy and growth officer on Sept. 1; and Luciano Comin to the new role of marketing director for combustibles and new categories products. Marroco said the new executive management promotions and additions have the depth of experience to enable the continued strategic and cultural transformation of BAT. In trying to determine why Bowles resigned unexpectedly, several British media reports pointed to BATs April 26 disclosure that it had agreed to pay a $508.61 million civil penalty to settle apparent (U.S.) violations of sanctions against North Korea and weapons of mass destruction proliferators. The civil settlement is with the U.S. Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control, a financial intelligence and enforcement agency. The settlement amount is equal to the statutory maximum civil monetary penalty. BAT separately also agreed to pay $635.24 million, plus interest, to settle criminal investigations with two U.S. regulators into whether the manufacturer breached sanctions with its business operations in North Korea. Marroco spoke June 7 at a Deutsche Bank investor presentation about BAT. In response to a question about Bowles departure, Marroco said what I can tell you is that there is no one single event triggering this. The board made an assessment around the external environment. The economic cycle has been very different. The regulatory environment is also very different than it used to be. And we have a heightened competitive landscape, Marroco said. The boards took all those points into consideration, and the management decides that was the time to have a change in leadership. So thats where I came in the picture. There is a lot of frustration in terms of the valuation, the share price, and I share all this frustrations, Marroco said. Odd as it sounds, as he was dressed to the nines, Jerome Nicky Nixon didnt look out of place sitting under a gangly shade tree near Truist Ballpark. Its my spot, he explained. It brings me peace. Peace, as it turns out, has been in short supply in recent months as Nixon, self-described as transient, has found himself embroiled in a legal drama that, in all fairness, shouldnt have dragged on for as long as it did. Because the president of the nonprofit that owns the building where Nixon was when he was arrested for misdemeanor burglary and trespassing in fall 2022 tried for months to have the case dismissed. The situation has been frustrating for all involved as it falls in a strange intersection of an affordable housing crisis, gentrification and the way the justice system sometimes deals with the transient population. I dont understand the reason for going after him, said Jane Milner, the president of the Partners for Homeownership. Fixing up the place Frustrated by the slow pace of a simple district-court case and wanting to clear his name, Nixon agreed to share his story so he picked that tree as a meeting point. But there was some hesitation as none of the principal actors wanted to do anything that might jeopardize a just outcome an outright, no strings dismissal that came Friday after eight months in limbo. Theres an important story to be told, Nixon said. I dont know if its my story or not. Theres a lot going on thats not kosher. Obviously, best practice is to start at the beginning; stories are easier to follow when told in chronological order. Nixon, 60, said he came to Winston-Salem the first time more than 10 years ago. Divorced with college-aged children, he has lived a gypsy-like lifestyle. I have the opportunity to live the way I want, he said. With his background as a playwright and a theater director, hed heard about the National Black Theater Festival and wanted to check it out. He went first to the Samaritans Inn for shelter and set about discovering the town. Nixon checked into the local theater scene, looking for work. Im not without resources, he said referring to an SSI/disability he draws each month. I dont come to a town without resources. No hustling, no panhandling its not the easiest. Its not for the faint of heart. During that first stint, Nixon also became acquainted with Milners organization. At the time, Partners for Homeownership still owned several houses near North Spring and Second streets. At one time we owned the largest number of buildings (along) Holly Avenue, Milner said. Indeed, the Partners for Homeownership helped more than 200 families buy affordable homes in housing developments in 11 locations around Forsyth County. The organization also helped other groups provide inexpensive apartments for people facing health challenges. Nixon stayed for a time in one of those units, a studio in a building fronting an alley off North Spring Street. After a while, he moved back up north to be closer to family and friends in New York. Then in May 2022, he decided to return to Winston-Salem. He had a pet by then, a Great Dane named Lola, and couldnt stay in a shelter with a dog. So in a moment of inspiration/desperation, he went by that studio apartment. The property was in disarray, Nixon said. Every door was open. Id had a couple of cocktails. I wont lie about that. So me and Lola went to sleep there. I woke up the next morning and thought, Wow, this is a safe space. So he began to plan. Criminal charge for squatting The Partners for Homeownership had wound down its operations long before Nixon returned. It had sold most of its holdings years before. But not the building at 207 North Spring where Nixon and Lola stayed. We closed in 2010 because of the economy, Milner said. We still pay the taxes with what little money we have left. Theres also the matter of a lien held by the city of Winston-Salem. The city, Milner said, was a key lender to the Partners and as such, has a vested interest in the property. We get a lot of calls from people who want to flip it or turn it into an AirBnB, Milner said. Her preference would be for its ownership to be transferred to another organization perhaps one that serves the homeless or provides affordable housing. Thats up to the city, she said. After Nixons A-ha moment about the relative security of the apartment, he took it upon himself to clean the property as best he could. He said he talked to the neighbors to see if anyone knew who owned the building and cleaned up trash, overgrown weeds and drug paraphernalia left by others. I got the lay of the land and thought This could work, Nixon said. My daughter told me, Dad, they call that squatting. Inevitably, the arrangement caught the attention of police and city inspectors. A patrol officer, Nixon said, told him in October that he had to vacate. I asked, Where are the no trespassing signs? There were no locks and no doors. Nobody knew who owned it. And I cleaned it up, Nixon said. None of that matters. Not without a lease or a deed. Despite verbal warnings, Nixon stayed put. And in early October, he was charged with misdemeanor burglary and trespassing. He spent the winter on the street with Lola. He slept in doorways and, for a time, in a storage unit. And though he didnt know it at the time, he caught a break when he met a man named Daniel Rose, a professor at Winston-Salem State University known for advocating for people experiencing homelessness, at a meeting held to discuss the eviction process. It was a really interesting audience of mostly middle class, older students and a number of unhoused people who were just hanging out at City with Dwellings and interested in the subject, Rose explained. Mr. Nixon was one of those men. Its hard not to notice a dapper, older gentleman with a Great Dane. Nixon discussed his situation and said that hed been arrested. When I met him, he said the police couldnt tell him who actually owned the abandoned property, Rose wrote in an email. Research led him to Jane Milner and the organization. No interest in prosecuting State v. Jerome Mixon, a pair of misdemeanors, wound up in Forsyth District Court where it languished. Continuances are common in the lets-make-a-deal world of district court justice. Nixons was no different except for one thing. The owner of the property had zero interest in seeing him prosecuted. When Milner heard from Rose, she decided she would intervene. She wrote a letter to that effect for Al Quinlan, Nixons lawyer, to use in court in February that should have ended the prosecution right there. He and God knows how many others need a roof over their heads, Milner said. He shouldnt have broken in there, no. Thats not acceptable. But in terms of prosecuting him, neither I nor my board had any desire to see him punished. The letter was not enough; the case was continued until April. That time, Milner came in person to court to testify. But a prosecutor wanted a letter from the board of directors, too. So the case was continued again, this time until Friday eight months after Nixon was arrested. I was only the president for the life of the organization, Milner said. But they (prosecutors) needed board approval, too, which I understand. Quinlan, after the case against Nixon had been dismissed, noted with satisfaction the work Nixon put into fixing up the apartment off North Spring Street. He really did a good job, Quinlan said. Before his case came to a head, Nixon found a small apartment. But the day he moved in, his beloved companion died which added another layer of stress. That was my introduction to the apartment. I lost my Lola, Nixon said. I dont know why Im still here in Winston-Salem. But I dont want to leave without clearing my name. Id never be able to come back if I did. Thered be a warrant for my arrest. I dont want to be a poster child for homelessness or disparity in housing. But if telling my story helps encapsulate the problem, then Im with it. Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday signed a bill into law that sets stiff penalties for anyone convicted in attacks on energy facilities like those in December that left 45,000 Duke Energy customers in Moore County without power during a cold snap that sent temperatures below freezing. We must protect critical infrastructure that keeps electric power and clean water available in our communities, and this bill sends a message to criminals that these irresponsible acts will not be tolerated, Cooper said in a statement after adding his signature to the legislation, which passed unanimously in the N.C. House and Senate. Under the Protect Critical Infrastructure Act, anyone damaging utility facilities, transmission lines or equipment would face up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. In Moore County, damage from gunfire knocked out two Duke substations. The FBI and Moore County Sheriffs Office issued warrants in the days after the attacks, but no arrests have been made. The sheriffs office, FBI, state government and Duke Energy have put up a combined $100,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. In a similar incident Jan. 17, a transformer at an EnergyUnited substation in Thomasville was damaged by gunfire but no customers lost power, the electric cooperative said. Sen. Tom McInnis, a Republican whose district includes Moore County, was the chief sponsor of the original Senate version of the bill, which declares it a Class 3 felony to knowingly and willfully destroy, injure or otherwise damage, or attempt to destroy, injure or otherwise damage, an energy facility or obstruct, impede or impair the services or transmissions of an energy facility. Other North Carolina Class 3 felonies include second-degree forcible rape and forcible sex offense, first-degree kidnapping and embezzlement of more than $100,000. Sentences can range from 14 to 90 months. Car enthusiasts can travel back to the early 1900s in Lincoln this weekend with a gathering of classic car fans, vintage vehicles and roaring engines. Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed will host its International Speedsters Trials and Reunion in Lincoln from Wednesday through Saturday. The event happens every two years and brings nationwide car enthusiasts and their vintage vehicles together. This year, 23 different states will be represented. There are three opportunities for the public to see the timeless automobiles in action. Car models include a Model T, A and B Roadster, Touring, Cabriolet, Roadster Pickup and vintage race cars. Thursday will feature a road trip through rural Nebraska. At 8:30 a.m., around 100 vehicles will leave the museum at 599 Oakcreek Drive. Around 11 a.m., the cars will take a lunch break in Fairbury at Rock Creek Station, 57426 710th Road. On Friday, around 30 vintage vehicles will participate in the Hill Climb, a popular sporting event from the early days of the automobile. The event will take place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 6200 West Fletcher Ave. Motor Food Truck will be available for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The weekend will come to a close Saturday with a family-friendly Cars & Coffee gathering at Speedway Motors, 340 Victory Lane. The summer event occurs monthly and displayed nearly 1,200 cars in May. Visitors who bring their own specialty cars will receive two vouchers to the Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed. The speedsters will be available to view along with free coffee and doughnuts from 8 a.m. to noon. For more information, visit museumofamericanspeed.com/speedstersreunion. Photos: 2017 International Speedsters Trials and Reunion The interim director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska is taking over the position permanently. Mindy Rush Chipman will be the organizations next executive director, concluding a national search and her time as interim chief. Shortly after starting as legal director in 2022 at the ACLU of Nebraska, Rush Chipman began serving in an interim role after Danielle Conrad left the organization to run for the Legislature. Previously, Rush Chipman served in leadership roles at the Immigrant Legal Center and the Lincoln Commission on Human Rights. Rush Chipman has also promoted Rose Godinez to legal director. Godinez joined the ACLU of Nebraska in 2017 in a role focused on policy and litigation, including First Amendment, immigrants rights, students rights, police practices, racial justice and Indigenous justice. ACLU of Nebraska Board President Ashlei Spivey called the two leaders "transformative." "Ultimately, these are two proven leaders who are both well positioned to keep working alongside our communities to build power and achieve change. I look forward to seeing the teams continued impact in the months and years to come, Spivey said. Top Journal Star photos for June 2023 The F-16s that NATO allies may send to Ukraine arent likely to arrive in time to help with Kyivs current offensive. The used planes wont be enough to turn the tide in the air war against Russia, either. The alliance has a different message in mind. By providing some of the most sophisticated and expensive weapons to date, Kyivs backers will tie Ukraines military more closely than ever to the bloc, showing Vladimir Putin hes wrong to think he can outlast them in the conflict. Its a potentially risky approach. While allies have managed to reduce the upfront expense by offering planes from its members existing fleets, keeping those aging F-16s in the air could cost hundreds of millions of dollars a year just as pressure is growing in Europe and the US over the rising bill for continued support of Ukraine. The big takeaway here is that flying a limited fleet of antiquated aircraft through contractors and maintaining them with contractors is going to be really freaking expensive, said Brynn Tannehill of the Rand Corp. in Washington. It bolsters the message that the long-term goal is to integrate Ukraine into NATO. Alliance officials wont say when the planes might be delivered. The Netherlands and Denmark are planning to set up a training center in Eastern Europe for pilots and repair personnel, including from Ukraine. Then you have a sustainable solution because every pilot needs to continue training, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said Thursday. Of course were talking not only about pilots, also all the technical personnel you need for maintenance of the aircraft. While he welcomed the prospect of getting the planes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is hoping for stronger commitments from the alliance at its summit in July in Vilnius, Lithuania. So far, NATO members are divided on how far to go in promising Kyiv a clear path to membership or providing other long-term guarantees of its security. The alliance is pushing members to commit to contribute 500 million euros annually to modernize its military and tighten ties with NATO for years to come. Of course, sustaining the F-16s and other sophisticated weapons and paying for missiles and other ordnance to keep them shooting is likely to be far more expensive. The older planes that NATO allies could send will cost less up front, but also have a shorter useful life because theyve already been flying for decades in some cases. Since the start of the war, the US has provided more than $40 billion in security aid for Ukraine, but skepticism is growing in Congress over how long that can be sustained. When you start going down this road, you are talking about a much longer-term security assistance package, said Seth Jones of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. The logistics tail for an F-16 is just infinitely larger than it is for a Stinger or a Javelin, he said, referring to the portable anti-aircraft and antitank missiles that dominated alliance supplies to Ukraine early in the war. Just flying older F-16s such as those Ukraine is likely to receive as NATO members get new fighters costs as much as $32,000 per hour, according to the Defense Department. Overall, maintaining the jets could cost as much as buying them, General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on May 25. Sometimes certain things get labeled as, you know, This is going to be the magic weapon, he said. There are no magic weapons and F-16s not, and neither is anything else. Russias advanced fighters, including the MiG-31 and Su-35, have an advantage over Ukraines current jets. They also have more advanced radars and longer-range air-to-air missiles that might allow them to shoot down F-16s before trained Ukrainian pilots would even be able to see them, according to Rands Tannehill. The Pentagon long argued that maintaining and supporting F-16s would take a lot of work, but Tannehill argues that F-16s with the right weapons systems such as Lockheed Martins joint air-to-surface standoff missile, or JASSM could still help Ukraine given the worn-down state of its current Russian-built fighter aircraft. Its going to be expensive, but if you give it the right weapons systems to go along with the airframe, it could provide substantial combat value, she said, adding that the jets were a a bridge to a post-war, NATO-integrated Ukraine. At the opening of a meeting of allies in Brussels Thursday, officials underlined that support for Kyiv is a long-term project. Citing the F-16s, along with support for German-made Leopard tanks, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said allies are committed to ensure that Ukraines forces have the capabilities that they need to defend their country against Russian aggression in the future. Photos: Major dam collapses in southern Ukraine WASHINGTON Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is, on many counts, a curious choice for President Joe Biden to honor with a state visit. Since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine 16 months ago, India boosted its economy by purchasing increasing quantities of cheap Russian oil. Human rights groups and political opponents accuse Modi of stifling dissent and introducing divisive policies that discriminate against Muslims and other minorities. India's foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, espoused a worldview in which there are no allies or friends, only "frenemies." Biden, who will welcome Modi to the White House on Thursday for a state visit, made clear he sees U.S. ties to India the world's biggest democracy and one of its fastest growing economies as a defining relationship. New Delhi, as Biden sees it, will be essential to addressing some of the most difficult global challenges in coming years, including climate change, disruptions related to artificial intelligence, and China's growing power in the Indo-Pacific. "Now, we know that India and the United States are big, complicated countries," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the U.S.-India Business Council in Washington ahead of Modi's visit. "We certainly have work to do to advance transparency, to promote market access, to strengthen our democracies, to unleash the full potential of our people. But the trajectory of this partnership is unmistakable, and it is filled with promise." Much is at stake for both sides in the Indian leader's four-day visit to the U.S., which begins Tuesday with a stop in New York, where Modi is scheduled to hold meetings with business and thought leaders. Modi will lead an international yoga day event on Wednesday at the United Nations. Biden wants to bring India closer to the United States as the administration tilts its foreign policy toward Asia and looks to build partnerships in the region in the face of an ascendant China. Modi, for his part, is trying to usher in a more prosperous era for his nation of 1.4 billion, delivering on a promise he made when he swept into office more than nine years ago. The Indian prime minister hopes to strengthen U.S.-India economic and military ties. He also has his own worries about Chinese military activities along the Himalayan border and in the Indian Ocean. India is locked in a long-running standoff with China in Ladakh, where each side stationed tens of thousands of military personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets. "As China has risen, India and the U.S. both need one another and the U.S. needs more partners in the Indo-Pacific," said Jitendra Nath Misra, a professor of diplomatic practice at the O.P. Jindal Global University and a former Indian ambassador. "They can't do it alone anymore because China is catching up with the U.S., and the Chinese economy is significantly larger than India's. So, there is a congruence of geopolitical interests here." Trade between the U.S. and India in 2022 climbed to a record $191 billion. The Indian diaspora in the U.S. stands at nearly 5 million and has become an economic, cultural and political powerhouse. Biden sought to reinvigorate the Quad, an international partnership of the U.S., Australia, India and Japan. U.S. defense sales to India rose from near zero in 2008 to over $20 billion in 2020. Still, the state visit comes with some problematic aspects for Biden, who as a presidential candidate pledged that human rights would be a driving force in his foreign policy. Modi faced criticism over deadly 2002 anti-Muslim riots that left more than 1,000 dead, legislation amending the country's citizenship law that fast-tracks naturalization for some migrants but excludes Muslims, as well as a rise in Hindu nationalist violence against other religious minorities. The Biden White House privately pressed India to cut its reliance on Russian oil but largely avoided publicly criticizing New Delhi's stance. In 2021, Russian oil accounted for just 2% of India's annual crude imports; now it's at more than 19%. Biden is expected to again raise India's reliance on Russian oil as well as human rights in his private talks with Modi, according to a senior Biden administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss preparations for the visit. The White House sees indications Modi's government edged away from Russia, noting a subtle tone shift in Modi's public comments about Ukraine, India's growing desire to diversify sources of military hardware and an increasing awareness of a tightening China-Russia relationship. The official state visit portion of Modi's trip starts Thursday and includes an Oval Office meeting with Biden, an address to a joint meeting of Congress and a lavish White House dinner hosted by Biden and first lady Jill Biden. Modi also is to be honored at a State Department luncheon on Friday hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris and Blinken, and he is scheduled to address members of the Indian diaspora before departing Washington. The Pentagon and India's defense ministry on Wednesday will launch INDUS-X, a new partnership that aims to remove some of the regulatory hurdles for tech firms, defense companies and research institutions in the U.S. and India to collaborate on high-priority technologies like artificial intelligence, according to two senior U.S. defense officials, who briefed reporters ahead of the formal announcement on the condition of anonymity. Noted adventurer Hamish Harding is among those aboard a high-tech diving craft carrying five people to document the wreckage of the Titanic that disappeared over the weekend in the North Atlantic, his company confirmed Monday. Action Aviation, for which the Dubai-based billionaire businessman, aviator, explorer and space tourist serves as chairman, said the submersible set out Friday and had a 96-hour oxygen supply starting at roughly 6 a.m. Sunday. There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission, there is equipment on board for survival in this event, Action Aviation managing director Mark Butler said. Were all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound. Harding holds three Guinness World Records, including longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. In March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he blasted into space on Blue Origins New Shepard rocket. After that flight, he shed light on how space tourism is a reality for private space tourists all over the world, as well as research institutes and startups looking to experiment in space. Harding was looking forward to conducting research at the Titanic site, said Richard Garriott de Cayeux, the president of The Explorers Club, a group to which Harding belonged. We all join in the fervent hope that the submersible is located as quickly as possible, he said in a statement. The submersible craft was reported overdue Sunday night about 435 miles south of St. Johns, Newfoundland. Everett, Washington-based OceanGate Expeditions, the owner of the craft, named Titan, said it has been making annual voyages since 2021 to the Titanic debris site. This was the third voyage. OceanGate lost contact with the vessel Sunday morning. The initial group of tourists in 2021 paid $100,000 to $150,000 apiece to go on the trip. The Titanic sank in 1912 in 12,500 feet of water in historys most famous shipwreck. More 1,500 of the 2,200 passengers and crew died in the disaster. Harding said in an Instagram post over the weekend that the voyage was likely to be the only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023 Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years. Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families, OceanGate Expeditions, which runs underwater vessels for charter and scientific exploration, said in a statement Monday. We are working toward the safe return of the crew members. The Associated Press and Tribune News Services contributed to this report. Titanic by the numbers: 10 things to know about the 'unsinkable' ship 882 feet 175 feet 4 smokestacks 21 knots 3 propellers 9 decks 159 furnaces 14,000 gallons 75,000 pounds 2,208 people On this version of Hot off the Wire: A search is underway for a missing submersible that carries people to view the wreckage of the Titanic. Rescuers in a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean are racing against time to find a missing submersible carrying five people on a mission to document the wreckage of the Titanic. Tropical Storm Bret is chugging toward the eastern Caribbean as forecasters warn it could strengthen into a hurricane before approaching a region rushing to prepare itself for an unusually early storm. A new study by the University of California, San Francisco shows that homeless people in California were struggling with poor health and deep poverty before becoming homeless. Pop star Bebe Rexha says she's OK after being hit in the face and injured by a cellphone hurled from the audience at a hometown show in New York City. A 27-year-old man was released without bail after being arraigned on assault, aggravated harassment and other charges. European Union consumer protection groups are urging regulators to investigate the type of artificial intelligence underpinning systems like ChatGPT over risks that leave people vulnerable. The red-hot Reds get back their star first baseman and get back to first place. Luis Arraez gets back to .400, plus back-to-back-to-back saves for Jordan Hicks. And top-ranked Wake Forest keeps winning in the College World Series. Officials say multiple tornadoes swept through Mississippi overnight, killing one and injuring nearly two dozen. The Idaho State Police are investigating a shooting that left four people dead in the small city of Kellogg on Sunday. Officials say about 100 letters containing suspicious white powder have been sent to lawmakers and other public officials across Kansas. Milton Powell, a Houston rapper who performed under the name Big Pokey, has died after performing a show in Texas over the weekend. He was 48. The Kremlin's spokesman says U.N. aid workers who want to visit areas ravaged by a recent dam collapse in southern Ukraine cant go there because fighting in the war makes it unsafe. About 1.5 million people have lost Medicaid coverage in more than two dozen states as a post-coronavirus pandemic purge of the rolls gets underway. Americans across the country are observing the relatively new Juneteenth federal holiday with festivals, parades, cookouts and other gatherings. On a long holiday weekend seen by many as a reason for a party, others are urging quiet reflection about the end of slavery and the treatment of Black Americans throughout U.S. history. According to a source, Bradley Beal is being traded to Phoenix, where he will form a new power trio alongside Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. The person says Phoenix has agreed to send Chris Paul, Landry Shamet and a package of future second-round picks to Washington for Beal, a three-time All-Star. In this week's AP religion roundup, Southern Baptists reject churches with women pastors, and can artificial intelligence preach a good sermon? There's no question Cary Morwitzer loved her house along U.S. 6 in Ashland. She basked in the history and nostalgia "of my vintage gas station home." So many memories, she said bittersweet like the raspberries that grew in abundance from the bushes next to the old house. It was in that house where she raised two daughters. Her husband of 33 years owned and operated Dean's Auto Body Shop a few feet from the house on a site that had been a gas station until 1972. Dean Morwitzer opened his shop in 1980 and lived there. He met Cary and they married in 1985. "It was kind of our honeymoon cottage for a while," she said. It would become so much more. In 1990, they purchased it from Duke Summers, ensuring the land and the business would stay in the family. For Cary, who grew up on a farm just outside of Ashland and never wanted to be anywhere else, that meant everything. "This is my home," she said. Dean died suddenly in March 2019, leaving behind a heartbroken wife who had no intention of ever leaving, even though the house and the shop were badly in need of maintenance work. "I wanted to stay there as long as I was able to take care of myself," she said. "I never thought about the work that needed to be done on the house." A year later, she met Phil Ruhlman, the recently retired Gallup executive who saw her property the house, the old filling station, body shop and shed as an ideal spot for the steakhouse he'd dreamed of owning since bartending at Misty's while attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the late 1970s. Oxbow Crossing has grown to so much more than Ruhlman's Steakhouse. The 6-acre project located at U.S. 6 and Silver Street, will also feature a 5,300-square-foot Bryan Health Physicians Network care center, an event center, a Runza drive-thru location and a meat market. In addition, there will also be 48 apartment units built on the site by Omaha-based Red Line Development. And none of this could have happened without Cary Morwitzer's approval. She had been approached by other people interested in buying her land, but was always quick to turn down the offers. That first meeting between her and Phil Ruhlman would begin a back-and-forth relationship he offered to buy her land and she rejected the offer that was always cordial and would eventually evolve into trust and serious negotiations. "I listened to find the things that were keeping her there," he said. "Once I kept hearing those things, it all became possible. I also respected what her husband had built." When the talks got serious, she brought in her brother, Tom Sherman, a nearby farmer, who advised her to at least consider a deal because of all the repair work her old house needed. "It started to make sense," she said. They were close to a deal in early 2022 when Ruhlman offered up his brother and business partner Matt a Lincoln contractor to build her a new house anywhere she wanted in Ashland. The Ruhmans would also pay for the move, taxes on the new house as well as a cash settlement. But Cary, still tethered to her vintage gas station home the memories and, believe it or not, the raspberries needed another sweetener. "She's got some amazing raspberry bushes," said Phil Ruhlman, who offered to move them to a special spot on the Oxbow Crossing development along a walking path with a bench. Cary Morwitzer requested that the bench be dedicated to her late husband, and Phil Ruhlman had no problems with that. "She signed the papers that day," he said. It took Matt Ruhlman six months to build her house a 1,300-square-foot ranch-style home with a basement that sits on a hill overlooking Ashland's city pool and splash pad. "Now that it's summer, kids are over there, playing all the time," she said. "It's fun to watch." Top Journal Star photos for June 2023 Less than a year after his departure from the Nebraska Legislature, former State Sen. John McCollister said much of this year's session he "couldn't bear to watch." This was in no small part due to the rancor that was present nearly every day of the 88-day session. While there were several reasons for this, many viewers including McCollister observed a level of partisan polarization in the officially nonpartisan body that was likely a root cause for the dysfunction. Despite its nonpartisan, one-house structure, it's not uncommon to see party influence in the actions of individual lawmakers. This year, however, the divide went to extremes that McCollister said he hasn't seen before. McCollister, a registered Republican, came into the Legislature in 2015, and described it as a more moderate party than what's seen today. Another former senator, Laura Ebke, who entered the Legislature the same time as McCollister, backed up his description. "We kind of charted our own course," Ebke said. Ebke entered the Legislature as a Republican, but in 2016 she switched her party to Libertarian. She said this was partially due to what she saw as a growing demand for Republican lawmakers to be more disciplined, and unite in support of other Republican bills. Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, who returned to the Legislature this year after being term-limited in 2015, said the body has changed in several ways during her absence. Though the institution has always been "right of center," Conrad said, her first two terms in 2007 through 2015 saw lawmakers acting more as "independent contractors," rather than party representatives. The division this year didn't come out of nowhere, all three lawmakers agreed. There have been "vestiges of dysfunction," according to McCollister, growing within the body for the past several years, aided by several possible factors, like additional money contributing to campaigns, gerrymandering in legislative district mapping and the increased polarization of national politics. One of the more common theories is that the Legislature's term-limit rules enhanced the division this year. The current provision limits lawmakers to two consecutive four-year terms, although they can serve again after sitting out at least four years. Despite several attempts to revise this rule in recent years including one introduced this session term limits have remained unchanged since 2000. In part due to this, the 49-member Legislature brought in 16 new lawmakers this year, and added one more when Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln was appointed after Sen. Suzanne Geist resigned. The lack of experience within the body added to the party influence, particularly within the 32-member Republican majority. Nathan Leach, founder and executive director of Nonpartisan Nebraska, said most of Nebraska's active lawmakers haven't served in a time when this level of division is abnormal. Combined with the animosity that was already present, Leach said he expects many lawmakers fell back on their parties to guide them. "They're in their first year and they're following the leader," Ebke said. The division of this year may be short-lived, Ebke said, because as the newer senators gain more experience, they may become more willing to push back against their party. However, if this is true, that could mean the same issues will come up again when a group of new freshman lawmakers are ushered in following the 2024 election. Leach said it's dangerous to view this year's session as an outlier, both in that it's hopeful thinking, and it isn't backed up by the evidence shown in the Legislature's recent history. As someone who's watched the Legislature for the past decade, Leach said it's been "devastating" to watch the last couple of years. "It's really hard to watch something you love and value kind of deteriorate," he said. The Legislature broke from tradition in several ways this year. For McCollister, he said he spotted an issue within the first days of the session, when lawmakers were deciding committee assignments. McCollister said it was clear that Republicans stacked the committees in their favor and denied Democrats a voice. He pointed to Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont, a former educator, losing her seat as Education Chair to Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, a farmer. For Leach, the worst offense lawmakers made this year was when they suspended their rules to temporarily amend the rules in order to change the process for a session-long filibuster Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha and her allies launched to oppose a bill aimed at restricting gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Several lawmakers objected to the process lawmakers used to get the change enacted back when it was being debated. Leach said even by the most basic definitions, lawmakers did not follow the proper procedure laid out in the rules. First, a proposed rules change is supposed to be heard by a state committee first and go through a hearing, Leach said, where this proposal went straight to the floor. Supporters defended this by arguing the rules change was similar to another rules change that had a hearing earlier this year, but opponents disputed this. Second, Leach said temporary rule changes typically aren't supposed to last longer than a day, whereas this change took effect immediately in March and lasted for the rest of the session. Allowing this sets dangerous implications for the future, as it opens the door for reactionary rules changes mid-session, he said. Conrad echoed Leach's concern with this break in procedure, describing it as one of the most dangerous things that happened this session. However, she also noted instances where she felt the Legislature got it right, including the initial discussion of rule changes that happened in the first days of the session, which Conrad called an "early success." "I don't think the institution is broken," Conrad said. It's worth noting that some in the Legislature don't see partisan government as such a bad thing. Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard proposed a constitutional amendment this year that would turn the Legislature into a more traditional two-house system, as well as make legislative elections partisan. Though his proposal didn't get much support, Erdman and others argued the change would improve representation and the body's efficiency. Amid the turmoil, Republicans were effective at passing legislation this year. Aided by the support of a few Democrats (usually Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha), Republicans passed several bills this session that previously didn't have enough support to make it to the governor's desk, including increasing abortion restrictions, legalizing permitless concealed carry and offering tax incentives for donations to private and faith-based school scholarship funds. These bills were some of the most divisive measures of the session, and it's what Conrad said drove much of the polarization, as it prompted intense reactions from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Despite the increased efficiency, Ebke said she doesn't see any upsides to partisan division. In a one-house system like Nebraska's, she said extra scrutiny and discussion is necessary to determine what legislation passes and what doesn't. Both Ebke and McCollister raised concerns with the collection of bill packages passed this year, some of which had more than 20 bills included. McCollister said this practice raises several issues, including reducing the vetting each bill gets on the floor, especially when some of the bills were added to the packages during late stages of debate. The process also discourages opposition, McCollister said. When multiple proposals are all linked to the same bill, he said a lawmaker may not speak out against a part of the package they oppose if something else they support is also included. In his final remarks of the session, Speaker of the Legislature John Arch defended the packages, arguing the bills included did not show partisan influence, but instead were filled with "good governance bills." Leach said partisan division gives more power to other political figures, like lobbyists and the executive branch. It also distracts lawmakers from public policy issues that affect the majority of Nebraskans. He claimed the majority of key issues lawmakers should be dealing with don't have any relevance to political parties. Without any significant changes, Leach said he fears Nebraska could turn into a "rubber stamp legislature" that approves most bills proposed by the party in majority without much discussion or debate. Leach pointed to several "big picture reforms" he said could provide solutions to this issue, such as extending or abolishing term limits, regulating campaign financing, and a fairer redistricting map. But in the short term, he said leadership needs to work hard before the 2024 session to establish a process that all lawmakers can agree on, regardless of party. Conrad said she's optimistic that this can happen. In the weeks since the session ended, she said she's already met multiple times with lawmakers across party lines, and there appears to be a universal understanding that lawmakers don't want a repeat of this year. However, Conrad agreed that it will require a lot of work to accomplish this, likely taking up most of the interim before the 2024 session begins in January. She said lawmakers must be willing to get deep into key issues, delving into the Legislature's process and build relationships with one another. "I know we're up for the challenge," she said. Photos: Last day of the 108th Nebraska Legislature Today's highlight On June 20, 1837, Queen Victoria acceded to the British throne following the death of her uncle, King William iV. On this date In 1782, congress approved the Great seal of the united states, featuring the emblem of the bald eagle. In 1863, West Virginia became the 35th state. In 1893, a jury in new Bedford, Massachusetts, found Lizzie Borden not guilty of the ax murders of her father and stepmother. In 1943, race-related rioting erupted in Detroit; federal troops were sent in two days later to quell the violence that resulted in more than 30 deaths. In 1944, during World War ii, Japanese naval forces retreated in the Battle of the Philippine sea after suffering heavy losses to the victorious American fleet. In 1947, Gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" siegel was shot dead at the Beverly Hills, California, home of his girlfriend, Virginia Hill, apparently at the order of mob associates. In 1967, boxer Muhammad Ali nvicted in Houston of violating selective service laws by refusing to be drafted and was sentenced to five years in prison. (ali's conviction was ultimately overturned by the U.S. preme court). In 1972, three days after the arrest of the Watergate burglars, President Richard ixon met at the White House with his chief of staff, H.r. Haldeman; the secretly made tape recording of this meeting ended up with the notorious 18 1/2-minute gap. In 1974, the film noir "Chinatown," starring Jack Nicholson and Faye dunaway, was released by Paramount Pictures. In1990, south African Black nationalist nelson Mandela and his wife, Winnie, arrived in New yok city for a ticker-tape parade in their honor as they began an eight-city U. S Your. In 14, the Obama administration granted an array of new benefits to same-sex couples, including those living in states where gay marriage was against the law; the new measures ranged from social security and veterans benefits to work leave for caring for sick spouses. Ten years ago: Lightning began sparking more than 2,000 fires across northern and central California, eventually burning more than a million acres. Model Naomi campbell was sentenced in London to 200 hours of community service and fined 2,300 pounds ($4,600) after she pleaded guilty to kicking, spitting and swearing at two police officers during an argument over lost luggage while aboard a plane at Heathrow airport. RACINE A bench was dedicated to Racine Police Department Officer John Hetland on Saturday, the four-year anniversary of his death. The bench on Christopher Columbus Causeway was donated by Band of Blue, a nonprofit that helps the families of officers move forward after their deaths, according to the organizations website. Our tagline is essentially: end of watch isnt the end of story, RPD Lt. Mike Smith and founder of Band of Blue, said. Smith said Hetland was friendly, outgoing, and someone who everybody liked. Hetland was shot and killed in 2019 while intervening in an armed robbery while off duty. He was a 24-year veteran of the department at the time. The man who killed Hetland was convicted in September 2020 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He fought for us, he fought alongside us, RPD Sgt. Kristi Wilcox said. There was nothing he wouldnt do for his fellow officer. BURLINGTON A judge has denied Daniel Powers permission to work at a Lake Geneva theater owned by a Burlington City Council member. It is the second time Powers has asked for his bond to be modified so that he could take a job at the Geneva Stage venue. Powers, 58, a former teachers aide at Dyer Elementary School in Burlington, is charged with six felony counts of child sexual assault, including five that allege repeated assaults on the same children. Prosecutors allege that Powers touched girls inappropriately at the school. One of the conditions of Powers bond is that he remain under house arrest and have no contact with children. His trial is scheduled for next January. Racine County Circuit Judge Robert Repischak denied the most recent request last month because of concern that Powers could have contact with children. Repischak said he would allow Powers to have a job only if defendant can find another place to work third shift with limited contact with minors. The Racine County District Attorneys Office opposed both bond modification requests. Defense attorney Patrick Cafferty said Powers requested permission to work at the Geneva Stage because he needed a job. He just wants to work, Cafferty said. He had an opportunity to work there. Cafferty also said that any other employment prospects would need the judges approval and that finding work is challenging for anyone facing criminal charges. Its very difficult, he said. Located at 244 Broad St. in Downtown Lake Geneva, Geneva Stage is an historic former movie house that reopened this spring as a live music concert hall, and beer and wine bar. The owner, Shad Branen, is a Burlington alderman and he also owns the Plaza Theater movie house in Burlington. Branen said Powers was employed at the Lake Geneva theater as a maintenance worker before any allegations of criminal behavior surfaced. Although Branen said any new employment would involve no contact with the public, he said he respects the judges decision to deny the request. Of course the allegations are very serious, Branen said. Its not taken lightly. Powers, who lives in the Walworth County community of Spring Prairie, has a work history that includes school bus driver, garbage truck driver and farmhand. He joined Dyer Elementary School as a teachers aide in 2008, receiving good job performance reviews before co-workers and parents reported concerns about his behavior. He was fired in April 2022, shortly before the criminal charges were announced. States with the most drive-in movie theaters States with the most drive-in movie theaters Drive-in theaters becoming harder to find #25. Florida #24. New Jersey #21. California #20. Missouri #19. Michigan #18. Washington #17. Minnesota #16. Texas #15. Colorado #14. Oklahoma #13. Utah #12. New York #10. Kansas #9. Tennessee #8. Kentucky #7. Ohio #6. Indiana #5. Pennsylvania #4. Idaho #3. Maine #2. New Hampshire #1. Vermont RACINE The Racine Unified School District and workers unions seem to agree on pay raises that employees should receive next school year. On Tuesday morning, RUSD and two unions representing RUSD workers proposed 8% base wage increases for district employees for the 2023-24 school year. In brief, separate meetings lasting a couple minutes, leaders of Racine Educators United and the local chapter of the Service Employees International Union exchanged proposals with RUSD officials. Racine Educators United represents RUSD instructors such as teachers and educational assistants. SEIU Local 152 represents RUSD building service employees such as custodians, maintenance workers and engineers. Members of the two unions will vote whether to approve the RUSD proposals. If workers vote yes on the base wage offers, the proposals require final approval from the RUSD Board. In a Tuesday news release, RUSD said its base wage proposal recognize(s) the significant contributions and dedication of our valued staff. We understand the challenges posed by the current economic climate and the fiscal constraints faced by our district, the news release said. Despite these challenges, we remain fully committed to ensuring fair compensation for our dedicated staff members. We recognize the invaluable role that our staff plays in providing quality education and support to our students and families. Attracting and retaining talented individuals is crucial to maintaining the high standards of education we strive for. To this end, we have been working diligently to address the financial aspects of compensation within our fiscal limitations. In the 2022-23 school year, RUSD provided 4.7% base wage increases to employees. Union members almost certainly will approve the base wage offers for next school year. According to SEIU Local 152 President Wayne Rasmussen, at a meeting a few days ago, union members said they would approve 8% pay raises if RUSD offered them. REU members have publicly advocated for 8% pay increases for months. They have rallied, held a press conference and spoken during RUSD Board meetings starting in March. About 60 RUSD educators again rallied Monday before the School Board meeting to advocate for an 8% cost of living adjustment and a salary step increase based on years of service. A salary step is separate from the base wage proposals that were exchanged Tuesday. During the public comment portion of Mondays board meeting, nine RUSD instructors spoke about the need for fair pay. Teachers expressed issues with a new base wage agreement not being approved prior to June 15, the deadline by when Wisconsin public school teachers must renew or reject their one-year contracts with employers. As we wait, other districts are filling up their buildings with fairly compensated employees, said Anthony Duros, a Park High School teacher. Weve been patient enough. This inaction is inexcusable. Simply put, do whats best for Racine Unified teachers, educational assistants, support staff and students. Do your job. When the school year ended last week, A.J. Zydzik, Case High School teacher, said goodbye to many colleagues knowing that, barring some sort of action by the school board, many of them would be leaving RUSD for greener pastures in other districts, he said. Zydzik said he was completely flabbergasted that the school district and School Board did not act sooner to consider base wage increases. We need it now, so we need to stop playing chicken with the future of our district and with the full staffing of our buildings with good, caring teachers, Zydzik said. Racine deserves the best, and Racine deserves more than what weve gotten so far. On a wider scale, REU President Angelina Cruz said the school district needs far more per-student funding from the state. Cruz called on the School Board to join us in publicly and unapologetically advocating on behalf of what is best for our public schools, our children, their families and our public education workers, before its too late, because we are just about there. Numerous people said ongoing staffing shortages could be alleviated by better pay. Jodi Heine, Olympia Brown Elementary speech language therapist, mentioned that staffing challenges resulted in her and her coworkers essentially performing triage. They had to deal with the most pressing issues and did not have enough time to think about how best to serve students. Which fire do I stamp out first? Heine asked. I was set up to fail. My kids deserve so much better than that. Christie Bartow, Case teacher, said she and colleagues go the extra mile at work, and they deserve fair pay as a result. Many teachers go above and beyond for our students every day, Bartow said. Our mighty efforts deserve compensation. With the districts and unions base wage proposals aligning, improved compensation for RUSD workers next school year appears imminent. Close Racine Unified teachers, including Paige Kiesler, right with glasses, and Bill Sakalaucks, center with fist raised, rallied Monday at the RUSD Administrative Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. Educators rallied to emphasize their demands for better pay in the form of an 8% cost of living adjustment and a salary step increase based on years of service. Racine Unified teachers, including Heather Jirgensen, right, rallied Monday at the RUSD Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. Educators rallied to emphasize their demands for better pay in the form of an 8% cost of living adjustment and a salary step increase based on years of service. Maurizia Johnson, Wadewitz Elementary educational assistant, speaks Monday at the Racine Unified School District Administrative Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. Johnson said educational assistants need a living wage because, although we love our jobs, love does not pay the bills. Angelina Cruz, president of Racine Educators United, speaks Monday at the Racine Unified School District Administrative Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. Cruz urged the RUSD Board "to start prioritizing the kids and families of Racine Unified over failed administrators. About 50 Racine Unified educators rallied Monday at the RUSD Administrative Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St., to advocate for better pay and support. Heather Jirgensen, Olympia Brown Elementary teacher and building union representative, speaks Monday at the Racine Unified School District Administrative Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. A teacher holds a sign Monday at the Racine Unified School District Administrative Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. Angelina Cruz, Racine Educators United president, speaks Monday at the Racine Unified School District Administrative Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. A teacher holds a sign Monday at the Racine Unified School District Administrative Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. Nine photos of Racine teachers advocating for fair pay Racine Unified educators rallied Monday to emphasize their demands for better pay and support. Racine Unified teachers, including Paige Kiesler, right with glasses, and Bill Sakalaucks, center with fist raised, rallied Monday at the RUSD Administrative Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. Educators rallied to emphasize their demands for better pay in the form of an 8% cost of living adjustment and a salary step increase based on years of service. Racine Unified teachers, including Heather Jirgensen, right, rallied Monday at the RUSD Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. Educators rallied to emphasize their demands for better pay in the form of an 8% cost of living adjustment and a salary step increase based on years of service. Maurizia Johnson, Wadewitz Elementary educational assistant, speaks Monday at the Racine Unified School District Administrative Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. Johnson said educational assistants need a living wage because, although we love our jobs, love does not pay the bills. Angelina Cruz, president of Racine Educators United, speaks Monday at the Racine Unified School District Administrative Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. Cruz urged the RUSD Board "to start prioritizing the kids and families of Racine Unified over failed administrators. About 50 Racine Unified educators rallied Monday at the RUSD Administrative Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St., to advocate for better pay and support. Heather Jirgensen, Olympia Brown Elementary teacher and building union representative, speaks Monday at the Racine Unified School District Administrative Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. A teacher holds a sign Monday at the Racine Unified School District Administrative Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. Angelina Cruz, Racine Educators United president, speaks Monday at the Racine Unified School District Administrative Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. A teacher holds a sign Monday at the Racine Unified School District Administrative Service Campus, 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. Republicans first presidential primary debate of the 2024 cycle is coming to Milwaukee Aug. 23, Fox News announced Tuesday. The debate at Fiserv Forum, which is also the main venue for next years Republican National Convention, will pit the growing field of GOP presidential candidates against one another in an event moderated by Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. The event is scheduled for 8 to 10 p.m. and will be broadcast nationally by Fox News. The event, coupled with next years GOP convention, cements Wisconsins importance for Republicans as they fight to retake control of the White House and U.S. Senate. The road to taking back our country starts right here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the Fiserv Forum! states a tweet from the Wisconsin Republican Party. Republicans face an uphill battle in Wisconsin, where GOP candidates have lost 14 of the last 17 statewide races, though some of them were by razor-thin margins. Their challenge in 2024 may be tougher, given the candidacy of U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, whose double-digit victory in 2018 came with critical support from rural areas typically faithful to Republican candidates. The August presidential debate will provide the many GOP presidential contenders a potential shot to take on current Republican front-runner former President Donald Trump, who The New York Times reported may not attend the debate to avoid putting the spotlight on his challengers. Other announced candidates include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, of South Carolina, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. National polls show Trump with more than 50% support from Republican voters, followed by DeSantis with just more than 20%, and every other candidate with less than 10% support each, poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight reported. By Dean Weingarten. June 19, 2023 At least one judge in the Third Circuit believes the Commerce Clause overrides the Bill of Rights. In a recent decision of The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in the case Range v Lombardo, on June 6, 2023, the en banc court ruled some felony convictions are not sufficient to restrict Second Amendment rights, based on the historical record. Eleven of 15 judges concurred with the majority opinion. Four judges dissented. One of those was Judge Janet Richards Roth, appointed to the Third Circuit by George H. W. Bush in 1991. She was born in 1935 and started her governmental career working as a typist and administrative assistant in the Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State, in 1956. She graduated from Harvard Law School in 1965. Judge Roth assumed senior status on May 31, 2006. She is a few days short of her 88th birthday (June 16). Judge Roth makes a strong case, based on Progressive philosophy, the Commerce Clause overrides the Bill of Rights. She gives the usual litany of Progressive "arguments": Things have changed since the ratification of the Bill of Rights. The federal government has to have more power than the Bill of Rights allows. That was then. This is now. Here is part of the dissent from Judge Roth of the Third Circuit P. 96 of 107 : In Bruen, the Supreme Court considered whether a regulation issued by a state government was a facially constitutional exercise of its traditional police power. Range presents a distinguishable question: Whether a federal statute, which the Supreme Court has upheld as a valid exercise of Congress's authority under the Commerce Clause,2 is constitutional as applied to him. The parties and the Majority conflate these spheres of authority and fail to address binding precedents affirming Congress's power to regulate the possession of firearms in interstate commerce. Because Range lacks standing under the applicable Commerce Clause jurisprudence, I respectfully dissent. Judge Roth explicitly states the modern expansion of the commerce clause, to include virtually all activity which has any effect on commerce, overrides the Bill of Rights because the scope of modern commerce is far greater than commerce at the founding. ..... 1. Yes. Voters across the city filled the seat in the first place. Voters should decide again. 2. Yes. An election is much preferable to back-room decisions among council members. 3. No. The charter calls for the council to fill the vacancy by appointment. Follow the rules. 4. No. An election would be expensive, both for the city and for the potential candidates. 5. Unsure. An election seems more transparent, but its not the perfect answer. Vote View Results 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 KEARNEY A Holdrege man has pleaded guilty after 440 grams of methamphetamine were found in his vehicle in March. On Friday, Colten Wright, 25, of Holdrege, pleaded guilty in Buffalo County District Court to felony possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, meth, between 28-140 grams, as well as felony possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, first offense. In exchange for his plea, Buffalo County Deputy Attorney Michael Mefferd amended the first charge from felony distribution of a controlled substance, meth, more than 140 grams. Mefferd also dropped a felony charge of possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony as part of the plea deal. Wright is scheduled to appear in Buffalo County District Court for sentencing on Aug. 17. He will be held at Buffalo County Jail pending sentencing. The arrest affidavit outlines the case against Wright: An investigator with the Nebraska State Patrol and Tri-Cities Drug Enforcement Team became aware in November and December 2022 that Wright was allegedly involved in the sale and possession of large amounts of methamphetamine in Holdrege and Kearney. On the morning of March 9, the investigator was notified of Wrights vehicle in Kearney and had stopped at two different residences that are associated with drug activity. On March 10, Wrights vehicle was located at Kearney Drive-In Self Storage, 2921 N Avenue. After contacting management of the facility, it was determined Wright was not a renter at the facility. Members of TRIDENT, Kearney Police Department and Nebraska State Patrol made contact with Wright inside the storage facility. After detaining Wright, officers observed a small amount of a white, crystal-like substance that was consistent with meth on the drivers seat. The substance was field tested and showed a positive presumptive result for meth. During a probable cause search of Wrights vehicle, investigators located 440.06 grams of suspected meth in five different bags, two digital scales, 40 black and silver Ziplock-type bags, assorted drug paraphernalia and a .25 caliber pistol with six rounds in the magazine. A portion of the substance in the bags was tested and was presumptive positive for meth. A criminal history check on the Nebraska Criminal Justice Information System determined Wright is listed as a convicted felon and is prohibited from possessing weapons. KEARNEY A Kearney man has taken a plea deal after being accused of sexually assaulting a minor. Daniel D. Krivolavek II, 25, has pleaded no contest in Buffalo County District Court to felony attempted first-degree sexual assault. In exchange for his plea, Buffalo County Deputy Attorney Michael Mefferd amended the charge from felony first-degree sexual assault. Court documents indicate the alleged incident took place Dec. 23, 2022, with a minor at least 12 years old but less than 16. The arrest affidavit has been sealed. A no contest plea is neither an admission nor denial of guilt, but the plea is treated the same as a guilty plea. Krivolavek is scheduled to appear in Buffalo County District Court for sentencing on Aug. 17. Pending sentencing, Krivolavek will be lodged at Buffalo County Jail. LINCOLN Twelve new Nebraska State Patrol troopers are ready to hit the road. Members of the Nebraska State Patrols 67th Basic Recruit Class received their badges and were sworn in Friday during a ceremony at the State Capitol in Lincoln. These new troopers are eager to serve, and we are excited to have them join the team, said Colonel John Bolduc, superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol. Over the last six months, theyve been through difficult training designed to prepare them to serve with compassion, integrity and dedication. Camp 67 is ready to serve the public and join the NSP mission to keep Nebraska safe. The 12 members of Camp 67 come to NSP from communities across Nebraska, Iowa and Texas. The newly sworn-in troopers have completed 22 weeks of training, including extensive live-action training scenarios and rigorous academic instruction. Their training now continues in the field, pairing with veteran troopers in the field training process. Outstanding performance in several areas of training was recognized with awards during the graduation ceremony. Recruit Brett Evans, of Omaha, received the Superintendents Leadership Award. Recruit Dylan Frerichs, of Houston, Texas, was honored with the O.H. Witt Academic Achievement Award as well as the D.R. Shearer Marksmanship Award. Recruit Gabriella Ochoa, of Grand Island, was awarded the Captain Mark Williams Core Values Award. Recruit Dylan Grassmyer, of Stanton, was honored with the R.J. Buchholz Physical Fitness Award. Gov. Jim Pillen provided remarks during Fridays graduation ceremony, held in the rotunda of the Nebraska State Capitol. Secretary of State Bob Evnen administered the oath of office. These 12 graduates are embarking on a career path that is truly selfless, Pillen said. As citizens, we are grateful for their public service in law enforcement. The training they have undertaken is proof of their dedication to the badge they represent. We must remember to always share our appreciation for what they do to serve and protect. The graduates of Camp 67 are: Wyatt Anderson of Gothenburg. Kak Ayaj of Lincoln. Iris Bishop of Alliance. Margarita Clouse of Lexington. Noah Coleman of Creston, Iowa. Brett Evans of Omaha. Dylan Frerichs of Houston, Texas. Dylan Grassmyer of Stanton. Gage Hyberger of Lincoln. Hunter Lassen of St. Paul. Gabriella Ochoa of Grand Island. Seth Reighard of Lincoln. The 68th Basic Recruit Camp for NSP is scheduled to begin training on July 5. Applications for Camp 69 are scheduled to open in the next few months with camp scheduled to begin in January 2024. Anyone interested can get information about the hiring process, the training provided to recruits and the benefits of becoming a trooper by visiting NebraskaTroopers.com. KEARNEY Petes Patriot is staying in Kearney. Thats according to Brad Kernick, a car enthusiast and supporter of the Classic Car Collection in Kearney. The owner is not verified, but Petes Patriot will remain in Kearney, Kernick said Tuesday afternoon at the conclusion of the auction of 130 cars that had been displayed the past 12 years at Kearneys Classic Car Collection. Owner of the Bernie and Janice Talborg Classic Car Collection, Alan Gentz of Sterling, Colorado, put the collection up for sale. Kernick said it was tough seeing the collection sold off car by car, but the vehicle with the Kearney story will be staying in Kearney. Im just ecstatic that its going to stay here, Kernick said about the 1969 AMX drag racer that was campaigned by a pit crew of Kearney High School boys. Steven Nelson, the sales rep for the North Dakota-based Steffes Group Auctioneers, described the Classic Car Collection auction as wonderful, excellent. He said the auction was a private business undertaking, so he declined to state how much the 130 cars fetched. However, Nelson said the auction attracted buyers from around the globe. We had more than 700 registered bidders from all over the world, literally, Nelson said. He listed buyers locations, including Australia, France, England and all over the U.S. and Canada. Nelson said the winning bidder is paying $171,000 for Pete's Patriot. KEARNEY The Pilchuck Glass School is the largest and most comprehensive educational center for artists working with glass. Founded in 1971 by glass art pioneer Dale Chihuly and philanthropists Anne Gould Hauberg and John H. Hauberg, it brings people from around the world together to inspire and learn from each other in a creative environment. A lot of famous artists have taught there and come out of there, said Nadine Saylor, an assistant professor in the University of Nebraska at Kearney Department of Art and Design. Its a really big deal. Saylor, who leads the glassblowing program at UNK, had the opportunity to take courses at Pilchuck in 2002. The experience really changed my life, she said. Now, one of her students has the same opportunity. UNK senior Karina Boatright will attend a weeklong session at the Pilchuck Glass School in late July. Shes the first Loper selected to study there through a new partnership program. Im very excited to attend this workshop. Its not only an opportunity to acquire new techniques related to glass but also a chance to interact with various people and be inspired. This is a unique opportunity to learn from new perspectives, Boatright said. One of the top glassworking programs in the world, Pilchuck offers a variety of courses for artists of all skill levels, including glassblowing, casting, fusing, neon, stained glass, painted glass, flameworking, mixed-media sculpture, engraving, vitreography, 3D modeling, photography and performance. Participants in the summer and fall residential programs eat, work and sleep on the 55-acre campus, which features more than a dozen art studios, individual and group housing and outdoor gathering spaces. The school is located within a 15,000-acre tree farm in the foothills of the Cascade Range, about 50 miles north of Seattle, Washington. Saylor encouraged Boatright to apply for the Partner Scholarship, which allows her to attend the summer program tuition-free. Im really excited for her to go there because I think it will really change the way she thinks about glass, Saylor said. When you go to Pilchuck, even if its a weeklong class, it adds years of glassblowing experience because of all the people who are there and things you see. Theres just so much going on. Originally from Ibaraki, Japan, Boatright moved to Kearney in 2016 and started studying at UNK in 2019. Shes been taking glassblowing classes for two years and is part of the UNK Glass Club. Boatright called glassblowing a difficult but enjoyable process. Its always changing and theres always a different result. Thats what I like about glass, she said. Its really challenging. A studio art major with a photography emphasis, Boatright embraces the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, which teaches people to appreciate simplicity and find beauty in imperfection. I want to create art that reflects wabi-sabi aesthetic and the Japanese Zen philosophy, she said. I hope to make people smile through my artwork. Boatright graduates from UNK this fall, then she plans to begin a career that combines glassworking and photography. I hope this experience will help shape my future artistic endeavors, she said. UN adopts agreement to protect high seas Xinhua) 08:09, June 20, 2023 A session of the intergovernmental conference on marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction is held at the UN headquarters in New York, on June 19, 2023. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua) UNITED NATIONS, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Monday adopted a historic agreement for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction which cover over two-thirds of the ocean. "The ocean is the lifeblood of our planet. And today, you have pumped new life and hope to give the ocean a fighting chance," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a session of the intergovernmental conference on marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Guterres noted that two decades in the making, the adoption of the agreement "demonstrates the strength of multilateralism." "By acting to counter threats to our planet that go beyond national boundaries, you are demonstrating that global threats deserve global action," said the UN chief. He called on all states to act without delay to sign and ratify the agreement as soon as possible. The agreement will be open for signature at the UN headquarters in New York for two years from Sept. 20, 2023, and will enter into force after ratification by 60 states, according to a UN press release. Waters which lie beyond national jurisdictions, known as the high seas, comprise nearly two-thirds of the ocean's area. However, figures from the World Wide Fund for Nature show that only about 1 percent of this huge swath of the planet is protected. The newly-adopted agreement, under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, is expected to significantly strengthen the legal framework for protecting high seas. Among the key issues it addresses, the agreement sets up a framework for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from activities with respect to marine genetic resources and digital sequence information on marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction, ensuring that such activities benefit all of humanity, the UN said. It will enable the establishment of area-based management tools, including marine protected areas, to conserve and sustainably manage vital habitats and species in the high seas and the international seabed area. Such measures are critical for archiving the "30 by 30" global target to effectively conserve and manage at least 30 percent of the world's terrestrial and inland water areas, and of marine and coastal areas by 2030, as agreed in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the UN said. "The finalization of this agreement is no small feat," UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi said in his remarks to the intergovernmental conference. The agreement complements the pivotal decisions aiming at global transformation including the 2030 Agenda, he said. It lays the foundation for a better stewardship of the seas, ensuring their survival for generations to come, and "testifies to the power of multilateralism," said Korosi. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Front) addresses a session of the intergovernmental conference on marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction at the UN headquarters in New York, on June 19, 2023. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Fugitive former car executive Carlos Ghosn, gestures as he talks during an interview with Reuters in Beirut, Lebanon June 14, 2021. Reuters-Yonhap Auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn has filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Nissan and about a dozen individuals in Beirut over his imprisonment in Japan and what he says is misinformation spread against him, Lebanese officials said Tuesday. According to the officials, Ghosn's lawsuit accuses Nissan and the individuals of defamation and of "fabricating charges" against him, which eventually put him behind bars in Japan. The lawsuit was filed last month, the judicial officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the case. The officials did not identify the individuals that Ghosn is accusing. Ghosn was arrested in Japan in November 2018 on charges of breach of trust, misusing company assets for personal gains and violating securities laws by not fully disclosing his compensation. According to Judge Sabbouh Suleiman, who is at the Beirut's prosecutor's office, a hearing date in the case was set for September. The judicial officials who spoke to The Associated Press sad that Nissan and the accused individuals are expected to send representatives to Beirut or name a Lebanese lawyer to represent them. The 69-year-old Ghosn, who for two decades was the head of Nissan and Renault, has repeatedly said he is innocent. In December 2019, he jumped bail in Japan in a daring escape by hiding in a box spirited aboard a private jet out of the country. Prosecutors in Japan have charged three Americans with helping Ghosn escape the country. He now lives in Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan and does not extradite its citizens. Renault and Nissan have both been distancing themselves from the Ghosn scandal. Ghosn has citizenship in Lebanon, France and Brazil. Lebanon has received three notices from Interpol based on arrest warrants in Japan and France for Ghosn. In France, he is facing a number of legal challenges, including tax evasion and alleged money laundering, fraud and misuse of company assets while at the helm of the Renault-Nissan alliance. (AP) Bail has been set at $1 million for a 31-year-old Rochester, Minnesota, man accused of a June 17 drive-by shooting that injured eight people in downtown La Crosse. Deandrew S. Grant faces six felony charges of attempted first-degree reckless homicide and bail jumping. Judge Todd Bjerke ordered the cash bond during a bail-only hearing Monday in La Crosse County Circuit Court. He said the allegations, if true, show a wanton disregard for human life. Assistant La Crosse County District Attorney Jessica Skemp told Bjerke that her office expects to have a criminal complaint ready by Wednesday. Skemp said Grant got into an argument with several people at Press Break Sandwich Shop on Rose Street shortly before 2 a.m. He then entered a vehicle, drove the wrong way on Third Street and discharged a firearm from the drivers side window toward a group of people at Politos Pizza. Skemp said only two of the eight who were injured were involved in the initial incident. She stated seven were injured by gunfire; the other was injured by shattered glass. Grant was arrested a short time later. Skemp said Grant ditched the gun used in the shooting but that police found it on the roof of a local business. At the time of the shooting, Grant was free on a signature bond after he was charged with two misdemeanor counts of criminal damage to property. Skemp told the court that Grant has a 2011 conviction from Illinois for unlawful use of a weapon. Third Street between Main and Jay streets was closed for nearly four hours after the shooting. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) A man who served a hit-and-run sentence in a California prison until his release earlier this year remained jailed Tuesday, awaiting charges after a crash killed five young women in Minneapolis when a speeding driver blew past a state trooper, ran a red light and slammed into their car. Derrick John Thompson, 27, of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, was evaluated at a hospital and then booked into the Hennepin County Jail on Monday in the aftermath of Friday's crash. The victims Salma Abdikadir, Siham Adam, Sabiriin Ali, Sahra Gesaade and Sagal Hersi were all between 17 and 20 years old. Thousands of mourners from the areas large Somali American community attended the young womens funeral Monday at the Dar Al-Farooq mosque in Bloomington, where the five had been active members. They were returning home from a Somali mall where they had henna applied in preparation for a friends wedding scheduled for the next day when their car was struck. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said her office was reviewing the case and would make a charging decision soon. Prosecutors have until noon Wednesday due to the holiday weekend. Our community is grieving the loss of the five bright young people whose lives were cut short in a senseless, selfish act of reckless driving, Moriarity said in a statement. Instead of celebrating a joyous wedding, these families were forced to plan funerals and deal with the devastation of this tragedy. California court records show that Thompson was released from a prison there earlier this year after serving part of an eight-year sentence for his conviction in a 2018 hit-and-run that severely injured a woman in Montecito, California. Minnesota court records also show he was convicted twice of fleeing police in his own state. Jail records don't show whether he currently has an attorney. In Friday's crash, a state trooper first spotted a speeding driver on Interstate 35W in Minneapolis around 10 p.m., police said in a statement. The driver exited the highway before the trooper could attempt a traffic stop and crashed into another vehicle with four women and a girl inside. All five died at the scene. Police said the driver ran from the scene. Officers searched the area before taking Thompson into custody. He was evaluated at a hospital and then booked into the jail Monday. Minnesota court records show that Thompson is the son of former state Rep. John Thompson, of St. Paul, who was a sharp critic of police during his one term in office. The elder Thompson became a Black Lives Matter activist following the police killing of his friend, Philando Castile, in suburban St. Paul in 2016. Minnesota House Democrats expelled him from their caucus in 2021 after old allegations of domestic abuse resurfaced, following an acrimonous traffic stop in St. Paul in which he claimed he was racially profiled, and he lost his primary election last year. A working number for the father could not immediately be found. 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 under-covered issues. Follow Trisha Ahmed on Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15 Winona school officials plan to treat marijuana offenses among underage students similar to how they would treat alcohol infractions when school resumes this fall. Recreational use of marijuana will be legal Aug. 1 in Minnesota, but only for those age 21 and older. That means students at Winona Area Public Schools will be barred from having pot or being under its influence on school grounds. Winona Area Public Schools Superintendent Annette Freiheit said the impact of the states action to decriminalize marijuana use among adults and the potential impact on students and educators has been a discussion point for the districts school board. While determining whether a student is under the influence of marijuana can be harder than alcohol, Freiheit said discipline for infractions would be similar. We would probably have a parent come and pick them up and confiscate whatever they had brought to school, Freiheit said. If this is a repeat offender, then we would also consider if there is any testing for addiction determine if this is a bigger problem and need to work with the parents. If a student illegally possesses marijuana on school property, Freiheit said the school would most likely have to call law enforcement. Investigations and consequences of bringing or using marijuana at school are separate from police efforts to enforce underage possession or consumption, but Freiheit said school officials can relay information to law enforcement. We would also check to see where students are getting it, Freiheit said. If theres information we can share with the police department that we know theres people selling to students, we want that on their radar. Winona Deputy Chief of Police Jay Rasmussen said if someone underage is caught with marijuana after Aug. 1, the charge changes to a misdemeanor of minor in possession charge instead of the previous possession of marijuana charge. Similar to being caught with alcohol underage, Rasmussen said of the action law enforcement would take. But thats all dependent on the amount. It could be a bigger charge. Rasmussen said when dealing with cases of underage substance use the goal isnt to necessarily handcuff the problem. Anytime you have substance abuse issues, we always want to connect with mom and dad to see if theres an underlying issue going on, Rasmussen said. Sometimes that support involves social services, the court system, or the schools. Freiheit said students at Winona Area Public Schools are educated on the impact of many drug types prescription, illegal and legal at a certain age as part of the middle and high school health curriculum. Making good decisions is really a key part of that, Freiheit said. We also partner with the Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention and bring them in to share with students. We try to take any advantage they can provide to us to educate our kids. Freiheit said her next concern is where dispensaries might be located in Winona. No different than a liquor store or tobacco store, its just not appropriate to have those near a school. Freiheit said. Wed want to make sure our zoning law respects that. Rasmussen said schools frequently deal with cases of underage drug use internally and the police are not called in all cases. Sometimes if theres an ongoing issue with a students drug use on campus, the police are called. Depending upon the situation, if its an egregious first offense, police may be called immediately. I tend to think were called when a lot of other things have failed, Ramussen said. I feel like, although we have all these different silos, we all really work together and try to address it as a community. The school district doesnt have a lot of cases of drug possession or use at schools, Freiheit said. Its pretty rare that we have issues and, knock on wood it stays that way, Freiheit said. But its not to say that it doesnt exist because thats just living in rose-colored glass. With resources already in place including counseling and prevention education, Freiheit said she doesnt expect a big change when marijuana is legal at the start of the next school year. Its something that were going to have to be prepared for but as long as we have those protocols in place to help students that need it, I think well continue to operate as we have, Freiheit. I dont think itll drastically change school but we might have to consider the education of it more now that you can have it at 21. Here are the Walworth Countys weekly criminal complaints from June 13June 19. The cases still need to make their way through the Walworth County Court System. All information is from criminal complaints filed in Walworth County Circuit Court. To follow the cases, go to wcca.wicourts.gov. Darien woman steals $902 worth of lottery tickets from Kwik Trip Karly L Higgs, 31, of 300 block Sweet Rd., Darien, has been charged with felony retail theft. A Delavan Police Officer responded to Kwik Trip in the Village of Darien on May 30 for a report of a retail theft. According to the criminal complaint, the officer spoke with a loss prevention officer at the Kwik Trip who said an employee at the location, Higgs, the defendant, had taken $320 worth of lottery tickets on May 22, $160 worth of lottery tickets on May 23 and $124 worth of lottery tickets on May 24. The loss prevention officer said that the defendant also took $298 worth of lottery tickets on May 29. In total, the defendant stole about $902 worth of lottery tickets. In a written statement to the loss prevention officer, the defendant admitted to taking some lottery tickets while on her shift. Lake Geneva woman strikes child with a coffee mug, chargedHolly L Kuhn, 39, of N2800 block Marshall Ln., Lake Geneva, has been charged with physical abuse of a child intentionally cause bodily harm. Lake Geneva police were dispatched to a residence in the City of Lake Geneva on June 6 for a report of a family offense. According to the criminal complaint, dispatch notified the officers that the caller said she was hit by her mother. Upon arrival, they met with three young girls who were standing on the front porch visibly upset. During an earlier confrontation, the defendant had pulled her hair and hit her upside the head with a coffee mug. The daughter suffered a laceration to the inside corner of her right eye and a large bump above her right eye as a result of being hit in the head with a coffee mug. That mug was later found broken in the trash can in the garage. Heavily inebriated Lake Geneva man eludes an officer in the Burger King drive-thru, chargedJeffrey M Zukowski, 53, of 300 block Oakwood Lane, Lake Geneva, has been charged with attempting to flee or elude an officer; second degree recklessly endangering safety; and resisting an officer. A deputy from the Lake Geneva Police Department was dispatched to Burger King on Wells Street in the City of Lake Geneva on May 12 for an intoxicated driver in the drive-thru. The detective approached the vehicle driven by Zukowski, the defendant, who had bloodshot eyes and was slurring his speech. The detective asked the defendant to exit the vehicle, but instead, the driver locked the vehicle, put it in drive and sped away. The detective then pursued the vehicle until the defendant arrived back at his residence where he began to follow the defendant into his garage. The defendant continued to ignore the commands and entered his residence. Zukowski continued to pull away and resist before finally being taken into custody. Later, the defendant had his blood drawn at Lakeland Medical Center showing a blood alcohol concentration of .246. New Berlin man leads officers on a high speed chase in East TroyCody James Robbins, 28, of 4400 block S 129th Street, New Berlin, has been charged with attempting to flee or elude an officer; resisting an officer; and obstructing an officer. On June 11 in the Village of East Troy, an officer activated his police lights and siren and pursued Robbins, the defendant, for 21 miles with estimated speeds of 100 mph by the fleeing vehicle. The chase ended in the City of Delavan after the vehicle came to a stop. The defendant exited the vehicle and began walking around. He was told to get on the ground several times, but failed to comply. After several orders were given with no response from the defendant, an officer tased the man. Two open cans of Coors Light were found in Robbins vehicle. Delavan man charged with three counts of domestic abuse related offenses Jajuan T Winston, 30, of 400 block N Terrace St., Delavan, has been charged with strangulation and suffocation, domestic abuse assessments; misdemeanor battery, domestic abuse assessments; and disorderly conduct, domestic abuse assessments. On June 26 in the City of Delavan, police responded to a report of a woman who said a man cut her, chocked her, and hit her in the head. Upon arrival, a woman rushed towards the squad car and told the officers that Winston, the defendant, choked her. According to the criminal complaint, when the victim originally tried to call police, the defendant jumped on her and began to choke her and make her not be able to breathe. The woman had a cut near her left eye, swelling on the left side of her face, a red mark on her neck, and rug burn on her left elbow and both knees. She said the defendant also punched her an unknown number of times. The defendant layer had a PBT test result of .209. Whitewater man drives on a revoked license, violates bail. Antonio Jermaine Statam, 36, of 300 block N Tratt St., Whitewater, has been charged with felony bail jumping and misdemeanor bail jumping. Whitewater police conducted a traffic stop on May 31 of the defendant, Statam, who at the time was on a probationary license and was required to have an ignition interlock device in his vehicle that he did not have in the car. His license was revoked due to a previous OWI charge. Lake Geneva man leads police on a chase spanning 5 blocks, rolling papers found in vehicle Victor M Yepiz Jr, 22, of N2000 block County Road H., Lake Geneva, has been charged with attempting to flee or elude an officer; and two counts of misdemeanor bail jumping. On June 10 in the City of Lake Geneva, the defendant led police on a chase that spanned five blocks until it came to an end at Hwy 20 and Hwy 12 due to a crash. Police searched the vehicle and found a marijuana grinder and rolling papers inside the glove box. Hebron, Ill. man charged with 4th OWI in Genoa City Ruben O Toscano, 42, of 1000 block Heritage Ct., Hebron, Ill., has been charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence fourth offense. In the early morning hours of May 6 in the Village of Genoa City, Toscano, the defendant, was pulled over after a report of an accident. Upon the deputy from the Walworth Countys Sherriffs Office approached the vehicle, the defendant emitted an odor of intoxicants and admitted to drinking four Bud Light beers and operating his motor vehicle. He was previously convicted of the same violation in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Delavan man charged after having over 60 grams of drugs found in his storage unit Alfonzo Anduaga-Colin, 26, of 2800 block Darlington St., Delavan, has been charged with possession with intent to deliver cocaine; possession with intent to deliver THC (Tetrahydrocannabinols); and maintaining a drug trafficking place. The Walworth County Drug Enforcement Unit conducted a search warrant of a unit the Four Seasons Storage Unit in the Town of Delavan on April 20, a unit owned by the defendant. During the search of the storage unit, the defendant was found to be in possession of 43.51 grams of suspected marijuana, over 17 grams of suspected cocaine, and two functioning digital scales. Secretary of State Blinken Meets with Xi Jinping June 19, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded his two-day visit to Beijing with an unscheduled courtesy meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on June 19. It had not been clear from the get-go whether the Secretary would be granted a meeting with the Chinese President, and it was perhaps contingent on how the previous meetings with Foreign Minister Qin Gang, and another meeting with State Councilor Wang Yi, turned out. On June 18, Blinken met with Qin Gang, which meeting lasted seven hours, and covered the gamut of U.S.-China relations, and all the problems connected with them. The discussion was characterized as candid, in-depth and constructive. Then, on June 19 he met with State Councilor Wang Yi. Wang Yi said that the U.S. should drop the China hype and lift trade sanctions. In the discussions, Blinken reaffirmed the commitments made by President Biden to President Xi during their Bali summit on the sidelines of the G20 on Nov. 14, 2022, that the U.S. is committed to the one-China policy, that it does not seek a new Cold War, does not support Taiwan independence, and that its alliances are not aimed against China. While actions of the Biden Administration since that summit have clearly sent the opposite message, the reaffirmation of these at a high level by Blinken was enough to convince the Chinese leadership to agree to continued high-level exchanges. In the half-hour meeting with President Xi Jinping, the Chinese President indicated that he had been briefed by the other officials on the results of Blinkens meetings. He pointed out that the world needs a generally stable China-U.S. relationship, and whether the two countries can find the right way to get along bears on the future of humanity. Declaring that the common interests of the two countries should be valued, and that their respective success is an opportunity instead of a threat to each other, Xi said the two countries should act with a sense of responsibility for history, for the people and for the world, and handle China-U.S. relations properly. In this way, they may contribute to global peace and development, and help make the world, which is changing and turbulent, more stable, certain and constructive. Xi also said that neither side should try to shape the other side by its own will, still less deprive the other side of its legitimate right to development. Blinken conveyed President Bidens greetings to President Xi and reiterated that the United States is committed to the principles agreed to by the two Presidents in Bali last November. He said that the U.S. side was looking forward to having high-level engagement with China, sought to manage differences, and wanted to pursue dialogue, exchanges and cooperation. Xi asked Blinken to convey his regards to President Biden. Xi also expressed the hope that Secretary Blinken, through this visit, could make positive contributions to stabilizing China-U.S. relations. Both parties indicated that this meeting would lead to further high-level exchanges between officials from the two countries in the near future. During the course of the discussion, agreements had been made that educational exchanges and greater people-to-people exchanges would be encouraged. Benito the giraffe arrived in Mexicos dry northern border city of Ciudad Juarez last month. Already, the climate appears to be a problem. The creature has to deal with the heat of summer. And the snow and very cold temperatures of winter are still to come. As a result, some animal activists are leading a social media campaign to Save Benito. They seek to have the animal moved somewhere easier to live. On a recent day, the 3-year-old male giraffe could be seen with only its head under a small, circular area for shade. The structure did little to protect him from a storm that came later in the day. There is also a small building for the winter. But activists say it is cruel for the city-run Central Park to keep the giraffe in a small area, by himself, in a climate he is not used to. Ana Felix said, We have been fighting for a month, a group of animal activists, to demand that he be taken to an animal sanctuary, a zoo, ... The Ciudad Juarez animal rights activist said Benito should be housed in the right space with people who know how to care for such animals. Blue Hills, a sanctuary in Texas that rescues animals and books private tours to help offset the cost, has offered to buy or adopt Benito. We can offer him a ... new heated barn, so in the winter he doesnt stand in the snow and freeze, sanctuary worker Matt Lieberman wrote to The Associated Press. We have an on-staff vet that cares for our animals and we have 24-hour staff for him. He added that the giraffe would have 130 hectares to move around in. Lieberman said, He needs trees to eat from and keep stimulated. Benito appears to have just about finished off the only small trees within his reach at Central Park and can do little more than walk in circles. Officials at the park reject the criticism, though they admit they cannot provide more trees. They say they are working to improve Benitos living area, saying his presence has been important in increasing the parks popularity among visitors, largely children. Monthly visits rose from about 140,000 before Benito arrived to 200,000. Park visitor Derek Reyes, 11, had mixed feelings about Benito. He could be fine here, Reyes said, but it would also be good if they could take him to a place where they belong, with a herd. Park director Rogelio Munoz said officials are planning to build Benito a new, heated winter house by September. The park is also building a larger sun covering for the giraffe and cleaning water in the pool that takes up much of the enclosure. Benito will have fresh water in a special drinking container known as a trough. The conditions, attention and care in the habitat of the parks new resident are optimal for his stay, the park wrote in a social media message. A zoo in the much milder climate of Sinaloa, a state on Mexicos northern Pacific coast, gave Benito to Ciudad Juarezs Central Park. Benito could not stay with two other giraffes at the Sinaloa zoo because they were a couple. The male in the couple could become protective and attack the younger Benito. The giraffes arrival was a point of pride for Ciudad Juarez, a city across from El Paso, Texas. El Paso has giraffes at its zoo, the thinking goes, so why cant Ciudad Juarez? We want to be like El Paso, Munoz said. Im John Russell. Mark Stevenson reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. _____________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story giraffe n. a very tall African animal that has a long neck sanctuary n. a place where someone or something is protected or given shelter barn n. a building on a farm that is used for storing grain and hay and for housing farm animals or equipment vet n. short for veterinarian an animal doctor stimulate v. to make a person or thing excited or interested in something herd -- n. a group of animals that live or are kept together habitat -- n. the place or type of place where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives or grows optimal adj. best or most effective Russian forces have destroyed or damaged thousands of schools since invading Ukraine. But the harms to the countrys education system go far beyond damaged buildings. Experts say schooling is suffering in extreme ways, even for those who fled the country. One example is nine-year-old Milana Minenko. She now lives in Poland after fleeing the war in Ukraine with her mother in March 2022. A Russian missile struck the family home on the second day of the war. Milanas school was also destroyed. Now Milana attends a public school in Poland. Her mother helps her follow lessons in the evening to keep up with schooling back home. There is no time and no money for anything else. Government officials say Russian forces have destroyed 262 educational buildings and damaged another 3,019. But even for those who have fled to other countries, schooling is suffering in unprecedented ways. Families, educators and experts say that for refugees, the effects of war and moving to a new place make studying in a new country even harder. Officials in Ukraine have said they have attempted to keep education a priority in the country. They say the young generation of Ukrainians will need to be well educated to help rebuild the country after the war. Ukraines government says at least 500 children have been killed in the war. Thousands more have been sent to Russia without permission. About 1.5 million refugees live in Poland, the most of any country. Many chose it because it is close to Ukraine and they plan to go back home someday. In Poland, children are not required to attend local schools. But school is required in Germany and some other countries. The United Nations childrens organization UNICEF estimates fewer than half of child refugees in Poland attend schools. That is about 180,000 students. Many do not speak Polish. About 30 percent of children from Ukraine studying in Polish school systems are also studying Ukrainian lessons online, UNICEF says. The numbers drop with older students, with just 22 percent of Ukrainian teens in Poland attending the country's schools. Students following lessons in two languages have more difficulties in school. This is in addition to problems students have dealing with the move to another country and the trauma of war. Many refugee families have moved several times within Poland. Students trying to keep up with Ukrainian schoolwork abroad can still experience the effects of war at home. Polina Plokhenko is a 16-year-old who left her Polish high school to work on online lessons with her Ukrainian school on the frontline in Kherson. Bombs often send her teachers fleeing into shelters. It is hard because it is my last year of school, and I needed to learn a lot of information by myself, Polina said. Since age 11 she has wanted to study acting at a Kyiv university. This month, Polina is taking Ukraine's final state examination, which students must pass to enter universities. It is being given in 47 cities in 30 countries, said Maryna Demyanchuk. She is a professor who helped organize the exam at a center in Warsaw. To prepare, Polina attends Saturday classes at one of three Ukrainian schools set up in Poland by the group Unbreakable Ukraine. Viktoriia Gnap is the groups founder. She said the schools teachers, who are also refugees, think the overall level of student knowledge is quite low. But the groups goal is to provide a high-quality education, even with a very limited budget. Some Ukrainian students are becoming better at speaking Polish, and plan to attend universities there. Others still feel disconnected from Poland. Some refugees have been bullied. Milanas mother, Oksana, said she looks forward to the day when her family can return home, so that my child can go to her teacher and hug her. She added, That's what she dreams of. Im Dan Novak. Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by The Associated Press. Quiz - How the Ukraine War Is Affecting Childrens Education Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz _______________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story unprecedented adj. never having happened before priority n. something that is very important and that must be dealt with before other things trauma n. severe shock caused by an bad experience bully v. to intentionally frighten someone who is smaller or weaker than you A new study has found that areas of the brain containing fluid expand when astronauts are on space missions for six months or longer. The American space agency NASA funded the study. The brain areas are called cerebral ventricles. They contain cerebrospinal fluid, a clear and watery liquid that flows in and around the brain and spinal cord. The fluid helps protect the brain against sudden impact. The fluid also removes waste products. Researchers based their research on brain scans of 30 astronauts. They found that it took three years for the ventricles to fully return to normal size after long space missions. The results mean that astronauts may need to wait at least three years between longer space missions. Heather McGregor is a University of Florida brain scientist. She was the lead writer of the study, which appeared in the publication Scientific Reports. She told the Reuters news agency that if the ventricles do not have enough time to get back to normal size, they could have less space to expand on a following trip to space. This could affect the brains ability to deal with the changes in gravity that astronauts face. Rachael Seidler is a University of Florida professor of applied physiology and kinesiology. She was also a writer of the study. She said, the impact of ventricular expansion is currently not known, and that scientists need to do more studies on the subject. She added that the expansion likely compresses the area of the brain around the spaces. To compress means to press, squeeze or make smaller. On Earth, valves in the bodys vascular system prevent fluid from staying at our feet due to gravity. But in space, without gravity, the valves push the fluid more towards the head. Seidler said this is what likely causes the ventricular expansion. As a result, the brain sits higher in the skull. The study involved 23 male and seven female astronauts from the U.S., Canadian and European space agencies. The average age of the astronauts was 47. Eight of the astronauts traveled on space shuttle missions that lasted about two weeks. Eighteen were on International Space Station (ISS) missions of about six months. The other four took part in ISS missions that lasted about a year. The astronauts who went on short missions experienced little or no ventricular size change. A size increase occurred in astronauts after missions of six months or longer. There was no difference in those who went on missions for six months compared to those who went on year-long missions. The fact that enlargement did not worsen after six months could be good news for future Mars missions. Astronauts may spend two years in microgravity during trips to Mars. The study results are also good news for people thinking about going on short space tourism flights, Seidler added. Low gravity causes other changes in the human body, as well. These include decreases in bone and muscle mass, some changes to the heart and lung system, and issues with the balance system in the inner ear. Longer space missions might also increase cancer risk because of greater exposure to solar radiation. Im Andrew Smith. Will Dunham wrote this story for Reuters. Andrew Smith adapted it for VOA Learning English. ___________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story fund -v. to pay for or provide some money for some activity or project impact -n. a) the action of one object hitting another, or the force with which one object hits another. ; b) the strong effect something has on another thing or person. physiology -n. the scientific study of how people's and animals' bodies function kinesiology -n. the scientific study of how people's and animals' bodies move occur -v. to happen exposure -n. placement in a situation where dangerous or damaging things can affect you _______________________________________________________________________ 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. LEXINGTON The boards of The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District and Dawson Public Power District plan to vote again on the documents required for their consolidation next month. The boards will each hold a special Board Meeting on July 17 at each districts respective headquarters. The public will have several opportunities to provide comment, both in person at board meetings and via email. Since the Nebraska Power Review Boards ruling denying the consolidation due to a technical issue in April, the districts have jointly developed bylaws to govern the consolidated district, which will be named Platte River Public Power and Irrigation District. The bylaws will be voted on by both boards at their respective regular meetings on July 5. On July 17, Central plans to vote on an amendment to its charter, which will include specific language that the district does not have the power to issue general obligation bonds, addressing the technicality. Immediately subsequent to Centrals vote on its Charter Amendment, Dawson PPD plans to file a Petition to Dissolve contingent upon the Nebraska Power Review Boards approval of Centrals petition to amend to consolidate the districts. The bylaws, petitions and other documents pertaining to the merger can be found on the districts websites, cnppid.com/merger and dawsonpower.com/resources/merger-and-consolidation-documents. The meetings are open to the public. Interested parties may speak during the public comment portion of the agenda. The dates, times and locations of the upcoming meetings are as follows: June 23 at 9:00 a.m. Central Regular Board Committee Meeting, 415 Lincoln Street, Holdrege July 5 at 9:00 a.m. Central Regular monthly Board Meeting, 415 Lincoln Street, Holdrege July 5 at 10:00 a.m. Dawson PPD Regular monthly Board Meeting, 75191 Road 433, Lexington July 17 at 9:00 a.m. Central Special Board Meeting, 415 Lincoln Street, Holdrege July 17 at 10:00 a.m. Dawson PPD Special Board Meeting, 75191 Road 433, Lexington Comments may also be submitted via email to mergercomments@cnppid.com or by mailing comments to either districts headquarters. The districts continue, just as they have through the process that began in November 2020, to provide information and meet with individuals who would like to learn more. If someone wants to ask more in depth questions or have conversations about the merger, they are welcome to call and schedule a time to meet with a District representative at any time. COZAD The Robert Henri Museum and Art Gallery is pleased to announce that Chuck Schroeder of Eagle, Nebraska will be the Artist of the Month for July 2023. His work will be on display at the museum with many available for purchase. A reception will take place at the museum on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, from 5:00 to 7:00 to honor his work. Chucks work will be available for viewing until July 30. In addition, Chuck will be doing painting demonstrations at the museum, sessions he calls At the Easel on July 7-8, and 21-22, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Following is a brief background on Chuck. Native of Palisade, Nebraska; ranching, farming, livestock feeding, Quarter Horses Education: BS degree, Animal Science, UNL 1973/ UNL Rodeo Team, Livestock Judging Team Stanford Graduate School of Business, Exec. Ed. program for NonProfit Leaders, 2007 Gallup Premier Leadership Institute Peoples Choice Vision Award, 1999 Taos Institute of Art 2001 Private art study with Sherrie McGraw and David Leffel, Taos, NM, 2015- present Career: Partner in Schroeder Cattle Co. 1975-2004 Director, Nebraska Dept. of Agriculture 1983-86 Exec. Vice President, University of Nebraska Foundation, 1986-95 Founder, Heartland Center for Leadership Development Founder, Rural Policy Research Institute Founder, Agriculture Future of America Founding CEO, National Cattlemens Beef Association 1995-2002 President, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 2002- 2013 Founding Executive Director, Rural Futures Institute at the University of Nebraska, 2013-2018 Founder, principle Schroeder Fine Art, 2018 to present Other: Accomplished artist with invited, one-man exhibitions at Metro Gallery, Red Path Gallery, Peru State College, University of Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska Innovation Campus, other private venues 2017 present Accomplished horseman Multiple AQHA Select World Show Qualifier, Top Ten, Int. World Champion Numerous boards, commissions, and organizations at local, regional and national levels Numerous awards and special recognitions, including: o Nebraska Chapter, FFA, inaugural Al Sick Award for Service to Agriculture o University of Nebraska Ag Econ/Agribusiness Club Award for Outstanding Service to Agriculture o Inductee, Nebraska Hall of Ag Achievement o Ak-Sar-Ben Agricultural Achievement Award o KRVN Award Outstanding Spokesperson for Agriculture o UNL College of Agriculture Outstanding Alumnus Award o Nebraska AgRelations Council Service to Agriculture Award o UNL Block & Bridle Club Honoree 2019 Family: Married to Kathleen McCallum Schroeder for 51 years One daughter, Dr. Lindsay Hastings, Clifton Professor of Mentoring Research, UNL Two granddaughters, ages 9 & 12. Chucks artist statement follows: Im Chuck Schroeder. Im an artist. For forty years, I said, I fool with art! Then, at age fifty, I encountered a great teacher, Renate Collins, in Taos, New Mexico. Ms. Collins examined everything from my talent to my soul and said, You are an artist. I want you to say that. When you speak through your hands, I know who you really are. Renate remains a guide and an inspiration to me. Since 2018, my life has been dedicated to the life of an artist, following an adventurous career as CEO of major industry and cultural organizations, a competitive horseman, rancher, livestock judge, politician, fund raiser, fist shaking activist, and founder of several organizations championing the interests of rural people and communities. After many years of instruction and mentoring with recognized artists in the Taos, NM, community, my work in this chapter of life reflects the beautiful character of people and places that have been built, beaten and honed by time into the elements for a respectful, sustainable society. The museum will also be sponsoring two other programs during the month of July. On July 1, as part of the Cozad 150 celebrations, the museums director will be reading the Declaration of Independence late in the day as part of the Old Fashioned Independence Celebration. On July 29, the museum will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the printing of Robert Henris groundbreaking book called The Art Spirit with a special program in the museums gallery. The museums director will be discussing the history of the book and the museum curator/intern will be discussing Henris techniques that he described, and using the museums paintings to illustrate those methods. The program will take place in the museums gallery at 1 p.m. and refreshments will be served in the museum afterwards. The program will be free to the public. The Artist of the Month program, now in its ninth year, was established to encourage understanding and appreciation of the arts in central Nebraska and to promote the legacy of Robert Henri, one of Americas greatest art instructors. He taught hundreds of students over his long career including Edward Hopper, Rockwell Kent, Marjorie Ryerson and Elizabeth Grandin. Artists can apply to the museum for consideration for entry into the program by going to its web page and printing off the application and submitting it. Applications are currently being accepted for the 2024 program. The Robert Henri Museum and Art Gallery is a national treasure that is the result of the work of many volunteers, board members and professional staff who have toiled for more than thirty years. The effort to preserve Robert Henris legacy in Cozad started with a small group of people who saw the opportunity to bring recognition to the town that was once home to the acclaimed artist and native son, Robert Henri (Robert Henry Cozad). This group, led by Shirley Paulsen, bought and restored the former Hendee Hotel, Henris boyhood home. With local support and generous donations from Cozad and Henri family members, local and area donors from across the United States, the Robert Henri Museum and Art Gallerys collection continues to grow. The first Henri painting donated to the museum in 1988 was Portrait of Queen Mariana. Since then, numerous donations and loans of Henri works have been made. In 2014, a climate-controlled art gallery was built to keep the collection in. Today the Art Gallery houses the largest display of Robert Henri works, or those attributed to him, in the United States, including eighteen paintings and forty-three sketches. In addition, there are works by several of his students including Marjorie Organ, Marjory Ryerson, and Ernest Fiene. The museum and art gallery are located at 218 East 8th Street in Cozad and will be open from May 1 to November 1 on Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about the museum call 308-784-4154 or visit the museums web page at www.roberthenrimuseum.org. GOTHENBURG The Gothenburg senior Melons took to the diamond against the Minden Legion Post 94 seniors on Friday, June 16 in Gothenburg. In the first inning, Gothenburg went three up and three out on the mound. The Melons scored two runs in the bottom of the first. Minden came back in the second and third inning after scoring five runs in and shutting out Gothenburg. Gothenburg was behind two to six going into the fifth inning. Minden scored one run in the top of the inning and iced out the Melons. The sixth inning remained quiet on both sides as no runs were scored. In the top of the seventh inning, Minden ran away with the win after scoring five runs. Gothenburg put four runs on the board in the bottom of the inning. Gothenburg lost six to 11. Pitching for the senior Melons was Ethan Olson with four strikeouts, three walks, 10 runs allowed and 11 hits allowed. Trey Stevens had one strikeout, one walk, one run allowed and one hit allowed. Batting for Gothenburg was Stevens with two at bats, two runs scored and one hit. Wes Geiken had four at bats, two runs scored, one hit and one RBI. Tra Rossell had four at bats and one RBI. Jackson Schwanz had four at bats, one hit and three RBIs. Bennett Geiken had three at bats and two hits. Noah Shoemaker had two at bats, one run scored, one hit and one walk. Aiden McKenna had three at bats, one run scored and one hit. Gothenburg faced Imperial on Sunday, June 18. The senior Melons dropped a five to three lead in the sixth inning. Imperial scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to win six to five. Melon Stevens had two at bats, one run scored, two hits, two walks and two RBIs. Wes Geiken had four at bats. Rossell had four at bats, one run scored, two hits and one RBI. Schwanz had four at bats and one hit. Sean Meints had two at bats, one run scored, one hit, two walks and one RBI. Shoemaker had three at bats, one run scored, one walk and one hit. Carsen Farr had two at bats, one run scored and one walk. On the mound for the Melons was Wes Geiken with 11 strikeouts, three walks, four runs allowed and six hits allows. Bennett Geiken had one strikeout, two walks, two runs allowed and two hits allowed. Gothenburg hosted Broken Bow on Tuesday, June 20. The Melons face off against McCook on Thursday, June 22 at 8 p.m. in Gothenburg. Multinational companies including Amazon, Marriott and Hilton pledged Monday to hire more than 13,000 refugees, including Ukrainian women who have fled the war with Russia, over the next three years in Europe. Just ahead of World Refugee Day today, more than 40 corporations say they will hire, connect to work or train a total of 250,000 refugees, with 13,680 of them getting jobs directly in those companies. Every number is a story of an individual family who left everything, seeking safety, seeking protection and wanting to be able to rebuild as quickly as possible, said Kelly Clements, U.N. deputy high commissioner for refugees. So the commitments that businesses are going to make on Monday are absolutely essential. She says 110 million people have been displaced worldwide, with an estimated 12 million from Ukraine, nearly half of whom are living in Europe after the continents largest movement of refugees since World War II. The hiring push in Europe was organized by the Tent Partnership for Refugees, a nonprofit founded by Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya that connects businesses and refugees, and is being unveiled at a gathering in Paris. The groups first summit in the U.S. last year led to commitments to hire 22,725 refugees. In the new round, Amazon leads the pack, vowing to hire at least 5,000 refugees over the next three years in Europe, followed by Marriott and Hilton with 1,500 each, Starbucks and ISS with 1,000 each, and smaller commitments from brands like Adidas, Starbucks, LOreal, PepsiCo and Hyatt. This is good for us as a company because the opportunity to add diversity to our workforce will continue to make us a stronger company, said Ofori Agboka, Amazon vice president overseeing human resources. With diversity brings innovation, creativity, different insights. He said the vast majority of jobs will be hourly roles at fulfillment and storage centers and in transport and delivery. Amazon announced 27,000 job cuts earlier this year, part of a wave of layoffs after tech companies ramped up hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those layoffs primarily affected salaried office jobs, Agboka said. Daria Sedihi-Volchenko fled Kyiv last year and now works in Warsaw, Poland, as a senior program manager for an Amazon Web Services program providing free tech training for Ukrainians. She says about 40% of those in the program have no tech background. I went through the same way as many of our learners are going through, she said. I had to learn, and I took a commitment on my interview. I said that OK, if we can agree and I can start working for you, I promise to learn Polish and I promise to learn technical skills. A year ago, Sedihi-Volchenko woke up to explosions from Russias invasion. I was terrified. I was so scared for Ukraine, for the nation, for the future, for my own life, she said. But also that was a shocking moment when I understood that everything in my life is changing. She began living in basements but left as Russian forces approached Kyiv. She drove 40 hours to reach Moldova, thankful that she didnt drive on a single land mine and nobody shot into my car. She went to Poland to find work, embarking on an IT path after working as a project manager for government ministries and as an economist in Ukraine. Companies are hoping refugees can fill staffing needs after the economy bounced back from the pandemic. In Europe, unemployment is at its lowest since the euro currency was introduced in 1999. Were seeing record levels of demand for our properties across many markets here in Europe, Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano said. And so we are hiring aggressively to make sure we can accommodate our guests as demand ramps up. Marriotts jobs will largely be hourly positions like housekeepers, kitchen staff and front desk attendants. European nations have welcomed Ukrainians, and while Clements applauded opening schools, workplaces and other opportunities to them, she said the same should be offered to others fleeing conflict and crises in places like Syria, Sudan and Afghanistan. Sedihi-Volchenko knows the challenges ahead for refugees, even as some companies offer help with language skills, counseling and training. Job listings can be difficult to decipher, and like her, they may have difficulty securing a stable internet connection or work clothes. Its important to give a refugee just time to learn the language, but the person can start working because if you bring experience with IT systems or finance or project management or any other area, naturally, you understand, its not so much about the language. You understand the flow of work, she said. COURTNEY BONNELL, LONDON, MDT/AP Residents and visitors will be able to sample cuisines from Africas Mozambique, a lusophone country, right in Macau, Artyzen Grand Lapa Hotel announced yesterday at a press conference. The event saw the participation of Dr. Rafael Custodio Marques, Consul General of Mozambique in Macau, Tiago Azevedo, vice-president of The Mozambique Friends Association, Carlos Graca, Guest Chef of the dining promotions, as well as Desmond Hill, area culinary director of the hotel. Co-presented with the Mozambique Friends Association, the dining promotions aim at staging a cultural celebration of one of the most extraordinary traditional cuisines in the world and in line with the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Forum for China and Portuguese-speaking countries, the hotel said. During his speech at the press conference, Consul-General Marques said that on June 25, his country will celebrate 48 years of independence. Meanwhile, Chef Graca was introduced to have been born to a family that owned and ran a Chinese restaurant in Mozambique. He visited Macau some decades ago to work at the then Hyatt Regency Hotel in Taipa. The dining promotions will run from June 21 to July 2, and come as semi-buffet lunch, set dinner and dinner buffet. AL A new magazine has been officially launched to promote Chinese culture using the Portuguese language, targeting the lusophone population. A seminar that marked the official launching of the magazine Via do Meio, now with two editions, was held last week with its publisher, media veteran Carlos Morais Jose, speaking about the project. On the sidelines of the event, Jose told the Times that the main difficulty of the project, apart from keeping it running in terms of human resources, is to translate Chinese texts, many from ancient dynasties, into Portuguese. The two cultures are completely different. It is exceptionally difficult to present Chinese culture in Portuguese. They are two very powerful civilizations that grew separately until a point in time, Jose suggested. [In fact], its difficult to translate Chinese language and concepts into European languages, not only Portuguese. Poetry is especially difficult to translate. However, Jose wonders if it is worthwhile to translate at least the meaning and the sense to spread knowledge and ideas. The media veteran was not certain if the project would generate profits. If it pays [for] itself, its already a victory, he said. Nonetheless, he is not overly pessimistic, for he hopes that firms Chinese or Portuguese in Portugal will follow buy advertisements when the magazine is published in the country. Currently, it is only published physically in Macau. The digital version of the magazine, according to Jose, is available in mainland China, particularly in universities. Because it is a cultural magazine, its not like a normal magazine selling normal advertisements, he explained. Its a little different. Its difficult to follow the bureaucratic steps to apply for government support, he suggested. I think the government will look at my work and come to us so we can cooperate. For the time being, he said he will focus on the quality of the publication first. The Macao Polytechnic University (MPU) and Association of Macao Tourist Agents held the launching ceremony of the Education + Tourism project yesterday to promote the construction of a demonstration base for education, cultural tourism for Macaus World Centre of Tourism and Leisure. They will jointly develop education services and tourism to meet the needs of Southeast Asia, the country and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area for international and national examinations and certification services, and assist the work of the Examination and Certification Centre of Macau. Related The first sectorial section of the public consultation of the amendments to the electoral laws for the election of the Chief Executive (CE) and legislators took place yesterday at the Complex of Commerce and Trade Co-operation Platform for China and Portuguese-speaking Countries. Highlighted in the speeches from several representatives of local civil associations, as well as figures including the president and vice president of the Legislative Assembly (AL), were calls for the safeguarding of the Macau ruled by patriots principle aside from the reassurance of the defense of central governments core values. In one of the most emotive speeches of the afternoon, the president of the General Union of Neighbourhood Associations of Macau (Kai Fong), Ng Siu Lai said, The democracy of Macau cannot affect the core values of the central government. And this is why all people in the government posts need to be people who love the country and Macau above everything else.] She added that this principle should always prevail to avoid negative influences by someone with diabolical intentions. Expressing her unequivocal support for the changes proposed, Ng, like many other speakers, did not make any remarks on proposals to be included in the final bill. Also expressing full support for the changes was AL president Kou Hoi In, who noted in his pre-written speech that the fact that the changes come at the same time for both the CE elections and the legislators is appropriate and timely, ahead of next years CE elections. Kou said these changes are proof of the support from the central government for the autonomy of Macau, adding that the eligibility criteria [chosen] can guarantee that holders of these posts [CE and legislators] are patriots. Contrary to most of those expressing opinions yesterday, Kou said the amendments of the laws, Still need some perfecting, via the introduction of specific [eligibility] criteria, although without unveiling which criteria need to be better defined. Kou also supported the idea of the impossibility of appeal from the decision of the National Security Defense Commission (CDSE) that will replace the Electoral Affairs Commissions in the task of inspecting and evaluating the eligibility of the candidates for both elections. Kou remarked that by being a special matter, I think this [the lack of appeal from the decision] is very rational and follows the central governments intentions. In a long speech, the president of AL still had time to express his feelings on the general amendments of the electoral laws, which he said would be a step forward to the progressive perfection of the basic law, expressing wishes that the process is swift and can be concluded before the new CE election. Following a similar tone and opinion was also Lao Ngai Leong, a local delegate of the National Peoples Congress who also said that the changes proposed are articulated with the reality of Macau and to implement the [principle] of Macau ruled by patriots. Lao noted that electoral law changes are necessary to better implement the one country, two systems principle as well, calling on the government to have a proper and clear clarification and broad disclosure of the eligibility criteria to avoid any doubts. For the vice president of AL, Chui Sai Cheong, the changes in the electoral laws represent the start of a new era, in which we can see the principle of patriots ruling Macau fully implemented, he said, noting the amendments proposed to be important for the security of our country and the review to be on time and necessary. Making a few remarks on the comments from the different speakers, the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Andre Cheong, said the purpose of the changes to the laws is to consolidate the [seven] criteria previously defined by the AL Electoral Affairs Commission (CAEAL) and to effectively embed them into the law, making them official. Cheong also said the ongoing public consultation plays an important role in civic education for the population on this topic. Ron Lam disagrees with appeal removal Lawmaker Ron Lam has said he disagrees with the proposal of the impossibility of an appeal from a candidate after qualification as non-eligible by the CDSE. In an interview with the Portuguese news agency, Lusa, Lam said the right of appeal should be retained in cases of exclusion of candidates, contrary to what is proposed in the amendments to the law. The possibility of an administrative and judicial appeal should be retained because this is the best way to ensure a balance between national security and the protection of candidates, he was quoted saying to Lusa. I respect our countrys requirements concerning national security. Hong Kong, Macau, and the mainland are aligned, he said noting he agrees with the right to veto of the candidates from CDSE. However, I have to emphasize that the rule of law in Macau, the system in this territory, has always been that all matters related to human rights, including the right to stand for election, have a corresponding administrative and judicial appeal system, he remarked. Election laws amendments to move forward at two different speeds The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Andre Cheong, admits to moving forward with election laws amendments at two different speeds and timings, he said yesterday at the first sectorial section of the public consultation of the amendments to the electoral laws for the election of the Chief Executive (CE) and legislators. In response to the calls from different individuals for a swift process with hopes that the new CE election could already be undertaken under the new law, Cheong said that the government intends to move forward with the amendments related to the election of the CE and submit the bill to the Legislative Assembly (AL) first, he said, saying he hopes that at least this part can be submitted and approved by the AL this year. * Xi, Blinken pledge to stabilize US-China ties * Election Laws | Patriotism and central govt core values are to be defended * Top Court upheld a lower court ruling that parking lots declared as common parts of a building are owned by all owners within the premises * Tourism: May Golden Week fails to halt tourist drop * Chinese online shoppers are enticed by deep discounts, payment plans as zest for spending lags DOWNLOAD PDF Tuesday, June 20, 2023 edition no. 4270 The United Nations has rebuked Moscow for allegedly denying its aid workers access to Russian-occupied areas affected by the recent Kakhova dam collapse in southern Ukraine, which stranded residents, threatened power supplies and caused an environmental calamity as the war approaches 16 months. The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement late Sunday that the organization has engaged with Moscow and Kyiv, each of which occupies parts of the southern Kherson region where the dam and reservoir are located, to address the devastating destruction caused by the breach. The Russian government has so far declined our request to access the areas under its temporary military control, Brown said. We urge the Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law, her statement added. Exclusive drone photos and information obtained by The Associated Press indicate Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to blow up the dam, which was under Russian control, earlier this month. The explosion occurred as Ukraine mustered for a counteroffensive. Kyivs forces have intensified attacks along the 1,000-kilometer front line recently. The dam lies on the Dnieper River, which forms the front line between Russian and Ukrainian forces on the eastern and western banks, respectively. Some analysts saw the dam breach as a Russian effort to thwart Ukraines counteroffensive in the Kherson region. The U.K. Defense Ministry said Monday that Russia has recently redeployed several thousand troops from the banks of the Dnieper to buttress its positions in the Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut sectors, which reportedly have seen heavy fighting. The move likely reflects Russias perception that a major Ukrainian attack across the Dnieper is now less likely following the dams collapse, it said in a tweet. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar says Kyivs forces have liberated a total of eight settlements in the course of two weeks on the Berdyansk and Melitopol axes of their counteroffensive in the countrys southeast. MDT/AP Photo: Facebook/ BC Sikhs Police in British Columbia are urging Sikh community members to overcome their fears by providing any evidence in the shooting death of a local gurdwara president who advocated for a separate Sikh state in India. Surrey RCMP confirmed Monday that 45-year-old Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot and killed in his vehicle as he was leaving the Guru Nanak Sikh temple in Surrey on Sunday night. Nijjar is accused of terrorism and conspiracy to murder in India. Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards called Nijjar's killing "brazen" and "appalling," and said it was "disgusting" that the incident happened at a place of worship, with many other community members present during the attack. Edwards said the only way for people to respond should be to come forward with evidence to help solve the case. "How we deal with fear is we come together," he said during a news conference. "Everybody comes together and makes a statement and says, 'We're not going to take this.'" "Everybody who's a witness comes forward. Everybody who has dashcam video. Everybody who hears something comes together, and we bring it forward to advance the investigation." There was a heavy police presence outside the temple Monday, including an RCMP mobile command vehicle. A steady stream of Sikh community members arrived at the temple but they declined to speak to reporters. Police had taped off part of Guru Nanak Way, a private road leading into the parking lot. Several community members tried to get closer to the scene but were turned away by police. Sgt. Tim Pierotti of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, which is heading the investigation, said they are aware that the shooting death of the high-profile Sikh community member has triggered speculation about the attack's motives. He said investigators are focusing on "letting the evidence lead," and that is why community participation by speaking up or providing things like dashcam footage from the evening of the shooting will be crucial to solving the case. "There are a lot of vehicles that record even if the vehicle is off," Pierotti said. "So, please check that dash cam footage is reported to us if you do have anything that has been recorded." Police confirmed they are aware of a burning vehicle found in Coquitlam shortly after the shooting, but have yet to definitively link the vehicle to the case. At an unrelated news conference on Monday, Premier David Eby called the shooting a heinous crime. "Like many people in Surrey and many British Columbians, I'm profoundly disturbed that somebody was murdered in our community on the grounds of a place of worship in front of many witnesses." The general secretary of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Society said Nijjar was alone in his pickup truck when he was attacked as he was leaving the temple's parking lot. Bhupinder Singh Hothi said Nijjar previously received death threats because of his support for a separate Sikh state of Khalistan, in India, but the shooting will not deter those who share his beliefs. Surrey RCMP said officers received reports of the shooting at about 8:27 p.m. Sunday and the victim died at the scene. Police say they are searching for suspects and trying to confirm a motive for the homicide. Were not gonna let people come into this community and do these things anywhere, let alone in a house of worship," said Edwards. "We're not going to stand for it." A video posted on Twitter about 90 minutes after the shooting showed a large crowd gathered outside the gurdwara, the scene illuminated by the flashing lights of police cars. Some in the crowd chanted in Punjabi, Long live Khalistan, We want a separate Khalistan, and Death to India, as RCMP officers looked on. A video also circulating on social media shows a person slumped over in the drivers seat of a grey pickup truck, the windows shattered. Hothi said he did not know why Nijjar was shot, but he had previously been threatened over his Khalistan advocacy. He was raising his voice for his homeland." In India, Nijjar had been accused of terrorism-related offences and insurrection. India's counterterrorism National Investigation Agency last year issued a charge sheet that also accused Nijjar of conspiring to murder Hindu priest Kamaldeep Sharma, who the agency said was killed by a "terror gang" in a village in Jalandhar, Punjab. In a video posted by the gurdwara on its Facebook page, an unidentified man said in Punjabi that Nijjar had been "martyred." "Nijjar was silenced but his voice will live forever. We will become his voice," the man said. The World Sikh Organization of Canada, a non-profit which said it advocates for the interests of Canadian Sikhs, issued a news release on Monday that called the killing an "assassination." It said the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and police "were aware of the threat to Nijjar as well as other Sikh activists in Canada." "The fact that he was assassinated in this manner is a failure of these bodies to provide protection to someone they knew would be targeted," the organization's president, Tejinder Singh Sidhu, said in the release. He added: "The role of foreign interference from India must be thoroughly investigated and those responsible for this crime must be brought to justice." The news release said Nijjar denied being involved in any criminal activity. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met yesterday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said they agreed to stabilize deteriorated U.S.-China ties, but Americas top diplomat left Beijing with his biggest ask rebuffed: better communications between their militaries. After meeting Xi, Blinken said China is not ready to resume military-to-military contacts. Yet Blinken and Xi pronounced themselves satisfied with progress made during the two days of talks, without pointing to specific areas of agreement beyond a mutual decision to return to a broad agenda for cooperation and competition endorsed last year year by Xi and President Joe Biden at a summit in Bali. And, it remained unclear if those understandings can resolve their most important disagreements, many of which have international implications. Still, both men said they were pleased with the outcome of the highest- level U.S. visit to China in five years. Blinken said later that the U.S. set limited objectives for the trip and achieved them. He told reporters before leaving for a Ukraine reconstruction conference in London that he had raised the issue of military to military communications repeatedly. It is absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications, he said. This is something were going to keep working on. The U.S. has said that, since 2021, China has declined or failed to respond to over a dozen requests from the Department of Defense for top-level dialogues. According to a transcript of the meeting with Blinken, Xi said he was pleased with the outcome of Blinkens earlier meetings with top Chinese diplomats and said restarting the Bali agenda were of great importance. The Chinese side has made our position clear, and the two sides have agreed to follow through the common understandings President Biden and I had reached in Bali, Xi said. The two sides have also made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues, Xi said without elaborating, according to a transcript of the remarks released by the State Department. This is very good. In his remarks to Xi during the 35-minute session at the Great Hall of the People, a meeting that was expected but not announced until an hour before it started, Blinken said the United States and China have an obligation and responsibility to manage our relationship. The United States is committed to doing that, Blinken said. Its in the interest of the United States, in the interests of China, and in the interest of the world. Blinken described his earlier discussions with senior Chinese officials as candid and constructive. Despite the symbolism of his presence in China, Blinken and other U.S. officials had played down the prospects for any significant breakthroughs on the most vexing issues facing the planets two largest economies. Instead, these officials have emphasized the importance of the two countries establishing and maintaining better lines of communication. Thus, Chinas refusal to resume the military-to-military contacts was a hitch. Progress is hard, Blinken told reporters. It takes time, it takes more than one visit. Blinkens trip is expected to herald a new round of visits by senior U.S. and Chinese officials to each others countries, possibly including a meeting between Xi and Biden in India or the U.S in the coming months. Blinken meets top diplomat Wang Yi Before meeting with Xi, Blinken met earlier with Chinas top diplomat Wang Yi for about three hours. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, noted that Blinkens visit comes at a critical juncture in China-U.S. relations, and a choice needs to be made between dialogue and confrontation as well as between cooperation and conflict. History always moves forward, and China-U.S. relations will also move on. Reversing the wheels of history will lead nowhere, and overturning what has been achieved is even less desirable, Wang said. We need to shoulder our responsibilities to the people, history and the world, avert the downward spiral of the relationship, bring it back to the track of sound and steady development, and jointly explore the right way for China and the United States to get along with each other in the new era, he said. Noting that relations between China and the United States are at a low point, Wang underscored that the root cause is U.S. misperceptions toward China, which have led to misguided China policies. China-U.S. relations have gone through ups and downs, and it is necessary for the United States to reflect upon itself, and work with China to jointly manage differences and avoid strategic surprises, Wang said. He pointed out that in order to stabilize China-U.S. relations, the most urgent task is to act on the common understandings reached between the two presidents with real actions. He also urged the U.S. side not to project onto China the assumption that a strong country is bound to seek hegemony and not to misjudge China with the beaten path of traditional Western powers. This is key to whether the United States can truly return to an objective and rational policy toward China. Wang demanded that the United States stop playing up the so-called China threat, lift illegal unilateral sanctions against China, stop suppressing Chinas scientific and technological advances, and do not wantonly interfere in Chinas internal affairs. He stressed that safeguarding national unity has always been the core of Chinas core interests. It is where the future of the Chinese nation lies and the abiding historical mission of the CPC. On the Taiwan question, China has no room for compromise or concession, Wang said. He said the United States must earnestly abide by the one-China principle set out in the three China-U.S. joint communiques, respect Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity, and unequivocally oppose Taiwan independence. Blinken said that the U.S. side is committed to going back to the agenda set by the two presidents during their summit in Bali and looks forward to enhancing communication with China, managing differences responsibly and cooperating in areas of common interests. MDT/AGENCIES Penelope is a sculpture. But shes also a musical instrument. And she can get up to 45 mph. Penelope is one of two playful, towering vehicular artworks that artist John Himmelfarb will pull up to the front door of Cafe Coda on Wednesday as part of Make Music Madison. If you go What: Make Music Madison When: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday Where: 217 venues throughout Madison Admission: Performances are free, but tipping the musicians is highly encouraged Schedule: Find maps and a searchable list of musicians by name, genre and location at makemusicmadison.org. The annual celebration of music, featuring 687 free musical performances this year, will be held at more than 200 venues across the city and all through the day. Himmelfarb will be outside Cafe Coda, the jazz club at 1224 Williamson St., from noon to 2 p.m. Parked near him will be Penelope Awaiting Her Chamberlain the official title of a 1946 Chevy pickup with a cab painted an artful turquoise and a truck bed piled implausibly high with oil barrels and iron castoffs. Himmelfarbs 1947 International Harvester truck, known as KB-3, will be there, too, brimming with piano wires, welded bicycle frames, an iron headboard and a dangling metal watering can. Professional percussionists as well as passersby will be invited to make sound on the two truck sculptures during Make Music Madison, part of a worldwide event held on the summer solstice. When Himmelfarb brought in Penelope for a previous Make Music Madison, Cafe Coda owner Hanah Jon Taylor even coordinated with the fire station across the street to roll out a fire truck and honk along with the musicians. Himmelfarb and his wife, Molly Day, a retired elementary school teacher and reading specialist, split their time between Spring Green and Chicago. He has a studio in both places, but its on the couples 40 acres in Iowa County that he constructed an outbuilding large enough to pull a truck inside and weld a colossal sculpture atop it. They wound up in the Spring Green area in 2008 thanks to a Chicago friend, a structural engineer whom the artist consulted about his truck-turned-sculpture idea. The friend invited Himmelfarb to rent his rural Wisconsin property to give the artist more space to work. When that property was sold in 2011, the couple bought their current place, just minutes from Frank Lloyd Wrights Taliesin. The son of two artists, Himmelfarb grew up in a Usonian-inspired house designed by his father in a rural area outside of Chicago. His grandparents lived in Milwaukee and the family owned a cottage on Madeline Island, where the young Himmelfarb spent many summers painting and drawing. So, buying the Spring Green-area property felt like coming home, he said. Himmelfarbs father, an artist and industrial designer, attended UW-Madison for a time and paid part of his way through college by working as a percussionist. In homage, Himmelfarb designed a hidden compartment on KB-3 that will hold his fathers glockenspiel, which is currently being restored. Power of imagination The truck is a recurring motif in much of Himmelfarbs work. For him, the pickup has been a character going back to childhood, he said. The artist doesnt like to expound on the meaning behind his sculptures or his paintings, prints and drawings and prefers to leave that thinking to the viewer. But its fair to say that Penelope and K-B3 invite ruminations on rural life and the power of imagination. The KB-3 is a marvel of composition, balance and whimsy. Himmelfarb didnt start building his huge 3D works with music in mind but realized as he put them together that they had amazing sonic potential when hit with a mallet, brush or stick. More recently, at the request of a young musician, he added some features to KB-3 that also can be plucked or played with a violin or viola bow. In 2019, the artist connected with a percussion instructor at Northern Illinois University whose students came out to meet and compose music on KB-3. A video concert of their compositions, called The Himmelfarb Project, and many images and videos of Himmelfarbs overall artistic work can be found at the websites himmelfarbproject.com and johnhimmelfarb.com. A performance on Himmelfarbs roving musical instruments is the quintessential street music that will fascinate and appeal to everyone, said Samantha Crownover, executive director of the Madison chamber music series Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, who helped connect Himmelfarb with the NIU music program. The music is exuberant, dynamic, loud, surprising, she said, and makes you want to jump up and beat on whatevers handy. Himmelfarbs earliest truck sculptures are now in the hands of private collectors. And he has another 1940s-era truck on his Wisconsin property just waiting to become a concert instrument, too. Friends and neighbors now bring him metal relics that he might want to use. Himmelfarb has become a familiar presence in a Richland Center salvage yard, where the owner even set aside a coveted iron lawn ornament, shaped like a bird, for the artist and his KB-3. Of course, it made the perfect hood ornament, Himmelfarb said. Photos: 'Democracy' exhibit at Playhouse Gallery Shots were fired on Saturday morning as intruders fled a town of Middleton home they were breaking into before they were confronted by residents, authorities reported. Dane County Sheriffs Office deputies were sent about 5:15 a.m. Saturday to a house in the 3800 block of Silverbell Road, where the homeowners were awakened by someone in their garage trying to come into the house, Lt. Jonathan Triggs said in a statement. The intruders got into the garage by using a door opener left inside a vehicle in the driveway. The homeowners were able to stop the intruders from coming into the house, but they made off with a purse and a set of keys, Triggs said. Sheriffs Office spokesperson Elise Schaffer said the intruders were traveling in a stolen 2023 Hyundai Elantra. As they fled the scene, one of the suspects fired several rounds. No injuries were reported, Schaffer said. Detectives believe the suspects also are responsible for several other car break-ins in the area, Schaffer said. Anyone who may have video footage of the suspects, and has not already shared it with deputies, is asked to call the Dane County tip line at 608-284-6900. The cities with the most break-ins and burglaries Cities With the Most Break-Ins / Burglaries Over the past decade burglary and larceny rates have declined Daytime break-ins of homes are most common Southern states experience the most property crime Small and midsize cities with the most burglaries 15. Dallas, TX 14. Houston, TX 13. Las Vegas, NV 12. Columbus, OH 11. Minneapolis, MN 10. Milwaukee, WI 9. Wichita, KS 8. Kansas City, MO 7. Oklahoma City, OK 6. Bakersfield, CA 5. Seattle, WA 4. Baltimore, MD 3. Detroit, MI 2. Tulsa, OK 1. Memphis, TN Resolutions declaring that Madison and Dane County are sanctuary cities for transgender and nonbinary individuals may largely be symbolic. But sometimes symbolism matters. Its very heartening to know that we have support in this local community and that people are pushing back against the national rhetoric, said Taylor Greene, a transgender man and Madison resident who co-founded TRACE, an app that allows users to document the changes their bodies and minds undergo as they transition, and to safely connect with other transgender people. (The resolution) give(s) us a sense of safety and peace of mind knowing that whatever, you know, the right could do in the future will mean that we are protected as much as we can legally in Madison. That sense of safety and support is precisely what the authors of the resolutions one passed last week by the Dane County Board and one being introduced during Tuesdays City Council meeting say they hoped to achieve. Madisons resolution was modeled after the countys, and Rick Rose, the Dane County District 16 supervisor who introduced the countys resolution, hopes other cities and communities follow. We want to have a true narrative thats reflective of this county, that can signal the positivity of coming together, to other communities and other cities, Rose said. Its already happening. City and county officials also have formed an informal queer pride caucus, following the Human Rights Campaigns June 6 announcement declaring a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans, Rose said. The caucus includes the citys first openly transgender official, Ald. Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford, 15th District, who authored the city resolution. That caucus will be officially announced soon and is intended to be a way for people with lived experience to interact with constituents, Rose said. It is modeled after and took inspiration from Dane Countys Black Caucus, which formed around issues related to the Dane County Jail. City of Madison officials raised a trans flag for the first time June 7 outside the Madison Municipal Building in honor of Martinez-Rutherford, who was sworn in April 18. The City Council resolution calls for protecting transgender and nonbinary individuals access to health care and asks the chief of the Madison Police Department to make enforcement of potential future state laws punishing gender-affirming care, including puberty blockers, hormones or surgery, the departments lowest priority. The resolution is co-sponsored by 14 people, including Mayor Satya-Rhodes Conway and Martinez-Rutherford. All people in Madison and the State of Wisconsin should have access to all health care, including gender-affirming care, the resolution says. Be it further resolved that Madison be considered a safe place, a sanctuary, for transgender children and adults and their families. The resolution also cites an ACLU report that mentions 556 bills in 49 states being introduced to restrict health care, education and freedom of expression for LGBTQ+ people. None of the current 491 bills the ACLU is tracking on the subject are in Wisconsin. Dane County on June 16 passed a similar resolution with a 25-1 vote that declared Dane County a sanctuary for trans and nonbinary individuals. That resolution has near-identical clauses as the citys, including urging the Dane County Sheriff to make enforcement of state laws punishing gender-affirming care its lowest priority. Martinez-Rutherford started the process for the city resolution and had been working on it since she was elected. Even though its primarily symbolic, it is also the line that we draw to say, Hey, were going to stand up for you no matter what, she said. Decisions that we make with our doctor, decisions that we make with our family, to pursue gender-affirming care is vital and to be protected always. Greene, who is a transgender man and grew up in Madison, said he largely feels safe and welcomed in the city. But he urges the state to pass stronger legal protections for transgender individuals, similar to those of Minnesota. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill into law on April 23 that prevents state courts or officials from complying with child removal requests, extraditions, arrests or subpoenas related to gender-affirming care received in the state. Photos: Gay pride events in Madison over the years Rainbow flag at the Capitol, 2019 Rainbow flag at City Hall, 2019 Pride Parade in Madison, 2018 Church shows its colors, 2016 OutReach Pride Parade, 2015 Police join the parade, 2014 Gay Pride Parade, 2007 25 years of OutReach, 2007 Pride parade in the capital city, 2006 Miss Gay Madison, 2005 Colors of the rainbow, 2004 Undeterred by protesters, 2003 Capping weekend of events, 2002 Rainbow banner, 2001 Miss Gay Pride, 2001 Gay Pride Parade, 2000 Gay pride brides, 1999 Gay Pride Parade, 1998 Madison Pride march, 1996 Police have made an arrest in a drive-by shooting early Saturday morning that left at least six people injured in downtown La Crosse. Deandrew Grant of Rochester, Minnesota, is being held in the La Crosse County Jail without bail for six felony counts of attempted first-degree reckless homicide and bail jumping. Police received a report of shots fired in the 100 block of South Third Street around 2 a.m. The injured were transported to local hospitals. None of the injuries are reported as life-threatening. Police located Grants vehicle a short time later and placed the 31-year-old under arrest. Police say a handgun was recovered during the arrest. Investigators believe Grant acted alone. Our department has responded to several challenging incidents this past week, said La Crosse Police Chief Shawn Kudron. I appreciate the dedication, compassion and professionalism all staff have shown through these difficult incidents. Incidents such as the early morning shooting will have lasting impacts on an entire community. Together we will work for the safety of the entire community. Grant made an initial court appearance Friday for a separate case for two misdemeanor counts of criminal damage to property. It was his first criminal case in Wisconsin, according to court records. Hawthorne Elementary School teacher Melina Lozano doesn't need data to know the F-35 jets at Truax Field are a lot louder than the F-16s they replaced. When an F-35 recently flew above a group of first-graders outside the school, located just south of the airfield, she said they started screaming and covering their ears. One first-grader observed, "'Those planes are twice as loud as the old planes," Lozano said. With F-35 jets at Truax now a firm reality the first of 20 arrived in April those who fought the decision to station the jets with the Wisconsin Air National Guard's 115th Fighter Wing have turned their attention to measuring and monitoring how much noise the jets are really making. But the military and activists don't even agree on numbers. Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin, which fought vociferously against the military's decision to move F-35s to Madison, has installed noise monitors near Truax. The Federal Aviation Administration considers 65 decibels to be "incompatible" with residential use, though not uninhabitable. Children are especially susceptible to the health impacts of exposure to loud noise, which includes problems with cognitive development. Overall, health impacts from prolonged exposure to noise can harm the cardiovascular system, according to the World Health Organization. On June 1, Safe Skies had a reading of 116 decibels from a jet overhead at the intersection of North Fair Oaks and Home avenues, just south of East Washington Avenue. The F-16s typically had peak decibel readings in the low 100s, said Steve Klafka, an environmental engineer and member of Safe Skies Clean Water. "I think the physical observation is they're definitely louder but also it's a bigger sound," Klafka said. "It's definitely more obnoxious." Aviation and military authorities, though, assert that such monitoring is not a practical way to measure noise over a large area because sounds that come from things other than planes can influence the reading, among other considerations. Instead, airports such as the Dane County Regional Airport use noise modeling to determine the average noise a wide swath of land gets exposed to over time. Klafka counters, however, that because that modeling relies on averages, it doesn't factor in peak noise a person might experience in the moment. An Air Force environmental impact found that the presence of the F-35s will increase takeoffs from Truax by 27% and expose more than 1,000 homes to average daily noise of 65 decibels or more. Study ongoing The airport is completing a Noise Compatibility Program, which will conclude what the airport can do for land that's impacted by noise. On June 27, the public may give feedback on the airport's noise study. An open house will be held in the airport lobby between Terminal Doors 1 and 2 between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Scientific disagreements aside, Madison remains years away from retrofitting homes and apartment buildings for noise mitigation as federal and state agencies slog through grants, feasibility studies and community outreach to take advantage of the limited federal funding available for it. A recent $798,000 federal grant to the state Department of Military Affairs will fund a study so the state can explore potential options for noise abatement. From there, the department will make recommendations to the U.S. Department of Defense to get funding for noise abatement, which will be awarded in winter 2024, according to the defense department. But of the $75 million available through the Pentagon, only $5 million can go toward the few communities like Madison and Burlington, Vermont, that have transitioned to a new kind of aircraft such as the F-35 since 2019. The majority of the funding will go to active military and reserve installations. Development impact The question of noise mitigation could complicate future residential developments in the area around the airport. The city is moving forward on the redevelopment of Raemisch Farm to the west of the airport. The $150 million development would include market-rate housing, commercial space, parks and agricultural space. The farm sits between North Sherman and Packers avenues. Another developer is proposing a 192-apartment complex at 3100 E. Washington Ave. to the airport's south. Ald. Amani Latimer Burris, 12th District, represents much of the area around the airport. "I think we're a long way off from firm solutions. That's OK," she said, adding that she's unsure whether the city could require developers to include noise mitigation in their proposals. "The question is what is to be done about it and who's going to pay for it," she said. A group of leading Democratic strategists and former officials including President Joe Bidens former chief of staff met recently with anti-Trump Republicans to hatch a plan to subvert a third option for the 2024 presidential race from the group No Labels, which I lead. To be clear, this was not a meeting about how to beat No Labels on the merits (which we would welcome). Rather, it was a meeting about how to find and exploit legal technicalities, silence supporters interested in our approach and raise money for a campaign against us. This collusion between leading members of the two parties is, in truth, not all that surprising. It proves what many of us have been saying for years: that instead of working together to solve actual problems, these leaders and operatives are aligned only when it comes to protecting their duopoly in a bitterly polarized country. But Americans want to see more choices. A record number of voters are now abandoning the two parties in search of a better option. The percentage who identify as independent is now equal to the percentage of Republicans and Democrats combined. So why arent independents already gaining power? Because no independent candidate has proved capable of organizing and building the infrastructure required to mount a successful national movement. This is a problem No Labels is attempting to solve. We are working to get on the ballot in all 50 states to create the opening for a potential independent unity ticket in 2024, which would feature a Democrat and a Republican as running mates. We will only utilize our ballot line if the two parties continue to abandon the common sense majority. If most Americans are satisfied with one or the other major party nominee, we will stand down. We would also back down if the polling indicates we would be a spoiler for either party. So far, the two parties appear likely to deliver a rematch between Trump and Biden in 2024, which two-thirds of voters do not want. Record numbers of voters say they would support a third-party candidate for president if given the chance. Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans are working to deny them that chance, which is particularly ironic for Democrats who talk about defending democracy and voters rights. The private meeting could have been purposed around coming up with ideas to improve the two parties and make No Labels unnecessary. This would have accomplished the same goal. Instead of embracing competition, those strategists and think tank leaders dedicated their attention to devising ways to block us and limit voters choices. This reaction of How dare they challenge us? is common among incumbent powers in the private sector, too. When a powerful industry is threatened by an innovative start-up, the established companies often seek to block the start-up with lawsuits rather than simply improving their product offerings. Think of the taxi companies suing to stop Uber, or cable companies fighting streaming platforms, or the hotel industry trying to block Airbnb. We know how these disputes ended. Were confident that the will of voters will prove just as hard to suppress as the will of customers. No Labels has already proved in Congress that our strategy of common sense solutions can lead to results. We helped establish a bipartisan group of lawmakers called the Problem Solvers Caucus in the House, which has helped achieve numerous victories such as the infrastructure bill in 2021. Today, the two-party status quo is a stale system that is not working for the people it is designed to serve. The best way to refresh a stale system is through competition, by forcing complacent incumbents to improve their ideas to survive. Voters are calling for this in their desire for a third option in the 2024 presidential race and No Labels is preparing to offer that choice. The two parties, sadly, would rather seek to quash our effort than compete against it. They dont seem to realize that by trying to suppress our movement they are showing the country exactly why were needed. A crowd gathered Friday at Twin Falls City Park at the Magic Valley Refugee Day Celebration, enjoying food and catching a glimpse into cultures of faraway countries. It is an annual event where refugees from various countries, whether Burma, Ukraine or Cuba, dish out food for free and sing and dance on stage. Not only is it a way for refugees to say thanks to the community, said Zeze Rwasama, director of the College of Southern Idaho Refugee Center, but the event also celebrates refugees successes. The event is held near the same day as World Refugee Day, established in 2000 by the United Nations to be celebrated each year on June 20, and also gives residents of the community the opportunity to interact with refugees and learn more about their cultures, Rwasama said. In the first half of 2023, Boise, Nampa and Twin Falls have welcomed 500 individuals from 13 countries, officials say. The Philippines balance of payments position yielded a lower deficit of $439 million in May 2023, compared to the $1.6-billion shortfall a year ago, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Tuesday. Latest BSP data showed that the May 2023 deficit reflected outflows arising mainly from the national governments net foreign currency withdrawals of its deposits with the BSP to settle foreign currency debt obligations and pay for various expenditures. It said despite the deficit in May, the BOP registered a surplus of $2.9 billion in the first five months, a reversal from the $1.5-billion deficit in the same period last year. Based on preliminary data, this cumulative BOP surplus was partly attributed to net inflows from personal remittances, net foreign borrowings by the national government, trade in services and foreign direct investments, the BSP said. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Photo: The Canadian Press President Joe Bidens son Hunter will plead guilty to federal tax offenses and avoid prosecution on a separate gun charge in a deal with the Justice Department that likely spares him time behind bars. Hunter Biden, 52, will plead guilty to the misdemeanor tax offenses as part of an agreement made public Tuesday. The agreement will also spare him prosecution on a charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user, as long as adheres to conditions set by prosecutors. It's somewhat unusual to resolve a federal criminal case at the same time charges are filed in court, but it's not totally unheard of. The deal ends a long-running Justice Department investigation into Bidens second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden. It also averts a trial that would have generated days or weeks of distracting headlines for a White House that has strenuously sought to keep its distance from the Justice Department. While it requires the younger Biden to admit guilt, the deal is narrowly focused on tax and weapons violations rather than anything broader or tied to the Democratic president. Nonetheless, former President Donald Trump and other Republicans are likely to continue to try to use the case to shine an unflattering spotlight on Joe Biden and his family business dealings and to raise questions about the independence of the Biden Justice Department. Trump, in a post on his social media platform, likened the Hunter Biden deal to a mere traffic ticket, adding, Our system is BROKEN! The White House counsels office said in a statement that the president and first lady Jill Biden love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. Two people familiar with the investigation said the Justice Department would recommend probation for the tax charges, meaning Hunter Biden will not face time behind bars. But the decision to go along with any deal is up to the judge. The people were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. The gun charge states that Hunter Biden possessed a handgun, a Colt Cobra 38 special, for 11 days in October 2018 despite knowing he was a drug user. The count carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, but the Justice Department said Hunter Biden had reached a pretrial agreement. This likely means as long as he adheres to the terms of the agreement, the case will be wiped from his record. Christopher Clark, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, said in a statement that it was his understanding that the five-year investigation had now been resolved. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life, Clark said. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. The agreement comes as the Justice Department pursues perhaps the most consequential case in its history against Trump, the first former president to face federal criminal charges. The resolution of Hunter Biden's case comes just days after a 37-count indictment came down against former Trump for mishandling classified documents on his Florida estate, another case with even more dramatic political implications. That indictment had already brought an onslaught of criticism from Republicans, accusations of politicization of the Justice Department and a renewed crescendo of questions about Hunter Bidens business dealings. Meanwhile, Congressional Republicans continue to pursue their own investigations into nearly every facet of Hunter Bidens business dealings, including examining foreign payments and other aspects of his finances. Republicans on Tuesday called the federal charges another example of a two-tiered justice system. Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said the younger Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist, despite ongoing investigations in Congress that they say show but have not yet provided evidence of a pattern of corruption within the familys financial ties. These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committees investigation, he said in a statement Tuesday. Attorney General Merrick Garland has said the Trump charges came from a special counsel he appointed specifically so the investigation would remain independent. The Hunter Biden charges, meanwhile, were filed by the U.S. attorney for Delaware, Trump appointee David Weiss. The Justice Department investigation into the president's son burst into public view in December 2020, one month after the 2020 election, when Hunter Biden revealed that he had received a subpoena as part of the departments scrutiny of his taxes. The subpoena sought information on the younger Bidens business dealings with a number of entities, including Burisma, a Ukraine gas company on whose board he sat. Hunter Biden said in a statement at the time that he was confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors. Since then, a federal grand jury in Delaware has heard testimony related to his taxes and foreign business transactions, including payments and income he received while on Burismas board. Justice Department officials, per protocol, have generally avoided discussing the status of the inquiry in public, and the White House has assiduously steered clear of any questions about it. Still, there have been periodic reminders of its activity. In February 2021, for instance, the department sought the resignation of Trump-era U.S. attorneys but made a point of noting that it was leaving Weiss in place as a way to ensure continuity in the probe. And at a congressional hearing last August, FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed that the investigation remained active out of the bureaus Baltimore field office and said it was a matter that I expect our folks to pursue aggressively. Garland pledged not to interfere in the probe at another hearing in March. An unnamed IRS special agent, though, later alleged mishandling of the investigation in a letter to Congress in which he sought whistleblower protection. The younger Biden joined the board of Burisma in 2014, around the time his father, then Barack Obama's vice president, was helping conduct the Obama administrations foreign policy with Ukraine. Trump and his allies have long argued, without evidence, that Hunter Bidens work in Ukraine influenced the Obama administrations policies toward the Eastern European nation. Senate Republicans said in a 2020 report that the appointment may have posed a conflict of interest but did not provide evidence that any policies were directly affected by Hunter Bidens work. Years before the case was brought, Hunter Biden surfaced as a central character in the first impeachment case against Trump, who in an apparent bid to boost his own reelection bid had asked Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a telephone call to announce an investigation into the younger Biden. Republicans later sought to make Hunter Bidens business dealings in Ukraine a prominent issue during the 2020 presidential election. In October of that year, the New York Post reported that it had received from Trumps personal attorney Rudy Giuliani a copy of a hard drive of a laptop that Hunter Biden had dropped off 18 months earlier at a Delaware computer repair shop and never retrieved. The story was greeted with skepticism due to questions about the laptops origins, including Giulianis involvement, and because top officials in the Trump administration had already warned that Russia was working to denigrate Joe Biden ahead of the November election. No evidence has emerged since of any Russian connections to the laptop or the emails, and several news organizations have said they have substantiated many of the emails on the device. Hunter Biden later asked the Justice Department in a letter from his lawyer to investigate Trump allies who accessed and disseminated personal data from the laptop. Chinese leader Xi Jinping said Monday he saw headway in the strained relationship with the United States on a rare visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but the rival powers remained at odds over their core disputes. In a symbolic sign of lowering the temperature after soaring tensions, President Xi received Blinken in the vast Great Hall of the People and said the two powers had made progress and reached agreement on unspecified issues. I hope that Secretary Blinken, through this visit, can make positive contributions to stabilising China-US relations, Xi told the top US diplomat, the highest-ranking American official to travel to Beijing in nearly five years. US President Joe Biden, in brief remarks to press during a trip to California, reacted hours later by saying, Were on the right trail. Both sides had played down prospects for breakthroughs, with Blinken saying his more than 11 hours of talks over two days were more about restoring dialogue. We have made progress and we are moving forward, Blinken told reporters in Beijing, while adding: None of this gets resolved with one visit. Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang agreed to pay a return visit to the United States but Blinken acknowledged limited progress on jumpstarting communication with Chinas military, a key priority for the United States as tensions simmer over Taiwan. Direct engagement and sustained communication at senior levels is the best way to responsibly manage differences and ensure that competition does not veer into conflict, Blinken told reporters. I heard the same from my Chinese counterparts. We both agree on the need to stabilise our relationship, he added. Blinken said the worlds two largest economies would work together to expand flights still at a bare minimum since the Covid-19 pandemic and would explore ways to discuss Chinese exports of chemicals that make fentanyl, the painkiller behind an addiction epidemic in the United States. End downward spiral At the ornate Diaoyutai State Guesthouse earlier Monday, Chinas foreign policy supremo Wang Yi told Blinken that the United States and China need to make a choice between dialogue and confrontation, cooperation or conflict. We must reverse the downward spiral of China-US relations, push for a return to a healthy and stable track, Wang said, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Wang also issued a warning on Taiwan, the self-ruling democracy claimed by Beijing. In the past year, China has launched live-fire military drills twice near the island in anger over meetings between top US lawmakers and Taiwanese leaders. On this issue, China has no room to compromise or concede, Wang told Blinken. Speaking later to reporters, Blinken voiced concern about Chinas provocative actions over Taiwan but insisted that nothing has changed in US policy, including its opposition to a formal declaration of independence by Taipei. US officials, fearing that China in the coming years will try to seize Taiwan, insist that Washingtons sales of weapons to the island are meant only to preserve the status quo. Blinken said he also raised concern about Chinas treatment of the Uyghur and Tibetan minorities and of Hong Kong, where Beijing has severely curbed free expression, although he spoke publicly only after meeting Chinese officials, who are highly sensitive to criticism on human rights on their own soil. Quarrelling lovers Tensions between China and the United States have soared in recent years, with both Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump calling Beijing the most serious threat to long-term US global primacy. Biden has kept Trumps hard line on China and in some areas gone further, including banning exports of high-end semiconductors to the rising power. Responding to Beijings heated criticism of the move, Blinken insisted the United States was not seeking economic containment of China. But at the same time, he said, its not in our interest to provide technology to China that could be used against us. On the streets of the Chinese capital, Sun Yi, 26, said she hoped Blinkens trip would improve the relationship. I think the two countries right now are like quarrelling lovers. Both sides have their own personalities and interests and are not willing to compromise, she said. Xi met Biden in November in Bali on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit, raising cautious hopes for a thaw. Blinken abruptly shelved a February trip, which was agreed in Bali, after the United States said it detected and later shot down a Chinese spy balloon hovering over the US mainland. Biden and Xi will next have an opportunity to meet in September at the latest G20 summit in New Delhi. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Donors at a UN conference on Monday pledged close to $1.5 billion to combat the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and help its neighbours host refugees fleeing the fighting. Sudan is descending into death and destruction at unprecedented speed, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned as he urged donors to step in and curb the unfolding catastrophe. The conference comes midway through a three-day ceasefire which appeared to have brought calm to the capital Khartoum, after the failure of earlier truces to secure aid corridors. Today, donors have announced close to $1.5 billion for the humanitarian response to Sudan and the region, the UNs humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said, closing the conference hosted in Geneva. This crisis will require sustained financial support and I hope we can all keep Sudan at the top of our priorities. UN refugees chief Filippo Grandi added: It is very important these contributions be clearly allocated and disbursed as quickly as possible because were really short of funds. More than two months into the fighting, the United Nations is worried the crisis could spill over and destabilise neighbouring African states. The scale and speed of Sudans descent into death and destruction is unprecedented, UN Secretary General Guterres told the conference. Without strong international support, Sudan could quickly become a locus of lawlessness, radiating insecurity across the region. Since April 15, the army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been battling the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, after the two fell out in a power struggle. The death toll has topped 2,000, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project said. Hundreds of kilometres west of Khartoum, up to 1,100 have been killed in the West Darfur state capital El Geneina alone, according to the US State Department, blaming primarily the RSF. A record 25 million people more than half of Sudans population need aid, the UN says. Roughly 2.5 million people have been uprooted across Sudan by the war, which has seen 550,000 seek refuge in neighbouring countries, according to UN figures. Around $3 billion needed While Griffiths highlighted donors generosity, the amount pledged Monday was less than half of what humanitarians have said is needed this year to respond to the needs. The UN has two appeals for tackling the crisis the humanitarian response within Sudan, which needs $2.6 billion this year, and the regional refugee response set at $470 million. Both were less than 17 percent funded going into Mondays conference. Qatars prime minister told the conference there was no military solution to the conflict, as he pledged $50 million. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani urged the warring parties to put the aspirations of the Sudanese people in the forefront. The United States pledged the most at $550 million, followed by Germany with $162 million and the European Commission on $151 million, according to the UN. Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said the conflict risks a humanitarian crisis that could spill over the borders. He said the security and stability of Sudan is our own stability and security. Relative calm in Khartoum UN human rights chief Volker Turk called the Sudan crisis a powder keg and a reckless, senseless conflict taking place in a context of total impunity, with utter indifference for human life and dignity at its heart. The temporary ceasefire was a chance to end the sea of suffering, he told the UN Human Rights Council. Several Khartoum residents told AFP they heard no air strikes, artillery or other fighting on Monday, a rare respite for the war-weary suffering shortages of medical care, electricity, water and other essentials. But the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a tweet that the ceasefire was not respected. An operation it carried out to transfer wounded soldiers to a hospital had to be aborted after gunshots sounded in the immediate proximity of our convoy, it said. The army and the RSF have accused each other of violating the ceasefire. On Monday, RSF leader Daglo alleged continuous violations of the ceasefire by its rivals, while the army accuses RSF of breaking the ceasefire and killing 15 and injuring dozens of civilians in Darfur. The UN, African Union and east African regional bloc IGAD, in a joint statement ahead of the donors meeting, expressed particular concern about the rapidly deteriorating situation in Darfur. They said the conflict had taken on an ethnic dimension, resulting in targeted attacks based on peoples identities and subsequent displacement of communities. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. A Chinese national was charged Tuesday after allegedly attacking diners with an axe-like weapon at three restaurants in New Zealands largest city, injuring four. The man was charged after incidents at three Auckland Chinese restaurants that hospitalised four people, police said. Authorities responded at around 9 pm (0900 GMT) Monday after receiving multiple calls from the area that patrons at the restaurants had been assaulted, police added. Local media said the man entered the eateries, which are all near each other, and hit diners with a weapon resembling an axe. Videos posted on social media showed the floor of one restaurant covered in blood as police detained a man. A 24-year-old man was arrested at the scene before appearing Tuesday at North Shore District Court, where he was granted interim name suppression. He was charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, but police said more charges were likely. Inspector Stefan Sagar, the Waitemata East Area Commander, acknowledged how frightening this was for those involved. He said police believe it was an isolated incident, adding that there is no evidence to suggest this is a racially-motivated attack. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. An official of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (CBCP-ECMI) has expressed support to the Philippine governments plan to accommodate some 50,000 Afghan refugees, saying it is an act of charity and compassion. As a Catholic country, it is considered acts of charity and compassion to assist and to welcome them. We heed to Gods call that as I am a stranger you welcome, CBCP-ECMI vice chair Bishop Ruperto Santos said in a statement Tuesday. He noted that Filipinos were known to be charitable and hospitable. It is our natural traits (to be) hospitable, helpful, and hardworking people, Santos said. He also believed that it is also part of the countrys international commitment to open its doors to refugees. Our commitment as United Nations signatory is to help and accommodate migrants and refugees, he added. Earlier, the United States asked the Philippines to admit the 50,000 refugees from Afghanistan. They will briefly stay in the country while they await the approval of their special immigration visas from the American government. Last week, Malacanang said the government was evaluating the US. request on behalf of the Afghan refugees. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Only the signature of Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri is needed on the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) Bill before it is transmitted to Malacanang. Deputy Senate Majority Floor Leader JV Ejercito told reporters Tuesday that the enrolled copy of the bill is ready for the signature of the Senate President. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. can then either sign the measure into law or veto the MIF Bill, which he earlier certified as urgent. Once signed by Zubiri, who has yet to return from an official trip to the United States, the enrolled bill will be transmitted to the Palace. Ejercito admitted it took the Senate some time to fix the inconsistent provisions on the prescriptive period for the prosecution of crimes and offenses in the bill. In the final copy of the Senate version of the bill, l Section 50 prescribes a 10-year period while Section 51 sets it at 20 years. Ejercito said this problem was fixed and a clean bill will be forwarded to Malacanang. It was fixed first subject to style comma, grammar, numbering, he said. However, Ejercito guaranteed that the essence of the bill as approved by the Senate was not changed. We cannot change the very essence of the bill because what has been approved on the floor is what will be forwarded to Malacanang, he added. Ejercito also said that the Senate is definitely proud of ratifying the MIF bill after the House of Representatives concurred to the Senate version during the bicameral conference. The Senate version is much much different already from the original version. We made sure in the Senate that all the safeguards, safety nets were added in the bill, he said. The establishment of MIF, according to the Marcos administrations economic managers, is part of the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework, 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda and Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 which are all instruments in pursuing the countrys economic transformation. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Marcos: Chinese vessels just tail, no longer block Filipino ships President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said fishing talks between the Philippines and China have progressed, despite recent reports of Filipino fishermen being blocked by Chinese vessels off Pag-asa Island, and the latest incident in which a Chinese military ship tailed a government patrol boat. These things do not come very quickly But we are slowly making progress because the key to that is the improved communication between the Philippine government and the Chinese government, Marcos said on the sidelines of the Department of Agricultures 125th founding anniversary celebration in Diliman, Quezon City. Addressing the latest incident, Mr. Marcos said unlike before, the Chinese vessel just tailed the BRP Francisco Dagohoy. The latest report was the ship was just followed, its not blocked like before, so theres a little progress there, the President said. The Philippines has filed hundreds of protests with Beijing over Chinas aggressive and bullying activities in the West Philippine Sea. In 2022 alone, 193 protest notes were served on Beijing, including 65 by the Marcos administration. But Mr. Marcos said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has even projected a bigger haul for Filipino fishermen due to the improved situation in the area. That is because we are continuing to talk to the Chinese government, President Xi [Jinping], in every way, Marcos said. The President also said that when he met with President Xi last January, he focused on the issue of fisheries instead of the territorial dispute involving the West Philippine Sea. I said lets prioritize fisheries because it affects innocent people, Marcos said. President Marcos also has directed the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to come up with comprehensive studies on the rehabilitation and maintenance of the countrys marine habitats to address illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUUF). As the concurrent DA secretary, Mr. Marcos has emphasized in a meeting on June 13 the need for the Philippines to comply with its international commitments, particularly to the European Union on preventing IUUF. He also highlighted the importance of addressing the concerns of fishery stakeholders by using a science-based approach in managing marine resources. With this, the DA and the BFAR were directed to work closely with the Office of the Executive Secretary to ensure the enforcement of an administrative order requiring all commercial fishing vessels to install monitoring systems. Earlier, the government said it would launch its Layag WPS project or the Livelihood Activities to Enhance Fisheries Yield and Economic Gains (Layag) from the West Philippine Sea aimed at protecting Filipino fishermen as well as state floating assets amid continuing incursions of Chinese vessels in the area. Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources spokesman Nazario Briguera said the government has about P80 million to give comprehensive support to fishermen in the West Philippine Sea. BFAR will launch our Layag WPS project in the next few days. We are planning to package this as a special project for this year, he said in a press briefing over the weekend. Brigueras announcement came days after a Chinese Navy ship tailed a BFAR multi-mission vessel, BRP Francisco Dagohoy, in an area six nautical miles southwest of Pag-asa Island, which is well within the countrys 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea. The rare encounter with Chinas gray or military ship after BRP Dagohoy carried P4.95 million worth of fishing and post-harvest equipment to fisher groups in Pag-Asa Island. Briguera, in an earlier interview, said fisheries production in the West Philippine Sea has dropped by 7 percent between 2021 and 2022. Based on Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data, production was down to 275,872 metric tons of fish in 2022, from 295,332 MT in the previous year. When we say total production in the West Philippine Sea, we are not just talking about Pag-asa Island. We are referring to the total production of provinces fronting the West Philippine Sea, he said. There are at least 373,733 fishers that depend on the West Philippine Sea, BFAR data showed. While the drop in fish production was attributed primarily to the frequent visit of typhoons in the country, Briguera admitted that removing hindering factors such as the presence of Chinese vessels could help boost output. [If there is no Chinese activity], is it possible to increase fish production in the WPS if there are no issues like this? I would say yes. If we remove these hindering factors, we can better take advantage of the resources in the West Philippine Sea, he said during a press briefing, Citing data from the UP Marine Science Institute, Briguera said the value of fisheries resources in WPS could be billions of pesos. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, and has rejected an arbitral ruling in favor of the Philippines that invalidated its massive maritime claim. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. US and Canadian coast guard teams were racing Monday to locate and rescue a submersible tourist vessel with five people aboard that went missing on a dive to the Titanics wreckage in the North Atlantic. The 21-foot (6.5-meter) craft, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, began its descent early Sunday and lost contact with the surface less than two hours later. One of those on board is believed to be a British aviator, after he posted on social media about joining the expedition beforehand. The US Coast Guard said it has launched a sweeping search approximately 900 miles (1,450 kilometers) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, while the Canadian Coast Guard said it too is taking part in the effort with fixed wing aircraft and a ship sent to the search zone. It is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area, but we are deploying all available assets to make sure that we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters in Boston, where he was overseeing the operation. We work very very hard in the search effort, and our crews take this personally, he added. Time is a critical factor. The vessel has a range of 96 hours for a crew of five, and Mauger said Monday afternoon he believed it still had 70 or more hours of remaining oxygen. On its website OceanGate Expedition says a dive expedition to the Titanic site was currently underway. The company uses a submersible named Titan for its dives to a maximum depth of 4,000 meters (13,100 feet). In a statement quoted by CBS News and other media outlets, OceanGate Expeditions said: Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families. British billionaire and aviator Hamish Harding had on Sunday posted on his Instagram account that he was proud to finally announce he had joined the OceanGate Expedition for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic. Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023, added the 58-year-old aviator. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. Admiral Mauger would not confirm the identity of any of those onboard. Harding wrote that the team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s. OceanGate was not immediately reachable, and Hardings company Action Aviation, contacted by AFP, declined to comment. On surface or underwater? The US Coast Guard has launched two C-130 planes to survey the surface, while Canada has deployed aircraft which utilizes sonar technology with buoys, Chief Petty Officer Robert Simpson told AFP. He said that after the expected time of return for the submersible, the OceanGate ship conducted an initial search and were unable to find anything or any sign of the submarine and they contacted the Coast Guard. OceanGate said in its statement it was deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible. The Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in 1912 during its maiden voyage from England to New York with 2,224 passengers and crew on board. More than 1,500 people died in the tragedy. The wreckage is in two main pieces 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, some 13,000 feet underwater. It was found in 1985 and remains a source of fascination and a lure for nautical experts and underwater tourists. Without having studied the craft itself, Alistair Greig, professor of marine engineering at University College London, suggested two possible theories based on images of the vessel published by the press. He said if it had an electrical or communications problem, it could have surfaced and remained floating, waiting to be found. Another scenario is the pressure hull was compromised - a leak, he said in a statement. Then the prognosis is not good. An underwater rescue While the submersible may still be intact during its dive, there are very few vessels able to go to the depth to which the Titan might have traveled. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. PASIG In a press conference held today, GAC Motor Philippines officially revealed its dealer expansion plans for this quarter, as well as the much-anticipated arrival of the All-new GS3 Emzoom next week making the Philippines the first country for its overseas sale (outside China). In addition, the Chinese manufacturer officially inked its partnership with new brand ambassador, actor Dingdong Dantes Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. TODAYS WORD is haplotype. Example: The Y-chromosome samples from subjects in southern Europe and the Middle East all had the same haplotype, pointing to a common ancestor in ancient Africa. MONDAYS WORD was immensurable meaning incapable of being measured; limitless. Example: Without the use of sonar to detect distance, the furthest depths of the ocean would still seem immensurable to scientists today. Whats in a name? Sometimes we get so used to saying the name of something that we forget it actually stands for something. Take CVS for instance; we have two of these stores in Martinsville, another one in Collinsville and another in Bassett, but have you ever wondered what CVS stood for? Surely it must stand for something, because CVS is not a word. You cant even pronounce it. The only thing you can do is say each letter. As it turns out, the first CVS store opened in Lowell, Massachusetts and it was called Consumer Value Store. The business sold health and beauty products and within a year the business changed the name to CVS. In 1967 CVS added pharmacies within the stores and by the time it was 25 years old, there were 750 stores across the U.S. and sales were almost $1.6 billion. CVS has acquired many well-known pharmacies over the years, including Peoples Drugs, Revco and Eckerd drug stores. What he said Andy Griffith imparted words of wisdom on regular occasion while playing Sheriff Andy Taylor on the Andy Griffith Show during the 1960s. Asked in one episode what he thought about giving children more freedom as compared to raising them with a stern hand, Griffith said: No Im afraid it dont work that way. You cant let a youngun decide for himself. Hell grab at the first flashy thing with shiny ribbons on it. Then when he finds out theres a hook in it, its too late. Wrong ideas come packaged with so much glitter its hard to convince them that other things might be better in the long run. All a parent can do is say wait and trust me, and try to keep temptation away. The future In 1967 famed newscaster Walter Cronkite suggested that by 2000 the home of the future would have devices that would allow us to watch television, movies in color, read news from all over the world and check the latest weather forecast. We would be able to see the people we talk to on the telephone and not all of us would have to go to work because the work would come to us. Quote of the day What this country needs is more free speech worth listening to. Hansell B. Duckett MONDAYS TRIVIA ANSWER: Diamonds are found in the Namib desert in Africa. Diamond mining began in the Southern Namib in the early 1900s and soon spread offshore. The country is also rich in mineral resources, including deposits of copper, zinc, gold and uranium. TODAYS TRIVIA QUESTION: Autophobia is the fear of what? A state museum in Martinsville and Boxley Material Company have announced plans to continue their partnership and this year it comes with a $10,000 gift. Boxley renewed its year-long partnership on Friday in support of the Virginia Museum of Natural Historys (VMNH) wide-ranging education programming initiatives and the gift to the VMNH Foundation will help the museum deliver and market a variety of STEM-based education program to be led by VMNH education, scientists, and research staff, a release stated. STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education that is designed to help students succeed in college and in their future careers. Various VMNH programs will be delivered to schools, families and general audiences throughout Virginia and beyond, the release stated. Increasing access to STEM education throughout our communities is a key focus area for Boxley and our partnership with VMNH is a natural fit, said Boxley Vice President and 360 Community Giving Committee Chair Bo Farr in the release. Increasing participation in STEM programs helps address the workforce demand long-term and strengthens our communities by preparing workers to secure well-paying jobs in fast-growing STEM occupations, including those in the construction materials industry. The partnership is a continuation of a collaboration between VMNH and Boxley forged in 2019 designed to enhance the museums educational programming efforts. Boxleys support of the museums education initiatives over the years has played a significant role in helping the museum increase both the number of programs we are able to offer, as well as the diversity of audiences we reach, said VMNH Deputy Director Ryan Barber in the release. The renewal of this partnership will not only support the implementation of our educational programming, but it will also help us reach more audiences throughout Virginia and the surrounding region. Specifically, the partnership supports the museums standards-based school programming, as well as field trips to Boxley quarry sites located throughout Virginia, the museums Homeschool Science and Engineering Academy and VMNH Science Festivals, the release stated. The programming is offered in multiple formats and provides students with interactive lessons led by VMNH educators and scientists and include educational programs at the museum within the exhibit galleries and classrooms, outreach programming where the museum educators travel to off-site locations such as schools and community centers, and distance learning that brings students to the museum virtually, the release said. Boxley officials said they intend to continue providing selected quarry sites for school field trips with VMNH educators and science staff partner with Boxley staff to deliver STEM-based lessons. The museums Homeschool Science and Engineering Academy is a series of bi-monthly programs held from September through May that are designed to supplement students learning and knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math, the release stated. The museum will continue providing its science festival series combining science education and experiences centered around paleontology, herpetology and entomology. Demand for the museums educational programming continues to increase and the programming we deliver continues to evolve as we constantly look for the best ways to engage with audiences, said VMNH Education Manager Christy Deatherage in the release. Partnerships like these are critical for success and we are grateful for Boxleys constant support of our efforts. VMNH in Martinsville is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Boxley is a supplier of construction and landscaping materials and is part of the Summit Material family of companies. Chicago loves a good festival so much so that thousands of determined Chicagoans braved the sweltering June heat and humidity to queue for vegan foods on a recent Saturday in Grant Park. In case you missed Vegandale, the touring bash that brought over 100 food stalls, DJs blasting everything from Lil Jon to Chaka Khan and Instagram-ready installations to the lawns along DuSable Lake Shore Drive, Im here to catch you up. I felt all the cookout vibes line dancing, lawn chairs, bellows of smoke from grills. A bevy of chefs and food entrepreneurs were there hawking their plant-based delicacies, along with over a dozen brands offering free samples. Advertisement It wouldve been a challenge to try everything available, but here are some I did sample, not listed in any particular order. You can try these at your leisure around town no lines necessary. Advertisement GLOW Super Food A frozen peanut-butter and jelly bar from Glow Superfood. (Vincent D. Johnson/for the Chicago Tribune) Can you scream ice cream? Well, more like nice cream. The shroom-based dessert bar brand incorporates adaptogenic superfood ingredients into its flavors. GLOW founder Mary Tobias worked at Stephanie Izards Girl & the Goat and Grant Achatzs Michelin-starred Roister, and also owns Lincoln Cafe and Market in North Center. All GLOW flavors are gluten-free. At Vegandale, rich creamy flavors such as vanilla chai latte and peanut butter and jelly were a welcome relief as temperatures surpassed 80 degrees. Vanilla chai is blended from a base of almond, coconut and cashew and is laced with subtle chai spices and vanilla. The brand boasts 10 species of mushrooms packed in each bar, including lions mane, reishi, turkey tail, king trumpet and shiitake. The flavor was refreshing, and I detected no hint of a mushroom flavor to distract from its sweetness. I also appreciated the superfood benefits that claim to lower my stress, make my skin glow and power me through the rest of my day. Available at select Go Grocers and Doms Kitchen & Market locations; glowsuperfood.com. El Hongo Magico Taqueria Jesse Flores prepares tacos for El Hongo Magico Taqueria during Vegandale at Grant Park on June 10, 2023. (Vincent D. Johnson/for the Chicago Tribune) After El Hongo Magico won a Readers Choice Food Award for Most Impressive Cult Following, I knew I had to get in on the action. The Vegandale menu included a flight of its three signature mushroom tacos, loaded tamales and cauliflower ceviche. The ceviche is gluten-free, and is a minced blend of raw cauliflower, tomatoes, red onions, cilantro, limes and its green salsa de la abuela (grannys salsa), with a consistency that reminded me, strangely, of Dippin Dots. The cauliflower was springy and chewy like shrimp or tuna would be in traditional ceviche. Each crunch left me going back for more, and I could see this as a fun alternative to chips and guacamole at whatever bricks-and-mortar location they have planned next. tacoselhongomagico.com; instagram.com/tacoselhongomagico. Demera Ethiopian Restaurant A sampler platter from Demera Ethiopian restaurant at Vegandale on June 10, 2023. (Vincent D. Johnson/for the Chicago Tribune) Uptown Ethiopian mainstay Demera brought its vegan top sellers, including gomen (slow-cooked collards with onions and ginger), kik alicha (yellow stewed split peas with garlic and turmeric), misir wot (stewed lentils in berbere sauce) and kayseer tibs (sauteed seasoned beets), all served with a hearty portion of injera flatbread. You could pick up to four of the dishes to sample, making for a savory but not too hefty midday meal. Demera general manager Fallen Armster said that although Demera is well known by vegan and vegetarian Chicagoans, events such as Vegandale help reach people who havent tried Ethiopian food. Why not use this as a vessel to show people what you have? Armster said. 4801 N. Broadway, 773-334-8787, demerachicago.com. Hey Govindas Soulful Indian Cuisine Dosa, a lentils and rice dish at Hey Govindas Soulful Indian Cuisine. (Vincent D. Johnson/for the Chicago Tribune) Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > The enthusiastic chefs and the kitchen staff at Hey Govindas got me to try a few of their appetizers, including medu vada, crispy dooughnut-shaped lentil fritters served with a lentil-vegetable stew and coconut sauce. Also for sale were dosa, which are crepes made with lentils and rice and filled with spicy potatoes, and idli, which are steamed lentil rice cakes. Walking around the fairgrounds with so many liquids in my hands was tough, but the crunchy lentils dipped into the stew followed by a swallow of the sauce made for a savory snack pairing. And a cup of tangy sweet passion fruit juice was refreshing on a hot day. Hey Govindas takes catering orders and used its first experience selling at Vegandale to test the market. We are supporters of vegans because we dont have any animal food, not even eggs, and to be part of Vegandale, we feel very fortunate, owner Mohana Mohini said. Advertisement 773-787-7098, instagram.com/heygovindas. Maplewood Brewing Co. Four of the flavors for sampling at the Maplewood Brewery & Distillery booth at Vegandale on June 10, 2023. (Vincent D. Johnson/for the Chicago Tribune) The Logan Square brewery and distillery showcased its collection of canned cocktails by offering free samples at Vegandale. Maplewood co-founder Adam Cieslak told me the rum punch, infused with hibiscus, orange, pineapple and cinnamon, was a top taker that afternoon. I had to agree with the crowd the tartness and spice of the brew was crisp and rejuvenating amid the heat. 2717 N. Maplewood Ave., 773-270-1061, maplewoodbrew.com. Smooj A server pours a sample from Smooj, makers of alcohol-enhanced smoothies, during the Vegandale event at Grant Park. (Vincent D. Johnson/for the Chicago Tribune) When I came across Smooj at Vegandale, I couldnt pass up the chance to try a hard smoothie. I wondered if a smoothie coming out of a can would be as fresh. Would the alcohol give it a strange tang, like a 7-Eleven Slurpee left in your car too long on a hot day? I sampled pina colada, hoping for a glimpse of the real thing, and it was pretty dang close. The hearty pineapple and coconut blend tasted natural, but with a delightful fizz. I would pour this over ice and enjoy it with a straw, ideally at the beach. Available at select Binnys, Jewel-Osco and Whole Foods stores; drinksmooj.com. lazu@chicagotribune.com Editors note: Calendar items must be submitted at least six days before an event. Items are only guaranteed to publish once prior to the event. To guarantee placement in the paper on a particular day, organizations can purchase an ad by calling 315-720-9694. Email all items to news@mcdowellnews.com. TODAY The Arrowhead Artists and Artisans League will offer a class about making a personalized key chain with instructor Lisa Hines. The class will be taught today, Tuesday, June 20, from noon to 2 p.m. The cost is $10 for AGS members, $20 for nonmembers, plus a $15 supply fee. Would you like to make a personalized key chain/ luggage tag for yourself or as a gift for someone else? Join Hines as she helps instruct and supplies everything needed to make this fun personalized item. To register, visit Arrowhead Gallery, 78C Catawba Ave., Old Fort, or call 828-668-1100. FRIDAY, JUNE 23 The Arrowhead Artists and Artisans League will offer a class called Dutch Pour! with instructor Lisa Hines. The class will be taught Friday, June 23, from 1-4 p.m. The cost is $40 for AGS members, $50 for nonmembers, plus a $25 supply fee. Have you ever wondered how artists do the Dutch Pour technique? Now is your chance to learn. Hines will supply and teach you the paint mixture used in this technique as well as the technique itself. The minimum number of students is two and the maximum is eight. To register, visit Arrowhead Gallery, 78C Catawba Ave., Old Fort, or call 828-668-1100. MONDAY, JUNE 26 McDowell Democrats will hold their monthly meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, June 26, at the Marion Community Building. The guest speaker will be Keith Buchanan, president of Connect McDowell. He will give a status report on broadband development in McDowell County and take questions. A meal will be served before the meeting. A small donation to offset costs is appreciated. McDowell Dems T-shirts will be available and are $20 each. Attendees are asked to help the Friendship Home For Women & Children by bringing a nonperishable food item for donation. For more information, visit mcdems.com. TUESDAY, JUNE 27 MATCH and Marion East Community Forum will host a Community Health and Resource Fair at the Marion Tailgate Market on Tuesday, June 27, from 3-6 p.m. The first 100 guests will receive a $10 gift certificate to be used at the Farmers Market. In addition to the Market vendors, over 30 community organizations will be present. Free hot dog dinner and cleaning supplies will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, call 828-659-5289. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28 The Arrowhead Artists and Artisans League will offer a class in making a wooden acrylic pour mermaid with Lisa Hines as the instructor. The class will be taught Wednesday, June 28 from 5 to 8 p.m. The cost is $25 for AGS members, $35 nonmembers, plus $15 supply fee. Learn acrylic pour techniques used to paint these 17-inch x11 inch mermaids. To register, come by Arrowhead Gallery, 78C Catawba Ave., Old Fort, or call 828-668-1100. FRIDAY, JUNE 30 The Glenwood High Alumni will have a dinner meeting on Friday, June 30, at 5 p.m. at Hook & Anchor. All high school attendees and teachers welcome. For questions, call Richard Buchanan at 828-460-2655 or Jeanette Jarrett at 828-460-9641. TUESDAY, JULY 4 The Mountain Gateway Museum in Old Fort will have free ice cream scoops and watermelon slices, bluegrass music and a Ducky Derby at the annual Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Social on Tuesday, July 4. The event will be held from 2-4 p.m. on the museums grounds at the intersection of Catawba Avenue and Water Street in Old Fort. This year, the museum welcomes the Old Fort Ruritan Club, which will be operating the Ducky Derby during the event as a fundraiser. Tickets for the Ducky Derby are being sold now. Each duck costs $3. To purchase a ticket, contact David Blackwelder at 828-925-2095 or Cathy Herron at 828-460-8164. Possum Creek, a local bluegrass band that leads a free music jam most Sunday afternoons at Mountain Gateway Museum, will perform on the museums front porch from 2-4 p.m. Marions Independence Day Celebration is Tuesday, July 4. The parade will begin at 6 p.m. A special spot will be reserved at the beginning of the parade for Anything That Rolls. Skaters, bicycles and skateboards are welcome and are not required to preregister. Parade marshals will be McDowell County veterans. Fox and Company will perform at 6:30 p.m. Fireworks will be at 9:30 p.m. For more information, call 652-2215. OLD FORT A woman was charged with murder after a 29-year-old was found dead after a shooting Friday night. Raquel Leal Lowery, 50, of Old Fort, was charged with murder in the death of Robert Dylan Branch, according to a release from the McDowell County Sheriffs Office. Deputies responded to Salvage Drive in Old Fort around 11 p.m. Friday after a gunshot was reported, the release said. Further investigation led to the charge against Lowery, the release said. MCSO Capt. Shanon Smith told the McDowell News that Lowery and Branch were neighbors. No other information about the investigation or Branchs death was released. Lowery appeared in McDowell County District Court on Monday before Judge Corey MacKinnon, who set July 10 as her next court date for a probable cause hearing. This isnt her first run-in with the law in North Carolina. Lowery, who previously went by the last name Dillon, has previous convictions from Wayne County for assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and armed robbery from 1994, according to records from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. In 1997, she was convicted of escaping prison, NCDPS records showed. Additional information about those convictions is not available. Any search warrants in the case have not been filed yet, according to court officials. She is being held at the McDowell County Jail under no bond. Kenya and the European Union signed a trade agreement at a ceremony in Nairobi on Monday, the first major deal since 2016 with an African country where Brussels is seeking to forge closer economic ties and counter Chinese appetite. Today is a very proud moment for Kenya, and I believe for the European Union, said Kenyan Trade Minister Moses Koria, after signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis. The ceremony was presided over by Kenyan President William Ruto. Once in force, the EPA will give Kenya duty-free access to the EU, its largest market, to which it sends around a fifth of its exports. These are mainly agricultural products such as tea and coffee, and 70% of its flowers. This agreement ensures a predictable market for Kenyan farmers, said president Ruto. Kenya, for its part, will gradually open up its market, with gradual tax reductions over 25 years, notably for products from the chemical industry and machine tools. On the other hand, a number of sensitive products will be excluded. This is a great day for relations between the EU and Kenya, hailed Mr. Dombrovskis, who recalled that European companies had invested 1 billion euros in Kenya over the last ten years, but that there is a considerable appetite to do even more business there. Authorities in Uganda announced on Monday the arrest of three people following last weeks massacre by terrorists at a high school, which left at least 41 people dead, most of them students surprised in their dormitories. Three people have been arrested and are being questioned about the attack. Details will follow, assured Joe Walusimbi, the district commissioner of Kesese, the area where the Lhubiriha high school in Mpondwe is located. In the meantime, the public is invited to remain vigilant and provide information to the security agencies regarding the attack, he added, without giving details of those arrested. The announcement comes as families are still awaiting the results of DNA tests on Monday to identify the victims of the massacre, who were attacked with machetes, shot dead or burned alive on Friday evening in this school, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Fifteen other members of the community, including five girls, are still missing. Ugandan army and police officials have incriminated members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist militia that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. Seventeen victims were burned beyond recognition when assailants set fire to a dormitory, complicating the identification of victims and the count of missing persons. According to officials, the 41 victims include 37 students and four other people, including a security guard. President Yoweri Museveni on Sunday described the massacre as a desperate, cowardly act, and promised to eliminate those responsible for the bloody assault, the worst of its kind in the country for years. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has described as historic the African mission which, at the end of last week, visited Ukraine and then Russia to offer mediation in the war in Ukraine, without however achieving any immediate results. This initiative is historic, because it is the first time that African leaders have embarked on a peace mission beyond the continents shores, said Mr. Ramaphosa, in his weekly news bulletin. The South African Head of State was at the head of a delegation comprising three other presidents: Macky Sall (Senegal), Hakainde Hichilema (Zambia) and Azali Assoumani (Comoros), current Chairman of the African Union, as well as representatives from the Congo, Uganda and Egypt. They met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday in Kiev, before holding talks with Russian Head of State Vladimir Putin the following day in St Petersburg (north-west Russia). Mr. Zelensky rejected the offer of African mediation, saying that allowing negotiations with Russia now, when the occupier is on our land, means freezing the war. For its part, the Kremlin described the African plan as very difficult to implement, while assuring that President Putin had expressed his interest in examining it. The African peace proposals can be summed up in 10 points, including de-escalation on both sides, recognition of the sovereignty of the countries as recognized by the UN, security guarantees for all parties, the lifting of barriers to grain exports via the Black Sea, the release of prisoners of war, and post-war reconstruction. Mr. Ramaphosa said on Monday that one of the main results of the mission was the positive reception it received from both sides, which we found encouraging and which makes us optimistic that the proposals will be taken on board. The Angolan President, Joao Lourenco, defended on the 19th of June the need for the Court of Auditors (TdC) to avoid too many approvals in public infrastructure contracts, considering that there will be occasions in which a previous approval from the TdC will be dispensable. Addressing the new judge president of the TdC and the other judges of that body, who were sworn in Monday, Joao Lourenco said that his Government is at a good pace in the construction of infrastructures, and that he intends to accelerate even more. He appealed to the advisory judges of the Court of Auditors, and in particular to its president judge, Sebastiao Domingos Gunza, to create more capacity so that the body can accompany the rhythm of work of his executive. See in which situations the approval of the Court of Auditors should be a prior approval, but there will certainly be cases in which, perhaps, there is no need for the approval to be prior, observed Joao Lourenco. We would not like to see the Court of Auditors appearing to public opinion as a bottleneck factor in our rhythm of execution of projects, he signaled, particularly regarding the energy, water, health, and education infrastructures. The Angolan President swore in Sebastiao Domingos Gunza as president of the TdC (who also retired as Chief commissioner of the National Police), four other judges of this body and a counselor judge of the Supreme Court. Manuel da Cruz Neto, Sebastiao Jorge Diogo Bessa, Armindo Gideao Kinjiquisse Jelembi and Januario Jose Domingos (Audit Court) and Carlos Alberto Cavuquila (Supreme Court) are the judges also sworn in at the ceremony, which took place at the Presidential Palace. Benins Court of Economic Crimes and Terrorism Repression (CRIET) has sentenced a woman to ten years in prison after she was arrested in July 2021 in possession of 5.3 kg of cocaine, local media 24h Au Benin reports. The woman is also fined to pay $16,000 to the court. The defense told the tribunal the woman did not know she was carrying the drug. It requested mercy. The ruling came few days after same Court in capital Cotonou condemned a Dutch to 15 years in prison for possession and sale of high risk drug and a fine of $16,000. The Dutch expat has reportedly been in custody since his arrest on February 17 this year, at Cotonou international airport. The Institute for Security Studies in Africa in 2021 reported that Benin was increasingly becoming a hotspot in the global drug trafficking network. By June that year, the countrys share of the illicit trade amounted to 1.3 tons. The illicit drugs originate from Latin America and the Middle East. 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: Microscopic image of an intestinal lymph node involved by metastatic colon cancer (colonic adenocarcinoma). Credit: Shutterstock A mystery which has stumped bowel cancer researchers for decades, has been solved by scientists at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute and University of Glasgow. Generations of doctors and researchers have struggled to understand why a bowel cancer patient's immune system ignores the cancer, rather than attack it. Now, the team in Glasgow believe they know how bowel cancer "blinds" the immune system so it can't see the cancer and is therefore unable to destroy it. The discovery, published in Cancer Immunology Research, opens the door to potentially reversing or preventing this process, which would allow the immune system to "see" the bowel cancer cells and stop them from growing and multiplying. Dr. Seth Coffelt of the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute and University of Glasgow, who led the research, said, "Normally immune cells keep things as they should be, patrolling the bowel like security guards, tackling any harmful bacteria, and keeping the gut healthy. "However, when cells in the bowel become cancerous, they fire these 'security guards' and all the methods these immune cells use to talk to each other to coordinate an immune response no longer get produced. "Cancer doesn't want immune cells recognizing them as a threat so they manipulate the immune cells so they can't see the threat and simply pass on by leaving the cancer to do its damage." Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the U.K. with about 16,800 deaths in the U.K. every year, that's 46 every day. About 4,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year in Scotland. The research team focused on a particular type of immune cell called gamma delta T cells. Bowel cancer begins in the epithelial cells which line the bowel and these T cells "patrol" this area attacking any threatssuch as damaged cells or small tumorsbefore they cause us harm. Scientists already knew that when bowel cancer is present, immune cells that can kill cancer do not often act against the bowel cancer, however they did not know why. Using tissue samples from bowel cancer tumors donated by patients in Scotland and other countries, the team was able to identify the specific mechanism the cancer cells use to "rewire" the gamma delta T cells on a molecular level. The team is now hopeful that further research could offer treatments which could reverse this "rewiring." Discovering how the cancer cells trick the immune system offers potential for new treatments which could reactivate these crucial immune cells. Dr. Coffelt added, "Our discovery means that if a way can be found to artificially engage the 'blinded' T cells with a drug so that the T cells can 'see' the cancer again, we could find a new effective way to treat bowel cancer." More information: Toshiyasu Suzuki et al, -catenin drives butyrophilin-like molecule loss and T-cell exclusion in colon cancer, Cancer Immunology Research (2023). DOI: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-22-0644 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 Together, the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), the Centre hospitalier de l'Universite de Montreal (CHUM) and St. Mary's Hospital Center (SMHC) have contributed to an international clinical trial that will change the way we treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)the most common form of lung cancer. In this trial, an immunotherapy drug called pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA), used in conjunction with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (i.e., given before surgery) and then again after surgery, has been shown to slow cancer progression and recurrence and to reduce the presence of residual tumors in patients with early-stage operable NSCLC. In the experimental group, three out of five patients remained stable for two years (without cancer progression or recurrence), compared with two out of five in the control group, an improvement of around 50 percent. The interim analysis of this randomized, double-blind, Phase III clinical trial was recently presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2023 Annual Meeting in Chicago and published in The New England Journal of Medicine. "It's an honor for me to bring the most promising lung cancer therapies to our patients by playing a leading role in the conduct of international randomized clinical trials," says Dr. Jonathan Spicer, senior author and lead surgeon of the study, medical director of the McGill Thoracic Oncology Network, scientist in the Cancer Research Program at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) and thoracic surgeon at the Montreal General Hospital of the MUHC. "This new treatment is another important step towards improved outcomes for patients with this common type of lung cancer. It is applicable to all patients with stage II or III NSCLC who are eligible for surgery. This represents a large number of patients on an annual basis for whom improvement in survival will be very significant." Improving cancer survival All patients enrolled in the trial had a surgically removable non-small cell lung cancer of stage II or III. These stages were previously associated with a survival rate at five years after diagnosis of less than 50 percent. Half of them received neoadjuvant pembrolizumab plus cisplatin-based chemotherapy followed by surgical resection and adjuvant pembrolizumab; the other half received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery alone, with a placebo instead of pembrolizumab. During the 24 months following the participants' enrollment in one of the two study groups, the investigators recorded the occurrence of undesired events such as local tumor progression that precluded the planned surgery, cancer recurrence, or death. Out of 797 adult participants, 344 (43.2 percent) had an event or died; most of the events were disease progression or recurrence. Event-free survival at 24 months was 62.4 percent in the pembrolizumab group and 40.6 percent in the placebo group. The trial investigators also measured the effectiveness of the treatment in reducing tumor size. A major pathological response (less than or equal to 10 percent residual viable tumors) occurred in 30.2 percent of the participants in the pembrolizumab group and in 11.0 percent of those in the placebo group and a pathological complete response (absence of residual viable tumors) occurred in 18.1 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively. The neoadjuvant pembrolizumab did not interfere with the choice of surgical approach, the ability to undergo surgery or the incidence of surgical complications. Adverse events arising from the addition of pembrolizumab were consistent with what has been previously reported from other similar immunotherapy and surgery trials. Montreal, an epicenter of innovation in thoracic oncology Between the MUHC, the CHUM and the SMHC, 46 patients were recruited in the Montreal region, an outstanding achievement considering that the study was available in 227 locations worldwide. SMHC was the first center in Quebec to open the study, paving the way for other centers, and the patients enrolled at SMHC were operated at the MUHC. The CHUM was the center to recruit the largest number of patients globally. "The CHUM and its research center are extremely proud to have recruited the largest number of patients of any site in this international study. The CHUM Multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Research and Clinical Teams work in concert to provide patients from all over the province of Quebec the latest innovations, technologies and therapies in lung cancer care. The future of lung cancer treatment is extremely bright and we will not stop investigating novel therapies until we can offer 100 percent survival to all patients," says Dr. Moishe Liberman, principal scientist and thoracic surgeon at the CHUM. "The combination of pembrolizumab with neoadjuvant chemotherapy showed a significantly improved survival rate in treated patients. This is a message of hope for NSCLC patients," adds Dr. Adrian Langleben, who led the trial at SMHC. This fruitful collaboration places Montreal among the major players in the world of randomized clinical trials in thoracic oncology. "This work represents a major accomplishment, not only for our extremely collaborative teams in thoracic oncology, but also for our clinical trials unit at the Centre for Innovative Medicinea fully equipped 'research hospital within a hospital' offering access to specialized staff and a full range of services for clinical research," says Penny Chipman, manager of Oncology Research at the Centre for Innovative Medicine of the RI-MUHC. "Relying on cross-site collaboration is key to reaching as many patients as possible, and we hope to further develop strategies and partnerships to bring these trials to patients living outside of Montreal and major urban centers," says Dr. Spicer, who is also an associate professor of surgery at McGill University and an internationally renowned expert on novel therapies for patients with resectable lung cancer. More information: Heather Wakelee et al, Perioperative Pembrolizumab for Early-Stage NonSmall-Cell Lung Cancer, New England Journal of Medicine (2023). DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2302983 Journal information: New England Journal of Medicine 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: International League Against Epilepsy A man in the clinic has had two seizure-like episodes in his lifetime. Selim Benbadis, director of the University of South Florida's epilepsy program, and his resident take a history and complete an exam. They are fairly confident that the man is experiencing syncope. Later, the man sends them a video taken from a security camera at his workplace, which captured one of his episodes. "The videoany novice could see that it's clearly a seizure," said Benbadis. "We were wrong. This is the power of video." Integrating video into the care pathway Benbadis authored a recent commentary suggesting that stand-alone video should be considered a formal diagnostic tool in the United States, including coding, billing, and reimbursement. But what he is most passionate about is bringing in video as part of the standard of care, with an infrastructure to allow video sharing that protects privacy. The research is published in the journal Neurology: Clinical Practice. Low-resource areas particularly can benefit from the technology, he said. "They don't have the luxury of an epilepsy monitoring unit, or ambulatory EEG," he said. "They rely 100% on history, and history is not all that helpful. Phone video should and can be a part of the evaluation of every patient." Integrating phone video into practice is more than encouraging families to record videos, said Benbadis; it requires fundamental changes. "Where people present with possible seizures, the reaction of neurologists is always 'let's order the EEG,'" he said. "But we all know the yield of EEG is low unless you record a seizure. And of course that's what we try to do in an epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU)but in the real world, it doesn't happen very often." Benbadis recalled a woman with facial twitching who came into an area hospital on a Saturday. The resident team was concerned about possible seizures and ordered an EEG. The hospital was not staffed for 24/7 EEG; a technologist would need to travel to the hospital and get everything set up. "Realistically, this EEG is not going to happen for at least two hours," said Benbadis. While the technologist was en route, Benbadis asked the hospital to send him a cell phone video of one of the woman's events. "It's a seven-second video and she has a clear focal clonic seizure of the face," he said. "She didn't need an EEG. The video was free to the health care system, free to the patient, and diagnostic, but I can't put it in the system as a medical test." The patient still had to undergo EEG, which was normal. "The more we have been using cellphone videos, the more it's obvious that it's an incredible tool with a much higher yield than routine EEG," said Benbadis. "And yet we haven't adjusted; we still do things the traditional way. We need to make cellphone video a medical test." While video has been used in hospitals for several decades, the use of home video to aid in epilepsy diagnosis and treatment is gaining ground; a recent paper in Neurology suggested that home video may be helpful in diagnosing infantile spasms in regions with little to no EEG access. Home video for movement disorders Joseph Jankovic is professor of neurology and distinguished chair in movement disorders at Baylor University College of Medicine, and director of the university's Parkinson's Disease Center and Movement Disorders Clinic. Jankovic has been using video for decades to diagnose and treat movement disorders. His video library includes data from more than 35,000 patients; some videos are taken in clinic, while others are taken at home by family members. The videos are particularly valuable for treating people with paroxysmal dyskinesia, said Jankovic. In a 2021 article, Jankovic and Andrew Billnitzer found that 95% of home videos from the Parkinson's Disease Center and Movement Disorders Center supported the initial diagnosis. More common diagnoses included functional movement disorders, cerebral palsy, Parkinson's disease, Tourette syndrome, static encephalopathy and Angelman's syndrome. The article also provides guidelines for home videographers on how to record high-quality video. "In many cases the video confirms what we already knew, but in other cases videos provided clues to cases we didn't really consider," said Jankovic. He said that videos are extremely helpful for distinguishing functional seizures from epilepsy. "Family members may describe the episode to the clinician but if they take a video, the clinician can see features that might suggest non-epileptic seizures." A secure platform for video sharing Sameer Zuberi, a pediatric neurologist at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow, Scotland, has been using home videos to aid in epilepsy diagnosis and treatment since the 1990s. "We used to lend out video cameras and tripods to families to take home in the 1990s, and often by doing that we could get a diagnosis," he said. As cameras got smaller, families began bringing VHS tapes to the clinic. The advent of the digital era introduced security and transfer issues and the hospital started receiving fewer videos, he said. "You can put a VHS tape in a locked cupboard and catalog it," he said. "What do you do with a 500-megabyte video file? Electronic patient records are not set up for that." Parents would try to email videos, but the files were too big. Some would set up private YouTube channels or websites where physicians could view videos. More recently, people started using WhatsApp to share videos. These solutions, while creative, were informal and not regulated, and Zuberi notes they likely broke some governance rules in terms of clinical data storage. A solution to the issue came from an unusual place: The neonatal unit. His hospital's neonatal unit had a service that would allow nurses to take videos on a secure iPad to send to parents, allowing them to see their babies when they couldn't visit the hospital. "It's a web-based platform. The videos are uploaded to the cloud, and then the families can download them," said Zuberi. "It had to go through all the security and clinical governance required for video transfer, although these are not clinical videos." Zuberi had a conversation with the consultant neonatologist who set up the system, and they realized they might be able to use the same platform to send videos to the hospital from families with children having suspected seizures. As the COVID pandemic began, Zuberi and colleagues received funding to establish the video system and fund a pilot study. They also received approval to establish a national research video database, which now contains more than 27,000 videos, with about 800 being added every month. Families register through the web-based platform and provide consent for clinical use, teaching, and research. Families and clinicians can communicate through the platform, and videos can be securely shared with multiple clinicians. Improving efficiency, fostering communications The systemcalled vCreate Neurohas made care more efficient and economical, said Zuberi. Diagnoses are made in less time, with fewer appointments and tests. A 2022 report on the system found that among more than 400 clinicians surveyed: 99% said the system was useful in overall patient management 97% said it improved quality of care 93% said it helped in diagnosis 92% said it made them feel more connected to patients and families 91% said the videos were of high quality and easy to interpret Among more than 750 families who used the service for their children: 88% found the system easy to use the first time 64% said it allowed for easier communication with clinicians 60% said it made them feel more connected to the clinical team Parents felt reassured by the monitoring provided by the system: "Episodes are difficult to explain, or you might doubt yourself about what you are noticing about your child," said one parent. "This makes it easier to have the conversation with clinicians, as they can also see what you see." Established patients benefit While useful for diagnosis, the system also can be particularly helpful for established patients. "If someone with established epilepsy has a new type of event, we ask them to get a video of it," said Zuberi. "Sometimes it is not epilepticso we think we are reducing medication usage as well." The 2022 report includes feedback from a parent who uses the system for the ongoing care of her daughter, who has complex needs because of a rare genetic disorder. Prior to using the system, the family would call to discuss any possible seizure activity with the nurse specialist, which "usually meant having to go to an appointment and hope that this behavior happened at the appointment," said the parent. Now that the family uses the video system, "I'm getting good input from the consultants and the nurse and if she's needing treatment quickly, it's responded to within a couple of days." International initiatives The system is now established in nearly all children's hospitals in the UK, as well as all neurology services and district hospitals in Scotland and many district hospitals in England. "It's spreading to various international centers now, and we continue to work on it," Zuberi said. "We've gotten the whole platform translated into something like 12 languages at the moment, and it auto translates if the patient is using it in a different language than the provider." International projects using the system include: A trial in rural adult epileptology in Germany A trial in Edmonton, Canada A movement disorders project between the United States and South Africa A potential initiative to link a center in Texas with clinics on a Caribbean island A potential initiative linking Brisbane, Australia with several Pacific islands that have no neurologists "The system works really well in high-resource countries, but what I'm really excited about is how we can set it up in areas of the world where there are very few neurologists," said Zuberi. More information: Selim R. Benbadis, The Best Seizure Diagnostic Tool Is Not a Medical Device, Neurology: Clinical Practice (2023). DOI: 10.1212/CPJ.0000000000200117 Journal information: Neurology Provided by International League Against Epilepsy Mamadou Lamine Diao, a musician and producer who performs as Tukkiman, has a plan. But whether or not he decides to keep that plan remains to be seen. Diaos interest in music first developed from an early age in his native Senegal with a love of Tracy Chapman. Growing up in a large, dramatic family, Diao said hed hole away with a Walkman to listen to music like Chapmans as well as Jamaican, Senegalese and English pop and rock music. Later, artists like Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley inspired him to make music of his own. He received his first instrument, a guitar, at the age of 19. Advertisement I was just a young Black man in the hood, struggling, and this is Africa, in a very violent area, he recalled. When I received the gift of the guitar, I got it from Chicago, because I (have) family here. So they shipped the guitar to me, and they actually kind of saved me from a lot of trouble that was happening at that time. Because every time I was trying to learn how to play, my friends were getting into trouble. Later, after graduating from high school and college, it was making his own music again that helped him heal. During a law school exam, Diao blacked out and woke up in a mental health facility, ultimately staying there for 10 days. Advertisement When I got home, I had anxiety, lots of problems, like mental health problems. But every time I would play my guitar, I would feel great, he said. After that, music, instead of his studies, became his number one priority. My relationship with music is more medicinal. Thats something I really prioritize, because in my routine, if I dont do it, I think all my demons and the things I was going through (during) childhood come back and surface. (Music) will help me like, actually oxygenate myself. I feel in tune with myself. Mamadou Lamine Diao, a musician and producer who performs as Tukkiman, comes to Chicago by way of Senegal and Paris. (Ryda Visuals) Diao moved from Senegal to Paris, yet he did not always feel creatively fueled in the city. Half his family migrated to Chicago 30 years ago, making Chicago a natural fit for the artist. During his visits from Paris, he also met a manager and music business partner, making his desire to relocate to Chicago even stronger. However, visiting Chicago and living in the city are two different things. During his time here, Diao has learned the citys eclectic culture and how to navigate with other artists. And creatively, he has learned more about engineering and producing, both for other artists as well as for himself. The result of these efforts include a new album, titled On the Afro. The 10-track record, largely crafted in the Afrobeat style, is an infectious summertime treat and a perfectly timed body of work. In recent years, the long-popular and international genre of Afrobeat music has made its way to U.S. shores, gaining traction with partygoers interested in groove-heavy beats that work for both the dance floor and the lounge. I was like, man, Ive been doing this, like 10 years ago. Literally, I pulled out tracks that Ive done almost 10 years ago. Just cleaned them a little bit, tweaked them a little bit. And its Afrobeat. Like, Im so good at this, and its just time, he said. On the Afro came out in January. A video for the new single So Natural came out last month and has racked up tens of thousands of views. Yet Diaos skills extend far beyond one genre. An eclectic artist with an eclectic taste in music, it may be surprising to hear Tukkimans first album, which incorporates elements of everything and some found confusing. From hip-hop and R&B to reggae and rock, Diao said he makes music across genres, reflecting his tastes both as an artist and as a listener. My philosophy of music is just like a journey. I get your Afrobeat album, but maybe next year, I can do a type of sexy DAngelo R&B album mixed with a tiny bit of Afro something, he began. Should I just stick to this? Because its good. Its easy, its fun, or can I just do this and then next year, come back with a whole new world? (I think) people will be like, Oh, this is him. This is Tuki. This is what you can do. Advertisement Tukkiman next performs 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. July 2 as part of the Live on the Lake series at the Navy Pier Beer Garden, 600 E. Grand Avenue; free, more information at navypier.org. Then 9:30 p.m. July 19 with Project Blackbird at The Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia Ave.; tickets $12 (ages 21+) at hideoutchicago.com. Britt Julious is a freelance critic. 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: Obsessive technology use can represent repeated attempts at regulating negative emotions. Picture: Credit: Shutterstock If you look around any waiting room or queue of people, almost all will be on a mobile phone. But alleviating boredom is just one way digital devices are being increasingly used to manage emotions including stress and anxiety, and to feel connected to others. Although emotions are essential to help us navigate the ever-changing, complex and challenging situations we face in everyday life, sometimes people experience emotions they prefer not to have. When this happens, we may try to change the emotion to one that feels better or is more suited to the current context or goals. For example, people may increase their anger to prepare for competition or suppress joy to focus on work. People also help each other manage emotions by sharing good news, seeking support, or offering reassurance after an emotional encounter. This managing and shaping of emotion is called emotion regulation, and these skills are essential to well being. But there are limitations to digital emotion regulation, and if it gets out of handbecoming the main strategy we usewe may need to add in healthier ways of dealing with challenging emotions. Digital emotion regulation Psychologists have cataloged a myriad of ways that people seek to regulate their emotions, as diverse as thinking differently about a situation, doing exercise, practicing self-compassion, and seeking distraction. However, recent research shows that people are increasingly turning to digital tools and strategies when they need to manage emotions. Our studies have found that: Sometimes changing emotions is what a certain technology is designed for, like using a meditation app. But, often, it's something that users have learned they can do with a technology that wasn't explicitly designed for emotion regulation, like playing games to induce feelings of flow or mastery, binge-watching to reduce sadness or to alleviate stress or anxiety the night before a job interview. People may also share funny stories to increase feelings of joy and social connectedness and listen to a focus playlist to increase productivity. We think there are several factors driving this shift. One is that digitization makes traditional resources more easily available. For example, people have long-used emotionally impactful media for emotion regulation. In the past, media such as music, video and games could only be accessed at specific times and places. Now, an enormous selection of powerful, emotion-modulating content is available anywhere. Likewise, people have always used social interaction to regulate emotion, and now this is available virtually anytime. By connecting people in massive social networks, digital technologies provide more opportunities for people to reach out for social support, to get help reappraising a situation, or to intensify or dissipate emotions by sharing them. Third, as technology companies compete for our attention, they've become increasingly skilled at designing for user experience. Vendors like Apple, Netflix and Spotify create compelling products by focusing on what people like. This means that, regardless of where they are and what they're doing, users can increasingly turn to their devices when they want to feel better. Fourth, devices such as phones bring many resources together, allowing people to create a personalized toolbox of emotion-shaping resources and to rapidly switch between them, according to their situation and how they want to feel. When people over use technology We believe people and institutions can benefit from a better understanding of the complex relationship between emotion and technology use. Specifically, our research offers a new perspective for those concerned about technology overuse and addiction. Studies have shown that obsessive technology use can represent repeated attempts at regulating negative emotions. A common response to such overuse is to restrict access to the technology, for example, through limits on screen time. But when someone uses an emotion-regulation strategy too much, or the strategy is ineffective, the solution is not abstinence but to use a better strategy. This suggests that attempts to mitigate technology overuse should include education about alternative, healthy ways to manage emotion. There are already excellent resources that teach healthy emotion regulation skills, providing alternatives for someone who wants to spend less time on their device, including going for a walk, reading or meditation. And emerging evidence suggests that emotion-regulation skills training can be helpful even for individuals with clinically significant levels of depression. Technologies like social media are by no means universally helpful. They certainly can and do cause problems. The online world can be emotionally volatile, offering welcome distraction much of the time, but sometimes providing misinformation and triggering anger and hate. But, for most people, digital technologies offer benefits, including convenient ways to deal with the inevitable emotional ups and downs of daily life. Researchers in Europe recently proposed that digital skills education should include "digital emotional intelligence." We agree this is the right way forward. Digital literacy should include perspectives that help people understand when their technology use serves the function of regulating unwanted emotions, what the benefits and limitations of digital emotion regulation are, and if it gets out of hand, what are healthier ways of dealing with emotion. We hope our research will inform debates about technology overuse, and help to guide policymakers, technology designers and technology users toward more useful interactions with digital technology in everyday life. 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: Cell Host & Microbe (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2023.05.018 Give credit to your dad's gene for keeping you safe during those long months in your mother's womb. Without this genetic warrior, you might have succumbed to any number of viral infections that otherwise could be fatal to a fetus. A new paper published this week in the journal Cell Host & Microbe explains the mechanisms behind this anti-viral protection. "What's unique about this gene is how it produces a form of defense for the baby in the womb," said Hana Totary-Jain, Ph.D., associate professor of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology and Heart Institute at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and senior author of the paper. Their research focused on viruses that affect a pregnant mother and consequently her fetus, which are highly vulnerable to infection because their immune systems are immature. Some viruses, including Zika, rubella, and other serious infections, are rarely transmitted from mother to fetus in utero and can cause devastating consequences. But the biological processes that protect a fetus from most viral infections are less clear. In the new paper, titled "SINE RNA of the imprinted miRNA clusters mediates constitutive type III interferon expression and antiviral protection in hemochorial placentas," Dr. Totary-Jain and her team describe how a certain gene in the placenta is always armed for the battle. "The placenta, in human and in mouse, is the first organ the fetus develops, and it is constantly exposed to maternal blood. This increases the chances of transmitting viral infections from the mother to the fetus. Therefore, the placenta has evolved robust defense mechanisms to prevent this transmission. We discovered a gene in the placenta that is expressed only from the paternal allele and produces a viral mimicry response. It tricks the placenta into thinking it's infected and induces a constant state of antiviral defense," Dr. Totary-Jain explained. "So when we turned on this gene in other cells, we could protect the cells from several viruses. This is evolution's way of protecting the baby. Without it, chances are you wouldn't have made it into childbirth,: she added. Ishani Wickramage, a Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Totary-Jain's laboratory and a lead author of the stud, added, "This research fills the gap in our knowledge about how many viruses that may infect a pregnant mother, including SARS-CoV-2, only rarely affect the fetus."' "Learning more about how the placenta shields the fetus from viruses also has important implications beyond childbirth," said Dr. Charles Lockwood, MD, MHCM, one of the paper's authors, who also is dean of the Morsani College of Medicine and executive vice president of USF Health. "This is a novel placental mechanism that protects the developing fetus from transplacental transmission of most viruses," Dr. Lockwood said. "This is the kind of knowledge that could lead to the development of new anti-viral medications to fight viruses that can be deadly for fetuses and newborn babies." Dr. Totary-Jain and a team of researchers at USF spent five years investigating this intriguing phenomenon in collaboration with Dr. Thomas Tuschl's lab at Rockefeller University, whose team performed the sRNAseq and bioinformatic analysis, including researcher Klaas Max and Kemel Akat; and Drs. Kimiko Inoue and Atsuo Ogura from RIKEN and University of Tsukuba, Japan, who provided the mouse model that was used to show that the mouse placenta also developed the same mechanism to protect the fetus from viral infections. Other USF Health members of the research team are: Jeffrey VanWye; John H. Lockhart; Ismet Hortu; Ezinne F. Mong; John Canfield; Hiran M. Lamabadu Warnakulasuriya Patabendige; Ozlem Guzeloglu-Kayisli; and Umit A. Kayisli. More information: Ishani Wickramage et al, SINE RNA of the imprinted miRNA clusters mediates constitutive type III interferon expression and antiviral protection in hemochorial placentas, Cell Host & Microbe (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2023.05.018 Journal information: Cell Host & Microbe 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 Daytime napping may help to preserve brain health by slowing the rate at which our brains shrink as we age, suggests a new study led by researchers at UCL and the University of the Republic in Uruguay. The study, published in the journal Sleep Health, analyzed data from people aged 40 to 69 and found a causal link between habitual napping and larger total brain volumea marker of good brain health linked to a lower risk of dementia and other diseases. Senior author Dr. Victoria Garfield (MRC Unit for Lifelong Health & Ageing at UCL) said, "Our findings suggest that, for some people, short daytime naps may be a part of the puzzle that could help preserve the health of the brain as we get older." Previous research has shown that napping has cognitive benefits, with people who have had a short nap performing better in cognitive tests in the hours afterwards than counterparts who did not nap. The new study aimed to establish if there was a causal relationship between daytime napping and brain health. Using a technique called Mendelian randomization, they looked at 97 snippets of DNA thought to determine people's likelihood of habitual napping. They compared measures of brain health and cognition of people who are more genetically "programmed" to nap with counterparts who did not have these genetic variants, using data from 378,932 people from the UK Biobank study, and found that, overall, people predetermined to nap had a larger total brain volume. The research team estimated that the average difference in brain volume between people programmed to be habitual nappers and those who were not was equivalent to 2.6 to 6.5 years of aging. But the researchers did not find a difference in how well those programmed to be habitual nappers performed on three other measures of brain health and cognitive functionhippocampal volume, reaction time and visual processing. Associations between daytime napping and total brain volume in UKB, including sensitivity analyses. Note: n = 35,080, instrument details: Main = 92-SNP main daytime napping instrument from Dashti et al, 2021, Adjusted = 47-SNP instrument adjusted for excessive daytime sleepiness, Restricted = 86-SNP instrument excluding individuals with self-reported sleep apnea, and 23&Me = 17-SNP instrument used as it has no sample overlap with UKB. IVW, inverse-variance weighted; WME, weighted median estimator; 95% CI, 95% confidence interval. Credit: Sleep Health (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.sleh.2023.05.002 Lead author and Ph.D. candidate Valentina Paz (University of the Republic (Uruguay) and MRC Unit for Lifelong Health & Ageing at UCL) said, "This is the first study to attempt to untangle the causal relationship between habitual daytime napping and cognitive and structural brain outcomes. By looking at genes set at birth, Mendelian randomization avoids confounding factors occurring throughout life that may influence associations between napping and health outcomes. Our study points to a causal link between habitual napping and larger total brain volume." Dr. Garfield added, "I hope studies such as this one showing the health benefits of short naps can help to reduce any stigma that still exists around daytime napping." The genetic variants influencing our likelihood to nap were identified in an earlier study looking at data from 452,633 UK Biobank participants. The study, led by Dr. Hassan Dashti (Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital), also an author on the new study, identified the variants on the basis of self-reported napping, and this was supported by objective measurements of physical activity recorded by a wrist-worn accelerometer. In the new study, researchers analyzed health and cognition outcomes for people with these genetic variants as well as several different subsets of these variants, adjusted to avoid potential bias, for instance avoiding variants linked to excessive daytime sleepiness. Genetic data and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain were available for 35,080 individuals drawn from the larger UK Biobank sample. In terms of study limitations, the authors noted that all of the participants were of white European ancestry, so the findings might not be immediately generalizable to other ethnicities. While the researchers did not have information on nap duration, earlier studies suggest that naps of 30 minutes or less provide the best short-term cognitive benefits, and napping earlier in the day is less likely to disrupt night-time sleep. More information: Valentina Paz et al, Is there an association between daytime napping, cognitive function, and brain volume? A Mendelian randomization study in the UK Biobank, Sleep Health (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.sleh.2023.05.002 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 C57BL6 mice were inoculated with 104 CFU of indicated Kp strains and the KaplanMeier survival curve was recorded. n = 10/group. b Spleen weight and representative image of spleens harvested from Kp-infected mice. c Bacterial load in various organs of mice at 12 hpi. n = 5/group. d Cell suspensions recovered from the lungs and spleens of the test mice at 12 hpi were incubated with 300 g/mL amikacin for 1 h and the number of CFU was counted. n = 5/group. e Major clusters and respective cell-type assignments in UMAP. f C57BL6 mice were inoculated with 104 CFU of indicated Kp strains and IMs and Neus cells recovered from Kp-infected lungs were analyzed by flow cytometry. n = 5/group. g Quantification of IMs and Neus from (f) and Mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of CD80 and CD206 on the surface of IMs. Credit: Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41392-023-01490-9 Two novel approaches for the treatment of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant superbugs have shown efficacy and good clinical application potential in studies performed by a team from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). Their findings have recently been published in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy and the Journal of Infection. The World Health Organization has repeatedly warned that the emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant microbes, commonly known as superbugs, could lead to the next wave of public health disasters. Many of the known superbugs actually evolved from normal flora, or bacteria that commonly exist in our body, and may cause a wide range of infections, especially when our immune system is weakened; hence they may readily spread in the hospital and the community, and potentially pose a threat which is more serious and long-lasting than the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, a number of bacterial strains have been classified as superbugs, among which the hyper-resistant and hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae is arguably the one which poses the greatest threat to human health. In 2017, a research team led by Prof. Chen Sheng, Chair Professor of Microbiology, Member of State Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, and Head of Department of Food Science and Nutrition at PolyU, discovered a newly emerged genetic variant of Klebsiella pneumoniae, namely the hyper-resistant and hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (CR-hvKP), which can cause untreatable and fatal infections even in healthy individuals. As the name implies, this superbug is not only multidrug-resistant, but also highly invasive. Various studies in China showed that the mortality rate of CR-hvKP infection ranged from 25% to 45%. To date, CR-hvKP has been regarded as an "urgent threat to human health" by many medical experts worldwide. After several years of intensive research, the research team has recently made major breakthroughs in their efforts to delineate the pathogenic mechanism of CR-hvKP and devise effective intervention strategies. The team also identified the key factors involved in interaction with the host and the nature of the host immune response triggered during the process of infection. Specifically, they discovered the signal pathways through which the pathogen triggers the onset of a cytokine storm, in which the signal molecules can induce uncontrolled activation of immune cells of the host that can eventually develop into septic shock, an extremely dangerous and potentially fatal condition. Subsequent experiments revealed that inhibiting the onset of a cytokine storm could significantly reduce mortality among infected patients. The research team studied the therapeutic value of immunosuppressants such as Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), and found that ASA can suppress the onset of a cytokine storm in infected mice. ASA, commonly known as Aspirin, is widely used to relieve mild to moderate pain and inflammation. ASA treatment can effectively suppress the infiltration of inflammatory cells into the lungs and drastically reduce cytokine production, decreasing the likelihood of septic shock in the host. This is the first time it has been discovered that immunosuppressants can be used in the treatment of CR-hvKP infection. The new findings provide important insights into the development of new approaches for clinical management of diseases caused by this important pathogen. However, although ASA can protect patients against septic shock during CR-hvKP infection, this compound is unable to eradicate the pathogen. The research team therefore explored the use of a combination of ASA and other antibiotics in the treatment process and found that the therapeutic effect of ASA can be further enhanced by including an effective antimicrobial agent during treatment. However, since CR-hvKP exhibits resistance to almost all known antimicrobial agents and searching for new antimicrobial compounds is not a practical way to address the problem, Prof. Chen's team adopted a "drug repurposing" approach in a separate but related study, in which they searched for over-the-counter drugs that exhibit antimicrobial effect or can act synergistically with currently used antibiotics and enhance their activity. The team successfully identified a drug called zidovudine, which is an anti-Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) agent, which can act synergistically with the antibiotic rifampicin to eradicate CR-hvKP. The advantage of identifying new antimicrobial compounds through drug-repurposing is that the drugs do not have to go through a lengthy drug development and approval process. It is expected that the zidovudine / rifampicin combination can be used alongside immunosuppressants to treat life-threatening CR-hvKP infections. In summarizing the new research findings, Prof. Chen said, "We are glad that our studies were able to identify two promising therapeutic options that may be used alone or in combination to combat the growing threat of Klebsiella pneumoniae, only five years after we discovered the CR-hvKP strain. It should be noted that prompt treatment will reduce mortality and the spread of the pathogen." He also added, "We plan to validate our findings in clinical trials in the near future and we believe our research efforts will eventually benefit patients and significantly reduce the mortality rate of CR-hvKP infected patients." More information: Qi Xu et al, Molecular mechanisms underlying the high mortality of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae and its effective therapy development, Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41392-023-01490-9 Hongyuhang Ni et al, A novel clinical therapy to combat infections caused by Hypervirulent Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, Journal of Infection (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.jinf.2022.05.004 A former Missoula County Public Schools employee accused of sexually assaulting a student several years ago is facing new charges alleging the suspects behavior was part of an ongoing pattern. Jordan K. Graves is charged with one felony count of sexual assault involving a minor by common scheme and one felony count of sexual intercourse without consent by common scheme. He pleaded not guilty to the charges Tuesday morning in front of Missoula County District Court Judge Jason Marks. Charging documents first filed in December 2021 allege a woman came forward and reported Graves assaulted her when he was student-teaching her gym class in 2010. The accuser was 15 years old at the time and was a freshman. Graves was born in 1988 and was either 21 or 22 at the time. A subsequent affidavit filed in May includes the amended common scheme charges. It details three additional accusers who were students at Sentinel High School while Graves was employed there as a student gym teacher, according to court documents. The affidavit accuses Graves of having inappropriate sexual contact with each, which is grounds for the common scheme allegation. According to the affidavit, Graves allegedly said the sexual assault with the new accusers happened in 2011. Court filings show attorneys for Graves filed a motion to dismiss in May on the grounds there wasnt sufficient evidence to establish the accuser was a minor, but that motion was denied by Marks, meaning the case will continue in court. Graves had a trial set for this week, but that was vacated. If convicted, Graves faces up to 200 years in the Montana State Prison and a $100,000 fine. Graves told detectives he moved away from Montana in January of 2012. His attorney is Michael Sherwood of Milodragovich, Dale and Steinbrenner, P.C. Missoula Deputy County Attorney Mark Handelman is prosecuting the case. Tuesday marked the end of a closely-watched climate trial in Helena, as attorneys made their final pitches to convince a judge whether the states contributions to climate change have violated the constitutional rights of 16 young Montanans. The case was brought in 2020 by Our Childrens Trust, an environmental organization that has filed dozens of similar lawsuits in other states. The Montana case garnered national attention as of the first of those to reach a trial, along with the state Constitutions unique provision guaranteeing its citizens the right to a clean and healthful environment. The seven-day trial kicked off last week, with five days of testimony from youth plaintiffs and expert witnesses called by their attorneys. The state called all three of its witnesses on Monday before resting its case. After hearing from world-renowned experts on climate science and medical professionals, there is no doubt that Montana should be protecting these young people, and generations to come, Nate Bellinger, an attorney for Our Childrens Trust, said during his closing statement. A stable climate system is integral to each and every one of the constitutional rights that have been implicated in this proceeding, and plaintiffs have established through overwhelming evidence that their rights have been violated. Along with scientists and other experts, a parade of young plaintiffs in the case, now ranging from 5 to 22 years in age, sat in the witness box to describe how climate change is hurting their physical and mental health, their families livelihoods, their cultural traditions and their ability to recreate. From hot, smoky summers to winters increasingly devoid of snow, they provided links between their lives and the effects of climate change that are now well-documented across the state, and in many cases, are expected to get worse. The lawsuit names Montana, the governor, attorney general and several state agencies as defendants. Since it was filed in 2020, Judge Kathy Seeley has narrowed the scope of the case substantially, and it now rests on whether a provision in the Montana Environmental Policy Act violates the plaintiffs constitutional rights. That provision, as it was rewritten by the Legislature earlier this year, prohibits state agencies from considering greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews of permits. MEPA is the states framework for how agencies conduct environmental reviews, such as those needed for permits to mine coal or build power plants. Montana has one of the largest coal reserves in the country, along with one of the largest coal-fired power plants in the West. Delivering the closing arguments for the defense, Assistant Attorney General Michael Russell reiterated the states position that MEPA is only a procedural law, and changing it wouldnt change the outcome of permitting decisions, which are governed by other statutes. Russell also noted that while much of the plaintiffs expert testimony focused on the science of how large amounts of heat-trapping molecules, such as carbon dioxide, being added to the atmosphere cause the Earth to heat up, the state never disputed that. Prior to the beginning of the trial, the two parties stipulated to a set of undisputed facts, including that there is a scientific consensus that human-caused increases in greenhouse gases are driving climate change. We stipulated for purposes of the trial that theres a scientific consensus that earth is warming as a direct result of human GHG emissions, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels, Russell said. But the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate how Montanas relatively minute contributions to greenhouse gas emissions globally have directly caused the plaintiffs injuries, Russell argued. As such, the problem can only be solved by global actions, the state has argued, not the unilateral policies of one state. This case has received national attention in part because it has been billed, or at least perceived, as a sort of referendum on climate change generally, Russell said. This is not supposed to be a town hall meeting or popularity contest. Its a court of law in which basic principles like causation and redress still apply." Beyond the alleged violations to the Montana Constitutions environmental provisions, the plaintiffs also accuse the state of violating their rights to individual dignity and equal protection and their right to seek safety, health and happiness. Bellinger called the states action an infringement on the plaintiffs' basic human rights and invoked past court decisions involving segregation, womens rights and marriage equality. He said its the courts job to intercede on behalf of the youth plaintiffs, even if addressing carbon emissions isnt politically popular. Fundamental rights are not subject to the outcome of elections, he said. The state has maintained throughout the case that the issue of climate change is one for policymakers, and not the courts, to act on. Near the end of his closing, Russell quoted from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals order in a similar lawsuit brought by Our Childrens Trust against the federal government. The panel of judges dismissed that case in 2020, on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked standing because there was no solution the courts could offer that would redress their alleged injuries. Some questions even those existential in nature are the province of the political branches, they wrote. Seeley did not indicate when she might issue an order in the case, but gave each side two weeks to submit their proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. Bail bonds are integral to the criminal justice system they allow those charged with crimes freedom to work on their defense and deal with their personal lives and obligations prior to trial. Bail bond agents are responsible for ensuring a person shows up to court. If the person out on bond does not fulfill their obligations, the bond agent will arrest or cause the arrest of that person. The person making the arrest may be the bondsman or they may use a fugitive recovery agent, commonly referred to as a bounty hunter. House Bill 62, requested by our agency and sponsored by Rep. Bill Mercer and Sen. Ryan Lynch, protects the public and defendants out on bond by posting reasonable sideboards that agents must follow when arresting a fugitive. The CSI is the primary regulator of bail bondsmen, or surety producers. In response to numerous cases of abuse, House Bill 62 closes a void in the law to protect the public from bad actors. Two days prior to introducing this bill, a Great Falls bounty hunter turned himself in to law enforcement charged with multiple felonies, including assault with a weapon. The bond agent allegedly drove into oncoming traffic ramming a defendant's vehicle before shooting the man with non-lethal bullets and then tasing him. Clearly, this was a threat to public safety. This act was not an outlier, but an abuse we continue to see, including unlicensed bail bondsmen unlawfully forcing entry into third-party homes. One high-profile case in Butte ended up with a person, not the fugitive, killed in his own home. Prior to House Bill 62, bounty hunters were not required to be licensed under Montana law. Basically anyone, including felons, could hunt down and arrest defendants. House Bill 62 solves this problem by requiring bounty hunters hold a license the same license bondsmen must hold. This allows our agency to oversee the actions of bounty hunters and ensure the law is followed. Our agency can also revoke the licenses of bad actors and pursue legal action if a bounty hunter is unlicensed. Working with industry, law enforcement, and our Legislature, House Bill 62 requires bondsmen and bounty hunters to: not be a felon reach the age of 21 hold a high school or equivalent diploma complete a training course approved by our agency notify law enforcement before making an arrest report arrests only arrest with probable cause These requirements are intended to ensure armed bounty hunters with broad arrest authority are trained and licensed. House Bill 62 also clarifies when bondsmen can revoke bail and initiate an arrest. Under the previous law, bondsmen could arrest a defendant if they felt "insecure about their surety. This broad definition allowed a bond agent to arrest a principal for virtually any reason leading some bondsmen to coerce defendants under threat of re-arrest to perform tasks such as manual labor, assist in fugitive recovery operations, or even be subjected to sexual abuse. In other cases, bondsmen revoked bail only to post bond again to implement additional fees on the defendant. Under the new law, bondsmen are required to have probable cause, not just a feeling of insecurity. While most members of the bail bond industry abide by the law, a few bad actors abuse their position. Defendants on bond should always read their contract with the bail company, confirm the bondsman is licensed, and understand what bondsmen legally can and cannot do. If Montanans believe a bail bondsman is abusing their authority or not following the law, they can contact our agency by going to CSIMT.gov. Thank you to the Montana Legislature for your bipartisan support and Gov. Gianforte for signing this bill into law. Distinctive descendants Gen. Burwell Baxter Bell III and Dr. Amelia Rector Bell Knight are descendants of the Revolutionary War patriots William Walton Sr. and Jr. of Morganton. Both Bell and Knight have dedicated themselves to serving their country, just as their patriot ancestors did. Bell enjoyed a 39-year US Army career in which he retired as a four-star general, according to his biography. A native of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Bell earned a bachelors degree in business administration from the University of Chattanooga (now the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga) and a Master of Science in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. He also graduated from the ROTC program at the University of Chattanooga. Bell was commissioned into the US Army in 1969 as an armor/tank second lieutenant. He completed the armor officer basic and advanced courses, the National War College and Ranger School. He patrolled the Iron Curtain dividing Germany during the Cold War and held a variety of command positions. He served as a senior military fellow on the Council on Foreign Relations in 1994, and as Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.s executive officer in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He also was chief of staff for the US Army-Europes forward headquarters in Hungary during Operation Joint Endeavor in the Balkans. After serving as an assistant division commander for the First and Third Infantry Divisions in Germany, Bell finished his career as chief of staff of V Corps and US Army-Europe. He retired in 1999. Knight, also a native of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, earned a PhD in anthropology from the University of Chicago and taught at the University of Rochester in New York, according to her biography. She and her husband, James, conducted field research with the Tuareg of Niger, (Africa), her biography reads. This initial African adventure began a lifetime passion for travel and experiencing different cultures throughout the world. The couple moved to Washington DC to work for the US Department of States Foreign Service Institute. Amelia has lived in eight African countries, as well as Paris and London, according to the biography. Her work with the Department of State took her to almost every country in Africa and numerous others worldwide. Amelia, who speaks French and Portuguese, has had the great honor of representing the United States as ambassadors wife when James was appointed US Ambassador to Benin, and while he served as US Ambassador to Chad. The Knights retired from public service to Tennessee, where Amelia is a member of her local chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. Editors note: Calendar items must be submitted at least five days before an event. Email all items to news@morganton.com. TODAY Meeting The Friendly Tuesday Club will meet at 10 a.m. at First Baptist Church of Morganton, 502 W. Union St. THURSDAY Board of directors meeting Burke County Smart Starts board of directors meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Partnership offices, at 304 W. Union St. Board meetings are open to the public and are held in handicapped accessible facilities. COVID, flu and other health restrictions will be observed for in-person attendance. For anyone with a hearing impairment who may require the assistance of an interpreter or have other special needs, call the Partnership at 828-439-2326 or us the NC Relay System at 1-800-735-8262. Coffee at the Museum The History Museum of Burke County will welcome Richard Eller, professor of history at Catawba Valley Community College, director of Redhawk Publications and local author, who will speak about his latest book on the local furniture industry at 10 a.m. at the museum at 201 W. Meeting St. in Morganton. The presentation is free and open to the community, and refreshments will be served. FRIDAY, JUNE 23 Yard sale Mimosa Christian Counseling Center will hold its annual yard sale on Friday, June 23, from 4-6:30 pm and Saturday, June 24, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at First Baptist Church at 502 W. Union St. in Morganton. Donations will be accepted at the church from 3-6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 21, and noon to 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 22. Please no large/heavy furniture donations. Ham supper fundraiser Chesterfield Ruritan is having a Country Ham Supper Saturday, June 24, from 4-7 p.m. with cream potatoes, green beans, slaw, bread and dessert to raise funds for those in need in the Chesterfield community. The supper will be dine-in or carry-out with a Cost of $9 for Adults, $4 for Children ages 12 and younger and no charge for Children younger than 4. Chesterfield Ruritan Club is at 2126 Pax Hill Road across from Chesterfield School. SATURDAY, JUNE 24 Yard sale Mimosa Christian Counseling Center will hold its annual yard sale on Saturday, June 24, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at First Baptist Church at 502 W. Union St. in Morganton. Donations will be accepted at the church from 3-6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 21, and noon to 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 22. Please no large/heavy furniture donations. MONDAY, JULY 10 Training The Guardian Ad Litem will hold pre-service training from 9 a.m. to noon in the main level conference room at 200 Avery Ave., Morganton. For more information, call Amy Kincaid, program supervisor in Burke County, at 828-433-3311 or visit www.volunteerforgal.org. WEDNESDAY, JULY 12 Community Forum Series Burke County will be welcoming Beth Macy, author of the book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America and Raising Lazarus, to kick off a series of community forums surrounding the issue of substance use disorder. The event will take place on Wednesday, July 12, at the CoMMA Performing Arts Center at 401 S. College St. The event is free, and registration is not required. Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the session will begin promptly at 6 p.m. Attendees can expect a casual and open atmosphere with a Q&A opportunity at the end. ASL interpreters will be present, and the session will be live-streamed and recorded. Macy will also have autographed copies of her book, Raising Lazarus available for purchase. MONDAY, JULY 17 ABC Board meeting The Valdese ABC Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Valdese ABC Store at 1018 W. Main St. in Valdese. Training The Guardian Ad Litem will hold pre-service training from 9 a.m. to noon in the main level conference room at 200 Avery Ave., Morganton. Contact Amy Kincaid, program supervisor in Burke County for more information, at 828-433-3311 for more information, or visit www.volunteerforgal.org. MONDAY, JULY 24 Training The Guardian Ad Litem will hold pre-service training from 9 a.m. to noon in the main level conference room at 200 Avery Ave., Morganton. Contact Amy Kincaid, program supervisor in Burke County for more information, at 828-433-3311 for more information, or visit www.volunteerforgal.org. MONDAY, JULY 31 Training The Guardian Ad Litem will hold pre-service training from 9 a.m. to noon in the main level conference room at 200 Avery Ave., Morganton. Contact Amy Kincaid, program supervisor in Burke County for more information, at 828-433-3311 for more information, or visit www.volunteerforgal.org. MONDAY, AUG. 7 Training The Guardian Ad Litem will hold pre-service training from 9 a.m. to noon in the main level conference room at 200 Avery Ave., Morganton. Contact Amy Kincaid, program supervisor in Burke County for more information, at 828-433-3311 for more information, or visit www.volunteerforgal.org. MONDAY, AUG. 14 Training The Guardian Ad Litem will hold pre-service training from 9 a.m. to noon in the main level conference room at 200 Avery Ave., Morganton. Contact Amy Kincaid, program supervisor in Burke County for more information, at 828-433-3311 for more information, or visit www.volunteerforgal.org. MONDAY, AUG. 21 ABC Board meeting The Valdese ABC Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Valdese ABC Store at 1018 W. Main St. in Valdese. MONDAY, SEPT. 18 ABC Board meeting The Valdese ABC Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Valdese ABC Store at 1018 W. Main St. in Valdese. MONDAY, OCT. 9 ABC Board meeting The Valdese ABC Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Valdese ABC Store at 1018 W. Main St. in Valdese. TUESDAY, NOV. 21 ABC Board meeting The Valdese ABC Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Valdese ABC Store at 1018 W. Main St. in Valdese. MONDAY, DEC. 18 ABC Board meeting The Valdese ABC Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Valdese ABC Store at 1018 W. Main St. in Valdese. One night in 2008, I was standing outside New Yorks Belasco Theatre when a black car drove up and a familiar figure got out. The occupant was Gerald Schoenfeld, then head of the Shubert Organization (now deceased). Later that night, I saw him standing at the back of the house surveying a very atypical Broadway audience for a show called Passing Strange, wherein a Black writer-musician with the stage name Stew walked out on stage and (in essence) told the story of his life. Stew was something of a hipster, a wandering spirit who left his home in Los Angeles for Amsterdam and Berlin. He had a decent following from his career as a solo musician and as founder of a band called The Negro Problem. The semi-autobiographical Passing Strange was a collaboration with Heidi Rodewald. It had done well at the Public Theater downtown, and its theme of a protagonist learning that true wisdom comes from family and knowing the inner self, as distinct from living large in European hot spots, was hardly unfamiliar. But this was still a radical move for Broadway in 2008, and not just because it told the intimate story of a Black artist. This was a concert-theater hybrid, experimenting with the eras limits of what could be called an American musical. And thats why Schoenfeld had come to a preview; he wanted to see what different looked like. Advertisement Viewed now, Passing Strange feels prescient. You can see it now at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre in Evanston. Back in 2011, working at the Bailiwick Theatre, the director Lili-Anne Brown and the performer Jayson JC Brooks persuaded me that the show could be done with someone other than Stew. Brooks was much the same type of artist and he fit easily into the narrator role and Brown created a chill production using, if memory serves, just a couple of benches. Since then, Ive listened often to a piece of which Ive become very fond. Michael Mejia, Caitlin Dobbins and (back) Jordan DeBose in "Passing Strange" at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre. (Jay Towns/HANDOUT) As directed by Tim Rhoze, Theo Ubiques production offers an immersive experience and an ideal space for this kind of show. There also is a lot of emerging talent in this non-Equity cast, which includes Jordan BeBose as the narrator, aka older Stew, Michael Jones as Stews younger self and Jenece Upton as his mom. Advertisement But I felt the piece fell into the trap of wanting to physicalize far more than the material really supports. and that created a level of complexity that tended to separate the performers from the audience and from the musical intimacy of the material. The other issue, which should get better as the run continues, is that while there is a lot of terrific bonhomie, especially from DeBose, an enjoyable personality, the level of emotional engagement is not yet fully there. I thought Jones, who does have vulnerability and present-tense involvement, came the closest on opening night, but the show still needs to figure out how to focus and find its core. When it figures that out, everyone will better be able to focus on discovering the heart of these beautiful songs of self-discovery and gradual understanding. Chris Jones is a Tribune critic. cjones5@chicagotribune.com Review: Passing Strange (2.5 stars) When: Through July 30 Where: Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, 721 Howard St., Evanston Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes Tickets: $45-$55 (plus $30 optional meal) at 773-939-4101 and theo-u.com A Morganton womans fourth book, Two Lights of Hope, will release on June 13. The book by Taryn R. Hutchison is historical fiction for ages 12 and older, a standalone sequel to One Degree of Freedom and the second book of a Cold War trilogy. The story is set in the little-known world of Romania during the 1980s Cold War era. The pages are filled with spies, family secrets, hidden rooms, fierce friendships and the search for faith in a world that denies God. Life in communist Romania in 1988 becomes increasingly dangerous for 16-year-old Adriana Nicu as she and her friend Gabi seek answers to a 40-year-old mystery. Their mission: find an old wardrobe intended to be a Jewish familys way of escape from the Nazis, and maybe just maybe find out what happened to the family after they disappeared. In her quest for the truth, Adriana must learn who to trust as she navigates her ever-changing world where ordinary citizens become spies and informants, either for the all-powerful Securitate or for the growing Resistance. Confronted with evil she can hardly imagine, Adriana loses hope until an old Jewish man and Adrianas banned books offer her a path through the dark. She learns that even the smallest glimmer of hope can break through the darkest night. Middle grade students and young adult readers will be drawn in and enlightened. The classic novels Adriana reads are listed in the front, serving as a guide for todays readers. Cheryl Grey Bostrom, bestselling author of the award-winning novel Sugar Birds, calls it Gripping. Relevant. Expertly crafted An exceptional, beautifully written sequel to One Degree of Freedom sure to land in hearts of all ages. Peggy Wirgau, author of The Stars in April and winner of SCWC Notable Book Award, writes You wont put this heartfelt story down until the last beautiful page! Hutchison, a resident of Morganton, always knew she wanted to be a writer, but she put that on hold to travel the world and pursue other things she loved. Shes the author of One Degree of Freedom, her debut novel; Sentenced to Life, a story about a prisoner unfairly condemned; and We Wait You, a memoir about her 10 years living in Eastern Europe. She will hold local book signings on Saturday, June 24 at 1 p.m. at Adventure Bound Books, 117 W. Union St., and on Thursday, June 29 at 7 p.m. at Gateway Bible Church, 222 Believers Way. Visit her website at tarynhutchison.com. The 27th annual Big Sky Draft Horse Expo runs Friday through Sunday at the fairgrounds in Deer Lodge. This largest and longest-running draft horse show in Montana offers three days of competition and family fun. Each performance features different classes and events for both the Classic Six and Open exhibitors. Performances are at 3 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m. Sunday. Friday and Saturday evenings, attendees can enjoy enjoy a BBQ dinner and music by Montana musicians Dan Henry on Friday and the band Whiskey Ditch on Saturday. Cowboy Church with Katy and Clay Law are scheduled to play Sunday at 10 a.m. The expo is part of the Classic Six Series, a U.S. and Canadian competition. This year, 11 Classic Six hitches from throughout the Northwest and Canada will demonstrate their driving skills of draft breeds Percherons, Belgians, Shires, Clydesdales and Suffolks in various classes including six-horse, four abreast, unicorn, carts and more. Open class teamsters, adult and youth, with their farm style horses Fjord, Haflinger, crossbred, light horse breeds and mules will compete in log skidding, precision obstacle course, antique vehicles, pleasure carts, feed team race and other working skills used during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Kids will have a chance to participate in a stick-horse race, boot race and pole bending. Throughout the weekend, vendors will offer food and beverages, draft horse equipment, leatherwork, art and more. During the Grand Entry on Saturday afternoon, Albert Newman of Ingomar (posthumous) and Larry Thomas of Bozeman will be inducted into the Montana Draft Teamster Hall of Fame. Sunday, the Big Sky Award and the Master Teamster Award will be presented. For more information and tickets, visit www.drafthorseexpo.com; call 406-490-1305 or email drafthorseexpo@gmail.com. Tickets can be purchased online or at the gate for one day, three-day adult or family pass (two adults and children under 17); children 10 and under get in free. Group rates are also available at the gate. Recently in this newspaper Mr. Mehrdad Kia (Montana Standard June 13), a history professor at UM, claims he is an equal observer of Democrats and Republicans on many foreign policy issues. But his hyper-attack on the Biden administration's foreign policy is so unbalanced he comes across more as a right-wing partisan hack than a measured historian. Mr. Kia slams President Biden for having undermined America's power and prestige worldwide. He cites Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Ukraine as examples of Biden's weakness. But far from being objective, he distorts, ignores or misconstrues reality. His first attack on Biden regarding Afghanistan is blatantly false: that Biden began the withdrawal of U.S. troops. It was actually President Trump who signed a deal with the Taliban only a few months before Biden took office and quickly reduced American troops from around 13,000 to only 2,500. A measured historian would have also reminded us that the presidents after George Bush were frustrated over the annual multi-billion dollar expense of propping up one of the world's most corrupt regimes. Sadly, the one they kept in power in Kabul. Biden no more lost Afghanistan than Gerald Ford lost Vietnam. Now Saudi Arabia. Mr. Kia blames Biden for undermining the "century-old alliance" with Saudi Arabia by threatening to make the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, a pariah over Jamal Khashoggi's death. Khashoggi, you may remember, was a journalist lured into a Saudi embassy in Turkey, then murdered, cut into pieces and whisked out in garbage bags. And just what's so special about this 100-year alliance anyway? Human rights? Women's equality? Democracy? Actually the civilized world rightly shuddered when it saw Biden, on his recent trip to Saudi Arabia, fist-bump the crown prince. Next is Iran. For Mr. Kia the Biden administration ignores the struggles of the Iranian people but has done nothing about it. Just how would right-wing Republicans react if Biden reduced sanctions to help ordinary Iranians? And just what have those Khomeini-types in power done for their citizens other than publicly hang dissenters? Under President Obama Iran signed a nonproliferation nuclear weapons agreement. Afterwards Iran was consistently deemed in compliance by European and American scientists. But Trump with Prime Minister Netanyahu's full blessings, unilaterally reneged on the agreement. Without an agreement Iran will continue developing nuclear weapons. Israel now faces a mortal threat. Thankfully negotiations between Iran and the United States have resumed under Biden's leadership. Mr. Kia's final charge and to me, the most insulting, is his take on Ukraine; that Biden sent the "wrong signal" to Putin. Wrong signal? Biden told a skeptical Ukraine that Russia was absolutely going to invade it. He stands firmly with NATO. With little to no support from the far-right including our own congressman, Matt Rosendale, Biden has led the way for America to send billions worth of weapons to Ukraine and provide untold amounts of high-value intelligence. And finally it was a weak and sleepy Joe Biden who traveled to Kiev becoming the first president since Abraham Lincoln to enter an active war zone. Some historian. In federal court in Helena, 16 Montana youth have answered the call to serve and are standing tall for themselves, their communities and Montanas future. Montanans have a long history of service including one of the highest per capita rates of military service during times of conflict and peace. Likewise, these young patriots are standing to defend their communities and the state from the threat of global warming thats already taken a toll on their lives their physical health, mental well-being, and the landscape and flora and fauna for which they express great connection and love. The youth are challenging state government to reduce the states reliance on fossil fuels a major contributor to global warming and to end preferential treatment for extraction, transportation and refining and combustion of fossil fuels in meeting state energy needs. In doing so, they call upon their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. The two-week trial began with youth plaintiffs testifying to personal impacts theyve noted over their lifetime and with nationally and internationally renowned Montana scientists testifying to data collected over decades (and in some cases centuries) showing how a documented rise in the temperature of the earths atmosphere is impacting Montana through changing annual and seasonal precipitation patterns, stream flows, unpredictable weather occurrences and resultant smoke. First-week expert witnesses included climate scientists Dr. Steve Running (UM emeritus who received a Nobel Prize with an international team of climate scientists), Dr. Cathy Whitlock (MSU), Dr. Jack Stanford (longtime director of UMs research station on Flathead Lake), Dr. Dan Fagre (glacial researcher in Glacier National Park), and Dr. Lori Byron (physician and respiratory specialist from Hardin). They presented evidence of the atmospheres rising temperature, the major cause of which points directly to greenhouse gases (combustion of fossil fuels), and the dramatic change global warming is having on Montanas water resources, seasons, flora and fauna, and the health of its youth. One outstanding takeaway from their testimony is the variable degree to which global warming impacts different regions. Its not equal everywhere. One plaintiff recalled, as a young child, raising funds for the Marshall Islands with a Marshallese friend. The Marshall Islands are now threatened by rising sea level and submergence. Likewise, Montana, a landlocked and high-elevation state dependent on winter mountain snowpack, is seeing greater impact than many other states or regions. A carbon-accounting expert from the Stockholm Environment Institute, Seattle-based Peter Erickson, provided data for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Montana, the nation, and the world, and concluded that CO2 emissions to the atmosphere contribute to global warming in a collective manner. One ton of CO2 released to the atmosphere in one place is equal to one ton of CO2 released in another. Yet, as Montana scientists testified, the heating impact of one ton of CO2 is not equal. Impact appears to be greater on Montana. On Friday, June 16, Stanford Universitys Dr. Mark Jacobson provided documentation for feasible Montana pathways to renewable non-global-warming energy sources and alternative technologies. He showed Montana and Montana citizens would realize great savings over time through transition away from dependence on fossil fuels. Dr. Jacobsons testimony pointed to roadblocks to transition pathways, corroborated by earlier testimony by expert Anne Hedges from the Montana Environmental Information Center regarding historical energy policy and permitting activities in Montana. That testimony showed threats to Montana from global warming were recognized by state government as early as the 1970s, and initial steps to study and adapt were undertaken. More recently, however, efforts to address global warming have been largely discarded by state government while roadblocks have been added or reinforced. In cross-examination, attorneys defending Montana state government in the lawsuit repeatedly shirked or attempted to shift state responsibility off to other states, agencies or nations, arguing Montanas CO2 contribution is small, thus no big deal. Yet expert testimony stated that all contributions are equal, and impacts on Montana may be greater. State attorneys also turned to the lack of EV charging stations in Jordan and along the Hi-Line. Their argument coincidentally highlights a failure on the part of state government to address or plan for the needs of these residents today and into the future. The greatest takeaway from this lawsuit so far is that Montana citizens and communities can be extremely proud of these young Montana plaintiffs for standing up and demanding removal of state roadblocks to clean energy that deny them their constitutional rights and threaten the future of all Montana citizens. In April, the Rotary Club of Muscatine in partnership with the Muscatine Community College (MCC) turned to area youth for help spread awareness about human trafficking. After numerous entries, the Rotary Club and MCC have announced the winners of the 2023 Human Trafficking Awareness poster contest. Taking first place was Ava Barrett, who attends Wilton High School while also being enrolled at MCC. This is the second time Ava has done a project based around the subject of human trafficking, the earlier one for a school project. She found out about the contest from her high school counselor. For Avas poster, one judge said, I like the concept of shining a light on trafficking with the design of the light in the background on the black paper. Trafficking often takes place in plain sight, but we do not see it. The visual impact and message is good. Second place went to Mia Gonzalez, who attends Columbus Junction High School and who was told about the contest by her art teacher, Jesse Gomez. Given that her poster was hand-drawn, using both colored pencils and paint, the judges encouraged her to continue developing her skills as an artist. The original artwork featured on this poster attracts the eye and gives it some visual impact that should appeal to young adults," one judge commented. "The originality of the artwork is a plus and shows some additional time commitment beyond laying out a poster design. Finally, Zoe Barrett won third place in the contest. She attends MCC and has plans to transfer to a different college in order to complete a degree in cyber-security. The handprint and red/black/white/gray composition are striking, one judge commented. The use of columns separating English text from Spanish text make it easy follow. The wave graphic design separating the black top from the white bottom with a gray bar is visually appealing and gives the poster some artistic composition. The bullets of what to look for are helpful and give the reader some knowledge to take away rather than depending upon looking up details online. The red phone icon effectively draws attention to the phone number. Before the contest it had been decided that it would be open for residents aged 16-22 because this age group had been deemed a top priority. According to Carolyn Levine, a member of the Muscatine Rotary Club and a representative of the states Rotary Against Slavery Action Group (RAGAS), this realization came during a presentation that was given to her and others from a human-trafficking victim. What was most compelling about her presentation was hearing her say she would not have known that the words human trafficking described what she was going through as a teen. And she was clearly being trafficked, Levine explained in a public statement. We took this message to heart and focused our efforts on having teens develop a poster that we could use in our community that addressed our teen population. In addition to the poster needing to be visually eye-catching with accurate information, the contest also required participants to convey their poster in two languages, which could be chosen by the participant. All participants chose Spanish as their second language. All three poster designs are expected to be used by the Muscatine Rotary Club in its efforts to spread proper information and awareness on human trafficking. The posters can also be seen on the Rotary Muscatine Facebook page. For more information on the human trafficking public awareness campaign, visit dhs.gov/blue-campaign. President Joe Biden has convened a group of technology leaders in San Francisco to debate the risks and promises of artificial intelligence. The Biden administration is seeking to figure out how to regulate the emergent field of AI, looking for ways to nurture its potential for economic growth and national security and protect against its potential dangers. Biden says, Well see more technological change in the next 10 years that we saw in the last 50 years, adding that AI is already driving that change. His meeting Tuesday included eight technology experts from academia and advocacy groups. This combination of photos shows California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaking in Sacramento, Calif., on June 24, 2022, left, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023, right. (Uncredited/AP) SACRAMENTO, Calif. California Gov. Gavin Newsom says theres no chance on Gods green earth hes running for president in 2024, but he wants to make clear that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running, is weak and undisciplined and will be crushed by Donald Trump. DeSantis, meanwhile, likes to mock Newsoms apparent fixation on Florida while insisting that the Democratic governors leftist government is destroying California. Advertisement Welcome to one of the fiercest rivalries in U.S. politics, featuring dueling term-limited governors who represent opposite ends of the ideological spectrum and lead two of the nations largest and most influential states. Newsom and DeSantis will not face each other on any ballot in 2024, but in many ways, they are defining the debate from their corners of America as the presidential primary season gets underway. Newsom addressed his contempt for DeSantis and his loyalty to President Joe Biden in a recent interview just as the Florida governor launched a two-day fundraising trek spanning at least five stops across California. The Golden State has become one of DeSantis favorite punching bags as he tries to avoid a direct confrontation with his chief Republican presidential rival, Trump, and the former presidents escalating legal challenges. Advertisement Hes taking his eye off the ball, Newsom said of DeSantis escalating attacks against him. And thats not inconsistent with my own assessment of him, which is he is a weak candidate, and he is undisciplined and will be crushed by Donald Trump, and will soon be in third or fourth in national polls. Representatives for DeSantis did not make the governor available for an interview. Beneath the war of words, however, strategists in both parties suggest there may be a mutually beneficial dynamic at play. As they jab at each others policies and personalities through comments in the press and on social media, the governors are scoring points with their respective political bases, raising money and expanding their national brands. Both men issued fundraising appeals Monday going after the other by name. But its not all helpful. Newsom, in particular, is facing nagging questions about his presidential ambitions less than a week after DeSantis dared him to stop pussyfooting around and launch a primary challenge against Biden. The California governor, whose second and final term concludes at the end of 2026, has seen his national profile grow since he easily beat back a recall attempt in 2021 and cruised to reelection last fall. He finished the midterm campaign with roughly $16 million in the bank. And in March, he channeled $10 million to a new political action committee hes calling the Campaign for Democracy. All the while, Newsoms team has been moving deliberately to avoid the perception that hes running a shadow presidential campaign just as Biden ramps up his political activities. For example, Newsoms new PAC is initially focusing on challenging Republican leaders in deep-red states that are largely irrelevant in the 2024 presidential race. He campaigned in Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi in April on his first trip associated with the PAC. Advertisement Newsom is expected to avoid battleground states or key presidential primary states for the foreseeable future, his allies say. At the same time, the California governor and his team have been in regular contact with Biden and his top aides, including Jen OMalley Dillon, who managed the presidents 2020 campaign and serves as deputy White House chief of staff. A Biden campaign official said the presidents team coordinates closely with Newsom. Newsom is not going to run against Joe Biden and never would. But life is long, and Newsom is one of the prominent national Democrats. Its part of that role to have these big national battles, longtime Newsom adviser and friend Nathan Ballard said of the feud with DeSantis. There is the 2024 election, and then there is a 2028 election, Ballard added. Indeed, veteran Democratic consultant Roy Behr, whose clients included former California Sen. Barbara Boxer, said the two governors are engaged in what could become an early preview of the 2028 presidential contest. Its not inconceivable that four years from now, these two guys could be their respective parties nominees, he said. In tangling with DeSantis, who is 44, the 55-year-old Newsom is building his national brand and visibility and is certainly trying to create opportunities for himself. Advertisement Sacramento-based Democratic consultant Andrew Acosta said he expected the ongoing rivalry to continue given that its beneficial for both politicians with their core supporters. He described Newsom and DeSantis as frenemies. They both get points off it, Acosta said. There is a hard core of voters on both sides who think this is great. While polling shows that many Democrats dont want the 80-year-old Biden to seek a second term, Newsom said there are no circumstances in which he would challenge the sitting president of his own party. Not on Gods green earth, as the phrase goes, Newsom said in the weekend interview, adding that he would be with Biden on Monday and hosting a fundraiser for him Tuesday. I have been pretty consistently including recently on Fox News making the case for his candidacy. DeSantis did not plan to make any public appearances during his California fundraising tour, which included stops in Sacramento and the Bay Area on Monday and continues Tuesday with events planned for San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles. Over the weekend in Nevada, DeSantis noted that hes seen a surge of disgruntled Californians moving to Florida. Advertisement Why would you leave like a San Diego to come to say, Jacksonville, Florida? I see people doing that, DeSantis told thousands of conservative activists at a weekend gathering close to the California border. Its because leftist government is destroying that state. Leftist government is destroying cities all over our country. Its destroying other states. Former Nevada attorney general Adam Laxalt, who hosted the weekend event and leads the pro-DeSantis super PAC, said the policy contrast between the leaders of Florida and California is a debate that our whole country needs to have. California has been the model for many leftist policies. I would take the contrast between Floridas policies and its results led by Gov. DeSantis and the California policies, any day of the week, Laxalt said in an interview. We can already see what leftist policies do. Both DeSantis and Newsom took office in 2019 and won reelection for their second and final terms in 2022. While in office, both have been buoyed by multiple billion-dollar budget surpluses and the help of statehouses controlled by their own party that supercharged their agendas. In California, Newsom expanded the states Medicaid program to cover all eligible adults, regardless of their immigration status. He signed a raft of legislation to make it easier to get an abortion, including authorizing $20 million in state spending to help people from other states travel to California. When the U.S. Supreme Court declined to strike down an abortion law in Texas that was enforced by private lawsuits, Newsom signed a similar law in California only he made it about guns. And earlier this month, he proposed amending the U.S. Constitution to institute what he called a reasonable waiting period for all gun purchases, a ban on so-called assault rifles, universal background checks and raising the minimum age to buy a firearm to 21. Advertisement I think Gavin Newsom is a very useful foil for Ron DeSantis, quite frankly, said Lanhee Chen, a California Republican who attended one of DeSantis five California fundraisers this week. The more kinds of crazy things that Newsom does at least, crazy in the in the eyes of Republican voters the more I think Ron DeSantis frankly benefits as somebody who seen as a counterweight to that. In Florida, DeSantis has leaned into cultural conservative issues in what he calls his war on woke. Earlier this month, his administration flew groups of migrants from Texas to Sacramento to draw attention to the influx of Latin American immigrants trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. He did the same last fall, sending dozens of immigrants from Texas to Marthas Vineyard, which he often highlights during his stump speeches. DeSantis also signed and then expanded the Parental Rights in Education bill known by critics as the Dont Say Gay law, which bans instruction or classroom discussion of LGBTQ+ issues in Florida public schools for all grades. He seized control of Disney Worlds governing body after the company publicly opposed the law. The Florida governor this year also signed a law banning abortions at six weeks, which is before most women realize theyre pregnant. And he took control of a liberal arts college that he believed was indoctrinating students with leftist ideology. While DeSantis does not have the legal entanglements that Trump faces, Newsom said Democrats may be wrong to assume the former president would be an easier candidate to defeat in the 2024 general election. Advertisement I see deep weakness I refer to it often weakness with DeSantis masquerading as strength, Newsom said. I think hed be a more favored candidate. But Ill leave that judgment to more objective minds. Associated Press writers Adam Beam in Sacramento and Michelle Price in New York contributed. The Communication Authority of Kenya (CA)has admitted that it cannot remove social media content created by the controversial preacher, Paul Mackenzie. During his appearance before the Senate Adhoc Committee investigating the Shakahola deaths on Monday, CA Director General Ezra Chiloba acknowledged that the Authority encountered several limitations in addressing Paul Mackenzies social media content. Chiloba said the Authority lacks the authorization to pull down the content. The CA Director told the Committee that the Authority is bound by legal requirements, which stipulate that they must obtain permission from the relevant social media platforms before taking any action to remove the content produced by Mackenzie. What we are doing is putting up content together so that we can build up a case with international social media companies so that they can be able to pull down the content related with Pastor Makenzi and any other misleading religious content in the country, explained Chiloba. During his opening remarks, Chiloba informed the committee that Paul Mackenzies teachings had ceased airing on Times TV in 2020. We do not have the capacity to monitor 140 TV stations we dont have information on Mackenzies teachings between 2015-2020. We analyse filed data Post-facto when there are complaints raised, Chiloba said. Mackenzies teachings were not aired on Times TV when we started our investigations. We believe he stopped airing his teachings on TV way back in 2020, he said. Chiloba however mentioned that the television station continued to broadcast the content of Pastor Ezekiel Odero, who has also faced accusations of radicalizing his followers. The CA boss said Pastor Ezekiel Odero aired illegal content on Times TV. Chiloba informed the senators that Pastor Odero, who leads the Newlife Prayer Center and Church, aired programs that involved exorcism during the watershed period. Given the fact that Times TV aired content that demonstrated exorcisms when children are likely to be watching (watershed period), we concluded that there was a violation of guidelines on good taste and decency, he said. Chiloba said the Communication Authority (CA) issued a notice of violations to Times TV on April 27, 2023, for broadcasting inappropriate content during the watershed period (05:00 am 10:00 pm) and other breaches of their license conditions. He said this was the second notice of violation issued to the station, with the first one being issued on September 20, 2020. Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has set the ball rolling on his ambitious school feeding program that is set to benefit 250,000 children in the county. On Monday at Njiru Primary School in Embakasi East Constituency, Governor Sakaja presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for 10 kitchens for the Sh1.2 billion food subsidy program dubbed, Dishi na County. By end of day tomorrow we shall have started work to construct 10 Central Kitchens in Dagoretti North, Embakasi Central, Embakasi South, Kasarani, Kibra, Makadara, Starehe, Roysamu, Ruaraka, and Westlands Sub-counties, he said. Sakaja said the meals would be prepared at centralized kitchens and then transported to the neighboring schools in specially sealed containers and vehicles. Nutritious meals will be cooked in these central kitchens and the meals transported in special sealed containers and special vehicles to keep the meals safe from contamination, and keep them warm, to surrounding schools. Each kitchen is expected to produce about 10,000 nutritional meals daily, with each child getting 650 grams and a fruit daily, the Governor said. Also Check Out PHOTOS of Africas largest kitchen as Sakajas school-feeding program takes shape Sakaja said parents will be required to contribute a daily fee of Sh5 for each student, while his administration will cover the remaining costs associated with the program. The construction of the kitchens is estimated to be completed within 10 weeks. The program aims to commence serving meals from the first day of the third term of the current school year. We call on other partners private sector, individuals, and foundations among others to come on board to support this program in ensuring our children have a hot meal daily, Sakaja added. Kenyas exports to Europe are set to expand following the signing of the European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs). The deal sets the pace for trade liberation, offering tariff-free quota-free access of Kenyan exports to the European Union. It assures us of an expanded, lucrative and sustainable market, enhancing trade and investment opportunities, said President William Ruto. He noted that increased trade with the EU with a population of about 500 million people will create jobs, expand earnings and stimulate sustainable economic growth. The President spoke on Monday at State House, Nairobi, during the Kenya-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) signing ceremony. This is a giant step forward. It sets the stage for the initiation of the EAC partner states into the Agreement. In attendance were Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, the European Commission Executive Vice-President and European Union Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and Trade CS Moses Kuria. EU Chief Negotiator Dora Correia and her Kenyan counterpart who is also the Trade Principal Secretary Alfred KOmbudo were also present. The development follows President Rutos meeting in Brussels in March where the Chief Negotiators were tasked to expedite the outstanding aspects of EPAs with the view of reaching a conclusion by June. Beyond trade, President Ruto said the Agreement is designed to stimulate investment and manufacturing. Kenya is finally ready to take its place as a global player in export-led manufacturing and services, explained President Ruto. He encouraged European firms that import goods from Kenya to invest in value addition and export finished, value added products out of the country. The negotiated agreement also anchors Kenya as the natural Hub for European companies seeking markets in the EAC, COMESA, SADC and the African Continental Free Trade Area. By locating your investment in Kenya, you will gain market access to the rest of the African continent. Mr Dombrovskis observed that there is a huge trade potential in Kenya. This Agreement is a strong incentive for increased trade and foreign direct incentives. It will support sustainable economic growth, argued Mr Dombrovskis. He said the EU remains steadfast in promoting regional integration. We will ensure that we break economic and political barriers to integrate the world more. Mr Gachagua said the pact validates the Governments commitment to transforming Kenya through trade and investment. The agreement opens doors for other trade and investment deals to be signed, added Mr Kuria. By PCS Dennis and Aubrey McIninch were unsung service workers in the Napa Valley tourism industry until COVID came along and triggered a dramatic life change. Three years later, they have opened a Yountville retail outlet, Madeleines Macarons, selling uniquely flavored French cookies so beautiful and delicate that they resemble gifts from the culinary gods. Dennis professes astonishment at their change in life direction from working in restaurants to selling their own gourmet baked goods on Washington Street, the Rodeo Drive of wine country. The speed of that transition was just ridiculous, he says with a laugh. Dennis had waited tables for a quarter century in some of the best restaurants, while Aubrey worked as a hostess, barista and bakery manager at places up and down the valley. Download Napa Valley Register news app today! Your story lives in the Napa Valley. Get in-depth stories from the Napa region and beyond including news, sports, features and politics. When COVID struck in early 2020, both were sent home from their jobs. To pass time during the shutdown, Dennis labored to bake perfect macarons for his wife. Although Aubrey and Dennis are not French indeed, neither has ever visited France those quintessentially French cookies spoke to them, first in the language of love, then as a possible business proposition. By watching YouTube videos and reading books, Dennis macarons got better and better. In the summer of 2020, he went back to waiting at Bistro Jeanty, but began selling macarons on the side to the Oakville Grocery. At a certain point I realized this was a way out, Dennis said. If he and Aubrey had their own business, they could give up working evenings and weekends and be home more with their young daughter Madeleine (Maddie), whose picture now adorns their packaging. They quit their jobs and began selling these dainty French sandwich cookies to select local stores, at the Friday farmers market in St. Helena and the Saturday farmers market in Napa, nationally through their website, and to hotels as part of guest turn-down service. The logical next step, a retail store, opened this year on Valentines Day. Madeleines Macarons is on the north side of town, snuggled into a cute space formerly occupied by Southside Cafe in the Stewart Cellars complex. Restoration Hardware is across the street. The bakery distinguishes itself from traditional bakers of macarons by offering more than 30 highly creative buttercream flavors such as raspberry coconut, Mexican hot chocolate, watermelon-tajin, blood orange mimosa and lemon drop. More than two dozen varieties are always available, including seasonal favorites in autumn, buttered rum and pumpkin spice. The bakery sells several savory macarons, including thyme with feta and beet with goat cheese, which are popular with wineries as tasting room fare, the McIniches said. Because macarons only contain egg whites, the couple hit upon making frozen custards to make use of all those yolks. Macarons are labor intensive, said Dennis, which is reflected in the price $3 apiece. A lavender box of 12 sells for $34. There is a mystique about macarons that few cookies can match, said Aubrey. They have to be done perfectly. Theres an eggshell crunch on the outside and a chewy center. For bargain hunters, Madeleines Macarons sells Maddies Misses in a bag at farmers markets. These less-than-perfectly-formed cookies are $16.50 for 12. The Yountville site sells a full spectrum of coffee drinks with beans from Linea Caffe of San Francisco. The word is out, Aubrey said. We have the best coffee in town. Aubrey said shes happy with the way the retail site, with its airy, friendly vibe and seating inside and out, turned out. We decided if were going to do it, do it perfectly, she said. Their family-owned enterprise now has 14 employees, and rents a baking facility near the Napa County Airport. Dennis oversees production, while Aubrey handles the retail operation, bookkeeping and promotion. Business has tripled every year since 2020, Aubrey said, and sales at the Yountville store are growing, with each weeks revenue exceeding the previous week. The size of the McIninch family has also grown. Maddie will be 6 in July. Her sister Ruby will turn 2 the same month. The preferred pronunciation for macaron is mack-a-ron, but if a customer says mack-a-roon no ones about to offer a correction, Aubrey said. Madeleines Macarons is located at 6752 Washington St., Yountville. Open daily. Info: madeleinesmacarons.com. Photos: Take a look inside Madeleines Macarons, now open in Yountville Thirteen new high school graduates and aspiring winemakers will split more than $100,000 as the latest honorees in a scholarship program designed to launch careers in the wine industry or agriculture. Download Napa Valley Register news app today! Your story lives in the Napa Valley. Get in-depth stories from the Napa region and beyond including news, sports, features and politics. The Napa County Farm Bureau and Napa Valley Community Foundation last week announced this years winners of their viticulture, enology and agriculture scholarships. Seven students are sharing some $54,000 from the farm bureau, while the NVCF is awarding a total of $50,000 to six winners in the debut of its own scholarship campaign. Students receiving funding from the farm bureau will be supported through the Jack L. Davies Ag Fund, the California Association of Pest Control Advisors and the farm bureau itself. The requirement for awardees to pursue some form of agriculture is intentionally open-ended to allow students to pursue their passions in whatever direction they go, so long as those studies are loosely tied to farming or development of the land, according to Ryan Klobas, chief executive of the farm bureau. Some of them might pursue enology, some may want to study different forms of agriculture, (and) some have even had career paths in wanting to be game wardens, he said. Its varied. Some have wanted to open their own winery, their own vineyard; some want to have their own cattle ranch. Klobas readily agreed that most high school seniors are still figuring things out, and that farm bureau scholarships support that flexibility. Scholarship winners also are not required to stay in Napa County, and Klobas said that helping students to pursue a career in agriculture, whether it's in Napa or around the country, just benefits agriculture in general. But returning to the community that led them to fall in love with agriculture in the first place is enticing for many scholarship recipients, according to Klobas. We do have a number of students every year that tell us they want to come back and support Napa agriculture, he said in a telephone interview. This years farm bureau awardees, announced June 14, are Eleanor Turjanis (Napa High School), Dominique Noel Loeffelholz (Vintage High School), Camille Thomason (Justin-Siena High School), Sofia Cupp (St. Helena High School), Arleth Bautista Bernal (St. Helena), Leonardo Rodriguez Guzman (St. Helena) and Mabel Wilms (St. Helena). Meanwhile, the Napa Valley Community Foundation on Thursday announced its first winners of the Robert Alexander Scott Scholarship, named for a member of Scott Laboratories. NVCFs program supports six people enrolling in winemaking, viticulture and enology programs at Napa Valley College, Santa Rosa Junior College, or Walla Walla Community College in Washington state. Recipients also may attend three other colleges Allan Hancock, Cuesta, or Umpqua Community in Oregon if they meet their entry requirements, according to the community foundations website. Those schools were identified by the donors as having the best programs to help their target population: adults who are working in the lower-paying wine industry jobs who could use a boost to be upwardly mobile in their careers, Julia DeNatale, the foundation's vice president of community impact, said in an email Tuesday. By ensuring that we are targeting (for scholarships) those with a strong desire and drive, but a lack of opportunities, the goal is to promote a more diverse group of workers than often happens without scholarships. Those eligible to apply for the scholarship include current vineyard or winery employees with entry-level positions or positions where the employee does not supervise other employees, spouses, partners or children, according to the NVCF. In a statement, Clair Stover, one of the NVCFs scholarship winners, expressed her thanks to the foundation for enabling her to start her studies. I truly love the delicate balance between science, art, and agriculture that winemaking embodies the physical and mental challenges as well as the opportunity for creativity, said Stover, who worked in the wine industry for several years before deciding to further her education. Another awardee, Juana B. Cruz, described her goal of becoming a vineyard manager thanks partly to an associates degree she is pursuing at Santa Rosa Junior College with help from an NVCF scholarship. Cruz, in the foundations news release, added that there are not a lot of women in viticulture and she strives to shift the paradigm. I hope I can take part in inspiring the younger generation of women to join viticulture in the future, she said. The unemployment rate in the Napa County was 3.1% in May, down from a revised 3.2% in April but above the year-ago estimate of 2.6%, the California Employment Development Department reported. Download Napa Valley Register news app today! Your story lives in the Napa Valley. Get in-depth stories from the Napa region and beyond including news, sports, features and politics. That compares with an unadjusted unemployment rate of 4.5% for California and 3.4% for the nation during the same period. Year-over-year, Napa County industries with increased hiring included construction, private service, transportation, warehousing and utilities, and leisure and hospitality. However, retail trade, farm and government jobs declined. Year-over-year, Napa Countys labor force grew slightly, from 71,800 to 72,000 workers. An estimated 1,900 local workers were unemployed one year ago. That number now totals 2,300. Napa County had the fifth lowest jobless rate in the state in May. Sonoma County was ranked eighth. To compare, Solano County ranked 22nd and Lake County 35th out of 58 counties. San Mateo County had the lowest unemployment rate in the state, just 2.7%. From Our Readers: Celebrating the Napa County graduates of 2023 Shayleyv Zaccone Kaitlyn Surratt Shannon Hattyar Esmeralda Duran Angel Brianna Vega Ramirez Blas Antonio Montanez Kailey Wilkens Victoria Hickman Trey Williams Judge William H. Hooks listens to closing arguments in a case at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago on April 5, 2018. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune) A Cook County judge is accused in a recently-filed motion of making racist comments to a defendant and his attorney during a conference in chambers earlier this year. Attorney Matthew Fakhoury on Friday filed a motion to substitute Judge William Hooks from presiding over the case of a defendant charged with aggravated domestic battery. The motion alleges that Hooks, who took the bench in 2008, made racist remarks about Middle Eastern men along with other derogatory comments in January. Advertisement A spokesperson for Chief Judge Tim Evans was asked by the Tribune for comment on behalf of Hooks and the chief judge declined, saying Illinois Supreme Court rules prohibit judges from commenting on pending cases. The defendant, Ryan Thomas, was indicted last June on four battery-related felony charges, and the case was assigned to Hooks courtroom, court records show. Advertisement Fakhoury appeared on behalf of Thomas for each subsequent court hearing, so Hooks was familiar with his name and appearance, the motion says. On Jan. 17, Thomas and Fakhoury participated in a conference in Hooks chambers, along with Fakhourys co-counsel and a law clerk as well as the assistant states attorney. During this conference, the motion alleges, Hooks made several inappropriate and derogatory comments directed at Fakhoury and Thomas. Hooks expressed disdain for defendants charged in domestic violence cases and suggested that all such defendants are controlling and abusive, according to the motion. Particularly, Judge Hooks showed his racism by saying that Middle Eastern men are also controlling and abusive, the motion alleges. Hooks referenced his service as a Marine, and said, according to the motion: I would shoot and kill men like that from Middle Eastern countries. He made those comments while making eye contact with Fakhoury, who is Arab American, the motion says. I was shocked and then I was extremely angry and then saddened, Fakhoury told the Tribune. Ive never in 20 years filed a motion like this. Hooks also throughout the conference compared his life as a Black man to that of Thomas, who is also Black, as well as their respective neighborhoods. Advertisement Afternoon Briefing Weekdays 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 > Judge Hooks described his neighborhood as being rougher and grittier, and that if Mr. Thomas were ever to find himself in Judge Hooks neighborhood, he would get jumped, the motion alleges. Hooks repeatedly referred to Thomas as a punk and told him that by his age, he had served in the military, became a licensed attorney and was working at a law firm, according to the motion. He also commented, Lets see what the boys in County do to him, the motion said, implying violence in the Cook County Jail. Theres no place for brazen discriminatory comments like this in our judicial system, Fakhoury said. The matter is scheduled for a hearing Thursday. The instance is not the first time Hooks has found himself in hot water. In 2018, Hooks was temporarily reassigned to administrative duties and referred to anger management counseling. At the time Chief Judge Tim Evans said Hooks was acting in such a manner that created a hostile work environment for another judge. It did not happen in a courtroom, the chief judge said in a release. Advertisement mabuckley@chicagotribune.com Why did I sign the statement of November 9? The process of Shushi's fall played a turning role here. What is important here is not the symbolic value of Shushi's fall, but the strategic value. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of the Republic of Armenia (RA) stated this at Mondays meeting of the National Assembly Inquiry Committee for Studying the Circumstances of the Hostilities Unleashed on September 27, 2020. In his remarks, Pashinyan specifically noted as follows: After the loss of Shushi [town], [Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) capital] Stepanakert would be under attack [by Azerbaijanis], pressure on Martuni [town] would inevitably increase, and most importantly, around 25,000 of our soldiers would be in danger of being encircled. The [trilateral] statement of November 9[, 2020] was already our fifth attempt to stop the war. The first such conversation took place on October 7, when I had called RF [(Russian Federation)] President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his birthday. He considered it important that I declare in one of the interviews that Armenia is ready to make compromises and, using this opportunity, he wants to make mediation efforts to achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible. I said that I agree, while inquiring about the terms of the ceasefire. Our understanding was that the fire should cease without preconditions, the parties should remain in their current positions, after which consultations should begin on what compromises the parties are ready for. I said that this option is acceptable for us. My second telephone conversation with the RF president that took place in the evening of the same day. And he said that he spoke with the president of Azerbaijan [Ilham Aliyev], but the latter said that he is not ready to go to ceasefire; that is, he does not agree to establish a ceasefire. Nevertheless, V. Putin said that he agreed to speak with Ilham Aliyev again the next day. The next day, the RF president informed me that Azerbaijan has a precondition for a ceasefire: it expects Fizuli [town] to be surrendered to them without a battle and that the Armenian forces retreat along the Araks [River] to the Khodaferin Reservoir, so that the reservoir be under Azerbaijan's control and they can take water from there for irrigation purposes. In addition, the leadership of Azerbaijan expects to get back [Azerbaijanis] Guliyev and Askerov, who are serving their sentence for murder and kidnapping in Artsakh, considering it possible to return the [Armenian] captives in its turn. Moreover, in the face of all this, an end to the military operations is not announced, but just a humanitarian ceasefire to organize the funeral of the dead. After that, there should be no condition or obligation not to continue the military operations. I said that preconditions are not acceptable, because we had agreed with the RF president that the ceasefire should be established without preconditions. And then even if I agree to the withdrawal of troops, there is no guarantee that Azerbaijan will not continue the attack in case of withdrawal. However, I showed some flexibility by noting that joint use of the Khodaferin Reservoir water is possible. That is, I believe that the NK [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] may not prevent Azerbaijanis from taking water from the reservoir, the condition of Askerov and Guliyev's return can be discussed if Azerbaijan says how many Armenian captives it is going to return with the RF mediation, the condition of surrendering Fizuli without a battle and retreating along the Araks [River] shore is not acceptable, the proposal for a humanitarian ceasefire to bury the dead bodies is fully acceptable. During our next conversation, which took place again on October 8, the RF President reported that Azerbaijan agrees to establish a ceasefire on the night of October 9-10. In order to discuss this, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia are invited to Moscow on October 9 to start consultations with the mediation of the RF. Also, the captives and the remains of the dead would be exchanged. I agreed to this proposal. After our conversation, the following statement was published on the RF President's website. "After several phone conversations with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the RF President appeals to stop the ongoing military operations in the NK conflict zone for humanitarian reasons. The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia are invited to Moscow on October 9 to hold consultations on this issue through the mediation of the RF MFA. On October 9, the tripartite meeting of the Foreign Ministers began, which ended on the night of the 10th with the following statement by the foreign ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia. "In response to the message of RF President Vladimir Putin and the respective agreements of the RF President, the RA Prime Minister, and the President of Azerbaijan, the parties agreed on the issues presented below. From 12:00 on October 10, 2020, a ceasefire is announced for humanitarian reasons, for the exchange of prisoners of war and other detained persons, the bodies of the dead, at the mediation of the ICRC and according to the latter's standards. Exact ceasefire parameters will be agreed upon in addition. Armenia and Azerbaijan will proceed with the mediation of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on the basis of the fundamental principles of the settlement in order to reach a peaceful settlement of subject negotiations as soon as possible. The parties reaffirm the unchanged format of the negotiation process." This statement was acceptable to us and naturally, after the statement was accepted, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff had to maintain the ceasefire regime. But after minor pauses, Azerbaijan not only was not maintaining that regime, but also further intensified its offensive operations, launching an attack on the territory of the now former NKAO [(Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast )], launching rocket attacks on Stepanakert, Martakert, attacking in the direction of Hadrut. Of course, the troops were instructed to do everything possible to stop Azerbaijan's attack. But at the same time, diplomatic efforts were being made to establish and maintain a ceasefire in accordance with the Moscow document. As such, the deployment of Russian military observers on both sides of the border line was considered, who will monitor the situation and record violations of the ceasefire regime. Azerbaijan constantly avoided such a solution and further intensified military operations. In the following days, I had several telephone conversations with the RF President, the main topic of which was the following: how to achieve the establishment and maintenance of the ceasefire regime? What is needed to achieve it? I have expressed my willingness to make the necessary efforts for this. During our internal discussions, my conclusion was as follows: it will not agree to a ceasefire until the advance of Azerbaijani troops is stopped. This was, in fact, the balanced scenario for stopping the military operations. And I understood that if such a scenario could not be applied, and the situation at the theater stage of war did not inspire optimism in this regard, then the only possible option remains the compromise option of stopping the military operations. Other options did not seem realistic, because days passed after Moscow's rather balanced announcement of a ceasefire, but it was not possible to establish a ceasefire. It was for the first time on October 13 that I asked the RF president to answer the following direct and unambiguous question: what should I do to establish a ceasefire and stop the war? I had a detailed discussion with Putin on the same issue on October 16, and the RF president expressed his opinion that it is possible to talk about stopping the war in exchange for the return of five regions; of course, without any clarification of the status of NK. On that day, we agreed with the RF president to assign the teams to work on the crystallization of this idea. On October 17, French President Emmanuel Macron made an initiative, who informed me that the President of Azerbaijan agrees to establish a ceasefire without preconditions from the midnight of October 18. Naturally, I agreed to it, after which, within a few hours, the following statement was agreed between France, Armenia and Azerbaijan, which was published late in the evening of October 17. "Armenia and Azerbaijan have decided to establish a humanitarian ceasefire on October 18 at 00:00 local time. This decision was made in continuation of the statement made on October 1 by the presidents of France, Russia and the US representing the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, the statement made by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on October 5, and in accordance with the joint statement adopted in Moscow on October 10." Regarding this statement, even before its publication, we had consultations with our dead Russian colleagues, who welcomed the statement. Contrary to the statement, however, a ceasefire was not even established on October 18, although we made all possible diplomatic efforts throughout the day to stop the war. After this statement, there was no pause at all. Along with the failure of establishing the ceasefire, I returned to the conversation I had with the RF president on October 16. In the afternoon of October 19, I had a phone conversation with Putin, where he reaffirmed that it is still possible to try to stop the war under the conditions of the Russian plan developed years ago. And the condition is as follows: the seven regions are returned [to Azerbaijan] in the 5+2 format, the issue of the connection between Armenia and the NK through the Lachin corridor is resolved, Russian peacekeepers are stationed in Karabakh, the status of Karabakh remains undefined and the issue remains uncertain for the future. We agreed with the RF president that I will express our position by the evening. In the afternoon, I first invited the representatives of the extra-parliamentary forces, later I called a meeting of the Security Council, with the participation of the RA president, the Catholicos of All Armenians and the parliamentary forces, where I said that I was going to call the RF president and say that I accept the proposed version. Moreover, as I had said, I did not expect that any of the invitees would share the accountability for that decision with me. I was just keeping them informed about the processes taking place. I said at the meeting with the extra-parliamentary forces that by informing them, I am also informing the public. Representatives of 25-30 political forces were participating. I called in the evening and told the RF president that I am ready to stop the war under such conditions. The RF President said that he will talk to the President of Azerbaijan and will call me. At that moment, two of the five regions, Fizuli and Jebrail, were practically completely or largely under the control of Azerbaijan. The RF president called the next day, on the morning of October 20, and conveyed the following: Azerbaijan is ready to stop the war, but expects to receive all seven regions in return," he said. However, attempts to stop the war continued; and on October 23, the American initiative to reach a new ceasefire agreement emerged. The statement was agreed only on October 25. It was about establishing a ceasefire from 08.00 in the morning on October 26. The text of the statement was as follows: "On October 24, [then] Armenian Foreign Minister Mnatsakanyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Bayramov met with US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun and reaffirmed their countries' commitment to implementing and maintaining the humanitarian ceasefire agreements reached in Moscow on October 10 and reaffirmed on October 17 by the statement made in Paris, in line with the statement made by US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 1. The humanitarian ceasefire will come into force on October 26 at 08:00 local time. The US promoted intensive negotiations between the foreign ministers and the co-chairs of the Minsk Group in order to bring Armenia and Azerbaijan closer to the peaceful settlement of the NK conflict." This ceasefire agreement was also not observed by Azerbaijan. Usually, after the announcement of a ceasefire, the intensity of combat operations decreased for a short time, sometimes there were short pauses, but after a few hours, Azerbaijan was resuming the attack in full scale. It was on October 20 that the most discussed and criticized episode after November 9, 2020 appeared, that as if there was an opportunity to stop the war under the conditions of Shushi [city] remaining under Armenian control, but I missed it. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of the Republic of Armenia (RA) stated this at Mondays meeting of the National Assembly (NA) Inquiry Committee for Studying the Circumstances of the Hostilities Unleashed on September 27, 2020. In his remarks, Pashinyan specifically noted as follows: Here, then, on October 19, 2020, the RF [(Russian Federation)] president told me that the Azerbaijani side has one more condition: it expects guarantees that the Azerbaijani refugees, who, according to the Azerbaijani side, made up 90 percent of the population of Shushi before the conflict, return to Shushi. For the Russian side, this was an understandable proposal because they were saying that the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to the NK [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] was always included in the settlement plan of the Karabakh conflict, which was on the table many years ago. This is the reason that after November 9, I announced from the NA rostrum that the Shushi issue was always on the negotiation agenda because if it is said that Azerbaijanis should return to NK, is there a need to clarify that they should return to the settlements in which they have lived before? They were accusing me that if I agreed for the Azerbaijanis to return to Shushi, it would remain under Armenian control, and even if inhabited by Azerbaijanis, it would be Armenian. To be honest, this wording itself is problematic. But when Shushi's question came up, I tried to find out what the expected guarantees of Azerbaijanis should look like according to the proposed version. As a result of that conversation, it turned out that I have to declare that I agree with the return of Azerbaijani refugees to Shush and other settlements of Karabakh. The RF President suggested that this issue be put in correlation with the NK status; that is, the issue of the return of NK Azerbaijanis is resolved in the context of the NK status at the same time as the supposed decision on it. I agreed to that wording, but the Azerbaijani side, as before, had rejected it, saying that it was not going to discuss any issues related to the status. Moreover, according to the proposal made at that time, not only Azerbaijanis living in Shushi, but also all Azerbaijanis would have direct and unhindered access to Shushi. Let's say, 50 thousand Azerbaijanis can come to Shushi as guests, it is not known how many Azerbaijanis live in Shushi, and there cannot be any restrictions here. They can go and stay. But the most important question: how will their movement be ensured? It turned out that, for example, a new road connecting Shushi to Azerbaijan should be built so that Azerbaijanis do not need to use the Lachin corridor or any other road to reach Shushi. That road, for example, it could be via Kubatlu; that is, according to Azerbaijan's proposal at the time, Shushi would have at least a 95 percent Azerbaijani population, with no restrictions or controls on further additions. They would have a separate road connecting Shushi to Azerbaijan, which would be under their control. This means that Azerbaijani armed units can also be there. This, in turn, means that it was, without exaggeration, about handing over Shushi to Azerbaijan. At that time, one of the practical reasons for not accepting that proposal was the following: it meant that the Lachin corridor would not work because the Azerbaijanis could close it at any time because Shushi would not enter the Lachin corridor, and the Lachin corridor would pass a few meters beyond Shushi. Recent events have proved my prediction at the time by circumstances known to you all. But even this was not all the talk of October 19. In the context of that day's proposal, a new idea was sounded as an additional condition for ending the war. [Russian] peacekeepers would be deployed not only in Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor, but also in Meghri [city of Armenia] to ensure the communication of Azerbaijanis with Nakhichevan. I didn't agree to that either. I didn't agree to the creation of a layer in the territory of Armenia that is not under the RA control; that is, a corridor is created, saying that I agree with the road, but not with the corridor. Thus, the conditions for stopping the war in the context of the proposal of October 19 were as follows: All seven regions come under the control of Azerbaijan, the question of NK status is left undecided, the already lost territories of the NKAO [(Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast )] at that time remain under the control of Azerbaijan; and at that time ,considerable NKAO territories were already under the control of Azerbaijan. Shushi is handed over to Azerbaijan according to the scenario described above, [Russian] peacekeepers are stationed in Meghri, and a corridor is actually created; that is, a layer not under our control, connecting Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan. I could not agree to such conditions, however much I understood the gravity of the situation. Looking back now, I couldn't agree again. If someone says that he would agree, let him announce it out loud. Baroness Caroline Cox, a member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom (UK), has issued a message to the Armenian people. The message runs as follows: Greetings. May I begin by introducing myself very briefly. All I ever say about myself is that Im actually a nurse and a social scientist by intention, and a baroness by astonishment. I was not into politics. I was the first baroness I had ever met. You wake up one morning, and see a baroness looking at yourself out of the bathroom mirror. Its quite a shock! But you think, how do I use the privilege of being in the House of Lords, which is what being a baroness gives you, and the idea came very clearly its a wonderful place to be a voice for people whose voices are not heard. And that is how I use my role there, and what a privilege it is, to be able to speak for people whose voices are not heard, such as the people of Artsakh or Nagorno Karabakh, and the people of Armenia, whose voices are not heard as they should be. So that is my privilege, and that is the reason behind the privilege of giving this talk. To the People of Armenia, the first Christian Nation. In my many travels to your beloved homeland, I have been inspired and humbled to share personally in your joys and your sorrows. I have been blessed to have met a host of wonderful people, many the direct descendants of victims of the Great Genocide in Anatolia, of anti-Armenian pogroms in Sumgait and Baku, and of ethnic-religious cleansing in Artsakh. I have been struck by the unanimity with which you share a simple common goal. It is to live in peace, dignity and security in your own land. My dear friends, that longing continues to fill my heart. Some of you may remember my first visit to Armenia over thirty years ago. It was a time of great uncertainty as the people of (what was then) the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic fought with courage for democracy and independence, while the Armenians of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast began their valiant campaign for the right to self-determination. The struggle for Artsakh became the catalyst for independence of the Republic of Armenia. To this day, it remains an important symbol of hope and unity among all Armenians, across every part of the nation and diaspora. We all remember the horrors of the first Karabakh War and the immense suffering inflicted by Azerbaijan upon your people. Tens of thousands lost their lives while defending their homeland. I personally witnessed 400 Grad missiles fired by Azerbaijan daily raining onto Stepanakert, an aerial bombardment of civilian homes with 500 kilogram bombs. I witnessed the results of massacres, atrocities and forced displacement. And I remember, with great sadness, that when the people of Artsakh called for assistance, the world chose not to listen. In 2020, Azerbaijan assisted by Turkey resumed its attempted conquest of Artsakh with impunity: schools and hospitals were bombed; religious sites destroyed; Armenian hostages tortured, killed and their corpses violated. Dozens of Armenian military and civilian personnel remain in Azerbaijani custody in contravention of the terms of a carefully-written ceasefire agreement while Azeri military forces have advanced into the sovereign territories of the Republic of Armenia. The blockade of the Lachin corridor has created a humanitarian catastrophe within Artsakh, whose indigenous Armenian Christian population face the increasing possibility of ethnic and religious cleansing from their historic lands. And yet, not one nation has responded to the pleas of the Armenian people. Not the United Nations, nor the OSCE, nor United States and its NATO alliance, nor Russia and its CSTO alliance. Not one nation has resisted Bakus territorial claims over Stepanakert. The question therefore arises: who among the international community would resist Bakus territorial claims over Yerevan, Lake Sevan or Zangezur? Azerbaijans political leadership has made no secret of their strategic objective to seize your homeland. If Artsakh falls, is there a risk that Armenia will follow? At this critical hour of vulnerability, I and very many others are deeply saddened by reports that the Republic of Armenia is being pressured by international powers to accept Azerbaijans sovereignty over Artsakh. In return for a so-called peace treaty and trade agreement, the people of Artsakh who have already endured so much suffering would be expected to surrender their international right of self-determination. Over 120,000 indigenous Armenians would become citizens of an anti-Armenian authoritarian state, with an appalling track record of human rights violations. The people of Artsakh would have to concede control over their lives, their liberty and their land. If and when they are forced to leave, which nation would be willing to provide food, water, safe transport and refuge? Who will protect the most vulnerable people living with disabilities, the elderly, and families with young children? My friends, without an Armenian Artsakh, the very existence of the Republic of Armenia will become even more endangered than it is today. Recent history has proved that Armenia stands isolated from meaningful international support; even your closest allies have not provided effective responses to the suffering inflicted upon your people. It is with the heaviest of hearts that we must face the disturbing possibility that the Armenian Genocide never ended. There are those who want to complete it, and those who are unable or unwilling to stop it. It is quite possible that what is done to Artsakh will also, in time, be done to the Republic of Armenia. If the treaty now being negotiated between Azerbaijan and Armenia results in the surrender of Artsakh then lasting peace cannot be guaranteed. Any such treaty should be submitted for review of the democratically-elected parliaments of Karabakh and Armenia, and not ratified until it is approved in the form of a democratic referendum by the Armenian peoples in these two countries. At this critical moment in your great nations history, it is my hope and prayer that all Armenians across every part of the nation and diaspora will continue to uphold the struggle for Artsakh as a symbol of unity. I along with many others have faith in your continuing ability to overcome present sufferings with courage, fortitude, sacrifice and love so that the people of the long-suffering Armenian nation will continue to live in peace and dignity in your own historic lands. My dear friends, thank you for holding a frontline of faith and freedom for the rest of the world, and for the high price you have paid for doing so.